VANGUARD ~ Real Wrestling is Back

[BigJ]

 

To be honest, Japanese wrestling has become a joke.

Look at New Japan Pro Wrestling: Dog cage match, outside interferences, push-up bars, hair versus hair... Ren Narita could have been the Heir of Strong Style, but now he's doing some emo cosplay with EVIL and SHO.

DDT has always been a joke. Dragon Gate is just flips and lucha and choerography. NOAH?... They used to be real, but who can tolerate a Mexican luchador with a mask as a world champion? How can the heirs of Misawa accept this shit-show sponsored by Gedo's less evil twin Jado?

Now All Japan... All Japan has Nakajima. The purest, realest wrestler is their champion. And that means a lot. But overall, they don't carry the spirit of real wrestling.

The spirit of the UWF, the spirit of Pancrase. GLEAT tries to copy it, but it's all phony and bush-league.

It is my duty to carry the torch lit by Akira Maeda and Satoru Sayama.

That is why I gathered financial support to launch this new promotion: VANGUARD, the new wave of shoot-style wrestlers. The new place for REAL pro wrestling.

We will run Korakuen Hall on April 6th.

And the Main Event will crown the REAL World Champion.
 

"Toukon Style"
KATSUHIKO NAKAJIMA

VERSUS

"The REAL Wrestler"
KATSUYORI SHIBATA

 

[BigJ]

 

VANGUARD's CEO
"The Realest Pro Wrestler"
KATSUYORI SHIBATA

FIGHTERS

Babatunde - Daichi Hashimoto - Daijiro Matsui - Daisuke Nakamura - Fuminori Abe

Hikaru Sato - Josh Barnett - Katsuhiko Nakajima - Kazushi Sakuraba - Keisuke Okuda

Kendo Kashin - Low-Ki - Masakutsu Funaki - Masashi Takeda - Minoru Suzuki

Minoru Tanaka - Takuya Nomura - Tiger Mask IV - Tyson Maeguchi - Yuki Ishikawa
 

BROADCAST TEAM

Nobuhiko Takada - Makoto Abe

Edited March 11 by BigJ

[BigJ]

VANGUARD #1
Live from Korakuen Hall
April 5th 2024

All matches are contested under Vanguard Rules. Matches can only be won by knockout, ubmission or referee stoppage.
A 30-minutes time limit in enforced on all matches. If the time limit is reached, the referee has discretionnary power to award the winning decision or declare a draw.

MAIN EVENT
FOR THE REAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

"The Realest Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata vs. "Toukon Style" Katsuhiko Nakajima

FIRST TIME IN 14 YEARS!
GODFATHERS OF SHOOT-STYLE COLLIDE

"The Murder King" Minoru Suzuki vs. "King of Pancrase" Masakutsu Funaki

FIRST TIME EVER
HALEO DREAM TEAM COLLIDE

"Warmaster" Josh Barnett vs. "Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakuraba

ASTRONAUTS IMPLODE!

"Wrestling Monk" Fuminoru Abe vs. "Future of Shoot Style" Takuya Nomura

CLASH OF THE GENERATIONS

"Heir of the Never Dying Fighting Spirit" Daichi Hashimoto vs. "BattlArts Never Dies!" Yuki Ishikawa

JUNIOR WRESTLING VS. MIXED MARTIAL ARTS


Tiger Mask IV, Minoru Tanaka & Kendo Kashin
vs.
Daisuke Nakamura, Tyson Maeguchi & Daijiro Matsui

PROVING GROUND

"Realest Giant" Babatunde & "Hitman" Low Ki
vs.
"Crazy Kid" Masashi Takeda & "Drunken King" Hikaru Sato

 

Edited March 11 by BigJ

[Dalton]

Super interested in how you handle this, since most modern UWF-style matches IRL are cheap imitations of days of old, or just flat-out bad. I have faith this will go way better than GLEAT's UWF stuff.  😀 

Nakajima (the best wrestler in Japan right now, and the TC champ ain't losing a singles match here)
Suzuki (Kind of a toss-up but Suzuki is a good opponent for Nakajima)
Barnett/Sakuraba DRAW (That Doesn't Work For Me, Brother)
Abe (I almost want to go Nomura as a future-focused pick, but Abe is otherworldly at the moment)
Hashimoto (maybe this is the future-focused pick. Feels wrong picking against Ishikawa though)
TM4/Tanaka/Kashin (completely random pick, choosing based solely on my affinity for Tanaka)
Babatunde/Low-Ki (insane match here lol)

Edited March 11 by Dalton

[BigJ]

6 minutes ago, Dalton said:

Super interested in how you handle this, since most modern UWF-style matches IRL are cheap imitations of days of old, or just flat-out bad. I have faith this will go way better than GLEAT's UWF stuff.  😀 

Nakajima (the best wrestler in Japan right now, and the TC champ ain't losing a singles match here)
Suzuki (Kind of a toss-up but Suzuki is a good opponent for Nakajima)
Barnett/Sakuraba DRAW (That Doesn't Work For Me, Brother)
Abe (I almost want to go Nomura as a future-focused pick, but Abe is otherworldly at the moment)
Hashimoto (maybe this is the future-focused pick. Feels wrong picking against Ishikawa though)
TM4/Tanaka/Kashin (completely random pick, choosing based solely on my affinity for Tanaka)
Babatunde/Low-Ki (insane match here lol)

Thank you Dalton!
Still pondering on how i'm going to write-up the matches, but i've got a few ideas on how to transcript the stories that develop during the action.

