Event: GPWA “Realize”
Date: November 14th, 2006
Location: Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Attendance: Unknown
Can’t get much faster then this, as this show only took place three days ago. A quick explanation, the GPWA is the Global Pro-Wrestling Association, a new association in Japan where many different wrestling promotions have joined together to help each other out and put on joint wrestling shows. The theory is that by joining together it gives the promotions more exposure. The promotions in the association include NOAH, ZERO1-MAX, IWA Japan, El Dorado, ROH, World-1, DDT, EWA, Kensuke Office, Kaientai Dojo, Takayama Office, and WLW. The notable promotions not in the association include New Japan, All Japan, Big Japan, and Dragon Gate. Actually, now New Japan is working with both All Japan and Dragon Gate in an unofficial counter-GPWA movement. This show is the first ever (of hopefully many) GPWA show. I love shows like this as it joins together different promotions and the shows generally have a pretty feel-good mood to them. For more information on the GPWA and what impact it has in Japan, Ditch is your hook up. Here is the full card:
– NOAH vs. Zero-One MAX: Taiji Ishimori, Atsushi Aoki, and Ippei Ota vs. Ikuto Hidaka, Osamu Namiguchi, and Shota Takanishi
– Kikutaro, Katsunari Kishi, and Muneki Sawa vs. Kappa Kozo, Manabu Hara, and Hirayanagi
– El Dorado Offer Match: El Blazer, Jumping Kid Okimoto, and Milanito Collection a.t. vs. Brahman Shu, Brahman Kei, and Manjimaru
– K-DOJO Offer Match: JOE, Yasu Urano, Mr. X, and Mike Lee Jr. vs. Yuji Hino, SUPER-X, Saburo Inematsu, and Yuu Yamagata
– DDT Offer Match: KUDO and Daichi Kakimoto vs. Danshoku Dino and Kota Ibushi
– Yoshihiro Takayama, Minoru Suzuki, and NOSAWA Rongai vs. Takeshi Morishima, Kohei Sato, and Shuhei Taniguchi
– Go Shiosaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, and Sugawara vs. Ryouji Sai, HARASHIMA, and KAZMA
Let’s get straight to it.
Taiji Ishimori, Aoki, and Ippei Ota vs. Hidaka, Osamu Namiguchi, and Shota Takanishi
Ota and Takanishi tie-up, waistlock by Takanishi, reverses into a wristlock by Ota, but Takanishi reverses it back. They trade wristlocks, kick by Ota and he applies a leg lock on the mat. Takanishi reverses it into an attempted cross armbreaker, but Ota gets out of it and both wrestlers are back to their feet. Takanishi tags in Namiguchi, tie-up, Namiguchi pushes Ota against the ropes and slaps him in the chest. Ota comes back with forearm shots, Namiguchi goes off the ropes but Ota catches him with a dropkick. Ota tags in Ishimori, and Ishimori clubs Namiguchi in the back. Irish whip by Ishimori and he delivers a back elbow followed by a standing moonsault. Cover, but it gets a two count. Snapmare by Ishimori and he hits a leg drop. Ishimori picks up Namiguchi and makes the tag to Aoki. Irish whip by Aoki and he delivers a back elbow. Namiguchi catches him with a strike however and makes the tag to Hidaka. Hidaka and Aoki trade slaps, but Hidaka hits a back kick. Neck crack by Hidaka, snapmare, and he applies a reverse chinlock. Stretch hold by Hidaka and he applies an armbar. Hidaka tags in Takanishi, who applies a wristlock to Aoki. Aoki gets out of it and hits a double leg takedown before applying a leg lock on the mat. Aoki tags in Ota and they make a wish with Takanishi’s legs. Ota applies a leg lock in the middle of the ring, but Takanishi makes it to the ropes. Back up, slap by Takanishi and Ota returns fire. Takanishi goes off the ropes but Ota catches him with a knee to the leg and tags in Ishimori. Ishimori picks up Takanishi, snapmare, and he applies a keylock. Takanishi quickly makes it to the ropes, Ishimori drags him back to the middle of the ring and applies the Muta Lock. Stretch hold by Ishimori and he releases the hold to tag in Aoki. Aoki applies a single-leg crab hold but Takanishi makes it to the ropes. Aoki picks up Takanishi, but Takanishi fights back with elbow strikes. Aoki forearms Takanishi into the corner, Irish whip, but Takanishi kicks him when he charges in and hits a jumping lariat. Takanishi tags in Namiguchi, who hits Aoki and his team mates with a forearm shot. Irish whip by Namiguchi from the corner and he delivers a dropkick. Face crusher by Namiguchi, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. Cover, but it gets a two count. Namiguchi goes for a vertical suplex, but Aoki lands on his feet. Aoki goes off the ropes and hits a spinning heel kick, allowing him time to tag in Ota.
