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Fire Festival '07 Schedule! EMBLEM Comments!

May 27, 2007

ZERO1-MAX held it's May 27th show of the "Everlasting" tour at Korakuen Hall today. The show was highlighted by four "Fire Festival '07 Qualifier" matches where current AWA Heavyweight champion Takao Omori, 3x Fire Festival winner Shinjiro Otani, and last years Fire Festival champion, Masato Tanaka all fell to defeat to three Young MAX fighters.

The main event saw AWA World Heavyweight champion Takao Omori once again lose to Ryouji Sai. Last year in the deciding match of Block B in the 2006 "Fire Festival" Ryouji defeated Omori and then went on to the finals to eventually lose to Tanaka. Ryouji hit the champ with lots of offense, including the "Nachi Waterfalls" double foot stomp and the "Sidmouth" back drop. It was a reversal of Omori's Axe Guillotine driver into a cradle roll-up that in the end won it for him.

The crowd was speechless as Ryouji celebrated. He declared that "I will take this year's Fire Festival" and said he's "Wakayama Prefecture's Nachi waterfall goodwill ambassador" before closing the show with the ZERO1-MAX cheer. The 7/29 show of this year's Fire Festival will be held in a special ring at the Nachi Waterfall's Seiganto-ji Temple Pagoda.

The semi-main event saw "Mr. Fire Festival" Shinjiro Otani face the problem child, Kohei Sato. Kohei, well aware of Otani's concussion from the May 10 Osaka show went right to the attack Otani's cranium. He attacked Otani's skull with a chair, piledriver, hard kicks and a running soccer kick, hard high angle uranages and of course the German suplex.

Otani, who along with Fire Festival participation was also looking to redeem his May 19 loss in Nagoya. There Kohei defeated him in a tag match, when Otani was pinned by a tiger suplex hold in just over eighteen minutes. This time it was a hard head kick a dragon suplex which Otani tried to recover from only to stumble into another tiger suplex hold for the loss.

Following the match Otani, with an ice pack on his head, spoke to the media. "There is damage to the body, but the damage to the brain is zero," he reassured them. He also said while he admits that Kohei Sato has grown as a wrestler, his actions still trouble Otani.

Masato Tanaka, whom last year on November 24 went in for shoulder surgery finally returned to the ring and faced ZERO1-MAX (and former FMW from back in the day) junior Yoshihito Sasaki. For the first time in many years, Masato Tanaka entered a wrestling ring without the massive taping to his right shoulder. He immediately showed the strength of his shoulder by hitting in rapid succession a power bomb, lariat and the Complete Dust. Even so, he was finally felled by Yoshihito who used a tombstone piledriver and then a hard lariat to gain the victory.

Following the match Tanaka said the loss was mortifying, but at the same time there was great pleasure in finally returning to the ZERO1-MAX ring.

A fourth qualifying match held was also a ZERO1-MAX UN Heavyweight title bout. Big Japan Pro Wrestling's Daisuke Sekimoto not only made his 3rd title defense of the title, but by defeating Kamikaze he also secured a "Fire Festival" spot. Sekimoto is no stranger to the annual tournament, having participated in the 2001 and 2006 versions.

At the beginning of the match Sekimoto used his power, and Kamikaze was able to counter attack using his experience and technique, using kicks, the cobra twist, and several moonsault attempts. Sekimoto fought back with hard lariats, a brainbuster and a frog splash. When Kamikaze did a reverse springboard off the ropes late in the 11th minute, Sekimoto grabbed him from the air and delivered a devastating German suplex hold for the win. After the match, the two wrestlers shook hands.

In a match titled "E-Memory" former ECW alumnus Steve Corino and the "Japanese Buzzsaw" Yoshihiro Tajiri faced off in a singles match for the 7th Anniversary of their ECW Pay-Per-View match. Before the bell it was announced that the matches would be taking place under "E-Style" street fight rules.

