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The UWF Heavyweight Champion, Hideki Suzuki, joined the commentary team for tonight’s event. The opening contest was a hard-fought chess game on the mat between KUSHIDA and Shinya Aoki, with both looking for an opening to the arm submission and neither giving much more than an inch. Aoki had him in the double wristlock, which was countered into the Hoverboack Lock, which went back to the double wristlock, until KUSHIDA was finally able to hook the leg and trap Aoki for the submission. KUSHIDA moves onto the final to face the winner of KENTA/Iwamoto. Katsuhiko Nakajima came into this match like he was walking out of it the winner. Perhaps his overconfidence and nonchalance cost him the match. He drilled Matt Riddle with some heavy kicks, and kept him pinned in a corner, blasting him with shot after shot. Riddle tried to get something going on the ground but Nakajima wasn’t having it, slipping out and going back to the strikes. When Nakajima tried for a brainbuster, Riddle turned it into a front necklock and then transitioned into the triangle choke. Nakajima tried to escape out, wouldn’t tap out, and eventually passed out, awarding Riddle the KO victory. The junior heavyweights tore it up in six-man tag team action as BAD HOMBREZ battled WAR Jam. A very Michinoku Pro style six-man with a little BattlARTS thrown in for good measure. Dick Togo got a lot of time to shine in there, mostly against Jonathan Gresham, but in the end, he was able to hit Akito with the Pedigree to set up the final senton. Koji Iwamoto nearly had KENTA beat in his semi-final match, catching him from out of nowhere with the judo throw. But he wasn’t able to secure the follow up submission and KENTA rallied back with his flurry of strikes, blasting him with the flying knee before putting him down for good with the Go 2 Sleep. Both men shook hands after the match and Hideki Suzuki praised Iwamoto’s performance in the tournament. The main event of the evening was the highly-anticipated semi-final between Minoru Suzuki (with Suzuki-gun) against Tomohiro Ishii, who was seconded by Yuji Nagata. It was heated, it was emotional, with Ishii playing the lovable Stone Pitbull underdog who kept battering Suzuki with every part of his body. Suzuki’s slaps were intense and about halfway through the match, he realized Ishii wasn’t going down without some kind of tranquilizer. He kept trying to snag Ishii with a sleeper hold but Ishii would burst out and destroy Suzuki with elbows and headbutts. But similar to the Nakajima/Riddle match, once Ishii tried to finish him off with the brainbuster, Suzuki slipped out behind with the sleeper and held on til the very end when the ref had to pry him off. After the match, Minoru got in Hideki’s face at the commentary table and slapped his headset off. The two were held off by Katsuyori Shibata at ringside. Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/27/2019 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,755 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Semi-Final: KUSHIDA beat Shinya Aoki (8:57) with the Hoverboard Lock. 2. UWF Rules Tournament Semi-Final: Matt Riddle beat Katsuhiko Nakajima (16:23) with the triangle choke. 3. Daisuke Sasaki, TAKA Michinoku & Dick Togo beat Munenori Sawa, Jonathan Gresham & Akito (10:18) when Togo used the senton on Akito. 4. J-Crown Championship Tournament Semi-Final: KENTA beat Koji Iwamoto (15:34) with the Go 2 Sleep. 5. UWF Rules Tournament Semi-Final: Minoru Suzuki beat Tomohiro Ishii (19:44) with the sleeper hold.

Full card released for tomorrow's semi-finals. Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/27/2019 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Semi-Final: KUSHIDA vs. Shinya Aoki 2. UWF Rules Tournament Semi-Final: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Matt Riddle 3. Daisuke Sasaki, TAKA Michinoku & Dick Togo vs. Jonathan Gresham, Akito & Munenori Sawa 4. J-Crown Championship Tournament Semi-Final: KENTA vs. Koji Iwamoto 5. UWF Rules Tournament Semi-Final: Minoru Suzuki vs. Tomohiro Ishii

