Guide to Japanese Wrestling 2010

[lightningxlock]

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

 

I know PUNQ himself does some trading, tho im not sure how much he does these days. Failing that, Ultimo The Great on this very board has a nice selection of Japanese footage that would surely get you started. Ultimately tho, ivpvideos.com has just about everything for a beginner

[PUNQ]

Don't do much trading anymore since my system started getting old and broke down. I can probable still do DVD copies of the shows from the last 5 years, but I'm not really active in the trading business right now.

 

 

 

Dragon Gate on GAORA TV - January 19, 2010 & September 6, 2009 - (2 hrs)

 

 

January 19, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (360 fans)

 

1. Super Shisa -vs- Madoka - (Battle of Tokyo '10 - Round 1) [1/2*]

--- Simple small show fight. A couple of nice blows and a Yoshitonic win for Shisa.

3:00 of 8:16 - Shisa pinned Madoka with the Yoshitonic

 

 

2. Akira Tozawa -vs- Shinobu - (Battle of Tokyo '10 - Round 1) [3/4*]

--- Fairly charming with a couple of highlights mixed in with Tozawa surprising and beating Shinobu with a big German Suplex!

3:22 of 7:58 - Tozawa pinned Shinobu with a German Suplex

 

 

3. GENTARO -vs- Kzy - (Battle of Tokyo '10 - Round 1) [3/4*]

--- Battle of sly minds. Kzy tried his best, but he was out-played by the master. And a example of true genious was the way GENTARO blinded the referee so he could delvier a low blow to Kzy. A full-on eye gouch. And then he landed the high flying elbow drop and it was over.

3:09 of 3:23 - GENTARO pinned Kzy after a top rope elbow drop

 

 

4. Takuya Sugawara -vs- Kagetora - (Battle of Tokyo '10 - Round 1) [1/2*]

--- Damn Ken45 coming in with the guitar and smashing it over Kagetora's head so that Sugawara could win!

2:42 of 8:59 - Sugawara pinned Kagetora after the Shiisanputa

 

 

5. Super Shisa -vs- Akira Tozawa - (Battle of Tokyo '10 - Semi-Final) [*]

--- Battle of simple wrestling. Not too impressed with what they got out of this bout, but in it's own little way it was a match based off similar non-deadly offence, so it was the little things that controled it. And in this one Shisa emerged victorious locking in a European Clutch.

7:50 of 7:51 - Shisa pinned Tozawa with a European Clutch

 

 

6. Takuya Sugawara -vs- GENTARO - (Battle of Tokyo '10 - Semi-Final) [3/4*]

--- This is the way GENTARO wrestle in Freedoms. Boring down-to-basics wrestling. And Sugawara rarely adds anything special by himself, so this was a draging experience with the wrong guy picking up the win too....

10:27 of 10:26 - Sugawara pinned GENTARO with a crucifix cradle

 

 

7. Takuya Sugawara -vs- Super Shisa - (Battle of Tokyo '10 - Final) [1/2*]

--- Just didn't get interesting to me. Sugawara sucked the life out of it and Shisa didn't do much either. Only this was that Shisa countered the Shiisanputa into a Yoshitonic which had it won except Sugawara's friends was there to distract the referee. And that's when the red box came into play and Sugawara won the Battle of Tokyo '10 very unspectacularly.

12:31 of 12:33 - Sugawara pinned Shisa after the Shiisanputa

 

 

September 6, 2009, Chicago, IL - The Congress Theater (1,080 fans)

 

8. Naruki Doi -vs- Bryan Danielson [***]

--- One of Danielson's last indy matches before joining the world famous WWE and he takes on Dragon Gate's champion Naruki Doi. And as always Danielson brings a well-structured bout in which Doi's weaknesses could be hidden in as Danielson took care of the personality bits while Doi as the babyface pretty guy got the spectacular moments and comebacks. Not one of Danielson's most passionate bouts, but regardless it was a damn good one without over-doing the climax part. Doi gets the super push he's been getting a year now and beats Danielson in this non-title bout to give Dragon Gate the US hype.

15:24 of 22:26 - Doi pinned Danielson with a Muscular Bomb

 

 

9. Davey Richards -vs- Shingo Takagi [*** 3/4]

--- Moment of this bout was Richards doing a tope and went flying a few rows by himself after sliding over Shingo in the air on the attack! But this was one hell of a match regardless on that spot as they worked in the knee hurtin' and arm hurtin' and kept it alive and structured all the way making it a important part of the fight and getting the excitement that way while mixing in the finishers, which they all kicked out of, with Richards kicking out of the Made In Japan as the main heart-skipping highlight! And once Richards surivied sure death he locked in the bad shoulder and arm of Shingo to beat him clean in DG USA making the former Open the Dream Gate Champion tap to a entusiastic crowd who were lucky to withness such a strong match live.

