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Otani & Omori Victorious Over Chono & Yasuda! The Great Sasuke Deceived!

April 30th, 2008

On August 29th, ZERO1 held it's "Ichii Senshin - GW Special" show at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall. The show saw the first appearance in a ZERO1 ring of New Japan Legend Masahiro Chono, where he teamed with Tadao Yasuda versus Otani and Omori. Otani and Chono will also be on opposite sides on May 5th at Chono's own "PREMIUM" show where Otani will team with Daisuke Sekimoto and Chono with ZERO1's Kohei Sato.

Chono had expressed respect for the founder of ZERO-ONE Shinya Hashimoto, saying Hashimoto was one of his very good friends in the "Three Musketeers" of Chono, Hashimoto and Muta in New Japan. The ZERO1 tag team in this match were Takao Omori and Shinjiro Otani, the two wrestlers who were the final opponents of Hashimoto in August 2004, as they battled for the NWA Intercontinental Tag team titles held by Hashimoto and Yoshiaki Fujiwara.

The match took place 6th (of 9) on the card, and had the fans exited and giving Chono a huge cheer before the entrances quickly broke down into a melee. Chono and Yasuda both attacked Otani's wounded right shoulder and crowd cheered his name.

Finally past the 10-minute mark of the match Otani and Omori found their teamwork and after Omori down Chono with an Axe Bomber as Otani felled Yasuda with a German. Then a sandwich combo strike of Otani's jumping kick and Omori's Axe Bomber on Yasuda, followed by a final decisive Dragon Suplex Hold by Otani on Yasuda for the pinfall victory.

Otani and Omori would also participate in the main event but on opposite sides, as the SWORD ARMY and the AXE ARMY met for the "The April Tour Armies' Confrontation play-off" 7 vs. 7 tag match. Due to the results of this show, the final April show, it was determined that the SWORD ARMY and AXE ARMY had the same amount of victories. Therefore this match was scheduled as the Play-Off match.

The match was rather short, as the with so many wrestlers the fighting became rather confused in and out of the ring. It came down to the actions of AXE ARMY captain Takao Omori as even though he survived Ikuto Hidaka's "Shawn Capture" leg hold and Munenori Sawa's "Shinking Wizard" Omori was able to rally. Omori then hit hard with an Axe Bomber and pinned Hidaka at just over 8 minutes. Following the match the AXE ARMY celebrated in the ring, took photos and waved their flag. Finally Omori did the familiar ZERO1-MAX cheer with his own twist - "3, 2, 1, ZERO1, ooooooooo- AXE!"

The match previous to this was the reason for the main event, as the SWORD ARMY team of Masato Tanaka and Tatsuhito Takaiwa went to a time limit draw with AXE ARMY's Kohei Sato and Daisuke Sekimoto. The previous day Tanaka had successfully defended his World Heavyweight Title versus Sekimoto in Big Japan Pro Wrestling. Considering the participants there was some very hard hitting strikes: lariats, German suplexes. There were also many submission attempts.

No matter how the two teams damaged each other, nobody could finish off the other. As 25 minutes passed of the allotted 30, it was Tanaka and Sekimoto once again. Tanaka exploded with yet another hard lariat, but soon Sato and Takaiwa were back in the ring exchanging arm bars. With a minute remaining Sato and Sekimoto both landed huge German suplexes but couldn't get the win. Thirty seconds remaining, Tanaka scored a lariat on Sato. Takaiwa hits the Death Valley Driver on him but the time limit expired as the Referee counted 2 and the bell rang.

The Scheduled Semi-Main event was a singles match of ZERO1's Ryouji Sai versus K-DOJO's Kengo Mashimo, a battle of ZERO1's future and K-DOJO's Champion of STRONGEST-K. Mashimo is also the current BJW Tag Team champions with partner Madoka, who seconded him to the ring this match. As is the style of both fighters they unleashed a series of kicks on each other. Mashimo soon went on the offense directly at Ryouji's leg to wear him down, using knee drops and an Indian deathlock. The two brawled in the crowd exchanging more kicks, until Ryouji used his "Nachi Waterfall" double footstop off the top turnbuckle to the outside on Mashimo.

