gordi Posted June 1, 2017 Report Share Posted June 1, 2017 JWA Press Release: JWA Factions Draft, June 1, 1985 Captains: Giant Baba, Tatsumi Fujinami, Antonio Inoki, and Riki Choshu The JWA factions are intended to be loose affiliations. Members of a particular faction can and occasionally will fight members of the same faction. Members of a particular faction can and occasionally will team with members of a different faction. In general, however, Members of a given faction will usually team up together, and fight against members of other factions. In the televised portion of the JWA Factions Draft, only the first three rounds were shown. Each captain chose a singles wrestler for their faction in the first two rounds, and a tag team in the third round. The results were as follows: Giant Baba chose JWA Champion Tenryu, Jumbo Tsuruta, and The Tiger Masks (Sayama and Misawa). Tatsumi Fujinami chose Kengo Kimura, Shiro Koshinaka, and The Young Lions (Shinya Hashimoto and Keiji Mutoh). Antonio Inoki chose Seiji Sakaguchi, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, and Mighty Animals (Mighty Inoue and Animal Hamaguchi). Riki Choshu chose Akira Maeda, Umanosuke Ueda, and The South Pacific Islanders (Anoaro Atisanoe and Siva Afi). In general, the alignment and fan appeal of each group will hopefully work out as follows: Team Giant Baba are good guys leaning slightly tweener. They will tend to have a lot of big names and hold major belts. Their appeal will be to fans of AJPW, to fans of hard-hitting action, and to “front-runners” who like to support the winning team. Fujinami’s Family are pure good guys. They will generally be the loveable underdog group. We hope they will appeal to fans of NJPW, people who like classic pro wrestling, and people who like to root for the underdog. The Inoki Federation are tweeners. They will hopefully appeal to fans of Inoki and anyone who likes shoot style wrestling and martial arts. Choshu’s Army are straight up bad guys. That rebellious image holds appeal for certain young men, and office workers who are dissatisfied with their bosses. Thus, our hope is that each group will be able to draw fans and sell merch, regardless of alignment. The remaining composition of each faction will be decided by negotiation between individual wrestlers and team captains. The unwritten expectation is that each group will have at least a couple of guys who can work Shoot Style, and around five guys who can work in the Middleweight Division. The final composition of all four factions will be published shortly in the Asahi Shinbun newspaper. Respectfully, JWA President and Founder, Shohei Baba JWA Vice President, Motoko Baba JWA Managing Director, Hisashi Shinma JWA Booker, gordi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted June 1, 2017 Report Share Posted June 1, 2017 Definitely don't wanna mess with Team Baba. I'm pretty sure they're gonna give us an epic battle with Choshu's Army! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmcfl Posted June 2, 2017 Report Share Posted June 2, 2017 Japan seems to be about a decade ahead of the USA. The creativity is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexstar Posted June 3, 2017 Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 Team Baba would beat Golden State in five games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted June 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 Definitely don't wanna mess with Team Baba. I'm pretty sure they're gonna give us an epic battle with Choshu's Army! I'm pretty sure that's going to start happening quite soon Japan seems to be about a decade ahead of the USA. The creativity is great. Yeah, AJPW was already running an "invasion" type angle with Choshu's group in '85. I'm hoping the "factions" angle will let me capture some of the spirit of that without copying it outright. Team Baba would beat Golden State in five games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted June 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 JWA Press Release: JWA Factions as published in Asahi Shinbun Team Giant Baba Giant Baba: President and founder of AJPW and JWA. Living legend. Jumbo Tsuruta: Former Olympic wrestler. One of the best pro wrestlers in the world. Genichiro Tenryu: Former sumo wrestler. Current JWA Heavyweight Champion. One of the best in the world. Tiger Mask Sayama: Lucharesu and Shoot Style pioneer. Can work in the Middleweight division. Can work Shoot Style. Incredibly popular. Tiger Mask Misawa: Gifted young star being groomed to eventually follow in the footsteps of Baba and Jumbo. Can work in the Middleweight division. Nobuhiko "Esperanza" Takada: Young star with huge