If it wasn’t already clear, the success of All Elite Wrestling’s Double or Nothing has solidified one thing: the remainder of 2019 is going to be a great time for the professional wrestling industry and its fans.
AEW’s maiden voyage had a lot of hype to live up to. There’s always difficulty when something transforms from an idea to a fully-formed product, complete with its own issues and imperfections. And while Double or Nothing wasn’t perfect, it managed to exceed reasonable expectations.
A look at Double or Nothing and the debut of AEW is the lead story in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Look at how the show did on PPV, where the buys came from, and how this number compares with the other companies. Compare it with All In, look at what was both good and bad about running in Las Vegas, the problems with Starrcast and high spots of Starrcast, merch numbers, the Cody vs. Dustin match,
Look at what Jon Moxley is doing next, why he left WWE, and cover his detailed interview on Talk is Jericho about why he left WWE and his goals going forward.
Also look at WWE’s Super Showdown, including some questions that you can’t get away from asking. Also run down the show, and the issue of it being easy to say things when it’s to your benefit but another having to make decisions that back up your proclaimed beliefs.
Examine this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament and where New Japan goes next.
Read about new legislation that could greatly affect how WWE and AEW wrestlers are treated, preview Takeover Bridgeport, updated PPV cards, update on Ric Flair, update on Sasha Banks, Lineups for big shows and WWE looking at making more purchases.
Have a look at the Hall of Fame career of Rashad Evans, from his start in winning The Ultimate Fighter, to winning the light heavyweight title, to his grudge matches with Jon Jones and Rampage Jackson, and famous bouts with the likes of Lyoto Machida and Chuck Liddell.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
Additional notes by Joseph Currier
WWE
SmackDown takes place tonight in Laredo, Texas at the Sames Auto Arena. Goldberg will be on the show, talking about his match against the Undertaker at Super ShowDown. Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods will team against Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, Bayley will appear on A Moment of Bliss, and Lars Sullivan will give an “exclusive interview.”
On Instagram, Ronda Rousey wrote about her WWE 24 episode that premiered on the Network last night: “Watched 24 last night on #wwenetwork … Thank you @wwe for making such a beautiful piece I could watch with my husband and sons… what incredible year… I miss and love you all so much”
BOOM! Studios announced today that their WWE comic book series will end with the upcoming 25th issue.
The second season of Figure it Out, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder’s figurine show, will premiere on WWE’s YouTube page on Thursday.
In a press conference, AJPW president Jun Akiyama talked about Atsushi Aoki, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on Monday: “During a tearful press conference, Jun Akiyama praised Atsushi Aoki as a friend, colleague, and someone he and All Japan Pro Wrestling could rely on no matter what. He also said the police called him instantly when Aoki was hospitalised, and he was the first to arrive.”
OWE vice-president Michael Nee told The South China Morning Post that around four Chinese wrestlers from OWE were invited to Double or Nothing, but were unable to go due to visa issues. They are hoping to resolve the problem by All Out on August 31.
Velvet Sky, Mandy Leon, and Angelina Love responded to the Bully Ran fan incident that took place at ROH’s State of the Art show in Portland on Sunday.
Dr. Wagner Jr. and Hijo de Wagner Jr. are set to compete in tag team action in Cicero, Illinois on July 6 for MLW.
Jimi Manuwa is retiring from mixed martial arts following his loss to Aleksandar Rakic in the co-main event of UFC Stockholm on Saturday. He wrote in an Instagram post: “I’ve had a great martial arts career and the last 4 fights have been tough losses to take not only for myself but for my family who is always first. I’ve given out a mostly knockouts and taken a few myself, that’s my fan loving style but it takes a toll on the body especially concussions which are not visible to the eye. I’ve met a lot of great people along the way and travelled the world but it’s time to leave this chapter and on to the next one because there’s a life after fighting and I feel it’s my obligation to give more to combat sports, which I love dearly outside of fighting.
Johnny Walker is medically cleared following shoulder surgery. He’s currently targeting a September return.
Anthony Smith is getting surgery for his hand, which was broken during an early exchange in his fight against Alexander Gustafsson. He is expecting to be out around four months.
Santiago Ponzinibbio is recovering after an emergency bacterial infection surgery.
Atsushi Aoki has passed away at the age of 41 following a motorcycle accident.
Kyodo reported this afternoon (via translations from Chris Charlton) that Aoki was killed in the Chiyoda area of Tokyo Monday night after his bike failed to take a curve, hitting the wall of a tunnel. There are no further details on the accident at this time.
Aoki made his debut in Pro Wrestling NOAH back in 2005, training under Jun Akiyama. He made strides there as a junior tag team champion, winning the GHC Jr. tag team titles two times, once with Naomichi Marufuji and another time with Kotaro Suzuki.
Along with Go Shiozaki, Jun Akiyama, Kotaro Suzuki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Aoki departed from NOAH in January of 2013 and joined All Japan Pro Wrestling, with the group forming a stable known as Burning. Aoki ended up winning the Jr. Heavyweight title on three occasions and the All Asia tag team championships three times, once with Kotaro Suzuki and twice with Hikaru Sato.
