Indy Wrestling Express

The biggest show in the New Japan calendar, Wrestle Kingdom, will take place tomorrow (January the fourth) in the Tokyo Dome. Here is the full line up, taken from the most recent edition of PuroMania (which will return to its regular Wednesday slot soon): 

1) IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Davey Richards (c) & Rocky Romero (c) vs Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi

2) Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, KUSHIDA & Mascara Dorada (CMLL) vs Atlantis (CMLL), Valiente (CMLL), TAKA Michinoku & Taichi

3) Kazuchika Okada vs YOSHI-HASHI 

4) Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue vs Masakatsu Funaki (AJPW) & Masayuki Kono (AJPW)

5) MVP & Shelton Benjamin vs Masato Tanaka & Yujiro Takahashi

6) IWGP Tag Team Championship: Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (c) vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima

7) Hirooki Goto vs Takashi Sugiura (NOAH)

8) Togi Makabe vs Yoshihiro Takayama

9) Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano vs GHC World Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki (NOAH) & Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH)

10) Tetsuya Naito vs Keiji Muto (AJPW)

11) IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Minoru Suzuki

Thoughts: That’s one hell of a card, I expect it will be a spectacular show. A win over Muto could elevate the potential future ace Tetsuya Naito to great heights, so that match is probably the biggest draw for me. Full results will be posted tomorrow.

- Lee

Welcome to the long awaited seventeenth edition of PuroMania!

(by Lee)

* At Osaka on the 19th, Ricochet finally defeated PAC for the Open The Brave Gate! It was Ricochet’s third shot at the title, and his fifth singles match with PAC overall. Ricochet will make his first defence at the Final Gate pay per view. Masato Yoshino and Dragon Kid will face off on the 4th of December to determine the first challenger. 

* The seventh challenger to Masaaki Mochizuki’s Open The Dream Gate has been decided; it will be CIMA. The match will take place at Final Gate. If CIMA wins, he will become the only person to have ever held the title three times, and it would also mark the first time that the top prize in Dragon Gate has been in the hands of Blood Warriors.

* The first ever Blood Warriors solo show, First Blood, took place in Tokyo earlier today. The biggest news from the show is that Uhaa Nation destroyed Kotoka in his Japanese debut, Team Doi Darts (Naruki Doi, Kzy & Naoki Tanizaki) retained Open The Triangle Gate against NOSAWA Rongai, KIKUZAWA and FUJITA from Tokyo Gurentai, and in the main event, the Spike Mohicans (CIMA and Ricochet) retained Open The Twin Gate against their stablemates BxB Hulk & Akira Tozawa. CIMA and Ricochet vacated the Twin Gate after the match, deciding to focus on their solo exploits. Hulk and Tozawa will face Susumu Yokosuka and KAGETORA for the vacant titles tomorrow.

* New Japan’s junior heavyweight ace Prince Devitt will be in action at tomorrow’s Dragon Gate show. PAC requested him as a partner for his match against Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi. 

Thoughts: Congratulations Ricochet! It didn’t look like PAC and his record shattering reign could ever be stopped, I’m so pleased Ricochet was the one who ended it. He has come so far in such a short space of time in Dragon Gate. 

With all but the Dream Gate in the hands of Blood Warriors, it seems inevitable that CIMA will take the belt at Final Gate. While the leaders of the two mega stables going at in a PPV main event is both logical and exciting, I’m not crazy about the prospect of another CIMA Dream Gate reign. I’d rather see Naruki Doi take the strap again. 

I bet the Blood Warriors show was a good one. I’m very pleased for Uhaa Nation. I have to say though, I don’t understand why the Spike Mohicans didn’t drop the titles to Tozawa and Hulk in the main event. They had a great reign, and to end it by simply vacating the titles is anti-climatic. I would be very surprised to see Yokosuka and KAGETORA win the belts, I reckon Tozawa and Hulk will take them, which makes the decision to not have the Spike Mohicans drop the belts to them seem even more baffling. Ricochet wouldn’t have lost anything had he been pinned following finishers from both opponents. 

I can’t wait to see the Devitt/PAC tag team match. What a dream team! 

