GANBARE☆PRO “GANBARE☆PRO WRESTLING PLAYERS ASSOCIATION PERFORMANCE”, 28/01/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR
92 Fans – No Vacancy
1. 1st Young Ganbare Cup: Yumehito Imanari (4) defeated Yuki Kanzaki (2) with a Sasori-Gatame (9:37).
2. 1st Young Ganbare Cup: Kentaro Hachisu (5) Vs Munetatsu Nakamura (1) ended in a Double Countout (7:16).
3. Moeka Haruhi & Itsuki Aoki defeated Yuna Manase & YuuRI when Aoki pinned YuuRI with the Frog Splash (11:23).
4. 1st Young Ganbare Cup – Final: Yumehito Imanari defeated Kentaro Hachisu with a Cross Armbreaker (8:54).
5. Oji Specialty GanPro Style Survival 8-Man Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii, Shota, Shinichiro Tominaga & Hartley Jackson (3) defeated Mizuki Watase, Ken Ohka, Shuichiro Katsumura & Soma Takao (2).
5a. Shota & Shinichiro Tominaga defeated Mizuki Watase & Shuichiro Katsumura when Shota eliminated Katsumura by Ring Out (9:28).
5b. Shota & Shinichiro Tominaga defeated Mizuki Watase & Soma Takao whn Shota pinned Takao with a Samson Clutch (8:56).
5c. Mizuki Watase & Ken Ohka defeated Shota & Shinichiro Tominaga when Watase pinned Shota with a Diving Foot Stomp (5:51).
5d. Mizuki Watase & Ken Ohka defeated Shinichiro Tominaga & Hartley Jackson when Ohka eliminated Jackson by Ring Out (8:26).
5e. Keisuke Ishii & Shinichiro Tominaga defeated Mizuki Watase & Ken Ohka when Tominaga pinned Ohka with the Moonsault Press (13:39).
Young Ganbare Cup Standings
1. Kentaro Hachisu (5)
2. Yumehito Imanari (4)
3. Yuki Kanzaki (2)
4. Munetatsu Nakamura (1)
The last Ganbare☆Pro show of the day was headlined with a Survival 8-Man Tag Match. Shota got a little measure of revenge for Soma Takao beating him on today’s first show by eliminating him in this match. Mizuki Watase rallied his team into the lead and Ken Ohka played his part by getting the biggest road block Hartley Jackson out of the way. But it was Shinichiro Tominaga who came out on top by pinning Ohka with the Moonsault Press for the final result. After the match Tominaga said he is still feeling in a new year’s mood and feels boosted for that reason. He challenged Watase to a Spirit Of Ganbare Title match. Watase accepted but explained he already agreed to defend the title against Towa Iwasaki at a BURST show on 19th February. Michiyoshi Mishima decided that a singles match between Watase and Tominaga will take place in GanPro on the 25th. If Watase is still the champion then it will be a title match.
The current situation between Shota and Soma Takao was talked about by both of them in separate post-match interviews. With the Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles coming soon Shota would like ROMANCE DAWN to fight for the new prizes. However he also wants to show everyone what he learned in America by himself. He gets to do that by fighting against Takao and he wants to continue doing that. Takao also wants ROMANCE DAWN to win the tag titles and understands the team is not breaking up. But he needs Shota to calm his feelings and settle down otherwise something bad will eventually happen whenever they team up again.
Nobody in the Young Ganbare Cup was able to win all three of their matches so a final took place between the top two ranked wrestlers Kentaro Hachisu and Yumehito Imanari. Earlier in the day Hachisu had beaten Imanari so when the match began Imanari immediately went for the kill by doing a Tiger Driver for a nearfall. Hachisu fought his way back into a stronger position until Imanari used his own Lou Thesz Press and applied a Cross Armbreaker to make Hachisu submit. Imanari began to cry when he was given the trophy and 30,000 yen cash prize for winning the Young Ganbare Cup. He told everyone when he became a pro wrestler he didn’t have time to be young and his twenties are filled with regretful memories. He praised the other three wrestlers in the tournament and thanked them all for taking part. He never had anyone to eat chanko with so he invited them all to the Snake Pit Japan dojo so they can together all enjoy chanko made with the sauce directly passed down from New Japan!
Hachisu had a chance of winning the tournament outright in his last league match. If he had beaten Munetatsu Nakamura it would have been three wins out of three and he would automatically become the Young Ganbare Cup champion. Nakamura was determined not to let it happen. He was already motivated not to lose and before the match Imanari gave him some words of encouragement. The two ended up fighting outside the ring. They were right next to the ring apron so the referee couldn’t see Imanari crouched on the floor wrapping the two wrestlers’ legs together with tape. It caused both Hachisu and Nakamura to be counted out and led to the Imanari Vs Hachisu rematch happening later in the show to determine who won the tournament. Nakamura was upset to have the match end like that and wants to have a singles bout against Imanari sometime in the near future to make up for it.
Imanari’s last gasp path to the final started with him beating Yuki Kanzaki in the opener. Kanzaki started off well but couldn’t lock in the Camel Clutch that won him his earlier match in the day. Imanari blocked a Frog Splash with his knees and got a nearfall with a Lariat. Imanari then applied a Sasori-Gatame to make Kanzaki give up. Kanzaki was disappointed in the result but promised not to give up pro wrestling. He is still aiming to reach the top.




