Home » News Archive » News from 03/27/07 to 04/17/07

Kohei Becomes a Serious Problem!

April 17th, 2007

There's been trouble with Kohei Sato! Kohei has apparently decided to become a "problem child" for Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX. Kohei no-showed the April 14th show in Chiba without contacting ZERO1-MAX, and when asked about it offered no explanation or apology. Company leader Shinjiro Otani then called a press conference to cover a scheduled meeting with the renegade youngster at 3PM yesterday to discuss the situation. The press arrived on time; but no Kohei. A half hour passed...still no Kohei. Finally an hour late he arrived at the FIRST ON STAGE offices obviously hung over from a hard nights drinking.

Otani was even more furious than before - He chastised Kohei, calling his actions "outrageous" and told him that no-showing is extremely unprofessional and unfair to the fans who spend their money to buy a ticket. Kohei seemed unphased, defiant even, saying he was weary and felt unmotivated to appear today and decided to sleep late instead. Otani lost it! He jumped from his seat, slammed his fist on the desk and began to yell and move towards Kohei! Kamikaze was present and quickly intervened before the two came to blows. This intervention caused a tense moment between Kamikaze and Kohei, and those two almost had a confrontation before other members of the ZERO1-MAX staff pulled them apart.

Kamikaze and Kohei are scheduled to have a "Fire Festival Assessment match" on the April 30 Sendai show of "Right to the Next." Now obviously that's up in the air. Otani was very aggravated after Kohei left, declaring that if Kohei's attitude doesn't change instantly it will be necessary to "sever" him from the roster. This type of executive decision will of course have to be made by ZERO1-MAX President Mr. Nakamura.

Kohei told the media after leaving the office he has approached Antonio Inoki's new Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) for a job and wants to leave ZERO1-MAX.

Press Conference - Otani Vows AWA Title Belt Recapture!

April 17th, 2007

Scheduled for May 10th in Osaka, the AWA World Heavyweight Championship will be defended by current Champion Takao Omori versus former Champion, Shinjiro Otani. Both fighters spoke to the press today at the First On Stage offices and both were very enthusiastic for the match. Otani, by defeating Ryouji Sai in the main event of the Yasukuni Shrine show gained the opportunity as the #1 contender for the title.

It was the "Celebration from the Yasukuni Shrine" of last year where these two previously fought for the AWA World Heavyweight title. Entering the match Otani was the champ, having won the title from Steve Corino on January 22, 2006. After a hard fought battle that went over 20 minutes Omori came out victorious to become 2-time champ. Otani said after losing the belt he was hopeful that he would be able to regain the title from Omori. That didn't happen as Omori traveled to American and lost the title in June of 2006. But now that Omori is once more the champ Otani said he has no doubt in his mind that he will recapture the title.

Omori said he is proud to be AWA World Heavyweight champion, and that after losing the title he couldn't keep his mind off regaining it. "If this belt represents the sun, then I am a planet revolving around it," he declared, and said he has imagined having the title around his waist and now has accomplished that once more. This metaphor was lost on Otani, who said no matter how much Omori loves the belt, will he be able to retain it when facing the "strongest challenger."

Yasukuni Shrine Festival Triumph!

April 10th, 2007

ZERO-MAX held their 3rd "Celebration from the Yasukuni Shrine" show in front of a large crowd of over 4,350 fans! As Shinjiro Otani promised, the Pro Wrestling Gods kept the rain at bay until the end of the show. Otani, who was in the main event of the show against Ryouji Sai, said it will never rain on the outdoor show as long as he's on the card. He also said as the ace of the promotion he will always sacrifice for the company.

"There will always be many fans of Pro Wrestling. But there will only be the few who protect Pro Wrestling. And I and ZERO-MAX will always be the biggest protector of Pro Wrestling!"

As for the Main Event, it was a fierce battle lasting over 20 minutes in which Ryouji Sai constantly attacked Otani's ailing right knee. Ryouji even pulled down Otani's kneepad and peeled off his tape to get directly at the limb. Otani was finally able to rally after the 15 minute mark when he hit a dragon suplex and used the big Hashimoto chops to fell the younger fighter.

He then took a page out of EMBLEM partner Masato Tanaka's playbook (Otani brought Tanaka's Fire Festival katana to the ring with him) by hitting the Diamond Dust. Finally he was able to finish Ryouji off with a Spiral Bomb and then a dragon suplex hold for the victory.

In the semi-main, former tag team partners Takao Omori and Yoshihiro Takayama crashed again on the opposite sides of an 6-man tag. Alongside Takayama was his Intercontinental Tag Team partner, Kohei Sato, who won the belts with him on March 8th in Korakuen Hall. They then defended the titles against Omori and Otani on March 21st in Sapporo. The third member of their team also has held the Intercontinental Tag Team titles along with many other title belts, including the NWA, ECW and AWA World Heavyweight titles - "Trouble King" Steve Corino. Alongside Omori was Kamikaze and BIG MOUTH LOUD's Kazunari Murakami.