New Japan Pro Wrestling: Power Struggle aired live on pay per view on November the 11th. Here are the full results from the show:

Jado & Gedo defeated Tama Tonga & Killer Rabbit

Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma defeated Hideo Saito & Takashi Iizuka

Yuji Nagata defeated Tomohiro Ishii 

Yoshihiro Takayama & Taichi defeated Ryusuke Taguchi & Togi Makabe

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Davey Richards & Rocky Romero (c) defeated KUSHIDA & Tiger Mask IV

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Prince Devitt defeatedTAKA Michinoku  

MVP & Tetsuya Naito defeated Shinsuke Nakamura & Yujiro Takahashi 

Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Satoshi Kojima 

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Masato Tanaka (c) defeated Hirooki Goto 

IWGP Tag Team Championship: Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson - champions) defeated Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer 

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeated Toru Yano

The next pay per view will take place on Sunday the 4th of December. The show will feature Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Yuji Nagata for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, Prince Devitt vs Davey Richards for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, Shinsuke Nakamura vs Tetsuya Naito in a rematch from the G1 Climax final, Masato Tanaka vs MVP for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship (a rematch from Destruction, where Tanaka took the belt from MVP), Giant Bernard vs Minoru Suzuki and much more!

Thoughts: I didn’t see the entire Power Struggle PPV, but of the matches I did watch, Devitt vs TAKA was the best. Excellent match that I would certainly recommend checking out on Youtube. I thoroughly enjoyed the Yuji Nagata match too. Hard hitting stuff, that saw him bust Ishii open the hard way with relentless strikes to the face. 

The next PPV has a great line up. Nagata is quite possibly my favourite New Japan wrestler, so I can’t wait to see him challenge the seemingly unstoppable Tanahashi. Prince Devitt vs Davey Richards should be awesome too.

Pro Wrestling NOAH: Great Voyage 2011 vol.4 took place on the 27th of November. Go Shiozaki made his third successful defence of the GHC World Heavyweight Championship against KENTA in the main event. In the penultimate match, Jun Akiyama retained the AJPW Triple Crown championship against All Japan’s Taiyo Kea, ensuring that the belt remains in NOAH. In other notable news from the show, Katsuhiko Nakajima defeated Ricky Marvin to win the vacant GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, Kenta Kobashi and Kensuke Sasaki bested Takuma Sano and Shuhei Taniguchi, and Naomichi Marufuji lost to Takashi Sugiura in his (Marufuji’s) return match. 

That’s all for PuroMania this week! Check back for the next instalment next Wednesday!

Sources: 

http://iheartdg.com

http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw

http://www.puroresuspirit.com

Last night at New Japan Pro Wrestling: Destruction, Ring Of Honor World Champion Davey Richards and Rocky Romero defeated Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On the same show, former WWE wrestler MVP dropped the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to former ECW Champion Masato Tanaka.

Thoughts: I was dodging the results for this show as I intend to watch it when it surfaces online later this week, but a friend of mine posted these two results on Facebook, which I unfortunately read before I realised what I was reading. Oh well.

Anyway, congratulations to Richards and Romero! Check tomorrow’s edition of PuroMania for all the latest Japanese wrestling news. 

- Lee

Have you heard of the Wrestling Revolution Project? The reason I haven’t reported on it until now is because I don’t entirely understand what it is. From the website: 

“Born on Twitter, fueled on Kickstarter and built in Hollywood, the WRESTLING REVOLUTION PROJECT is a 13-episode seasonal concept built on wrestling storytelling with a complete three act narrative structure. Cutting the cord completely from the modern wrestling industry chronology, it’s the launch of a new universe with new characters and new rules. WRP aims to combine modern, relevant themes with compelling in-ring storytelling to create a unique wrestling television experience.”

