Wrestle-1 Sunrise Tour 1/11/15 Review

This my first review of a Wrestle-1 show, I covered them before so I felt it was only appropriate I give them a full show review this time around. Let's get it started shall we!!!!

First Match: Masayuki Kono vs. Hiroki Murase

This match was short sweet and to the point. Murase showed some fire but it was all for not as Kono was merely toying with the Young Boy. Winner Kono with the running knee (45 seconds) The leader of Desperado continues his reign of terror, I'm looking forward to his rematch with KAI, but please Wrestle-1 don't have him go over this time around.  Final Match Grade: C

Second Match: Ryota Hama & Rionne Fujiwara vs TOKYO GURENTAI (NOSAWA & MAZADA)

Another short match here, Fujiwara does most of the heavy lifting here. He lets Nosawa & Mazada work him over before making the hot tag to Hama, who does a mix of sumo and comedy spots before getting the win for his team. Winners Fujiwara & Hama flowing a splash from Hama (4 mins. 35 sec.) Final Match Grade: C another short fun match.

3rd Match: Andy Wu & El Hijo del Pantera vs Tajiri & KAZMA SAKAMOTO

This match was was clipped and joined already in progress. Kazma does some comedy spots, then him and Tajiri work over Wu, who then makes the tag to Pantera. The team makes a comeback, showing off some impressive lucha libre spots before a miscommunication cost the team the win. Winners KAZMA & TAJIRI after a Michinoku driver from KAZMA ( 7 mins. 7 sec.) This was a by the numbers tag match. Final Grade: D

Next up it's former friends turned rivals Jiro "IKEMEN" Kuroshio vs Koji Doi

Ikemen and Doi were team mates in the group Novus, which comprised of former WNC rookies. The group has now dissolved due in large part to Doi turning on his team mates to join the heel stable DESPERADO. IKEMEN was the one who Doi attacked when he turned so it only makes sense to the two would face off. IKEMEN does his comedy shtick of fooling around and pretends to try and get in the ring. This pisses Doi off and he knocks him outside causing the two to brawl. It's made very clear that IKEMEN is not only over powered but outnumbered early on in the match. Once they get into the ring IKEMEN makes a comeback with a series of stiff kicks and high impact moves, he goes for his finisher, the IKEMEN Spiral, but Doi blocks it. They then trade strikes for a little bit before Doi tries to introduce a foreign object. The ref takes it away and Doi kicks IKEMEN below the belt and hits his finisher the MOTHER FUCKER (that's seriously what he's calling it) for the win. (5 mins. 35 sec.) Afterwards Doi beats IKEMEN up some more with a few gimmicked chairs and then laughs maniacally over his fallen foe. Final Grade: C

Next we get the return match of Seiki Yoshioka coming off of his latest knee injury.

Match 5: Too Sharp (Minoru Tanaka & Seiki Yoshioka) vs. Hiroshi Yamoto & Daiki Inaba

This was a fun match. Minoru & Yamoto are rivals so it was good to see them in the ring together as they both brought the heat. Seiki was tentative at first but as the match went on he let loose. Even Inaba who is being billed as the "Super Rookie" was on point, as he tried his best to prove that the title of "Super Rookie" was more than a title just bestowed upon him by Wrestle-1. Winners Too Sharp after a Tornado Kaki Cutter on Inaba (9 mins. 54 sec.)  Final Match Grade: B Afterwards Too Sharp makes it known they want a shot at the tag belts, which I wouldn't mind seeing.

Sixth Match: NWO (Keiji Mutoh & Hiro Saito) VS NWO (New Wild Order: Akira and Manabu Soya)

The story going into this match was that Soya needed to beat Mutoh in order to prove his contendership to for the title and much of the match centers around it. You get some nostalgia spots from Saito and Mutoh is always a treat to see, but the match does not get good until towards the end when Akira and Soya attack Mutoh's legs. Winners New Wild Order following a scorpion death lock by Soya (13 mins. 54 sec.) It was nice to see a reunion from NWO Japan but I would've of rather had them choose someone else besides Saito as he wasn't in the greatest of shape hear. I'm also looking forward to Mutoh's match against Soya. Final Match Grade: C

Seventh Match: KAI vs Masakatsu Funaki

KAI has heat with Funaki due to Funaki attacking him during a brawl Funaki had with Hideki Suzuki. Most of the early match is the two doing some mat work. Funaki then lays in some stiff kicks before going to the well too many times. KAI then hits Funaki with a dropkick, knocking him outside the ring, followed up by a suicide dive. KAI tosses Funaki in the ring and goes for his finisher, Funaki counters with a sleeper. The two then battle back and forth before KAI gets the advantage with an Enzuguiri. He hits his finisher but Funaki kicks out, he goes for a Frog Splash but Funaki moves out of the way. He then hits KAI with a multitude of strikes before locking in a cross face chicken wing transitioned into a rear naked choke. KAI almost passes out before getting his foot on the rope. Funaki goes for more kicks but KAI counters and hits him with another enzuguiri for his troubles. Kai then goes for a thunder fire powerbomb (god bless whoever named it that) but gets locked in a triangle choke instead. Funaki almost gets the win here but KAI is to close to the ropes, he hits him with a few more strikes and a backdrop driver, before locking him into another cross face chicken wing. Funaki then transitions into a Hybrid Blaster (Hammer lock Tombstone) and goes for the kill, however KAI counters out of it and the two trade some more counters before KAI gets the win with the Powerbomb. Whew what a match, I wasn't expecting much from these two given that their last encounter early on last year was pretty awkward, but they certainly blew away my expectations. Winner KAI ( 9 mins 36 sec.) Final Match Grade: B 

Main Event time folks, here we have the newly formed tag team of Yusuke Kodama & Yasufumi Nakanoue vs the veteran team of Shuji Kondo & Kaz Hayashi AKA Team 246 for the Wrestle-1 Team Championships. 

Eighth and Final Match: Team 246 (c) vs Kodama and Nakanoue 

I can not even begin to do this match enough justice, so all I will say is that it's definitely one worth watching. It reminded a little bit of an old school All Japan match and even Kodama, who I've been extremely harsh on in the past, has won me over. If you only have time to see one match from this show then watch this one. Simply put this is probably the best match in Wrestle-1 history. Final Match Grade: A+  Afterwards Doi and KAZMA came down and stole the belts, before making the challenge for the next show.

Final Show Grade: C+, overall I thought this show was very fun especially for a filler show. It's definitely not a must see show by any means, but is worth the look if you've got some free time or if you just wanna check out the main event. Well that's it for today ladies and gents, join me next time when maybe I'll finally get my Reforming a Kingdom article done, until then see ya in space cowboy.