Aoki is the current AJPW World Jr. champion, having just won the title on 5/20. He was set to defend the championship against Hikaru Sato on 6/18 at Korakuen Hall.
All Japan Pro Wrestling closed out their annual Champion Carnival round robin tournament on April 29th, wrapping an 18-day tour that pitted 18 of their best talents, divided into two blocks, against each other, racing for points and a shot at the prestigious Triple Crown Championship, currently held by Kento Miyahara, a 30-year-old unsung genius of wrestling.
2018’s tourney gathered the attention of many when All Japan brought in Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Naomichi Marufuji, who would go on to win the Carnival; and then-Dragon Gate wrestler Shingo Takagi. Both would help expose the high level of talent in the promotion to new fans of Japanese wrestling or All Japan’s lapsed fans that had been away since the talent exodus or inception of NOAH.
I had previous experience following the G1 Climax, the Best of the Super Juniors and even TNA’s World Title series, and this year, I embarked on watching my first CC tournament. I have been checking in and out of All Japan for about two years, never following a full tour, so I came in with a clean slate, not knowing much of how they planned out their tours, nor being fully familiar with the roster.
The Format: Positives and Negatives
My first impression of AJPW was how they seemed to keep the work inside the ring to the most basic use of psychology and wrestling moves, yet enhance everything with intensity, selling, and playing to the crowd. It’s like people say, “the little things”, but when you see for the first time how a young wrestler like Yusuke Okada fiercely applies a Boston Crab, you will not stop questioning when a top wrestler submits to a move that we have been conditioned to see as a rest hold. Another example: you do not question the 49-year-old Takao Omori’s offense.
The tournament was not different from other round robin tournaments in Japan. They start with strong shows in Tokyo and as they start touring the country, you have ups and downs because eventually the talent at the bottom of the totem pole must face each other. Furthermore, the points game was slightly more straightforward with having a couple of guys that all will go to the block finals. Thus, many matches lacked story and were just there for points.
In a way, the straight forwardness of stacking up points was a detriment as there weren’t many stories going on along with the tournament. I can pretend that Jake Lee and Nomura are fighting to show that they are the future, or that Aoki and Suwama are fighting to show that they still belong, but at the end of the day, I got nothing due to the lack of promos, commentary, or build to any match in particular. I recall that only one show had post-fight promos and even then, they were basic promos with a “You’re good, but I was better” formula to all of them.I don’t fully blame AJPW. For all I know, I was the one that completely failed to find such stories.
Point stacking became predictable once I start analyzing the numbers and looking at the future cards. I’m not saying predictability is a bad thing, but without stories and the uncertainty of points, I ended up watching the shows for the pure enjoyment of wrestling and in-ring performance, and so my interest in some wrestlers went up or down.
Another thing I noticed, which worked well sometimes and not on other occasions, was how tag matches were booked for the wrestlers who had days off. For anyone familiar with the G1 Climax, every time a wrestler has a day off from the tournament, they have a tag match that builds up their upcoming match. However, All Japan doesn’t follow a block per day program. They mix it up, so it’s not as simple to build such matches, nor do they try sometimes as we saw with some matches where tomorrow’s match pairing were a tag team today. It’s not really a detriment to not have those previews, but I do think it adds something to the match if there is a little bit of teasing.
That being said, the Champion Carnival does have many positives. The in-ring work was quite enjoyable with at least one or two strong matches per show. The undercard was mostly the same, but always managed to entertain me with a really strong group of up and comers mixing it up with talented veterans. Most shows ran around two hours with an intermission in the middle, so it became a pleasant and easy to watch routine every morning for me. Not a day went on where I felt I had wasted my time as there was always a lasting impression by someone. As usual with these tournaments, we always end up underestimating the blocks that look weak on paper.
As the tournament went on, I also started to find my favorite wrestlers. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the names, some who I never thought I would care for (hint: former WWE wrestlers). To a point, I was also brought down from the clouds on some who I had high hopes on.
Block A Participants
Kento Miyahara
He is the All Japan “Ace”. There isn’t much to say about Miyahara other than his performance throughout the tournament was at a high level. He was constantly bringing out the best of his opponents, working hard during his off days, and straight up carrying this promotion. I expected Kento to have a strong run in his block, but with him being the champion, I surely did not expect for him to win at the end with the idea he could have set up several contenders that way. It speaks loudly that he went in and won the whole thing.
As mentioned, his losses came to Ishikawa, Zeus, and yes, Valletta, two men that are credible contenders, the former already being given his title shot as of this writing. I don’t expect Valletta to get his shot, especially with the idea of having a dirty tactics match in the main event, so it would have been nice for someone else to get the rub.
