Taking the Burning Hammer Into The Heart of Puroresu

Lo-Drew · August 23, 2015

BURNING HAMMER IS BACK!

by Zion Nikaido

Monday, Week 1, March 2013

"After a two month absence, the premier organization in puroresu Burning Hammer of the Wrestling Gods returns Wednesday night to kick off their 2013 campaign! After a 2012 that saw enthralling battles and hot fighting that only the Burning Hammer can deliver, 2013 is already shaping up to be an exciting ride. The first tour of the year for the Burning Hammer is entitled "POWER", a very fitting title given the current landscape.

Ever since they returned in 2009, the legendary Tadiyuki Kikkawa, alongside contemporaries Tasuku Iesada, Mike Watson(who has now left BHOTWG) and Masaaki Okazaki, made their intentions known to reclaim their position on top of Burning Hammer while repressing the 4th generation or as their also known as, the Big Five(which consist of Hiroaki Nakasawa, Kinnojo Horri, Yasuhiko Taira, Yasunobu Masuno and Tadakuni Toshusai). The past three years have seen Team INSPIRE battle the Seikigun of lead by Nakasawa and Horri and Kasou-Gun led by the Black Magic duo of Taira and Masuno both respectfully, however never collectively due to the longstanding war between Seikigun and Kasou-Gun. The Big Five had done a valiant job fighting off the Team INSPIRE invasion however last year, Team INSPIRE finally managed to reign supreme as Kikkawa captured the Burning Championship for the fourth time, defeating long time rival Horri and Iesada bringing the King of Fighters title back to Team INSPIRE at Night of the Burning Hammer against Masuno.

These two monumental victories, along with a few other victories throughout the year, now has the Team INSPIRE trio of Kikkawa, Iesada and Okazaki firmly on top entering 2013 with Seikigun and Kasou-Gun now on their heels. However, these three units aren't the only ones fighting for supremacy. As we saw towards the end of 2012 the reemergence of the famous Silver Feet unit, now going by the name of Silver Feet Rising with the blessing from former member of the past incarnation super junior legend Optimus. Led by Natsu Miyname and super junior standout Sensational Dragon, alongside Mtisunari Fugunaga, Heihachiro Sakai, MYSTIC Dragon, American Optimus, Red Panther and Ken Shimedzu, it will be interesting to see how Silver Fleet Rising asserts themselves into the fray.

Now as we enter into a new year, how long can Team INSPIRE rule over BHOTWG? How will the heroes in Seikigun counter? How will Kasou-Gun counter? Who will wield the power and rest on top of the Burning Hammer landscape? The answer to these questions become clear starting this Wednesday!"

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As soon as I typed the last sentence, I found myself letting out a sigh of relief. It wasn't because I was exhausted or anything; although I went through a few writing drafts before I was pleased with what I had written. I hadn't realized just how late in the night it was until I was finished and saw on my laptop that it was four in the morning. Have I really spent that much time publishing a simple post promoting Burning Hammer's first tour of 2013.

Ah well, that comes with the territory of this job I suppose. It wasn't the first time I've missed sleep for this nor will it be the last. I've had so many restless nights at this point I'm used to it. I probably should get some sleep now that I've finished but I don't know. While I was writing, I couldn't help but to feel this excitement and anticipation. I always dread whenever Burning Hammer are not touring. The two months always seem like double. Counting down the days felt like counting down years. But when the time comes for the beginning of a brand new tour, the little child in me jumps up and down with uncontrollable glee. I picture myself in the crowd, sitting next to thousands of fellow passionate Burning Hammer fans, watching the action up close. There's nothing like watching wrestling live and knowing that this was apart of my job, it made all those sleepless nights worth it.

With that said, I really need to go to sleep. If I'm even a second late for the press conference tomorrow, it'll be the end of me!

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OOC Note: So yeah, there's my first post for my first ever diary. It's been six years since I've been around these forums so it feels pretty cool finally going forward with an idea I've had in my head for a while. Now this is probably a good time to talk about how this diary is going to be formatted. The main character(the protagonist) is a young journalist named Zion Nikaido and he's one of the writers for the weekly magazine Burning Hammer produces called BURNING Weekly. This entire diary is going to be more of a "journalistic" type approach, meaning that you're going to see a lot of what's above. There will be analysis eqsue articles, similar to how sports articles on ESPN and any other sports website is. The hope is that these style of articles present Burning Hammer as f it was a sport. This will include in depth articles about(for example) a particular match, wrestler, big show in hopes to promote and flesh out a few things a bit more than I could with the shows. Those are the articles for BURNING Weekly.

The "journal" post(as seen in the second part) are exactly that. Personal journal post about Zion and his every day life both as a writer for BURNING Weekly and outside his job. The next post I plan on giving more insight to who he is, how he became a wrestling fan and how he came to eventually work for BURNING Weekly and then I plan on expanding that throughout the diary.

And finally to the important part(you'll be the judge of that!)...the shows. I plan on doing a more "summarized" version because I do have a few real life things I have to do daily that probably will prevent me from constantly doing full show writeups. Though for special occasions don't be surprised if you do see that. Realistically, I'm looking at summarizing the shows like iheartdg.com and even this http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw/2013/06/22/results-new-japan-62213/. Now I will admit, for shows in the lesser markets, you'll probably just see a standard writeup for the results of the shows. The 'important" shows will always be in either these regions: Kanto, Hokkaido, Kinki, Chubu and sometimes Chugoku. Shows in these regions is where you'll see 95% of the main "storylines" happening(i.e. matches announced, challenges made, etc).

I'm admittedly a bit nervous about how this is going to be perceived because this is my first true attempt at a diary. I'm only twenty years old and I'm starting to gain more responsibility around my house and I'm starting to plan my future life together so if there's times where this becomes inactive, it's mostly because I'll be attending real life matters. Again I'm sorta nervous but also excited to start this and I'll try my best to produce the best quality stuff I can. I generally hope people enjoy this and hopefully this is the start of a great ride.

Kitarzu · August 23, 2015

Looking forward to this diary.

Lo-Drew · August 26, 2015

Thoughts: Entry #1 in Kanagawa Tuesday, Week 1, March 2013

You know, when I thought about documenting my thoughts on a daily basics, I didn't consider whether or not I should give them a title. I probably should have because at least then I would have thought of a cool title for myself rather than just "thoughts." Thoughts. That what I came with. I pray to the heavens no one ever sees this. For my sake I don't need the added embarrassment. It's bad enough I have a reputation for being somewhat of a jimi." This isn't doing much to help that. However, as of right now, it'll do. Maybe down the road I'll finally come up with a name for this. Hopefully.

The point of this was to start jotting down my thoughts on everything around me. These last two months I've found myself thinking a lot. Thinking about a lot of things actually. About how I got to this point in my life, how long would this last, was this even real? Here I was working for my favorite wrestling organization and although it's been less than nine months since I was hired, it still felt as if it was all in my head. In a lot of ways, Burning Hammer is the source to a lot of great memories for me. I remember the first time I began a fan. It was around April 1993. My dad was a big fan of the puroresu scene so wrestling was a big part of his life. My mother didn't share his fandom but whenever there was a big show in Hokkaido, we would all go as a family. It was always an event when we did. Anyways I went to a few shows prior to but the one that stuck out to me til this day was watching Elemental II Vs Optimus for the Junior Championship. As impressive as the big heavyweights were, I was always more interested in the super juniors. They would have these awesome costumes and mask and were able to do things with their bodies only people can dream of. They were real like superheroes. But what made me really a fan was that despite all the acrobatics and the spectacular dives was that there was also a great level of skill that they had. Their technique was flawless and I was watching Elemental II and Optimus have another one of their great matches in their series, eight year old me was drawn to every move, every aerial assault, everything that they did. Add that to about five thousand roaring people and it created an atmosphere that was unlike any I've every felt. I can honestly pinpoint that show and that match as the match that made me officially a Burning Hammer fan and officially a fan of puroresu.

From there, my father would buy me all the monthly magazines that would be published. I would continue going to shows with both mother and father as a I grew up and more and more I found myself falling deep into puroresu. The more I did, the more I expanded my love. I started watching Pride, Glory and Honor Wrestling, World Level Wrestling, and even a bit of Golden Canvas Grappling. I've even attended a few shows though that was when I became an adult and could spend my own money. I would always go with a few friends but not my father. Burning Hammer was his promotion and so he didn't want to go to any other shows. It was almost as if the thought was a sign of disloyalty. That's how most of the fanbases are. They're not really "puroresu" fans but fans of the promotion. Now of course, this isn't to say that. Granted, there's people like me that will go to any show regardless of the promotion. I'm an outlier in some ways. But in large part, most puroresu fans are loyal to one promotion and one promotion only, similar to how when a sports player is drafted to a team, it becomes their team. If they grow up watching PGHW, they're a PGHW fan for life. It's a fascinating contrast to Western fans.

Anyways back to me. When it was time to go to college, I knew I wanted to become a writer. I didn't quite know what field I would choose but like wrestling, writing was also a passion of mine. Eventually I chose journalism and that got me into Waseda University. Now looking back, my time in college feels like it happened in a past life. I graduated in 2008 and up until the summer of last year, I had spent the last four and a half years doing freelance work. My "work" wasn't anything special but the freedom allowed me to write about the things that interested me; Anime, video games, MMA(just ALPHA-1) and of course, puroresu. And in the end, I rather be doing something I love and care about than being paid good money to do something I have no interest for. Most people don't get the luxury of doing what they want to do. That's probably why I still think this whole thing has to be a joke on me. It can't be real. As much as I enjoyed going to those PGHW shows and WLW shows, Burning Hammer is my promotion. It's my team and now I work for them. What's even more bizarre is how it happened.

I didn't apply for a spot on the magazine team. It wasn't anything like that. Apparently, my boss, Mister Harada as I call him, had been keeping tabs on me. He was a fan of the stuff I was writing and posting online in my leisure. How exactly he stumbled upon them is another question I'm still wondering. When he got in contact with me around the middle of June during the Super Juniors tournament, it all seemed too good to be true. Out of nowhere someone claiming to be the head of BURNING Weekly was interested in me becoming a part of the team. He didn't offer me the position right then and there, but the way he was talking, that was the next likely step. I just went along because I was convinced that this was a joke on me. When I finished, I figured I would never about this again. It was when I got the follow up call that same week from Mister Harada, this time scheduling an interview the night before the finals of the Best of Super Juniors, that made me began to realize that it was actually true. It also reminded me that I couldn't afford a plan ticket from Sapporo to Tokyo and taking a bullet train was out of the equation. So I had to do it the good old fashioned way. Wake up around four in the morning and drive all the way there while using all the money I could for gas. It was an sixteen hour drive. Repeat a sixteen hour drive. But thankfully, it was worth it. I'm still not exactly sure what it is about my style of journalism or myself in general that landed this job. Even during my first few months when I began my job during the back end of the last tour last year, I couldn't help but think "why me?" Why me out of I'm sure a lot of hopefuls who grew up loving and collecting BURNING Weekly like I did . What makes me so special? I've been waiting for the moment where someone pinches and wakes me up from this dream. Perhaps I've been watching too much Cowboy Bebop lately. Still I haven't been pinched yet so until I am, I'm just grateful I'm being able to live out this dream for as long as a I can. Oh shit! I've been writing all of this down in this hotel that I lost track of the time. It's about 12:30 and I need to get to the Kanagawa Sports Field for the press conference before 1:00 or I doubt Mister Harada will be pleased! _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________OOC Note: So that was a bit of insight about our main protagonist. There's a lot more that'll need to be fleshed out but that will come later on. It was just a mere introduction. I have one more of these too write(the press conference.) From there, I'll post the info about the roster and unit situation and then I'll be able to post a card. Hopefully if everything works in my favor in real life, I can accomplish all of these things before the end of the week.

Lo-Drew · August 29, 2015

Thoughts: Entry #2 in Kanagawa Tuesday, Week 1, March 201312:54 P.M.

I checked my watch for the first time after I entered through the Kanagawa Sports Field doors. I just made it in time. That was a close one. It's a good thing I was able to find a taxi all the way here from the hotel. Thankfully the distance between the hotel and the Sports Field isn't lengthy so the taxi ride wasn't that expensive. Let this be a reminder to myself to never leave at the last minute or else I won't be as lucky as I was today. Last time I need is to gain a reputation for being tardy.

As expected, when I arrived at the arena, the entire area from the doors to the concessions inside where crowded. This was more than just a press conference, this was an event. These yearly press conferences have become a newly minted tradition ever since Tetsuzan Kaneko became the president in 2009(he took over during the year of 2009; 2010 was his first full year in control). Before the first show of the year, Burning Hammer always host a press conference, recapping everything involving the product both from a business standpoint and from a wrestling standpoint in the previous year. They don't just look back on the past though. They also reveal the schedule for all the big PPVs as well for the upcoming year. The previous president, Kaneie Komine, kept these meetings very private and closed off. Kaneko-san, on the other hand, is using the complete opposite approach. Since taking over, he's changed the format by making what was just a mere paint by numbers press conference to open the year to an attraction. Now not only was there a press conference, but leading up to it, fans could come down to the Kanagawa Sports Field(where it's been held every year since the inception) and essentially partake in a meet and greet with the Burning Hammer wrestlers. Excluding those in the heel units, everyone from the roster attended top to bottom. A fan could come down to the floor, where the ring would be if there was a show, and wait in line to meet their favorite wrestlers, get an autograph and take a picture. Kaneko-san has taken something that usually doesn't get much attention and has turned it into a money making profit. It's pretty ingenious.

I missed the meet and greet part as by the time I got to the floor, it was completely filled with members of the media. The way it was set up was that on the floor was a long table set up where all the big time office executives, investors sitting alongside each other and in the center was the president himself, Kaneko-san. Behind him was a huge screen projection. In front of them was photographers and those from the media, waiting for the moment to snap the "money shots" or document the proceedings. Since I was apart of BURNING Weekly, we were assigned to sit behind all of them amongst the last few rows. It's a good thing the screen was visually because I wouldn't be able to see anything with all these media members.

Once I got passed the crowd of people scrambling to get seats here, I finally spotted Mister Harada, sitting at the end of the row. Like always, he had his black haired was slicked back with his big lenses and overly big suit. This one in particular was black and white pinstripes. I immediately felt panicky. I wasn't technically late but it was close and in the nine months of me working under him, Mister Harada is a straight forward man. No thrills, no flash, no gimmicks. He lets you know what he excepts from you and how he expects you to perform. He had standards he put on himself and everyone on the team and if those weren't met, that was considered failure. I can see why Kaneko-san would have someone like as the head of the magazine for as many years as he has. One of the things he told me when I was hired was tardiness was unacceptable.

I've made a conscious effort to show up to shows or the meetings back in Kanto well before they begin. He glared at me with a stern look when I started to push my way through the aisles. He didn't say anything, but man does he have an intimidating way of striking fear with one look. I eventually settle into a seat amongst my peers. The entire magazine staff was there. On estimate there's about 30 of us, all who contribute in some way to the weekly content. I haven't really become friends with any of them yet. Not that they're unapproachable or anything but other than the few talks about the shows and what's going on in wrestling, I haven't gotten to know any of them. Well, the only one I have in a way was the guy I was sitting next to towards the end of this aisle. His name was Masato Kagome. He apparently saved a seat for me. He was around the same age as me, if I remember correctly but he looked younger. That was probably because he had a youthful look to him I guess. I'm describing this horribly but between the fluffy green hair and the usual smile on his face, he was always laid back.

He was from Okinawa, something he often talked about. When i first met him, we actually had a lengthy talk about our favorite matches once we found out ours was the same one: Elemental II Vs Optimus from April 1993. He also shared the same love for super juniors as I did as well as wrestling in general. As a matter of fact, he told me this cool story about he met Haruki Kudo as a child and personally got an autograph from him; one he's now framed. Whenever we are in the same room, we manage to always have these conversations and even share a bit about our lives. I guess that's a good thing. He always invites me out for drinks after shows but I've never accepted. I'm not even sure why I do always turn him down. He's a cool guy and he loved wrestling as much as I did.

Anyways in his calm and cool tone, he said hey to me as I sat down.

"Hey Zion-kun. You made it just in time. It's starting" He said to me. I returned the favor politely.

"Hi," I muttered. The press conference was just starting. I turned my head and looked upwards at all the fans that were in the stands.

The Sports Field was good enough to hold 5,000 and there definitely wasn't a full house, but there was still a good chunk of fans in seats. If I had to make an estimate, maybe around 3,000 thousand. Anyways the opening proceedings of the press conference saw Kaneko take the mic. As he sat in his chair, surveying the scene like an emperor staring down at his people, I couldn't help but feel this "almighty" aura about him. He sat in his seat in a very confident, almost boastful manner. He was sitting like he knew he was truly the most powerful man in puroresu. When I look at him, I think of the man that proceeded him. The man Kaneko-san overthrew. Kaneie Komine was a ruthless, cutthroat business man. I've heard so many stories about him, stories which Mister Harada has somewhat confirmed. To think Kaneko-san, who was hired personally by Komine in 2003 when he was 27 years old to be an advisor of sorts, to then eventually six years later cut a cold blooded coup d'teat, using the failure of INSPIRE and the four pillars' return as leverage to take control, it made me wonder just how ruthless Kaneko-san was himself. It takes a certain type of man to go against the likes of Komine. It takes a lot of courage to slowly bid your time, gaining more powerful before overthrowing the man that gave you that power. And he did that at 32 years old. Even still at 37 he was still a young man, which only makes what he did even more impressive even if it was underhanded and shady.

Kaneko started off the press conference by thanking the fans for coming out. He noted how each year these press conference continue to grow in attendance and said that if this keeps up, they would have to start thinking about hosting it in a bigger arena. He thanked them for their enthusiasm and their love for Burning Hammer. It was then when he turned to the chart, that showed the growth of Burning Hammer from a financial standpoint last year. There was a pie chart comparing the growth from 2011 to 2012, which showed there was a good increase. Kaneko gleamed at that fact, stating that profits and merchandise was higher than it was in 2011, which was one of his goals. He also noted that the houses for the big PPVs were also successful, though he suggested that this year he wanted to see more of a rise in that. He really wanted the Kobe Football Stadium in Kinki, which hosted last year's Night of the Burning Hammer, to be a full house(30,000) but they only got around 25,000. Granted that is pretty good but it was clear Kaneko-san saw it as a bit of a disappointment, especially since the main event saw Nakasawa Vs Kikkawa for the Burning Championship and the semi main being then King of Fighters Champion Yasunobu Masuno Vs Tasuku Iesada. Still, he considered 2012 to be a success.

Kaneko then showed a map on the screen, showing that not only did Burning Hammer have success here in Japan but also internationally. The map showed there was certain regions out West in America(he credited the Lords of the Ring TV show being big in Hawaii) that was showing some interest in the product as well as in the United Kingdom and Europe. Kaneko-san stated that his overall goal was to expand Burning Hammer's popularity worldwide. This led into his announcement that Burning Hammer in 2013 would be seen by more countries than every before. He then followed up by stating that he reached agreements with PPV carriers Public Access Select(US and Canada), UK-1(United Kingdom) and V-Corp(Europe) to show their PPVs. This was met with thunderous cheers from the crowd and applause.

"Woah, Kaneko's been busy," Masato whispered to me as I clapped along the others. Kaneko certainly has been.

"He's a genius," Yuki-chan said in response. Until she spoke, I forgot she was also sitting next to me. Yuki Ayano. She was from Tokyo, I think. I don't know how I could since she smelled very nice and her short brown hair was looking very well done. Like Masato, she too was someone that was friendly and also loved Burning Hammer like I did. Her and Masato were close as every time I saw the two in the same room they were talking each other. I'm not sure if they're dating but they're definitely close. I just remained silent and watched the press conference.

Kaneko stood up from his seat and took a few pictures with the three representatives from the the respective PPV carriers. Once that was finished, he remained on the feet while the others sat back down. Kaneko then moved on to this year. He then pointed to the screen, which revealed the schedule for the PPVs this year.

Like always, there was going to be a PPV on the third week of every month they were touring, continuing the customary tradition. Fire Dream of the Immortals was going to be in Kinki, Test of Prophecies next month was being held in Kyushu, Sword of Destiny was coming to the Kanto region and Inferno of Purity was going to be held in Tohoku to close up the first tour. The second tour, which begins in September, would see Quest of Heart come to my home region of Hokkaido. It was at this moment that Kaneko paused. The anticipation in the crowd starting to grow. Kaneko-san talked about how Night of the Burning Hammer was the biggest show in all of puroresu and the need for every edition to be bigger and better than the last. He said this year's Night of the Burning Hammer would be the greatest of the show's history. And it would be held..... in the Kanagawa Stadium downtown. Predictably, there was an overwhelming approval of that in the crowd. Kaneko-san really wants to sell out Night of the Burning Hammer so hosting it here at the "home base" in an arena that's synonymous with Burning Hammer makes sense. Once the crowd died down, he finished by announcing that Everlasting Mission in November would be in Shikoku and Silencing Dragons would finish the PPV show in Chubu.

That's interesting. Putting a usual "B-level" PPV show in a big market. I wonder is something going to happen there.

Kaneko-san then brought things back to Fire Dream of Immortals and announced Elemental III defending his championship against Sensational Dragon. This was Dragon's first attempt at the Junior title since losing it to Elemental III at Quest of Heart. He then also announced Tasuku Iesada defending the King of Fighters Championship against Tadakuni Toshusai, something else that was built up. More cheers from the crowd.

"Toshusai's in a title match. That's interesting," Masato said to me.

"Ah I'm so excited," Yuki beamed. She's stated many times that she's a big fan of Toshusai. Out of everyone in the Big Five, Toshusai was clearly the lowest ranked wrestler. He's always been the weakest in ring. To his credit, the last few years he's improved noticeably and the one thing about him is that he has undeniable charisma that no one in the Big Five truly has. He's the best entertainer and talker in this company but it's the in ring that will determine how far he can go. This is his first big singles match on a PPV and his first ever shot at a main title. And going against an excellent wrestler like Iesada will be a true test for him.

And then finally, Kaneko made Tadiyuki Kikkawa Vs Kinnojo Horri for the Burning Championship as the main event, which drew oohs from the crowd. This wasn't a surprise. It was something that was built up post Night of the Burning Hammer. This would be the first match the two had since Test of Prophecies last April when Kikkawa won the title. Kaneko concluded the press conference by once again thanking everyone for coming out and he encouraged them to shown their love and support for Burning Hammer throughout the year starting tomorrow night in the Tokyo Civil Stadium.

When the press conference was finally over, everyone stood up, from the media members in front of me, to everyone in the crowd and applauded. There was a legit amount of buzz that echoed throughout the arena after the press conference. It was in the air and I definitely had it too. Hearing all the expectations for the year and what's to come made me I instantly thought about getting out of there before things got crowded. When that didn't happen, I did talk to both Masato and Yuki for a little bit. Masato once again asked me if I wanted to go out for drinks since everyone on the team was going to be in town for the night; except for Mister Harada. Normally I would decline. I always feel weird being around a lot of people and I don't really drink as much. But coming out of this press conference, I felt so excited about the beginning of the Burning Hammer year, I accepted. They were good people and they shared the same interest as me. Here's to Burning Hammer right?

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OOC Note: Woah, this was really long. Didn't expect that ha. Anyways now all there's left is posting the roster and then the first card will be posted.

