Pride, Glory And Honour.... With An Edge

[Rob4590]

Press release from PGHW HQ. A new era for PGHW? The new head booker, Rob4590 has convinced Sadaharu Jimbo to change the style of the promotion to Cutting Edge, telling him that his talented stars will still be able to show off their undoubted skills, but also now entertaining the crowd with modern storylines and angles. He has also upset the rest of the Japanese wrestling community by withdrawing from the Japanese Wrestle Peace Festival, and setting new dates for all the monthly shows. PGHW’s TV show, Kings Road, has been moved to a live 1 ½ hour show on Tuesdays, and the company plans to expand into USA with a touring show called (ironically) USA Tour. ;) Several (mostly foreign) wrestlers have been contacted to join the promotion, and there looks to be a shake up of the announcing staff planned too. The owner, Mr Jimbo takes on a dual role as lead announcer as well as the company's authority figure, with immediate effect. Yoshimi Mushashibo has been named No 1 contender for Mito Miwa’s World Title, with an 8 man tournament set up on the TV show to decide who gets the next shot at the world title, involving Eisaku Hoshino, Eisaku Kunomasu, Dread, both Vessey brothers, Shuji Inukai, Buddy Garner and Nobuatso Tatsuko. Bryan Holmes, Akinori Kwakami and Ryoma Maruyama will contest the No 1 spot to face Noriyori Sanda for the (re-named) mid card Japanese Title.

[Rob4590]

[CENTER][U][B]Tues Week 1 Dec 05. KINGS ROAD TV Show. Held in Hokkaido. Attendance 5000 (Sold out).[/B][/U][/CENTER] [B]Pre Show[/B] Tetsunori Yasuda defeated Masaru Ugaki by submission in 8 mins. [B]Rating C+. [/B] An even match between two lower carders. William Hayes defeated Kazushige Matsuki by pin, with his feet on the ropes, in 8 mins. [B]Rating C+. [/B] Another match just to see how these youngsters fare. [B]Main Show[/B] A video is shown, telling everyone about the recent title reign of Noriyori Sanda. [B]Rating C.[/B] Bryan Holmes defeated Masayuki Shiga by pin with his Canadian Kiss in just 6 mins. [B]Rating C+. [/B] Holmes dominated this match, showing his credentials for a possible Japanese Title shot against Sanda. Noriyori Sanda defeated Junnosuke Fukazawa by pin with the Dynamo Flying Elbow in 9 mins. [B]Rating C+.[/B] A comfortable win for the Japanese Champion against the veteran Fukazawa in a non-title match. Sanda shakes Fukazawa’s hand after the match out of respect for a good performance. [B]Rating C.[/B] Ray Diaz & Lee Wright defeated PRIDE Koiso & Kozue Kawashima by pin in 9 mins, following interference by both Lee Bennett and Alexander Robinson (the Tag Champions) against PRIDE and Kawashima. [B]Rating A[/B]. Wow - a heck of a match between 2 of the prospective tag team challengers. A video is shown, hyping the first round tournament match between Eisaku Kunomasu and Larry Vessey. [B]Rating A.[/B] Shuji Inukai defeated Ryoma Maruyama by pin with the Untouchable Lariat in 9 mins. [B]Rating A*. [/B] What was expected to just be a nice mid-card match turned into a match of the year candidate, thanks to the great chemistry between them. Inukai gave a great performance, and Maruyama stayed with him all the way in an even match. Eisaku Hoshino talks about how he is going to become the new No 1 Contender, starting by defeating Bryan Vessey tonight. [B]Rating A.[/B] But first, Bryan's elder brother is in action against Kunomasu. The Japanese star easily defeats Larry Vessey by submission with his signature "Kunomasu Vice" in 10 mins, despite being attacked by Dread during the match. [B]Rating A.[/B] A good rating given that they don’t click and the match lacked any selling. Kunomasu advances to the semis, where he will face the winner of our next match. Yoshimi Mushashibo appeared backstage and told all the fans that they would soon have a new world champion, and that he would make Mito Miwa submit to the unbeakable Yoshimi Lock. [B]Rating B+.[/B] Surprisingly the crowd didn't like this as much as I was expecting. Tournament Match No 2. Bryan Vessey defeated Eisaku Hoshino by pin when Bryan Holmes interfered, in 11 mins. [B]Rating A.[/B] Somwhat of a surprise as the two time former champion is beaten by the less well known Vessey. Bryan Vessey advances to the semis to face Kunomasu. Sadaharu Jimbo announces that tonights main event pits the champion Mito Miwa against the monster Dread in a non-title bout. [B]Rating A.[/B] We are shown a video of the "Iron Man" Nobuatso Tatsuko going through a punishing training regime. [B]Rating A*.[/B] The Main Event: Dread defeats Mito Miwa by pin following interference from Yoshimi Mushashibo in just 8 mins. [B]Rating A*.[/B] The champ had no chance once Mushashibo came out. [B][U]OVERALL RATING = A[/U][/B] [B]Bookers Notes:[/B] A nice show to open this new era in PGHW history, and with the popularity increase across Japan from the show, PGHW rises to National size, and gets a TV audience of 473,191 viewers. However Japanese Sports Vision is unhappy with this audience and lets us know that we must improve. Kozue Kawashima is offered a new written contract after his excellent tag match. A PPV deal is successfully negotiated with Emperor Choice for the next 12 months. Several new wrestlers, plus some other staff have joined PGHW during the week, although some are unavailable until their current notice period is worked through.

[Rob4590]

[OOC Note - I won't bore you all by posting the cards from the USA Tour Shows - just using them to get some popularity in the US and to test out some matchups.] [B]Sunday Week 1 Dec 05. USA Tour. Held in Tri State. Attendance 157.[/B] [B][U]OVERALL RATING B[/U][/B]

[Rob4590]

[B][U][CENTER]Tuesday Week 2 Dec 2005. KINGS ROAD Held in Hokkaido. Attendance 5000 (Sold Out)[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Pre Show[/B] Stuart Ferdinand defeated American Elemental by pin using the ropes for leverage in 8 mins. [B]Rating C+. [/B] A loss for Elemental on his debut, but a nice match. [B]TV Title match[/B]. William Hayes defeated Tetsunori Yasuda by submission in 8 mins. [B]Rating B-. [/B] A good lower card match, boosted by the fact that they have pretty good chemistry between them. [B]Main Show[/B] Kozue Kawashima defeated Flemmy Lemming by pin (Kawashima Driver) in 6 mins. [B]Rating C[/B] Also a loss on debut for Flemmy, beaten by a superior wrestler. [B]Japanese Title match[/B] Noriyori Sanda retains his title by defeating Masayuki Shiga with the Dynamo Flying Elbow in 6mins. [B]Rating C+. [/B] which was OK given that these two don’t click. Danger Kumasaka stole a victory from Ryoma Maruyama by submission in 8 mins after low blowing him behind the referee's back. This was after Maruyama had dominated practically the whole match. [B]Rating B-. [/B] Bryan Holmes defeated Akinori Kwakami with the Canadian Kiss in 10 mins. [B]Rating B+. [/B] This match was part of the tournament to decide the new No 1 contender for Japanese Title. Shuji Inukai defeated Buddy Garner by pin after hitting the Inukai Driver in 12 mins. Larry Vessey attacked Garner during the match. [B]Rating A[/B]. Not bad considering they don't click and also lack selling. S Inukai moves forward to the semi finals. Dread, Bryan Vessey, Larry Vessey and Shuji Inukai announce to the world that they are now allies. [B]Rating C[/B]. Oops - I forgot that the Vesseys can't speak Japanese yet. Mr Jimbo announces that we will see Mito Miwa v Yoshimi Mushashibo later tonight. [B]Rating A*.[/B] A hype video announces that we are about to see Nobuatso Tatsuko v Dread in the tournament. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Tatsuko defeats Dread by count out in 9 mins, despite being attacked constantly by the Vesseys and Shuji Inukai. [B]Rating A.[/B] Again they didn't sell each others offence. Tatsuko moves forward to the semis to face Dread's ally, Inukai. As Tatsuko is celebrating his against-the-odds win, the 4 heels attack him again in the ring, but Eisaku Kunomasu and Eisaku Hoshino run down and make the save eventually. [B]Rating A.[/B] Yoshimi Mushashibo def Mito Miwa by submission in a non-title match after hitting Miwa with his own title belt, in 12 mins. [B]Rating A.[/B] [B][U]OVERALL RATING A [/U][/B] 477,113 viewers, but no complaints this time from the network. Bryan Holmes is offered a written contract after his excellent match. [B]Sunday Week 2 Dec 05. USA Tour. Held in Tri State. Attendance 141.[/B] [B][U]OVERALL RATING C+[/U][/B]

