Guide to Japanese Wrestling 2010

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Kaientai Dojo on GAORA TV - January 11, 2010, Chiba - (2 hrs)

 

 

January 11, 2010, Chiba City Citizen Hall (416 fans)

 

1. YOSHIYA & Handsome JOE & Ryuichi Sekine & Yuu Yamagata -vs- Kunio Toshima & Boso Boy Raito & Randy Takuya & Kim Nam Seok [* 1/4]

--- They make YOSHIYA the boss of the group when they have Handsome JOE in it?! That's just wrong. Anyway most of this was about Sekine trying to show he belongs in there with the stables stars. He partly didn't and partly did. They made good use of him throwing him around and letting him takes the blows for the others. That's how they won as YOSHIYA bombed Sekino on top of Randy for the win. Decent action, but a little bit on the ordinary side.

7:33 of 9:46 - YOSHIYA pinned Takuya after Last Ride powerbombing Sekine on top of him

 

 

2. Fuka -vs- Bambi [*]

--- Joshi action! And after a somewhat non-captivating start the match ended rather good with Bambi in control at first before Fuka landed some hard kicks to her head for the win. Fuka still rules regardless if she's quitting soon.

5:56 of 6:11 - Fuka pinned Bambi after a high headkick

 

 

3. Kota Ibushi & Marines Mask II -vs- Tigers Mask & Daigoro Kashiwa [*]

--- Since PSYCHO is now doing a baseball team mascot gimmick it was natural that he did Tigers Mask spots against the original baseball mascot gimmick in pro-wrestling in Tigers Mask. From the pitching slaps to the baseball sliding kick! The battle of mascots indeed. More silly then quality wrestling, but it had it's puropse and Marines Mask II got his profile win, though over think-headed Daigoro with a fine Phoenix Splash!

9:28 of 12:09 - Marines pinned Kashiwa after a springboard Phoenix Splash

 

 

4. Miyako Man & Qiball Man -vs- Yotsukaida & Mobara Star Festival [1/4*]

--- Masked guys match which turned into the next match when some bad guys invaded the arena and even taking Fuka hostage.....

5:08 of 3:08 - Miyako & Qiball wrestled Yotsukaida & Mobara to a No-Contest

 

 

5. Miyako Man & Qiball Man & Yotsukaida & Mobara Star Festival 7 -vs- Chiba City Mystery Man A, B, C and D [1/2*]

--- When Fuka got lose she helped change the tide so that the colorful Happy Chiba guys beat the bad men of Chiba City....yeah.

4:42 of 4:46 - Qiball pinned C after a moonsault

 

 

6. Masato Tanaka & Dick Togo & Ikuto Hidaka -vs- Yuji Hino & MIYAWAKI & Shiori Asahi [**]

--- Omega face some of Zero-One's biggest stars along with Dick Togo! The match had to be good, and it was. But I can't say the atmosphere of this arena helped them much. But not surprisingly Tanaka was the boss for the finish kicking out of MIYAWAKI's Death Penalty before landing a Superfly, brainbuster and the SLIDING D!!! Good night MIYAWAKI.

13:47 of 17:48 - Tanaka pinned MIYAWAKI after a Sliding D

 

 

7. Shinobu © -vs- Kaji Tomato - (UWA Middleweight Title) [* 3/4]

--- Title match! And it's for the old UWA Middleweight Title which dates back to the mid-70's Mexico. 666's Shinobu is the current champ and here he loses it back to a K-Dojo wrestler in Kaji Tomato (formerly Kaji Yamato)! The match was ok at times, but not as dramatic as they'd hoped. They made a deal out of Tomato hurting his leg on a landing on the floor twisting his leg on impact. Shinobu went on to work the leg over and Tomato was limping the rest of the bout to try and give him some babyface sympathy. The result wasn't optimal, but at least they made it a happy ending with Tomato landing his side driving cradle move called the Red Eye!

13:04 of 13:04 - Tomato pinned Shinobu with the Red Eye to become the 51st UWA Middleweight Champion.

 

 

8. KAZMA & Kengo Mashimo & Hiro Tonai -vs- Tajiri & Taka Michinoku & Taishi Takizawa [* 1/2]

--- Not really main event worthy action, but overall this didn't feel like a ace show anyhow, so it was just a typical action match going all directions which I guess was all that was needed. And KAZMA was the one that got to look strongest and not surpsiringly, if anyone was doing the job on Taka's team, it had to be Takizawa. And that's what happend in a lariat way.

11:03 of 20:30 - KAZMA pinned Takizawa after a lariat

 

 

COMMENTS: Small K-Dojo show, but they brought in a few outsiders to help make the show more interesting even if it was no biggie anyhow.

 

 

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AJPW on Samurai TV - January 11 & February 7, 2010 - (2 hrs)

 

 

January 11, 2010, Shizuoka - Hamakita Citizen Gym (2,300 fans)

 

1. Akebono & Ryota Hama © -vs- Zodiac & KAI - (All-Asian Tag Title) [** 1/2]

--- KAI had pinned the all-mighty Hama at the Korakuen Hall and here is the award for the F4 group as KAI and Zodiac gets to challenge for the sumo teams All-Asian Tag Titles! And this was damn fun! From Hama "saving" Akebono by splashing the pin away to Hama running all over the place. Yes, a lot of Hama gold with everyone else adding their stuff around him to make this match happening. Got fairly exciting aswell, but it was the champs and Hama who got the win when Hama used the Jackhammer on Zodiac for the three. God, I love the Akebono & Hama team!

12:22 of 12:22 - Hama pinned Zodiac after a Ryota Hammer. Akebono & Hama retain the All-Asian Tag Title in their 2nd defence.