15:42 of 25:45 - Richards made Takagi submit to a chickenwing armlock

 

 

10. Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi -vs- Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson [** 3/4]

--- Action spectacular with Saito & Genki as heels controling the early portion before we got peppered with flying moves all over the place from the Young Bucks. A real fan friendly match with the Bucks getting screwed in the end as the referee was knocked down as they had the match won. Then some mist and a Double Cross later Saito had it won instead.

12:35 of 17:04 - Saito pinned Matt after the Double Cross

 

 

COMMENTS: The Battle of Tokyo '10 tournament had nothing to offer. Only short basic matches and no heart. And the second hour was a edited down Japanese version of the Dragon Gate USA show from September '09.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[aaron]

I'd actually like to know what old school DDT was like? As i've not seen anything from them since before say, 2006. I think current day DDT is a great little company, tho I havent caught very much at all this year. They've got a really hard working roster that are capable of entertaining matches. It's a good mix of high flying, epic main events that usually deliver the goods, crazy gimmick matches and mind boggling comedy.

 

You could describe it with the word 'mental'. (I have the first 40 or so shows on disc but no fucker wants them!)

 

Blow-up dolls, competing monkeys, mind tricks... good stuff.

[lightningxlock]

Haha yeh, the thing I hear about the most with old school DDT is that Iron Man title in which said monkey held the belt for a time. Not to mention a little girl and a ladder

[PUNQ]

Dragon Gate on GAORA TV - January 20 & Februaru 7, 2010 - (2 hrs)

 

 

January 20, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (2,350 fans)

 

1. Takuya Sugawara -vs- Naruki Doi -vs- Shingo Takagi - (3-Way) [3/4*]

--- They are at the Korakuen Hall and this is all they delvier in a semi-main event. Sugawara looks so washed up and really sucks the life out of an otherwise pumping Dragon Gate atmosphere. And here he gets to win again! Why?! What's he got to offer?!

7:41 of 9:12 - Doi pinned Takagi with a crucifix cradle

12:06 of 13:28 - Sugawara pinned Doi after the Shiisanputa

 

 

2. YAMATO -vs- CIMA [** 1/2]

--- The build up was sort of random. Or at least that's how it felt, but the ending 5 minutes was real good. That's when the focus on their finishers came and the climax that created. Killer moves which miraculously got kicked out of. The MDII variations looked real nasty! Both landed and both kicked out. CIMA wasn't able to make the cover fast enough after he landed the Meteora and that's why YAMATO kicked out of that one. But one of YAMATO main tactics of the match was the sleeper. And he went for it several times until he's made enough damage to the superstar to trap him in a final one where he could not escape. CIMA tapped and that secures YAMATO as a bonified star in Dragon Gate now!

19:30 of 26:30 - YAMATO made CIMA submit to a sleeper

 

 

Februaru 7, 2010, Hakata Star Lane (2,350 fans)

 

3. YAMATO -vs- Don Fujii [* 1/2]

--- These two likes to brawl and use all kinds of ways to make a mess when they face each other. And here they fought all over the Hakata Star Lane and used an entire bag of powder which got in everyones face! Fujii was most aggressive with the white stuff, but he's walked himself into a inside cradle..... More interesting was the re-appearence of CYBER KONG coming out in a suit announcing his return!!!!

7:04 of 13:29 - YAMATO pinned Fujii with a small package

 

 

4. K-ness © -vs- PAC - (Open the Brave Gate Title) [* 1/4]

--- British PAC getting a shot at the Brave Gate Title and does a couple of massive twisting moves to wow the crowd. Sadly this match felt to have a lot of down-time and weak execution from K-ness which was why it never developed to anything memorable. And K-ness could retain using a modified wrist-clutch fishermans buster. And next challenger is Super Shisa.

9:44 of 17:57 - K-ness pinned PAC after the Darkness Buster to retain the Open the Brave Gate Title in his 1st defence.

 

 

5. Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino & BxB Hulk -vs- Masaaki Mochizuki & Gamma & Dragon Kid -vs- Susumu Yokosuka & Takuya Sugawara & Genki Horiguchi - (3-Way) [* 1/4]

--- The usual confusing stuff. Action and backstabbin' at an alarming rate. And again World-1 show they are the top group in Dragon gate at the moment.

11:06 of 24:48 - Yoshino pinned Gamma with the Speedster

14:43 of 28:25 - Doi pinned Horiguchi after the bakatare sliding kick

 

 

COMMENTS: The CIMA vs YAMATO match turned spectacular, otherwise not much standing out or particularly good.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

AJPW on Samurai TV - January 22, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

January 22, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (2,000 fans)

 

1. NOSAWA Rongai -vs- Kaz Hayashi -vs- Minoru - (Kokomi Sakura Cup - Round 1; 3-Way) [*]

--- NOSAWA the king of backstabbing! Many alliances was made in this 3-way and all were broken within seconds. And stupid Hayashi after being fooled again and again by the prick gave him one more chance and as soon as he did NOSAWA dropped him on top of Minoru and then followed up with a La Magistral for the upset!