Match Recommendations:
– Zeus (4/9)
– Shuji Ishikawa (4/14)
– Ryoji Sai (4/24)
– Yuji Okabayashi (4/25)
Zeus
If Miyahara was the tournament MVP, Zeus, a jacked-up younger Tomohiro Ishii, was the best worker of the tournament. This man’s intensity in the ring has no equal in All Japan; if he was lacking, he would simply hide it with the sound of his knife edge chops. Throughout the tournament, Kento would take you on a trip with his matches. Meanwhile, Zeus was a straight destruction derby at 60 mph, and just like that, he became one of my highlights every time his name popped up on the tournament’s card.
Much to my disappointment, Zeus had four losses, leaving him out of contention at the end. But, the wins and losses were the perfect balance to keep him strong. He lost against top guys like Okabayashi and Ishikawa, and sure, he lost to Yuma and Sai, but he defeated Miyahara to make up for that. His performances alone should get him a title shot or I’ll riot.
Match Recommendations:
– Kento Miyahara (4/9)
– Dylan James (4/13)
– Ryoji Sai (4/14)
– Shuji Ishikawa (4/25)
Shuji Ishikawa
At 43 years old, Ishikawa was the oldest man in the tournament. He is the current AJPW Tag Team Champion along with Suwama, also the only two men that have won the Champion Carnival in the past that competed this year. He is a former Triple Crown Champion, and ever since announcing he had signed exclusively with AJPW, we have been counting the days until he recaptures that championship. If anything else, it made him a top contender to win the 2019 Champion Carnival.
Ishikawa’s win/loss record was quite similar to Miyahara in that he lost against the other top guys in the block, and one time limit draw with Sai numerically cost him the block. In addition, he defeated Kento, earning him a title shot. If not for the loss against Valletta, I’d say he had the strongest record in the tournament.
My one complaint was the hint he dropped right before the tournament began about revealing a new finishing move he had been working with his DDT friend, Kota Ibushi. Granted we saw him do Kamigoye, but it was nothing that lived up to the tease.
Match Recommendations:
– Yuji Okabayashi (4/4)
– Kento Miyahara (4/14)
– Zeus (4/25)
Dylan James
Dylan James is a name I didn’t know much about coming in to the Carnival. I had heard his name around Zero1, but that was about it. My first impression was that he is built like a bull and can go. He could still work with his performance side of matches as his facial expressions and selling have to get beat out of him. If he were to improve that area, he could explode as a big star outside of Japan.
James’ tournament was strong with losses coming against Zeus, Miyahara, and the points spoiler of the block finals, Atsushi Aoki. The match that ended up making the most noise for him was his 30 minute time limit draw with Yuji Okabayashi. It was a match so stiff and in a style that would make no rational sense to go 30 minutes. Yet, they did and paid the toll, especially James who sported a black eye for the rest of the tournament. Dylan’s gimmick and style is that of a heel, but because of that performance, fans saw him as a total babyface as the tournament came to an end.
Match Recommendations:
– Kento Miyahara (4/11)
– Zeus (4/13)
– Yuji Okabayashi (4/20)
Yuji Okabayashi
Representing Big Japan Wrestling, Okabayashi is not unfamiliar to All Japan as of late, but now we had a chance to see him mix it up with a wider range of wrestlers. Okabayashi’s style is that of a strong style brawler, a super hoss whose chops are on par with Zeus or WALTER. He came in as one of the top contenders of his block given the reception he received after his AJPW Tag Team Championship run with Daisuke Sekimoto.
Okabayashi had his epic time limit draw with Dylan James, arguably the best, or most newsworthy, match of the tournament. He also had three losses including a strong one against Miyahara that no one would think ill of. However, the others were to Sai and Valletta, the latter once again playing spoiler to the top guys. Similar to Zeus, his performance throughout the tournament should give him the opening to return and make big challenges in the future.
Match Recommendations:
– Shuji Ishikawa (4/4)
– Dylan James (4/20)
– Kento Miyahara (4/25)
Atsushi Aoki
Aoki was an interesting story as he wasn’t planned for the Carnival, but came in as a late replacement for the injured Kengo Mashino. He also was the smallest man in the tournament at 5’7″. He wasn’t the oldest man, but is up there with Suwama and Ishikawa. He was someone that there was no point in getting invested in, but boy, was I wrong as he ended being one of my favorite wrestlers.
Aoki was the one technician from Block A and positioned in the ‘Hoss Block’, giving him a good number of interesting match-ups. His role in the tournament was that of spoiler to Dylan James, and one of the guys that adjusted points in the block with wins ove Yuma, Valletta, and Sai who needed to be kept under the top contenders. Aoki closed the tournament earning a Junior Heavyweight title shot against Koji Iwamoto.
Match Recommendations:
– Kento Miyahara (4/4)
– Yuma Aoyagi (4/16)
Ryoji Sai
Sai is a 19 year old veteran that has mostly worked for Zero1, and after being inactive for some time after a run with NOAH, he started working with AJPW a couple of years ago. He is a great technician, a strong striker, and a unique character that still feels like an outsider. Sai was not positioned as a contender, but was there to give everyone a good match.
