Tuesday, February 5, 2013

AJPW New Year Shining Series 2013 - Night 2 (01/03)

The Japanese Wrestling 2013 Match Rankings
http://briscoiswrestling.blogspot.com/2013/01/puro-2013-match-rankings.html

Osamu Nishimura vs Yasufumi Nakanoue [3/4*]
Not too much here, granted my feed freezes halfway through the match. Nothing interesting was going on when it went out and that didn't change when it came back in just in time for the finish. Nishimura wins with a backslide.

KENSO & MAZADA vs Andy Wu & SUSHI [*]
We get a comedy match which is right up SUSHI's alley but KENSO is the star. Before a dive he wins me over by doing many of Hulk Hogan's mannerisms, and not the normal poses you would think of. KENSO gets the pin after an elbow off the top rope.  

Kazushi Miyamoto vs Masayuki Kono [*3/4]
We get a pretty standard AJPW mid card match. Neither competitor does anything to really draw me in. The highspot was a quick knee from Kono followed by a top rope knee drop to the throat for the win.

Get Wild, Hiroshi Yamato, Ryota Hama & Suwama vs Keji Muto, Masakatsu Funaki, Masanobu Fuchi, Taiyo Kea & TAKA Michinoku [**]
We get another tag in the Taiyo Kea retirement tour. The ending was never in doubt as you had to know Kea was going over with the TKO, even the man on the losing end of the fall (Yamato) was never in doubt. There would be no reason to put Kea over the tag champs and Hama is too big to take the TKO. Suwama is the only opponent other than Yamato who could have taken the loss. The action was interesting, especially if you know the strengths of the wrestlers involved. This would have garnered a higher rating if there wasn't so much dead weight in this match. Michinoku, Funaki, Hama, Suwama and Yamato all did little more than a spot or two and did little to make the match more entertaining. Like I said I enjoyed this match just was hoping for a little more with those involved.

Akebono vs Joe Doering - Triple Crown #1 Contenders match [*1/4]
Being that this is for a shot at the famed Triple Crown Heavyweight titles I was expecting loads more than what this match delivered. First off it only goes 5 minutes and even super workers cannot deliver an impressive match in only 5 minutes. Sadly they do not even tease a Revolution Bomb spot, a move Doering has hit Akebono with in the weeks leading up to this match. This match is not loaded with strategy but it is power vs power and the former sumo wrestler wins after three splashes on Doering.


Junior Stars © vs Team 246 - All Asia Tag Team Titles [***3/4]
The tag title match starts slow but is molten hot by the end. This match was so good and included a couple of near falls that I completely marked out for, though I knew the Junior Stars retained. The last ten minutes are just pure action and this is a must see match. The Junior Stars retain with Tanaka's cross armbreaker. Definite recommendation. 

Seiya Sanada© vs Tomoaki Honma - GAORA TV Title [**3/4]
While this wasn't atrocious it was a far cry from the greatness that preceded it. Honma made this a brawl during the first portion, even going so far as to brawl into the stands and hit Sanada with chairs in full view of the ref, which did not draw a DQ. Homna's Tumeric Storm partner Miyamoto interferes only to be weakly carted off by Sanada's second. The match gets a lot better down the stretch with Sanada hitting an awesome RKO on a diving Honma and finishes the match with THIS IS IT to retain.

8-Man Battle Royal including Andy Wu, Hiroshi Yamato, Kaz Hayashi, Koji Kanemoto, Masanobu Fuchi, MAZADA, Shuji Kondo, SUSHI & TAKA Michinoku [*1/2]
The battle royal was okay, nothing great. There were some fun spots like the Fuchi elimination, but all in all it was very underwhelming. Yamato picks up the underdog win by pinning Kanemoto.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This is a one or two match show (depending on your thoughts of the TV Title match). There isn't much out side of the two title matches. Go out of your way to see the AA Tag Title match.

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