gordi

I wasn't just handed the book. There was a competition, with some pretty big names involved. There were some dazzlingly creative booking proposals put forward: Quite a few people proposed invasion angles; A Shoot Style Invasion, a Choshu-led Revolution, an IWE invasion, a few versions of AJPW vs NJPW, even a Sumo Wrestlers vs Pro Wrestlers vs Shoot Fighters story that actually sounded pretty fun. People put forward various ideas for ways to split the roster up and either make more money by running multiple tours or build more anticipation for rare big events that way. All kinds of crazy championship ideas were put forth, and lots of ways of slowly building to championship matches. An All Tournaments, All The Time promotion was suggested, and it also sounded like fun (if maybe too much of a good thing). Strangely, I was literally the only person whose booking ideas matched up with what Baba was asking for. - I put together a debut show (see above) that quickly established the four championships that Baba said he wanted. - I think there are at least three legit main event quality matches on that card (which, again, is what Baba asked for). - I put together a tour for April and a tour for May with three Big Event shows and many smaller house shows each month, just as Baba had requested. I mean: Seriously, Shohei laid out perfectly clear guidelines. It seems that I was the only person involved in the competition who saw my job as being: Do the best I can within those clear guidelines rather than: Blow the guidelines up and impress everyone with my creativity. Anyway: I got the job.

About three years ago, Giant Baba sold a big chunk of his property in Tokyo to a major developer. As part of the deal, he got a straight percentage of the gross profits from the resulting business park, which has succeeded beyond everyone's most optimistic projections. Shohei and Motoko Baba now have enough money to retire in extreme comfort for a thousand years, and there is more money pouring in every month. Giant Baba does not want to retire in extreme comfort. He wants to travel around the country, riding on the same bus and staying in the same hotels with the rest of the boys, putting on professional wrestling shows. Giant Baba has a very specific and very singular vision for how he would like to do that, and now he has enough money to bring that vision to fruition: - He wants to bring all of the best wrestlers in Japan under one umbrella. - He wants to run regular monthly tours. - He wants three or four big tournaments per year. - He wants Big Event shows at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of every tour, except perhaps during tournaments. - He wants to give the boys a week or two off between tours as often as possible, so they can take care of their bodies and their personal lives. - He wants every single big show to have between three and five matches that could realistically headline any hall in the country. - At this time, he wants four championships: Heavyweight, Tag Team, Middleweight, and Middleweight Tag Team. - He wants the champs to defend their belts at least twice a month, on the big shows, except perhaps during tournaments. - He wants TV to run highlight clips of the Big Event show's big matches, complete matches from house shows and the under-card, and hype for upcoming shows and tours. - He wants even the biggest names to work even the smallest regional cards, generally in multi-man tags with mid-card wrestlers. - He wants mostly clean finishes and he wants everyone on the roster to be willing to do clean jobs. - He wants a clear hierarchy with respect for tradition and experience... - But, he also wants to build for the future and allow for upward mobility. There are some people who have some problems with many of Baba's key proposals: - Some think that having so many big names and so many big matches will raise fan expectations to an unreasonable level and/or burn out the towns. - Some of the wrestlers are huge marks for themselves and don't want to do clean jobs for anyone. - A lot of people think that having respect for tradition and building for the future are incompatible goals. In private conversion, Shohei (I call him Shohei, we are close like that) has told me that: - He thinks that good wrestling will draw big crowds and that if everyone works hard then the JWA can meet even the highest of expectations. - We won't need to worry about burning out the fans as long as we keep offering a high-quality product. - He is more than willing to put other wrestlers over and he believes that eventually even guys like Sayama and Inoki will learn from his example. - He thinks that it is up to the booker to find a balance point where the JWA can best serve the past, the present, and the future.

