gordi Posted July 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 Yeah, Adonis and Murdoch were both NJPW regulars in the early 1980s. According to Cagematch, it looks like Adonis had 45 matches in New Japan in '85 alone, working there from March through June. He had another big run in NJPW in '88. A few of the guys on my roster, such as Inoki and Sayama, are pretty famous for being marks for themselves and hating to do jobs. A couple of guys are famous for being sometimes being bad tempered and difficult to work with, particularly Maeda. I want to address that in the project, without dwelling on it too much. My hope is that with guys like Baba and Jumbo setting a good example and with Baba's payoffs presumably being really good, and with guys like Andre and Fujiwara around to serve as "policemen" if things go out of control... hopefully everyone can learn to be team players and good soldiers... ...but yeah, I figure with a roster like this you simply have more guys who can work on top than you have top slots available, so there will always be some issues with bruised egos and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted July 12, 2017 Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 The July 17 card should be a good one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexstar Posted July 12, 2017 Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 JWA Tournament Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs Adrian Adonis Take all my money now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Ewiak Posted July 13, 2017 Report Share Posted July 13, 2017 Heh. "Extenuating circumstances." Fine, Maeda. Don't want to work with Jumbo? Have fun attempting your a-hole shooty stuff with Fujiwara. Awesome lineup though, with every match but one having the ability to be awesome under the right circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneJackson95 Posted July 13, 2017 Report Share Posted July 13, 2017 A lot of great matches for Round 2 Day 2 but I think Dos Caras vs Black Tiger would have been my favorite. I have to feel Adrian Adonis' stock is going up in the States with all these great performances in Japan...Hickerson as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowBlowPodcast Posted July 14, 2017 Report Share Posted July 14, 2017 Biggest first round matches... Riki Choshu vs Blade Runner Sting Ashura Hara vs Phil Hickerson Jumbo Tsuruta vs Toshiaki Kawada Bruiser Brody vs Tiger Mask Misawa Had to go with the same as Dex... interesting matches... Final Four Inoki Funjinami Jumbo Brody Jumbo and Brody still doing work as is Fujinami.... JWA Tournament Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs Adrian Adonis -Fujinami goes on here. JWA Tournament Match: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda -I think Maeda is a dark horse here. JWA Tournament Match: Bruiser Brody vs Tiger Mask Sayama -Still thinking Brody is the man JWA Tournament Match: Riki Choshu vs Jumbo Tsuruta -Jumbo's coming out party... he is the man to beat the man who bet Inoki. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted July 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2017 The July 17 card should be a good one! Thanks. I hope I can do those quarter-final match-ups justice. JWA Tournament Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs Adrian Adonis Take all my money now All right! Expensive sushi for dinner tonight! Heh. "Extenuating circumstances." Fine, Maeda. Don't want to work with Jumbo? Have fun attempting your a-hole shooty stuff with Fujiwara. Awesome lineup though, with every match but one having the ability to be awesome under the right circumstances. Actually... it's not Maeda who is proving difficult this time around... A lot of great matches for Round 2 Day 2 but I think Dos Caras vs Black Tiger would have been my favorite. I have to feel Adrian Adonis' stock is going up in the States with all these great performances in Japan...Hickerson as well. It's always my goal that every wrestler who comes over here goes home looking at least a little better. I don't always achieve that goal, but that is what I'm shooting for. Biggest first round matches... Riki Choshu vs Blade Runner Sting Ashura Hara vs Phil Hickerson Jumbo Tsuruta vs Toshiaki Kawada Bruiser Brody vs Tiger Mask Misawa Had to go with the same as Dex... interesting matches... Final Four Inoki Funjinami Jumbo Brody Jumbo and Brody still doing work as is Fujinami.... JWA Tournament Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs Adrian Adonis -Fujinami goes on here. JWA Tournament Match: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda -I think Maeda is a dark horse here. JWA Tournament Match: Bruiser Brody vs Tiger Mask Sayama -Still thinking Brody is the man JWA Tournament Match: Riki Choshu vs Jumbo Tsuruta -Jumbo's coming out party... he is the man to beat the man who bet Inoki. Pretty good predictions! Choshu vs Jumbo is proving pretty difficult to write up for whatever reason. One of those guys has to go over clean, without making the other look bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted July 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2017 JWA Japanese Championship Tournament Round 3 July 17, Okayama Budokan. Aired live on Asahi TV as a special presentation of JWA World Pro Wrestling Keiichi Yamada vs Naoki Sano Yet again, something tells me that these guys might put on a really good match