Into the Indies 09.07.10: We’re Gonna Win! We’re FREEDOMS!

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that is getting back into the swing of things.

This week, we take our first look at a promotion named FREEDOMS. However, even though this is our first look at FREEDOMS proper, the look, the feel, and the roster of the show should sound familiar to those of you who have followed this column for a while. Back in September, we took a look at Apache Army and gave a decent history of how that promotion had come to be. The short version is that it was the latest link a chain of several groups that attempted to fill the void of FMW and give a place to former FMW stars to work after that promotion went under in 2002. Unfortunately for the Apache Army, they themselves bit the dust in 2009 after taking a big hit due to a sex scandal that began plaguing Kintaru Kanemura, one of its major players, in 2008. It was only a matter of months, though, before Apache Army wrestler Takashi Sasaki had gathered a group of new sponsors and launched FREEDOMS as the successor to Apache Army. The roster is virtually the same and the style of wrestling is virtually the same . . . it’s really only the name that has changed.

However, not long into its existence, FREEDOMS faced a challenge from the outside. It was a bit of an ironic situation, as the Apache Army had, early in its existence, “invaded” several other Japanese promotions including New Japan, ZERO1, and Kaientai Dojo. Now FREEDOMS, the successor to Apache Army, was being invaded by a group referring to itself as the Kojika Army. This Army was being headed up by legendary wrestler Shinya Kojika, a.k.a. the Great Kojika. Believe it or not, even though he still wrestles from time to time, Kojika was born in 1942, making him SIXTY-EIGHT YEARS OLD, and he got his start in professional wrestling in the early 1970’s. In 1995, despite wrestling a traditional, submission-based style for the majority of his career, he was part of a group of wrestlers who founded Big Japan Wrestling, which for the past fifteen years has been the premier deathmatch wrestling group in the country.

For his Army, Kojika assembled a lineup of wrestlers from across several independent promotions in Japan, including Michinoku Pro Wrestling, ZERO1, and DDT. Ultimately, it was decided that the best way for the two units to settle their differences would be to put them in a best of five series of singles matches, which would be held on the June 21, 2010 FREEDOMS show, entitled, appropriately enough, “WE’RE GONNA WIN! WE’RE FREEDOMS!” However, there was still a fair amount of speculation regarding whether the show’s title would ring true or whether Kojika and his crew would play spoilers for the evening.

Oh, and here’s an odd little aside. In addition to giving us a stacked five-on-five series of top indy matches for this event, FREEDOMS also decided to book a special dream hardcore match for the evening featuring their own Jun Kasai taking on an opponent who fans of this genre had wanted to see him go up against for quite some time . . . THE NECRO BUTCHER~! With all apologies to the Great Kojika, that is the match which hooked me and probably the vast majority of English-speaking fans in to hunting down and watching this show, so let’s see whether it delivers and whether there are any matches which might supercede it during the loaded five-on-five singles match series.

Match Numero Uno: Ricky Fuji, Shinobu, Madoka, & Keita Yano, & Kamui (FREEDOMS) vs. Abdullah Kobayashi, Kazuhiko Ogasawara, Brahman Shu, Brahman Kei, & Ken45̊ (Kojika Army)

This is an elimination match, featuring a bunch of guys who normally inhabit FREEDOMS undercards on one side and a bunch of guys who are essentially being billed as the Kojika Army b-team on the other side. We’re joined in progress with identical twins Shu & Kei Sato double teaming Ricky Fuji, though it’s not long before a save is made. That allows Fuji to hit the Finlay roll on a Sato, and he’s dog piled for a three count and an elimination. Clipping ahead, Fuji is fighting with the other Sato on the ring apron, but Kobayashi dropkicks both of them off and down to the floor. The bell rings, so I’m going to assume that was some sort of over the top rope elimination. More clipping leads to Kobayashi and Ken45̊ double teaming Keita Yano, and a top rope elbow drop from Abdullah puts the BattlArts representative away. More fast forwarding sees everybody hitting corner attacks on Shinobu, but he takes out a Sato with an INSANE clothesline. It looked like the Sato was going for a flip bump but didn’t rotate and landed right on the back of his head as a result. Another clip sees Kamui land a 450 on Ken45̊ only to be assaulted and roughed up by Ogasawara’s body blows. Kobayashi holds Kamui for more pounding, but there’s a MALFUNCTION AT THE JUNCTION, causing Ogasawara to punch his partner. That sets up an inside cradle by Kamui, which gets the final elimination and wins the match for his team.

