Guide to Japanese Wrestling 2010

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

 

 

March 14, 2010, Kawasaki City Gym (1,122 fans)

 

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

--- Basic fighting. And not too interesting. At least not horrid even if the execution wasn't superb. Yuki being the bigger girl beat the Sendai Girl up landing a top rope elbow drop to finish it off.

6:29 of 6:29 - Yuki pinned Kagetsu after a top rope elbow drop

 

 

2. Natsuki*Taiyo -vs- MIKAMI [*]

--- Natsuki facing DDT guy wrestler MIKAMI for a ok little spot style match. The two are fairly similar in size and style so this worked out fine. They did their dives and tricks for a even bout until the short 10-min time limit more then expired.

10:17 of 10:00 - Natsuki wrestled MIKAMI to a 10:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

3. Emi Sakura -vs- Kana [* 1/2]

--- Kana has just quit with the Nanae's and Passion Red connection and is trying to find her own way in a pissed manner. These two already clashed during the ring enterance and was trading holds and Kana kicking Sakura down as much as she could without that helping her cause since Sakura is a better technical wrestler she managed to steal the win with less the a minute left on the clock with a despertation cradle.

9:13 of 9:12 - Sakura pinned Kana with a inside cradle

 

 

4. Ayumi Kurihara & Makoto & Mio Shirai & Io Shirai -vs- Mima Shimoda & Kyoko Kimura & Atsuko Emoto & Tomoka Nakagawa [**]

--- Shimoda teaming with Revolucion Amandola and it didn't work out well. A bunch of things backfired for the extended RA faction until they weren't really backfirings. As this ended with Emoto VERY clearly hitting Shimoda over the head with a chair and no attempt to make the save as Makoto beat the aging veteran. Wild brawl and all and fun to follow in a chaotic way.

9:18 of 9:16 - Makoto pinned Shimoda with a schoolboy

 

 

5. Yuki Miyazaki & Tanny Mouse -vs- Toshie Uematsu & Tsukasa Fujimoto & Ayano Yoshikawa [1/2*]

--- NEO Machine Guns against idol girls and not-very-idol-like Uematsu for a match featuring football and dodgeball. Yes, it was a pure entertainment match with stupid comedy, some impresssive moves and happy performances. It did what it was supposed to do and it's not really what I'm looking for in my wrestling. Tanny wins with actually a very nice looking Muscle Buster on Ice Ribbon's Fujimoto.

11:36 of 11:36 - Tanny pinned Fujimoto after a Muscle Buster

 

 

6. Nanae Takahashi -vs- Hiroyo Matsumoto [3/4*]

--- Matsumoto started the match with 4 of her deadly backdrop suplexes and all it got her was a semi-close near fall and barely hurt Nanae. And it ended in a loss in less then 3 minutes. I remember when that move was protected and could beat a star with just one attempt.

2:58 of 2:58 - Takahashi pinned Matsumoto with a small package

 

 

7. Shinobu Kandori & Fuka -vs- Kyoko Inoue & Emi Sakura [* 1/4]

--- Kandori! With hardly any LLPW shows happening these days it rare to see Mr.Joshi Puroresu in action, but here we go and it's against Kyoko abd Sakura! Not as classic as one could have hoped for as it was just their very usual stuff with a lot of Kandori goodness. But without any explosive stuff happening. Kandori also got the win in no-time locking in the armbreaker to make Sakura tap.

7:42 of 7:42 - Kandori made Sakura submit to a cross-armbreaker

 

 

8. Yoshiko Tamura © -vs- Meiko Satomura - (NEO/NWA Pacific Titles) [***]

--- There is difficult to book a bigger match then this in todays joshi scene and I'm glad it did happen as it was and will probable be one of the best womens matches that'll come available in 2010. Satomura was GAEA's golden girl and Tamura was her ace of the AJW '94 generation. Today Satomura is the boss in Sendai Girls and Tamura is the top girl in NEO and has been for 10 years. Can't say the wrestling was fresh, but it was damn solid and good. And with a slightly slow start it grew and created the feeling such a match should. A matter of importance and hunger. Competitive among generation equals. And that type of thing. They came with the big spots aswell with Tamura leeping off the top rope to put Satomura through a table on the floorside and Satomura landing the Scorpion Rising without getting the three-count. I really wished Satomura would have grabbed the gold here, but Tamura almost is Miss NEO when it comes to championships and she keeps her belts against Satomura too planting a stiff elbow to knock her out.

21:06 of 21:06 - Tamura pinned Satomura after a running elbow smash to retain the NEO/NWA Pacific Titles in her 2nd defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: A fairly good NEO show. A lot of short ones which felt urgent and still ended prematurely and a strong main event which was the real importance of this show. Unedited commercial version with no commentary.

 

 

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NEO on Samurai TV - March 14, 2010, Kawasaki - (2 hrs)

 

 

March 14, 2010, Kawasaki City Gym (1,122 fans)

 

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

--- Basic fighting. And not too interesting. At least not horrid even if the execution wasn't superb. Yuki being the bigger girl beat the Sendai Girl up landing a top rope elbow drop to finish it off.

3:58 of 6:29 - Yuki pinned Kagetsu after a top rope elbow drop

 

 

2. Natsuki*Taiyo -vs- MIKAMI [*]

--- Natsuki facing DDT guy wrestler MIKAMI for a ok little spot style match. The two are fairly similar in size and style so this worked out fine. They did their dives and tricks for a even bout until the short 10-min time limit more then expired.

4:10 of 10:00 - Natsuki wrestled MIKAMI to a 10:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

3. Emi Sakura -vs- Kana [* 1/2]

--- Kana has just quit with the Nanae's and Passion Red connection and is trying to find her own way in a pissed manner. These two already clashed during the ring enterance and was trading holds and Kana kicking Sakura down as much as she could without that helping her cause since Sakura is a better technical wrestler she managed to steal the win with less the a minute left on the clock with a despertation cradle.

9:13 of 9:12 - Sakura pinned Kana with a inside cradle

 

 

4. Ayumi Kurihara & Makoto & Mio Shirai & Io Shirai -vs- Mima Shimoda & Kyoko Kimura & Atsuko Emoto & Tomoka Nakagawa [**]

--- Shimoda teaming with Revolucion Amandola and it didn't work out well. A bunch of things backfired for the extended RA faction until they weren't really backfirings. As this ended with Emoto VERY clearly hitting Shimoda over the head with a chair and no attempt to make the save as Makoto beat the aging veteran. Wild brawl and all and fun to follow in a chaotic way.

3:30 of 9:16 - Makoto pinned Shimoda with a schoolboy

 

 

5. Yuki Miyazaki & Tanny Mouse -vs- Toshie Uematsu & Tsukasa Fujimoto & Ayano Yoshikawa [1/2*]

--- NEO Machine Guns against idol girls and not-very-idol-like Uematsu for a match featuring football and dodgeball. Yes, it was a pure entertainment match with stupid comedy, some impresssive moves and happy performances. It did what it was supposed to do and it's not really what I'm looking for in my wrestling. Tanny wins with actually a very nice looking Muscle Buster on Ice Ribbon's Fujimoto.

