Guide to Japanese Wrestling 2010

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NOAH on G+SN - February 6, 2010, Tokyo - (2 1/2 hrs)

 

 

February 6, 2010, Tokyo - Differ Ariake (1,600 fans)

 

1. Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa -vs- Masao Inoue & Kentaro Shiga [1/2*]

--- Ah, damn it! Inoue is back after nearly getting crippled by Kenta Kobashi in a match on July 21, 2009. I had hoped Kobashi had done a better job on him then that. And he was as annoying and weak as ever oozing with loser charisma playing with his old pals for a sad near-pensionist style match. Did like the easy way it ended. Taue chokeslamed Inoue and Ogawa slowly made the cover and won without doing anything else.

13:28 of 13:28 - Ogawa pinned Inoue after a I Am Taue chokeslam from Taue

 

 

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

--- More a technical Toryumon match then a highflyer as one would expect from a match featuring Marvin and Ishimori. It was a fine display of holds and general wrestling but it lacked something to make it special. Kajiwara was there slowly getting himself known having a lot of ringtime without really excelling much. He was the natural fall guy and was downed by Ishimori and his 450 bodypress.

14:45 of 14:44 - Ishimori pinned Kajiwara after a Firebird Splash

 

 

3. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Genba Hirayanagi -vs- Naomichi Marufuji & Atsushi Aoki - (GHC Junior Tag Title Tournament - Semi-Final) [* 1/2]

--- The GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Title was vacated because Kotaro Suzuki getting injured in a match with KENTA last December. His champion tag partner Kanemaru brings with him the prick Genba to take his place trying to recapture the gold. First they got to get passed Marufuji & Aoki which on paper is a strong team. And they sure bullied Genba for most of the match with Genba looking surprisingly tame compared to his usual naughty ways. But this was just a set-up for what was about to come. The Genba comeback as almost a mini-Suzuki doing the Blue Destiny, Suzuki's finisher, which Suzuki was watching doing commentating for the match. Kanemaru followed up with a brainbuster before Genba landed his pattented lariat to get the somewhat surorising win over Aoki. Not that the match beside of that happening was very specal.

13:35 of 13:34 - Hirayanagi pinned Aoki after a lariat

 

 

4. Takeshi Morishima & Akitoshi Saito -vs- Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima [* 3/4]

--- NOAH vs Kensuke Office! And it was a systematic long bout. Not many speed changes. They just kept a steady pace doing their thing. Nakajima trying to pick on Big Mo. Well, more the other way around as that Morishima hip drop landed painfully hard. Not to mention that corner lariat. You'll know which one when you see it. Not that this featured too many highlights. But Nakajima did get to German Suplex Morishime right at the end there as the time limit was passing. Saito doesn't have the ability to draw attention to a match anymore so he was just there doing more damage then good without being bad. The match would have been better if they'd replaced him with nearly anyone. Regardless this ends a draw.

30:00 of 30:00 - Morishima & Saito wrestled Sasaki & Nakajima to a 30:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

5. Yutaka Yoshie -vs- Shuhei Taniguchi [*]

--- 8th of 10 Special Trial Matche Series for Taniguchi and it's against former New Japan trained and current Dradition wrestler Yutaka Yoshie. The jolly pink belly monster. This could have been fun, but they kept the fun limited. Glamorized rookie stuff with Yoshie letting Taniguchi come with the fight and making him look like a lesser guy in a match that should do the opposite. Taniguchi didn't get all that much in that looked like he could beat the established wrestler. Instead he just looked lycky getting in anything. And then Yoshie squashed him splashing him down.

10:57 of 10:53 - Yoshie pinned Taniguchi after a top rope bodypress

 

 

6. Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano -vs- Takashi Sugiura & Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone [**]

--- The GHC singles (Sugiura) & tag champs (Rikio & Yano) against the Global Tag League winners (Takayama & Sano) and one of the top ranked guys in the company in Akiyama. This promised to be a hard hitter and it almost was. Not at brutal as it sounds on paper though as this did have a 'B Level' performance feel to it. Regardless it felt more to the point then any of the other bouts on this show so it was a fitting main event in that regard. What is amazing is the amount of wins Sano is getting in these tag matches this year. Here he gets another win kicking Yone's head in after Yone had been ramed down with various knees from the stiffers.

12:38 of 13:39 - Sano pinned Yone after a facekick

 

 

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

 

7. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli -vs- Naomichi Marufuji & Shuhei Taniguchi [*]

--- Early Hero & Castagnoli NOAH match and it's strange to see how unploshed they worked at the time. Since then they've become a much more professional team to the point that they often are the highlight. Here however it kind of looked a little cheap. Castagnoli's giant swing onto set-up chairs was messed up as he lost balance while swinging Taniguchi. But they still was allowed to beat up the one year rookie at the time Taniguchi. And looking at Taniguchi here he really hasn't developed all that much since his 2006 rookie style.

17:27 of 17:28 - Hero pinned Taniguchi after the Hero's Welcome

 

 

COMMENTS: The February 6th show had some interesting happenings like Masao Inoue's comeback from over 6 months injury. A long NOAH vs Kensuke Office bout. The first semis of the GHC Junior Tag Title Tournament. And Taniguchi's Special Series. Yet, this show brought very little.

 

 

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AJPW on Samurai TV - February 7 & 14, 2010 - (2 hrs)

 

 

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

 

 

 

1. TARU & Rene Dupre & Minoru & Toshizo -vs- Satoshi Kojima & KAI & Hiroshi Yamato & Zodiac - (Captain's Fall Elimination Match; F4 vs Voodoo Murders Final Conclusion) [*** 1/4]

--- Losing stable has to break-up! And things started off good for the Voodoo Murders with Dupree taking care of fellow ex-WWE'er Zodiac to make it advantage VM...for a short while because Kojima showed that he is Mr.F4 getting rid of Dupree quicky there after with the Hansen lariat. And he truly was Mr.F4 because his boys didn't get the job done and was eliminated after at least brining some fight, but this left Kojima alone 3-on-1. But Kojima is known for being a Superman and a Superman armed with the Hansen lariat easily made it one-on-one - him and TARU. These two have a long relationship in All Japan both as enimies and partners, but now they really are enimies fighting for the life of their respective groups. And Kojima hit the lariat again, but no goal. TARU kicked out. He loves Voodoo Murders too much to let it slip away that easy! He loves VM so much that he went of to kick Kojima's ass! YES HE DID!!! Well, he didn't. He kicked Kojima's head in! And landed Fire Valley piledrivers! And Kojima didn't have enough love for F4 to survive that! VOODOO MURDERS WIN!!! And the match was good and kept growing of interest and emotion! Yes, more of this please. But I guess no more because this is the end of F4.

9:14 - Dupree pinned Zodiac after a top rope bodypress

10:12 - Kojima pinned Dupree after a lariat

19:34 - Minoru pinned KAI after a Firebird Splash

23:56 - Toshizo defeated Yamato by Referee Stop with a triangle hold

25:54 - Kojima pinned Toshizo after a lariat

27:38 - Kojima pinned Minoru after a lariat

26:29 of 32:52 - TARU pinned Kojima after a Fire Valley piledriver

 

- Prelim Highlights

 

 

February 14, 2010, Osaka Prefectural Gym #2 (1,130 fans)

 

2. Hate -vs- Yasufumi Nakanoue [1/2*]

--- Hate the veteran beats up the new rookie as simple as that. And Nakanoue shows no progression in his second tour for All Japan.

8:11 of 8:12 - Hate pinned Nakanoue after a top rope elbow drop

 

 

3. Minoru & Toshizo -vs- NOSAWA Rongai & Mazada [*]

--- Simple meaningless midcard fun match with a tiny sprint at the end as Minoru beat up NOSAWA.

11:58 of 11:58 - Minoru pinned NOSAWA after a headkick

 

 

4. Masayuki Kono & KAI & BUSHI -vs- Kohei Suwama & Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo [** 1/4]

--- Oh, the young generation are getting competitive. Suwama has been less then pleased with Kono's losing lately and was stiffing him for it. Thank God, Kono didn't take that laying down and instead layed Suwama down with the same authority! Loved those Kono knees to Suwama's face! On the junior heavyweight side both KAI & BUSHI wants junior gold and are targeting AJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion Hayashi, so much that they had trouble teaming toegther. So a solid bout to establish the hunger to succeed.

17:41 of 18:16 - KAI pinned Hayashi after a top rope bodypress

 

 

COMMENTS: The Voodoo Murders vs F4 elimination match was the best AJPW has produced in a good while and the new batch of AJPW main eventers are establishing their roles in the February 14th bout and that was cool to see.

