Low Ki v. El Generico. From the 4/13/12 EVOLVE show in Toronto. Ki backs him into the corner and teases a chop. Turnabout is fair play, but Generico then actually follows through with a chop. Ki uses a chop and drops an elbow. Ki gets his back and slaps away. He tries an armbar but Generico gets the leverage. Ki tries to get Generico to drop into his guard. Ki takes the back again and grabs a side headlock. They run the ropes and Generico uses a leg lariat after a miscommunication. Chopfest and Ki uses a brainbuster for two. Ki tosses him and uses a dropkick on the outside. Ki covers in the ring. Ki slaps on a bodylock and it’s been pretty slow so far and all Ki. Chopfest. Generico uses elbows and dumps Ki on a blind charge. Generico uses a no-hands somersault tope. Flying bodypress for two. Ki misses a soccer kick and takes a blue thunder bomb for two. Ki uses a hard kick on a blind charge and slaps on a dragon sleeper. Generico turns that into a falcon arrow for two. Generico misses the running kick and hurts his knee in the corner. Ki uses a kick to the chest to set up more kicks for two. Generico dodges knees to the gut, uses the yakuza kick but Ki reverses out of the brainbuster on the turnbuckle. Ki uses a double stomp to the back to finish Generico in 16:55. ***1/2 Pretty basic match, but as it was Generico’s first singles match in Evolve, it got you excited for what’s to come. They never really clicked, however. 

Low Ki v. El Generico. From the 4/13/12 EVOLVE show in Toronto. Ki backs him into the corner and teases a chop. Turnabout is fair play, but Generico then actually follows through with a chop. Ki uses a chop and drops an elbow. Ki gets his back and slaps away. He tries an armbar but Generico gets the leverage. Ki tries to get Generico to drop into his guard. Ki takes the back again and grabs a side headlock. They run the ropes and Generico uses a leg lariat after a miscommunication. Chopfest and Ki uses a brainbuster for two. Ki tosses him and uses a dropkick on the outside. Ki covers in the ring. Ki slaps on a bodylock and it’s been pretty slow so far and all Ki. Chopfest. Generico uses elbows and dumps Ki on a blind charge. Generico uses a no-hands somersault tope. Flying bodypress for two. Ki misses a soccer kick and takes a blue thunder bomb for two. Ki uses a hard kick on a blind charge and slaps on a dragon sleeper. Generico turns that into a falcon arrow for two. Generico misses the running kick and hurts his knee in the corner. Ki uses a kick to the chest to set up more kicks for two. Generico dodges knees to the gut, uses the yakuza kick but Ki reverses out of the brainbuster on the turnbuckle. Ki uses a double stomp to the back to finish Generico in 16:55. ***1/2 Pretty basic match, but as it was Generico’s first singles match in Evolve, it got you excited for what’s to come. They never really clicked, however. 

This was posted 1 month ago. It has 0 notes. .
Bull Nakano Produce Empress Retirement Show From Tokyo on 1/8/12. The TV version is missing a battle royal and a Zero-1 six man, FYI.   Ayako Hamada v. Aja Kong. Hamada wears jeans and a tank top. Test of strength. Slapfest. Sleeper. Standing suplex for two. Hamada grabs a leglock but Kong manuevers into an armbar. Kong chops at the arm for a nearfall. Hamada comes back with an enziguiri. Slapfest. Hamada uses a falcon arrow for two. Kong gets her knees up a moonsault and uses a saito suplex for two. Brainbuster gets two. Hamada catches Kong on top and uses a powerbomb for two. Moonsault gets two. Spin kick and Kong bails. Hamada comes off the top with a moonsault to the floor. Holy cow. Missile dropkick and Kong uses a trash can and gives Hamada a brainbuster on it for good measure. That gets two and a double KO. Kong uses a flying elbow for two. Kong misses one spinning backfist but manages another for a near fall. Hamada uses a spinning kick to Kong’s head for two. Another sick roundhouse sets up a third for two. Jesus, what a beating. Kong grabs a sleeper but Hamada gets the ropes. Two more roundhouses won’t finish Kong, and Hamada uses a superkick and more kicks for two. Hamada driver finishes Kong in 15:14. ****1/4 The two hug after the match. Good lord, this was the OPENER? Kayoko Haruyama & Ryo Mizunami vs AKINO & Maki Narumiya. Ryo and Maki start. Maki uses a seated dropkick and a standing elbow for two. Ryo comes back with a shoulderbreaker for two. Kayoko tags in and uses a back kick and a running splash. Akino and Kayoko slap it out. Akino uses a bunch of legdrops for two. Maki comes in and they negate each other’s offense. Maki uses a palm strike for two. Kayoko uses a stunner and a pedigree. She slams Ryo on Maki for two. Kayoko uses a top rope rocker dropper for two. Ryo hits a flying shoulderblock for two. Powerslam for two. Akino runs wild on Ryo with dropkicks. Maki uses a missile dropkick for two. Saito suplex for two. Akino begs for the tag and uses a top rope rocker dropper for two. Slapfest. Kayako and Ryo miss stereo top rope legdrops. Akino uses snake eyes and a top rope legdrop for two. Maki superkicks Akino by mistake. Ryo uses a psycho driver but Akino saves. Top rope facebuster/rocker dropper combo sets up the pedigree on Akino and Ryo finishes her with the top rope legdrop in 13:12. ***1/2 All good, although Akino would seem like the clear star in the making here, but I guess they were showing the young wrestlers wouldn’t be going over up and down the card. Dump Matsumoto & Kyoko Inoue & Leon & Sawako Shimono & Tsukushi v. Jaguar Yokota & Manami Toyota & Tomoka Nakagawa & Natsuki Taiyo & Cherry. Kyoko and Jaguar start and Jaguar slaps on a butterfly stretch. Jaguar turns a powerbomb into a rana but eats a lariat. Dump tags in with her Nazi gear and tosses Jaguar around, working her over with a kendo stick. Jaguar uses a victory roll for a near fall. Dump cleans house on the faces and a big brawl erupts. Jaguar uses a bodypress for two and tags in Cherry. Dump no-sells all of her puny offense. She tries a german suplex but Dump deadweights her. Lariat. Warrior splash. Tsukushi and Cherry exchange eye rakes. Shimono eats a dropkick from Tomoka. Shimono uses a fireman’s carry slam into a Thesz press for two. Tomoka comes back with an enziguiri. Manami works over the tiny Tsukushi with a missile dropkick. Tsukushi steps on her back a bunch of times and slaps on an assisted surfboard. Manami biels her off the top and uses another dropkick. Ocean cyclone suplex for two. Manami misses a moonsault and eats two missile dropkicks for two. Tsukushi comes back with a bodyscissors for two and tags in Leon. Manami slaps on the rolling cradle for two. Taiyo tags in and they run the ropes. Leon uses a spear and Tsukushi hits everyone with a bodypress. Leon uses a seated springboard dropkick for two. Koyoko tags in and destroys Taiyo. Taiyo manages a sunset flip out of nowhere. Taiyo uses a run-up-the-ropes bodypress for two. Manami hits Kyoko with a missile dropkick. Everybody runs in the ring to hits everybody. Faces team up to kick Dump off the apron. Taiyo, Cherry and Manami use planchas to the outside. Cherry uses a somersault legdrop on Kyoko for two. Elaborate rollup gets two. Kyoko uses a superplex for two. Double lariat sets up a powerbomb to finish Cherry in 16:15. ***3/4 Really fun chaotic match with Manami’s interactions with the talented next generation being the notable highlight. Dump canes everybody, including the announcers, after the match. Kana v. Kagetsu. Kagetsu slaps on an armbar to start. Kana unleashes some kicks. Kagetsu slaps on a heel hook. Kana uses a sunset flip. Single leg boston crab. More matwork results in Kana getting an ankle lock. Kana slaps on a guillotine. Kagetsu manages a vertical suplex. Kagetsu uses a fireman’s carry slam. Another one gets two. Kagetsu slaps on an armbar. Bodypress gets two. DDT gets two for Kana. Slapfest. Kagetsu hits another fireman’s carry slam but can’t cover. Tremendous selling from both women. Kana uses a few sick kicks for a near fall. Kagetsu maneuvers her next offensive move into an armbar. Cobra clutch from Kana puts Kagetsu to sleep in 11:23. **3/4 Fun shoot style match that offered something different than the usual rope-running and high-flying. The card needed a change-of-pace and it allowed the crowd to rest. Nanae Takahashi & Meiko Satomura & Emi Sakura v. Ayumi Kurihara & Yoshiko & Tsukasa Fujimoto. Nanae and Fujimoto start. They run the ropes and Fujimoto uses a crazy leapfrog over the taller woman. Meiko is in to work with Ayumi and he uses a spinning sick kick and pounds her chest with kicks. Ayumi comes back with a dropkick and it’s a stand off. Sakura tags in for Yoshiko but the heels stomp the shit out of her. Sakura fires up and tosses them all by their hair except Yoshiko’s whose hair is too strong. Yoshiko uses a double lariat to get her over, and Meiko snaps her arm on the apron. Single leg boston crab. Ayumi dropkicks Meiko off her partner. Yoshiko uses an atomic drop and some bootscrapes. Meiko destroys Fujimoto with kicks and a belly-to-belly suplex. Nanae puts Fujimoto in the tree of woe. Nanae uses a stump-puller with a butterfly. Sakura slaps a surfboard on Fujimoto. Sakura uses an umaplata variation. Meiko tags in and the faces manage a triple team submission and pose for pics. Fujimoto uses a victory roll for two. Ayumi destroys Meiko in the corner and slaps on a heel hook. Nanae saves. Meiko comes back with a koppo kick and tags Nanae in. Ayumi slaps on the octupus. Nanae reverses that into a powerslam. Ayumi uses a running kneedrop and Yoshiko cleans house. Ayumi uses a missile dropkick to the outside. Ayumi uses a german suplex for two. Nanae comes back with a superplex for two. Sakura uses a rana off the top and Nanae follows with a frog splash on Ayumi for two. Ayumi comes back with an exploder and makes the heel tag. Yoshiko and Nanae trade lariats. Sakura tosses all the heels in the corner and the faces splash into them. Some tomfoolery results in the heels getting the advantage. Sakura uses a spinning neckbreaker but misses a pump splash. Yoshiko uses a pump splash of her own. Nanae lariats Sakura by mistake and Yoshiko uses a series of standing sentons for two. Yoshiko uses senton from the second rope for two. Fujimoto lays waste to Sakura with kicks for two. Sakura powerbombs her but Yoshiko uses a codebreaker and Fujimoto uses a jumping eniziguiri on Sakura for a near fall. Sakura comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a butterfly backbreaker. Tiger slam gets two. Ayumi manages a codebreaker and Fujimoto rolls Sakura up for two. Fujimoto misses a bodypress and Sakura uses la magistral for two. All the faces hit their finishers stereo-style for a near fall. Sakura finishes Fujimoto with a firebird splash in 21:41. ***3/4 The middle was kind of messy, but the rest was tremendous, with a crazy hot finish to wrap things up. Fujimoto and Sakura were simply out-of-this-world and I’d love to see a singles match.  Yuzuki Aikawa v. Hikaru Shida. Some basic stuff leads to both missing dropkicks. Aikawa breaks out an armdrag and uses a running kick to the chest. Aikawa tosses Shida around with her legs as they keep it on the mat. Shida gets the mount and slugs away and they roll around and hammer each other for awhile. Shida uses a running knee and a backbreaker. Lion tamer variation. Aikawa slaps on a heel hook and Shida hits an STO. Up top, Shida is caught with kicks for two. Slugfest, won by Shida with a running knee. Sidewalk slam but Aikawa manages an STF out of nowhere. Shida uses a small package for two. Torture rack into a facebuster, but Aikawa gets right up and clocks her, then does a delayed sell. Aikawa uses la magistral for two. Shida smashes her face and uses a vertical suplex for two. Falcon arrow for two. Shida puts her on top but Aikawa gives her a stunner onto the top rope from there. Shida dodges a seated dropkick and uses the running knee for two. Aikawa uses a fisherman’s suplex for two. Slugfest. Slapfest. Aikawa no-sells a running knee. Turnabout is fair play for two. Spinning kick for two. Aikawa’s kicks are extremely unique and athletic. Rocker dropper but she can’t cover. Another savage kick finishes Shida in 15:11. ***1/4 These two didn’t entirely click for some reason, and there were some awkward moments. Shida in particular has a great look but is somewhat green - although if she were in the U.S., she’d be the best worker in either major company. Shida gives a tearful post-match speech that has Emi Sakura also in tears for some reason.  The Undertaker’s music kicks off a Bull Nakano video retrospective. Now we get clips of Dump Matsumoto & Bull Nakano v. Crush Gals from the mid-1980s. The heat for this at the time bordered on nuclear. Two girls in Asuka and Nagoya “masks” come out live and then so do Dump and Bull. Crowd has no idea what to make of this at first and is very respectful, e.g. silent. They reenact the beginning of the match and then play the middle part on the big screen. They come back live with the end of the match. I have never seen the full match, but looked to be unbelievable with the heat and big moves. We transition to a recap of the Chain Death match between Nakano and Shinobu Kandori from 7/14/94, including the pre-match press conference. Kandori gives her a front kick and she sells until we cut to the taped footage on the big screen. Nakano manages the mother of all blade jobs and this battle was ****3/4 easy. Having them brawl into the crowd in the live arena like it’s happening all over again is just surreal. We cut back to the big screen for the finish which has Nakano finishing Kandori with a top rope legdrop to the back of her head. Now we go back in time to 11/14/90 and get the entrances for the Aja Kong-Nakano cage match. This match was 8th in the DVDVR Best Joshi Matches of the 1990s. Kong comes to the ring in her old gear. What makes this even weirder is that it’s not like Nakano looks old or anything, she’s just in her mid-40s and if you weren’t looking closely you might not be able to tell it’s not the woman you know and remember. Match is a total war with a grisly blade job from both and a full-on nunchuk assault live in the ring from Nakano as Kong bumps around for her. Bull even takes a garbage can shot to the face. Nakano finishes Kong with a legdrop from the top of the cage and climbs out for the win. Neat flashback to the live arena with Bull getting ready to drop from the great height before they cut back to the video for the big move.  We get clips of Kong getting her head shaved later on and a 1992 match between the two. Kong finishes Nakano with the top rope legdrop and Bull hops on the mic after the match and they both cry and hug. Back at the live event, they reenact that scene basically and it’s every bit as amazing.  Next they bring out a bunch of flowers for Bull. She gives her speech and gets pretty choked up as you would expect. They ring the bell ten times. Lastly, they bring out Bull’s longtime partner and she actually marries him in the ring, after completely changing her makeup and hair, naturally.  When you think about how easy it would be for WWE to do a show like this that no one would ever forget, it makes you even more sad. Certainly the show of the year so far and it will be hard to top, although the WrestleReunion events will probably do their damnedest. 

Bull Nakano Produce Empress Retirement Show

From Tokyo on 1/8/12.

The TV version is missing a battle royal and a Zero-1 six man, FYI.  

Ayako Hamada v. Aja Kong. Hamada wears jeans and a tank top. Test of strength. Slapfest. Sleeper. Standing suplex for two. Hamada grabs a leglock but Kong manuevers into an armbar. Kong chops at the arm for a nearfall. Hamada comes back with an enziguiri. Slapfest. Hamada uses a falcon arrow for two. Kong gets her knees up a moonsault and uses a saito suplex for two. Brainbuster gets two. Hamada catches Kong on top and uses a powerbomb for two. Moonsault gets two. Spin kick and Kong bails. Hamada comes off the top with a moonsault to the floor. Holy cow. Missile dropkick and Kong uses a trash can and gives Hamada a brainbuster on it for good measure. That gets two and a double KO. Kong uses a flying elbow for two. Kong misses one spinning backfist but manages another for a near fall. Hamada uses a spinning kick to Kong’s head for two. Another sick roundhouse sets up a third for two. Jesus, what a beating. Kong grabs a sleeper but Hamada gets the ropes. Two more roundhouses won’t finish Kong, and Hamada uses a superkick and more kicks for two. Hamada driver finishes Kong in 15:14. ****1/4 The two hug after the match. Good lord, this was the OPENER?

Kayoko Haruyama & Ryo Mizunami vs AKINO & Maki Narumiya. Ryo and Maki start. Maki uses a seated dropkick and a standing elbow for two. Ryo comes back with a shoulderbreaker for two. Kayoko tags in and uses a back kick and a running splash. Akino and Kayoko slap it out. Akino uses a bunch of legdrops for two. Maki comes in and they negate each other’s offense. Maki uses a palm strike for two. Kayoko uses a stunner and a pedigree. She slams Ryo on Maki for two. Kayoko uses a top rope rocker dropper for two. Ryo hits a flying shoulderblock for two. Powerslam for two. Akino runs wild on Ryo with dropkicks. Maki uses a missile dropkick for two. Saito suplex for two. Akino begs for the tag and uses a top rope rocker dropper for two. Slapfest. Kayako and Ryo miss stereo top rope legdrops. Akino uses snake eyes and a top rope legdrop for two. Maki superkicks Akino by mistake. Ryo uses a psycho driver but Akino saves. Top rope facebuster/rocker dropper combo sets up the pedigree on Akino and Ryo finishes her with the top rope legdrop in 13:12. ***1/2 All good, although Akino would seem like the clear star in the making here, but I guess they were showing the young wrestlers wouldn’t be going over up and down the card.

Dump Matsumoto & Kyoko Inoue & Leon & Sawako Shimono & Tsukushi v. Jaguar Yokota & Manami Toyota & Tomoka Nakagawa & Natsuki Taiyo & Cherry. Kyoko and Jaguar start and Jaguar slaps on a butterfly stretch. Jaguar turns a powerbomb into a rana but eats a lariat. Dump tags in with her Nazi gear and tosses Jaguar around, working her over with a kendo stick. Jaguar uses a victory roll for a near fall. Dump cleans house on the faces and a big brawl erupts. Jaguar uses a bodypress for two and tags in Cherry. Dump no-sells all of her puny offense. She tries a german suplex but Dump deadweights her. Lariat. Warrior splash. Tsukushi and Cherry exchange eye rakes. Shimono eats a dropkick from Tomoka. Shimono uses a fireman’s carry slam into a Thesz press for two. Tomoka comes back with an enziguiri. Manami works over the tiny Tsukushi with a missile dropkick. Tsukushi steps on her back a bunch of times and slaps on an assisted surfboard. Manami biels her off the top and uses another dropkick. Ocean cyclone suplex for two. Manami misses a moonsault and eats two missile dropkicks for two. Tsukushi comes back with a bodyscissors for two and tags in Leon. Manami slaps on the rolling cradle for two. Taiyo tags in and they run the ropes. Leon uses a spear and Tsukushi hits everyone with a bodypress. Leon uses a seated springboard dropkick for two. Koyoko tags in and destroys Taiyo. Taiyo manages a sunset flip out of nowhere. Taiyo uses a run-up-the-ropes bodypress for two. Manami hits Kyoko with a missile dropkick. Everybody runs in the ring to hits everybody. Faces team up to kick Dump off the apron. Taiyo, Cherry and Manami use planchas to the outside. Cherry uses a somersault legdrop on Kyoko for two. Elaborate rollup gets two. Kyoko uses a superplex for two. Double lariat sets up a powerbomb to finish Cherry in 16:15. ***3/4 Really fun chaotic match with Manami’s interactions with the talented next generation being the notable highlight. Dump canes everybody, including the announcers, after the match.

