AEW “TOKYO GAME SHOW 2022 EXHIBITION MATCH”, 16/09/2022 Chiba Makuhari Messe Hall
1. AEW: Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Christopher Daniels Vs Chris Brookes
2. AEW: Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Ryo Mizunami Vs Hikari Noa
3. AEW: Fight Forever Exhibition Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Winner Of Match #1
There’s the confirmation over what I was talking about from yesterday’s post. AEW are holding exhibition matches at the Tokyo Game Show with DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro also involved. There will be matches held over three days with a variety of wrestlers from the promotions already mentioned plus a few more names in store. On Day 1 the first two matches will be held at 1:00 pm. Match #3 will be at 3:00 pm.
Other names advertised to appear during the weekend are Riho, Michael Nakazawa, Yuka Sakazaki, Maki Itoh, Hagane Shinno and Yuki Ueno. Itoh I’m surprised by because she has a match in Canada on Friday and a match in America on Saturday. Does the time difference work out for her to make it back on Sunday? There are also a few big name omissions given who is also in the country this weekend. Earlier today Hikaru Shida starred in the latest Makai performance and Emi Sakura was running a Gatoh Move event. And of course there is all the talk surrounding Kenny Omega. He is currently suspended from AEW related business due to investigations over the incident that is now referred to online as “Brawl Out”.
The latest gossip is Omega will not be involved with the promotion for AEW’s video game at TGS. News has since come out that both Nakazawa and Christopher Daniels have been cleared of any wrongdoing so their suspensions have been lifted and they can go ahead with their duties. Omega however is over in Japan on his own volition working on personal projects with Sega and Capcom. He visited Sega’s office and posted pictures of himself getting scanned, presumably to become a character for one of the upcoming Yakuza/Like A Dragon games in production. The Capcom connection is an upcoming panel appearance to talk about Street Fighter 6. Oh yeah and he reunited with Kota Ibushi too. As much as that tugs on my heartstrings I won’t go any further with that unless The Golden Lovers reunion makes its way over to DDT. Don’t hold your breath with that one.
Once every match from all three days is completed I will gather them all together for a results post along with video links should they be filmed on any of THQ Nordic’s social channels. Normally I would save AEW results for my Around The World posts but this is all happening in Japan with more direct involvement from DDT and TJPW than usual. So I may as well give the results their own post.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW AUTUMN TOUR ’22”, 16/09/2022 Shinjuku FACE
1. 3 Way Match: Hyper Misao Vs Yuki Kamifuku Vs Haruna Neko
2. Moka Miyamoto Vs Mei Suruga
3. Rika Tatsumi Vs Mahiro Kiryu
4. Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku
5. Shoko Nakajima & Arisu Endo Vs Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki
6. International Princess Title Next Challenger Match: Miu Watanabe Vs Suzume
Sadly Abadon could not get a visa ready in time to travel and cannot be in Japan this weekend. Their appearance at tomorrow’s TJPW show has been cancelled and Mei Suruga is being called in to be Moka Miyamoto’s new opponent. Abadon was meant to be at TGS first and foremost. The TJPW booking was made after the fact but visa troubles with the “event organiser” happened shortly afterwards. Attempts were made to solve the problem but the booking was cancelled in the end. This is not a problem exclusive to AEW contracted wrestlers (see Timothy Thatcher and NOAH last month) but I’m worried this happening so close to Willow Nightingale’s cancelled booking is revealing a trend.
DDT “STERNNESS 30TH ANNIVERSARY ~JUN AKIYAMA 30TH ANNIVERSARY~”, 18/09/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Yusuke Okada Vs Yuya Koroku
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata
3. HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani & Soma Takao & Yukio Naya
4. Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida, Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi Vs Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita, MJ Paul & KANON
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima Vs Cara Noir, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
6. Naomi Yoshimura Vs Takeshi Masada
7. Jun Akiyama Debut 30th Anniversary Match – Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Tetsuya Endo & Yoshinobu Kanemaru Vs Yuji Nagata, Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata
Jun Akiyama gave a few comments on the card for DDT’s website. He made some DDT to All Japan comparisons, saying Sanshiro Takagi is DDT’s Giant Baba. He also named Konosuke Takeshita, Tetsuya Endo, Kazusada Higuchi and Naomi Yoshimura as DDT’s Four Pillars. Because Takagi is like Baba, Akiyama describes Takagi’s tag match against Pheromones as something like the Family Gundan Vs Akuyaku Shokai comedy bouts that AJPW held throughout the 90s. Does that make Antonio Honda this generation’s Rusher Kimura?
