Into the Indies 08.09.11: The Biggest Show of the Year (Part 2)
Posted by Ryan Byers on 08.09.2011
SAPP vs. DINO. IBUSHI vs. DEVITT. Big matches abound as our review of DDT's 2011 Sumo Hall show wraps up!
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that sort of ignores the main event.
Last week we started our look at the biggest independent event of the year in Japan, DDT's annual Ryogoku Peter Pan show which has sold out Sumo Hall for three years running. Click back to that column for a preview of the big matches and reviews of the first two bouts shown on the televised version of the event. This week, we're heading straight into reviews of the three biggest matches on the card, featuring a guest appearance by one of New Japan's hottest stars, the much-anticipated DDT debut of Bob Sapp, and a match for the most prestigious championship in DDT.
It's a loaded second half of the card, so let's see how things shake out!
The wrestlers meet at mid-ring and shake hands before the bell, so we're probably looking at a good, clean fight. Arm wringers are the order of the day early on before we head to the mat for some headlock/headscissors exchanges. Devitt eventually gets into position to look for a cross arm breaker, but Ibushi blocks it and shifts his weight so that the Irishman is in a pinning combination. It only gets him two. The wrestlers return to a vertical base and start running the ropes, with lots of fancy leapfrogs going off before Devitt catches Ibushi unawares and dropkicks him right in the knee. Devitt stays on his man with a half Boston crab, but we're still early in the match, so Ibushi has very little trouble making the ropes. Ibushi tries to go to the floor to recover for a bit, but Devitt follows and tosses him immediately back into the ring, draping Ibushi's leg over the second rope and dropping a knee on it. A dragon screw from Devitt connects, and Ibushi does a great job of selling, grabbing his knee and screaming in pain while in midair. Devitt uses the dragon screw to set up a leg submission that I can't describe too well. The closest analogue is probably an Indian deathlock. Whatever it is, Ibushi has his arms completely free and uses them to drag his way into a rope break.
After that, the challenger places the champion into the Tree of Joey Lawrence and dropkicks the knee again as he hangs there. That results in a two count. Ibushi starts to mount a little bit of offense when he catches Devitt off the ropes with a dropkick of his own, knocking the NJPW rep to the outside and then wiping him out with a HUGE leaping moonsault from the post to the floor. Ibushi is bleeding from both of his nostrils when he gets up, so he might have caught his face on Devitt's shoulder there. The Prince finds himself rolled back into the ring and pasted with Ibushi's slingshot dropkick, setting up a GREAT fast sequence where the wrestlers avoid each other's moves before Ibushi finally scores with a standing shooting star. Devitt kicks out of the ensuing pin attempt at two, and we've got a forearm battle. Out of that exchange, Devitt cradles Ibushi but actually keeps him rolling through and back up to his feet, ultimately nailing the champion in the face with a superkick. After that, the wrestlers charge at each other, with Devitt again busting out a dropkick. The challenger ascends the ropes, but he's cut off by the HANDSPRING PELE KICK from Ibushi, who looks like a MAN POSSESSED as he goes up to the top rope himself.
Ibushi looks to bring Devitt off the ropes with a superplex, but some fists to the gut by the Celt prevent that. Devitt shifts his position a bit . . . BELLY-TO-BACK SUPERPLEX WITH BOTH GUYS STANDING ON THE TOP! It gets two in a surprisingly un-dramatic nearfall. Ibushi's timing on the kick out was just a little off what it could've been. A brainbuster for Devitt also gets two, and the wrestlers both lay around selling for a bit. Ibushi scores with a high kick as soon as they return to their feet, following with a lariat and a sit-out version of the Last Ride, none of which can put the former IWPG Champ away. Ibushi looks for his Phoenix Splash and misses, but he rolls through and lands on his feet. That gives Devitt the opportunity to hit a lariat of his own, followed by a sit-out powerbomb of his own, followed by an INSANE top rope double stomp. Ibushi kicks out at two AGAIN, and that one was a lot better timed. Devitt attempts his Bloody Sunday DDT, but Ibushi blocks it and hits perhaps the fastest German suplex that I have ever seen for a nearfall. Another Ibushi high kick connects, and he hits a second German for another two count. There's a THIRD and a FOURTH high kick, followed by the Phoenix Splash, and there's no getting out of that pinning combination for Devitt.
Kota Ibushi is still YOUR IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion.
