Guide to Japanese Wrestling 2010

[PUNQ]

NEO on COMM - November 6, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

 

November 6, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (230 fans)

 

 

1. Ryo Mizunami & Aya Yuki -vs- Hailey Hatred & Sawako Shimono [* 1/4]

--- Heavyweight ladies clashing to open the show. They worked hard, but it was not the kind of fighting that'll get a 'wow' reaction. Still it was a decent effort with Sendai's Mizunami landing a fine legdrop from the top rope to win it over the WAVE rookie.

10:02 of 10:03 - Mizunami pinned Sawako after a top rope legdrop

 

 

 

2. Nanae Takahashi & Toshie Uematsu -vs- Hiroyo Matsumoto & Misaki Ohata [* 3/4]

--- Action for the sake of having action. Too much of it in fact with little sinking in and no structure about it. Ok enough time filler, but that's all it was as the younger generation stayed in there with the mid-90's generation team of Nanae & Uematsu until the time limit expired. There was one bad moment when Matsumoto was assisting Ohata with a bodypress from the turnbuckle, but wasn't able to keep the balanace so that Ohata landed straight on Uematsu's face!

15:00 of 15:00 - Takahashi & Uematsu wrestled Matsumoto & Ohata to 1 15:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

 

3. Yuki Miyazaki & Tanny Mouse -vs- Apple Miyuki & DJ Nira [1/4*]

--- Painful clowning.....

13:29 of 13:29 - Miyazaki pinned Nira with a La Magistral cut-back

 

 

 

4. Mika Nagano -vs- Itsuka - (Kickboxing)

--- A waste of time kickboxing exhibition even if the fighters looked kind of pretty.

5:05 of 4:00 - Nagano fought Itsuka to a Draw after 2 Rounds

 

 

 

5. Yoshiko Tamura -vs- Kyoko Kimura - (NEO/NWA Pacific Titles; Street Fight) [**]

--- Okay, here is a different kind of match with a few choice weapons like Tamura's chained tire and Kimura's bat. It was all about being hardcore. This was not too spectacular even if they did a couple of stunts like table bodypress outside of the arena and driving through a table out on the rampway. They kind of picked all kinds of hardcore elements and did them like with the light tubes, tables, chairs barbed wire boards and so on without doing overkill with one of the gimmicks. Blood and brawling for 26 minutes. Not the best of matches, but they fought stubbornly and gave it a good shot. Tamura retains by trying to drop Kimura Mount Cook driver down on light tubes, but kind of missed the light tubes only crushing them with her own ass.

26:16 of 26:16 - Tamura pinned Kimura after a Mount Cook on light tubes to retain the NEO/NWA Pacific Titles in her 7th defence.

 

 

 

COMMENTS: Interesting main event and some half-ok action tags on the undercard.

 

 

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[PUNQ]

OSAKA PRO on COMM - November 6-28, 2010, Osaka - (1 3/4 hrs)

 

 

 

November 6, 2010, Osaka Minami Move On Arena (122 fans)

 

 

1. Kuishinbo Kamen & Kanjuro Matsuyama -vs- Miracle Man & Ebessan III [1/4*]

--- ....the DVD opens with a standard Osaka Pro comedy bout....

3:00 of 12:46 - Matsuyama pinned Ebessan with the Hiei cradle

 

 

 

2. Kuuga & The Bodyguard -vs- Billy Ken Kid & Hideyoshi [*]

--- Kuuga and his gang establishing themselfs as the top group in the company. Kuuga already owns the Osaka Pro Title, but now he also want the tag belts challening Harada & Kotoge after beating the super strong face side of Billy & Hideyoshi. Kuuga did need a chair to drive Billy on, but still they took care of business.

4:12 of 14:08 - Kuuga pinned Billy after a Tombstone piledriver on a chair

 

 

 

 

November 13, 2010, Osaka Minami Move On Arena (140 fans)

 

 

3. Hideyoshi -vs- The Bodyguard

--- Never a pretty heavyweight fight which ended with a scewie double count out result as Bodyguard was attempting to lift Hideyoshi up to try and throw him to the floor.

2:42 of 10:52 - Hideyoshi wrestled Bodyguard to a Double Count Out

 

 

 

4. Orochi © -vs- Tigers Mask - (Independent Junior Title) [* 1/2]

--- Orochi upset Tigers Mask for the indy junior title in September and here Tigers Mask gets his re-match. Orochi isn't exactly a super worker so it's kind of strange seeing him as the champion in this bout, and they didn't try and fool anyone thinking he was either because most of the action focused on Tigers Mask destroying him with Tiger Suplexes and such. Sure, Orochi got in some bad movies himself, but it was Tigers Mask who gave the asskicking and would eventually regain his belt with a sleeper with Orochi unable to keep his arm up on the referee 3-armdrop check.

6:34 25:55 - Tigers Mask defeated Orochi via Referee Stop with a sleeper to become the 14th Independent Junior Champion.

 

 

 

 

November 14, 2010, Osaka Minami Move On Arena (158 fans)

 

 

5. Billy Ken Kid & Ebessan III -vs- Hideyoshi & Masamune

--- Masamune didn't agree with Hideyoshi wanting to use a chair which resulted in Billy catching Hideyoshi off-guard and rolled him up for the pin.

2:47 of 9:24 - Billy pinned Hideyoshi with a backslide

 

 

 

6. Kuuga & Orochi -vs- Black Buffalo & Tadasuke [* 3/4]

--- #1 contenders match with the winner getting a shot at the Osaka Tag Titles on November 28th. And it was a very competitive and messy fight with interferances and the usual cheating with powder and chairs along with just about every big move they know for some very close wins. But the real win came as Kuuga and Orochi did a Doomsday Device like bulldog on Takasuke to get the title shot.

