[Official] All Things Puroresu

[X]

So what the fuck, why is this section always so dead? I know some of you out there follow puro and the indies very well, don't be shy guys, POST THREADS! I'd post more but I'm always working these days.

Anyways, yeah this thread right here was originally going to be about NOAH and their big 7/10 show, but I figured I might as well just make this a sort of catch-all thread for ALL things puroresu and joshi, anything from NOAH to NJPW to AJPW, DDT, Dragon Gate, Osaka Pro, whatever you want. I'll try to keep this thread pretty busy with my thoughts on recent puro shows I've seen and some newsbits. So let me get to why I started this thread my thoughts on some recent NOAH shows I've watched.

Caught the last two NOAH shows the other day, the big 7/10 supershow and then the 7/14 show, not too much to speak of on the 7/14 show but the 7/10 show was fucking great, I believe they claimed around 5500 paid in attendance, which is pretty good these days for NOAH, and definitely gave the show a bigger feel than some of their more recent ones. The triple-main event was the following:

GHC Jr. Title: Yoshinobu Kanemaru [c] vs. Naomichi Marufuji
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Go Shiozaki (Grudge Match)
GHC Heavyweight Title: Takashi Sugiura [c] vs. Yoshihiro Takayama

GHC Jr. Title Match

​

And all three matches definitely delivered. Kanemaru was on fucking FIRE in this match showing again why he's probably the best junior heavyweight NOAH has these days outside of KENTA, and kind of carried Marufuji here who continues to just not understand the concept of working a match as a heel and getting heat from the crowd, even when they boo him. Both guys brought some good stuff though, but once Kanemaru got cooking towards the last quarter of the match the rest of the bout was all awesome jaw-dropping junior heavyweight action, great match I had rated at about ****.

Up next, Tanahashi-Go:

​

Tanahashi-Go was next to cap off their rivalry, this match was like the exact opposite of the previous match in that Tanahashi (being the New Japan guy against Go, a NOAH guy) knew he was the heel here and he worked the crowd perfectly. Very solid bout that again kicked into high gear towards the finish, with both men bringing great intensity into the match-up. Tanahashi looked to even be legit knocked unconscious towards the end, which was crazy. Still haven't decided whether it was ***3/4 or ****, very solid, good match-up regardless.

And now, the main event:

​

Then we had the main event. Holy shit, what a match, Takayama continues to be the motherfucking undisputed MAN in NOAH's heavyweight division in my eyes, and Sug wasn't shy to bring his own A-game here as both men battled it out with some of the most vicious back-suplexes I've ever seen, mixing in some great brawling before they just start stiffing the ever-loving FUCK out of each other, like without a doubt the most stiff shots I've ever seen in any match in my life, they were literally just flat out fucking NAILING each other in the face with lefts and rights, both men started bleeding and Takayama looked like he might's broken his nose from one of the shots. Both men put on a great fucking match here, one that I'll definitely have to remember around the end of the year when I'm thinking about "Match of the Year" candidates. Had it at an easy ****1/4, probably the best match I've seen in NOAH this year.



So, now you guys post. This thread is for everything puro! Just remember it's a non-spam zone of course though, so please do try to contribute! I'll try to update this thread with matches from recent shows.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

ROH Invades Japan Volume 1

Austin Aries and Roderick Strong vs. Naruki Doi and Yoshino

No idea when exactly this match took place but it happened at a Wresltejam in Dragon Gate.

Good fast paced stuff where we saw the Japanese team work as the heels as they attempted to isolate Aries for a good period of time. You had the often criticized excessive interference from the heels and even some interference from the faces as well. Things also completely broke down at the end as I don't recall seeing a single tag during the last 5 minutes of the match.

That being said none of it bothered me at all as this match was a lot of to watch. Some really nice spots and really fast paced. The match went a little under 14 minutes and there wasn't a dull moment. We saw Aries get the pin on Yoshino after hitting the 450 Splash.
***1/4

Rocky Romero vs. Mushiking Terry

Joined in progress but I don't you miss anything that important to the match. First few minutes were a nice mix of technical wrestling a them kicking each other really hard.

Some nice spots and everything but it was just kind of hard to get into. Ended up being an entertaining but rather average match. The ending was nice with a few false finsishes after some rough looking suplexes and ended with Mushiking Terrywinning with an armdrag variation off the top rope.
**3/4 I'm sure I'm on the low end on this.

Takeshi Morishima vs. KENTA for the ROH World Title

Really good, stiff and quick match. I liked how KENTA took it right to the much bigger guy and never seemed to back down. We some really impressive suplexes from both guys, in fact the match came to an end a little after the 9 minute mark when Morishima hit KENTA with a big lariot into a side suplex.

