Date:  February 21st, 2015
Location:  Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance:  402

My first review for Michinoku Pro in 2015!  Events for Michinoku Pro don’t appear very often, so I try to hop all over it when they do.  This doesn’t looks like a big event as there are no title matches, but Ultimo Dragon is wrestling so that is at least one thing I have to look forward to.  Here is the card:

- Kenbai and Eagles Mask vs. Kesen Numajiro and Kinya Oyanagi
- Shu Shibutani vs. Yapperman #3
- Great Sasuke, Shu, and Kei Brahman vs. Ultimo Dragon, Daichi Sasaki, and Ayumi Gunji
- Manjimaru vs. Rui Hyugaji
- Fujita “Jr” Hayato, Minamino, and Ken45° vs. Kameshi, Kameshi #1, and Kameshi #2

This probably won’t take long.

Kenbai and Eagles Mask vs. Kesen Numajiro and Kinya Oyanagi
Oyanagi and Kenbai start off and trade wristlocks.  Oyanagi applies a stretch hold but Kenbai gets out of it and tosses Oyanagi into the corner.  Eagles Mask and Numajiro tag in and they shoulderblock each other.  Eagles Mask armdrags Numajiro out of the ring but Oyanagi comes in the ring.  Oyanagi punches Eagles Mask and tags Numajiro back in.  Hip attack by Numajiro and he hits another one.  Double Irish whip to Eagles Mask and he is hit with a double chop.  Oyanagi applies a nerve hold (-1 point, hate nerve holds) for too long and he tags in Numajiro.  Leg drop by Numajiro but Eagles Mask hits a vertical suplex.  Eagles Mask tags in Kenbai and Kenbai hits a diving elbow smash.  Oyanagi runs in but Kenbai catches him with a tilt-a-whirl DDT.  Numajiro hits Kenbai from behind but Kenbai hits a hurricanrana.  Tiger feint kick by Kenbai and he hits a two count.  Spinebuster by Numajiro and he hits a diving leg drop.  Numajiro puts Kenbai up top by Eagles Mask breaks up the muscle buster.  Oyanagi comes in and Eagles Mask punches him in the corner.  Dropkick by Eagles Mask, Eagles Mask slides into the corner but Oyanagi elbow drops him.  Oyanagi applies an octopus hold in the ropes before hitting a swandive double ax handle.  Cobra twist by Oyanagi but Eagles Mask reverses it.  Stimulating stuff.  Numajiro and Kenbai run in the ring and both Oyanagi and Numajiro apply submission holds.  Oyanagi gets rid of Kenbai, Numajiro throws Eagles Mask in the corner and he goes on the second turnbuckle, but Numajiro hits a muscle buster for the three count.  This was just basic.  Eagles Mask is goofy but the others are perfectly qualified to be wrestling in the opening match on a Michinoku Pro event.  Nothing exciting but nothing technically wrong with it.  Score:  4.0

Shu Shibutani vs. Yapperman #3
Fret not moral crusaders, Yapperman #3 is a woman.  They trade waistlocks to begin things, Yapperman #3 puts Shibutani in the ropes and twists her face.  Dropkick by Yapperman #3 but Shibutani hits a snap DDT followed by a dropkick.  Scoop slam by Shibutani and she applies a chinlock before Yapperman #3 gets to the ropes.  Crossbody by Yapperman #3 and she hits two more.  Yapperman #3 jumps on the top turnbuckle and applies an armbar over the top rope.  Diving crossbody by Yapperman #3 and they trade elbows.  Mongolian Chops by Shibutani and she hits a tornado DDT.  Shibutani goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick.  Shibutani picks up Yapperman #3, Stunner by Shibutani but Yapperman #3 dropkicks her in the back.  German suplex hold by Yapperman #3, she goes up top but Shibutani avoids her dive and hits a cutter.  DDT by Shibutani but it gets a two count.  They trade pin attempts, Shibutani grabs Yapperman #3 and she hits the Time Machine ni Notte for the three count.  Yapperman #3 is Misaki Ohata, and a decent wrestler.  This was pretty solid but a little short.  But they packed a lot into the seven minutes and weren’t holding back anything, even though neither are top tier wrestlers.  Nothing to complain about, it was as good as it could be with the wrestlers and time given.  Score:  6.0

