Date: November 19th, 2014
Location: Tokyo Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 1,182
I have finally found a Dradition event to review, as you can probably tell they don’t have a lot of shows as this is the first one this year I’ve tracked down. The main event is interesting…. I guess that is a word that I could use to describe quite a few of the matches. None of these jump out at me as having a lot of potential but we will see where it goes. Here is the full card:
– Bear Fukuda, Masato Shibata, and Sanshu vs. Kurashima, Amigo Suzuki, and Kotaro Nasu
– Hiro Saito vs. Yoshinari Ogawa
– Daisuke Sekimoto vs. LEONA
– Alexander Otsuka vs. Takashi Sugiura
– First Tiger Mask and Super Tiger vs. Mitsuya Nagai and Black Tiger
– Naomichi Marufuji vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
Let’s get right to it.
Fukuda, Masato Shibata, and Sanshu vs. Kurashima, Amigo Suzuki, and Nasu
Sanshu and Kurashima start things off. Kurashima takes Sanshu to the mat and they jockey for position until they both return to their feet. Waistlock by Sanshu, reversed by Kurashima, Kurashima and Sanshu go for each other’s legs until they get back up again. Sanshu tags in Shibata while Suzuki is also tagged in. Shibata and Suzuki lock knuckles, Shibata gets the advantage but Suzuki rolls out of it and takes him to the mat. Suzuki goes for a leglock but and hits a headbutt to Shibata’s leg. Suzuki tags in Nasu, and Nasu kicks Shibata in the leg. Reverse chinlock by Nasu but Shibata picks up Nasu and takes him to his corner to tag in Fukuda. Elbow by Sanshu but Nasu returns fire and they trade strikes. Fukuda chops Nasu to the mat, Fukuda picks up Nasu and chops him against the ropes. Scoop slam by Fukuda, cover, but it gets a two count. Fukuda picks up Nasu and tags in Shibata. Shibata stomps Nasu in the corner, he picks him up but Nasu pushes him off and kicks Shibata in the chest. Shibata catches one however and clubs Nasu in the head. Elbow drop by Nasu, cover, but it gets a two count. Shibata picks up Nasu and he tags in Sanshu. Sanshu kicks Nasu in the corner and then kicks him in the back. Cover by Sanshu but it gets a two.
Sanshu picks up Nasu and kicks him in the leg and then in the face, cover, but it gets another two count. Sanshu picks up Nasu and he tags in Fukuda. Fukuda and Sanshu both attack Nasu in the corner, and Fukuda hits a vertical suplex to Nasu. Cover, but it gets a two count. Fukuda picks up Nasu, elbows by Fukuda and he tags in Shibata. Shibata stands on Nasu’s stomach near the ropes, he picks up Nasu and chops him into the corner. Irish whip by Shibata and he hits a body avalanche. Cover by Shibata, but it gets a two count. Shibata picks up Nasu, Irish whip to the corner again but this time Nasu moves out of the way but he can’t make the hot tag. Shibata grabs him but Nasu hits an enzigieri and tags in Kurashima. Kurashima attacks Shibata in the corner, judo throw by Kurashima and he applies an armbar, but Shibata gets a foot on the ropes. Kurashima goes off the ropes but Shibata hits a body block. Shibata tags in Sanshu, and Sanshu kicks Kurashima in the back. Kicks to the chest by Sanshu, cover, but it gets a two count. German suplex by Kurashima and he tags in Suzuki. Sanshu tags in Fukuda, elbow by Suzuki to Fukuda but Fukuda elbows him back and they trade shots. Chops by Fukuda, he goes off the ropes but Suzuki trips him and hits an elbow drop. Suzuki picks up Fukuda and goes for a suplex, but Fukuda blocks it. Jawbreaker by Suzuki and he hits a vertical suplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Suzuki goes off the ropes but Fukuda catches him with a side slam. Lariat by Fukuda, cover, but it gets two. Fukuda picks up Suzuki and hits a short range lariat, he picks him back up and he hits a death valley bomb. Cover by Fukuda and he gets the three count. Your winners: Bear Fukuda, Masato Shibata, and Tsubakichi Sanshu
Match Thoughts: This wasn’t actively bad but there wasn’t much to it. It started too slow to be a short match with six wrestlers in it, if you have to do these at least make it an entertaining sprint, it just took long to get anywhere and none of the wrestlers really got a chance to shine. Not unwatchable, just nothing worth watching. Score: 4.0
Hiro Saito vs. Yoshinari Ogawa