They fit everything they needed to into this one. You can't do much better in 9 minutes as this was one awesome match. Would have liked a little more variation in Morishima's offense though.
***1/2

Brian Danielson vs KENTA

An incredible match between two of the best workers out there right now. I loved how seamlessly they were able to go from wrestling a technical masterpiece to Danielson hitting as stiff a lariot as I've seen to than having Dragon jumping off the top rope, over the guardrail on the floor. It really had me thinking, "Is there anything they can't do?"

They had some great technical wrestling and a really exciting ending that saw Daneilson go for the Cattle Mutilation a few times but fell victim to what I thought was a GTS from KENTA for the win.

The match was about 25 minutes long and it felt like it was 15 minutes long tops. Really enjoy seeing these two work together as they have amazing chemistry.
****1/4
Jack Evans, Matt Sydal, BxB Hulk, and Jushin Liger vs. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, Magnitude Kishiwada, and Kevin Steen

Really like the mix of Japanese and American talent in the match as all the matches before this had been ROH talent against Japanese talent. Very nice to see a mix.

This was pretty much a wild and out of control match that had non stop action. Amazing stuff and I really liked how the Japanese crowd was really into the match. Usually the Japanese fans just piss me off but they were pretty good in this match. It had some great moments too such as seeing Sydal and Yohsino in the ring together and more spots than you could ask for. 18 minutes of pure fun and awesomeness.
***3/4

Nigel McGuinness & Doug Williams vs. Rikio & Kawabata

Another quick match but still very good. Frequent tags kept things very interesting and for a match that was barley over the 9 minute mark they had a great finishing sequence that saw Rikio and Kawabata take a good deal of punishment before when of them (no idea who was who) fell victim to a rolling German Suplex from Doug Williams.

Another good match on this set. I feel like they could have been able to have a great match if they had been allowed 5 more minutes or so but this is another example of how you can still have a very good short match.
***

The Briscoe Brothers vs. Ricky Marvin & Kotaro Suzuki for the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles

A true roller coaster of a match. Much better than a lot of the U.S. stuff that I have seen from the Briscoes as this match had a very nice pace to it where we would see some nice mat work followed by some incredible spots and they would go back to the mat.

This match had as many big spots as a lot of the Briscoe matches that I've seen before but the big difference was that they avoided the overkill ending by spacing them out so well. There were a lot moments where I was shocked at how impressive some of the stuff they did looked.

Marvin and Suzuki are a team that was easily able to match high flying skills with the Briscoes and they went and put on an incredible match. One of the best tag matches that I've seen in a while.
****1/2

Chris Hero & Doug Williams vs. Yoshinori Ota & Mohammed Yone

15 of really good wrestling. Nothing was too flashy except for the brutal swinging reverse DDT (I guess that's what you would call it) from Hero at the end to get the win which was pretty awesome as it looked like Ota landed right on his head.

Another awesome match that just showcased some great wrestling.
***3/4

 

[The Holy One]

We need to get some activity going in this thread. I feel that Puroresu can be overrated by much of the IWC but that doesn't change the fact that it has cought my interest in the past 3 years. I specifically only watch New Japan and NOAH shows when I can.

My favorite wrestler at this point would have to be Hiroshi Tanahashi. This man is one of the best when it comes to performing in the ring imo. He can play both the face and heel roles great. He's one of the top all-around performer in Japan.

A couple of his matches that I really love are his one against Angle last year for the IWGP title. His match against Tajiri at the G1 Climax Tournament and his match against Go Shiozaki at the supershow.

Here's an example of him at work:

[youtube]BABQsCS9kHU[/youtube]

[youtube]LzsHBanghQU[/youtube]

[youtube]J6z2unsZxh0[/youtube]

 

[X]

I'm right there with you Holy One, Tanahashi is one of the best in Japan right now and is without a doubt one of if not the main event ace for New Japan these days, just a phenomenal worker both on the mat and as you mentioned in working the crowd, the way he worked the crowd in his match-up against Go Shiozaki was brilliant as he played the role of the invader heel from New Japan in a NOAH ring to perfection and it made the great crisp action in the ring all the more enjoyable because of that ability to work the crowd. That right there is what separates a talented mat-worker and performer from an all-around excellent WORKER in every sense of the word. He works that match, the crowd, and everyone at home watching, which is what makes him so awesome.