[Rob4590]

[B][U][CENTER]Tuesday Week 3 Dec 2005. KINGS ROAD Held in Hokkaido. Attendance 5000 (Sold Out)[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Pre Show[/B] Joshua Taylor defeated newcomer Flemmy Lemming by pin following a Slingshot Suplex in 7mins. [B]Rating C.[/B] Nothing special - just gets the pair of them a match. PRIDE and Kawashima defeated Stuart Ferdinand and Masaru Ugaki with the Koiso Kutter in 7mins. [B]Rating C+. [/B]An easy win for the young tag team. Principessa comes out and shoots some T Shirts. [B]Rating A*. [/B]Always a ratings winner ;) [B]Main Show[/B] We open with a lower card, TV Title match: William Hayes, the champion, beats the debuting Champagne Lover by pin with his feet on the ropes in 8mins. [B]Rating C.[/B] I guess I hoped for a little more from this match, given how good Champagne Lover is, but seeing as he is totally unknown in Japan, a C rating is about right. Joanne Rodriguez comes out and shoots T Shirts. [B]Rating A*.[/B] The Wild Samoans (Rhino Umaga and Samoan Machine) beat Masayuki Shiga and Junnosuke Fukazawa by submission using the Samoan Crab in 7mins. [B]Rating C.[/B] A comfortable win for the Samoans over two veterans, who are going to be jobbing regularly to all my youngsters. Diaz & Wright defeat Noriyori Sanda and Hell Monkey by pin in 9mins.[B] Rating A.[/B] An excellent match, which took me by surprise. Will have to look at teaming Sanda and Hell Monkey regularly if all their matches are this good. Buddy Garner easily defeats Danger Kumasaka with the Choke Sleeper submission in just 7mins. [B]Rating A.[/B] The MMA star was just too much for the 52 year old Kumasaka, who showed he can still put on a show against the younger stars. Diaz & Wright come out to the ring and demand that Sadaharu Jimbo gives them a tag title shot at the PGHW Christmas Cracker PPV at the end of the month, against Robinson & Bennett, the current champions, which he agrees to. [B]Rating B+. [/B] Ryoma Maruyama defeats Bryan Holmes by pin following his Maruyama Launch in 9mins despite interference from Akinori Kwakami. [B]Rating B.[/B] The final match of this will feature Maruyama v Kwakami next week, where a win for Maruyama will give him the Japanese Title shot against Sanda. After the loss last week, Mito Miwa comes out and challenges Yoshimi Mushashibo to a re-match. [B]Rating A[/B]. Tournament Semi Final No 1. Eisaku Kunomasu beats Bryan Vessey by pin in 12mins despite Larry Vessey trying to help his brother. [B]Rating A*. [/B]An excellent back and forth match despite the lack of selling. Kunomasu moves into the final of the No 1 Contenders Tournament. As Kunomasu celebrates the win, he is attacked by both the Vesseys and Dread, but his friend, Eisaku Hoshino comes to his aid and sees them off. [B]Rating A*.[/B] The 2nd semi final sees Shuji Inukai pin Nobuatso Tatsuko after a low blow in 13mins. [B]Rating A*.[/B] A great match, helped by the great chemistry between these two, but they lack selling. So the final of the No 1 contenders tournament will feature Kunomasu v Inukai. Will Inukai's recent alliance with Dread and the Vesseys overcome the man who recently returned to Japan? [B][U]OVERALL RATING A.[/U][/B] 489,908 viewers this week. During the week, Bryan Holmes signs a new written deal with PGHW. [B]Sunday Week 3 Dec 05. USA Tour. Held in Tri State. Attendance 122.[/B] [B][U]OVERALL RATING A[/U][/B] Unfortunately I accidentally managed to advance one of my storylines with a hype angle that I ran during this show, which didn't do the heat much good :( [OOC : I changed the tag team names to just the two wrestlers surnames, cos I was getting confused as to which team was which. If anyone has any good team names for these guys (that are easy for me to remember lol), feel free to make suggestions]

[Rob4590]

[B][U][CENTER]Tuesday Week 4 Dec 2005. KINGS ROAD Held in Hokkaido. Attendance 5000 (Sold Out)[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Pre Show[/B] Tetsunori Yasuda defeated Flemmy Lemming by pin in 8mins. [B]Rating C+.[/B] Masaru Ugaki defeated Kazushige Matsuki by submission with his Ugaki Clutch in 8mins. [B]Rating C+.[/B] [B]Main Show[/B] The singles debut of Hell Monkey. He pins William Hayes after hitting the Tumbling Monkey in 9mins. [B]Rating B.[/B] A straightforward debut victory for Monkey over the TV champion PRIDE Koiso, Kozue Kawashima and Noriyori Sanda drew with Lee Wright, Ray Diaz and Bryan Holmes by double count out in 10mins. [B]Rating A.[/B] An excellent 6 man tag match, featuring 2 of the main tag teams in the PGHW, along with the Japanese Champion and one of his main rivals. The action eventually spilled outside of the ring and gave the ref no choice but to count all 6 men out as they continued brawling. Akinori Kwakami defeated Ryoma Maruyama by pin with a handful of tights in 10mins. [B]Rating B.[/B] This match was the 3rd in the Japanese Title tournament - each man has one victory now - who will get to face Sanda at the Christmas Cracker PPV? Robinson and Bennett successfully defended the Tag Titles against the Wild Samoans by pin after the Canadian Violence in 10mins, despite being attacked by Lee Wright and Ray Diaz, who have been named as challengers for the Tag Title and will face the champs at Christmas Cracker. [B]Rating B.[/B] As Robinson and Bennett celebrate the win, they are again attacked by Diaz and Wright, and for good measure, the Samoans decide to join in, leaving the champs lying on the floor injured. [B]Rating B. [/B] Sadaharu Jimbo announces that he has granted Miwa Miwa his request to face Yoshimi Mushashibo at Christmas Cracker, and that it will be for the World Title, and he announces that we will see both of them wrestle matches tonight too. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Yoshimi Mushashibo is up first and beats Junnosuke Fukazawa by submission with the Yoshimi Lock in just 7mins. [B]Rating B.[/B] The crowd never really got into this match as Mushashibo dominated from start to finish, trying to show Miwa what he is up against later this week. Next up was Mito Miwa, who defeated Danger Kumasaka with the Pride Bomber in 6mins (slightly quicker than Mushashibo's win). [B]Rating B+. [/B]A better match, even though they don’t click. The Vessey Brothers are in the ring with their new manager, Munenori Umari. They say that they are better than any Japanese tag team and challenge Tatsuko and Hoshino to face them in a tag match at Christmas Cracker. [B]Rating A.[/B] Hoshino and Tatsuko come out immediately to interrupt and accept the challenge on behalf of the Japanese nation. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Buddy Garner defeated Dread by DQ when Shuji Inukai attacked Garner in 9mins. [B]Rating A.[/B] A good match which was requested by Garner having gone out of the Contenders Tournament to Dread's ally Inukai. He picked up the victory when the ref spotted Inukai laying into Garner after Dread had thrown him from the ring. Unfortunately, Dread and Garner don’t click - but hey, its still an A rated match. We are shown a video of the matches in the No 1 Contenders Tournament, leading to the Kumomasu v Inukai match at Christmas Cracker. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Another video show the attacks and the previous match in the Miwa v Mushashibo feud, which will also be decided at Christmas Cracker. [B]Rating A*.[/B] [B][U]OVERALL RATING B+,[/U][/B] Only 463,099 viewers this week. Will we actually manage to keep the show on TV?

[Rob4590]

[B][U]Matches arranged for Christmas Cracker this Friday:[/U][/B] William Hayes will defend his TV Title. Robinson and Bennett defend the Tag Titles against Diaz and Wright (Heat B-) Noriyori Sanda will face Akinori Kwakami, Bryan Holmes and Ryoma Maruyama in a Fatal Four Way for the Japanese Title (C) Vessey Brothers v Hoshino/Tatsuko (B-) Shuji Inukai v Eisaku Kunomasu for the No 1 Contendership for the World Title (A*) Mito Miwa (C) v Yoshimi Mushashibo for the World Title (surprisingly only C+) Plus others to be announced on the night. Predictions welcome.

