Essential Japanese Wrestling Discussion/News

The Rainmaker

The Rainmaker

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I guess we're watching the last days of AJPW. I thought the end was near when they gave the Triple Crown to Ryota fukking Hama :scust: but they now are like the #5 promotion (NJPW - Dragon Gate - DDT - NOAH) and everyone is leaving :francis: again. This time won't be no lifesaver.
 
Honga Ciganesta

Honga Ciganesta

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Dave better do a longer write up next week :ufdup: Or maybe he'll save it until Tenryu dies :patrice:

Genichiro Shimade closes out a 52 year athletic career on 11/15 at Tokyo Sumo Hall.

Shimade, better known as Tenryu, started sumo at the age of 13, and after that career was over, was signed to great fanfare by All Japan Pro Wrestling. He was a major star on the Japanese wrestling scene almost instantly from his sumo fame, but hardly rested on his laurels. By the mid-80s, Tenryu was one of the best pro wrestlers in the business, and worked at that level until well into his 50s. When naming the ten greatest stars in the history of Japanese wrestling, Tenryu would easily be on the list, either in the four, five or six position. The big three are Rikidozan, Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba, in that order. The next four, and people would argue the order, are Tenryu, Jumbo Tsuruta, Riki Choshu and Tatsumi Fujinami, although with hindsight no way can Tenryu be behind Fujinami, and for longevity as a worker, even behind Choshu, Tsuruta or even the more modern big names like Keiji Muto, Mitsuharu Misawa or Kenta Kobashi.

A lot of people rank Tenryu the highest but it is an arguable point, noting he’s the only person to pin both Baba and Inoki after they became legends, that he held both the IWGP title and the Triple Crown, and he’s the only person to have major singles matches in Japan against Stan Hansen, Bruiser Brody, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. In fact, Savage is best known in Japan for the fact he had a great singles match where he lost to Tenryu at the Tokyo Dome.

During his career he captured Wrestler of the Year honors in Japan in 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1993, and captured Match of the Year honors in that country eight times, for bouts with Tsuruta (twice), Hansen, Hogan (the famous match where Tenryu was supposed to win at the Tokyo Dome, WWF had agreed to allow it, and then Hogan refused to do the job the night of the show), Choshu, Nobuhiko Takada and Muto (a different match with Tenryu vs. Muto won the Observer match of the year award in 2001, when Tenryu was 51).

After leaving All Japan, he had major matches in New Japan and NOAH, as well as ran several companies, most notably SWS, WAR and Tenryu Project.

Tenryu, now 65, has what has been pushed all year as his retirement match at Sumo Hall, the arena he first made his name, when the most enduring old star in the country faces IWGP heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada, the biggest young star in the country.

The event sold out well in advance and will be airing live in movie theaters around Japan. New Japan World this past week announced they would be streaming the event, which starts at 1 a.m. Eastern time, or at the same time the UFC show is expected to end.

The show features a crazy lineup of both known and unknown wrestlers of various ability spanning different generations including those of his era like The Great Kabuki (who he wrestled more times than any wrestler during his career), The Great Kojika, Shiro Koshinaka, Choshu and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. There are also the top current champions from three different promotions in Okada (New Japan), Minoru Suzuki (NOAH) and Yuji Okabayashi (Big Japan).

The reality is that people probably won’t care all that much about most of the wrestlers on the show or any of the matches.

Terry Funk is also coming, although not wrestling on the show. Dory Funk Jr. was scheduled and canceled. Hansen may be there as well.

In addition, legendary guitar player Masayoshi Takanaka of the 70s Sadistic Mika Band, who after the band first broke up (they’ve had several reunion tours) became one of the most famous guitarists in Japanese music history, will be appearing. Takanaka wrote the non-lyrics song, “Thunder Storm,” for Tenryu as his ring entrance music in 1981. It remains, with Choshu’s “Power Hall,” and “Inoki Bom Ba Ye,” as one of the three most enduring entrance songs for a superstar in pro wrestling history. Takanaka will be playing the song live for the last time for Tenryu’s entrance.

