Into the Indies 01.18.11: The Office

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that had a hard time figuring out how to turn off smart quotes in Word 2010.

This column has now been around for roughly a year and a half, and, though we periodically look at action from other countries, our primary focus has been independent wrestling from Japan. Given the run that we’ve been on, there are very few Japanese indy groups with television exposure that we haven’t covered at least once by this point. However, there are still a couple of omissions, and this week we’re going to fill one of the gaps by taking a look at a show from the Kensuke Office.

Even if you aren’t familiar with Japanese wrestling, you might remember the name Kensuke Sasaki if you’ve been watching American wrestling for long enough. He had a brief run in the States with WCW in 1995 thanks to the working agreement that company had with New Japan Pro Wrestling. During that stint, he managed to defeat Sting for the WCW United States Championship before ultimately dropping it to the One Man Gang. (At least that is how it was depicted on television – for political reasons, Sasaki won the match live but WCW edited on TV to make it look like a Gang nearfall was the finish.) After his US Title run, Sasaki would from time-to-time appear or be mentioned on WCW TV when he wife, Akira Hokuto, would be wrestling for the company. In 1996 and 1997, Hokuto wrestled for WCW as part of a relationship between the Turner-owned company and the GAEA Japan women’s wrestling promotion. Hokuto would become the first WCW Women’s Champion in a tournament and then feud over the championship with Madusa. She apparently won the rivalry by defeating Madusa in a title versus career match, at which point the championship was dropped and never referred to again. Sasaki also had a series of appearances with Ring of Honor during the fall and winter months of 2008.

However, if you look only at what Sasaki has accomplished in the United States, you’re just catching the tip of the iceberg that is his career. The man is a veritable legend in Japan, with a hall of fame worthy career and a list of accomplishments longer than most in the wrestling business. He was first a dominant tag team wrestler early in his career, teaming with the legendary Hiroshi Hase before transitioning into an alliance with Roadwarrior Hawk that saw Kensuke adopt a Roadwarrior-esque persona called the “Power Warrior.” Sasaki and Hawk, collectively known as the Hell Raisers, were incredibly popular from 1992 to 1995 while Roadwarrior Animal was unable to compete with his old partner as a result of a back injury. It was in 1997 that Sasaki first took the leap to superstardom in the singles ranks, winning New Japan’s annual G1 Climax tournament, followed shortly thereafter by defeating Shinya Hashimoto for the IWPG World Heavyweight Title, ending a reign that had been ongoing for over a year. Throughout his career, Kensuke would win the top prize of New Japan Wrestling on five separate occasions. He also won a second G1 Climax tournament during his run with the company.

In the early part of the twenty-first century, Sasaki decided that he no longer wished to be beholden to the demands of major wrestling promotions and formed what we now know as the Kensuke Office. Kensuke Office (KO for short) started as Sasaki’s own booking agency for himself and protégé Katsuhiko Nakajima. The business side of the Office was handled by Akira Hokuto, who had since retired from in-ring competition. From there, KO would evolve into not just a booking office but also a dojo, with veteran wrestler Masa Saito assisting Kensuke and Hokuto with the training of a new wave of young professional wrestlers. Kensuke Office would enter into a working agreement with All Japan Pro Wrestling from 2005 through 2008, which saw Sasaki and Nakajima regularly compete with the promotion, including Kensuke winning the vaunted All Japan Triple Crown, Nakajima winning the AJPW Junior Heavyweight Title, and the two men teaming up to capture the All Asia Tag Team Titles. In spring of 2008, the relationship between AJPW and Kensuke Office came to an end, with KO almost immediately announcing that it would henceforth be working with Pro Wrestling NOAH, a relationship which continues to this day. Kensuke Sasaki would win NOAH GHC Heavyweight Title as a result of this relationship, making him the first man in history to hold the primary singles in New Japan, All Japan, and NOAH. Nakajima would also see some limited success in NOAH, briefly holding the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship.