Thank you, gentlemen! JWA: Japan Pro Wrestling Association - Revival: Debut - April 6, 1985, Tokyo, Nippon Budokan Inaugural JWA Heavyweight Championship match: ​PWF World Heavyweight Champion Giant Baba vs NWA International Heavyweight Champion Jumbo Tsuruta vs Japan Pro Wrestling Champion Riki Choshu vs NWA United National Champion Genichiro Tenryu Inaugural JWA Tag Team Championship Match: IWGP Tag Team Champions The Fighting Spirits (Antonio Inoki and Akira Maeda) vs Special guest tag team from the World Wrestling Federation JWA Heavyweight Championship First Challenger Determination match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs Special guest wrestler from the AWA JWA Tag Team Championship First Challenger Determination match: The Tiger Masks (Sayama and Misawa) vs The North-South Connection (Adonis and Murdoch) Inaugural JWA Middleweight Championship match: WWF Jr Heavyweight Champion The Cobra vs Nobuhiko Takada vs Shiro Koshinaka vs Black Tiger JWA Heavyweight Championship Future Challenger Determination match: Seiji Sakaguchi vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara Special six-man tag match: Kengo Kimura, Dos Caras, and Blade Runner Sting vs Umanosuke Ueda, Anoaro Atisanoe, and Siva Afi Inaugural JWA Middleweight Tag Team Championship match: Animal Hamaguchi and Mighty Inoue vs Gran Hamada and Keiichi Yamada Mexican Excursion Determination Match (Winning team earns the right to go to Mexico and work for CMLL): The Young Lions (Mutoh, Chono, and Hashimoto) vs Footloose (Kawada, Fuyuki, and Ogawa) Get everyone a paycheque memorial 16-man Battle Royal: Participants: Yoji Anjo, Osamu Kido, Kazuo Yamazaki, Yoshiaki Yatsu, Ashura Hara, Isamu Teranishi, Masa Fuchi, Takashi "Onomi" Ishikawa, Kantaro Hoshino, Bam Bam Bigelow, Shinichi Nakano, Shunji Takano, Tatsutoshi Goto, Shunji Kosugi, Akira Nogami, and Hirokazu Hata. Opening Match: Masakatsu Funaki vs Naoki Sano

The one area where I personally am a bit more of a stickler (and it seems everyone in this project takes a similar approach) is in the temperament, skills and development of the individual workers on my roster. I have Sting, Bam Bam Bigelow, Hashimoto, Chono, Mutoh, Misawa, Kawada, Liger, and many other young future stars on my roster or on loan. Those guys are all among my favourites, and it's tempting to give them all huge pushes *right now* but I think that kind of break from reality would not be fair or reasonable. They are still developing at this time and should be treated as such. Speaking of Sting, Bigelow, and Mutoh... Those are three big guys who can pull off exciting athletic moves. That's something eye-opening and exciting in the 1980s, and it's also fair and reasonable to write about those guys that way. And... I have guys like Fujiwara and Dos Caras on my main roster and I think that it would not be unreasonable for me to write that working alongside Fujiwara might help some of my young wrestlers develop better mat work, or that having Dos Caras around every day might help some guys to,pick up a bit of Lucha Libre style... That seems right to me. Wrestlers do sometimes improve and grow by working with, watching, training with, and talking to other highly skilled pro,wrestlers. On the other hand... I don't think it would be fair or reasonable to sign, say, Plowboy Frasier and Silo Sam off the free agents list and then claim that after being around Mutoh and Bigelow they have formed a team that uses a Double Moonsault as a finisher. That kind of break with realism seems a little too much, in my opinion. I'm also not going to bring Bruiser Brody or Hulk Hogan in and have him bump around and sell like crazy to get my young lions over. That just isn't how those guys worked. Some guys are generous in the ring, some guys are more selfish, some guys are marks for themselves and/or genuinely hate to lose, some guys can be kind of dicks in the ring or backstage... For me personally (and from what I can see, for pretty much all of us participating in this project) *that*'is an area where breaking from reality would not be OK.

I have said it before in another context... but if I want to read what really happened in 1985, I can. It's already on the Internet. I think it's not unreasonable to argue that breaking from reality is what makes this project fun and interesting. I am about to embark on a long story line where Giant Baba unites all of the major wrestling talent in Japan under one umbrella and runs shows with mostly clean finishes in 1985. It's a little unrealistic, but hopefully it will be plenty entertaining. I think that almost all of us are running things with a higher percentage of clean finishes and more complete matches and non-squash match-ups than was common in the mid-1980s... but I think that's realistic in the world where this project is taking place. The break with realism happened whenever the first promoter started doing that. Once it had been done, I'd argue that it would be unrealistic to have a world where other promoters *didn't* follow suit. Pro Wrestling has long been a "monkey see, monkey do" business. Or, as rainmaker puts it "...that makes them fair game for other promoters to steal." I agree! It's the same with using more modern gimmick matches like 3-way and 4-way matches, the real leap in logic is having somebody do it once. After the seal has been broken, I think it's more realistic to have other promoters do it as well. Same for, say, the Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, War Games... In our world the various promoters and promotions mostly co-operate, communicate, and get along better than they did "in the real world" so it makes sense that new and innovative ideas could develop and spread more quickly in that atmosphere. Also, almost all of us are working with well-put-together rosters that are loaded with talent, so it makes sense to have more big matches and to run more gimmicks (3-ways, 4-ways, battle royals, 6-man tags, ciberneticos...) that let us fit more workers on a card. Not saying it's *necessary* for anyone to do any of those things. Straight squashes, lots of DQs and DCORs, and TV time limit main event finishes and so on... that's realistic 80s TV booking... but in the 1985 of this project I think that more big matches, more clean finishes and more gimmick matches is fairly realistic, too.

