Death by Midwest: New Japan BRAVE Tour at Korakuen Hall 4.13.08

Posted by John Goozie on 05.13.2008

Masato Tanaka shows why he's still one of the best in the world.



Back once again with a show on New Japan’s BRAVE tour from April. The focus tonight is on the ZERO-ONE vs. New Japan feud, with two interpromotional matchups, including Koji Kanemoto challenging Masato Tanaka for the Zero-One World Heavyweight Title.

We’re at Korakuen Hall on April 13th, 2008.


Milano Collection AT & Minoru vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Super Strong Machine

Shiro and Minoru start. Minoru slaps Shiro on the ass and hurts his hand. Shiro is the master of the hip attack, ya know. Minoru does the hip attack, Shiro isn’t phased, and hits one on Minoru. Minoru takes a long powder and then tags in Milano. Machine tags in as well. Machine asks for a handshake, Milano kicks him in the outside, but Machine just slaps Milano. They trade some chops. Milano gets an enziguri. Machine comes back with a senton. He goes for a DDT but Minoru springs out and dropkicks him. Milano hits a flying cross body and a superkick for 2. Shiro tags in and hits a Diving Hip Attack for 2. Milano tries to get up but he goes down clutching his knee. The ref pushes Shiro away until Milano gets back and hip attacks Shiro. The sneaky bastard. Shiro accidentally hits Machine with the hip attack. Milano gets a rolling cradle for the win at 7:00 shown. (Clipped from 10:00)

Rating: ¾* Too many hip attacks.


Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Takashi Iizuka & Kazuchika Okada

Tenzan looking for revenge against his former charges in GBH here. He doesn’t wait for the bell and attacks Makabe. The babyfaces take down all of GBH, including Okada dropkicking Ishii. Exploder suplex by Iizuka on Yano. Now they’re all brawling around the building. Ishii and Okada fight in the ring as Iizuka brawls with Yano towards the back. Eventually a few of them make it back to the ring. GBH isolates Okada and wail on him in their corner. Okada fights back against Yano until Yano rakes his eyes. A vertical suplex by Ishii gets 2 and a big brawl starts again with Iizuka being beaten and left in the crowd. Okada lands a dropkick and a clothesline for 2 on Ishii. Ishii ends that with a lariat and a powerbomb for 3 at 7:09.

Rating: *3/4 Really just here for angle advancement.

Somewhere after the match, gaijin dojo trainee Karl Anderson betrayed Tenzan and joined GBH. I didn’t see it, though after the match, Anderson celebrates with GBH.


NON-TITLE MATCH
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ Wataru Inoue vs. Jado

Both men have chairs in hand and go after each other during introductions. Inoue loses his quickly and Jado goes to town on him with it. The ref eventually stops him and the match officially starts. Jado hits Inoue with his own title belt. Inoue is busted open. Inoue blocks a suplex and comes back with a spinning heel kick. A running forearm connects after that. Inoue is bleeding heavily. DDT on the apron by Inoue. Jado keeps covering up bumps with his hands. Inoue starts searching for weapons but finds nothing to his liking at ringside, so he heads to the back and comes back with a fire extinguisher. He hits Jado with it. They clothesline each other down. Jado hits a German but Inoue hooks on the Triangle Lancer for the win at 6:45 shown. (Clipped from 15:33)

Rating: Too clipped to rate Jado dragged the match down even in just 7 minutes, though.


IWGP JR. HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH
Jushin Liger and AKIRA © vs. Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito

This is the 1st defense for Liger and Akira. Naito and Akira start with some quick reversals. Liger distracts Naito and Akira gets a dropkick in. Akira goes for a dive but Yujiro catches him in the Suisha Otoshi! Akira recovers and catches Naito with a tope while Liger baseball slides Naito. The champs slam Naito’s knee into the mat and Liger stretches it out. Yujiro tags in and gives Akira a spinebuster for 1. The young guys double team Akira with a combo leg drop/running senton. Yujiro and Akira trade forearms until Akira stops him with a damn pretty dropkick. The champs then give Yujiro a spike piledriver. That gets 2. Liger and Akira keep Yujiro isolated and make quick tags. Liger gives him a kneecrusher then hooks on a kneebar. Akira prevents Yujiro from making a tag. Akira gets shoulder blocked down, Liger comes in for a double team, but Yujiro clotheslines them both and makes the hot tag to Naito. Naito hits both champs with dropkicks then a missile dropkick on Akira for 2. Akira elbows Naito almost ten times to get out of a waistlock and he hits a DDT at the 10 minute mark.

