|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Diamond Ring on 2/11/14
review by Kevin Wilson
Date: February 11th, 2014 This event has more significance than we thought when the card originally took place. What seemed like a special but not incredible Diamond Ring card turned into much more when days after the event Sasaki announced he was retiring. He did not plan on having a retirement match, so this match against Nakajima was his retirement match. He just didn't tell us first. Also on the card, we get some NOAH wrestlers and some All Japan wrestlers as well. Here is the full card: - "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa, CHANGO, and Namazu Man vs. Kikutaro, NOSAWA Rongai, and Antonio Honda "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa, CHANGO, and Namazu Man vs. Kikutaro, NOSAWA Rongai, and Antonio Honda Match Thoughts: A comedy match that we only saw a bit of. I think that Namazu Man is Sugi, which is only notable because I like Sugi but it wasn’t a large enough sample size for me to be sure. Anyway this was pretty clipped up so hard to judge, but it didn’t look like there was much to it as it looked like a pretty average tag team match. Score: 3.5 Natsuki*Taiyo and Sareee vs. Yumiko Hotta and La Comandante (with Mima Shimoda) Match Thoughts: I wish I could have seen more of this match, Sareee and Natsuki*Taiyo are very spunky. I didn’t like the blatant interference throughout the match by Shimoda… I know that interference is a little more lax in Japan but it shouldn’t become a 3 vs. 2 match. Besides that I thought it was solid action, it was just too clipped up to really get into. Score: 5.0 Go Shiozaki vs. Kento Miyahara Shiozaki goes off the ropes and hits a lariat as Miyahara as he is getting up, cover, but it gets another two count. Shiozaki picks up Miyahara but Miyahara elbows him back and they trade elbows and chops. Shiozaki gets the better of it, he picks up Miyahara, Irish whip, and Miyahara dropkicks Shiozaki in the knee. Dropkick to the head by Miyahara, he picks up Shiozaki and throws him into the corner. Irish whip by Miyahara and he hits a jumping elbow in the corner. Northern Lights Suplex by Miyahara, but it only gets a two count. Miyahara picks up Shiozaki and goes for a German suplex, but Shiozaki blocks it. Elbow by Shiozaki but Miyahara hits an superkick. They trade kicks but Shiozaki hits a chop combination. Superkick by Miyahara and both men fall hurt to the mat. Shining Wizard by Miyahara in the corner and he hits a sit-down powerbomb. Cover by Miyahara but it gets a two count. Miyahara picks up Shiozaki and hits the German suplex hold, but Shiozaki barely gets a shoulder up. Miyahara picks up Shiozaki and applies a double underhook, but Shiozaki gets out of it and hits a lariat. Both wrestlers slowly get up, chop by Shiozaki but Miyahara returns with an elbow. They trade shots, uppercuts by Miyahara but Shiozaki hits a lariat. Miyahara doesn’t go down, Shiozaki goes off the ropes but Miyahara kicks him back. Miyahara goes off the ropes but Shiozaki catches him with a hard lariat, cover, but it gets a two count. Shiozaki picks up Miyahara and nails the Go Flasher, cover, and he gets the three count. Your winner: Go Shiozaki Match Thoughts: Ah now this match was good. I only recently discovered Miyahara, and Shiozaki was already one of my favorites. They didn’t get a ton of time but did the best they could within those restraints. Shiozaki never stopped doing lariats even though his arm was hurt but it did impact his moves, and they kept up a fast pace. Also very hard hitting, between the moves outside the ring to the chops, so even though they were on a mid-card match on a small Indy show, they didn’t hold back anything. Good stuff all the way around. Score: 7.5 Daichi Hashimoto and Tank Nagai vs. Mitsuhiro Kitamiya and Hitoshi Kumano Hashimoto tags in Nagai, Nagai grabs Kitamiya and hits him in the back. Nagai goes off the ropes and hits an elbow, over, but it gets two. More elbows by Nagai, Irish whip to the corner and Nagai rams Kitamiya in the corner. Fallaway slam by Nagai, cover, but it gets a two count. Nagai picks up Kitamiya and goes for a suplex but Kitamiya lands on his feet. Hiptoss by Kitamiya but Nagai elbows Kitamiya and they trade shots. Kitamiya goes off the ropes but Nagai catches him with an uranage. German suplex by Kitamiya and he tags in Kumano while Nagai tags in Hashimoto. Hashimoto kicks Kumano in the stomach but Kumano delivers a dropkick. Running elbow by Kumano in the corner and he hits a vertical suplex. Kumano goes for Fisherman Buster, Kumano gets out of it but Kumano still hits an STO. Fisherman suplex hold by Kumano to Hashimoto, but it gets a two count. Kumano goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. Cover by Kumano, but it gets a two count. Kumano picks up Hashimoto but Hashimoto hits an enzigieri. Kick combination by Hashimoto and he delivers a heel kick. Hashimoto picks up Kumano and hits a backdrop suplex. Hashimoto goes off the ropes and hits the PK, cover, but it only gets a two count. Hashimoto picks up Kumano and goes off the ropes