8:33 of 8:32 - NOSAWA pinned Hayashi with a La Magistral

 

 

2. Osamu Nishimura -vs- Seiya Sanada -vs- KAI - (Kokomi Sakura Cup - Round 1; 3-Way) [3/4*]

--- Here Sanada was in the NOSAWA role backstabbing Nishimura a couple of times. And with that Nishimura became more of a stalker in the match as KAI and Sanada were doing the fighting. And out of nowhere......BACKSLIDE!!! And Nishimura goes to the final with NOSAWA and the winner of the next bout....

6:30 of 6:30 - Nishimura pinned Sanada with a backslide

 

 

3. Minoru Suzuki -vs- Akebono -vs- Masayuki Kono - (Kokomi Sakura Cup - Round 1; 3-Way) [*]

--- Suzuki & Kono were both focused on the same thing. Beat down the big guy. They wanted to do it solo and pushed the other guys away, but would also double-team big Bono. Even landing a double-team backdrop suplex! But the end didn't come with Akebono. It came when Kono had the egg trapped in a armbreaker, but soon Kono found himself trapped in Suzuki's sleeper tapping.

6:01 of 6:01 - Suzuki made Kono submit to a sleeper

 

 

 

4. Toshizo -vs- Masa Fuchi (w/ Kanon Ohzora & Shiori Tsukimi) [3/4*]

--- Fuchi is a pimp! Coming out looking all cool with two hot bitches! Who would try and heal the old man whenever he got hurt in the match. During one point one of the bras almost fell off! A pure kinky match. But I guess the old man wasn't focused enough as he ended up being trapped in a cross-armbreaker after one of Toshizo's escorts (TARU, who's not nearly as sexy as Fuchi's valets) hit him with a box.

8:22 of 9:27 - Toshizo made Fuchi submit to a cross-armbreaker

 

 

 

5. Minoru Suzuki -vs- Osamu Nishimura -vs- NOSAWA Rongai - (Kokomi Sakura Cup - Final; 3-Way) [1/2*]

--- Another short 3-way and Suzuki didn't fall for NOSAWA's games and with authority beat him up easy! But Nishimura got the real prize. He got a sexy girls panty!

5:19 of 5:13 - Suzuki pinned NOSAWA after a Gotch-style piledriver

 

 

 

6. Kohei Suwama & Shuji Kondo -vs- Satoshi Kojima & Hiroshi Yamato [* 3/4]

--- This was more or less their standard wrestling. Suwama and Kojima clashed a little which was what I was looking the most forward too, but it was Yamato who was the personality in this bout. Until Kondo cut off his head with a lariat, that is. That ment that Kondo got his prize having a sexy girl in his arms. Suwama looked a little envious.

14:26 of 16:01 - Kondo pinned Yamato after a lariat

 

 

 

7. Keiji Muto & Masakatsu Funaki & S1 Mask(Ryota Hama) -vs- TARU & Toru Owashi & Hate [* 1/2]

--- The match started with TARU throwing Muto on good looking women in the audience. Didn't look like Muto minded that. And the moment this match was waiting for what what Muto hoped for too. After getting a fire extinguisher blown in his face one of the AV girls came in to give Muto mouth-to-mouth! AND MUTO HULKED UP!!! And the rest is history. No one could stop the babyfaces after that boost!

14:01 of 14:01 - Muto pinned Hate after a Shining Wizard

 

 

COMMENTS: All Japan and S1 adult compeny joining forces for a male friendly show. Nothing too naughty as this was done with a touch of class.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[The King Of Swing]

When did AJPW go mental? lol.

[PUNQ]

Hehe, Keiji Muto brings a lot of cool into the AJPW product. He knows how to make a show fun apart from the actual wrestling.

 

 

 

Dragon Gate USA on COMM - January 23, 2010, Chicago, IL - (4 hrs)

 

 

January 23, 2009, Chicago, IL - The Congress Theater (1,028 fans)

 

1. TJP -vs- Gran Akuma [* 1/2]

--- This match is not really the reason why I'm watching this show, but it was a fine display. I kind of like Gran Akuma and his mini-Baron Von Raschke look and TJP seems like a capable lightweight and even picked up the win with a combination of the figure-four and Scorpion Death Lock.

8:57 of 9:22 - TJP made Akuma submit to a figure-four death lock

 

 

2. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw -vs- CIMA & Super Crazy [* 3/4]

--- The CIMA vs Quackenbush rivalery continues, but the match didn't have too much to offer really. Especially early on which was a rather uninspired and non-directional. Things as usual gets more interesting toward the end as CIMA & Crazy lay it in to the Chikara dudes. Liked the Romero Special and footstomp and boot combination from CIMA & Crazy. But their near domination didn't result in a win though as Quackenbush managed to roll Super Crazy up for the pin.

