Evolution4life Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Whats days are being taped for tv/should end up on the net? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobystag Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 All days of the G1 are being taped. NJPW, 01.08.2012 (Asahi Newstar) Tokyo Korakuen Hall NJPW, 03.08.2012 (Samurai! TV) Tokyo Korakuen Hall NJPW, 04.08.2012 (J Sports) Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium NJPW, 05.08.2012 (WPW) Osaka BODYMAKER Colosseum (Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium) NJPW, 07.08.2012 (Samurai! TV) Sendai Sun Plaza Hall NJPW, 08.08.2012 (Samurai! TV) Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium NJPW, 10.08.2012 (J Sports) Niigata City Gymnasium NJPW, 11.08.2012 (Samurai! TV) Tokyo Korakuen Hall NJPW, 12.08.2012 (WPW/PPV) Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan Zero One's Fire Festival tomorrow should end up being shown by Samurai TV. NOAH's show on the 9th will likely be shown on G+. As for whether it will end up online..... If gaijinpuro come back, they'll end up online for you to pay to watch. Whether or not they end up online for free after that..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evolution4life Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Has it always been this hard to find recent NJPW online? It seems to me that its been a lot trickier to get up to date stuff the last few months, I always used to see it on torrents and the like when I wasnt really into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobystag Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 RUDOS has been the main guy uploading Puro for a while now. He used to upload to WrestlingBay, also owned by him and his team, but with the amount of free members, a lot of Puro used to end up online for free. Now only WWE/TNA/American Indy's/Shoots get uploaded to WrestlingBay and he has GaijinPuro where he uploads all new Puro. However rather than being a monthly/annual service you now have to pay per download/show. Shows can range from $6 to $15 depending on video quality/show length/promotion. Due to the backlash from Puro fans not wanting to get ripped off, they made their site invite only. Now the site is down. Some say NJPW were tipped off about their content being sold for profit (Puro companies were willing to turn a blind eye to shows being put online for free thinking it helps their western exposure, so one group manipulating the market so that only their stuff gets out there and anyone caught putting their downloads online for free gets banned from using the site, wouldn't be seen as too kind by Puro promotions.) Others say it was Gabe/DG USA that reported them for piracy. As it stands GaijinPuro is offline right now so the latest show that was uploaded was the July 1st joint NJPW/AJPW show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted August 6, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 6, 2012 First reports from my hol. After an exhausting journey (connecting in Dubai, 37 degrees at midnight is way too hot for me) I rocked up in Shinjuku ahead of schedule so jumped on train to Shimo-Kitazawa to meet my host and chowed down on some nachos at a place called Pebble which was opposite a karaoke bar called, hilariously, Bears. The Japanglish is still amazing to me, one fashion line in particular which I can't wrap my head around features slogans such as "W (heart) C" and "Toilet! Toilet!" between pictures of a bear's face. Must be some fetish I've not come across. Yet. Anyway, it's time for wrasslin' write ups. Last time out I said : "On the Sunday, Stardom run Korakuen Hall the afternoon before the Fire Festival, and it's a pretty safe bet we'll attend, much as we did JWP last year. The difference this time round is I haven't ever seen any of these gals wrestle, but I'm sure it will be at least watchable." This prediction was quite the misnomer, the Stardom card was SO much more than watchable. The overall report that while the top half of Pure Slam last year was excellent with the Black Dahlia antics, Sendai Girls trios match and main event, this delivered from start to finish in a similar "something for everyone" vein. The opening video displays and dance troupe routine reinforced what we had guessed from the lineup (top two titles defended on top) - "Stardom X Stardom" was their biggest card of the year. Natsuki*Taiyo went over the very popular Io Shirai after backward rolling into a Taiyo-chan*Bomb (Yoshitonic/Code Red) which looked great, in a real ball to the wall opener which featured some very innovative stuff. Up next the "Planet" team of Mayu Iwatani and the gi-clad Natsumi Showzuki took on the very well-endowed (by Japanese standards) Yuuri Haruka and the clearly shoot-influenced Eri Susa. You always suspected Susa was the real danger and after a cracking strike flurry on Iwatani, she clocked her with a backfist blow after Mayu had ducked the initial haymaker, for an utterly convincing pin. TSVE was pleased that Susa and "Tits Magee" had won. Next was a traditional heel vs face encounter as Kairi Hojo and Miho wrestled Taiyo's stablemates the skull-embossed Act Yasukawa and Saki Kashima - think