The match continued past the 20-minute mark as the two young fighter began to exchange hard impact moves such as brainbusters and Fisherman Suplexes, and more kicks. Now 25 minutes passed with only 5 minutes remaining, Mashimo went into a serious offensive flurry trying to seal the victory. Ryouji however was able to rally and finally hit a final "Nachi Waterfall" for the win. Following the match Mashimo singled that there will be another match with his match.

Leading into this show one of the biggest stories was the previously impossible teaming of Minoru Fujita and Michinoku Pro's The Great Sasuke. Since last year Fujita and his "brother" Takuya Sugawara have tormented Sasuke, tricking him, deceiving him, attacking him from behind etc. Over and over again they played the legendary Japanese high-flyer for a fool. Finally following the "Celebration of the Yasukuni Shrine" this Spring on March 23 where Sasuke and his partner, the Great Otani Shinjiro, finally defeated the "Brothers" in No Count-Out/No DQ/Falls Count Anywhere Showdown Match. Following the match, which Sasuke's team won, Fujita finally reconciled with is former teacher and shook his hand without deception. Now Sasuke and Fujita will team together to face very familiar opponents, the FAR EAST CONNECTION team of Ikuto Hidaka and Dick Togo on this night in Korakuen Hall.

Fujita's long time previous tag partner, Ikuto Hidaka, had warned Sasuke not to trust Fujita. And this premonition became accurate as late in the match, as Sasuke went for his Senton Atomico from the top rope on Hidaka, Fujita stepped in and rolled him out of the way! Sasuke went down hard as Fujita acted shock at what had occurred. Sasuke rose to his feet and Fujita extended his hand once more to shake - only to once more deceive Sasuke by implanting him into the canvas. Togo then hit his diving senton and Hidaka pinned Sasuke for the victory. Fujita then quickly left from the ring, as Hidaka and Togo helped the emotionally battered Sasuke to his feet.

At the JCB Hall on April 6th, the visual kei band Uchuu Sentai NOIZE debuted their new Jr. Class fighter NOIZE who went on to defeat THE*ZEST and win the WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Title. Now he would face El Dorado's Takuya Sugawara in a singles match. NOIZE went into his high-speed offense and appeared to be able to win easily, until Sugawara turned to his old faithful - the black box. He even assaulted the referee as well, causing the disqualification.

Also on t he show was a Nunchaku battle, a tag math match that saw Osamu Namiguchi and Shito Ueda defeat Shota Takanishi and Munenori Sawa when Nami pinned Shota. KAMIKAZE easily defeated young Yuzuru Saito in just 5½ minutes with a crab hold. And ChickFight SUN joshi wrestlers Hikaru and Saki Maemura had a very short match in which Saki defeated Hikaru with her "Hanamaru" finisher.

Dangan Defends in Big Japan Pro Wrestling! Downs Sekimoto!

April 28th, 2008

ZERO1 World Heavyweight champion Masato Tanaka made his 4th title defense in April alone by defeating Big Japan Pro Wrestling's Daisuke Sekimoto at BJW's Korakuen Hall show today. The last time the two met was back on January 1st when Tanaka was again victorious. Both wrestlers are popular in Tokyo's Korakuen Hall and the crowd showed its support.

It was however a Big Japan crowd as when Tanaka began to work over Sekimoto's arm with a chair the crowd booed him. By the time the two heavyweights returned to the ring the crowd was chanting "Sekimoto! Sekimoto! Sekimoto!" Tanaka continued to work over his right arm. Using an armbreaker, stomping his arm, and locking on an arm lock and then a keylock. As Sekimoto reversed, Tanaka cut back and locked in a cross arm breaker that put Sekimoto in lots of danger until he was finally able to escape to the ropes.

