An occasional series in which, in a bid to further my spotty
knowledge of Japanese wrestling promotions, I watch a recent event and
assess whether or not I'd watch regularly given the time, money and
ability to access.
Promotion: Pro-Wrestling ZERO1 (ZERO1)
Event watched: True Lies, Korakuen Hall, June 1st 2014
What did I know about the promotion going in?: little bits from here and there. In about 2002 I saw a VHS of their first ever show, which was probably the first full Japanese show I ever sat through. The opener featured Naomichi Marufuji, performing moves now made standard by international exposure but at the time were completely breathtaking. A lot of the card featured worked-shoot matches that seemed to be either a man kicking a man who was on the floor, or two men just rolling around on the floor for what seemed like an eternity. Misawa showed up in the main event and all was fine again.
So. I think it was established by Shinya Hashimoto and Shinjiro Otani and after Hashimoto's untimely death, the company has fluctuated in popularity, heading mostly downward in correlation with the general trend in puro. I also have access to someone who seems to have some kind of inside track on the company that tells me that ZERO1 are awful businessmen and populated by shady characters, smearing workers who wish to leave. Even the founder's son, Daichi Hashimoto, left. In Japan, that's monumental.
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| Otaniplex! |
What is the history of the promotion?: ZERO1 refers to the year of formation, coming the year after the public firing of Shinya Hashimoto by NJPW. The company has devoted itself to the 'strong style' as performed by its founder, though under Otani's direction since 2004 more variety has crept in, including bloodier hardcore fare. ZERO1, looking to secure international relationships for talent exchange, also has established a sub-promotion in many other countries, such as the UK, Spain, USA and Belarus.
What did you think?: My video drops us into the last three minutes of a short contest between Irish flyer Shawn Guinness (unbelievably not his real name!) and Mineo Fujita, won by the former after a low blow and an inside cradle, though the latter also exhibited a predilection for cheating as well. Within these three minutes the referee was involved in more peril than during the entire G1 Climax of 2013. Just pointing that out. The production seems very much up to Japanese television standard. The ring canvas is yellow. Nothing I have seen thus far has given me a particularly strong or weak impression.
Two matches upped the ante in terms of wrestling. A tag match pitting Z1 talents Ikuto Hidaka and Yusako Obata against Wrestle-1's Kaz Hayashi and Daiki Inaba featured some strong and innovative cruiserweight tag wrestling, but not much personality. Similarly, the junior heavyweight title match between the masked Andy Wu and the unmasked champion Jason Lee exhibited strong timing and a decent repertoire of moves, but didn't proffer any ideas about who either man was. Visually, the latter match was a mess, with both Lee and Wu opting for yellow attire on the yellow background. You might not see this as problematic but these aesthetic considerations clearly count for something.
A tag match pitting Shuji Kondo and Seiki Yoshioka against the team of Takuya Sugawara and "Brother" YASSHI upped the ante a little. YASSHI grabbed a microphone pre-match and managed to convey his assholishness in tone as much as the Japanese language which I have not yet begun to understand. Though short and not exactly stuffed with originality, it was a good ten minute tag match the likes of which never fails to go down well: some flips, some stiff shots, swings in momentum and a clear-cut ending where Kondo smashes the t-shirted Sugawara with a lariat. Ongoing beef occurred post-bell, with Yoshioka desperate for a piece of YASSHI but held back by his own partner, perhaps sensing the many hundreds of yen such an encounter might be worth at some point down the line.
In the next segment we see Daemon Ueda bothering people in a downtown bar and I think the tone of this section was him trying to coerce people into saying he was great but every time they would choose a Wrestle-1 worker instead. It's almost like there's a ZERO1 vs. Wrestle-1 feud happening here. Actually I quite like that even during an interpromotional battle, the asshole heels of the parent company remain ever thus.
