Satoshi Kojima will face KENTA for the IWGP US title right to challenge contract on January 4.
NJPW shot an angle on this morning’s Road to Tokyo Dome show where Kojima challenged KENTA to a match for the briefcase. The company has now confirmed on their website that Kojima will replace Juice Robinson on January 4.
Juice Robinson had been slated to face KENTA for the championship at Wrestle Kingdom. However, he suffered a fractured orbital bone during the December 22 Road to Tokyo Dome show. He did not participate in the following morning’s press conference, and later was announced as being off the remaining Road To Tokyo Dome and Wrestle Kingdom cards due to the injury.
During this morning’s press conference, NJPW revealed the full cards for Wrestle Kingdom 15, which takes place on January 4 and 5. The cards are as follows:
January 4:
Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles
Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan
KENTA vs. Satoshi Kojma for the IWGP US title contract briefcase
Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Guerillas of Destiny for the IWGP Tag Team titles
Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo
King of Pro Wrestling Ranbo
January 5:
Winner of Naito-Ibushi vs. Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles
Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu-ELP winner for the IWGP Jr. title
SANADA vs. EVIL
Shingo Takagi vs. Jeff Cobb for the NEVER Openweight title
El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles
NJPW has detailed the stipulations and voting methods for the upcoming KOPW qualifying matches that will take place on August 26.
The company held a press conference this morning that was streamed on NJPW World. Kazuchika Okada was at the press conference to announce the stipulations the participants have chosen for their upcoming matches:
Satoshi Kojima has chosen a finisher’s only match, where Kojima’s lariat or El Desperado’s Pinche Loco will lead to a win. Desperado has chosen the opposite, a no finisher’s match where the lariat or Pinche Loco will lead to a disqualification.
Toru Yano has chosen a two count pinfall match, where a two count pinfall will lead to a win. BUSHI has chosen a five count ring out match, where wrestlers can only win by count out after the referee’s five count.
SHO has chosen a submission match, while SANADA has chosen a no pinfalls, give up only match. Therefore, this match has already been determined to be a submission match.
For Kazuchika Okada vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Okada has chosen a 1 vs. 3 handicap match. Yujiro has chosen a lumberjack match where belts can be used as weapons.
NJPW Global has putoutpolls for the three matches with stipulations still to be determined. The results will be announced next Monday, August 24.
The winners will face each other in a fatal four way match at Summer Struggle in Jingu on August 29, where the winner will become the first provisional champion. Whoever is champion at the end of the year will be named the 2020 KOPW champion.
Satoshi Kojima successfully defended his MLW World title against Vampiro in the night’s main event and found out his next challenger will be Mike Awesome after his victory over Jerry Lynn.
Fuego Guerrero (aka Amazing Red) defeated Super Crazy and Christopher Daniels in a triple threat match.
Show Recap:
Raven opened the show to let us know there is only one week to go until he and Vampiro will meet and be on the same show. Quote the Raven nevermore.
Joey Styles welcomed us to the War Memorial in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for this week’s MLW Underground before running down the card.
The cameras caught up with Jerry Lynn and Christopher Daniels backstage. Daniels was in his Fallen Angel character and was trying to “cleanse Lynn’s troubled soul”. He said MLW stabbed him in the back time and time again and wanted Lynn to trust him instead. Lynn said he made some good points, but he had work to do.
Fuego Guerrero defeated Christopher Daniels and Super Crazy in a triple threat match (9:51)
This started slow but built to a fast-paced finish. Everyone took their time feeling out their opponents in the early going. Super Crazy disrespected Guerrero by sitting him in the corner while he and Daniels locked up, but he was quick to join the action as all three took turns with dropkicks, leading to an early stalemate. Daniels took the mic and told the fans to shut up while he tried to wrestle. Guerrero took out Crazy with a nice tilt-a-whirl bodyscissors as we went to a break.
Back from break, Guerrero was laying in kicks to Crazy in a style similar to Tajiri (as pointed out by Styles on commentary). He then took Daniels off the top rope with a headscissors and sent Crazy to the outside by reversing a side slam into an arm drag.
Crazy took out both men with a springboard moonsault and hit Guerrero with a big flapjack for a two count. Daniels came in and hit a ura nage and a triple jump moonsault for a two count of his own. The match started to break down as Guerrero got planted with a strong powerbomb from Crazy but Daniels broke up the count.
Guerrero finally hit a dive to the outside to take out Daniels. Crazy then joined in with a crossbody off the top rope. Back inside, Guerrero picked up the win over Crazy with a finishing sequence of an enzuigiri and standing leg sweep followed by a standing shooting star press.
After the match, Crazy tried to rip Guerrero’s mask off but he was saved by Jose and Joel, Los Maximos.
Mike Awesome cut a promo on Lynn and took some shots at the then-WWF in the meantime. He said he just got out of the “sports entertainment detox center” last week, will no longer be politically hijacked, and his career won’t be driven into the ground anymore. He is starting his road to the top tonight with Lynn and will finish with Kojima or Vampiro.
Mike Awesome defeated Jerry Lynn to become the no. 1 contender for the MLW World title (8:41)
After Awesome’s promo, we jumped right into the start of his match. Styles continued the WWE bashing by emphasizing they were wrestlers who found they was no place for them in sports entertainment, Awesome was not “that 70s guy”, “the fat chick thriller” or an “Alliance puppet” while he knocked down Lynn with a clothesline. Awesome continued to use his strength in the early going with Lynn only getting in a springboard crossbody in the opening exchanges.
Awesome found himself on the outside and Lynn wiped him out with another crossbody, this time to the floor. But the story of the match continued on the outside as Awesome powerfully reversed a whip and sent Lynn into the guardrail. Awesome got sent into the crowd but he quickly turned around, ran, and jumped back over the rail, taking Lynn out with him.
Back inside, Awesome took out Lynn with a slingshot shoulder block. Lynn reversed a pop-up powerbomb into a hurricanrana and then drove Awesome to the mat with a tornado DDT. Daniels then made his way out to the ring as Awesome backdropped his way out of a piledriver and then took Lynn’s head off with a big boot. He hit a sit-out Awesome Bomb for a two count.
