Into the Indies 11.08.11: Ripped from the Headlines 4!
Posted by Ryan Byers on 11.08.2011
I2I takes a look at the latest news from the indy scene, including a promotion going out of business and a very surprising retirement, plus wrestlers from Austria, Finland, Mexico, and Northern Ireland invade Japan!
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that loves its anecdote to death.
This week, we're heading back to a feature that I busted out for the last time in March of this year, none other than RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES~! Ripped from the Headlines is I2I's pause from its normal format in order to do a quick roundup of the latest news from overseas in the independent grappling world. So, without further ado, here are what I consider to be the top stories of the past several weeks.
This past weekend, we said bye-bye to Bati-Bati and so-long to Sawa.
Fifteen years ago, a relatively unknown professional wrestler by the name of Yuki Ishikawa decided that he was going to go into business for himself and found a professional wrestling organization. Just a few years earlier, the UWF had made itself one of the most popular promotions in the country with a style of wrestling that focused far more on emulating shoot fights than it did Irish whips and powerbombs. When the UWF fizzled, originally it was veteran Yoshiaki Fujiawara who attempted to pick up the pieces, forming the promotion known as Fujiwara-gumi. However, that flopped pretty damn hard, lasting less than four years with the entire group jumping ship to Ishikawa's upstart BattlArts promotion, which quickly made itself the spiritual successor to the UWF. Early in its run, BattlArts was fairly successful, drawing crowds of up to 6,000 to its largest events and bringing in outside talent like Bob Backlund, who at the time was coming off his second run with the World Wrestling Federation.
BattlArts Founder Ishikawa's Match from the Company's Fifth Anniversary Show
However, in the late 1990's and early 2000's, the wrestling scene in Japan overall started to contract, and BattlArts was no exception. By the year 2001, the company went from attempting to be a semi-major player on the wrestling scene to essentially admitting that it was nothing more than an independent group and acting accordingly, with fewer shows in smaller venues. In recent years, shows had become even more and more sparse and less attended, with crowds of over 200 becoming a rarity throughout 2010 and early 2011. The writing was on the wall, and, in December 2010, a press conference was held to announce that BattlArts would not survive through 2011. Ultimately, a farewell show was scheduled for November 5, 2011 at Tokyo venue Shinjuku FACE. The main event was a fitting one, with company founder Ishikawa going up against long-time compatriot and fellow Fujiwara-gumi graduate Daisuke Ikeda in a fifteen minute war. Also on the card were notable alumni of Bati-Bati, including All Japan Pro Wrestling's Minoru Tanaka and ZERO1's Ikuto Hidaka, and mainstays of the promotion such as Alexander Otsuka and Keita Yano.
BattlArts wasn't a promotion which got a lot of press among American independent fans, but, if you're a US indy follower and you've heard anything about Bati in the last couple of years, it's likely been because of Munenori Sawa. Sawa made his professional wrestling debut in 2003 under the BattlArts banner, and, within the past three years or so; he broke out and made a name for himself as one of the most talented up-and-comers in the professional wrestling world. In addition to being booked regularly by BattlArts, Sawa caught on big thanks to appearances for groups like DDT and ZERO1, even increasing his profile to the point that Gabe Spapolsky decided to bring him stateside for EVOLVE.
Munenori Sawa vs. TAKA Michinoku
Given his rise in popularity over the past couple of years, many people were caught off guard when Sawa, at only thirty-two years old, announced that, if his home promotion of BattlArts was going out of business, then he wouldn't be continuing his professional wrestling career. Sawa managed to net the semi-main slot on the final BattlArts card this weekend, scoring a victory over criminally underrated shoot-style wrestler Manabu Suruga. However, that show would not be Sawa's curtain call. Instead, he decided to hold his retirement match on the main event of November 6's ZERO1 show, tagging with semi-regular partner Ikuto Hidaka to take on the team of Z1 top star Shinjiro Ohtani and his young protégé Daichi Hashimoto. Not surprisingly, the match came to a close when Sawa forced Hashimoto to submit to his trademark Octopus hold, putting an exclamation point on the end of his career. In a match earlier on the same show, Munenori Sawa's alter ego, Lingerie Muto (think Keiji Muto but wearing lingerie), had a retirement match of his own, dropping a fall to joshi wrestler Yoshiko. So, for those of you who thought that Sawa would be gone but we might periodically see his comedy match persona popping up, apparently that will not be the case.