Lo-Drew · September 9, 2015

Champions' Call

Burning World Champion: Tadiyuki Kikkawa

Start of Reign: Test of Prophecies April 2012

Predecessor: Kinnojo Horri

Successful Defenses:

Yasuhiko Taira, Sword of Destiny, Friday, Week 3, May 2012

Masaaki Okazaki, Quest of Heart, Friday, Week 3, September 2012

Hiroaki Nakasawa, Night of the Burning Hammer, Friday, Week 3, October 2012

Yasuhiko Taira, Everlasting Mission, Friday, Week 3, November 2012

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King of Fighters Champion: Tasuku Iesada

Start of Reign: Night of Burning Hammer 2012

Predecessor: Yasunobu Masuno

Successful Defenses:

Hiroaki Nakasawa, Silencing Dragons, Friday Week 3, December

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Burning Hammer Junior Champion: Elemental III

Start of Reign: Quest of Heart 2012

Predecessor: Sensational Dragon[

Successful Title Defenses:

The Awesome Kiyaru, Night of the Burning Hammer, Friday, Week 3, October 2012

Golden Scorpion, Silencing Dragons, Friday, Week 3, December 2012

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Burning Hammer Tag Team Champions: Team REVIVAL(Nissho Yuusa &Toshiki Shibanumo)

Start of Reign: Quest of Heart 2012

Predecessor: Bulls of Fury(Eiji Hamacho & Chuichi Sanda)

Successful Title Defenses:

Bulls of Fury(Eiji Hamacho & Chuichi Sanda), Everlasting Mission, Friday, Week 3, November 2012

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Burning Hammer Junior Tag Team Champions:

Maverick X(Hachigoro Maeda & Haru Kurofuji)

Start of Reign: Night of the Burning Hammer

Predecessor: American Panther(American Optimus & Red Panther)

Successful Title Defenses:

Static PUNCH(Kansuke Konda and Hyosuke Kokan), Silencing Dragons, Friday, Week 3, December 2012

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Unit Assessment

Sekigun

Leader(s): Hiroaki Nakasawa and Kinnoji Horri

Members: Tadakuni Toshusai, Elementall III, Marhito Mausko, Atsumori Takemura, Murai Enomoto, Kansuke Konda, Hyosuke Kokan

Unit History: The Sekigun, unlike all the other units in Burning Hammer, aren't really a unit. They're more of a collective of Burning Hammer wrestlers that's banded together to protect Burning Hammer from units such as INSPIRE and Kaosu-Gun. Leading the charge has been generational ace Hiroaki Nakasawa and Kinnoji Horri and alongside them are junior kingpins Elemental III, Marhito Masuko, junior tag team kingpins Static PUNCH and young lions Murai Enomoto and Atsumori Takemura, a protégé of Nakasawa.

Theme Song:

INSPIRE

Leader(s): Tadiyuki Kikkawa

Members: Tasuku Iesada, Masaaki Okazaki, Hirokumi Saito

Former Members: Mike Watson(April 2009 to October 2011)

Keynote Colors: Black and Dark Orange

Start of Unit: April 2009-

Unit History: In May 2006, Tadiyuki Kikkawa, Tasuku Iesada, Masaaki Okazaki and Mike Watson left Burning Hammer to create the promotion that became INSPIRE. Despite early success, the promotion ceased in April 2009. Within the same month, the four pillars of INSPIRE returned to Burning Hammer, bringing along the King of Fighters championship, declaring war on the Big Five and stating their intentions to rule over Burning Hammer. The almost four year existence of this INSPIRE invasion has seen them in constant battle with the likes of Hiroaki Nakasawa, Kinnojo Horri, Black Magic, etc. The only casuality they've been dealt with was when Mike Watson was banished from Burning Hammer after losing his match at Night of the Burning Hammer 2011. Still, the next year saw both Kikkawa and Iesada capture the Burning championship and the King of Fighters respectfully. The INSPIRE trio may not have the numbers but rumor has it that soon that a fourth INSPIRE member is coming. That rumor turned out to bear some truth as former INSPIRE wrestler Hirokumi Saito joined the ranks.

Kasou-Gun

Leader(s): Yasunobu Masuno and Yashuhiko Taira

Members: The Awesome Kiyaru, Golden Scorpion, Ieyoshi Shimakage

Former Members: Black Cobra(April 2010 to November 2012), Nissho Yuusa(December 2010 to June 2012), American Optimus(September 2010 to October 2012), Red Panther(September 2010 to October 2012)

Keynote Colors: Red, Black and White Start of Unit:

April 2010- Theme Song: Dou Kangaetomo Omaera

Unit History: In the unit's almost three year existence, no unit has seen more turnover than Kasou-Gun, With the longstanding rivalry amongst the Big Five that usually pits Nakasawa, Horri and Toshusai Vs Black Magic, the Black Magic duo in April 2010 decided to start their own unit. Calling it Kasou-Gun(Chaos Army) as a knack on the Seikigun(home army), they formed the unit alongside Black Cobra, The Awesome Kiyaru and Golden Scorpion. Later in the year, they added American Panther and Nissho Yuusa to the fold. It was 2012 that saw some problems forming within the unit. Black Magic became unsatisfied with Yuusa's performances and eventually kicked him out. Black Cobra also was kicked out after his final match with Burning Hammer after showing respect to the Seikigun juniors. And then in October 2012 after losing the Junior Tag Team titles and after months of Optimus pleading for American Panther to see the error of their ways, American Panther jumped ship to Silver Fleet Rising. Kasou-Gun didn't just experience a year of loss as they did add cocky rulebreaker Ieyoshi Shimakage to the unit. While INSPIRE is known for their brutality, Kasou-Gun are collectively known for taking every shortcut possible to victory. Their excessive cheating has drawn them the disapproval of the Burning Hammer faithful as well as some of their former unitmates over time.

Silver Fleet Rising

Leader(s): Natsu Miyamae

Members: Sensational Dragon, MYSTIC Dragon, Mitsunari Fugunaga, Heihachiro Sakai, Ken Shimidzu, American Optimus, Red Panther

Keynote Colors: Silver, Gold and Blue

Start of Unit: October 2012

Theme Song: Resonance

Unit History: The newest unit actually originates from the ashes of the famous unit from Burning Hammer lore. After his match at Inferno of Purity, Optmius approached his former teammate in the original Silver Fleet unit Natsu Miyamae with a proposal. With INSPIRE and Kaosu-Gun runing rampant and Miymae slowly rising up the heavyweight ladder, Optimus approached and suggested to him the idea of forming a new Silver Fleet unit with him at the helm to combat against the adforementioned units. Miyamae initally declinded, having just come off the end of the “Rebel Hearts” unit he was apart of. This didn’t stop Optmius from his pursuit as at the beginning of the second tour, another former Silver Fleet member joined in on the push, Miyamae’s former long time parter Shimidzu. Wanting to fight on the same side as his long time friend Shimidzu once again, Miyamae had a change of heart. With Optimus’ blessing, the former Rebellion tag team didn’t waste anything filling out their unit as he reunited with MYSTIC Dragon, a former teammate of his in Rebel Hearts. Heavyweights Mitisunari Fugunaga and Heihachiro Sakai joined within the first few weeks. Sensational Dragon, notorious for his anti-unit stable due to his ego, was offered and then finally joined in early October due to his respect for Optimus. The final two members to join came from American Optimus and Red Panther later that month; both who distanced themselves away from Kasou-Gun and their previous cheating tatics. With all the members assembled, Miyamae formally deemed them Silver Fleet Rising. It’s still early in their time as a unit but the first few months has already shown they’re going to be a formidable unit.

Recently Disbanded Units

Rebel Hearts

Members: Eiji Hamacho, Chuichi Sanda, Natsu Miyamae, MYSTIC Dragon, VENOM, Yoshii Shiomi

Unit History: December 2010 to May 2012 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Roster(A-K)

American Optimus

Unit Affiliation: Silver Fleet Rising

Wrestler's Alias: American Legacy

Age: 38

Years as a Pro: 20 years

Height: 5'10

Weight: 200 Ibs

Birth Place: Union City, New Jersey

Theme Song: Stop

Favorite Holds: O-Bomb(Running Powerbomb), Atomic O-Bomb(Rolling Powerbomb from the top turnbuckle), Optmizer(Bridging Crossface), Ozone Sky Flier(Frog Splash)

Accomplishments: 2x Burning Junior Tag Team Championship with Red Panther, 2011 Best of Super Juniors Tournament Winner

Zion's Critical Eye: Before he was given the honor of becoming the American Optimus character, Ian Herring was know back in his home country under a list of names such as Black Eagle and Plague. He quickly made a name for himself in the Coastal Zone Championship Wrestling promotion for his daredevil wrestling style and overall presentation of his character. This led to him receiving an opportunity of a lifetime when World Level Wrestling offered a him a touring contract in January 2006. He was there for eleven months and when the tour was complete, he became somewhat of a sensation due to his amazing matches throughout his stay. This is when Burning Hammer came in and kept tabs on Herring. Rumor has it World Level Wrestling was looking to give Herring-san a full time contract in 2008 before Burning Hammer swooped in and gave him an offer that would include him becoming the successor to the legendary Optimus. Unsurprisingly, Herring-san chose Burning Hammer and debuted as American Optimus in September 2008. It only took him seven months to then get upgraded from a touring contract to a full time contract. In fact, Herring-san even moved from American to Tokyo shortly after. Given the buzz he generated when he first appeared in Japan, it's a bit surprising Herring hasn't had as much success as once predicted. Burning Hammer tried to give him a bit of a push by having him win the 2011 Best of Super Juniors tournament, though as a heel but even after his title shot and failure, he's been around the middle of the pack. Granted, being under the shadow of Optimus would be troublesome for mostly any super junior to step out of. And while he's a solid wrestler, Sensational Dragon, Elemental III, Marhito Masuko and now MYSTIC Dragon are the kingpins of the division and are more talented than Optimus To his credit, he's been a great fit for the junior division whether as a rule breaking heel in Kasou Gun to now a babyface He also has made an impact in the tag team division with fellow gaijin flier Red Panther. At 38, I doubt he'll ever truly live up to the role of Optimus' successor, but that doesn't mean he isn't carving out a nice little resume for himself.

Atsumori Takemura

Wrestler's Alias: SUPERNOVA

Unit Affiliation: Seikigun Age: 22

Years as a Pro: 2 Years

Height: 6'1

Weight: 260 Ibs

Birth Place: Katsushika, Tokyo, Kanto

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds; Down to Earth(Falcon Arrow)

Accomplishments: None

Zion's Critical Eye: Takemura-san has an interesting story. He is a graduate of the Ling School and was discovered by pure good luck. Hiroaki Nakasawa, who so happened to be attending a local show Takemura was wrestling on in mid 2011, was greatly impressed with the youngster's performance. After the show, Nakasawa personally approached Takemura and praised him for his efforts. He also coined Takemura's nickname SUPERNOVA as he felt his potential was endless. Getting an endorsement from arguably the biggest wrestler in the sport was an enormous boost for Takemura's already rising stock. To Takemura's surprise, shortly after that, Nakasawa put in a word to the higher up in Burning Hammer and by late 2011, he was signed straight to the main roster rather than sent down to Hinote Dojo for a stint. Now it's still early in his career and Takemura-san admittedly still very much green. However that's expected for someone as young as he is and he's done a manageable job of proving he deserves a spot on the main roster. I know a lot of my fellow BURNING Weekly mates think he's going to end up being a star and it doesn't hurt that the Ace of the company also believes this. Takemura-san has a good work ethic and seems to improve every time he's in the ring. He has a lot going for him and he has the right people behind him. His growth will determine how far he's able to go. It shall be interesting to watch.

Bairei Yasujiro

Wrestler's Alias: AERIAL MASTER

Unit Affiliation: None

Age: 42

Years as a Pro: 24 Years

Height: 5'10

Weight: 190 Ibs

Birth Place: Osaka, Kansai

Theme Song: Just Communication Favorite Holds: Yasujiro Suplex(Tiger Suplex), Yasujiro Special(High Angle Wrist-Clutch Sitout Pin), Sky Twister Press

Accomplishments: Campeon de Herencia de Mundo MPWF, 2x World Level Universal Champion

Zion's Critical Eye: As a fan of super junior wrestling, Yasujiro-san is one of those guys I would watch in awe because in his prime, the things he was able to do in the air defined gravity. One of the first true high risk, daredevil pioneers, Yasujiro is a world traveled wrestler; wrestling in countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Mexico, where he captured the main title in MPWF twenty years ago at age 22. Despite having a few tours with Burning Hammer, from 1993 to 2006, Yasujiro spent his career basically as a freelancer, perfecting his craft. He eventually came back to Japan full time for World Level Wrestling, which was a shock at the time because everyone figured Burning Hammer was going to be the place he called him. Still, he became one of the figureheads of the company but there were still questions to whether or not he would even come to Burning Hammer. Apparently, in 2009, with Burning Hammer finally making him an offer, his good friends Koki Ishibashi and even the owner of WLW Koji Kojima convinced him to finally make the jump. It's been four years since Yasujiro-san has came to Burning Hammer and clearly he hasn't been among the top juniors in the division. It's a shame he didn't commit to coming about ten years ago because I think he would have at least won a Super Junior championship and perhaps a Best of Super Juniors tourney. I wonder does he regret coming to Burning Hammer when he was starting to decline rather than at the peak of his powers. The only criticism about Yasujiro-san that even in his prime, he would completely no sell the damage his opponents would dish out to him in matches. It's one of those things that annoy purist as it takes them out of the match when they see a guy get beat down for minutes just for him to shrug it off as if it never happened. Despite that, he's an excellent case study for young juniors as they could learn from Yasujiro's work ethic and dedication to his craft as a youngster traveling the world. Chuichi Sanda

Wrestler's Alias: Explosive

Unit Affiliation: Bulls of Fury with Eiji Hamacho

Age: 41

Years as a Pro: 23 Years

Height: 5'10

Weight: 245 Ibs

Birth Place: Nagano Prefecture

Theme Song: Aces High

Favorite Holds: Explosive Kick(Running Big Boot), Blazing Hammer(Sliding Forearm Smash)

Accomplishments: 4x Burning Tag Team Champion with Eiji Hamacho

Zion's Critical Eye: Speaking of someone young wrestlers can learn from; Chuichi Sanda. His career is really a tale of two halves. The first half, from his debut in 1989 to 2004, is rather dull. There was nothing about him that made him stand out. He was just a merely decent but bland wrestler. Even when he worked him his first nine years to earn his Burning Hammer contract in 1998, Sanda didn't break out or increase his standing. He knew this too and grew frustrated to the point where in 2004, he requested time off from wrestling because he didn't feel he was worthy of being one. There were rumors at the time that he was going to retire. However, when he returned later that year, the second chapter to his career began. In actuality, he had spent his time away from wrestling getting himself into tip top shape, refining his skills and drawing out his passion from underneath. Sanda returned to Burning Hammer with a newfound passion and a newfound fire that soon endured him with the fans. This resulted in him also rising up the ladder. He soon partnered up with fellow fiery brawler Eiji Hamacho and the two soon became the Bulls of Fury, Burning Hammer's premier tag team. With the current record for most tag titles wins in the young belt's history, Sanda and Hamacho have already established themselves as one of the best teams in all of Puro and a constant fixture in the division. As an individuals, like Hamacho, maybe wonder, including myself, could Sanda challenge for one of the two heavyweight championships if he pursued that route. But for now, he seems more than happy with his standing in the company. Eiji Hamacho

Wrestler's Alias: The Raging Bull

Unit Affiliation: Bulls of Fury with Chuichi Sanda

Age: 44

Years As a Pro: 26 Years

Height: 6'0

Weight: 285 Ibs

Birth Place: Minamioguni, Kumamoto

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Hamacho Sledge 2K(Death Valley Driver), Stampede(Spear), Hamacho Death Sledge(Super Death Valley Driver), Furious Lariat(Western Lariat)

Accomplishments: 4x Burning Hammer Tag Team Champion with Chuichi Sanda

Zion's Critical Eye: Now onto his partner. Unlike Sanda, Eiji Hamacho has never had a problem with standing out. Debuting in 1986 fresh out of the Hinote Dojo, Hamacho has pummeled and battered his opponents with fierce and unforgiving brute force. The way he would destroy people was something I always remembered growing up. His sheer strength and power was unbelievable and was a main asset back in the day when he was a heel alongside former unitmates such as Masaaki Okazaki and Tadiyuki Kikkawa. Nowadays he isn't as strong as he used to be, but surprisingly, with his age, there hasn't been that much of a drop off. I would argue power wise he's a few baby steps away from his absolute best, but he is still one of the strongest in the company. He's always been one of the top heavyweights but never at the absolute top and at 44, he most likely never will. That's nothing to be ashamed of, especially given his partnership with Chuichi Sanda and their status as the greatest duo in Burning Hammer history. As long as he's still in the ring, he'll remain one of the most notable heavyweights. Elemental III

Wrestler's Alias: The Third Junior Wonder

Unit Affiliation: Seikigun

Age: 25

Years as a Pro: 5 Years

Birth Place: Yokohama, Kanto

Height: 5'8

Weight: 195 Ibs

Theme Song: Rhythm Emotion Favorite Holds: Earth Breaker(Brainbuster), Inferno Splash(450 Splash), Oceanic Blue(Straight jacket triangle choke), Oceanic Blue: Redux(Straight jacket triangle choke while trapping the opponent's legs), Accomplishments: 2x Burning Junior Champion(current), 2x Best of Super Juniors winner(2008, 2010), 1x Burning Junior Tag Team Champion with Marihito Masuko

Zion's Critical Eye: The Elemental character is a personal treasure of mine. The first one revolutionized and pioneered Super Junior wrestling alongside generational rival Optmius. He passed off his legacy to the second, who furthered his legacy while crafting one of his own. My first wrestling experience involved the legendary second Elemental. I grew up adoring the second Elemental as did everyone in the Burning Hammer faithful. So when he announced in mid 2007 that not only he was retiring, but he was using his retirement to debut the third incarnation, it was bittersweet. It was sad to see such a glorious career end but also incredibly exciting about the start of a new one. Like always, rumors grew rampant on who was going to be the third Elemental. Would it be someone form development, would it be the first's son(MYSTIC Dragon), would it be someone we've never seen before? Even to this day we don't know who's behind the mask. However, his debut and the second's retirement went perfectly and the third was off to the races. To no surprise, the backing behind him was enormous as the third won the Best of the Super Juniors and then won his first championship that November. There was times in where he shown his inexperience but also shown his massive potential. For people like me who grew up as huge Elemental fans, we were a bit critical on him because of the position he was in. Most young wrestlers would sink given the immense pressure that would come with living up to a puro institution, but the third never looked like he wasn't worthy of it. He's had great matches with the likes of Sensational Dragon, Black Cobra, The Awesome Kiyaru, etc. By 2010 when he won his second Best of the Super Junior tournament, there wasn't many critics of him left. Right now he's enjoying his second reign and I'm sure he'll have a lot more in his future. The only question now for this particular version of the Elemental character is will he become a revered legend like the other two. It's only five years in but at the moment, it looks as if he's on his way.

Fun fact, he uses Elemental II's theme, Rhythm Emotion, as a tribute to him. Fujio Narahashi

Wrestler's Alias: Afro Thunder

Unit Affiliation: None

Age: 22

Years as a Pro: 4 Years

Birth Place: Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture

Height: 5'9

Weight: 250 lbs

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Smooth Lariat(Lariat Clothesline), Tank Suplex(Fisherman Brainbuster)

Accomplishments: SAISHO Ride the Tiger Champion, SAISHO Tag Team Champion with Torch Nakazawa

Zion's Critical Eye: The first thing you notice when you look at Fujio Narahashi is that he has an amazing afro. To no surprise, that's where his nickname steams from. Word is that he is not a fan of the moniker because he feels it's cheesy. Hairstyle aside, when he gets in the ring, it doesn't take long to see why my fellow peers in the media and hardcore Puro fans peg Fujo to be a very promising heavyweight prospect. His in ring style is a throwback to the classic, "old school" Puroresu style. He's a bit short, being only 5'9, but he's built like a brickhouse. He has some power to him and this is illustrated with his Smooth Lariat, which despite it's name is a nasty Lariat. It's odd to think that while Fujio was wrestling for PGHW's development fed Pro Wrestling SAISHO that he wasn't under a development deal. Burning Hammer swooped in and locked the young power fighter to a deal in March and PGHW's loss is Burning Hammer's gain. The future looks bright for Narahashi as long as he continues to improve and build upon his already solid fundamentals.

He's also a lover of jazz music. Rumor has it that he wanted to use Tank, the famous theme song for Cowboy Bebop, not because he loved the anime but because of the song. Burning Hammer told him that would be a bit expensive and so he compromised and chose Rush, a song that's on the first Cowboy Bebop soundtrack. Golden Scorpion

Wrestler's Alias: The Gold and Black Attack

Unit Affiliation: Kasou-Gun

Age: 36

Years as a Pro: 18 Years

Birth Place: Nagoya, Aichi

Height: 5'8

Weight: 210 Ibs

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Scorpion Stinger(Inverted facelock lifted and dropped into a sitout scoop slam piledriver), Scorpion Deathlock(Sharpshooter)

Accomplishments: TCW Cruiserweight Champion, 2x Burning Junior Tag Team Champion with the Awesome Kiyaru

Zion's Critical Eye: Golden Scorpion has an unfortunate nickname among hardcore Burning Hammer fans. The Forgotten Junior. It's a fairly accurate description though. For years, Golden Scorpion has been a very good wrestler that normally would place him among the top in the division. You would think someone as skilled as him and someone who has as great of a look and presentation as him would have won many Junior titles by now. However, there's always been a group of people that were slightly better put above him from Elemental II, Optimus, Super Joshuya, his partner The Awesome Kiyaru and then the new generation of Dragon, Masuko and Elementall III. Even someone like MYSTIC Dragon is positioned above Scorpion. Regardless, Scorpion has consistently put out solid performances both in singles competition and tag team competition and is one of the top heels in the division. Lately he's been scaling back his aerial attacks and have started to take things to the mat. I imagine that was done to help preserve his career as all those years of flying probably has started to take a toll. That's actually benefited him as he's become a more polished all around wrestler. I don't know if he'll ever get that elusive Junior Championship reign his skills deserved and if he doesn't, he'll go down as one of the big "What if" stories in puro. Hachigoro Maeda

Wrestler's Alias: Maverick Hunter H

Unit Affiliation: Maverick X with Haru Kurofuji

Age: 29 Years as a Pro: 7 Years

Birth Place: Koto, Tokyo Height: 5'9

Weight: 200 Ibs

Theme Song: Sky Lagoon

Favorite Holds: The Beta Blocker(GTS), Z-Buster(Elevated Double Chickenwing dropped into a Double Knee Gutbuster)

Accomplishments: Hinote Dojo All-Japan, 1x Burning Junior Tag Team Champion with Haru Kurofuji(current)

Zion's Critical Eye: In my short time working for BURNING Weekly, I've only interviewed and met with two wrestlers; Natsu Miyamae and Hachigoro Maeda. Both were very pleasant experiences but if I had to pick my favorite, it would be Maeda-san. Maeda-san started in World Level Wrestling as over the top Cyber Fighter 3000 character. It was a goofy character equipped with goofy futuristic esue gear that doomed him from the start, even when he was proving he had solid fundamentals beyond the persona. He was released in 2007 and quickly ditched the character and went by his real name. He continued to improved greatly and he earned himself a second chance when Burning Hammer signed him and sent him to Hinote Dojo. There he didn't stop his upward momentum, winning the All-Japan title and was generally one of the top guys there. He finally made his debut on the main roster in August 2011, where Haru Kurofuji took him under his wing. This led to them winning the Junior Tag Titles at Night of the Burning Hammer in 2012. His story is inspiring because it shows the results of constant hard work even when given bad circumstances.

