Guide to Japanese Wrestling 2010

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OZ ACADEMY on GAORA TV - September 19, 2010 - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 22, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,150 fans)

 

1. Ran Yu Yu & Akino © -vs- Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato - (Oz Tag Title) [** 1/2]

--- These two teams have fought so many times now. They had a good match in February and this was equally as good. A lot of action! Yes, thats what these ladies are all about. And a lot of good action. Much structure or fresh happenings? Nah, not at all. They live on the energetic finishers and near falls and always have been. And it works to a certain level and it at least made a lot of the fans happy as they lashed out the spots. Then for the end Akino got peppered with even more big moves getting accidentally knocked with Ran elbows twice! Then reversed piledriven and summersault footstomped before Nagashima killed her off with a fishermans buster done masterfully. And that means Nagashima & Kato win these tag belts for the 3rd time!

18:28 of 22:39 - Nagashima pinned Akino after a fishermans buster. Nagashima & Kato become the 11th Oz Tag Title.

 

 

September 19, 2010, Tokyo - Shinjuku FACE (399 fans)

 

2. Mayumi Ozaki -vs- Hiren

--- What happend here was that Kaoru as the producer wanted this match to happen, but Ozaki & Hiren being friends didn't and refused. They had a mock match where Hiren pinned Ozaki, but no official match before walking out.

0:00 of 0:00 - Ozaki wrestled Hiren to No-Contest

 

 

3. Ran Yu Yu & Tomoka Nakagawa -vs- Chikayo Nagashima & Nao Komatsu [*]

--- Mostly about Oz's own rookie Komatsu. Not really showing all that much progress, but she's still in her first year wrestling. The match was decent, but with Komatsu looking kind of awkward it was never anything more then that. And Komatsu had to lose too, to Nakagawa's Strong Arm.

11:39 of 15:52 - Nakagawa pinned Komatsu after a low-angle lariat

 

 

4. Carlos Amano -vs- Sonoko Kato [** 1/4]

--- Quite a brilliant match at times. Started a little slow, but then we got to test how thick Amano's head really is as Kato landed her kicks to it and Amano started countering by headbutting the stiff kicks! Amusing and brutal at the same time! And they both did solid damage, but Amano managed to make enough pain to the leg to go for submissions on it and also got in a cool looking reversed triangle hold blocking Kato's reversed piledriver plus a few more finishers near the end before the time limit expired.

14:58 of 20:00 - Amano wrestled Kato to a 20:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

5. Dynamite Kansai -vs- Akino [* 1/4]

--- Fairly big match-up, but with few explosions. A lot of ground work and they didn't make the most of the bigger impact stuff like Akino more or less no-selling the Splash Mountain for a near fall before Kansai reversed Akino's Frankensteiner cradle to steal the bout.

11:06 of 14:08 - Kansai pinned Akino with a reversed cradle

 

 

6. Kaoru & Mayumi Ozaki & Aja Kong -vs- Takako Inoue & Yumi Ohka & Hiren [* 1/2]

--- I barely understand shit what went down here. Ozaki was for some reason teaming with her main rivals Kaoru & Aja and deliberatly messing up for her side against her own gang. Then she all of a sudden started attacking her own crew, yet her team mates didn't help her much. And when Aja won the bout she started arguing with her girls in the current version of the Jungle Jack stable. The action was chaotic, but not as chaotic as the story.

14:38 of 15:38 - Kong pinned Ohka after a uraken

 

 

COMMENTS: Amano vs Kato is worth a look and so it the Oz Tag Title bout from the Korakuen Hall. Otherwise it was refreshing to see a Oz show without too much heel chaos except for the main event.

 

 

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NOAH on G+SN - August 22, 2010, Tokyo - (3 1/2 hrs)

 

 

August 22, 2010, Tokyo - Ariake Colosseum (5,500 fans)

 

1. Akira Taue & Kentaro Shiga -vs- Takashi Okita & Satoshi Kajiwara [1/2*]

--- The old boys stalpstick with Taue & Shiga keeping it down to their level. Okita did do a wonderful vertical suplex on big Taue, but just about everything else wrestling oriented looked shit. Even the cradle exchages from the cradle king Shiga.....who eventually won with a cradle....not surprisingly.

9:02 of 9:03 - Shiga pinned Kajiwara with a leg-hook schoolboy

 

 

2. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Genba Hirayanagi -vs- Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara [* 1/2]

--- Second Kensuke Office against NOAH match in a row and this one was more wrestling oriented with a cool corner beat-down of Genba. Sadly the little prick got his revenge and won the match with his strange looking lariat.

11:23 of 10:44 - Hirayanagi pinned Miyahara after a lariat

 

 

3. Takeshi Morishima & Yutaka Yoshie & Akitoshi Saito -vs- Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano & Masao Inoue [* 3/4]

--- Slow heavyweight fighting with Inoue getting beat up a lot. And Inoue getting beat up a lot warms my heart. You also had him get double-splashed by Morishima & Yoshie at the same time! That was awesome! And then came the backdrop suplex and Inoue was dead. Sadly not litterary.

14:26 of 14:27 - Morishima pinned Inoue after a backdrop suplex

 

 

4. KENTA -vs- Atsushi Aoki [***]

--- Ah......this is what I miss from my puroresu. A fight! Stiff as hell with every move counting! No overkill and with a lot of pride. Just got to love what they did. Aoki was standing toe-to-toe with KENTA headbutting the man down to a massive degree. I wish they'd kept it lasting longer and used this to elevate Aoki further, but KENTA is still his veteran. And after a grueling and almost inhumane bout KENTA just came with the Go 2 Sleep to show who'd boss. Enjoy!

12:34 of 12:35 - KENTA pinned Aoki after the Go 2 Sleep

 

 

5. Kensuke Sasaki -vs- Shuhei Taniguchi [* 3/4]

--- Winner was never the question, but Taniguchi gave a good fight before getting dropped down in that Northern Light Bomb. Stiff fighting of course as it's Sasaki we're talking about, but didn't take off too much and Taniguchi keeps fighting guys way above his level.

12:03 of 12:04 - Sasaki pinned Taniguchi after a Northern Light Bomb

 

 

 

6. Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin © -vs- Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask - (GHC Junior Tag Title) [***]

--- This is how we like seeing Kanemoto. There was no doubt which team felt they were surperior and it was not the home promotion GHC Junior Tag Champions. No, Kanemoto & Tiger Mask looked so arrogant and badass against the NOAH champs. Just lovely to watch as this NJPW vs NOAH feud finally gets some heat as Kanemoto even tried to push spotlights over Ishimori! And this surperiority just pissed Marvin & Ishimori off enough to stiff them back! And that's made the match so damn interesting seeing how the two would do against the veterans of New Japan. A couple of slip-ups toward the end took away a little especially because one of them was the finish as Marvin slipped out of Kanemoto's Tiger Suplex and which made it sloppy when Kanemoto still got the pin.

21:26 of 21:27 - Kanemoto pinned Marvin after a Tiger Suplex. Kanemoto & Tiger Mask become the 12th GHC Junior Tag Champions.

 

 

 

7. Satoshi Kojima -vs- Mohammed Yone [**]

--- The G-1 Climax winner coming to NOAH for a special singles match against Mohammed Yone. Couldn't they have picked a better opponent for him? Yone works too slow and one needs a guy to get Kojima's lazy ass in gear and Yone is not the guy for that. Regardless I did feel the match was ok. Stubborn fighting and not draged out too long. Because Yone ran straight into that lariat......