The second night at Korakuen Hall kicked off with Koji Iwamoto and SHO Tanaka hyping up the crowd with a fast-paced back-and-forth match, mostly dominated by Tanaka in the first half. He was able to get quite a few nearfalls on Iwamoto, including a two count off a beautiful German suplex hold. Iwamoto blocked a thrust kick attempt and took down SHO with his snap judo throw, cinching in the katagatame upon landing for the submission. Matt Riddle had quite the giant to slay in the form of Shuji Ishikawa but perseverance (and a lot of legwork) paid off as Riddle was able to Shuji to tap out, when he caught the running knee and turned it into a cross kneebar. Ishikawa knew he couldn’t beat Riddle on the ground so he was throwing everything he had at Riddle, pounding him to the ground in the hopes that he would get the KO or TKO. Riddle, however, had the crowd behind him and was able to move on to the semi-finals. In six-man tag team action, Lion’s Pride and Moon Vulcan tangled, pitting Yuji Nagata against Hideki Suzuki for the first time. The two had great chemistry together but, perhaps more interesting, was Takuya Nomura’s interactions with the veteran Nagata. In that Nomura ended up pissing off the wrong dad and ate a plate full of stiff hand slaps. KUSHIDA and Fuminori Abe tore it up on the mat with a very quick touch-and-go, before Abe actually caught KUSHIDA in an armbar. In the end, however, Nagata pinned Nomura with his backdrop hold. Jonathan Gresham’s road to the J-Crown Championship ended when KENTA put him to sleep in another fast-paced match. Gresham tried his best to avoid KENTA’s fiery strikes and focused instead on his takedowns and submission work. He briefly trapped KENTA in the octopus hold and when he struggled too much, he turned it into a piledriver! KENTA caught him with a flying knee and finally downed him with the Go 2 Sleep. The main event delivered on just about every level a main event can, with Jun Akiyama trying to squash the petulant Katsuhiko Nakajima with suplexes and running knees and even his front necklock. Nakajima wouldn’t stay down and throughout the match, you could see Akiyama’s fuse grow shorter and shorter. Nakajima went from disrespectful prick to fighting for his life by the end of it. When he countered the front necklock with a quick brainbuster, Akiyama struggled but beat the ten count. Nakajima’s last resort came in the form of a nasty punt kick, who put Akiyama down for the count. After the match, Riddle came down to the ring and cut an English promo, saying he couldn’t wait to face Nakajima in the semi-finals and “knee the grin off his face.” Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/26/2019 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,750 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 2: Koji Iwamoto beat SHO Tanaka (10:27) with the katagatame. 2. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: Matt Riddle beat Shuji Ishikawa (14:56) with a cross kneebar. 3. Yuji Nagata, Tomohiro Ishii & KUSHIDA beat Hideki Suzuki, Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe (12:02) when Nagata used the backdrop hold on Nomura. 4. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 2: KENTA beat Jonathan Gresham (9:34) with the Go 2 Sleep. 5. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Jun Akiyama (21:18) by KO (punt kick).

Korakuen Hall was packed for the second round of the J-Crown and UWF tournaments, headlined by Tomohiro Ishii versus Takashi Sugiura. The show kicked off with Drew Gulak (accompanied by Shotaro Ashino) and Shinya Aoki (accompanied by Yukio Sakaguchi and Keisuke Okuda), in a back-and-forth game of chess on the mat, with Gulak utilizing more of his amateur stylings against Aoki’s slick maneuvering and limb grabbing. At one point, a fed up Gulak started pounding away at Aoki and snap suplexing him into the corner. Aoki seemed like he was being set up for the finish but he caught Gulak with the double wristlock from out of nowhere, and Gulak had no choice but to submit. Gulak’s stablemate, Timothy Thatcher, didn’t fare much better against Suzuki-gun leader, Minoru Suzuki, when Suzuki KO’d him following a nasty shoot Gotch-style piledriver. To his credit, Thatcher held his own and at one point, had Suzuki scrambling for the ropes when he grounded him with the wakigatame. Thatcher, who was seconded to the ring by Alexander Rusev, got into it with Suzuki’s second, Hikaru Sato. Sato argued that Thatcher was using an illegal choke but Rusev was able to stare Sato into silence. In a big six-man tag, Burning (Jun Akiyama, Go Shiozaki and KENTA) fought Escalante (Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kazusada Higuchi and SHO Tanaka). Of course, the emphasis of this match was on Akiyama and Nakajima, although Shiozaki and Higuchi chopped the hell out of each other and KENTA drilled SHO with a nasty flying knee. Shiozaki finally finished Tanaka off with the Gowan lariat. After the match, Nakajima and Akiyama continued to fight at ringside until Shiozaki and KENTA were able to separate them. Nakajima spit at the retreating Burning. KUSHIDA had a heck of a time getting passed Daisuke Sasaki, who tried just about everything to defeat KUSHIDA, including a big diving elbow from the top to the outside with KUSHIDA seated on a chair. Sasaki nearly had him with a dragon suplex hold but when he tried for the satellite headscissors into the crossface, KUSHIDA was able to counter with the Hoverboard Lock, turning that into his small package piledriver for the victory. TAKA Michinoku and Dick Togo, who were both at ringside, teased interference throughout. The main event was easily the match of the night and one of the best matches of the tournament, as Tomohiro Ishii and Takashi Sugiura beat the living hell out of each other under UWF Rules. Sugiura, however, was able to dominate Ishii on the ground and tried to keep him off his feet by working the ankle. Ishii, however, wasn’t having it and continued blasting Sugiura with elbows and forearms. The elbow exchanges were stiff, to say the least, and the finish saw Ishii bust Sugiura open with a headbutt for the KO. Ishii and his second, Yuji Nagata, helped Sugiura to the back. Backstage, Ishii called that one of the toughest battles of his career. Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/25/2019 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1,730 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 2: Shinya Aoki beat Drew Gulak (8:38) with the double wristlock. 2. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: Minoru Suzuki beat Timothy Thatcher (12:12) by KO (Gotch-style piledriver). 3. Jun Akiyama, Go Shiozaki & KENTA beat Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kazusada Higuchi & SHO Tanaka (14:45) when Shiozaki used a short-arm lariat on Tanaka. 4. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 2: KUSHIDA beat Daisuke Sasaki (12:56) with the Back to the Future. 5. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: Tomohiro Ishii beat Takashi Sugiura (15:21) by KO (headbutt).