 

 

2. Satoshi Kojima © -vs- Joe Doering - (Triple Crown Title) [* 3/4]

--- Doering's final match in AJPW before joining WWE's farmer league and it's a nice to end his time here on a high getting a Triple Crown Title shot. Surly he wasn't going to win, but regardless he was going to shine a little. Sadly not so much when it came to his own effort as a lot of the build up draged. Barely any passion at all. But with that said, the last couple of minutes was good and did hit a highpoint as Doering landed the Spiral Bomb for a close win. But Kojima was going to win this one and did so with lariat wrestling knocking the gaijin down a few times before getting the pinfall.

17:30 of 17:30 - Kojima pinned Doering after a lariat to retain the Triple Crown Title in his 1st defence.

 

 

February 7, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (2,000 fans)

 

 

 

3. Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo & BUSHI -vs- NOSAWA Rongai & Mazada & Minoru Fujita [* 1/2]

--- The BUSHI gimmicks Korakuen Hall debut. And it's sadly against the "Boring Club". It still had it's moments with BUSHI showing off his fancy moves like the corkscrew plancha and a new finishing move which he beat Mazada with. Starts out as a basic backdrop suplex, but then turns into a shoulder breaker of some sort. Looked a bit weird.

9:37 of 14:38 - BUSHI pinned Mazada after the Revolucion

 

 

 

4. Masakatsu Funaki & Masayuki Kono -vs- Minoru Suzuki & Taiyo Kea [3/4*]

--- More an angle to establish the hate then a match with Funaki and Suzuki being to in each others grip that they fought to a double count out without caring.

5:40 of 6:32 - Funaki & Kono wrestled Suzuki & Kea to a Double Count Out

 

 

 

5. Kohei Suwama & Ryota Hama -vs- Keiji Muto & Osamu Nishimura [* 3/4]

--- RYOTA HAMA PINS FREEEEEAAAAAKIN'' MUTO!!!! Hama just brushed aside the Shining Wizards Muto landed and splashed him down instead and then it was time for a BIG RYOTA HAMMER!!! Awesome! The match overall was your fairly typical All Japan main event. Not as spectacular as it should be, but with qualities spread out.

15:30 of 24:12 - Hama pinned Muto after the Royta Hammer

 

 

COMMENTS: Lots of things happening and quite a bit of good action divided between the matches.

 

 

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BJPW on COMM - January 12, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

January 12, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (262 fans)

 

1. Mens Teioh & Yuichi Taniguchi -vs- Daikokubo Benkei & Mototsugu Shimizu [1/4*]

--- What's with Teioh mixing with a bunch of losers like these? He doesn't belong with this crowd. A nothing match with the only good wrestler in the match winning, and he was hurting working with a taped shoulder.

9:48 of 9:47 - Teioh pinned Shimizu with the Miracle Ecstasy

 

 

2. Kyoko Kimura -vs- Apple Miyuki - (Hardcore) [*]

--- Joshi hardcore with chains, kendo stick and stuff. Not a super match, but it had some hardcore spots like Kimura suplexing Apple though sticks and chains on chairs and basic weapon pounding. Kimira beat the K-Dojo girl by hanging her over the ropes with the chain.

11:12 of 11:10 - Kimura made Miyuki submit to a chain hanging

 

 

3. GENTARO & Shinobu -vs- Ryuji Ito & Kankuro Hoshino - (Hardcore) [* 1/4]

--- Greatest thing about this one was that heavy metal ball with a hook on it. And Ito coming into save Hoshino was tripped an dropped on top of the chairs he was laying under. And then Shinobu SSP'ed him for the pin. There was some short moments of joy here and there, but this was way too tame to ever take off. But that round metal object....more of that insane stuff please.

18:37 of 18:34 - Shinobu pinned Hoshino after a Shooting Star Press with chairs on top of Hoshino

 

 

4. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshito Sasaki & Kazuki Hashimoto & Takumi Tsukamoto -vs- Yuji Okabayashi & Ryuichi Kawakami & Atsushi Ohashi & Taro Yamada [* 3/4]

--- 8-man tag action with the clashing of Sekimoto and Okabashi being the main thing to love. Oka clashed with Sasaki for some power fighter stuff aswell. Okabayashi was trully the man of his team. The match was most lovely the times the shittest guy in the match got a pounding. And Yamada get beat up quite well.....

15:33 of 15:32 - Sekimoto pinned Yamada with a German Suplex

 

 

5. Takashi Sasaki & Abdullah Kobayashi -vs- Shadow WX & Ryuji Yamakawa - (Light Tubes Death Match) [* 1/2]

--- Hardcore match with the very washed-up Yamakawa looking very awkward in everything he did. The only thing he was good for was taking punishment. Got to love Kobayashi throwing light tubes at his face with Yamakawa valiently trying to block the flying things by making a shield with his arms. Yamakawa also took a Samoan Drop bump off the ramp onto a pile of chairs on the floor. Looked kind of scared about that happening actually. At least he was put out of his misary when Abby landed a light tubes elbow drop off the top.

16:45 of 16:42 - Kobayashi pinned Yamakawa after a top rope light tubes elbow drop

 

 

6. Yuko Miyamoto & Masashi Takeda & Isami Kodaka -vs- Jun Kasai & Jaki Numazawa & Masada - (Glass Board, Light Tubes & Item X Triple S Death Match) [* 3/4]

--- Death match with all kinds of weapons. Even lightbulbs! Those looked more painful the he regular light tubes they use. There was also glass which got ramed through with the most spectacular being Masada's 2nd rope Death Valley through one of them. Masada also Last Ride'ed Isami though light tubes and looked like a sure winner when Isami out of nowhere rolled Masada up for the lucky win! The match wasn't all that much apart from some of the hardcore spots.

23:45 of 23:42 - Isami pinned Masada with a small package

 

 

COMMENTS: Didn't click all that well for this show. They've had better shows in the Shin-kiba. They still give the fans more then almost any promotion in Japan.

