#Kawato San

[miloloveswrestling]

CMLL Sin Piedad 2020 CABELLERA vs CABELLERA DULCE GARDENIA vs KAWATO SAN

[lostinyourears]

Kawato is done with this shit.

[rikatatsumi]

[cheesus-doodles]

Chapter 2: Aftermath

Former Gang Leader Darling AU

another short drabble for best girl Red Dragonflies boss - a little bit more on the serious side this time i think?

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Recommended Readings: Red Jacket in the Mirror ; Red Dragonflies Masterlist

Masterlist

tw: fem reader

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"Hope you're holding up well, Kawato-san." Carrying a small bouquet of flowers and a box of your highly popular karaage, the sun had just dipped below the horizon when your head had poked through the doorway of his private hospital room. It was somewhat surprising to see that it was just you that lightly pattered across the room towards him, the absence of the usual towering Vice Captain flanking you all too obvious.

"Still feel the imprint of his boot in my side sometimes." The now ousted boss groaned from his hospital bed, shifting slightly under the sheets.

Setting your gifts down by his bedside table, you let out a laugh, a crystal ring that echoed slightly in the otherwise empty room. "Have to say I understand that feeling. Furusawa is really something else."

"Boot to your side as well huh?"

"Once." You admitted, pulling out a chair to sit yourself as you set your school bag ever so gingerly down beside you, your hands patting your skirt down to fold neatly under your legs. "It was during a spar, landed me in hospital for a week. Furu swore off ever sparring with me again after that."

The rumbling of the hospital aircon became quickly apparent as a comfortable silence overtook the room.

"So why are you here? Haven't I already been thrown out?" The tinge of bitterness was obvious in his tone, Kawato crossing his arms as he turned away from you.

"I'm not here as a Red Dragonfly today. I'm here as a friend." Came your answer, as gentle as the smile on your face that he met when he whirled back round at your answer. "You know, we attended the same elementary school. I remember you. Different classes though."

Face instantly turned as red as the outside sky, though for what reasons you couldn't say for sure, the dusk was now throwing final beams of light from the dying sun as he muttered something inaudible under his breath before clearing his throat.

"How are you always so kind? Do you not hate?" Do you not hate me for what I did? His question hung heavy in the air.

The silence that followed was only broken by your short hum as you contemplated your answer, hand fiddling with the hem of your school uniform.

"Of course I do." You responded at last, though the look in your eyes held anything but hatred. Understanding and sincerity was all he saw reflected, and in that moment, against the growing darkness outside his window, Kawato finally saw the draw, the light, that had so many fighting to congregate around you. "Hating is just part of being human. There are people that I despise with every fibre of my being."

"But at the end of the day, we are all on the same journey through life. You never know what burdens others are carrying with them on this journey, so if you can't help, the least one could do as a fellow human is to be kind."

Kawato turned to look out the window at the stars sparkling in the dark night sky overhead, his eyes blank, even as you stood, pulling and straightening your skirt, before finally picking up your school bag. "This will be the last time I see you, Kawato-san. I wish you nothing but the best for the future."

The soft closing of his room door behind you somehow felt almost like a death knell.

[gdwessel]

Summer Struggle 2021 Nights 19 + 20 - 8/26 + 8/27/2021: Hiromu Returns To Action; State Of Emergency Extended Until 9/12/2021; NJPW Strong Episode 55 - 8/27/2021; Moxley v. Kojima At AEW ALL OUT 9/5/2021; More Suzuki US Indie Matches Announced; BeyBlade v. FinJuice Continues On Impact

Hey there. This post should have been made yesterday, however issues both technical (laptop was being very borky yesterday but I think it’s resolved for the moment) and mental (yeah, not a good weekend for the mental health) prevented me from doing so.

Let’s start off with the serious news: a few days ago, the government announced the state of emergency would now be extended until 9/12/2021. It was supposed to elapse this coming Tuesday, 8/31/2021. The Delta variant, much like here in the USA, is running rampant all over Japan. The Olympics didn’t help, as expected. The Paralympics currently going on probably aren’t helping much either. 33 of Japan’s 47 prefectures are now under some sort of emergency declaration. Also not helping, is the open defiance of these orders, and the largely toothless nature of them to begin with. Again, much like here in the USA -- the entire state of Illinois is currently under an indoor mask mandate, but it is not being enforced at all, from personal experience, and from seeing on AEW TV last week when CM Punk returned. (For which, I’m selling all my tickets for the AEW, GCW and Black Label pro events next week. ALL OUT are sold, the rest can be seen here.)

It’s kinda hard to be optimistic about the state of things in Japan at this point, it has to be said.

Anyway...

The last two shows for the NJPW Summer Struggle 2021 tour took place on Thursday and Friday 8/26/2021 and 8/27/2021. They were both streamed on NJPWWorld. The most important bit is Friday’s main event, which saw the return to ring action for Hiromu Takahashi.

- 8/26/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Ryohei Oiwa TLD Kosei Fujita (10:00)

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Master Wato d. Tomoaki Honma & Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] (Tenzan > Honma, Anaconda Vice, 12:50)

Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI [SZKG] d. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Tiger Mask IV (Sabre > Tiger, Clarky Cat, 10:59)

Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Jado [Bullet Club] d. El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki [SZKG] (Ishimori > Desperado, Sudden Death [ELP], 13:35)

Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire] d. Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & Satoshi Kojima (Cobb > Kojima, Tour Of The Islands, 16:53)

- 8/27/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Ryohei Oiwa TLD Kosei Fujita (10:00)

Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki [SZKG] d. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi (Taichi > Ryusuke, Tensho Zack Driver, 3:32)

Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire] d. Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & Togi Makabe (Cobb > Makabe, Tour Of The Islands, 9:13)

Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] d. Master Wato (Ron Miller Special, 17:32)

Hiromu Takahashi Return Match: Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables] d. DOUKI [SZKG] (Timebomb II, 29:43)

Both combatants in the IWGP Juniorheavyweight title match win their matches. Hiromu and Eagles promo one another after the final match, with Hiromu asking for 1 minute to talk to Belt-san, before declaring his victory at Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome on 9/5/2021. Meanwhile, despite the Master Wato name, Hirai Kawato is just a guy now, and bar a miracle, I’m not expecting anything to come from him anytime soon. Even a halfway-decent BOSJ seems to be off the table, at least right now.

