2014.12.24 ~ Kenshiki Pride Festival Night One
Dec 24, 2014 8:00:32 GMT -7
Post by Kevin Elliott on Dec 24, 2014 8:00:32 GMT -7
Kenshiki Pride Festival ~ Night One
2014.12.24
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,851 Fans
Day One of the Kenshiki Pride Festival was headlined by a Block A match featuring "the Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada and "the Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata. Shibata made his return to professional wrestling two years ago after leaving the industry for a mixed martial arts career that saw him net four victories. While he has incorporated some MMA into his style, he has not received the warmest of welcome in the locker room, and that angst has carried into Kenshiki's return, with Okada looking to show Shibata he should have never returned to pro-wrestling! It was an even bout, though, and Shibata proved he belonged, but he fell victim to the Rainmaker and Okada picked up his first two points of the tournament.
The semi main event featured the twenty two year veteran Yuji Nagata facing "the Stardust Genius" Tetsuya Naito, who is a former IWGP Tag Team Champion and has been rising in popularity as a singles wrestler on the independent circuit over the past few years. Naito threw everything he had at Nagata, but the veteran refused to go down. In the end, Nagata rolled out of the way of the Stardust Press and forced Naito to submit to the Nagata Lock for the win and two points.
"The Muscle Monster" Daisuke Sekimoto continued his winning ways with a victory over former GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki. Perhaps a shorter match from the two than you would expect, but it was still competitive, with neither man having the advantage for more than a few moments. Finally, Shiozaki was unable to hit the Limit Break and Sekimoto reversed it into the German Suplex, which he bridged for the pin.
"The Brave Warrior" Hirooki Goto had his hands full with big man Bad Luck Fale, but that didn't stop him from picking up two points in the tournament. Fale used his size to limit Goto's attack, as he was unable to use his patented Shouten Kai, so Goto resorted to the Goto Shiki for the win.
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre's Rush picked up an impressive victory over former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Togi Makabe. Makabe took the match outside the ring in what one would think would be an advantage for his style, but Rush adapted well, using the ring post to his advantage (and a kick straight to the groin didn't hurt either). Rush blasted both his feet into Makabe's head with La Lanza for the win.
"The Ace of the Universe" Hiroshi Tanahashi got off to a strong start with a dominant victory over Yujiro Takahashi, a former IWGP Tag Team Champion with the aforementioned Naito. Takahashi did get some offence early in the match, but the last half was dominated by Tanahashi, who used the Sling Blade and High Fly Flow to finally put away the resilient Takahashi.
The current NWA Mid Atlantic United States Heavyweight Champion Cedric Alexander was looking to get off to a strong start over "the King of Strong Style" Shinsuke Nakamura, but that was a tall order as he was facing arguably one of Japan's top three wrestlers. Alexander was full of non stop energy in the short match, throwing everything he possibly could at Nakamura, but he could not overcome the Boma Ye knee strike to the face, which Nakamura used to win the bout.
Finally, the opening match saw two gaijins square off as eleven time World Champion and current NWA Impact Wrestling Champion "the Phenomenal" AJ Styles faced former NWA North American Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler. The match was tied with the main event for longest of the night and it was extremely competitive with the crowd clapping for both men at nearly every break in the action. Ziggler was going for offence on the top rope that was countered into a super Styles Clash that resulted in the victory for Styles.
The semi main event featured the twenty two year veteran Yuji Nagata facing "the Stardust Genius" Tetsuya Naito, who is a former IWGP Tag Team Champion and has been rising in popularity as a singles wrestler on the independent circuit over the past few years. Naito threw everything he had at Nagata, but the veteran refused to go down. In the end, Nagata rolled out of the way of the Stardust Press and forced Naito to submit to the Nagata Lock for the win and two points.
"The Muscle Monster" Daisuke Sekimoto continued his winning ways with a victory over former GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki. Perhaps a shorter match from the two than you would expect, but it was still competitive, with neither man having the advantage for more than a few moments. Finally, Shiozaki was unable to hit the Limit Break and Sekimoto reversed it into the German Suplex, which he bridged for the pin.
"The Brave Warrior" Hirooki Goto had his hands full with big man Bad Luck Fale, but that didn't stop him from picking up two points in the tournament. Fale used his size to limit Goto's attack, as he was unable to use his patented Shouten Kai, so Goto resorted to the Goto Shiki for the win.
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre's Rush picked up an impressive victory over former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Togi Makabe. Makabe took the match outside the ring in what one would think would be an advantage for his style, but Rush adapted well, using the ring post to his advantage (and a kick straight to the groin didn't hurt either). Rush blasted both his feet into Makabe's head with La Lanza for the win.
"The Ace of the Universe" Hiroshi Tanahashi got off to a strong start with a dominant victory over Yujiro Takahashi, a former IWGP Tag Team Champion with the aforementioned Naito. Takahashi did get some offence early in the match, but the last half was dominated by Tanahashi, who used the Sling Blade and High Fly Flow to finally put away the resilient Takahashi.
The current NWA Mid Atlantic United States Heavyweight Champion Cedric Alexander was looking to get off to a strong start over "the King of Strong Style" Shinsuke Nakamura, but that was a tall order as he was facing arguably one of Japan's top three wrestlers. Alexander was full of non stop energy in the short match, throwing everything he possibly could at Nakamura, but he could not overcome the Boma Ye knee strike to the face, which Nakamura used to win the bout.
Finally, the opening match saw two gaijins square off as eleven time World Champion and current NWA Impact Wrestling Champion "the Phenomenal" AJ Styles faced former NWA North American Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler. The match was tied with the main event for longest of the night and it was extremely competitive with the crowd clapping for both men at nearly every break in the action. Ziggler was going for offence on the top rope that was countered into a super Styles Clash that resulted in the victory for Styles.
- Block B: AJ Styles [2] defeated Dolph Ziggler [0] (Styles Clash) at 20:08
- Block A: Shinsuke Nakamura [2] defeated Cedric Alexander [0] (Boma Ye) at 8:53
- Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi [2] defeated Yujiro Takahashi [0] (High Fly Flow) at 10:39
- Block A: Rush [2] defeated Togi Makabe [0] (La Lanza) at 14:38
- Block B: Hirooki Goto [2] defeated Bad Luck Fale [0] (Goto Shiki) at 10:11
- Block A: Daisuke Sekimoto [2] defeated Go Shiozaki [0] (German Suplex) at 13:06
- Block B: Yuji Nagata [2] defeated Tetsuya Naito [0] (Nagata Lock) at 17:13
- Block A: Kazuchika Okada [2] defeated Katsuyori Shibata [0] (Rainmaker) at 20:08
| Block A | Points | Block B | Points |
| Daisuke Sekimoto | 2 | AJ Styles | 2 |
| Kazuchika Okada | 2 | Hirooki Goto | 2 |
| Rush | 2 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 2 |
| Shinsuke Nakamura | 2 | Yuji Nagata | 2 |
| Cedric Alexander | 0 | Bad Luck Fale | 0 |
| Go Shiozaki | 0 | Dolph Ziggler | 0 |
| Katsuyori Shibata | 0 | Tetsuya Naito | 0 |
| Togi Makabe | 0 | Yujiro Takahashi | 0 |