 

 

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HEART LINE on COMM - January 13, 2010, Tokyo - (1 1/4 hrs)

 

 

January 13, 2010, Tokyo

 

1. Daisuke & La Malcriada -vs- Guts Ishijima & Naoshi Sano [3/4*]

--- Low-class indy match and Sano still looks like the weakest one of all, and this match featured a girl, messing up simple stuff. So glad he ended up getting beat by Daisuke and his Tanaka inspired Sliding D.

10:48 of 10:49 - Daisuke pinned Sano after a Sliding D

 

 

2. Kana -vs- Kikutaro -vs- Konaka Pale One - (3-Way) [1/2*]

--- Attempted rape, dirty movie shots and Kana stiffing the boys made this one fun. But it was only a comedy bout which Kana won with a little assitance from the referee.

11:26 of 11:37 - Kana pinned Kikutaro with a German Suplex

 

 

3. Shinobu & Hercules Senga & Tsutomu Oosugi -vs- Yuki Sato & Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada [**]

--- Men's Club comes to Heart Land with a couple of guests from Osaka Pro in Kotoge & Harada for a fine action match with loads of twists and turns. SOS worked real well with the Osaka lads and created a good match with them alone with Sato and Shinobu coming up for some stuff for themselfs too. Sato ended up being on the receiving end of a lot of SOS & Shinobu attacked toward the end and was rightfully beaten by Oosugi and his DDT version. Entertaining match for such a small show and they got the few these fans cheering.

15:19 of 15:19 - oosugi pinned Sato after a modified DDT

 

 

4. Tajiri -vs- Madoka [*]

--- Boring one. Slow build-up and nothing really standing out except pretty boy Madoka working over the ex-WWE stars mid-section and not getting in his leg-hooking cradle he wanted. And then out of the blue....BUZZSAW!!!

12:50 of 12:50 - Tajiri pinned Madoka after a Buzzsaw headkick

 

 

5. Kintaro Kanemura & Tetsuhiro Kuroda -vs- Magnitude Kishiwada & Apple Miyuki - (Hardcore) [3/4*]

--- Old sleezy Kanemaru showing he's got very little fire these days after getting black-listed. This was really an almost unplaned parody hardcore by them. Best of the worst was Kanemura clumbing a fucked-up ladder and waiting forever for someone to push it enough for him to crutch himself on the top rope. That looked terribly embarrassing. He did kill Apple nicely on a couple of moves before winning the match, but the match was pretty much shit.

15:01 of 14:55 - Kanemura pinned Miyuki after a top rope senton

 

 

COMMENTS: One good match and the rest.... not so good.....

 

 

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FREEDOMS on COMM - January 14, 2010, Tokyo - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

January 14, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (243 fans)

 

1. Asian Cougar & The Winger & Kamui -vs- Brahman Kei & Brahman Shu & Ken45 [* 3/4]

--- Masked trio against those damn evil twins and their pall 45. A fun match with evil ruling a lot and the masked heros getting their heroes reception the times they got back at the Hell Demons. Old Great Kojika got involved aswell to mixed result throwing powder in Kamui's face and later getting dropkicked by Kamui. But that set-up the end with Kamui getting a rare win landing a Sabu style moonsault leeping from a chair to the top rope and then landing the moonsault to pin one of the twins.

14:45 of 14:46 - Kamui pinned Kei after a springboard moonsault

 

 

2. Hajime Ohara & Takeshi Minaminno -vs- Madoka & Keita Yano [* 1/4]

--- Things started taking off a little with Ohara against Madoka at the end....and then it was over in no-time with Ohara slapping on the Muy Bien single leg crab hold. Half-decent while it lasted, but it could have been more interesting had they wanted it too.

10:43 of 10:44 - Ohara made Madoka submit to the Muy Bien

 

 

3. Tajiri -vs- Ricky Fuji [*]

--- I was going to be disappointed if this one wasn't going to be slow and dull. It's Tajiri and Ricky fighting, for Christ sake! And they didn't disappoint me. The first couple of minutes was dual fan-chanting. Ricky's one male fan against Tajiri's female fanbase. Then the rest of the bout was slow American style old-school filler stuff and some of their own oddities. The finish was classic. Tajiri pulled down Ricky's pants so his ass was showing, and Ricky is never shy about that, and then sprayed it with green mist before rolling him up with a inside cradle for the win! Then The Hell Demons carried old Great Kojika out on a pedistal as their new member to confront Tajiri.

10:47 of 10:48 - Tajiri pinned Fuji with a small package

 

 

4. Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Magnitude Kishiwada & Minoru Fujita -vs- Takashi Sasaki & Jun Kasai & Masashi Takeda [* 3/4]

--- Action match Freedoms style! Sasaki was getting trashed a lot with his badly bandaged hand/arm, but got his revenge at the end lariating all of them down and even delivering the D-Geist lifting with the hurting arm. The others kept up their part of the deal giving the fans a enjoyable little match with Takaiwa madness ending the show dropping Takeda dangerously down to the mat on killer moves until he had him beat with the Death Valley.

14:24 of 14:25 - Takaiwa pinned Takeda after a Death Valley Bomb

 

 

5. GENTARO -vs- Takuya Sugawara - (Independent Junior Title) [3/4*]

--- This was sort of like the Tajiri vs Fuji match, except without the cool. A very uneventful main event built around the simple stuff. Weardown holds and absolutely nothing spectacular! And then it ended without any kind of climax as GENTARO won with a figure-4 rather disappointingly with Sugawara brining nothing and GENTARO not in the mood to do anything special.

18:36 of 18:36 - GENTARO made Sugawara submit to a figure-four leglock to retain the Independent Junior Title in his 5th defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: The show was never important enough to them. Some fun brawls, but the matches that should have been good....wasn't.