potential. Very good striker. Can work in the Middleweight division. Can work Shoot Style. Adept at mixing Shoot Style with other styles. Yoshiaki Yatsu: Former Olympic wrestler. Powerful and legitimately tough. Excellent tag team worker. Masanobu Fuchi: All-around talent with a good mix of brawling and mat wrestling. Can work in the Middleweight division. Ashura "Fighting" Hara: Former rugby star and IWE veteran. Tenryu’s frequent tag team partner, and friend. Takashi “Onomi” Ishikawa: Former sumo wrestler, with a high-power style. Good tag team worker. Shinichi Nakano: A decent technical wrestler with a judo background. Shunji Takano: The Cobra’s tall and athletic brother. Hirokazu Hata: The Barry Horowitz of the JWA. Can work in the Middleweight division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted June 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 The Inoki Federation Antonio Inoki: President and founder of NJPW. Iconic living legend. More or less invented Shoot Style. Yoshiaki Fujiwara: Shoot Style pioneer. One of the world’s greatest grapplers, and trainers. Seiji Sakaguchi: 1965 Japan Judo Champion. Inoki’s long-time second. Masakatsu Funaki: Fujiwara disciple, being groomed as a future Shoot Style star. Can work in the Middleweight division. The Cobra: Former NWA and WWF Jr. Heavyweight champion. Big bumper. Can work in the Middleweight division. Kuniaki “Tiger Hunter” Kobayashi: Long-time rival of Tiger Mask Sayama. Can work in the Middleweight division. Aggressive style. Animal Hamaguchi: Former bodybuilder has the strength to match up with heavyweights and the athleticism to match up with juniors. Can work in the Middleweight division. Mighty Inoue: Has a mix of European and Lucha Libre styles picked up on foreign tours. Solid mid-card veteran, and excellent tag team wrestler. Can work in the Middleweight division. Naoki Sano: Recent NJPW Dojo graduate works a very aggressive and physical style, and works hard to incorporate different styles of wrestling, such as Lucha Libre and Shoot Style. Can work in the Middleweight division. Toshiaki “Dangerous K” Kawada: 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. Can work in the Middleweight division. Samson Fuyuki: Late bloomer got his start in 1976 with IWE, but he has yet to reach his peak. Yoshinari “Rat Boy” Ogawa: Has a sneaky, cerebral style. Can work in the Middleweight division. Kazuo Yamazaki: Throws great kicks and is very good working from underneath and selling. Can work in the Middleweight division. Can work Shoot Style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted June 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 Fujinami's Family Tatsumi Fujinami: Beloved star and gifted worker. Ready to break out from under Inoki’s shadow. Can work in the Middleweight division. Can work Shoot Style. Kengo Kimura: Fujiwara’s regular tag team partner. Makes the people around him better. Super Strong Machine: Steady, reliable power wrestler who really shines as a tag team partner. Currently on loan to NWA Lutte Internationale. Blade Runner Sting: Muscular, athletic, and charismatic young power worker. Has almost limitless potential. Currently on loan from NWA Lutte Internationale. Dos Caras: Mexican wrestling legend. Usually works as a heavyweight despite his smaller size. Very popular in Japan. Able to adjust his style to match up with various different kinds of wrestlers. Can work in the Middleweight division. Shinya Hashimoto: Great striker and power worker, being groomed as a potential future ace. Already has a strong grasp of ring psychology. Can work Shoot Style. Keiji Mutoh: Very flashy and athletic. Being groomed as a future star. Already quite popular with the fans. Masa Chono: Charismatic. Being groomed as a future star. Can work in the Middleweight division. Kantaro Hoshino: Past his prime but still wildly entertaining. Very small but also very quick. Boxing background with the great punches to show for it. Can work in the Middleweight division. Currently out injured with a broken fibula. Osamu Kido: Solid basic wrestler, good on the mat. Not much personality. Can work Shoot Style. Can work in the Middleweight division. Shiro Koshinaka: Charismatic and entertaining. Often works as the third man in trios matches with Fujinami and Kimura. Can work in the Middleweight division. Gran Hamada: Lucharesu pioneer. Still in the midst of a very long peak period. Great high flyer. Can work in the Middleweight division.Can also work Shoot Style. Keiichi Yamada: Gifted athlete at the start of what could be a legendary career. Exciting, athletic, and innovative style. Already has a strong grasp of ring psychology. Being groomed