Kenta Kobashi will be a special guest commentator on the show. He was Akiyama’s debut opponent.
GANBARE☆PRO “NERAWARETA GAKUEN 2022”, 02/10/2022 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall
1. England x Makai x GanJo! Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Nightshade, Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE Vs Ram Kaichow, YuuRI & Yoshiko Hasegawa
2. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Hartley Jackson (c) Vs Yuna Manase
A big shift in Ganbare☆Pro’s main event scene was made after Hartley Jackson won the Spirit Of Ganbare Title from Yumehito Imanari. The first person to challenge him for the belt is Yuna Manase! The two have been in the ring together before over at ZERO1. Manase thinks Jackson does not know the meaning of Ganbare so she won’t let him extinguish its flame.
Nightshade won’t just be working with TJPW when she returns to Japan next month. She will be at Ganpro for the first time in 3 years too. Her match is a chaotic mix of joshi talent including the Ganpro debut of Ram Kaichow!
DDT “GET ALIVE 2022”, 12/10/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. 4 Way Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuji Hino Vs HARASHIMA, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi
3. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match! Yuki Ishida 1st Anniversary Match ~ Playfulness Series Act 4: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Yuki Ishida
4. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match!: Koju “Shining Ball” Takeda Vs Toi Kojima
5. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match!: Toru Owashi Vs Kazuki Hirata
6. Get Alive 4 Major Single Match!: Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Takeshi Masada
7. Makoto Oishi 20th Anniversary Match ~ Men’s Club Vs The 37KAMIINA: Makoto Oishi, MEN’S Teoih & Shiori Asahi Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura (c) Vs Daisuke Sasaki & KANON
The midcard is filled up with four significant singles matches. Yukio Sakaguchi is the latest veteran to put the super rookie Takeshi Masada to the test, Toru Owashi and Kazuki Hirata are finally facing each other in a regular one on one match, Koju Takeda has his first singles bout in DDT since joining Pheromones and Yuki Ishida celebrates his 1 year anniversary.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW INSPIRATION”, 10/12/2021 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Haruna Neko Vs Mahiro Kiryu
2. Pom Harajuku Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
3. Hardcore Match: Hikari Noa Vs Nao Kakuta
4. MagiRabi Vs TropicaWild: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki Vs SAKI & Yuna Mizumori
Tomorrow is the first time meeting between The Magical Sugar Rabbits and TropicaWild.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “DASH! GLIDE! NAGOYA CASTLE!”, 18/12/2021 Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall
1. Special 4 Way Tag Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki Vs Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe Vs Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino
2. Special Single Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Yuki Arai
For the first time ever Tokyo Joshi Pro is holding a 4 Way Tag Match. Four of the biggest teams in the promotion are getting thrown into the ring together. It’s MagiRabi Vs Kyoraku Kyomei Vs Daydream Vs The Bakuretsu Sisters!
DDT “DRAMATIC EXPLOSION 2021”, 18/12/2021 Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall
1. Soma Takao & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Toui Kojima & Yuya Koroku
2. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Hideki Okatani
3. HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura, Jun Akiyama & Yukio Naya Vs Yuji Hino, Bodyguard, Tetsuya Endo & Yusuke Okada
4. Special Single Match – DDT Vs Dera Beppin Pro Wrestling: Saki Akai Vs Papillon Akemi
5. Hardcore Match: Shunma Katsumata Vs Hyper Misao
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Susumu Yokosuka, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Akito
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles – Current Blast Death Match: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari (c) Vs Atsushi Onita, Sanshiro Takagi & Kuro-chan
8. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ DDT Vs BJW: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuki Ueno & MAO Vs Yuji Okabayashi, Yuya Aoki & Kosuke Sato
The upcoming Konosuke Takeshita Vs Yuji Okabayashi rematch is causing a DDT Vs Big Japan match in Nagoya! Okabayashi is bringing in his boys Yuya Aoki & Kosuke Sato to test their mettle against The 37KAMIINA.
We also have more preview skirmishes for the upcoming KO-D Tag Team Titles and DDT Universal Title defences.