6:59 of 19:14 - Orochi pinned Tadasuke after the U-Turn Joker

 

 

 

 

November 20, 2010, Osaka Minami Move On Arena (115 fans)

 

 

7. Takoyakida -vs- Otokosakari -vs- Kanjuro Matsuyama - (Osaka Pro Owari Title; 3 Way) [1/4*]

--- Alexander Otsuka doing his near-nude gimmick winning the shitty Osaka belt by sitting on Takoyakida's face after a day of fun and games....

4:17 of 14:12 - Otokosakari pinned Takoyakida by sitting on his face to become the Osaka Pro Owari Champion.

 

 

 

8. Kuuga & Orochi & The Bodyguard -vs- Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada & Ultimate Spider Jr. [*]

--- Decent action match, but only really a warm-up for the Joker side as they take over Osaka Pro's championships. They beat the Osaka Tag Champs here, but only because they beat the non-champion and weakest link in the match.

5:30 of 18:43 - Orochi pinned Spider after the U-Turn Joker

 

 

 

 

November 21, 2010, Osaka Minami Move On Arena (155 fans)

 

 

9. Billy Ken Kid & Ebessan III -vs- Hideyoshi & Masamune [3/4*]

--- .....if anyone was wondering about the tentions in the Hideyoshi & Masamune team. It gets resolved here. Masamune accepts Hideyoshi's heel behaviour and together they trash their opponents until they get DQ'ed.

5:07 11:42 - Billy & Ebessan defeated Hideyoshi & Masamune by DQ

 

 

 

10. Alexander Otsuka & Tsubasa -vs- Tigers Mask & Black Buffalo [*]

--- Easy action match where Otsuka was dressed properly and wrestled in his old school manner with cool submissions and suplexes until he beat Buffalo with a Dragon Suplex.

6:03 of 14:13 - Otsuka pinned Buffalo with a Dragon Suplex

 

 

 

 

November 27, 2010, Osaka Minami Move On Arena (111 fans)

 

 

11. Miracle Man & Shadow Phoenix -vs- Tigers Mask & Black Buffalo [3/4*]

--- Huh?! Miracle Man beats up Tigers Mask in a serious way?! Okay.... The match was decent, but didn't have too much sparks apart from he surprising ending.

5:21 of 13:25 - Miracle Man pinned Tigers Mask after a Buzzsaw headkick

 

 

 

12. Ultimate Spider Jr. -vs- Hayata - (Ten-No-Zan Participation Match) [*]

--- Lowcarders fighting for a place in the annual Ten-No-Zan tournament and does their best. Not that the quality is high, but at least they did ok with Spider showing he's better....

4:18 of 12:36 - Spider pinned Hayata with the Spider Driver

 

 

 

 

November 28, 2010, Osaka Minami Move On Arena (198 fans)

 

 

13. Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada © -vs- Kuuga & Orochi - (Osaka Pro Tag Title) [** 1/4]

--- And here comes Kuuga's chance to get the tag gold aswell teaming with the former Independent Junior Heavyweight Champion Orochi. And it was a slow starter, but then the longer it went the more big moves and near falls they did. Lots happening! Not everything sinking in, but it became a exciting indy styled bout with both teams having their big moments going back and forth. And the decision came with the move Kuuga & Orochi have used to win tag matches this month. The Doomsday-like bulldog and Kotogo was the victim ending Harada & Kotogo's 4 week second reign.

19:41 of 27:56 - Kuuga pinned Kotoge after the U-Turn Joker. Kuuga & Orochi become the 27th Osaka Pro Tag Champions.

 

 

 

COMMENTS: Thankfully November 2010 focused on the wrestling and the heels as Kuuga's Joker side went for the tag gold while Hideyoshi & Masamune decided their direction forward.

 

 

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[PUNQ]

MICHINOKU PRO on Samurai TV - November 7, 2010, Iwate - (2 hrs)

 

 

 

November 7, 2010, Iwate Prefectural Gym (1,350 fans)

 

 

1. Rasse -vs- Daichi Sasaki [*]

--- Rasse beating up a rookie. One of many Sasaki's on the scene. A small Sasaki, but he looked fairly hungry to be there and did a decent impression even if I don't see a massive future for the little guy.

4:17 of 6:19 - Rasse pinned Sasaki after a Firebird Splash

 

 

 

2. Yapper Man #1 & Yapper Man #2 & Kenbai -vs- Shu Sato & Kei Sato & Maguro Ooma [* 1/4]

--- Fun style lucharesu. Easy quick action before one of the masked dudes had the weaker of the twins beat!

6:19 of 9:08 - Yapper #2 pinned Kei with a backslide

 

 

 

3. Jinsei Shinzaki & Taka Michinoku -vs- Kesen Numa-jiro & Shisaou [* 3/4]

--- Cool bout with the old guys Taka & Hakushi taking on GAINA under the Okinawa Pro mask and little Kesen. And it was Kesen who was the life in this one trying his best to match the bigger and higher ranked guys. Well, he couldn't and was MDII'ed.

12:03 of 12:03 - Michinoku pinned Kesen after a Michinoku Driver II

 

 

 

4. Fujita Jr Hayato -vs- Rui Hiugaji [** 1/2]

--- Quite a spirited fight. Hayato was the master with Hiugaji wanting to prove himself. He started well, but most of the match was him surviving his arm getting bended in every direction and then the Hayato strikes. All kinds of knicks and knees! Hiugaji even kicked out of the Helm kneekick! But there wasn't much left of him after that and Hayato locked in the front necklock to have him beat.

14:14 of 14:13 - Hayato defeated Hiugaji with the K.I.D.

 

 

 

5. Ultimo Dragon & Taro Nohashi & Takeshi Minaminno -vs- Dick Togo & Ken45 & Kinya Oyanagi - (Seikigun v. Kowloon; 4-Count Rule) [* 1/2]

--- Strange with a 4-count rule, even the bell ringer got confused. Well, this was a stables fight and the twist was that Rui Hiugaji turned on his Seikigun stable and joined Kowloon after Hayato had tried to convince him of that after their singles match earlier. And after that backstabbing Kowloon won easy as Ultimo Dragon put on the finishing touches.