As for the opener, I want to recapture the sheer madness of early PRIDE (dare I say early HUSTLE?). So yeah, Babatunde is here for that specific purpose, and maybe we're going to see a few other "freaks"
 

[SonOfSharknado]

Very excited, as Shibata is one of my real life faves and I always love shoot style. But getting blindsided by writing Shibata as racist was not something I expected, lmao 

[Vandal]

Katsuhiko Nakajima 
Minoru Suzuki 
Josh Barnett
Fuminori Abe 
Daichi Hashimoto
Daisuke Nakamura, Tyson Maeguchi & Daijiro Matsui
Babatunde & Low-Ki

 

[SonOfSharknado]

MAIN EVENT
FOR THE REAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

"The Realest Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata vs. "Toukon Style" Katsuhiko Nakajima

I give this one to Nakajima for the same reason as listed above. He's the AJPW Triple Crown champion, and I have to believe that even when channeling psychopaths like Maeda and Takada, Shibata isn't enough of an egomaniac to give himself the first belt. 

FIRST TIME IN 14 YEARS!
GODFATHERS OF SHOOT-STYLE COLLIDE

"The Murder King" Minoru Suzuki vs. "King of Pancrase" Masakutsu Funaki

I'll go with what's probably the outside pick and say Funaki. Suzuki might give most people absolutely nothing in matches, but he respects his boy Funaki enough to put him over again, even if Suzuki himself is nominally a bigger star. 

FIRST TIME EVER
HALEO DREAM TEAM COLLIDE

"Warmaster" Josh Barnett vs. "Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakuraba

I couldn't stand Barnett even before he started teaching NYC cops how to break the bones of protestors. Meanwhile, Sakuraba singlehandedly destroyed the Gracie myth and defended the honor of pro wrestling, because he's based as hell. Easy pick to say Sakuraba wins. 

ASTRONAUTS IMPLODE!

"Wrestling Monk" Fuminoru Abe vs. "Future of Shoot Style" Takuya Nomura

They're two wins apiece with one time limit draw IRL, so I literally flipped a coin and picked Abe to break their current tie. 

CLASH OF THE GENERATIONS

"Heir of the Never Dying Fighting Spirit" Daichi Hashimoto vs. "BattlArts Never Dies!" Yuki Ishikawa

I've always had a soft spot for Hashimoto, and with the idea that this is the future of shoot-style, I don't think it'd do well for Ishikawa, old-man shoot style, to beat him on the first show. 

 

JUNIOR WRESTLING VS. MIXED MARTIAL ARTS


Tiger Mask IV, Minoru Tanaka & Kendo Kashin
vs.
Daisuke Nakamura, Tyson Maeguchi & Daijiro Matsui

Now these are clearly grappler juniors, but given Shibata's open contempt for Dragon Gate, and how he literally abandoned pro wrestling for MMA in the first place, I think it's safe to say who's going to win this one. 

 

PROVING GROUND

"Realest Giant" Babatunde & "Hitman" Low Ki
vs.
"Crazy Kid" Masashi Takeda & "Drunken King" Hikaru Sato

Low Ki is a bum and Takeda is sick as hell. The other two are there. 

[BigJ]

6 hours ago, SonOfSharknado said:

Very excited, as Shibata is one of my real life faves and I always love shoot style. But getting blindsided by writing Shibata as racist was not something I expected, lmao 

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

5 hours ago, Vandal said:

Katsuhiko Nakajima 
Minoru Suzuki 
Josh Barnett
Fuminori Abe 
Daichi Hashimoto
Daisuke Nakamura, Tyson Maeguchi & Daijiro Matsui
Babatunde & Low-Ki

Thank you for your predictions!

Edited March 12 by BigJ

[BigJ]

VANGUARD #1
Live from Korakuen Hall | 605 in attendance
Streamed on niconico
April 5th 2024

• The first event of Shibata's shoot-style adventure starts with lead announcer Nobuhiko Takada in the ring, thanking everyone for coming. He shares his sadness: a "true" wrestling event like this one only draws 600 people, that's the hard truth of where wrestling is that now. He recalls drawing 67,000 in the Tokyo Dome back in 1995 and says he will be there when Vanguard draws the same number and sell out the Tokyo Dome. That's a promise. "We are pro wrestlers!"

⚔ Babatunde & Low Ki vs. Masashi Takeda & Hikaru Sato ⚔
The sheer size of Babatunde is not enough for Low Ki to let him begin the match. The World Warrior exchanges hard strikes with Hikaru Sato and a particular brutal lowkick sends the Drunken Master to his corner for a tag out. The crazy Masashi Takeda shows he's much more than a deathmatch legend, he knows how to fight! The 11-4 former MMA fighter clocks Low Ki with brutal forearms and slaps, leaving the ROH legend helpless. Takeda faints a lowkick, leaving Low Ki open to be taken down. After a quick scramble in the ground, Takeda locks in an armbar and Low Ki taps out at 5:11. Babatunde didn't even step into the ring!

WINNERS: MASASHI TAKEDA & HIKARU SATO (SUBMISSION)
GRADE: 58

• After the obligatory winners' celebration, Low Ki gets slowly back to his feet. He's greeted by his partner of the night's who takes him in his arms. It's not a hug, it's a slam! The huge Babatunde overpowers 5 foot 7 grappler, standing over him with a brutal ground and pound. Elbows rain onto Low Ki's face and despite three officials running in, Babatunde only stops when Low Ki is unconscious. Scary monster.

⚔ Tiger Mask IV, Minoru Tanaka & Kendo Kashin vs. Daisuke Nakamura, Tyson Maeguchi & Daijiro Matsui ⚔
It's wrestlers versus MMA fighters! Three former IWGP Junior Heavyweight champions collide with a pro kickboxer in Maeguchi and two men who combine for more than 110 MMA fights in Nakamura and Matsui! On commentary, Takada can't shut up about his protege Daijiro Matsui, espacially when he almost locks Kendo Kashin in a heel hook. This is essentially a big strike exchanges of a match, with the MMA fighters attempting a few submission that the junior wrestlers always evade. It all boils down to Tiger Mask IV getting into a kicking competition with kickboxer and muay thai professional Tyson Maeguchi. It all ends in a devastating headkick to the heir of the Tiger Mask legacy that knocks him out cold.

