#zero1 world heavyweight | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gdwessel · 3 years

Text

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 National Championship: Kenoh [Kongo] © d. Kaito Kiyomiya (Referee Stoppage, 24:42) - Kenoh succeeds his 2nd defense

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

GAORA TV Championship: Shigehiro Irie © v. Koji Doi [TOTAL ECLIPSE]

World Juniorheavyweight Championship: Super Crazy © v. SUGI

World Tag Team Championship: Suwama & Shotaro Ashino [Evolution] © v. Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi [NEXTREAM]

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.

2 notes · View notes

wewerecore · 2 years

Text

CORE Pro Trios Kingdom Kickoff Event 08/05/22 The Valley Lighthouse - Lykens, Pennsylvania

- Fans from as far as Cameron County made their way to Lykens for the Trios Kingdom Kickoff. Those in attendance enjoyed ice cold A-Treat soft drinks and Middleswarth chips provided by our friends at the local Boyer's Food Market. CORE legends Bronson Pinchot and "Soda Pop" Ronnie Zukko were on hand to take photos and sign autographs.

Trios Kingdom 2022 - First Round

Queen's Quest (Utami Hayashishita, AZM, and Saya Kamitani) - Representing STARDOM, one of the most successful stables in the history of women's wrestling. Stable leader Utami Hayashishita has maintained the standard of excellence established by original Queen's Quest founder Io Shirai. Hayashishita brings with her the current Wonder Of Stardom champion Saya Kamitani and the current High Speed champion AZM.

The Factory (QT Marshall, Cole Karter, and Nick Comoroto) - QT Marshall has selected his trainee Nick Comoroto and the newest member of his stable, Cole Karter, to represent The Factory at Trios Kingdom 2022. Responding to questions about how Aaron Solo or Anthony Ogogo may feel about Karter being selected over them, QT explained that this was his way of rewarding the faith Karter showed The Factory by accepting their invitation.

The 37KAMIINA (MAO, Shunma Katsumata, and Yuki Ueno) - In an interesting development, The 37KAMIINA have accepted an invitation to join Trios Kingdom 2022 without their stable leader, Konosuke Takeshita. We can only speculate on the ramifications this may have on the group going forward, or what a potential match between them and Mr. Takeshita might look like. Takeshita had assembled some of the best young talent in DDT before leaving for his current excursion, and they are ready to show how they've adapted on their own.

Dalton Castle and The Boys (Dalton Castle, Brandon Tate, and Brent Tate) - Dalton and the Tate Twins, the current Ring Of Honor World Six-Man Tag Team Champions, are as decorated a trio as exist in pro-wrestling today. A rejuvenated Dalton Castle and his long time partners look to make a strong showing in Trios Kingdom.

Prolific (Isaiah Wolf, Marcus Marquee, and Tyree Taylor) - A promising young trio that have begun to make a name for themselves along the east coast, most notably for the Combat Zone Wrestling office. Their highest profile match yet awaits them in the opening round of Trios Kingdom 2022.

BULK Orchestra (Hayato Tamura, Ryuichi Kawakami, and Quiet Storm) - Representing the GLEAT wrestling office. In his young career, top prospect Hayato Tamura has already claimed the ZERO1 World Heavyweight championship and was a finalist for the GLEAT G-REX Title. Joining him are veterans Ryuichi Kawakami, who found success in Big Japan, DDT, and All Japan before joining GLEAT, and Quiet Storm, whose long career has seen him compete everywhere from the early days of Combat Zone Wrestling to the rings of Osaka Pro and Pro Wrestling NOAH.

Mysterious Q, FOR, and JJ - Little is known about this cult like group that orbits around the Mysterious Q. Even less is known now that recently introduced member White Rabbit and their valet Brown Bunny have suddenly withdrawn from the tournament. In their place, Mysterious Q and FOR will be teaming with someone known only as JJ. While questions abound, the success Mysterious Q and his admirers have found in CORE is indisputable.

The Moondogs (Moondog Cooper, Moondog Tucker, and Moondog Oliver) - The latest iteration of the legendary Moondogs will be making their debut at Trios Kingdom. If history is any indication, we can expect to see some wild and violent action from these three individuals. The Moondogs guarantee a dangerous and unpredictable matchup for anyone in the tournament.