I badly need to go out and buy some blank DVDs because I have so many recent puro shows to catch up on. I must just bite the bullet and watch them on my small laptop screen though, bunch of stuff to watch including the big 7/4 All Japan show, the 7/19 New Japan show (which had a STACKED card) as well as a bunch of new episodes of Dragon Gate Infinity to watch. Ahh, so much puro, so little time. I promise to start updating this thread with show results and news more often guys, starting later tonight.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

Hey, X I really enjoyed all of the matches you posted they were excellent. I have been trying to getting into more Japanese wrestling I just want to know who are some of your favorite Puro wrestlers and what matches you would recommend for someone like me who wants to be more interested in Puro because I really enjoyed the matches you posted.

 

[X]

Hey, X I really enjoyed all of the matches you posted they were excellent. I have been trying to getting into more Japanese wrestling I just want to know who are some of your favorite Puro wrestlers and what matches you would recommend for someone like me who wants to be more interested in Puro because I really enjoyed the matches you posted.

Well if you enjoyed the matches I posted the first thing I'd obviously recommend if for you to check out more matches featuring the wrestlers you enjoyed watching, obviously. But if you want a proper introduction to puro, basically I'd recommend to you almost any main event match from AJPW in the 90s involving the likes of Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuhari Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, Jun Akiyama, Akira Taue, and others as well as check out main event matches from NJPW in the 90s with the likes of Jushin Liger, Great Sasuke, Koji Kanemoto, Benoit, Hiroshi Hase, Great Muta, TAKA Michinoku & Kaentai DX. I mean you check out those names from the big two of AJPW and NJPW in the 90s and you'll have taken a bite into a nice juicy chunk of what most consider to be the greatest era in Japanese professional wrestling by far, the 90s.



Finished watching the first day of the NJPW G1 Climax tournament last night, great first day with some solid matches from everyone including Prince Devitt proving again his godlike powers in pulling a surprisingly good match out of the useless Strong Man, like I was literally stunned at how he carried him to a good match. Other good stuff with the regular New Japan aces Tanahashi, Shiozaki, Makabe, etc. Highlight was without a doubt the main event though between Yuji Nagata and Shinsuke Nakamura, which I'll post a video of in a second. Both men were just electric for nearly 20 minutes and blew every other match on the card away, all of which were good anyways. Awesome shit from a guy I'm loving more and more each day in Nakamura and from the middle-aged and still scary good Nagata, would definitely recommend giving the match a view if you're bored, I gave it about **** though to be fair the version I watched I believe edited out the first 2 minutes or so. Still, hot shit, check it out:

​

I've got the 2nd and 3rd days of the G1 Climax on my laptop right now as well as a KENTA-Takashi Sugiura match from August 5th in NOAH that I heard good things about to get around to watch, I'll jump back in this thread when I do.

Been contemplating writing up full KB-style reviews for puro shows lately, such a severe lack of puro reviews outside of a few major websites.

 

[Hologram]

Im trying to get into Puroresu at the moment, can any of you guys recommend me a site which has matches on it (if not Ill hunt on youtube), and also some of the best matches to watch

 

[K4P-Unleashed]

I'm a puro fan, but more of the Americanized Puroseau. I'd be more of a traditional fan if I could hear American commentators, but the Japanese commentators kill it for me. It gives me a headache. For what it's worth, I'll be at the DGUSA Chicago event in September and I am really looking forward to AmDrag vs. YAMATO. The only thing that would make the night even better for me is Kota Ibushi.

 

[X]

Im trying to get into Puroresu at the moment, can any of you guys recommend me a site which has matches on it (if not Ill hunt on youtube), and also some of the best matches to watch

Hmmm well the best site for pretty much all puro news would be here IMO:

http://representingpuroresu.wordpress.com/

Best site for puroresu news/results definitely. I'd also suggest this website if you're looking for some reviews of old puro shows or recommendations for matches to watch:

http://www.puroresucentral.com/Reviews.html

Also I'd recommend checking out the website Death Valley Driver Review, probably THE best place to get info and suggestions on great wrestling from not only Japan to watch but every other promotion and country just about. Great site with a great forum with a ton of incredibly knowledgeable people, here's a link to a list of what the members of the forum chose as the top 20 matches from AJPW and NJPW in the 90s:

http://www.deathvalleydriver.com/Bestof90s/NJresults.html
http://www.deathvalleydriver.com/Bestof90s/AJresults.html

That's a good place to get started if you're looking for a crash course in puro as the 90s are generally considered the "Glory Decade" of puroresu with the best wrestling in Japanese history. Basically seek out any of the Kobashi/Misawa/Kawada battles from All Japan and any of the Super Juniors main events from New Japan and you'll be marking out rather quickly.


YouTube is great though to keep up to date with current puro, usually every AJPW/NOAH/NJPW show is uploaded on there about a week or so after the events.

