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Furious Flashbacks: Wrestle-1 Tour 2015 Trans Magic Day 2

May 3, 2015 | Posted by Arnold Furious
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Furious Flashbacks: Wrestle-1 Tour 2015 Trans Magic Day 2  

Wrestle-1 Tour 2015 Trans Magic Day 2

 

8th March 2015.

 

This is the second recent Wrestle-1 show I’ve started to watch. The last one I ran into a bit of an issue with, regarding what was actually available and only watched some of the undercard. It was fairly typically disappointing. I do want to give Wrestle-1 another go though and this is the show where *SPOILER* Muto drops the belt. One of my biggest problems with Wrestle-1 was that Muto was the focus. Another regarded a very weak heel stable, Desperado. Hopefully that’ll get fixed too and W-1 can focus on the actual wrestling, seeing as their younger guys are some of the most promising in the business.

 

We’re in Tokyo, Japan at the Korakuen Hall. I like their set-up with a ramp opposite the hard-cam. It’s not the first time I’ve seen the Korakuen dressed that way but seeing as everyone else that runs the venue leaves it looking so normal, it’s cool to see some effort in the dressing, albeit at the expense of around 400 people in the venue. Incidentally, yes, they really called the show “Trans Magic”. It sounds like some sort of shemale porn. I’m sure it’ll cause this page to turn up in some more perverted web searches than usual.

 

Kumagoro vs. Shotaro Ashino

 

Part of Wrestle-1’s new mentality has been to push youth as a major part of the show and this is exemplified by them having their own in-house rookies doing the Sho Tanaka-Yohei Komatsu opening match. I’ve seen them before and Ashino struck me as a the better prospect. Kumagoro is carrying more weight but Ashino has the shape of a muscular wrestler. His movements around the ring are smoother and he has a slightly better understanding of transitions. There’s logic in the match and because Kumagoro is bigger and uses his weight to control the ring, he wins. Ashino is the one to watch though.

 

Final Rating: *3/4

 

Ryota Hama, Andy Wu, Daiki Inaba, Hiroki Murase & Rionne Fujiwara vs. Desperado (Masayuki Kono, TAJIRI, KAZMA SAKAMOTO, Koji Doi & El Hijo del Pantera)

 

Desperado copped a lot of flack for early Wrestle-1 shows being, well, shit so it’s refreshing to see them actively de-pushed despite the promotion adding actual talent to their stable. Koji Doi is a stand-out. Fujiwara and Doi used to be pals in Novus but the stable of youngsters has been divvied up among the other factions. Desperado is much better balanced now. I’m particularly amused by El Hijo del Pantera’s evil luchadore. Given Desperado’s evil status, the match starts out as a wild brawl around ringside. It’s reminiscent of the Attitude Era’s main events. Messy but energetic. It settles down into heat on Murase, with Doi demonstrating a keen knack of being a complete shithead. Murase has a heavily taped shoulder and Desperado FUCK HIM UP. El Hijo del Pantera even bites him on the shoulder. I’ve been turned around by Desperado. They’ve stopped being the same as Bullet Club, Suzuki-gun and Cho Kibou-gun. Now they’re a pack of rabid assholes and the crowd DESPISE them. As long as they keep them doing these 10-men tags I’ll be totally cool with them. The match is great when they get into tagging too as it stays fresh, stays heated and has wonderful cameos from the likes of Hama and Wu, guys I normally don’t care for. They even lift spots from Dragon Gate to add to the multi-person chaos. El Hijo del Pantera gets some luchadore badassery at the conclusion to win it, whipping Andy Wu’s mask off and rolling the poor kid up while he protects his identity. Spin kick your way out of that! This was shockingly good. Best Desperado match, ever. And if they carry on working this way I’d proclaim them the best heel stable in Japan.

 

Final Rating: ***1/2

 

Yasufumi Nakanoue vs. Hideki Suzuki

 

Nakanoue is a fresh-faced youngster who wrestles, and looks, like Satoshi Kojima. Well, a mini-Satoshi Kojima. Suzuki is far too good for him. It’s a massive disparity in experience and ability. Nakanoue tries hard but gets destroyed. Suzuki finishes in just over a minute. One thing Wrestle-1 do to make themselves different is to book honest to God squashes. You don’t see them in Japan normally.