as the future ace of the Middleweight division. Shunji Kosugi: Solid technical wrestler, very good at making others look good in the ring. Can work in the Middleweight division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted June 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 Choshu's Army Riki Choshu: JWA’s top heel, but has a lot of fans. Explosive, innovative, and charismatic. Akira Maeda: Shoot style pioneer. Hard hitting, technical style. Larger than life character. Adrian Adonis: JWA’s top gain heel. Great brawler, bumper, ring general, and tag worker. Rusher Kimura: 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. Umanosuke Ueda: Background in sumo and with the IWE, but is purely a brawler. Has a great sleazy look. Bam Bam Bigelow: Fierce look and unusual athleticism for a man his size give Bigelow the potential to be a truly great monster gaijin heel. Anoaro Atisanoe: Powerful and massive monster heel. Siva Afi: Kind of a poor man’s version of Jimmy Snuka, in the ring. Can work Shoot Style. Black Tiger: Current JWA Middleweight Champion. 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. Isamu “Carpenter” Teranishi: 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 best as a heel. Yoji Anjo: Shoot Style specialist with a background in judo and muay thai. Doesn’t mind fighting dirty. Can work in the Middleweight division. Tatsutoshi Goto: Bleach blonde heel. Can work in the Middleweight division. Akira Nogami: Cocky technical wrestler. Can work in the Middleweight division. Currently on loan to Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Phil Hickerson: Big, nasty heat magnet. Good brawler and tag team wrestler. Currently on loan from Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Respectfully, JWA President and Founder, Shohei Baba JWA Vice President, Motoko Baba JWA Managing Director, Hisashi Shinma JWA Booker, gordi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted June 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 *** UPCOMING "BIG EVENT" SCHEDULE*** JWA Festival of Champions: June 11th, Aichi Pref. Gym - Eight Title Matches JWA Middleweight champion Black Tiger vs Nobuhiko Takada NWA Canadian International Tag Team Champions Rick Martel and Gino Brito vs Tatsumi Fujinami and Shiro Koshinaka North American Champion “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs Siva Afi AWA American Champion Lex Luger vs Kengo Kimura UWF World Tag Team Champions The Road Warriors vs Ashura “Fighting” Hara and Yoshiaki Yatsu ***BREAK*** JWA Tag Team Champions The Giants vs Riki Choshu and Akira Maeda JWA Champion Tenryu vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara NWA World Champion Ric Flair vs Jumbo Tsuruta JWA Festival of Champions: June 18th, Kyoto Pref. Gym - Seven Title Matches and Faction Wars I JWA Middleweight champion Black Tiger vs Naoki Sano Continental Tag Team Champions The Nightmares (Danny Davis and Ken Wayne) vs The Blonde Outlaws (Umanosuke Ueda and Tatsutoshi Goto) AWA American Champion Lex Luger vs Ashura “Fighting” Hara NWA World Tag Team Champions The Fabulous Rougeaus vs The Tiger Masks (Sayama and Misawa) Faction Wars I: Choshu’s Army vs Inoki Federation – Choshu, Maeda, Adonis, Atisanoe, and Hickerson vs Inoki, Fujiwara, Sakaguchi, The Cobra, and Kawada ***BREAK*** JWA Champion Tenryu vs Rusher Kimura JWA Tag Team Champions The Giants vs Don Muraco and Bad News Allen NWA United States Champion Terry Funk vs Jumbo Tsuruta JWA Festival of Champions: June 21st, Tokyo, Ryogoku Kokugikan - Seven Title Matches and Faction Wars II AWA Southern Champion “Playboy” Buddy Rose vs Mighty Inoue JWA Heavyweight Champion Black Tiger vs Dos Caras AWA American Champion Lex Luger vs Yoshiaki Yatsu Continental Heavyweight Champion Bruiser Brody vs Bam Bam Bigelow Faction Wars II: Team Giant Baba vs Fujinami’s Family – Tsuruta, Hara, Sayama, Misawa, and Takada vs Fujinami, Kimura, Koshinaka, Sting, and Kido ***BREAK*** JWA Tag Team Champions The Giants vs Abdullah the Butcher and Umanosuke Ueda NWA United States Champion Terry Funk vs Bad News Allen JWA Champion Tenryu vs Don Muraco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowBlowPodcast Posted June 3, 2017 Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 Continental Tag Team Champions The Nightmares (Danny Davis and Ken Wayne) vs The Blonde Outlaws (Umanosuke Ueda and Tatsutoshi Goto) -Don't know why but this match seems like it would be really entertaining. This is team Baba's to lose in my opinion... all the right pieces. Plus I would love to see that Funk vs Bad News contest... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexstar Posted June 3, 2017 Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 NWA United States Champion Terry Funk vs Jumbo Tsuruta Hot diggity damn I'm here for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted June 3, 2017 Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 NWA World Tag Team Champions The Fabulous Rougeaus vs The Tiger Masks (Sayama and Misawa) Oooooooooh, rematch from the Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup! This should be great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneJackson95 Posted June 3, 2017 Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 So many great match ups, can't wait to see who all comes out on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmcfl Posted June 3, 2017 Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 Love all the match ups. Was the factions your idea or something Japan did before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted June 3, 2017 Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 I don't know if it was the case back then but if you look at Japanese wrestling in general nowadays, it's very stable heavy. Rare are the top Japanese stars who aren't in a stable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted June 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 Continental Tag Team Champions The Nightmares (Danny Davis and Ken Wayne) vs The Blonde Outlaws (Umanosuke Ueda and Tatsutoshi Goto) -Don't know why but this match seems like it would be really entertaining. This is team Baba's to lose in my opinion... all the right pieces. Plus I would love to see that Funk vs Bad News contest... I agree that Team Baba is the most loaded... but I think Choshu's Army will have an advantage early on because - being a heel faction - they will be the most willing to "help each other out" during matches. NWA United States Champion Terry Funk vs Jumbo Tsuruta Hot diggity damn I'm here for it Thanks! Everyone was so generous with sending their champs over to Japan, so there are just a ton of fun match-ups this month. NWA World Tag Team Champions The Fabulous Rougeaus vs The Tiger Masks (Sayama and Misawa) Oooooooooh, rematch from the Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup! This should be great! I almost did a re-match with Buddy Rose and Kawada, as well... but I really wanna do Buddy Rose vs Mighty Inoue or Isamu Teranishi. I love the idea of matching up two pasty guys who don't look athletic at all but are in fact superior athletes. So many great match ups, can't wait to see who all comes out on top. Like I say, when everyone is so generous about sending talent over, it's not hard to make a lot of fun match-ups. I'd have loved to see something like this (or the Johnny Rougeau Cup, for example) in real life, so it sure will be enjoyable to write it up. Love all the match ups. Was the factions your idea or something Japan did before? In '85 you had the big invasion angle with Choshu going into AJPW. I wanted to come up with some way to get that kind of feel without copying the angle itself... I don't know if it was the case back then but if you look at Japanese wrestling in general nowadays, it's very stable heavy. Rare are the top Japanese stars who aren't in a stable. ...and as SirEd says, watching recent Japanese wrestling you see tons of factions. My beloved local indie, Osaka Pro Wrestling, was my biggest influence in deciding to do this. They always did a great job using factions and alliances to add spice to individual match-ups. Having a good heel faction is key, in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boon Posted June 6, 2017 Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 Faction warfare is always something's Japan does better than anyone (ROH I'm looking at you),and you are nailing it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted June 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 JWA Festival of Champions: June 11th, Aichi Pref. Gym - Eight Title Matches JWA Middleweight champion Black Tiger vs Nobuhiko Takada Takada was fired up for this one, determined to win another belt for Team Giant Baba. He came at Black Tiger hard, throwing strike after strike and not giving him a moment to catch his breath. After five minutes of non-stop punishment, “Esperanza” locked the champ up with a Camel Clutch. As he was doing so, Riki Choshu appeared at the top of the entrance ramp with Army members Isamu Teranishi and Yoji Anjo. Black Tiger’s stablemates made their way down the ramp, and Takada broke his hold to confront them. With Takada’s back turned, Black Tiger got back to his feet and dropkicked Takada into the ropes where he was met with a nasty punch/chop combo from Teranishi and Anjo. He stumbled