9:39 of 12:41 - Dragon pinned Oyanagi after a Asai DDT

 

 

 

6. Kenou © -vs- Great Sasuke - (Tohoku Junior Title) [*** 1/4]

--- Huh?! Actually pretty great. Sasuke rules! No secret that! But he hasn't exactly been apart of many serious bout. Mostly madness crazymans brawls. But here he has an epic with Kenou. And I like Kenou from the limited output thats come available of him. He's a super serious fighter and that's become a rarity on today scene. Not really a flashy wrestler either. More a chessgame style fighter breaking him opponent down bit by bit. And thats how this bout was. A super long chessgame. Kenou in control kicking and locking Sasuke and his bad knee down systematicly running him down while Sasuke showed old school selling and fighting spirit. And the comebacks! What comebacks. Big suicide dive off the top to the outside! The DDT's looked fantastic. Especially the one out of the apronside where Kenou landed face first! Sasuke also had his Segway dropkicks including a new mid-air twisting version without getting the pin. He also had a cradle rush which really set the place on fire. And it was that desperation that got us the moment of the old broken down master winning ducking and rolling up a kick from Kenou into a lucky pinfall which looked like he kicked out of. Regardles if he did or not Sasuke was awarded the win and a smart killer match was over!

35:23 of 35:21 - Sasuke pinned Kenou with a highkick cut-back cradle to become the 13th Tohoku Junior Champion.

 

 

 

COMMENTS: Good to see some Michinoku Pro get available. This was a real cool show with two memorable singles bout with Sasuke vs Kenou being one of the better matches this year!

 

 

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[PUNQ]

NJPW on SAMURAI TV - November 7, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

 

 

November 7, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,900 fans)

 

 

- G-1 Tag League Review: Highlights from 10/22 Tokyo; 10/24 Koide; 10/25 Takasaki; 10/26 Matsumoto; 10/30 Yokkaichi; 10/31 Obama; 11/1 Osaka; 11/2 Osaka; 11/3 Kyoto; 11/6 Kuki City

 

 

1. Yujiro Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito -vs- Manabu Nakanishi & Strong Man - (G-1 Tag League '10 - Semi-Final)

--- Edited a lot, but there was a lot of No Limit versus Strong Man which was fun until he was low blowed and German Suplexed by Yujiro.

2:57 of 11:54 - Takahashi pinned Strong Man with a German Suplex

 

 

 

2. Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue -vs- Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson - (G-1 Tag League '10 - Semi-Final)

--- Inoue gets to be a superstar for some reason I'd never understand kicking out of the Magic Killer and then fighting back spearing Anderson to reach the final!

2:26 of 9:54 - Inoue pinned Anderson after a spear

 

 

 

3. Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue -vs- Yujiro Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito - (G-1 Tag League '10 - Final) [**]

--- I hate it! Inoue?! Of all people, it's him they push to the moon. Him and his damn spear?! They have No Limit right there!!! And it's fucking Inoue that gets to play Superman getting the babyface beatdown surviving a hell of a lot and then win it for his side while Nagata barely bothers to play second fiddle relying all the work on Inoue. The match was long and not so exicing until the final couple of minutes when it took off a little with Inoue kicking out of the German Suplex and then landing the spear winning the G-1 Tag League 2010!

17:50 of 17:49 - Inoue pinned Takahashi after a spear. agata & Inoue win the G-1 Tag League '10.

 

 

 

COMMENTS: Only one complete match which was the one that was important on this low priority tour.

 

 

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[PUNQ]

NJPW on ESPN - November 9, 2010, Tokyo - (2 1/4 hrs)

 

 

 

 

November 9, 2010, Tokyo - Differ Ariake (400 fans)

 

 

1. King Fale -vs- Hiromu Takahashi [1/2*]

--- 2010 rookies with the biggest of the two being the clear boss. Little Takahashi got some basic desperation offence but just didn't stand a chance.

8:01 of 8:01 - Fale made Takahashi submit to a Boston Crab

 

 

 

2. Fujita Jr Hayato & Taro Nohashi -vs- Masaaki Mochizuki & Super Shisa - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block B ) [* 3/4]

--- The Super J Tag League starts off with a Michinoku Pro vs Dragon Gate match-up. Ok start to the tournament. Not a massive bout, but a decent small show variety. It's not like these sides have any feud going on at the moment to build on so it became more a technical lucharesu styled bout until Hayato had the front necklock locked in for the win.

12:49 of 12:49 - Hayato defeated Shisa by Referee Stop with the K.I.D.

 

 

 

3. Jushin Liger & El Samurai -vs- La Sombra & Mascara Dorada - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block A) [* 1/2]

--- Longtime New Japan representatives Liger (now with red hair!) and Samurai against a CMLL Mexican side of Dorada & Sombra! And the lucha side had the cool showing off some nice rope tricks and lucha technicalities. The Japanese side showed off little that was anything special so while it was a enjoyable bout it didn't leave much of an impression when Liger beat Dorado with a brainbuster.

11:57 of 11:56 - Liger pinned Dorado after a brainbuster

 

 

 

4. Gedo & Jado -vs- Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block B ) [* 1/4]

--- Then for a pure New Japan junior heavyweight match with the GHC Junior Tag Champions Kanemoto & Tiger Mask face the evil twins. Which made sure this match was nothing special for them as they meet about 1000 times a year anyway and this was just another bout for them with Gedo getting to win this time with the ganso Gedo Clutch.

12:28 of 12:27 - Gedo pinned Tiger Mask with a Gedo Clutch

 

 

 

5. Davey Richards & Rocky Romero -vs- Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block A) [**]

--- Good junior action in front of a quiet Differ Ariake crowd. Apollo 55 showing off and trading flying moves with two real solid wrestlers in Rocky Romero & Davey Richards who's been doing well since starting touring with New Japan! Tight teamwork and equal fighting until Richards beat the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Devitt with a hard powerbomb!