Tie-up to start, Saito pushes Ogawa into the ropes and he gives a clean break. Saito and Ogawa lock knuckles, wristlock by Ogawa but Saito takes Ogawa to the mat. Ogawa goes for Saito’s arm but Saito gets to the ropes. Tie-up, side headlock by Ogawa into a hammerlock, reversed by Saito and he elbows Ogawa in the back. Another elbow by Saito, snapmare, and he applies a sleeper. Saito adds in a body scissors but Ogawa gets out of it with a leglock. Ogawa yanks on Saito’s leg before kneeing it and applying a kneelock. Ogawa picks up Saito, punches by Ogawa but Saito returns with chops to the chest. Enzigieri by Ogawa and he goes for a backdrop suplex, but Saito elbows out of it. Knee by Saito in the corner and he hits a DDT. Cover, but it gets a two count. Saito throws Ogawa into the corner, Irish whip, and Saito hits a back elbow. Forearm drop by Saito and he hits a second one. Cover, but it gets a two count. Saito picks up Ogawa and he elbows him in the back of the head. More elbows by Saito but Ogawa pokes him in the eyes. Ogawa rubs Saito’s head across the top rope and rakes his eyes again. Kick to the ribs by Ogawa but Saito knocks him back and runs his face over the top rope. Irish whip by Saito and he hits a spinebuster. Leg drop by Saito, cover, but it gets a two count. Saito picks up Ogawa, scoop slam by Saito in front of the corner and he goes up to the second turnbuckle, hitting the diving senton. Saito goes to pick up Ogawa but Ogawa rolls him up in an inside cradle and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Yoshinari Ogawa
Match Thoughts: I didn’t even know that Saito was still active. I am not sure what I did to deserve this match but it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve seen. I don’t like Ogawa, his offense is either weak or non-existent, and needless to say Saito wasn’t going to carry him to a good match. Ogawa throws a mean eye poke but that’s about it, and nothing Saito did looked overly convincing. Just a pointless short old man match. Score: 3.5
Daisuke Sekimoto vs. LEONA
Tie-up, Sekimoto pushes LEONA into the corner but LEONA gets away. Tie-up again and Sekimoto throws LEONA into the corner. LEONA goes for a single leg and gets Sekimoto to the mat, side headlock by LEONA but Sekimoto returns to his feet and gets LEONA down with an armbar. Sekimoto pushes LEONA into the ropes and he gives a clean break. Tie-up, side headlock by Sekimoto, LEONA applies a headscissors but Sekimoto re-applies the side headlock. Irish whip by LEONA but Sekimoto shoulderblocks him down. Sekimoto picks up LEONA and he chops LEONA into the ropes. Elbows by LEONA but Sekimoto absorbs the blows, LEONA goes for a scoop slam but Sekimoto blocks it. Scoop slam by Sekimoto, cover, but it gets a two count. Sekimoto picks up LEONA and chops him into the ropes. LEONA elbows Sekimoto back but Sekimoto chops LEONA to the mat. Snapmare by Sekimoto and he hits an elbow drop, cover, but it gets a two count. Sekimoto applies a sleeper but LEONA inches to the ropes to force a break. Sekimoto picks up LEONA and he hits a scoop slam. He picks up LEONA again and hits a second scoop slam. A third scoop slam by Sekimoto, cover, but it gets a two count. Sekimoto applies a single leg crab hold but LEONA gets to the ropes to force a break. Sekimoto picks up LEONA and he hits a scoop slam, he goes up to the top turnbuckle but LEONA punches him before he jumps off. LEONA joins Sekimoto up top, Sekimoto pushes him off but LEONA re-joins him and hits a superplex. LEONA picks up Sekimoto and he hits a scoop slam, cover, but it gets another two count. Dropkick by LEONA and he hits a second one, sending Sekimoto flying out of the ring. LEONA goes off the far ropes and he sails out onto Sekimoto with a tope suicida. LEONA picks up Sekimoto but Sekimoto chops him. Headbutt by Sekimoto and he press slams LEONA back into the ring. Sekimoto get back in the ring, kick by LEONA and he slaps Sekimoto, but Sekimoto chops him back. Lariat by Sekimoto, cover, but LEONA gets a shoulder up. Sekimoto goes off the ropes but LEONA blocks the lariat and sneaks in a backslide for a two count. LEONA goes for an inside cradle but Sekimoto blocks it and hits a vertical suplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Sekimoto applies a crab hold but LEONA makes it to the ropes. Sekimoto picks up LEONA and he hits a scoop slam. Sekimoto goes up to the top turnbuckle and he hits a diving body press. Cover, but LEONA kicks out. LEONA picks up Sekimoto and he puts him in the Argentine Backbreaker for the submission. Your winner: Daisuke Sekimoto