Match #01 Special Showcase Match

La Estrella vs. Komander Winner: La Estrella

Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, and Kerry Morton) - After begging his father for an opportunity, Kerry Morton will get his shot at CORE action as he teams with the legendary tag team of Ricky and Robert. How they will fare outside of Senior Division competition remains to be seen, but their experience is unmatched, and that combined with Kerry's youthful enthusiasm could present a challenge to any opponent.

Burning Embers (Athena, Samuel Shaw, and JONAH) with Raychell Rose - When it came time to assemble a team for Trios Kingdom, Athena looked into her recent past and called on Samuel Shaw and JONAH to be her partners. The three having wrestled together successfully as 3/4s of an eight man tag match in the Orlando territory. When Raychell Rose was asked if she felt any resentment about not being selected, Athena answered that Raychell was very grateful for the opportunity to observe their tournament triumph from ringside.

Jericho Appreciation Society (Angelo Parker, Matt Menard, and Daniel Garcia) - Angelo Parker and Matt Menard are no strangers to Trios tournaments, having participated in previous Trios Kingdom action as well as smaller tournaments. Garcia also spent much of his early career competing around the northeast in multi-man tags with some of his Buffalo area travelling partners. This trios’ experience combined with the knowledge they have gained from Chris Jericho make them one of the on paper favorites to win it all.

BUG'S MUTATION (Ayumu Honda, Chicharito Shoki, and CHANGO) - Representing the 2AW office in Japan. Ayumu Honda, one of the cornerstones of 2AW, is a former three time Chiba Six-Max Tag Team champion. CHANGO, a near twenty year veteran of the sport, has competed all over Japan including being a three time six-man tag team champion in the GUTS World promotion. Chicharito Shoki, the young lion of the group and one of the first talents fully trained by the 2AW office since their rebranding from Kaientai Dojo, recently claimed the Big Japan affiliated Yokohama Shopping Street six-man tag team championship. While all three members have found six-man tag team gold on their own, they have yet to score any major championship or tournament wins as a faction. Could Trios Kingdom 2022 be their first?

Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs, and Danny Limelight) - Representing New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Lawlor and Isaacs have continued to develop their tag team chemistry during Lawlor's recent tour of NJPW as part of the G1 Tournament. While having no shortage of choices on who would take the last spot in Team Filthy, Lawlor pointed to Danny Limelight's pinfall victory over The DKC during the ten man tag at NJPW Capital Collision to explain his pick.

The Last Wave (Josh Alexander, Titus Alexander, and Mr. Takeshita) - When asked to explain the new group he dubbed "The Last Wave", Josh Alexander described the trio as the best overall wrestler in the world today (himself), the best wrestler just now entering the prime of their career (Mr. Takeshita), and the best wrestling prospect (Titus Alexander). As Josh Alexander put it, one of these three men will be dominating pro-wrestling at various points for the next thirty years, so they are not the Next Wave, or the New Wave, but The Last Wave.

Team FIST (Tony Deppen, Travis Huckabee, and Chuck Taylor) - An all-star team of sorts, streamlined and free of any dead weight. Different generations unite for a common goal, winning Trios Kingdom 2022.

The Colony (Electro Ant, Ultimo Ant, and Fire Ant) - An unlikely but very welcome reunion. Electro Ant and Ultimo Ant have continued to develop their skills since winning a small, largely forgotten trios tournament in 2018, and with the return of Fire Ant, The Colony have to be one of the fan favorites to win it all.