11:52 of 11:50 - Kojima pinned Yone after a lariat

 

 

 

8. Go Shiozaki -vs- Shinsuke Nakamura [*** 1/4]

--- These two met on August 15th in the G-1 Climax '10. That was one of the best bouts of the tournament and ended a time limit draw. This one had a decision! And a super hot end! Solid fighting from the start, but it was floating along on the lower end of good a lot of the time. When it started getting interesting the main down point was Nakamura's Bome Ye kneekicks not sitting right. The first one kind of slipped off Go rather then nailing him and the second one to cover up for that only looked desperat, but this kind of played well into that Shiozaki's had worked over Nakamura's leg during the match so he couldn't get all the impact he wanted. A move that looked much better was Nakamura's reversed powerbomb off the turnbuckle! And then came the super hot comeback the fans was wanting so bad! A couple of smashing lariats totally murdering the New Japan star!!! And Nakamura like a dead fish managed to kick out of a certain death. Even more of a miracle was the kick out of the killer Go Flasher! The crowd was in total dis-belief about that one! Amanzing to hear a crowd go that wild in 2010! And then Shiozaki debuted a new finisher. A wrist-clutch style reversed powerbomb! Didn't look as deadly as the Go Flasher he'd just destroyed Nakamura with, but still effective enough giving him the big win over the former multi-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion!

19:08 of 19:08 - Shiozaki pinned Nakamura after a wrist-clutch reversed powerbomb

 

 

 

9. Takashi Sugiura © -vs- Jun Akiyama - (GHC Title) [** 3/4]

--- The early portion of the bout was Akiyama being surprised by an aggressive Sugiura being very dazed after getting neckscrewed on the floor. And Akiyama had to fight hard to get back in the game. I guess the way it came across was that Sugiura now really is the ace! And age and wars of wear'n'tear is something Akiyama now have to deal with to keep up with the current elite in the company. Akiyama just didn't seem like a top dog as he once was and had to really struggle to keep up with the the beating the bulldog came with. Akiyama used his knee attacks well stopping Sugiura from raming him down a few times and knocking him somewhat silly with the Jumbo Tsuruta inspired attacks. Akiyama also have his Exploders. Not as devestating as they once were, but made good use of them gaining momentum for himself including a wrist-clutch one which he was close to winning. But Akiyama isn't in early '00 form and Sugiura ended up beating him up with Olympic Slams ending very nicely with a top rope one to retain the belt once more and get back his victory after the singles loss in the Global League '10 earlier in the year.

25:25 of 25:25 - Sugiura pinned Akiyama after a top rope Olympic Slam to retain the GHC Title in his 4th defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: Great show from NOAH. 4 matches that really delivered! The main event was pure NOAH. And the two NOAH vs NJPW inter-promotional matches had the fans love. And KENTA vs Aoki.....yes!

 

 

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Dragon Gate on GAORA TV - August 14, 15 & 24, 2010 - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 14, 2010, Kobe Sambo Hall (1,400 fans)

 

1. Tigers Mask -vs- Masato Yoshino - (Open the Brave Gate Title) [** 3/4]

--- Strange to think about that this is really the main champions in Osaka Pro and Dragon Gate fighting it out and it's for the secondary Dragon Gate belt, the Open the Brave Gate Title, they are fighting for. The belt Tigers Mask beat Super Shisa for in April. And since CIMA failed, the current top dog in Dragon Gate has to fight for the promotions honor and bring the belt back to the promotion it belongs. And the drama was on with guys interfering left and right, referee getting distracted and Tigers Mask cane kicking Yoshino's arm to give him that little extra pain. Full of life and a few hot moments. But everything was set up for the happy home promotion win with Yoshino showing he really is "Mr.Brave Gate" winning the belt for the 4th time in his career. And just like they did with Naruki Doi last year they had hime vacate the belt because he already holds the main Open the Dream Gate Title. At least he brought it home.

11:01 of 18:27 - Yoshino made Tigers Mask submit to the Sol Naciente to become the 19th Open the Brave Gate Champion.

 

 

August 15, 2010, Nagoya International Conference Hall (2,000 fans)

 

2. CIMA & Gamma -vs- Susumu Yokosuka & K-ness - (Summer Adventure Tag League IV - Block A) [* 1/4]

--- Not sure what it was about this one. K-ness and Gamma was trying to wrestle stubborn and aggressive with each other but the impact was so careful that it looked ridiculous. They didn't really manage much of a climax period either with the time limit expiring. It was kind of fun in parts, but no super effort by anyone except whoever designed CIMA & Gamma's costume which also is starting to look ridiculous.

13:18 of 20:00 - CIMA & Gamma wrestled Yokosuka & K-ness to a 20:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

3. Shingo Takagi & YAMATO -vs- BxB Hulk & Naoki Tanizaki - (Summer Adventure Tag League IV - Block B )

--- Only a couple of minutes from this one with YAMATO knowing how to take care of Tanizaki. And that was Gallaria style!

2:05 of 15:34 - YAMATO pinned Tanizaki with the Gallaria

 

 

4. Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi -vs- Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii - (Summer Adventure Tag League IV - Block B ) [* 1/2]

--- Saito & Genki always follow each other some way and they are back tagging for the Warriors group and it's the same ingredeince that get them through the day. And regardless if Genki calls his backslide the 'Backslide From Hell' or 'Backslide From Heaven' it's still a effective weapon against anybody. Even veteran Mochizuki! Easy fun Dragon Gate action as we know it.

11:15 of 16:01 - Horiguchi pinned Mochizuki with a backslide

 

 

August 24, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (2,350 fans)

 

5. Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi -vs- Susumu Yokosuka & K-ness - (Summer Adventure Tag League IV - Semi-Final) [**]

--- First semi-final of the 4th annunal Summer Adventure Tag League and you can feel the vibes are good on the final show of the tour with Yoshino & Doi looking good as they always do. Yokosuka & K-ness feel more random and not as well-worked together, but they still know the World-1 team well which made it a fun and competitive one until K-ness got little too carried away with his rolling clutch hold and Doi countered in mid-swing for the flash pin!

9:04 of 10:38 - Doi pinned K-ness with a cradle counter

 

 

6. Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi -vs- Shingo Takagi & YAMATO - (Summer Adventure Tag League IV - Semi-Final) [**]

--- More of the same thing. Fun competitive action in true Dragon Gate style. Takagi & YAMATO naturally looks like winners as both a former Dream Gate Champions and more the new generation in the company, but there is always Horiguchi's backslide which came exactly when a 'H-A-G-E' chant had started with Genki almost crying when he realized he'd defeated YAMATO!

12:05 of 14:18 - Horiguchi pinned YAMATO with a backslide

 

 

7. Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi -vs- Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi - (Summer Adventure Tag League IV - Final) [***]

--- And here things started feeling important aswell as the work effort being high this night in the Korakuen Hall! And Horiguchi was getting hot here with the fans! With so much luck with the Backslide From Heaven in this tournament he's become a favourite again and they were totally into him as the underdog fighting for the tournament win. And he was in trouble a lot and it helped having Saito there to make the saves and hot tags suplexing and running around in between the Genki moments the match was built on. But no matter how many times he got in the backslide he didn't get a pin this time and with a Yoshino on a roll it had to end with the Open the Dream Gate Champion winning the tournament for himself and Doi, which makes it the 3rd time the team wins the Summer Adventure Tag League out of the 4 times it's been arranged.

