Rising Sun Soliloquy Newsletter #26
May 27, 2009
By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
New Japan Poster Controversy Resolved
At the beginning of the month, New Japan released a poster for their June 20th show which will be headlined by IWGP Heavyweight Champion Manabu Nakanishi and challenger Hiroshi Tanahshi. The poster drew much criticism due to its not so casual use of Nazi symbols in the poster, with such things as a the swastika, SS Symbols and Parteiadler (eagle) used in various ways. The poster didn’t cause too much of a stir in Japan, but is certainly did amongst the wrestling community in the United States, especially from the National Wrestling Alliance, of which New Japan still maintains loose ties with. Robert Trobich, executive director of the NWA, issued the following statement two weeks ago:
It has come to our attention at the National Wrestling Alliance that New Japan Pro Wrestling (NWA member in Japan) has included the use of certain offensive images and symbols in the promotion of its upcoming “Dominion” event. The NWA does not approve of or condone the use of these images and symbols, and has requested that New Japan remove such images and symbols from their promotional materials.
As the oldest and most storied promotional body in professional wrestling, the NWA is committed to our fans and their enjoyment of pro wrestling.
Our sincerest apologies,
Robert K. Trobich
Executive Director
National Wrestling Alliance
While the impact of the NWA condemnation wasn’t all that severe, New Japan still felt it was a pretty embarrassing gaffe on their part, and feared their relationship with TNA would be effected, and thus decided to issue a different poster. That poster can be seen here.
Best of the Super Juniors Tournament Set to Kick off This Week
The Best of the Super Juniors Tournament is set to kick off this Saturday in Tokyo.
The annual tournament has been held since 1988, when it debuted as ?The Top of the Super Juniors?. It underwent a name change in 1994 and up until 1996, was held as a single elimination tournament. Today’s tournament now features two phases, a round robin stage and an elimination phase. Wrestlers are drawn into two groups, with the first and second place finishers advancing to a one-night, single elimination knock out phase.
The tournament has been a major launching pad for many famous wrestlers in the past, especially Americans or outsiders looking to make a name for themselves and remains to this day, the showcase event on the Junior Heavyweight wrestling calender. Eddie Guerrero, Fit Finlay, Owen Hart, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Chavo Guerrero, 2 Cold Scorpio and Dean Malenko have been featured in the tournament in the past, with Benoit and Guerrero winning the competition (Benoit in 1993 & 1995 and Guerrero in 1996). Jushin Liger, Shinjiro Ohtani and El Samurai have all made big names for themselves large in part due to the high-profile nature of the competition.
While in recent years the prestige of the tournament has significantly faded, it still remains one of the feature attractions of the Puroresu year. This year’s tournament, while not featuring any foreigners, will have a healthy dose of outside talent.
DDT representative Kota Ibushi will be making his BOSJ debut, and has a stipulation attached that if he wins the tournament, he will receive a full time contract. YAMATO will be joining the competition from the hot Dragon Gate promotion, and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Atsushi Aoki will be representing Pro Wrestling NOAH.
The Following is a break down of the Blocks for the Tournament:
Block-A
Ryusuke Taguchi (New Japan)
YAMATO (Dragon Gate)
Koji Kanemoto (New Japan)
Kota Ibushi (DDT)
Black Tiger (New Japan)
Jado (New Japan)
AKIRA (New Japan)
Block-B
Tiger Mask (New Japan, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion)
Atsushi Aoki (NOAH)
Milano Collection AT (New Japan)
Prince Devitt (New Japan)
Jushin ?Thunder? Liger (New Japan)
Taichi (New Japan)
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (NOAH)
Koji Kanemoto (New Japan)
Best of the Super Juniors Champions Year-By-Year
1988: Shiro Koshinaka
1991: Norio Honaga
1992: Jushin ?Thunder? Liger
1993: Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit)
1994: Jushin ?Thunder? Liger
1995: Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit)
1996: Black Tiger II (Eddie Guerrero)
1997: El Samurai
1998: Koji Kanemoto
1999: Kendo Kashin
2000: Tatsuhito Takaiwa
2001: Jushin ?Thunder? Liger
2002: Koji Kanemoto
2003: Masahito Kakihara
2004: Tiger Mask IV
2005: Tiger Mask IV
2006: Minoru
2007: Milano Collection AT
2008: Wataru Inoue
NJPW, 5/30/09 (Samurai! TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Nobuo Yoshihashi vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi?
