Guide to Japanese Wrestling 2010

[PUNQ]

ZERO-ONE MAX on Samurai TV - September 19, 2010, Tokyo - (3 hrs)

 

 

September 14, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING

 

1. Sonjay Dutt -vs- Madoka - (Tenka-Ichi Junior Toiurnament '10 - Round 1) [3/4*]

--- Edited action with some decent flying around until the Dutt had it won nicely with the moonsault footstomp.

3:12 of 13:12 - Dutt pinned Madoka after a moonsault footstomp

 

 

2. Munenori Sawa -vs- Yuzuru Saito - (Tenka-Ichi Junior Tournament '10 - Round 1) [*]

--- Rookie Saito having a lot of proving to do, but he show he's not yet ready to step it up against a Battlartist like Sawa, always being in trouble.

5:05 of 11:08 - Sawa pinned Saito after a baseball punch

 

 

September 16, 2010, Tokyo - Shinjuku FACE

 

3. Munenori Sawa -vs- Tyson Dux - (Tenka-Ichi Junior Tournament '10 - Round 2) [3/4*]

--- Next in line for Sawa was arrogant Dux who showed some of hos powers, but also he became too weak to Sawa and his Octopus hold!

4:48 of 8:38 - Sawa made Dux submit to a Octopus Hold

 

 

4. Kaijin Habu Otoko -vs- Sonjay Dutt - (Tenka-Ichi Junior Tournament '10 - Round 2) [* 1/4]

--- Dutt tried all kinds of speedy flying trying to get the snake guy, but was unable to get him. Not even with the 450 Splash! And then when he missed the Phoenix Splash the comeback was on with the Jackhammer and Otoko's special neckmare Ligerbomb of some kind for the pin!

5:09 of 11:00 - Otoko pinned Dutt with the Armageddon

 

 

5. Minoru Fujita -vs- Takuya Sugawara - (Tenka-Ichi Junior Tournament '10 - Round 2) [1/2*]

--- Didn't look very good. Two out of shape wrestlers having a 20 plus match going through motions not very realisticly landing some finishers until Fujita got the better of his old pal with a Sasuke Damashi Segway.

4:30 of 22:23 - Fujita pinned Sugawara after a modified fishermans buster

 

 

6. Ikuto Hidaka -vs- Hikaru Sato - (Tenka-Ichi Junior Tournament '10 - Round 2) [*]

--- Ok submission fighting between the Battlart stylist and the Pancrase fighter. Not much more too it. They kept on at their game until last years tournament winner had Sato trapped in the Shawn Capture.

5:28 of 19:16 - Hidaka made Sato submit to the Shawn Capture

 

 

September 19, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall

 

7. Ikuto Hidaka -vs- Munenori Sawa - (Tenka-Ichi Junior Tournament '10 - Semi-Final) [* 3/4]

--- This was a match that had a meaning as the two helt the NWA International Lightweight Tag Titles together for the last 2 years and as both are Battlarts trained they were having a competitive bout in that style. Yet, they couldn't bring the stiffness to make it work for me. The other parts of the match was ok, but what decided the match didn't look at all that good barely connecting knocking Sawa out. Did like the counter punch from Sawa as Hidaka was trying a kick, but outside that the strinking didn't hit well with me.

12:42 of 13:48 - Hidaka defeated Sawa by KO after a high headkick

 

 

8. Kaijin Habu Otoko -vs- Minoru Fujita - (Tenka-Ichi Junior Tournament '10 - Semi-Final) [* 1/2]

--- And here they give the Okinawa Pro wrestler Otoko the push beating Fujita in the semis so he'll meet Hidaka who he's beat twice in tag matches recently including taking the NWA International Lightweight Tag belts from him. So the final looks to be a thriller. As for this match, it was ok for a Fujita match, but it was all because of Otoko looking like a confident wrestler when beating him.

10:30 of 10:49 - Otoko pinned Sujita after a top rope bodypress

 

 

9. Sonjay Dutt & Madoka & Yuzuru Saito -vs- Takuya Sugawara & Hikaru Sato & Tyson Dux [* 3/4]

--- Some good spots where and there, but as an overall match it didn't catch fire. At least the imports got to show themself from a good side while Saito got to test his skills against Sato and such. But it was never anything more then a ok action bout with the fillers that had been knocked out from the Tenka-Ichi tournament. Nice finish as Dutt hit the moonsaulting double-footstomp pin-point on Dux! Dux's 2-man Death Valley was cool too.

15:06 of 15:54 - Dutt pinned Dux after a moonsault footstomp

 

 

10. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka -vs- Ryuji Sai & Joe Legend [* 1/2]

--- An Emblem standard tag taking on Sai & Just Joe in a bout going back and forth for no real reason before Tanaka planted the D! Easy fun with some nice moves like Legend's turnbuckle legdrop landing hard, but absolutely nothing new.

7:04 of 15:13 - Tanaka pinned Legend after a Sliding D

 

 

11. Daisuke Sekimoto © -vs- Kohei Sato - (Zero-One Title) [** 1/2]

--- Sekimoto making his 1st defence of the Zero-One belt and it's against former champion and Zero-One original Kohei Sato. Both are German Suplex specialists and have met plenty of times before in strong competitive matches. I felt this one was a little below par for them. They have easily had better matches against each other. I guess it's extra hard to get the fire in a match these days as business keeps slumping. It was still a good match with all kinds of suplexes from both and with Sekimoto carrying the personality of the match. In the end Sekimoto had to resort to something different as he did a cross-arm German instead of his regular German finisher to retain the belt over Sato!

16:23 of 16:26 - Sekimoto pinned Sato with a cross-arm German Suplex to retain the Zero-One Title in his 1st defence.

 

 

12. Ikuto Hidaka -vs- Kaijin Habu Otoko - (Tenka-Ichi Junior Tournament '10 - Final) [** 1/4]

--- The annual Zero-One junior heavyweight tournament and it's last years winner Hidaka against Okinawa Pro's Otoko who has defeated Hidaka a few times in recent months, so you kind of knew what was going to happen with Hidaka finally getting his big revenge and on his way winning his second straight Tenka-Ichi Junior Tournament! Otoko kept a lot of the early advantage working over Hidaka's leg and tried submissions of his own to counter Hidaka's Shawn Capture tactic before the match went into finisher moves mode with Hidaka kicking out of both the Armageddon and the top rope splash on his way to victory getting the win after that by kicking Otoko down!

17:53 of 18:17 - Hidaka pinned Otoko after a high headkick to win the Tenka-Ichi Junior Toiurnament '10.

 

 

COMMENTS: The tournament could have been better, but it was still interesting seeing that collection of wrestlers involved in the Zero-One action. And Sekimoto's first defence was solid.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

BJPW on Samurai TV - September 19, 2010, Tokyo - (3 hrs)

 

 

September 19, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,284 fans)

 

1. Yuko Miyamoto & Isami Kodaka -vs- Masashi Takeda & Takeshi Minaminno - (Barbed Wire Board Death Match) [* 1/2]

--- Barbed wire board craze with guys who love to bump on it. Typical barbed wire fun and that shit. Quick fun with the fresh Takeda & Minaminno side losing as the former Death Match champion came crashing down.

11:47 of 11:47 - Miyamoto pinned Minaminno after a barbed wire board moonsault

 

 

2. Shiori Asahi & Makoto Oishi & Madoka -vs- Mens Teioh & Onryo & Atsushi Ohashi [* 1/4]

--- Remember when the Men's Club matches was full of life with motivated flying and colorful wrestling. Miss those days. These days it's only very tired action having added nothing of specific in ages. Here Madoka get to be the star, but he's far from looking like one since leaving K-Dojo.

