Welcome to the debut of, yet, another series for me in the Bleacher Report Pro Wrestling Section, “The World Wrestling Newswire.” Several times a week, I’ll be taking a look at what’s going on in the world of professional wrestling. Pay extra attention to the word “world.”
The time has come for the Bleacher Report pro wrestling section to expand its coverage of the pro wrestling business. You see, when I say I’ll be taking a look at what’s going on in the world of professional wrestling, I don’t just mean the WWE or TNA. I’m talking about the actual pro wrestling world in its entirety.
For some of you readers, your pro wrestling world (or in your case, sports entertainment world) is the WWE. If that is the case, you are missing out on a lot, but it’s not your fault. WWE magazines dominate the news stands nowadays, and it’s becoming increasingly more difficult (for me, at least) to even find an issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated in this country.
Many writers are afraid to cover the American independents or pro wrestling from nations outside of the United States because they fear it won’t rack up a large number of reads and comments. Fear will not dictate how effectively this site covers professional wrestling under my watch.
There’s a lot of great action you people are missing out on, so we’re going to cover it. There’s a whole, fantastic world of professional wrestling that Vince McMahon would more than likely rather not have you see.
Every week, the “World Wrestling Newswire” will cover professional wrestling news from promotions not named WWE or TNA. You’ll see coverage of Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, All-Japan Pro Wrestling, Dragon Gate and Pro Wrestling NOAH.
I’ll cover Lucha Libre and bring you news from Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and/or Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (or CMLL and AAA as many of you know them as) down in Mexico. You’ll even see coverage of the United Kindgom’s One Pro Wrestling, Australia’s Australasian Wrestling Federation, and the American Independent circuit. These are just some of the many promotions this series will be covering.
I think at this point you get the idea. I’ll be bringing you news from around the world in professional wrestling.
I feel that there is entirely too much focus on Vince McMahon’s WWE on this website. There is more to the professional wrestling business than the machinations of Vince McMahon’s twisted, profit driven imagination. Besides, this is the Bleacher Report Pro Wrestling Community and not the WWE Universe.
On a related note, I will be teaming with Bleacher Report’s Mike Cranwell to cover Japanese pro wrestling, or puroresu, here in the wrestling community over the next couple of weeks. More on that as it develops.
So, without further ado, let’s get this moving along shall we?
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla News
This Sunday, June 28, California’s Pro Wrestling Guerrilla will be presenting a show entitled “The Secret of Guerrilla Island.” It will be taking place at the American Legion Post No. 308 in Reseda, CA.
In some unfortunate news, “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson (known by many of you for his work in Ring of Honor), who was originally scheduled to be wrestling at the show, is unable to compete this weekend after contracting a staph infection that requires immediate treatment.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla had the following to say about the unfortunate, last second bad news on their website, www.ProWrestlingGuerrilla.com.
“Due to the last minute nature of this news, it has been difficult to find an all-around viable replacement for a wrestler that many consider to be the best in the world, but if there’s one thing Pro Wrestling Guerrilla is known for, it is to make the best of bad situations. With that said, the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Board of Directors have changed the lineup for The Secret of Guerrilla Island to what is widely believed to be the best, and most kick-ass, possible solution.”
The Secret of Guerrilla Island takes place this Sunday, June 28 at 5:00PM at American Legion Post No. 308 in Reseda, CA, and will feature:
* No Disqualification Match: Necro Butcher vs. Joey Ryan
* Kenny Omega vs. Roderick Strong
* El Generico vs. Scott Lost
* Chuck Taylor vs. Human Tornado
* Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Champion Nick Jackson vs. Davey Richards
* The Cutler Brothers (Brandon and Dustin Cutler) vs. vs. Malachi “CK” Jackson & Jerome “LTP” Robinson
* Plus the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla debut of Johnny Goodtime!
I would also strongly recommend that you check out the Secret of Guerrilla Island hype video. The beginning sounds awfully familiar doesn’t it?
The Secret of Guerrilla Island Hype Video
If you happen to live anywhere near Reseda, California or are willing to travel there to see this event, here are some vitals from PWG’s website:
“Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s The Secret of Guerrilla Island takes place Sunday, June 28, 2009, at 5:00 PM at American Legion Post No. 308 in Reseda, CA. American Legion Post No. 308 is located at 7338 Canby Ave., Reseda, CA 91335. General Admission tickets are $20 and will be available at the door. For more information, please visit http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com. Video recording devices are not permitted. Card subject to change.”
New Japan Pro Wrestling News
Congratulations to Hiroshi Tanahashi, the ace of New Japan Pro Wrestling, who defeated Manabu Nakanishi at a June 20 show in Osaka at Korakuen Hall to win back the IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt that he lost to Nakanishi roughly one month ago at Korakuen Hall.
5,800 fans turned out to see the two men square off for the belt and the half-hour bout did not disappoint. Tanahashi pinned the crowd favorite Nakanishi after hitting his High Fly Flow finisher. The crowd applauded and showed respect for the new champion and the man many believe is the man in New Japan.
In even bigger news following the match, Tanahashi was confronted by Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Takashi Sugiura, who scored a upset over one of New Japan’s top wrestlers, Hirooki Goto (who incidentally celebrated his 30th birthday today) earlier in the show.
NOAH is a rival promotion to New Japan and the two promotions have been working together in recent weeks in a cross promotional effort. The war between the two promotions pits New Japan’s strong style of professional wrestling against Pro Wrestling NOAH’s modified king’s road style of professional wrestling.
For those who aren’t familiar with those terms, strong style places a strong emphasis on submission wrestling and features stiff kicks and strikes from various martial art disciplines across the globe. This style is utilized to simulate professional wrestling as a combat sport.
The king’s road style is a derivative of the American wrestling style seen used by NWA legends Dory Funk Jr, Terry Funk, and Harley Race, all of whom wrestled for Shohei “Giant” Baba in Japan. Baba was the promoter and founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling, which is where the king’s road style originates from in puroresu. King’s road places an emphasis on brawling, the working of holds, and the in ring storytelling elements in the art of professional wrestling.
Tanahashi was not remotely threatened by the presence of Sugiura, as Tanahashi appeared to take the serious challenge of Sugiura quite lightly. New Japan is regarded as the best pro wrestling promotion in Japan and is one of the most successful pro wrestling promotions on the planet, which is likely the reason for Tanahashi’s arrogance. NOAH has managed to out draw New Japan in the celebrated Tokyo Dome venue on occasion, but is still considered a secondary promotion in Japan.
In light of their confrontation, a historical first in puroresu has been announced. Tanahashi will make his V1 defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Title against NOAH’s Sugiura on July 20th at the Tsukisamu Alpha Court Dome in the first ever New Japan vs. NOAH match contested for the IWGP Heavyweight Title.
Elsewhere on the June 20 show at Korakuen Hall, there was a bloody and brutal war between former tag team partners. Toru Yano, with help from his Chaos stablemate Shinsuke Nakamura, scored an upset victory over Togi Makabe.
Team 3D of TNA Wrestling successfully defended their IWGP Tag Team Championships by defeating the team of Giant Bernard (formerly Prince Albert in the WWE) and Karl Anderson. Young up-and-comer Kazuchika Okada made a strong impression against newly crowned GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki from Pro Wrestling NOAH.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Tiger Mask IV continued his feud with the Black Tiger. Earlier this year, Tiger Mask ended the reign of former Ring of Honor superstar Rocky Romero as the fourth installment of Black Tiger. On this night, Tiger Mask defeated the fifth Black Tiger and removed his mask to reveal GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Tatsuhito Takaiwa from Pro Wrestling NOAH.
Koji Kanemoto, who recently won New Japan’s Annual Best of the Super Juniors Tournament on June 14, confronted Tiger Mask IV following the bout. The two outstanding talents will meet in Sapporo, Japan next month on July 20 for Tiger Mask’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. This contest will be apart of the very same show that will feature the match up between Tanahashi and Sugiura for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
The Apollo 55 team of Ryusuke Taguchi and Prince Devitt defeated Milano Collection AT and Taichi in a match that was contested to determine the number one contenders for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles held by The Motor City Machine Guns from TNA Wrestling. When I get word of when that title match will take place, I’ll pass that along to you right here on the World Wrestling Newswire. That is until next time.
P.S…as this is a column that covers the world of professional wrestling, it is my job to expose you to things in the world of wrestling you may never have seen before. Ergo…behold! Player Uno!
He is a wrestler from Chikara Pro in Philadelphia who uses a gimmick where he portrays the player using the first controller on an old school Nintendo Entertainment System. Unfortunately, his controller is located on the side of his trunks. Sometimes it helps him….sometimes it hurts him. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P9qgbT1YwY&feature=related
Sources: www.ProWrestlingGuerrilla.com, www.puroresufan.com.