a female BxB Hulk and her bondage maid, and you'll get an idea what the heels were all about. Real fun mix of action and comedy - the heels squabbled at times - ended when Hojo applied an Ikari (bridging Texas Cloverleaf) to the weakened back of Yasukawa and she submitted. Next was a heated grudge match which we assumed may have been the old "tag team gone sour" with Hiroyo Matsumoto being a fairly convincing early HBK with her "I'm so hot, me" posturing. Which left Miho Wakizawa playing Marty Jannetty. We can only assume between the "Wacky" attire (including yellow polkadots) and big plastic glasses Wakizawa wore to the ring, it's a conscious tribute to Timmy Mallett. Waki drew on Matsumoto's face with marker pen early on and she sulked, but when the real stuff started it was very fiery, but you always suspected the bigger heel would prevail, which she did after a Liger bomb. Next the increasingly-popular Taiyo came back out for her second match against an incredibly surly Kyoko Kimura. This was 100% fight rather than match for most of the proceedings. Ultimately Kimura missed a top rope dive and Taiyo won by putting her feet under Kyoko's armpits and rolling over into a pin - called a Qomolangma by Purolove for what its worth. Afterwards Kimura offered to shake Natsuki's hand but then attempted to beat her up some more, and quit Kawakatsu Army, which Taiyo is leader of. After intermission the Word Of Stardom champ Nanae Takahashi defended her belt against Yoshiko, from Kawakatsu Army that includes Taiyo, Yasukawa and Kashima. I won't lie, Yoshiko's baggy gold outfit put me in mind of "Japanese female Viscera" but once I got over that, this was a very good match. It reminded me a little of some of the Sting/Vader title fights, even though the size difference wasnt quite as noticeable. After a couple of scares, Nanae retained her title after the One Second EX (hammerlocked Emerald Frosien) - well, it is her promotion after all. Finally Yuzuki Aikawa defended her Wonder of Stardom title - of which she is the inaugural and only holder - against former tag team partner Yoko Bito. As a former Gravure model Aikawa is obviously a drawing card for Stardom and you can understand why she is put in a prominent position, although my host thinks she would be a better heel. Not long into the match we learned she is more than happy to take some severe punishment, but later found out she can kick with the best of them too. A very rewarding match - though not quite on par with the previous battle - ended with smooth Tiger Suplex and successful defence for Aikawa. After the match Takahashi returned to the ring and seemed to be telling the Wonder Of Stardom champion that there can only be one top dog, and they should wrestle soon to determine who that is. I'm inclined to agree. The Kawakatsu Army seemed to disagree, but eventually the whole roster got in the ring for a photo. Iwatani still looked dazed. Overall the show was excellent fun and came across as the "big event" every bit as much as Pure Slam did for JWP last year. It left me thoroughly entertained and eager to know more and see more of Stardom. After lunch and tour of Dome City - during which I saw a sign warning "Smokers will be pummeled by punishing blows to their body" - we headed to the New Japan shop where sadly I learned Korakuen is sold out for Saturday. Still, plenty more wrestling to squeeze in by finals day. We had a quick beer and returned to Korakuen for the Fire Festival Finals, but I'll write that up later. To be continued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobystag Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 I'm eager to see whether Tanaka/Sekimoto lived up to last years clash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Pedersen Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 There might not be 100 % sold out for the New Japan show at Korakuen Hall, since the tickets gets spread out (New Japan store gets some and Korakuen hall office gets some). I would try the Korakuen Hall office and see if they have tickets for the show, they might have some. Wish I was over there now, its so much fun to go about Japan, and enjoying time over there. Have fun over there, its a blast!. Is this your second trip?. And thanks for the updates its fun to read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 6, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted August 6, 2012 Great read Air Raid, enjoyed reading this stuff last year as well. Sounds like a fun place to visit. I was a big Puro fan a few years back, completely fallen out of the loop now though. I don't know what's what or who's good over there now. Still find this an interesting read though. Always wanted to visit Japan. Would have loved to catch some NJPW and AJPW shows and defo a Pride event when I got into MMA. Would have been better to go when I was single though, always had a bit of the old 'yellow fever'. Have fun Raid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted August 6, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 6, 2012 Quick update from Zero 1 Fire Festival Finals The card followed the same format as last years - inoffensive opener, group stage rounded off, title