14:42 of 14:41 - Richards pinned Devitt with a powerbomb

 

 

 

6. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Akira & Kushida -vs- Yuji Nagata & NOSAWA Rongai & Minoru Fujita [* 1/4]

--- God, now Yuji Nagata is dressing like Nosawa! Shouldn't influence go the other way around? Get influenced by whats better and reach for that, and not slum down to whats worse?! And if NOSAWA and his crew in involved it's going to be a opening card style match with little to offer and it doesn't matter if they have Nagata or Tanahashi with them because NOSAWA & Co know how to bring it down to their level. And we get a long random action'ed performance which Tanahashi won spashing NOSAWA. As if you need 18 minutes to determine that result.

17:56 of 17:56 - Tanahashi pinned NOSAWA after a top rope bodypress

 

 

 

COMMENTS: The opening day was ok. Interesting teams and some good action. But the wrong arena for it.

 

 

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[PUNQ]

NJPW on ESPN - November 10, 2010, Tokyo - (2 1/4 hrs)

 

 

 

 

November 10, 2010, Tokyo - Differ Ariake (400 fans)

 

 

1. King Fale -vs- Hiromu Takahashi [3/4*]

--- Easy rookie action starts the day with Fale showing he is the better of the two even if Takahashi did get to attack quite a bit and showed himself from a fairly positive side even if it's a long way to go before he'll be anywhere troubling anyone.

9:08 of 9:07 - Fale pinned Takahashi after a vertical suplex

 

 

 

2. La Sombra & Mascara Dorada -vs- Davey Richards & Rocky Romero - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block A) [**]

--- A lot of lucha styled spots in this one. Some of which were trully spectacular! Just look for Dorado's dive out of the ring and the double quebrada! A fun match even if they got no help from the crowd, but they worked professionally and did well before Sombra got the win beating Romero with a turning modified powerbomb off the turnbuckle.

12:30 of 12:30 - Sombra pinned Romero after a second rope moonsaulting blockbuster

 

 

 

3. NOSAWA Rongai & Minoru Fujita -vs- Jushin Liger & El Samurai - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block A) [* 1/4]

--- Liger, back with his normal black hair, and Sammy having pretty good control over this. Too good control! Then you know a guy like NOSAWA would roll up a cluts like Samurai for the win at any time he had the chance.

11:38 of 11:38 - NOSAWA pinned Samurai with a La Magistral

 

 

 

4. Masaaki Mochizuki & Super Shisa -vs- Gedo & Jado - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block B ) [*]

--- Dragon Gate vs NJPW, but it was hardly the right teams to face to make a match good or interesting. Dull stuff which is the norm with Jado & Gedo. At least they lost when Shisa surprised them after getting a lot of trashing during the bout.

14:42 of 14:41 - Shisa pinned Gedo with the Yoshitonic

 

 

 

5. Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask -vs- Akira & Kushida - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block B ) [* 1/4]

--- The SMASH side of Akira & Kushida joining the tournament and starts off meeting the GHC Junior Tag Champions Kanemoto & Tiger Mask. Not someone you'd want to meet in your first tournament bout and I doubt many was expecting them to do well against the New Japan side. And it didn't seem the New Japan side was very hyped for this either. Pretty standard stuff and not enough fire to make it interesting with Kushida getting some chances before he was submitted.

14:24 of 14:00 - Tiger Mask made Kushida submit to a chickenwing facelock

 

 

 

6. Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi & Tama Tonga -vs- Takashi Iizuka & Fujita Jr Hayato & Taro Nohashi [* 1/2]

--- In many ways just a random standard with a bunch of wrestlers that don't really work together much as they mixed the Michinoku Pro guys with the New Japan wrestlers. So at least the line-up was fresh even if they didn't do all that much with it. Funny how Iizuka just threw Nohashi into the ring when he didn't want to fight anymore. In the end there was a raid of moves leaving Goto alone with Nohashi and a lariat later it was over.

14:56 of 14:54 - Goto pinned Nohashi after a lariat

 

 

 

COMMENTS: This show features a lot of filler guys draging the matches down. Only the lucha line-up worked and the rest was mostly boring.

 

 

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[PUNQ]

NJPW on ESPN - November 11, 2010, Tokyo - (2 1/4 hrs)

 

 

 

 

November 11, 2010, Tokyo - Differ Ariake (400 fans)

 

 

1. King Fale -vs- Hiromu Takahashi [3/4*]

--- Fale vs Takahashi for the 3rd straight show. At least they give Takahashi some match training as he hasn't had too many matches since debuting back in August. And the little guy tried bodyslams and survived the Boston Crab, but Fale won the same way he won the day before with a big vertical suplex.

8:11 of 8:11 - Fale pinned Takahashi after a vertical suplex

 

 

 

2. Gedo & Jado -vs- Fujita Jr Hayato & Taro Nohashi - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block B ) [* 1/4]

--- Nohashi did a beautiful long diving headbutt near the end there before his head got smashed with a garbage bin and Jado took care of the rest. Otherwise it was only the M.Pro side bringing anything at all.

13:02 of 12:59 - Jado made Nohashi submit to a Crossface of Jado

 

 

 

3. Akira & Kushida -vs- Masaaki Mochizuki & Super Shisa - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block B ) [* 1/4]

--- SMASH vs Dragon Gate! And it was the SMASH side who offered the most as the Dragon Gate side was seriously tame. At least it gave Kushida a chance to shine a little diving out of the ring and winning with the twisting moonsault. Not sure about Akira's singing abillities. Got a taster of that after the bout.

12:26 of 12:25 - Kushida pinned Shisa after the Midnight Express

 

 

 

4. La Sombra & Mascara Dorada -vs- NOSAWA Rongai & Minoru Fujita - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block A) [* 3/4]

--- Oh, I'd forgotten why Fujita wears a t-shirt these days. It's was those incredible man-boobs of his. I laugh everytime I see them. NOSAWA also got his shirt ripped off as a revenge for Sombra's mask getting ripped. As for the match it was the luchadors who brought the highlight with their fancy dives while the Japan side had little to offer except weak offence. And a fancy dive ended it all as Sombra did a spinning moonsault press to take NOSAWA down.

