I thought it would be timely to have a recap of all the goings on in NOAH right now, as the company doesn’t seem to be having much luck right now with injuries. But first, a quick look at the recent contract negotiations in NOAH…
New Year, New Contracts: As part of a cost cutting and perhaps a longer term downsizing measure, NOAH renewed the contracts of its twenty two main roster talent in early January, before dropping NOAH regulars Jun Izumida, Kishin Kawabata, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Makoto Hashi and Tamon Honda from the main roster to free agent status, presumably leaving the door open for their return in the future. Kentaro Shiga was also announced as freelance, perhaps indicating some links with the promotion in the future as well. Both Shiga and Honda have since announced they will be appearing on New Japan’s January 31st show at Differ Ariake. In other big news stemming from the contract renewals, Jun Akiyama has announced that 2010 will be his last year as an in ring competitor, citing mounting injuries including a back injury which forced him to relinquish the GHC Heavyweight Title last year, and from suffering post traumatic stress disorder, which has been increasingly worse since the death of Misawa.
More Injuries In NOAH: Along with Akiyama being injured, Kenta Kobashi once again has had to step away from his in ring work due to an injury in his elbow which has been causing him numbness in his fingers. Based on doctors advice, who diagnosed him with Cubital Tunnel Syndrome, they strongly suggested he had surgery otherwise he could be left with constant numbness in his fingers and an end to his wrestling career. Cubital Tunnel Syndrome is caused due to a repetitive strain and can cause nerve damage, so this is perhaps a side effect of the thousands of chops Kobashi has thrown over the years.
Go Shiozaki is also out with injury, believed to be a shoulder injury which will probably put him on the shelf for around six months. After being elevated to the top of NOAH last year, Shiozaki had the potential to be a new figurehead for the promotion due to the increasing age and injuries of their top stars.
Also injured is Kotaro Suzuki, who since suffering a back injury in December has been forced to take some time off and relinquish the GHC Jr. Tag Team Titles, which leads me on to…
Jr. Tag Title Tournament: A small four team tournament has been announced for mid February to name new champions, with Naomichi Marufuji and Atsushi Aoki taking on Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Genba Hirayangi on February 6th in Differ Ariake, and Taiji Ishimori teaming with Ricky Marvin to take on the gaijin team of Eddie Edwards and Bobby Fish on February 14th. The two winning teams meet on the 16th in Osaka.
Global Tag League: Moving the tournament to their first tour of the year, NOAH has changed the format of their Global Tag League from a single block tournament with the top of the league being named the winner, to a two block system with the two leading teams facing each other. Thus far, with just one match left in each block, Yoshihiro Takayama and Takuma Sano are leading Block A, and Takashi Sugiura and Shuhei Taniguchi at the top of Block B, with both teams on four points. However, dependant on how the matches go, it looks like their could be a draw at the top of both blocks, which could lead to a semi-final round being fought. The current plan sees the final takes place on January 24th at Korakuen Hall, with the winner of Block A taking on the winner of Block B. Also on the card is Jun Akiyama against Naomichi Marufuji.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Puro Newsflash – New Year and Early January Events – DDT, AJPW, BJW and Zero1!
Before I start, I’m running down five shows across four days here, all at Korakuen Hall… wrestling capital of the world, perhaps?
All Japan at Korakuen Hall: As is tradition, All Japan headed to Korakuen Hall on January 2nd and 3rd to present two cards with feature both heavyweight and jr. heavyweight battle royals. The tradition itself extends waaaay back into Giant Baba territory of All Japan, the first heavyweight battle royal taking place in 1977, and continuing every year on January 2nd at Korakuen Hall ever since. The jr. heavyweight battle royal on the other hand started a little later in 1984, before skipping a few years and starting full time in 1991, once again at Koarkuen Hall on January 3rd. This year the heavyweight battle royal was won by Akebono, outlasting sixteen other men to take the win. One day later, Hiroshi Yamato won a much smaller nine man battle royal to win the jr. heavyweight version of the match for the first time in the new decade. Also on the cards, on January 2nd Kaz Hayashi made his seventh defence of the AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title against Masanobu Fuchi, and on the 3rd Keiji Muto and Masakatsu Funaki unseated Taiyo Kea and Minoru Suzuki to lift the AJPW World Tag Team Titles. The New Years Shining Series continues until the 11th, with Triple Crown Champion Satoshi Kojima defending the titles against Joe Doering.
