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Today In Wrestling: 1/11/2021

Hey everyone, and welcome to Today in Wrestling. Today in Wrestling is a new newsletter-type article that I will be writing everyday and posting here. It will discuss the days news, results, show reviews, match reviews, and any other events in the wrestling world. I know this isn't very original and you will possibly see no new news here, but I want to be a journalist so I feel like doing this will be cool for me. This will contain spoilers for the shows that were held today, so be aware if you are planning on watching a show. These will be uploaded daily at anytime around 10-11 PM EST. Please give me feedback on things I should add to this or take away from this.
Also, a little side note. I start work pretty frequently again next Tuesday and won't have too much free time. I will likely have to put out the previous day's issue at like 3 PM ET the next day. So for example, the 1/18 edition of this would come out on 1/19 at like 3 PM ET. I know the news will be somewhat outdated at this time, and the shows as well, but I hope you guys understand. Sorry everyone.
The only way I could get past this issue is if I wrote quick recaps and reviews for the weekly TV shows. If that is fine for people, let me know. If you want me to do full, detailed recaps and reviews then they will be posted the day after at around 3.

News

WWE
Impact Wrestling
ROH
MLW
NOAH
Miscellaneous
​

Today's Shows

In the following posts, I highlight parts from most shows, but show the full RAW results. I will do this for most main shows. If you want me to post full results for ANY company please comment below, I would be glad to do so. Also, if you want me to cover any more promotions I would be glad to.
WWE Raw
ROH TV
Big Japan Pro Wrestling
Dragon Gate Open the New Year Gate 2021 - Day 3
SEAdLINNNG 2021 Opening Match
DDT Isn't It Dramatic! 2021
Michinoku Pro New Year Fighting Beginning 2021 - Day 3

Birthdays

submitted by mikemoose27 to SquaredCircle [link] [comments]

Could we get Assassin’s Creed Korea? And What Setting?

Much to the chagrin of many fans, Assassin’s Creed thus far has primarily stuck to European or heavily European influenced settings, never fulfilling the desire for somewhat exotic locales such as China, Japan, India, South-East Asia, or Korea. Having written posts on the first four, it seems only natural to discuss Korea and 4 potential settings. Ubisoft would also surely find the setting ideal with next to no previous lore in the region, not even a known vault.
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The Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla
The oldest kingdoms of Korea have history dating back over 4000 years, and its origins and sages being a heavy part of older Korean mythology. These early kingdoms would eventually collapse and the Han Dynasty invaded in the 2nd-century BCE. The power vacuum left in parts of the peninsula allowed three major kingdoms to emerge; Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. There were a handful of other kingdoms including the Gaya Confederacy that existed since the 1st century BCE, however by the end of the 3rd-century CE, Silla had captured most of the eastern coast of the peninsula, and Baekje controlled the west, while Goguryeo after a downturn from war with the Chinese, maintained northern power. In 391ce Gwanggaeto became the 19th king of Goguryeo and expanded the kingdom more than any other king had. He first went to the north to further consolidate power in Buyeo. He then marched south, taking the city of Seoul from Baekje and working with the Silla to defend from an invasion from the Japanese Wa, Baekje, and Gaya Confederacy, the loss of which Gaya never recovered from. He is often remembered as one of the greatest Korean heroes and died in 413ce. His son, Jangsu then reigned for 79 years, the longest in East Asian History.
By the 6th century, Buddhism had firmly planted itself in Korea with roots from China, and after becoming the state religion of every kingdom was further spread to Japan. Silla took this opportunity and swiftly conquered the Gaya Confederacy at the end of the 6th century. Conflict continued between Silla and Baekje, and with the help of the Tang Dynasty (who was already at War with Baekje and Goguryeo) the new king Munmu conquered Baekje in 661. The Tang then assisted in the conquering of most of Goguryeo between 661 and 667. The desire for Silla to control north-western Goguyeo presented a problem, as the Tang desired it for themselves, leading to an eight-year-long Tang-Silla war culminating in the Silla victory at the Fortress of Maeso. With that, the Unified Silla had a moment of peace and unity, making the city of Seorabeol (modern-day Gyeongju) the capital. I think this period of unification would probably be best for a game set during the Three Kingdoms Period, with easy targets to be made of the kings and generals of the Kingdoms and Tang Dynasty. However, the Kingdom of Balhae that was a collection of Northwestern Goguryeo and Buyeo states refused to submit to the Silla, though, causing warfare to continue in the Northern and Southern States Period.
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The Kingdom of Goryeo
Silla did see a period of prosperity, a golden age for Korean Buddhism as the state attempted to unify the peoples through common culture. By the 9th century, the introduction of a rigid class system was being abused and corruption and nepotism ruled the courts. When a famine hit, taxation unable to be collected from slaves and the poor were put onto the queen, which subsequently split the kingdom into civil war in 892 with the former general Gyeon Hwon using influence to take an army and Honam region, forming the Later Baekje. Several years into the conflict in 901, a Buddhist Monk named Gungye took advantage of this and entered the Gangwon province and founded the foundation of self-reliance, using this as a gateway to creating the third kingdom of Later Goguryeo.
A serviceman named Wang Geon came into the service of Gungye at this time quickly rising in the ranks and helped him expand the borders. Gungye changed the capital a few times and in 911 renamed his kingdom to Taebong and began spilling propaganda and committing violence on political dissidents to maintain power. As a result the 4 top generals under Gungye, including Wang Geon, convened and planned to assassinate the King, carrying out the coup in 918, with Wang Geon taking the throne and renaming the kingdom to Goryeo. Gyeon Hwon, hearing of this, sent more troops into Silla, forcing the Silla King Gyeongmyeong into a brief treaty with Goryeo. Goryeo’s assistance with Silla forced Gyeon Hwong to sign a treaty with Wang Geon where they sent over their nephew and cousin respectively as political hostages. Jin Ho, the nephew of Gyeong Hwong died at some point, likely around 924 (the same time the Silla King died), causing Wang Geon’s cousin to be executed and reigniting the war. This seems like it could be a great Templar plot.
In 927, Gyeong Hwong invaded Silla and sacked the capital, and allowed their king to commit suicide, placing Gyeonsun as a puppet monarch of the Silla. Wang Geon immediately mustered a force of 5000 men to fight this but lost in a crushing defeat. Undeterred, Wang Geon moved forward again in 930 and won the battle of Gochang. Gyeong Hwong attempted to sack the Goryeo capital of Kaesong in retaliation, losing again in 934. In 935, the Silla king believing his kingdom was hopeless, ceded the territory to Goryeo. The disruption between multiple losses and the surrender of Silla were contributing factors in Gyeong Hwong’s sons overthrowing him (which was also in part due to him favoring their half-brother for succession). Balhae had also disintegrated at this time, leading to its leaders and Gyeong Hwong to seek refuge in Goryeo, where they were gladly greeted. Wang Geon moved on to the rival kingdom in 936, conquering it quickly, and unifying all of the Korean peninsula (Korea would be united under a single dynasty until 1948, despite changes in dynasties), and ultimately providing its modern name. Gyeong Hwong died later in 936 while Wang Geon spent his next and last 7 years of his life strengthening alliances and his court.
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The Joseon Dynasty
The Kingdom of Goryeo lasted nearly 500 years, though it became functionally a vassal of the Yuan Dynasty under Kublai Khan in the 13th century, weakening it considerably. The Great Ming began its fight against the Mongols in the 14th century, placing the Hongwu Emperor on the throne in 1368, immediately dividing Goryeo, though the official position was to aid the Ming and invade Manchuria to push back Yuan presence in an attack led by Choe Yeong 1370. King Gongmin of Goryeo promoted a Buddhist monk named Sin Don at this time who was tasked with reforming the land and surrounded himself with flatterers that allowed him to become somewhat tyrannical, getting Choe Yeong exiled and nearly executed until Sin Don was executed in 1371. With the presence of Mongols and Japanese pirates in 1374, Choe Yeong was pardoned and paired with Yi Seong-gye to defeat the enemies. At this time, King Gongmin learned his favorite concubine had an affair, and before he could have the man arrested, was assassinated, leading to an anti-Ming faction enthroning the 11-year-old King U.
Choe Yeong and Yi Seong-gye worked together for over a decade, securing the borders from the Japanese and Mongols until 1388 when the Ming sent word that Manchuria belonged to them. King U, essentially being a puppet for the anti-Ming faction ordered an invasion, which Yi Seong-gye heavily advised against due to the ease to be attacked by pirates, being outnumbered, and the likely plague and famine due to weather. Despite this, Choe Yeong pushed forward for an invasion anyway and the pair marched with their armies to the Amnok River which was effectively the border of Goryeo and China, and seeing how outnumbered they were, General Yi retreated to the capital and used the army to take control of the government and lay siege to the Palace of King U. Realizing the betrayal, General Choe chased after his former comrade, with their armies meeting in battle, and capturing and killing General Choe. King U was dethroned and assassinated later that year, with Yi placing King Gongyang on the throne as a puppet. For the next 4 years, Yi allied himself with the most powerful people and families in Goryeo before then deposing Gongyang and exiling him to the city of Wonju where he and his family were assassinated.
Yi took the throne for himself, ending the Goryeo dynasty and beginning Joseon taking the name Taejo of Joseon. He continued to woo the leading families of the new kingdom except for Jeong Mong-ju who refused to be persuaded. As a result, following a dinner party, while walking home, Jeong was assassinated on Sonjuk Bridge which North Korea alleges still has a brown blood stain from Jeong’s assassination to this day. In 1394 Taejo relocated the capital to Seoul which contained massive Joseon Palace complexes. In 1398, Taejo’s son Yi Bang-won heard of a plot that his brothers planned to assassinate him and several other brothers to secure a spot on the throne. Yi Bang-won immediately revolted and brought guards into the palace and killed the conspiring brothers. Taejo exiled his son in anger, never seeing him again, and heartbroken by his wife recently dying and then followed by the first strife of princes led him to abdicate from the throne to his son King Jeongjong. Despite internal strife, the Dynasty would go on to last about 500 years, being replaced by the short-lived Korean Empire, and following the invasion of Japan, the modern North and South Korea we have today. The dynasty pushed back against Buddhism, persecuting Buddhists at times, and maintained a strong Confucian core throughout its life.
​
The Imjin War
In 2014 Ubisoft released a survey asking about potential future titles, and among them was this very setting, one that I discussed briefly in the Feudal Japan post. In 1591 Toyotomi Hideyoshi managed to finish the fight his predecessor Oda Nobunaga started and united Japan, only to follow up by launching an invasion of Korea in 1592 with the intent to conquer Korea and China. Within lore, all three Great Unifiers were allied with assassins, and as such, I recommended a Sengoku Jidai game that could use Korea as a DLC. However, despite Hideyoshi’s alliance with the Assassins, he was also assassinated by them like Oda Nobunaga. Oda was first assassinated for carrying a sword of Eden and having a target on his back by Templar Akechi Mitsuhide. Hattori Hanzo and Yamauchi Taka killed Nobunaga before Akechi could, and handed over the sword to Chinese assassins who brought it to China. Maybe it wound up in Korea after that? Hanzo was killed in 1596 in Edo by a rival shinobi, Fuma Kotaro. Yamauchi Taka assassinated Hideyoshi in 1598 believing he gave up Hanzo to the Fuma clan and potential ties to Templars. The death of Hideyoshi was the major reason the invasion was called off. As a result, Assassins being allied with a man who was secretly controlled or allied with Templars could lead to this setting making the Assassins fight Assassins in Korea.
Hideyoshi began the war in April of 1592, starting simultaneously the Siege of Busan and Assault on Dadaejin in southern Korea. The Japanese managed to get in quickly, starting the siege of Dongnae the next day, which was a mountain castle that helped control the land route to the capital of Seoul. During these early months, Japan used its fleet of 2000 ships against Joseon’s Yi Sun Sin’s turtle ships and Panokseons throughout southern Korea. The naval campaign was a large part of the wars, and Yi Sun Sin served as admiral through many of the battles until dying by a bullet wound during a naval battle at Noryang in 1598. Perhaps he was an ally or a target. The siege of Busan that the survey was based on occurred in 1592, with the Joseon navy deploying a siege against the Japanese stationed there in September, though quickly retreating after losing only 7 men, but killing hundreds of Japanese men, perhaps it was a tool for an assassin ally like the shelling of New York in AC3.
By the summer of 1592, Joseon had formed a “righteous army” of 22,000 guerilla fights made up of commoners, noblemen, and Buddhist monks staging warfare against advancing Samurai. Despite some successes like the Siege of Jinju 1592, the Japanese kept advancing, taking Seoul and Pyongyang by August of 1592. The Ming treated Joseon as a tributary state, and immediately sent reinforcements to aid them once word was sent. Ming reinforcements arrived in Pyongyang unharmed on August 23rd, 1592, comprised mostly of cavalry, they entered the city, on horseback, only for the Samurai to realize the Chinese were outnumbered 6 to 1. It was essentially a massacre, and as the Chinese fled the city walls into the muddy fields outside, the Japanese surrounded and butchered them by the hundreds. The majority of the Samurai were thrilled they could take on East Asia’s strongest army and come out unscathed, but their general grew despondent, realizing they were trapped alone in Northern Korea, with reinforcements unable to break through Admiral Yi’s blockade, and now having Ming China as an enemy.
A larger Chinese force of 43,000 men, with 10,000 Korean Military members, 22,000 members of the Righteous Army, and 5,000 warrior monks arrived outside Pyongyang in February of 1593, forcing the Japanese to retreat after a week and a half of bloody fighting and bombardment. The Joint Sino-Korean force lead by General Li Rusong managed to retake Gaesong, but failed at Byeokjegwan as the samurai began resorting to hit and run tactics. This loss made General Li move more cautiously, leading to a stalemate at Seoul in April 1593, while the Japanese managed to finally finish the siege of Jinji, killing 60,000 Koreans and sending 20,000 heads to Japan. A Chinese infiltration into Seoul burned down the remaining food supplies of the Samurai, forcing them into a mild truce, where they controlled coastal regions and Joseon retain the inner peninsula. The Ming maintained a force of 16,000 men to ensure the truce was kept, which it was for a few years.
Hideyoshi demanded that to have peace, he marry the daughter of the Chinese Emperor and take several Joseon princes as political hostages, while the Ming demanded he swore fealty to them, as such Japan invaded again in 1597. Knowing Admiral Yi Sun-sin played a major part in their initial losses, the Japanese hatched a plot where a “spy” gave info to the Joseon courts about Japanese reinforcements and ordered Admiral Yi to attack. Yi refused, knowing it was a trap. He was essentially court-martialed and imprisoned for refusal and replaced with Won Gyun who fell into the trap. Won Gyun retained being an Admiral, though Yi was released and placed under him, a demotion for being right. Soon after in August of 1597, Won Gyun was informed the Japanese were near Busan, and they engaged them at Chilcheollyang where nearly all of the Joseon fleet was destroyed. Won Gyun managed to survive and swim to shore, only to be found by the Japanese and executed. Yi did survive and was once again promoted to Admiral of the small fleet that was left. The Japanese, meanwhile, focused heavily on moving into the Jeolla Province.
Predicting their movements, a General named Yang Yuan moved 6000 troops to Namwon which was besieged by the Samurai in the middle of the night, illuminated by the full moon. They killed over 3700 men in the battle, and then further executed thousands more who knelt down and accepted their death as their city burned. Only Yang Yuan and a few men made it back to Seoul where he was executed for the loss. The Japanese marched towards Seoul, only stopped by the Ming counter-offensive at Jiksan. Jiksan was won by January 1598 by the Ming and Joseon, forcing the Japanese south as Admiral Yi regained his strength and won at the Battle of Myeongnyang with 13 ships against 333, destroying 50 Japanese ships without losing one of his own. The progress stopped there, as the Japanese firmly rooted themselves into several castles such as Ulsan, Sacheon, and Suncheon, and managed to stop Ming sieges.
Hideyoshi was assassinated in the fall of 1598, forcing the Japanese to largely retreat, and Admiral Yi’s final battle at Noryang helped scatter the fleet of 500 ships and send them back to Japan. In the aftermath, Yoshitoshi of Tsushima, the head of the dominant family on the island, began negotiating between Joseon, Ming China, and Tokugawa Ieyasu to reinvigorate trade, leading to releasing of PoWs between 1601 and 1604. This period on Tsushima and allying with Toshitoshi may make an interesting DLC; though for once, people would be founded in their concerns for being compared to Ghost of Tsushima.
submitted by nstav13 to assassinscreed [link] [comments]

[WP] "Humanity's been extinct for a very, very long time," the scientist - who was anything but human - said while studying you curiously. "So how is it we found you alive and well?" You don't remember a damn thing, except falling asleep after a gaming and anime binge session.

