Black Canvas Grappling | REAL Canvas Grappling [CV 2020]

Scottie · July 6, 2023

Just checking in to say this is still so great. Love the presentation for the graduates - Miyajima looks like a good prospect.

arlovski · July 6, 2023

STRONGEST LION SERIES

May 2021 | Highlights shown on Shogun TV as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

With the ACE SUMMIT ending in a shocking first-time win of Mabuchi Furusawa and Japan going into the Golden Week, BCG went into two secondary tours in the rather quiet summer months. The main attraction of the STRONGEST LION SERIES was certainly Furusawa's challenge for the GCG World Heavyweight Title currently held by Rokuemon Matsushita. In the pre-tour press conference Furusawa continued to strike distinctly softer notes compared to his former Golden Army self, speaking fairly often about respect, which didn't seem to impress the massive and unforgiving Matsushita at all. Both men feuded during the tour, where Furusawa was assisted mostly by Hiroyasu Gakusha, who couldn't have been happier with his transformation, Takenori Doi and King Lion.

The Devil Grappling Army meanwhile had to fight on two fronts, as the Golden Army pulled themselves together and went to challenge for the GCG World Tag Team Titles again. Just that this time the challengers wouldn't be Masahiro Genji and Masashi Urogataya, who held the titles for 9 months before passing them on to Matsushita and Bunrakuken Torii, but instead Takayuki Koga would personally take care of this alongside Ryunosuke Matsuki. This meant that Matsushita would have to fight in two title matches on the final night of the tour.

There had almost been a scandal on the 2nd Night, when Big Bruiser Findlay tried to pressure guest commentator Pistol Pete Hall into awarding him a re-match for the APWA International Heavyweight Title. Findlay's terrifying presence obviously wasn't enough to intimidate the legendary Texan though, who at 60 years remained an impressive figure and stood eye to eye with the boss of the Horde. Finally, a disgruntled Findlay pushed Hall - whereafter Hall pushed him back with such surprising force, that it made the Big Bruiser tumble! Hall then took off his hat and rolled up his sleeves and for a moment it looked like the raving Osaka crowd would be the first to see a comeback of Pistol Pete. Fortunately enough Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi came to the ring and prevented worse, when he accepted Findlay's challenge and told him, that he could beat him again. A statement, that had only convoked a malicious grin on the Bruiser's face.

This hasn't been the only occasion where Findlay hasn't gotten his will. On Night V, after he had been booked into some Matches with members of The Horde, Hellon was approached by the Big Bruiser and Giant Brody, after the masked monster won a Multiman Match, securing the deciding pinfall with his Devolution Bomb. They invited Hellion to the Horde, but the 360 lb behemoth didn't seem very inclined to join. Findlay said, that that was no problem at all - at the tour-ending event Brody would show him the benefits of the group in a Singles Match.

With the centre of attention on others, the Funakoshi-gun transitioned into lower regions of the card, often taking on the gaijin to give the Young Lions in the ring crew a well-deserved pause from their constant attacks. In the course of the tour it had also been announced, that Nichiren Funakoshi has successfully surpassed Pistol Pete Hall as the longest-reigning BCG World Heavyweight Champion with an unbelievable 517 days!

BCG STRONGEST LION SERIES | FINAL NIGHT

Sakai, Japan - 23.05.2021

Attendance: 15.000, shown on Emperor Choice (154.990 viewers, 0.30 rating)

Show Rating: [76]

Tanyu Toshusai, King Lion, Katsunosuki Oshiro, Giant Godai & Big Boss Urayama defeated Sojuro Sen, Naozane Goto, Nobuyuki Kubo, Kawanari Enomoto & Shogo Awatari (13m05s) with the Roaring Pounce from Lion to Goto [62]
Yoshinaka Taku, Motoyuki Miyake, Omezo Shikitei & Sofu Ozawa defeated Eikichi Itou, Isoruko Arakaki, Noritoshi Miura & Inejiro Yoshizawa (17m41s) with the Lariat Taku to Miura [65]
Nichiren Funakoshi, Razan Okamoto, Noburo Ikoma & Sharaku Okimasa defeated Animal Harker, King Kong Kennedy, Sasquatch McGraw & Otis von Battenberg (19m41s) with the German Suplex from Okamoto to Harker [72]
Hiroyasu Gakusha & Takenori Doi defeated Ryobe Uno & Koyo Kinoshita (16m23s) with the Gakusha Golden Bomb from Gakusha to Uno [61]
Hellion defeated Giant Brody (18m54s) with the Devolution Bomb [63]
GCG World Tag Team Championship: Bunrakuken Torii & Rokuemon Matsushita © defeated Takayuki Koga & Ryunosuke Matsuki (31m15s) with the Dangerous Forearm from Torii to Matsuki [89] - 1ST DEFENSE -
APWA International Heavyweight Championship: Big Bruiser Findlay defeated Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi © (28m32s) with the Oklahoma Stampede [79] - TITLE CHANGE! -
GCG World Heavyweight Championship: Mabuchi Furusawa defeated Rokuemon Matsushita © (34m39s) with the Bridging Tiger Suplex [77] - TITLE CHANGE! -

It seemed like Findlay's plan regarding Hellion had gone terribly wrong, when the masked monster beat up Giant Brody during and after the end of their match. Much worse - when Findlay won back the APWA International Heavyweight Title from Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi, Hellion instantly came out and challenged for it and the match was sanctionized just as quickly by Pistol Pete Hall, who hadn't forgotton how Findlay has treated him during the tour.
The audience didn't seem satisfied with Mabuchi Furusawa's title victory against a visibly tired Rokuemon Matsushita, who had already gone 30 minutes in his match against Koga and Matsuki. It felt like the question remained open, if Furusawa could have beaten a Matsushita again at his best.

Edited July 6, 2023 by arlovski

arlovski · July 6, 2023

SUMMER POWER SERIES

June - July 2021 | Highlights shown on Shogun TV as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

Be it convincing or not, with the win against Rokuemon Matsushita in his pocket, Mabuchi Furusawa was able to put the GCG World Heavyweight Title around his waist for the second time - and this time, the once proud member of the Golden Army, seemed stronger than ever. With his ACE SUMMIT victory over Nichiren Funakoshi in the Semis, he would have also been a reasonable next contender in line for the BCG World Heavyweight Title. Furusawa had other plans though and instead called out Takayuki Koga right on the first show of the tour, to challenge him to a match. Furusawa would put up the GCG World Heavyweight Title - but if he won, the Golden Army would have to dissolve for good. With all the internal complications within the group and Koga's leadership heavily in question, he accepted the offer right away, not even thinking much about it. It seemed like this was going to be his last chance to turn the GCG faction around, whereas for Furusawa the match was a means of revenge.

In the feud between Hellion and Big Bruiser Findlay some vicious battles were fought in various Multiman bouts involving The Horde on one side and a random selection of people on the other. With Hellion not having any companions in the company he had a very hard time taking on The Horde in full force and took quite a few beatings, but still looked very strong out there ahead of his APWA International Heavyweight Title match.

During the summer months, Taku-gun had the chance to test their strength in several matches against Funakoshi-gun. In one particularly interesting Six Man Tag Team Match, faction leader Yoshinaka Taku managed to gather a pinfall victory over Razan Okamoto using his father's Gutwrench Tombstone in the 32nd minute, with a proud Toshinobu Taku watching at the commentary table. Three days later, Noburo Ikoma was able to return the favour, when he pinned Taku with the Northern Lights Bomb in another Six Man Tag Team Match. This victory was enough for Ikoma and his partner Sharaku Okimasa to challenge for the BCG World Tag Team Titles against Taku and Motoyuki Miyake on the Final Night of the tour.

But the clashes between the two friendly groups went further, when Sofu Ozawa announced both his 30th Anniversary Special Match as well as his Retirement Match for the tour-ending event. While he wanted his Anniversary Match to be at the side of Omezo Shikitei against Funakoshi and Okamoto, his Retirement Match was to be a Singles Match against the reigning BCG World Heavyweight Champion. Funakoshi said, that he would be honoured to be Ozawa's final opponent.

BCG SUMMER POWER SERIES | FINAL NIGHT

Himeji, Japan - 18.07.2021

Attendance: 18.000, shown on Emperor Choice (225.793 viewers, 0.45 rating)

Show Rating: [80]

Giant Godai, Big Boss Urayama, Katsunosuki Oshiro & Ikki Hosaka defeated Nobuyuki Kubo, Mitsuhide Miyajima, Kawanari Enomoto & Shogo Awatari (14m42s) with the Emperor Bomb from Urayama to Enomoto [31]
Bunrakuken Torii, Rokuemon Matsushita, Sojuro Sen & Naozane Goto defeated Hiroyasu Gakusha, Takenori Doi, Koyo Kinoshita & Ryobe Uno (18m09s) with the Devil Windmill Suplex Hold from Matsushita to Kinoshita [70]
Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi, Tanyu Toshusai, Eikichi Itou & Isoruko Arakaki defeated Animal Harker, King Kong Kennedy, Sasquatch McGraw & Otis von Battenberg (22m51s) with the Wrist-clutch Exploder from Wakabayashi to Kennedy [62]
Sofu Ozawa 30th Anniversary Special Match: Nichiren Funakoshi & Razan Okamoto defeated Sofu Ozawa & Omezo Shikitei (13m52s) with the Butterfly Backbreaker from Funakoshi to Ozawa [76]
Sofu Ozawa Retirement Special Match: Nichiren Funakoshi defeated Sofu Ozawa (3m33s) with the Roaring Lariat [67]
BCG World Tag Team Championship: Yoshinaka Taku & Motoyuki Miyake © defeated Noburo Ikoma & Sharaku Okimasa (26m09s) with the Full Nelson Bomb from Taku to Ikoma [76] - 2ND DEFENSE -
APWA International Heavyweight Championship: Big Bruiser Findlay © defeated Hellion (28m16s) with the Oklahoma Stampede [63] - 1ST DEFENSE -
GCG World Heavyweight Championship: Mabuchi Furusawa © defeated Takayuki Koga (32m48s) with the Furusawa Armbar [82] - 1ST DEFENSE -

The retirement ceremony for Sofu Ozawa was conducted by Yoshifusa Maeda and Toshinobu Taku. But all members of the Taku-gun and many of his friends working in the back showed up as well to applaud the 49-years old, who had a 30 years long career behind him.
With the wild brawl between the colossal Big Bruiser Findlay and Hellion over and both men gasping for air, the Horde slowly entered the ring and surrounded the masked behemoth, that for the first time since joining BCG seemed vulnerable. But Findlay raised his hand to hold his men back for the moment and asked Hellion once again, if he wanted to be part of the group. This time Hellion nodded. Findlay asked him to earn his spot then by taking out the weakest member of the group. All of a sudden the other Horde members got visibly nervous - and before King Kong Kennedy could press out a "What the -", the masked behemoth already had him in for the Devolution Bomb! Hellion was in and Kennedy was done.
After Mabuchi Furusawa's victory in the Main Event of the show, Takayuki Koga said that he was fed up with Furusawa, Black Canvas Grappling and the Golden Army and he left the company. Furusawa declared the Golden Army for dissolved and offered its' remaining members to join him under the moniker Furusawa-gun, with him as the sole leader. He also announced to challenge Nichiren Funakoshi to a Title Match at GRAPPLING KINGDOM II with the BCG World Heavyweight Title and the GCG World Heavyweight Title on the line.

arlovski · July 6, 2023

ROAD TO GRAPPLING KINGDOM

August 2021 | Highlights shown on Shogun TV as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

GRAPPLING KINGDOM had always been envisioned by Yoshifusa Maeda as THE big event of the year from Black Canvas Grappling, surpassing even the ACE SUMMIT, the WORLD TAG TEAM GRAND PRIX and the NEW YEAR'S EVE SUPERSHOW. Furthermore, it was meant to be a reconciliatory event between BCG and GCG. The first iteration had Hiroyasu Gakusha and Takayuki Koga in title matches in the Main Event. This year both of those titles, the BCG and the GCG World Heavyweight Title, were to be on the line in the very same match! Either record-setting super champion Nichiren Funakoshi or ACE SUMMIT winner Mabuchi Furusawa was going to leave the arena in Wakayama as the first double champion. Furusawa had been absolutely on fire this year, since regaining his composure in the ring with the help of Gakusha. He had already beaten Funakoshi in the Semi Final of this year's ACE SUMMIT, whereas Funakoshi continued his strong run as a champion, but had transitioned a little bit back into the second row during summer.

In the course of the ROAD TO GRAPPLING KINGDOM, the former Golden Army members Ryunosuke Matsuki, Masahiro Genji and Masashi Urogataya joined Furusawa's new faction going by the name Furusawa-gun. They also adapted his newfound politeness and respectfulness. While they still considered themselves GCG trueborns and kept their own identity, none of them was insulting the 'Roaring Lion' tradition anymore. Under these circumstances a new and more respectful sort of rivalry between Furusawa-gun and Funakoshi-gun came about, that led to a revitalization of the GCG stars in the process.

With Taku-gun losing another member into retirement past month Yoshinaka Taku was again keeping his eyes open for a potential new member. Takenori Doi was already one of the brightest diamonds of the Black Dojo, back in his days as a Young Lion. He was so good indeed that he skipped the traditional excursion and went straight for pro at the young age of 22 years, where legendary Hiroyasu Gakusha took him under his wings as a protegé. As Doi had already been associated with Team Taku back when it was still under Toshinobu Taku's leadership, the invitation to the group came only natural and he willingly accepted. No Trial Series was needed, as Taku knew his potential. Instead he organized an inaugrugational match for Doi against Razan Okamoto for GRAPPLING KINGDOM and during this tour again Funakoshi-gun were their preferred sparring partners.