ZERO1 at Korakuen Hall: ZERO1, the promotion that most thought, including your writer, would not make it to the end of 2009, ended up surviving and finished the year with a new World Heavyweight Champion in former All Japan top star Toshiaki Kawada. The promotion’s first show of the year featured the new champion’s second defence of the belt against Big Japan representative Daisuke Sekimoto. On January 1st at Korakuen Hall, Kawada successfully defended the belt in just over a quarter of an hour. The main event of the show saw Akebono and Shinjiro Otani defeat Ryouji Sai and Kohei Sato in a special new years match.
New Year, New Deathmatches: Big Japan started the year in the only way they knew how, by heading in Koarkuen Hall on January 2nd and presenting not one, but two deathmatches! Drawing a crowd of 1,426, the first deathmatch on the show, a Scramble Bunkhouse Deathmatch, saw Jun Kasai and Jaki Numazawa defeat The Winger and MASADA in a nutty finish which involved a lighttube bat. The final match also featured Lighttubes in an elimination eight man tag death match. Union’s Isami Kodaka picked up the win for his team by elimination Abdullah Kobayashi after 27 minutes.
How Many Men Can You Fit In A Ring? It seems DDT was at lengths to find out the answer this question on December 31st when they ran a co-promoted show at Korakuen Hall with Kaientai Dojo and Big Japan in front of a customary 2,010 people. The main event was a huge 108 man battle royal. That’s right, one hundred and eight people. In one ring. The match was eventually won by Freedom’s representative Jun Kasai after 85:12. I suspect that the match is one of the longest of the last decade, and what a way to finish the decade off!
All Japan at Korakuen Hall: As is tradition, All Japan headed to Korakuen Hall on January 2nd and 3rd to present two cards with feature both heavyweight and jr. heavyweight battle royals. The tradition itself extends waaaay back into Giant Baba territory of All Japan, the first heavyweight battle royal taking place in 1977, and continuing every year on January 2nd at Korakuen Hall ever since. The jr. heavyweight battle royal on the other hand started a little later in 1984, before skipping a few years and starting full time in 1991, once again at Koarkuen Hall on January 3rd. This year the heavyweight battle royal was won by Akebono, outlasting sixteen other men to take the win. One day later, Hiroshi Yamato won a much smaller nine man battle royal to win the jr. heavyweight version of the match for the first time in the new decade. Also on the cards, on January 2nd Kaz Hayashi made his seventh defence of the AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title against Masanobu Fuchi, and on the 3rd Keiji Muto and Masakatsu Funaki unseated Taiyo Kea and Minoru Suzuki to lift the AJPW World Tag Team Titles. The New Years Shining Series continues until the 11th, with Triple Crown Champion Satoshi Kojima defending the titles against Joe Doering.
ZERO1 at Korakuen Hall: ZERO1, the promotion that most thought, including your writer, would not make it to the end of 2009, ended up surviving and finished the year with a new World Heavyweight Champion in former All Japan top star Toshiaki Kawada. The promotion’s first show of the year featured the new champion’s second defence of the belt against Big Japan representative Daisuke Sekimoto. On January 1st at Korakuen Hall, Kawada successfully defended the belt in just over a quarter of an hour. The main event of the show saw Akebono and Shinjiro Otani defeat Ryouji Sai and Kohei Sato in a special new years match.