2. Jushin Thunder Liger, AKIRA & Taichi vs. Karl Anderson, Black Tiger & Jado
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii
4. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata & Mitsuhide Hirasawa vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. YAMATO?
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Tiger Mask vs. Atsushi Aoki?
7.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Milano Collection AT vs. Prince Devitt
8.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Koji Kanemoto vs. Kota Ibushi?
NJPW, 5/31/09
Mito Citizen Gymnasium
1. Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Karl Anderson
2. Nobuo Yoshihashi vs. Atsushi Aoki?
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue & Tiger Mask vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & YAMATO?
4. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Milano Collection AT & AKIRA vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Ryusuke Taguchi & Prince Devitt
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Black Tiger vs. Jado
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taichi
7.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Koji Kanemoto vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi?
NJPW, 6/3/09 (SXW)
Tokorozawa Citizen Gymnasium #2
1. Nobuo Yoshihashi vs. YAMATO?
2. Koji Kanemoto & Mitsuhide Hirasawa vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi??& Atsushi Aoki?
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue, Tomoaki Honma & Kazuchika Okada vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii & Karl Anderson
4. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Jushin Thunder Liger & Milano Collection AT vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Taichi vs. Kota Ibushi?
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Prince Devitt vs. Jado
7.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: AKIRA vs. Black Tiger
NJPW, 6/5/09
Yonago Industrial Gymnasium
1. Nobuo Yoshihashi vs. Atsushi Aoki?
2. Tiger Mask & Mitsuhide Hirasawa vs. Black Tiger & YAMATO?
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Super Strong Machine, Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii & Karl Anderson
4. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Koji Kanemoto & Milano Collection AT vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Prince Devitt & Kazuchika Okada
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: AKIRA vs. Jado
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Taichi vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi?
7.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
NJPW, 6/6/09
Shinji Lake Park
1. Tiger Mask & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Kazuchika Okada & Nobuo Yoshihashi
2. Super Strong Machine & Mitsuhide Hirasawa vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Karl Anderson
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Jado
4. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Koji Kanemoto & Taichi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Ryusuke Taguchi & Prince Devitt
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: AKIRA vs. Atsushi Aoki?
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Tsuyoshi Kikuchi??vs. YAMATO?
7.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Milano Collection AT vs. Black Tiger
NJPW, 6/7/09
Akashi Municipal Industrial Exchange Center
Kazuchika Okada & Nobuo Yoshihashi vs. Karl Anderson & Jado
2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii
3. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata & Milano Collection AT vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi
4.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Taichi vs. YAMATO?
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Black Tiger vs. Atsushi Aoki?
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Tiger Mask vs. Prince Devitt
7.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Koji Kanemoto
NJPW, 6/8/09
Fukui City Gymnasium
1. Nobuo Yoshihashi vs. Atsushi Aoki?
2. Ryusuke Taguchi, Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Kazuchika Okada vs. Karl Anderson, Jado & YAMATO?
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii & Black Tiger
4. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata & Milano Collection AT vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Prince Devitt
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Koji Kanemoto vs. Taichi
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Tsuyoshi Kikuchi??vs. Kota Ibushi?
7.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Tiger Mask vs. AKIRA
NJPW, 6/9/09
Gifu Mount Ace
1. AKIRA & Mitsuhide Hirasawa vs. Tomohiro Ishii & YAMATO?
2. Koji Kanemoto & Nobuo Yoshihashi vs. Kota Ibushi??& Atsushi Aoki?
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Karl Anderson
4. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Jushin Thunder Liger & Taichi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Tiger Mask & Kazuchika Okada
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Milano Collection AT vs. Jado
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Prince Devitt vs. Black Tiger
7.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi?
NJPW, 6/11/09
Mie Yume Dome Ueno #2
1. Kazuchika Okada & Nobuo Yoshihashi vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi??& Kota Ibushi?
2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue, Tomoaki Honma & Mitsuhide Hirasawa vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii & Karl Anderson
3. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Prince Devitt
4.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Taichi
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Koji Kanemoto vs. YAMATO?
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Tiger Mask vs. Jado
7.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: AKIRA vs. Milano Collection AT
NJPW, 6/12/09
Toyohashi City Gymnasium #2
1. Tiger Mask & Mitsuhide Hirasawa vs. Karl Anderson & Black Tiger
2. Koji Kanemoto & Milano Collection AT vs. Kazuchika Okada & Nobuo Yoshihashi
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii
4. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata & Taichi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Jado vs. Atsushi Aoki?