Elsewhere the Horde's powerhouse team of Sasquatch McGraw and Otis von Battenberg positioned themselves for a shot at the BCG World Tag Team Titles with strong performances in the whole of August. In terms of maliciousness both men come right after their leader Big Bruiser Findlay - they ended two Multiman bouts against the Devil Grappling Army willingly by disqualification, attacking their opponents at the big event Rokuemon Matsushita and Bunrakuken Torii with chairs! By the second time it looked like Torii's arm was seriously injured, before security was able to go in between and prevent worse. The gaijin seemed to be capable of anything to gain an unfair advantage.

BCG GRAPPLING KINGDOM II

Wakayama, Japan - 29.08.2021

Attendance: 31.029, shown on Emperor Choice (279.323 viewers, 0.55 rating)

Show Rating: [91]

Eikichi Itou, Isoruko Arakaki, Katsunosuki Oshiro & Ikki Hosaka defeated Koyo Kinoshita, Ryobe Uno, Mitsuhide Miyajima & Nobuyuki Kubo (14m44s) with the Arakaki Spike from Arakaki against Kubo [50]
Masahiro Genji & Masashi Urogataya defeated Omezo Shikitei & Sharaku Okimasa (17m28s) with the Fusion Reactor from Genji to Shikitei [73]
Sojuro Sen, Naozane Goto, Giant Godai & Big Boss Urayama defeated Hiroyasu Gakusha, King Lion, Kawanari Enomoto & Shogo Awatari (18m16s) with the Goto Slam from Goto to Lion [61]
Big Bruiser Findlay & Hellion defeated Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi & Tanyu Toshusai (25m26s) with the Devolution Bomb from Hellion to Toshusai [75]
Yoshinaka Taku defeated Noburo Ikoma (26m52s) with the Gutwrench Tombstone [79]
GCG World Tag Team Championship: Bunrakuken Torii & Rokuemon Matsushita © defeated Sasquatch McGraw & Otis von Battenberg (28m08s) with the Backdrop Driver from Matsushita to Battenberg [77] - 2ND DEFENSE -
Razan Okamoto defeated Takenori Doi (31m20s) with the Dangerous Brainbuster [83]
BCG & GCG World Heavyweight Championship: Mabuchi Furusawa [GCG] defeated Nichiren Funakoshi [BCG] (37m20s) with the Bridging Tiger Suplex [94] - TITLE CHANGE! [BCG] | 2ND DEFENSE [GCG] -

Mabuchi Furusawa did it - not only did he manage to defeat Funakoshi again and this time on the biggest stage Black Canvas Grappling had ever had so far with two major titles on the line, but after four years with the company, he had finally convinced the audience of himself. Furusawa was almost in disbelief, when after an initial silence of shock, a wave of applause went towards him. In the final promo of the night he remained humble, thanked the onviewers and gave three deep bows, one towards each portion of the audience.

arlovski · July 6, 2023

WORLD TAG TEAM GRAND PRIX II | FIELD OF PARTICIPANTS

With GRAPPLING KINGDOM II only one week in the past it was already time for the second big tournament of the year for Black Canvas Grappling - the WORLD TAG TEAM GRAND PRIX! Just like the ACE SUMMIT, the WTTGP is a round-robin tournament that consists of two Blocks with 8 randomly distributed Tag Teams each. Block Matches have a maximum time limit of 30 minutes. Wins award 2 points, Draws 1 point for each team, Losses 0 points. The winners of Block A face the runner-ups of Block B and vice versa in the Semi Finals, before the ultimate winner of the tournament is crowned in the Grand Finale and awarded a shot at the Tag Team Championship of their choice.

This year once again two guest teams were taking part in the chase for Tag Team gold. From Pride Glory Honor Wrestling the talented Eien Miyamoto and Tsurayuki Kamachi were announced as tournament participants. Both will be teaming up for the first time, both men are considered the future of the company and are looking to leave their stamp in the Grand Prix. The second guest team are the technical experts Nigel Svensson and Pavel Vanzycha from Europe.

BLOCK A

OTIS VON BATTENBERG & SASQUATCH MCGRAW | 2ND PARTICIPATION

affiliated with The Horde

HIROYASU GAKUSHA & KING LION | 1ST PARTICIPATION

MASAHIRO GENJI & MASASHI UROGATAYA | 2ND PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Furusawa-gun

NOBURO IKOMA & SHARAKU OKIMASA | 2ND PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Funakoshi-gun

EIEN MIYAMOTO & TSURAYUKI KAMACHI | 1ST PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Pride Glory Honor Wrestling

OMEZO SHIKITEI & TAKENORI DOI | 1ST PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Taku-gun

BUNRAKUKEN TORII & ROKUEMON MATSUSHITA | 2ND PARTICIPATION

reigning GCG World Tag Team Champions

affiliated with Devil Grappling Army

FUYUHIKO WAKABAYASHI & TANYU TOSHUSAI | 2ND PARTICIPATION

BLOCK B

BIG BRUISER FINDLAY & HELLION | 1ST PARTICIPATION

affiliated with The Horde

NICHIREN FUNAKOSHI & RAZAN OKAMOTO | 2ND PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Funakoshi-gun

MABUCHI FURUSAWA & RYUNOSUKE MATSUKI | 1ST PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Furusawa-gun

EIKICHI ITOU & ISORUKO ARAKAKI | 2ND PARTICIPATION

SOJURO SEN & NAOZANE GOTO | 2ND PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Devil Grappling Army

NIGEL SVENSSON & PAVEL VANZYCHA | 1ST PARTICIPATION

YOSHINAKA TAKU & MOTOYUKI MIYAKE | 2ND PARTICIPATION

reigning BCG World Tag Team Champions

affiliated with Taku-gun

RYOBE UNO & KOYO KINOSHITA | 1ST PARTICIPATION

Edited July 7, 2023 by arlovski

DarK_RaideR · July 7, 2023

Another stacked tournament, real intersting how the roster has evolved in comparison to the starting BCG roster.

P.S. Is it just me or is Takenori Doi rocking the Tanahashi hairstyle?

arlovski · July 7, 2023

GRAND PRIX SERIES

September - October 2021 | Highlights shown on Shogun TV as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

Just two weeks after GRAPPLING KINGDOM II had ended with the shocking victory of Mabuchi Furusawa over the record-setting BCG World Heavyweight Champion Nichiren Funakoshi, making Furusawa BCG's first ever double World Heavyweight Champion, all eyes were setting for the WORLD TAG TEAM GRAND PRIX and for two months the majority of the roster could take Singles Wrestling off their minds.

The draft lottery had by coincidence split both of this year's guest Tag Teams evenly between the two Blocks, with the PGHW team of Eien Miyamoto and Tsurayuki Kamachi ending up in Block A. Other than their PGHW colleagues Danny Cavanagh and Tim Westybrook, the two japanese men had a much harder time in the tournament. While they managed to draw with former GCG World Tag Team Champions Masahiro Genji and Masashi Urogataya, they were able to take only two wins and ended up on rather disappointing 5 points in the end. The Furusawa-gun members did a little better, making it 7 points with three wins and the draw against Miyamoto and Kamachi - it seemed like the new spirit in their faction elevated them and brought them back on the right track, even if that wasn't sufficient against the top group of Block A this year.

Unsurprisingly the dominating force in Block A had been the team, that won the first WORLD TAG TEAM GRAND PRIX in 2020 - Bunrakuken Torii and Rokuemon Matsushita were once again unstoppable! The two long-term companions, who somehow manage to share the leadership over the Devil Grappling Army without any drama, seemed once again to be the perfect combination of raw power and crisp technique, leaving not a single point behind in the course of the 1st Round. They were able to beat even the other two contenders for the 1st place, demolishing the until then overwhelming Sasquatch McGraw and Otis von Battenberg in a vicious brawl in a little over 20 minutes and finishing off the relentless team of Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi and Tanyu Toshusai shortly before the 30 minute mark. With the Block A winners clear fairly early in the tournament, the battle for the 2nd place was more interesting, as both the Horde members as well as Wakabayashi and Toshusai defeated every other team in their Block as well. The two teams eventually met on the 11th Night of the tour and here the Japanese were a tad too smart for the brutish americans, who they tired out before defeating them with a combination of Lariats and Throws.

The european guest Tag Team in Block B consisting of Nigel Svensson and Pavel Vanzycha had a nightmare of a tournament, earning not a single point and losing to every other team. Still, both men received lots of praise in the dirt sheets and insider magazines for their solid performances throughout the whole tournament, leaving nothing to be desired for enthusiasts of pure, technical wrestling. Coming out much better, but nevertheless unsuccessful were the teams of Eikichi Itou and Isoruko Arakaki and Yoshinaka Taku and Motoyuki Miyake. The heavyweights ended up on 6 points, improving by 2 compared to their previous participation and the Taku-gun members had a very good start and even looked like one of the teams, that might potentially advance to the 2nd Round, but ultimately weren't en par with the three leading duos.

Who to advance was decided by the combos Mabuchi Furusawa & Ryunosuke Matsuki, Big Bruiser Findlay & Hellion and Nichiren Funakoshi & Razan Okamoto. All three teams met each other in the squared circle only on the final Nights of the 1st Round, making the decision in Block B as exciting as possible. Up to that point it looked like the gaijin team was invincible, making it look so effortless to take out the other competitors seemingly without taking any damage. The injury of Giant Brody right before the tournament almost turned out the be a blessing, but then the other top teams were a much tougher nut to crack. In their bout against the Furusawa-gun members one could argue that Findlay and Hellion were lucky to get a time limit draw, as Findlay of all people, was locked tight in the Furusawa Armbar and severely out of breath by the end of the match. At the following show Funakoshi and Okamoto drew with Furusawa and Matsuki as well, making any outcome possible again by the numbers. But the Funakoshi-gun members were too strong on Night XIV for the foreigners, where Funakoshi inflicted a rare pinfall loss to the Big Bruiser.

BUNRAKUKEN TORII & ROKUEMON MATSUSHITA | FUYUHIKO WAKABAYASHI & TANYU TOSHUSAI

WINNER OF BLOCK A | RUNNER-UP OF BLOCK A

NICHIREN FUNAKOSHI & RAZAN OKAMOTO | MABUCHI FURUSAWA & RYUNOSUKE MATSUKI

WINNER OF BLOCK B | RUNNER-UP OF BLOCK B

On Night XV the advancing teams of both Blocks met each other in an Eight Man Tag Team Match with Block A on one side and Block B on the other. In this encounter, that lasted for 47 minutes, Block B had the upper hand when Mabuchi Furusawa held Tanyu Toshusai on the ground for three after a Bridging Tiger Suplex. In the Semi Finals even the double champion was no match for the combo of Bunrakuken Torii and Rokuemon Matsushita, though - it was the stellar Furusawa who had to take the loss after Torii's Dangerous Forearm in the 35th minute. Later that night Nichiren Funakoshi and Razan Okamoto made their advancement to the Grand Finale perfect as well after 32 minutes, which means the the 2nd WORLD TAG TEAM GRAND PRIX will have the same final match as the first one!

BCG WORLD TAG TEAM GRAND PRIX II

Tokyo, Japan - 24.10.2021

Attendance: 10.000, shown on Emperor Choice (235.743 buys, 0.47 rating)

Show Rating: [84]

Nobuyuki Kubo & Mitsuhide Miyajima defeated Katsunosuki Oshiro & Ikki Hosaka (8m14s) with the Running Knee Side-Swipe from Kubo to Hosaka [29]
Eikichi Itou, Isoruki Arakaki, Giant Godai & Big Boss Urayama defeated Sojuro Sen, Naozane Goto, Kawanari Enomoto & Shogo Awatari (15m43s) with the Lariat from Arakaki to Enomoto [58]
Masahiro Genji & Masashi Urogataya defeated Ryobe Uno & Koyo Kinoshita (17m12s) with the Fusion Reactor from Genji to Uno [67]
Big Bruiser Findlay, Animal Harker, Sasquatch McGraw & Otis von Battenberg defeated Noburo Ikoma, Sharaku Okimasa, Omezo Shikitei & Takenori Doi (18m29s) with the Lariat from McGraw to Doi [67]
Hellion defeated Yoshinaka Taku (20m47s) with the Devolution Bomb [72]
Tanyu Toshusai defeated Hiroyasu Gakusha (24m07s) with the Brainbuster [71]
Ryunosuke Matsuki defeated Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi (32m43s) with the Mountain SUKI [72]
World Tag Team Grand Prix II - Grand Finale: Bunrakuken Torii & Rokuemon Matsushita defeated Nichiren Funakoshi & Razan Okamoto (37m02s) with the Dangerous Forearm from Torii to Okamoto [86]

The winner's ceremony after the Main Event of the show was conducted by Toshinobu Taku and Masayuki Shiga and for the first time not by Yoshifusa Maeda personally. Afterwards Torii and Matsushita said, as they were already the reigning GCG World Tag Team Champions and had no interest in unifying the Tag Team Titles at the moment, they would like to go for the BCG and GCG World Heavyweight Titles. Both were conscious that a challenge like this could not be answered right away, but left it as a suggestion, expecting an answer from Maeda in the course of the next tour.

arlovski · July 8, 2023

ROAD TO ANNIVERSARY SHOW

November 2021 | Highlights shown on Shogun TV as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

It's the 10th anniversary of Black Canvas Grappling and to this occasion owner Yoshifusa Maeda gave a more extended press conference, than usual. He spoke about the hardships and obstacles his company had to face during the early years, the rivalry with the Modern Japan Movement and Golden Canvas Grappling and about how the Tsunami - be it brought by nature, by god or by a higher force - had cleansed the surface of japanese pro wrestling but left BCG mostly unharmed. Maeda added, that long before BCG, he had been defending the heritage of the 'Roaring Lion' and that it would be 49 years in January, that he had spent only for this cause. He himself would turn 67 in January, which was a good age according to him. For a while there was silence only interrupted by a few hecklers, who yelled "MAEDA!" and "DON'T LEAVE!", as if they already knew, what was coming. Maeda continued to emphasize on all the achievements of the BCG of today - big events drawing 30.000 people, nationwide exposure through Emperor Choice, a large roster with western stars and homegrown talent, the reconciliation efforts with GCG and its former stars and last but not least the continuing legacy of the 'Roaring Lion'. He said that he never had any doubt, that tradition would persist and that reflection to it would evoke greatness again. Another rhetorical pause, before Maeda quoted his oldest friend and rival Kazu Yoshizawa, who had helped him build the company and never left his side until his retirement on that day three years ago. According to Maeda, Yoshizawa told him that you might still have your sharpness at higher age, but tend to get rather short-sighted and that there was a time to move on and make room for someone else, who had a clearer look at the bigger picture of things. The BCG president said, that he had thought about these words a lot in the past few weeks and that he felt like it was indeed time for a fresh perspective on the company - especially now, that so much was changing. He ended with the words, that he had always considered himself a defender against change, as he had seen its negative potential with his own eyes. At the same time he admitted, that there was also good in it and that it took someone who respected the traditions, but still had an open mind for restoration, to elevate BCG further. Thus Maeda would be looking for a successor. Not today, not tomorrow, but in the next few months, a hand-picked man would take over the steering wheel of BCG.