17:50 of 17:50 - Quackenbush pinned Crazy with a modified cradle

 

 

3. Brian Kendrick -vs- Jimmy Jacobs [3/4*]

--- Failed to care much at all with this and the drama with Lacey.... and then after the match Tommy Dreamer came out a fought Jon Moxley around the arena for a few minutes.....

6:44 of 6:44 - Kendrick pinned Jacobs after the Sliced Bread #2

 

 

4. Masaaki Mochizuki © -vs- Davey Richards - (FIP Title) [** 1/2]

--- An epic battle attempt. Lacked a little realness to make it work 100%, but they made the submission work interesting by locking in a bunch of them and Richards did a lovely wreckless tope dive into the crowds! They did this in a very competitive way and both it kept going back and forth with the strikes and submission until it was Richards who regained the FIP Title using a tringle choke to make Mochizuki tap.

19:06 of 19:06 - Richards made Mochizuki submit to a triangle choke to become the 11th FIP Champion.

 

 

5. Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino -vs- Shingo Takagi & YAMATO -vs- Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson - (3-Way Elimination) [**]

--- A little difficult to get into with all the guys in the ring and it didn't look like Shingo was very comfortable in ther with the Jacksons, but it had it's entertainment value. Especially since the right team won with Yoshino grabbing both falls and Shingo getting a ton of blows to the head.

(14:54) - Yoshino pinned Matt after a lightning Spiral

18:58 of 18:59 - Yoshino made Takagi submit to the Sol Naciente

 

 

6. BxB Hulk © -vs- Dragon Kid - (Open the Freedom Gate Title) [** 1/4]

--- Freedom Gate main event with Hulk making the 1st US defence of the newly created Open the Freedom Gate Title. And the challenger is Dragon Kid! That promised to be a good match. And it was at times, but not the hyped explosion that one had hoped. They still had a hot ending with all the finishers coming in order until Hulk won with the modified version of the E.V.O. to beat Dragon Kid.

And after the bout there was a lot of in-ring brawling with everyone hating everyone for no appearent reason.

17:09 of 17:06 - Hulk pinned Dragon Kid after thye E.V.O.P. to retain the Open the Freedom Gate Title in his 2nd defence.

 

 

7. Kyle O'Reilly -vs- Arik Cannon -vs- Johnny Gargano -vs- Lince Dorado -vs- Brad Allen -vs- Jon Moxley - (6-Way Elimination) [* 1/2]

--- Bonus matches time! And we start off with a everyone-against-everyone 6-man elimination match! Simple fun. A little from everybody until everybody except O'Reilly had been eliminated......

(1:45) - Moxley eliminated by DQ

(4:55) - Gargano pinned Allen with a cradle

(7:44) - Cannon pinned Dorado after a enzuigiri

(8:44) - Cannon pinned Gargano after a enzuigiri

11:45 - O'Reilly pinned Cannon after a brainbuster

 

 

8. Silas Young © -vs- Hallowicked - (AAW Title) [*]

--- Easy going Americana style wrestling. Decent, but very little standing out or done to gain interest. The champ retains.

9:12 - Young pinned Hallowicken after a moonsault to retain the AAW Title.

 

 

December 6, 2009, Sapporo Teisen Hall (1,250 fans)

 

9. Davey Richards

[PUNQ]

NEO on COMM - January 23, 2010, Tokyo - (1 3/4 hrs)

 

 

January 23, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (201 fans)

 

1. Hiroyo Matsumoto -vs- Aya Yuki [3/4*]

--- These two are from the same generation. Both debuted in 2006. Matsumoto has established herself much stronger then whan Yuki has and deservingly so. Even if that's been more luck and timing then tallent really. They tried to fight in a heavyweight manner without creating much interest out of that. Hell, it's always difficult to do something interesting with Yuki. She have a way of sucking out any life in a match. And this was more or less a bore draw with Matsumoto landing some back elbows and the backdrop suplex, without being able to make the cover, being the highlights.

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

 

 

2. Kyoko Inoue -vs- Sakura Hirota [1/2*]

--- Seeing Sakura Hirota back is not as welcome happening as I had hoped, but this was good for a couple of mild laughs. Best part of this was the NEO Machine Guns helping Hirota do a La Tapatia on Kyoko! Sakura also got a few near falls on the big girl before getting murdered!

7:37 of 7:36 - Inoue pinned Hirota with a powerbomb

 

 

3. Kyoko Kimura & Atsuko Emoto & Tomoka Nakagawa -vs- Ayumi Kurihara & Mio Shirai & Io Shirai [* 1/2]

--- The RA slaughtering the young generation this time. And poor Kurihara got the treatment in this one. So much that she was beat by RA's weakest link in Nakagawa and her low lariat! It was a typical overly long mess of a match with very little structure and a lot of action. A little difficult to enjoy, but there was things to like in there.

20:45 of 20:45 - Nakagawa pinned Kurihara with a low-angle lariat

 

 

4. Yuki Miyazaki & Tanny Mouse & Toshie Uematsu -vs- Nanae Takahashi & Kana & Natsuki*Taiyo [* 1/2]

--- How could the Passion Red side lose to the NEO Machine Guns & Uematsu?! Nanae and Kana where too busy heating each other then save Natsuki from humiliation. Kana was reluctant to help Nanae through-out the match and that resulted in a "accidental" kick from Kana which got Nanae upset. And the rest is history. Otherwise this was a decent action match and nearly no comedy which is a shock since Tanny and her crew was there.

13:03 of 13:04 - Miyazaki pinned Natsuki with a Gedo Clutch

 

 

5. Yoshiko Tamura -vs- Asami Kawasaki [1/2*]

--- Tamura lazy squashing a former Jd' pretty girl as the main event?!

12:21 of 12:21 - Tamura pinned Kawasaki after a full-nelson slam

 

 

COMMENTS: Not too good.... and why was that the main event?! Don't people know that it's the main even thats the selling point to a show?

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

DDT/UNION PRO on Samurai TV - January 24, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

DDT - January 24, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (481 fans)

 

1. KUDO -vs- Antonio Honda

--- Serious style elbows and knockdowns with Honda getting his brain smashed one too many times....

1:24 of 12:52 - KUDO pinned Honda after a high headkick

 

 

2. HARASHIMA -vs- Hoshitango

--- More serious business and this time it's Hoshitango who gets his head kicked in.....

1:40 of 8:29 - HARASHIMA pinned Hoshitango after a Buzzsaw headkick

 

 

3. Yasu Urano -vs- Sanshiro Takagi

--- No joke here either and Urano gets the upset!

1:09 of 14:35 - Urano pinned Takagi with Kido Clutch

 

 

4. Danshoku Dino & Masahiro Takanashi & Hikaru Sato -vs- NOSAWA Rongai & Mazada & Minoru Fujita - (UWA Trios Title)

--- Indy wrestling with a hint of perversion. Hey, Dino was there! Well, it turned into a battle between Takanashi and Fujita with Takanashi losing as deserved. Which means we've got new UWA Trios Champions!

2:31 of 18:24 - Fujita pinned Takanashi after a wrist-clutch Northern Light Bomb. NOSAWA & Mazada & Fujita become the UWA Trios.

 

 

5. Kenny Omega & Yukihiro Abe -vs- Kota Ibushi & Gota Ihashi [*]

--- Some fine spot action here with Omega managing to launch German Suplex the fatso Ihashi for the finish. At least they gave this match some time on TV and it was entertaining. After the match HARASHIMA came out and presented K-Dojo's Kengo Mashimo as his tag partner for the Korakuen Hall tag where they face Ibushi & Omega!

6:04 of 13:17 - Omega pinned Ihashi with the Croyt's Wrath

 

 

6. MIKAMI -vs- Michael Nakazawa - (Lumberjack I Quit Death Match) [1/2*]

--- It's a wonder MIKAMI didn't surrender as Michael was humping his face with that dirty thong. I know I would have quit as soon as Michael started stripping. Nah, it was only a matter of time before MIKAMI had Michael say the magic words and that's what happend.

5:44 of 7:57 - MIKAMI made Nakanzawa quit

 

 

UNION PRO - January 24, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING

 

7. Ricky Fuji -vs- Cherry & DJ Nira [1/4*]

--- Just a little Ricky/Cherry perversion while some dude was toning his guitar...... And then we got Ricky singing "Living on a prayer".....

8:02 of 10:20 - Fuji pinned Cherry after a Kamikaze

 

 

8. Sanshiro Takagi & Hoshitango & Takao Soma -vs- Isami Kodaka & Seiya Morohashi & Ken Ohka [1/2*]

--- DDT vs Union Pro and Hoshitango gets his win back from earlier in the month when Ohka beat him on that silly Korakuen Hall show.

3:57 of 11:26 - Hoshitango pinned Ohka after a chokeslam

 

 

9. Shuji Ishikawa © -vs- Yoshito Sasaki - (KO-D Title) [** 1/2]

--- This is actaully a strong main event from the Union Pro promotion. Their own Ishikawa defending the DDT belt against Big Japan's Yoshito Sasaki! And this had to be a hard knocks match. And it was. Blow by blow laying the pain in. Not a Korakuen Hall crowd response, but decent enough for little Shin-kiba as the two battled on equal strenghs. This might not have been a MOTYC bout, but it sure was a much better offering an small indy show would usually have and I'm happy for that. I might have wanted Sasaki to win, but Ishikawa has his share of good matches behind him so the win was not undeserved as he dropped Sasaki down in a knees-down version of the Splash Mountain.

