The Navigation Log 2.10.08: Japanese Gimmick Palooza

Posted by Matt Short on 02.10.2008

We've got some notes from NOAH concerning the 10 Match trial series and Dragon Gate factional warfare. Then its time for a look at some awesome Japanese gimmicks. One will be very familiar while the rest may be new to some. Enjoy!

I'm a big movie fan, so maybe you'll indulge me for a second to ramble. I took a film class last fall which was taught by a woman who had worked on all of M. Night Shyamalan's movies up until Lady in the Water when she just quit out of desperation. Why? She could tell his movies were turning to crap and needed out. This brings us to his new movie, The Happening in which plants decide to emit a gas that causes humans to kill themselves. Cool premise. But if what this woman said was true about the films leading up to Lady in the Water, then the script was likely not edited enough and sucks. Because M. Night Shyamalan is a lousy writer and has to have dozens of re-writes on his scripts to be any good. I shall now get off of my movie soapbox before someone gets confused and thinks they're reading the Movie Zone.

Onto the Navigation Log!

Before I get into this week's main attraction, I bring offerings of news from Japan.

Trial Series Trudges On
The 10 Match trial series shall continue on continue on for both Atsushi Aoki and Shuhei Taniguchi when the Second Navigation kicks off on February 15th. For his third match, Aoki has drawn top Junior Heavyweight competitor, KENTA. Aside from getting stiffed to hell in this match, it should be a good chance for Aoki to make a showing for himself. He's being groomed for the Jr. Heavyweight division and who better than KENTA to do that with. I look forward to seeing this, but I also have expectations of seeing Aoki having his lights put out.

Aoki may have gotten off light actually, because Taniguchi drew a monster. He will have to get through the number one contender Takeshi Morishima in what I hope ends in a brutal squash. Not due to any kind of ill will toward Taniguchi, but because that's what should happen. Morishima is going to challenge Misawa for the GHC Heavyweight Title and he really shouldn't have to spend more than 5 minutes of a dojo boy. I'm expecting a brief flurry from Taniguchi followed by a titanic mauling by Morishima which ultimately culminates with a Backdrop Driver all the way to hell. As it should be.

Changes Coming to the Dragon Gate Stables?
In fighting is starting to occur in the factions of Dragon Gate, particularly in the Muscle Outlaw'z and New Hazard.

Most of the strife between MO'z seems to stem from a predictable source: Gamma. Following his defeat in an Open the Dream Gate challenge he finally acknowledged that CIMA was the better man. Gamma isn't the type of guy that you trust, but MO'z leader Naruki Doi came out and kicked Gamma. The other half of Speed Muscle intervened on Gamma's behalf which lead to a stare down and escalated the tension between the two since losing the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team belts.

Let's shift over to New Hazard. On the same show where the infighting between MO'z began, New Hazard leader Shingo Takagi made the suggestion that he, Cyber Kong, and BxB Hulk should receive a shot at the Open the Triangle Gate belts after that trio won in a match. He then stated that this team was NH's strongest group, which makes some sense because that trio had won the Triangle Gate belts in the past. However, YAMATO took exception to this and started some tension. After the show had ended YAMATO attacked CIMA at an autograph session while MO'z kept up their squabbles. When all was said and done YAMATO shook hands with Gamma. So with the seeds of dissent planted a potential alliance looks to have been formed. Though as of now, nothing is set in stone and with Gamma involved you can never take anything at face value.

Then just this past week the shit really hit the fan. Speed Muscle were toppled in an Open the Twin Gate match by Taku Iwasa & Kenichiro Arai. The Tozawa-juku team finally captured the tag belts they'd been hounding Speed Muscle after for month. Doi & Yoshino however continued to have issues with each other as Doi questioned why Yoshino was nowhere to be seen in the finishes of the matches where they'd lost the belts. Their team was dissolved and Doi promised to refocus on singles matches. More strife continued in MO'z which brought out New Hazard. In the brawl that ensued YAMATO accidentally struck Hulk which caused tensions to explode between the two. Acting Dragon Gate field manager K-ness had to halt the fighting an set up a 10 man Oedo Style Countdown Elimination match in hopes that it would force the bickering to stop in both factions.

So next month in Tokyo The Muscle Outlaw'z will send Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, Genki Horiguchi, Yasushi Kanda, & Gamma to face Shingo Takagi, Cyber Kong, BxB Hulk, YAMATO, & Shinobu. This could end up being very interesting. The infighting suggests that we may see some shake ups to the stables coming. The guys to watch will be YAMATO, Yoshino, and Gamma. Will we see some fracturing or will they find a way to patch things up.

Should be an interesting month in Dragon Gate.