A second Awesome Bomb was reversed into another DDT by Lynn, but Awesome suplexed him moments later to get his momentum back. He then squashed Lynn with a huge big splash off the top for another two count. Lynn slipped out the back of a running Awesome Bomb and got a school boy out of it, but Awesome popped up, knocked Lynn down, and hit his running Awesome Bomb to pick up the win and an MLW title shot.
After the match, Daniels got into the ring with a mic and told Lynn he was very disappointed in him. He listed off his recent failures: not winning the title against Kojima, losing all his matches recently, and losing here against Awesome. He said he could join forces with Daniels and rule MLW, but a stern-looking Lynn grabbed the mic out his hands and told him that he was absolutely right. He shook hands with Daniels and they both left together.
Steve Corino then cut a promo for his upcoming match with Terry Funk, saying he is better than Funk, and Funk should be ashamed that his own brother trained Corino, and when they wake up the morning after their fight, it will be just another day at the office for Corino while Funk will be hobbling back to his ranch in Amarillo, Texas.
MLW World Champion Satoshi Kojima defeated Vampiro to retain the title (8:25)
Vampiro did not have his usual WCW face paint here, keeping in line with the story Styles told us that he was no longer a cartoon character as he was in WCW. But, he did take offense early on and frustratingly threw a chair into the ring after being knocked out it by Kojima.
Vampiro got his act together and took control for the rest of the early going. Kojima was whipped into the guardrail and knocked a poor fan in the front row off his seat, but he recovered, suplexing Vampiro on the concrete floor and chopping him over the barrier into the crowd. They brawled through the crowd to the stage where Vampiro climbed a camera rig and hit a flying clothesline.
After a short break, we were back inside the ring with Vampiro in control. He hit a chokeslam but missed a corkscrew senton and had his hurricanrana attempt reversed into a power bomb. Kojima then hit a neckbreaker for a two count and took Vampiro down with a dragon screw leg whip.
Kojima continued to target the knee with a pair of dropkicks and another dragon screw before locking in an STF. Vampiro dragged himself to the ropes, but Kojima hit an ace crusher and a big lariat to pick up the win, a successful title defense and a ticket for a showdown with Mike Awesome.
Speaking of Awesome, he came to the ring to give the fans a small taste of what to expect in their title match. He and Kojima began chopping each other and Awesome hit a sit-out Awesome Bomb before tossing a table into the ring. He set it up in the corner and landed a running Awesome Bomb on the champion through the table, posing with the title belt as his music played and MLW Underground went off the air.
Joey Styles called the action as “Dr. Death” Steve Williams was in tag team action
Terry Funk battled Chris Candido in a no disqualification match
Satoshi Kojima won the MLW World Heavyweight Title with a win over Jerry Lynn
Show Review:
We opened with a music video recap of the formation of the Extreme Horsemen at the expense of Terry Funk and Dusty Rhodes during a three-way dance that also featured team leader Steve Corino. Simon Diamond and CW Anderson then joined Corino for a promo where they said they eradicated Funk’s and Rhodes’ legacies. Diamond said they all need to step aside as they were coming for the old-timers.
“When Worlds Collide” introduced us to Joey Styles who welcomed us to the Manhattan Center in New York City before hyping up Raven joining MLW, The Extreme Horsemen, and the brackets for the MLW Global tag team title tournament where they will crown new champions.
“Dr. Death” Steve Williams & PJ Friedman defeated Afterburn & Eric Adams
We seemed to have the same audio track playing over the live crowd as last week. That especially hurt this short match as the crowd seemed to pop big when Friedman suplexed Afterburn on his head with a full nelson suplex but with no audible reaction.
After a quick early commercial break, Williams hit a doctor bomb and backdrop driver on Adams to pick up the win. We would learn later that Williams and Friedman were part of the tag team title tournament along with Mike Sanders & Jimmy Yang, “Horsemen” and Los Maximos.
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After a break into current affairs with MLWshop.com, Richard Holliday’s Dynastic coffee, and MLW radio network commercials, Styles set up the next tapings, saying Paul London would be making his MLW debut against Jerry Lynn, Masato Tanaka was on a collision course with longtime rival Mike Awesome, Terry Funk would challenge Steve Corino, and a “Mexican Massacre Challenge” rematch between La Parka and Sabu.
A couple of quick promos followed, first with Fuego Guerrero (Amazing Red) who talked about Jushin Liger and how he revolutionized wrestling and he wants to do the same in MLW. Next was a Bill Alfonso promo we saw a few weeks ago during the Anthology series, done after the first Sabu vs. La Parka bloodbath where Alfonso was screaming about a rematch before Parka jumped him, dumped trash cans on him, and challenged Sabu to the aforementioned rematch.
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Terry Funk defeated Chris Candido (w/Tammy Sytch) in a no DQ match
This built nice and slow with both feeling each other out in the early going but eventually turning this into a weapon-filled bloodbath. Funk was trying to frustrate Candido and it seemed to work as it took a cheap shot from the former “Skip” to get things going. It’s worth noting that Candido’s trunks and tights matched Funk’s in a nice tribute to the hardcore legend.
The action spilled to the outside as Funk got busted open via the timekeeper’s table and ringpost. Funk stumbled and staggered around ringside while Tammy Sytch, who accompanied Candido, got some cheap shots in too.
Funk reversed a suplex and sent Candido to the outside again before the two brawled through the crowd. Funk hit a piledriver on the floor, a DDT in the ring, and an unintentional brainbuster on the small metal entrance ramp.
After a commercial break, Candido brought a ladder into the ring on which, of course, he took a bump on as both he and Funk brawled on the top rope. Candido rallied and hit a headbutt off the top for two, but missed a second attempt off the top of the ladder. Sytch then low blowed Funk but ate a DDT for her trouble. Her dress flew up upon impact, but the MLW censors covered her modesty as Candido hit Funk with a chair and took back control.
He created a chair bridge, but it was Funk who hit a swinging neckbreaker. Funk then picked up the win after reversing a small package and holding on just long enough for the three count. Candido laid out Funk after the match with a piledriver.