I'm a puro fan, but more of the Americanized Puroseau. I'd be more of a traditional fan if I could hear American commentators, but the Japanese commentators kill it for me. It gives me a headache. For what it's worth, I'll be at the DGUSA Chicago event in September and I am really looking forward to AmDrag vs. YAMATO. The only thing that would make the night even better for me is Kota Ibushi.

Yeah I'm really looking forward to Danielson-YAMATO as well, YAMATO is one of my favorite heels in the business today, he's such an evil fuck. Danielson had a great match with Naruki Doi last year in DGUSA, so I expect this to be about as awesome as that was, maybe even more so because of how partial I am to YAMATO.

Yeah though I know what you mean, Japanese commentary can get tiring after awhile. You should try seeking out this video tape series that Dave Meltzer and Jim Cornette used to do together where they'd watch classic Japan matches and commentate on them. Damn, I can't remember the name of the series for the life of me, but that sounds up your alley. Also there was a series of tapes with Japanese wrestling with commentary by Gordon Solie in the 80s, wish I could remember that one's name as well. Damn, I'll try to get back to you on that if I can.


So yeah, some thoughts on recent events in puro appear to be in order. I've just finished Day 6 of the G1 Climax, really good tournament this year thus far with some great performances by guys like Devitt, Naito, Kojima, Anderson as well as impressive performances from this new youngster by the name of Yujiro Takahashi, a name I think you'll be hearing alot in the future, had no idea who this kid was before this year's G1 but I've officially got my eye on him now as he's had some standout matches thus far with just about everyone he's wrestled in the tournament, shit he even got a pretty good match out of Bernard!

Standout matches in the tournament thus far for me would be Nagata-Nakamura from Day 1, Devitt-Anderson from Day 2, as well as Nakamura-Goto from Day 2 and Yano-Naito from Day 5. First two are probably ****, maybe more, while the latter two are both very, very good if not quite superb.

Also caught the big Kensuke Sasaki-Go Shiozaki match from NOAH on 7/24, pretty awesome match with Go showing the heart of a fucking lion just takin everything the old wily veteran Sasaki has to throw at him and he just keeps coming back and kicking out no matter how hurt and tired he is. Sasaki did finally take the win, which is understandable considering how rarely he wrestles in NOAH nowadays, but man did Go impress, gotta fucking love that guy, he is great at what he does.

On tap next I have Takashi Sugiura vs. KENTA from 8/5 which I've heard both great and mixed things about. Plus whole bunches of other jazz.

OH! And fucking stop what you're doing, and watch this DDT KO Openweight title match between the fucking MAN Daisuke Sekimoto and HARASHIMA, a match of the year candidate in my eyes, awesome AWESOME stuff, had it rated at ****1/2 stars:

​

Brilliant stuff. DDT is just so damn fun to watch, perfect mix of jaw-dropping wrestling, comedy, and sports-entertainment style to just combine for one big fat incredibly entertaining show every time out. I'd love to go see one of their shows, especially with the great YOSHIHIKO wrestling


Please...I'm begging you WZ puro-watchers...jump in! It's no fun talking puro to myself all the time.

 

[The Holy One]

X, you're not alone in the Puro thread just to let you know. It's been awhile since I watched my favorite Puro promotion, NJPW as I have been on a NOAH craze as of late. So I went searching for some recent matches/results (thanks for the first link btw), I found a decent one imo b/w the new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion and your favorite Prince Devitt and Hiroshi Tanahashi (obviously my favorite) in the G1 Climax Tournament.

Spoiler

[youtube]yEDlJvJmC5Y[/youtube]

[youtube]894w-FD0US4[/youtube]

It was an alright match imo. I was expecting a better match maybe a show stealer considering the talent of both guys but it wasn't bad in the least just dissapointing. I like the work on Devitt's leg by Tanahashi early in the match, they both played the face role well in the match, and Devitt definitely showed his athleticism but I was expecting a more faster pace of action than it was. I give it ***.

Some of Devitt matches that really gained my interest was his tags with Ryusuke Taguchi against the MCMG in 2009.

Spoiler

[youtube]ARwdkzU1hvA[/youtube]

[youtube]rvHOwuClWUM[/youtube]

A good tag match imo which really showed how good both teams really were if people didn't already know. It had a great blend of fast pace and high flying without being botched. I see know why 2009 was Devitt breakthrough year considering this is how it started. I give the match a *** 2/4.

Spoiler

[youtube]EXN0AHwi8mA[/youtube]
[youtube]6VQICMHESxg[/youtube]
[youtube]vqGc2g2Aezw[/youtube]

Now this was a great tag match. It actually suprised me that they could improve on the first one. None of the guys were slow or sloppy that you could noticed. They never slowed and the crowd was hot the entire time. Although it got a little stupid at the end with Devitt seeming to be invinceble to be pin. I still give this match ****.