WINNERS: DAISUKE NAKAMURA, TYSON MAEGUCHI & DAIJIRO MATSUI (KO)
GRADE: 47

 ⚔ Daichi Hashimoto vs. Yuki Ishikawa ⚔
The son of puroresu legend Shinya Hashimoto makes his entrance honoring his late father with a white hachimaki around his forehead and a black pant. He faces the godfather of Battlarts and a man who crossed path with his father. This is all a clash of styles, with Hashimoto trying to win with the standup game and Ishikawa trying to bring him down with his catch wrestling. Ishikawa catches the young Hashimoto with a lightning-quick tsuri goshi the likes of only judo masters can pull off. Ishikawa works Hashimoto on the grounds, using his wrist bone to clutch Hashimoto's face. Daichi Hashimoto gets grappled around for a few minutes, fighting like a mad man to get back up, but the veteran Ishikawa always has a trick up his sleeves. He almost catches his younger opponent in a triangle choke, but Hashimoto powers up and powerbombs him! Letting go a huge roar that pops the crowd, Hashimoto spins and catches his opponent as he gets up with a spinning forearm right into the face. Yuki Ishikawa is unable to get back up and the ref declares a TKO.

WINNER: DAICHI HASHIMOTO (TKO)
GRADE: 61

 ⚔ Fuminori Abe vs. Takuya Nomura ⚔

When Astronauts collide, magic happens.
Best friends and teammates Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura collide for the sixth time in their careers and it's once again a banger. It is an ode to the shoot-style they both love and employ: flurry of strikes, quick grappling, passion and intensity. Neither fight like they are the best of friends, but rather like they are sworn ennemies, giving them all in the pursuit of a tie-breaking win. They honour the tradition of BattlArts, upgrading and modernizing it with their Astronauts touch: a bit of humour and lots of athleticism. It develops a do or die atmosphere that gets nasty when Abe is phased out by a violent kick and goes to the outside of the ring to recover. The referee checks on him and almost declares him done, but Abe screams that he wants to continue. Takuya Nomura interferes and checks on his teammate. They both convince the ref to let the match go and Abe recovers to the ring. The Astronauts face each other, nod, Abe smiles, Nomura scratches his nose... And they go all out in a non-stop barrage of kicks and strikes. It's the final sprint, and this twenty of so exchange of non-stop exchanges ends when Abe gets caught with a kick to the liver and stumbles. Nomura runs to the ropes and hits a jumping knee that knocks his best friend out.

WINNER: TAKUYA NOMURA (KO)
GRADE: 71

• Of course, Takuya Nomura doesn't care to celebrate. He checks on his friend with the medics and helps him to his feet when he recovers. The two men lift each other's hand in celebration. Takuya Nomura may have won the match, but Astronauts won the hearts of the Korakuen Hall audience, together.

 ⚔ Josh Barnett vs. Kazushi Sakuraba ⚔

Two students of Billy Robinson collide in this ode to catch-as-catch can grappling. To emphasizes this hommage to catch wrestling, Josh Barnett walks to the ring with catch wrestling legend, former shooto world champion and the man who gave him his black belt in brazilian JJB, Erik Paulson. This is a strong grappling match, where almost no strikes are exchanged, except a few palm strikes to the back by Sakuraba when he escaped an attempted leg lock, and a notable Josh Barnett knee to the ribs when controling Sakuraba on the ground. It's a clash of raw strength versus unmatched skill and agility. Sakuraba slides, evades, rolls, and frustrates his QUINTET teammate. It angers Barnett to the point of giving Sakuraba a hard slam that almost knocks Sakuraba out. As he recovers, he seems tired and rocked by the slam, almost dizzy. Barnett approaches slowly,... And Sakuraba rolls on the ground, grabs his leg, swipes him to the ground! Heel hook! Barnett has nowhere to go, Sakuraba's cunning got the better out of him!

WINNER: KAZUSHI SAKURABA (SUBMISSION)
GRADE: 55

 ⚔ Minoru Suzuki vs. Masakutsu Funaki ⚔

Two absolute legends of shoot style, no more and no less. Two men whose strange friendship is made of shared blood, sweat and pain. We can confirm that Minoru Suzuki ever actually shed a tear.
This first match in 14 years starts bad, as Suzuki gets into an argument with a staff employee at ringside, two fans and the referee. With a huge grin on his face, he doesn't size up Funaki, but rather walks deliberately towards him... And slaps the taste out of his mouth! Funaki touches his jaw, smiles... And slaps right back! The two icon then indulge into a grapling exchange on their feet then on the ground. A few strikes here and there, an attempted kimura by Funaki, and a brutal headbutt by Suzuki to end the lockflow! The match gets more brutal with stiff strikes, but after the banger of the Astronauts match, the two old legends pale in comparison. They never seem to gel and Suzuki ends it in 12:43 with a Rear Naked Choke.

WINNER: MINORU SUZUKI (SUBMISSION)
GRADE: 60

MAIN EVENT
FOR THE REAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

 ⚔ Katsuyori Shibata vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima ⚔

Nakajima enters to Inoki Bombaye and with the traditional Inoki robe. This homage, typical of his last run, is even weirder when you consider that he is the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight champion. Shibata on the other hand is all business: he walks to the ring like a man on a mission, cracks his neck, and here we go.
This is a masterclass in striking, as the stiffest of kicks and palms and forearms are traded without any contempt for human dignity. A Nakajima slap even draws blood... That gets spitted right back into his face. They're fighting so hard it's hard to know how they can still stand, as they reach the 10 minutes mark without having grapple even one second. It's all strikes and parry and dodge and sizing up. It is two mad men fighting like there is no tommorrow. How can Shibata lose on the Main Event of his first ever produced show? How can Nakajima lose when he's representing both AJPW and the legacy of Inoki that he channels in his every move? As the fmatch reaches fifteen minute, Nakajima rams Shibata into the ground with a brutal looking backdrop that lands right on his neck. Nakajima gathers and size up Shibata, he runs towards him... And gets caught with a yakuza kick! He stumbles, Shibata runs to the rope, another yakuza kick, straight to the face! Nakajima drops down but tries to get back up. Shibata runs to the rope again, PK! The Penalty Kick connects like a freight train, not into Nakajima's torso but rather straight into his face!
Shibata wants to continue but the ref stops him. There's some confusion as the referee tries to have a response from Nakajima but... He's out? He's not pronounced KO immediately, as two officials chek on him while Shibata fumes in his corner. After a minute of confusion, Nakajima is declared KO and the title is awarded to Shibata!