11:26 of 11:35 - Sombra pinned NOSAWA with the Tornillo

 

 

 

5. Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi -vs- Jushin Liger & El Samurai - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block A) [* 1/2]

--- White haired Liger and same old Sammy against Apollo 55, the top current generation junior tag teams in New Japan. And they only manage to create some mild fun out of it. It's very clear that this Super J Tag League is of no high-priority for anyone. Not even the ones getting a rare shot working on a New Japan project. Sad state of affairs. Taguchi wins rolling Sammy up in that new Gedo Clutch move of his.

14:13 of 14:11 - Taguchi pinned Samurai with a Gedo Clutch II

 

 

 

6. Shinsuke Nakamura & Davey Richards & Rocky Romero -vs- Manabu Nakanishi & Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask [* 1/4]

--- I'm glad Richards & Romero was there because the New Japan wrestlers was determined not to do much at all. Sad that that's the attitude about their chosen profession. Sure, not every match need to be great. But a little effort to show that you care would be nice. The end was suprising as Tiger Mask did a rare junior heavyweight job tapping to Richards Scorpion Death Lock!

16:24 of 16:17 - Richards made Tiger Mask submit to a Sharpshooter

 

 

 

COMMENTS: Another light day in the Super J Tag League.

 

 

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[PUNQ]

NJPW on ESPN - November 12, 2010, Tokyo - (2 1/4 hrs)

 

 

 

 

November 12, 2010, Tokyo - Differ Ariake (400 fans)

 

 

1. Yuji Nagata -vs- King Fale [1/2*]

--- Simple as it gets. Easy win for Nagata the veteran over the rookie of 6 months experience.

7:42 of 7:42 - Nagata made Fale submit to a Nagata Lock II

 

 

 

2. Akira & Kushida -vs- Fujita Jr Hayato & Taro Nohashi - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block B ) [* 1/2]

--- SMASH side of Kushida & Akira against the Michinoku Pro side of Hayato & Nohashi in a very average bout. The end was nice with Akira bin kicking Nohashi's head in before Kushida landed a big Skytwister press to pin him! But I wish they'd done more with a tournament like this.

13:02 of 13:00 - Kushida pinned Nohashi after the Midnight Express

 

 

 

3. Davey Richards & Rocky Romero -vs- Jushin Liger & El Samurai - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block A) [* 1/4]

--- What's with all the low impact?! They are taking the sports away from pro-wrestling. It's just becoming simulated fighting with barely any touching what-so-ever. Too much influences from Amercan wrestling and Japanese wrestling is losing it's identity in record speed. No cool. No impact. What does Japanese wrestling have left? Whatever cool there was it came from Richards & Romero who carried the workload and thankfully won when Richards locked Samurai in the Scorpion Death Lock.

12:45 of 12:44 - Richards made Samurai submit to a Sharpshooter

 

 

 

4. Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask -vs- Masaaki Mochizuki & Super Shisa - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block B ) [*]

--- New Japan against Dragon Gate. Fairly tame like most of these Super J Tag League matches. There was some decent fighting between Mochizuki and Kanemoto a short time in there, but then Shisa fell off the top rope a little later fucking things up and getting tapped in no time.

11:50 of 11:50 - Tiger Mask made Shisa submit to a chickenwing armlock

 

 

 

5. Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi -vs- NOSAWA Rongai & Minoru Fujita - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block A) [*]

--- Apollo 55 against Tokyo Gurentai and as we know anything involving NOSAWA & Fujita turns to average shit....until Taguchi ended the misery win a trade of cradles getting a lucky pinfall.

9:45 of 9:44 - Taguchi pinned NOSAWA with a La Magistral cut-back

 

 

 

6. Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma & La Sombra & Mascara Dorada -vs- Yujiro Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito & Gedo & Jado [*]

--- The Japanese guys sluming it while the Mexicans doing some fanzy spots to at least wake the crowd for a few seconds. And that was the match with it floating around without much of interest happening until Inoue won with his weakass spear finisher.

16:07 of 16:06 - Inoue pinned Gedo after a spear

 

 

 

COMMENTS: .....hope they bring it on the final day of the tour.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[Truth]

It sounds like you are pretty bored with the shows you watch, or is your enjoyment to rip all shows apart?

[PUNQ]

The start of 2010 wasn't bad, but there are periods around September-November that's usually a very down-period in Japanese wrestling. It's been like that most years I've reviewed. A lot of filler shows after the August rush of major shows and things take a slump until the new year celebrations starts with new focus.

 

But at the same time the Japanese scene is declining steadily. More and more shows that mean nothing. Les matches that have any importance at all. And at the same time the 'standard' quality of filler matches gets lower on a whole making viewing pretty painful at times and at the very best boring. Before there was at least something to look forward to on the undercards. Isn't like that anymore. It's only about the main event now and even there they struggle bigtime delivering now. The steam is running out. Nothing fresh or anything/anyone to shake things up out of their one-sided mentality of doing things. Sadly.....

 

I watch about 3000 matches a year from Japan and not a single bout has cracked the 4* barrier since Nakajima vs KENTA from February 2009 and the closest we got in 2010 was a handful matches reaching *** 1/2. That used to be the midcard standard not that long ago. Now it's a Match of the Year standard.

 

 

 

 

MISS MONGOL PRODUCE on COMM - November 12, 2010, Yokohama - (1 1/4 hrs)

 

 

 

November 12, 2010, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse

 

 

1. La Malcriada & Hanako Kobayashi -vs- Yuki Miyazaki & Ariya [*]

--- Okay for what it was. A standard women's action match to start the show on a energetic note. Miss Mongol under the Mexican gimmick of Malcriada winning beating former Jd' wrestler Ariya. NEO wrestler Miyazaki was the one standing out the most, but it wasn't anything amazing here.