[Rob4590]

[B][U][CENTER]Friday Week 4 Dec 2005. Christmas Cracker PPV Held in Hokkaido. Attendance 12000[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Pre Show[/B] Junnosuke Fukazawa and Masayuki Shiga def Stuart Ferdinand and Flemmy Lemming by pin in 10mins. [B]Rating C+. [/B] Flemmy gets a nice training match with these three veterans, and does OK. A hype video is shown about the Wild Samoans and their destructive capabilities. [B]Rating B.[/B] J-Ro talks about the photos of her inside this month's PGHW company magazine. [B]Rating A*.[/B] [B]Main Show[/B] [B]TV Title match[/B]: The champion, William Hayes successfully defended his title with a double DQ against Tetsunori Yasuda in 11mins. [B]Rating B.[/B] A very good match between these two - they work well together. The crowd was just a little disappointed that Yasuda couldn't put Hayes away for a decisive win Buddy Garner easily defeated young Masaru Ugaki with his Choke Sleeper submission hold, in 10mins. [B]Rating B+. [/B] Garner looked good out there as he dominated against Ugaki. Dread beat American Elemental when he hit the Dread Bomb after 9mins. [B]Rating A.[/B] Dread looked good and their natural chemistry in the ring got the crowd really behind the young masked flyer. Most surprising that they do have such good chemistry given the diversity of their two styles! PRIDE and Kawashima defeated the Wild Samoans by pin in 12mins of back and forth action. [B]Rating B+.[/B] This win puts the Japanese tag team firmly into the tag title picture. But who will be the champions when they do get a title shot? A hype video is shown of the new American star, Hell Monkey, working out for his match tonight. [B]Rating B.[/B] And the workout paid off as Hell Monkey defeated the veteran, Danger Kumasaka by pinfall after hitting his Hell Fire Kick in 12mins. [B]Rating A.[/B] An excellent match, as the "old man" showed that he can still mix it with the youngsters! Robinson and Bennett hype their tag title match against Diaz and Wright, telling the crowd that the belts aren't going anywhere for a long time, because they are the dominant tag team in PGHW. [B]Rating B+.[/B] Robinson and Bennett successfully defended the Tag belts with a draw in the [B]Tag Title match[/B] against Diaz and Wright, when the referee counted both teams out after 12mins as the four men brawled through the crowd, who loved every illegal move that both teams pulled off. [B]Rating A.[/B] Sat at the announce booth, Sadaharu Jimbo hypes the Fatal Four Way Japanese Title match between the champion, Noriyori Sanda, and the three challengers, Bryan Holmes, Akinori Kwakami and Ryoma Maruyama, whose series to decide the No 1 contender ended all even. [B]Rating B+. [/B] [B]Japanese Title Match:[/B] Noriyori Sanda retains the Japanese Title by pinning Akinori Kwakami with the Dynamo Flying Elbow after 14mins of action. [B]Rating B.[/B] A good match, although with four men in the ring, perhaps the crowd couldn't concentrate on all the different action and so the match wasn't as good as I had hoped. A video is shown and details the lead up to the Vesseys v Hoshino and Tatsuko tag match - the attacks by the "Outsiders" on the Japanese favourites, along with Kunomasu, and the challenge laid down last week by the American brothers. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Hoshino and Tatsuko, despite their usual dislike of each other, teamed well to defeat the Vesseys by pinfall, when Tatsuko hit the Tatsuko Driller on Larry Vessey in 11mins. [B]Rating A*. [/B] That's the type of match that the crowd wanted to see - lots of action between the four men culminating when Hoshino engaged Bryan Vessey outside the ring allowing the "Iron Man" to tak out the older Vessey. As they head backstage, Bryan and Larry Vessey are seen arguing about losing their match, with Bryan appearing to blame Larry for the defeat. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Mr Miwa interviews Shuji Inukai (accompanied by his manager Munemori Umari) about his No 1 Contenders final match against Eisaku Kunomasu, which Inukai predicts is a foregone conclusion. [B]Rating B-.[/B] Well that bombed as an interview, and even an excellent performance by Inukai couldn't stop the crowd losing interest in it. [B]No 1 Contenders Match:[/B] Shuji Inukai defeated Eisaku Kunomasu by pinfall, when his ally, Dread came out after 18mins and hit Kunomasu with a Dread Bomb onto the ring surround. The history between these two continues - you will all remember Kunomasu's return to PGHW a few weeks ago where he stopped Dread injuring his friend Hoshino. (See the Cornellverse site for full details ;) ) [B]Rating A*. [/B] So it appears that honour is even between the two stables in this feud that we have brewing - one win apiece tonight. Shuji Inukai celebrates the win with his manager Mr Umari. [B]Rating B.[/B] These Japanese crowds really don't like non wrestlers do they ? During the celebration, the loser, Kunomasu, returns backstage and is attacked once again by Dread, being thrown around mercilessly. [B]Rating A.[/B] A hype video for the World Title Match between Mito Miwa and Yoshimi Mushashibo is shown - Mushashibo costing Miwa the match against Dread, and then beating the champion by cheating earlier in the month. Can Miwa get his revenge in the ring tonight? [B]Rating A*.[/B] [B]World Title Match:[/B] The champion, Mito Miwa hits the Pride Bomber to finish Yoshimi Mushashibo's challenge for the title after 20 exillerating mins of action, to retain the World Title. [B]Rating A*.[/B] The crowd loved this match between two tough individuals and gave both men plenty of encouragement throughout this clinic of strong style wrestling. Miwa celebrates his title defence in the ring. [B]Rating A*.[/B] [B][U]OVERALL RATING A*[/U][/B] 47,456 people bought this PPV, which is somewhat less than our rivals BHOTWG (64k), we've got some work to do to catch them up as Japan's No 1 Wrestling Promotion. William Hayes has earned himself a written deal following some good matches in the last couple of weeks. [B]Sunday Week 4 Dec 05. USA Tour. Held in Tri State. Attendance 108.[/B] [B][U]OVERALL RATING B[/U][/B]

[Rob4590]

At the 2005 year end awards, PGHW and its wrestlers picked up several awasrds. Kozue Kawashima won the Young Wrestler of the Year Award and Lee Wright won the Veteran of the Year Award. The Match of the Year was Mito Miwa beating Yoshimi Mushashibo for the PGHW World Title at Christmas Cracker, and that match was also part of the Show of the Year.

[Rob4590]

