Rising Sun Soliloquy Newsletter #27

Rising Sun Soliloquy Newsletter #27
June 4, 2009
By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com

ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING

Takayama Defeats Suzuki To Retain Triple Crown Championship at RISE UP Show in Aichi

Triple Crown Champion Yoshihiro Takayama was able to fend off a strong challenge from long time friend and GURENTAI stable-mate Minoru Suzuki, defeating him with his patented Everest German Suplex hold in front of 3,350 fans at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.

The win was Takayama’s first successful title defense since he won the title from the Great Muta in March. Although there is no word as to whom his next opponent will be, it appears as if Takayama is set to stay in All Japan for a while. Defeating Suzuki can be seen as somewhat of a benchmark moment in the promotion for the big man. Not only is it a win that essentially establishes his superiority over his stable mate, but makes him unquestionably the top gun in the promotion at this very moment. Heading into this bout, Suzuki appeared to be the man with all the momentum, having wrapped up both sets of championship gold in the tag team ranks as well as winning the Champions Carnival last month. He appears to be headed to a more full-time role with fellow World Tag Team Champion Taiyo Kea for the time being.

In other news, Keiji Muto, Akebono & Ryota Hama defeated the Voodoo Murderers in a big six man tag team match, a win that gives Akebono and Hama some momentum as they set out to win the All-Asia tag team championships held by Minoru Suzuki & NOSAWA Rongai. All Japan has been looking for a viable sumo team for years and now seem to have found their answer in Akebono & Hama.

Kaz Hayashi was able to successfully fend off the challenge from Toshizo by defeating him with the Power Plant. Suwama defeated Masayuki Kono, presumably setting him up to challenge Takayama for the Triple Crown, as he looks to be the most viable contender right now. In other action on the card, GURENTAI defeated Satoshi Kojima, KAI and Hiroshi Yamato.

AJPW “RISE UP TOUR 2009”, 30.05.2009?
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium?
3,350 Fans?

1. Seiya Sanada & Manabu Soya def. Osamu Nishimura & Phil Atlas?(11:30) when Soya beat Atlas with a Tornado Bomb
2. Minoru & Hate def. Shuji Kondo & Nobutaka Araya?(8:14)?When Minoru used the HEAT Clutch on Kondo
3. Taiyo Kea, NOSAWA Rongai & MAZADA besiegen Satoshi Kojima, KAI & Hiroshi Yamato?(12:50)? when MAZADA used the Shoda Drop on Yamato.?
4. Suwama def. Masayuki Kono?(13:32) with the Last Ride.?
5.?AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Kaz Hayashi (c) def. Toshizo?(25:30)?with the Power Plant (2nd defense).?
6. Keiji Muto, Akebono & Ryota Hama besiegen TARU, Joe Doering & Zodiac?(12:21)? when Akebono used the Samoan Drop on Taru?
7.?Triple Crown: Yoshihiro Takayama (c) def. Minoru Suzuki?(22:59)? with the Everest German Suplex Hold (1st defense).?

PWF Chairman Hiroshi Hase to Hose Charity Event

PWF President Hiroshi Hase hosted a press conference earlier today at the All Japan Pro Wrestling offices with Jr. Champion Kaz Hayashi, Keiji Mutoh and Masayuki Kono in attendance. They announced that there would be a Charity event being held in Ishikawa on July 5th and that the main events at the show would feature two All Japan Championships being defended. Kaz Hayashi will be defending the World Junior Heavyweight Championship against MAZADA while the World Tag Team Championships would be on the line as champions GURENTAI (Minoru Suzuki & Taiyo Kea) will defend against the newly formed team of Keiji Mutoh & Masayuki Kono. Mutoh Mentioned that he had been searching for a competent, younger partner and was greatly pleased to have finally found one whom he said ‘gets it’.

Hase is actually up for re-election to the Japanese Diet this year, and the event is more or less a political fund raiser for the former wrestler.

