G1Climax 23 事事しい、旅 Air Raid

[Vamp]

The DDT wrestlers work in a restaurant up the road don't they?

 

I find some of the jobs the Japanese indy guys do quite fascinating. Ebessan and a few others apparently go round retirement homes and get touched by grannies.

[air_raid]

RIGHT, here's a quick write up of the DDT show, and what I've been up to since.

 

The show kicked off with the babyface trio of MIKAMI, Makoto Ishii & Tomimitsu Matsunaga against the comedy heel stable of "Monster Army" in the form of Antonio Honda, Daisuke Sasaki and Hoshitango. Actually, writing "comedy heel stable" feels a bit redundant for DDT, it's all comedy. Hoshitango strikes me as the Japanese George "the Animal" Steele with his gut, bald head, hairy torso and advancing years. Fun opener, Saski winning it for Monster Army with a crossface on Matsunaga.

 

Next the KO-D Tag Team Title was up for grabs as Hikaru Sato and Yukio Sakaguchi (who reminds me of a blonde, tattooed Nakamura in both attire, demeanour and pseudo-shoot style) defended against Kazuki Hirata and Gota Ihashi - who resembles something of a bowling ball, so round is his belly. More comedy here with the story of the match being Gota trying to prove he can take the beating, but actually... no, he can't. At the conclusion he kept absorbing really hard kicks to the chest from Sakaguchi and showing "fighting spirit" and getting back up... just... but then after a final one he was really willing the crowd to urge him on - "I can do it!!" style, so Yukio slapped on a choke sleeper and he tapped INSTANTLY. Maybe it was the beer, but I thought it was hilarious.

 

Third match was a really good wrestling match as the cocky Akito took on the popular Yasu Urano. There was a pattern to the match where they would work extensively on the mat centered around one hold of Akito - a headlock, a cravatte etc - and a serious of roll up pin attempts from either, and then both would separate and get back up in a stalemate, even though every exchange you were left with the feeling that Akito had got the better of it and would be winning on points, so to speak. After a good ten minutes of exchanges, Yasu surprised Akito with a small package for a popular win.

 

Last match before intermission was a four-way between Masa Takanashi, Takao Soma, the cat-like DJ Nira, and veteran lady wrestler GAMI. The rules were that you had to drink a beer after a two count. Nira was laid out "drunk" really early in the match, and as it wore on it became obvious GAMI could easily out drink the other two lads. This was very well received. At the end, GAMI bodyslammed both Takanashi and Soma, and Nira simply crawled over and lay down next to them both rather than take a slam of his own, and GAMI splashed all three simultaneously to collect the pin.

 

After intermission came the second reasonably serious match as the very well-matched Konosuke Takeshita and Tetsuya Endo had a very spirited, fast paced match which featured some excellent reversal sequences and a lovely looking Muta Lock from Takashita. Endo was by and large in control when Takeshita reversed a whip into the corner and followed in with a Muto-like handspring elbow and then an equally Muto-like running facebuster, but the referee abruptly stopped the match when Endo seemed to not be able to get up. He was helped backstage, and several of the wrestlers abandoned their cooking posts (see previous post) to run backstage, so we knew Endo was actually hurt, and he was ; he'd dislocated his elbow landing on the facebuster.

 

Finally the six-man main event (drawn by a lottery where fans picked lettered balls out of a box at the start of the show) where KUDO, Shigehiro Irie and grumpy vet Toru Owashi took on HARASHIMA, Keisuke Ishii and the incomparable Danshoku Dino. The early going inevitably featured Dino dry humping Owashi in every possible position as they mat wrestled. Things did get serious in the middle, with KUDO and HARASHIMA having the best exchanges. Eventually a huge brawl erupted all over the place, and while I was momentarily distracted by Dino - who by this point had his tights around his knees and his thong threatening to follow suit - being chased outside and very near to where I was stood, the dangerous Irie put Ishii away with a power move I have since learned is called the Vertical Drop Back Flip. Huh.

 

Afterwards the roster had more beers, and then impersonated the hangover we could all expect tomorrow.