WINNER: KATSUYORI SHIBATA
GRADE: 80

• After the match and having been awarded the title belt, Shibata takes the microphone. Meanwhile, Nakajima is being taken care of by officials. He seems to be in a bad state, can't stand up straight and has to be helped out. Despite this, he still wants to fight, apparently not realizing that the match is done. He tries to go back into the ring but several officials prevents him to do so. Shibata, during all this, thanks the fans.

"Korakuen Hall! Thank you!...
This didn't go exactly as planned, but it was a great show, huh?
Thank you.
We will see you soon.
We are VANGUARD. We are pro wrestling. We will lead the way."

 

__________

 

POST MATCHE COMMENTS:
- The menacing Babatunde told the press that he's eager to show what he's got in VANGUARD. Low Ki was weak and prevented him to fight. Next show, he wants to crush his head ;
- Minoru Tanaka was upset at Tiger Mask and the two had an argument backstages. Tanaka told Tiger Mask that junior wrestlers got embarrassed by "some muay thai bum". They agreed to a match "whenever next show is" ;
- Takuya Nomura and Fuminori Abe thanked the press and the fans on the compliments for their match. They promise to keep pushing each others to reach next heights ;
- Minoru Suzuki and Masakutsu Funaki insulted the press and the fans. They congratulated each other on "a real man's fight". Suzuki laughed about the Astronauts match and mentioned "at least nobody put a finger's in an another man's ass", referencing their december 2023 match ;
- And concerning Katsuhiko Nakajima...

[BigJ]

DAVE MELTZER'S GRADES FOR VANGUARD #1

Babatunde & Low Ki vs. Masashi Takeda & Hikaru Sato
Fun opener, where the real star was Masashi Takeda. Babatunde didn't wrestle, and we still wonder what he is doing in Shibata's shoot style promotion. Maybe RAW Underground went into his head. Still, Low Ki put on a solid performance, Sato did what Sato does, and Takeda shined.

GRADE: **3/4

Tiger Mask IV, Minoru Tanaka & Kendo Kashin vs. Daisuke Nakamura, Tyson Maeguchi & Daijiro Matsui
This could have been better. I was impressed by Maeguchi, who put on a good performance despite not having wrestle that mich. Guess the Kota Ibushi's training payed off. Tiger Mask IV is old and is showing sign of slowing down, to put it politely. Kashin is also past his prime, but Minoru Tanaka did a surprising good job and was the only one who really matched his opponents in intensity.

GRADE: **1/4

Daichi Hashimoto vs. Yuki Ishikawa
Daichi Hashimoto has always been a great wrestling what if. What if he committed to the NJPW Dojo? Could he have been a biggest star? Still, the son of Shinya is walking his own path, and maybe shooting is the right one? He shined in a match against crafty veteran Yuki Ishikawa. This was a good match, a solid showing for both guys.

GRADE: ***

Fuminori Abe vs. Takuya Nomura
This match was good, althought not as great as the december 2023 one at We Are the Fighting Detective. They didn't recreate the magic, essentially due to the lack of more wrestling move and more humour. Still, Astronauts put on a great match - the second best of the night - and should be the focus for this new project.

GRADE: ***3/4

Minoru Suzuki vs. Masakutsu Funaki
Strangely, this match didn't have any flow. It's like the two friends and training partners didn't gel well. Still, considering the qualities of both these fighters, this was everything you could expect. Hard hitting, smart grappling, and a lot of attitude.

GRADE: ***

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
We will talk about the strange finish later. This was peak shoot-style, like seeing Akira Maeda and Antonio Inoki fight. Both guys might have the stiffest kicks in the business, and they went at it. It was brutal and quite emotional, with a true display of fighting spirit. Quite honestly there's nothing to criticize about this match... Except its finish.

Sources say that Nakajima was supposed to win and got legit concussed by a Shibata's kick. They decided an audible and declared him TKO. This explains the confusion surrounding the end of the match, and the fact that Nakajima wanted to go back into the ring. At this point, it's hard to say if this was an accident or if Shibata went straight Maeda and shot on Nakajima. I've been told Nakajima suffered a concussion and may be out of action for a few weeks - even months. He reportedly went into a rant and didn't speak to the press post match. So did Shibata.

AJPW is furious at their champion being injured and seemed to have taken an hostile approach towards Shibata's new project. Don't expect Nakajima to show up again in VANGUARD. Given his tough guy attitude and his past with shooting on opponents, it's hard to say if he will comment about this. Maybe he won't say it's a shoot at the risk of having his "legit" image scorned.

Shibata, on the other hand, just made a good publicity stunt for his promotion. Japanese media are making a lot of noise around the ending of the match.

Despite this rocky finish, this was great.

GRADE: ****

 

Quote

Hey there!
Allow me to pull back the curtain a bit:

Nakajima was supposed to win here, but in classic TEW 2020 fashion, the game pulled one on me.
Nakajima got concussed, causing an audible and Shibata winning. At first, I was like "F this game, i'll reload to last sunday". But then, I figured this could be a great story.