Lingerie Muto in Action
Those of us here at I2I and 411mania are certainly sad to see Sawa leave the wrestling world, as he really did have all of the potential to become a top act on the independent scene - if not beyond. However, at the end of the day, whether to continue to compete in an incredibly demanding sport like professional wrestling is a decision that should be left to the individual competitor, and nobody can begrudge Sawa his choice to move on. This phrase is used in jest a lot online, but I really do wish him the best in his future endeavors.
As BattlArts is closing its doors, another independent promotion which is a favorite of our column is taking steps to solidify its position in the professional wrestling world. SMASH, which was formed by Yoshihiro Tajiri and friends in 2010, recently wrapped up a tournament to crown its first ever singles champion.
Previously when SMASH had needed a title to further its angles, they relied on the primary singles championship of sister promotion Fight Club Finland, which changed hands no fewer than four times on different SMASH shows, including Tajiri himself gaining two reigns and FCF founder Starbuck taking back his company's gold from the Japanese Buzzsaw. Starbuck wasn't satisfied to just be a multi-time FCF Champion, though. In addition to that, he was one of the fifteen men who threw his hat into the ring to be part of the single elimination tournament that would crown the first SMASH Champion. In fact, if anything, Starbuck had a harder road to hoe than the other fourteen wrestlers vying for the title, as he first had to win an eight man tournament in Fight Club Finland in order to officially become that company's representative in the SMASH Championship fray. The good news is that it earned him a bye into the second round of the SMASH tournament. The bad news is that it meant, even with the bye, Starbuck still had to go through two more matches than any of his Japanese rivals were going to have to go through in order to take home the inaugural championship.
Starbuck Wrestling FCF
However, Starbuck was not the only man bringing international flavor to SMASH's title tournament. One of the 'Buck's oldest European rivals, Michael Kovac, made the trip from Austria to do battle with Japanese legend Genichiro Tenyru in the first round of the tournament. There was also representation from Mexico, with eighteen year lucha libre veteran VENENO locking it up with youngster Takuya Kito in round one. While VENENO was successful in dispatching Kito, Kovac fell to the iconic Tenryu, despite Tenryu now being north of sixty years of age. In addition to VENENO and Tenryu's victories and Starbuck's bye, additional first round action saw hardcore wrestler Shinya Ishikawa beating SMASH rookie Yosuke Kodama, Tajiri going over former WWE star Funaki, New Japan's Takashi Iizuka getting disqualified against AKIRA, visitor from Osaka Pro Zeus pinning DDT's Yoshiaki Yago, and up and comer Hajime Ohara pinning his original trainer Ultimo Dragon.
Michael Kovac Shows his Goods in a Ladder Match
The international contingent continued its success in round two, with VENENO pinning Hajime Ohara to advance to the final four and Starbuck, in his first match in the tournament proper, overcoming a very game Genichiro Tenryu. In the upper half of the bracket, AKIRA was able to get a pinfall victory over Zeus, while Tajiri defeated Shinya Ishikawa. Thus, we had a final four of Tajiri going up against AKIRA and Starbuck butting heads with VENENO in what may have been professional wrestling's first Finland vs. Mexico encounter. Those of you who have been following SMASH for an extended period of time can probably call the main event after reading those semi-final matchups, and the results were exactly what you would expect. Tajiri and Starbuck won their respective matches in order to advance to the championship battle, renewing a longstanding SMASH rivalry that has consumed the promotion almost since its very beginning. Tajiri and Starbuck each held victories over one another in SMASH competition coming into the finals, and this would be the war to settle the score.
Starbuck Spikes Tajiri
And the finals of the championship tournament took place on perhaps SMASH's biggest show in history, as they invaded the vaunted Korakuen Hall in Tokyo before 1,550 fans. The result was one that caught some members of the audience off guard, with company front man Tajiri being unable to win the promotion's first title. Instead, after fifteen minutes of in-ring action, Tajiri once again fell victim to Starbuck's killer piledriver, allowing the ferocious Fin to become the first SMASH Champion. Tajiri has been the man who has been able to put the most pressure on Starbuck during his time in SMASH, and, with the 'Buck once again dominating Tajiri in their series, it remains to be seen whether anybody will be able to unseat him now that he holds the gold. However, there is certainly no shortage of men who will attempt to end Starbuck's reign, as proven by the fact that his first title contender has already been lined up. This challenger continues SMASH's international theme, as he hails from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is David "Fit" Finlay, and he loves to fight . . . including on November 24, back in Korakuen Hall, when he locks it up with Starbuck in what may be one of the most intriguing matches in SMASH history.
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!
Word is Sawa retired because he was going to take over BattlArts once Ishikawa retired. Once he found out BattlArts was going down the tubes, he had no reason to continue.
Posted By: Guest#5474 (Guest) on November 08, 2011 at 12:10 PM
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