 

 

Onto Sunday and I did a Korakuen double shot, firstly the Ayumi Kurihara retirement show thanks to tickets my irreplaceable friend Tsukasa managed to blag us from Tomoka Nakagawa who was wrestling in the main event, not unlike the JWP tickets we got from Hailey Hatred two years ago. They were diamond seats as well, front row tiered.

 

In the opener Ayumi wrestled her teary-eyed prot

[pgi86]

Block B actually came to an end now, with Big Japan's Yuji Okabayashi (a/k/a "Daisuke's mate") against the huge muscled American, James Raideen.

Not that it makes a difference but he's actually from New Zealand. Thought I'd correct you.

 

Anyway, really enjoy reading your reports. Keep them coming.

[air_raid]

Well there you go. Shame on me for seeing a would-be Wellness violation and assuming "yank" - you get HGH anywhere, after all. Remarkably, I didn't pick up on his accent from his post-match promo which he cut in baby English e.g. "Tanaka, tough fight. Not finished!"

 

Anyhoo, forgot to mention, I left a little daubing on the Korakuen wall. Hopefully somebody tells Gedo & Jado what it means, because I certainly only mean it to refer to New Japan.

 

[air_raid]

Just to let you guys know I went to Ice Ribbon on Wednesday night, taking a long train ride out to Warabi in Saitama prefecture.

 

You basically find the dojo by getting off the train and walking 500 yards down the tracks. Until you get to the dojo itself (which looks suspiciously like a two-storey shed with a vending machine stapled to the front) all you see for the whole walk is car parks and love hotels. Seedy, seedy place. If I hadn't seen the slogan of "BE HAPPY WITH PRO WRESTLING" next to Hikaru Shida's smiling face, I might not have known I was in the right place.

 

 

If I'm honest, the bi-weekly dojo shows seem a little steep for Y3000 for a four match card compared to what DDT produced for Y1000 on Saturday, but then they made a shitload extra on the scandalous markups on the food and drink. The moment you get into Ice Ribbon it feels very welcoming. The talent do everything from taking the tickets/cash to running the merchandise to Shida and Matsumoto welcoming us on the house mic and running down the card. They also encouraged those of us sitting near the back to come as close as possible for even more atmosphere in what I assume will be the smallest venue I ever see a pro wrestling show - attendance 55.

 

 

Right, matches. Anyone who thinks Ice Ribbon is just for perverts to look at underaged girls would probably be surprised at the opening tag match which featured no less than three girls north of 35. My second "wrestler dressed as cat" experience of the week came here as the bizarre Neko Nitta teamed up with Meari Naito to defeat Cherry and the very young Kurumi via something akin to the Sky Twister press in about 13 minutes. There were a few minor slip ups, but overall it was a fine. Cherry was a riot in the early going refusing to tag in or tagging in, doing little and tagging out again. Nothing wrong with the pink outfit, but I miss the black of Black Dahlia if I'm honest.

 

Second match the 15 year old Tsukushi took on Risa Sera. I can see why Tsukushi is so popular, her crowd interaction is excellent, although I thought it was a bit heelish to abuse Sera's inflatable shark mascot as she did. Hilariously Nitta at ringside tried to help the shark by spraying it with physio's "magic spray." After a trade off of roll ups Tsukushi won with Harukaze - springboarding blind off the turnbuckle and catching a wheelbarrow victory roll, which looked super smooth.

 

Third was the match I most looked forward to - I'd already decided I was going before I knew the card, but Hikaru Shida vs Misaki Ohata (of Wave/ZABUN) would have persuaded me to any way. Ohata was her usual reliable self, Shida seems to permanently carry a sadistic little smile when she's on offence. They had an inevitable duel between Shida's kendo stick and Ohata's cat o' nine tails - won by Ohata - but Shida rallied and seemed to be saying "this is my house, bitch!" She scored a great near fall off a step-up knee strike to the face (both girls standing) then weathered a storm before smashing Ohata with a running knee to the face, but the bell somewhat predictably rang for the ten minute time limit expiring just as the ref went down to count. Nothing especially wrong with the draw when they only had ten minutes to play with anyway, whet my appetite for a longer match. Although it's worth pointing out, the bell saved Misakitty's ass, she was beaten.