Who needs realism? Keep giving me entertainment.

Wow! A Dusty Finish!

Road Warriors vs Rock n Roll Express, on TV, with a clean finish, was an impossible dream in 1985. Thanks for that!

JWA: Japan Pro Wrestling Association President and Founder: Shohei Baba Vice President: Motoko Baba Managing Director: Hisashi Shinma Head Booker: gordi Head Trainer: Kotetsu Yamamoto Referees: Joe Higuchi, Kyohei Wada, Red Shoes Unno, Verne Siebert Ring Announcer: Hidekazu Tanaka TV: Asahi TV World Pro Wrestling (ワールド・プロレスリング) TV Commentary Team: Ichiro Furutachi, Takashi Yamada MAIN EVENTERS: Giant Baba – President and founder of JWA. Niigata. 6’10” 298. Running Neckbreaker, Coconut Crush. Past his peak but still a huge star, ready and willing to step aside to make room for younger stars. Trainer and mentor to Tsuruta, Tenryu, Misawa, Fuchi, Koshinaka, Ishikawa, and many others. Antonio Inoki – Iconic living legend. Yokohama. Brazil. 6’3” 224. Bridging Fallaway Slam, Octopus Hold (Manjigatame), Enzuigiri, Flying Kneedrop. Past his peak but unwilling to admit it. Fancies himself the world’s greatest martial artist. Incredibly popular in Japan. Hugely influential. Akira Maeda – 6’3” 225. Osaka. Korea. Bridging Capture Suplex, Cross Armbreaker, Roundhouse Kick. In his pprime. Inoki’s heir apparent. Shoot Style pioneer. Great striker, better grappler. Can be bad tempered and difficult to work with. Tatsumi Fujinami – 6’0” 227. Oita. Dragon Sleeper, Dragon Suplex, Figure Four Leg Lock, Dragon Backbreaker, Diving Kneedrop. In his prime, gifted worker, very popular. Ready to break out from under Inoki’s shadow. Riki Choshu – 6’0” 260. Yamaguchi. Korea. Riki Lariat, Sharpshooter (Sasorigatame). In his prime. Top heel, very popular and influential. Genichiro Tenryu – 6’1” 273. Fukui. Lariat, Folding Powerbomb. In his prime. One of the best workers in the world. Former sumo star with a power style. Jumbo Tsuruta – 6’6” 287. Yamanishi. Bridging Belly-to-Back Suplex, "Jumbo" Lariat, Powerbomb. In his prime. One of the best workers in the world. Baba’s heir apparent. Former Olympian. Satoru Sayama - 5’10” 190. Can work Jr. Yamaguchi. Tiger Suplex, Turning Moonsault, Crossface Chickenwing, Diving Headbutt. Jr. Heavyweight and Shoot Style pioneer. At the end of his peak years, but still extremely popular. Yoshiaki Fujiwara – 6’1” 225. Iwate. Fujiwara Arm Bar, Heel Hook, Headbutt. Nearing the end of his peak years. One of the world’s greatest grapplers. Trained Anjo, Maeda, Yamazaki, Funaki… SECOND-TIER STARS and TAG TEAM GUYS: Seiji Sakaguchi – 6’5” 290. Fukuoka. Stomach Claw, Atomic Drop, Boston Crab, Chokebomb. Past his peak, but still capable. Judo player. Inoki’s long-time second. Willing to help put younger guys over. Kengo Kimura – 6’1” 236. Ehime. Jumping Leg Lariat, Triangle Scorpion, Piledriver. Nearing the end of his peak years, but still in his prime. Fujiwara’s regular tag team partner. Makes the people around him better. Super Strong Machine (Junji Hirata) – 6’0” 254. Kanagawa. Machine Suplex, Machine DDT, Machine Lariat. Just entering his prime. Steady, reliable power wrestler who really shines as a tag team partner. - Currently on loan to Lute Int. Ashura “Fighting” Hara - 6’0” 245. Nagasaki. Hitman Lariat, Superplex. Nearing the end of his prime. Former rugby star and IWE veteran. Tenryu’s frequent tag team partner, and friend. Has a gambling problem. Also has a great mustache. Yoshiaki Yatsu – 6’1” 260. Gunma. Powerbomb, Powerslam, Piledriver, Jailhouse Lock (Double Chickenwing). Former Olympic wrestler. Powerful and legitimately tough, inconsistent in the ring. Best in tag teams. Frequently works as Choshu’s partner, but also has a connection with Jumbo because of their shared amateur background. Umanosuke “Professor” Ueda – 6’3” 260. Aichi. Cobra Claw (Neck Claw), Low Blow, Foreign Object Attacks. Reaching the end of his prime. Probably the #3 native heel on this roster. Has a great sleazy look. Background n sumo and with the IWE, but is purely a brawler. Rusher Kimura – 6’1” 275. Hokkaido. Rushing Lariat, Rusher Suplex (Double Arm Suplex), Piledriver, Argentine Backbreaker. Former sumo wrestler and former ace of IWE. Cage match specialist. A little past his prime but still a very capable brawler. Good on the mic. Currently on loan to USWA Osamu Kido – 5’11” 231. Kanagawa. Kido Clutch, Wakigatame (Judo Armbreaker), Fujiwara Armbar, Neckbreaker. Karl Gotch trainee, entering a late-career peak. Solid basic wrestler, good on the mat. Not much personality. Takashi “Onomi” Ishikawa – 5’10” 260. Kanagawa. Chokeslam, Lariat, Shoulder Block. Former sumo wrestler, worked one tour with IWE. Near the end of his prime. Power style. Good tag team worker, who has won championships teaming with Hara and Mighty Inoue. THE HEAVYWEIGHT YOUNG LIONS Shinya “Shogun” Hashimoto – 5’11” 287. Gifu. Vertical