13:35 of 13:34 - Madoka pinned Ohashi with the Ranhei cradle

 

 

3. Brahman Kei & Brahman Shu -vs- Ryuji Yamakawa & The Winger - (Hardcore) [* 1/4]

--- Could have been fun actually as the Sato Twins bring a different kind of brawl then the old Big Japan stars with water and rope, but they had to keep it alive too long which was why it died. At least the right team won and it's not often I say that when it's the Sato's that win.

13:50 of 13:49 - Kei & Shu pinned Winger with a double cradle

 

 

4. Ryuji Ito & Takashi Sasaki & Shadow WX -vs- Jun Kasai & Jaki Numazawa & Kankuro Hoshino - (Tables, Ladder & Chairs Death Match) [** 1/4]

--- An all-out crowd pleaser! Loads of crazy spots like Ito's table splash off a ladder in the ring to the outside, Kasai stealing a bag and using it and what inside as weapons, TLC bumps all over along with a bunch of random other weapons like garbage cans, bowls and so on. The fans loved it, it was fun to watch. Didn't feel important in any way, but it sparkled up a nice atmosphere in the hall. And Hoshino who bumps like mad as always got the trashing so always deserve with Ito finishing him off with a Dragon Splash with a ladder and chairs laying on top of him.

19:46 of 19:43 - Ito pinned Hoshino after a top rope bodypress on chairs & ladder

 

 

5. Yuji Okabayashi & Kazuki Hashimoto & Takumi Tsukamoto -vs- Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshito Sasaki & Ryuichi Kawakami [** 1/2]

--- This was something more fresh. The young guys getting to look good, almost for the first time, with a result backing it up! Hashimoto got the spotlight and took it....the right way. Stiffing the veteran Sekimoto. Hashimoto looked like a kid in comparison, but he didn't let his fears stop him from going at it trying to match the powers of Sekimoto and Sasaki. Okabayashi was the real power on the team even using Tsukamoto as a battering ram. Then Hashimoto was battling Kawakami who's not that much more experienced and haven't gotten much of a push lately, so he bacame the best bet for Hashimoto to show himself as a winner managing to beat him with that running kick of his! Good for Hashimoto finally getting some attention.

16:56 of 16:53 - Hashimoto pinned Kawakami after a running body kick

 

 

6. Shuji Ishikawa -vs- Abdullah Kobayashi - (261 Light Tube Death Match) [***]

--- I loved this. I'm a sucker for over-kill Abby Kobayashi death matches! And Abby was bleeding like a motherfucker! Insane upperbody. A real contrast to his white ass and legs when he stripped. Ishikawa was bleeding good too, but Abby was the one looking ill. And what light tube spots! The brainbuster off the turnbuckle on that big light tube tower was superb with Abby selling a cut in his arm like he was super damaged. The Samoan Drop on that light tube struckture wasn't bad that one either. Not to mention the umbrella like light tube Abby used to land a top rope elbow with! This was just a massive bloodfest with the winner getting a title shot at Ito's BJPW Death Match Title. And that honor went to Union Pro's Ishikawa splashing a hurting Kobayashi down for the count.

18:45 of 18:43 - Ishikawa pinned Kobayashi after a top rope bodypess

 

 

COMMENTS: A lot of hardcore on this Korakuen Hall show. All kinds. Light tube war, barbed wire war, TLC war, and a plain silly war. And on top of that they managed to build up one of their rookies to get more interesting!

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

JWP on COMM - September 19, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

September 19, 2010, Tokyo - Shinjuku FACE (600 fans)

 

1. Hiren & Shimono Sawako -vs- Misaki Ohata & Moon Mizuki [*]

--- It was so frustrating to see how clueless Moon was. She couldn't work with Hiren at all doing mistakes I've never seen before. That's why it was so rewarding seeing Hiren stiff the JWP rookie hard every time she fucked up and more beating the crap out of her!

11:50 of 11:50 - Hiren made Mizuki submit to a ankle hold

 

 

2. Kayoko Haruyama -vs- Keito [3/4*]

--- Straight to the point impact fighting and ugly as hell! Dissapointing, but at least Haruyama was the winner even if she wasn't having her best of days.

6:49 of 6:48 - Haruyama pinned Keito after the Keene Hammer

 

 

3. Nanae Takahashi & Natsuki*Taiyo & Kazumi Shimouma -vs- Commando Bolshoi & Tojuki Leon & Basara [**]

--- All speedy action. Rush. Rush! RUSH!!! At times fun like rollercoaster. And othertimes you get sick because of too many twists and turns on the ride. Everyone did their bit to make it entertaining for the fans but it was nearly impossible to keep up with everything and there wasn't much structure going on at all. In the end Natsuki rolling things up with a few more spins to beat Basara.

15:50 of 15:49 - Natsuki pinned Basara with a rolling La Magistral

 

 

4. Ran Yu Yu & Tsubasa Kuragaki & Carlos Amano -vs- Yoshiko Tamura & Yuki Miyazaki & Tanny Mouse [* 1/2]

--- Longtime rivals/friends of the AJW/JWP 1994 generation having a another 'special' 6-woman tag before it's too late as the 3 NEO girls will be retiring at the end of 2010. But these girls have faced each other so many times over the last 15 years that it's not even close to being exciting anymore. Not even having the 1995 GAEA class interfere freshed things up much. Some of the girls worked hard, but you also had Tanny and her stupid stuff draging it down. And they kept at it for a 20-min draw.

20:00 of 20:00 - Yu Yu & Kuragaki & Amano wrestled Tamura & Miyazaki & Mouse to a 20:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

5. Toshie Uematsu & Kazuki © -vs- Aja Kong & Sachie Abe - (JWP/Daily Sports Women's Tag Titles) [* 1/4]

--- Too much play wrestling with the ex-Wanted partners feuding it out and Abe bossing Aja around. More a midcard fun style match then a serious fight for two sets of tag titles. Good for a few laughs and it had some ok stuff going on before Abe got the disired pin over her old partner Kazuki using the La Magistral. This is already Abe's 3th time holding the JWP Tag belt having held it with Kazuki a couple of times, but this is veteran Aja Kong's first JWP belt!

13:06 of 13:05 - Abe pinned Kazuki with a La Magistral. Kong & Abe become the 35th JWP Tag Champions and new Daily Sports Women's Tag Titles.

 

 

6. Kaori Yoneyama -vs- Emi Sakura - (JWP Title; Hair vs Hair) [*** 1/4]

--- What spirit! The two are not the most fluent executioners around, but they sure was motivated for this one landing an amazing fury of attacks to capitalize the importance here. Because not only is the JWP Title on the line, it's also their hairs. There was just too much happening here to really summarise, but key moments was Yoneyama's Destiny Hammer which would have gotten the champ the win except Yoneyama herself was not finished with Sakura at that point and pulled her off the ground. Sakura naturally took over a while after that. And a killer moment was when Yoneyama was trying her Yone-ZOU driving cradle off the turnbuckle and Sakura blocked it to land an Impact type move off the second rope! Toward the end Yoneyama just went berzerk with running knee kicks murdering Sakura before getting in the rolling German Suplex for the win! And there was so much crying and drama as Sakura's hair was getting cut. Ice Ribbon's Sayaka Obihiro was going mental and tried to cut her own hair. Yoneyama couldn't cut Sakura's hair because she was crying like a little girl. Eventually things settled with everyone around the ring crying and Sakura was shaved bald.

20:18 of 20:18 - Yoneyama pinned Sakura with a German Suplex to retain the JWP Title in her 2nd defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: All about the freakin' main event! Go Yoneyama!!!

