Kenta Kobashi may have cancer.

On June 29, from NOAH's offices in Differ Ariake, Mitsuharu Misawa

dropped a bomb shell to the press, announcing that a four-to-five
centimeter tumor had been found in the right Kidney of Kenta
Kobashi. The tumor was discovered during a routine medical exam
on 6/22. The tumor was found during a CAT Scan. Right now, it
isn't known whether the tumor is malignant or benign. However,
Misawa grimly stated that cancer was a frightening possibility.
Kobashi will cancel all of his upcoming dates, including the 7/16
Budokan show where he was scheduled to team with the returning
Yoshihiro Takayama against Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama.
A statement from Kobashi was read, where he said he hoped that
his sudden cancellation wouldn't disappoint fans, and asked for
their courage to fight the tumor. He also apologized for missing
Yoshihiro Takayama's return match, and said that his aim was to
return to the ring as soon as possible. He asked fans that they
continue to support Pro-Wrestling NOAH in his absence, and
patiently await his return.
At the time of the press conference, Kobashi had already
undergone the procedure to remove the tumor from his right
Kidney, and was already resting at home. Unfortunately, the
severity, if any, of the tumor is unknown at the moment. Hopefully
more information will be known in the coming weeks.
Kobashi isn't necessarily new to career ending-threatening (Lifethreatening situations are an entirely different case, however.) In
2001, Kobashi took an entire year off to have reconstructive knee
surgery to repair serious damage from years of Moonsaults.
Kobashi returned in 2002, but suffered a relapse in his injury,
forcing him to miss more time before making his full return later
that year.
This is a blow to pro-wrestling fans world-wide, as Kenta Kobashi
represents everything we love about Japanese Pro-Wrestling. He is
the epitome of "Fighting Spirit", and has literally given his body for
professional wrestling and our entertainment. His never ending
courage in the ring is an inspiration to fans world-wide, and is one
of the true living legends in professional wrestling. Kobashi has
survived obstacle after obstacle through out his career, and has
come out on the winning end every time. Hopefully this will be no
match for Kenta Kobashi.

!!
Yoshihiro Takayama returns to Pro-Wrestling.
(Editor's Note: This article was written prior to the Kenta Kobashi
situation.)
For the first time since August 08, 2004, Yoshihiro Takayama will
return to pro-wrestling on 7/16 at the Tokyo Nippon Budokan for
Pro-Wrestling NOAH.
Takayama's last match was in the 2004 in New Japan's G1 Climax
tournament against Kensuke Sasaki. The match was no less than
hard hitting, and beat the hell out of each other for fifteen minutes
in what was one of the best matches in the tournament. However,
after the match Takayama had trouble standing backstage, and
eventually collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital where it was
feared Takayama had suffered a stroke. Thankfully, it wouldn't be
that severe, and would eventually be diagnosed as a "cerebral
thrombosis". Basically, there was a blood clot in Takayama's brain,
which was not allowing blood to flow to his brain. This is usually the
result of blunt trauma to the head. Which, Takayama certainly had
taken enough punishment in his career for this to happen.
Many point to the match with Kensuke Sasaki as the only cause for
this. But in reality, it wasn't one single match that caused this, but
years of taking damage to the head in pro-wrestling and MMA
fights. In 2002, Takayama had what is highly considered to be one
of the greatest fights in the history of MMA against Don Frye, in a
bout that consisted of both men grabbing each other around the
neck and punching one another continuously in the face for six

minutes straight. While one match wasn't the cause of this,

Takayama had a particularly hard week leading up to this. He had a
match against Takuma Sano in NOAH, where Sano dropped
Takayama vertically on his head with a Northern Lights Bomb. He
also had another hard-hitting match with Manabu Nakanishi in the
G1 tournament, where Nakanishi ended up dropping Takayama on
his head (notice a pattern, here?) with the Hercules Cutter.
Takayama will return in the main event of NOAH's 7/01 Budokan
show, teaming with Kenta Kobashi against Mitsuharu Misawa and
GHC Heavyweight Champion Jun Akiyama. Takayama had hinted
for months where he would return to, citing New Japan and BIG
MOUTH LOUD as possibilities. However, it was abruptly announced
on 6/12 that he would be returning for Pro-Wrestling NOAH. The
match itself is interesting, because it shows that Takayama has no
intentions of toning down his style, or intake of punishment. The
press has already been suggesting that Takayama could challenge
Akiyama for the GHC Heavyweight title. If that's correct, then this
match makes logical sense. If not, then it'll just be what it is.
It's yet to be seen just how active Takayama intends on being.
Even as a freelancer, Takayama was very active, working both
NOAH and New Japan tours. So far, Takayama has only announced
this match, but there hasn't been any indication that he intends on
slowing down at this stage. Well, Japanese wrestlers never have
been exceptionally bright.
Hustle Aid Results - June 17, 2006
It's funny how things seem to turn out. Two weeks ago when Fuji
TV canceled its contract with PRIDE, it looked like Dream Stage
Entertainment was on the ropes. Talk of a company restructure
followed, since the big money from the TV deal was no longer
coming in. DSE would now be forced to pay for the TV production
and fighter salaries out of their own pocket. So naturally, costs
would be cut, and changes would be made. It seemed as if the
most likely casualty of this entire scandal would be Hustle, which
has lost DSE money hand over fist since Hustle 1 in 2004. In the
weeks leading up to this turn of events, Hustle had been putting a
lot of time, effort and money into its upcoming "Hustle Aid" show
from the Saitama Super Arena. The show was set to air on Fuji TV,
using many Fuji TV personalities including Razor Ramon HG and
Carolyn Kawasaki (KAIYA). When Fuji TV canceled the contract with
DSE, it put a lot pressure on everyone to not associate themselves
with DSE for the time being. The big fear was that HG would pull
out of the show, because he's one of the top draws in Hustle. But in
the end, HG worked the show.
Even without free television, the show aired on Sky PerfecTV PPV.
There was a real fear that Sky PerfecTV (Who are partially owned
by Fuji TV) would give into pressure and remove the show from its
schedule. A meeting was held on 6/12 where the very issue of
airing the Hustle Aid show was discussed. In the end, Sky PerfecTV
agreed to air the show.
The attendance ended up being announced as 14,012 fans in a
building that holds at least 40,000. The smallest seating
configuration was used, so it didn't look as empty as you would
think. The show itself ended up being memorable in many ways.
Most of which was due to the unannounced main event that saw
the return of one of the most popular Japanese wrestlers in history.
The show opened with a literal song and dance routine from the
Hustle Army. Naoya Ogawa greeted the masses in a tuxedo. He
said, "Hustle 1 began from the Saitama Super Arena. Two years
and six months later, we've returned!"
1. Hustle Kamen Red, Blue, Yellow & Orange beat Monster Kamen
Purple, White, Black & Brown (9:52) after Red pinned Purple with
the Red Comet of Justice (Shooting Star Press)
- The Hustle Kamens have been a staple of Hustle since the early
shows. Often times they were the brightest parts of the shows. Last
time I was following Hustle in depth, there were only four. Now
there appears to be even more, including EVIL ONES~! The best