Ota picks up Namiguchi, Irish whip to the corner and he hits an elbow strike. Top rope neckbreaker by Ota, cover, but Namiguchi gets a shoulder up. Ota puts Namiguchi on his shoulders and hits the airplane spin into a Samoan drop, cover, but Namiguchi barely kicks out. Dropkick by Namiguchi and he makes the tag to Hidaka. Ota also tags in Ishimori, who enters the ring with a springboard missile dropkick on Hidaka. Ishimori goes off the ropes and hits a quebrada into a leg drop, cover, but it gets a two count. Ishimori throws Hidaka into the corner, he hits a running forearm, and his partners follow with strikes of their own. Ota then hits an assisted face crusher off the second turnbuckle, Ishimori picks him up, scoop slam, but Hidaka moves out of the way of the Superstar Elbow. Ishimori sees him roll out of the way however and he lands on his feet before dropkicking Hidaka out of the ring. Hidaka quickly comes back in and delivers a heel kick, Ishimori goes for an enzigieri but Hidaka ducks it. Hidaka then goes for a German suplex but Ishimori lands on his feet. Sunset flip attempt by Hidaka, Ishimori rolls through and goes for a dropkick, but Hidaka blocks it and hits a dropkick of his own. Hidaka picks up Ishimori and hits a sit-down powerbomb, cover, but it is broken up. Hidaka picks up Ishimori and tags in Takanishi, Takanishi goes off the ropes but Ishimori catches him with an enzigieri and makes the tag to Aoki. Takanishi greets Aoki with a flurry of elbows and the two trade strikes. Takanishi wins the battle with a jumping elbow strike and he hits a Fisherman Suplex for a close two count. Waistlock by Takanishi, Aoki reverses it, Takanishi elbows out of the hold and goes off the ropes but Aoki catches him with a dropkick. Aoki picks up Takanishi and hits a backdrop suplex, cover, but Takanishi kicks out. Keylock by Aoki, but Takanishi manages to get a foot on the bottom rope. Back up, Northern Lights Suplex by Aoki but Hidaka breaks it up. Ishimori comes in to take care of Hidaka, inside the ring Aoki picks up Takanishi and forearms him but Takanishi hits him back. Aoki goes for a backdrop suplex but Takanishi gets out of it and rolls him up for a two count. Backslide by Takanishi, but that gets a two count as well. Aoki kicks Takanishi in the arm and applies the Fujiwara Armbar, but again Hidaka breaks it up. Again Ishimori comes in to track down Hidaka, as in the ring Aoki kicks Takanishi in his arm. Cross Armbreaker by Aoki but Takanishi somehow gets a foot on the bottom rope. School boy by Takanishi but it gets a two count, as does the inside cradle. Aoki goes back to the armbar but just as Takanishi looks like he might tap out the bell rings and the match is called a Draw.
Match Thoughts: Namiguchi busted his nose pretty bad which I think is why he was absent from the last portion of the match. The match was perfectly fine but the end of it really dragged out… you could tell that they were going for the draw as in the last three minutes or so it was just Aoki applying arm submission holds while Takanishi barely got out of them and tried to sneak in a pin. But at least they did try to do a bit of psychology, which I really wasn’t expecting a whole lot of from this card and certainly not from the opener. Ishimori actually hit all his moves, which is an accomplishment in of itself, and the match was a nice opener even though I think it would have been better if they had just opted to end it a few minutes earlier. Score: 6.2
Kikutaro, Kishi, and Muneki Sawa vs. Kappa Kozo, Manabu Hara, and Hirayanagi
Kikutaro and Hara start things off. Hara goes for a pair of kicks but Kikutaro avoids them and complains to the referee. Tie-up, and Hara kicks Kikutaro down to the mat. Kikutaro gets back up, but Hara kicks him in the back of the leg. Kikutaro tags in Sawa, and they trade strikes. Waistlock by Hara, Sawa gets out of it, but Hara kicks him in the leg before backing off. Kicks and slaps by Sawa, but Hara comes back with a slap of his own. Snapmare by Hara and he kicks Sawa in the back before giving him a running kick to the head. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Knee by Hara, Sawa kicks back but Hara applies a waistlock. Sawa gets out of it and applies an armbar before kicking Hara in the leg until Hara backed up. Hara tags in Kozo while Sawa tags in Kishi. Tie-up, wristlock by Kozo but Kishi reverses it into a wristlock of his own. Kozo reverses it back, hammerlock by Kishi, reversed by Kozo, and Kozo applies a front facelock. Kishi gets out of it and the two trade quick pinfalls, Kishi pins the referee and Kozo makes the two count before the referee kicks out. The referee bops both of them on the head, so Kishi tags in Kikutaro while Kozo makes the tag to Hirayanagi. Side headlock by Kikutaro, Hirayanagi Irish whips out of it and the two collide with neither man going down. They trade slaps to the chest, but Kikutaro rakes Hirayanagi in the eyes. Kikutaro goes off the ropes, pancake by Hirayanagi but Kikutaro kicks him in the head. Irish whip by Kikutaro, he drops down, but this time Hirayanagi kicks him. Irish whip by Hirayanagi and he delivers a dropkick. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Back up, Hirayanagi goes off the ropes but Kikutaro catches him with a knee to the midsection. Flash Elbow by Kikutaro, he then pretends to pin Hirayanagi but each time the referee goes to make the count he gets back up. The referee gets mad and tries to slap him, but Kikutaro ducks the slap and slaps the referee back.
Kikutaro tags in Kishi, Irish whip by Kishi and he hits an elbow strike. Cover, but it gets a two count. Hirayanagi gets back up so that the two can exchange strikes, Irish whip by Kishi to the corner but Hirayanagi moves as he charges in and hits a backdrop suplex. Hirayanagi tags in Hara, who kicks Kishi repeatedly in the chest. Reverse chinlock by Hara and he applies the Fujiwara Armbar, but Kishi makes it to the ropes. Hara knees Kishi back into the corner and kicks him in the chest before tagging in Kozo. Kozo picks up Kishi and hits a scoop slam before kicking Kishi in the head. Cover, but it gets a two count. Chop by Kozo, but Kishi hits him back. Kozo falls back into his corner and asks for his water, which re-energizes him and he chops Kishi to the mat. Irish whip by Kozo and he hits a running elbow strike followed by a front slam for a two count cover. Kozo picks up Kishi, he goes off the ropes but Kishi catches him with a kick to the midsection. Dropkick by Kishi and he makes the tag to Kikutaro. Kikutaro chops Kozo in the top of the head (his weak point) and goes for a bulldog, but Kozo pushes him off. Kicks by Kikutaro, Irish whip, and he hits a jumping shoulderblock. Hirayanagi runs in and kicks Kikutaro, Kikutaro grabs Kozo and goes for a delayed vertical suplex, but he can’t keep him up and after a moment he puts Kozo back down. Waistlock by Kozo, reversed by Kikutaro, Kozo distracted Kikutaro and then dropkicks him in the face. Kozo tags in Hirayanagi, who comes off the top turnbuckle with a missile dropkick for a two count. Irish whip by Hirayanagi from the corner and he hits an elbow strike. Fisherman Suplex by Hirayanagi, but it gets a two count. Hirayanagi grabs Kikutaro and goes up to the top turnbuckle, but Kikutaro pushes him off when he goes for the tornado DDT. Dragon screw leg whip by Kikutaro and he tags in Sawa.