9:26 - Malcriada pinned Ariya with a modified La Magistral

 

 

 

2. Keizo Matsuda -vs- Takuma Obe [* 1/4]

--- IWA offer match and it's main star Matsuda who brings in Obe to beat. Fine simple match with Obe getting some share of the action hurting Matsuda on a few occations. But it was clear to see who the boy was and who the man was as Matsuda rammed Obe down with a hard lariat in the end.....

8:43 - Matsuda pinned Obe after a lariat

 

 

 

3. Apple Miyuki -vs- Alexander Otsuka -vs- Konaka Pale One - (3-Way) [1/4*]

--- ....eh....

4:56 - Miyuki pinned Otsuka & Konaka in a erotic position

 

 

 

4. Atsushi Onita & Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Miss Mongol -vs- Mr.Pogo & Ricky Fuji & The Winger & Hideki Hosaka - (No-Rope Barbed Wire Death Match) [*]

--- With Miss Mongol celebrating her 15th Anniversary she brings in a bunch of old-timers for a quick fix remembering the good old days of FMW with the hardcore legends Onita and Pogo clashing again nearly 20 years after their feud started. The other FMW/WING guys did the work and Mongol took the big barbed wire bump and was bloodied up before her side helped her to victory over The Winger who clearly had pissed off someone before the show as he got booes when he came to the ring.

8:27 - Mongol pinned Winger after a bodypress off a ladder

 

 

 

COMMENTS: Simple and standard stuff, but done good enough to not out-stay their welcome and the vibes was good for this show celebrating Miss Mongol with a nostalgia main event.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

Dragon Gate on GAORA TV - November 12 & 13, 2010 - (2 hrs)

 

 

 

 

November 12, 2010, Kobe Uwaya Gekijyo (400 fans)

 

 

1. Susumu Yokosuka & K-ness -vs- Gamma & Genki Horiguchi [* 1/4]

--- This was fairly heated, but it was in no way a pretty match. The referee had to stop it because everyone kept bringing in weapons and wasn't co-operating with the rules.

11:53 of 12:33 - Yokosuka & K-ness wrestled Gamma & Horiguchi to a No-Contest

 

 

 

2. Naruki Doi & Yasushi Kanda & Takuya Sugawara -vs- Shingo Takagi & YAMATO & Cyber Kong [* 1/2]

--- A 6-man tag house show bout which was fairly aggressive. Decent action with the stable that hold the Triangle belts looking the role beating the muscle boys with effective teamwork. Just a taster for what will come on the November 23rd big show. Kanda gets to beat YAMATO after the match had turned into a finisher wars.

19:36 of 20:05 - Kanda pinned YAMATO after a swinging Pedigree

 

 

 

 

November 13, 2010, Kyoto KBS Hall (850 fans)

 

 

3. Naruki Doi & Takuya Sugawara -vs- Don Fujii & Kenichiro Arai [* 3/4]

--- Quite fun with the unique team of Fujii & Arai trying to work together and getting there in the end nearly beating their opponents in the process. But the other side is a lot more dangerous then Arai so with him as the weak link the result was never really in doubt with Sugwara taking care of him with the Shiisanputa.

14:43 of 14:42 - Sugawara pinned Arai after the Shiisanputa

 

 

 

4. CIMA & Gamma & Dragon Kid -vs- Masato Yoshino & Susumu Yokosuka & K-ness [**]

--- Fast paced action in true Dragon Gate fashion to build up the buzz for the Yoshino vs CIMA Dream Gate match on November 23rd. Plus just the general group hatred with the moves flying back and forth until someone won and that someone ended up being Gamma who beat K-ness.

20:17 of 20:19 - Gamma pinned K-ness after the Gamma Special

 

 

 

COMMENTS: The matches was there to build heat for the current stable wars and the next big show on November 23rd, but besides that there wasn't too much that was special about these bouts.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NJPW on ESPN - November 13, 2010, Tokyo - (2 1/2 hrs)

 

 

 

 

November 13, 2010, Tokyo - Differ Ariake (550 fans)

 

 

1. Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask -vs- Fujita Jr Hayato & Taro Nohashi - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block B ) [* 1/2]

--- A tiny bit of fire which is more then these teams have shown the rest of the tournament it feels like, but it was still just a bout with a very standard formula with the big team winning as Kanemoto making Nohashi tap to a scorpion like ankle hold.

11:58 of 11:58 - Kanemoto made Nohashi submit to a modified ankle hold

 

 

 

2. Gedo & Jado -vs- Akira & Kushida - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block B ) [* 1/2]

--- As Kanemoto & Tiger Mask won their bout Akira & Kushida don't really have a chance as they'll only end on equal points as them and they lost the internal group play match against them. Jado & Gedo will also end on the same points, but they beat Kanemoto & Tiger Mask so they'll go through and win Block B if they win here. Which they did......boooooooo!!! They gave the SMASH guys a chance to look good, but the result will forever cast a shadow over that.

13:50 of 13:47 - Gedo pinned Kushida with a schoolboy

 

 

 

3. Davey Richards & Rocky Romero -vs- NOSAWA Rongai & Minoru Fujita - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block A) [*]

--- It'll be a NOSAWA match no matter how much NOSAWA is involved, so this was a NOSAWA match. Nothing of interest happening with the guy nearly tapping before Richards had the Scorpion Death Lock locked in.

10:06 of 10:06 - Richards made NOSAWA submit to a Sharpshooter

 

 

 

4. Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi -vs- La Sombra & Mascara Dorada - (Super J Tag League '10 - Block A) [*]

--- Same booking as in Block B. Richards & Romero are through to the final if Apollo 55 win and the luchardors are in the finals if they win, so basically Devitt & Taguchi had nothing but honor to fight for so naturally they won sending Richards & Romero to face Jado & Gedo in the Super J Tag League Final. And I'd been looking forward to this match as the luchadors have been to freshest offering in this tournament and Apollo 55 can bring it against the right competition, but this was just a unexciting throw-away match.

