Hidaka & Fujita Reunite for "One Day Bond!"

December 22nd, 2008

Former longtime tag team partners, Ikuto Hidaka and Minoru Fujita held a press conference today to announce their reformation as a tag team for "Genesis 2009" on 1/1 at Korakuen Hall. This is the first time the two have teamed for several years, as Hidaka has followed a single path until he recent teaming with Munenori Sawa. Fujita also originally went it alone until teaming with Takuya Sugawara for a long run of mischievous behavior. As well as holding the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship and NWA Lightweight Tag Team Champions together, Hidaka and Fujita also were co-tag team MVPs for 2005.

Both men are also former BattlArts fighters, and it will be a BattlArts themed bout on 1/1 as Hidaka and Fujita will take on Hidaka's current tag partner Munenori Sawa and New Japan Pro Wrestling's Minoru. Both Hidaka and Fujita showed excitement in reuniting and Fujita, who wore a suit to the interview, said he plans on doing his best and won't betray Hidaka. Hidaka added that it is only a temporary reunion for the festivities of New Year's Day.

Nagata Defends Against Takaiwa! Tanaka Challenge for Tokyo Dome!

December 18th, 2008

ZERO1 held their last event yesterday at Tokyo's Shinjuku FACE that saw current World Heavyweight champion Yuji Nagata defend his title versus challenger Tatsuhito Takaiwa. Following his victory during the Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament 2008, Takaiwa used his dragon ball wish to challenge for the World Title. The fans in attendance were solidly behind Takaiwa, booing Nagata who taunted them by saluting. Both men threw everything they had at each other for almost 18 minutes, and late in the match Takaiwa was on a roll. Following an Avalanche Death Valley Driver on the champion, Takaiwa unleashed three hard lariats trying to take the New Japan fighter down. Nagata was able to reverse a final attempt into with a back suplex and a enzuguiri.

While Takaiwa was able to survive this, Nagata motioned "one more" to the crown and hit hid back suplex hold for the three count. Defeating Takaiwa adds to Nagata's impressive lists of victories over ZERO1 wrestlers, including Masato Tanaka, Kohei Sato and Shinjiro Otani. To a continuing chorus of boos, Nagata got on the microphone to address the ZERO1 fans:

Tanaka, the man who lost the title belt to Nagata, instantly appeared from the locker room. He accepted Nagata's challenge and swore to return the World Heavyweight title to ZERO1. He then walked out as fast as he appeared, leaving Nagata nodding in response at the center of the ring. The two will face each other in a title match labeled " Crusade for Justice" on January 4th at the New Japan Pro Wrestling "WRESTLE KINGDOM III IN TOKYO DOME."

The semi-main event of the show saw two tag team partners collide, as current ZERO1 International Jr. Champion Ikuto Hidaka defended his title against BattlArts' Munenori Sawa. Sawa, Hidaka's partner for the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team titles challenged Hidaka following his victory over the WPF's Tyson Dux. Though this surprised Hidaka, he accepted the challenge of his tag partner.

Sawa rushed Hidaka at the bell, going right to his kicks on the attack.Hidaka, who has been training in kickboxing, soon returned to the offense, striking Sawa in the corner with middle kicks. The two fighters then went to their arsenals as Hidaka aimed for the "Shawn Capture" out of a Dragon Screw leg whip. Sawa struck back with his Great Muta "Love Pose" and a Shining Wizard! Sawa then tried to lock on the Octopus Hold that won the two men their Lightweight tag titles this Summer but Hidaka was able to escape. The two battled with strikes again, with Hidaka finally unleashing a Wild Dog high kick, dropping Sawa for a 9 count! As Sawa rose to his feet he had a big smile on his face! Hidaka shouted "aibou!" and unleashed another Wild Dog High Kick and finally got the 3 count. Following the bout Sawa was helped to the dressing room by fellow BattlArts wrestler Yuta Yoshikawa.

Former FMW wrestlers collided in the 5th match of the show as Masato Tanaka fought Mr. Gannosuke in a "Trace of F" match. Mr. Gannosuke entered ZERO1 looking to face Tanaka before he retires later this month. He faced him in a tag match back on 11/28 at the Korakuen Hall show "ZERO1 Beat '08," where Gannosuke and another FMW alumni BADBOY Hido defeated Tanaka and Munenori Sawa when Gannosuke pinned Sawa. Following the match, Gannosuke let it known his wish to have a singles match with Tanaka before he hangs up his boots.