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We had two more in-ring debuts hyped for the next tapings: Fuego Guerrero and a man by the name of CM Punk.
Corino then cut a promo on Funk, explaining that he has done everything Funk has, but better and quicker. He taunted Funk saying that his own brother (Dory) trained him and in their upcoming match, he will put an end to Terry’s career.
Satoshi Kojima defeated Jerry Lynn to win the vacant MLW World Title
Styles subtly, but expertly, made us aware of both competitors’ signature manuvers to watch for as the referee presented the title belt to the crowd and checked each man before the opening bell. Kojima had the Koji-Cutter, the Koji-max submission and, of course, the lariat taught to him by Stan Hansen. Conversely, Lynn had the tornado DDT to set up his cradle piledriver.
There was a slow but intense exchange of holds to open up with neither man gaining an advantage. Lynn tried an early cross armbreaker to try and deactivate some of Kojima’s lariat power, but they were both too close to the ropes. Kojima took control and brought out some Flair chops in the corner, along with a trademark “Whooo” of his own. Lynn returned the favor but succumbed to Kojima’s power after a side slam moments later.
Kojima hit a series of elbow drops as the title seemed to be slipping away from the former ECW Champion Lynn. Kojima pretended he couldn’t understand the referee when he was instructing him to get Lynn out the corner and out of the ropes.
But, the tide turned shortly after when Kojima missed an elbow drop from the middle rope and Lynn fired up with right hands, chops, and a trifecta of lariats before a reverse DDT finally took him off his feet. Kojima came back with a pair of running lariats in the corner followed by a big elbow drop from the top rope that got a two count.
Kojima removed his elbow pad, but Lynn ducked a lariat to hit a German suplex for a two count of his own. Lynn hit his tornado DDT moments later, but Kojima again kicked out at two. Styles thought the cradle piledriver was coming but instead, Lynn went for a suplex that Kojima reversed. Lynn then slipped out the back, but ended up taking a sit-down spinebuster seconds later.
Lynn finally went for the cradle piledriver, but Kojima reversed with a backdrop. Kojima then hit a Michinoku driver for a two count but he didn’t stop there, getting up and signaling for the lariat. He connected, knocking Lynn down and out and leading to a three count as Kojima became the first-ever MLW World Champion.
Taiyo Kea then made his presence felt as Kojima’s next challenger (he had defeated Sabu earlier to become the #1 contender) as he came out and signaled he was coming for the title.
The audio issues on the show continued when Kojima cut a post-match promo for the New York crowd, but we couldn’t hear a word of it or any of the ovations or pops throughout the night.
Before going off the air, we saw Raven backstage cutting a promo on Vampiro. He talked about their time in the WCW Deadpool (along with ICP) and said Vampiro has been talking about him so he wonders if he has a problem with him or maybe, he needs his help. Either way, he is eager to find out.
Next week: The Extreme Horsemen (Simon Diamond and CW Anderson) vs. Los Maximos as the Global Tag Team Title tournament kicks off.
Korakuen Hall was again the venue for today’s show.
New Japan Cup first round match: BUSHI defeated YOH (15:43)
These guys worked hard but this badly needed a crowd. They didn’t work particularly stiff, so it was two guys working in a dead silent arena and the match went too long.
The opening exchange saw YOH hit a hurricanrana. BUSHI rolled to the floor and YOH hit him with a plancha. YOH may have tweaked his left knee as he landed awkwardly and came up limping. BUSHI again rolled outside where he sent YOH into the barricade.
BUSHI hit a neckbreaker against the barricade. YOH made it back inside after a countout tease. BUSHI went to work on YOH. YOH came back with a handspring elbow and a figure four. YOH used a dragon screw and falcon arrow for a near fall.
BUSHI came back with a neckbreaker and a draping DDT on the apron for a near fall. YOH hit a pair of bridging Germans for near falls. They traded strikes. BUSHI hit an enzuigiri and a rewind kick. YOH hit a superkick.
They did a series of standing switches. BUSHI hit a backstabber for a near fall. YOH hit a flatliner for a near fall. YOH locked on a calf crusher. YOH gave up the hold and teased a dragon suplex. BUSHI blocked and hit a code breaker.
BUSHI hit an elevated neckbreaker and used the MX for the pin.
New Japan Cup first round match: YOSHI-HASHI defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan (17:37)
These guys beat the hell out of each other. Both had welts all over their chests from hard chops. I can’t believe I’m recommending a YOSHI-HASHI match but I am.
They started off trading tackles. Then they moved to chops. Tenzan hit some Mongolian chops. YH sent him outside and they brawled on the floor. They did a countout tease but Tenzan made it back in at 19.
Tenzan hit a brainbuster for a near fall. They traded more chops. YH hit double knees for a near fall. Tenzan went for a brainbuster off the second but YH hit a sunset bomb for a near fall. Tenzan hit a massive spear and used an STF.
Tenzan hit a slam. He missed a top rope moonsault. YH missed a swanton bomb off the top rope. They traded strikes. Tenzan hit chops and a headbutt. YH hit a lariat and made a cover. Tenzan kicked out at one.
YH hit a diving headhunter off the top for a two count. He locked on the Butterfly Lock but Tenzan forced a break. YH went for a headhunter but Tenzan hit a mountain bomb for a near fall.
Tenzan locked in an anaconda vice. YH powered his way to his feet and Tenzan used an anaconda buster for a near fall.
The finish saw Tenzan go back to the anaconda vice. YH turned him over into a crucifix for a near fall, then locked in the Butterfly Lock and Tenzan tapped. An excellent match.
Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, SHO & Toru Yano went to a double countout with Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi (12:29)
Yano and Hiromu began with some comedy. Hiromu acted disgusted at the sight of Yano. He took forever to get in the ring and start the match. The ref checked Yano’s tights and found a bottle of and sanitizer.
While the ref disposed of the hand sanitizer, Yano pulled hair clippers from his tights and chased Hiromu around the ring with hair clippers. Hiromu’s selling made this funny.
SHO and SANADA had an exchange, then SHO and Shingo, then Ishii and Shingo were in together. They traded hard chops and punches before Naito and Okada tagged in. Okada hit an air raid crash. Naito hit a spinebuster.