Spoiler

[youtube]CT7cGI2QEsA[/youtube]
[youtube]Oe-wDzI3IHo[/youtube]
[youtube]_tySIfucWkw[/youtube]

I wasn't into this match as much as the second and first. I felt this match wasnt as exciting and the guys were much slower. I still think the match is pretty decent, but it just didn't keep me as interested as the second and first did. I give it a ***.

 

[X]

Some very good matches posted there Holy One, fine contributions. I thought the MCMG-Apollo 55 series of tag matches in '09 were CRAZY good stuff, right on level with the epic MCMG-Beer Money matches this year, sometimes better. What do you expect with four ace juniors in one ring at the same time? I'm glad Devitt was able to break out of tagging with Taguchi though and branch out on his own, 2010 has been his year in NJPW and I've been loving it.

Anyways, yeah, RANDOM PURO THOUGHTS TIME! Just finished watching the 8/22 NOAH show from a few weeks back, some interesting stuff indeed, here's a sample of some of the matches on the card I watched and reviewed:

NOAH
8/22/10 KENTA vs. Atsushi Aoki - ***
8/22/10 Taiji Ishimori/Ricky Marvin vs. Koji Kanemoto/Tiger Mask IV - ***1/4
8/22/10 Go Shiozaki vs. Shinsuke Nakamura - ***3/4
8/22/10 Takashi Sugiura vs. Jun Akiyama - ***1/2

Lots of good stuff, I probably underrated the junior tag title match just because I've seen so many awesome junior tag title matches lately that it's becoming incredibly hard to impress me in that manner, may have to re-watch that one later on when I'm not so burnt out on juniors tag matches. KENTA and Aoki had a good exhibition-y match that saw Aoki trying to take KENTA out with a sickening armbar but the veteran KENTA finally caught him with the GTS at just the right time and got the three in a very fun glorified squash match in KENTA's favor. I'd like to see these two working together more often, Aoki is one of the absolute best young juniors that NOAH has if not the best and I'd love to see him get put over royally by someone like KENTA or Marufuji, Aoki could be a real star for them if they play their cards right.

Shiozaki and Nakamura probably had the match of the night, typically excellent stuff you'd expect from these two with some really good submission work and psychology, very solid affair though not quite **** worthy.

Main event with Akiyama and Sugiura was pretty good, but was nowhere near the match they had together back in May. Bit dull during the middle part of the match, but the beginning and finish was structured so soundly and both men brought some stiff fire so I felt it was worth ***1/2.


Also earlier today watched the epic 60 minute KENTA-Marufuji match from October 25th, 2008. Hadn't seen the match since it originally happened and I thought it was amazing then, watched it again and it's even more amazing than I remember. Without a doubt the most exciting 60 minutes of wrestling I've ever seen in my life, you thought Bret and Shawn got dull with all the rest holds? These two guys go fucking full throttle nonstop for 60 minutes, no joke, it's an absolutely SUPERHUMAN effort from both men that simply has to be seen to be believed. I had no qualms whatsoever with proudly giving this match the five star rating, the second KENTA-Marufuji match I've had rated as such over the past 6 years. Just amazing, find it now, watch it, love it, own it, study it, praise it. Wrestling perfection.

So puro fans, what are you watching? Any thoughts on recent events, or matches you've just gotten around to seeing? Don't be afraid to ask questions or post whatever you want in this thread!

 

[PsychoBlack]

How do you guys watch Puro? Is there a Japanese channel or do you download it from the internet. I have been trying to get into it for the longest but i can not find any of the newer shows can someone please help me out?

 

[X]

How do you guys watch Puro? Is there a Japanese channel or do you download it from the internet. I have been trying to get into it for the longest but i can not find any of the newer shows can someone please help me out?

Internet. You can't really watch puro on your TV unless you've got a satellite and access to Japanese channels. Almost every major and minor show from the major promotions are usually uploaded online, there's a fantastic torrent site by the name of XtremeWrestlingTorrents you can use if you use torrents, it's without a doubt the best place to get pretty much any kind of wrestling online. If you don't do torrents, YouTube is another suggestion as all of the major matches are usually uploaded online.

Here's a good site to keep tabs on puro news:

http://representingpuroresu.wordpress.com/

You can find just about anything on the net if you look hard enough.

So I feel like shit for neglecting this thread for the past 2 months, but as alot of people now I've cut back my wrestling-viewing quite a bit recently. I've got the last 2 months worth of NOAH, NJPW, and AJPW shows on my hard drive though, so I will get around to them soon enough hopefully.