Competitively the November tour was unaffected by Maeda's announcement. Long before speaking about his successor Maeda had adressed the challenge issued by WTTGP winners Bunrakuken Torii and Rokuemon Matsushita towards Mabuchi Furusawa. The president said, that several things could be brought up in their favour. Matsushita's loss of the GCG World Heavyweight Title had been unfortunate, as he had to defend his Tag Team Championship on the same day. Both men had already won the previous WTTGP and asserted their dominance. They already held one Tag Team Championship and they had also defeated any major contender during the tournament as well as Furusawa in a direct encounter. And also Torii hasn't had a chance at a major Singles Title for quite a while know, even though his performances have been superb this year. He finally said, that he liked the idea and approved, that Torii and Matsushita would be able to challenge for Singles Titles instead of Tag Team Titles. He underlined though, that this was an exception. While Torii and Matsushita were the same age, as a professional Torii was two years senior to the charismatic giant - thus Matsushita took a step back and let Torii go first. Torii decided, that he would challenge for the BCG World Heavyweight Title at the ANNIVERSARY SHOW, whereas Matsushita would fight for the GCG World Heavyweight Title he had already held once at the NEW YEAR'S EVE SUPERSHOW. As a result we had seen several encounters between the Devil Grappling Army and the Furusawa-gun during the tour, that led to Ryunosuke Matsuki challenging Matsushita to a Singles Match as well.

With the tournament winners busy in the Singles segment, Maeda awarded a shot at the BCG World Tag Team Titles to Nichiren Funakoshi and Razan Okamoto. Both men had beaten the reigning champions Yoshinaka Taku and Motoyuki Miyake convincingly in their Block B match. Once again their respective factions, who have a friendly relationship, met each other in Multiman bouts during the tour, where the Funakoshi-gun has had a clear edge.

The APWA International Heavyweight Championship would be on the line as well at the ANNIVERSARY SHOW, as was decided by APWA representative Pistol Pete Hall. Hall said that he liked what he had seen so far from Sasquatch McGraw, who had another good run alongside his partner in the WTTGP. He gave the shot to McGraw who would be facing his boss Big Bruiser Findlay on the tour-ending big event. McGraw let Findlay know ahead that he respected him - but not so much to pass up on the title and the money coming along with it.

BCG ANNIVERSARY SHOW

Kyoto, Japan - 21.11.2021

Attendance: 25.000, shown on Emperor Choice (289.066 viewers, 0.57 rating)

Show Rating: [84]

Masahiro Genji, Masashi Urogataya, Katsunosuki Oshiro & Ikki Hosaka defeated Sojuro Sen, Naozane Goto, Mitsuhide Miyajima & Nobuyuki Kubo (12m41s) with the German Suplex from Urogataya to Miyajima [61]
Noburo Ikoma, Sharaku Okimasa, Giant Godai & Big Boss Urayama defeated Eikichi Itou, Isoruko Arakaki, Kawanari Enomoto & Shogo Awatari (15m32s) with the Northern Lights Bomb from Ikoma to Itou [61]
Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi & Tanyu Toshusai defeated Ryobe Uno & Koyo Kinoshita (17m57s) with the Exploder from Wakabayashi to Uno [58]
Hellion, Animal Harker & Otis von Battenberg defeated Hiroyasu Gakusha, Omezo Shikitei & Takenori Doi (16m17s) with the Devolution Bomb from Hellion to Gakusha [60]
APWA International Heavyweight Championship: Big Bruiser Findlay © defeated Sasquatch McGraw (24m11s) with the Oklahoma Stampede [68] - 2ND DEFENSE -
Rokuemon Matsushita defeated Ryunosuke Matsuki (25m33s) with the Backdrop Driver [79]
BCG World Tag Team Championship: Nichiren Funakoshi & Razan Okamoto defeated Yoshinaka Taku & Motoyuki Miyake © (31m53s) with the Dangerous Brainbuster from Okamoto to Miyake [83] - TITLE CHANGE! -
BCG World Heavyweight Championship: Bunrakuken Torii defeated Mabuchi Furusawa © (35m46s) with the Flying Forearm Off Top [86] - TITLE CHANGE! -

Almost instantly after the Main Event bell rang, a music never heard before in Black Canvas Grappling filled the arena and out came ... KC Glenn! The man, who had left his stamp as super junior Helikaon in BHOTWG in the past six years, was looking much heavier and more muscular. He came to the ring in a leather jacket to face a tired Bunrakuken Torii, asking him for a match for his just won title at the New Year's Eve Supershow. Torii seemed confused by this sudden and unexpected challenge, but he said, that he was a fighting champion and accepted.

CGN91 · July 8, 2023

Losing Maeda as the front figure is unlucky. I mean he got his vision of Canvas Grappling on the biggest stage yet back again like back in the day with GCG. I'm really curious to see who his successor will be though. I don't know exactly how your in-game world has evolved but there are some candidates who have a history with Maeda and/or Canvas Grappling as a whole.

Anniversary seemed like a very good show overall. From the story of Funakoshi and Okamoto being the most dominant team to the title change in the main event, which came a bit surprising for me in first place. I liked the new Furusawa and now he's got Matsushita, which good momentum, to face for the GCG title next. Ouch! Torii versus a bigger KC Glenn sounds like a very good match on paper.

arlovski · July 8, 2023

WINTER STRIKE SERIES

December 2021 | Highlights shown on Shogun TV as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

The events were almost overflowing during the November tour of Black Canvas Grappling, with Yoshifusa Maeda's announcement of his upcoming retirement as owner of the company, with Bunrakuken Torii's BCG World Heavyweight Title win in the Main Event of the ANNIVERSARY SHOW against a stellar Mabuchi Furusawa and finally with the unexpected, shocking debut of KC Glenn, a former BHOTWG star. Torii had accepted Glenn's challenge for his just won title, whereas his companion Rokuemon Matsushita still had a GCG World Heavyweight Title shot up the sleeve for the NEW YEAR'S EVE SUPERSHOW, making December 2021 not a contemplative, but rather turbulent month with two major titles on the line on the tour-ending big event. To make things worse (or better, whatever the perspective) by the end of the month all of western Japan was hit by a heavy snow storm, coating the country in white and leading to several traffic jams in the metropolitan areas.

Of the major japanese factions of Black Canvas Grappling, the Devil Grappling Army could always be considered the most non-conformist one and the two leaders underlined that image by approaching KC Glenn to become part of their faction during the tour. The man who had just bulked up to middleweight with all the ambitions going along with such a weight gain in Japan was certainly flattered, but not willing to give them an answer right away, taking his time to acclimate himself to the new environment first. He teamed on several occasions with and against the DGA in the course of the WINTER STRIKE SERIES and was looking really strong out there, but not necessarily advantageous over Torii.

KC GLENN

30 years old, 11 years of experience

178 cm | 105 kg

1x Sam Keith Classic winner, 1x BHOTWG Best Of The Super Juniors winner, 1x BHOTWG Junior Heavyweight Champion, 1x BHOTWG Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion

Kevin Christopher "KC" Glenn is one of the rising stars of wrestling. Trained by Joey Minnesota, he has a great blend of technical ability and aerial prowess and also has the useful habit of being able to draw great matches out of other, less-talented wrestlers. Perhaps his only weakness is on the microphone, where his heavy southern drawl can become a problem in some places. After making his name with MAW on the back of several show-stealing performances he was able to get on the radar of BHOTWG, signing a full time deal with them in 2015. He became known as Helikaon in Japan and developed into a strong part of the junior heavyweight division.

Matsushita in the meantime was matched with Furusawa, who - other than back as a leader of the snakepit Golden Army - had the back of his team mates this time, who helped him get in his best competitive shape against the colossus, in order to defend his remaining belt.

But Yoshifusa Maeda was already thinking further - in the pre-tour press conference he said, that this might be his last chance to nominate a contender for the BCG World Heavyweight Title and that he wanted his beloved students Nichiren Funakoshi and Razan Okamoto to make that out between themselves. Aside from that some lesser feuds had developed, most notably one between The Horde on one side and a loosely connected group of Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi, Tanyu Toshusai, Eikichi Itou and Isoruko Arakaki on the other side, battling each other through the whole of December.

BCG NEW YEAR'S EVE SUPERSHOW

Tokyo, Japan - 21.11.2021

Attendance: 12.000, shown on Emperor Choice (300.872 viewers, 0.60 rating)

Show Rating: [79]

Hiroyasu Gakusha & King Lion defeated Katsunosuki Oshiro & Ikki Hosaka (7m49s) with the Roaring Pounce from Lion to Oshiro [54]
Sojuro Sen, Naozane Goto, Kawanari Enomoto & Shogo Awatari defeated Noburo Ikoma, Sharaku Okimasa, Giant Godai & Big Boss Emperor (14m35s) with the Goto Slam from Goto to Urayama [63]
Ryunosuke Matsuki, Masahiro Genji & Masashi Urogataya defeated Yoshinaka Taku, Motoyuki Miyake & Omezo Shikitei (25m19s) with the Uro-gatame from Urogataya to Shikitei [80]
Fuyujiko Wakabayashi, Tanyu Toshusai & Koyo Kinoshita defeated Animal Harker, Sasquatch McGraw & Otis von Battenberg (16m54s) with the Wrist-clutch Exploder from Wakabayashi to Battenberg [74]
Big Bruiser Findlay & Hellion defeated Eikichi Itou & Isoruko Arakaki (16m13s) with the Oklahoma Stampede from Findlay to Arakaki [77]
Nichiren Funakoshi defeated Razan Okamoto (32m53s) with the Butterfly Backbreaker [92]
GCG World Heavyweight Championship: Mabuchi Furusawa © defeated Rokuemon Matsushita (32m27s) with the Bridging Tiger Suplex [96] - 3RD DEFENSE -
BCG World Heavyweight Championship: KC Glenn defeated Bunrakuken Torii © (33m58s) with the Glenn Crusher after Torii had been distracted by Matthew Keith [79] - TITLE CHANGE! -

Post Main Event KC Glenn and Matthew Keith hugged, before Glenn held the BCG World Heavyweight Title up into the air. After that he told an irritated Torii, who was still on all fours, in very simple English, that he wasn't interested in his offer, as he was already affiliated and that the Destiny Masters were taking over.

arlovski · July 8, 2023

2021 END OF THE YEAR AWARDS

THE JAPANESE WRESTLING YEAR IN REVIEW

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

HEIHACHIRO SAKAI

Burning Hammer Of The Wrestling Gods

Determining the MVP of the year wasn't easy this time, as two contenders were in for a very close race. While Heihachiro Sakai hasn't had the single greatest match of 2021, he was a little more consistent then his competitor and thus at 36 years won the award well deserved. Sakai went into 2021 as the reigning BHOTWG World Heavyweight Champion - a title he managed to successfully defend against the likes of Tadakuni Toshusai, Kinnojo Horri and Munemitsu Senmatsu in battles, that will long be recommended to future generations when asked what the 'Burning Path' looked like. His strongest series of matches was against Matthew Keith, though, who ended up finally beating Sakai in June and being the first gaijin since Bruce The Giant to win the BHOTWG World Heavyweight Title. All of the hype wouldn't have been possible without Sakai's continuing greatness.

BEST FOREIGN WRESTLER

MATTHEW KEITH

Burning Hammer Of The Wrestling Gods

Once again there was no way around Matthew Keith, when it comes down to foreigners in japanese wrestling. In 15 years there hadn't been a non-japanese BHOTWG World Heavyweight Champion - only Keith was worthy of the title, after not only being able to successfully keep up his performances from the previous year, but to even raise them further. Keith had an unforgettable match series with Heihachiro Sakai, who eventually won the title back from him in December 2021, shortly before the son of legendary Sam Keith gave his shock debut for Black Canvas Grappling. His strongest match in 2021 was against Hiroaki Nakasawa, though, who proved that he could still go big time and lost sensationally in 36 minutes at BHOTWG Everlasting Mission.