Match Thoughts: There’s very little to say here, as this was a match which ran over ten minutes being cut down to just a handful of highlights. I don’t necessarily mind that because there could only be so much television time for the rest of the card to air, but the editing here was weird, as the people who put the highlight reel together seemingly wanted to get as many of the eliminations into the package together as opposed to getting in as many impressive spots as possible. The result was a highlight reel which wasn’t quite as good as it could have been under different circumstances, which is a shame because I bet it could have been fairly interesting based on the source material.

Match Numero Dos: Minoru Fujita & Takuya Sugawara vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Masashi Takeda

This appears to be just a random undercard match, booked for god knows what reason. We’re joined in progress with stereo topes by Fujita and Sugawara, and clipping leads to them hitting a double brainbuster on Takeda. A great running elbow follows, and Fujita looks for a submission of some sort . . . but Takaiwa makes the save. He hits simultaneous lariats on both of his opponents and a death valley driver setting up a diving knee by Takaiwa. Seconds later, there’s a German suplex by Masahi on Sugawara, which nets him a three count.

Match Thoughts: Virtually all we got was the finish here, so I really have nothing to say.

Match Numero Tres: Mammoth Saski vs. Daisuke Sekimoto

We’re not quite to the FREEDOMS versus Kojika Army series yet, but this is still a big match for FREEDOMS in some other respects. One of the youngsters who was really starting to get a push towards the end of FMW was Mammoth Sasaki, and, because he was on the rise when FMW ended, he immediately became one of the mainstays of its successor promotions and Apache Army. (And, yes, he is an answer to a trivia question in that he is the man who Hayabusa was wrestling when ‘Busa ended his career with a botched lionsault.) However, Mammoth had gone down with an injury for quite some time before this show, and this bout was set to be his big return. His opponent is Big Japan Wrestling’s Daisuke Sekimoto, who was recently in the United States for CHIKARA and is probably on the top of my list of Japanese guys who US promotions should consider bringing in on a regular basis. Both he and Sasaki differ from the average indy fare in that they are true heavyweights, whereas many smaller promotions also rely on smaller wrestlers to round out their shows. In other words, as Dusty Rhodes would say, they are “two big bullth of the woodth, Tony.”

The men charge at each other and fire off chops as soon as the bell rings, and now the lariat attempts begin. Neither man is able to send the other anywhere until they hit the ropes, at which point Sasaki gets the upper hand in the clothesline battle. Sekimoto misses a charge in the corner and gets thrown out to the arena floor, and Mammoth follows him with a HUGE diving clothesline off of the apron. The FREEDOMS rep tries to shoot his man into the post at this point, but the whip gets reversed and Sasaki tastes the steel. From there it’s back to the ring, where Big Dice K slaps on a half crab that he transitions into an STF. Neither version of the hold looks particularly impressive, so I’m a bit relieved when Sasaki makes the ropes. Sekimoto’s next trick is an axe bomber, but Mammoth kicks out of the subsequent pin attempt at two and starts to fire back with chops when Sekimoto forearms him. Daisuke ain’t gonna take that shit, though, and before long Sasaki is taken back down and locked in a camel clutch. Mammoth makes the ropes again. Sekimoto, who is still in control, sets up for a piledriver, but Mammoth stands up and turns it into a variation on the Alabama Slamma. Now it’s Sasaki’s turn to employ the axe bomber, which he does twice en route to hitting a chokeslam for two. Sasaki looks for a powerbomb now . . . AND HE HITS IT!