 

 

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Okinawa Pro on SKY-A - January 15, 2010, Okinawa - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

January 15, 2010, Okinawa

 

1. Agu -vs- Kijimuna [1/4*]

--- A pig and a red troll. Who would ever have thought this would turn silly....?! Oh.... yeah and neither the comedy or wrestling was very impressive. The pig won.

6:23 of 9:08 - Agu pinned Kijimuna with a Victory Roll

 

 

2. Goya Mask -vs- Super Delfin -vs- Mozuku Man - (3-Way) [1/4*]

--- A real stupid 3 way with drawing being more important then any wrestling.... Well, that was even too stupid for them so they had a short wrestling based match after all the silly stuff.....and the match wasn't anything either.....the turtle ruled both competitions.

9:25 of 9:12 - Goya defeated Delfin & Mazuku by drawing best

1:42 of 2:08 - Goya pinned Mozuku after a Russian legsweep

 

 

3. Shisaou -vs- Golden Pine [*]

--- Shisaou (aka GAINA) is a brute in Okinawa, and gave the Golddust rip-off a solid beating, but this bout was shifting between Okinawa silly and ok impact wrestling. So not a total experience, but after the two previous bouts this was almost a joy to watch. I was at least glad Shisaou was the one to win dropping Mr.Pine down in a Last Ride. I still don't care for Okinawa's philosophy.

13:57 of 14:02 - Shisaou pinned Golden Pine after a Last Ride powerbomb

 

 

4. Menso-re Oyaji & Mil Mongoose -vs- Kaijin Habu Otoko & Eisa 8 [*]

--- It's Okinawa Pro. Silly, cartoonish with some skillful guys sadly dwelling in this place. I guess some of the action was ok, especially involving Otoko, but overall I just didn't care and there was nothing they could do to change my mind much. Oyaji the drunk beats the one of the newest guys in the local turist company.

17:09 of 17:14 - Oyaji pinned Eisa after a modified reversed DDT

 

 

COMMENTS: Not hungry for more after watching this. Okinawa Pro is a very different product to anything else, but it's hardly the direction I like my wrestling.

 

 

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Dragon Gate on GAORA TV - January 15, 16 & 17, 2010 - (2 hrs)

 

 

January 15, 2010, Kobe - Hyogo Art Theater dB Kobe (388 fans)

 

1. Susumu Yokosuka & K-ness -vs- NOSAWA Rongai & Mazada - (Open The Twin Gate Tag Title Participation Team Tournament - Round 1) [*]

--- Quite dull with many low blows. No super effort by anyone and it felt like Mazada was the one who cared the most and he's the most bland guy in there. And since he showed any sign of caring he of course had to be the one to lose. And that to K-ness's cross-arm like Crippler Crossface. Except it isn't a cross-face.

13:54 of 13:53 - K-ness amde Mazada submit to the Aoki Hikari

 

 

2. Don Fujii & Magnitude Kishiwada -vs- YAMATO & Akira Tozawa - (Open The Twin Gate Tag Title Participation Team Tournament - Round 1) [* 1/2]

--- This one was not dull, but that might be because they edited this one down heavily. Why didn't they do that with he first match instead?! Loved Kishiwada's backdrop suplex on YAMATO. That one was ruthless. Tozawa was all over this one being so eager that he messed up for his own tag partner along the way. He also messed up for his team as Fujii beat him up and locked him in a crab hold to win.

4:39 of 17:43 - Fujii made Tozawa submit to a single leg crab

 

 

January 16, 2010, Kyoko KBS Hall (720 fans)

 

3. Takuya Sugawara & Kagetora -vs- Super Shisa & Shisa Boy - (Open The Twin Gate Tag Title Participation Team Tournament - Round 1) [* 1/4]

--- More clipped action, but it was speedy while it lasted with the Shisa's trying the speciality cradles and Kagetora trying the impact wrestling. He showed a new modified leg-hook MDII which looked devestating, but clearly not effective as it couldn't even put away a Shisa. The trusted old Ikkitousen did though.

3:01 of 13:44 - Kagetora pinned Shisa Boy after the Ikkitousen

 

 

4. Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino -vs- Kenichiro Arai & Yasushi Kanda - (Open The Twin Gate Tag Title Participation Team Tournament - Round 1) [* 3/4]

--- Arai & Kanda tried to slowly break down the king of speed wrestling isolating and cheating in the pain. Not too inspired and it only made the match long before the speed wrestling had to come as Yoshino with the help of Doi got their big comeback and won the damn match. But it was a good ending to a otherwise so-so bout.

18:06 of 18:05 - Yoshino pinned Arai after a Lightning Spiral

 

 

January 17, 2010, Osaka Prefectural Gym #2 (1,800 fans)

 

5. Susumu Yokosuka & K-ness -vs- Don Fujii & Magnitude Kishiwada - (Open The Twin Gate Tag Title Participation Team Tournament - Semi-Final)

--- How cunning. K-ness helped Yokosuka reverse the cradle and kept holding on so that Fuji was pinned 2-on-1! And that's how you get to a final!

2:05 of 9:54 - Yokosuka pinned Fujii with the reversal help of K-ness

 

 

6. Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino -vs- Takuya Sugawara & Kagetora - (Open The Twin Gate Tag Title Participation Team Tournament - Semi-Final)

--- Kagetora & Sugawara were not only landing the big moves, they were also cheating a lot once the ref was down. But that didn't stop Superman Doi! As he got in a cradle on a stunned Kagetora!

2:35 of 7:53 - Doi pinned Kagetora with a crucifix cradle

 

 

7. Masaaki Mochizuki © -vs- Shingo Takagi - (FIP Title) [** 3/4]

--- The FIP Title on the line and veteran Mochizuki is defending it against powerful Shingo. It's be kicking style against impact style! And while that felt kind of bland early on it did gain momentum with Takagi's Made In Japan landing wonderfully and Mochizuki's submissions working quite well and was what was needed to break out of the striking based offence which didn't lead to much. Mochizuki's sawate kick to the face was a thing of beauty though. But it was the submission work which was the best part for Mochizuki in this fight and here he locked Shingo in a armbar twisting in backwards while sitting on top of him. Takagi didn't stand a chance of getting out and the referee stopped it awarding it to Mochizuki who makes his V1 defence.

