Date:  February 22nd, 2015
Location:  Basement MON☆STAR in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance:  136

I didn’t learn my lesson the first time so I am back to Union!  This event has the semifinals and finals of the Get the Glory! Tournament so hopefully the wrestlers will try to grab the brass ring and maybe be entertaining.  A guy can hope!  Here is the full card:

- Get The Glory 2015! Tournament Semifinal: Hiroshi Fukuda vs. Isami Kodaka
- Get The Glory 2015! Tournament Semifinal: FUMA vs. Shuji Ishikawa
- Kenta Hattori and Tomoya Kawamura vs. Madoka and Ryota Nakatsu
- Eight Man Battle Royal with Cherry, Daichi Kazato, Gouma Ryu, Ladybeard, Mio Shirai, SAGAT, Seiya Morohashi, and Yuuya Kubo
- Get The Glory 2015! Tournament Final: FUMA vs. Isami Kodaka

Let’s get to it!

Hiroshi Fukuda vs. Isami Kodaka
This match is the Semifinal of the Get The Glory 2015! Tournament.  Wristlocks to start, Fukuda applies a side headlock and takes Kodaka to the mat.  Kodaka reverses things and they return to their feet.  Kodaka knocks Fukuda out of the ring but he returns after a moment and Fukuda works the side headlock.  Headscissors by Kodaka but Fukuda dumps him onto the apron.  Kodaka flips back in, Fukuda goes to punch him but Kodaka moves, making Fukuda punch the mat.  Kodaka works over Fukuda’s hand and he kicks Fukuda in the back.  Fukuda gets back up and chops Kodaka before driving Kodaka’s head into his knee.  Fukuda goes up top but Kodaka punches him in the stomach as he dives off.  Fukuda punches Kodaka to the mat and he hits a lariat for a two count. Fukuda gets Kodaka on his shoulders and spins him around, making both really dizzy.  Kodaka hits a brainbuster and he gets a two count.  Roll-up by Fukuda, but it also gets two.  Kodaka blocks the fisherman buster and he applies a Manjigatame, and Fukuda has to submit!   This match was just really basic, I know that Kodaka has to fight again and they all already had matches earlier in the day, but there was literally nothing exciting about this match.  Fundamentally sound but dry as bones.  Score:  3.0

FUMA vs. Shuji Ishikawa
This match is the Semifinal of the Get The Glory 2015! Tournament.  They jockey around to start and end up on the mat with FUMA on top but they return to their feet.  FUMA and Ishikawa lock knuckles, elbows by FUMA and he dropkicks Ishikawa out of the ring.  Back in the ring they trade elbows, and Ishikawa stomps on FUMA.  Irish whip by Ishikawa and he knees FUMA in the stomach.  Ishikawa picks up FUMA and throws him into the corner.  Ishikawa applies a Cobra Twist, he picks up FUMA and drops him onto the top rope.  Double stomp by Ishikawa, cover, but it gets two.  Waistlock by FUMA and he hits a jumping kick to Ishikawa.  FUMA throws Ishikawa into the corner and hits a jumping elbow.  FUMA hits a backdrop suplex but Ishikawa kicks out of the cover.  Ishikawa kicks FUMA back and he hits a missile dropkick.  Lariat by Ishikawa and he hits a backdrop suplex.  Ishikawa goes for a powerbomb but FUMA back bodydrops out of it.  Ishikawa and FUMA trade elbows, and FUMA hits a jumping kick.  German suplex hold by FUMA but it gets a two count.  FUMA goes up top but Ishikawa joins him and hits a superplex.  SAGAT and Kazushi Miyamoto appear at ringside as Ishikawa hits a release German suplex on Ishikawa followed by the running knee.  Cover, but FUMA gets a shoulder up.  Fire Thunder Driver by Ishikawa but the referee is pulled out of the ring.  Miyamoto gets in the ring, allowing FUMA to hit Ishikawa from behind with a chair.  Ishikawa is then hit in the head with a chair and eats a brainbuster.  Jawbreaker Kick by FUMA and he picks up the three count!  I guess in Union World, it was a big storyline deal that SAGAT and Miyamoto came down to help FUMA as FUMA wasn't a heel prior to this show.   Anyway the match was a bit slow but it was better than the last match.   The action was solid and it was a key moment for storyline purposes.  Decent match but not necessarily good.  Score:  5.5

Kenta Hattori and Tomoya Kawamura vs. Madoka and Ryota Nakatsu
Hattori and Nakatsu start the match and Hattori applies a reverse chinlock as they jockey around on the mat.  They return to their feet after a minute and they tag in their partners.  Side headlock by Madoka and he shoulderblocks Kawamura to the mat.  Hurricanrana by Kawamura and he stomps Madoka in the corner before tagging in Hattori.  Hattori goes out to the apron and he hits a slingshot elbow drop.  Madoka tags in Nakatsu, Nakatsu elbows Hattori and he knees Hattori to the mat for a two count.  Hattori and Nakatsu trade chops and Kawamura elbows Nakatsu in the chest.  Wristlock by Kawamura but Nakatsu kicks him in the chest.  Nakatsu hits Kawamura into the corner but Kawamura hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors.  Kawamura tags in Hattori and Hattori dropkicks Nakatsu, Madoka comes in to help but Hattori dropkicks both of them.  Hattori goes up top and hits a diving crossbody onto Nakatsu for a two count.  Hattori elbows Nakatsu but Nakatsu hits a dropkick.  Nakatsu tags in Madoka and Madoka boots Hattori.  Vertical suplex by Madoka to Hattori, Madoka goes off the ropes but Hattori hits an enzigieri.  Hattori tags in Kawamura and Kawamura knees Madoka in the corner.  Kawamura hits a reverse splash and back up they trade elbows again.  Sling Blade by Kawamura, cover, but Nakatsu breaks it up.  Kawamura goes up top but Madoka chops him.  Hattori runs in but Madoka elbows him before hitting a cutter onto Kawamura.  Nakatsu re-appears and he kicks Kawamura, Madoka goes up top and he delivers a diving body press.  Cover, but Hattori breaks it up.  Madoka grabs Kawamura but Kawamura sneaks in an inside cradle for a two count.  Jumping kick by Madoka, he grabs Kawamura and he nails the Ranhei for the three count.  This one was fun, it took a few minutes to get going but the ending stretch was entertaining.  The hard camera in the corner and the small pretty quiet crowd isn’t doing this card any favors but this was still a solid match between four average to slightly above average wrestlers.  Score:  6.0

