Hi!
Call us Looney Tunes, because Happy Wrestling Land, The Newsletter, is Back in Action. We’re talking about wrestling too. This newsletter features Champions, Roads, Battles and Forbidden Doors… even Dan Spivey makes a cameo too.
See you next week?
AJPW Champions Night 4 (6/19/22) - Captain Lou
NJPW New Japan Road (6/20/22) - Dum Dum Daniels
NJPW New Japan Road (6/21/22) - Dum Dum Daniels
AJPW Dynamite Series 2022 (6/26/22) - Captain Lou
Stardom Nagoya Summit Battle (6/26/22) - Dum Dum Daniels
AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door (6/26/22) - Dum Dum Daniels
Wrasslin’ with Ol’ Dad: Kobashi/Hansen! Spivey! Facelocks! - Codysseus
Captain Lou’s Review: AJPW Champions Night 4 (6/19/22)
Ryo Inoue vs. Oji Shiiba
You might be wondering who this Oji Shiiba fellow is. As an investigative journalist (I looked at Cage Match dot net), I can tell you that this youngster started off as a Dragon Gate rookie and somehow veered off into local indie obscurity. He made his AJPW debut by smartly paying tribute to the ultimate Zen Nihon gaijin LEGEND – The Whole F’N Show Rob Van Dam. That’s right. **1/2
Izanagi © vs. Black Menso-re vs. Toshizo vs. Yusuke Kodama – 4-Way Ladder Match (GAORA TV Title)
The transition is complete. The GAORA TV title has officially gone from the Slug-Fest Belt to the Clusterfuck Multiman Matches That Weirdly Exceed Expectations Belt. These lovable midcarders kept you engaged with a highly-advanced mix of comedy (World’s shortest ladder) and big ladder bumps. Kodama stole the show thanks to his willingness to die for This Business. ***
Masanobu Fuchi, Takao Omori & ATM vs. Yoshitatsu, Masao Inoue & SUSHI
It wouldn’t be an All Japan supershow without an old man comedy banger. This had it all: the return of MASAO WORLD, a god damn Fuchi Backdrop and most important of all: ATM working his magic by trying to buy off everyone. This man is the greatest addition to the All Japan undercard since Hellboy. **
Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Rising HAYATO
Very much the action-packed 10-minute burner you wanted these two to have. Love Atsuki and HAYATO as partners, but there’s clearly some money to be made with them as rivals. Both seem to be on the same page about moving the junior division away from the crafty technical wrestling era (Aoki, Hikaru, Susumu, etc) and back to the cutting-edge high spot era (Kenny/Kaz/Kondo, etc).
The lucha armdrags were on point and the bumps were massive (HAYATO is a complete maniac for that slingshot hilo to the floor). What Atsuki might lack in emoting and drama, HAYATO makes up for with his top-notch babyfacing and selling. They’re really made for each other. ***1/2
Naoya Nomura vs. Hokuto Omori
Hollywood Naoya Nomura and his weight belt are back to take AJPW by storm and that’s a god damn shoot, brother. The match was violent and straight to the point – a note-perfect reintroduction for Nomura the former Future Pillar turned Angsty Invader. This man has seen some shit while working Capture/GanPro and will use his newfound knowledge of indie sleaze secrets to climb back to the top. Hokuto played his part to a tee – buckets of hate and sweet suplexes. BACHI BACHI. ***1/4
Hikaru Sato © vs. Tiger Mask – AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title
Even the usual high-level performance from Hikaru couldn’t salvage much from 2022 Tiger Mask IV. As an expert in wrestling, I will tell you right now that nothing here (other than the result) was outright offensive and most of the work was actually solid. But Tiger Mask is such a black hole of charisma that I found myself dozing off whenever the tide shifted in his favor.
All of his lifeless comebacks stood out in a bad way when contrasted with Sato’s laser-focused offense. With so many of the young dudes stepping up this year, this epic Hikaru reign would’ve been the perfect platform to take one of them (Atsuki) to the next level. I don’t know. Puzzling. ***
Yuma Aoyagi vs. Shuji Kondo
About one Yuma comeback short of reaching the COVETED Three and a Half Star plateau, but still rock-solid. A natural dynamic quickly fell into place – Aoyagi’s white meat babyface offensive flurries blending well with Kondo’s powerhouse leanings. Please be aware that I am in awe of Kondo’s dropkick bumps.
This man and All Japan Pro-Wrestling are a match made in heaven. The Voodo Murders affiliation might frighten you, but much like with Minoru Tanaka, we would all benefit from regular AJPW Kondo bookings. Also, Nextream is in tatters but the AOYAGI BROS will ride into the future. Stay tuned. ***1/4
Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato © vs. Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda – AJPW Tag Team Titles
Want some superlatives? How about these bad boys – best match of the Twin Towers reign and easy AJPW tag MOTY. Another apt descriptor would be Brain Damage: The Movie. They basically took all the best bits from recent Big Shuj/Honda and Ashino/Kohei encounters, removed all the filler and added even more shoot headbutts.
