wrestling / Video Reviews

Furious’ Zero1 New Year’s Dream Series 2017 Review

January 16, 2017 | Posted by Arnold Furious
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Furious’ Zero1 New Year’s Dream Series 2017 Review  

Zero1 New Year Dream Series

 

January 1 2017

 

We’re in Tokyo, Japan at Korakuen Hall for a lovely New Year’s Day show with the lads from Zero1.

 

Chris Orndorff vs. Takuya Nomura

My first question would be; is Orndorff the offspring of Paul? The answer is no. Otani, chief of Zero1, thought Orndorff looked like the bastard child of Chris Benoit and Paul Orndorff and gave him this name. Credit to @mortenvh for that information. I googled the shit out of “Chris Orndorff” and got nowhere. STRIGGA (@Strigga, duh) calls him “Spanky Von Erich”. This is pretty accurate. Nomura is one of the top up and coming Japanese talents in any promotion. Nomura bides his time, waits for Orndorff to make a mistake and then takes him down and armbars him into submission. The match is clipped in half but as per usual Nomura looked great.

Final Rating: NR

 

Yoshikazu Yokoyama & Buffa vs. TARU & KAMIKAZE

This isn’t what you’d call a ‘workrate’ match. There’s a lot of dancing and Yokoyama has taken to wrestling with his hands in his pockets, literally. KAMIKAZE takes advantage of TARU’s antics on the floor and wins with a moonsault. This was way clipped but that’s fine. Nothing to see here.

Final Rating: NR

 

Ikuto Hidaka vs. Kotaro Suzuki vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa

If only we could see this match with all three men in their prime. Kotaro is at the back end of his, the other two are over the hill. It’s still a decent match because talent doesn’t die. The spirit is willing, even if the flesh is weak. They manage a few tidy flips and lucha counters. Again I’m caught fantasising about this taking place when all three were at their respective peaks. Yes readers, that’s what I fantasise about. Wrestlers at their peak. None of that sexy girls nonsense. Kotaro batters Hidaka with elbows until he stops moving and then hits the Tiger Driver for the win. A few spots going missing aside this was terrific.

Final Rating: ***

 

KAI vs. Hartley Jackson

Jackson is an Aussie with a tonne of experience. He’s also part of the extended TMDK family. The match is all about KAI though, who’s gotten so sick of the shit booking at Wrestle-1 that he’s gone freelance. Having given up on Wrestle-1, because of the booking, some time ago, I can understand. Hartley is affiliated with TARU here, which leads to screwy booking and a heel mountain for babyface KAI to climb. The quality is so poor that KAI must be mentally regretting his decision to leave Wrestle-1 already. KAI fends off the heels and hits the Thunderfire Powerbomb to win inside nine minutes. This wasn’t very good, at all, but KAI travelling the Indies until he finds a home should be an interesting prospect.

Final Rating: *1/4

 

NWA International Light Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

Isami Kodaka & Takumi Tsukamoto (c) vs. Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka

Now we’re into the business section of the card. Kodaka & Tsukamoto won the titles in Basara. Now they have to defend against this star-studded duo. Koji Kanemoto is a motherfucker. He slays everything in his path. The most recent, and exciting, Kanemoto news is that he’s been signed to appear in wXw in the 16 Carat tournament this year. The man is already a legend of junior style and now he’s jetting off to Europe to remind Germany how badass he is. Tsukamoto is the weak link in this match. He’s ok but everyone else is a top tier talent. Kanemoto kicks him in the face a lot for having the temerity to exist in the same universe as him. The match is Tsukamoto trying to survive an absolute thrashing from Kanemoto while everyone else looks on. The match is significantly better when Kodaka and Tanaka are running counters full pelt, even if I’m massively distracted by Isami having a tail on his gear. It comes right from the centre too, so it looks like he’s taking a dump but his turtle’s head is more like a giraffes neck. Also, it’s brown. What were you thinking, man? The match steadily improves in the stretch as both teams try to score the win. Tanaka does fine work in attacking Isami’s arm, which results in Kodaka being unable to execute his bridging pin and the finish is a double pin! I like the psychology behind that.

Final Rating: ***1/4

 

NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship

International Junior Heavyweight Championship

Shinjiro Otani (c) vs. Takuya Sugawara

Sugawara looks like Hiromu Takahashi with all the gimmick stripped away. Like he’s never been to Mexico and turned into a total weirdo. He’s got strange ring gear though. It has fruit (or possibly hearts) on and it’s 3-D. Otani is not impressed. He wears black trunks, black boots and doesn’t take any shit. Otani is the second old man on the show to scrape his boots across a younger man’s face. Perhaps jealous of their youthful good looks. Otani is far more of a prick about it than Kanemoto was, which shows the seriousness of this contest. The match is a bit of a grind but I’ll give credit to old man Otani for still popping off super rana’s at his advanced years. Sugawara has never convinced me that he’s a big talent. He’s too unfit to be a super worker but doesn’t have that heavy hit of the Big Lads. He’s left somewhere in between, basking in mediocrity. He does take a decent bump, as Otani beats the piss out of him and finishes with a lariat.