So basically, it’s a drama involving wrestlers and wrestling matches? I’m still confused. Anyway, they have some great guys in the “cast”, here is a list of those announced so far: 

MVP 

Colt Cabana

Prince Devitt

Karl Anderson

Sami Callihan

Joey Ryan

Amazing Red

Luke Gallows

Kenny Omega

Shawn Daivairi

Ken Doane (Kenny Dykstra of Spirit Squad fame) 

Dr Luther

Alex Reynolds

Emil Sitoci

“Psycho” Mike Rollins

Ben Muth

There are four more cast members to be announced. The first season will be filmed at the Hollywood Sportatorium (in Hollywood) over the course of three days (the 11th, 12th and 13th of October). Visit http://www.stubmatic.com/TheWRProject for tickets.

G1 Climax 21 is six shows in, the final will take place on the 14th of August. The tournament has been very exciting and unpredictable so far. Four men are tied in the lead in block A, with eight points each; IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, Giant Bernard (Albert), Yoshihiro Takayama and Togi Makabe. Yuji Nagata is only two points behind, and he may be a favourite to win the tournament following his unexpected victory over Tanahashi on the opening day.

In block B, Shinsuke Nakamura and Minoru Suzuki are tied at the top with ten points each. Hirooki Goto is hot on their heels with eight points. MVP and last year’s winner Satoshi Kojima have only six points, so it doesn’t look like either is going to win, though it is still possible. 

You can watch highlights of the second day of G1 Climax here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WLJ_mhNcQs&feature=channel_video_title

Highlights of day 3 here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qTRyu8Ls7I&feature=channel_video_title

Thoughts: The highlights are great, well worth checking out. I can’t predict who will win yet, but feel free to let me know any predictions of yours!

Last week, I predicted that the team of Masaaki Mochizuki and YAMATO of Junction Three or BxB Hulk and Akira Tozawa of Blood Warriors would win the Summer Adventure Tag Tournament. Sure enough, these were the two teams that made it to the final, after Mochi/YAMATO defeated Naruki Doi and Yasushi Kanda (of BW) and Hulk/Tozawa defeated Masato Yoshino and Dragon Kid (of JIII). Hulk and Tozawa emerged victorious (from the final). 

Mochizuki accepted Cyber Kong’s challenge for Open The Dream Gate. Cyber Kong defeated Shingo at the show on August the 6th, I assume the championship match was confirmed before or after this victory (I know it was confirmed at that show). The title match will take place on August the 21st.

Before PAC left for England, Naoki Tanazaki of BW stole his Open The Brave Gate belt, and has been defending it as the “Blood Warriors authorised” Open The Brave Gate since. His next defence will be against PAC’s stablemate GAMMA at Korakuen Hall on the 25th, with the stipulation that Tanazaki only needs a two-count to win. 

Thoughts: Hulk and Tozawa were definitely the best choices to win the tournament. Tozawa is on a rampage since his return, and I believe he will be the next challenger for the Dream Gate after Cyber Kong. This victory also regains some momentum for Hulk, who is still one of the freshest heels in the company, but needed a boost after failing to capture Dream Gate from Mochi. 

Also, despite being one of the absolute top guys in Dragon Gate, Shingo puts so many people over! Cyber Kong, Tozawa and Hulk just to name a few in the past few months. What a guy. 

The winner of Fire Festival 2011 was….Daisuke Sekimoto! After winning block B with 6 points he defeated the winner of block A, Kohei Sato (who won his block with 7 points). Masato Tanaka and Akebono came very close to making it to the final, but Tanaka’s draw with Sekimoto didn’t give him enough points to overtake him, and Akebono’s chances were ended by a kick to the head from Sato (in the final of block A). 

Thoughts: Congratulations Sekimoto. I’m not sure if a title challenge is customary after winning the Fire Festival, but regardless, I can see Sekimoto issuing a challenge to the Sheik. 

That’s all for PuroMania this week. Check back next week for details on the huge tri-branded charity show taking place later this month! 

Credits

New Japan results: http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw/

Dragon Gate Results: http://iheartdg.com

Zero 1 Results: http://www.zerooneusa.com/

Kota Ibushi was successful in his first defence of the IWGP Junior Heayweight Championship. He retained against the former champion Prince Devitt at a DDT show in Tokyo on July the 24th. Ibushi’s next defence will be against Devitt’s tag team partner, Ryusuke Taguchi, at the NJPW ppv on the first of August.