The two then traded strong lariat and power moves, exchanging brainbusters, powerbombs and German suplex hold. Finally Tanaka went for his Sliding-D and scored only a 2 count. He followed it up with another rapid fire Sliding-D but Sekimoto was able to avoid it and hit another German suplex sending Tanaka out to the ring apron. As Tanaka raised to his feet on the apron, Sekimoto grabbed him from within the ring and by springing off the bottom rope German suplexed Tanaka over the rope back into the ring! The match had already progressed past 25 minutes but Sekimoto could only get a three count. Finally Tanaka made a final rally with numerous elbow strikes followed by the Roaring Elbow which floored the dazed Sekimoto and sent him down to the mat! Tanaka then used his rapid fire Sliding-D2 running elbow to seal the victory!

After his victory Tanaka stood on the turnbuckle, title belt in hand, and celebrated his victory. Eventually Sekimoto rose to his feet and offered his hand to the reigning World Heavyweight champion. Sekimoto then got on the microphone and thanked Tanaka for the title rematch and the fans for supporting him. Sekimoto will once more face Tanaka tomorrow again at Korakuen Hall for the ZERO1 "Ichii Senshin ~ GW Special" show where he will team with Kohei Sato versus Tanaka and Tatsuhito Takaiwa.

Fujita and Sasuke's Tag Team Friendship Begins!!?

April 28th, 2008

Leading into tomorrow's Korakuen Hall show "Ichii Senshin ~ GW Special" former opponents now turned tag team partners, Minoru Fujita and The Great Sasuke, held a joint press conference today at the ZERO1 SAC store in Tokyo. As reported earlier this week, Fujita and Sasuke are scheduled to take on the formidable tag team opponents of Ikuto Hidaka and Dick Togo. Back on the April 25th a press conference was also scheduled for Sasuke and Fujita, yet when the time came only Sasuke arrived.

This caused Ikuto Hidaka to put for the idea to Sasuke that once again Fujita was playing him for a fool and all this was just an elaborate deception. Sasuke refused to believe that, and became even more entrenched in his beliefs when a video message arrived that showed Fujita hanging the 4/29 Event posters in Morioka, Sasuke's home area.

Fujita explained in the message that he couldn't make the interview because this. Sasuke accepted this and became quite emotional, saying the Fujita had been "reborn" from his treacherous ways and he was overcome at his transformation. Fujita's former tag team partner Hidaka still thought it was a ruse, and said as much to no avail.

So now once again when the official time of the press conference finally arrived, Fujita hadn't yet appeared and only Sasuke was present. After giving Fujita several extra minutes to arrive, Sasuke reluctantly began to do the interview by himself.

Just at that moment, a out-of-breath Fujita rushed into the room much to Sasuke's delight. He told Sasuke that while he was hanging poster in Morioka that day, somebody had stolen his wallet and he had to hitchhike all the way back and had just arrived. Sasuke was relieved and apologetic:

Again Sasuke began to cry...

"Especially not to Hidaka," Fujita interjected. "I have been told what he said. He is a cruel fellow."

Sasuke then admitted that yes, Hidaka had tried to convince him that Fujita was trying to deceive him. Sasuke calmed down but was still very emotional, posing with Fujita for several photographs. Sasuke said that they will present "a good friend tag team, an old favorite tag team - a friendship tag team."

Here Fujita suddenly remember something and said he had to go. He pointed to his watch saying while he had put poster up in Morioka, he wanted to put more up in Tokyo now. "There is still time until tomorrow! I must be going."

Fujita then quickly ran out of the press conference. Sasuke watched him leave, commenting once again that Fujita had been reformed and how impressed he was by Fujita's kind heart.

Just then FOS worker Hiroki Asai approached Sasuke and handed him a slip of paper. He told Sasuke that is was Fujita's taxi receipt from his cab ride to the office and that Fujita told him that Sasuke would pay. "It's 2150 yen please..."

The interview can be seen below (in Japanese):

Mochizuki Chooses Tag Partner for "Unshakeable!"