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Kota Ibushi??vs. YAMATO?
7.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: AKIRA vs. Prince Devitt
8.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi?
NJPW, 6/13/09
Kyoto KBS Hall
1. Taichi, Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Karl Anderson & Jado
2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & YAMATO?
3. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata & AKIRA vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Prince Devitt
4.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Milano Collection AT vs. Atsushi Aoki?
5.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Kota Ibushi?
6.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block B: Koji Kanemoto vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
7.?Best of the Super Jr. – Block A: Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger
NJPW, 6/14/09 (SXW)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1.?Best of the Super Jr. – Semi Final: Block A 1st Place vs. Block B 2nd Place
2.?Best of the Super Jr. – Semi Final: Block B 1st Place vs. Block A 2nd Place
3.?Best of the Super Jr. – Final:
RISE UP Show All Set For Saturday Night
All Japan Pro Wrestling will be having its third pay per view of the year, ?Rise Up?, which will emanate from the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Aichi. The card will feature two title matches, with both the Triple Crown and World Junior Heavyweight titles being defended.
The show is headlined by the Triple Crown Championship match, which will feature Champion Yoshihiro Takayama defending his title against best friend, stable mate and 2009 Champions Carnival winner Minoru Suzuki. The build for this has been rather interesting. For starters, this is Takayama’s first defense, and its a major match with there being a strong possibility that there could be a title change. Both have been largely independent for much of the last 8 years, and have frequently tagged together in a variety of promotions. In 2006, Suzuki landed in All Japan and has stayed there ever since, and enjoyed much success. He has won nearly every major singles honor a wrestler can win in his three year stint, winning the Triple Crown in late 2006, along with capturing (and currently holding) both the All-Asia and World Tag Team Championships with partners NOSAWA Rongai and Taiyo Kea respectively. Just this past month, he won the All Japan Champions Carnival, defeating Junior Champion Kaz Hayashi in the finals to earn his title shot.
Takayama showed up in All Japan in November, ironically to save Minoru Suzuki after he was defeated by the Great Muta in his last Triple Crown bid. Takayama would go on to challenge Muta for the titles in March and defeated him. After the match, Takayama swore allegiance to the GURENTAI faction, which at the time, was headed up by Suzuki and featured NOSAWA Rongai and Taiyo Kea. With the addition of Takayama, the faction now controlled all the major heavyweight titles in the company.
A wrench was thrown in the works when Suzuki won the Champions Carnival as he was automatically awarded a title shot. At first he refused, but eventually, All Japan management forced his hand and made the match anyways. Suzuki, historically a greedy and conniving character, was paired against Takayama in a tag match earlier in the month and when on the offensive, smashing up Takayama’s leg. After the match, Takayama said that their title match was on, and that he had declared ‘war’ on Suzuki.
The second big match of the night will feature Junior Champion Kaz Hayashi matching up against Toshizo, who along with his partner Minoru, won the 2009 Junior Tag League, defeating Hayashi and his partner Shuji Kondo in the finals. Thus far, Toshizo has gained two victories over Hayashi, pinning him in the tag league as well as submitting him in a tag team match in Fukuoka last Saturday.
Also set for the card will be a big (literally) six man tag team match as Keiji Muto teams up with the newly formed Sumo team of Akebono & Ryota Hama to take on the Twin Towers combination of Zodiac (Aaron Aguilera) & Joe Doering and their partner Taru. Akebono and Hama have made their intentions clear that they aim to win the All Asia tag team belts, and a win here would go a long ways towards setting them up for a title shot.
Masayuki Kono will also be making his pay per view re-debut of sorts, as he takes on Suwama. Kono recently returned from a stint in Mixed Martial Arts and now looks better than ever according to reports. He shocked All Japan fans, defeating long time/big time company name Satoshi Kojima clean as a whistle two weeks ago and will go for his second win over a major star in a row, as he tries to topple All Japan’s wrestler of the year from 2008.
Also scheduled to appear on the card will be the team of Osamu Nishimura & Phil Atlas taking on Seiya Sanada & Manabu Soya. Shuji Kondo will team with Nobutaka Araya in his final match in wrestling, as they will take on the Vodoo Murderers tandem of Minoru & Hate. GURENTAI will not only be fighting each other, but every one else as well, as Taiyo Kea, NOSAWA Rongai & MAZADA team up to take on Satoshi Kojima, KAI & Hiroshi Yamato.