The feud will continue throughout Ausgust, as Taguchi and Devitt hold the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles, which they will defend against Ibushi and Kenny Omega at the second pay per view of the month on the 14th.

The G1 Climax Tournament will begin on the first of August (ppv), and will continue over the following nine shows, culminating at the pay per view on August the 14th. At that show, the wrestler from block A who has the most points will face the points leader from block B in the final (competitors gain two points for a victory, one point for a draw and 0 points for a loss). Notable competitors include IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, MVP, Shinsuke Nakamura, Giant Bernard, Hirooki Goto and Karl Anderson. 

Thoughts: The match where Ibushi defeated Devitt for the title was excellent, so I imagine the rematch was on a similar level. I also wonder whether Ibushi and Taguchi can top their spectacular match from the King Of The Super Juniors Tournament. 

The tag team title match will be great too. The reign of Devitt and Taguchi actually began after defeating Ibushi and Omega, back in October. 

The G1 Climax Tournament is huge, and apparently gets a great deal of mainstream press coverage in Japan. I’m sure a lot of our American readers will be gunning for MVP or Giant Bernard. 

At the Osaka show on the 23rd of July, the legendary Kenta Kobashi made his return to the ring, after being sidelined due to injury since 2009. He teamed with GHC World Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki in a near thirty minute match against Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito. Kobashi was pinned ultimately pinned by Akiyama. You can see Kobashi’s entrance here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h35qs_pBdWs&feature=player_embedded

In other NOAH news, the NTV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League is well underway. The current standings see the team of KENTA and Yoshinobu Kanemaru tied with Kenou and Kenbai in block A at four points each. In block B, Kotaro Suzuki and Atsushi Aoki are tied with Katsuhiko Nakajima and Satoshi Kajiwara, also with four points each.

Thoughts: It’s amazing that Kenta Kobashi has returned to the ring. Taking the fall too, what a hero. Big win for Akiyama and Saito (especially Akiyama, since it was he who pinned Kobashi).

Neither of the American teams look set to win the tournament as Eddie Edwards and Delirious have 2 points, same with Jack Evans and Aero Star (before anyone points it out, yes, I know Aero Star is Mexican). There are still a few shows left though, so there is still a chance they may climb the ranks.

The ZERO1 Fire Festival 2011 began in Tokyo on the 24th (of July). Zeus and Kenta Kakinuma were victorious in singles action from block A, Hayato “Jr.” Fujita and Atsushi Sawada won their singles matches in block B, so all four men now have two points each. The next show will take place on the 28th.

Thoughts: I love all the tournaments in Japan. So awesome. There will be details on the upcoming Dragon Gate tag team tournament next week.

That’s all for PuroMania 4, see you next Tuesday!

Credits

New Japan schedule and results: http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw/

Pro Wrestling NOAH schedule and results: chotliwala and d232009 from the Strong Style Symphony forum - http://puroresufan.com/forum/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=3

ZER01: schedule and results: http://www.zerooneusa.com/

I conducted an interview with a man who is currently one of the top guys on the indy wrestling scene. Star of Dragon Gate USA, EVOLVE and more…..JOHNNY GARGANO!!

IWE: Hi Johnny Gargano, how are you?

Johnny Gargano: How am I? In a physical sense?.. or a spiritual sense?… or a sixth sense? This is a pretty deep question, man.. I don’t know.. Short answer? I’m doing just swell. No complaints!

IWE: What made you want to become a wrestler, and how did you go around doing it?

Johnny: Well, I wanted to be a Power Ranger, A Ninja Turtle, and Dennis The Menace when I was growing up.. turns out, unfortunately those aren’t real job titles. Who knew, right? I always mimicked what I saw on television, so of course I was a huge fan of Professional Wrestling growing up and I wanted to be apart of it. My Dad owns a catering company, and knew of my love for Pro Wrestling, so when an independent company came to him wanting to run a show in his back parking lot, he went with it. I was allowed to get in the ring at the show, and they showed me a few things (sidenote: horribly unprofessional as I was 8. Shrug.).. it kinda snowballed from there. I got formal training when I was 13 and had my first pro match at 16/17.