That’s a lot of beef to get up there, but what really makes the spot is Sekimoto’s facial reaction, which is a perfect combination of pain and “Oh no, he didn’t!” disbelief. Sasaki looks to finish with a brainbuster, but Daisuke escapes and gets his opponent into the human torture rack. Eventually his back gives out underneath Sasaki’s weight, though, and the hold is broken. Submission wrestling not having worked, Daisuke tries a different tactic and hits a frog splash . . . for two. Sekimoto’s wicked German suplex is attempted, but Mammoth reverses. He looks for a German of his own, but Sekimoto slips out of the waistlock and pops up with an enzuguiri! Mammoth responds almost immediately with his brainbuster and looks for a second version of the move, but Daisuke escapes and SLAMS him in the back of the head with a short lariat. That leads right into the deadlift German, but Mammoth manages to kick out at two! The FREEDOMS crowd is behind their man big-time after that kickout, and he MURDERS Sekimoto with a Yakuza kick when the BJW wrestler looks for a running lariat to finish the match. The two giants are now clubbing each other with clotheslines once more as the match comes full circle, and it’s Daiske who gets the last and biggest blow. It only gets two, but the follow-up, which is another deadlift German, wins the match for Daisuke Sekimoto.

Match Thoughts: This was a fairly fun match at the beginning and towards the end, as there is always a certain appeal to two large yet agile men clubbing the hell out of each other with power moves that come at a rate much faster than you would expect from fellows of their size. That’s exactly what we got here, with both Sasaki and Sekimoto lifting each other up as though it took zero effort, which is hardly the case if you take a look at either one of these men. The only thing that I wasn’t particularly thrilled with was the string of submission holds in the middle of the match. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against submission wrestling, but, in this particular case, the holds looked really haphazard and loosely thrown on as opposed to being tight, dangerous-looking potential finishes. All-in-all, it was a fun undercard match that would be a welcome addition to the middle of a strong top-to-bottom show, but it’s not something worth checking out as a stand-alone match. **3/4

Match Numero Cuatro: Jun Kasai vs. The Necro Butcher

You should know who these two men are by now, so let’s just get straight into the match . . .

Necro gets an awesome hard rock version of Elton John’s “Saturday Night’s All Right for Fighting” for his entrance, and I need to know immediately where this came from and how I can acquire it. Kasai is out with a ladder, so you know there are going to be some shenanigans later on. Actually, there appear to be all sorts of weapons in the ring, so we’re definitely in for some crazy stuff. The match begins with the wrestlers punching each other square in the face, including a couple of shots from the Butcher that didn’t look like they were pulled at all. Kasai loses the boxing match, so he gets a wise idea and challenges the American to trade punches with him at the top of the ladder. That doesn’t appear to end well for Kasai at first, as a Necro headbutt sends him off the ladder. The Crazy Monkey is not one to be deterred, though, as he immediately dropkicks the ladder to send Necro crashing off the other side. Jun gets a laugh out of it but Necro isn’t so happy, as he punches his man square in the jaw again and throws him out to the floor. This leads to plenty of brawling amid the fans. At one point, Necro catches Kasai with a sunset flip on the floor, which I have to assume was supposed to be some sort of Code Green sunset bomb move that got screwed up. Jun has a wacky spot of his own, at one point grabbing Necro by the back of the head and running him across the entire length of one side of the arena to slam him face-first into a door.

When we return to the ring, Kasai hits the Butcher with the ladder a few times and sets up a table at ringside. Oh, Jun is bleeding at this point, just for the record. Despite his condition, he climbs the ladder – which is set up in the ring – and dives off of it and THROUGH NECRO ON THE TABLE ON THE ARENA FLOOR. With his opponent downed, Jun sets up another table in one of the corners of the ring. He brings the star of The Wrestler back in between the ropes and tries to shoot him through the propped up table, but Butcher plants his feet and makes sure Kasai hits the table headfirst. It doesn’t break. Necro follows with a lariat and forms a bridge in the corner by laying the table on the second rope. He tries to powerbomb Kasai onto it but the Monkey reverses and looks for a German onto the table. Necro reverses one more time and does powerbomb Jun on to the table. Again, it doesn’t break. Now we’ve got a chair making its debut in the match, as Butcher picks up Kasai and the chair simultaneously and slams them both. More furniture is gathered and piled up close to the center of the ring. Necro gives his man a bulldog onto the chair pile and produces a plastic bag from the pocket of his jorts. In a spot that I have not seen since Ric Flair and Terry Funk’s feud, Butcher literally tries to kill Kasai by placing the bag over his head and putting him in a sleeper hold. This results in Jun being seated in a chair with the bag on his head, and Necro climbs to the top rope. The Crazy Monkey is able to cut him off, though, and he gives him the FLAIR BEAL ONTO THE UPRIGHT CHAIR. Necro is back up to his feet surprisingly quickly, so Jun hits him with a chair so hard that the seat pops off and Butcher winds up wearing the frame around his neck. Not to be deterred, Jun hits him with a SECOND chair, and the seat also pops off of that one. Necro STILL isn’t going down despite wearing two chair frames on his head, so Jun gives him a BACKDROP SUPLEX WITH TWO CHAIRS AROUND HIS NECK. Combine that with Kasai’s trademark Pearl Harbor Splash, and the Butcher STILL kicks out.