17:01 of 19:16 - Yoshino pinned Horiguchi after a Lighting Spiral. Yoshino & Doi win the Summer Adventure Tag League IV.

 

 

COMMENTS: Good ending for the annual tag tournament and a cool Dragon Gate vs Osaka Pro title match to make this one worth watching.

 

 

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TENRYU PROJECT on Samurai TV - August 25, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 25, 2010, Tokyo - Shinjuku FACE (403 fans)

 

1. Mitsuo Momota -vs- Masao Orihara [*]

--- Momota beat Orihara on Tenryu Project's debut show back in April and here he does it again! Yes, the 61 year old Momota! Well, Orihara did get his shoulder up before the three, but the referee didn't care. This was a slow bout as you'd expect with an old man, but Orihara let Momota get a lot of offence including a STF and quite a few cradles before the backslide got him with win.

10:29 of 10:28 - Momota pinned Orihara with a backslide

 

 

2. Alexander Otsuka -vs- JOETA [3/4*]

--- Otsuka against a shooter stylist who got in some fine palm strikes before Otsuka took care of him winning with a Giant Swing into a Boston Crab. Decent short match without creating too much fanfare.

5:05 of 5:04 - Otsuka made JOETA submit to a Boston Crab

 

 

3. Kyoko Inoue & Yumiko Hotta -vs- Munenori Sawa & Hisamaru Tajima [*]

--- Girls against boys. And the girls looked best! Nice to see Inoue & Hotta fight someone more their size. There was a lot of backfiring toward the end for the team of Sawa & Tajima which resulted in the ladies winning when Kyoko landed her lariat.

9:48 of 9:46 - Inoue pinned Tajima after a lariat

 

 

4. Tiger Shark © -vs- HIROKI - (Tenryu Project International Junior Title) [* 1/2]

--- Kind of weak. Kind of exciting at the same time. I guess the lay-out was good and execution not optimal. Typical indy. But it was easily the best match on the show and they managed to make the end come alive until Shark locked in his Shark Death by Lock II to keep the belt.

14:10 of 14:10 - Shark made HIROKI submit to a modified double-armbar to retain the Tenyru Project Internationl Junior Title in his 3rd defence.

 

 

5. Genichiro Tenyru & Daisuke Sekimoto & Tatsutoshi Goto © -vs- Kintaro Kanemura & Tetsuhiro Kuroda & NOSAWA Rongai - (Tenryu Project 6-Man Tag Title) [* 1/4]

--- They showed Tenryu bleeching his hair before the match replacing Takayama on the team here as Sekimoto wrestles with a gold hair in Tenryu Project and Goto has been a Blond Outlaw for decades. And most of the wrestling involving Tenryu looked bad. He's really getting old now. Too old and it's sad to see the day. He still gets to rule as it's his project and he beat Kuroda with a simple lariat after being a bit of trouble during the match. But hardly a impressive match.

14:26 of 14:26 - Tenryu pinned Kuroda after a lariat. Tenyru & Sekimoto & Goto retain the Tenyru Project 6-Man Tag Title in their 1st defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: Not getting into Tenryu's new project.

 

 

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FREEDOMS on COMM - August 25, 2010, Tokyo - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

August 25, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (328 fans)

 

1. Brahman Kei & Brahman Shu & Ken45 -vs- Mammoth Sasaki & Ricky Fuji & Ryuichi Sekine - (Hardcore) [**]

--- The show starts off with a happy hardcore bout in true Sato Twins style and everyone having fun using weapons and playing around getting the fans in a good mood for the rest of the show. Nothing too seriously, but K-Dojo guy Sekine tried to get himself noticed doing a style he usually doesn't do. Naturally he wasn't going to stand up to the more established for a fight like this and he was soon enough taken care of getting dropped down on chairs too much.

12:56 of 12:57 - Shu pinned Sekine after the Zombie King on chairs

 

 

2. GENTARO -vs- Kamui - (Death Match Tournament - Round 1; Barbed Wire Board Street Fight Death Match) [** 1/4]

--- Not exactly death match wrestlers, but they had a good try bumping a lot on and through the barbed wire boards and it felt fairly fresh as it's not everyday one see these two do that. Kamui was mainly the aggressor and had GENTARO in a lot of trouble. Unique to see GENTARO using his technical skills in this hardcore environment to get out of stuff like when doing the Dory Funk Jr style flip over the ropes to drop Kamui on the spikey boards on the floor, but GENTARO took nastys bump through a board out on the floor and barbed wire moonsaulted along the way before getting back and beating Kamui up ending nicely with a Northern Light Suplex on a sharp board!

18:04 of 18:04 - GENTARO pinned Kamui with a Northern Light Suplex on a barbed wire board

 

 

3. Masada -vs- Takashi Sasaki - (Death Match Tournament - Round 1; Steel of Pain Death Match) [* 3/4]

--- Masada isn't affraid of hurting someone and here he put the hurt on Sasaki dropping him on small, but straight up barrels that was not going to give in on impact letting Sasaki's back take off the beating! Cool trash match with Sasaki being close landing a garbage can Buzzsaw kick being unable to make the cover because his leg was hurting from impact and then Masada got back and won with a Death Valley.

13:16 of 13:17 - Masada pinned Sasaki after a Death Valley Bomb

 

 

4. Saburo Inematsu -vs- The Winger - (Death Match Tournament - Round 1; Falls Count Anywhere Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match) [* 1/2]

--- Wasn't expecting much but it did feature the awesome double-axehandle block from Saburo knocking the barbed wire baseball bat out of Winger's hands! And then he Death Valley'ed Winger on the bat and landed a running double-axehandle punch to beat the veteran masked guy!

12:48 of 12:21 - Inematsu pinned Winger after a double axe-handle

 

 

5. Jun Kasai -vs- Great Sasuke - (Death Match Tournament - Round 1; Light Tubes Ladder Death Match) [** 1/2]

--- Ah, this match had me laughing a lot! Sasuke and his braindead comedy made my day. He's just a complete werdo now and watching him do a light tube match was pure gold! And all his weird ideas. You can see his brain work hard thinking what would be smart to do and you can see there's quite a few screws loose. He's like a little child that needs protection from his own ideas. Just don't give Sasuke ladders and light tubes, ok. He'll end up hurting himself. Best Sasuke moment was him putting on Kasai's googles doing the salute while standing a ladder with light tubes on the floor and a cardboard box in his mouth. What, the fuck goes on inside of that head?! Enjoy this absurd match!

20:15 of 20:16 - Kasai pinned Sasuke after a top rope light tubes & ladder bodypress

 

 

COMMENTS: The Kasai vs Sasuke along with GENTARO vs Kamui made this a good opening day of the death match tournament. All the wrestler worked harder then usual on a Freedoms show, thats for sure.

 

 

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FREEDOMS on COMM - August 26, 2010, Tokyo - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

August 26, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (412 fans)

 

1. The Winger & HIROKI -vs- Ricky Fuji & Ken45 [* 1/4]

--- The most fasinating thing about this one was the troublesome relationship between Ken and Ricky. They were always arguing, but did pull out of the double-teaming for a double version of the pattented Ricky Fuji standing suplex! Ricky even did a well executed Frankensteiner before he accidentally smashed a guitar over Ken's head.....which was the end.

11:40 of 11:42 - HIROKI pinned Ken45 with a schoolboy

 

 

2. Masada -vs- GENTARO - (Death Match Tournament - Semi-Final; Kenzan Death Match) [** 1/4]

--- Kenzans! Those spikey little metal things! Not as brutal as those Sasaki moments years ago. More spectacular was actually Masada's spikey sticks he planted on top of GENTARO's skull before smashing a chair over it!!! Sick! Masada went on to Tombstone and Skull Crush GENTARO on a chair to win.