Kana v. Kagetsu. Kagetsu slaps on an armbar to start. Kana unleashes some kicks. Kagetsu slaps on a heel hook. Kana uses a sunset flip. Single leg boston crab. More matwork results in Kana getting an ankle lock. Kana slaps on a guillotine. Kagetsu manages a vertical suplex. Kagetsu uses a fireman’s carry slam. Another one gets two. Kagetsu slaps on an armbar. Bodypress gets two. DDT gets two for Kana. Slapfest. Kagetsu hits another fireman’s carry slam but can’t cover. Tremendous selling from both women. Kana uses a few sick kicks for a near fall. Kagetsu maneuvers her next offensive move into an armbar. Cobra clutch from Kana puts Kagetsu to sleep in 11:23. **3/4 Fun shoot style match that offered something different than the usual rope-running and high-flying. The card needed a change-of-pace and it allowed the crowd to rest.

Nanae Takahashi & Meiko Satomura & Emi Sakura v. Ayumi Kurihara & Yoshiko & Tsukasa Fujimoto. Nanae and Fujimoto start. They run the ropes and Fujimoto uses a crazy leapfrog over the taller woman. Meiko is in to work with Ayumi and he uses a spinning sick kick and pounds her chest with kicks. Ayumi comes back with a dropkick and it’s a stand off. Sakura tags in for Yoshiko but the heels stomp the shit out of her. Sakura fires up and tosses them all by their hair except Yoshiko’s whose hair is too strong. Yoshiko uses a double lariat to get her over, and Meiko snaps her arm on the apron. Single leg boston crab. Ayumi dropkicks Meiko off her partner. Yoshiko uses an atomic drop and some bootscrapes. Meiko destroys Fujimoto with kicks and a belly-to-belly suplex. Nanae puts Fujimoto in the tree of woe. Nanae uses a stump-puller with a butterfly. Sakura slaps a surfboard on Fujimoto. Sakura uses an umaplata variation. Meiko tags in and the faces manage a triple team submission and pose for pics. Fujimoto uses a victory roll for two. Ayumi destroys Meiko in the corner and slaps on a heel hook. Nanae saves. Meiko comes back with a koppo kick and tags Nanae in. Ayumi slaps on the octupus. Nanae reverses that into a powerslam. Ayumi uses a running kneedrop and Yoshiko cleans house. Ayumi uses a missile dropkick to the outside. Ayumi uses a german suplex for two. Nanae comes back with a superplex for two. Sakura uses a rana off the top and Nanae follows with a frog splash on Ayumi for two. Ayumi comes back with an exploder and makes the heel tag. Yoshiko and Nanae trade lariats. Sakura tosses all the heels in the corner and the faces splash into them. Some tomfoolery results in the heels getting the advantage. Sakura uses a spinning neckbreaker but misses a pump splash. Yoshiko uses a pump splash of her own. Nanae lariats Sakura by mistake and Yoshiko uses a series of standing sentons for two. Yoshiko uses senton from the second rope for two. Fujimoto lays waste to Sakura with kicks for two. Sakura powerbombs her but Yoshiko uses a codebreaker and Fujimoto uses a jumping eniziguiri on Sakura for a near fall. Sakura comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a butterfly backbreaker. Tiger slam gets two. Ayumi manages a codebreaker and Fujimoto rolls Sakura up for two. Fujimoto misses a bodypress and Sakura uses la magistral for two. All the faces hit their finishers stereo-style for a near fall. Sakura finishes Fujimoto with a firebird splash in 21:41. ***3/4 The middle was kind of messy, but the rest was tremendous, with a crazy hot finish to wrap things up. Fujimoto and Sakura were simply out-of-this-world and I’d love to see a singles match. 

Yuzuki Aikawa v. Hikaru Shida. Some basic stuff leads to both missing dropkicks. Aikawa breaks out an armdrag and uses a running kick to the chest. Aikawa tosses Shida around with her legs as they keep it on the mat. Shida gets the mount and slugs away and they roll around and hammer each other for awhile. Shida uses a running knee and a backbreaker. Lion tamer variation. Aikawa slaps on a heel hook and Shida hits an STO. Up top, Shida is caught with kicks for two. Slugfest, won by Shida with a running knee. Sidewalk slam but Aikawa manages an STF out of nowhere. Shida uses a small package for two. Torture rack into a facebuster, but Aikawa gets right up and clocks her, then does a delayed sell. Aikawa uses la magistral for two. Shida smashes her face and uses a vertical suplex for two. Falcon arrow for two. Shida puts her on top but Aikawa gives her a stunner onto the top rope from there. Shida dodges a seated dropkick and uses the running knee for two. Aikawa uses a fisherman’s suplex for two. Slugfest. Slapfest. Aikawa no-sells a running knee. Turnabout is fair play for two. Spinning kick for two. Aikawa’s kicks are extremely unique and athletic. Rocker dropper but she can’t cover. Another savage kick finishes Shida in 15:11. ***1/4 These two didn’t entirely click for some reason, and there were some awkward moments. Shida in particular has a great look but is somewhat green - although if she were in the U.S., she’d be the best worker in either major company. Shida gives a tearful post-match speech that has Emi Sakura also in tears for some reason. 

The Undertaker’s music kicks off a Bull Nakano video retrospective.

Now we get clips of Dump Matsumoto & Bull Nakano v. Crush Gals from the mid-1980s. The heat for this at the time bordered on nuclear. Two girls in Asuka and Nagoya “masks” come out live and then so do Dump and Bull. Crowd has no idea what to make of this at first and is very respectful, e.g. silent. They reenact the beginning of the match and then play the middle part on the big screen. They come back live with the end of the match. I have never seen the full match, but looked to be unbelievable with the heat and big moves.

We transition to a recap of the Chain Death match between Nakano and Shinobu Kandori from 7/14/94, including the pre-match press conference. Kandori gives her a front kick and she sells until we cut to the taped footage on the big screen. Nakano manages the mother of all blade jobs and this battle was ****3/4 easy. Having them brawl into the crowd in the live arena like it’s happening all over again is just surreal. We cut back to the big screen for the finish which has Nakano finishing Kandori with a top rope legdrop to the back of her head.

Now we go back in time to 11/14/90 and get the entrances for the Aja Kong-Nakano cage match. This match was 8th in the DVDVR Best Joshi Matches of the 1990s. Kong comes to the ring in her old gear. What makes this even weirder is that it’s not like Nakano looks old or anything, she’s just in her mid-40s and if you weren’t looking closely you might not be able to tell it’s not the woman you know and remember. Match is a total war with a grisly blade job from both and a full-on nunchuk assault live in the ring from Nakano as Kong bumps around for her. Bull even takes a garbage can shot to the face. Nakano finishes Kong with a legdrop from the top of the cage and climbs out for the win. Neat flashback to the live arena with Bull getting ready to drop from the great height before they cut back to the video for the big move. 

We get clips of Kong getting her head shaved later on and a 1992 match between the two. Kong finishes Nakano with the top rope legdrop and Bull hops on the mic after the match and they both cry and hug. Back at the live event, they reenact that scene basically and it’s every bit as amazing. 

Next they bring out a bunch of flowers for Bull. She gives her speech and gets pretty choked up as you would expect. They ring the bell ten times. Lastly, they bring out Bull’s longtime partner and she actually marries him in the ring, after completely changing her makeup and hair, naturally. 

When you think about how easy it would be for WWE to do a show like this that no one would ever forget, it makes you even more sad. Certainly the show of the year so far and it will be hard to top, although the WrestleReunion events will probably do their damnedest. 

This was posted 2 months ago. It has 3 notes. .
NJPW The New BeginningFrom 2/12/12 in Osaka.IWGP Jr. tag titles, Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi (c) v. Davey Richards & Rocky Romero. Romero and Prince start. Prince takes control with a wristlock after kiping up. They run the ropes and Prince uses a seated dropkick. Davey eats a missile dropkick and they slug it out. Davey uses a dropkick and Romero eats one from Taguchi next. Romero plays heel-in-peril. Davey switches things up after Prince knocks him off the apron and the heels clean house and brawl to the outside. Romero hurts Prince with a running knee on the outside for a near fall. Lariats in the corner. Prince comes back with a lariat of his own for the double KO, hot tag Taguchi. Rolling vertical suplexes. Taguchi gives Romero a DDT and Davey an inverted DDT at the same time. Reverse suplex for two. He goes for a tiger suplex but Davey stops that and Romero gives him a floating neckbreaker for two.  Prince cleans house and foils an elaborate Corps double team. Apollo 55 hits them with stereo no hands somersault planchas. Prince puts Romero in the tree of woe and kicks him in the body. Nasty double-stomp gets two. Combination codebreaker-suplex gets two for Prince. Prince looks to finish Romero with a jumping assisted DDT but Davey saves. Romero uses a backslide for two and a jumping knee into a victory roll for two. Prince knocks him out with a spinning back kick. Davey and Taguchi war and Davey uses a schoolboy for two. Lariat sets up a german suplex for two. Taguchi rolls through a powerbomb for two. He hits an enziguiri and a tigerplex for two. Taguchi eats knees on a frog splash, however, and Davey tosses Romero knees-first into him. Romero hits Taguchi with the flying knee, but he kicks out at two. Davey uses a reverse death valley driver as Romero drops a springboard knee but that only gets two. Romero knocks Prince out with a crazy tope into the front row and Davey hits the sick kick for two. Davey uses a powerbomb to take the titles back in 15:10. ****1/2 Unbelievable match that started slow and got insane near the end. Prince pretty much held the whole thing together and it was obvious he was not doing the job tonight. Hopefully this means a return to singles competition for Devitt.Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama & Lance Archer & TAKA Michinoku & Taichi v. Yuji Nagata & Togi Makabe & Wataru Inoue & Tiger Mask & KUSHIDA. Makabe and Suzuki chop it out. Mass brawl erupts in short order. Tiger Mask slaps on an armbar on Suzuki. The faces run wild on Suzuki and Nagata hits him with an exploder. Nagata hits Suzki with a big boot but he slaps on the armbar through the ropes. Takayama gives Nagata a suplex. Inoue hammers at Takayama from the mount and Taka tags in. TM takes care of him with kicks. Spinning kick gets two. Taichi hammers at Kushida. Lance misses a blind charge and catches Kushida flying. Sit-out electric chair bomb finishes him. Lance hits TM with a DDT to finish him. Inoue takes over on Lance and chops away. Backslide gets two. Lance uses a big boot for two. Inoue uses a high angle german suplex for a near fall. Lance dumps him to the floor and Inoue’s out. Makabe dumps Taka and finishes Taichi. Suzuki and Makabe tease a future match and Makabe hammers away in the mount. Archer softens Makabe up. Takayama uses a back suplex on Makabe and lays waste to Nagata. Suzuki tries a sleeper, and then just tosses Nagata over the top rope. Makabe fires up on the heels with lariats after evading the Suzuki sleeper. Lance hits him with a DDT and Takayama uses a german suplex. Suzuki finishes Makabe with a piledriver in 23:08. **3/4 Decent Survivor Series type match, but a bit too chaotic to mean anything. I doubt we’ll be seeing Okada-Suzuki in the near future, and Suzuki could probably use a tag run. IWGP tag titles, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima (c) v. Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson. Karl and Kojima start. Beranrd quickly takes over on Tenzan and his headbutts are no-sold. Karl uses a powerslam but misses a kneedrop. Karl tosses Kojima into the rain and the challengers use elbow and kneedrops on Tenzan. Karl uses a backbreaker for two and works over Kojima’s knee. Bernard tries a pump splash but Kojima uses a diamond cutter. Tenzan cleans house and slaps on the anaconda vice. Tenzan drops Karl with a back body drop and Kojima runs wild with a million chops on Karl. Flying elbow gets two. Karl uses a diamond cutter and running sentons from the heels. They manage to both their regular double team combo and looks to finish Kojima. Bernard can barely get Kojima up for the ligerbomb but that gets two. Combination neckbreaker-suplex gets two. 3-D gets two for the champions. Karl hits a diamond cutter on Tenzan but Kojima hits a diamond cutter on him. Bernard uses a rydeen bomb for two. Kojima uses the lariat to finish Bernard in 17:47. **1/4 Really disappointing actually, as neither team looked sharp out there. The teams shake hands afterwards and this would seem to be the last match in the series as they don’t click very well. They need to get better workers in there with the slow TenKoji to make the tag title bouts a positive spot on the card.IC title, Masato Tanaka (c) v. Hirooki Goto. Goto slaps on an armbar. They run the ropes rather slowly and Goto knocks Tanaka down. Yujiro Takahashi interferes which I suppose is a facet of this IC belt and also Tanaka as you usually don’t see this in Japan. They brawl into the crowd and chop it out. Yujiro continues to waylay Goto on the ramp. Goto uses a back suplex. Goto uses a flying elbow for two. Tanaka comes back with a superplex. Lariat. Tanaka uses a sunset flip powerbomb and the diving elbow but that only gets two. Goto uses a lariat for the double KO. Goto uses a german suplex but Tanaka no-sells. A lariat puts him down anyway. Goto uses a spinning kick. Goto uses a GTS from the top which is quite a move, but that only gets two. Tanaka uses an elbow for a near fall. Brainbuster for two. Tanaka misses the diving elbow and smashes in Goto’s face until he eats a headbutt. Lariat from Goto for two. Another lariat for two. Goto uses a GTS to set up a sidewalk slam on Tanaka for the pin and the title in 13:26. ***1/4 This felt a tiny bit too much like going through the motions, but it was very stiff, and there were decent motions. I’d expect this to be Goto’s belt for the duration as he takes on all comers and gets a bunch of varied victories. Yujiro challenges him for the title afterwards.#1 contender, Tetsuya Naito v. Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura takes his back and locks in a choke. They brawl to the ramp where Naito clips Shinsuke’s knee. More brawling and Nakamura uses knees to the body and destroys Naito with kicks until he’s almost motionless. That gets two. Nakamura keeps it mat-based, locking on a choke for two. Nakamura tries a rana but Naito powerbombs him down. Neckbreaker sets up running sentons. Missile dropkick for two. Naito slaps on a stretch plum but Nakamura kicks him in the chest. Nakamura uses a reverse suplex for two. Nakamura can’t get a german and Naito puts him down with a lariat. Slugfest, and Naito uses an enziguiri and a german suplex for two. Fireman’s carry slam for two. Naito gets nothing when he comes off the top rope, and Nakamura puts him down with a kick. They kinda mess up a victory roll and Naito uses a snap cradle for two. Back suplex for two. Pumphandle slam sets up the stardust press to win the match for Naito in 17:38. *** Kinda lacking as they were on different pages at times. Absolutely the right result here, as it’s too soon to pair Nakamura and Okada and Nakamura probably has a win on Tanahashi in sight now. IWGP title, Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) v. Kazuchika Okada. Hiroshi control with a side headlock and cranks on it. Okada uses a big boot and elbows from the mount. He teases the tombstone. Hiroshi is dropkicked off the second rope to the floor. Okada works him over on the outside. Suplex gets two. Backbreaker but Okada misses the standing senton. Okada uses a seated straight kick for two. Flapjack sets up a crucifix submission. Hiroshi comes back with a flying forearm. His selling here is truly a thing to behold. Dragon screw legwhip and Okada bails. Hiroshi comes off the top rope with a high cross to the floor. Hiroshi suplexes him back in and works the leg. Texas cloverleaf. The ref picks up Hiroshi’s tooth off the mat this point. Okada hits the jumping tombstone out of nowhere and slaps on a unique umaplata variation. Hiroshi kicks out the challenger’s knee and he bails. Hiroshi misses a running splash off the apron and he looks like a crumpled piece of paper. Okada knocks him into the crowd and waits him out in the ring. What a beating. Okada uses a flying elbow for two. Hiroshi uses the running neckbreaker for two. Straightjacket suplex for two. He tries to finish with the frog splash, and delivers it to Okada’s back. He goes for another to the front, but Okada gets his knees up. Okada uses a big boot and a modest driver on his knee to control. DDT for two. Fireman’s carry into an inverted DDT gets two. Hiroshi uses a dragon suplex for two. Lariat finishes Tanahashi and the legendary title reign in 23:22. ****1/2 Extremely brutal match with a hot, hot finish, even if the result isn’t likely to please most. I think they desperately need a new star, and Okada isn’t so reliably a part of their future that if he misses in this role, they’ve done anything drastic to their fortunes. New Japan may have gotten a little stale in 2011, but they’re going to shake things up with new ownership, that much is clear. Probably their best show in a long time, even if some matches didn’t live up to expectations.

NJPW The New Beginning

From 2/12/12 in Osaka.

IWGP Jr. tag titles, Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi (c) v. Davey Richards & Rocky Romero. Romero and Prince start. Prince takes control with a wristlock after kiping up. They run the ropes and Prince uses a seated dropkick. Davey eats a missile dropkick and they slug it out. Davey uses a dropkick and Romero eats one from Taguchi next. Romero plays heel-in-peril. Davey switches things up after Prince knocks him off the apron and the heels clean house and brawl to the outside. Romero hurts Prince with a running knee on the outside for a near fall. Lariats in the corner. Prince comes back with a lariat of his own for the double KO, hot tag Taguchi. Rolling vertical suplexes. Taguchi gives Romero a DDT and Davey an inverted DDT at the same time. Reverse suplex for two. He goes for a tiger suplex but Davey stops that and Romero gives him a floating neckbreaker for two.  Prince cleans house and foils an elaborate Corps double team. Apollo 55 hits them with stereo no hands somersault planchas. Prince puts Romero in the tree of woe and kicks him in the body. Nasty double-stomp gets two. Combination codebreaker-suplex gets two for Prince. Prince looks to finish Romero with a jumping assisted DDT but Davey saves. Romero uses a backslide for two and a jumping knee into a victory roll for two. Prince knocks him out with a spinning back kick. Davey and Taguchi war and Davey uses a schoolboy for two. Lariat sets up a german suplex for two. Taguchi rolls through a powerbomb for two. He hits an enziguiri and a tigerplex for two. Taguchi eats knees on a frog splash, however, and Davey tosses Romero knees-first into him. Romero hits Taguchi with the flying knee, but he kicks out at two. Davey uses a reverse death valley driver as Romero drops a springboard knee but that only gets two. Romero knocks Prince out with a crazy tope into the front row and Davey hits the sick kick for two. Davey uses a powerbomb to take the titles back in 15:10. ****1/2 Unbelievable match that started slow and got insane near the end. Prince pretty much held the whole thing together and it was obvious he was not doing the job tonight. Hopefully this means a return to singles competition for Devitt.

Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama & Lance Archer & TAKA Michinoku & Taichi v. Yuji Nagata & Togi Makabe & Wataru Inoue & Tiger Mask & KUSHIDA. Makabe and Suzuki chop it out. Mass brawl erupts in short order. Tiger Mask slaps on an armbar on Suzuki. The faces run wild on Suzuki and Nagata hits him with an exploder. Nagata hits Suzki with a big boot but he slaps on the armbar through the ropes. Takayama gives Nagata a suplex. Inoue hammers at Takayama from the mount and Taka tags in. TM takes care of him with kicks. Spinning kick gets two. Taichi hammers at Kushida. Lance misses a blind charge and catches Kushida flying. Sit-out electric chair bomb finishes him. Lance hits TM with a DDT to finish him. Inoue takes over on Lance and chops away. Backslide gets two. Lance uses a big boot for two. Inoue uses a high angle german suplex for a near fall. Lance dumps him to the floor and Inoue’s out. Makabe dumps Taka and finishes Taichi. Suzuki and Makabe tease a future match and Makabe hammers away in the mount. Archer softens Makabe up. Takayama uses a back suplex on Makabe and lays waste to Nagata. Suzuki tries a sleeper, and then just tosses Nagata over the top rope. Makabe fires up on the heels with lariats after evading the Suzuki sleeper. Lance hits him with a DDT and Takayama uses a german suplex. Suzuki finishes Makabe with a piledriver in 23:08. **3/4 Decent Survivor Series type match, but a bit too chaotic to mean anything. I doubt we’ll be seeing Okada-Suzuki in the near future, and Suzuki could probably use a tag run.

IWGP tag titles, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima (c) v. Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson. Karl and Kojima start. Beranrd quickly takes over on Tenzan and his headbutts are no-sold. Karl uses a powerslam but misses a kneedrop. Karl tosses Kojima into the rain and the challengers use elbow and kneedrops on Tenzan. Karl uses a backbreaker for two and works over Kojima’s knee. Bernard tries a pump splash but Kojima uses a diamond cutter. Tenzan cleans house and slaps on the anaconda vice. Tenzan drops Karl with a back body drop and Kojima runs wild with a million chops on Karl. Flying elbow gets two. Karl uses a diamond cutter and running sentons from the heels. They manage to both their regular double team combo and looks to finish Kojima. Bernard can barely get Kojima up for the ligerbomb but that gets two. Combination neckbreaker-suplex gets two. 3-D gets two for the champions. Karl hits a diamond cutter on Tenzan but Kojima hits a diamond cutter on him. Bernard uses a rydeen bomb for two. Kojima uses the lariat to finish Bernard in 17:47. **1/4 Really disappointing actually, as neither team looked sharp out there. The teams shake hands afterwards and this would seem to be the last match in the series as they don’t click very well. They need to get better workers in there with the slow TenKoji to make the tag title bouts a positive spot on the card.

IC title, Masato Tanaka (c) v. Hirooki Goto. Goto slaps on an armbar. They run the ropes rather slowly and Goto knocks Tanaka down. Yujiro Takahashi interferes which I suppose is a facet of this IC belt and also Tanaka as you usually don’t see this in Japan. They brawl into the crowd and chop it out. Yujiro continues to waylay Goto on the ramp. Goto uses a back suplex. Goto uses a flying elbow for two. Tanaka comes back with a superplex. Lariat. Tanaka uses a sunset flip powerbomb and the diving elbow but that only gets two. Goto uses a lariat for the double KO. Goto uses a german suplex but Tanaka no-sells. A lariat puts him down anyway. Goto uses a spinning kick. Goto uses a GTS from the top which is quite a move, but that only gets two. Tanaka uses an elbow for a near fall. Brainbuster for two. Tanaka misses the diving elbow and smashes in Goto’s face until he eats a headbutt. Lariat from Goto for two. Another lariat for two. Goto uses a GTS to set up a sidewalk slam on Tanaka for the pin and the title in 13:26. ***1/4 This felt a tiny bit too much like going through the motions, but it was very stiff, and there were decent motions. I’d expect this to be Goto’s belt for the duration as he takes on all comers and gets a bunch of varied victories. Yujiro challenges him for the title afterwards.

#1 contender, Tetsuya Naito v. Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura takes his back and locks in a choke. They brawl to the ramp where Naito clips Shinsuke’s knee. More brawling and Nakamura uses knees to the body and destroys Naito with kicks until he’s almost motionless. That gets two. Nakamura keeps it mat-based, locking on a choke for two. Nakamura tries a rana but Naito powerbombs him down. Neckbreaker sets up running sentons. Missile dropkick for two. Naito slaps on a stretch plum but Nakamura kicks him in the chest. Nakamura uses a reverse suplex for two. Nakamura can’t get a german and Naito puts him down with a lariat. Slugfest, and Naito uses an enziguiri and a german suplex for two. Fireman’s carry slam for two. Naito gets nothing when he comes off the top rope, and Nakamura puts him down with a kick. They kinda mess up a victory roll and Naito uses a snap cradle for two. Back suplex for two. Pumphandle slam sets up the stardust press to win the match for Naito in 17:38. *** Kinda lacking as they were on different pages at times. Absolutely the right result here, as it’s too soon to pair Nakamura and Okada and Nakamura probably has a win on Tanahashi in sight now.


IWGP title, Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) v. Kazuchika Okada. Hiroshi control with a side headlock and cranks on it. Okada uses a big boot and elbows from the mount. He teases the tombstone. Hiroshi is dropkicked off the second rope to the floor. Okada works him over on the outside. Suplex gets two. Backbreaker but Okada misses the standing senton. Okada uses a seated straight kick for two. Flapjack sets up a crucifix submission. Hiroshi comes back with a flying forearm. His selling here is truly a thing to behold. Dragon screw legwhip and Okada bails. Hiroshi comes off the top rope with a high cross to the floor. Hiroshi suplexes him back in and works the leg. Texas cloverleaf. The ref picks up Hiroshi’s tooth off the mat this point. Okada hits the jumping tombstone out of nowhere and slaps on a unique umaplata variation. Hiroshi kicks out the challenger’s knee and he bails. Hiroshi misses a running splash off the apron and he looks like a crumpled piece of paper. Okada knocks him into the crowd and waits him out in the ring. What a beating. Okada uses a flying elbow for two. Hiroshi uses the running neckbreaker for two. Straightjacket suplex for two. He tries to finish with the frog splash, and delivers it to Okada’s back. He goes for another to the front, but Okada gets his knees up. Okada uses a big boot and a modest driver on his knee to control. DDT for two. Fireman’s carry into an inverted DDT gets two. Hiroshi uses a dragon suplex for two. Lariat finishes Tanahashi and the legendary title reign in 23:22. ****1/2 Extremely brutal match with a hot, hot finish, even if the result isn’t likely to please most. I think they desperately need a new star, and Okada isn’t so reliably a part of their future that if he misses in this role, they’ve done anything drastic to their fortunes.

New Japan may have gotten a little stale in 2011, but they’re going to shake things up with new ownership, that much is clear. Probably their best show in a long time, even if some matches didn’t live up to expectations.

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WWE title, CM Punk (c) v. Chris Jericho. Mat wrestling to start, and Punk clubs away to the back of Chris’ head. Knee to the gut follows. Punk tees off with knees and stomps Chris down. Chris asks “how’s your father?” because if Punk gets DQ’d Chris wins the title. Punk tries the elbow but Chris bails to ringside first, so Punk hits with a flying clothesline on the outside. “How’s your sister?” Punk grabs a chair but thinks better of it. “Your sister’s a drug addict!” “Your father’s a drunk!” Punk settles for a spinkick to the gut but eats a second rope dropkick on a blind charge. They fight on the apron and Chris clotheslines him in. Jericho suplexes Punk off the apron to the floor. Yikes. Running kick to the gut and Chris covers in the ring for two. Butterfly suplex into a backbreaker for two. Sleeper. Chris uses a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Running senton for two. Punk stops Chris on a blind charge, but Chris drags him off the top rope when he hops up there for two. Punk is stopped on a blind charge, but Punk tosses Chris into the turnbuckle when he goes for the bulldog. Punk chops away and uses a dropkick. Neckbreaker for two. Punk uses the running knee, but Chris stops him on the bulldog and attempts a lionsault. Lion tamer, but Punk twists him off. Kick to the head for two. Bodyslam, flying elbow but Chris gets his knees up and Punk uses a jawbreaker. Punk bumps to the outside. Punk hits the GTS but Chris has his foot on the rope. Not much heat at all so far. Punk uses a snap powerslam for two. Chris suplexes him on the ropes and uses a lionsault for two. Punk chops Chris on the top rope and tries a rana but Chris turns it into the lion tamer. Punk makes the ropes. Punk backdrops Chris to the floor on a blind charge. Punk uses a tope and goes headfirst into the barricade. Jeez. Running knee on the outside. Punk tries to springboard in but Chris hits the codebreaker for two. Punk tries a GTS but Chris elbows out. Chris heads up top but Punk hits him with a kick to the body. Punk tries the GTS, but Chris slaps on the lion tamer and the crowd finally wakes up. Punk nears the ropes so Chris drags him back to the middle. Punk turns it into a small package and Chris reverses, but Punk slaps on the anaconda vice. Chris rolls over for two but Punk won’t let go. Chris uses knees to the head and wiggles out. Chris tries the lion tamer againbut Punk just goes back to the anaconda vice. Punk moves the hold up so Jericho can’t knee out and Chris taps out to allow Punk to retain in 25:56. **** The lack of heat really hurt the match, but there was nothing wrong with the work. The best thing on the show so far by leaps and bounds. They were in a really tough spot on the card, and I think the issue with the heat is due to Chris being a flop as a heel. After reading his books and just being hilarious for his entire career, why would anyone boo him, let alone the fans who come to WrestleMania?

WWE title, CM Punk (c) v. Chris Jericho. Mat wrestling to start, and Punk clubs away to the back of Chris’ head. Knee to the gut follows. Punk tees off with knees and stomps Chris down. Chris asks “how’s your father?” because if Punk gets DQ’d Chris wins the title. Punk tries the elbow but Chris bails to ringside first, so Punk hits with a flying clothesline on the outside. “How’s your sister?” Punk grabs a chair but thinks better of it. “Your sister’s a drug addict!” “Your father’s a drunk!” Punk settles for a spinkick to the gut but eats a second rope dropkick on a blind charge. They fight on the apron and Chris clotheslines him in. Jericho suplexes Punk off the apron to the floor. Yikes. Running kick to the gut and Chris covers in the ring for two. Butterfly suplex into a backbreaker for two. Sleeper. Chris uses a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Running senton for two. Punk stops Chris on a blind charge, but Chris drags him off the top rope when he hops up there for two. Punk is stopped on a blind charge, but Punk tosses Chris into the turnbuckle when he goes for the bulldog. Punk chops away and uses a dropkick. Neckbreaker for two. Punk uses the running knee, but Chris stops him on the bulldog and attempts a lionsault. Lion tamer, but Punk twists him off. Kick to the head for two. Bodyslam, flying elbow but Chris gets his knees up and Punk uses a jawbreaker. Punk bumps to the outside. Punk hits the GTS but Chris has his foot on the rope. Not much heat at all so far. Punk uses a snap powerslam for two. Chris suplexes him on the ropes and uses a lionsault for two. Punk chops Chris on the top rope and tries a rana but Chris turns it into the lion tamer. Punk makes the ropes. Punk backdrops Chris to the floor on a blind charge. Punk uses a tope and goes headfirst into the barricade. Jeez. Running knee on the outside. Punk tries to springboard in but Chris hits the codebreaker for two. Punk tries a GTS but Chris elbows out. Chris heads up top but Punk hits him with a kick to the body. Punk tries the GTS, but Chris slaps on the lion tamer and the crowd finally wakes up. Punk nears the ropes so Chris drags him back to the middle. Punk turns it into a small package and Chris reverses, but Punk slaps on the anaconda vice. Chris rolls over for two but Punk won’t let go. Chris uses knees to the head and wiggles out. Chris tries the lion tamer againbut Punk just goes back to the anaconda vice. Punk moves the hold up so Jericho can’t knee out and Chris taps out to allow Punk to retain in 25:56. **** The lack of heat really hurt the match, but there was nothing wrong with the work. The best thing on the show so far by leaps and bounds.

They were in a really tough spot on the card, and I think the issue with the heat is due to Chris being a flop as a heel. After reading his books and just being hilarious for his entire career, why would anyone boo him, let alone the fans who come to WrestleMania?

This was posted 2 months ago. It has 2 notes. .
ROH title, Davey Richards (c) v. Michael Elgin. From the 3/31/12 show in Fort Lauderdale. Davey kicks away and tries some shoulderblocks, and goes with a dropkick instead. Elgin heads over the top rope on a blind charge, so Davey uses a running knee and a tope. Davey uses kicks to the chest around the ring. They tease a tornado DDT from the top to the rope, but Elgin lariats Davey back in the ring. Elgin uses a delayed suplex for two. Elgin drops a leg on Davey where he lies on the apron for two. They trade reversals and Elgin uses a knee to the body. Elgin catches Davey on a handspring elbow and uses a backbreaker. Slugfest and Elgin chops him down. Northern lights suplex for two. Davey uses a missile dropkick to come back. Slugfest. Davey uses an exploder for two. Spinkick and a running knee. Superplex and Elgin no-sells. Big boot does no more damage. Elgin uses an enziguiri. Elgin no-sells a german suplex but a lariat gets two. Ankle lock from Davey. Elgin bails to the floor. Elgin catches Davey coming off the apron and uses a fisherman’s buster on the floor. Elgin powerbombs Davey into the ring barricade and rolls him in for two. Elgin uses a corkscrew senton from the top for two. Elgin puts Davey on top so the champion grabs a kimura. Davey tries a sunset flip powerbomb but Elgin’s too big. Davey kicks him in the face and uses a dragon suplex from the top for two. Oh my. He transitions quickly to the ankle lock. Elgin makes the ropes. Elgin no-sells Davey’s kicks so Davey tries the soccer-style blows. Elgin comes back with knees to the head. Elgin uses a chaos theory suplex for two. Superkick into a sidewalk slam gets two. Elgin slaps on the crossface but Davey makes the ropes. Davey leg whips Elgin across the ropes and uses a double stomp onto him on the apron. A second double stomp in the ring gets two. Davey hits a lariat and a wrist-clutch exploder for two. Inverted DDT gets two for Elgin after he catches a sick kick. Powerbomb into the turnbuckle but Davey spinkicks him. Elgin uses a lariat and tries another powerbomb, but Davey rolls through into the ankle lock. Elgin rolls into the crossface but Davey turns that into a nearfall. Davey runs into Elgin’s knee on a blind charge. Spinning backfist and a spinning powerbomb get two. Back to the crossface for Elgin, and Davey tries to roll to the ropes but Elgin holds on. Davey reverses to the ankle lock. Elgin rolls Davey off but can’t stand. Davey uses a shining wizard and Elgin kicks out at one. Davey destroys him with kicks for two. Spin kick finishes Elgin in 25:44. ****3/4 They certainly took a dead crowd and woke them up something fierce. It’s good to see Davey feeling better after his concussion problems, and the match was filled with tons of intricate yet completely logical sequences that made the work stand out.  Davey’s post-match promo is on one hand bizarre and out of place, but on the other hand it was something a little different than what they have been doing lately, and I kinda enjoyed it.

ROH title, Davey Richards (c) v. Michael Elgin. From the 3/31/12 show in Fort Lauderdale. Davey kicks away and tries some shoulderblocks, and goes with a dropkick instead. Elgin heads over the top rope on a blind charge, so Davey uses a running knee and a tope. Davey uses kicks to the chest around the ring. They tease a tornado DDT from the top to the rope, but Elgin lariats Davey back in the ring. Elgin uses a delayed suplex for two. Elgin drops a leg on Davey where he lies on the apron for two. They trade reversals and Elgin uses a knee to the body. Elgin catches Davey on a handspring elbow and uses a backbreaker. Slugfest and Elgin chops him down. Northern lights suplex for two. Davey uses a missile dropkick to come back. Slugfest. Davey uses an exploder for two. Spinkick and a running knee. Superplex and Elgin no-sells. Big boot does no more damage. Elgin uses an enziguiri. Elgin no-sells a german suplex but a lariat gets two. Ankle lock from Davey. Elgin bails to the floor. Elgin catches Davey coming off the apron and uses a fisherman’s buster on the floor. Elgin powerbombs Davey into the ring barricade and rolls him in for two. Elgin uses a corkscrew senton from the top for two. Elgin puts Davey on top so the champion grabs a kimura. Davey tries a sunset flip powerbomb but Elgin’s too big. Davey kicks him in the face and uses a dragon suplex from the top for two. Oh my. He transitions quickly to the ankle lock. Elgin makes the ropes. Elgin no-sells Davey’s kicks so Davey tries the soccer-style blows. Elgin comes back with knees to the head. Elgin uses a chaos theory suplex for two. Superkick into a sidewalk slam gets two. Elgin slaps on the crossface but Davey makes the ropes. Davey leg whips Elgin across the ropes and uses a double stomp onto him on the apron. A second double stomp in the ring gets two. Davey hits a lariat and a wrist-clutch exploder for two. Inverted DDT gets two for Elgin after he catches a sick kick. Powerbomb into the turnbuckle but Davey spinkicks him. Elgin uses a lariat and tries another powerbomb, but Davey rolls through into the ankle lock. Elgin rolls into the crossface but Davey turns that into a nearfall. Davey runs into Elgin’s knee on a blind charge. Spinning backfist and a spinning powerbomb get two. Back to the crossface for Elgin, and Davey tries to roll to the ropes but Elgin holds on. Davey reverses to the ankle lock. Elgin rolls Davey off but can’t stand. Davey uses a shining wizard and Elgin kicks out at one. Davey destroys him with kicks for two. Spin kick finishes Elgin in 25:44. ****3/4 They certainly took a dead crowd and woke them up something fierce. It’s good to see Davey feeling better after his concussion problems, and the match was filled with tons of intricate yet completely logical sequences that made the work stand out. 

Davey’s post-match promo is on one hand bizarre and out of place, but on the other hand it was something a little different than what they have been doing lately, and I kinda enjoyed it.

This was posted 2 months ago. It has 1 note. .
Mike Bennett v. Lance Storm. From the 3/30/12 ROH event in Fort Lauderdale. No Brutal Bob, and we can only hope this is the end for him. Lance uses an armdrag and Bennett bails and hides behind Maria. Lance gets the better of the mat wrestling and Bennett comes up empty on an elbow drop. They run the ropes and Lance uses a dropkick for two. Lance tosses him but Bennett lands on his feet. Bennett uses a neckbreaker off the ropes after Lance rolls him in for two. Lance tries a chop but Bennett tosses him and throws him backfirst into the apron. Bennett takes control with a dropkick for two. Sleeper. Bennett uses a sunset flip but Lance grabs his leg and tries the half crab. Lance takes a chest first bump to the turnbuckle for two. Sleeper. I think Bennett should just start using that as his finish. Slugfest. Lance uses a dropkick for two. Clothesline in the corner sets up a springboard lariat for two. Lance loads up the superkick but Bennett catches it and uses a spinebuster for two. Nigel and Kevin Kelly are just burying Lance’s age on commentary. Bennett uses a uranage for two. Storm fights off a half crab and uses a superkick for two. Bennett uses a spear for two. Lance works over the leg after telling Bennett to punch him. Dragon screw leg whip and Lance gets the half crab after a reversal sequence to wake up the crowd. Slugfest on the apron leads to a top rope uranage for two. Lance gives him a slap from his ass. Bennett uses a fireman’s carry into a diamond cutter to finish Lance Storm in 15:06. *** Match was by the numbers; Maria was far and away the star of the match.  Lance, Lance, Lance. You never do a job. Never. No jobs. You obviously have learned nothing from Kevin Nash over the years. In all honesty, I think this pretty much shows how clueless ROH is right now. Do something different; put Lance over for the title, have him make a few defenses and job the title to one of your other guys when it means something. It’s not as if Davey is doing much for business right now, I guarantee a Lance Storm title reign would reignite some interest in the product.

