Rising Sun Soliloquy Newsletter #25
May 21, 2009
By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
Ric Flair in New Japan?
The big news over the course of this week was first reported by Dave Meltzer, and that was that Ric Flair has been trying to get back into the ring for quite some time now. According to sources in New Japan, Flair was looking to wrestle on January’s Tokyo Dome against Masahiro Chono in a special attraction match. There was even talks of him facing Riki Chosu, and at one point, there were talks of having a Ric Flair-Misawa match, as NOAH was going to be participating on the card. None of that however, came to pass and for a couple of reasons. Despite having agreed on fees, the biggest issue became whether or not he WWE would allow Flair to go through with it. Flair has really respected the WWE’s wishes in terms of whether or not he’ll return anywhere, never mind just the WWE. He never got the green light, so he never finalized the deal. As of now, there haven’t been any renewed talks of bringing him on for a match on this coming year’s show.
FULL Best of the Super Juniors Tour Schedule Announced
New Japan has announced many of their non-tournament matches for the Best of the Super Juniors tour shows. The big trends will be Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto teaming up against IWGP Heavyweight Champion Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata. That of course will build the upcoming rematch between Tanahashi and Nakanishi. In a very uneasy but interesting alliance, Togi Makabe will be partnering with Hiroyoshi Tenzan, the man he removed from the leadership of the now defunct GBH faction, as they unite to try and thwart off the newest major heel faction, CHAOS, led by Shinsuke Nakamura and Toru Yano.
On a side note, the Motor City Machine Guns are scheduled to defend their IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships at the Korakuen Hall on July 5th.
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
1. 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:
Marufuji Set to Return
From the looks of things, it appears that NOAH star Naomichi Marufujji will be able to return by December on this year. Marufuji blew his knee out during a match on his own show at the Tokyo Differ Ariake in late February and underwent surgery in April to have it repaired.
June 4th Korakuen Show Begins to Take Shape
The big angle the company ran at the May 6th show at the Budokan, featured Kenta Kobashi running in to save his rival Jun Akiyama from a beating at the hands of the new GENBA faction led by Takeshi Rikio and Mohommed Yone. With the company set to run the Korakuen hall on June 4th, it sets up a big six man tag team main event, where Akiyama and Kobashi will team up with partner Shuhei Taniguchi to take on Rikio, Yone and Kotaro Suzuki. Both Tamon Honda (Kobashi’s kayfabe training partner and long time best friend) and Taniguchi were beaten down by Rikio and Yone as well, so expect to see them pop up in the feud at some point as well.
Also added to the show, will be the well-built encounter between Ricky Marvin and GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion KENTA. They had been running an angle for weeks where a masked attacker would consistently attack KENTA after his matches. KENTA tried to figure out who the attacker was, before Marvin revealed himself as such laster week. At the SEM card over the weekend, Marvin easily dispatched Shuhei Taniguchi to become the #1 contender for KENTA’s title.
Junior Tag League Announced
Pro Wrestling NOAH announced today that they will be holding a Junior Heavyweight Tag Tournament from July 12th to the 25th. The finals are slated to take place on the 25th at the new JCP Hall in Tokyo, which holds 3,600 people. This is the same venue that held this year’s Champion’s Carnival finals, and has turned into the ‘in-between’ venue for most Japanese promotions that have shows not quite big enough for the major arenas, but too big for the Korakuen.
KENTA Produced Show Sells Out
KENTA got his first crack at booking on Sunday, running his first ?Kenta Produce? NOAH sub-show at the Differ Ariake in Tokyo that drew a solid sell out crowd of 1,800. The main event featured GHC Heavyweight Champion Jun Akiyama taking on GHC Junior Champion KENTA in a ‘champion v. champion’ main event. Also on the card, Takashi Sugiura & Takeshi Morishima fought to a 30-minute draw against Rikio & Yone. Go Shiozaki managed to defeat Taniguchi, using the moonsault to gain the pin fall in 20 minutes.
NOAH 17/05/09
?KENTA Produce / Cross Roads?
Tokyo Differ Ariake
1800 fans (Super No Vacancy)
1. Kenta Kobashi?d. Genba Hirayanagi (5:59) with a Lariat.
2. Ricky Marvin?d. Atsushi Aoki (13:53) with an Inside Cradle.
3. Akitoshi Saito, Masao Inoue & Makoto Hashi?d. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kentaro Shiga & Kishin Kawabata (17:06) when Inoue used an Inside Cradle cutback on Kawabata.