17:54 of 18:58 - Ishikawa pinned Sasaki with a modified Splash Mountain to retain the KO-D Title in his 3rd defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: Rare Union Pro show gets shown on TV and it's because of the KO-D Title and a interesting main event that this happens. And that Ishikawa vs Sasaki bout was worth the time getting though this DVD.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NOAH on G+SN - January 24, 2010, Tokyo - (3 1/2 hrs)

 

 

January 24, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (2,100 fans)

 

1. Ricky Marvin & Taiji Ishimori -vs- Kento Miyahara & Satoshi Kajiwara [* 1/2]

--- NOAH vs Kensuke Office in a ok opener. Marvin was the driving force, but the other didn't really join his effort to the same level and the match was kind of just there with Marvin getting the deserved win beating 21 year old Kajiwara.

11:40 of 11:41 - Marvin pinned Kajiwara with a Santa Maria

 

 

2. Kensuke Sasaki & Yoshinari Ogawa -vs- Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kentaro Shiga [**]

--- This is the kind of random tag match I never expect anything out of. But this one actually worked in it's midcard way with little wasting of time. Sasaki kept stiffing the NOAH guys hard as he always does. And then mocked Shiga's hair! And later when Shiga was thinking he'd get some revenge doing the hair styling Ogawa surprised him with a inside cradle for the high point win!

15:07 of 15:07 - Ogawa pinned Shiga with a small package

 

 

 

3. Bison Smith & Keith Walker & Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli -vs- Takeshi Rikio & Akitoshi Saito & Mohammed Yone & Genba Hirayanagi [** 1/2]

--- Gaijins vs NOAH 8-man tag! It's rare they let the foreigners look this good, but it was the right kind of match for it because it was all about that little bastard Genba. Genba tried to be smart, but would always get the bulldozers catch him and beat him up and bully him like a little kid. Bison chasing him up the stains at the Korakuen Hall was ace with Walker blindsiding Genba up in the cheapseats and then sending him down the stairs again in full speed. Hero & Castagnoli also got a piece of Genba and double-teamed how down for the count after Genba had tried to be smart to them too. It was not good to be Genba this night!

16:51 of 16:51 - Castagnoli pinned Hirayanagi after the KRS-1 double-team bomb

 

 

 

4. Jun Akiyama -vs- Naomichi Marufuji [** 1/4]

--- The ending! The ending! Marufuji was trying on of his fancy cradle attempts and moved straight into a hard knee! And then bossman Akiyama locked in the front necklock to win it. That was a wonderful moment. Straight to the point and surprising abrupt end. The match had been solid up to that point with Akiyama landing various other knee as the highlights. Marufuji wasn't that hungry and it was clear Akiyama was.....

15:39 of 15:55 - Akiyama defeated Marufuji with a front necklock

 

 

 

5. Takeshi Morishima & Atsushi Aoki -vs- Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma [** 1/2]

--- NOAH vs NJPW!!! Morishima came in for the destruction moments like that one hell of a tope he did early on and some other impact blows through the fight, but this was mostly little Aoki getting beat up by the butchers from New Japan. And the NJPW guys looked confident the way they bullied him. This all set for a strong comeback for the junior heavyweight. Sadly Aoki's offence against Makabe was too weak for anyone to care, but they got excited for when Aoki started locking Honma in submissions. Glad the establishment of his submissions has come across well among the NOAH fans. But chaos happend with Makabe wanting to beat up Aoki without being the legal man and when the referee wanted to stop him Makabe just threw him out of the ring which caused a DQ finish. They had Shiga try and make the save, but the one that cleared the ring of New Japan wrestlers was GHC Heavyweight Champion Sugiura looking very aggressive!

18:03 of 18:04 - Morishima & Aoki defeated Makabe & Honma by DQ

 

 

 

6. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano -vs- Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi - (Global Tag League '10 - Final) [**]

--- Brute slugging. That's what these guys know. I'm glad I wasn't one of the guys in this because they took and gave the pounding royally. But without someone to really guide the match in any other direction this one draged out. Not surprisingly Taniguchi got a serious beating and was the guy in focus on his team trying to establish him as one of the tough guys. And was rewarded with his teams biggest moments countering getting the comeback and also German Suplexing the brutal freak Takayama. But Taniguchi is still a glamorized rookie with few significent wins and didn't get one here either as Sano planted the sole of his boot in his face to win the 3rd annual Global Tag League.

24:04 of 24:05 - Sano pinned Taniguchi after a sawate kick to the face. Takayama & Sano win the Global Tag League '10.

 

 

March 5, 2008, Tokyo - Differ Ariake (400 fans)

 

7. KENTA & Atsuhiko Ito -vs- Katsuhiko Nakajima & Ryuji Yamaguchi [** 3/4]

--- Aggressive punks! I wonder why this match never made it on TV before now? It's another part of the saga between KENTA and Nakajima where they beat the crap out of each other with ruthless kicks. Yeah, so nothing we haven't seen before, but it was still a very motivated fight. This was when Ito and Yamaguchi were still wrestling and this one them showing themselfs from their best side and it's a shame they didn't get to do this more often. Anyway a double draw with a lot of effort from all invovled!