However, the assholery of Ueda and partner Kengo is no match for the Desperado unit of Wrestle-1. Masayuki Kono and Ryuiji Sai, alongside stablemate René Duprée, attack before the bell with chairs and the brawl spills outside. Ueda manages to fight back, piling chairs on top of Kono and unleashing heavy chair shots onto the wreckage pile. Another short see-sawing battle occurs, ending when Ueda accidentally green mists Kengo in the face and takes a blast of red mist from Kono, who smoothly transitions into a powerbomb/lift/jackhammer finisher for the three count. The show, though only half-full, is gaining sensible momentum.
The "prestigious" (you have to say that) ZERO1 United National Heavyweight Title is on the line in the next encounter and which challenger could be more appropriate for this weight category than Ryota Hama? Weighing in at over 450lbs despite being only 5'9", Hama is quite a sight even in the unpretentious air of pro-wrestling. His opponent and reigning champion is the fairly green (in terms of experience and bodypaint) Tama Williams, a New Zealander standing some 5 inches taller and containing exactly half the mass of his opponent. The match the two have is not a classic but is undoubtedly a spectacle in its brevity, with Hama hitting a fairly agile crossbody and Williams retaining with a frogsplash.
Before I continue, let me share with you one of the greatest wrestling-related photographs ever.
A video package leads us into Shinjiro Otani and Yoshikazu Yokoyama vs. two of the Voodoo Murders stable (KAMIKAZE and TARU). KAMIKAZE has previously abandoned Otani upon losing their tag team titles and (at a guess) Yokoyama has been booted out of the Murders stable. The video seems to show the Murders attacking people with drills, actual handheld cordless Black & Decker type drills. It's a bit tasteless and the entire stable look like something Da Baldies would have feuded with for 3 years in ECW. In fact, a founder member of the stable was Johnny The Bull so I'm especially proud of that analogy.
TARU is, perhaps unwittingly, a key figure in the modern malaise of wrestling. It was his violent assault on Nobukazu Hirai that led to Keiji Mutoh's resignation as AJPW president, which indirectly leads us to the formation of Wrestle-1 and the ongoing clusterfuck that is the transition between the Shiraishi and Akiyama era of AJPW. I'm all for companies looking to get legit heat based on the genuine personalities of their employees but I'd draw the line at keeping TARU as a violent bully. That he was never prosecuted despite rendering his victim comatose and probably unable to work again hints at the dark underbelly of Japanese wrestling that I hope to never confront fully.
On the other side of the ring, there's no getting around the fact that Otani looks like a slightly flustered uncle rather than a professional wrestler. An undoubtedly great junior of the greatest era of juniors, he at least can still wrestle and is by far the most agile and talented competitor of the quarter officially in the ring and probably amongst the scattered Murders crew members at ringside.
The match begins with the Murders dragging a bloodied Yokoyama to ringside. Otani chases in wearing his entrance attire and attempts to level the playing field, though continued interference from the stable dogs his progress. Yokoyama plays the wounded face in peril to the remorseless (and nearly-talentless) Voodoo Murders unit, who enter the ring with what looks like an actual sword. An attempt to swipe with the blade is thwarted, Otani clears the ring and Yokoyama hits a Spiral Bomber on TARU for the win and some kind of moral justice if not an actual win for anyone watching.
Company champion Kohei Sato steps into the fray for the next contest alongside Hideki Suzuki in what could be considered a rubber match for the Z1 vs. W-1 feud that has underpinned this event. Their opponents are KAI and Manabu Soya, two of Wrestle-1's leading lights, directing us to the conclusion that the relatively unheralded Suzuki will stare at the lights for this encounter. No prizes for being correct, but the 13 minutes that pass from bell to bell go quickly in a fine heavyweight tag encounter that wouldn't disgrace an IWGP title bout. KAI gets the fall and W-1 take the plaudits for the evening. If I were giving star ratings out then this gets a total ***1/2 but I'm not so pretend you never read that.
To ZERO1's credit our main event actually feels like a main event, seeing Dangan Yankees (no idea what that means but it's the tag team of (find synonym for young-looking awesome oldster) Masato Tanaka and Takashi Sugiura) defend their NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Titles just one day after gaining the GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Titles. They're gutsy tough guys used to winning a lot and working good matches, and yet neither has really gained access to that pantheon of critical acclaim because of their misfortune to mainly work freelance in an industry that prizes loyalty.