[B][U][CENTER]Tuesday Week 1 Jan 2006. KINGS ROAD Held in Hokkaido. Attendance 5000 (Sold Out)[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Pre Show[/B] Nobuatso Tatsuko defeated Flemmy Lemming by pinfall with the Tatsuko Blind Kick in 7mins. [B]Rating B[/B] Very much a training match for Flemmy against one of PGHW's top stars. PRIDE and Kawashima picked up an easy victory too, defeating the veterans pairing of Stuart Ferdinand and Danger Kumasaka in just 7mins. [B]Rating B.[/B] Principessa comes out with the T Shirt gun and shoots them into the crowd. [B]Rating A*.[/B] [B]Main Show[/B] Masaru Ugaki made American Elemental submit to the Ugaki Clutch in 8mins. [B]Rating C.[/B] The young American hasn't really made a successful start to his PGHW career - he is still without a victory on King's Road, and Ugaki wasn't about to let that change, showing why he is so highly rated in Japan. The Wild Samoans beat Joshua Taylor and Champagne Lover with the Rhino Charge in 10mins. [B]Rating C+. [/B] Another victory for the Samoans. William Hayes, wanting to be known as a fighting champion, puts his TV Title on the line against Tetsunori Yasuda today, and retains the title by submission in 9mins. That’s his 4th defence of his TV Title now. [B]Rating B.[/B] A very nice lower card match, the crowd were firmly behind their countryman, but Hayes out thought Yasuda and a low blow set up the victory. Ryoma Maruyama comes out to the announce desk and demands that Sadaharu Jimbo gives him another Japanese title shot against Noriyori Sanda, saying that that was only fair, since he wasn’t the man who was pinned in the four way at Christmas Cracker. [B]Rating B+.[/B] B Holmes interrupts Maruyama and demands that he gets the title shot as he also wasn't pinned and everyone knows that he is the better wrestler anyway. [B]Rating B+.[/B] Mr Jimbo says he will think about both requests, but now they should go away as he has a show to call. Backstage, Yoshimi Mushashibo is walking to the ring, when Buddy Garner bumps into him. Mushashibo doesn't take this well and starts yelling at Garner, who just stands there staring Mushashibo down, and then walks calmly away. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Yoshimi Mushashibo then storms out to the ring and takes out his anger on Junnosuke Fukazawa, beating him by submission (via the Yoshimi Lock) in just 7mins. [B]Rating B.[/B] Mushashibo just had too much for Fukazawa, especially given his bad mood with both Garner and after his title loss at the PPV recently. A hype video is shown for the rematch for the Tag Titles between Robinson and Bennett, and Diaz and Wright. These two teams drew their match at Christmas Cracker and face each other again right now. [B]Rating B.[/B] Robinson and Bennett retain their Tag Titles after another draw against Wright and Diaz, when after 11mins, the ref lost control of the bout as all four men fought toe to toe in the ring, ignoring all instructions from the official. [B]Rating A.[/B] Another good match-up between thesee two teams, somewhat surprising really given that they are both from North America and both teams are heels. Next we have Kumomasu and Hoshino facing the Vesseys. A change of opponents from the match at Christmas Cracker for the brothers, but they have been at war with both these two Japanese stars as well as with Tatsuko. Kunomasu wins after 11mins, making Larry Vessey tap to the Kunomasu Vice, despite Kunomasu's arch enemy, Dread, attacking him throughout the match. [B]Rating A[/B]. Bryan Vessey was off his game tonight, which didn't stop him looking displeased with his brother's performance again. [B]World Title Match[/B]: Mito Miwa defeated the new No 1 contender Shuji Inukai by pinfall in 12mins, retaining his World Title fairly easily. [B]Rating A*. [/B] Maybe Inukai should have bided his time before challenging the champion, but the crowd enjoyed this match. [B][U]OVERALL RATING B,[/U][/B] Hmmm, apparently the crowd were expecting more angles and less match time. Still it (supposedly) increased our popularity - so guess they didn't mind THAT much. Maybe the TV audience weren't so impressed - we got just 468,999 viewers this week. [B][U]Sunday Week 1 Jan 06. USA Tour. Held in Tri State. Attendance 118.[/U][/B] [B]OVERALL RATING B+[/B]

[Rob4590]

[CENTER][U][B]Tuesday Week 2 Jan 2006. KINGS ROAD Held in Hokkaido. Attendance 5000 (Sold Out)[/B][/U][/CENTER] [B]Pre Show[/B] Junnosuke Fukazawa drew with Tetsunori Yasuda in 6mins after a double DQ. [B]Rating B.[/B] Yasuda showed he can brawl with the best of them, as the two wrestlers started using chairs to attack each other, leaving the referee with no choice but to call for the bell. Noriyori Sanda defeated Masaru Ugaki by pinfall in a non-title match. [B]Rating C+.[/B] Not a great match, but Sanda showed his quality throughout. Principessa shot the T Shirts. [B]Rating A*[/B] Well, its an easy way to get the crowd excited for the main section of the show. [B]Main Show[/B] Having got them all excited, the match between Stuart Ferdinand and American Elemental brought the mood right down. Actually not that bad a match, ending when Ferdinand picked up the pin, although with a handful of Elemental's tights after 9mins. [B]Rating C+. [/B] The Wild Samoans came out to the ring and introduced their new manager Mr Miwa, who told the crowd that these two men were the toughest team in the history of PGHW, and that it was only a matter of time before the tag belts were round their ample waists. [B]Rating C[/B]. Shame no-one cared a lot, either for the Samoans, and especially for Mr Miwa. You would have thought he would be more over really, as the brother of our current champion. William Hayes continued his recent winning streak, defending the TV title again, beating Champagne Lover by a dodgy pinfall in 9mins. [B]Rating C+. [/B] The Mexican star is another who has been cannon fodder so far in his new environment, so no real surprise to see Hayes pick up another comfortable win. J-Ro announced she was becoming a manager and was on the look out for new clients. [B]Rating F.[/B] Damn, this might have been an OK segment, given how the Japanese like looking at this young lady, only trouble was that I forgot she doesn't actually speak Japanese - so they didn't understand a word she said. :( Buddy Garner gave Flemmy Lemmy a lesson in technical wrestling here, slapping him in the Choke Sleeper to win by submission in 7mins. [B]Rating B.[/B] As Garner is milking the crowd's applause for the victory, Yoshimi Mushashibo rushes to the ring and beats him down from behind. Looks like he is still in a bad mood then! [B]Rating A*.[/B] Robinson and Bennett are seen backstage arguing about Wright and Diaz. Robinson says that they should fight them one more time to try and get their deserved victory, but Bennett insists that Diaz and Wright have had all the chances they are going to get - its the challengers who have to win to get the belts, not them, as the champions. [B]Rating B-.[/B] PRIDE and Kawashima beat Akinori Kwakami and Danger Kumasaka by pinfall after PRIDE Koiso hit his Koiso Kutter on Kumasaka in 9mins. [B]Rating B.[/B] Sadaharu Jimbo announces that we will now see Bryan Holmes take on Hell Monkey. If Holmes wins he gets his requested Japanese title shot versus Noriyori Sanda. [B]Rating B+.[/B] Before the match starts, we cut to the parking lot and we see the arrival at the arena of the Japanese stable (that is: Hoshino, Kunomasu and Tatsuko). [B]Rating A*.[/B] Bryan Holmes defeats Hell Monkey by pinfall, when Akinori Kwakami interfered in the match, attacking Monkey. [B]Rating A.[/B] A slightly disappointing end to what was turning out to be a great match. Holmes, albeit undeservingly, gets his re-match with Sanda. Mr Miwa hosts a controversial chat session with Kunomasu, Hoshino and Tatsuko, who challenge Dread and the Vesseys to a 6 man tag match tonight. [B]Rating A.[/B] Shuji Inukai is seen violently attacking the champ, Mito Miwa backstage and leaves him in a heap on the floor. [B]Rating A*.[/B] The Japanese (Hoshino / Kunomasu / Tatsuko) drew with the Outsiders (Dread and the Vessey Brothers) in 13mins, following a double DQ. [B]Rating A*.[/B] I guess it was inevitable that this would descend into a mass brawl, given the ill feeling between these two camps. The crowd loved it though as the action spilled out of the ring all over the arena. I don't think we've heard the end of this feud. [B][U]OVERALL RATING A[/U][/B] Only 472,940 viewers watch the show. [B][U]Sunday Week 2 Jan 06. USA Tour. Held in Tri State. Attendance 137.[/U][/B] [B]OVERALL RATING B-[/B]

[Rob4590]