4:12 of 11:36 - Tanny pinned Fujimoto after a Muscle Buster

 

 

6. Nanae Takahashi -vs- Hiroyo Matsumoto [3/4*]

--- Matsumoto started the match with 4 of her deadly backdrop suplexes and all it got her was a semi-close near fall and barely hurt Nanae. And it ended in a loss in less then 3 minutes. I remember when that move was protected and could beat a star with just one attempt.

2:58 of 2:58 - Takahashi pinned Matsumoto with a small package

 

 

7. Shinobu Kandori & Fuka -vs- Kyoko Inoue & Emi Sakura [* 1/4]

--- Kandori! With hardly any LLPW shows happening these days it rare to see Mr.Joshi Puroresu in action, but here we go and it's against Kyoko abd Sakura! Not as classic as one could have hoped for as it was just their very usual stuff with a lot of Kandori goodness. But without any explosive stuff happening. Kandori also got the win in no-time locking in the armbreaker to make Sakura tap.

7:42 of 7:42 - Kandori made Sakura submit to a cross-armbreaker

 

 

8. Yoshiko Tamura © -vs- Meiko Satomura - (NEO/NWA Pacific Titles) [***]

--- There is difficult to book a bigger match then this in todays joshi scene and I'm glad it did happen as it was and will probable be one of the best womens matches that'll come available in 2010. Satomura was GAEA's golden girl and Tamura was her ace of the AJW '94 generation. Today Satomura is the boss in Sendai Girls and Tamura is the top girl in NEO and has been for 10 years. Can't say the wrestling was fresh, but it was damn solid and good. And with a slightly slow start it grew and created the feeling such a match should. A matter of importance and hunger. Competitive among generation equals. And that type of thing. They came with the big spots aswell with Tamura leeping off the top rope to put Satomura through a table on the floorside and Satomura landing the Scorpion Rising without getting the three-count. I really wished Satomura would have grabbed the gold here, but Tamura almost is Miss NEO when it comes to championships and she keeps her belts against Satomura too planting a stiff elbow to knock her out.

17:34 of 21:06 - Tamura pinned Satomura after a running elbow smash to retain the NEO/NWA Pacific Titles in her 2nd defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: A fairly good NEO show. A lot of short ones which felt urgent and still ended prematurely and a strong main event which was the real importance of this show. TV version with edited matches, but with commentary.

 

 

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REAL JAPAN on Samurai TV - March 18, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

March 18, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,620 fans)

 

1. Gran Hamada & Super Rider & Akifumi Saito -vs- Black Shadow & Fake Kendo Nakazaki & Hayato Mashida [* 3/4]

--- Wish more had aired from this as it was something wrecklessly good about it. Unpolished in a way, but in a good way. Black Shadow and the fake version of the british Kendo Nagazaki had championship belts they used as weapons and Super Rider got to be the masked superhero of the match knocking Mashida silly with the Rider kick and then Perfect Plex'ing him for the pin. There was also the charming moment where old Hamada struggled forever to get up in position for the turnbuckle Frankensteiner!

5:04 of 15:08 - Rider pinned Mashida with a fisherman's suplex

 

 

 

2. Yuki Ishikawa & Mitsuya Nagai -vs- Daisuke Sekimoto & Super Tiger II [**]

--- The fighting was good. Of the Battlarts kind naturally with shooters such as Ishikawa, Nagai and Tiger bringing the goods. For me Sekimoto wasn't too prominent but he brought some stiffness to this aswell. Especially Nagai and Tiger had the spotlight battling for pride. Sadly the match ended with a screwjob as the two were counted out doing a stubbhorn brawl at ringside. Wish they'd gone for a real finish as this had a solid foundation to build a climax on.

13:55 of 15:12 - Nagai wrestled Tiger to a Double Count Out

 

 

 

3. Masao Orihara -vs- Tiger Shark [* 1/2]

--- There was something great about this dirty looking fight. But at the same time it was kind of a mess with them sometimes being on different pages looking stupid. But of the awesome bits saw Shark crash hard to the floor on a plancha Orihara moved away from. And a lady getting knocked down when Skark was sent flying into the lined up chairs people had abandoned! Well, the referee was knocked down too which was when Black Shadow & Kendo Nagazaki came in to help Orihara to victory.

9:37 of 9:37 - Orihara pinned Shark after a moonsault

 

 

 

4. Alexander Otsuka © -vs- Hikaru Sato - (Legend Championship Title) [**]

--- What a thud!!! Headbutt from hell! Otsuka just planted that skull nearly cracking Sato's skull. And then a Dragon Suplex for the pin. I bet he could have pinned him with just the headbutt, but Otsuka wanted to end it with old school class I guess. Otherwise the match was solid and stubborn which included a very fine giant swing counter from Sato grabbing the leg for a submission hold before going flying. Sato also had an accident getting trapped in the ropes when doing a run nearly knocking himself silly already there.

13:23 of 13:23 - Otsuka pinned Sato with a Dragon Suplex to retain the Legend Championship Title.

 

 

 

5. Tatsumi Fujinami & Ultimo Dragon -vs- Riki Choshu & Great Sasuke [* 3/4]

--- Legends! And we get a little Fujinami vs Choshu '10! That classic rivalry still lives a little 30 years after it first exploded. However it was mostly the masked men who took care of the action with mask pulling and attempted cool stuff. More a fun type match then a serious battle. And for the finish Dragon landed a reverse DDT after adjusting Sasuke's mask a little.

11:48 of 11:47 - Dragon pinned Sasuke after a Asai DDT

 

 

 

6. Tiger Mask I -vs- Genichiro Tenyru [** 3/4]

--- Tenryu~~~ It's always great to see him. And his appearences are getting rarer the older he gets. Now he's 60 years old! And he still kicks ass! This is a lost dream match. No doubt it happens decades too late, but what the hell. This still freakin' ruled! And the first fire came when Tenryu kicked Tiger Mask Sayama in the face and Tiger got pissed kicking Tenryu down. Tenryu almost fell through the ropes and had to get help form the referee to get up, but Tiger was angry and kicked him down again. Tenryu went on the throw a chair at Tiger to stop him from flying and then went on a mission to break the Tiger down with stiff chops from hell and knuckle punches to the jaw! You could see Tiger's chest getting red even with the full-body costume! Tenryu in a mean bastard! What I wasn't 100% in agreement of was the finish. It came a little abrupt and easy. I know Tenryu is old, but that chickenwing facelock Tiger had locked in didn't have much build up or looked all that dangerous before Tenryu the great tapped for the original Tiger!

12:02 of 12:01 - Tiger Mask made Tenryu submit to a chickenwing facelock

 

 

COMMENTS: Quite a fun and wreckless show really with an 90's feel to it with the fans reacting they would back in the day making things matter, misses getting noticed and ridiculed. A positive show with the fans being spoiled fucks and at the same time caring about what they were watching. That's the way it should be.

 

 

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NOAH/AAA on GAORA TV - March 19, 2010, Mexico City - (2 hrs)

 

 

March 19, 2010, Mexico City

 

 

- Takeshi Morishima and Taiji Ishimori Trip Documentary. They visit restaurants, tourist attractions, etc....

 

 

1. Extreme Tiger & Jack Evans & Rocky Romero -vs- Tigre Cota & Rio Bravo & Tito Santana

--- The purple heels was in control it seemed but the babyfaces with Evans and Romero is the spotlight did the spectacular comebacks and won the thing.