match, action packed six man then the final. Slightly more of consequence went down there, and though the emotional impact may not have compared to Daisuke's big night, the action more than met expectations. I mentioned over dinner I thought it might be Tanaka this year, with Shiozaki looking good in the other group and could not foresee an outsider going over again (if we can count Big Japans Sekimoto as an outsider in truth), although couldn't rule out another Tanaka/Ohtani final, for old times sake. In said opener Jo Kyung-Ho (bit of a metro look to him, host described him as Korean Jeff Hardy), Craig Classic and the beastly James Raiden - more than a shade of Rob Terry to him - went over Kamikaze, Jay Coffey and Jason New. After Zeus using Iron Man last year imagine my surprise when Raidens team entered to Stings old entrance music. No, not "Man Called Sting," his generic tune circa 1990. Match was fine, it was more than a bit surprising to see Raiden pin Kamikaze, might be construed as a bit of a rub. "White Zeus" (as we dubbed him) put down Mr Moonsault after two stiff lariats. Reliable hand Tomoaki Honma and Ryouji Sai started off the final set of Fire Festival group stage matches. I pondered allowed what had happened to Miyamoto and remarked that Turmeric Storm were definitely my favourite spice-oriented tag team - until I realized there probably aren't any others. Match was very good, Sai sold one brainbuster as though his neck was genuinely damaged, struggling to get to his feet and generally remaining wobbly until the end. Thankfully he got to the top rope with no trouble for the match winning double stomp. Up next was the rematch I was looking forward too since the cards were announced, Daisuke Sekimoto vs Masato Tanaka. Unlike last year both men went in on an equal number of points, a draw favoured neither. The match was as good as last year and featured a stunning tope from Sekimoto who seems even more muscly than last year, and an exchange over a table that had everyone on the edge of their seats. Thankfully no superplex emerged as looked likely but in the end Tanaka blasted Daisuke through the table with a splash. As we entered the home straight explosion of big bombs the crowd reacted strongly at the reveal of five minutes left. Tanaka always looked like he had more left in the tank though and at the 27 minute mark finally caught the decisive Sliding D after several hard elbows and lariats - there would be no holding on for Daisuke this year, redemption for Zero 1's top man. After the match Akebono lumbered to ringside and offered Daisuke a Zero 64 International shirt, which he put on, which seemed to go over well. Good old Shinjiro Ohtani was up next against Noah's heir apparent, Go Shiozaki. I say heir apparent, if he is momentarily out of Noahs title scene I really worry for them, as they don't really have anyone else. They just don't want to give KENTA a go, Sugiura didnt exactly set the world on fire with his interminable reign and Marufuji seems forever stamped with "tried and failed." Meanwhile, Ohtani would be a cracker for the transformations thread if more people knew who he was, I cant believe its the same man that was having those junior blinders with Liger and Kanemoto back in the day. Match was excellent, but you always felt Go had that little bit too much for the legend, and it came to pass. After some remarkable strike exchanges which left both men with marks on their chest, Ohtani survived the Go Flasher but not a short range lariat that put us in mind of Shiozakis mentor. Such as it is, I loved Kobashi but despite Go having numerous outstanding matches, I just dont love him. Not sure why. Rounding out the group stage in an unenviable position were Kohei Sato (in contrast to Daisuke looking smaller than last year) against Noah's Mohammed Yone, where upon approx half the assembled decided to sneak a quick piss. My host did, remarking it was "two guys I dont really care about in a match that doesnt mean anything." I'm not sure I buy Yones heel character, but the match was decent. Unfortunately the ref counted three on a German suplex and from the reaction of both wrestlers you can tell it wasn't the planned finish. Shame. Sato won, incidentally. After intermission Yusaku Obata challenged Shito Ueda for the "NWA United National Heavyweight Title." It's honestly hard to tell in Zero1 which belts are NWA ones that don't matter and which ones they have just made up, but every match is better with something to fight over. I wondered if Ueda would show me much having apparently progressed from openers in the 12 months since I saw him last, but it was Obata that really stood out for me, reminding me at times in terms of style and execution of Katsuyori Shibatta. He was crisp, Ueda was fine, the match exciting. Particularly noteworthy was Obata running down the apron to launch and impressive seated missle dropkick which must have hurt his arse like no-ones business upon landing. Ueda survived a Codebreaker and a lungblower before rallying, but couldnt find a big hit of his own then went down to an impressive double underhook into Codebreaker. Obata got a good reaction from the crowd and deserved this win. Semi-main was the