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

SECRET BASE on COMM - September 20, 2010, Tokyo - (1 3/4 hrs)

 

 

September 20, 2010, Tokyo - Kitasenju Theater 1010 (77 fans)

 

1. Blue Bicycle & Space Galaxy Soldier Andros -vs- Ferist & Takeshi Takeshima [1/2*]

--- Better then expected with some of the worst the promotion has. A bunch of low-rent masked guys and horried Battlarts's rookie Takeshima doing better then their potential for a almost decent opener with the Andros dude making Ferist tap to a Fujiwara armbar.

12:39 of 12:39 - Andros made Ferist submit to a wakigatame armbar

 

 

2. Kazuhiro Tamura & Masato Shibata -vs- Yamada Man Pound & Black Orca [1/4*]

--- Yamada was just horrible and Orca brought nothing. The E-Style guys looked better, but it was limited what they could do to save this one from Yamada's super weak stuff. Funniest moment was Shibata getting a road sign undeliberatly in the face! After that the E-Style guys easliy splashed Yamada down.

8:19 of 8:19 - Tamura pinned Yamada after a double-team second rope bodypress

 

 

3. Guts Ishijima & Beam Peace -vs- Amigo Suzuki & Chango [3/4*]

--- Guts people against the Secret Base duo of Amigo & Chango, now without their military outfit and back into their old clothes. Still trying to work as a unit, but up against Guts & Chou-un Shiryu (under the name Beam Peace) it ended up being a too touch tast for them. Not a bad attempt, but wasn't always interesting. And Guts gets the win with a sit-out powerbomb.

15:30 of 15:30 - Ishijima pinned Chango with a Ligerbomb

 

 

4. Isami Kodaka & Kankuro Hoshino -vs- Mototsugu Shimizu & Bear Fukuda - (Hardcore) [1/2*]

--- Not even with help from a experienced hardcore side of Isami & Hoshino could they get a fun hardcore bout out of this. Had a couple of nice near falls at the end and very little hardcore fighting which looked like much until Isami got a rather half-conclusive pin.

16:55 of 16:55 - Isami pinned Shimizu after a Superkick

 

 

5. GENTARO -vs- Jun Ogawauchi [1/2*]

--- GENTARO, the king of boring! This match had potential and he drained it all away.....

22:32 of 22:31 - GENTARO made Ogawauchi submit to a Octopus Hold

 

 

COMMENTS: Not getting excited at all.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

GUT'S WORLD on COMM - September 20, 2010, Tokyo - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

September 20, 2010, Tokyo - Kitasenju Theater 1010

 

1. Naoshi Sano & Tatsuhiko Yoshino & Kazuhiko Matsuzaki & Taro Yamada -vs- Ryan Upin & Kakugari Umibozu & ? & ? [1/2*]

--- Only a quick match with a bunch of guys, some more or less no-names. They kept the enegry up, but it was only a random indy tag of no meaning.

6:48 of 6:45 - Yoshino pinned Umibozu with a German Suplex

 

 

2. Chii Tomiya -vs- Miyako Matsumoto [1/4*]

--- Ice Ribbon guesting GUTS. How nice of them.....

8:31 of 8:30 - Tamiya pinned Matsumoto with a leg clutch cradle

 

 

3. Kazuhiro Tamura -vs- Yamamoto-SAN [1/4*]

--- We'll keep it at; Tamura wins.

8:23 of 8:23 - Tamura made Yamamoto submit to a cross-armbreaker

 

 

4. Chango & Amigo Suzuki -vs- GENTARO & Masked Mistery [3/4*]

--- Secret Base matches are not any more interesting just because they happen somewhere else. These are some of the better workers associated with the promotion, but it also had that masked GUTS guy who added nothing. At least he was the one that got pinned when Chango got in a modified leg-hook cradle. Almost a reversed small package.

9:39 of 9:38 - Chango pinned Mistery with a modified inside cradle

 

 

5. Daisuke & Masashi Takeada -vs- Mototsugu Shimizu & Jun Ogawauchi [* 1/4]

--- Daisuke continues to be one of the most pushed guys in the GUTS promotion winning the match with the Sliding D Tanaka showed him last year. But the Secret Base side did give him a lot of trouble during the match with Daisuke getting to be the hero fighting back without impressing too much, but I guess the match was ok. Espeically compared to what else had been on this show.

19:59 of 19:57 - Daisuke pinned Shimizu after a Sliding D

 

 

6. Guts Ishijima © -vs- Kankuro Hoshino - (GWC Title) [3/4*]

--- Mr.Guts himself defending his own belt against Union Pro's Hoshino in a rather lack luster title match where Ishijima got help form his friends before Hoshino fought them off looking like he was going to take the title, but exhaustion took over and Ishijima landed his sit-out powerbomb for a near fall before the lariat took care of business retaining the belt.

16:49 of 16:49 - Ishijima pinned Hoshino after a lariat to retain the GWC Title.

 

 

COMMENTS: Not too impressed with Guts World. But that's hardly unexpected, was it?

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

DOVE PRO on COMM - September 20, 2010, Hiroshima - (2 hrs)

 

 

September 20, 2010, Hiroshima

 

1. Takashi Sasaki & Sakigake -vs- Diablo & Kurokage - (Hardcore Tag Tournament - Semi-Final) [**]

--- This was actually quite fun. Dove crowds are usually a little bit wilder and more vocal about their product and the promotion almost run their shows like a party with music and stuff as the wrestlers do their best to get hyped with the vibe. And the Kageki Pro wrestlers were real ruthless here taking down Sekigake and bloodying him up. Blowing mist in his face and doing all they could to beat their opponents down in a brutal way. And when they weren't enough they started beating up the referee real bad including powerbombing him on chairs which caused the DQ. Not so sure about a DQ rule in a hardcore bout, but I guess it can be forgiven since it was the referee and not the wrestlers they attacked.

11:34 of 12:46 - Sasaki & Sakigake defeated Diablo & Kurokage by DQ

 

 

2. Souther & Rey Paloma -vs- MIKAMI & Kabuki Kid - (Hardcore Tag Tournament - Semi-Final) [* 1/2]

--- More wild stuff including MIKAMI doing a big diving save leeping off the top rope! MIKAMI and a maskless Paloma exchanged a few flying blows and Souther tried his best to be a big gaijin. Had some minor problems (including the first 2 minutes being unwatchable because of digital blurryness), but overall it became a rather fun one to watch. And Souther ended up winning it crushing Kabuki down a few times.

14:55 of 14:46 - Souther pinned Kabuki after a lariat

 

 

3. Hayata -vs- Hikaru Michimoto [3/4*]

--- After the hardcore bouts, this was a clam-down. Simple and unspectacular wrestling apart from a couple of Hayata offerings. Hayata looked the better of the two, but neither really impressed. Hayata wins with the moonsault.

9:50 of 9:50 - Hayata pinned Michimoto after a moonsault

 

 

4. Shoichi Uchida -vs- Yuji Maeda [* 1/4]

--- Decent standard indy singles bout. Uchida was the controler and Maeda had to fight himself out of holds and got a little desperation comeback in there before he was taken care of with a double-Styles Clash.

12:55 of 13:01 - Uchida pinned Maeda after a Styles Clash

 

 

5. Susumu -vs- Yosuke Shiranami [* 1/2]

--- A long competitive struggle. Soundly executed, but for some reason so little captivating. I think that's mostly due to the lack of personality in the match and wrestling they did. Too generic. Regardless I expected worse and the right guy won as Susumu came flying down on Shiranami at the 20-min mark.

20:01 of 20:00 - Suzumu pinned Shiranami after a springboard bodypress

 

 

6. Takashi Sasaki & Sakigake -vs- Souther & Rey Paloma - (Hardcore Tag Tournament - Final) [**]

--- Started out as kind of a friendly as both teams are faces in Dove, so the first 10 minutes was just there for them to establish their momentum with technical stuff. The second half was filled with action. Too much and too random at times, but it was entertaining seeing all the twists and turns in this one. Especially surrounding Paloma who tried his luck against the more established. Same with Sekigake who's trying to be all tough and fight down the bigger foreigner Souther. So plenty of enjoyment until Dove's main character Sekigake got his wish and won it with his sliding lariat!

