Into the Indies 03.30.10: RJPW Keeps It Real

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Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies . . . the column that still is your grandaddy’s pro wrestling.

This week, in the afterglow of Wrestlemania, we’re taking a look at a promotion for the first time in this column, and that promotion is Real Japan Pro Wrestling.

RJPW’s story began in 2005 when one of the true legends of professional wrestling decided that he was getting bored. Satoru Sayama, who most fans know better as the original Tiger Mask, had been wrestling on a semi-regular basis throughout Japan in several different promotions for many years after coming out of his original retirement in 1995. However, he needed a place that he could call his home, and the result was Real Japan opening its doors for a debut show on April 16, 2005. That debut show set the tone for the rest of the promotion, as it featured Sayama himself alongside Ultimo Dragon in the main event, with an undercard featuring guys like Alexander Otsuka and Kazuhiro Tamura in some matches and guys like Kota Ibushi and Taiji Ishimori in others. RJ’s style was clearly established, with a mix of shoot-style wrestlers and modern high flyers in opening and midcard matches with the legends of puroresu taking a foothold in the main event. Eventually several trainees of Sayama would debut and be added to the mix, taking part in all variety of matches.

This pattern has repeated itself for virtually every Real Japan show in history, though it has yet to wear out its welcome simply because the promotion only runs once every few months or so. Their crowds are respectable for the indy scene, hovering anywhere in between 1,2000 and 1,7000 fans who regularly pack themselves in to Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall to see the likes Gran Hamada, Minoru Suzuki, and the Great Sasuke in action.

There’s not that much more to say about the company because, quite frankly, they don’t do a heck of a lot. Given that they only run sporadically, they don’t run many angles, and they’ve only got one championship, which is hardly considered prestigious in the grand scheme of Japanese professional wrestling. However, what RJPW does do is produce solid, fun little professional wrestling cards, generally without a stinker of a match anywhere in sight. This week, we’ll be taking a look at the March 1, 2009 presentation of Sayama and company to see if it can keep that tradition of quality alive.

Match Numero Uno: Yuta Yoshikawa & Hayato Mashita vs. Keita Yano & Akifumi Saito

Our opening contest features four relatively inexperienced wrestlers, with three of the four having debuted in 2007 and Yoshikawa being the grizzled veteran with a whopping five years of experience. Yoshi and Yano are BattlArts trainees, while Saito and Mashita have both come out of the dojo of RJPW frontman Sayama. I2I readers with entirely too much time on their hands and/or frighteningly good memories might recall that we first saw Yano many moons ago, teaming with Jaguar Yakota in a rare-for-Japan mixed tag team match

The first men in the ring are Yano and Yoshikawa, with the two wrestlers going to the mat early and shooting for various holds but neither gaining a real advantage until Yoshikawa slips his man into a bodyscissors. He is ultimately able to apply a crossface in conjunction with that hold, but Yano rolls under the bottom rope for a break. This sets up both men tagging their partners, who, before long, have each other in simultaneous leglocks. Mashita eventually gains the advantage with a version of the crippler crossface, and, when we clip ahead, he is hitting a double kneelift in the corner on Saito. Saito doesn’t really sell it, instead charging forward and snap maring his opponent before kicking him in the back and cranking on a guillotine choke. Mashita slips out and goes back to a leglock, this time without Saito also applying one. Surprisingly, Saito is able to quickly slip out and apply a headlock, though the opposition makes the ropes. Saito decides that it is time for Yano to return to the match, and the surfer dude drops a series of elbows across Mashita’s leg before faking him out on the last one and dropping it on his chest. Saito returns to the ring for some leg kicks and a toe hold, which culminates in him just punching Mashita as hard as he can in the back of the leg. Hayato manages to use his free leg to kick Saito in the back of the head, though, and that sets up the tag to Yohikawa. It’s not quite a traditional pro wrestling hot tag, but Yoshi does take on both of his opponents and gets Saito into a Fujiwara armbar. Saito sells the arm pretty big but still manages to fire back with a high kick that sets up an exchange with Yano.