This means that it’s time to break out the big guns. Kasai goes under the ring and produces a cardboard cross with several razor blades sticking out of it, one of his trademarks that has earned him the nickname “Deathmatch Jesus.” The two wrestlers do an awesome job of fighting over which one of them will get slammed onto the cross, and it is finally Jun who has the displeasure, with Necro Butcher powerbombing him off of the second rope and down on to the razors. This isn’t enough to put Kasai away, believe it or not. Butcher gets Kasai up into an airplane spin and looks like he’s going to give him a DVD on to the ladder, but Kasai gets out of it and hits a lariat that sends the back of Necro’s head bouncing off of the rungs. An Angel’s Wings in the middle of the ring also won’t put the Butcher away, so Kasai sets up the ladder once more . . . PEARL HARBOR SPLASH FROM THE LADDER! That’s finally enough to keep Necro Butcher down for a three count and earn a victory for Jun Kasai.

Match Thoughts: This was a fun match in spots, but it wasn’t up there with Kasai’s best. Really, I think most of that has to do with the Necro Butcher. Don’t get me wrong, Necro is a hell of a personality and he will do some crazy deathmatch spots that have definite freak show appeal, but he’s a couple of steps below Kasai’s best opponents because those guys have personality and will take a ton of punishment but would also be great wrestlers if you took all of the hardcore props away form them. Necro, however, isn’t exactly going to win any awards for his wrestling outside of the deathmatch environment. As a result, this bout didn’t have the same level of timing and psychology that Kasai’s main events often have. However, it was still a memorable bout with a lot of spots which just made me sit back and say “wow,” especially the backdrop with the chairs, which I frankly would have liked as a finish a lot more than what we actually got. Regardless, though, it was still a fun fifteen minutes or so even if I wouldn’t put it near the top deathmatches of the last several years. ***

Match Numero Cinco: HIROKI (FREEDOMS) vs. Magnitude Kishiwada (Kojika Army)

And now we begin the five-on-five series, FREEDOMS versus the Kojika Army. All five wrestlers from each team are at ringside for these matches, alongside various men affiliated with each unit who are not part of the best of five. In this opening match, it’s HIROKI for FREEDOMS up against Magnitude Kishiwada for Kojika. HIROKI is formerly known as Hi69, and he’s a trainee of Taka Michinoku’s Kaientai Dojo who has since struck out on his own and attempted to start a career as an independent junior heavyweight wrestler. Kishiwada, meanwhile, is a bit of a journeyman who has been wrestling for many years, with his biggest exposure coming in Dragon Gate and Osaka Pro, the former under the Kishiwada name and the latter under the moniker of Big Boss MA-G-MA. Currently, he is not affiliated with any specific promotion.