backward into a Tiger Suplex, and three counts later Black Tiger had “earned” another successful title defense. NWA Canadian International Tag Team Champions Rick Martel and Gino Brito vs Tatsumi Fujinami and Shiro Koshinaka Martel and Fujinami both insisted on starting the match for their teams, which popped the crowd. And the two men put on a show worthy of that pop, as they went back and forth chaining together moves and counters for a solid twelve minutes of technical action. When the tags were made, Brito and Koshinaka came in all fired up. In contrast to Martel and Fuinami’s exhibition of technical mastery, their partners flew around the ring taking risk after risk. Eventually, Koshinaka hit a huge Jumping Hip Attack for a 2.999 on Brito. As Brito made the tag, Fujinami yelled for Koshinaka to do the same. However, Koshinaka chose to rush at Martel instead. This proved to be a mistake, as Martel caught him in a Spinning Spinebuster, and then hit three consecutive Backbreakers before finishing things with a Boston Crab. North American Champion “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs Siva Afi This was short and intense. Hacksaw came out on fire and just levelled Afi with a series of Shoulder Blocks and Scoop Slams. Afi refused to stay down, though, and eventually gained control by leap-frogging over a charging Duggan and nailing him with a Dropkick on the rebound. Afi then punished Hacksaw with a series of Chops and Head-butts. With Duggan down on the mat, the muscular Samoan went to the top corner and flew off with a Diving Splash, but Duggan rolled out of harm’s way at the last possible moment. He then made his way to the corner and assumed the Three Point Stance. As Afi stumbled to his feet, Hacksaw took him down with a vicious charging Clothesline to end the match and defend his belt. AWA American Champion Lex Luger vs Kengo Kimura Luger dominated things early using his size and power, but Kimura took the momentum when he caught Luger with a Leg Lariat after being tossed into the ropes. The veteran wrestler then took the big American down to the mat, where he taught him a thing or two. After several minutes of torture on the ground, Kimura picked Luger up and threw him into the ropes, hoping to finish him with another Jumping Leg Lariat. Luger had other ideas, though, and caught Kimura with a nasty Running Forearm Smash. The young powerhouse then picked Kimura off the mat and pressed him high overhead before dropping him face-down onto the canvas. He followed that up with a series of Elbow Drops to Kimura’s lower back, and ended things by hoisting him into an Argentine Backbreaker Hold. UWF World Tag Team Champions The Road Warriors vs Ashura “Fighting” Hara and Yoshiaki Yatsu Hara and Yatsu were waiting in the ring while Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” began to play on the sound system. As the Road Warriors charged toward the ring, Hara and Yatsu made brief eye contact and ran at the charging Americans, diving through the ropes and taking the fight to them on the outside. The referee called for the bell and started to count all four men out. Before he could reach a count of 20, the wrestlers rolled back into the ring where they continued to brawl. Hara and Animal rolled out of the ring to the North of the ring, while Hawk and Yatsu went over the top rope and outside to the South. Animal slammed Hara onto the concrete floor, and Hawk tossed Yatsu over the barrier and into the crowd, scattering the fans. Animal pressed Hara over his head and threw him back into the ring. He then entered the ring himself and lifted Hara up in a Bear Hug. Hawk climbed to the top turnbuckle and flew off with a Clothesline that knocked Hara across the ring. As Hawk pulled Hara back to the center of the ring, Yatsu made a desperate attempt to break up the pin, but Animal tackled him back outside. Three counts later, it was all over. ***BREAK*** JWA Tag Team Champions The Giants vs Riki Choshu and Akira Maeda Choshu and Maeda came right at the champs. First they focussed their attack on Baba’s legs, then they trapped Andre in their corner and pounded him with elbows, kicks and stomps. Also, for the first twelve minutes or so, until the ref had enough and ordered them back to the dressing room, you had Phil Hickerson and Umanosuke Ueda running interference on the outside. This lead to the almost-unimaginable situation where Andre the Giant and Giant Baba were fighting back from underneath. The crowd got really hot for this, as The Giants’ hope spots kept getting cut off. The turning point didn’t come until over twenty minutes had passed. Choshu came charging at Baba to put him down with a Lariat, but