IWE: Do you have an all time favourite wrestler?

Johnny: I do. That Shawn Michaels guy is PRETTY good. Also.. favOUrite? Not favorite? Are you Canadian? Those Canadians with there random adding of U’s to things! Bah!

IWE: You are well known as one of the top stars in Dragon Gate USA, EVOLVE and Chikara, but they are not the only companies you wrestle for. Where else do you work?

Johnny: Most notably, I wrestle alot in my hometown of Cleveland, OH for Pro Wrestling Ohio (pwowrestling.com) and Absolute Intense Wrestling (aiwrestling.com). Two awesome places definately worth checking out! I’ve also gotten the honor of wrestling for Dragon Gate in Japan as well.

IWE: Your stable in DGUSA, Ronin, have taken the company by storm in the past year. In the finale of your feud with Blood Warriors, you eliminated both CIMA and Austin Aries via submission. You have usurped Aries as the top American guy, a role previously occupied by Davey Richards and Bryan Danielson. Did you expect to have so much success when you debuted for the company back in 2009?

Johnny: Um.. I’d LIKE to say yes.. but probably not, ha. I remember the very first DGUSA very vividly though. I remember it was actually my very first time in the Arena. I remember sitting up in the balcony being absolutely blown away watching The Young Bucks take on CIMA and Yokosuka. I thought to myself.. “man.. I wish I could do that” and now to be put in that position to go out there and have top tier matches with some of the best talent in the WORLD is absolutely amazing to me. It’s something i’m very proud of. I’m my own worst critic, and to even be mentioned in the same breathe as some of those guys.. is something i’m truly honored by. Trust me, It’s only the beginning though. Only the beginning.

IWE: In March, you made your debut in Japan for Dragon Gate. How did that go, and how did it differ from wrestling in America?

Johnny: Japan has always been my dream, so to be able to go over there for a company the stature of Dragon Gate was of course a dream come true. I loved it over there. In America, sometimes “Rasslin” is looked down upon, but over there the fans really treat it like a sport. It’s a HUGE deal to them. It’s a super cool atmosphere to be in as a wrestler.

IWE: What was the biggest match of your career (and why)?

Johnny: I got the chance to take on Bryan Danielson in one of his first matches back from WWE. It was for AIW, and we went to a 30 Minute Draw in my hometown. The one thing I can say about Bryan is he brings it every single time he steps in the ring. You dont realize how good someone truly is until you’re in the ring with him. Bar none, Bryan is the best wrestler I’ve ever been in the ring with, and the best wrestler in the world in my book. That match is to this day one of my favOrites. (See what I did there? Called that little Canadian grammar joke back, bam!)

IWE: Was that your favourite match?

Johnny: AHHH! Again with the U’s! Yes that was one of them. I also wrestled CIMA in North Carolina at the Open The Southern Gate show, which you can catch NOW at WWNLive.com (PLUG!) and we beat the crap out of one another, man. The crowd was electric and I really think that match helped solidify me in DGUSA. Like I said, I’m my own worst critic, so I barely like any of my matches.. but that’s one I’m proud of.

IWE: In 2007, you appeared on an episode of WWE SmackDown as Cedrick Von Haussen, in a match with MVP. How was that experience?

Johnny: That was my first “taste” of WWE, and it was a VERY big deal for me at the time. I was 19, and it was just that.. an experience. It really helped open my eyes to the wrestling world. Also.. when I came in the back after the match Vince Mcmahon said “Good Job, kid”.. so I probably could of retired after that and been happy.

IWE: Your second WWE appearance was as a security guard on NXT last year. Had much changed in the 3 years since you’d last been there?

Johnny: I dont think so. Not really. I’d grown up alot! Ha!

IWE: What are the biggest matches/shows you have lined up this summer?