New Year, New Deathmatches: Big Japan started the year in the only way they knew how, by heading in Koarkuen Hall on January 2nd and presenting not one, but two deathmatches! Drawing a crowd of 1,426, the first deathmatch on the show, a Scramble Bunkhouse Deathmatch, saw Jun Kasai and Jaki Numazawa defeat The Winger and MASADA in a nutty finish which involved a lighttube bat. The final match also featured Lighttubes in an elimination eight man tag death match. Union’s Isami Kodaka picked up the win for his team by elimination Abdullah Kobayashi after 27 minutes.
How Many Men Can You Fit In A Ring? It seems DDT was at lengths to find out the answer this question on December 31st when they ran a co-promoted show at Korakuen Hall with Kaientai Dojo and Big Japan in front of a customary 2,010 people. The main event was a huge 108 man battle royal. That’s right, one hundred and eight people. In one ring. The match was eventually won by Freedom’s representative Jun Kasai after 85:12. I suspect that the match is one of the longest of the last decade, and what a way to finish the decade off!
Monday, 4 January 2010
Puro Newsflash – January 4th Tokyo Dome Results!
The New Year in Japan can only mean one thing… New Japan heads to the Tokyo Dome once again for another one of their January 4th spectaculars, for the 19th year in a row. Building on such a legacy is not easy, and this year New Japan brought in wrestlers from promotions across Japan and the world, with representation from NOAH, All Japan, SMASH, TNA, CMLL and ZERO1, along with US legends Terry Funk and Abdullah the Butcher. With the big line up of talent, and a huge five title matches on the ten match card, New Japan succeeded in bringing in a reported 41,500 fans to the show, the biggest attendance since 2006.
In the main happenings from the show, Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi made their successful fourth defence of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles against the CMLL team of Ultimo Guerrero and Averno. Also in Tag Team Title action, TNA’s Team 3D lost the IWGP Tag belts to Yujiro and Tetsuya Naito in a triple threat match which also featured the team of Karl Anderson and Giant Bernard. Not surprisingly, neither of Team 3D were in the finish of the match, meaning that once again they haven’t lost in Japan. We shouldn’t complain, at least TNA can’t devalue the belts anymore. The next two matches on the show also featured tag battles, with the outsider team of TAJIRI and Masato Tanaka overcoming Akebono and Yuji Nagata, followed by the legends tag match, named ‘the legend never rots’. Seriously. Anyway, one team featured the 65 year old Terry Funk, 46 year old Masahiro Chono, 58 year old Riki Choshu and 42 year old Manabu Nakanishi, making a combined age of 211, taking on 73 year old Abdullah The Butcher, and his team of Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka and Tomohiro Ishii, whom Abby was at least 30 years older than any of. Terry Funk’s team picked up the win in just nine minutes.
The NOAH vs. NJPW series ended at two matches each way, with Naomichi Marufuji winning the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title from Tiger Mask after earning the opportunity by winning the 2009 Super J Cup, and becoming the first person to hold Jr. belts in AJPW, NOAH and NJPW. Following that, New Japan ace Hiroshi Tanahashi overcame Go Shiozaki, and Togi Makabe beat Mohammed Yone, before Takashi Sugiura made his successful first defence of the GHC Heavyweight Title against Hirooki Goto, to finish the series at two wins each. I expect more promotional warfare between these two.
In the final match of the night, IWGP Champion Shinsuke Nakamura made his fourth defence of the title against outsider Yoshihiro Takayama in just over fifteen minutes after delivering the Boma Ye to Takayama. In a suprising move, Manabu Nakanishi stepped up at the end of the show to challenge the champion to a match, probably at Sumo Hall some time in February. The event has already gained some critical acclaim, and the quality here is hopefully something the promotion can continue in 2010.
