Into the Indies 02.15.11: Ripped from the Headlines 2
Posted by Ryan Byers on 02.15.2011
It's a roundup of all of the latest news from the Japanese indies, including Bob Sapp making waves in DDT, the former Straight Edge Society showing up overseas, and much more!
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that now has 100% less Raw analysis.
A little over two months ago, I debuted a new feature in this column that I called Ripped from the Headlines! The feature essentially had the format of a standard 411mania news report, with the difference being that it exclusively covered Japanese independent wrestling.
The idea was originally born out of a need to produce a column that wasn't quite as time consuming as one of my normal reviews, but it wound up being fairly well-received based on reader feedback, so I've decided to bring it back periodically.
Now is the day that we return to Ripped from the Headlines! Let's take a look at what's happened in the independent world over the course of the past two and a half months.
One of the biggest announcements to be made by a Japanese indy as of late has been made by our friends at the Dramatic Deam Team, a.k.a. DDT. Formed in 1997 by wrestler Sanshiro Takagi, the group rarely if ever drew over 1,500 fans to a show until 2009, when they seemingly out of nowhere announced that they going to be running Sumo Hall, one of the largest venues in Tokyo that has housed numerous historic moments in puroresu history, including G-1 Climax finals, Real World Tag League finals, and many IWGP titles changing hands. Even more amazing was the fact that DDT somehow managed to SELL OUT Sumo Hall, drawing over 8,800 fans, a crowd larger than the majority of the All Japan Pro Wrestling shows held in the venue this past decade. More amazing still was the fact that DDT did the exact same thing a second time in 2010. Both cards were stacked and had plenty of guest stars, including the astonishing double bill of Naomichi Marufuji and Razor Ramon HG in 2010 and puro superstar Masahiro Chono in 2009.
Hoping to three-peat, DDT announced shortly after the 2010 version of the show (called "Ryogoku Peter Pan") that they would be doing it all again in 2011. Just a few short days ago, they announced the main guest star for this year's show by releasing the following video:
Yes, that's right, it's BOB SAPP~! Sapp, though not exactly the most skilled fighter in the world, is one of the most popular MMA fighters and biggest drawing cards in the history of mixed martial arts in Japan. He has parlayed that into a side career in professional wrestling, including a (somewhat forgettable) reign as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, meaning that he held the most prominent wrestling title in the country. Sapp's career has been on a bit of a downswing, so the "Will Fight for Money" bit of the video above is only a slight exaggeration. However, he's still a charismatic performer with no aversion to doing over the top comedy, so he will no doubt fit right in with the rest of the DDT crew.
The only question now is who his opponent will be. Former kickboxer Yoshiaki Yago has been wrestling with DDT and has a background similar to that of Sapp's. Flaming gay stereotype Danshoku Dino might be interested in seeing whether his Goldust-eclipsing antics can bring down the Beast. You can never discount the possibility of bookerman Sanshiro Takagi giving himself the big match. Regardless of who is across the ring from him, though, Bob Sapp is coming to DDT, and it's most likely going to be a hell of a show.
One of my favorite things about the Japanese independent circuit is that it continually provides opportunities for young, up and coming wrestlers from North America (or veterans who don't have any better place to go) to head overseas and ply their trade in a new environment. I always find it interesting to track the progress of these folks as they traverse the Pacific Ocean, so here are some quick updates on names from the western hemisphere who have been making names in the Land of the Rising Sun:
• Pictured above, Serena Deeb, formerly of the Straight Edge Society in WWE and currently of SHIMMER made her Japanese debut on January 29 with SMASH, the company booked by Yoshihiro Tajiri. Serena wrestled two matches for the company on consecutive nights, first defeating one of SMASH's regular female competitors Shuri and then going over Makoto, a young wrestler brought over from the Ice Ribbon promotion.
• Speaking of SMASH, they also brought in former TNA comedy wrestler D-Ray 3000 for the same shows. What rock did they dig him out from under?
• Big Japan Pro Wrestling is hosting a round robin tournament throughout the first quarter of the year in which all of the matches will be deathmatches. CZW's Drake Younger, who has also gained plenty of exposure recently in promotions such as CHIKARA and IWA Mid-South, will be headed over for the tournament in March. BJW and CZW have had a working relationship for some time, but Younger may be the best pure wrestler that CZDub has sent overseas yet. As such, it will be interesting to see how he does.
• The Inoki Genome Federation, promoted by (you guessed it) Antonio Inoki has hosted two shows since our last Ripped from the Headlines! column and has brought in a ton of former WWE names to round out their roster. The unlikely team of Bobby Lashley and the Hurricane formed on December 3 on a show that also featured appearances from Carlito and Keith Hason, who is the artist formerly known as Luke Gallows. Hanson, Lashley, and Hurricane were all back for IGF's February 5 show, and this time they were joined by Shelton Benjamin, who took Hurricane's place as Lashley's tag partner.
What's that? You want to see some of that awesome IGF action? Well, here's a music video recapping the highlights of the previously mentioned December 3 show.
On January 10 of this year, a rather interesting independent show emanated from popular wrestling venue Korakuen Hall. It was the first show promoted under the banner of "Legend Pro Wrestling." Though there have been plenty of nostalgia based independent shows in the country in recent years, this was perhaps one of the most noteworthy because of the main event. Two icons of puroresu, Riki Choshu and Tatsumi Fujinami, renewed a rivalry that consists of over twenty matches and has existed on and off since 1983. Perhaps not surprisingly, it was Fujinami, who has won the lion's share of the bouts in the rivalry between the two men, picking up the victory here as well, pinning Choshu in just under ten minutes. The show drew a sell-out crowd largely on the strength of its main event, and there were reports from the show indicating that many in the crowd were old school professional wrestling fans who otherwise probably wouldn't be at an independent event of this level in 2010. There was no shortage of certifiable legends elsewhere on the show as well, including a semi-main event tag team match pitting Jushin Liger and Ultimo Dragon against Satoru Sayama and AKIRA as well as undercard appearances from Takao Omori, Tamon Honda, and more.
It will be interesting to see whether Legend Pro Wrestling manages to maintain such a level of interest booking similar matches or whether their subsequent efforts will falter and make them just another independent group. While we wait and see, let's take a look at a match from happier times for Legend main eventers Fujinami and Choshu, specifically a 1987 tag team battle that they had as partners against the duo of Keiji Mutoh and Antonio Inoki.
And that will do it for round two of I2I's Ripped from the Headlines! We'll be back next week with a special column that I've been planning for some time now. How's that for a teaser?
Looking forward to the next installment of Into the Indies? Keep an eye on 411's Twitter accounts, and you just might see it pop up!
Posted By: Guest#2452 (Guest) on February 15, 2011 at 05:46 AM
Interestingly, Younger has a match with Kasai in the BJW deathmatch league, and then just a few days later has another deathmatch scheduled with him in CZW. Two deathmatches with the same guys on two different continents in just a few days must be some record.
Posted By: Guest#9740 (Guest) on February 15, 2011 at 03:50 PM
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