 

Finally the main event came with somewhat of a local interest as Belfast's Kasey Owens teamed up with Hamuko Hoshi to face off with Ice Ribbon ace Tsukasa Fujimoto and Miyako Matsumoto. Hoshi played face in peril for much of the match, which was fine. As we entered the end game it was clear Kasey and Matsumoto would contest the finish, and it seemed a few times that the native was on the verge of giving up to Kasey's half crab. She still grabbed a convincing near fall off a Miyacoco Clutch before eventually tapping out to a cross-legged ankle lock.

 

After the card the wrestlers all got back in the ring to speak on the microphone about the night's matches, forthcoming matches, or anything they wanted to really. Kasey said in baby English "Hard match. I find tag match easier than singles match. Three weeks, surprise present." Which we all know is going to be Leah. Shida gave some sass to Ohata, presumably along the lines of "I had you beat" then fairly obviously asked Ohata to be her partner in a match with Shida, Ohata, Shuri and Hanako Nakamori, against four others, although I only made out the names of WNC's Makoto and JWP ace (and champion) Arisa Nakajima. I'm not sure when, possibly the Muscle Venus 5th anniversary show coming up at Korakuen. Speaking of which, Tsukushi was pestering everyone as to why she didn't have a match yet, so Shida told her bluntly she could wrestle Ayako Hamada. Hah, be careful what you wish for, Horsetail.

 

EDIT - the other gals opposing the Shida/Ohata team are Aoi Kizuki & Sawako Shimono

 

Afterwards nearly the whole roster shook hands with every fan present, which was a really nice touch. Fine little show.

 

 

Yesterday trekked to Yokohama for the New Japan G1 Climax show only to find out right before heading to the arena that Goto had broken his jaw and Tenzan was out with bad ribs. Suddenly I was devastated at both missing Goto/Shibata on Saturday and there being no Shinsuke match on the night. But hey ho, at least we got a bonus Captain Dickhead New Japan tag match, right?

 

It seems daft to write a full review here since everybody interested will no doubt be watching the show themselves on YouTube and talking about it in the iPPV thread, but here are some bullet (club) points :

 

* The whole card was very "house show" apart from the match between Okada and the charismatic bowling ball, Ishii. There's a guy who knows how to draw sympathy, as he transformed the crowd from silent to well into it by the end. Great drama and counters before the eventual successful Rainmaker.

 

* Shelton either hasn't really built a repertoire of trademark spots to piece together an exciting match with ebb and flow, or the ones he has simply aren't over enough. Yokohama was nearly silent until Suzuki put him out of his misery, seemingly of boredom. True to form, there were some cheque related shenanigans, as when he got to the top of the ramp he threw the cheque like a paper plane under the New Japan banner and scaffolding set.

 

* Speaking of cheques, Yano ran up the ramp with his after he upset Naito, as if he'd stolen it rather than legitimately won it. Force of habit and all that. Speaking of Yano, his current persona of being so happy that he has a DVD out, bringing it to ringside and imploring the fans to buy it, is an absolute hoot. The trailer looks amazing too, it's basically him and Ishii on roller coasters. Me and my host are thinking of going halves on it. I know what you're thinking, but bare in mind it costs Y5040 - about 33 quid. Yano is such a loveable scamp. Chaos really are the worst heel faction of all time at actually being heels. Yano, Iizuka, Ishii, Okada, Shinsuke - what's not to love??

 

* Devitt v Shibata was a good mix of good wrestling action and sports entertainment shenanigans. Devitt running from Shibata and shouting "come on ya little bitch" was great. Shibata looked hard as nails comfortable handling Fale and Devitt simultaneously where others have failed. I was surprised he didn't pin after the PK, but the Go To Sleep looked great and just might carry him all the way through a final and perhaps on to a title shot at Wrestle Kingdom, presumably.

