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ZERO1 Participation in BUYUDEN Reveals Final Tenka-Ichi Jr. Wrestler!

September 8th, 2011

Several ZERO1 fighters participated in Masaaki Mochizuki Produce BUYUDEN AGAIN #1 and BUYUDEN AGAIN #2 events last week at Tokyo's Shin-Kiba 1st Ring. On September 7th, ZERO1 President Shinjiro Otani, Fire Festival '11 Winner Daisuke Sekimoto and NWA Intercontinental Lightweight Tag Team champion Ikuto Hidaka defeating the DRAGON GATE team of Masaaki Mochizuki, Shingo Takagi & Susumu Yokosuka.

When the Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament 2011 was announced this year it was revealed one of the slots would be taken by a wrestler from DRAGON GATE. Maybe fans thought perhaps Mochizuki would be the participant having participated in the 2007 version of the tournament. He lost in the finals, being defeated by ZERO1's Masato Tanaka who had dropped down to 95 kg to particpate. Following the match tonight, Mochizuki said that after the BUYUDEN AGAIN #2 show they will decide who the DRAGON GATE representative will be. Susumu Yokosuka was really frustrated with the loss that night, being the one submitted by Ikuto Hidaka for the loss. He even refused to shake hands with the other participants following the defeat.

Also on this show young ZERO1 wrestlers Daichi Hashimoto and Yoshikazu Yokoyama fell in tag action to BxB Hulk and Kzy when Hulk pinned Yokoyama. Daichi took responsibility for the loss, saying it was his fault Yokoyama was beaten, and that he wants a singles match with BxB Hulk one day.

The following Day saw Sekimoto and Hidaka to return to Shin-Kiba for a singles match and tag match respectively. Hidaka teamed with K-ness in a losing effort against BxB Hulk and current ZERO1 International Jr. Heavyweight Champion Takuya Sugawara. Sugawara and Hidaka were not the only participants of the upcoming Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament 2011 on this card, as the main event saw Michinoku Pro's Hayato "Jr" Fujita, BattlArt's Munenori Sawa team with Kensuke Office's Katsuhiko Nakajima lose to Mochizuki, Shingo Takagi & Susumu Yokosuka when Yokosuka submitted Sawa with the Jumbo No Kachi!gatame.

After the match Sawa, Hidaka and Hayato "Jr" appeared in the ring. Sawa said on the microphone he was angry at the loss as he wanted a win going into the Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament. Hayato "Jr." then spoke, saying he wants Yokusuka to enter the tournament since he defeated Sawa in the main event.

Yokosuka accepted, saying though he was caught and made to tap by Hidaka the night before, he got a solid 3-count on Sawa today. "I will be the one to represent DRAGON GATE, and I will score 3 straight victories and win the tournament!"

Munenori Sawa Announces Retirement!

August 22nd, 2011

At the end of last year, BattlArts President and owner Yuki Ishikawa announced that BattlArts would be closing their doors for good in 2011. Earlier this year it was announced the final show would be on November 5, 2011 in Tokyo's Shinjuku FACE. Now in a somewhat surprising turn of events, BattlArts wrestler and longtime ZERO1 player Munenori Sawa has announced his retirement from pro wrestling.

After his match today at BattlArts most recent Kitasenju event, Sawa took the microphone and addressed the crowd in attendance:

"My motivation on being a pro-wrestler is to make Battlarts bigger and better. I devoted all my life to Battlarts since my mid 20s until my early 30s. Unfortunately Battlarts will be closed soon. Pro-wrestler Munenori Sawa must belong to Battlarts where all my love is; there can be no other pro wrestling group. My motto is "too much is the best for me," but I've been doing too much and my body cannot take the damage anymore. So, I've decided to retire from pro wrestling.

"Now I will try my best to make Battlarts' final show a big success. I originally thought to make my retirement on the same day as Battlarts end on 11/5 but I will instead make my retirements a couple of days after BattlArts closes.

"I saw the closing of the B-Club Dojo, the closing of Ishikawa-ya Restaurant. I saw Yuta Yoshikawa and Chihiro Oikawa retire, and Keita Yano depart individually. I saw the group I love BattlArts pass by, and with it I saw the end of my career. My career with BattlArts, my career with Pro Wrestling.

"On the other hand, there is still two month until November, and BattlArts continues to fight until then and so will I. After BattlArts closes I will make an announcement about my retirement. I hope we will have a good crowd, and I want to see the end come with happiness and laughter!"

- Munenori Sawa

Corino Returns! Necro Enters!

