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Ryouji vs. Daisuke Determined for Korakuen Hall on 4/29!

April 6th, 2009

Following his victory over Shinjiro Otani for the World Heavyweight title, Ryouji Sai had little time to celebrate before his first challenger stepped forward. Big Japan's Daisuke Sekimoto, a long time participant in ZERO1 since earlier in it's inception and of the same generation as Ryouji, entered the ring and laid down a challenge.

Ryouji accepted the challenge immediately as the two shook hands in the ring. The two will meet on April 29 at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall at the "WRESTLER'S 2" event. Last week both fighters came to the ZERO1 offices and held a press conference and contract signing for belt. Ryouji was asked about winning the World Heavyweight title:

"I was able to finally capture the belt. All the members of ZERO1 who enter the ring have the goal to win title belts, and up to now I've only held the NWA UN Heavyweight title. I'm very happy with my victory though it took 8 years to get here."

Ryouji said that he wants the other fighters in the young generation, namely Kohei and Nami, to stand up as "WRESTLERS" and take on Otani, Tanaka and Hidaka. He said he felt "there are no longer senpais (veterans)." A somewhat brash deceleration to make but consistent with the new leadership role he has announced he will take in the company.

Ryouji said with his defeat of Otani there is a change of power in the company. He also commented that he hopes that his recent TV appearances will bring new fans to the shows, but he knows that in order to keep them coming back the battles in the ring have to deliver. Adding that though the boom period of Pro Wrestling was some time ago he wants to try hard and create a new boom by, "having good matches and becoming a good champion."

Ryouji was asked about his upcoming challenger Sekimoto and replied that he will bring all the confidence he has from his defeat of Otani to the ring. He said he didn't understand what being World Heavyweight champion meant until that day and will bring his "highest game" to the match.

Daisuke Sekimoto was also on hand for Ryouji's comments and spoke only briefly before the two posed for photos with the title belt. "I have the passion for professional wrestling...I am mentally on a roll now. I am nervous about the match but I know I can pin Ryouji using my physical power."

Ryouji and Daisuke have met previously in some important matches, including last year's "Fire Festival" when Sekimoto defeated Ryouji on the first day of the tournament. Ryouji had won two years earlier when the two met in the "Fire Festival '06." While they didn't fight in the "Fire Festival" during 2007, in March of that year Sekimoto defeated Ryouji for the NWA UN Heavyweight title.

Ryouji Wins World Title! Kohei and Hidaka Fall!

March 29th, 2009

ZERO1 held their 5th annual "Yamato Shinshu Chikara Matsuri" today at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine. Many fans came to the outdoor event to watch the heated battles under the now blooming cherry blossoms. The main event saw ZERO1 President Shinjiro Otani attempt to defend the World Heavyweight title versus "Ainori Wrestler" Ryouji Sai. At the ZERO1 "Kameido Sun Street Free Event" the day before Ryouji had made the claim that he would win the World Title and begin a new age for the company. As announced, Ryouji's former friends from the reality TV show he was on all came to support him in his quest for ZERO1's top title. For his own part Otani said he felt Ryouji was being "conceited" and he would knock it out of the young upstart.

Otani went right to Ryouji's left leg, grabbing a quick ankle lock as the call of "Wrestler! Ganbatte!" came from the audience in support of Ryouji. Ryouji managed to escape and the two exchanged kicks and chops. Otani attacked Ryouji's leg again, putting him in a Figure-4 leglock causing him to crawl to the ropes to break the hold. Otani pulled the challenger back to the middle of the ring and continued to attack his leg. Ryouji fought back with rapid-fire knees, but only gained a little as Otani came back with the spinning heel kick and the Facewash in the corner. Otani then hit a German suplex but Ryouji was again able to come back as the two continued to battle back-and-forth.