12:29 of 13:30 - Masada pinned GENTARO after a Skullfucka Buster on a chair

 

 

3. Jun Kasai -vs- Saburo Inematsu - (Death Match Tournament - Semi-Final; Thumbtacks Death Match) [**]

--- Short and sweet with Kasai having probable 100 thumbtacks stuck in his skin! Another sick moment on this show! And the fans loved this and they went straight to the point wasting little time having the match over with in little over 5 minutes with a reversed Tiger Driver from Kasai! Oh, and I need to add.....DDT in a bucket of thumbtacks!!!

5:46 of 5:43 - Kasai pinned Inematsu after a reversed Tiger Driver

 

 

4. Mammoth Sasaki -vs- Kamui - (Hardcore) [** 1/2]

--- It's great to have Mammoth back. The indy world becomes so much more violent with him in it! SO MUCH MORE!!! Kamui got in a few spots like jumping off the ladder in the stands and also getting a near fall on a Firebird, but this was built around Mammoth and re-establishing him as a brutal motherfucker doing his spots with the fans eagerly waiting for the impacts! Just sit back and celebrate that Sasaki is back from injury and can still kick ass....!!!

10:20 of 10:20 - Sasaki pinned Kamui after a brainbuster on chairs and ladder

 

 

5. Great Sasuke & Takashi Sasaki -vs- Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei [* 3/4]

--- Sasuke, you crazy bastard! You had me in stitches! He's a strange fighter and he fucks up so wonderfully! But he got his happy win regardless beating a blinded twin.

13:35 of 11:22 - Sasuke pinned Kei after a powerbomb

 

 

6. Masada -vs- Jun Kasai - (Death Match Tournament - Final; Glass Board Death Match) [** 3/4]

--- And then for the Death climax! And it started on a sick note with Masada stabbing Kasai with those sticks of his making Kasai bleed stright in camera view. And naturally they crushed the glass there for big spots with the fans loving it. Kasai had to do a balcony dive. It's not the Korakuen Hall so it's not so high put, but he's still a madman putting Masada through the table that way! And they found a few other weapons aswell making it a very fun final with Masada dropping Kasai like nasty with Scullfuckas for the win!!!

15:43 of 15:34 - Masada pinned Kasai after a Skullfucka Buster to win the Death Match Tournament.

 

 

COMMENTS: The best Freedoms show to date!

 

 

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FREEDOMS on Samurai TV - August 25 & 26, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 25, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (328 fans)

 

1. GENTARO -vs- Kamui - (Death Match Tournament - Round 1; Barbed Wire Board Street Fight Death Match) [** 1/4]

--- Not exactly death match wrestlers, but they had a good try bumping a lot on and through the barbed wire boards and it felt fairly fresh as it's not everyday one see these two do that. Kamui was mainly the aggressor and had GENTARO in a lot of trouble. Unique to see GENTARO using his technical skills in this hardcore environment to get out of stuff like when doing the Dory Funk Jr style flip over the ropes to drop Kamui on the spikey boards on the floor, but GENTARO took nastys bump through a board out on the floor and barbed wire moonsaulted along the way before getting back and beating Kamui up ending nicely with a Northern Light Suplex on a sharp board!

6:44 of 18:04 - GENTARO pinned Kamui with a Northern Light Suplex on a barbed wire board

 

 

2. Masada -vs- Takashi Sasaki - (Death Match Tournament - Round 1; Steel of Pain Death Match) [* 3/4]

--- Masada isn't affraid of hurting someone and here he put the hurt on Sasaki dropping him on small, but straight up barrels that was not going to give in on impact letting Sasaki's back take off the beating! Cool trash match with Sasaki being close landing a garbage can Buzzsaw kick being unable to make the cover because his leg was hurting from impact and then Masada got back and won with a Death Valley.

4:23 of 13:17 - Masada pinned Sasaki after a Death Valley Bomb

 

 

3. Saburo Inematsu -vs- The Winger - (Death Match Tournament - Round 1; Falls Count Anywhere Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match) [* 1/2]

--- Wasn't expecting much but it did feature the awesome double-axehandle block from Saburo knocking the barbed wire baseball bat out of Winger's hands! And then he Death Valley'ed Winger on the bat and landed a running double-axehandle punch to beat the veteran masked guy!

5:40 of 12:21 - Inematsu pinned Winger after a double axe-handle

 

 

4. Jun Kasai -vs- Great Sasuke - (Death Match Tournament - Round 1; Light Tubes Ladder Death Match) [** 1/2]

--- Ah, this match had me laughing a lot! Sasuke and his braindead comedy made my day. He's just a complete werdo now and watching him do a light tube match was pure gold! And all his weird ideas. You can see his brain work hard thinking what would be smart to do and you can see there's quite a few screws loose. He's like a little child that needs protection from his own ideas. Just don't give Sasuke ladders and light tubes, ok. He'll end up hurting himself. Best Sasuke moment was him putting on Kasai's googles doing the salute while standing a ladder with light tubes on the floor and a cardboard box in his mouth. What, the fuck goes on inside of that head?! Enjoy this absurd match!

20:15 of 20:16 - Kasai pinned Sasuke after a top rope light tubes & ladder bodypress

 

 

August 26, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (412 fans)

 

5. Masada -vs- GENTARO - (Death Match Tournament - Semi-Final; Kenzan Death Match) [** 1/4]

--- Kenzans! Those spikey little metal things! Not as brutal as those Sasaki moments years ago. More spectacular was actually Masada's spikey sticks he planted on top of GENTARO's skull before smashing a chair over it!!! Sick! Masada went on to Tombstone and Skull Crush GENTARO on a chair to win.

12:29 of 13:30 - Masada pinned GENTARO after a Skullfucka Buster on a chair

 

 

6. Jun Kasai -vs- Saburo Inematsu - (Death Match Tournament - Semi-Final; Thumbtacks Death Match) [**]

--- Short and sweet with Kasai having probable 100 thumbtacks stuck in his skin! Another sick moment on this show! And the fans loved this and they went straight to the point wasting little time having the match over with in little over 5 minutes with a reversed Tiger Driver from Kasai! Oh, and I need to add.....DDT in a bucket of thumbtacks!!!

5:46 of 5:43 - Kasai pinned Inematsu after a reversed Tiger Driver

 

 

7. Great Sasuke & Takashi Sasaki -vs- Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei [* 3/4]

--- Sasuke, you crazy bastard! You had me in stitches! He's a strange fighter and he fucks up so wonderfully! But he got his happy win regardless beating a blinded twin.

9:50 of 11:22 - Sasuke pinned Kei after a powerbomb

 

 

8. Masada -vs- Jun Kasai - (Death Match Tournament - Final; Glass Board Death Match) [** 3/4]

--- And then for the Death climax! And it started on a sick note with Masada stabbing Kasai with those sticks of his making Kasai bleed stright in camera view. And naturally they crushed the glass there for big spots with the fans loving it. Kasai had to do a balcony dive. It's not the Korakuen Hall so it's not so high put, but he's still a madman putting Masada through the table that way! And they found a few other weapons aswell making it a very fun final with Masada dropping Kasai like nasty with Scullfuckas for the win!!!

14:00 of 15:34 - Masada pinned Kasai after a Skullfucka Buster to win the Death Match Tournament.