Cobb makes a clean sweep in the prelude tag matches for his grudge match v. Okada. I can almost see Cobb winning the Wrestle Grand Slam match, to set up a rubber match during G1 Climax 31. Which they have not announced anything for, beyond the dates. Otherwise, other feuds had their final builds. Oiwa and Fujita continue to do 10-minute time-limit draws. So far, so Young Lion.

Boy, in the end, this WAS a struggle to get through, eh?

Friday’s episode of NJPW Strong was indeed the second night of Summer Struggle USA. You can see that on NJPWWorld as well.

Bateman [ROH], Misterioso & Barrett Brown d. Wheeler Yuta, Adrian Quest & The DKC (Bateman > DKC, This Is A Kill, 9:26)

Karl Fredericks d. Alexander James (MD, 9:37)

Juice Robinson, Lio Rush [FREE], Brody King [ROH] & Chris Dickinson [ROH] d. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, JR Kratos, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs [Team Filthy] (Dickinson > Nelson, STF, 14:24)

The babyfaces get the win over Team Filthy, as we continue the on-screen build to Lawlor v. Lio Rush for the NJPW Strong Openweight title (that already happened). I’m pretty secure in saying next week will begin the Fighting Spirit Unleashed episodes of NJPW Strong. An earlier post revealed the matches only, not the results, so you can find it if you want to see what’s coming up. Meanwhile, it seems like only a matter of time before Wheeler Yuta is signed either by NJPW or AEW, so we’ll see who gets there first. (AEW, more than likely.)

Speaking of AEW, last Wednesday’s ediiton of Dynamite revealed a match for the ALL OUT PPV happening next Sunday 9/5/2021 from Hoffman Estates, IL. (Sigh.) In a promo segment, Moxley said he got a signed contract back from NJPW to face him at the event, and he “knew who it wasn’t.” (Hiroshi Tanahashi, the current IWGP US champion, who has a match in Japan on 9/4/2021.) Instead, former IWGP Heavyweight, Tag Team, and AJPW Triple Crown champion (and NWA World’s Heavyweight champion too) Satoshi Kojima will make his AEW debut at the event. On the last episode of my weekly AEW Dynamite review podcast, my co-host and I joked they should have Kojima give away free baguettes like CM Punk did ice cream bars, leaning into the whole Bread Club gimmick. There is a Gonnella factory about 5 miles east of the NOW Arena, so it isn’t totally unfeasible! There’s been some criticism of this booking online. I say nuts to that. Although, Mox seems to be going down the card a bit -- last year’s edition of ALL OUT, he was in the main event, defending the AEW World Championship against Maxwell Jacob Friedman. This AEW card does look pretty stacked, however; pity I don’t feel safe enough to go like I originally wanted to.

Minoru Suzuki’s tour of the US indies continues unabated, it seems, with more matches announced since last time I posted. First, another match for GCW has been announced, for their 9/17/2021 Highest In The Room event in LA. There, Suzuki will face off against ROH’s Jonathan Gresham, which is a match a LOT of people have been wanting to see over the years. That one might be shoot-tastic.

Added to the itinerary are two matches in the St. Louis area in the first weekend of October. On 10/1/2021, Suzuki will go to WrestleMax for their Episode VI event, where he will face Calvin Tankman, a wrestler I know personally from Indianapolis. Then on 10/3/2021, Suzuki will go to Glory Pro to square off against Davey Richards at their Little Ring Of Horrors event. Glory Pro was founded yet (ALLEGEDLY) no longer owned by a man I have sworn to never mention by name on this blog again; I attended a swath of their shows the year of their founding in 2017, but then Everything with this person happened, and even tho the ownership has allegedly changed, I am probably not exactly welcomed in that area anymore. One of this person’s students is making a big return to this company after being cut from NXT, and he basically threatened me at one point during the debacle, so that settles that. 

Oh, and Suzuki will not only have a singles match v. Fred Rosser, but will also team with Lance Archer in a Suzuki-gun reunion v. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor & Royce Isaacs at the two nights of NJoA’s Autumn Attack event, on 9/25 + 9/26/2021 in Garland, TX. 

Once we get the complete list of Suzuki’s activities in the USA, I’ll post a full itinerary so we can keep track. 

Despite Jay White getting a definitive win over David Finlay Jr. at the NJPW Resurgence event on 8/14/2021, it looks like the war between FinJuice v. BeyBlade continues in Impact Wrestling. Thursday’s episode featured a singles match between Finlay and the Bullet Club’s newest member, Chris Bey, which of course Bey cheated to win, getting a roll-up with feet on the ropes to get the pinfall. So evidently this feud isn’t ending anytime soon. Bey notably still not getting into the whole Bullet Club uniformity thing with his ring gear, although he has added Bullet Club patches to his leather entrance jacket.

The next show is on Saturday, the first night of Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome from Saitama. The full cards still have not yet been announced. One of them won’t be seen anywhere except by attendees live at the MetLife Dome. As I mentioned earlier, we are still no closer to knowing who will be in G1 Climax 31 either, and that starts less than three weeks from now.

Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome - 9/4/2021, Saitama MetLife Dome (NJPWWorld)

STARDOM Offer Dark Match: TBA

Provisional KOPW2021 No-DQ I Quit Match: Chase Owens [Bullet Club] (c) v. Toru Yano [CHAOS]

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) v. Kota Ibushi

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. Jeff Cobb [United Empire]

More TBA

[wrestlingisfake]

New Japan Fake Rankings, 2/23/2020

Heavyweight singles division - babyfaces

Tetsuya Naito (IWGP hwt. champion, IWGP intercontinental hwt. champion)

Kazuchika Okada

Shingo Takagi (NEVER owt. champion, NEVER owt. trios champion)

Tomohiro Ishii

EVIL (NEVER owt. trios champion)

Will Ospreay (RPW British hwt. champion)

SANADA

Hirooki Goto

Heavyweight singles division - heels

Jay White

KENTA

Minoru Suzuki

Lance Archer

Bad Luck Fale

Unranked: Mikey Nicholls, Toa Henare, YOSHI-HASHI, Yuji Nagata

Just about everyone listed above should qualify for the New Japan Cup, although I’d say Yoshi and Nicholls are on the bubble.  The winner of that will likely be Naito’s next challenger, and since that doesn’t need to be a huge match, it feels like nearly anyone could win.

There’s been talk of Lance Archer getting an offer from AEW, which may or may not cause him to leave New Japan, but we’ll have to see where that goes.

If the heel side seems a little weak that’s because New Japan has three babyface stables (the “home team” or “Hontai,” CHAOS, and Los Ingobernables de Japon) and two heel stables (Bullet Club and Suzuki-gun).  Traditional face vs. heel matchups are common, but the booking is more focused on faction vs. faction.

Heavyweight tag team division - babyfaces

Golden Ace - Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi (IWGP hwt. tag team champions)

FinJuice - David Finlay & Juice Robinson

Toru Yano & Colt Cabana

Heavyweight tag team division - heels

Dangerous Tekkers - Zack Sabre, Jr. & Taichi

The Guerillas of Destiny - Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa

Unranked: GBH (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma), TenKozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima), Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi

This division has by now withered to the point that Zack Sabre is mocking it, which suggests it’s as disastrous as the United Kingdom, so that’s not good.  What’s discouraging here is that New Japan has some heavyweights sitting around without much to do, but even if it put them into new teams (I’m thinking Nagata & Henare or perhaps Nicholls and Yoshi-Hashi) it still wouldn’t push them as credible contenders.  Sooner or later they’ll put Evil and Sanada back together for another run, but that’s not enough.

Junior heavyweight singles division - babyfaces

Hiromu Takahashi (IWGP jr. hwt. champion)

Ryu Lee (ROH television champion)

BUSHI (NEVER owt. trios champion)

Robbie Eagles

Junior heavyweight singles division - heels

El Phantasmo

Taiji Ishimori

Unranked: DOUKI, Gedo, Jado, Tiger Mask

With Ospreay formally moving up to heavyweight, Hiromu’s next logical challengers appear to be Phantasmo, Ishimori, and Eagles.  Those feuds would probably cover most of 2020, although I’d personally like to see Sho or Yoh go after him before the end of the year.

Junior heavyweight tag team division - babyfaces

Roppongi 3K - SHO & YOH (IWGP jr. hwt. tag team champions)

The Mega Coaches - Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero

Junior heavyweight tag team division - heels

El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

You can tell the division is pretty thin when R3K has to be programmed against their own coaches, for lack of anything new to do.  They appear to be setting up Hiromu Takahashi and Bushi as the next challengers.  Interestingly, if Hiromu and Bushi win the junior tag title, there would be a total of four double champions in LIJ.

Young Lions

New Japan Dojo: Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura

LA Dojo: Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors, Gabriel Kidd, Karl Fredericks, Ren Narita

New Zealand Dojo: Michael Richards

On excursion: Great-O-Kharn, Hikuleo, Kawato-san, Syota Umino

I hadn’t noticed that all but two of the Japanese rookies had been sent abroad, which explains why so many of the gaijin guys have been appearing lately.  (Narita is an odd case where he went on excursion from one dojo to another,  for some reason.)  It seems like New Japan should be rolling out a new class of students pretty soon.  It also feels like it’s about time for O-Kharn and Kawato to return home.

Part-timers:

Alex Zayne

Amazing Red

Chris Jericho (AEW world champion)

Jeff Cobb

Jon Moxley (IWGP United States hwt. champion)

Marty Scurll

TJP

Volador Jr.

All of these men have appeared on a New Japan show in recent months, and are listed on the official English website roster.

Historically, New Japan has had partnerships with Ring of Honor and CMLL, and regularly brings in talent from both promotions.  A bunch of CMLL guys recently appeared on the Fantastica Mania tour, but only one (Volador) is listed on the official roster right now.  On the other hand, the official roster lists a bunch of ROH guys, but only one (Scurll) has actually appeared on a New Japan show in nearly a year.  So the status of these relationships will need to be clarified in 2020.

In case you haven’t followed the AEW/New Japan drama: The fact Jericho and Moxley prominently work for both groups does not mean they have an alliance.  Both guys just have separate contracts with each organization; they’re both big enough stars that neither group wants to stand in the way of them working for the other.  Other AEW stars have the “can work for New Japan whenever you want” clause (most notably Kenny Omega), but New Japan hasn’t made the call to try to bring any of them in.

Jeff Cobb’s ROH contract ended a while back, and AEW hasn’t convinced him to sign with them, so for now he’s free to work with ROH, AEW, and NJPW as he pleases.  I personally expect someone to throw enough money his way to lock him down, but it’s not clear who that will be.