What made his interview my favorite was because of how relateable he is. He's a really big gamer and an otaku. His favorite game in particular is Megaman, hence why WLW gave him the Cyber Fighter 2000 character. His favorite character is actually Zero, not Megaman himself and it shows as his theme is one of Zero's theme and he convinced his partner Haru Kurofuji to name their team Maverick X. But while he was expressing his love for the genre, it also made me realize he could be a darkhorse in the junior division because he's easy to cheer for and he works hard to improve his craft. He's got some way to go in order to be looked in the same light as the elite, but if he keeps improving, I think there's a chance he could get there. Teaming with a veteran like Kurofuji-san will do nothing but help him as well. He's one to watch. Haru Kurofuji

Wrestler's Alias: Kamikaze

Unit Affiliation: Maverick X with Hachigoro Maeda

Age: 37

Years as a Pro: 19 Years

Birth Place: Inuyama, Chubu

Height: 5'9

Weight 190 Ibs

Theme Song: Lost Universe Favorite Holds: Kurofuji Crab(Elevated Half Boston Crab), Suicide Headbutt(Diving Head Butt)

Accomplishments: World Level Universal Champion, 3x World Level Tag Team Champion with Koji Kojima, 2x Burning Hammer Junior Tag Team Champion, 1x with Shimizdu, 1x with Hachigoro Maeda(current)

Zion's Critical Eye: Another long time junior from World Level Wrestling, Haru Kurfuji joined Burning Hammer in 2008 after being with WLW from the very beginning. He's never been the greatest super junior wrestler and now he's a bit on the decline. With that said, the one thing he has been is consistent. It was that consistency that got him into Burning Hammer and it's that consistency that's seen him win two Junior Tag crowns. His current team with Hachigoro Maeda has been beneficial for both parties and it looks to be a team poised to become one of the pillars in the junior tag team division. Heihachiro Sakai

Wrestler's Alias: Shining Arm

Unit Affiliation: Silver Fleet Rising

Age: 27

Years as a Pro: 7 Years

Birth Place: Hiroshima, Chugoku

Height: 6'3

Weight: 250 Ibs

Theme Song: Hekireki

Favorite Holds: Sakai Suplex(Exploder Suplex), Shining Lariat(Wrist-lock transitioned into a short-arm lariat)

Accomplishments: Hinoto Dojo All Japan

Zion's Critical Eye: A product of the Hinote Dojo in 2005, Heihachiro Sakai has had a certain buzz surrounding him since his debut. He was sent to Hinote Dojo and for six years he progressed and became a very exciting heavyweight prospect. Having personally watched a few Hinote Dojo shows live, he does look and wrestle the part of a future star. He made his debut to the main roster last June and was quickly placed in a unit, which is a good sign. It's been very clear the company has plans for him. With the Big Six being at the top with the INSPIRE trio reign supreme, there's no rush to elevate Sakai up the card. And even though he's pretty good for someone his age, there's still a few areas he could work on(such as his brawling and physical charisma) and become even better. With guys like Sakai, the route to go to not rush their progress and slowly building them up and that's the approach I expect Burning Hammer to take with him. Yuki-chan has interviewed him once and she told me he's a really nice man and is more than willing to be patient and learn as much as possible. He seems to have the right attitude and that could end up benefiting Burning Hammer in the future when his time inevitably comes. Hidekazu

Wrestler's Alias: Second Wind

Unit Affiliation: None

Age: 43

Years as a Pro: 25 Years

Birth Place: Itabashi, Tokyo

Height: 5'7

Weight: 215 lbs

Favorite Holds: STF, Hidekazu Stretch(Seated Stretch Armbar), Midnight Raid(Northern Lights Bomb)

Accomplishments: 2010 Independent Wrestler of the Year

Zion's Critical Eye: Everyone loves a feel good story and the story of Hidekazu is as good as it gets. Two decades ago, he was a young lion, wrestling on the Burning Hammer roster. One day in a match involving the Awesome Kiyaru, he suffered a serious knee injury that put him on the shelf for a while. It was so severe, most people didn't think he would be able to wrestle again. After Burning Hammer released him, he spent some time evaluating his career, Did he want to continue as a pro wrestler? Could he even make it to that point? After some soul searching, Hidekazu chose to rehab his knee in hopes of making a comeback. Realizing that his previous high flying style would no longer be sustainable, he focused his energy on his mat game. His intense training quickly saw success as for the past few years, he's constantly had stellar performances on the indy scene. He even won the 2010 Best Independent Wrestler Award from Total Extreme Wrestling. com. This consistency has now led him back to the Burning Hammer roster. While he won't be competing for the Junior Championship or be a player at all, his addition to the junior division should add stability and perhaps even a mentor to the younger juniors on the roster. Regardless of how his second stint with Burning Hammer goes, for Hidekazu, just making it back is a success.

Hiroaki Nakasawa

Wrestler's Alias: The Ace of the 4th Generation

Unit Affiliation: Seikigun

Age: 35

Years as a Pro: 17 Years

Birth Place: Toukai, Aichi

Height 6'1

Weight: 280 Ibs

Theme Song: Sorairo Days

Favorite Holds: Compression Powerbomb(Folding Powerbomb), H-Bomb(Sitout Powerbomb), H-Sault(Moonsault), Nakasawa Neckbreaker(Wheelbarrow Neckbreaker), Sudden Impact Lariat(Discus Clotheslines), Super H-Bomb(Powerbomb followed by a Sitout Pwerbomb)

Accomplishments: 2x Burning Hammer World Champion, Burning Hammer Openweight

Zion's Critical Eye: There's people that are always destined for greatness and then never pan out. Dynamite Narahashi comes to mind. Hiroaki Nakasawa was groomed to be one of the guys that would carry the company and with lofty expectations placed on his shoulders. Burning Hammer did everything "right" when it came to building up Nakasawa. Then in 2006 when Kikkawa, Okazaki, Iesada and Mike Watson left, the main event scene was left in ruins. This handicapped Burning Hammer and out of desperation they had to put the Big Five in those spots before they were truly ready. In Nakasawa's case, he was the out that beat Bruce the Giant for his first championship, effectively putting him in the front. It shouldn't be understated how disastrous Nakasawa's reign could have gone for both him and the company. Here was this guy that was special and was groomed to be the guy and because of the INSPIRE exodus, they had to give it to him before they wanted to. Had Nakasawa crumbled under the pressure and his reign was a failure, the company would have be crippled from a financial standpoint. Plus when you factor in how much momentum PGHW was building at the time, they would have certainly surpassed Burning Hammer as the number one company in Puro.

Luckily for Burning Hammer, Nakasawa(and the Big Five in general) had a great reign that established him as the Ace and their fortune became even greater when the INSPIRE guys came back. Seven years later, Burning Hammer is on a high and a big part of that has been because of Nakasawa. His wrestling ability has always been praised but what's impressive about him is how he carries himself. He's calm but displays enough charisma and charm to draw people in. The way he's been able to represent Burning Hammer has solidified him as the Ace of the company and depending on who you ask, the biggest star in Puro. Hirokumi Saito

Wrestler's Alias: Right Knee of Destruction

Unit Affiliation: INSPIRE

Age: 37

Years as a Pro: 19 Years

Birth Place: Nakakoma, Yamanashi

Height: 5'11

Weight: 255 lbs

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Kaishakunin(Standing Knee Strike), Kaishakunin KAI(Knee Strike to a kneel opponent, sometimes to the back of the head), Cross Arm Suplex

Accomplishments: 2012 Independent Wrestler of the Year

Zion's Critical Eye: The vicious striker from Yamanashi, Hirokuni Saito is someone I feel should have been on either the PGHW roster or the Burning Hammer a lot sooner than now. He actually came from the PGHW youth system in 1997 but other than a few wins here and there, he didn't amount to much and left in 2003. His true coming out party was when he joined the INSPIRE promotion, where he could tap into his legit martial art training to thrive. When INSPIRE folded, he carried that success back on the indies, often being the highlights of whatever show he was on. Last year, he was voted the best Indy wrestler of the year and it was much deserved. Now he's finally on the Burning Hammer roster as an INSPIRE member. I know those in BURNING Weekly assume Iesada, Kikkawa and Okazaki were behind the signing and it would make sense. Saito's in ring style and demeanor fits perfectly with INSPIRE's concept. While I don't think he'll reach the top tier on heavyweights, I could easily see him settling as a solid, dependable, heavyweight. At the same time, he's being put in a position where he could elevate higher. It'll be interesting to see how he's used and how he performs now being apart of the Burning Hammer roster.

Hyosuke Kokan

Wrestler's Alias: The Electric Live Wire

Unit Affiliation: Seikigun, Static PUNCH with Kansuke Konda

Age: 36

Years as a Pro: 16

Birth Place: Otaru, Hokkaido

Height: 5'6

Weight: 180 Ibs

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Electric Shocker Clutch(Dragon Sleeper), Elemental Suplex(Dragon Suplex) Accomplishments: 2x Burning Junior Tag Team Champions with Kansuke Konda

Zion's Critical Eye: The Electric Live Wire, Hyosuke Kokan. When he was starting out in WLW, he was a pretty hot prospect. It was clear his style was influenced by the legendary Elemental II and he mixed that with his teachings from WLW owner and mentor Koji Kojima. But while he was wrestling in WLW, he longed for a chance to learn under his idol Elemental II and at that time Burning Hammer was keeping tabs on him. He made the transfer in September 2003, where he then was put under the wing of Elemental II. In hindsight, I'm sure some people have said that Kokan turned out to be a disappointment. I think that's a bit harsh even though he didn't become one of the top juniors. There were just people better than him and while he's a solid wrestler, he never became the great wrestler like Kiyaru was or like what Elemental III and Marihto Mausko are on their way to becoming. He has, however, has a great tag team with Kansuke Konda. They haven't won the Junior Tag Team belts in seven years but they're still considered the premier team in the division. How long though is the question with the Kiyaru/Golden Scorpion team still running strong and the emergence of American Panther and Maverick X. Ieyoshi Shimakage

Wrestler's Alias: Hokkaido's Finest(self proclaimed)

Unit Affiliation: Kasou-Gun Age: 24

Years as a Pro: 3 Years

Height: 5'9

Weight: 235 Ibs

Birth Place: Hokkaido, Sapporo

Theme Song: Heat Island

Favorite Holds: Shimakage Spike(Package Piledriver), North Road(Low Blow followed by head and leg cradle)

Zion's Critical Eye: Perhaps the most intriguing youngster on the roster, Ieyoshi Shimakage is quite the wild card. While he's an energetic brawler, the rest of his in ring skills aren't the best. He probably belongs in Hinote Dojo so he can work on his all around game. With that said, what makes Shimakage an interesting prospect is his ability to get an entire arena to boo him. Shimakage made his name on the indies for his character work. It's a mixture of the typical cocky youngster but it's more than that. Shimakage adds the shameless rulebreaking aspect, comedic timing and an over the top love for his home town Hokkaido. As someone also from Hokkaido, I share the same love for our beloved hometown but Shimakage has me beat in that department. You combine all of those elements and you get a man that has almost instinctive ability to control the crowd with his mere mannerisms, words and actions. There's not many people in Puro that can do that and although it's not considered as much, I would say that's a skill. It only took him six months to find himself a home in Kasou-Gun and given the concept of that unit, it's a perfect fit. Of course he's the weakest of the unit so he's going to send a lot of time eating pins. That's the best for him as he remains a very green competitor and can use this time to improve. No one is quite sure what his ceiling could be and it's still early to predict given how raw he is. In a year or two would probably be the best time to start forecasting how far he could go. Kansuke Konda

Wrestler's Alias: Big Fight Player

Unit Affiliation: Seikigun, Static PUNCH with Hyosuke Kokan

Age: 37 Years as a Pro: 19 Years

Height: 5'6

Weight: 205 Ibs

Birth Place: Yamagata City, Yamagata

Theme Song: No Pain, No Game Favorite Holds: Konda Driver(Scoop Lift Driver), Thunder Driver(Double Underhook Driver) Accomplishments: 2x Burning Tag Team Champion with Hyosuke Kokan, Burning Hammer Openweight Champion

Zion's Critical Eye: Konda calls himself the Big Fight Player, but hardcore fans like myself like calling him the Chibi Heavyweight. He has an interesting build as he's small in height but also stocky for a junior. Konda has always had "something" about him that's made him stand out. A part of that is the fact that despite being a junior, he's spent most of his career battling the heavyweights and while normally the idea of a junior competing against a heavy would be shunned upon, Konda's been able to pull it off. The crowd responds to him very well and it creates a great underdog aspect to his matches. If he was a bit taller, I would like to think he could have made a nice career as a heavy. Perhaps a reason why he's taken the route of fighting in the heavyweight division is because he knew he wouldn't stand out as much in the junior division. Although his Static PUNCH team with Hyosuke Kokan has been a cornerstone for the Junior Tag Team division for years. When Konda eventually retires he absolutely won't go down as one of the best juniors ever. But I think he'll go down as one of the most unique ever and I like to think there won't be a junior quite like him ever again.

Kinnojo Horri

Wrestler's Alias: Emperor of Fire

Unit Affiliation: Seikigun Age: 31

Years as a Pro: 10 Years

Height: 6'4

Weight: 265 Ibs

Birth Place: Kobe, Hyogo

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Destiny Bomb(Spinning Powerbomb), Hurricane Spinebuster(Spinning Buster), Horri Spinebuster(Spinning Sitout Spinebuster), Burning Lariat(Rebound Lariat)

Accomplishments: 2x Burning Hammer World Champion

Zion's Critical Eye: In a deck of cards, you have your 9s and your 10s and then you have your Jacks, your Queens, your Kings and your Aces. In the Burning Hammer, Hiroaki Nakasawa is the Ace and in the case of Kinnojo Horri, he's the King. Like Nakasawa, Horri was predicted from the start to become a superstar but with Horri, his claim to fame came much sooner than Nakasawa. With one upset win over Masaaki Okazaki in 2004, Horri became an overnight sensation, his popularity soaring with every show. His meteoric rise was one of the biggest stories of 2004. What really established Horri as a star was when he was placed in, what has become an eternal rivalry, with the biggest heel in Puro Tadiyuki Kikkawa. Horri was the up and coming brawler, almost a mirror image of how Kikkawa was when his emergence was happening. Horri always coming up short against Kikkawa turned Horri's story into a very sympathetic one and one that gained him more fan support. In 2006 when Kikkawa was about to leave the company, his last match was against Horri. Everyone knew Horri was going to get the big way. The build up to the match was one of the most anticipated in the last ten years. And the payoff delivered big time. Horri defeated Kikkawa and since 2006, he's been one of the figureheads of Burning Hammer. There's been plenty of shows that I've attended too where Horri is the most popular guy. He has a very big fan base with both the men and women. His style, a straight away brawler, appeals to what Burning Hammer fans except from their competitors. Though that's actually one of his main criticisms. Horri is a bit one dimensional in comparison to his generation peer Nakasawa, who can wrestle any style with anyone on the roster. Now 31 years ago and ten years into his career, Horri is inching closer to his peak and I still think there's time for him to refine his skills. His standing among the top regardless will not change whether or not he adds diversity to his game. He is firmly one of the leaders of the current "Big Five" era.

Lo-Drew · September 9, 2015

OOC Note: Sorry for the long delay with Part 1 of the roster info but I've been a bit busy with real life things. Also, I spent a bit of time finalizing my plans both in game and for the diary. With this being my first, I want to take my time with this. I wanted to make sure I have an idea of where I'm going booking wise and how I want to present the diary aspects from Zion's journal entries, all the sub characters, etc. Anyways sorry again for the delay. Hope to get Part 2 done this week as I shouldn't have anything big coming up soon.

Lo-Drew · September 12, 2015

The Roster(M-Z)

Marihito Masuko

Wrestler's Alias: PINK Dream

Unit Affiliation: Seikigun

Age: 30

Years as a Pro: 12 Years

Height: 5'5

Weight: 175 Ibs

Birth Place: Utsonomiya, Tochigi

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Masuko Cradle(Yoshi Tonic), Masuko Cradle Shock(Swinging leg hook fireman's carry slam), Pink Daze(Spinning headscissors takedown twisted into a crucifix)

Accomplishments: 2x Junior Champion, 2x Best of Super Junior Champion, 1x Junior Tag Team Champion with Elemental III

Zion's Critical Eye: I remember when Masuko debuted in 2004. He was this kid with an unbelievable look however in the ring he was very green but the potential as always there from the beginning. With a lot of young wrestlers, it's hard to predict when they will start to improve or if they will at all. Masuko managed to emerge before most of us thought he would. It took him two years after his debut to win his first Best of Super Junior crown against Sensational Dragon(a rivalry that has produced many exciting matches). In those two years, Masuko had rapidly improved and begun to display more confidence in himself and it showed in the ring. Supposedly, after shows, he would constantly ask Optimus and the first Elemental as well as Super Joshyua for advice and then practice what they were preaching in the Hinote dojos in between shows. Masuko is one of the "Aces" of the junior division and he got there through hard work and dedication. I've heard a part of that is the fact that his mysterious, spiritual character isn't that much of a persona. Supposedly, he's really like that 24/7. That only makes the enigmatic aura he's created for himself even more intriguing. I don't have a wish list per say of people I would love to have a chance to interview but if I did, Masuko would be up there as I just find him to be very fascinating. Not just the character, but hearing all the stories about his determination to become the great wrestler he is today. There's so much to him that makes him the star performer he is and the best part for Burning Hammer is that he continues to get better. He, along with Elemental III and Sensational Dragon, have all time potential. Masaaki Okazaki

Wrestler's Alias: Relentless

Unit Affiliation: INSPIRE

Age: 42

Years as a Pro: 24 Years

Height: 6'0

Weight: 250 Ibs

Birth Place: Toki, Gifu

Theme Song: Drink It Down

Favorite Holds: Angular Arm Bar(Seated Armbar), Century Crab Lift(Cross Legged Boston Crab), Okazaki Explosion(Top Rope Explosion Suplex), Okazaki Kick Barrage(Two High Kicks with the right foot followed by a knockout High kick with a left foot)

Accomplishments: King of Fighters

Zion's Critical Eye: It's amazing to think Okazaki only has one championship under his belt and it was won in the now defunct INSPIRE company. Even with the lack of physical accolades, Masaaki Okazaki has created a legacy for himself as one of the most ruthless competitors to ever step foot in a ring. An example of how ferocious he can be was his feud with Hooded Kudo in 2004 and how bloody their battles was. A long standing heel, his viciousness and violent style has made him one of the most villainous figures in Puro. This was only amplified when he, along with Mike Watson, Tadiyuki Kikkawa and Tasuku Iesda, returned to Burning Hammer in 2009 three years after initially leaving. Okazaki is so good at what he does and that's making the audience uncomfortable when he's delivering the punishment to his opponents. It's clear he's been relishing the added amount of heat the crowd has been giving him and his INSPIRE mates and it shows in his performances. He's always been really good and still to this day at 42 years old he hasn't missed a beat. Okazaki's a perennial World Champion challenger but he's never won the big one. I'm afraid he never will with the Big Five and Kikkawa dominating the scene. In fact, you could argue Okazaki's career has been a gatekeeper role. Kinnojo Horri took off with one upset win against him and his World Champion challenges have always been under the guise of "if you beat this guy, you're a legit champion." Mitsunari Fugunaga

Wrestler's Alias: Mr. Serious(self proclaimed)

Unit Affiliation: Silver Fleet Rising

Age: 33

Years as a Pro: 14 Years

Height: 5'9

Weight: 245 Ibs

Birth Place: Kawagoe, Saitama

Theme Song: Under Shaft

Favorite Holds: Package German Suplex(Straight Jacket German Suplex), Deadlift German Suplex), Killing Joke(Rear Naked Choke)

Accomplishments: Burning Openweight Champion(final champion)

Zion's Critical Eye: I have long thought, and was confirmed by Mister Harada, that Mitsunari Fugunaga was a man wrestling to get away from his past. Before he was the ultra serious competitor he is now, Fugunaga was a comedy wrestler on the indies. At the time, that was the only way he could get noticed as he was rejected by PGHW once he graduated from their dojo. Clearly, he wasn't proud of what he felt he had to do as I've been told whenever someone mentions it to him, he snaps at them. Luckily for him, Burning Hammer signed him in 2007 and he immediately dropped everything tied to his comedy character; from the tights to the hair that he shaved. His hard work to reinvent himself worked as he did capture the Openweight Championship before the title was retired. The seven years he's been in the Burning Hammer have been a success for him I think. However, it's hard for fans to forget about his past and that might be what eventually holds him back from breaking into the main event scene. In fact, I would argue his unwillingness to accept his past career is actually a hindrance to his progress. Tadakuni Toshusai, who was also known for his comedy, embraces that aspect of his career and the fans love him for it. Fugunaga has been a solid hand and has become one of the key midcarders on the shows but his past will always be a part of his career. It might be a fact that he doesn't want to accept but it's one that may be a reality. Fugunaga, I'm sure, will continue to work as hard as he can to erase that part of his career. Murai Enomoto

Wrestler's Alias: Rock Steady

Unit Affiliation: Seikigun

Age: 26

Years as a Pro: 7 Years

Height: 5'9

Weight: 240 Ibs

Birth Place: Tomakomai, Hokkaido

Theme Song: The Answer

Favorite Holds: Pin Point(Lifting Reverse DDT), Enomoto Trap(Crossface)

Accomplishments: None

Zion's Critical Eye: You know, for someone who has such an awesome theme, Enomoto sure is the opposite when it comes to personality. I feel bad for being that harsh but it's note exactly a false statement. I had saw him wrestle on a few indy shows and while he has good fundamentals, I never thought Burning Hammer would ever take a look at him. Turns out I was wrong and that's a testament to Enomoto for getting signed. Still, the one glaring theme about his is his lack of charisma and that's an understatement. I'm note sure about his future in Burning Hammer. Yes he's a solid pro wrestler who is at the age where he will get better but there's a lot of hot heavyweight prospects down in Hinote Dojo and on the indies that eventually I can't help but think Enomoto will soon be seen as expendable. Maybe I'm wrong about him again as I do hope he does well. But I'm not too optimistic if he remains a solid, but dull, pro wrestler. MYSTIC Dragon

Wrestler's Alias: Dark Hero

Unit Affiliation: Silver Fleet Rising

Age: 26

Years as a Pro: 8 Years

Height: 5'7

Weight: 210 Ibs

Birth Place: Ichinoseki, Iwate

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Dragon Driver III(Straight jacket scoop brainbuster), Dragon Driver II(Scoop Slam Piledriver), MYSTIC Clutch(Koji Clutch)