 

 

COMMENTS: Probable the best FREEDOMS shows available. The crowd was super hot for this and the wrestlers gave them moneys worth of crazy! However this is the edited TV version of the two shows.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

OSAKA PRO on SKY-A - August 28, 2010, Osaka - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

August 28, 2010, Osaka Prefectural Gym #2 (1,001 fans)

 

1. Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada & Takoyakida -vs- Tsubasa & Mineo Fujita & Yutaka [**]

--- Good action match to open the show! Kotoge & Harada prove to be a solid team and Takoyakida managed not to get pinned even if Fujita tried effortless to put him away. Plenty of nice moves and even more near falls until Harada German Suplexed Yutaka bigtime!

11:23 of 11:23 - Harada pinned Yutaka with a German Suplex

 

 

2. Orochi -vs- Kabuki Kid [1/2*]

--- Not a very interesting match-up with the Osaka Pro wrestler winning over the mini-league Kabuki.

3:54 of 8:29 - Orochi pinned Kabuki after the Onikaze Windmill

 

 

3. Kikutaro & Ebessan III & Apple Miyuki -vs- Takaku Fuke & Kanjyouro Matsuyama & Ranmaru [1/4*]

--- The comedy with the match ending when Fuke went to sniff Apple's 'seeds' and she rolled him up for the pin.

6:55 of 15:13 - Miyuki pinned Fuke with a forward rolling cradle

 

 

4. Riki Choshu & Hideyoshi & Masamune -vs- Black Buffalo & Tadasuke & The Bodyguard [* 1/2]

--- Choshu guesting Osaka and gets the honerary win lariating down Tadasuke! Ok fun action with the Bodyguard showing muscle and that kind of thing, but not a match of most importance.

10:02 of 10:04 - Choshu pinned Tadasuke after a lariat

 

 

5. Kuishinbo Kamen -vs- Miracle Man - (Osaka Owari Title) [* 1/2]

--- Comedy epic with comedy champion Kuishinbo opening hot landing all his finishers and stuff very early on when Miracle Man still had energy to kick out. Then there was a period opf more silly stuff before they went back to finisher mode for the end with Miracle Man landing one hell of a spinning dive off the top rope to win the belt! Half-exciting and half-fun!

12:47 of 12:46 - Miracle Man pinned Kuishinbo with the Miracle Twister to become the 6th Osaka Owari Champions.

 

 

6. Tigers Mask © -vs- Asian Cougar - (Osaka Pro Title) [* 3/4]

--- Title change time with Asian Cougar turning extra bad during and after the match getting The Bodyguard & Orochi by his side to beat Tigers Mask for the Osaka belt! The match didn't reach any massive climax. Cougar did his thing bumping on ladders and chairs as he always does. Tigers Mask was close with that Tiger Suplex, but Cougar kicked out and after some plastic smashing he beat Tigers with a backdrop suplex hold to become the 20th champ in the promotions history.

19:22 of 19:21 - Cougar pinned Tigers Mask with a backdrop suplex to become the 20th Osaka Pro Champion.

 

 

COMMENTS: Overall a easy fun event without taking off.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NOAH on Samurai TV - August 28, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 28, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,800 fans)

 

1. Ricky Marvin -vs- Jun Nishikawa

--- Only clips of Marvin kicking the Kensuke Office rookies head in.

0:15 of 5:39 - Marvin pinned Nishikawa after a trust kick

 

 

2. Akira Taue & Kentaro Shiga -vs- Takashi Okita & Satoshi Kajiwara

--- More clips of Kensuke Office guys getting beat. This time by two washed up old guys and this didn't look like a good match at all with Shiga rolled Kajiwara up with a backslide for the pin.

1:18 of 10:40 - Shiga pinned Kajiwara with a backslide

 

 

3. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano -vs- Mohammed Yone & Masao Inoue

--- Mostly Inoue waving his arm hoping to lariat a Takayama who never got up. Almost exclusive Takayama vs Inoue with Takayama doing a unique move for him pinning Inoue with a very nasty jack knife cradle!

2:33 of 14:56 - Takayama pinned Inoue with a jack knife cradle

 

 

4. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito & Atsushi Aoki -vs- Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara [* 1/4]

--- Clipped action to every highlight so it was fun to watch as Miyahara kept getting saved a lot by his Kensuke Office co-workers until there was no more saving to do as they were held off as Miyahara was trapped in a cross-armbreaker by Aoki.

6:19 of 20:28 - Aoki made Miyahara submit to a cross-armbreaker

 

 

 

5. Go Shiozaki & Takeshi Morishima -vs- Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi [** 1/2]

--- A real strong match to build Shiozaki up as challenger for Sugiura's GHC Heavyweight Title. Sugiura was as tough as can be, but there was little he could do about Shiozaki's hunger in this match as Go kept stiffing the champ with hard lariats and even the Go Flasher with Sugiura getting saved from a certain death a few times. So when Shiozaki couldn't get a pin over the champion, he went and did the same to the champions sidekick and thats how the match was won! Cool smart stuff to the the feud over.

19:36 of 19:38 - Shiozaki pinned Taniguchi after the Go Flasher

 

 

 

6. KENTA -vs- Kotaro Suzuki [** 3/4]

--- Kotaro Suzuki's return match after being out all year with a knee injury he suffered on December 23rd 2009. So it's taken him 9 months to get back in action. And to make his comeback he faces another guy who's recently made a comeback strong after a similar lenghty rehabilitaion in KENTA. And KENTA showed no regard for Suzuki's knee even dropping it off the apron straight to the floor! He kept locking him in various locks through-out the bout aswell, but Suzuki fought it off well showing he's ready for action. He did however show signs of ring rust as movement wasn't as fluid yet. No messed up stuff, but a little bit careful when executing stuff. And Suzuki did land some fine moves like the tope elbow and the Blue Destiny without being able to pin KENTA. Instead KENTA showed him who'd best and after a lot of back and forth landed the Go 2 Sleep! And that send Suzuki down and out.

26:52 of 26:53 - KENTA pinned Suzuki after the Go 2 Sleep

 

 

 

7. Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask © -vs- Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Genba Hirayanagi - (GHC Junior Tag Title) [** 3/4]

--- The New Japan veteran combo making their 1st defence of their newly won GHC Junior Tag Titles against Kanemaru & little prick Genba. And the New Japan stars where stubborn and they made this heated with a lot of heated run-ins from the wrestlers involved legal tags or not. And you can bet Genba was picked on a lot! But he did his thing aswell picking his nose and sticking it on Tiger Mask aswell as landing his special lariat and taking the beating like a man. But in the end they played with him enough and Tiger Mask won it with a Tiger Suplex. Cool match even if it wasn't of the super climatic kind.

21:25 of 21:25 - Tiger Mask pinned Genba with a Tiger Suplex. Kanemoto & Tiger Mask retain the gHC Junior Tag Title in their 1st defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: The undercard was clipped down to nothing almost, but the final 3 matches where complete and good. Nice to see Suzuki back and them build up for the Sugiura vs Shiozaki title match. And naturally the NJPW vs NOAH title match here was a lot of fun.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

WAVE on COMM: 3RD ANNIVERSARY - SAIL AWAY 4 - August 29, 2010, Tokyo - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

August 29, 2010, Tokyo - Shinjuku FACE (404 fans)

 

1. Cherry & Moeka Haruhi -vs- Aya Yuki & Shimono Sawako [3/4*]

--- A lot of weak young girls wrestling. They try, but there is a lot that's cringe worthy. And there wasn't exactly anyone to hold this one together much so it only became a shakey action match until Haruhi won unspectacularly with a backslide with a bridge for the cover and needing her time doing it.