20:00 of 20:00 - KENTA & Ito wrestled Nakajima & Yamaguchi to a 20:00 Time Limit Draw

5:00 of 5:00 - KENTA & Ito wrestled Nakajima & Yamaguchi to a 5:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

February 25, 2008, Tokyo - Differ Ariake (420 fans)

 

8. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Ryuji Yamaguchi -vs- Kotaro Suzuki & Ippei Ota [* 3/4]

--- Not as explossive as the Match 5th match, but Suzuki and Nakajima did have some nice exchanges. And Yamaguchi had a couple of nice suplexes. Ota was the weak link and that he was for most of his short career. With one minute left of the time limit Nakajima finally put the yellow wrestler to rest.

19:02 of 19:03 - Nakajima pinned Ota with a German Suplex

 

 

COMMENTS: A fairly strong show even if it didn't have the classic to finish it off. But they all had a blast out there and the fans responded with that. And all matches seemed to have some kind of purpose making them come alive. And as a added bonus we get a couple of real good Kensuke Office vs NOAH SEM matches from 2008 that didn't end up airing on TV before.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[lightningxlock]

I've probably seen the littlest amount of NOAH this year since maybe 2006. I think these days, NOAH is a better company if you carefully select the right shows. Not the way a company should be of course, but thats just the way modern day NOAH is. PUNQ, im looking forward to your review of the 10th anniversary Summer Navigation show I did see. It features plenty of decent action in the form of Kanemaru vs Marufuji, Go vs Tanahashi, Apollo55 vs Kenta/Edwards and possible MOTYC in Suguira vs Takayama

[PUNQ]

NOAH is a company I can get kind of frustranted with because of their somewhat stale booking style. The start of the year wasn't so bad as they had the New Japan guys coming in and the foreigners having fun in the ring which a lot of the time doesn't seem like the locals are having. But I've heard good stuff is coming so I'm looking forward to later in the year with more NOAH vs New Japan stuff about to happen.

 

 

 

 

SECRET BASE on COMM - January 25, 2010, Warabi City - (1 hr)

 

 

January 25, 2010, Warabi City Isami Wrestle Budokan (41 fans)

 

1. Amigo Suzuki -vs- Ferist [1/2*]

--- Simple bout. No real fuck-ups, which I guess is the kindest thing I can say about their VERY average performance. Amigo wins naturally as Ferist is a total waste of time.

8:04 of 8:02 - Suzuki pinned Ferist after a top rope headbutt

 

 

2. Kamui -vs- Chango [3/4*]

--- Always kind of dull, but at the same time they had a gameplan to follow of cradles and Chango trying several times for his Welcome to the Jungle DDT without connecting it. Instead the cradle wrestling worked better and Kamui could get the victory.

11:43 of 11:39 - Kamui pinned Chango with the Kamui Clutch

 

 

3. Yamada Man Pound & Mototsugu Shimizu -vs- Spark Aoki & Go Sato [3/4*]

--- Indy losers going at it, but the real losers are the fans. Very average low-class wrestling, but at least this wasn't terrible. Just a very basic opening-match kind of formula bout in which Shimizu managed to win having a lot of trouble locking in the finisher on the way there.

12:50 of 12:52 - Shimizu made Aoki submit to a Cattle Mutilation

 

 

4. Bear Fukuda & Masaki Okimoto -vs- Takeshi Minaminno & Jun Ogawauchi [1/2*]

--- Really dull fight....and it's the freakin' main event....waste of time.

14:27 of 14:20 - Fukuda pinned Ogawauchi after a top rope bodypress

 

 

COMMENTS: Sweet little Secret Base.....

 

 

--PUNQ--

[neil's bitch]

PUNQ, which is the best company in japan at the moment, in your opinion?

 

As you can see by my sig, im a big fan of dragon gate, although i have previously seen NOAH (seems a bit straight forward and dull to me), and havent seen New japan in SOOOOOOOO long, although what ihad seen was good, and ive heard new japan is going very well currently. (speaking of old new japan, hows the IGF getting on these days?)

 

Also, i know im about a million years to late, but whats with all the wrestlers from different promotions turning up on each others shows?

[PUNQ]

Well, sometimes the only way the comapnies can create interesting matches and break out of their stale booking is add tallent from outside companies to boost their attendance.

 

As for the best company at the moment. I've only seen the first few months, but New Japan have been a clear step ahead of anyone else IMO. But thats with a little outside help. Yet, they seem to get the most out of their big matches while NOAH struggle to make their big matches interesting and Dragon Gate do too much to make it sink in. Of the smaller indys DDT have impressed with their KO-D Title matches and Big Japan is trully a fans company even if they haven't hit that highnote this year compared to previous years. But truth is most companies have something to offer an most companies also have too much that doesn't offer the fans much at all.

