BigJ

Thanks for your comment @CGN91! I had some bad experiences in other modern day saves with Ibushi, that's why I introduced him in a tag match and not directly in the main event, fearing he would get injured and/or thank my main event rating (after already taking a risk on Shibata/Maeguchi). Babatunde will be even BIGGER than Bob Sapp, mark my word!! Thank you for your predictions @Vandal! Appreciate it

VANGUARD #4 Live from Korakuen Hall June 7th 2024 All matches are contested under Vanguard Rules. Matches can only be won by knockout, ubmission or referee stoppage. A 30-minutes time limit in enforced on all matches. If the time limit is reached, the referee has discretionnary power to award the winning decision or declare a draw. Due to his violent attack and use of chairs against Daichi Hashimoto in the media scrum last show, Masashi Takeda was suspended from this card. MAIN EVENT UNSANCTIONNED FIGHT TO THE DEATH "The Most Evil Fighter on Earth" Minoru Suzuki vs. "Fighting (One-Eyed) Monk" Fuminori Abe KOTA IBUSHI'S RETURN MYSTERY PARTNER TAG MATCH REAL Pro Wrestling World Champion Katsuyori Shibata & ? vs. "Dynamite Punch" Tyson Maeguchi & "Golden Star" Kota Ibushi A GRUDGE TO SETTLE! BATI-BATI VS. PANCRASE, ROUND 3! "King of Pancrase" Masakutsu Funaki vs. "Future of Shoot Style" Takuya Nomura A QUEST FOR REDEMPTION! FIGHTING SPIRIT SHOWCASE! "Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakuraba vs. "The Heir of the Never Dying Fighting Spirit" Daichi Hashimoto KICK VS. ARMBAR TWO GENIUSES COLLIDE! "Orange Prince" Minoru Tanaka vs. "The Genius of the Armbar" Daisuke Nakamura WAR BEAST VS. WAR MASTER! "Realest Giant" Babatunde vs. "War Master" Josh Barnett BONUS: Who is Shibata's mystery partner?

PREDICTIONS StanMiguel : 5/6 (stunned by Bob Sap... i mean Babatunde!) Vandal : 6/6 (congrats!) SonOfSharknado : 5/6 ("can they coexist?!" apprently they couldn't)