Just non-stop ass pounding with Honda getting thoroughly annihilated in the first half and Hot Tag Ashino proving to be the difference-maker in the second. Everyone went full Beast Mode – Blues Brothers 2K22 even bringing back their hilariously ill-advised Final Event/Superplex combo. I was half-expecting the WRESTLE-1 reunion to be a temporary gimmick, so thank you Yoshihiro Tajiri for proving me wrong. These boys deserve a proper run. ****
Suwama & TARU vs. Yuji Nagata & Dan Tamura
The Voodoo murders are generating much anguish in the All Japan Twitter landscape, but I’m digging the story so far. These matches have a gnarly 80’s territorial vibe, poor Dan Tamura getting wrecked by pushup boards, dog collars and assorted TARU black magic. Best of all, Big Wama feels at his most dangerous and I love me some Dangerous Wama. The riceball introduction was worth plenty of stars on its own. ***
Kento Miyahara © vs. Jake Lee – Triple Crown
While this lacked the peaks of pure hatred found in their best matches, it did have plenty of meat around the bone for Kento/Jake academicians. A lot of the match felt like a Greatest Hits compilation, both guys piling on the callbacks and adding new twists to some of their signature tropes.
They went back to the Jake Lee Hungry For Some Ribs subplot of the 2021 CC finals, pulled out the surprise Kensuke lariats of their 60-minute broadway and even threw in some classic 2019 apron German suplex fuckery for good measure. Kind of a love-letter to their entire rivalry.
As a long-time CONSUMER of AJPW TV, it was hard not to play the comparison game with all these other great matches. I will not lie to you, gentle reader, the limb work wasn’t as engaging as the 60-min match, Jake’s beatdown wasn’t as vicious as last year’s CC final and the bomb-fest outro wasn’t as tight as those of 2018 and 2019.
What this had over the previous matches was the sheer moment of it all. The Dark Gentleman Jake Lee finally triumphing over his eternal frenemy in a Triple Crown match. That massive Ota-ku pop for the finish and emotional post-match with Kobashi validated the booking. A turning point in modern AJPW lore. ***3/4
NJPW New Japan Road (6/20/22): Three Guys Drive Into A Forbidden Door
What do we got over here?… a cuppa middling shows from an ordinary company with just enough legacy and occasional uptick to get by?
Was there still value in these puroresu spot shows, other than jobs created and a soft main event for midcard titles? Was there artistic value? New Japan’s undercards have rarely held a great reputation, but now the factions driving them felt less connected or inspired than ever. The wrestling wasn’t so much bad, but given how repetitive it could be it was remarkable how little effort there was in making improvements around it.
A few days after Jay White beat Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Title at Dominion, New Japan kicked off their next tour without Jay White. New Japan Road would have eight stops in all, two back-to-back at Korakuen Hall less than a week before some (like six) New Japan guys went to America for AEW’s Forbidden Door.
First up: the New Japan Road stopped at Korakuen Hall on June 20th.
1. Kosei Fujita vs. Aaron Henare
Kosei Fujita and Ryohei Oiwa are New Japan’s newest Young Lions, otherwise known as “rookies” or – sometimes, rarely but lately more often – “Noojies.” Henare emerged with a new coolness if not credibility gained from a couple trips to the States, and after humoring a hot start from Fujita he started bringing the punishment. The chops just hit harder in the Korakuen silence. *1/2
2. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & YOH vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo
What an absolute cast of lifers this was. Remember YOH and SHO? They didn’t do much here, though YOH got something going as he smoothly dropkicked just about everybody. Then he lost when Dick Togo low-effort cheated or whatever. **
3. Kazuchika Okada, Yuto Nakashima & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & SANADA
Look at these lil’ Noojies teaming with Okada. He yelled at one of them! ***
4. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
Hiromu, Best of the Super Jr. champion and challenger for Taiji’s IWGP Jr. Title tomorrow, began the match building to and delivering not one but two BUSHI-assisted beard-bull spots on Gedo. Besides the few minutes spent on Gedo wearing down BUSHI, this was fine. **1/4
5. Inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Title 4-Way Match Tournament – Semi Final: Tomoaki Honma vs. Clark Connors
The passive aggressive on-screen negotiation of the midcard qualifiers to qualify to be New Japan’s one-fourth of a four-way… this is how all good business partnerships start off like, right? Or is that just pro wrestling specifically? Clark Connors, New Japan LA Dojo-trained and fresh off a run in the BOSJ, has an Australian cowboy get-up but also carries a t-shirt promoting “Big Horn Energy.” Honma is Honma, and somehow despite wrestling at half-speed he was able to put something together – as he usually still does in these random 10-minute features he still gets sometimes. ***
6. Inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Title 4-Way Match Tournament – Semi Final: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Look at that, Tomohiro Ishii is selling the leg again. I mean – kind of. He’s less selling and more kind of just… dealing with it, not quite enough pain to be an underdog but enough to extend the runtime to 20-minutes. It sort of made sense, even 15-minutes deep when Ishii was selling a figure-four as the possible end.
Most of the match was Kanemaru being sneaky or getting his ass beat, which is an ideal setup for Kanemaru or any heel, really. Eventually he escaped a powerbomb and kicked Ishii’s hurt leg, only for Ishii to just ignore it – but in a way that re-enforced he was still kind of hurt. Not must-see, but once again – what a cast of lifers. ***1/2
7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato [c] vs. Francesco Akira & TJP
Francesco Akira and New Japan legend Pinoi Boy began teaming and joined Will Ospreay’s United Empire about a month-and-a-half ago, so here they were becoming the new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Taguchi and TJP started with holds and humor, Wato and Akira traded elbows, and soon Taguchi was taking a beating to setup a hot tag by Wato that was lifeless by even clap-crowd standards. Then Wato almost broke the back of his head on a tope con hilo. God damnit, Wato!