His tournament was interesting as he wasn’t working the filler tag matches and his matches were not being talked about much. He was a guy that I kept forgetting was in it until I saw him come out for a touney match. His role was being the spoiler of the top guys as he managed to get wins over Okabayashi, Zeus, Valletta, and a great time limit draw with Ishikawa. He is a guy that given the performance, I would want to see booked more often and turned into a good contender to bring the younger Jake Lee, Nomura, and Yuma up to their next level.
Match Recommendations:
– Shuji Ishikawa (4/7)
– Zeus (4/14)
– Ryoji Sai (4/24)
Yuma Aoyagi
Everyone likes to talk about Kento, Lee, and Nomura as the future of AJPW, but they fail to consider what Yuma brings to the table. He is only 23 and is already becoming a fan favorite with his charisma and flashy wrestling style. He was not a contender to win the whole thing, especially in his block, but with his quick rise, we were not wrong to believe that he was out there to raise his stock.
Aoyagi’s performance was good with his biggest win over Zeus, but he ended up falling to the top four men of the block. The best thing I saw of Yuma were his tag matches along with Yoshitatsu, becoming credible contenders to chase the tag team titles as they go on. Yuma was a guy that played best when he faced guys like Miyahara or Aoki where he wasn’t the babyface in peril.
Recommended Matches:
– Shuji Ishikawa (4/13)
– Atsushi Aoki (4/16)
– Kento Miyahara (4/17)
Gianni Valletta
Born in Malta, Valletta had to move to the United Kingdom to become a wrestler and ever since, he had only been a top wrestler in British Empire Wrestling. He came to AJPW last year and had a bad Real World Tag League tournament along with TAJIRI. His gimmick is yet another copy of Bruiser Brody, and if you know Joe Doering, you know that AJPW still loves those gimmicks which is the only reason I can think that Akiyama kept him close.
Valletta’s matches were all about brawling and cheating, and so, he was the foil to the top contenders as they could lose to low blows and chain shots and stay strong. He had wins over Kento, Ishikawa, and Okabayashi. Valletta was arguably the weakest wrestler of the tournament with the worst matches.
Match Recommendations:
– Atsushi Aoki (4/23)
Block B Participants:
Naoya Nomura
Nomura debuted in 2014 and has had all his career in All Japan. He is already a former tag team champion with Jake Lee, who is becoming his biggest rival. In addition, he captured the All Asian Tag Team Championships with Yuma Aoyagi. Nomura is the third man that people talk about when there is discussion about the All Japan future. Nomura recently had a great title shot against Kento Miyahara, which positioned him as a top contender to win his block in order to build to another match with Kento, where he could either defeated Kento in a non-title match, or at least come closer and keep building to finally defeating him.
Nomura’s tournament started really strong with wins over Adonis, Suwama, Jake Lee, and Yoshida, three of those within the first four shows. Then, his tournament was somewhat quiet until the finals when he defeated Suwama to advance to the tiebreaker against Jake Lee.
Match Recommendations:
– Jake Lee (4/4)
– Suwama (4/28)
– Jake Lee (4/28)
Yoshitatsu
This is the same Yoshi Tatsu from WWE and NJPW, the same that broke his neck taking a Styles Clash. He has to be the man that I came in with the least expectations for, yet he exceeded those expectations the most. He wasn’t the best in his block by any means. He still lacks charisma and his wrestling is not top notch, but there is no denying he is far better than what I had ever seen of him. His Yoshitatsu Fantasy finisher, an STO transitioned into a Koji Clutch, was one of my favorite moves of the entire tournament.
His tournament performance had his ups and downs. He meshed well with some and not so much with others. He seemed to be getting placed on the top of the block for a while, but at the end, he just ended up in the middle. His biggest wins were against Joe Doering and Suwama. Similar to Yuma Aoyagi, the thing that I saw most promise in was his tag team work with Yuma and the prospect of them chasing the tag team titles.
Match Recommendations:
– Joe Doering (4/7)
– Jake Lee (4/11)
– Naoya Nomura (4/15)
Suwama
From the veterans, Suwama was the one top contender in Block B. He is the AJPW Tag Team Champion with Shuji Ishikara and a past Champion Carnival winner. Aside from Doering, Suwama was the one other big hoss in the block, but contrary to logic, he actually worked most of his matches as the babyface underdog coming back from being beat up. (I wasn’t a big fan of Suwama playing that role as it exposed him as looking old and gassed out.)
Suwama’s tournament was strong as expected with losses against Nomura, Yoshitatsu, Adonis, and Redman. He put over Nomura in the block finals and had losses to point spoilers along the way.
Match Recommendations:
– Joel Redman (4/20)
– Jake Lee (4/21)
Jake Lee
This kid is a prodigy and I hate him for it. I see him as the antithesis of Kento Miyahara. He is everything character-wise that Kento isn’t. He is the top of the class student that takes school and himself way too seriously, while Kento is the raw talent that doesn’t need to study to get better grades which eats away at Lee from the inside. All Japan has a pair of young wrestlers that are perfect compliments of each other and which can become a classic rivalry.