 

Final Rating: SQUASH

 

Seiki Yoshioka vs. Yusuke Kodama

 

This is one of the matches to showcase Wrestle-1’s burgeoning junior division. Presumably they’ll have a belt at some point. Yoshioka has impressed me every time I’ve seen him work so I’m glad they’re building a division he can star in. Kodama looks a bit like Sho Tanaka. Both guys are lightning quick but Yoshioka is that little bit quicker. The match is loaded with high speed counters, kicks and dives. It wouldn’t look out of place on WCW undercard circa 1996. They get decidedly stiff with the kicks and Yoshioka tags Kodama just above the eye with one in the corner that makes me wince. They get into some seriously good stuff down the stretch with brutal high kicks and crippling suplexes. The only thing that puts me off calling the match as fantastic is Kodama’s tights, which make it look like his butt-hole is saying “Hi” with a speech bubble and everything. Kodama isn’t quite as polished as Yoshioka but he’s still capable of nailing a dropsault and hits a superkick that rattles Yoshioka’s jaw. The selling is a bit wonky as moves are completely no sold one minute then sold like death the next. It’s to be expected from the juniors. I wish they had a Daisuke Harada-type guy, or a Zack Sabre Jr. type guy to calm them down a bit. As it stands this is raw as hell but tonnes of fun. Kodama catches Yoshioka with a snap rana for the somewhat surprising win. They had a belting back and forth, at terrific speed, but there are quite big question marks about move set, transitions and selling. Make no mistake about it though, this division will eventually have a classic match and it might well involve one of these guys.

 

Final Rating: ***1/4

 

Minoru Tanaka vs. Hiroshi Yamato

 

This is another cruiserweight showcase pitting veteran Tanaka (who might be the guy to keep the youngsters reigned in) against plucky youngster/karaoke enthusiast Yamato. I’m showing my age there, as Yamato is 31 but I still think of him as a young upstart. He is compared to Tanaka, who left NJPW after a lengthy run the same year Yamato debuted (2008). This probably shouldn’t have followed the last match as it’s very similar only less exciting and slower paced. They have a good understanding of big spots and selling though, which differentiates it. Yamato looks to have it won with a devastating brainbuster on the floor, which Tanaka sells like death and barely makes it back into the ring. He still needs the ref and the ropes to survive and drops on the next spot holding his neck. Yamato gets his personality across really well. Anyone with a singing gimmick has got to be an asshole but he’s suitably ruthless to go with it. Northern Lights bomb finishes Tanaka off but that brainbuster on the floor was the spot that really finished the match as a contest.

 

Final Rating: **1/2

 

Masakatsu Funaki & Jiro Kuroshio vs. AKIRA & Manabu Soya vs. NOSAWA Rongai & MAZADA

 

This is a #1 contenders match for Wrestle-1’s tag straps, currently in the possession of Team 246. Unfortunately three men are in the ring at all times. Which guarantees either NOSAWA or MAZADA all the time. Kuroshio opts to wrestle in his blazer again. It’s yellow. They try and make this fun in the early going with Funaki going on a kick rampage before tagging ‘Ikemen’ in. He gets battered. Everyone laughs. Bonus points for FOUR dropkicks at the same time. Ikemen takes a lot of heat but manages to not get himself pinned. Seeing as the match is only 9 minutes long it breaks down about halfway through and the ‘3 men in the ring’ deal is more often than not 5 or more or just two guys having a normal match. The ref must have no clue who’s actually legal so he just counts any pins that happen regardless of who is involved. Kuroshio ends up being the most entertaining man in the match, attempting a series of fluke roll up pins against bigger guys before Soya turns the table on him with a backslide. I had low expectations for this one but Kuroshio & Funaki make for a great team. A bit like Kane & X-Pac.

 

Final Rating: **1/2

 

Team 246 (Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo) vs. Masato Tanaka & Yusaku Obata

 

Team 246 are the tag team champions but I don’t think this is for the titles, it’s more about pride as this is Wrestle-1 vs. Zero1. Everyone in this match is, at the very least, good with Kondo one of my favourite wrestlers in the promotion. The opening sequence is him and Tanaka just running into each other over and over again. It’s glorious, in a manly way, and somewhat unusual for W-1. Obata vs. Hayashi is a more polite cruiserweight contest with Lionsault’s and the like. It’s also a very good match and Obata is certainly gunning for a spot in Wrestle-1’s new junior division. They even bust out some chop duelling to demonstrate even the junior section is sufficiently manly. The match seems to exist to see if the Wrestle-1 guys can hang with Zero1 when it comes to striking and competitiveness. Although I’m sure the Wrestle-1 guys look at it the other way around. It just lacks that slight feeling of hate that would take it to another level. It’s Obata that looks upon this as a big chance to showcase himself and he outshines three very good wrestlers with his constant effort. It’s not the first time he’s done so. Even when Kondo picks him off, Obata is still getting near falls and kicking out at one to mess with the champ. Eventually Kondo flattens him with a lariat for the pin but Obata made his point here.