[B][U][CENTER]Tuesday Week 3 Jan 2006. KINGS ROAD Held in Hokkaido. Attendance 5000 (Sold Out)[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Pre Show[/B] William Hayes issues an open challenge to face him for his TV Title later tonight. [B]Rating E[/B] - aarrggh he doesn’t speak Japanese yet! Good job I put this in the pre show eh? American Elemental accepted Hayes' challenge. [B]Rating F[/B] (language again) The Tag Champions, Robinson and Bennett, came out to the ring and told everyone how good they were, and that they would be the people's champions for a long, long time. [B]Rating B.[/B] Nice to work with a couple of guys who have bothered to learn the lingo. Then they stayed in the ring and methodically took Champagne Lover and Tetsunori Yasuda apart, beating them with the Canadian Violence finisher for the 1-2-3 in 8mins. [B]Rating C+.[/B] I expected better from them in the ring though, not a good start to the night so far. Next we are shown a video about the Japanese Title situation, involving the champion, Noriyori Sanda, and the challengers, Holmes, Maruyama and Kwakami. [B]Rating B.[/B] [B]Main Show[/B] William Hayes defeated American Elemental by pinfall in 9mins. [B]Rating C+. [/B] That makes a change for Hayes to win cleanly - but it was only against Elemental, so I guess he didn't feel any need to cheat for once. PRIDE and Kawashima come out and say that they should be the No 1 contenders in the tag division - they can't stop winning recently - and how many wins have Diaz and Wright got recently? [B]Rating B.[/B] Sadaharu Jimbo announces that Ryoma Maruyama will face Akinori Kwakami later tonight, with the same stipulation that Bryan Holmes had last week - win and you get another Japanese Title shot. [B]Rating B.[/B] Diaz and Wright responded to the criticism by PRIDE and Kawashima about their poor win / loss record, by notching up a morale boosting victory over Junnosuke Fukazawa and Masayuki Shiga when Diaz hit the Ray Gun after 8mins. [B]Rating B.[/B] Ryoma Maruyama beat Akinori Kwakami 1-2-3, after hitting him with the Maruyama Launch in 9mins after Hell Monkey interfered and attacked Kwakami, getting his revenge for costing him the match against Holmes last week. [B]Rating B+.[/B] Tatsuko and Hoshino continue their partnership against the Wild Samoans, with Hoshino locking in the Deathlock STF on Rhino Umaga after 10mins, despite them being attacked throughout by the Vesseys. Another round to the Japanese against the Outsiders. [B]Rating A[/B] Yoshimi Mushashibo comes out for his match and tells the crowd that wrestling is not about how hard you can punch, its about technique as well, and thats why Buddy Garner will never beat him and nor will his opponent tonight. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Mushashibo proves that he can back up his words, by defeating Noriyori Sanda. Unusually for Mushashibo, he was unable to trap Sanda in the Yoshimi Lock, eventually pinning him with his feet on the ropes. A good victory really, considering that Garner tried to attack him through most of the 2nd half of the match. Sanda shows flashes of brilliance too, cementing a growing reputation as a young wrestler with a great future. [B]Rating A.[/B] After the match, Garner and Mushashibo square up inside the ring, and start fighting, which brings out Dread and the Vesseys to help Mushashibo, closely followed by Tatsuko, Hoshino and Kunomasu, who even the numbers up in the ensuing brawl. [B]Rating A*[/B] A hype video about Shuji Inukai is shown, highlighting his smooth progress through the No 1 Contenders Tournament, and then his subsequent defeat by the World Champion Mito Miwa. [B]Rating A*.[/B] The next match is a re-match of that tournament final, but this time the result is reversed as Eisaku Kunomasu beats Shuji Inukai by submission after 15mins of back and forth action. Kunomasu only got the upper hand when Miwa came out and distracted Inukai. [B]Rating A*.[/B] [B][U]OVERALL RATING A[/U][/B] Apparently the crowd thought that American Elemental was slightly over-used. I guess not understanding what he talked about didn't really help too much! Our viewership stayed fairly constant at 470,465. Unfortunately Mushashibo has picked up a knock during the brawl after his match, but the doctors assure me that he will be able to work through it if I need him too. [B][U]Sunday Week 3 Jan 06. USA Tour. Held in Tri State. Attendance 123.[/U][/B] [B]OVERALL RATING B[/B]

[Rob4590]

[B][U][CENTER]Tuesday Week 4 Jan 2006. KINGS ROAD Held in Hokkaido. Attendance 5000 (Sold Out)[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Pre Show[/B] Masaru Ugaki defeats Joshua Taylor by submission with the Ugaki Clutch in 8mins. [B]Rating B-.[/B] Thats a bit more like the standard of match I want to see from the lower carders. I was beginning to wonder if my road agents didn't actually know what they were talking about, cos they keep telling me that these guys are the future of this company. Yoshimi Mushashibo defeats Champagne Lover by submission (Yoshimi Lock) in 8mins. [B]Rating B+.[/B] Just a dark match for Mushashibo this week - the injury is supposedly OK but the last thing I need is for him to re-injure himself on live TV. [B]Main Show[/B] Flemmy Lemming picks up his first victory! OK so its against the hapless American Elemental, and he had to cheat to get it, but its a W in his record, which is more than Elemental can boast about. [B]Rating C-. [/B] Shame the crowd couldn't get into it - oh well, perhaps in a couple of years time eh? William Hayes continues being the "fighting champion" and defeats Kazushige Matsuki by pinfall, as usual for him with his feet on the ropes, in 9mins, to retain his TV Title. [B]Rating C+.[/B] Diaz and Wright are walking backstage towards the ring, when Robinson and Bennett attack them, leaving them groaning on the floor. [B]Rating B+.[/B] Diaz and Wright limp out to the ring and challenge Robinson and Bennett to defend their Tag Titles at the Night of Pride PPV this Friday, instead of taking the cowards route of attacking them from behind. [B]Rating F[/B] A complete shambles - how can these two guys still not speak the language? Next is a tag team match, featuring Noriyori Sanda and Ryoma Maruyama against Bryan Holmes and Akinori Kwakami. Will Sanda and Maruyama be able to work together, knowing that they will be opponents at Night of Pride on Sunday? Their opponents seem to be on the same wavelength, with Kwakami helping Holmes get his re-match with Sand by interfering in his challenge match with Hell Monkey. The champion, Sanda picked up the victory by pinfall on Kwakami in 10mins, after Hell Monkey got more revenge for that loss to Holmes by attacking Kwakami. [B]Rating B.[/B] Not as good a match as I hoped, but it keeps things on the boil in this division. Eisaku Kunomasu defeats Danger Kumasaka using the Kunomasu Vice in 6mins. [B]Rating B+.[/B] Just a regular squash match for Kunomasu. Yoshimi Mushashibo comes out and says that Buddy Garner cannot keep him down for long. Despite causing him an injury last week, the doctors have pronounced him fit, and that means that Garner had better watch his back. [B]Rating A*.[/B] He is interrupted by Sadaharu Jimbo who announces that they will actually meet face to face in the ring on Friday at Night of Pride.[B] Rating A*[/B] A rematch from last week, sees the Japanese team of Hoshino and Tatsuko defeat the Wild Samoans again, this time by DQ after the referee spotted the Vesseys once again attacking them. [B]Rating A*.[/B] The Vesseys take out their frustration on PRIDE & Kawashima, with Bryan getting the winning pinfall, which is easy to do when your manager Munenori Umari interferes all the time, in 10mins. [B]Rating A.[/B] A knock back for PRIDE and Kawashima, but the Vesseys are an experienced team and had too much know-how for the youngsters. Shuji Inukai is in the ring talking and calls out Mito Miwa. As soon as Miwa appears onto the ramp, who else but the Vesseys jump him and beat him down all the way to the ring, where he is in action next. [B]Rating A*. [/B] Dread defeats the already beaten Mito Miwa by pin, using the Dreadsault this time in just 7mins. Good job for Miwa that this was a non-title match. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Sadaharu Jimbo finishes the show by hyping some of the matches that have been announced for the Night of Pride PPV on Friday: Hell Monkey v Akinori Kwakami. [B]Rating B.[/B] Noriyori Sanda v Bryan Holmes v Ryoma Maruyama (Japanese Title) [B]Rating B+.[/B] The Vesseys v Hoshino and Tatsuko. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Kunomasu and Miwa v Inukai and Dread. [B]Rating A*.[/B] [B][U]OVERALL RATING A,[/U][/B] We were watched by 475,668 viewers, which is a slight increase.

[Rob4590]

[U][B]Matches arranged for Night of Pride this Friday:[/B][/U] American Elemental v Champagne Lover [B](F)[/B] - neither of these two rookies have won a singles match yet in PGHW - which one will break their duck? William Hayes (c) v Joshua Taylor for the TV Title [B](C-)[/B] - Hayes' underhanded tactics in the ring have built up quite a run of victories. Can Taylor snap the streak? Wild Samoans (Rhino Umaga and Samoan Machine) v TBA [B](C-)[/B] - the Samoans have been impressive, but recent defeats to Hoshino and Tatsuko have stopped their momentum. Who will their opponents be? Hell Monkey v Akinori Kwakami [B](C)[/B] - these two have interfered in each others matches at most events this month. Now they clash face to face. Noriyori Sanda (c) v Bryan Holmes v Ryoma Maruyama for the Japanese Title [B](C+)[/B] - a four way match last month eliminated Kwakami from the equation - but who will be victorious in this Triple Threat Elimination match? Robinson & Bennett (c) v Wright & Diaz for the Tag Titles [B](B-)[/B] - these two teams have battled to two draws in recent weeks. Surely there will be a winner this time? The Vesseys v Hoshino and Tatsuko [B](B+)[/B] - this feud has been raging ever since the No 1 Contenders tournament, and has continues through various matches and attacks since. Yoshimi Mushashibo v Buddy Garner [B](B+)[/B] - Mushashibo had just lost his World Title challenge against Miwa when Garner got in his way backstage. One simple argument has lead to a grudge match at Night of Pride. Miwa and Kunomasu v Dread and Inukai [B](A)[/B] - Kunomasu and Dread have previous history, Inukai wants another World Title shot against Miwa. What will happen in our main event of the PPV? Predictions and thoughts on the PPV (and the whole diary) are welcomed :D