Match #02 Special Showcase Match

ASUKA vs. MIZUKI Winner: MIZUKI

Upcoming Shows:

CORE Pro #108 Trios Kingdom 2022 - Night One 09/01/22 The Shoe Factory - Milton, Pennsylvania 01. Queen's Quest (Utami Hayashishita, AZM, and Saya Kamitani) vs. The Factory (QT Marshall, Cole Karter, and Nick Comoroto) 02. The 37KAMIINA (MAO, Shunma Katsumata, and Yuki Ueno) vs. Dalton Castle and The Boys (Dalton Castle, Brandon Tate, and Brent Tate) 03. Prolific (Isaiah Wolf, Marcus Marquee, and Tyree Taylor) vs. BULK Orchestra (Hayato Tamura, Ryuichi Kawakami, and Quiet Storm) 04. Mysterious Q, FOR, and JJ vs. The Moondogs (Moondog Cooper, Moondog Tucker, and Moondog Oliver) 05. Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, and Kerry Morton) vs. Burning Embers (Athena, Samuel Shaw, and JONAH) with Raychell Rose 06. Jericho Appreciation Society (Angelo Parker, Matt Menard, and Daniel Garcia) vs. BUG'S MUTATION (Ayumu Honda, Chicharito Shoki, and CHANGO) 07. Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs, and Danny Limelight) vs. The Last Wave (Josh Alexander, Titus Alexander, and Mr. Takeshita) 08. Team FIST (Tony Deppen, Travis Huckabee, and Chuck Taylor) vs. The Colony (Electro Ant, Ultimo Ant, and Fire Ant)

CORE Pro #109 Trios Kingdom 2022 - Night Two 09/02/22 Kalahari - Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania 01. Second Round: Winners Match 1 vs. Winners Match 8 02. Second Round: Winners Match 2 vs. Winners Match 7 03. Second Round: Winners Match 3 vs. Winners Match 6 04. Second Round: Winners Match 4 vs. Winners Match 5 05. Non-Tournament Action 06. Non-Tournament Action 07. Semi-Final Round: Winners Second Round Match 1 vs. Winners Second Round Match 3 08. Semi-Final Round: Winners Second Round Match 2 vs. Winners Second Round Match 4

CORE Pro #110 Trios Kingdom 2022 - Night Three 09/03/22 Martz Hall - Pottsville, Pennsylvania 01. Trios Kingdom 2022 Finals

0 notes

iqwrestler · 8 years

Text

Masato Tanaka beat Kohei Sato and is ZERO1 World Heavyweight Champion again....amazing

1 note · View note

beastlygrizzle · 7 years

Text

RaiZ-R’s January 2018 Pro-Wrestling FAVE FIVE Honourable Mentions

Other Recommended Matches

ZERO1 World Heavyweight Title Match: Yusaku Obata vs. Masato Tanaka (c) at ZERO1 Happy New Year (1st Jan 2018)

Triple Crown Title Match: Joe Doering (c) vs. Zeus at AJPW New Year Wars, Night #1 (2nd Jan 2018)

TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title Match: Reika Saiki (c) vs. Miyu Yamashita at TJP Tokyo Joshi Pro ’18 (4th Jan 2018)

IWGP United States Heavyweight Title No DQ Match: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Chris Jericho at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 (4th Jan 2018)

D-Ou Grand Prix 2018 Block B Match: Shuji Ishikawa vs. Mike Bailey at DDT D-Ou Grand Prix 2018 In Shinjuku (5th Jan 2018)

Goddesses Of Stardom Title Match: Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura & Kagetsu) (c) vs. Queen's Quest (HZK & Momo Watanabe) at Stardom New Years Stars Night #2 (5th Jan 2018)

GHC Heavyweight Title Match: Kenou (c) vs. Kaito Kiyomiya by KO at NOAH Navigation for the Future, Night #1 (6th Jan 2018)

Ayako Hamada vs. Meiko Satomura at Sendai Girls New Year Sanjo in Shinjuku FACE (6th Jan 2018)

Jack Sexsmith vs. Joe Coffey at PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter 60: Unboxing Live! 2 – Unbox Harder (filmed; 30th Dec 2017, released; 6th Jan 2018)

Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match: Niebla Roja vs. Gran Guerrero at CMLL Lucha Libre Sabado Espectacular de Arena Mexico (6th Jan 2018)

CIMA, Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs. Bandido, Flamita & Ryo Saito at Dragon Gate Infinity: Open the New Year Gate Night #2 (14th Jan 2018)

Extreme Rules Match: Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole at WWE NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia (27th Jan 2018)

30 Man Royal Rumble Match at WWE Royal Rumble

(28th Jan 2018)

#pro wrestling #fave five

0 notes

puroresuroad · 7 years

Text

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

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.

0 notes