Category: Articles

Wrestlers We Loved 2012

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And now, our favorite wrestlers from last year. Again we’re joined by our friends Thomas Holzerman from The Wrestling Blog, Jamie from Dramatic DDT, T.J. Hawke from Free Pro Wrestling,  Ciara Reid of Angry Marks, Jae of iheartDG, Alyssa, Alex, Benjamin, and Senor Lariato. By Leslie, Greg, Chris C., Chris J., Sonny, Aoikougei, Sarah (and her brother), Steph, and Martin.

Matches We Loved: Part I, Part II

ACH

ACW, AAW, SLA, ROH, DGUSA, CHIKARA, Resistance Pro

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Thomas: This man busted out of Austin in a big way this year. Dragon Gate USA only had the bright idea to book him at the end of the year. Ring of Honor had the chance to blow the doors off the arena in Chicago, but instead he was a sacrificial lamb for Kyle O’Reilly. I certainly didn’t love the treatment he got from promoters who apparently “know” wrestling, but this isn’t a gripe-fest. It’s a love-fest. What ACH was able to do this year was nothing short of revolutionize what wrestling was all about.

Whether as the standard bearer in ACW, a man who helped make Cleveland a destination for wrestling in AIW, or the forever-frustrated rival of Mark Angelosetti in Chikara, he did things only thought possible by dreamers who wrote matches for e-feds. Four-fifty splash from the second rope? Easy. Texas Cloverleaf big swing? Pfft, don’t trifle me with your doubts, son. He went 30 minutes with AR Fox, warred with Johnny Gargano, clashed with Willie Mack, and even helped put eyes on Kansas City through an excellent series with Jeremy Wyatt.

If ACH isn’t on your radar, you don’t watch enough wrestling, and if you watch enough wrestling and aren’t impressed by ACH, then good lord, man, you’re made of stone.

Photo Courtesy Joel Loeschman

Adam Cole

ROH, PWG

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Ciara: I can’t think of anyone else in Ring of Honor that has stood out for me in 2012 besides Adam Cole. Earlier last year, Future Shock disbanded with Kyle O’Reilly joining Davey Richards and Adam Cole aligning with Eddie Edwards. At ROH’s 10th Anniversary Show in March, Adam Cole scored an upset as he pinned then ROH World Champion Davey Richards with a Crossbody during a tag team match. Cole would go onto to defeat Kyle O’Reilly in a Hybrid Rules Match and defeat Roderick Strong for the ROH Television Championship in June. Cole has successfully retained his championship against Eddie Edwards and Mike Mondo and defeated Matt Hardy in a non-title match.

Adam continued his success over in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla as he won the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles Tournament to earn a shot at Kevin Steen’s PWG World Championship. In November, Cole defeated Caleb Konley for the Premiere Wrestling Xperience Heavyweight Championship. Adam has since won the PWG World Championship from Kevin Steen and formed the Dojo Brothers with Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong. I was already aware of Adam Cole’s work in Combat Zone Wrestling, but this past year he has really stepped it up and became one of my favorites.

Ayako Hamada

SHIMMER, WAVE

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Leslie: Ayako Hamada is Wrestler of the Year, Every Year. It’s redundant to talk about how great she is at this point, you just need to watch her. Watch her in Mexico. Watch her in Japan. Watch her in in the states (especially her SHIMMER match against Kana). Watch her, year after year, effortlessly put on amazing matches. Ayako Hamada is an international treasure and the best of her generation.

Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi

BJW, AJPW 

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Lariato: In the first half of 2012 especially, Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi marked themselves as one of the best tag teams on the planet with a series of amazing matches in AJPW and home promotion BJW. Both guys are freakishly strong and I never tire of watching them in matches against other heavy hitting teams like Get Wild of Manabu Soya & Takao Omori.

Click here to watch 5 hours of Sekimoto & Okabayashi matches.

Dash Chisako and Sendai Sachiko

Sendai Girls, JWP, CHIKARA

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Sonny: The Kanari sisters slowly emerged from the humongous shadow of Meiko Satomura in 2012, showcasing their great tag team skills versus a wide variety of opponents.