In non-factional warfare news, the line up for stars being sent to Dragon Gate for Dragon Gate Challenge II and Supercard of Honor III. For DG Challenge II Dragon Kid and Ryo Saito will face The Briscoes while on the following night the tradition of a Dragon Gate six-man will continue as the Muscle Outlaw'z Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, & Genki Horiguchi go against CIMA, Ryo Saito, and Dragon Kid. It'll be go to see evil blue Genki in ROH and it's interesting that it's basically the same six men from the first DG six-man only Genki and CIMA have switched sides. Neat huh?

Japanese Gimmick Palooza
While much of puro is made up of guys who get over through head drops and stiff shots, that's not all Japan has to offer. True, the older guys have worked extremely well with the shoot-like style that involves beating the crap out of each other, but Japan has also been the birthplace of many interesting and amusing gimmicks. They're much more common on the independent circuit where wacky gimmicks are a must for getting over and in all honesty are a lot of fun. So what I want to do here in this section (which may or may not return) is a way to just talk about famous gimmicks and share some of the lesser known ones. So let's get started with one of the most famous.

The Great Muta
One of the most legendary characters in all of Japanese wrestling, Keiji Mutoh's demonic alter ego is one of the most recognizable figures not just in Japan, but worldwide. He was initially billed as the son of the Great Kabuki. Muta at this time was copying Kabuki, with face paint and the spitting of the now infamous mist. The Muta gimmick has served Mutoh well over the years, winning many titles under the moniker while competing all over the world, most notably capturing gold in WCW.

The Great Muta's place in wrestling can't be denied as today he might be the most copied wrestler ever. Every time you see someone using the Shining Wizard, it's in tribute to Muta. Gregory Helms is one such star in the WWE today who makes use of the Shining Wizard while WWE Dive Melina has used the Muta Lock as her finisher as well. TNA featured the character Rellik who was a (very low-rent) imitation of Great Muta. On the indy circuit in America and Japan he's even more revered as the Shining Wizard is paying tribute. And it's VERY frequently used. And let's not forget one of the most famous imitators of Muta, Yoshihiro Tajiri. I have to say the whole "poison" mist that Muta really popularized might be one of my favorite wrestling devices ever.

Milanito Collection AT
Milano Collection AT is a rising star in New Japan. Milanito on the other hand was a parody, albeit a very good one. He's essentially just a small copy of Milano, who was one of the best stars to come out of the Dragon System, and developed quite a cult following in El Dorado and faced off against his namesake on multiple occasions. Sadly, in recent months Milanito has been forced to give up this gimmick after losing a match to Milano Collection Big Version. Oh well.

The Nuru Nuru Brothers
One of the most intriguing teams from DDT in 2007 was the Nuru Nuru Brothers, comprised of Michael Nakazawa & Tomomitsu Matsunaga. "Nuru Nuru" is a Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound that is made when oil gets rubbed all over someone. So maybe you see where this is going. The Nurus would lube themselves up during their matches thus making it impossible for their opponents to throw them or pretty much do anything. In dire situations they would grease up the ropes so their opponents couldn't get back into the ring giving them a count out win. Good times.

Lupin Matsutani
A Dragon Gate NEX trainee who has developed a big following through the power of nostalgia. He bases his gimmick off the anime Lupin the Third, which remains popular even though it was back in the 80s or something. Matsutani's entrance is a huge part of his popularity as he decends from the stage of the venue on a rope ladder while the anime's theme blasts through the loudspeakers. There isn't an awful lot of footage of him since he's still technically a trainee, but the popularity he's gained so far is scary and could get him far.

Animal Planets
A full stable from El Dorado, the Animal Planets are quite the collection of indy stars. The premise of the group is naturally that they're all based on animals. The leader, monster heel Touru Owashi is the eagle, while other members represent the tiger, the monkey, and even a stag beetle. Sounds normal until they start dressing like animals going to the ring. Like Hercules Oosenga, the stag beetle, will wear the horns to the ring. It's not sure how long they'll be able to keep the gimmick going, but they are likely to become a real force in El Dorado with Owashi at the helm.

At Home
I missed the Against All Odds roundtable this week. I hate my real life schedule as I do enjoy doing them. So here's my pics for the PPV tonight, in brief: Petey Williams, Abyss (huur), James Storm, Peyton Banks, Booker T, X-Division team, Armstrong & Son, KONG~!, and Kurt Angle. Damn, that show looks so badly booked. At least they didn't go with putting that Rat on a Pole match on PPV.

Just watch, Colin Delaney and Tommy Dreamer will make believers out of everyone when they win the WWE Tag Team titles. It will be an absolutely epic moment and will easily surpass John Cena's Royal Rumble win. Hey, I can dream right?

No Short Takes this week, I'm rushed as it is! Peace folks.