#AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

gdwessel · 3 years ago

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NOAH, AJPW, STARDOM, Dragon Gate Supercard Results for Emperor’s Birthday Holiday 2/23/2022 With Title Matches & Changes Galore; DDT’s COVID-19 Woes Continue To Wreak Havoc On Ultimate Tag League, DDT/TJPW 2/23/2022 Results

Today is the 62nd birthday for the Reiwa Emperor Naruhito. It is a national holiday in Japan, so there is a bunch of wrestling happening, with a bunch of title defenses across a bunch of promotions.

Pro Wrestling NOAH

NOAH ran Gain Control 2022 in Nagoya today, live on ABEMA and Wrestle Universe. Two title defenses, and a match to fill a third title, took place on this show.

Gain Control 2022 in Nagoya - 2/23/2022, Aichi Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall (ABEMA, Wrestle Universe)

King Tany & Muhammad Yone [Funky Express] d. Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue [Funky Express] (Yone > Inoue, Kinniku Buster, 11:58)

Nio [Kongo] d. Kinya Okada (Stuka Splash, 9:58)

NOSAWA Rongai & Kotaro Suzuki [Perros del Mal de Japon] d. Yoshinari Ogawa [STINGER] & Yasutaka Yano (Suzuki > Yano, Excalibur, 6:42)

Tadasuke, Hajime Ohara & ALEJA [Kongo] d. Hao, Junta Miyawaki & Kai Fujimura (Tadasuke > Fujimura, Fuyuki Special, 14:42)

Masato Tanaka [M’s Alliance] DCO Kendo Kashin [Sugiura-gun] (11:01)

Naomichi Marufuji [M’s Alliance] & Takashi Sugiura [Sugiura-gun] d. Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura (Sugiura > Inamura, Olympic Qualifying Slam, 20:22)

GHC Juniorheavyweight Tag Team Championship Decision Match: Atsushi Kotoge & YO-HEY d. HAYATA & Yuya Susumu [STINGER] (YO-HEY > Susumu, Super Face G, 26:58) - Kotoge/YO-HEY are the 49th champions

GHC Juniorheavyweight Championship: Daisuke Harada © d. Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon] (Hurricanrana, 18:57) - Harada succeeds his 2nd defense

Go Shiozaki, Kaito Kiyomiya & Daiki Inaba d. Kenoh, Masakatsu Funaki & Manabu Soya [Kongo] (Kiyomiya > Soya, Double Armlock, 21:21)

GHC Heavyweight Championship: Kazuyuki Fujita [Sugiura-gun] d. Katsuhiko Nakajima [Kongo] © (Powerbomb, 21:11) - Nakajima fails his 5th defense - Fujita is the 37th champion

Good golly, Miss Molly. Kazuyuki Fujita can now be one of the all-time worst IWGP *and* GHC Heavyweight Champions of all time. What can I say, besides, CyberFight love their 50+ year-old champions. I really don’t know what purpose this serves to NOAH. God I hate Kazuyuki Fujita.

So I guess Hajime Ohara is part of Kongo now. I can’t keep up with the changes in that stable anymore. YO-HEY comes good for Ohara’s old partner Kotoge, as they now fill the vacant junior tag belts. Hope this reign lasts more than a week, given the vacations of the belts the last month. One day BIG TANK Yoshiki Inamura will beat Takashi Sugiura. Super Crazy does not get to hold two promotions’ junior titles in the span of a couple of months. Masao Inoue returned to the ring in an inter-Funky-Express match.

NOAH’s next show is on Friday from Yokohama Radiant Hall.

All Japan Pro Wrestling

A Triple Crown match highlighted today’s Korakuen Hall rally for AJPW. Three other title matches took place on this one too. Hokuto Omori and Yusuke Kodama were pulled from this show as being close contacts to an undetermined positive COVID-19 case.

Excite Series 2022 Night 5 - 2/23/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (AJPW.tv)

Ryuki Honda [TOTAL ECLIPSE] d. Ryo Inoue (Lariat, 4:00)

Dan Tamura [Evolution] & Ryuji Hijikata d. Takuho Kato & Kazumasa Yoshida (Tamura > Yoshida, 6:49)

Shuji Ishikawa, Takao Omori & Black Menso-re d. Yuma Aoyagi, Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO [NEXTREAM] (Ishikawa > HAYATO, Fire Thunder Bomb, 9:02)

KAZMA SAKAMOTO, Takayuki Ueki & Seigo Tachibana d. Yoshitatsu, Izanagi & Devil Murasaki (KAZMA > Yoshitatsu, Schoolboy, 8:22)

GAORA TV Championship: Shigehiro Irie © d. Isami Kodaka (Flying Headbutt, 10:22) - Irie succeeds his 2nd defense

World Juniorheavyweight Championship: Hikaru Sato [Evolution] d. SUGI © (Cross Armbreaker, 9:51) - SUGI fails his 3rd defense - Sato is the 61st champion

World Tag Team Championship: Suwama & Shotaro Ashino [Evolution] © d. Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi [TOTAL ECLIPSE] (Ashino > Doi, T-Bone Suplex, 18:26) - Runaway SUPLEX succeed their 3rd defense

Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship: Kento Miyahara [NEXTREAM] © d. Abdullah Kobayashi [BJW] (German Suplex Hold, 16:06) - Miyahara succeeds his 1st defense

I don’t think there were any surprises here today, including the junior title change. AJPW will not put the Triple Crown on a wrestler contracted to Big Japan. Sato is far superior a wrestler to SUGI. But hey, Shigehiro Irie retained his title, and we like him a lot around these parts.

It would not surprise me to see Shuji Ishikawa challenge Kento coming up either.

The Excite Series wraps up Sunday in Chiba.

STARDOM

STARDOM held Cinderella Journey in Nagaoka today, live on PPV. I don’t think you can still get it; both links I tried, failed. Four title matches on this one.

Cinderella Journey 2022 in Nagaoka - 2/23/2022, Niigata Aore Nagaoka (PPV)

Future Of Stardom Next Challenger 3-Way Match: - Rina [Oedo Tai] d. Waka Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] & Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] (Rina > Tsukiyama, Gory Bomb, 6:09) - Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] d. Waka Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] (8:06)

Future Of Stardom Championship: Hanan [STARS] © d. Momo Kohgo [Queen’s Quest] (Backdrop Hold, 5:20) - Hanan succeeds her 2nd defense

Ruaka & Momo Watanabe [Oedo Tai] d. Utami Hayashishita & Lady C [Queen’s Quest] (Ruaka > C, Freezer Bomb, 7:34)

Mayu Iwatani [STARS] & Tam Nakano [Cosmic Angels] d. Saki Kashima & Fukigen Death [Oedo Tai] (Iwatani > Kashima, Moonsault Press, 10:04)

Syuri, Maika & Himeka [Donna del Mondo] TLD Giulia, MIRAI & Thekla [Donna del Mondo] (20:00)

Goddess Of Stardom Championship: Koguma & Hazuki [STARS] © d. Mina Shirakawa & Unagi Sayaka [Cosmic Angels] (Koguma > Shirakawa, Diving Body Press, 12:28) - Koguma/Hazuki succeed their 2nd defense

High Speed Championship: AZM [Queen’s Quest] d. Starlight Kid [Oedo Tai] © (Numero Uno, 17:03) - Starlight Kid fails her 6th defense - AZM is the 22nd champion

Wonder Of Stardom Championship: Saya Kamitani [Queen’s Quest] © d. Natsupoi [Donna del Mondo] (Phoenix Splash, 21:55) - Kamitani succeeds her 2nd defense

Immediately after retaining her title, Saya Kamitani nominated both her table leader Utami Hayashishita, and Cosmic Angels’ leader Tam Nakano, as challengers to her title for both nights at Ryogoku on 3/26 & 3/27/2022. Momo Watanabe challenged Koguma & Hazuki for their titles, with a special mystery partner to team with her. The crux of the opener is to determine the challengers for Hanan on both nights of Ryogoku, which will now be Rina and Mai Sakurai, both. Seems like an awfully busy time for STARDOM.