April 27th, 2008

As reported earlier this month, Ikuto Hidaka invaded Masaaki Mochizuki's "Heroic Episode 4" and challenged the current ZERO1 International Jr. Heavyweight champion to a re-match for the title. Mochizuki rebuffed Hidaka saying he had defeated him several times so he felt he didn't deserve a title re-match. He did say he'd take Hidaka on in a tag match instead.

Hidaka spoke to the media following the confrontation, and hinted that he might once again turn to BattlArts' Munenori Sawa as he did at the Yasukuni Shrine that last time he faced Mochizuki. It just so happens that is was Sawa that Mochizuki had just defended his title against at his produced show. Now Mochizuki has come out and announced his partner for the upcoming tag match - New Japan Pro Wrestling's Minoru.

Chono Comments on his 4/29 ZERO1 Participation!

April 26th, 2008

Masahiro Chono will enter the ZERO1 ring on April 29th at the final show at Korakuen Hall of the current "Ichii Senshin" tour. He will be taking part in the main event tag match titled "7th Anniversary of ZERO-ONE Special" where he will team alongside troubled pro wrestler Tadao Yasuda to face Shinjiro Otani and Takao Omori. It was Otani and Omori who were the last ZERO1 wrestlers to be in the ring with Shinya Hashimoto in August 2004 before he left the promotion and then died shortly after of a brain aneurysm.

Fujita and Sasuke Teacher/Student Tag Formation! Hidaka Questions Fujita's Motive!

April 25th, 2008

The Great Sasuke returned to the ZERO1-MAX offices in Tokyo today to speak to the media about his upcoming tag match alongside former student Minoru Fujita. Since last year Fujita and his "brother" Takuya Sugawara have tormented Sasuke, tricking him, deceiving him, attacking him from behind etc. Over and over again they played the legendary Japanese high-flyer for a fool. Finally following the "Celebration of the Yasukuni Shrine" this Spring on March 23 where Sasuke and his partner, the Great Otani Shinjiro, finally defeated the "Brothers" in No Count-Out/No DQ/Falls Count Anywhere Showdown Match. Following the match, which Sasuke's team won, Fujita finally reconciled with is former teacher and shook his hand without deception.

Now Sasuke and Fujita will team together to face very familiar opponents, the FAR EAST CONNECTION team of Ikuto Hidaka and Dick Togo on April 29 in Korakuen Hall. Sasuke was very excited as he arrived for the press conference, however Fujita didn't appeared as scheduled. This didn't keep Sasuke from describing his enthusiasm in teaming with former enemy Fujita. Suddenly one of his opponents in the upcoming match, Ikuto Hidaka entered the press conference to address Sasuke.

Hidaka told Sasuke that Fujita won't be coming to the interview, moreover he told him that he's is being deceived again by Fujita and shouldn't trust him. Sasuke seemed shocked at this insinuation and said he felt that to be "absolutely false." Hidaka was persistent, repeating that Sasuke is being deceived.

Sasuke refused to believe Hidaka, saying that Fujita was under the negative influence of Sugawara lately. He said Fujita had been "re-born" from their recent battles and that his handshake following their Yasukuni Shrine match was the "real thing." He added that while they shook hands Fujita swore to him that he would no longer deceive him.

Hidaka then asked if when Sasuke shook Fujita's hand he looked into his face. "I didn't look," Sasuke answered.

Sasuke still refused to believe Hidaka, saying that the rotten heart that Fujita had shown these previous months has finally "been removed."

Just then ZERO1 Referee Abe entered the room with a special delivery package that had just arrived at the office addressed to The Great Sasuke.

"It's from Minoru Fujita!" Sasuke exclaimed as he quickly opened the envelope to remove a disc case. "That Fujita has style! It's a video message to me. I'd like to watch this immediately."

They placed the disc into a player and the image of Fujita appeared on the screen. Fujita said he was in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture where Sasuke hails from promoting their upcoming tag match. He firmly stuck an event poster for 4/29 on the fence behind him. Fujita apologized deeply to Sasuke for missing the press conference, saying he felt promoting the event was more important. He closed the message by saying "Let's do our best as a teacher-and-student tag team at Korakuen that day! Thank you!"