2:10 - Romero pinned Tigre Cota after the Prince's Throne

 

 

2. Faby Apache & Cynthia Moreno -vs- Sexy Star & Rain

--- Referee Hijo de Triantes was really not on Moreno & Apache's side and got physically invovled! And then Sexy Star won with a DDT when Rain attacked Faby with a broom and got a quick count. But another referee ran in to call it rightfully a DQ win for the second generations stars.

1:36 - Apache & Moreno defeated Star & Rain by DQ

 

 

3. Dark Scoria & Dark Cuervo & Dark Espirito -vs- Aerostar & Laredo Kid & Super Fly

--- Poor Super Fly. He messed up a quebrada getting his legs caught on the ropes as he was making his swing on the moonsault and fell neck to the ground! He was carried off. And while that was going on Hijo de Tirantes again assisted the heels to victory.

3:11 - Scoria pinned Laredo after a brainbuster

 

 

4. Cibernetico & Psycho Clown & Monster Clown & Murder Clown -vs- Hernandez & Kenzo Suzuki & Alex Koslov & El Zorro

--- More storylines then wrestling as Konnan unmasked revealing he was under the Psycho Clown mask and stuff like that....

2:00 - Monster Clown pinned Zorra after a press slam

 

 

5. Nicho El Millionario & Joe Lider © -vs- Takeshi Morishima & Taiji Ishimori - (AAA Tag Title) [**]

--- AAA vs NOAH! And Ishimori wins the belt for the Japan side beating the original Psycosis clean with a 450 bodypress! The fans was pro-Mexico chanting "Mexico! Mexico!" but that didn't stop the NOAH side from bringing the spectacular with Morishima sitting on Lider and Ishimori landing the Superstar Elbow. However Lider did land a nice driving move with Ishimori's neck being planted hard down to the mat for a near fall. But it's the Japon side that get to bring the belts home.

9:13 - Ishimori pinned Nicho after a Firebird Splash. Morishima & Ishimori become the 5th AAA Tag Champions.

 

 

6. La Parka & Octagon & Mesias -vs- Dr. Wagner Jr & Silver King & Pimpenela Escarlata

--- And to round off the show they show a couple of minutes of the main event with Mesias winning and LA Park coming out to powerbomb La Parka through a table after the match with Ishimori being there being 100% rudo!

2:19 - Mesias pinned Silver King after a modified faceslam

 

 

COMMENTS: Traveling video with match clips. Interesting seeing Ishimori train with Gran Apache and other lucha trainees practicing tope con giros and top rope dives.

 

 

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PASSION RED on COMM - March 19, 2010, Tokyo - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

March 19, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (300 fans)

 

1. Emi Sakura -vs- Passion Ray [* 1/4]

--- Both know the spectacular stuff, but they didn't get too much life into this one until the very end. The build-up was weakend more by Ray messing up her 619 attempt. But the finaly moments Ray landed the moonsaulting senton off the top and Sakura did a fine Tiger Driver before laying Ray down with a 450 bodypress from the top rope.

11:49 of 11:49 - Sakura pinned Ray after a Firebird Splash

 

 

2. Ikuto Hidaka & Yumiko Hotta -vs- Munenori Sawa & Toshie Uematsu [3/4*]

--- Too much Passion Hotty at the start with everyone including the referee joining in on the Passion Red pose. Got a little more wrestling oriented later on, but nothing to really save this inter-gender tag with Hotta winning with the Pyramid Driver.

10:53 of 10:54 - Hotta pinned Uematsu with the Pyramid Driver

 

 

3. Nanae Takahashi & Fuka & Kazumi Shimouma -vs- Aja Kong & Yoshiko Tamura & Ryo Mizunami [** 1/2]

--- Wow, how chaotic 2010 joshi wrestling can be and yet seem like you're getting your moneys worth of quality. This was a mixed bag. This had tons of things happening with everybody running each other over. It had good and bad execution on moves. But mix it all together you get a happening bout with a lot of extended battles in differnet combination of wrestlers. Got to love Aja doing a dropkick and Fuka was having one of her final appearences before quitting on March 28th. Mizunami got to look fairly strong, but I guess that was because she was the one who was doing the job in the end as Passion Red's main gal Iku Bombed her down for the pin.

23:21 of 23:21 - Takahashi pinned Mizunami with the Iku Bomb

 

 

4. Natsuki*Taiyo -vs- Tomoka Nakagawa - (NEO High Speed Title) [** 1/4]

--- Smaller girls title match based on speed and agility. Didn't get too much into it at first as there was too much light counter and block type wrestling with little getting established. Things got better once the moves started landing and went into climax mode. Nakagawa landed a sliding knee and her low-angle lariat for near wins while Natuki tried all kinds of flying moves until she had the former K-Dojo girl beat with a Yoshitonic driving front cradle to keep the belt.

19:06 of 19:07 - Natsuki pinned Nakagawa with the Taiyo-chan Bomb to retain the NEO High Speed Title in her 1st defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: A 2010 style joshi show. A fairly motivated one, but of course all over the place and small.

 

 

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BJPW on Samurai TV - March 19, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

March 19, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,237 fans)

 

1. Masato Shibata & Ryuichi Kawakami -vs- Yuji Okabayashi & Kazuaki Hashimoto [*]

--- This one lived on big Shibata slowly beating up little Hashimoto. Hashimoto tried to be a little prick with his little kick, but was quickly stopped in his tracks and suplexed to death.

10:29 of 10:27 - Shibata pinned Hashimoto after a Dragon Suplex

 

 

2. Ryuji Ito & Shadow WX & Kankuro Hoshino -vs- Jun Kasai & Jaki Numazawa & Masashi Takeda - (Light Tubes Death Match) [**]

--- Kasai wrestling with a fans backpack on was classic nonsense! And this was the crowd pleaser. Hardcore the way Big Japan fans like it. Loads of light tubes. Some chairs. And a lot of violence! I wouldn't say the match was all that good, but it did entertain the fans and they tried all sorts of garbage spots to get the cheers. Poor Kasai though, it ended up looking a fool when he was unable to break the light tubes on his deadly impact Pearl Harbor Splash. Ito on the other hand did manage on his Dragon Splash and that's how it ended.

20:29 of 20:27 - Ito pinned Numazawa after a top rope bodypress with light tubes

 

 

3. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshito Sasaki -vs- Takashi Sasaki & Abdullah Kobayashi - (BJPW Tag Title Tournament - Block A - Round 1) [** 1/2]

--- The Sasaki's fought aggressive against one and other. So aggressive that they knocked a few fans over as they were trying to be as stubborn as they possibly could. But the match really lived on the Sekimoto vs Abby stuff. They know each other so well after being tag partners and countless tag matches together that they know how to make the moments count. Some charming Abby moments and some brutal moments. Got to love when Abby tried his top rope Northern Chop and Sekimoto just stepped back with a very confused Abby having no one to drop the chop on. Abby looked sad for a while after that betrayal. That was his spot, damn it! The two continued to fight and land finishers. Abby even got out of the German and locked in a Inoki/Andre armbar for his hot moment. But then he was German'ed again.....