Match Thoughts: These men are two of the best, if not the two best, junior heavyweight wrestlers in the world today. With their level of talent, if they had chosen to pull out all the stops and if the stars aligned just right, we probably could've been looking at one of the best matches of the year. However, as you watched this match, it became readily apparently that they were not trying to pull out all of the stops. It felt like they knew they were third from the top and not the main event and held back in order to make sure that the stuff that was supposed to shine was not overshadowed. Some of that was no doubt intentional on the part of the performers while some of it could not be helped, as they only got about thirteen minutes. There are better matches out there if you're looking to see Ibushi taking on an NJPW guy, but, for what this was given its position on the card, it was still very entertaining. I think these two would have to try to have a bad match against one another at this point in their careers. ***3/4
Match Numero Cuatro: Bob Sapp vs. Danshoku Dino
We get a HILARIOUS pre-match video package, showing Dino and Sapp at a joint sparring session being used to hype the match. Sapp throws a few punches at his partner's padded hands, and Dino starts doing the same thing afterwards but quickly reverts to his old ways by grabbing at his partner's crotch and eventually dragging him down to the mat and attempting to, for lack of a better term, anally rape him. When we get to the arena, Dino also gets to do his traditional entrance, basically plowing his way through the crowd and molesting audience members at random. Sapp is, not surprisingly, more subdued.
I should note that this one is being fought under a unique set of rules, with the match consisting of as many as thirty rounds of three minutes each. Also, because Sapp was so taken aback by Dino's gay antics in the buildup to the match, he insisted that the rounds alternated between "Bob Rules" and "Gay Rules." Under "Bob Rules," any hold which might give Dino sexual gratification is banned, while under "Gay Rules," Dino is free to do whatever the hell he wants.
The bell rings to start round one, which is being contested under Bob Rules, and Dino immediately goes after Sapp with open-hand chops and shoulderblocks. You can imagine how well that works out. He also takes a page from Inoki-Ali, laying on his back and throwing leg kicks. Sapp no-sells those as well. Dino goes to his normal repertoire and grabs at Sapp's crotch, but the referee pulls him off and gives him a yellow card for violating the rules. With another rule violation, he could risk disqualification. At this point Sapp goes on the offensive, clubbing away at Dino with forearms and bodyslamming him. The DDT regular rolls out of the ring under the bottom rope, but that doesn't help him much, as Sapp slams several chairs on his back before putting a spit bucket on his head and slamming him into the ringpost. On returning to the ring, Sapp hits one more forearm, at which point the time in round one expires.
Dino starts round two by daring Sapp to hit him, which on paper doesn't sound like the smartest idea. However, it works, as our resident homosexual ducks a clothesline and immediately goes to work on his opponent's junk, taking advantage of the Gay Rules now in effect. Dino hits several open hand strikes on Mr. Sapp's johnson. This is followed up by a move that I can only refer to as a "Dragon Screw Penis Whip," as Dino grabs Sapp's privates and takes a twisting bump down to the mat. Bob Sapp is so put off by Dino's tactics that he actually takes to hiding behind referee Kyohei Wada, but that doesn't get him too far as Dino eventually gets around the official and kicks Sapp low. Big Bob goes down, at which point Dino pulls down his trunks and begins doing the world's most uncomfortable Hindu squats right above Sapp's face. The Beast returns to a vertical base and tries to sneak behind Dino with a choke, but Dino slips behind him and trips him up, causing Sapp to fall face first on the mat. Dino mounts him. There's no other way to say it. Sapp, who is being violently rubbed on, gets to his feet and runs out of the ring. He runs back to the ring, only to be taken down and heavily petted again. Dino actually gets Sapp back up to his feet and stuffs the big man's head into his trunks to set up his Danshoku Driver finish, but Bob cuts the move off and connects with another bodyslam. Sapp looks for some follow-up offense, but Dino reaches up off the mat and starts pulling Sapp's pants down and dry humping him against the ropes as time expires in round two. As with many Dino matches, I cannot believe that I am typing half of these sentences.
As round three begins, Sapp bulls Dino back into one of the turnbuckles and then hits him with a vertical splash in the opposite corner. A neck hanging tree slam from Sapp connects as well, and Dino appears to be out. The referee starts to count him down, but he does get back up at eight. An exhausted Dino starts to throw weak desperation forearms at Sapp's chest, but they take him nowhere. Sapp delivers a clubbing blow right to Dino's head, and he goes down again, getting up at eight once more. Sapp goes for another big shot to the head, but Dino ducks under and starts French kissing Sapp, which he follows up with the DANSHOKU DRIVER~! I did not expect to see that move tonight. After more kissing takes his head out of the game, Bob Sapp finds himself cradled by Dino and pinned in the final seconds of the third round. I'm not sure why Dino got to kiss his opponent under a round that was supposed to be under Bob Rules, but we'll let it slide . . . everybody else is.
