Guide to Japanese Wrestling 2010

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ZERO-ONE MAX on Samurai TV - September 8 & 9, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

September 8, 2010, Tokyo - Shinjuku FACE

 

1. Minoru Fujita & Madoka -vs- Rikiya Fudo & Yoshikazu Yokoyama

--- Clips of Madoka & Fujita beating up the new guy.....

1:35 of 13:12 - Madoka pinned Yokoyama after a Shooting Star Press

 

 

2. Yuzuru Saito -vs- Shota Takanishi - (Tenka-Ichi Junior Qualifier)

--- Two of Zero-One's young guys fighting over who joins the annual junior heavyweight Tenka-Ichi tournament later in the month. The match looked good in highlight form with Shota looking more and more like Hidaka and with 'KENTA Jr' getting the win dropping Takanishi down in dangerous angles!

2:50 of 9:24 - Saito pinned Takanishi after the SK-D

 

 

3. Ryuji Sai -vs- Kenta Kakinuma [*]

--- Clipped a lot with Kakinuma being very close on his German Suplex. But the rookie had to get beat up by a former Zero-One Champions and lost taking a hard top rope footstomp from Sai.

3:56 of 15:13 - Sai pinned Kakinuma after a top rope double-footstomp

 

 

4. Masato Tanaka -vs- Tyson Dux [1/2*]

--- Only some basic highlights of Tanaka beating up Dux. Didn't look all that special.

3:25 of 15:00 - Tanaka pinned Dux after a Sliding D

 

 

5. Shinjiro Otani -vs- Joe Legend [3/4*]

--- Not too exciting, but at least Otani got his happy win over the big foreigner bombing him down.

4:28 of 14:49 - Otani pinned Legend with a Spiral powerbomb

 

 

6. Ikuto Hidaka & Munenori Sawa © -vs- Takuya Sugawara & Kaijin Habu Otoko - (NWA Internationl Lightweight Tag Title) [* 3/4]

--- Hidaka & Sawa finally lose the tag belts they won back in 2008 holding them for over 2 years and 8 successful defences! And it's the rather odd team of Sugawara abd Okinawa Pro's Otoko with the snake guy being the one responsable for the victory! The match was ok, but didn't hit and top levels during the time it lasted. But at least they made the new champs look good.

13:50 of 20:06 - Otoko pinned Hidaka after a top rope bodypress. Sugawara & Otoko become the 9th NWA Internationl Lightweight Tag Champions.

 

 

September 9, 2010, Tokyo - Shinjuku FACE

 

7. Sonjay Dutt & Tyson Dux -vs- Ikuto Hidaka & Munenori Sawa [* 1/4]

--- This is the first time I've seen a man do the top rope moonsault double-footstomp! The move that joshi wrestler Hikari Fukuoka originated in the mid-90's. It's probable done many times before without me seeing it, but it was cool seeing Dutt do it. He was also the main man in this one bringing the highlights before landing that killer on Sawa.

7:54 of 15:56 - Dutt pinned Sawa after a moonsault footstomp

 

 

8. Takuya Sugawara & Kaijin Habu Otoko © -vs- Minoru Fujita & Madoka - (NWA International Lightweight Tag Title) [* 3/4]

--- Only a day after winning the belts Sugawara & Otoko has to defend them and it's against Fujita & Madoka. Not exactly a super team, but they got a fun match out of it with some near falls to kick things into gear until Sugawara Shiisanputa'ed Fujita twice for the win! And after the bout a bunch of guys came out to build hype for the Tenka-Ichi Junior Toiurnament starting in a few days.

15:42 of 20:56 - Sugawara pinned Fujita after a Shiisanputa. Sugawara & Otoko retain the NWA International Lightweight Tag Title in their 1st defence.

 

 

9. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka -vs- Kohei Sato & Ryuji Sai [* 1/2]

--- Clipped to bits, but with a lot of good action as the Zero-One top veterans face the top Zero-One trained wrestlers Sato & Sai. Plenty to like, but a full impression of the match was difficult to get. The old stars naturally won because we can't move on from the same old, can we?

6:22 of 20:02 - Otani pinned Sai after a Dragon Suplex

 

 

10. Bambi Killer © -vs- Daisuke Sekimoto - (Zero-One Title) [* 1/2]

--- For those who still can't belive that Bambi Killer became the champ in Zero-One, here the reign at least ends. And we finally have a worthy champion in Big Japan's Sekimoto! And he did so with Germans, of course! The match was half-ok. Not too spectacular outside of Sekimoto's normal stuff like his massive tope dive through the ropes and lariats. Bambi Killer doesn't have much of an aura in Japan so he didn't help matters much, so the match relied on Sekimoto's highlights. Looks like Kohei Sato wants the first shot!

13:30 of 14:09 - Sekimoto pinned Bambi with a German Suplex to become the 9th Zero-One Champion.

 

 

COMMENTS: None of the matches were super, but we got a couple of title changes and things are heating up for the junior tournament.

 

 

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REAL JAPAN on Samurai TV - September 8, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

September 8, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,637 fans)

 

1. Yujiro Yamamoto & Hayato Mashita -vs- Akifumi Saito & Sanchu Tsubakichi [*]

--- Tsubakichi & Saito showed that they're not the most technically wrestlers out there looking very awkward with the timing of their teamwork. Thankfully Yamamoto looked seriously badass as he took care of the fellow Battlarts fighter.

6:34 of 10:36 - Yamamoto made Tsubakichi submit to a ankle hold

 

 

2. Tiger Shark © -vs- Hikaru Sato - (Tenyru Project International Junior Title) [* 1/2]

--- Solid stuff. This was a match I'd wish they'd pushed a little bit more toward the end because it was a little too Tiger standard and should have applied more of Sato's Pancrase background to make Shark suffer more before retaining like he did.

8:00 of 13:12 - Shark pinned Sato after a top rope diving headbutt to retain the Tenyru Project International Junior Title in his 5th defence.