Drop Brainbuster, Jumping DDT, Kesagiri Chop, Spinning Heelkick. Just starting his career. Great striker, being groomed as a potential future ace. Already has a strong grasp of ring psychology. Keiji “Ninja” Mutoh – 6’2” 242. Yamanashi. Moonsault Press, Muta Lock, Dragon Screw, Figure Four Leglock, Flashing Elbow, Low Angle Dropkick. Just starting his career. Very flashy and athletic. Being groomed as a future star. Already quite popular with the fans. Masa “Charisma” Chono – 6’1” 212. Can work Jr. Seattle, Tokyo. STF, Kenka Kick, Flying Shoulder Block, Butterfly Lock, Manhattan Drop. Just starting his career. Charismatic. Being groomed as a future star. Mainly works as a heavyweight despite his smaller size. MIDDLEWEIGHTS (HEAVYWEIGHTS WHO ARE ALLOWED TO WORK AS JUNIORS) The Cobra (George Takano) – 6’1” 254. Yamaguchi, Uganda. Kneeling Tombstone, Cobra Twist, Moonsault. In his prime. Despite being 254 muscular pounds, The Cobra is a former NWA Jr. Heavyweight Champion and the current WWF Jr. Heavyweight Champion. A big bumper. Kind of a poor man’s Tiger Mask. Shiro “Samurai” Koshinaka – 6’1” 234. Tokyo. Diving Hip Attack, Powerbomb, Samurai Driver '84. Entering his prime. Charismatic and entertaining. Often works as the third man in trios matches with Fujinami and Kimura. Tiger Mask (Mitsuharu Misawa) – 6’1” 235. Saitama. Elbow Strike, Tiger Driver, Tiger Suplex '85, Elbow Suicida, Stepover Facelock, Frog Splash. Young star being groomed to eventually follow in the footsteps of Baba and Jumbo. Amazing seller and bumper for someone with only four years of experience. Teams with Sayama as “The Tiger Masks.” Masanobu Fuchi - 6’0” 231. Fukuoka. Pinning Backdrop, Small Package Hold. In his prime. Known in America for the Memphis Concession Stand Brawls. All-around talent with a good mix of brawling and mat wrestling. Just starting to develop his famously grouchy in-ring persona. Toshiaki “Dangerous K” Kawada – 6’0” 240. Tochigi. Dangerous Backdrop, Powerbomb, Stretch Plum, Running Face Kick, Stepkick. Near the beginning of his career. Tenryu protégé is already one of the stiffest and most intense workers on the roster. Has the potential and work ethic to become one of the best ever. Teams with Samson Fuyuki as “Footloose.” Samson Fuyuki – 5’11” 235. Tokyo. Samson Striker (Muscle Buster), Fuyuki Special (Stretch Plum), Fuyuki Special 2 (Boston Crab). Late bloomer got his start in 1976 with IWE, but he has yet to reach his peak. Is blossoming under the guidance of Tenryu, teaming with Kawada. Animal Hamaguchi – 5’7” 227. Shimane. Animal Elbow, Airplane Spin Into Samoan Drop, Diving Elbow Drop , Neckbreaker Drop. Nearing the end of his prime. Former bodybuilder and IWE wrestler. Has the strength to match up with heavyweights and the athleticism to match up with juniors. Often teams with Inoue. Mighty Inoue – 5’9” 231. Osaka. Somersault Drop, Flying Shoulder Attack, Senton, Sunset Flip. Just past his prime. One of the best workers to come out of IWE. Has a mix of European and Lucha Libre styles picked up on foreign tours. Solid mid-card veteran. Very good tag team wrestler. Kuniaki “Tiger Hunter” Kobayashi – 6’ 0” 238. Nagano. Fisherman's Suplex Hold, Sliding Kick, Spinkick, Thrust Kick. In his prime. Rival of Tiger Mask Sayama. Aggressive style. Makes the people around him look good. TRUE JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHTS Kantaro “President” Hoshino – 5’7” 210. Kobe. Flying Body Press, Punch, Headlock Punches, Flying Headbutt. Past his prime but still wildly entertaining. Very small but also very quick. Boxing background with the great punches to show for it. Often works as the third man with Inoki and Sakaguchi. Gran Hamada – 5’4” 198. Gunma, Mexico. Hamachan Cutter, Huracanrana, Flying Swinging DDT, Plancha Suicida, Belly-To-Back Suplex. Lucharesu pioneer. Still in the midst of a very long peak period. Great high flyer. Can also work Shoot Style. Nobuhiko "Esperanza" Takada – 6’0” 210. Yokohama. Cross Ambreaker, High Kick, Missile Kick, Heel Hold. Just entering his peak years. Nickname means “hope” and he is indeed one of the “hope for the future” wrestlers on this roster. Good striker. Very adept at combining Shoot Style with other styles. Charismatic. Isamu “Carpenter” Teranishi – 5’9” 220. Toyama. Waterwheel Drop. Another former sumo wrestler and IWE mainstay. Very good on the mat and makes the people around him look better (hence the nickname). Despite his scientific wrestling style, works really well as a heel. Despite his smaller size, usually works as a heavyweight. JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT YOUNG LIONS Keiichi “Thunder” Yamada - 5’7” 202. Hiroshima. Brainbuster, Koppo Kick, Romero Special, Shotei, Shooting Star Press. Gifted athlete at the start of what could be a legendary career. Exciting, athletic, and