19:59 of 19:11 - Sekimoto pinned Kobayashi with a German Suplex

 

 

4. Yuko Miyamoto -vs- Isamu Kodaka - (BJPW Death Match Title; Double Glass Board & Indian Strap Death Match) [***]

--- Then for the super violence! And they didn't disappoint even if the timing was very 'indy' in that they didn't wait for things to sink in or do the moves in an ultimate way. With with that said they did have a lot planed and delviered on many aspects of the brutality. By being tied together in a strap made for a different way of being blocked or countered and that was used on a regular basis in this match and quite well and in the right spots. They had two glass board in the corners for the danger spots and those were naturally broken. One when Miyamoto drove Isami through it and the other was Isami powerbombing Miyamoto crushing the glass. But for me the best destruction parts came with the ladder and how Miyamoto just pulled Isami down in a way that he crushed his skull on the edge of the metal and then a few second later was powerbombed though the light tubes on the ladder. The drama sunk in and with them running out of hardcore spots to do, then came the finishers. And Isami is more of a cradle person and tried to get those in, but Miyamoto and his piledriver version he was stopped in his tracks and the champ could retain in a trashy battle.

17:44 of 17:43 - Miyamoto pinned Isami after a Fire Thunder piledriver to retain the BJPW Death Match Title in his 4th defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: A lot to love about what was going on here, but BJPW fail to hit the super hot so far this year. They still bring the hardcore and crowd loving action.

 

 

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NOAH on G+SN - March 20, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

March 20, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,450 fans)

 

1. Kentaro Shiga -vs- Atsushi Aoki -vs- Genba Hirayanagi - (3-Way) [1/2*]

--- 3-ways doesn't fit into the NOAH formula. It looks too wrong for me. Shiga won because Aoki reversed the inside cradle thinking he'd win as he was on top. But of course with Shiga strictly on top of Genba he was declared the winner.

7:41 of 7:41 - Shiga pinned Hirayanagi with a small package reversal

 

 

2. Akitoshi Saito & Yutaka Yoshie -vs- Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue [3/4*]

--- Tired old action with little life except a tiny bit of the pink love....

15:47 of 15:47 - Yoshie pinned Inoue after a top rope bodypress

 

 

3. Takuma Sano -vs- Satoshi Kajiwara [*]

--- At least this one featured a few hard hits as Sano squashed the Kensuke Office associate.

8:22 of 8:23 - Sano pinned Kajiwara after a Northern Light Bomb

 

 

4. Naomichi Marufuji -vs- Takashi Okita [*]

--- Another NOAH star squash a Kensuke Office guy. Okita got to bulldoze Marufuji down a little bit, but in reality Marufuji was just playing the him and beat him easy when he wanted to end it.

10:16 of 10:16 - Marufuji pinned Okita after a Shiranui

 

 

5. Yoshinobu Kanemaru -vs- Kento Miyahara [*]

--- More NOAH vs Kensuke Office and Miyahara gets to be on offence quite a bit in this match, but he hardly did anything with it and Kanemaru was very tame and didn't really put up much effort to fight before he decided to land the brainbuster to beat the kid in very simple manner.

12:04 of 12:04 - Kanemaru pinned Miyahara after a brainbuster

 

 

6. Katsuhiko Nakajima -vs- Ricky Marvin [3/4*]

--- Even more NOAH vs Kensuke Office! And this was kind like 'They tried, but failed' experience. Quick rushed bout straight to the point with Marvin going in hard....and slipping on the ropes and never really gaining the momentum he was going for. And then after a few minutes fighting Nakajima picks up a rather easy win.

4:26 of 4:26 - Nakajima pinned Marvin after a running body kick

 

 

 

7. Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama -vs- Kensuke Sasaki & Yoshinari Ogawa [* 1/4]

--- Everyone is having a easy day today. This had some cool things, but it was no real effort. The best thing about this was the finish as Ogawa was trying his cradles on Akiyama. You know Akiyama has trouble with junior heavyweights doing cradles on him after losing the GHC Heavyweight Title TWICE to those little rascals. This match however was kind of a revenge deal as he used Ogawa's own tricks to beat him when he rolled the skinny prick up with a schoolboy!

16:59 of 16:59 - Akiyama pinned Ogawa with a schoolboy

 

 

 

8. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone -vs- Big Murakami & Katsumi Usuda [* 3/4]

--- I wouldn't call this a match. More an angle. It was still the best thing about the show as the former Big Mouth Loud guys Murakami & Usuda broke all the rules of the NOAH foundation. Hardly any in-ring fighting. Brawling, stiff punching and throwing the NOAH guys on their own fans. Not to mention hassling the referee to the point he was hurting bad. And unable to control the fight he had no choice but to stop it.....

6:18 of 6:20 - Rikio & Yone wrestled Murakami & Usuda to a No-Contest

 

 

COMMENTS: A strange show in a way. A lot of short matches that didn't really bring anything. And that happens at the Korakuen Hall which is the easiest place to get a crowd rowdy. The fans seemed more confused about the main event then anything else. That was a treatment they were not used to from NOAH.

 

 

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NJPW on TV ASAHI - March 20, 2010, Nagoya - (2 1/2 hrs)

 

 

March 20, 2010, Nagoya - Aichi Prefectural Gym (9,000 fans)

 

1. Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto & El Samurai -vs- Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi & Kyosuke Mikami [1/2*]

--- Liger didn't like the rookie trying a Boston Crab on him and killed him with shotei chops to the face in no time!

5:20 of 5:19 - Liger pinned Mikami after a shotei

 

 

2. Riki Choshu & Manabu Nakanishi & Tomoaki Honma -vs- Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo [*]

--- Hardly anything more then a standard tag for these guys with Nakanishi making Gedo submit sending him to Argentina.

8:34 of 8:33 - Nakanishi made Gedo submit to a Argentine backbreaker

 

 

3. Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson -vs- Yuji Nagata & Mitsuhide Hirasawa [* 1/2]

--- Blue Justice vs Bad Intensions with Hirasawa looking half-good before the unescapable happend. For a standard this one had it's moments. Much do to Bernard being the big unselfish bully and Nagata being cool doing the salute while sitting on a chair mid-ring!

12:05 of 12:05 - Bernard pinned Hirasawa after the Magic Killer

 

 

4. Masato Tanaka -vs- Wataru Inoue - (New Japan Cup '10 - Round 2) [* 3/4]

--- While it was wonderful to see Inoue take those Sliding D's looking all helpless, it's always difficult to get a Inoue match interesting. And they only semi-made it that here with Inoue getting in the Triangle Lancer and his modified brainbuster before Tanaka took care of business.

13:05 of 13:05 - Tanaka pinned Inoue after a Sliding D

 

 

5. Togi Makabe -vs- Toru Yano - (New Japan Cup '10 - Round 2) [**]

--- Rivals having their bloody standard. There was nothing fresh about it, but still it had something to offer with Yano bloodying Makabe up and the growing superstar fighting back winning with the Spider German and King Kong Kneedrop. Could have been better, but could have been worse, so I'm settling for this.