Accomplishments: 2x Hinote All-Japan Champion, Burning Hammer Junior Champion

Zion's Critical Eye: There's a lot of pressure that comes with being a great performer. It's even harder when you're expected to be great because of your lineage. MYSTIC Dragon, the son of the first Elemental, felt as if the world was on his shoulders. Having to be the son of one of the greatest wrestlers to ever wrestle means every move you make, every match you wrestle will be examined as they compare you to your old man. Knowing that, instead of wanting to follow the Elemental legacy, the MYSTIC Dragon character was born. From what I heard, early on, that pressure led to MYSTIC Dragon making poor decisions in his personal life and his maturity was a serious question mark. His talent was never debated. In fact, he probably should have been called sooner given the impact he made in Hinote Dojo. Supposedly(Eita-san told me this story once), it was until his father staged an "intervention" of sorts with himself, Optimus and the first Elemental that changed his career, and virtually his life around. There he got a chance to express the immense pressure he felt and how he feared letting his father down. When his father affirmed to him that he was proud of him and he would never feel like his son dishonored him, those questions about his maturity faded away. Just like Elemental III, it didn't take long for MYSTIC Dragon to find success; winning the Junior title within seven months. It's been very clear that Burning Hammer sees him as someone that can crack the Sensational Dragon-Marihito Masuko-Elemental III stranglehold. A part of it is because of his talent and the potential to become even better but also his character work. Using his past life demons, he's created this "dark hero" persona that's so unique. Granted, Masuko has a similar mysterious character but that's more spiritual. Dragon's character is more human because everyone has their own personal demons they've had to overcome. There aren't many people in Burning Hammer people can relate to on a human level and while the larger than life characters are always appealing, characters like MYSTIC Dragon are also equally because of how grounded they are. The sky's the limit for MYSTIC Dragon. Natsu Miyamae

Wrestler's Alias: The Rebel

Unit Affiliation: Silver Fleet Rising

Age: 41

Years as a Pro: 23 Years

Height: 5'8

Weight: 245 Ibs

Birth Place: Sakai, Osaka

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Miyamae Spoiler(Half nelson lifted and dropped into a wheelbarrow driver), Venomous Clutch(Cobra Clutch), Viper's Grip(Anaconda Vice), Double Underhook Powerbomb

Accomplishments: 2x Burning Hammer Tag Team Champion with Shimedzu, 2x World Level Tag Team Champion with Shimedzu, Burning Hammer Junior Champion

Zion's Critical Eye: The first person I got to interview for BURNING Weekly was this man. A man who I've long thought for years that Miyamae and Shimedzu were some of the more unappreciated wrestlers in Burning Hammer. The two together were one of the greatest tag team duos in Burning Hammer winner, having success not only in Burning Hammer but in World Level Wrestling as well. Miyamae, in particular, also found success originally as a stand out junior competitor, culminating in a Junior title win in 2000. So I suppose it's not a surprise to see Miyamae's "break out" as a heavyweight the last few years since he's been good in every possible division he's been in. When Miyamae and Shimedzu made the decision to bulk up and join the heavyweight division, it was a big risk but at the same time, as a junior tag team, they were in a bit of limbo. Unfortunately, Shimedzu didn't find much success in the heavyweight division and that ended their partnership. Miyamae, on the other hand, easily found the transition to be a good one for him and over the past few years, he's gotten more and more comfortable rubbing elbows with the bruisers like Hamacho. A part of that is because Miyamae has always been a great mat wrestler and great at being versatile; he could take it to the air, he could brawl he could take it to the mat, you name it. Recently, the fans have started to get behind him as a heavyweight star and it seems Burning Hammer is trying to elevate him with the formation of Silver Fleet Rising and Optimus going to him to be the leader. You figure with the Big Five + the INSPIRE trio, I could see a name for an outsider to break that and be a credible contender. That's where he new nickname comes from. Obviously its an ode to his old team but also because right now he's the one looking to break that threshold. He's on the verge of becoming a top heavyweight player. At 41, if there's a perfect time to break the glass ceiling, it's now and when I interviewed him, he made it clear to me that he had every intention to. He's a very insightful man who's displayed a great deal of humility and excitement for this opportunity. It's hard not to root for a man like that. Nissho Yuusa

Wrestler's Alias: Baby Elephant

Unit Affiliation: Team REVIVAL with Toshiki Shibanumo

Age: 32 Years as a Pro: 14 Years

Height: 6'2

Weight: 330 Ibs

Birth Place: Okayama Prefecture

Theme Song: Red Fraction

Favorite Holds: Thunder Drop(Chokeslam), Elephant Gun(Corner Lariat)

Accomplishments: Burning Hammer Openweight Champion, 2x Burning Hammer Tag Team Champion; 1 with Kanishoki, 1 with Toshiki Shibaunmo(current)

Zion's Critical Eye: Right now the Big Five consist of Nakasawa, Horri, Taira, Masuno and Toshusai. Those five are the representation of the 4th generation. It's weird to think about in hindsight but in many ways, the Big Five was envisioned to be the Big Seven; the missing two being Dynamite Narahashi and Nissho Yuusa. From his days in the dojo, many thought Yuusa would become a huge star and the next monster heel when Bruce the Giant's reign was over. I'm not sure if it was the pressure the caused Yuusa to struggle from the gate. I would imagine that was a factor into it. I also think people overrated Yuusa's abilities at the time or should I say, devalue the glaring flaws in his skills. His cardio, in particular, was awful even for big man standards. It was only when those expectations were gone that he started t gradually improve. He deserves credit for sticking with it when people were declaring him to be a disappointment. And in his defense, he's had some unlucky breaks for him; his team with Kanishoki being one of them. Last year, he was kicked out of Kasou-Gun after months of that being teased. Strangely, he was paired with Shibaunumo with the angle being the veteran seeking to team with the disgraced big man as a means for redemption. I initially didn't think much of that pairing but when they won the Tag Titles with Yuusa getting the pin, it grabbed people's attention. It looks like Team REVIVAL is trying to live up to the namesake for Yuusa. He's clearly the star of the team and the team is being designed to give him some sort of a spark. He's 32 and he's become a part of the midcard so who knows if he finally reaches some of that potential now. It'll be interesting to see how he fares this year now as a face for the first time. Razan Okamoto

Wrestler's Alias: The Future

Unit Affiliation: None

Age: 22

Years as a Pro: 4 Years

Height: 5'10

Weight: 210 lbs

Birth Place: Osaka City, Osaka

Theme Song: Core Pride(Female Version)

Favorite Holds: Back to the Future(Brainbuster Suplex), Time Skip Elbow(Diving Elbow Drop) Accomplishments: None

Zion's Critical Eye: One of the hottest prospects not only in Puro, but perhaps the wrestling world, it was only a matter of time before Razan Okamoto joined the Burning Hammer roster. Their scouts have kept tabs on him for a few years until they felt it was time to take him away from BGC, which they finally did in March. Okamoto got his first break from the upstart Black Grappling Canvas promotion, where it didn't take long for him to create a buzz. While he still far from a polished article, the pieces are all there for him to become one of the best in the world. He's athletic, he can brawl, he can take it to the air and while his mat game needs work, he has the potential to grow in that area. He also has this "cool" factor about him, often displaying his charisma with ease. His greatest asset is his selling. His ability to take a beating and generate cheers from the crowd for someone his age is incredible. He's a perfect babyface however, it seems for now, in Burning Hammer he's a tweener. His feud with Reijiro Hiraki looks like something Burning Hammer is building up and that could do wonders for those two. Okamoto's ceiling is very high as a junior, though I hear in the future, he would also like a try as a heavyweight. We'll still early in his Burning Hammer career but there's no reason to think Okamoto won't become a standout for years to come. Red Panther

Wrestler's Alias: Feline Phenom

Unit Affiliation: Silver Fleet Rising, American Panther with American Optimus

Age: 30

Years as a Pro: 12 Years

Height: 5'7

Weight: 205 Ibs

Birth Place: Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Theme: Leave You Far Behind

Favorite Holds: Tumbleweed Legdrop(Corkscrew Leg drop), Cat's Cradle(La Magistral Cradle), Infra Red(Flying Flip Neckbreaker)

Accomplishments: 2x 4C Hardcore Champion, 1x 4C Tag Team Champion with Duberry Excess, 2x Burning Hammer Tag Team Champion with American Optimus

Zion's Critical Eye: Like many gaijin fliers, Red Panther had said publicly that he was influenced by the Elements and the Optimus and thus one of his dreams was to compete in the Burning Hammer junior division. Under the mask is a man named Ed Larkins but he was known as Phenomenal E during his time in 4C Wrestling. He was discovered actually by Duane Stone, who was in the midst of returning to Burning Hammer as Black Cobra and had mentioned about the flashy flier. That got Larkins a few tours between December 2007 to April 2009. In that time frame, Larkins created a new character for himself, Red Panther, and dazzled the Burning Hammer faithful enough to warrant a full time contract. Like expected, he found it a bit tough to find his place in the ultra competitive junior division. Best thing that could happen to him was being paired up with American Optimus and then both joining Kasou-Gun. Being shameless cheaters along with using that to dethrone the year long junior tag reign of Aces Elemental III and Marihito Masuko gave him a place in the division. As an individual, he's too inconsistent and one dimensional to elevate in the junior ranks. However, he's a two time Junior Tag champion with American Optimus and they're on the brink of becoming the premier team above Static PUNCH. Reijiro Hiraki

Wrestler's Alias: The Spark Plug

Unit Affiliation: None

Age: 26

Years as a Pro: 8 Years

Height: 5'8

Weight: 200 lbs

Birth Place: Kobe, Hyogo

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Amber Piledriver(Flip Piledriver), Flash Point(Flying Double Knee)

Accomplishments: Hinote Dojo Dragon Warrior

Zion's Critical Eye: Hiraki-san has been in the Hinote Dojo fed for a long time. Seven years to be exact. His call up to the main roster was inevitable. It was just a matter of when. As Hiraki himself said in that well written article by Ishida-san, he felt relived when he finally got the call at the end of February. Talent wise, Hiraki has everything there to become one of the best juniors on the roster. He can fly but he has also shown the ability to take it to the mat if need be. Even when he first started, his potential was always there. So much so, people thought he was being groomed to be the third Elemental, which obviously didn't happen. While so believe he could have been called up, those seven years in development helped him in a multitude of ways both in the ring and out the ring. What will help him is how likable he is and that article only highlighted that. The way he talked about his family, his friend Ryota would unfortunately had his dreams of being a wrestler crushed, it presented him as someone people can get behind. But as he's shown in Hinote Dojo, he can also play a heel almost as good as he can a face. His versatility and his youth makes him one of the bets prospects on the roster. Burning Hammer clearly have hopes that his emerging rivalry with Razan Okamoto will lead to both men being elevated. The sky is the limit for the man they call the Spark Plug. Sanetomo Shirashi

Wrestler's Alias: The Lizard

Unit Affiliation: KawaRashi with Sessue Kawate

Age: 48

Years as a Pro: 30 Years

Height: 6'0

Weight: 245 Ibs

Birth Place: Takamatsu, Kagawa

Theme Song: Kasmir

Favorite Holds: Lizard Clutch(Camel Clutch), Swandive Headbutt(Diving Headbutt)

Accomplishments: Burning Openweight Champion, 3x Burning Tag Team Champion with Sessue Kawate

Zion's Critical Eye: There aren't that many people left on the roster that was actively competing during Shirashi's heyday. He will enter his 20th year as a member of the Burning Hammer roster come next year. He's spent all of hs tenure being "married" career wise with his partner Sessue Kawate. If the Tag Team had been created earlier, I'm more than sure the two would have close to ten team title reigns. In the ring, Shirashi has solid but never spectacular and nowadays you can see the wear and tear is taking a toll on his body. One of these days he's going to hang it up, but then when you see him still attempt that Swandive Headbutt from the top, maybe he doesn't see an end in sight. The KawaRashi team has been his claim to fame and due to a weak tag team division, those two are still fixtures for the titles. There's the nostalgia factor surely but it goes without saying if the division had more teams, they wouldn't be perennial title contenders. Still, Shirashi has value as his solid basics are good for some of the young lions to learn from. I could even see him becoming a trainer in Hinote Dojo once his career is over.

Sensational Dragon

Wrestler's Alias: The Sensational One

Unit Affiliation: Silver Fleet Rising

Age: 28

Years as a Pro: 10 Years

Height: 5'9

Weight: 215 Ibs

Birth Place: Fukuoka, Kyushu

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Dragon Slice(Shiranui), Sensational Shock(Springboard Hurricanrana), Burning Sensation(Corkscrew 450 Splash), SD Driver(Scoop Slam Piledriver)

Accomplishments: 4x Burning Hammer Junior Champion, Best of Super Junior 2009 Winner