They built back to Yano and Hiromu. Hiromu went for a sunset bomb off the apron. Yano pulled a second pair of clippers out of his tights and chased Hiromu through the building with them.
They fought up onto the concessions area. Yano pulled out a roll of tape and taped Hiromu’s legs together. Okada ran to the concourse and tried to get Yano back to the arena but it was too late and both Yano and Hiromu were counted out.
Rather than cutting the tape off Hiromu, Naito and Shingo carried him back to ringside.
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A Way to the Grandmaster hype video aired before intermission.
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New Japan Cup first round match: Hirooki Goto defeated Yujiro Takahashi (w/ Jado) (16:41)
This took a few minutes to get going but the closing sequence was well done.
They started off trading tackles. They brawled to the floor where Yujiro hit an inverted DDT to take control of the match. Yujiro hit kicks in the corner and used a uranage for a two count.
Goto fired back with palm strikes to the chest and a lariat. Goto hit a wheel kick in the corner and a Saito suplex for a two count. Goto went for an ushigoroshi but Yujiro raked his eyes and escaped.
Yujiro hit a fisherman’s superplex for a near fall. They did an intricate series of misdirection spots that ended with simultaneous lariats. Goto hit a headbutt. Yujiro hit a big boot.
Goto hit a draping GTR for a near fall. Yujiro grabbed the referee. Goto shoved the referee away. Jado hit a kendo stick shot. Yujiro hit Miami Shine for a near fall.
Yujiro went for Pimp Juice but Goto fought it off at the fifteen minute mark. Yujiro hit two thrust kicks. Yujiro hit a headbutt. He again went for Pimp Juice. Goto reversed into an ushigoroshi attempt. Yujiro blocked with an eye rake.
The finishing sequence saw Jado take the ref. Yujiro swung his pimp cane at Goto but missed. Goto hit a headbutt. Goto hit ushigoroshi for a near fall and hit a GTR for the pin.
New Japan Cup first round match: EVIL defeated Satoshi Kojima (20:09)
This was a very good main event. Kojima is limited but they built a match around what he can still do and it worked.
They traded shoulder blocks. EVIL rolled outside. Kojima missed a pescado and crashed to the floor. EVIL sent Kojima into the barricade. EVIL used a chair and Pillman-ized Kojima’s right arm against the post with a chair.
EVIL went to work on the right arm. Kojima tried a slingshot elbow but missed. EVIL went back to the arm. Kojima fired up and hit machine gun chops in the corner. He went for a top rope elbow but EVIL cut him off.
They fought to the apron. EVIL teased Everything is EVIL on the apron but Kojima blocked and hit a DDT. Kojima tossed EVIL back in and hit the diving elbow. EVIL came back with an eye rake and mid kick at the ten minute mark.
EVIL hit a cannonball and used a Fujiwara armbar while wrenching back on Kojima’s fingers. Kojima forced a rope break. Kojima blocked a lariat and hit a Koji Cutter. Kojima then hit a second rope Koji Cutter for a near fall. EVIL took the bump right on his knee which looked like it sucked.
Both fought for a suplex. EVIL won the struggle and hit a fisherman’s suplex. Kojima blocked Darkness Falls and hit a lariat. Kojima hit the ropes for another lariat but EVIL blocked and hit a lariat for a two count.
EVIL hit Darkness Falls for a two count. He went for Everything is EVIL but Kojima blocked. Kojima blocked a lariat and hit a lariat for a two count.
Kojima hit a brainbuster for a near fall. Kojima called for one more lariat. EVIL pulled the ref in Kojima’s path. EVIL hit a ref-assisted Magic Killer. EVIL was down. Kojima was down. The ref was down.
EVIL hit a corner clothesline and top rope superplex for a two count. EVIL pulled off his elbow pad. He went for a lariat but Kojima ducked and hit a lariat. Kojima covered for a two count.
The final sequence saw Kojima hit a lariat to the back. He charged in for a second lariat but EVIL caught him coming in and hit Everything is EVIL for the pin.
This week’s MLW’s Anthology featured the first-ever MLW heavyweight champion and Japanese wrestling legend Satoshi Kojima.
Matches features the first-ever championship match between he and Jerry Lynn from 2002, a great 2003 title defense against Johnny Smith from All Japan Pro Wrestling, and some highlights from a 2002 title defense against Vampiro.
The end of the show’s Pulp Fiction also featured the announcement of the newest member of Injustice.
Show Review:
Satoshi Kojima defeated Jerry Lynn to become the inaugural MLW World heavyweight champion (13:14)
New York City’s Manhattan Center | September 2002
Then-lead commentator Joey Styles subtly, but expertly, made us aware of both competitors’ signatures maneuvers to watch for as the referee presented the title belt to the crowd. Kojima has the Koji-Cutter, the Koji-max submission and, of course, the lariat taught to him by Stan Hansen. Conversely, Lynn used a tornado DDT to set up his cradle piledriver finisher.
There was a slow but intense exchange of holds to open up with neither man gaining an advantage. Lynn tried an early cross armbreaker to deactivate some of Kojima’s lariat power, but they were both too close to the ropes. Kojima took control and brought out some Ric Flair chops in the corner, along with a trademark “Whooo” of his own. Lynn returned the favor, but succumbed to Kojima’s power with a side slam moments later.
Kojima hit a series of elbow drops throughout the match as the title seemed to be slipping away from the former ECW champion Lynn. Kojima pretended he couldn’t understand the referee who was instructing him to get Lynn out the corner and out of the ropes.
But the tide turned shortly after that when Kojima missed an elbow drop from the middle rope and Lynn fired up with right hands, chops, and a trifecta of lariats, but it was a reverse DDT that finally took him off his feet. Kojima came back with a pair of running lariats in the corner followed by a big elbow drop from the top rope that got a two count.
Kojima removed his elbow pad, but Lynn ducked a lariat to hit a German suplex for a two count of his own. Lynn hit his tornado DDT moments later, but Kojima again kicked out at two. Styles thought the cradle piledriver was coming but instead, Lynn went for a suplex that Kojima reversed. Lynn slipped out the back of the attempt, but ended up taking a sit-down spinebuster seconds later.