Yano lands a diving back elbow on Yoshikawa in the corner and then a missile dropkick, but they only bet two counts. Yoshi has an AWESOME pissed off facial expression as he recovers. The two wrestlers exchange kicks and palm strikes, culminating in a big boot to Yano’s face when he foolishly attempts to run the ropes. Hayato tags in and tries to keep the momentum alive for his team, but he fails miserably as Yano immediately takes him down with boots and tags Saito in for some double teaming. Saito and Yano each grab one of Hayato’s legs, pulling on them in two different submissions. Of course, Yoshikawa makes the save and takes Yano out to the floor. Hayato and Saito are left to do battle in the squared circle, with Saito ultimately surprising his opponent with a heel hook out of nowhere. It looks like Yoshikawa is going to run in for the save, but Yano jumps in from just out of the camera frame and dropkicks him off of the ring apron to put an end to that. Great false finish there of the sort that you rarely see. The false nature of the finish doesn’t mean that Yoshikawa and Mashita are not winning, though, as Hayato stays on his man with a shining wizard variant and a snug German suplex to earn a three count over Saito.

Match Thoughts: Given the inexperience of everybody in the match, I was amazed how polished all four guys were and how well they meshed to put together a professional wrestling match the quality of which belied their years in the business. Granted, a lot of that probably had to do with the fact that three of them have trained together and have thus been working together for their entire careers. However, at the end of the day, an entertaining professional wrestling match is an entertaining professional wrestling match, and I’m not going to worry about why it’s entertaining if it actually is. The finishing sequence in particular was very well put together, and I’d be interested in seeing all four men branching out to wrestle more experienced opponents. **1/2

Match Numero Dos: Kamen Shooter Super Rider vs. Tomohiro Ishii

We’re getting a rare I2I “big league” cameo here, as Ishii is on loan from New Japan Pro Wrestling’s CHAOS faction, where he has wrestled for several years after a journeyman career that has seen stints in WAR, Michinoku Pro, and numerous other promotions. His opponent is the masked persona of near twenty-year veteran Koichiro Kimura, who has an extensive MMA background in addition to competing for pro wrestling deathmatch promotions like W*ING and FMW.

The Rider gets the first offense of the match with a few kicks to the chest, but they have no effect on Ishii. A flying forearm does a little bit better, though, taking Ishii off of his feet to set up a flip senton from the masked man. After a brief exchange on the mat that results in a stalemate, Ishii gets an advantage with some strikes and headbutts, though Rider is able to answer with a suplex for the first nearfall of the match. He looks for a cross arm breaker but it is blocked, leading to Ishii herking his opponent up off of the mat and slamming him down. The big man follows with several forearms and Super Rider fires back with knees, first at mid-ring and later in the corner. A headscissors is applied by Kamen, but Ishii slips out and turns it into a headlock that he works for a surprisingly long period of time. Rider tries to escape but gets maneuvered back into the corner, where it looks like Ishii is going to dominate until Rider fires off some more knees. He attempts a transition into a triangle choke, but, much like the cross arm breaker earlier, Ishii blocks it and uses the hold as an opening to lift up his opponent and slam him down on the mat. Ishii briefly attempts to remove his opponent’s mask at this point, but the referee puts an end to it, so Ishii just throws him out of the ring instead. Kamen is whipped through a row of chairs and hit with an umbrella before Ishii wears him out with several chairshots. Rider tries to answer the referee’s ten count, but Ishii knocks him off of the apron when he makes the attempt.

The referee prevents Ishii from doing the same thing the second time around, and Rider shows some life with a series of closed fists to the gut, a bodyslam, and an American-style elbow drop. That’s not one you see to much of in puro. Rider looks for a rear naked choke but has his efforts thwarted by the ropes. Not thwarted is the masked man’s tornado DDT, which he follows up with a missile dropkick. Undeterred, Ishii hits a low blow behind the referee’s back and then a lariat. He goes after Rider’s mask again, even knocking down the official when he attempts to intervene. Eventually Rider is unmasked for an immediate disqualification. He covers his face so that his secret identity is not revealed, and the crowd actually cheers the unmasking, which I don’t think was the intended effect.