Mike Bennett v. Lance Storm. From the 3/30/12 ROH event in Fort Lauderdale. No Brutal Bob, and we can only hope this is the end for him. Lance uses an armdrag and Bennett bails and hides behind Maria. Lance gets the better of the mat wrestling and Bennett comes up empty on an elbow drop. They run the ropes and Lance uses a dropkick for two. Lance tosses him but Bennett lands on his feet. Bennett uses a neckbreaker off the ropes after Lance rolls him in for two. Lance tries a chop but Bennett tosses him and throws him backfirst into the apron. Bennett takes control with a dropkick for two. Sleeper. Bennett uses a sunset flip but Lance grabs his leg and tries the half crab. Lance takes a chest first bump to the turnbuckle for two. Sleeper. I think Bennett should just start using that as his finish. Slugfest. Lance uses a dropkick for two. Clothesline in the corner sets up a springboard lariat for two. Lance loads up the superkick but Bennett catches it and uses a spinebuster for two. Nigel and Kevin Kelly are just burying Lance’s age on commentary. Bennett uses a uranage for two. Storm fights off a half crab and uses a superkick for two. Bennett uses a spear for two. Lance works over the leg after telling Bennett to punch him. Dragon screw leg whip and Lance gets the half crab after a reversal sequence to wake up the crowd. Slugfest on the apron leads to a top rope uranage for two. Lance gives him a slap from his ass. Bennett uses a fireman’s carry into a diamond cutter to finish Lance Storm in 15:06. *** Match was by the numbers; Maria was far and away the star of the match. 

Lance, Lance, Lance. You never do a job. Never. No jobs. You obviously have learned nothing from Kevin Nash over the years.

In all honesty, I think this pretty much shows how clueless ROH is right now. Do something different; put Lance over for the title, have him make a few defenses and job the title to one of your other guys when it means something. It’s not as if Davey is doing much for business right now, I guarantee a Lance Storm title reign would reignite some interest in the product.

This was posted 2 months ago. It has 1 note. .
Dragon Gate USA Revolt! From 11/11/11 in Revere, MA. Show opens with a Rich Swann-Chuck Taylor-Johnny Gargano promo on CIMA. A.R. Fox cuts his own promo. Scott Reed & Caleb Konley v. Pinkie Sanchez & Arik Cannon. Sanchez takes over with an illegal object and uses a rana. Arik uses a vertical suplex for two. Cannon gives Pinkie a hiptoss on Konley. Pinkie works over the knee. Pinkie uses butt smashes but The Scene comes back with a superkick and a brainbuster. Reed chops Pinkie into a suplex but Arik saves. Arike slaps on a standing figure four and drinks a beer during this. Arik gives Reed a codebreaker. Pinkie uses a bulldog for a near fall. Konley gives him with a german suplex and Reed uses a outsider’s edge for two. Ocean cyclone suplex gets two. Konley misses a moonsault and Pinkie topes Reed. Arik uses a brainbuster on Konley for the win in 8:03. **1/4 Sami immediately comes out and cuts a promo. Sami Callihan v. Jon Davis. Sami bails early and they brawl to the hardwood floor. Sami starts doing his Shawn Michaels routine of taking a beating. Back suplex. Sami no-sells some slams so Davis hits him with a fallaway slam and a powerslam for two. Davis tosses him into two turnbuckles. Sami uses a pair of high knees and foot scrapes. Davis uses a powerslam for two. Davis spits in Sami’s face. Sami uses a tope into the front row. They fight over a suplex and Sami slaps on the guillotine. Davis press slams his way out of that. Sami uses a ligerbomb for two and transitions into a heel hook. Slugfest on the apron and Sami kicks out Jon’s knee. Davis comes back with a spinebuster on the apron. Davis uses a buckle bomb into a powerslam for two. Sami uses a back suplex and a diving elbow for two. Davis uses a spinning ligerbomb to finish Sami in 12:43. ***1/4 Stiff match with plenty of spots for you to enjoy. Pinkie, Arik and Sami lay out Davis after the match, bringing out the guardrails to smash him up. Masato Yoshino v. Akira Tozawa. They run the ropes after exchanging wristlocks. Yoshino uses a rana and Tozawa calls for the time out. They fight over a suplex and Yoshino wins that. Tozama cranks on a sleeper. Tozawa slaps on the single leg boston crab. Chopfest. Tozawa uses an exploder for two. They run the ropes and Yoshino slaps on the octopus. Yoshino uses a neckbreaker for two. They trade strikes and Tozawa ends an intricate reversal sequence by kicking Yoshino in the face. Chopfest. Yoshino uses a victory roll for two. Yoshino uses a facebuster but Tozawa finishes him with the high angle german suplex in 9:15. *** Basic house show match for these guys, kinda refreshing actually to see them not going all out. Uhaa Nation cuts a promo representing his chances for the evening’s Fray match. Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano v. CIMA & Brodie Lee. Gargano and Cima start. They run the ropes and Gargano tosses his around by the hip. Chuck Taylor tags in and uses a senton. Brodie cleans house and tosses Johnny. Cima uses his kicks for two. Abdominal stretch. Gargano and Taylor do some comedy and stomp on CIMA’s chest. Brodie uses a brainbuster on Chuck. Gargano comes back with a backslide but Cima runs him back first into the apron. Cima slaps on an armbar after a stump puller. Springboard senton gets two. Double stomp for two. Pumphandle fallaway slam for two. Cima and Taylor work super fast and Gargano takes the advantage with a swank roll into a kick. Taylor and Gargano whip out double topes to finish off the amazing sequence. Gargano uses an assisted diamond cutter for two. Brodie uses a sidewalk slam and catches Gargano on a tope but he worms his way free. Running dropkick sets up the reverse DDT for two. Codebreaker/dragon suplex combo for Cima and Brodie gets two. Taylor uses a uranage and slaps on the single leg boston crab. Garganop puts the crossface on Cima and Taylor and Gargano hit stereo superkicks. Cima uses a reverse codebreaker and a superkick to set up the Cima driver for two. Brodie uses a ligerbomb on Gargan and Cima comes off the top with knees to the face and that’s mercifully all in 13:22. ***3/4 Started a little slow, but turned into a blazing fast spotfest. B.J. Whitmer v. Vinny Marseglia. Whitmer uses a snap suplex into a northern lights suplex for a near fall. Chops. Vinny comes back with a russian legsweep for two. Whitmer uses a spinebuster for two. Running knee, and an implant DDT sets up a d’arce choke for the submission in 3:21. DUD Marseglia was bad at even playing a jobber, and looked scared to death out there. Brodie Lee comes out and kicks B.J.’s ass for awhile. B.J. Whitmer as a face is not so exciting, he’d be good in a tag team though, what about a Furnas/Kroffat type thing with Michael Elgin? Fray match, PAC v. Ricochet v. Rich Swann v. AR Fox v. Uhaa Nation v. Sabu. Pac and Rich Swann start. Pac tries a legsweep and settles for a dropkick. They run the ropes and Swann uses a dropkick. He teases a tope and Ricochet enters. He dropkicks Swann and catches Pac with double knees. Chet uses a delayed flip dive on both men. Pac uses a standing shooting star press and they decide to team up on Chet. A.R. Fox is next and he uses a flying bodypress. He uses a swinging neckbreaker on Rich Swann. Enziguiri and he uses a diamond drop and a diamond cutter on Fox and Swann. Pac breaks it up with a springboard splash and accidentally causes Swann to be pinned. Fox uses a springboard moonsault for two. Vertical suplex for two. Fox tosses Chet again and tosses Pac as well. That brings out Uhaa Nation. He uses a dropkick and boydpresses Fox. Fox uses a victory roll for two and an asai moonsault off the ringpost to the floor. Nation retaliates by powerbombing him onto the apron. Fox uses a springboard dropkick and and uses a 450 splash to the outside. Nation comes back with an awesome big boot. Nation uses a series of powerbombs on Fox and hits Chet with a german suplex. Standing shooting star press and a uranage backbreaker on Pac. Nation uses a no hands somersault tope on everyone. Sabu enters the match and hits Pac with a DDT. Chet decks him while he’s Tebowing, however, and tosses him. Nation gets beat up by Caleb Konley and Scott Reed for some reason and he’s apparently out of the match. Chet hits Pac with a facebuster suplex for two. Fox hits Pac with a codebreaker into a DVD into a frog splash for two. Fox tries the Spanish fly but Pac finishes him with the shooting star press. Chet uses a crucifix to pin Pac shortly thereafter. Sabu tosses Chet and they brawl around. Sabu takes out a chair and throws in Chet’s face. He uses a chair to hit a plancha on Chet. Sabu misses a somersault legdrop and Chet flies in with a lariat off the top. Sabu uses a lariat and a scary springboard splash for two. Chet bumps all over for Sabu’s crappy offense. Sabu misses a chair assisted legdrop and they fight on top. Chet finishes Sabu with the 520 senton in 28:21. **1/2 Using a legend = fine; making your top guys sell for a legend = not as fun. The match was an insane spotfest that was too bloated and choppy to really enjoy properly. Also, Sabu looked to be on the verge of death out there. He wasn’t good twenty years ago, let alone now, not even on a one-shot. Cool intro package before the next match. No DQ, No Ropes: YAMATO vs. BxB Hulk. Hulk uses an armdrag. Really stiff sequence that Yamato gets the better of. Yamato tosses him and pours milk all over his face. Slugfest. Hulk uses a low blow and Tozawa helps him toss Yamato balls first into the ringpost. Hulk uses savage knees to the head for a near fall. Hulk slaps on the octopus. Nasty kicks get another near fall, and they chop things out. Yamato slaps on an anklelock and Tozawa gets involved again. Hulk slaps on a single leg boston crab and kicks Yamato in the back of the head. Hulk crotches him on the ringpost. Yamato swings around the ringpost and hits a dropkick. Yamato chops him down and Hulk overwhelms him with kicks and a standing splash for two. Hulk uses chairshots and Yamato gets the chair from him and uses a waistlock suplex for two. They fight over a suplex and Yamato hits a brainbuster on the chair. Yamato heads up top, slowly, and misses a frog splash. Hulk uses a pumphandle suplex and a sick kick for two. Hulk puts a trash can (plastic) on his head and kicks the hell out of it. Lots of neat reversals, and Yamato slaps on a sleeper. Hulk lowblows him but eats an enziguiri. Double KO. Hulk uses a powerslam for two. Yamato gets the sleeper and turns it into a full nelson suplex and a brainbuster for two. Steiner screwdriver on a chair finishes Hulk in 20:22. ****1/2 Insane match that really got the stipulations over.  Well, it wasn’t anything to write home about for a DGUSA show until the end, but combined with the CIMA match, it’s worth checking out. Tackling the Muto v. Akiyama AJPW show next…

Dragon Gate USA Revolt!

From 11/11/11 in Revere, MA.

Show opens with a Rich Swann-Chuck Taylor-Johnny Gargano promo on CIMA.

A.R. Fox cuts his own promo.

Scott Reed & Caleb Konley v. Pinkie Sanchez & Arik Cannon. Sanchez takes over with an illegal object and uses a rana. Arik uses a vertical suplex for two. Cannon gives Pinkie a hiptoss on Konley. Pinkie works over the knee. Pinkie uses butt smashes but The Scene comes back with a superkick and a brainbuster. Reed chops Pinkie into a suplex but Arik saves. Arike slaps on a standing figure four and drinks a beer during this. Arik gives Reed a codebreaker. Pinkie uses a bulldog for a near fall. Konley gives him with a german suplex and Reed uses a outsider’s edge for two. Ocean cyclone suplex gets two. Konley misses a moonsault and Pinkie topes Reed. Arik uses a brainbuster on Konley for the win in 8:03. **1/4 Sami immediately comes out and cuts a promo.

Sami Callihan v. Jon Davis. Sami bails early and they brawl to the hardwood floor. Sami starts doing his Shawn Michaels routine of taking a beating. Back suplex. Sami no-sells some slams so Davis hits him with a fallaway slam and a powerslam for two. Davis tosses him into two turnbuckles. Sami uses a pair of high knees and foot scrapes. Davis uses a powerslam for two. Davis spits in Sami’s face. Sami uses a tope into the front row. They fight over a suplex and Sami slaps on the guillotine. Davis press slams his way out of that. Sami uses a ligerbomb for two and transitions into a heel hook. Slugfest on the apron and Sami kicks out Jon’s knee. Davis comes back with a spinebuster on the apron. Davis uses a buckle bomb into a powerslam for two. Sami uses a back suplex and a diving elbow for two. Davis uses a spinning ligerbomb to finish Sami in 12:43. ***1/4 Stiff match with plenty of spots for you to enjoy. Pinkie, Arik and Sami lay out Davis after the match, bringing out the guardrails to smash him up.

Masato Yoshino v. Akira Tozawa. They run the ropes after exchanging wristlocks. Yoshino uses a rana and Tozawa calls for the time out. They fight over a suplex and Yoshino wins that. Tozama cranks on a sleeper. Tozawa slaps on the single leg boston crab. Chopfest. Tozawa uses an exploder for two. They run the ropes and Yoshino slaps on the octopus. Yoshino uses a neckbreaker for two. They trade strikes and Tozawa ends an intricate reversal sequence by kicking Yoshino in the face. Chopfest. Yoshino uses a victory roll for two. Yoshino uses a facebuster but Tozawa finishes him with the high angle german suplex in 9:15. *** Basic house show match for these guys, kinda refreshing actually to see them not going all out. Uhaa Nation cuts a promo representing his chances for the evening’s Fray match.

Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano v. CIMA & Brodie Lee. Gargano and Cima start. They run the ropes and Gargano tosses his around by the hip. Chuck Taylor tags in and uses a senton. Brodie cleans house and tosses Johnny. Cima uses his kicks for two. Abdominal stretch. Gargano and Taylor do some comedy and stomp on CIMA’s chest. Brodie uses a brainbuster on Chuck. Gargano comes back with a backslide but Cima runs him back first into the apron. Cima slaps on an armbar after a stump puller. Springboard senton gets two. Double stomp for two. Pumphandle fallaway slam for two. Cima and Taylor work super fast and Gargano takes the advantage with a swank roll into a kick. Taylor and Gargano whip out double topes to finish off the amazing sequence. Gargano uses an assisted diamond cutter for two. Brodie uses a sidewalk slam and catches Gargano on a tope but he worms his way free. Running dropkick sets up the reverse DDT for two. Codebreaker/dragon suplex combo for Cima and Brodie gets two. Taylor uses a uranage and slaps on the single leg boston crab. Garganop puts the crossface on Cima and Taylor and Gargano hit stereo superkicks. Cima uses a reverse codebreaker and a superkick to set up the Cima driver for two. Brodie uses a ligerbomb on Gargan and Cima comes off the top with knees to the face and that’s mercifully all in 13:22. ***3/4 Started a little slow, but turned into a blazing fast spotfest.

B.J. Whitmer v. Vinny Marseglia. Whitmer uses a snap suplex into a northern lights suplex for a near fall. Chops. Vinny comes back with a russian legsweep for two. Whitmer uses a spinebuster for two. Running knee, and an implant DDT sets up a d’arce choke for the submission in 3:21. DUD Marseglia was bad at even playing a jobber, and looked scared to death out there. Brodie Lee comes out and kicks B.J.’s ass for awhile. B.J. Whitmer as a face is not so exciting, he’d be good in a tag team though, what about a Furnas/Kroffat type thing with Michael Elgin?

Fray match, PAC v. Ricochet v. Rich Swann v. AR Fox v. Uhaa Nation v. Sabu. Pac and Rich Swann start. Pac tries a legsweep and settles for a dropkick. They run the ropes and Swann uses a dropkick. He teases a tope and Ricochet enters. He dropkicks Swann and catches Pac with double knees. Chet uses a delayed flip dive on both men. Pac uses a standing shooting star press and they decide to team up on Chet. A.R. Fox is next and he uses a flying bodypress. He uses a swinging neckbreaker on Rich Swann. Enziguiri and he uses a diamond drop and a diamond cutter on Fox and Swann. Pac breaks it up with a springboard splash and accidentally causes Swann to be pinned. Fox uses a springboard moonsault for two. Vertical suplex for two. Fox tosses Chet again and tosses Pac as well. That brings out Uhaa Nation. He uses a dropkick and boydpresses Fox. Fox uses a victory roll for two and an asai moonsault off the ringpost to the floor. Nation retaliates by powerbombing him onto the apron. Fox uses a springboard dropkick and and uses a 450 splash to the outside. Nation comes back with an awesome big boot. Nation uses a series of powerbombs on Fox and hits Chet with a german suplex. Standing shooting star press and a uranage backbreaker on Pac. Nation uses a no hands somersault tope on everyone. Sabu enters the match and hits Pac with a DDT. Chet decks him while he’s Tebowing, however, and tosses him. Nation gets beat up by Caleb Konley and Scott Reed for some reason and he’s apparently out of the match. Chet hits Pac with a facebuster suplex for two. Fox hits Pac with a codebreaker into a DVD into a frog splash for two. Fox tries the Spanish fly but Pac finishes him with the shooting star press. Chet uses a crucifix to pin Pac shortly thereafter. Sabu tosses Chet and they brawl around. Sabu takes out a chair and throws in Chet’s face. He uses a chair to hit a plancha on Chet. Sabu misses a somersault legdrop and Chet flies in with a lariat off the top. Sabu uses a lariat and a scary springboard splash for two. Chet bumps all over for Sabu’s crappy offense. Sabu misses a chair assisted legdrop and they fight on top. Chet finishes Sabu with the 520 senton in 28:21. **1/2 Using a legend = fine; making your top guys sell for a legend = not as fun. The match was an insane spotfest that was too bloated and choppy to really enjoy properly.

Also, Sabu looked to be on the verge of death out there. He wasn’t good twenty years ago, let alone now, not even on a one-shot.

Cool intro package before the next match.

No DQ, No Ropes: YAMATO vs. BxB Hulk. Hulk uses an armdrag. Really stiff sequence that Yamato gets the better of. Yamato tosses him and pours milk all over his face. Slugfest. Hulk uses a low blow and Tozawa helps him toss Yamato balls first into the ringpost. Hulk uses savage knees to the head for a near fall. Hulk slaps on the octopus. Nasty kicks get another near fall, and they chop things out. Yamato slaps on an anklelock and Tozawa gets involved again. Hulk slaps on a single leg boston crab and kicks Yamato in the back of the head. Hulk crotches him on the ringpost. Yamato swings around the ringpost and hits a dropkick. Yamato chops him down and Hulk overwhelms him with kicks and a standing splash for two. Hulk uses chairshots and Yamato gets the chair from him and uses a waistlock suplex for two. They fight over a suplex and Yamato hits a brainbuster on the chair. Yamato heads up top, slowly, and misses a frog splash. Hulk uses a pumphandle suplex and a sick kick for two. Hulk puts a trash can (plastic) on his head and kicks the hell out of it. Lots of neat reversals, and Yamato slaps on a sleeper. Hulk lowblows him but eats an enziguiri. Double KO. Hulk uses a powerslam for two. Yamato gets the sleeper and turns it into a full nelson suplex and a brainbuster for two. Steiner screwdriver on a chair finishes Hulk in 20:22. ****1/2 Insane match that really got the stipulations over. 

Well, it wasn’t anything to write home about for a DGUSA show until the end, but combined with the CIMA match, it’s worth checking out.