In May they debuted in CHIKARA, and defeated The Bravado Brothers. On June 25, they defeated Manami Toyota and Kyoko Inoue. In September they teamed with Meiko Satomura in CHIKARA’s King of Trios to defeat Green Ant, Red Ant and AssailAnt. In round 2 they defeated Jigsaw, Manami Toyota and Mike Quackenbush. In round 3 they lost to the team of The Young Bucks and Mike Bennett in what may have been the best match of the entire weekend.

Drake Younger

PWG, BJW, CZW

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Alex: Drake Younger’s 2012 has been a powerful journey to be able to watch, one that made him one of the best wrestlers of the year. A resolution to clean himself up led to him getting in the best shape of his life. That then led to a renaissance for Younger as a wrestler. In 2012 he delivered some of his strongest matches, including wars with Sami Callihan, B-Boy, Rickey Shane Page, Roderick Strong, and MASADA, peaking with an awe inspiring Iron Man with Sami Callihan.

Moving out to Los Angeles and finding another home with PWG turned out to be a great move for him, allowing him to show new audiences what the Combat Zone faithful already knew: Drake Younger is one of the most well rounded wrestlers in the world, able to deliver with a wide variety of opponents. An inspiration, in ring and out, making him a clear choice for this write up.

Ben: Forget the broken glass and death matches, Drake Younger can do it all, and regularly does. To me, he is the definition of a hybrid wrestler, and I love the diversity this brings.

Having changed his life this year (in more ways than one), and moved to California, a whole new horizon has opened up for him, including PWG, where he continues to have increasingly fantastic matches to sit alongside 2012 classics such as 60-minute Iron Man vs Callihan.

As I type this, he is completing his 4th tour of Japan, and has already signed a contract for his 5th tour. Every time he returns to the States following one of these tours, he seems to have grown again. It’s a pleasure to watch someone so humble, positive and joyful about their chosen craft, and long may it continue.

Leslie: I didn’t see any Drake Younger matches this year, but I saw this photo in a issue of Weekly Pro Wres. He’s earned a mention. Continue reading →

Allison Danger and the Infinitely Sad Tuesday

Tuesday was full of sad. I’m talking Amanda Palmer solo set sad. First came the above video, a tear-jerking clip of Ayumi Kurihara saying goodbye to her SHIMMER fans before flying back to Japan, where she will retire in August.

Lots of Joshi retire, and lots retire young but most everyone seemed to think of Ayumi as a lifer. Her retirement announcement was completely shocking. Ayumi is an amazing wrestler and always a joy to watch. Joshi Pro won’t be the same without her.

Then came news from LuFisto, confirming fears that she was injured during the SHIMMER Volume 53 iPPV this past weekend. You should read her thoughts here on her Facebook page. At least this sad is mitigated by the fact that LuFisto is one of the toughest, strongest, and hardest working people in the world. She’s come back from major injury and medical issues before, each time being in better shape, each time a better wrestler than before. I have no doubt we will be able to say the same after this setback. I believe in LuFisto.

And then came news that Rachel Summerlyn is taking time off due to a lingering neck injury. Rachel is one of my favorite wrestlers and favorite people due to her love, passion, and perpetually positive attitude. I think she’ll be making dudes bleed their own blood before we know it.

In the meantime, she’s enlisted Khris “Texas Rainmaker” Wolfe to kick Gary Jay’s ass in her stead at St. Louis Anarchy’s massive Circus Maximus show (in a 10,000 Thumbtacks match). Anyone in the area should check it out.

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And then, in the main event of Final Sad:CLIMAX 2013, SHIMMER announced that Allison Danger would be ending her in-ring career this weekend. The announcement hit me hard. Danger’s career has meant a lot to me and honestly, she’s largely responsible for the existence of DDS.

The first Ring of Honor show I watched was not very good. I had already stopped watching other wrestling entirely, giving ROH a chance was a last ditch effort at seeing whether or not the art was worth following anymore. I wasn’t sold, at all. However, Danger’s performance as Christopher Daniel’s disciple and her religious devotion to his “prophecy” intrigued me. I’d never seen anyone in wrestling quite like her and I wanted to see where things went, so I decided to give ROH, and wrestling in general, another shot.

There were plenty of great things going on in ROH during that time: Danielson, Joe, Punk, Low Ki, Cide, etc., but Danger’s contributions will always hold a special place for me. Sometimes they had an off night (see: my first show), but Danger was always, always on point through the multiple transformations her character underwent.