"So..." Amara twiddled her thumbs, fidgeting in her seat while appreciating how comfortable chair technology had gotten all these years in the future.
All these years...damn.
"So." Zak answered after a too long pause. Zak being the only piece of his name that Amara had managed to pronounce, and he had kindly accepted it as a nickname. Just as he had been kind in everything else thus far, to Amara's frustration.
A frustration Amara attempted to laugh off before answering. "So you see...I was...well it's a funny story!"
She gave another laugh, which Zak did not return. He only tilted his head as all three red eyes seemed to narrow slightly. "I'm afraid I don't get the joke, but please continue. I do enjoy stories."
"Right! So, funny story. You see...it had been a long week, right?" Amara started.
"Your people had time dilation powers?" The researcher quickly brought up that holographic display once more as he waited for Amara's response, leaning in as subtly as a being a good foot and a half taller than Amara could from across the room.
"Well...no. Unless that's what happened to me? Well if we did I didn't know about it. See, what I mean is that it had been a rough week...you know, difficult?" She motioned with her hands in what she believed to be some sort of universal gesture for working a soul crushing job while studying for finals.
Zak seemed to understand as he leaned back in his own seat, giving a nod and gesturing for the human woman to continue.
"So there I was, needing to relax. And I started off by playing video games...you know...like virtual simulations of...things? Situational things?" Amara hated how difficult this was as she pleaded for some understanding.
The large reptilian...thing nodded his understanding. Which Amara was hoping is what he meant before continuing.
"Video games, yeah! Started off on some FPS's...the ones with shooting?" She waited for another small nod. "And after enough ethnic and sexist slurs to make me regret logging on for the night, I switched over to Animal Crossing which was better!"
Zak traced a claw through another hologram floating above his work station, a desk cluttered with all manner of vaguely technological looking odds and ends and what looked to be the entire guts of a book strewn about. "Tell me about this 'Animal Crossing'?"
"Yeah! So like...in the game, the simulation yeah? In the game, you're a human, and there's animals but they're also people. And you try and have the best house and town and everything was going well until I missed ANOTHER SHOOTING STAR!" Amara could still feel the rage building as she shook her fist, fresh from "last night" before she realized that Zak was meticulously taking notes still. "The shooting star was in game! Not in real life."
All three of his eyes closed as he seemed positively crestfallen, lower set of arms going slack. "Continue please."
"Well I knew one thing that couldn't betray me after that, anime!....so it's animation, but from Japan." She tried motioning in the universal sign of Japan, but Zak's tilted head was a far more universal sign of confusion. "It was this country that made a lot of animation...also video games. Animal Crossing too! And most of it's pretty great and honestly has a higher rate of...listen, I'm not a weeb okay?"
"The translator didn't pick that one up." Zak said in a calm tone.
"It means someone obsessed with Japan and thinks their culture is the best, but I'm not that. Obviously!" Amara gave another awkward laugh. "But, anyway yeah there I was binge watching a new anime that I found, having some ramen for the night...not helping my case but I last remember eating a lot of ramen and passing out in the middle of a filler episode."
Zak sat still, both sets of hands clasped together with one another as he sat silent and blinked at Amara as he waited for more.
Amara bit her lip, looking away from a three eyed gaze at anything else she could find in the room. Her dark eyes came to rest on a scrap of paper half hidden among a stack of countless others. It was written in English.
"And then what happened?" The researcher asked.
The human snapped out of a daze, looking back to the strange man. "And then I woke up in a room where everything looked like it was made by aliens with a dimly glowing floor, I heard shouting, and then a horrifying man pried open the door I had been unable to get open."
"Apologies if that startled you. I judged it...prudent to act quickly when I heard someone moving around in ancient ruins we had only recently cracked open." All four hands came to a rest on his workstation, idly clearing some papers out of the way.
Amara waved it off. "I was in there for an hour, kinda maybe lightly sorta starting to panic. So I'm sorry I started screaming when you burst in."
"No offense was taken at the screaming or tears." His eyes looked to do the smiling for the rest of his face, squinting just so. A welcome difference as a mouth full of sharp teeth curling into a 'smile' was still too much for the human.
She coughed into her hand. "I didn't...I didn't actually cry did I? Yes? Okay could have been worse."
"Though you passed out soon afterward, I can confirm that you did not involuntarily evacuate your bowels. Nor your bladder." Zak confirmed in a happy, reassuring tone.
The human woman stared back at him as her face fought between confusion, disgust, and relief. "Thaaaaank you?" She shook her head, looking back to what her eye had caught earlier. "May I see that?"
She pointed to the bit of English text she had spied.
"Let me get it." It took him only three long strides to cross the room, and with the most delicate of touch that strained the limit of what should be possible with long claws Zak carefully withdrew the delicate paper.
Closer inspection quickly revealed it was a newspaper page looking almost stitched together.
"It took quite a bit of effort to reassemble this, can you read it?" He asked.
Amara's mouth hung open the more she did, in fact, read it.
"Amara?"
She only barely heard his voice as she leaned in closer to the paper, eyes growing wider with every line.
VANISHINGS CONTINUE AS DEEP SEA CABLES, CELL TOWERS, AND SATELLITES CONTINUE TO FAIL.
The number of missing persons continue to climb globally as most methods of high speed communication are put to the test by a series of inexplicable failures. Within our own city of ------- no less than 400 individuals have disappeared without any known cause or explanation. The only commonality thus far known is that the individuals were estimated to be actively using the internet, on a phone call, or watching television. Experts remain stumped-
Amara skimmed ahead, only vaguely aware of Zak's voice coming in as a low mumble as the world spun around her. She saw a list of names that were still unaccounted for, and that any information about their whereabouts was desperately sought after. And there, near the earlier parts of the list sat her own name.
Amara Janae Freeman, missing since-
"Are you alright?" Zak shook her out of her haze, some of those teeth showing should have induced a little bit of fear but Amara was still feeling the world spin around her. She had a million questions of her own that had been bubbling just beneath the surface as she felt there had been little opportunity to ask them in the face of a horde of scary monsters looking at you with confusion and awe, telling you that your species had been long extinct and absolutely nothing looked familiar.
Her breathing slowed a bit, as the world slowly stopped spinning and she no longer felt like her mind was being swung around the room by her spine. Finally reeling herself in, and before her brain felt like trying to escape once more, she looked to the researcher.
"May I ask a few questions of my own?"
(Call this one idea that could be turned into a longer story some day if there was ever call for it. I seem to have a lot of those.)
submitted by Whiskey_Skeleton to SylasWrites [link] [comments]

NJPW Marathon/Retrospective - Wrestle Kingdom VI

Previous Post: New Japan Alive 2011, Road to Kingdom 2011, and 2011 Wrap-up
Next Post: New Japan ISM+New Beginning 2012, and NJPW 40th Anniversary Show (Coming Soon)
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Hello njpw
Happy 2021! It's a new year as we finally get away from 2020, and in the universe of these posts, it's a new year as well. We move from 2011 to 2012, and as is tradition with New Japan, we kick off the new year with a Wrestle Kingdom.
Let's talk a little bit about 2012. 2012 is a big year for New Japan. For one, it's their 40th anniversary as a promotion, which is a major milestone (note that that means next year, 2022, will be their 50th anniversary).
It's also a year of firsts and last in the NJPW calendar. The company would start doing away with "New Japan [X]" named tours (e.g. New Japan ISM, New Japan Brave, New Japan Alive, etc.), and instead start using the "Road to [X]" naming convention (e.g. Road to Destruction, Road to Power Struggle, Road to Dominion, etc.).
They'd also hold their first Kizuna Road tour and their first "King of Pro-Wrestling" shows, which had been held annually until 2019 (last year's pushback of the G1 Climax meant that New Japan didn't have their annual Destruction tour and King of Pro-Wrestling show, and Kizuna Road's spot was taken by Summer Struggle).
It's really a transitional year for New Japan. By the end of the year, it'll really feel like things have changed a lot in the promotion, and those changes find their origin at Wrestle Kingdom.
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Wrestle Kingdom VI (Jan 4, 2012, Tokyo Dome, Tokyo)

IMG: Wrestle Kingdom VI Logo
VID: Wrestle Kingdom VI OP VTR
It is time once again for Wrestle Kingdom VI, the culmination of 2011 and the tone-setter for 2012.
This Wrestle Kingdom is a packed show, with 3 title matches and several interpromotional matches, featuring stars from Noah, AJPW, and CMLL. It is, however, a somewhat infamous Wrestle Kingdom as far as quality goes, with this being the lowest rated Wrestle Kingdom (according to cagematch) since WK II, and the second lowest Wrestle Kingdom since the Jan 4 Tokyo Dome show was named as such. Not to say it's a bad show, but as what is supposed to be New Japan's biggest show of the year, that doesn't sound promising. Is it deserving of such a reputation? Let's find out.
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Dark Match

NJPW World Link
Tag Team Match
Kyousuke Mikami & Tomoaki Honma [GBH] vs Tama Tonga & Captain New Japan
Another year, another Wrestle Kingdom dark match. Honma and Tama are back again from last year's dark match, but they're joined by a couple of dojo wrestlers. Honma is teaming with Young Lion Kyousuke Mikami (the only NJPW Dojo Young Lion on the show), while Tama Tonga teams with Dojo graduate Captain New Japan.
It's a dark match, so there's very little substance to this. Not even any real outside stories or spin-offs as in last year's dark matches. Just a bunch of undercard guys in a tag match. The only thing off note is that this is the first time I've seen Hirasawa wrestle as Captain New Japan. He's okay, though "okay" is kinda low by the standards of New Japan. I'm also still confused by the fact that his finisher is the Caribbean Death Grip. It makes no sense for this character.
Result: Tama Tonga pins Kyousuke Mikami with a Headshrinker
Once again, no ratings for dark matches. Not like it would get a very high one anyway.
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Match 1: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match

NJPW World Link
Tag Team Match, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship
No Remorse Corp (Davey Richards & Rocky Romero) [Chaos] (c) vs Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi)
We kick of this year's Wrestle Kingdom with Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team action, as Apollo 55 will attempt to reclaim their tag titles from No Remorse Corp.
It was only a couple of months ago when NRC took the titles off of Apollo 55. Since then, they've been able to successfully defend the titles once (against the team of Tiger Mask & Kushida). However, also during this time, Devitt was able to successfully defend his Jr. Heavyweight title against both members of NRC. With those two wins, and their status as the former champs, Apollo 55 have earned this shot at the tag titles.
Quickly, just to go over it, Apollo 55 had a special entrance to kick-off Wrestle Kingdom here. With their namesake in mind, the duo came out dressed as astronauts. It's a bit goofy, but I think they're good enough to pull off.
Now, as far as the match is concerned, it was very good. The second half was wildly paced and both teams put in a ot of work. Good back and forth, and great heel work from No Remorse Corp, providing a different heel dynamic from Taichi & Taka. It was a bit sloppy at points, which is what ultimately keeps me from rating it higher, but still a good match to watch. I do remember liking their Destruction bout more, though.
Result: Ryusuke Taguchi pins Davey Richards with a Sunset Flip Roll-up - New Champions!!!
Rating: 7/10
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Match 2: Aerial Kingdom feat. CMLL Super Estrellas

NJPW World Link
Eight-Person Tag Team Match
Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Kushida, and Mascara Dorada [CMLL] vs Taka Michinoku & Taichi [Suzuki-gun], Atlantis [CMLL], and Valiente [CMLL]
It's a massive 8-man tag for our second match, showcasing several junior heavyweight talents and featuring wrestlers from CMLL.
There are a few familiar faces here, as well as a couple of new ones. First off, this match is Jushin Thunder Liger's return match to NJPW after a lengthy excursion to CMLL, and he's brought over a couple guys with him. If you've been following along, you should be familiar with Mascara Dorada, from his short feud with Taguchi and his participation in the BOSJ last year. The other two are also a few of CMLL's tecnicos. Atlantis is one of the most popular and longest tenured wrestlers in CMLL, and Valiente is a fairly popular wrestler in his own right. They're joined by Suzuki-gun's Taka & Taichi, as well as the recently formed team of Tiger Mask & Kushida.
As you can see, alignments and stories are a bit all over the place. Atlantis and Valiente are tecnicos in CMLL, and even teamed with Liger during his excursion, but are teaming with Suzuki-gun here and do play heel roles in the match. There aren't really any stories to play off of here. Two of the three CMLL wrestlers (Valiente & Atlantis) won't even be competing at Fantastica Mania, and the third (Mascara Dorada) will be facing his own teammate here. It really is just a showcase match.
The match itself is very lucha libre and very all over the place. They're using Lucha Libre tag rules, so there are very few actual tags, and it's mostly just spot after spot. The only down time was a slow bit in the middle where Taichi attempts to remove all of the masks of the face team, but he's kinda just waved off by the referee. Overall, it's a spotfest of a match where the selling point is the novelty of the CMLL wrestlers and the return of Jushin Thunder Liger.
Result: Jushin Thunder Liger pins Valiente with a Brainbuster
Rating: 4/10
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Match 3: New Japan Respiration

NJPW World Link
Singles Match
Kazuchika Okada vs Yoshi-Hashi [Chaos]
In what is probably the most interesting match of the night in hindsight, we have the return of two Young Lions from excursion: Yoshi-Hashi and Kazuchika Okada.
This match is infamous for a few reasons. One, it's the official in-ring debut of The Rainmaker. The legendary Kazuchika Okada makes his first appearance with this gimmick, complete with jewelry, coat, and short tights. Secondly, it's known for being short and bad. The match goes just under five minutes, and there's very little substance. The match is 70% Yoshi-Hashi offense and 25% Okada dropkicks. Honestly, it's kinda like a glorified young lion match, except instead of intensity and mat work, it's dropkicks and heel work.
There's also some bizarro spots. Yoshi still has his Bunker Buster neckbreaker and his senton bomb, but Okada's neckbreaker is more of an Air Raid Crash, his rainmaker pose was done differently, and his look, despite having all the individual parts, just felt different (not to mention the rainmaker lariat itself). It's weird to look back on.
Then, it just ends with Okada doing a missile dropkick and the weirdest version of his Rainmaker to finish the match.
Result: Kazuchika Okada pins Yoshi-Hashi with a Rainmaker
Rating: 3/10
It's not as bad as I remember thinking it being when I first watched it, but it's still pretty bad. It's not sloppy or senseless. It's just slow and bland. The novelty of two young lions returning to have a match is neat, but for them to have this style of match at Wrestle Kingdom? It's just weird.
Moreover, Okada won decisively, but not dominantly. If the idea is to put him over strong, that didn't happen. Now, the prevailing theory is that it was booked to be bad on purpose to build the impact of what would happen later that night and in a month's time. It would make sense if that were true, and if it is, it's a mad idea. Sasuga Gedo.
If I were to recommend watching this match, it's because of its historical significance. It's still a bad match regardless.
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Match 4: Blue Justice Never Die