innovative style. Absolutely being groomed as the future ace of the junior division. Already has a strong grasp of ring psychology. Masakatsu Funaki – 5’11” 212. Aomori. Triangle Choke, Heel Hook, Cross Armbreaker, Roundhouse Kick. Another outstanding young athlete at the beginning of his career. Being groomed as a future Shoot Style star. Fujiwara disciple. Kazuo Yamazaki – 5’11” 185. Tokyo. Cross Armbreaker, Cross Kneelock, Tiger Driver, German Suplex. Still early in his career. Throws great kicks and is very good working from underneath and selling. Student of Tiger Mask Sayama. Naoki Sano – 5’11” 220. Hokkaido. Rolling Savate Kick, Northern Light Bomb, Diving Foot Stomp. Recent NJPW Dojo graduate. Works a very aggressive and physical style. Interested in studying different styles of wrestling, such as Lucha Libre and Shoot Style. Yoshinari “Rat Boy” Ogawa – 5’11” 198. Ibaraki. Backdrop Hold, Jawbreaker, Enzuigiri. Just beginning his career. Another Tenryu protégé, aligned for that reason with Kawada and Fuyuki. Has a sneaky, cerebral style. Yoji “Mr. 200%” Anjo – 5’11” 220. Tokyo. Ground Cross 200% (Modified Figure Four), Cross Armbreaker, Roundhouse Kick. Just beginning his career. Shoot Style specialist with a background in judo and muay thai. Doesn’t mind fighting dirty. HEAVYWEIGHT GAIJIN Adrian Adonis – 6’1” 265. Portland, New York. DDT, Goodnight Irene, Manhattan Drop, Diving Elbow Drop. Nearing the end of his prime years. Great brawler, bumper, ring general, and tag worker. JWA's Top Gaijin heel. "Captain Redneck"Dick Murdoch – 6’3” 275. Texas. Brainbuster, Calf Branding, Flying Headscissors. Great bumper and brawler, when motivated. Legendarily hard partier. A little past his prime, but his team with Adonis, “The North-South Connection” is still one of the best in the world. - Currently on loan to JWA from USWA Dos Caras – 5’10” 212. Mexico. Dos Caras Clutch, Flying Cross Chop, Sitout Powerbomb. Still in his prime. Usually works as a heavyweight despite his smaller size. Brother to Mil Mascaras. Frequently tags with Canek. Very popular in Japan. Able to adjust his style to match up with various different kinds of wrestlers. Anoaro Atisanoe – 6’0” 340. Hawaii, Samoa. Samoan Drop, Big Splash. Still early in his career. Brother of Sumo legend Konishiki. Massive and powerful, works best as a monster heel. Siva Afi – 5’10” 240. Diving Crossbody, Diving Splash. Just entering his prime. Kind of a very poor man’s Superfly Snuka in the ring. Often teams with Atisanoe. JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT GAIJIN Black Tiger (Mark Rocco) – 5’8” 196. Manchester. Diving Knee Drop, European Uppercut, Neckbreaker, Tombstone Piledriver. Still in his prime. At his best, he is the perfect fusion of British, Mexican, and Japanese junior styles. At his worst, he can be sloppy. Great at bumping, stooging, and working the crowd. Perennial rival of Tiger Mask. Black Terry - 5'5" 180. Mexico. Double Knee Backbreaker, Tope Suicida. Former UWA World Lightweight Champion. Can work a technical style or just punch you right in the face. Currently on loan from CMLL Babe Face - 5'7" 216. Mexico. La Canonera, Chops. Former National Light Heavyweight champion. Teams with Black Terry as "Los Guerreros del Universo" Currently on loan from CMLL GAIJIN YOUNG LIONS Bam Bam Bigelow – 6’4”390. Asbury Park, New Jersey. Diving Headbutt, Nuclear Splash, Moonsault, Powerslam. Just beginning his career. Has a great look and is unusually athletic for a man his size. Has the potential to be a truly great monster gaijin heel. Blade Runner Sting – 6’3” 251. Omaha, Nebraska. Scorpion Death Drop, Scorpion Death Lock, Stinger Splash. Just starting his career. Muscular, athletic, and charismatic. Has almost limitless potential.Currently on loan to JWA from Lutte Int. ENHANCEMENT TALENT Phil Hickerson - 6'1"308. Jackson, Tennessee. Heat magnet. Very good brawler and tag team wrestler. Currently on loan from Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Shinichi Nakano – 6’1’ 242. Yokohama. German Suplex, Dragon Suplex, Northern Light Suplex, Fisherman Suplex. A decent technical wrestler with a judo background. Shunji Takano – 6’7” 286. Fukuoka. Diving Double Knee Drop, Missile Kick, Double Arm Suplex Hold. The Cobra’s tall and athletic brother has the talent to be a solid mid-carder, but on this roster he’s stuck at the bottom. Tatsutoshi Goto – 5’10 209. Aichi. Backdrop Suplex. Bleach blonde heel is also stuck in a jobber role on this roster. Akira Nogami – 5’11” 198. Chiba. Flying splash, STF. Another fairly talented wrestler stuck losing in openers in the JWA. Currently on loan to Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Shunji Kosugi – 5’9” 216. Niigta. Very good at making others look good in the ring. Hirokazu Hata – 5’11” 207. Kobe. The Barry Horowitz of the JWA.