Suddenly Sasuke began to cry from viewing the message, caught of guard by what he claimed was Fujita "born again." Hidaka was perplexed at Sasuke's tears, asking him what was the matter. "I'm sorry," the pro wrestling veteran of Michinoku Pro responded while wiping his eyes, "old times are suddenly remembered."

Hidaka however still wasn't buying it, asking Sasuke why Fujita would be hanging posters for a show at Korakuen in a park in Iwate. He wanted to know if Sasuke could be sure that image was even in Morioka.

Hidaka finally decided he couldn't convince Sasuke that Fujita has something up his sleeve and exited the interview, saying only that he and his partner Dick Togo will not be able to take it easy on Sasuke if Fujita betrays him during their match. It will be Hidaka and Togo versus Sasuke and Minoru on 4/29 in Korakuen Hall in a "Junior Special Tag Match."

Finally Referee Abe approached Sasuke, "Mr. Sasuke I'm sorry. The envelope was sent C.O.D., can I have 650 yen please?"

The interview can be seen below (in Japanese):

Yoshihito Sasaki Vacates UN Heavyweight Title!

April 25th, 2008

Due to the previously reported waist injury to Yoshihito Sasaki, he announced today that he will vacate his NWA United National Heavyweight title as he'll be unable to defend it in a timely manner according to NWA Rules.

Rather than risk further injury attempting to defend his title, Yoshihito offered the title back to the ZERO1-MAX and First On Stage offices. After deliberations the office eventually decided to accept Yoshihito's offer. Yoshihito Sasaki, a two time NWA UN Heavyweight champion, last won the title on March 29, 2008 in Sapporo, Japan versus Hawaii Championship Wrestling's Sandy Beach.

Tanaka, Ryouji and Hidaka versus NJPW on 5/2!

April 25th, 2008

Back on April 13th at New Japan Pro Wrestling's "Circuit 2008 NEW JAPAN BRAVE" show at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall, after successfully defending his World Heavyweight title in the main event versus Koji Kanemoto, Tanaka decided to provoke New Japan's Yuji Nagata. Nagata has been out of pro wrestling for a few months recovering from a health-related absence.

He had only just announced his return to the ring, and now Tanaka was calling him out! Tanaka said he had issues with the way Nagata called his match versus Nakanishi at JCB, giving him no credit and making Nakanishi look good. There was some battling between ZERO1 and New Japan in the ring until finally Nagata entered and accepted Tanaka's challenge!

Now the line-up for Nagata's return match versus Tanaka has been decided. Yuji Nagata will team with Manabu Nakanishi and Koji Kanemoto versus Masato Tanaka, Ryouji Sai and Ikuto Hidaka at the May 2nd NJPW "AGGRESSIVE" show.

Otani Receives Another "Gift!"

April 24th, 2008

As reported the other day, strange packages have been arriving at the ZERO1 offices in Tokyo, Japan addressed to President Shinjiro Otani. These "gifts," the first two of which contained a small cactus and then a piece of wood with nails driven through them, were obviously sent by "Mr. Danger" Mitsuhiro Matsunaga.

Matsunaga and Otani will face each other on 5/17 in Koshigaya, in a match that has been building for several months ever since Matsunaga used deceit to enter the ranks of ZERO1 only to betray Otani. Matsunaga has sworn that their next match will be a deathmatch, while Otani has adamantly refused this possibility. Otani sword to have a "pure" wrestling match yet Matsunaga seems to have other ideas.

Today another package, poorly wrapped in newspaper, arrived at the ZERO1 offices. Upon opening the package, Otani became irritated and exited the building. The whole scene can be viewed in the video below:

ZERO1 vs. New Japan in Fukuoka and Osaka!

April 23rd, 2008

The confrontation of ZERO1 versus New Japan Pro Wrestling continues and intensifies, as more battles are announced for April. At the end of April, ZERO1 fighters will appear on New Japan shows in Fukuoka and Osaka for their "CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPAN BRAVE" tour.