 

 

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BATTLARTS on COMM - February 7, 2010, Warabi City - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

February 7, 2010, Warabi City Isami Wrestle Budokan (156 fans)

 

1. Shuji Ishikawa -vs- Takeshi Takeshima [* 1/4]

--- Union Pro's giant Ishikawa against Battlarts small and helpless rookie in a fairly sweet squash. Ishkakwa totally man-handled the guy stiffing him at every oppertunity. Takeshima managing to lift and slam the big guy down and then lock in a Boston Crab put a smile on my face as it looked so unlikely. But Takeshima's shine didn't last long and Ishikawa knocked the sucker down and down again before applying the sleeper for the win.

7:09 of 7:09 - Ishikawa made Takeshima submit to a sleeper

 

 

2. Yuki Ishikawa -vs- Antonio Honda [* 3/4]

--- Here is another strange match-up. Battlarts boss Ishikawa against DDT's parody king Antonio Honda! Absurd match, really! Honda was royally out-wrestled at the Battlarts style, but Honda is such a fan of old-school wrestling that he did pull out the short-arm scissors and Octopus Hold to challenge the old-schooler at his own game! Slow fighting, but in a way this unique match was always interesting in it's curiosity that it was alive. Until Honda tapped out to a Octopus Hold at least.

11:28 of 11:26 - Ishikawa made Honda submit to a Octopus Hold

 

 

3. Keita Yano -vs- Yuki Sato [* 1/2]

--- Yet another rather weird match-up as Battlarts Yano face tiny lucharesu wrestler Sato. They made this one more a regular wrestling match so that Sato wouldn't look too out of place with pinfalls playing a part and Sato getting to dive out of the ring to wow the fans. At times a smart match and at times a little sloppy match, but in the end it was a positive small show bout in which Yano won lariat style.

9:25 of 9:24 - Yano pinned Sato after a lariat

 

 

4. Ikuto Hidaka & Munenori Sawa -vs- Katsumi Usuda & Yuta Yoshikawa - (Yoshikawa's Retirement Match) [** 1/4]

--- 28 year old Battlarts wrestler Yuta Yoshikawa calling it quits after only 4 1/2 years in the business with a good and long striker match here teaming with veteran shooter Usuda against one of the darling teams of 2009 in Zero-One, Hidaka & Sawa who once more delivered a strong performance in this match. On one hand it was a cool struggle for Yoshikawa who was trying to stay alive in there and also get a few good holds in along the way fighting his way into the fight, but on the other hand a lot of the strikes was too weak for me. Especially the ones coming from Yoshikawa himself as he looked completely dead before the 10-min mark, yet he continued battling for nearly 20 minutes more. Still the match lived on the survival of Yoshikawa with people hoping he'd make it once the 3-min left announcement came. But only seconds later the referee stopped it as Sawa had knocked Yoshikawa silly one too many times. Yoshikawa never had a major career, but this match along with his August 31, 2008 challenge of Hidaka & Sawa's NWA International Lightweight Tag Title with Yuki Ishikawa, and the singles match against Usuda from February 15, 2009 are the highlights of his career.

27:33 of 27:31 - Sawa defeated Yoshikawa by TKO after a punch

 

 

COMMENTS: A positive small show. I know others liked the main event more then me, but it might be one of the best matches Battlarts will produce in 2010. The undercard was very unlike Battlarts and I liked that.

 

 

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FREEDOMS on COMM - February 9, 2010, Tokyo - (1 1/4 hrs)

 

 

February 9, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (213 fans)

 

1. Takashi Sasaki & Kamui -vs- Brahman Kei & Brahman Shu [*]

--- The Hell Demons coming out with their new manager in Great Kojika who they feuded with last year. Kojika was slickly dressed, but would of course fuck things up for his balding twins. So much that Kamui managed to beat Kei after a chairshot from Kojika backfired!

10:05 of 10:05 - Kamui pinned Kei with a Kamui Clutch

 

 

2. Hajime Ohara -vs- Asian Cougar [3/4*]

--- Kind of silly match which never developed into anything before Ohara faked a chairshot and got Cougar DQ'ed.

6:49 of 7:18 - Ohara defeated Cougar by DQ

 

 

3. Munenori Sawa & Kazuhiro Ogasawara -vs- Madoka & Keita Yano [1/4*]

--- All kinds of lame with also a Mecha Mummy doing shitty karate stuff al

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NJPW on ESPN - February 10, 2010, Osaka - (2 hrs)

 

 

February 10, 2010, Osaka Central Gym Sub Arena (1,600 fans)

 

1. Tomohiro Ishii -vs- Taichi Ishikari [**]

--- Taichi isn't exactly a wrestler that's been oozing with credibility, but here he actually put up a strong fight with Ishii. I guess it helps that it's allowed to hit Ishii hard and that's what Ishikari did when he had the chance. And on top of that Ishii wasn't holding back either brainbustering and lariating down Milano's former partner. Taichi had to lose, but this was one of his better singles matches and it's an opener on a somewhat smaller show. Typical and unexpected.

10:15 of 10:15 - Ishii pinned Ishikari after a brainbuster

 

 

2. Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask -vs- Super Strong Machine & Wataru Inoue & Mitsuhide Hirasawa [* 1/2]

--- Liger back in the line-up and he looked happy to be there. Not that he was in any way the guy in spotlight as he kind of disappeared in the mix as Hirasawa and Kanemoto had a heated thing going which was the main life of the match. But since nobody belives in Hirasawa people struggled to care. He's a heavyweight that still loses to junior heavyweights.

17:09 of 17:09 - Kanemoto made Hirasawa submit to a ankle hold

 

 

3. Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson -vs- Riki Choshu & Nobuo Yoshihashi [* 1/4]

--- Some Riki greatness attacking big Bernard and also locking Anderson in the Scorpion Death Lock which he very nearly tapped to. Otherwise Yoshihashi was no issue with the gaijins....

9:47 of 9:46 - Anderson pinned Yoshihashi after a Magic Killer

 

 

4. Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito -vs- Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma [* 1/4]

--- Decent action between the IWGP Tag Champions and the bullies. Well, No Limit actually ended up bullying them. Teasing the use of the championship belt only to ambush Honma and then simply beat him with the 3-D version.

13:48 of 13:47 - Yujiro pinned Honma after the Limitness Explosion

 

 

5. Yuji Nagata & Ryusuke Taguchi & Prince Devitt -vs- Tajiri & Takashi Iizuka & Gedo [* 3/4]

--- This match was funny as both Nagata and Tajiri kept teasing blowing mist and Tajiri taunting Nagata with the salute while doing spots. Devitt also kept doing the salute to honor Nagata as he was doing his spectacular thing. Iizuka was kept mostly out of this as the juniors kept dropkicking him out of the way. Didn't stop a pissed Iizuka from getting a chair. But then for the finish. Loads of mist blowing! So much that the referee had to make the call - no-contest.

15:13 of 15:15 - Nagata & Taguchi & Devitt wrestled Tajiri & Iizuka & Gedo to a No-Contest

 

 

6. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Manabu Nakanishi & Hirooki Goto -vs- Shinsuke Nakamura & Masato Tanaka & Toru Yano [**]

--- Here you had the final build-up for 3 of the singles matches on the Sumo Hall show coming up on February 14th and they made sure the fans knew what was coming with Tanaka building for his hardcore match with Goto brininging out the table and kendo stick. Nakanishi was a gorilla against Nakamura and Yano is still bugging Tanahashi. And some alterations trading fiend made for a good ending to the show and a happy babyface one too.

18:11 of 17:51 - Nakanishi pinned Tanaka with a German Suplex

 

 

COMMENTS: A solid house show style show with the matches having something to offer in their simplicity.

 

 

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Dragon Gate on GAORA TV - February 10 & 11, 2010 - (2 hrs)

 

 

February 10, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (2,350 fans)

 

1. CIMA & Gamma -vs- Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino - (Open the Twin Gate Unified Tag Title Decision) [**]

--- Then to decide the Open the Twin Gate Unified Tag Championship with the contender tournament winners Doi & Yoshino against the former holders of the belts. And it's a fun match. Not as climatic or super athletic as one could have hoped, but it had elements that kept me watching. I especially liked the moment when CIMA was pushed off the turnbuckle to the floor. Doi really put the power into that push. Yoshino and CIMA were the ones responsable for the strong end to the match trading lighting cradles until CIMA took inspiration from the mentor using the Jorge Clutch to get the belts around the waist again.

18:06 of 21:40 - CIMA pinned Yoshino with the Jorge Clutch. CIMA & Gamma become the 10th Open the Twin Gate Unified Tag Champions.