VANGUARD #3 Live from Korakuen Hall | 641 in attendance Streamed on niconico June 2nd 2024 ⚔ "Realest Giant" Babatunde vs. Keisuke Okuda ⚔ "Who can stop the Giant?" was the tagline of this match. Apparently, it's not Keisuke Okuda. The 5 matches MMA fighters and former Dragon Gate Open the Brave Gate champion gets mauled in about three minutes. He attempts a few kicks that Babatunde totally no sells, then gets thrown around with some judo throws then gets mauled by a flurry of punches and kicks and finally a violent rolling elbow that knocks him out. WINNER: BABATUNDE (KO) GRADE: 39 ⚔ Daijiro Matsui vs. Daisuke Nakamura ⚔ The 54 fights MMA veteran Daijiro Matsui, trained by Nobuhiko Takada, faces the "Genius of the Armbar", who competed in 60 MMA fights. Two men who lost their respective single matches on the last show. It's a pure grappling exhibition where both men seems to gel well. Nakamura has a few attempts at his patented armbar, but Matsui gets to the rope everytime, escaping by the skin of his teeth. Visibily inferior to his opponent on the mat, he goes for the stand up game with some kickboxing that rocks Nakamura and gives Matsui the leg up. It goes back and forth and Nakamura fights back, being as strong as his opponent on the striking aspect of the match. Matsui gets overwhelmed, fighting while being careful not being taken down. Nakamura doesn't need to take him down though, as a superb flying armbar catches Matsui and gives him no escape. WINNER: DAISUKE NAKAMURA (SUBMISSION) GRADE: 65 • Daijiro Matsui bows to his opponent after his loss and take the microphone. He thanks the fans for the support in all this years of fighting. He turns to commentator Nobuhiko Takada, the man who trained him, and thanks him. He wanted to be as "real" as him, as strong as him all of his career and hopes he made him proud. He says this was his last fight in any sport and he will be retiring. He tahnks Katsuyori Shibata for offering a platform to grapple his last bouts. He will always love the fighting business and wishes VANGUARD all the best. ⚔ Kendo Kashin vs. Minoru Tanaka ⚔ On the first VANGUARD show, Minoru Tanaka teamed with Kendo Kashin and Tiger Mask in a loss against battle tested MMA fighters. After dispatching of the latter at the second card, he goes after Kendo Kashin tonight. The two men know each other very well, having fought on opposite sides for decaded, their first singles match dating back to 1999. The match starts with a lot of dodging, with kicks being avoided and holds being evaded. They engage in a very wrestling-like chain wrestling sequence on their feets, that ends up with Kendo Kashin running to the ropes, dodging under a Tanaka kick and coming back with a jumping knee that rocks Minoru Tanaka and draws blood from his nose! The "Orange Prince", former 4 time IWGP Jr. champion and former Fujiwara Gumi star then goes mental. He -literally- sees red and goes berserk with a flurry of stiff kicks that turns Kashin's tighs into all shades of purple and red. Kashin comes back with a few wrestling moves, notably with a armdrag that he follows into a half-locked armbar that calms Minoru Tanaka down. Kashin, himself a former IWGP Jr. champion, but also a 5-fights former PRIDE FC fighter, won't go down that easily! He goes full-on wrestling move and opposes Tanaka's stiff striking with textbook wrestling, even hitting a shining wizard that forces the referee to check on Minoru Tanaka. But the Orange Prince stays strong and gets back up, hitting takedowns and throws and sickening knees. He targets Kashin's kidney with palm strikes and elbows and kicks, and eventually Kendo Kashin is unable to continue. His head is clear, but is body is just shutting down from all these shots to the kidney. WINNER: MINORU TANAKA (TKO) GRADE: 47 ⚔ Josh Barnett & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Daichi Hashimoto & Masashi Takeda ⚔ Last show, Daichi Hashimoto and Masashi Takeda went for an all out brutal war that ended in a time limit draw. Tonight, they face close friends and training partners Josh Barnett & Kazushi Sakuraba. Despite ending last Vanguard show on good terms, it seems a little tense between the two young men, as they bicker to know who will start the match. It ends on Takeda taking the initiative, facing Josh Barnett who overweights him by a large margin. The former UFC Heavyweight champion uses his weight to control Takeda and forces him to the ground where he pummels him with knees and elbows. Takeda is already gasping and resorts to biting Barnett's shoulder to escape! The ref breaks the hold ans reprimands Takeda. His own partner yells at him and they argue before Hashimoto being tagged in. The son of former IWGP Musketeer puts up a great fight with Barnett, hitting him with violents strikes and negating every take down attempts. He even pulls out a Hashimoto DDT that puts Barnett on the ground and has the referee count up to 8. Barnett gets back up and tags in Sakuraba. It's a whole different game. Kazushi Sakuraba might be on the Mount Rushmore of submission wrestling and MMA in itself. He outgrapples Hashimoto and locks him in a heel hook that the heir of the Hashimoto name escapes only by tagging out while being trapped in the lock. Takeda runs at Sakuraba like a mad man and stomps him into the ground before locking in a cross armbreaker. But Sakuraba is still too close from the ropes and escapes. What follows is a match between the crazed Takeda and the calm Sakuraba who tries to hinder him and contain his chaotic offense with his grappling. He then tosses it to Barnett who has a much more easier time containing Takeda thanks to his superior frame. This trends continues through the whole match: Barnett dominates Takeda with his size, Hashimoto gets the better of Barnett with his strikes, Sakuraba out wrestles Hashimoto, and Takeda's unique brand of offense is a bit much for the Gracie Hunter. It gives a really back and forth match that almost ends when Hashimoto hits Barnett with a monumental lariat. He gets screamed at by Takeda who wants to tag in and gets distracted, arguing with his one time tag team partner. Barnett seizes the opportunity to hit a running forearm from behind and then a brutal deadlift german suplex! He drags Hashimoto to the center of the ring and tags in Sakuraba who puts Hashimoto out with a rear naked choke. WINNERS: JOSH BARNETT & KAZUSHI SAKURABA (SUBMISSION) GRADE: 65 • Gone is last show's sportsmanship and eagerness to fight fair again. Takada gets mad at Hashimoto, who's mad at Takada. They argue in front of Sakuraba and Barnett's smiles. The argument gets so intense they get into a big of a scuffle and are separated by officials. ⚔ PANCRASE DEATH SQUAD vs. BattlArtists ⚔ In 1993, Minoru Suzuki and Masakutsu Funaki founded PANCRASE, a MMA organization that still runs show to this day. A founding father of MMA as we know it, an inspiration to the UFC. This promotion came as the two men were in disagreement with the direction of Pro Wrestling Fujiwara-Gumi, where they fought. They disagreed over fighting style and management. Flashforward to 1996, where Yuki Ishikawa - a trainee of Fujiwara and Karl Gotch, like Suzuki and Funaki - led an all out exodus of Fujiwara Gumi to found BattlArts. While PANCRASE was essentially a fighting pit for martial artists all over the world, BattlArts offered a more varied view of fighting, and aimed at proving that professional wrestling is the strongest form of fighting style. It created its own style, the Bati-Bati style. Flashforward again to nowadays, where Takuya Nomura and Fuminori Abe, two spiritual successors of the now defunct BattlArts. Two men who have their own view of fighting and want to promote their brand of professional wrestling as the strongest form of fighting. Tonight, Takuya Nomura teams with his idol and favourite wrestler for the first time ever. He fights side by side with the man that inspired him to be a professional wrestler. But he's not here to enjoy the moment, he's here for revenge after PANCRASE Death Squad injured his best friend and tag team partner Fuminori Abe last show, using dirty tactics and resulting in him forfeiting the match to stop the abuse on Abe. Last show, Suzuki tricked Nomura into attacking early with a slap and trapping him, taking a big advantage. No slap is needed this time, as Nomura RUNS at him as soon as the bell rings. He floors Suzuki with a combination of three forearms, then flies straight at Funaki on the apron and kicks him to the jaw, throwing him down the ring. As Nomura turns back to Suzuki and goes for another assault, the Most Evil Wrestler on Earth feint a right hook and hits Nomura in the knee with his heel. Suzuki then runs to the rope and hits a lariat. He then turns to Ishikawa and spits in his face! He truly is the most evil man ever. The match is a replica of last show PANCRASE vs. Astronauts match. The difference is that Nomura's fire burns even brighter, he's even more angry, and that Ishikawa's experience allows him to not get overwhelmed by Funaki & Suzuki cheating tactics. It's a pure masterpiece of grappling, and Nomura and his spiritual mentor mashes really well - a mix of old man cunning and young man fire. They come close to winning it when Nomura catches Funaki with a Stretch Plum, but he gets furious about Suzuki taunting him from his corner and let the hold go to confront Suzuki who steps down the apron immediately. You mostly expect heroes to win the fight, but Nomura's gets his hope crushed when PANCRASE Death Squad isolate Ishikawa for long, excruciating minutes where they tear him limb by limb. They barely want to make him tap, but rather make his spirit crumble. They stop his fingers, they snap his ankles, they crush his knees, even using the ropes for a few seconds before the referee makes them stop. They are dirty and they use every trick in the book to end this. Suzuki even mocks Nomura by targetting Ishikawa's eye, the same way he injured Fuminori Abe last show. Nomura screams and shouts, but it has been seven minutes, seven gruelling, abominating, suffocating minutes where the 57 years old Ishikawa is being torn apart by two men, barely fighting back. Seeing his idol in such pain, Nomura grabs a white towel and throw it in, forfeiting a second match in a row against PANCRASE Death Squad, but saving his hero from further damage and eventual injury. WINNERS: PANCRASE DEATH SQUAD GRADE: 67 • Nomura is a man possessed. He runs at Suzuki and Funaki and fights them like a mad man. Eventually thought, his fire burns less and less bright, overwhelmed by two men. Suzuki puts him down with a takedown and Funaki fights back officials that try to end this. Suzuki locks Nomura in an armbar and as Funaki keeps the officials at bay, he tries to break Nomura's arm! That's when comes rushing from the back... Wearing an eyepatch to cover the detached retina Suzuki made him suffer, out comes Fuminoru Abe! Nomura's best frien runs in and fights off Funaki and Suzuki. The numbers game is over, and PANCRASE Death Squad are quick to retreat. Astronauts stand tall and Fuminori Abe asks for a microphone. "SUZUKI MINORU! You injured me. You tried to take wrestling away from my life. The one thing that I love the most. Tonight, you beat down our hero and you tried to break the arm of my best friend. I don't care if I'm cleared to compete or not. They won't be a next VANGUARD show if I don't face you. I WILL BEAT YOU UP OLD MAN!" • Things take a few minutes to come back to normal, and before the Main Event can take place, we introduce a special guest that will take a seat on the commentators' table to watch this match. After all, tonight's challenger is his close friend and protege... KOTA IBUSHI! MAIN EVENT FOR THE REAL PRO WRESTLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ⚔ Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Tyson Maeguchi ⚔ Five minutes can go by in a glimpse. You watch a TV show, you read a book, and play video games, and laugh with friends, and when you look at the clock and hour went by in what feels like a few minutes. Five minutes can also be long, they can go by in an agonizing slowness that drains your soul. On the last match, Ishikawa got isolated for seven minutes, and that might have felt like an hour for him. Five minutes. After the belt has been presented. After the referee has checked that they don't hide any weapons of some sorts. After the ring bells, this match only lasts five minutes. Shibata and Maeguchi size up, nods... And go all out in the most crazy, uncontrolable wild brawl you've ever seen. They just stand there and throw everything they've got. Slaps, elbows, punches. They strike like mad men, not even attempting to protect their heads or to dodge a strike. They go all out in the purest, most brutal sense. They unleashed everything they've got in a moment that seems to last a second and an eternity at the same time. It's the most crazy thing you've seen in a while, that only ends when Maeguchi slows down and gets hit two times in the face by a quick combination of slaps. Shibata sees the quick opening and runs to the rope, yakuza kick! Maeguchi struggles to stay up. He won't go down in front of the fans and his mentor. He won't go down when the stakes are this high. He collects himself and sees Katsuyori Shibata, the (self proclaimed) REAL Pro-Wrestling World Champion running at him. Maeguchi catches him with a kick to the gut, stopping him in his tracks. He takes two steps back and goes for a superman punch! He hits it! Shibata stumbles but stays up, and this time it's Maeguchi who runs to the ropes. He comes at Shibata like a cannon ball, but Shibata is quicker to draw with a jumping knee. He catches Maeguchi straight in the chin. Maeguchi goes down on his ass and is perfectly set up for the move that made VANGUARD famous on the firt show, concussing AJPW Triple Crown Champion Katsuhiko Nakajima and awarding Shibata the win... PENALTY KICK! Shibata strikes right in the face and Maeguchi is, like Shibata promised, out cold. WINNER: KATSUYORI SHIBATA (KNOCK OUT) GRADE: 67 • Shibata takes the microphone after having his hand raised by the official and received his championship belt. He points at Kota Ibushi and asks him to come to the ring. He says he has a great lot of respect for Ibushi because, like him, he won't stay in the box people put him in. Like him, he thinks different. He wants him to join VANGUARD and be at the helm of this revolution in fighting sports. Ibushi smiles and bows to Shibata. He answers that he'll be glad to be a part of VANGUARD... And he challenges Shibata for the championship!! Ibushi says he needs some tune up matches after the injury he suffered, so he offers Shibata a deal: next show, Ibushi & Maeguchi against Shibata and a partner of his choise. Shibata grins and accepts before bowing to Ibushi. As the Golden Star leaves with his still dazed pupil, Shibata is left with his now usual final adress. "Thank you Korakuen! We are VANGUARD. We are pro wrestling. We will lead the way." POST-MATCH COMMENTS - Babatunde told the reporters that he wants more challenge. He's having offers from sponsors all over the world and says he's just getting started making money and crushing hopes ; - Daisuke Nakamura was humble about being Daijiro Matsui's last opponent. He mentioned his 1-1 record in singles fight in VANGUARD and says that despite his age he won't be satisfied with being middle of the pack. Matsui's retirement made him think, and he wants to retire at the top, with a championship around his waist ; - Minoru Tanaka was happy about beating Kendo Kashin tonight. He said that after tonight, he almost avenged his first loss on the first show: he has beaten his two "worthless" partners of that night and is now 2-0 in singles competition. In that aforementioned first show fight that the three men lost, Daisuke Nakamura was on the opposing side. Tanaka challenges him to a fight to further avenge his first loss and prove that he is the best ; - Daichi Hashimoto has no time to adress the press, as Masashi Takeda stormed the interview area and the two men resumed their scuffle in front of the press. They got restrained by security but Takeda grabbed a chair and threw it at Hashimoto! He threw two more chairs, eventually being pulled back ; - Kazushi Sakuraba and Josh Barnett know they are past their prime, but they still rocks! They mention wanting to pass the torch to the next generation, but is the next generation ready? - Minoru Suzuki and Masakutsu Funaki laughed, not unlike last show. They criticized Nomura's feelings and laughed at him for throwing the towel because his "granpa substitute" was getting injured. Suzuki adressed Nomura: "i told you last week, you've got to be ruthless! There is no friendship in wrestling! There is no admiration, no compassion! This is life and death, this is glory or obscurity. You've got to be ready to leave it all on that mat! Grow up, kid!" ; Funaki, laughing in the background, said he was right: "I told it and we did it: we humiliated the stupid, stupid, STUPID Bati-Bati style. PANCRASE always prevail!" Suzuki ended the interview by accepting Fuminori Abe's challenge: "i will end his career before it starts!" - Takuya Nomura refused to adress the press, as he accompanied Yuki Ishikawa to the hospital. Fuminori Abe promised he will get his hands on Minoru Suzuki and get a measure of revenge. He got announced that he will fight Minoru Suzuki next show, in an unsanctionned fight ; - Kota Ibushi (with Tyson Maeguchi) said he's looking forward fighting in VANGUARD. He complimented Maeguchi's guts and fight tonight, and said he will come back stronger. "Pro wrestling is art. I can't wait to show you my art." ; - Katsuyori Shibata thanked the media and the fans. He was questioned on who is tag team partner will be to face Maeguchi & Ibushi, and mentioned that he has a few friends left, in Japan and elsewhere.