Soon, the double-teams and near falls were flowing but nothing really stood out besides Taguchi’s talents around ass-attacks and match structure. He seemed like the best guy in a match that had a bunch of technically proficient and occasionally impressive wrestling but couldn’t fully lock in until 20 minutes later. ***1/4
Happy Thoughts: Crap undercard, good Ishii match, decent main events. Will the next night (to be linked soon) be more of the same? Ehhh! 2.5 / 5.0
NJPW New Japan Road (6/21/22): The Sound Of Hirooki Goto Settling
The night after New Japan was at Korakuen Hall, they were back at Korakuen Hall. TJP and Francesco Akira captured the IWGP Jr. Tag Titles while Tomohiro Ishii and Clark Connors qualified to qualify for the Inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Title 4-Way Match at Forbidden Door in just under a week.
Following Forbidden Door, New Japan was to return to Korakuen for three more shows en route to the annual, updated and expanded G1 Climax 32. Before all that, however: the New Japan Road tour stopped at Korakuen Hall on June 21st.
1. Yuto Nakashima vs. DOUKI
Yuto Nakashima made his debut last March and looks like a bruiser-in-training – the last name is similar to (Manabu) Nakanishi, but so are the love handles and broad shoulders. Some nights you tag with Okada; some you tapout to DOUKI. *1/2
2. Ryohei Oiwa vs. Taichi
Ryohei Oiwa has an impressively defined upper back but other than that looks like a novelist or something – I can’t get a read on it. He does throw a nice dropkick though, and it looked like he was paying extra attention to selling his back after taking a shoulder tackle. Taichi, of course, was mean in all sorts of entertaining ways – up to and including the point where as an offensive maneuver he just grabbed Oiwa by the hair and shoved him down. **
3. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & YOH vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo
Don’t shoot the messenger – The House of Torture is at it again! Hirooki Goto, denied a match with Jon Moxley and United States excursion, settled for a brief wrestling exchange with SHO. YOH, who should do something, tapped SHO out while the referee was distracted then got hit by a wrench and was pinned by SHO. Oh. *3/4
4. Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato & Jado vs. Aaron Henare, Francesco Akira & TJP
Francesco and TJP are the new Jr. Tag Champs, Jeff Cobb and The Great O-Khan are in America as heavyweight Tag Champs, and Will Ospreay is wrestling everyone from Dax Harwood to Nick Wayne to Orange Cassidy — life is good for the United Empire. The junior heavyweight portion of this had a few sequences out of last night’s fine match, then Henare and Jado – a former junior heavyweight turned heavyweight by just being old I think – tagged in to wrap-up. **
5. Kazuchika Okada, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe & Kosei Fujita vs. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, SANADA & BUSHI
Kosei Fujita got the thrill his peers received last night, facing down the quiet bad boys of Los Ingobernables de Japon while tagging with “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada. Unfortunately for this spirited Noojie, he submitted to a crab hold before any of his three partners could even tag in. Good match. **1/2
6. Inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Title 4 Way Match Tournament – Final: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Clark Connors
Obviously, Clark Connors – trained by Katsuyori Shibata in Japan and trying to make “Big Horn Energy” a thing in Japan – gave it his all against Tomohiro Ishii. The shoulder tackling came early and often, eventually mixed with elbows and chops (hard-ass chops) where Connors impressed even before putting Ishii on his ass with a lariat. He kept bringing it and Ishii kept taking it but also bringing it, and eventually two spears couldn’t keep Tomohiro Ishii away from another stay in America. Good effort and good wrestling, young Clark. ***1/2
7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Taiji Ishimori [c] vs. Hiromu Takahashi
Just a couple minutes after the bell, Taiji Ishimori motioned for Hiromu Takahashi to come outside and Hiromu casually slid out, only for Taiji to grab his arm and bring it down on the concrete with a tornado DDT. And so it began: the arm work and arm selling. Hiromu proved he’s more than a pretty face by using the leg-based flying headscissors to try a comeback as opposed to anything that involved his arm. Then he did the running dropkick off the apron and, well. Love that spot.
Hiromu delivered great underdog energy, and the clapping was rapid after he stumbled to stay upright from a Canadian Destroyer then caught a charging Taiji with an overhead suplex into the turnbuckle. He survived a Fujiwara armbar and crossface too – both on that hurt arm – then got dropped with a piledriver on the apron, which was more to the point.
As they pulled out more and got closer to the eventual 36-minute runtime, I’m not sure if it felt dramatic or elongated – maybe it was both at different times. The same feeling went for Hiromu’s last-second kickout after Taiji’s big top rope reverse DDT. It all stayed pretty consistent, but never felt like much more than them just doing that stuff they do. ***1/2
No moment in the match came close to what followed though, as after three disappointing years with WWE, KUSHIDA returned to New Japan. The best part? Like it was the glory years of 2019 or something, he got a bonafide classic Korakuen Hall POP. I got goosebumps. Then I cried. No – just goosebumps.
Happy Thoughts: If New Japan combined last night‘s show with this show, with the two junior heavyweight main events back-to-back and a streamlined undercard and maybe some crowd noise besides claps… this might have been a good show. The building blocks of one were occasionally visible, but too much just felt like one show in two. That’s the bad one! 2.0 / 5.0
Captain Lou’s Review: AJPW Dynamite Series 2022 (6/26/22)
Hikaru Sato vs. Atsuki Aoyagi
I had this pairing earmarked as a potential Budokan junior title match. Unfortunately, this was before Hikaru dropped the belt to the FELINE FORCES OF EVIL (Tiger Mask 4). KBS Hall is not the Budokan, but it served as a gorgeous backdrop for this 10-minute draw of pure rock solidness.