Though the Kensuke Office/Pro Wrestling NOAH relationship technically continues to this day, the roles of Sasaki and Nakajima have been downplayed in the promotion as of late, and Sasaki’s other trainees who get bookings for NOAH have not been allowed to rise much beyond opening matches. Thus, when people talk about the Kensuke Office these days, they’re most likely talking about the independent shows that KO started to run on its own in 2007. The shows are usually smaller affairs held near the company dojo with an occasional larger card being run in Tokyo. In addition to some major names who have popped in once or twice as guest stars, Sasaki has assembled a seemingly loyal crew of skilled independent talent who work matches with his young trainees, giving the KO newcomers valuable experience. Sasaki himself wrestles on many of the shows to help with the star power needed to draw in fans, while Nakajima has become the de facto “ace” of the promotion, to the extent that a company that runs twice a month can have an ace.
In order to sample some Kensuke Office action, today we will be taking a look at the company’s June 20, 2010 show, held in the city of Shimizu in front of 850 fans and taped for Samurai Television.

Match Numero Uno: Go vs. Jun Nishikawa

Nishikawa is the newest Kensuke Office trainee to have made his pro debut, wrestling his first match before an audience in May 2010. His opponent in this match is Go, a wrestler who started his training with Dragon Gate but was dismissed by their dojo, leading to his joining El Dorado, an indy promotion formed by individuals who were affiliated with Ultimo Dragon’s Dragon Gym training system. El Dorado went belly up in 2008, with many of its wrestlers jumping to a new group called Secret Base, which is the promotion considered Go’s home today.

We are joined in progress with Nishikawa taking Go off of his feet with a series of forearms. From there, the youngster connects with a standing dropkick for a nearfall. Jun attempts a vertical suplex but has it blocked not once, not twice, but thrice as Go fires back with open hand chops to the sternum and a vertical suplex of his own. It gets two. Nishikawa fires back with more forearms but eats a kneelift and gets taken down with a snap mare so that Go can kick him repeatedly in the back and the chest. Go goes into a single-leg Liontamer but Jun fights it, grabbing the ropes to break the hold twice. From there, Go connects with a backdrop suplex for another nearfall and then applies a camel clutch/cobra clutch hybrid to get the submission.

Match Thoughts: Pretty much all Japanese opening matches featuring a wrestler with less than one year of experience look the same when you’ve watched enough of them. In this particular case, Nishikawa was allowed to do a little bit more than your average rookie and looked fairly good doing the basic stuff that he was allowed to, but the match isn’t going to be a blow-away under any circumstances given the mold that it’s being placed into. The highlight for me was probably Go’s submission finisher, which looked pretty brutal and could probably get over in the US given the history of both the camel clutch and cobra clutch here.

Match Numero Dos: Kentaro Shiga & CHANGO vs. Kikutaro & Catfish Man

And this is your comedy for the evening. Kikutaro probably needs no introduction at this point, as he is the original Ebessan and one of the best known comedy wrestlers going today. He is paired with Catfish Man, a character designed by Kensuke Office and given to Takuya Sugi, a wrestler who is known for playing numerous masked gimmicks in numerous different promotions. Most notably, he is currently Yoshitsune in Michinoku Pro and has made some appearances in the United States (Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, for example) under the personal of El Blazer. He’s also been down south in AAA under the names of Sugi or Sugi San. Their opponents are Kentaro Shiga, who was last seen in this column as HUSTLE’s Monster C and has been doing freelance work ever since, mostly for NOAH. His partner, CHANGO, is another Dragon System guy and El Dorado alumnus who does a gimmick in which he’s either a wild man or a monkey depending on the day.

We are joined in progress once more, with Kikutaro holding CHANGO in position for a vertical suplex while delivering a monologue of some sort of the crowd. Of course, before he can hit the move, it’s reversed and Shiga hits an axe kick. That gives us a tag to Shiga, who is met by Catfish Man. Fishy hits a missile dropkick for a nearfall and follows up with the Falcon Arrow, but it too only gets two. The masked man rallies the crowd behind him but gets hit with a big Kentaro boot, setting up a tag to CHANGO. A roaring elbow by Shiga misses, and that sets up comedy in which the referee inadvertently gets caught up in a series of standing switches. CHANGO makes things serious again when he takes Catfish Man down with a diving lariat, but Catfish responds with one of his own. Before long, all four wrestlers are brawling in the ring, which culminates with the comedy wrestlers being whipped into one another. Kikutaro is thrown out of the ring and Catfish is hit with a CHANGO legdrop en route to the wild man going up drop for the Alabama Jam. It only gets two, and miscommunication between CHANGO and Shiga sees the former accidentally forearm his partner in the face. From there, Shiga intentionally kicks CHANGO for a bit of revenge, and that lets Fishy pick up the in.