NJPW World Link
Tag Team Match
Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue [Seigigun] vs Masakatsu Funaki & Masayuki Kono [AJPW/Stack of Arms]
Masakatsu Funaki makes his return to a New Japan ring in 24 years. He teams with his protege Masayuki Kono to face Yuji Nagata and his protege Wataru Inoue.
Funaki has spent a lengthy amount of time away from pro-wrestling since forming Pancrase with Minoru Suzuki. Like Suzuki, he has since come back, but it took him a bit longer, with Suzuki coming back in 2003 and Funaki only returning a few years prior in 2009. However, he is back, joining AJPW and forming his own faction Stack of Arms, and now making his first appearance in an NJPW ring since 1988.
I will say that I do like Funaki's style. It's a shoot style of wrestling with a heavy focus on his kicks. He looks like an older Shibata. He was the highlight for me in this brawly match, though Nagata & Inoue held their own as well. Kono, outside of a power spot or two, didn't really stand out much. It's a shame that Nagata broke Funaki's orbital bone here on what I believe was an errant Justice Knee.
Result: Masakatsu Funaki pins Wataru Inoue with a Roundhouse Kick
Rating: 5/10
After the match, Funaki confronts Nagata, and they have a bit of a brawl that the ringside wrestlers have to break up. Funaki comes away with a bloody nose and a desire for a 1-on-1 match, but because of the injury, that won't come for a while.
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Match 5: Tokyo Monster War

NJPW World Link
Tag Team Match
MVP & Shelton Benjamin vs The Complete Players (Masato Tanaka & Yujiro Takahashi) [Chaos]
MVP seeks to get a measure of payback for all the attacks from Complete Players, and this time, he has back-up in Shelton Benjamin.
Unlike MVP, Shelton Benjamin has been away from WWE for a bit longer. He left back in 2010 and went to ROH to reform his old tag team with Charlie Haas. They won the ROH Tag Team titles last year, but lost them a few days prior to the Briscoes. New, he's here tonight, though it's just for a one-off appearance to help his old buddy MVP. Funny how far back these wrestling friendships go, especially considering the "Business" these two have nowadays.
This match is a bit more of a standard tag team match than the previous one (opening sequence, heels get advantage, work over the baby face, hot tag, etc.), though that's not necessarily a bad thing. The story going in was MVP's problems with the Complete Players, but the match really highlighted Benjamin and his athleticism.
God, do I miss this Shelton Benjamin. He's still in his prime here and he's able to show off just how athletic he is. It's a shame this'll be only for one night.
Result: MVP submits Yujiro Takahashi with the Irreversible Crisis
Rating: 6/10
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Match 6: IWGP Tag Team Championship Match

NJPW World Link
Tag Team Match, IWGP Tag Team Championship
Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson) (c) vs Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima)
From tag team imports, we go to tag team reunions. In the last few months, Tencozy has reunited, and they're coming for the biggest and baddest tag team in the company, Bad Intentions.
By this point, Bad Intentions have cemented this reign as the strongest single reign in IWGP Tag Team Championship history. They've broken records for both length and number of defenses. Not only that, but they're dual champions as well, still holding onto the GHC Tag Team Championships they won back at Dominion. However, they'll have to face one of their biggest challenges yet, as they face the legendary record setting team Tencozy.
This is a proper heavyweight tag team match with big lads and heavy strikes. Tencozy bring a lot of prestige and credibility as a major tag team force, which is good against for such a strong set of tag team champions that have beaten everyone in their path. It's built heavily on the nostalgia for Tencozy, but that's not to say the duo don't have anything else to bring. Kojima is as good as he's been the past year, and Tenzan fits into this tag team mold perfectly. It's a really fun match to watch.
Result: Hiroyoshi Tenzan pins Giant Bernard with a Moonsault - New Champions!!!
Rating: 7/10
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Match 7: NJPW vs Noah Battle Concentration I

NJPW World Link
Singles Match
Hirooki Goto vs Takashi Sugiura [Noah]
We kick-off our string of major singles matches with our first NJPW vs Noah match, as Hirooki Goto takes on Takashi Sugiura.
Sugiura and Goto have developed a interpromotional rivalry of sorts. They've clashed several times before (this'll be the 4th Wrestle Kingdom in a row where they'll be on opposite sides of the ring), and while they've exchanged victories here and there, Sugiura has always beaten Goto in singles matches, including in a match for Sugiura's GHC Heavyweight championship at Wrestle Kingdom IV, and Goto has never pinned or submitted Sugiura, so this will be a real test for Goto. He's as good as he's ever been, so maybe this'll be his chance to finally overcome his rival.
To show his dedication and commitment to victory, Goto comes down to the ring in a Kabuki lion costume, noted for the wig of long red hair. In Kabuki theater, lion's symbolize pride and courage as they do in most cultures. It's definitely a note for the Japanese crowd, what with the Kabuki-style costume, but you get the idea.
The match is as hard-hitting as one could expect from these two. The high point of the match is a brutal-looking german suplex from Sugiura to Goto into the corner pad. The match is disappointingly a bit shorter than I'd like, going just twelve and a half minutes, but the action is great nonetheless. A good watch if you're a fan of either men. I'd love to go back and watch their Wrestle Kingdom IV match, as that one seems like it goes longer and is decently rated.
Result: Hirooki Goto pins Takashi Sugiura with a Shouten Kai
Rating: 7/10
I'm gonna mention this every time Goto wins, but goddamn do I love the Shouten Kai. I wish he never changed it. The Ura Shouten he did here didn't look good (he seems to have a hard time landing it on bigger guys), but damn if the Shouten Kai makes up for it.
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Match 8: Fighting Without Honor or Humanity

NJPW World Link
Singles Match
Togi Makabe [GBH] vs Yoshihiro Takayama [Suzuki-gun]
If you wanna talk about big men matches, you're not gonna get a much bigger brawl than with Togi Makabe and Yoshihiro Takayama. These two former tag partners (from way back in 2003) have been at each other's throats for months, and now finally, they get to meet officially one-on-one in the ring.
Let's talk about Takayama. This is the second Takayama singles match I've seen so far on this trip. The last time was with Lance Archer, which was a solid match until it had to go to wrestling. I understand and appreciate what he did, and his fight with Don Frye was insane madness, but in these days, he's not the most dynamic in-ring wrestler. If you're fine with simple offense and knee strikes that can knock a man off his feet, then Takayama's your guy, and yeah, for a guy that size, you don't really need to do much else. At his speed in 2012, it doesn't work for me.
That should pretty much tell you what I think of this match, as it was mainly built around Makabe trying to wear down the giant. It didn't go on for very long, and, admittedly, the finishing sequence was amazing, but it didn't really fix a match that's mostly one-note.
Result: Togi Makabe pins Yoshihiro Takayama with a King Kong Knee Drop
Rating: 5/10
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Match 9: NJPW vs Noah Battle Concentration II

NJPW World Link
Tag Team Match
Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano [Chaos] vs Go Shiozaki & Naomichi Marufuji [Noah]
Next is the second of our two NJPW vs Noah matches for the show. Two of Noah's best, Go Shiozaki & Naomichi Marufuji, take on the top two of Chaos, Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano.
Let's get this out of the way early. Yano sticks out in this match like a sore thumb in more ways than one. Standing next to the other three, he doesn't really seem to fit in apart from being Nakamura's second. If you're a purist and don't like Yano's offense, then I get not wanting him to be here.
Personally, I don't mind it. This match was laid out to be basically a longer version of the MVP & Benjamin vs Complete Players match. Mostly a showcase match for all the men (particularly Shiozaki and especially Marufuji) without a lot of internal storytelling. Personally, I would've put this a bit lower down the card before the Goto-Sugiura match, though considering Shiozaki is the GHC Heavyweight Champion, I can understand why he'd go on higher.
As a showcase match, though, it was really fun. Everyone did really well, even Yano, though I'm a Yano fan anyway. What was especially nice is we got to see a snippet of a potential Nakamura-Marufuji match, which is a dream match that hadn't been done yet. We already got a Nakamura-Shiozaki series the previous year. A Marufuji feud/match would be really nice as well. They teased as much in this match. However, while we would eventually get that match, it wouldn't be for a while, much less a result of this match. If that were the match here, I wouldn't mind. However, for what we got, it was still pretty good, as long as you take it for what it is.
Result: Go Shiozaki pins Toru Yano with a Go Flasher
Rating: 7/10
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Match 10: Genius vs Genius

NJPW World Link
Singles Match
Tetsuya Naito vs Keiji Mutoh [AJPW]
Then, we have our semi-final match of the show. A modern star takes on a legend of the past. It's Tetsuya Naito vs Keiji Mutoh.
The thrust behind this match is these two are very similar, and are often compared to each other. They're both relatively high-flying wrestlers that are great in-ring workers with a high wrestling IQ. Mutoh is the "Natural Born Master". Naito is the "Stardust Genius". Thus, we have genius vs genius. It's a dream match.
At least, that's how it should be.
In reality, it's a slow, plodding, boring affair. Mutoh is 49 years old and has a moveset only slightly bigger than a pokemon's (Low Dropkick, Dragon Screw, Shining Wizard, Figure-Four Leglock, Moonsault), and he takes the majority of this match. The first 5-8 minutes are the only times where the genius vs genius name comes into play as they have a technical grappling exchange, but once it goes out to the floor and Mutoh hits his first Dragon Screw, it's the Mutoh show for the next 15 minutes. He lands 8 dragon screws, 7 shining wizards, and 6 low dropkicks in total.
Naito gets some pockets of offense in (a couple of roll-ups and even once landing a Gloria and attempting a Stardust Press), but every time Mutoh would stop him in his tracks. By this point, Naito doesn't really look like much of a genius. He looks more like a guy who can take a beating from a 50-year old wrestling veteran and still kick out. Doesn't look that smart, though.
Look, I get it. Mutoh is a legend and the crowd loves him. You can tell by the reaction he gets whenever he hits a shining wizard or does one of his poses. He's clearly very over. It's just that I personally don't have the nostalgia for him, and without that, he is incredibly unimpressive.
Result: Keiji Mutoh pins Tetsuya Naito with a Moonsault
Rating: 2/10
Two years in a row Naito has my worst match on a Wrestle Kingdom show. This guy can't catch a break.
I didn't need Naito to win. I'm okay with Mutoh going over. Mutoh's a legend, and Naito's early enough in his singles career that he can take a loss like this and it wouldn't hurt him terribly long term. It's such a shame that it had to go down this way. Whether it's because of limitations on Mutoh's part or just bad booking, there was so much wasted potential with this match.
The only really interesting thing about the match is the post-match angle. Mutoh offers a handshake but Naito slaps it away, clearly frustrated. Maybe this could lead to something? I don't know.
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Match 11: IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match

NJPW World Link
Singles Match, IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Minoru Suzuki [Suzuki-gun]
Here it is, your Tokyo Dome Main Event. The big match for the biggest prize. It's Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Minoru Suzuki.
On this day last year, Tanahashi won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and has since had a hell of a title run. He's taken on all comers and surpassed several of his rivals. With this defense, he seeks to break Nagata's record of most successful defenses in a single title run.
However, to do so, he'll have to get through Minoru Suzuki. Suzuki himself has had a pretty solid year. It didn't start so well, with a loss to longtime rival Yuji Nagata at WK5. However, since forming Suzuki-gun, he's been incredibly successful. His only singles losses thus far have come from the G1 Climax. He has also since won the World Tag League with Lance Archer. He's won his last 5 singles matches, which include some formidable foes like Giant Bernard and Togi Makabe. With a win here tonight, he can solidify his takeover of New Japan and put Suzuki-gun on top of the company.
These two have a hell of a match. I mean, let's face it, it's a Wrestle Kingdom main event. From 5 onwards, the main event always delivers. This is the most vulnerable Tanahashi has looked in a while. It reminds me a bit of last year's WK main event with Kojima, though here Tanahashi isn't just scraping by. Suzuki takes most of the match, but Tanahashi gets a lot of good hits in as well.
I don't know what else to say. It's just a great match. If I had to nitpick, the only thing I would say is that the story within the match wasn't too complex. Now, notoriously, this match is not their best (we'll get to that much later), but I'm not gonna take points off of here just because they may have a better match later. This was a fitting Wrestle Kingdom main event.
Result: Hiroshi Tanahashi pins Minoru Suzuki with a High Fly Flow - Champion Retains, 11th Defense
Rating: 9/10
It's low 9/high 8. Pretty much an 8.5. However, I don't do decimals here, so I'll round it to where I'm comfortable.
The post-match celebration is another one that's notorious from this evening. There is, of course, the post match celebration with the trophies and whatnot. Also, as is the norm, someone comes out to make their claim. Tonight, that person is none other than Kazuchika Okada.
This time, though, it's very interesting. Usually, the crowd gets excited when someone comes out to challenge Tanahashi. Nakamura, Nagata, Goto, Naito, everyone who did this got a relatively warm reception. Okada though? The moment he gets the mic, and before he even speaks, Okada is greeted to boos and a "Kaere" ("Go home"/"Go away") chant, a chant you usually hear for guys like Taichi. Would you blame them, after the performance he had earlier in the night? This cocky young lion back from excursion who can't even string a proper match together? This guy has the audacity to come out and challenge the great Tanahashi?
Even Tanahashi himself is very dismissive of Okada, and he's usually very cordial with challengers. Okada tells him "Otsukaresama deshita" ("Thank you for your hard work") and that he'll be the one to take over from here. Tanahashi replies, saying he's not done yet, and that Okada is still far away from winning the title. Clearly, no one is taking Okada seriously here. Regardless, we'll find that the next challenger for Tanahashi's title will indeed be Kazuchika Okada.
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So yeah, that was Wrestle Kingdom. Honestly, I can see why it has the reputation it does. I put a lot of matches on the bottom half of the scoring board, which isn't great. If not for the main event, this show would pass more for a B-level show in terms of match quality. The thing making it a big show is the novelty of the interpromotional matches and the rare star on the show like Benjamin, Takayama, and Mutoh. Otherwise, the only match I'd say that's worth going out of your way to see is the main event.
It's unfortunately a bit of a dour tone to start the year off on, but I can assure you things pick up from here. Our next post will be covering a long stretch of shows, from Fantastica Mania at the end of January to the Anniversary show at the start of March. We'll be covering one of the most important days in New Japan history next time, and boy am I excited to watch that for the first time.
I'm gonna try to stick to a schedule this year. I don't want to lap myself and start taking over a year to get through a year. I'm gonna try to stick to 3 weeks per post, with the block tournaments getting some extra time (especially the G1 Climax, which in all likelihood is gonna take two posts with the character limit Reddit has). That means I'm targeting to get the next one done by Feb 19, which is before Castle Attack and the next Anniversary Show. If I don't get it done by then, you can yell at me.
Until then, thanks for reading! See you next post.
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Previous Post: New Japan Alive 2011, Road to Kingdom 2011, and 2011 Wrap-up
Next Post: Fantastica Mania 2012, New Japan ISM+New Beginning 2012, All Together 2, and NJPW 40th Anniversary Show (Coming Soon)
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Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Sept. 23, 2002

Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives.
PREVIOUSLY:
1-7-2002 1-14-2002 1-21-2002 1-28-2002
2-4-2002 2-11-2002 2-18-2002 2-25-2002
3-4-2002 3-11-2002 3-18-2002 3-25-2002
4-1-2002 4-8-2002 4-15-2002 4-22-2002
4-29-2002 5-6-2002 5-13-2002 5-20-2002
5-27-2002 6-3-2002 6-10-2002 6-17-2002
6-24-2002 7-1-2002 7-8-2002 7-15-2002
7-22-2002 7-29-2002 8-5-2002 8-12-2002
8-26-2002 9-2-2002 9-9-2002 9-16-2002
  • We open with the fallout from last week's HLA segment and the Billy and Chuck wedding. WWE surprisingly got some positive news coverage for being a progressive company with a breakthrough gay marriage on TV and talked about how Billy and Chuck as gay characters weren't being sent out to get heat from the crowd and get boos. Even GLAAD got involved, with their spokesman appearing in numerous media outlets to praise WWE for the characters. Dave seems pretty surprised by all this, given the fact that Billy and Chuck are absolutely designed to play for laughs and, at least a few times, to play on people's homophobia for heat. This is also the same company that gave us Goldust, who's gimmick for years was getting crowds to chant the F-word at him while everyone he wrestled acted grossed out. When they turned Goldust babyface, the first thing they did was have him cut a promo and establish that he's not gay so fans would cheer (and indeed, they did). And that's pretty much what happened here. As this angle blew up and got so much publicity, Billy and Chuck became babyfaces and the blow-off to the wedding was once again, "We're not actually gay." That, as WWE of course expected, got the biggest pop of the night and the show ended without the promised wedding.
  • Turns out, GLAAD was none too happy to have been duped. "The WWE lied to us two months ago when they promised that Billy and Chuck would come out and wed on the air," the GLAAD spokesman said in an interview after the angle aired. In fact, he said he spoke with WWE the day after the wedding was taped (but before it aired) and claims that WWE again lied to him and told them the wedding had taken place. GLAAD has a ton of egg on their face, with multiple media outlets calling them fools for allowing themselves to be tricked by WWE. Bill O'Reilly talked about it on his show, trashing WWE and claiming they were mocking gay people (who is this guy and what have they done with Bill O'Reilly?) but O'Reilly also went further when he found a way to tie this into the Lionel Tate case. O'Reilly said that Tate, "flat out admitted he killed a little girl because he was watching wrestling," which Dave says is patently untrue and unfair (ah, there he is). From wrestling fans, the reaction to the angle seemed to be pretty much....meh. It was a midcard wrestling angle that had a pretty great Eric Bischoff reveal, but otherwise, Dave doesn't think wrestling fans give a shit about Billy and Chuck any more or any less than they did before (he's not wrong. Everyone remembers the Bischoff reveal but Billy and Chuck were back to doing nothing of note almost immediately after). Dave references an old Jake Roberts promo. The promo is about a boy who picks up a dying snake and nursed it back to health, only for the snake to bite him when he was healthy. When the boy asked why, after all he had done for him, the snake replied, "When you picked me up the first time, you knew I was a snake." In other words.....this is WWE. What did GLAAD and all these other media outlets expect to happen?
  • Then on Raw, the other story....the lesbians. This didn't get nearly the same mainstream coverage as the Billy and Chuck angle, but it was no less controversial. TNN executive vice president Diana Robina stated publicly that they had concerns about the segment and had a talk with WWE about it after the fact. Instead of shying away from the angle, WWE is moving forward with it, even releasing 2 images on their website for HLA t-shirt designs. One of them was a silhouette of two women with HLA. The other one, a little less subtle, was a cartoon of a tongue on a red box. On WWE Confidential, Vince McMahon addressed the controversy saying that the women in their underwear was fine, but perhaps the making out and rubbing on each other was "a bit much." Speaking of Vince, Dave says he looks like the stress of business declining has gotten to him badly since he was last on TV, he looked haggard. The kissing and rubbing was edited off the show by almost all of WWE's broadcast partners outside of the U.S. But otherwise, he defended the entire thing, saying their goal is to shock people and he didn't understand why anyone would think the lesbian angle was a desperate ratings grab, claiming everyone in TV pulls stunts for ratings sometimes. Well, for what it's worth, it didn't work and, in fact, after the lesbian segment, ratings plummeted for the main event like never before. People stuck around for the lesbians, but then they turned off the TV in record numbers after.
  • CMLL's 69th (nice.) Anniversary show is in the books and only notable for two things: Negro Casas losing a hair match and getting his head shaved. And after the match, a fan ran into the ring and attacked Tarzan Boy. The crowd thought it was an angle, but nope. Tarzan Boy jumped up and "made a comeback" on the guy until security dragged him out. (About the 13 minute mark)
WATCH: Negro Casas vs. Tarzan Boy - CMLL 69th (nice.) Anniversary Show
  • After some rocky financial times that reminded many of ECW's dying days, Puerto Rico's WWC held its 29th Anniversary show with hopes that the show would be a success and give the company a desperately needed financial boost. Well, WWC is in the midst of a vicious competition with IWA, which has become the #1 promotion in Puerto Rico and, in an effort to hurt WWC's show, IWA decided to run its own event in another arena 30 minutes away at the same time, headlined by WWC's former top star Ray Gonzalez (still wrestling under a mask as Fenix, even though everyone knows it's him). The decision to keep Gonzalez under the mask for now, aside from the contractual legal battle with WWC, is because IWA's business is good right now. So why mess with something that ain't broke? The idea is that, if business starts to go down anytime soon, then they can do a big unmasking angle with Gonzalez and boost business again. No sense blowing their load now. Anyway, both of these shows were outdoor events and Mother Nature decided to have a little fun by making it pour rain on both of them. WWC was counting on a crowd of 10,000 or more in the big stadium and thanks to the storms and the IWA competition, they only drew 1,300. By the time they got to the main event, only 300 or so people remained, the rest driven away by the weather. Twenty miles away, IWA fared much better, drawing 6,000 fans to their show in the rain. WWC held indoor shows later in the week, including a complete re-do of the Anniversary show, and it drew well. But all the promotion, the TV hype, the publicity and mainstream coverage was all geared toward promoting the outdoor show and it was a disaster. To say this weekend was a devastating blow to WWC would be an understatement.
  • Remember how last week Dave looked at top draws based on who had headlined the most PPVs with 1.0 or higher buyrates? Doing the same thing this time, except it's looking at wrestlers who have headlined shows that drew 30,000 or more fans. Shinya Hashimoto, Keiji Muto, and Genichiro Tenryu are all tied for first with 11 each, followed by Hogan, Inoki, Nobuhiko Takada, and Atsushi Onita. Hogan is the only non-Japanese wrestler on that list.
  • Lucha Libre star El Sanguinario passed away last week at age 33. He reportedly was having trouble breathing and then collapsed and was pronounced dead of a heart attack at the hospital. Sounds like he was a midcard dude in AAA for a lot of the 90s, Dave recaps his career. Dropping dead of a heart attack at only 33 is some scary shit.
  • The family of a wrestler named Brian Ong, who died while training at All Pro Wrestling's training school in May 2001, has filed a lawsuit against the promotion and its owner, Roland Alexander. The lawsuit alleges that Ong was training with a 7'3 wrestler who weighed 400 pounds when he suffered a fatal injury. The only wrestler who fits that description is NJPW's Giant Singh (better known these days as Great Khali), who was indeed training at the APW school around this time in 2001. The lawsuit claims Ong suffered a concussion earlier in the practice and instead of getting medical treatment, he was told to continue practicing. The suit claims the 5'7 Ong was put in the ring against Singh and after taking a flapjack bump, hit his head on the mat again and lost consciousness and never woke up. 911 was called and Ong died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The lawsuit claims Ong wasn't provided with protective gear or proper supervision and that the mats were not adequate cushion. It also argued that Ong should never have been put in a "match" with someone so much larger than him. Dave is flabbergasted that this story somehow stayed secret for 16 months and says the few people who must have been involved clearly tried to keep it quiet. He notes other well-known instances of trainees dying in wrestling schools, most famously an incident in NJPW's dojo in the 90s.
  • Raw did the 2nd lowest rating it's done in four years. Even worse was the pattern of viewership, with fans dropping off in droves. In fact, Jericho vs. Jeff Hardy for the IC title lost almost half a million viewers, which is almost 10% of the total audience that bailed on the show in the middle of the match. "If anyone thinks RVD is over because of crowd pops, boy are they mistaken," Dave says. Probably shouldn't get your hopes up for him winning the title from Triple H at the next PPV. Meanwhile, Smackdown's rating was the best it's done in awhile, likely from all the Billy & Chuck publicity.
  • Rumor is AJPW and Fuji TV have reached an agreement that would see AJPW finally back on TV. They've been without since losing their TV deal after the NOAH exodus. AJPW is holding a retirement party on 9/30 for Motoko Baba, where she is planning to turn the promotion over to Keiji Muto. The idea is that Muto will then announce the new TV deal as his first act as new AJPW President.
  • Bob Sapp is under contract to K-1 and they loan him out to PRIDE. But as you can imagine, NJPW and AJPW are both trying to sign him as a pro wrestler (they both end up using him).
  • NJPW announced the lineup for its upcoming Tokyo Dome show and it appears to be pretty underwhelming. It's headlined by IWGP champion Yuji Nagata vs. Kazuyuki Fujita....in a non-title match. Dave doesn't understand the logic behind that, especially when they need all the help they can get trying to put fans in the Tokyo Dome. He runs down the rest of the matches and just blows right past Masahiro Chono vs. Chyna without even commenting on it. He even recaps a few shows with angles building up to the match which included Chyna shoving a birthday cake in Chono's face (a cake in wrestling always ends up on someone in America but it's never been done in Japan that Dave can recall) and another instance where Chyna hit Chono with a lariat and a brainbuster. He just recaps the facts, without a single word of opinion. I expected Dave to be shitting rage-bricks over this.
  • Speaking of the dismal shape of this company, NJPW debuted a new, fake Great Muta, since they own rights to the name apparently. This "Muta" is a blond American wearing a mask and is part of Inoki's group of guys. Fans did not give a remote shit about this Muta and Dave thinks those who don't learn from history (fake Diesel and Razor) are doomed to repeat it. Man, Inoki never heard a bad idea he didn't like, huh? Anyway, this show was in Nagoya which is usually an easy sellout for NJPW but for only the 2nd time Dave can recall in the last 20 years, it was not a sellout.
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan slipped off the top rope doing a moonsault and landed on his head in a scary botch last week. Tenzan said later that he thought he was going to die in that moment. Dave has seen the photos and said it looks scary, with Tenzan landing right on his head similar to how Hayabusa was paralyzed. But Tenzan only missed a week or so of action and is back working, although he's not 100% (I've heard people talk about this botch before but I can't find video or even a picture of it).
  • Messiah returned at a CZW show in the old ECW Arena and cut a promo about his thumb getting cut off. Firstly, he talked about it now being the CZW Arena and not another promotion (in reference to XPW claiming it was theirs). He also showed off his missing thumb and cut a promo about it not being a work. He said he wouldn't name who he thinks did it, but says they didn't get the job done. The crowd started chanting "Fuck Rob Black!" to which Messiah told them not to even say that piece of shit's name and got them to chant CZW instead. Sounds like Messiah wasn't naming names, maybe for legal reasons, but it's clear that he (and everyone else) believes Rob Black was behind the attack. The America's Most Wanted episode featuring this story is scheduled to air this week.
WATCH: Messiah returns to CZW
  • Dave says there's a lot of ex-WCW wrestlers out there struggling right now. When WCW first went under, a lot of them (who weren't signed by WWE) were still able to use their name value to get decent work on the indies. But with the business drying up, a lot of those indies going under, less places to work, and the economy struggling, and time passing by, a lot of guys who were making 6-figure incomes a couple years ago in WCW are suddenly finding it hard to pay their bills.
  • TNA appears to be getting an influx of new money, because they increased their budget significantly for the 9/18 show and are planning to bring in bigger name stars. Scott Hall, X-Pac, Marcus Bagwell, and Road Dogg are all supposed to be there, along with NASCAR driver Hermie Sadler and Saved by the Bell star Dustin Diamond (and this is the first whiff of that new Panda Energy money we're gonna be hearing a lot about soon).
  • Notes from Raw: Dave says the only way to enjoy Raw these days is to find things he can laugh at, which is how he used to get through Nitro. This doesn't sound like it's gonna be a glowing recap. Bischoff opened the show saying Raw won't be a boring, formulaic show like Smackdown, which was immediately followed by Triple H coming out and cutting the standard opening segment 20 minute promo. Dave jokes that he ate dinner and still had time to watch a short movie because this promo went so long and even gets in a jab about Triple H manipulating the show because he's "banging the head writer." Dave came packing heat this week. Rico (fresh off switching to Raw) beat Flair in a 4 minute match and instead of putting Rico over like he accomplished something, they had Triple H berate Flair (who is facing Jericho for the IC title at the next PPV) about how he's washed up and even a lowly nobody like Rico can beat him, which is a pretty great way of burying both Flair and Rico at the same time. Booker T vs. Test was so bad that Dave jokes that he thought Jackie Gayda had possessed Test's body. This really is reading like one of Dave's snarky 2000-era Nitro reviews, where he wasn't even pretending to be nice or objective. This show sucks and he's determined to let us know. RVD tapped out to Jericho. Dave thinks it's good that babyfaces sometimes tap out to heel submissions, but RVD is challenging Triple H for the world title on PPV in 3 days. Having him tap out to someone he's not even feuding with 3 days before that match is basically the dumbest possible finish. Triple H gave RVD a pedigree after the match for good measure (and then, he will of course be beating RVD at the PPV and moving on. Triple H Reign of Terror era is in full effect at this point). To be fair, later on in the show, RVD did come back out and attack Triple H and leave him bloody in the ring. But don't worry. Valiant babyface Triple H overcame the odds and still managed to get back up and beat Jeff Hardy in 5 minutes to end the show. Dave also notes that Jeff Hardy, once again, looks terrible these days (drugs are bad, mmm'kay).
  • Notes from Smackdown: it was in Minnesota and the crowd was super into Lesnar. Eddie & Chavo Guerrero make a great tag team and had an awesome match with Edge & Cena. Dave thinks Cena needs a new look, the little shorts aren't good. They also called Cena "the rookie" half a dozen times in this match and Dave thinks that's the kiss of death for a new guy. Anyway, the big angle of the show was of course the wedding of Billy and Chuck, which ended with a hell of an angle with Bischoff as the minister in disguise. Dave says Rico and Bischoff in particular were amazing during this whole segment. And of course, the show ended with Brock Lesnar threatening Undertaker's pregnant wife backstage (needless to say, if you've never seen the Billy & Chuck wedding angle, it's a must-see classic).
WATCH: Billy & Chuck wedding
  • Bradshaw will be out of action for about 6 months after tearing his bicep on Raw. He continued to work his match and even did a run-in later in the show, but flew to Birmingham the next day where he was diagnosed and underwent surgery that same day. Meanwhile, Faarooq is not injured, he's just sitting at home because creative has no ideas for him right now.
  • WWE does seem to have interest in Nathan Jones now that it looks like his legal issues in Australia are going to be cleared up. He'll likely be sent to OVW first because he's nowhere near ready for prime time yet (lol, nope. He never worked a match in OVW. Vince took one look at him and said, "Gimme that big motherfucker!" He works a few months of main roster house shows then straight to TV).
  • This week on WWE Confidential, they basically told the history of the Big Gold Belt (now known in WWE as Triple H's World Heavyweight Title). They talked about how the NWA title kinda morphed into the WCW title and Dave, of course, can't let that one slide without briefly touching on the real story of that split. Lots of interviews with past champions like Flair and Booker T and Big Show. They also had Bischoff on and everybody talked about certain guys who weren't worthy of being champion (everyone buried Goldberg, for instance) and Bischoff claimed Sting was never 100% committed to wrestling. Booker T claimed DDP's success was all manufactured and they pretty much said DDP was only ever the champion because he was friends with Bischoff.
  • There's some backstage friction between management and the UnAmericans group. It's a bunch of little small issues. Vince wanted them all to dress the same and have a matching look. And since Lance Storm doesn't have long hair and can't grow it anytime soon, Vince wanted Test and Christian to cut their hair short like his. As you can see, neither of them has done so yet and that didn't go over well. There was also an issue because they wanted more security when they were leaving the building after the flag burning angle at MSG. That led to them being told that they are being given a golden opportunity and if they're scared of getting "too much heat" then maybe they don't deserve to be in that spot.
  • David Flair is being sent to work some indies over in the UK. He's still signed to developmental in OVW, but he's been on the bubble for awhile and may not make it past the next round of cuts. Same kinda goes for Eric Angle and Horace Hogan and Dave says all 3 guys have been spared thus far more due to their last names than any other reason. But Dave doesn't have high hopes that David Flair is gonna last much longer.
  • Latest on Steve Austin is that he's focused on fixing his marriage and has no interest in coming back to wrestling right now. He recently called off his divorce filing. As for WWE, they've been marking down Austin 3:16 shirts to as low as $3 bucks at live shows and word is they've been selling like crazy. Seems like WWE is trying to get rid of its stock of Austin merch.
  • Dave found a newspaper interview from 2000 back when Brock Lesnar first got signed to WWE. He admitted in the interview that he doesn't really care for the fake punches and soap opera aspect of wrestling, but WWE is the only game in town, so that's what he decided to do. When talking about the business, he said, "It's in my mind, but not in my heart." In other words, what we've always known: Lesnar's here to get PAID. Period.
  • Various WWE notes: the Island Boyz got a lot of heat for how rough they were when beating up the lesbians on Raw, particularly the poor girl that got a brutal thrust kick right to the ribs. New England Patriots new offensive lineman Stephen Neal once beat Brock Lesnar in the NCAA tournament finals in 1999. Chris Jericho's band Fozzy's new album has only sold 11,000 copies which has to be a disappointment given how much it's been mentioned on WWE TV. Vince McMahon was listed as the #386th richest American in Forbes, with a net worth of $570 million (down from $700 million last year). Howard Stern claimed Vince McMahon offered him a deal to do a WWE appearance but said the money wasn't good and said after the Billy & Chuck wedding debacle, he wouldn't appear for WWE for less than $2 million. Josh Matthews from Tough Enough debuted doing backstage shilling segments on TV.
  • And finally, a metric ton of letters in this issue. Over the years, the letters section has dwindled down to almost none, but there's a bunch in this issue. Let's see if there's anything noteworthy. Former St. Louis wrestling announcer Larry Matysik writes a long letter to talk about the style of wrestling that Sam Muchnick promoted in that territory and whether it would work today. Then there's several letters about the Todd Martin essay a few issues back regarding racism in wrestling. Lots of interesting notes in here. One guy says it's a good thing Jesse Ventura's political enemies never dug into old wrestling footage and found some of his comments during the 80s. Also says he has a tape from pre-WM1 of Paul Orndorff calling Mr. T and other black people "porch monkeys." And finally, lots of thoughts on the Observer Hall of Fame. Several people upset that Shawn Michaels didn't get the votes because he obviously deserves it. Someone else writes in about Ring of Honor and says their shows he's attended have been some of the most unexpected, surprisingly awesome shows he's ever been to, with multiple MOTY candidates on every show. It's kinda cool getting to re-live the days when ROH was getting buzz simply for putting on quality shows month after month.
  • And finally, someone else writes in to argue that Undertaker isn't nearly as special as WWE portrays him. Says Undertaker had a brief main event run in 1991, and then spent the next 5 years in midcard feuds. Wasn't until 1997 that he got back to the top again, and even throughout the Attitude Era, he's always been 2nd or 3rd fiddle behind Austin, Rock, and at times, even Triple H. And during those years, he's been involved in some of the worst drawing feuds and most embarrassing, poorly written, dumbest angles in WWE history. The only time he was a top draw was when he was feuding with Austin in 1998-99 and, let's be honest, Austin could have sold out a stadium against Brooklyn Brawler at that point. The Wrestlemania he headlined was the lowest WM buyrate in company history, he's never been a proven draw on his own. He's also pretty much never been that special as an in-ring wrestler either. He's been a popular character because he's been extremely protected, rarely selling for anyone, and always booked to come out on top in his feuds, but that's all WWE booking, not anything to do with Mark Callaway being great. So all in all, WWE's claim that Undertaker has been a top star for a decade doesn't really jibe with the facts and the author of this letter doesn't really understand why anyone thinks Undertaker has had a HOF-level career (you know, my gut feeling is to argue against this because it's Undertaker and he's a legend, but when you step back and try to look at it objectively....the guy kinda brings up some good points. Obviously, some of Taker's best years were still ahead of him. But in 2002, it's kinda hard to argue this. We all loved the gimmick as kids, but what had he ever really done at this point that made him stand ahead of anyone else?)
NEXT WEDNESDAY: Death of Flyboy Rocco Rock of Public Enemy, WWE Unforgiven fallout, more on Brian Ong death, Nicole Bass/WWE lawsuit goes to trial, and more...
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Respect Yusuke Godai, aka (Kamen Rider Kuuga)!