the Giant got his foot up and took Riki’s head off with a Big Boot. The crowd went mental as Baba made the hot tag to Andre, who crushed Choshu with a running Elbow Drop followed by a Senton. That only got a 2.999, so Andre tossed Choshu into his corner and called Maeda into the ring. To his credit, Maeda did not back down. However, with Choshu out of breath and unable to interfere, the Shoot Style pioneer found that it wasn’t so easy to get the advantage on Andre in a one-on-one situation. In a classic “turnabout is fair play” spot, Maeda found himself trapped in The Giants’ corner where he took an insane amount of punishment before being pinned after an Andre Double Underhook Suplex. JWA Champion Tenryu vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara Fujiwara had earned a title shot back in April, by beating Jumbo Tsuruta with his signature Arm Bar. However, he had stepped aside to allow Tenryu to get revenge on Bad News Allen at the April End of Tour Show. As such, this match was worked with a ton of mutual respect being shown by both fighters. Fujiwara got to showcase his grappling, and Tenryu his explosiveness and power. About fifteen minutes in, Fujiwara got a close near-fall on Tenryu after hitting a Swinging Neckbreaker. Fujiwara kept the pressure up, and five minutes later he was close to locking in his feared and famous Arm Bar on the champ. However, Tenryu managed to power up to his feet, where he lifted Fujiwara up in the air and broke the Arm Bar by slamming him into the mat with a modified Power Bomb. Fujiwara made it back to his feet, only to get taken down by a powerful Lariat. Tenryu lifted his opponent off of the mat, dropped him again with a German Suplex, picked him up one final time, and ended the match with a Folding Powerbomb. Both men shook hands and bowed in a show of respect after the match. NWA World Champion Ric Flair vs Jumbo Tsuruta In sharp contrast to the respectful display of clean wrestling put on by Tenryu and Fujiwara, Jumbo and Naitch just tried to kill each other for twenty-five minutes. Flair in particular pulled out all of the stops, using every trick in the book to gain an advantage. As the match progressed, Tsuruta became angrier and angrier and eventually started cutting corners himself. Of course, what ended up happening was: Flair would pull of some kind of subtle cheat, such as pulling on Tsuruta’s hair or tights, then Jumbo would respond with a closed fist or something, only to be caught and warned by the ref. A furious Tsuruta ended up laying into Flair with a huge series of merciless chops, which led to Flair begging off on his knees. The ref tried to get Jumbo to let up, which led to an argument. Tsuruta made the mistake of turning his back on Flair, and the Nature Boy made him pay by hitting him with a blatant and vicious low blow. The referee caught him in the act, though, and threatened to disqualify Flair, but Tsuruta begged the ref to allow the match to continue. However, the moment the ref turned his back to signal the timekeeper, Flair hit Jumbo with a second low blow. Tsuruta collapsed to the mat in agony, and Flair locked in his famous Figure Four to secure the tainted victory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted June 10, 2017 Report Share Posted June 10, 2017 Oh man, that Flair vs Jumbo match was awesome. Also sets up a possible rematch between the two of them down the line. Great first show for the Festival of Champions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneJackson95 Posted June 16, 2017 Report Share Posted June 16, 2017 Amazing card, the Road Warriors were so over in Japan in '85. Cool match with the Giants fighting from underneath. While Flair/Jumbo is an awesome match, I see Tenyru and Fujiwara probably stealing the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted June 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2017 JWA Festival of Champions: June 18th, Kyoto Pref. Gym - Seven Title Matches and Faction Wars I JWA Middleweight champion Black Tiger vs Naoki Sano Almost an exact repeat of Black Tiger’s June 11th title defense. Sano came out swinging from the opening bell, but as soon as he had Black Tiger in real trouble (with a Bow and Arrow Stretch), Choshu sent two of his stablemates (Teranishi and Afi) down to ringside to help him keep the title. To his credit, Sano managed to take the Choshu’s Army members out with a Suicide Dive. However, Black Tiger caught him with a vicious kick to the head as he was getting back in the ring. He then crushed Sano with a Diving Knee Drop then finished him with a Black Tiger Bomb. Continental Tag Team Champions The Nightmares (Danny Davis and Ken Wayne) vs The