STARDOM return this weekend with shows Saturday and Sunday.

Dragon Gate

DG held Memorial Gate 2022 in Wakayama today, which you can see now on Dragon Gate Network. Featured today was the first defense of the Open The Twin Gate titles for Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka.

Memorial Gate 2022 in Wakayama - 2/23/2022, Wakayama Prefectural Gymnasium (Dragon Gate Network)

Susumu Yokosuka, Big Boss Shimizu & U-T [Natural Vibes] TLD KAI, BxB Hulk & Shun Skywalker [Z-Brats] (15:00)

Takashi Yoshida & Ho Ho Lun d. Strong Machine J & Shachihoko Boy (Yoshida > Boy, Release Powerbomb, 3:49)

SB KENTo & Diamante [Z-Brats] d. Yosuke Santa Maria & Punch Tominaga (KENTo > Yosuke, SB Shooter, 0:34)

YAMATO, Dragon Kid, Ben-K, Keisuke Okuda & Kagetora [HIGH-END] d. Ultimo Dragon, Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, Yasushi Kanda & Shuji Kondo (Kagetora > Kanda, Kagenui, 12:24)

Open The Brave Gate #1 Contender 5-Way Match: Takuma Fujiwara d. Riki Iihashi, Ishin Iihashi, Takumi Hayakawa & Ryu Fuda (Fujiwara > Ishin, Schoolboy, 7:32)

Naruki Doi, Kota Minoura & Kaito Ishida d. Kzy, Genki Horiguchi & Jacky “Funky” Kamei [Natural Vibes] (Minoura > Horiguchi, Gang, 9:58)

HYO [Z-Brats] d. Eita (Schoolboy with ropes, 7:37)

Open The Twin Gate Championship: Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka © d. Jason Lee & La Estrella (Yoshioka > Estrella, Frog Splash, 17:58) - DiaYoshi succeed their 1st defense

Dragon Dia remains a double-crown champion after he & Yoshioka beat Dia’s former MASQUERADE mates in Lee & Estrella. I don’t know if DiaYoshi is the name, but it sounded good and DG-esque. Dia will now face Takuma Fujiwara to defend the Brave Gate title after Fujiwara beat his dojo class fellows. I was kinda rooting for Ryu Fuda actually. That match will be at Champion Gate in Osaka on 3/5/2022.

Naruki Doi’s Unit With No Name gets a good prelude win over Natural Vibes, as we head for that Open The Triangle Gate match, also on 3/5/2022.

HYO gets another one over on Eita, the man he deposed to turn R.E.D. into Z-Brats. In other Z-Brats goings on, after a week or so of Big Boss Shimizu beating HYO in prelude matches, and getting a direct win over KAI, now Z-Brats is starting to get one over on Shimizu, first with KAI interfering to cause Shimizu’s loss to Jason Lee on Sunday, and now a time limit draw in the opener to add some intrigue to the KAI v. Shimizu Open The Dream Gate title defense that is coming 3/6/2022 in Osaka.

The Truth Gate 2022 tour wraps up Saturday in Tsushima, and on Sunday with another streamed show from Kobe.

DDT / Tokyo Joshi

The COVID-19 issues for DDT continue, as Hideki Okatani has now tested positive as well. Eruption are now effectively out of the tournament – their match that was to take place today v. Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya is a forfeit, and due to Kazuki Hirata being out, the Eruption v. Hirata & Shuji Kondo match for the Final on Saturday will be a double-forfeit. Neither team were in the running at this point as it was. So today’s Ultimate Tag League show had no actual Ultimate Tag League matches on it. Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya end the League with 4 points, not in the running for the Final as that will come down to Burning v. The 37KAMIINA on Sunday for A Block.

DDT Ultimate Tag League 2022 In Fukushima!! - 2/23/2022, Will Fukushima (Wrestle Universe)

Kazusada Higuchi d. Yuki Ishida (Brain Claw, 10:00)

Danshoku Dino & Yuki iino [Pheromones] NC Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura [DISASTER BOX] (13:08)

Chris Brookes d. Yukio Naya (Death By Roll-Up, 12:41)

HARASHIMA [DISASTER BOX] & Antonio Honda d. Yukio Sakaguchi [Eruption] & Gorgeous Matsuno (Honda > Matsuno, Crushed La Magistral Cradle, 13:07)

Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul [DAMNATION TA] d. Yuji Hino & Akito (Sasaki > Akito, Crossface, 12:43)

Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada [Burning] d. Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & MAO [The 37KAMIINA] (Endo > Katsumata, Best Burning Star Press In The Universe, 19:27)

Burning get the win in a prelude match to the Final on Sunday against The 37KAMIINA. Post-main, Endo and Akiyama basically said The 37KAMIINA ain’t shit without Konosuke Takeshita. Endo says he will beat Takeshita at Korakuen Hall Sunday, and for the KO-D Openweight title at Ryogoku. Endo also ripped MAO’s favorite Gorgeous Matsuno shirt, for which MAO swore revenge. Speaking of Gorgeous Matsuno, at age 60, given CyberFight’s proclivities towards titling up older wrestlers, he may like his chances here soon.

Current Ultimate Tag League 2022 Standings:

A Block Akiyama/Endo – 6pts (3W 0D 0L) Takeshita/Ueno – 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Hino/Naya – 4pts (2W 0D 2L) Higuchi/Okatani – 2pts (1W 0D 3L) Kondo/Hirata – 0pts (0W 0D 4L)

B Block HARASHIMA/Yoshimura – 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Sasaki/Paul – 4pts (2W 0D 2L) Iino/Imanari – 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Brookes/Takanashi – 2pts (1W 0D 2L) MAO/Katsumata – 2pts (1W 0D 2L) The Final show is Sunday from Tokyo Korakuen Hall. Block A comes down to Burning v. The 37KAMIINA. Block B is still up for grabs between DISASTER BOX & Pheromones; DAMNATION TA are out, having had 4 matches (One of them was a forfeit win however). The Final will be the Block winners in the main event. Hopefully this card stands.

DDT Ultimate Tag League 2022 The Final!! - 2/27/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Soma Takao, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku v. Toru Owashi, Toi Kojima & Yuki Ishida

3-Way Match: Danshoku Dino [Pheromones] v. Antonio Honda v. Hiroshi Yamato

Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul [DAMNATION TA] v. Yuji Hino, Akito & Yukio Naya

Ultimate Tag League 2022 B Block: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi v. Shunma Katsumata & MAO [The 37KAMIINA]

Ultimate Tag League 2022 B Block: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura [DISASTER BOX] v. Yuki Iino & Yumehito Imanari [Pheromones]

Ultimate Tag League 2022 A Block: Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama [Burning] v. Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno [The 37KAMIINA]

Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai [Eruption] v. Sanshiro Takagi & Maya Yukihi

Ultimate Tag League 2022 Final: WINNER A Block v. WINNER B Block

Tokyo Joshi also ran today, a second show this week from Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall. Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh are still out due to positive COVID-19 tests.

Tokyo Joshi 2022 Winter - 2/23/2022, Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu d. Hikari Noa & Kaya Toribami (Kamifuku > Toribami, Famouser, 9:10)

3-Way Match: Suzume d. Haruna Neko & Moka Miyamoto (Suzume > Neko, Jackknife Hold, 9:52)

Hyper Misao d. Marika Kobashi (Hypami Returns, 10:51)

Shoko Nakajima, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino d. Raku, Pom Harajuku & Yuki Arai (Aino > Harajuku, Bakuretsu Bulldog, 14:40)

Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Nao Kakuta d. Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Arisu Endo (Tatsumi > Endo, Twist Of Fate, 16:28)

Tatsumi cut a post-match promo about how great it was that she and Yuka Sakazaki joined TJPW as classmates, and how Daydream will beat the Magical Sugar Rabbits at Ryogoku. Nodoka Tenma will have a singles match at Ryogoku as well against her Bakuretsu Sister, Yuki Aino, as we head towards her retirement. Hyper Misao will also face Sanshiro Takagi at Sumo Hall. Misao also protested Marika Kobashi’s “graduation from TJPW” before their match.