20:30 of 20:31 - Sakigake pinned Souther after a sliding lariat. Sasaki & Sakigake win the Hardcore Tag Tournament.

 

 

COMMENTS: Dove Pro shows are fun. Music, atmosphere and half-motivated indy guys.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NEO on COMM - September 20, 2010, Tokyo - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

September 20, 2010, Tokyo - Itabashi Green Hall (130 fans)

 

1. Aya Yuki -vs- Sawako Shimono [3/4*]

--- Yuki actually looked professional in the simple wrestling that she did. Sawako not. So this was rested on Yuki's shoulders which guaranteed a mostly boring match. At least she killed the girl with the Death Valley Bomb!

7:22 of 7:22 - Yuki pinned Shimono after a Death Valley Bomb

 

 

2. Toshie Uematsu & Yuu Yamagata -vs- Misaki Ohata & Nagisa Nozaki [1/2*]

--- A little too meaningless and basic waste of time light-hearted joshi style wrestling with the veteran stealing the win over the young cradle master.

9:41 of 9:41 - Uematsu pinned Ohata with a small package

 

 

3. Tanny Mouse -vs- Tsubo Genjin - (Lumberjack Death Match) [1/2*]

--- A stupid Lumberjack match where the Lumberjacks was too affraid of attacking Tsubo. And the weapons they had were....toys. The comedy was fairly bad and boring too. But it was slightly different to the usual rutine those two clowns have, so at least they tried to do something new for them even if you people are lucky you don't have to see it. Tanny gets the win on her way to retirement and made Tsubo submit to the Paro hold.

14:13 of 14:13 - Tanny made Tsubo submit to the Paro Special

 

 

4. Yoshiko Tamura -vs- Hikaru Shida [3/4*]

--- Tamura squashing random unestablished girls have never been interesting and against Ice Ribbons tall Shida it's the same. Just a simple beat-down with Tamura of course winning.

12:54 of 12:54 - Tamura pinned Shida after a elbow smash

 

 

5. Nanae Takahashi & Yuki Miyazaki -vs- Ran Yu Yu & Kayoko Haruyama [* 1/2]

--- Veterans having a standard. All action, screaming and a lot of hard work. But with very little standing out or meaning anything. It's just their formula of moves done in a chaotic energetic manner. And on top of that Miyazaki and Ran where having hick-ups on their series of cradles for the finish. It ended up being Miyazaki who got the win regardless if she's quitting in a few months.

18:02 of 18:01 - Miyazaki pinned Yu Yu with a Gedo Clutch

 

 

COMMENTS: Not exactly a super show. Just a NEO show on their way to deaths end.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

AJPW on Samurai TV - September 20, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

September 20, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,700 fans)

 

1. Masayuki Kono -vs- Yasufumi Nakanoue

--- Kono wasn't having any trouble taking care of this guy....

1:46 of 5:55 - Kono made Nakanoue submit to a cross-armbreaker

 

 

2. Shuji Kondo & Hiroshi Yamato -vs- Minoru & Hate [1/2*]

--- Hate trying, but always falling short....like most of his career. Kondo lariat stopped him this time.

3:58 of 9:10 - Kondo pinned Hate after a lariat

 

 

3. Ryota Hama & NOSAWA Rongai & BUSHI -vs- TARU & Mazada & Voodoo Mask

--- So strange seeing NOSAWA being face!

1:17 of 8:53 - NOSAWA pinned Voodoo Mask with a La Magistral

 

 

4. Keiji Muto -vs- KAI [* 1/4]

--- Mostly headlocks. Surprisingly dull. But did feature an awesome tope dive from KAI. He landed it so hard that he on impact was turning on impact falling very awkwardly to the floor! And after some more dull wrestling Muto won with Shining Wizard. In a match KAI should have showed himself from a positive side he sure didn't push himself here.

18:29 of 18:29 - Muto pinned KAI after a Shining Wizard

 

 

 

5. Kaz Hayashi © -vs- Tsuyoshi Kikuchi - (AJPW Junior Title) [* 1/2]

--- And there he has it! The record for most successful defences of the AJPW Junior Heavyweight belt withs 15th successful defence! Breaking Masa Fuchi's 14 in a row from his 1989-93 reign as champion. The match was basically a tribute road to get the record. A humble match with an washed-up former AJPW Junior Champion from over a decade ago in unemployed Kikuchi. Or 'Madman' Kikuchi with his crazy facials and grumpy style. Kind of a hillarious match really with Kikuchi taking the stage by being himself, I guess. Getting a few near falls with his verious bombs and then getting easily pinned with a simple cradle roll-up. The old guy even missed most of his turnbuckle headbutt showing what stage of his career he really is. But respect to him. Wish more guys was as crazy as him.

9:41 of 9:41 - Hayashi pinned Kikuchi with a Tordnado Clutch to retain the AJPW Junior Title in his 15th defence.

 

 

 

6. Minoru Suzuki & Masakatsu Funaki & Osamu Nishimura -vs- Kohei Suwama & Seiya Sanada & Manabu Soya [* 1/4]

--- The match lacked the intensity to drag the fans in. It had some good wrestling in there, but it was clear this was no high priority match except for the finish to get Funaki over as the first challenger for Suwama's Triple Crown. Funaki beat Kono with the high headkick KO on the August Sumo Hall show and now he did the same with Suwama with the referee stopping the match after the impact as Suwama was looking like he was dying.

16:48 of 21:17 - Funaki defeated Suwama via Referee Stop after a high headkick

 

 

 

7. Taiyo Kea & Akebono © -vs- KENSO & Rene Dupree - (AJPW Tag Title) [* 1/2]

--- KENSO trying his first shot at All Japan gold teaming with his old tag partner Rene Dupree. A due that held the WWE Tag Titles together back in 2004. But could they beat the 64th Yokozuna and 34th Triple Crown Champion for the AJPW Tag Titles? Nah..... and they didn't even look all that impressive either in their loss. This match could and should have been so much more then this. The champs retain by Kea flipping Dupree into Akebono's arms who splashed him down full body impact and Kea had the simple job of making the cover. V1 for the Hawaiians.

16:44 of 16:43 - Kea pinned Dupree with a jack knife cradle. Kae & Akebono retain the AJPW Tag Title in their 1st defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: Matches were more curious then good. With both Kae/Akebono vs Dupree/KENSO having a WWE feel without the work standard and Kikuchi challenging for the AJPW Junior Title for nostalgia.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

FREEDOMS on COMM - September 21, 2010, Tokyo - (1 3/4 hrs)

 

 

September 21, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (184 fans)

 

1. Antonio Honda -vs- Keita Yano [1/4*]

--- Oh my, this was horribly boring.....!

20:47 of 18:25 - Honda wrestled Yano to a Double Pinfall

 

 

2. Takuya Sugawara -vs- Onryo -vs- Madoka - (3-Way) [1/4*]

--- A nothing match ending with everyone throwing powder at the referee......

7:40 of 7:35 - Sugawara wrestled Onryo and Madoka to a Triple DQ

 

 

3. Tatsuhito Takaiwa & The Winger & Ricky Fuji -vs- Great Kojika & Abdullah Kobayashi & Kazuhiko Ogasawara [3/4*]

--- At least some entertainment, but considering this featured Kobayashi and Takaiwa this was fairly tame. Almost a slow-mo La Magistral ended the match when Winger did his best to roll up the old guy.

