Keeping the Spirit Alive

All Japan, NOAH, ZERO1, K-DOJO, DDT & Hard Hit results for...

Sun, 19 May 2013 08:49:47 -0500

All Japan, NOAH, ZERO1, K-DOJO, DDT & Hard Hit results for May 19, 2013

All Japan Pro-Wrestling “RISE UP TOUR 2013”, 5/19/2013 [Sun] 17:00 @ Ao-re Nagaoki in Niigata
1,000…

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All Japan, NOAH, WNC results for May 18, 2013All Japan...

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:23:56 -0500

All Japan, NOAH, WNC results for May 18, 2013

All Japan Pro-Wrestling “RISE UP TOUR 2013″, 5/18/2013 [Sat] 18:00 @ Korakuen Hall in Tokyo
(1)…

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[New Japan Official Video] Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Minoru (Tanaka),...

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:44:50 -0500

[New Japan Official Video]
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Minoru (Tanaka), BOSJ XV Official A Block Match, from June 8, 2008 at the Akashi Municipal Industrial Exchange Center.

All Japan Official Videos for May 17, 2013

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:12:52 -0500

Taiyo Kea vs. Yuji Nagata, 2012 Champion Carnival Match, from May 7, 2012 at the Korakuen Hall in...

NOAH results for May 17, 2013Pro Wrestling NOAH “Northern...

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:50:59 -0500

NOAH results for May 17, 2013

Pro Wrestling NOAH “Northern Navig.2013″, 5/17/2013 [Fri] 18:30 @ Sendai Industrial Exhibition…

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[ZERO1 News] ZERO1 recently held a press conference to announce...

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:16:34 -0500

[ZERO1 News] ZERO1 recently held a press conference to announce heir full card for their next upcoming show on May 19th at the Shinkiba 1stRING.

The ZERO1 vs. NWF feud will be continuing strong with the 3 matches, 4 if you include ZERO64, with the NWF looking to maintain their win streak heading out of the Korakuen Hall show on May 4th.
James Raideen will be leading the group in the main event bout as he teams with Tama Williams and Mark Coffey to take on Shinjiro Otani, Masato Tanaka and Shito Ueda. NWF will definitely have a hard task in front of them with the ZERO1 leaders in Otani and Tanaka, but a win would certainly give them more power than ever.
Raideen also expressed that he and Maybach β want to challenge for the Intercontinental Tag belts which are currently held by Akebono and Daisuke Sekimoto.

Otani also announced that the 2013 edition of the Fire Festival will be taking place from July 17th to August 4th. The opening show on July 17th will also be held in the honor of Naohiro Hoshikawa, who would be celebrating his 20th Anniversary as a pro wrestler. Hoshikawa career was cut short in late 200r as he suffered a career ending injury while in competition.

This show will also see the dream teaming of Ikuto Hidaka and Fujita “Jr” Hayato as they take on, the current double junior champion, Jonathan Gresham and Jack Anthony. Gresham currently has no challenger for his newly won belts, but this match could potentially set up his first challenger.

Below is the announced card for the show.

Pro Wrestling ZERO1, 5/19/2013 [Sun] 12:00 @ Shinkiba 1st RING

(-) Kohei Sato, KAMIKAZE & Ryoji Sai vs. Yoshikazu Yokoyama, Toru Sugiura & Naoshi Sano
(-) ZERO64 vs NWF Tag Match: Takuya Sugawara & Mineo Fujita vs. Craig Classic & Jason New

(-) ZERO1 vs NWF Tag Match: Ikuto Hidaka & Fujita “Jr” Hayato vs. Jonathan Gresham & Jack Anthony

(-) ZERO1 vs NWF Single Match: Yusaku Obata vs. Maybach β

(-) ZERO1 vs NWF 6 Man Tag Match: Shinjiro Otani, Masato Tanaka & Shito Ueda vs. James Raideen, Tama Williams & Mark Coffey

[Kenta Kobashi Update] It is being reported on Japanese news...

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:54:39 -0500

[Kenta Kobashi Update] It is being reported on Japanese news sites that Kobashi had underwent an examination on his neck following his retirement match on May 11th and the test results have come back that there were no problems found.

Kobashi was reported to have had pains in his neck following his last match and he went to the hospital that night. Though it seems Kobashi can now rest easy knowing that he is healthy, and there was mention that he plans to take his wife on their much needed honeymoon.

Kobashi had just recently underwent surgery last year in July and the recuperation time from that surgery is what kept him from being able to make his original plans to retire in February of this year.

This is good news for Kobashi and I personally hope all the best to Kobashi and his future plans.

[Real Japan News] It was announced that The First Tiger Mask...

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:30:54 -0500

[Real Japan News] It was announced that The First Tiger Mask will be facing Naomichi Marufuji, one on one, for RJPW’s upcoming show on June 7th.

Marufuji and Tiger have faced off once before in singles competition back on March 10, 2006, in which Tiger pulled out the victory via pinfall. This was still noted as a strong showing for Marufuji at the time and much respect was show from Tiger himself. Though two have tag together at least on two separate occasions and this will mark the singles match between the two since 7 years and 3 months. This will be yet another encounter between the old and new prodigy’s of wrestler.