Wait! Jesse Barr is an Anderson?!?! I always thought he was a... ... ... ... ... Funk

Yeah! I have been looking forward to this.

WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion December 28, 1984: The Cobra (defeated Black Tiger in New York City) IWGP Tag Team Champions Feb 27, 1985: Canek and Dos Caras (won the New Japan International Festival of Tag Team Wrestling tournament to be become inaugural champs) March 23, 1985: Antonio Inoki and "X" (defeated Canek and Dos Caras in Fukuoka)

It's about time for them to replace that rusty trombone.

Bring it on!

I simply cannot get enough of reading about tournaments in these threads. Since my promotion has stakes in this one, I'm truly psyched for it.

lol, yeah: Hulk Hogan, Dino Bravo, & Andre the Giant vs John Studd, King Kong Bundy, & Kamala w/ Bobby Heenan & Roddy Piper could be a lot of things, but "blah-ish" isn't one of them. Nice thing about Scott Casey vs Ron Bass w/ Jack Lanza is, even though LowBlow himself described it as blahish, it still builds toward the WrestleMania card. One of those cases where the post-match is more important than the match itself.

Tremendous build-up tot he arrival of The Machines

It's a nice, realistic touch to have a "blah-ish" main event once in a while. Not every match can be a barn-burner.