Thanks to all of you for your predictions! Next show shouldn't be up before next week so still plenty of time to throw your hats in

0. GLEAT vs. Evolution Girls: Kizuna Tanaka, Maya Fukuda, Yukari Hosokawa vs. Chi Chi, SUNNY, ZONES 1. UWF Rules: Minoru Tanaka vs. Yukio Sakaguchi 2. UWF Rules: Soma Watanabe vs. Tyson Maeguchi 3. Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura vs. Issei Onitsuka & Takanori Ito 4. Hayato Tamura, Galeno Del Mal, Ryuichi Kawakami, Check Shimatani, "X" vs. Kaito Ishida, Flamita, Hartley Jackson, El Bendito, Emperador Azteca 5. Eita vs. Jun Tonsho 6. Grudge Match: MICHIKO vs. Unagi Sayaka 7. UWF Rules/LIDET UWF Next Challenger Decision: Hikaru Sato vs. Minoru Suzuki 8. G-INFINITY Championship 3-Way Match: KAZMA Sakamoto & Quiet Storm (C) vs. CIMA & Shigehiro Irie vs. Kuma Arashi & Koji Doi 9. Special Singles Match: El Lindaman vs. Kota Ibushi 10. G-REX Championship Match: T-Hawk (C) vs. Tetsuya Izuchi BONUS POINT: Who is "X" in Match #4? El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. BONUS POINT: What will Executive Director Kiyoshi Tamura's announcement be? Joint CyberFight show

VANGUARD #3 Live from Korakuen Hall May 19th 2024 All matches are contested under Vanguard Rules. Matches can only be won by knockout, ubmission or referee stoppage. A 30-minutes time limit in enforced on all matches. If the time limit is reached, the referee has discretionnary power to award the winning decision or declare a draw. MAIN EVENT FOR THE REAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP "The Realest Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. "Dynamite Punch" Tyson Maeguchi GRUDGE TAG TEAM MATCH PANCRASE VS. BATI-BATI PANCRASE DEATH SQUAD (Minoru Suzuki & Masakutsu Funaki) vs. BattlArtists (Takuya Nomura & Yuki Ishikawa HALEO DREAM TEAM VS. BJPW'S FINEST Josh Barnett & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Daichi Hashimoto & Masashi Takeda JUNIOR WRESTLING SUMMIT "Orange Prince" Minoru Tanaka vs. "Akuma Kamen" Kendo Kashin MMA'S FINEST! Daijiro Matsui vs. "The Genius of the Armbar" Daisuke Nakamura WHO CAN STOP THE GIANT? "Realest Giant" Babatunde vs. Keisuke Okada

Thank you! Hope i'm doing justice to your favourite wrestler, it's quite a different spin on him and i'm taking liberties with his character Glad to have you on board