Zion's Critical Eye: As I've stated before, the Super Junior division will always be the main attraction for me as a fan. I grew up watching greats like the second Elemental, Optimus, The Awesome Kiyaru, etc. And yet sometimes I feel like they're all going to be surpassed by Sensational Dragon. To say the man has prodigal talents is an understatement. He won his first Junior Championship at 22 years old and has a total of four Junior crowns only at the age of 28. And that makes you think, this guy is only 28 years old and most likely, he's only going to get better. Upon graduation, he was already one of the best juniors on the roster. Sensational Dragons don't grow from trees. And yet whenever he's talked about, that's not the first thing they talk about. Even around BURNING Weekly, the one thing that's immediately brought up about Dragon is his ego. Apparently, he truly believes he's Sensational and has a huge "I'm better than you" attitude. I've heard that's made him unpopular among other juniors(which makes me wonder is his rivalry with Marihito Masuko legitimate.) I can't really judge because I can't say for a fact that I would act the same if I was blessed with the talents Dragon has been. I've never been in that position so on that stand point, I can't judge him. When I interviewed both Maeda-san and Miyamae-san, they preached about how important hard work was and how much they had to work in order to get where they at currently. Someone like Dragon probably had to work less became it all came so easy to him. So i would imagine knowing you're capable of picking up on things other can't and you're able to be accepted as a 22 year old Junior champion knowing others can't would make someone think they are the best. Perhaps it comes with the territory. All I know is on the path he's on, he has a real shot of reaching the vaulted Elemental-Elemental II-Optimus threshold of greatest juniors ever. And if all those rumors of him being an egomaniac is true, that's probably all he cares about. Seesue Kawate Wrestler's Alias: Snow Man Unit Affiliation: KawaRaishi with Sanetomo Shirashi Age: 48 Years as a Pro: 30 Years Height: 6'0 Weight: 260 Ibs Birth Place: Osaka, Kansai Theme Song: Innocent Sorrow Favorite Holds: Freeze Frame(Discus Clothesline) Accomplishments: 3x Burning Hammer Tag Team Champion with Sanetomo Shirashi Zion's Critical Eye: Once upon a time, Sessue Kawate was a young prospect who had superstar potential. Watching some of his early matches in the 1990s and he had "something" about him. The hair, the look, the fire, the skills. He had all the tools to become a headliner. But one thing I'm quickly beginning to understand is that everyone's going to deal with pressure a different way. Unfortunately for Kawate, he turned to drugs; mainly cocaine. And that sent his career but even more depressing, his life down a dark path. Burning Hammer were forced to release him. They've done it a few times after re-hiring him when it seemed like he had his life was getting back on track and he had another relapse. His tag team with Sanetomo Shirashi has stabilized so many things for Kawate. For one, his career because as a singles wrestler, he's wasted whatever natural talent he did have. He's found success there despite competing in a weak division. Most importantly, he's gotten his life back together because of his team and I can't help but commend Burning Hammer for making sure they took care of him, even if that meant releasing him. It's a sad story in a way because Kawate really had a chance to become a star and we'll never know how far he could have gone if he didn't have his tragic descent. The silver lining however is that he's been clean for years now and has everything together finally. Shimedzu Wrestler's Alias: The Dragon Unit Affiliation: Silver Fleet Rising Age: 42 Years as a Pro: 24 Years Height: 5'10 Weight: 220 Ibs Birth Place: Chiba City, Chiba Theme Song: Colors Favorite Holds: Shimedzu Skull Drop(Sheer Drop Brainbuster), Dragon Sleeper Accomplishments: 2x Burning Tag Team Champion with Miyamae, 2x World Level Tag Team Champion with Miyamae, Burning Junior Tag Team Champion with Haru Kurofuji Zion's Critical Eye: Like I said about Miyamae, I'm not sure fans, myself included, truly appreciate the level of consistency both the former Rebellion guys have brought to the table. For years they were one of the greatest duos in Burning Hammer history but they were also really good singles wrestlers in their own right. They took a gamble by bulking up to compete with the heavyweights as I think both felt with their skills, they had a better time breaking out with the heavys than with the juniors. Plus too there's more chances of fame being in the heavyweight division than the junior division. While it didn't take long for Miyamae to settle in, Shimedzu, however, didn't find the same success as he did. Realizing the extra weight wasn't working, Shimedzu dropped back down to lightweight and that meant the end of the Rebellion. I'm sure Shimedzu, now in hindsight, wouldn't have made the move to become a heavy and instead stayed in the junior division. If he did, he could have been one of the best as his skill set certainly put him up there. One thing Miyamae told me when I interviewed him was that a big part of the reason he's currently experiencing a great deal of success in the heavys is because of the advice and the friendship Shimedzu has provided. I really got the sense that they're really close and they support each other. That's why it was great to see Silver Fleet Rising form with both in the same unit again. At this point in his career, he's going to be a gatekeeper for the young juniors looking to make a mark.I imagine he'll be asked to team up with the young juniors so he could give them a bit of his wisdom and help them out. That seems like the ideal role for him. Tadakuni Toshusai Wrestler's Alias: The Shocker, the Joker Unit Affiliation: Seikigun Age: 31 Years as a Pro: 13 Years Height: 6'3 Weight: 275 Ibs Birth Place: Yokohama, Kanto Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Shock Treatment(Sitout Torture Rack Backbreaker), Electro Shock(Short Arm Lariat), High Voltage(Bicycle Kick) Accomplishments: Burning World Tag Team Champion with Koshiro Ino Zion's Critical Eye: Nakasawa is the Ace, Horri is the King and Tadakuni Toshusai is truly the Joker of the Big Five. Upon his debut, there was something different about him. One obviously was the comedy aspect to his persona. The wacky mannerisms and facial expressions clearly were much different than what the others in the Big Five presented. However, he's always been the weakest member of the Big Five and to this day that remains the case. He's never been the most polish wrestler in the world. He's similar to Horri in which all his in ring consist of is brawling and not much of anything else. In many ways, he has a lot of handicaps against him from being in the position that he is with his wrestling and the comedy. So what makes him a part of the Big Five? The charisma. He is arguably the most charismatic wrestler in Puro. His energy is almost infectious. I think what separates him from a guy like Mitsunari Fugunaga, who also came from a past full of comedy, is that Toshusai is an everyman. He's not athletic, he has underrated power but it's not jaw dropping. He doesn't look like an athlete but he's able to draw people behind him because people can relate to him; kinda like MYSTIC Dragon. He's embraced what he is and isn't ashamed about it like Fugunaga and by simply owning to it, it makes Toshusai that much more authentic. His style of wrestling is also a part of that. The brawling is all apart of a more "Western" type of style Toshusai wrestles. It's clear he watches a lot of Jack Bruce from SWF in America because a lot of his mannerisms I see in Toshusai, especially when he's fighting from behind. It's a style that some purist loathe because it's against the Puro style fans expect from heavyweights but it's working for Toshusai and he has made some great strides to improve himself. In order for Toshusai to truly rise above the rest of his peers, he's going to have to show he can deliver in the big matches. His match against Iesada for the King of Fighters title at Fire Dream of the Immortals will be a good gauge to see how much he measures up to his peers. Tadiyuki Kikkawa Wrestler's Alias: God of Burning Hammer Unit Affiliation: INSPIRE Age: 40 Years as a Pro: 22 Years Height: 6'3 Weight: 280 Ibs Birth Place: Nagasaki, Kyushu Theme Song: Iron Man Favorite Holds: Burning Lariat(Rebound Lariat), Kikkawa Driver(Tombstone Piledriver), Kikkawa Lariat(Lariat to the back of opponent's neck), Kikkawa Death Choke(Triangle Choke), Wrath of God(Burning Hammer) Accomplishments: 4x Burning Hammer World Champion(current), 2x King of Fighters Champion, Burning World Tag Team Champion with Tasuku Iesada, 1996 Wrestler of the Year Zion's Critical Eye: Well, where do you begin? Kikkawa, without question, is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. His greatness has been on display for almost twenty years. The level of brutality he has brought to the sport has revolutionized modern Puro. He'll be remembered for all the great battles he had with the likes of Hooded Kudo, Sam Strong, Kinnojo Horri, Hiroaki Nakasawa, etc. But his lasting impact covers more than just the ring. In 2006, he changed the landscape of Puro when he left Burning Hammer and brought with him Iesada, Mike Watson and Masaaki Okazaki. Seeing that Burning Hammer was de-emphasizing the MMA-esue physicality that Kikkawa made his name off of, he formed INSPIRE in order to preserve it. It let Burning Hammer's main event scene ravaged and became the epicenter of the Puro world. INSPIRE started off with a lot of buzz but long term I knew it would be hard for the company to succeed. The foundation of the company rested on a niche that was already being filled by ALPHA-1. Plus,eventually they ran into the problem of identify. Here was a wrestling company trying to be like a MMA company but it was clearly not a shoot like real MMA is. Because of that, INSPIRE closed three years later but it didn't take long for Kikkawa to make headlines once again. The INSPIRE four came back to Burning Hammer in April of 2009, instantly boosting business for Burning Hammer. And as we also found out, it was their return that gave Kaneko leverage over former president Kaneie Komine to usurp him. Now I've heard a crazy rumor that doesn't sound that crazy that apart of the deal was that Kaneko would give both Kikkawa and Iesada a certain amount of stake in the company. I'm not sure if that's true or not but it doesn't sound completely out of left field either. Burning Hammer's been riding the wave Kikkawa's return generated still til this day. It's hard to think of a single wrestler who's been more influential in the new millennium than him. Right now, he may be the most important wrestler in Puro today. He's certainly the biggest villain in the sport today. I think as much as we know how great he is, we won't truly understand how much of a blessing it's been witnessing one of the greatest careers ever until he retires. Tasuku Iesada Wrestler's Alias: Dangerous Unit Affiliation: INSPIRE Age: 39 Years as a Pro: 21 Years Height: 5'11 Weight: 245 Ibs Birth Place: Hokuto, Hokkaido Theme Song: Akai Usagi Favorite Holds: Iesada Special(Flying Cross Armbreaker), Iesada Special II(German Suplex into a Cross Armbreaker), Iesada Lockdown(Choke Sleeper Takedown), Rolling Three(Three Consecutive German Suplexes with the third being a bridging pinfall) Accomplishments: King of Fighters Champion(current), Burning World Tag Team Champion with Tadiyuki Kikkawa, Burning Hammer Openweight Champion Zion's Critical Eye: Speaking of Kikkawa, his right hand man(in more ways than one) is equally revered in the ring. Iesada doesn't have the accolades and the legacy as Kikkawa, but he has a resume of great matches under his belt. Iesada has always been a top contender in the heavyweight division and right now he finally has his first big singles title reign. Many have felt he deserves a run at the top because he's always been a great wrestler and he's a great asset to have on any roster. What's been a nice touch to see is the relationship between him and Kikkawa. They've always been in the same unit, in Burning Hammer, and Iesada's always been his right hand man and second in command. They've been following that trend with INSPIRE and it gives a sense of teamwork and chemistry between the two. He's also the current booking of the company and I'm certain him, Kikkawa and Kaneko are in constant communication. Whether it's in the ring or booking, Iesada has been on a roll and that comes to no surprise to anyone because he is truly one of the best. Tatsuya Toshitala Wrestler's Alias: Double T Unit Affiliation: None Age: 22 Years as a Pro: 3 Years Height: 6'0 Weight: 245 Ibs Birth Place: Toyota, Aichi Theme Song: N/A Favorite Holds: Toshitala Triangle(Arm Triangle), Heel Hook(Ankle Lock while grapevining the opponent's leg) Zion's Critical Eye: One of the recent signings to the roster, Tatusya Toshitala will enter his first full year as a member of the Burning Hammer roster. I do remember seeing him on the indies and in the small sample sizes I saw him, he was impressive. He has a very aggressive style that's based off his good submission skills and seems to be at his best when he's picking apart someone's limbs. With his in ring nature, he's destined to be a heel though at the same time, I don't think a unit like Kasou-Gun, which is heavy on the cheating, is a good fit for him. He was signed late last year and finally started wrestling in December and they've already hinted that's where they're going. He's already had a few post match scuffles with fellow young lions like Takemura and Enomoto. Whether or not that is a prelude to a heel turn right away or a mere characteristic trait about his character remains to be seen. Also, it would be best not to rush himself into that as he's still very raw from an all around stand point. He needs to improve the other aspects of his game as well as become more knowledge in in ring psychology, something that's a glaring flaw, in order to start making some head way upward. But he does have potential and his good mat work is a good foundation to build off from. The Awesome Kiyaru Wrestler's Alias: The Black Plague(of the Junior Division) Unit Affiliation: Kasou-Gun Age: 42 Years as a Pro: 24 Years Height: 5'9 Weight: 190 Ibs Birth Place: Kasukabe, Saitama Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Kiyaru Effect(Tilt-A-Whirl Facebuster), Death Rana(Reverse Spike Hurricanarana), Infinite Tsukuyomi(Dragon Rana), Poison Clutch(Bridging arm triangle choke), Mist Attack(mist can range from black, red, green and yellow) Accomplishments: 4x Burning Hammer Junior Champion, 2x Burning Hammer Junior Tag Team Champion with Golden Scorpion, 3x Best of Super Junior Winner(2001-2003) Zion's Critical Eye: We all know about the Elemental II-Optimus era of the Super Junior division. However, every division needs a villain. A thorn in the side of the heroes. The Awesome Kiyaru has been that thorn for almost two decades and I would argue he's one of the most important pillars of the junior division ever. The Elementals and Optimus are the foundation, but the Awesome Kiyaru is the first true villain of the super juniors. Like Yasujiro, The Awesome Kiyaru spent his early years in Mexico, perfecting his craft. it was there that he created his character, taking inspirations from classic rudo luchadores as well as mixing in his own flavor. When he signed in 1996, he immediately made it known that he wasn't going to be an honorable fighter like the other famed juniors. This led to numerous battles between both Elemental and Optimus in which Kiyaru was a fantastic antagonist by using not just his skills, but the cheating like the mist attack, the low blows, anything and everything to ensure him as the most hated junior around. 2001 to 2003 was Kiyaru's true reign on top. Winning the Best of the Super Junior tournament three straight years kept his stranglehold on top of the division. Nowadays he's long past those glory days but he still remains an amazing character and one of the most famed villains in Puro. He now has four Junior crowns to his resume and even two Junior Tag Team crowns with Golden Scorpion. And he still is the #1 villain in the division as recent years have seen him clash with Elemental III, Marihito Masuko, Sensational Dragon and even MYSTIC Dragon on a few occasions. He's arguably the last junior remaining from the Elemental II-Optimus era and when he eventually retires, his legacy among the juniors will be just a few notches below the Elementals and Optimus. But as a villain, not one Super Junior will be able to take that crown away from him. The Incredible Koyama Wrestler's Alias: N/A(The Incredible Koyama is a nickname all by itself) Unit Affiliation: None Age: 31 Years as a Pro: 13 Years Height: 5'9 Weight: 180 Ibs Birth Place: Naha City, Okinawa Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Incredible Death Spike(Front Flip Piledriver), Koyama Grip(Kimura), Superman Splash(Springboard 450 Splash) Accomplishments: 3x World Level Show Stealer Champion, 5x World Level Tag Team Champion with Koki Ishibashi Zion's Critical Eye: When the Incredible Koyama debuted upon the scene, he was considered one of the hottest junior prospects around. He had the flashiness that would make anyone stop and take notice and under that he had solid fundamentals to boot. World Level Wrestling clearly saw him, Emerald Angel and Magnum KOBE as a golden trio that would carry their company once Ishibashi, Yasujiro, The Great Hisato and co were gone. Koyama had other plans. All along he was pining for a chance to make it to Burning Hammer. So much that when his contract expired, he didn't tell Koji Kojima and Koki Ishibashi that he signed a contract to Burning Hammer right away. He only told them afterwards when Kojima began to contact him about an extension. Predictably, that didn't go so well with his former mentors or any of his former peers in WLW as the feeling is that he handled the situation with dishonor. I've also heard from Eita that Koyama does have an attitude problem and is hard to talk to. Apparently, he does have an ego and feels he is destined for greatness and has taken his talents for granted. Sensational Dragon may be from the same cloth but we all know how much work Dragon puts in living up to his ego and it shows every time he puts on those incredible(no pun intended) performances. Koyama seems to be the opposite and that could explain why his standing in the company hasn't taken off since joining. This isn't a case of talent because he has that and he has room to improve. This has to do with maturity and hopefully he takes the route MYSTIC Dragon took because if he doesn't, despite Koyama's talent, there's a lot of good prospects not just in the Hinote system, but in the indies that would love to have his spot on the main roster. It would be a shame to see a talented guy like Koyama waste this opportunity simply because of arrogance but then again sometimes that's hat needs to happen in order for someone to learn. Toshiki Shibaunumo Wrestler's Alias: The Warrior Unit Affiliation: Team REVIVAL with Nissho Yuusa Age: 44 Years as a Pro: 26 Years Height: 6'1 Weight: 240 Ibs Birth Place: Hirakata, Osaka Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Sidewalk Slam, Shibaunumo Stretch(STF), Warrior's Way(Double Arm Powerbomb) Accomplishments: Burning Hammer World Tag Team Champion with Nissho Yuusa(current), GCG World Tag Team Champion with Toshinobu Taku Zion's Critical Eye: On the path Murai Enomoto is on, he's going to become Toshiki Shibuanumo when he's older. A super reliable wrestler that has absolutely no form of charisma. That is the single handed reason why he's never gone anywhere higher than the mid-card in his career. Even if he had a small amount of charisma could have helped him out a bit. If this was last year, I would have written him off and figured one day he would get released one day. Then Nissho Yuusa got kicked out of Kasou-Gun and the first person to his aid was Toshiki Shibaunumo. At first, Yuusa denied his help but after a few shows where it became clear to Yuusa that he had no friends and he was truly at rock bottom, he started to team with Shibaunumo. Calling themselves Team REVIVAL, Shibaunumo(suggested by Yuusa), gave himself a bit of an update himself. He got a new nickname, a new theme song and new attire. Together, they shocked a lot of people when they actually won the World Tag Team titles from Bulls of Fury. This team is designed solely to jump start Yuusa's career but in a way it's cool to see such an unique pairing being featured. Sure, the tag team division is not the strongest at all and if it was, I doubt these two would be champions right now but it does present the opportunity to see something different. A team based off redemption is a great story and I'm intrigued to see how they fair. Of course the long term goal is to get Yuusa in a better position and there really isn't a long term goal for Shibaunumo but it's still a cool story to see. VENOM Wrestler's Alias: The Lethal Junior Unit Affiliation: None Age: 32 Years as a Pro: 14 Years Height: 5'10 Weight: 210 Ibs Birth Place: Shibuya, Tokyo Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Sting in the Tail(Cloverleaf), Lethal Injection(Double Underhook Piledriver), Deadly Dose(Cross-legged Samoan driver) Accomplishments: 2x Burning Junior Tag Team Champion with Yoshi Shiomi, Burning Hammer Openweight Champion Zion's Critical Eye: VENOM's one of the more underrated talents in the Junior division. For a long time he's been nothing but steady and consistent and very solid. You'll rarely see a bad performance out of him. There were some that was projecting success for him as when he debuted, he had those solid basics. Burning Hammer gave him the VENOM character in 2004 and initially, it looked like he would be a consistent contender for the Junior title. However, he got lost in the shuffle as there were simply others that came after him that were better(Sensational Dragon, Masuko, Elemental III plus the returns of Super Joshuya and Black Cobra). He does have a nice team with fellow Junior Yoshi Shiomi, former two time Junior champions. Now he's 32 years old and he's at the point where he's about to enter his prime. Though there's still room for him to improve. I do believe if the Junior division didn't have as many stand out performers as they do, he would be among the top because he is a good wrestler with a good character. I still think if he was given a chance he could make a bit of an impact. I genuinely believe he has the skills to elevate himself to that level. Only thing is with MYSTIC Dragon emerging as well as the juniors coming up from the dojo, the window is slowly closing. if he's going to break out, it needs to happen within the next two years or else he's just going stay where he is. He's also the second guy on the roster to have his theme song come from a video game; the first being Maeda-san. VENOM is a big fan of the Devil May Cry series from what I've heard. White Samurai Wrestler's Alias: The Chosen Shinobi Unit Affiliation: None Age: 28 Years as a Pro: 10 Years Height: 5'9 Weight: 200 Ibs Birth Place: Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: The Art of War(Double Foot Stomp), Moonsault Press, High Noon(Right-legged roundhouse to the opponent's head) Accomplishments: None Zion's Critical Eye: Here's another junior that had lofty expectations placed on his shoulders. The successor to the Scarlet Samurai character, White Samurai joined Burning Hammer in 2007 after a series of great performances on the indies. His mentor was a good wrestler who also found decent success in Burning Hammer. His protege, however, had the potential to not just be far greater than his mentor but the potential to become one of the top guys in the Junior division. To put it shortly that hasn't happened. It's been six years and White Samurai just has not found his right footing in this company. He's struggled mightily because of that as well. A part of that is because the division itself is as good as it's ever been so it's hard to stand out. I think that's affected his confidence as well because he looks timid in the ring and unsure of himself. I don't think he's going to be in the company longer because there's a few juniors that are on the verge of getting called up and I think getting released would benefit him because being in Burning Hammer is too much for him. I think he would find a good place in either World Level Wrestling or EXODUS 2010, just not here. Yasuhiko Taira Wrestler's Alias: The Bulldozer Unit Affiliation: Kasou-Gun, Black Magic with Yasunobu Masuno Age: 35 Years as a Pro: 17 Years Height: 6'4 Weight: 305 Ibs Birth Place: Shiribeshi, Hokkaido Theme Song: Tokihanate Favorite Holds: The Flattener(Wrist lock transitioned into a Roaring Elbow, which is sometimes loaded), Wrecking Ball(Corner Lariat followed by a Lariat after running the ropes), Kinnuku Buster(Muscle Buster) Accomplishments: Burning Hammer World Champion, 2x Burning World Tag Team Champion with Yasunobu Masuno Zion's Critical Eye: The Jack of the Big Five, Yasuhiko Taira was the biggest heel in Burning Hammer until the INSPIRE four returned to the company. Even before his debut, the hype surrounding Taira was pretty big. Nissho Yuusa also was tipped to become a monster heel and while he struggled, Taira showed the hype was real displaying a nice blend of talent, charisma and presence as a heel. A spot among the top was always open for him and he grabbed it when it mattered the most. The INSPIRE exodus forced the company ti elevate him and the rest of his generational peers before they wanted to and Taira was up for the task, brilliantly stepping into the role of top heel and the thorn in the side of Nakasawa and Kinnoji Horri and winning the World Championship from Horri in 2008. The partnership between Taira and Masuno was a match made in heaven as the two play off each other very well. They've been great as these super arrogant bullies who will take any shortcut possible to win. It's why pairing them up with fellow rulebreaker The Awesome Kiyaru to create Kasou-Gun was a perfect fit. Taira has continued to improve and refine his technique and while he's still a notch below Nakasawa, he's more than capable of holding his own. His long standing rivalry with Horri and Nakasawa throughout the years has also been great and recently having that they into the INSPIRE return has added another layer to the dynamic. His position among the top is well deserved. Yasunobu Masuno Wrestler's Alias: Gaia Beast, Emperor of Strength Unit Affiliation: Kasou-Gun Age: 30 Years as a Pro: 12 Years Height: 6'4 Weight: 300 Ibs Birth Place: Tsuwano, Shimane Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Avalanche Powerbomb(Elevated powerbomb), Day of Reckoning(Argentine Backbreaker Rack), Masuno Deep Sleep(Inverted facelock takeover, often transitioned into a sleeper hold), Wrath of God(Burning Hammer) Accomplishments: 3x Burning World Tag Team Champion(2x with Yasuhiko Taira, 1x with Everest), King of Fighters Champion Zion's Critical Eye: The other Jack of the Big Five and perhaps the one member of the Big Five who's time on top is coming. Masuno shared the same hype his tag team partner Taira felt upon his debut. A mountain of a man with good brawling skills and a great deal of power, Masuno is the prototypical Puro monster as he has everything you would want from someone his size. Burning Hammer has meticulously taken their time building up Masuno for his inevitable turn at the top. He initially found success with American fighter Everest as their powerhouse duo won a set of Tag Team gold and further Masuno's rise up the card. Masuno's career really started to take off when he ended his team with Everest and started teaming with Taira to form Black Magic. The two have incredible chemistry together and that has seen them win two Tag Team titles and them have a great, long standing rivalry with the other three members of the Big Five. 2011 was Masuno's year, being the man that took down Tadiyuki Kikkawa, with his own super rare move the Wrath of God(in what was a perfect touch of Mausno's cocky persona) for the King of Fighters championship and then pinning him again that December to help win Black Magic's second World Tag Title reign. And although he just lost the title at Night of the Burning Hammer, they're clearly holding off his eventual World title challenge against Kikkawa, which should be a very anticipated match. 2014 should be another step closer higher for Masuno. Yoshii Shiomi Wrestler's Alias: The Sublime Unit Affiliation: None Age: 33 Years as a Pro: 12 Years Height: 5'9 Weight: 185 Ibs Birth Place: Kawagoe, Kanto Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Sublime Crossface(Omoplata crossface), Stone Hold(Sharpshooter), Sublime Strike(Flying Knee Strike) Accomplishments: 2x Burning Hammer Junior Tag Team Champion with VENOM Zion's Critical Eye: Yoshii Shomi followed the footsteps of many super juniors and traveled aboard to learn his craft. Shomi, however, didn't go to Mexico but Canada instead and he learned underneath the legendary Stone Family. There he learn solid fundamentals and returned to his native land where those skills helped him get signed by Burning Hammer. I don't think anyone has ever projected him to be a top Junior star but being a cornerstone for the division. Like his partner VENOM, Shiomi has succeeded in that, having won two Junior Tag title crowns with VENOM. Shiomi is an excitable wrestler who's always good to see when he's in the ring. I wish the team with VENOM would give a bit more chances in the junior tag team division as American Panther, Maverick X, and the Kiyaru/Scoprion team are currently above them. He'll never get close to a Junior title crown but he's fine with that because he's craving a good career for himself and sometimes you just need to find your niche and roll with it.

Lo-Drew · September 12, 2015

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Miscellaneous

Wrestlers on Tour

Brandon Smith

Unit Affiliation: None

Wrestler's Alias: Gridiron Brawler

Age: 30

Years as a Pro: 5 years

Height: 5'10 Weight: 265 Ibs

Birth Place: Robinsdale, Minnesota

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Backdrop Driver, Football Tackle, Inverted Piledriver

Accomplishments: Mid Atlantic Champion, Rip Chord Invitational Challenge Winner(2009), NYCW Tri-State Regional Champion

Zion's Critical Eye: The gaijin brawler Brandon Smith interestingly enough is experiencing the second chapter of his life as a wrestler. Originally, he was an American football player and was supposedly a very promising prospect. An injury to his knee ended those dreams of going pro. This is something Burning Hammer has immediately hyped to the media about him; calling him the Gridiron Brawler. Smith actually goes by Bulldozer Brandon Smith back home, however with Taira-san being known as the Bulldozer, a change was needed. Anyways back to Smith, it's been stated that while growing up, football wasn't the only thing he had a passion for. Turns out, he grew up a big wrestling fan and when his football hopes were dashed away, he quickly decided to put his efforts to training.

He impressed the legendary Rip Chord to signing him to his Mid Atlantic Wrestling company. If someone of Chord's status sees something in you, that's a good sign. No doubt his guidance helped Smith(who was under a mask and was called American Patriot) become one of the top guys there. He then moved on to the NYC company, where he's currently wrestlers now. Already, he's won their main title at least once. Looking at his frame and a few of his matches online, Smith's the ideal power fighter for a gaijin. He's a bit short but he has raw power and throws a lot of violent suplexes, clearly influenced by the puroresu style. He was discovered by one of the scouts and you can see why. His worth ethic has been praised. You don't bounce back from a knee injury that cost you a football career and than transition into a rising star in the wrestling world without it. I like to think with his style he'll fit right into the Puro style. The key is catching on with the Burning Hammer faithful. There's a huge difference between wrestling in front of an North American crowd and a Puro crowd. I'm sure Smith knows that and I wish him the best.

KC Glenn

Unit Affiliation: None

Wrestler's Alias: Cajun Wonderkid

Age: 21

Years as a Pro: 2 years

Height: 5'10 Weight: 265 Ibs

Birth Place: New Orleans, Louisiana

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Tune Up The Sunshine Band(Superkick), Louisiana Star(Shooting Star Press), DixieLand(Triple Jump Tornado DDT)

Zion's Critical Eye: Out of the three wrestlers currently on tour, it's the youngest and the least experienced one that has all the buzz. KC Glenn, at only 22 years old and in his second year as a pro, has tape traders talking. Now there's been a lot of people that's initially burst onto the scene and are heavily praised and then when you check them out, they're actually a bit overrated. Not this guy. A few matches online was all I needed to know the hype was real about this guy.

If you think about, he's similar in a lot of ways to Sensational Dragon. When they both debuted, they were really young(Dragon was 18 when he made his debut, Glenn was about the same age) and yet they were not only extremely skilled for their age but they were already better than a lot of veterans. Glenn in many ways is a prodigal talent. It's clear he can take it in the air with grace and ease but he has a good brawling game and an underrated mat game. He was trained by one of the top North American wrestlers around in TCW famed wrestler Joey Minnesota, who is an excellent pro wrestler in his own right and you can see his influence in this man. The scary thing to think about with Glenn is that he's only 21 and he's nowhere near his physical prime; which would insist that he could one day become an even better wrestler than he is right now.

Supposedly, Burning Hammer wasn't the only company that wanted him to sign a touring contract as it's rumored the PGHW and BGC made their pitches to him. Normally I would think that's a bit far fetched, especially for a gaijin. However with Glenn's skills, I'm willing to think there's some truth to that. It should be interesting to see how Glenn performs in front of the biggest crowd he's even seen. And the fact that it'll be a foreign crowd for him will be even more intriguing. He has the buzz and the hype behind him. Now it's about showcasing that. Out of the three, I have no doubt Glenn will be the standout. A talent like that makes it hard for people not to notice.

Silver Tiger

Unit Affiliation: Kasou-Gun

Wrestler's Alias: The Primal Luchador

Age: 28

Years as a Pro: 10 years

Height: 5'10 Weight: 215 Ibs

Birth Place: Cuernavaca, Mexico

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Silver Tiger Driver(Gotch Style Tombstone Piledriver), Tiger's Claw(Inverted STF with bridge), Brainbuster Suplex

Accomplishments: Campeon de Universal OLLIE(current)

Zion's Critical Eye: The third wrestler on tour is very similar to Brandon Smith. The man under the Silver Tiger mask is currently enjoying his second chapter as a professional wrestler, coming to this tour the reigning Campeon de Universal OLLIE, the top prize in that promotion. Before Silver Tiger was born, the man behind the mask had a different mask and character named Swarm II. He was apart of the Swarm trio(alongside Swarm I and Swarm III) and were eternal rivals of the legendary Tres Phoenix lineage. They feuded for years until March 2011 where in an all or nothing Mascara contra Mascara match, the Swarm lost and were forced to disband. This ended his first chapter.

Shortly, he was repackaged as the Primal Luchador Silver Tiger. With a new mask and a flashy fur coat, the character has been a massive success and now he's the top rudo in the company. Now I must admit, I'm not on top of the lucha scene so like Smith and Glenn, I had to do some research on this man. What I came away was that he was a solid professional wrestler with a good aerial game and a good mat game. His character though, I think, has made him stand out. Clearly, The Awesome Kiyaru agreed as he's the one that recruited him when he took his routine trip to Mexico during the layoff. He found a way to bring Tiger to the attention of Burning Hammer management; thus providing him his touring contract.

As the main champion for the OLLIE champion that means most likely he won't get pinned at all unlike Smith and Glenn will. From a political standpoint, that's understandable because you don't want OLLIE to get upset by having one of their top guys lose consistently and make them look bad as a company. However, I don't think that's going to affect whether or not Tiger has a successful tour. He's been slotted to Kasou-Gun(probably because of Kiyaru) so that could mean there's plans for him. He'll be mixing it up with the Elementals and Masukos due to the association of being with Kiyaru and as a 10 year pro, there's not much reason to think he'll be overwhelmed at the opportunity. A good tour for Tiger would continue his rise as one of the fastest rising luchadors around and perhaps more.