As 15 minutes passed, Ryouji hit a back suplex on Otani who fought back quickly with yet another ankle hold. Otani then hit two rapid-fire Dragon Suplexes but Sai kept fighting, striking back with middle kicks, an avalanche brainbuster and then his Nachi Waterfall's diving foot stomp. Otani survived and returned the favor with the Hashimoto kesagiri chop, leading into his Spiral Bomb which has finished many opponents who have faced him - however Ryouji kicked out!

Otani was surprised as the two men rose to their feet to continue to strike. Here is where Ryouji took advantage of the situation and scored a high kick, knocking Otani to the ground! As Otani tried to rise, Ryouji rushed him with his running Sky Kick and scored the pinfall and the victory at around 17½. Otani who had only won the title belt last month was deprived in his 3rd defense and Ryouji proved his words by becoming the 4th World Heavyweight champion.

Following the match Sai celebrated in the ring with great enthusiasm, declaring again that this is a new era for ZERO1 and he wants to lead it. At this moment BJW wrestler Daisuke Sekimoto, who was also on the show, entered the ring and approached Ryouji. Sekimoto made it clear that he wanted to be the first challenger for Ryouji and the two fighters shook hands on the pairing right there in the ring. Ryouji then called his friends from "Ainori" into the ring to introduce them to the fans, saying they were the people who supported him greatly on his recent travels. They then all got together with the ZERO1 fighters to do the "3-2-1...ZERO-1!!" call to the fans.

The semi-main event of the show saw the return of former Sumo Yokozuna, Akebono, to the ZERO1 ring. Akebono had also appeared at last year's Yasukuni Show adding his sumo credentials to the sumo arena within the Shrine. Previously, Kohei had addressed the media and told them that his plan was to throw the massive Sumo wrestler using his German suplex hold. Kohei initially charged at Akebono using elbows but taking the big man head-on wasn't working very well. Kohei then reverted to delivering hard and accurate kicks to Akebono's left leg trying to chop him down to size!

This was an affective strategy as while Akebono was able to push Kohei off using his great strength his wounded leg collapsed under his weight! As Akebono struggled to his feet, Kohei continued to pinpoint the injured limb with an ankle lock and continued kicking and stomping.

With Akebono off balance, Kohei positioned himself for a German suplex but couldn't lift his opponent, delivering some elbows in rapid succession and switching to a back suplex Kohei was able to send Akebono crashing to the ground! Seeing another chance, Kohei once more attempted his German Suplex hold but Akebono was ready for him this time. Lifting the ZERO1 heavyweight onto his shoulders he slammed Kohei down hard with a Samoan Flip and scored the pinfall in just under 7 minutes.

The 5th match of the show was a tag team Street Fight/Hardcore match. Originally scheduled to team with Masato Tanaka was his Senpai and FMW legend Atsushi Onita who had appeared previously in ZERO1 and the Yasukuni Shrine events. Onita unfortunately had a scheduling conflict so it was determined that Big Japan Pro Wrestling's Daisuke Sekimoto would take his place. Across from the Tanaka and Sekimoto was the Gikyoudai team of Minoru Fujita and Takuya Sugawara who had participated in a similar bout last year versus The Great Sasuke and The Great Otani Shinjiro.

Being a free-for-all match by nature, no sooner had the bell rung that all the participants were brawling around the outside of the ring. Tanaka dragged Sugawara over to the side and placed him on a folding table. He then did his "shrine dedication" dive off a side archway and splashed his opponent through the table! The "Sworn Brothers" were soon able to rally by choking Sekimoto with Fujita's whip and repeatedly attacking with chairs and even a ladder. Back in the ring Sekimoto was able to shift the momentum back to his team with a double lariat that floored both Fujita and Sugawara! He then tagged out to Tanaka who also attacked both opponents at the same time with a double DDT. The Giyoudai fought back with a double elbow attack and Fujita hit Tanaka with a top rope Frankensteiner on to a folding chair!