SonOfSharknado : 6/7 Vandal : 5/7 StanMiguel : 4/7 CGN91 : 5/7

VANGUARD #2 Live from Korakuen Hall | 629 in attendance Streamed on niconico May 19th 2024 • VANGUARD's founder and "Real" World Champion Katsuyori Shibata opens the show and thanks the fans for coming. He says the media have been all over VANGUARD and especially the main event of the first show, referencing the controversy regarding his match with Nakajima. Shibata says he's heard a lot about his "reckless" style and the concern about him ending Sakuraba career tonight. He reminds us that he used to team with Sakuraba in Laughter7 so he has no desire to end his career. He also wants to prove that he's the ultimate wrestler and so he makes a promise: tonight he won't KO Sakuraba. He'll grapple him and beat him at his own game. "Have a great night!" ⚔ "Realest Giant" Babatunde vs. "Hitman" Low Ki ⚔ In 2002, Low Ki wrestler Samoa Joe in the latter Ring Of Honor's debut. This was essentially American Indy's first great shoot style match ever. A match still revered to this day, where the smaller and leaner Low Ki battled the raw strength of Samoa Joe and imposed his will on him, grinding and kicking his way to a huge victory in one of indy wrestling's most foundly remember match. Tonight, Low Ki has the same plan as back in 2011 with Babatunde: kick him to remove his strong base, negate his superior frame and weight with quickness and skill. It is a battle tested plan that worked before. And you know what they say? Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Or, in this case, elbowed in the skull until they can't even stand up straight. The fight is a flash: Low Ki approaches Babatunde slowly and gives him a few stiff low kick. Babatunde is so tall that he can't reach and catch Low Ki's leg. It's no big deal though: he waits the precise moment where Low Ki throws his hip into a fourth kick, and catches him behind the neck in a muay thai clinch. Low Ki tries to escape, but Babatunde throws him into the ground like nothing and mounts him, delivering disgusting elbows. The ground to pound opens Low Ki's skull, and he can't defend himself. In three short minutes, this match is over after a total domination. WINNER: BABATUNDE (KO) GRADE: 41 ⚔ Daijiro Matsui vs. Yuki Ishikawa ⚔ The 54 fights MMA veteran Daijiro Matsui, trained by Nobuhiko Takada, faces the founder of BattlArts. Two clear gameplans here: Matsui has the stronger stand-up game and a kick can end the match in his favour. Ishikawa is clearly the superior grappler and wants to bring his opponent to the ground, negate his base and submit him. It's sudden-death game as a single kick of a lightning-fast submission could end it. It's near, as a superman punch by Matsui brings Ishikawa to the ground at around 6 minutes. Matsui smells blood and goes for the ground and pound, but Ishikawa catches his arm and secures a triangle choke for the surprise win! WINNER: YUKI ISHIKAWA (SUBMISSION) GRADE: 48 ⚔ Tiger Mask IV vs. Minoru Tanaka ⚔ Two junior heavyweight legends, who crossed paths numerous time in NJPW and trade the Junior heavyweight championship, collide. Last month, they were in the same team and lost to the "MMA fighters" team. After that, they got into an argument backstages and agreed to a match. This starts as a rather classic junior wrestling affair, with runs to the ropes, chops and arm drags. It speeds up a bit though when Tiger Mask hits a shotgun running dropkick that sends Tanaka to the outside. Tiger Mask rungs the ropes, and hits Tanaka with a baseball slide beneath the first rope that hits him right in the mouth, drawing a bit of blood. From there, they fight outside of the ring with forearms and kicks, before Minoru Tanaka throws a ringside fan at Tiger Mask! It allows him to recover and get back into the ring to breathe. As Tiger Mask checks on the fan, he decides to go back to the ring via the rope, and goes for a jumping something, but gets caught by Tanak's foot right in the jaw. From there, Tanaka grabs Tiger by the back and runs him into the ring corner before hitting a brutal snap german suplex. The ref has to check on Tiger Mask, who gets back up at the count of six. It goes into an all out stiff strike exchanges. Tanaka gets the upper hand with a low kick that brings Tiger down to a knee, and runs the rope. He goes for a penalty kick but Tiger Mask dodges, gets back up... Front kick to the stomach by Tanaka, Tiger bends in two... Guillotine choke! Tiger Mask is trapped in the center of the ring and has to choice but to tap out. WINNER: MINORU TANAKA (SUBMISSION) GRADE: 46 ⚔ Daisuke Nakamura vs. Tyson Maeguchi ⚔ Once again, it's a grappler versus a striker, as the "Genius of the Armbar" squares up against professional muay thai and kickboxer. It's even more a dichotomy as Maeguchi has almost no grappling game, except a few classic wrestling moves that he learned from Kota Ibushi. Nakamura swallows a few hard strike and spends a huge amount of time attemping a takedown. Maeguchi is quick on his feet and uses the ropes as a shelter multiple time, keeping his advantage. It gets frustrating for Nakamura, who gets more and more tired swallowing all the shots from his elite-striking opponent. He strikes back, but fails to inflict the same damages as the ones he takes. He switches it up after a moment, determined to not be beaten up. He manages to catch Maeguchi with a quick snap kanukki suplex and reaches for the arm. The locks in the kimura, but Maeguchi has a rope! Nakamura manages to bring his opponent down four more time with a powermove, but each time he can't successfully transition into a submission. It gets tiring, and he doesn't see a flying knee from Maeguchi after a quick grappling exchange on the ground. He gets knocked out COLD. WINNER: TYSON MAEGUCHI (KO) GRADE: 57 ⚔ Daichi Hashimoto vs. Masashi Takeda ⚔ Have you ever seen the depiction of passion? Daichi Hashimoto has perhaps the biggest chip of all puroresu on his shoulders. He was 13 years old when his father, wrestling legend Shinya Hashimoto passed away. He took the mantle, but never became a huge star in Japanese wrestling. He mostly wrestled in BJPW, an environement far different from peak 90s NJPW where Shinya became a legend. With VANGUARD, he reconnects with the strong style heritage of his father, a man famous for his high impact style an stiff strikes. Tonight, he faces deathmatch LEGEND Masashi Takeda, a man he crossed paths with in BJPW, who's out to prove he's much more than just the best deathmatch wrestler alive: he's LEGIT! Takeda is 6-3 in MMA and his signature with VANGUARD is a step in his pursuit of acknowledgement. This match is a pure fight of will. Stiff strikes, brutal throws, intense struggle, and never say die attitude. These two give it all, even fighting in the crowd for a moment, when Masashi Takega gets thrown into multiple chairs ringside, hitting a few fans that weren't quick enough to get up. This fight is all about fighting spirit and one-upping the other match, as we even see an exchange of sickening elbows to the face in the middle of the ring. Their bodies are hurting: Takeda's tigh is turning blue from all the kicks he received, his chest is strawberry red ; Hashimoto's eyebrow is split open and bleeding deep. It is an all out war where neither man gets a real advantage, a true stalemate as the ring announcer signals for the 3 minutes left signals. They are exhausted, barely standing up, and they come face to face in the middle of the ring, inveighing each other with huge grins on their faces. When your body is giving up, when you're hurting so bad you want to quit, when your mind is going numb, only one thing remains... Pure, unstoppable FIGHTING SPIRIT! They stand face to face and go all out like mad men, unleashing every strike, every once of energy they got left. Hashimoto goes to the rope and delivers a spinning elbow to Takeda, and the two men go down! The referee checks on them, and they both scream, they want to continue! As they barely stand back up with the help of the ropes, they - once again - come face to face in the middle of the ring. They are about to go at it again... But the bell rings, it's over. TIME LIMIT DRAW GRADE: 65 ⚔ PANCRASE DEATH SQUAD vs. Astronauts ⚔ The forefathers of Pancrase against the spiritual heirs of BattleArts' Bati-Bati style. Two nasty, violent, crafty veterans, against the pure heart of the Astronauts. Two singular yet similar visions of pro wrestling. Two philosophies for what fighting should be, colliding in a stylistic clash for the ages. The match begins with Suzuki facing Nomura. In classic Suzuki fashin, he throws a slap at Nomura. Not a violent slap, not engaging his full body into the strike. Just an act of humiliation, a manner of stating his lack of respect for whoever's put in front of him. Nomura receives the slap... And runs straight at Suzuki, his fiery heart and his pride not tolerating this lack of respect. Unfortunately for him, it's his first mistake. The veteran Suzuki expected this reaction and dodges Nomura's onslaught, catching his back and bringing him to the ground with a favourable position. This first action exemplifies the match: Suzuki and Funaki use their experience