Zero64 group of Daichi Hashimoto, Ikuto Hidaka and Robbie Eagles against a grumpy looking Mineo Fujita, Takuya Sugawara and Johnny Vandal. I assumed at the names assorted with Zero64 they couldnt possibly be heels, and sure enough didnt wrestle like them. Daichi already carries himself like he's a big deal, and even though he lost all his matches in the Fire Festival, I think with patience he will be a star. He already kicks like his old man, he just needs an Elvis suit. Match was all action, Eagles hit a nice looking 450. During the final flurry I feared Daichi would lose to a bloke with a dodgy Serj Tankian beard called "Vandal" but in the end after some stiff kicks young Hash put Johnny down with an implant DDT that old Hash would have been proud of. Finally, Tanaka defended the honour of winning Zero1s top tournament against the outsider Shiozaki. I won't say it would compare to the earlier Sekimoto match in terms of quality or last years final for emotion, but it was a quality encounter. Most of the (vocal) fans that had been behind Sekimoto earlier switched to cheering Tanaka on, and the match was very heated. After fifteen or so back and forth minutes, both men exchanged big moves and heavy hits, and when Shiozaki kicked out of a climactic-feeling Sliding D, then hit a desperation lariat to leave both lying on the mat exhausted, I worried they had missed their golden chance to blow their load at the right time, so to speak. Remarkably when both got to their feet they managed to build again, having outwrestled his opponent Tanaka now had to outfight him too, which he did with some vicious boxing elbows and a brutal Sliding D from behind, before dragging Go back up to a sitting position and pasting him with a traditional one to get the win. No, in terms of emotion it wasn't as good as last year, but then that was a true emergence of a potential new big star, but the combination of (effectively) semi-final matches and final were better in terms of match quality. The wonderful Masato Tanaka, 39 now let's not forgetting but like a good wine only improving with age, certainly didnt need to win this, but perhaps deserved it. After what he acheived last year to make Sekimoto look such a beast, I was very pleased to see Tanaka get this moment of glory in person. Speaking of Sekimoto, one of the bigger groups needs to take a chance on him NOW. Tomorrow I had considered going to Sendai for New Japan but the trains dont run late enough for me to get back to Setagaya, so I might take a punt on Wave at Shin-Kiba if there are any tickets left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanz25 Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 RUDOS has been the main guy uploading Puro for a while now. He used to upload to WrestlingBay, also owned by him and his team, but with the amount of free members, a lot of Puro used to end up online for free. Now only WWE/TNA/American Indy's/Shoots get uploaded to WrestlingBay and he has GaijinPuro where he uploads all new Puro. However rather than being a monthly/annual service you now have to pay per download/show. Shows can range from $6 to $15 depending on video quality/show length/promotion. Due to the backlash from Puro fans not wanting to get ripped off, they made their site invite only. Now the site is down. Some say NJPW were tipped off about their content being sold for profit (Puro companies were willing to turn a blind eye to shows being put online for free thinking it helps their western exposure, so one group manipulating the market so that only their stuff gets out there and anyone caught putting their downloads online for free gets banned from using the site, wouldn't be seen as too kind by Puro promotions.) Others say it was Gabe/DG USA that reported them for piracy. As it stands GaijinPuro is offline right now so the latest show that was uploaded was the July 1st joint NJPW/AJPW show. I worked for WB for a couple of months so I shall shine some light on the guy who everyone thinks is great. His name on the site is Claudio. He get's his stuff from some sort of satalite dish link a friend of his who lives in Japan set up. It basically enables him to capture everything his friend in Japan watches. Claudio then would download and upload to WB servers. The guy is superbly talanted with all of the tech stuff however is a one of the most arrogant men I have ever spoke to. I got into an ordeal which is to long to explain but the main jist of it was him just being tight. It should also be noted most of the other stuff on the site is infact not there original rip's like many are led to believe. Most of their stuff is just torrent's they download then fix into better quality. Good site don't get me wrong just run by the biggest bunch of tw*t's ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobystag Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I worked for WB for a couple of months so I shall shine some light on the guy who everyone thinks is great. Actually, the general consensus online already was that he was a arrogant twat who felt it was his God given right to over-charge for content he stole in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanz25 Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I