The Fukuoka shows will take place in Hakata Star Lane on 4/24 and 4/25, with ZERO1 sending Heavyweight champion Masato Tanaka, Takao Omori, Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Osamu Namiguchi. They will compete in tag matches versus New Japan in bouts titled "NJPW vs. ZERO1 Do or Die." The matches will be numbered I - IV.

Then on 4/27 in Osaka at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, TEAM EMBLEM will invade New Japan to face Koji Kanemoto and Ryusuke Taguchi in a tag match.

Strange Packages Arrive for Otani! Matsunaga!!

April 22nd, 2008

All week a series of bizarre packages have been sent to the ZERO1-MAX offices in Tokyo Japan addressed to Shinjiro Otani. The packages not only contain a singular object but also the same message: "I absolutely will bring an end to Otani, and it will be via a deathmatch..."

These are the words spoken by "Mr. Danger" Mitsuhiro Matsunaga in response to ZERO1-MAX President Shinjiro Otani saying he will not participate in a deathmatch when Matsunaga and Otani meet in a singles match on 5/17 in Saitama, Japan.

The photo above was the package that arrived on Monday, April 21 and contained within was a small cactus.

On Tuesday, April 22 the following object arrived - Nails driven through a wooden board.

Due to the appearance of the first object, ZERO1 decided to video tape President Otani's opening of the second package. You can see his reaction to "Mr. Danger's" new game in the video posted below.

Otani vs. Matsunaga on 5/17 in Koshigaya!

April 20th, 2008

Shinjiro Otani, who was attacked during his entrance and defeated by Mistsuhiro Matsunaga and Tatsutoshi Goto in a blood bath on 4/15, announced today that he will have a singles re-match with "Mr. Danger" on May 17th in Koshigaya, Saitama, Japan. It will be a no-time limit match.

Otani once again announced that he dares Matsunaga to face him in a non-deathmatch setting, using pure professional wrestling. He warned Matsunaga to make no mistakes, that just because he wants to attack the "fearful pro wrestling" with "pro wrestling" is does not mean he plans on having a "beautiful match."

Matsunaga was quick to reply to Otani's statements of not wanting to fight their match as a a deathmatch. He said he understands what Otani is doing when he says he won't have a deathmatch with him. And as "Mr. Danger" feels he can "fight a deathmatch that nobody can imitate." Matsunaga said he's not surprised Otani is trying to back his way out of the idea. He questioned Otani's authority, asking why what he says should matter.

"I will absolutely bring an end to Otani, and it will be via a deathmatch..."

Hidaka Invades Mochizuki's "Heroic Episode!"

April 18th, 2008

Current ZERO1 International Jr. Heavyweight champion and DRAGON GATE fighter Masaaki Mochizuki held a self-produced show today at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring. The show was titled "Heroic Episode 4" and saw Mochizuki defend his ZERO1 title versus BattlArts' Munenori Sawa.

Sawa put up a good fight, bringing the "Bati-Bati" punishment style to Mochizuki and scoring near victories with a Shining Wizard and an arm lock. He also inadvertently stuck his thumb in Mochizuki's left eye during the matchcausing a pause, not to mention the discomfort Mochizuki felt. The match went around 12 minutes before Mochizuki was able to score a Saikyou high kick followed by a hard punch to get the pinfall victory.

Following the match former ZERO1 International Jr. Champion Ikuto Hidaka appeared dressed in a business suit and challenged Mochizuki to a title match. Mochizuki informed Hidaka that he had defeated him three times so he wouldn't be granting his request. He did say he'd challenge Hidaka to a tag match again on 5/29 ZERO1 Korakuen Hall show. He also said he'd really like to defend the title against Shinjiro Otani so he can avenge his 1995 loss to Otani in the "Super J Cup."

Hidaka revealed on his blog already that he would choose Munenori Sawa as his partner once again, as he did during this year's "Celebration from the Yasukuni Shrine."

Also on the show, young ZERO1 wrestler Shito Ueda took part in an undercard battle royal.

Post-Main Event comments and the conversation between Hidaka and Mochizuki can be seen below, in Japanese: