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Title Belt Signing Ceremonies for ZERO1 Osaka Show Tomorrow!
May 7th, 2010
Tomorrow in Osaka at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium there will be two ZERO1 title matches. After defeating Shinjiro Otani only three days previously for his v1 defense, new World Heavyweight champion Kohei Sato will defend again generational opponent and Osaka native Ryouji Sai.
Also on the card, the "Aibou" tag team of Ikuto Hidaka & Munenori Sawa will attempt to make their 7th defense of the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team titles. Their opponents will be the mysterious Egyptian tag team called the Osirian Portal of Amasis & Ophidian. The Osirian Portal were victorious in their first ZERO1 match at ZERO1 WRESTLER'S 11 ~ GW Special in Korakuen Hall defeating Sawa and Shota Takanishi. Keeping with the Ancient Egyptian theme, the signing ceremony was held at the Egyptian restaurant LUXOR in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
First to address the assembled media was former World Heavyweight champion Ryouji Sai. Ryouji won the title in July 2009 when he defeated Masato Tanaka, and lost it in October against Toshiaki Kawada:
"Though I haven't held that World Title belt for some time, I want to take this chance to put my new plan in action. Though many wrestlers have come and gone, aside from President Otani it is only Kohei and I who have been with the company since ZERO-ONE in 2001. I'm prepared to fight with all my strength, and I am very impatient for tomorrow."
Current champion Kohei then responded:
"I've only defended the title once so far, defeating Shinjiro Otani on May 5th, yet already I can feel the weight and responsibility of wearing this belt. I want to fight hard and lighten the weight, but increase the value of the title."
Next the Osirian Portal spoke about challenging for the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team titles:
"We have already won a victory in Japan. To gain a better understanding of Japanese culture, we've traveled the city and earlier went to the Senso-ji Shrine in Asakusa and saw a pending sign of our success. "
Ikuto Hidaka & Munenori Sawa have been NWA International Light Tag Team Champions since August, 2008. They have staved off every challenge since then, and look to continue that reign for another year by holding the title until this August. Senior member Hidaka spoke first:
"I watched carefully their match at Korakuen Hall on 5/5, and was impressed with their coordination and movement. I'm glad to face such skilled challengers. I'm prepared with Sawa to defend the title belt and I think this will be a very good match-up."
Sawa, who already faced the Osirian Portal then added his thoughts:
"Those two aren't human! Because I've already lost to them in Korakuen Hall, I plan to get revenge in Osaka! I've learned to be careful of their mystical incantations. Though I don't like to praise my opponents, everybody should come to Osaka and witness this fascinating Egyptian Tag Team! They are great pro wrestlers, that is sure, but we will be the winners!"
Kohei Makes 1st Defense Against Otani! FUNAKI Wins in Triumphant Return!
May 6th, 2010
At the ZERO1 WRESTLER'S 11 ~ GW Special show yesterday in Korakuen Hall, World Heavyweight champion Kohei Sato defended his title belt for the first time against Shinjiro Otani. In a tight schedule he must now defend it three days later in Osaka against former champion Ryouji Sai. The crowd was split as Kohei and Otani both faced off in the ring. Kohei lost no time trying to the put the ZERO1 President away with an early German suplex but could only get a 3 count!
Kohei kept up the attack with a soccer ball kick, and began to work on Otani's well-worn knees with submission hold, but Otani fought back yelling "I will not give up!." He soon began his own attack on Kohei's right knee with a sky kick and then a Dragon Screw leg whip off the ring apron sending his opponent to the floor! "I will win by any means," he told the crowd trying to psyche both them and himself up, all the while continuing to stomp Kohei's knee. Otani kept up his attack wearing his larger opponent down with a crab hold, a face wash, hard chops, and a Dragon Screw off the top turnbuckle into another knee hold! Kohei struggled to escape the hold by using the ropes.