Nakajima/Shibata (user character) now have a strong dislike, so I went full roleplay with it: I cut Nakajima's contract, changed AJPW/VANGUARD's relation to hostile, and i'm going to roll with it. I won't go all WCW "shoot work, shoot, this ain't in the script, brother", but the idea is that we won't know if it's an accident or a straight shoot, and we'll play around that notion. This adds to Shibata's aura.

This event is what motivated me to write a diary around this little game and roleplayed Shibata as Akira Maeda II. Hope you'll enjoy the ride!

 

[BigJ]

PREDICTIONS
(as Nakajima was BOOKED to win, I will count a point for everyone who picked him)

Dalton: 3/7
Vandal: 4/7
SonOfSharknado: 5/7
 

[BigJ]

VANGUARD #2
Live from Korakuen Hall
May 19th 2024

All matches are contested under Vanguard Rules. Matches can only be won by knockout, submission or referee stoppage.
A 30-minutes time limit in enforced on all matches. If the time limit is reached, the referee has discretionnary power to award the winning decision or declare a draw.

 

MAIN EVENT
FOR THE REAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

"The Realest Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. "Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakuraba

PIONEERS VS. PRODIGIES
TAG TEAM DOUBLE MAIN EVENT

PANCRASE DEATH SQUAD (Minoru Suzuki & Masakutsu Funaki)
vs.
Astronauts (Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura)

THE FUTURE IS NOW!

"Heir of the Never Dying Fighting Spirit" Daichi Hashimoto vs. "Crazy Kid" Masashi Takeda

GRAPPLING VS. STRIKING!

"The Genius of the Armbar" Daisuke Nakamura vs. "Dynamite Puncher" Tyson Maeguchi

LEGENDS OF JR. WRESTLING

"Yondaime Kogane no Tora" Tiger Mask IV vs. "The Orange Prince" Minoru Tanaka

FIRST TIME EVER

"No nickname needed" Daijiro Matsui vs. "Godfather of BattlArts" Yuki Ishikawa

GRUDGE MATCH

"Realest Giant" Babatunde vs. "Hitman" Low Ki

 

Edited March 16 by BigJ

[SonOfSharknado]

MAIN EVENT
FOR THE REAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

"The Realest Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. "Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakuraba

Let's go, Shibata, you evil bastard. 

PIONEERS VS. PRODIGIES
TAG TEAM DOUBLE MAIN EVENT

PANCRASE DEATH SQUAD (Minoru Suzuki & Masakutsu Funaki)
vs.
Astronauts (Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura)

I imagine the Old Men are gonna do some shenanigans and cheat to win because they're overwhelmed by the superior athleticism and ability of the younger team. 

THE FUTURE IS NOW!

"Heir of the Never Dying Fighting Spirit" Daichi Hashimoto vs. "Crazy Kid" Masashi Takeda

I've got a hope you're gonna continue building Baby Hashimoto to get his head kicked in by Shibata. 

GRAPPLING VS. STRIKING!

"The Genius of the Armbar" Daisuke Nakamura vs. "Dynamite Puncher" Tyson Maeguchi

Guessing that Maeguchi takes the win here purely on vibes. 

LEGENDS OF JR. WRESTLING

"Yondaime Kogane no Tora" Tiger Mask IV vs. "The Orange Prince" Minoru Tanaka

Tanaka should take his mask when he wins. 

FIRST TIME EVER

"No nickname needed" Daijiro Matsui vs. "Godfather of BattlArts" Yuki Ishikawa

Alright, now I want Ishikawa to win. 

GRUDGE MATCH

"Realest Giant" Babatunde vs. "Hitman" Low Ki

Yes, Babatunde. Crush the little man. 

 

I am entirely in on crazy mean bastard Shibata, what a great gimmick. I wonder if he has any feelings on the idea of booking Shinya Aoki, given that Aoki does comedy spots and lost to a woman. (Chihiro in Vanguard, maybe?) 

[BigJ]

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

[SonOfSharknado]

Outside of women like Chihiro Hashimoto and Yuu (team 200kg of Sendai Girls) and Miyu Yamashita of TJPW, I know Taka Michinoku's JUST TAP OUT promotion has some joshi that might fit into VANGUARD. 

[Vandal]

Katsuyori Shibata

Astronauts

Daichi Hashimoto

Tyson Maeguchi

Minoru Tanaka

Yuki Ishikawa

Babatunde

Edited March 19 by Vandal

[StanMiguel]

"The Realest Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata (c)
PANCRASE DEATH SQUAD (Minoru Suzuki & Masakutsu Funaki)
"Crazy Kid" Masashi Takeda
"The Genius of the Armbar" Daisuke Nakamura
"The Orange Prince" Minoru Tanaka
 "Godfather of BattlArts" Yuki Ishikawa
"Hitman" Low Ki

[BigJ]

Thanks to both of you for your predictions!

[CGN91]

Love the roster so far (some big[ger] names here and I would love to see some lesser known guys here like for example Jota, Keita Yano or Takahiro Tababa), surprised that I don't see Ironhead Fujita and Hikaru Sato around here though. The first show was pretty decent! Keep it up.

Shibata
Pancrase Death Squad (althought I am an Astronauts stan)
Baby Hash
Maeguchi
Tanaka
Ishikawa
Low Ki
 

[BigJ]

8 minutes ago, CGN91 said:

Love the roster so far (some big[ger] names here and I would love to see some lesser known guys here like for example Jota, Keita Yano or Takahiro Tababa), surprised that I don't see Ironhead Fujita and Hikaru Sato around here though. The first show was pretty decent! Keep it up.

Shibata
Pancrase Death Squad (althought I am an Astronauts stan)
Baby Hash
Maeguchi
Tanaka
Ishikawa
Low Ki
 

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

[CGN91]

Oh jesus yes he was in the Proving Grounds match, big sorry here pal! Looking forward to the next show.