The cards have been updated to reflect the second round match-ups for both the J-Crown Championship Tournament and the UWF Rules Tournament. Wrestle and Romance (WAR) will return to Korakuen Hall in Tokyo for three consecutive nights, followed by the final on 2/3. In regard to the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Titles, Genichiro Tenryu said that a small tournament of eight teams would take place over the course of February to decide the new trio of champions. He believes the promotion's return has thus far been a success, with a lot of older wrestling fans returning to the sport with WAR's heavy focus on strong and shoot styles. As far as Hideki Suzuki coming into the promotion as the UWF Heavyweight Champion, he praised Suzuki for his honoring of past legacies and said that he trusted Yoshiaki Fujiwara's judgement when it came to selecting a champion. Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/25/2019 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 2: Drew Gulak vs. Shinya Aoki 2. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: Minoru Suzuki vs. Timothy Thatcher 3. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kazusada Higuchi & SHO Tanaka vs. Jun Akiyama, Go Shiozaki & KENTA 4. 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 2: KUSHIDA vs. Daisuke Sasaki 5. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: Takashi Sugiura vs. Tomohiro Ishii Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/26/2019 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 2: Koji Iwamoto vs. SHO Tanaka 2. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: Shuji Ishikawa vs. Matt Riddle 3. Yuji Nagata, Tomohiro Ishii & KUSHIDA vs. Hideki Suzuki, Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe 4. 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 2: KENTA vs. Jonathan Gresham 5. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: Jun Akiyama vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/27/2019 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Semi-Final: X vs. X 2. UWF Rules Tournament Semi-Final: X vs. X 3. 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Semi-Final: X vs. X 4. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: X vs. X Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019 ~ FINAL", 2/3/2019 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Final: X vs. X 2. UWF Rules Tournament Final: X vs. X