Match Thoughts: A solid match that just went on for too long. LEONA was spunky but no one thought he had a chance of winning, and he only had one somewhat near fall during the match. So most of it was Sekimoto doing simple offense, or LEONA attempting to come back doing simple offense. The last few minutes picked up and it had a few interesting moments, but they should have cut out something as it just felt like it overstayed its welcome and I was just waiting for Sekimoto to finally win. Score: 5.5
Alexander Otsuka vs. Takashi Sugiura
Tie-up to start, waistlock by Otsuka, Sugiura reverses it into a wristlock but Otsuka rolls out of it and trips Sugiura. Otsuka goes for Sugiura’s leg but Sugiura returns to his feet, front headlock by Sugiura but Otsuka drives him back into the ropes before giving a clean break. Waistlock by Sugiura but Otsuka gets into the ropes and he gets a break. Slap by Otsuka but Sugiura slaps him back, Otsuka gets Sugiura to the mat and they jockey for position, Sugiura ends up in the ropes and Otsuka kicks him as he backs off. Sugiura returns to his feet, side headlock by Sugiura, Otsuka Irish whips out of it and they collide with no result. Sugiura goes off the ropes but Otsuka shoulderblocks him to the mat, sending Sugiura out of the ring. Sugiura gets on the apron but Otsuka pushes him back out to the floor and goes out after him. Snapmare by Otsuka on the floor and he kicks Sugiura in the back. Otsuka slams Sugiura into the apron and slides him back into the ring, scoop slam by Otsuka and a cover, but it gets a two count. Otsuka applies a reverse chinlock to Sugiura, Sugiura struggles back to his feet and he elbows out of the hold. More elbows by Sugiura and he goes for a vertical suplex, but Otsuka blocks it. They trade elbows, uppercut by Otsuka and he goes off the ropes, but Sugiura knees him in the stomach. Big boot by Sugiura in the corner, he charges back in and hits a running knee. Vertical suplex by Sugiura, cover, but it gets a two. Waistlock by Sugiura but Otsuka gets out of it and applies an ankle hold. Sugiura inches to the ropes and he makes it to force a break. Kneeling tombstone by Otsuka, cover, but it gets a two count. Otsuka picks up Sugiura and he hits a double arm suplex, cover, but it gets another two. Otsuka drags Sugiura up and hits a release German suplex, he charges Sugiura but Sugiura hits him with a spear. Sugiura goes for a running knee but Otsuka catches it and they trade slaps. Otsuka goes off the ropes but Sugiura hits a big boot, Sugiura goes off the ropes and goes for a spear but Otsuka blocks it and applies an armbar. Sugiura rolls out of it and applies a cross armbreaker. Sugiura applies a triangle choke but Otsuka picks up Sugiura and powerbombs out of it. Otsuka goes off the ropes but Sugiura catches him with the Frankensteiner and picks up the three count. Your winner: Takashi Sugiura
Match Thoughts: It was nice seeing Otsuka in a serious match, seems like the last few times I saw him he was doing his more goofy gimmick. This was fundamentally a sound match although I wish that they had pushed the boundaries a bit. Sugiura in particular I know is capable of having a hard hitting exciting match, but this one certainly wasn’t that. The ending was sudden, not sure if I’ve seen Sugiura win a match with a flash Frankensteiner before, and I would have enjoyed seeing them keep going as neither seemed winded or that damaged. It wasn’t bad, just a little flat and didn’t have a lot of emotion.Score: 6.0
First Tiger Mask and Super Tiger vs. Mitsuya Nagai and Black Tiger
They all brawl to start the match, spilling out of the ring in the process. Nagai pairs up with Super Tiger as they fight near the bleachers, while Black Tiger takes First Tiger Mask up into the crowd. They finally battle back to ringside, with Nagai getting in the ring with Super Tiger. Nagai tags in Black Tiger, and Black Tiger stomps Super Tiger in the corner. They trade chops and Black Tiger pokes Super Tiger in the eyes. Black Tiger picks up Super Tiger and straddles his legs in the corner before kicking him in the groin. Nagai is tagged in, he picks up Super Tiger and elbows him in the head. Another elbow by Nagai and he applies a reverse chinlock. Nagai releases the hold and tags in Black Tiger, Black