After the bell, Dino gets on the mic and asks Sapp whether he is gay. The big man initially says that he is not. However, as numerous DDT wrestlers (and even referee Wada) appear and claim to be homosexuals, culminating in the entire audience raising their hands to indicate that they too are gay, Sapp's convictions start to waiver. Eventually, he retakes the mic and outs himself before charging to the back upon realizing what he just said.
Match Thoughts: I've seen a lot of comedy matches generally and I've seen a lot of Dino matches specifically. Comedy matches can sometimes get repetitive, but Dino is one of the best in terms of keeping his potentially limited act fresh by making sure his uber-gay character is also facing new challenges in new types of matches. That's exactly what we got here, with Sapp being one of the most unlikely opponents imaginable for Danshoku Dino. Despite the fact that the matchup was unlikely, once you saw it on paper you knew it had some definite potential to be great, as, despite being a legitimate badass, Sapp is not above doing comedy and is uber-charismatic. He did not disappoint, as he was a big scary monster when he needed to be and had great facial reactions when he was supposed to be disgusted or taken aback, perhaps second only to what William Regal would do in the same situation. Plus the best part is that they kept things relatively short, keeping the joke from getting played out. On the whole, this worked very well if you knew what to expect going in, and, if you're going to have a comedy match second from the top on your biggest show of the year, this was the comedy match to have second from the top on your biggest show of the year. Two thumbs up on this one.
I didn't talk too much about this match in my preview of the show, mainly because, even though it's for the company's top title and even though it's the main event, the Ibushi-Devitt and Sapp-Dino matches were the bigger things in terms of drawing me personally to the show. However, the short version of the storyline here is that Ishikawa is an outsider champion, holding the DDT title despite being a member of the Union Pro Wrestling roster. (Though, technically Union is a sub-brand of DDT.) KUDO, meanwhile, has been a member of the DDT roster for a decade, and he won the right to attempt to bring the championship back to DDT when he triumphed in a sixteen man, single elimination tournament earlier in the year.
There's a fairly standard pro wrestling feeling out process early, with the larger Ishikawa doing his best to grapple with KUDO and use his strength advantage, while KUDO tries to employ a hit and run approach, getting in a few quick strikes and backing off. That strategy blows up in KUDO's face a bit, as, while he's got Ishikawa in a clutch firing off some knees, Shuji simply catches his leg and uses it to body slam him. Ishikawa also grabs KUDO as he attempts a leapfrog off of a rope running sequence. It looks like he's going to give KUDO a fisherman buster, but the little guy slips out at the last second and dropkicks Ishikawa out of the ring. Shuji lands on the floor but pops up on to the apron as KUDO attempts a dive, only to have the challenger baseball slide out between his legs, pull him out to the floor once more, and follow up with a very early-in-the-bout TOPE SUICIDA~!
Ishikawa is chopped and kicked a little bit on the arena floor, and KUDO even goes as far as slamming the bigger wrestler's leg into the ringpost before putting him back in the squared circle. Upon the wrestlers' return to the ring, KUDO briefly puts on a submission hold on the leg he posted before dropping his own knee across it. KUDO continues with the leg work for a little bit, but, as soon as he has an opportunity, Ishikawa cuts him off with a clubbing forearm, picks up the little guy, and drops him gut-first across his knee out of a vertical suplex position. Shuji now throws KUDO out to the floor, and, in an INSANE spot, he picks him up as if for a fisherman buster but instead drops him forward, SLAMMING poor little KUDO down face and knee first across the ring apron. (I think he was meant, however, to land more on his stomach for purposes of the story of the match.) Going from unique offense to offense that is as old as time itself, Shujikawa places KUDO in an abdominal claw hold when the wrestlers get back into the ring.
Fortunately the claw hold does not last too long, as Ishikawa voluntarily breaks and follows up with a double stomp to the gut. KUDO tries to rally with kicks but is cut off by another knee to the gut and an Ishikawa pump splash for two. KUDO runs the ropes, but he's kneed again before Shuji hits an axe bomber and goes up to the second rope for another double stomp. Ishikawa goes for the pin, but KUDO kicks out at two. Undeterred, Ishikawa goes immediately into a bodyscissors, which would normally look lame but in this situation makes sense given that he's been targeting the abdomen. KUDO tries to fire off some elbows to break the hold, so Ishikawa puts an end to that by also grabbing the little guy on a crossface. Eventually, KUDO is able to drag himself by his feet to a different position in the ring, allowing a rope break. Ishikawa tries to run the ropes after the hold is broken, but he's caught offguard by KUDO who hits him with a leaping clothesline to the stomach which simultaneously sees KUDO diving out of the ring between the ropes and landing on the apron. Once there, he slingshots back into the ring, taking his larger opponent down with a missile dropkick.