 

 

2. YAMATO -vs- Takuya Sugawara - (No Ropes Match) [** 1/4]

--- The Open the Dream Gate #1 contender to be decided in a match with no ropes. Just the ring posts there with nothing attached. Kind of gimmicky, but it gives us something different to the usual run-the-ropes style of Dragon Gate. We still got the usual heel stuff with the interference and white powder getting thrown around. Funniest part was YAMATO getting a chair smashed over his head only to shake it off by celebrating butterfly-style! And while YAMATO had the odds against him he showed true Dream Gate potential in this match and won effectively after a guitar was accidentally smashed over Sugawara's head by Kagetora and YAMATO kept dropping that dizzy head down a couple of times to get the victory with the final nail being his MDII verson.

18:02 of 19:23 - YAMATO pinned Sugawara after the Gallaria

 

 

February 11, 2010, Chiba Port Arena (750 fans)

 

3. Kzy -vs- Kagetora - (Loser Leaves Real Hazard) [* 1/2]

--- After that fatal guitar smash in the match between Sugawara and YAMATO come guys want Kagetora out of the Real Hazzard group. And it's competitive since they have something to fight for, but it's limited how excited it was with two heels without much fanbase trying to have a interesting match. It relied more on the cradle style and Kzy cheating then anything else. Kagetora tried the drops, but was evertually countered and Kzy got a flash pinfall victory. After the match the Real Hazzard teased a friendly break-up, but then ambushed Kagetora until Tozawa, doing some kind of gym coach gimmick with a blue training dress and whistle, comes out to save Kagetora. Well, Kagetora rejected Tozawa and walked out.

10:41 of 10:40 - Kzy pinned Kagetora with a Victory Roll

 

 

4. CIMA & Don Fujii & Dragon Kid -vs- Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino & PAC [* 1/4]

--- The Toryumon babyface veteran side of CIMA, Fujii & Dragon Kid ruled the show, but it didn't in any way feel like a important match. Only a match to put a few smiles on your face and then for the Ultra Huracanrana.

14:37 of 16:06 - Dragon kid pinned PAC with the Ultra Huracanrana

 

 

COMMENTS: The Korakuen matches had their little climaxes. The Chiba matches not so much. But it was cool to see YAMATO get so over in that No Ropes match.

 

 

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IBUKI on COMM - February 2009-February 2010 - (4 hrs)

 

 

February 1, 2009, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING

 

1. Fuka -vs- Dash Chisako

--- Didn't look bad from the tiny that was shown, but Fuka did win a little too easy.

1:42 of 7:43 - Fuka pinned Chosako after the F Doll kick

 

 

2. Aoi Kizuki -vs- Esui

--- The people pass so fast by on the joshi scene. Can't belive I already forgot about the now retired Kizuki and her spunk! And how lovely it was when Esui blocked her top rope splash. Looked to hurt her good! But Esui wasn't about to win as Kizuki had other cradle ideas....

1:44 of 8:43 - Kizuki pinned Esui with a modified La Magistral

 

 

3. Tojuki Leon & Arisa Nakajima -vs- Tomoka Nakagawa & Ayako Sato

--- And here's another one that got away. JWP's Nakajima. But these clips wasn't about her. It was Leon and Nakagawa having a good finishing run of cadles and finishers with Leon landing convinsingly on top of Nakagawa for the win.

2:26 of 15:44 - Leon pinned Nakagawa after a top rope rolling senton

 

 

4. Kyoko Kimura & Atsuko Emoto -vs- Natsuki*Taiyo & Ray [*]

--- Solid action. Too bad not more was shown as Kimura and Ray where having a good ending which ended abruptly when Ray ran into a big boot.

4:01 of 23:23 - Kimura pinned Ray after a big boot

 

 

5. Hiroyo Matsumoto © -vs- Sendai Sachiko - (POP/JWP Junior Titles) [* 1/2]

--- Matsumoto making her defence of the titles she won in December from Nakajima. And it's a girl from Sendai Girls called Sendai. Or Sachiko Kanari. And she nearly won the belts having a good period there with the moonsault being the big highlight. But Matsumoto is her senior and wasn't going to give her junior her junior belts and beat her with the backdrop suplex.

4:35 of 13:31 - Matsumoto pinned Sachiko after a backdrop suplex to retain the POP/JWP Junior Titles in her 1st defence.

 

 

April 5, 2009, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (366 fans)

 

6. Kyoko Kimura -vs- Kazumi Shimouma

--- Hard headbutt. Easy win.

0:47 of 10:53 - Kimura pinned Shimouma after a headbutt

 

 

7. Atsuko Emoto -vs- Esui

--- Momo Clutch....mooooooo!

0:43 of 10:02 - Emoto made Esui with the Momo Clutch

 

 

8. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Misaki Ohata -vs- Dash Chisako & Yukari Ishino

--- Matsumoto more or less landed one of her finishers after the other until she had the Sendai girl beat.

1:27 of 15:13 - Matsumoto pinned Ishino after a backdrop suplex

 

 

9. Tomoka Nakagawa -vs- Ayumi Kurihara

--- Felt quite good from the little that was shown with Nakagawa stealing the pin out of nowhere!

2:57 of 14:10 - Nakagawa pinned Kurihara with a cradle

 

 

10. Natsuki*Taiyo & Ray -vs- Fuka & Shuu Shibutani [* 1/4]

--- Fine action again from what aired. Ray gets to grow and with a little help from Natsuki beat Shibutani good laning a wonderful Skytwister press to finish her off.

4:10 of 21:14 - Ray pinned Shibutani after a Skytwister press

 

 

May 4, 2009, Tokyo - Itabashi Green Hall

 

11. Tomoka Nakagawa -vs- Yukari Ishino

--- Ishino nearly had her, but eventually her back was nearly broken in two.

1:38 of 9:37- Nakagawa made Ishino submit to the CRB

 

 

12. Ray -vs- Hiren

--- Ray flying beats Sendai technique....

1:14 of 11:59 - Ray pinned Hiren after a moonsault

 

 

13. Misaki Ohata -vs- Dash Chisako

--- Double draw! They meet again on the next show to resolve the feud.

1:01 of 20:00 - Ohata wrestled Chosako to a 20:00 Time Limit Draw

0:25 of 5:00 - Ohata wrestled Chosako to a 5:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

14. Ryo Mizunami & Sendai Sachiko -vs- Hiroyo Matsumoto & Esui

--- And finally a Sendai Girls side wins against IBUKI! It was starting to get very one-sided! And Mizunami showed who was the better wrestler focusing on taking Esui apart.

2:37 of 21:22 - Mizunami pinned Esui after a top rope legdrop

 

 

May 31, 2009, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,021 fans)

 

15. Misaki Ohata -vs- Dash Chisako

--- So these two continue to fight it out on even terms. And this time it's a prize attacked. The winner gets to wrestle in the main event where they'll face Hiroyo Matsumoto for the POP/JWP Junior Titles! No wonder this was competitive! And after a modern joshi battle Ohata had the cradle to win.

2:43 of 13:57 - Ohata pinned Chisako with a driving crucifix cradle

 

 

16. Akino & Akiko Narikuni -vs- Gami & Chihiro Oikawa

--- This one looked quite bad with Oikawa having to be carried, the referee not knowing what a tap is and Gami getting German Suplexed in a very sloppy manner.

1:22 of 13:52 - Akino made Oikawa sibmit to a cross-armbreaker

 

 

17. Shuu Shibutani & Fuka & Esui -vs- Ryo Mizunami & Sendai Sachiko & Yukari Ishino

--- IBUKI associates vs Sendai Girls in a.....joshi sprint. No surprises except maybe Esui being the one grabbing the win.

1:37 of 15:29 - Esui pinned Ishino after a running kneelift

 

 

18. Meiko Satomura & Nanae Takahashi -vs- Natsuki*Taiyo & Ray [** 1/2]

--- Bosses of Sendai Girls and Passion Red team up! And what a super team they are as Nanae & Satomura knew how to back each other up against the young punks trying to move in on their territory. Or something like that. It was a damn fun match, that's for sure! Natsuki and Ray were out-working the two veterans and meeting them at every turn. In other words a very competitive match. Satomura & Nanae's offence was more to the point, but the energy the other two made the match. And then Satomura showed who's boss. Death Valley-style!