BEST TAG TEAM

BUNRAKUKEN TORII & ROKUEMON MATSUSHITA

Black Canvas Grappling

They were already an interesting outsider pick the year before - this time they finally made it. Bunrakuken Torii and Rokuemon Matsushita have been the greatest japanese Tag Team of 2021. The Black Canvas Grappling trueborns have won the World Tag Team Grand Prix a second time in a row, leaving other strong teams such as Mabuchi Furusawa & Ryunosuke Matsuki, Nichiren Funakoshi & Razan Okamoto or Big Bruiser Findlay & Hellion behind in some of the greatest Tag Team matches of the decade. Both men were strongly involved in Singles competition as well throughout the year, but really nailed it when teaming up.

BEST COMPANY

BURNING HAMMER OF THE WRESTLING GODS

Compared to their explosion in audience size and ratings in 2020, this year's BHOTWG extended their position as the japanese market leader only by a small margin. Still, there was no way around the Kanto-based player under the leadership of Tetsuzan Kaneko, who in a press conference in late October stated, that the harder part was not reaching the top, but staying up there.

BEST MATCH

SENSATIONAL DRAGON VS MYSTIC DRAGON

BHOTWG Burning Path VI, January 2021

It was only four weeks into the new year and we had already seen a match that noone was able to top afterwards. In front of almost 60.000 people the Sensational Dragon met one on one with the MYSTIC Dragon for the BHOTWG Junior Heavyweight Championship - and both men delivered! Their 39-minute affair had it all - groundwork, technical wrestling, highflying, counters, a heated ending phase and perfect psychology! If the Sensational Dragon hadn't missed a bit of his consistency in the later stages of the year, he might have been the MVP as well. Instead he was only part of the greatest match once again.

BEST SHOW

BHOTWG BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS XXII

July 2021

In a sold-out Chubu Dome with 50.000 people at the edge of their seats, the 22nd iteration of the Best Of The Super Juniors was the #1 event of the year. In the Grand Finale of the eponymous tournament MYSTIC Dragon defeated Helikaon in 32 minutes, whereas in the Main Event Matthew Keith successfully defended his BHOTWG World Heavyweight Championship against Munemitsu Senmatsu.

BEST ROOKIE

NOBUYO HIKICHI

Pride Glory Honor Wrestling

This year's rookie award winner hasn't wrestled a single match in Japan this year, but even more so our readers need to be made aware of him. Nobuyo Hikichi is an absolvent of the PGHW Dojo and currently on excursion at Total Championship Wrestling, where he has had an unbelievable series of nine matches with Wolf Hawkins, one better than the next. He has been a popular namedrop by inside fans this year and if this young man can keep his drive, we can't wait for him to return to Japan and wrestle Masaru Ugaki.

BEST FEMALE WRESTLER

SHIORI JIPPENSHA

5 Star Supreme Wrestling

No surprises regarding the #1 japanese female wrestler of the year - once again there was no other than Shiori Jippensha, who continued to build her legacy as one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time. She managed to defend the 5SSW World Title all through May 2021. While she didn't have another match on the level of her Cage Match against Fuyuko Higa from the previous year, there were still several really good bouts, most notably against her new main rival Gemmei Oonishi.

BEST TECHNIQUE

ORANGE TSUCHIE

EXODUS 2010

Finally there seems to be some competition for Masaru Ugaki - and of all potential companies, it is coming from one of the indipendant scene! Orange Tsuchie has always been a secret favourite of the smart fans in Japan, but this year he really caught the attention of traders on the internet. At 32 years it seems like the gimmick shaolin has perfected his way of pro-wrestling and impressed with the flawless execution of his broad repertoire of moves between holds and high flying. Deservedly so he has won the EX2010 World Junior Heavyweight Championship for a second time - bravo!

MOST POPULAR WRESTLER

SENSATIONAL DRAGON

Burning Hammer Of The Wrestling Gods

The fans of Hiraoki Nakasawa have to be strong now - the new, most beloved japanese wrestler of the year has been the Sensational Dragon! Be it in the ring or in a popularity contest, the rise of the 36-years old seems to be simply unstoppable. It certainly helped, that he was part of many entertainment shows in Japan in the past year, making him really an overall package of a pro-wrestler.

arlovski · July 9, 2023

NEW YEAR SUPER SERIES

January - February 2022 | Highlights shown on Japanese Sports Vision 2 as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

Another year has ended and another shock went through Black Canvas Grappling, when the former BHOTWG World Heavyweight Champion Matthew Keith helped KC Glenn to take the BCG World Heavyweight Title from Bunrakuken Torii, by distracting the Devil Grappling Army leader with his surprise appearance, before making it apparent that the two former BHOTWG stars were affiliated. The situation around the title match was discussed during the first press conference of the year. Yoshifusa Maeda had personally looked into it along with his closest advisors - there wasn't any possibility to revoke the decision or punish Glenn and Keith in any way, shape or form. The framework of rules applies only between the two rings of the bell and the deciding entity is the referee. As referee Tawaraya didn't end the match in a No Contest, but instead continued to count when Glenn went for his Finishing Move and the Pinfall, everything was to be considered legal. Maeda could only announce, that BCG would be better prepared for situations like this in the future and specifically school their referees in this regard. Moving on Nichiren Funakoshi would receive a shot at the BCG World Heavyweight Title at the big event in February, as planned, as he had won the No. 1 Contender Match against Razan Okamoto. A little later Maeda also mentioned, that he would lead BCG into the ACE SUMMIT in March and April and after that make a final decision on his successor. It would be the perfect time frame.

MATTHEW KEITH

32 years old, 13 years of experience

186 cm | 118 kg

1x Sam Keith Classic winner, 1x BHOTWG World Heavyweight Champion, 2x BHOTWG World Tag Team Champion

Matthew Keith (Matt Gauge) is the son of the legendary Sam Keith and identical twin brother of Greg Gauge. Both boys were trained by their father, with his influence clear in their lightning fast, fluid technical wrestling. Matthew got his first taste of fame in PSW, where he had a very successful five year run, but it is with BHOTWG that he is most closely associated. Having put on a good 20lbs of muscle since his PSW days, Matthew fights in the Heavyweight division and is especially known for his excellent Heavy Artillery tag team with Tatsuya Toshitara. Becoming a key member of the NEO Prime stable has boosted his profile even more and finally, in June 2021 he became the first foreign BHOTWG World Heavyweight Champion since Bruce The Giant, who had held the title 15 years ago, elevating Keith to absolute superstardom in Japan.

Glenn's and Keith's shocking debuts and their behaviour at the NEW YEAR'S EVE SUPERSHOW have certainly shaken things up in BCG, especially with regards to the main event picture. All of a sudden there were two new major players, who went on to call themselves the Destiny Masters. In the course of January and February the two men had all hands full, meeting with the furious Devil Grappling Army, that went into the new year empty-handed, on several occasions. With Funakoshi being in line next for a title shot and also unhappy with how the title was won, leaving his rivalry with the DGA aside for a moment, him and the other Funakoshi-gun members were starting to put pressure on the newcomers as well. There interaction resulted in Razan Okamoto issuing a challenge to Matthew Keith, to find out if he could actually wrestle or was all hot air, as Okamoto put it.

All the fuss gave the Horde some space to focus on their core competency again - which was bullying younger wrestlers and Young Lions! This went on for the whole of January, before Torii and Matsushita came to their defense again, but took a loss in a Ten Man Tag Team Match, where Hellion managed to pin Torii after a bombastic Spinebuster. As a result, Hellion and Big Bruiser Findlay asked for a shot at the GCG World Tag Team Titles and also wanted to see, what the DGA leaders were all about, as the two teams failed to meet in the WTTGP last year.

That Young Lions don't stay young forever could be seen when looking at the excursion returnees - Yutaka Ogata, Ginji Kisaka and Shuga Amano all came back from the United States and were presented to the media in the press conference. All three of them were putting their new looks on display. They all came back visibly larger, stronger and more mature. With the blessing of Funakoshi, Ogata announced that he was going into a 10 Match Trial Series in the course of the tour to prove, that he would be a worthy member for the Funakoshi-gun. The faction and Ogata were already bonding back when he was a Young Lion.

It was announced that this year five Young Lions would be going on excursion, with Big Boss Emperor, Shogo Awatari and Kawanari Enomoto being sent to new partner organisation FREEDOM Carribean Wrestling - a company owned by Puerto Rican Power and known for preferring heavy guys. Nobuyuki Kubo and Ikki Hosaka would also be staying with a new partner in the exchange program, that being Original Lucha Libre Is Eternal, a company focusing on traditional Lucha Libre and in a way BCG's mexican counterpart.

BCG NEW YEAR SUPER SERIES | FINAL NIGHT

Nagoya, Japan - 13.02.2022

Attendance: 10.000, shown on Emperor Choice (397.468 viewers, 0.79 rating)

Show Rating: [84]

Sojuro Sen & Naozane Goto defeated Hiroyasu Gakusha & King Lion (14m07s) with the Over-the-shoulder Backbreaker from Sen to Gakusha [67]
Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi, Tanyu Toshusai, Eikichi Itou & Isoruko Arakaki defeated Ichiro Mitsukuri, Koyo Kinoshita, Ryobe Uno & Shuga Amano (16m41s) with the Arakaki Spike from Arakaki to Kinoshita [64]
Animal Harker, Otis von Battenberg & Sasquatch McGraw defeated Giant Godai, Katsunosuki Oshiro & Mitsuhide Miyajima (13m44s) with the Lariat from Battenberg to Miyajima [52]
Yutaka Ogata 10 Match Trial Series - Match #10: Yutaka Ogata defeated Sharaku Okimasa (19m13s) with the Double-arm Backbreaker [56]
GCG World Tag Team Championship: Bunrakuken Torii & Rokuemon Matsushita © defeated Big Bruiser Findlay & Hellion (31m03s) with the Murder Backdrop from Matsushita to Hellion [86] - 3RD DEFENSE -
Mabuchi Furusawa, Ryunosuke Matsuki, Masahiro Genji & Masashi Urogataya defeated Yoshinaka Taku, Motoyuki Miyake, Omezo Shikitei & Takenori Doi (26m59s) with the SUKI Special from Matsuki to Miyake [76]
Matthew Keith defeated Razan Okamoto (32m21s) with the Proton Lock [88]
BCG World Heavyweight Championship: KC Glenn © defeated Nichiren Funakoshi (37m20s) with the Glenn Crusher [86] - 1ST DEFENSE -

In the Main Event Matthew Keith came to the ring once again, but was this time expelled from ringside by the referee. Unfortunately in the meantime Gregory Keith entered the ring, coming from the audience ranks, and hit Funakoshi with a chair, before Glenn finished him off with the Glenn Crusher. Gregory Keith left the arena afterwards as quickly, as he came, but in the final promo of the night, Glenn said, that the Destiny Masters were complete and ready to take this company into their possession.

Edited July 10, 2023 by arlovski

arlovski · July 10, 2023

ACE SUMMIT XI | FIELD OF PARTICIPANTS

In a special press conference BCG president Yoshifusa Maeda has announced the participants for this year's Ace Summit, also known in the past as the Yoshifusa Maeda Grand Prix. The well recognized round-robin tournament consists of two Blocks with 10 randomly distributed wrestlers each. Block Matches have a maximum time limit of 30 minutes. Wins award 2 points, Draws 1 point for each contender, Losses 0 points. The winner of Block A faces the runner-up of Block B and vice versa in the semi finals, before the ultimate winner of the tournament is crowned in the final match and awarded a shot at the Heavyweight Title of their choice.

With the Destiny Masters consisting of KC Glenn, Matthew and Gregory Keith there's already three participants joining for the first time this year. But Black Canvas Grappling also had two special guests with one of them being the arguably greatest luchador of the current generation coming in from partner company OLLIE, Mr. Lucha III and the other being a legend of Golden Canvas Grappling, Jack Marlowe also known in the United States as the Jungle Lord! Marlowe was released by the Supreme Wrestling Federation in October 2021 after 12 years as a well-beloved midcard act and is now on his farewell tour, making station in Japan exclusively with BCG.