GANBARE☆PRO “SHOTA PRESENTS INDIE WRESTLING SUMMIT 2022”, 08/01/2022 Kitazawa Town Hall
1. Independent Women’s Bout: Ayame Sasamura Vs YuuRI
2. Ganpro Vs Reiwa Bubble: Ken Ohka & Yumehito Imanari Vs Masayuki Mitomi & Kentaro Yasu
3. Independent Dream Bout: Chris Brookes Vs Hagane Shinno
4. ROMANCE DAWN Vs Aka Rangers!: Shota & Soma Takao Vs Takashi Sasaki & GENTARO
5. This Is Indie Wrestling Summit! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Takumi Tsukamoto, MAO & Baliyan Akki Vs TORU, Jun Tonsho & Tatsuya Hanami
Shota pulled out a few more surprises from his sleeve. We’re getting a first time singles match between Chris Brookes and Hagane Shinno. There is also a Ganbare☆Pro Vs P.P.P. TOKYO tag match.
GANBARE☆PRO “YUMEHITO IMANARI PRODUCE ~GANBARE PRIME 2021~”, 10/01/2022 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall
1. Hardcore Mixed Tag 1 DAY Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
2. Hardcore Mixed Tag 1 DAY Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
3. A Clinical Trial Match Between Men With Painted Faces: SAGAT VS Hajime
4. Pocchari Joshi Pro Wrestling TRIGGER 1st: Yuna Manase Vs Totoro Satsuki
5. Dreamer’s Bridge ~Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs HOT JAPAN~: Keisuke Ishii, Shinichiro Tominaga & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Yuya Aoki, Andy Wu & Tsugutaka Sato
6. Hardcore Mixed Tag 1 DAY Tournament – Final: X & X Vs X & X
I should have expected Yumehito Imanari to bring back Pocchari Joshi for his produce show. Yuna Manase takes on Totoro Satsuki from Ice Ribbon. At least for now she is with Ice Ribbon. Not a lot of good news coming out of that place lately.
Hajime was once known as Hajime Nomura from WRESTLE-1. He switched over to an undead facepaint look right around the time W1 collapsed last year. He has since haunted the indie scene and will make his first appearance in Ganpro.
GANBARE☆PRO “BAD COMMUNICATION -ULTRA PLEASURE STYLE 2021”, 25/09/2021 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 396 Fans
1. Shu Sakurai Last Match Before His Closure: Rocky Kawamura 2, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Itsuki Aoki defeated Katsuzaki Shunosuke, Moehiko Harumisawa & Shu Sakurai when Shimatani submitted Sakurai with the Modified Camel Clutch (8:04).
2. Ganjo Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Asuka, Makoto & HARUKAZE defeated Yuna Manase, Yuna Mizumori & YuuRI when HARUKAZE pinned YuuRI with the Fire Spear (12:35).
3. Ganpro Special Tag Match: Tatsuhito Takaiwa & MAO defeated Yumehito Imanari & Kouki Iwasaki when Takaiwa pinned Imanari with the Death Valley Bomb (12:54).
4. IJ Tag Team Titles: Kenichiro Arai & Shota (c) defeated Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga when Shota pinned Tominaga with a Casadora (12:17). *V2 for Hattoshite Good Daga.
5. Ganpro Special Single Match: Keisuke Ishii defeated Shigehiro Irie with the Kneel Kick (18:16).
6. Ken Ohka 20th Anniversary Special Tag Match ~Roar Of The Lion King~: HARASHIMA & Kengo Mashimo defeated Ken Ohka & Isami Kodaka when HARASHIMA pinned Ohka with the Somato (18:23).
Twenty years in the business for Ken Ohka has made him a lot of friends and acquaintances. To celebrate he teamed with the wrestler who was once labelled as his replacement in Union Pro. Back then Kengo Mashimo was marketed as Kengo Ohka on Union shows. Their opponents were HARASHIMA, who teamed with Ohka for his most famous match, and Isami Kodaka who Ohka grew up with in their Union days. Kodaka and Mashimo also hold a grudge with each other to add some spiciness to the match. Ohka got to shine by Double German Suplexing HARASHIMA and Kodaka. He then exchanged elbows with HARASHIMA and HARASHIMA took the time to congratulate him on the anniversary inbetween the strikes. Ohka got the upper hand and pulled out a Dragon Suplex out of nowhere. But when he charged in for the Fire Spear, HARASHIMA blocked it with the Somato and then hit a second one to win the match.
After the match HARASHIMA said he was smiling from start to finish. Kodaka and Mashimo gave each other the middle finger until Ohka talked to them. Ohka said Mashimo is like his fourth son or his half-brother because he used to be Kengo Ohka. Kodaka admitted to Ohka that he overslept today and only arrived at the venue at 1pm. The show started at 11:30am. Ohka thanked all of them for coming to Ganbare☆Pro today. To him it doesn’t matter what company they work for, they can be double or triple affiliated with Ganpro for as long as they are pro wrestlers! The show ended with Ohka celebrating with the Ganpro roster in the ring. Shota tried to sneak roll up HARASHIMA for the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title during this but failed to pull it off.