Inactive

TAKA Michinoku (right foot - undisclosed injury)

Taka was sidelined back in May 2019, and while he may have recovered by now, he’s yet to reappear on television.  It’s actually pretty amazing there aren’t more guys on New Japan’s injured list--I assume that’s a combination of a) downtime between tours and b) gutting through things that WWE’s doctors  would never tolerate.

[njpwdaily]

NJPWDAILY SUPERLATIVES 2018 BEST YOUNG LION → Shota Umino (76.2% of votes)

21 year-old Shota Umino took 2018 by storm with massive in-ring improvement over the months and ability to adapt. This year saw the overseas debuts of Hirai Kawato (CMLL) and Tomoyuki Oka (RevPro/UK) while Katsuya Kitamura and Tetsuhiro Yagi unfortunately left NJPW for their respective reasons. While there wasn’t a shortage of young lions at the ready, there needed to be that next breakout star on the domestic front, and perhaps no other carried himself as strongly as Umino. Things can only go up from here in 2019 as El Hijo de Red Shoes looks to capitalize on his growth and either become that next lion on excursion, or make a name for himself in Japan. Regardless of the choice, we’re rooting for him all the way.

RUNNER-UPS: Ren Narita (14.3%), Hirai Kawato / Kawato-San (7.1%), Yuya Uemura (2.4%)

2017 WINNER: Hirai Kawato

[pwrestlingxpress]

Remaining Pro Wrestling Express Award Categories with my Nominees

Down below are the remaining categories that I’ve chosen for what was to be my first annual Pro Wrestling Express Awards but lack of responses have prompt me to cancel them with the hopes to try again next year.  Once more, I’m sorry but as they always say the show must go on.  Here are the final categories. 

Breakout Star of The Year

Cameron Cole - Reality of Wrestling

Velveteen Dream - WWE NXT

Flip Gordon - Ring of Honor

Hirai Kawato - NJPW

Katsuya Kitamura - NJPW

OMG Moment of The Year (Click on the date to see the video of that moment. Give credit to the uploader of the video for I take no credit in this) 

January 5th:  The return of Suzuki-gun at New Japan’s New Year DASH

June 4th:  Seth Rollins’ Frog Splash and Roman Reigns’ Spear at WWE Extreme Rules. Click here for Roman Reigns’ Spear.

August 13th:  Katsuyori Shibata returns

August 13th:  Tetsuya Naito’s suicide dive to Kenny Omega.  Start the video at 1:06 into it. 

October 22nd:  Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose spear Kane through the Barricade as a homage to Roman Reigns

Funniest Moment of The Year (Click on the date to see the video of that moment.  Give credit to the uploader for I take no credit in this)

March 28th:  Dean Ambrose uses the remote to “cut” off Baron Corbin during their face-to-face talk on Talking Smack.

June 5th:  The Miz’s paranoia causes his Intercontinental Championship celebration to be ruined

July 2nd:  Hiroshi Tanahashi is mooned by Billy Gunn during his Intercontinental Championship match at G1 Special in the USA Night Two.  Start the video at 10:45 into it. 

August 20th:  Cesaro rips a Beach Ball during the RAW Tag Team Championship Match at SummerSlam

November 5th:  Hiromu Takahashi arrives after the IWGP Junior Championship match between Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll at Power Struggle 2017 with protective gear for both his head and his hands 

Best Moment of 2017 (Click on the date to see the video of that moment if available which I take no credit for at all. Give all the credit to the uploaders)

January 4th:  Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada receive a standing ovation after delivering a possible match of the year winner at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome. Video clip NOT avaliable

January 28th:  Seth Rollins invades NXT Takeover:  San Antonio and calls out Triple H 

April 1st:  Matt and Jeff Hardy pass the torch to Matt and Nick Jackson to end Ring of Honor’s Supercard of Honor XI.  Video clip NOT available

April 3rd:  Finn Balor returns in the main event on Monday Night RAW

May 3rd:  Kazuchika Okada challenges Kenny Omega to a rematch for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-Jo Hall Video clip NOT available

June 11th:  Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada received another standing ovation after going the distance in the main event at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-Jo Hall. Video clip NOT avaliable 

August 14th:  Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose reunite to a standing ovation in Boston

October 9th:  Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu shock the world by returning to New Japan as Roppongi 3K and winning the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship in their first match back from excursion at King of Pro Wrestling 2017 in Ryogoku

October 9th:  Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose reform The Shield in Indianapolis

November 5th:  Switchblade is revealed at Power Struggle 2017 to be Jay White who returned from a excursion in Ring of Honor 

Most Improved Wrestler of The Year

Dalton Castle - Ring of Honor

Juice Robinson - NJPW

Naomi - WWE SmackDown

Marty Scurll - Ring of Honor/NJPW

Braun Strowman - WWE Raw

Comeback of The Year 

Finn Balor - WWE Raw

La Sombra aka Andrade “Cien” Almas - WWE NXT

Cody Rhodes - Ring of Honor/NJPW

The Shield (Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose) - WWE Raw

Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW

Most Popular Wrestler of The Year 

Finn Balor - WWE Raw

Kenny Omega - NJPW

The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Big E.) - WWE SmackDown

The Shield (Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose) - WWE Raw

The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson) - Ring of Honor/NJPW

Most Hated Wrestler of The Year

Alexa Bliss 

Baron Corbin - WWE SmackDown

The Miz

Minoru Suzuki - NJPW

Silas Young - Ring of Honor

Feud of The Year

Cesaro/Sheamus vs. The Shield (Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose) - WWE RAW 

Jay Lethal vs. Silas Young - Ring of Honor

Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - Ring of Honor

Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman - WWE Raw

“The WWE Stooge” vs. The Elite (Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Adam Page, Cody Rhodes, Marty Scurll) - Ring of Honor/NJPW/Other Independent Wrestling Organizations 