The lineup has:

*Jushin Liger & Ryota Chikuzen & Gurukun Mask & Shigeno Shima & Dragon Joker vs. Onryo & Kuuga & Taru & Minoru Fujita & Yasu Kubota

*Great Kabuki (67 years old) & Kai & Buki vs. Great Kojika (73 years old, the oldest active wrestler in Japan) & Jun Kasai & Toru Sugiura

*Shiro Koshinaka (57) & Arashi (a former sumo) vs. Taiyo Kea & Yuta Aijima

*Ricky Fuji & Sanshiro Takagi (owner of DDT) vs. Kikutaro & The Winger

*Meiko Satomura & Tomoka Miyagi vs. Dash Chisako & Sendai Sachiko in a women’s match

*Yoshinari Ogawa (Tenryu’s protege from the All Japan days, now in NOAH) & Kendo Ka Shin (IGF) vs. Nosawa & Kennichiro Arai (Dragon Gate)

*Koki Kitahara (a Tenryu protege coming out of retirement for this show) & Ryuji Hijikata & Kotaro Nasu vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH) & Hikaru Sato (All Japan) & Kazuki Hashimoto (Big Japan)

*Riki Choshu (63, one of Tenryu’s all-time great rivals) & Tomohiro Ishii (New Japan) vs. Akitoshi Saito (NOAH) & Ryuichi Kawakani (Big Japan)

*Yoshiaki Fujiwara (66) & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Minoru Suzuki (GHC champion) & Kazunari Murakami (former MMA star)

*Suwama (All Japan) & Yuji Okabayashi (Big Japan) vs. Daisuke Sekimoto (Big Japan) & Kazuyuki Fujita (IGF). This not only matches up Okabayashi vs. Sekimoto, rivals for Big Japan’s Strong title, but it’s the first-ever meeting of Suwama and Fujita, who were both college wrestling stars who became name pros.

*Tenryu vs. Okada
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Bit on Rizin

Promoter Nobuyuki Sakakibara has been doing media interviews pushing that Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura (who has done MMA in the past), Kazuchika Okada (who may have done MMA secretly in Mexico) and Kota Ibushi (who is out of action with a herniated disc in his neck) should all do his show. Ibushi was a karate champion before pro wrestling, and at one point was going to fight in K-1 in 2006, but it fell through. His name was rumored for the New Year’s Eve show before his injuries. Obviously Tanahashi, Nakamura and Okada are not doing this show. Thus far there are four pro wrestlers, all of which have MMA backgrounds, announced for the show with Lawal, Tapa, Sakuraba and with 46-year-old Tsuyoshi Kosaka coming out of retirement.

The memories of how the popularity of Pride and wrestlers doing Pride generally hurt pro wrestling badly (although it did jump start Nakamura’s career as a star by doing MMA), has made Sakakibara hated by those in pro wrestling when he pushes to get wrestlers to come in and get beaten up. The feeling is that it has taken more than a decade from when the New Japan talent was brought in as sacrificial lambs on major MMA New Year’s Eve shows, and it’s taken this long to rebuild the business back to where it is now.
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How do you do MMA secretly :dwillhuh:

Akebono, one of the biggest names in sumo history, now 46, will be working one of the shows, as both Rizin and Kyokugen are attempting to sign him with Rizin seemingly having the edge. He was the Triple Crown champion for All Japan Pro Wrestling, but dropped his title last week and has left the promotion for the time being. Inside MMA reported Akebono against Bob Sapp, a rematch of the most watched fight in modern Japanese history. But this has not even been hinted about in Japan.

The shows are all about drawing television ratings and putting famous people in fights, or promoting weird looking matches, like Aoki vs. Silva, with the idea that the size difference will cause television viewers who aren't fight fans and have no real understanding of fighting, to be intrigued. The prime example was the 2003 fight with Akebono vs. Sapp, which drew 54 million viewers out of a total population of 128 million that year on New Year's Eve. It drew even more viewers that the Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki fight in 1976.
Click to expand...