Tackling the Muto v. Akiyama AJPW show next…

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This was posted 3 months ago. It has 1 note. .
NOAH Great Voyage in Osaka 2012 From 1/22/12 in Osaka.  Harlem Bravado v. Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Kanemaru gets his back. They run the ropes and Harlem manages a dropkick. Kanemaru slaps on a headlock, but Harlem comes back with a missile dropkick and a running elbow smash. Running dropkick and Harlem puts him on top and uses a rana from there for two. Harlem uses a spinebuster and a tornado DDT for two.  Bodyslam but Harlem eats knees on a frog splash. Kanemaru uses a lariat in the corner and a flying DDT off the second rope for two. He tries a moonsault but lands on his feet and uses a schoolboy for two. Small package gets two. Harlem uses a big boot but Kanemaru rolls up the ROH star for the match in 3:47. **1/2 Hot mini-match, and less of a squash for Kanemaru than you would think. Not really sure what they were going for here, but it was something different. Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin v. Ryuji Hijikata & Lance Bravado. Ryuji and Ishimori start. They run the ropes and Taiji teases a tope. Double tag and Lance and Ricky botch some stuff so Ricky just kicks out his knee and delivers a dropkick. Taiji tags in and uses a running knee and a double stomp for two. Ricky’s back so he and Lance slug it out. Taiji comes in with a springboard senton and Ricky uses a springboard moonsault for a near fall. Lance weirdly plays face in peril. Taiji uses a standing moonsault for two. Taiji uses a crucifix for two. Ricky’s back in and they slug it out some more. Ugh. Ricky just looks super frustrated and slaps on a surfboard. He moves into an STF. Ryuji tosses Taiji into the post and works over Ricky with kicks. Lance uses a zero star frog splash for two. Ligerbomb gets two. German suplex for two. Ricky uses a backflip moonsault off the ropes for two and a superkick. Lariat, but Ryuji dropkicks Ricky and Taiji hurts him with a missile dropkick. Taiji and Ricky use an assisted codebreaker and a double superkick on Lance for two. Ricky finishes Lance with a half nelson driver in 8:34. ** Everyone looks super pissed at Lance afterwards. Match was entirely carried by Ishimori and Marvin, and they did what they could. Mohammed Yone v. Yukata Yoshie. Yone comes out with a protective face mask. Yoshie’s a chubby guy who has a certain something. He uses a lariat and slams Yone. Elbow drop for two. They brawl to the outside. Yoshie continues the assault with a lion tamer variation. He moves into a single leg boston crab and they fight over a suplex. Yone wins that battle for his first offense. Yoshie comes back with a lariat and a stinger splash. Rough ryder sets up a warrior splash for two. Takashi Suguira is shown crying in the crowd for some reason. Yoshie heads up top and Yone finds him there. Suplex from there sets up a lariat for two. Slugfest. Yone wins that with kicks and uses a lariat for two. Yoshie misses a warrior splash and Yone murders him with a kick for two. Yone takes off the mask and uses a flying legdrop for two. Savage kick finishes Yoshie in 10:35. **1/2 Better than it probably had any right to be, but still on the underside of good. Genba Hirayanagi cuts a promo. Takashi Suguira & Naomichi Marufuji v. Yoshihiro Takayama & Genba Hirayanagi. Takayama and Suguira start with a slapfest. Slugfest. Takayama uses a belly-to-belly. Turnabout is fair play. Marufuji tags in and kips out of a wristlock. Genba tags in and another slugfest follows. Marufuji unloads on him and Suguira tags in but Genba uses an eye poke. Suguira shuts that down with a big boot. Marufuji uses a running kick from the aisle on a prone Genba. Genba kicks him in the balls to come back. Takayama botches a backdrop and tosses Marufuji into the corner. Genba and Marufuji slug it out some more. Genba wins that with an atomic drop and a headlock. Takayama uses a sloppy big boot - we’re talking Hogan-level bad. Marufuji comes back with a dropkick. Suguira runs wild on Takayama and hits a spear. Fisherman’s buster gets two. Slugfest. They trade several big boots and Suguira uses a release german suplex. German suplex for two. Turnabout is fair play. Double hot tag, and Marufuji uses a dropkick and a reverse codebreaker for two. Genba uses a pumphandle suplex, a vertical suplex and a flying elbow for two. Missile dropkick, and the heavyweights brawl on the outside. Suguira comes in and slugs it out with Genba. Marufuji kips up and they both no sell Genba’s elbows. Marufuji ends up using an outsider’s edge on Genba for two. Marufuji finishes Genba with the shiranui in 14:24. ***1/4 Finish was a bit lame, as pinning the entirely washed up Takayama would have been more productive, but I guess they’re saving that for a singles match. Suguira and Marufuji both looked great, even though they don’t have much chemistry as a tag team. Kenta Kobashi & Shuhei Taniguchi v. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima. Shuhei and Nakajima start. They trade various strikes to establish parity. The seniors quickly tag in. Chopfest goes on for awhile until Sasaki uses a back suplex and Kobashi bails, even taking an unassisted bump over the ring rail in an effort to sell the move. He begins stumbling down the elevated ramp and they continue the chopfest there. Kobashi uses a DDT on the ramp for two. The younger guys are back in and Nakajima uses a dropkick for two. Sleeper. Shuhei elbows the everloving shit out of him in response. Nakajima bails and Kobashi chops him over the railing and uses a DDT on the mats. Kobashi chops down Nakajima back in the ring for two. Sasaki clothesline Shuhei into the front row. Nakajima unleashes some stiff strikes and uses a big boot into a double arm suplex. Missile dropkick for two. Shuhei comes back with an exploder and tags in Kobashi. He chops Nakajima down and slaps on an abdominal stretch. He turns that into a rolling cradle for two. Half nelson release suplex murders Nakajima, but he hits a release german suplex on Kobashi out of nowhere and it’s a double hot tag. Kobashi ends up hitting a lariat after Sasaki tries to tiger suplex him. Shuhei and Sasaki slug it out and Shuhei uses a spinebuster for a near fall. Sleeper. Kobashi chops Sasaki’s hands off the ropes and Shuhei gives him a german suplex for two. Nakajima tosses Kobashi into the rail and Sasaki and Nakajima uses a whacky double team where Sasaki tilt-a-whirls Nakajima into kicking Shuhei in the face. Sasaki uses a lariat for two. Sasaki uses a brainbuster to finish Shuhei in 15:44. ***1/2 One of Kobashi’s beter efforts since coming back, and he seems to be moving around more smoothly as well.  GHC Jr tag titles, Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge v. Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Aoki (c). The challengers are from Osaka Pro. Aoki and Harada start. They run the ropes and a donnybrook breaks out when Harada attempts a german suplex. Kotoge comes in and the Osaka Pro team uses stereo dropkicks to Aoki’s face. Kotoge uses a jumping knee but Aoki starts working over his arm. Suzuki kips out of a wristlock. Turnabout is fair play. Harada uses a tiger cradle for a series of two counts. Aoki uses a dropkick but eats a brainbuster from Harada. Aoki no-sells Kotoge’s elbows but not a kneedrop. Slugfest. Suzuki does this weird spot where he lifts Kotoge up and puts him in a situation where Harada has no choice but to give his partner a powerbomb. Suzuki uses a 619 and a back suplex. Rough ryder off the second rope gets two. Kotoge comes back with an enziguiri and a running knee. Harada uses a brainbuster to set up a flying elbow for two. Harada uses a psycho driver for two. He slugs it out with Suzuki, who wins the encounter with a spinning elbow. Aoki tosses Harada from corner to corner and uses a missile dropkick for two. Aoki uses a wristclutch backbreaker for two. Northern light suplex for two. Suzuki slaps on the octopus while Aoki wrenches back on an armbar on Harada. The champs look to finish Harada but he suplexes Suzuki into Aoki where the latter sits in the corner. Kotoge uses a somersault tope over the ringpost on them both. Kotoge uses a superkick for two. Full nelson facebuster gets two. Aoki dumps Kotoge and uses a tope assisted by his partner’s toss. Aoki uses a german suplex for two. Kotoge uses a reverse rana on Suzuki and Harada spring to the top rope to meet Aoki with a top rope belly-to-belly suplex. Harada uses a death valley driver on Aoki for two. Doomsday device gets two for the challengers. Kotoge uses the unprettier for two. Kotoge misses a moonsault and Suzuki uses his gory special into a neckbreaker for two. Harada hits him with a high angle german suplex, however, but Aoki hits the vulnerable Harada with a brainbuster. Kotoge uses a backslide and headbutts Aoki. Aoki lariats him and uses four backdrop drivers on the man for two. Suzuki flies with a tope on Harada, knocking him out of the match. Spiral poseidon gets two. Aoki finishes Kotoge with a backdrop suplex to retain the titles in 21:10. **** Wild, wild spotfest. Suzuki’s probably the most polished of the four, but the Osaka Pro team is nothing short of awesome and the champions worked their ass off to make everything go smoothly.  GHC tag tiles, Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (c) v. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito. Jun and Bernard start. Jun slaps on an armbar. Saito unleashes some kicks on Anderson, but he drops a leg on a prone Saito on the apron. The champions toss Saito into a rail. Anderson uses a series of kneedrops for two. Jun slaps on a guillotine but Anderson knocks him off the top rope moments later. Champions use a neckbreaker/fireman’s carry combo for two. Bad Intentions wake up the crowd with a series of standing sentons and warrior splashes. Another neckbreaker combo gets a near fall. Anderson flies off the top rope with a neckbreaker for two. Jun runs wild after a hot tag. Saito hits Bernard with a german suplex after they try to lariat each other down. He hits Anderson with one moments later. Akiyama uses an exploder on Bernard. Anderson big boots Jun, but Saito is all over him with a uranage. Saito uses two backdrop suplexes for two. Saito uses a chokeslam for two. Saito finishes Anderson with a vertical suplex into a piledriver for the pin and titles in 15:38. *** Nothing too memorable, but the crowd was definitely into seeing the title change by the end. It didn’t feel like it was the time to beat the New Japan, but undoubtedly extraneous forces intervened. Putting the title on the 46-year old Saito and the 42-year old Akiyama after giving them this big win feel like a fool’s errand, however. GHC title, Takeshi Morishima v. Go Shiozaki (c). Go runs at him immediately with an elbow strike but gets lariated down. Morishima uses a missile dropkick for two and a hard lariat. Go reverses a backdrop suplex into a bodypress but is shortly forced to bail. Takeshi knocks him off the apron and he sells some more. Takeshi finally follow him outside and seats him in a chair. Running butt smash and he rolls in to break the count. Go sells total death from this. Rikishi butt smash x 2 but Go fires up like a good babyface to no avail. Elbow smash in the corner and they fight over a suplex as it’s been all Morishima. Go gets his first offense with a suplex and lariat for the double KO. Morishima uses a dropkick and tries a tope when Go bails, but that’s the opportunity the champion was looking for. He stops the tope and tosses Takeshi into the rail, teasing some heel mannerisms. Running chop to the seated big man x 2. He gets a big running start for a knee to the head with Morishima on the apron. He continues working over the challenger neck. Brainbuster for two. Takeshi bails and Go unleashes a piledriver on the outside. Dropkick/kneedrop for two. Standing guillotine into a DDT for two. Slugfest. Sleeper. Head and arm triangle gets two. Superkick but Takeshi stays standing and lariats Go down. Go stops Takeshi on top and uses a superplex that is no-sold. Go uses a german suplex for two. Chops to the neck for two. Slugfest, won by Go with a lariat for two. Takeshi uses a release german suplex but Go does the delayed sell and lariats him down. Go uses a release german and Takeshi uses an exploder. Takeshi uses a lariat to finish that sequence and they both sell the moves. Takeshi uses a seated dropkick to set up a savage elbow for two. Backdrop driver gets two. Go manages a spinning backfist to prevent a second one. Go unleashes some sick elbows to the head for two. DDT for two. Lariat for two. Suplex into a powerbomb gets two. Go puts Takeshi and top and tries a pumphandle suplex from there but his hand gives out and he gets the worst of it. Chopfest, slugfest. They trade lariats. Takeshi uses a diving elbow and a lariat for two. Takeshi uses a backdrop driver for the pin and the GHC title in 22:30. ****1/4 It certainly wasn’t the most athletic title match you’ve ever seen due to Takeshi’s limitations as a big man, but Go absolutely worked his ass off and they both put each other over after the match. My guess, and this might sound silly, is that Kobashi will be in the title picture again before long. NOAH’s on a roll right now, and both the in-ring and storyline aspects of the promotion feel a bit fresher than New Japan. Very recommended show, with two ****+ matches. When KENTA comes back, watch out.

NOAH Great Voyage in Osaka 2012

From 1/22/12 in Osaka. 

Harlem Bravado v. Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Kanemaru gets his back. They run the ropes and Harlem manages a dropkick. Kanemaru slaps on a headlock, but Harlem comes back with a missile dropkick and a running elbow smash. Running dropkick and Harlem puts him on top and uses a rana from there for two. Harlem uses a spinebuster and a tornado DDT for two.  Bodyslam but Harlem eats knees on a frog splash. Kanemaru uses a lariat in the corner and a flying DDT off the second rope for two. He tries a moonsault but lands on his feet and uses a schoolboy for two. Small package gets two. Harlem uses a big boot but Kanemaru rolls up the ROH star for the match in 3:47. **1/2 Hot mini-match, and less of a squash for Kanemaru than you would think. Not really sure what they were going for here, but it was something different.

Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin v. Ryuji Hijikata & Lance Bravado. Ryuji and Ishimori start. They run the ropes and Taiji teases a tope. Double tag and Lance and Ricky botch some stuff so Ricky just kicks out his knee and delivers a dropkick. Taiji tags in and uses a running knee and a double stomp for two. Ricky’s back so he and Lance slug it out. Taiji comes in with a springboard senton and Ricky uses a springboard moonsault for a near fall. Lance weirdly plays face in peril. Taiji uses a standing moonsault for two. Taiji uses a crucifix for two. Ricky’s back in and they slug it out some more. Ugh. Ricky just looks super frustrated and slaps on a surfboard. He moves into an STF. Ryuji tosses Taiji into the post and works over Ricky with kicks. Lance uses a zero star frog splash for two. Ligerbomb gets two. German suplex for two. Ricky uses a backflip moonsault off the ropes for two and a superkick. Lariat, but Ryuji dropkicks Ricky and Taiji hurts him with a missile dropkick. Taiji and Ricky use an assisted codebreaker and a double superkick on Lance for two. Ricky finishes Lance with a half nelson driver in 8:34. ** Everyone looks super pissed at Lance afterwards. Match was entirely carried by Ishimori and Marvin, and they did what they could.

Mohammed Yone v. Yukata Yoshie. Yone comes out with a protective face mask. Yoshie’s a chubby guy who has a certain something. He uses a lariat and slams Yone. Elbow drop for two. They brawl to the outside. Yoshie continues the assault with a lion tamer variation. He moves into a single leg boston crab and they fight over a suplex. Yone wins that battle for his first offense. Yoshie comes back with a lariat and a stinger splash. Rough ryder sets up a warrior splash for two. Takashi Suguira is shown crying in the crowd for some reason. Yoshie heads up top and Yone finds him there. Suplex from there sets up a lariat for two. Slugfest. Yone wins that with kicks and uses a lariat for two. Yoshie misses a warrior splash and Yone murders him with a kick for two. Yone takes off the mask and uses a flying legdrop for two. Savage kick finishes Yoshie in 10:35. **1/2 Better than it probably had any right to be, but still on the underside of good.

Genba Hirayanagi cuts a promo.

Takashi Suguira & Naomichi Marufuji v. Yoshihiro Takayama & Genba Hirayanagi. Takayama and Suguira start with a slapfest. Slugfest. Takayama uses a belly-to-belly. Turnabout is fair play. Marufuji tags in and kips out of a wristlock. Genba tags in and another slugfest follows. Marufuji unloads on him and Suguira tags in but Genba uses an eye poke. Suguira shuts that down with a big boot. Marufuji uses a running kick from the aisle on a prone Genba. Genba kicks him in the balls to come back. Takayama botches a backdrop and tosses Marufuji into the corner. Genba and Marufuji slug it out some more. Genba wins that with an atomic drop and a headlock. Takayama uses a sloppy big boot - we’re talking Hogan-level bad. Marufuji comes back with a dropkick. Suguira runs wild on Takayama and hits a spear. Fisherman’s buster gets two. Slugfest. They trade several big boots and Suguira uses a release german suplex. German suplex for two. Turnabout is fair play. Double hot tag, and Marufuji uses a dropkick and a reverse codebreaker for two. Genba uses a pumphandle suplex, a vertical suplex and a flying elbow for two. Missile dropkick, and the heavyweights brawl on the outside. Suguira comes in and slugs it out with Genba. Marufuji kips up and they both no sell Genba’s elbows. Marufuji ends up using an outsider’s edge on Genba for two. Marufuji finishes Genba with the shiranui in 14:24. ***1/4 Finish was a bit lame, as pinning the entirely washed up Takayama would have been more productive, but I guess they’re saving that for a singles match. Suguira and Marufuji both looked great, even though they don’t have much chemistry as a tag team.

Kenta Kobashi & Shuhei Taniguchi v. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima. Shuhei and Nakajima start. They trade various strikes to establish parity. The seniors quickly tag in. Chopfest goes on for awhile until Sasaki uses a back suplex and Kobashi bails, even taking an unassisted bump over the ring rail in an effort to sell the move. He begins stumbling down the elevated ramp and they continue the chopfest there. Kobashi uses a DDT on the ramp for two. The younger guys are back in and Nakajima uses a dropkick for two. Sleeper. Shuhei elbows the everloving shit out of him in response. Nakajima bails and Kobashi chops him over the railing and uses a DDT on the mats. Kobashi chops down Nakajima back in the ring for two. Sasaki clothesline Shuhei into the front row. Nakajima unleashes some stiff strikes and uses a big boot into a double arm suplex. Missile dropkick for two. Shuhei comes back with an exploder and tags in Kobashi. He chops Nakajima down and slaps on an abdominal stretch. He turns that into a rolling cradle for two. Half nelson release suplex murders Nakajima, but he hits a release german suplex on Kobashi out of nowhere and it’s a double hot tag. Kobashi ends up hitting a lariat after Sasaki tries to tiger suplex him. Shuhei and Sasaki slug it out and Shuhei uses a spinebuster for a near fall. Sleeper. Kobashi chops Sasaki’s hands off the ropes and Shuhei gives him a german suplex for two. Nakajima tosses Kobashi into the rail and Sasaki and Nakajima uses a whacky double team where Sasaki tilt-a-whirls Nakajima into kicking Shuhei in the face. Sasaki uses a lariat for two. Sasaki uses a brainbuster to finish Shuhei in 15:44. ***1/2 One of Kobashi’s beter efforts since coming back, and he seems to be moving around more smoothly as well. 