Yusuke Godai/Kamen Rider Kuuga

"I'm going to fight! I don't want... to let these things make anyone else cry! I want people to smile! So please, watch... my transformation!"

Introduction

Yusuke Godai is the main and titular character of "Kamen Rider Kuuga", a bright, kind person who goes on adventures in order to gain new skills and make people smile.
Yusuke's life is changed when the Gurongi, an ancient tribe of beings that can transform into monsters to participate in the Gergeru, a game where they hunt down humans for sport, are resurrected in modern day Japan when their seal was unknowingly undone by archaeologists. When attacked by one of the Gurongi, Yusuke was given visions of a warrior and drawn towards an ancient belt. Putting it on, it enabled him to transform into the ancient warrior in his vision, Kuuga.
Yusuke used the powers of Kuuga to fight against the Gurongi to stop the Gergeru and protect the smiles of everyone, while also learning about the nature of his newfound powers and that of the Gurongi.
Most Notable Allies
  • Kaoru Ichijo: A dutiful policeman who becomes one of Yusuke's closest friends, often aids Yusuke in fights as firearm support or investigating the Gurongi for him.
  • Sakurako Sawatari: A researcher and one of Yusuke's closest friends who translates the ancient Linto language to figure out the history of both the Gurongi and Kuuga in order to aid Yusuke.
  • Hikari Enokida: The head researcher of developing anti-Gurongi weaponry for the police, aids in explaining the nature of Yusuke's powers and the Arcle.
  • Shuichi Tsubaki: A doctor and close friend to Ichijo, often checks up on Yusuke's health and injuries and examines how the Gurongi kill their victims.
Main Themes

Kuuga

The warrior created by the Linto, a peaceful ancient human tribe, to protect them from the Gurongi, the user gains a basic power set of increased physical strength and vitality along with whatever additional powers the user needs according to their will.
The public and police officially recognize Kuuga as "Unidentified Lifeform #2" and "Unidentified Lifeform #4".

Arcle (Rising Arcle)

An ancient belt that holds a stone of power called the Amadum, it's what allows Yusuke to transform into Kuuga while also granting him other powers as well.
Physical Enhancements
Misc. Stuff

Finisher Mark(s)

All of Kuuga's forms have attacks or weapons that when successfully landed on an opponent, leaves a Linto hieroglyph onto their body or the place they hit.
When landed on a Gurongi, it will travel towards Gurongi's version of the Amadum and cause them to explode, thus killing them.
These explosions increase in size depending on how strong the Gurongi is and the strength of the form Yusuke is using.
Multiple marks can be applied at a time and the size can vary on how big the opponent is.
Otherwise, on a non-Gurongi opponents, the finisher mark(s) usually don't appear or do much.

Forms

The Amadum grants the user the ability to change into different forms which all have their own unique abilities, which are granted to the user when they are in need of a new power to aid them. The shown standard forms of Kuuga are Mighty, Dragon, Pegasus, and Titan forms.
Yusuke can quickly switch between these forms basically instantly whenever he feels the need to do so [2] which he eventually becomes quite adept at and eventually calls it his "Super Transformation".
The Dragon, Pegasus, and Titan forms also have the special ability to change certain objects (long sticks for Dragon, pistol-like/ranged weapons for Pegasus, handles or also long objects for Titan) into their personal weapons by reconstructing them on an atomic level.
These objects will turn back to normal after Yusuke is done using them or if they're disarmed from him.
"Golden Power"/Rising Forms
After a defibrillator was used on Yusuke when he was poisoned by Me-Ginoga-De, Yusuke started to suddenly feel electrical sensations.
The Amadum, having been exposed to the electricity of the defibrillator, and along with Yusuke's desire to grow stronger to fight the Gurongi allowed it to increase its power and produce electricity of its own, enabling Yusuke to access the Rising Forms.
These forms greatly increase the power of his standard forms and added golden accents to his body along with new golden additions to the Arcle and his weapons.
Initially, Yusuke could only use the Rising Forms for about 30 seconds before returning back to his normal forms, but later on underwent the same process as before to increase his power.
This second time enabled Yusuke to use the Rising Forms without a time limit to worry about.

Growing Form

Kuuga's white form that has smaller horns than his other forms, Yusuke initially unlocked the form when he fought Zu-Gumun-Ba and having just put the Arcle on for the first time.
Growing features no unique powers on it's own, Yusuke will rarely go into this form due to it's weak performance unless he cannot access his standard forms. Yusuke will also go into Growing if he's injured enough but he's usually knocked out soon afterwards anyway.
Its finisher is called the Growing Kick, a strengthened running jump kick that has the bottom of his foot heated up to deliver a finishing mark, albeit being significantly weaker than his other finishers.
Strength/Striking
Durability

Mighty Form (Rising Mighty)

"When evil rises, a warrior bearing the spirit stone will rage like a flame against it."
Kuuga's red form that focuses on hand to hand combat rather than using any type of weapon, Yusuke initially unlocked this form against Zu-Gooma-Gu after determining himself to protect everyone's smiles.
Mighty doesn't have any unique powers going for it like Growing but makes up for it for being the most well rounded form out of his others, this leads it to being Yusuke's go to form.
Its Rising Form adds a golden bracelet/plate on the right ankle to increase its power and an overall stat increase.
Its finisher is called the Mighty Kick, in which his right foot heats up and increases in power, usually following up with a kick to deliver a finishing mark.
It turns into the Rising Mighty Kick, an empowered version of the Mighty Kick, when in Rising Mighty.
Strength/Striking
Durability
Reactions

Dragon Form (Rising Dragon)

"When evil rises, the warrior becomes formless to sweep his foes away like flowing water."
Kuuga's blue form that focuses on increased agility and staff combat via the use of the Dragon Rod, Yusuke initially unlocked this form against Zu-Badzu-Ba when he needed to match Badzu's agility and jumps.
Dragon significantly increases Kuuga's speed and agility, however the form's physical strength becomes pitiful when compared to Mighty's strength, which is compensated for by using the Dragon Rod as its main offense.
Its Rising Form adds on golden spearheads on the tips on the Dragon Rod, turning it into a double bladed spear.
Its finisher is called the Splash Dragon, a leaping thrust attack with the Dragon Rod that delivers a finishing mark.
It turns into the Rising Splash Dragon, an empowered version of the Splash Dragon that can now stab into the enemy, when in Rising Dragon.
Dragon Rod Strength/Striking
Durability
Speed/Reactions
Jumping

Pegasus Form (Rising Pegasus)

"When evil rises, the warrior senses its presence over great distances, firing upon it with the wind's speed."
Kuuga's green form that focuses on massively increased senses and ranged combat via the use of the Pegasus Bowgun, Yusuke initially unlocks this form against Me-Badjisu-Ba kinda when he needed to ability to track him.
Pegasus multiplies Kuuga's senses by severalfold, and if concentrated, allows for the ability to see locations and hear sounds from a great distance.
Yusuke can only keep this up for 50 seconds before the risk of sensory overload occurs, which can lead to Yusuke being knocked out of commission [2] if he doesn't transform into a different form/detransform in time.
Its Rising Form adds extenders to the barrel of the Pegasus Bowgun that increases the length of it.
Its finisher is called the Blast Pegasus, a single bolt from the Pegasus Bowgun that delivers a finishing mark.
It turns into the Rising Blast Pegasus, an empowered version of the Blast Pegasus that now fires a burst of 3 bolts rather than a single bolt, when in Rising Pegasus.
Blast Pegasus
Durability/Endurance
Reactions/Tracking

Titan Form (Rising Titan)

"When evil rises, the warrior will don armor like unto steel and strike foes with blows that cleave the land itself."
Kuuga's purple form that focuses on up close sword combat via the use of the form's increased armor and using the Titan Sword, Yusuke initially unlocks this form against Me-Giiga-Gi when Sakurako tells him of the Titan Form's existence and coming to the conclusion that he need to face Giiga head on.
Titan fits Kuuga with tougher armor and massively increased defense compared to other forms but comes at the cost of some mobility, making the user a bit slower than usual.
Although the armor covers a good portion of his body, the same can't be said about some other areas of the body, which aren't as durable as the armor.
Its Rising Form extends the length of the sword and enables the ability to create another Titan Sword for duel wielding action.
Its finisher is called the Calamity Titan, a single forward stab with the Titan Sword which (usually) impales the opponent and delivers a finishing mark.
It turns into the Rising Calamity Titan, an empowered version of the Calamity Titan when in Rising Titan.
Striking/Strength
Durability
Reactions

Amazing Mighty Form

Kuuga's penultimate black form similar to the Mighty Form, Yusuke unlocked this form against Go-Gadoru-Ba after his second strengthening of the Rising forms.
Its appearance is identical to Rising Mighty Form, with a now black color scheme and an additional golden bracelet/plate on the left ankle, and even further increased stats.
Its finisher is called the Amazing Mighty Kick, a strengthened drop kick that delivers two finisher marks due to additional power now given to the left foot.
Amazing Mighty Kick

Ultimate Form (Rising Ultimate)

"When the holy spring runs dry, the fearsome warrior descends like a thunderbolt... and the sun will be swallowed by darkness."
Kuuga's final form, it's a form created out of anger and hatred that is meant to cause Kuuga to become the "ultimate darkness", which would allow it to match the strength and powers of N-Daguva-Zeba.
Yusuke unlocked this form shortly after getting Amazing Mighty and being defeated by Daguva.
Ultimate is one of Kuuga's strongest forms, being vastly stronger than any of the previous forms and being on par with N-Daguva-Zeba's perfect form.
Ultimate would cause the user of it to go berserk and cause chaos much like the Gurongi (which would be indicated by having Kuuga's eyes as pure black), but due to Yusuke's kind/gentle nature and the support of his allies, Yusuke was able to tame the power of the form and remain in control (indicated by the red eyes).
Its Rising Form adds a heavy amount of gold to the body and becoming much spiker, increasing the form's power even further, how much that is vague though.
Ultimate is never given a finishing move in-series, although in later appearances and material, its finishers are called the Ultimate Kick/Punch, the former being much like the Mighty Kick and the latter being a charged flaming punch.
Both finishers turn into the Rising Ultimate Kick/Punch, empowered versions of Ultimate Kick/Punch when in Rising Ultimate.
Strength/Striking
Durability
Fire/Lightning Control Due to being a form meant to match and replicate N-Daguva-Zeba's powers, this should mean any abilities shown by Daguva should be accessible for Ultimate to use.

Vehicles

Throughout his fight against the Gurongi, Yusuke was given 3 vehicles that aided him for travelling and combat. Yusuke is one of the most prominent Heisei era Kamen Riders that opts for motorcycle combat, having used them for a large portion of his combat style.