:whew:
 
The Rainmaker

The Rainmaker

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Honga Ciganesta said:
How do you do MMA secretly :dwillhuh:
Click to expand...

Okada was beating sicarios and Maras in underground leagues controlled by carteles
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JK, I don't know
 
3Rivers

3Rivers

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NJPW World Tag League Schedule
11/21; 1:30 AM PST/4:30 AM EST

1) Mascara Dorada & BUSHI vs. Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu

2) Juice Robinson & Tiger Mask IV vs. Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels

3) Captain New Japan, Ryusuke Taguchi & KUSHIDA vs. Gedo, Michael Bennett & Matt Taven

4) Jay White, Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Cody Hall, Tama Tonga, Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale & AJ Styles

5) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano

6) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) EVIL & Tetsuya Naito vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson

7) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Shinsuke Nakamura

8) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI

11/22; 12:00 AM PST/3:00 AM EST

1) Sho Tanaka, KUSHIDA & Tiger Mask IV vs. Yohei Komatsu, Mascara Dorada & Ryusuke Taguchi

2) Jay White & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels

3) Gedo, Michael Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Cody Hall, Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson

4) Captain New Japan & Hirooki Goto vs. EVIL & Tetsuya Naito

5) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata

6) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yujiro Takahashi & AJ Styles

7) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) YOSHi-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada vs. Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale

8) Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Shinsuke Nakamura

11/23; 11:00 PM PST/2:00 AM EST

1) Jay White, KUSHIDA & Tiger Mask IV vs. David FInlay Jr., Mascara Dorada & Ryusuke Taguchi

2) Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu

3) Juice Robinson, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. Captain New Japan, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata

4) YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, SHinsuke Nakamura & Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody Hall, Tama Tonga, Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale & AJ Styles

5) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Michael Bennett & Matt Taven vs. EVIL & Tetsuya Naito

6) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels

7) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson

11/24; 1:30 AM PST/4:30 AM EST

1) Jay White, David Finlay Jr., KUSHIDA & Tiger Mask IV vs. Sho Tanaka, Yohei Komatsu, Mascara Dorada & Ryusuke Taguchi

2) Juice Robinson & Hirooki Goto vs. EVIL & Tetsuya Naito

3) Katsuyori Shibata, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Cody Hall, Yujiro Takahashi & AJ Styles

4) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels vs. Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale

5) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Michael Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson

6) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada

7) Michael Elgin, Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Gedo, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Shinsuke Nakamura

11/27; 1:30 AM PST/4:30 AM EST

1) Jay White, David Finlay Jr. & Tiger Mask IV vs. Sho Tanaka, Yohei Komatsu & Ryusuke Taguchi

2) Juice Robinson, Mascara Dorada, KUSHIDA & Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger vs. Michael Bennett, Matt Taven, Gedo & Toru Yano

3) Captain New Japan, Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto vs. Cody Hall, Tama Tonga, Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson

4) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. EVIL & Tetsuya Naito

5) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe

6) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada vs. Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels

7) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Tomohiro Ishii & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yujiro Takahashi & AJ Styles

11/28; 1:00 AM PST/4:00 AM EST

1) Sho Tanaka, Yohei Komatsu & KUSHIDA vs. David Finlay Jr., Mascara Dorada & Ryusuke Taguchi

2) Juice Robinson & Captain New Japan vs. EVIL & Tetsuya Naito

3) Michael Bennett, Matt Taven & Toru Yano vs. Cody Hall, Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale

4) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels

5) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson

6) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi & AJ Styles

7) Tiger Mask IV, Michael Elgin, Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii, Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazuchika Okada

11/29; 12:00 AM PST/3:00 AM EST

1) Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu & Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels

2) Jay White & KUSHIDA vs. EVIL & Tetsuya Naito

3) Juice Robinson, Tiger Mask IV, Captain New Japan, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Cody Hall, Yujiro Takahashi, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson & AJ Styles