but Kumano ducks the kick and rolls up Hashimoto for a two count. Another roll-up by Kumano, but it gets two again. Kumano stomps Hashimoto in the back, Kumano throws Hashimoto into the corner but Hashimoto moves out of the way and kicks Kumano in the corner. German suplex hold by Hashimoto, but Kumano kicks out at two. Hashimoto waits for Kumano to get up and hits the Triangle Kick. Kick to the head by Hashimoto, he picks up Kumano and hits the Shining Wizard. Cover by Hashimoto and he picks up the three count. Your winners: Daichi Hashimoto and Tank Nagai Match Thoughts: A little more strike-based than I prefer but I knew that going in once I saw the participants. The only real issue I have with strike-based matches is it doesn’t have the normal ups and downs of a match, as even 90% of the way through it they are still just trading strikes with no evidence of long term selling. So the match could feasibly be only three minutes long and you’d likely have the same result. The stretch run was good and the strikes for the most part were snug, it was just a bit dry and I never felt pulled into the match. Score: 5.0 Fujita "Jr." Hayato and Satoshi Kajiwara vs. Naomichi Marufuji and Taiji Ishimori Ishimori picks up Kajiwara and throws him into the corner before hitting a chop, he drapes Kajiwara’s head over the second rope and Marufuji hits a running dropkick from the floor. Marufuji comes in the ring, covers Kajiwara but it gets a two count. Marufuji picks up Kajiwara and applies a neck crank, snapmare by Marufuji and he stomps Kajiwara in the face. Neck twist by Marufuji, cover, but it gets two. Marufuji picks up Kajiwara and elbows him in the back of the head, chops by Marufuji in the corner, Irish whip, but Kajiwara moves when Marufuji charges in and kicks him back. Kajiwara goes up to the top turnbuckle but Marufuji recovers and joins him up top. Kajiwara hits a top rope hurricanrana onto Marufuji and makes the tag to Hayato. Kicks to the chest by Hayato, he goes off the ropes and hits a running knee to the chest. STO by Hayato and he dropkicks Marufuji in the face. Marufuji rolls out of the ring, Hayato goes out to the apron and delivers a running kick to Marufuji while he is standing on the floor. Hayato throws Marufuji back into the ring, cover, but it gets a two count. Hayato goes off the ropes, drop toehold by Marufuji but Hayato avoids the running kick. Hayato goes off the ropes but Marufuji catches him with a lariat and tags in Ishimori. Ishimori charges Hayato in the corner and hits a double knee, Irish whip, reversed by Hayato but Ishimori hits a handstand springboard cutter for a two count cover. Ishimori goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving double knee strike, cover, but it also gets a two count. Ishimori picks up Hayato and goes for a suplex but Hayato gets out of it, he goes off the ropes but Ishimori catches him with piledriver onto his knees. Cover, but Hayato gets a shoulder up. Ishimori goes up to the top turnbuckle but Hayato rolls out of the way of the 450 Splash and kicks Ishimori in the chest. Hayato tags in Kajiwara, Kajiwara dropkicks Ishimori out of the ring and goes off the ropes, but Marufuji runs in the ring to intercept Kajiwara. Hurricanrana by Kajiwara to Marufuji which sends Marufuji out of the ring next to Ishimori, and Kajiwara sails out onto both men with a tope con giro. Kajiwara picks up Ishimori and slides him into the ring, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. Jumping elbow strike by Kajiwara in the corner, scoop slam, and he delivers a second turnbuckle moonsault. Cover, but Ishimori kicks out. Kajiwara picks up Ishimori, Irish whip to the corner but Ishimori kicks him as he charges in. German suplex by Ishimori and he tags in Marufuji. Marufuji charges Kajiwara in the corner and hits a jumping elbow strike, snapmare, and Marufuji hits a jumping double stomp to Kajiwara’s face. Thrust kick by Marufuji, cover, but Kajiwara gets a shoulder up. Shiranui attempt by Marufuji, Kajiwara gets out of it, Marufuji goes for a suplex but Kajiwara lands on his feet and hits a hurricanrana for a two count. Jumping kick by Kajiwara and he hits a front suplex followed by a superkick. Hayato comes in the ring, Kajiwara slams Marufuji to the mat and Hayato hits the PK. Kajiwara positions Marufuji in front of the corner, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits the moonsault. Cover, but Ishimori breaks it up. Kajiwara picks up Marufuji and gets him on his shoulders, Marufuji elbows out of it and dropkicks Kajiwara in the face. Ishimori comes in the ring and he delivers a swinging kick, and then Marufuji hits the Shiranui. Cover, but Hayato breaks it up. Marufuji picks up Kajiwara but Kajiwara drives Marufuji back into the corner. Kajiwara charges Marufuji, they trade kicks but Marufuji hits a high kick to Marufuji followed by a kick to the chest. Cover, but Kajiwara gets a shoulder up. Marufuji picks up Kajiwara, Kajiwara elbows Marufuji but Marufuji elbows him back. Big knee by Marufuji, cover, but again it gets two. Marufuji picks up Kajiwara and nails the Tiger