together some day, after they have had the chance to develop and grow a little more… It’s just so tempting to match up guys that I know will burn the house down in the future (I know, because I time-travelled here from 1995). In terms of “This match is: Naoki Sano vs Jushin Liger” this match was… well, I wouldn’t call it disappointing, but they are not “there” just yet. On the other hand, in terms of “This match is: Two guys who were literally still in the dojo last year” it was pretty damned good and you could easily see plenty of evidence that they are going to get “there” some day in the not too distant future. Hashimoto, Mutoh, and Chono vs Ishikawa, Takada, and Fuchi Ishikawa and Chono recently returned from a tour overseas where they worked as a tag team, developing excellent ring chemistry which they put to good use here, as opponents. We also got Hashimoto and Takada stiffing each other with hard kicks, and Fuchi’s grumpiness as a counter to Mutoh’s flash. We only gave them twelve minutes, but they could easily have gone twenty. Inoki, Sakaguchi, The Cobra, and Kawada vs Ueda, Atisanoe, Afi, and Goto The heel team clubbered, cheated, and drew heat. Kawada sold a ton. The Cobra sold some, too. Inoki and Sakaguchi got the hot tags and looked like super-heroes. Then, Ueda and Atisanoe used dirty tactics to get the momentum (and the heat) back on their side. We ran through that cycle a few times, and then Sakaguchi put Goto down with a Choke Bomb and finished him off with the Stomach Claw. Tenryu, Yatsu, and Hara vs Kengo Kimura, Sting, and Kido Tenryu vs Kimura was the marquee match-up in this six man, and everyone was excited to see how the young American would fare against this level of competition… but in fact it was Yatsu and Kido who stole the show. The Olympian and the Karl Gotch protégé mixed technical grappling, stiff striking, and creative transitions in a twelve-minute display that drew a big reaction from the fans in Okayama. Eventually, the bigger, stronger Yatsu took Kido down with a nasty-looking Bulldog and tagged in the JWA champion. Tenryu waited until Kido got back to his feet, and then took his head off with a Running Lariat for the finish. ***BREAK*** JWA Tournament Match: Fujinami vs Adonis So the first part of the match was a twelve-minute all-action sprint leading to Adonis nailing the Flying Elbow Drop, but Fujinami kicking out at 2.99. Then we had a nasty brawl where an enraged Adonis tried to stomp Fujinami’s head like a grape, but Fujinami managed to keep his cool and take advantage of the New Yorker’s aggression. That part of the match ended when Fujinami hit a Flying Knee Drop, but Adonis got his foot up on the ropes to break the count. Finally, the two men stood toe to toe in the middle of the ring exchanging punches and chops. Adonis seemed to be gaining a clear advantage… but Fujinami ducked a big haymaker and Adonis spun half-way around, out of control. Seeing his opportunity, Fujinami locked the big American up and finished him with a Dragon Suplex in the middle of the ring. JWA Tournament Match: Fujiwara vs Maeda So, part of the reason that we changed the quarter-final match-ups around is that these two shoot style pioneers have been asking for the chance to face each other in the JWA ring. There has been quite a bit of discussion recently about maybe putting on a shoot style tournament or even adding a shoot style title, with matches determined by KO or submission only. So, this match was kind of a test run. We didn’t officially announce it as being contested under shoot style rules or anything; we just let them go at it. It was a stiff, violent, realistic match that popped about 80 percent of the crowd and seemed to kind of baffle or frighten the remaining 20 percent. Originally, the plan had been for Maeda to advance to the semi-finals. However, the big Korean suffered a deep bone bruise to his right tibia in the match with Osamu Kido and so the decision was made to put Fujiwara over. Despite his obvious physical discomfort, Maeda gave it his all in the match and helped Fujiwara to look like a million bucks in the process. After a solid 15 minutes of action, Fujiwara ducked under a Maeda high kick, took him to the ground, and forced him to submit with his signature Arm Bar. JWA Tournament Match: Brody vs Tiger Mask Sayama The other, more important reason that we decided to change the match-ups is that Baba and Shinma were not satisfied with Sayama’s explanation for why he had treated Fuyuki like a glorified jobber in their second-round match. There was some concern that Sayama might try and go into business for himself. Riki Choshu is a legitimately tough guy, but the feeling is that he would not be the best guy to keep a handle on things if Sayama went for a double-cross. Both Maeda and Fujiwara expressed willingness (almost eagerness) to face Sayama, but Baba was concerned that those match-ups might just devolve into in-ring shoots. The hope was that Sayama would be very unlikely to try it on with Brody, given the American’s 12-inch height advantage, 80-pound weight advantage, and fearsome reputation. Tiger Mask came right at Brody from the opening bell, throwing stiff kicks and using his speed and agility to frustrate the big man… but he didn’t cross any lines and when the time came for the momentum to shift Sayama did the job, bouncing and selling for the big man and struggling to fight back from underneath. It was