Great Sasuke, Shu, and Kei Brahman vs. Ultimo Dragon, Daichi Sasaki, and Ayumi Gunji
True story:  I am one of three people in the United States that can tell Shu and Kai apart.  Sasuke and Ultimo Dragon begin things and Sasuke starts acting goofy because that is what he does now.  I mean it is literally several minutes before any actual action starts. Kei and Sasaki are tagged in and Kei spits water on Sasaki’s face.  This makes a brawl break out and they battle around the ring into the stands.  Sasuke and Sasaki return to the ring but Sasuke kicks Sasaki out of the apron and onto the floor.  Shu and Sasaki return to the ring as Kei does as well, and they do the luggage/bowling ball trick.  Cover by Shu, but it gets a two count.  Shu grabs Sasaki but Sasaki hits an exploder.  Sasaki tags in Ultimo Dragon and he elbows Shu to the mat.  Kei comes in but Ultimo Dragon kicks him away and hits a side headlock/headscissors takedown.  Sasuke comes in and holds Ultimo Dragon, but Ultimo Dragon ducks and Sasuke is hit with a yield sign.  Sasaki and Gunji come in and they double team Sasuke in the corner for two.  Shu comes in but he eats a superkick from Sasaki.  Sasaki puts Kei on his shoulders but Shu throws powder in his face.  Shu goes up top with Gunji but Gunji elbows him off and he hits a double missile dropkick.  Gunji hits a face crusher on Kei but it gets a two count.  Gunji goes for an exploder but Kei reverses it into a cross armbreaker, and Gunji quickly taps out.  Uhhh no.  Nothing about this was good, and a total waste of one of my favorite wrestlers.  In 15 minutes there was probably 1 minute of actual action as the rest was Sasuke acting silly or brawling outside the ring that you couldn’t see with the one hard camera.  Just completely a waste of time.  Score:  2.0

Manjimaru vs. Rui Hyugaji
They go to the mat to start, and back up they trade wristlocks.  Manjimaru goes for the cross armbreaker and gets it locked on but Hyugaji quickly gets out of it.  Back to the mat they go and I am not very ‘into’ this match as I begin to regret watching this event.  They try to knock each other over, a battle that Hyugaji wins.  Scoop slam by Hyugaji and he hits an elbow drop.  They trade elbows, and Hyugaji goes crashing to the mat.  Manjimaru elbows Hyugaji in the back of the head and hits a backbreaker.  Manjimaru applies a single leg crab hold but Hyugaji gets to the ropes.  Lariats by Hyugaji and Hyugaji elbows Manjimaru out of the ring.  Hyugaji goes off the ropes and delivers a tope con hilo out onto Manjimaru, and he was smart enough to do it towards the only camera.  Back in the ring Hyugaji hits a diving shoulderblock off the top turnbuckle, he goes for a spear but Manjimaru catches him and hits a piledriver.  Back up they trade elbows again, boot by Hyugaji but Manjimaru boots him back.  Lariat by Hyugaji and Hyugaji hits the spear.  Hyugaji goes up top and hits a diving elbow drop for a two count.  Hyugaji picks up Manjimaru but Manjimaru drops him with a brainbuster for a two count.  Lariat by Manjimaru, but Hyugaji barely gets a shoulder up.  Another brainbuster by Manjimaru, but again it gets two.  Manjimaru drags up Hyugaji, nails the Manji-Otoshi for the three count.  This took awhile to get going, but it got quite good once it did.  Lots of hard hits by the end, surprisingly, and Manjimaru delivers a mean brainbuster.  If this was a ten minute match with the first five cut out, this would have been an easy recommendation, but even with the slow start it was definitely solid.  Score:  6.5