BJW, Ice Ribbon and Gatoh Move also held shows today. There may have been even more I don’t know about.

No post tomorrow. I am going to try to do an Upcoming Events post on Saturday, then back to the regularly scheduled posts on Sunday.

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mccooley · 7 years ago

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@fullmetalturtle requested I talk a bit about AJPW.

The company is currently experiencing a resurgence. Most notably known in the western world for their 90s era with Misawa, Taue, Kawada and Kobashi, All Japan is far removed from those times. Still, they managed to survive, providing that same hard-hitting style with a good crop of both veterans and young up and comers. They recently announced a streaming service to come some time this year and I urge everyone to give them a shot.

All Japan Pro Wrestling was established October 21st, 1972, just a few months after NJPW. The death of Rikidōzan in 1963, the founder of the first Japanese wrestling promotion (JWA), caused a rift inside the company. Shohei "Giant" Baba (AJPW) and Antonio Inoki (NJPW) left the JWA to start their own promotions. Both AJPW and NJPW were wildly popular from their beginnings but both would stumble in the 2000s. When Baba passed away in 1999, another rift was created. The board of directors could not agree on which direction to take the company. This caused a mass exodus where most of AJPW's top stars left to create NOAH, only leaving a couple of stars remaining. Both hurting at this time, All Japan and New Japan began working with each other from 2000-2002. That is until Keiji Mutoh decided to make the jump from New Japan to All Japan and took Satoshi Kojima and Kendo Kashin with him. Mutoh would become president of AJPW until 2011. In 2013 he was promised to have regained his position but this did not happen. Angered, Mutoh lead another exodus, creating his own promotion, Wrestle-1. Since July 1st, 2014 Jun Akiyama has been the president of AJPW and had lead the promotion on a resurgence. The talent pool is somewhat limited and AJPW is a shell of its former self but they remain active and have several promising young wrestlers who hope to bring the promotion back to its former glory.

Owner: Jun Akiyama

Ace: Suwama Budding Ace: Kento Miyahara

Championships: - Triple Crown Heavyweight - Established 1989 by merging the PWF World Heavyweight, NWA United National and NWA International Heavyweight Championships (Current Champion: Joe Doering) - World Tag Team - Established 1988 by merging PWF Tag Team and NWA International Tag Team Championships (Current Champions: Kento Miyahara & Yoshitatsu) - World Junior Heavyweight - Established 1986 replaced the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship (Current Champion: Atsushi Aoki) - All Asia Tag Team - Established 1955 by the JWA. Abandoned in 1973 but brought back in 1976. The oldest active championship in Japan. (Current Champions: Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata) - Gaora TV - Established 2012. Gaora is a TV station that promotes wrestling. (Current Champion: Jun Akiyama)

Tournaments: - Champion Carnival - Established 1973, inactive from 1983 to 1990. Double block round-robin tournament held to determine the best singles wrestler. Older than the G1 Climax by one year. (2017 Winner: Shuji Ishikawa) - Jr. Battle of Glory - First held in 1983 as the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title League. Wasn't used again until 1998. Has happened every year since 2014. Now is held as a double block round-robin tournament like the Champion Carnival. (2017 Winner: Koji Iwamoto) - Jr. Tag Batlle of Glory - First held in 1984 as the International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team League. Wasn't used again until 2002. Has happened every year since 2008. Single block round-robin tournament. (2017 Winners: Atsushi Maruyama & Masashi Takeda) - Ōdō Tournament - Established 2013, this is a singles single elimination where the winner receives a shot at the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. (2017 Winner: Suwama) - Real World Tag League - Established 1977 and has run every year since. Round-robin (sometimes single block, sometimes double). (2017 Winners: Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa)

#ajpw #njpw #wrestling #puroresu

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lostinyourears · 7 years ago

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This Just In! (Not Really) #2 : Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) vs. Brian Cage for the GHC Heavyweight Championship

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This series is meant to be highlighting free wrestling that was recently uploaded, though this one was posted like a month and a half ago so I sorta dropped the ball on it. It was uploaded by the Real Hero Archive who upload lots of Japanese wrestling that isn’t distributed in the states like NJPW is. It’s too good of a match to not highlight so here we go!

Who’s who?

Katsuhiko Nakajima is in grey/black attire with rust colored hair.

He got an early start making his MMA at 15 and his Professional Wrestling debut at 16 vs Tomohiro Ishii in Riki Choshu's World Japan promotion both times. His major league career would kick off in 2004 where he worked for NJPW at around 16/17, then 3 years in AJPW, before moving to NOAH in 2008 which has been his home promotion since while also working a decent amount of dates for Diamond Ring as his secondary company until they shuttered/became inactive in 2014.

Despite being with NOAH for nearly a decade, this reign is his first with their Heavyweight title, though in that span of time he was Junior Division Champion 3 times. This reign started in October 2016 when he beat long time NOAH talent Takashi Sugiura for the strap.

Brian Cage is in all yellow, with a mohawk. Brian Cage has been in lots of places throughout his career in the indies. He started in Deep South Pro Wrestling in 2007, then had a 2 year stint in the ECW Precursor Florida Championship Wrestling, 2010-2012 he worked as an NWA talent, during those years he also started appearing on PWG and garnering buzz. He was the brought in by AAA/Lucha Underground working a majority of his time in LU for 2015/2016, through 2017 NOAH has become the place he worked most for, in 2017 Brian Cage has worked for 37 different promotions. NOAH getting him the most with 13 appearances.

Since 2013 every year of Cage’s career has seen him wrestle in 18 different companies a year. As you may have guessed from all the places he has worked, Cage hasn’t had many belts of note. Winning this would be a big boon for his legitimacy as a contender for all world titles going forward. The biggest things he has had are the PWG tag titles with Elgin as ‘The Unbreakable Machines’ and his LU Gift of the Gods win and recently winning the poorly titled ‘Ultimate Opportunity’ in LU as well.

How’s the match?

Great, it’s a fast paced match that feels like it could have easily taken place at Reseda(PWG) or The Temple(LU). I’m not going to lie and say I’ve watched a ton of NOAH. It’s a bit of a blind spot and what I mostly know about them is their founder Misawa, and a few other notable names. I can’t say I’m half as versed in NOAH as I am in CMLL/NJPW/WWE. This match is a great start though and has made me interested to look into their history. They have some great champions in their history and before doing research for this piece I can’t honestly say I knew any of their former junior champions. Which shouldn’t be the case since NOAH is really the top indie of Japan. Though you could argue something like Shimmer or DDT is. NOAH really seems to be a place with great talent and great events.

This matches pacing is really fast and that might work against it for some people. Those who decry the ‘American Indie’ style of throwing everything against the wall might rub some people the wrong way. I don’t mind it when everything goes crisply, which it did here. At no time does it feel like they are blowing spots because of the lightning quick pace.

The few complaints I would have : I don’t like canadian destroyers, I said the same with Roja in CMLL when he was using one a few months ago. I just have never thought it looks good and continue to think that here. Cage also messed up his famous catch into a vertical suplex spot. They didn’t redo the spot... as that would be obvious and it didn’t really kill the crowd, with it being a bit into a hot match I think they recovered fine.

Toward the end Cage no sells which might ruffle feathers, but Cage is such a beast a no sell doesn’t seem silly. Plus, the champion immediately puts another bullet in the machine to end the match quickly after so it wasn’t like the no sell really lead to Cage getting offense off. It felt almost like hubris, Cage rather than selling and getting some air cockily got up and was knocked down twice as hard for his efforts. While most no sells are meant to make a guy look badass, Cage here came off looking foolish because he wanted to look badass.

I might be at a 4.5 while Dave Meltzer gave this a 4.75 out of 5. Regardless of what you’d rate it, it’s definitely worth a watch. I’m a big fan of Cage and if he calls NOAH home I could see that getting more American eyes on that promotions much like AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, and Elgin have done with NJPW. Elgin/Cage teaming up for a tag league in NJPW or NOAH would get me very interested.