[SonOfSharknado]

I second Keita Yano, he's one of the best technical wrestlers most people have never heard of. I'd also like to suggest Hideki Suzuki from NOAH, Shibata might not have respect for the Green Ring, but he probably respects the final student of Billy Robinson. 

[BigJ]

VANGUARD #2
Live from Korakuen Hall | 629 in attendance
Streamed on niconico
May 19th 2024

• VANGUARD's founder and "Real" World Champion Katsuyori Shibata opens the show and thanks the fans for coming. He says the media have been all over VANGUARD and especially the main event of the first show, referencing the controversy regarding his match with Nakajima. Shibata says he's heard a lot about his "reckless" style and the concern about him ending Sakuraba career tonight. He reminds us that he used to team with Sakuraba in Laughter7 so he has no desire to end his career. He also wants to prove that he's the ultimate wrestler and so he makes a promise: tonight he won't KO Sakuraba. He'll grapple him and beat him at his own game. "Have a great night!"

⚔ "Realest Giant" Babatunde vs. "Hitman" Low Ki ⚔

In 2002, Low Ki wrestler Samoa Joe in the latter Ring Of Honor's debut. This was essentially American Indy's first great shoot style match ever. A match still revered to this day, where the smaller and leaner Low Ki battled the raw strength of Samoa Joe and imposed his will on him, grinding and kicking his way to a huge victory in one of indy wrestling's most foundly remember match. Tonight, Low Ki has the same plan as back in 2011 with Babatunde: kick him to remove his strong base, negate his superior frame and weight with quickness and skill. It is a battle tested plan that worked before. And you know what they say?

Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Or, in this case, elbowed in the skull until they can't even stand up straight. The fight is a flash: Low Ki approaches Babatunde slowly and gives him a few stiff low kick. Babatunde is so tall that he can't reach and catch Low Ki's leg. It's no big deal though: he waits the precise moment where Low Ki throws his hip into a fourth kick, and catches him behind the neck in a muay thai clinch. Low Ki tries to escape, but Babatunde throws him into the ground like nothing and mounts him, delivering disgusting elbows. The ground to pound opens Low Ki's skull, and he can't defend himself. In three short minutes, this match is over after a total domination.

WINNER: BABATUNDE (KO)
GRADE: 41

⚔ Daijiro Matsui vs.  Yuki Ishikawa ⚔

The 54 fights MMA veteran Daijiro Matsui, trained by Nobuhiko Takada, faces the founder of BattlArts. Two clear gameplans here: Matsui has the stronger stand-up game and a kick can end the match in his favour. Ishikawa is clearly the superior grappler and wants to bring his opponent to the ground, negate his base and submit him. It's sudden-death game as a single kick of a lightning-fast submission could end it. It's near, as a superman punch by Matsui brings Ishikawa to the ground at around 6 minutes. Matsui smells blood and goes for the ground and pound, but Ishikawa catches his arm and secures a triangle choke for the surprise win!

WINNER: YUKI ISHIKAWA (SUBMISSION)
GRADE: 48

⚔ Tiger Mask IV vs. Minoru Tanaka ⚔

Two junior heavyweight legends, who crossed paths numerous time in NJPW and trade the Junior heavyweight championship, collide. Last month, they were in the same team and lost to the "MMA fighters" team. After that, they got into an argument backstages and agreed to a match. This starts as a rather classic junior wrestling affair, with runs to the ropes, chops and arm drags. It speeds up a bit though when Tiger Mask hits a shotgun running dropkick that sends Tanaka to the outside. Tiger Mask rungs the ropes, and hits Tanaka with a baseball slide beneath the first rope that hits him right in the mouth, drawing a bit of blood. From there, they fight outside of the ring with forearms and kicks, before Minoru Tanaka throws a ringside fan at Tiger Mask! It allows him to recover and get back into the ring to breathe. As Tiger Mask checks on the fan, he decides to go back to the ring via the rope, and goes for a jumping something, but gets caught by Tanak's foot right in the jaw. From there, Tanaka grabs Tiger by the back and runs him into the ring corner before hitting a brutal snap german suplex. The ref has to check on Tiger Mask, who gets back up at the count of six. It goes into an all out stiff strike exchanges. Tanaka gets the upper hand with a low kick that brings Tiger down to a knee, and runs the rope. He goes for a penalty kick but Tiger Mask dodges, gets back up... Front kick to the stomach by Tanaka, Tiger bends in two... Guillotine choke! Tiger Mask is trapped in the center of the ring and has to choice but to tap out.

WINNER: MINORU TANAKA (SUBMISSION)
GRADE: 46

⚔ Daisuke Nakamura vs. Tyson Maeguchi ⚔

Once again, it's a grappler versus a striker, as the "Genius of the Armbar" squares up against professional muay thai and kickboxer. It's even more a dichotomy as Maeguchi has almost no grappling game, except a few classic wrestling moves that he learned from Kota Ibushi. Nakamura swallows a few hard strike and spends a huge amount of time attemping a takedown. Maeguchi is quick on his feet and uses the ropes as a shelter multiple time, keeping his advantage. It gets frustrating for Nakamura, who gets more and more tired swallowing all the shots from his elite-striking opponent. He strikes back, but fails to inflict the same damages as the ones he takes. He switches it up after a moment, determined to not be beaten up. He manages to catch Maeguchi with a quick snap kanukki suplex and reaches for the arm. The locks in the kimura, but Maeguchi has a rope! Nakamura manages to bring his opponent down four more time with a powermove, but each time he can't successfully transition into a submission. It gets tiring, and he doesn't see a flying knee from Maeguchi after a quick grappling exchange on the ground. He gets knocked out COLD.
WINNER: TYSON MAEGUCHI (KO)
GRADE: 57

⚔ Daichi Hashimoto vs. Masashi Takeda ⚔

Have you ever seen the depiction of passion? Daichi Hashimoto has perhaps the biggest chip of all puroresu on his shoulders. He was 13 years old when his father, wrestling legend Shinya Hashimoto passed away. He took the mantle, but never became a huge star in Japanese wrestling. He mostly wrestled in BJPW, an environement far different from peak 90s NJPW where Shinya became a legend. With VANGUARD, he reconnects with the strong style heritage of his father, a man famous for his high impact style an stiff strikes. Tonight, he faces deathmatch LEGEND Masashi Takeda, a man he crossed paths with in BJPW, who's out to prove he's much more than just the best deathmatch wrestler alive: he's LEGIT! Takeda is 6-3 in MMA and his signature with VANGUARD is a step in his pursuit of acknowledgement.

