2015.01.02 ~ Kenshiki Pride Festival Night Seven

[Kevin Elliott]

Kenshiki Pride Festival ~ Night Seven

2015.01.02

Nitta Gymnasium

1505 Fans (Super No Vacancy)

BLOCK A:  Go Shiozaki entered the Kenshiki Pride Festival with high hopes but it has been a disappointing tournament for him thus far.  He ended the Festival with just one victory after his Night Seven loss to "the Unchained Gorilla" Togi Makabe, who used the King Kong Knee Drop to finish the tournament with six points.  In addition to Shiozaki, Makabe finishes with impressive victories over Kazuchika Okada and Shinsuke Nakamura.  The young Cedric Alexander, the current NWA Mid Atlantic United States Heavyweight Champion, has done nothing but impress the Japanese audiences over the past two weeks with his performances.  While he has not been as successful as he would have liked, he has picked up wins over Go Shiozaki and Togi Makabe, two impressive victories nonetheless.  Tonight, he faced another tough test against "the Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata.  Both men were eliminated from the top two contention in Block A, but put on a great performance.  Shibata finished Alexander off with the Penalty Kick.

Daisuke Sekimoto, with ten points and the Block A lead, then faced "the King of Strong Style" Shinsuke Nakamura.  Nakamura has eight points to sit tied for second with Okada and he needs a victory or he will be eliminated based off Okada's earlier victory between the two.  It was an absolute war with Sekimoto using his power advantage to get off to a strong start.  Nakamura, as expected, battled back, and hit the Boma Ye to the back of Sekimoto's skull, but was too worn down to make the pin.  Sekimoto fought back and nearly hit the German Suplex on his opponent, but Nakamura slid out.  Later on, Sekimoto attempted a Belly to Belly Overhead Superplex, but again Nakamura evaded the maneuver, knocking Sekimoto back down to the mat.  As Sekimoto got to his feet, he was knocked down with a flying knee to the head!  He groggily made his way to his feet before being planted with another Boma Ye, and Nakamura has picked up the victory!  Nakamura has taken the temporary Block A lead with ten points; Sekimoto falls to second.

The Nakamura victory means Rush, with seven points, can no longer finish in the top two and he is eliminated from competition.  In the final Block A match, he faces "the Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada, who sits in third with eight points.  Okada must win or he will be eliminated.  It was an even match for the first five minutes and Okada finally took control with a Tombstone Piledriver that nearly got a three count.  Okada dominated the next five minutes when the unthinkable happened.  Sensing he could no longer win the match, Rush fouls Okada with a kick to the groin, drawing a huge chorus of boos from the audience.  Red Shoes Unno is angered and forces Rush to a corner as he attends to Okada, who takes nearly a minute to get back to his feet.  Unno restarts the match and Okada is immediately hit with another kick to the groin, further angering the locals.  Unno is besides himself as he disqualifies Rush.  Okada gets two points and the win.

Rush continues the assault after the match, hitting La Lanza to Okada as he sat in the corner.  Okada was out cold as he falls to the mat.  Unno cannot stop Rush.  Okada is still in the corner, but his upper body is slumped over the edge of the apron.  Rush gets to the outside and hits another La Lanza, drilling Okada's head into the corner ring post.  The boos continue to pour as officials finally run from the back and pull Rush away.  It is an incredibly disappointing finish to what was an exciting tournament.  Okada gets his final two points with the disqualification win and actually wins Block A.  Shinsuke Nakamura slides down to second place, and Daisuke Sekimoto falls to third, getting eliminated in the process.  One can imagine Sekimoto will not be impressed with Rush's actions.

BLOCK B:  "The Brave Warrior" Hirooki Goto capped off a promising, yet disappointing tournament with a victory over Yujiro Takahashi, who ended the tournament winless in his seven contests.  Goto uses the Shouten to win the bout.  Veteran Yuji Nagata began the tournament with three straight victories, but he has fallen back down to earth with three straight losses since.  Tonight, he picked up his fourth win of the tournament over Dolph Ziggler, who was impressive throughout the Festival but able to produce just one victory.  Tonight, he submitted to the Nagata Lock.  "The Stardust Genius" Tetsuya Naito started off with a poor showing in the tournament with four straight losses, but he has been on fire of late, winning over Yujiro Takahashi and Dolph Ziggler.  Tonight, he faced Bad Luck Fale, who also had four points with wins over the same two men.  Naito knocked Fale down after a Bad Luck Fall attempt and finished the big man off with a Stardust Press to pick up the win.