Great chemistry on display – the kind that could’ve been milked for a big Passing of the Torch Moment. It was an air-headed high-flying vs. serious arm work type match, with fun character moments and Internet-approved workrate. Did Atsuki sell the arm? No. Do YOU deserve arm selling? That is the real question… ***1/4
Yoshitatsu & Eisa8 vs. Takao Omori & Ryo Inoue
Happy to report that Inoue has officially replaced the ill-advised cartwheel elbow with a much safer flying back elbow. Thank you, my child. The action was what you’d expect from the second match on an All Japan card featuring local Kyoto LEGEND Eisa8. I have no complaints. **1/4
Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Ren Ayabe
The main hook here was Ashino/Ayabe and it was the hookiest of all hooks. JTO Gentle Giant Ren Ayabe tried to lil guy Ashino, which led to a well-dosed mix of comedy and leg torture. Ishikawa knows what he’s doing with these Ayabe tags. This youngster needs the guidance of a fellow giant.
There’s only so much TAKA Michinoku can do for him. Although I must admit he taught him one hell of a dropkick. The rest of the match was rounded out by Honda and Big Shooj beating the brakes off each other. Terrific undercard wrestling and another big step forward for Ayabe. ***1/4
Hokuto Omori & Yusuke Kodama © vs. Izanagi & Black Menso-re – All-Asia Tag Team Titles
A big ol’ bowl of tag team wrestling. I gulped it all like a freakin’ tag team glutton. They went with a time-tested Southern structure that even James E. Cornette would be proud of – Izanagi taking a nutty apron death bump to setup the Total Eclipse heel beatdown and eventual Menso-re hot tag of white-hot revenge.
Just a bunch of well thought-out wrasslin’ with loads of tag team ingenuity from both sides (Izanagi/Menso-re double missile dropkick = WILD). Hokuto once again got the spotlight for the finish and I swear, this kid is becoming a true Ending Stretch Expert. An important piece of any wrestling CV. ***1/2
Kento Miyahara & Rising HAYATO vs. Yuji Nagata & Dan Tamura
Hell of a good time. As the kids say, Kento was very much On One, busting out all of his best comedy tricks (aka. aggressively singling out the one person in the crowd who won’t clap for him) and mixing it up with ol’ Blue Justice. As appealing as that Miyahara/Nagata dream match sounds, it was the youngins’ who stole the show here.
Dan and HAYATO revealed that they somehow had completely batshit chemistry and went balls to the wall. Clearly aware of KBS Hall’s status as Home of Dragon Gate, HAYATO blew some minds by working at Masato Yoshino-levels of speed. For real. Meanwhile, Dan externalized all the recent Voodoo Murders beatings and went full SUWAMACITO with nasty lariats and Powerbombs. Loved all of this. ***1/2
Jake Lee & Yuma Aoyagi vs. Suwama & Shuji Kondo
This is how you spark interest in a title match. Off-the-charts hatred between Jake and the Wamster – an already reliable pairing that seems ready to hit a new level thanks to Wama’s Voodoo makeover. Suwama’s always been great at bringing the fight out of Lee and now he gets to do it in a brand new bizzarro world setting.
I was extremely into VM’s heel work here. They got the point across without relying on tired interference tropes. A real breath of fresh air. Of course, it helps to have Yuma Aoyagi as your babyface in peril in this type of match. Typically-on-point selling and crowd-popping comebacks from Mama Aoyagi’s Baby Boy.
The savagery of the heel beatdown and Suwama’s straight-up refusal to sell gave Jake a real heroic edge. You felt for the guy when he started losing his shit on the ring apron. This whole Nextream 1.0 reunion/Heel Suwama mega-arc would be the perfect platform for a slow-burn Jake babyface turn. (Movie trailer voice) This summer, Jake Lee gets his groove back. ***3/4
Stardom Fight in the Top ~ Nagoya Summit Battle (6/26/22): A Perfect Combination of Violence and Practicality
It’s the summertime and a couple weeks ago I didn’t secure our garbage can lids well. Long story short, we came into a lot of house flies.
Why do I say this? Because in some ways I’ve become a more complex man but in many other ways I’m simpler than I’ve ever been. I don’t need everything to make sense, but do appreciate any efforts people make to get to cut through “the noise” and get to “the point.”
Which brings us to the night that Tam Nakano and Natsupoi battled inside a Steel Cage.
When we last left Stardom, Syuri and Saya Kamitani had once again successfully defended their championships as an assortment of up-and-comers continued rising, new faces continued appearing, and those that were otherwise around continued to be pretty much that, still.
This show and these Steel Cage matches took place in Nagoya.
1. 3-Way Battle: Unagi Sayaka vs. Waka Tsukiyama vs. Ruaka
Youth. Angst. Charisma. Though tonight was headlined by Stardom’s first ever Cage Match(es), it began with the usual few minutes of wrestling moves, some or most of them relying on more suspension of disbelief than you’d hope. **
2. Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo vs. Lady C & Miyu Amasaki
It’s the Stars vs. Queen’s Quest! Saya Iida is a four-foot-eight stocky badass who flexes, Momo Kogho is a spark plug who jumped from Ice Ribbon earlier this year, Miyu Amasaki is a 19-year-old who started wrestling three months ago, and Lady C continues looking for another attribute other than tall. Lady and Iida trading chops was still a sight. Good showcase for some rising stars in match number two. ***
3. Mina Shirakawa vs. Himeka
Mina Shirakawa is one of Stardom’s more… bubbly competitors, but here she fought a god damn grudge match. The intensity was high and the strikes connected — the pretty girls were kicking so much ass. ***1/4
4. 3-Way Elimination Match – Artist of Stardom Title: Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid & Saki Kashima [c] vs. Giulia, Maika & Mai Sakurai vs. Syuri, MIRAI & Ami Sorei
The champs represent Oedo Tai, which if the name didn’t give it away are bad guys with a flair for being dipshits. Giulia leads DDM, while Syuri split from her a few months ago to start God’s Eye (so dramatic). They all gathered here for a Triple Threat Tag Team Elimination Match with three girls in the ring at one time (usually) and the option to eliminate someone by throwing them over the top rope.