Kohei managed a short counteroffensive with a knee strike and a Falcon arrow, and though he took a German suplex of Otani he struck back with one of his own! As both men slowly rose from the mat, Otani struck with chops as Kohei fought back with a elbow strikes. Otani again gained momentum with a backdrop suplex and then a perfect missile dropkick to the back of the champions head! Looking to make Kohei's title reign a short one, Otani went for the kill with a Dragon suplex hold but amazingly Kohei kicked out at 1! Kohei again tried for the German suplex but Otani charged with a Spinning heel kick and then hit his Spiral Bomb, this time for 2!
As the bout approached the 20 minute mark, Kohei finally stuck back with a face kick and hit his own Dragon suplex. With Otani dazed from those strikes, he then finished him with his German suplex hold for the 3 count and the 1st defense! Following his victory, Kohei called next challenger Ryouji Sai into the ring. "Ryouji, I promised you at Yasukuni. Let's do this in 3 day in Osaka!" The two then shook hands in the ring and Kohei thanked the fans for coming and did the customary cheer of "3,2,1...ZERO1!"
Having been on the roster of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for almost the last 13 year, FUNAKI resigned from the company on April 22nd and came right to ZERO1. He saw his Japanese triumphant return in the semi-main of this show teaming with former student Ikuto Hidaka against the gaijin Hawaiian team of Sandy Beach & Chad Aloha. Many fans wondered how the technique and experience that were cultivated in the world's largest pro wrestling organization would translate to the Japanese ring. Hidaka entered first with both the ZERO1 International Jr. Heavyweight title and the NWA International Lightweight Tag title around his waist. FUNAKI then made his Japanese ring return in the interval of 3½ years wearing a bandana and t-shirt, as Hidaka held the ropes open for his sensei.
The match started with Hidaka and Chad Aloha, but fans wanted to see FUNAKI and let him know. FUNAKI then requested the tag from Hidaka and was obliged! Initially FUNAKI was rebuffed by the shoulder block of Chad, sending him to the outside. He returned to strike back with elbows and then an arm drag sending Aloha to the outside! Sandy Beach soon followed with a dropkick, and as the two Hawaiian tag partners rallied outside, FUNAKI gave an assist to Hidaka sending him flying over the ropes to dive on their opponents!
Soon the gaijin team was fighting back against Hidaka, with Sandy hitting a dropkick and Chad a head butt and body slam. They then dropped him hard with a double-team modified face buster and Sandy locked on a sleeper hold. Hidaka was able to counterattack with the "I'll be back" and his "Shurikan" kick in the corner as 10 minutes passed. With FUNAKI back in, he announced the "Shawn Capture!" but as he charged forward on Chad Aloha, Sandy grabbed FUNAKI's foot from the outside and pulled him down!
As Sandy then attacked Hidaka outside the ring, Chad locked FUNAKI into a tight bear hug. Finally FUNAKI was able to tag in Hidaka and Hidaka scored a diving missile dropkick on Chad. He then hit a kick on a charging Sandy and dropped him with a reverse DDT! Aiming for the "Shawn Capture" on Sandy, Chad was able to interfere! FUNAKI then attacked Chad to keep him out of the fight, as Hidaka hit the low altitude missile kick to Sandy's knee and then locked on the "Shawn Capture" for the submission victory! Hidaka was able to score the victory with the move taught to him by his Sensei right before his eyes! Following the match both men embraced and FUNAKI held up his students arm in victory as the crowd applauded.
The 5th match of the card was titled "Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Emissary Decent - Japan vs. Egypt" and saw the first Japanese arrival of the Osirian Portal tag team. Facing them across the ring would be one-half of the NWA International Lightweight tag team champions Munenori Sawa & Shota Takanishi. With a Lightweight tag title challenge facing them in Osaka on 5/8, the Osirian Portal would look for a victory here to help pave the way.
straight from the beginning as Sawa and Amasis faced off, Sawa was confused by the movements of his opponent. The Japanese wrestlers became even more surprised at the mysterious maneuvers of the Egyptian team as they did things like hand stands in the corner leading to head-scissors, and when both wrestlers combined to do a cobra dance that hypnotized Sawa, Shota and even the referee! Soon Sawa was able to mount some offense, hitting a spin kick on Amasis, attacking both opponents with a combined Dragon Screw leg whip.