Real Japan Pro Wrestling “Yes,We Can! ~Revival of the Real Strong Style ~”, 6/7/2013 [Fri] 18:30 @ Korakuen Hall in Tokyo

(1) Super Rider vs. Hayato Mashita

(2) Masao Orihara [Mobius] & Gran Hamada [free] vs. Wakashoyo [Free] & Hikaru Sato [Pancrase MISSION]

(3) Ultimo Dragon [Toryumon MEXICO] vs. Kendo Nakazaki

(4) Yuki Ishikawa [Free] & Mitsuya Nagai [Dradition] vs. Tiger Shark & Katsumi Usuda [Free]

(5) Riki Choshu [RikiPro], Super Tiger & Alexander Otsuka [AODC] vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa [Free], Daisuke Sekimoto [BJW] & Yuji Okabayashi [BJW]

(6) The First Tiger Mask vs. Naomichi Marufuji [NOAH]

[Puroresu Spirit Extra] Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka...

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:48:00 -0500

[Puroresu Spirit Extra] Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka “ALL” meme’s, enjoy.

The Yano one came to mind after me and a couple friends were joking with him always hijacking everyone’s titles over the last couple of years. Hopefully you guys get a good laugh out of it.
Then the Iizuka one involves him always attacking NJPW’s commentator, Shinpei Nogami, and taking his shirt from him.

[NOAH News] Pro Wrestling NOAH announced the next defenses for...

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:43:06 -0500

[NOAH News] Pro Wrestling NOAH announced the next defenses for the GHC Heavyweight and GHC Tag titles.

First up is KENTA defending the GHC Heavyweight belt against Toru Yano on June 2nd. Following his 2nd defense of this past weekend against Sugiura, no one actually came forward to him face to face. Though earlier in the night Toru Yano, following his team’s successful defense of the tag titles, actually made a call out that he wants a shot at the GHC singles belt.
Well that brings us to a day later, and KENTA announced that he will take Yano up on his offer on the condition that him and Takayama get a tag title shot soon following. So it seems things have been set in place to happen in early June.
KENTA and Takayama of course won the Global Tag League in April and earned themselves the right to challenge for the tag belts, and KENTA has stated that he wants to not only bring the tag belts home where they belong, but to also be called a double crown champion. KENTA aims to continue this new chapter in NOAH by doing his best show after show.

Also following the shows this weekend, Takashi Sugiura has joined officially joined alongside KENTA and NO MERCY. There seemed to be a lot of respect between KENTA and Sugi following their fierce battle over the GHC and a partnership between the two was agreed upon in the ring right after the match. What this means for Sugiura and his ex-group in BRAVE is unknown, but the two groups will be facing off in the next tour later this month. It should also be noted that Sugiura is an officer in NOAH, and it should be interesting to see if anything comes in to play with his power within NOAH.

Below are the announced title matches that will take place in June.

NOAH “Southern Navig. 2013”, 6/2/2013 [Sun] 17:00 @ Hakata Starlanes

(-) GHC Heavyweight Championship Match: [19th Champion] KENTA vs. [Challenger] Toru Yano (NJPW/CHAOS)
~ 3rd title defense.

NOAH “Southern Navig. 2013”, 6/8/2013 [Sat] 18:30 @ Nasci Hall Umeda in Osaka

(-) GHC Tag Championship Match: [28th Champions] “CHAOS” Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka (NJPW) vs. [Challengers] “NO MERCY” KENTA & Yoshihiro Takayama
~ 2nd title defense.

Also check out the link below to the see the update May cards to reflect SUWA’s absense and Sugiura joining NO MERCY.
http://www.puroresuspirit.com/2013/05/02/noah-event-cards-for-may-june-2013/

[NOAH Update] During today’s NOAH show, Akira Taue...

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:20:00 -0500

[NOAH Update] During today’s NOAH show, Akira Taue announced that he would be retiring from active competition this December.

Of course, I posted this news in the daily results on the website, but I noticed some other details that I thought should be shared.
http://www.puroresuspirit.com/2013/05/12/results-for-may-12-2013/

Apparently Taue aims to retire this December at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo. No official date nor time has been set, but where it will happen has indeed been determined.
Taue aims to retire and dedicate himself fully as the acting President of Pro Wrestling NOAH, or in other words he wants to concentrate on the future of the promotion.
It seems that Taue was going to announce his retirement sooner, but due to Takeshi Rikio’s announcement to retire in November of 2011 and the news that Kobashi was going to make the following year, Taue decided to hold off on his own announcement.
Taue has competed in the ring only a few occasions in the last couple of years and he stated that it is the right time for him to make the formal announcement.

Of course Kenta Kobashi just retired from professional wrestling a day ago, 5/11, and this makes 3 of the 4 “Corners of Heaven” officially done with wrestling as of the end of this year. I would say all 4, but Toshiaki Kawada has not formally announced a retirement of any kind. From what has gathered, Kawada has merely just taken some much needed time away to rest and run his own personal ramen shop.