The setup was a little much but the first couple eliminations were so dramatic they got funny and everyone seemed to have a pact to avoid any lull in action, delivering rapid-fire exchanges and car crash bumps bell to bell. ***3/4
5. Cage Match: Tam Nakano vs. Natsupoi
The Steel Cage Match is one of pro wrestling’s coler options, a concept so simple and cool it shouldn’t need explanation. Somewhere along the way the market got a little oversaturated, but Stardom had their first go at it here and they went big: not only did they do two of them, but one of them was among the best matches of this year or any year.
Calling back to the story of garbage and house flies from earlier, Stardom constant Tam Nakano took on Stardom up-and-comer Natsupoi and they delivered a 25-minute Cage Match that cut through all the noise: annoying buzzing, occasional insect massacres, stressors of professional or personal nature and the overabundance of safe and boring steel cage matches.
It didn’t allow for much noise anyways, and that’s not a pun referring to the restrictions on crowd reactions. The quiet remained, but it didn’t matter – thanks to a perfect combination of violence and practicality, their point got across. Before the bell Nakano was staring a hole through Natsupoi and when it rang she grabbed her by the head and threw her face into the cage – the first move.
Every opening Nakano got she’d try to kick, drag or toss poor Natsupoi’s face into the cage’s mesh wire, which had more give than your average wrestling cage. Natsupoi threw herself into bump against it with a reckless enthusiasm, and the entire shaky setup somehow found a balance between occasionally concerning and cool as hell.
After taking her punishment like a champ Natsupoi finally found an opening by dropkicking Nakano off the top turnbuckle into the violent steel. She didn’t follow up with some babyface rally, either — this was ON. She rubbed Nakano’s face in the cage and threw her into it multiple times, basically ticking off every possible box of revenge from Nakano’s attacks earlier. Then after all of that she scaled the cage and dropped a double foot stomp. The audacity of Let’s Freaking Go!
She scored a 3-count off a fancy victory roll then climbed the cage to try and escape, and that’s right: in Stardom’s Cage Match you’ve got to pin your opponent and then escape. It was an extra wrinkle that didn’t complicate things at all, especially when Nakano stopped Natsupoi’s climb by wilding out and giving her a backdrop suplex that sent them both into the cage, then right into that small scary area between the ropes and cage.
That move led to Nakano getting a pin too, then more escape attempts. When they both ended up on top of the cage Natsupoi won the struggle and knocked Nakano all the way down to the mat, though Natsupoi herself fell down right after. Only after all this and a little more slamming each other’s face into the cage did they start going for the kill with suplexes and superkicks and – gasp – a Steiner Screwdriver.
Natsupoi its’ the poor recipient, and though she was somehow able to stand and try to follow Nakano back to the top of the cage, Nakano was waiting for her with the hangman Dragon Sleeper that, combined with another long fall down, put Natty down long enough for Nakano to scale down the cage and reach the floor. *****
6. Cage Match: Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani & AZM vs. Mayu Iwatani, Hazuki & Koguma
Mayu Iwatani and her fellow Stars entered this 6-woman Steel Cage Match wearing sweatpants, Iwatani herself looking particularly apprehensive – a theme that carried through the match, as she was always either trying to escape or score a pin. Their opponents Queen’s Quest are the cool kids, with a glamor that seems effortless until you think about how much they had to spend on entrance gear alone.
This was lacking the weight and violence of Nakano/Natsupoi but it was more straightforward, just a bunch of wild action with six quality wrestlers running ropes and hitting dropkicks and kipping up in a Cage… an absolute sight. AZM and Koguma ended up the last two and AZM did a double footstomp off the top of the cage (just like Natsupoi!), though it seemed to hurt her just as much as Koguma who scaled the cage and freaking leaped to victory with a plancha on everyone who had already escaped. ***1/2
0. Tam Nakano vs. Natsupoi (6/28/22)
Nakano and Natsupo had a rematch two days later at Korakuen Hall that lost the cage but kept the violence. Every move and decision felt extra nasty or intense or just plain salty. Natsupoi tore the floor mats up only for Nakano to slam her body on concrete and knee her face into the ring post. Their slap exchange later on echoed in the Korakuen quiet, slaps that Natsupoi eventually decided to try and absorb before Nakano switched to just punching her scalp.
Natsupoi fired back with a spin kick, German suplex, falcon arrow, and three or four twisting splashes before a straitjacket suplex – the Fairy Strain – was what it took to give her a wildly gratifying victory. Appreciate the big match greatness of Tam Nakano and welcome to the club, Natsupoi. ****1/4
Happy Thoughts: Tam Nakano and Natsupoi’s Cage Match was so good that the rest was just a bonus, but the bonus was so good too. Even on a show with just one title on the line, Stardom was firing on all cylinders. 5.0 / 5.0
AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door (6/26/22): Happy Thoughts From The Last Row
In the few weeks since I sat in one of the United Center’s very last rows for AEW and NJPW’s Forbidden Door in Chicago, I’ve been watching wrestling but haven’t really been thinking about it.