Blonde Outlaws (Umanosuke Ueda and Tatsutoshi Goto) Black Tiger, “Carpenter” Teranishi, and Siva Afi stayed at ringside for this match. Thanks to the distraction and interference they provided The Blonde Outlaws gained an early advantage, and before five minutes had passed both Davis and Wayne were busted open courtesy of Umanosuke Ueda’s foreign object. After five more minutes of punishment, both Nightmares were wearing the crimson mask, and it looked like Choshu’s Army was going to add The Continental Tag Team Championships to their trophy case. Just when things were at their worst for the Americans, though, Inoki Federation members Naoki Sano, Masakatsu Funaki, and Kuniaki Kobaysahi charged to ringside to get a little revenge on Choshu’s Army. When Umanosuke Ueda left the ring to help take care of them, Goto found himself alone in the ring against both Nightmares. Not wasting a moment, Davis nailed Goto with a Tombstone Piledriver, and Wayne came off the top rope with a Diving Legdrop… and with the Inoki Federation members holding off Choshu’s Army, The Nightmares found themselves bloodied but victorious. AWA American Champion Lex Luger vs Ashura “Fighting” Hara A 276 pound former pro rugby player vs a 270 pound former pro football player. So obviously, this was a match of power vs power and the two big men bulled each other around the ring and traded Shoulder Blocks, Forearm Smashes, and Slams. Hara got close near-falls after an Enzuigiri, a Samoan Drop, and a Lariat. When the Japanese veteran tried to finish things with a second Lariat, however, Luger once again countered with a Running Forearm Smash, then hit a Piledriver and locked Hara in the Argentine Backbreaker to earn a second successful title defense in Japan. NWA World Tag Team Champions The Fabulous Rougeaus vs The Tiger Masks (Sayama and Misawa) A rematch from the first day of the 2nd Annual Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup. Once again, the two teams matched each other move for move. Once again, the The Tiger Masks came within an eyelash of scoring the victory after a Tiger Mask 1 Tiger Suplex on Jacques. Once again Tiger Mask II missed a cross body block… and the Rougeaus almost put Tiger Mask II away with La Bombe Rougeau after 25 minutes, but this time Tiger Mask I made the save… Then the Rougeaus tried their Boston Crab/Jumping Knee Drop Combo… but Misawa managed to get his leg up on the ropes to break the three count. With time winding down, Tiger Mask II scrambled to his corner and made the hot tag to Tiger Mask Sayama, who went crazy on the Rougeaus with Spinning Kicks and various strike combinations. With seconds remaining and the Kyoto crowd going politely crazy, Tiger Mask I struggled with Raymond, trying to hit the Tiger Suplex… but the bell rang to signal that the 30 minute time limit had expired. Both teams shook hands, posed for pictures, and promised to fight again sometime in the future, in Japan or in Canada. Faction Wars I: Choshu’s Army vs Inoki Federation – Choshu, Maeda, Adonis, Atisanoe, and Hickerson vs Inoki, Fujiwara, Sakaguchi, The Cobra, and Kawada The crowd was split about 80-20 in favour of Inoki Federation, but Choshu’s Army had some very vocal fans. We’re keeping the Faction Wars simple for now: One fall, 20-minute time limit, 10-man tag matches. Early on, Hickerson bumped and sold for his team and young boy Kawada took lots of punishment for his. Around the 12-minute mark, things got out of hand and the match turned into an all-out brawl. Inoki and Adonis ended up in the ring while everyone else brawled on the outside. Adonis popped the crowd by bouncing around the ring and selling like crazy, and it looked like Inoki was going to end it with an Octopus Hold… but Maeda climbed back into the ring and knocked Inoki loopy with a stiff Head Kick. Kawada charged into the ring to save Inoki but soon found himself isolated against Maeda and Adonis while Choshu, Atisanoe, and Hickerson held off his stablemates on the outside. The two-on-one advantage proved to be too much for the tough youngster to overcome, and a Maeda Bridging Capture Suplex ended things at the 18-minute mark. ***BREAK*** JWA Champion Tenryu vs Rusher Kimura Kimura spent two months working for the USWA, where he managed to earn a reign as UWF World TV Champion. As a reward for his success, he was granted a shot at the JWA Title. And, for the first ten minutes of this match it looked like Kimura just might take that title. He went straight at Tenryu, chopping him right in the throat, blatantly pulling his hair, choking him with the ropes and breaking right at the referee’s five count… at the 9-minute mark he nailed the champ with a hard Lariat, and