Fujita “Jr” Hayato, Minamino, and Ken45° vs. Kameshi, Kameshi #1, and Kameshi #2
The Kameshi posse dress as Ninja Turtles, by the way.  Kameshi is Taro Nohashi, #1 is Tsutomu Oosugi, and #2 is Hercules Senga.  And now you’ve learned something today.  Kameshi and Hayato start off, Kameshi kicks him out of the ring but Ken45° comes in.  Ken45° kicks Kameshi out, Kameshi #2 comes in and Kameshi #2 hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors.  This brings in Minamino but all three dropkick Minamino out of the ring.  They go to do a dive but they roll back into the ring, and they get jumped for it.  Things settle with Minamino and Kameshi in the ring, Minamino throws him in the corner and tags in Hayato.  Hayato throws Kameshi out of the ring and he is hit with a chair outside the ring.  Kameshi is slide back in and Hayato tags in Ken45°.  Ken45° hits a side slam on Kameshi and gets a two count.  Kameshi #2 and Kameshi #1 run into help but Ken45° dispatches both of them.  Ken45° tags in Minamino and Minamino elbows Kameshi.  Minamino punches Kameshi in the head and throws him out of the ring.  Hayato assaults Kameshi on the floor while Minamino attacks Kameshi #1 in the ring.  Kameshi is pushed back in, snapmare by Hayato and he applies a sleeper.  Kameshi and Hayato trade strikes, Kameshi wins the battle and he makes the hot tag to Kameshi #2.  Kameshi #2 goes nuts on everyone until Ken45° cuts him off, but Kameshi #1 runs in and Ken45° is hit with a catapult dropkick.  With all three of their opponents out of the ring, the turtles go off the ropes and hit stereo tope con hilos. 

Kameshi and Hayato get back in the ring and Kameshi hits a jumping elbow followed by a dropkick for two.  Kameshi #1 and Kameshi #2 hit a double vertical suplex on Hayato, Kameshi #2 goes up  top but Hayato rolls away.  Minamino grabs Kameshi #2 and he hits a lariat, but Kameshi hits a missile dropkick.  Dropkick by Hayato but Kameshi #1 hits a diving crossbody on him.  Ken45° kicks Kameshi #1 low and he lariats him to the mat, Kameshi #2 gets in the ring and he hits Ken45° with a hurricanrana.  Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Ken45° to Kameshi #2 (I’m glad I type fast) and Hayato knees Kameshi #2 against the ropes.  PK by Hayato but Kameshi #2 kicks out of the pin.  Powerbomb by Ken45° but Kameshi breaks it up.  Kameshi #1 comes in with a sunset flip on Ken45° and Kameshi #2 hits a running knee.  Kameshi comes in the ring and all three run shell-first into Ken45°.  Kameshi #2 and Kameshi #1 throw Kameshi onto Ken45°, Kameshi #1 puts Ken45° in front of the corner and all three turtles hit diving body presses out of the corner.  Cover, but Hayato breaks it up.  Kameshi picks up Ken45° and he hits the Sakauchi for the three count.  I am not sure if the fact they were ninja turtles made this match better or worse, but I enjoyed it.  It was fast paced, lots of flying around, no dead time.  This is what I want from indy promotions that don’t have top-level wrestlers, just entertain me, I’m easy.  A really fun main event, no substance or meaning but enjoyable to watch.  Score:  7.5

Final Thoughts:

The last 25 minutes of this card is all I want from smaller indies.  I don’t expect five star classics or overly skilled encounters, just try to be entertaining.  Half of the Manjimaru/Hyugaji match was fun and all of the main was good stuff, unfortunately everything that came before that was more hit and miss.  Even though the main was wholesome mindless entertainment I can’t recommend the event due to the fact there were only five matches with two being good, but at least it wasn’t a complete waste of time to watch.

Grade:  D

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event reviewed on 2/27/15