Not that I should have been thinking about it much in the first place. I’m just some kid that became some guy. Fell in with the Crazy MAX crew and started collecting tapes of wrestling footage from around the world. The Japanese ones stood out. A co-promoted New Japan show was the first: the Super J Cup 1994, which I watched in 2001 and found myself taken by the display put on by guys named Jushin Thunder Liger and the Great Sasuke. Then came the J*Crown Tournament. Then the Real World Tag League 2001 based on the recommendation of a guy who ended up in jail years later for stalking and harassment. I wish I made that up.
Something in there catapulted me into a bubble of infatuation and discovery that could sometimes devolve into resentment: with the sport for not being as good or fun as I thought it could be, with myself for enjoying and obsessing over it. Then there were the other fans, a community that introduced me to some of my best friends and also, mostly by of wrestling’s own reactions and interactions with them, could be a source of alienation and frustration.
As it will remind you more than any other business, wrestling is a business. Because of that, it’s bound by constraints both monetary and interpersonal. More simply put: to accomplish their goals, they need to make money and work together.
A month prior, as AEW and New Japan officially began working together, Forbidden Door seemed confusing. I still bought tickets on day one, obviously, but there were freak injuries and corporate entanglements that resulted in a confusion that — as other pleasures and responsibilities in life continued calling — I just tried to keep a distance from. Bide your time, Jason, and the reward will be worth it.
Injuries removed two of the top planned matches and denied the audience (me!) the joy of seeing the joy of CM Punk, who just returned to wrestling nine months ago after nine months away, headlining in his hometown in a match with New Japan’s Hiroshi Tanahashi. What remained too was “the business,” the public evolution of New Japan and AEW’s relationship. It began a couple years ago when Tanahashi coined the “Forbidden Door” term only for AEW to co-opt it to mean basically anyone outside of New Japan, and it persisted through CM Punk’s bummer of an injury, an Interim AEW Championship, a randomly introduced new All-Atlantic Championship, and an untraditional and awkward build-up that bordered on lazy, plot points and matches based on availability and convenience over anything else. For two whole weeks, the entire industry had to pretend Aussie Open were New Japan regulars. It was weird!
On the Dynamite before the show, Bryan Danielson (finally) announced he was out – but was choosing Zack Sabre Jr.’s mystery opponent. A week prior, Adam Cole quietly said Kazuchika Okada wouldn’t be on Forbidden Door – but Okada showed up. A Sting and Hiromu Takahashi 8-man tag match was announced too – but Hiromu pulled out with the flu days later.
Tomohiro Ishii won one of the funniest thrown-together tournaments ever to be New Japan’s representative in the the All-Atlantic Title decision match too, but he ended up injured and unable to travel – so he was replaced with Clark Connors, mostly of New Japan USA. Forbidden Door?? More like Pro Wrestling!
Like everything, AEW and NJPW’s Forbidden Door eventually just happened. It was rewarding, too: an evening of pure and unfiltered pro wrestling love enjoyed with friends I met in junior high, in college, and like last year on Twitter. One of them went with me to ROH’s Death Before Dishonor back in 2004, where we saw our first CM Punk main event as well as an undercard Four Corner Survival match with All Japan’s Kazushi Miyamoto, who was on excursion dressed as The Great Kazushi. What an business. But more on that later.
0. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. QT Marshall & Aaron Solo
Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI know match structure, how to work up a drama out of seemingly nothing, but here they were in front of a crowd that cheered when the bell rang. It was the largest and loudest bunch of people they’ve been in front of since the pandemic, and in addition to triumphantly taking in the noise they delivered a complete and quality tag match. Good vibes and the start of a trend. ***1/4
0. Lance Archer vs. Nick Comoroto
I had to grab a friend from one of the United Center’s entrance gates (speed up, Ticketmaster Transfer!), and for a little while I was sprinting through the arena thinking I might miss a highly anticipated entrance from The Acclaimed. Then I heard Archer’s music, and honestly I slowed down. When I watched it afterwards, this match of very imposing wrestlers was short and to the point, though not enough to the point where either was able to stand out — even if Archer, who is headed to Japan for the G1 Climax, did a cannonball splash and rope-walk moonsault. **1/2
0. Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
When this match with El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru was announced a few days before the show, only then did it feel like real New Japan. The match was great too, extra impressive considering these guys probably just met for the first time the night of. Keith Lee was to Kanemaru as Brock Lesnar was to Keith Lee in the Royal Rumble 2020, impressed with the size of this guy’s balls.
Rather than running the ropes or trading holds, undersized Kanemaru opened the match sitting on the turnbuckle to square up with big Keith. It got a huge reaction. He delivered some Small Leg Work too, a concept which from 2002-2004 he became such a master at that he was able to rely on it for the rest of his career. Keith wrecked him anyways, though he did power through and pay it off with a figure-four leglock late in the match. Swerve and Desperado basically auditioned for a future singles match together too. ***1/2
Ricky Starks cut a promo from a suite with Powerhouse Hobbs after the match, and it was nearly as awe-inspiring as the James Webb pictures.
0. The Gunn Club & Max Caster w/ Anthony Bowens vs. Yuya Uemura, Kevin Knight, Alex Coughlin & The DKC
I went to grab one more friend and sprinted to the point of uncomfortable sweat to make sure we were in place for this: The Acclaimed and The Ass Boys. I bought a seat for New Japan but, outside of one surprise later on, probably reacted most passionately as I celebrating scissoring and “Daddy Ass.”