9:04 of 9:04 - Taguchi pinned Dorado with a roll-up

 

 

 

5. Satoshi Kojima & Masaaki Mochizuki & Super Shisa -vs- Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jushin Liger & El Samurai [* 3/4]

--- Fun match with Samurai getting to trouble Kojima a tiny bit before running into a Hansen lariat. Tanahashi was there to build a buzz for the IWGP Title Kojima has, but they didn't physically do much with it as the juniors did most of the work with Mochizuki being ok here. But this ended just as it was starting to get interesting.

14:13 of 14:22 - Kojima pinned Samurai after a lariat

 

 

 

6. Gedo & Jado -vs- Davey Richards & Rocky Romero - (Super J Tag League '10 - Final) [* 1/2]

--- Mindbaffling...... I know Jado & Gedo are home guys compared to the gaijins who are considered heels too, but to pull the total babyface formula on a team who'd been heels all tour long is just.....stupid. Long beat-down of the Japan side. Too long. The match lasted 23 minutes for Christ sake. A Jado & Gedo match! But they did get a handfull fans chanting for the two, but this was never a super match as the two that can bring it wasn't supposed to do anything fan popular to get a positive reaction to the heel Japanese side and Jado & Gedo never do anything special for the fans anyway. So it was just a long match until the comeback came and Jado got the win with a Crippler Crossface. Gado & Jado are your undeserving Super J Tag League winners.

23:00 of 23:00 - Jado made Romero submit to the Crossface of Jado. Gedo & Jado win the Super J Tag League.

 

 

 

COMMENTS: This is two disappointing tag tournament tours in a row for New Japan. A real down period and they really should start finding a way to get their tag divisions more interesting because this was a major waste of time for any fans of pro wrestling.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NEO on COMM - November 13, 2010, Tokyo - (1 3/4 hrs)

 

 

 

 

November 13, 2010, Tokyo - Itabashi Green Hall (155 fans)

 

 

1. Hiroyo Matsumoto -vs- Ayako Sato [* 1/4]

--- Solid basic joshi action. It's what you'd expect if you're used to watching modern womens wrestling. A lot of running around and trying to pin each other and not enough substance beyond that. A time limit draw.

15:01 of 15:00 - Matsumoto wrestled Sato to a 15:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

 

2. Nanae Takahashi & Kazumi Shimouma -vs- Hailey Hatred & Hamuko Hoshi [3/4*]

--- Random action, mostly of the annoying and not-so-good kind. Interesting seeing Hailey mixed in there with the usual Ice Ribbon bunch, but that couldn't generate too much interest into this bout which the most annoying of all won.

13:29 of 13:30 - Shimouma pinned Hoshi after a second rope splash

 

 

 

3. Ran Yu Yu & Toshie Uematsu -vs- Yuki Miyazaki & Tanny Mouse [3/4*]

--- These ladies have fought many times over the years as they come from the same generation, 1994-95, even if they're from different dojos. Ran & Miyazaki came from the JWP dojo, Uematsu from GAEA and Tanny from AJW. But in recent years Tanny & Miyazaki have been one of the longest running teams on the joshi scene and Ran & Uematsu have held together a very long time too dating back to the final years of GAEA. And this is their final meeting billed as "The Last Holy Fight". I felt it leaned more as "The Last Sinful Fight" with all their light-hearted bullshit stuff and going 23 minutes before it ended with a very bad European Clutch.

23:02 of 23:02 - Yu Yu pinned Tanny with a European Clutch

 

 

 

4. Yoshiko Tamura & Ayumi Kurihara © -vs- Ryo Mizunami & Aya Yuki - (NEO Tag Title) [* 1/2]

--- Tamura & Kurihara have been the most successful NEO Tag Champs having 5 successful defences behind them the 10 1/2 months they've held the tag belts. But it stops here. It's finally time to give one of the companys younger girls the rub before going out of business as Yuki gets to beat Tamura with the Death Valley Bomb. Second one, as Kurihara saved Tamura on the first. A real solid win and Tamura did a ok job of letting Yuki be the star of the two. So with Sendai Girls solid wrestler Mizunami we have a fresh team on top. The bout wasn't super, but at the same time it was solid enough and got the point across. Yuki & Mizunami are not exactly sprint workers like the rest of the joshi scene so pace was always going to be slower, but what they did was done good and we got the reward at the end with a surprising win.

15:56 of 15:56 - Yuki pinned Tamura after a Death Valley Bomb. Mizunami & Yuki become the 13th NEO Tag Champions.

 

 

 

COMMENTS: NEO as they've been a while. Not too much to offer anymore, but at least they did something with the tag belts and pushed one of their own.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

KENSUKE OFFICE on SAMURAI TV - November 14 & December 12, 2010 - (2 hrs)

 

 

 

 

November 14, 2010, Odawara Arena Sub Arena (756 fans)

 

 

1. Satoshi Kajiwara -vs- Chango [* 1/4]

--- One of the better Chango matches much thanks to Kajiwara getting the best out of him landing moves and getting a few real close pinfall attempts before it was over with a moonsault from the Kensuke Office guy.

6:21 of 9:45 - Kajiwara pinned Chango after a moonsault

 

 

 

2. Junji Izumida & Kikutaro -vs- Namazu Man #1 & #2 [3/4*]

--- Izumida getting work after getting dropped by NOAH a year ago!!! And it's only in a Kikutaro bout where he wears a lot of pink with red hearts on. And they barely showed any of him on this edited TV match as it was all Kikutaro bringing the fish home.

5:27 of 14:38 - Kikutaro pinned Namazu after a Shining Wizard

 

 

 

3. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Jun Nishikawa -vs- Big Murakami & Kentaro Shiga [* 1/2]

--- Nakajima was more of a man then Murakami it felt like. They tried to focus the fighting between those two, but it never excelled into anything massive even if they gave it some focus at least. The Shiga vs Nishikawa stuff wasn't very succeful either so it was mainly on Nakajima's shoulders the quality layed. So only fitting he won it!

8:29 of 13:38 - Nakajima pinned Shiga after a running bodykick

 

 

 

4. Go Sato -vs- Takashi Okita [*]

--- Felt like a ok match when it ended out of nowhere when poor unfortunately Okita leeped himself straight into a Diamond Cutter for Go to win.