Ishikawa falls back into the corner, so KUDO tries to give him an axe bomber. Shuji blocks it, throwing KUDO back into the opposite set of turnbuckles. Shuji charges but KUDO moves, and Ishikawa gets an opportunity to hit another diving clothesline, this time with the challenger slipping out between the ropes and landing on the arena floor as he delivers it. Ishikawa lands in such a way that he's mostly in the ring but his leg is dangling out across the apron. Taking advantage of that position, KUDO, who is still on the floor, gives the leg a variation on the dragon screw and then climbs on to the apron, leaping off of it with a DOUBLE STOMP on to Ishikawa's bad leg. Back on the inside, KUDO hits another dragon screw before slapping on Jamie Noble's old Trailer Hitch submission. Ishikawa makes the ropes quickly. KUDO at this point tries to lift Shuji up for some kind of slam, but he loses him and the two land awkwardly. KUDO continues to the top rope anyway, but, as he comes off, Ishikawa gets his feet up and cuts him off. Shuji doesn't go immediately back on the offensive, though, as KUDO is still able to slip behind him and attempt a German suplex. In a spot that I don't think I've ever seen before, KUDO actually gets the larger Ishikawa up but doesn't have the strength to get him all the way over, as, instead of going all the way and landing on his shoulders, Ishikawa simply falls back and lands on top of KUDO. Pretty sure that was a rare planned botched spot.
KUDO rolls out to the apron, and Ishikawa goes after him, with the two trading strikes. Shuji gets the better of it, grabbing his challenger's arms and hitting a series of trapped headbutts a la Al Snow. Eventually Ishikawa hits a belly-to-belly variation from the same position that throws KUDO back into the ring. The offense continues with a big lariat from Shuji, but KUDO kicks out at two. At this point Ishikawa attempts his finish, which is a version of the thunder fire powerbomb, but KUDO flips out of it and connects with a series of kicks. However, he makes the cardinal escape of playing to the crowd for a split second, allowing Ishikawa to grab him from behind and DESTROY him with a head-and-shoulders suplex. Both men are down for a bit, and they come up slapping one another in the face. Out of that sequence, KUDO really does hit his German, though he can't bridge and instead has to go into a lateral press to get a two count. He gets another two quickly thereafter with a series of kicks to a grounded Ishikawa. Now it's time for KUDO to fly again, hitting a diving double knee drop to the leg of Ishikawa that he had been working over before.
Rather than going for the cover, KUDO slaps on a submission that is new to me, essentially a cross arm breaker during which he also traps Ishikawa's bad leg with his own legs and applies pressure to it too. Shuji is quite close to the ropes, though, so the hold is short lived. Both men stand and KUDO tries to kick away, but Ishikawa is able to grab him over the top rope and hit him with a big time overhead throw. Both wrestlers go down again, and they tease a double KO, going all the way to eight. KUDO gets some token kicks in when they get back to their feet, but it's Ishikawa who retakes the sustained advantage with a massive running knee to KUDO. It only gets two. In a SPECTACULAR spot, Ishikawa comes off the ropes to follow up with a lariat, but KUDO grabs his arm and uses it to do a flip in which he lands behind Ishikawa, in position for a backslide. Shuji blocks the backslide attempt, though, lifting KUDO up and again putting him in position for the thunder fire bomb. Rather than take the move, KUDO rolls off of Ishikawa's back and puts him into a sunset flip, though the champ kicks out at two. KUDO stays on his man and tries la majistrahl, but it only gets two. A jackknife pin attempt gets two. KUDO looks for a schoolboy, but Ishikawa plants his feet, grabs KUDO's throat, and pulls him over his shoulder for a slam. In another good counter, KUDO, while he is on Ishikawa's shoulder, hooks in a dragon sleeper. Rather than tap, Ishikawa simply returns to his vertical base and PLANTS KUDO WITH A SIT-OUT TOMBSTONE.
