With so much recent emphasis on the future and the hypothetical, it was a nice change of pace to go back to the present and what is happening today. As it turns out there’s a lot going on right now with Muto stepping down as president of All Japan in the wake of Nobukazu Hizai suffering a stroke after a match with Kenzo Suzuki, Takashi Sugiura’s GHC title reign reaches its most pivotal title defense, Destination-X is this Sunday, and TNA is working with AAA.
D.D.: Dave Ditch
M.C.: Mike Campbell
K.W.: Kevin Wilson
P.C.: Me
1. Do you believe it was the right move for Keiji Mutoh to step down as president of All Japan Pro Wrestling in the wake of the TARU/Hizai incident?
D.D.: This is a tricky question. Do I believe he was morally obligated to step down: no. Did he have to: yes. I don’t see how Mutoh was at all responsible, unless he somehow knew about Taru/Hirai tension and ignored it. This sort of thing simply doesn’t happen in Japan; it’s not as though beatdowns are accepted behavior in All Japan. But Mutoh had to resign because that is the Japanese way. As president, he had to fall on his proverbial sword.
M.C.: I’m really indifferent to Mutoh in all of this. The important thing, in my eyes, was making sure that the responsible party, in this case TARU, Kono, Minoru Tanaka, and Masada were disciplined due to their involvement. I suppose it’s noble of Mutoh to feel responsible and step down due to guilt, but I don’t think it was necessary.
K.W.: I don’t know if it was “right” per se but it was understandable. There is no one saying I have seen that Mutoh even know about any issues prior to the incident so it wasn’t his fault, but it is not uncommon for the leader to take responsibility if there is a problem within their company. So I wasn’t surprised, a little disappointed it had to go that far but it shows the media and sponsors how seriously they are taking the entire situation.
P.C.: I don’t believe it was the right move because it wasn’t a necessary move. By the time Muto resigned, All Japan had already suspended everyone involved and disbanded the Voodoo Murderers as a group in their promotion. From a PR standpoint it was a perfect move because Muto hadn’t come out right away with a statement regarding the incident. Not making that kind of immediate statement immediately loses the public trust because anything you do come out with will have a hint of dishonesty attached to it because it came in a delayed fashion.
2. What is your opinion of the AAA/TNA work agreement that seems more as just a way for AAA to get some TNA talent on their programming?
D.D.: Two companies who are being taken to the cleaners by WWE decide to cooperate. Not exactly earth-shaking. Neither company can possibly move the needle in a significant way for the other. Sting, Mr. Anderson and RVD aren’t draws in Mexico, and… I can’t even name any AAA wrestlers off the top of my head so they won’t have an impact for Impact.
M.C.: That’s exactly what the main purpose of the AAA/TNA deal is. Why would AAA want to send their guys to TNA anyway? So Russo can book a tequila bottle on a pole match for the next TNA PPV? TNA wrestlers get an extra payday and AAA gets to load up their big shows with outside talent. It works for both parties just how it is.
K.W.: I have no issue with it. I have no idea how AAA is doing vs. CMLL in terms of viewers but any time two companies that need help in their attendances want to get together then it is fine with me. Right now it looks like is doing AAA more favors than TNA, but it doesn’t appear a situation that either that TNA is being hurt by the situation since the TNA wrestlers aren’t jobbing out, they are certainly holding their own If TNA can capitalize on their stars doing well in Mexico, then it would really become a win-win for both promotions.
P.C.: It would be interesting if AAA talent showed up on impact one night, but it would ultimately be pointless. So if this is a win-win for the two promotions with all of the interpromotional action being within AAA, that’s fine by me. It gives AAA something else to put on their cards than the usual AAA vs. La Sociedad matches—a feud that was getting old years ago. Hopefully this is a way for AAA to get away from the feud that has defined their promotion for the last several years: they already have a few major singles feuds going with their top stars (I’m hoping that Mesias losing his hair isn’t the end of his feud with L.A. Park (The Real La Parka)), and now they’ve added an interpromotional feud with an American promotion. The La Sociedad feud does need to end for several reasons: AAA does need to move forward and stop going back to this feud when something else doesn’t work, the feud itself has it run its course and then some, and most importantly, there are plenty of people within that stable (big names and otherwise) that could benefit from a fresh push outside of a stable that encompassed nearly half the promotion.
3. For the third time in 19 months, it’ll be Takashi Sugiura and Go Shiozaki for the GHC Title. Who walks out of July 10 with the gold and why?