 

 

3. Ultimo Dragon & Yuki Ishikawa -vs- Masao Orihara & Black Shadow [* 1/4]

--- Had it's awkward moments with a half-messed up finishing count with Shadow kicking out and stuff, but it had fine parts too with Ishikawa backdrops and Ultimo style wrestling before he won with his Asai DDT. Orihara was less then pleased with Black Shadow after the match and they started fighting.

7:16 of 11:09 - Dragon pinned Shadow after a Asai DDT

 

 

4. Minoru Suzuki & Super Tiger II -vs- Great Sasuke & Super Rider [** 1/2]

--- Ok, this managed to have a rather great story. Suzuki wanted to humiliate this Super Rider and tried to unmask him and kept bossing Super Tiger to try the same. This eventually resulted in Tiger pulling off Rider's mask in a half-heel move. This pissed Rider off who continued to fight without the mask wanting revenge going aggressive to works. His time on top wasn't all that great as he was out of steam and didn't have a $1 worth of charisma, but the match still felt like it mattered and it's rare these days that a match gets a life like this. Super Rider still didn't have a chance even with the broken pride and Super Tiger flew in a kick to have the tired wrestler beat.

17:21 of 17:21 - Tiger pinned Rider after a Tornado Kick

 

 

5. Alexander Otsuka © -vs- Mitsuya Nagai - (Legends Title) [** 1/4]

--- This was very impact moves structured. Otsuka blew off most of his big moves early on including nearly winning several times with a German Suplex, spinebuster and top rope dropkick. Didn't do the trick which opened up for Nagai who started his big comeback with a nice released German and was back in the game from then on. And once kicks started landing Nagai could run in the knee to with the Legends Title!

12:33 of 12:32 - Nagai pinned Otsuka after a running kneelift to become the Legends Champion.

 

 

6. Genichiro Tenyru & Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Fujiwara -vs- Tiger Mask I & Tatsumi Fujinami & Gran Hamada [* 3/4]

--- Ahhh....the good old days. Wait! It's 2010 and guys that ruled back in the early 80's still rule! They can barely walk n'stuff, but they've got fighting hearts of gold. Tenryu couldn't stand on of his legs so that was a natural workingpoint of the bout as Tiger, Fujinami & Hamada all kept attacking Tenryu's bad knee. Luckily Tenryu had Choshu with his lariats and Fujiwara with his headbutts to save him and in a group effort Tenryu got his win back over the original Tiger Mask when they sent him into a Tenryu lariat. Tenryu had to be strechered out after the match.

12:19 of 12:19 - Tenryu pinned Tiger Mask after a lariat

 

 

COMMENTS: A fun show. Always rough, but with an honest crowd and a lot of cool fighting!

 

 

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NJPW on Samurai TV - September 10, 2010, Tokyo - (2 1/2 hrs)

 

 

September 10, 2010, Tokyo - Differ Ariake (800 fans)

 

1. Taichi Ishikari -vs- Kyosuke Mikami [1/2*]

--- Taichi crapping on a rookie and not really looking any better even if it was a one-sided bout.....dead boring win for Taichi.

8:40 of 8:39 - Ishikari made Mikami submit to a Boston Crab

 

 

2. Mitsuhide Hirasawa -vs- King Fale [3/4*]

--- Hirasawa has been wrestling for nearly 5 years. He's strong, but he still looks like a complete tool in the ring and Fale, who's no genious wrestler either with only a few months experience, looks to understand a lot more what he's doing in the ring. But look! Hirasawa has a finisher! A Rock Bottom!

7:03 of 7:02 - Hirasawa pinned Fale after a throat slam

 

 

3. Davey Richards & Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo & Jado -vs- Prince Devitt & Tiger Mask & Koji Kanemoto & Ryusuke Taguchi [* 3/4]

--- They are building up for Kanemoto's 20th Anniversary match which will be a singles match against Davey Richards. I guess they are building a 3rd generation Tiger Mask against a 3rd generation Dynamite Kid feel to it as the two had a very Sayama and DK style to it, but of course with 6 other men in the match there wasn't too much structure in this execpt give some good action until Richards beat Kanemoto for the 2nd time on this tour in tag matches.

14:12 of 14:12 - Richards pinned Kanemoto after a top rope suplex

 

 

4. Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue & Super Strong Machine -vs- Manabu Nakanishi & Tomoaki Honma & Tama Tonga [* 1/4]

--- New Japan heavyweights doing not too much to 'wow' the fans. Typical stuff with Inoue winning with a weak spear finisher over Tama. After the match they announced that Hirasawa is going on a excursion to learn more about his profession.

13:53 of 13:52 - Inoue pinned Tonga after a spear

 

 

5. Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka -vs- Tajiri & Kushida [*]

--- SMASH team gets smashed by Chaos!

11:22 of 11:17 - Yano pinned Kushida after a Oni Koroshi powerbomb

 

 

6. Hirooki Goto & Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson -vs- Shinsuke Nakamura & Yujiro Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito [* 1/2]

--- What I liked about this was how Naito and Bernard kept playing with Bernard chasing and blocking the little one from escaping his claws. And the end was ok with Anderson setting Nakamura up by Gun Stun'ing him leaving the job for Goto a simple one. But this was just a ordinary house show tag.

15:47 of 15:47 - Goto pinned Nakamura with a foot-arrangement cradle

 

 

7. Satoshi Kojima & Masato Tanaka -vs- Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi [* 1/2]

--- Tough day for Makabe facing both his challengers in the same match. Two hungry challengers. Makabe face Tanaka on September 26th and the winner there face Kojima on October 11th. There wasn't all that much standing out for this match besides that, but Makabe got to feel it with Tanaka landed a Sliding D and then came the Kojima lariat and the champ was dead.

15:34 of 15:34 - Kojima pinned Makabe after a lariat

 

 

COMMENTS: Small show and not too exciting. Differ Ariake isn't exactly the best place for hot action.