Highlights :

Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) vs Brian Cage GHC Heavyweight Championship match

#NOAH #Brian Cage #Katsuhiko Nakajima #GHC Title Match #Thisjustin

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enbywrestlingfan · 8 years ago

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NJPW Wrestling Primer (Updated for 2017)

A while back I did a primer post to help introduce people to the wrestlers of NJPW, but it's become out of date over time as things have changed since then, since wrestling always changes. So this is an updated version from mid-April 2017.

Kazuchika Okada - The greatest wrestler on the planet today, and one who is in the middle of possibly the best title reign of all time, which has featured numerous 4.5 and 4.75 star matches, as well as two 5 star and even a 6 star match. He originally made his legacy in NJPW with a now iconic rivalary with Hiroshi Tanahashi, but since has become a true ace for the company. He is the leader of the CHAOS faction and possibly Gedos son. Though, the position of ace wasn't meant for Okada, it was meant for..

Tetsuya Naito - Naito was supposed to be the new top face of NJPW, but the fans rejected him. So during a US tour, instead of returing to Japan like most, he took a little soul searching journey down to Mexico, and met a man named La Sombra (you might know him as Andrade Cien Almas from WWE NXT) and his Los Ingobernables stable. This inspired a change of attitude in Naito, who returned to NJPW, and turned his back on the fans who rejected him, becoming one of the best characters and heels in wrestling in the process. He leads the Los Ingobernables stable, has had 5 star matches with Kenny Omega, Micheal Elgin (and imo with Tanahashi at WK11), and is just a master of working a crowd. He won the IWGP Heavyweight Title, and threw it in the air like a piece of trash. It was amazing.

Kenny Omega - Currently in NJPW, there are three men who could be considered the ace. Okada, Naito and Kenny Omega. Omega is probably the most popular wrestler in NJPW outside of Japan, due to him being Canadian. He's the leader of Bullet Club, and is one of the greatest wrestlers on the planet today. Theres simply nothing Kenny Omega can't do. But he has two modes: if he keeps his shirt on in a match, expect more comedy, but if the shirts off you're in for the match of the night because thats when he gives 100%. Last year he became the first gaijin to win the G1 Climax Tournament, and went on to have a 6 star classic match with Okada in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom. Since losing, he's been searching for the answer of "why can't I win big matches", and his current goal is to walk into the upcoming NJPW shows in America as champion, no matter what.

Hiroshi Tanahashi - The former ace of NJPW. He's the man who pulled NJPW out of the dark ages. A wildly popular rockstar of a man, who is still one of the best big match workers in all of wrestling, even now that he's slowing down. He's had classic matches with just about every big name on the NJPW roster, and I don't think you can count him out just yet. He's currently a member of the weird Taguchi Japan stable, and doing lots of 6 man tag matches, but I can't help but feel he'll be chasing singles gold again soon.

Katsuyori Shibata - Shibata is an interesting case. He debuted alongside Tanahashi and Nakamura and with them he was part of the chosen future of the company. But when things got rough for NJPW, he jumped ship to go do MMA fights instead. With his 4-10-1 record, it is often considered pretty bad for him, but when he came back to wrestling, he seemed more legitimate than ever and wants to fight his way to the top instead of being handed the title. He's the anti-hero face that everyone wants in wrestling, a true badass who will fight until the very end... which he might have in his recent main event with Okada. Due to a combonation of dehydration due a longer match than he's used to, and a dangerous shoot headbutt spot, he had to get surgery on his head following the match and might never wrestle again, but if his music hits again, the pop will likely be thunderous.

Minoru Suzuki - 48 fights, 29 wins & 19 losses. That is the MMA record of former King of Pancrase Minoru Suzuki. He's the leader of Suzuki-Gun, and someone who would break your arm off and laugh at your suffering. He's the best bastard heel on the planet, a legitimate badass, and he scares me. He's held both the AJPW Triple Crown Championship, and NOAH's GHC Heavyweight Championship, and only needs the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to be one of few men to hold all three of Japans top belts, and even at 48 years old, age might not be enough to stop him. He's an ageless badass.

Tomohiro Ishii - Ishii is one of the most underrated men in NJPW, as he can be slotted in as a top guy at any time and he'll put on a fantastic match. Just an incredible worker when motivated in a singles match, but usually does tag work with other members of CHAOS, usually Toru Yano. But there are moments of brilliance in all of his matches.

Those are the major players in the company in my eyes but here’s some fun minor characters:

Ryusuke Taguchi - The funky weapon, who likes to throw his ass into peoples faces to win matches. When motivated he's one of the most dangerous junior heavyweights on the roster, but he'd rather just have fun. He leads Taguchi Japan, which is a stable of random members of the roster who for some reason united under the flag of The Funky Weapon. It's awesome just trust me.

Bad Luck Fale - A huge, slow beast of a man. Currently the longest running member of Bullet Club, being the first person to join Prince Devitt's (WWE's Finn Balor) new stable back in 2013. He's a constant force that is protected in singles action and that makes him dangerous. In tournaments he's a spoiler. Don't bet against Fale, he's kill your brackets and your dreams. He's gotten singles wins over most big names in current NJPW, and is a hard guy to predict. Fear the Underboss of Bullet Club.

Tama Tonga - A future breakout star for NJPW, since his awesome performance in the G1 Climax last year, Tonga has just been getting better and better with each match. He's got a unique in ring style where he uses his speed to confuse an opponent before striking. Always fun to watch, and I see singles success in his future, as well as more tag success with his brother:

Tanga Loa - Camacho. Does anyone remember Camacho? Teamed with Hunico in WWE? No? Well he’s in Japan now with his brother and they’re pretty great. He's a brawler, and that's about it. It works in tag matches but don't expect much from a singles match with him.

Ricochet - The human incarnation of flippt shit. He busts out 630 sentons like they're nothing, it's incredible. But beyond that he's just a fantastic and well rounded wrestler.

Will Ospreay - The best high flyer in wrestling but needs to slow the fuck down before he kills his knees. He's only 23, and already one of the best in the world, and only gets better as he expands his style.

Jushin Thunder Liger - Iconic legend of juniors wrestling, character was based off an anime which is much less known than Liger himself, still wrestles but has slowed down a bit. He's 52 years old and can still outwrestle most juniors on the roster.

Tiger Mask W - Not Kota Ibushi

Kota Ibushu - A freelancer who turned down a full time WWE contract to do weird shit in Japan, used to team with Kenny Omega as The Golden Lovers but they broke up and have soap opera level drama AND JUST NEED TO MAKE UP ALREADY. He's also not Tiger Mask W.

Togi Makabe - Bruiser Brody 2.0

Ropongi Vice - Trent Barreta (yes, that Trent from WWE) and Rocky Romero just wanna have a good time in Ropongi, but have to wrestle too but are very good at it. Rocky is one of the best tag wrestlers around, and Barreta is becoming one of the best too.

Sanada - A member of Los Ingobernables De Japon. I can't help but feel like NJPW has big plans for him. He debutted helping Naito win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and has had big singles matches with both Tanahashi and Okada, but has never held singles gold. (only member of L.I.J to not get a singles title) He's an incredibly agile, handsome, and skilled wrestler, expect big things from him in the future.

Evil - A member of Los Ingobernables De Japon, is Evil and has lasers.

Hiromu Takahashi - The Joker mixed with Kefka mixed with a Pro Wrestler, he will kill himself so long as he kills his opponent at the same time. Has a fetish where he needs to lick everything he touches.

BUSHI - Evil Luchador who spits mist in peoples eyes and has really fucking cool masks.

Yujiro Takahashi - The Godfather but Japanese, the only Japanese member of Bullet Club, formerly teamed with Tetsuya Naito as No Limit

Micheal Elgin - The worlds strongest Canadian, likely lives in a gym.