Seconds later, somebody from Rider’s corner has provided him with a second mask, and he puts it on before jumping Ishii and going afte rhim with a chair. The two men brawl at ringside for quite some time as security attempts to break them up.

Match Thoughts: The best part of this entire segment was the post-match brawl. It got a pretty damn good reaction from the crowd, and the intensity between the wrestlers wasn’t quite off the charts, but I it was approaching that limit. The match proper was just an extended pummeling of poor Super Rider by Ishii. An extended squash can sometimes be entertaining, but it just didn’t click in this particular case. I think that the problem was that Kimura was just getting in a bit too much offense. He wasn’t doing quite enough for it to be a solid back and forth match, but he was simultaneously doing too much for it to qualify as a truly epic squash. I would love to see them come back against one another for a match that more closely mirrors their brawl afterwards, though, unfortunately, I doubt it will happen. *

Match Numero Tres: Alexander Otsuka vs. Super Tiger II

I’ve been looking forward to seeing this particular match, because we’ve seen these two in the ring together before here at I2I, and the result was a **** elimination tag team match. Let’s hope this battle can equal that encounter.

The two wrestlers circle each other almost like kickboxers in the opening seconds of the match, each looking for an opening. They then rush each other simultaneously and reel off some strikes, with neither man winning in that department and Otsuka deciding that he needs to head to an armbar. Tiger reverses that into one of his own and ultimately turns it in to a suplex, which he rolls through in order to attempt a cross arm breaker. When Otsuka shifts his position, Tiger decides that a triangle choke may be the better option, though he doesn’t quite get it as Otsuka slips away again. This time Tiger catches him in a hold that late 90’s US fans might recall as the Rings of Saturn. Otsuka gets his foot on the bottom rope to break that, and now we’re back to strike trading. Super Tiger’s palm thrusts rule the day and set up a spin kick to the head, though it only gets a two count. Tiger slaps on a crossface chicken wing after that, but Otsuka eventually gets himself another rope break.

Tiger’s next hold, a waistlock, is countered. That eventually leads to an ankle lock from Otsuka, which the masked man tries to get his way out of with an enzuguiri. Alexander ducks it, though, and Super Tiger’s error leaves him open to be placed into a GIANT SWING~! After that completely out of nowhere hold, Otsuka goes to the Boston crab. The feline makes the ropes, so Otsuka just drags him right back into the center of the squared circle and applies a version of the Texas cloverleaf. He never quite gets it cinched in, though, leading to another rope break. Tiger regains a vertical base when the hold is released, but he’s met almost immediately with a headbutt and a sweet leaping rana from Otsuka. A vertical suplex from Alex connects, and he bars the arm, eventually turning it into a variation on Jinsei Shinzaki’s Heavenly Lock. Another rope break occurs, but Otsuka stays on his man with a flip senton. Tiger fires back with some more palm strikes and a headbutt, which don’t go unanswered but are still enough to allow the masked man to hit a butterfly suplex. What appears to be a version of the Anaconda Vice is briefly applied by the Tiger Mask trainee, but Otsuka escapes to catch him in a bow and arrow submission. Alexander is cut off when he runs into his opponent’s boot, but he is able to respond immediately with a dragon suplex and then a German. Then, out of the blue, Otsuka hits the STEINER SCREWDRIVER of all moves. (The Japanese announcers even use that name for it.) Needless to say, the match is over.

Match Thoughts: Usually I’m not that big of a mark for the moves that occur in a professional wrestling match. I would much rather that the moves which are used come together in to a cohesive story that flows well as opposed to seeing a disjointed string of moves, each of which I really love. However, I do still have a few favorite moves and holds, just like any professional wrestling fan would. It’s almost as though this match was specifically put together for me, because it contained many of my favorites: the Screwdriver, the Rings, the chicken wing, the Heavenly Lock, the dragon suplex, and others. As a result of that, I might be a little bit biased in its favor, but, hey, personal bias is just one of the things that you have to keep in mind when you’re reading an entirely subjective review. ***

Match Numero Cuatro: Gran Hamada, Sammy Lee, Jr., & Kendo Nagasaki vs. Tiger Shark & Black Shadow

Well, this is a bizarre flipping crew of wrestlers in a bizarre-for-Japan handicap match. Seeing Tiger Shark is no real surprise, because he’s one of Sayama’s pupils who debuted around the same time as Super Tiger II from the previous match. Even seeing Hamada is no real surprise, as he’s a junior heavyweight legend from the same era as Sayama and is no doubt getting the booking here because of that fact. (And, because I’m writing on a website that primarily covers American wrestling, I am obligated to point out that, yes, he is the father of current TNA star Ayako Hamada.)