Though speaking of Kawada, if he were to indeed return? Could we seen a last return of the “Holy Demon Army”? Kawada is one of the few remaining figures in Taue’s career and it would definitely mark a huge moment if Kawada made his return, at least for this final show for Taue.

[Kenta Kobashi’s Final Match from May 11th] Kenta Kobashi,...

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:07:39 -0500

[Kenta Kobashi’s Final Match from May 11th]
Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama, Keiji Mutoh & Kensuke Sasaki vs. KENTA, Go Shiozaki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Maybach Taniguchi, 5/11/2013 @ Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.
~ Full match including entrances and final ceremony.

#ThankYouKobashi

NOAH [KENTA v. Sugiura], DDT & K-DOJO results for May 12,...

Sun, 12 May 2013 09:43:51 -0500

NOAH [KENTA v. Sugiura], DDT & K-DOJO results for May 12, 2013

Pro Wrestling NOAH “Ark New Chapter”, 5/12/2013 [Sun] 12:00 @ Korakuen Hall in Tokyo
2,200 Spectators

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[NOAH News] NOAH announced that SUWA will be unable to compete...

Sat, 11 May 2013 20:53:52 -0500

[NOAH News] NOAH announced that SUWA will be unable to compete at today’s, 5/12, Korakuen Hall show as he is suffering from a cervical spine injury. There was no mention of the severity of the injury, but given it is so early in the day I doubt he has undergone an full examination at this time. Expect an update once the details are known.

His scheduled match has been changed accordingly with an interesting addition with a Maybach SUWA Jr., whoever that might actually be is unknown at this time.

Pro Wrestling NOAH “Ark New Chapter”, 5/12/2013 [Sun] 12:00 @ Korakuen Hall in Tokyo

(1) Ark New Chapter Opening Match: Taiji Ishimori vs. Hitoshi Kumano
(2) Go Forward Tag Match: Naomichi Marufuji & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Genba Hirayanagi & Maybach SUWA Jr.
(3) Battle of Spirits Single Match: Mohammed Yone vs. Maybach Taniguchi
(4) Momo no Seishun Showdown Single Match: Atsushi Kotoge vs. Daisuke Harada
(5) BATTLE THE SUPER HEAVY Single Match: Takeshi Morishima vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (Takayama Hall)

(6) GHC Tag Championship Match: [28th Champions] “CHAOS” Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka (NJPW) vs. [Challengers] “TMDK” Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste
~ 1st title defense.

(7) GHC Heavyweight Championship Match: [19th Champion] KENTA vs. [Challenger] Takashi Sugiura
~ 2nd title defense.

“The Absolute Champion” Kenta Kobashi’s...

Sat, 11 May 2013 11:51:48 -0500

“The Absolute Champion” Kenta Kobashi’s closing ceremony for his retirement. Kobashi was in tears as he said his final goodbye’s to the fans in attendance and the wrestlers who stood around the ring. Kobashi made his way down the ramp to his theme song as the fans cheered “Ko-ba-shi” loudly. A fitting end to one of the all time greats of the sport.

#ThankYouKobashi

Kenta Kobashi’s final entrance as a professional...

Sat, 11 May 2013 10:41:46 -0500

Kenta Kobashi’s final entrance as a professional wrestler.
#ThankYouKobashi

Many wrestlers showed their respects for Kobashi during his...

Sat, 11 May 2013 10:34:46 -0500

Many wrestlers showed their respects for Kobashi during his retirement ceremony.

FINAL BURNING [Kobashi’s Retirement Show] results for May...

Sat, 11 May 2013 08:36:24 -0500

FINAL BURNING [Kobashi’s Retirement Show] results for May 11, 2013

FINAL BURNING in Budokan ~ Kenta Kobashi’s Retirement Commemorative Event, 5/11/2013 [Sat] 17:00 @…

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[Match of the Day - Kenta Kobashi Series] Here is the tenth...

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:04:59 -0500

[Match of the Day - Kenta Kobashi Series] Here is the tenth match of this eleven match series, as we countdown to Kenta Kobashi’s official retirement on May 11th.

Kenta Kobashi vs. Kensuke Sasaki from July 18, 2005 at Destiny 2005 at the Tokyo Dome.

Considered to be two of the strongest brute force wrestlers in Japan. These two are known for their brutal chops and their hard hitting lariats. Both are very similar in terms of their career rise and have held numerous titles throughout their careers. This singles showdown was the ultimate dream match for many fans who grew up watching these two throughout their careers. There is a lot of pride and determination from both to win and they go to great lengths to try and show that there is no quit between them. That includes taking whatever big maneuvers the other has and getting back up to their feet. This leads to one of the most noteworthy moments in the match as these two end up having the lengthiest, back and forth, chop battle in the history of puroresu. Both Kobashi and Sasaki would show their fighting spirit and manage to keep the fans in attendance enthralled throughout the match.

Bonus match: Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima from November 5, 2005 at the Nippon Budokan.

All Japan Official Videos for May 10, 2013

Fri, 10 May 2013 13:56:17 -0500

Suwama vs. KENSO, 2012 Champion Carnival - A Block Match, from April 29, 2012 at the Fukuyama...