The match started fairly straight forward, until Corino unexpectedly sprayed TAJIRI with Red Poison Mist! The the two than fought outside the ring and used chairs as weapons. TAJIRI after delivering several kicks involving chairs and biting his forehead, Corino began to bleed profusely.

TAJIRI pressed hit advantage kicking a table into Corino's head and biting his forehead again and kicking him hard in the corner. Corino rallied once more, hitting some moves from his early arsenal and as the crowd chanted "Hashimoto!" "Ogawa!" And "Choshu!" Corino his the Impact DDT, the STO and the Riki Lariat, only for TAJIRI to recover and spray him with the green mist!

TAJIRI then double stomped Corino through a table and delivered a devastating final buzzsaw kick for the win. After the match the two warily eyed each other as Corino, bloodstained and covered in mist made his way to the locker room, TAJIRI singled a tag match with his hands, as on June 20th Corino will team with CW Anderson to face TAJIRI and Masato Tanaka in "E-Memory II."

The FEC (Far East Connection) was formed back in Michinoku Pro and has been revived in ZER01-MAX. For this show there was a scheduled Minoru Fujita versus Masao Orihara match, which broke down early as Macho*Pump intervened in the match. Macho*Pump dragged Fujita to the outside and began to drag him around the outside of the ring and hitting him with a chair. When Fujita finally was returned to the ring he was bleeding from forehead.

Suddenly, Fujita's tag team partner Ikuto Hidaka rushed from the outside to even the odds. A melee broke down as all the fighters began to brawl. Suddenly, Lingerie Muto rushed from the back and hit a shining wizard on Orhara. As the referee called the match, Lingerie Muto tore off his disguise to reveal BattlArts junior Munenori Sawa.

Finally it was decided that it would be a tag match of Masao Orihara and Macho*Pump against Fujita and Sawa. Sawa donned a pair of long blue basketball shorts over his Lingerie to continue. And while the young Sawa put on a valiant effort he was finally felled by multiple "Macho bottom" slams for the pinfall. After the match Orihara got on the microphone and said the crowd witnessed the power of The FEC. He said next time they would be at full strength with Dick Togo.

The match before this, as Lingerie Muto, Sawa faced BIG MOUTH LOUD's Kazunari Murakami in a match titled - "What is Pro Wrestling??" And while Lingerie Muto was able to get some early offense Kazunari soon put him away a straight left hand and then a hard soccer kick for the pin.

The 2nd match of this stacked show was a "ZERO1 vs. DRAGON GATE" singles match between Ikuto Hidaka and Super Shisa. While both known for their speed and high flying ability, this match was instead a mat clinic as the two exchanged reversals and pinfalls throughout. When the bell finally rang, it was Hidaka with the victory via Solarina for the win.

In the opening match, young Shota Takanishi once again defeated his senior in Osamu Namiguchi in just over 6 minutes with the "Sheep Wing."

Press Conference - Fire Festival Qualifications!

May 24, 2007

Several matches on the upcoming 5/27 Korakuen Hall show of the "Everlasting" tour will be Fire Festival '07 qualifying matches. The winners of these matches will gain spots in the tournament. The losers won't be eliminated from contention, but will have to find other methods to gain entry. Winning matches becomes extremely important for those vying for a spot. The only wrestler with a "safety card," if there is such a thing, is last year's winner Masato Tanaka. No Fire Festival has ever had the previous year's winner not included to defend their position. The press conference was held at the ZERO1-MAX pachinko parlor, where the qualifier opponents addressed their upcoming match.

3-Time Fire Festival winner and ZERO1-MAX leader Shinjiro Otani, a man who considers himself the face of the Fire Festival will face freelance wrestler and current "problem child" Kohei Sato in his match. Otani, who is now fully recovered from his concussion sustained from Omori's brutal Axe Bomber in Osaka on 5/10, is ready to seize the katana for the 4th time. He said the sword has been calling to him and he will be sure to win. Otani said he has no other desire for any other object in existence.