AJPW, 6/22/09
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

– Brad Martin vs. Toshizo
– Seiya Sanada & Manabu Soya vs. KAI & Hiroshi Yamato
– Osamu Nishimura, Shuji Kondo & Ryota Hama vs. TARU, Minoru & Hate
– ZODIAC vs. Joe Doering
– Satoshi Kojima vs. Nobutaka Araya
– Kaz Hayashi & Phil Atlas vs. NOSAWA Rongai & MAZADA
– Keiji Muto, Suwama & Masayuki Kono vs. Taiyo Kea, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama
AJPW ?PWF Chairman Hiroshi Hase Charity Event?, 7/5/09
Ishikawa Industrial Exhibition Pavilion #3

1.?AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Kaz Hayashi (c) vs. MAZADA
2.?AJPW World Tag Team Title: Taiyo Kea & Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Keiji Muto & Masayuki Kono


NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING

Best of the Super Juniors Tournament Kicks Off
The best of the Super Juniors Tournament kicked off last Friday Night at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo in front of a sellout crowd of 2,000. The opening match of the tournament between Prince Devitt & Milano Collection A.T. Was said to be the best of the tournament thus far, although the Devitt/Aoki match was said to be pretty strong as well.
Thus far, no one’s really stood out, as only three wrestlers have yet to score a point. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Tiger Mask leads Block A with two wins, with Prince Devitt Nipping at his heels. Milano Collection AT, Jado & AKIRA all seem to be on pace with the big boys as well. Atsushi Aoki has underperformed in terms of wins, but has looked strong in his matches.

Block B looks even more interesting, with Ryusuke Taguchi and Tsuyoshi Kikiuchi both looking pretty strong from the outset. Liger, Kanemoto and YAMATO are log jammed in the middle of the standings at 2 points a piece, with Kota Ibushi finally managing his first win of the tournament Tuesday night.

STANDINGS THROUGH JUNE 3rd 2009

Block A

1. Tiger Mask (New Japan) 2-0, 4 Points
2. Prince Devitt (New Japan) 2-1, 4 Points
3. AKIRA (New Japan) 1-0, 2 Points
4. Jado (New Japan) 1-1, 2 Points
5. Milano Collection AT (New Japan) 1-1, 2 Points
6. Black Tiger (New Japan) 0-2,0 Points
7. Atsushi Aoki (Pro Wrestling NOAH) 0-2, 0 Points

BLOCK B
1. Ryusuke Taguchi (New Japan) 2-0, 4 Points
2. Tsuyoshi Kikiuchi (Pro Wrestling NOAH) 1-0, 2 Points
3. YAMATO (Dragon Gate) 1-1, 2 Points
4. Koji Kanemoto (New Japan) 1-1, 2 Points
5. Jushin ?Thunder Liger (New Japan) 1-1, 2 Points
6. Kota Ibushi (DDT) 1-2, 2 Points
7. Taichi (New Japan) 0-2, 0 Points

NJPW, 5/30/09 (Samurai! TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2,005 Fans?- Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi??beat Nobuo Yoshihashi?(4:32)?with the Fireball bomb.
2. Karl Anderson, Black Tiger & Jado beat Jushin Thunder Liger, AKIRA & Taichi?(9:03)?when Anderson used the Gun Stun on Taichi.
3. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma?(10:50)?when Nakamura used the Landslide on Honma.
4. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata & Mitsuhide Hirasawa beat Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada?(17:18)?when Nakanishi used an Argentine backbreaker on Okada.
7.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Milano Collection AT [2] beat Prince Devitt [0]?(15:22)?with the Victoria Milanese.
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Ryusuke Taguchi [2] beat YAMATO??[0]?(13:17)?with the Shika Koroshi.
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Tiger Mask [2] beat Atsushi Aoki??[0]?(10:27)?with a Tiger suplex hold.
8.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Koji Kanemoto [2] beat Kota Ibushi??[0]?(14:18)?with an ankle hold.

NJPW, 5/31/09
Mito Citizen Gymnasium
1,500 Fans?- No Vacancy

1. Atsushi Aoki??beat Nobuo Yoshihashi?(6:45)?with a cross armbreaker.
2. Tomohiro Ishii & Karl Anderson beat Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Kazuchika Okada?(9:00)?when Anderson used the Gun Stun on Hirasawa.
3.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Jado beat Black Tiger?(11:26)?with a horizontal cradle.
4. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue & Tiger Mask beat Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & YAMATO??(16:46)?when Iizuka was DQ?d.
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Jushin Thunder Liger [2] beat Taichi [0]?(11:11)?with a brainbuster.
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Tsuyoshi Kikuchi??[2] beat Koji Kanemoto [2]?(9:18)?with a cradle.
7. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Ryusuke Taguchi & Prince Devitt beat Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Milano Collection AT & AKIRA?(19:33)?when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on AKIRA.

