Wrestle-1 3/8/15 review

(The girl in the center was the second person to fallow me on twitter)

Hello, hello and welcome to another review of Wrestle-1. Now you might ask yourself LP why do you use random photos as the cover for your reviews, well it's simple I don't know, but I'm going to keep doing it until I can't find anymore of them, so lets get it started shall we!!!

Match 1: Kumagoro vs Shotaro Ashino

Two words ROOKIE MATCH! That's not to hate on either guy just to say if you've seen 1 rookie match you've seen them all, Kumagoro gets his first win with the Rookie Hold of Super Ultra Omega Alpha Beta DOOM! AKA a Boston Crab.

Match Grade: C-

Match 2: Wrestle-1 vs Desperado: Ryota Hama, Andy Wu, Daiki Inaba, Hiroki Murase, & Rionne Fujiwara vs Masayuki Kono, Tajiri, KAZMA SAKAMOTO, Koji Doi, & El Hijo del Pantera



The match starts out messy and everyone brawls around Kourken hall until finally Fujiwara and Doi roll back into the ring. Some quick notes

-The More I see out of him the more I'm impressed with Inaba the guy has star written all of over him and in my opinion he's the best rookie in Japan.
-Pantera is a better hell than I expected it really suits him and he seems to be showing more emotion because of it. Him & Wu really play off their heat well too.
-Hama doesn't have time for your silly proper technique, he'll belly to belly you any way he damn we'll pleases.

Pantera gets the win after stealing Wu's mask and getting the roll up. Having Pantera rip off Wu's mask was a nice touch as it's the highest dishonor a luchador can do to another and the way Wu sold it was great too. Fun match, it really picks up at the end though.

Match Grade: C

Match 3: Hideki FUCKING Suzuki vs Yasufumi "someone please give me a push already" Nakanoue



Well that was quick, I would of like a little bit more from this match given what these two are capable of but for what it was it was nice. Plus this was more about establishing Suzuki as the top contender for the belt after he beat Funaki on the Zero-1 show. Also lose the disco music Suzuki, Jumbo & Hansen may of made it work but it just doesn't fit you, please don't hurt me. Winner Hideki FUCKING Suzuki. After the match Suzuki casually walks to the back before the ref can raise his hand, maybe someone imported some Kandy Kakes for him to eat.

(Snack of Champions)

Match Grade: H.F.S. (Hideki FUCKING Suzuki)

Match 4: Seiki Yoshioka vs Yuske Kodama

This match was a part of the road to cruiser series which as you can imagine is meant to show off the cruiser talent of Wrestle-1 before the formal tournament ensues. Both of these men really showcased what they have in this match and this could very well be a look into the future of what the top of the division will look like in a few years time. While I wouldn't call this match a classic by any means I will say this is a damn good match and is worth a quick watch. Kodama gets the win with a hurricanrana into a pin.

Match Grade: B-

Match 5: Minoru Tanaka vs Hiroshi Yamoto



These two have quite the history together, Tanaka is the one who took the EWP intercontinental belt off of Yamoto and he's wanted revenge ever since. Right off the back it looks like Yamoto has ditched his flamboyant pop idol gimmick for a more aggressive no nonsense persona. (he also finally took my advise to stop doing the reverse headbutt) The match at times felt more like a brawl than the fast paced cruiser matches we're used to but for what it was it was ok, though I did find it scary when Tanaka got a stinger, this hasn't been a good year for wrestlers and their necks, and it looked like Tanaka was about to be added to the IR list but everything turned out ok.

Match Grade: C

Match 6: 3 Way Tag for the #1 Contenders Spot for the W-1 Tag Titles "Ikemen Samurai" vs "New Wild Order" vs "Tokyo Gurentai"



This was a really fun match to watch, however it had more than it's fair share of problems, the biggest being that the Gurentai, who I have never in my entire time watching Wrestle-1 seen them win a match, they're pretty much there just to cost Kuroshio & Funaki the match. There were also some really awkward moments in the beginning of the match, but as it went it got better. N.W.O. wins after Soya gets a back slide on Kuroshio. I really wanted Ikemen Samurai to win here and so did the crowd, my guess is that they want N.W.O to beat 246, but there is no denying how over Funaki and Ikemen are.

Match Grade: C+

Match 7: Team 246 vs Masato Tanaka & Yusaku Obata



This match was as good as you'd expect 246 almost always delivers the goods, Tanaka is tank, and even Obata impressed me a little bit here. Don't get me wrong though there were some moments that dragged but over all it wasn't too too bad.

Match Grade: C+

Main Event: Wrestle-1 Championship Match KAI vs Keiji Mutoh (c)



A well worked match by both men, it was about as good as you'd expect a Mutoh match to be these days. You had plenty of storytelling and the finish made both KAI and Mutoh look like equals, so no complaints there. I mentioned in another article that it was only right the gave KAI the belt before Sanada and I couldn't be more happy for KAI to be the one that ended what is more than likely Mutoh's goodbye reign. Winner KAI following 3 Splash Planchas. After the match Hediki FUCKING Suzuki comes out and really messes with KAI's head, this has got to be the only time I've seen someone get a title shot without saying or doing anything, he just smiled and sarcastically patted KAI on the head. I'm really looking forward to their match, Hideki is probably the Chael Sonnen of Japan right now, I don't think I've seen someone play a dickhead this well before in my life. Oh yeah ahem.

Match Grade: B

Final Show Grade: B/H.F.S

This was a pretty decent show, I at least enjoyed all the matches and didn't have any problems with how they advanced the story lines, like most Wrestle-1 shows it isn't a must see outside of a few matches, but worth a watch if you have the time.