Shining Wizard by Sawa (Sawa doubles as Lingerie Mutoh, in case you didn’t know), cover by Sawa but Hirayanagi kicks out. Kicks by Sawa and he slaps Hirayanagi, but Hirayanagi catches a kick and makes the tag to Hara. Slaps by Hara in the corner, Irish whip, but Sawa moves when he charges in. Sawa goes for a slap but Hara blocks it and hits a few slaps of his own. Headbutt by Sawa but Hara comes back with a punch and the two trade strikes. Sawa goes off the ropes but Hara catches him with a back kick. Another kick by Hara, and Sawa stumbles back into his corner to tag in Kishi. Hara tags in Kozo, chops by Kozo, Irish whip, but Kishi hits a heel kick. Face crusher by Kishi, cover, but it gets a two count. Kishi goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a missile dropkick, cover, but it gets a two count. A melee starts, but Kishi and Kozo end up in the ring alone. Kishi goes up to the top turnbuckle but Kozo holds the referee in front of him. Kishi comes back down and applies a waistlock to Kozo, but Kozo forces the referee to look the other way and kicks Kishi low. DDT by Kozo and he applies La Magistral for a two count cover. Waistlock by Kozo, but Kishi rolls him up for a two count. Another roll-up by Kishi and this time he picks up the three count! Your winners: Kikutaro, Katsunari Kishi, and Muneki Sawa
Match Thoughts: A weird combination of a comedy match and a serious match, as Hara was completely not into the comedy wrestling at all. In fact Hara looked like at least three tiers above all the other wrestlers as I don’t even think that he was knocked down during the match. I think I would have liked the match better if it was just a pure comedy match, as since the match jumped back and forth it was hard for them to get a lot of flow going before the match suddenly shifted gears. Kikutaro and Sawa’s interaction towards the end of the match was well thought-out and Kozo certainly was interesting, but overall this match never really found its identity and therefore fell a little flat for me. Score: 4.5
El Blazer, JKO, and Milanito Collection a.t. vs. Brahman Shu, Brahman Kei, and Manjimaru
This is the El Dorado Offer Match. The Brahmans and company jump El Blazer’s team as soon as the bell rings and they brawl around the building for several minutes. They finally return to the ring with Shu and JKO facing off. Shu picks up JKO but JKO hits him with a forearm. The two trade strikes, JKO goes off the ropes but Shu catches him with a kick. Irish whip to the corner by Shu, reversed, but JKO flips over him and hits a headscissors. Shu falls out of the ring, JKO gets a running start in the ring but he rebounds himself back into the ring and tags in Milanito while Kei comes in for Shu. Kei goes off the ropes, Milanito avoids his charge and hits an arm drag. Manjimaru picks up Kei, waistlock by Milanito but Kei gets out of it and knees him low. Stomp to the back by Kei, he picks up Milanito and hits a running kick to the head. Cover, but it gets a two count. Shu comes in for Kei, and Shu kicks Milanito repeatedly in the chest for a two count cover. Shu applies a reverse chinlock while biting Milanito in the head but after a moment he releases the hold and tags in Manjimaru. Irish whip by Manjimaru from the corner and he hits a jumping elbow strike. Manjimaru gets a chair, puts it in front of Milanito’s face and delivers a dropkick. Cover, but Milanito kicks out at two. Manjimaru picks up Milanito and tags in Kei. Kei picks up Milanito and kicks him down into the corner. He picks him up, Irish whip, but Milanito ducks a high kick. Kei throws Milanito into the corner and hits a cutter while Milanito’s foot is caught on the second rope. All three wrestlers choke Milanito in the corner and Kei then clubs Milanito in the back. Crab hold by Kei but Milanito makes it to the bottom rope. Kei picks up Milanito and goes for a backdrop suplex, but Milanito lands on his feet. Kei then goes for a lariat but Milanito ducks it and hits an enzigieri.
Milanito makes the tag to El Blazer, who comes in the ring with a springboard missile dropkick. Kei tags in Manjimaru, Irish whip by Manjimaru to the corner but El Blazer hops up onto the top turnbuckle and flips off as Manjimaru charges in. El Blazer superkicks Manjimaru out of the ring, Shu comes in but El Blazer flings him to the mat with a satellite headscissors. El Blazer then kicks Manjimaru through the ropes, Manjimaru goes to the other side of the railing but El Blazer flies out after him with a springboard plancha suicida. In the ring, JKO Irish whips Shu into the corner but Shu moves as he charges in and kicks him in the face. JKO ducks his next few strike attempts however and kicks Shu to the mat before hitting a fisherman buster for a two count. German suplex hold by JKO but the move is broken up. Milanito and Kei stay in the ring and Kei catches him with a heel kick. Irish whip by Kei, but El Blazer comes in to help and they hit an armdrag on Kei followed by a double dropkick to the face. Cover by Milanito but it gets a two count. More double team work on Kei ending with a standing shooting star press by El Blazer, JKO goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. Milanito then dropkicks Kei through the ropes and El Blazer follows with a quebrada for a two count cover. El Blazer picks up Kei, he goes off the ropes but Shu hits him with a wooden stick from the outside. Shu comes in the ring, double Irish whip to El Blazer and they both hit a kick combination. Cover by Kei but it only gets a two count. Manjimaru goes up to the top turnbuckle with a stick and hits El Blazer in the head with it, cover, but JKO breaks it up. JKO is then hit with the stick as well and the Satos continue double teaming El Blazer. Manjimaru comes in the ring and hits a brainbuster on El Blazer, cover, but it gets a two count. Manjimaru picks up El Blazer and holds him for Kei, but El Blazer moves and Manjimaru is accidentally hit instead. El Blazer hits Manjimaru with a spinning heel kick, delivers the 619 over the top turnbuckle, and nails the Imploding 450 Splash for the three count pinfall! Your winners: El Blazer, JKO, and Milanito Collection a.t.