5:47 of 11:15 - Go pinned Okita after a Diamond Cutter

 

 

 

5. Kensuke Sasaki & Kento Miyahara -vs- Yutaka Yoshie & Bear Fukuda [* 3/4]

--- Main event time and that means Sasaki style fighting mixing with Yoshie and Bear for hard knocks while Miyahara was the one responsable for the more lightweight wrestling and speed. They worked ok hard, but not the most fresh approach to a match. Sasaki had to use the Northern Light Bomb to take care of Bear after he'd kicked out of the lariat.

10:45 of 20:18 - Sasaki pinned Fukuda after a Northern Light Bomb

 

 

 

 

December 12, 2010, Yokohama Radiant Hall (518 fans)

 

 

6. Osamu Namiguchi -vs- Jun Nishikawa [*]

--- Former Zero-One squash object Namiguchi coming in to teach Kensuke Office's squash object #1 a few things. And he showed Nishikawa how he'll lose his matches the next few years....

4:48 of 7:42 - Namiguchi made Nishikawa submit to a single leg crab

 

 

 

7. Yutaka Yoshie & Junji Izumida -vs- Namazu Man #1 & Chango [1/4*]

--- There is a reason why no one hired Izu after being let go by NOAH. He's terrible. Even in light-hearted shit like this.

4:27 of 11:43 - Yoshie pinned Namazu after a bodypress

 

 

 

8. Kento Miyahara -vs- Bear Fukuda [* 3/4]

--- Yes! The young Kensuke Office wrestler Miyahara gets to beat a heavyweight! Sure it's waste of timer like Bear Fukuda, but still this is a step in the right direction for him. And the match wasn't bad either because Miyahara was pumped for this match and did all he could to cover for Bear's limited skills and personality. And then he beat the big guy with a German!

8:12 of 15:03 - Miyahara pinned Fukuda with a German Suplex

 

 

 

9. Kensuke Sasaki -vs- Go Sato [*]

--- Not exactly a singles match the world has been looking forward to and we all know that Sasaki is going to squash this Go no matter what. And why they needed to make it that competitive and last so long I've no idea. Lariats and Northern Light Bomb....and Go's dead.

8:14 of 14:28 - Sasaki pinned Go after a Northern Light Bomb

 

 

 

10. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Takashi Okita & Satoshi Kajiwara -vs- Big Murakami & Takeshi Minaminno & Manjimaru [* 1/2]

--- The heels made sure the local fans would cheer on the KO side as they got bullied. And things looked hopeless for them a while there. Especially for Okita, but thats why it was fitting that he got his big comeback and won the damn match for the team trashing the wrestler also knowsn as Ooma!

12:31 of 16:12 - Okita pinned Manjimaru after a Jackhammer

 

 

 

COMMENTS: At least a place where the promising Kensuke Office wrestlers can get to shine.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

FUTEN on COMM - November 14, 2010, Kawasaki - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

 

 

November 14, 2010, Kawasaki - Lazona Kawasaki Plaza Sol

 

 

1. Ryuji Hijikata -vs- Kazuki Okubo [* 1/4]

--- Most of this was grounded with an occational strike added in between for effect. Hijikata wasn't in a very 'puroresu' mode totally no-selling Okubo's beautifully executed backdrop suplex and killing Okubo shortly after.

7:21 of 7:27 - Hijikata made Okubo submit to a sleeper

 

 

 

2. Mitsuya Nagai -vs- Madoka [* 1/2]

--- Madoka didn't really stand a chance. Nagai would stiff him and control nearly everything apart from a short period where Madoka got his glamorized comeback without utilizing it too much. Because once Nagai was out of Madoka's holds Nagai just went on and finished it.....

8:17 of 8:13 - Nagai made Madoka submit to a single leg crab

 

 

 

3. Daisuke Ikeda -vs- Manabu Suruga [** 3/4]

--- Brutal! Kicks and punches all the way with Ikeda looking to win it in a quick way having Suruga is deep trouble from the start. Suruga had more then enough by trying to get up from the mat as he kept getting knocked down again and again. And sometimes he couldn't even get up before Ikeda would come and kick him in the face! So with Ikeda is near complete control, it was happy moments when Suruga did get some facekicks in to even it out a little bit. One kept hoping for him to equalize and take over, but Suruga was never long on top before Ikeda would bloody his face with punches and knock him weak and dazed enough for locking in a submission win.

10:24 of 10:24 - Ikeda made Sugura submit to a cross-armbreaker

 

 

 

4. Takeshi Ono -vs- Katsumi Usuda [**]

--- Tight fight in a way. Usuda with his experience seemed to have it all under control even if Ono was the aggressive one and kind of unpredictable making Usuda work hard to keep his focus and Ono in balance. Usuda got in some solid submission locks like the triangle hold and wakigatame to nearly have him beat, but Ono wanted it differently and surprisingly had enough spirit to lock in a Octopus Hold to make Usuda tap!

12:40 of 12:41 - Ono made Usuda submit to a grounded Octopus Hold

 

 

 

5. Kengo Mashimo -vs- Makoto Hashi [** 1/4]

--- Hashi got a yellow card during the ring announcements! Thats early! But at least they're trying to get this match between former nationally known wrestler in former NOAH wrestler Hashi and one of the top indy stars in Kaientai Dojo's ace Mashimo off to a heated start. And it was a good fight. Maybe not as wild as it promised to be, but a competitive and stubborn one which kept buzzing as they went on attack hard and locking in tight holds. And at the holds Mashimo is almost leagues better and managed to trap Hashi well enough for no escape with a modified armlock.

15:38 of 15:38 - Mashimo made Hashi submit to a modified armlock

 

 

 

COMMENTS: Good show indeed! Almost strange that Ikeda vs Suruga wasn't the main event, but they gave a main event performance while letting the borrowed stars take the main spotlight at the end of the show.

 

 

--PUNQ--