part about this is the colors they chose to represent evil. Purple,
White, Black, and BROWN~! HE'S BROWN BECAUSE HE'S EVIL~!
Okay, that's enough. The match is your usual Hustle Kamen
match, where they all work a fast paced style, using spot after
spot.
A lot, if not most of the Hustle Kamens are actually
Michinoku Pro/Toryumon X guys, so at least they can work the
style. The kids in the building were really into the match, so even
though there only about 15,000 people in a 40,000 seat building,
they're at least not suffering from a lack of heat. The evil Monster
Rangers dominated most of the match, picking on Red and Yellow
before they made the big comeback. Yellow used the CURRY
DROP~! (Top rope Bodypress... See, he's fat...) followed by the
Shooting Star Press from Red for the win.
A video was shown backstage with Naoya Ogawa starring at
TAJIRI's egg. Hustle has been egg crazy as of late, as "New Yinlingsama" recently hatched from one. TAJIRI then revealed he had an
egg as well, which would be a big tease through out the show.
2. Super Hustle Tag Team Titles: Erica (Aja Kong) & Margaret
(Amazing Kong) beat Wataru Sakata & Ryouji Sai (c) (10:58)
when Erica submitted Sakata with a Victor-Style Knee hold to
become the 3rd champions.
- Yes, a Joshi team beat an Otoko team. The funny thing about this
is they have Aja Kong, one of the most brutal pro-wrestlers of all
time (Both male and female) wearing blush and a pink and yellow
dress with white dots. But after all, Aja Kong wearing a dress is still
Aja Kong. The match actually had some logic to it (GASP), with
Sakata selling the knee through out the match, ultimately ending
tying into the finish. However, in between his limping, he was being
a complete dick to Erica and Margaret, even at one point hitting
Erica with a blunt Headbutt to the face. Sai served his purpose of
just being there, but he was mostly a non-factor in the match.
Sakata fought through the knee pain, and was getting offense up
until the finish, where Erica caught him in a rolling knee bar for the
tap out. They did a respect deal after the match. Sakata said that
he didn't want the belts to begin with, and told Erica and Margaret
to "make them beautiful."
3. Giant Silva & Giant Vabo beat "Captain Hustle" Naoya Ogawa &
KAIYA (9:56) when Silva pinned KAIYA with the Giant press.
- According to Wikipedia, KAIYA (Carolyn Kawasaki) is a former
model and actress born in Chicago. She's married to another
Japanese celebrity, Mayo Kawasaki. She came to the ring wearing a
black/pink cowgirl outfit. The gimmick Giant Vabo (Formally Hiroshi
Nagao of New Japan) uses is based off of Nagao's past Volleyball
career. He came down to the ring wearing shorts and carrying a
net full of volleyballs. They had a wacky angle before the match
where Anjo and Shimada apparently stole KAIYA's car (Or
something), before allowing Silva and Vabo smash the car with
sledgehammers. KAIYA was saddened by this. It should be noted
for historical purposes that they had "Relax, Don't Do it" by Frankie
Goes to Hollywood playing in the arena while this happened. Rarely
can you say that Naoya Ogawa is the best worker in a match. This
would be one of those times. Most of the match revolved around
KAIYA getting her ass kicked, with Ogawa doing everything he can
to rescue her. There was more unintentional comedy in the match,
as Vabo began beating Ogawa silly with the net of volleyballs. In
the end, Ogawa failed to save KAIYA, who was brutally smashed by
Giant Silva. Oops.
4. Hardcore Match: Bubba Ray, D-Von & Spike beat Kintaro
Kanemura, Masato Tanaka & Tomoaki Honma (20:33) when D-Von
pinned Honma after the 3D.
- Remember how I was saying the crowd was loving the first
match? Well, they REALLY loved this match. Hustle uses Kei Grant
(PRIDE's big match ring announcer) to announce the wrestlers in
English. This often results in hilarity, with this match being a FINE
example. The natives received a big pop for their entrance. The
one thing Hustle has done a great job in doing is getting over the
various gimmicks and such, including the TNR Dance in this match.
They were doing a gimmick where they were making Honma doing
push-ups and such before the match to pay his dues, which
included him doing push-ups in place of the TNR Dance during
"Come out and Play". Team 3D received one of the biggest pops of
the night, using their old WWE theme. They were announced as the
"HEROES of the WWE, ECW and TNA". 3D were so over that there
were fans in the crowd with Team 3D signs. There was more
hilarity to come. Kanemura even started up an "E-C-W!" chant,
which I'm sure made Bubba happy. Speaking of which, Bubba was
really into this match. He would no-sell Tanaka's forearms, and
shout "MOTHER FUCKER!" at the top of his lungs. Good times.
Bubba threw Spike off the ramp onto everyone on the floor. D-Von
and Kanemura fought all over the place, suplexing each other onto

chairs. Kanemura gigged big time in the match. There was one spot
where a bloody Kanemura wrestled a cheese grater away from
Bubba, only to grate Bubba's TESTICLES, in which Bubba shouted,
and I quote "OH MY FUCKING BALLS". The funniest thing about this
was you could hear Bubba calling the spot... Nay, SHOUTING the
spot to Kanemura. He simply goes, "Yeah, cheese grater!" before
the spot. There was also a spot where Spike dove off a ladder with
a Double Foot Stomp onto Kanemura, who was laying on two
barbed wire bats. Team 3D got the pin with the 3D on Honma in
what was a really fun match. More crazy Japanese hilarity came in
the form of a "HOLY SHIT!" chant. Well, I don't suppose you can
call it a chant if there's only one person shouting it. Bubba got on
the microphone after the match and called out all three Japanese
wrestlers before shouting, "GAMBATTE!" (Japanese roughly for,
"Keep fighting!") They autographed a broken piece of table and
gave it to a small child, who D-Von literally plucked from the crowd
and pressed over his head. The kid seemed to have no idea what
was going on. As the kid was leaving; and I am not making this up,
D-Von JACKED HIS HAT.
5. HG & Satoshi Kojima beat Sodom (Mark Jindrake) & Gomora
(Matt Morgan) (10:48) when HG pinned Gomora with a Diving
Bodypress.
- HG was billed as having an "X" partner for the weeks leading up
to the show. The big rumor was that New Japan's Hiroshi Tanahashi
was going to do a run-in and save his "college friend" HG, with
Inoki (Yes...) hatching from the egg we saw later in the show. In
the days before the show, a deal was arranged between All Japan
and DSE to have Kojima work the show. (All Japan was never going
to end up on Fuji TV, so why should they care?) The crowd was
into this a lot, and were solidly behind HG and Kojima. HG really is
a lot better than anyone would believe without seeing him. And
even with his workrate aside, he has the charisma to make it
entertaining in the ring. He has one spot where he parodies Otani's
face wash in the corner, by thrusting his crotch in the opponents
face, and another where he catches the opponent in a Triangle hold
over the ropes, but thrusting his hips up and down. Kojima looked
good, other than blowing his trademark elbow horrifically. Thank
god the Japanese crowds are more forgiving than the American
crowds. HG played the babyface in peril for most of the match.
Kojima made the save, giving Gomora a Lariat, before HG made
the pin with a Diving bodypress. Kojima asked HG to help support
the pro-wrestling community after the match, getting a big pop
from the fans. They are also building to some sort of confrontation
between HG and New Yinling-sama.
6. TAJIRI & "Hustle Achichi" Shinjiro Otani beat New Yin-sama &
"Monster K" Toshiaki Kawada (10:04) when TAJIRI pinned New
Yin-sama with a Schoolgirl.
- This was advertised as the "Main Hustle". TAJIRI and Otani
entered with TAJIRI's WWE theme. God bless Japanese copyright
laws. New Yin-sama is still Yinling from JOY TOY. Hustle did an
angle a few months back where Yinling had "retired" from ProWrestling, and left behind an egg that eventually grew and hatched
New Yin-sama, who is the daughter of Yinling. She wears the
weirdest ring attire you've ever seen, which includes leather, insect
antennas and a red Phantom of the Opera style mask over the right
side of her face. Watching Otani and Kawada slap the crap out of
each other almost makes me forget the fact that Toshiaki Kawada
is TEAMING WITH A SOFTCORE PORN STAR. TAJIRI was beaten
senseless in this match by Kawada. He hit him with kick after kick
after kick, with TAJIRI getting his quick shots in. TAJIRI was even
getting his ass handed to him by New Yin-sama, who at one point
began kicking a chair into his face repeatedly. And god bless him,
he pinballed for just about everything she hit him with. For the
finish, TAJIRI made the comeback, and ripped the mask off New
Yin-sama's face, revealing A LARGE PROTRUDING SCAR!
INTRIGUE~! She was flustered enough that TAJIRI was able to get
the cradle for the pin. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the end of
the night for Mr. Yoshihiro Tajiri.
Yinling appeared on the screen (So much for retirement.) and was
apparently angry at her daughter's humiliation. "Mr. Black
Mustache! (TAJIRI) Are you insulting my daughter? You will wait for
your revenge!" GENERALISSIMO FUCKING TAKADA then appeared,
and ordered Yuji Shimada to give him THE EGG~! (Shimada had
apparently stolen the egg from TAJIRI... I don't know how.) The
Generalissimo then used his MONSTER POWERS to transform the
egg! The camera cut, and returned the arena, where the egg, NOW
EIGHT FEET TALL was lowered down onto the stage. "Training
Montage" from Rocky IV then hit, which should have given most
people an indication what was inside of the egg. And from their
reaction, most already knew. The egg finally opened, and a robed
figure emerged with a hood over his head. In the ring, TAJIRI,

