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For a full list of my Puroresu Reviews please visit Puroresu Central.

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Date: February 11th, 2014
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown

Here we are again, back to ZERO1. I am not ignoring them, they just don’t ‘make tape’ very often, at least not tape that reaches me here in the States. They sadly don’t have a regular TV show, although they do pop up on Samurai TV! sometimes. This card has a NWA United National Heavyweight Championship match as well as Sugiura invading from NOAH. Here is the full card:

– Chou-un Shiryu, Jason Lee, and Mr. 450° vs. Toru Owashi, Takuya Sugawara, and Mineo Fujita
– Gokiburi Mask #1 and Gokiburi Mask #2 vs. Menso~re Oyaji and Hiroyo Matsumoto
– HUB and Tigers Mask vs. Ikuto Hidaka and Fujita “Jr.” Hayato
– Demon Ueda vs. Yusaku Obata
– Ryouji Sai, KAMIKAZE, and Yoshikazu Yokoyama vs. TARU, “brother” YASSHI, and Kengo
– NWA United National Heavyweight Championship: Tama Williams vs. Daichi Hashimoto
– Shinjiro Otani and Kohei Sato vs. Takashi Sugiura and Masato Tanaka

Like a lot of the smaller promotion’s events, this one is pretty heavily clipped towards the beginning but it gets better as we get further along.

Chou-un Shiryu, Jason Lee, and Mr. 450° vs. Toru Owashi, Takuya Sugawara, and Mineo Fujita
Joined in Progress, with Owashi chopping Lee in the corner. Lee switches positions with him and returns the favor, and they go back and forth until Owashi pushes Lee back. Owashi applies a stretch hold on the mat but releases it after a moment. We jump ahead to Mr. 450 getting triple teamed, ending with a triple dropkick. Fujita picks up Mr. 450 but Mr. 450 sneaks in a sunset flip. Superkick by Mr. 450, he goes up to the top turnbuckle but he is grabbed from the apron. Fujita is up and he hits a Frankensteiner, but Mr. 450 rolls through it for a two count. Fujita applies a modified Gannosuke Clutch, and he picks up the three count. Your winners: Toru Owashi, Takuya Sugawara, and Mineo Fujita

Match Thoughts: Extremely clipped as we saw less than two minute of the match which was over eleven minutes long. I am not complaining, looking at the wrestlers I am perfectly fine with missing this match. Score: N/A

Gokiburi Mask #1 and Gokiburi Mask #2 vs. Menso~re Oyaji and Hiroyo Matsumoto
Mask #1 and Oyaji start things off. Oyaji attacks Mask #1 from behind, and we clip ahead to Matsumoto being in the ring with Mask #1. Mask #2 comes in the ring and kicks Matsumoto, double Irish whip to the corner but Matsumoto avoids both of them. Matsumoto kicks Oyaji and throws him at Mask #1 and Mask #2, then runs into them to knock all three over. Hidaka kicks Oyaji against and throws him onto Mask #1, cover, but it gets a two count. Matsumoto throws Oyaji at Mask #1, and she does it a second time. Matsumoto nudges Mask #1 in front of the corner and hits a double stomp, then Oyaji hits a diving doublestomp. Cover, but it gets a two count. Oyaji gets a cardboard box and puts it over Mask #1’s head, but Mask #2 gets in the ring and removes the box. Mask #1 and Mask #2 hit body blocks on their opponents, then they both squash Oyaji. Hui Hui Driver by Mask #1, cover, and he gets a three count. Your winners: Gokiburi Mask #1 and Gokiburi Mask #2

Match Thoughts: This was very clipped as well which again I think was probably for the better. Clearly there was a comedic element here as Matsumoto kept hurting Oyaji in order to attack their opponents. But too clipped up to get a good feel of. Score: N/A

HUB and Tigers Mask vs. Ikuto Hidaka and Fujita “Jr.” Hayato
HUB and Hayato start things off. Waistlock by Hayato into a wristlock, reversed by HUB and he gets Hayato to the mat. HUB goes for a cross armbreaker but Hayato gets out of it and returns to his feet. Elbow by Hayato but HUB returns fire and they trade blows. HUB tags in Tigers Mask and Tigers Mask throws Hayato into the corner. High kick by Tigers Mask, Irish whip, and Tigers Mask hits a second high kick followed by a kick to the back of the head and a lariat. Cover by Tigers Mask but it barely gets a two could. Tigers Mask applies a cobra clutch while bending Hayato over his knee until Hidaka breaks it up. Tigers Mask tags in HUB, club to the back by HUB and he hits Hayato against the ropes. HUB goes off the ropes but Hayato kicks him in the chest, Tigers Mask comes in the ring but he gets dropped as well. Irish whip by HUB, kick to the stomach by Hayato and he delivers a dropkick. Hayato tags in Hidaka, and Hidaka kicks both HUB and Tigers Mask. HUB hits Tigers Mask by accident and Hidaka hits a tornado DDT/kick combination on both wrestlers. Missile dropkick by Hidaka to HUB, cover, but it gets a two count. Hidaka picks up HUB, kicks by Hidaka and he goes off the ropes but HUB avoids Hidaka’s strike and he hits the Black Magic. HUB kicks Hayato in the back of the head and he tags in Tigers Mask.