Their opponents come to us from rival promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling: the young and rising Kazuki Hashimoto (can't find out if he's related) and the excellent Daisuke Sekimoto, who looks a little bit like KENTA with Kenta Kobashi's physique. Were wrestling companies in Japan a little more aggressive with their talent acquisition and its employees much less loyal, Sekimoto would probably be a big star at a top company. As it is he's the King of the Bingo Hall and whilst that gives him an approachable charm, the stern stuff he works makes you wish he had a bit more money in his pocket for his inevitable retirement.
What did you think?: My video drops us into the last three minutes of a short contest between Irish flyer Shawn Guinness (unbelievably not his real name!) and Mineo Fujita, won by the former after a low blow and an inside cradle, though the latter also exhibited a predilection for cheating as well. Within these three minutes the referee was involved in more peril than during the entire G1 Climax of 2013. Just pointing that out. The production seems very much up to Japanese television standard. The ring canvas is yellow. Nothing I have seen thus far has given me a particularly strong or weak impression.
Two matches upped the ante in terms of wrestling. A tag match pitting Z1 talents Ikuto Hidaka and Yusako Obata against Wrestle-1's Kaz Hayashi and Daiki Inaba featured some strong and innovative cruiserweight tag wrestling, but not much personality. Similarly, the junior heavyweight title match between the masked Andy Wu and the unmasked champion Jason Lee exhibited strong timing and a decent repertoire of moves, but didn't proffer any ideas about who either man was. Visually, the latter match was a mess, with both Lee and Wu opting for yellow attire on the yellow background. You might not see this as problematic but these aesthetic considerations clearly count for something.
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| Remember him this way |
In the next segment we see Daemon Ueda bothering people in a downtown bar and I think the tone of this section was him trying to coerce people into saying he was great but every time they would choose a Wrestle-1 worker instead. It's almost like there's a ZERO1 vs. Wrestle-1 feud happening here. Actually I quite like that even during an interpromotional battle, the asshole heels of the parent company remain ever thus.
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| true fact: invented the MAILER-DAEMON automated email bounceback |
The "prestigious" (you have to say that) ZERO1 United National Heavyweight Title is on the line in the next encounter and which challenger could be more appropriate for this weight category than Ryota Hama? Weighing in at over 450lbs despite being only 5'9", Hama is quite a sight even in the unpretentious air of pro-wrestling. His opponent and reigning champion is the fairly green (in terms of experience and bodypaint) Tama Williams, a New Zealander standing some 5 inches taller and containing exactly half the mass of his opponent. The match the two have is not a classic but is undoubtedly a spectacle in its brevity, with Hama hitting a fairly agile crossbody and Williams retaining with a frogsplash.
Before I continue, let me share with you one of the greatest wrestling-related photographs ever.
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| I really hope Mrs. Otani knew about her husband's job before this event. |
A video package leads us into Shinjiro Otani and Yoshikazu Yokoyama vs. two of the Voodoo Murders stable (KAMIKAZE and TARU). KAMIKAZE has previously abandoned Otani upon losing their tag team titles and (at a guess) Yokoyama has been booted out of the Murders stable. The video seems to show the Murders attacking people with drills, actual handheld cordless Black & Decker type drills. It's a bit tasteless and the entire stable look like something Da Baldies would have feuded with for 3 years in ECW. In fact, a founder member of the stable was Johnny The Bull so I'm especially proud of that analogy.
TARU is, perhaps unwittingly, a key figure in the modern malaise of wrestling. It was his violent assault on Nobukazu Hirai that led to Keiji Mutoh's resignation as AJPW president, which indirectly leads us to the formation of Wrestle-1 and the ongoing clusterfuck that is the transition between the Shiraishi and Akiyama era of AJPW. I'm all for companies looking to get legit heat based on the genuine personalities of their employees but I'd draw the line at keeping TARU as a violent bully. That he was never prosecuted despite rendering his victim comatose and probably unable to work again hints at the dark underbelly of Japanese wrestling that I hope to never confront fully.