The Keisuke Ishii Vs Shigehiro Irie match turned out to be a full Team Dream Futures reunion when Soma Takao was spotted in the audience at the start of the bout. Irie also had Mizuki Watase in his corner to provide some RENEGADES presence. Ishii kicked out of the Beast Bomber and hit Irie with the Kneel Kick to the back of the head. Ishii then hit the Double Arm DDT before doing one more Kneel Kick to win. The two shook hands afterwards while Takao left the room. This is the first time Ishii has beaten Irie one on one in ten years! He put his victory down to honing the Kneel Kick for 13 years.
To ensure that the IJ Tag Team Titles match was fought under PWF Rules, Ayana Shimada from Tenryu Project was at ringside to oversee the match. Both champions and challengers aren’t familiar with the rules only found out about the differences while they wrestled. Things like rope breaks not being strict and 10 counts outside the ring threw the wrestlers off but they adapted in the end. At one point Kenichiro Arai used the ropes to add leverage to Shota pinning Shinichiro Tominaga but Hagane Shinno broke it up by diving onto Arai on the ring apron. Shota ended up stealing the win anyway by rolling Tominaga up with a Casadora.
Yumehito Imanari was excited to find out Shuichi Nishinaga from NOAH was the referee for his match. He & Kouki Iwasaki worked over on Tatsuhito Takaiwa but MAO was there to help his tag partner. Takaiwa took control and pinned Imanari with the Death Valley Bomb. He noticed that Ganpro has changed a lot since the last time he wrestled for them. MAO said it was a fresh feeling wrestling in Ganpro for the first time. He also got some tips from Takaiwa on how to improve the Michinoku Driver.
The current state of Ganbare☆Joshi shows HARUKAZE is making the kind of progress she’s been looking for while the newcomer YuuRI is struggling to find a win. HARUKAZE had a confrontation with Yuna Manase after the match but found herself being praised by Asuka & Makoto. Backstage Manase & Yuna Mizumori consoled YuuRI and don’t blame her for their team losing today. Over on the other side Asuka said she wasn’t satisfied with the match because she thinks GanJo is too weak for her. However she tells HARUKAZE to continue doing her best there.
Today was the last match of Shu Sakurai’s wrestling career, at least for now. He and the rest of THE HALFEE performed “Starry Sky Distance” for their entrance before wrestling Rocky Kawamura 2, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Itsuki Aoki. Sadly for Sakurai his last match ended in defeat with Shimatani making him tap out. Sakurai wants to remind everyone this isn’t a retirement and he will come back some day. His decision to leave is for positive reasons and he hopes to learn and grow as a person while he is away. Shuichiro Katsumura & Moeka Haruhi suggested they all reunite in 47 years because THE ALFEE (the band they parody) are celebrating their 47th anniversary this year.
Some important announcements related to the Ganbare☆Climax were given during the show. First, the tournament is being sponsored by LEC. And second, the winner of the Ganbare☆Climax will be crowned the first Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Champion! The president of LEC Takaki Nagamori showed off the new championship belt and talked about LEC sponsoring various pro wrestling events from the G1 Climax to the Ganbare☆Climax.
The wrestlers entering the Ganbare☆Climax 2021 are Ken Ohka, Yumehito Imanari, Keisuke Ishii, Shuichiro Katsumura, Shota, Shinichiro Tominaga, Kouki Iwasaki, Baliyan Akki, Nobuhiro Shimatani, Mizuki Watase, Seiya Morohashi, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Tatsuhito Takaiwa and kickboxer Tyson Maeguchi. The tournament begins on 24th October and the final to crown the champion will take place on 23rd November.
Earlier this week Tetsuya Endo visited Kenta Kobashi at his gym to talk about his successful KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles defence at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2021”. Kobashi praised Endo for getting bigger. He noticed Endo’s movements haven’t changed and his posture in the air is good so his weight gain isn’t negatively effecting his performance. Endo was advised to target 95-100kg for his ideal weight. However Kobashi also said that Endo didn’t stand out much during the match. Instead the focus was entirely on Yuji Hino and Saki Akai.
Kobashi moved on to talking about Endo’s rivalries with Konosuke Takeshita and Jun Akiyama. He thinks Takeshita defeating Akiyama while Endo couldn’t is the kind of frustration Endo needs in order to become stronger. That along with the support of his fans is what can make Endo the champion again. Endo then showed Kobashi a video of a brand new finishing move he is working on, one nobody else has seen yet. Kobashi approves of it and recommends Endo to work on his arm strength because it is the key to make this mystery move work. He also told him to give it a good name so it will become the move that represents Endo. After an hour long talk, Endo worked out in the gym with Kobashi coaching him.
