Home » News Archive » News from 11/25/04 to 12/25/04

Hustle! Hustle!

December 25th, 2004

Wrestlers from ZERO-ONE once again took part in the DSE Korakuen Hall shows at a sold-out "Monster Park" (Korakuen Hall) in Tokyo. It was two shows back-to-back this time. ZERO-ONE fighters appearing at these events included: Shinjiro Otani, Masato Tanaka, Wataru Sakata and Jun Kasai. Other familiar faces included Kintaro Kanemura, Tetsu Kuroda, Naoya Ogawa, Monster C, Kaz Hayashi, Psycho Simpson and of course Rikishi. Also making her debut was Commander Anjo's new valet - the "Erotic Terrorist" Yingling (An erotic model/actress/singer from Taiwan). I'm sure everybody warmly welcomes Yingling!

Otani tagged with former WWE wrestler Rikishi at the 12/23 show and they got the win over Commander Anjo and one of the Flying Vampires. One guy who had a pretty rough time on the first show was Naoya Ogawa, who ran off during the final match to chase General Takada costing his team (along with "Hustle-K" - Toshiaki Kawada) the win. His punishment was to dance with the Monster Army! Ogawa admitted he was completely humiliated.

Final Show of 2004!

December 22nd, 2004

The final show of the year for ZERO-ONE was today in Korakuen Hall, in what was an action packed show topped by a hardcore tag match between Omori and Fujita against Tanaka and Super Crazy. This went almost 17 minutes and saw them brawl all around Korakuen Hall.

As anybody who has watched ZERO-ONE of late knows, Minoru Fujita has been fearless to the point of disregard for his own safety. Going back to his Jr title match with Takaiwa on 7/9/04 when he was powerbombed and superplexed off the top of the cage, and also a hurricanrana off the top. He followed this on 10/8 with a splash through a table on Kanemura off the top of a cage as well, along with an INSANE missed Swanton Bomb from the corner that was very dangerous in that same match.

This time he climbed the same side-ledge Super Crazy did his suicide Asai moonsault off of on the last show of "Enormous" and splashed Tanaka through a table!

After the match, which ended with Crazy pinning Fujita, Masato Tanaka got on the microphone and said that though it's the end of the year it's not the end of ZERO-ONE, and the promotion will continue on in the new year. He called all the fighters into the ring and with the crowd they all did the "3-2-1 ZERO-ONE!" chant. Afterwards Tanaka went out and worked the merch stands, selling tickets to the upcoming shows, t-shirts, etc.

(Reminds me of the WORLD-1 show in Pottstown, PA where if you went to get pizza from the concessions stand you were served by Simply Luscious and Tracy Brooks. Now that's a wrestling promotion!!)

Also on the show in the opening match Osamu Namiguchi won a surprising victory over Riki Fudo when he caught him with a side roll-up. Namiguchi is very popular and has a big future with ZERO-ONE. Fudo on the other hand can't seem to get over the hump, as just when he seems to get on a run he gets stopped in his tracks. Tanaka has been all over him lately, insulting him about his performance.

The "Crazy Monkey" teamed with a Santa-bearded "Aniki" to defeat the young team of Yoshihito Sasaki and Jeto Yamagasa. Yamagasa is another young wrestler with lots of potential, though he's been hampered by injuries. Hopefully he'll keep at it and his day will come soon.

AWA Referee Miss Stevens was on the show again, refereeing both matches involving gaijin wrestlers. The first was Psycho Simpson and Matt Striker vesus Team ROWDY members Kohei Sato and Ryoji Sai. Miss Steven's once again impressed the crowd with her cleavage, taking a lap around the room before the match, letting everybody get a good look.

In the 4th match, Takaiwa and NOAH GHC Jr. champ Yoshinobu Kanermaru met in a tag match. Though there is an obvious singles collision for some gold on the horizon for these two. Takaiwa teamed with Hidaka, and Kanemaru brought NOAH's Makoto Hashi as his partner. It took 3 power bombs, a Death Valley Driver, and finally a vertical falling brainbuster to take out Hashi, but ZERO-ONE got the win.