Eight Wrestler Battle Royal
Kazato and Gouma start the match, and Kazato hits a dropkick.  Cherry is in the ring next she goes back and forth with Kazato on who can cover Gouma.  Gouma and Cherry attack Kazato as Morohashi comes down and enters the ring.  Morohashi lariats Gouma and Cherry pulls out Morohashi’s hair.  Gouma is celebrating near the ropes and Morohashi throws him out of the ring.  Gouma is eliminated.  SAGAT is the next wrestler in as Cherry battles Kazato, but SAGAT immediately jumps over the top turnbuckle and eliminates himself.  I guess he didn’t get paid.  Cherry applies a cross armbreaker to Kazato, Mio Shirai enters the ring but Cherry attacks her.  Shirai kicks Cherry and hits a big boot for a two count.  Lariat by Cherry to Shirai, and Ladybeard enters the ring as the next wrestler.  Cherry and Ladybeard talk for a bit until Cherry starts joking him.  Everyone covers Cherry, and they pick up the three count on her.   Kubo comes down as the last entry in the match and all five wrestlers brawl.  Shirai pokes Ladybeard in the eyes and applies a necklock over the top rope.  Ladybeard pushes Shirai out to the apron, then Morohashi pushes Ladybeard onto the apron also.  Kazato comes over and dropkicks both of them off the apron and to the floor, eliminating both Shirai and Ladybeard.  Kazato dropkicks Morohashi and then dropkicks Kubo.  Kazato goes up top and hits a missile dropkick to Kubo for a two count.  Kubo rolls up Kazato from behind, and he picks up the three count.  Kazato is eliminated.  Kubo and Morohashi trade punches as the last two remaining.  Kubo picks up Morohashi and he rolls Morohashi to the mat for a two count.  They both trade crossface attempts, Kubo rolls Morohashi to the mat but Morohashi applies the Crippler Crossface and picks up the submission victory!  By definition, battle royals aren’t that great, with a few exceptions over the years.  In Japan they aren’t taken overly seriously and tend to just be what this was, a time filler with little to no long term meaning.  It wasn’t offensive but it wasn’t particularly entertaining.  Score:  3.5

FUMA vs. Isami Kodaka
This match is the Finals of the Get The Glory 2015! Tournament.   FUMA hits the first big move of the match as he knees Kodaka hard in the face.  FUMA wrestles as a heel now since he turned earlier on the card, which is hilarious.  Headscissors by FUMA but Kodaka gets back up and they trade elbows.  FUMA gets the better of it and he applies a reverse chinlock but Kodaka gets out of it and hits a headbutt.  Snap suplex by FUMA and he applies a front necklock.  FUMA throws Kodaka into the turnbuckles and Kodaka is out on the mat.  FUMA stomps on Kodaka but Kodaka kicks FUMA and goes for a suplex.  FUMA blocks it and re-applies the front necklock, but Kodaka suplexes out of it.  FUMA is sent out of the ring, Kodaka goes off the ropes but he is pulled out by SAGAT and Miyamoto.  Miyamoto roughs up Kodaka before throwing him back into the ring, FUMA picks him up but Kodaka hits a dropkick.  Jumping kick by Kodaka in the corner, he puts FUMA on the top turnbuckle but FUMA pushes him off.  FUMA goes for a kick on Kodaka but Kodaka catches his leg.  Kodaka hits a pair of dragon screws and they trade elbows, ankle hold by Kodaka but SAGAT distracts the referee so that Miyamoto can interfere.  Lariat by Miyamoto to Kodaka, FUMA goes for a German suplex but Kodaka lands on his feet and delivers a super kick.  Cover, but again the referee is pulled out of the ring.  Ishikawa has finally seen enough and comes down to clear the ring, Kodaka gets on the apron and he hits a missile dropkick to FUMA’s knee.  Kodaka rolls FUMA to the mat and applies an ankle hold.  Kodaka goes for the diving double knee but FUMA moves out of the way.  German suplex hold by Kodaka but it gets a two count.  Jawbreaker by FUMA, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and he delivers the diving headbutt.  Cover, and FUMA picks up the three count.  I think wrestling four matches in one day was just too much for these two as the first 75% was uneventful.  I did like that the interference did not directly lead to the end of the match, Kodaka took control again after Ishikawa came in to help, FUMA winning ‘on his own’ did help him stay a bit stronger.  Not very good as the wrestlers were just worn out, but it wasn’t bad.  Score:  5.0

Final Thoughts:

This was better than the last Union show, I will give them that.  I know that isn’t saying much but improvement is improvement.  The action was hurt a bit as the wrestlers had two matches earlier in the day, not that they have a terribly physical style but wrestling that many times in one day is hard regardless.  Nothing great and nothing must see, but most of it hovered around the “slightly below average” line.

Grade:  D

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event reviewed on 3/19/15