 

 

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AJPW on GAORA TV - September 10, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

September 10, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,900 fans)

 

1. Minoru Suzuki -vs- Minoru [1/2*]

--- Mostly a nothing match in it's feel-out phase.....and then Suzuki quickly went and did the Gotch-style piledriver for the simple win! Winning it quick and the way HE wanted it to.

4:12 of 4:51 - Suzuki pinned Minoru after a Gotch-style piledriver

 

 

 

2. BUSHI -vs- Mazada - (Mask vs Hair) [* 1/2]

--- Mask and hair on the line as the BUSHI vs Mazada feud continues. The match had a handfull nice impact spots but overall didn't feel all that important. But at least BUSHI got his happy win. Mazada naturally tried to leave without cutting the hair but was blocked by Hama. That didn't bother Mazada who walked to the other exit where NOSAWA waited for him. Those two are not friends at the moment and it ended up with NOSAWA beating up Mazada and letting BUSHI cut the hair!

8:31 of 13:27 - BUSHI pinned Mazada after a Phoenix Splash

 

 

 

3. Keiji Muto -vs- Masakatsu Funaki [** 1/4]

--- He might have wrestled as Great Muta on the big August 29th show, but this is the return of KEIJI MUTO after his injury. And it's against the guy he held the AJPW Tag Title with before he needed the time-out earlier in 2010. And they made it a face saving draw. 30-minutes with 2/3rds airing on GAORA TV. And it was a good match even if it was quite repetitive of Shining Wizards and various leg oriented submission holds. Nearly all of it was that. But these are loved characters so the fans were attracted to the match regardless what they did.

20:11 of 30:00 - Muto wrestled Funaki to a 30:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

4. Shuji Kondo & Hiroshi Yamato -vs- Kaz Hayashi & KAI [* 1/2]

--- The junior heavyweights are fighting for position. Now that Hayashi has equaled Fuchi's defence record, the others are fighting to be next and the one to dethrone him. Kondo looks like a strong contender winning here with lariats. And at ringside a challenger was sitting former champions and current unemployed wash-up Kikichi!!! He had wrestled on the show and got to beat rookie Nakanoue in a tag bout not really looking his best.

10:16 of 12:06 - Kondo pinned KAI after a lariat

 

 

- Prelim highlights...

 

 

 

5. Kohei Suwama & Masayuki Kono -vs- Manabu Soya & Seiya Sanada [** 1/2]

--- All Japan's current generation with the new All-Asia Tag Champions Soya & Sanada and Suwama who's regained the Triple Crown belt. And as always with a match with Suwama as boss. Hard slugging! And poor Soya really got to feel it here! Felt like most of the match was Soya taking a crap-beating from Suwama dealing more with kicking out then fighting back. And Suwama showed himself as the pissed leader of the new generation knocking Soya enough times to have him beat. He had a heated talk with his guys after the match including throwing the mic viciously into the crowd!!! He gathered himself and celebrated with the wrestlers, but it's clear there is a lot of frustration going on.

18:42 of 24:23 - Suwama pinned Soya after a lariat

 

 

COMMENTS: The Suwama/Kono vs Soya/Sanada had it's moments and felt like a fight while it was fun seeing Keiji Muto back in action. Almost as fun as watching loser Mazada get a haircut!

 

 

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DRAGON GATE on COMM - September 10, 2010, Broxbourne, UK - (2 1/2 hrs)

 

 

September 10, 2010, Broxbourne, UK - Broxbourne Civic Hall (850 fans)

 

1. Cyber Kong -vs- Joey Hayes [*]

--- Joey didn't have a prayer. Kong was just way too big for the little bugger. Like a brick wall unable to knock down. And Hayes got so confused about the hopelessness that he ended up doing a strangely mis-timed dropkick in there too to help him look even more hopeless. And once Hayes didn't have any steam left Kong threw him a round a few times and made the cover.....

8:18 of 9:07 - Kong pinned Hayes after a powerbomb

 

 

2. Mark Haskins -vs- Lion Kid [* 1/4]

--- Little Lion Kid trying to be a cool flyer, but unable to impress with his style. Haskins is more the standard English technician breaking the little one lim by lim. So that was the match. Lion Kid trying to counter with the fancy and Haskins showing he was surperior in every way without really impressing all the well himself. But at least what he did looked like wrestling. Whatever Lion Kid did looked bloody amateurish. The match did get better during the later stanges, but it went too long and the crowd seemed to want it over with while the wrestlers was trying to make it way too competitive with all sorts of counters and stuff until Heskins managed to counter into a Tombstone and beat the Kid he should have beat 10 minutes ago.

16:30 of 15:23 - Haskins pinned Lion Kid after a Tombstone piledriver

 

 

3. Shingo Takagi -vs- Susumu Yokosuka [* 3/4]

--- Long special Dragon Gate singles match. Not a super bout for those used to watching these kinds of matches from the promotions, but probable a treat for the like british crowd there to witness it live. But for me who watch these on such a regular basis it was their usual formula pacing it for the UK crowd delivering little ground in the early stanges and the usual finisher mania at the end without it really feeling it too much making it a fairly standard streached-out bout from these two with Shingo being the one to pick up the win with the Last Falconry.

21:18 of 20:23 - Takagi pinned Yokosuka with the Last Falconry

 

 

4. Naruki Doi -vs- YAMATO [* 1/2]

--- I couldn't see how this was as awesome as the crowd felt, but I guess they were determined to love it and I'm just so damn used to seeing these guys and their standard formula and the lack of structure to their work. It was a easy digestable filler singles bout the way it was done. Easy to eye if one don't expect too much of an effort with Doi going out the stronger of the two with a Bakatare one-leg dropkick.