Gouram

An ancient giant mechanical stag beetle designed by the Linto to aid Kuuga in the fight against the Gurongi.
Disassembled at first, Gouram was awoken and reassembled itself in order to assist Yusuke due to him being the current Kuuga. Originally meant to be horse armor, it transforms itself to fit onto Yusuke's motorcycles as well, it's also capable of speak.
Flight
Self-Repair
Misc. Properties

TryChaser 2000 (TryGouram)

Yusuke's first personal bike given to him by Ichijo in order to combat the Gurongi.
When Gouram attaches itself to the TryChaser, it becomes the TryGouram.
The TryChaser 2000 was broken against his fight against Go-Badaa-Ba, having been pushed beyond its limits, which lead to it be replaced by its successor the BeatChaser 2000.
TryGouram
Combat

BeatChaser 2000 (BeatGouram/Rising BeatGouram)

Yusuke's second personal bike given to him by the police force after the TryChaser was broken, it was designed to be the TryChaser's successor and fit for his use as Kuuga.
When Gouram is attached to the BeatChaser, it becomes the BeatGouram, and can be further enhanced into the Rising BeatGouram when Kuuga transforms into a Rising Form and rides it.
Combat

In-Character

Yusuke is a energetic and benevolent person, he tries his best to aid those who need and counsel those who are down. He keeps his head up high with a smile in order to keep morale up with his signature thumbs up, even in what may seem like the darkest hour like his final showdown with Z-Daguva-Zeba.
When fighting as Kuuga, Yusuke mixes up what forms he needs for what the situation calls for, and often tries to match his opponent when he's able to.
Yusuke also tries to get the fight between him and whoever he's fighting away from populated areas to isolated areas if the situation calls for his Rising Forms, as he's well aware of his own power. This is usually achieved by dragging his opponent away by using Gouram and his bike.
Yusuke's kind nature, while very strong, isn't infallible to emotions such as anger and hate. His fight against the Gurongi had slowly caused him to become fallible to these negative emotions. Eventually, the encounter with Go-Jaraji-Da had brought Yusuke to a breaking point, leading to a rather famous outburst in Kamen Rider history [Part 2]. Nevertheless, Yusuke's will is something that shouldn't be underestimated, as it's what allowed him to control the Ultimate Form.
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Book New Japan Cup 2021 | Part Three: Quarter Finals, Semi Finals, Finals & Sakura Genesis 2021