9:29 of 20:12 - Satomura pinned Rey after a Death Valley Bomb

 

 

19. Hiroyo Matsumoto © -vs- Misaki Ohata - (POP/JWP Junior Titles) [***]

--- Finally a match shown in full and it was one that deserved that honor too. Ohata doesn't have any killer moves. None. All she got are cradles, modified cradles and counter cradles. And the whole bout was about here taking everything Matsumoto could bring and then counter and roll her up in any manner possible! Matsumoto went through every finisher she has and also brought some new bombs without being able to put the little lady away. Instead we had a long match where Ohata tried and tried and eventually got her big moments winning the two belts with a Gannosuke style clutch! A real positive experience!

18:43 of 18:53 - Ohata pinned Matsumoto with a Gannosuke Clutch to become the 17th JWP Junior Champion and 7th POP Champion.

 

 

July 12, 2009, Tokyo - Shinjuku FACE (412 fans)

 

20. Natsuki*Taiyo & Ray -vs- Chikayo Nagashima & Tomoka Nakagawa

--- Ok from what was shown. A typical 20-min spring to be honest. Draw.

2:33 of 20:00 - Natsuki & Ray wrestled Nagashima & Nakagawa to 20:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

21. Azumi Hyuga -vs- Hiroyo Matsumoto [**]

--- A damn solid bout based off under the half that aired. Matsumoto was at times the one who gave the most pain with the veteran little could do. Quality moments saw Matsumoto send Hyuga through the door to the hall and Matsumoto land the backdrop suplex and a modified Ligerbomb without being able to betat he JWP wrestler. They were teasing a 20-min time limit draw for this match too, but then Hyuga showing she's in control MDII'ed Matsumoto for the win with one minute to go.

7:49 of 19:00 - Hyuga pinned Matsumoto after a Michinoku Driver II

 

 

22. Misaki Ohata © -vs- Io Shirai - (POP/JWP Junior Titles) [*]

--- They kept the near falls as close as possible, so that part of the match was fairly good. Also Ohata used more bigger moves to weaken Io using the Air Raid Crash and wrist-clutch fishermans buster to retain the belts. What was not good at all was Io. She just wasn't focused. Messing up a running springboard dive and generally looking confused with aweful offence for the most part even if her 1st ropes quebrada to make up for the miss was nice.

4:20 of 18:23 - Ohata pinned Shirai after a wrist-clutch fishermans buster to retain the POP/JWP Junior Titles in her 1st defence.

 

 

September 13, 2009, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING

 

23. Yukari Ishino -vs- Kazumi Shimouma

--- Thank God the Sendai Girls girl beat the Ice Ribbon screamer....

2:14 of 9:53 - Ishino pinned Shimouma after a helicopter spin blockbuster

 

 

24. Esui -vs- Ryo Mizunami

--- The result was unexpected! Esui knocks Mizunami silly. One, with that running knee to the head which connected well. Two, with a hard chokeslam to finish it off.

2:01 of 10:21 - Esui pinned Mizunami after a chokeslam

 

 

25. Toshie Uematsu & Tomoka Nakagawa -vs- Tojuki Leon & Misaki Ohata

--- Ohata on form landing about a 10,000 running cross-body attacks on Uematsu in there! And then she was defeated by Nakagawa.....

2:19 of 14:19 - Nakgawa pinned Ohata with an low-angle lariat

 

 

26. Hiroyo Matsumoto -vs- Kyoko Kimura [* 1/2]

--- With only 4 minutes airing of a 30-min draw it's difficult to really determine how good it really was, but what did air was exciting. Matsumoto bombed Kimura though a table and continued to land finishers well without getting any pinfall. Kimura tried a few moves aswell, but this one was to end a draw.

4:08 of 30:00 - Matsumoto wrestled Kimura to a 30:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

27. Natsuki*Taiyo & Ray -vs- Shuu Shibutani & Ayumi Kurihara [* 1/4]

--- Ok action and all, but this one didn't lead to anything significent. Neither wrestling wise or storylines wise. Natsuki rolls up Shibutani with the driving cradle.

4:17 of 20:46 - Natsuki pinned Shibutani with the Taiyo*Bomb

 

 

November 8, 2009, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (956 fans)

 

28. Ryo Mizunami & Hiren & Yukari Ishino -vs- Esui & Kazumi Shimouma & Makoto

--- Action match with Mizunami getting her win back from Esui using the top rope legdrop to prove that she's better.

1:53 of 13:35 - Mizunami pinned Esui after a top rope legdrop

 

 

29. Nanae Takahashi -vs- Shuu Shibutani

--- Looked quite good for a short singles match with Shibutani looked sharp. But it's Nanae she's up against, so....

2:30 of 7:15 - Takahashi pinned Shibutani with the Iguchi Bomb

 

 

30. Yoshiko Tamura & Ayumi Kurihara -vs- Kyoko Kimura & Tomoka Nakagawa

--- Looked ok, but very much like all the other 20-min draws that come out of IBUKI.

2:28 of 20:00 - Tamura & Kurihara wrestled Kimura & Nakagawa to a 20:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

31. Emi Sakura -vs- Misaki Ohata - (ICEx60 Title) [*]

--- The big highlight toward the end shown with both girls being close. Sakura looked a little more focued and her Tiger Driver landed nicely. So did her turning moonsault before the Firebird was all that Ohata could take.

3:13 of 15:25 - Sakura pinned Ohata after a Firebird Splash to retain the ICEx60 Title in her 8th defence.

 

 

32. Tojuki Leon & Kaori Yoneyama -vs- Natsuki*Taiyo & Ray [* 1/2]

--- Natsuki & Ray are a hefty flying team in IBUKI. And up against a couple of fellow spunky spot monkeys like Yoneyama & Leon we got ourselfs a entertaining match with plenty of highlights. And thankfully we got a winner too and it was JWP's Yoneyama using the Shiranui on Ray.

4:39 of 15:45 - Yoneyama pinned Ray after a Shiranui

 

 

33. Hiroyo Matsumoto -vs- Atsuko Emoto - (2/3 Falls) [** 3/4]

--- A special main event with 2/3 Falls rules. Something that's been used good in IBUKI the few years they lasted. And now it's Matsumoto who'd getting the rub with the gimmick losing the first fall only to come back and win two straight against the higher ranked Emoto. It was a close match and grew well in excitement. Might have lacked the one thing to really drive it up, but regardless it was a damn solid match from them both. Emoto landed a double-footstop in a Sabu-style moonsault to grab her fall. Matsumoto tried her finishers, but it was a counter cradle that got her the equalizer as Emoto was coming in to land a Shining Wizard and Matsumoto in a way rolled in a schoolboy like cradle from that. Her big win came as a result of a big Ligerbomb after the two bad battled a while trading blows. It's matches liked this that makes me miss IBUKI.

15:25 of 15:25 - Emoto pinned Matsumoto after a Arabian-style moonsault double-footstomp

4:51 of 5:28 - Matsumoto pinned Emoto with a counter cradle

7:29 of 8:35 - Matsumoto pinned Emoto with a Ligerbomb

 

 

February 11, 2010 (Aft) - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (391 fans)

 

34. Shuu Shibutani -vs- Esui

--- Esui is retiring on show two this day so this is her second to last match and she nearly beat Shibutani with that big chokeslam of hers. Instead Shibutani used cradle wrestling to get out of there with a victory.

1:26 of 9:08 - Shibutani pinned Esui with a modified roll-up

 

 

35. Leon -vs- Bambi

--- Not too exciting, but Leon got a solid win out of it.

2:15 of 6:16 - Leon pinned Bambi after a top rope bodypress

 

 

36. Natsuki*Taiyo & Ray -vs- Toshie Uematsu & Tomoka Nakagawa [* 1/4]

--- The final match with IBUKI's favourite team of late. Natsuki & Ray gets the happy win too in a fine action based fight like they've done so many times over the last year.

4:36 of 15:06 - Natsuki pinned Nakagawa with a Momorachi

 

 

37. Mariko Yoshida -vs- Ray - (Exhibition)

--- Only a little showcase and a rare oppertunity to see Yoshida wrestle in 2010.

2:11 of 3:00 - Yoshida wrestled Ray to a 3:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

38. Meiko Satomura & Dash Chisako -vs- Hiroyo Matsumoto & Misaki Ohata [* 3/4]

--- Sendai Girls vs IBUKI and Matsumoto and Satomura were in a war at times. Strong fighting which is a shame only half aired. It had to end with a Satomura victory as she used her new sleeper of some sort, but the IBUKI girls gave them a challenge.

8:05 of 18:00 - Satomura defeated Matsumoto by Referee Stop with a modified sleeper hold

 

 

39. Kyoko Kimura -vs- Atsuko Emoto [**]

--- It was the establishment and rivalry between these two that IBUKI was built on. And here they have a final singles match in IBUKI against each other. And it was fight of equal portions as they went through their finishers and kepts trying to by more clever then the other. And after a solid match Kimura landed a hard enough big boot and desperat enough cover to get the three count.