Match Thoughts: I can see why people at the show live were disappointed with this match, as I don’t think it really showed all that El Dorado has to offer. It started slow with the brawl and uninspired beatdown on Milanito, but I thought it picked up by the end with the Satos showing some great team work and El Blazer actually hitting all of his moves perfectly. If the last three minutes had been how the entire match went, it would have been a great match, but the crowd was already somewhat deflated before they had really turned it on. I wouldn’t call it a bad match as the moves were hit crisply and the ending was hot, but I can fully understand how some would call this match a “failure” as it wasn’t a good representation of what El Dorado is capable of. Score: 6.0
JOE, Urano, Mr. X, and Mike Lee Jr. vs. Yuji Hino, SUPER-X, Inematsu, and Yamagata
This is the K-DOJO Offer Match. Urano and SUPER-X start things off. Tie-up, side headlock by Urano but SUPER-X throws him to the mat. Tie-up again, side headlock by Urano but again SUPER-X throws him down. Tie-up, now SUPER-X applies a side headlock and Urano throws him down by his hair. SUPER-X gets back up and the two trade slaps to the chest, Irish whip by Urano but SUPER-X shoulder blocks him down. SUPER-X goes off the ropes and catches Urano with a hurricanrana before punching him to the mat. Cover, but it only gets a two count. SUPER-X goes to the apron but slides himself back in and knocks Urano to the floor. SUPER-X goes off the far ropes to do a dive but flips himself back into the ring instead. After a moment Urano slides back in, but SUPER-X kicks him and tags in Hino. Hino chops Urano in the corner but Urano escapes and tags in JOE. Hino and JOE tie-up but they break cleanly. They trade elbow strikes, Hino goes off the ropes and hits another one but JOE doesn’t go down. Now JOE goes off the ropes and hits a shoulder block, but Hino doesn’t go down either. Hino punches JOE in the arm but JOE punches him back. Chop by Hino but JOE returns with an elbow strike. Another chop by Hino, he goes off the ropes and shoulderblocks JOE to the mat. JOE rolls to his corner and tags in Mr. X while Hino tags in Inematsu. Punches by Mr. X, he goes off the ropes but Inematsu catches him with an elbow strike. Mr. X punches him back however and he tags in Urano. Double Irish whip to Inematsu but Inematsu avoids their double elbow and holds them off until his partners come in to help. Double Irish whip to Urano and all four wrestlers hit strikes before posing in the ring. Irish whip by Inematsu to the corner and he hits a back elbow strike before connecting with a running kick. Scoop slam by Inematsu and he hits a leg drop for a two count.
Inematsu tags in Yamagata, Yamagata hits a series of knees but Urano rakes her in the eyes. Yamagata rakes him back however, Irish whip, reversed, but Yamagata delivers a dropkick. Cover, but it gets a two count. Urano picks up Yamagata and puts her into his corner, making the tag to Lee Jr. Lee Jr. forearms Yamagata in the corner, Irish whip, and he delivers a Tornado Slam (well, except the slam part). Yamagata grabs Lee Jr. by the hair and knees him into the stomach. Yamagata goes off the ropes but Lee Jr. catches her with a back elbow before tagging in Urano. Snapmare by Urano and he applies a choke sleeper, but the referee gets him to break. Another choke by Urano and again the referee gets him off as Urano looks sad that he can’t keep the hold on. Urano tags in JOE, snapmare by JOE and he applies a modified armbar, but after a moment he releases the hold and poses before covering for a two count. JOE tags in Mr. X, scoop slam by Mr. X and he tags in Urano. Urano picks up Yamagata and hits a body slam, cover, but it gets a two count. Irish whip by Urano from the corner but Yamagata kicks him when he charges in. Yamagata goes for a missile dropkick but Urano moves out of the way. Irish whip by Urano but Yamagata hits a hurricanrana and makes the tag to Hino. Shoulderblock by Hino, Urano gives him an Irish whip by Hino reverses it and hits a Samoan drop. Chops by Hino in the corner, Irish whip, but Urano kicks him when he charges in. Hino hits a lariat anyway, he waits for Urano to get up and goes for an exploder, but Urano pushes him off. Enzigieri by Urano and he makes the tag to JOE. Hino tags in Inematsu, waistlock by JOE but Inematsu gets out of it and hits a side Russian leg sweep. Boot to the head by JOE and he hits a jumping knee, but Inematsu fires back with a lariat for a two count cover. JOE pushes Inematsu off when Inematsu picks him up and hits another big boot, but while JOE poses Inematsu manages to tag in Yamagata.