Satoshi Kojima - Heir to the lariat, will take your head off with it, loves bread (seriously follow this guy on Twitter, his broken english tweets are as wholesome as his lariats are stiff)

David Finlay Jr. - Son of Fit Finlay, getting very good

Tomaki Honma - Gravely voiced fan favorite who usually loses but is always fun, he uses his head a weapon, started his career in Big Japan Wrestling where he was the first person to use light tubes in a deathmatch, and is currently on the shelf with a very major neck injury and might never wrestle again.

Toru Yano - A comedy relief wrestler who just wants you to buy his DVD and will keep beating your faves with upset victories until you do

Yuji Nagata - Some would say Nagata is the former ace of NJPW during the dark years, but no one really wants to take that title. But he's a fantastic worker even in his old age, one of the last of his generation of NJPW.

Hirooki Goto - A man who could challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship a thousand more times and still choke every single time, but always have a good match in the process. Seriously, this guy loses 80% of big matches he's in. He's a stiff worker and it's great, but get your head in the game Goto, you can win matches, I know you can!

Kushida - Have you ever watched Back the the Future and thought, ‘this is great but I wish Marty McFly was a wrestler’. Kushida. That’s Kushida.

and just so many more and I could go on forever. There are so many great wrestlers in NJPW, and you really don’t need to know the commentary to enjoy it.

#njpw #new japan pro wrestling

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prowrestlingpost-com · 5 years ago

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#NEWS: New AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship being made

https://twitter.com/jun0917start/status/1162694336011595776

On August 17th, Jun Akiyama announced on Twitter after thanking everyone who came to Atsushi Aoki’s Memorial Show that the current AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship title will be given to the Aoki Family and that a new will be designed.

https://twitter.com/jun0917start/status/1162696615808753664

The World Junior Heavyweight…

View On WordPress

#AJPW #All Japan Pro Wrestling #Atsushi Aoki #Jun Akiyama

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puroresuroad · 7 years ago

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There was a crazy amount of good puro to enjoy this January. NJPW obviously takes the headlines with the Tokyo Dome and the first of the New Beginnings tour underway, but we also had the DDT Grand Prix to enjoy as well as many other promotions starting the year off with a bang. Here’s a look at the most must-watch Puroresu from the month of January…

ZERO1 World Heavyweight Title Match

Masato Tanaka (c) vs. Yusaku Obata

From Zero1- Happy New Year at Korakuen Hall- 1st January

One day into 2018 and we have one of our first match of the year candidates. This has a little of everything. They start with the basic grappling before Tanaka decides “nah! lets do this in the crowd”. What follows is a chaotic brawl complete with mad table dives and insane chair shots. This is more then just some hardcore brawl though and it soon settles into a hard hitting puro match with an awesome closing stretch. If you like pro wrestling you should give it a watch.

AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title Match

TAJIRI (c) vs. Kotaro Suzuki

From AJPW- New year wars- 2nd January

Tajiri isn’t far off his 50’s, looks in his thirties, wrestles like he’s in his 20’s and dresses like an outcast teen, it’s incredible really. Both he and Suzuki rule from a technical standpoint and they use this to slowly build towards a hard hitting closing stretch, with Suzuki seeming to have worked out how to dismantle the champion. It may not be as flashy as the NJPW or the NOAH junior matches you see these days, but in many ways it showcases what those matches often lack with its brilliant pacing and psychology. The finish will put some people off but it’s actually kind of cool when you look at it. Some people have gone completely off Tajiri but this is a good showing for him.

Triple Crown Title Match

Joe Doering (c) vs. Zeus

From AJPW- New year wars- 2nd January

Nothing fancy here just two bulls smashing into eachother. Joe establishes early that he’ll win in a straight up striking exchange and there’s a great moment in the match where the realisation seems to dawn on Zeus and his face tells the story. With his hand forced, Zeus throws caution to the wind in an attempt to take out the bigger man. Every bump feels big and every lariat feels stiff, all adding up to a great main event to bring AJPW into the new year.

AJPW World Tag Team Title Match

Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori (c) vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama

From AJPW- New Year Wars- 3rd January

Nothing flashy or fancy at all here, just four guys slapping, kneeing and power bombing each other into oblivion. The build is slow and things sort of just plod along at times. These four make up for it though, in brutality and a great closing stretch, in which there are multiple believable endings.

IWGP Tag Team Championship

Ropongi 3K (c) vs the Young Bucks

From NJPW- Wrestle Kingdom 12 4th January

The Bucks are chasing their 7th IWGP Junior Tag Titles here with Ropongi 3K now taking the place of their usual rivals. This match is a spinal practitioner’s nightmare with both teams essentially each losing a member early on to back issues. The rest of the match essentially build upon this story with both teams doing an awesome job of selling. No amount of back pain is gonna stop them doing some crazy spots mind. Awesome opener to this year’s Tokyo Dome show

Cody Vs Kota Ibushi

From NJPW- Wrestle Kingdom 12 4th January

Cody’s “sports entertainment” style and tactics give him huge heat in NJPW but to this point he hadn’t had any standout matches. Ibushi on the other hand is the prototypical NJPW star and fan favourite, so this match provides the purest heel vs face match on the card. Cody does a lot of his dastardly heel stuff but brings the goods when needed, including an apron cross-rhodes that is just completely devastating. The crowd are super-hot for the beloved Ibushi as he desperately tries to fight back, and this feels every bit like a big main-event match as a result. There’s a great underlining Kenny Omega subplot too. It’s a big shame this doesn’t go on very long but considering some people thought it would be a dud, this overachieves in many ways.

Never Openweight Championship, Hair vs Hair Match

Minoru Suzuki (c) vs Hiroki Goto

From NJPW- Wrestle Kingdom 12- 4th January

Goto had a very quiet 2017 where he went from lower end main eventer who couldn’t quite get the big one to a complete afterthought. Here he’s down to only having his hair left to offer. Suzuki straight up dominates Goto here. He beats him up, chokes him out and just breaks Goto down piece by piece. He also pulls out a dropkick Okada would be proud off and a vicious headbutt in reference to Goto’s pal Shibata. He’s just completely vicious, which is what you want from Suzuki. As for Goto, who knows what they want from him in 2018, what you get though is a lot of what we’ve seen before which is the only real downside here. Great stuff and obviously the post-match is interesting too

IWGP JR Heavyweight Championship Match

Marty Scrull © vs Will Ospreay vs Hiromu Takashi vs Kushida

From NJPW- Wrestle Kingdom 12- January 4th

Oh yeah, it’s time for some flips. Marty Scull officially wins the Tokyo Dome’s best entrance gear competition. He also does a great job as the clever heel avoiding trouble and picking his moments to strike. He’s literally got a bag (ok well a box) of tricks waiting to unleash on the opposition too. Of course everyone produces some crazy cool spots but they never fall into the junior match pitfall of looking choreographed. Nobody ever seems like their waiting for a spot or wandering into the right position. There’s a few moments late in the match where things clearly don’t go quite to plan but nothing unrecoverable. For those who love their high flying action and big spots this was essentially match of the night, though it doesn’t quite match up to some of the previous singles match combinations between these four. Still a must watch mind.

Mike Bailey vs. Shuji Ishikawa

From DDT- D-Ou Grand Prix 2018- 5th January

The match that had a lot of DDT fans talking and easily stole the show on night one of the Grand Prix tournament. This David & Goliath tale looks like it might turn into at squash early on, but Bailey fights back with his speed and innovation to put a hurting on the (much) bigger Ishikawa. Credit to both of these guys for making this match work as well as it did.

GHC Heavyweight Title Match

Kenou (c) vs. Kaito Kiyomiya

From NOAH- Navigation for the future- 6th January

Kiyomiya is 21 years old and has only two years of experience behind him. In reality he doesn’t have any business being anywhere near this match. He sure makes the most of it though, as Kenou leads the youngster through to a strong showing. They play off the fact it’s somewhat of a mismatch early on, but Kiyomiya builds momentum as things progress. They don’t try to make it anything it’s not and the match is better for it. Cool finish to boot.