[Rob4590]

[B][U][CENTER]Friday Week 4 Jan 2005. Night of Pride PPV Held in Hokkaido. Attendance 12000[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Pre Show[/B] Stuart Ferdinand defeated Kazushige Matsuki by submission in 8mins. [B]Rating C.[/B] Hopefully Ferdinand can teach Matsuki a little more technique and psychology. Junnosuke Fukazawa defeated Flemmy Lemming by pin with the Roundhouse Kick in 8mins. [B]Rating C+.[/B] A solid match, again just here as a training exercise for Flemmy. [B]Main Show[/B] J-Ro finds flowers in her locker room, but there is no note as to who they are from. [B]Rating F[/B] How on earth can there be language problems here - she doesn’t have to speak at all. Well we will bin that idea of a romantic story - at least for a while. ;) Champagne Lover picks up the win against American Elemental by submission using his Champagne Breakfast in 10mins. [B]Rating C.[/B] Another loss for Elemental, but Lover gets off the mark, even if it took a while in coming. Masaru Ugaki comes to the ring, and tells everyone to watch out for him this year, he is a man on a mission, and that mission is to win the TV Title sooner rather than later. [B]Rating C.[/B] Well lets just hope the crowd gets into this soon, cos even I'm dozing off so far. Danger Kumasaka showed his experience to pick up a win against Tetsunori Yasuda, who was dominating the whole match until he got hit by a low blow and pinned with help from the ropes in 8mins. [B]Rating C+.[/B] Just a filler match, but I have high hopes for Yasuda. [B]TV Title Match:[/B] William Hayes defended his TV Title for the 6th time beating Joshua Taylor by pinfall in 10mins. And yes, you guessed, he was cheating as usual. [B]Rating C[/B]. These two don’t click at all, so everyone was glad when Hayes wrapped it up. PRIDE & Kawashima say that they aren't happy that they haven't been given a match tonight, and that they will face any team in the locker room.[B] Rating B.[/B] They get their answer soon enough as the Wild Samoans rush the ring and beat them up even before a referee can be found. [B]Rating B-.[/B] Despite the beating, PRIDE & Kawashima eventually recover enough to defeat the Wild Samoans when PRIDE hits the Koiso Kutter on Samoan Machine after 13mins. [B]Rating B-.[/B] The crowd still didn't get into the match much, I guess winning a match, having two monsters like the Samoans beating a team down beforehand wasn't as believable as all that. :( Principessa tries to get the crowd going some, by shooting some T Shirts to them. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Sadaharu Jimbo hypes the Tag Title re-match – Robinson & Bennett defending against Diaz & Wright. [B]Rating B.[/B] [B]Tag Title Match:[/B] Robinson and Bennett successfully defend, beating Diaz and Wright by DQ in 12mins, when the challengers got fed up with the champions rolling out of the ring at every opportunity, and started attacking them with chairs and a baseball bat from under the ring. [B]Rating A.[/B] Well I guess the crowd like to watch two teams cheating each other! Sadaharu Jimbo announces we will now see Hell Monkey v Akinori Kwakami. These two have been costing each other matches all month - now they finally get a legal fight. [B]Rating B.[/B] No surprise here really, as Hell Monkey drew with Akinori Kwakami by double count-out in 13mins, when neither man returned to the ring before the 10 count, preferring to keep beating on each other up the walkway. [B]Rating B.[/B] The champion, Noriyori Sanda hypes the triple threat match for his Japanese Title against Bryan Holmes and Ryoma Maruyama. He says that he's beaten them once already - and that was with the added distraction of Kwakami in the ring too, so tonight will be no different. [B]Rating B+.[/B] Yoshimi Mushashibo is backstage in front of a camera and taunts Buddy Garner, telling him that no-one has ever escaped from the Yoshimi Lock and that he will be no different. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Garner is seen in his dressing room watching Mushashibo's interview. He then storms off, looking for Mushashibo backstage. [B]Rating A*.[/B] [B]Japanese Title Match:[/B] Noriyori Sanda successfully defends his Japanese Title. Bryan Holmes eliminates Ryoma Maruyama first, after tying Sanda up in the ropes, but then after 16mins, Sanda turned the tide, hit all his big moves, and eventually pinned Holmes in the middle of the ring. [B]Rating B.[/B] Yoshimi Mushashibo defeated Buddy Garner by submission after 17mins. Having attempted to put each other in several different submission holds throughout the match, Mushashibo had to resort to using an eye gouge and a low blow to get Garner sufficiently disoriented to slap on the Yoshimi Lock, and true to his word, Garner did not escape it, although he passed out rather than actually submitting. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Eisaku Hoshino and Nobuatso Tatsuko are interviewed about their match against the Vesseys. "We've beaten them before - why should anything different happen tonight?" [B]Rating A*. [/B] True to their promise, Hoshino and Tatsuko do defeat the Vesseys when Tatsuko hits his Blind Kick on Larry after 14mins. [B]Rating A*.[/B] As they get backstage, the camera zooms in on the Vesseys, who are arguing about who cost them that match. Bryan is insistent that Larry isn't pulling his weight and needs to up his game. [B]Rating A*.[/B] A video shows the feud that has developed between Eisaku Kunomasu and Dread. [B]Rating A*.[/B] And another video follows, showing the history between Shuji Inukai and Mito Miwa, both their recent altercation and title matches from years ago. [B]Rating A*.[/B] These four men now meet in main event tag action, where Shuji Inukai and Dread defeat Mito Miwa and Eisaku Kunomasu by pinfall, when Inukai hits the Inukai Driver on Kunomasu. They were helped by some cheap shots by Bryan Vessey, who returned to help the Outsiders team, but without his older brother. [B]Rating A*.[/B] [B][U]OVERALL RATING A[/U][/B] I'm disappointed not to get an A* for that show, given that there were 3 A* matches to finish. 49,135 PPV buys this month, which is a slight increase on last month, but still behind BHOTWG. [B][U]Sunday Week 4 Jan 06. USA Tour. Held in Tri State. Attendance 127.[/U][/B] [B]OVERALL RATING B[/B]

[Rob4590]