and craftiness to get the upper hand. When Astronauts come back with some flurry of offenses, their opponents evade, or just straight stop their momentum with some bending of the rules: face grab during grappling moment, stomping on the feet when clutching for the inside position on the feet, or even Suzuki biting Abe in the calf when Abe tries to lock in an armbar! Abe tries to replicate, he too knows how to bite and claw, but he lacks the experience, and the referee catches him and stops it everytime, whereas Funaki & Suzuki are experienced enough to do it behind the referee back, with an expert timing. The match turns nasty when the cheating gets too far: Minoru Suzuki and Fuminori Abe are wrestling against the ropes, and the ref separates them. While the ref is making him step back, Suzuki throws a nasty closed fist punch into Fuminori Abe's eye! What follows is a sickening sequence where Funaki & Suzuki go to town on Abe, alternating his hitting him with elbows and knees, targeting his eye. Fuminori must be hurt as he starts to bleed when Funaki racks his eye against the top rope. It's getting nasty, and the referee has to stop the action to check on Fuminori Abe, whose eye is bathing in his own blood. The ref wants to stop the match for excessive bleeding, but Fuminori screams: he wants to continue! He battles the veterans, being stopped to tag out every single time, missing on Nomura's hand by a few inches. This gets suffocating when finally, Abe dodges a Funaki running kick to the ground, jumps to his feet and catches him with a rolling elbow, a slap, and a momentous Kaiten Jodoshu ! Abe jumps to his corner, exhausted, and in comes Takuya Nomura. Nomura delivers a non-stop onslaught on Masakutsu Funaki. It's three to four minutes of non stop striking and wrestling, ending with a german suplex that rocks the ring. He transitions into a fujiwara armbar in the middle of the ring! Minoru Suzuki tries to interfere, but Fuminori Abe comes at him. They exchanges hard forearms, and Suzuki nails Abe with a yakuza kick to the eye! Abe is on the ground, just next to Nomura delivering the armbar. He's not quite locked in as the legendary grappler Funaki is clinching and scrambling to maintain position. What happens then is a most unique ending to a match: Suzuki delivers elbows to Abe's eye just in front of Nomura's eye, and he's screaming at Nomura: "i will rip his eye out!" Nomura's struggling, he's about to secure the armbar but... "I QUIT!" Wanting to end the suffering for his best friend being beaten up just in fron of him, Nomura makes his choice. He rather lost the match than having his best friend being crippled in front of him. WINNERS: PANCRASE DEATH SQUAD GRADE: 64 • Nomura let Funaki's arm go and jumps at Suzuki, covering Fuminori Abe with his own body. Suzuki, a gnarly smirk on his face, is quick to roll out of the ring. Nomura clutches his almost unconscious friend in his arms as medical staff arrives to check on his badly injured eye. His retina could be detached, all because of the Most Evil Man in Wrestling, Minoru Suzuki. MAIN EVENT FOR THE REAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ⚔ Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba /w. Josh Barnett ⚔ Kazushi Sakuraba is a legend of Japanese MMA, perhaps THE legend. He is the man who ended the Gracie's family stranglehold on MMA. He is the pillar on which japanese MMA was built. He submitted 19 men in professional MMA fights, and tonight he wishes to do the same on VANGUARD's boss and Real World Champion Katsuyori Shibata, the forgotten third New Musketeer of NJPW. Shibata said earlier tonight that he wanted to beat Sakuraba at his own game: grappling! He makes good on his promise as this is a pure grappling clinic for most of the match. Billy Robinson would be proud seeing this locks, transitions and attempted submissions. Multiple time, Sakuraba gets a strong hold on him, like when he applies a heel hook 4 minutes into the match. But Shibata's will gives him enough energy and resilience to reach for the ropes, every time. Shibata grows more and more frustrated: Sakuraba has an answer for everything, and he never manages to firmly lock a submission. Sakuraba evades an armbar by gripping Shibata's foot and putting him in an ankle hold ; he escaped a guillotine attempted with his sheer agility ; he rolls around when Shibata attempt a rear naked choke and reaches for the rope. Despite what Shibata hoped to do, it's clear Sakuraba has the edge in grappling and is going to tap him out one way or another if given enough time. Shibata's frustration makes him turn his back on his own promise, as he begins to slap Sakuraba while grappling, most notably an astoundishing palm strike to Sakuraba's liver that makes him roll out to recover for a few seconds. Shibata still tries to out-grapple Sakuraba, but he's unafraid to throw in more and more strikes. Of course, Sakuraba reciprocates, but his young opponent is famoius for his striking ability and has an undeniable edge over him in that category. Shibata's frustration grows even more when Sakuraba catches him with a Buggy Choke that Shibata barely escapes by touching the rope with the end of his toes. When he gets back up, Shibata goes to Sakuraba and delivers a sickening headbutt to his opponent, the kind of strike that makes the whole crowd go silent as it is so uneasy to watch. It's the same headbutt that almost ended his career in 2017, and he goes at it again. Sakuraba goes down, and Shibata gets him back up to deliver ANOTHER sick headbutt. He promised to outgrapple Sakuraba tonight, but he couldn't. As Sakuraba is phased out, Shibata graps him and puts him in a fujiwara armbar, Yuji Nagata style. Sakuraba tries to giggle around, but he's trapped and taps out. Shibata submitted him, but he had to resort to his furious striking to do so. WINNER: KATSUYORI SHIBATA (SUBMISSION) GRADE: 67 • Shibata takes the microphone after having his hand raised by the official and received his championship belt. He thanks Sakuraba for the match and the fans for coming. Before he can adress the crowd, he gets interrupted Tyson Maeguchi comes to the ring. He goes straight to Shibata and stares him with disrespect in his eyes. Shibata laughs and asks him if he wants a title shot. Shibata tells him he'll face him and knock him out cold. He never did muay thai but he has the meanest kick in the business, "ask Katsuhiko Nakajima". Maeguchi nods and leaves the ring, leaving Shibata for the final adress: "We are VANGUARD. We are pro wrestling. We will lead the way." POST-MATCH COMMENTS - Babatunde told the reporters that he's "just beginning", and promises he has much more to offer to VANGUARD ; - Yuki Ishikawa got questioned about the PANCRASE/Astronauts tag match. He said he was disgusted by Minoru Suzuki's actions, and express his most heartfelt wishes to Fuminori Abe, hoping he'll be good to go. Ishikawa noted that he always had an eye on Astronauts, the two spiritual successors of his BATI-BATI style and of BattleArts. He adressed a message to Takuya Nomura: "if you need an ally, I wil answer the call." ; - Minoru Tanaka insulted Tiger Mask IV in his post match comments and told him to "go back to the retirement home". Tanaka noted that he felt younger than ever, and that it won't be long before he comes for Shibata ; - Daichi Hashimoto's comments were interrupted by Masashi Takeda. After their gruelling 30 minutes time limit, they got into a friendly argument about "doing that again". Takeda noted that Daichi's hit "like a girl" with a huge smile, his legs still bruised by Daichi's kick. Daichi's answered with as much humour, telling Takeda that he didn't hit him too hard because he already was ugly enough. The two men agreed to fight again ; - Takuya Nomura didn't adress the press after his match, as he accompanied his best friend Fuminori Abe to the hospital. Reports are that he suffered a fractured skull and a detached retina ; - Minoru Suzuki and Masakutsu Funaki laughed. They criticized Nomura's feelings and laughed at him throwing the match away because his "boyfriend" was getting injured. Suzuki adressed Nomura: "you've got to be ruthless! There is no friendship in wrestling! This is life and death, this is do or die. You've got to be ready to leave it all on that mat! Grow up, kid!" ; Funaki, laughing in the background, adressed Ishikawa's comments: "let's fight! I'll humiliate your Bati-Bati stupid style. PANCRASE will prevail!" - After the main event, Sakuraba adressed the press, held up by friend and training partner Josh Barnett. Sakuraba was fair about his loss, but noted the number of times Shibata had to use the ropes to escaped. Josh Barnett noted that in Bloodsport Rules (without ropes), he'll be done ; - Tyson Maeguchi adressed his quick earned win and his challenge to Shibata. Tyson promises he'll win the title next show, and he will do it in front of his trainer ; - Katsuyori Shibata thanked the media and the fans. He adressed Tyson Maeguchi's challenge and told us he won't ever back down. He defended his title against a grappling living legend, next show he will beat up an elite striker: another day at the office of The REALEST Wrestler.