14:26 of 14:26 - Makabe pinned Yano after a top rope kneedrop

 

 

6. Shinsuke Nakamura -vs- Strong Man [* 1/2]

--- The TV announcer sure sold it as a super battle screaming like hell in a near quiet arena! Let's just say the match was unique. For a man with leg looking like a ton of bricks he sure had trouble keeping balance. Anyway, this followed the expected formula of "Strong Man" Jon Anderson using his power to lift and intimidate the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, but thankfully they didn't let Nakamura lose to this guy. While his physique in impressive in a roided up way, he's no tallent wrestling wise and Nakamura could walk out pleased after beating the monster with the Boma Ye.

9:14 of 9:09 - Nakamura pinned Strong Man after the Boma Ye kneekick

 

 

7. Hirooki Goto -vs- Yujiro Takahashi - (New Japan Cup '10 - Round 2) [**]

--- Yujiro beat Nagata to get to this round and is ready for another upset. And he did have fairly good control at times in his slowish calculated way. Takahashi could have taken this home had he landed the title belt shot, but Goto stopped him in his track and DDT'ed Yujiro on it instead and went on his way to win it. This could have been more explosive as it's a interesting generation battle, but I'm ok with them saving that for a later date.

15:04 of 15:04 - Goto pinned Takahashi after the Shouten

 

 

8. Tetsuya Naito -vs- Hiroshi Tanahashi - (New Japan Cup '10 - Round 2) [** 3/4]

--- Naito is becoming a star and here is the push to back it up! He faces former multi-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tanahashi in a long epic style bout. I felt a lot of the build-up was kind of dull and didn't drag me in too much. But the leg work from Naito did lead to a lot of the good about the end of the match as Naito had Tanahashi locked helplessly in a short-leg scissor. And he was in that one a long time refusing to give up and at the same time with nowhere to go. They teased a referee stop ending with Tanahashi nearly passing out, but after around 2 minutes Tanahashi reached the ropes. But by that point there wasn't much power left in the star and Naito continued with a Dragon Suplex for very near fall before he hit the Skytwister press to get the hugh win and a ticket to the New Japan Cup semi-finals!

23:19 of 23:17 - Naito pinned Tanahashi after the Stardust Press

 

 

COMMENTS: Solid show with the main event giving that little extra the undercard matches didn't give.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

DDT on Samurai TV - March 21 & 27, 2010 - (2 hrs)

 

 

March 21, 2010, Osaka

 

1. Antonio Honda -vs- Abnormal - (Bra Match) [1/4*]

--- Grown men wrestling in women's underwear. Best bit was Abnormal Michael using the bra as nunchucks. Well, this was a Bra Match and the object was to strip the opponent. In reality Michael won, but the referee was down so Antonio knocked Abnormal down to strip him instead.

5:33 of 8:21 - Honda defeated Abnormal by taking off his bra

 

 

2. Danshoku Dino & Tigers Mask & Hikaru Sato & Masahiro Takanashi & Keisuke Ishii -vs- Sanshiro Takagi & MIKAMI & Munenori Sawa & Masanori Ishikura & Tomomitsu Matsunaga - (5 v 5 Survival Elimination) [**]

--- Singls matches with 5-min time limits with the winner staying on to face another guy on the opposite team. And this was fun and direct to the point. Mostly serious wrestling except for Dino vs Sawa who turned a bit gay and Takagi vs Tigers Mask which was a 5-min comedy bout where they forgot all about the time. Otherwise Sawa looked strong and probable gave the most. Sadly he didn't get fully awarded for that, but as the match ended a draw he was selected by the team to represent them in a sudden death against Takanashi. Sadly the wrong guy won here as Takanashi is getting the push and won with a wrist-clutch Kido Clutch.

1:25 of 1:22 - Hikaru Sato defeated Tomomitsu Matsunaga with a front necklock when Sawa threw in the towel

2:06 of 1:55 - Munenori Sawa pinned Hikaru Sato after the Irabu Punch

1:08 of 1:06 - Munenori Sawa made Keisuke Ishii submit to a wakigatame armbar

4:58 of 5:00 - Munenori Sawa wrestled Danshoku Dino to a 5:00 Time Limit Draw

4:35 of 4:33 - Tigers Mask made Masanori Ishikura submit to a figure-four leglock

4:26 of 5:00 - Tigers Mask wrestled Sanshiro Takagi to a 5:00 Time Limit Draw

5:10 of 5:00 - Masahiro Takanashi wrestled MIKAMI to a 5:00 Time Limit Draw

5:17 of 5:19 - Masahiro Takanashi pinned Munenori Sawa with the Bacchus cradle

 

 

March 27, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-Kiba 1st RING (367 fans)

 

3. Sanshiro Takagi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga -vs- Yago Aznable & Abnormal [1/4*]

--- Special referee was DJ Nira and that guaranteed a mess.....

0:18 of 0:17 - Aznable & Abnormal defeated Takagi & Matsunaga by DQ

0:17 of 0:17 - Takagi & Matsunaga defeated Aznable & Abnormal by DQ

2:09 of 8:33 - Matsunaga pinned Abnormal with a small package

 

 

4. Masahiro Takanashi -vs- Danshoku Dino & Hikaru Sato & Keisuke Ishii - (Iron Man Title) [1/4*]

--- One could only use a finisher one doesn't normally use and since Takanashi couldn't come up with one he ended up losing as Dino did a Argentine backbreaker to win the Ironman Title.

3:17 of 5:27 - Dino made Takanashi submit to a Argentine backbreaker

 

 

- Highlights of Ultraman Robin 20th Anniversary Show abd Gentaro Pro Wrestling Seminar

 

 

COMMENTS: The 5 v 5 Survival Elimination was good, but the rest was not.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

AJPW on PPV - March 21, 2010, Tokyo - (4 hrs)

 

 

March 21, 2010, Tokyo - Sumo Hall (8,200 fans)

 

1. Seiya Sanada & Hiroshi Yamato -vs- Super Crazy & Yasufumi Nakanoue [3/4*]

--- A light opener with the young boys there showing very little. Especially the freshest AJPW rookie Nakanoue sucks the life out of the match and does not look comfortable in the ring. It's only correct that Sanada beat him easy with the German Suplex.

8:28 of 8:30 - Sanada pinned Nakanoue with a German Suplex

 

 

2. Taiyo Kea & NOSAWA Rongai & Mazada -vs- Rene Dupre & Toshizo & Hate [*]

--- More simple action meaning very little as the leftovers of the Tokyo Gurentai and Voodoo Murders battle it out with NOSAWA rolling Hate up with a La Magistral.

7:59 of 7:56 - NOSAWA pinned Hate with a La Magistral

 

 

3. KIYOSHI & BUSHI -vs- Chessman & Dark Ozz [*]

--- AAA guys Chessman & Ozz brought in for a special match against AJPW newest masked hero BUSHI and TNA'er KIYOSHI! And the crowd reaction was....nothing. And the match quality was very average. And KIYOSHI even missed most of Ozz on his finishing moonsault. Not a too positive experience, but there was some decent moves and stuff in this short tag.