Also: Mysterious white powder, trips to Mexico, and discreet packaging??? What is Stan Grimmas' job? I' guessing the white powder is calcium hydroxide ("cal") and he makes and sells authentic flour tortillas!

I'd love to see Arn and Eaton or Blackwell and Patera vs. Jacques and Raymond!

Nicely put! It really is like that. SirE, I love how you are aware of the different crowds in the different cities you run and how you book for them specifically. It gives a lot of charm and character to your promotion.

Man.. GeneJackson has that subtle stuff going on with the Armstrongs and the Andersons, you've got this subtle stuff going on with Gordy/Doc/Hayes now... it's a real pleasure to read such nice booking.

Yoo! Dub! Ay! Yoo! Dub! Ay! Yoo! Dub! Ay! (It's my attempt at an ECW-type "chant for the promotion" thing).

Very nice storytelling with Bullet Bob, there. How is he going to react to his boy throwing in the towel?

NJPW Young Lions Cup Final Night, March 23rd, Fukuoka Sports Center Akira Nogami vs Dave Taylor Dave Taylor has shown real flashes of talent and potential in his short time in New Japan, and he has helped our younger wrestlers in their development and growth. Unfortunately, with the massive influx of talent that is coming soon we simply have no room for him on our roster going forward. This match was sort and sweet, a chance for Taylor to say goodbye to our fans. After a few minutes of back and forth action, he put Nogami away with a Float-over Butterfly Suplex. We wish him well in his future endeavours. Masa Chono and Keiichi Yamada vs Hirokazu Hata and Shunji Kosugi Another short showcase match. Going forward, Hata and Kosugi will almost certainly be stuck doing jobs in the lower card. They are both good pro wrestlers, but there will be too much talent above them in the hierarchy. Chono and Yamada are being groomed as future stars, so in the future they will be given more opportunity to look good in the ring. Knowing this, Chono and Yamada sold for Hata and Kosugi for most of this match, giving them one more chance to shine a little. The finish, though, was never really in doubt. Kosugi had Chono in position for the Oklahoma Stampede, but Chono slipped out, shoved Kosugi into the ropes, and caught him coming off with a boot to the face, then finished him with the STF. Special Guest Referee Yoshiaki Fujiwara: Rick Steiner and Naoki Sano vs Masakatsu Funaki and Steven Regal Inoki promised to find a referee who could keep these bad-asses in order, and I have to say he absolutely succeeded. This match was witheringly stiff, but Fujiwara made sure it stayed clean. He went so far as to slap Sano right in the face when he refused to break a hold. Sano looked like he was going to return fire, but Steiner came into the ring to hold him back. Imagine a situation where Rick Steiner is the voice of reason: that was this match. After fourteen minutes of strikes, suplexes, and submissions, Regal caught Sano in a Fujiwara Armbar and earned not only the victory but also a respectful handshake from the guest referee. Pat Patterson, Ray Stevens, Umanosuke Ueda and Tatsutoshi Goto vs Sting, Owen Hart, 2 Cold Scorpio, and Kantaro Hoshino There is a pretty good chance that this will be the very last time that Patterson and Stevens appear in a Japanese ring as active wrestlers. A lot of our older fans have fond memories of the veterans as energetic cheating blonde heels that they loved to hate. This match was a chance for our fans to enjoy their antics one last time and also for Ray and Pat to pass a bit of the torch to our own blonde cheating heel duo on their way out. It was clear that Ueda and Goto got a huge kick out of tagging with the classic heel team, and Sting, Owen, Scorp, and Hoshino all had a blast bumping and selling for them. They, in turn, bumped and sold for Sting a little bit (it turns out Sting will be sticking around in Japan for a few months to get some experience). The Blonde Bombers still looked good in there, using body language and facial expressions to get even the most basic manoeuvres over with the crowd. In the end, Hoshino did the honours, getting pinned by Stevens after a Double Diving Knee Drop. **BREAK** Young Lions Cup Final Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs Keiji Mutoh In five or ten years’ time, if all goes well, this will be a headlining match in any arena in Japan. I have to say, it was a fitting end to our Young Lions tournament. The boys skipped right over the usual mat-work and spent the first five minutes of the match going toe to toe in the middle of the ring. Unsurprisingly, Hashimoto came out on top of the strike exchange, which allowed him to take control. For the next six minutes, he just tossed Mutoh around the ring with power moves. Mutoh showed his resilience by refusing to be pinned and came right back at Hashimoto with seven minutes of high-speed, high-risk offense. After knocking Hashimoto down with