Shuji Ishikawa vs Kazusada Higuchi

From DDT- D-Ou Grand Prix 2018- 14th January

What’s that? You like watching big dudes beat each other up? Well then you need this match in your life! Nothing fancy here, just big chops, lariats, powerbombs, piledrivers and all that good hearty stuff. Higuchi had a good if mostly quiet tournament, but he’s one of the most underrated guys out there on the Japanese Indies and he puts in a star performance here.

Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs. Flamita & Bandido

From Dragon Gate- Open the New Year Gate- 16th January

If your in need of some crazy flippy action to get you through those winter blues, then you can’t do much better then this. Xavier & Wentz are getting a lot of Ricochet, Ospreay and Sydal comparisons, and while they’re far from finished products they put on a heck of a show here. Even if you not into this style of match, its still worth a viewing.

IWGP Intercontinental Title Match

Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki

From NJPW- New Beginnings In Sopparo- January 27th

NJPW produce their second real MOTY candidate and it’s only January! Tanahashi has defeated Suzuki before but he’s enters with months worth of injuries. Suzuki’s psychopathic tendencies hit an all time high, as he goes for the leg. Like at Wrestle Kingdom against Goto, Suzuki wants to brake Tanahashi, but whilst at Wrestlekingdom most people just enjoyed watching Suzuki put a beatdown on Goto, here you feel great sympathy for Tanahashi. Tanahashi sells amazingly, some guys will sell an injury only for it to magically disappear when they make their comeback, but not Tanahashi. It’s painful and even a little sad to watch at times, but ultimately provides a gripping story. A must see.

DDT Grand Prix Final

HARASHIMA vs. Shuji Ishikawa

From DDT- D-Ou Grand Prix 2018- 28th January

HARISHIMA needs to create space to stand a chance against Ishikawa, pity for him the ropes are in a state of disrepair. Ishikawa just mauls him over like a bear. HARISHIMA’s heart keeps him in it but despite everything he throws Ishikawa’s way, Ishikawa just keeps on coming like some horror villain. HARISHIMA’s facial expressions sell the story towards the end in this brilliant tournament finale.

Recommended Puroresu for January 2018 There was a crazy amount of good puro to enjoy this January. NJPW obviously takes the headlines with the Tokyo Dome and the first of the New Beginnings tour underway, but we also had the DDT Grand Prix to enjoy as well as many other promotions starting the year off with a bang.

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wrestlingmgc · 3 years ago

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AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion Koji Iwamoto

#AJPW #World Junior Heavyweight Champion #Koji Iwamoto #AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship #All Japan Pro Wrestling #Puroresu #Junior Heavyweight Title #Pro Wrestling #10s

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pwrestlingxpress · 1 year ago

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Match Card set for "Green Journey in Nagoya 2023"

Though these were announced on Thursday, I apologize for never putting up until now but down below is the official match card for Pro Wrestling NOAH's "Green Journey in Nagoya 2023" taking place on June 17, 2023 at the Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall which was one of the venues that hosted the recently concluded NJPW "Best of Super Junior 30" .

Anyway, here is the match card starting with the undercard matches:

Opening the main card will be Hiroki and Hajime Ohara 1-on-1. Then we will have a 6-man tag followed by another singles match between Hideaki Suzuki and Shuhei Taniguchi. After that, 6-man tag action that could preview Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr.'s next challenger for the GHC National Championship in which many believe it to be Kaito Kiyomya. This will be followed by a standard tag match that I have a feeling one person (Naomichi Marufuji) is very hesitant at this match because of one word, trust. Then we'll end the undercard with a 6-man tag preview of the GHC Junior Tag Team Championships taking place on June 22nd in Korakuen Hall.

Now we get to the key matches of "Green Journey 2023 in Nagoya"

Kenoh and Manabu Soya (Kongo/AJPW World Tag Team Champions) vs. Go Shiozaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima (AXIZ)

GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship: Dante Leon (Challenger) vs. HAYATA (Champion)

GHC Tag Team Championship: Masa Kitamiya and Yoshiki Inamura (The Tough/Challenger Team) vs. Saxon Huxley and Timothy Thatcher (REAL/Champion Team)

GHC Heavyweight Championship: Takashi Sugiura (Challenger) vs. Jake Lee (GLG/Champion)

So we'll start the key matches with a rematch from May 14th as the ongoing drama between Kenoh and AXIZ reaches the possible final chapter. After that, HAYATA's toughest challenge to date. Do not underestimate Dante Leon. Then in the semi-main, another reunited team looks to stop a monstrous force that can only be contained by calming one down. Then in the main event, perhaps Jake Lee's toughest challenge to date.

"Green Journey in Nagoya" comes June 17th from Nagoya on ABEMA for Japanese commentary and Wrestle Universe for English commentary. Event will start at 4:00 AM Eastern/5:00 PM Japan Time/3:00 AM Central/1:00 AM Pacific. If your start time is not listed, go to timeanddate.com and type in the city you currently live in to find out the start time in your area and enjoy "Green Journey in Nagoya".

One more thing...I will be posting predictions for this event as soon as NJPW's match card for their event which takes place the same day is announced. Expect predictions most likely next weekend.

#Pro Wrestling NOAH #Match Card #Nagoya #Kenoh #Manabu Soya #Go Shiozaki #Katsuhiko Nakajima #Dante Leon #HAYATA #Takashi Sugiura #Jake Lee

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omegavtrigger · 7 years ago

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Tag Team Tuesday: The British Bulldogs

The Dynamite / Davey Boy feud would continue in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where they became involved in a three way feud that also involved The Cobra over the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.[2] After they settled the feud, the two started to team as the British Bulldogs both in NJPW and Stampede Wrestling. In March 1984, the Bulldogs would win the Stampede International Tag Team Championship for the first time. In 1984, the two left NJPW to go to its bitter rival All Japan Pro Wrestling, effectively severing all ties to New Japan to this day.

In 1984, Vince McMahon bought out Stampede Wrestling. The buyout meant that the British Bulldogs joined the World Wrestling Federation along with Smith’s brother-in-law Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart (The Hart Foundation).[3] Initially the Bulldogs still toured with AJPW, but soon after they became WWF-exclusive. Although the two British stars primarily wrestled against each other in Stampede Wrestling, with Billington as a villain and Smith as a hero, WWF owner Vince McMahon decided to make them only as a tag team.

The British Bulldogs' first and probably most well known feud was with the Hart Foundation, whom they knew well from their Stampede days, and thus were able to produce a series of outstanding matches that helped elevate both teams in the WWF. The Bulldogs next major feud was with the then-WWF World Tag Team Champions, "The Dream Team" of Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake. The Bulldogs wrestled Valentine and Beefcake for close to a year, coming close to but never winning the tag titles. The stage was set for a "final" tag title match at WrestleMania 2. With "Captain" Lou Albano and Ozzy Osbourne in their corner, the duo won the WWF World Tag-Team titles.[2]

The Bulldogs continued their feud with the Dream Team and also defended regularly against the former championship team of The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff. In December 1986, Dynamite Kid suffered a serious back injury during a match in Hamilton, Ontario, forcing him out of the ring for a longer period of time (during this period Davey Boy Smith would defend the titles with various replacement partners).[1] On January 26, 1987, the British Bulldogs lost the titles to the Hart Foundation in a match that saw Dynamite Kid so debilitated that he was carried to the ring by Davey Boy Smith and saw little physical action after being "knocked out" by the megaphone of the Hart Foundation's manager Jimmy Hart before he even got into the ring. Davis then allowed the Foundation to continually double team Davey Boy in order to get the win (all the while continuing to "check" on Dynamite, leaving the double teaming to take place). The match would air on February 7 on WWF Superstars of Wrestling.[2]

After being given time off to recuperate, the Bulldogs returned to the ring to continue their feud with the Hart Foundation and “Evil Referee” Danny Davis (who, in the storyline, cheated to help the Hart Foundation win the title). The teams met at WrestleMania III, where the Bulldogs teamed with Tito Santana to take on the trio.[3] The Harts and Davis would win the match when Davis hit Smith with Jimmy Hart's megaphone behind the referee's back and covered him for the win.