When Danger transitioned into a more regular in-ring performer for ROH that eventually led me to looking into her work in other places, which led me to her work in Japan which, of course, helped me discover my true wrestling love in Joshi Puroresu which eventually lead to this site.

Danger has meant that much to many people. She laid the groundwork for the late 00′s US women’s wrestling renaissance with those ROH matches, a renaissance which entered its Silver Age when Danger uttered the phrase “American Joshi” on the first SHIMMER tapings. A phrase Danger brought meaning to with her matches against the likes of Del Rey and Martinez and Melissa and Haze and MsChif and Knox and Rogers and Perez.

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Danger was stellar outside the ring as well. She was one of the first to take an active role in social media. She blogged about her travels in Japan, engaged fans in weekly SHIMMER chats, and MySpaced when it was still a verb. She even offered epic take downs of the worst elements on wrestling message boards, in between being an outspoken advocate for women in wrestling.

Allison Danger started a charity drive at SHIMMER to help mothers in need provide necessities for their kids. Danger also once promised to fuck a fan’s mom after a show in Montreal. Danger beat Bryce Remsburg in a Lady Gaga dance-off. Danger pissed off an aged woman so badly that the old lady rose from her wheelchair in order to get at her.

Allison Danger has done great things in wrestling, far too many for me to do them justice in a small post like this. I’m saddened that I’ll never get to see another Allison Danger match live, but I feel privileged to have been at so many. I’m sure she’ll still be around wrestling in some form, and hopefully still as a performer, but her absence in the ring will leave a hole that can never be properly filled.

She will be dearly missed.

Dream Slam Weekend

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If you think you’re done with wrestling this weekend, we have some good (or perhaps bad) news. You still need to watch Dream Slam. This week marked the 20th Anniversary of AJW’s amazing, multi-promotional Joshi extravaganza. It is definitely, possibly the greatest wrestling show of all time and features certainly, probably the greatest match of all time with Akira Hokuto versus Shinobu Kandori wild, angry, bloody brawl.

It also has one of my favorite wrestling moments of all time, with Manami Toyota breaking down in tears post-show following her amazing main event performance. I once asked Toyota about the show and why she cried, but she said she doesn’t remember most shows, as they had so many big ones back then.

If you’ve never seen it, or haven’t seen it in a while, take some time out to watch it again. You can thank us later.

  1. Hikari Fukuoka & Plum Mariko vs. Kaoru Ito & Sakie Hasegawa
  2. Sakechi Nobue & Terri Powers vs. Eriko Tsuchiya & Yoshika Maedomari
  3. Esther Moreno & KAORU vs. Mima Shimoda & Tomoko Watanabe
  4. Etsuko Mita & Minami Suzuka vs. Miki Handa & Rumi Kazama
  5. Bat Yoshinaga vs. Susan Howard
  6. Chigusa Nagayo vs. Devil Masami
  7. Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue
  8. Aja Kong & Bull Nakano vs. Eagle Sawai & Harley Saito
  9. Dynamite Kansai vs. Yumiko Hotta
  10. Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori
  11. Combat Toyoda & Megumi Kudo vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada

If you’d like DVDs, physical or download, of the event, check out IVPvideos.com.

Madison Eagles Returns

This weekend Madison Eagles returns to SHIMMER. As well as Serena Deeb. As well as Amazing Kong. All three of these amazing wrestlers (and lovely people) have been away for far too long. I wish I could be there, but thankfully there’s a live iPPV option. It’s 1AM on Sunday for me, probably a more reasonable hour on Saturday for you.

Watch the above video by our own Chris C., with a massive tune by Coheed and Cambria, to get hyped. Enjoy the bonus matches as well and get ready to stomp-clap-stomp-stomp-clap to Prelude 12/21 again.