NJPW, 6/2/09
Wel Sunpia Tochigi
500 Fans?- No Vacancy

1. YAMATO??beat Nobuo Yoshihashi?(5:14)?with the CBV.
2. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi??& Atsushi Aoki??beat Koji Kanemoto & Mitsuhide Hirasawa?(7:06)?when Kikuchi pinned Hirasawa.
3.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: AKIRA [2] beat Black Tiger [0]?(12:52)?with a moonsault press.
4. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii & Karl Anderson beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue, Tomoaki Honma & Kazuchika Okada?(12:19)?when Nakamura used the Landslide on Okada.
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Prince Devitt [2] beat Jado [2]?(12:54)?with a diving footstomp.
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Kota Ibushi??[2] beat Taichi [0]?(11:59)?with a Dragon suplex hold.
7. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Jushin Thunder Liger & Milano Collection AT?(18:32)?when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on Milano

NJPW, 6/3/09 (SXW)
Tokorozawa Citizen Gymnasium #2
1,100 Fans?- Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi??beat Nobuo Yoshihashi?(5:35)?with a chickenwing armlock.
2. Karl Anderson & Black Tiger beat AKIRA & Mitsuhide Hirasawa?(8:21)?when Anderson used the Gun Stun on Hirasawa.
3. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii & Jado beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue, Koji Kanemoto & Tomoaki Honma?(14:29)?when Nakamura used the Landslide on Honma.
4. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata & Taichi beat Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada(15:24)?when Nakanishi used the Dai*Nakanishi German on Okada.
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Prince Devitt [4] beat Atsushi Aoki??[0]?(11:16)?with the Prince’s Throne.
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: YAMATO??[2] beat Jushin Thunder Liger [2]?(3:38)?with the Gallaria.
7.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Ryusuke Taguchi [4] beat Kota Ibushi??[2]?(10:13)?with the Dodon.
8.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Tiger Mask [4] beat Milano Collection AT [2]?(16:12)?with a Destroy suplex hold.


PRO WRESTLING NOAH

Southern Navigation to Kick off Tonight
Southern Navigation ’09 is shaping up to be an interesting tour. While there isn’t walk-away big show, there certainly are a ton of interesting matches lined up. The tour will kick off tonight with Ricky Marvin challenging KENTA for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship. The match has had a rather lengthy build, going all the way back to the March Nippon Budokan show, where Marvin, dressed as a masked attacker, jumped KENTA shortly after the NOAH prodigy regained his title defeating Katsuhiku Nakajima.

The second big match will take place on the 8th, as Kenta Kobashi will challenge Makoto Hashi for the Hardcore Openweight title. This will be Kobashi’s first title match since he lost the GHC Heavyweight Championship to Takeshi Rikioh in 2005. The Hardcore Openweight championship was originally brought into NOAH by Jun Akiyama in 2004. Its similar to a television belt, being contested mostly between mid carders and even sharing the 15 minute rule. The champion can institute any kind of rules they like and the matches can have any kind of stipulations along with them. At one point, the belt was split in two so that it could serve as a sub-tag team championship. It was later re-formed into a singles belt in late 2007. Makoto Hashi has been champion since late 2008.

Speaking of Takeshi Rikioh, he’ll get his first crack at the GHC Heavyweight Championship in a year, as he’ll challenge Jun Akiyama for the belt on the 14th at the Hakata Star Lanes. Also, the Tag belts will be on the line, with Champions Bison Smith & Akitoshi Saito defending the titles against Global Tag League Winners Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki.