D.D.: I would say Shiozaki has a 99% chance… except that he’s apparently banged up. A live report from their recent Korakuen Hall show said that Go was very limited in the tag match that was done to heat up the title bout. Even so, Shiozaki makes the most sense. Sugiura has beaten everyone other than Kensuke Sasaki, and is just flat-out not a draw. Plus he’s 40. Shiozaki isn’t perfect and isn’t a draw yet but he certainly has more upside. Shiozaki should win if he’s physically capable. If Sugiura must retain, then he absolutely, positively must lose as soon as possible.
M.C.: For now, I’m going with Sugiura retaining. He just recently broke the GHC defense record previously set by Kobashi, so it seems clear to me that NOAH sees something in him as long term champion. Add in that Go possibly has a rib injury, and that Go just won their preliminary tag match by pinning the champion. Conventional Japanese booking says that Sugiura wins the title match to avenge the tag loss. So I say Sugiura retains and defends against the winner of Morishima/Sasaki.
K.W.: Who am I rooting for or who will win? I hope that Shiozaki wins, I think this question came up before and I said the same thing so at least I am consistent. I don’t know if he will win though, Mike and I have already talked about this a bit and if he is in the Round Table I don’t want to steal his answer but it wouldn’t shock me if Sugiura beats Shiozaki and then drops it to Morishima. Either Shiozaki or Morishima has to be the next champion you’d think (hell, I guess it could be Sasaki as a dark horse), all I know is that Sugiura has had the belt for a long time and I hope that it is finally going to Shiozaki time in NOAH for him to try to lead the company.
P.C.: My heart wants Shiozaki, but my head and gut are telling me Sugiura. With Morishima and Sasaki practically acting as a #1 contender match, it would seem likely that the winners of those two matches would face each other for the GHC belt. Shiozaki’s ribs are the main reason I can’t pick him here as it would be a bigger risk to give the belt to someone who may need time off for an injury than to keep it on someone who hasn’t had an injury issue in over a year (and Sugiura wrestled with that injury). Also, if Morishima/Sasaki is to decide the next challenger for the title, you really can’t lose with Sugiura winning: Sasaki is the last major name that he hasn’t beaten in his title reign (unless you count Kobashi) and if Morishima is the one who will get the belt next, he’s only challenged Sugiura once for the title as this is Shiozaki’s second challenge of the belt. Shiozaki winning is still a good move because he does need to have a title reign the likes of Kobashi and Sugiura’s for NOAH to fully establish him as the ace of the promotion, star of the future, etc. The silver lining if Shiozaki has to lose again is that it still leaves the door open for a Shiozaki/Kobashi match…
4. Sticking with NOAH, it appears that Kenta Kobashi will be making another comeback, this one coming at the end of July. What do you believe NOAH and Kobashi believe another comeback could or will accomplish?
D.D.: The only thing the latest Kobashi comeback can do is to prevent the ship of NOAH from taking on water. The company kept heading downhill when he was last there in 2008-2009, and unless Kobashi can return to his 2002-2005 form, he will be nothing more than a novelty. It’s not about whether they draw a good gate for Kobashi’s return, but rather what Kobashi is doing by the time it’s the fall. If he’s doing the same ultra-limited routine as in 2009, it will mean he’s done as a performer and he and NOAH are trying to cash in one last time. If he can somehow have one last short burst of greatness, it could give them a brief opening to do a proper torch-passing to Shiozaki.
M.C.: I’m sure NOAH hopes it accomplishes generating some excitement and that the excitement translates into ticket sales and sellouts. I don’t know what Kobashi would expect, although I’d hope he expects to have one last good run before hanging up the tights. I could see him working lower card singles and tags, and then gradually moving up the card and hopefully culminating in a Budokan singles match where he can cement Morishima, Sugiura, or Shiozaki has a main event player.
K.W.: I don’t think, to be honest, anything will be accomplished if he is still in bad shape which as far as I know he is. Kobashi in tag matches and six man tags has proven to not be a big deal in and of itself. It will certainly help on his first few shows back, no doubt, but we have seen before that eventually the specialness wears off and he falls almost into the Jumbo role of having six man matches which fans enjoy but don’t come to the show just to see. If they can somehow get a big singles match out of him (we should know more in a few weeks his condition), for example if they can do Shiozaki vs. Kobashi, I think there would be a ton of interest and it could really help the company. If he is the same or worse as last time we saw him though then sadly it won’t accomplish much of anything in the long run.
P.C.: I’ll start answering this question where my last answer left off: the only thing that can really be accomplished (for NOAH and Kobashi) with this latest return is to finally have the torch-passing match of Kobashi vs. Shiozaki in Budokan Hall. Morishima would be a better fit style-wise at this point in Kobashi’s career, but Shiozaki has the bonus of having teamed with Kobashi at the beginning of his career, and Sugiura is too old at 41 to be the guy who gets a win that potentially big. They might sell more tickets than they’d otherwise sell for some of the tour shows that Kobashi is on (if he even does tag’s on tours this time around), but as far as major or mid-major shows, the Shiozaki match has to be the end-result of this comeback, and that’s if his body can handle this latest one.
5. Is there any irony, given it’s treatment by TNA over the past few years, with the X-Division getting the summer nostalgia PPV from TNA this year?
D.D.: I don’t think “irony” is the right word. I don’t know if any word is appropriate. The company is such a mess, and while the X Division isn’t the main reason why, it’s a very good window into the house of dysfunction that is the Impact Zone. When Nash was doing his “I’m just burying the X Division so I can put it over big” line, nobody bought it. Everyone knows that with TNA, the destructive part of an angle is guaranteed and the payoff is rare. When the head booker is someone who actively hates wrestling, it’s no wonder that the ‘wrestling’ division is going to get the shaft. For them to have the stupidity to bury the division repeatedly and still have it headline a PPV… words fail me.
M.C.: There’s plenty of irony to it. The X-Division to TNA is just what Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen were to WCW. Something that’s generally treated like crap and ignored. The company doesn’t need them UNTIL they need them. 2011 hasn’t exactly been a banner year for TNA anyway, things like the Jeff Hardy situation, Foley’s exit, Chyna coming and going, etc. So they’re going to their early days when the X-Division was tearing down the house on a regular basis.
K.W.: Incredibly ironic. It would be like WWE having a PPV with only tag team matches. You can’t de-push and de-emphasize a division for a year and then in three weeks make everyone want to order a PPV focused around them. The sad thing is that I think it will get the same buyrate if not better than usual (whatever “usual” is) since fans still like the X-Division, but this reeks of something that should have been a three hour special and not a PPV. Having returning wrestlers that the average wrestling fan has not heard in a division that hasn’t been the focus in recent memory is a bizarre way to sell a PPV.
P.C.: It’s more sad than ironic because once again TNA viewers and X-division fans are going to get a taste of what still could be only for things to go back to business as usual following the pay-per-view. That’s the reality of this show, as it does have the potential to be a very entertaining card and possibly one of TNA’s best of the year, but it’s all a mirage. A.J. and Abyss will always get pushed to some degree and even when they’re not, it’s time off in-between pushes. But everyone else on that card whether it’s Christopher Daniels (in a match with A.J.), Brian Kendrick (facing Abyss in the X-Division title match), or Kazarian & Joe, don’t have a certain future to look toward following this show. Looking at the participant list for this show, it does show the ugly side of the history of the X-division: TNA has teased Kazarian with a major push several times only to pull back, I’ve written too many times on how TNA has screwed with Daniels and Joe, there have been appearances by Low-Ki, Kid Kash, and Austin Aries who have all had their issues with TNA, and do you really think that some new guy who wins the contract match is going to have any kind of push within the X-division that goes past a month? Not likely.
SEVEN MATCHES UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN
A.J. Styles Vs. Low-Ki, Zero-One USA, 1/5/2003
One of the more famous A.J. Styles matches not to take place in TNA or ROH.
GHC Title: Takashi Sugiura (c.) Vs. Trevor Murdoch, NOAH, 3/21/2011
Part 2
Was there anything to Murdoch’s brief time in NOAH? You be the judge.
Kenta Kobashi Vs. Masao Inoue, NOAH, 3/1/2009
Part 2
Kobashi’s last return match. This was the opener of a Budokan Hall show as the idea was for Kobashi to move up the card again, but it never full materialized because he had to go on the shelf once again.
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi Vs. Rob Van Dam, AJPW, 1996
This was one of Van Dam’s final noteworthy matches in All Japan before heading to ECW full-time.
AAA Super Mega Heavyweight Title: Dr. Wagner Jr. (c.) Vs. El Zorro, AAA, 12/5/2010
Part 2
I haven’t shown too many title matches from Mexico, so I figured a more recent one would be fitting. It also gives some insight into the booking strategies used in AAA and how similar they are to the ones used in The States.
Shinsuke Nakamura Vs. Go Shiozaki, 1/4/2011
A match that was building for months. This was one of the many possible dream matches that go along with the NOAH/NJPW agreement. However, this one is special because it happened, and at the biggest show of the year no less.
Big Van Vader, Jesse White, & Ryota Hama Vs. TARU, Rene Dupree, & Mazada, AJPW, 3/21/2011
Vader’s first match in Sumo Hall in years and he tags with his son and a former sumo wrestler to complete the three-man mountain. Their opponents: the recently disbanded Voodoo Murderers with one of the men suspended for watch the brawl (Mazada) and the man who beat Hirai pretty good (TARU).