Oh, definitely check out the Shiozaki-Suzuki match from 9/11 in NOAH puro fans, definitely a match of the year contender. That's the most recent puro I've probably watched recently, but yeah, check that shit out. Infact I'll post it for you:


Excellent match there.

 

[PsychoBlack]

So i have been watching a lot of puro lately, old school and new. And, i must say that I am very impressed with Marafuji, KENTA, and , Hiroshi Tanahashi. I have yet to see a bad match from these guys and they are just so crisp in everything that they do inside of the ring, I have to say Tanahashi is my favorite at this point. As far as old school goes i am loving Kenta Kobashi. He's quickly rising among my favorites. The thing that i think is most special about him as that he can put you over while he still wins, because when he deems you worthy of the burning hammer you rise into a different level of star simply because he absolutely had to use it to beat you.

 

[Strong Style X]

Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards 2010

Best Bout: Ryusuke Taguchi & Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega (NJPW 11.10.2010)
How do you pick the best bout of the year when the year is filled with so many jaw-dropping matches? Is this my personal match of the year? No, and I'd have a hard time choosing one if it came down to it. Does this match deserve this award though? Hell yes it does. The crowd was HOT for this match, as Apollo 55 is probably the most over tag team in Japan right now. The Juniors featured in this match are without a doubt some of the best worldwide and they showed it in this match. This match was filled with intense excitement throughout. Extremely close near-falls, great teamwork, and an exciting yet meaningful several minute spotfest to top off the match. If you haven't seen this match, YouTube it. You won't be disappointed.

Most Valuable Player Prize: Takashi Sugiura (NOAH)
Takashi has been an unbeatable champion for just over a year now, he deserves this award. Although NOAH is slowly cracking in it's foundation since Misawa passed away, this man and several others prove that NOAH still has some of the best competitors in the world.

Best Tag Team Prize: Manabu Nakanishi (NJPW) & Strong Man (CMLL)
How these guys won is beyond me... they didn't even make it to the finals of the G-1 Climax. My vote would go to Apollo 55, as they've had a tremendous year as a Jr. Tag Team.

Outstanding Performance Prize: Suwama (All Japan)
Suwama's year shining as All Japan's ace wrestler really showed, as he came into a stronger form than ever before. Suwama is going to be a huge name in the business very soon as he is improving more and more daily.

Fighting Spirit Prize: Satoshi Kojima
Started the year as Triple Crown Champion in AJPW. Got injured. Jumped ships to New Japan in a well-received comeback. Wins the prestigious G-1 Climax by defeating one of New Japan's hottest prospects: Hiroshi Tanahashi, thus becoming the only freelance wrestler to ever win the tournament. Later went on to face Togi Makabe for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship... and won it. If that doesn't scream toukon; I don't know what does.

Technique Prize: Kaz Hayashi (All Japan)
Kaz Hayashi has been All Japan's World Junior Heavyweight Champion for nearly THREE years now. This isn't a fluke of a title run where he rarely defends his belt, nope. This man has been defending his title on a regular basis, defeating the best domestic and international Juniors. The legendary All Japan President Keiji Mutoh (who also wrestled as The Great Muta for those who aren't aware) even dropped his weight down enough to challenge for his belt and lost. Who can stop this Super Junior?

Rookie of the Year: Yuji Okabayashi (Big Japan)
I try my best to keep up with puro indy federations, but I haven't seen much from this guy as I don't regularly keep up with Big Japan or Yokohama Pro (the company he used to work for as Shining Tiger Big Buddy). But the Rookie of the Year award usually highlights who will become a big player in the business in years to come, so I'd start keeping an eye out on this one.

Joshi Puroresu Grand Prize: Nanae Takahashi
It's names like this that prove that Japanese female wrestlers aren't just pretty models, but tough-as-nails fighters. One of her biggest highlights of the year was Fuka Matsuri's retirement match, which Nanae won after a hard hitting contest.

 

[X]

My minor wrestling sabbatical has ended and I have returned to watching puro and other assorted goodies. Trying to catch up on everything I've missed since August, currently watching the 9/26 NOAH show and thoroughly enjoying the KENTA-Kanemaru title bout. I've got a bunch more NOAH and NJPW shows I want to watch before I can start thinking about any of those awards that Strong Style X so kindly posted.

I'll return with thoughts on the year in puro soon enough as I finish viewing the highlights of the last quarter of the year.