 

* Makabe vs Kojima would have probably been a more exciting main event had the result not been so transparent - Makabe in Yokohama, after all.

 

 

Off to Shinjuku in a bit, hopefully to catch Ayako's anniversary show. 10 shows in 10 days is still on, but given that my host is now on his holiday, might end up sacrificing Gatoh Move on Saturday for a fuller day of eating and drinking on our way to Ryogoku for Nakamura/Naito and Tanahashi/Okada.

[SSJLogan]

Great read. I was gutted about Goto being out. But hope he recovers soon. Im super jealous of your trip but happy to read your stories about it

 

I completely agree about Chaos being the worst Heel faction, i freakin love all of them! Nakamura, Okada and now Ishii get such huge reactions from the crowd. My favourite moment so far was during Nakamura's entrance on Day 2 where he pushed that woman out the way for blocking him. Also day 2 Tanahashi vs Ishii was probably my favourite match this year so far. But i've been told that Day 4 has plenty of MOTYCs.

[JNLister]

Yano DVD trailer, with English subtitles!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nBSOYmYZvQ

[SSJLogan]

Yano DVD trailer, with English subtitles!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nBSOYmYZvQ

 

If that whole dvd was subtitled then i'd buy it for sure.

[air_raid]

I'm home now and going to try and wrap up my adventure in installments, in case I get burned out writing.

 

If that whole dvd was subtitled then i'd buy it for sure.

 

"I'm well-prepared at all times, and I have the noblest brain."

 

I might buy it anyway. Everything to do with Yano is amazing. I snapped this guy on the train wearing his shirt - it's a demon riding a lion. You'd think a design like this was for the baddest ass badass heel in the company.

 

 

Anyway, on with the shows. I managed to get a ticket on the door for Ayako Hamada's "15th Anniversary Aventurera" produced by Wave/ZABUN from last Friday at Shinjuku Face, a little boxing/wrestling venue tucked away on the 7th floor of the Humax Pavilion Shinjuku Annex which hosts a huge "bright colours, flashing lights, loud noises" amusement arcade on the ground floor, bars, restaurants and a CopaBowl among other attractions. Here's an idea of the intimate setup :

 

 

And this was my view :

 

 

- to the right and left the curtains the wrestlers entered through, in the middle the stage which saw a fair amount of action.

 

At bell time we were told there was an unadvertised bonus match and Aya Yuki hopped into the ring. I was shocked when Aja Kong rumbled out as her opponent! Maybe she saw that Ayako and Yuu Yamagata were both wrestling at least twice and thought "I'm as tough as you pair, give me another match." Most of this spirited five minute tussle was Yuki trying to prove she was tough, and she hit Kong with an uncountable number of forearms, rabbit punches and shoulder tackles as Kong mostly shrugged the blows off and kept making the universal "come on" motions as Yuki gradually knackered herself. I think Aja responded with about five slaps, a couple of punches and a couple of kicks throughout, and when Aja finally had enough, a flurry of punches knocked Yuki out for the three.

 

In her first of three matches, Ayako took on male wrestler Kojiki, which literally translates as "Tramp" - and that's pretty accurate. He came to the ring in filthy shredded cutoffs and a dirty t-shirt and trainers, his filthy hair almost down to his backside, and carrying a bin bag full of rubbish, a can of beer and a folded up cardboard box which I assume was his portable home. Hamada repeatedly seemed unwilling to lock up due to his smell, and suffered a camel clutch in which he choked her with his dirty taping. At one point he stood over her rubbing his hands over his scalp and appeared to be shaking his dandruff in her general direction. The ending came when he hit Hamada with his folded up cardboard box which promptly EXPLODED leaving that gunpowder/cap gun smell lingering in the air, and as he was being chastised by the ref, Ayako grabbed a schoolboy for the pin.

