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1st ZERO1 Tag League - Furinkazan!

November 19th, 2009

ZERO1 will hold their first tag league this December, begining on the 9th in Mito and ending on the 19th in Nagoya for a total of seven shows. The official name of the tag league is "Furinkazan" which literally translates as "Wind, Forest, Fire and Mountain."

This was the motto written on the battle standard of 16th century Japanese warlord Shingen Takeda, and originates from Chapter 7 of Sun Tzu's famous book The Art of War:

The ten following tag teams will participate in the Tag League:

• Ikuto Hidaka & Munenori Sawa
• Kohei Sato & KAMIKAZE
• Minoru Fujita & Takuya Sugawara
• Shinjiro Otani & Akebono
• Rikiya Fudo & Shito Ueda
• Ryouji Sai & Kenta Kakinuma
• Steve Corino & Kintaro Kanemura
• Tsutomu Osugi & Tatsuhito Senga
• Masato Tanaka & Masaaki Mochizuki
• Shiro Koshinaka & Hajime Ohara

To Defeat Hayato Jr., Sawa Undertakes Special "Boat Training!" In Vietnam?!

November 17th, 2009

BattlArts fighter and current NWA Intercontinental/NWA International Lightweight Tag Team champion Munenori Sawa will face Michinoku Pro wrestling Hayato "Jr" Fujita on 11/19 in Tokyo's Shin-Kiba 1st Ring. This bout will be a 1st Round match of ZERO1's annual Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament 2009.

To prepare himself for the match with Hayato Jr., Sawa suddenly found himself in the country of Vietnam and the famous Mekong River for special "boat training."

"Heading towards my fight with Hayato, my intention was to strengthen my 'Irabu Punch' in the boat rowing Mecca Toda-Koen in Saitama, Japan. I was so absorbed thinking about the Hayato match I paddled all the way to the Mekong River by mistake! I'm going to beat him and move to the finals as BattlArts and Michinoku Pro show the bachi-bachi fight in ZERO1's Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament. Nasha!"

The full scheduled brackets for the tournament are as follows:

Prince Devitt Says He Will Bring the "Heart of the Lion" To the Tenka-Ichi Jr. 2009!

November 16th, 2009

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team champion Prince Devitt makes his first ZERO1 appearance and first Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament participation on 11/29 in Tokyo's Korakuen Hall. Devitt will face the winner of the 1st Round match on 11/19 of Takuya Sugawara vs. Akira Tozawa. Earlier this month after selection to the tournament, Devitt relayed his perspective to the media:

"No disrespect to anyone [in the tournament]. As far as ZERO1, or any of the Japanese wrestling promotions go, I consider New Japan Pro Wrestling to be a much higher standard of wrestling. However coming into this tournament I'll be wrestling, halfway through, a full series for New Japan. So, that might be a bit of a handicap for me. That being said, I'll be bringing the 'heart of the lion' and wearing the lion logo mark on my chest, and I'll be ready to beat whoever it takes to win this tournament."

Wrestler's Comment as Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament 2009 1st Round Approaches!

November 13th, 2009

The Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament 2009 is right around the corner, and now with all participants decided some of the wrestlers have commented on the tournament, their goals and their opponents. The first to comment was Gikyoudai member Takuya Sugawara on his first round opponent DRAGON GATE's Akira Tozawa. After Sugawara had been invited to participate in a "generational" 6-man match back in his old haunting grounds, Tozawa also begged entry into the same match. Tozawa then contacted the ZERO1 offices and requested entry to the Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament and was accepted. Sugawara was then reached for comment:

"Tozawa? Who? I remember a trainee named Tozawa...Is he even qualified to take part in the Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament? Maybe ZERO1 should reconsider inviting a trainee; Tozawa isn't known by anybody. Either way I'll show him my fearlessness, the strength of ZERO1 and block him from moving up in the tournament."

Tozawa isn't the only young fighter appearing in his first Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament 2009 for ZERO1. Also participating in the 1st Round at Shin Kiba 1st Ring is Hayato Fujita Jr., who will be facing long time ZERO1 Junior class fighter BattlArts' Munenori Sawa. These two have met in the ring twice before for n Masaaki Mochizuki's BUYUDEN event and in BattlArts. ZERO1 caught up with Hayato for his comments on the upcoming match:

"Since I am representing Michinoku Pro I can't lose. I will win the tournament and take Michinoku Pro with me to the upper levels. I will win! I have fighting experience against Sawa, and they have been violent fights. Therefore I know his style and movements well, and we'll bring the bachi-bachi fight to the fans. If I advance to the next round I'll be facing Ohara who I am also familiar with from my time studying in Mexico. My ultimate goal would be to face Hidaka, he has always been a favorite, defeat him and then win the tournament!"

Hayato's first round opponent as mentioned is Munenori Sawa, the current NWA Intercontinenal and NWA International Tag Team champion with partner Ikuto Hidaka. Sawa also asked for comment on his upcoming battle with the young Michinoku Pro wrestler Hayato Fujita Jr.:

"Hayato Fujita Jr. is definitely an amazing talent, and I see him as a wrestler that is fundamentally different than the usual wrestler you'll encounter. I think he is somebody who decided to be a pro wrestler before he was even born. I on the other hand decided to become a pro wrestler the instant I was born! I'm going to beat him at Shin-Kiba and continue on to Korakuen Hall to win the entire tournament! Nasha!!"

Tanaka Levels Goto in the Lion's Den!

November 9th, 2009

Masato Tanaka has regularly appeared for New Japan Pro Wrestling during much of 2009, in this time he has built somewhat of a rivarly with Hirooki Goto. These two have faced each other 9 seperate times in tag matches, including a bloody hardcore tag match on August 30th in Korakuen Hall where Tanaka pinned Goto with the Sliding-D. Yesterday Tanaka and Goto faced each other in a "Special Singles Match" titled "DESTRUCTION AWAKING!!" at New Japan's "DESTRUCTION 2009" show in Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.

As expected the match was a hard-hitting bout that saw both men exchanging stiff strikes and dangerous moves. Tanaka unleashed a torrent of strikes on Goto, elbow strikes, lariats, avalanche back suplex, and several Sliding D's but the New Japan wrestler survived. Despite his fighting spirit however, Goto was unable to find final victory as Tanaka pinned him in 14½ minutes with the Rolling Elbow followed by a Sliding-D. Following the match Tanaka spoke on the microphone saying now it's obvious he could also beat Goto in a non-hardcore match and that Goto should stop calling Tanaka out.

New Japan Pro Wrestling "DESTRUCTION 2009" Tokyo, Japan November 8th, 2009 Ryogoku Kokugikan
FIGHT CARD
Special Singles Match ~ DESTRUCTION AWAKING!! Match #7
O Masato Tanaka (ZERO1)	vs.	Hirooki Goto X (NJPW)
(14:28 → Sliding D)