Tiger picks up Super Tiger, snapmare, and he tries to take off Super Tiger’s mask. Super Tiger kicks him off and Black Tiger throws him out of the ring. Nagai greets Super Tiger and Super Tiger is knocked down by a lariat. Nagai slides Super Tiger back in the ring, Black Tiger covers him but it gets a two count. Black Tiger picks up Super Tiger and wraps his arm over the top rope before twisting on it. Black Tiger tags in Nagai, and Nagai clubs Super Tiger in the back. Nagai picks up Super Tiger and goes for a suplex but Super Tiger blocks it and hits a snap vertical suplex. Super Tiger tags in First Tiger Mask, back kick by First Tiger Mask to Nagai and he delivers a high kick. Nagai falls out of the ring, First Tiger Mask goes to do a dive but swings himself back into the ring instead. Nagai comes in with a chair so First Tiger Mask bails, Nagai throws the chair down and First Tiger Mask returns to the ring. High kick by First Tiger Mask, Irish whip, and First Tiger Mask hits a diving double chop followed by a senton. Cover, but it gets a two count. First Tiger Mask picks up Nagai but Nagai drives him back and tags in Black Tiger. Black Tiger stomps on First Tiger Mask, he puts his leg over the bottom rope and jumps down on it. Single leg crab hold by Black Tiger but First Tiger Mask gets a hand on the ropes. Black Tiger picks up First Tiger Mask and elbows him into the corner before hitting a few chops. Black Tiger tags in Nagai, and Nagai elbows First Tiger Mask. Scoop slam by Nagai, cover, but it barely gets a two.
Nagai applies an armbar and then goes for a cross armbreaker, but Super Tiger quickly breaks it up. Back kick by First Tiger Mask to Nagai and he kicks him in the chest. First Tiger Mask tags in Super Tiger and Super Tiger hits a running elbow on Nagai and then on Black Tiger as well. Super Tiger charges Nagai in the corner and hits a jumping knee followed by a DDT. Jumping knee drop by Super Tiger, cover, but it gets a two count. Super Tiger picks up Nagai but Nagai elbows him and they trade strikes. Kicks by Super Tiger, Irish whip, reversed, and Super Tiger hits a spinning heel kick. Cover, but Nagai kicks out at two. Super Tiger picks up Nagai and kicks him in the chest but Nagai catches one and hits a capture suplex. Nagai tags in Black Tiger, Black Tiger picks up Super Tiger and applies a waistlock, reversed by Super Tiger but Black Tiger hits a low blow. Black Tiger hits a tombstone piledriver, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a falling elbow drop. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Black Tiger picks up Super Tiger but Super Tiger hits a back kick and tags in First Tiger Mask. Black Tiger rakes First Tiger Mask in the eyes and applies a stretch hold, but Super Tiger breaks it up. Nagai comes in and clubs on Super Tiger, Black Tiger holds Super Tiger for Nagai but Super Tiger kicks him back. First Tiger Mask dives in and hits a crossbody on both of them, he covers Black Tiger but it gets a two count. First Tiger Mask picks up Black Tiger and plants him with a tombstone piledriver, First Tiger Mask then goes up to the top turnbuckle but Nagai grabs him from the apron. Black Tiger throws First Tiger Mask off the top turnbuckle but First Tiger Mask fights back with a back kick. Tiger Suplex Hold by First Tiger Mask, and he picks up the three count. Your winners: First Tiger Mask and Super Tiger
Match Thoughts: I still get confused when I see Sayama still wrestling, I know it has been many years now but I just can’t forget that when he was in his ‘heyday’ he denounced pro wrestling, and yet now he wrestles on the mid-card of indy events. I don’t know who Black Tiger was here although he wasn’t very good so I guess it doesn’t really matter. Sayama looked good when he was in but he let his younger trainee do most of the work, and the heel team was pretty boring with their offense. Really Sayama was the only one that did anything exciting as it was mostly simple strikes and submissions. Utterly unspectacular but there was no lack of effort and the moves were crisp. Score: 5.0
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