Lynn finally went for his piledriver, but Kojima reversed it with a backdrop. Kojima then hit a Michinoku driver for a two count but he didn’t stop there. He got up and signaled for the lariat and connected with it, knocking Lynn down and out for the pin to become the first MLW World champion.
We saw clips from Kojima’s defenses in Japan in AJPW and Zero-1 before we moved into our next match as Kojima was defending the title against Vampiro.
MLW World Champion Satoshi Kojima defeated Vampiro
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida’s War Memorial Auditorium | December 2002
The match was already underway as we caught up with the action on the outside of the ring. Kojima was whipped into the guardrail and knocked a poor fan in the front row off his seat. Kojima suplexed Vampiro on the concrete floor and chopped him over the barrier into the crowd. They brawled to the stage where Vampiro climbed a camera rig and then hit a flying clothesline.
We cut back to some in-ring action where Vampiro missed a corkscrew senton and had his hurricanrana attempt reversed into a sit-down powerbomb. Kojima then hit a neckbreaker for a two count and took the challewnger down with a dragon screw leg whip.
Kojima then targeted the knee with a pair of dropkicks and another dragon screw before locking in an STF. Vampiro dragged himself to the ropes, but Kojima hit an ace crusher and a big lariat to pick up the win in another successful title defense.
MLW World Champion Satoshi Kojima defeated Johnny Smith (6:51)
Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall | March 2003 | AJPW and MLW co-branded show
Styles clued us into Smith being a cousin of both Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid. An English voiceover introduced the title fight before the Japanese ring announcer introduced both competitors who got the traditional streamers from the audience and polite receptions. Those paying close attention would have noticed Kojima’s entrance music is the same used in MLW’s opening video sequence.
After an early commercial break, we came back with Kojima in control of Smith. He came off the top rope with an elbow drop, but Smith kicked out. A neckbreaker also got a two count as Smith was somehow hanging in there. Smith ducked a lariat and hit Kojima with one of his own out of nowhere for a brief hope spot. Moments later, Kojima hit the Koji-cutter but again, Smith somehow kicked out.
Kojima hit a Michinoku driver but Smith no sold it and popped up, roaring into hitting a death valley driver. He couldn’t make an immediate cover due to the damage he had taken. Smith then hit a sitout powerbomb and a German suplex, but couldn’t keep Kojima’s shoulders down. Smith looked for another german suplex, but Kojima fought out and hit a running lariat.
Styles told us it was anyone’s match to win and he was right. Smith hit a reverse DDT that Kojima just kicked out of. On his second attempt, Kojima reversed with a northern lights release suplex. Smith blocked another lariat with a backslide for another close two count. Kojima then blocked a lariat and connected with his own to finally keep Smith down for the three count to retain the belt.
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As they have done in the past, this week’s show closed with a montage of video updates from the current day MLW roster called Pulp Fusion.
Zenshi was doing some backflips in his garden and climbing a tree upside down; Gino Medina was not worrying about CONTRA, but was worrying about the manacitas; the Von Erichs were wrestling each other on a beach; Mance Warner was about to start on his triple cage idea but then he started drinking; Tom Lawlor shaved his hair off and was ready to protect himself; Hammerstone played the Star Spangled Banner on electric guitar and advertised his shirts on MLW’s website; Alicia Atout interviewed Col. Robert Parker who was still flirting with Aria Blake; Richard Holliday shaved his moustache off to keep the Caribbean women off him; Jordan Oliver had Injustice’s newest member’s identity in a brown envelope and Myron Reed promised it would be revealed later tonight saying it was an injustice he wasn’t signed two years ago; and El Hijo de LA Park and LA Park Jr had fighting words for CONTRA after they attacked their dad LA Park last week.
Saieve al Sabah was then introduced as the newest member of Injustice. He told us he would weaponize our mind, bodies, and souls because the revolution has arrived.
Next week’s MLW Anthology will feature current AEW stars Rey Fenix and Pentagon Jr.
Ian Riccaboni and NWA National Champion Colt Cabana called the action from the Odeum in Villa Park, Illinois
– Allure (Mandy Leon, Velvet Sky & Angelina Love) came to the ring to speak. Velvet Sky said Allure were the most credible women to enter Ring of Honor. Angelina Love said the fans needed to get familiar with Allure. Mandy Leon called the fans Twitter trolls, and she called Kelly Klein an embarrassment.
This brought out Jenny Rose with Klein. They slid in the ring and went after Allure. A brawl with all five women ensued until security got in the ring to break it up. Love used hairspray in the eyes of Rose. Allure then bailed and Klein got on the microphone. She said that she and Rose would take them on anytime, anywhere.
The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Milonas) defeated The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan), Coast 2 Coast (LSG & Shaheem Ali), and Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors in a four corner survival match
Milonas and LSG started it off. Milonas bounced LSG off his shoulder and LSG tagged Marseglia. Milonas crushed him with a crossbody and tagged in the Bruiser. Marseglia tagged in O’Ryan, then Coughlin tagged himself in and then quickly tagged in Connors. Chaos ensued as the show went to break.
After the break, The Kingdom were working over Connors. Marseglia hit a suplex and tagged in O’Ryan, but Ali blind tagged himself in off of O’Ryan. Ali tagged his partner LSG in, and they hit a double-team hip toss slam on Connors.
Eventually, Connors fought to the corner and tagged in his partner Coughlin. He beat up Coast 2 Coast until Bruiser tagged himself in to continue the pummeling. O’Ryan tagged himself in off of LSG and came off the top rope, but Milonas caught him and hit a side slam. He landed another spinning side slam on Marseglia.
Coast-to-Coast double-teamed Bruiser, who was tagged out by Connors. The NJPW Young Lions (Coughlin and Connors) came in and took out Coast 2 Coast. This brought in The Kingdom, who used the House of 1000 Horses double team slam on Connors. Ali tagged himself in and went for the cover, but Bruiser broke up the pin at two.