[B][U][CENTER]Tuesday Week 1 Feb 2006. KINGS ROAD Held in Honshu. Attendance 4353[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Pre Show[/B] Yoshimi Mushashibo defeated Kozue Kawashima with the Yoshimi Lock in 8mins. [B]Rating B+.[/B] Thought I'd give Kawashima a chance to learn something from Yoshimi - a nice match but not as good as I would have expected American Elemental is seen moping around backstage before his match tonight. With a 0-7 win/loss record you can't really blame him. [B]Rating F [/B] Well I guess he’s not very popular yet, so no-one cares at all. Kazushige Matsuki defeats American Elemental by pinfall, holding onto his tights to make sure of the 3 count. [B]Rating C[/B] I guess that'll be 0-8 then! These two have great chemistry, which saved what would otherwise have been a very poor match. [B]Main Show[/B] Diaz and Wright come out and taunt Robinson and Bennett, telling them that although they may still be champions, they still haven't actually managed to pin either of them, and thats the only way that a team can be considered as a "great" team. [B]Rating C- [/B] Well that would have gone better if they said it in Japanese - I guess they are a bit slow on the uptake these two. :rolleyes: William Hayes continued his undefeated streak, successfully defending his [B]TV Title[/B] yet again by beating the veteran, Masayuki Shiga by submission in 9mins. [B]Rating C+. [/B] A tidy match, just a shame that Shiga has no more stamina than most of the audience, so was clearly struggling for the 2nd half of the fight. Robinson and Bennett are backstage, and they challenge Diaz and Wright to yet another match, telling them that for a team that hasn't had a victory over them yet, they seem to be overly c0cky, and just to tempt them into that further match, they will put the titles on the line as well. [B]Rating A.[/B] Thats how to make a promo - Diaz and Wright need to learn from these two. After their draw at Night of Pride, we next see a re-match between Hell Monkey and Akinori Kwakami. Hell Monkey picks up the pin with the Hell Fire Kick after 10mins. [B]Rating B+.[/B] A better match than the other night too, I guess it gets the crowd more into it when their favourite picks up the win! Principessa is backstage in her dressing room putting on her make-up and doing her hair. [B]Rating A*.[/B] [B]No 1 Contenders Match for the Japanese Title:[/B] The two defeated wrestlers from Night of Pride face off for a one on one shot at Noriyori Sanda. Bryan Holmes defeats Ryoma Maruyama with the Canadian Kiss after 10mins of high paced action. Holmes was helped late on in the match by some interference by the Wild Samoans, who cam out and attacked Maruyama. The commentators ask why they would be helping Holmes. [B]Rating A[/B] An excellent match all round. Holmes goes backstage to his dressing room with the Samoans, gets out two brown envelopes from his locker and gives them to the Samoans. He thanks them for their help in allowing him to regain the No 1 contendership for Sanda’s Japanese Title, and says that they will find the correct payment in the envelopes. [B]Rating C+.[/B] The commentators denounce Holmes for his underhanded actions. [B]Japanese Title Match:[/B] Noriyori Sanda defends his title against Raymond Diaz, winning by a clean pin in 10mins, to make his 4th successful defence. [B]Rating A.[/B] The commentators were surprised that this match stayed as a 1 on 1 match. Where was Lee Wright, Diaz's tag partner? Mito Miwa is interviewed backstage, and challenges Shuji Inukai to face him 1 on 1, saying that a tag win for the challenger doesn't mean anything as far as he is concerned. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Tatsuko and Hoshino defeat the Vessey Brothers yet again by pin, when Hoshino hits Larry Vessey with an Explosion Suplex after 11mins. [B]Rating A.[/B] The commentators comment that the Vesseys must be gluttons for punishment, as they seem to have no idea how to beat these two opponents. They weren't helped by Larry being off his game tonight, and also worn out by the end of the match - looks like his age is catching up with him. The other two participants in the main event at the recent PPV now face off. Eisaku Kunomasu stole a victory from a dominant Dread by locking in the Kunomasu Vice from nowhere, after Eisaku Hoshino returned a favour, by attacking Dread, to allow his friend a respite from what was turning into a merciless beating. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Dread was visibly tiring at the end, but their great in ring chemistry covered that up, as well as the fact that neither was prepared to show that the other hurt them with any shots. After the match, Dread storms off backstage after the laughing Hoshino, and beats him up badly when he catches him. [B]Rating A.[/B] [B][U]OVERALL RATING A[/U][/B] Due to some better advance booking this week we got 496,985 viewers for the show (approx 20k more than most shows so far) In other news, a new TV deal has been negotiated with Japanese Sports Vision from next month, who have agreed to move our TV show to a new time slot at 9pm on Fridays, still showing live. The show has also been increased to 2 hours, and rebranded as PGHW New Generation. [B][U]Sunday Week 1 Feb 06. USA Tour. Held in Tri State. Attendance 230.[/U][/B] [B]OVERALL RATING B+[/B]

[Rob4590]

[B][U][CENTER]Tuesday Week 2 Feb 2006. KINGS ROAD Held in Kyushu. Attendance 5000 (Sold Out)[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Pre Show[/B] Kazushige Matsuki laughs at American Elemental, ridiculing him about his losing streak and tells him to watch the next match to see how a REAL man fights. [B]Rating C.[/B] Matsuki defeats Stuart Ferdinand by pinfall with the Fist of Fury in 9mins. [B]Rating C+.[/B] A comfortable victory for the young brawler over the veteran Ferdinand, who will hopefully have showed him how a story should be told during a match, seeing as Matsuki really has no idea at the moment. [B]Main Show[/B] Diaz and Wright come out to the ring and happily accept the challenge from last week to take on Robinson and Wright. [B]Rating C.[/B] Well at least they remembered to try and speak Japanese this week - still totally un-intelligible but its a start :rolleyes: [B]TV Title Match:[/B] William Hayes defeats Junnosuke Fukazawa by pinfall in 10mins to defend his Television Title yet again. [B]Rating B-.[/B] A good match, and a good win for Hayes. PRIDE and Kawashima have a match next, in which they will be hoping to press their claims for a tag title shot soon. They comprehensibly defeat Flemmy Lemming and Danger Kumasaka with the Koiso Kutter to finish the match in 10mins. [B]Rating B-. [/B] Hopefully Flemmy will have learnt something here as well, partnering someone as experienced as Kumasaka. Bryan Holmes stands in front of a camera backstage, and demands a title shot against Noriyori Sanda. "I beat Maruyama last week - I am officially the No 1 Contender and I want my match - you and me, Sanda, one on one." [B]Rating A.[/B] The Wild Samoans are up next and get back to winning ways by defeating the young team of Champagne Lover and Tetsunori Yasuda by pin, when their manager, Mr Miwa, trips Yasuda and allows Rhino to pick up a simple pin. [B]Rating B-.[/B] After the match Dread charges out to the ring and beats up Lover and Yasuda, seemingly for no reason. [B]Rating C-.[/B] Shame half the crowd had gone for a toilet break already, so there was little reaction - I guess those that did see are used to Dread throwing his (considerable) weight around! The Vessey Brothers are being interviewed by Mr Miwa, when Sadaharu Jimbo interrupts and tells them that they have a match next week - they will be facing Hoshino yet again - but this time he will be back partnering Kunomasu, rather than Tatsuko. [B]Rating A*. [/B] Shuji Inukai defeats Ryoma Maruyama with the Untouchable Lariat in 12 exciting minutes. These two tore the arena up, with Maruyama hitting all his top rope moves early on, before the experience and technical know-how of the former World Champion overcame him. [B]Rating A*.[/B] They have great chemistry together and the crowd loved this match - so I think we might see these two fighting again in the future. Sadaharu Jimbo announces that tonights main event is going to be a cage match to finally sort out the argument between Mushashibo and Garner, with no interference from anyone else. [B]Rating A*.[/B] J Ro shoots the T Shirts. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Well - why not? Shuji Inukai has showered and changed after his match, and comes back out to the ring, where Mito Miwa is telling the crowd that he can beat Inukai easily, and Inukai says that he will face him again, so long as he puts the title on the line. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Yoshimi Mushashibo beats Buddy Garner by submission with the Yoshimi Lock in 13mins in a steel cage match. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Nothing to be said really - they both are technical workers and being in the cage just meant that they both could show off that skill wothout fear of outside interference. Great way to finish the night. After the match, Mushashibo grabs a mic, and challenges Nobuatso Tatsuko to face him next week. "After I lost to Miwa in my world title match, I was relegated down the rankings to just below you and Bryan Vessey after your semi-final performances in the tournament 2 months ago. I want another title shot - and if that means beating everyone ranked higher than me - then so be it - and you will be the first to lose to the Yoshimi Lock, Tatsuko." [B]Rating A*.[/B] [B][U]OVERALL RATING A.[/U][/B] Yasuda was used far too much, so some fans told me afterwards. Big deal! And another good TV rating this week – 498,292 viewers. [B][U]Sunday Week 2 Feb 06. USA Tour. Held in Tri State. Attendance 255.[/U][/B] [B]OVERALL RATING B-. [/B]

[Rob4590]