 

 

 

ZERO-ONE MAX on Samurai TV - January 27, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

January 27, 2010, Tokyo - Shinjuku FACE

 

1. Rikiya Fudo -vs- Yuzuru Saito [* 1/4]

--- Saito is continuing to try and be KENTA Jr but Fudo is clearly his senior and with a lot more muscle. That did not stop Saito from backdrop suplexing Fudo impressively. But blow by blow Saito was smothered by Fudo which eventually led to Saito's downfall.....

6:39 of 8:29 - Fudo pinned Saito after a elbow drop

 

 

2. Fujita Jr Hayato -vs- Shota Takanishi [* 1/2]

--- Hayato was THE MAN! Even if he still looks like a kid. But Shota didn't stand much of a chance. A little bit of offence in the middle there, but otherwise Jr Hayato was very focused and made sure Tananishi was hurting. Loved the armwork the way Hayato kept bending it. That's the way to do it! And when the submission work didn't work, it was time for the headkickin' with the knee knocking Shota out.

8:55 of 9:06 - Hayato pinned Takanishi after the Helm kneekick

 

 

3. Kintaro Kanemura & Minoru Fujita & Takuya Sugawara -vs- Kohei Sato & Akira Shoji & Shito Ueda [*]

--- A long filler style tag with everyone tagging in to do a little without the match going anywhere. Neither Smash wrestler Shoji nor old trash wrestler Kanemura added anything to the Zero-One mix and the match was just there without much of interest happening. Ueda tried to fight off the veteran guard in his chubby ways but once he was smashed with a chair it was all over with a couple of cradles from Fujita.

16:09 of 16:32 - Fujita pinned Ueda with a modified small package

 

 

4. Ryuji Sai -vs- Kamikaze [*]

--- Sai getting a strong victory before he challenges Kawada for the Zero-One Title in March. If one can call a victory over Kamikaze strong as it's neither all that credible or good for match quality to have a singles match with that guy. Not that Kamikaze is terrible. He's just not someone who's been glowing with qualities the years he's been around. Regardless Sai wins a so-so match landing a beautiful trampoline double-footstomp to get the pinfall.

8:23 of 16:32 - Sai pinned Kamikaze after a top rope double-footstomp

 

 

5. Masato Tanaka & Masaaki Mochizuki -vs- Tajiri & Hajime Ohara [**]

--- Smash side of Tajiri & Ohara taking on a rather interesting team in Tanaka & Mochizuki. And it sort of was a intriguing bout and sort of wasn't at the same time because the formula was fairly standard, but it did include some coooool. Like Tajiri not waiting around for Machizuki's apron kick and Tanaka & Mochizuki double-teaming. The end was the blow of the bout with Tanaka landing the sliding elbowsmash along with Mochizuki landing a sliding kick at the same time which ment Ohara was doomed. They could have done a lot more with this match, but considering Tajiri was in it they could have done a lot less too, but we're somewhere on middle ground on this one.

14:28 of 14:47 - Tanaka pinned Ohara after a Sliding D/sliding kick combination

 

 

6. Ikuto Hidaka & Munenori Sawa © -vs- Shinjiro Otani & Akebono - (NWA Intercontinental Tag Title) [** 3/4]

--- This had to rule! It had Sawa against freakin' Akebono for the love of God! And watching tiny Sawa try to take the Yokozuna down sumo-style was pure gold! He failed at nearly everything else aswell because Akebono was just too big for him and Sawa was pancaked several times with Akebono falling down splashing him and then there was that awesome Octopus Hold attempt from Sawa which turned into a Samoan Drop from Akebono and again Sawa was nearly killed. Sawa did get in a Shining Wizard on the big man, but that was about it besides saving and rolling out of the way to make Akebono hurt himself. Of course they couldn't fill such a long title match with Akebono vs Sawa, sadly that was only a small piece of it. No, most of it was Hidaka working over Otani's leg which was ok except it slowed things down for the less spectacular. But I guess that was the only way to make the champs look like they had a chance because they were heavily out-matched by the powers of Otani & Akebono. Hidaka was close to make Otani tap on a Shawn Capture, but Otani reached the ropes and once Akebono made sure Sawa couldn't save his partner no-more it wasn't long before Otani had in the Spiral Bomb to make himself the most winning NWA Intercontinental Tag Champion in the titles history winning it for the 5th time with Akebono getting his first reign of these belts which was impossible to get around his waste, though Otani tried to lock it.

23:55 of 22:18 - Otani pinned Hidaka with a Spiral Bomb. Otani & Akebono become the 24th NWA Intercontinental Tag Champions.

 

 

COMMENTS: The main event really had it's sweet moments, and some of the undercard too. Not a bad show considering it was a smaller Zero-One show.

 

 

--PUNQ--