What did I even just write? What is any of this? The LA Noojies (and Yuya!) had a solid showcase here opposite a very fun act that was peaking in late-June. It was a match filled with guys whose wrestling development was uniquely affected by the pandemic, though they still brought all the quick rays and basic pro wrestling you could ask for. ***
1. Blood & Guts Advantage Match: Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta & Shota Umino vs. Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki & Sammy Guevara w/ Tay Conti
Awesome 6-man tag featuring established veterans and interesting up-and-comers that somehow seemed to feature everybody. Wheeler and Shooter both got sections of showing off then going at Jericho, Eddie Kingston wanted Jericho dead, and Minoru Suzuki wanted everyone dead. Would love to be a fly on the wall for Jericho pitching a Suzuki/Sammy match, I’ll say that.
Given the match had a few of AEW’s most over acts, Sammy and Tay seemed like an unnecessary addition to add heat — but they were there too, and Sammy did a Shooting Star Press to the floor. Shota firing up at the end then getting taken out from behind by a Judas Effect was such a surprising and perfectly executed finish too I’m going a whole half-star higher. ****1/2
2. 3-Way Winner Takes All Tag Match – ROH & IWGP Tag Team Title: FTR [c] vs. Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [c] vs. Roppongi Vice
A strangely booked wrestling match that stayed that way as they tried to get into a rythym early, and then FTR’s Dax Harwood got carried to the back with an apparent injury. It was more confusing live than it was on tape, probably because live I didn’t have the benefit of Taz walking me through it all in my ear.
O-khan got to be a little weird among some pleasant enough if not to too-cooperative wrestling before Dax stormed down to the ring and they delivered a hot finish that took full advantage of the crowd firing the freak up. The crowd pops for FTR keep getting bigger, and this match ended up a pretty key chapter in that surprising book. ***1/4
3. 4-Way Match – AEW All-Atlantic Title: PAC vs. Malakai Black vs. Miro vs. Clark Connors
There was a lot of action and movement in this match, but all I could vividly remember after the show and weeks later was odd-man-out Clark Connors constantly being disregarded until he put Miro through a table. Not amazing, but a more entertaining and impressive swing than Money in the Bank or something. ***1/2
4. Sting, Darby Allin & Shingo Takagi vs. The Young Bucks & ELP w/ Hikuleo
Kevin Kelly’s “Sting-er-noble de Japon” to begin the match reminded me why I’ve stuck to New Japan’s Japanese commentary all these years. The true wrestling fan will be a bro and not embarrass his fellow wrestling fan.
Though the match was missing Hiromu Takahashi, it did have Sting doing a plancha from the entrance tunnel and a titty twister revenge spot. A low-stakes match that had too much talent to not end up way better, and it did. I got to see Sting and Shingo Takagi do double-teams, pounded my chest like a gorilla, and watched a friend take in the entirety of ELP’s elaborate backrake spot in silence, nod and finally remark with no hint of irony, “that was interesting.”
Hikuleo was there too. ****
5. AEW Women’s World Title: Thunder Rosa [c] vs. Toni Storm
Regular viewers of AEW might not know it but Thunder Rosa is so good. The match she had in TJPW’s Mimi Yamashita that aired on DARK from Japan was excellent, but this was just as impressive: the crowd had just watched Sting dab up with Shingo Takagi and an uncomfortable amount of them left for the facilities during entrances, but Rosa and Toni Storm stayed confident, kept their shit together, and delivered a match as good as most on this show. Sometimes you just rely on your wrestling, you know? The Fire Thunder Driver near fall was incredible live and on the rewatch, too. ***1/2
6. IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title: Will Ospreay [c] w/ Aussie Open vs. Orange Cassidy
Orange Cassidy plays a comedy wrestler while sneakily an athletic genius and Will Ospreay is an athletic genius who has sneakily become more in on the joke. It ran a little long to fully get across all of those things, but the last 10 minutes closed up strong enough to make up for that too. ****
After the match, New Japan’s Katsuyori Shibata — retired since 2017 outside of a one-off exhibition match earlier this year — made a surprise appearance to confront Will Ospreay then Orange Cassidy. All I remember is screaming “no” then “oh fuck” a lot. Katsu was an early favorite back in his young lion days, during his difficult young man days, and here he did the big dropkick among other physical things. Go watch it.
7. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Claudio Castagnoli/Cesaro was literally the most suitable replacement for Bryan Danielson, and much like the Goto/YOSHI opener they didn’t rely on curiosity nor hold back a thing — this was a whole damn match! There was a hot start and cool holds and a build to Claudio’s Swing, which was delivered in earnest. ZSJ did his thing, but impressively blended in the background for the guy who was staying around. He also held onto a triangle choke hold when Cesaro lifted out of it and forced them both over the top rope and to the floor. Physical, heated, good pro wrestling. ****
8. 4-Way Match – IWGP Heavyweight Title: Jay White [c] w/ Gedo vs. Kazuchika Okada vs. Hangman Page vs. Adam Cole
The journey here was weird and the match was… fine, the kind of one that gets “holy shit” chants at the start then just kind of peters out as you wait for them to figure things out or hit bigger moves and thoughts appear like: well, why was I saying “holy shit” in the first place? Bullet Club Jay White and B.C.-adjacent Adam Cole kind of teamed up, Okada did his running crossbody over the guardrail on both them, and Hangman Page hung with Okada. It was a decent but forgettable match bound to be remembered anyways for its’ awkward finish, where White pinned a concussed Cole after Okada missed a Rainmaker on Cole. Yeah, I don’t know either. ***1/4
9. AEW Interim World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Mox picked up the NOOJ style quick in the G1 a couple years ago and proved he still had it here, playing the greatest hits with Tanahashi played in front of a loving if not spent crowd. By this point in the night and probably a little before I was pretty completely exhausted, but by way of elbows and High Fly Flows they willed the people into it — mostly.