MUSCLE “HIRAGANA MUSCLE 5 TOKYO PERFORMANCE ~NO MORE SPECIAL MOVES ANYMORE~”, 01/09/2021 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
My nightmare of trying to write up the Muscle show report is back. Let’s see what 2.9 Dimensional ideas Muscle Sakai has for The Finisher Boys and The Folding Chair Boys this time. Maybe Endo will do another run in.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI 2021 SUMMER ~STEP AND A STEP~”, 04/09/2021 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall
1. Hikari Noa & Kaya Toribami
2. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Arisu Endo
3. Shoko Nakajima, Raku & Moka Miyamoto Vs Mirai Maiumi, Suzume & Haruna Neko
4. Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Pom Harajuku Vs Hyper Misao, Nao Kakuta & Nodoka Tenma
5. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Yuki Aino & Marika Kobashi
The 121000000 tag team is still alive even though Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh have a big match against each other coming up. Itoh originally thought they would have to split up but Yamashita convinced her that continuing their team will not effect their match at “WRESTLE PRINCESS II”.
GANBARE☆PRO “HARLEY DAVIDSON & MARLBORO MAN 2021”, 12/09/2021 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall
1. Ganpro Special Mixed 6-Person Tag Match: Shota, Moeka Haruhi & Miyako Matsumoto Vs Shinichiro Tominaga, Makoto & HARUKAZE
2. Ganpro Triple Big Singles Match: Nobuhiro Shimatani Vs Takahiro Katori
3. Ganpro Triple Big Singles Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Shu Sakurai
4. Ganpro Triple Big Singles Match ~ 26 Year Revenge For The Master: Shinjiro Otani Vs Kouki Iwasaki
5. Ken Ohka Pre-Debut 20th Anniversary Special Tag Match Part 2: Ken Ohka & Yumehito Imanari Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie
Look at Shinjiro Otani. He is spoiled for choice when it comes to matches against the Ganbare☆Pro roster. They all want a piece of him and he wants them too. Otani asked for a match against Kouki Iwasaki because Iwasaki’s mentor is Kenichi Yamamoto. In 1995 Yamamoto defeated Otani at a UWFi event. 26 years later Otani gets a chance to get some measure of revenge by fighting his student.
Shu Sakurai will be taking an indefinite leave of absence from Ganpro after 25th September. He explains this decision is being made for positive reasons and he will be using his experience from wrestling to take on new challenges. This is not a retirement from pro wrestling so he may return some day having grown as a pro wrestler and also as a person. Before he leaves, Sakurai wants to wrestle Shuichiro Katsumura so he gets to have that match.
GANBARE☆PRO “BAD COMMUNICATION -ULTRA PLEASURE STYLE 2021”, 25/09/2021 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Ganjo Special Tag Match: Yuna Manase & Yuna Mizumori Vs Asuka & HARUKAZE
2. THE HALFEE Vs Team Sanyo Sanin Full Scale Battle: Katsuzaki Shunosuke, Moehiko Harumisawa & Shu Sakurai Vs Minoru Fujita, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Itsuki Aoki
3. Ganpro Special Tag Match: Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Shigehiro Irie Vs Yumehito Imanari & Kouki Iwasaki
4. IJ Tag Team Titles: Kenichiro Arai & Shota (c) Vs Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga
5. Ganpro Special Single Match: Keisuke Ishii Vs Shinjiro Otani
6. Ken Ohka 20th Anniversary Special Tag Match ~Roar Of The Lion King~: Ken Ohka & Isami Kodaka Vs HARASHIMA & Kengo Mashimo
Otani’s other big singles match this month is a first time one on one meeting with Keisuke Ishii. His appearance in Ganpro has given Ishii new motivation after he went through a slump from losing the Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title. Ishii made the challenge and Otani has been impressed enough with his work to accept it.
Tenryu Project has approved of Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga’s challenge for the IJ Tag Team Titles. They gave Kenichiro Arai & Shota permission to defend the belts after the champions accepted the challenge.
It was Otani’s idea to get Tatsuhito Takaiwa booked on the show. I don’t know about you guys but I’ve been noticing this Ganpro/ZERO1 relationship for a while and I wonder if it will lead to anything more permanent down the road.
Sakurai ends his wrestling career with the rest of THE HALFEE.