Milonas tagged in — as did Coughlin. Milonas smooshed him in the corner and then nailed the Closing Time leg drop to get the win.
– Backstage, Mark Haskins and Tracy Williams said they were fed up with Bully Ray. PJ Black walked up and said that if they needed some assistance, he was there to help.
– A recap of Colt Cabana’s NWA National Championship victory over Willie Mack aired, including Cowboy James Storm coming out and challenging Cabana. That match will air next week.
– Another recap of Silas Young’s wrestling clinic from last week aired.
– Also from last week, they recapped Kenny King defeating Jay Lethal in the first match of their best-of-three series.
– They showed the first of a two-part video package highlighting Jeff Cobb’s amateur wrestling background, including his representation of Guam at the 2004 Olympics. Cobb will challenge ROH World Champion Matt Taven at the Best in the World pay-per-view on June 28.
Josh Woods defeated Maverick Boone
Woods shoved Boone to the mat and followed it up with a gutwrench powerbomb. Woods got the pin on Boone after a Seismic Toss.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA & EVIL) defeated Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata
Nagata and SANADA started it off. Kojima kicked SANADA in the back, which allowed Nagata to start kicking as well. He tagged Kojima in as SANADA kipped up. It didn’t take long for this one to break down into a crazy brawl. In the ring, SANADA applied the Paradise Lock on Kojima and gave him a dropkick to the rear as the show went to commercial.
After the break, Kojima nailed SANADA with a DDT. He tagged in Nagata, who went back to the kicks, a big boot, and an exploder suplex. A forearm exchange ensued. Nagata got the better of it until SANADA caught his leg and went for the Paradise Lock — but Nagata fought free.
Nagata applied a Nagata Lock armbar on SANADA. Kojima prevented EVIL from breaking it up. SANADA fought free and landed a dropkick and tagged in EVIL.
EVIL chopped Nagata hard, but Nagata hit a low dropkick and tagged in Kojima. Kojima chopped EVIL a million times. SANADA came in and took a million chops as well. SANADA hit the mat and Kojima went up top and connected with an elbow, but SANADA kicked out at two.
EVIL tagged in and LIJ beat down Kojima. They went for the Magic Killer on him, but Nagata cut them off and Kojima hit a Koji Cutter on EVIL. SANADA broke the pin up at two. Kojima hit a brainbuster on EVIL, but he kicked out at two. Kojima went for the clothesline, but EVIL ducked.
SANADA came in and hit a dropkick, and that allowed LIJ to hit the Magic Killer on Kojima to pick up the win.
– Dalton Castle entered and got in the ring. He challenged Rush’s brother Dragon Lee to a match at Best in the World. Just then, The Boys came out and looked to attack Castle, but they got caught on the outside of the ring and took a beating from their former master.
Castle put both Boys on a table and then kicked it over as the show went off the air.
ROH has announced several matches for War of the Worlds: Buffalo, including a Six-Man Tag Team title defense by Villain Enterprises.
Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King) will defend their titles against Jeff Cobb, Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima in Buffalo. The show is the first stop on the War of the Worlds tour.
Cobb is the ROH Television Champion and NEVER Openweight Champion. He defeated Will Ospreay in a title vs. title match at G1 Supercard to win the NEVER Openweight title.
War of the Worlds: Buffalo is taking place at Buffalo Riverworks on Wednesday, May 8. There are three other shows on the tour, with stops in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on May 9, Grand Rapids, Michigan on May 11, and Villa Park, Illinois on May 12. The Villa Park show is a television taping, while the rest of the tour will stream on HonorClub.
Guerrillas of Destiny defending their ROH Tag Team titles against Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham is the main event of the Buffalo show. Here’s the updated card:
ROH Tag Team Champions Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) defending against Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King) defending against Jeff Cobb, Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima
Flip Gordon vs. Bandido
Rush vs. Silas Young
Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA & EVIL) vs. LifeBlood (Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams)
Hikuleo vs. Shane Taylor
PJ Black vs. Alex Coughlin
The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) vs. Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks
NJPW and CMLL kicked off their Fantasticamania tour this morning in Osaka with a number of matches, including the debut of Atlantis Jr., son of Atlantis.
Taiji Ishimori, Templarino and Gedo defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask and Audaz
Gedo stalled early. Kinda boring until Audaz was tagged in and did an amazing corkscrew moonsault to the floor, wiping out Templarino. They ended up having some pretty good chemistry together and was a highlight of the match.
Ishimori and Taguchi, who was wearing his pharaoh outfit as he normally does on these tours, went at it. It was pretty okay.Templarino picked up the win over Audaz with a sitout powerbomb. Pretty solid opener.
Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Forastero defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Titan and Flyer
This felt kind of uninteresting until Liger started to make a hot comeback, sending Forastero to the floor. He took out Kanemaru on the outside as Flyer and Kanemaru went at it.
Titan and Forastero had some fun back and forth towards the end. Forastero scissored him and went for the triangle armbar, submitting Flyer. Dull in parts but largely okay.
Okumura and Sanson defeated Atlantis and Atlantis Jr.
This is the debut match of Atlantis Jr., who naturally is the son of Atlantis. He and Sanson worked together early and looked okay, doing some cool spots including a suicide dive to the floor, taking out Sanson.
It was kind of sad seeing Atlantis, as it seems clear his knee is still bothering him, especially when he has to run. Atlantis Jr. wiped out both with a tope con hilo as Atlantis went to the top rope, hitting a crossbody to the floor.
As the match wore on, Atlantis Jr. continued to work the bulk of the match, looking good.
Okumura planted him with a draping cutter off the top rope but Atlantis broke it up. Sanson took Atlantis out of the ring as Atlantis Jr. got a near fall with a roll up. As he was arguing with referee, Okumura grabbed him and hit a spinning DDT for the win.
Okumura and Sanson took the masks of both father and son after the match.
Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero and Cuartero defeated Mistico, Dragon Lee and Niebla Roja
Everyone paired off against one another with some good back and forth. Gran and Ultimo teamed up to slam Mistico off the top rope. The technicos then teamed up to send all three rudos out of the ring.