August 18th, 2011

As the 9th annual ZERO1 Tenka Ichi Jr. Tournament approaches, two American wrestlers familiar with the Japanese fans will make their appearance on the shows featuring the tournament. The first is longtime ZERO1 gaijin wrestler Steve Corino, a long time veteran of ZERO1. The second is legendary death match fighter Necro Butcher, making his first appearance in ZERO1. He has previously fought for deathmatch wrestling companies like BJW, and Antonio Inoki's IGF. Corino originally made overtures that he wanted to enter the Tenka Ichi Jr. similar to how heavyweight Masato Tanaka did back in 2007 by making the 95kg cut off. Corino was unable to accomplish that, weighing in at 102kg at the cut-off.

Corino said he would instead like to team with fellow well-known Philadelphia wrestlers Super Crazy and Necro Butcher. He expressed his displeasure with former partner Atsushi Sawada, saying he was bored by him and wanted a non-Japanese tag partner.

Necro Butcher is instead focused on Masato Tanaka. Necro said he wants to face the former ECW World Heavyweight champion in a singles match, but will also challenge him in a tag match.

Corino and Necro Butcher will team on 9/13 to take on Tanaka and young Daichi Hashimoto. They will then team again the following night on 9/14 to take on ZERO1 President Shinjiro Otani and Ryoji Sai. Then on the tournament final at Korakuen Hall on 9/17 Corino will face Kenta Kakinuma in his "7 Match Series," and Necro will get his wish to face former ECW Heavyweight Champion Tanaka in a singles match titled "Wrestling is Drugs" which is sure to be a violent affair.

Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament Schedule Announced!

August 11, 2011

Last week at the Fire Festival '11 final show, the participants of the 9th annual ZERO1 Tenka Ichi Jr. Tournament were announced. Participants were all the current and former NWA International Lightweight tag champions: Ikuto Hidaka, Takafumi Ito, Kaijin Habu Otoko, Takuya Sugawara and Munenori Sawa. Also included will be Michinoku Pro's Hayato "Jr." Fujita and an unannounced DRAGON GATE wrestler.

All those above, aside from Ito, have participated in previous Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournaments. Also making his longtime return to ZERO1 is Mexican Luchadore and former ZERO1 International Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Super Crazy! Australian NWA wrestler Robby Heart will also be making his first ZERO1 and tournament appearance.

The tournament will be single elimination and span 3 days with Round 1 & Round 2 taking place on September 13-14 at Toyko's Shinjuku FACE. Then on September 17th will be the finals at Korakuen Hall.

The full scheduled brackets are as follows:

Daisuke Sekimoto Wins Fire Festival '11!

August 8th, 2011

After participating in 6 separate ZERO1 Fire Festivals, Big Japan Pro Wrestling's Daisuke Sekimoto has come away victorious in 2011. After winning Block B following a 30 minute hard-hitting heavyweight contest with 3x winner Masato Tanaka that ended in a draw. However that did give Daisuke the 6 points needed to win his block and continue on to the finals. It has been a long trip for Sekimoto, who as a favorite of former ZERO-ONE boss Shinya Hashimoto saw his first Fire Festival participation in the inaugural tournament back in 2001.

Sekimoto returned to the Fire Festival in 2006, and this is the first time he's reached the finals. Following the 30 minute draw which saw both Sekimoto and Tanaka push their limit to the max, Sekimoto had to then return to the ring to face the winner of Block A in the finals.

Block A was won by Fire Festival '04 winner Kohei Sato, who had an easier time in facing former Yokozuna Akebono who he was able to fell with a Head Kick in under 7 minutes. This saw a relatively fresh Kohei go into the finals against an opponent that had just gone the distance against one of the most resilient pro wrestling heavyweights in Masato Tanaka.

In the end Daisuke was able to persevere in just over 16 minutes with his German Suplex hold to become the Fire Festival '11 winner. This match was also a decision match for the newly minted NWA World Premium Heavyweight title.

Also of note on the card was the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Titles match between champions Takuya Sugawara and Kaijin Habu Otoko against Challengers Ikuto Hidaka & Takafumi Ito. This match was refereed by NWA Referee SUWA who has been making some questionable calls often in the favor of Sugawara & Habu Otoko. Longtime ZERO1 referee Katsumi Sazasaki was also present ringside to observe, himself having several run-ins with SUWA lately. After an almost 14 minute match with SUWA doing everything to help the champions to victory, finally Ito used his choke sleeper to submit Sugawara and then Ref. Sasazaki forced Ref. SUWA to slap the mat 3 times for the count and the new champions!

Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Kohei Sato for the Finals!

August 7th, 2011