Jake ended up winning his block in a tiebreaker with Nomura, so we can say he had a good tournament. His losses came to Hashimoto, Suwama, and Nomura who ended up getting his win back. Jake would lose the tournament finals against Miyahara, but in a way that elevated him. That should push him into a darker side until he defeats Kento and captures the Triple Crown. Lee’s matches were, for the most part, enjoyable and worth checking out.
Match Recommendations:
– Naoya Nomura (4/4)
– Yoshitatsu (4/11)
– Naoya Nomura (4/28)
Sam Adonis
Adonis was the guy that we all wondered why All Japan would bring in of all people. He’s not exactly a great wrestler and not exactly making a lot of noise for good reasons. Most of his recent work comes from CMLL, New Japan’s sister promotion, and so, this was a head scratcher.
Having said that, he came in, put on his working boots, and ended up being one of the most enjoyable guys in the block. His charisma oozed out and was contagious with his opponents. Guys like Yoshitatsu or Daichi, who are charisma voids, showed so much more when they faced Adonis. By the end of the tournament, fans and I were seeing Adonis as a babyface. His role in the tournament was to take pins for the benefit of others, only getting wins over Doering, Hashimoto, and Suwama.
Match Recommendations:
– Joel Redman (4/10)
– Jake Lee (4/24)
Joe Doering
Doering is a Canadian with over 15 years of experience. It wasn’t until he went to Japan that he finally struck some luck and got over as basically the new version of Stan Hansen. Doering is a former Triple Crown Champion, and in 2016, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor which he got removed, eventually making a successful return to All Japan. From there on, he would recapture the championship for a second time, only to lose it to Miyahara a couple of months later. He was a top contender in the block, but not the most credible winner with All Japan’s current direction to make a star out of Lee and Nomura.
Doering was my biggest disappointment. He had the points, but his matches were not the all out battles I hoped to see. Him being placed in Block B meant that he was the one big guy and his big lads matches were limited to Suwama and the much smaller Yoshida. He was also a guy that played the line between babyface and heel depending on who he faced, so there was no personal investment in seeing him be either. Doering is one of those guys that i’m surprised not a lot of people have tried to bring in, aside from that terrible Moose vs. Doering match from Xplosion.
Match Recommendations:
– Yoshitatsu (4/7)
– Joel Redman (4/24)
– Naoya Nomura (4/10)
Takashi Yoshida
The sole representative of Dragon Gate this year was Takashi Yoshida, formerly known as Cyber Kong. He trained for some time in the Inoki Dojo and the New Japan Dojo, but the bulk of his career had been with Dragon Gate under a mask. His style is that of a hoss, on the faster side of them, with a lot of reliance on cheating, given his size in this tournament. He was never a guy I particularly cared for in Dragon Gate, and that sentiment was the same here. I hoped to see him go all out on some fights, but I never expected him to be a block contender.
When it came to his matches, they really didn’t blow anyone’s mind as they were kinda just there. In the same way as I described Sai, Yoshida was that guy that you kept forgetting was there. He was the guy that helped adjust points in Block B with wins over Adonis, Redman, Hashimoto, and Yoshitatsu, pretty much everyone who needed to be kept in the bottom.
Match Recommendations:
– Naoya Nomura (4/6)
– Joel Redman (4/14)
Daichi Hashimoto
Daichi Hashimoto, oldest son of the legendary Shinya Hashimoto, represented BJW. I thought he was terrible as this fruit fell far from the tree when it came to this tournament. I saw a kid who wanted to be his father, wanted to be a punk deathmatch wrestler, and wanted to be a strong style fighter, and failed on all accords. He had a history with Zero1, IGF, and BJW, and has his basics down, but you can tell he is lacking a developmental system or an overseas tour for him to really find himself and figure out who he is in wrestling.
I wasn’t a fan of his tournament. He defeated Jake Lee, Nomura, Redman, and Yoshitatsu, and I really only agreed on one of those wins. His matches were just not good and lacked story or intensity, no matter how much he screamed and shouted. His strikes and selling were subpar. Bless his heart, but I think he peaked with his 2011 WON Rookie of the Year Award.
Match Recommendations:
– Jake Lee (4/7)
Joel Redman
Formerly known as Oliver Grey, Redman is notable for being the first ever NXT Tag Team Champion along with Neville. He had been working with RevPro and other British indies since his release, and so, in a way, he was an odd addition to the tournament. He is also arguably smaller than most, but his wrestling style made up for it. I’d venture to say that he was the crisper and most fluid wrestler of the tournament. He was the technician of his group, and played quite well with everyone he faced. He was a clear-cut babyface, someone Ring of Honor would have made champion in 2007, always pushing for sportsmanship and respect.
I’d say that Redman had a great tournament, considering what he was given. His wrestling style shone out of its uniqueness in the block, and pretty much the whole company, and this is a crowd that appreciates a clean cut wrestler, working holds, and clean breaks. Redman had wins over Suwama and Nomura, two of the top contenders, plus Sam Adonis. I can’t say if his performance warrants him being brought back to All Japan, but the rest of the top companies around the world should give him a look.