13:49 of 13:48 - Winger pinned Kojika with a La Magistral

 

 

4. Masashi Takeda -vs- Kamui - (Hardcore) [* 3/4]

--- Fun little hardcore match with those little barrels to bump on and stuff. Kamui isn't the most natural death match guy around, but he does seem to have fun with it from time to time. My favourite spot of the match invovled Kamui getting pushed off a ladder to the floor and getting German Suplexed on a a ladder. And then came the regular German to kill him off.

15:13 of 15:09 - Takeda pinned Kamui with a German Suplex

 

 

5. Takashi Sasaki & Jun Kasai & HIROKI -vs- Brahman Kei & Brahman Shu & Magnitude Kishiwada [* 1/2]

--- One of those ok fun standards. Plenty of action. Not everything felt very special, but they kept the bout moving well enough for it to work until HIROKI got a decent win over Kei with a knee to the head.

16:07 of 16:07 - HIROKI pinned Kei after a running kneekick

 

 

6. GENTARO -vs- Mammoth Sasaki [* 1/4]

--- This was a match that should have been pretty sweet. And for some reason they didn't manage to bring any life to it. They tried some of the typical GENTARO and Mammoth stylistics, but it never came across like a great thing and even the hardcore Freedoms fans where struggling to love a match they cared about. Mammoth snapping GENTARO down with a lariat was my best memory of it and then GENTARO won out of nowhere with a boring cradle.

13:33 of 13:34 - GENTARO pinned Sasaki with a rolling clutch hold

 

 

COMMENTS: Decent non-important action, but Freedoms can bring so much more if they want to, but it seems only yo be a vacation home for these guys taking it very easy most of the time.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

AJPW on GAORA TV - September 23, 2010, Ishikawa - (2 hrs)

 

 

September 23, 2010, Ishikawa Industrial Exhibition Hall #3 (1,487 fans)

 

1. Shuji Kondo & KAI -vs- NOSAWA Rongai & BUSHI [* 1/4]

--- Decent junior action. Simple entertainment with a couple of close ones before KAI got the real pin with a splash.

11:03 of 11:46 - KAI pinned BUSHI after a top rope bodypress

 

 

2. Kaz Hayashi & Akebono & Alexander Otsuka -vs- KENSO & Mazada & Minoru [* 1/2]

--- Fun match with KENSO in charge and Akebono being heavily involved in the action getting choked and chair smashed by the new top heel dog KENSO. But since KENSO was teaming with a loser like Mazada he also became a loser as Mazada lost as always getting splashed by Akebono a couple of times.

12:17 of 12:16 - Akebono pinned Mazada after a bodypress

 

 

3. Taiyo Kea & Takao Omori & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi -vs- TARU & Rene Dupree & Hate [* 1/2]

--- Almost old school All Japan with Kea teaming with former stars Omori & Kikuchi! Haven't seen Omori around much this year, so cool seeing him in this crowd again. The match varied in interests, but had a heart-warming ending with Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase coming out to save Omori from getting hit with a metal cane. Seeing Hase doing a little bit of wrestling again was cool! Throat slam suplex! And that left the road open for Omori to land the Axe Bomber on Hate for the win.

15:18 of 15:20 - Omori pinned Hate after a Axe Bomber lariat

 

 

4. Manabu Soya -vs- Yasufumi Nakanoue [1/2*]

--- Nakanoue still not showing any promise. Basic boring style adding nothing until losing to the Boston Crab.

6:43 of 9:53 - Soya made Nakanoue submit to a Boston Crab

 

 

5. Seiya Sanada -vs- Hiroshi Yamato [* 1/4]

--- This was a match that looked so much better on paper then what it became. Only one of those standard matches which didn't generate much fan love at all until Sanada won simple of a Tiger Suplex.

8:28 of 10:49 - Sanada pinned Yamato with a Tiger Suplex

 

 

6. Kohei Suwama & Masayuki Kono & Ryota Hama -vs- Masakatsu Funaki & Minoru Suzuki & Osamu Nishimura [* 3/4]

--- The main eventers! Rather easy day at work really even if they had to fill quite a lot of time with wrestling. Plenty of focus on getting Funaki over as the Triple Crown challenger, but enough Hama goodness to get some love from me. Suwama gets to look the role of a champion beating up Nishimura backdropping him for the pin.

23:36 of 25:36 - Suwama pinned Nishimura with a backdrop suplex hold

 

 

COMMENTS: Some fun stuff and all. The matches didn't exactly reach their potential, but for a smaller show it kept delivering the little stuff to at least give it value.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

ICE RIBBON on COMM - September 23, 2010, Tokyo - (2 1/4 hrs)

 

 

September 23, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (951 fans)

 

1. Nanae Takahashi & Tsukushi & Kurume -vs- Aika Ando & Minori Makiba & Hamuko Hoshi [1/2*]

--- Since you have young teens like Tsukushi & Kurume wrestling with a bunch of other half-trained wannabe wrestlers you get some absolutely terrible wrestling. Embarrassing stuff really. But at the same time because of their amateurness you get a lot of amusing and original wrestling to counter the shit a little bit. And Nanae had to guide trafic in there as best she could, but there was not too much she could save. But good to see that there isn't any ego business in Ice Ribbon as bigger and more experienced Hoshi had no trouble jobbing to little Tsukushi!

8:32 of 8:31 - Tsukushi pinned Hoshi with a forward rolling cradle

 

 

 

2. Isami Kodaka & Chii Tomiya -vs- GENTARO & Mai Ichii - (Ice Ribbon International Tag Title) [3/4*]

--- I guess the Isami vs Ichii exchanges was half-decent. Isami is about the same size as a girl so it wasn't a mis-match. GENTARO was towering over little annoying Tomiya who kept crapping on the game. That's why the out-of-nowhere submission win was so happy as Tomiya was losing!

8:59 of 8:57 - Ichii made Tomiya submit to a cross-armbreaker. GENTARO & Ichii become the Ice Ribbon International Tag Champions.

 

 

 

3. Great Kojika & Riho & Mr.#6 © -vs- Jun Kasai & Jaki Numazawa & Miyako Matsumoto - (UWA/Jiyugaoka/Nihonkai Trios Titles) [*]

--- Another cute match rather then a good one. It's the strange 3x 6-person tag champions with grandpa Kojika and children Riho & Mr.#6 facing the Big Japan hardcore duo of Kasai & Numazawa along with ballerina wannabe Matsumoto. Couldn't be good, but it could be fun if you take it lightly. And the funniest moment was what Kasai lost his googles and stole the glasses of a fan sitting at ringside. Kasai & Numazawa doing ballerina poses was also surreal. But with all the silly stuff comes some actual wrestling too and 13 year old Riho did a Somato knee attack to beat Matsumoto to keep all three sets of belts.

12:14 of 12:12 - Riho pinned Matsumoto after a running double-knee attack. Kojika & Riho & Mr.#6 retain the UWA/Jiyugaoka/Nihonkai Trios Titles in their 1st defence.

 

 

 

4. Commando Bolshoi © -vs- Hikari Minami - (ICEx60 Title) [3/4*]

--- ....I don't know....or I do know that this wasn't really good. Minami does a lot of strange things and doesn't have the timing. Everything looks so damn forced. From her rope walks to the Matrix bridges to Bolshoi trying to get in her moves that need assitance. And when Minami fucks up a springboard move and blame it on a bad back it's looking fairly ridiculous. But she's got one or two cool things too and Bolshoi worked hard to try and keep this one together. Didn't manage even 25% of that, but at least there was a happy Bolshoi ending.

10:21 of 10:20 - Bolshoi made Minami submit to a Bolshoi-style wakigatame to retain the ICEx60 Title in her 1st defence.