Omori and Takayama started off against each other and going right at it. Soon it broke down and all six wrestlers started brawling outside the ring, with Corino even trying to burn Kamikaze's face off with one of the ceremonial braziers! Back in the ring, Corino tried some psychological tricks on Murakami and hit his jumping "Corin-O!" knee on Omori before being stomped down by Murakami. And while Kamikaze and Omori tried to double team Takayama, the big man hit Kamikaze with a hard knee and then dropped him with the Mt. Everest German suplex hold for the victory.

The 5th match of the show hailed the return of Dick Togo to ZERO-MAX alongside his old partners the Far East Connection (FEC) of Masao Orihara and Macho Pump. Across from the them the ZERO-MAX junior team of current AWA World Jr. and GHC Jr. Heavyweight champion Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Minoru Fujita, and former FEC member, Ikuto Hidaka.

The FEC came dressed in all black for the match, and as one would expect it was a high speed affair punctuated by the hard striking of Takaiwa. It was Minoru Fujita who scored the victory however, when after taking a mean Spider Suplex from Orihara he was able to hit the Sasuke Segway driver on Macho Pump for the victory. Afterwards, Togo had words for his former tag team partner Hidaka and there appears to be some unresolved issues there.

Match #4 saw the match of two Chinese Kung Fu fighters of contrasting styles pitted against each other. Dragon Sek, a student of Bruce Lee and of Jeet Kune Do ("The Way of the Intercepting Fist") fought Kensai Oh and his Zui Quan style ("Drunken Fist"). Oh appeared in his all red gear, and Sek in the black and yellow jumpsuit. The match was only 5:35 seconds as Sek hit a mean kick to Oh causing the TKO. This is Oh's 3rd appearance at the Yasukuni Shrine shows.

Big Japan Pro Wrestling tag team champions Daisuke Sekimoto (also the current UN Heavyweight Champion) and Yoshihito Sasaki teamed together on the third match to take on MMA fighter Hidetaka Monma and BattlArts' Munenori Sawa. Monma and Sawa actually showed some decent tag team ability, even using the Doomsday Device on Yoshihito as one point. They were no match for the champions strength however as Sasaki finally dropped Sawa on his head with the Argentine Coaster for the 1-2-3. Sekimoto kept Monma occupied outside the ring as the referee counted.

The 2nd match of the show saw the young ZERO1-MAX wrestlers Osamu Namiguchi and Shota Takanishi face off against the NOAH team of Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Shuhei Taniguchi. And while the youngsters tried valiantly against the NOAH veterans, they were no match for the veterans. Kikuchi, angered after going blow for blow with hard elbows from Namiguchi and made to bleed finally put Nami out with a belly-to-belly Spider suplex.

The first match was historical in some ways, as it was the first time there was an all women match at the Yasukuni Shrine. It is generally forbidden for women to enter a Sumo wrestling area, but the four girls of Pro Wrestling SUN made history. The fought to 13 minutes with the team of Nanae Takahashi and Hikaru victorious over Natsuki☆Taiyo and Saki Maemura when Hikaru used the Lanakila-H on Saki for the win.

he was also a short preliminary match between Gha-Cha-Ping and Fuyujiro Kuruma to open the show.

Yasukuni Shrine Festival Approaches!

April 5th, 2007

Only two days remain until ZERO1-MAX makes the annual return to Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine for their "Land of God's Strength Festival." Since 2005 ZERO1-MAX has performed at the shrine as a rededicationto pro wrestling.

Previous to ZERO1-MAX running their show two years ago at the sumo area of the shrine, the last pro wrestling event was in 1961 when Rikidozan wrestled in the main event of a show that drew 15,000 people. Also appearing on that card was a young Shohei Baba and Antonio Inoki.

Shinjiro Otani's goal was to make Pro Wrestling an annual event at the Yasukuni shrine, and so far he has been successful. The first year All Japan's Keiji Muto and former ZERO-ONE and UFO fighter Naoya Ogawa appeared at the show as spectators.

The surprise guest last year was deathmatch wrestling legend and former Japanese politician Atsushi Onita appeared in a tag team match. The Yasukuni Shrine receives lots of heat from many outside sources, most notably from China and Korea, as it also serves as a memorial to Japanese soldiers who have died in the service of their country. Those knowledgable of world history know that the Japanese Army's legacy during World War II is very infamous, and many soldiers from that war are also interred here.

However the shrine is also a great place to see the cherry blossoms bloom, so fans can enjoy the tradition of "hanami," the Japanese pastime of watching cherry blossoms in bloom fall to the ground. A much more peaceful endeavor than war...

The previous ZERO1-MAX shows done here have seen decent spring weather and a surreal appearance of pro wrestling outside under thousands of new blossoms. As of today, the forecast is for 62ºF, and partly cloudy. Otani usually say he remains faithful that the Pro Wrestling Gods will provide nice weather.