Flowsion, cover, and he gets the three count. Your winners: Naomichi Marufuji and Taiji Ishimori Match Thoughts: This was an entertaining match from start to finish with very little downtime and lots of action. Kajiwara and Hayato both more than held their own, and the match had a ‘big match’ feel with Marufuji in it. Hayato always looks like a breakout star whenever I see him, but that has been true for many years, I don’t know as long as he stays in Michinoku Pro if he will ever be able to elevate beyond where he is right now. Anyway a really entertaining match, not a classic or anything but a solid match to lead into the main event. Score: 7.0 Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kensuke Sasaki Nakajima takes Sasaki into the stands, he gets a running start and kicks Sasaki in the chest. Sasaki chops him back and they trade blows, Nakajima charges Sasaki but Sasaki catches him with a powerslam on the floor. Sasaki picks up Nakajima and takes him back down the stairs and into the ring again, cover by Sasaki but it gets a two count. Sasaki picks up Nakajima and throws him into the corner before hitting a pair of lariats. Chops by Sasaki, Irish whip, and Sasaki hits the face crusher. Sasaki picks up Nakajima and hits alternating lariats before delivering the Ipponzeoi. Tornado Bomb by Sasaki, cover, but it gets a two count. Sasaki applies the Strangle Hold Gamma, but Nakajima gets a foot on the bottom rope. Sasaki charges Nakajima in the corner but Nakajima hits a drop toehold. Back up, Sasaki goes off the ropes but Nakajima hits a trio of kicks. Modified bow and arrow by Nakajima, but Sasaki gets to the ropes. Nakajima picks up Sasaki, waistlock by Nakajima but Sasaki elbows out of it. Backdrop suplex by Nakajima, he goes off the ropes but Sasaki catches him with a powerslam. Nakajima comes back with a high kick, and both wrestlers are on the mat. Nakajima is up first and he kicks Sasaki in the chest, but Sasaki chops him back. Lariat by Sasaki, he goes off the ropes and levels Nakajima with another one. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Sasaki goes off the ropes again but Nakajima kicks him in the arm and hits a German suplex hold for a two count. Back up, Sasaki hits a lariat onto Nakajima and picks him up, but Nakajima hits a brainbuster. Nakajima goes off the ropes and hits the PK, cover, but it gets a two count. Nakajima picks up Sasaki and hits another German suplex hold, but it gets another two count. Nakajima picks up Sasaki again and hits another German suplex hold, and this time he picks up the three count. Your winner: Katsuhiko Nakajima Match Thoughts: Not the classic that one may be hoping for from Sasaki’s last match, but still an entertaining match overall. I didn’t like the brawling into the crowd – I am seeing this more and more in 2014 and it is just a time waster. Also since Nakajima has many different moves, the German suplex doesn’t really work as the type of move you try over and over until it works like a strike move does. On the plus side, the strikes were stiff, the crowd stayed into it, and besides killing time in the crowd there wasn’t really any down time as the submissions moves used all seemed legit and not like rest holds. So definitely good overall, but not much more than that. Score: 6.0 Final Thoughts: Best Match: Go Shiozaki vs. Kento Miyahara. If only these guys were given more time. They have great chemistry together and don’t mind beating the crap out of each other, what more could you ask for? For a mid-card match they brought a lot of fire, and it just made me want to see them in a more main-event setting. A nice little surprise by the All Japan wrestlers. MVP: Katsuhiko Nakajima. For the first time, Nakajima got the win over his mentor. This is the way it is supposed to work – Sasaki and Nakajima have had a close relationship since he first debuted, but Sasaki has always been ranked above Nakajima, so anytime their paths crossed it was always Sasaki that got the upper hand. But with Sasaki set to retire, it was time for him to pass the torch in his first singles loss since November of 2011. Now Nakajima is the de facto leader of Diamond Ring and he will have to lead it, but Sasaki did all he could to help him on his way out. Overall: Only a six match card, but it had two really good matches and one really historical match – the retirement match of Kensuke Sasaki. In America, a wrestler retiring doesn’t really mean anything at all but in Japan they are a little better about it. Kawada, Inoki, Taue, and Kobashi never had another match after they retired, even though there was lots of money to be made if they returned for a special ‘one time only’ match (especially for Inoki and Kawada). While who is to say that Sasaki will never set foot in the ring again, it seems likely this will be his last match, and he went out the way that any teacher would want to as he put over his student of the last 10 years. Between the historical significance and the two very entertaining matches that came before it, I think this event is definitely worth watching. Grade: B+ review completed on 3/1/14 |
||||
|