“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2020 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
520 Fans
1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA defeated Yuya Aoki & Yukio Naya when Okabayashi submitted Naya with the Argentine Backbreaker (8:53).
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Akira Hyodo & Makoto Oishi Vs Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
2a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Akira Hyodo & Makoto Oishi when Nomura pinned Hyodo with a Rollover Inverted Cross Armbreaker (2:32).
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Ueno defeated Drew Parker & Danshoku Dieno when Ueno pinned Dieno with a School Boy (7:35).
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & Tetsuya Endo defeated Hideyoshi Kamitani & Chris Brookes when Sekimoto pinned Kamitani with the German Suplex (7:04).
5. Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match: Ryuji Ito defeated Shunma Katsumata with the Dragon Splash (11:01).
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA Vs Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
6a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA defeated Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita when HARASHIMA pinned Takeshita with a Jackknife Pin (0:26).
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Ueno defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Tetsuya Endo when Nakanoue pinned Sekimoto with the Lariat (8:10).
8. New Year’s Wrestling 2020 Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Kazuki Hashimoto, Daichi Hashimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Takuho Kato, Yuki Ishikawa, Keigo Nakamura & Hideki Okatani when Hashimoto pinned Okatani with the Falcon Arrow (13:35).
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA defeated Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Ueno when Okabayashi pinned Nakanoue with the Golem Splash (17:50).
The annual New Year’s Eve show was a much smaller affair in 2020. Safety precautions meant the show took place earlier in the day and would not roll over into the end of year countdown. The Shuffle Tag Tournament between DDT and Big Japan was also reduced to 8 teams instead of the usual 16.
Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1
Smile Pissari Vs HOT Real JAPAN
Two super heavyweights collided when Yuji Okabayashi and Yukio Naya stood face to face from each other. HARASHIMA kept Yuya Aoki away so Naya spent most of the match in the ring. He got some good shots in with Knee Strikes but Okabayashi cut him off with a Lariat and made him submit to the Argentine Backbreaker. Naya said he wants to fight Okabayashi again. Aoki was apologetic for not getting to help his tag partner more.
170cm Vs Nomutake
It only took until the second match for overtime sudden death rules to kick in. Konosuke Takeshita and Makoto Oishi were scrambling over each other in the dying seconds of the match. When time expired, One Count Fall rules came into play for the restart. Takuya Nomura put Akira Hyodo in a Cross Armbreaker and rolled him onto his shoulders to get the pin. At least Hyodo thought he and Oishi worked well as a team given their age difference.
Nakanoueno Vs Sodomy & Scars
Things got cheeky in Match #3. Danshoku Dieno accidentally put Drew Parker in the Lip Lock. Parker later accidentally pulled down Dieno’s tights to reveal he was wearing a diaper underneath because he still has not recovered from the CO2 attack to his rear end last week. Still he went into the Hell Gate position but Yuki Ueno Dropkicked him in the butt. Yasufumi Nakanoue rushed over to give Parker the Lip Lock while Ueno pinned Dieno with a School Boy. Dieno said afterward there are two kinds of butts in the world. Those that are for entertainment and those that are not.
Daisuke In The Sky Vs LINE Tomodachi
Round 1 ended with Daisuke Sekimoto & Tetsuya Endo defeating Hideyoshi Kamitani & Chris Brookes. It went back and forth until Endo gave Brookes the Tetsuya In The Sky and Sekimoto pinned Kamitani with the German Suplex. Brookes threatened to remove Kamitani from their LINE group backstage but Kamitani convinced him to give him one more chance.
Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match
The first of two non-tournament matches was the long awaited lighttube death match between Ryuji Ito and Shunma Katsumata. Lighttubes, thumbtacks, Lego, a barbed wire bat and even sauna stones were used as weapons. Ito came out on top in the end but he praised Katsumata for keeping up with death matches, especially this week’s schedule. He doesn’t likes saunas though because they are too hot. Katsumata tells him everyone says that at first but they always end up liking it.
Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final
Smile Pissari Vs Nomutake
The semi finals began and one of them went into extra time. Okabayashi came out wearing a similar entrance robe as HARASHIMA. Nomura wanted to get into a kick battle with HARASHIMA so that is what he got. In the final minutes, Okabayashi and Takeshita both went down from a Lariat but only Okabayashi got to tag out. HARASHIMA went for the Somato and Takeshita avoided it before the bell rang for a time limit draw. At the restart, HARASHIMA kicked Takeshita’s injured arm, followed with a Thrust Kick to the face and pinned him for the one count with a Jackknife. Nomura would like to team with Takeshita again but he doesn’t know if his regular tag partner Fuminori Abe would approve of it. Takeshita then suggested he could fight against Nomura & Abe.
Nakanoueno Vs Daisuke In The Sky
The tag synergy continued with Sekimoto & Endo wearing each other’s entrance robes. After a Double Torture Rack spot, Endo encouraged Sekimoto to German Suplex him and Ueno together. Ueno slipped out and landed on his feet while Endo took the full brunt of the move. Ueno hit Sekimoto with a Frog Splash and Nakanoue won with a big Lariat. Sekimoto apologised to Endo over and over backstage. He admits his wife tells him he is too careless all the time. Endo promised to improve his fingertip strength so his clutch will get stronger.
New Year’s Wrestling 2020 Special 8-Man Tag Match
The young boys were fed to the grizzly old veterans but they didn’t go down without a fight. Yuki Ishikawa stepped in as a last minute replacement for Kosuke Sato because of injury. Takuho Kato set Keigo Nakamura up to do the Exquisite Moonsault on Kazuki Hashimoto. A nearfall then came when Hideki Okatani gave Kazuki the Northern Lights Suplex. Eruption cut them off and Daichi Hashimoto took over. He resisted Okatani’s chops and pinned him with the Falcon Arrow.
Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final
Smile Pissari Vs Nakanoueno
The final turned out to be a preview of Big Japan’s 2nd January main event with Okabayashi and Nakanoue squaring off. The match started off with them and ended with them. Ueno wiped out HARASHIMA with a Tornillo leading to the Big Japan pair to take it home. Nakanoue hit the Diving Elbow but HARASHIMA broke the pin and hit a Somato into the corner. Okabayashi got a nearfall with a Power Bomb. He then had to use the Golem Splash to get the three count and win the tournament with HARASHIMA! He thanked HARASHIMA for teaming with him and also for the entrance robe. HARASHIMA hopes to keep up with Okabayashi in 2021. Nakanoue & Ueno were happy with their performances considering they never teamed together before today. Maybe they have Osaka Power of love and friendship.
Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards 2020
MVP
1. Minoru Fujita
2. Tetsuya Endo
3. Toru Sugiura
4. Fuminori Abe
5. Daichi Hashimoto
Best Bout
1. Tetsuya Endo Vs Daisuke Sasaki (DDT, 3rd November)
2. Ryuji Ito Vs Minoru Fujita (Big Japan, 29th August)
3. Yuji Okabayashi Vs Daisuke Sekimoto (Big Japan, 23rd November)
4. Onryo Vs Yuko Miyamoto (666, 27th June)
5. Masashi Takeda Vs Daisuke Masaoka (FREEDOMS, 10th November)
Best Unit
1. Astronauts
2. Eruption
3. unchain
4. DAMNATION
5. Wataridori Rengo
Best Box Office
1. Big Japan at Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium, 29th August
2. Hiragana Muscle at Tokyo Korakuen Hall, 9th November
3. DDT at Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium, 3rd November
4. Big Japan at Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium, 30th August
5. Hiragan Muscle at Tokyo Shinagawa The Grand Hall, 21st September
Best Newcomer
1. Rina Yamashita
2. Shunma Katsumata
3. Jun Akiyama
4. Yuki Ishikawa
5. Hideki Okatani
Dramatic DDT 