Thanks for the comment, appreciate it! I will look around the lesser guys as i'm not 100% familiar with all of them, thank you for the suggestions. As for Hikaru Sato, he was in the first show, and might make another appeareance later

Thanks to both of you for your predictions!

Love the crisp presentation as much as the time period Also love when the game throws roadblocks at you, as you said, time to push the young guys! This sense of urgency and unpredictability is why I love this game so much

Thank you for your predictions! Glad you're on board with Crazy-bata! 😄 I confess not knowing enough about Joshi to consider having a women's division (yet) Aoki is a good call though! His disrespectful post match celebrations can fit right in with VANGUARD

VANGUARD #2 Live from Korakuen Hall May 19th 2024 All matches are contested under Vanguard Rules. Matches can only be won by knockout, submission or referee stoppage. A 30-minutes time limit in enforced on all matches. If the time limit is reached, the referee has discretionnary power to award the winning decision or declare a draw. MAIN EVENT FOR THE REAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP "The Realest Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. "Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakuraba PIONEERS VS. PRODIGIES TAG TEAM DOUBLE MAIN EVENT PANCRASE DEATH SQUAD (Minoru Suzuki & Masakutsu Funaki) vs. Astronauts (Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura) THE FUTURE IS NOW! "Heir of the Never Dying Fighting Spirit" Daichi Hashimoto vs. "Crazy Kid" Masashi Takeda GRAPPLING VS. STRIKING! "The Genius of the Armbar" Daisuke Nakamura vs. "Dynamite Puncher" Tyson Maeguchi LEGENDS OF JR. WRESTLING "Yondaime Kogane no Tora" Tiger Mask IV vs. "The Orange Prince" Minoru Tanaka FIRST TIME EVER "No nickname needed" Daijiro Matsui vs. "Godfather of BattlArts" Yuki Ishikawa GRUDGE MATCH "Realest Giant" Babatunde vs. "Hitman" Low Ki

Main Event: Ignite Muscle Army (Atonga, Erik Van Rjin, Kato, Taheji Ebisawa and Takehide Harada) vs Kinjo-jidai (Katsuhiko Ishii, Kintaro Kinjo, Mr. Yamashita, Tortura and Waotaka Eda) in 5 vs 5 Elimination Rules ➡️ I'm going with Ignite Muscle Army, to set up another title defense for Lord Kinjo (maybe they lose because of some miscommunication with Ishii?) Grudge Match: Hair vs Young Lion Gear Juro Deguchi vs Oda Yamawaki ➡️ Really like what you're doing with this feud. I think Oda takes it, and shaving Juro's head make him go mad Furosuto and Kozue vs Jin Fujiwara and Ryoturo Naruto ➡️ Stange seeing Furosuto/Kozue team as in my head they have a "destined to fight forever" feel. I think Jin Fujiwara gets a pin to cement his #1 contender status Captain UPJ, SHOGUN and Koji Yamada & Koma Kiobashi vs Cody & Matsuo and PunkRockCity ➡️ With me picking Juro to lose, i'll go with his crew getting the him here (HardRockCity) Daijiro Otsuka vs Des Miller ➡️ Daijro Otsuka (just going on potential here) Filipino Fire Power vs Strength Through Honour ➡️ One team is on the verge of retirement, the other is young. Filipino Fire Power Hidetsugu Genji vs Kamei Takauji ➡️ Hidetsugu Genji, Kamei is still young lion + I second the lack of Dustin Lefever outrage !!

PREDICTIONS (as Nakajima was BOOKED to win, I will count a point for everyone who picked him) Dalton: 3/7 Vandal: 4/7 SonOfSharknado: 5/7

DAVE MELTZER'S GRADES FOR VANGUARD #1 Babatunde & Low Ki vs. Masashi Takeda & Hikaru Sato Fun opener, where the real star was Masashi Takeda. Babatunde didn't wrestle, and we still wonder what he is doing in Shibata's shoot style promotion. Maybe RAW Underground went into his head. Still, Low Ki put on a solid performance, Sato did what Sato does, and Takeda shined. GRADE: **3/4 Tiger Mask IV, Minoru Tanaka & Kendo Kashin vs. Daisuke Nakamura, Tyson Maeguchi & Daijiro Matsui This could have been better. I was impressed by Maeguchi, who put on a good performance despite not having wrestle that mich. Guess the Kota Ibushi's training payed off. Tiger Mask IV is old and is showing sign of slowing down, to put it politely. Kashin is also past his prime, but Minoru Tanaka did a surprising good job and was the only one who really matched his opponents in intensity. GRADE: **1/4 Daichi Hashimoto vs. Yuki Ishikawa Daichi Hashimoto has always been a great wrestling what if. What if he committed to the NJPW Dojo? Could he have been a biggest star? Still, the son of Shinya is walking his own path, and maybe shooting is the right one? He shined in a match against crafty veteran Yuki Ishikawa. This was a good match, a solid showing for both guys. GRADE: *** Fuminori Abe vs. Takuya Nomura This match was good, althought not as great as the december 2023 one at We Are the Fighting Detective. They didn't recreate the magic, essentially due to the lack of more wrestling move and more humour. Still, Astronauts put on a great match - the second best of the night - and should be the focus for this new project. GRADE: ***3/4 Minoru Suzuki vs. Masakutsu Funaki Strangely, this match didn't have any flow. It's like the two friends and training partners didn't gel well. Still, considering the qualities of both these fighters, this was everything you could expect. Hard hitting, smart grappling, and a lot of attitude. GRADE: *** Katsuyori Shibata vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima We will talk about the strange finish later. This was peak shoot-style, like seeing Akira Maeda and Antonio Inoki fight. Both guys might have the stiffest kicks in the business, and they went at it. It was brutal and quite emotional, with a true display of fighting spirit. Quite honestly there's nothing to criticize about this match... Except its finish. Sources say that Nakajima was supposed to win and got legit concussed by a Shibata's kick. They decided an audible and declared him TKO. This explains the confusion surrounding the end of the match, and the fact that Nakajima wanted to go back into the ring. At this point, it's hard to say if this was an accident or if Shibata went straight Maeda and shot on Nakajima. I've been told Nakajima suffered a concussion and may be out of action for a few weeks - even months. He reportedly went into a rant and didn't speak to the press post match. So did Shibata. AJPW is furious at their champion being injured and seemed to have taken an hostile approach towards Shibata's new project. Don't expect Nakajima to show up again in VANGUARD. Given his tough guy attitude and his past with shooting on opponents, it's hard to say if he will comment about this. Maybe he won't say it's a shoot at the risk of having his "legit" image scorned. Shibata, on the other hand, just made a good publicity stunt for his promotion. Japanese media are making a lot of noise around the ending of the match. Despite this rocky finish, this was great. GRADE: ****