9:17 of 19:18 - Kimura pinned Emoto after a big boot

 

 

February 11, 2010 (Eve) - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (427 fans)

 

40. Ryo Mizunami & Esui -vs- Aya Yuki & Kagetsu - (Esui's Retirement Match)

--- As IBUKI closes it's doors with this show, so does the IBUKI original Esui finish her wrestling career. The Mongolian girl got to be the star of her final match too being close to winning several times as she was fighting the Sendai Girl Kagetsu. And they really made it her day when she actually beat her too using the big chokeslam! Esui cried after the match and said goodbye to the fans.

2:56 of 13:13 - Esui pinned Kagetsu after a chokeslam

 

 

41. Emi Sakura & Tomoka Nakagawa -vs- Cherry & Akiko Narikuni

--- Amateur wrestler Narikuni had a bunch of kid students attack Sakura hoping that would help her side. It didn't, but it was cute. Instead Sakura turned to Cherry and beat her up.

2:37 of 13:59 - Sakura pinned Cherry after a Firebird Splash

 

 

42. Mariko Yoshida -vs- Hiroyo Matsumoto - (Exhibition)

--- Last we'll see of Yoshida wrestling in IBUKI as it's only a little exhibition match which went to the 3-min time limit, but Yoshida didn't care and went on to pin Matsumoto after the bell anyway.

3:05 of 3:00 - Yoshida wrestled Matsumoto to a 3:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

43. Natsuki*Taiyo -vs- Ray [* 1/2]

--- Tag partners facing in a fine spot-style bout with some ridiculously close pinfall attempts! Fun flyer bout with the obvious winner as Natsuki is more established and won with the Taiyo-chan Spanish Fly.

4:37 of 15:36 - Natsuki pinned Ray after a moonsaulting Shiranui

 

 

44. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Shuu Shibutani & Kyoko Kimura -vs- Misaki Ohata & Ayumi Kurihara & Atsuko Emoto [**]

--- The final IBUKI. And it collect everyone whois gotten a serious push in the promotion. A fine match, but not a real final

[PUNQ]

DDT on Samurai TV - February 11, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

February 11, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,455 fans)

 

 

 

1. Michael Nakazawa & Hikaru Sato & Masahiro Takanashi & Keisuke Ishii -vs- Toru Owashi & Hoshitango & Yukihiro Abe & Yoshinori Yamamoto & Aika Ando [1/4*]

--- This match had anything but wrestling it seemed. Bodybuildig, atempted rape and duets. And it was wonderful for everything except wrestling..... My head is fucked now.

1:06 of 1:05 - Nakazawa & Sato & Takanashi & Ishii wrestled Owashi & Hoshitango & Abe & Yamamoto & Ando to a No-Contest

2:08 of 2:50 - Nakazawa & Sato & Takanashi & Ishii wrestled Owashi & Hoshitango & Abe & Yamamoto & Ando to a No-Contest

0:44 of 0:44 - Nakazawa defeated Abe with a sleeper

 

 

 

2. Shuji Ishikawa © -vs- Danshoku Dino - (KO-D Title) [***]

--- Todays wrestling is just wrong. But man, can bullshit be great when done correctly and mixed in within a acceptable context. Assed chairshots, and Dino landing the Danshoku Diver was expeted and one didn't think it'd become more exciting then that when he was unable to lock in that Gay Gotch driver. But how wrong was I? No, things took an strange turn and Dino started doing more straight wrestling. Well, almost and it depends how homo erotic you feel a top rope Frankensteiner can be. But that one took everyone by surprise. But even more shocking was Dino following up with a moonsault! Even MORE shocking was that he followed up with RAINBOW MOONSAULTS!!! What's that, you say?! That's moonsaults where you take off your different color thrunks before doing the rounding bodypress! And Dino had like 4 pairs on him before he was nearly naked as the referee had to start protecting the crowd from a possible disguisting view. This turn of events was trully exciting as Dino had looked doomed when he was Splash Mountain'ed earlier, but here he was the one stealing the spotlight instead. Well, Ishikawa had to do something to steal the spotlight back. And since Dino had been wrestling almost like a weird straight man, Ishikawa had to turn gay'ish! First a giant kiss! Then he pulled off his pants and revealed Dino like thrunks and landed a GIANT DANSHOKU DRIVERRRRRR!!! And to end this wonderful spectacle off Ishikawa did a good old Thunder Fire powerbomb to make V4!

20:28 of 19:37 - Ishikawa pinned Dino with a Thunder Fire powerbomb to retain the KO-D Title in his 4th defence.

 

 

3. MIKAMI -vs- Tomomitsu Matsunaga [*]

--- They were wrestling like it was a tribute to old school Texas wrestling with Matsunaga doing a good job of working over MIKAMI's leg and making him tap to the spinning toe-hold. The referee was down so Matsunaga didn't get to win here either as once the ref was up MIKAMI tried all kings of cradles until he had the plug pinned.

5:53 of 8:26 - MIKAMI pinned Matsunaga with a Japanese leg roll clutch hold

 

 

 

4. Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega -vs- HARASHIMA & Kengo Mashimo [** 3/4]

--- Then for the energetic highflyer! And they delviered just as expected. Super flying! Mirror flying! Synchronized flying! Kenny & Ibushi were ruling the show with their identic style. And to round out the match we had HARASHIMA & Mashimo wrestling their similar style of strike fighting! It was a match designed to entertain within their strenght and that worked. And to end it all we got the double Firebird Splash from Ibushi & Omega as they pinned HARASHIMA 2-on-1. It was just lovely to watch even if this match was no brain surgery. It wasn't suppoed to be either. It was a all-out crowd pleaser.

14:36 of 19:58 - Ibushi & Omega pinned HARASHIMA after a double Firebird Splash

 

 

 

5. KUDO & Yasu Urano © -vs- Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa - (KO-D Tag Title) [** 1/2]

--- This match came alive for the unforseen happening. Sawa getting a nasty cut under the eye which swelled badly. It's DDT, so they still made some comedy about it, but it made the fans care more for Sawa as he kept fighting on with all his spirit! Ironicly they tried to make the drama taping Takagi's leg with him limping bad, but few cared about that part as it was all about Mr.Sawa once the blood started pouring! And the wrestling was solid with Urano & KUDO carrying the workload and the challengers stealing the spotlight as the fans cheered them on. And they got their happy moment when Sawa locked in the Octopus Hold to win the belts for him and Takagi!

16:37 of 19:34 - Sawa made Urano submit to a Octopus Hold. Takagi & Sawa become the 30th KO-D Tag Champions.

 

 

COMMENTS: Wow! After a terrible start this turned into one of the absolute best DDT shows I've seen! The Ishikawa vs Dino Title match exceeded every expectation. Ibushi & Omega brough the spectacular and Sawa & Takagi brought the drama. A overall well balanced emotional experience with a lot of everything.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

KENSUKE OFFICE on Samurai TV - February 11, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

February 11, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,753 fans)

 

1. Catfish Man #1 & Catfish Man #2 -vs- Kentaro Shiga & Chango [1/4*]

--- Only 1/3rd aired and there was little of interest happening. The Catfish win.

3:33 of 9:31 - Catfish #1 pinned Chango with a leg roll-up

 

 

2. Takashi Okita -vs- Takeshi Minaminno [*]

--- Okita kept taking Minaminno down with the tackles. Minaminno on the other hand had the help of Ooma who pulled out the referee when Okita was almost winning and then went on to assist Minaminno by busting a chair over Okita's head. And things looked bad for Okita, but he survived and instead rolled Minaminno up in a spear like takedown cradle to get the somewhat upset. A solid win for the Kensuke Office wrestler for sure even if Minaminno hasn't been much of a wrestler for a few years.

9:25 of 9:24 - Okita pinned Minaminno with a spear cradle

 

 

3. Ultimo Dragon -vs- Satoshi Kajiwara [* 1/2]

--- Probable one of Kajiwara's most high-profile match to date as he faces his mentor Ultimo Dragon while wearing Kensike Office style costume. I guess he's found himself a new mentor and wants to prove to Ultimo that he can do it without him. And he had quite a solid battle with Dragon who was more into the technical wrestling while Kajiwara did more the bigger spotlight stuff diving and driving the old master down. But beliving he had a chance against Dragon would be taking it one step too far. No, Dragon won and did so with his reversed DDT.