Here are some quick results and notes from this morning’s Giant Baba Memorial show, which took place at Sumo Hall.
Antonio Inoki came out and said some words to start the show, ending with his catch phrase.
Mitsuo Momota won the Giant Baba Memorial battle royal
This was largely a comedy match as I think most of the people in this match can’t really take anything that would be considered a bump. Stalker Ichikawa came in at one point but eliminated himself after falling off the ropes. It ended up boiling down to Masao Inoue and Mitsuo Momota, the son of Giant Baba’s trainer Rikidozan, with Momota reversing a roll-up for the win.
Tomoaki Honma, Yuji Okabayashi, Naoya Nomura and Ren Narita defeated Daichi Hashimoto, Kazushi Miyamoto, Tomohiko Hashimoto and Takuya Nomura
Just kind of a match, nothing more. Daichi came out to his father’s theme song. Okabayashi submitted Nomura with a torture rack.
Atsushi Onita, Hideki Hosaka, Kendo Kashin and Hideki Suzuki defeated Great Kojika, Mitsuya Nagai, Shuji Ishikawa and Hikaru Sato
Onita’s team was seconded by Freddy Kruger, which if you remember used to be Doug Gilbert under a mask. Don’t know who was under the mask here. He helped set up a table for his team at one point. Onita went into a barbed wire board set up in the corner. Hideki Suzuki picked up the win with a suplex, pinning Hikaru Sato.
The retirement ceremony of Abdullah the Butcher followed. He came to the ring wheelchair-bound, assisted by Joel Deaton. People came out and shared photos from his career and gave him flowers. Mil Mascaras, Dos Caras, Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama), Jun Akiyama, Keiji Mutoh, Seiji Sakaguchi, Stan Hansen and Dory Funk Jr, all came out and took pictures.There were also messages from the Destroyer (who said his doctors would not allow him to travel to Japan) and Minoru Suzuki.
Butcher said he wished Giant Baba was here, and mentioned how one of his friends passed away recently. He says he wants all the young kids out there to not put their parents in homes because someday they’ll get old themselves. They then did the ten bell salute.
Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taka Michinoku defeated Masa Fuchi, Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Yuma Aoyagi
This was a fun match, not anything special technically but the crowd got super into it when Fuchi was tagged in. Aogi looked really good when he was in. Taichi distracted the referee, low blowed Fuchi then cradled him for the win.
SANADA and BUSHI defeated Jake Lee and Koji Iwamoto and Ayato Yoshida and Shota Umino
This was a good sprint, with everyone looking good. Kinda short, though. BUSHI misted Iwamoto and SANADA put Lee in the paradise lock, then pinned Umino with the moonsault.
Naomichi Marufuji and Jinsei Shinzaki defeated Masaaki Mochizuki and Shun Skywalker
This was good. Marufuji was great, Shinzaki held his own and the Dragon Gate guys picked up the pace big time. Skywalker looked really athletic in spots, which was probably the goal. Marufuji and Mochizuki had a really great exchange towards the end, with Marufuji picking up the win with a cradle.
Jun Akiyama, Taiyo Kea and Takao Omori defeated Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata and Omasu Nishimura
A good match, with everyone looking pretty good and a hot crowd. Akiyama pinned Nishimura with the exploder suplex.
Mil Mascaras and Dos Caras defeated NOSAWA and Kaz Hayashi
Mil Mascaras (76) was not moving good at all and rarely left his feet. Dos Caras (67) actually moved real well and did some good grappling at the start with Hayashi. Mascaras did, in fact, go to the top rope slowly and hit what would be considered a crossbody press for the win.
Kento Miyahara and Daisuke Sekimoto defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yoshitatsu
Miyahara came out wearing the original three Triple Crown titles. This was definitely a pro-Miyahara crowd, so Yoshitatsu and Tanahashi worked as the heels, preventing Miyahara from tagging in Sekimoto. He eventually did run wild. Miyahara got the win over Yoshitatsu with a German suplex into a bridge. This was a pretty good main event; the interactions between Miyahara and Tanahashi were really good and the work by Sekimoto and Yoshitatsu were well done too. Not blowaway great, but a fun match.
Miyahara cut a promo after the match as Tanahashi got up and they both said their catchphrases. All four raised each other’s hands as the rest of the card came out for the Giant Baba memorial ceremony. Johnny Ace, Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair sent videotaped messages. They then rang the bell ten times as the show ended.
I’d say this was a fun event. Some of the wrestling wasn’t that great, but most of it was solid. Seeing the older faces live was fun, and the idea of everyone coming together for a show like this was really cool.
Tokyo Sports have released the names of winners for their annual awards.
Hiroshi Tanahashi has been named the MVP of the year, the first time he’s won the award since 2014. This is the fourth time he’s won the award overall. He won with eighteen votes. Kazuchika Okada came in second with twelve votes, while Kenny Omega got three.