Otani, HG and Ogawa sold this like the Messiah had in fact risen...
And in many ways, he did. By the point the man was half way to
the ring, TAJIRI was ON HIS KNEES, almost looking like he was
praying. The figure finally removed the hood, revealing RIC FLAIR.
No, actually it was Nobuhiko Takada. No, actually it was "The
Esperanza"... who was played by Nobuhiko Takada. This led to...
7. The Esperanza (Nobuhiko Takada) beat TAJIRI (4:44) by KO
with a High Kick.
- The fans erupted for Takada. It was funny listening to the
Japanese announcers freak out, and have to act like they've never
seen that man before. Even when the crowd broke out in a "TA-KADA" chant, they still couldn't acknowledge that it was him. Keep in
mind that Esperanza entered to Takada's old theme, wore his old
robe, and used Takada's patented High Kick. This match was
bizarre. I think TAJIRI might have soiled himself. Esperanza acted
almost respectful, bowing (Well, I guess) to TAJIRI and the referee.
The "match" started with about twenty seconds of TAJIRI sizing
Esperanza up. TAJIRI finally got Esperanza in a top-wrist lock, only
to have Esperanza flip him onto the mat, with TAJIRI selling like he
had been slammed on hot granite. TAJIRI then got up and threw
HARD leg kicks, only to have them no-sold. And when I say nosold, I mean he acted like he was hit with a light feather duster.
Esperanza finally struck, retaliating with a leg kick of his own, in
which TAJIRI sold like HE HAD BEEN SHOT. He then proceeded to
RUNN IN THE CORNER AND COWER IN FEAR. I am not kidding. he
was CRYING. Esperanza continued to punish him with kicks to the
chest, with TAJIRI acting like he was dying. TAJIRI did manage to
coax Esperanza into the Tarantula. But that too was no-sold. TAJIRI
was so fucked, and he knew it. Esperanza then proceeded to drive
his index and middle fingers INTO TAJIRI'S HEAD. That was a lot
cooler than Umaga's Samoan Spike. A broken, battered, and
pathetic TAJIRI still made his way back to his feet. Esperanza
finally did the humane thing, and KILLED TAJIRI with the sickest
worked High Kick I think I've ever seen. The referee jumped in and
stopped it. Which was funny, because he felt the need to stop it
when TAJIRI was presumably dead, but not when he was crying in
a tear soaked turnbuckle pad in the corner... Ogawa and company
hit the ring and had TAJIRI stretchered out. There was a gag on
the show where Tokyo Sports writer Mr. Hiratsuka said that he had
seen a similar high kick at Budokan Hall 12 years ago (Referring to
Takada's UWF match against Koji Kitao.) Ogawa began shouting at
Esperanza. Esperanza turned around, showing no emotion. He
extended his hand out and pointed at the Hustle Army, and
proceeded to SHOOT THEM ACROSS THE RING WITH TELEKINESIS.
I swear to God. There was even an AWESOME "WHOOOOOSH"
sound effect. Really, that would have looked really bad had the
babyfaces not sold it right. Otani asked what had happened. HG
comically replied with, "Whatever it was, it has stirred up my Hard
Gay heart!" Esperanza was put over as the "Unbeatable Monster
Enemy". The aim is an eventual match between Ogawa and
Esperanza, it seems.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Manabu Nakanishi teamed with ZERO1-MAX's Takao Omori to win
the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team titles from Kohei Sato and
Ryouji Sai at Differ Ariake on 6/24. Omori got the pin over Sai after
the "Washington Treaty", which is a combination of Nakanishi's
McEnroe (Downward Lariat to the back of the knee) and Omori's
Axe Bomber. This was Nakanishi's first run with any title since
1999. Also that day, New Japan ran an angle where KAIENTAI Dojo
sent CTU a declaration of war for CTU's 2nd Anniversary on 7/30.
The show will feature CTU Rangers Red, Blue, Yellow, Green and
Pink vs. K-Dojo's MIYAWAKI, Daigoro Kashiwa, Teppei Ishizaka,
PSYCHO and Apple Miyuki.
New Japan's 7/02 Korakuen show will feature a one-night
tournament for the interim IWGP Tag Team titles. With Chono out,
the decision was made to arrange an interim champion team
instead of vacating the belts. The idea is to put the interim
champions against Tenzan and Chono when/if Chono returns in a
reasonable amount of time. If not, then I assume the interim
champions will become the legitimate champions. They are doing
an interesting angle by awarding the old IWGP Tag Team titles to
the winners of the tournament, which would culminate in a Double
IWGP Tag Team title match. During a press conference on 6/29,
they had a deal where Nagata suggested to New Japan President
Simon Inoki that the G1 Tag League be revived. The concept has
been a failure in the last couple of installments, so I wouldn't hold
my breath on that one. The show will also feature a "WORLD CUP
REVENGE~!" match pitting Minoru and Hirooki Goto (Japan) against
Hartley Jackson and Mikey Nicholls (Australia). Well, nice to see
nobody is bitter.