Tanaka came in with a powerful attack just as the Brothers were trying to bring powder into play, as well at the lid of a plastic bucket as a weapon. Sekimoto hit the triple German suplex with Tanaka on Fujita, a nasty powerbomb and then a German suplex hold on Fujita for the 3 count! The Gikyoudai left the ring bickering but eventually reconciled and both held their hands up as the left for the locker room.

On March 15 at Korakuen Hall former ZERO1 International Jr. Heavyweight champion Ikuto Hidaka lost the title belt to the WPF representative Sonjay Dutt. Now without his title Hidaka was faced with a high level opponent, his former BattlArts senpai and former New Japan Jr. Champ Minoru. That last singles match between the two took place back on October 30th during the "Tenka-Ichi Jr. 2008 ~ Tournament" last year. In that match after almost 25 minutes it was Minoru who came out on top. Minoru would eventually lose to the tournament winner and former ZERO1 wrestler Tatsuhito Takaiwa in the tourney finals.

As would be expected this match also saw many kicks, submissions and fast moves. Hidaka lasered in on Minoru's left leg with precision kicks trying to weaken him for a submission. Minoru struggled with the injured leg but continued to unleash strong kicks with his good right leg. Minoru scored a back suplex and then a low altitude dropkick to Hidaka's face. Taking Hidaka to the top turnbuckle he verbally gave a short dedication to the Yasukuni Shrine before dropping Hidaka with a brainbuster!

Hidaka refused to give up, attacking Minoru with a Figure-4 causing the former New Japan fighter to escape to the ropes. Hidaka then hit a German suplex and went to the top turnbuckle but Minuro Intercepted him with a kick! Hidaka fought back and hit a missile dropkick right to Minoru's knee! He then locked on the Shawn Capture but once more Minoru escapes! As Hidaka rushed forward Minoru nailed him with a High Kick and promptly caught him with the "Minoru Special I" to conclude his second consecutive victory over Hidaka.

The third bout saw new NWA Intercontinental Tag Team champion Osamu Namiguchi team alongside one half of the current NWA International Lightweight champions Munenori Sawa versus WPF agents Mr. Wrestling 3 and new agent WBC1. The WPF team was in danger at one point when Nami, using the retiring SUN wrestler's Lanakilla-H on Mr. Wrestling 3, went for the pinfall but an errant kick by Sawa accidentally floored the Referee so there was nobody to make the count. With the referee still down, Mr. Wrestling 3 attacked Nami with a chair and then a reverse Tiger Driver to score the pin as the referee came back to his senses.

Also on the show, soon-to-retire joshi pro wrestlers Hikaru and Saki Maemura teamed once more with the Shirai Sisters, Io and Mio in a tag match. Saki teamed with Mio and Hikaru teamed with Io, a reverse of their pairing at the previous day's Kameido Sun Street event. The four women put on a spirited and entertaining match that the crowd enjoyed considering the vocal support. The match came down to the two SUN wrestlers as Saki and Hikaru battled with German suplexes until Hikaru won the pin with her Lanakill-H driver at what is possibly the last Joshi dedication match at the Yasukuni Shrine.

The opening match was a mostly young lions 6-man tag between the team of Shito Ueda, RIKIPRO's Kuniyoshi Wada and BJW's Shinya Ishikawa versus Yuzuru Saito, XWF's Yusaku Obata and BJW's Yuji Okabayashi. It was a short hard-hitting match that saw Ueda's team win when Ishikawa submitted Saito with a deep single-leg crab hold.

Previous to the days events there was a dedication ceremony performed in the ring, a child's "wrestling classroom," a O-Suwa drum performance and the singing of the Japanese national anthem by a childrens' choir. President Otani spoke briefly as well, welcoming all the visitors and saying that now matter how long he has wrestled seeing many people come out for pro wrestling always puts a lump in his throat. Also showcased was a kick boxing exhibition match presented by All Japan Kick Boxing's GM Satoshi Kobayashi.