There’s an immediate dropkick from HIROKI followed up by a big tope suicidia once Magnitude Kishiwada falls to the floor. That didn’t look good for HIROKI, as he started to fall headfirst during the dive. If Kishiwada didn’t catch him, he would be paralyzed right now. Magnitude gets in his licks by Irish whipping the junior heavyweight through several rows of chairs and by suplexing him onto more of the furniture, at which point the wrestlers begin trading strikes at ringside. The masked man gets the better of it but HIROKI is surprisingly able to do a decent job of firing back. When we return to the ring, Kishiwada hits a dropkick from the second rope and starts working over his opponent’s leg a bit, following it up with a vertical splash in the corner and an overhead belly-to-belly. A second vertical splash misses, setting up an attempt at a body slam by HIROKI . . . but the weight differences prevents it. He does manage to catch Magnitude offguard with a crucifix for two, after which he does get in the bodyslam. I think that the crucifix was supposed to be more for a crucifix bomb and wound up being botched. HIROKI now tries to chop down his bigger opponent again, this time with lariats. Ultimately he succeeds, but he still can’t put the Kojika representative away. A HIROKI brainbuster attempt is blocked by Magnitude, who turns it into his own version of the move and follows with a frog splash for a close two count. A last ride powerbomb is attempted, but HIROKI turns it into a sunset flip. Well, he tries, at least. The result is very sloppy, but it still gets him a two. Not long after, a second last ride is attempted, but HIROKI turns this one into a SWANK rana. That and a running knee strike to the face get him two. Kishiwada responds with a lariat, which sets up the third last ride attempt. This one is the charm and wins him the match and puts the Kojika Army up 1-0 in the series.

Match Thoughts: This is only the second time that I’ve seen HIROKI wrestle, and I’ve not been a very big fan of him either time. There are a lot of junior heavyweight wrestlers doing a high flying style on the Japanese indies these days, many of whom have come out of the impressive Toryumon wrestling camp. Those men make up large portions of the Dragon Gate and Michinoku Pro rosters these days, and they’re incredibly smooth, dynamic performers who work at a breakneck pace and almost never screw something up. The problem for guys like HIROKI is that they’re a bit sloppier, and, though that may have been acceptable in indy junior matches ten or fifteen years ago, even the occasional blown spot makes you look second rate in comparison to the Toryumon grads. HIROKI, from what I’ve seen of him, has had rough execution on several moves, which really takes him down a few pegs compared to what else is on the market. Kishiwada is a decent bigger guy who serves as a base for small wrestlers, and he did the best he could to save the match, but HIROKI being off really dragged it down. *

Match Numero Seis: The Winger (FREEDOMS) vs. Antonio Honda (Kojika Army)

It’s match number two in the series, and it pits Winger, a long-time masked high flyer on the indies, against Antonio Honda, who is best known for his comedy bouts in promotions like DDT. Fisticuffs are the order of the day early on, and Honda goes to the eyes when he can’t win that battle. Winger fires back with a back body drop but misses a charge. Honda rolls him up and puts his feet on the ropes, but it only gets two. A kneedrop from Antonio connects for another nearfall, but Winger blocks the follow-up brainbuster attempt. Honda goes to the eyes again to cut off his momentum and then connects with a spinebuster, but it only gets two. The Kojika Army member tries for a DDT, but Winger hooks the ropes to block it, a spot I remember best from Jake Roberts versus Steve Austin in 1996. Winger follows up with a side Russian leg sweep and heads to the top, but Honda cuts him off and gives him the Flair beal. The straps on Antonio’s singlet comes down and he looks for the Jerry Lawler first drop, but Winger rolls out of the way. That doesn’t cut off Antonio Honda’s momentum, though, as he catches his man with a small package and earns a flash three count. Everybody involved in the match reacts with complete and utter shock at the result.

Match Thoughts: This is the closest thing to a straight match that I have seen Honda attempt to wrestle, and even it was a bit unconventional as it was built around old school spots from US wrestling as opposed to what you’ll usually see on shows like this one. It was interesting to watch and nothing looked bad per se, but the fact that it ran less than four minutes precludes me from providing too high a rating. *

Match Numero Siete: Tajiri (FREEDOMS) vs. Onryo (Kojika Army)

The Kojika Army is up 2-0 heading in to this third match in the series. Everybody reading this knows who Tajiri is, and most of you will know from prior columns that he currently heads up his own promotion named SMASH. What you might not realize is that FREEDOMS is one of the promotions that he regularly wrestles for in between SMASH cards. His opponent, Onryo, is a guy who I first remember seeing in the 2000 installment of the Super J Cup. He does an interesting character in which he plays a “vengeful spirit” from Japanese mythology, which in the past has seen him adopt a gimmick similar to that of a junior heavyweight Undertaker while he dresses like Art Barr’s old “Juicer” character if it was meant to be serious and not a kids’ gimmick. Most of the time he can be seen wrestling in his own tiny independent promotion, known as 666 or Triple 6 depending on the source.