13:32 of 13:33 - Mochizuki defeated Takagi by Referee Stop with a armbar to retain the FIP Title in his 1st defence.

 

 

8. Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino -vs- Susumu Yokosuka & K-ness - (Open The Twin Gate Tag Title Participation Team Tournament - Final) [***]

--- While I keep struggling to read any passion or emotion off either Doi or Yokosuka's faces, this was still a hot match! Much do to Yoshino, but the others did their part in delivering a true speed bout with lots of fancy moves and with a hot crowd loving what these was doing to the fullest! They blasted out all they knew and the Yokosuka & K-ness side got in a lot more then expected. They are getting a strong push, but at the moment not strong enough as it's the World-1 guys who gets the victory as Yoshino gets to shine with his speed star wrestling finally locking in the Sol Naciente grab the deserved win. They will now face CIMA & Gamma on February 10th to decide for the Open The Twin Gate Unified Tag belts.

19:11 of 21:12 - Yoshino made Yokosuka submit to the Sol Naciente Kai. Doi & Yoshino win the Open The Twin Gate Tag Title Participation Team Tournament.

 

 

COMMENTS: The tournament started real slow, but turned into a surprisingly good climbing battle with Doi & Yoshino coming out looking even more like stars. And with the Mochizuki vs Takagi FIP Title match giving a different dimention to all the tag action this ended up being a good DVD to check out.

 

 

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NOAH on Samurai TV - January 16, 2010, Yokohama - (2 hrs)

 

 

January 16, 2010, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse (500 fans)

 

- The show opends with Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki handing in the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Title belts because of Suzuki's injury.

 

 

1. Keith Walker -va- Atsushi Aoki [*]

--- It looked so forced letting Aoki get in his offence on the muscle monster, so it was much more enjoyable seeing Walker destroy the little one.

5:43 of 5:45 - Walker pinned Aoki after a neck-hanging bomb

 

 

2. Bison Smith -vs- Taiji Ishimori [* 3/4]

--- Another monster of a foreigner against a little Japanese spot monkey! Ishimori was a lot more credible looking in his offence then Aoki and trully delivered some great stuff raming the Bison down with a big dive out of the ring. And would also surprise the big man inside the ring a few times. But Smith is considerably more powerful and had to beat the flyer down and he really did on that lariat. Man, did that one hit a running Ishimori hard!!! It was a wonder he was still alive after that one. Well, it wasn't too long before Ishimori was dead in less then 6 minutes too.

5:49 of 5:50 - Smith pinned Ishimoti after a Styles Clash

 

 

3. Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima & Naomichi Marufuji -vs- Chris Hero & Ricky Marvin & Claudio Castagnoli [** 1/2]

--- A very lively match with the foreigners making the local stars motivated to have fun in the ring. This wasn't any super-serious fight, but it was no comedy bout either. It was a crowd pleaser that was there to entertain. And surely that's what it did with the foreigner side working real well together as Hero & Castagnoli were throwing Marvin around aswell as giving the established elite in NOAH something to chew on landing quite a bit of offence to make it competitve. But with a collective of Sasaki, Morishima and Marufuji, a team consisting of Hero, Castagnoli and Marvin doesn't really stand a chance does it? No, is the simple answer and Marufuji was the one to take care of the..... sole junior heavyweight in the match.

13:30 of 13:31 - Marufuji pinned Marvin after a Shiranui

 

 

4. Jun Akiyama & Akira Taue & Tamon Honda & Yoshinari Ogawa -vs- Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Genba Hirayanagi [* 1/2]

--- This one was also fun, but everything felt more....washed-up, if you get what I mean. Not so much fire and too much playing around with Genba's private parts. This exploded a tiny bit the short times Sugiura and Akiyama clashed, but otherwise was very standard in it's execution. Honda making a guest appearence gets to beat Genba using his deadly verson of the German Suplex.

20:12 of 20:12 - Honda pinned Hirayanagi after a German Suplex

 

 

5. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano -vs- Go Shiozaki & Akitoshi Saito - (Global Tag League '10 - Block A) [* 1/4]

--- Then for the important matches on the show. And what a disappointment. Such lifeless slugging. Takayama, Sano and Saito are experienced at the stiff fighting, but they really didn't have much interest in looking good here and was just going through motion and with nothing standing out. Not even Go with his more fresh approach could do anything to save this match from a very average life. And on top of that the end was weak too as Sano didn't really connect well with the kicks to the head of Go to kill him. Though he did land the top rope footstomp and Northern Light before that happend so Go was damaged already.

18:41 of 18:42 - Sano pinned Shiozaki after a headkick

 

 

6. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone -vs- Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma - (Global Tag League '10 - Block B ) [** 3/4]

--- This one served a purpose. A continuation of the Makabe vs Yano feud after Makabe had killed Yone at the Tokyo Dome and that killing continued here as Yone was isolated and wrestled most of the match by himself as Makabe & Honma tore him down bit by bit. It wasn't the most extravagant destruction, but it made for a hot finishing minutes once Rikio was let lose and Yone could fight back. Honma was the natural weak link and once Makabe was sidelined at the hands of Rikio a wounded Yone had no trouble taking care of the yellow bastard. And with a wonderful grin on his face finished Honma off with a Muscle Buster. The NOAH fans cared for this one.