[B][U][CENTER]Tuesday Week 3 Feb 2006. KINGS ROAD Held in Hokkaido. Attendance 5000 (Sold Out)[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Pre Show[/B] Buddy Garner and Kozue Kawashima defeat the Wild Samoans by pinfall in 11mins. [B]Rating A.[/B] OK so its a strange pairing for this match - but Garner wanted to be on the show and I needed PRIDE in a few minutes time. But it seemed to work as they warmed the crowd up nicely..... And then it all went pear-shaped, as we are shown footage from earlier of American Elemental attacking Kazushige Matsuki as revenge for last weeks abuse. [B]Rating D.[/B] We then go to a live feed, where PRIDE Koiso interviews American Elemental, who says that yes, he has been poor so far, but its a new country and culture and it takes time to find your feet. He then challenges Matsuki to a match. [B]Rating C-. [/B] Well I knew Elemental would have the language problems again, so I was hoping that PRIDE could cover for him, given his excellent ability on the mic. Looks like he did a reasonable job overall. Principessa shoots the T Shirts. [B]Rating A*.[/B] [B]Main Show[/B] William Hayes continues undefeated on TV, retaining his [B]TV Title[/B] with a win over Stuart Ferdinand by pinfall in 9mins. [B]Rating C+.[/B] Hayes continues to produce reasonable matches, but given his regular cheating, I would have hoped that the crowd would have started to give him some heat by now - but it just doesn't seem to be happening. Sadaharu Jimbo hypes the next match - which is the Tag Title re-match between Robinson and Bennett (the champions) and Diaz and Wright. [B]Rating B.[/B] Diaz and Wright finally managed a win over Robinson and Bennett, however it was only by count-out after 11mins, when the champions decided they had had enough for today and retreated up the ramp, clutching their belts, as they retain the titles. [B]Rating B.[/B] Not their best match either :rolleyes: Sadaharu Jimbo announces that he is making Bryan Holmes the official No 1 Contender for Noriyori Sanda’s Japanese Title, and they will face each other 1 on 1 at the Fortitude PPV in 10 days time. [B]Rating A.[/B] He also announces that the next No 1 Contender for that title will be decided at the Fortitude PPV as well – it will be Hell Monkey v Ryoma Maruyama. [B]Rating B+.[/B] Another tag re-match next, and its once again no surprise when Kunomasu and Hoshino defeat the Vesseys in 12mins. Yet again Larry is the man made to submit to the Kunomasu Vice, and Bryan does not look happy at all. [B]Rating A. [/B] The 3 announcers, Keiji Takeda, Mr Miwa and Mr Jimbo hype the next match, which will be between Yoshimi Mushashibo and Nobuatso Tatsuko, mentioning that there will be a 20min time limit today. [B]Rating A.[/B] Mushashibo drew with Tatsuko when the 20min time limit expired. [B]Rating A*.[/B] A superb exhibition of aggressive wrestling between these two, and both are in such good shape that neither gets really close to a pin or submission during the whole match. The 3 announcers now hype tonight's main event, which will be a World Title match between the champion, Mito Miwa and the challenger, Shuji Inukai. [B]Rating B [/B] I'll let Jimbo do the talking on his own next time - the other two just spoilt the whole thing. [B]World Title Match:[/B] Mito Miwa retained the title against Shuji Inukai following a double DQ after 12mins. A very entertaining and even match ended prematurely when Dread ran out, and attacked both competitors. leaving the referee with no choice but to end the match. [B]Rating A*. [/B] After the bell, Dread continues to beat up both Miwa and, most surprisingly, his supposed ally Inukai. [B]Rating A.[/B] [B][U]OVERALL RATING A*.[/U][/B] Excellent show, Sadaharu Jimbo was slightly over used though. And we break the ½ million viewers for the first time with 512,812. :) [B][U]Sunday Week 3 Feb 06. USA Tour. Held in Tri State. Attendance 255.[/U][/B] [B]OVERALL RATING B-. [/B]

[Rob4590]

[B][U][CENTER]Tuesday Week 4 Feb 2006. KINGS ROAD Held in Honshu. Attendance 4332[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Pre Show[/B] Danger Kumasaka and Flemmy Lemming defeat Junnosuke Fukazawa and Champagne Lover by submission, and its Flemmy who gets the win with the Suicide Solution in 8mins. [B]Rating B-. [/B] Masaru Ugaki defeats Joshua Taylor with the Ugaki Clutch in 8mins. [B]Rating C+.[/B] [B]Main Show[/B] Kazushige Matsuki accepts American Elemental’s challenge for a match at the Fortitude PPV on Friday. [B]Rating C-.[/B] Sadaharu Jimbo hypes the match between Matsuki and Elemental. [B]Rating C-.[/B] Even with Jimbo's popularity, this segment sucked. :( [B]TV Title Match:[/B] William Hayes defeats Tetsunori Yasuda by pinfall in 10mins. That is now his 9th defence of the TV Title. [B]Rating B-.[/B] A good match! PRIDE and Kawashima are being interviewed when the Wild Samoans and their manager Mr Miwa interrupt and tell them that they are going to be coming after them next to get revenge for their defeat at Night of Pride. They tell PRIDE and Kawashima to hang around and watch what they will do to them next time they meet in the ring. [B]Rating B-. [/B] The Wild Samoans stayed in the ring to face Noriyori Sanda and Hell Monkey, the match ending in a draw after a double DQ in 12mins, when Sanda and Rhino Umaga refused to leave the ring when they weren't the legal men and a four man brawl ensued . [B]Rating B. [/B] Our 3 announcers hype the Tag Title rematch tonight - it'll be Robinson and Bennett against Diaz and Wright, yet again. [B]Rating B[/B] Christ - even I'm getting tired of seeing these two teams facing each other :rolleyes: Bryan Holmes also has a re-match tonight, against the man he beat for the No 1 contendership, Ryoma Maruyama. He "proves" it was no fluke by pinning the young Japanese flyer after 10mins, when he laid Maruyama out first with a set of brass knuckles that he produced from his tights. [B]Rating B+.[/B] Bryan and Larry Vessey are seen arguing backstage about their recent tag losses. Bryan tells Larry that he has had it up to here with losing and that things are going to have to change.... or he will be taking drastic action. [B]Rating A.[/B] [B]Tag Title Match:[/B] Robinson and Bennett defeat Diaz and Wright this week, and its actually a clean victory, when Lee Bennett hits Lee Wright with the Return Ticket. [B]Rating B.[/B] A poor rating for this match, given that previous efforts have produced A grades. I guess I'm not the only one who wants to see someone else get a match in this division The champions, Robinson and Bennett are celebrating their victory in the ring, when Dread rushes out and beats them up. [B]Ratings B (celebration) and B (Dread's attack)[/B] These attacks look totally random - what is he trying to prove ? Sadaharu Jimbo announces that we will see a rematch from last week at Fortitude, and that will be Kunomasu and Hoshino against the Vessey Brothers. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Yoshimi Mushashibo and Nobuatso Tatsuko are in the locker room, and are arguing about their draw last week, with both claiming that only the time limit stopped them from picking up the win. Mr Jimbo overhears them and tells them they can settle it on Friday at Fortitude 1 on 1, with no time limits. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Shuji Inukai finds Mito Miwa backstage and viciously attacks him, leaving him bleeding on the floor. [B]Rating A*.[/B] Tatsuko comes out and says he can’t wait till Friday to get his hands on Mushashibo, so he challenges Mushashibo and Shuji Inukai to a tag match right now. [B]Rating A*.[/B] He then introduces his partner for the match, who, not surprisingly, is none other than Buddy Garner, who is also anxious to get his hands on Mushashibo again. Inukai and Mushashibo steal the win though, when, thanks to Inukai's manager, Munenori Umari, both the referee and Tatsuko are distracted long enough for Inukai to nail Garner with the Untouchable Lariat and pin him in the centre of the ring. [B]Rating A*.[/B] An excellent main event to round off the night. [B]OVERALL RATING B.[/B] Apparently the crowd were expecting the Vesseys v Kunomasu and Hoshino to happen tonight, and not at the PPV, thanks to a new phenomen called "Blonde Booker Syndrome" :p . Champagne Lover was also slightly over used. Not a good show then as we actually LOST popularity in 3 of the 4 Japanese areas. Unsurprisingly our viewership was also back down to 476,753 tonight. Not a good day overall really. :(

[Rob4590]

[B][U]Matches arranged for the Fortitude PPV this Friday.[/U][/B] Kazushige Matsuki v American Elemental [B](F)[/B] - well I shouldn't have advance booked this one! Elemental has been losing every match he gets in, and Matsuki laughed at him. This match is the result. Hell Monkey v Ryoma Maruyama [B](C)[/B] for No 1 Contendership of Japanese Title - both fighters are looking to move up the rankings - a win here for either will give them a future title shot in the midcard. Wright and Diaz v PRIDE and Kawashima [B](C+). [/B]These two teams want the tag titles, but they will now face each other to see who will get a shot. Robinson and Bennett v Wild Samoans [B](C+)[/B] [B]for the Tag Titles.[/B] - the Samoans seem to have jumped the queue here but its their title shot tonight. Noriyori Sanda v Bryan Holmes [B](B-)[/B] [B]for the Japanese Title.[/B] - Holmes has earnt the right to challenge Sanda for a 3rd time for the gold. Will it be 3rd time lucky for the Canadian? Dread v Buddy Garner [B](A)[/B] - neither had a match tonight - so why not fight each other ? The Vesseys v Kunomasu and Hoshino [B](A)[/B] - can the Vesseys snap their losing streak? Or will Bryan get even more upset with his older brother ? Yoshimi Mushashibo v Nobuatso Tatsuko [B](A)[/B] - these two fought out a draw last week - who will be the better man tonight, and move up the rankings towards a world title shot? Mito Miwa v Shuji Inukai [B](A) [/B][B]for the World Title.[/B] - can Miwa retain the title that he has held for over 3 months now ?