VANGUARD #1 Live from Korakuen Hall | 605 in attendance Streamed on niconico April 5th 2024 • The first event of Shibata's shoot-style adventure starts with lead announcer Nobuhiko Takada in the ring, thanking everyone for coming. He shares his sadness: a "true" wrestling event like this one only draws 600 people, that's the hard truth of where wrestling is that now. He recalls drawing 67,000 in the Tokyo Dome back in 1995 and says he will be there when Vanguard draws the same number and sell out the Tokyo Dome. That's a promise. "We are pro wrestlers!" ⚔ Babatunde & Low Ki vs. Masashi Takeda & Hikaru Sato ⚔ The sheer size of Babatunde is not enough for Low Ki to let him begin the match. The World Warrior exchanges hard strikes with Hikaru Sato and a particular brutal lowkick sends the Drunken Master to his corner for a tag out. The crazy Masashi Takeda shows he's much more than a deathmatch legend, he knows how to fight! The 11-4 former MMA fighter clocks Low Ki with brutal forearms and slaps, leaving the ROH legend helpless. Takeda faints a lowkick, leaving Low Ki open to be taken down. After a quick scramble in the ground, Takeda locks in an armbar and Low Ki taps out at 5:11. Babatunde didn't even step into the ring! WINNERS: MASASHI TAKEDA & HIKARU SATO (SUBMISSION) GRADE: 58 • After the obligatory winners' celebration, Low Ki gets slowly back to his feet. He's greeted by his partner of the night's who takes him in his arms. It's not a hug, it's a slam! The huge Babatunde overpowers 5 foot 7 grappler, standing over him with a brutal ground and pound. Elbows rain onto Low Ki's face and despite three officials running in, Babatunde only stops when Low Ki is unconscious. Scary monster. ⚔ Tiger Mask IV, Minoru Tanaka & Kendo Kashin vs. Daisuke Nakamura, Tyson Maeguchi & Daijiro Matsui ⚔ It's wrestlers versus MMA fighters! Three former IWGP Junior Heavyweight champions collide with a pro kickboxer in Maeguchi and two men who combine for more than 110 MMA fights in Nakamura and Matsui! On commentary, Takada can't shut up about his protege Daijiro Matsui, espacially when he almost locks Kendo Kashin in a heel hook. This is essentially a big strike exchanges of a match, with the MMA fighters attempting a few submission that the junior wrestlers always evade. It all boils down to Tiger Mask IV getting into a kicking competition with kickboxer and muay thai professional Tyson Maeguchi. It all ends in a devastating headkick to the heir of the Tiger Mask legacy that knocks him out cold. WINNERS: DAISUKE NAKAMURA, TYSON MAEGUCHI & DAIJIRO MATSUI (KO) GRADE: 47 ⚔ Daichi Hashimoto vs. Yuki Ishikawa ⚔ The son of puroresu legend Shinya Hashimoto makes his entrance honoring his late father with a white hachimaki around his forehead and a black pant. He faces the godfather of Battlarts and a man who crossed path with his father. This is all a clash of styles, with Hashimoto trying to win with the standup game and Ishikawa trying to bring him down with his catch wrestling. Ishikawa catches the young Hashimoto with a lightning-quick tsuri goshi the likes of only judo masters can pull off. Ishikawa works Hashimoto on the grounds, using his wrist bone to clutch Hashimoto's face. Daichi Hashimoto gets grappled around for a few minutes, fighting like a mad man to get back up, but the veteran Ishikawa always has a trick up his sleeves. He almost catches his younger opponent in a triangle choke, but Hashimoto powers up and powerbombs him! Letting go a huge roar that pops the crowd, Hashimoto spins and catches his opponent as he gets up with a spinning forearm right into the face. Yuki Ishikawa is unable to get back up and the ref declares a TKO. WINNER: DAICHI HASHIMOTO (TKO) GRADE: 61 ⚔ Fuminori Abe vs. Takuya Nomura ⚔ When Astronauts collide, magic happens. Best friends and teammates Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura collide for the sixth time in their careers and it's once again a banger. It is an ode to the shoot-style they both love and employ: flurry of strikes, quick grappling, passion and intensity. Neither fight like they are the best of friends, but rather like they are sworn ennemies, giving them all in the pursuit of a tie-breaking win. They honour the tradition of BattlArts, upgrading and modernizing it with their Astronauts touch: a bit of humour and lots of athleticism. It develops a do or die atmosphere that gets nasty when Abe is phased out by a violent kick and goes to the outside of the ring to recover. The referee checks on him and almost declares him done, but Abe screams that he wants to continue. Takuya Nomura interferes and checks on his teammate. They both convince the ref to let the match go and Abe recovers to the ring. The Astronauts face each other, nod, Abe smiles, Nomura scratches his nose... And they go all out in a non-stop barrage of kicks and strikes. It's the final sprint, and this twenty of so exchange of non-stop exchanges ends when Abe gets caught with a kick to the liver and stumbles. Nomura runs to the ropes and hits a jumping knee that knocks his best friend out. WINNER: TAKUYA NOMURA (KO) GRADE: 71 • Of course, Takuya Nomura doesn't care to celebrate. He checks on his friend with the medics and helps him to his feet when he recovers. The two men lift each other's hand in celebration. Takuya Nomura may have won the match, but Astronauts won the hearts of the Korakuen Hall audience, together. ⚔ Josh Barnett vs. Kazushi Sakuraba ⚔ Two students of Billy Robinson collide in this ode to catch-as-catch can grappling. To emphasizes this hommage to catch wrestling, Josh Barnett walks to the ring with catch wrestling legend, former shooto world champion and the man who gave him his black belt in brazilian JJB, Erik Paulson. This is a strong grappling match, where almost no strikes are exchanged, except a few palm strikes to the back by Sakuraba when he escaped an attempted leg lock, and a notable Josh Barnett knee to the ribs when controling Sakuraba on the ground. It's a clash of raw strength versus unmatched skill and agility. Sakuraba slides, evades, rolls, and frustrates his QUINTET teammate. It angers Barnett to the point of giving Sakuraba a hard slam that almost knocks Sakuraba out. As he recovers, he seems tired and rocked by the slam, almost dizzy. Barnett approaches slowly,... And Sakuraba rolls on the ground, grabs his leg, swipes him to the ground! Heel hook! Barnett has nowhere to go, Sakuraba's cunning got the better out of him! WINNER: KAZUSHI SAKURABA (SUBMISSION) GRADE: 55 ⚔ Minoru Suzuki vs. Masakutsu Funaki ⚔ Two absolute legends of shoot style, no more and no less. Two men whose strange friendship is made of shared blood, sweat and pain. We can confirm that Minoru Suzuki ever actually shed a tear. This first match in 14 years starts bad, as Suzuki gets into an argument with a staff employee at ringside, two fans and the referee. With a huge grin on his face, he doesn't size up Funaki, but rather walks deliberately towards him... And slaps the taste out of his mouth! Funaki touches his jaw, smiles... And slaps right back! The two icon then indulge into a grapling exchange on their feet then on the ground. A few strikes here and there, an attempted kimura by Funaki, and a brutal headbutt by Suzuki to end the lockflow! The match gets more brutal with stiff strikes, but after the banger of the Astronauts match, the two old legends pale in comparison. They never seem to gel and Suzuki ends it in 12:43 with a Rear Naked Choke. WINNER: MINORU SUZUKI (SUBMISSION) GRADE: 60 MAIN EVENT FOR THE REAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ⚔ Katsuyori Shibata vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima ⚔ Nakajima enters to Inoki Bombaye and with the traditional Inoki robe. This homage, typical of his last run, is even weirder when you consider that he is the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight champion. Shibata on the other hand is all business: he walks to the ring like a man on a mission, cracks his neck, and here we go. This is a masterclass in striking, as the stiffest of kicks and palms and forearms are traded without any contempt for human dignity. A Nakajima slap even draws blood... That gets spitted right back into his face. They're fighting so hard it's hard to know how they can still stand, as they reach the 10 minutes mark without having grapple even one second. It's all strikes and parry and dodge and sizing up. It is two mad men fighting like there is no tommorrow. How can Shibata lose on the Main Event of his first ever produced show? How can Nakajima lose when he's representing both AJPW and the legacy of Inoki that he channels in his every move? As the fmatch reaches fifteen minute, Nakajima rams Shibata into the ground with a brutal looking backdrop that lands right on his neck. Nakajima gathers and size up Shibata, he runs towards him... And gets caught with a yakuza kick! He stumbles, Shibata runs to the rope, another yakuza kick, straight to the face! Nakajima drops down but tries to get back up. Shibata runs to the rope again, PK! The Penalty Kick connects like a freight train, not into Nakajima's torso but rather straight into his face! Shibata wants to continue but the ref stops him. There's some confusion as the referee tries to have a response from Nakajima but... He's out? He's not pronounced KO immediately, as two officials chek on him while Shibata fumes in his corner. After a minute of confusion, Nakajima is declared KO and the title is awarded to Shibata! WINNER: KATSUYORI SHIBATA GRADE: 80 • After the match and having been awarded the title belt, Shibata takes the microphone. Meanwhile, Nakajima is being taken care of by officials. He seems to be in a bad state, can't stand up straight and has to be helped out. Despite this, he still wants to fight, apparently not realizing that the match is done. He tries to go back into the ring but several officials prevents him to do so. Shibata, during all this, thanks the fans. "Korakuen Hall! Thank you!... This didn't go exactly as planned, but it was a great show, huh? Thank you. We will see you soon. We are VANGUARD. We are pro wrestling. We will lead the way." __________ POST MATCHE COMMENTS: - The menacing Babatunde told the press that he's eager to show what he's got in VANGUARD. Low Ki was weak and prevented him to fight. Next show, he wants to crush his head ; - Minoru Tanaka was upset at Tiger Mask and the two had an argument backstages. Tanaka told Tiger Mask that junior wrestlers got embarrassed by "some muay thai bum". They agreed to a match "whenever next show is" ; - Takuya Nomura and Fuminori Abe thanked the press and the fans on the compliments for their match. They promise to keep pushing each others to reach next heights ; - Minoru Suzuki and Masakutsu Funaki insulted the press and the fans. They congratulated each other on "a real man's fight". Suzuki laughed about the Astronauts match and mentioned "at least nobody put a finger's in an another man's ass", referencing their december 2023 match ; - And concerning Katsuhiko Nakajima...