17:10 of 17:11 - Yone pinned Honma after a Muscle Buster

 

 

COMMENTS: A fairly good show actually. Some of the undercard matches felt like they mattered more then usual. Fun with the monster foreigner vs junior heavyweight squahses. The foreigner also got a good tag out of the star team. And most important we got a good NJPW vs NOAH bout to end the show.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NOAH on Samurai TV - January 17, 2010, Yokohama - (2 hrs)

 

 

January 17, 2010, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse (500 fans)

 

1. Akira Taue -vs- Kentaro Shiga [1/2*]

--- Shiga getting work after getting cut from the roster earlier. And seeing him here shows that Shiga is no loss for the company. Just a simple nonsense match with Taue in which Taue wins with a inside cradle.

4:00 of 7:43 - Taue pinned Shiga with a small package

 

 

2. Mohammed Yone & Yoshinobu Kanemaru -vs- Ricky Marvin & Kento Miyahara [* 1/2]

--- A fairly good fight, but overall nothing too unusual. Good wrestling and some heat between Kanemaru and Marvin kept it alive. Formula wise it was a basic lowercard tag match. But it got the point across that someone is hungry for the GHC Junior Tag Titles which will be decided in February with the wars already starting.

7:24 of 11:16 - Kanemaru pinned Miyahara after a brainbuster

 

 

3. Takuma Sano -vs- Genba Hirayanagi [3/4*]

--- Always fun seeing Genba get the crap beat out of him, but still it can get kind of stale....

4:33 of 7:52 - Sano pinned Hirayanagi after a headkick

 

 

4. Go Shiozaki & Akitoshi Saito -vs- Takeshi Rikio & Taiji Ishimori [* 1/4]

--- Oh, look. One junior heavyweight in the match. Guess what that means?! Looooossssseeeerrrrr! Well, it wasn't a match to remember either. Standard fighting with little or nothing standing out and probable the best of the bunch doing the job easy.

11:36 of 11:39 - Saito pinned Ishimori after a enzuigiri kick

 

 

5. Yoshihiro Takayama & Naomichi Marufuji & Atsushi Aoki -vs- Jun Akiyama & Yoshinari Ogawa & Makoto Hashi [* 1/2]

--- Midcard filler. Nothing new. Takayama taking care of fired Hashi was the good part. And he did so with kneelifts and big suplexes. Effectively!

20:01 of 20:01 - Takayama pinned Hashi with a German Suplex

 

 

6. Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima -vs- Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli - (Global Tag League '10 - Block A) [** 1/4]

--- Sasaki & Morishima let the foreigners work around them and that was really the best thing for the match letting Hero & Castagnoli come with the offence and their fancy spots and doing them on these Japanese heavyweights which was extra impressive. Espeically Castagnoli doing his helecopter spin on Morishima! And they did a bunch of other impressive moves aswell along with some deliberatly missed for not to make the Japanese look too bad as these indy guys where beating them up. Of course Sasaki & Morishima got in their blows once in a while, and of course they were going to win. The Northern Light Bomb way!

17:00 of 17:00 - Sasaki pinned Catagnoli after a Northern Light Bomb

 

 

7. Takashi Suguira & Shuhei Taniguchi -vs- Bison Smith & Keith Walker - (Global Tag League '10 - Block B ) [**]

--- They got the story across. Two big gaijins bloodying up Taniguchi, bullying him down. And that got the match some personality at least, but it didn't give the match the boost needed to become great. Maybe it had the wrong guys battling for the finish as neither Taniguchi or Walker is very schooled at the puroresu style climax. Come to think of it, not many today are. They did however use this match to boost Taniguchi's profile as he got his revenge for the blood and German'ed Walker apart to get the big victory he needed. And when a regular Everest style German didn't get the pin, Taniguchi went for one off the turnbuckle and that was enough to beat Walker.

21:03 of 21:00 - Taniguchi pinned Walker after a second rope German Suplex

 

 

COMMENTS: Not too much happening on the undercard, but the Global Tag League matches was fairly good and at least saved the show.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

666 on COMM - January 17, 2010, Warabi City - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

January 17, 2010, Warabi City

 

1. Yuko Miyamoto & K666 -vs- Yamada Man Pound & Tochiki - (Tag Tournament - Round 1) [1/2*]

--- Don't expect anything from 666 matches. This masked leather K666 guy was indy-sleeze-tastic. Real shitty dude and Tochiki was pretty much the same stumbling into the ring on his hot tag. Miyamoto kept a certain standard, but also he lowers his standard here in 666 with his friends playing around. At least he won the match with a German into a leg roll clutch pinfall.

8:13 of 8:15 - Miyamoto pinned Tochiki with a leg roll clutch

 

 

2. Onryo & Konaka Pale One -vs- Shinobu & The 101 - (Tag Tournament - Round 1) [1/2*]

--- Again it's not the quality of the wrestling that counts. It's having a good time out there. Sadly that means not a very good time for me. 101 did do a impressive move here. A twisting moonsault from the second rope standing on the outside rope leeping back inside to land it. The ghouls wins it when Pale One surprised Shinobu by pressing him down with those knees of his.

10:20 of 10:28 - Konaka pinned Shinobu with with a double-kneepress

 

 

3. Kazumi Shimouma -vs- Hikaru Shida [1/4*]

--- Mostly annoying Ice Ribbon joshi wrestling. Was glad when it was over....

9:51 of 10:05 - Shimouma pinned Shida with a powerslam

 

 

4. Yuko Miyamoto & K666 -vs- Onryo & Konaka Pale One - (Tag Tournament - Final) [1/4*]

--- Not impressive at all. Lifeless hobby wrestling and a lot of fuck-ups with K666 toward the end before the shit won....

12:08 of 9:45 - K666 pinned Konaka with a backslide. Miyamoto & K66 win the Tag Tournament.

 

 

5. Yuko Miyamoto & K666 -vs- Yamada Man Pound & Tochiki -vs- Onryo & Konaka Pale One -vs- Shinobu & The 101 - (4-Way Elimination Match; Tag Tournament - Final) [1/4*]

--- I don't know..... None of the these guys won the match. Young Man and that Japanese speaking foreigner invaded the match and the foreginer guy won the tag belt alone.....