BLOCK A

BUNRAKUKEN TORII | 11TH PARTICIPATION | 2x WINNER

reigning GCG World Tag Team Champion

affiliated with Devil Grappling Army

GREGORY KEITH | 1ST PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Destiny Masters

HELLION | 2ND PARTICIPATION

affiliated with The Horde

KC GLENN | 1ST PARTICIPATION

reigning BCG World Heavyweight Champion

affiliated with Destiny Masters

MR. LUCHA III | 1ST PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Original Lucha Libre Is Eternal

RAZAN OKAMOTO | 11TH PARTICIPATION | 2x WINNER

reigning BCG World Tag Team Champion

affiliated with Funakoshi-gun

RYUNOSUKE MATSUKI | 5TH PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Furusawa-gun

TAKENORI DOI | 1ST PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Taku-gun

TANYU TOSHUSAI | 8TH PARTICIPATION

YOSHINAKA TAKU | 5TH PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Taku-gun

BLOCK B

BIG BRUISER FINDLAY | 8TH PARTICIPATION

reigning APWA International Heavyweight Champion

affiliated with The Horde

FUYUHIKO WAKABAYASHI | 3RD PARTICIPATION

ICHIRO MITSUKURI | 2ND PARTICIPATION

JACK MARLOWE | 1ST PARTICIPATION

MABUCHI FURUSAWA | 5TH PARTICIPATION | 1x WINNER

reigning GCG World Heavyweight Champion

affiliated with Furusawa-gun

MASAHIRO GENJI | 3RD PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Furusawa-gun

MATTHEW KEITH | 1ST PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Destiny Masters

NICHIREN FUNAKOSHI | 11TH PARTICIPATION | 4x WINNER

reigning BCG World Tag Team Champion

affiliated with Funakoshi-gun

ROKUEMON MATSUSHITA | 8TH PARTICIPATION | 1x WINNER

reigning GCG World Tag Team Champion

affiliated with Devil Grappling Army

SASQUATCH MCGRAW | 1ST PARTICIPATION

affiliated with The Horde

Edited July 10, 2023 by arlovski

arlovski · July 11, 2023

ACE SUMMIT SERIES

March - April 2022 | Highlights shown on Aichi as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

Starting with the ACE SUMMIT SERIES, Black Canvas Grappling were showcasing the highlights of their tour on demand on the online provider Aichi now as well, just like Burning Hammer Of The Wrestling Gods started to do four years ago, leaving commercial television behind for a much larger platform. Many experts consider Aichi to be a key element of BHOTWG's ascension to the top. With this step, BCG again seemed very eager to continue their triumphant advance of bringing the 'Roaring Lion' tradition back into the japanese mainstream.

And the timing couldn't have been any better, as this year's ACE SUMMIT seemed to have the most celebrated and prolific line-up of wrestlers any BCG tournament has ever had. In the centre of attention in Block A were obviously two of the three Destiny Masters, that threatened to take the whole of BCG into their grip - the tournament went quite differently for KC Glenn and Gregory Keith though. The reigning BCG World Heavyweight Champion went through his opposition undefeated. Bunrakuken Torii, Yoshinaka Taku, Ryunosuke Matsuki, even the monstrous Hellion - they all became victim of the Glenn Crusher and were no match for the man, who combined the weight and power of a middleweight with the agility and finesse of a super junior. Only one man was able to wrestle him to a draw, that man being Razan Okamoto! Of the four Pillars Of The Sky Okamoto had always been the smallest and lightest. Now, at age 31 and shortly before the ACE SUMMIT, he had finally bulked up and risen to Middleweight as well. And it seemed like for the first time, the charismatic Okamoto was showing his full potential. His defining moment was in his duel with the massive Hellion, who he managed to defeat with a passionate display and the debut of his new Super Finisher, the Exploder '22, where he dropped the masked man in a particularly vicious way on his neck. Okamoto went through Block A undefeated as well, matching Glenn's phenomenal 17 points in the end. In their one versus one Okamoto was so close in the 29th minute to bring in his Super Finisher again, but Glenn paried it in the last moment and was saved by the bell. Glenn was declared winner of the Block, as he finished his matches overall quicker, than Okamoto did.

The rest of the top five was made out between Hellion, Torii and Keith mostly. where the masked man came out best with 13 points, winning directly against Keith, but drawing with Torii. Interestingly enough the Destiny Masters had a very hard time to play dirty during the tournament, as no further surprise appearance occured and the referees showed much more awareness for their foul play. Still, both Keith and expecially Glenn proved, that they were fantastic wrestlers without any extra help.

OLLIE guest star Mr. Lucha III the tournament went fairly unfortunate. The technical expert could take only one win, that being against Youngster Takenori Doi, but had several great matches and enraptured the audience. With the line-up being that strong this year, talented Yoshinaka Taku, Tanyu Toshusai and the former 2x GCG World Heavyweight Champion Ryunosuke Matsuki ended up in the lower end of the Block, but might have better luck next year.

KC GLENN | RAZAN OKAMOTO

WINNER OF BLOCK A | RUNNER-UP OF BLOCK A

The decision on Block A was fairly clear, with two men taking the lead early on - in Block B on the other hand six men made out the winning pair! With the Big Bruiser Findlay and Rokuemon Matsushita Block B had not one but two big men, that are generally considered very hard to beat in a Singles Match. Both men had a win rate of more than 80 % going into the tournament. Their start into the tournament was not ideal though, as both men drew against each other in their first match in 30 minutes, going into a wild brawl afterwards, that left Matsushita's arm damaged. Findlay was able to take four wins after that and position himself in the upper midfield, before drawing with his nemesis Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi, who was runner-up of his Block in the previous year and had a strong tournament again. Finally Matthew Keith and Nichiren Funakoshi were both too good on those two evenings for the Horde leader, leaving him at 12 points in the 5th spot.

With Matsushita's arm still hurt when he met Mabuchi Furusawa in the squared circle, the Furusawa-gun boss had quite an easy game, attacking the arm methodically during the whole match until he finally got his feared Armbar in for the win. Destiny Master Keith couldn't repeat the trick four nights later, as Matsushita had a stronger defense, but was still lacking his well-known offense and couldn't get more than a draw. Aside from that, Matsushita won all of his matches, even a 28-minute affair against Funakoshi, who he shouldered with his Devil Windmill Suplex Hold. Funakoshi himself also lost to Keith and drew with Furusawa and in another sensational bout between the two men, leaving him at 13 points and 4th place overall in the ranking, whereas Keith only lost to a very strong Furusawa, with the Armbar beating the Proton Lock and drew with Matsushita, but other than that won all of his matches.

This meant that in the end, Furusawa and Matsushita were a shared 2nd place at both 14 points, which meant, that the winner of the direct encounter had priority. Thus the Semi Finalists were Furusawa and Keith, much to the disdain of Matsushita, who felt like the BCG originals had failed their company by allowing so many outsiders to advance.

The legendary Jungle Jack Marlowe, who rose to fame in Japan during his years in GCG in the early 2000s as a dangerous Brawler couldn't win a single match by the way and eventually left the tournament with 0 points, leaving Japan behind for good.

MATTHEW KEITH | MABUCHI FURUSAWA

WINNER OF BLOCK B | RUNNER-UP OF BLOCK B

On the 19th Night of the tour both Block winners and runner-ups met each other in a Tag Team Match. After a little more than 20 minutes it came to a scandal, as both Matthew Keith and KC Glenn interrupted the match by attacking Mabuchi Furusawa and Razan Okamoto together, beating them up ruthlessly! Glenn got his Glenn Crusher in against Okamoto while Keith took Furusawa in the Proton Lock, before finally security escorted them out of the arena. It was a display of ignorance and arrogance that Black Canvas Grappling had never seen before and that left the crowd deeply irritated. Until then foreigners had often been brutish giants - what the Destiny Masters brought to the party, though, aside from their star power and undoubted brilliance in the ring, was intelligent evilness. In the Semi Finals finally Glenn could prevail against Furusawa, who would have been the preferred finalist of Hiroyasu Gakusha at the commentary table. As Gakusha outlined before the second Semi Final, now all hope was lying on the shoulders of Okamoto. And Okamoto did it - he beat the former BHOTWG World Heavyweight Champion with his trademark Brainbuster in 36 minutes, making him the second Finalist.

BCG ACE SUMMIT XI

Osaka, Japan - 17.04.2022

Attendance: 25.000, shown on Emperor Choice (338.627 buys, 0.67 rating)

Show Rating: [83]

Hiroyasu Gakusha, King Lion, Katsunosuki Oshiro & Giant Godai defeated Noburo Ikoma, Sharaku Okimasa, Yutaka Ogata & Ginji Kisaka (15m58s) with the Roaring Pounce from Lion to Kisaka [59]
Ichiro Mitsukuri, Koyo Kinoshita, Ryobe Uno & Shuga Amano defeated Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi, Tanyu Toshusai, Dayu Komatsu & Seiyu Komatsu (18m25s) with the Lariat from Kinoshita to D. Komatsu [60]
Yoshinaka Taku, Motoyuki Miyake, Omezo Shikitei & Takenori Doi defeated Animal Harker, Giant Brody, Otis von Battenberg & Sasquatch McGraw (19m43s) with the Full Nelson Bomb from Taku to Harker [67]
Mabuchi Furusawa & Ryunosuke Matsuki defeated Sojuro Sen & Naozane Goto (16m24s) with the Mountain SUKI from Matsuki to Sen [80]
Nichiren Funakoshi defeated Gregory Keith (30m57s) with the Roaring Lariat [92]
APWA International Heavyweight Championship: Matthew Keith deafeated Big Bruiser Findlay © (27m02s) with the Bridging Northern Lights Suplex [84] - TITLE CHANGE! -
Bunrakuken Torii & Rokuemon Matsushita defeated Eikichi Itou & Isoruko Arakaki (23m29s) with the Murder Backdrop from Matsushita to Arakaki [76]
ACE SUMMIT XI - Grand Finale: Razan Okamoto defeated KC Glenn (34m22s) with the Exploder '22 [84]

In the APWA International Heavyweight Title match Gregory Keith accompanied his brother to the ring, but was quickly dismissed by the referee. Still, Keith proved to be the better man and beat the Big Bruiser. After the match Findlay offered him and the other Destiny Masters to join the Horde and wreak havoc together, which Keith declined with a derogatory smile, stating that the Horde could be their bouncers while they are winning titles and party with the girls.
With the victory in his pocket, Okamoto didn't even wait for the winner's ceremony, but instantly challenged KC Glenn to a match for his BCG World Heavyweight Title. Afterwards the ceremony was conducted and he was celebrated by Funakoshi, Gakusha and many other of his peers.

arlovski · July 11, 2023

YOUNG LIONS | GRADUATES OF 2022

Almost a little lost in the hustle and bustle was the presentation of the Young Lions, that were joining Black Canvas Grappling on a full-time basis. This time we had two special graduates, both coming out of the company's own Black Dojo. Dayu and Seiyu Komatsu are identical twin brothers by birth - but both men seem to have made a lot of different decisions regarding their looks, wrestling style and their diet. While Dayu is a little overweight Brawler with two iron fists and loves to dress in a white robe, Seiyu prefers a black robe and could best be described as an Impactful, agressive wrestler, using many quick strikes and throws. Both were the outstanding graduates this year and the only ones who made it to the main roster. As different as they may seem on the first look, the twin brothers love to work together in Tag Team Matches.

DAYU KOMATSU

18 years old Flabby Middleweight

178 cm | 125 kg

SEIYU KOMATSU

18 years old Middleweight

180 cm | 100 kg

Edited July 11, 2023 by arlovski

arlovski · July 15, 2023

STRONGEST LION SERIES

May 2022 | Highlights shown on Aichi as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

Within a time span of just five months the Destiny Masters have managed to turn the company upside down and become the single most hated group in Black Canvas Grappling. Not only did they unite the rivalling Funakoshi-gun, Devil Grappling Army and Furusawa-gun, they even managed to antagonize the other foreigner group named The Horde, by disrespecting the hacking order for gaijin established by Big Bruiser Findlay and by going even further and taking the man's APWA International Heavyweight Title. In the pre-tour press conference KC Glenn, Matthew Keith and Gregory Keith set their sights on the GCG World Heavyweight Title - the one belt that was still missing for their supremacy. Gregory Keith was to be the challenger for the belt. To underline his claim he challenged Ryunosuke Matsuki to a match at the big event. Matsuki bavely accepted the challenge, considering this a chance to redeem himself in front of the BCG roster and audience. As a result of the complex, highly dynamic situation the Destiny Masters have been fighting just about everyone in the company during the STRONGEST LION SERIES - and to the disdain of the audience with success. Be it as a group of three or in a Tag Team constellation, the DM have been almost unbeatable. Their only loss this tour was delivered by a historic come-together of Mabuchi Furusawa, Nichiren Funakoshi and Bunrakuken Torii, where Furusawa was able to counter Gregory Keith's Proton Lock into an Armbar and submit him.

In their feud with the Funakoshi-gun all hopes were lying on Razan Okamoto's shoulders, who had already beaten Glenn in the Grand Finale of this year's ACE SUMMIT with his new Super Finisher, the Exploder '22. Okamoto has since not used his secret weapon again, but continued to deliver during the STRONGEST LION SERIES by utilizing his bigger physique to his advantage. Would he be able to repeat the trick on the final night of the tour? Meanwhile the Horde was looking for retaliation against the Destiny Masters as well, but the new group did their best to evade their fury. Finally on the 7th night of the series, Matthew Keith was willing to give a Horde member of his choice a shot at the APWA title, picking Animal Harker out of the bunch. In his eight years in BCG this was to be his first shot at a Heavyweight Title - and Findlay made instantly clear, that Harker better won this match or else he would end up like Mastodon and Kennedy.

Another historic moment had occured on the 1st Night of the tour. A retirement ceremony for the legendary Yoshifusa Maeda was held - this time not as an active wrestler, but as the owner of Black Canvas Grappling. The who is who of the company, close friends and legendary guests paid their respects to the 68-years old, who - as Goemon Innoue said - had fought the odds all his life and won! Beneath the visitors were such illustrous names as Dread, Kazu Yoshizawa, Rip Chord and Pistol Pete Hall. Highlights from Maeda's successful career were also shown, with the company able to draw from the GCG archive and present some real treasures. The final picture showed a celebrating Maeda in April 2002, right after his fifth and final GCG World Heavyweight Title win, golden streamers and confetti flying through the air and Maeda in his golden robe. After that a long round of applause followed for Maeda, who was standing in the ring with wet eyes. His only words were "Long live the Roaring Lion!" and he raised his right fist into the air, before finally leaving into retirement.