Wrestle and Romance held a rather intimate show at the Hachioji Esforta Arena in downtown Tokyo. Members of the Tokyo Hachioji Bee Trains were in attendance and met with Genicihiro Tenryu and Yoshiaki Fujiwara to open the show. In another first round match of the J-Crown Championship Tournament, SHO Tanaka defeated Akito with his Shock Arrow. Tanaka, who was accompanied to the ring by Katsuhiko Nakajima, showed a lot more attitude in-ring and worked more aggressively than he had previous during his time in New Japan. Akito tried working the leg but Tanaka used his strength to his advantage and ended up putting him away with his piledriver variation. WAR International members Timothy Thatcher, Alexander Rusev and Drew Gulak fought Suzuki-gun in six-man tag team action. The primary focus of the match was between Thatcher and Minoru Suzuki, as well as Gulak and Shinya Aoki, who opened the match with a great back-and-forth mat exchange. Rusev used his power to throw people around with suplexes and Yukio Sakaguchi brought the kicks and knees. In the end, however, Sakaguchi found himself in the same predicament as his UWF Rules match against Thatcher, tapping to the wakigatame. Former UFC fighter, Matt Riddle, received quite the ovation from Japanese fans as he made his in-ring debut for WAR. Riddle seemed excited to be there but when Takuya Nomura got into the ring, Nomura wasn't in the same mood. He immediately went at Riddle with big kicks and open hand slaps, backing Riddle into a corner. Riddle's strategy was to get Nomura on the ground but Nomura was fighting hard to stand his ground. He caught Riddle's kick attempt and planted him with a capture suplex. Riddle caught Nomura with a nasty high knee, stunning him long enough to secure the triangle choke for the submission. KUSHIDA and Dick Togo put on quite the junior heavyweight modern classic, with Togo working as the heel (backed by both Daisuke Sasaki and TAKA Michinoku) and trying to destroy KUSHIDA's arm. KUSHIDA played the babyface and rallied back against Togo, avoiding the diving senton to hit a small package piledriver into the Hoverboard Lock for the submission win. After the match, KUSHIDA thanked the fans for their support and promised to bring the J-Crown Title back to prominence. In the main event, legend Jun Akiyama wasn't happy to be up against Kazusada Higuchi and his sumo-influenced approach. Higuchi literally threw himself at Akiyama on the offensive, pummeling him with shoteis and chops, and catching at one point with a nasty headbutt. Akiyama brought plenty of knees but he mainly tried to keep Higuchi on the ground. After a few Exploder suplexes, Akiyama was able to cinch in the front necklock to submit Higuchi. After the match, Nakajima got into the ring and went face-to-face with Akiyama, setting the stage for the quarterfinals. Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/23/2019 Hachioji Esforta Arena 1,255 Fans - Super No Vacancy 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: SHO Tanaka beat Akito (7:56) with the Shock Arrow. 2. Timothy Thatcher, Alexander Rusev & Drew Gulak beat Minoru Suzuki, Yukio Sakaguchi & Shinya Aoki (9:43) when Thatcher used the wakigatame on Sakaguchi. 3. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Matt Riddle beat Takuya Nomura (13:18) with a triangle choke. 4. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: KUSHIDA beat Dick Togo (14:40) with the Hoverboard Lock. 5. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Jun Akiyama beat Kazusada Higuchi (18:34) with the front necklock.

Echoing the love for this match. Strong BJ are such good babyfaces and Sekimoto has so far solidified his spot as the top wrestler of 2019. I loved the first part of this match, with Suwama heeling it up and Ishikawa being especially brutal. While Suwama and Sekimoto are busy on the outside, Ishikawa goes nuts on Okabayashi in the ring, slapping and headbutting him out. His elbows to Sekimoto in the corner = Sekimoto dead. They definitely milk the finishing comeback stretch but I didn't mind it. Strong BJ are great working from underneath, and Violent Giants know how to dish out the offense. Love Ishikawa's dragon suplex>giant knee combo. Okayabashi tries to save Sekimoto and gets backdrop suplexed to hell by Suwama. The big ass double German spot looked great here, and Sekimoto's finishing suplex was impressive. This ruled. This whole show ruled. A super fun Korakuen show where everyone is working hard.

Over the course of 2018, I've come to realize that I like my pro-wrestling in small, hard-hitting doses and this match delivers in more ways than one. Unfortunately, it's clipped so we don't get to see these two tear it up in full glory, but what we get is probably my favorite thing I've seen in wrestling so far this year (haven't seen the tag title match from the same show so this may change). Abe is better than Nomura on the mat. He's quicker, he's got slick counters and footwork, and when Nomura goes first to what he knows best - the kicks - Abe is ready and takes him down. I love that they mix good struggle for control on the mat with palms to the face and cheeky slaps. Abe's high kick in the corner and Nomura's "I'm dead" selling was great. The footage bounces around - we get a capture suplex counter by Nomura before they start in with the lunging strikes. The nasty kicks and headbutts and slaps, with Nomura getting busted open at some point. Abe's baseball punch connects hard and his selling of the hand was great. Also the grounded enziguri he hits on Nomura was very dope. Abe's able to get the calf hold counter to another high kick attempt, transitions into a leg-trap German suplex when Abe tries to escape. And the finish made Nomura look like a badass - he slaps the shit out of Abe when he tries for another baseball punch, dragon suplexes him on his head and chokes him out. Hideki Suzuki has taught him well. Loved what we got but sad I didn't get to see the full thing. Still, my current MOTY. This is a generational feud that is going to rule over the next few years.