In the main happenings from the show, Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi made their successful fourth defence of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles against the CMLL team of Ultimo Guerrero and Averno. Also in Tag Team Title action, TNA’s Team 3D lost the IWGP Tag belts to Yujiro and Tetsuya Naito in a triple threat match which also featured the team of Karl Anderson and Giant Bernard. Not surprisingly, neither of Team 3D were in the finish of the match, meaning that once again they haven’t lost in Japan. We shouldn’t complain, at least TNA can’t devalue the belts anymore. The next two matches on the show also featured tag battles, with the outsider team of TAJIRI and Masato Tanaka overcoming Akebono and Yuji Nagata, followed by the legends tag match, named ‘the legend never rots’. Seriously. Anyway, one team featured the 65 year old Terry Funk, 46 year old Masahiro Chono, 58 year old Riki Choshu and 42 year old Manabu Nakanishi, making a combined age of 211, taking on 73 year old Abdullah The Butcher, and his team of Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka and Tomohiro Ishii, whom Abby was at least 30 years older than any of. Terry Funk’s team picked up the win in just nine minutes.
The NOAH vs. NJPW series ended at two matches each way, with Naomichi Marufuji winning the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title from Tiger Mask after earning the opportunity by winning the 2009 Super J Cup, and becoming the first person to hold Jr. belts in AJPW, NOAH and NJPW. Following that, New Japan ace Hiroshi Tanahashi overcame Go Shiozaki, and Togi Makabe beat Mohammed Yone, before Takashi Sugiura made his successful first defence of the GHC Heavyweight Title against Hirooki Goto, to finish the series at two wins each. I expect more promotional warfare between these two.
In the final match of the night, IWGP Champion Shinsuke Nakamura made his fourth defence of the title against outsider Yoshihiro Takayama in just over fifteen minutes after delivering the Boma Ye to Takayama. In a suprising move, Manabu Nakanishi stepped up at the end of the show to challenge the champion to a match, probably at Sumo Hall some time in February. The event has already gained some critical acclaim, and the quality here is hopefully something the promotion can continue in 2010.
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Interview Special #3 - Dragon Gate Debrief Part 2
Mark Sloan Interview 15th November 2009
Mark Sloan was kind enough to take a couple of minutes of his time on November 15th at 1PW’s Fourth Anniversary Show to give me a few reflections on how he thought the Dragon Gate UK show went. Here’s what he had to say…
Chris: Are you happy with how the Dragon Gate show went?
Mark: Yeah absolutely, the guys were just absolutely incredible, they had practically no sleep since they arrived on like the Friday morning, and they went out and they gave it their all. They walked into the arena and they saw it was going to be something special, they watched the dark match and saw how the crowd reacted. Even Shingo, who looked at deaths door, to be honest, he was there for it, he loved it. They all put on such a performance; they can’t wait to come back, so they were happy, the fans seemed happy, so that obviously means I was happy.
C: Are they planning on coming back next year?
M: Yeah absolutely, we will probably find out by the turn of the year, I think if everything went well for me then probably September next year would be a good thing. Absolutely looking forward to coming back.
C: Do you plan on doing a tour or just a single show again?
M: Just a single show again, probably look to bring again, because it’s a tour of other countries, just one show in Britain, if it goes the way I’d like it to, probably get five or six guys that didn’t come over plus the top five from before. Obviously mix in a couple of Europeans and bring some from stateside, and hopefully we’ll have another cracking show.
C: Thanks for your time Mark.
Mark Sloan was kind enough to take a couple of minutes of his time on November 15th at 1PW’s Fourth Anniversary Show to give me a few reflections on how he thought the Dragon Gate UK show went. Here’s what he had to say…
Chris: Are you happy with how the Dragon Gate show went?
Mark: Yeah absolutely, the guys were just absolutely incredible, they had practically no sleep since they arrived on like the Friday morning, and they went out and they gave it their all. They walked into the arena and they saw it was going to be something special, they watched the dark match and saw how the crowd reacted. Even Shingo, who looked at deaths door, to be honest, he was there for it, he loved it. They all put on such a performance; they can’t wait to come back, so they were happy, the fans seemed happy, so that obviously means I was happy.