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Burning Hammer Tag Teams

American Panther

Members: American Optimus & Red Panther

Start of Team: February 2010

Theme Song: Stop

Favorite Holds: Optimum Combination(Running Powerbomb by American Optimus followed by Tumbleweed Legdrop by Red Panther), Stereo Superkicks, Neckbreaker(Optimus)/Diving Crossbody(Panther)

Accomplishments: 2x Burning Hammer Junior Tag Team Champions

Black Magic

Members: Yasuhiko Taira & Yasunobu Masuno

Start of Team: September 2006

Theme Song: Tokihante

Favorite Holds: Spike Powerbomb, Double Roaring Elbow, Bearhug by Taira/Roaring Elbow by Masuno, Double High Angle Spinebuster

Accomplishments: 2x Burning Hammer World Tag Team Champions

Bulls of Fury

Members: Eiji Hamacho & Chuichi Sanda

Start of Team: May 2004

Theme Song: Mash Up of

& Aces High

Favorite Holds: Stampede(Explosive Kick by Sanda/Spear by Hamacho), Double Lariat(Hamacho from the front, Sanda by the back at the same time), Furious Barrage(Multiple punches and chops to a cornered opponent by both Sanda and Hamacho), German Suplex(Sanda)/Lariat(Hamacho)

Accomplishments: 4x Burning Hammer World Tag Team Champions

Dark Plague

Members: The Awesome Kiyaru & Golden Scorpion

Start of Team: June 2003

Theme Song:

Favorite Holds: Darkness Falls(Overhead gutwrench backbreaker rack (Scorpion) / Diving elbow drop (Kiyaru) combination, Wheelbarrow Hold(Scorpion)/Double Knee Facebreaker(Kiyaru), Running Senton(Scoprion)/Springboard Moonsault(Kiyaru), Drop Toe Hold(Scoprion)/Low Angle Dropkick(Kiyaru), Stack Superplex

Accomplishments: 2x Burning Hammer Junior Tag Team Champions

KawaRaishi

Members: Sessue Kawate & Sanetomo Shirashi

Start of Team: December 2000

Theme Song: Kashmir

Favorite Holds: Frost Bite(Discus Clothesline by Kawate followed by Swandive Headbutt by Shiraishi), Double Suplex, Double DDT, Russian Leg Sweep(Kawate)/Lariat(Shiraishi)

Accomplishments: 3x Burning Hammer World Tag Team Champion

Maverick X

Members: Hachichoro Maeda & Haru Kurofuji

Start of Team: February 2012

Theme Song: Departure

Favorite Holds: Zero Cannon(Release German Suplex by Kurofuji followed by a Running Double Knee Strike by Maeda to opponent's chest), Raijingeki(Sitout Sccop Slam by Kurofuji followed by a Diving Foot Stomp by Maeda), Ryuenjin(Backdrop by Kurofuji/Missile Dropkick by Maeda combination), Shippuuga(Running Knee Strike by Maeda, Leg Sweep by Kurofuji combination)

Accomplishments: Burning Hammer Junior Tag Team Champion(current)

Shiomi & VENOM

Members: Yoshi Shiomi & VENOM

Start of Team: February 2005

Theme Song: Lock & Load

Favorite Holds: Sublime Injection(Sting In The Tail by VENOM while Shiomi has the Sublime Crossface locked in at the same time), VENOM draps the opponent on the ropes and Shiomi hits a Flying Senton from the top rope onto their stomach, Double Reverse Suplex, Running Elbow Smash into the corner(VENOM) followed by a One handed Bulldog by Shiomi

Accomplishments: 2x Burning Hammer Junior Tag Team Champions

Static PUNCH

Members: Hyosuke Kokan & Kansuke Konda

Start of Team: August 2004

Theme Song: No Pain, No Game

Favorite Holds: Power Line(Assisted Thunder Driver), Electric Road(Flapjack by Konda/DDT by Kokan), Superkick by Kokan followed by a Cutter by Konda, Backdrop(Kokan)/Clothesline(Konda), Stereo Suicide Dives, Dropkicked to a corner opponent(Kokan) followed by a Cannoball(Konda)

Accomplishments: 2x Burning Hammer Junior Tag Team Champion

Team REVIVAL

Members: Nissho Yuusa & Toshiko Shibaunumo

Start of Team: June 2012

Theme Song: Red Fraction

Favorite Holds: Black Lagoon(Corner Clothesline by Shibaunumo followed by Elephant Gun by Yuusa and finished with the Warrior's Way by Shibaunumo), Rite to Passage(Bearhug Hold by Shibaunumo/Diving Splash from second rope by Yuusa), Samoan Drop(Yuusa)/Neckbreaker(Shibaunumo), Sidewalk Slam(Shibaunumo)/Elbow Drop(Yuusa)

Accomplishments: Burning Hammer World Tag Team Champions(current)

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Staff Members

Road Agents

Elemental II-Co Head Junior Division Agent

Optimus- Co Head Junior Division Agent

Gesshin Nishihara- new signing

Motoichi Arakida- Head Heavyweight Division Agent- new signing

Shino Ko- new signing

Broadcasters

Danjuro Komatsu

Hidetada Kozu

Katsuhiko Shunsen- new signing

Kazutoshi Imoo

Mitsuhide Muro

Munenori Umari- new signing

Toru Minamoto

Broadcast Teams

Events/PPVs: Toru Minamoto, Munenori Umari, Mitushide Muro

BHOTHG Lords of the Ring: Toru Minamoto, Danjiro Komatsu, Mitsuhide Muro

BHOWTG Blaze of Glory: Mitushide Muro, Katsuhiko Shunsen, Hidetada Kozu

TV Schedule

BHOTWG Lords of the Ring

(Every Monday Evening on Japanese Sports Vision)

BHOTWG Blaze of Glory

(Every Saturday Late Even on J-Network East 2)

Lo-Drew · September 13, 2015

The Battle for POWER Begins!

by Zion Nikaido

Burning Hammer officially starts their year tomorrow night in the Tokyo Civil Stadium in Kanto with the beginning of the POWER Tour. And right out the gate, the first show of the year features two huge matches that could very well set the tone for the rest of the year. The main event, in particular, is a battle of bragging rights and generational pride as four fifth of the Big Five will be in the same ring on opposite sides. Kinnojo Horri and Hiroaki Nakasawa, Burning Hammer's most beloved heroes, square off against their arch nemesis and fellow generational peers Yasuhiko Taira and Yasunobu Masuno, collectively known as Black Magic. There's no love lost between these two teams and the Seikigun Vs Kasou-Gun war remains a very heated affair. The co-leaders of Kasou-Gun would love nothing more than to start off the year with a big win while in the process demoralize Nakawsawa and Horri. With Horri being the next contender for Tadiyuki Kikkawa's World Champions at Fire Dream at the Immortals and Hiraoki Nakasawa fresh off two big match losses to Kikkawa at Night of the Burning Hammer and Tasuku Iesada at Silencing Dragons, both need the momentum going forward. Which side will win this all important encounter?

The semi main event features the INSPIRE golden trio of the Burning World Champion Tadiyuki Kikkawa, King of Fighters Champion Tasuku Iesada and Masaaki Okazaki squaring off against Silver Fleet Rising members Mitsunari Fugunaga, Heihachiro Sakai and their leader Natsu Miyamae. The INSPIRE trio enter this year firmly on top of Burning Hammer but the newly formed Silver Fleet Rising is looking to prove that they are a threat. As mentioned before, Kikkawa finds himself facing his long time rival Kinnojo Horri for the Burning Hammer Championship at Fire Dream of the Immortals but Tasuku Iesada also will defend his King of Fighters Championship against the always energetic Tadakuni Toshusai. The Silcer Fleet Rising trio are looking to play spoilers to Team INSPIRE and perhaps, in particular, Natsu Miyamae as he may be the fastest rising heavyweight in Burning Hammer right now. Can Silver Fleet Rising shock the world or will Team INSPIRE pick up where they left off last year and dominate?

Sensational Dragon will clash with Elemental III for the Junior Championship at Fire Dream of the Immortals but before then, the two will be on opposing sides as Sensational Dragon teams up with the American Panther duo to take on Elemental III and the duo of Static PUNCH. This should be an exciting battle between the Silver Fleet Rising and the Seikigun. In another six man tag match, the Sessue Kawate and Sanetomo Shirashi will team with veteran Bairei Yasujiro to take on Chuichi Sanda, Eiji Hamacho and....well, no one knows. It's said to be a mystery partner that's said to be a super junior and they will be revealed before the match. No one's quite sure who that is exactly. It could be someone on the roster or someone outside the company. The mystery has created a buzz surrounding the match and it's one to watch out for.

A bit lower on the card will see Silver Fleet Rising unitmates Shimedzu and MYSTIC Dragon teaming up to face long time team VENOM & Yoshi Shomi. It is said that Shimedzu and MYSTIC Dragon are looking to become a permanent team in the junior division and a win against an established team like VENOM & Shomi would be a great place to start. Marihito Mausko teams up with young junior White Samurai to take on the reigning Burning Junior Tag Team Champions Hachigoro Maeda and Haru Kurofuji of Maverick X.

Rounding out the card features a few new faces to the fray. The Incredible Koyama teams with gaijin newcomer KC Glenn and recent Hinote Dojo call up Reijiro Hikari take on Kaosu-Gun's Golden Scorpion, The Awesome Kiyaru and their newest member for this tour, Mexican luchador Silver Tiger. Silver Tiger comes from the OLLIE federation in which he currently holds their main title. It's said that Kiyaru used his connections to the lucha libre scene to bring Silver Tiger over to Japan in order to help beef up their ranks. On the other side there is KC Glenn, who is one of the most outed American prospects in recent memory. Trained by famed TCW wrestler Joey Minnesota, he's looking to make an immediate impact here in Burning Hammer to capitalize off the already growing buzz around him.

The two dark matches will feature the Burning Tag Team Champions Team REVIVAL take on two newcomers; one being the gaijin power fighter Brandon Smith and heavyweight prospect Fujio Narahashi. And finally, the cocky troublemaker Ieyoshi Shimakage goes toe to toe with the ultra aggressive young grappler Tatsuya Toshitala in a battle of young lions! All this and much more on the first Burning Hammer show of the year!

Burning Hammer POWER Tour #1 at the Tokyo Civil Stadium in Kanto on Wednesday, Week 1, March 2013

Main Event: Hiroaki Nakasawa & Kinnojo Horri Vs Black Magic(Yasuhiko Taira & Yasunobu Mausno)

Semi Main: Tadiyuki Kikkawa, Tasuku Iesada & Masaaki Okazaki Vs Natsu Miyamae, Mitsunari Fugunaga & Heihachiro Sakai

Sensational Dragon & American Panther(American Optimus & Red Panther) Vs Elemental III & Static PUNCH(Kansuke Konda & Hyosuke Kokan)

Sessue Kawate, Sanetomo Shirashi & Bairei Yasujiro Vs Chiuchi Sanda, Eiji Hamacho & ?????

MYSTIC Dragon & Shimedzu Vs VENOM & Yoshi Shomi

Non-Title: Marihito Masuko & White Samurai Vs Maverick X(Hachigoro Maeda & Haru Kurofuji)

The Awesome Kiyaru, Golden Scorpion & Silver Tiger Vs The Incredible Koyama, Reijiro Hikari & KC Glenn

Dark Match Non-Title: Team REVIVAL(Nissho Yuusa & Toshiki Shibaunumo) Vs Brandon Smith & Fujio Narahashi

Dark Match: Ieyoshi Shimakage Vs Tatsuya Toshitala

OOC Note: So there's the first card. Most likely I will be running a prediction contest that'll run through every PPV in which the winner gets a cool prize(such as book a match for a future show, pick anyone on the roster for an interview Zion will conduct with them, a particular topic for a writing article, etc). I'm still trying to figure that out but yeah feel free to predict and the first show soon be up pretty soon.

Jaded · September 13, 2015

Great start! I know very little about the puro scene, but the introduction to the roster is awesome.

Burning Hammer POWER Tour #1 at the Tokyo Civil Stadium in Kanto on Wednesday, Week 1, March 2013

Main Event: Hiroaki Nakasawa & Kinnojo Horri Vs Black Magic(Yasuhiko Taira & Yasunobu Mausno)

Semi Main: Tadiyuki Kikkawa, Tasuku Iesada & Masaaki Okazaki Vs Natsu Miyamae, Mitsunari Fugunaga & Heihachiro Sakai

Sensational Dragon & American Panther(American Optimus & Red Panther) Vs Elemental III & Static PUNCH(Kansuke Konda & Hyosuke Kokan)

Sessue Kawate, Sanetomo Shirashi Vs Chiuchi Sanda, Eiji Hamacho & ?????

MYSTIC Dragon & Shimedzu Vs VENOM & Yoshi Shomi

Non-Title: Marihito Masuko & White Samurai Vs Maverick X(Hachigoro Maeda & Haru Kurofuji)

The Awesome Kiyaru, Golden Scorpion & Silver Tiger Vs The Incredible Koyama, Reijiro Hikari & KC Glenn

Dark Match Non-Title: Team REVIVAL(Nissho Yuusa & Toshiki Shibaunumo) Vs Brandon Smith & Fujio Narahashi

Dark Match: Ieyoshi Shimakage Vs Tatsuya Toshitala

Kitarzu · September 13, 2015

Burning Hammer POWER Tour #1 at the Tokyo Civil Stadium in Kanto on Wednesday, Week 1, March 2013

Main Event: Hiroaki Nakasawa & Kinnojo Horri Vs Black Magic(Yasuhiko Taira & Yasunobu Mausno)

You can't bet against 2 of the 3 biggest BHOTWG names, unless...

Semi Main: Tadiyuki Kikkawa, Tasuku Iesada & Masaaki Okazaki Vs Natsu Miyamae, Mitsunari Fugunaga & Heihachiro Sakai

INSPIRE wins.

Sensational Dragon & American Panther (American Optimus & Red Panther) Vs Elemental III & Static PUNCH (Kansuke Konda & Hyosuke Kokan)

Toss up, going with Elemental III unit.

Sessue Kawate, Sanetomo Shirashi & Bairei Yasujiro Vs Chiuchi Sanda, Eiji Hamacho & ?????

Sanda, Hamacho and ?????, don't bet against them.

MYSTIC Dragon & Shimedzu Vs VENOM & Yoshi Shomi

Higher upside on MYSTIC Dragon.

Non-Title: Marihito Masuko & White Samurai Vs Maverick X (Hachigoro Maeda & Haru Kurofuji)

Masuko is too popular.

The Awesome Kiyaru, Golden Scorpion & Silver Tiger Vs The Incredible Koyama, Reijiro Hikari & KC Glenn

Young lions lose.

Dark Match Non-Title: Team REVIVAL (Nissho Yuasa & Toshiki Shibaunumo) Vs Brandon Smith & Fujio Narahashi

Established team victory

Dark Match: Ieyoshi Shimakage Vs Tatsuya Toshitala

Fan pic. Shimakage is a unit member but I like more Toshitala.

thecoolestjedi12 · September 14, 2015

Burning Hammer POWER Tour #1 at the Tokyo Civil Stadium in Kanto on Wednesday, Week 1, March 2013

Main Event: Hiroaki Nakasawa & Kinnojo Horri Vs Black Magic(Yasuhiko Taira & Yasunobu Mausno)

Semi Main: Tadiyuki Kikkawa, Tasuku Iesada & Masaaki Okazaki Vs Natsu Miyamae, Mitsunari Fugunaga & Heihachiro Sakai

Sensational Dragon & American Panther(American Optimus & Red Panther) Vs Elemental III & Static PUNCH(Kansuke Konda & Hyosuke Kokan)

Sessue Kawate, Sanetomo Shirashi Vs Chiuchi Sanda, Eiji Hamacho & ?????

MYSTIC Dragon & Shimedzu Vs VENOM & Yoshi Shomi

Non-Title: Marihito Masuko & White Samurai Vs Maverick X(Hachigoro Maeda & Haru Kurofuji)

The Awesome Kiyaru, Golden Scorpion & Silver Tiger Vs The Incredible Koyama, Reijiro Hikari & KC Glenn

Dark Match Non-Title: Team REVIVAL(Nissho Yuusa & Toshiki Shibaunumo) Vs Brandon Smith & Fujio Narahashi

Dark Match: Ieyoshi Shimakage Vs Tatsuya Toshitala

KnowYourEnemy · September 14, 2015

Main Event: Hiroaki Nakasawa & Kinnojo Horri Vs Black Magic(Yasuhiko Taira & Yasunobu Mausno)

No matter how cool Tigerkinney made them look, Black Magic are two of the five worst workers on the roster -- and they are death to ratings (to the point the computer booking them kills ratings too during watcher/simulation). Nakasawa & Horri take the dub here.

Semi Main: Tadiyuki Kikkawa, Tasuku Iesada & Masaaki Okazaki Vs Natsu Miyamae, Mitsunari Fugunaga & Heihachiro Sakai

The "group" takes the dub here over the amalgamation of over talent.

Sensational Dragon & American Panther(American Optimus & Red Panther) Vs Elemental III & Static PUNCH(Kansuke Konda & Hyosuke Kokan)

A toss up, really, but the left starts a smidgen more over, so they get the dub.

Sessue Kawate, Sanetomo Shirashi Vs Chiuchi Sanda, Eiji Hamacho & ?????

2 vs. 3 usually leads to a victory, but the two here are the absolute pits, so Sanda & Hamacho should take this one

MYSTIC Dragon & Shimedzu Vs VENOM & Yoshi Shomi

Again, "Team" over "Non-Team" takes precedence here.

Non-Title: Marihito Masuko & White Samurai Vs Maverick X(Hachigoro Maeda & Haru Kurofuji)

Samurai is the clear fall guy here, as Maverick X take the victory and get a push.

The Awesome Kiyaru, Golden Scorpion & Silver Tiger Vs The Incredible Koyama, Reijiro Hikari & KC Glenn

2 young lions = one loss

Dark Match Non-Title: Team REVIVAL(Nissho Yuusa & Toshiki Shibaunumo) Vs Brandon Smith & Fujio Narahashi

No matter how many awards they win, REVIVAL are the worst team on the roster, and will lose the belts soon .... but I don't see them losing a non-title dark match.

Dark Match: Ieyoshi Shimakage Vs Tatsuya Toshitala

I know Tatsuya is a YL, so I'm giving the victory to Shimakage here... I'm not sure about him.

Lo-Drew · September 14, 2015

Main Event: Hiroaki Nakasawa & Kinnojo Horri Vs Black Magic(Yasuhiko Taira & Yasunobu Mausno)
No matter how cool Tigerkinney made them look, Black Magic are two of the five worst workers on the roster -- and they are death to ratings (to the point the computer booking them kills ratings too during watcher/simulation). Nakasawa & Horri take the dub here.
Semi Main: Tadiyuki Kikkawa, Tasuku Iesada & Masaaki Okazaki Vs Natsu Miyamae, Mitsunari Fugunaga & Heihachiro Sakai
The "group" takes the dub here over the amalgamation of over talent.
Sensational Dragon & American Panther(American Optimus & Red Panther) Vs Elemental III & Static PUNCH(Kansuke Konda & Hyosuke Kokan)
A toss up, really, but the left starts a smidgen more over, so they get the dub.
Sessue Kawate, Sanetomo Shirashi Vs Chiuchi Sanda, Eiji Hamacho & ?????
2 vs. 3 usually leads to a victory, but the two here are the absolute pits, so Sanda & Hamacho should take this one
MYSTIC Dragon & Shimedzu Vs VENOM & Yoshi Shomi
Again, "Team" over "Non-Team" takes precedence here.
Non-Title: Marihito Masuko & White Samurai Vs Maverick X(Hachigoro Maeda & Haru Kurofuji)
Samurai is the clear fall guy here, as Maverick X take the victory and get a push.
The Awesome Kiyaru, Golden Scorpion & Silver Tiger Vs The Incredible Koyama, Reijiro Hikari & KC Glenn
2 young lions = one loss

Dark Match Non-Title: Team REVIVAL(Nissho Yuusa & Toshiki Shibaunumo) Vs Brandon Smith & Fujio Narahashi
No matter how many awards they win, REVIVAL are the worst team on the roster, and will lose the belts soon .... but I don't see them losing a non-title dark match.

Dark Match: Ieyoshi Shimakage Vs Tatsuya Toshitala
I know Tatsuya is a YL, so I'm giving the victory to Shimakage here... I'm not sure about him.

HA I did not notice I forgot to put Yasujiro's name on the listing in the prediction form but it's all fixed now.

Tiberious · September 14, 2015

Burning Hammer POWER Tour #1 at the Tokyo Civil Stadium in Kanto on Wednesday, Week 1, March 2013

Main Event: Hiroaki Nakasawa & Kinnojo Horri Vs Black Magic(Yasuhiko Taira & Yasunobu Mausno)

Semi Main: Tadiyuki Kikkawa, Tasuku Iesada & Masaaki Okazaki Vs Natsu Miyamae, Mitsunari Fugunaga & Heihachiro Sakai

Sensational Dragon & American Panther(American Optimus & Red Panther) Vs Elemental III & Static PUNCH(Kansuke Konda & Hyosuke Kokan)

Sessue Kawate, Sanetomo Shirashi Vs Chiuchi Sanda, Eiji Hamacho & ?????

MYSTIC Dragon & Shimedzu Vs VENOM & Yoshi Shomi

Non-Title: Marihito Masuko & White Samurai Vs Maverick X(Hachigoro Maeda & Haru Kurofuji)

The Awesome Kiyaru, Golden Scorpion & Silver Tiger Vs The Incredible Koyama, Reijiro Hikari & KC Glenn

Dark Match Non-Title: Team REVIVAL(Nissho Yuusa & Toshiki Shibaunumo) Vs Brandon Smith & Fujio Narahashi

Dark Match: Ieyoshi Shimakage Vs Tatsuya Toshitala

Lo-Drew · September 14, 2015

OOC Note: Just want to say thanks to everyone that's made predictions so far. I wasn't expecting I must say and I'm incredibly humbled and thankful for that. I'm going to put a cap on the predics because I'm 95% sure the first show will be up tomorrow. So if anyone wants to predict, you have until midnight EST to do so before it will be capped.

Lo-Drew · September 21, 2015

Burning Hammer of The Wrestling Gods POWER Tour Show #1

Wednesday, Week 1, March 2013

Tokyo Civil Stadium in Kanto

15,000 Fans- Super No Vacany Full House

0a. Tatsuya Toshitala beat Ieyoshi Shimakage (4:14) when Toshitala made Shimakage submit to the Toshitala Triangle(Grade: D)

0b. Team REVIVAL(Nissho Yuusa & Toshiki Shibaunumo) beat Fujio Narahashi & Brandon Smith (4:41) when Yuusa used Elephant Gun on Smith. (Grade: D)

1. The Awesome Kiyaru, Golden Scorpion & Silver Tiger beat KC Glenn, Reijiro Hiraki & The Incredible Koyama (8:14) when Kiyaru made Glenn submit to the Poison Clutch(Grade: D+

2. Maverick X(Hachigoro Maeda & Haru Kurofuji) beat Marihito Masuko & White Samurai (8:14) when Maeda hit the Beta Blocker on Samurai.(Grade C-)

3. MYSTIC Dragon & Shiemdzu beat VENOM & Yoshi Shiomi (14:16) when Dragon hit the Dragon Driver III on Shiomi(Grade: C)

4. Eiji Hamacho, Chuichi Sanda & Super Joshuya beat Sessue Kawate, Sanetomo Shirashi & Bairei Yasujiro (12:06) when Joshuya hit Yasujiro with the J-Drop

5. Sensational Dragon & American Panther(American Optimus & Red Panther) beat Elemental III & Static PUNCH(Kansuke Konda & Hyosuke Kokan) (15:24) when Sensational Dragon hit the Sensational Shock on Kokan.(Grade: B-)

6. Tadiyuki Kikkawa, Masaaki Okazaki & Tasuku Iesada beat Natsu Miyamae, Mitsunari Fugunaga & Heihachiro Sakai (21:41) when Kikkawa used the Kikkawa Driver on Sakai(Grade: B+)

7. Kinnojo Horri & Hiraoki Nakasawa beat Black Magic(Yasuhiko Taira & Yausnobu Masuno) (23:58) when Horri used the Burning Lariat on Taira(Grade:B)

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B

Burning Hammer started off their 2013 for the fourth straight year in the Tokyo Civil Stadium and for the fourth straight year, they managed to sell out the arena. Considering Kanto is the "home base" for the company, it's no surprise to anyone how successful the strategy of having the opening press conference the eve before the first show of the year. At intermission, President Tetsuzan Kaneko expressed his gratitude to all the fans that came today and said they were the best fans in the world. He thanked them for their support at the press conference once again and then encouraged them to continuing support for Burning Hammer of the Wrestling Gods, the best wrestling organization in Puro.