GANBARE☆PRO “TAXI DRIVER 2021”, 28/08/2021 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall 101 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Ganpro Special Single Match: Shigehiro Irie defeated Takahiro Katori with the Beast Bomber (12:32).
2. Ganjo Special Tag Match: Yuna Manase & Asuka defeated Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE when Asuka pinned HARUKAZE with the Liger Bomb (8:28).
3. Special Tag Match That Leaves No Stone Unturned: Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga defeated Yasu Urano & Shota when Tominaga pinned Shota with the JK (12:28).
4. Ken Ohka Pre-Debut 20th Anniversary Special Tag Match: Ken Ohka & Seiya Morohashi defeated Shuichiro Katsumura & Shu Sakurai when Ohka pinned Sakurai with the Flame Spear (14:09).
5. Ganpro Special 6-Man Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii, Kouki Iwasaki & Rekka defeated Shinjiro Otani, Yumehito Imanari & Nobuhiro Shimatani when Ishii pinned Shimatani with the High Angle Double Arm DDT (22:29).
Ever since Keisuke Ishii lost the Independent World Jr. Heavyweight Title he felt like he had taken a step backwards in Ganbare☆Pro. But he has gotten out of his sad state and regained motivation once Shinjiro Otani started wrestling here. After winning today’s main event, Ishii asked Otani for a singles match at the 25th September Korakuen Hall show! Otani has been impressed by Ishii’s matches and can’t refuse a challenge from him so he accepted. However Otani also had a few requests of his own. First, he wants a singles match against Kouki Iwasaki somewhere down the road. He found out Iwasaki is a disciple of Kenichi Yamamoto, an old rival of his. He wants to wrestle Iwasaki for that reason. And second, he invited Tatsuhito Takaiwa to participate on the Korakuen show because he has the date free in his schedule. He hopes Ganpro will put him in a suitable match.
The first match in Ken Ohka’s 20th Anniversary celebration went a bit off the rails. Seiya Morohashi ignored the big team entrance and went straight to fighting Shuichiro Katsumura & Shu Sakurai. A Waterwheel Drop from Sakurai almost pinned Ohka but he kicked out. Sakurai was then hit with two Spears, one from Morohashi and then the Flame Spear from Ohka to end the match. Ohka and Katsumura almost came to blows afterwards but Sakurai stopped them and gave an important announcement. For private reasons he will have his final pro wrestling match on 25th September. He explains this is a positive decision and to treat this more like a vacation away from wrestling rather than a retirement. He now only has one month left to wrestle but he will do his best for the remainder of it. Ohka supports Sakurai’s decision and told him to come back when he is able to. Sakurai said backstage that he wants his remaining matches to be with THE HALFEE and Katsumura in particular. He noticed Katsumura left the ring during his announcement.
Both Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga are currently in the hunt to win championships. That’s why today was a big match for them because Shota currently holds one half of the IJ Tag Team Titles that were revived by Tenryu Project earlier this year. Tominaga pinned Shota in today’s match and challenged him to put the titles on the line against them at Korakuen Hall. Shota blamed the defeat on Yasu Urano and said he would not have lost today if the other champion Kenichiro Arai was teaming with him. Shota accepted the challenge but warned that Tenryu Project needs to authorize the title match first before it can take place.
GANBARE☆PRO “TRUE ROMANCE 2021”, 29/05/2021 Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR 70 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Ganpro Survival Tag Match – Ohka-gun Vs Ishii-gun: Ken Ohka, Yumehito Imanari, Shota & Yuna Mizumori (3) defeated Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie, Kouki Iwasaki & HARUKAZE (2) (32:44).
1a. Ken Ohka & Yumehito Imanari defeated Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie when Imanari knocked Irie out of the ring (13:14).
1b. Keisuke Ishii & Kouki Iwasaki defeated Ken Ohka & Yumehito Imanari when Ishii pinned Imanari with the Double Arm Driver (15:13).
1c. Ken Ohka & Shota Vs Keisuke Ishii & Kouki Iwasaki ended in a Double Ring Out when Ohka and Ishii were both knocked out of the ring (20:18).
1d. Shota & Yuna Mizumori defeated Kouki Iwasaki & HARUKAZE when Mizumori pinned HARUKAZE with the Supergirl (32:44).
2. GWC 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Katsuzaki Shunosuke, Moehiko Harumisawa & Shu Sakurai defeated Asuka, Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga (c) when Shunosuke submitted Tominaga with the Ninja Choke (28:26). *Asuka, Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga fail in V3. THE HALFEE become the 26th GWC 6-Man Tag Team Champions!