Although Gannosuke is retiring, Tanaka spent no time bringing the fight right too him, and it wasn't long before both men were brawling outside the ring. The two swung chairs at each other and Tanaka finally put Gannouske through a table. It wasn't long before the veteran Gannosuke was back on offense, splitting a table fragment in two over Tanaka's head! Tanaka landed a lariat and swinging DDT, but was intercepted before he could use his "Super Fly" frog splash with Gannosuke "Praying Power Bomb." Tanaka finally did hit his frog splash after a Diamond Dust, but Gannosuke kicked out! His survival was short-lived however as the Sliding-D soon finished him off in just over 16 minutes. Following the match the two men embraced and spoke to the crowd, thanking them for their support.

After taking some time off this Summer, Ryouji Sai returned to ZERO1 with the request to face Kohei Sato in a singles bout. He gained his chance at the 11/28 "ZERO1 Beat '08" show. There Kohei defeated his former tag team partner in 15 minutes with his German Suplex hold. Here again the two would meet, this time in a tag match that saw Kohei team with ZERO1 President Shinjiro Otani versus Sai and Big Japan Pro Wrestling Daisuke Sekimoto. This time Ryouji was able to gain the victory as after Sekimoto hit a hard German suplex on Kohei, Ryouji dropped his "Nachi Waterfall" double footstomp on him for the win! Following the match, Ryouji spoke to the media claiming "...my findings for myself are insufficient," adding "Thanks you ZERO1 and you the fans. Let's meet again. Thank you." This led the reporter to ask Ryouji if he was planning on retiring, only for him to repeat "Let's meet again..."

Speaking of retirement, following their participation in a 6-person tag match, Hikaru and Saki Maemura announced that they will retire in April. The both said they have chosen retirement and want to give the fans their best until that day. The fans were shocked at this surprise announcement as it came somewhat out of the blue. They told reporters that they had decided this course together, and Hikaru said she still hope to defend her WDB Tag Team Titles alongside Osamu Namiguchi a total of 10 times so they can win a palace. Saki for her part said she wanted to face some opponents she hasn't wrestled yet.

Also on the show, ZERO1's Yuzuru Saito faced XWF's Yusaku Ohata in the opening bout.

GBH Bloodies Takaiwa in Mito!

December 13th, 2008

Today as part of ZERO1's "Delight '08" tour in Mito, Ibaraki, saw a main event of Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Shinjiro Otani versus the Great Bash Heel contingent of Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma. Well it wasn't long until GBH began their usually "tactics" as they surprised the ZERO1 fighter before the bell! The fight soon spilled outside the ring and soon a chain appeared! Soon after Takaiwa, who will be facing Yuji Nagata in 4 days for the World Heavyweight title, was a bloody and beaten down mess.

GBH showed great cooperation in this match, inflicting the maximum amount of damage as it could. It was a mis-fire in team coordination that helped ZERO1 team pull out the victory in the end, as Makabe inadvertently struck teammate Honma with a chain lariat. And as Otani kept Makabe busy, Takaiwa finished off Honma with a Death Valley Driver and then a hard lariat to gain the pinfall.

Following the match, Takaiwa was sure to get on the microphone and thanked the fans who supported him. He said he hoped to see everybody at Shinjuku FACE as he needs continued support to gain victory over Nagata. Takaiwa also spoke to the media afterwards in the locker room:

Also on the show former and current tag partners teamed to battle each other, as the former "Stonehenge" team of Ryouji Sai and Kohei Sato split with current NWA International Tag Team champions Ikuto Hidaka and Munenori Sawa as Sai teamed alongside Hidaka and Kohei teamed with Sawa. The match concluded very much the same as Ryouji and Kohei's singles match at "ZERO1 Beat '08" on November 28th as Kohei pinned Sai with a German Suplex hold. Also of note is that Hidaka and Sawa will face each other in a singles match for the ZERO1 International Jr. Heavyweight title at Shinjuku FACE.

Coming off his Tokyo Sports "Fighting Spirit" 2008 win, Masato Tanaka faced young heavyweight Shito Ueda in a short bout where he secured a win. The "Real Evil Makers" (REM) of Aja Kong and Toshie Uematsu returned to fight Hikaru and Saki Maemura, where Saki fell to Aja's diving elbow drop. The "Gikyoudai" team of Minoru Fujita and Takuya Sugawara, who went from being double tag team champions to having no titles pulled out a win over KAMIKAZE and Osamu Namiguchi, and XWF's Yusaku Obata defeated ZERO1 young boy Yuzuru Saito with a crab hold.