HUB scoop slams Hidaka and goes up to the top turnbuckle, Tigers Mask lays Hayato on top of Hidaka and HUB hits a diving body press on both men. Tigers Mask stomps Hidaka, they pick him up, Irish whip to the corner and Tigers Mask hits a running elbow. Jumping knee by HUB in the corner, Tigers Mask gets Hidaka around the waist and he hits a German suplex hold while HUB hits a Shining Wizard. Hayato breaks up the pin attempt so HUB throws him out of the ring, Tigers Mask charges Hidaka in the corner but Hidaka pushes him back and hits a spinning heel kick. Lariat by HUB to Hidaka but Hayato knocks him out with a headbutt. Hayato kicks Tigers Mask in the corner and then hits a running knee strike. Hidaka is back up, he grabs Tigers Mask, double Irish whip and Tigers Mask eats a double kick to the chest. PK by Hayato, cover by Hidaka but HUB breaks it up. Hayato throws HUB out of the ring while Hidaka picks up Tigers Mask. Hidaka and Tigers Mask trade kicks which Hidaka gets the better of, cover, but it gets a two count. Hidaka picks up Tigers Mask and nails the Iwami Ginzan, cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winners: Ikuto Hidaka and Fujita “Jr.” Hayato

Match Thoughts: Even though it was clipped in half this was still a fun match. These guys aren’t young anymore but they can still go, and for reasons I can’t really explain I’ve always liked wrestlers in masks so the HUB/Tigers Mask team was extra enjoyable for me. They kept the action moving (probably helped by the clipping), and the home stretch was well done with the teams working really well together. Wish I could have seen the whole thing but still enjoyable. Score: 6.0

Demon Ueda vs. Yusaku Obata
Obata dropkicks Ueda as the match starts and elbows him into the corner. Jumping kick by Obata and Ueda falls out of the ring. Obata goes out to the apron and hits a missile dropkick down to the floor. Obata chokes Ueda with his boot on the floor and he slides Ueda back into the ring. Obata gets in as well and kicks Ueda, Ueda elbows him back and they trade blows. Knee by Obata, snapmare, and Obata kicks Ueda in the back. Obata throws Ueda into the corner and hits a few elbows and he chokes Ueda with his boot. Irish whip by Obata but Ueda kicks him when he charges in. Another kick by Ueda and he puts Obata horizontal in the corner. Body avalanche by Ueda and goes for a suplex, Obata lands on his feet, Ueda goes off the ropes and Obata delivers a dropkick. Dropkick by Obata and he hits a jumping double knee in the corner. Another dropkick by Obata, he picks up Ueda and he hit a snap DDT. Cover, but it gets a two count. Obata picks up Ueda, elbows by Obata, he goes off the ropes but Ueda hits a double chop to the chest. Vertical suplex by Ueda, cover, but it gets a two count.

Ueda picks up Obata and he hits a gutwrench sit-down powerbomb. Cover, but it gets a two count. Ueda picks up Obata, scoop slam, Ueda goes up to the top turnbuckle but Obata rolls out of the way when Ueda jumps off. Obata hits a DDT, cover, but Obata gets a two count. Obata goes up to the top turnbuckle but Ueda has recovered and joins him. Obata knocks Ueda down to the mat, he gets up on the turnbuckle and he hits a missile dropkick. Cover, but it gets a two count. Obata picks up Ueda but is distracted by Sugawara on the apron. Ueda accidentally blows mist in his face however, and Obata hits a Code Breaker. Obata picks up Ueda and he hits a brainbuster. Mounted elbows by Obata, he goes out to the apron but Ueda rolls out of the way of the swandive attack. Lariat by Ueda, he picks up Obata and he nails the Lucifer Hammer. Cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Demon Ueda

