Date:  January 25th, 2015
Location:  Chiba Blue Field in Chiba, Japan
Announced Attendance:  149

My last obscure promotion review for the week, I will jump back into New Japan soon so that I don’t get behind.  But I want to get as many different promotions done for January, and few promotions are more different than K-DOJO.  K-DOJO has literally been around forever and even though they are not a large promotion they put on consistently entertaining events.  K-DOJO put on two events on 1/25 but only one was taped, here is the full card:

- Kotaro Yoshino vs. TAKA Michinoku
- Hi69 and Yoshihiro Doguchi vs. Ricky Fuji and Bambi
- Daigoro Kashiwa, Ryuichi Sekine, and Kotaro Nasu vs. Kunio Toshia, Tank Nagai, and Yuma
- Shiori Asahi and Ayumu Honda vs. Yuji Hino and Hiro Tonai
- UWA World Middleweight Championship: Kaji Tomato vs. Yuki Sato
- CHAMPION OF STRONGEST-K Championship: Kengo Mashimo vs. Saburo Inematsu

Some quality wrestlers here, let’s see how it works out.

Kotaro Yoshino vs. TAKA Michinoku
They trade wristlocks and hammerlocks to start, they go to the mat but Yoshino gets in the ropes.  Headscissors by Michinoku but Yoshino gets to the ropes again.  A thrilling match so far as you can probably tell.  More mat work by Michinoku, they get back up and Yoshino applies a wristlock.  Headlock by Michinoku but Yoshino elbows him.  A lot.  Yoshino goes off the ropes and hits a shoulderblock followed by a scoop slam.  Body press by Yoshino but it gets a two.  Yoshino goes off the ropes but Michinoku applies the Just Facelock.  Crooked Headscissors by Michinoku and Yoshino quickly taps out.   Yoshino is still ‘honing his craft’ so to speak so there wasn’t much to this match.  Although they did make a shoulderblock seem exciting so I give them credit for that anyway.  Hopefully Yoshino graduates to more interesting matches soon.  Score:  3.0

Hi69 and Yoshihiro Doguchi vs. Ricky Fuji and Bambi
Hi69 and Fuji start things off.  Wristlocks and what not to start, eventually Fuji applies a reverse chinlock on the mat and he tags in Bambi.  Hi69 tags in Doguchi, Doguchi gets Bambi in the ropes and gives a clean break.  Shoulderblock by Doguchi but Bambi hits a hiptoss and tags in Fuji.  Fuji stomps on Doguchi and tags Bambi back in, Bambi comes in with her whip and hits Doguchi with it.  Bambi chokes Doguchi with the whip as I wonder what in the world the referee is up to.  Sleeper by Fuji and he tags in Bambi.  Bambi presses her hip on Doguchi in the corner (not sure if that is supposed to be painful or not) and tags Fuji back in.  Doguchi and Fuji trade chops, then Fuji hits a delayed vertical suplex.  Doguchi finally kicks Fuji back, boot by Doguchi and he tags in Hi69.  Lariat by Hi69 and he hits a quebrada for a two.  Bambi runs in to break up a submission, scoop slam by Hi69 to Fuji but Fuji is up and throws him off.  Punches by Hi69 but Fuji hits a Frankensteiner for a two count.  Hi69 slides away and kicks Fuji before tagging in Doguchi.  Running elbow by Doguchi and he hits a big boot to Fuji.  Vertical suplex by Doguchi, he goes up top and hits a diving lariat.  Some of this stuff looks so awkward.  Kick by Fuji and he hits the Kamikaze before tagging in Bambi.  High kick by Bambi and she hits a face crusher for a two.  STO by Bambi and she applies a stretch submission, but Hi69 breaks it up.  Doguchi hits a scissors kick and tags in Hi69.  Double Irish whip to Bambi and she is struck multiple times in the corner.  Double super kick, cover, but Fuji breaks it up.  Hi69 goes for a knee but Bambi blocks it, inside cradle by Bambi but it gets two.  Hi69 lands a perfect spinning high kick followed by a Buzzsaw kick, but it gets two.  Hi69 goes up top, he hits the Stuka Splash and picks up the pinfall.  Some parts of this were ok but other parts were awkward.  Just slow spots, overly contrived spots, it just didn’t seem well thought out.  The end stretch was good but the path to get there was just a bit lackluster.  Score:  4.0