 

[Strong Style X]

Finally got the chance to check out Minoru Suzuki vs. Suwama for the TC Championship. Really good match! Suwama is slowly becoming one of my top favorites. His ability to sell a match reminds me very much of young Mutoh despite their completely different styles. Here's part one of their match, the rest can be found on the sidebar:

Backstory for puro noobs: Suwama is the leader of the New Generation Force (the future of All Japan) and Suwama himself is known as the "ace" of All Japan (which means that he will be the driving force in the company one day or already is). Minoru Suzuki is a creeper asshole who is a part of the Bi-Partisan Army which is made up of oldheads who want to keep their spot in the company. Suwama's first run as champion a few years back was considered a failure as he was still very green. Minoru on the other hand is a veteran but treats the championship belts with a lot of disrespect (similar to his feeling on the direction the company is heading).

[youtube]QXRU_eM3BuE[/youtube]

 

[X]

Some random thoughts on a few shows I watched this weekend:

NOAH 9/26/2010

Enjoyable show highlighted by a fantastic GHC Jr. Heavyweight title match between Kanemaru and KENTA, alongside a typically excellent main event between Sugiura and Shiozaki. Show just flew by and continued the hot streak of shows NOAH has been putting on since the end of the summer. Here are some ratings:

9/26/10 Kotaro Suzuki vs. Atsushi Aoki - ***1/4
9/26/10 Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. KENTA -
****1/4
9/26/10 Yoshihiro Takayama/Takuma Sano vs. Kensuke Sasaki/Katsuhiko Nakajima - ***
9/26/10 Takashi Sugiura vs. Go Shiozaki - ****

Right now I'm in the midst of finally getting around to watching the G1 Climax Finals from 8/15, just finished the absolutely amazing match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Go Shiozaki, which is a serious match-of-the-year contender. Easily had the match rated at ****1/2 stars, unbelievable intensity and athleticism from both men. I'll finish that show later on tonight.

Tons more NOAH shows I've got to get around to. Just wanted to drop some random show thoughts.

 

[Strong Style X]

What are your thoughts on Nakajima? I personally am loving this guy more every time I see him in a big profile match. My only complaint is that he's rather small (which isn't a bad thing but in Japan size matters a lot more than here in the States believe it or not @ new puro fans) and he'd probably get a bigger push sooner if he bulked up. His working skill is top-notch though, which is expected when you have a great like Sasaki as your mentor.

 

[X]

What are your thoughts on Nakajima? I personally am loving this guy more every time I see him in a big profile match. My only complaint is that he's rather small (which isn't a bad thing but in Japan size matters a lot more than here in the States believe it or not @ new puro fans) and he'd probably get a bigger push sooner if he bulked up. His working skill is top-notch though, which is expected when you have a great like Sasaki as your mentor.

Nakajima won me over with his series of matches with KENTA in 09, he's one of the best junior heavyweights NOAH has but right now everyone, even KENTA is second to Prince Devitt in the junior heavyweight weight class in terms of workrate. He'd probably get the nod from me as the breakout wrestler in Japan of 2010.

Satoshi Kojima and Takashia Sugiura also had great 2010's. Both guys broke out and established themselves as legit main event fixtures in their respective promotions.

 

[Strong Style X]

Nakajima won me over with his series of matches with KENTA in 09, he's one of the best junior heavyweights NOAH has but right now everyone, even KENTA is second to Prince Devitt in the junior heavyweight weight class in terms of workrate. He'd probably get the nod from me as the breakout wrestler in Japan of 2010.

Satoshi Kojima and Takashia Sugiura also had great 2010's. Both guys broke out and established themselves as legit main event fixtures in their respective promotions.

The very same matches won me over as a fan of his. As far as Kojima goes... I love the guy but can't stand him at the same time. His return has been kind of unremarkable past the G1 in my opinion and his matches have been fairly sub-par. I'm excited that Tanahashi will be facing him at the Dome and put the belt back on the ace who I'd much rather prefer as a champion. If Kojima is going to be an outsider he needs to heel it up a little more. He fits much better as a heel in my opinion. Speaking of Kojima, he recently announced he is opening his own agency (Kojima Office) soon. How original on the name, Koji'.

Okada returned to the New Japan ring today after his forgetful TNA venture. TNA doesn't know how to use international wrestlers at all without burying them but Okada did get something out of his stay: the dude is beefed up tenfold now.

Okada will return in the ring at Wrestle Kingdom V when he and Hirooki Goto take on the outsider team of Yoshihiro Takayama & Takashi Sugiura in what should be an awesome match and probably the one I'm looking most forward to along with Nagata-Suzuki who had a sweet match at the first WK. I just hope their match doesn't have a crappy ending to it like last time and goes a bit longer (which I doubt but I'm hopeful).