Match of The Year (Click on the Title Match/Event Title to watch the match in its full Presentation)

IWGP Heavyweight Championship:  [Challenger] Kenny Omega vs. [Champion] Kazuchika Okada - Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome

Ladder Match for the ROH Tag-Team Championship:  [Challenger Team] Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson vs. [Champion Team] Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy - Supercard of Honor XI

IWGP Heavyweight Championship:  [Challenger] Kenny Omega vs. [Champion] Kazuchika Okada - Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-Jo Hall

A Block Finals:  Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - G1 Climax 27

Raw Tag-Team Championship:  [Challenger Team] Cesaro and Sheamus vs. [Champion Team] Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose - WWE No Mercy 2017

Tag Team of The Year 

The Shield (Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins) - WWE Raw

The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) - ROH/NJPW

War Machine (Raymond Rowe and Hanson) - Ring of Honor/NJPW 

Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) - Ring of Honor

The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) - WWE SmackDown

WWE’s Best Wrestler (Top Five according to an article from Bleacher Report that was posted back on December 8, 2017)

Dean Ambrose

Randy Orton - SmackDown! 

Seth Rollins - RAW

Roman Reigns - RAW

AJ Styles - SmackDown!

Best Independent Wrestler

Rex Andrews - Reality of Wrestling

Cameron Cole - Reality of Wrestling

Kazuchika Okada - New Japan Pro Wrestling

Kenny Omega - New Japan Pro Wrestling

Cody Rhodes - Ring of Honor/New Japan Pro Wrestling

Best Overall Wrestler 

Tetsuya Naito - New Japan Pro Wrestling

Kazuchika Okada - New Japan Pro Wrestling

Kenny Omega - New Japan Pro Wrestling

Marty Scurll - Ring of Honor/New Japan Pro Wrestling

Braun Strowman - WWE Raw 

Now if you want to, you can voice your own opinion on any of these categories even the nominees I selected.  But like I said earlier, due to the lack of responses, I’m cancelling this with the hope of trying again next year but that’ll all depend on my schedule for next year.  Again, give me your opinion on these remaining categories and stay tuned to see other pro wrestling award winners being announced sometime in the near future. 

[funnuraba]

The mobile app ぼくらの甲子園！ポケット” (Our Koshien! (Pocket version)) is running a Rookies-themed event through the month of August, and since the app is only available in Japanese I’m going to share some screencaps of the stuff going on.)

(The only characters appearing in the event are Mikoshiba, Hiratsuka and Aniya, all of whom you can recruit as characters, plus bats with Kawato and Hiratsuka’s heads on the end)

Y-you’re Mikoshiba-san from Futakotamagawa High School!

He tells your manager that some members of Nikogaku will be joining you for special training.

And Kawato shows up very briefly.

The event page has a link to the Jump bookstore...

and once you’ve looked at the event page, you get a free Mikoshiba unit.

Futakotamagawa's captain. An honors student and earnest practitioner of high school baseball.

Attributes: Smart Earnest/single-minded

He’ll also show up in the cafe where characters give you missions, where his choice is orange juice and cake.

He gives you some pretty easy missions, and rewards you with two Nikogaku Spirits, each of which can be redeemed for...

...the Kawato bat...

Description: A bat that flutters into your dreams and glitters into tomorrow as you swing.

Power: 87, Contact: 10, Running: 10, Defense: 0; Bench skill: Nikogaku Go, Lv. 4. Cannot be upgraded.

Nikogaku Go skill description: Cheer on your friends with an enthusiastic cry that flutters into tomorrow! In a Crisis, your Pitching stat will be greatly increased, and during an Opportunity, a batter on your team will have their Contact skill greatly increased.

...or the Hiratsuka bat.

Description: Hiratsuka, who is way too good at hitting bad pitches, transformed into a bat.

Same stats; its Bench skill is Yey!, Lv. 4.

Yey! skill description: A mysterious cheer that mocks the opponent. During an Opportunity, the opponent’s Pitching stat will be greatly decreased.

The Mikoshiba unit has decently balanced stats (the ones on the right are his max potential stats at level 11), and says things like, “Thanks for the coins!” and, “Go, Nikogaku, go!” while you’re training him.

Thanks for the coins!

I’ll show you Nikogaku’s spirit!

He looks like this during the short quicktime events.

I sent him on a ghostly bicycle date during a special event that was running last week.

Mysteriously, he says, “Nice batting!” when you hit a square that lets you upgrade your batting skill... it sounds so polite, but isn’t he basically saying it to himself???

And here’s what he looks like getting a rooftop confession, which is how you gain skills for your characters after giving the managers gifts.

Next time:

Here Comes Shithead

[lostinyourears]

Arena Mexico Super Friday Report! 06/21/2019

Robin & Super Astro Jr. vs. Espiritu Negro & El Hijo del Signo

Who’s who?

Robin in green, Astro in silver.

Espiritu Negro in black & Hijo del Signo is maskless.

How’s the match?

Good, this didn’t soar above what a Friday opener normally is, but I’m always down for more Super Astro Jr. I love his signature jumping blind tope his father was famous for doing. This was a solid match. Everyone looked pretty good here and the ending was a pretty exciting string of moves from all 4 men eliminating one after the other. 

Triton, Fuego & Drone vs. Tiger, Virus & Disturbio

Who’s who?

Triton in white, Fuego in orange/yellow & Drone in black/blue. 

Tiger in orange, Virus in black/face paint and Disturbio with yellow hair. 

How’s the match?

Very good, I’m surprised Tiger/Triton are actually sorta building heat here as the barrel towards a tag title match Monday night where Triton/Esfinge will defend vs. Tiger and his father Felino. Virus continues to have a career after ending Metalico’s 3 weeks ago. The main story was all Tiger/Triton though who seemed to have eyes only for one another. This build has been pretty good for a match that will happen in Puebla. 