July 02, 2006

Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito vs. Takashi Uwano & Mitsuhide Hirasawa
2. World Cup Revenge ~ Japan vs. Australia: Minoru & Hirooki
Goto vs. Hartley Jackson & Mikey Nicholls
3. Koji Kanemoto, El Samurai & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jushin
Thunder Liger, Jado & Gedo
4. Tigermask IV & Wataru Inoue vs. Negro Casas & Black Tiger
5. Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan &
Black Strong Machine
6. IWGP Interim Tag Team Title Tournament - Semi Finals:
Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko
7. IWGP Interim Tag Team Title Tournament - Semi Finals:
Yuji Nagata & Naofumi Yamamoto vs. Togi Makabe & Shiro
Koshinaka
8. IWGP Interim Tag Team Title Tournament - Finals: Winner
of Match 6 vs. Winner of Match 7
New Japan's brand experimentations continued as Riki Choshu
promoted the second LOCK UP card from Tokyo. Fans generally
enjoyed what they saw, because most expected what it would be.
The key reason for this experiment is to gauge what fans want the
most. On paper, LOCK UP has been a bigger success than
WRESTLE LAND, having put on two generally good shows, while the
first WRESTLE LAND show left some people disappointed. But in the
long run, WRESTLE LAND is the brand that will succeed if promoted
right, as it has a far bigger chance of attracting casual fans. The
next LOCK UP show will be on 7/29, back at Shin-Kiba 1st RING.
"LOCK UP"
June 25, 2006
Shin-Kita 1st RING - 396 Fans
1. Hirooki Goto pinned Daisaku Shimoda (11:51) after a Backdrop
Suplex.
2. Takashi Uwano pinned Ichiro Yaguchi (13:06) with a German
Suplex hold.
3. Gedo pinned Osamu Namiguchi of ZERO1-MAX (13:46) with a
Superfly Splash.
4. Naofumi Yamamoto & Yujiro beat Ryouji Sai & Rikiya Fudo of
ZERO1-MAX (13:46) when Yamamoto pinned Fudo after a
Backdrop Suplex.
5. Togi Makabe pinned Daisuke Sekimoto (15:30) after a Lariat.
6. Riki Choshu, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii beat Kintaro Kanemura,
Tetsuhiro Kuroda & GENTARO (12:25) when Ishii pinned on
Kuroda.
New Japan's other brand, "WRESTLE LAND" will have their next
show the day after we go to press. The show is revolving around
the evil Makai Club President Kantaro Hoshino sending a trio of
assassins to fight the WRESTLE LAND heroes. In a video sent to the
New Japan offices, Hoshino unveiled his three genetically enhanced
fighters. First was "Makai Ray Cobra", who Hoshino claimed that
Ray Cobra had wrestled in Japan in 1987's, and has now returned
after having his DNA altered by the Makai Club... Second was
"Masked Hurricane", who's senior apparently had a rivalry with the
original Tigermask, Satoru Sayama. Now Masked Hurricane wants
to avenge his name sake by facing the 4th Generation Tigermask.
Finally, there is MASKED CANADIAN~! His story is that he
challenged Fujinami for the WWWF Jr. Heavyweight title in the
United States, and was promptly beaten. I guess he doesn't know
Tatsumi Fujinami quit.
"WELCOME TO THE TREASURE LAND"
June 30, 2006
Shinjuku FACE
1. Anywhere Fall Match: Tsubo Genjin vs. Gran Naniwa
2. Jado, Gedo & X vs. Toru Yano, Daigoro Kashiwa & Teppei
Ishizaka
3. Pegasus Kid II vs. Minoru
4. Edo Samurai & Tigermask IV vs. Masked Hurricane & Ray Cobra
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Masked Canadian
6. Togi Makabe, Tatsutoshi Goto & Super Strong Machine vs. Makai
Club team
At an event commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the infamous
Pro-Wrestler vs. Boxer match between Antonio Inoki and
Muhammad Ali, Inoki announced that he would be holding his first
MMA convention since 12/31/2003 on 9/01 from the Tokyo Nippon
Budokan. Inoki said that the show itself would be a formal
celebration of the Inoki vs. Ali match. Inoki's 12/31/2003 show is
rather infamous, for basically being the starting point for what has
now turned into the DSE Yakuza scandal when the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye
promoter Seiya Kawamata claimed that DSE, through the Yakuza,
were attempting to extort money from Kawamata for the services

of PRIDE's Heavyweight champion, Fedor Emelianenko (Who at the

time was a free agent.) Simon Inoki claimed that New Japan would
support the show, and even dispatch wrestlers to participate.
Wow... There is talk of using IFL and South Korean talent for the
show.
The company made a very surprising move by announcing the first
five participants in the 2006 G1 Climax tournament in August on
Wednesday. The participants themselves are surprising as well.
Announced are...
-

Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Yuji Nagata
Manabu Nakanishi
Hiroshi Tanahashi
Giant Bernard
Jushin Thunder Liger

The tournament will have ten participants this year instead of the
usual sixteen. Giant Bernard becomes the first gaijin to compete in
the G1 Climax since Brian Johnston in 2000. It's still 50/50 on
whether Chono will be ready to compete in the tournament. Along
with that, Shinsuke Nakamura will not be in the tournament, as his
American excursion has been seemingly extended. New Japan may
bring in outsiders for the tournament. Satoshi Kojima has publicly
stated that he wants to be in the tournament, but relations
between New Japan and All Japan are on the outs right now. Takao
Omori is another possibility due to the slowly growing partnership
between New Japan and ZERO1-MAX. Akebono is also another
strong candidate, but would be a political nightmare. To absolutely
no one's surprise, there is no talk of Brock Lesnar working the
tournament.
Pro-Wrestling NOAH
KENTA dominated in ROH's triple shot from 6/17 to 6/24. On night
one, he beat both ROH Champion Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe
in a twenty minute match by pinning Danielson with the Go 2
Sleep. He continued on 6/24 with a win over Roderick Strong,
before finally beating Austin Aries in twenty-one minutes on 6/24.
I don't understand the point in jobbing your top champion and tag
champion to somebody who isn't a regular worker for your
company. Well, at least they were probably good matches.
The GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team titles (Remember those?) were
defended on 6/24 for ZERO1-MAX's Differ Ariake show. The
champions, Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita retained over Takuya
Sugawara and Kagetora of El Dorado in a twenty-five minute
match, when Hidaka pinned Kagetora with the Misty Flip. They had
a deal where there was a referee from ZERO1-MAX and a referee
from NOAH. The NOAH referee took a bump while wrestling away
the BLACK BOX~! from Sugawara, allowing the ZERO1-MAX referee
to take over. Kagetora gave the Ikkitkousen and made the pin. The
ZERO1 referee counted the three, but the decision was overturned
by the NOAH referee, so the match continued, where Hidaka
pinned Kagetora with the Misty Flip (Sliced Bread #2). There was
no indication, if ever; when the belts would be defended in NOAH,
or against a NOAH team.
NOAH's next TV taping will be on 7/01 at Differ on Nippon
Television. On top is a fun looking match, with Kobashi, Honda and
Kikuchi facing Rikio, Marufuji and KENTA. In the semi final, GHC Jr.
Heavyweight champion Jun Akiyama will team with Yoshinobu
Kanemaru against Akira Taue and Ricky Marvin. I wonder who's
dropping the fall in that match. AAA will also sent some wrestlers to
work the July tour... Not very good wrestlers, unfortunately.
July 01, 2006
Tokyo Differ Ariake
1. Go Shiosaki vs. Akihiko Ito
2. Mitsuo Momota & Yoshinori Ota vs. Masao Inoue & SUWA
3. El Angel, El Oriental & Taiji Ishimori vs. Abismo Negro, Psicosis
& Charley Manson
4. Takuma Sano & Atsushi Aoki vs. Takashi Sugiura & Kotaro
Suzuki
5. Takeshi Morishima & Muhammed Yone vs. Junji Izumida &
Kentaro Shiga
6. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Akitoshi Saito & Kishin
Kawabata
7. Jun Akiyama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Akira Taue & Ricky
Marvin
8. Kenta Kobashi, Tamon Honda & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Takeshi
Rikio, Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA
NOAH