Quarter Finals
​
March 16th – Aore Nagaoka (Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan)
Shingo Takagi vs Chris Hero
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Will Ospreay
​
Shingo Takagi vs Chris Hero
First-Time Match
We’re down to just 8 competitors as we enter the Quarter Finals, a dream match between NEVER Openweight Champion Takagi and Wrestling God Hero kicking off the proceedings, one of these men sealing a spot in the Final 4! As the bell rings, these two step towards each other in the centre of the ring, butting heads with one another and mouthing off, before getting down to trading forearms! Shingo breaks away and points to the ropes, ordering Hero to Shoulder Tackle him, Hero obliging, rebounding off the ropes and coming back with pure power, but Shingo stands his ground! Hero tells Takagi to return the favour, the Dragon bouncing off the ropes, BUT HE COMES BACK INTO A MAFIA KICK, DROPPING HIM TO THE CANVAS! Hero dusts off his boot as he looks down at Shingo’s fallen body, a smile on his face as he tells the younger star to not let his guard down, only to eat those words as Takagi pops back to his feet, not taking the disrespect and instead smashing Hero’s face in with Forearms!
They go tit for tat with strikes, Hero tossing Shingo into the ropes and trying for a ROLLING ELBOW, but Takagi ducks under, hitting the ropes again, before connecting a third time, coming back with a PUMPING BOMBER, SWEEPING CHRIS OFF HIS FEET! Now it’s Shingo posing over Hero’s body, extending a hand to him with a sneer, but it’s only to ruffle his hair and rub it in further! Hero trips Takagi up, getting a Lou Thesz Press on him and pounds him into the mat, only for Takagi to turn it over and return the favour, the pair rolling across the ring as they try to knock the other out! Takagi launching Hero back to his feet, he scores a chest-splitting MONGOLIAN CHOP, Hero slicing him back with a thudding BACKHAND CHOP! The two start trading chops, before Takagi evades and hits the ropes, scoring a YUKON LARIAT! Hero does the same, knocking Shingo back with a CLUBBING ELBOW! The Dragon swings again, but Hero ducks under and rams him into the turnbuckle pad, laying in Shoulder Thrusts, followed by TRACY SMOTHERS! Takagi turns it around, drilling Hero with CORNER CLOTHESLINES!
As Chris doubles over, TAKAGI PICKS HIM UP INTO A POWERBOMB POSITION, DELIVERING A GALLON THROW, HURLING 270 POUNDS OVER HIS HEAD LIKE IT WERE NOTHING! He calls for a NOSHIGAMI, but Hero rolls through and MONKEY FLIPS TAKAGI! CRAVATE SUPLEX! HERO SIDEKICK! AND A CRAVATE CUTTER! 1…2…KICK OUT! Hero rattles Shingo with elbows, before applying the HANGMAN’S CLUTCH II! Putting his knee against Takagi’s spine, he makes the submission as uncomfortable as possible, but Shingo swings back at him, hanging him up over his shoulder with a JAWBREAKER! A DDT spikes Hero into the canvas, before Shingo connecting a Reverse STO and a DEATH VALLEY DRIVER! 1…2…NO! Now it’s Takagi latching on a submission, applying the MANKIRI as he tries to drain as much strength as he can from his larger adversaries body, yet Hero too doesn’t stay in it for long, instead turning the tables on the champ with a HAMMERLOCK SUPLEX! Grabbing onto his wrist, Hero peppers Takagi with kicks to the face, before connecting an ELBOW! TAKAGI WITH A LARIAT! ELBOW FROM HERO! LARIAT! ELBOW! LARIAT! ELBOW! LARIAT- ELBOW! ELBOW! ELBOW! RIPCORD ROLLING ELBOW DROPS SHINGO TO A KNEE! TAKAGI POPS BACK UP AND NAILS A RIPCORD LARIAT! BOTH MEN LET GO AND REBOUND OFF THE ROPES… PUMPING BOMBER AND ROLLING ELBOW!
TAKAGI ON HIS FEET AND HE’S RUNNING THE ROPES- CYCLONE KILL! 1…2…SHINGO KICKS OUT! SENTON- MISSES! SENTON FROM TAKAGI CONNECTS! ORIGINAL FALCONRY! 1…2…HERO KICKS OUT! SHINGO PULLS HIM UP INTO A BACKBREAKER RACK – BLOOD FALL! 1…2…STILL NO DICE! Takagi yells at Hero to fight, only to be shut up with an ELBOW TO THE BRIDGE OF THE NOSE! TAKAGI BUSTED OPEN! HERO’S WELCOME! 1…2…SHINGO WITH THE SHOULDER UP! Hero wipes some of the blood off of Shingo’s face and licks it off his hand with a sick smirk on his face, before cradling him… PILEDRIVER! BUT HERO ISN’T DONE WITH HIM, PICKING SHINGO BACK UP! HE WANTS TO KNOCK HIM OUT! The Knockout Artist readies the shot that defeated both Nagata and ZSJ, winding up the DEATH BLOW- TAKAGI DUCKS UNDER AND POPS HERO ONTO HIS SHOULDERS! MADE IN JAPAN! 1…2…NOOOOOOOOOO! NOW IT’S SHINGO LAYING IN ELBOWS, HERO STAGGERED! He rebounds off the ropes once… PUMPING BOMBER, BUT HERO DOESN’T GO DOWN! He rebounds off the ropes again… PUMPING BOMBER, BUT HERO STILL DOESN’T GO DOWN! He rebounds off the ropes a third time, PUMPING- HERO SEES IT COMING, SWINGING FOR THE ROLLING ELBOW, BUT TAKAGI DUCKS UNDER, HITTING THE ROPES ON THE OTHER SIDE, NOW DUCKING UNDER A CYCLONE KILL AS HE HITS THE ROPES A THIRD TIME… PUMPING BOMBERRRRRRRR! HERO IS SWEPT RIGHT OFF HIS FEET, TAKAGI DRAGGING HIM BACK UP! LAST OF THE DRAGON! 1…2…3!
Shingo Takagi def. Chris Hero to advance (25:02)
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Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Will Ospreay
Head-to-Head Record: 0-1
It’s time for the second match of the Quarter Finals, 2-time NJC Winner Tana taking on United Empire’s Leader, Ospreay! The two have only done battle once in the past, where Ospreay eked one over the Ace of the Universe back in G1 Climax 29, but two years having passed since and new attitudes for both men, who will prevail this time? Ospreay has Bea Priestley in his corner, sharing a kiss with her as he gets down to the deciding matches of the tournament, whilst Tana fires up his air guitar to a grand ovation, the two men coming face-to-face in the centre of the ring. And they’re off as the bell rings! A slower start than the previous match as Tana and Ospreay scout each other, looking for any potential weaknesses. Ospreay knows that Suzuki did quite the number on the Ace last round, but a week having passed since then, both men seem rather comfortable as they pace about the ring. They get into a classic lock-up to start things off, feeling each other out, Ospreay teasing an early OSCUTTER, only to backflip off the ropes and do Tana’s pose, who brushes it off.
Getting to business, Ospreay controls his foe, playing around with the Ace and peppering him with kicks to the leg. Tana responds by swinging for shots of his own, yearning for the satisfying sound of a chop striking skin, but Will doesn’t grant him that, getting behind him and pulling him down to the mat, trying for an early sneaky cover but Tana kicks out, turning it around into a FALL IN LOVE, but Ospreay also kicks out. Tana tries for the leg, attempting to nab a Dragon Screw, but Will kicks his hands away and shoves him through the ropes, Tana stopping himself on the apron, only to come face-to-face with Bea, who trash-talks him, giving Ospreay and opening to deliver a DROPKICK TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD! As Tana crashes to the floor, Ospreay makes it look oh so easy as he rains down with a SASUKE SPECIAL! Cracking chops off of Tana’s chest and once again weaving out of the way of ones Tana tries to deliver, he keeps Hiroshi on the backfoot, coming off the ropes with a HANDSPRING ROUNDHOUSE! Dropping Tana to his knees, he nails a ROBINSON SPECIAL, before connecting a STANDING SHOOTING STAR PRESS! 1…2…KICK OUT!
Ospreay continues staying on the offensive, connecting a PIP PIP CHEERIO, followed by a HOOK KICK and a HANDSPRING- CAUGHT BY TANA! KINKA-ZAN GERMAN SUPLEX! Ospreay rolls out the ring in retreat, grabbing the back of his head, but Tana follows him with a HIGH FLY FLOW TO THE OUTSIDE! Rolling him back in, he connects a SOMERSAULT SENTON and a TWIST AND SHOUT! Tana starts getting momentum behind him as the crowd cheers him on, going for a Half Hatch Suplex, only to eat a STEP-UP KNEE STRIKE FROM WILL! SILENT WHISPER! SPRINGBOARD- DRAGON-SHIKI HARITE DROPS OSPREAY! URANAGE INTO THE CANVAS! AND A TWELVE-SIX! 1…2…NO! Tana targets the legs as he sets up for his signature Cloverleaf, but his plans are once again thwarted, Ospreay this time with a Headscissors that sends Tana stumbling towards the turnbuckle, Ospreay rushing in with a Forearm, only for Tana to evade! Ospreay jumps up though and tries for an OSCUTTER, Tana turning it into a SLING BLADE! Tana secures a DRAGON SLEEPER and lifts Ospreay off the mat, swinging him around to make him dizzy, before SLAMMING HIM INTO THE MAT! HE TURNS HIM OVER TO FINALLY LOCK IN THE CLOVERLEAF!
Ospreay is frantic in trying to get to the ropes, not wanting to repeat the nightmare against SANADA of turning purple, powering his way towards the bottom rope, but Tana pulls him back and sits deeper! Will tries resisting again, only for Tana to pull a trick out of an old foe’s playbook and turn it into a LIONTAMER! Ospreay yelps in pain, the pressure weighing down on his back and neck, desperately hauling both men’s weight towards the ropes, Tana doing everything he can to neutralise Will… BUT HE FINALLY LEAPS TO THE BOTTOM, FORCING TANA OFF! The Once in a Century Talent decides to work the legs over further to guarantee the tap out next time, but Ospreay has other intentions, scoring a ROUNDHOUSE, before propping Tana on the middle rope in the corner, pulling his head back for CHEEKY NANDOS! LIGER BOMB PLANTS TANA! 1…2…KICK OUT! Ospreay keeps up the pressure, nailing a SPRINGBOARD 450° SPLASH! 1…2…TANA GETS THE SHOULDER UP! RUNNING KNEE STRIKE! 1…2…STILL NO DICE! Ospreay slaps Tana in the face a few times out of frustration, before dropping him with another HOOK KICK, heading back to the top as he tries for a 630° SENTON… TANA MOVES AND OSPREAY ROLLS THROUGH! TWIST AND SHOUT! BRIDGING DRAGON SUPLEX! 1…2…OSPREAY KICKS OUT! ALL-OUT!
Tana scales to the top… HIGH FLY FLOW- OSPREAY WITH THE KNEES UP! BUT IT’S THE LEGS THAT TANA ATTACKED EARLIER, ALLOWING THE ACE TO GO BACK INTO A CLOVERLEAF! Having just taken knees to the chest though, he isn’t in much position to secure the hold as well as possible, letting Ospreay get to the ropes much faster this time, but it’s an opening that he needed as he connects a SLING BLADE! ANOTHER ONE! A THIRD! DARUMA-SHIKI GERMAN SUPLEX… OSPREAY LANDS ON HIS FEET! BUT THEY CRUMBLE UNDERNEATH HIM! TANA RACES IN FOR A SLING BLADE… NO! OSPREAY WAS PLAYING POSSUM! ESSEX DESTROYER! HIDDEN BLADE! HE GETS TANA IN POSITION AND HOOKS THE ARMS… STORMBREAKER- TANA WITH A BACK BODY DROP TO COUNTER! DRAGON SUPLEX! Tana picks Ospreay back up to his feet, BUT WILL SLAPS HIS FACE! OPEN PALM BACK FROM TANA! He goes to run the ropes… BUT OSPREAY HOLDS ONTO HIS WRIST! RAINMAKER! RAINMAKER FROM OSPREAY! MOCKERY OF TANA’S GREATEST RIVAL! Ospreay heads to the top rope and NOW DOES TANA’S POSE! HIGH FLY FLOW- TANA GETS THE KNEES UP JUST LIKE OSPREAY! NOW IT’S TANA HEADING TO THE TOP AS OSPREAY SCRAMBLES TO HIS FEET! HIGH FLY FLOW TO A STANDING OSPREAY! ONE MORE FOR THE ACE AS HE GOES BACK TO THE TOP! HIGH FLY- OSPREAY WITH A KNEE TO THE GUT! NO, THAT LOOKED A LITTLE LOWER! THE REFEREE DIDN’T NOTICE AND OSPREAY IS GRINNING FROM EAR TO EAR AS HIROSHI CLUTCHES HIS TANAHASHIS! STORMBREAKER! 1…2…3! By hook or by crook, Ospreay gets what he wants, putting down the Ace once again and securing his spot in the Semis!
Will Ospreay def. Hiroshi Tanahashi to advance (27:12)
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Next Round:
Will Ospreay vs Shingo Takagi
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March 18th – Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium (Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan)
Hiromu Takahashi vs Robbie Eagles
Kazuchika Okada vs KENTA
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Hiromu Takahashi vs Robbie Eagles
Head-to-Head Record: 1-0
Rematch time from BOSJ 27 as IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiromu and Eagles go head-to-head once more! Despite a gusty performance from the Aussie back in November, it wasn’t enough to knock off the Ticking Time Bomb back then, and now that Hiromu has gold around his waist, a win over him means even more. As expected, the two are hot out the gates, trading Hurricanranas and pinfall attempts, trying to get this one over as early as possible, remembering how long their match went last time. Hiromu lashes out for a SUPERKICK, but a Eagles ducks under, sweeping out his leg and trying for a STANDING SHOOTING STAR PRESS, Takahashi moving out the way and Robbie rolling through. Rolling Thunder from the Sniper of the Skies, but as he pounces, Hiromu catches him on his shoulders, teasing TIME BOMB II, only for Eagles to slip out and stack his shoulders, Takahashi kicking out! A Push-Off Dropkick’s waiting for his face though as soon as he pops up, Hiromu knocked back as Eagles goes for the Rolling Thunder again, before popping up to deliver an ACE CRUSHER! 1…2…KICK OUT!
Eagles sends Hiromu out to the apron, before leaping over the ropes and trying for a rana, but Hiromu catches and spins him around! WHEELBARROW FACEBUSTER OFF THE APRON TO THE FLOOR! Eagles’ face smacks off the ground as Hiromu revels in delight, whipping him towards the guardrail, only for Robbie to flip over, expecting to land behind Hiromu, but the Time Bomb backs away to land a SNAP GERMAN SUPLEX ON THE FLOOR! Robbie clutching his head, he’s tossed back inside the ring, Hiromu scoring a MISSILE DROPKICK and a BRIDGING GERMAN SUPLEX! 1…2…NO! Hiromu props Robbie onto his shoulders, but Eagles struggles out, pushing Takahashi away from him. Eagles leaps off the middle rope, but Hiromu strikes again with a SUPERKICK, BUT ROBBIE CATCHES IT AND TURNS IT INTO AN INDIAN DEATHLOCK! Takahashi makes it to the ropes quickly, but Eagles stretched the ligament out as much as possible in the short span of time, leaving the Champ with a bit of a limp, not helped by a CHOP BLOCK FROM EAGLES! SPIKE DDT! MOONSAULT SLAM! 1…2…HIROMU STAYS IN IT!
Eagles chips away at Takahashi’s leg, before grabbing him by the neck and kicking off the ropes, trying for a PULSE DROP, ONLY FOR HIROMU TO CATCH HIM IN A CHICKENWING! HE SCORES ELBOWS TO THE CHEST, BEFORE PICKING ROBBIE UP AND HURLING HIM FOR A GERMAN! EAGLES ON HIS FEET! CHARGING IN… SUPERKICK FOLDS HIM OVER! HIROMU WITH A VICTORY ROYALE! HE CHUCKS EAGLES OUT TO THE APRON! SUNSET FLIP POWERBOMB… THE LEG GIVES OUT AND HIROMU DROPS TO THE FLOOR INSTEAD, EAGLES HANGING ON! MOONSAULT WIPES HIROMU OUT! He rolls Takahashi back inside the ring and leaps off the top… POP-UP SITOUT POWERBOMB FROM HIROMU! 1…2…EAGLES KICKS OUT! Hiromu shakes out the leg, before heaving Robbie up to connect a FALCON ARROW! He gets Robbie back on his shoulders, but Eagles kicks out the leg! PULSE DROP! 1…2…NOOOOO! LEG DDT! EAGLES PUTS HIROMU IN THE RON MILLER SPECIAL! Hiromu’s eyes widen as he searches for the ropes, Robbie holding on to the best of his ability to keep Takahashi grounded, but he has too much resolve, making it to the ropes!
Eagles relinquishes the hold as Takahashi lays there, clutching his leg, the Sniper of the Sky finding the perfect time to strike, scaling to the top… WARP 4.5- D! HIROMU WITH THE TRIANGLE CHOKE! HIROMU SAVING HIMSELF FROM DISASTER AS NOW HE HAS ROBBIE ON THE ROPES! Eagles uses his legs to reach out behind him, managing to just about get a foot on the bottom rope to force Hiromu off, but the moment’s rest lets Hiromu light a new fuse, delivering a FISHERMAN’S SUPLEX! DYNAMITE PLUNGER! HIROMU WITH EAGLES UP TOP… POISONED FRANKENSTEINER ON TAKAHASHI! HIROMU WITH ONE OF HIS OWN! SUPERKICK FROM HIROMU! PELE KICK FROM EAGLES! BOTH MEN FALL OUT THE RING TO THE APRON, DANGLING WITH ONE ARM AROUND IT! They trade forearms… BEFORE HIROMU LEAPS UPSIDE DOWN FOR A SUNSET FLIP POWERBOMB… NO WAIT, HE’S GOING FOR THE CANADIAN DESTROYER! EAGLES HANGS ON FOR DEAR LIFE AS HIROMU TRIES TO PULL HIM OFF THE APRON! ROBBIE TURNS IT AROUND INTO A TURBO BACKPACK! TURBO BACKPACK TO THE FLOOR! The referee starts counting as the crowd goes insane, both men left lying in a heap!
It’s getting to 15 and still no response from both men! 16! 17! 18! This could go to a draw! 19! 20- BOTH RACE BACK INSIDE THE RING! Hiromu and Eagles batter each other with forearms once more before Eagles scores a PUMP KICK! A SECOND ONE! He rebounds off the ropes, racing at Hiromu for a third… BUT HIROMU LEAPS UP AND NAILS THE CANADIAN DESTROYER! DEATH VALLEY DRIVER ON THE CORNER! TAKAHASHI WITH ALL HIS MIGHT, PUTTING EAGLES ON HIS SHOULDERS AND SPINNING HIM AROUND FOR A TIME BOMB II- EAGLES TRIPS HIM UP! DOUBLE STOMP TO THE INSIDE OF HIROMU’S KNEES! STANDING SHOOTING STAR PRESS TO THE LEGS! HE HEADS TO THE TOP ROPE… WARP 4.5 TO THE LEGS! AND HE PUTS HIROMU BACK IN THE RON MILLER SPECIAL! HIROMU HAS NOWHERE TO GO, CENTRE OF THE RING… AND HE TAPS OUT! EAGLES JUST TAPPED OUT THE JR CHAMP! HE’S ONTO THE SEMI FINALS!
Robbie Eagles def. Hiromu Takahashi to advance (23:39)
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Kazuchika Okada vs KENTA
Head-to-Head Record: 1-0
The path of the Rainmaker continues as he enters the final match of the Quarter Finals, pitted against none other than the Black Sun, KENTA! Defeating his BC stablemate last round, can Okada go 2-0 over the group, or can KENTA return the favour from their match back in G1 29 and pick up the victory? With his arm injury becoming more prominent with the match against ELP, KENTA has his eyes on it from the get-go, Okada moving around carefully so as to protect the injured limb from the skilled striker. KENTA rushes in with a Koutoubu Kick attempt, but Okada cuts him off with a MILLION DOLLAR DROPKICK! He backs KENTA up with a series of European Uppercuts, before taking out his legs and going for a Seated Dropkick… KENTA WITH A DOUBLE FOOT STOMP THE GUT! IMMEDIATELY HE STOMPS AWAY ON THE SHOULDER, TRYING TO SOFTEN OKADA UP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE! The Rainmaker backs off as quickly as he can, moving out of KENTA’s striking range as the Black Sun gives him a sneer, Okada pulling himself back to his feet and reasserting his God-like presence as he does the Rainmaker pose, only for KENTA to hit him back with one of his own!
The two lock-up, KENTA wringing out the arm, but Okada brings him down with a NECKBREAKER! He tosses KENTA into the corner for a RUNNING BACK ELBOW, dropping KENTA to the floor, a SENTON ATOMICO driving the wind out of his lungs as Okada stands tall! KENTA though grabs Okada by his trunks as he tries to create separation, yanking him into a BACKDROP SUPLEX! Once again, it’s academic as he stomps away on the arm, before choking Okada out with his boot against the turnbuckle pad! Okada on the mat, KENTA winds up and delivers a HESITATION DROPKICK TO THE FACE! HE TRIES FOR A GAME OVER, BUT OKADA WITH A FLAPJACK! As KENTA scrambles to the outside, Okada follows close behind, whipping him into the guardrail and delivering a BIG BOOT to send him over, before winding up for a RUNNING CROSSBODY- CAUGHT BY KENTA! HE PULLS OKADA ONTO HIS SHOULDERS AND BRINGS HIS ARM DOWN ON THE GUARDRAIL! He grinds the shoulder joint into the steel with his boot, before taking a CHAIR from the crowd and brings it down… BUT OKADA ESCAPES IN TIME, THE CHAIR MEETING STEEL INSTEAD! LARIAT WITH THE OTHER ARM SENDS KENTA BACK OVER THE GUARDRAIL!
Nursing his arm, Okada heads back to the ring and perches himself on the top rope, delivering a MISSILE DROPKICK and goes for a quick cover, KENTA out at 2! Draping the Black Sun through the ropes, he stands him on his head with a HANGMAN’S DDT, before slowing down the action with a DEEP IN DEPT, giving himself some time to recover as KENTA finds himself in the submission! KENTA’s able to get his foot on the rope though, Okada forced to release. He tries to get KENTA in position for the Air Raid Crash Neckbreaker, but KENTA rolls him through and blasts him with a ROUNDHOUSE KICK! HIGH KNEE! FALCON ARROW! 1…2…KICK OUT! KENTA TRIES FOR A GAME OVER AGAIN, BUT OKADA RACES TO THE ROPES TO STOP HIM! KICK TO THE ARM IN THE ROPES! TORNADO DDT ON THE ROPES! KENTA WITH A PK! 1…2…NOOOO! He gets Okada on his shoulders – GO 2 SLEEP… OKADA SLIPS OFF HIS SHOULDERS! SHORT-ARM LARIAT! Okada braves through the pain, connecting a GERMAN SUPLEX, but he can’t tank through enough to get the bridge! Recognising he needs to finish this soon, Okada delivers a HEAVY RAIN, before getting KENTA up for a TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER!
Spreading the arms out, he gets wrist-control on KENTA, spinning him around for a… BIG BOOT TO THE SHOULDER FROM KENTA! KOUTOUBU KICK TO THE FACE! OKADA’S STAGGERED! BUSAIKU KNEE KICK! 1…2…OKADA KICKS OUT! BUT HE DOESN’T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO ESCAPE THIS TIME, KENTA LATCHING ON THE GAME OVER! IT’S GAME OVER FOR OKADA, THE OMOPLATA CROSSFACE SECURED TIGHTLY! THE RAINMAKER STRUGGLES ABOUT THE MAT, KENTA KEEPING THE HOLD LOCKED IN, TRYING TO GET OKADA TO TAP! Okada inches towards the ropes… BUT KENTA KICKS OFF THEM AND ROLLS BACK TO THE CENTRE, WRENCHING BACK EVEN FURTHER! OKADA’S HAND WAVERS OVER THE MAT! HE’S ABOUT TO TAP! HE’S ABOUT TO TAP! HE’S ABOUT TO- OKADA PUSHES OFF THE MAT AND ROLLS KENTA OVER ONTO HIS SHOULDERS! 1..2…KICK OUT! THE MOMENTARY SHIFT OF POWER WAS ALL OKADA NEEDED AS HE FINALLY GETS TO THE ROPES, KENTA KEEPING THE HOLD IN TILL 4! The Black Sun tries to yank Okada out of the ropes using his arm, tugging as Okada holds on with his other arm… UNTIL OKADA LETS GO AND SPRINGS OFF THE ROPES TO TAKE KENTA DOWN WITH A LARIAT FROM HIS GOOD ARM!
OKADA TRIES FOR ANOTHER TOMBSTONE… KENTA TURNS IT AROUND, OKADA ON HIS SHOULDERS! GO 2 SLEEP CONNECTS! BUT KENTA KEEPS HOLD OF OKADA’S WRIST, NOT LETTING HIM DROP TO THE MAT AS HE LICKS HIS HAND AND NAILS A SHIBATA-STYLE RIPCORD SLAP! FINALLY PICKING OKADA BACK UP ONTO HIS SHOULDERS, HE GOES FOR ANOTHER GO 2 SLEEP… OKADA ESCAPES! RAINMAKERRRRRRRRRRR! OKADA PICKS KENTA UP FOR ONE MORE! RIPCORD… KENTA WITH A ROUNDHOUSE BUT OKADA ALSO DELIVERS THE RAINMAKER, COLLAPSING ON TOP OF KENTA’S BODY! 1…2…3! By the narrowest of margins, Okada slips past KENTA, his arm though in an even greater world of hurt thanks to the Game Over that was in for minutes.
Kazuchika Okada def. KENTA to advance (24:17)
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Next Round:
Kazuchika Okada vs Robbie Eagles
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Semi Finals
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March 20th – Xebio Arena Sendai (Sendai, Miyagi, Japan)
Will Ospreay vs Shingo Takagi
Kazuchika Okada vs Robbie Eagles
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Will Ospreay vs Shingo Takagi
Head-to-Head Record: 1-1
Best of the Super Juniors 26 Finals. G1 Climax 30. And now New Japan Cup 2021 Semi Finals. After tonight’s match, these two will have done battle in every major singles tournament in NJPW. Ospreay won the first back in BOSJ. Takagi got his win back last year in the G1. And now, with a chance to go to the Finals, only one of these two men can move on in the rubber match. The NEVER Openweight Champion comes out first, the only one of these remaining 3 that Ibushi has faced, but never pinned, Takagi also pinning Ibushi in last year’s G1, making him arguably the greatest threat to the Golden Star’s title reign. Ospreay is out next, Bea Priestley by his side… only for him to send her to the back in a surprising move! He wants to take care of Shingo solo! After sharing a kiss, Ospreay heads down to the ring in his emerald cloak, confronting the Dragon in the centre of the ring, the two rivals itching to go at it once more. Backing off into their respective corners, they wait for the opening bell… and there it is. Ospreay vs Takagi III!
Shooting out of their corners they trade blows, Ospreay with a SPIN KICK TO TAKAGI’S GUT, JUMPING OFF THE ROPES FOR AN OSCUTTER- TAKAGI CATCHES IT AND SETS HIM DOWN, RESPONDING WITH A GTR, BEFORE TRYING FOR A LAST OF THE DRAGON! OSPREAY ROLLS OUT AND TRIES FOR A HIDDEN BLADE! SHINGO TURNS AROUND AND COUNTERS WITH A POP-UP DEATH VALLEY DRIVER! Takagi roars as Ospreay clutches his midsection, Shingo picking Ospreay up and rebounding off the ropes for a PUMPING BOMBER- OSPREAY FOLLOWS THROUGH INTO STORMBREAKER POSITION! HE LIFTS TAKAGI UP, BUT SHINGO SPINS OUT, GOING FOR A SHORT-ARM LARIAT, ONLY FOR OSPREAY TO COUNTER INTO A RAINHAM MAKER! Now it’s Will standing over Takagi, trying for a RUNNING SHOOTING STAR PRESS, but Shingo moves out the way, Ospreay rolling through to his feet and instead going for a STANDING MOONSAULT, Takagi moving once again, but Will lands on his feet and flips a THIRD TIME, TAKAGI WITH NOWHERE TO GO AS OSPREAY LANDS PERFECTLY! 1…2…KICK OUT! Ospreay goes for a ROBINSON SPECIAL, but Shingo pulls out the way, catching a HOOK KICK, before connecting a RELEASE BELLY TO BELLY SUPLEX INTO THE TURNBUCKLES! CORNER LARIAT FROM SHINGO!
He winds up for another, but it’s stopped with a SILENT WHISPER! Ospreay to the apron… PIP PIP CHEERIO! HANDSPRING ROUNDHOUSE TO THE EAR! Ospreay lunges in for a RUNNING KNEE STRIKE, but Takagi with a REVERSE STO! SENTON! FIREMAN’S CARRY CUTTER! 1…2…NO! Takagi clamps on the MANKIRI, Ospreay returning fast-paced BACK ELBOWS! MARUFUJI HOOK KICK! Shingo evades a Roundhouse, getting Will on his shoulders for a GALLON THROW… OSPREAY LANDS ON HIS FEET! Takagi races at Will but the Commonwealth Kingpin trips him up into the ropes for a TIGER FEINT KICK! CORKSCREW SENTON BOMB TO THE BACK! Ospreay waits for Takagi to get back to his feet, winding up his arm – HE’S GOING FOR A PUMPING BOMBER! Ospreay hits the ropes once, twice, thrice… TAKAGI SCORES A PUMPING BOMBER! SNAP DDT! 1…2…OSPREAY KICKS OUT! Taking a page out of his last opponent’s playbook, Shingo applies a CRAVATE, but Ospreay tosses him over his head and Dropkicks him out of the ring, going for a SASUKE SPECIAL… SHINGO MOVES OUT THE WAY AND SLIDES INTO THE RING, HITTING THE ROPES TO TAKE OSPREAY OUT WITH A TOPE CON HILO! Back inside the ring and BLOOD FALL CONNECTS! 1…2…NOOOO!
Takagi grabs Will by the wrist, nabbing a couple LARIATS, before trying for a LEGEND FALCONRY… OSPREAY LANDS ON HIS FEET! KAWADA-STYLE KICKS TO THE DRAGON! AND A BABY ACE CRUSHER! Will sets Takagi on the middle rope, going for CHEEKY NANDOS, BUT THE BOOT IS CAUGHT BY SHINGO! Ospreay with a PUMP KICK to the back of Takagi’s leg to force him to release, before the CHEEKY NANDOS puts him in Tree of Woe position! Ospreay heads to the top turnbuckle… COAST-TO-COAST DROPKICK- SHINGO FLIPS OUT OF THE TREE OF WOE AND SCORES A PUMPING BOMBER! Shingo brings Ospreay down with a Gutbuster, before calling for MADE IN JAPAN… OSPREAY COUNTERS WITH AN OSCUTTER! OSCUTTER CONNECTS! 1…2…TAKAGI KICKS OUT! Will rolls through, attempting a STORMBREAKER, but Takagi shoves him away, only for Ospreay to drop him with an ESSEX DESTROYER! Ospreay can’t go for the cover though as Takagi rolls to the outside! Shingo in the drop zone, Ospreay with a SASUKE SPECIAL! He drapes Takagi over the top rope and lands a BURNING STAR PRESS! 1…2…SHINGO’S STILL IN IT! Will tosses his arm pad away and winds up his arm, Shingo’s head in sight… HIDDEN BLADE!
THIS HAS TO BE IT, THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM, OSPREAY WITH THE STORMBREAKER… SHINGO COUNTERS INTO MADE IN JAPAN! MADE IN JAPAN CONNECTS! 1…2…OSPREAY WITH A FINGER ON THE ROPE! TAKAGI SNAPS HIM UP, GOING FOR A SUPLEX- STUN DOG MILLIONARE FROM OSPREAY! ROBINSON SPECIAL! OSPREAY HITS THE ROPES AND SCORES AN OSCUTTER! WILL LIFTS SHINGO BACK UP AND CLIMBS TO THE TOP ROPE, GOING FOR AN AVALANCHE OSCUTTER… TAKAGI STOPS HIM WITH AN ENZU LARIAT! The two trade shots on the top rope, Shingo trying for STAY DREAM, but Will, like a gatling gun, firing off rounds of kicks to the neck! Stalling the Dragon long enough, he goes for a POISONED FRANKENSTEINER! OSPREAY CELEBRATES- BUT SHINGO HAS LANDED ON HIS FEET! Ospreay readies for another Hidden Blade… BUT ITS SHINGO WITH A HIDDEN BLADE OF HIS OWN! He hits the ropes… OSPREAY WITH A PUMPING BOMBER! SHINGO WITH A PUMPING BOMBER! ANOTHER ONE! FINALLY, HE HAS OSPREAY IN POSITION FOR A LAST OF THE DRAGON… OSPREAY BREAKS FREE AND HITS A SECOND HIDDEN BLADE! STORMBREAKER! OSPREAY ROLLS THROUGH TO HIS FEET AND CONNECTS ANOTHER STORMBREAKER! 1…2…3! OSPREAY IS IN THE FINALS!
Will Ospreay def. Shingo Takagi to advance (28:45)
​
Kazuchika Okada vs Robbie Eagles
First-Time Match
Kicking off the Semi Final round is a battle of CHAOS brethren as Okada takes on Eagles! Robbie shocked the world by punching his ticket to the Semis, and now is only one match away from the biggest opportunity of his career, but he must go through the Rainmaker – a wounded Rainmaker at that, but still no easy task. In the state he’s in, Okada knows not to take anyone lightly, so when the opening bell rings, all his attention is on taking down Eagles. The playing field is even in the early goings, Okada with the Million Dollar Dropkick, Robbie with the Pulse Drop, Okada spiking him via the Hangman’s DDT, Robbie returning the favour with a Poisonrana. Okada keeps his arm well-guarded, only using moves that leave it exposed if he has to, whilst Eagles has no shackles on what he can do, even overwhelming Okada at points! As the pace heats up, Eagles connects a TURBO BACKPACK FOR 2! Eagles rolls in for the ACE CRUSHER- CAUGHT ON OKADA’S SHOULDERS FOR HEAVY RAIN! DIVING ELBOW DROP TO THE HEART OF THE SNIPER OF THE SKIES!
Okada recoils in agony, but he has to keep going, getting Eagles up for a TOMBSTONE… EAGLES ROLLS THROUGH AND SECURES A RON MILLER SPECIAL! OKADA GETS TO THE ROPES BUT EAGLES WITH A SHOOTING STAR PRESS TO THE ARM! CROSS ARMBREAKER IS IN! OKADA LIFTS HIM UP AND RAMS HIM INTO THE TURNBUCKLE PAD, BUT EAGLES HOLDS ON, PERCHED ON THE TOP ROPE! BOOTS TO OKADA’S FACE TO BACK HIM AWAY! TORNADO DDT, BUT OKADA REVERSES INTO A TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER! RAINMAKER… NO! EAGLES WITH A PLAY OUT OF FORMER TAG PARTNER OSPREAY’S BOOK AS HE SCORES A SPANISH FLY! 1…2…NOOOOOO! EAGLES BACK TO THE TOP! WARP 4.5! 1…2…OKADA SOMEHOW STILL KICKS OUT! ROBBIE BACK TO THE TOP ROPE! WARP 4.5… OKADA DODGES IT THIS TIME! EAGLES CRASHES AND BURNS! RAINMAKER BY OKADA! HE GOES FOR THE COVER! 1…2…NO?! THE REFEREE’S BEEN DRAGGED OUT OF THE RING! WAIT A MINUTE… IT’S OSPREAY!
OSPREAY TAKES OUT THE REFEREE! HE SLIDES INTO THE RING BEHIND OKADA AND PULLS DOWN THE ELBOW PAD! HE DOESN’T WANT TO WAIT TO FACE HIM IN THE FINALS, HE’S HERE TO TAKE HIM OUT NOW! OKADA TURNS HIS HEAD AROUND AND COMES FACE-TO-FACE WITH HIS ONCE BROTHER TURNED NEMESIS, REALISING WHAT’S ABOUT TO HAPPEN! OKADA’S A SITTING DUCK, DEFENCELESS AS WILL GOES FOR THE HIDDEN BLADE… WAIT! EAGLES GETS IN THE WAY! OSPREAY STOPS LAST SECOND IN FRONT OF ROBBIE’S HEAD! HIS FORMER TAG TEAM PARTNER! Eagles shakes his head and begs Ospreay to stop, the man he once called his best friend now looking a whole lot like a monster! Robbie pleads that he wants to do this the right way, Ospreay torn, some compassion in the heart of the Devil… OKADA PUSHES EAGLES OUT THE WAY AND NAILS A MILLION DOLLAR DROPKICK ON OSPREAY TO SEND HIM OUT THE RING! HE PICKS UP EAGLES AND CONNECTS A RAINMAKERRRRRRRRRRRR! 1…2…3!
It’s been one hell of a breakout performance from Eagles, but his dreams come to a screeching halt in the Semi Finals courtesy of Okada capitalising off of the distraction that was meant to screw him over, Ospreay’s plans backfiring with Eagles caught in the crossfire instead, Okada making it through to the Finals for a WK rematch with the Commonwealth Kingpin! A camera shot shows a dejected Eagles slumped in the background whilst Okada stands tall on the turnbuckle, towering over Ospreay at ringside who spews foul words in the Rainmaker’s direction, warning him that he’s dead meat.
Kazuchika Okada def. Robbie Eagles to advance (21:37)
​
Next Round:
Will Ospreay vs Kazuchika Okada
​
​
Finals
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March 21st – Xebio Arena Sendai (Sendai, Miyagi, Japan)
Will Ospreay vs Kazuchika Okada
​
Will Ospreay vs Kazuchika Okada
Head-to-Head Record: 5-1
The story that’s been making headlines since last year’s G1, the betrayal of CHAOS and Okada at the hands of one Will Ospreay. First brought into the faction after impressing Okada in a match together in RevPro, the two formed a close bond over the years, Okada becoming like a big brother to Ospreay, watching him rise through the ranks and become one of the best Junior Heavyweights in the world whilst Okada carved out his own path at the top with a defining run as the Ace of NJPW. But Ospreay grew jealous, losing to Okada over and over each time they met, becoming further and further engulfed in the shadow of the Golden Boy. Desperate to prove his worth at the top of the mountain, he bit the hand that fed him, turning on the Rainmaker and costing him the G1.
With all the world’s hype and momentum backing him up, he stormed the doors of the Tokyo Dome, promising to retire Okada… but he choked yet again. Even after over 35 minutes, Ospreay still wasn’t enough, falling to 1 single Rainmaker. Pushed to a point of near insanity at this point, the Commonwealth Kingpin is out to do what he’s only done once in the past – beat Okada. But not only beat him this time. Beat him so bad he leaves the ring on a stretcher. So close to returning to his throne again, only to be thrown all the way into the abyss by Ospreay. That’s what’ll satiate the animalistic greed of Ospreay. Bedraggled hair, he heads to the ring with Bea close by his side whilst Okada enters alone. His third NJC Finals in a row, going 1-1 in the past two, this is for tying the record of all-time NJC victories. Ospreay. Okada. New Japan Cup Finals. With no time-limits, there can only be one winner! DING DING DING!
It’s a marathon of a match-up between the two, both knowing they have it in their respective gas tanks to go long. With Okada the Rainmaker once more, it’s an even taller task for Ospreay to defeat him, but the Achilles heel in the form of the injured arm sticks out like a sore thumb. The two lay into each other for over half an hour with everything but the kitchen sink. Roundhouses and Lariats. Shooting Stars and Elbow Drops. Iron Octopuses and Red Inks. Stormbreakers and Tombstones. Oscutters and Rainmakers. They go tit for tat back-and-forth, neither man having the clear advantage. Ospreay makes true on his intentions to go after the arm, viciously dissecting it and contorting it in ugly, gruesome fashions. Okada hangs on for dear life, refusing to tap out to Ospreay. A heart-stopping near fall comes when Ospreay gets too caught up in the past, paying homage to his old tag partner with a WARP 4.5… BUT OKADA COUNTERS WITH A MILLION DOLLAR DROPKICK! HE HITS THE RAINMAKER! 1…2…NOOOOOO! He gets back into it, but no matter what he throws at Okada, it seems that the Rainmaker just won’t stay down! Until it hits him.
Okada goes for the Rainmaker, but Ospreay counters with one of his own! He doesn’t go for the cover though, getting in the corner and nailing a HIDDEN BLADE! Yet he still doesn’t stop there, getting back in his corner and delivering ANOTHER! And ANOTHER! A FOURTH! A FIFTH- RED SHOES GETS IN BETWEEN THEM TO CHECK ON OKADA! HE HAS TO BE CONCUSSED BY NOW! But Ospreay pushes him to the side, getting back on Okada and cinches in the IRON OCTOPUS! THE INJURED ARM IS IN TATTERS AFTER ALL THE MATCHES OKADA’S BEEN THROUGH! OSPREAY WRENCHES ON IT! WRENCHES ON IT! THE REFEREE STOPS THE MATCH! OKADA IS OUT! OSPREAY HAS DEFEATED OKADA BY REF STOPPAGE! THE COMMONWEALTH KINGPIN HAS WON THE NEW JAPAN CUP! But at what cost? Okada is carted out the ring on a stretcher after the match, a sacrilegious sight for the fans in attendance who are dead silent at Will’s crowning moment, tears streaming from their eyes. Did the NJC mean so much to Ospreay that he almost turned Okada’s lights out for good? Has Ospreay retired the Rainmaker? Pin-drop silence hangs in Sendai as Ospreay holds his trophy up high towards the heavens, Bea by his side…
Will Ospreay def. Kazuchika Okada to win the New Japan Cup 2021 (33:50)
​
Final Standings
​
​
Road to Sakura Genesis 2021
As Ospreay has won the NJC, the spotlight turns to the main event of Sakura Genesis 2021, where he’s scheduled to take on the man he idolised, Kota Ibushi. When Ibushi confronts him at the press conference, both titles over his shoulders as the two take the official photos to hype up the show, Ospreay grabs the IC Title and chucks it away, pointing at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship instead! He states that he doesn’t care about the White Strap. This is the title he’s after. Ibushi can keep his IC Title. The Golden Star is taken aback, but ultimately accepts the challenge, as the match is made official for just the World Title!
​
​
Sakura Genesis 2021
April 4th – Ryōgoku Kokugikan (Tokyo, Japan)
​
Building off of the events that took place in the NJC, here’s the show and results for Sakura Genesis!
​
Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi) def. Chris Hero, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yuji Nagata
With Hero eliminating ZSJ from the NJC and Tanahashi doing the same to Suzuki, a 6-Man Tag match is made for SG to kick off the show, Hero’s Round 1 opponent teaming with him out of the respect they gained for one another, whilst Taichi joins Suzuki and Sabre. The end comes when Suzuki taps out Nagata, putting a cork in their long-standing rivalry, but what happens after the match is the real punctuation on it all, as Hero turns on his partners, laying them out and joining SG!
​
IWGP Tag Team Championship: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI def. Guerrillas of Destiny (c) & FinJuice
The three-way feud stemming from the WTL comes to a head here as Goto & HASHI finally win the Tag Straps together, dethroning BC!
​
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & SANADA) def. Jay White & EVIL
EVIL leaves White hanging, allowing Naito to get the win for his team. As it seems BC are going to kick EVIL out the faction though, they all turn on EVIL and kick him out instead, 7 years after the first BC betrayal!
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IWGP United States Championship: KENTA def. Jon Moxley (c)
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NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) def. Tomohiro Ishii
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IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Robbie Eagles def. Hiromu Takahashi (c)
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IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kota Ibushi (c) vs Will Ospreay
For the finish, Ibushi hits multiple exposed Rear Kamigoyes, Ospreay still tells him weakly to come on though super dazed and nose busted open, Ibushi hits final full frontal Kamigoye and pins after 40 minute war, Ospreay looks strong as ever losing by the tiniest margin, but just like Okada, Ibushi must be stretchered to the back after concussion from Ospreay as he goes berserk on Ibushi. Whilst it may not have been Ospreay's moment just yet, he's taken out the two biggest names in the company back-to-back, and after almost breaking Ibushi, the result may just be a little different next time...
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is thumbs up offensive in japan video