 

The intergender action continued next as Dragon Gate's hard-kicking Masaaki Mochizuki took on Sakura Hirota, dressed as a devil and announced as "Strong Sakura." Within seconds of the bell Hirota slapped Mochi, who responded by knocking her out with a single kick and taking the pin. When Hirota regained her senses, she challenged him to a restart. What followed was a blend of Sakura's usual (well-received) comedy and some genuine drama when she tried to steal a win. Hirota impressed with a praying rope walk around two sides of the ring but erred trying to go backwards, and crotched herself. She lulled Mochi into a false sense of security with her antics and then tried to get the win, but when she tried for a half and half/Millennium suplex, Mochizuki just stood rigid and Sakura hit the mat hard when she tried to suplex him back, then ultimately she was pinned a second time after a Twister. As a mark of respect, Mochizuki carried Hirota back to the locker room.

 

What followed was a match that has to be seen to be believed. Ayako came back out with great friend Yuu Yamagata for a match with Zap I (Kaoru Ito) & Zap T (Tomoko Watanabe) which was an absolutely chaotic brawl. Within seconds of the bell, T was brawling with Ayako in my section of the crowd (and with the flying beverage we could have done with a "you will get wet" warning) and Zap I was double stomping Yamagata off a ladder up on the stage - which looked brutal. T chained Ayako to a table and beat her with a kendo stick which repeatedly came into play. There were numerous ref bumps (she took a few kendo stick shots) and some very close calls for Ayako after a moonsault off the ladder through a table, and for the Zaps with a combination powerbomb and top rope kendo stick strike on Yuu. Eventually the ref stopped the match and ruled it No Contest when she became tired of the Zaps constantly attacking her - AND twatting Mio Shirai who tried to get in the ring to protect her. Nobody was able to stop the Zaps assault until they simply got bored and left ringside. It had been a competitive match but when things got wild, it fell apart (in a good way). The payoff of the heroes overcoming and getting the win would have been amazing but I really didn't mind such a madcap match ending in chaos. Ayako looked shattered and Yamagata like she'd ran a marathon, and I really questioned if they would (kayfabe) have enough energy left to turn in a performance in the main event.

 

Last match before intermission was a mixed six-person with Tomoka Nakagawa tagging up with Jimmy Susumu (Yokosuka) and K-Ness against Ryo Mizunami, Kaiji Tomato and the luchadore SuperFly. The babyfaces had gotten some special shirts made up with "Tomo" and "K-nesuka" on the front which I thought was a nice touch. Tomato was very charismatic in both getting support for his dives and at time playing pantomime villain foiling the babyfaces best spots, and SuperFly was very smooth. K-Ness took a bit of grief for refusing to wrestle Ryo in the beginning, and eventually all of the men got in the ring (and received abuse) from the female opponents. There was some comedy in Yokosuka repeatedly having attempts to suplex any of his opponents broken up by the partners, and there were some great dramatic moments. At one point Ryo nailed K-Ness with the Mizunami Coaster (!) but her cover attempt was interrupted, and Tomoka nearly pinned Tomato with the 200% Schoolboy, shortly before things spilled to the outside and there was a dive sequence. In the end it came down to Yokosuka and Tomato, and though Kaiji survived a Jumbo No Kachi, he succumbed to a Mugen. I don't know where Kaiji works but he seems pretty decent at the "entertainment" element as well as fine at the basics.

 

The final intergender match was Ayako's dad, the venerable Gran Hamada, against Kana. I expected this to have a comedy element - in fact, I assumed this match was booked because the dirty old man fancied rolling around on the floor and expected a comedy breast groping spot or two, but I was wrong. Kana's first hard kicked instantly seemed to put a shocked impression on Hamada's face - in fact, he looked quite upset, and he never treated the match as anything less that serious after that. Most of the match took place on the mat, and Hamada applied a keylock with such skill, I bought it as being a danger to breaking Kana's arm. She rallied, but seemed outmatched by her opponent's limitless experience and after a hard lariat, Hamada pinned her after a decent-looking TKO - which was my second surprise of the match. It was basic at times and slow-paced, but everything was executed so well it would be unfair to say I didn't enjoy the match. In particular Hamada's keylock looked really convincing.