Shimakage staged a sneak attack on Toshitala as he was walking down to the ring. Despite that, he eventually lost. Toshitala held on to Shimakage's arm after the match. It took the official and a few young boys on the outside to release Shimakage's arm. Toshitala later shoved down referee Shionzaki when he tried to raise his hand. Backstage, Toshitala said he had a warming for his fellow young lions. New Year was two months ago but he planned on giving each of them a special gift; a broken arm. That bastard Shimakage was the first to receive his. When asked about his poor sportsmanship Toshitala scoffed and said he wasn't here to be friends. Everyone was an enemy and he would go through all of them to ascend up the ladder this year.

Kiyaru introduced their newest member for the tour, Campeon de Universal OLLIE champion Silver Tiger, to the press after the match. Tiger spoke a few words in Spanish to which Kiyaru translated, Scorpion said Kasou-Gun was going to shift the balance of power to their favor this year. Masuno, Taira and yes, even Shimakage, would rule the heavyweight division while the three men standing in front of the press would rule the junior. Kiyaru then added that he was going to keep a close eye on Elemental III's Junior title defense against Sensational Dragon at Fire Dream of the Immortals. He may have fallen to the third Elemental at Night of the Burning Hammer, but unlike his predecessors, he was eternal. He had been casting shadows around the junior division for almost two decades and with Scorpion and Tiger, they would cover the junior division in darkness once again.

Shimedzu was unable to talk to the press due to the damage he took to his right knee. He sat alongside MYSTIC Dragon and allowed him to talk while being attended to. Dragon was gratitude for their first win as a team and while it wasn't pretty, they prevailed. Between the two of them, they had got through their fair share of adversity. All of a sudden, the duo was interrupted by an angered VENOM & Yoshii Shiomi. A shoving match between VENOM & Shiomi and MYSTIC Dragon basically shortly after. Both teams were restrained with Shiomi shouting that they would avenge their loss real soon.

Hamacho and Sanda came down to the ring by themselves. KawaRaishi and Yasujiro looked confused when the Bulls of Fury duo demanded that referee Umeki started the match. Just as the apparent 2 on 3 match was about to start, the all to familiar

hit to a loud ovation! Sure enough, Super Joshuya walked out n front of the crowd, revealing that he was the mystery partner. KawaRaishi briefly yelled at Bulls of Fury for deceiving them. After the match, KawaRaishi and Yasujiro shook the hand of Joshuya and embraced him.

The five veterans sat with Super Joshuya in the back after their match. Joshuya was at a loss for words. He humbly stated that he didn't expect such a warm reaction from the crowd when he came out. He thanked his old friends Bulls of Fury for keeping it a secret among his other veteran peers. Sanetomo joked and wondered what else Hamacho and Sanda were hiding...Joshuya was then asked by the press why did he return after leaving two years ago. Joshuya said it was simple. Burning Hammer was his home. No matter where he went, his heart would always belong in a Burning Hammer ring. Joshuya admitted that he wouldn't be showing up regularly like before and he would continue to wrestle elsewhere. However, on big shows like tonight, he would be there.

American Optimus, who spoke in broken Japanese, officially challenged Maverick X for the Burning Junior Tag Team Championship on behalf of him and Red Panther. During the two Junior Tag Title reigns, they were dishonorable men. They would cut corners and cheat at every turn. Am Optimus thanked Optimus for helping him and Panther see the error of their ways and now they were ready to avenge their loss to Maverick X and regain their championship. The usually boastful Dragon pointed out that they weren't the only ones looking to right some wrongs. Elemental III took the Junior Championship away from him, however he was 100% certain he would rise above the Third Junior Wonder come Fire Dream of the Immortals. Elemental better keep his belt warm for when that day goes. Together, he and American Panther would bring both Junior titles to Silver Fleet Rising but most importantly, Dragon would show everyone one again why he was truly Sensational.

Kikkawa brutalized Sakai towards the ending stretch of the match; downing the youngster with a Kikkawa Lariat and then with a Kikkawa Driver. When attempting to break up the pin, Okazaki, who had been antagonizing Miyamae the entire match, held him down on his stomach and started punching the back of his head. Predictably, this led to a shuffle between the two men after the match.

In the press, Okazaki taunted Miyamae. After all these years of being a two bit player, now everyone thought he was some mighty competitor. It was laughable and an example of how desperate the Burning Hammer faithful was to get behind someone that could end the INSPIRE monarchy. Iesada agreed with his contemporary and noted that it was equally laughable that Tadakuni Toshusai thinks he's going to take the King of Fighters Championship away from him. He was a clown. A comedy wrestler. He wasn't a warrior. Toshusai was a disgrace and he would not allow him to disgrace the The King of Fighters title. The title requires someone that is a fighter. Side shows like Toshusai had no place in their Burning Hammer. This is where Kikkawa spoke up and simply stated that the press was looking at the three Heavenly Kings of Burning Hammer. They were almighty and their rule was being commissioned with an iron fist. He knew everyone would praise his opponents' performance tonight and he found the thought of giving praise to the losers to be amusing. He couldn't relate to the feeling of mediocrity like the Burning Hammer faithful does. When INSPIRE eradicates the weak and reshapes Burning Hammer in their image, mediocrity would no longer be tolerated. Before INSPIRE left, Kikkawa had a quick message for his eternal rival Kinnojo Horri. They would meet again in three weeks for his Burning World Championship at Fire Dream. Horri has always been a dreamer and all these years the image of him being superior to the great Kikkawa was just that; a dream. Kikkawa proclaimed that his dreams were Horri's nightmares and once again he would show Horri, and the rest of the Big Five, how far away they were from his omnipotence. He hoped the competitors in the main event tonight entertained him.

Kiyaru, Scorpion, Tiger and Shimakage(with one arm) periodically interfered on behalf of their Kasou-Gun unitmates in the main event. Horri and Nakasawa's unitmates fended off them off, allowing Horri to topple Taira with Kikkaawa's vaulted Burning Lariat! When both teams were being attended to by their respective unitmates shortly after the match, Masuno attacked Takemura in a fit of anger. The rest of Kasou-Gun(minus Taira who was down) joined quickly the Seikigun quickly defended their man. Masuno grabbed a mic and angrily said that this loss was a fluke and this wasn't finished in the slightest. Masuno and Kasou-Gun helped carry Taira to the back.

This left Seikigun to close out the show. Horri said it was always good to start off the year with a victory, especially over the likes of Taira and Masuno. He talked about how amazing it was that the Burning faithful sold out the Tokyo Civil Stadium within minutes of tickets being available ahead of time. Nakasawa stated that while he finished last year on a low note, his unitmates and the fans drive him and the rest of his team to keep fighting. An energetic Toshusai took the mic and remarked that his body was flowing with electricity and in three weeks, he would shock Iesada and bring the King of Fighters Championship home to the Seikigun. He wasn't the strongest nor the most technically refined but he had the biggest heart in the battle. All his life he's wanted to be a champion. Winning the Tag Titles with his dear friend Koshiro Ino was great but singles gold was another story. He dedicated his match at Fire Dream to all the dreamers like him and promise dot not let them down. Horri agreed and stated his dream of topping Kikkawa once and for all would come true as well. INSPIRE was on top right now and Kasou-Gun was persistent as ever. Even with these threats, the Seikigun would restore honor to the Burning Hammer and it would start at Fire Dream of the Immortals. Horri told the Burning faithful that they next time they saw them, they would have both the World Championship and the King of Fighters Championship. He hoped everyone here would be there to support them and Burning Hammer throughout the year.

Lo-Drew · October 3, 2015

Hajime no Zion #3 in Tokyo

Wednesday, Week 1, March 2013

The day was finally here. After two long months, the first Burning Hammer show of the year was tonight. It's kind odd looking back at my first tour last September as it feels like a blur. But these last two months during the "off season", it's felt as if it's been much longer than that. Although at the same time, there was a time during the tour where I did start to become more exhausted. I think it hit me after Night of the Burning Hammer when it started to wear on me. Given all that goes into that show, the build up to the matches, the pageantry, it is truly Puro's closet equivalent to the Super Bowl in American football. After that, you then realize there's still two months left into the tour and that's where you start to become drained. The way my job works, I'm practically there in the crowd for all the shows, from the big shows in Kanto and Hokkaido to the small market shows in Shikoku. Because of the nature of my job, I'm there for all of those shows, watching intently and jotting down notes to use for whatever writing piece Mister Harada ask me to do. I think I may have underestimated how tough this job could be and to think I'm saying this after one tour might suggest I'm in over my head here. However, I knew what I was signing up for when I joined last year. When I accepted the offer to join BURNING Weekly, in my mind I knew traveling alongside Burning Hammer could potentially become grueling. But then again, this is what I signed up for and most importantly, this is what I love doing.

I can't help myself, I love puroresu and everything about it. I've been aware of that but I think I somehow became more aware of this fact during these last two months when I've actively been going out to watch puro. Whether it's the local indy shows in Hokkaido or buying a ticket to watch Warrior Engine XXV's Flame Test show in January(which says a lot since I'm not the biggest fan of WEXXV's product or style of wrestling, if you can even call it wrestling). It didn't matter what scale the wrestling was, I wanted to be there to watch it so I could fill the void that Burning Hammer created when their tour ended.

Regardless, through thick and thin, Burning Hammer is my promotion and the build to tonight's show has me incredibly excited. I like to attend the shows like I'm still that little kid that would be in the stands with his parents watching the action. Or at least that's how I want to go about things. I try not to watch things from a critical eye and just enjoy the action in the ring. However, that's easier said than done and as time goes on, it becomes even more so. When I was a kid, I wouldn't have a notepad with me, writing down my thoughts about what I thought about a match or a result and whether or not it was the right decision like I do now. My job has something to do with that as it's important for me to stay on top of everything going on so I won't be caught off guard whenever Mister Harada gives me a topic to write about for BURNING Weekly. With that said, I notice I'm more worried about whether or not a match will end with the person I think should win will at a PGHW show or a GCG show(instinctively bias I suppose). Perhaps that's because those two promotions have experienced a recent history of bad fortune(in the case of GCG, it's been decades.) And sometimes, that's what on my mind even if the actual is engaging and has me on the edge of my seat for every nearfall. It's almost as if it's irrelevant if Mito Miwa and Kozue Kawashima have an incredible match just as long as Kozue wins. He's the Ace of their company. All their top stars from the last five years(Miwa being one of them) are either wore down or on their way. Why is he beating your young Ace?!

And then afterwards I feel guilty and feel really horrible. I allowed myself to care about the booking and less about the wrestling. All of a sudden, my focus wasn't about simply enjoying the match but whether or not the person i thought should win did. Whenever I analyse puro critically, I remember the days I would be in the crowd as a kid completely naive to what was really going on. When I think back to those days, a part of me does feel a bit said. I'll never be that innocent and naive kid that would come to the shows with their parents with the sole intention of wanting to see these larger than life characters do all the things I can only dream of doing. That kid wasn't worried about booking or how things should be. That kid only wanted to be a fan. A fan of something that was truly amazing in every way. Once you see what's behind the curtains, however, everything changes.

Oh God, I've been talking to myself a bit. I have been getting lost in my thoughts that I forgot that there were some people sitting around me. The show hadn't started yet but the two dark matches would soon. I've always been one of those guys that likes getting to the arena right as the doors open. I was suppose to meet up with Eita-kun and Yuki-san but I forgot to tell them I was heading to the show early. I hope they don't get mad at me. I'm just not used to having people that want to hang out with me. All of my friends growing up have left Hokkaido really and even then it wasn't that many. Most of my fans come from attending puro shows anyways. Every town you see the usual suspects that always make the rounds and then you catch up briefly. That's usually how it goes.

"Zion-kun, hi," I heard someone call from behind me. I recognized the voice right away before I turned my head to the left. With his trademark fisherman hat, green vest and cargo pants, Daichi Himura walked closer to my row with his son, Akira. Daichi was one of those usual suspects I would see when there was a big show in Tokyo. In age he was close to 50 but in spirit he was about as young as his son, who's about 7. I met him a few years ago when i was living here for college. Funny enough, it happened by accident. He just so happened to hear me talk to someone about my love for the Elemental vs Optimus match series and then shared this amazing story about how he met Optimus at a nearby gas station(supposedly, Optimus had his mask on while he did) and got an autograph from him. I then start picking his brain about his love for puroresu and how he started becoming a fan and how his wife doesn't understand why he always have to take her and the family to go the the shows whenever they're in town. He's a jolly man full of life and his smile towards me was a reflection of that.

"Oh hi Daichi-san," I said politely. Little Akira waved at me as well to which I returned the gesture. From head to toe, he was covered in Kinnojo Horri gear. He had the "DESTINY" hat on his head, the "Fire Emperor" shirt with the matching towel as well. He's easily the biggest Kinnojo Horri fan I know and that's saying a lot given his popularity with both men and women.

"How have you been my friend," he asked me.

"I've been well. Thanks for asking. I'm just waiting for the show to start."

'Same here. It's looking to be a great show. Akira here can't wait for the main event."

"Yeah Horri-san is going to destroy those Black Magic losers!" Little Akira spoke with so much enthusiasm that it was hard not to smile.

"My son here has been so excited. He's hardly sat down all day." He then turned to his son. "Akira, tell Zion-kun what happened to you yesterday?"

Akira suddenly pulls someone from out of his pocket. It was a Kinnojo Horri poster but the important thing to notice was what was actually on the poster. In the middle there was an autograph from the man himself and below it was a special message to him that read "To my biggest fan. Chase your dreams with fire and passion."

"You met him," to which Little Akira started to grin from ear to ear. I remember Daichi telling me how disappointed he was that they couldn't attend the press conference meet a greet last year or the year before that. Something always came up that prevented them from doing so. Thankfully this year that wasn't the case.

"Horri-san was so kind to my son," Daichi noted, "he took a few extra pictures with him and even gave him a hug. Akira here hasn't stopped talking about it."

"It was so cool," Akira shouted in excitement. "Horri-san's the best!" I laugh yet again.

"I'm happy you were able to meet him," I told Akira. When I looked in his eyes, I couldn't help but think once upon a time that used to be me. I used to be the kid idolizing Elemental II and hanging his posters and magazine covers on my wall. All puro fans really were once in his little shoes. That innocence and enthusiasm put things into perspective for me. I understand everything is going to be judged critically and that's not necessarily a bad thing. But when you look at the press conference meet and greet, the merchandise, the overall fun atmosphere in the air for a puro event, it's not designed for critics. It's for kids like Akira. It's for those kids that watch a puro event for the first time and marvel at the amazing things they're able to do in a ring. It's for those kids that look at these larger than life characters with awe. Without them, Puroresu doesn't grow and prosper. There wouldn't be a next generation of Puro fans, who are currently Akira's age, with their own stories and experiences they pass down to either their friends or their own kids. It's those moments that truly makes Puroresu as enjoyable as it is.

"Well, we have to catch up with the Mrs. but it was nice seeing you again," Daichi told me before he gave me a firm handshake. I would definitely see him again as the year went on.

"You too sir." Daichi and Akira soon walked away and right then and there, I made a decision. I didn't need this notepad. I didn't need to analyze every detail from a critical standpoint. Yes my job requires me to be on top of things. However, being a fan is what's important first and foremost. And if I'm not appreciating this fact then how could I perform my job well? How could I call myself a fan if I wasn't grateful for all the wonderful experiences I've lived through because of Puroresu? I want to be genuine. I want that to reflect when someone is picking up BURNING Weekly and turn to see one of my writings. And that starts with being a fan. Little Akira has no idea how important kids like him are in the grand scheme of him. Without those kids to reel in older fans like us with their spunk and energy, Puroresu wouldn't be nearly as vibrant. And for that, they have my gratitude.

Lo-Drew · October 3, 2015

OOC Note: I am so sorry for the lack of posting in the last few weeks. A few real life things happened that I had to take care of and so i was unable to really work on this. Hopefully that stuff is over with and I'll be able to truly start. Anyways the next card should be up in a few hours.

Lo-Drew · October 3, 2015

The POWER Tour Stops In Hokkaido!

by Zion Nikkaido

Burning Hammer's POWER Tour is off and running and after an eventful opening in Tokyo, the Burning Hammer will find their way into the Sapporo Stadium for the second show of the new tour this Saturday night. And what a card awaits the Burning Hammer faithful as in the main event, Kinnojo Horri teams up with perennial underdog and Seikigun teammate Kansuke Konda to take on Masaaki Okazaki and the reigning Burning World Champion Tadiyuki Kikkawa. We've seen in the past that Kansuke Konda's size isn't a hindrance when it comes to battling heavyweights and you have to imagine he would love to assist his friend Horri gain an upper hand on Kikkawa leading up to their title match at Fire Dream of the Immortals. One thing's for certain, this will be a very physical, hard hitting contest.

Bulls of Fury, Chuichi Sanda and Eiji Hamacho, supposedly requested a pair of singles matches respectively against two heavyweights on the rise as a way to "test" whether or not they're capable of competing against the best. In the semi-main, Sanda will square up against the man that will challenge for the King of Fighters Champion currently held by Tasuku Iesada, "The Shocker" Tadakuni Toshusai. Toshusai is well known for his antics and his energetic personality but they are those that wonder is Toshusai mature enough to stand a chance against a warrior and almost "surgeon" like wrestler like Iesada. A win over Sanda, a warrior of his own right, would without question show everyone that Toshusai's rise hasn't been a fluke and that he is ready to take that next step in his career.

The competitor Hamacho has challenged is his former Rebel Hearts teammate and leader of the Silver Fleet Rising Natsu Miyamae. The two have had many wars in the past in the form of tag team wrestling when Miyamae was a part of the Rebellion with Shimedzu. Now as an emerging singles wrestler, Miyamae looks to continue his climb up the ladder against Hamacho. And perhaps after his scuffle with INSPIRE member Masaaki Okazaki, Miyamae will be extra motivated to perform well in the ring.

Speaking of Shimedzu, he will find himself back in singles action on this show after successfully winning his first match as a tag team with MYSTIC Dragon in Tokyo. His opponent? The reigning Junior Champion Elemental III. The Third Junior Wonder will look to defeat Shimedzu and send a message to his unitmate Sensational Dragon as their Junior title match at Fire Dream of the Immortals draws near.

Further down the card will feature a homecoming for Hokkaido natives Yasuhiko Taira and Ieyoshi Shimakage. Shimakage, in particular, is very eager to be competing in his hometown as he's been hyping up his impending victory. This is no surprise to anyone as the man who calls himself "Hokkaido's Finest" has never been shy to open his mouth. Shimakage and Taira will team up to take on the Seikigun young lions of Atsumori Takemura and Murai Enomoto. This match was a direct response to the attack Taira ushered on young Takemura after Black Magic lost to Hiroaki Nakasawa and Kinnojo Horri as Taira wants to let out some steam and Takemura wants revenge. This match is also a homecoming for Enomoto, who's also a Hokkaido native. Shimakage is on record in saying that Enomoto should be denied to claim the same hometown as him and thus should be revoked of that right. Regardless, the raging war between Seikigun and Kasou-Gun will only escalate with this match up.

Rounding out the card is the reigning Junior Tag Team Champions Maverick X(Haru Kurofuji & Hachigoro Maeda) in action against Bairei Yasujiro and The Incredible Koyama in an all WLW alumi match. The reigning Tag Team Champions Toshiko Shibaunmo and Nissho Yuusa team up with White Samurai to take on the KawaRaishi duo and their partner the returning Super Joshuya. And to wrap up the main card features a debut recently called up from Hinote Dojo. His name is Ryushi Sato and while he's 5'9 in height, he weighs a solid 260 pounds and he is very much a power fighter. He will team up with a fellow newcomer in the gaijin brawler Brandon Smith against Silver Fleet Rising heavyweights Heihachiro Sakai and Mitsunari Fugunaga.

The two dark matches before the show will see Golden Scorpion and the newest member of Kasou-Gun the reigning Campeon de Universal OLLIE Silver Tiger team up to take on gaijin flier KC Gleen and Reijiro Hiraki. The other dark match is a battle of young lions. Tatsuya Toshitala, who put his fellow peers on notice in Tokyo, will battle Fujio Narahashi. Say to safe, the Burning Hammer faithful in Sapporo are in for a very thrilling night that only the leader in all Puroresu can offer!

Burning Hammer POWER Tour #2 at the Sapporo Stadium in Hokkaido on Saturday, Week 1, March 2013

Dark Match #1: Tatsuya Toshitala Vs Fujio Narahashi
Dark Match #2: Golden Scorpion & Silver Tiger Vs Reijiro Hiraki & KC Glenn

Match 1: Heihachiro Saki & Mitsunari Fugunaga Vs Ryushi Sato & Brandon Smith

Match 2: Team REVIVAL(Toshiko Shibaunumo & Nissho Yuusa) & White Samurai Vs KawaRaishi(Sessue Kawate & Sanetomo Shirashi) & Super Joshuya

Match 3: Non Title: Maverick X(Hachigoro Maeda & Haru Kurofuji) Vs Bairei Yasujiro & The Incredible Koyama

Match 4: Yasuhiko Taira & Ieyoshi Shimakage Vs Atsumori Takemura & Murai Enomoto

Match 5: Non Title: Elemental III Vs Shimedzu

Match 6: Bulls of Fury Special Singles Challenge #1: Eiji Hamacho Vs Natsu Miyamae

Semi Main: Bulls of Fury Special Singles Challenge #2: Chuichi Sanda Vs Tadakuni Toshusai

Main Event: Kinnojo Horri & Kansuke Konda Vs Tadiyuki Kikkawa & Masaaki Okazaki

PREDICTION CONTEST

The CoolestJedi12: 9-0= 18 points
KnowYourEnemy: 8-1= 16 points
Tiberious4: 7-2= 14 points
Kitarzu: 7-2= 14 points
Jaded: 6-3= 12 points

OOC Note:Just want to give a quick congrats to TheCoolestJedi12 for scoring a perfect predic card. it was a standard card to start off but still that's an impressive feat. Also once again thanks to everyone that did predic on the first card. Getting five out the gate was really cool I must admit.

Lo-Drew · October 8, 2015

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/razorsedge69907/BHOTWG/BHOTWG.jpg

Burning Hammer of The Wrestling Gods POWER Tour Show #2

Saturday, Week 1, March 2013

Sapporo Stadium in Hokkaido

14,328 Fans- Super No Vacany

0a. Tatsuya Toshitala beat Fuji Narahashi (3:57) when Toshitala made Narahashi submit to the Toshitala Triangle(Grade: C-)

0b. Golden Scorpion & Silver Tiger beat KC Glenn & Rejiro Hiraki (4:01) when Scorpion used Scorpion Stinger on Glenn. (Grade: D+)

1. Heihachiro Sakai & Mitsunari Fugunaga beat Brandon Smith & Ryushi Sato (5:52) when Fugungaga used the Deadlift German Suplex on Smith.(Grade: D+)

2. Sanetomo Shiraishi, Sessue Kawate & Super Joshuya beat Team REVIVAL(Nissho Yuusa & Toshiko Shibaunumo) & White Samurai (8:46) when Shiraishi made Shibaunumo submit with the Lizard Clutch(Grade: D+).