GHC Jr tag titles, Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge v. Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Aoki (c). The challengers are from Osaka Pro. Aoki and Harada start. They run the ropes and a donnybrook breaks out when Harada attempts a german suplex. Kotoge comes in and the Osaka Pro team uses stereo dropkicks to Aoki’s face. Kotoge uses a jumping knee but Aoki starts working over his arm. Suzuki kips out of a wristlock. Turnabout is fair play. Harada uses a tiger cradle for a series of two counts. Aoki uses a dropkick but eats a brainbuster from Harada. Aoki no-sells Kotoge’s elbows but not a kneedrop. Slugfest. Suzuki does this weird spot where he lifts Kotoge up and puts him in a situation where Harada has no choice but to give his partner a powerbomb. Suzuki uses a 619 and a back suplex. Rough ryder off the second rope gets two. Kotoge comes back with an enziguiri and a running knee. Harada uses a brainbuster to set up a flying elbow for two. Harada uses a psycho driver for two. He slugs it out with Suzuki, who wins the encounter with a spinning elbow. Aoki tosses Harada from corner to corner and uses a missile dropkick for two. Aoki uses a wristclutch backbreaker for two. Northern light suplex for two. Suzuki slaps on the octopus while Aoki wrenches back on an armbar on Harada. The champs look to finish Harada but he suplexes Suzuki into Aoki where the latter sits in the corner. Kotoge uses a somersault tope over the ringpost on them both. Kotoge uses a superkick for two. Full nelson facebuster gets two. Aoki dumps Kotoge and uses a tope assisted by his partner’s toss. Aoki uses a german suplex for two. Kotoge uses a reverse rana on Suzuki and Harada spring to the top rope to meet Aoki with a top rope belly-to-belly suplex. Harada uses a death valley driver on Aoki for two. Doomsday device gets two for the challengers. Kotoge uses the unprettier for two. Kotoge misses a moonsault and Suzuki uses his gory special into a neckbreaker for two. Harada hits him with a high angle german suplex, however, but Aoki hits the vulnerable Harada with a brainbuster. Kotoge uses a backslide and headbutts Aoki. Aoki lariats him and uses four backdrop drivers on the man for two. Suzuki flies with a tope on Harada, knocking him out of the match. Spiral poseidon gets two. Aoki finishes Kotoge with a backdrop suplex to retain the titles in 21:10. **** Wild, wild spotfest. Suzuki’s probably the most polished of the four, but the Osaka Pro team is nothing short of awesome and the champions worked their ass off to make everything go smoothly. 

GHC tag tiles, Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (c) v. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito. Jun and Bernard start. Jun slaps on an armbar. Saito unleashes some kicks on Anderson, but he drops a leg on a prone Saito on the apron. The champions toss Saito into a rail. Anderson uses a series of kneedrops for two. Jun slaps on a guillotine but Anderson knocks him off the top rope moments later. Champions use a neckbreaker/fireman’s carry combo for two. Bad Intentions wake up the crowd with a series of standing sentons and warrior splashes. Another neckbreaker combo gets a near fall. Anderson flies off the top rope with a neckbreaker for two. Jun runs wild after a hot tag. Saito hits Bernard with a german suplex after they try to lariat each other down. He hits Anderson with one moments later. Akiyama uses an exploder on Bernard. Anderson big boots Jun, but Saito is all over him with a uranage. Saito uses two backdrop suplexes for two. Saito uses a chokeslam for two. Saito finishes Anderson with a vertical suplex into a piledriver for the pin and titles in 15:38. *** Nothing too memorable, but the crowd was definitely into seeing the title change by the end. It didn’t feel like it was the time to beat the New Japan, but undoubtedly extraneous forces intervened. Putting the title on the 46-year old Saito and the 42-year old Akiyama after giving them this big win feel like a fool’s errand, however.

GHC title, Takeshi Morishima v. Go Shiozaki (c). Go runs at him immediately with an elbow strike but gets lariated down. Morishima uses a missile dropkick for two and a hard lariat. Go reverses a backdrop suplex into a bodypress but is shortly forced to bail. Takeshi knocks him off the apron and he sells some more. Takeshi finally follow him outside and seats him in a chair. Running butt smash and he rolls in to break the count. Go sells total death from this. Rikishi butt smash x 2 but Go fires up like a good babyface to no avail. Elbow smash in the corner and they fight over a suplex as it’s been all Morishima. Go gets his first offense with a suplex and lariat for the double KO. Morishima uses a dropkick and tries a tope when Go bails, but that’s the opportunity the champion was looking for. He stops the tope and tosses Takeshi into the rail, teasing some heel mannerisms. Running chop to the seated big man x 2. He gets a big running start for a knee to the head with Morishima on the apron. He continues working over the challenger neck. Brainbuster for two. Takeshi bails and Go unleashes a piledriver on the outside. Dropkick/kneedrop for two. Standing guillotine into a DDT for two. Slugfest. Sleeper. Head and arm triangle gets two. Superkick but Takeshi stays standing and lariats Go down. Go stops Takeshi on top and uses a superplex that is no-sold. Go uses a german suplex for two. Chops to the neck for two. Slugfest, won by Go with a lariat for two. Takeshi uses a release german suplex but Go does the delayed sell and lariats him down. Go uses a release german and Takeshi uses an exploder. Takeshi uses a lariat to finish that sequence and they both sell the moves. Takeshi uses a seated dropkick to set up a savage elbow for two. Backdrop driver gets two. Go manages a spinning backfist to prevent a second one. Go unleashes some sick elbows to the head for two. DDT for two. Lariat for two. Suplex into a powerbomb gets two. Go puts Takeshi and top and tries a pumphandle suplex from there but his hand gives out and he gets the worst of it. Chopfest, slugfest. They trade lariats. Takeshi uses a diving elbow and a lariat for two. Takeshi uses a backdrop driver for the pin and the GHC title in 22:30. ****1/4 It certainly wasn’t the most athletic title match you’ve ever seen due to Takeshi’s limitations as a big man, but Go absolutely worked his ass off and they both put each other over after the match. My guess, and this might sound silly, is that Kobashi will be in the title picture again before long.

NOAH’s on a roll right now, and both the in-ring and storyline aspects of the promotion feel a bit fresher than New Japan. Very recommended show, with two ****+ matches. When KENTA comes back, watch out.

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WWE Royal Rumble 2012 From 1/29/12 in St. Louis. Your hosts are Booker T, Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler. World title, Daniel Bryan (c) v. Big Show v. Mark Henry. This is a cage match, and Daniel Bryan has dedicated the match to his girlfriend A.J. Huge heat for Bryan. Show uses a shoulderblock and stupidly tries to cover. Henry bumps off a shoulderblock and Show smashes him against the cage a couple times. Show biels Bryan off the top. Chops. Show misses the KO punch but headbutts Bryan anyway. Bryan comes back with a dropkick and kicks Henry in the head. Henry pops Bryan into the cage but Show gives him a sidekick. Show tosses Bryan into the cage and pounds him down. Henry lariats Show down. Bryan bumps so much the crowd actually starts getting behind him. Show uses a spear on Henry and Bryan covers for two. Show destroys the champion and signals for the chokeslam. Bryan uses a tornado DDT for two. LeBell lock, but Henry saves. Show gives Henry the KO punch but Bryan saves and tries to leave the cage by going up and out. Show loses his grip on Bryan and the champion drops to the floor to retain in 9:08. **1/4 Match was all Bryan, and could have used a memorable bump or two to save it from mediocrity. Finish was rather abrupt considering they had time for a divas match and the Funkasaurus tonight.  Henry’s injury kinda ruined things, but at least we got the right result. Next is a special look at what a great guy John Cena is. I guess they had to take down the cage. Beth Phoenix & Natalya & Brie Bella & Nikki Bella v. Kelly Kelly & Eve Torres & Tamina & Alicia Fox. Color coordinated outfits here; orange for the faces, blue for the heels. Tamina and Natalya start. Slapfest won by Tamina for two. Eve tags in and wags her ass into a standing moonsault for two. Natalya puts her in the heel corner. They run the ropes and Eve uses a lariat. Rolling thunder but Beth gets her knees up and elbows Eve for two. Nikki uses a kick to the head for two as the crowd begins to turn on the match. Brie slaps a sleeper on Alicia. Kelly gets the hot tag and uses a bulldog and a headscissors. Handspring elbow and a bulldog gets booed as well. Nikki saves. Big brawl breaks out outside to distract the audience. Kelly uses a plancha on everyone. Beth tags in and finishes Kelly Kelly with the bitch clamp in 5:33. 1/2* Moving on… Zach Ryder, in a wheelchair, runs into Johnny Ace. What a total pathetic mess. Eve shows up and yells at Ace just to bury Ryder even more. Eve wants Ace fired. John Cena v. Kane. Huge heel heat for Cena after that ridiculous video. Kane elbows Cena down and posts him. Cena fires up and clotheslines Kane to the floor, but he lands on his feet and decks John. Cena tosses Kane into the ring steps and rolls in the ring. Kane stops an F-U attempt. Kane beats the hell out of him and the crowd actually boos the kick out. Kane uses a vertical suplex for two. The fact that Cena is selling like a typical babyface for this much just shows how out of touch the in-ring is with their own storyline, which they don’t appear to themselves understand. Slugfest. Cena comes back with a drop toehold but Kane fights off a bulldog. Lariat for two. Cena slaps on the STF to huge heat. Kane powers out and uses a side slam. Flying clothesline sets up the chokeslam. Cena fights out, however. They fight over a superplex and Cena hits a top rope fistdrop. Cena tries the F-U but Kane escapes and tosses Cena. Outside the ring, Kane and Cena brawl to the back and it’s a double countout in 10:52. ** Christ, all that wretched buildup for this finish? This surely means Rock isn’t back until after Elimination Chamber. Kane destroys Cena with a chair and then finds Zach Ryder in his wheelchair, brings him to the ring, and tombstones him. He gives Cena a chokeslam for good measure. Match wasn’t much, but it was not boring until the finish thanks to the crowd. Booker: “This could be the end of Zach Ryder’s career.” Yup. We get a Rock video. Drew McIntyre v. Brodus Clay. Someone must have forgotten this is the second biggest show of the year. Clay no-sells some forearms and pushes Drew down. Exploder sets up a stinger splash. Crossbody off the ropes finishes Drew in 1:02. DUD This act is rapidly getting old, and ribbing Drew McIntyre because he thinks he’s a good wrestler isn’t exactly fun for the audience. Tomorrow night HHH returns to boot Johnny Ace. WWE title, Dolph Ziggler v. CM Punk (c). Johnny Ace is your special ref but he’s just at ringside. He does eject Vickie from ringside. Punk uses a schoolboy to start and unloads some kicks. They run the ropes and Punk flips out of a roll up. Dolph struts like Ric Flair. Punk suplexes him onto the ropes. Punk slaps on an abdominal stretch and uses a tope. Dolph stops him on top and covers for two. Neckbreaker and a bunch of elbow drops from Ziggler for two. Punk back suplexes his way out of a headlock. Dolph slaps on a sleeper but Punk reverses to anaconda vice before Dolph maneuvers back into a sleeper. Punk fights out of that but eats a dropkick for two. Punk uses a spinning ligerbomb when Dolph goes for the fameasser. Punk uses a knee to the face and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Punk uses another running knee into a bulldog and signals for the GTS. After a few reversals, Punk uses a punt to the head for two. Punk hits a flying elbow for two. Punk goes for the GTS, but Dolph pushes him into the ref. Punk slaps on the anaconda vice and Dolph taps but Johnny Ace is checking on the bumped ref. Dolph tries a rollup but Punk reverses for three but still no count. Ace pushes the ref into the ring for some reason and jaws with Punk. Punk uses the GTS but knocks Ace out of the ring when he turns. The ref is finally awake, so Punk looks for another GTS, but Dolph reverses to the fameasser for two. Punk turns another fameasser into a slingshot, and Punk finishes Dolph with a second GTS to retain in 14:32. ***1/4 Ace counts along with the ref to appear impartial. Not boring at all, and the interference was badly needed to make things different from the numerous Raw matches these two have had. However, it was mostly an extended squash for Punk rather than a true title match. Royal Rumble: Miz is #1 and he cuts a promo. Alex Riley is #2 and he destroys Miz, even though he’s been jobbing on Superstars for the last four months. Miz then dumps him in about five seconds and bows. #3 is R-Truth. Miz tries a skull crushing finale, but Truth evades easily and uses a powerslam. #4 is Cody Rhodes. Rhodes hits beautiful disaster and a front suplex on Truth as the heels take over. #5 is Justin Gabriel who enters with a flying bodypress and a powerbomb. He STOs Truth until getting stomped by Cody. #6 is Primo as the crowd thinks about turning on the Rumble, which would probably be a first. He gives a headscissors to Gabriel but falls into the tree of woe. Miz dumps Truth, who drags him out via the bottom rope and gives him the reverse DDT on the floor. Speeding up the entrances, #7 is Cactus Jack, and he dumps Primo while barely moving his feet. He knees Cody in the face and uses a double arm DDT on the poor guy. #8 is Ricardo Rodriguez dressed as Alberto Del Rio. I can only hope this means Ricardo is a wrestler now: he looks great, is an awesome promo, and takes a mean bump. Crowd chants for Ricardo, who eats a Gabriel dropkick. He and Foley team up to dump Gabriel. #9 is Santino Marella. Foley just looks on as Santino and Ricardo do some comedy chain wrestling. Santino gives Ricardo a wedgie and dumps him. Foley takes out Mr. Socko and Marella takes out the cobra. #10 is Epico and Mr. Socko takes care of him immediately. Miz and Rhodes wake up to destroy Foley and Marella. Cody dumps Santino and Foley gives Socko to the Miz. Cody dumps Foley to leave Miz and Cody. #11 is Kofi Kingston, who unleashes a double boom drop. #12 is Jerry Lawler, who gets out from behind the announce booth. He cleans houses on the heels and whips out two dropkicks. Cody dumps him after a second rope fistdrop. #13 is Ezekiel Jackson. Yikes, was Tyson Kidd not available? #14 is Jinder Mahal. Christ. #15 is the Great Khali making his return. He tosses Jinder and clotheslines Ezekiel Jackson to the floor. Lawler: “I think there’s a new favorite in the Royal Rumble.” #16 is Hunico, who uses a torture rack suplex on Rhodes. There’s about zero star power in there right now. #17 is Booker T, who cleans house and bumps for Khali alone. What a waste of literally everyone. Kofi skins the cat and does a handstand to avoid elimination. Neat spot. #18 is Dolph Ziggler, because there weren’t enough midcard heels in the match. Booker hits Hunico with an axe kick. #19 is Jim Duggan. He lariats everyone and then Rhodes clotheslines him out in short order. Khali, Cody and Dolph team up to dump Booker T. #20 is Michael Cole, who everyone ignores. #21 is Kharma, making her return after giving birth. She destroys Cole, who is eliminated by Booker and Lawler. Kharma destroys Dolph with her finisher and Vickie hops on the apron. She tosses Hunico and Dolph eliminates her. So what was the point of that exactly? #22 is Sheamus. Powerslams abound. Sheamus dumps Kofi and gives the clubbing forearms to Cody and Miz. #23 is Road Dogg. Pretty weak surprise entrants this year. He gives Miz a pumphandle suplex. #24 is Jey Uso. Good lord is this weird. Only six spots to go, and they didn’t include several notables. Match kinda falls apart. #25 is Jack Swagger to total silence. Cody gives Dolph a front suplex. #26 is Wade Barrett. Again, total silence, and this is the man who destroyed Orton. Wade immediately sells for Road Dogg. Yeesh. Wade tosses him anyway. Ziggler uses the fameasser on Jey Uso. #27 is David Otunga. Cole puts over his undefeated streak as a lawyer. Cole is more interested in ribbing WWE.com than calling the match at this point. #28 is Randy Orton. Powerslam for Sheamus and Barrett. Rhodes ambushes him as he looks for the RKO. Orton DDTs both Ziggler and Rhodes off the ropes at the same time. Jey Uso goes out and so does Barrett. There goes that push. #29 is Chris Jericho. He dumps Otunga immediately. #30 is the Big Show, so no Cena, no Kane, no Mark Henry, no Rock, no Punk, no Bryan. Show gives Swagger the knockout punch on the outside. Show dumps Cody, Miz and Dolph. Final four: Show, Orton, Jericho, Sheamus. Jericho eats a chokeslam. Orton hits Show with the RKO. Orton dumps Show and Jericho dumps Orton in short order. This leaves Chris Jericho and Sheamus. Jericho points at the Wrestlemania sign. Jericho tries a bulldog but Sheamus moves to dump him in the corner. Jericho uses a missile dropkick from the second rope. Sheamus uses a cobra clutch into a backbreaker. Sheamus tries an outsider’s edge. Jericho reverses to a clothesline but Sheamus hangs on. Springboard dropkick, and Sheamus is still hanging onto the bottom rope. Sheamus hops in with a shoulderblock. Walls of Jericho. Sheamus backdrops Jericho but Y2J hangs on. Jericho heads up top and they fight over a superplex. Sheamus is crotched on the top rope and Jericho falls to the apron as well. Codebreaker. Jericho attempts a pinfall for some reason. Sheamus misses the brogue kick and catches Jericho on another codebreaker attempt. Jericho catches himself, but a brogue kick sends Jericho to the floor and Sheamus wins the Royal Rumble in 54:54. **1/2 Very bad Rumble, seriously lacking star power and any legit surprises. Last few minutes were far and away the best part, but even that felt more like a very good Raw match than a main event.  Ugly show overall, but the direction for Wrestlemania appears to be decent: John Cena vs. The Rock Chris Jericho v. CM Punk Undertaker v. HHH, career vs. streak, Shawn Michaels guest ref Big Show v. Shaquille O’Neal Randy Orton v. Wade Barrett Sheamus v. Daniel Bryan  Plus Money in the Bank. Tough to say you’re “main-eventing” Wrestlemania when you’re likely seventh or eighth from the top, but I don’t mind them giving the push to a younger guy.

WWE Royal Rumble 2012

From 1/29/12 in St. Louis. Your hosts are Booker T, Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.

World title, Daniel Bryan (c) v. Big Show v. Mark Henry. This is a cage match, and Daniel Bryan has dedicated the match to his girlfriend A.J. Huge heat for Bryan. Show uses a shoulderblock and stupidly tries to cover. Henry bumps off a shoulderblock and Show smashes him against the cage a couple times. Show biels Bryan off the top. Chops. Show misses the KO punch but headbutts Bryan anyway. Bryan comes back with a dropkick and kicks Henry in the head. Henry pops Bryan into the cage but Show gives him a sidekick. Show tosses Bryan into the cage and pounds him down. Henry lariats Show down. Bryan bumps so much the crowd actually starts getting behind him. Show uses a spear on Henry and Bryan covers for two. Show destroys the champion and signals for the chokeslam. Bryan uses a tornado DDT for two. LeBell lock, but Henry saves. Show gives Henry the KO punch but Bryan saves and tries to leave the cage by going up and out. Show loses his grip on Bryan and the champion drops to the floor to retain in 9:08. **1/4 Match was all Bryan, and could have used a memorable bump or two to save it from mediocrity. Finish was rather abrupt considering they had time for a divas match and the Funkasaurus tonight. 

Henry’s injury kinda ruined things, but at least we got the right result.

Next is a special look at what a great guy John Cena is. I guess they had to take down the cage.

