Wrestle-1 January 30, 2015 Review

Hello again boys & girls, I have decided to delay what is becoming the Solomon Crowe of columns (Reforming a kingdom) to bring you another exciting Wrestle-1 Show!!! Now some of you may be asking why I have a picture of Mutoh with his Mutoh bears, well you see boys & girls the truth is I don't quite know myself, so lets start this review.


Match 1: AKIRA, Ryota Hama, Rionne Fujiwara & El Hijo del Pantera vs Tokyo Gurentai, Andy Wu, & Hiroki Murase.



This match was a very short & by the numbers tag match, so I wont go into much detail. Winner Akira with a Super Fly Splash. Final grade: N/A I'll explain this grade later in my review, moving on.

Match 2: Hiroshi Yamato vs TAJIRI



Before I get into this match let may say that Yamato's gimmick is hilariously bad, I swear to god they gave it to him as a rib. There is no way in hell someone seriously said hey lets take a guy who can't sing at all & give him a pop idol gimmick. Also I have to say that Yamamoto should probably never ever use the reverse diving head butt again, he uses it twice during the match a both times it looked like he really hurt himself. That aside this was a fun & really short match, it would also seem that Tajiri isn't a fan Yamato's gimmick either cause he attacks him mid song & beats him down. It would also appear that Tajiri has forgotten how to properly use Asian mist, seriously dude it goes green mist then red. Final Grade: N/A, again I'll get to why later on.

Match 3: "Super Rookie" Daiki Inaba vs "Grumpy Old Man" Masato Tanaka



This the latest in the long running Wrestle-1 vs Zero-1 feud.  Inaba now sporting a mullet rivaled only by Daisuke Sekimoto, comes out & is immediately out on the attack. Heck if I had working for the weekend as my theme I attack so it'd end sooner too. His attacks don't last to long and Tanaka soon has the advantage. He beats on Inaba until Inaba starts fighting back, it goes back & forth then on out. Inaba even busts out a Blue Thunder driver at one point (anytime you bust out a Akiyama move you earn a lot of respect from yours truly). Winner: Tanaka with the sliding D. Fun simple match that made both men look strong. Final Grade: C+

Match 4: Too Sharp vs Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yusuke Kodama

This match is essentially a #1 contenders match. Too Sharp just got back together & Yuske & Yasu just challenged for the tag belts earlier in the month, so it was pretty academic who was going to win here. Some notes of interest Seiki has a better crossface than Bobby Roode (That's right I said it.), both teams seem to be coming along very well but Too Sharp seems to be a more cohesive unit seeing as Minoru & Seiki both work similar styles. Winner Too Sharp following a modified Koji Clutch from Seiki. Final Grade: C, if this had more time it could of been special but for what it was it wasn't bad.

Match 5: Masayuki Kono vs KAI

THIS MATCH SUCKED!!!! Maybe that's a little harsh, but considering that this was supposed to be a featured match and meant to put over KAI in a big way, it just fell flat. This was a mundane effort put forth by both men & given the amount of story behind this match that should tell you something.
Final Grade: F, NEXT!!!!!!

Match 6 IKEMEN Samurai (Masakatsu Funaki & Jiro Kuroshio) vs Hideki Suzuki & Yusaku Obata


The feud between Suzuki & Funaki has been boiling red hot since the 12/22 show (a show I recommend watching by the way) they can't stand the mere sight of one another, & every time time they get close to one another they get into a pull apart brawl. This match was no different, from the very start Suzuki makes one thing clear, HE DON'T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT KUROSHIO. He rips his jacket to shreds before the match starts, every time they were in the ring together he punches him in the face and tags out. This sets Funaki off even more and he doesn't even try for the hybrid blaster instead he tries to literally choke the life out of Suzuki. Eventually Funaki wins with a submission on Obata. But the real story here is that the beef between him & Suzuki isn't anywhere close to being done. Final Grade: C, you could tell they were saving Funaki & Suzuki for later on, 90% of this matches offense was Obata & to a lessor extent Suzuki beating down Kuroshio. Next.

Match 7: Wrestle-1 Tag Title Match Team 246(c) vs Desperado (KAZMA & Koji Doi)

This was more of Desperado's typical shenanigans, they stole the belts from 246 and refused to compete unless the match was under certain circumstances. They also seemed to find the one white guy in Tokyo and had him playing the role of Nick Patrick. Final Grade: C-, it's only saving grace is Team 246, otherwise it'd be an F. FUCK THIS MATCH, NEXT!!!!!!!

Main Event: Wrestle-1 Championship Keiji Mutoh (c) vs Manabu Soya

Soya won the right to challenge Mutoh on 1/11 show after working over his knees, and getting him to tap out. They do little to nothing to try to capitalize off of that, besides maybe say a scorpion death lock later on in the match. These two really tried to pull out all the stops in this match, Mutoh at one point even busted out a top rope frakensteiner. That said this match really didn't click for me & even the live crowd didn't seem to in to it. Mutoh was clearly shaken up after the match was over & was visibly limping, it really isn't fun to see Mutoh in this state, the man should of retired long ago & focused on his business, but unfortunately that's not the case & at 50 plus years old Mutoh is now tasking himself with the tedious process of pushing his young upstart company over the edge, it's just sad it really is, no matter how you slice it. Final Grade: C

Well this wasn't a good show, it was poorly booked, poorly worked, & worst of all it made me question why I was watching it. Usually I don't try to be this negative in my reviews but shows like this are ones that Mutoh & company can't afford to have, you only get one chance to make a first impression, and if you fail then you have to constantly try to make up for it. I see the potential in Wrestle-1 but the problems has been & continues to be the structuring & booking of its shows, and it's easy to see why some puro fans write their shows off. As for the N/A they have to do with the fact that they are random matches that are on the show just for the sake of being there & play into the booking problems of wrestle-1.

Final Grade: C-, The things that saves this show from an  F are the storyline progressing leading into the next show, I know I just got done ragging on Wrestle-1 for poor booking but the next shows looks to be an improvement on this one, KAI vs Tanaka, Team 246 vs Too Sharp, & the debut of two new rookies as well. Well Join me next time as me & D-Grove review the New Japan New Beginning shows from Osaka & Sendai.