C: Are they planning on coming back next year?
M: Yeah absolutely, we will probably find out by the turn of the year, I think if everything went well for me then probably September next year would be a good thing. Absolutely looking forward to coming back.
C: Do you plan on doing a tour or just a single show again?
M: Just a single show again, probably look to bring again, because it’s a tour of other countries, just one show in Britain, if it goes the way I’d like it to, probably get five or six guys that didn’t come over plus the top five from before. Obviously mix in a couple of Europeans and bring some from stateside, and hopefully we’ll have another cracking show.
C: Thanks for your time Mark.
Puro Newsflash – New GHC Champ, Super J Cup Line Up, Tokyo Dome Rumours and SMASH!
New GHC Champ: Pro Wrestling NOAH headed to Budokan Hall for their last big show of the year on December 6th infront of a crowd of 12,000 which saw a card including Naiomichi Marufuji’s return from injury to take on and defeat Atsushi Aioki, as well as Takeshi Rikio and Mohammed Yone defeating Kensuke Sasaki and Takeshi Morishima to lift the GHC Tag Team Titles. However, the big news came from the main event. NOAH born and bred Takashi Sugiura defeated GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki after nearly twenty five minutes of action to lift the title for the first time in his career. Sugiura made his debut in Pro Wrestling NOAH at the end of 2000, becoming the first wrestler to debut in the green ring. Competing initially as a Jr. Heavyweight, he picked up the GHC Jr. and Jr. Tag belts before moving up to heavyweight in 2007 and winning the GHC Tag Team titles with Naiomichi Marufuji. Personally, I think it’s good that NOAH is going in a new direction with younger stars on top. Let’s see what 2010 brings for the promotion, along with their 10th Anniversary…
Super J Cup 5th Stage: The full line up has been announced for the Super J Cup, and as I predicted one of the last two spots went to a Pro Wrestling NOAH representative: Naiomichi Marufuji!!!!! The recently returning NOAH star won the Super J Cup in 2004 and since then became the star of both the Junior and Heavyweight ranks in NOAH, becoming the promotion’s only grand slam champion. And his opponent in the Super J Cup? Jushin Thunder Liger! The match, one of the most eagerly anticipated junior dream matches in Japan main events the first day of the Super J Cup at Korakuen Hall.
Other first round matches from the opening night, set to take place on December 22nd in a NJPW vs. Outsiders format include: Taichi vs. Michinoku Pro’s Tigers Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi vs. FREEDOM’s GENTARO, AKIRA vs. Dragon Gate’s YAMATO, Jado vs. DDT representative Danshoku Dino, Gedo vs. recently announced DDT rep Kota Ibushi, Prince Devitt vs. NOAH’s Atsushi Aoki, and Koji Kanemoto vs. Michinoku Pro’s Fujita “Jr.” Hayato. December 23rd hosts the second round, semi finals and final, with the winner going on to the Tokyo Dome on January 4th to take on IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Tiger Mask with the title on the line. Speaking of which…
NJPW At The Tokyo Dome Rumours: First and foremost, Hulk Hogan was approached to wrestle on the January 4th supershow after his Hulkamania tour of Australia, but declined due to scheduling conflicts (The January 4th Impact is going out live), and he’s a physical wreck (His hip blew out in a match with Ric Flair). Also, a 5 vs. 5 match series of NOAH vs. NJPW matches is expected, with GHC Champ Sugiura possibly taking on Hirooki Goto. If the NOAH participation is announced before the Super J Cup, expect Marufuji to win and take on Tiger Mask. Also rumoured is a high profile US wrestler on the level of Hulk Hogan. My guess is Ric Flair… Team 3D are also confirmed for the card in a three way match for the IWGP Tag Titles against Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson, and Yujiro and Tetsuya Naito in a three way match.