Daigoro Kashiwa, Ryuichi Sekine, and Kotaro Nasu vs. Kunio Toshia, Tank Nagai, and Yuma
Nagai and company attack their opponents to start the match, and the action spills outside the ring.  Toshia and Nasu return first and trade elbows.  Nasu tags in Kashiwa, and Kashiwa hits shoulderblocks in the corner.  Sekine is tagged in and he clubs Toshia in the back.  Toshia gets away and tags in Yuma, and Yuma applies a reverse chinlock while choking Sekine.  Yuma tags in Nagai and Nagai chokes Sekine in the corner.  Elbows by Nagai, Toshia comes in and he chokes Sekine. Scoop slam by Nagai and he tags in Yuma.  Scoop slam by Yuma, Toshia comes in and scoop slams as well.  Nagai comes back in and trades elbows with Sekine.  Big boot by Sekine and he hits a hip toss.  Sekine tags in Nasu and Nasu hits a jumping kick.  Nasu kicks Nagai in the corner and hits a vertical suplex for two.  Back kick by Nasu but Nagai slams him to the mat and tags in Toshia.  Toshia jumps off the top but Nasu elbows him.  Nasu tags in Kashiwa and Kashiwa hits a headbutt followed by a bulldog.  Dropkick by Toshia and everyone attacks Kashiwa in the corner.  Dropkick by Toshia and Yuma covers him for two.  Everyone comes in and it becomes a quick brawl, which team Kashiwa gets the better of.  Kashiwa dropkicks Toshia, he then hits The Stroke on Yuma.  Sekine and Nasu kick Yuma, cover, but it gets a two count.  Kashiwa then drops Yuma with a Takumi Kick.  Not a bad match but nothing memorable, these aren’t the top tier of wrestlers in terms of ability.  Average six man tag but not offensive.  Score:  5.0

Shiori Asahi and Ayumu Honda vs. Yuji Hino and Hiro Tonai
Tonai and Asahi start off, they tie-up and trade wrist holds and other such things.  Asahi tags in Honda and he does the same with Tonai, Honda pushes Tonai into the corner and Tonai tags in Hino.  Wristlock by Hino and he puts Honda in a straight-jacket.  Honda gets into the ropes, Hino gets Honda again but Honda gets to the ropes a second time.  Asahi runs in but Hino manhandles him as well, he then goes back to Honda and hits a scoop slam.  Hino tags Tonai back in and Tonai chops Honda in the corner.  Reverse chinlock by Tonai and he goes for Honda’s arm.  He tags Hino back in and he chops Honda while taunting Asahi.  Honda tags Tonai back in and Tonai hits a chop followed by a knee drop.  Irish whip by Tonai but Honda yanks back on his arm and tags in Asahi.  Knee drop to the arm by Asahi and he hits an armbreaker.  He tags Honda back in and Honda hits an ax handle on Tonai’s arm.  Dropkick to the arm by Honda and he goes for the armbreaker, but Tonai gets into the ropes.  Asahi tags in and he hits a slingshot doublestomp.  He hits a second one and a third.  Asahi hits a neckbreaker and tags in Honda.  Kimura by Honda but Tonai gets to the ropes.  I am sad that Hino is not in this match more.  Face crusher by Tonai and he hits a dropkick, allowing him to finally tag in Hino.  Hino slams Honda and hip tosses Asahi.  Elbows by Honda but Hino hits a back elbow.  Honda avoids the senton and tags in Asahi.  Senton by Hino but Asahi kicks him back.  Hip toss by Asahi but Hino grabs his arm and hits a big Samoan drop.  Hino tags in Tonai and Tonai elbows Asahi.  Asahi kicks Tonai and tags in Honda, strikes by Honda and he hits an enzigieri followed by a dropkick.  Tiger Feint Kick by Honda and he hits a swandive missile dropkick for two.  Cross armbreaker by Honda but Tonai gets to the ropes.  Honda gets the cross armbreaker applied again but Hino casually walks in and grabs him.  Asahi tries to save Honda but Hino suplexes him.  Honda dropkicks Hino out of the ring, then Tonai dropkicks Honda.  They trade cross armbreaker attempts, running kick by Tonai but it gets two.  He slaps on the cross armbreaker and rolls it over into a seated armbar, and Honda submits.  This match really needed more Hino, it just felt different when he was in the ring, like a man wrestling with his teenage sons or something.  Not that the rest were bad, and the arm work throughout was solid, the moves just lacked impact a lot of times.  I did like the arm focus, and when Hino was around he made his presence felt, I just would have liked to have seen more of the best wrestler in the match.  Score:  6.0