Just then, as previously, Kohei Sato appeared and interrupted Otani. He told Otani he has another diagnosis to make and it's about Otani's participation this year and if it's possible - "NO!" Kohei claimed he will not only win the match but put Otani out of this years tournament. "This will be a Fire Festival in which Shinjiro Otani doesn't exist!"

Kohei and Otani clashed on 5/19 in a tag match main event in Niigata. Otani was teamed with Ikuto Hidaka and Kohei win BIG MOUTH LOUD's Kazunari Murakami. Kohei defeated Otani in 17:15 with a dragon suplex hold for the win. Otani and Kohei have faced each other twice before during the 2004 and 2005 Fire Festivals with Otani winning the 2005 match and Kohei the 2004 match. Both wrestlers then when on the win the entire tournament in their respective years.

Otani responded that "The Fire Festival where Otani doesn't exist is impossible." Otani went on to say that the Fire Festival Katana is crying for him saying, "I want to return to you. I want to return to you." Otani said he promised the sword it will come back to him, and his first step toward that goal is to knock down Kohei Sato in Korakuen Hall.

Another qualifying match will be between Ryouji Sai and Takao Omori. Last year these two crashed for the deciding match of Block B in Osaka, with Ryouji being victorious over Omori. Omori laughed about losing this year, saying he is the AWA World Heavyweight champion and will treat all Fire Festival matches like title matches. He said he also can't take serious a fighter who does "comedy acts in the sacred ring." Referring to Ryouji's comedy sketch recently with Masato Tanaka. Ryouji responded that he likes any match that tests his potential, and reminded Omori that he beat him last year.

Current ZERO1-MAX UN Heavyweight champion, Daisuke Sekimoto said the UN title belt is a "hot" title, and as UN Heavyweight champ and "shouldering the mantle of Big Japan Pro Wrestling" he wants to win the Fire Festival. Kamikaze added that he knows Sekimoto is powerful and strong, but he has been in many matches and will not only win the UN Heavyweight title, defeat the younger fighter and participate in the Fire Celebration.

2007 Fire Festival winners, Masato Tanaka, has several big reasons to be ready for his 5/27 match. "Now that my shoulder operation is healed, winning 2 Fire Festivals in a row is my goal," stated Tanaka. This match will also be Tanaka's return from shoulder surgery that he's been rehabbing for the last 6 months. Tanaka said he returned to the US for a short trip to prepare himself and reset himself, and wants to show the fans a new Tanaka. His opponent, Yoshihito Sasaki had very little to say, only mentioning that he doesn't think about qualifying for the Fire Festival, only going all out and putting on his best match.

Fire Festival '07 Schedule Released!

May 24, 2007

Believe it or not, it's once again time for the run-up to the annual ZERO1-MAX "Fire Festival."

The 10-man tournament has been held since the foundation of ZERO-ONE in 2001, and continued in 2005 when ZERO1-MAX resumed operations.

Previous winners of the tournament are Shinjiro Otani (3x), Masato Tanaka (1x), Kohei Sato (1x) and Satoshi Kojima (x1). Last year's winner was Masato Tanaka, who defeated Ryouji Sai in the finals at Korakuen Hall.

The rules of the tournament are the following:

• Wrestlers a broken into two blocks, A Block and B Block.
• Each Block contains 5 wrestlers that will face each other once in singles matches.
• Winners of Block A and Block B will face each other for the victory and possession of the Fire Festival katana in a no-time limit match.
• All other matches have a 30 minute time limits.
• A Victory earns the wrestler 2 points.
• A Draw earns the wrestler 1 point.
• A Loss earns the wrestler 0 points.

The schedule of the tournament is as follows:

7/16 - Korakuen Hall
7/17 - Fukushima Citizen Gym
7/22 - Aomori Big Site
7/24 - Yamagata Sports Center
7/27 - Hiroshima Industrial Hall West Pavillon
7/28 - Osaka Prefectural Gym #2
7/29 - Wakayama Nachi Waterfall Seiganto-ji Temple Pagoda.
7/31 - Nagoya International Conference Hall
8/02 - Korakuen Hall - Fire Festival '07 Finals

Otani Press Conference - Medically Cleared!