0:04 - Onryo & Konaka Pale One eliminated

5:18 - Yuko Miyamoto & K666 eliminated

7:59 - Yamada Man Pound & Tochiki eliminated

8:51 - Shinobu & The 101 eliminated

9:04 - Solider Lee pinned Young Man after a MDII

 

 

COMMENTS: 666.....no no no.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

BATTLARTS on COMM - January 17, 2010, Tokyo - (1 1/4 hrs)

 

 

January 17, 2010, Tokyo - Kitasenju Theater 1010 (120 fans)

 

1. Sanchu Tsubakichi -vs- Takeshi Takeshima - (B-Rule Tournament '10 - Round 1) [1/2*]

--- New guy Takeshima trying to look credible in the shooter style, but in reality he's too small. Even for Battlarts. There is little they can do about that illision. His fighting is also quite boring to watch. Nothing specific about it and when someone like Tsubakichi looks leagues more interesting you know a career in wrestling is going to be a long up-hill battle. Cross-armbreaker win for Tsubakichi.

6:37 of 6:36 - Tsubakichi made Takeshima submit to a cross-armbreaker

 

 

2. Baisen Tagai -vs- Akifumi Saito - (B-Rule Tournament '10 - Round 1) [*]

--- Baisen was in complete control over the skinny Real Japan wrestler. He was powering him down throwing him painfully to the mat whenever he felt like it, so it was no surprise when he locked in the neck lock that Saito was going to tap. Baisen was a man in this match!

6:48 of 6:47 - Tagai made Saito submit to a front necklock

 

 

3. Yujiro Yamamoto -vs- Yoshinori Narita - (B-Rule Tournament '10 - Round 1) [3/4*]

--- Kind of tight ground fighting without grabbing you. One of those realistic styled matches that doesn't have much to offer of interest. The end where Yamamoto locked in the ankle hold was nice though. That's the way to do it!

7:02 of 7:02 - Yamamoto made Narita submit to a ankle hold

 

 

4. Keita Yano -vs- Sanchu Tsubakichi - (B-Rule Tournament '10 - Semi-Final) [1/2*]

--- Nothing connected with me here. All it ended up being was that it was a simple win for last years B-Rule Tournament winner Yano who got a bye to the semis this year.

6:44 of 6:04 - Yano made Tsubakichi submit to a modified armbar

 

 

5. Yujiro Yamamoto -vs- Baisen Tagai - (B-Rule Tournament '10 - Semi-Final) [3/4*]

--- Again tight work. You sensed more here that they were trying to work something in, but like to often I don't get enough highlights from this kind of fighting to satify my needs. Baisen tried his strenght here too, but Yamamoto worked well to keep him in check until he had him trapped and choked out triangle style.

8:13 of 8:12 - Yamamoto defetaed Tagai via Referee Stop with a triangle hold

 

 

6. Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka -vs- Super Tiger II & Tiger Shark [* 1/2]

--- Veteran time and time for a fairly messy shoot style match. Or at least not pretty as Ishikawa and Alexander was fighting the Tigers. A lot of hard hitting and kicking along with some nice locks and holds. And the way the Battlarts's veteran combo won was suplexing the Tiger Shark to a near knocked out stage....

16:53 of 16:50 - Otsuka defeated Shark by KO after a Dragon Suplex

 

 

7. Yujiro Yamamoto -vs- Keita Yano - (B-Rule Tournament '10 - Final) [*]

--- Final time and last years winner Yano didn't seem too focused which enbles Yamamoto to shine a little. All the rope-escapes ended up getting used in no-time and Yano soon found himself trapped in the ankle hold while laying under the ropes with no posibility of an escape. So Yano had to tap giving Yamamoto the tournament victory! The fighting wasn't much though. Standard young guys Battlarts.

7:32 of 7:32 - Yamamoto made Yano submit to a ankle hold

 

 

COMMENTS: Not a good start to the year for Battlarts. A rather uneventful tournament.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NEO on COMM - January 17, 2010, Osaka - (2 hrs)

 

 

January 17, 2010, Osaka Minami Move On Arena (242 fans)

 

1. Yukari Ishino -vs- Natsumi Kuwano [1/2*]

--- NEO's latest failed rookie having her 2nd and final match for NEO before quitting the business. Won't be missed. Sendai's freshest wrestler takes care of her easy.

9:13 of 9:12 - Ishino pinned Kuwano after a top rope dropkick

 

 

2. Yuki Miyazaki & Tanny Mouse -vs- Toshie Uematsu & Sakura Hirota [1/4*]

--- Sakura Hirota is back doing joshi after almost 5 years absent! The comedy queen who's just about the only successful female comedy wrestler we've had, but in 2010 even she fails. Dreadfully embarrassing seeing her mix with the NEO Machine Guns in a real crinching spectacle. Didn't have the timing and they did a lot of Machine Guns stuff which guarantees a bad time. Hirota ended up slipping on a Shining Wizard crotching herself which set-up the Super Sky Hold for everybody to see.....

13:52 of 13:52 - Miyazaki made Hirota submit to the Super Sky Hold

 

 

3. Ayumi Kurihara & Natsuki*Taiyo -vs- Kana & Hiroyo Matsumoto [**]

--- Finally some good action. Some hick-ups along the way, but more then enough well-executed hard knocks aswell as these girls fought fairly aggressive against each other. We got the dives and we got the finishers from Kana and Matsumoto, but saves was made and Natsuki could steal the win with her driving front cradle.