also

announced

another

match

in

addition

to

the

Akiyama/Misawa vs. Kobashi/Takayama match. Mushiking Terry

(Kotaro Suzuki) will return for one-night only on the show.
Coincidentally, also will Mushiking Joker (Ricky Marvin). I would
expect a title match or two to be added soon. NOAH decided to run
the Budokan instead of the Tokyo Dome this year due to not having
a match they'd have faith in drawing. The first two Tokyo Dome
shows had tremendous appeal (Misawa/Ogawa vs. Muto/Kea in
2004, and Misawa vs. Kawada in 2005). Even with Takayama's
return, they need something else to bring in fans. A tag title match
is impossible, since Kobashi is in the main event. A Jr. Heavyweight
title defense from Sugiura makes the most sense, or even a
defense from Hidaka and Fujita. But knowing NOAH, they'll just
throw Scorpio vs. somebody for the Hardcore Openweight title.
July 16, 2006
Tokyo Nippon Budokan
1. Mushiking Terry, El Angel & Taiji Ishimori vs. Mushiking Joker,
Psicosis & Charley Manson
2. Jun Akiyama & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi & Yoshihiro
Takayama
All Japan Pro-Wrestling
All Japan will run a Hiroshi Hase retirement show from the Tokyo
Ryogoku Kokugikan (Sumo Hall) on 8/27. The show will be All
Japan's biggest card since 12/04/2004 with Toshiaki Kawada
defending the Triple Crown against New Japan's Hiroyoshi Tenzan
on top. Hase, who has been semi-retired from pro-wrestling for
several years will finally retire for good, so that he can put more
time behind his political efforts. Hase's opponent hasn't been
confirmed as of yet, but they are currently hinting that Hase will
face TARU, or another member of Voodoo Murders. Satoshi Kojima
(barring he gets past Taiyo Kea on 7/03) will defend the Triple
Crown against Minoru Suzuki. The press is also teasing a possible
match between The Great Muta (Keiji Muto) and Tatsumi Fujinami.
Though it's nothing but speculation at this point. The current
rumors among Japanese fans is DSE/Hustle will somehow lend a
hand with the show. The show, with these three matches and a
solid undercard has the potential to sell out. But in All Japan's last
couple of attempts, they've failed to max out the building. So we'll
see what happens.
All Japan has started a business tie-in with Sanrio, who are behind
the extremely popular Hello Kitty product line. Sanrio's
Representative Director Kunihiko Tsuji said that he wanted to use
pro-wrestling to encourage physical education and awareness in
children. Muto and Tsuji also announced a "committee system" for
All Japan. The committee basically involves various members of
different businesses and would serve as a mediator to tie All Japan
into more modern genres of entertainment. Muto said the effects
would be seen on 8/27 at Sumo Hall. A reporter jokingly asked
Muto if he would fight Hello Kitty... Now THAT's an idea. On the
same day, The press ran an angle where Minoru Suzuki was
training the Tokyo Gurentai (MAZADA and Katsushi Takemura.
NOSAWA was MIA, citing stomach flu...) in Pancrase's Tokyo dojo.
Suzuki stretched both men out, teaching them various submission
holds and techniques. The angle was used to push their match as a
team on the 6/25 Korakuen show. Which leads us to...
All Japan kicked off their CROSSOVER series from Korakuen Hall,
drawing a good sized crowd. The show had a lot of push behind it
from the company, who could have one of their best seasons if
everything is pushed right. The show featured the start of a
tournament between the Jr. Heavyweight wrestlers, with the winner
I believe getting a shot at Shuji Kondo's Jr. Heavyweight title. Well,
that SHOULD be the prize, at least. Takemura won over Virus in a
lucha-themed match to earn two points. Hijikata beat "brother"
YASSHI in somewhat of an upset. Hijikata KO'd YASSHI with a High
Kick very early in the match. The gimmick appears to be that
YASSHI is fighting as a serious wrestler (Wearing plain black
trunks, etc_, only to be beaten in humiliating ways. That's just my
guess, so we'll see. He has since then changed his name from
"brother" YASSHI to "strong" YASSHI. Kaz Hayashi beat TAKA
Michinoku in probably the biggest match of the tournament. The
two went long, finishing with 125 seconds left in the match. Minoru
Suzuki and the Tokyo Gurentai were also victorious over Kensuke
Family + Raijin. NOSAWA (despite not being present for Suzuki's
training sessions) pulled out an Achilles tendon hold to submit
Raijin. Suzuki and Sasaki continued their feud that will never,
never, ever end. As long as they never have another singles match
again, I can tolerate it. Former WWE wrestler Rosey also debuted
with the company as "RO'Z". RO'Z is yet another member of RO&D,
and teamed in the main event against All Japan Ace Satoshi Kojima
and Krispy Kreme Ace Arashi. As you should expect, RO'Z was put
over strong, getting the pin over Arashi. The company's next big

show is 7/03 at the Ota-ku Gymnasium in Tokyo, where Satoshi

Kojima will defend the Triple Crown against Kea.
June 25, 2006
Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 1,850 Fans (No Vacancy)
1. Masanobu Fuchi & Nobukazu Hirai beat Nobutaka Araya &
Kikutaro (9:00) when Hirai pinned Kikutaro following the Hirai End.
2. Jr. Heavyweight League - B Block: Katsushi Takemura [2]
pinned Virus [0] (10:32) after the M9.
3. Jr. Heavyweight League - A Block: Ryuji Hijikata [2] beat
"strong" YASSHI [0] (3:24) by referee stoppage.
4. Jr. Heavyweight League - A Block: Kaz Hayashi [2] pinned
TAKA Michinoku [0] (28:05) after the Final Cut.
5. Minoru Suzuki, NOSAWA Rongai & MAZADA beat Kensuke
Sasaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Akira Raijin (15:53) when NOSAWA
submitted Raijin with an Achilles Tendon hold.
6. TARU, Suwama & Shuji Kondo beat Keiji Muto, Yutaka Yoshie &
Brute Issei (15:15) when Suwama pinned Issei following a Lariat.
7. Taiyo Kea & RO'Z (Rosey) beat Satoshi Kojima & Arashi (15:47)
when RO'Z pinned Arashi following a Diving Guillotine drop.
Speaking of which, the Ota-ku show is currently looking like this.
July 03, 2006
Ota-ku Gymnasium
1. Jr. Heavyweight League - Finals: Winner of A Block vs.
Winner of B Block
2. Arashi, Yutaka Yoshie & Brute Issei vs. TARU, Suwama & Shuji
Kondo
3. Kensuke Sasaki vs. "strong" YASSHI
4. Keiji Muto team vs. Minoru Suzuki team
5. Triple Crown: Satoshi Kojima (c) vs. Taiyo Kea
The CROSSOVER tour followed up in the Ibaraki prefecture,
claiming 750 fans. The Jr. Heavyweight league continued, with
Katsuhiko Nakajima going to a 30-minute draw with MAZADA,
giving them each one point. TAKA Michinoku redeemed himself
after losing to Hayashi on 6/25 with a win over "strong" YASSHI.
RO'Z continued to get the Jamal treatment by picking up the pin in
a tag match with Taiyo Kea against Minoru Suzuki and NOSAWA
Rongai. RO'Z got the pin over NOSAWA with a Running bodypress.
Voodoo Murders went over Kojima, Kensuke and Hirai in the semifinal, with Suwama submitting Hirai with the "Voodoo Lock" (A
modified ankle hold). The main event was somewhat of an upset,
with "Team Debu (Fat)" Arashi, Yutaka Yoshie and Brute Issei
beating Keiji Muto, AKIRA and Kaz Hayashi, with Brute pinning
AKIRA with the Reverse Splash.
Next show was in Hachinohe drawing 1,450 fans. In the Jr.
Heavyweight tournament, Katsushi Takemura beat MAZADA with a
cradle, giving him four points in total so far. Katsuhiko Nakajima
picked up his first win in the tournament over Virus, giving him
three points so far. Kaz Hayashi ran through YASSHI in 3:28 with
the WA4. Arashi and Yoshie continued their big push with a win
over Minoru Suzuki and NOSAWA. Voodoo Murders also picked up a
win over Muto, AKIRA and Araya. Kojima, Kensuke and Hijikata got
the win in the main event, over the RO&D team of Taiyo Kea, RO'Z
and TAKA Michinoku.
The tournament breaks down like this: In the A Block, If Hayashi
beats Hijikata, then Hayashi will advance. If Hijikata beats Hayashi
and either draws or beats TAKA, he will advance. I believe TAKA is
eliminated, because even if Hijikata beats Hayashi, and TAKA beats
Hijikata, he'd still be tied with Hayashi. And by traditional round
robin rules, Hayashi would win the tournament for having beaten
TAKA on 6/25. The B Block is much simpler, as its a two-man race,
and will be decided on 7/01 between Katsushi Takemura and
Katsuhiko Nakajima. Whoever wins will advance to the finals.
However, if the match goes to a draw (Unlikely), Takemura will still
advance.
Fighting Opera Hustle
Hustle will run two shows in July. Both will have a tribute theme for
Shinya Hashimoto called, "Hustle King Forever". Hustle 18 will take
place on 7/09 from the Pacifico Yokohama National Hall, with
Hustle House Vol. 17 taking place on 7/11 from Korakuen Hall. The
main event of Hustle 18 will be "Captain Hustle" Naoya Ogawa and
TAJIRI facing The M-Peranza (Esperanza) and "Monster K" Toshiaki
Kawada.
Also, a "Hustle King Memorial" six-man tag team tournament will
be held over both shows. Teams include...
- Team Hustle King ("Hustle Achichi" Shinjiro Otani, Masato Tanaka