The two wrestlers lock up at the start of the match, but Tajiri immediately lets go because of the large amount of dust that comes flying off of Onryo. The same happens when he tries a waistlock and a sunset flip. Eventually the former WWE star takes down his opponent with a fireman’s carry and an armbar and no-sells more dust from the zombie. Onryo escapes and responds with a flying forearm, but he runs into the Japanese Buzzsaw’s boots. Tajiri misses an elbowdrop and gets dropkicked out of the ring. Onryo follows with a large board of some sort and hits his opponent in the gut with it several times. However, when Onryo tries to get back into the ring with the stick, Tajiri trips him and sends it crashing into his face. The referee tries to get the weapon away from the Buzzsaw at this point, but, in the tug of war, Onryo winds up with it and breaks the thing over Tajiri’s head. A variation on the chinlock follows from the undead competitor, and a tight camera shot seems to indicate that he is stabbing Tajiri in the jaw with some sort of foreign object as he applies the hold. Now it’s time for generic brawling on the floor, and, when we get back to the ring, Tajiri ties Onryo up in the Tree of Joey Lawrence. In a revenge spot, somebody hands Tajiri another one of Onryo’s sticks, and he breaks it across the zombie’s midsection as he hangs in the Tree. There’s the handspring elbow from Tajiri, and it’s followed immediately by a NICE backdrop suplex. It looked particularly good when you consider the fact that Tajiri isn’t exactly known for that particular move. Onryo reponds with a short powerbomb for a two count and hits a DDT when powerbomb number two won’t connect. Onryo can’t maintain his advantage, though, and Tajiri gets him in position for the buzzsaw kick. It connects, and the referee goes to count three, but Onryo grabs her hand before it hits the mat for a third time. Tajiri, thinking he’s being screwed over, gets in the referee’s face, which allows Onryo to grab some powder from his cornermen. The Buzzsaw ducks the first fistful of powder thrown at his face but gets hit with a second. Sensing victory is at hand, Onryo tries to get Tajiri into a cradle of some kind for the fall, but, as he is in the process of rolling him up, Tajiri sprays the deadly black mist into Onryo’s eyes and pins him to give FREEDOMS their first victory in the series.

Match Thoughts: These two didn’t go out there to wrestle an athletic masterpiece. In fact, even though they are both capable of wrestling a fairly athletic style (especially Tajiri), they seemed to primarily interested in wrestling a match based a lot more on smoke and mirrors than on high level WORK RATEZ~! All in all, it was a decent way to kill ten minutes and not horribly offensive but also nothing that would be too memorable outside of the finish. The finish was a fun sequence with two guys trying to out-heel each other with their signature spots, which is something that I am always going to mark out for and something that I am going to mark out for even more heavily when it involves the Asiatic mist, a foreign object of sorts which I have enjoyed ever since I was a small child. **

Match Numero Ocho: The Great Sasuke (Kojika Army) vs. Takashi Saski (FREEDOMS)

