GAORA “GAORA TV 20th Anniversary ~ Super Fight 2011 ~ All Japan, Dragon Gate, Michinoku Pro, K-Dojo & OZ Academy Dream Show”, 1/24/2011 (GAORA TV)
Tokyo JCB Hall
3,200 Spectators (sell out/overcrowded)
(1) Dragon Kid [DG], BUSHI [AJP] & Power Pro Kamen (Seiya Sanada) [AJP] vs. Minoru [FREE], Susumu Yokosuka [DG] & KAGETORA [DG]
~ This was a great opening match in my opinion, everyone was spot on and delivered and exciting match. Everyone seemed to match vert well, yet I got to say that Power Pro easily seemed to be out of place as be the biggest in the match.
It this is the sing of what we are going to get all night I want more of this definitely.
(2) Aja Kong [OZ], Mayumi Ozaki [OZ] & Meiko Satomura [SENDAI] vs. Dynamite Kansai [OZ], Carlos Amano [OZ] & Chikayo Nagashima [OZ]
~ These women have some fight in them and pretty much beat the crap out of each other. I will be the first to tell you I do not know much when it comes to Joshi wrestling, but all these I have seen in the past. Definitely the more seasoned Joshi wrestlers in Japan and they all have their feuds and history with one another. You can definitely tell that with how they worked together in the ring. Another nod from me to watch this show.
(3) Kaz Hayashi [AJP], TAKA Michinoku [K-DOJO] & NOSAWA Rongai [FREE] vs. Jinsei Shinzaki [MICHI], TAJIRI [SMASH] & BxB Hulk [DG]
~ Interesting match up with Hayashi, Michinoku and Rongai with history with teaming in the past and Shinsaki, Shinzaki and the young man in the match. This match turned out to be a lot slower paced compared to what we just saw before hand, but I still give it a nod for being a technical bout. Hulk got treated like the young guy in the match but definitely held his own against them.
(4) Hiroshi Yamato [AJP] vs. YAMATO [DG]
~ The two Yamato’s going at it. Of course YAMATO is already established while Hiroshi is on the verge any day now to becoming a big superstar. He definitely has a lot of talent and he is going to need every bit of that going up against his opponent. These two matched up better than I expected considering it is the first time that they have met in the ring. I am actually hoping that sooner than later that these two could meet again down the road, especially for Hiroshi when he finals becomes a strong talent.
(5) Shuji Kondo [AJP] & KAI [AJP] vs. Naruki Doi [DG] & Naoki Tanizaki [DG]
~ Of all the matches on the card this one definitely has the most meaningful of an encounter. As many of you may or may not know Shuji Kondo got his start in DG years back and due to some circumstances was fired or better yet released in 2004 from the promotion without much hesitation. He eventually found his home in All Japan which has been his main stay since. This brings us to 2011 where this is the first time Kondo will be in the ring with any of his fellow DG compatriots in years. He has faced against Tanizaki on a few occasions in El Dorado, but even then that would be around 2008. But this I believe is the first time Kondo and Doi will have met and their is definitely they will have some tension coming into the match. Both have had success in their own right, but this would mark the real truth of who is actually gone on to become the better man. This match came down like I thought Kondo pretty much never looked Doi in the face and that added to the hostility between the two. Doi obviously had no issues against Kondo, but Kondo, I assume, cannot let the past behind him. Tanizaki and KAI brought their A games as well and made for an good match. Though I got to say this is another instance of showing how much bigger both Kondo and KAI are next to Juniors. Kondo gets the nod as a Junior because of the fact that he is not the tallest, but KAI always seems to be right on the edge. Though getting back to the match this played out well with the total attitude of Kondo and what Doi and Tanizaki brought to the match.
All I got to say is that we better get Kondo vs. Doi one on one here this year or I am going to feel a bit let down inside. The tension in this match definitely feeds that it is not over and something is going to happen to eventually let Kondo shake Doi’s hand when this is all said and done. So a singles encounter is the way to go. That is to say unless this whole feeling is actually 100% not a kayfab then still who cares someone has to get this match on paper.
(6) 6 Man Tag Match: Minoru Suzuki [PANCRASE], Masakatsu Funaki [FREE/AJP] & Masaaki Mochizuki [DG] vs. Akebono [FREE], Ryota Hama [AJP] & Don “Sumo” Fujii [DG]
~ This match is coming down as team UWF vs. The Sumo’s of professional wrestling. Suzuki, Funaki & Mochizuki all have history being known as shoot wrestlers early on in their careers. As for Akebono, Hama & Fujii they began their careers in a completely opposite affair as they were sumo wrestlers and all had very mixed success between them. Though this brings us to today and their current career’s in pro wrestling. All in all this was a fun match up, a lot of fun coming from Fujii and his taking his character to the limit. It just made for a fun match in all. I mean with Akebono you are not going to get much in terms of pure wrestling, but that is why he has Hama who even though his size can really work. I definitely give this a nod as well, because if you like good fun matches you really should not have to look farther than what went down in this match to be honest.
(7) Dream Team vs. Champion Team Special Match: Keiji Mutoh [AJP], CIMA [DG] & Jushin Thunder Liger [NJPW] vs. Suwama [AJP], Great Sasuke [MICHI] & Masato Yoshino [DG]
~ Lots of big names and a lot of talent coming into the main event of what has already been an excellent show in my opinion. This match plays out with Mutoh, CIMA & Liger all being the respected aces and well known figures in their promotion as well as pro wrestling in general. CIMA is considered as the forerunner for what DG is today and Liger and Mutoh both contributed a lot to the way we see Heavyweight and Junior type matches respectively. Suwama, Sasuke & Yoshino come in as the champions of their respected promotions. Of course Suwama is the current All Japan Triple Crown Title Holder, Sasuke is the current Michinoku Pro Tohoku Junior Heavyweight as Masato Yoshino is the Open the Brave Gate champion for Dragon Gate. Definitely a whose who of the Japanese Professional Wrestling.
Definitely the stars that shined the most in this match has to go to CIMA and Yoshino. Both guys were on point in the match and definitely out classed Mutoh a few times, namely Yoshino and his speed. Mutoh is nowhere as good as he once was and his knees are far worse for ware. That can also be said for Sasuke, I knew his knee was in bad shape as well, but I was actually scared a few times for him and that brace he was wearing. This shows you the lengths that these guys go to put on a show for us the fans. Liger was Liger and played the match well as he always tends to do. I definitely would really enjoy seeing Liger take on Yoshino for the Dream Gate belt, who knows it could happen. Suwama looked a bit off a couple of moments, but I still think that this match did what it was meant to do. Showcase the talent from all the promotions and close out the show with also showing 25 years of different talent in the years, from the new style of DG to the classic style of Mutoh and so forth.
I would definitely recommend this show for all to watch, just for the fact of everyone who came together for this show. There was a couple great matches and some that did their job like I said of showing all that Gaora offers with pro wrestling coverage of events and media.