 

[X]

So I just finished watching Wrestle Kingdom V, AKA the annual January 4th show that New Japan holds in the Tokyo Dome to huge attendance numbers. To put it in terms an American fan might understand, it's like New Japan's version of Wrestlemania. This year TNA participated as they usually do, and for the first time I can honestly say the TNA guys dragged down the NJPW guys and the show in all. Jeff Hardy looked completely out of it, and RVD had a run of the mill American hardcore match with Toru Yano. Beer Money lost in an average fourway tag match as well. All of the best matches were either interpromotional with promotions other than TNA or full-on New Japan matches. Speaking of which, holy shit there were some good ones.

The first match I watched was Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki, NJPW vs. AJPW, in what was a match that totally blew away my expectations. I came in expecting a mildly entertaining match between two grizzled veterans, but what they delivered was a brutal STIFF contest that saw both men using their best stuff. A crazy good match for the mere 16 minutes it was given with tons of psychology, proper selling, and emotional wrestling. 2011 has only just started but this is thus far the best I've seen this month. ****1/4 easily and it can only be described as two cranky old Japanese men full of piss and vinegar throwing out everything they have and then some. Crazy stiff strikes in this one.

Next up I watched Prince Devitt defending his IWGP Jr. title against DDT's Kota Ibushi in what can only be described as typically excellent work. It's strange to call something as excellent as this match was average, but when these two get in the ring this is just average stuff for them, just another day at work. I'm underselling it obviously, bloody good junior action I had rated at ****.

Go Shiozaki versus Shinsuke Nakamura came up next and was the one that most people were looking forward to, for good reason. Another fantastic match here by two of the best in Japan right now, this was a near-classic match that I had at about ***3/4.

Next up the neverending Masato Tanaka-Togi Makabe feud, which as the name might imply, never ends. These guys have seriously wrestled each other like 750 times atleast, they could do the semi-hardcore brawl match in their sleep. Nothing particularly unique or special about this match, honestly it was kind of boring. **3/4 is as high as I'd go for the whole thing, blessed table spots and all.

And of course finally, the main event. Satoshi Kojima putting the IWGP Heavyweight title on the line against everyone's favorite ace Hiroshi Tanahashi. Another great match to round out the card as everyone and their mother knew Kojima was dropping it here but they still put on an excellent 20+ minute match that while not quite up to the same standard as the earlier matches, was still an easy ***1/2.

All in all another great Wrestle Kingdom event, the main events all delivered.

 

[The Holy One]

I didn't get a chance to watch Wrestle Kingdom but I read the results. Needless to say as a huge Tanahashi fan, I was extremely happy with him getting the title again. He may be the biggest Puro star today. I haven't found a match yet that isn't at least semi-exciting featuring him. I'm disappointed to see that the TNA guys didn't deliver like last time with Angle and the Guns. I thought at least the Beer Money match would be good.

 

[Richie Cult]

I am a fan of all wrestling promotions. Some more than others. When we North American's would get foreign wrestlers like Great Muta, Jushin Liger, El Parka, and Konnan to wrestle in our country, I found it really cool.
I DVR mexican wrestling every weekend because I get Telemundo. Don't know what they are saying, but watch anyway. Saw something HILARIOUS last week on AAA. You know that famous "Russian Dance" where it looks like the dancer squats down and kicks his legs forward alternating legs? Wrestler Alex Koslov (Russian gimmick-heel) had his opponent seated in the corner turnbuckles and was doing the dance in front of the opponent kicking the opponent with alternating legs. It cracked me up! That is what we can get by watching foreign wrestling.
I wish I had access to New Japan, NOAH, All Japan, etc. in the USA. When Dragongate USA comes to town, on a day that I am not working, I would like to see them.
Unfortunately, all I can do is watch YouTube and play my Japanese Playstation 2 games like King of Colosseum and Fire-Pro Wrestling Returns in order to get closer to Puroresu.
Good luck finding other fans!

 

[Strong Style X]

In reply to the last post, it's easy to get access to puro news and videos. I'd suggest YouTube for videos since it's easy to use, ivpvideos.com is great for purchasing as is Highspots (but you have to be careful if you're getting clipped or full matches when purchasing puroresu), and the best site hands down for puro results is purolove.com (might need to use google translate the first few times your there, but I don't need to because I understand what the results read w/o it).

In some slightly random news, in the next few years I will be opening an independent wrestling company and will hopefully be in partnership with AJPW as their American "cousin" so to speak. I have ties to All Japan via a training school and I will update you guys with anything that happens in the next few years. I'm hoping to bring some puro stars to the states. All Japan has a great roster and is stronger than it has been in years even after the big loss of Satoshi Kojima. I'm really hoping that Suwama, Minoru Suzuki, & Masakatsu Funaki are still around All Japan when I begin promoting and booking.