Match Thoughts: This was solid but unspectacular. Obata seems to have a pretty limited moveset but he did wrestle with a lot of emotion. It really did feel like a grudge match which it was billed as, so that is a plus. They kept things pretty simple, and even though the match wasn’t long they used a lot of power moves to justify why both wrestlers were ailing by the end. Plus the Lucifer Hammer is a cool move that no one should be kicking out of anyway. It wasn’t complex and if it went longer it may not have worked, but it was perfectly fine for what it was. Score: 6.0

Ryouji Sai, KAMIKAZE, and Yoshikazu Yokoyama vs. TARU, “brother” YASSHI, and Kengo
Yokoyama and TARU start things off. Yokoyama gets jumped from behind by YASSHI and Kengo, and they slam him to the mat. TARU takes Yokoyama outside of the ring and throws him into the ringside chairs. He takes Yokoyama up into the bleachers and throws him into a wall. TARU slides Yokoyama back into the ring, YASSHI picks him up and applies a neck crank. Yokoyama fights him off but Kengo hits him from behind. Kengo chokes Yokoyama in the corner with his knee, then TARU comes in the ring and chokes Yokoyama in the corner as well. TARU chokes Yokoyama with his boot and a rope, Kengo comes in the ring and kicks Yokoyama in the back. Senton by Kengo, YASSHI comes into the ring but Yokoyama chops him off. Eye rake by YASSHI and he hits an uppercut. Irish whip by YASSHI but Yokoyama catches him when he charges in. Chops by YASSHI, he goes off the ropes but Yokoyama hits a powerslam. Yokoyama tags in Sai, Sai goes off the ropes and he hits a big boot onto YASSHI. Vertical suplex by Sai, cover, but it gets a two count. KAMIKAZE and Yokoyama come in the ring, YASSHI is thrown into the corner and all three men connect with running strikes.

Sai picks up YASSHI and hits a gutbuster, cover, but Kengo breaks it up. KAMIKAZE throws Kengo out of the ring, Sai picks up YASSHI, he goes off the ropes but TARU hits him from the floor. Sai tags in Yokoyama while TARU is also tagged in, Yokoyama tackles TARU and hits a shoulder tackle in the corner. Scoop slam by Yokoyama and he hits a reverse splash. Cover, but TARU kicks out at two. Yokoyama goes off the ropes but TARU kicks Yokoyama in the stomach and then in the head. YASSHI picks up Yokoyama and hits him into the corner, Irish whip by YASSHI and they repeatedly lariat Yokoyama in the corner. Chokebomb by TARU to Yokoyama, cover, but Sai breaks it up. TARU hits Sai with a kendo stick, but KAMIKAZE comes in the ring and takes it from him. Sai holds TARU for KAMIKAZE, but TARU moves when KAMIKAZE goes to hit him. TARU talks KAMIKAZE off, Sai goes off the ropes but KAMIKAZE hits Sai with a spinning back kick. KAMIKAZE hits Yokoyama with the kendo stick, scoop slam, and KAMIKAZE hits a moonsault on his own partner. TARU covers Yokoyama and he picks up the three count. Your winners: TARU, “brother” YASSHI, and Kengo

Match Thoughts: This is the first time I’ve seen the Voodoo Murderers in awhile, good to see them again. This was mostly a storyline match, with KAMIKAZE joining the evil team. I wish I understood the promo afterwards as it didn’t make a lot of sense he would attack the Voodoo Murderers for most of the match before changing his mind. Beyond that there wasn’t much to the match, just an average tag team brawl. Score: 5.0

(c) Tama Williams vs. Daichi Hashimoto
This match is for the NWA United National Heavyweight Championship. Dropkick by Hashimoto to start the match, but Williams doesn’t go down. Elbows by Hashimoto but Williams shrugs him off and pushes Hashimoto back. Hard chop by Williams, elbows by Hashimoto and he goes off the ropes, but Williams chops him in the chest. Williams picks up Hashimoto and he chops him down again. Hashimoto gets back up, chops by Williams, cover, but it gets a one count. Williams picks up Hashimoto and he hits a scoop slam. Cover, but again it gets a one count. Neck grip by Williams but Hashimoto gets a foot on the ropes to force a break. Stomp by Williams, Hashimoto gets back up but Williams elbows him in the face. Elbow drop by Williams, cover, but it gets a two count. Williams picks up Hashimoto, elbows by Hashimoto and he kicks Williams in the chest, but Williams catches one and he chops Hashimoto in the leg. Enzigieri by Hashimoto and he kicks Williams in the corner. Hashimoto gets a running start and hit a jumping knee, he goes for a backdrop suplex but Williams elbows out of it. Williams gets Hashimoto on his shoulders but Hashimoto slides off his back and hits a backdrop suplex. Hashimoto picks up Williams and applies a front facelock.