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| TARU: sucks as much as he looks like he sucks |
The match begins with the Murders dragging a bloodied Yokoyama to ringside. Otani chases in wearing his entrance attire and attempts to level the playing field, though continued interference from the stable dogs his progress. Yokoyama plays the wounded face in peril to the remorseless (and nearly-talentless) Voodoo Murders unit, who enter the ring with what looks like an actual sword. An attempt to swipe with the blade is thwarted, Otani clears the ring and Yokoyama hits a Spiral Bomber on TARU for the win and some kind of moral justice if not an actual win for anyone watching.
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| just imagine getting endorsed by Dangerous K for ANYTHING |
To ZERO1's credit our main event actually feels like a main event, seeing Dangan Yankees (no idea what that means but it's the tag team of (find synonym for young-looking awesome oldster) Masato Tanaka and Takashi Sugiura) defend their NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Titles just one day after gaining the GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Titles. They're gutsy tough guys used to winning a lot and working good matches, and yet neither has really gained access to that pantheon of critical acclaim because of their misfortune to mainly work freelance in an industry that prizes loyalty.
Their opponents come to us from rival promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling: the young and rising Kazuki Hashimoto (can't find out if he's related) and the excellent Daisuke Sekimoto, who looks a little bit like KENTA with Kenta Kobashi's physique. Were wrestling companies in Japan a little more aggressive with their talent acquisition and its employees much less loyal, Sekimoto would probably be a big star at a top company. As it is he's the King of the Bingo Hall and whilst that gives him an approachable charm, the stern stuff he works makes you wish he had a bit more money in his pocket for his inevitable retirement.
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| Daisuke Sekimoto (credit: Puroresu Mission) |
We start off with wary handshakes all around before Hashimoto and Tanaka square off to begin. A lock-up goes into the ropes, with Hashimoto offering a clean break and gives Tanaka a cheeky slap around the chops that goes on for approximately 7 slaps too many. Our incredibly sun-tanned co-champion goes pleasingly apeshit and the two set about slapping and forearming the living crap out of each other in a pretty compelling manner. Throughout the opening stretch Hashimoto (to growing "KA-ZU-KI!" chants) manages to tread a fine line between arrogance and fighting spirit, getting into the heads of the champions by continually returning fire and screaming in Tanaka's face.
The match spills to the outside, with Tanaka convincingly gaining the upper hand upon finding a randomly discarded table, setting it up, rolling Hashimoto atop it and delivering a splash from the top turnbuckle. Meanwhile Sekimoto and Sugiura proceed to rattle each others' chains, causing several audience members to bail out of their seat. It's old ECW territory and when used sparingly by people with credentials to back up their hardcore diversions, it's incredibly effective stuff.
From here we return to the ring and I'll be damned if this isn't very good stuff with pretty much everyone damn near killing themselves to deliver the match of the night on most nights of wrestling anywhere. Sugiura warms to the match slowly, picking up the baton of violent suppression from Tanaka. Seikimoto is a fucking bull, hitting an amazing tope that smashes into his opponent and clears the audience about six deep. Hashimoto is a minor revelation, never looking out of his depth in such esteemed company. Just constantly battling back, probably one step behind in the brains department but an absolute equal in ballsiness, showing great intensity and chatting shit. I love shit like this. A star is born.
Hashimoto takes the fall but not before being battered into the dirt and even then he goes down covered in blood and kicking out at 3.1. A fine main event match that should make the running for my match of the year list.
After the match, Hashimoto grabs a microphone and attempts to goad the champions into another match down the line. They're not buying it and they walk out. Otani comes out to apparently face down the defeated, as Kohei Sato clambers into the ring. They fake a showdown and finish with respect and the BJW guys bundle out as the feuding Z1 and W-1 guys emerge from the shadows. KAI superkicks Sato presumably indicating 'feud on' and the show goes off air.
What did you think?: I'm in two minds.