They packed a lot of cool stuff in, but some of it — like Mox dodging a Sling Blade and tossing Tana over the top only for Tana to gingerly skin-the-cat and return to the ring — felt like something fun in a vacuum or from a match lower on the card, maybe not the main event of such a physical and action-packed card. They brought it home strong, as is the New Japan way, with a headbutt and Kamigoye from Tanahashi as well as Mox’s bloody face and demeanor really selling his need to kill New Japan’s Ace and regain AEW’s strap. ****
We left before the run-ins. Thanks to the friends I spent the night with — I needed it.
Happy Thoughts: Any of Forbidden Door’s disappointments in the lead-up were made up for with an endless serving of fresh and excellent wrestling matches in front of a big and blazing hot crowd starved for that sort of thing. It was either the peak of my personal pro wrestling fandom or the beginning of an even cooler pro wrestling, and considering I’m finishing this up on the day Vince McMahon’s Twitter account announced his retirement at 77-years-old I’m actually more bullish on the later than I have ever been. Katsuyori Shibata really showed up too, right? That was real? It happened? So good. 5.0 / 5.0
Kobashi vs Hansen! Dan Spivey! Facelocks!
Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue vs Mitsuharu Misawa/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi – August 29, 1991
This match had me googling how to make gifs out of videos on google drive using an iPhone. I’m inept, so there are no gifs here, but one day! I’ll have them somewhere.
It’s obvious on paper who’s taking the fall here, but as usual, they still put on a hell of a show. A fun game to play in this match is trying to guess how many seconds of sustained offense Kikuchi will get in each time Misawa’s able to take control of the match for his team. If he tops 30 seconds at any given point in this 20 minute match, well, I tell ya, I’d be pretty surprised. Misawa is constantly having to compensate for Kikuchi’s shortcomings. Kikuchi has such FIRE though, such a zest for failing to beat up people double his size. He’s a lovable liability and we love him for it.
Jumbo even loves it! He seems to relish abusing the poor Junior heavyweight. He’s the ultimate monster Ace. I don’t know if it’s Kikuchi’s size, his selling, or what – but Jumbo appears to lay his offense in a bit extra here. And Oh God, his Lariat.
It’s a fun match in front of a vocal crowd and everybody plays their part to a T. This was a lot of fun. I’ll think of Kikuchi trying to hip toss Jumbo Tsuruta often. ****½
Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi – September 4, 1991
What a fantastic match! Hansen starts things off before the bell rings with a Western Lariat cheap shot that really sets the tone. Luckily for Kobashi, referee Joe Higuchi refuses to start the match and count the pin right away, giving Kobashi enough time to roll to the floor and catch just enough of a breather to survive.
This all pisses a perpetually ornery Stan Hansen off, who proceeds to powerbomb Kobashi on the floor and huck a table at his head. Kobashi’s only offense for the first FIVE minutes is a desperate overhand chop to Hansen’s barrel chest, which has no effect. At the five minute mark he’s able to hit a sidekick that hurts Stan for the first time. Stan’s selling here is exceptional. He never over-does it or looks like a stooge, even when he’s trying to get away from Kobashi. There’s a wounded, but increasingly dangerous sense about him that just heightens the closer Kobashi gets to a possible upset.
Meanwhile, Kobashi’s just as brilliant. LOOK AT HIM:
Kobashi, with his utter lack of big signature singles wins at this point in his young career, is the impressionable youngster.He clings to sleeper hold not only after Hansen kicks out of a pin attempt, or after he tries to escape to the outside of the ring, but even over the guardrail into the crowd. Is it enough? Of course not and we know that Western Lariat’s going to show up again, but the way it finally ends the match is an all-timer. Just like it would be two years later. Hell of a thing! ****1/2
Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada © vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue – World Tag Team Titles – September 4, 1991
This is the one. The absolute last guy you’d expect to take the fall is the one who ends up taking it, and it’s a Big Deal. This was a landmark match in a great year for AJPW and they changed the format up a bit. Rather than Misawa looking strong in defeat, he’s the one in peril for the bulk of it.
Misawa comes into this with some sort of shoulder injury and Jumbo is quick to focus on it. Misawa needs a breather to get taped up eventually, but Kawada is able to keep things competitive long enough for Misawa to get back into the action, shedding his bandages in the process. This match answers a few questions about the champions. Can Misawa survive Tsuruta with an injured arm? Can Kawada carry his weight enough with a hobbled partner to make that happen? Can Misawa beat Jumbo again? It had been over a year since his flash victory on 6/8/1990. Since then, he’s piled up a bunch of losses, even though he’s looked like a star in the process. We know he’s legit, but we also know Jumbo is still The Ace and has put any doubts of his abilities since that one loss to rest.
Well! Misawa DOES survive, because Kawada not only holds his own, he saves Misawa and absolutely clobbers Jumbo in the back of the head with a lariat. This allows Misawa to beat Jumbo again, this time making him submit to the Faaaaaaacelock in the center of the ring. Excellent wrasslin’. ****1/2