New Japan also won Best Bout, with the Dominion match between Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega for the IWGP title winning that category. Tetsuya Naito also walked away with the Technique award.
Shuji Ishikawa and Suwama, who team regularly in All Japan Pro Wrestling, won the Best Tag Team award.
Pro Wrestling NOAH got a couple of nods as well. Kaito Kiyomiya won the Fighting Spirit award, while Naomichi Marufuji won a special award for his 20th anniversary, with an event taking place earlier this year where he faced the former KENTA (Hideo Itami).
For women, Tsukasa Fujimoto of Ice Ribbon also won Joshi wrestler of the year, while Utami Hayashishita of Stardom was voted Rookie of the Year, which includes both men and women wrestlers.
The awards are usually divided out each year by Tokyo Sports and are given to the bigger pro wrestling promotions in Japan. For whatever reason, Dragon Gate did not get an award this year.
The original alternate returns with a bit of banter ‘bout Japan…just sliding in before the end of the month.
After a short reintroduction, yours truly and Adam Summers talk about the state of the current team leagues: New Japan’s World Tag, and All Japan’s original recipe Real World Tag.
Also, as WWE continues to sink their tentacles into everything globally, there’s something to consider about future WrestleMania weekends.
Plus, Being The Change you wish to see in the World, Katsuhiko Nakajima is a glorious bastard, some thoughts on random matches, and more.
It’s the other two guys who talk about Japan on this site: The Adam and Mike BIG AUDIO NIGHTMARE~!
The first batch of names have been announced for next year’s Wrestling All-Star Battle.
Tokyo Sports announced that the following stars would be making an appearance on the show:
Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW)
Kento Miyahara (AJPW)
Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH)
Jun Akiyama (AJPW)
Daisuke Sekimoto (BJW)
The Great Kojika (BJW)
Takao Omori (AJPW)
Taichi (NJPW/Suzuki-gun)
Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NJPW/Suzuki-gun)
Tomoaki Honma (NJPW)
Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW)
Kazushi Miyamoto (Free Agent)
Tomohiko Hashimoto (Free Agent)
Taiyo Kea (Free Agent)
Wrestling All Star Battle will feature wrestlers from Japan’s top wrestling promotions, including NJPW, AJPW, NOAH, BJW, Wrestle-1 and more. It will also feature the retirement ceremony for Abdullah the Butcher, who hasn’t wrestled a match since around 2010. Stan Hansen will also make an appearance.
The show is being held in honor of the 20th anniversary of Giant Baba’s passing and the 60th anniversary of Tokyo Sports’ founding. It will take place on February 19, 2019 at Sumo Hall. There is no word on plans for a broadcast.
A multi-promotional event featuring a number of high profile Japanese promotions will take place next February.
Tokyo Sports announced this morning that Wrestling All-Star Battle will go down on February 19 at Sumo Hall. It will feature wrestlers from All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Big Japan Pro Wrestling and Wrestle-1. Broadcasting information for the event isn’t currently known, nor were any matches announced.
The event is in commemoration of two events: the 20th anniversary of Giant Baba’s death (which took place on January 31, 1999) as well as the 60th anniversary of Tokyo Sports itself.
The last Wrestling All-Star Battle took place in August of 1979. On that show, Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki, who teamed for years before a split led to the eventual founding of both AJPW and NJPW, teamed for the last time. They defeated Abdullah the Butcher and Tiger Jeet Singh.
Naomichi Marufuji has just pinned the All Japan Triple Crown champion, winning the Champion Carnival for the first time in his career.
Marufuji, representing Pro Wrestling NOAH, pinned Kento Miyahara tonight in the finals of the All Japan Pro Wrestling Champion Carnival tournament that had been running for the last month. After an intense back and forth match, Marufuji finally picked up the win after the Emerald Flowsion. With the win, it is likely that Marufuji will get a future shot at the Triple Crown championship, though that is not outright confirmed yet.
The final standings for the A Block have Kento Miyahara at 10 points. Yuji Hino, Joe Doering, Shuji Ishikawa and Shingo Takagi end with eight points. Ryoji Sai finishes with six points and Naoya Nomura and The Bodyguard tie for last with four points.
B Block finishes with Naomichi Marufuji with 10 points. Suwama, Zeus and Jun Akiyama end with eight. KAI, Yoshitatsu and Dylan James finish with six, and Yutaka Yoshie rounds it out with four points.
Marufuji was only couple of years into the business when he jumped from All Japan in 2000 to help form Pro Wrestling NOAH. He has made several trips over the years back to his original promotion, including winning their Junior Heavyweight title on one occasion.
Motoko Baba, the wife of Shohei “Giant” Baba and arguably the most important and influential woman in the history of pro wrestling, passed away on April 14th.
She was 78.
The news of her death was kept quiet until today and other details are not available. Her funeral was on Friday.