In a special press conference a few days later, the new owner of Black Canvas Grappling was presented to the public. And out came Hiroyasu Gakusha! The 43-years old, who had finally found redemption and his home in BCG, came out wearing demonstratively a black and golden robe, as if he was trying to visualize the reconciliation between BCG and GCG. He promised to lead the company in the same spirit as Maeda and to serve as an advocate of the 'Roaring Lion' tradition, that may never end. During his tenure he would strive to grow Black Canvas Grappling further and show REAL Canvas Grappling to the world. He also said, that he would step back from his position in Funakoshi-gun, as there would be a conflict of interest otherwise. But not without thanking all the members of the group and Funakoshi himself for the chance to fight side by side with them. Gakusha would continue to actively fight in the ring, as he was feeling like he still had something to give to young wrestlers and the audience - he wouldn't compete for any titles though and neither participate in any tournaments.

BCG STRONGEST LION SERIES | FINAL NIGHT

Okayama, Japan - 29.05.2022

Attendance: 12.500, shown on Emperor Choice (403.444 viewers, 0.80 rating)

Show Rating: [91]

Big Bruiser Findlay & Hellion defeated Dayu Komatsu & Seiyu Komatsu (4m53s) with the Lariat from Hellion to Dayu Komatsu [50]
Giant Brody, Otis von Battenberg & Sasquatch McGraw defeated Giant Godai, Katsunosuki Oshiro & Mitsuhide Miyajima (10m07s) with the Choke Slam from Brody to Oshiro [59]
Mabuchi Furusawa, King Lion, Masahiro Genji & Masashi Urogataya defeated Yoshinaka Taku, Motoyuki Miyake, Omezo Shikitei & Takenori Doi (17m19s) with the Bridging German Suplex from Urogataya to Shikitei [77]
Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi, Tanyu Toshusai, Eikichi Itou & Isoruko Arakaki defeated Ichiro Mitsukuri, Koyo Kinoshita, Ryobe Uno & Shuga Amano (25m11s) with the Itou Bomb from Itou to Amano [69]
Bunrakuken Torii, Rokuemon Matsushita, Naozane Goto & Sojuro Sen defeated Nichiren Funakoshi, Noburo Ikoma, Yutaka Ogata & Ginji Kisaka (24m13s) with the Goto Slam from Goto to Kisaka [78]
Gregory Keith defeated Ryunosuke Matsuki (31m54s) with the Proton Lock [68]
APWA International Heavyweight Championship: Matthew Keith defeated Animal Harker (29m02s) with the Muscle Buster [77] - 1ST DEFENSE -
BCG World Heavyweight Championship: KC Glenn © defeated Razan Okamoto (34m27s) with his new Super Finisher, The Midnight Special, after parrying Okamoto's Exploder '22 [94] - 2ND DEFENSE -

After his victory against Ryunosuke Matsuki, Gregory Keith asked for a match for the GCG World Heavyweight Title against Mabuchi Furusawa at the end of the next tour, as he had announced during the Strongest Lion Series.

arlovski · July 18, 2023

SUMMER POWER SERIES

June - July 2022 | Highlights shown on Aichi as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

This summer Japan was hit by a massive heatwave leading to a record temperature of 40.2 °C (104.4 °F) in Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture. Overall it was the second hottest summer in the history of the country since there's official recordings, coming along with forest fires and many emergency situations in the population due to heat strokes. Contrary to that the economy in Japan was slowly cooling down again. While people were still willing to pay money for entertainment in general and wrestling in particular, a decline in audience numbers was starting to become noticeable. Under these difficult circumstances the reign of Hiroyasu Gakusha as the new owner of Black Canvas Grappling officially began. In the pre-tour press conference he announced that both Tag Team Championships would be defended at the tour-ending event in Tochigi with the challengers being determined in the course of June and July. Other than that he made the GCG World Heavyweight Championship Match between Mabuchi Furusawa and Gregory Keith official. As was tradition under Yoshifusa Maeda, Gakusha was using the hot summer months to build for GRAPPLING KINGDOM following in August.

With two major titles in their hands, the arrogance of the Destiny Masters was only growing and they had no friendly words left for the BCG wrestlers in the press conference. Still, any show headlined by the three men was sold out, even in prefectures that weren't regularly visited by the company. The Americans were mainly feuding with the Furusawa-gun this tour, to prepare for the remaining Heavyweight Title Match. They were facing especially harsh competition in Tag Team Matches against Mabuchi Furusawa and Ryunosuke Matsuki, who seemed to be slowly getting behind the attacking patterns of their opponents. Still, the DM came out looking very strong and winning the majority of the encounters, with Gregory Keith being able to shine.

In the Tag Team scene Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi and Tanyu Toshusai stood out clearly and were able to defeat several other prolific teams in the course of June to secure themselves a shot at the BCG World Tag Team Titles early. Another Tag Team with good, not great performances has been the team of Ichiro Mitsukuri and Koyo Kinoshita, two of the final four students of the Golden Dojo. Fittingly the two men would be challenging for the GCG World Tag Team Titles currently held by Rokuemon Matsushita and Bunrakuken Torii for more than 500 days already, giving the 24- and 25-years old a chance to compete on the highest level.

Right on the first night Big Bruiser Findlay gathered all members of The Horde in the ring, following a victory in a Six Man Tag Team Match. He cut a short promo speaking about how well Animal Harker had done in his APWA International Heavyweight Title Match against Matthew Keith and how close he had been to win the big gold, but that in the end he lost the only chance the Horde would get for a while to win the belt back. Laying an arm on Harker's shoulder Findlay smiled and said, that he wouldn't kick his old friend out of the group. Harker seemed to ease up and started laughing ... until Sasquatch McGraw hammered his foot into Harker's belly and finished him off with the Wild Bomb Whip. Findlay, leaning over him, ended by saying, that he had other people to do that for him, before yelling to his fellows to bring him that damn belt back.

BCG SUMMER POWER SERIES | FINAL NIGHT

Tochigi, Japan - 17.07.2022

Attendance: 6.771, shown on Emperor Choice (386.183 viewers, 0.77 rating)

Show Rating: [81]

Yoshinaka Taku & Motoyuki Miyake defeated Ryobe Uno & Shuga Amano (16m35s) with the Full Nelson Bomb from Taku to Amano [67]
Big Bruiser Findlay, Hellion, Giant Brody, Otis von Battenberg & Sasquatch McGraw defeated Hiroyasu Gakusha, King Lion, Giant Godai, Katsunosuki Oshiro & Mitsuhide Miyajima (15m32s) with the Lariat from McGraw to Lion [64]
Masahiro Genji & Masashi Urogataya defeated Omezo Shikitei & Takenori Doi (20m47s) with the Bridging German Suplex from Urogataya to Doi [74]
KC Glenn & Matthew Keith defeated Noburo Ikoma & Sharaku Okimasa (18m16s) with the Glenn Crusher from Glenn to Ikoma [73]
Eikichi Itou, Isoruko Arakaki, Yutaka Ogata & Ginji Kisaka defeated Sojuro Sen, Naozane Goto, Dayu Komatsu & Seiyu Komatsu (14m39s) with the Arakaki Spike from Arakaki to Goto [56]
GCG World Tag Team Championship: Bunrakuken Torii & Rokuemon Matsushita © defeated Ichiro Mitsukuri & Koyo Kinoshita (23m38s) with the Murder Backdrop from Matsushita to Kinoshita [75] - 5TH DEFENSE -
BCG World Tag Team Championship: Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi & Tanyu Toshusai defeated Nichiren Funakoshi & Razan Okamoto © (31m33s) with the Wrist-clutch Exploder from Wakabayashi to Funakoshi [82] - TITLE CHANGE! -
GCG World Heavyweight Championship: Gregory Keith defeated Mabuchi Furusawa © (35m22s) by countering the Furusawa Armbar into the Proton Lock [82] - TITLE CHANGE! -

When the crowd realized that even the excellent Mabuchi Furusawa could ultimately not keep up with the Destiny Masters a for the japanese audience unusual whistle concert came to be. Keith seemed to be bathing in this reaction though and feel motivated even. He was joined by Matthew Keith and KC Glenn shortly after and the three men took their time posing with the three belts of Black Canvas Grappling and further enraging the onviewers with a frustrated and helpless Hiroyasu Gakusha at the commentary table.

Edited July 18, 2023 by arlovski

arlovski · July 18, 2023

ROAD TO GRAPPLING KINGDOM

August 2022 | Highlights shown on Aichi as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

Going into August the Destiny Masters had achieved what was considered impossible only a few months back - the three men had gathered all three major Singles Titles fought out in Black Canvas Grappling in one group and their presence had become in a metaphorical way a painful reminder, that maybe BCG was still a small pond in relation to the international professional wrestling market. Unsatisfied with this statement company owner Hiroyasu Gakusha announced in a press conference before the tour, that all thee titles would be defended at GRAPPLING KINGDOM III, the standout event of BCG aside from the two tournaments. Matthew Keith would be going against Giant Brody for the APWA International Heavyweight Title, KC Glenn against Rokuemon Matsushita for the BCG World Heavyweight Title and the challenger for Gregory Keith would be appointed according to their performance on the August tour. Gakusha seemed determined to bring at least one title back into the position of a non-DM and we saw some hard-fought battles between the Destiny Masters and the rivalling factions. In one of these Ryunosuke Matsuki managed to get an upset victory against Gregory Keith by Roll-up, making him the third title contender for the big event.

In the tour-opening press conference a new signing was announced in the shape of Hoss Handley! The heavyweight brawler from San Antonio came from Rhode Island Pro Wrestling, the developmental league of the Supreme Wrestling Federation, just like the masked monster Hellion did a year ago. It was the second time that BCG managed to steal a promising talent from the american powerhouse. The bearded man with the striking cowboy hat quickly bonded with his former colleague and joined the Horde. When the gaijin faction and the Devil Grappling Army weren't busy attacking the Destiny Masters, they went at each other refuelling their long-running feud again and Handley already played a prominent role in these battles. Goemon Inoue even felt reminded of the great Pistol Pete Hall, who was taking a closer look from the commentary table at the new signing on Night III. All too fittingly the Cattle Rush could be found in his repertoire as well.

HOSS HANDLEY

26 years old, 6 years of experience

193 cm | 125 kg

1x RIPW USA Champion

Sid "Hoss" Handley is a youngster from San Antonio, Texas, who broke into the business in early 2016. After a year of impressive performances (for someone who was green as grass), SWF picked him up and sent him to RIPW to see how he'd develop in a more competitive environment. He's doing OK thus far and is certainly showing signs of improvement. He's been particularly successful in tag team action, teaming with Samson Sharpe as Texan Justice.

With their loss of the BCG World Tag Team Titles and the whole group out of the Singles title picture, the Funakoshi-gun was moving into the mid and lower card regions for the tour, competing often with Taku-gun and younger talent. Ginji Kisaka left a really good impression in some of these matches, as he was offered a spot in the faction, which he accepted. Kisaka had been a long-time friend and Tag Team Partner of Yutaka Ogata - both men had trained together in the Black Dojo and were already loosely affiliated with the Funakoshi-gun during their Young Lion days, making the invitation only logic and natural.

Some sad news had to be announced on the 7th Night of the ROAD TO GRAPPLING KINGDOM - so sad and significant in fact, that Yoshifusa Maeda felt the need to return to Black Canvas Grappling on that evening to deliver them personally, alongside Hiroyasu Gakusha. Together they informed the audience of the passing of the alltime great Sadaharu Jimbo! Jimbo was one of the true legends of Japanese wrestling. While in his early twenties, he was one of the major stars of Golden Canvas Grappling at a time when the company was bringing wrestling back into Eastern culture. In a period spanning over two decades, he was world champion on four occasions. Following his retirement in 1990 due to a back injury, he went on to found Pride Glory Honour Wrestling and it was his vision and drive that made them such a huge success. He retired from the business in 2014, passing the company on to his most trusted lieutenant, Nobuatsu Tatsuko. Jimbo was considered a vital figure and major player of two of the biggest companies in Japan. He died at the age of 80 years in the close circle of his family. A ten-bell salute was arranged in his honour and some rare footage of his GCG days as well as his title victories were shown.

BCG GRAPPLING KINGDOM III

Osaka, Japan - 21.08.2022

Attendance: 35.075, shown on Emperor Choice (395.244 viewers, 0.78 rating)

Show Rating: [86]

Mabuchi Furusawa, Masahiro Genji, Masashi Urogataya & King Lion defeated Hiroyasu Gakusha, Giant Godai, Katsunosuki Oshiro & Mitsuhide Miyajima (15m16s) with the Fusion Reactor from Genji to Miyajima [70]
Ichiro Mitsukuri, Koyo Kinoshita, Ryobe Uno & Shuga Amano defeated Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi, Tanyu Toshusai, Yutaka Ogata & Ginji Kisaka (17m57s) with the S.T.O. from Mitsukuri to Kisaka [66]
Nichiren Funakoshi, Razan Okamoto, Noburo Ikoma & Sharaku Okimasa defeated Yoshinaka Taku, Motoyuki Miyake, Omezo Shiktei & Takenori Doi (28m07s) with the Roaring Lariat from Funakoshi to Shikitei [81]
Otis von Battenberg & Sasquatch McGraw defeated Eikichi Itou & Isoruko Arakaki (16m46s) with the Lariat from McGraw to Arakaki [61]
Big Bruiser Findlay, Hoss Handley & Hellion defeated Bunrakuken Torii, Sojuro Sen & Naozane Goto (26m03s) with the Piledriver from Handley to Sen [78]
APWA International Heavyweight Championship: Matthew Keith © defeated Giant Brody (27m38s) with the Backdrop [82] - 2ND DEFENSE -
GCG World Heavyweight Championship: Gregory Keith © defeated Ryunosuke Matsuki (30m48s) with the Proton Lock [68] - 1ST DEFENSE -
BCG World Heavyweight Championship: KC Glenn © defeated Rokuemon Matsushita (32m38s) with his Super Finisher The Midnight Special [88] - 3RD DEFENSE -

Edited July 19, 2023 by arlovski

arlovski · July 19, 2023

WORLD TAG TEAM GRAND PRIX III | FIELD OF PARTICIPANTS

It is this time of the year again, where for two months Black Canvas Grappling is putting Tag Teams at the centre of attention. It's the third iteration of the WORLD TAG TEAM GRAND PRIX already, that was won by super team Bunrakuken Torii and Rokuemon Matsushita twice so far. Just like the ACE SUMMIT, the WTTGP is a round-robin tournament that consists of two Blocks with 8 randomly distributed Tag Teams each. Block Matches have a maximum time limit of 30 minutes. Wins award 2 points, Draws 1 point for each team, Losses 0 points. The winners of Block A face the runner-ups of Block B and vice versa in the Semi Finals, before the ultimate winner of the tournament is crowned in the Grand Finale and awarded a shot at the Tag Team Championship of their choice.