The next match was a meeting of the top native and top foreign fighters in Shinjiro Otani and Steve Corino. Once again Miss Stevens made her appearance as the AWA official in this match. As we now know, Otani and Miss Stevens have history as the two hooked-up together when Otani came to the PWF and RoH in 2002. Otani is probably regretting that decision now, as Miss Stevens snuck him from behind with a missle dropkick and he stumbled right into Corino's waiting Northern Lights bomb! Afterwards, Corino and Miss Stevens posed in the ring for the camera.

AWA Ref Causes Controversy! Super Crazy Wins Gold!

December 18th, 2004

The first show of the final tour leading to the "Year End Special" is over, and the "Insane Luchadore" Super Crazy is your new ZERO-ONE/UPW/WORLD-1 International Jr. Heavyweight Champion after winning the belt off Tatsuhito Takaiwa! The two battled it out on 7/31 during the "Fire Festival" and had a crazy match where Takaiwa finally managed to get the win with a top rope Death Valley Driver. This time Takaiwa hit the powerbombs and the Death Valley driver but Crazy countered with the La Magistral cradle and is the new Junior Ace of ZERO-ONE.

Also on the show was Northeast independent and WORLD-1 wrestler, Matt Striker, who tagged along with Steve Corino against Masato Tanaka and the "Crazy Monkey." According to news reports AWA Referee Miss Stevens (pictured at left) played favorites during the match, smiling at the American fighters and scowling at the Japanese fighters, giving the quick count to the Gaijin fighters and a super slow count for their native opponents.

Jun Kasai took offense to this and complained, only to have his face shoved into her breasts. She then declared that "these are my weapons" before hitting a low blow. Striker then hit the Lungblower for the pin and the victory. AWA Referee Miss Veronica Stevens (and a former girlfriend of Otani's) has become quite the story in the Japanese media because of this, as the male fans are impressed by the "Beauty Milk F-Cups" of Miss Stevens.

Either way, congratulations to Striker for winning his first ZERO-ONE fight!

Otani and Omori continued their crisp execution with a win over the Team ROWDY combo of Kohei Sato and Ryoji Sai when Otani submitted Sai with the King Cobra Hold.

And Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita made a successful 3rd Defense of their PWF Universal Tag Team Championship belts defeating Nami and Yoshihito Sasaki.

Kanemaru To Invade ZERO-ONE!

December 12th, 2004

Pro Wrestling NOAH's GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champ, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, announced that he would be at the upcoming show at Korakuen Hall on Dec. 22nd. The announced match for this is a tag team match of Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Makoto Hashi (another NOAH wrestler) versus ZERO-ONE/UPW/WORLD-1 International Jr. Heavyweight champ Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Ikuto Hidaka.

As we all know, Takaiwa and Kanemaru have been itching to get at each other for some time. Apparently Yoshinobu Kanemaru wants to do a little scouting on Takaiwa, a dangerous opponent, before putting anything on the line.

Kendo Kashin Comes to Visit!

December 8th, 2004

A surprise guest stopped by the new ZERO-ONE offices yesterday - Kendo Kashin. Kashin has been...shall we say... stalking, New Japan Pro Wrestling's Manabu Nakanishi for a shoot fight in K-1, the professional mixed martial arts company.

He gave no specific reason as to why he went to the ZERO-ONE offices for this announcement, but he is very determined to get this done and said he will try to get the match-up booked even without Nakanishi's consent.

ZERO-ONE MAX Relocates!

December 7th, 2004

Shinjiro Otani and Ring Announcer Oki Okita had a press conference today and the "new" ZERO-ONE MAX showed off its brand new offices. As you can see from the picture above, a large number of fighters from the roster made an appearance at the offices. They once again showed off the new company logo created by Fugo Fugo Yumenji. And Otani even showed off his new business cards.

Otani also mentioned the "official" start of ZERO-ONE MAX will be at the beginning of the New Year 2005. And he hopes even though the structure, the name and the offices have all changed for the promotion, that the fans loyalty won't change.

Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE MAX!

December 5th, 2004

At the end of the show today in Tokyo, Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa got on the mic, thanked all the fans for coming out on a Sunday, and called out the ZERO-ONE locker room to the ring where Ring Announcer Okidata gave the "3-2-1 - ZERO-ONE!!" call and all the fans cheered along.

Then Otani said there would a meet-and-greet ("Today we would like to shake hands with everyone") with the fans after the show. And he put himself at a table on the way to the elevator and shook hands and spoke to every fan that came by, thanking them for supporting and continuing to support ZERO-ONE. Korakuen Hall’s fans have always been great to ZERO-ONE and for the shows and Otani and the other fighters wanted to thank them.