May 14, 2007

Shinjiro Otani held a press conference today at the FIRST ON STAGE offices to speak about his health and the head injury he sustained on May 10 in Osaka. Otani wanted to set peoples minds at ease, as the office has received many e-mails and phone calls regarding his condition. There were even rumors that he might retire.

"While a concussion and head bruise, no hemorrhaging, swelling or abnormality was seen by the Doctor's diagnosis. As for the match, I don't recall it."

Otani presented his Osaka Hospital medical form to the media showing that he had only a bad concussion from the brutal Axe Bomber delivered by Omori that rendered him unconscious. Witnesses to the show said it was an unbelievable Axe Bomber, and immediately the situation involving Naohiro Hoshikawa flashed through their mind.

And while Otani says informed the media the night of the 13th that he didn't have any serious injuries, that didn't stop the calls and mail from pouring in. Otani said he called this press conference to set the record straight, and wanted to apologize to the fans for "causing them anxiety."

Returning to Tokyo, Otani went for further tests and the doctors told him that if he has no headaches or nausea for the next week he should be fine to take part on the 5/19 "Everlasting" show in Niigata.

No sooner had Otani finished speaking when the "problem child" Kohei Sato entered the offices holding a bouquet of flowers announcing he came to visit the "aging Otani." Instead of handing them to Otani he handed them to a female reporter standing nearby. He picked up the Osaka medical report and said "I'll diagnose this. And my diagnosis is I'm changing the Niigata fight card." He then pressed to oppose Otani on that show, before their already scheduled 5/27 match.

ZERO1 has therefore decided to make a modification of the 5/19 card, as Otani will now team with Ikuto Hidaka to face Kohei and Kazunari Murakami.

UN Heavyweight Title Defense on 5/19!

May 13, 2007

Current ZERO1-MAX UN Heavyweight champion Daisuke Sekimoto has been sidelined recently with brain swelling. He has returned to active duty and will be Niigata Hall on May 19th for the resumption of the "Everlasting" Tour.

Fuyuki Takahashi, who has been working very hard in the gym of late, will face Sekimoto for the title at the show. He will challenge for the belt not as alter-ego "Fuyujiro Kuruma" but in his regular identity.

"I will throw all my power at Sekimoto, win, and decorate my house with the title belt. I've lived at the training facility these past few days to get in the best physical condition."

Injury Defaults - Otani, Takaiwa!

May 11, 2007

The ZERO1-MAX roster has suffered a few serious injuries these last couple of weeks. The first was to junior class champion Tatsuhito Takaiwa, when he seriously injured his right knee previous to the April 28 GHC Jr. Heavyweight defense in Pro Wrestling NO AH versus Mushing Terry. Takaiwa suffered a similar injury back in 2002 and will need reconstructive surgery. This will cause him to miss around 6-8 month of ring action while he recovers. Even with the injury Takaiwa attempted to defend the GHC title but was defeated by the masked NO AH junior. After the match Takaiwa could barely walk and knew he needed medical attention. This injury will most likely force Takaiwa to abandon the AWA World Jr. Heavyweight title he still holds.

The other injury took place yesterday at the "Everlasting" show in Osaka, Japan and is potentially much more serious. It happened in the main event AWA Heavyweight title match between current champion Takao Omori and challenger Shinjiro Otani, when Omori hit Otani with an Axe Bomber and Otani's head slammed hard against the ring. He was knocked unconscious and was quickly rushed to the hospital. He awoke while in the ambulance on the way there.

The current diagnosis is that he has a very, very bad concussion. He has returned to Tokyo and will undergo more tests today to ensure he has no contusions on his brain. ZERO1-MAX fans all remember the serious brain injury suffered by former wrestler Naohiro Hoshikawa, so all ZERO1-MAX fans want Otani to take it easy until he is fully recovered. We will keep everybody updated as well as possible on the situation.