This year fighters from several promotions will take part on the show, including ZERO1-MAX sister promotion Pro Wrestling SUN, Pro Wrestling NOAH, BIG MOUTH LOAD, BattlArts, and Big Japan.

Otani himself, as the leader of ZERO1-MAX, will be in the main event versus Ryouji Sai. Ryouji just lost a big match on March 8th when he dropped the ZERO1-MAX UN Heavyweight title to Daisuke Sekimoto.

The semi-main event will be the return of Kohei Sato from injury to once again stand with his ZERO1-MAX Intercontinental Tag Team partner, Yoshihiro Takayama against Takao Omori and Kazunari Murakami. Takayama and Omori have been in a violent hate-fest since Takayama entered ZERO1-MAX to track down his former tag team partner.

They were scheduled to face of in a tag match on the final march show but due to Kohei's injury that wasn't able to happen. Now they will meet under the blooming cherry blossoms of the Sumo area of the shrine in what will no doubt be a violent match.

Daisuke Sekimoto will be teaming alongside his Big Japan Pro Wrestling tag team champion partner, and ZERO1-MAX wrestler, Yoshihito Sasaki. They face the interesting team of BattlArts' young Munemori Sawa and MMA fighter Hidetaka Monma! Monma fights for Wajyutsu Keisyukai A3 and has a record of 13-6-3. Monma has previously wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling and BIG MOUTH LOUD where he had a good match with Katsuyori Shibata. How will the young hardcore wrestling fighters fare against the shoot-styles of Monma and Sawa?

Also on the show will see the reformation of Dick Togo's FAR EAST CONNECTION stable. Originally comprised of Togo, Masao Orihara and current ZERO1-MAX wrestler Ikuto Hidaka, this varient of the FEC stable will be Togo, Orihara and Macho Pump against Hidaka, Minoru Fujita and Tatsuhito Takaiwa in a 6-man "ZERO1-MAX vs. FEC" tag match.

Togo alongside Ikuto Hidaka were the first ZERO1-MAX International Lightweight Tag Team champions way back in 2003, winning a tournament final versus Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Naohiro Hoshikawa. Since then Togo's appearances have been here-and-there for the company, though never across from Hidaka.

The drunken kung fu fighter Kensai Oh makes his third return to the Yasukuni shrine. Generally positioned in a Japan vs. China match at these shows, this time Oh will take part in a China vs. China showcase match pitting him against Bruce Lee student and motion picture actor - Dragon Sek.

It will be kung fu style versus kung fu style of Zui Quan versus Jeet Kune Do or "Drunken Fist" versus "Way of the Intercepting Fist" in a 3 Rounds bout with 2 minutes time limit per round. Dragon Sek has performed in kung-fu movies such as Dragon the Master, Big Boss Untouchable and Dragon In Fury.

Young lions Osamu Namiguchi and Shota Takanishi will team earlier on the show in a tag match against Pro Wrestling NOAH wrestlers. Their opponents will be Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Shuhei Taniguchi.

And the opening match will be another Pro Wrestling SUN offer match with Nanae Takahashi and Hikaru versus Saki Maemura and Natsuki Taiyo. The entire roster went to the location yesterday for a press conference and to monitor the set-up. The ring, chairs and sound system are all ready to go.

Omori Regains AWA Title! Takaiwa Defends!

April 1st, 2007

Last night in Yokohama City, Japan, Takao Omori one again regained the AWA Heavyweight title over Steve Corino in an almost 20 minute main event. This is the third time Omori has held the title, and he is the 38th champion in the title's almost half-a-century of existence.

Tatsuhito Takaiwa defended his AWA World Jr. Heavyweight title agianst American wrestler Chad Collyer. This was Takaiwa's V1 defense since winning the belt in a double titles match including the GHC Jr. Heavyweight title in February. He won in just over 11 seconds with a Death Valley driver.

The family tag match didn't work out so well for Kamikaze and his brother-in-law, Pro Wrestling NOAH's Kentaro Shiga. After calling an interview last thursday in front of the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo to discuss some new finishing combo moves, they lost to ZERO1-MAX tag team aces Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita.

Yoshihito Sasaki did not fare well in his singles match against Yoshihiro Takayama. The junior Yoshihito could last only 2½ minutes before going down to the massive knee lift strikes of the six-foot-five Takayama.

Injury Default - Kohei!

March 27th, 2007

Kohei Sato has injured his left foot and will be unable to take part on the final show of "MAX Satisfaction" on March 31st in Yokohama.

Kohei was originally scheduled to take place in a big 6-man tag match with his current ZERO-MAX Intercontinental Tag Team Partner Yoshihiro Takayama and ROWDY teammate Hirotaka Yokoi. Their opponents in the match were to be Shinjiro Otani, Kazunari Murakami and Ryouji Sai. The card has been modified accordingly, with Otani and Murakami now facing Ryouji and Rikiya Fudo in a tag match.

As for Takayama, he'll be facing off against another ZERO-MAX fighter who questioned Kohei's choice in current allies - Yoshihito Sasaki.