 

 

 

5. Kagetsu© & Ryo Mizunami & Dash Chisako & Sendai Sachiko & Hiren -vs- Makoto© & Natsuki*Taiyo & Hikaru Shida & Kazumi Shimouma & Tsukasa Fujimoto - (Ice Ribbon v. Sendai Girls Captain's Fall Elimination Match) [* 1/2]

--- Finally something that looked like professional wrestling! It was still only a rushed action match, but at least it had a Sendai Girls vs Ice Ribbon theme to carry it as the two groups battle it out until they'd taken care of the captain. Lots of eliminations and it wasn't until everyone except the captains had been taken care of that it was decision time as the captain fought it out the final two minutes with Sendai Girls side going on top!

7:16 - Mizunami pinned Shimouma after a throat slam suplex

11:17 - Natsuki, Mizunami & Hiren eliminated via Over The Top Rope

13:59 - Fujimoto pinned Chisako with the Tsukadora cradle

15:35 - Kagetsu made Fujimoto submit to a modified armlock

16:54 - Shida eliminated Sachiko via Over The Top Rope

18:11 - Kagetsu pinned Shida with a small package

20:02 of 20:00 - Kagetsu pinned Makoto after a Samoan Drop

 

 

 

6. Kaori Yoneyama -vs- Sayaka Obihiro - (JWP Title) [1/4*]

--- .....after such a fantastic match with Emi Sakura a few days earlier....this was really a waste of time....Yoneyama squash the mental Obihiro in less then 2 minutes to make her V3!

1:43 of 1:42 - Yoneyama pinned Obihiro with a German Suplex to retain the JWP Title in her 3rd defence.

 

 

 

7. Meiko Satomura -vs- Emi Sakura [** 1/2]

--- Sakura ready for another humiliation. She revealed her shame removing the towel from her head showing her shaved head after the loss to Yoneyama 4 days earlier and Satomura who's usually a serious pokerface had to smile at her. This was also about pride of the Ice Ribbon promotion with mentor Sakura defending it's honor against Sendai's top girl and mentor. And with Satomura it's another good match from Sakura. Maybe a little too ordinary in it's formula of big moves and near falls, but the fans were into Sakura's kick outs and were cheering them on as they were laying the beatings in. Satomura was the offender, but you can't write off Sakura that easy even if most of her moments was fighting spirit always coming from getting knocked down. But finally when the Death Valley landed it was all over for the Ice Ribbon boss. The best match coming out of Ice Ribbon in 2010.

20:46 of 20:54 - Satomura pinned Sakura after a Death Valley Bomb

 

 

COMMENTS: A lot of shitty wrestling. Worse then you'll see most other places. But there is some kind of vibe that makes Ice Ribbon a happy place and you kind of just don't care about all the shit after a while. And on the plus side the main event delivered.

 

 

--PUNQ--

 

ICE RIBBON on Samurai TV - September 23, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

September 23, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (951 fans)

 

1. Nanae Takahashi & Tsukushi & Kurume -vs- Aika Ando & Minori Makiba & Hamuko Hoshi [1/2*]

--- Since you have young teens like Tsukushi & Kurume wrestling with a bunch of other half-trained wannabe wrestlers you get some absolutely terrible wrestling. Embarrassing stuff really. But at the same time because of their amateurness you get a lot of amusing and original wrestling to counter the shit a little bit. And Nanae had to guide trafic in there as best she could, but there was not too much she could save. But good to see that there isn't any ego business in Ice Ribbon as bigger and more experienced Hoshi had no trouble jobbing to little Tsukushi!

3:57 of 8:31 - Tsukushi pinned Hoshi with a forward rolling cradle

 

 

 

2. Isami Kodaka & Chii Tomiya -vs- GENTARO & Mai Ichii - (Ice Ribbon International Tag Title) [3/4*]

--- I guess the Isami vs Ichii exchanges was half-decent. Isami is about the same size as a girl so it wasn't a mis-match. GENTARO was towering over little annoying Tomiya who kept crapping on the game. That's why the out-of-nowhere submission win was so happy as Tomiya was losing!

4:37 of 8:57 - Ichii made Tomiya submit to a cross-armbreaker. GENTARO & Ichii become the Ice Ribbon International Tag Champions.

 

 

 

3. Great Kojika & Riho & Mr.#6 © -vs- Jun Kasai & Jaki Numazawa & Miyako Matsumoto - (UWA/Jiyugaoka/Nihonkai Trios Titles) [*]

--- Another cute match rather then a good one. It's the strange 3x 6-person tag champions with grandpa Kojika and children Riho & Mr.#6 facing the Big Japan hardcore duo of Kasai & Numazawa along with ballerina wannabe Matsumoto. Couldn't be good, but it could be fun if you take it lightly. And the funniest moment was what Kasai lost his googles and stole the glasses of a fan sitting at ringside. Kasai & Numazawa doing ballerina poses was also surreal. But with all the silly stuff comes some actual wrestling too and 13 year old Riho did a Somato knee attack to beat Matsumoto to keep all three sets of belts.

4:51 of 12:12 - Riho pinned Matsumoto after a running double-knee attack. Kojika & Riho & Mr.#6 retain the UWA/Jiyugaoka/Nihonkai Trios Titles in their 1st defence.

 

 

 

4. Commando Bolshoi © -vs- Hikari Minami - (ICEx60 Title) [3/4*]

--- ....I don't know....or I do know that this wasn't really good. Minami does a lot of strange things and doesn't have the timing. Everything looks so damn forced. From her rope walks to the Matrix bridges to Bolshoi trying to get in her moves that need assitance. And when Minami fucks up a springboard move and blame it on a bad back it's looking fairly ridiculous. But she's got one or two cool things too and Bolshoi worked hard to try and keep this one together. Didn't manage even 25% of that, but at least there was a happy Bolshoi ending.

5:01 of 10:20 - Bolshoi made Minami submit to a Bolshoi-style wakigatame to retain the ICEx60 Title in her 1st defence.

 

 

 

5. Kagetsu© & Ryo Mizunami & Dash Chisako & Sendai Sachiko & Hiren -vs- Makoto© & Natsuki*Taiyo & Hikaru Shida & Kazumi Shimouma & Tsukasa Fujimoto - (Ice Ribbon v. Sendai Girls Captain's Fall Elimination Match) [* 1/2]

--- Finally something that looked like professional wrestling! It was still only a rushed action match, but at least it had a Sendai Girls vs Ice Ribbon theme to carry it as the two groups battle it out until they'd taken care of the captain. Lots of eliminations and it wasn't until everyone except the captains had been taken care of that it was decision time as the captain fought it out the final two minutes with Sendai Girls side going on top!

7:16 - Mizunami pinned Shimouma after a throat slam suplex

11:17 - Natsuki, Mizunami & Hiren eliminated via Over The Top Rope

13:59 - Fujimoto pinned Chisako with the Tsukadora cradle

15:35 - Kagetsu made Fujimoto submit to a modified armlock

16:54 - Shida eliminated Sachiko via Over The Top Rope

18:11 - Kagetsu pinned Shida with a small package

14:42 of 20:00 - Kagetsu pinned Makoto after a Samoan Drop

 

 

 

6. Kaori Yoneyama -vs- Sayaka Obihiro - (JWP Title) [1/4*]

--- .....after such a fantastic match with Emi Sakura a few days earlier....this was really a waste of time....Yoneyama squash the mental Obihiro in less then 2 minutes to make her V3!

1:43 of 1:42 - Yoneyama pinned Obihiro with a German Suplex to retain the JWP Title in her 3rd defence.

 

 

 

7. Meiko Satomura -vs- Emi Sakura [** 1/2]

--- Sakura ready for another humiliation. She revealed her shame removing the towel from her head showing her shaved head after the loss to Yoneyama 4 days earlier and Satomura who's usually a serious pokerface had to smile at her. This was also about pride of the Ice Ribbon promotion with mentor Sakura defending it's honor against Sendai's top girl and mentor. And with Satomura it's another good match from Sakura. Maybe a little too ordinary in it's formula of big moves and near falls, but the fans were into Sakura's kick outs and were cheering them on as they were laying the beatings in. Satomura was the offender, but you can't write off Sakura that easy even if most of her moments was fighting spirit always coming from getting knocked down. But finally when the Death Valley landed it was all over for the Ice Ribbon boss. The best match coming out of Ice Ribbon in 2010.