AJPW, 5/30/09 (GAORA TV)
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium
1. Osamu Nishimura & Phil Atlas vs. Seiya Sanada & Manabu Soya
2. Shuji Kondo & Nobutaka Araya vs. Minoru & Hate
3. Satoshi Kojima, KAI & Hiroshi Yamato vs. Taiyo Kea, NOSAWA Rongai & MAZADA
4. Suwama vs. Masayuki Kono
5. Keiji Muto, Akebono & Ryota Hama vs. TARU, ZODIAC & Joe Doering
6.?AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Kaz Hayashi (c) vs. Toshizo
7.?Triple Crown: Yoshihiro Takayama (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki
RISE UP TOUR 2009 Results
Here are the results of the RISE UP TOUR to date:
AJPW “RISE UP TOUR 2009”, 20.05.2009?
Kumamoto Hungnam Hall?
1,450 Fans?- Super No Vacancy?
1. Seiya Sanada def Brad Martin?(8:08)?with the Tiger Suplex Hold.?
2. Masayuki Kono def Manabu Soya?(14:25)?with the CNT.?
3. Kaz Hayashi, Shuji Kondo & Nobutaka Araya def Minoru, Hate & Toshizo?(15:02)? when Araya pinned Hate with the lariat.?
4. Yoshihiro Takayama & MAZADA def Suwama & Hiroshi Yamato?(17:27)?when Takayama used the running Kneelift on Yamato.?
5. Taiyo Kea & Minoru Suzuki def Satoshi Kojima & KAI?(17:06)?when Suzuki pinned KAI with a Gotch-Style Piledriver
6. Keiji Muto, Osamu Nishimura & Ryota Hama def TARU, Joe Doering & Zodiac?(14:56)? when Mutoh pinned Doering after a Shining Wizard
AJPW “RISE UP TOUR 2009”, 21.05.2009?
Miyazaki MRT Diamond Hall?
800 Fans?
1. Phil Atlas def Brad Martin?(7:45)?with the A’s Buster.?
2. Kaz Hayashi DEF Nobutaka Araya?(8:57)?with the Power Plant.?
3. Yoshihiro Takayama & Taiyo Kea DEF Osamu Nishimura & Seiya Sanada?(15:36)?when Takayama used the running Knee Life on Sanada
4. Minoru, Zodiac & Toshizo def Satoshi Kojima, KAI & Hiroshi Yamato?(19:06)?when Toshizo pinned Yamato with the High Kick
5. Suwama & Shuji Kondo def Minoru Suzuki & MAZADA?(19:18) when Suwama pinned Mazada with the last ride.
6. Keiji Muto, Masayuki Kono & Ryota Hama def TARU, Joe Doering & Hate?(13:36) when Mutoh used the Shining Wizard on Hate
AJPW “RISE UP TOUR 2009”, 22.05.2009?
Kagoshima Citizen Gymnasium?
1,250 Fans -?Super No Vacancy?
1. Osamu Nishimura, Phil Atlas & Brad Martin def Ryota Hama, Nobutaka Araya & Hiroshi Yamagami?(16:31)?when Nishimura pinned Araya with an inside cradle
2. Masayuki Kono def Seiya Sanada?(13:01)? with the CNT
3. Joe Doering & Minoru def Kaz Hayashi & Manabu Soya?(14:24)? when Doering used the revolution bomb on Soya
4. Yoshihiro Takayama def Zodiac?(7:16)? with a running knee lift
5. Satoshi Kojima, KAI & Hiroshi Yamato def TARU, Hate & Toshizo?(18:55)?When Kojima used a lariat to pin Hate
6. Keiji Muto, Suwama & Shuji Kondo def Taiyo Kea, Minoru Suzuki & MAZADA?(15:53) When Muto pinned MAZADA with a shining wizard AJPW “
AJPW “RISE UP TOUR 2009”, 23.05.2009?
Acros Fukuoka?
1,150 Fans?- No Vacancy
1. Joe Doering def Phil Atlas?(10:17) with the revolution bomb
2. Osamu Nishimura def Seiya Sanada?(13:01)?with a backslide
3. Zodiac & Toshizo def Kaz Hayashi & Ryota Hama?(13:31)?When Toshizo submitted Hayashi with the ankle lock
4. Satoshi Kojima, KAI & Hiroshi Yamato def TARU, Minoru & Hate?(15:56)? when Kojima pinned Hate with a lariat
5. Taiyo Kea & Minoru Suzuki def Yoshihiro Takayama & MAZADA?(14:26)? when Kea pinned MAZADA with the TKO34th
6. Suwama, Shuji Kondo & Manabu Soya def. Keiji Muto, Masayuki Kono & Seiya Sanada?(23:11)?when Kondo pinned Sanada with the Falcon Arrow
AJPW “RISE UP TOUR 2009”, 25.05.2009?