Ryouji Declares a "New Age is Coming" for ZERO1!

March 28th, 2009

Today ZERO1 held a free promotional show today outside at Kameido Sun Street Market in Tokyo. They offered three matches and some other events, like a child's "wrestling classroom," to promote pro wrestling and their own show tomorrow at the Yasukuni Shrine. The main event saw World Heavyweight champion Shinjiro Otani versus tomorrow's challenger Ryouji Sai in a tag team match. Otani teamed with heavyweight young boy Shito Ueda and Ryouji was alongside his former NWA Intercontinental Tag Team champion partner Kohei Sato.

Otani was fired up and showed his temper and impatience with the young Ueda, pushing him both verbally and physically. Many new pro wrestling fans, most of whom were teenage girls and women, that had learned of ZERO1 through Ryouji's appearance on the TV show "Ainori" were also in attendance. There were many calls of support for "Wrestler" the name Ryouji was known as during his time in the Pink Bus.

The match ended when Ryouji pinned Ueda following his Nachi's Waterfall double footstomp. Following the victory Ryouji spoke to the crowd on the microphone:

Otani commented later that just because Ryouji is in top physical condition and has gained new popularity he shouldn't think he is going to win so easily. "I'll knock the conceit out of that fellow," he added.

Return To the Yasukuni Shrine! Otani vs. Ryouji Main Event!

March 21st, 2009

ZERO1's annual dedication to professional wrestling is upon us once more, as the company returns for the 5th time for their annual "Yamato Shinshu Chikara Matsuri" Celebration from the Yasukuni Shrine. Back in 2007 the main event of the show saw Shinjiro Otani defeat Ryouji Sai with his Dragon Suplex Hold in 21½ minutes in front of many pro wrestling fans. Now with the cherry blossoms sure to be present on March 29th the two will meet once more in singles action, this time for the World Heavyweight Title. Today the ZERO1 wrestlers all made their traditional pre-event visit to the Shrine to speak to the media.

As has been wildly reported, Ryouji Sai has recently returned from the filming of the Fuji TV reality program AINORI, where seven young men and women travel the world riding a pink bus trying to find love. It is a very popular show in Japan, regularly getting over 10 million viewers in its Monday night time slot. While Ryouji himself did not find love on the trip he did make many friends. It's being reported that several of his fellow pink bus travellers will come to Yasukuni on 3/29 to support Ryouji (known simply by the nickname "Wrestler" on the TV show) in his quest for the World title.

Also on the show former Yokozuna Akebono will return once more to the ZERO1 ring to face off against Heavyweight Kohei Sato in a singles match. Akebono told the press he is happy to be involved in the "Yamato Shinshu Chikara Matsuri" once more, as he participated last year. He said while in 2008 he was involved in a tag match, having a singles match will let him "enjoy the ring of ZERO1 fully." He also added that he's been improving his physical conditioning and that his goal in pro wrestling right now is to win a title belt.

His opponent, Kohei Sato, was one of Akebono's opponents last year in the tag match. Kohei was also present at the event to comment on this year's match:

Ikuto Hidaka has been the ZERO1 Jr. Heavyweight champion since June of 2008 but lost his title on March 15th versus American wrestler Sonjay Dutt. Hidaka's opponent this year is another former Jr. Champion in freelance pro wrestler Minoru. Minoru is a former 4x holder of the New Japan Pro Wrestling IWGP Junior Heavyweight title and will be a difficult opponent for Hidaka. Hidaka comments:

"I was beaten by Sonjay Dutt...and my International Jr. Heavyweight title was lost. Now I need to find a new path, and I understand the meaning of a match with Minoru Tanaka in such a sacred ring. This is a big match for me. I thrive on practice and through practice I will win a victory.

Minoru said that while in all the magazines and almanacs he's listed as a New Japan Wrestler that he is, "...honored to be allowed to participate in such a big match for ZERO1 at Yasukuni Shrine." Minoru said no matter the type of match whether its a Jr. title belt match or a "bloodied and tattered" hardcore match he's going to be well conditioned and prepared for Hidaka when the two finally enter the ring.