As was the case in the previous two tournaments this year as well two guest teams will participate. The first one is consisting of two men, who have strongly influenced the Heavyweight wrestling style of Burning Hammer Of The Wrestling Gods in the past 20 years. Both men have held major Singles and Tag Team titles in the premier japanese wrestling company and have been affiliated with each other as key members of the legendary NEO group. It is no other than Koshiro Ino and Yasuhiko Taira, who will try their luck in the WTTGP! The other guest team has two former Pride Glory Honor Wrestling mainstays and Tag Team Specialists in it, with Noriyori Sanda and Ryoma Muruyama! Both men have won the PGHW Elite Tag Team Series twice and the Glory Tag Crown three times each, with other partners though. In the WTTGP they will act as a pair for the first time in their career. With two guest teams of that calibre the tournament will be more competitive than ever before.

BLOCK A

BIG BRUISER FINDLAY & GIANT BRODY | 2ND PARTICIPATION

affiliated with The Horde

MABUCHI FURUSAWA & RYUNOSUKE MATSUKI | 2ND PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Furusawa-gun

HOSS HANDLEY & HELLION | 1ST PARTICIPATION

affiliated with The Horde

KOSHIRO INO & YASUHIKO TAIRA | 1ST PARTICIPATION

EIKICHI ITOU & ISORUKO ARAKAKI | 3RD PARTICIPATION

ICHIRO MITSUKURI & KOYO KINOSHITA | 1ST PARTICIPATION

YUTAKA OGATA & GINJI KISAKA | 1ST PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Funakoshi-gun

BUNRAKUKEN TORII & ROKUEMON MATSUSHITA | 3RD PARTICIPATION | 2x WINNERS

reigning GCG World Tag Team Champions

affiliated with Devil Grappling Army

BLOCK B

OTIS VON BATTENBERG & SASQUATCH MCGRAW | 3RD PARTICIPATION

affiliated with The Horde

NICHIREN FUNAKOSHI & RAZAN OKAMOTO | 3RD PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Funakoshi-gun

MASAHIRO GENJI & MASASHI UROGATAYA | 2ND PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Furusawa-gun

NOBURO IKOMA & SHARAKU OKIMASA | 3RD PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Funakoshi-gun

MATTHEW KEITH & GREGORY KEITH | 1ST PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Destiny Masters

NORIYORI SANDA & RYOMA MURUYAMA | 1ST PARTICIPATION

YOSHINAKA TAKU & MOTOYUKI MIYAKE | 3RD PARTICIPATION

affiliated with Taku-gun

FUYUHIKO WAKABAYASHI & TANYU TOSHUSAI | 3RD PARTICIPATION

reigning BCG World Tag Team Champions

Edited July 19, 2023 by arlovski

LightningLynx89 · July 20, 2023

What kind of program are you using to get those faces? No doubt you're using the actual C-Verse pictures, but what AI filter are you running them through?

arlovski · July 20, 2023

5 hours ago, LightningLynx89 said:

What kind of program are you using to get those faces? No doubt you're using the actual C-Verse pictures, but what AI filter are you running them through?

No, I am not using the actual C-Verse pictures, but in some cases I tried to use pictures that coincidentally fit the original look of people. Mine are entirely created from scratch through https://neural.love/.

Sometimes I feel like the original pictures don't suit the worker so much in terms of weight, physique or even stats such as Sex Appeal, Menace, Star Quality - in this case I went for different pictures that I felt like suited them better.

Scottie · July 20, 2023

No one sexier than Tanyu Toshusai!

arlovski · July 23, 2023

GRAND PRIX SERIES

September - October 2022 | Highlights shown on Aichi as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

GRAPPLING KINGDOM III was in the rear view, but not so much the events that had occured on Black Canvas Grappling's arguably most important show. All three Heavyweight Titles of the company were in the hands of the Destiny Masters - and that is where they remained when the show had ended. Aside from smaller victories on tour shows and Razan Okamoto's big win against KC Glenn it seemed like the three Americans were unstoppable. The GRAND PRIX SERIES was thus a welcome variety from Singles competition for the frustrated BCG Originals, as they were now able to test the DM's skill in Tag Team wrestling. As they were only three members they participated with just one team consisting of the Keith Brothers, whereas Glenn was watching from the sideline. More to how they fared later on in Block B.

More than ever, all eyes were directed at one Block this year - and that is Block A, that had Koshiro Ino and Yasuhiko Taira as guest stars. Both men are considered all-time greats of not only Burning Hammer Of The Wrestling Gods, but japanese pro wrestling in general. The former NEO top dogs couldn't have had more fitting opponents on the opening Night of the tour. In a televised bout they defeated BCG's Heavyweight Tag Team Eikichi Itou and Isoruko Arakaki in 18 minutes, which turned out to be merely an appetizer for the two men. They steamrolled over Ichiro Mitsukuri & Koyo Kinoshita and Yutaka Ogata & Ginji Kisaka and looked a lot like top contenders for the 1st Place of their Block this year. But it came very different - their first encounter with one of the favourite teams ended disastrous with a loss in just 15 minutes. And neither could they get any points against the other three top teams of Block A, leaving them at a respectable, but overall unsatisfying 6 points. Their most spectacular loss this tournament was probably against unbeaten Bunrakuken Torii & Rokuemon Matsushita, where BCG's premier Heavyweight Matsushita shouldered Taira with a Bridging Backdrop at the 23 minute mark in what could be considered a watch release.

As in the previous two iterations of the WORLD TAG TEAM GRAND PRIX Torii and Matsushita had proven once again, that they were the super team of Black Canvas Grappling. No contender pair could keep up with the leaders of the Devil Grappling Army and the hopes were high, that these two men would break the dominance of the Destiny Masters and at least stop them in Tag Team competition.

More thrilling was the battle for the 2nd place of the Block, fought out by the teams Big Bruiser Findlay & Giant Brody, Hoss Handley & Hellion and Mabuchi Furusawa & Ryunosuke Matsuki. Ever since Pistol Pete Hall had retired from active competition, the Big Bruiser had been considered the most dominant gaijin of BCG. In his early days he was wrecking havoc alongside his partner Bulldozer Brandon Smith as American Demolition - nowadays he was asserting his dominance by rallying around american hoss wrestlers in The Horde. Since he lost the APWA International Heavyweight Title to Matthew Keith though, something about the dynamic in his group had changed. The change was like a calm before the storm - subtle, but a sensitive spectator could feel that there was a growing destructive energy behind it. With Animal Harker's departure, the last man in his 30s remaining in the group aside from Findlay was his long-time confidante Leon Brody. All the other members were young, hungry and reliable - but were they loyal as well?

On the final metres of the tournament the runner-up was to be decided. Findlay & Brody and Furusawa & Matsuki at 8 points each fought against each other - and the gaijin won, when Findlay surprised Matsuki with a brutal Lariat after 21 minutes and finished him off with the Oklahoma Stampede right afterwards. Handley & Hellion had lost against the former GCG stars two Nights earlier and were at eight points as well, but their match against the Horde boss and his partner was still to come. With a victory of Findlay & Brody, their advancement into the Semis would have been certain, no matter if Furusawa & Matsuki won their remaining match. Going into the match, the expectation of the Big Bruiser was clear. The two men were supposed to lay down for him and Brody - but they had other plans. Instead the former SWF prospects went all in and gave their opponents one of the toughest matches of their career. A vicious brawl full of Flying Fists, Shoulder Tackles and Lariats led the two teams through the ring, the outside area and even the audience ranks and gave Referee Tawaraya a very hard time to keep things under control. Eventually both teams ended up back in the ring at the 25 minute mark, where the spectacle ended in an exchange of big and finishing moves, that saw Handley & Hellion have the better end with Hellion beating Brody with his Devolution Bomb. A statement was made and for the first time since forming The Horde, Findlay wasn't able to get his will through sheer violence, but instead was beaten himself. This internal quarrel of the gaijin led to Furusawa & Matsuki surprisingly moving on in the end, as all three teams at 10 points had defeated each other, but the former GCG stars took the least time to gather their victories.

BUNRAKUKEN TORII & ROKUEMON MATSUSHITA | MABUCHI FURUSAWA & RYUNOSUKE MATSUKI

WINNER OF BLOCK A | RUNNER-UP OF BLOCK A

The guest Tag Team in Block B consisting of former Pride Glory Honor wrestlers Noriyori Sanda & Ryoma Muruyama was much less successful than their counterparts in Block A. Both men are considered Tag Team legends, but it was visible that they didn't have enough gas in their tanks left for the relentless competition in Black Canvas Grappling. Only 1 point was on their score card by the end of the tournament, taken out of a time limit draw against Noburo Ikoma & Sharaku Okimasa in a technically sound match. Neither successful were the teams of Otis von Battenberg & Sasquatch McGraw, Yoshinaka Taku & Motoyuki Miyake and Masahiro Genji & Masashi Urogataya, whereas the Horde members put on the strongest performances, ending on 8 points but losing to the top trio of the Block.

In the top group of Block B this year were unsurprisingly the Destiny Masters team of Gregory Keith & Matthew Keith as well as the two time finalists of the previous iterations Nichiren Funakoshi & Razan Okamoto. Also featured in this group were Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi & Tanyu Toshusai, who have cemented their status as a top act of Black Canvas Grappling at the edge of the Main Event picture once again. The encounter the audience most yearned for was obviously the one between the Keith Brothers and Funakoshi & Okamoto. In an extremely close, even match with several near falls on both sides, the Destiny Masters finally prevailed with Matthew Keith overpowering Funakoshi with the Muscle Buster in the 28th minute. The match could have gone either way, but again it was the foreigners, who had the better end. Funakoshi & Okamoto recovered from their loss and defeated Wakabayashi & Toshusai, securing their ticket to the next round. And then came the surprise of the tournament - on the final Night of the Block matches, Wakabayashi & Toshusai sensationally drew with the Keith Brothers in 30 minutes in what Funakoshi later described as a match, that not only gave him some insights on how to prevail against the Destiny Masters, but also in how to potentially wear them out and defeat them. It was another node on a string leading to victory against the DM.

MATTHEW KEITH & GREGORY KEITH | NICHIREN FUNAKOSHI & RAZAN OKAMOTO

WINNER OF BLOCK B | RUNNER-UP OF BLOCK B

With the bad experiences the company had made with the Destiny Masters during the ACE SUMMIT, the traditional Eight Man Tag Team Match between the two Blocks had to be renounced this year. Instead a special formation of Nichiren Funakoshi, Bunrakuken Torii and Mabuchi Furusawa were facing KC Glenn, Matthew Keith and Gregory Keith in a Six Man Tag Team Match, that was won by the Destiny Masters in 41 minutes with the Proton Lock from G. Keith against Furusawa. The same maneuver brought the Keith Brothers a victory on the following Night in Semi Final #1 against Furusawa & Matsuki, and again it was Furusawa who couldn't lock G. Keith in his Armbar, but instead ended up in the Proton Lock. The other Semi Final was the Grand Finale of the previous two WORLD TAG TEAM GRAND PRIXs - Torii & Matsushita versus Funakoshi & Okamoto. The former were considered almost invincible for a reason as a Tag Team. For an unbelievable 641 days have they held the GCG World Tag Team Titles at this point in time. Only Yoshifusa Maeda & Kazu Yoshizawa had held the titles for longer. Both men have also been undefeated for more than two years as a Tag Team. In the press conference before the Semis, the two were already speaking about the final match and how they would love to teach the Destiny Masters their limits. But it would come differently. In a stellar performance, Funakoshi & Okamoto were en par with Torii & Matsushita this evening and eventually won the match with a new move, that Funakoshi debuted - loading the 375-pounder Matsushita back-first on his shoulders he nailed him seconds later neck-first into the mat with what the excited commentators called the Roaring Hammer! A new Super Finisher was born, making the 35-years old Funakoshi more dangerous, than ever before!

Other potential matches for the tour-ending big event included a challenge from Koshiro Ino & Yasuhiko Taira to Bunrakuken Torii & Rokuemon Matsushita to a re-match, following their losing effort in Block A as well as Big Bruiser Findlay asking for a match against Hoss Handley in order to restore the hacking order within The Horde.