20:46 of 20:54 - Satomura pinned Sakura after a Death Valley Bomb

 

 

COMMENTS: A lot of shitty wrestling. Worse then you'll see most other places. But there is some kind of vibe that makes Ice Ribbon a happy place and you kind of just don't care about all the shit after a while. And on the plus side the main event delivered. This is the EDITED TV version of the show.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

SMASH on Samurai TV - September 24, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

 

September 24, 2010, Tokyo - Shinjuku FACE (600 fans)

 

 

1. Yusuke Kodama -vs- The Atchee [1/4*]

--- Kodama wins! Over who?!

2:51 of 5:49 - Kodama pinned Atchee with a schoolboy

 

 

 

2. Kana -vs- Nagisa Nozaki [1/2*]

--- Kana beats the injury prone NEO wrestler bending her ankle nicely.

5:07 of 5:11 - Kana made Nozaki submit to a ankle hold

 

 

 

3. Lin Bairon & Golem Knight -vs- Kim Nun Pun & Kenny Rush [1/2*]

--- A rather ugly fight, but a ugly one the fans got into much due to Pun's gift of the gab. Neither Rush or Golem look very good and Lin Bairon's spotlight stuff wasn't all that good either. And Pun is no wrestler, only a character losing to a weak lariat.

5:42 of 6:51 - Knight pinned Pun after a lariat

 

 

 

4. Kaoru -vs- Shuri - (Hardcore) [* 1/4]

--- Shuri having a hardcore match with joshi veteran of the hardcore games and current Oz Academy wrestler Kaoru. Not a pretty match this either, but more fun with Shuri doing rather animated hardcore and getting her dive off the ladder in the process looking like he stood a chance. Which she didn't. She was also out-shined by Kaoru who won with a wonderful moonsault off the top of the ladder!

8:15 of 9:48 - Kaoru pinned Shuri after a moonsault off he top of a ladder

 

 

 

5. Tajiri & Kushida & Akira Shoji -vs- Hajime Ohara & Jessica Love & Kageman Guro [* 3/4]

--- All kinds of entertaining with the sexy Finland tranny guy landing a fine Swanton Bomb on Tajiri and everyone getting their share of the action until this weird dude with a Black Tiger mask on missed a top rope dive and Tajiri followed up with a Buzzsaw to win this spectacle.

11:53 of 13:44 - Tajiri pinned Guro after a Buzzsaw headkick

 

 

 

6. Starbuck © -vs- Akira - (FCF Title) [**]

--- Akira getting the title shot for the Finland title belt. And he did well, but the start was a little too slow and uneventful for me to really appreciate what they were doing. Because the end was rather good with Akira locking in his modified STF's and landing the top rope splash for hot moments and also blocking the piledriver attempt looking like he had a chance at capturing some gold, but naturally he didn't as Starbuck to in the piledriver a little bit later and pinned him easy.

16:47 of 17:13 - Starbuck pinned Akira after a piledriver to retain the FCF Title in his 2nd defence.

 

 

 

COMMENTS: Didn't have a super match even if the end of the main event was good and the there was highlights here and there.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

IGF on Samurai TV - September 25, 2010, Tokyo - (3 hrs)

 

 

 

September 25, 2010, Tokyo - Tokyo JCB Hall (2,958 fans)

 

1. Hideki Suzuki -vs- Akira Jo [1/2*]

--- Tight work, but it ended before it became anything with Suzuki locking in a near arm-breaking armlock for the win in less then 3 minutes.

2:38 of 2:38 - Suzuki defeated Jo with a armlock

 

 

 

2. Masashi -vs- Masayoshi Kakutani - (IGF Kickboxing)

--- Kickboxing just for fun with this young cunt Kakutani getting a trashing.....

1:57 of 1:57 - Masashi defeayed Kakutani by TKO after 3 knock downs

 

 

 

3. Christopher Daniels -vs- Munenori Sawa [*]

--- Then for some quick indy wrestling action with TNA/ROH name Christopher Daniels facing Sawa! Decent little match, but it was just a rushed fix with them doing their trademark stuff and then out....Daniels moonsault ends it.

5:44 of 5:44 - Daniels pinned Sawa after a moonsault

 

 

 

4. Atsushi Aoki -vs- Taka Kunou [* 1/4]

--- NOAH wrestler Aoki facing one of IGF's martial artist dudes. And it was not a very flashy bout except for a few near falls and trying to lock in submissions. But at least it they got something out of it and Aoki getting the win pleased me. Was worried that he'd be a jobber to everyone here too.

8:38 of 8:38 - Aoki pinned Kunou with a roll-up cradle

 

 

 

 

5. Tiger Mask I -vs- Tatsumi Fujinami [*]

--- The legends match and it's two that changed junior heavyweight wrestling in Japan with Fujinami leading the way at the end of the 1970's and Tiger Mask taking over in 1981 more or less changing Japanese wrestling to become more speedy and action based. Speedy and action based wouldn't describe them today as they are old and out of shape. But it's still two legends having a tribute match to put smiles on peoples faces. No winner as they wrestled to a time limit draw.

10:00 of 10:00 - Tiger Mask wrestled Fujinami to a 10:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

 

 

6. Shinichi Suzukawa -vs- Mark Coleman - (Suzukawa's Debut Match) [3/4*]

--- This was a freakish weird match. Suzukawa making his pro debut against former UFC Heavyweight Champion MARK COLEMAN!!! Who the hell was going to carry this one?! None of the guys knew how to have a pro-wrestling match, so it became a lot of amateur styled take downs and shoulder press-downs. Coleman was close with a choking headlock at one point but Suzukawa kept fighting himself out of the holds and landed stiff palm shots to Coleman who didn't know how to sell and just took them bleeding several places in the face the hardway because of it. Eventually Coleman signaled for a 'time-out' and the referee called for the bell stopping the match and awarding the decision to the Japanese guy. Never seen that kind of submission before......ha ha ha.

11:59 of 11:58 - Suzukawa defeated Coleman by TKO

 

 

 

 

7. Tamon Honda & Kendo Kashin -vs- Bob Sapp & Bobby Lashley [1/2*]

--- .....oh my. The plot became Sapp raming down the referee with Kashin and then having the masked man tapping as the referee was down. Then as Sapp was continuing his beating on Honda, Kashin hit Sapp with a chair and handed it to Lashley which got Sapp thinking it was his own partner who'd done it. And that ended with Lashley spearing Sapp down and Kashin making the easy cover to win it.

7:43 of 7:43 - Kashin pinned Sapp after Lashley had speared Sapp

 

 

 

8. Erik Hammer -vs- Atsushi Sawada [1/4*]

--- Ah, the screwiness of this show only gets worse and worse. Sawada kept bringing in weapons to take down Hammer, including the ring bell and hammer and his championship belt. Nice one Sawada getting DQ'ed so bluntly.

7:19 of 7:19 - Hammer defeated Sawada by DQ

 

 

 

 

9. Josh Barnett -vs- Tim Sylvia [3/4*]

--- Even Tim Sylvia is entering pro-wrestling now! And it's two former UFC Heavyweight Champions we have here fighting pro-wrestling style! A little awkward as you could expect. And things got even more screwie when they obviously was going for a double count out, yet not knowing what to do to stay out there for a 20-count. They did manage to fill the time with Barnett getting thrown on a table....and another screwjob. Inoki got upset and demanded the match re-start which it did and within a minute Barnett had done two nasty looking backdrop suplexes and made Sylvis submit to a cross-armbreaker.

5:10 of 5:09 - Barnett wrestled Sylvia to a Double Count Out

1:06 of 1:06 - Barnett made Sylvia submit to a cross-amrbreaker

 

 

 

 

 

COMMENTS: IGF trully is a screwed up strange place. But just look at the promotions master Anotnio Inoki who as intermission entertainment cut the head off a fish his own size.....!

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

Dragon Gate USA on PPV - September 25, 2010, Chicago - (2 hrs)

 

 

 

September 25, 2010, Chicago - Congress Theater (962 fans)

 

 

1. BxB Hulk -vs- Akira Tozawa -vs- Mike Quackenbush - (3-Way) [**]

--- Action-packed opener with the Open the Freedom Gate Champion BxB Hulk beating fellow Dragon Gate wrestler Tozawa with the E.V.O. with Quackenbush adding his thing along the way. Only a nice way to get the crowd wild for the show.

11:25 of 11:42 - Hulk pinned Tozawa after a E.V.O.

 

 

 

2. Brodie Lee -vs- Willie Richardson & C Red & Marshe Rockett & Acid Jaz - (Handicap) [1/2*]

--- Designed to make Lee look unstoppable beating ghetto boyz.

1:56 of 1:58 - Lee pinned Jaz after the Truck Stop

 

 

 

3. Shingo Takagi -vs- Dragon Kid [* 3/4]

--- Little too Dragon Gate standard with Shingo using his powers to take Dragon Kid apart little by little using his big moves landing the Stay Dream, Made In Japan and then finally the Last Falconry to end it. The match had it's moments, but not an ultimate experience.

15:22 of 15:23 - Takagi pinned Dragon Kid with the Last Falconry

 

 

 

4. Jon Moxley -vs- Jimmy Jacobs [** 1/2]

--- Chicago Streetfight! And Jacobs has gone berzerker-style using chains and railroad spikes on the cunt. Fairly wild brawl of the heated kind with Moxley playing the helpless prick nicely before he got some help from YAMATO to take over a bit. Brodie Lee came out and eliminated YAMATO from the match, but the tide had turned and soon enough Moxley had a coat and chair wrapped around Jacobs head and just lashed one chairshot after the other on the helpless drug addict before he had his totally beat.

13:25 of 13:24 - Moxley pinned Jacobs after chair shots

 

 

 

5. Chuck Taylor -vs- Drake Younger -vs- Johnny Gargano -vs- Rich Swann - (4-Way) [* 1/2]

--- Indy spotfest. Easy entertainment with a bunch of fancy moves and a few near falls to back it up. Liked Swan's summersault footstomp and Youngers Kudo-style driver before Taylor landed a piledriver with his opponent on a Canadian backbreaker position. Didn't have any depth, but fun enough for the fans.

10:26 of 10:25 - Taylor pinned Younger after a modified piledriver

 

 

 

6. CIMA & Ricochet -vs- Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi [* 3/4]

--- Young Ricochet getting the push in a Dragon gate style action match. Didn't really feel like a PPV main event (well, the real main event was taped for commerical DVD release so....) but it was a entertaining tag bout which didn't really feel all that important. Execution wasn't 100% either, but still enough action too keep one satisfied. The end was what the 20 minutes was really all about. Giving Ricochet the big upset beating former Open the Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi! And they really hyped the way it was done. Double rotation moonsault! Yep, double spin moonsault press!

20:45 of 20:45 - Ricochet pinned Doi after a double-rotation moonsault

 

 

 

7. Silas Young -vs- Gran Akuma -vs- Samuray Del Sol [*]

--- They had time for some of this this pre-PPV match at the end of the PPV broadcast. Typical indy spotfest with Silas pressing down Del Sol after a lot of back and forth and back again action.

5:09 - Young pinned Del Sol after a modified moonsault

 

 

 

COMMENTS: Not a super PPV. Fun matches, but only Jacobs vs Moxley felt like it ment anything. The rest was showcase matches.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

DRAGON GATE USA on COMM - September 26, 2010, Milwaukee - (2 1/2 hrs)

 

 

 

September 26, 2010, Milwaukee The Miramar Theatre (720 fans)

 

 

1. CIMA -vs- Chuck Taylor [* 1/4]

--- Easy fun match with a couple of close finisher near falls to back it up and create a decent ending before CIMA gets the better of Chucky T with the Meteora.

11:07 of 11:07 - CIMA pinned Taylor after the Meteora

 

 

 

2. Johnny Gargano -vs- Drake Younger [* 3/4]

--- Kind of generic indy, but it got quite good regardless with Drake getting in some solid offence before getting cricifixed into the corner in a wonderful manner and getting crushed with the Hurts Donut move twice for Gargano to win.

9:59 of 11:54 - Gargano pinned Younger after the Hurts Donut

 

 

 

3. Brodie Lee -vs- Mike Quackenbush -vs- Jimmy Jacobs -vs- Silas Young -vs- Rich Swann -vs- Kyle O'Reilly - (6-Way) [* 1/4]

--- Spotfest. Simple as that. Everyone showcasing a few spectacular moves before Brodie Lee booted the worst of the bunch.....

11:22 of 11:22 - Lee pinned Swann after a big boot

 

 

 

4. Dragon Kid -vs- Arik Cannon [*]

--- Lacked chemistry. The match just didn't feel right to me. Some nice moves of course, but never anything great or something that looked amazing. Cannon as the bigger got a lot of the offence, but since this is a Dragon Gate flavoured show Dragon Kid got the win with the crucifix cradle of his.

9:41 - Dragon Kid pinned Cannon with the Bible

 

 

 

5. Ricochet -vs- Gran Akuma [* 1/4]

--- Ricochet getting the push beating Chikara's Gran Akuma with a multi-spin drop. The match had a few cool moves. Ricochet with the flying and Akuma with the rest along with a little flying.

7:20 of 7:15 - Ricochet pinned Akuma after a 630 senton

 

 

 

6. Bryan Danielson -vs- Jon Moxley [** 1/2]

--- Danielson in a fairly aggressive mood against the obnoxious Moxley with Moxley answering back bloodying the WWE Superstar up and managing to give as good as Danielson can. At least for a while. Danielson knows how to control a fight and would get most of the advantage of thos strong match. There was however a strange moment some 12 minutes in where the steam was gone and the crowd was all quiet kind of pausing the match needing a restart to find the thread back to getting the crowd to love it again. They recovered ok for a good ending, but the flow was kind of gone from that moment on. Danielson as the mainstream wrestler wins making Moxley submit.

14:56 of 14:58 - Danielson made Moxley submit to a LeBell Lock

 

 

 

7. Shingo Takagi & YAMATO & Akira Tozawa -vs- Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi & BxB Hulk [**]

--- Then for Dragon Gate Japan to end the show in their typical DG Japan way. A full-on action match with loads of big moves and non-stop moving around. The flow wasn't 100% but there was plenty to love about it. But of course there's not too much of importance either except for it being a spotfest to entertain the American fans until Shingo got Hulk down for the count with the second rope Death Valley move.

26:29 of 26:28 - Takagi pinned Hulk after the Stay Dream

 

 

 

8. Louis Lyndon & Flip Kendrick -vs- Brett Gakiya & CJ Esparzavs [1/2*]

--- Bonus match for the Golden Ticket holders. And it's Zero Gravity against Aeroform for a really mixed quality spotfest. More bad stuff then good with Kendrick almost landing the 450 Phoenix Splash/SSP move of his to win it.

5:30 - Kendrick pinned Gakiya after a 450 Shooting Star Press

 

 

 

COMMENTS: The show had it's moments once the main couple of matches happend, but the undercard was fairly average to say the least.

 

 

--PUNQ--