Match Thoughts: Pretty standard tag team fare here. I’m actually wondering of Catfish Man is still Sugi, because he’s a guy known for busting out insane highspots and there were absolutely none of those here, just good, old fashioned competent wrestling with some of Kikutaro’s comedy thrown in. Just a basic match to pad the card, nothing to really see here at all.

Match Numero Tres: Takeshi Minamino, Hajima Ohara, & Manjimaru vs. Kento Miyahara, Satoshi Kajiwara, & Spark Aoki

The focus in this match is Kento Miyahara, who is the Kensuke Office trainee who has gotten the most attention aside from Nakajima when the KO crew has travelled to NOAH and other promotions. His partners are another pair of Toryumon Mexico guys, Satoshi Kajiwara and Spark Aoki. Kajiwara participates so heavily in the Office these days that he’s considered a regular part of the promotion by some. On the other side of the ring is a trio that also has Toryumon Mexico ties. Hajime Ohara is one of the most notable graduates of the group, gaining some big exposure in the dying days of HUSTLE before joining Tajiri’s promotion SMASH. Minamino and Manjimaru (who is also known as Maguro Ooma) have teamed fairly often and have most frequently been seen in Japan as part of Michinoku Pro and Kaientai Dojo.

Miyahara comes off the top with a cross body on Ohara as we join the match and then hits him with a moonsault press. Ohara comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and tags out to Manjimaru who connects with a back splash and a side Russian leg sweep. There’s a move you don’t see much of in Japan. He looks for a piledriver but Miyahara is able to reverse it into a back body drop and hit a headsicssors in route to tagging out to Aoki. Aoki nails Manjimaru with a spinning heel kick but misses a second and gets taken down. Takeshi Minamino checks into the match with a strong single-leg dropkick but eats some kneelifts from Spark who then gives him a sweet move in which he simultaneously hits a facebuster on the knee and elbows his opponent in the back of the head. The match breaks down a bit with all six men in the ring, though eventually Aoki and Kajiwara are able to isolate Minamino and hit him with corner attacks. A high kick from Aoki looks to end the match, but both of Minamino’s partners save. Miyahara hits Ohara with a big handspring elbow to knock him out of the ring and then follows him down to the floor with a plancha, while Kajiwara misses a dive of his own. Spark and Minamino fight over a suplex, and, with the referee distracted, Minamino kicks him low. That sets up a sit-out powerbomb, but Kajiwara makes the save for Spark. From there, the death valley driver hits for Minamino, and that’s enough for the three count.

Match Thoughts: I’ve seen a fair amount of Minamino, Ooma, and Ohara before, and I’m a fan of all three guys, especially Ohara when he’s given an opportunity to shine. This match was clipped down so you didn’t get to see as much as possible of the things that make them good performers, but flashes of what make them great were definitely there. Aoki and Kajiwara kept up with them but weren’t as outright impressive, though it appeared from Miyahara’s performance that he is coming along nicely and could be a force if he’s given a role other than “second match job guy” or “midcard participant in six man tag.” We’ll see when he finally gets that opportunity.

Match Numero Cuatro: Kensuke Sasaki & Takashi Okita vs. Yutaka Yoshie & Bear Fukuda

It’s teacher-mentor team-up time as Sasaki is wrestling alongside Takashi Okita, a former soccer player who joined the Kensuke Office to train for pro wrestling and has now been a part of the industry since 2008. Standing across the ring are Yutaka Yoshie, a bulky for judo wrestler who started pro wrestling in the mid-1990’s for New Japan and has been a journeyman as of late, and Bear Fukuda, one of the heaviest wrestlers to come out of Toryumon Mexico.

Sasaki and Yoshie are headed into a Greco-Roman knuckle lock when we join the match, and the two go to chops when the lock turns out to be a stalemate. Neither man really out-chops the other, so Yoshie decides to take his opponent off of his feet with a Vader Attack. An avalanche and a big splash follow, getting two for Yoshie. Kensuke appears to be no worse for wear after kicking out, though, and he goes right back to the chops until Pink Warrior is able to slap him upside the head and bodyslam him for another two count. A Samoan drop for the big guy follows, and he heads up to the top rope until Sasaki cuts him off and brings him down with a superplex. Yoshie immediately responds with a German that is no-sold, and Kensuke throws a series of lariats to finally bring the big man off of his feet.