9:34 of 12:47 - Haruhi pinned Sawako with a backslide bridge

 

 

2. Ran Yu Yu & Toshie Uematsu -vs- Reika & Bachiko [1/2*]

--- Ran & Uematsu facing the trannys that used to work for LLPW a few years back. And it was a quick 5-min action sprint with the highlight being one of the Bachiko doing a Go Flasher just before the time.

5:01 of 5:00 - Yu Yu & Uematsu wrestled Reika & Bachiko to a 5:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

3. Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami -vs- Mio Shirai & Io Shirai [* 1/2]

--- This was better. A good little action tag. There is never anything important about these matches, but at least the moves and spots where sitting and coming at a rapid pace getting people in a good mode as they killed each other. The Shirai's long looked good, but then Ohata showed her spirit and ended up winning with a nice wrist-clutch fisherman.

10:34 of 11:14 - Ohata pinned Io after a wrist-clutch fishermans buster

 

 

4. Tomoka Nakagawa -vs- Kyoko Kimura [*]

--- Former stable friends. Now Kimura mostly work for Okinawa Pro in the Osaka area and happily gives her old friend a singles victory when she now guest WAVE for a rare appearence. Not too dramatic, but at least she's nice enough to let Nakagawa get a much needed win over a established lady on the scene.

7:25 of 9:47 - Nakagawa pinned Kimura with a low-angle lariat

 

 

5. Kana -vs- Sakura Hirota [3/4*]

--- ....Sakura doing Nanae Takahashi and the match starts with a long head-to-head argument and a lot of other silly stuff. A little on the long side, but it wasn't terrible comedy. Funniest was Hirota try one of those slow Germans only to get Kana on top of her. And then it ended with some slappin'....

11:28 of 14:59 - Kana pinned Hirota after a slap

 

 

6. Meiko Satomura -vs- Yumi Ohka [**]

--- Satomura comes in and brings the goods beating up glorified Ohka. The WAVE girl did get her share of the offence, but it was always a Satomura match with her attacks coming in every way possible. Ohka's best offence was her Bloody-Ex cross-arm holds with the one hanging over the ropes being the most spectacular moment of the match for her. But Satomura was like a unstoppable wrecking machine and once the sleeper was locked in it was over for Ohka as she was choked out.

11:56 of 14:39 - Satomura defeated Ohka via Referee Stop with a sleeper

 

 

7. Aja Kong -vs- Gami [* 1/4]

--- Frustrating to watch. It was a mix of good Aja brawling and lazy, clumzy and lame Gami wrestling. Half good and half absolutely terrible. Heaven and hell. Aja was bleeding from the arm and there was a bunch of near falls before a speedy uraken knocked Gami finally out.

18:14 of 22:13 - Kong pinned Gami after a uraken

 

 

COMMENTS: Had it's moments and what you can expect from a good WAVE show as Satomura and Aja saves the day.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NEO on COMM - August 29, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 29, 2010, Tokyo - Cinema Club (232 fans)

 

1. Ran Yu Yu -vs- Misaki Ohata [*]

--- Started out like most joshi matches, but this one had a strong finish. Basic of course, but with enough spirit to make it work as Ohata was on the aggressive and Ran showing whois really boss. The actual finish was smart. Ran faked a brainbuster, then dropped her down kind of soft to then surprise her with the European Clutch!

12:17 of 12:17 - Yu Yu pinned Ohata with a European Clutch

 

 

2. Manami Toyota -vs- Sakura Hirota [1/2*]

--- Hirota comedy. The best part was when Hirota tried to do a Toyota style rolling cradle. She did managed to make a couple of slow rolls eventually. Yes, she was trying a lot of other Toyota spots too like the bridging reversed indian death lock one banging her head to the mat. Not once. Not twice. But three times! Toyota also slapped her silly to the point she had to go to referee Tommy Ran to cry. And the finish Hirota tried to do a Toyota no-sell on a turnbuckle dropkick but fell over....and out.

12:57 of 12:57 - Toyota pinned Hirota after a top rope dropkick

 

 

3. Tsubasa Kuragaki -vs- Aya Yuki [*]

--- Slow heavyweight fight. Had it's impact moments for sure! But the excitement was limited as always in Yuki matches and there was little Kurihara could do to change that. No need to speculate about who was winning either....

13:44 of 13:44 - Kuragaki pinned Yuki with a lariat

 

 

4. Kana & Mio Shirai & Io Shirai -vs- Asami Kawasaki & Nagisa Nozaki & Hikaru Shida [*]

--- The cool team against the idol girls. Easy match. Some fun things and stuff so it kept the fans happy without giving them that little extra. Shida was the one most in focus for the pretty side, but she ended up getting too much attention from the opposite side too and got beat up for it moonsault Io-style.

16:06 of 16:06 - Io pinned Shida after a moonsault

 

 

5. Yoshiko Tamura & Ayumi Kurihara -vs- Yuki Miyazaki & Tanny Mouse - (NEO Tag Title) [** 1/4]

--- The NEO Machine Guns getting a shot was a scary on paper going in. Sure they have been champs before and it was one of the better NEO Machine Guns periods, but still it's the NEO Machine Guns, a team I often have nightmares of. But here with all the history and being pure NEO it worked within this context. They were serious and it was about creating a last hurra for the long running team wanting to end their career as champs. But with such a ace team that Tamura & Kurihara have been that was going to be difficult and it was there the excitement came as the two clowns went into an all offensive going for the million different finishers they've used over the years with Kurihara as the main victim. The fans ate it up once they got to the main climax part and the match was good! Surprise surprise! And then when Miyazaki was going for her ultimate finisher - the top rope double-footstomp - Kurihara moved out of the way and NAILED Miyazaki with a dropkick to the face to get the victory out of nowhere and on a high note!

23:11 of 23:11 - Kurihara pinned Miyazaki after a dropkick to the face. Tamura & Kurihara retain the NEO Tag Title in their 5th defence.

 

COMMENTS: Undercard was the usual stuff, but the main event was one of the best matches to come from NEO this year.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

KENSUKE OFFICE on Samurai TV - August 29, 2010, Yoshikawa - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 29, 2010, Yoshikawa City Gym (1,815 fans)

 

1. Bear Fukuda -vs- Jun Nishikawa [1/2*]

--- ....a rookie gets a beating. Have I seen that before....?

7:43 of 7:43 - Fukuda pinned Nishikawa after a side slam

 

 

2. 7-Man Royal Rumble [3/4*]

--- A Rumble with the worthless and comedy guys. This could easily have been a 7-8 min match, but they had to keep it going closer to 20......

(9:14) - Manjimaru eliminated

(12:22) - Kikutaro eliminated

(13:29) - Go Sato eliminated

(14:38) - Kentaro Shiga eliminated

(15:35) - Namazu Man #2 eliminated

(16:04) - Chango eliminated

16:04 of 19:23 - Namazu Man #2 win the 7-Man Royal Rumble

 

 

3. Big Murakami -vs- Takashi Okita [* 1/2]

--- Murakami showing some aggression while Okita tries to show strenght. It's nice to see Murakami try and be like he used to be. A ruthless fighter, arrogant, bullying Okita around the arena as Okita tried to answer back while always falling short. And he soon found himself on the wrong side of a pinning situation.

11:18 of 11:18 - Murakami pinned Okita after a STO

 

 

4. Ultimo Dragon & Kento Miyahara & Satoshi Kajiwara -vs- NOSAWA Rongai & Minoru Fujita & Takeshi Minaminno [* 3/4]

--- Long fun style filler match. Plenty of action and back and forth fighting, but never an amazing bout or much of importance going on. Too much NOSAWA for that. The match should have ended at half the time, but at least NOSAWA jobbed to Dragon's reversed DDT.

19:01 of 19:16 - Dragon pinned NOSAWA after a Asai DDT

 

 

5. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima -vs- Takeshi Morishima & Yutaka Yoshie [**]

--- Then for the long Kensuke Office style main event. Plenty of good stuff of course. It did have the FAT~ness of Morishima & Yoshie! Nakajima got to land a few stiff shots and Sasuke likes to pound 'em down. One has seen all this before really. Good stuff, but kind of dragging and kind of old. No real reason to really get into it apart from cool wrestlers and what they do. Apart from that it's just another match without too much meaning other then being the main event before the boss wins with his wifes Northern Light Bomb on poor Yoshie.

22:45 of 22:45 - Sasaki pinned Yoshie after a Northern Light Bomb

 

 

COMMENTS: Average Kensuke Office wrestling. Way too long matches and decent fighting.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

Dragon Gate on GAORA TV - August 29 & September 3, 2010 - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 29, 2010, Hakata Star Lane (2,450 fans)

 

1. PAC -vs- Genki Horiguchi - (Open the Brave Gate Title Tournament - Round 1)

--- Quick and spectacular with PAC showing his speedy flying effectively beating Genki in the first round.

0:55 of 3:19 - PAC pinned Horiguchi after a mat-based Shooting Star Press

 

 

2. Kagetora -vs- Gamma - (Open the Brave Gate Title Tournament - Round 1)

--- Gamma ran himself straight into a flash cradle in little over 2 minutes....

0:36 of 2:15 - Kagetora pinned Gamma with a modified small package

 

 

3. Kzy -vs- Naoki Tanizaki - (Open the Brave Gate Title Tournament - Round 1)

--- Filled this one with highlights! A reversed Implant on a pile of chairs from Tanizaki and Kzy using chairs to smash over a seemingly unfaced Tanizaki before Kzy took the advantage anyway distracting him by throwing him a chair to open for the final blows ending very nicely with a double-arm piledriver!

1:15 of 5:52 - Kzy pinned Tanizaki after a double-arm piledriver

 

 

4. Susumu Yokosuka -vs- Super Shisa - (Open the Brave Gate Title Tournament - Round 1)

--- Not much trouble for Yokosuka who beat Shisa with his very lower ranked finisher the Mugen.

0:40 of 4:45 - Yokosuka pinned Shisa after the Mugen

 

 

5. PAC -vs- Kagetora - (Open the Brave Gate Title Tournament - Semi-Final) [**]

--- This one had the moves. Not too much fire, but competitve and exciting enough to make it work without the super craze from the fans. Kagetora did look like the winner several times inclduing landing the Ikkitousen, but PAC kept kicking out and when the flying started landing Kagetora was beat.

8:02 of 12:20 - PAC pinned Kagetora after a Shooting Star Press

 

 

6. Susumu Yokosuka -vs- Kzy - (Open the Brave Gate Title Tournament - Semi-Final) [* 1/2]

--- Didn't like the lazy way Yokosuka no-sold Kzy's armwork, but then again Kzy doesn't look like he could hurt a fly without his cheating, so this one relyed a lot of Kzy cheating. Arai even came in and threatend using his bottle, but that's when K-ness came out and beat up the drunkards leaving the match open for Yokosuka to win with his lariat.

7:43 of 9:48 - Yokosuka pinned Kzy after a lariat

 

 

7. PAC -vs- Susumu Yokosuka - (Open the Brave Gate Title Tournament - Final) [** 3/4]

--- The Shooting Star Press has been important for PAC in this tournament. He beat Horiguchi with a simple mat based SSP. Then he beat Kagetora with a top rope one, so what was he going to beat Yokosuka with?! The 360 SHOOTING STAR PRESS!!! Elementary thinking and it worked so well. Yokosuka controled things in a slow manner trying to get the fans behind him. I feel he looks too lazy and not enough intensity into his rutine, but when you've got a explosive wrestler like PAC up against you, you only enhance his big moments more. And PAC did land a regular SSP for a hot near fall. A reversed Firebird Splash for a even hotter near fall and then came the kill and PAC could crown himself with his 1st Dragon Gate singles belt!

16:46 of 22:15 - PAC pinned Yokosuka after a 360 Shooting Star Press to become the 20th Open the Brave Gate Champion.

 

 

September 3, 2010, Osaka Prefectural Gym #2 (1,800 fans)

 

8. Ryo Saito & Dragon Kid -vs- Shingo Takagi & Kagetora [** 1/4]

--- Dragon Kid's return match after getting injured earlier in the summer. And he showed he was in good shape bouncing around more then usual. I think some rest from the ring had done him good. And as you'd expect it was a happy Dragon Kid match even if Takagi tried to bully the kid down and take away from his moment. Wasn't enough to stop him and once in there with Kagetora the return kid landed the Ultra Huracanrana for the fan friendly win! Apart from that I liked the speed wrestling between Kagetora and Saito. Thet fit each other in a way. Hope they have a big match someday.

11:52 of 15:12 - Dragon Kid pinned Kagetora with a Ultra Huracanrana

 

 

9. Masato Yoshino -vs- Cyber Kong [** 1/2]

--- I enjoyed this one more then expected. A special non-title singles match between Open the Dream Gate Champion Yoshino and the muscle monster Cyber Kong. And it was solid built smaller guy against power guy match with Yoshino getting to look the champion he it managing to keep up with Cyber Kong's power while at the same time finding himself in the powerful grip of Cyber Kong when trying to fly him down. And what sealed the deal for me was the way it ended with Yoshino having him locked in the Sol Naciente with Cyber Kong trying to fight out lifting and dropping Yoshino until he was out of steam and fell to the mat with no choice but to quit to the company ace!

10:14 of 15:42 - Yoshino made Cyber Kong submit to the Sol Naciente

 

 

10. CIMA & Gamma & Genki Horiguchi © -vs- Naruki Doi & BxB Hulk & Naoki Tanizaki - (Open the Triangle Gate Title) [* 3/4]

--- Warriors vs World-1 for the Warriors trios title, but compared to the other happy matches on this show it didn't live up to the hype as well. Had it's moments sure, and I liked Hulk's work here, but overall it was a slight let-down for a bigger Dragon Gate bout. Ok action, but not super spectacular. Genki however gets confirmation that his Backslide From Heaven is still effective! But it needed some backfiring as Hulk accidentally smashed a kendo stick over Doi before the roll-up.

11:49 of 17:03 - Horiguchi pinned Doi with a backslide. CIMA & Gamma & Horiguchi retain the Open the Triangle Gate Title in their 2nd defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: The Open the Brave Gate Tournament established PAC as a singles player quite nicely! Plus you had Dragon Kid's comeback, a Triangle Gate match and Yoshino vs Cyber Kong to put smiles on your face.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

BJPW on Samurai TV - August 29, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 29, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (825 fans)

 

 

- RIP Kotetsu Yamamoto. A tribute to the longtime New Japan associate Yamamoto showing clips of him coaching the Big Japan wrestlers while giving him a 10-count salute with the wrestlers standing around the ring paying their respect.

 

 

1. Shinobu & Takumi Tsukamoto -vs- Ryuichi Kawakami & Kazuki Hashimoto [* 1/4]

--- Decent young man action with the focus being on the two rookies Hashimoto and Tsukamoto with Tsukamoto showing he can keep up with Hashimoto's progress beating him with a high dropkick.

10:53 of 10:51 - Tsukamoto pinned Hashimoto after a top rope dropkick

 

 

2. Brahman Kei & Brahman Shu -vs- Daikokubo Benkei & Yuichi Taniguchi [1/2*]

--- The twins blew black mist in Benkei's face getting him out of the way and then went on to beat up Taniguchi the way everyone should.

4:48 of 9:38 - Shu pinned Taniguchi with the Zombie King

 

 

3. Shadow WX & The Winger & Ryuji Yamakawa -vs- Jun Kasai & Jaki Numazawa & Kankuro Hoshino - (Barbed Wire Board Death Match) [* 1/4]

--- Yeah, yeah, yeah....we get it. Kasai & Numazawa likes to beat the crap out of that sorry piece of shit Yakakawa. Again and again because the shit don't know it's a bout time to call it quits. So as you can guess. Washed up trash wrestling. With a so-called happy ending of Yamakawa winning in the end taking care of Hoshino with the reversed Tiger Driver on some sharp metal.

13:04 of 13:03 - Yamakawa pinned Hoshino after a reversed Tiger Driver on a barbed wire board

 

 

4. Daisuke Sekimoto & Mammoth Sasaki -vs- Yoshito Sasaki & Yuji Okabayashi [** 1/2]

--- Keep on sluggin'!!!! Brutal lariat after devestating blow! That's what these guys are best at and that's what they did. I felt it took a while before it got interesting, but when it did it was mighty awesome! And king Sekimoto knows his Germans, something Okabayashi know by now.

16:10 of 16:09 - Sekimoto pinned Okabayashi with a German Suplex

 

 

5. Ryuji Ito & Takashi Sasaki & Abdullah Kobayashi -vs- Yuko Miyamoto & Isami Kodaka & Shuji Ishikawa - (Light Tubes Death Match) [* 3/4]

--- Light tube action with two guys who really want to establish themselfs as contenders for Ito's BJPW Death Match Title. Abby and Ishikawa! And the two tried extra hard to get that point across. The match itself was the usual trashy spectacular. Nothing new there. But of the two Abby got to be strongest landing a top rope elbow drop with light tubes to take it home.

21:21 of 21:19 - Kobayashi pinned Miyamoto after a top rope light tube elbow drop

 

 

COMMENTS: Not the most impressive Korakuen Hall show from Big Japan. The Sekimoto/Mammoth vs Sasaki/Okabayashi match got good, but the rest of the show was very average.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

DDT on Samurai TV - August 29, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 29, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,287 fans)

 

1. Dick Togo & Antonio Honda -vs- KUDO & Yasu Urano [* 1/2]

--- Fine little match. It wasn't like it felt like anything important, but the match was good on it's own with Dick and Urano handling most of the good stuff with Urano trying a bunch of cradles before finding himself locked in a Crippler Crossface having to tap. Probable my favourite moment of the match was Honda's his "D-D-T!" getting blocked and crashing very hard to the mat! Execellen execution on that spot!

8:24 of 15:35 - Togo made Urano submit to a Crippler Crossface

 

 

2. Kenny Omega -vs- Ryusuke Taguchi [**]

--- Kenny Omega facing New Japan's Taguchi knowing a win would make him a strong contender for Taguchi's tag partners IWGP Junior Heavywieght Title. The one that Prince Devitt is the king of. And he came across as a fairly strong contender. He'll always look a little over the top as a performer, but of course thats why he's also getting over so well with the DDT fans and also New Japan management to get gigs there. And Taguchi seemed motivated to work with him having a lot of fun in the ring. On the comedy side Omega was showing Taguchi how to really wiggle that thing before Taguchi just kicked that thing. And to make Omega the star of the match he got to beat the IWGP Junior Tag Champion Taguchi with that modified German Suplex and then told Devitt he wanted their September 3rd match to be a title match. His wish was granted.

15:13 of 15:10 - Omega pinned Taguchi with the Croyt's Wrath German Suplex

 

 

3. Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa © -vs- Shiro Koshinaka & Danshoku Dino -vs- MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba - (KO-D Tag Title; 3-Way) [** 1/4]

--- Aaaahhhh, so asstastic........ Dino and 'Mr.Ass' himself Shiro Koshinaka! I can back that! And Dino's ass got worked over quite a lot with nearly every offensive move towards him was aimed at that butt including 619'ing it! And there was so much butt wrestling in this one that I was in heaven. And what a end! Koshinaka top rope butt-butting Takagi straight into a honosexual Gotch-style piledriver and we got ourself some firm new tag champions! The Suicide Boyz was also there and the best parts MIKAMI came with was a Firebird Splash with a ladder laying there on the landing and Takagi catching MIKAMI jumping off the ladder and straight into a bomb!

13:55 of 13:55 - Dino pinned Takagi after a Gotch-style Danshoku Driver. Koshinaka & Dino become the 31st KO-D Tag Title.

 

 

4. Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie & Akihito -vs- Rion Mizuki & Takao Soma & Kazuki Hirata [1/2*]

--- Youth wrestling. Very little airing, but ishii continued to look good.

3:41 of 8:05 - Ishii pinned Hirata after a kneel kick

 

 

5. 7-Man GM Election Battle Royal [1/2*]

--- The actual Rumble only lasted 5 minutes or so after all the candidates and their representatives had made speaches and such. But no doubt of it, the best bit was Owashi being backed by the regular puroresu ring doctor (name escapes me, but he's the ring doctor for New Japan and almost all the promotions) with the doctor helping by spraying ice spray in Owashi rivals! It backfired though and Sakai won the match!

13:09 - Hikaru Sato made Michael Nakasawa submit to a cross-armbreaker

14:23 - Hikaru Sato made Tomimitsu Matsunaga submit to a cross-armbreaker

15:40 - Hishitango eliminated via Over The Top Rope

16:00 - Hikaru Sato made Yukihiro Abe submit to a armlock

17:17 - Hikaru Sato eliminated via Over The Top Rope

17:37 - Toru Owashi eliminated via Over The Top Rope

17:05 of 17:37 - Muscle Sakai win the 7-Man GM Election Battle Royal

 

 

6. HARASHIMA © -vs- Daisuke Sasaki - (KO-D Title) [** 1/4]

--- First defence for HARASHIMA and it's not exacly against a well known guy. But I feel they've done a strong job of getting Sasaki ready for this big challenge and finally get to show himself in a important match. He was like the 4th tire of the Italian 4 Horsemen and now he's getting a title shot with former team members Antonio Honda & Dick Togo rooting him on. And he worked super serious. Not the most explosive wrestler, but looked focused and wasn't going to get intimidated by the expeirenced DDT champion. And he did get his share offence including landing his specialized reversed DDT and also showing he could take it kicking out of the first Somato. But once the 20-min call was made HARASHIMA quickly landed another Somato to have it over with showing he's a champion and Sasaki still has a way to go even if he looked good here.

14:56 of 20:42 - HARASHIMA pinned Sasaki after a Somato double-knee attack to retain the KO-D Title in his 1st defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: The title matches was both good and fun! Omega vs Taguchi also, so not a bad show at all.

 

 

--PUNQ--