SMASH: After the dissolution of HUSTLE last month, a new grouping has emerged called SMASH, as a successor to the fallen promotion. Announced at a press conference on December 8th, TAJIRI said that he would be taking control of the wrestling aspects of the promotion, while the promotion would also run mixed martial arts and kickboxing shows. Their first show takes place on March 26th 2010.
Super J Cup 5th Stage: The full line up has been announced for the Super J Cup, and as I predicted one of the last two spots went to a Pro Wrestling NOAH representative: Naiomichi Marufuji!!!!! The recently returning NOAH star won the Super J Cup in 2004 and since then became the star of both the Junior and Heavyweight ranks in NOAH, becoming the promotion’s only grand slam champion. And his opponent in the Super J Cup? Jushin Thunder Liger! The match, one of the most eagerly anticipated junior dream matches in Japan main events the first day of the Super J Cup at Korakuen Hall.
Other first round matches from the opening night, set to take place on December 22nd in a NJPW vs. Outsiders format include: Taichi vs. Michinoku Pro’s Tigers Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi vs. FREEDOM’s GENTARO, AKIRA vs. Dragon Gate’s YAMATO, Jado vs. DDT representative Danshoku Dino, Gedo vs. recently announced DDT rep Kota Ibushi, Prince Devitt vs. NOAH’s Atsushi Aoki, and Koji Kanemoto vs. Michinoku Pro’s Fujita “Jr.” Hayato. December 23rd hosts the second round, semi finals and final, with the winner going on to the Tokyo Dome on January 4th to take on IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Tiger Mask with the title on the line. Speaking of which…
NJPW At The Tokyo Dome Rumours: First and foremost, Hulk Hogan was approached to wrestle on the January 4th supershow after his Hulkamania tour of Australia, but declined due to scheduling conflicts (The January 4th Impact is going out live), and he’s a physical wreck (His hip blew out in a match with Ric Flair). Also, a 5 vs. 5 match series of NOAH vs. NJPW matches is expected, with GHC Champ Sugiura possibly taking on Hirooki Goto. If the NOAH participation is announced before the Super J Cup, expect Marufuji to win and take on Tiger Mask. Also rumoured is a high profile US wrestler on the level of Hulk Hogan. My guess is Ric Flair… Team 3D are also confirmed for the card in a three way match for the IWGP Tag Titles against Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson, and Yujiro and Tetsuya Naito in a three way match.
SMASH: After the dissolution of HUSTLE last month, a new grouping has emerged called SMASH, as a successor to the fallen promotion. Announced at a press conference on December 8th, TAJIRI said that he would be taking control of the wrestling aspects of the promotion, while the promotion would also run mixed martial arts and kickboxing shows. Their first show takes place on March 26th 2010.
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Interview Special #2 - Dragon Gate Debrief Part 1
Joel Allen Interview 23th November 2009
The Suplex E-Magazine’s chief editor had the privilege of attending the Dragon Gate show in Oxford at the start of this month. Here’s what he had to say when we had chance to talk about the show, Dragon Gate and random Puro stuff in a brief chat on 23rd November…
Chris: Were you aware of the Dragon Gate product before the show? Had you had the chance to watch any before?
Joel: Yeah, I was well aware of Dragon Gate. I first found out about them at a Ring Of Honor show in Chicago back in 2006 and they had a feature 6-man tag match and it was awesome to say the least. The whole crowd were on their feet for the match and gave them the deserved ovation after the match, for a few years after a 'Dragon-Gate' 6-man tag became an attraction of ROH's WrestleMania weekend festivities. After this I started to watch Dragon Gate online.
C: What was your overall view of the show and its production values?