Towards the end of the Bulldogs' title reign, they had been given a live bulldog named Matilda, who would accompany them to the ring. Matilda was central to the Bulldogs' feud with The Islanders (Haku and Tama) who along with their manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan "dognapped" her. After rescuing Matilda, the Bulldogs teamed with Koko B. Ware (and his parrot "Frankie") in a six-man tag team match against The Islanders and Bobby Heenan at Wrestlemania IV. The match ended with a loss as Heenan covered Koko for the 3-count. The Bulldogs then went on to a feud with The Rougeau Brothers (Jacques and Raymond) which included wrestling the first ever match at the inaugural SummerSlam PPV at Madison Square Garden which ended in a time limit (20 minute) draw.

The Bulldogs' last pay-per-view was the 1988 Survivor Series. They wrestled in a twenty-man (10 team) tag team elimination match notable for Mr. Fuji turning against his Tag Team Champions Demolition (Ax and Smash) and joining their rival The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord) in a double switch with Demolition turning face and the Powers of Pain turning heel. The Powers of Pain won the match by eliminating the heel team Los Conquistadores, thus giving their team (which included The Bulldogs who had earlier been eliminated when Smash pinned Dynamite) the victory.

The Bulldogs left the WWF after backstage pranks and altercations with The Rougeau Brothers which led to Jacques Rougeau knocking several of Dynamite's teeth out with a suckerpunch (Rougeau was actually carrying a bunch of quarters in his fist to make the punch harder).[1][4] Billington himself, however, has claimed that the Rougeau incident was not the final straw that drove him to leave the WWF. Rather, he has stated, it was a dispute with WWF management over issuing of complimentary plane tickets, over which he resigned from the company on principle and, to his surprise in retrospect, Smith followed suit.[5]

#tag team tuesday #davey boy smith #dynamite kid #mathilda #the british bulldogs #wwe #wwe superstars #world wrestling entertainment #world wrestling federation #sports entertainment #sports #rock and wrestling #wrestling #wresltemania #tag team #world tag team championship #njpw

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keepingthespiritalive · 7 years ago

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[AJPW NEWS] All Japan held a press conference today to highlight the upcoming title matches scheduled for the Yokohama show on February 3.

Though among the updates is that Takao Omori will be out of action as he is dealing with a herniated disc in his neck. Omori fought through two tag title matches in the beginning of the year, but due to the World Tag title loss and the defeat in the Asia Tag the veteran has decided to take a much needed break. Omori stated that he is currently undergoing consultation in regards to the state of the injury, which he has been dealing with since the World Tag League, but that he could be out for an extended period of time given his age and prior injuries. The remainder of the January event cards have been updated to reflect upon Omori’s absence.

Jun Akiyama then announced his intentions of going back after the Asia Tag belts at the Yokohama show, as he will be teaming with New Japan’s Yuji Nagata to challenge Naoya Nomura and Yuma Aoyagi. Akiyama and Nagata being no strangers in the past have been both together and at odds at several points in the past. Which much can now be appointed to Nagata and Aoyagi who have faced each other at New Japan’s LION’S GATE shows. Aoyagi has found himself on the losing end in challenging the New Japan veteran but aims to finally prove himself as a fighting champion. The Asia Tag Champions currently hold a twin win edge over Akiyama in recent matches as they now look to defend their belts in what is their toughest challenge yet.

Suwama and Ishikawa and then Kento Miyahara and Yoshitatsu took part in the signing ceremony for their World Tag match at the Yokohama show. Suwama kicked off the press by stating that he is not fully certain that the challengers deserve the right to challenge. This coming from the World Tag League in which the Suwama and Doering claimed the win over them, 12/12. To Suwama there is no merit in a rematch taking place, but the challengers have been adamant in their recent provocations to them. Before the title match, Suwama and Yoshitatsu will have a singles encounter on 1/14 as Suwama aims to break the challenger before hand. All four men look to make 2018 their year and this match will indeed be a strong statement for just that.

Then lastly, Joe Doering and KAI took part in their signing ceremony for the Triple Crown title match. KAI stated that he is thankful and eager to be allowed the chance to make the challenge in his hometown area. Then also that he even finds the timing of this challenge strange as his former ally and rival in SANADA also gets a chance at the IWGP Heavy belt the following week. Doering and KAI go back many years from when the two shared time together in the dojo over 10 years ago now. Both have went down different paths but it can now be a sense of destiny that they would meet now. Doering stated that he hopes that KAI brings his best in challenge because he will have to be just that if he plans to take the belt from him.

Below is the current event card for the Yokohama show...

All Japan Pro-Wrestling "2018 YOKOHAMA TWILIGHT BLUES SPECIAL", 2/3/2018 [Sat] 17:00 @ Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Kanagawa

(-) Asia Tag Championship Match: [103rd Champions] Naoya Nomura & Yuma Aoyagi vs. [Challengers] Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata ~ 5th title defense.

(-) World Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: [46th Champion] TAJIRI vs. [Challenger] Atsushi Aoki ~ 4th title defense.

(-) World Tag Championship Match: [78th Champions] Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa vs. [Challengers] Kento Miyahara & Yoshitatsu ~ 1st title defense.

(-) Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship Match: [59th Champion] Joe Doering vs. [Challenger] KAI ~ 3rd title defense.

AJPW Event Cards for January & February 2018 http://puroresuspirit.net/2017/12/ajpw-event-cards-for-january-february-2018/

#all japan pro wrestling #ajpw #all japan #takao omori #jun akiyama #yuji nagata #puroresu #ajpw asia tag #kai #joe doering #triple crown #ajpw world tag #ajpw all asia #kento miyahara #yoshitatsu #shuji ishikawa #suwama #naoya nomura #yuma aoyagi

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gdwessel · 3 years ago

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New Year, New Format & Schedule; NOAH The New Year - 1/1/2022; AJPW New Year Wars Night 1 - January 2, 2022; More FanFyte Articles By Me, Other News

Pro Wrestling NOAH

Yesterday was Pro Wrestling NOAH’s mega show at Tokyo Nippon Budokan, NOAH The New Year. You can see this now on Wrestle Universe, for which you should have already been charged if you signed up for the 3-Months Free Deal back in October (it costs around what NJPWWorld does, and now you are able to cancel if you wish).

NOAH The New Year - 1/1/2022, Tokyo Nippon Budokan (Wrestle Universe, ABEMA)

Junta Miyawaki & Kinya Okada d. Kai Fujimura & Yasutaka Yano (Miyawaki > Fujimura, Falcon Arrow, 8:39)

King Tany, Muhammad Yone & Akitoshi Saito [Funky Express] d. Manabu Soya, Tadasuke & Nio [Kongo] (Yone > Tadasuke, Kinniku Buster, 8:45)

Hao & ALEJA [Kongo] d. Seiki Yoshioka & Yuya Susumu [STINGER] (Hao > Yoshioka, Firebird Splash, 11:44)

Ultimo Dragon [Dragon Gate], Dausuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara d. NOSAWA Rongai, Eita, YO-HEY & Kotaro Suzuki [Perros del Mal de Japon] (Ultimo > NOSAWA, La Magistral, 13:51)

Kazuyuki Fujita & Kendo Kashin [Sugiura-gun] d. Masakatsu Funaki [M’s Alliance] & Ikuto Hidaka [Perros del Mal de Japon] (Fujita > Hidaka, Powerbomb, 12:17)

GHC Juniorheavyweight Championship: HAYATA [STINGER] © d. Yoshinari Ogawa [STINGER] (Pinfall, 20:54) - HAYATA succeeds his 8th defense

GHC Tag Team Championship: Keiji Muto & Naomichi Marufuji [M’s Alliance] © d. Masato Tanaka & Masaaki Mochizuki [M’s Alliance] (Muto > Mochizuki, Figure-4 Leglock, 20:50) - Muto/Marufuji succeed their 1st defense