& Tadao Yasuda)

- Hardcore Brothers (Kintaro Kanemura, Tetsuhiro Kuroda &
Tomoaki Honma)
- Team Young Hustle (Ikuto Hidaka, Hirotaka Yokoi & Osamu
Namiguchi)
- Team 6M (Kohei Sato, Giant Vabo & Gomora)
- KATAKARI, X & X
- Genichiro Tenryu, Wataru Sakata & Ryouji Sai
The winners of the tournament will be presented with a golden
afro.
DRAGON GATE Pro-Wrestling
At the time of writing, DRAGON GATE's next show will be on 7/02
from Kobe World Hall. Annually, it's DRAGON GATE's biggest show
of the year. They should do a good number, considering how
strong the company is in the Hyogo region. They've brought in a lot
of outsiders, as they usually do for World. But still, the card leaves
a little to be desired. They only have one title match booked out of
three titles, and it isn't even necessarily a fresh match people will
want to go out of their way to see. They're trying to appeal to more
casual fans by booking guys like Tenryu and Suzuki on the show,
so that's the reason they're on the show. It isn't really a bad idea,
because DRAGON GATE has done a decent job using Tenryu so far,
as it gives them a sense of credibility outside of their fan base of
hormone crazy women and gay people. The idea for putting CIMA
and Kishiwada above the title match is that while the title match is
the actual on-card "main event", putting a no-ropes match before
the main event would cause a heavy delay to take down the ropes
for the match, and then put them back on for the main event. So
they're treating it as a "bonus match".
"KOBE Pro-Wrestling Festival 2006"
July 02, 2006
Kobe World Hall
1. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi & The Turboman vs. Super Shisa,
King Shisa & Shisa Boy
2. K-ness & Kenichiro Arai vs. Akira Tozawa & Takayuki (Anthony
W.) Mori
3. BxB Hulk vs. Dos Caras
4. Shingo Takagi vs. Yutaka Yoshie
5. Revolution Special Match: Magnum TOKYO & Genichiro
Tenryu vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Minoru Suzuki
6. Yasushi Kanda, Don Fujii, Matt Sydal, Jack Evans & Roderick
Strong vs. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, Naoki Tanisaki, Gamma &
Dr. Muscle
7. Open the Dream Gate Title: Susumu Yokosuka (c) vs. Dragon
Kid
8. No Ropes Match: CIMA vs. Magnitude Kishiwada
DRAGON GATE wrestlers return to the United States next month for
the "DG Impact" show on 7/21. The show is being put together by
both DRAGON GATE and Sumie Sakai. The only actual DRAGON
GATE wrestlers announced for the show are CIMA, Shingo Takagi
and BxB Hulk. The rest of the show is made up of various East
coast indy guys from ROH and CZW. CIMA and Genki Horiguchi will
also work on the West coast for Pro-Wrestling Guerrilla's Battle of
Los Angeles tournament in September. CIMA will face M-Dogg 20,
while Horiguchi will face Chris Hero in the first round.
They ran the final show before 7/02 in Koshigaya in front of a novacancy crowd of 820. They did an angle where Tomoaki Kinta
(Heel ref for Muscle Outlaw'z) stole Yasushi Kinta's ring outfit,
saying he can't wrestle on 7/02 without it. The rumor is that Kanda
will formally join Blood Generation at Kobe World Hall and debut
new ring attire. Anthony W. Mori is also doing a gimmick where he
is a part of the Tozawa-juku and Pos. Hearts units. He'll keep his
"Anthony W" name when teaming with Pos. Hearts, but will wrestle
under his real name of "Takayuki Mori" when wrestling for Tozawajuku. They also had Katsuo join Tozawa-juku rather abruptly.
Susumu pinned Dragon Kid in the main event, which makes no
sense to me unless Kid is going over on 7/02. And that itself would
also make no sense. They're teasing a feud between Susumu and
Naruki Doi already, so he'll probably be the next challenger after
Kid, which isn't the worst idea.
Pro-Wrestling ZERO1-MAX
The biggest news coming out of the company was the announced
participants of the 2006 Fire Festival tournament. ZERO1-MAX is
claiming that the tournament is being sponsored by the AWA, and
dubbing it the "AWA World GP - Fire Festival 2006". The
tournament will run from 7/20 to 7/29, and will start and end at
Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Participants include...