7:17 of 7:17 - KIYOSHI pinned Ozz after a moonsault

 

 

 

4. Masayuki Kono -vs- Kohei Suwama [** 1/4]

--- Finally a match that means something. A generation battle. And we already know Suwama is the stronger of the two. And we get a lot of that in the early portion of the match with Suwama beating the crap out of Kono. Then Kono got a break when he counterd in a neck-hanging bomb and Suwama hurt his neck. Then it was all Kono all the way in landing all types of knees. Running, top rope standing ones and then to finish a King Kong style kneedrop from the top! And there we have it, Kono beat Suwama to elevate him up to his level! The idea was smart, but the actual match lacked the right atmosphere to be a ultimate happening. The crowd was too quiet and the match could have had more intensity for such a important match for the two.

19:30 of 19:30 - Kono pinned Suwama after a top rope kneedrop

 

 

 

5. TARU & Minoru & Big Daddy Voodoo -vs- Osamu Nishimura & Akebono & Shuji Kondo [* 1/4]

--- Wow, Voodoo Murders found someone of the same size as Akebono to join them! Mable! Aka Viscera, the former WWE wrestler. And the two crashed hard a few times to start the match with neither guy falling. The other guys where just filler guys as this was about Big Daddy Voodoo. He naturally was a beast and squashed Kondo with a sideslam and a Samoan Drop winning with a arrogant one-foot cover.

8:31 of 8:30 - Big Daddy pinned Kondo after a Samoan Drop

 

 

 

6. Masakatsu Funaki -vs- Minoru Suzuki - (Cage) [** 3/4]

--- Cage matches are rare in Japan, but here we have a grudge match between two former Pancrase fighters and they need to be locked in to get a decision after getting counted out a lot in tag matches leading up to this show. And it wasn't a cage match in the sense of escaping or using the steel much to do damage. It was more a UFC kind of thing. A match based on submissions and striking with no-one getting out before we had a winner. And it was a different kind of match with the cage giving the fighting another dimention. You got a feeling of fighting spirit and it was layed out in a fine way. Wouldn't have minded more climax moments, but this was one of the most interesting matches All Japan have delivered so far this year with both bleeding, locking in tight submissions and kicking and slapping each other down. Funaki got the better of his rival slapping and then kneeing him down with Suzuki usnable to stand after that!

19:03 of 19:03 - Funaki defeated Suzuki by KO after a knee to the head

 

 

 

7. Kaz Hayashi © -vs- KAI - (AJPW Junior Title) [* 3/4]

--- KAI gets his second chance at winning All Japan Junior Heavyweight gold. He did challenge for the belt when Ryuji Hijikata was champion in 2008, but lost that one. Now it's against someone who's going for the all-time record for defences in All Japan. I wasn't too impressed with the lay-out of this bout. It was all one-spot, then wait, then the next moment with no substance in between. Some of the spots were nice like KAI's double-arm piledriver and corkscrew bodypress off the top. Hayashi gave the challenger plenty of time on offence doing damage to the midsection without that resulting in too much excitement or a win for KAI. The veteran champion still took the kid to school and Air Raid Crashed him down to keep the belt once more.

16:58 of 16:58 - Hayashi pinned KAI after the Power Plant to retain the AJPW Junior Title in his 9th defence.

 

 

 

8. Satoshi Kojima © -vs- Ryota Hama - (Triple Crown Title) [**]

--- BIGGEST UPSET IN TRIPLE CROWN HISTORY!!! The FAT~ MoFo Ryota Hama beats Kojima with RYOTA HAMMERS!!! The match however was way too long for someone like Hama. And when it's also limited what Kojima could do to the big bastard the match draged a bit. But it was wonderful seeing Kojima knock the hugh guy down with stiff lariat after stiff lariat! And what a happy ending. Hama did a freakin' SHINING WIZARD and the landed his second Ryota Hammer to get the classic belts!

20:14 of 20:15 - Hama pinned Kojima after the Ryota Hammer to become the 41st Triple Crown Champion.

 

 

COMMENTS: This show was a mixed bag. It had some highlights like the cage match, Suwama vs Kono and the Hama win, but something was lacking to really make this show boost to the next level. I wish their product would be hotter and a much more vocal fanbase. But this is where AJPW is in 2010.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

SECRET BASE on COMM - March 22, 2010, Yokohama - (2 hrs)

 

 

March 22, 2010, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse (147 fans)

 

1. Takashi Sasaki -vs- Spark Aoki [1/2*]

--- I guess Sasaki was payed to do a 10-min match with Aoki and that's what he did beating him up like a rookie for 10 minutes and then slapped on the Boston Crab.....

10:18 of 10:15 - Sasaki made Aoki submit to a Boston Crab

 

 

2. Masaki Okimoto & Masahiro Takanishi & Hisamaru Tajima -vs- Chango & Amigo Suzuki & Ferist [3/4*]

--- Almost the entire Secret Base roster bar a few for a 6-man. Not terrible, and kind of good for a Secret Base match, but on a whole it was a very ordinary experience with not much standing out at all. Okimoto gets to beat the annoying little Ferist.

13:13 of 13:10 - Okimoto pinned Ferist after a Firebird Splash

 

 

3. Kinya Oyanagi -vs- Kazuhiro Tamura [*]

--- Slow, technical, Battlarts style match up with classic puro inspired Oyanagi against Style-E's Tamura. Not all that exciting, but it had it's moments and they didn't over compensate by doing too much. It was a equal battle of shooter style wrestling which ended nowhere to a time limit draw.

13:14 of 15:00 - Oyanagi wrestled Tamura to a 15:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

4. Shadow WX -vs- Yamada Man Pound - (Hardcore) [1/2*]

--- Can you say 'Hardcore squash.....!'

8:14 of 8:10 - Shadow pinned Yamada after a chairshot

 

 

5. Takeshi Minaminno & Manjimaru -vs- Bear Fukuda & Go Sato [1/2*]

--- Oh boy, was this incredibly boring! A very uninspired isolation of Go.... until they beat him.... These are some of the biggest name associated with Secret Base and they don't give a shit.

19:20 of 19:20 - Minaminno pinned Go after a Death Valley Bomb

 

 

6. Ultimo Dragon & Jun Ogawauchi -vs- Ryuji Ito & Mototsugu Shimizu [3/4*]

--- They have let Shimizu wrestle 10 years?! Why?! And Ultimo Dragon takes part in his anniversary bout. He does not deserve that! He still wrestles in a opening card guy kind of way and is lost whenever he steps out of that. So the main event is a opening card match with basic wrestling lasting too long. Shimizu got in a some sympathy cradles on Dragon before he was defeated by his mentor.

15:47 of 15:47 - Dragon pinned Shimizu after a Asai DDT

 

 

COMMENTS: Typical Secret Base standard. You get nearly nothing. The best match might have been Oyanagi vs Tamura, but that one didn't neccessary have too much more to offer. What it did have was some kind of style direction while all the other stuff were either squashes, uninsired or very random put together matches.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

BJPW on COMM - March 22, 2010, Yokohama - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

March 22, 2010, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse (201 fans)

 

1. Ryuichi Kawakami -vs- Atsushi Ohashi [*]

--- Rather simple opener. Straight wrestling which is where Kawakami is looking stronger then Ohashi now and rightfully won using the Cattle Mutilation.

8:28 of 8:27 - Kawakami made Ohashi submit to the Cattle Mutilation

 

 

2. Mens Teioh & Daikokubo Benkei -vs- Yuichi Taniguchi & Masaki Okimoto [1/4*]

--- The Benkei and Taniguchi tag. Just get it over with....