Now we’ve got indy mainstay Sasuke representing the Kojika Army going up against Sasaki, who, as previously mentioned, is the brains behind FREEDOMS. The wrestlers charge at each other with boots and shoulderblocks early on, but Sasuke misses a spinning heel kick and gets sent to the floor with a lariat. You know what that means . . . CROWD BRAWL! Sasaki appears to have gotten the better of it as he throws his opponent back into the ring, staying on his man with some kicks to the back and palm strikes. In a bit of an interesting spot, Sasuke leaves the ring as soon as he starts to retake the advantage and attacks twin wrestlers Shu and Kei Sato, who are also there representing the Kojika Army. I don’t understand the announcers’ explanation, but I am guessing this is related to the fact that, in Sasuke’s home company Michinoku Pro, the Satos are part of the main heel stable that Sasuke regularly feuds with. Anyway, when Sasuke returns to the ring, he manages to get an advantage and throw Takashi out to the floor. The junior heavyweight legend goes up to the top rope and comes off with a flip dive. I think that all of the wrestlers at ringside were supposed to have caught him, but what actually happened is that they parted like the Red Sea and Sasuke fell on the floor with a lot more impact than he ever should have. Back on the inside, Sasuke sucks it up and hits a Buff Blockbuster before going up top for the Ram Jam. He takes too long setting it up, though, and Sasaski gets to his feet and looks for a superplex on Sasuke. However, before it connects, the Satos and Ken45̊ (also a member of the aforementioned M-Pro heel stable) run in and actually come to Sasuke’s aid. There is a bit of miscommunication, though, resulting in Sasuke accidentally hitting a high cross from the top on the twins and Sasaki taking out Ken with an enzuguiri. Sasuke is superkicked by Sasaki, but he’s under the ropes so Takashi doesn’t get the pinfall. Seconds later, a lariat can only get two for Takashi. Finally, the combination of a running DDT and a buzzsaw kick get the job done. After the bell, Ken45̊ and the Satos put the boots to Sasuke, and we’re all tied up heading into the final match of the series. Who would have guessed?

Match Thoughts: This was very similar to the preceding Tajiri/Onryo match in that, even though it was contested by two wrestlers who are fine athletes and more than capable of putting on a good straight match, for some reason the decided to go with a more storyline-focused bout. They still pulled out a few of their key highspots, but it wasn’t the good to great bout that it could have been and instead came off as more of a WWE television match in which you know the guys are holding back so that a main event or a later match in the feud can be better and more impressive on down the line. **

Match Numero Neuve: The Great Kojika (Kojika Army) vs. GENTARO (FREEDOMS)

And here we go with the match that will decide the entire FREEDOMS vs. Kojika Army series. Kojika himself, who again clocks in at sixty-eight years of age, sets foot in the ring to do battle with GENTARO. GENTARO is a name that we have seen several times throughout the life of this column. He is a former FMW wrestler, which made him a longstanding member of Apache Army, which in turn has made him a member of FREEDOMS since the beginning. I suppose there’s nobody better to take the top spot for the team, with the possible exception of Takashi Sasaki himself.

The wrestlers exchange some basic strikes early on and then lock up, though they wind up in the ropes. GENTARO does not offer a clean break and goes after the senior citizen, but Kojika still manages to fire up to a big pop from the crowd. Kojika catches his man in a headlock and punches him in the face several times, but it’s a fairly simple matter for GENTARO to strike back. Eventually Kojika goes to the outside to regroup, and, in a show of respect, GENTARO holds the ropes open for him on his return to the ring. The two shake hands, but Kojika just uses it as an attempt to set up a headbutt. GENTARO hits a dropkick that sends the old man into the corner, and now the wrestlers are on the floor again, brawling amidst their respective teams. GENTARO hits an Asai moonsault that takes out a large number of wrestlers, which somehow causes the referee to be distracted. Behind his back, those darn Sato twins enter the ring and hit GENTARO with a variation on the con-chair-to. That sets up an offensive flurry by Kojika, who hits a weak knee crusher and goes into an ankle lock of sorts. GENTARO tries to counter by grabbing one of Kojika’s legs to apply a hold of his own, but it never works and he has to get the ropes to force a break. Kojika holds on well after the five count, forcing the referee to physically separate the two men. Even after the wrestlers are separated, Kojika manages to hit a dragon screw. GENTARO pops up quickly and starts looking for a German suplex, but Kojika blocks it and grabs GENTARO’s ankle for a takedown that leads to a figure four leglock. GENTARO fights to reverse the pressure on the move and ultimately does, and continued reversals wind up with everybody in the ropes. The hold is broken and the veteran wrestler goes after GENTARO’s wheels again, but turnabout is fair play as the FMW alum shoots off the ropes to clip Kojika’s knee.