SHIMMER: Madison Eagles vs. Jessie McKay

SMASH: Serena Deeb vs. Tomoka Nakagawa

AJW: Amazing Kong vs. Ayako Hamada

KENTA Wishes He Was Dead

AngeTheDude is one of dozens of dedicated Puroresu fans doing the Lord Rikidozan’s work, filling your YouTube page with clips of people kicking each other in the face. It’s a thankless job, with DMCA takedown requests as your only reward. You can have a bit of fun though, by highlighting your favorite wrestlers, showing off cool new ways to flip, or by providing a surreal yet gripping commentary on the War in Afghanistan as Ange did in his description for the above clip from NOAH. Watch the video, then read, then watch again for full effect:

KENTA and Toshiaki Kawada are siblings. A Marine about to embark on his fourth tour of duty, KENTA is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, Jun Akiyama, with whom he has two young daughters, Marufuji and Atsushi Aoki. The match opens with Kawada being released from jail for armed robbery, not long before KENTA departs for Afghanistan.

Soon news comes that KENTA’s helicopter has crashed over the water, leaving him presumed dead. In reality, he and a hometown friend, Kenta Kobashi, have been taken prisoner in a mountain village. With KENTA “gone”, Kawada attempts to redeem himself in the eyes of his family by wrangling old friends to help with kitchen repairs for Akiyama and the kids. Akiyama slowly sheds her previous resentment towards her brother-in-law.

As months pass, Akiyama and Kawada bond over their mutual mourning, culminating in a passionate fireside kiss. They regret it afterward, and do not take this attraction any further, though Kawada continues to win the favor of his nieces.

Meanwhile, KENTA and Kobashi are abused and tortured by militants, forced to make videotaped dismissals of the military and their mission, though only Kobashi cracks. The captors eventually deem him useless, and force KENTA at gunpoint to beat him to death with a lead pipe. Some time later, KENTA is rescued.

He returns home, clearly traumatized by his experience. He drifts through encounters in a cold, paranoid daze, and refuses to explain to his family what happened while he was in Afghanistan, and lies to Kobashi’s widow that he does not know how Kobashi died. He also believes Kawada and Akiyama had a sexual relationship in his absence.

- AngeTheDude, Subscribe to his YouTube Channel here.

Also check out KENTAKicksHeads, Mizstress, TheSuicidalDragon

Matches We Loved 2012: Part II

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Part II of our list of our favorite matches from 2012. Again we’re joined by our friends Thomas Holzerman from The Wrestling Blog, Jamie from Dramatic DDT, T.J. Hawke from Free Pro Wrestling,  Ciara Reid of Angry Marks, Jae of iheartDG, Alyssa, Alex, Benjamin, and Senor Lariato. By Leslie, Greg, Chris C., Chris J., Sonny, Aoikougei, Sarah (and her brother), Steph, and Martin.

Matches We Loved Part I

CHIKARA: ACH vs. “Mr. Touchdown” Mark Angelosetti

The Ring of Wax – August 18th, 2012

Chris: Myself and DDS’ resident Amazonian Warrior made the trip down to Indianapolis to take in a CHIKARA show featuring the last match in the annual Young Lions’ Cup tournament. These two up and comers are what the tournament is all about and they delivered in spades. This was a battle of superhero proportions, a real life Spider-Man vs. Venom (I can hear Touchdown calling me a nerd for that one already), complete with ACH cracking wise and getting touchdown to go long for a pass until he ran into a wall.

The story of this match was one of athleticism and heart and it came down to which one had just a little more of both at the end. While the good sportsmanship of Dasher Hatfield left the lovely but conniving Veronica in a trash can, ACH and Touchdown left it all in the ring. The Gridiron Grappler managed to withstand a Guile Flash Kick from the Last Hero and came up with the win and the trophy, which, unfortunately gave the W to evil that day. In spite of that, though, there’s really only two words to sum up this candidate for Match of the Year: “It’s good.”

DDT: Kota Ibushi vs. Kenny Omega

Budokan Peter Pan 2012 – August 18th, 2012

Jamie: Simply spectacular. For DDT’s biggest show in its 15 year existence, the main event could not have been anything else. We had to wait four years for Ibushi versus Omega to happen again but it was worth the wait. Both were on the top of their game and they pulled out all the stops to make this a match to remember. There were some amazing high risk spots that were worth doing because of how important the match was for DDT. After all, this wasn’t some small show at Shin-Kiba. This was the main event of Budokan Hall!