4.?3 Way Match:?Akihiko Ito vs Taiji Ishimori vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru (2:57) went to a No Contest when Kotaro Suzuki interfered.?
4.1. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki?d. Taiji Ishimori & Akihiko Ito (9:34) when Suzuki used the Blue Destiny on Ito.
5. Go Shiozaki?d. Shuhei Taniguchi (20:18) with a Moonsault Press.
6. Takeshi Morishima & Takashi Sugiura vs Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone (30:00) went to a Time Limit Draw.
7. Jun Akiyama?d. KENTA (29:14)?with a?Sternness Dust Alpha.
Eventful Korakuen TV Tapings
All Japan made its monthly stop at the Korakuen on Sunday for their Samurai TV taping. Masayuki Kono, who had been participating in MMA for the last four years, made his long-awaited return to the ring and did in a pretty big way, defeating Satoshi Kojima with an avalanche-style cross arm breaker for the win. Kono looked pretty sharp and showed very little signs of ring rust. To get back into the swing of things, Kono was training in Canada for three months and it looks to have paid dividends. After the match, he and Suwama had a not so friendly encounter, so it looks like he’ll have yet another really big match coming up in the next month or two.
They continued build towards the big Triple Crown match between GURENTAI faction-mates and best friends Yoshihiro Takayama and Minoru Suzuki. Suzuki finally went hard-heel, and trapped Takayama’s foot in the ropes and began taking it apart. Once Takayama broke free, he retaliated with a big front suplex and a knee kick. Takayama said this was no minor skirmish, but a war, and that he’d smoosh his best friend once and for all at the May 30th show in Aichi.
The big storyline they’re pushing right now is that Minoru Suzuki is training with Satoru Kitaoka, whose the lightweight champion at the Sengoku promotion, while Pancrase light heavyweight champion Ryo Kawamura is also tagging along for advice.
They’ve been aggressively pushing this angle and did so at the aforementioned TV tapings, where Suzuki viciously beat up his All Asia Tag Team Championship partner Nosawa Rongai with a plethora of MMA moves, and tried to get the ref stoppage as opposed to the pin fall victory.
As can be expected, the Voodoo Murderers were busy as well, jumping Junior Champion Kaz Hayashi and repeatedly beat him with a chair and injured his arm using an iron pipe.
Toshizo got on the mic and said he didn’t care if the match was a ‘good fight’ or not, that he’d use far worse weapons during their match and he’d do whatever it took to win the title.
AJPW, 5/17/09 (Samurai! TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,450 Fans
Masanobu Fuchi beat Nobutaka Araya?(6:20)?with an inside cradle.
2. Minoru & Joe Doering beat Shuji Kondo & Ryota Hama?(9:13)?with the HEAT Clutch.
3. Taiyo Kea beat ZODIAC?(9:08)?with the TKO34th.
4. Seiya Sanada & Manabu Soya beat KAI & Hiroshi Yamato?(14:26)?when Soya used a sheer drop Death Valley Driver on KAI.
5. TARU, Hate & Toshizo beat Osamu Nishimura, Kaz Hayashi & Phil Atlas?(15:46)?when TARU used the TARU Driller on Atlas.
6. Minoru Suzuki & MAZADA beat Yoshihiro Takayama & NOSAWA Rongai?(15:32)?when Suzuki submitted Rongai by referee stop.
7.?Masayuki Kono All Japan Pro-Wrestling Return: Keiji Muto & Masayuki Kono beat Satoshi Kojima & Suwama?(25:09)?when Kono used an avalanche-style cross arm breaker
Mutoh Matsuri Show Additions
One match has been added to the Mutoh tribute show, and that’s the Nobutaka Araya v. Kikutaro match. It should be interesting to say the least.