(c) Kaji Tomato vs. Yuki Sato
This match is for the UWA World Middleweight Championship.  Tomato hits a baseball slide before the match starts and kicks Sato outside the ring.  Back in, Tomato attacks Sato in the corner and hits a dropkick.  Sato rolls out of the ring and takes Tomato’s jacket, stomping on it.  Sato throws Tomato out of the ring and he is attacked with chairs outside the ring.  Sato chokes Tomato with a towel and Sato slides Tomato in the ring.  Back elbow by Sato and he applies a neck crank.  Sato unties a turnbuckle pad and throws Tomato into the exposed corner.  He does it a second time and Tomato elbows him back, Tomato goes for a springboard move but Sato side steps it.  Sato chops Tomato into the corner and he hits a jumping elbow.  Sato applies a submission hold but Tomato gets to the ropes.  Tomato pushes Sato out to the apron and he hits a springboard dropkick.  He then gets a running start and hits a tope con hilo.  Tomato slides Sato back in, he goes up top and hits a diving crossbody.  Running elbow by Tomato but Sato avoids the next charge and hits a missile dropkick to the back.  Crossface by Sato but Tomato gets to the ropes.  Scoop slam by Sato, he goes up top but Tomato knocks him down and goes up with him.  Frankensteiner by Tomato and he hits a springboard DDT for a two count.  Sato kicks Tomato in the leg and punches him low.  Inside cradle by Tomato but it gets a two count.  Uppercut by Tomato but Sato rolls him up for two.  Tomato avoids the low blow and kicks Sato in the head.  Sato dropkicks Tomato into the referee, then Sato’s posse comes in the ring to attack Tomato in the corner.  Tomato’s friends come down which evens things up, but Sato gets a kendo stick.  Tomato ducks the swing and dropkicks Sato in the head.  Red Eye by Tomato but the referee is still out.  He goes for it again but Sato gets into the ropes.  Sato grabs the referee and then kicks Tomato low.  Sato hits Tomato with the Miracle Weapon (a metal rod), the referee wakes up and Sato gets the three count.  Sato is the new champion!  I don’t really like when titles change hands directly due to shenanigans.  During the match, no problem, but for the final pinfall it just makes the win come across as cheap.  Beyond that it was an above average match, had a good mix of high flying moves, strikes, and submission moves so it never got stale.  Good effort from both wrestlers even if the ending fell flat.  Score:  5.5

(c) Kengo Mashimo vs. Saburo Inematsu
This match is for the CHAMPION OF STRONGEST-K Championship.  Mashimo and Inematsu jockey for position to start, they trade shoulderblock attempts which Inematsu eventually wins.  They take it outside the ring, trading elbows back and forth.  Mashimo rams Inematsu into the ring post and then slams his arm into the ramp.  They get back in the ring, and Mashimo applies an armbar.  Inematsu gets in the ropes but Mashimo kicks him in the arm as he gets up.  Mashimo twists Inematsu’s arm in the ropes, back in the middle of the ring and they trade strikes.  Knee by Mashimo but Inematsu hits a dropkick.  Forearm drop by Inematsu and he headbutts Mashimo.  Inematsu charges Mashimo but Inematsu lands out on the apron and Mashimo snaps his arm over the top rope.  Outside the ring Inematsu throws Mashimo into the chairs, he then powerbombs Mashimo into a giant stack of chairs on the floor.  A spot the camera mostly missed since they have a one camera set-up.  These shows with one camera are interesting, it helps with the atmosphere but it is hard to get into things sometimes since it always isn’t clear what is happening.  They get back in the ring and Inematsu hits a body avalanche.  He puts Mashimo up top and hits a superplex, club to the chest by Inematsu but it gets two.  Inematsu goes for a powerbomb but Mashimo blocks it and applies the Mudo.  Inematsu gets into the ropes for a break, wristlock by Mashimo but Inematsu elbows him and they trade shots.  Mashimo applies a seated armbar and he kicks Inematsu in the arm.  Mashimo snaps Inematsu’s arm but Inematsu catches the kick and hits a full nelson slam.  Sliding kick by Inematsu, they trade strikes and Mashimo hits a high kick.  Another high kick and Mashimo hits a third for a two count cover  Mashimo picks up Inematsu but Inematsu blocks the brainbuster.  Inematsu goes off the ropes, Polish Hammer by Inematsu and he goes for a powerbomb, but Mashimo blocks it.  Mashimo rolls Inematsu to the mat and applies the Mudo, and Inematsu has to submit.  Mashimo is still your champion!  Mashimo is unique in that he is a big dude you would expect to be a power wrestler, but he doesn’t do power moves.  I thought his arm work was really good here and they worked well within their limitations (mostly Inematsu’s limitations).  Overall I enjoyed it, they kept to their plan and mixed in some bigger spots to keep things interesting.  Fun match.  Score:  7.0

Final Thoughts:

For a smaller indy event, I thought this was pretty solid.  These wrestlers aren’t “Match of the Year” types, to be blunt, but they are very serviceable and know how to put a match together.  So what you end up with, best case scenario, is a bunch of good matches.  Unlike over K-DOJO shows I have seen I think they worked within what they could do really well and most showed a lot of effort.  A good event, maybe as good as K-DOJO can realistically be.

Grade:  C

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review completed on 1/29/15