Hechicero, Templario & Kawato San vs. Audaz, Flyer & Soberano Jr. 

Who’s who?

Hechicero in suspenders, Templario in silver and Kawato maskless in blue/silver.

Audaz in gold, Flyer in black, Soberano in blue/yellow.

How’s the match?

Fantastic, I have to imagine whoever produces matches and shows in Arena Mexico told these guys to go all out. Because these guys did spots you never or rarely seen pulled out and did lots of them. This match had some of the best spots I’ve seen in Lucha whether personal favorites or things that caught me by surprise. This might be a match of the year and is certainly in contention for best trios match of the year for certain. 

Titan vs. Negro Casas Lightning Match

Who’s who?

Titan masked, Casas not. 

How’s the match?

Great, Casas continues to bring it when CMLL calls upon him to do a singles match like this. He and Titan had a fun war here, I’m not as into this as I’ve been with the Casas/Soberano Jr. single matches and I still want to see a title match between those two. This lightning match is slightly hurt by the fact neither guy has a belt and thus there isn’t much for this match to lead to regardless of winner. Suppose this could start off a mask/hair feud, but didn’t seem like that’s where this was going... this felt self contained. 

Los Guerreros Laguneros(Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero & Euforia) vs. Gilbert el Boricua, Ciber the Main Man & The Chris

Who’s who?

Ultimo maskless, Gran/Euforia masked with Euforia in full pants all in blue.

Gilbert topless, Ciber/Chris in Cl4n shirts with Chris in full pants, all maskless.

How’s the match?

Meh, Cl4n still aren’t impressive and adding Gilbert as their 3rd didn’t really help either act in my opinion. I get Ciber The Main Man has lots of fans and is very well known, but I’m just not that into it. Hopefully they can start impressing, but the last dozen or so appearances doesn’t make it seem likely. Seems like next week we will get a rematch, because of the controversial finish here. 

Copa Dinastias Finals : Rush & Bestia del Ring vs. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja

Who’s who?

Rush/Bestia in white with Rush being younger and with long hair.

Angel in gold/silver and Roja in red. 

How’s the match?

Great, Bestia isn’t exactly the workrate darling and neither is Rush. Still they showed up here as powerful rudos for Angel de Oro/Niebla Roja to battle in a tournament final. This tournament felt like a stop gap as they often are, when not one of the main 4-5 that CMLL run a year. It’s not a bad idea for a tournament, but this wasn’t as well executed as it could have been. Seemed weird the Munoz family got two teams in, but at the same time it made a good story for Oro/Roja to beat Lee/Mistico in the block final then taking on their older brother and father in the finals here. This feels like a good replacement for the Homage to 2 Legends PPV main event which had a deflating finish. Angel de Oro has said he’d like to fight Rush in hair vs. hair and with this year being the Chavez Brothers remption season so far, that seems less unlikely each day that passes heading towards Anniversary. 

Highlights :

Arena Mexico Copa Dinastias Finals Highlights 06/21/2019

[xuhp-blog]

Mad Mike Wins

Kiwi driver 'Mad Mike' Whiddett has won the 2018 Formula Drift Japan Championship in Okayama, one of the most prestigious titles in drifting.

The 37-year-old has dominated all season, leading from the opening round before capping his campaign in style on Sunday (NZ time).

"To win a championship here in Japan - the motherland of drifting - is absolutely insane," he said.

"The trophy is testament to the hard work of everyone involved in putting this programme together. It's a huge task and there's so much work that goes on behind the scenes.

"This is by far the biggest result we've had to date, and true testament to Kawato-san and Team Magic with Red Bull."

Whiddett won the opening two events in Suzuka in May and Ebisu in July, but failed to fire in the third round in Fuji as his Mazda RX-7 struggled with mechanical issues.

He followed that with second in the penultimate event in Okuibuki, and held a 22-point lead over Shinji Minowa heading into the final round.

There was plenty of drama in the final eight in Okayama as Minowa was eliminated in the quarter-final, meaning Whiddett was announced as the unofficial 2018 Formula Drift Japan champion on points.

But that was reversed when a protest was lodged and carried as his opponent Ng Sheng Nian missed a gear shift on the entry to his lead lap, and his momentary drop in speed had caused Minowa to fault.

Both Whiddett and Minowa advanced to the next round, but all the Kiwi had to do was win his battle against Kazuya Iizuka.

He lost the final against Scotland's Andrew Gray but secured the overall title based on points.

Newshub.

[rotary13b1-blog]

Had the pleasure of meeting @tcpmagic Kawato-san and see @madmike.123 FD #ROTARY13B1 here at #FujiSpeedway! 🤩 #BDEFuji2018 #MazdaExperience  Hanging out with our #RotaryBros in 🇯🇵! #Mazda #BRAPBRAP #Rotary #RotaryEngine #Wankel #NoPistons #RX7 #RX8 #RX2 #RX3 #RX4 #12A #13B #20B #FB3S #FC3S #FD3S #R100 #RotaryPower #WeAreRotary #ROTARY13B1COM (at Fuji International Speedway) https://www.instagram.com/p/BoC-Ey2BVef/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1q976ky6itk90

[gdwessel]

Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2019 Night 1 - 9/27/2019; Rush, Dragon Lee Fired By CMLL, How This May Affect NJPW; Where Are Kawato & Oka?; Tonight’s NJPW on AXS: Double Header

The three night East Coast tour Fighting Spirit Unleashed began last night. There was a title match on that show, and we begin to say goodbye to Tiger Hattori.

Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2019 - 9/27/2019, Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, MA

Karl Fredericks d. Alex Coughlin (Elevated Half-Crab, 8:47)

Lance Archer [SZKG] d. Ren Narita (EBD Claw, 7:23) 

Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] d. TJP [FREE] & Clark Connors (NIcholls > Connors, Mikeybomb, 8:04)

Chase Owens & Jado [Bullet Club] d. Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson [FREE] (Owens > Morton, Package Driver, 9:10)

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Amazing Red [FREE] d. Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] (Ishii > BUSHI, Vertical Drop Brainbuster, 8:48)

Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Rocky Romero [CHAOS] d. Jay White, KENTA & Gedo [Bullet Club] (YOSHI-HASHI > Gedo, Butterfly Lock, 12:28)

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] © d. SHO & YOH [CHAOS] (Tonga > YOH, Gunstun, 16:43) - GOD succeed their 7th defense

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Kota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi d. SANADA, EVIL & Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] (Tanahashi > Naito, Ground Cobra Twist, 20:26)

Naito doing the job here seems a bit shit but Naito doesn’t have a title match to look like a contender for coming up either. Guerrillas of Destiny continue to hang on to the titles and let’s face it will do so until WK14 where they will be beaten by the eventual World Tag League winners. The tag division is trash and GOD are the face of it now. The match may end up on NJPWWorld on tape delay eventually. Chase Owens pins his trainer Ricky Morton, and the Rock’n’Roll Express lose their NJPW debut match. His partner in the match, Jado is 51 years old today.

In the wee hours of the night, something rather major happened behind the scenes in CMLL.

Firstly, Rush defeated Matt Taven at Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor PPV to become the first-ever Mexican ROH World Champion, with his brother Dragon Lee and father La Bestia del Ring (and son, above) in attendance. Rumors had been flying for weeks about Dragon Lee’s status in home promotion CMLL, stemming from Dragon Lee disobeying a directive from CMLL to not work Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s Battle of Los Angeles last weekend (Barbaro Cavernario was also booked for BOLA, but did withdraw his participation under that same directive; the reason given, is CMLL is once again considering both Pentagon Jr./Penta el 0M and Rey Fenix as AAA wrestlers once more so they are forbidding wrestlers from working with them). From this, Dragon Lee was pulled from CMLL’s 86th Aniversario, which also ran last night.

Within the hour of Rush winning the ROH title, Rush posted a video on his Twitter announcing both he and La Bestia del Ring were now independent wrestlers, and indeed both KAOZ Lucha and The Crash have announced Rush as working there soon as El Toro Blanco, as CMLL own the Rush trademark. Not long after THAT, CMLL tweeted out that they have fired both Rush and Dragon Lee. Dragon Lee posted on Facebook he was devastated by this, and indeed this really seems to be retaliatory. There are reports he may be working ROH’s TV taping tonight. Dragon Lee was also CMLL’s Welterweight champion at the time of his release.

I will stop right here and say that friend of the show/blog TheCubsFan posted a podcast with Rob Viper late last night summarizing this situation and you should listen to it; it’s only 40 minutes, but packed with information.

But it should go without saying that both Rush and Dragon Lee were pretty integrated in their way with New Japan as well. Dragon Lee especially has been pretty popular in NJPW, and of course his story is very well tied in to that of Hiromu Takahashi, and indeed Hiromu tweeted at Dragon Lee this morning. There are reports he was due to be in the upcoming Super Junior Tag League, presumably paired with another CMLL wrestler. but who knows if that can or will happen now. It’s become very murky politically. NJPW could outright sign Dragon Lee (or whatever he calls himself now -- there are reports of Toro Rojo being a possibility) if all parties agree, but he could also go to WWE, or somewhere else. 

It all kinda depends on how strong the relationship between NJPW and CMLL is at this point and whether NJPW values CMLL or Dragon Lee more. There have been signs of strain between NJPW and its partners, ROH and CMLL; the ROH relationship has been the more obviously strained, especially since G1 Supercard at MSG, where ROH’s contributions were, frankly, absolute shite. However, other than Fantasticamania (which is usually a great payday for the visiting luchadors) and appearances in Best of the Super Juniors and Super J-Cup, there doesn’t seem to be much going on with the CMLL relationship right now. The last couple of excursions ended suddenly and without notice, as when Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu were Raijin & Fujin and then... weren’t (Hirai Kawato, I discuss below). Shota Umino and Ren Narita both are on excursion now, but neither went to CMLL, where before it was assured at least one would. Jushin Thunder Liger appeared at Arena Mexico this summer for a retirement show, but Liger is able to make his own bookings without NJPW’s involvement (which is how Liger was able to wrestle Tyler Breeze at the 2015 NXT Takeover in Brooklyn). Consider that around this time last year, Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & BUSHI all made appearances in Arena Mexico. This year, there were no NJPW wrestlers at the CMLL Grand Prix, where usually there is at least one or two, even if it were the likes of Michael Elgin, Satoshi Kojima, or even David Finlay. As NJPW broaden their global profile on their own, there seems to be a gradual withdrawal from their partners. As I said, which do NJPW value more, a continued partnership with CMLL, or Dragon Lee on their roster?

Then there’s the other elephant in the room: the status of Los Ingobernables. Straight up, CMLL own the trademark, and always have. There’s a CMLL trademark on LIJ shirts. The unit started in CMLL, between Rush, La Sombra and La Mascara. La Sombra is now Andrade Cien Almas in WWE, and the other two have been fired for various reasons. Los Ingobernables as a functional thing in CMLL is now dead, unless they want to do the typical lucha promotion business where they just shellac other wrestlers onto a popular gimmick after the original wrestler(s) behind said gimmick leave - indeed, it’s how Rush & Dragon Lee’s brother became the second Mistico. (His status is unknown, assumed not leaving, but who knows. If he does, Caristico can reassume the Mistico identity, which would make the Arena Mexico crowd happy.) There is a possibility that CMLL could keep Los Ingobernables alive with Terrible and some others, but I can guess how well that’s going to go over. 