In the most dramatic nearfall of the match thusfar, KUDO just barely rolls off of his back at the two count to stay in the match. From here, the thunder fire bomb actually connects, but KUDO STILL gets out at two. Ishikawa is beside himself at this point, so he hits a TIGER SUPLEX. TWO COUNT! KUDO will not die! Ishikawa places his opponent on the top turnbuckle, facing out to the crowd, setting him up for an avalanche-style thunder fire bomb. KUDO manages to get in some strikes that knock Ishikawa off the ropes and down to the arena floor, then standing up on the top rope and following Shuji down to the floor with a DOUBLE KNEE STRIKE TO THE FACE. The challenger immediately rolls the champion back into the ring, but Shuji kicks out of a pin attempt at two. KUDO comes off the ropes again, this time with a diving double knee to the prone Ishikawa, but Shuji kicks out at ONE. I swear the Japanese announcer yelled "Madness!" in perfect English in response to that one.
With large portions of their offensive arsenals exhausted, the wrestlers revert to throwing basic strikes at one another, and KUDO seemingly wins the sequence thanks to his educated feet. He gets another nearfall off of a kick to the head and once more climbs to the top rope for a double knee drop, this time to Ishikawa's back. Rather than attempt a pin, KUDO climbs to another corner, this time dropping the double knee on Ishikawa's FACE. A THIRD diving knee drop, this time to Ishikawa's chest, is enough to get a three count and make KUDO your NEW KO-D Openweight Champion.
After the bell, KUDO calls out the entire DDT roster to the ring, and they oblige (Yes, even weirdos like Dino, Mr. #6, and YOSHIHIKO). Company president Sanshiro Takagi gets on the microphone and is nearly in tears, cutting an emotional promo praising his young protégé and making the announcement that next year's DDT fifteenth anniversary show will be held in the 14,000 seat Nippon Budokan. The show then closes with what I've always thought was a neat tradition, as each member of the roster is announced over the house mic one more time so that he can take a final bow before the live audience.
Match Thoughts: This was a high quality professional wrestling match from two guys who, frankly, I'm not all that familiar with. I've seen KUDO here and there in tags on DDT shows and in the handful of matches he's had when he's come to the United States for CHIKARA, but I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've seen him in a singles match, and this is definitely the first time that I've seen him have a main event level match. Ishikawa I just have flat off not seen wrestle before in any meaningful capacity to the best of my recollection. Despite their being relative unknowns in my world, they absolutely tore the roof off the place here, telling the classic story of the big bully wrestler brutalizing the smaller guy while the smaller guy fights from underneath and tries to kick the legs out from underneath his larger opponent, in addition to flying a lot to unseat him. Combine that classic story with innovative offense and THIRTY MINUTES of bell-to-bell time in which to have a coherent beginning, middle, and end to the match, and you've got one of the better indy bouts of the year that doesn't involve an outsider from the big leagues. ****
Overall
I've been touting Ryogoku Peter Pan as the biggest Japanese independent event of the year, and I have to say that, from what we saw in this televised version, it lived up to the billing. Top to bottom, this was an incredibly fun event that had a "big time" feel without compromising DDT's normal independent sensibility. The straight in-ring work was all very good, and the comedy was more than up to DDT's standards. The great thing is that, even though they've done three of these shows now, it doesn't feel like the indy shows in the large venue are a gimmick the novelty of which is wearing off. DDT has made it feel like they truly belong at Sumo Hall once a year, even if they're spending the other 364 days wrestling in front of a few hundred fans at a shot. If you're in any way interested in Japanese independent wrestling, you can pretty well use this show as the litmus test, because, if you don't enjoy it, you're probably not going to enjoy anything from the indy genre.
Cheap Plug!
Do you like joshi puroresu? Do you like SHIMMER? If you're reading this column, chances are that you answered "yes" to at least one of those questions. If you answered "yes" to at least one of those questions, chances are probably also good that you'd be interested in some merchandise related to Hiroyo Matsumoto, one of the brightest young stars in joshi and a former SHIMMER Tag Team Champion.
Well, you're in luck! Artist and joshi enthusiast shupercousin has obtain from Matsumoto and her booking office S-Ovation the rights to produce and market a Hiroyo Matsumoto t-shirt to the English speaking world, with all proceeds going back to Hiroyo. It looks a little something like this:
If you're interested in owning one of these bad boys, visit shupercousin's Hiroyo Matsumoto fansite right here.
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#6504 (Guest) on August 09, 2011 at 03:47 PM
DDT is one of my favourite promotions nowadays and this was a really great show. I love the mix of good wrestling and good comedy (and it's funny even though i don't understand japanese). And this show was another fine example.
Posted By: Malte (Guest) on August 14, 2011 at 03:25 PM
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