Williams drives Hashimoto into the corner, he gets a running start and he hits a lariat. Running butt smash by Williams, cover, but it gets a two count. Williams picks up Hashimoto and goes for a suplex but Hashimoto lands on his feet. Heel kick by Hashimoto and he elbows Williams in the corner. Irish whip by Hashimoto, reversed, Hashimoto kicks Williams when he charges in but Williams chops him in the chest. Williams charges Hashimoto but Hashimoto moves out of the way and hits the Triangle Kick. Shining Wizard by Hashimoto, cover, but it gets a two count. Hashimoto picks up Williams, punches by Hashimoto and he goes off the ropes, but Williams kicks him in the chest. Williams picks up Hashimoto and goes for a piledriver, but Hashimoto blocks it. Williams goes off the ropes but Hashimoto ducks the lariat and applies a cross armbreaker. Williams gets up and tries to muscle out of the hold but Hashimoto gets him back to the mat. Hashimoto then applies a choke before releasing the hold. High kick by Hashimoto, he goes off the ropes but Williams throws him in the air and hits a Samoan Drop. Double-Arm Piledriver by Williams and he picks up the three count. Your winner and still champion: Tama Williams

Match Thoughts: A bit lackluster but it had its moments. In my opinion Williams isn’t big enough to act impervious to Hashimoto’s offense. He plays the ‘big gaijin’ role but he isn’t monstrously big, he is just a little bigger than Hashimoto. It also wasn’t really long enough to get across that storyline, I wouldn’t have minded a bit more offense by Williams for Hashimoto to ‘overcome’. Also I hated Hashimoto just releasing the cross armbreaker and the choke in the middle of the ring, it doesn’t make any sense to release a move that can end a match for no reason. That being said Hashimoto did a good job here with his comebacks so it wasn’t a worthless match, but overall it wasn’t great. Score: 4.0

Shinjiro Otani and Kohei Sato vs. Takashi Sugiura and Masato Tanaka
Otani and Tanaka start things off. Waistlock by Tanaka, reversed by Otani into a wristlock but Tanaka reverses it back. They go to the mat as they jockey for position, side headlock takedown by Tanaka but Otani gets out of it and both men return to their feet. Tie-up, Tanaka pushes Otani into the ropes but he gives a clean break. Takedown by Tanaka, Irish whip by Otani but they collide with neither man going down. Otani and Tanaka trade elbows, with Tanaka nailing Otani with a Roaring Elbow. Tanaka tags in Sugiura, and crawls to his corner to tag in Sato. Sugiura and Sato circle each other, takedown by Sugiura and he gets in the mount position before going for a cross armbreaker, but Sato blocks it and powerbombs his way out of the hold. Sato backs off as Sugiura gets back up and they trade elbows, which Sugiura gets the better of. Sato gets back up as they go at it again, knee by Sato and he tags in Otani. Double Irish whip to Sugiura and he is hit with a double shoulderblock. Cover, but it gets a one count. Snapmare by Otani and he applies a reverse chinlock. Sugiura gets up and pushes Otani into the corner, slapping Otani in the face. Otani fights back but Sugiura slaps him down in the corner and tags in Tanaka. Tanaka stomps Otani in the corner, chops by Tanaka, Irish whip and Tanaka hits a running jumping elbow smash. Tanaka picks up Otani and hits some more chops but Otani hits an elbow smash and tags in Sato. Sato picks up Tanaka, snapmare, and Sato kicks Tanaka in the back. Cover by Sato but it gets a two count. Sato picks up Tanaka and slaps Tanaka but Tanaka hits him back and they trade blows. Leg kick by Sato and he tags in Otani. Sato and Otani yank on Tanaka’s legs, Otani throws Tanaka into the corner and he collapses on impact. Otani picks up Tanaka, Irish whip, and Tanaka collapses in the corner again. Otani applies a single leg crab hold but Tanaka gets a hand on the ropes. Otani throws Tanaka into the corner and Otani tags in Sato, Sato picks up Tanaka and he hits a scoop slam. Cover by Sato but it gets a two count. Headbutt by Sato but Tanaka headbutts him back. Sato wins the headbutt exchange, he picks up Tanaka and goes for a suplex, but Tanaka blocks it. Sato knocks Tanaka into the corner, Irish whip, but Tanaka kicks Sato back and hits a tornado DDT. Lariat by Tanaka and he makes the hot tag to Sugiura. Sugiura knocks down Sato and then hits Otani as well, Irish whip by Sugiura and he kicks Otani off the apron. Sato and Sugiura trade elbows, Sato goes off the ropes but Sugiura knees him in the stomach.

