Daichi Hashimoto vs. Kohei Sato
Sato is the trainer at the Zero1 dojo and Hashimoto is a young boy with 2 years experience. Hashimoto is also son of Japanese legend Shinya Hashimoto. Sato spends most of the match no selling Hashimoto and giving him plenty of abuse. Somewhere along the line Sato gets busted open but that part was cut out of the match. Sato puts Hashimoto away with his High Angle German Suplex. Not much here unless you like a semi competitive squash.
Gokiburi Mask #1 vs. Jason Lee
There is absolutely no information on either of these two on Cagematch so I can only assume they are young boys from the dojo. Gokiburi's mask looks like that of an ant. He is a large, slow power wrestler that doesn't do much of note. Jason Lee seems to have a martial arts background and is by far the better of the two on this occasion. At one point Lee hits this Street Fighteresque combo in the corner which was different. Jason Lee is one I would like to see more from in the future. As a match this is another semi-competitive squash. Gokiburi did very little here, but he is very unhappy and cuts a little promo after the match. Lee is awarded a parchment of some type after the match.
"brother" YASSHI and Ken Tsuyoshi vs. Yoshikazu Yokoyama and Tank Nagai
Out of the almost ten minute match we get a disjointed 2 or 3 minutes. Sadly the best part is the comedy of Yokoyama/Nagai acting like The Steiner Brothers. YASSHI and Tsuyoshi resolve to using a kendo stick, which backfires. Yokoyama gets the pin after the Death Valley Driver.
Ryouji Sai and Ikuto Hidaka vs. Toru Owashi and Takuya Sugawara
Once again clipped and neither team seemed motivated to put any more than decent wrestling into the match. I don't know who to blame here, the only wrestler I am familiar with is Hidaka and he is awesome. It really felt like an American indy match you would find in a small town like Royston, GA. Hidaka and Sugawara have a little promo battle without mics before they lock horns. The crowd liked the promos at least. Hidaka ends this with Iwami Ginzan and like the entire card so far there is nothing to see here.
Akebono and Yuji Okabayashi vs. Maybach Beta and Tama Williams
While I liked Akebono's Triple Crown title defense a couple days later more than I should have, I did not like Akebono here. The only thing memorable these guys did was the three giant splashes Akebono gave Maybach Beta to end the match.
International Jr. Heavyweight Championship and NWA World Jr. Heavyweight Championship
HUB © vs. Mineo Fujita
This match felt like a true indy title match. There were a lot of moves but no sense of direction or story. Both guys are fluid with their moves just could not put the whole thing together and make the match memorable. Fujita is supposed to be a heel yet the fans would cheer him at times. At one point after a ref bump he dropkicks HUB in the balls which garnered the most cheers. HUB wins the bout after what I presume was a Chaos Break and he leaned so far back on the cover I thought we had a double pin. HUB retains the two titles that have been defended together since Sugawara "unified" the belts in 2012.
Zero1 World Heavyweight Championship
James Raideen © vs. Demon Ueda
Before the match there was a video package for Demon Ueda that was complete over the top wrestlecrap. It is a must see if you like that type of thing. Raideen is a New Zealander trained by the Dudley Boys and has the perfect WWE look. He is 6'5 with a chiseled physique and is only 22 years of age. He is everything the WWE looks for in new talent. Zero1 obviously has some trust in him because he is in the midst of the second longest title run in the titles short history. Masato Tanaka holds the record with a 307 day title reign. Raideen wins me over by coming out to one of my favorite wrestling themes of all time, Sting's NWA music. Ueda tries to make this match a brawl but Raideen settles this thing down to a power wrestling match. Raideen has horrible chops for a man his size. The match plays into the backstory of Ueda using mist to score a victory over Raideen in a tag match. Ueda has a great character but his offense did not leave a lasting impression on me. Raideen gets the victory after a High-Angle Powerbomb.
NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship
Masato Tanaka and Yusaku Obata vs. Shinjiro Otani and KAMIKAZE
The NWA Intercontinental Tag Titles date back to 2001 where a young Samoa Joe was one half of the first champions. The previous champs, Akebono and Sekimoto, vacated the championship on 12/30 and this match is to fill the vacancy. The match itself is by far the best match of the night. Three of the four participants can go. Tanaka and Otani bring the slaps, forearms, and of course face washes. The one thing I have been looking for all night is found here, Tanaka and Obata hurt a body part of one of their opponents and they continue working on it. Obata takes the violence well and is very fluid in the ring. KAMIKAZE is just horrible. He slides to a stop on the floor instead of taking the bump into the chairs as planned. Tanaka and Obata have KAMIKAZE on the ropes and there is no way he is coming back yet he gets a fluke backslide on Obata for the pin. I was not happy with this finish but Otani and KAMIKAZE become the 31st NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champions.
Overall Thoughts:
I was not a fan of the overall show. Most is pretty lackluster wrestling save the main event which was good enough yet not great enough to go out of your way to see. Thumbs down.
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