A Block:
- Shinjiro Otani
- Masato Tanaka
- Yutaka Yoshie
- Kazunari Murakami
- Tomoaki Honma
B Block:
- Takao Omori
- Kohei Sato
- Ryouji Sai
- Tatsutoshi Goto
- Daisuke Sekimoto
This has the potential to be a really good tournament, with a lot of
fresh matches. The company has already been doing heat-up
angles between Otani and Murakami of BML, so that will be a large
focus point of the tournament. The A Block has almost no possible
bad matches, and should be really entertaining. The B Block has its
issues, but it still has a solid lineup. The only name I question is
Goto, but I suppose it never hurts to have a seasoned veteran in
there. Tanaka and Omori are the two logical choices to win the
tournament, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Otani or Sato in the
finals. Otani won the first two tournaments, but he seems to know
when to push himself and when not to for the past couple of years.
However, somebody like Tanaka or Kohei Sato (Despite winning in
2004) could use the push.
The company ran a show from Differ Ariake in Tokyo, drawing a
crowd of 1,100. The show had three title matches all together.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa won the WWA World Welterweight title from
Katsuhiko Nakajima. Takaiwa went insane and beat the hell out of
Nakajima with chops, lariats, a top rope Brainbuster, and a top
rope Death Valley Bomb. As noted earlier, New Japan's Manabu
Nakanishi and Takao Omori became the NWA Intercontinental Tag
Team champions with a win over Kohei Sato and Ryouji Sai.
Surprisingly, they allowed the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team titles
to headline the show, with Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita retaining
in their V2 defense against El Dorado's Kagetora and Takuya
Sugawara (Who is the company's Jr. Heavyweight champion.) A
report of that match can be found in the NOAH section. They also
had a big match promoting the return of Shinzuke "Z" Yamagasa
from America, where he teamed with Shinjiro Otani against Masato
Tanaka and Kensuke Sasaki. Kensuke and Otani fought outside,
while Tanaka got the Katahajime on Yamagasa for the tap out.
They also did a deal where they publicly announced the Fire
Festival participants. They were all given the opportunity to talk,
but that led to a bunch of fighting. President Yoshiyuki Nakamura
(Who in storyline is suspended from ZERO1-MAX) appeared and
turned heel by spitefully sending Kazunari Murakami to invade the
Fire Festival, so he will also participate.
June 24, 2006
Tokyo Differ Ariake - 1,100 Fans
1. Isami & 726 beat Yuko Miyamoto & Kazuhiro Tamura (9:22)
when Isami pinned Tamura after the Wolfsbane.
2. Hirotaka Yokoi submitted Fuyuki Takahashi (7:18) with a Cross
Armbreaker.
3. GENTARO & Munenori Sawa beat Kamikaze & Osamu Namiguchi
(12:50) when GENTARO pinned Namiguchi with the Shooting Star
press.
4. Rikiya Fudo pinned Steve Corino (9:53) with the U-39.
5. WWA World Welterweight Title: Tatsuhito Takaiwa pinned
Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) (15:20) after a Lariat to become the 38th
champion.
6. Shinsuke "Z" Yamagasa Return Match: Kensuke Sasaki &
Masato Tanaka beat Shinjiro Otani & Shinsuke "Z" Yamagasa
(13:36) when Tanaka submitted Yamagasa with a modified
Tazmission.
7. NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Titles: Takao Omori &
Manabu Nakanishi beat Kohei Sato & Ryouji Sai (c) (15:07) when
Omori pinned Sai after the Washington Treaty to become the 17th
champions.
8. GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Ikuto Hidaka &
Minoru Fujita (c) beat Takuya Sugawara & Kagetora (25:56) when
Hidaka pinned Kagetora after the Misty Flip in their V2 defense.
Dramatic Dream Team
DDT ran a big show from Shinjuku FACE, claiming a sell out crowd
of 509. The gimmick of the show was that every match had a title
at stake. For most companies, this would be sheer overkill. But it
was just weird enough for DDT. The show started with FUCK!'s
(Fighting Ultimate Crazy Kings) U-30 "Internatural" title on the line,
with FUCK! wrestler Mammoth Handa defending against Mitsuya

Nagai (Formally of New Japan). The match had a weird gimmick

where Sanshiro Takagi appeared as the referee. The rules were
bizarre, where Takagi stated that after a fall is counted, the winner
had to answer some sort of question. When Nagai submitted Handa
with a Cross Knee hold, Takagi asked him who the current Prime
Minister of Japan was. When Nagai answered with the correct
answer, "Junichiro Koizumi", he was awarded the win. I would
assume the "U-30" implies that the belt is for wrestlers under the
age of 30. The funny thing is Nagai is 38. Then again, maybe it's
for people under a 30 IQ. Nagai said the belt was "shitty", but a
true champion would defend it proudly to raise its worth. Touru
Owashi's new "DISASTER-BOX" heel army won the Jiyugaoka SixMan tag team titles over KUDO and Seiya Morohashi and rookie
Masami Morohashi (Seiya's brother). Owashi formed the unit earlier
in the month where Michael Nakazawa, Danshoku Dino, Muscle
Sakai and Yusuke Inokuma competed in a battle royal, where they
all changed their names slightly (Mostly adding "Ma" somewhere
into their name, which means "Evil Spirit") They were all allowed to
join. They also had a boxing match on the show between "Jet"
Shogo (Takagi) and Tanomusaku Toba for Jet's created title. Jet
retained his title, but started to complain about stomach pains,
which would be an angle played out during the show. They also
brought back the Iron Man Heavy Metal title, which is contested
under WWF's old "24/7" rule for the Hardcore title. DDT had
dropped the belt for some time, but decided to bring it back for the
show. The belt is something of Internet folk lore due to the fact
that its been won by wrestlers, monsters, robots, MONKEYS, and
inanimate objects (MIKAMI's ladder is a two-time champion.) They
had a title change backstage where Masahiro Takanashi won the
title from someone named "Mecha Stanly", who is a robot... This
led to a time limit battle royal involving Daichi Kakimoto, Michael
Nakazawa, MIKAMI, Masahiro Takahashi and a couple of surprises.
One of the surprises was Mango Fukuda from Michinoku Pro, who
was in the lobby of the building for no apparent reason, and he
ended up winning the belt. Everyone in the match won the belt, but
the only way to win was to be the one holding the title when the
ten-minute time limit expired. As Fukuda was escaping with the
belt, he was attacked by the MECHA MUMMY~! Yes, a robot
mummy... Or maybe a mummified robot... I'm not sure. The
Mummy came to the ring and proceeded to clean out with the
ROCKET PUNCH! Everyone bumped, and he ended up winning.
Backstage, Takagi was complaining about his stomach. Some nurse
showed up and told him to take this "medicine". Takagi refused. If
the J.E.T. World title wasn't enough, we then had the G.A.Y. (Get
Asshole Yours~!) World ANAL title match, with Danshoku Dino
retaining against Ifushi Kota. They TRIED TO OUT GAY EACH
OTHER. They put Kota over strongly, having him kick out of two
Danshoku Drivers. Dino finally had to use a Gotch-Style (Cradle)
Danshoku Driver to pin him. Francesco (Dick) Togo and Mori
Bernard retained the tag titles over The MAC (Picture Ronald
McDonald, but FAT. I am not kidding.) and US indy guy Shiima
Xion. The MAC had brought a bag of McDonalds food with him to
the ring. The heels tried to make a big deal about it, citing it as a
possible foreign object. The MAC later in the match did the Hulk
Hogan "YOU!" bit with the point, and completed the trifecta with
the big boot and leg drop. I believe The MAC is Futoshi Miwa, but I
could be wrong. Togo submitted MAC with the Italian Triangle,
which looks like a normal Triangle choke. The Jet stuff continued
backstage as Jet was trying to find a toilet. He did, but it appeared
to be occupied by HARASHIMA. Jet was then approached by
Owashi, who asked for help in his title match. Owashi left without
an answer. Still with no toilet, Jet finally succumbed to the pain and
took the medicine... The main event opened in a chop battle.
Sawada got on offense using a Cobra Claw, followed by some chain
wrestling. The momentum continued to shift until DISASTER-BOX
tried to interfere. Sawada used his magic to control them (And the
referee...) HARASHIMA snuck up from behind and attacked
Sawada, allowing Owashi to give him a Chokeslam. Sawada moved
out of the way for the Diving Body press, and gave Owashi a
Chokeslam of his own and a Fisherman Buster. The lights went out,
and Jet appeared with a PAINTED FACE~! He was apparently under
Sawada's control from drinking the "medicine", and tried to give
Owashi the JET PUNCH~!, only to hit Sawada by mistake. Owashi
gave Sawada another Chokeslam, and a Powerbomb to retain his
title. Mitsuya Nagai returned and ran in after the match to save
Sawada. Ifushi Kota also appeared, and made a joke about Nagai's
poor mic skills. A new unit was formed between the two to oppose
DISASTER-BOX. Jet took off his D-BOX t-shirt and threw it back as
well, so perhaps he's also going to be a member. Owashi declared
that the next Korakuen show would be a "DISASTER Festival". The
show will be aired sometime in July.
"KING of DDT 2006"
June 26, 2006