7:59 of 10:21 - Dragon pinned Kajiwara after a Asai DDT

 

 

 

4. Yutaka Yoshie & Bear Fukuda & Go Sato -vs- Takeshi Morishima & Hajime Ohara & Kento Miyahara [* 3/4]

--- Fun midcard tag with heavyweight stars such as Yoshie and Morishima and a few Toryumon guys along with Kensuke Office's Miyahara there to take the fall as Yoshie was in a happy mood beating the kid. The wrestling was fairly average, but it was a fresh enough line-up that it was a nice little experience.

15:23 of 18:21 - Yoshie pinned Miyahara after a top rope bodypress

 

 

 

5. Naomichi Marufuji -vs- Katsuhiko Nakajima [***]

--- Kensuke Office's golden boy Nakajima facing one of NOAH's top guys in current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Marufuji. The match started careful with a lot of ducking and jumping away avoiding contact and not too much to shout hurra for! It was one of those systematic and more mind based fights before one was able to start laying in those kicks. And a bunch of Superkicks landed. At one point Nakajima looked like he wanted to murder Marufuji with one of the NOAH wrestlers favourite kicking methods. Marufuji on the other hands tried a bunch of Shiranui variations. Regular, front version and the top rope moonsaulting one. Neither was successful and time was running out as the match had a 30-min time limit. And you kind of sensed it was going to be a draw even if things started getting urgent with Nakajima landing his German Suplex without luck. But Marufuji has been one of the main guys on todays puro scene since his comeback from injury having won the Super J-Cup and IWGP Junior Title and continues to show his power and influence by beating Kensuke's kid with only one minute left on the clock. And he did so with the Tiger Frosion which is the new killer move on the scene.

29:04 of 29:04 - Marufuji pinned Nakajima after the Tiger Frosion

 

 

 

6. Kensuke Sasaki -vs- Big(Kazunari) Murakami [**]

--- Kazunari Murakami is BACK! And this time the terrorist has a new name and will be known as BIG MURAKAMI!!! The start wasn't what he'd hoped for as Sasaki just powered him down with authority. But Murakami is a sly bastard and fought hard to get back into the game meeting Sasaki on strikes and getting the better of him. To the point Sasaki had to take a time-out on the floor. At that point Murakami had the match, but he can be a cocky fuck and got too confident for his own good which opened for Sasaki coming back and knocking the former Big Mouth Loud star down with a series of lariat until it was time to kill. Northern Light Bomb!

9:18 of 9:18 - Sasaki pinned Murakami after a Northern Light Bomb

 

 

COMMENTS: Kensuke Office shows are interesting. Nakajima usually gets big fights and this one with Marufuji was no exception. Seeing Murakami back was cool and some of the lowercard guys got to look good aswell.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

Osaka Pro on Samurai TV - February 11, 2010, Osaka - (2 hrs)

 

 

February 11, 2010, Osaka Prefectural Gym (5,083 fans)

 

1. Shigehiro Irie & Kazuaki Mihara -vs- Takoyakida & Perro [3/4*]

--- Opener style action with Perro the dog as the quality. Mihara is ok even if he's got some way to go, but at least they push him a little and give him the victory here at the big show.

4:48 of 9:31 - Mihara pinned Takoyakida after a top rope bodypress

 

 

2. Shiro Koshinaka & Kikutaro & Ranmaru -vs- Kuishinbo Kamen & Ebessan III & Kanjyouro Matsuyama [*]

--- Happy lucharesu! With special guest Shiro Koshinaka! And that was sweeeeet! He did join in on the third 'Michinoku Hop' and gave some ass and assbeating.

9:51 of 13:05 - Koshinaka pinned Ebessan with a powerbomb

 

 

3. Black Buffalo & Tigers Mask -vs- Gamma & Super Shisa [* 1/2]

--- Gamma back making people sick in Osaka Pro adding insult to injury by wrestling with a Super Delfin mask and even doing a Delfin Clutch! The match was starting to get interesting when the Dragon Gate badmen pulled off Tigers Mask's mask off. And that in the lucha world means....DQ!!! The fighting continued backstage.

9:37 of 12:47 - Buffalo & Tigers defeated Gamma & Shida by DQ

 

 

4. Asian Cougar & Abdullah the Butcher & Miracle Man & Takaku Fuke -vs- Minoru Fujita & Orochi & Tadasuke & The Bodyguard [*]

--- A match to entertain, but not care for. Or else Tadasuke's embarrassing long-run rampway big boot miss would have mattered to the fans. No, the one thing that they cared about was the special guest and legend Abdullah the Butcher doing his throat chops and ELBOW DROP!!!

8:56 of 8:42 - Abdullah pinned Orochi after a elbow drop

 

 

5. Hideyoshi & Masamune © -vs- Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada - (OPW Tag Title) [** 1/2]

--- Finally, the young boys of Osaka get the big one as Harada & Kotoge beat the top tag team in Osaka Pro to win the Osaka Pro Tag Title! The two have been growing slowly upward as wrestlers the last 4 years and it was time for the new generation O.Pro wrestlers to get established with some gold. And it was in a good action style tag bout where the champs got to look good with the young lads fighting impressively back to win the belts as Harada used the German Suplex a couple of times before he had Masamune beat. A positive happening.

18:48 of 20:53 - Harada pinned Masamune with a German Suplex. Kotoge & Harada become the 24th OPW Tag Champions.

 

 

6. Dick Togo © -vs- Billy Ken Kid - (OPW Title; No-DQ Match) [*** 1/4]

--- This was nearly epic the way it was done. I did miss some kind of super moment to take it to the next level, this was one of the most captivating long matches I've seen in a while regardless. Finally Billy got his revenge over the veteran dick. But with No-DQ rules Togo could humiliate the Osaka Pro favourite and make things very difficult for him. Ripping up and tearing that mask off several times with Togo's pals there to add to the bullying. For a while Billy had to wrestle with a towel over his head to cover his face and even nearly won with a small package that way. He was eventually handed a brand new mask and the match continued in a more regular wrestling oriented way except Dick liked to use the chair trying different ways to attach the challenger. Togo also landed his trusted old senton which usually gets the job done, but not this time! Billy had fire in him and kickied out! And then came the comeback little by little and to make it a happy Osaka night Billy went victorious with the Firebird to regain the Osaka strap for the 4th time!

24:03 of 33:33 - Billy pinned Togo after a Firebird Splash to become the 17th OPW Champion.

 

 

COMMENTS: A real good and big show for Osaka Pro with TV production to match. The undercard matches got us in a good mood and the final two matches brought the emotion!

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

BJPW on COMM - February 13, 2010, Yokohama - (2 hrs)

 

 

February 13, 2010, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse (444 fans)

 

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

--- It's the comedy opener. Nothing more....

10:10 of 10:10 - Teioh made Ohashi submit to a Texas Cloverleaf

 

 

2. Abdullah Kobayashi & Kankuro Hoshino -vs- Shadow WX & Kazuki Hashimoto [3/4*]

--- Never got very interesting and they didn't do anything special either. Hoshino makes the kid tap, that's all.

13:42 of 13:40 - Hoshino made Hashimoto submit to a single leg crab

 

 

3. Kishin Kawabata -vs- Ryuichi Kawakami [* 1/4]

--- Young Kawakami gets a wrestling lesson from veteran and former NOAH wrestler Kawabata. It was more how much Kawakami could take then what damage he could do. Can't say they did too much with this special challenge for Kawakami, but at least he got to kick out a lot before the heavyweight landed a full-force senton to beat him.

11:03 of 11:01 - Kawabata pinned Kawakami after a second rope senton

 

 

4. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshito Sasaki -vs- Yuji Okabayashi & Shinobu [** 1/2]

--- BRUTAL!!! Sasaki and Shinobu were totally pissed at each other and went all in with the beating! And Sekimoto was after former tag partner Okabayashi. So lovely to see so much fire on a show like this. They really had a strong performance. This is what pro-wrestling really should bring. Matches that seem to mean something to the wrestlers and here they were battling to win and establish authority. And Sasaki really showed his authority for the end. Two NASTY lariats!!! But the heat wasn't over with that. They continued to be angry after the fight!

15:20 of 15:20 - Sasaki pinned Shinobu after a lariat

 

 

5. Takashi Sasaki & Yuko Miyamoto -vs- Ryuji Ito & Mototsugu Shimizu - (Barbed Wire Board Death Match) [** 1/4]

--- This is probable the best matches I've seen of Shimizu! The guy actually got the crowd behind him and deliverd a passionate performance in this death match! He leeped off the walls and used the barbed wire wisely. Of the big barbed wire board stunts saw Ito do a Dragon Splash and Shimizu do a top rope double-footstomp to hurt Sasaki. There was also the barbed wire roses for added effect. But in the end the weakest was the weakest as Shimizu continued to be a jobber regardless of one positive experience. And he was stopped with a belly-to-belly piledriver on the barbed wire board.