Shota then attacked with a dropkick on Amasis and then the 619 on Ophidian before momentum shifted back to the Osirian Portal. The dropped Shota with a double team superplex, and then a coordinated diving guillotine leg drop and diving body press off opposite turnbuckles! finally Ophidian hit a high kick and the "Egyptian Destroyer" for the 3 count on Shota! Following the match, he grabbed the NWA International Lightweight tag title that Sawa brought to the ring and taunted the champ about their upcoming match in Osaka.
The 4th match saw the veteran/rookie tag team of Masato Tanaka & Kenta Kakinuma face Ryouji Sai and the returning Wataru "Hustle" Sakata in a tag match. The match started off with both sides unleashing hard chops on each other, first Ryoji against Kakinume and then Tanaka versus Sakata. Pretty soon Sai and Sakata were unleashing hard kicks on the rookie, until he was finally able to tag in Tanaka who was able to attack both opponents simultaneously! Sakata fought back with a strong middle kick, but Tanaka responded with a hard lariat! Tanaka then hit the Super Fly frog splash on Ryouji, but tagged out as he held his left shoulder in pain.
Sakata came in an hit a back drop suplex and Kakinuma, and then Ryouji hit a powerbomb and went up for the Nachi Waterfall double foot stomp looking for the finish! Kakinuma avoided it and hit a well delivered German suplex on Sai! He then took to the top rope but Ryouji cut him off with a jumping knee, and then a hard superplex! Ryouji then took to the top turnbuckle himself and hit the Nachi Waterfall on Kakinuma for the 3 count and victory!
The 3rd Match was a "Strap Deathmatch" between Kintaro Kanemura and Hartley "The Bull" Jackson, where both men would be connected to each other by a leather strap attached to their left wrists. The match started with both men tugging on the rope to gain position until Jackson gained the advantage by taking Kanemura down and wrapping the strap around his neck! Kanemura escaped to the outside and threw some chair in the ring, as Jackson beat him with the strap. Kanemura fought back by spraying water into Jackson's face! Placing Jackson on a table outside the ring, Kanemura went to the top turnbuckle to hit a move putting Jackson through the table but the Aussie got up and pulled Kanemura off the top via the strap! Instead it was Kanemura who saw himself crash through the table, breaking it in two!
Jackson then hit a brainbuster on Kanemura onto 3 chairs in the ring, and then hung Kanemura over the apron. Kanemura fought back and soon had Jackson in an STF using the strap for assistance! Jackson bit Kanemura to escape the hold! Kanemura then set up two tables forming a T-shape, and Kanemura hit a top rope brainbuster but both men hit hard! Kanemura, his back injured from the fall went for the Blast YAMA Special off the top but was late to the pin only getting a 2 count! Jackson was then went for the kill, hitting a Death Valley Driver and a hard lariat for a 2 count! Just when he though he might have the match won, he was soon wrapped in a small package by the wily Kanemura and counted down for 3! Following the match Kanemura went to offer a handshake, but the incensed gaijin attacked him instead before leaving!
Also on the card, Minoru Fujita battled the mysterious Shockwave the Robot 2003 and won in just under 11 minutes with a small package hold when the robot seemed to suffer some king of malfunction. The opening match was a 6-man tag where the team of KAMIKAZE, Rikiya Fudo and Yusaku Obata defeated the team of Mineo Fujita, Yuzuru Saito and Yoshikazu Yokoyama when Obata pinned the rookie Yokoyama with a missile dropkick. Also before the show was a signing ceremony for the World Heavyweight Title match.