Dragon Lee and Mistico teamed up to work on the rudos, doing some great tandem offense to take out the Guerreros. Niebla Roja and Cuatero worked against one another, and both looked good. Roja took out Cuatero with a giant Sasuke special as Lee and Mistico took out the Guerreros with stereo topes.
Roja and Cuartero continued their offense until Cuartero cut off Roja and pinned him with the Cuatero bomb. A pretty good match, with Mistico and Dragon Lee’s offense being the highlights.
Caristico, Namajague and Barbaro Cavernario defeated KUSHIDA, Volador Jr. and Soberano Jr.
Namajague was Desperado’s gimmick during his CMLL excursion years ago.
Volador and Caristico had a hot sprint early. Namajague used his belt as a rope to choke and attack KUSHIDA throughout the match. Soberano came in and did a big moonsault dive to the floor that wiped out both KUSHIDA and Namajague on the outside.
Volador and Caristico were back in the ring and did a few more spots before Volador tapped to la mistica. Short, but good action while it lasted.
Tetsuya Naito, El Terrible, BUSHI and Shingo Takagi defeated Satoshi Kojima, Toa Henare, Raijin and Fujin
Fujin and Raijin, much like Desperado, were SHO and YOH wearing their CMLL masks.
The first few minutes of this was just kind of a match. People would tag in, get worked over for a bit before tagging out. Nothing particularly interesting.
Fujin and Rajin picked things up toward the end by working over BUSHI with some tandem offense. They went for the 3K, but it was broken up by Shingo who attempted to clear house.
Fujin went for a dragon suplex, but BUSHI countered with the BUSHI roll and got the win. Again, the first half of this was really dull but it picked up towards the end.
This was an easy two in a half hours to watch. If you like these shows, it’s worth a look, but there isn’t anything that I would consider must see barring the debut of Atlantis Jr..
After spending most of 2018 on the shelf, Satoshi Kojima will make his return to New Japan next month.
New Japan’s Instagram page announced this afternoon that Kojima will be making his return to the ring on September 9 during the Road to Destruction tour. It wasn’t said who he would be facing, though most Road to shows usually rely heavily on tag team matches.
Kojima had been out of action since late January when he suffered an ACL rupture in his left knee during the Fantastica Mania tour. It’s believed that Kojima suffered the injury on January 22 where he faced Rush in a losing effort. Recent videos on his Instagram account have shown him hitting and running the ropes in preperation for a return.
His normal tag team partner, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, has mostly worked six man tag team matches since Kojima’s injury. He hasn’t been used since the Kizuna Road tour back in June.
The sixth edition of the Lion’s Gate Project took place this morning at Shinjuku Face. Let’s take a look at the young lions New Japan currently has on their roster, along with a smattering of other young talent from other promotions.
El Desperado defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi
Yagi is the latest New Japan young lion, making his debut on May 9th on the last Lion’s Gate show. He worked a lot during both the Best of the Super Juniors and Dominion tours and looked pretty solid in what he did, improving each time I saw him.
If he bulked up a bit more, he could be a heavyweight, something that until recently New Japan was lacking as far as young talent went. He looked green in this match, but definitely has improved in the last month. Desperado won with his new submission finish, the stretch muffler.
Jado & Gedo defeated Shota Umino & Hirai Kawato
Kawato has been wrestling for about a year and a half, making his debut last January. He’s always struck me as the one who personifies the “fighting spirit” aspect of what New Japan expects in their young lions — he’s always confrontational and does everything in his power to win. He’s progressed very well in the last year and could be a standout junior heavyweight wrestler in a few years.
Umino is the son of Red Shoes, aka Hirooki Unno, a referee for NJPW. He started back in April, and has also shown advancement in the couple months he’s been wrestling. Not a total standout yet, but he has plenty of time to improve. He took the fall in this match, submitting to Jado’s crossface in a decent bout.
Dinosaur Takuma has been wrestling for Kaientai Dojo since 2015. His gimmick, as you may notice by the name, is coming to the ring with a dinosaur tail and carrying a bone with him. Wrestlers usually do spots with him like grabbing his tail to get heat.
Nomura is a wrestler from Big Japan Pro Wrestling and has wrestled in various promotions such as All Japan and Zero One since his debut last April.
Takuma lost the match for his team, submitting to Tenzan’s Anaconda Vice. I think Takuma has a gimmick that could work pretty well wherever he goes. I’ve heard good things about Nomura, but here he just seemed like a guy who has very good basics.
Manabu Nakanishi defeated Katsuya Kitamura
Kitamura is an accomplished amateur wrestler who made his debut back in March. He immediately stands out as being one of the bigger young lions in some time; at 6’0 and 265 pounds it’s very clear he’s a heavyweight, and one with potential future star power. With an impressive tan and jacked to the gills, once his young lion tenure is over there’s no doubt he’ll be fast tracked into a main event-level position.
Nakanishi has been a mentor to him, so it made sense for them to have a match here. The match wasn’t that great, though — Nakanishi moved slower than usual and just didn’t look good. Kitamura looked fine enough. Nakanishi picked up the submission win with the torture rack.
YOSHI-HASHI defeated Yuma Aoyagi
Aoyagi has been wrestling for All Japan since 2014. He also represented them in the Super J-Cup last year. He looked good then, and looked better here today. He’s someone to watch outside of New Japan as he’s really good, at least a standout here on a show with relatively green workers.
He sold a ton for YOSHI-HASHI, enough that the crowd got into the match. YH put him in a lot of submissions and Aoyagi refused to tap, each time making it to the ropes. Aoyagi finally made a quick comeback, but YOSHI-HASHI cut him off with a clothesline and then sunk in the butterfly lock for the submission win.
One of the All Japan young lions had words with YOSHI-HASHI after the match.
Ayato Yoshida & Satoshi Kojima defeated Tomoyuki Oka & Yuji Nagata
I don’t know much about Yoshida other than he’s been wrestling since 2015 and was representing Kaientai Dojo here tonight. He’s been on other Lion’s Gate shows before.
Oka is an accomplished amateur wrestler that Nagata is really high on, bringing him into the dojo and and teaming with him off and on during tours. He doesn’t have a physique like Kitamura’s, but he’s still tall and is currently pegged for big things in his future.
Yoshida looked good in the time he was in here. Oka as well — since his official debut in February he’s turned into a pretty good worker. He has a big chance to break out as well because while he does not have Kitamura’s body, he still has the size to make it far.
After a solid back-and-forth affair, Kojima and Oka were in the ring and traded some good action with one another until Kojima hit the lariat for the win. Yoshida got in Nagata’s face after the match as he attacked him. Nagata no sold it and laid him out with some slaps, sending him on his way.
Welcome to My Favorite Wrestler (This Week). Each week, the Wrestling Observer team chooses, you guessed it, their favorite wrestler of the week. The only criteria are that the reasoning for the choice must be because of something the wrestler did within the last seven days.
There’s not a lot on the news front this week. A bunch of guys left TNA, and another bunch of guys came back. WWE has been building up to Fastlane and WrestleMania, EVOLVE crowned a new champion, and ROH came to Japan for the Honor Rising shows from Korakuen Hall. Here are our favorite wrestlers this week. Who’s yours?
Satoshi Kojima
By Zach Dominello
In a world full of Nintendo Switches and Netflixes, it’s easy to take the simple things for granted, like the sunrise, the air we breathe, or most importantly, bread. Thankfully, Satoshi Kojima has taken to Twitter to profess his love for the often underappreciated food group, and it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread:
I love how he ends his series of tweets in the most Japanese way possible — with an apology. Kojima’s lariat may be his bread and butter, but his Twitter game has been amazing recently. His occasionally incomprehensible slice of life tweets read more like poetry than status updates:
I hope these gems are being collected to be released in book form somewhere down the line. In the meantime, New Japan’s merch team had better jump on this:
I sleep now.
The person who eats five a day of bread is a member of a BREAD CLUB.
Zack Sabre Jr. is my favorite wrestler this week after ending the 596-day title reign Timothy Thatcher had as EVOLVE Champion. He also enjoyed being the recipient of the Bryan Danielson Award for Best Technical Wrestler in the 2016 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards, which were released this week on our website.
Sabre has long been one of the best workers in the world, and while his style is one that not every fan enjoys, I personally enjoy watching him work inside the ring. He puts up consistently good matches in EVOLVE, PWG, and other independent promotions around the world. He was showcased in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic last year, and will be working for New Japan this year. His reign at the top of EVOLVE has just begun, and he’ll be headlining their events over WrestleMania weekend.
For now, though, him ending Thatcher’s reign has sewn up his standing as my favorite wrestler this week.
By Alan Boon
My favorite wrestler this week is also Zack Sabre Jr. Not only is he the new EVOLVE Champion — he dethroned Timothy Thatcher at EVOLVE 79 after almost 600 days of Thatcher holding the title — but he also worked such an intense, intriguing contest that even those EVOLVE fans with little time for Thatcher (and there are more than a few) were drawn into an engaging battle.
Sabre Jr. started and ended the weekend with losses, to new sensation Keith Lee at EVOLVE 78 and to the littlest big man in the game, John Silver, at Beyond’s Under Construction, but showed a killer instinct in his match with Thatcher that he’d been lacking.
Sabre Jr. closed his title-winning night with a short speech to the crowd. “Professional wrestling is for everyone, this Earth is for everyone. Thank you, New York, politics speech over.” Wrestling is art, and all art is political. We’ve got an outspoken champion to carry that message now.
By Joseph Currier
For all of the complaining I’ve done about Timothy Thatcher’s title reign in my recaps, it would’ve been difficult to envision a better ending to it than what happened at EVOLVE 79. The moment was nearly perfect. The match was nearly great. And Zack Sabre Jr.’s speech after was the best part of the whole thing. He’s easily my favorite wrestler this week.
DIY
By Arya Witner
My pick for this week is the former NXT Tag Team Champions, DIY. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa have long since cemented their reputations as top workers. However, it takes you to another level to not just get one great match out of The Authors of Pain (TakeOver: San Antonio), but they got two (this week’s episode of NXT).
NXT has become a weird hodgepodge of some of the best workers in the world and some of the greenest workers in the world. When you get a combination like that, sometimes match quality literally goes all over the place. The Authors of Pain haven’t had a lot of great matches, but somehow, some way, Ciampa & Gargano have solved the mystery of them.
Matt Riddle
By Mike DellaCamera
I planned to write about the newly crowned EVOLVE champion, Zack Sabre Jr — who incidentally I got to see in person the following day at Beyond Wrestling. But since my fellow contributors already sang the well-deserved praises of the technical wizard, I’ll go with someone else who was on the same Beyond card — Matt Riddle.
Riddle is a borderline incomprehensible mix of pure talent and charisma. The fact that he just finished his first full year as a pro wrestler is, legitimately, mind blowing. For someone who, for all intents and purposes should be completely untreatable to the fans (a former UFC fighter, wrestling prodigy, annoyingly good looking), he has an incredible and organic connection to the crowd. When his music hits, whatever building he’s wrestling in explodes. I’ve been able to see him wrestle for three different promotions, and it’s the same thing every time.
People gravitate towards transcendent talent; they have a certain gravity surrounding them that just feels different from everyone else. It’s special, it’s different. All of this says nothing about his matches, which while they can be on the shorter side, are never a letdown. If the King of Bros is wrestling near you, run, don’t walk, to see him in person.
TK Cooper
By Alan4L
I’m not sure there’s a more eye-catching young heel in wrestling right now than New Zealand’s TK Cooper. One third of the South Pacific Power Trip in PROGRESS, TK has exploded into the new year with some great performances in the Electric Ballroom.
His act is so great as the brash, dungarees wearing, punchable face of the SPPT. With his girlfriend Dahlia Black by his side (and often on his lap) and his tough as nails buddy Travis Banks watching his back, TK has a great dynamic going on around him.
But he’s really started to come into his own with his own performances. In the incredible match against Team Ringkamp at Chapter 43, TKC was throwing himself around like a madman and taking the best shots that “Der Ringgeneral” WALTER had to dish out — the youngster had a death wish. Cooper is destined for big things.