Final Rating: **3/4

 

Post Match: Kotaro Suzuki shows up to challenge next time. That should be a lot better than this match.

 

NWA International Tag Team Championship

Masato Tanaka & James Raideen (c) vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Shogun Okamoto

Sekimoto has trimmed his hair and he looks very tidy and disciplined. Raideen has the kind of body that used to give Vince McMahon powerful and sustained erections but is perhaps better suited to TNA nowadays. Tanaka and Sekimoto have a good time here but I’m more interested in seeing what Sekimoto can do with Raideen. Their chop duels are pretty intense. Okamoto has certainly shown improvements of late, taking his sumo game and turning it into a positive. His massive beer gut is still a detriment but he’s starting to use that size effectively. Speaking of which; Raideen looks like a monster. When he lifts Sekimoto and throws him at Okamoto I’m genuinely impressed. Sekimoto himself is fond of the odd power spot, including dead lifting Tanaka off the mat and throwing him with a German suplex. That kind of freaky power is all about the core strength. The match escalates quite nicely until Tanaka batters Shogun with Sliding D to retain. Raideen having thrown Sekimoto to the floor beforehand.

Final Rating: ***1/2

 

Zero1 World Heavyweight Championship

Kohei Sato (c) vs. Yusaku Obata

New Year, another Obata title shot. Sato has held the belt for ten months since downing Hideki Suzuki. He’s a formidable champion. Due to the nature of Zero1 shows Sato has only defended the belt once and that was against Obata. I love Obata because he comes out to “Hearts on Fire” by John Cafferty. He must love Rocky IV. He’s ok by me. Kohei Sato dressed like a Sith. He’s also ok by me. The combination of the cloak, Mohawk and Yakuza back tattoo makes Kohei look like a king of sleaze. Obata’s last title shot against Sato was an inconsistent showing from the perennial challenger. This is more of the same. Not enough fire, drive or tactical nous from Obata and Sato systemically ends him. The 23 minute match is like an extended squash with Kohei beating the shit out of Obata and then pausing to get his breath while Obata lies around nursing sore ribs. The story is entirely about Obata’s refusal to stay down as Sato laces in stiff kicks and big body slams. Sato almost beats himself (not like that, perverts) by largely ignoring his opponents potential based on a previous defence. The way Sato takes charge with relative ease constantly throughout the match rather reflects how easy it is for him to win. It’s not that Obata is a bad wrestler but his structuring of matches doesn’t work for me, especially against larger opponents. They needed a story here and they don’t have one. Much like last time. Obata tries to go toe to toe but he doesn’t have enough in the tank to beat Sato. Again. Obata’s one shot at winning is catching Sato cold with speed, which briefly works until Sato recovers and rolls out of the way of a double knees off the top. Another stiff kick to the chest follows. Eventually Obata has nothing left and a succession of strikes (about 23 minutes worth) leaves him counting lights. I’m afraid to say this was exactly the same result as we got last time these two clashed. A valiant effort from Obata but no attempt to tell a story beyond him being completely outclassed.

Final Rating: ***1/2

 

Post Match: KAI jumps in there to challenge Sato to a title match. KAI teamed with Obata in the Furinkazan Tag Tournament at the tail end of last year and they beat Sato’s team in round one. This makes good logical sense.

 

Summary:

This was an ok start to the year for Zero1. It’s a promotion that blows hot and cold. They have a good style about their matches. There’s usually plenty of hard-hitting action but occasionally, despite bringing in top talent, some of their shows fall flat. This was one of those, although the top two matches were both good. The trouble with ‘good’ nowadays is it doesn’t cut the mustard. There’s too much great wrestling out there to spend time on anything less. One show into the year and Zero1 are already in danger of falling out of my rotation.

6.0
The final score: review Average
The 411
This was an ok start to the year for Zero1. It’s a promotion that blows hot and cold. They have a good style about their matches. There’s usually plenty of hard-hitting action but occasionally, despite bringing in top talent, some of their shows fall flat. This was one of those, although the top two matches were both good. The trouble with ‘good’ nowadays is it doesn’t cut the mustard. There’s too much great wrestling out there to spend time on anything less. One show into the year and Zero1 are already in danger of falling out of my rotation.
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