They circle each other to start, tie-up, Fujinami pushes Marufuji into the ropes and he gives a clean break. Waistlock by Fujinami, reversed by Marufuji but Fujinami flips Marufuji to the mat and applies a headscissors. Marufuji gets out of the headscissors and applies a side headlock but Fujinami quickly puts the headscissors back on. Marufuji gets out of it again and returns to his feet, so Fujinami does as well. Wristlock by Fujinami, Marufuji rolls out of it and reverses the hold. Dragon screw leg whip by Fujinami, and Marufuji falls out of the ring. Marufuji returns after a moment, takedown by Fujinami and he applies a leg submission hold. Marufuji gets a hand on the ropes to force a break. Fujinami trips Marufuji and goes back to the leg, applying a kneelock. Marufuji gets to the ropes again, back up, and Marufuji delivers a back kick. Marufuji throws Fujinami into the corner and chops him in the chest. Marufuji drapes Fujinami’s head over the second rope, he goes out of the ring and hits a dropkick from the floor. Back in the ring, chops by Marufuji but Fujinami returns fire with his own chops. Snapmare by Marufuji and he applies a reverse chinlock. Marufuji picks up Fujinami, Fujinami applies a side headlock and elbows Marufuji in the back of the head. Fujinami goes off the ropes, Marufuji does as well but Fujinami catches him with a sleeper. Marufuji quickly gets out of it and goes for a superkick, but Fujinami catches his leg and hits a dragon screw leg whip. Figure four leglock by Fujinami but Marufuji is too close to the ropes and gets the break. Fujinami applies the Dragon Sleeper, but Marufuji kicks out of it. Superkick by Marufuji, cover, but it gets a two count. Marufuji picks up Fujinami and hits the Shiranui, cover, but it gets another two. Marufuji picks up Fujinami again but Fujinami chops him and they trade chops to the chest. Knee by Marufuji, he picks up Fujinami and goes for the Tiger Driver but Fujinami back bodydrops out of it. Fujinami grabs Marufuji’s leg but Marufuji blocks it, backslide by Fujinami but Marufuji blocks it and applies a fisherman cradle for the three count. Your winner: Naomichi Marufuji
Match Thoughts: A little slow as you may expect. Fujinami’s work on Marufuji’s leg made sense but wasn’t interesting and once the figure four didn’t work, the leg never really came up again as Marufuji wasn’t limping around. The ending was sudden and seemed to catch the crowd off guard, the match had finally started to pick up with Marufuji doing some of his offense but it was quickly over. Fujinami is limited clearly, but even though this is his own promotion I don’t think it would have hurt anything for Fujinami to lose by something besides a lucky flash pin to one of NOAH’s best wrestlers. Its always fun to see a legend like Fujinami wrestle, and he still wrestles just fine, but this wasn’t the best match even if the mark in me enjoyed it. Score: 4.5
Final Thoughts:
Best Match: Alexander Otsuka vs. Takashi Sugiura. No match on this card really popped out, but this was likely the best one of the bunch. It wasn’t fast paced or anything, but it was very crisp and fluid, these are two seasoned vets and they know how to structure a match. Like most of the matches on the show it had a quick flash pin but at least in this case it was a wrestling move that has impact as well so it didn’t look like Sugiura had picked up a cheap victory. A solid match.
MVP: Tatsumi Fujinami. A bit cliche to give the MVP to the old veteran that owns the promotion and puts himself in the main event, but I was still impressed. Not just with his wrestling but just that at his age he doesn’t look broken or out of shape, he clearly still has some of that passion for wrestling or he wouldn’t put himself through still being in training and capable of wrestling without looking sad. He kept up with Marufuji and got in all his signature moves for the fans, and he still put over the younger talent even if it was a flash pin that did it. Fujinami for many years has been a slower mat based wrestler, but he is still fun to watch just because of the impact he has had on professional wrestling.
Overall: I wanted to like this since I enjoy watching events that are different from the larger promotions, but none of the matches rose above ‘solid’. They were just safe matches, some lacking in a lot of emotion, that did nothing to push the envelope. The wrestlers were trying, they just weren’t attempting to do anything really memorable, it just stayed flat the entire event. There are some things here worth watching, especially if you are a Fujinami fan, but overall I can’t recommend it.