This match is a pure fight of will. Stiff strikes, brutal throws, intense struggle, and never say die attitude. These two give it all, even fighting in the crowd for a moment, when Masashi Takega gets thrown into multiple chairs ringside, hitting a few fans that weren't quick enough to get up. This fight is all about fighting spirit and one-upping the other match, as we even see an exchange of sickening elbows to the face in the middle of the ring. Their bodies are hurting: Takeda's tigh is turning blue from all the kicks he received, his chest is strawberry red ; Hashimoto's eyebrow is split open and bleeding deep.

It is an all out war where neither man gets a real advantage, a true stalemate as the ring announcer signals for the 3 minutes left signals. They are exhausted, barely standing up, and they come face to face in the middle of the ring, inveighing each other with huge grins on their faces. When your body is giving up, when you're hurting so bad you want to quit, when your mind is going numb, only one thing remains... Pure, unstoppable FIGHTING SPIRIT! They stand face to face and go all out like mad men, unleashing every strike, every once of energy they got left. Hashimoto goes to the rope and delivers a spinning elbow to Takeda, and the two men go down! The referee checks on them, and they both scream, they want to continue! As they barely stand back up with the help of the ropes, they - once again - come face to face in the middle of the ring. They are about to go at it again... But the bell rings, it's over.
TIME LIMIT DRAW
GRADE: 65

⚔ PANCRASE DEATH SQUAD vs. Astronauts ⚔

The forefathers of Pancrase against the spiritual heirs of BattleArts' Bati-Bati style. Two nasty, violent, crafty veterans, against the pure heart of the Astronauts. Two singular yet similar visions of pro wrestling. Two philosophies for what fighting should be, colliding in a stylistic clash for the ages. The match begins with Suzuki facing Nomura. In classic Suzuki fashin, he throws a slap at Nomura. Not a violent slap, not engaging his full body into the strike. Just an act of humiliation, a manner of stating his lack of respect for whoever's put in front of him. Nomura receives the slap... And runs straight at Suzuki, his fiery heart and his pride not tolerating this lack of respect. Unfortunately for him, it's his first mistake. The veteran Suzuki expected this reaction and dodges Nomura's onslaught, catching his back and bringing him to the ground with a favourable position. This first action exemplifies the match: Suzuki and Funaki use their experience and craftiness to get the upper hand. When Astronauts come back with some flurry of offenses, their opponents evade, or just straight stop their momentum with some bending of the rules: face grab during grappling moment, stomping on the feet when clutching for the inside position on the feet, or even Suzuki biting Abe in the calf when Abe tries to lock in an armbar! Abe tries to replicate, he too knows how to bite and claw, but he lacks the experience, and the referee catches him and stops it everytime, whereas Funaki & Suzuki are experienced enough to do it behind the referee back, with an expert timing.

The match turns nasty when the cheating gets too far: Minoru Suzuki and Fuminori Abe are wrestling against the ropes, and the ref separates them. While the ref is making him step back, Suzuki throws a nasty closed fist punch into Fuminori Abe's eye! What follows is a sickening sequence where Funaki & Suzuki go to town on Abe, alternating his hitting him with elbows and knees, targeting his eye. Fuminori must be hurt as he starts to bleed when Funaki racks his eye against the top rope. It's getting nasty, and the referee has to stop the action to check on Fuminori Abe, whose eye is bathing in his own blood. The ref wants to stop the match for excessive bleeding, but Fuminori screams: he wants to continue! He battles the veterans, being stopped to tag out every single time, missing on Nomura's hand by a few inches. This gets suffocating when finally, Abe dodges a Funaki running kick to the ground, jumps to his feet and catches him with a rolling elbow, a slap, and a momentous Kaiten Jodoshu ! Abe jumps to his corner, exhausted, and in comes Takuya Nomura.

Nomura delivers a non-stop onslaught on Masakutsu Funaki. It's three to four minutes of non stop striking and wrestling, ending with a german suplex that rocks the ring. He transitions into a fujiwara armbar in the middle of the ring! Minoru Suzuki tries to interfere, but Fuminori Abe comes at him. They exchanges hard forearms, and Suzuki nails Abe with a yakuza kick to the eye! Abe is on the ground, just next to Nomura delivering the armbar. He's not quite locked in as the legendary grappler Funaki is clinching and scrambling to maintain position. What happens then is a most unique ending to a match: Suzuki delivers elbows to Abe's eye just in front of Nomura's eye, and he's screaming at Nomura: "i will rip his eye out!" Nomura's struggling, he's about to secure the armbar but... "I QUIT!"

Wanting to end the suffering for his best friend being beaten up just in fron of him, Nomura makes his choice. He rather lost the match than having his best friend being crippled in front of him.

WINNERS: PANCRASE DEATH SQUAD
GRADE: 64

• Nomura let Funaki's arm go and jumps at Suzuki, covering Fuminori Abe with his own body. Suzuki, a gnarly smirk on his face, is quick to roll out of the ring. Nomura clutches his almost unconscious friend in his arms as medical staff arrives to check on his badly injured eye. His retina could be detached, all because of the Most Evil Man in Wrestling, Minoru Suzuki.