ZERO1 WRESTLER'S 11 ~ GW Special
|
||
| FIGHT CARD | ||
| World Heavyweight Title | ||
| O Kohei Sato © (ZERO1) |
vs. | Shinjiro Otani X (ZERO1) |
| (19:20 → German Suplex Hold) | ||
| FUNAKI Japan Homecoming Match | ||
| FUNAKI (Free) O Ikuto Hidaka (ZERO1) |
vs. | Sandy Beach X (Hawaii) Chad Aloha (Hawaii) |
| (18:32 → Shawn Capture) | ||
| Ancient Egyptian Pharoah Emissary Decent Japan vs. Egypt Tag Match |
||
| Munenori Sawa (BattlArts) X Shota Takanishi (ZERO1) |
vs. | Amasis (Egypt) Ophidian O (Egypt) |
| (13:20 → Egyptian Destroyer) | ||
| Tag Match | ||
| Masato Tanaka (ZERO1) X Kenta Kakinuma (ZERO1) |
vs. | Ryouji Sai O (ZERO1) Wataru "Hustle" Sakata (HUSTLE) |
| (13:12 → Nachi Waterfall ) | ||
| Strap Death Match | ||
| X Hartley "The Bull" Jackson (NWA) |
vs. | Kintaro Kanemura O (XWF) |
| (11:42 → Small Package) | ||
| Single Match | ||
| O Minoru Fujita (ZERO1) |
vs. | Shock Wave The Robot 3000 X (Made in USA) |
| (10:56 → Small Package) | ||
| 6-Man Tag Match | ||
| KAMIKAZE (ZERO1) Rikiya Fudo (ZERO1) O Yusaku Obata (XWF) |
vs. | Mineo Fujita (Free) Yuzuru Saito (ZERO1) Yoshikazu Yokoyama X (ZERO1) |
| (13:12 → Missle Drop Kick) | ||
Champion and Challenger Comment on Eve of Title Bout!
May 4th, 2010
On the eve of their World Heavyweight match tomorrow, champion Kohei Sato and challenger Shinjiro Otani were asked their thoughts. The new champion Kohei spoke first:
"I won a great victory over Japanese pro wrestling legened legend Toshiaki Kawada at the Yamato Chikara Matsuri and took the title belt. It wasn't taken easily and I don't plan on giving it up easily.
"Shinjiro Otani is also a great wrestler, and I will give it everything I have to win the match. Time must move forward and things change. I plan to rise like a tree under my hometown sky and show a new Kohei Sato in the ring tomorrow."
Shinjiro Otani last held the World Heavyweight title just over a year ago, losing it to Ryouji Sai at that year's Celebration At The Yasukuni Shrine show back in early April. He had stated after that seeing Kohei win the title from Kawada at the same place he lost it drove him to the ring to challenge the new champion (pictured above). He added:
Steve & Colby Corino Not Appearing on 5/5 and 5/8 Shows!
May 4th, 2010
As earlier reported, Steve and Colby Corino were in doubt to appear at the May 5th Korakuen Hall show tomorrow, as they'd be arriving in Japan on that same night. Now it's official they won't be on that show or the May 8th Osaka show.
"Dear Sir-Madam,
"The weather is warm here in the Northeast, and we're in good health. Thank you all for your support. I'm sorry to have troubled the fans with the erratic changes in the schedule. I'm sorry I cannot disclose the reason for my cancellation because it is a matter of great privacy. I had looked forward to this particular trip to Japan, and Colby is also sad. We hope to see you soon." - Steve Corino.
FIRST ON STAGE announced that they will shuffle the 5/5 and 5/8 Fight Card and will re-schedule Steve and Colby Corino to tour with ZERO1 as soon as possible.
Wrestlers Comment on Upcoming ZERO1 WRESTLER'S 11 ~ GW Special!