That’s where things start to get a little bit more odd. Sammy Lee, Jr. is DDT wrestler Kota Ibushi wearing a mask and using a name that Sayama himself used early is his career when he toured Europe. Speaking of Europe, one of Sammy’s partners is Kendo Nagasaki. Three weeks ago, I reviewed a Kendo Nagasaki match. However, this is a completely different guy. The Nagasaki gimmick was originally used by a British wrestler pretending to be Japanese and then, oddly enough, picked up by an actual Japanese wrestler. When I saw the match listing for this show, I made what I thought was a fairly safe assumption, i.e. that this was the Japanese competitor. Nope, it’s the British guy, stepping into the ring at age 62. Rounding out the crew is a wrestler lucha libre fans might know by the name of Rocky Santana, who here has donned the hood and name of Black Shadow, a character originated in the 1940’s by one of the biggest rivals of the legendary El Santo.
We’ve got a brawl before the introductions get over with, as poor Sammy Lee doesn’t get to hear his name screamed by the announcer before Hamada rushes Tiger Shark and things degenerate in to an all-out fight. Lee and Shark are the two guys who wind up in the ring, with Sammy dropkicking his opponent out of the squared circle and then giving him a big moonsault body block down on the arena floor. Several kicks from Junior connect back in the ring, after which Hamada and Shadow tag in. The elder statesman dominates with a lariat, eventually setting Shadow up so that all three members of his team can hit corner attacks. Hamada follows that with a rana off of the second rope, but Tiger Shark breaks up the ensuing pin attempt. We’ve got another multi-man brawl after that, culminating with Black Shadow giving Gran Hamada a brainbuster on the arena floor. When the insanity ends, Sammy Lee and Tiger Shark are in the ring once more, this time with the Shark keeping his high flying opponent grounded with a chinlock. Ibushi makes the ropes but gets some headbutts and a big knee from Shark for his trouble before the fish tags out to the Shadow. The luchadore drops an elbow for two as we switch to a camera shot outside of the ring, where Gran Hamada is being stretchered out.

Meanwhile, in between the ropes, Nagasaki has tagged in to trade chops with Black Shadow. Ultimately, the Mexican takes the Britton down with the complete shot and locks him in a version of the camel clutch before reintroducing Tiger Shark into the match. Shark comes off the top with a cross body block and connects with a standing moonsault for a nearfall. Sharkie’s knees find themselves embedded in his opponent’s midsection, and then Kendo has his face run across the top rope. We revisit the world of restholds and nondescript strikes for a while, but eventually Nagasaki reverses a Tiger Shark brainbuster in to one of his own. It looks like Kendo will tag Lee, but Shadow runs in to knock Sammy off of the apron. Nagasaki is able to get both of his opponents down with a double clothesline, though, and that gets us a tag. Sammy immediately hits Tiger Shark with a German suplex and a frog splash, each move earning him a two count. Lee then sets up Tiger for a Nagasaki senton, but that’s not enough to put the Shark away. Lee and Kendo attempt to give him a double team suplex, but it’s reversed in to a double DDT and Shadow is reintroduced into the match to go after Kendo Nagasaki. The dragon sleeper is applied on the Brit, and then Shadow drops a knee for two before going to a blatant choke hold in front of the referee. Nagaasaki fires back with a lariat and another brainbuster, then opting to hit a second version of the same move. Shadow catches him from behind with a German and teams up with Tiger Shark for stereo superkicks, and then a Shadow tombstone leads to a Superfly splash from Tiger Shark. The referee refuses to count, presumably because Shark is not the legal man. Then, as Shark leaps off the top rope and down to the floor to hit Sammy Lee with a tope, Shadow gives Kendo another brainbuster to put him away.