 

Finally, Hamada and Yamagata re-emerged (remarkably) to team up with Aja Kong to take on Leon, her former Arsion tag title partner AKINO and Wave president GAMI in the main event. This was a similar mix of humour and drama to the main event of Ayumi's show the previous Sunday. GAMI was a riot, absolutely petrified when she was tagged in to face Kong and taking forever to get back in the ring. There was also a golden spot where she applied an abdominal stretch, then got added leverage from one of her partners... who got more from the other partner... who reached out to Mio outside the ring for MORE leverage.... who then reached into the crowd to get more from a fan... by which time of course, the hold had been reversed and it was GAMI that suffered. Hamada had her working boots on again, busting out La Ayakita in the early going, and later on moonsaulting onto some extended boots (not for the first time of the evening). Yamagata was also full of energy despite the earlier exertion.

 

In the closing stretch AKINO took a beatdown from all three opponents culminating in a Ligerbomb from Ayako, but the cover was broken up. Ayako then took a spear from Leon, uranage from GAMI and a Noki-A Special from AKINO, but that also was broken up. In the ensuing chaos, Ayako eventually picked up the win with after a thunderous reverse roundhouse kick and her Pyramid Driver. After the match, Ayako seemed to be motioning to Wave boss GAMI that she wants a belt (or title shot) of some kind. Kong said something on the mic which caused Ayako to wear a wide-mouthed look of amused mock-offended, which I think may have been "will a belt fit you?" Ayako is a big girl, after all. Kong took the mic and congratulated Hamada on her 15 years in the sport and generally put her over huge.

 

All in all this was a loaded card, it actually clocked in at over three hours in total and really had a cracking mix of different wrestling styles. I can't say enough about that match with the Zaps, it was absolutely nutty. A great Friday night out.

[Mr Butternut Squash]

Good stuff. I tend to dislike the current joshi scene but Hamada's one of the handful I still enjoy on occasion (along with Kyoko Kimura, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Kana and gold old Ozaki). She has the presence of a hard arse old vet like Hotta and Chigusa had. Hard to believe she's only in her early thirties.

 

In her first of three matches, Ayako took on male wrestler Kojiki, which literally translates as "Tramp" - and that's pretty accurate. He came to the ring in filthy shredded cutoffs and a dirty t-shirt and trainers, his filthy hair almost down to his backside, and carrying a bin bag full of rubbish, a can of beer and a folded up cardboard box which I assume was his portable home. Hamada repeatedly seemed unwilling to lock up due to his smell, and suffered a camel clutch in which he choked her with his dirty taping. At one point he stood over her rubbing his hands over his scalp and appeared to be shaking his dandruff in her general direction. The ending came when he hit Hamada with his folded up cardboard box which promptly EXPLODED leaving that gunpowder/cap gun smell lingering in the air, and as he was being chastised by the ref, Ayako grabbed a schoolboy for the pin.

 

I hate intergender wrestling but this sounds so weird I would watch it. The card in general looks a bit mental, with the Zaps brawl sounding right up my street. I suppose the event was filmed?

[air_raid]

Ayako is increasingly grumpy. Her stuff in Black Dahlia last year was amazing, she really looked permanently like she didn't want to be there and took the piss out of the others when they got beat. Her match with Saree last Sunday absolutely smacked of "who the hell are you? I'm insulted by even having to be in the ring with you."

 

Although not as bad as Kansai during her match, she actually took a few blows from Mizunami that paralyzed her with anger to the point she barely even turned around to face Ryo before no-selling the next move. Really, genuine "I can't be bothered to sell today."

 

I hate intergender wrestling but this sounds so weird I would watch it. The card in general looks a bit mental, with the Zaps brawl sounding right up my street. I suppose the event was filmed?

 

It was. I was back row and the "hard camera" filming for the opposite-the-stage angle was literally done over my shoulder. I was actually sat between two blokes who had brought along ridiculously large pro-style cameras too, and felt like the loser in the Japanese equivalent of a "who has the biggest dick" competition, snapping away with my HTC Desire.