J: The show was great, top to bottom. All the British guys did exceptionally well, the British standouts for me were obviously PAC but that's a given, right? And Mark Haskins, who's come on so much over the last 18 months. They had Haskins come out with Kelly of IPW:UK fame, I like that pairing, it looks like a good package. All the DG guys were top-notch also. I was very impressed with the Young Bucks (ED NOTE: Look out for a interview with pro-wrestling’s hottest young tag-team in The Suplex very soon!) they remind you of The Rockers/Hardy Boys but define their own style which makes them different. The productions values were to be expected, it's Mark Sloan he always makes sure the presentation and layout of whatever he's doing is to be as perfect as perfect can be. I'm sure Mark hat sat down with his team and picked it apart but the production from him, is still the best in the UK.
C: Rumour has it Dragon Gate are planning a return to the UK next year, would you recommend the show to anyone, and where would you like the show to be held?
J: Yes, 100% go see it, make sure you get your tickets pretty swiftly once they go on sale, it'll be another hot ticket, I'm sure. Anywhere really, the only drag is, if it's way down south or way up north but everyone has the issue with one-off superstar shows.
C: Are there any other Puro promotions which you think could do well in the UK?
J: They've both been over here in the last 18 months, they being Pro-Wrestling NOAH and Dragon Gate. I don't think any other Japanese promotion is widely followed compared to NOAH and DG, so in my humble opinion it would be a money waster to a extreme level but that's my opinion. NOAH seemingly did well and DG did also, so look out for more Dragon Gate UK shows and go to them, you will not be disappointed at all!
The Suplex E-Magazine’s chief editor had the privilege of attending the Dragon Gate show in Oxford at the start of this month. Here’s what he had to say when we had chance to talk about the show, Dragon Gate and random Puro stuff in a brief chat on 23rd November…
Chris: Were you aware of the Dragon Gate product before the show? Had you had the chance to watch any before?
Joel: Yeah, I was well aware of Dragon Gate. I first found out about them at a Ring Of Honor show in Chicago back in 2006 and they had a feature 6-man tag match and it was awesome to say the least. The whole crowd were on their feet for the match and gave them the deserved ovation after the match, for a few years after a 'Dragon-Gate' 6-man tag became an attraction of ROH's WrestleMania weekend festivities. After this I started to watch Dragon Gate online.
C: What was your overall view of the show and its production values?
J: The show was great, top to bottom. All the British guys did exceptionally well, the British standouts for me were obviously PAC but that's a given, right? And Mark Haskins, who's come on so much over the last 18 months. They had Haskins come out with Kelly of IPW:UK fame, I like that pairing, it looks like a good package. All the DG guys were top-notch also. I was very impressed with the Young Bucks (ED NOTE: Look out for a interview with pro-wrestling’s hottest young tag-team in The Suplex very soon!) they remind you of The Rockers/Hardy Boys but define their own style which makes them different. The productions values were to be expected, it's Mark Sloan he always makes sure the presentation and layout of whatever he's doing is to be as perfect as perfect can be. I'm sure Mark hat sat down with his team and picked it apart but the production from him, is still the best in the UK.
C: Rumour has it Dragon Gate are planning a return to the UK next year, would you recommend the show to anyone, and where would you like the show to be held?
J: Yes, 100% go see it, make sure you get your tickets pretty swiftly once they go on sale, it'll be another hot ticket, I'm sure. Anywhere really, the only drag is, if it's way down south or way up north but everyone has the issue with one-off superstar shows.
C: Are there any other Puro promotions which you think could do well in the UK?
J: They've both been over here in the last 18 months, they being Pro-Wrestling NOAH and Dragon Gate. I don't think any other Japanese promotion is widely followed compared to NOAH and DG, so in my humble opinion it would be a money waster to a extreme level but that's my opinion. NOAH seemingly did well and DG did also, so look out for more Dragon Gate UK shows and go to them, you will not be disappointed at all!
Puro Newsflash – Hustle Dead, Super J Cup Participants and AJPW in Taiwan!