Match Thoughts: Well, this was one of the biggest mish-mashes of various wrestling styles that I’ve ever scene. In one bout, you had Ibushi, the modern high flyer; Hamada, the Kota Ibushi of twenty-five years ago; Nagasaki, the old man; Santana, the luchadore; and Tiger Shark, the shooter/flyer hybrid made in the image of his mentor. Sometimes you can have two wrestlers of radically different styles come together and have a pretty solid singles match against one another. However, in this particular bout, there were five different styles all running up against each other, and, though it didn’t lead to anything being horribly botched or otherwise screwed up, the fact that nobody was doing the same thing prevented any one of the wrestlers from truly highlighting everything that he could do. It was certainly an interesting match to watch because I couldn’t even fathom how the five names involved would come together and produce something cohesive, but “interesting” doesn’t always result in “good.” *1/2

Match Numero Cinco: Minoru Suzuki vs. Yuki Ishikiawa

This match is a bit of a generational clash, with BattlArts founder Ishikawa going up against professional wrestling and MMA veteran Suzuki, who primarily works for All Japan these days. After an initial feeling out process, the two men go to the mat and jockey for position, with nobody getting a real advantage until Ishikawa shoots for a cross arm breaker. Minoru is able to prevent it from being fully applied, but he doesn’t prevent the older wrestler from slapping him the face. Suzuki doesn’t take kindly to that and returns the favor, but Ishikawa is undeterred and headbutts him when the wrestlers get back to their feet. Suzuki gets in some strikes as well, but Ishikawa takes him down again and applies a chinlock. He looks for the cross arm breaker once more, but Suzuki still won’t let him get it. Ishikawa briefly goes to a toe hold, but Suzuki is in the ropes . . . and the same occurs when Suzuki tries for a chinlock of his own. Then things start to get intense, as Minoru lands some big blows to his opponent’s back when the chinlock is released. Ishikawa gets him with an enzuguiri, but it barely affects Minoru, who then applies a sleeper hold. He THROWS Ishikawa down to the mat while still holding on to the sleeper, landing on top of him and cranking on the hold until Ishikawa has no choice but to tap out instead of being choked out.

Match Thoughts: Short match? Yes. Awesome moment when the two guys finally came unglued and Suzuki locked on one of most intense chokes that I’ve ever seen? Absolutely. * It’s a low rating due to the length, but it’s a very funny much for the time allotted.

Match Numero Seis: Tiger Mask I & Tiger Mask IV vs. Riki Choshu & Tatsuhito Takaiwa

And it’s main event time, a match which of course features Sayama himself teaming up with the most recent wrestler to adopt his name and mask, who for many years was a fixture in Michinoku Pro Wrestling before graduating to become the cornerstone of the current junior heavyweight division in New Japan, for better or for worse. The opposing team also follows the legend/current junior heavyweight motif, with Choshu being one of the biggest legends in the history of both New Japan and All Japan and his partner Takaiwa being a journeyman junior whose most recent major role was being the fifth wrestler to portray the role of Tiger Mask rival Black Tiger in NJPW.

I’ve already taken a look at one recent Sayama match in this column, so I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I think that it bears repeating: In modern day, this man is damn near spherical. Choshu, meanwhile, looks like a tough SOB . . . a sixty year old tough SOB, but a tough SOB nonetheless. The ball-shaped Tiger starts with Riki, and they feel each other out for a bit before they start running the ropes and TMI kicks off the offense with a dropkick and a low-elevation hiptoss before going to a keylock. Choshu escapes and does some arm work of his own before tagging in Takaiwa. The younger Tiger Mask enters the ring to meet his counterpart, and Takaiwa misses some wild forearm swings, allowing Tiger to take over on him with some kicks before getting taken off his feet with a shoulderblock. TMIV rolls to the outside for a breather and goes right back to his opponent afterwards, cranking on him with a front facelock and handing him off to Sayama. Satoru reels off some boots of his own and a nice swinging DDT before dropping the power drive elbow and looking for his keylock again. Takaiwa blocks the hold, so TMI trades off to TMIV, who goes into the chinlock. That was a poor choice, as it allows Takaiwa to regain a vertical base and tag out to Riki, who immediately plants the New Japan junior ace with a brainbuster to soften him up for Takaiwa. Tatsuhito catches the Tiger by his toe and applies a half Boston crab, but the older, rounder cat runs in to break it up.