Beth Phoenix & Natalya & Brie Bella & Nikki Bella v. Kelly Kelly & Eve Torres & Tamina & Alicia Fox. Color coordinated outfits here; orange for the faces, blue for the heels. Tamina and Natalya start. Slapfest won by Tamina for two. Eve tags in and wags her ass into a standing moonsault for two. Natalya puts her in the heel corner. They run the ropes and Eve uses a lariat. Rolling thunder but Beth gets her knees up and elbows Eve for two. Nikki uses a kick to the head for two as the crowd begins to turn on the match. Brie slaps a sleeper on Alicia. Kelly gets the hot tag and uses a bulldog and a headscissors. Handspring elbow and a bulldog gets booed as well. Nikki saves. Big brawl breaks out outside to distract the audience. Kelly uses a plancha on everyone. Beth tags in and finishes Kelly Kelly with the bitch clamp in 5:33. 1/2* Moving on…

Zach Ryder, in a wheelchair, runs into Johnny Ace. What a total pathetic mess. Eve shows up and yells at Ace just to bury Ryder even more. Eve wants Ace fired.

John Cena v. Kane. Huge heel heat for Cena after that ridiculous video. Kane elbows Cena down and posts him. Cena fires up and clotheslines Kane to the floor, but he lands on his feet and decks John. Cena tosses Kane into the ring steps and rolls in the ring. Kane stops an F-U attempt. Kane beats the hell out of him and the crowd actually boos the kick out. Kane uses a vertical suplex for two. The fact that Cena is selling like a typical babyface for this much just shows how out of touch the in-ring is with their own storyline, which they don’t appear to themselves understand. Slugfest. Cena comes back with a drop toehold but Kane fights off a bulldog. Lariat for two. Cena slaps on the STF to huge heat. Kane powers out and uses a side slam. Flying clothesline sets up the chokeslam. Cena fights out, however. They fight over a superplex and Cena hits a top rope fistdrop. Cena tries the F-U but Kane escapes and tosses Cena. Outside the ring, Kane and Cena brawl to the back and it’s a double countout in 10:52. ** Christ, all that wretched buildup for this finish? This surely means Rock isn’t back until after Elimination Chamber. Kane destroys Cena with a chair and then finds Zach Ryder in his wheelchair, brings him to the ring, and tombstones him. He gives Cena a chokeslam for good measure. Match wasn’t much, but it was not boring until the finish thanks to the crowd. Booker: “This could be the end of Zach Ryder’s career.” Yup.

We get a Rock video.

Drew McIntyre v. Brodus Clay. Someone must have forgotten this is the second biggest show of the year. Clay no-sells some forearms and pushes Drew down. Exploder sets up a stinger splash. Crossbody off the ropes finishes Drew in 1:02. DUD This act is rapidly getting old, and ribbing Drew McIntyre because he thinks he’s a good wrestler isn’t exactly fun for the audience.

Tomorrow night HHH returns to boot Johnny Ace.

WWE title, Dolph Ziggler v. CM Punk (c). Johnny Ace is your special ref but he’s just at ringside. He does eject Vickie from ringside. Punk uses a schoolboy to start and unloads some kicks. They run the ropes and Punk flips out of a roll up. Dolph struts like Ric Flair. Punk suplexes him onto the ropes. Punk slaps on an abdominal stretch and uses a tope. Dolph stops him on top and covers for two. Neckbreaker and a bunch of elbow drops from Ziggler for two. Punk back suplexes his way out of a headlock. Dolph slaps on a sleeper but Punk reverses to anaconda vice before Dolph maneuvers back into a sleeper. Punk fights out of that but eats a dropkick for two. Punk uses a spinning ligerbomb when Dolph goes for the fameasser. Punk uses a knee to the face and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Punk uses another running knee into a bulldog and signals for the GTS. After a few reversals, Punk uses a punt to the head for two. Punk hits a flying elbow for two. Punk goes for the GTS, but Dolph pushes him into the ref. Punk slaps on the anaconda vice and Dolph taps but Johnny Ace is checking on the bumped ref. Dolph tries a rollup but Punk reverses for three but still no count. Ace pushes the ref into the ring for some reason and jaws with Punk. Punk uses the GTS but knocks Ace out of the ring when he turns. The ref is finally awake, so Punk looks for another GTS, but Dolph reverses to the fameasser for two. Punk turns another fameasser into a slingshot, and Punk finishes Dolph with a second GTS to retain in 14:32. ***1/4 Ace counts along with the ref to appear impartial. Not boring at all, and the interference was badly needed to make things different from the numerous Raw matches these two have had. However, it was mostly an extended squash for Punk rather than a true title match.

Royal Rumble: Miz is #1 and he cuts a promo. Alex Riley is #2 and he destroys Miz, even though he’s been jobbing on Superstars for the last four months. Miz then dumps him in about five seconds and bows. #3 is R-Truth. Miz tries a skull crushing finale, but Truth evades easily and uses a powerslam. #4 is Cody Rhodes. Rhodes hits beautiful disaster and a front suplex on Truth as the heels take over. #5 is Justin Gabriel who enters with a flying bodypress and a powerbomb. He STOs Truth until getting stomped by Cody. #6 is Primo as the crowd thinks about turning on the Rumble, which would probably be a first. He gives a headscissors to Gabriel but falls into the tree of woe. Miz dumps Truth, who drags him out via the bottom rope and gives him the reverse DDT on the floor. Speeding up the entrances, #7 is Cactus Jack, and he dumps Primo while barely moving his feet. He knees Cody in the face and uses a double arm DDT on the poor guy. #8 is Ricardo Rodriguez dressed as Alberto Del Rio. I can only hope this means Ricardo is a wrestler now: he looks great, is an awesome promo, and takes a mean bump. Crowd chants for Ricardo, who eats a Gabriel dropkick. He and Foley team up to dump Gabriel. #9 is Santino Marella. Foley just looks on as Santino and Ricardo do some comedy chain wrestling. Santino gives Ricardo a wedgie and dumps him. Foley takes out Mr. Socko and Marella takes out the cobra. #10 is Epico and Mr. Socko takes care of him immediately. Miz and Rhodes wake up to destroy Foley and Marella. Cody dumps Santino and Foley gives Socko to the Miz. Cody dumps Foley to leave Miz and Cody. #11 is Kofi Kingston, who unleashes a double boom drop. #12 is Jerry Lawler, who gets out from behind the announce booth. He cleans houses on the heels and whips out two dropkicks. Cody dumps him after a second rope fistdrop. #13 is Ezekiel Jackson. Yikes, was Tyson Kidd not available? #14 is Jinder Mahal. Christ. #15 is the Great Khali making his return. He tosses Jinder and clotheslines Ezekiel Jackson to the floor. Lawler: “I think there’s a new favorite in the Royal Rumble.” #16 is Hunico, who uses a torture rack suplex on Rhodes. There’s about zero star power in there right now. #17 is Booker T, who cleans house and bumps for Khali alone. What a waste of literally everyone. Kofi skins the cat and does a handstand to avoid elimination. Neat spot. #18 is Dolph Ziggler, because there weren’t enough midcard heels in the match. Booker hits Hunico with an axe kick. #19 is Jim Duggan. He lariats everyone and then Rhodes clotheslines him out in short order. Khali, Cody and Dolph team up to dump Booker T. #20 is Michael Cole, who everyone ignores. #21 is Kharma, making her return after giving birth. She destroys Cole, who is eliminated by Booker and Lawler. Kharma destroys Dolph with her finisher and Vickie hops on the apron. She tosses Hunico and Dolph eliminates her. So what was the point of that exactly? #22 is Sheamus. Powerslams abound. Sheamus dumps Kofi and gives the clubbing forearms to Cody and Miz. #23 is Road Dogg. Pretty weak surprise entrants this year. He gives Miz a pumphandle suplex. #24 is Jey Uso. Good lord is this weird. Only six spots to go, and they didn’t include several notables. Match kinda falls apart. #25 is Jack Swagger to total silence. Cody gives Dolph a front suplex. #26 is Wade Barrett. Again, total silence, and this is the man who destroyed Orton. Wade immediately sells for Road Dogg. Yeesh. Wade tosses him anyway. Ziggler uses the fameasser on Jey Uso. #27 is David Otunga. Cole puts over his undefeated streak as a lawyer. Cole is more interested in ribbing WWE.com than calling the match at this point. #28 is Randy Orton. Powerslam for Sheamus and Barrett. Rhodes ambushes him as he looks for the RKO. Orton DDTs both Ziggler and Rhodes off the ropes at the same time. Jey Uso goes out and so does Barrett. There goes that push. #29 is Chris Jericho. He dumps Otunga immediately. #30 is the Big Show, so no Cena, no Kane, no Mark Henry, no Rock, no Punk, no Bryan. Show gives Swagger the knockout punch on the outside. Show dumps Cody, Miz and Dolph.

Final four: Show, Orton, Jericho, Sheamus. Jericho eats a chokeslam. Orton hits Show with the RKO. Orton dumps Show and Jericho dumps Orton in short order. This leaves Chris Jericho and Sheamus. Jericho points at the Wrestlemania sign. Jericho tries a bulldog but Sheamus moves to dump him in the corner. Jericho uses a missile dropkick from the second rope. Sheamus uses a cobra clutch into a backbreaker. Sheamus tries an outsider’s edge. Jericho reverses to a clothesline but Sheamus hangs on. Springboard dropkick, and Sheamus is still hanging onto the bottom rope. Sheamus hops in with a shoulderblock. Walls of Jericho. Sheamus backdrops Jericho but Y2J hangs on. Jericho heads up top and they fight over a superplex. Sheamus is crotched on the top rope and Jericho falls to the apron as well. Codebreaker. Jericho attempts a pinfall for some reason. Sheamus misses the brogue kick and catches Jericho on another codebreaker attempt. Jericho catches himself, but a brogue kick sends Jericho to the floor and Sheamus wins the Royal Rumble in 54:54. **1/2 Very bad Rumble, seriously lacking star power and any legit surprises. Last few minutes were far and away the best part, but even that felt more like a very good Raw match than a main event. 

Ugly show overall, but the direction for Wrestlemania appears to be decent:

John Cena vs. The Rock
Chris Jericho v. CM Punk
Undertaker v. HHH, career vs. streak, Shawn Michaels guest ref
Big Show v. Shaquille O’Neal
Randy Orton v. Wade Barrett
Sheamus v. Daniel Bryan 

Plus Money in the Bank. Tough to say you’re “main-eventing” Wrestlemania when you’re likely seventh or eighth from the top, but I don’t mind them giving the push to a younger guy.

This was posted 4 months ago. It has 0 notes. .
NWA welterweight title, La Sombra (c) v. Volador Jr. From New Japan’s 1/22/12 Fantasticamania card. The two masked fellows shake hands. Sombra kips out of a wristlock and reverses a sunset flip for two. He uses a headscissors and flips out of another pinfall attempt. Sombra uses a backflip and a rana. Volador bails, then crawls back in quickly when Sombra flips to the outside on his feet. Volador uses a no hands somersault tope. They run the ropes some more and Volador uses a rana. Sombra manages a springboard dropkick and follows that up with a tope. Volador doesn’t sell it for some reason and drags Sombra off the apron, then plants him with a short powerbomb when he tries a springboard rana. Sombra manages a schoolboy for two and Volador transitions into a chicken-wing submission. Sombra breaks that on the ropes and uses a totally smooth transition into a modified heek hook. Sombra uses an Asai moonsault to the outside and slaps on a surfboard. They kinda mess up an exchange that ends in Volador slapping on a Gory special. Sombra reverses to a victory roll for two. Sombra wants la magistral, but he never gets it because Volador uses it himself. Sombra tries a small package, but Volador ends up reversing a rana rollup for two. Sombra hits another headscissors and heads up top, using a crazy moonsault from there to the outside. Nuts. Back in, Sombra uses a flying bodypress for two. Volador stops Sombra on top with an enziguiri and uses a rana with both men standing on top. Wild. Volador heads up again but Sombra crotches him at the last possible moment and uses a superplex for two. Sombra uses an ocean cyclone suplex for two. Sombra misses a blind charge and is caught on the middle rope, so Volador hits him with a legdrop for two. Volador’s clapping on the mat to get the crowd into it is a nice touch. Sombra dumps him on a blind charge and uses an insane backflip plancha that has him blindly backing into his opponent. Good lord, and great selling from both. Sombra wants another ocean cyclone suplex but Volador grabs onto the top rope and then uses a reverse rana for a hot near fall. Volador misses a blind charge and bleeds hardway, and Sombra turns a schoolboy, amazingly, into a saito suplex for two. Split-legged moonsault for two. Volador wakes up and uses a top rope exploder for two. Volador uses a codebreaker. Sombra comes back with a rydeen bomb and fires up. Volador uses a superkick, but Sombra catches him with a release german suplex. Sombra finishes Volador with a flipping, standing moonsault in 21:47. ****1/2 Man, Sombra’s really improved by leaps and bounds since he started in New Japan. With his relative inexperience, he should have a nice career ahead of him in NJPW, and you could see how much confidence they have in him that he was given a main event here.

NWA welterweight title, La Sombra (c) v. Volador Jr. From New Japan’s 1/22/12 Fantasticamania card. The two masked fellows shake hands. Sombra kips out of a wristlock and reverses a sunset flip for two. He uses a headscissors and flips out of another pinfall attempt. Sombra uses a backflip and a rana. Volador bails, then crawls back in quickly when Sombra flips to the outside on his feet. Volador uses a no hands somersault tope. They run the ropes some more and Volador uses a rana. Sombra manages a springboard dropkick and follows that up with a tope. Volador doesn’t sell it for some reason and drags Sombra off the apron, then plants him with a short powerbomb when he tries a springboard rana. Sombra manages a schoolboy for two and Volador transitions into a chicken-wing submission. Sombra breaks that on the ropes and uses a totally smooth transition into a modified heek hook. Sombra uses an Asai moonsault to the outside and slaps on a surfboard. They kinda mess up an exchange that ends in Volador slapping on a Gory special. Sombra reverses to a victory roll for two. Sombra wants la magistral, but he never gets it because Volador uses it himself. Sombra tries a small package, but Volador ends up reversing a rana rollup for two. Sombra hits another headscissors and heads up top, using a crazy moonsault from there to the outside. Nuts. Back in, Sombra uses a flying bodypress for two. Volador stops Sombra on top with an enziguiri and uses a rana with both men standing on top. Wild. Volador heads up again but Sombra crotches him at the last possible moment and uses a superplex for two. Sombra uses an ocean cyclone suplex for two. Sombra misses a blind charge and is caught on the middle rope, so Volador hits him with a legdrop for two. Volador’s clapping on the mat to get the crowd into it is a nice touch. Sombra dumps him on a blind charge and uses an insane backflip plancha that has him blindly backing into his opponent. Good lord, and great selling from both. Sombra wants another ocean cyclone suplex but Volador grabs onto the top rope and then uses a reverse rana for a hot near fall. Volador misses a blind charge and bleeds hardway, and Sombra turns a schoolboy, amazingly, into a saito suplex for two. Split-legged moonsault for two. Volador wakes up and uses a top rope exploder for two. Volador uses a codebreaker. Sombra comes back with a rydeen bomb and fires up. Volador uses a superkick, but Sombra catches him with a release german suplex. Sombra finishes Volador with a flipping, standing moonsault in 21:47. ****1/2 Man, Sombra’s really improved by leaps and bounds since he started in New Japan. With his relative inexperience, he should have a nice career ahead of him in NJPW, and you could see how much confidence they have in him that he was given a main event here.

This was posted 4 months ago. It has 0 notes. .
This was posted 4 months ago. It has 0 notes. .
Zero-1 Pro Wrestling Nippon From 1/1/12 at Korakuen Hall. This was the getting everything out of your roster show. Yoshikazu Yokoyama v. Daichi Hashimoto. Slugfest (You were expecting something different?) Yokoyama gives him a bunch of slams. After taking a long beating, Yokoyama slaps on the camel clutch. Daichi kicks Yokoyama’s head off and uses a german suplex for a near fall. Yokoyama uses a spear and a powerslam for two. Daichi uses a DDT for two. Run up the ropes savate kick gets two. He looks for the STF and cinches it in. Yokoyama finally taps in 9:17. **3/4 Fun, stiff opener and Daichi is absolutely a star in the making and should be main eventing before the year is out. Shinsuke Jet Wakataka & @UEXILE v. Sekai No Kyogo & XX. This is clipped. Exile gets the beat down from XX, but he misses a warrior splash. Wakataka comes in with a missile dropkick. XX uses a belly-to-belly and cleans house. Exile does a wacky sell but XX clubs his partner by mistake. Exile reverses a powerbomb to a DDT and Wakataka uses a bodypress to the upset pin. Looked pretty boilerplate from the finish. XX comes back and kills the heels afterwards. #1 contender, Akebono v. Ryouji Sai v. Kamikaze. The smaller two man gang up on Akebono and he tosses them around like children, but misses a blind charge. Sai uses a vertical suplex on Kamikaze. Sai tries to slam Akebono but that doesn’t work out. Kamikaze uses a lionsault. Sai uses a double stomp for a near fall. The good guys suplex Akebono, but Kamikaze uses a backslide on Sai in the interim. Akebono cleans house and uses a side slam for two. Akebono warrior splashs Sai and Kamikaze uses an enziguiri on Sai. Brainbuster but Akebono saves. Kamikaze uses a moonsault to finish Sai in 6:49. *1/2 It’s an Akebono match, and Sai didn’t get to shine enough for my liking. NWA title, Craig Classic (c) v. Tsuoyoshi Kikuchi. Classic uses a DDT and they brawl on the outside. They run the ropes and Classic uses a dropkick and a dropkick off the apron. Classic goes up top but Kikuchi uses a belly-to-belly from there. Slugfest. Classic uses a rydeen bomb for two. Kikuchi no-sells some chops. Kikuchi uses a fisherman’s suplex for two. He whips out a german suplex, Classic reverses another one to a victory roll and uses rolling germans of his own for two. Classic uses a running straight kick and a tombstone. Flying headbutt gets two. Kikuchi sits down on a victory roll for the upset pin and the title in 8:15. ***1/4 Classic is kind of awesome and this was total joy from bell to bell. Felt extremely fresh in almost every aspect. Junior title, Takuya Sugawara (c) v. Ikuto Hidaka v. Mineo Fujita. Double leapfrog and double dropkick hurt the champion. They run the ropes all three ways which is kind of neat. They hiptoss the champion and Hidaka applies a wacky toehold to Fujita. Hidaka does some unique stuff into an abdominal stretch on the outside. Fujita clears out the lot of them with a tope. Springboard dropkick gets two. Fujita vaults Hidaka into a DDT on the champ, but hits him with a seated dropkick shortly thereafter. Hidaka missile dropkicks his knee. Takuya destroys everyone with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Triple roll up spot is deftly done out of a Tayuka atomic drop. Fujita takes a double enziguiri, and Hidaka gets the ankle lock on both of his opponents. Hidaka uses a superkick and an inverted DDT but Fujita saves. Takuya uses a fireman’s carry driver for two. Fujita tries a moonsault but Takuya spins him around and Hidaka manages a superkick for two. Fujita dropkicks the ref by mistake. They fight over a deadly box, and Fujita knocks out Hidaka. Takuya finishes Fujita with a neckbreaker in 10:49 to retain the title. ***1/2 Very intricate spotfest with an interesting storyline. Shinjiro Ohtani & Shito Ueda v. Masato Tanaka & Shingo Takagi. Shingo and Ueda start. They take each other’s shoulderblocks. Ueda drops a leg for two. Ohtani puts Shingo in the tree of woe and dropkicks his face several times. Ueda and Tanaka slug out their issues and it turns into a chopfest. Ohtani and Ueda both slam Shingo for two. Shingo comes back with STOs. Shingo and Ueda brawl to the floor. Tanaka smashes a chair against Ueda’s arm. Double suplex for two. Shingo hits a standing senton and a kneedrop. They fight over a suplex but Ueda’s arm gives out. He uses a dropkick and gets the hot tag. Ohtani runs wild and boots the shit out of Shingo for two. Shingo manages a vertical suplex and gets the heel tag. Tanaka uses a lariat but Ueda saves. Tanaka hits a double lariat but falls victim to a spinning kick. Slugfest. Ohtani uses a german but Tanaka immediately hits the lariat for the double KO. Ueda uses a bulldog for two. Torture rack slam for two. Shingo uses a back suplex. Shingo uses a knee to the face and Tanaka follows with a frog splash for two. Brainbuster for two. Shingo dumps Ohtani and slugs it out with Ueda. Ueda suplexes Tanaka and Ohtani boots Shingo. Ueda clocks Tanaka and Shingo and tries to finish with a gutwrench powerbomb for two. Ueda uses a lariat for two. Tanaka comes back with a lariat and the diving lariat. Shingo uses a wrist-clutch fisherman’s driver for two. Stay dream gets two. Lariat finishes Ueda in 17:49. *** Basic match; the slugfests got a bit boring after awhile. Shingo mixed it up nicely in a match that was supposed to get him over in the promotion. His selling was a bit all-over-the-place, as he was very careful to sell for everything Ohtani did and nothing Ueda did - probably the smartest move. World title, Kohei Sato (c) v. Daisuke Sekimoto. They lock up and Sekimoto goes crazy with running shoulderblocks. Sekimoto slams him a few times and slaps on a boston crab. Sekimoto irish whips Sato into a bunch of chairs, scattering the crowd. Sato uses a falcon arrow on the chairs to stop the beating. Slugfest, slapfest, Sato resorts to kicks. Sleeper. Sekimoto comes back with a dropkick. Running splash in the corner. They fight over a suplex and Sekimoto wins. Boston crab is turned into an STF. Sato evades a frog splash and kicks Sekimoto down. Daisuke avoids a piledriver and no-sells a german suplex. Lariat for the double KO. Sato heads up top but Daisuke catches him and delivers an amazing german suplex on Sato from the apron into the ring. Sato slaps on a triangle but Daisuke powerbombs his way out of trouble. Torture rack, reversed by Sato to a sleeper. Sekimoto backdrop suplexes his way out of that. Sekimoto uses a flying elbow for two. Sato tries to elbow back into things, but he’s out on his feet. Sekimoto uses an enziguiri and a lariat for two. High angle german suplex for two. Sato uses a piledriver to turn the tide. Sato uses a tiger suplex for two. German suplex finishes Sekimoto and allows Sato to retain in 24:18. ***3/4 Sekimoto’s selling is excellent, so it’s too bad he didn’t get more of a chance to do it in the end since they want to keep the challenger strong. This presumably sets up a Kamikaze v. Sato match. Even with about half the talent of New Japan, Zero 1 still puts on consistently great shows. This one had a great blend and is well-worth seeking out. Their fresh talent feels more ready when there’s only a few veterans around (Ohtani, sometimes Tanaka) instead of having half the group 40+. Recommended show.