Gutwrench suplex by Sugiura, he picks up Sato and applies a waistlock, but Sato elbows him off. Sato knees Sugiura in the stomach, and Sato hits a release German suplex onto Sugiura. Sato tags in Otani, Otani picks up Sugiura and throws him into the corner. Otani hits the face wash on Sugiura in the corner, Otani picks up Sugiura and rakes him in the eyes. Irish whip by Otani and he kicks Sugiura in the corner. Sugiura responds with his own big boot, but Otani kicks him back and hits a backdrop suplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Otani picks up Sugiura and they trade elbows, Sugiura goes off the ropes and he hits a big boot. Otani responds with his own boot but Sugiura hits a spear. Sugiura tags in Tanaka, Tanaka picks up Otani, he goes off the ropes and hits an elbow. Sato comes in the ring, double Irish whip to Tanaka but Tanaka lariats Sato and Otani. Tanaka picks up Otani and he hits a brainbuster. Cover, but it gets a two count. Tanaka picks up Otani, Irish whip to the corner but Otani boots him back. Another boot by Otani and he hits a pair of jumping high kicks. Otani tags in Sato, kick to the chest by Sato, he picks up Tanaka and he hits a Falcon Arrow. Cover, but it gets a two count. Otani comes in the ring, double Irish whip to Tanaka to the corner, elbow by Otani and Sato knees Tanaka in the stomach. Backdrop suplex by Sato to Tanaka, and Sato kicks Tanaka in the chest. Cover, but it gets a two count. Sato goes up on the top turnbuckle but Tanaka has recovered and joins him up top. Superplex by Tanaka and he hits a lariat in the corner. Another lariat by Tanaka and Sugiura hit a running knee to Sato. Elbows by Sugiura in the corner, he hit a scoop slam and Tanaka comes off the top turnbuckle with a diving body press. Cover, but it gets a two count. Tanaka waits for Sato to get up but he misses the Sliding D. German suplex by Sato and Otani hits a missile dropkick off the top turnbuckle. Scoop brainbuster by Sato to Tanaka, cover, but it gets a two count. Sato picks up Tanaka and he hits a piledriver. Cover, but Tanaka gets a shoulder up. Sato picks up Tanaka but Sugiura comes in the ring, and Sugiura drops Sato with a release German suplex. Sugiura hits one on Otani as well, Tanaka goes off the ropes and hits the Sliding D onto Sato. Cover, but it gets a two count. Sugiura picks up Sato and he hits an Olympic Slam, he then sits up Sato so that Tanaka can nail the Sliding D. Cover, and Tanaka picks up the three count. Your winners: Takashi Sugiura and Masato Tanaka

Match Thoughts: A very solid main event with four veterans that can have a good match with their eyes closed. Even though it had a feeling of “I’ve seen this before!” (Otani has been having main event matches like this in ZERO1 for a decade), they kept it entertaining and even with a high median age, it was a pretty fast paced match. Sato still seems to be sleep walking at times but everyone else showed some intensity, and the strike exchanges were well done. Besides the feelings of Déjà vu this was a fun match, really aided by having Sugiura here, and a fitting main event for the show. Score: 7.0

Final Thoughts:

Best Match: Shinjiro Otani and Kohei Sato vs. Takashi Sugiura and Masato Tanaka. It wasn’t really the most exciting match, which can be expected from the ‘seasoned veterans’ of the promotion, but it was still a really good match. The strikes were hard, Sugiura added his usual intensity, and the time really flew by. The ending was great as it kept Sato strong, and having Sugiura have to sit-up Sato for the Sliding D made more sense than Sato just sitting up on his own. A solid main event for ZERO1.

MVP:   Takashi Sugiura. Sugiura added a ‘different’ element to the main event. If it had just been another ZERO1 wrestler in his spot, such as Hashimoto, then it probably would have felt more like ‘old hat’. But Sugiura made things seem more important and urgent, and he really did bring his wrasslin’ boots for the match. Great strike exchanges, good timing with the ‘bigger’ moves, and overall just a really good performance by Sugiura.

Overall: I wouldn’t call this a bad card, but it wasn’t really good either. I don’t like clipped matches, which made the first two matches on the card pretty meaningless. The Jr. Heavyweight tag was fun but also clipped to hell, and the Voodoo Murderers match was more about a storyline than about the action. On the other hand, the grudge match was surprisingly entertaining since I don’t usually equate “Demon Ueda” and “good matches” together, and the main event was definitely solid. This is probably an event better served for ZERO1 fans, but I have seen far worse this year and is a good example of what ZERO1 was offering in early 2014.

Grade: C

For a full list of my Puroresu Reviews please visit Puroresu Central.