THE HALFEE are now two time GWC 6-Man Tag Team Champions! For Shu Sakurai this was a very memorable moment for him. His debut match took place inside Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR and he is very happy to win back the title in the same building. Moehiko Harumisawa congratulated him for becoming a stronger wrestler. She said everybody in Ganbare☆Pro has strong character with a determination to survive. Their reward for that is winning the GWC 6-Man Tag Titles again. Katsuzaki Shunosuke said the belts originally came from Guts World. On 13th June, THE HALFEE will be wrestling for Guts World’s successor TTT (Total Triumph Team). They announced they will defend the titles against Guts Ishijima and Speed Of Sounds. Shunosuke promised that they will prove the belts belong to THE HALFEE and Ganpro!
The former champions are now trying to figure out what caused them to lose today. Hagane Shinno pointed towards a lack of teamwork between the three of them. He and Asuka both admitted they don’t like Shinichiro Tominaga very much which isn’t a good dynamic for a trio. Shinno then argued that point doesn’t make sense because Asuka & Tominaga are still teaming together for the upcoming Mixed Tag Tournament. Tominaga said that was Daisuke Kiso’s idea so it is all his fault.
Ken Ohka’s squad were victorious over Keisuke Ishii’s team in the Survival Tag Match. The match was 2 Vs 2 for the entire time until one team was whittled down to its final member. It begun with Ohka & Yumehito Imanari against Ishii & Shigehiro Irie. Over The Top Rope rules counted towards eliminations and Irie found that out the hard way. He charged towards Imanari, Imanari pulled the top rope down and Irie toppled out of the ring to be removed from the match. Kouki Iwasaki came in and Imanari didn’t last much longer. Ishii took him out with the Double Arm Driver to bring in Shota. Ohka then sacrificed himself to eliminate Ishii via Double Ring Out when he jumped off the apron while carrying Ishii over his shoulders. That brought in Yuna Mizumori (replacing an injured Yuna Manase) and HARUKAZE for the final fall. Mizumori avoided a Cross Armbreaker and pinned HARUKAZE with the Supergirl cradle for the victory. Mizumori wished for Manase to recover soon so they could team up again.
At the end of the show Ohka announced that he too would be at the TTT show. He & Imanari then promoted “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2021” on 6th June. Ohka said this is the era of Uber Eats and on 6th June you will see Uber Ganbare☆Pro!
DDT “ULTIMATE TAG LEAGUE 2021 IN KORAKUEN HALL!!”, 09/05/2021 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Hideki Okatani Vs Toui Kojima
2. 4 Way Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Yukio Naya Vs Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Akito & Keigo Nakamura
3. Tetsuya Endo, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Saki Akai & Yuki Iino
4. Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Yusuke Okada
5. Naomi Yoshimura Return Match: HARASHIMA & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Yuki Ueno & MAO
6. Ultimate Tag League 2021: Jun Akiyama & Makoto Oishi Vs Chris Brookes & Antonio Honda
7. Ultimate Tag League 2021: Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Yuji Hino
A full entrance ceremony for the Ultimate Tag League 2021 will go ahead even though there will be no audience at the show.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GENGHIS KHAN KIRISHIMA PRESENTS TJPW PPV SHOW 4 ~11 VS 11 SEASONAL RIVALRY THE☆BATTLE 2021~”, 29/05/2021 OPENREC.tv
The next Tokyo Joshi Pro PPV will be another 11 Vs 11 team challenge series sponsored by Genghis Khan Kirishima. The theme of this PPV is all the wrestlers born between March and August against all the wrestlers born between September and February.
GANBARE☆PRO “TRUE ROMANCE 2021”, 29/05/2021 Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR
1. Ganpro Survival Tag Match – Ohka-gun Vs Ishii-gun: Ken Ohka, Yumehito Imanari, Shota & Yuna Manase Vs Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie, Kouki Iwasaki & HARUKAZE
2. GWC 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Asuka, Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga (c) Vs Katsuzaki Shunosuke, Moehiko Harumisawa & Shu Sakurai
THE HALFEE get their chance to become two time GWC 6-Man Tag Team Champions.
Last year Ganbare☆Pro introduced the Survival Tag Match. It is an 8-Man Elimination tag match that is held under normal 2 Vs 2 tag rules until one team loses three members. It is being brought back with some extra rules attached. Over the top rope eliminations are in effect until a team is down to its final two wrestlers. Also the active wrestler who wins a fall cannot tag out until they make physical contact with their next opponent.