Oita Event Hall?
1,050 Fans?- No Vacancy?
1. Seiya Sanada & Manabu Soya def Nobutaka Araya & Ryota Hama?(10:30)?When Soya def Araya with the Tornado Bomb
2. TARU, Minoru & Toshizo def Osamu Nishimura, Shuji Kondo & Brad Martin?(12:16)?when Minoru pinned Martin with an Avalanche style wrist clutch fisherman’s buster.
3. Masayuki Kono def Zodiac?(7:45)? with the falcon arrow
4. Minoru Suzuki def Hiroshi Yamato?(9:59)? with the cross arm breaker?
5. Satoshi Kojima & KAI def Joe Doering & Hate?(14:17)?when Kojima pinned Hate with the lariat
6. Keiji Muto, Suwama & Kaz Hayashi def Yoshihiro Takayama, Taiyo Kea & MAZADA?(16:46)?when Suwama used the Last Ride on MAZADA
AJPW “RISE UP TOUR 2009”, 26.05.2009?
Yanai City Gymnasium?
1,200 Fans?- No Vacancy?
1. Manabu Soya def Phil Atlas?(9:50) with the Tornado Bomb
2. Ryota Hama def Brad Martin?(6:26)? with the running body press
3. Taiyo Kea & Minoru Suzuki def Osamu Nishimura & Nobutaka Araya?(15:36) when Suzuki pinned Araya with the Gotch-style Piledriver
4. Minoru, Joe Doering & Zodiac def Satoshi Kojima, KAI & Hiroshi Yamato?(12:28)? when Doering pinned Yamato with the Revolution bomb
5. Suwama & Shuji Kondo def Yoshihiro Takayama & MAZADA?(12:22)?When Kondo def MAZADA with the King Kong Lariat
6. Keiji Muto, Kaz Hayashi & Masayuki Kono def TARU, Hate & Toshizo?(15:48) when Muto pinned Hate with a shining wizard
NOAH Announces Full Cards for Southern Navigation ’09 Tour
The full line up for NOAH’s big Southern Navigation ’09 tour have been announced. There will be three title matches at various points on the tour. The first match will happen on June 6th at the Korakuen Hall as KENTA will defend his GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship against Ricky Marvin. The GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championships will also be on the line during the tour, as champions Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith defend their titles against Global Tag League winners Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki in Hiroshima on the 13th. Lastly, the GHC Heavyweight Championship will also be up for grabs as Champion June Akiyama will face the man who ended Kenta Kobashi’s near two year run with the belt, Takeshi Rikioh.
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
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
BattlARTS
The groups and show dates have been announced for BattlARTS annual ?Young Generation Battle?, which this year has been renamed the ?B-1 Climax?. The tournament is broken up into two groups, with the group winners meeting in the finals.
Block A:
Yuki Ishikawa
Yuta Yoshikawa
Keita Yano
Ryuji Walter
Tiger Shark
Block B:
Munenori Sawa
Super Tiger
Katsumi Usuda
Yujiro Yamamoto
Sanchu Tsubakichi
BattlARTS 05/07/09
Kitasenju Theatre 1010
BattlARTS 26/07/09
Kitasenju Theatre 1010
BattlARTS 30/08/09 (Day)
Kitasenju Theatre 1010
BattlARTS 30/08/09 (Night)
Kitasenju Theatre 1010
BattlARTS 06/09/09
Kitasenju Theatre 1010
1.?Young Generation Battle Final:?Winner Block A vs Winner Block B
WWE Scouring Japan For Talent
Though the WWE has plucked and cultivated some stars from the US Indy circuit, they are said to be very down on the overall quality of pro wrestling in the United States outside of their own company. As a result, they are going to be ramping up efforts to recruit abroad, and will be holding a major try out this July in Japan. The company is said to be very big on Hiroshi Tanahashi, although many knowledge the likelihood of signing him from his very lucrative New Japan deal would be a long-shot. John Laurinaitis isn’t expected to make the trip, however, he is still in charge of the project and will be running it via telephone through WWE Japan staff members.