worked for WB for a couple of months so I shall shine some light on the guy who everyone thinks is great. Actually, the general consensus online already was that he was a arrogant twat who felt it was his God given right to over-charge for content he stole in the first place. Oh really? - I thought everybody loved him. That's cool though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted August 8, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 8, 2012 So I jumped on a train (well, several actually) to Shin-Kiba last night on my lonesome - host was working - to catch Pro Wrestling Wave and I'm glad I did. After a bit of unplanned explanation en route to finding Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - and I confirm it's heavily industrialized with nothing to offer other than tiny wrasslin shows - I rocked up only to be interviewed (through a translator) with a camera shoved in my face. Perhaps I'll be on their telly when it airs or the DVD release, God knows. When "Summer Festival 2012 Black" started I was thrilled to learn Black Dahlia - whose antics Id love at last years JWP Pure Slam - were a big part of Wave, and their ranks had swelled to eight members, including Hanako Nakamori who had a hard-hitter with Ayumi Kurihara on the same Pure Slam card, and Ayako Hamada, who is a bit of a favourite of mine. I did wonder if Hamada was in Black Dahlia in the same context that Cena was briefly in Nexus, as she looked permanently pissed off and kept swinging her chair at several other members, but as I came to realize later, only certain members. The best way I can describe the show is if you imagine nWo Souled Out except done at the point the order were about to split in two, you've got an idea. Through a bit of research * I've learned that the idea here was that Black Dahlia and their rival group White Tails were each to run shows and whoever draws the smaller number would disband. "Summer Festival 2012 White" was at the same venue tonight and I'll definitely have given it a whirl if it didn't clash with the G1 Climax at Yokohama, which I attended. The opener was a three way No DQ Dangerous Weapons Match, where each woman could not use their own designated weapon between Dahlia founding member Yumi Ohka (who I have a slight thing for), Nakamori and the ever-exhuberant Cherry. As you might expect from a three-way between three members of the same heel squad, this was mostly played for laughs. Ohka went over. (7:07) Next up a title match (I recognized the words "champion" and " challenger" in the intros) between Moeka Haruhi and Mio Shirai which at first I thought was the "girls in t-shirts and sports shorts wearing matching garters" title. During instructions I heard "rope escape" and thought it might have been pure rules, but it turned out to be two out three falls where a fall is one by taking off your opponents garter. While that sounds like mere titilation, there were actually more holds, counter holds and matwork than a lot of "serious" matches I've seen. Things did get more impactful in the deciding fall, Haruhi retained, (5:48) and Misaki Ohata and Apple Miyuki of Dahlia entered the ring and doused Mio's top with super soakers. I approved. Third and finally before intro, Wave head Gami and Ryo Mizunami collided with Ayumi Kurihara and Mika Iida. Dahlia decided this wasnt fun enough and came out to ringside to act as lumberjills to beat the crap out of anyone that fell off the apron with their bats, whips and most menacingly, Hamada's chair. This actually added to the drama rather than distracting from the tag match. The veterans went over but all four took a beating from Dahlia. Miizunami pinned Iida after a sitout Canadian Hammer/Dominator. (21:28) After the break I was stunned to see Rabbit Miu (who I saw debut at Pure Slam) come out as the tag partner of Tsukasa Fujimoto, carrying a few belts, one of which being the Reina tag belts! I have since learned that the champs are actually belonging to Fujimoto and her regular tag team partner Hikaru Shida. Their opponents were hard hitters, Maki Natumiya and the foul-tempered Yuu Namagata. This was another hard hitter and Miu is feisty enough but due to her size took a beating here and would up on the losing end, pinned after a top rope legdrop from Natumiya. (12:23) Finally the two halves of Black Dahlia collided, and the vid made it clear that it was basically the 20somethings against the 30somethings! This was particularly amusing as Cherry (who is in great shape and passes for younger) recently lost a match that meant she had to reveal her date of birth - she's nearly 38. Cracking heat device. The bout pitted Ohka, Bambi, Cherry and Hamada against Apple Miyuki, Misaki Ohata who instigated the rivalry, Nakamori and Mio Shirai, who instigated this set of shows by joining Black Dahlia but not wanting to leave White Tails to do so. There will be only one! This match was the right combination of comedy heel antics and action, with everything from spectacular dives to hard strikes and big clusterfuck sections of big moves. Every time either side got the leader of the either faction isolated - Ohka or Ohata - you just knew the winning fall would come down