Akira heads up, Naito tries to German him off but Akira knocks him back down. Akira dropkicks Naito’s knee. Sunset flip by Akira for 2 turns into several nearfalls for both guys. Enziguri by Akira, forearm by Naito, both men down, and both crawl to tag in their partners. Palm strike by Liger but Yujiro is right back up. Liger reverses a whip and hits another palm strike. Yujiro flips out of a Ligerbomb, picks Liger up for a Wrist Clutch Powerslam…for 2. He DEAD LIFTS Liger back up for a Davey Boy Powerslam…for 2. Naito and Yujiro whip Liger in the corner for a Whisper in the Wind dropkick! Lariat by Yujiro…for 2. Liger reverses a suplex into a BRAINBUSTER! LIGERBOMB…for 2! Liger goes up for a Frog Splash, but that gets KNEES. Yujiro goes for a Moonsault, but that gets KNEES as well. Both men tag out but Akira and Liger quickly double team Naito. Top rope splash by Akira…for 2. Liger PLANCHAS onto Yujiro. Akira is going for the Old Boy but Naito reverses into a small package…for 2. That was close. Spinebuster by Akira into the OLD BOY! Naito struggles and makes the ropes. Akira whips Naito who springs with a HUGE flying forearm. Yujiro comes in but Liger stops them from double teaming Akira. They get rid of Liger and hit Akira with the LIMIT LESS EVOLUTION. Naito heads up…CORKSCREW MOONSAULT! But only for 2. Akira ducks a spear from Yujiro, who spears Naito on accident. La Mahistral by Akira…for 2. Naito goes for the flying forearm again but Akira dropkicks his knee in midair! He takes and advantage and hooks on the OLD BOY for the submission win at 18:52.

Rating:***3/4 Really good match from the junior tag division. The knee work worked into the finish and the last 10 minutes were just crazy while being pretty well executed. They kept their spots relatively sane, too, so no potential injury. Good stuff.


Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask IV vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto & Giant Bernard

Nakamura, the current IWGP champion, won the belt from Tanahashi at the Tokyo Dome on Jan 4th. Nakamura and Tiger Mask start off with some super fine wrestling. Mask tries to snapmare the champion, but he flips out and kicks him in the stomach. He knocks down Hiroshi and Manabu and tags in Bernard. Mask goes to tag out but no one’s there. Heh. Comedy. Mask changes hands on a test of strength to make Bernard angry. He responds by Gorilla Pressing him. Mask goes for a dive but Bernard runs away. Nakanishi tags in. Bernard catches him dropping down and splashes his back. Nakanishi gets him up for a slam and both men tag out to Goto and Tanahashi. Tanahashi wins a forearm battle and plays to the crowd. Goto comes back with a Cactus clothesline. Nakamura comes in and unleashes forearms on Tanahashi. Slaps by Tanahashi, he ducks an enziguri, and he wrenches Nakamura’s knee. Nakanishi tags in at 10 minutes.

Nakanishi hits some chops and then a Polish Hammer for 2. A lariat after that gets 2 as well. He goes for the backbreaker rack but Nakamura turns it into a DDT. He tags in Bernard. Bernard gets put up in the backbreaker rack but Nakanishi has to hold on by Bernard’s metal necklace. Mask in and missile dropkicks Goto and then high kicks him in the head. Mask gets a few more hard strikes then gets a LARIATO. Mask gets triple teamed but moves out of Bernard’s way and Goto gets hit by his partner. Nakanishi gives Bernard a German suplex. LANDSLIDE to Nakanishi. Sling Blade to Nakamura by Tanahashi. 619 by Mask on Goto followed by a sloppy standing moonsault for 2. Goto blocks the Tiger Suplex and goes up top for an elbow drop for 2. Goto goes for the Shouten and the ref gets distracted. Ishii from GBH comes in and hits Goto with a chair and leaves. Mask rolls Goto up for the win at 17:20. Goto grabs the mic after the match and yells at GBH.

Rating: **1/2 An OK match, pretty much by the books. But now the intrigue: Has Tiger Mask IV joined GBH?


ZERO-ONE MAX vs. NEW JAPAN
Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Ryusuke Taguchi

Takaiwa was once a top junior in New Japan, winning both the Best of the Super Juniors in 2000 before leaving for Zero-One. They trade chops and forearms to start. Takaiwa goes for a powerbomb but Taguchi ranas him over the ropes. Springing cross body by Taguchi! Takaiwa gets a bearhug then an atomic drop. He hooks on an Otani-style half crab. Taguchi comes with a springing dropkick from the second rope. Taguchi goes for a Tiger Suplex on the apron but Takaiwa reverses to a DEATH VALLEY DRIVER ON THE APRON! Dammmmmn. Back inside, Taguchi reverses into a front suplex. Missile dropkick, Takaiwa misses a clothesline, HEAD DROP GERMAN SUPLEX by Taguchi. Fisherman’s suplex by Taguchi rolled into a Kimura. Takaiwa blocks the leg part of the Kimura so Taguchi turns it into a cross armbreaker. Takaiwa makes the ropes but Taguchi doesn’t release right away. Taguchi goes for the Tiger Suplex again, but Takaiwa blocks into a MICHINOKU DRIVER. Right on his damn head again! Takaiwa brings him up top…SUPER DEATH VALLEY DRIVVVVERRR! FOR 2! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Takaiwa goes for the Triple Powerbomb but Taguchi reverses into a sunset flip for 2. LARRRIATOOO by Takaiwa…for 2. Takaiwa goes for another Super DVD but Taguchi wiggles out and goes for a Tiger Superplex, which ends up as more of a throw off the top rope. Maybe that was a little overzealous. Taguchi goes up top…ENBAN CHUUDOKU for the win at 10:11.