 

Full details from your pals at Joshifans suggest in the days that have passed I have gotten the finish of the main event mixed up and it was actually the AP Cross that finished AKINO. She definitely absorbed the Pyramid driver as well during the closing stretch, if it matters. Also says the Zaps match clocked in at 18 minutes - sounds about right, it definitely felt that level of lengthy, nearly epic. Might crack my top 15 or so favourite live matches I've seen.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Now that's a nice looking venue.

[air_raid]

The only problem with FACE is the low ceiling. Ayako had to go down a few rungs before launching her moonsault off the ladder for fear of catching her feet on it. But as small venues (about 500 maximum capacity with standing, I'd guess) go, it's fairly nice. There's a bar inside the hall and another between the hall and the lift and a reasonable sized room for the wrestlers to sell their gimmicks. Without doubt my favourite thing is the location though, you just spill outside into Shinjuku where you can soak up the sparkly neon, eat and drink yourself silly surrounded by smiley people all having a laugh and fight off the girls in pink trying to drag you off for "special massage" or if preferred, it's virtually a straight line walk up the road to the subterranean walkway straight to the train station.

 

Where you can obviously catch a train to Harujuku which is the same, but turned up to 11.

 

EDIT - oh, and your arse goes numb on those chairs about halfway through a card.

[air_raid]

I'm going to finish this now else risk forgetting about it.

 

The Saturday Ryogoku show came after a trip to Akihabara and was bookended by a stupid amount of alcohol which precluded me from getting up early enough to head to the All Japan show at Korakuen on the Sunday, but given our need to collect our finals tickets, the weakened state of All Japan and relative quality of announced card compared to what I might miss catching the train from Suidobashi to Ryogoku - "fuck All Japan" said my host, and he was right. By the by.

 

The undercard on the Saturday was the very definition of "mixed bag" - Anderson and Yujiro was fine, Devitt and Smith was a really fun cat and mouse seven minute match in which our Harry was just too smart for Devitt and Fale's shenanigans and picked up a very popular victory. It's often a struggle to remember Suzuki-gun are "heels". Conversely seeing Archer go over somebody as revered as Kojima really disappointed me because I still think he's a massive dullard bell to bell, and I had no time for Shelton beating someone I've come to love as much as Yano. I know he's dispensable, but it gutted me in a "I wanted Yano to win" way rather than a "smarky criticizing the booking" way. Taka was certainly earning his money running around the ring like a man possessed at times.

 

The second half of the show delivered in absolute spades. While we were gutted that Goto's injury meant we were denied seeing the latest Goto/Shibata match, there was considerable compensation in the fact we were looking forward to Makabe/Ishii a mile more than we would have just one week earlier. With Makabe's own brawling prowess, I though him and the bowling ball would have a good fight. I made the somewhat oxymoronic prediction to TSVE of "I have a feeling that match will be better than we expect." I know it's strange to predict that something will eclipse your expectations, but it came to pass - as much as I looked forward to it, it actually was even better than I expected. It was really exciting, and my heart sank when Makabe hit the King Kong kneedrop. Not that I don't like him, but... c'mon, it's Ishii. Suzuki v Ibushi was exactly what I expected and Minoru was very adroit in salvaging a top rope rana gone wrong and applying an upside down half crab on the high flyer. While Ibushi never convinced me he might win, he did give Suzuki a good fight, until he finally fell to a Gotch-style piledriver without the usual delay which amusing prompted my host to shout "fuck you!" as Ibushi had his head bounced into the mat. Taka looked very pleased as Suzuki-gun went four for four.

 

Naito v Nakamura was never going to hold a candle to the 2011 final, but it was a very good match. Repeatedly I worried that Shinsuke wasn't applying enough pressure, and Naito timed his comebacks to perfection. It felt like with Sumo Hall completely in his corner he was getting back to his "ultimate underdog babyface" best. Our doubts about Naito's ability to put together a finish evaporated when he evaded the Boma Ye then from a Polvo de Estrella setup, elevated Nakamura into a sideslam (I dubbed this Polvo Flowsion due to it's similarity to Marufuji's Tiger Flowsion but SSS Stu tells me it's called Gloria) - "I think he's got him!" I shouted involuntarily, as Naito clambered up for the Stardust Press. "He's got him!!" - and he had. No complaints.