Shinjuku FACE - 509 Fans (Super No-Vacancy)

1. FUCK! U-30 Internatural Title: Mitsuya Nagai beat Mammoth
Handa (c) (4:19) with the "Junichiro Koizumi" to become the 3rd
champion.
2. Jiyugaoka Six Man Street Fight Titles: HARASHIMA, Muscle
Sakai & Yusuke Inokuma beat KUDO, Seiya Morohashi & Masami
Morohashi (10:10) when HARASHIMA pinned Masami after the
Katana to become the 3rd champions.
3. J.E.T. World Title: "Jet" Shogo (Takagi) (c) beat Jetsosaku
(Tanomusaku) Toba (8:22) by KO with the Jet Punch in his V1
defense.
?. Iron Man Heavy Metal Title: Masahiro Takanashi pinned
Mecha Stanly to become the 239th champion.
4. Mecha Mummy won a ten-minute time limit battle royal to
become the 247th Iron Man Heavy Metal champion.
5. G.A.Y. World Anal Title: Danshoku Dino (c) pinned Ifushi Kota
(12:54) with the Gotch Style Danshoku Driver in his V2 defense.
6. CMLL KO-D Tag Team Titles: Francesco Togo & Mori Bernard
(c) beat The MAC & Shiima Xion (16:54) when Togo submitted
MAC with the Italian Triangle in their V4 defense.
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Touru Owashi (c) pinned Poison
Sawada JULIE (17:37) with a Powerbomb in his V3 defense.

1. Yoshitsune
2. Rasse
3. Shinjitsu Nohashi
4. Takeshi Minaminno
5. Banana Senga
6. Kesen Numajiro
7. Ken'ichi Hanai
8. Mototsugu Shimizu
9. Hayato "Jr" Fujita
10. Kagetora
11. Shu Sato
12. Kei Sato
13. Maguro Ooma
14. Rei
15. Naomi Matsumoto
16. Tigers Mask

Osaka Pro-Wrestling
On 5/21, Super Delfin won Michinoku Pro's Tohoku Jr. Heavyweight
title from Takeshi Minnamono. (Which is a big deal, considering the
past between Osaka Pro and Michinoku Pro) On 6/10, they had
Delfin's first defense against Kesen Numajiro of Michinoku Pro.
Delfin won with interference from GAINA and a screw job count
from long-time Michinoku Pro referee Ted Tanabe. Supposedly,
Delfin was unaware of this. However, on Osaka Pro's 6/17 show
from their home base in Osaka, they had Delfin play a video of his
title defense against Numajiro, only to edit out the interference and
count from Tanabe. So essentially, they've turned him heel. Delfin
was confronted by Billy Ken-Kid, who said that Delfin was a coward
for winning the match in that fashion, and his cowardice reflects on
Osaka Pro, and challenged Delfin for the title. Delfin left without
answering. For the past few weeks, Tanabe has officiated various
Osaka Pro matches, helping Delfin win most of them via screw job
finishes, so they are obviously positioning him as a heel. They may
be doing a weird interpromotional invasion with Tanabe (Of
Michinoku Pro), GAINA (Former Michinoku Pro) and Delfin (Who
actually owns the company, but technically also came from
Michinoku Pro). However, Delfin keeps refuting having anything to
do with either of them. On the 7/01 show, Super Delfin and GAINA
will face the Vendaval team of Billy Ken-Kid and Black Buffalo,
which will further that storyline probably.

Special Thanks & Sources

English
Oudou Spirit - http://www.ajpw.puroresufan.com
Strong Style Spirit - http://www.puroresufan.com
The
entire
Strong
Style
Symphony
community
http://www.puroresufan.com/bbs
Into The Light - http://www.puroresufan.com/ddt
ZERO ONE USA - http://www.zerooneusa.com
DRAGON GATE USA - http://dragongate.puroresufan.com
Figure 4 Weekly - http://f4wonline.com (For allowing me to keep
the tildebang~! so close to my heart.)

Osaka Pro's Tigers Mask produced his own show from Kyoto,
appropriately titled, "Kyoto Vaudeville Theater 2". The show was
rather laid back compared to the recent Delfin Arena shows. In the
second match, Ebessan forced an Osaka trainee to wear and
Ebessan mask and wrestle the brunt of the match. When the
opportunity came, Ebessan climbed onto the apron and dove off
the ropes onto Penguin for the win. Tigers Mask won the MWF Jr.
title in the main event, which is his first singles title in pro-wrestling
I believe (He's had a run with the tag titles.) Well, he did book the
show.
"Kyoto Vaudeville Theater 2"
June 25, 2006
Kyoto KBS Hall - 673 Fans
1. Atsushi Kotoge submitted Takoyakida (8:06) with a Texas
Clover hold.
2. Ebessan pinned Ice Penguin (6:31) with the Imamiya Kaiten
press.
3. GAINA & Miracle Man beat Super Delfin & Kuishinbo Kamen
(12:40) when Miracle pinned Kuishinbo with the Miracle Tornado.
4. Billy Ken-Kid, Black Buffalo & Masamune beat Flash Moon,
Masanori Ishikura & Mineo Fujita (17:36) when Billy pinned
Ishikura with the Vertigo.
5. MWF World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Tigers Mask pinned Asian
Cougar (16:20) with a spinning cradle to become the 4th
champion.
Michinoku Pro-Wrestling
The biggest news in Sendai currently was the announced return of
the 2006 Tetsujin (Iron People) tournament earlier this month.
Michinoku Pro is historically known for ridiculously long
tournaments, and this will be no different, spanning from 7/15 to
8/27. Michinoku Pro continues their mended relationship with
Osaka Pro, as Tigers Mask will work the tournament. Participants
include...

As I mentioned earlier, Osaka Pro and Michinoku Pro are working

together a lot these days. On the 6/10 rally, Rasse and Yoshitsune
declared "head-hunting" on Super Delfin, and promised to invade
Osaka Pro's 7/17 show from Osaka IMP Hall. Michinoku Pro
resumes touring on 7/15 with a show in Tokyo.

Japanese
Sports Navi - http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight
NJPW Official HP - http://www.njpw.co.jp
AJPW Official HP - http://www.all-japan.co.jp
Hustle Official HP - http://www.hustlehustle.com
DDT Official HP - http://www.ddtpro.com
Michinoku Pro Official HP - http://www.michipro.jp
Osaka Pro Official HP - http://sports.livedoor.com/battle/osaka
ZERO1-MAX Official HP DRAGON GATE Official HP - http://www.gaora.co.jp/dragongate
ZERO1-MAX Official HP - http://www.zero-one-max.com
EXTREME PARTY - http://www.miyatasan.com/~yagifau