Motoko Baba and Shohei Baba were together at a young age but for a number of reasons, their relationship was kept secret from the public, as Shohei Baba was one of the most famous sports celebrities in the country and even in recent years was listed as one of the ten most famous athletes in Japanese sports history. The two ran All Japan Pro Wrestling together from its inception in 1972 until Giant Baba’s death in 1999. It wasn’t until 1982 when their relationship and marriage went public and she was publicly acknowledged as the number two person in the company. It was probably the most successful “mom and pop” pro wrestling company in history.
They had a “good cop” “bad cop” role in the company. Shohei Baba had a tremendously favorable image because all of the bad news fell on her to deliver, to keep his reputation with everyone clean. Because of that, she was often not well liked.
But she, every bit as much as he, ran the business and company in every aspect. The couple had no children, so wrestlers like Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and others became like their kids. The company was very successful on television in the 70s and 80s, and then had their best box office period in the 90s, peaking in he early part of the decade when they sold out more than 200 consecutive events in Tokyo.
After his death from cancer, she became the majority owner of the company, and Misawa became company president and booker. Misawa wanted to change and expand the business but she was much more conservative about it, and it led to a falling out where Misawa and almost all of the top wrestlers with the exception of Toshiaki Kawada, Maunukea Mossman (Taiyo Kea), and Masa Fuchi left the promotion and formed Pro Wrestling NOAH.
The company did remain profitable, working with New Japan, until she sold it to a group backed by Keiji Muto in 2002. The company faded from popularity over the last 16 years, and most considered NOAH as the surviving branch of All Japan. Her name at times was attached to an attempt at reviving the company in recent years.
The original alternate returns to the Empire airwaves as Mike Sempervive and I are back to stumble through the Japanese wrestling landscape.
We give our thoughts on WrestleMania weekend, the ongoing All Japan Champion Carnival and the company’s streaming service, the ballad of Yoshitatsu, Minoru Suzuki mea culpas, Yuji Hino love, Zack Sabre Jr, Okada, and much more.
Another wrestling promotion has launched their own streaming service.
All Japan TV launched early this morning for 900 yen ($8.48 as of this writing). The service won’t start to charge until April, but payment information is required in order to watch videos. Registration for the site can be found here. If you are on Google Chrome, you can navigate the registration page via Google Translate. Once you register, click on a video on the main page and press play. From here, you will be taken to a screen where you will be asked for payment information, which include credit card and PayPal options.
The site currently features matches from this year and last year, including shows from last year’s Champion Carnival tournament, but nothing before 2017. It is likely that older footage from the 90s and earlier will not be part of the service as NTV owns the rights to that footage and has no association with the service.
All Japan’s first streaming show will be the Dream Power Series on 3/26, with current All Japan Triple Crown champion Joe Doering defending the title against Kento Miyahara. In April, the service will stream this year’s Champion Carnival tournament, including the finals on 4/30.
In what was the most significant, and closest Monday night ratings race so far this year, a heavily criticized edition of Nitro on 9/11 scored the highest rating for the show in its regular opposed format since 1/10 and the closest margin between the two shows since 12/20.
Nitro finished with a 3.20 rating (3.47 first hour; 2.93 second hour) and a 4.8 share. Raw did a 5.90 rating (5.36 first hour; 6.38 second hour) and an 8.9 share.
Whether it was the return of Ric Flair, the wedding angle, the WWF being hurt badly by pre-emptions the past two weeks, or an overall positive trend for the company, doing a number like that, particularly with football competition thrown in, was from a pure ratings standpoint, the most impressive number the company has done all year. What was ironic is that it came on the same night where in Charlotte, all those same factors drew 1,657 paid, most of whom purchased tickets in the past week when it was clear Flair would return for the show, and even with that announced, that number for Flair’s return is Charlotte speaks volumes.
Somehow, someway, keeping to their word, the original alternate is back after only a few day layoff to present to YOU, the fine purveyor of this website, even more audio activity for your dollar.
This week’s topics on Adam & Mike’s Big Audio Nightmare include:
– Adam’s thoughts on WWE SummerSlam and TakeOver
– MYC Bracketology
– The Curse of Enzo
– STARDOM World
– Ishikawa love
– Thoughts on All Japan’s July 7 show
– Nakajima-Cage
– An impressive looking New Japan Destruction tour, and much more.
And for a lack of a better closing statement, we’ll just recycle the Bossman’s: A fun show as always, so check it out~!
After being gone for a minute, Adam Summers and Mike Sempervive are back with the original alternate here at Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online.
After a little warm up where the guys discuss the winter of Adam’s discontent getting (temporarily) erased by THE BOSS, the Chicago sporting mentality, and some other non-grapple tidbits, we get into a cavalcade of puroresu hot messiness.
Topics include having all the GUTS World in the world, DDT’s Osaka Octopus, an Uwai Station reunion reference so obscure that they’re celebrating at Victor Zangiev’s house, NOAH’s new look and future plans, an amazing All Japan show, New Japan’s march to 1/4, the Les Bullet Club, watermelon shirts, Tokyo Produced produce, and so much more.
It’s the show that inspired other shows to do shows, because they figured how hard could it be? It’s the Adam and Mike BIG AUDIO NIGHTMARE, here at F4WOnline.com.