Zero-1 Pro Wrestling Nippon

From 1/1/12 at Korakuen Hall.

This was the getting everything out of your roster show.

Yoshikazu Yokoyama v. Daichi Hashimoto. Slugfest (You were expecting something different?) Yokoyama gives him a bunch of slams. After taking a long beating, Yokoyama slaps on the camel clutch. Daichi kicks Yokoyama’s head off and uses a german suplex for a near fall. Yokoyama uses a spear and a powerslam for two. Daichi uses a DDT for two. Run up the ropes savate kick gets two. He looks for the STF and cinches it in. Yokoyama finally taps in 9:17. **3/4 Fun, stiff opener and Daichi is absolutely a star in the making and should be main eventing before the year is out.

Shinsuke Jet Wakataka & @UEXILE v. Sekai No Kyogo & XX. This is clipped. Exile gets the beat down from XX, but he misses a warrior splash. Wakataka comes in with a missile dropkick. XX uses a belly-to-belly and cleans house. Exile does a wacky sell but XX clubs his partner by mistake. Exile reverses a powerbomb to a DDT and Wakataka uses a bodypress to the upset pin. Looked pretty boilerplate from the finish. XX comes back and kills the heels afterwards.

#1 contender, Akebono v. Ryouji Sai v. Kamikaze. The smaller two man gang up on Akebono and he tosses them around like children, but misses a blind charge. Sai uses a vertical suplex on Kamikaze. Sai tries to slam Akebono but that doesn’t work out. Kamikaze uses a lionsault. Sai uses a double stomp for a near fall. The good guys suplex Akebono, but Kamikaze uses a backslide on Sai in the interim. Akebono cleans house and uses a side slam for two. Akebono warrior splashs Sai and Kamikaze uses an enziguiri on Sai. Brainbuster but Akebono saves. Kamikaze uses a moonsault to finish Sai in 6:49. *1/2 It’s an Akebono match, and Sai didn’t get to shine enough for my liking.

NWA title, Craig Classic (c) v. Tsuoyoshi Kikuchi. Classic uses a DDT and they brawl on the outside. They run the ropes and Classic uses a dropkick and a dropkick off the apron. Classic goes up top but Kikuchi uses a belly-to-belly from there. Slugfest. Classic uses a rydeen bomb for two. Kikuchi no-sells some chops. Kikuchi uses a fisherman’s suplex for two. He whips out a german suplex, Classic reverses another one to a victory roll and uses rolling germans of his own for two. Classic uses a running straight kick and a tombstone. Flying headbutt gets two. Kikuchi sits down on a victory roll for the upset pin and the title in 8:15. ***1/4 Classic is kind of awesome and this was total joy from bell to bell. Felt extremely fresh in almost every aspect.

Junior title, Takuya Sugawara (c) v. Ikuto Hidaka v. Mineo Fujita. Double leapfrog and double dropkick hurt the champion. They run the ropes all three ways which is kind of neat. They hiptoss the champion and Hidaka applies a wacky toehold to Fujita. Hidaka does some unique stuff into an abdominal stretch on the outside. Fujita clears out the lot of them with a tope. Springboard dropkick gets two. Fujita vaults Hidaka into a DDT on the champ, but hits him with a seated dropkick shortly thereafter. Hidaka missile dropkicks his knee. Takuya destroys everyone with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Triple roll up spot is deftly done out of a Tayuka atomic drop. Fujita takes a double enziguiri, and Hidaka gets the ankle lock on both of his opponents. Hidaka uses a superkick and an inverted DDT but Fujita saves. Takuya uses a fireman’s carry driver for two. Fujita tries a moonsault but Takuya spins him around and Hidaka manages a superkick for two. Fujita dropkicks the ref by mistake. They fight over a deadly box, and Fujita knocks out Hidaka. Takuya finishes Fujita with a neckbreaker in 10:49 to retain the title. ***1/2 Very intricate spotfest with an interesting storyline.

Shinjiro Ohtani & Shito Ueda v. Masato Tanaka & Shingo Takagi. Shingo and Ueda start. They take each other’s shoulderblocks. Ueda drops a leg for two. Ohtani puts Shingo in the tree of woe and dropkicks his face several times. Ueda and Tanaka slug out their issues and it turns into a chopfest. Ohtani and Ueda both slam Shingo for two. Shingo comes back with STOs. Shingo and Ueda brawl to the floor. Tanaka smashes a chair against Ueda’s arm. Double suplex for two. Shingo hits a standing senton and a kneedrop. They fight over a suplex but Ueda’s arm gives out. He uses a dropkick and gets the hot tag. Ohtani runs wild and boots the shit out of Shingo for two. Shingo manages a vertical suplex and gets the heel tag. Tanaka uses a lariat but Ueda saves. Tanaka hits a double lariat but falls victim to a spinning kick. Slugfest. Ohtani uses a german but Tanaka immediately hits the lariat for the double KO. Ueda uses a bulldog for two. Torture rack slam for two. Shingo uses a back suplex. Shingo uses a knee to the face and Tanaka follows with a frog splash for two. Brainbuster for two. Shingo dumps Ohtani and slugs it out with Ueda. Ueda suplexes Tanaka and Ohtani boots Shingo. Ueda clocks Tanaka and Shingo and tries to finish with a gutwrench powerbomb for two. Ueda uses a lariat for two. Tanaka comes back with a lariat and the diving lariat. Shingo uses a wrist-clutch fisherman’s driver for two. Stay dream gets two. Lariat finishes Ueda in 17:49. *** Basic match; the slugfests got a bit boring after awhile. Shingo mixed it up nicely in a match that was supposed to get him over in the promotion. His selling was a bit all-over-the-place, as he was very careful to sell for everything Ohtani did and nothing Ueda did - probably the smartest move.

World title, Kohei Sato (c) v. Daisuke Sekimoto. They lock up and Sekimoto goes crazy with running shoulderblocks. Sekimoto slams him a few times and slaps on a boston crab. Sekimoto irish whips Sato into a bunch of chairs, scattering the crowd. Sato uses a falcon arrow on the chairs to stop the beating. Slugfest, slapfest, Sato resorts to kicks. Sleeper. Sekimoto comes back with a dropkick. Running splash in the corner. They fight over a suplex and Sekimoto wins. Boston crab is turned into an STF. Sato evades a frog splash and kicks Sekimoto down. Daisuke avoids a piledriver and no-sells a german suplex. Lariat for the double KO. Sato heads up top but Daisuke catches him and delivers an amazing german suplex on Sato from the apron into the ring. Sato slaps on a triangle but Daisuke powerbombs his way out of trouble. Torture rack, reversed by Sato to a sleeper. Sekimoto backdrop suplexes his way out of that. Sekimoto uses a flying elbow for two. Sato tries to elbow back into things, but he’s out on his feet. Sekimoto uses an enziguiri and a lariat for two. High angle german suplex for two. Sato uses a piledriver to turn the tide. Sato uses a tiger suplex for two. German suplex finishes Sekimoto and allows Sato to retain in 24:18. ***3/4 Sekimoto’s selling is excellent, so it’s too bad he didn’t get more of a chance to do it in the end since they want to keep the challenger strong. This presumably sets up a Kamikaze v. Sato match.

Even with about half the talent of New Japan, Zero 1 still puts on consistently great shows. This one had a great blend and is well-worth seeking out. Their fresh talent feels more ready when there’s only a few veterans around (Ohtani, sometimes Tanaka) instead of having half the group 40+. Recommended show.

This was posted 4 months ago. It has 5 notes. .
Impact tag titles, Crimson & Matt Morgan (c) v. Samoa Joe & Magnus. From the 1/8/12 TNA PPV. Joe and Morgan start. Morgan no-sells Joe’s shoulderblocks, and they slug it out. Joe uses an enziguiri and no-sells a Morgan lariat. Double tag. Magnus no-sells a shoulderblock and Crimson uses knees to the head into a neckbreaker for two. Morgan uses elbows on Magnus in the corner. Crimson whips him Morgan into Magnus and uses an exploder for two. Joe uses a straight throw when Crimson attempts a blind charge. Magnus uses a standing elbow for a near fall. Joe unleashes a running kneedrop for two. Magnus uses a lariat for two. Magnus uses a big boot and the cameras actually cut to the back with Abyss and Bully Ray brawling. Amazing, they couldn’t do this after the match? Joe administers boot scrapes in the corner but Crimson uses a spear for the double KO. Hot tag Morgan. Fallaway slam on Magnus sets up a botched move for two. Magnus gets out of the way of a blind charge and Magnus drops a big elbow, Crimson saves. Crimson brawls out to the floor with Magnus for no discernible reason, and Joe livens things up with a tope on Crimson. Crimson just tosses Joe into the stairs after that. Double-team chokeslam on Magnus allows the champions to retain in 10:55. **1/2 Pretty vanilla tag match with Joe not doing very much, although what he did do was incredibly better than anything else in the rest of the match. What was the point of the Wild Card tag team tournament then?

Impact tag titles, Crimson & Matt Morgan (c) v. Samoa Joe & Magnus. From the 1/8/12 TNA PPV. Joe and Morgan start. Morgan no-sells Joe’s shoulderblocks, and they slug it out. Joe uses an enziguiri and no-sells a Morgan lariat. Double tag. Magnus no-sells a shoulderblock and Crimson uses knees to the head into a neckbreaker for two. Morgan uses elbows on Magnus in the corner. Crimson whips him Morgan into Magnus and uses an exploder for two. Joe uses a straight throw when Crimson attempts a blind charge. Magnus uses a standing elbow for a near fall. Joe unleashes a running kneedrop for two. Magnus uses a lariat for two. Magnus uses a big boot and the cameras actually cut to the back with Abyss and Bully Ray brawling. Amazing, they couldn’t do this after the match? Joe administers boot scrapes in the corner but Crimson uses a spear for the double KO. Hot tag Morgan. Fallaway slam on Magnus sets up a botched move for two. Magnus gets out of the way of a blind charge and Magnus drops a big elbow, Crimson saves. Crimson brawls out to the floor with Magnus for no discernible reason, and Joe livens things up with a tope on Crimson. Crimson just tosses Joe into the stairs after that. Double-team chokeslam on Magnus allows the champions to retain in 10:55. **1/2 Pretty vanilla tag match with Joe not doing very much, although what he did do was incredibly better than anything else in the rest of the match. What was the point of the Wild Card tag team tournament then?

This was posted 4 months ago. It has 0 notes. .
Shinjiro Otani & Yoshikazu Yokoyama v. Fujita Jr. & Masato Tanaka. This was the final of Zero-1’s tag tournament on 12/18/11. Jr and Yokoyama start. Yokoyama goes for an armbar so Jr stomps his back. Slugfest, won by the larger Yokoyama. He drops a series of elbows for a near fall. Ohtani tags in and puts Jr in the tree of woe. Jr unloads on Ohtani with kicks and tags in Tanaka to continue the beating. Ohtani uses a back suplex and Yokoyama bodyslams Tanaka for two. Chopfest. Jr unleashes more kicks on Yokoyama. Tanaka smashes a chair against Yokoyama’s knee from the floor and Jr works it over with kicks. Yokoyama dodges a seated dropkick and Tanaka knocks Ohtani off the apron. Tanaka gives Ohtani a lariat and searches under the ring for a table. Tanaka puts him through it with a frog splash from the top to the outside. He posts Yokoyama into it. Yokoyama hits a running elbow and goes for the hot tag but Ohtani ain’t there. Tanaka’s in for a slapfest. Running elbow gets two. Jr hits Yokoyama with a few nasty elbows to the face. Yokoyama gets a backdrop and the hot tag. Ohtani boot scrapes Jr. for a bit. Chops follow. Jr uses a seated dropkick and makes his own hot tag. Tanaka uses a lariat for two but falls victim to a dropkick. Yokoyama uses a powerslam for two. Spinebuster for two. Tanaka comes back with a spear and puts Yokoyama on top. Superplex is no-sold and Yokoyama uses a spear. Ohtani uses a german suplex. Tanaka no-sells the first one, so Ohtani gives him another. Tanaka lariat sets up a brainbuster for two. Ohtani gets his knees up on the frog splash. Crazy fast action here. Ohtani and Yokoyama uses a combination spear/dropkick and Ohtani uses a spiral bomb for two. Tanaka no-sells a release dragon suplex from Ohtani and uses the diving elbow. Double KO. Jr and Yokoyama slug it out. Jr avoids the spear and covers for two. Running knee to the body sets up a back suplex for two. Jr uses a running knee to the head and a jumping DDT. Tanaka follows with the frog splash. Jr uses another running knee for two. Diving elbow from Tanaka but Ohtani saves. Roundhouse kick gets two. Yokoyama gets a spear and Ohtani uses a missile dropkick. Yokoyama uses a death valley driver for two. Jr slaps on a guillotine but Ohtani saves. Tanaka dumps him. Running knee finishes Yokoyama to give Tanaka and Fujita Jr. the tournament in 23:20. **** Really exciting tag match that was missing more Ohtani and that kept it from true greatness. The selling remained tremendous despite the fact that they used a lot of no-selling; the effect was simply cumulative. Ohtani was certainly holding back, and we probably could have used a great deal more Ohtani-Tanaka here, but they wanted to put the focus on the young guys. Both have potential; Fujita Jr is like a way better Ogawa, and Yokoyama may not have the upside of Fujita Jr but is a fun worker in his own right.

Shinjiro Otani & Yoshikazu Yokoyama v. Fujita Jr. & Masato Tanaka. This was the final of Zero-1’s tag tournament on 12/18/11. Jr and Yokoyama start. Yokoyama goes for an armbar so Jr stomps his back. Slugfest, won by the larger Yokoyama. He drops a series of elbows for a near fall. Ohtani tags in and puts Jr in the tree of woe. Jr unloads on Ohtani with kicks and tags in Tanaka to continue the beating. Ohtani uses a back suplex and Yokoyama bodyslams Tanaka for two. Chopfest. Jr unleashes more kicks on Yokoyama. Tanaka smashes a chair against Yokoyama’s knee from the floor and Jr works it over with kicks. Yokoyama dodges a seated dropkick and Tanaka knocks Ohtani off the apron. Tanaka gives Ohtani a lariat and searches under the ring for a table. Tanaka puts him through it with a frog splash from the top to the outside. He posts Yokoyama into it. Yokoyama hits a running elbow and goes for the hot tag but Ohtani ain’t there. Tanaka’s in for a slapfest. Running elbow gets two. Jr hits Yokoyama with a few nasty elbows to the face. Yokoyama gets a backdrop and the hot tag. Ohtani boot scrapes Jr. for a bit. Chops follow. Jr uses a seated dropkick and makes his own hot tag. Tanaka uses a lariat for two but falls victim to a dropkick. Yokoyama uses a powerslam for two. Spinebuster for two. Tanaka comes back with a spear and puts Yokoyama on top. Superplex is no-sold and Yokoyama uses a spear. Ohtani uses a german suplex. Tanaka no-sells the first one, so Ohtani gives him another. Tanaka lariat sets up a brainbuster for two. Ohtani gets his knees up on the frog splash. Crazy fast action here. Ohtani and Yokoyama uses a combination spear/dropkick and Ohtani uses a spiral bomb for two. Tanaka no-sells a release dragon suplex from Ohtani and uses the diving elbow. Double KO. Jr and Yokoyama slug it out. Jr avoids the spear and covers for two. Running knee to the body sets up a back suplex for two. Jr uses a running knee to the head and a jumping DDT. Tanaka follows with the frog splash. Jr uses another running knee for two. Diving elbow from Tanaka but Ohtani saves. Roundhouse kick gets two. Yokoyama gets a spear and Ohtani uses a missile dropkick. Yokoyama uses a death valley driver for two. Jr slaps on a guillotine but Ohtani saves. Tanaka dumps him. Running knee finishes Yokoyama to give Tanaka and Fujita Jr. the tournament in 23:20. **** Really exciting tag match that was missing more Ohtani and that kept it from true greatness. The selling remained tremendous despite the fact that they used a lot of no-selling; the effect was simply cumulative.

Ohtani was certainly holding back, and we probably could have used a great deal more Ohtani-Tanaka here, but they wanted to put the focus on the young guys. Both have potential; Fujita Jr is like a way better Ogawa, and Yokoyama may not have the upside of Fujita Jr but is a fun worker in his own right.

This was posted 5 months ago. It has 0 notes. .