18:41 of 18:40 - Miyamoto pinned Shimizu after a Fire Thunder piledriver on a barbed wire board

 

 

6. Jun Kasai & Masashi Takeda -vs- Jaki Numazawa & Isami Kodaka - (Light Tubes Death Match) [**]

--- Way too long for a light tubes bout. And they were clowning around with the glass more then having a all-out war. Yeah, a Big Japan style hardcore crowd pleaser. Sure it did have it share of highlights like bringing in boxes of light tubes to crush and a million light tubes getting getting smashed as well as a tiny bit of regular wrestling by Takeda and Isami before it all ended with a no-decision draw as the time limit expired.

27:13 of 30:00 - Kasai & Takeda wrestled Numazawa & Isami to a 30:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

COMMENTS: The show started slow, but the last 3 matches had something to offer. Especially the straigth wrestling tag which was full of heat. The hardcore matches had the violence, but not neccessary the best Big Japan can bring, but Shimizu surprised.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NEO on COMM - February 14, 2010, Kawasaki - (2 hrs)

 

 

February 14, 2010, Kawasaki - Lazona Kawasaki Plaza Sol (199 fans)

 

1. Kana -vs- Kagetsu [* 1/4]

--- Ok knockin' and straight to the point. Kind too basic, but they did what they had to do with Kagetsu looking competitive before meeting Kana's new favourite finisher - the backfist!

8:34 of 8:34 - Kana pinned Kagetsu after a uraken

 

 

2. Atsuko Emoto -vs- Makoto [1/2*]

--- Terribly dull squash....

8:31 of 8:31 - Emoto made Makoto submit to the M Clutch

 

 

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

--- Ice Ribbon's Fujimoto more or less having a profile match where they'd let her come with her weak stuff to prove herself. The NEO Machine Guns was in total control and it was just a matter of time before they had the idol girl beat, but then some of Fujimoto's Ice Ribbon friends interfered and Fujimoto did the nearly unthinkable and pinned Tanny rolling her up for the three.

11:38 of 11:38 - Fujimoto pinned Tanny with a schoolboy

 

 

4. Nanae Takahashi & Natsuki*Taiyo -vs- Hiroyo Matsumoto & Misaki Ohata [* 3/4]

--- Action affair. Random to the max. But what they did looked good even if it didn't really lead to anything else then a bunch of near falls and stuff. Ohata was all over this one as the underdog and also as a cradle aggressor, but in the end Nanae was one or two sizes too big for her.

16:23 of 16:24 - Takahashi pinned Ohata with the Iku Bomb

 

 

5. Kyoko Inoue -vs- Hikaru Shida [1/4*]

--- Kyoko having a simple time with one of the taller girls from Ice Ribbon. Lariats killed Shida easy.

5:22 of 5:22 - Inoue pinned Shida after a lariat

 

 

6. Yoshiko Tamura & Ayumi Kurihara © -vs- Kyoko Kimura & Tomoka Nakagawa - (NEO Tag Title) [** 1/4]

--- Title match time! And RA members Kyoko Kimura & Tomoka Nakagawa are the first challenge for the newly crowned NEO Tag Champs Tamura & Kurihara. Nakagawa has been getting a decent push of late including pinning Kurihara in a tag bout last month and Kimura is a former tag champ, so they've established themselfs as credible predators. Of course a lot of modern joshi matches dwell too much on the action aspect of the game and this was no different even if the RA focus more on the brawling. Still it was a entertaining fight which turned into a bloodfest as Kurihara got her face all crimson'ed up while fighting for her life the last 8 minutes or so. And it was the focus on Kurihara that made the match good as Tamura doesn't really have much to offer anymore. And Kurihara shifted from getting the crap beat out of her to making those short comeback until she could get the happy moment of beating Kimura with the kneepress! V1 for Tamura & Kurihara!

22:22 of 22:21 - Kurihara pinned Kimura with a double knee press. Tamura & Kurihara retain the NEO Tag Title in their 1st defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: The main event is the main reason to watch the show and it was always going to be that way.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

AJPW on GAORA TV - February 14, 2010. Osaka - (2 hrs)

 

 

February 14, 2010. Osaka Prefectural Gym #2 (1,130 fans)

 

1. TARU & Rene Dupree -vs- Keiji Muto & Masa Fuchi [*]

--- The Voodoo Murders making chaos as usual throwing referee Bomber Saito out of the ring to gang up on Muto without getting DQ'ed. Instead they got to rule the law and beat the fan favourties down easy.

7:14 of 9:55 - TARU pinned Fuchi after a headkick

 

 

2. Masakatsu Funaki & Osamu Nishimura -vs- Minoru Suzuki & Taiyo Kea [* 1/4]

--- The heat is on between Funaki and Suzuki. They basically did the same deal they did at the February 7 Korakuen Hall show with the two always in each others face being almost unseperatable and not really caring about the match. Only the hate for the other. So it went to a double count out again.

8:27 of 8:27 - Funaki & Nishimura wrestled Suzuki & Kea to a Doubel Count Out

 

 

3. Akebono & Ryota Hama & Seiya Sanada -vs- Satoshi Kojima & Zodiac & Hiroshi Yamato [* 1/2]

--- Hama gets himself established as the #1 contender for Kojima's Triple Crown beating one of his guys the Hama way. And he looks damn confident too the loveable and roundest man in Japanese pro wrestling. And Kojima better watch out for the Ryota Hammer, aka Jackhammer.

15:37 of 15:37 - Hama pinned Yamato after the Ryota Hammer

 

 

- Champion Carnival Preview.....

 

 

COMMENTS: Not much wrestling wise from the February 14th show. Only some minor feud things going on in a very average frame. The second hour focuses on the participants of the 2010 Champion Carnival with the last two finals getting shows.

 

 

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[PUNQ]

NJPW on PPV - February 14, 2010, Tokyo - (3 3/4 hrs)

 

 

February 14, 2010, Tokyo - Sumo Hall (6,300 fans)

 

1. Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Koji Kanemoto -vs- Kota Ibushi & GENTARO & Fujita Jr Hayato [** 1/2]

--- New Japan veterans against a collective of top indy guys in DDT's Ibushi, Freedoms GENTARO and Michinoku Pro's Fujita. And while it was nothing more then a crowd pleasing opening junior heavyweight bout filled with trademark stuff from all invovled, it was a satifying experience watching them have a motivated experience at the Sumo Hall until GENTARO was trapped in Kanemoto's ankle hold. Ended a bit prematurly as they could have made this one more important had they wanted to, but at least they gave the indy hopes good exposure before humuliating them.

11:25 of 11:23 - Kanemoto made GENTARO submit to a ankle hold

 

 

2. Ryusuke Taguchi & Prince Devitt -vs- Dick Togo & Gedo - (IWGP Junior Tag Title) [** 3/4]

--- Jado was injured on the January 31st show so Dick Togo takes his place for this title match. Hey, he's a former IWGP Junior tag Champion too and he almost look like Jado so it's a fitting replacement. Not to mention being a much more interesting wrestler then Jado. Apollo 55 on the other hand had the now retired Milano Collection AT in their corner for support. And Milano really was a personality in this match while not being the active party. He was still there in a babyface way making sure the fans payed extra attention to the champs and what was happening. Not only that after the match Milano got to kick down Gedo as revenge for allegedly being apart of ending his career with that eye injury! Fans loved that! But to the match..... It was a good one, much do to the added presence of Milano and Togo doing his thing being several levels better then Jado. Gedo almost got the win with the Gedo Clutch which was one of the big moments in the match along with the champs getting their highspots diving the challengers down and landing the finishing blows to put Gedo to rest. Another confident defence by Apollo 55.

14:02 of 14:01 - Taguchi pinned Gendo after the Blackhole Vacation. Taguchi & Devitt retain the IWGP Junior Tag Title in their 5th defence.

 

 

3. Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson -vs- Riki Choshu & Wataru Inoue [* 1/2]

--- 59 year old Riki Choshu did a freakin' plancha dive!!! Thats' what this match will be remembered for. Inoue also managed to German Bernard who made sure the others looked good before the bad Intentions took over and rightfully beat Inoue up.

9:10 of 9:10 - Bernard pinned Inoue after the Magic Killer

 

 

4. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma -vs- Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii [* 1/2]

--- This one started backstage as the enterance music was playing Iizuka & Ishii attacked Makabe & Honma and they brawled their way to the ring. Good start, but a fairly average follow-up once in the ring. Then it was just their normal stuff with Ishii's turnbuckle suplex being the main thing of beauty before Makabe stopped him Bruiser Brody style!