Los Ingobernables de Japon has to end, at some point. It’s just inevitable. Rush is still in ROH until at least 2020, so there is a possibility that Naito and the boys will reunite with Rush (although the last few times Rush and LIJ members were on the same ROH cards, they deliberately kept them apart, even at meet & greets). If the NJPW and CMLL relationship is starting to disintegrate, a very large part of NJPW’s current identity, and merch money, will be going away soon. Rush being shown the door by itself doesn’t mean LIJ is over just yet. It is not the first time the NJPW branch of a famous stable outlasted its home company. But this could be the harbinger of that unit coming to an end, until LIJ goes into its TEAM2000 phase.

Long story short, shit is wild, and complicated, and political, and who knows what ripples this pebble in the river will produce.

Above, I mentioned Hirai Kawato and his excursion in CMLL as Kawato San. I’ve been teasing a piece for weeks, and, well, here it is. 

Hirai Kawato has not worked a match since 7/28/2019, a Sunday night show at Arena Mexico, teaming with Dark Magic & Misterioso Jr. in a losing effort v. Rey Cometa, Flyer & Dulce Gardenia. Prior to that, on 6/30/2019, Kawato had bested Audaz to win the CMLL World Super Lightweight title vacated by (ironically) Dragon Lee. Since then... nothing. 

Apparently, according to TheCubsFan (him again), Kawato got seriously ill and had to go back to Japan for recovery. There’s been no official word about his status at all, including whether or not he will return to Mexico. It’s a real shame, as his excursion looked to finally be working, evidenced by getting a title, and it looked like they might begin an actual program with Audaz, but such is not to be right now. I hope he is recovering OK, no matter what happens next for him, as it sounded serious enough for him to go home.

Tomoyuki Oka is another one who’s been MIA. Last seen in RevPro UK under the gimmick of Dominator Great O-Kharn, Oka has not wrestled a match since his appearance as the only Japanese talent at the ill-fated New Beginning USA shows, beating Harlem Bravado on 2/2/2019 in Nashville. There is even less info about his whereabouts - his last tweet was on 3/4/2019, advertising the NBUSA shows on NJPWWorld. (FWIW, Kawato’s last tweet was on 7/26, and last Instagram post was on 7/3.) 

I wish I had more, but I simply don’t; I don’t have sources or anything like that. But it’s a little disconcerting when not one but two Young Lions have gone missing in action whilst away. Makes you wonder what the future holds for Shooter and Ren.

(Whilst we’re here - David Finlay is still recovering from injury and surgery. He is still pretty active on social media.)

Ideally I should’ve posted this earlier but there were no posts and we’re here now. After taking last week off, NJPW on AXS returns tonight with a double header of episodes, all taking place from various Destruction shows from a couple of weeks ago. Advertised matches are:

9pm EDT / 8pm CDT - RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) v. Zack Sabre Jr., Destruction in Beppu, Oita Beppu B-Con Plaza, 9/15/2019 10pm EDT / 9pm CDT - Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Challenge Rights: Kota Ibushi v. KENTA, Destruction in Kagoshima, Kagoshima Arena, 9/16/2019

There will be other matches as these alone are not enough to fill an hour of TV each. It’s also preceded by an all-new WOW Women of Wrestling. Incidentally, it looks like AXS’s new owners Anthem are moving their own wrestling company, Impact, to Tuesdays later this month, so there is some assurance of them not actively messing with NJPW, at least, not yet.

Of course, you are spoiled for choice of watching NJPW tonight, as tonight’s FIghting Spirit Unleashed show from the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC is live on NJPWWorld. Show starts at 7pm EDT. Once again we have a title match tonight, too, although... let’s face it, we know who’s winning this.

- 9/28/2019, Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, NY (NJPWWorld)

Ren Narita v. TJP [FREE]

Karl Fredericks v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin

Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ricky Morton [FREE] & Robert Gibson [FREE] v. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Amazing Red [FREE] v. Jay White, Chase Owens & Gedo [Bullet Club]

NEVER Openweight Championship: KENTA [Bullet Club] © v. YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS]

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & Kota Ibushi v. SANADA & EVIL [Los Ingobernables]

[wweforums-blog]

Sermon on the Mat: Against the world!

MLW, NOVA Pro, Chikara, CZW, & Progress results, and all the usual free match action Welcome back to the Sermon on the Mat, your weekly one-stop shop for news from the wider world of wrestling beyond the big cable TV monoliths that get all the coverage. Coming soon... CMLL Super Viernes (June 15, 9:30PM Eastern) * Mercurio & Pequeno Nitro vs. Shockercito & Stukita * Blue Panther, Jr., Pegasso, & the Panther vs. Kawato San, Okumura, & Universo 2000, Jr. * El Felino, Puma, & Tiger vs. Esfinge, Titan, & Triton * El Hijo de LA Park, El Valiente, & Niebla Roja vs. Los Hijos del Infierno (Ephesto, Luciferno, & Mephisto) * Caristico vs. Dragon Lee (Lightning Match) * Cibernetico & Los Ingobernables (El Terrible & Rush) vs.... Sermon on the Mat: Against the world! http://dlvr.it/QXJT5B #WWE #News #Raw #SmackDown #NXT

[herblenny]

Thank you Jonny for the awesome gift!! Signed Formula Japan cap by founder of TCP Magic and builder of Mad Mike’s 4 Rotor FD in Japan Kawato San!! @trmnl7 @tcpmagic #tcpmagic #rotary #fd3s #13b #20b #26b #4rotor #formuladrift #formuladriftjapan

[notoriouslyawkward]

well well well, look who it is