a very good David vs Goliath match, which Brody won by Count Out at the 19 minute mark. JWA Tournament Match: Choshu vs Tsuruta Much like Choshu vs Inoki in the second round, this match could easily have been booked as the Tournament Final. And, not unlike Inoki vs Choshu, there was pressure to put on a sufficiently epic match to meet the expectations that were generated by seeing those two names together on the card. Unlike that second-round epic, outside interference would play no role in determining the outcome of this match. Baba negotiated a huge deal with Sony Electronics and Asahi TV to release recordings of the complete quarter-final, semi-final, and final matches exclusively on Sony’s new SuperBetamax tapes. Baba had therefore requested that I book every remaining tournament match with a relatively clean finish so that we could use the tape sets – which are expected to be big sellers – as a way of promoting JWA as a new style of pro wrestling. So, basically, either Choshu or Tsuruta was going to have to do a clean job in the middle of the ring. To their credit, both men were willing. Choshu even argued persuasively that getting a clean victory over Inoki earlier in the tournament would balance his taking a loss here. He went so far as to say that he would be proud to put Jumbo over as “The man to beat the man who beat Inoki.” I thought that was a very nice turn of phrase. So, they went back and forth for almost 30 minutes, with Choshu looking strong, busting Jumbo open, and getting near-falls off of Lariats, a DDT, and a Piledriver. Around the 25-minute mark, Choshu trapped Jumbo in the Sharpshooter and there was a long struggle during which Jumbo very nearly tapped out before reaching the ropes. As Jumbo tried to get back to his feet, Choshu charged at him… only to be caught by a surprise Dropkick. Bloodied but determined, Jumbo hit Choshu with a Gutwrench Suplex and a Double Underhook Suplex, caught him with a nasty Lariat of his own, and then finished him with a Powerbomb. Semi-final Match-ups: Bruiser Brody vs Jumbo Tsuruta Tatsumi Fujinami vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted July 16, 2017 Report Share Posted July 16, 2017 Oh man, Choshu vs Jumbo was absolutely stunning. Fantastic match and it's not even the semis! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexstar Posted July 19, 2017 Report Share Posted July 19, 2017 The best part of JWA is that you could literally put names in a hat, draw them out, and have a card with like three MOTYC on it. On that note, I vote for a JWA Lethal Lottery tournament. Also, I want my bet on the Final Four refunded by the bookie - how was I too know the brackets would change? I should have figured it was coming, because we had these three predictions: Choshu Fujinami Tsuruta Fujiwara Inoki Funjinami Jumbo Brody Choshu Fujinami Jumbo Brody and this hint One of you is exactly right with the final four prediction. The other two got three out of four correct. Nicely done! And I spent ten minutes with a piece of paper and the bracket trying to figure out how that was possible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted July 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2017 Oh man, Choshu vs Jumbo was absolutely stunning. Fantastic match and it's not even the semis! It's probably going to sound ridiculous (or maybe you will understand exactly what I mean) but Choshu surprised me by being willing to put Jumbo over in the quarter-finals. I had this whole tournament planned out a couple of months ago... but then some of the matches ended up going differently from how I'd imagined them. I love it when that happens, even if it sounds a little nuts. The best part of JWA is that you could literally put names in a hat, draw them out, and have a card with like three MOTYC on it. On that note, I vote for a JWA Lethal Lottery tournament. Also, I want my bet on the Final Four refunded by the bookie - how was I too know the brackets would change? I should have figured it was coming, because we had these three predictions: Choshu Fujinami Tsuruta Fujiwara Inoki Funjinami Jumbo Brody Choshu Fujinami Jumbo Brody and this hint One of you is exactly right with the final four prediction. The other two got three out of four correct. Nicely done! And I spent ten minutes with a piece of paper and the bracket trying to figure out how that was possible The original plan was to have Choshu vs Fujinami and Jumbo vs Brody be the Semi-final match-ups. But, then Sayama surprised me by steamrolling Fuyuki in their match, and that led to a different set of dominoes falling into place... All bets will be refunded, plus an extra 50% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted July 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2017 So, some stuff has come up and I am going to be unable to give this project the attention it deserves until, probably, October. If someone emerges before October who would like to take over "Japan" by all means feel free to let them. I'll try to drop in and comment from time to time. Here's how the tournament was set to end: July 25th, Nagoya: Kawada and Fuyuki vs Hashimoto and Sting: Sting makes a Kobashi-like self-sacrifice to save Hashimoto, then gets pinned by Fuyuki Faction Wars III: Baba, Tenryu, Yatsu, Hara, and Ishikawa vs. Choshu, Adonis, Rusher, Teranishi and Anjo: finishes in a tie and a brawl. Nothing gets resolved just yet. break Fujinami vs Fujiwara: Intense and bloody. Epic. Tatsumi Fujinami wins. Brody vs. Jumbo: Surprisingly technical at first, with lots of headlocks and wristlocks. Eventually Brody goads Jumbo into brawling with him, and therefore Brody wins. July 28th, Yokohama: Funaki vs Kido: Shoot Style action Hamada, Yamada, and Kosugi vs Kawada, Fuyuki, and Ogawa: Kawada kills Kosugi Mutoh and Chono vs Atisanoe and Afi: Young Lions look good, but Pacific Islanders go over. Sayama, Misawa, and Fuchi vs Cobra, Kobayashi, and Sano: Action and violence Dos Caras vs Takada: successful title defense break Baba Tsuruta and Tenryu vs Inoki Sakaguchi and Fujiwara: Epic battle almost overshadows the Main Event Bruiser Brody vs Tatsumi Fujinami: A bloodied and hurt Fujinami manages to hold on for the victory. He is crowned JWA Japanese Champion. Eventually, this will become the #2 belt in the promotion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted July 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2017 August 8th through 15th was going to be the Super Juniors Tournament Quarter Finals would have been: Owen Hart vs Black Tiger Wild Pegasus vs Tiger Mask Sayama El Hijo del Santo vs The Cobra El Dandy vs Masa Fuchi Semi Finals would have been: El Dandy vs Sayama El Hijo del Santo vs Black Tiger and Sayama over El Hijo del Santo in the finals. That would set up a monster Sayama vs Dos Caras Middleweight Title match. Also, there would be some shenanigans/questions surrounding the Mexican vistor's losses, so they would stick around for September and both challenge Dos Caras for the belt and team with him in six-man tag matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted July 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2017 August 20th through 25th is The WWF in Japan Tour and August 26th through September 1st is the JWA in America Tour, both co-promoted with LowBlowPodcast and the World Wrestling Federation. A lot of that has already been laid out, but it's now up to LowBlow if he wants to follow through on it or not. I certainly would not blame him if he just decides to drop it. These were the plans for Setember: September 7th through 27th: JWA Revival – Third Chapter. Tour with three big cards: In Fukuoka on the 9th, in Saitama on the 16th, and in Osaka on the 27th. We’d like to bring in gaijin challengers for all of our belts on this tour. Confirmed Participants: Butch Reed, Terry Gordy, Steve Williams, Sept. 9th Butch Reed, The Road Warriors, Sept 16th Butch Reed, Stan Hansen, The British Bulldogs, Sept. 27th. The idea was to build Butch Reed up to be Fujinami's first challenger for the JWA Japanese Title. Gordy and Williams would have been on opposite sides of a huge six-man tag on the 9th. The Roadies would have crushed a mid-card team then made a threat to come and take Inoki and Sakaguchi's belts in the future. The Osaka card would have been huge, with Fujinami vs Reed for the JWA Title, The Bulldogs vs Inoki and Sakaguchi for the Tag Belts, and Hansen vs Tenryu for the JWA title. Anyway, I guess anyone scheduled to be over in Japan is now free to be used, also feel free to book any of my guys from now through October. If someone else wants to take over booking Japan, you are free to use my plans or to drop them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmcfl Posted July 22, 2017 Report Share Posted July 22, 2017 Good luck with everything and can't wait until you are back full time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted July 22, 2017 Report Share Posted July 22, 2017 Don't worry about anything, gordi. Take the time you need before coming back. Can't wait to have you back with us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneJackson95 Posted July 24, 2017 Report Share Posted July 24, 2017 Take care and we all look forward to your return! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted July 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2017 Thank you, gentlemen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexstar Posted July 26, 2017 Report Share Posted July 26, 2017 Look forward to the return! El Dandy in the Super Juniors would get a lot of love on the PWO of our universe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowBlowPodcast Posted July 28, 2017 Report Share Posted July 28, 2017 Gosh man, I am sorry I missed all of this. I recently had some issues come up as well so I have been away from things. I hope all is well and we can get you back asap. You are a vital piece to the game and really make us better. In regards to the Japan/WWF stuff, I will cross that bridge when we come to it. Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted July 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2017 Thanks! Just to be clear: Some stuff has come up in my life, but it is good stuff, not bad stuff. Some business opportunities, some social opportunities, and some good family stuff (my wife getting a promotion, my elder daughter getting more modelling and dancing opportunities, etc). It's killing me not to write up all the stuff I had planned out, but family and work are pretty clear priorities Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted July 28, 2017 Report Share Posted July 28, 2017 No worries. Family comes first. I'm about to have a newborn niece any day now so I might have just a bit less time in the rest of the summer myself so don't feel bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.