3. Maverick X(Hachigoro Maeda & Haru Kurofuji) defeated The Incredible Koyama & Bairei Yasujiro (9: 46) when Kurofuji made Koyama submit to the Kurofuji Crab.(Grade: C-)

4. Yasuhiko Taira & Ieyoshi Shimakage beat Atsumori Takemura & Murai Enomoto (7:41) when Taira used the Flatterer on Takemura. (Grade: C+)

5. Hiroaki Nakasawa, Marihito Masuko & Hyosuke Kokan beat Yasunobu Masuno, The Awesome Kiyaru & Ieyoshi Shimakage (8:44) when Kokan used Elemental Suplex on Shimakage.(Grade: C+)

6. Natsu Miyamae beat Eiji Hamacho (15:44) when Miyamae used the Double Underhook Powerbomb.(Grade: B-)

7. Tadakuni Toshusai beat Chuichi Sanda (16:33) when Toshusai used Electro Shock(Grade: C+)

8. Tadiyuki Kikkawa & Masaaki Okazak beat Kinnojo Horri & Kansuke Konda (22:42) when Kikkawa used Kikkawa Lariat on Konda.(Grade: B+)

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B

Toshitala refused to let go of the Toshitala Triangle after the match. Just like he did in Tokyo, he was pulled off Narahashi and he shoved the ref before storming out of the ring.

Shiraishi was more than happy about making one half of the Burning World tag Team Champions tap out backstage to the press. They may be wore down and past their prime but KawaRaishi wasn't over by a long shot he said. Kawate agreed and took it a step further. Since Shiraishi made Shibaunumo tap out, he thought that warranted a challenge for the Tag Titles. Shiraishi said that tonight was proof that they were still capable of being at the top of the Tag Team division. Joshuya, who remained silent throughout the ordeal, finished by thanking his veteran comrades for teaming with them. He did left an interesting tidbit. As much as he loved returning to Burning Hammer, there was someone else who felt the same way. It had been nearly two decades since this "friend" had appeared in a Burning Hammer ring but now he was ready to return. Joshuya told the press that the next time they saw him, he would be with this friend.

Maverick X officially accepted American Panther's challenge for a shot at their Junior Titles after their match. They might think they are hunting but Maverick X, like Zero and the rest of the Maverick Hunters, were the true hunters of the Junior Tag Division!.....Kurofuji didn't quite understand what Maeda was saying(or what he was referencing) but he did note that while American Panther had turned a new leaf, that still wouldn't result in them regaining their gold. He looked forward to proving that their victory over the former champions at Night of the Burning Hammer wasn't a fluke.

Taira continued abusing Takemura even after the match. Masuno joined in before the Seikigun members at ringside broke it up. Taira laughed at the feeble Takemura. Nakasawa saw something in this little shit? And what about Enomoto? He was a joke too. Shimakage stated that he should rename to "Jimi Enomoto" because he was as plain as grass. He probably goes home, eats his plain bowl of rice, drinking his plain glass of water and slept in his plain bed. It was a disgrace that great Hokkaido heroes such as himself and Taira had to share a residence with him. Shimakage's boasting was put to a stop by Kokan, who dropkicked him. Kokan, also a Hokkaido native, was tired of Shimakage's mouth. Nakasawa, who;s usually calm and collected, expressed anger over the attacks on his protege. Masuno questioned why did he care about him and his shitty curly hair? Takemura was the type of kid he would stuff into lockers. He was a loser. Nakasawa retorted that picking on someone that wasn't their size was classless but he wouldn't expect any less from them. He was done talking. He wanted to fight! Taira laughed. Kasou-Gun had nothing else to prove tonight. Masuko grabbed the mic and said this was Kasou-Gun're true native. Their scent was cowardly. Running away from a fight when the numbers became even. Nakasawa challenged any trio combination to fight him, Kokan and Masuko right now. Kasou-Gun relented. Fine then, Taira said. if they wanted to get embarrassed, so be it. Kiyaru, Shimakage and.....Masuno would fight. Kicking Takemura's ass tired Taira so his comrade would take his place. Nakasawa didn't care. Like he said, they wanted to fight. Referee Shinozaki, who was in the ring, signaled for the bell.

Shimakage held Kokan in position for Scorpion to hit him in the head with a chair on the outside. However, Kokan got out of the way and the chair hit Shimakage in the head. This led to the finish.

Backstage, Shimakage complained to the press. For supposedly "honorable" fighters, they had to use cheating methods to win. Kokan should unmask for his crimes. He paused and stated he probably wore a mask because he was ugly and thus decided revoking his status as a Hokkaido native would do. Taira spoke up and said things wasn't over between them and the Seikigun. This war was just picking up. Kasou-gun would make a counter attack and he knew when to launch it. Fire Dream of the Immortals. Taira wanted an All Out War. 5 on 5 Elimination. He, Masuno, Kiyaru, Scorpion and Shimakage against whatever five they could come up with. When someone in the press mentioned that Seikigun would be shorthanded due to Horri, Toshusai and Elemental III being involved in title matches, Masuno shrugged it off. Of course the media was making excuses for Seikigun. Everyone always does. War was war and that meant anything goes. Seikigun would regret this day when it was all set and done.

Miyamae had a simple message for Okazaki. He wasn't going to punk him out like he tried to in Tokyo. If he wanted to fight, he could fight him at Fire Dream of the Immortals. He swore that he would beat Okazaki to a pulp for disrespecting him and continue to break through the ceiling to the top of Burning Hammer.

Kikkawa, Okazaki and Iesada were accompanied to the ring by a familiar face. Hirokumi Saito from INSPIRE fame.

An angry Kikkawa demanded a mic when his match concluded. he was offended someone like Konda was in his presence, let alone fighting against him. His genetics were flawed and this made him unworthy to share a ring with him. He then mocked Horri. Everyone wanted to reach out and touch omnipotence but all would fall short. INSPIRE was almighty. He was almighty. At that moment, he introduced Saito, the newest member of INSPIRE, to the audience. They should be on their knees, giving him the proper respect. He too was almighty. But like Horri, they rejected reality. They were dreamers. Horri was the biggest of them all. An admirer of him. Those dreams would be crushed at Fire Dream when he retained his World Championship. Iesada grabbed a mic and echoed the same thoughts to Toshusai, who was in the ring attending to Konda. A comedy wrestler like him spat on everything this sport should be about. The King of Fighters in his hands would be an abomination. So what if he beat Sanda tonight? That didn't change the fact that from birth he was born inferior. His desire to elicit laughs from the crowd was an attempt by him to mask this truth. It was his destiny to be a walking punchline. Nothing he could do would change that. Kikkawa then requested for Horri and Toshusai to bow their heads to the gods they saw on front of them. Horri was defiant, standing up to Kikkawa. Toshusai took even greater exception to this by then grabbing Iesada by the throat! Horri immediately pull Toshusai away as he was shouting at Iesada. This was amusing to Kikkawa. They were prolonging the inevitable. He hoped these acts of disrespect wouldn't be lost of them because when they take full control of Burning Hammer and eliminate the dreamers such as Horri and Toshusai, everyone in Burning Hammer will pray to the heavens for mercy. Unfortunately for them, the Gods of this company, he, Okazaki, Iesada and now Saito, would show none. INSPIRE shortly departed.

Horri and Toshusai were left to close the show. Toshusai took the mic with vigor as Horri attended to Konda. What Iesada and INSPIRE were talking about was bullshit! Everyone was born equal. He was no better than anyone in the crowd. They were one and the same. Yes he made jokes and made people laugh. That didn't mean he couldn't make his dreams come true. Shitheads like INSPIRE tell everyone what they can and can't be. They try to make everyone conform to what they think is true puroresu. And for what? Because of destiny? Iesada was mistaken. Nothing was pre-determined. Everyone had their destiny in their hands and they could accomplish their wildest dreams like he has. He's heard the doubts about whether or not he'll last against Iesada. He's heard the critics question his status amongst the Big Five. He knows Iesada's trying to intimidate him. But if he thinks it's going to work, he was in for a real shock. Toshusai promised to the Sapporo fans that he wasn't just going to win the King of Fighters to complete his dreams but he was also wished it would give them hope. Hope that they could do anything they wanted if they worked hard. He was fighting for them as much as he was fighting for himself. And together, they would knock Iesada's head off his shoulders and open the gate to their dreams. Horri agreed and stated that INSPIRE have try to dictate order around Burning Hammer for too long. Toshusai and himself have one goal in mind and that as to take their pieces of gold away from them, bringing them down from their God complexes. Kikkawa can think he's a dreamer all he wants. He can keep knocking him down. But like they are doing right now, he would continue to stand tall until they fell down. No matter what Kikkawa, INSPIRE, Kasou-Gun or anyone could do, he, Toshusai and the rest of the Seikigun would never fall. Horri promised to keep fighting until he couldn't any longer.

KnowYourEnemy · October 8, 2015

Really enjoying the writing here so far, some of the best (if not the best) on the board.

Lo-Drew · October 9, 2015

Really enjoying the writing here so far, some of the best (if not the best) on the board.

Wow, this is incredible praise. Praise I'm not sure I deserve because they're so many fantastic writers on the boards right now and I'm still starting this one off. Still, I greatly appreicate your comment and I'm glad you're enjoying things so far.

Switching topics, I meant to address this earlier. Just so people are clear, in the writeups, the backstage press stuff is for the TV shows(Lords of the Ring and Blaze of Glory.) Puro shows in real life use backstage interviews for their TV shows so I'm doing the same. Anything that happens in the ring though, that's an angle. Hopefully this clears anything up. Anyways a card will be up before the end of the weekend and if everything works out well, I have a nice little surprise that I plan on posting before that.

Lo-Drew · October 15, 2015

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q236/Tigerkinney/ReijiroHiraki_zps63828e1e.jpg

Hinote Dojo: Master Kitozon's Foundation/Charged Up: Is Reijiro Hiraki is Ready to Seize The Burning Hammer?

Story by Bakin Ishida

Across the street from Hinote Dojo, the famous wooden training dojo originally created by Master Kitozon, a middle aged man stood by the edge of the boating docks with a young child, presumably his son. The two were bundled up in their winter coats as it was a cold 35 degree February day despite the sun being way up in the sky, shining down on the city of Osaka. The neighborhood, at the moment, was very silent minus the sounds of passing cards every now and then. It's possible these two don't have any idea about what goes on in that wooden dojo across the street, where aspiring young men train daily in hopes of perfecting their craft as professional wrestlers.

The Hinote Dojo(which was actually nameless until 1993) has taken the form of many occupations since it's creation back in the summer of 1976. Known among puroresu circles as the greatest wrestler ever, Master Kitozon created the training school as a way to give back to the sport that he cared for fondly. Even as he surpassed stardom and reached a certain point in his career where he crossed the line of becoming an icon and a standard barrier, it's been often sad that one of his biggest goals that he wanted to accomplish was successfully establishing an institution, where anyone who wanted to become a wrestler could enroll. At the time, the amount of wrestling dojos were slim, excluding the local(albeit) smaller scale dojos. With his name and reputation, Master Kitozon knew it would attract a fair amount of hopefuls. He wanted to give back to puroresu as much as he could and thus fostering and nourishing the next crop of wrestlers was his desire.

Unfortunately, Kitozon passed away in 1986, almost exactly ten years after he founded the unnamed dojo and a mere five years after retiring from active competition. His death was felt in every aspect of puroresu. From Burning Hammer of the Wrestling Gods, the promotion he helped become the premier organization in the sport, to Golden Canvas Grappling, Burning Hammer's eternal rivals.

"Losing Kitozon-san was devastating,' said Sanetomo Shiraishi, who was gracious enough to provide his thoughts on the matter. "He was like a second father to me. I miss him dearly." Shiraishi enrolled in the dojo in 1981 at 17 years old and after one year of grueling training sessions, he became the first person to ever graduate a year later- six years after the dojo opened their doors. When I asked Shiraishi about how much Kitozon influenced him, he responded with this touching point.

"He was my hero. I was a huge fan of his growing up. I wanted to become a wrestler like him and I wanted him to teach me." The Takamatsu noted that he would take the bullet train to travel to Osaka on weekends so he could attend classes. He had to convince his parents to allow him to do so as he was still a high school senior but it was the assurance from Kitozon himself, who personally came to Shiraishi's household and explained to his family what his school represented, that they allowed him to go on. Shiraishi also said that he wasn't the only person outside the Kansai region that enrolled in the school.

"He had a way with words," Shiraishi told me. "he was gentle yet understanding. The only reason my parents gave me their blessing was because of him." Kitozon's almost celebrity status among puroresu and even Japan as a whole, made the dojo an attraction and til this day, his name is held in high regards not just through the halls of the dojo, but the sport of puroresu. While his death has taken some of the "glamour" from his institution(and one could argue the emergence of dojos such as the PGHW Dojo also playing a factor), Kitozon's impact on the industry is still as strong as ever with every person that graduates from the foundation that he laid down.

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Throughout the years, the Hinote Dojo has seen its' fair share of renovations from the interior as the dojo itself has evolved. In the beginning, it was a very traditional setting with dark hardwood flooring and wall pattern and only one room. Nowadays, while the wooden flooring remains, the dojo now has opened up; resulting in the additional of another room. The second room is where the physical training aspect occurs. This room had equipment such as punching bags, weights and machines such as treadmills, training bicycles all designed to keep hopefuls in shape. The main room simply features a ring in the middle with mats on all sides outside. The rice paper window tinting the light from the sun outside cast a gritty aura to the dojo.

Since 1993, Hinote Dojo has gone from a dojo to its own promotion; running shows around the Kansai region for profit. This allowed Burning Hammer a place to assign young prospects to be polished. This was done as a way to have trainees experience wrestling in front of live audiences, a more "hands on" approach that provided Burning Hammer management a more in depth look at who was ready to move up from the Hinote Dojo ring to the Burning Hammer ring. Some of the top wrestlers in Burning Hammer today had to first prove their worth in Hinote Dojo. Starting next month, 26 year old Reijiro Hiraki starts his journey as a member of the Burning Hammer roster.

Hiraki, a super junior from Kobe, wasn't exactly a rookie for he had eight years of being a professional under his belt. Seven of those years he has spent in Hinote Dojo, training non stop to earn an opportunity. While he himself wasn't a graduate from the Hinote Dojo, upon signing to Burning Hammer in the summer of 2005 at only 19 years old, the training school has become his home to hone his skills. That was another added perk to Hinote Dojo running shows. Whoever was on the roster had free access to train in the dojo alongside hopefuls; something that wasn't possible when it was created.

When I met up with him inside, he was decked out in Burning Hammer gear. The orange "This is Burning Hammer" hugged his body and (perhaps coincidentally) matched the orange and black sneakers that were on his feet. Within moments of being around the black haired(which was dyed) with a yellow streak from the left side man, there was a vibrant energy surrounding him. He couldn't stop himself from smiling every two seconds or subtly bouncing off the ropes he was leaned up again from sitting on the apron during this interview. He knew. He received the news from former Burning Hammer Junior Champion Stunner Okazawaya, the president of Hinote Dojo since 1996, that starting in March he would be called up and officially compete on the Burning Hammer roster.

"When I got the news it was like finally," Hiraki commented with a wide smile. "I think my mom was happier than me when I told her." I could hear the sound of excitement in the tone of his voice. What I also heard was relief. Seven years wrestling in Hinote Dojo and, as he put it, finally it paid off. His long stint in Hinote wasn't uncommon. Heihachiro Saki first arrived in February of 2006 and remained there until last June when finally received the call up.

"There's a lot factors that come into play when it comes to determining when someone's ready," Stunner Okazawaya told me prior to my interview with Hiraki. "Obviously, improvement in one's skill set is important. Seeing how fast or how slow someone is able to pick up certain nuances and incorporate that into their arsenal shows a lot about the person' attention to detail and their character as a wrestler and most importantly as a person. The win loss record is another big element in the evaluation stage. We want to see if they're consistently stringing along wins but moreso in an event of a loss, do they come back with a win or do they get into a rut? Then, there's how they perform in front of a crowd. It's one thing to spar in a dojo when the audience is your fellow peers. Wrestling under bright lights is a different animal and some guys don't have the composure to handle that. That comes with maturity, which is the biggest element personally. It's important to get wins, to be competitive. It's important to be able to handle competing in front of a crowd but if someone's not disciplined and doesn't possess a solid head above their shoulders, they're going to be eaten by the sharks in Burning Hammer."

Okazawaya is in charge of preparing everyone that shows up in Hinote Dojo for the next level. From there, it's up to the wrestlers to strive to eventually get the nod from Burning Hammer management. What some don't realize about this process is the fact that while someone can be signed by Burning Hammer, that doesn't mean they'll pass through Hinote Dojo. There's numerous stories about young hopefuls who are simply unable to ever meet the lofty expectations bestowed upon them and soon they either are let go or they fade away and are never heard of again.

Hiraki mentioned there was times where he thought he would end up on the chopping block. "That feeling is the worst," he says. "To consistently work so hard for something just to keep failing over and over again. I've seen a lot of my friends come up short and you can't help but wonder are you next you know? It's scary. It's hard not to doubt yourself and ask are you worthy of even calling yourself a wrestler."

In this moment, Hiraki shows a great deal of humility. He doesn't have his chest out proudly. He instead looks down at the wooden floor almost as if he's struggling to push down his doubts internally. I pushed further and asked him was this inner battle with himself a regular occurrence for him. He picked his head up and locked eyes with me.

"Sometimes," he says in response to the question. "I think it's just I look at what I want to do as a wrestler and the goals I place for myself and I want to say that I'm accomplishing those goals. So whenever I do take a step back, I feel as if I'm failing myself but most importantly, my family and my friends." This note, in particular, was backed up by Okazawaya in regards to Hiraki.

"He's a kid that clearly has talent but doesn't necessarily have the belief in those talents at times," Okazawaya says about Hiraki. "I believe he thinks this is what being humble is and it's not. There's a clear difference. One of the things I've preached to him is that it's ok to believe in your talents without bordering the line of arrogance. There's nothing wrong with believing that you can do anything. As time has gone on. I've seen Hiraki-san become more comfortable with that. He's not 100% there, but he's getting there and that's been reflected in some of his recent performances.

When asked who, or what, were some of his biggest motivating things that helped push him through in his career, he immediately pointed to his family-specifically his mother. "It's funny because she's not even a big wrestling fan," Hiraki says. "She's a nurse actually so she thinks people beating each other is awful[laughs]. But she knew I was always a fan growing up and so her and dad would take me to go to shows. When I got into senor year in high school, I told her that I didn't want to go to college and instead i anted to become a pro wrestler. And although that wasn't what she wanted me to be, her and my dad supported me and gave me the money to enroll."

The school Hiraki enrolled in was a local dojo in Kobe named Kobe Kitchen of Wrestling Arts," where he eventually graduated a year later. Interestingly enough, when he did enroll, he was joined by his best friend from high school Ryota Tanaka. Together, the two envisioned entering the world of Puro as a tag team.

"We had all these crazy ideas for team names," says Hiraki with a smirk. "I think we had settled on Smile Factory. I forgot how we even came up with that now thinking about it." Before they were able to have their first match as a team, during training one day, Ryota took a hip toss from a fellow trainee, he landed awkwardly on his neck. Instantly immortalized, he was taken to a local hospital. It was there that it was discovered that he suffered a severe neck injury that caused numbness to his arms. While Ryota made a full recovery, t was recommended by doctors that to avoid future neck injuries that could result in him being paralyzed from the waist down that Ryota shouldn't pursue a career as a wrestler. This not only hurt Ryota but Reijiro as well.

"It was crushing," Hiraki says reflecting. "We were both like why now? We were so close to graduating together and just like that, our goal was dead. I nearly thought about calling it quits too but he told me to keep going for him. He knew how much becoming a pro wrestler meant to me and he didn't want me to give that up or be afraid because of what happened to him. Plus after thinking about it, my parents paid a lot of money to get me enrolled. They would have killed me if I had quit[laughs]."

I then asked him did he still stay in communication with Ryota. Right away, Hiraki nodded his head in approval. "Every day," he says. "He always tell me to keep pushing. Keep moving on."

It was only then when I began to understand the pressure Reijiro had placed on himself. His parents stood behind him and supported him from the beginning of his journey as a professional wrestler; something Hiraki clearly cherishes. He also, in many ways, was living out the dream for his best friend, who was cruelty prevented from doing so by fate. When he then mentioned that his family(in this case consisted of two aunties, one uncle a cousin to go along with his parents) and his best friend Ryota would be in attendance for the first show of the year at the Tokyo Stadium, there was a sense of excitement joy but also a hint of nervousness as well written on his face. It was the achievement of finally making it to the Burning Hammer tour after seven long years followed by the fear of doing anything that would embarrass himself in front of them. Hiraki wasn't simply a young man wrestling for himself He was wrestling for those he cared about and making sure he wasn't letting them down first and himself second.

"I've been working so hard for this day to come," says Hiraki when talking about his inevitable debut. "And now that it's almost here, I just want to go out there and perform to the best of my abilities. I want to be out there, in front of them and make them proud."

As this interview started to wrap up, I finally asked him my last question. A question that had been built throughout this entire interview. What does Reijiro Hiraki want to accomplish in Burning Hammer? He looked at me for a moment and elected not to answer away.

"I want to become the best super junior in the world," he told me in a very honest manner. I could tell he was still thinking about his answer for the question as he was speaking to me. "I believe I have what it takes to eventually reach that level. My family believes in me. My friends believe in me. Okazawaya-sama would tell me everyday that he believed I had the potential to become someone that would be among the top in the junior division. Some days when I'm unable to lift a certain amount of weight or when I'm unable to learn a new move a week or two after it being taught to me, I wonder can i get there. But then I remember how far I've come in these last seven years. I've grown a lot both in the ring and out of the ring and I wouldn't have been able to if I wasn't capable. I just have to keep working, keep fighting until I get to where I want to be. I don't know what in store for me but, to be honest, it's really fun to think about."

And as he pauses, he flashes another smile. It's becoming a trademark of his. "Puroresu is fun after all. My greatest memories in life have been in a ring. I want to have fun when I get to Burning Hammer. I want to enjoy this as much as I can for as long as I can. Becoming the best is my number one goal but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the ride there. I think that's the most important thing really. To soak it all in before you can't."

And with that, Reijiro Hiraki is out-done talking and prepared to finally perform a five mile jog that he meant to do early in the morning but couldn't. He told me that afterwards he would probably spend the rest of the day in his bathtub, sore and wore out. in the end however, "it's all worth it', he says. Despite the pain and the doubts and the new challenges that he faces now officially a member of the Burning Hammer roster, Reijiro is eager to working on living up to his nickname and giving the junior division a "spark."

Lo-Drew · October 15, 2015

OOC: Sorry for the long delay. I wanted to take my time with the snippet for this week's BURNING Weekly. Also it's currently 3 in the morning where I'm from so I'm far too tired to correct any spelling errors(if there are any) at the moment. Going back to post above, I'll be doing this throughout this diary so you won't just see pieces from just Zion but his co workers as well. Also, I think I'm going to ask for someone to make a BURNING Weekly pic for me. Admittedly, I don't know where to ask(hence the lack of pictures in this diary except for the generic Burning Hammer logo) so I figured I would throw it out there and ask the viewing public.

Hopefully you guys enjoy this and the next card should be released before the end of the day.

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Taking the Burning Hammer Into The Heart of Puroresu

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