15:25 of 15:22 - Natsuki pinned Matsumoto with the Taiyochan*Bomb

 

 

4. Kyoko Inoue -vs- Aya Yuki [*]

--- Heavyweight fight. Old generation vs new generation. Slow and boring. But at least Kyoko wasn't super selfish and tried to make Yuki look like a threat letting her into the match and knocking Inoue down at her own game. Yuki did get in a couple of forced Germans for near falls, but it never looked like she'd ever put Inoue is super danger except when she accidentally suplexed Kyoko on her head. But you can't have a Kyoko Inoue match without a Kyoko Inoue win, so a powerbomb later....

14:03 of 14:03 - Inoue pinned Yuki with a powerbomb

 

 

5. Kyoko Kimura & Atsuko Emoto & Tomoka Nakagawa -vs- Yoshiko Tamura & Nanae Takahashi & Emi Sakura [* 3/4]

--- The last 3 NEO Double Champions against the heel RA stable. And there was so much going on in this match. Loads of action, brawling and shifts in tides. At the same time it was also somewhat clumsy, chaotic and dis-co-ordinated that it was difficult viewing. The champs seemed in control, but then a chain was brought in and Tamura was in trouble. And after ref bumps, bleeding and finishers Tamura was dead and easy for Kimura to pin.

20:55 of 21:58 - Kimura pinned Tamura after a big boot

 

 

COMMENTS: Lots of little happenings like Sakura Hirota's return to joshi, another rookie gone and Kyoko trying to push her main youngish girl backed up with a couple of goodish wild action tags.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NJPW LOCK UP on Samurai TV - January 17, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

January 17, 2010, Tokyo - Shinjuku FACE (550 fans)

 

1. Nobuo Yoshihashi -vs- Yuzuru Saito [*]

--- This last Lock Up show starts off with a inter-promotional rookie match as Zero-One's Saito face New Japan's Yoshihashi. Solid enough, but hardly a career maker for either guy. They were focused, but not too much stuck out and they both kind of sunk down with the black trunks rookie look for anyone to care. The New Japan wrestled ended up being the strongest with his submission style and locked in both the arm and leg for the cross-arm/leg breaker tap.

7:26 of 7:24 - Yoshihashi made Saito submit to a modified cross-arm/leg breaker

 

 

2. Daisuke Sekimoto -vs- Kazuchika Okada [* 1/4]

--- Sekimoto, the indy darling, against the very promising, but unpushed Okada in what looked on paper to be a interesting match as Sekimoto is known for giving his opponents more time then most. And that's just what Okada needs as few gives him much at all. Sadly, he didn't grab the chance too hard. Some offence that looked ok like the backdrop bomb and dropkicks, but he was hardly troubling the Big Japan star to the point where one thought Okada stood a chance. No, and it ended the way it had to end. With a Sekimoto German.

9:02 of 9:02 - Sekimoto pinned Okada with a German Suplex

 

 

3. Gedo & Jado -vs- Dick Togo & Ikuto Hidaka [* 1/2]

--- New Japan's devil twins against freelancer Dick Togo and Zero-One junior heavyweight star Hidaka. These guys know each other well and should have gotten more out of this then they did. The wrestling was ok, but I guess the characters as they are now is just too dated for me to care. Especially for Jado & Gedo. So overall a decent bout, but little to grab my interest. The end came with a chairshot from Jado and a schoolboy from Gedo and Togo wasn't kicking out after that.

19:03 of 19:03 - Gedo pinned Togo with a schoolboy

 

 

4. Shinjiro Otani -vs- Kuniyoshi Wada - (Wada Retirement Match) [** 1/2]

--- Wada, who's mainly been working on Riki Choshu projects, has decided to call it quits. He only made his debut in 2003 but has been struggling with injuries a lot and hasn't been getting a lot of work either, so I guess it's the right decison. He got flowers from Animal Hamaguchi before he faced Zero-One's top guy Otani in his retirement match. And this was a worthy farewell performance from Wada and Otani helped make him look strong and competitive while also going for those heavily taped knees of Wada. It became a passionate performance not only for the competitiveness. Also for the fighting spirit as Otani locked the poor bastard in Boston Crabs with those bad knees having to press him out of it again and again. It drained him of energy and Wada tried to take the big boots one by one, but that was all the spirit he had left. He took one too many and nearly passed out making it a easy finish for Otani who just had to lock in another Boston Crab for the quick stop.

14:22 of 14:21 - Otani made Wada submit to a Boston Crab

 

 

5. Yuji Nagata -vs- Tomohiro Ishii [** 1/2]

--- These two have faced quite a few times the last few years and it's the same story everytime. Nagata stiffs the crap out of Ishii and Ishii tries to do the same and comes clearly too short. Though, even if we didn't get a fresh story from the two, we did get a strong fight like we're used to from them. The kicks, slaps and knuckle fist connected, let's just say that. So much that there was no more life left of Ishii, so he became a easy pray for Nagata's special backdrop suplex hold.

15:36 of 15:47 - Nagata pinned Ishii with a backdrop suplex hold

 

 

 

6. Riki Choshu & Tiger Mask I -vs- Tatsumi Fujinami & Ultimo Dragon [*]

--- Legends tag! Might have been fantastic 20 years or longer ago, but in 2010 it's just a tribute thing with the original Tiger Mask carefully having to be guided through the spots by Ultimo Dragon and only a tiny bit of the classic Choshu vs Fujinami wrestling before a clearly disappointed crowd saw Tiger Mask easily beat Dragon with a Tiger Suplex. To end the show Kuniyoshi Wada got to pose with the legends and got his 10-count farewell.

8:45 of 8:46 - Tiger Mask pinned Dragon with a Tiger Suplex

 

 

COMMENTS: Kuniyoshi Wada retirement was surprisingly good. Good was also the Nagata vs Ishii bout even if it was nothing new. Always fun to see all stars even if that main event didn't do the show justice.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[melina_mma]

where can i watch any of this? i would love to follow Japanese wrestling but dont know where to view it

[cobystag]

Youtube? Dailymotion?