10:03 of 10:01 - Teioh pinned Okimoto with the Miracle Ecstasy

 

 

3. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshito Sasaki -vs- Kazuki Hashimoto & Takumi Tsukamoto [* 1/4]

--- Let's see. Former Big Japan Tag Champions against a couple of rookies..... Sekimoto & Sasaki didn't have to put up too much of an effort for this one. Some some glamorized rookie stuff before they took care of the trash quite easily.

12:43 of 12:43 - Sekimoto pinned Tsukamoto with a German Suplex

 

 

4. Ryuji Ito & Shadow WX & Abdullah Kobayashi -vs- Yuko Miyamoto & Kankuro Hoshino & Mototsugu Shimizu - (Barbed Wire Board Death Match) [* 1/4]

--- They continue to try and push Shimizu. This time it didn't work all that well. Never really took off or brought anything really spectacular. Some bumping the the sharp wire, but thats rather normal for a barbed wire board death match, isn't it? And Ito finished Shimizu off with a Dragon Splash with the barbed wire board on top of him.

16:47 of 16:45 - Ito pinned Shimizu after a top rope barbed wire board bodypress

 

 

5. Takashi Sasaki -vs- Yuji Okabayashi [* 3/4]

--- Okabayashi getting a special singles match with former BJPW Death Match Champion Sasaki. And it's straight wrestling rules, so Okabayashi has a chance. Though, not a very big one as Sasaki is much more established then he is. But they had a ok fight that grew slowly. Best bit was Okabayashi's top rope splash! But he wasn't getting the pin. Instead Sasaki Buzzsaw'ed big Okabayashi for the three.

11:11 of 11:08 - Sasaki pinned Okabayashi after a headkick

 

 

6. Jun Kasai & Jaki Numazawa -vs- Masashi Takeda & Isami Kodaka - (BJW Tag Title Tournament - Semi-Final; Light Tubes Death Match) [* 1/2]

--- Light tubes battle with that little in-ring cage getting ramed through and a bunch of light tubes getting crushed. A normal day at work for Big Japan's garbage workers. They really didn't get too much out of this match-up sadly. It was only the normal stuff and not enough heart to make it work to the fullest. The hardcore veterans showed that they still are the best beating the two punks effectively.

19:54 of 19:46 - Kasai pinned Isami after a reversed Tiger Driver

 

 

COMMENTS: Not the freshest of shows from Big Japan.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NJPW on Samurai TV - March 22, 2010, Amagaseki - (2 hrs)

 

 

March 22, 2010, Amagaseki Memorial Park Gym (5,500 fans)

 

1. Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto & Tomoaki Honma -vs- Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi & Kyosuke Mikami [3/4*]

--- Bully the new kid!

7:34 of 7:34 - Kanemoto made Mikami submit to a Boston Crab

 

 

2. Togi Makabe -vs- Tetsuya Naito - (New Japan Cup '10 - Semi-Final) [**]

--- They didn't always seem to be on the same page, but their strateges was familiar from the earlier rounds of the New Japan Cup. Naito went for the leg and some flying. Sadly for him the flying didn't connect and Togi took over in a powerful way suplexing and bombing Naito down with autority before he had him beat with the Spider German and King Kong Kneedrop off the top.

15:52 of 15:52 - Makabe pinned Naito after a top rope kneedrop

 

 

3. Hirooki Goto -vs- Masato Tanaka - (New Japan Cup '10 - Semi-Final) [** 1/4]

--- These two had a hardcore match last month and there was some hardcore elements here to with Goto being put through a table and getting that kendo stick smashed over his head. And Tanaka was a lot in control landing the Sliding D and everything. Goto managed to kick out and landed one of his own! Or Sliding G(oto) as the announcer called it. And once Goto got fired up there was little Tanaka could do to stop him. And then came the Shouten slam and Tanaka was out.

11:15 of 11:15 - Goto pinned Tanaka after the Shouten

 

 

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Manabu Nakanishi & Strong Man -vs- Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson & Toru Yano [* 3/4]

--- Wonderful seeing Strong Man and Nakanishi team! Hope those two get a shot at the IWGP Tag Titles one day! Two gorillas amock! Anderson & Bernard where quite aggressive themselfs as they delivers sentons and splashes. Poor Tanahashi got a solid beating here, but in true Tanahashi fashion he still managed to steal the win and this time he did it when Anderson went for the Ace Crusher and countered it with a backslide in a beautiful way.

13:35 of 15:14 - Tanahashi pinned Anderson with a backslide

 

 

5. Shinsuke Nakamura & Takashi Iizuka & Gedo -vs- Riki Choshu & Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue [* 1/2]

--- Nakamura beats Inoue. That makes me satified even if this was only a normal tag bout for these guys keeping the fans warm before the New Japan Cup final....

9:01 of 9:39 - Nakamura pinned Inoue after the Boma Ye kneekick

 

 

6. Hirooki Goto -vs- Togi Makabe - (New Japan Cup '10 - Final) [** 1/4]

--- A long final for the cup. Solid. But not the explosive battle I'd hoped for as I didn't feel they did anything different for the build up then what they do in nearly every match. There wasn't anything special added to make it a main event except extra ring-time. Togi tried to work over the leg a little bit including landing a top rope King Kong Kneedrop on it. That's what stuck the most out of the build-up. The end was the usual clashing and throwing around until Goto landed the Shouten and Makabe wasn't getting up from that. Goto wins his second New Japan Cup in a row and the main prize in a shot at the IWGP Title. April 4, that's when Goto meet Nakanura!

21:42 of 21:42 - Goto pinned Makabe after the Shouten to win the New Japan Cup '10.

 

 

COMMENTS: An fine show ending the New Japan Cup 2010, but I had bigger hopes for the main event final.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

Dragon Gate on PPV - March 22, 2010, Tokyo - (3 3/4 hrs)

 

 

March 22, 2010, Tokyo - Sumo Hall (10,500 fans)

 

1. Naoki Tanizaki & PAC & Makoto Hashi -vs- Kagetora & Akira Tozawa & Mark Haskins [* 1/2]

--- Show opens in a happy way with spectacular moves to awake the crowd with PAC getting to be the main star winning with the 360 SSP. Hey, he's the best flyer in there so it was only right he got to be the top guy in this one. Interesting seeing Haskins mix in there aswell as former NOAH wrestler Hashi doing his crazy top rope diving headbutt to the floor!

9:33 of 9:21 - PAC pinned Haskins after the 360 Shooting Star Press

 

 

2. Takuya Sugawara & Yasushi Kanda & Kenichiro Arai & Kzy -vs- K-ness & Susumu Yokosuka - (Handicap) [*]

--- Handicap match, but things got a little more even in there when the referee started getting physical after getting tired of all the bullying the bad guys where doing. His invovlement didn't last long though and the heels could contine their lazy heeling using the box and chairs to beat Yokosuka down....

12:43 of 12:37 - Sugawara pinned Yokosuka after the Shiisanputa

 

 

3. Super Shisa © -vs- Genki Horiguchi -vs- Munenori Sawa - (Open the Brave Gate Title) [* 1/4]

--- They are giving Shisa the push now in his first defence beating both opponents with the Yoshitonic! The match was your average light worked lucharesu and really nothing special even if they included Sawa in all this.