RPW: Kyle Matthews vs. Masked Assailant

Sizzlin’ Summer Bash – August 26th, 2012

Thomas: It’s the most effective story in professional wrestling, David vs. Goliath. In this case, David, Kyle Matthews, was the Champion, defending his title against a masked Goliath in the masked man who’d be revealed after the match as the former Luke Gallows. It was the latest in a scheme by the managerial conglomerate opposite of Matthews trying to wrest the belt from him. Gallows worked “big” better here than he did previously, and Matthews took it in stride with a good hope spot towards the end. Even in defeat, Matthews was able to embody heart, and that’s the sign of a great good guy. Continue reading →

Matches We Loved 2012: Part I

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Another year of DDS, and another year of great wrestling that we enjoyed and shared with you. This begins our second annual recap of all the things we loved in pro wrestling. This time joining DDS staff are our friends Thomas Holzerman from The Wrestling Blog, Jamie from Dramatic DDT, T.J. Hawke from Free Pro Wrestling,  Ciara Reid of Angry Marks, Jae of iheartDG, Alyssa, Alex, Benjamin, and Senor Lariato.

By Leslie, Greg, Chris C., Chris J., Sonny, Aoikougei, Sarah (and her brother), Steph, and Martin. Photo courtesy Pro AC.

Empress: Ayako Hamada vs. Aja Kong

Bull Nakano Produce “Empress” – January 8th, 2012

Leslie: This started off as light-hearted fair between teacher and student until both teacher and student realized they’d spent over a decade trying to kill each other and Bull Nakano’s retirement is no reason to stop trying. Individually, Aja Kong and Ayako Hamada are nearly incapable of putting on a bad match. Together, they guarantee greatness.

REINA: Hailey Hatred vs. Ayumi Kurihara

REINA 24 – January 15th, 2012

Leslie: “I had a real good six months and then a really bad couple of weeks,” Hailey Hatred said about her slide from 6 crown champ to 2 crown champ in late 2011/early 2012. This match was her trying to stem the tide by taking Ayumi Kurihara‘s CMLL women’s title. I thought she had done it when, fairly early on, she dropped and pinned Ayumi with a monstrous lariat. However, this was lucha rules, which meant 2 out of 3 falls, which meant the real match was just beginning.

ACW: Portia Perez vs. Robert Evans

Guilty By Association 6 – January 15th, 2012

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Leslie: Going into 2010′s Guilty By Association 5, Portia Perez and Robert Evans ruled ACW. Portia was the reigning Queen of Queens and American Joshi Champion. Evans was the ACW Heavyweight champion The evil, hot pink sporting Canadians seemed unstoppable together. However, Portia lost her title in a savage dog collar match to Lady Poison, and Evans lost his title in quit match where Matthew Palmer threatened to set him on fire. Then, things really got bad. Love tore them apart. Where Evans saw a potential relationship with Portia, Portia just saw some dead weight she needed to get rid of to reach the next level in her career. She broke the news to Robert by breaking his jaw with a Superkick. This situation would not really be settled, though, until a full year after their separation.

Portia has spent the year telling everyone who will listen that she’s the best in the world. Evans spent the year showing everyone who will watch that he deserves consideration as well. The added emotion of their personal issue aside, these two former ACW Heavyweight Champions were guaranteed to put on a fantastic match.

What started out as a love story ended as an unforgettable Pro Wrestling match. One would think Evans and Portia could have worked out their differences with a phone call or perhaps a friendly dinner, but having an epic match seemed to suit them better. Where romance is dead wrestling lives. Continue reading →

The End of the “Intergender” Debate

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Photo Courtesy the amazing Joel Loeschman see more here, and be sure to check out http://www.loeschman.com

Recently, our good friend Thomas Holzerman sparked a debate about something that should no longer be debated. His piece on Cagesideseats.com here is worth reading in its entirety, but the short version is that PWG, as a critically acclaimed wrestling company in 2013, should have women on its shows. It currently does not. That, along with some statements made by its promoter, puts the otherwise great company in league with the ever shrinking handful of not so great companies that don’t give equal opportunities to women.