to the two of them which it did, Ohata pinning Ohka after Blue Dahlia (arm trap crucifix bomb). (20:12) Afterwards after some banter on the mic, they all posed as a unit, the older members allowing Ohata to sit in Hamada's chair as queen bee. If JWP had the strongest top end but Stardom represented the best bell-to-bell match quality throughout the whole card, this was the best all round card of the three. Storylines were easy to get into despite not following the promotion or knowing the language, matches were the right blend of good wrestling and entertainment. Superb. I have found out that allegedly tonight White outdrew Black 201 to 191 and now Dahlia have to disband, which makes me sad. But at least the margin was smaller because of my attendance, and I'm glad I took the punt despite not knowing what to expect. Tonight we went to G1 Climax in Yokohama but I'll write that up tomorrow as its past bedtime. * Wiki. edit - I didnt time the matches like a loser, those are lifted from Open The Puro Gate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polish Dad Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Is it too late to ask you to pick up one of those bear t-shirts for Steve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted August 9, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 9, 2012 Is it too late to ask you to pick up one of those bear t-shirts for Steve? Steve as in Justice? "Toilet Toilet" indeed. Thoughts now from New Japans G1 Climax in Yokohama from last night. Naomichi Marufuji (man crush ahoy) was first through the curtain up against one of the pace-setters, Karl Anderson. This was a tight, short opener. Both teased their big moves but didnt hit them. Action was good. Finish came when Anderson tried for a Gun Stun, 'fuji countered with a backslide attempt, Anderson flipped him over front face and Maru' rolled him over sideways landing in the bridge/leghook you get in a fisherman suplex, and held tight for 3. Apparently he calls it the Twist Donut. Anyway, inoffensive opener, no one expects balls to the wall for your opener. Chaos vs Chaos next as the other surprise pace setter Yujiro locked up with Toru Yano, who of course pulled off one of the shocks of last year pinning Tanahashi at Korakuen. This went all over the place and both were keen to cheat. In the end Yano kicked Yujiro in the balls and pinned him after an Oni Koroshi. I got my first look at Rush next as he locked up with the venerable Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Thoughts being he looked solid, knew how to work heel, and hearing Japanese try and say "Rush" is hilarious. He didnt really get to do any trademark spots as this was Tenzan's match really. After surviving the Anaconda Vice, Rush went down to a moonsault, which was VERY popular. Less popular for me was Lance Archer (even though he has a few fans, bizarrely enough the children seem to love him) taking on Hirooki Goto. We feared for Goto, and it came to pass that he went down. I dont want to say too much other than he got beaten via Blackout (an impressive enough move, a standing Iconoclasm) and there isn't much else to say. I can't believe Archer is still here, and Goto is still treated like crap. After intermission Tetsuya Naito limped out for his match with MVP, who I hate. Prick nearly stole a count-out win, and then seemed to forget about working the leg. "You're going to lose for being stupid," I said, followed by "you're going to lose NOW" as MVP prepared for the Playmaker, which was promptly reversed in the Polvo de Estrella for 3. The crowd went mad for Naito. I expect he'll pull one out against Archer in Niigata, but imagine Tenzan at Korakuen will be a step too far for him before he finishes with Goto at Sumo Hall (I'll be there). Next was a clash of third generation legends, Yuji Nagata vs Satoshi Kojima. This was every bit as good as you expect. TSVE pointed out Kojima needed the points more, and so it came to pass after a lariat. Excellent. Nakamura came out next, and these days he nearly always looks a bit wasted. My host pointed out that if Okada is to make the final as I expect, then Shinsuke needed to drop points to give Okada chance to catch him. This came true here as after failing to connect a Boma Ye, he was pinned after a King Kong Kneedrop from Togi Makabe. Finally my guilty pleasure Minoru Suzuki came out to face Tanahashi. Again I bowed to the logic of my host who reminded me Suzuki had never beaten Tanahashi and had Wrestle Kingdom VI to avenge, much like Goto had avenged his IC title loss against Nakamura earlier on the tour. After a genuinely thrilling match centred around Hash working Suzuki's leg and Suzuki attempted to choke Tana, the champ went for one High Fly Flow too many and ate the knees. MiSu then choked Tanahashi near unconscious and finished with the Gotch style piledriver as always. Great day for MiSu, he got to kick the kid opening the ropes for him, Taichi, the ref and a ringside photographer. After victory he was presented with a giant cheque, which he also kicked. More to come, off to Shiny Navigation this very second.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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