ZERO-ONE also revealed it's new name Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE MAX and the new logo which can be seen in the graphics on this page and in the picture below.

Otani Questions American's Stature!

December 1st, 2004

Today ZERO-ONE MAX ace Shinjiro Otani announced two of the American wrestlers that will be participating in the upcoming AWA Heavyweight contenders tournament: Andrew Hellman and Lil' Nate of UPW in California.

Otani had some negative things to say about Lil' Nate as well, as he commented that a person of his small stature doesn't really belong in a heavyweight tournament. Otani says nobody wants to see him squash this guy but he will if that's what the booking committee decides. At www.upw.com, the company's official website, it lists Lil' Nate's stats as 5' 5" and 135 lbs. and in the photo above you can see Otani holding up print-outs off the UPW website.

Hoshikawa Awake!

December 1st, 2004

Some positive info came out today regarding injured ZERO-ONE MAX wrestler Naohiro Hoshikawa. As reported by Sportsnavi, Naohiro Hoshikawa is awake from a coma, though he is still immobilized and being sustained by a tube in his throat so he is as yet unable to talk.

Shinjiro Otani visited him in the hospital on both November 29th and November 30th and held his hand, which Hoshi could grasp back, and they both laughed and cried together. Otani said because of his ordeal Hoshi looks like "quite a different person." He also mentioned that he didn't reveal any of the current changes in ZERO-ONE so as not to worry Hoshi.

Mr. Nakamura also praised the doctors for their skill.

The doctors in turn praised Hoshi's recovery power and said that while rehibilitation will be a hard road he has faith in a possible full recovery due to his patients recuperative powers.

So, not quite out of the woods but Naohiro Hoshikawa is no longer in a coma. So that is great news.

ZERO-ONE and NOAH to collide?

December 1st, 2004

Today at a press conference ZERO-ONE boss Yoshiyuki Nakamura announced a ZERO-ONE challenge for the NOAH Global Honored Crown Jr. championship in a ZERO-ONE ring. This come from current GHC Jr. champ Yoshinobu Kanemaru claiming several weeks back that he'd like to face other promotions Jr. champs and Takaiwa immediatly jumped at the occassion since the two have gone at it before.

The challenge has been issued, we'll see what NOAH's response is.

Message From ZERO-ONE Gaijin Agent Steve Corino!

November 25th, 2004

To all Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE fans worldwide,

Over the last few days there have been many stories about the status and future of Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE. With the offical opening of www.ZEROONEUSA.com coming today we thought that we would set the record straight about what is going on. These are the facts that have been emailed to me from Yoshiyuki Nakamura and if there are any changes or devolpments we will update the site.

1. The Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE Fighting Athletes Company is dead. That is true. Shinya Hashimoto, the President of the ZERO-ONE Company, has decided to stop operations officially as of November 30, 2004. Hashimoto, who was the founder and owner of ZERO-ONE since the start of the company in 2001, told the press that due to financial problems he has decided to step away from the company. Reports have him returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling after his surgery and we wish him the best of luck in his future.
2. Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE the brand name is no where near dead. Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE will continue without any delays, stoppage or cancellations. The new parent company name is First On Stage. The brand name will not be changed. All of the fighters and staff agree that the Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE name was made up of the fighters and staff that dedicated their lives to this company and there was no reason to change the name because of Mr. Hashimoto's departure.
3. The "Fighting Athletes" name that was attached to the ZERO-ONE brand name will not be retained though.
4. First On Stage now own all the assets of Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE.
5. Shinjiro Otani and Yoshiyuki Nakamura are now the official matchmakers for Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE. Steve Corino will remain the Gaijin Agent and ZERO-ONE will continue their working agreements with both the AWA, WORLD-1 (which ZERO-ONE owns) and UPW.
6. 6. All wrestlers contracts will be honored and even re-written for 2005.

We hope that this solves any confusion or misinformation that we have been on the Internet over the past few days. Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE is very much alive and everyone from the fighters, the staff, and the fans of Japan are looking forward to this new chapter of ZERO-ONE.

If anyone has any questions please feel free to email us at info@zerooneusa.com or you can post on our Message Board at www.ZEROONEUSA.com.

3-2-1- ZERO-ONE!!

Thank you,

Steven Corino
Gaijin Agent, Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE