wrestling / Video Reviews
Puro Fury: Zero1 Summer Vacation Special
Zero1 Summer Vacation Special
August 18 2016
Coming off the Fire Festival I had developed a sweet spot for Zero1 and with nothing else major happening in Japan (yet) I took a double dip by checking out the follow up where Obata gets his title shot. It’s only a small show in Shin Kiba 1st Ring but I’m interested to see how Obata’s title shot pans out.
Hideki Hosaka vs. Toshiki Iwaki
Hosaka is a grimy old bastard with unwashed hair. I vaguely remember him working FMW back in the day and he’s brought that sleaziness with him. Iwaki’s hair is growing back nicely but he’s starting to look suspiciously normal. This difficulty level is low in this match up although I get into it based on Iwaki going nuts after a pinfall and the hopes of a dramatic victory. Hosaka’s response is violent retribution and he drops Iwaki on his neck a few times before wrenching on a half crab for the tap out. This was basic but suitably loaded with a desire to murder the opponent.
Final Rating: **1/4
TARU & Junko vs. Yoshikazu Yokoyama & Kyoko
TARU comes out here in a blue suit, which is massive, looks filthy and must be some sort of rib. Yokoyama also comes out in a blue suit and this is some sort of cosplay deal. Junko is Mochi Miyagi from Ice Ribbon. Kyoko is Hamuko Hoshi, who’s also from Ice Ribbon and is teeny tiny. The girls are both around 5’ tall and dressed as nuns, or schoolgirls, or something. I don’t get the gimmick. The match is nothing unless one of the girls is trying to beat up TARU but they run weird upskirt perving bits and it’s just dirt. I think TARU and Yokoyama are supposed to be Elvis? Yokoyama left his work boots at home and mumble, mumble, mumble. Good night. The faces accidentally kiss each other and Junko leg jams Yokoyama for the pin.
Final Rating: DUD
KAMIKAZE vs. Buffa
Oh dear, the wheels have come off this show. KAMIKAZE sucks. K-Pusha is ok but what is he doing in Japan? How did he get to be a big import fly-in star? The match is KAMIKAZE just stinking the ring out with his stinky awful in-ring style. He can’t do strikes. He can’t take bumps. He can just about throw a suplex but that’s about it. Buffa opts to do comedy dance spots to offset that. Buffa has a style and he’s fine at it but this is not a good match. KAMIKAZE wins with an ugly backslide.
Final Rating: ½*
Ikuto Hidaka, Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Sean Guinness vs. Shinjiro Otani, Kotaro Suzuki & Takuya Sugawara
I don’t really understand why we had to sit through two matches of shit for a load of talents to get dumped into a six-man tag. These guys, the good ones anyway, are on the veteran side of things. At one point or another Hidaka, Takaiwa, Suzuki and Otani were world beaters. That’s probably not the case now but Kotaro is decent and it’s Otani’s company so he always busts a gut in big matches. Not that this is a big match. It’s ten minutes and everyone takes it easy. I watched this show because I was enraged that eight people voted Otani a 6/10 on Cagematch. Who votes Otani a fucking six? It’s an outrage. Because he can’t help himself, and because he’s a legend, Otani gets into a brawl with Takaiwa. Guinness is starting to look good. He’s grown his hair out and is starting to work like a cross between Finn Balor and Neville, in terms of technique rather than actual moves. He looks comfortable in the ring. Not that he gets much time in a six-man ten minuter. The bout gets really good towards the end as everyone starts throwing themselves around. The near falls are suitably exciting. It’s far better than anything else on the show to this point and yet it’s cut so short. Sugawara ends up dropping Guinness on his face for the pin.
Final Rating: ***3/4
NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship
James Raideen & Masato Tanaka (c) vs. Akebono & Shogun Okamoto
This is an interesting combination of talents, that’s for certain. Akebono is the main focus of the match as he’s a big fat bastard and it’s hard to take him out. The match is way better when Okamoto is in there because he’s suddenly really solid with that believable sumo offence and ability to strike it out with Raideen. The trouble is that Okamoto needs to take the bulk of the match, which results in Tanaka leaning on him for an eternity. The ideal length of an Akebono match is not 18 minutes. Whenever he is in there Raideen is throwing himself around to try and make Akebono look dangerous. They actually do a solid job of working around him and Shogun is getting a decent reputation. Raideen pins Shogun with a sitout powerbomb. This was reasonable considering how much time it was given but as you can tell, from what I’ve typed, that not an awful lot happened. Good showing for the existing champs and Akebono was useful here.
Final Rating: ***1/4
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ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship
Kohei Sato (c) vs. Yusaku Obata
Obata won the Fire Festival to get this title shot. He has a solid tactical approach, looking to take Sato’s leg and ground the big man before he takes the young punk apart. Obata looks calm, composed and belongs in there. Although the crowd don’t seem all that bothered and only really respond when Sato is putting an ungodly beating upon Obata. Obata gets the love for fighting from underneath. This crowd just don’t give a shit about technical excellence. They want to see two guys pummel each other, which makes no sense from Obata’s POV because he’s outsized. Kohei is great at being a dominant fighter, like a budget Brock Lesnar. He can bully a smaller guy and make it entertaining with the throws and the big kicks. When Obata tries to fight like a junior, instead of doing sensible things, he gets destroyed. Sato ignores his dropkick! You’d think after the early, albeit not crowd-pleasing, successes that Obata would stick with that. Obata eventually gets joy from landing strikes, because he’s quick, but there’s still no keeping Sato down. What almost does is Obata literally dropping Sato right on the top of his head. I’m surprised Kohei was able to kick out of that with a BROKEN FUCKING NECK. Kohei is clearly pissed off because after lying around holding his neck for twenty seconds he just kills Obata with violence until the match is over. For God’s sake wrestlers, don’t do dangerous spots if you can’t do them properly.
Final Rating: ***1/2
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