MAIN EVENT
FOR THE REAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

⚔ Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba /w. Josh Barnett ⚔

Kazushi Sakuraba is a legend of Japanese MMA, perhaps THE legend. He is the man who ended the Gracie's family stranglehold on MMA. He is the pillar on which japanese MMA was built. He submitted 19 men in professional MMA fights, and tonight he wishes to do the same on VANGUARD's boss and Real World Champion Katsuyori Shibata, the forgotten third New Musketeer of NJPW. Shibata said earlier tonight that he wanted to beat Sakuraba at his own game: grappling! He makes good on his promise as this is a pure grappling clinic for most of the match. Billy Robinson would be proud seeing this locks, transitions and attempted submissions. Multiple time, Sakuraba gets a strong hold on him, like when he applies a heel hook 4 minutes into the match. But Shibata's will gives him enough energy and resilience to reach for the ropes, every time. Shibata grows more and more frustrated: Sakuraba has an answer for everything, and he never manages to firmly lock a submission. Sakuraba evades an armbar by gripping Shibata's foot and putting him in an ankle hold ; he escaped a guillotine attempted with his sheer agility ; he rolls around when Shibata attempt a rear naked choke and reaches for the rope. Despite what Shibata hoped to do, it's clear Sakuraba has the edge in grappling and is going to tap him out one way or another if given enough time.

Shibata's frustration makes him turn his back on his own promise, as he begins to slap Sakuraba while grappling, most notably an astoundishing palm strike to Sakuraba's liver that makes him roll out to recover for a few seconds. Shibata still tries to out-grapple Sakuraba, but he's unafraid to throw in more and more strikes. Of course, Sakuraba reciprocates, but his young opponent is famoius for his striking ability and has an undeniable edge over him in that category. Shibata's frustration grows even more when Sakuraba catches him with a Buggy Choke that Shibata barely escapes by touching the rope with the end of his toes. When he gets back up, Shibata goes to Sakuraba and delivers a sickening headbutt to his opponent, the kind of strike that makes the whole crowd go silent as it is so uneasy to watch. It's the same headbutt that almost ended his career in 2017, and he goes at it again. Sakuraba goes down, and Shibata gets him back up to deliver ANOTHER sick headbutt. He promised to outgrapple Sakuraba tonight, but he couldn't. As Sakuraba is phased out, Shibata graps him and puts him in a fujiwara armbar, Yuji Nagata style. Sakuraba tries to giggle around, but he's trapped and taps out. Shibata submitted him, but he had to resort to his furious striking to do so.
WINNER: KATSUYORI SHIBATA (SUBMISSION)
GRADE: 67

• Shibata takes the microphone after having his hand raised by the official and received his championship belt. He thanks Sakuraba for the match and the fans for coming. Before he can adress the crowd, he gets interrupted

Tyson Maeguchi comes to the ring. He goes straight to Shibata and stares him with disrespect in his eyes. Shibata laughs and asks him if he wants a title shot. Shibata tells him he'll face him and knock him out cold. He never did muay thai but he has the meanest kick in the business, "ask Katsuhiko Nakajima". Maeguchi nods and leaves the ring, leaving Shibata for the final adress:

"We are VANGUARD.
We are pro wrestling.
We will lead the way."
 

 

POST-MATCH COMMENTS

- Babatunde told the reporters that he's "just beginning", and promises he has much more to offer to VANGUARD ;
- Yuki Ishikawa got questioned about the PANCRASE/Astronauts tag match. He said he was disgusted by Minoru Suzuki's actions, and express his most heartfelt wishes to Fuminori Abe, hoping he'll be good to go. Ishikawa noted that he always had an eye on Astronauts, the two spiritual successors of his BATI-BATI style and of BattleArts. He adressed a message to Takuya Nomura: "if you need an ally, I wil answer the call." ;
- Minoru Tanaka insulted Tiger Mask IV in his post match comments and told him to "go back to the retirement home". Tanaka noted that he felt younger than ever, and that it won't be long before he comes for Shibata ;
- Daichi Hashimoto's comments were interrupted by Masashi Takeda. After their gruelling 30 minutes time limit, they got into a friendly argument about "doing that again". Takeda noted that Daichi's hit "like a girl" with a huge smile, his legs still bruised by Daichi's kick. Daichi's answered with as much humour, telling Takeda that he didn't hit him too hard because he already was ugly enough. The two men agreed to fight again ;
- Takuya Nomura didn't adress the press after his match, as he accompanied his best friend Fuminori Abe to the hospital. Reports are that he suffered a fractured skull and a detached retina ;
- Minoru Suzuki and Masakutsu Funaki laughed. They criticized Nomura's feelings and laughed at him throwing the match away because his "boyfriend" was getting injured. Suzuki adressed Nomura: "you've got to be ruthless! There is no friendship in wrestling! This is life and death, this is do or die. You've got to be ready to leave it all on that mat! Grow up, kid!" ; Funaki, laughing in the background, adressed Ishikawa's comments: "let's fight! I'll humiliate your Bati-Bati stupid style. PANCRASE will prevail!"
- After the main event, Sakuraba adressed the press, held up by friend and training partner Josh Barnett. Sakuraba was fair about his loss, but noted the number of times Shibata had to use the ropes to escaped. Josh Barnett noted that in Bloodsport Rules (without ropes), he'll be done ;
- Tyson Maeguchi adressed his quick earned win and his challenge to Shibata. Tyson promises he'll win the title next show, and he will do it in front of his trainer ;
- Katsuyori Shibata thanked the media and the fans. He adressed Tyson Maeguchi's challenge and told us he won't ever back down. He defended his title against a grappling living legend, next show he will beat up an elite striker: another day at the office of The REALEST Wrestler.

[BigJ]

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