Tenryu barely managed to kick out in time. Rusher hit a second Lariat, and was picking Tenryu up off the mat in order to hit a third… but Tenryu summoned all of his remaining energy and punched Kimura straight in the jaw. He followed that up with a hard chop to Kimura’s chest, then another jab, then a chop, then a punch… the Champ beat the challenger all around the ring as the crowd chanted his name. With Rusher Kimura on rubber legs in the middle of the ring, Tenryu bounced off of the ropes and just about took his head off with one of the nastiest Lariats I have ever seen. Before Tenryu could make the cover, Don Muraco, Bad News Allen, and Umanosuke Ueda rushed the ring and attacked the champion. Things were looking bad for the champ, until three men came rushing from the back to make the save: Giant Baba, Andre the Giant …and Terry Funk! Tenryu brawled with Muraco, Funk and Bad News went at it, Baba threw chops at Ueda… and eventually Andre cleared the ring. JWA Tag Team Champions The Giants vs Don Muraco and Bad News Allen As soon as order was restored, the bell rung and this match got underway. Funk, Tenryu, Ueda, and Kimura all remained at ringside so it was only a matter of time before things got out of control again. It took less than ten minutes. All 8 men were brawling on the outside when the crowd erupted in horror as none other than Abdullah the Butcher made his way down to join the fray. He didn’t waste any time, going straight after Giant Baba and busting him open with his taped-up fork. This enraged Andre, who chased the Butcher into the crowd, leading to a count-out loss for the Tag champs. NWA United States Champion and NWA Canadian International Heavyweight Champion Terry Funk vs Jumbo Tsuruta After all of that violence, Funk and Tsuruta ended the evening with a respectful, clean-fought, highly technical display of top-level pro wrestling that didn’t really get nasty until the final five minutes. Jumbo started his pro career in Amarillo training under the Funk family. In the 70s some of Jumbo’s first great matches included teaming with Baba against Terry and Dory Jr, and a famous singles match with Terry from 1976. So, it’s not surprising that these two have great ring chemistry, timing, and execution in there together. Everything felt like a struggle in this match, from the most basic arm work to the biggest high spots. They made some lovely call-backs to the ’76 match, with Jumbo getting a near-fall off of a Sunset Flip, and Terry coming close after a Hotshot and an Abdominal Stretch into Rolling Cradle combo. At around the 20-minute mark the strikes started to get a little harder and the action a little rougher as desperation began to set in. Both men were showing signs of fatigue. As the “30 minutes gone” announcement was made, both men were standing on wobbly legs at center ring, exchanging chops for punches. Jumbo grabbed Funk and whipped him into the corner. He charged in for a Jumping High Knee, but Funk dodged and Jumbo fell to the mat, clutching his knee. Seizing the moment, Terry applied his famous Spinning Toe Hold. Jumbo had no choice but to submit. After the match, the teacher and his student showed their mutual respect by embracing in the middle of the ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted June 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2017 Oh man, that Flair vs Jumbo match was awesome. Also sets up a possible rematch between the two of them down the line. Great first show for the Festival of Champions! Thanks! Obviously, Terry Funk is welcome to come back to Japan any time he wants to. Amazing card, the Road Warriors were so over in Japan in '85. Cool match with the Giants fighting from underneath. While Flair/Jumbo is an awesome match, I see Tenyru and Fujiwara probably stealing the show. Thanks! I would have loved to have seen Tenryu vs Fujiwara in '85. I've only seen the one match, from WAR in '97 and it was good but not quite everything I hoped it would be, I love being able to book some of my own personal dream matches... and reading the ones everyone else comes up with, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted June 17, 2017 Report Share Posted June 17, 2017 Really good card in Kyoto as well! Must've been really appreciated by the crowd attending the show! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmcfl Posted June 17, 2017 Report Share Posted June 17, 2017 What a night for the Americans. Luger, the Nightmares and Funk better be on their toes. I bet not too many Americans leave Japan with victories in the end of their tours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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