I’m sure all of our readers find it rather obvious that women are just as good, popular, and hardworking as the men of wrestling and deserve the same opportunities. However, some commentators on Holzerman’s piece were found still clinging to rather outdated notions about women in wrestling, notably the standard, and wholly counter-factual  trope that wrestling fans aren’t “ready” to see the intergender matchups Holzerman proposed. Again, anyone who follows us sees that as laughable. We’ve covered numerous intergender matchups across the globe, including classic moments like Sara Del Rey becoming CHIKARA’s top good “guy” by defeating Claudio Castagnoli and Rachel Summerlyn choking out bad, bad motherfucker Scot Summers to become the face of ACW. Frankly, anyone who pays any real attention to wrestling outside of the corporate universe knows it’s entirely ridiculous to suggest wrestling fans are anything but eager to see intergender bouts that give women an opportunity to be on an equal playing field with their male peers.

But some people don’t pay attention, unfortunately, and oppose gender equality in wrestling, rather ferociously. What makes many of those against equality in wrestling so intractable is the same flawed thinking that makes those against equality in other spheres of life so mentally stagnant: they attempt to turn their objective bias against women or ignorance about wrestling into objective statements of fact. We never hear “I don’t like intergender matches,” and rarely “I don’t like women’s wrestling,” just like we won’t hear, “I don’t like gay people.” Instead we hear bizarre proclamations, like statements women’s wrestling/intergender wrestling is the domain of “fetish” promotions. We hear that “society” is not “ready” to see men and women fight. Of course, we hear that “women don’t draw.” Likewise, it’s usually, “‘Studies’ suggest kids do worse in gay households.” None of these things are true, of course. They’re merely attempts to paint personal ignorance or bias as detached analysis. As long as it is presented as such, people can continue to criticize equality as serious people who are just Telling It Like It Is and and disparage those seeking equality as being “out of touch” zealots or “militant” crusaders.

Well, no more. At least when it comes to gender equality in wrestling. Below are several dozen intergender matches from around the wrestling world. From Tokyo to Toronto to Tijuana. Some of the matches new, some old. Some good, some bad, some great, some amazing. Some epic confrontations, some comical interludes. Ultraviolence, neo-Lucha Libre, shootstyle, puroresu, and so much more.  All wrestling, and wrestling that was embraced by the promoters, the wrestlers, and the audience. These matches represent only a fraction of what is readily available on Youtube (for example, none of ROH’s many intergender matches seem to be online). I could have posted three times as much by either highlighting the multiple great intergender matches that companies like Beyond and ECCW have produced, or by posting some of the many matches featuring wrestlers and promotions that even I had never heard of.

There’s no way to look through the matches below and make any of those “traditional” arguments against intergender wrestling. To attempt to do so is to place  yourself outside of reasonable discourse on Pro Wrestling. It’s to say that not only are you ignorant of the topic you are discussing, but you are willfully so. It’s to say you should not be taken seriously, because you have chosen to not take the facts seriously.

Below, DDS proudly presents the end of the “intergender” debate. We won’t miss it.

Update:

Today Resistance Pro announced its National Pro Wrestling Day match. It is, of course, an intergender match.

Update II:

We also think we’re at a point in the US where “all women’s” promotions like SHIMMER featuring male talent on their main shows would be great as well (this is already very commonplace in some promotions like ICE Ribbon, and SHIMMER has tons of guys on the pre-shows). To name names, Robert Evans, as the best intergender wrestler in the world, has certainly earned a shot at Saraya.
Continue reading →

The Riho/Gatoh Move

Pumi here. As you know besides being a DDS columnist and I’m also a member of Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling, the Thailand-based wrestling promotion founded earlier this year by Emi Sakura.

It has been an eventful few months since Gatoh Move started. In Thailand, wrestling is very new to Thai people. AJW used to be very popular here, but that was about 20 years ago. Now Thais are more familiar with the mainstream American “sports entertainment” style than they are with Japanese Puroresu. We have had to do our best to promote – on TV, on talk shows, and with public matches in parks, beaches, and malls. We now have about 10 trainees. Some of them debuted last month on the first GM event at Sakura Dojo, which brought Japanese wrestlers Masa Takanashi, Madoka, and Hoshitango to Bangkok.

We also had Kaori Yoneyama join our promotion after losing a match to Emi in JWP. They went on to become JWP tag champions, and have even convinced young JWP stars Morii and Hanako Nakamori to join their faction.