Yamagata kicks JOE in the back of the head, and as JOE rolls out of the ring Lee Jr. comes in for him. Yamagata goes off the ropes and kicks Lee Jr., but Lee Jr. doesn’t go down. She tries again, but this time Lee Jr. kicks her back. Irish whip by Lee Jr. to the corner but Yamagata moves when he charges in and kicks him in the head. Yamagata goes up to the top turnbuckle, but Urano distracts her so that Lee Jr. could get up and throw her to the mat. Lee Jr. Irish whips Yamagata into the corner and she is triple teamed by JOE and his partners. They hit a face crusher/cutter combination onto Yamagata, cover, but it is broken up. The ring is cleared again, Lee Jr. picks up Yamagata but Yamagata hits a body slam and tags in SUPER-X. Lee Jr. tags in Urano, who hits SUPER-X with an elbow. Irish whip by Urano to the corner, reversed, and SUPER-X kicks Urano from the front before going out to the apron and hitting a slingshot dropkick while Urano is still slouched in the corner. Cover, but Urano kicks out. SUPER-X goes off the ropes and hits a body scissors bulldog, but the cover is broken up. Hino comes in and double team Urano, and then Yamagata hits a sit-down face crusher. Lionsault by SUPER-X, cover, but it gets a two count. Mr. X comes in the ring to help Urano and he hits a spinebuster onto SUPER-X. Hino knocks Mr. X out of the ring and goes for a German suplex on Urano, Urano tries to block it but he loses his grip on the top rope and Hino drops him to the mat. Lee Jr. spits green mist into Hino’s face, but SUPER-X catches him with a kick from behind. JOE comes in, SUPER-X connects with one kick but when he goes off the ropes JOE picks him up and tosses him to the mat. JOE goes off the ropes and connects with a kick before hitting a big boot. JOE goes off the ropes and hits an elbow drop, cover, but it gets a two count. JOE puts SUPER-X onto the top turnbuckle, joins him, and hits an avalanche-style brainbuster. Cover, and JOE picks up the three count! Your winners: JOE, Yasu Urano, Mr. X, and Mike Lee Jr.
Match Thoughts: Keep in mind that I have very little exposure to these wrestlers, in fact I had never seen half of them before today. I thought this was a fine match but way too hectic and random to be memorable in any way. It just came across as your average mid-card multi-tag match, which is essentially what it was. Almost all the wrestlers were able to do something in the ring (not everyone, as Mr. X was pretty useless), but the only wrestlers that really stood out to me were JOE and Hino as their characters (or wrestling ability in Hino’s case) made them look different then their team mates. There really weren’t any miscommunications as these wrestlers are very familiar with each other, the match just never had any structure to it at all and as a fan being exposed to new wrestlers they really didn’t give me a reason to want to go out of my way to see more of their matches which I think is their primary goal. Score: 5.0
KUDO and Daichi Kakimoto vs. Danshoku Dino and Kota Ibushi
This is the DDT Offer Match. Kakimoto and Ibushi start things off. Ibushi kicks Kakimoto in the legs to start the match, kick to the stomach by Kakimoto and he rolls up Ibushi for a two count. Ibushi returns the favor and they trade pin attempts until Ibushi starts kicking Kakimoto in the chest. Kakimoto fires back with forearm strikes and they trade blows until Kakimoto goes back to his corner and tags in KUDO. Ibushi tags in Dino, tie-up, wristlock by KUDO into an armbar, and he hits an arm drag. Back up, tie-up, and Dino flings KUDO to the mat by his upper thigh. Tie-up, waistlock by Dino, reversed by KUDO, Dino goes for KUDO’s groin area but KUDO avoids it. They block each others trademark strikes and get back to their feet, KUDO goes back to tag in Kakimoto but Dino grabs him from “behind” and pulls him to the mat. Dino then humps KUDO’s head and pulls on his tights trying to force a submission. Dino tags in Ibushi, who kicks KUDO in the leg. Knees to the stomach by Ibushi and he hits a heel kick, sending KUDO out of the ring. Ibushi goes out to the apron to hit an Asai Moonsault, but KUDO pulls him down to the floor. KUDO puts Ibushi back on the apron, he goes for a vertical suplex on the apron but Ibushi blocks it. Ibushi gets KUDO up but KUDO just about kills him with a DDT onto the apron. KUDO slides Ibushi back in the ring where Kakimoto is waiting, and Kakimoto applies an armbar. Kakimoto is distracted by Dino, he goes back to Ibushi and tags in KUDO. KUDO chops Ibushi in the corner, Irish whip, and he kicks Ibushi in the chest. Cover, but it only gets a two count.
KUDO picks up Ibushi, snapmare, and he kicks Ibushi in the back. Ibushi absorbs the blow, snapmares KUDO and hits a kick of his own. KUDO returns the favor and stomps down onto Ibushi’s back. KUDO tags in Kakimoto, and Kakimoto chops Ibushi in the corner. Scoop slam by Kakimoto, cover, but it gets a two count. Kakimoto applies a side headlock on the mat, Ibushi gets to his feet and elbows out of it, he goes off the ropes but Kakimoto nails him with a lariat. Elbow drop from the top turnbuckle by Kakimoto, cover, but it gets a two count. Kakimoto puts Ibushi into the corner, Irish whip, and he delivers a running elbow strike. Kakimoto then goes off the ropes but Ibushi catches him with a dropkick and makes the tag to Dino. Dino punches Kakimoto high while punching KUDO low, and Dino hits a snap suplex on Kakimoto followed by a knee to the chest for a two count cover. Dino picks up Kakimoto, puts his hand down his pants (Kakimoto’s hand, not his own hand), and hits a side slam. Dino then pulls down his pants and sits on Kakimoto’s face for a two count cover. Kakimoto manages to tag in KUDO while Dino tags in Ibushi. KUDO and Ibushi trade high kicks, Irish whip by KUDO from the corner and he hits a cross body. KUDO then goes out to the apron and hits a slingshot splash, cover, but it gets a two count. KUDO picks up Ibushi and hits an enzigieri, he then applies a stretch hold while Ibushi is on the second rope. German suplex hold by KUDO but it only gets a two count.