DDT/NOAH/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GANBARE☆PRO “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2021”, 06/06/2021 Saitama Super Arena
0. STARTING BATTLE ~ Staggered Admission Battle Royal: Yoshiaki Yatsu Vs X
0. STARTING BATTLE MAIN ~ Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Offer Match: Ken Ohka, Keisuke Ishhi & Shota Vs Shuichiro Katsumura, Kouki Iwasaki & Yumehito Imanari
1. DDT Vs NOAH Battle: Yuki Iino, Keigo Nakamura & Toui Kojima Vs Junta Miyawaki, Kinya Okada & Yasutaka Yano
2. Match Provided By NOAH: Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada & Hajime Ohara Vs Yoshinari Ogawa, HAYATA & Seiki Yoshioka
3. DDT Vs Kongo Full Scale 14-Man Tag Team Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi, Naomi Yoshimura, Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani Vs Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masa Kitamiya, Manaby Soya, Haoh, Nioh & Tadasuke
4. DDT Vs NOAH Battle: Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno Vs Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura
5. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki
6. GHC Heavyweight Title: Keiji Muto (c) Vs Naomichi Marufuji
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Jun Akiyama (c) Vs HARASHIMA
Ganpro adds its headline match for the STARTING BATTLE portion of the show. There will be four matches in total before “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2021” properly begins.
GANBARE☆JOSHI “BUTTERFLY DANCE 2021”, 24/04/2021 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall 110 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Ganjo Vs Actwres girl’Z: Moeka Haruhi defeated Rina Amikura with the Diving Foot Stomp (8:16).
2. Ganjo Jacket Match: Shuichiro Katsumura defeated Cherry with the Dogi Ninja Choke (11:52).
3. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Offer Match: Yumehito Imanari & Shota defeated Keisuke Ishii & Shu Sakurai when Shota pinned Sakurai with the Frog Splash (10:50).
4. GWC 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Asuka, Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga (c) defeated Chris Brookes, Drew Parker & Miyako Matsumoto when Shinno pinned Parker with the Ranhei (20:31). *V2 for Asuka, Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga.
5. Special Single Match: Yuu Yamagata defeated HARUKAZE with the Cross Facelock (2:59).
6. Special Single Match: Yuu Yamagata defeated Yuna Manase with the Cross Facelock (7:07).
The second Ganbare☆Joshi produced show was meant to give the spotlight to HARUKAZE and Yuna Manase but sadly for them Yuu Yamagata rained on their parade. Yamagata’s first match was against HARUKAZE and she was given an Armbreaker from HARUKAZE before the match even started. HARUKAZE went all or nothing into an Armbar but Yamagata fought out of it and easily won the match in under three minutes with the Cross Facelock. Her immediate match with Manase afterwards was more challenging but the end result was the same. Yamagata avoided the Suzumi Dynamic and rolled Manase into the Cross Facelock to win both of her matches by submission.
Yamagata was in a bad mood over the two matches. She called her opponents phony idols who don’t really want to lead joshi wrestling. It is impossible for them to shine in the joshi world. Yamagata had one last thing to say before she would leave. She will never be in this organization again! Manase cried over her defeat and was comforted by Moeka Haruhi. She told her no matter what happens, no matter how ugly they look, they are representing Ganbare☆Wrestling. Even if they are completely defeated they should let the fans see it all. Manase understood her point. She came here to Ganpro from Tokyo Joshi Pro with a vow never to give up or run away. There will be another Ganbare☆Joshi show in June. Manase and HARUKAZE promised after Golden Week they will drag Yamagata back to prove her wrong!
Chris Brookes & Drew Parker weren’t exactly thrilled to be teaming with Miyako Matsumoto in the GWC 6-Man Tag Team Titles match. They were fine when left to their own devices (except for the moment where Parker tried to attack Hagane Shinno with scissors) but when Matsumoto wanted to get involved they would ignore her. Shinichiro Tominaga put them in position outside the ring for Asuka to Moonsault onto them. Matsumoto got a nearfall on Shinno with a Gannosuke Clutch. Shinno got one back and pinned Matsumoto with the Ranhei for a successful title defence. Brookes & Parker didn’t care about Matsumoto and left without her.
Minoru Fujita was at ringside working as a photographer during the Jacket Match. After Shuichiro Katsumura won the match against Cherry, Fujita shoved Ken Ohka into the ring. Katsumura then threw Ohka to the canvas and stole his wallet.
The Mixed Tag Tournament that was supposed to be held next month is confirmed to be cancelled. Haruhi thinks it will be brought back when it is safe to do so. And when it does she wants it to be named The Ganpro tournament.
Posted by JamieOD 