Tipping is considered rude behavior in Japan and Korea. Giving a thumbs up sign is very offensive in some places. When traveling to a different country, the last thing anyone wants to do is offend the people who live there. The thumbs-up gesture is a sign of approval in most countries. However, in several countries in West Africa and the Middle East, including Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the gesture has the connotation of 'up yours!' It's used the same way the middle finger is in the US. Iran: Thumbs-up. What might seem to Americans like a universally positive gesture is not, in fact, universal. "Unfortunately, in Iran and neighboring countries like Afghanistan, the thumbs-up is ... The Thumbs Up While you might be thinking thumbs up shows approval, real life is not like Facebook. In parts of the Arab world, the gesture is considered highly offensive, its impact is equivalent to the middle-finger in the West. Thumbs up mean "Good" in JP but I don't female teachers do this gesture so often(sometimes male teachers do). I don't think it's an offensive gesture but females don't do so much. I think it fairy acceptable if you are a foreigner. It looks a bit strange gesture for me if a Japanese female teacher do this gesture(it's still okay....). In Japan, thumbs up mean a sign of agreement. However, it also means ‘a lover’ in a rude way. If you want to stay clear of such confusion, you must find out what other hand gestures point to in Japan. With an increase in global tourism, the number of foreigners visiting Japan has surged too. A symbol for scuba divers everywhere, this sign is actually super rude in some countries. In certain parts of middle and southern Europe the gesture is considered offensive, as in you are a zero ... You may thing you're telling someone they're A-OK , or being encouraging by giving a thumbs up, but in different countries around the world, hand gestures like these can be offensive and the ... That’s because in Japan, giving the thumbs-down is very similar to giving the middle finger in the U.S. – it means something like “go to hell.” Very odd considering they use the thumbs-up sign no problem, but hey, it’s hardly the first time Japan has confused the crap out of us. Aside from the “thumbs up,” one of the most common hand gestures in the U.S. in my experience is the “okay” signal: touching your thumb and pointer finger together and extending the rest up. It’s a bit of an odd gesture, for sure, but I guess the circle that the fingers form kind of looks like the “O” in “OK.”

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is thumbs up offensive in japan

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