Kick to the head by KUDO, he goes up to the top turnbuckle but Dino comes in and grabs him by the groin before giving him a kiss. This naturally dazes KUDO, Dino takes his pants off, joins KUDO on the top turnbuckle and hits a frankensteiner. Cover, but Kakimoto breaks it up and hits a release German suplex. Kakimoto goes off the ropes and hits a lariat, but Dino doesn’t go down. A second lariat is blocked, but Kakimoto goes off the ropes and hits a third to knock Dino to the mat. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Kakimoto goes for a dragon suplex, but Dino elbows out of it so Kakimoto hits an exploder instead. Dino fires back with the Shining Hump, Dino waits for Kakimoto to get up and punches him, he tries to get him to fall into his pants, but KUDO comes off the top turnbuckle with a jumping knee. Cover by Kakimoto but it gets a two count. Ibushi comes in and kicks Kakimoto, he falls into Dino’s pants and Dino nails the Danshoku Driver. Cover, but Kakimoto barely kicks out. Dino slams Kakimoto to the mat while Ibushi goes up to the top turnbuckle, but KUDO comes in the ring and tries to pull Ibushi down. Dino grabs KUDO and plants one on him while Ibushi comes off the top turnbuckle with a missile dropkick onto Kakimoto. German suplex hold by Ibushi, but it only gets a two count. Ibushi goes for a kick, Kakimoto blocks it and goes for a German suplex, but Ibushi lands on his feet and kicks Kakimoto in the head. Ibushi slams Kakimoto in front of the corner, goes to the top turnbuckle and nails the Phoenix Splash. Cover, and he picks up the three count! Your winners: Danshoku Dino and Kota Ibushi
Match Thoughts: I tried to keep the play by play rated PG as much as I could. This was… uhh… well if you haven’t ever seen Dino wrestle then this match might surprise you a bit. I don’t mind the character itself, but while I am far from homophobic I really prefer not to watch two guys kissing for several minutes…. he certainly does seem to go overboard at times. Actually, Dino is great in comedy matches, but here he annoyed me a bit because I really like Kota and KUDO so I would have preferred just a straight (no pun intended) tag match instead of a match that was 80% normal and 20% gay comedy. But this was a pretty good representation of DDT (not that I am saying that all DDT wrestlers have a testicular-based offense, just that Dino is a big part of DDT), so I guess in that respect it was a good match even if it wasn’t my cup of tea. And really, don’t watch this match if your room mate or girlfriend are coming around, you’ll have a fun time trying to explain it. Score: 5.0
Takayama, Minoru Suzuki, and NOSAWA Rongai vs. Morishima, Kohei Sato, and Taniguchi
NOSAWA and Morishima start things off. NOSAWA is naturally scared. NOSAWA tries to tag out but his partners jump off the apron. NOSAWA bails out of the ring and from the outside tags in Suzuki. Morishima tags in Taniguchi, waistlock by Taniguchi but Suzuki quickly gets out of it. They jockey for position but neither man can get the upper hand and both end up back on their feet. Tie-up, kick to the stomach by Suzuki and he applies a keylock on the mat. Wristlock by Suzuki and he tags in Takayama. Wristlock by Takayama and he applies an armbar, but Taniguchi reverses it with a leg lock. Taniguchi gets back up to change positions but Takayama pushes him off and gets back to his feet. They go into a Test of Strength, Takayama gets Taniguchi to his knees but Taniguchi gets back up and pushes Takayama into the ropes. Clean break by Taniguchi, and Takayama kicks Taniguchi hard in the chest. More kicks by Takayama and he clubs Taniguchi in the back before chopping him in the chest. Takayama throws Taniguchi into his corner and asks for someone new to tag in, and Sato does so. Takayama tags in NOSAWA and Sato kicks NOSAWA in the leg. Irish whip by Sato but NOSAWA slides between his legs and dropkicks him in the knee before hitting a Shining Wizard. Sato slaps NOSAWA when he goes for a punch however, NOSAWA tries to tag out but no one will tag him. Scoop slam by Sato and he tags in Morishima. Double Irish whip to Sato and they hit a double chop to the chest. Scoop slam by Morishima and he stands on NOSAWA’s chest. Morishima picks up NOSAWA, NOSAWA goes for a scoop slam, but Morishima reverses it into a slam of his own. NOSAWA gets back up and goes for a vertical suplex, but Morishima blocks that as well and hits his own vertical suplex. Morishima throws NOSAWA out of the ring, where Taniguchi gives him a boot to the face. Sato then knees NOSAWA in the stomach before Morishima comes outside and hits NOSAWA a hip attack. Morishima tags in Taniguchi, Taniguchi picks up NOSAWA, Irish whip, and he hits a back elbow for a two count. Taniguchi applies a reverse chinlock, but NOSAWA elbows out of it. Chop by NOSAWA but Taniguchi comes back with forearms.
NOSAWA tags in Suzuki and Suzuki kicks Taniguchi while he is slouched in the corner. Snapmare by Suzuki and he kicks Taniguchi in the back. Cover, but he gets up at one. Suzuki applies a reverse chinlock into a sleeper hold, but the referee declares it a choke and forces Suzuki to break. Stomps the the chest by Suzuki, he waits for Taniguchi to get up but Taniguchi hits a series of elbow strikes. Suzuki floors him with an elbow of his own however and he tags in Takayama. Suzuki elbows Taniguchi while his upper half is on the other side of the apron until Taniguchi falls out of the ring. Suzuki and Takayama then assault Taniguchi on the outside, with Takayama throwing him hard into the railing. Suzuki picks up Taniguchi and kicks him against the railing right in front of Misawa (who is doing commentary). Takayama then connects with a running boot to the face before finally Taniguchi is slid back into the ring. Takayama kicks Taniguchi in the back, cover, but it gets a two count. Takayama picks up Taniguchi and applies a neck crank, he snapmares Taniguchi to the mat and hits a running kick to the chest. Cover, but Taniguchi kicks out. Takayama picks up Taniguchi and hits a backdrop suplex, cover, but Morishima breaks it up. Takayama throws Taniguchi into the corner and tags in Suzuki, who connects with a running kick to the face. Suzuki picks up Taniguchi and applies a front facelock before finally releasing him. Camel clutch by Suzuki and Takayama comes in so he can kick Taniguchi in the chest. Cover by Suzuki but it gets another two count. Suzuki picks up Taniguchi and knees him in the stomach before tagging in NOSAWA. NOSAWA stomps on Taniguchi, he applies a waistlock, but Taniguchi reverses it and hits a backdrop suplex. This gives him time to tag in Morishima, Morishima goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. Morishima picks up NOSAWA, Irish whip to the corner and he hits a cartwheel lariat.