Takashi Sugiura [Sugiura-gun], Kazushi Sakuraba [Sugiura-gun] & KENTA [Bullet Club] d. Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura (KENTA > Inamura, Go2Sleep, 25:46)

GHC Heavyweight Championship: Katsuhiko Nakajima [Kongo] © d. Go Shiozaki (Northern Lights Bomb, 30:10) - Nakajima succeeds his 3rd defense

No titles changed hands during this megashow, meaning Nakajima and Kenoh both main event Wrestle Kingdom 16 in Yokohama Arena with their titles in hand against Los Ingobernables de Japon. I fully recommend the top 4 matches on this show, however the junior title match was alright too, and has some tension behind it, being between not only stablemates but shared GHC junior tag champions. In fact, Ogawa threw down his tag belt post-match. The M’s Alliance all shared a moment in the ring after one side defeated the other. KENTA wins his first “real” match back in NOAH since going to WWE, beating Yoshiki Inamura, who is a massive tank of a man. Takashi Sugiura and Masato Tanaka had a busy night, as they wrestled each other earlier at Tokyo Korakuen Hall for Pro Wrestling ZERO1’s Happy New Year show, with Sugiura defeating Tanaka to retain the ZERO1 World Heavyweight title. That show is also on Wrestle Universe. This is a show you should check out overall, the setup was fantastic in Nippon Budokan.

NOAH runs their next show on January 4, 2022, during WK16.

NOAH New Sunrise 2022 - January 4, 2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (Wrestle Universe, ABEMA)

Kai Fujimura v. Yasutaka Yano

King Tany & Muhamma Yone [Funky Express] v. Junta Miyawaki & Kinya Okada

NOSAWA Rongai & Eita [Perros del Mal de Japon] v. Nao & Nio [Kongo]

Atsushi Kotoge v. Seiki Yoshioka [STINGER]

Takashi Sugiura, Kazushi Sakuraba & Kazuyuki Fujita [Sugiura-gun] v. Masato Tanaka [M’s Alliance], Masaaki Mochizuki [M’s Alliance] & Daiki Inaba

Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kenoh, Manabu Soya, Tadasuke & ALEJA [Kongo] v. Naomichi Marufuji [M’s Alliance], Masa Kitamiya, Yoshiki Inamura, Daisuke Harada & Hajime Ohara

Go Shiozaki v. Kaito Miyomiya

GHC Juniorheavyweight Tag Team Championship: HAYATA & Yoshinari Ogawa [STINGER] © v. YO-HEY & Kotaro Suzuki [Perros del Mal de Japon]

All Japan Pro Wrestling

AJPW ran their first show of the year today from Tokyo Korakuen Hall. You can see it now on AJPW.tv. It was supposed to be headlined by Jake Lee defending the Triple Crown against Big Japan’s Abdullah Kobayashi, however Lee was forced to vacate the title earlier this week, after suffering fractured nasal and orbital bones in a match on 12/26/2021 against Ryuki Honda. No word on his return, nor what will become of the Triple Crown in the meantime.

New Year Wars - January 2, 2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (AJPW.tv)

Ryo Inoue Debut Singles Match: Dan Tamura [Evolution] d. Ryo Inoue (Boston Crab, 6:24)

Shuji Ishikawa & Jun Saito d. Rei Saito & Rising HAYATO [NEXTREAM] (Jun > Rei, Boston Crab, 9:45)

Masanobu Fuchi, Takao Omori, Black Menso-re, TAMURA & Andy Wu d. Yoshitatsu, Seigo Tachibana, Takayuki Ueki, Baliyan Akki & Raimu Imai [Yoshitatsu Kingdom] (Omori > Tachibana, Ax Bomber, 7:15)

Super Crazy, TAJIRI & CIMA [STRONGHEARTS] d. Izanagi, SUGI & MASASHI (Crazy > SUGI, Powerbomb, 10:01)

New Year Battle Royale: Rising HAYATO [NEXTREAM] d. Shigehiro Irie, Raimu Imai [Yoshitatsu Kingdom], Ryo Inoue, Takao Omori, Dan Tamura, TAMURA, Jun Saito, Rei Saito, Andy Wu, Black Menso-re, Shuji Ishikawa, Yoshitatsu [Yoshitatsu Kingdom], Baliyan Akki [Yoshitatsu Kingdom], Takayuki Ueki [Yoshitatsu Kingdom], Seigo Tachibana [Yoshitatsu Kingdom] & Devil Murasaki (7:54)

Kento Miyahara, Yuma Aoyagi & Atsuki Aoyagi [NEXTREAM] d. Suwama, Shotaro Ashino & Hikaru Sato [Evolution] (Yuma > Ashino, Spin Kick, 11:44)

Abdullah Kobayashi, Ryuji Ito & Daisuke Sekimoto [BJW] d. Koji Doi [TOTAL ECLIPSE], Kuma Arashi [TOTAL ECLIPSE] & Ryuki Honda (Kobayashi > Arashi, Diving Back Elbow Drop, 9:19)

All Asia Tag Team Championship: Hokuto Omori & Yusuke Kodama [TOTAL ECLIPSE] d. T-Hawk & El Lindaman [STRONGHEARTS] © (Omori > Lindaman, , 14:40) - T-Hawk/Lindaman fail their 3rd defense - Omori/Kodama are the 112th champions

Representing TOTAL ECLIPSE, Omori & Kodama won this chance through winning the Jr. Tag Battle Of Glory one-day tournament on 12/26/2021. NEXTREAM gets a direct pin on Evolution, leading into tomorrow’s World Tag Team Championship match, with Runaway SUPLEX defending against the 2021 World’s Strongest Tag Determination League winners Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi. The card below is not the final order.

- January 3, 2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (AJPW.tv)

Ryo Inoue v. Seigo Tachibana [Yoshitatsu Kingdom]

Dan Tamura [Evolution], Hikaru Sato [Evolution] & Ryuji Hijikata v. Black Menso-re, Hiroshi Yamato & Andy Wu

Hokuto Omori [TOTAL ECLIPSE], Yusuke Kodama [TOTAL ECLIPSE] & Ryuki Honda v. Atsuki Aomori [NEXTREAM], Rising HAYATO [NEXTREAM] & Yu Iizuka

TAJIRI & Kuma Arashi [TOTAL ECLIPSE] v. Izanagi & Devil Murasaki

Shuji Ishikawa, Takao Omori & Ren Ayabe [JTO] v. Yoshitatsu [Yoshitatsu Kingdom], Jun Saito & Rei Saito

Other News

Big Japan ran today at Korakuen Hall as well, with Yuji Okabayashi winning the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship for the 4th time, defeating Takuya Nomura on his 4th defense of the title.

GLEAT ran a show on 12/30/2021 that included the first half of the show being all Lidet UWF matches, all of which I highly recommend. Featuring the likes of Minoru Suzuki, Chihiro Hashimoto and Shuji Ishikawa, that half of the show slapped, so go watch it now on YouTube (honestly, the G-Pro Wrestling portion of GLEAT I can take or leave).

Minoru Suzuki also main evented at Hard Hit’s show yesterday at Shinkiba 1st-RING, beating Hikaru Sato after 40:28.

A lot of shows have run over the holiday period. I cannot list all of them.

So as you can tell, I’m trying something different with this blog thing. I am going to post on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays… I think. Special occasions (i.e. Wrestle Kingdom Week) will prompt more. I may end up hating this format very soon, and revert back to how it was before. NJPW is still my primary focus, but I wanna talk other wrestling too on my wrestling blog.

In the meantime, I’ve had not one but two 2021 In Review articles posted at FanFyte – one all about Shingo Takagi rescuing NJPW’s 2021, but also how Matt Cardona was the heel of the year based on his work in Game Changer Wrestling. Please take a look at these, as well as other great pieces on the site covering the best of 2021 in pro wrestling.

@damascenocs and I recorded the penultimate episode of the podcast yesterday, and I’ll be editing and posting that later today.

Hope you like this new format, and I do too.

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