That sets up a tag to Okita, who also tries to take Yoshie off of his feet and does it with a big flying shoulderblock. A vertical suplex is attempted but doesn’t work, so Okita turns it into a swinging neckbreaker in a smart move. The youngster heads up to the top rope, but Yutaka chops him and hits the Flair beal before tagging out to Fukuda. The big Bear connects with an axe bomber and a delayed vertical suplex for a two count. A second rope frog splash for Bear also results in a two count, at which point we begin the FAT MAN DOUBLE TEAMING. It’s an axe bomber-avalanche combo followed by a double vertical suplex and a rolling senton-pump splash combo. Kensuke Sasaki, who had previously been decked by Yoshie, runs back in to prevent his protégé from being pinned. After that, Okita catches Fukuda off guard with a spear, and, before long, Kensuke is back in the ring legally.

In a bit of a revenge spot, Kensuke takes out Yoshie so that he and Okita can double team Fukuda. They hit him with corner attacks and splashes before Yoshie runs back in. He immediately regrets doing so, as team Kensuke Office hits him with a version of Total Elimination. Yoshie tries to rally but accidentally splashes Fukuda in doing so, at which point Okita dispatches the former judoka. Fukuda is all alone with Kensuke, who hits a big lariat and the Northern Lights Bomb to win the match.

Match Thoughts: Good stuff, right here. You could tell that they weren’t necessarily trying to have the best match possible, just a solid affair that would help Okita learn the ropes when it comes to being the smaller, undersized babyface in a tag match against two larger opponents. He held up his end of the bargain quite well in that regard, and, for the sake of the entertainment of the fans, it’s always good times to see two very skilled heavyweights like Sasaki and Yoshie slapping up against one another. On a major show this wouldn’t really have been anything, but, for the level of show that is being presented here, this was pretty damn good. **3/4

Match Numero Cinco: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Go Shiozaki

This is a match with a bit of a story behind it, as Nakajima is making his return to the ring from an injury, which I believe was a cracked orbital bone or some similar problem. His opponent in the return match is a big one, none other than former GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki, who is on loan from Pro Wrestling NOAH. Shiozaki and Nakajima have locked it up in Kensuke Office before, and I have even reviewed the match in a prior installment of this column. It was a very good **** affair, so we’ll see if they can pull out something on a similar level here.

In a weird bit, the TV announcers clearly called the prior match the “main event” and this match the “semi-main event” despite the fact that they’re airing them on television in the opposite order. (On the live event, the Kensuke tag match took place after this one.) Interesting difference from American wrestling television, where they usually pretend every taped show is occurring live and exactly as it happens on television. After editing in all of the prior bouts, it looks like we’re going to see this match in full unless there’s some mid-match clipping.

There’s a handshake immediately following the opening bell, and the two wrestlers lock up. Shiozaki quickly winds up on the floor after a feeling out process, which doesn’t end well for him as he’s followed to the outside by Nakajima, who connects with a tope con hilo. Nakajima follows up with some kicks on the floor and Shiozaki tries to respond with a chop, but he misses it and winds up slapping his hand into the ringpost. Before long, Nakajima gives Go a DDT on the floor. Not do be outdone, Shiozaki is eventually able to respond by picking Nakajima up into a fireman’s carry and ramming his head into the post before dropping him face-first on the ring apron. Nakajima is positioned on the apron and looks to get back on the offensive with a kick to Shiozaki’s head, but Go blocks it and DRAGON SCREWS HIM TO THE FLOOR. Never thought I’d see that one. From there, Shiozaki picks up his opponent and drives him crotch-first into the post, after which he continues to work on the leg that was softened up by the dragon screw.