Hustle Dead: The sports entertainment styled promotion Hustle announced that their December 25th show at Tokyo’s Sumo Hall had been cancelled on November 22nd, with an announcement forthcoming at the start of December, most likely the public acknowledgement of the office’s closure.
I had predicted that one or two promotions would close this year, and at the end of 2008 my money was firmly on ZERO1-MAX, though Hustle wasn’t too far behind. Their model of bigger spot shows instead of running tours, and brining in bigger names in Puroresu just doesn’t work in times of economic depression.
Super J Cup 5th Stage: Participants for the 5th Super J Cup, set to take place on December 22nd and 23rd at Korakuen Hall, have been announced as follows: Taichi (NJPW), Tigers Mask (Osaka Pro), GENTARO (Freedoms), AKIRA, Jado (NJPW), Gedo (NJPW), Prince Devitt (NJPW), Ryusuke Taguchi (NJPW), Fujita "Jr." Hayato (M-Pro), YAMATO (Dragon Gate), Atsushi Aoki (NOAH), Danshoku Dino (DDT), Koji Kanemoto (NJPW), Jushin Thunder Liger (NJPW).
I suspect one of the remaining two places will be a CMLL representative, and another NOAH representative is a possibility. I for one am looking forward to this one.
AJPW In Taiwan: In notable events from the two AJPW shows in Taiwan at the National University Gymnasium on November 20th and 21st, SUWAMA bested Osamu Nishimura in the finals of the Taiwan Cup, an eight man tournament specially for the tour on November 20th, with his Last Ride finisher after 24 minutes of action. Also on the card, The Great Muta, appearing at the request of his Taiwanese fans, defeated Zodiac with the Shining Wizard. The second day of the mini tour featured three Real World Tag League matches. More on the tournament soon on the Puro Blog...
Other Notes: Jun Akiyama has been injured again, pulling out of the majority of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Winter Navigation Tour. I would suspect that if his physical ailments don’t clear up after a lengthy sabbatical from the ring, he might have to contemplate retirement. Cue rumours of Akiyama starting his own promotion…
I had predicted that one or two promotions would close this year, and at the end of 2008 my money was firmly on ZERO1-MAX, though Hustle wasn’t too far behind. Their model of bigger spot shows instead of running tours, and brining in bigger names in Puroresu just doesn’t work in times of economic depression.
Super J Cup 5th Stage: Participants for the 5th Super J Cup, set to take place on December 22nd and 23rd at Korakuen Hall, have been announced as follows: Taichi (NJPW), Tigers Mask (Osaka Pro), GENTARO (Freedoms), AKIRA, Jado (NJPW), Gedo (NJPW), Prince Devitt (NJPW), Ryusuke Taguchi (NJPW), Fujita "Jr." Hayato (M-Pro), YAMATO (Dragon Gate), Atsushi Aoki (NOAH), Danshoku Dino (DDT), Koji Kanemoto (NJPW), Jushin Thunder Liger (NJPW).
I suspect one of the remaining two places will be a CMLL representative, and another NOAH representative is a possibility. I for one am looking forward to this one.
AJPW In Taiwan: In notable events from the two AJPW shows in Taiwan at the National University Gymnasium on November 20th and 21st, SUWAMA bested Osamu Nishimura in the finals of the Taiwan Cup, an eight man tournament specially for the tour on November 20th, with his Last Ride finisher after 24 minutes of action. Also on the card, The Great Muta, appearing at the request of his Taiwanese fans, defeated Zodiac with the Shining Wizard. The second day of the mini tour featured three Real World Tag League matches. More on the tournament soon on the Puro Blog...
Other Notes: Jun Akiyama has been injured again, pulling out of the majority of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Winter Navigation Tour. I would suspect that if his physical ailments don’t clear up after a lengthy sabbatical from the ring, he might have to contemplate retirement. Cue rumours of Akiyama starting his own promotion…
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