Rating: ***1/2 So much action for 10 minutes. That Tiger Superplex was just a little too much to actually accomplish and that hurt the ending, since Taguchi took way more punishment than Takaiwa did.


ZERO-ONE MAX WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
Masato Tanaka © vs. Koji Kanemoto

This is Tanaka’s 5th defense of the belt. He’s the first Zero-One Champion since the company split from the AWA. They go right after each other with FOREARMS. Koji backs him into the corner and gives him a spinning back kick, but Tanaka isn’t phased. FOREARMS into a Judo Throw by Koji. They go down to the mat but even those are INTENSE. Running forearm by Tanaka followed by SLAPS. Not Koji is pissed…SPINE KICKS! Tanaka responds with one of his own. High kick by Koji and they head outside. Tanaka gets sent into the rail. Koji tries to post him but Tanaka turns around and clothesline Koji into the front row. Koji gets back in the ring but Tanaka pulls him out and they brawl into the crowd. They make their way back pretty quickly, though. Koji kicks the CRAP out of Tanaka’s chest. Back inside, Tanaka charges but Koji just knees him in the head coming in. Tanaka’s face must be dirty, because Kanemoto gives him a FACEWASH. Then another. Tanaka gets right up and LARIATS Koji, but Koji doesn’t faulter. Tanaka ducks a kick, Koji ducks a lariat and high kicks Tanaka in the face! Tanaka goes off the rope and Koji kicks him down again. MORE KICKS. Koji misses on the second rope corkscrew senton. Spear by Tanaka. Tanaka puts Koji against the ropes and forearms him, but Koji ducks a clothesline and gives Tanaka an overhead belly-to-belly. LARIAT by Tanaka and we’re at the 10 minute mark.

BRAINBUSTER by Tanaka…for 2. They head outside and Tanaka grabs a table! Koji’s seconds try to stop him, so the seconds for both guys start fighting! Tanaka puts Koji on the table on heads to the top rope but Koji gets up and throws Tanaka through the table! Crowd LOVES that. Koji brings Tanaka up top....SUPER EXPLODER!!! FOR 2! He picks Tanaka up…STEINER SCREWDRIVER! Right on his damn head! For ONE! KICKOUT OF DISRESPECT. KICK OF DEATH by Koji! Koji goes up but Tanaka stops him…GERMAN SUPERPLEX! HOLY SHIT! Koji is DEAD. But Tanaka can’t cover so he puts Koji up top again. Superplex rolled into a BRAINBUSTER! Nice! He rolls again going for another, but Koji blocks and rolls over into the ANKLELOCK!!! IT’S ON! Tanaka almost get to the ropes but Koji pulls him back and goes to the heel hook!!!! Tanaka barely hangs on and makes it to the ropes. Koji heads up top…MOONSAULT connects, but only for 2! He goes for another but that gets KNEES. Tanaka’s limping from being in the Anklelock. POWERBOMB by Tanaka and heads up for a FROG SPLASH! But that only gets 2. Tanaka signals and hits the SLIDING D….for 2! He goes for another, but Koji catches him with a kick to the face! ANKLELOCK re-applied with the heel hook again! Tanaka almost makes the ropes but Koji rolls him back towards the center of the ring. Tanaka struggles again to the ropes. Both men up. SLAPS. FOREARMS. LEFT AND RIGHT FOREARMS FROM TANAKA! DANGAN ELBOW! Tanaka goes for the Roaring Elbow, but Koji hits a SPINNING BACKFIST. HIGH KICK TO THE HEAD by Koji! ROARING ELBOW by TANAKA….for 2! Both men slowly get back up…FLURRY OF KICKS by Koji, but Tanaka stops that with A LARIATTOOOOOOOOO. SLIDING D….for 2!!!! Tanaka right back up for another SLIDDDDING DDDDDDDD and that’s finally enough at 20:40. Tanaka scores a big win for Zero-One.

Rating: ****1/2 Holy shit what a match. These two guys didn’t let up for 20 minutes and just DESTROYED each other. You knew these two hated each other, as there was no technical brilliance here, just a FIGHT. If anyone hasn’t seen Tanaka since ECW, he’s only gotten better, and he delivered a MOTYC here tonight. Awesome match.

After the match, the two promotions’ factions face off and Tanaka challenges Yuji Nagata, who’s at ringside, to face him for the Zero-One belt. Nagata comes in and the Zero-One army clears out. Nagata responds and seems to accept Tanaka’s challenge.

The 411: Nice compact show with some GREAT stuff on here. The Jr. Heavyweight tag title match and two interpromotional matches are must see stuff from New Japan. Plus you get lots of intrigue with GBH seemingly growing stronger every show. If nothing else, you need to see Tanaka vs. Kanemoto. True MOTYC, folks. Thumbs way up.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]