AJPW ?MUTO MATSURI?, 6/10/09
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Nobutaka Araya vs. Kikutaro
2. Kokushi Muso & Hakushi vs. X & X
3. Great Muta vs. X
4.?F-1 Tag Team Title: Keiji Muto & Kannazaki (c) vs. X & X
Hama & Akebono Set to Be Full Time Team
Despite not announcing it on television, the plan for now is that former Sumo Wrestlers Akebono & Ryota Hama will be a full time tag team, and the company will look to aggressively push them towards the All-Asia Tag Team Championships. The storyline they’re planning on using is that Rikidozan & Harold Sakata (former Olympic weightlifting silver medalist) were the first team to win the belts. Both former legit athletes, they’re ‘dedicating’ their quest to those two.
Dradition
Yutaka Yoshie’s ?Dradition? promotion held a show on the 14th that drew a sellout crowd of 600 at the Shinjuku Face in Tokyo. The main event featured 80s dream team Tatsumi Fujinami, Riki Chosu and the Original Tiger Mask joining forces to defeat Masashi Aoyagi, Hiro Saito & Gran Hamada. Chosu got on the mic and announced that Mil Mascaras would be joining their team next time they got together.
Zero-One
The annual Zero-One ?Fire Festival?, their annual tournament ala the G1 or Champions Carnival, is set to kick off on July 25th at the Korakuen Hall. The Finals will be held on August 4th and the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
Also it appears that Ryoji Sai will be feuding with Masato Tanaka over the Zero-One title. The plans are, for now, to have the two face each other for the belt. During the May 8th show in Osaka, Tanaka partnered with Masaaki Mochizuki to defeat Sai & his partner Shingo Takagi, with Tanaka scoring the pin fall victory over Sai.
BattlARTS
Here’s the Full schedule for the remainder of the Summer!
BattlARTS 05/07/09
Kitasenju Theatre 1010
BattlARTS 26/07/09
Kitasenju Theatre 1010
BattlARTS 30/08/09
Kitasenju Theatre 1010
BattlARTS 06/09/09
Kitasenju Theatre 1010?
Also, while it has been not been finalized, here is the line up for the July BattlARTS show:
Futen 07/06/09
“Bati Bati 27”
Kawasaki Plaza Sol
1. Shoichi Uchida vs Ryuji Sekine
2. Mitsuya Nagai & White Moriyama vs Tamon Honda & Makoto Hashi
3. Kengo Mashimo vs Hiroyuki Ito
4. Takahiro Ohba vs Koichiro Kimura
5. Takeshi Ono vs Manabu Suruga
Osaka Pro
Osaka Pro ran its big 10th Anniversary show in Tokyo this past Sunday and while attendence was said to be ‘pretty good’, the company has been a bit coy about releasing a final attendance number thus far.
The night didn’t go so hot for the home-town promotion, as the Osaka Pro wrestlers went 0-4 against invading talent. The main event featured Dick Togo defeating Osaka Pro Champ Billyken Kid in the main event. After the match, Kid nominated Togo to be his next challenger, daring the star to come and try to take a run at his title.
The Rudo Army captured the Osaka Pro tag titles in the semi-main event, defeating Great Sasuke & Asian Couger. Kensuke Sasaki also made an appearance on the show, defeating the Bodyguard in six minutes. Kensuke said the Bodyguard had potential, but he said for now, he’s too immature to be successful. Sasaki talked about having a working deal set up with Kensuke Office and Osaka Pro.
Osaka Pro-Wrestling, 5/20/09
?Osaka Pro-Wrestling 10th Anniversary Celebration Show~Tenkatouitsu?
Tokyo, Korakuen Hall
1. Johnel Sanders (14:16 Johnel Buster) Naoki Setoguchi
2. Yuji Hino [W], Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi (12:15 Powerbomb) Atsushi Kotoge [L], Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke
3. Kikutaro, Miracleman & Kanjyuro Matsuyama [W] (11:53 Sanmon) Kuishinbo Kamen [L], Ebessan & Apple Miyuki
4. Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii [W] (13:47 Nice German) Hideyoshi & Masamune [L]5.?Special Single Match: Kensuke Sasaki (6:08 Lariat) The Bodyguard
6.?Osaka Pro-Wrestling Tag Title Match: Tigers Mask [W] & Black Buffalo (13:14 Modified Cradle) The Great Sasuke & Asian Cooger [L]*Sasuke & Cooger fail in 1st defense, Tigers & Buffalo become the 22nd champions
7.?Special Single Match: Dick Togo (20:43 Diving Senton) Billyken Kid