7:20 - Shisa pinned Horiguchi with the Yoshitonic

11:03 of 11:03 - Shisa pinned Sawa with the Yoshitonic to retain the Open the Brave Gate Title in his 1st defence.

 

 

4. Masato Yoshino & BxB Hulk -vs- Dragon Kid & Juventud Guerrera [* 1/2]

--- Dragon Gate bring in lucha libre star Juventud Guerrera to give Yoshino the rub! Yes, they got Yoshino to beat the former WCW wrestler with the Sol Naciente. Good for him, but the match wasn't much to brag about. Fairly average lucharesu again and not enough effort put into making the "International Dream Tag Match" a dream match.

14:08 of 14:07 - Yoshino made Guerrera submit to the Sol Naciente

 

 

5. Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii & Akebono © -vs- Abdullah the Butcher & NOSAWA Rongai & Mazada - (Open the Triangle Gate Title) [* 3/4]

--- Got to love the team of NOSAWA & Mazada with 69 year old Abdullah the Butcher! Not that the Triangle champions are all that young either as all three are around 40. Dragon Gate has become an old boys home! And the match was so ugly it was lovely to watch. Just think about it. Akebono vs Abdullah!!! Slow fat awkward big guys! They don't even have to clash for it to be awesome! And yet they did trade elbow drops!!! Abby used his fork bloodying Mochizuki up quite good, but that was a lead-up to something unexpected. Mochizuki kicked Abby down and PINNED HIM CLEAN!!! Michizuki pinned the legend Abdullah the Butcher!!! That's big....almost.

13:04 of 13:03 - Mochizuki pinned Abullah after a running bodykick. Mochizuki & Fujii & Akebono retain the Open the Triangle Gate Title in their 2nd defence.

 

 

6. CIMA & Gamma © -vs- Shingo Takagi & Cyber Kong - (Open the Twin Gate Unified Tag Title) [**]

--- Cyber Kong is back and what do the champs do?! They cut off a large chunk of his hair! Now, that's badass! Sadly the rest of the match wasn't as cool. They struggle giganticly getting the crowd into it. CIMA was getting desperat trying to get a reaction, but there wasn't even a hint of lifting the Sumo Hall roof. CIMA was pushing and pushing for a reaction and got NONE! And it wasn't undeserved either. The match lacked passion and was only a standard bout streached out slower then usual. But luckily for all of us the final couple of minutes was good with the fans finally gotting into it as they went through their finisher rush with Gamma landing the Skytwister, Cyber the Cyber Bomb and running lariat. And what ended up being the most important part. Takagi landing the Made In Japan and Last Falconry to beat CIMA for the belts!

25:43 of 25:42 - Takagi pinnec CIMA with the Last Falconry. Takagi & Cyber become the 11th Open the Twin Gate Unified Tag Champions.

 

 

7. Naruki Doi © -vs- YAMATO - (Open the Dream Gate Title) [**]

--- Suffered from the same thing as the Open the Twin Gate Unified Tag Title match except this was even longer. Not too interesting with a overly long build-up leading almost nowhere. It was still the finishers at the end which got the raction, which was important and was what mattered to the fans. I'm happy for YAMATO that he's got his big break and that Doi's 15 month reign as champion is over, but this could have been done so much better.

31:57 of 31:56 - YAMATO pinned Doi with the Gallaria to become the 11th Open the Dream Gate Champion.

 

 

COMMENTS: This was disappointing. It was like they didn't know how to handle a Sumo Hall crowd or give them what they wanted. Big stuff happening regarding the booking, but the show felt like such a let down anyway.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

SMASH on Samurai TV - March 26, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

March 26, 2010, Tokyo - Shinjuku FACE (600 fans)

 

1. Tajiri -vs- Mentallo [* 1/2]

--- The debut SMASH show opens with a "World Tryout Match" as SMASH boss Tajiri battle Canada based Mentallo. A masked guy. He got his ass kicked by Tajiri, but put up a good profile before getting Buzzsaw'ed. We'll be seeing more of him on future SMASH shows.

8:42 of 8:42 - Tajiri pinned Mentallo after a Buzzsaw headkick

 

 

2. Meiko Satomura -vs- Shuri [* 1/4]

--- HUSTLE's KG is now known as Shuri and on her way to trying to be taken serious as a wrestler she faces one of the most respected women on the scene in Sendai Girls Satomura! And Shuri is a interesting girl and with the right moulding and feuds she can turn into quite a wrestler as she is a good athlete and full of spirit. Right now she's a little too animated and helpless against the established. But she showed during the final months of HUSTLE that she can give and take like the best of them. Here though Satomura is one size to much for her and gets trapped in a sleeper being unable to fight out of. Referee stop!

11:06 of 11:06 - Satomura defeated Shuri by Referee Stop with a sleeper

 

 

3. Leatherface -vs- Akira Shoji [*]

--- Leatherface! Coming out with the chainsaw and everything to torture Shoji in a trashy brawl. Didn't overstay it's welcome, but it was no wrestling marvel! Shoji gets a beating and didn't stand a chance.

6:23 of 6:23 - Leatherface pinned Shoji after a top rope forearm drop

 

 

4. Tommy Dreamer -vs- Tajiri - (Hardcore) [* 3/4]

--- ECW! ECW! ECW! Dreamer coming in to do Tajiri a favour of wrestling on the first SMASH show and relive their ECW days with a fan friendly ECW garbage brawl! And the fought all over the Shinjuku FACE arena and even breaking a little bit of it while smashing the gimmick trashcans, tables and chairs over each other. Moment of the match was without a doubt the table spot. Not so much for it's hardcore content, but because it had a bad leg and wouldn't stand properly. So Dreamer invited a fan to come in and hold the table while he splashed Tajiri through it! The fan got a part of the table after the match. A true happy moment! Dreamer then went on to beat Tajiri continuing to use the broked table DDT'ing him on it for the three count.

14:19 of 14:38 - Dreamer pinned Tajiri after a DDT on a table

 

 

5. Kushida -vs- Hajime Ohara [** 1/2]

--- And the first SMASH show end with two that feuded in HUSTLE in Kushida and Ohara. Both with experience from Mexico having been on excursions there to develope their skills. I found this match kind of wingly and unstructured, but it was full of competitive and youthful hunger and it was that which carried this match! They really gave it a massive effort and while it was no classic, it was a damn good fight. And this time Kushida gets to win after Ohara had sent Kushida out of HUSTLE in their "Loser Leaves HUSTLE" match there. And he used the Midnight Express to do so. That's a twisting moonsault. After the match Leatherface attacked Kushida until Tommy Dreamer made the save!

16:27 of 16:27 - Kushida pinned Ohara after the Midnight Express

 

 

COMMENTS: Tajiri opens his own SMASH after HUSTLE went bust in October '09. It was a strange, but somewhat enjoyable show with unique match-ups you'll not see elsewhere in Japan. Tommy Dreamer back in Japan for a ECW tribute match was cool. And with Kushida and Ohara finally having a match to settle their differences it was a postive experience. The show ended with a Eugene promo! "Tajiri you're a lier", "I'm gonna spank you, spank, spank, spank...TAJIRI!!!"

 

 

--PUNQ--