8:34 of 8:34 - Makabe pinned Ishii after a top rope kneedrop

 

 

5. Yuji Nagata -vs- Tajiri [* 1/4]

--- This was a cool little playful match where Tajiri started the match by spitting green mist in Nagata's face and the Buzzsaw'ing him to almost win by count out. Tajiri was enjoying this playing with the fans aswell and blowing even more mist in Nagata's face, but that's when the really cool stuff happend. Nagata no-sold the mist and with green zombie face with eyes rolled to the back of his head he looked like the Incredible Hulk. And then did the zombie armbar to beat Tajiri quick!

4:43 of 4:42 - Nagata made Tajiri submit to the armbar

 

 

 

- Milano Collection AT's Retirement Ceremony. Getting gifts and flowers from friends and collegues from his Toryumon days aswell as from Hayabusa who was standing outside the ring for a touching moment. Maybe the most special visit for Milano was probable his mentor Ultimo Dragon coming out to honor him.

 

 

6. Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito © -vs- El Texano Jr & Terrible - (IWGP Tag Title) [* 3/4]

--- The new IWGP Tag Champions making their first defence and fittingly it's against a Mexican side, since that's where Yujiro & Naito have been learning their skills of late. And it's always interesting to see the Japanese wrestling mix with lucha libre and often it's a styles clash. It's somewhat like that here because they lost most of the crowd with this one as the flow wasn't sitting right for the Japanese fans and some of the highflying landed kind of soft like El Terrible's plancha to the outside it looked like he was landing on a mattress on impact of the other guys. But I still liked this as the luchadors bring something different to the table then the usual style we see. And you got to love the eye thing with No Limit making fun of the foreigners for having big eyes. In the end No Limit retained the belts with their version of the 3D.

10:38 of 10:37 - Naito pinned Texano after the Limitless Explosion. Yujiro & Naito retain the IWGP Tag Title in their 1st defence.

 

 

 

7. Masato Tanaka -vs- Hirooki Goto - (Hardcore) [** 1/4]

--- Hardcore vs Strong Style! And Tanaka the hardcore specialist brought out the garbage cans, chairs, kendo stick and tables. The first big table spot ended up being Goto's as he landed a top rope elbow with Tanaka laying on a table on the floor side! They would continue to trash each other with garbage spots we always see aswell as land some of their finishers for near falls. They traded Shouten and Sliding D kick-outs before Tanaka loaded up the elbow with a iron pipe to land a ultimate Sliding D!

15:45 of 15:45 - Tanaka pinned Goto after a iron pipe Sliding D

 

 

 

8. Hiroshi Tanahashi -vs- Toru Yano [** 1/4]

--- The early portion of this grudge match was Yano bullying Tanahashi and cutting him open with scissors. After that it went into finisher mode just letting the impact moments sink in and then do another one. Didn't quite work optimal because it was a fairly average gameplan. But of course watching Tanahashi do the trapped German and Yano nearly pin Tanahashi again with the High Flying Flow block was good and they were playing tricks on each other until Tanahashi showed he was the surperior wrestlers splashing Yano down. Yano did however get some revenge when he cut off some of Tanahashi's hair before leaving the ring with a smile.

14:06 of 14:04 - Tanahashi pinned Yano after a top rope bodypress

 

 

 

9. Shinsuke Nakamura © -vs- Manabu Nakanishi - (IWGP Title) [***]

--- Nakanishi held this belt for 1 1/2 months last year trading it with Tanahashi. Let's see if he'll do that with Nakamura too. And Nakanishi is no technician. But he's a strong animal who's not affraid to try. And that's his charm watching him try and meet Nakamura at his own game locking in the holds. Nakanishi's favourite hold was the Argentine backbreaker which was locked in again and again. And when no submission came he'd either Hercules Cutter Nakamura or German Suplex him for near wins. One of my favourite Nakanishi moments was when he did a leeping placha jumping off the second rope. That one looked so awkward and classic Nakanishi that it's ace! Also when he locked in Nakamura's leg around his neck and then changed reversing his position. But no matter how unstoppable and strong Nakanishi looked, Nakamura is a sly fox and you can never rule the champion out. And he made his comeback with knuckle punches and kicks before planting the Boma Ye kneekicks to get a lucky successful defence #5.

18:02 of 18:02 - Nakamura pinned Nakanishi after the Boma Ye kneekick to retain the IWGP Title in his 5th defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: Overall a strong show with a lot of interesting matches. Not all reached their potential, but this was still a enjoyable show topped with a enjoyable IWGP Title match where Nakanishi was king.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NOAH on G+SN - February 14, 2010, Maebashi - (2 1/4 hrs)

 

 

February 14, 2010, Maebashi - Green Dome Maebashi Sub Hall (1,000 fans)

 

1. Naomichi Marufuji -vs- Kento Miyahara [* 1/2]

--- Having beaten Nakajima 3 days earlier, beating another Kensuke Office guy like Miyahara shouldn't be a problem for Marufuji. And it wasn't really. It was mostly about the kick-outs as Miyahara tried to stay in there with the belt collector, but he just didn't stand a chance and once the Shiranui landed it was over for the young guy.

9:48 of 9:49 - Marufuji pinned Miyahara after a Shiranui

 

 

2. Masao Inoue & Bull Buchanan -vs- Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Genba Hirayanagi [*]

--- Buchanan back working in NOAH and he gets to team with Inoue. And that was a dead team. And they're facing one of the finalists for the GHC Junior Tag Title which is going to be decided later in the tour this month. And this wasn't really a very good match. Had some minor moments with Genba and Buchanan which kept it alive.....barely. At least Buchanan got to beat the little prick even if I'd much rather have Inoue lose.

15:37 of 15:38 - Buchanan pinned Hirayanagi after a Iron Bomb

 

 

3. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone & Kentaro Shiga -vs- Jun Akiyama & Yoshinari Ogawa & Atsushi Aoki [* 1/2]

--- A fun midcard filler with the veterans and Aoki. Aoki who is both a junior heavyweight and the least experienced. That guarantees jobber duty! And that means Yone's Muscle Buster. Otherwise it was comic how Ogawa and Akiyama tried to run Rikio down only to leave that task to little Aoki. The guy just can't get a break.

15:50 of 15:51 - Yone pinned Aoki after a Muscle Buster

 

 

4. Ricky Marvin & Taiji Ishimori -vs- Eddie Edwards & Bobby Fish - (GHC Junior Tag Title Tournament - Semi-Final) [* 1/4]

--- The second semis to decide who'll face Genba & Kanemaru for the GHC Junior Tag Title on February 18th. And I can't say this match clicked well for me. It nearly put me to sleep as it was long and not much of interest happend. Still it was not a bad match. It could have up'ed a level at any point had they done anything special, but they didn't really and this was never the good match it could have been. A lot of Marvin getting beat up by the foreigner with him getting the upset in the end when ducking Edwards kick and out of the blue rolled him up for the pinfall.

22:01 of 22:01 - Marvin pinned Edwards with a front cradle

 

 

5. Akira Taue & Akitoshi Saito & Yutaka Yoshie -vs- Takashi Sugiura & Takeshi Morishima & Takashi Okita [* 3/4]

--- Lumps of meat match! Saito and Taue was dead meat. Okita was mainly beat up, but watching Yoshie face off against Morishima was lovely! Sadly only a small portion of the match, but at least we got some! Nah, most of this was Okita as the least experienced paying his dues with Yoshie splashing him flat for the three.

15:41 of 15:42 - Yoshie pinned Okita after a top rope bodypress

 

 

6. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano -vs- Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima [* 3/4]

--- Global Tag League '10 winners against Kensuke Office in a walking pace main event which still was stiff as hell. It was like, 'I'll hit you hard, but I'm not going to use any energy putting any fire into it'. So Takayama got his chest all red from Sasaki's chops and Nakajima both gave and took some hard kickin' including getting a sawate kick in his face from Sano before Sano killed him off with his version of the Northern Light Bomb. Had it's moments, but it needed a little more effort to become anything special.

15:32 of 15:33 - Sano pinned Nakajima after a Northern Light Bomb

 

 

COMMENTS: Not a good day to be a Kensuke Office guy losing in all the 3 matches they were invovled including the main event where Sasaki himself was a part of. Have you lost all your bargening powers Sasaki? The show was kind of small and the matches delivered off that never becoming anything more simple matches for the fans that had showed up.

 

 

--PUNQ--