4) Mascara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi, Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto vs. Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada

5) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale

6) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Tomohiro Ishii & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Michael Bennett & Matt Taven

7) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata

11/30; 2:00 AM PST/5:00 AM EST

1) Sho Tanaka, Yohei Komatsu, KUSHIDA & Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger vs. David Finlay Jr., Mascara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask IV

2) Michael Elgin vs. Jay White

3) Captain New Japan, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. Tama Tonga, Yujiro Takahashi & Bad Luck Fale

4) Juice Robinson & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels

5) Michael Bennett, Matt Taven, YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody Hall, Doc Gallows. Karl Anderson & AJ Styles

6) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano

7) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto vs. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan

8) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Tomohiro Ishii & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. EVIL & Tetsuya Naito

12/01; 2:00 AM PST/5:00 AM EST

1) Sho Tanaka, Yohei Komatsu, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. jay White, Mascara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi & KUSHIDA

2) David Finlay Jr. & Michael Elgin vs. Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels

3) Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. Tiger Mask IV, Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto

4) Juice Robinson & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL & Tetsuya Naito

5) Gedo, Tomohiro Ishii & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Cody Hall, Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson

6) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata vs. Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale

7) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Michael Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Yujiro Takahashi & AJ Styles

8) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano

12/03; 2:00 AM PST/5:00 AM EST

1) Sho Tanaka & Tiger Mask IV vs. Jay White & Mascara Dorada

2) Yohei Komatsu & KUSHIDA vs. David Finlay Jr. & Ryusuke Taguchi

3) Captain New Japan, Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Cody Hall, Tama Tonga, Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson

4) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano vs. Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels

5) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto vs. Michael Bennett & Matt Taven

6) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) EVIL & Tetsuya Naito vs. Yujiro Takahashi & AJ Styles

7) Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, Michael Elgin, Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii, Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazuchika Okada

12/04; 2:00 AM PST/5:00 AM EST

1) Jay White, KUSHIDA & Tiger Mask IV vs. David Finlay Jr., Mascara Dorada & Ryusuke Taguchi

2) Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu

3) Captain New Japan & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano

4) Juice Robinson & Hirooki Goto vs. EVIL & Tetsuya Naito

5) Michael Bennett, Matt Taven, Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody Hall, Yujiro Takahashi, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson & AJ Styles

6) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata vs. Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels

7) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale

8) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Shinsuke Nakamura

12/05; 1:00 AM PST/4:00 AM EST

1) Mascara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA & Tiger Mask IV vs. Jay White, David FInlay Jr., Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu

2) Tomoaki Honma, Katsuyori Shibata & Togi Makabe vs. Juice Robinson, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata

3) Captain New Japan & Hirooki Goto vs. EVIL & Tetsuya Naito

4) Gedo & Kazuchika Okada vs. Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels

5) YOSHi-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Cody Hall, Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale

6) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Michael Bennett & Matt Taven

7) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Yujiro Takahashi & AJ Styles vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson

8) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano

12/06; 11:00 PM PST/2:00 AM EST

1) Sho Tanaka, Captain New Japan, Tiger Mask IV & Yuji Nagata vs. Yohei Komatsu, Mascara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi & Manabu Nakanishi

2) Jay White & David Finlay Jr. vs. Frankie Kazarian & Christopher Daniels

3) Juice Robinson, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Cody Hall, Yujiro Takahashi & AJ Styles

4) KUSHIDA, Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Gedo, Michael Bennett & Matt Taven

5) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Tomohiro Ishii & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson

6) (World Tag League 2015 B Block) Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto vs. EVIL & Tetsuya Naito

7) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano vs. Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale

8) (World Tag League 2015 A Block) Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada

12/09; 1:30 AM PST/4:30 AM EST

ALL MATCHES TBD

1) (World Tag League 2015 Finals) A Block Winner vs. B Block Winner
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