19:36 of 18:33 - Doi pinned YAMATO after a Bakatare sliding kick

 

 

5. Masato Yoshino & BxB Hulk & PAC -vs- CIMA & Masaaki Mochizuki & Dragon Kid [* 1/2]

--- Tha DG action massive! And again it's probable real cool for the live crowd seeing this, but it's not in any way different to what they usually do on a narmal action day without any purpose then to entertain. And execution wasn't super either which kind of dragged down the experience for a experienced Dragon Gate viewer. But at least PAC after some hessitation got the happy home win to make the moment british!

20:30 of 21:41 - PAC pinned Kid after a reversed Firebird Splash

 

 

September 11, 2010, St. Ives, UK - Burgess Civic Hall (685 fans)

 

6. Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre Jr -vs- Robbie Dynamite & Micky Whiplash - (IPW:UK Tag Team Title) [* 1/2]

--- Bonus match on the DVD. An all british title bout. I'll be quick with this one. A lot of the work felt a little too light for my taste, but it had a lot of cool teamwork and fancy stuff, some too fancy for them to do well, but overall a decent event where we also got a title change and the All-Stars took the belts off the Leaders.

16:50 - Whiplash pinned Sabre after a double-team facebuster. Dynamite & Whiplash become the 8th IPW:UK Tag Champions.

 

 

COMMENTS: The Dragon Gate crew coming to the UK showing what they usually do and give some of the local tallent space to show what they have to offer. Ok experience, but hardly anything super.

 

 

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DRAGON GATE on COMM - September 11, 2010, St. Ives, UK - (3 hrs)

 

 

September 11, 2010, St. Ives, UK - Burgess Civic Hall (685 fans)

 

1. Cyber Kong -vs- Marty Scurll [* 1/4]

--- Scurll put up a better challenge against Cyber Kong then what Hayes did the day before, but he still didn't stand the chance of the Cyper power!

10:15 of 9:37 - Kong pinned Scurll after a powerbomb

 

 

2. Masato Yoshino -vs- Lion Kid [*]

--- ....I don't know. Yoshino should have killed and bent the kid within a few short minutes and the rest felt so needless.....

12:49 of 12:29 - Yoshino made Lion Kid submit to the Sol Naciente

 

 

3. Susumu Yokosuka -vs- Masaaki Mochizuki [**]

--- Then for the grand old man Mochizuki to look strong against Yokosuka most of the way only to fall victim for Yokosuka's lariats and then the Mugen to lose. This ended up being alright. Never a super intense fight, but executed well enough to keep it alive and growing with the moment chosen smartly until the old guy was sadly beat.

16:49 of 18:19 - Yokosuka pinned Mochizuki after the Mugen

 

 

4. BxB Hulk & Naruki Doi -vs- Shingo Takagi & YAMATO [* 3/4]

--- Pure Dragon Gate flashfest. The usual finishers and fun, but nothing trully standing out except for Shingo's drivers looking real good and Hulk following up that formula with his Emerald Frosion versions until he had Takagi beat in what became your standard DG action bout.

21:25 of 21:29 - Hulk pinned Shingo after the H Thunder

 

 

5. PAC & Mark Haskins -vs- CIMA & Dragon Kid [* 1/2]

--- Dragon Gate UK vs Dragon Gate Japan, and they struggled to get the boost out of this bout. Felt very ordinary most of the way with a nice little finisher sprint at the end where Dragon Kid landed the Ultra Huracanrana, CIMA landed the Meteora, Haskins the SSP and then PAC the 360 version to get the happy home win.

22:50 of 23:38 - PAC pinned Dragon Kid after a 360 Shooting Star Press

 

 

6. Extreme Dean -vs- Styx [* 1/4]

--- The opening bout of the show as a DVD bonus and Extreme Dean and Styx have a decent mild spotfest with some real nice moves to help warm the fans up for the rest of the show. Styx had the match, but wasted the chance and Dean got the win in the end.

12:31 of 11:48 - Dean pinned Styx after the British Fly

 

 

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

 

7. Naruki Doi & PAC & Mark Haskins -vs- Super Shisa & Stalker Ichikawa & Takuya Tamakomai [*]

--- Bonus match fopr the DVD. The opening bout of the August 15, 2010 Nagoya show done in a simple one distance camera production showing the british guys along with Doi taking on the likes of Shisa, Stalker and rookie Tamakomai. And a lot of Stalker clowning. Easy fun match with some hot moves mixed in before PAC ended it with the hottest of bout bout. A 360 SSP!

11:13 of 11:13 - PAC pinned Tamakomai after the 360 Shooting Star Press

 

 

IPW:UK - April 4, 2010, Sittingbourne, Kent, UK

 

8. Mark Haskins -vs- PAC [**]

--- And the final bonus match is the two Dragon Gate regulars from the UK in a singles match from an IPW:UK show. And it was a cool match. Some typical modern british along with the superflying leading to a good end and a fairly positive experience and a nice display of what these two brits can do with Haskins in a mild surprise got the victory blocking the 360 SSP and getting the win with a Gotch-style Tombstone.

19:31 - Haskins pinned PAC after a cradle Tombstone piledriver

 

 

COMMENTS: Ordinary Dragon Gtae show except that it was hosted in England.

 

 

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NOAH on G+SN - September 11, 2010, Tokyo - (2 1/2 hrs)

 

 

September 11, 2010, Tokyo - Differ Ariake (1,800 fans)

 

1. Takashi Suguira & Ricky Marvin -vs- Takeshi Morishima & Masao Inoue [* 1/2]

--- The fans picked the matches pulling ropes before the show and the only tag match of the event ended up being this. Also special about this was that Kentaro Shiga was doing referee duty and he had to learn how to do his new job correctly with speeds of the count being quick and slow. He worked real well as a comedy referee, but I think Shiga can also work well as a serious referee if they want to. Easy fun match with Inoue being the shit to beat....