The positive part of my mind says that it was a show with one great match, some good matches and a sensible running order. Everyone's strengths were highlighted and most weaknesses were hidden. Much like an ECW television show with a calmer crowd, if I'd just plonked down in front of this I'd have been completely entertained.
The negative part points out that the main event was contested between the big stars of two other promotions and that the narrative thread of the event was a feud with Wrestle-1. Voodoo Murders and Ryoto Hama made their name in All Japan and many other guys are culled from the admittedly decent freelancers milling around the circuit. There's nothing wrong with this of course but it all hints at a wider issue in Japan wherein pretty much anyone who was once a legend elsewhere has developed their own promotion: some are just occasional shows like Kobashi's Fortune Dream, Tenryu's Tenryu Project, Fujinami's DRADITION and Choshu's Legend TPW and their remit is to showcase rather than create narrative.
But while Akira Taue (NOAH), Shinjiro Otani (Z1), Keiji Mutoh (Wrestle-1), Satoru Sayama (Real Japan) and Jun Akiyama (AJPW) have every right to start up or continue managing existing promotions, I believe this dilution is damaging to the overall quality of puroresu. Furthermore, this dilution is compounded by these legends, knowing that they can command such loyalty from young starstruck workers who are desperate to break into the industry.
ZERO1 are barely just inside the top 10 Japanese promotions based on gate. It's cool that freelancers get to pick up paycheques - and perhaps working for 3/4 promotions doesn't suit our pampered Western desire to compartmentalise a career into easily digestible chunks - but ZERO1 doesn't appear to be sufficiently different to deserve much more than it has.
Would I watch more? Yes. Regularly? Only if you book the main eventers and Kohei Sato.
NEXT: Big Japan Pro Wrestling.
The match spills to the outside, with Tanaka convincingly gaining the upper hand upon finding a randomly discarded table, setting it up, rolling Hashimoto atop it and delivering a splash from the top turnbuckle. Meanwhile Sekimoto and Sugiura proceed to rattle each others' chains, causing several audience members to bail out of their seat. It's old ECW territory and when used sparingly by people with credentials to back up their hardcore diversions, it's incredibly effective stuff.
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| Spoiler! |
Hashimoto takes the fall but not before being battered into the dirt and even then he goes down covered in blood and kicking out at 3.1. A fine main event match that should make the running for my match of the year list.
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| Remember this face, as if you won't. |
What did you think?: I'm in two minds.
The positive part of my mind says that it was a show with one great match, some good matches and a sensible running order. Everyone's strengths were highlighted and most weaknesses were hidden. Much like an ECW television show with a calmer crowd, if I'd just plonked down in front of this I'd have been completely entertained.
The negative part points out that the main event was contested between the big stars of two other promotions and that the narrative thread of the event was a feud with Wrestle-1. Voodoo Murders and Ryoto Hama made their name in All Japan and many other guys are culled from the admittedly decent freelancers milling around the circuit. There's nothing wrong with this of course but it all hints at a wider issue in Japan wherein pretty much anyone who was once a legend elsewhere has developed their own promotion: some are just occasional shows like Kobashi's Fortune Dream, Tenryu's Tenryu Project, Fujinami's DRADITION and Choshu's Legend TPW and their remit is to showcase rather than create narrative.
But while Akira Taue (NOAH), Shinjiro Otani (Z1), Keiji Mutoh (Wrestle-1), Satoru Sayama (Real Japan) and Jun Akiyama (AJPW) have every right to start up or continue managing existing promotions, I believe this dilution is damaging to the overall quality of puroresu. Furthermore, this dilution is compounded by these legends, knowing that they can command such loyalty from young starstruck workers who are desperate to break into the industry.
ZERO1 are barely just inside the top 10 Japanese promotions based on gate. It's cool that freelancers get to pick up paycheques - and perhaps working for 3/4 promotions doesn't suit our pampered Western desire to compartmentalise a career into easily digestible chunks - but ZERO1 doesn't appear to be sufficiently different to deserve much more than it has.
Would I watch more? Yes. Regularly? Only if you book the main eventers and Kohei Sato.
NEXT: Big Japan Pro Wrestling.
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