Last year the main event for the show was another World Heavyweight title match. Back then in 2008 it was champion Masato Tanaka successfully defending versus former ZERO1 wrestler Takao Omori. Originally scheduled to team alongside former Sensei and Japanese Hardcore Legend Atsushi Onita, Onita has had to pull out from the show due to unforeseen circumstances. Needing a tag team partner for the scheduled No DQ/No Countout Street Fight Tanaka turned to BJW Heavyweight Daisuke Sekimoto.

Tanaka and Sekimoto were the winning tag team in last year's massive ProWres Expo in Ryogoku Kokugikan by defeating three other tag teams in tournament action. Tanaka and Sekimoto will be taking on the wily tag team of the "Gikyoudai" (Sworn Brothers) of Minoru Fujita and Takuya Sugawara, also two former tag team champions. Last year at Yasukuni they were also in a Street Fight match that they ultimately lost to The Great Sasuke and The Great Otani Shinjiro.

A historic moment in ZERO1 occurred at the last Korakuen Hall show "Wrestler's 1" as trueborn Osamu Namiguchi won his first major company title. Defeating the WPF team of Steve Corino and Mr. Wrestling 3 in a decision match for the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Titles. His partner Ryouji Sai who himself is a 3x Intercontinental Tag Champion. Now the WPF has contacted ZERO1 and said they think Nami is getting a little big for his britches and needs to be taken down a notch. Therefore they will dispatch Mr. Wrestling 3 plus a new WPF Agent to face Nami at Yasukuni. Nami's partner will be one half of the NWA International Lightweight Tag champions BattlArts' Munenori Sawa.

Chickfight SUN wrestlers Hikaru and Saki Maemura continue along their retirement road leading to April 26th in Roppongi. They will be on seperate teams versus TEAM MAKEHEN's Shirai Sisters in a tag team match in the opening half of the show. Hikaru said she imagines since her retirement is nearing that this could very well be the last women's pro wrestling "dedication" match at the Shrine so she hopes to have "good recollections" when the match is over.

The opening match will be a 6-man of mostly young wrestlers hungry for their opportunity. ZERO1's Shito Ueda will team with RIKIPRO's Kuniyoshi Wada and BJW's Shinya Ishikawa versus ZERO1s Yuzuru Saito, XWF's Yusaku Obata and BJW's Yuji Okabayashi. There will also be a special Kickboxing Dedication Match presented by kickboxing teacher Satoshi "Wild Dog" Kobayashi, who is also Ikuto Hidaka's kickboxing trainer. The two participants are both accomplished fighters in the 60kg weight class, Masahiro Yamamoto and Hisanori Maeda

Victory Prizes Arrive For Nami!

March 19th, 2009

New NWA Intercontinental Tag Team champion Osamu Namiguchi did an interview for the Japanese ZERO1 website (www.z-1.co.jp/), and had mentioned that when Steve Corino, Sonjay Dutt and Orlando Colón had taken over their dormitory for the WPF the ZERO1 young boys had lost all their food! Nami and the other ZERO1 young boys had been completelt shut of out of their beds until the WPF wrestlers left Japan. He explained that the WPF invaders had left the dorm in shambles and had eaten up all the young boys meat which had been stored up and purchased at a high price! As the WPF lounged up in their rooms cooking and eating their meat, the evicted ZERO1 wrestlers spent their night sleeping in the ZERO1 office or the SAC storefront across the street.

In response to this interview, Nami's fans and supporters sent many cuts of meat, fish and even shrimp to the ZERO1 office to donate to the Young Boy's dormitory and make up for the lost eats. Nami was surprised by this act of compassion but thanked the fans for their generosity. He said he needs to keep in shape now that's he is a champion, and he hopes people will continue to watch his advancement.