14:02 of 14:04 - Sugiura made Inoue submit to a ankle hold

 

 

2. Yoshinari Ogawa -vs- Shuhei Taniguchi [* 1/4]

--- And injured Takeshi Rikio does the ring annoucing! With a big pink bow-tie! Old sly fox Ogawa against loser heavyweight Taniguchi. Not an amazing match. Very technical based with the standard strikes. The end was cool as Taniguchi had Ogawa locked tightly in a sleeper, Ogawa managed to knock them down and lay on top of Taniguchi with the sleeper still locked in pinning him that way.

11:25 of 11:25 - Ogawa pinned Taniguchi with a sleeper cut-back cradle

 

 

3. Takuma Sano -vs- KENTA [3/4*]

--- Wow, poor KENTA! Ended up being a total squash as heavyweight Sano murdered him with devestating blows! The ending one being particularly nasty as Sano spinkicked the junior heavyweight star straight in the face beating him in less then 3 minutes! KENTA did not deserve that!

2:47 of 2:41 - Sano pinned KENTA after a sawate kick to the face

 

 

4. Go Shiozaki -vs- Kotaro Suzuki [** 1/2]

--- One can say that Suzuki was more awarded in his bout with a heavyweight then KENTA was. Suzuki got to look competitive a while with the heavyweight! But at the start it didn't look good for Suzuki as Shiozaki was throwing him around everywhere. Out on the apron side, floor, railings, rampway and so on, hurting Suzuki's hurting knee and also just to show who's the heavyweight and who's not. But after managing to hang in there with the heavyweight Suzuki managed to get his big moves in! Including the Blue Destiny aswell as other hard blows! And Shiozaki's kick outs was probable some of his weakest in history. Those shoulders wasn't even off the mat! So basically Suzuki should have won, but instead he met one too many lariats before getting Go Flasher'ed. They looked kind of tired and the lariat formula did get a bity old after a while so the end could have been better, but overall it was a real good bout.

22:23 of 22:50 - Shiozaki pinned Suzuki after the Go Flasher

 

 

5. Akitoshi Saito -vs- Mohammed Yone - (Yone's 15th Anniversary Match) [*]

--- Slowing the pace down with a real slow and stubborn heavyweight fight celebrating 15 years of Mohammed Yone. The last few years hasn't been anything to celebrate, that's for sure, and as a opponent he get someone who's even more washed up then he is as he battle the Misawa-murderer Saito. Very slow impact strike based bout. And they landed the strikes so slow that they had a 3 minute match streached out 15 minutes. The killer finisher was a good way to end it as Saito dropped Yone head first on a suplex into a piledriver type move.

15:29 of 15:01 - Saito pinned Yone with the Death Brand

 

 

6. Yoshinobu Kanemaru -vs- Taiji Ishimori [* 3/4]

--- Fairly good, but very standard junior heavyweight action. Not ment to be anything special other then a quick speedy actioned match as the GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion face someone who wants that belt off him. But while Ishimori got to look competitive with the champ he didn't make a better application for a title shot after this getting rolled up very simply with a small package counter by Kanemaru.

11:47 of 11:48 - Kanemaru pinned Ishimori with a small package

 

 

7. Atsushi Aoki -vs- Genba Hirayanagi [* 1/2]

--- Ha ha ha, this became the main event after the lottery. Genba in a singles bout. And you can be sure that Genba was a very sneaky staling for time and using all the trick he know to keep the better wrestler off. Pure heel stupidity bout! Fun, had it been a opening show bout, but this was the main event and not exactly how I'd end a show. At least Aoki made the pig submit!

16:43 of 16:44 - Aoki made Hirayanagi submit to a cross-armbreaker

 

 

COMMENTS: Not every match delivered to it's potential, but it was a fun concept and we got some different matches then what we usual would get. Shiozaki vs Suzuki was the clear quality bout on the show. And the KENTA was the WTF bout.

 

 

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FREEDOMS on COMM - September 12, 2010, Ichinoseki - (1 3/4 hrs)

 

 

September 12, 2010, Ichinoseki City Gym U Dome Sub Arena (433 fans)

 

1. Kikujiro Umezawa & Shuou Fujiwara -vs- Rui Hiugaji & Daichi Sasaki [*]

--- Mostly unknowns with M.Pro's Hiugaji being the biggest name in there while Uemzawa got to be the biggest wrestler in there powering down a helpless Sasaki for the win.

11:36 of 11:39 - Umezawa pinned Sasaki after a Jackhammer

 

 

2. HIROKI & Shinobu -vs- Onryo & Ken45 [3/4*]

--- Sadly only a light-hearted filler tag where nobody stepped up to the task of delivering anything more then some simple amusing wrestling before Shinobu landed the SSP to beat 45.

14:42 of 14:41 - Shinobu pinned Ken after a Shooting Star Press

 

 

3. Yuko Miyamoto & Takuya Sugawara -vs- The Winger & Ricky Fuji [3/4*]

--- Long low-effort tag with Fuji bringing the cool. Not enough to fill the entire match, but at least enough for the bout to have some value before Fuji got his ass revealed and counted out.

16:07 of 16:10 - Miyamoto & Sugawara defeated Winger & Fuji by Count Out

 

 

4. Madoka -vs- Kamui [*]

--- A lot of this match was totally uninteresting. It had been like that all show. Only a few highlights working in a slow house show manner. Here the highlights came at the very end with a couple of really near falls until Madoka locked the arm for submission.

14:25 of 14:26 - Madoka made Kamui submit to a cross-armbreaker

 

 

5. Mammoth Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa -vs- Daisuke Sekimoto & Kankuro Hoshino [* 1/4]

--- Finally something to not feel bored about, but it was no classic from these hard working men either. Only a decent tag with them trading the moments and workload until it was time to end it with a Splash Mountain.

16:23 of 16:23 - Ishikawa pinned Hoshino with a Splash Mountain

 

 

6. Takashi Sasaki & Jun Kasai & Great Sasuke -vs- GENTARO & Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei [* 1/2]

--- Easy fun tag with Sasuke taking care of most of the early part with flowers in his teeth abd getting his leg worked over until FREEDOMS own Kasai & Sasaki took over the later stages of the match beating up the twins to the crowds joy.

21:15 of 21:14 - Sasaki pinned Kei with a Chokka-Style D-Geist

 

 

COMMENTS: Nothing special about this show. Only a show out in the districts.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NOAH on Samurai TV - September 13, 2010, Akita - (2 hrs)

 

 

September 13, 2010, Akita Furusatomura Dome Theater (800 fans)

 

1. Akira Taue -vs- Takashi Okita [1/4*]

--- Quick nothing opener so that they could get the Taue match out of the way and poor Okita losing unimpressively.

4:42 of 4:42 - Taue pinned Okita with a small package

 

 

2. Yoshinobu Kanemaru -vs- Kentaro Shiga [1/2*]

--- Boring shit with Kanemaru thankfully beating the wash-up.

8:07 of 8:08 - Kanemaru pinned Shiga with a backslide

 

 

3. Yoshinari Ogawa -vs- Masao Inoue [1/2*]

--- Are they trying to kill all interest in the show straight away with a series of hopeless singles bouts?!

10:27 of 10:27 - Ogawa pinned Inoue with a schoolboy

 

 

4. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima -vs- Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin [*]

--- Simple house show action. Not too exciting, but digestable enough with Sasaki naturally raming down Marvin for the win.

10:45 of 10:45 - Sasaki pinned Marvin after a lariat

 

 

5. KENTA & Atsushi Aoki -vs- Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi [* 1/4]

--- More quiet wrestling. Lightweight junior heavyweight action with KENTA's top rope double-footstomp seemingly being the only move that really looked painful. The match kept going back and forth but any other dangerous holds was either very low impact or blocked before ever happening. Safe match on a non-important show with KENTA making Genba quit to the Texas Cloverleaf.

16:21 of 16:23 - KENTA made Hirayanagi submit to a Texas Cloverleaf

 

 

6. Mohammed Yone & Shuhei Taniguchi -vs- Go Shiozaki & Tamon Honda [* 1/4]

--- Follows the shows trend. Quiet arena, basic wrestling, and little to remember. Yano beats Honda with a fine top rope legdrop.

18:49 of 18:50 - Yone pinned Honda after a top rope legdrop

 

 

7. Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith & Bobby Fish -vs- Takashi Suguira & Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano [3/4*]

--- Yeah, it really is that kind of show. It's the heavyweigth stars turn to have....just a match. A boring, non-happening affair and then move on to the next arena on the tour making sure even less fans will show up the next time the guest Akita. Seriously, this was unbelivably tame for a main event. Simple non-climatic win for Bison.

15:11 of 15:11 - Smith pinned Sano after a Styles Clash

 

 

COMMENTS: Only a super boring house show of absolute nothing interesting happening.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

KYUSHU PRO on COMM - September 14, 2010, Fukuoka - (1 3/4 hrs)

 

 

September 14, 2010, Fukuoka (464 fans)

 

1. Yosuke Nakasu -vs- Shinya Matsuzaki [1/2*]

--- Not much of interest really. Nakasu the more established beats the rookie the way it's always done.

8:57 of 8:57 - Nakasu pinned Matsuzaki after a top rope Swanton

 

 

2. Shinsuke Jet Wakabata & Kurumen Hirose -vs- Typhoon #12 & Typhoon #13 [3/4*]

--- Mostly just there with it's silly, weak stuff, but had a couple of short decent moments without it making the match much better. The storms lose like they usually do.

11:59 of 11:59 - Wakabata pinned Typhoon #12 with a top rope cross-bodypress

 

 

3. Yuto Aijima & Diablo & Kurokage -vs- Ryota Chikuzen & Taka Michinoku & Asosan [* 1/4]

--- Easy tag with Taka joining his own protege Chikuzen and volcano head Asosan to take on a bunch of heel brawlers. The roles was clear, but the match didn't offer anything special. It's 2010 and the indy world so.....yeah. Wrestlers doesn't have much to offer anymore. The match ended when someone hit Asosan in the back with a foreign object making it easy for Kurokage to end it.

16:15 of 16:15 - Kurokage pinned Asosan after a lariat

 

 

4. Mentai Kid -vs- Shiori Asahi [* 1/2]

--- Mentai Kid getting the big push! After a long struggle with Asahi close to dominating him, Mentai Kid survive the beating and got the big comeback landing whatever big moves he knew including the Firebird Splash which Asahi kicked out of. The strong win came when Mentai landed a Phoenix Splash. Well he landed a little too much down on Asahi's legs, but still landed it and got the pin to the Kyoshu fans delight. The match wasn't all that exciting at firsty and there was a lot of dead time.

22:24 of 22:27 - Mentai pinned Asahi after a Phoenix Splash

 

 

COMMENTS: Not too impressed, but at least they gave their own guy the hugh win.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

BJPW on COMM - September 15, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

September 15, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (251 fans)

 

1. HIROKI -vs- Atsushi Ohashi [3/4*]

--- Basic wrestling to open the show. Never exciting really. Maybe on the two Tiger roll-ups Ohashi did, but HIROKI was pretty much in control and took this one home easy.

8:53 of 8:51 - HIROKI made Ohashi submit to a Camel Clutch

 

 

2. Yuichi Taniguchi & Masato Inaba -vs- Daikokubo Benkei & Ryuichi Kawakami [1/4*]

--- ....we move on to the next one.....

11:24 of 11:22 - Taniguchi pinned Kawakami with a schoolboy

 

 

3. Yumi Ohka & Cherry -vs- Gami & Moeka Haruhi [1/2*]

--- WAVE girls coming in to help fill out the card with a match not worth anyones money. Ohka beats the loser.

9:58 of 9:56 - Ohka pinned Haruhi with a Tiger Suplex

 

 

4. Abdullah Kobayashi & Ryuji Yamakawa & The Winger -vs- Yuko Miyamoto & Isami Kodaka & Mototsugu Shimizu - (Light Tubes/Barbed Wire Board Death Match) [*]

--- A few board bumps, but otherwise very average garbage stuff with the veterans mostly beating on Shimizu. At least until Abby put him out of his misery. Or our misery.....

18:42 of 18:41 - Kobayashi pinned Shimizu after the Koba Driver

 

 

5. GENTARO & Mammoth Sasaki & Kamui -vs- Shuji Ishikawa & Kankuro Hoshino & Daiasuke Masaoka - (Hardcore) [* 1/2]

--- The reason this was fun was that they didn't waste any time. Went straight trying to kill. Masaoka took a dive off the balcony and there was several good moves executed to get the fans happy! Sasaki was especially aggressive and thankfully murdered Hoshino the way he's know for.

9:14 of 8:44 - Sasaki pinned Hoshino after a brainbuster on chairs

 

 

6. Yuji Okabayashi & Shinobu & Kazuhiro Tamura & Masato Shibata -vs- Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshito Sasaki & Kazuki Hashimoto & Takumi Tsukamoto [**]

--- A fun tag with a cool double-splash from Shibata & Tamura and quite a few others bringing it in periods making it quite enjoyable. Much more then the show had been up to this time. Okabayashi was ruthless at the end a liked to kill one of the rookie boys ending it with a big splash.

13:21 of 13:19 - Okabayashi pinned Tsukamoto after a top rope bodypress

 

 

7. Ryuji Ito & Takashi Sasaki & Shadow WX -vs- Jun Kasai & Jaki Numazawa & Mens Teioh - (Light Tubes, Glass & Thumbtacks Death Match) [* 1/4]

--- Violence! With the same old guys crushing some glass and tubes along with filling the ring with thumbtacks. Good fun for the hardcore fans but nothing you need to go out of your way to see. Ito is still the ones pushed to the moon as their main hardcore king beating Numzawa here.

19:13 of 19:10 - Ito pinned Numazaki after a top rope light tube bodypress

 

 

COMMENTS: Had some highlights, but in reality it was a small show with the effort to match.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

Dragon Gate on GAORA TV - September 17 & 21, 2010 - (2 hrs)

 

 

September 17, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,900 fans)

 

1. Yasushi Kanda & Kzy -vs- Gamma & Dragon Kid -vs- BxB Hulk & Naoki Tanizaki - (3-Way) [* 1/4]

--- Quick 3-way to set up more confussion between Hulk and Tanizaki as Tanizaki got revenge for Hulk's mis-haps in the Triangle Gate match on September 3rd. He hit Hulk deliberatly so he'd lose, so naturally there was fighting between the two after the bout until Dr.Muscle came out and Implanted Hulk trying to shake hands with both Tanizaki and Hulk with both guys refusing. The drukards Kazy & Kanda happily shaked Dr.Muscle's hand.

8:09 of 8:11 - Kzy pinned Hulk after Tanizaki hot Hulk with the blue box

 

 

2. Susumu Yokosuka & K-ness © -vs- Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi - (Open the Twin Gate Unified Tag Title) [**]

--- Whats going on with Tanizaki?! He just went in a turned on his World-1 pals Implanting Yoshino and then he Implanted Yokosuka too and pulled him on top of a dead Yoshino so that the champs would retain. This was so he'd officially join another group. The one with Kzy, Kanda and Arai. As for the match it was a standard Dragon Gate battle. Lacked that little extra to bring you in as it seemed to be all about the end and just a lot of random Dragon Gate stuff before that happend.

21:22 of 21:25 - Yokosuka pinned Yoshino after a Implant from Tanizaki. Yokosuka & K-ness retain the Open the Twin Gate Unified Tag Title in their 3rd defence.

 

 

September 21, 2010, Tochigi City Bunka Center (570 fans)

 

3. Gamma & Ryo Saito -vs- Masato Yoshino & BxB Hulk [* 1/2]

--- A lot of Gamma spit and Hulk's humilation sinking into everyones jobber as he was Double Cross'ed by Saito. Hulk just can't get a break these days, can he?!

11:01 of 14:28 - Saito pinned Hulk after the Double Cross

 

 

4. Yasushi Kanda & Naoki Tanizaki -vs- Susumu Yokosuka & K-ness [*]

--- The match execution was Dragon Gate light. This match was mostly significent for Tanizaki now wrestling as a heel with his new group helping them along smashing boxes over Yokosuka's head so that Kanda could get the win over the Open the Twin Gate Unified Tag Champions in this non-title bout.

12:31 of 14:22 - Kanda pinned Yokosuka after a Pedigree

 

 

5. CIMA & Dragon Kid & Masaaki Mochizuki -vs- Shingo Takagi & YAMATO & Kagetora [* 1/2]

--- Not really anything more then a ok action match from these guys. It was a small show anyway so they didn't feel they needed to do anything special with it. At least time flew by quite fast as it was easy digestable stuff they did before CIMA planted Kagetora down with the Meteora.

14:04 ofd 19:43 - CIMA pinned Kagetora after the Meteora

 

 

COMMENTS: Not too many matches that you need to check out. Most important thing here was Naoki Tanizaki turning heel.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[Snitsky's back acne]

Anyone with knowledge of Japanese culture know why they announce wrestlers surnames first and then first names i.e Kobashi Kenta?

 

I've always wondered.

[PUNQ]

STYLE-E on COMM - September 18, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

September 18, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-kiba 1st RING

 

1. Taro Yamada & Kotaru Nasu & Tatsuhiko Yoshino -vs- Takao Soma & Hiroyo Tsumaki & ? [*]

--- Young guys having a decent action match even if the skills and experience isn't all there. At least they tried with the limited stuff they knew to have a serious bout until Style-E's own Nasu had to submit rookie the rookie way.

9:46 - Soma made Nasu submit to a single leg crab

 

 

2. Daisuke & Daisuke Sasaki -vs- Hide Kubota & Yasu Kubota [* 1/4]

--- Double Daisuke vs Double Kubota! And with Daisuke as his partner Sasaki gets revenge over the brothers after the loss on the previous Style-E show. Fine enough time-waster.....

8:36 - Sasaki pinned Yasu after a modified reversed DDT

 

 

3. Minoru Fujita & Chango & Hanimoto Oyaji -vs- KUDO & Chou-un Shiryu & ? [*]

--- Oyaji....a masked Amigo Suzuki? Probable. Not sure who the guy on the other team was. Looked like a younger Jaki Numazawa in style. As for the match. Ok wild at times, but with a hint of indy light-heartedness keeping it from meaning anything. Fujita gets to be the king down in the little indies and beats the unknown.

12:36 - Fujita pinned ? after a wrist-clutch Northern Light Bomb

 

 

4. Masato Shibata & Toshihiro Sueyoshi -vs- Kyosuke Sarutobi & Shoichi Hattori [3/4*]

--- Too gimmicky. Shibata & Sueyoshi had 10 minutes to win the match with a clock ticking and a alarm going off the last 3 minutes, or their friend would get it! So they won in less then 10 minutes and the crowd booo'ed.

9:44 - Shibata pinned Hattori after a lariat

 

 

5. Shinjiro Otani -vs- Kazuhiro Tamura [* 3/4]

--- Tamura getting a big challenge for himself in Zero-One star Shinjiro Otani. And you knew little Tamura was way over his head on this one. Otani would control things as you'd imagine with Tamura just trying to stay in there getting in a few submissions to equalize a little. But Otani was throwing him in nasty ways likle on that released German and soon enough found himself Spiral Bombed.

16:20 - Otani pinned Tamura with as Spiral Bomb

 

 

6. Masashi Takeda © -vs- Yukihiro Abe - (Style-E Title) [** 1/4]

--- Takeda back from his eye injury to defend the Style-E belt against DDT regular Abe. And it became a good bout even with the small indy feel to it. A Shin-kiba show is a big show for Style-E so it was like their Wreslemania or something and they delivered a big small-style main event including a apron spot where Abe was dropped hard on the side! Abe was on though and gave the champ his share of the punishment using the speed to gain the advantage. But Takeda even with a bad eye is bigger and badder then Abe would suplex him to death to retain the belt.

12:45 - Takeda pinned Abe with a Dragon Suplex to retain the Style-E Title.

 

 

COMMENTS: Two matches to end the show which was worth it. The reast was average stuff.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NOAH on Samurai TV - September 18, 2010, Osaka - (2 hrs)

 

 

September 18, 2010, Osaka Prefectural Gym #2 (1,500 fans)

 

1. Yoshinari Ogawa & Kentaro Shiga -vs- Akira Taue & Masashi Aoyagi

--- Old guys, tired old action.....

2:03 of 10:11 - Shiga pinned Aoyagi with a backslide

 

 

2. Shuhei Taniguchi -vs- Kento Miyahara [1/2*]

--- Taniguchi German Suplexing Miyahara apart....

3:15 of 9:21 - Taniguchi pinned Miyahara with a German Suplex

 

 

3. Katsuhiko Nakajima -vs- Masao Inoue [1/4*]

--- There was nothing Nakajima could do to make a Inoue match looks good. At least he was the one that got to fool Inoue and not the other way around.

2:53 of 9:35 - Nakajima pinned Inoue with a cradle cut-back

 

 

4. Yutaka Yoshie -vs- Makoto Hashi

--- Only clips of Yoshie taking care of a helpless Hashi....

2:16 of 11:54 - Yoshie pinned Hashi after a top rope bodypress

 

 

5. Kensuke Sasaki & Go Shiozaki -vs- Takashi Sugiura & Mohammed Yone [* 1/2]

--- Didn't need to be this long as they could have communicated just as much in a match half the lenght. Heavyweight pounders with focus on Shiozaki vs Sugiura before their title match on September 26th. And a lot of Sasaki doing his stale stiffin' and beating jobber to the stars Yone with a Northern Light Bomb-lite.

22:04 of 22:05 - Sasaki pinned Yone after a Northern Light Bomb

 

 

6. KENTA & Atsushi Aoki & Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin -vs- Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi & Bobby Fish [* 3/4]

--- Juniors unite! Or break-up? This big 8-man tag was to build tention between Suzuki and his old tag pals that he used to hang with before he got injured. But they are not as friendly anymore and after a few difference of opinion and back-firings Kanemaru turned on Suuzki after the bout because Suzuki cost him the win accidentally elbowing Kanemaru resulting in KENTA rolling the GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion for the pin. Ok house show after, but no classic.

23:39 of 23:40 - KENTA pinned Kanemaru with a schoolboy

 

 

7. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano © -vs- Bison Smith & Akitoshi Saito - (GHC Tag Title Decison) [* 1/2]

--- The GHC Tag Titles have been vacated because of death in Keith Walker's family. Not sure how the NOAH office liked how he dropped their tour and title defence. Business first in the wrestling business! Regardless Smith came and tags with his old tag partner Saito to take on the 2010 Global Tag League winners Takayama & Sano to decide the next champions. And this was nothing important to them, was it? Really dull fighting. Trying to be stiff and not really being it. Not compared to their normal standard. Not many big moves. Smith did the Iron Bomb. Sano did the sawate kick. And Takayama did the German. And that was almost it. Takayama & Sano are the new GHC Tag Champions. I'm not all that thrilled, but after Smith & Saito's long 2008-2009 reign I'm glad it wasn't them that took it again.

21:29 of 21:31 - Tamayama pinned Smith with a German Suplex. Takayama & Sano become the 21st GHC Tag Champions.

 

 

COMMENTS: Small show and not even the important matches was important to them.

 

 

--PUNQ--