Takaiwa switches to a headscissors and uses the hold to slam his opponent’s face into the mat a few times, though Tiger manages a rope break. That’s a cue for Choshu to return to the ring, but he fails to get in any offense against TMIV as the young fellow almost immediately runs to his corner and slaps Sayama’s paw. He takes Choshu down and drops a series of knees for two, though Riki is able to respond with offense of his own rather quickly, and here comes Takaiwa. Tiger quickly powers him back to the corner, though, giving us another tag to #4. Choshu tags in as well, and he applies his patented Scorpion hold when Tiger misses a dropkick. Again, the older Tiger Mask saves his counterpart from the hold, but Riki doesn’t relent and hits TMIV with a big lariat. He runs into a pair of dropkicks when attempting a second, however, and opts to tag out to Takaiwa. Tiger surprises Tatsuhito with a victory roll, but the offensive flurry doesn’t last long as Takaiwa comes back with an axe bomber and a slam and goes to the top rope. Tiger kicks him in the head as he’s perched on the ropes, though, attempting an offensive rally but ultimately being caught in Takaiwa’s powerslam. He looks for a powerbomb after that, but Tiger Mask busts out something that I’ve not seen in quite a while, the good old YOU CAN’T POWERBOMB KIDMAN~! spot. That gives us a tag to Sayama, who gets in a flying forearm on his opponent and a tombstone piledriver. He doesn’t go for the cover, though, as he sees Choshu primed to run in at any moment. Then, in the absolute SPOT OF THE NIGHT, old, fat, broken down Satoru Sayama goes to the top rope and comes off with a diving headbutt that launches him three-quarters of the way across the ring. Takaiwa barely sells it, though, popping up and giving the codger a death valley driver. TMIV is in to break up the pinfall, then knocking Choshu off of the apron for good measure. With Riki dispatched, the original Tiger Mask is free to give Takaiwa a tiger suplex and pin him. It’s handshakes all around after the match.

Match Thoughts: The first eight-five percent of this match was fairly unimpressive tag team wrestling. If anything, it was what I would call subpar. Part of that was due to the limitations of the older wrestlers, and part of that was due to the fact that they seemingly didn’t want to build this like a standard tag team match, with wrestlers being beaten on for a while only to magically pop up and make a tag out to their opponents instead of having to struggle to make it over to their corner for a tag. However, once the wrestlers stopped killing time and actually got to the finish, things picked up significantly. Though I doubt he could go for much longer than a minute or two in high gear, seeing Sayama crank things up to that level for a limited period of time was still AWESOME, from his awesome flying headbutt to his bump off of the DVD to his tiger suplex. It wasn’t quite enough to save the match when considered as a whole, but it was enough to get me to walk away form this one a happy camper. *3/4

Overall

Though they don’t get as much coverage on the internet as a Ring of Honor or a CHIKARA, some of the most popular independent wrestling promotions in the United States in terms of live event attendance are in the southern and mid-Atlantic regions of the country and feature main events involving legends of the sport who are still going, including Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, Tully Blanchard, and Jerry Lawler. I suppose, in a way, Real Japan and Tatsumi Fujinami’s promotion Dradition are the Japanese versions of those promotions. If you think about that and then think about what I’ve written in my review, I’m pretty sure that you can essentially write the rest of my closing comments for me. This show was fun to watch primarily for nostalgia reasons, getting an opportunity to see guys like Hamada and Sayama doing all of their greatest hits that they’re still capable of pulling off while simultaneously younger talent like Ibushi and the Sayama trainees were allowed to give everybody just a taste of what they were capable of. It’s not a must-see show by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a good way to kill a couple of hours on a lazy weekend afternoon.

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See you all next week!