Jun Akiyama v. Go Shiozaki, GHC Heavyweight Championship, NOAH 4/19
Wow, this was pretty boring. Maybe it was the setting or the fact that Shiozaki couldn’t make up his mind where he wanted to go in the opening moments, but this really wasn’t that great from the get go. I didn’t mind Akiyama’s arm work all that much, as it was a nice little tip of the cap to the very good Budokan Hall match they had back in 2007. Problem here is there was just too much of this match and it seems to be a reoccurring problem with NOAH matches in general of late. They’re just going way, way longer than they need to. The arm work was interesting here, but the silly finishing stretch really lost my attention, especially with Shiozaki’s hip toss off the top rope using the same arm that’s been mangled the entire match. There’s just not a lot of fire to this match, or, its the classic case of seeing the same kind of match so many times now, that you’re just numb to it completely. Its probably a case of both.
Not to really stray too far off topic, but I’m really trying to get a grip on what makes Shiozaki a main event guy in NOAH management’s eyes. In fact, the only singles match he’s had that I thought was good stuff was his match with Akiyama back in ’07, but since then, if he’s not in a tag, he’s a mess, and in half the tags, he’s still a mess. He worked in the Indy circuit for a lot of 2007 & 2008, but holy smokes, the guy seems to have regressed. I’ve really gone far out of my way to NOT reserve judgment on this kid, but I’m really at a loss as to what people find so appealing about him. At all. *3/4
Jun Akiyama v. KENTA, NOAH 5/17
This was pretty good. I don’t know if this is something that’d really float my boat as a top-10 match, but it was pretty well worked. My only issue here is that KENTA really takes too much offense. Again, here we are, running into this ‘too long’ stuff, but this might be the new poster child. Shave five minutes off this puppy, and you’ve got yourself a real high-end MOTY candidate, but it just dragged a bit too much. Akiyama dished so much stuff out, that it really killed the illusion they worked so hard to create in the beginning, of KENTA really, really being a potential threat to Jun. There’s a few dry points where they do a little TOO much milking of the count out spots, which throws the pacing for a bit of a loop at times, but really, outside of those two things, this is a really fun match. Of the longest junior-ish 2009 NOAH matches, this one was by far the best. ***
Alexander Otsuka vs. Yujiro Yamamoto, BattlARTS 2/15
One of the top five Puro matches I’ve seen all year and I swear to god, Alexander Otsuka climbs up my ‘completely awesome’ list every day. Really simple story here, with Yamamoto mostly being a pain in the a$$, and slipping and sliding all over Otsuka. He’s like space monkey, and it presents an interesting challenge for Otsuka. He literally needs to try and create some space in order to close in on Yamamoto. He has to first pry him off him, then pounce and try to hit something big. It takes Otsuka a while to adjust, too, with Yamamoto surviving a big pile driver only to wrap Otsuka right back up. Even when Otsuka goes for the giant swing, Yamamoto figures out a way to shimmy up his foe and grab a wild guillotine choke. Eventually though, Otsuka’s able to find a way and blow Yamamoto to pieces with some fantastic dead-lift German Suplexes. The head butting Yamamoto in the back to get him over is just amazing. This is just absolutely awesome. Go well out of your way to check this out. It might be in my top five for the year. ***3/4
Katsumi Usuda vs. Yuta Yoshikawa ? BattlARTS 2/15
The opening of this didn’t really grab me as I really felt like this was turning into a one man show, with Usuda looking decidedly better in the first few minutes. Yoshikawa needs to learn to slowwww down. He really was eager to just whip n rip through headlock spots and arm bars that in ‘traditional’ pro wrestling, gets blown off regularly, but in ‘shoot style’ is a huge, huge no-no. After that though, this just got awesome. The leg selling from Usuda is through the roof. Right up there with Shinobu last year in the Big Japan tag that turned some heads. The stretch run is pretty fantastic and some of the strikes are the craziest I’ve seen this year. Definately a notch down from the previous match, but still a goodie. Its more of a one man show. ***1/4
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 ***
14.) Hirooki Gotoh & Jushin ?Thunder? Liger v. Yuji Nagata & Tiger Mask, New Japan 1/31***?
15.) Yuji Nagata v. Hirooki Gotoh, New Japan 2/15 ***
16.) Yuji Nagata v. Masato Tanaka, Zero1 World Championship, New Japan, ? ***