a series of Dropkicks, Mutoh went to the top and tried to finish the match with a Backflip Splash, but Hashimoto rolled out of the way at the last second, which knocked the wind out of Mutoh and gave Hashimoto time to recover. As both men were struggling to their feet, Hash threw a powerful Overhand Chop to knock Mutoh down, and then absolutely crushed him with a spike DDT followed by a Vertical Drop Brainbuster to get the pin and win the Young Lions Cup. After the match, an announcement was made that Hashimoto would be allowed to choose any wrestler on the roster to be his partner, and that they would be given the opportunity to fight for the Tag Team Titles in Tokyo on April 26th. Hashimoto immediately responded that he chose Keiji Mutoh to be his tag team partner. Tatsumi Fujinami, Seiji Sakaguchi, and Strong Machine #1 vs One Man Gang, Great Kokina, and Anoaro Atisanoe I feel like Atisanoe learned a lot about being aggressive and relentless in the ring from watching and working with The Islanders during our Tag Festival. This match was a chance for him to learn more about being a big monster heel, by working with two of the very best in the business at playing that role. As you might expect, the first twelve or so minutes of this match were an absolute clinic in big-man offense and selective no-selling. Then, things got out of control and all six men started fighting inside the ring. That built up to a huge high-spot where Sakaguchi picked up One Man Gang, Strong Machine picked up Kokina, and Fujinami picked up Atisanoe. The simultaneous Body Slam moved the ring about four feet, and got the crowd rocking (in polite Japanese fashion). The Japanese team tried for the Triple Pin, but all three men got tossed out of the ring by the big men’s high-powered kick-outs. That led to more brawling, and eventually to Atisanoe facing down with Fujinami one on one in the ring while the other four men battled on the outside. Atisanoe got Fujinami up in position for a Samoan Drop, but Fujinami hooked his arms around Atisanoe’s neck, slipped out the back, and transitioned into a Dragon Sleeper. Trapped in the middle of the ring with no way to escape, Atisanoe was forced to submit. Fujinami offered him a handshake after the match, but Atisanoe slapped his hand away and stormed off to the back with his giant friends. IWGP Tag Titles First Defense: Canek and Dos Caras © vs Antonio Inoki and “X” Inoki’s mystery partner wore black trunks and boots and a plain black mask and was about the same height as the company ace, with a slightly stockier but still athletic build. He fought with a very stiff and realistic style, throwing many different kinds of kicks and tossing the champions around with various suplexes. The Lucha Libre Legends clearly had more experience working together as a team and though Inoki and his partner kept the pressure up from the opening bell, Canek and Dos Caras were able to use quick tags and sly team-work to stay on even footing with the challengers for over twenty minutes. As such, the ending kind of came out of nowhere. Canek threw a slow-ish kick at the mystery partner’s midsection, but the masked man caught Canek’s leg and tossed him overhead with a nasty Capture Suplex. Inoki flew across the ring and took Dos Caras down to the floor as Canek struggled to get back to his feet. While Caras and Inoki battled on the outside the mystery man peppered Canek with a flurry of kicks to his legs and chest then finished him off with a High Roundhouse Kick to the head. There was an elaborate ceremony afterward where Inoki and his partner were awarded the Championship belts, and then Hashimoto and Mutoh were presented as official challengers for the titles. It seemed like a fitting end for what could very well be the last-ever show fought under the banner of New Japan Pro Wrestling. But… that wasn’t how it ended. As the ceremony was concluding, Adrian Adonis stormed the ring accompanied by Umanosuke Ueda, Anoaro Atisanoe, Siva Afi, Mr. Pogo, Kendo Nagasaki, a very large bald man with a ball of flame tattooed on his head, and a raw-boned blonde-haired gaijin wrestler wearing black trunks, kneepads, and boots and a big red pad on his right elbow… Bah Gawd! That’s… that’s Dick Murdoch! All of the heels were carrying chairs or other weapons. The giant with the tattooed head went right after Hashimoto, screaming “I am the real Young Lion! You are nothing!” Adonis and Murdoch went after Inoki, yelling that they deserved the title shot. Ueda and Pogo took Inoki’s partner out of the ring and started tearing at his mask… it looked like the man under the mask might be Akira Maeda, but it was hard to be sure with all that blood. Atisanoe waffled Mutoh with a chair and Afi kicked him while he was down. Nagasaki stood guard with his kendo stick at the ready... So our final NJPW show ended in a chaotic, bloody brawl rather than a formal ceremony… maybe that’s more appropriate?