May 1st, 2010
It's Golden Week in Japan, and ZERO1 will hold their "GW Special" on May 5th in Korakuen Hall with a World Heavyweight title match and the return of some familiar outsiders as well as newcomers. The main event will see ZERO1 President Shinjiro Otani challenge against new champion Kohei Sato. Kohei won the title last month at Yasukuni Shrine and was immediately challenged by former champion Otani and then former champion Ryouji Sai!
Making his Japanese homecoming in the ZERO1 ring is former WWE wrestler FUNAKI. It's well known that FUNAKI is Ikuto Hidaka's Sensei, and following Hidaka's win in the Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament 2010 he used his wish to request a tag match with his teacher. Now Hidaka's wish has come true as he will team with FUNAKI against the Hawaiian gaijin team of Sandy Beach & Chad Aloha.
Otani, FUNAKI and Hidaka participated in a ZERO1 press conference today and spoke about the upcoming show. President Otani commented:
"First of all, I want to win the World title belt back from Kohei Sato and then defend it against Ryouji Sai 3 days later in Osaka! After that I hope FUNAKI stays around so I can face him soon.
"It is FUNAKI who first told me first about [Animal] Hamaguchi dojo when I was still in Yamaguchi. Because FUNAKI made the call for me to Animal Hamaguchi's dojo I'm where I am now. I also respect Hidaka's friendship with him and I think fate has occurred. It's FUNAKI's first visit to Japan after a long absence, and there is also several foreign wrestlers on this show! I'm looking forward to this!"
Hidaka also commented on his teaming with FUNAKI:
"I made my wish after I won the Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament, and I said 'I invite my teacher and master...Sho Funaki to the ring of ZERO1 for a tag match!' I think it shows the powerful bond we have that my wish came through. Some have asked why I didn't choose to challenge FUNAKI, this time I felt we could be a strong team if we joined together."
Only leaving WWE two weeks ago on 4/22, many were surprised at how fast FUNAKI appeared for ZERO1. He was very enthusiastic as he spoke to the media for the first time:
"First things first, hello every one! It's FUNAKI and I've formally and triumphantly returned to Japan! I'd like to thank President Otani and Mr. Nakamura of ZERO1 and also Johnny Ace of WWE for putting this together."
Expanding on Hidaka's comments of teaming together, the press asked Funaki if he had any thoughts of challenging for the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team titles now held by Otani and Akebono.
"Oh that's very interesting! As President Otani said I've known him for a long time since we both have roots in Hamaguchi dojo. I also took care of the Yokozuna, Akebono, when he appeared in WWE at WRESTLEMANIA 21. Sounds good, let's aim for it!"
As previously reported here, the Father and Son team of Steve & Colby Corino were making their Japan debut to defend the WORLD-1 Tag Team titles against Masato Tanaka and ZERO1 rookie Kenta Kakinuma. This scheduled booking appeared to be in danger on 4/30 when Corino tweeted that there was trouble at the Philadelphia Passport office.
Things have now been cleared up but Team Corino will be arriving in Tokyo the day of their match on 5/5 and will have to rush to Korakuen Hall to make their match. Will they arrive on time? FIRST ON STAGE Director Yoshiyuki Nakamura said that they will hold their spot, and if they don't make it he will have a back-up plan.
Colby Corino is excited for his in-ring debut in Japan and hopes he makes it:
"I hope to make it to Japan on time. Since it is children's day in Japan on May 5th, I hope to fight hard next to my dad. I'm prepared for Japan, and now matter the age a pro wrestler has to keep his promises!"
Hawaiian surfer and wrestler Sandy Beach has returned to ZERO1, and will be teaming with Corino on May 8th in Osaka against Tanaka, FUNAKI and a wrestler still to be named.
"I remember my singles match versus Hidaka in Korakuen Hall that I lost. Since then I've wanted another singles match challenge with him. Though now Hidaka's teacher FUNAKI has come to ZERO1 and I will face him. This will be a career milestone if I am the one to pin him!"