The show opened with another first round tournament match to decide the new J-Crown Champion. American Jonathan Gresham returned to Japan in a match against veteran junior, TAKA Michinoku. TAKA tried to play dirty with Gresham, who was not having it and wanted a clean contest. TAKA eventually relented, which led to some slick exchanges, but when TAKA tried for his signature Michinoku Driver II, Gresham slipped out and into the octopus hold for the big submission win! Escalante and Moon Vulcan battled it out in six-man tag team competition, with Katsuhiko Nakajima going after the UWF Heavyweight Champion, Hideki Suzuki. Suzuki was able to let his protégé Takuya Nomura be the workhorse and of course, Nomura and Nakajima beat each other silly for a while before the bigger Kazusada Higuchi cleaned house and pinned Fuminori Abe with the Doctor Bomb. After the match, Nakajima got in Hideki’s face and said he was coming for him. Bulgarian Alexander Rusev had a big challenge ahead of him, not only in terms of the UWF rule set, but because his opponent was Tomohiro Ishii. Ishii let Rusev have it and to his credit, Rusev was able to dish it back, firing off elbows and kicks and suplex throws. Ishii struggled to his feet at the count of eight following a release German suplex but when Rusev tried for the ura-nage, Ishii fought him off with elbows and headbutts and KO’d him with a nasty vertical-drop brainbuster! Koji Iwamoto defeated Hikaru Sato in a very good grappling-heavy contest, in which Iwamoto was able to showcase his judo skills. Sato was able to take Iwamoto to the ropes a few times and tried breaking him down with kicks, but after Iwamoto hit the judo throw seemingly from out of nowhere, he held on and tapped Sato with the katagatame. Sato seemed disappointed following the match and backstage, he apologized to his mentor, Minoru Suzuki, for the loss. Suzuki only slapped him. The main event was the definition of a slugfest as Shuji Ishikawa and Go Shiozaki annihilated each other with elbows, knees, lariats, headbutts, chops – you name it, they threw it. There was very little matwork and it was clear they this was only going to result in a knockout. In the end, Shiozaki signaled for his Gowan short-arm lariat but Ishikawa was able to reverse the attempt with an absolutely brutal ripcord heatbutt for the KO. Ishikawa celebrated his victory alongside the other members of Kingslayers. Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/20/2019 Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center 3,500 Fans 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: Jonathan Gresham beat TAKA Michinoku (8:34) with the octopus hold. 2. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kazusada Higuchi & SHO Tanaka beat Hideki Suzuki, Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe (10:53) when Higuchi pinned Abe with the Doctor Bomb. 3. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Tomohiro Ishii beat Alexander Rusev (13:34) by KO (vertical-drop brainbuster). 4. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: Koji Iwamoto beat Hikaru Sato (12:11) with a katagatame. 5. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Shuji Ishikawa beat Go Shiozaki (19:48) by KO (ripcord headbutt).

The UWF Heavyweight Champion, Hideki Suzuki, introduced the show and spoke a bit about what the legacy of the UWF means to him, and how he hopes to honor that tradition by embodying the fighting spirit of professional wrestler. He talked about mentoring the likes of Takuya Nomura and Fuminori Abe, both of whom have aspired to embody that same spirit. As Moon Vulcan began making their way to the ring, Suzuki-gun appeared from behind in a threatening manner. However, Minoru Suzuki held them back and said that they were only here to support Shinya Aoki in the opening contest. Aoki and Abe put on quite the mat clinic, with Abe’s cat-like reflexes and movements catching Aoki off guard. Aoki’s experience, however, played an important role in this match and when Abe failed to escape a hold, Aoki cinched in the double wristlock for the submission. Suzuki-gun remained in the ring as the Lion’s Pride came out for a six-man tag match. As expected, this match delivered on the stiffness scale, with Tomohiro Ishii and Suzuki especially going at it throughout. Yuji Nagata, of course, was the fan favorite as he blasted the opposition with big kicks. In the end, he and his team picked up the victory after Ishii dropped Keisuke Okuda with the brainbuster. In another first round match-up of the UWF Rules Tournament, Timothy Thatcher defeated Suzuki-gun member, Yukio Sakaguchi, when he caught him off guard with the wakigatame. Sakaguchi was a little cocky when it came to taking Thatcher seriously and mostly came at him with kicks and knees but Thatcher brought his A-game and proved he could handle the UWF style. KENTA made his long-awaited return to Japan and won his first round match of the J-Crown Tournament against Kota Umeda, who more than challenged KENTA’s patience throughout. The two worked a very similar style – kick heavy – but Umeda fought with a chip on his shoulder and got some big nearfalls on KENTA before ultimately succumbing to the Go 2 Sleep, which got a big reaction from the Tokyo crowd. The main event featured another similarly-contested match with veteran Takashi Sugiura taking on Shotaro Ashino. Ashino looked very impressive against Suguira, as the two went back-and-forth trading suplex throws and fighting for control of the ankle. By the end of it, they were both hobbling around and trying to snag it once last time for a submission, which Sugiura was finally able to do after hitting Ashino with a release German. Sugiura tried to shake Ashino’s hand after the match but Ashino smacked him in the face and walked off. Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/19/2019 Ota Ward Gymnasium 2,825 Fans – No Vacancy 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: Shinya Aoki beat Fuminori Abe (10:12) with the double wristlock. 2. Yuji Nagata, Tomohiro Ishii & KUSHIDA beat Minoru Suzuki, Keisuke Okuda & Hikaru Sato (12:23) when Ishii pinned Okuda with the vertical-drop brainbuster. 3. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Timothy Thatcher beat Yukio Sakaguchi (11:08) with the wakigatame. 4. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: KENTA beat Kota Umeda (13:42) with the Go 2 Sleep. 5. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Takashi Sugiura beat Shotaro Ashino (19:26) with the ankle hold.

The Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo housed the return Wrestle and Romance (WAR) and the first rounds of the UWF Rules and J-Crown tournaments. Prior to the start of the first match, Genichiro Tenryu thanked the fans and introduced all sixteen competitors in the J-Crown Tournament. The opening match saw American Drew Gulak defeat Kazuki Hashimoto in a heated match-up. The match stayed mostly on the mat, with Gulak utilizing his amateur skills to ultimately get the better of Hashimoto, submitting him with a grounded variation of the dragon sleeper. The UWF International trio of Timothy Thatcher, Shotaro Ashino, and Alexander Rusev defeated the Kingslayers (Shuji Ishikawa, Kengo Mashimo and Kota Umeda) in a fun six-man tag after Rusev pinned Umeda with a big ura-nage. Rusev was said to be leaning more heavily into his sambo background with some of his takedowns and throws. Following this match, Yoshiaki Fujiwara came out to introduce the sixteen competitors of the UWF Rules Tournament before Minoru Suzuki and Daisuke Nakamura kicked off the tournament with their first round match. Suzuki, who was accompanied to the ring by Suzuki-gun, worked rather aggressively against Nakamura and although Nakamura was able to send him to the ropes, Suzuki secured the rear naked choke for the submission win. In a very exciting match, Daisuke Sasaki scored the “upset” victory over veteran Munenori Sawa after avoiding the Shining Wizard and rolling up Sawa for the pinfall. Sawa was, more or less, in control throughout the match, pummeling Sasaki with stiff strikes and working to set up his borrowed signature move but Sasaki’s wiliness paid off in the end as he advances in the tournament. The main event more than delivered as veteran Yuji Nagata and brash youngster Katsuhiko Nakajima beat the hell out of each other, delivering kicks and face slaps and more kicks and more face slaps. Nagata busted open Nakajima’s lip at one point in the match and nearly had him down for the count after he hit an Exploder suplex. But Nakajima fought back and in the end, KO’d Nagata with a nasty kick to the face. Nakajima, who was joined by the members of Escalante, told the fans afterwards that he would win the tournament and become the ace of WAR. Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/18/2019 Ota Ward Gymnasium 2,875 Fans – No Vacancy 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: Drew Gulak beat Kazuki Hashimoto (8:12) with a grounded dragon sleeper. 2. Timothy Thatcher, Shotaro Ashino & Alexander Rusev beat Shuji Ishikawa, Kengo Mashimo & Kota Umeda (10:34) when Rusev pinned Umeda with a ura-nage. 3. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Minoru Suzuki beat Daisuke Nakamura (7:57) with a rear naked choke. 4. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: Daisuke Sasaki beat Munenori Sawa (14:38) with a Shining Wizard-cutback cradle. 5. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Yuji Nagata (18:41) by KO (face kick).

Not much more to add other than Sato's headbutts and elbows are fucking gnarly. More "Legend Mode" Sekimoto doing what he does best, making his opponent look like an absolute thrasher. Solid match.

No idea who any of these people are but I'm intrigued!

Again, not familiar with a lot of names but I do like the mix of classic ROH guys with newer indie talent.

It'll be fun to see how WWE operates with a fraction of its current roster size.

Tournament should be a blast. I'm unfamiliar with like half the roster but that's what makes it fun.

Interesting including Kiyomiya as one of the four aces! I like the idea of a super heavyweight division. It's unique and adds something fresh to what was becoming kind of a stagnant division (the juniors). Those are some killer first round match-ups (Sekimoto vs. Okayabashi).