GENTARO goes out to the floor so that he can crack the old man’s legs against the post, and he even applies Bret Hart’s ringpost figure four as members of team FREEDOMS hold back any interference from the Kojika Army. Eventually Ken45̊ and the Satos slip through, though, assaulting GENTARO and feeding him back into the ring. In fact, the majority of the members of the Kojika Army enter the squared circle and hit corner attacks on GENTARO at this point, all leading to the Satos hitting a two-man double stomp off of the top rope. Kojika covers, but the referee was distracted amidst the chaos, so it only gets two. GENTARO eats Magnitude Kishiwada’s last ride as well, but he is out at two again as the Great Sasuke runs in for the save! The Satos and Ken45̊ confront him, so Sasuke runs wild and throws all three of them out of the ring before grabbing the microphone and directing some strong words towards Kojika. This sets up Sasuke’s insane suicide dropkick through the ropes onto the Satos, and, once that connects, the match between GENTARO and Kojika, one-on-one, resumes. Perhaps what Sasuke told Kojika was to stop being such a jerk. Anyway, GENTARO flattens his elder with another dropkick and looks for the scorpion deathlock, which is one of his finishers. Kojika blocks and turns it into a cradle for two. GENTARO briefly gets a Funk-esque spinning toe hold, but Kojika kicks him off every time he tries it. The FREEDOMS rep persists, however, ultimately applying a version of the hold that Kojika cannot break. Then, in a spot that may well be twice the age of Aaron Hubbard, Kojika breaks out of the spinning toe hold by catching GENTARO in, of all things, THE IRON CLAW~! I have no clue why I mark out so hard for that move. I’m not even a Texan.

GENTARO gets out of the claw by applying his own, stronger claw hold, and he takes Kojika down en route to the top rope. A top rope elbow misses, and Kojika seizes the opportunity by applying cross arm breaker. GENTARO gets on his feet and tries to move it into a pinning combination, but Kojika simultaneously kicks out and keeps the hold on. Eventually, GENTARO is able to roll onto his side and hook one of his opponent’s legs, causing Kojika to let go of the arm breaker and grab the ropes so that GENTARO’s hold will be broken. A sloppy looking lariat from GENTARO connects, and Kojika blocks a second version of the move to respond with a headbutt. Kojika looks for a second claw but it is blocked, and GENTARO grabs the man’s legs to trip him up and take him down into the scorpion. Kojika, knowing his role, immediately taps out.

Match Thoughts: Well, it’s a bout featuring a man who is damn near seventy years old. Given that the match had to go a decent amount of time to main event the show, you almost had to expect that it would involve a good degree of outside interference from the rest of his team to hide his limitations. Due to the fact that I wasn’t watching Japanese wrestling at any time close to Kojika’s heyday, there wasn’t much nostalgia value for me personally, and, without nostalgia value, there is almost no reason to watch a match involving a sixty-eight year old wrestler. However, I will say that the live audience seemed to be popping louder for his offense than they were just about anything else on the show, and, if the live crowd is into it on a show at this level, you can’t fault what the promotion is doing too badly. My only real problem with the booking knowing what I do about Kojika’s limitations is that they almost went too far with the interference, as GENTARO took such a huge beating before winning in the end that John Cena would probably watch this match and say, “Woah, dude, that’s too big of a Superman comeback.” *3/4

Overall

I found this show to be a bit of a letdown, honestly. As I noted throughout the review, several of the matches relied heavily on sports-entertainment style spots and gimmicks in order to get from beginning to end. Though I’m not necessarily a guy who will hate on that style and though I wouldn’t have minded one match that involved a lot of SE, it was a bit jarring to see so much of it when what I went into this expecting was a more typical Japanese independent show. I would have loved to have seen Sugiura and Sasuke or Onryo and Tajiri in straight matches that got a decent amount of time, but those sadly were not to be. As the card actually landed, Kasai-Necro was the clear highlight, though, as noted above, even that was not among the highest levels of deathmatches available in Japan. Seek out that match if you’re interested in seeing what those two guys can do against one another and maybe seek out Mammoth and Sekimoto if you’re a big fan of indy heavyweights slugging it out, but I can’t see much of a reason to watch this entire show unless you’re one of the hardest of the hardcore Japanese indy fans.

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