NOAH 04/06/09
Tokyo, Korakuen Hall

1. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taiji Ishimori vs Atsushi Aoki & Akihiko Ito
2. Bison Smith, Akitoshi Saito & Bobby Fish vs Mitsuharu Misawa, Yoshinari Ogawa & Masao Inoue
3. Go Shiozaki vs Chris Hero
4. Jun Akiyama, Kenta Kobashi & Shuhei Taniguchi vs Takeshi Rikio, Mohammed Yone & Kotaro Suzuki
5.?GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title:?KENTA (c) vs Ricky Marvin

NOAH 06/06/09
Chiba Port Sub Arena

1. KENTA vs Bobby Fish
2. Takeshi Rikio, Mohammed Yone & Kotaro Suzuki vs Bison Smith, Chris Hero & Kishin Kawabata
3. Kenta Kobashi & Shuhei Taniguchi vs Akitoshi Saito & Makoto Hashi
4. Mitsuharu Misawa, Yoshinari Ogawa & Go Shiozaki vs Takeshi Morishima, Takashi Sugiura & Ricky Marvin

NOAH 08/06/09
Keio Plaza Hotel Hachioji 5th Floor

1. Akitoshi Saito & KENTA vs Akira Taue & Genba Hirayanagi
2. Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi vs Yoshihiro Takayama & Takashi Sugiura
3. Mitsuharu Misawa, Yoshinari Ogawa & Ricky Marvin vs Bison Smith, Chris Hero & Bobby Fish
4. GHC Hardcore Openweight Championship: Makoto Hashi v. Kenta Kobashi

NOAH 09/06/09
Kiramesse Numazu

1. Akitoshi Saito, Masao Inoue & Kotaro Suzuki vs Takashi Sugiura,?Takuma Sano?& Taiji Ishimori
2. Akira Taue & Genba Hirayanagi vs Chris Hero & Ricky Marvin
3. Kenta Kobashi & KENTA vs Bison Smith & Bobby Fish
4. Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi vs Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone

NOAH 11/06/09
Osaka Prefectural Gym 2

1. Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi vs Atsushi Aoki & Akihiko Ito
2. Takashi Sugiura vs Shuhei Taniguchi
3. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone
4. Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi vs Go Shiozaki & KENTA

NOAH 13/06/09
Hiroshima Green Arena

1. KENTA & Akihito Ito vs Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi
2. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone vs Akira Taue & Yuto Aijima
3. Yoshihiro Takayama vs Chris Hero
4.?GHC Tag Team Titles:?Bison Smith & Akitoshi Saito (c) vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki

NOAH 14/06/09
Hakata Star Lanes

1. KENTA & Akihito Ito vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taiji Ishimori
2. Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki vs Mohammed Yone & Kotaro Suzuki
3. Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue & Shuhei Taniguchi vs Yoshihiro Takayama, Takashi Sugiura & Takuma Sano
4.?GHC Heavyweight Title:?Jun Akiyama (c) vs Takeshi Rikio

NOAH 15/06/09
Kagoshima Arena

1. KENTA & Atsushi Aoki vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taiji Ishimori
2. Takeshi Morishima & Takashi Sugiura vs Akitoshi Saito & Yuto Aijima
3. Jun Akiyama, Shuhgei Taniguchi & Akihito Ito vs Mitsuharu Misawa, Go Shiozaki & Ricky Marvin
4. Kenta Kobashi & Kishin Kawabata vs Bison Smith & Bobby Fish

NOAH 16/06/09
Kumamoto Hall

1. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Ricky Marvin vs Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi
2. Yoshinari Ogawa & Taiji Ishimori vs KENTA & Akihito Ito
3. Akira Taue & Kishin Kawabata vs Takashi Morishima & Takashi Sugiura
4. Kenta Kobashi & Shuhei Taniguchi vs Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone
5. Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki vs Jun Akiyama & Atsushi Aoki

NOAH 18/06/09
Zepp Nagoya

1. Akira Taue, Masao Inoue & KENTA vs Takeshi Rikio, Mohammed Yone & Kotaro Suzuki
2. Jun Akiyama & Atsushi Aoki vs Chris Hero & Bobby Fish
3. Bison Smith & Akitoshi Saito vs Kenta Kobashi & Shuhei Taniguchi

NOAH 22/06/09
Tokyo, Korakuen Hall

1. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taiji Ishimori vs Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi
2. Takeshi Morishima & Takashi Sugiura vs Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano
3. Jun Akiyama & Akihito Ito vs Bison Smith & Chris Hero
4.?Flash Game Series 8th Game:?Atsushi Aoki vs Jushin ?Thunder? Liger
5.?Best of 10 Game Series 4th Game:?Shuhei Taniguchi vs Mitsuharu Misawa
6. Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda vs Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone


INDEPENDENTS

Vader Time

Leon White, AKA Vader, will be running two shows for his fledgling promotion on July 1st and August 2nd in Tokyo, and will feature Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch teaming together for the first time since they left the WWE.

IWA

Steve Williams was featured on May 24th at the IWA show at Shinjuku Face. The main event featured former WWE Superstar Tajiri, Black Buffaolo and others. Williams appeared after the match holding the old IWA Heavyweight Championship title belt, which was last held by Jim Duggan years ago. Williams booked the promotion for a period of time until his cancer got so bad he couldn’t go overseas.
He is scheduled to face Matsuda at the next show.

Also, Tarzan Goto made a shocking return, defeating IWA owner Kiyoshi Asano under a mask. After the victory he unmasked to a huge pop, as he was a major star in Japan in the 1990s.

Real Japan

Real Japan announced its 6/7 Korakuen Hall card and will feature the Original Tiger Mask. Ultimo Dragon & Riki Chosu teaming to take on the team of the Great Sasuke, Masahiro Chono & Daisuke Sekimoto. Also, Minoru Suzuki will team up with Super Tiger to take on the team of Mitsuya Nagai & Yuki Ishikawa.

Bill Eadie, who was a pretty big star in the 80s as the Masked Superstar (among other gimmicks here in the US), will be brought on board for the July 4th show in Tokyo. It will be his first trip to Japan since 1993.

W*NG

W*NG held its reunion show on May 29th in Tokyo on a show that was attended by 379 fans. Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Masato Tanaka defeated Hideki Hosaka & Masaru Toi in a Carribean Bunkhouse match, and the undercard featured Mr. Pogo & Toryu defeating Bad Boy Hido & Kintaro Kanemura. It looks like they”re looking to bring the hardcore fed back on a more permanent basis, and will be back on August 2nd with another show.

Hunter’s Mindless, Ongoing, Who-Cares-what-he-thinks!? Best Puro Matches of 2009

I’m hoping by that at the end of this nonsense, I’ll have a nice 10-15 match list for you guys to check out at the end of the year. Heck, maybe even a top 20~. Just so you guys know, I hate star ratings. I just do. I used to love them, had great affection and maybe even got caught by my wife with them i n the past, but hey, I just don’t think ******** is a replacement for actually knowing what you’re talking about and wish to communicate. Take them with a grain of salt, but anything that pops up on THIS list, you should probably check out.?

1.) Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Shinsuke Nakamura, IWGP Heavyweight Championship, New Japan 2/15 ****
2.)Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Gotoh v. Mitsuharu Misawa & Takeshi Suguira, New Japan 1/4 ***3/4
3.) Alexander Otsuka vs. Yujiro Yamamoto, BattlARTS 2/15 ***3/4
4.) Minoru Suzuki & Taiyo Kea v. SUWAMA & Shuji Kondo, World Tag Team Championship, All Japan 3/15 ***1/2
5.) Takashi Suguira & Go Shiozaki v. Shinsuke Nakamura & Milano Collection A.T., NOAH 3/1 ***1/2
6.) Katsumi Usuda vs. Yuta Yoshikawa ? BattlARTS 2/15 ***1/2
7.) Hirooki Gotoh v. Giant Bernard, New Japan Cup Semi Finals, New Japan 3/22 ***1/4
8.)Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada vs. Takashi Sugiura & Atsushi Aoki, New Japan 5/5 ***1/4
9.) Jun Akiyama v. KENTA, NOAH 5/17 ***1/4
10.) Mammoth Sasaki & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Shinya Ishikawa & Yoshihito Sasaki, Big Japan ? ***
11.) Alexander Otsuka v. Daisuke Sekimoto, IGF 3/15 ***
12.) Giant Bernard v. Yutaka Yoshie, New Japan Cup Semi Finals, New Japan 3/22 ***
13.) Takashi Iizuka v. Yuji Nagata, Chain Match, New Japan 4/5 ***

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