Morishima clubs on NOSAWA in the corner until NOSAWA’s team mates come help, but Morishima hits a hip attack on Suzuki before squishing NOSAWA. Cover by Morishima on NOSAWA but it gets a two count. Morishima goes for the backdrop suplex, NOSAWA gets out of it, he goes off the ropes and hits a lariat but he can’t knock Morishima off his feet. He goes off the ropes again but this time Morishima shoulderblocks him to the mat. Morishima trades shots with Takayama on the apron and this gives NOSAWA time to tag in Suzuki. Suzuki kicks Morishima in the arm, Irish whip from the corner and he slaps Morishima in the face. Morishima punches him back, Irish whip by Morishima but Suzuki hits a cross body. Cross armbreaker by Suzuki but Taniguchi quickly runs in to break it up. Suzuki picks up Morishima and goes for the Gotch-style piledriver, but Morishima back bodydrops out of it and tags in Sato. Suzuki gets back to his feet and the two trade slaps and elbow strikes. Knee by Sato and he hits a side slam for a two count. Stomps by Sato, he goes off the ropes but Suzuki catches him with a knee to the stomach and hits a backdrop suplex. Suzuki tags in Takayama and he trades elbows with Sato. Takayama elbows Sato into the corner, Irish whip, and he delivers a jumping knee followed by a double armed suplex. Takayama goes for the cross armbreaker but Sato gets out of it. Back up, they trade blows, waistlock by Sato but Takayama gets out of it and knees him in the stomach. Judo throw by Sato as Takayama goes off the ropes and he tags in Taniguchi. Side headlock takedown by Taniguchi and he hits a belly to belly suplex on Takayama. Gutwrench suplex by Taniguchi, Irish whip to the corner, Sato hits a jumping forearm, Taniguchi hits an elbow and Morishima finishes with a lariat. Triple boot to Takayama but Suzuki and NOSAWA return to help. Takayama boots Taniguchi in the face but Taniguchi catches him with another suplex. German suplex hold by Taniguchi on Takayama, but Takayama grabs Taniguchi’s wrist, applies a chickenwing armlock, and Taniguchi has no choice but to submit! Your winners: Takayama, Minoru Suzuki, and NOSAWA Rongai
Match Thoughts: A pretty good match, it is interesting as we went from Jr. Heavyweights and Indy-sized Heavyweights in the previous matches to very well-known heavyweights here. Suzuki and Takayama are always fun to watch and their interactions with the inferior NOSAWA went over well. Some of the beat-down segments on Taniguchi seemed half-hearted and he seemed to tag out way too easily, but other then that the first half of the match was a solid build-up. Things finally picked up at around the 15 minute mark and I was actually a bit surprised how much Suzuki and Takayama were giving to wrestlers that are clearly not on their level (particularly Sato and Taniguchi). I wish that Morishima had gotten a chance to do more but with the way the match was structured it made sense that he watched while the younger Taniguchi did most the work. Six man tags are rarely great but this was fun as the wrestlers worked together well and even though they were not selfish about it Takayama and Suzuki made it clear by the end that they were the big dogs in the match. Score: 6.8
Go Shiosaki, Nakajima, and Sugawara vs. Ryouji Sai, HARASHIMA, and KAZMA
Nakajima and KAZMA start things off. Tie-up, KAZMA pushes Nakajima into the ropes, Nakajima reverses positions with him and he gives a clean break. Waistlock by Nakajima, reversed into an armbar by KAZMA, but Nakajima reverses the hold back. Leg lock by Nakajima into a front facelock, side headlock takedown by Nakajima but KAZMA gets out of it and both men are back on their feet. HARASHIMA tags in Sai so Nakajima tags in Shiosaki. Tie-up, Shiosaki pushes Sai into the ropes, Sai switches positions with him and he slaps him in the chest before backing off. They trade slaps and then elbows, Irish whip by Shiosaki but Sai kicks him in the head when he pancakes. Back up, chop by Shiosaki but Sai chops him back. Dropkick by Shiosaki, he picks up Sai but Sai kicks Shiosaki in the chest and hits a snapmare. Sai goes for a kick to the chest but Shiosaki ducks it and rolls out of the way. Sai tags in HARASHIMA while Shiosaki tags in Sugawara. Irish whip by HARASHIMA, they go off the ropes but Sugawara hits an armdrag. HARASHIMA comes back with an armdrag of his own and both wrestlers miss dropkicks. Tie-up, side headlock by Sugawara into a wristlock, but HARASHIMA rolls out of it and applies a wristlock of his own. Sugawara makes it back to his corner and tags in Nakajima. Nakajima and HARASHIMA circle each other, Nakajima pushes HARASHIMA to the mat and gets in a mount position but HARASHIMA is too close to the ropes. Snapmare by Nakajima and he kicks HARASHIMA in the back before tagging in Shiosaki. Double Irish whip to HARASHIMA and they hit a double shoulderblock. Shiosaki and Nakajima take turns chopping HARASHIMA, cover by Shiosaki, but it gets a two count.