BCG WORLD TAG TEAM GRAND PRIX III

Kobe, Japan - 23.10.2022

Attendance: 35.000, shown on Emperor Choice (380.896 buys, 0.76 rating)

Show Rating: [85]

Giant Brody, Otis von Battenberg & Sasquatch McGraw defeated Giant Godai, Katsunoski Oshiro & Mitsuhide Miyajima (13m11s) with the Big Boot from Brody to Oshiro [63]
Noburo Ikoma, Sharaku Okimasa, Yutaka Ogata & Ginji Kisaka defeated Sojuro Sen, Naozane Goto, Dayu Komatsu & Seiyu Komatsu (17m17s) with the Double-arm Backbreaker from Ogata to D Komatsu [62]
Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi, Tanyu Toshusai, Eikichi Itou & Isoruko Arakaki defeated Mabuchi Furusawa, Ryunosuke Matsuki, Masahiro Genji & Masashi Urogataya (26m27s) with the Wrist-clutch Exploder from Wakabayashi to Urogataya [81]
Hellion defeated King Lion (16m22s) with the Gutwrench Powerbomb [62]
Bunrakuken Torii & Rokuemon Matsushita defeated Koshiro Ino & Yasuhiko Taira (21m13s) with the Dangerous Forearm from Torii to Ino [78]
Big Bruiser Findlay defeated Hoss Handley (18m43s) with the Lariat [67]
KC Glenn defeated Yoshinaka Taku (26m37s) with the Springboard Back Elbow [90]
World Tag Team Grand Prix III - Grand Finale: Nichiren Funakoshi & Razan Okamoto defeated Matthew Keith & Gregory Keith (35m44s) with the Butterfly Backbreaker from Funakoshi to G. Keith [87]

After handing out a royal beatdown to newcomer Hoss Handley, Big Bruiser Findlay directed some words to the Horde members, letting them know that the next time his direct orders were being ignored, the consequences would be much worse.
The winner's ceremony after the Main Event of the show was conducted by Toshinobu Taku and Masayuki Shiga. Afterwards Funakoshi and Okamoto had the honour of the final promo of the night. Funakoshi said, that Okamoto and him would be challenging for the GCG World Tag Team Titles against their rivals Matsushita and Torii. He also announced, that he would like a shot at the GCG World Heavyweight Title afterwards, as he had beaten Gregory Keith tonight and was sure, that he could do it in a Singles Match as well.

arlovski · July 26, 2023

ROAD TO ANNIVERSARY SHOW

November 2022 | Highlights shown on Aichi as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

After a long period of the Destiny Masters dominating the main event picture of Black Canvas Grappling, the ROAD TO ANNIVERSARY SHOW seemed to be a welcome intermission for the loyal fans of the company, as finally the long-running feud between Funakoshi-gun and Devil Grappling Army was at the centre of attention again. Both factions battled each other in the course of the tour and the question before the clash of the two leading teams at the big event was - could Nichiren Funakoshi and Razan Okamoto do it again and beat the team of Bunrakuken Torii and Rokuemon Matsushita, that was considered invincible before? Another focus on the tour - at least for the commentary table - was on Funakoshi's new Super Finisher, the Roaring Hammer and there was heated debate if and when he would use it again and what that would mean for a potential Re-Match against the DGA leaders, as now both Okamoto and Funakoshi had a special move like that in their repertoire. As the WTTGP winners Funakoshi and Okamoto would be facing Torii and Matsushita in a match for their GCG World Tag Team Titles at the 11th Anniversary Show.

On the 6th Night of the tour, Mabuchi Furusawa was celebrating his 15th Anniversary as an active professional wrestler in a Six Man Tag Team Match involving himself, Ryunosuke Matsuki and Hiroyasu Gakusha on one side and Masahiro Genji, Masashi Urogataya and guest Shingen Miyazaki lended from PGHW on the other. Furusawa ended up winning the match with his famed Armbar against Urogataya after 23 minutes, earning himself ovations from the crowd and congratulations from his peers.

In the press conference before the tour Hiroyasu Gakusha decided that Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi would receive a shot at the APWA International Heavyweight Title held by Matthew Keith. Wakabayashi and his partner Tanyu Toshusai were the only team in Block B able to get a Draw against the Keith Brothers, where especially the powerfully built Wakabayashi showed extreme pain resistance and resilience. He had held the title before, in April 2021, when he was able to use these traits to overcome Big Bruiser Findlay, before losing the belt back to him after just one month. During the tour Wakabayashi and Toshusai encountered the Destiny Masters various times with limited success. Noticeable was the debut of a new move by Wakabayashi on Night 4 called the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex, securing him a Pinfall victory over Gregory Keith. The lighter, but not any less dangerous Keith brother was to be facing Toshusai in a Non-title Singles Match at the tour-ending event.

BCG ANNIVERSARY SHOW XI

Hamamatsu, Japan - 20.11.2022

Attendance: 12.500, shown on Emperor Choice (382.816 viewers, 0.76 rating)

Show Rating: [80]

Yoshinaka Taku, Motoyuki Miyake, Giant Godai & Mitsuhide Miyajima defeated Ichiro Mitsukuri, Koyo Kinoshita, Ryobe Uno & Shuga Amano (13m43s) with the Full Nelson Bomb from Taku to Uno [67]
Hellion, Hoss Handley, Otis von Battenberg & Sasquatch McGraw defeated Noburo Ikoma, Sharaku Okimasa, Yutaka Ogata & Ginji Kisaka (15m12s) with the Western Lariat from Handley to Okimasa [60]
Mabuchi Furusawa, Ryunosuke Matsuki, Masahiro Genji & Masashi Urogataya defeated Sojuro Sen, Naozane Goto, Dayu Komatsu & Seiyu Komatsu (16m45s) with the SUKI Special from Matsuki to Sen [71]
Eikichi Itou & Isoruko Arakaki defeated Big Bruiser Findlay & Giant Brody (20m41s) with the Arakaki Spike from Arakaki to Brody [75]
KC Glenn defeated Takenori Doi (21m57s) with the Springboard Back Elbow [79]
Gregory Keith defeated Tanyu Toshusai (31m13s) with the Olympic Slam [77]
APWA International Heavyweight Championship: Matthew Keith © defeated Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi (34m58s) with the Muscle Buster [81] - 3RD DEFENSE -
GCG World Tag Team Championship: Nichiren Funakoshi & Razan Okamoto defeated Bunrakuken Torii & Rokuemon Matsushita © (39m56s) with the Butterfly Backbreaker from Funakoshi to Torii [81] - TITLE CHANGE! -

After their upset loss against Itou and Arakaki, Big Bruiser Findlay was beside himself with rage, yelling at a visibly out of breath Brody, who couldn't seem to say or do anything to his defense.
With their victory in the Main Event, Funakoshi and Okamoto have ended a reign of almost 700 days. None of their Super Finishers were used in the course of the match. Afterwards Funakoshi reiterated, that the reign of terror of the Destiny Masters had begun one year ago at the New Year's Eve Supershow and that this is where it would end as well. On December 31 he would defeat Gregory Keith for the GCG World Heavyweight Title.

arlovski · July 27, 2023

WINTER STRIKE SERIES

December 2022 | Highlights shown on Aichi as 'Athletes Of The Black Canvas'

This year Japan was hit by a surprisingly cold Winter, especially in the latter part of December where temperatures below 0° were reached in many regions of the country. Heavy snowfall had covered the northeastern part of Japan in white, leading to delays in delivery of goods and popular christmas treats such as mochi and sticky rice cakes. The final tour of the year of Black Canvas Grappling was largely unaffected by the weather, aside from smaller traffic issues, as the regions of Chubu and Kanto, that have been adressed, were witnessing a manageable degree of snowfall. In a pre-tour press conference BCG owner Hiroyasu Gakusha had announced, that the NEW YEAR'S EVE SUPERSHOW 2022 would take place in the Saitama Super Arena. The amount of marketing and advertising from BCG's side was unusually high, with Gakusha obviously trying to counter the receding economy and to finish on a high note.

As the Main Event of the show the GCG World Heavyweight Championship Match between Gregory Keith and Nichiren Funakoshi had been announced. The 35-years old Funakoshi showed himself confident, that he had understood Keith's movements and strategy and also that he had found his weakness. Besides that he had an ace in his pocket with the Roaring Hammer. During the tour Funakoshi remained true to his words, as he was indeed able to take a few wins from the Destiny Masters, especially when teaming with Razan Okamoto. Vice versa the Destiny Masters were successful against the Funakoshi-gun as well though, making it seem as if the japanese faction had made a step forward in the past months, but was merely en par with the Americans now, but not necessarily better than them.

As the second last match of the night BCG advertised Yoshinaka Taku getting a shot at the BCG World Heavyweight Title held at that point by KC Glenn. The son of Tag Team Specialist Toshinobu Taku, who was still working in the back (and occasionally in front of the camera as a helper and commentator), was long considered a diamond in the rough for BCG. In October 2020 he took over from his father and rebuilt Taku-gun, but since then never quite managed to reach the heights as a Singles Wrestler, that were predicted for him. At age 31 he still has some time for that, but then again not so much time anymore. During the preparation matches on the tour Taku looked good again - if he had a good day, his team won, if he had a bad day the loss was still mostly on one of his team mates.

Following their strong performance against Big Bruiser Findlay and Giant Brody at the ANNIVERSARY SHOW, Eikichi Itou and Isoruko Arakaki have earned themselves a chance for the BCG World Tag Team Titles. Itou and Arakaki are each 300 lbs + and standing at 6'8 and 6'10 - they joined BCG in January 2020 to start teaming together and quickly rose in the ranks of the freshly strengthened Tag Team Division, while simultaneously honing their skills as individual competitors. Now at age 28 and 29 they seem to be close to their physical peak and in a good position to fight for gold. Their opponents at the big event Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi and Tanyu Toshusai are a few years ahead of them already. The two 33-years olds have made some waves as a Tag Team, winning the BCG Titles twice since Wakabayashi had joined the company in January 2020. Especially Wakabayashi has also been on the edge of the Main Event on several occasions, making a name for himself with stellar performances against the who-is-who of the company - the white-haired and bearded Ripped Heavyweight is at this stage a household name for BCG and very beloved for his resilience and his powerful suplexes. All four men are loosely affiliated, teaming fairly often in the past against the various factions of BCG, meaning that they knew each other quite well going into their Match.

Meanwhile fresh wounds have been opened again within The Horde - the Big Bruiser was furious following his loss alongside Giant Brody against Itou and Arakaki and this fury was still to be seen in the press conference and the tour. The loss came at a time when the legendary Big Man's leadership was in question by the younger members of the group anyway and by the interpretation of Goemon Inoue at the commentary, it seemed as if Findlay was seeing himself and his nearing physical deterioration in his gassed confidante. In the course of the WINTER STRIKE SERIES Findlay was looking for beatable opponents it seemed, trying to end the year at ease and without any further incidents.

At Night IX, following a loss in a Tag Team Match against Gregory and Matthew Keith, Hiroyasu Gakusha cut a promo challenging the bigger Keith brother to a Non-Title Singles Match at the Saitama show. The BCG owner said that he wanted to see for himself, what the Keiths were all about.

BCG NEW YEAR'S EVE SUPERSHOW

Saitama, Japan - 31.12.2022

Attendance: 23.839, shown on Emperor Choice (425.481 viewers, 0.85 rating)

Show Rating: [80]

Razan Okamoto, Yutaka Ogata & Ginji Kisaka defeated Giant Godai, Katsunosuki Oshiro & Mitsuhide Miyajima (13m07s) with the Dangerous Brainbuster from Okamoto to Miyajima [64]
Hellion & Hoss Handley defeated Noburo Ikoma & Sharaku Okimasa (15m48s) with the Devolution Bomb from Hellion to Ikoma [69]
Big Bruiser Findlay, Giant Brody, Sasquatch McGraw & Otis von Battenberg defeated Ichiro Mitsukuri, Koyo Kinoshita, Ryobe Uno & Shuga Amano (18m17s) with the Lariat from Brody to Kinoshita [67]
Bunrakuken Torii, Rokuemon Matsushita, Naozane Goto & Sojuro Sen defeated Mabuchi Furusawa, Ryunosuke Matsuki, Masahiro Genji & Masashi Urogataya (38m41s) with the Dangerous Forearm from Torii to Genji [74]
Matthew Keith defeated Hiroyasu Gakusha (22m51s) with the Proton Lock [80]
BCG World Tag Team Championship: Eikichi Itou & Isoruko Arakaki defeated Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi & Tanyu Toshusai © (27m22s) with the Itou Bomb from Itou to Toshusai [79] - TITLE CHANGE! -
BCG World Heavyweight Championship: KC Glenn © defeated Yoshinaka Taku (28m18s) with the Glenn Crusher [85] - 4TH DEFENSE -
GCG World Heavyweight Championship: Nichiren Funakoshi defeated Gregory Keith © (34m31s) with the Butterfly Backbreaker [89] - TITLE CHANGE! -

Following his victory in the Main Event, for the first time in his career, Nichiren Funakoshi had held the historical GCG World Heavyweight Title in his hands, ultimately cementing his status as a successor of the legends of the 'Roaring Lion' tradition - now he was officially in the lineage of Jimbo, Furusawa, Toshusai, Yoshizawa and Maeda. In the final promo of the Night he thanked the audience for their support and for believing in him and said, that the Destiny Masters were indeed beatable and that it didn't need a special move for that, but only passion for the game and a sense of tradition. He announced good things to happen in BCG in 2023 and ended by wishing everyone a happy new year.

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