Go continues with that gameplan back in between the ropes, beating Nakajima down in the corner and giving him the Flair knee crusher before applying a leglock. The Kensuke Office trainee is able to grab the ropes to escape, but Shiozaki stays on him by splashing the leg and going into the half crab. Nakajima grabs another rope break and starts to come back with some forearms and a drop toe hold that sends Shiozaki into the buckles. From there, Nakajima hits a running knee strike in the corner and a suplex en route to heading up to the top rope. A HYUGE~! missile dropkick connects for two. Nakajima stays on his man with palm strikes and places him on the top turnbuckle, looking for a superplex. Shiozaki blocks it, though, knocking Nakajima off the ropes and hitting him with the Patriot Missile.

Go wears the younger wrestler down with chops and gives him a running knee in the corner (a la Mick Foley) as well as the Snake Eyes. Shiozaki comes off the ropes, only to be dropkicked in the knee and placed in an armbar. Go gets his foot on the bottom rope and Nakajima stays on the arm with all variety of kicks, though Shoizaki is quick to fire back with some chops. Go eventually catches one of the kicks and uses it to set up an exploder and a superkick before climbing the ropes again. Nakajima prevents that with a leaping kick and attempts a superplex one more time, but again he’s foiled as Shiozaki knocks him off. Undeterred, Nakajima pops back up the ropes and gets his superplex followed by a running knee strike to the mush for a two count.

Nakajima tries for a brainbuster but can’t quite get it, and Shiozaki responds with one of his own. Nakajima blocks a pair of lariats and rolls through one to apply a variation on the Rings of Saturn. He’s too close to the ropes to keep the hold on for long, though, and that gives Shiozaki an opening to come back with a short-arm clothesline and a rolling shotei for a two count. Go heads up for a moonsault press, but Nakajima rolls out of the way and repeatedly superkicks Go in the face. Four in total connect, but Shiozaki is still able to respond with a German suplex attempt. Nakajima flips out of it and lands on his feet, eventually connecting with a German of his own for a two count. More kicks by Nakajima further soften up Go, and he springs off of the ropes only to be hit with a LARIAT~! Go sets up for the Go Flasher, but, at the last possible second before impact, Nakajima rolls through it and applies a cross arm breaker. Shiozaki is able to wiggle his way free, so Nakajima hits a straightjacket suplex for yet another nearfall.

Nakajima tries to keep the momentum in his favor, but he’s caught off guard with a superkick, which Shiozaki follows up with a palm strike and a diving lariat. It only gets two, as does a second lariat. Lariat number three hits but Nakajima pops right back up. He doesn’t get up from lariat number four, but it’s the prelude to the Go Flasher that gives Shiozaki the big win.

Match Thoughts: I didn’t like this match nearly as much as I liked the Shiozaki-Nakajima match from Kensuke Office in 2009. Don’t get me wrong, there were still a lot of positives here. Both of these wrestlers are incredible athletes and are very creative, which results in some mind-blowing, physical spots from both guys throughout a match. There were a couple of occasions during this bout where I had that “Holy shit!” feeling that crosses your mind when you see a huge move that you don’t see every day. However, what held the match back from being excellent and kept it down at the level of “very good” was the fact that, even though the wrestlers were doing all of these impressive maneuvers, it appeared that they were just doing them at random with no build, no rhyme, and no reason. The two went back and forth without selling much and there were insanely exciting sequences in the first half of the match but fewer in the second, when in theory, a bout should largely build from the most mundane stuff to the most exciting. Despite those complaints regarding psychology, I don’t want to take away from the great action that we were given, which makes this match one to check out if you’re a fan of big spotfests. ***

Overall

You can’t go into a Kensuke Office show expecting Wrestlemania or a Sum Hall level card, because, if you do, you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment. However, if you begin your viewing with some realistic expectations and understand that the focus of the promotion is a bunch of young wrestlers with only a couple of years of experience and that many of their opponents are only a couple of years ahead of them, I think you’ll walk away presently surprised. I enjoy watching Kensuke Office cards, including this one, just because I generally enjoy watching young wrestlers develop and because it features a lot of lesser known Toryumon Mexico guys who you don’t have many opportunities to see in televised promotions. If you’re somebody who can enjoy the novelty associated with those two factors, you’ll probably enjoy this card and others from the promotion as much as I do. However, if you’re somebody who feels that he only has time for the very best cards with the very best matches, there are other places to look.

---

Looking forward to the next instalment of Into the Indies? Keep an eye on 411’s Twitter accounts, and you just might see it pop up!

http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma

See you all next week!