2009 Korakuen Hall Event Schedule Released!

December 12th, 2008

ZERO1 has determined the event schedule for Tokyo's Korakuen Hall in 2009.

There will be 11 total shows held at the world famous hall this upcoming year, including the January 1st "Genesis 2009" show. The schedule is as follows:

Also announced was the date of the annual Yasukuni Shrine Festival "Yamato Shinshu Chikara Matsuri" that will take place on March 29th at the Tokyo Yasukuni Shrine Sumo Wrestling Place. ZERO1 began this tradition back in 2005 and has returned every year since.

Nagata Says He'll Defend World Title!

December 10th, 2008

Current World Heavyweight champion Yuji Nagata was asked about his upcoming title defense versus Tatsuhito Takaiwa at Shinjuku FACE on December 17th. As was reported earlier following the Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament 2008, Tatsuhito Takaiwa used his Dragon Ball wish, the prize of that tournament, to challenge for the title. Nagata had accepted the challenge adding that if he defeated Takaiwa he would have defeated anybody of value in ZERO1. This time Nagata was asked about his prospects of another title defense, his 2nd defense:

"I'm very familiar with Tatsuhito Takaiwa, as we trained many times together in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Him winning the ZERO1 Jr. Tournament proves he has power and skill. That being said, I won't be losing this fight. I'll defend the title once more and continue to add value and shine to this championship belt."

Tanaka Wins Fan MVP & Tokyo Sport's "Fighting Spirit" Award!

December 9th, 2008

The results for the "Fans Choose the 2008 ZERO1 MVP & Best Match have been tallied and the winner is once again three time Fire Festival winner Masato Tanaka! This is the second year in a row Tanaka has received the nod from the ZERO1 fans for this position. FOS delievered a special monetary bonus to the winner of the fan vote. The top 3 were as follows:

1. Masato Tanaka
2. Ikuto Hidaka
3. Shinjiro Otani

Also up for fan vote was the Best Match of the Year. Not surprisingly Masato Tanaka appeared in the top matches here as well. In the #1 spot for his April 6, World Heavyweight Title Match defense versus New Japan's Manabu Nakanishi. The match took place in the new at-the-time JCB Hall in Tokyo during one of the early hot periods of the feud versus New Japan. After 24 minutes of battle Tanaka won the bout with his Sliding-D.

Tanaka also took the #2 spot for his victory over Togi Makabe in the "Fire Festival '08" finals at Korakuen Hall. A match that secured Tanaka his third straight Fire Festival championship.

The Top 3 Best Matches:

Tokyo Sport's "35th Professional Wrestling Grand-Prix" selection meeting was held today, and ZERO1 wrestler Masato Tanaka was awarded the 2008 "fighting spirit" (Kantoushou) award. This is the first time Tanaka has won a Tokyo Sport's Grand-Prix prize since 2002 when he was awarded Best Tag Team for EMBLEM with Shinjiro Otani. Tokyo Sports said it chose Tanaka not only because of his strong bouts in ZERO1 but his participation in other companies' events. Tanaka himself was overjoyed with the choice, saying:

Complete Players Reform for PREMIUM!

December 2nd, 2008

At the New Japan offices recently, Masato Tanaka joined with former FMW stable mates in the "Complete Players" of Jado and Gedo to announce their return as a team on December 26th in Korakuen Hall.

Tanaka said he's happy to be back with his old mates, a group that continued even after the closing of FMW. He added that due to the war between ZERO1 and New Japan they haven't been able to team up in the ring of either company, but PREMIUM gives them the chance.

Tanaka commented on how he's been in conflict with Togi Makabe of the Great Bash Heels group, and that since Jado and Gedo are also in that crew, they'd have to stay clear of each other. Also revealed at the press conference was their scheduled opponents would be none other than "Team Wolf" of Masahiro Chono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Hiro Saito.

The Complete Players will also reform for the inagural ZERO1 New Year's show "Genesis 2009" where they will face a mix of ZERO1 and New Japan wrestlers who all have similiar root in New Japan, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Koji Kanemoto.