I admit to taking liberties with the character, as I want to go full-on Maeda/last bastion of "Real" Pro Wrestling. Something that happened during the first show made me roleplay that path, and you will figure it when I post it Thank you for your predictions!

Thank you Dalton! Still pondering on how i'm going to write-up the matches, but i've got a few ideas on how to transcript the stories that develop during the action. As for the opener, I want to recapture the sheer madness of early PRIDE (dare I say early HUSTLE?). So yeah, Babatunde is here for that specific purpose, and maybe we're going to see a few other "freaks"

VANGUARD #1 Live from Korakuen Hall April 5th 2024 All matches are contested under Vanguard Rules. Matches can only be won by knockout, ubmission or referee stoppage. A 30-minutes time limit in enforced on all matches. If the time limit is reached, the referee has discretionnary power to award the winning decision or declare a draw. MAIN EVENT FOR THE REAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP "The Realest Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata vs. "Toukon Style" Katsuhiko Nakajima FIRST TIME IN 14 YEARS! GODFATHERS OF SHOOT-STYLE COLLIDE "The Murder King" Minoru Suzuki vs. "King of Pancrase" Masakutsu Funaki FIRST TIME EVER HALEO DREAM TEAM COLLIDE "Warmaster" Josh Barnett vs. "Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakuraba ASTRONAUTS IMPLODE! "Wrestling Monk" Fuminoru Abe vs. "Future of Shoot Style" Takuya Nomura CLASH OF THE GENERATIONS "Heir of the Never Dying Fighting Spirit" Daichi Hashimoto vs. "BattlArts Never Dies!" Yuki Ishikawa JUNIOR WRESTLING VS. MIXED MARTIAL ARTS Tiger Mask IV, Minoru Tanaka & Kendo Kashin vs. Daisuke Nakamura, Tyson Maeguchi & Daijiro Matsui PROVING GROUND "Realest Giant" Babatunde & "Hitman" Low Ki vs. "Crazy Kid" Masashi Takeda & "Drunken King" Hikaru Sato

VANGUARD's CEO "The Realest Pro Wrestler" KATSUYORI SHIBATA FIGHTERS Babatunde - Daichi Hashimoto - Daijiro Matsui - Daisuke Nakamura - Fuminori Abe Hikaru Sato - Josh Barnett - Katsuhiko Nakajima - Kazushi Sakuraba - Keisuke Okuda Kendo Kashin - Low-Ki - Masakutsu Funaki - Masashi Takeda - Minoru Suzuki Minoru Tanaka - Takuya Nomura - Tiger Mask IV - Tyson Maeguchi - Yuki Ishikawa BROADCAST TEAM Nobuhiko Takada - Makoto Abe

To be honest, Japanese wrestling has become a joke. Look at New Japan Pro Wrestling: Dog cage match, outside interferences, push-up bars, hair versus hair... Ren Narita could have been the Heir of Strong Style, but now he's doing some emo cosplay with EVIL and SHO. DDT has always been a joke. Dragon Gate is just flips and lucha and choerography. NOAH?... They used to be real, but who can tolerate a Mexican luchador with a mask as a world champion? How can the heirs of Misawa accept this shit-show sponsored by Gedo's less evil twin Jado? Now All Japan... All Japan has Nakajima. The purest, realest wrestler is their champion. And that means a lot. But overall, they don't carry the spirit of real wrestling. The spirit of the UWF, the spirit of Pancrase. GLEAT tries to copy it, but it's all phony and bush-league. It is my duty to carry the torch lit by Akira Maeda and Satoru Sayama. That is why I gathered financial support to launch this new promotion: VANGUARD, the new wave of shoot-style wrestlers. The new place for REAL pro wrestling. We will run Korakuen Hall on April 6th. And the Main Event will crown the REAL World Champion. "Toukon Style" KATSUHIKO NAKAJIMA VERSUS "The REAL Wrestler" KATSUYORI SHIBATA

Dustin Lefever forever