Section 1- Results
Dragon Gate: King Shisa is now Yokosuka’s next challenger. Never heard of him? Don’t sweat it.
WAR: Tenryu’s fabled promotion had a one-night farewell a week ago. One result of note is that Pentagon Black, aka King Shisa, beat Mochizuki for Mochizuki’s WAR junior title (not defended since WAR has been inactive). A very good week for the chunky lucha.
Zero-One: Some results of note this week. Masato Tanaka won the Fire Festival, beating Sai in the final. Takaiwa is now the only junior champ in the company.
Section 2- News
All Japan: The Kea/Kawada winner (Kea) will defend the Triple Crown against Minoru Suzuki on 9/3.
MUGA: They start touring on 9/15. Choshu has said that the MUGA roster will be banned from work in NJ, which could effect guys like Tatsutoshi Goto and Nagai who are occasionally used on small shows.
New Japan: Takayama will be on the 8/13 show. Akebono has been added to the G-1 tour in assorted tags (including one with Tiger Mask against Jado & Gedo?!). Tanahashi (toldja #1) & Choshu will be the opponents of Chono Collection AT on 8/12. The Inoki Genome show has been penciled in for 10/5. The LA Dojo has been closed down due to ongoing costs and little return.
NOAH: Samoa Joe is indeed not on the upcoming tour (toldja #2). Just Joe/Joe E. Legend, however, is. Yeah, nice goin’ there.
Zero-One: The Omori/Nakanishi team will take on Emblem (Ohtani/Tanaka) at the 8/25 show, and Emblem are ignoring the quasi-IWGP tag titles in favor of the Zero-One tag straps.
Section 3- It’s shilly in here
First of all, an announcement. Upon my return from Japan I will be opening up a third puro media site, this time for everything that isn’t pre-split All Japan or NOAH. Unlike the first two sites this one will begin with just one match, with another added each day, and the match added will be the oldest match on my list. I have enough to last until at least April, if not later, and that isn’t taking into account new stuff I’ll download. Hope it works out as well as the first two media sites.
Second, you need to be reading Phil Clark every week. Seriously.
Third, if you’re a regular visitor to puroresufan.com, be aware that they’re undergoing some serious difficulties and have moved to a new home.
Section 4- That Kawada guy
It can’t possibly be a coincidence that within a few weeks of the PRIDE scandal we have Kawada doing Zero-One and All Japan shows. It would be one thing if he was only on the 8/27 show for the Triple Crown match and thus a big payday, but multiple shows in conjunction with public comments denigrating his ‘Monster K’ persona speak to problems within HUSTLE. Whether pay is getting lowered or whether Kawada is hedging his bets before a potential collapse, DSE drama is a much better explanation than 23-year vet Kawada having a hankering for more bumps, that’s for sure.
It will be interesting to see where Kawada goes from here. He’ll be able to find a job as long as he’s willing and able, but whether he can go as long as seeming immortals like Tenryu, Fujiwara and Fujinami (who is now in his 35th year) is something else entirely. The NOAH bridge seems burnt, New Japan is less inclined to use expensive outsiders, and All Japan has milked the value of Kawada as Triple Crown champ rather dry. Kawada isn’t inclined to have a promotion of his own, having turned down a role as the centerpiece of the short-lived Kings Road faction. Perhaps he’ll become a roaming, grumpy ass-kicker like Tenryu. Perhaps HUSTLE will survive and keep him in the spotlight.
I can’t help but wonder what legacy Kawada will leave, considering that Hashimoto left behind mostly intangibles. Kawada doesn’t have any long-term disciples, doesn’t have deep roots in any of the serious promotions, he didn’t have a clear contribution to the Japanese wrestling style other than continuing the path laid out by Jumbo and Baba, and for such a big star he’s seemed incredibly isolated since Mutoh got a stranglehold on All Japan.
I consider Kawada to be the second-best wrestler ever, so it strikes me as sad for him to be having such a dismal time lately. After headlining the biggest Tokyo Dome show in years he should have had so much momentum, but the ensuing fallout with NOAH and New Japan’s decision not to use him again after the G-1 killed it. In-ring Kawada has had flashes of brilliance but he’s more likely to cost through matches and have spotty selling. Strangely enough he seems most inspired in HUSTLE skits, especially of late as he’s been mimicking Takada’s Generalissimo gimmick.
Whatever the future may hold there is no denying that Kawada is still one of the biggest names on the puro scene, and at any moment he could be part of a major shake-up. It’s just unlikely that he’ll be the one doing the shaking.
Next column: It might be next week! It might be three weeks from now! You’ll just have to come back to insidepulse every hour of every day to see!
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