However the most shocking moment in Gatoh move’s young history came earlier this month when one of Ice Ribbon’s most beloved wrestlers, Riho, announced, that she would leave the company and rejoin with Emi Sakura in Gatoh Move. She wrestled her final Ice Ribbon match at Korakuen Hall on September 23rd, in a losing effort against Aoi Kizuki.

On the same day, Gatoh Move held a show in Ichigaya at the venue formally known as the “Ice Box” (for it’s too-small-for-a-ring size and Ice Ribbon blue mats). There are usually 40-45 fans at Ichigaya shows, but Gatoh Move drew a record attendance of 70 at this event, which featured Hiroyo Matsumoto.

None of those fans would have expected to see Riho make an appearance so quickly after a show across town at Korakuen. But after Emi announced a surprise guest appearance and the first notes of “Odoru Ponpokorin” began to play, Riho made her way out in a Gatoh Move T-Shirt. She officially joined GM! Pending having free time from school, of course.

Below are photos and a video of the event, courtesy Mr. and Mrs. Aoukougei. Riho’s speech translates as follows:

“When Sakura-san left Ice Ribbon, I wanted to follow her. But it was not possible because, I would lose a ring and place to train. And I thought I would probably not be able to perform at a big event in Shin-Kiba or Korakuen Hall. Sakura-san, starting from this small Ichigaya-hall again, we will aim at a large hall together.”

As you can see, it was all quite emotional and brought Emi to tears. I am not sure when Riho will make her in-ring debut for Gatoh Move, but I promise to keep you all updated. Thanks!

Drew Cordeiro: The Dirty Dirty Sheets Interview

Drew Cordeiro AKA Denver Colorado (the man, not the place) is the mastermind behind the trangressive, progressive, post-modern Pro Wrestling outfit known as Beyond Wrestling. We talked to him about the creative process behind his unique company, the Beyond wrestlers you should be watching, the advantages of working together, the value of social media, and the nature of the art of Pro Wrestling. Enjoy!

Photos Courtesy Wayne Palmer

What do you love about Pro Wrestling?

I love the versatility of Pro Wrestling as an art form. I have access to a plethora of creative outlets which ensures that my work always remains fresh and exciting. In fact, I enjoy what I do so much that it very rarely feels like work. I can trace the origins of many of my longstanding friendships back to one common bond – wrestling. As strange as it may sound, when Beyond Wrestling was formed, I always wanted to use it as a platform to give back to the industry that had given me so much growing up. Even though Beyond Wrestling has come a long way since our pilot taping in May of 2009, we want to provide the wrestlers involved with the tools that they need to complete their individual goals. We’re just lucky that, by and large, the byproducts have been too good not to share.

Initially Beyond was described as a wrestling utopia where guys could come and perform free from the politics and pressure of the outside wrestling world. With the growth Beyond has gone through and the changes in creative direction, do you think that still applies?

It becomes more and more difficult to balance total freedom while trying to find our place within the world of independent wrestling, but it is a challenge I am willing to endure. We’ve taken countless steps to legitimize Beyond Wrestling which in turn lends more credibility to our achievements. The more popular Beyond Wrestling becomes the better chance we have pushing those who have sacrificed the time and energy to contribute to our project up the ladder. We’re not 100% effective in maintaining an environment absent of political influences (not that we ever were) but it is still something to strive for.

For those who don’t follow Beyond yet, who are some of your wrestlers you feel they should be seeking out?

Right now, for my money, Drew Gulak is the best on the roster, and that covers a lot of ground. Gulak is most prominently featured at CZW, but I feel like he is often overlooked since some fans are turned off by the deathmatch genre. Mark Angel hasn’t had a bad match since debuting for Beyond Wrestling in February of 2011. His change in disposition is disheartening but he is still producing between the ropes. Sugar Dunkerton has used Beyond Wrestling to demonstrate that he can connect with his strikes just as much as he can connect with his fans. In the time that he had to take off to heal his broken arm, he has only become more focused. He knows exactly what he wants out of wrestling which will only serve to further motivate him.

Jonny Mangue, Darius Carter, and Anthony Stone are all on the verge of something amazing. It is a shame that the scene is more exclusive than ever before, but we’re lucky to have these guys making positive contributions to our events. As more footage becomes published from our recent tapings, fans will be shocked that they haven’t seen more of the New Englanders that joined up with us when we relocated to the Northeast.

 

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