 

Final Rating: ***1/2

 

Wrestle-1 Championship:

Keiji Muto (c) vs. KAI

 

Muto is only the second champion, having ended Kono’s heel run at a month. Kono beat KAI to win the title in the first place. Muto is not a good choice as champion as he’s a relic who can barely walk and the level of vanity to book your title onto yourself still surprises me. At this level it’s not about being able to trust your champion, that’s what contracts are for. KAI is the companies top face so it’s a bit weird having him challenge for the strap against another babyface; the companies owner. At least KAI has had a few good matches lately, shaking his reputation as an over-pushed midcarder.

 

KAI, like many before him, decides to work over Muto’s leg. It’s good common sense as everyone knows Muto’s knees are fucked but even when he does sell the wear and tear Muto almost always mounts a comeback with a dozen Shining Wizards whether he knee is shattered or not. So maybe it’s not wise, maybe it’s a waste of time. Maybe it’d be time better spent beating the shit out of the old bastard. KAI switches it up with a dive but Muto side-steps it and poor Kumagoro, young boying (is that a word?) at ringside takes it instead. It looks very painful as KAI basically torpedoed Kumagoro’s chest. To his credit KAI throws himself around trying to get the match over as Muto is largely immobile. Muto, to his credit, works sensibly for the most part, grabbing holds to slow KAI down instead of nonsensical smashing of his knee into KAI’s head. It is a very slowly paced bout though, even when Muto slings in high spots in for his own amusement and drops his protégé on his head. I prefer Muto going after the arm, intent on putting KAI away with a kimura. Muto eventually gets around to the Shining Wizards, as he always does, and KAI basically no sells it every time. Fighting Spirit? Or are we just acknowledging that the move looks like shit now?

 

For the most part the match is fairly smartly worked, which shows KAI’s increasing maturity as a worker and that maybe Wrestle-1 do have a gem on their hands with him. I’d never really felt it until the Masato Tanaka matches so if KAI does become a top guy I figure Tanaka made him. Muto’s move set no longer suits a man of his advanced years and he bumbles his way through some of the selling and can’t get much height on offensive moves. He either needs to modify his approach to wrestling or consider retirement. He certainly shouldn’t be in the main events anymore. Here it’s his name value that gets KAI over, rather than the match. KAI has way more gas in the tank and looks fresh as a daisy when Muto has the cheek to attempt a rana. It is dreadful. He manages to transition it into a nice armbar, thus returning to his focus throughout the match, but the actual rana was a technical abomination. The one good thing about Muto here is that at least the majority of his work makes sense. I say the majority because he throws about seven Shining Wizards with his broken down knees. KAI gets the rub from kicking out of all of them and the moonsault. That’s also not a good idea for a guy with two bad knees. It wouldn’t be a good idea if I did it and I’m 14 years younger and one of my knees isn’t fucked. KAI hits a frogsplash on the knees, which is Eddy Guerrero awesome and a further frogsplash for the belt with Muto unable to get out of the way because his legs are screwed. Some wonderful psychology here but the execution was patchy. The finish alone was worth a pass though. Credit where it’s due.

 

Final Rating: ***

 

 

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You can also follow me on Twitter @ArnoldFurious

 

7.0
The final score: review Good
The 411
Wrestle-1 has been steadily improving for some time and it’s finally starting to reach an organically developed place where the factions make sense, the wrestlers have found their groove and the card makes the best use of the majority of W-1’s talent. I’m particularly pleased with the youngsters that are coming through and the balance on the shows between fast-paced action, hard-hitting action and serious mat technique. This is probably the best Wrestle-1 card I’ve seen from top to bottom. This time last year it was a promotion I hated and couldn’t sit through at all. The improvement has been considerable. Give it another couple of months and it could even drop into my regular viewing rotation alongside promotions I actively support. A fine turnaround from Muto & company. The show ends with Hideki Suzuki getting in KAI’s face and setting up KAI’s first title defence and it’s a match I would love to see. That sums up Wrestle-1 in 2015. It’s gone from being largely terrible to putting on matches I actually want to see. Thumbs up.
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