 

Finally, the main event, and I mean THE main event, the biggest match New Japan has to put on right now, Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi. I won't lie, during the match the awareness of parity booking made me sure they would go broadway, and when Tana started working the leg for later attempts at the Cloverleaf, it all but confirmed it. That doesn't take away from the fact it was an excellent match, and in the dying seconds my blood did pump fast when Okada went for one final Rainmaker attempt, before both collapsed. Not to go back to front, but during the introductions while Okada stood waiting in the ring with Tanahashi's music playing and him walking down the aisle, I felt a feeling of "This is big time" beyond ANYTHING that I've ever experienced as a wrestling fan. Beyond Shawn, Undertaker, or even the nostalgia of seeing Hogan, nothing has made my adrenaline go like knowing I was about to see the two top guys in a company I care about lock horns in a proper main event setting.

 

 

On finals day itself, looking at the rejigged match order it suddenly became obvious that Naito/Anderson being the final match of B Block meant that Naito was winning the group. Unfortunately due to the points totals, this meant that Naito going through was only possible if Nakamura got beat by Shelton "X star star cunt" Benjamin. To say we were underwhelmed by this possibility was an understatement. Systematically during the undercard anybody with a chance of topping the groups other than those in the "unofficial semifinals" went down to defeat, including the expected Nakamura defeat. Terrible.

 

Over in A Block, the KES explosion would have been better if it had been shorter and Archer and Smith got a bit lost setting up a top rope spot. Obviously I was upset that Baby Bulldog lost to (ick) Archer but it made sense, most people that hadn't won in the same venue the night before were permitted to win on the Sunday - well, apart from Yujiro, heh. Also, Okada and Kojima executed a fine closing sequence where after grabbing the top rope to avoid one lariat, the champ ran straight into another, then absorbed a running one which would put him down for three. Kojima motioned that he wants the belt afterwards, and that would be a fine "B" main event - Destruction in September, maybe.

 

In the "business" end of each block, Karl Anderson was his usual reliable self in contesting a good match with Naito, who showed another new twist to his offence in making Anderson tap to a Koji Clutch. At the top of A Block, the much anticipated Shibata/Tanahashi collision certainly didn't disappoint, but I was shouting at Shibata to stop wasting time after belting Tana with the PK. If he wasn't going for a pin, he should have gone for Go 2 Sleep immediately, but he hesitated. He paid for that and ended up in a small package. "You deserved that" I thought.

 

The final itself was an emotional affair. "We've come full circle" remarked my host, as we settled in for Tana/Naito, two years after watching the former upset the latter on his way to a final with Nakamura - who he just beat the day before. The match built superbly with Tana going for legwork - fresh in the mind from the night before - before Naito's first comeback. They swapped big moves, Tana missed the High Fly Flow, Naito missed the Stardust Press. While the knowledge of "Tana doesn't need it" strongly convinced Naito was going to win, it didn't detract from the element of "come on kid" and while last year's final (and possibly 2011's too) was a better match from a technical standpoint, this was the one that had me emotionally.

 

In the end, Tana hit his recently-adopted Styles Clash and went up the ropes. "First one hits, not the second" remarked TSVE as Tana hit the High Fly Flow to Naito's back, then went back up. His second one met the knees, as suspected. One Polvo Flowsion later, Naito went up. "He's got him...." I said to nobody in particular. He hit the Stardust Press. "HE'S GOT HIM!!!" I shouted. 1-2-3, and we virtually jumped for joy.

 

Even after an indifferent start to his tournament (including the obligatory loss to Yujiro) there was still nothing more fitting to sign off my own personal Japanese pilgrimage than seeing the breakout star of my first G1 experience finally ascend to the top. One of the best payoffs I've ever seen as a wrestling fan, even if there are at least four guys in the company that I prefer to Naito.

 

 

Well, that's it for now. Next time I'll see NipWres live, it will be as a resident.

 

Just to follow up - Kojiki.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/3aedb40b7ae0a26...vsahho1_500.jpg