Super fun start to ECW. I like that it's full of surprises and the slow reveal of the wrestlers involved makes for an exciting read.

January 16, 2019 Tokyo, Japan Genichiro Tenryu and Yoshiaki Fujiwara were on hand at the new UWF Dojo to announce the upcoming match-ups and cards for the UWF Rules Tournament, as well as the J-Crown Championship Tournament to decide WAR's next junior heavyweight champ, which will run coincident. The J-Crown Tournament will be wrestled under standard pro-wrestling rules -- that is, pinfall, submission, or knockout. A total of eight cards were announced, culminating in the finals at Tokyo Korakuen Hall on February 2, 2019. According to Fujiwara, the shows will have a more intimate feel, only featuring five match cards. Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/18/2019 Ota Ward Gymnasium 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: Drew Gulak vs. Kazuki Hashimoto 2. Timothy Thatcher, Shotaro Ashino & Alexander Rusev vs. Shuji Ishikawa, Kengo Mashimo & Kota Umeda 3. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Minoru Suzuki vs. Daisuke Nakamura 4. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: Munenori Sawa vs. Daisuke Sasaki 5. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Yuji Nagata vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/19/2019 Ota Ward Gymnasium 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: Shinya Aoki vs. Fuminori Abe 2. Yuji Nagata, Tomohiro Ishii & KUSHIDA vs. Minoru Suzuki, Keisuke Okuda & Hikaru Sato 3. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Timothy Thatcher vs. Yukio Sakaguchi 4. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: KENTA vs. Kota Umeda 5. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Takashi Sugiura vs. Shotaro Ashino Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/20/2019 Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: TAKA Michinoku vs. Jonathan Gresham 2. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kazusada Higuchi & SHO Tanaka vs. Hideki Suzuki, Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe 3. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Alexander Rusev 4. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: Koji Iwamoto vs. Hikaru Sato 5. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Shuji Ishikawa vs. Go Shiozaki Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/23/2019 Hachioji Esforta Arena 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: Akito vs. SHO Tanaka 2. Minoru Suzuki, Yukio Sakaguchi & Shinya Aoki vs. Timothy Thatcher, Alexander Rusev & Drew Gulak 3. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Matt Riddle vs. Takuya Nomura 4. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 1: KUSHIDA vs. Dick Togo 5. UWF Rules Tournament Round 1: Jun Akiyama vs. Kazusada Higuchi Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/25/2019 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 2: X vs. X 2. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: X vs. X 3. 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 2: X vs. X 4. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: X vs. X Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/26/2019 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 2: X vs. X 2. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: X vs. X 3. 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Round 2: X vs. X 4. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: X vs. X Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019", 1/27/2019 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Semi-Final: X vs. X 2. UWF Rules Tournament Semi-Final: X vs. X 3. 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Semi-Final: X vs. X 4. UWF Rules Tournament Round 2: X vs. X Wrestle and Romance "UWF RULES! 2019 ~ FINAL", 2/3/2019 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. J-Crown Championship Tournament Final: X vs. X 2. UWF Rules Tournament Final: X vs. X