The main event of the night saw the only two undefeated men in the tournament square off.  With 6-0 records and 12 points, "the Phenomenal" AJ Styles, the current NWA Impact Wrestling Champion, faces "the Ace of the Universe" Hiroshi Tanahashi.  Styles was the final NWA World Heavyweight Champion of the New Japan Pro-Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling era and never lost the title; he has spent the past three years attempting to get the Championship back, and a win tonight gets him one match closer to guaranteeing him a title opportunity.

As one would expect, it was a close affair.  Unlike the previous contest, there were no shenanigans taking place.  It was two of the best going one on one.  They started out going hit for hit; Tanahashi would control the match for just moments before Styles would take over.  Styles' game plan was clear from the get go, he was taking out Tanahashi's legs to limit his explosive arsenal.  The strategy worked, as at the ten minute mark, Tanahashi went for a patented High Fly Flow, but slipped off the top rope and didn't make it to Styles.  Styles takes advantage and locks on a figure four leglock.  Tanahashi forces the break, but later on in the match Styles is able to lock on the figure four again, this time with Tanahashi's legs wrapped around the ring post!  Styles has to break in order to make it back in before the twenty count expires, and Tanahashi continues to fight back.  He knocks Styles down with the Sling Blade and heads to the top rope.  Fighting through the leg pain, he connects with the High Fly Flow, but Styles kicks out at two!  Tanahashi can't believe it as he limps to his feet.  He attempts another Sling Blade, but Styles evades it and connects with a Pele Kick, stunning Tanahashi temporarily, which leads to a Styles Clash!  Rather than going for the pin, Styles locks on the Calf Killer!  Tanahashi is nearly passed out and in incredible pain and he shocks the crowd by submitting!  Styles comes out on top of Group B!

• Block B:  Hirooki Goto [10] defeated Yujiro Takahashi [0] (Shouten) at 10:04
• Block A:  Togi Makabe [6] defeated Go Shiozaki [2] (King Kong Kneedrop) at 12:40
• Block B:  Yuji Nagata [8] defeated Dolph Ziggler [2] (Nagata Lock) at 11:37
• Block B:  Tetsuya Naito [6] defeated Bad Luck Fale [4] (Stardust Press) at 10:18
• Block A:  Katsuyori Shibata [7] defeated Cedric Alexander [4] (Penalty Kick) at 14:19
• Block A:  Shinsuke Nakamura [10] defeated Daisuke Sekimoto [10] (Boma Ye) at 24:21
• Block A:  Kazuchika Okada [10] defeated Rush [7] (disqualification, groin foul) at 13:18
• Block B:  AJ Styles [14] defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi [12] (Calf Killer) at 25:05

Block A	Points	Block B	Points
Kazuchika Okada	10	AJ Styles	14
Shinsuke Nakamura	10	Hiroshi Tanahashi	12
Daisuke Sekimoto	10	Hirooki Goto	10
Katsuyori Shibata	7	Yuji Nagata	8
Rush	7	Tetsuya Naito	6
Togi Makabe	6	Bad Luck Fale	4
Cedric Alexander	4	Dolph Ziggler	2
Go Shiozaki	2	Yujiro Takahashi	0

Kenshiki Pride Festival ~ Finals
Korakuen Hall
2015.01.04

• NWA Pacific Heavyweight Championship & NWA World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender Match:  "the Phenomenal" AJ Styles vs. "the Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada
• NWA Pacific Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender Match:  "the Ace of the Universe" Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. "the King of Strong Style" Shinsuke Nakamura
• Special Singles Match:  Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Rush
• Special Tag Team Match:  BUSHI & Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto & Kota Ibushi
• Bad Luck Fale & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito & Yuji Nagata
• Cedric Alexander & Dolph Ziggler vs. Go Shiozaki & Yujiro Takahashi

[jp1985]

Okada surprised me here. From the get go you seemed behind Sekimoto to win, but hey, I'm not complaining with this outcome. Any of the 3 work. I actually like the DQ finish too. It tells a story as Okada enters off that attack to give the story of if he is 100% against Styles, who has been cruising. Also worth giving credit for putting the matches in the right order to maximize the drama. Among the better jobs at booking this style of tournament I have seen.

Your January 4 card should be fantastic. Great job building those top 3 matches,. I'll assume you didn't make a deal with Jeff Jarrett to carry the show here with Matt Striker on commentary. Interested to see if the real New Japan's recent branching out business model with the US PPV, AXS TV deal (granted the material is going to be dated), or worldwide internet service, if any of that plays into your writing at all.