Irish whip by Shiosaki and he delivers a running elbow strike. Waistlock by Shiosaki but HARASHIMA hits a low blow and tags in KAZMA. KAZMA chops Shiosaki in the corner, but Shiosaki absorbs the blows and hits a chop of his own. They trade chops, but KAZMA hits a headbutt and tags in Sai. Sai grabs Shiosaki and pushes him against the ropes before delivering a high kick. Cover by Sai but Nakajima breaks it up. Sai waits for Shiosaki to get up and hits a vertical suplex, cover, but it gets a two count. Sai tags in HARASHIMA, HARASHIMA gets Shiosaki into the corner, Irish whip, but Shiosaki falls to the mat before he reaches the other corner. Kick to the back by HARASHIMA, he puts Shiosaki into the corner and stands on his shoulders before kneeing him repeatedly in the chest. HARASHIMA picks up Shiosaki and tags in KAZMA. Snapmare by KAZMA and he applies a neck crank, but Nakajima runs in to break it up. KAZMA chokes Shiosaki against the second rope as Sai runs over and gives Nakajima a dropkick. Snapmare by KAZMA and he applies a sleeper hold, cover, but it gets a two count. KAZMA tags in HARASHIMA, snapmare by HARASHIMA and he kicks Shiosaki in the back and chest. Cover, but it gets a two count. KAZMA applies a Camel Clutch to Shiosaki but Nakajima runs in and breaks it up. HARASHIMA and Nakajima start fighting but Nakajima is knocked out of the ring. Nakajima goes back to Shiosaki, he goes off the ropes but Shiosaki catches him with a jumping shoulderblock and makes the tag to Nakajima. Dropkick by Nakajima to HARASHIMA, Sai and KAZMA come in to help but Nakajima kicks both of them in the chest. Enzigieri by Nakajima to Sai, and Sugawara hits a tope suicida on KAZMA out of the ring.
Back in the ring, Nakajima hits a jumping forearm on HARASHIMA, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick for a two count cover. Nakajima picks up HARASHIMA but HARASHIMA slaps him and the two trade blows. They trade high kicks, with HARASHIMA winning the battle. Springboard body press by HARASHIMA but it only gets a two count. HARASHIMA tags in Sai, who goes off the ropes and hits a big boot. Sai picks up Nakajima, Irish whip, and he hits a knee strike. Cover, but it gets a two count. Waistlock by Sai and he hits a Northern Lights Suplex for another two count. Sai picks up Nakajima but Nakajima delivers a kick. Sai kicks him back and they trade big boots, but Nakajima delivers a series of kicks to get Nakajima to his knees. They then trade dragon screw leg whips, and Nakajima tags in Sugawara. Irish whip by Sugawara to the corner and he delivers a jumping elbow strike. Low kick by Sugawara and he hits a dropkick for a two count. Sugawara picks up Sai, they trade waistlocks, Sugawara runs towards the ropes but his knee buckles when he goes for a quebrada. Sai picks up Sugawara and hits a vertical suplex before tagging in KAZMA. KAZMA throws Sugawara into the corner and hits an overhead slam for a two count cover. KAZMA picks up Sugawara and applies a side choke, but Sugawara gets out of it and hits an enzigieri, allowing himself time to tag in Shiosaki. Shiosaki chops KAZMA, but KAZMA chops him back. Shiosaki knocks KAZMA into the corner, Irish whip, and he hits a jumping knee.
Body slam by Shiosaki and he hits a knee drop off the second rope for a two count. Waistlock by Shiosaki but KAZMA elbows out of it. KAZMA goes for a backdrop suplex, Shiosaki gets out of it but KAZMA hits a lariat for a two count cover. KAZMA picks up Shiosaki and goes for a uranage but Shiosaki elbows out of it and hits a backdrop suplex. Sai runs in and gives Shiosaki a release German suplex, HARASHIMA hits a jumping elbow and KAZMA ends it with a lariat. KAZMA picks up Shiosaki and goes for the uranage, but Shiosaki blocks it. Scoop slam by KAZMA and he goes to the top turnbuckle, but Nakajima knocks him off with a heel kick. HARASHIMA comes in and hits a gutbuster on Nakajima, but Sugawara gets in the ring and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Sugawara. Sai delivers a backdrop suplex to Sugawara, Shiosaki goes for a jumping knee on KAZMA but KAZMA blocks it and hits a lariat. Side slam by KAZMA, cover, but Shiosaki barely kicks out. KAZMA waits for Shiosaki to get up but Shiosaki nails him with a lariat. Fisherman buster by Shiosaki, cover, but HARASHIMA breaks it up. Sugawara and Nakajima come in to get their shots on KAZMA, Shiosaki hits a German suplex hold but it only gets a two count. Back up, KAZMA chops Shiosaki but Shiosaki chops him in the head and hits a scoop slam. Shiosaki goes up to the top turnbuckle, nails the moonsault and picks up the three count! Your winners: Go Shiosaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, and Sugawara
Match Thoughts: Another good match and a strong way to end the show. Unlike the last match, here we see a chance for younger and/or lesser known wrestlers to wrestle in the main event spotlight not as an extra hand in a tag match but as the feature presentation. They delivered as best as they could, the wrestlers were not as smooth as the wrestlers in some of the previous matches since these guys were not as familiar with each other, but overall there didn’t seem to be any major miscommunications. Sugawara appeared to legitimately injure his knee, but he was back in the ring later while only slightly limping so hopefully it wasn’t anything too major. Shiosaki came out looking great, but HARASHIMA had a good showing as well. As I have said I am not a huge fan of six-man tag matches since I don’t think the wrestlers have as much of a chance to really tell a story in the ring like I’d prefer, but it was a good match and a solid way to end the debut GPWA show. Score: 7.2
Clips and images from this event can be seen at www.puroresucentral.com within the review of the event itself. Feel free to email me at purocentral@gmail.com if you have any questions, comments, or snide remarks.
The Inside Pulse
As I figured by looking at the match list, this was a pretty fun show. My biggest complaint is that there were no singles matches… I like tag matches but 6 of 7 matches on this card had six wrestlers or more in them, which was a little disappointing as I don’t enjoy multi-man tag matches as much. Maybe they only did this for the openings show to give more wrestlers a chance, but I hope that even if real feuds don’t develop that at least we will have a few singles matches down the road. The show also lacked that “must see” match, as while I thought the main event was very good nothing else is worth going out of your way to see. I will recommend the show since most the matches were good and it is the first show by a new association, but hopefully future shows will try to put on more meaningful matches and not just exhibitions.