January 15, 2019 Tokyo, Japan Genichiro Tenryu held a public press conference at the Aristrist Omotesando in Tokyo, Japan to officially announce the return of Wrestle and Romance (WAR) to the professional wrestling landscape. Tenryu stated that while wrestling in Japan has received much exposure in recent years due to online steaming services and international tours, he feels that the “strong style” that once defined Japanese pro-wrestling has been lost as companies look to appeal more to Western audiences. Not only will the newest incarnation of WAR represent the “strong style” of wrestling but it will incorporate elements of “shoot style”, which defined and influenced many pro-wrestling companies during the late 1980s and 1990s, and was a direct precursor to the mixed martial arts boom in the mid-90s. Tenryu introduced a partnership with the UWF and representative, Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Fujiwara appeared with the old UWF Heavyweight Championship and revealed that he would be working alongside Tenryu to help introduce the “newest generation of fans” to the classic stylings of Japanese professional wrestling. The UWF Heavyweight Title would be restored and coveted as WAR’s top prize, only to be defended and challenged under “UWF Rules” – that is, by knockout, submission, doctor/referee order stop or judges decision. In addition to the UWF Heavyweight Title, Tenryu confirmed the return of the J-Crown Championship, the top junior heavyweight title, and the WAR World Six Man Tag Team Championship. Both the J-Crown and the six man tag titles will be decided in upcoming tournaments. Fujiwara, however, announced that the champion who best represents the philosophy of the UWF is none other than Hideki Suzuki. Suzuki was then brought on stage to accept the title belt from Fujiwara and Tenryu. Suzuki commented briefly that he was very honored to hold and defend such a prestigious championship, and that he would do his best to help elevate WAR as a promotion. However, before he could continue, Suzuki was interrupted by commotion in the back of the conference room...with the arrival of Minoru Suzuki and his Suzuki-gun stable, which includes Yukio Sakaguchi, Hikaru Sato, Shinya Aoki and Keisuke Okuda. Minoru stormed the stage and confronted both Hideki and Fujiwara. He said he felt “betrayed” by Fujiwara for not considering him for the UWF Heavyweight Title, considering their history with the UWF and Fujiwara-gumi. Minoru said that the belt belonged to him by right, and he will not stop until the belt is his. Tenryu intervened and made it clear that a 16-man “UWF Rules” tournament would take place to establish the top contender to the UWF Heavyweight Title. Tenryu said that Minoru would have to fight for a chance at the title, along with 15 other men, which will include legends such as Jun Akiyama and Yuji Nagata, as well as top foreign names Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher, among others. Tenryu said another short press conference will be held in the coming days regarding the tournament but for now, Minoru would have to wait his turn and if he or his Suzuki-goons did anything “uncharacteristic” of the new promotion, he would have no problem removing him from the tournament. Tenryu ended the conference by revealing the full roster of talent contracted to WAR (see above). In addition, Tenryu and Fujiwara have brought on Katsuyori Shibata and Josh Barnett to serve as trainers and mentors, and to help with the transition in style.

Legend-mode Daisuke Sekimoto has been one of my favorite things in the last year or so. He's simplified his style but he pours a lot of emotion and feeling into every little hold and slam. Hama is limited in what he can do but Sekimoto makes a little feel like a lot. The way he sells that butt splash in the corner like death, with a worried Okabayashi on the outside, was awesome. This isn't as good as the 2016 match between Hama and Okabayashi but it's still a pretty great match. Hama truly is the immovable object and Sekimoto plays the old-school fighting champion so well. Favorite match of the year so far (of the two matches I've seen).

Wrestle and Romance (WAR) Owner Genichiro Tenryu Partner Yoshiaki Fujiwara Trainers Katsuyori Shibata Josh Barnett Referees Frank Atsushi Yukinori Matsui Titles UWF Heavyweight Championship - Hideki Suzuki J-Crown - KUSHIDA WAR World Six Man Tag Team Championship - Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kazusada Higuchi & SHO Tanaka Heavyweight Roster Jun Akiyama Shotaro Ashino Kazusada Higuchi Tomohiro Ishii Shuji Ishikawa Kengo Mashimo Yuji Nagata Katsuhiko Nakajima Daisuke Nakamura Takuya Nomura Matt Riddle Alexander Rusev Yukio Sakaguchi Go Shiozaki Takashi Sugiura Hideki Suzuki Minoru Suzuki Timothy Thatcher Junior Heavyweight Roster Fuminori Abe Akito Shinya Aoki Jonathan Gresham Drew Gulak Kazuki Hashimoto Koji Iwamoto KENTA KUSHIDA TAKA Michinoku Keisuke Okuda Daisuke Sasaki Hikaru Sato Munenori Sawa SHO Tanaka Dick Togo Kota Umeda Units DAMNATION (Daisuke Sasaki, Dick Togo, TAKA Michinoku, Jushin Liger) Burning (Jun Akiyama, Go Shiozaki, KENTA) Escalante (Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kazusada Higuchi, SHO Tanaka) Kingslayers (Shuji Ishikawa, Kengo Mashimo, Kazuki Hashimoto, Kota Umeda) Lion’s Pride (Yuji Nagata, Tomohiro Ishii, KUSHIDA) Moon Vulcan (Hideki Suzuki, Takuya Nomura, Fuminori Abe, Koji Iwamoto) Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Yukio Sakaguchi, Hikaru Sato, Keisuke Okuda, Shinya Aoki) WAR International (Timothy Thatcher, Alexander Rusev, Drew Gulak, Jonathan Gresham)

Thanks! I don't really have much for him to do other than a "special attraction" match or maybe an English commentator. I don't see an issue with him working for both NJPW and UWF.

The only other "extras" I had on my list were: Josh Barnett Akito Daisuke Nakamura Kazuki Hashimoto

UWF selects its head trainer, Katsuyori Shibata. UWF is done drafting. NJPW is up with two.