Johnny: EVOLVE 9: GARGANO (That’s me) VS Taylor is on July 26th and you can watch that live on WWNLIVE.COM.. as you can tell by the name, it’ll be myself VS my brother from a completely different mother, Chuck Taylor. That should be quite the contest! On August 7th for Pro Wrestling Ohio , Wrestlelution 4 it’ll be a match pretty much 4 years and beyond in the making as I take on my mentor(s) and friend(s) per say. It’s Johnny Gargano vs Josh Prohibition vs Matt Cross (From WWE Tough Enough)! Go to PWOWRESTLING.COM for the info on how to watch that bad boy live online! That’s gonna be something! Then the big DGUSA midwest shots on Sept 9th, 10th, and 11th! A lot of cool stuff on the horizon!

IWE:Thanks very much for participating in this interview Johnny. Good luck with EVOLVE 9!

Note from Lee: Click the banner at the top of this page to sign up for wwnlive! There you can watch EVOLVE 9, Open The Southern Gate, and many other shows featuring Johnny Gargano!  

Another note from Lee: Dragon Gate USA recently made Johnny Gargano vs Jimmy Rave (from Open The Ultimate Gate 2011) available for free download at the following link: 

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=A8CBQ7M8

Yet another note from Lee: I’ve since informed Johnny that I’m English, and it is actually Americans who spell “favourite” incorrectly. 

Welcome to the first edition of PuroMania! I will find a regular day to run new editions of PuroMania on, but I am yet to decide which day that will be. I’ll let you know in PuroMania #2. 

At New Japan Pro Wrestling: Dominion on the 18th of June, the team of Giant Bernard (known as Albert/A-Train in WWF) and Karl Anderson, better known as Bad Intentions, retained the IWGP Tag Team Championship in a Winner Takes All Match against the GHC Tag Team Champions (from Pro Wrestling NOAH), making them the reigning Heavyweight Team in both promotions.

Later that night, after a successful IWGP Heavyweight Championship defence against Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi was challenged by Giant Bernard (for his title). Tanahashi accepted on the condition that he could challenge for the Tag Team Championship. He chose the man he had just defeated, Goto, as his partner. They challenged for the titles at Korakuen Hall (in Tokyo) on July 3rd, but were unsuccessful. Bernard will face Tanahashi for the Heavyweight Title at the pay per view on July 18th. 

The biggest match this month for MVP, who has had great success so far in NJPW as the inaugural IWGP Intercontinental Champion, will be his title defence against Toru Yano (also at the July 18th pay per view). 

Kota Ibushi is on fire at the moment, coming off his Junior Heavyweight tournament and title wins (matches I would definitely recommend checking out), but doesn’t seem to be doing much for New Japan this month. Is he booked elsewhere? I’ll let you know when I find out.

Thoughts: Tanahashi vs Goto was excellent (you should check that one out too). I still haven’t seen the third of July tag match. I’m interested to see how the Tanahashi/Bernard title match turns out, Bernard isn’t someone I ever imagined breaking into the main event scene.

I’m very pleased for MVP, I hope he’s happier in NJPW than he was in WWE.

The biggest Pro Wrestling NOAH event this month will be Great Voyage 2011 in Tokyo Volume 3, which will take place this Sunday (July the 10th). Both the Heavyweight and Junior Heavyweight titles will be on the line: Takashi Sugiura will defend the GHC Heavyweight Championship against Go Shiozaki, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru will challenge Kotari Suzuki for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship.

At the show after this, the NTV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League will begin. It will continue throughout July, culminating with the final at the Korakuen Hall (in Tokyo) on July the 30th. 

Thoughts: I’m not as familiar with NOAH as I am with New Japan and Dragon Gate. Hopefully I’ll be able to see some of their matches (if not the whole shows) this month. 

The biggest Dragon Gate event of the year, the Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival, will take place on July the 17th. The face stable Junction Three currently hold all the gold, and will be defending three of their titles against Blood Warriors.

The headlining bout will be Masaaki Mochizuki’s third Open The Dream Gate title defence, against the recently heel-turned BxB Hulk. CIMA & Ricochet will challenge PK-1 (PAC & Dragon Kid) for Open The Twin Gate, and the team of YAMATO, Masato Yoshino and GAMMA will defend Open The Triangle Gate against Naruki Doi, Yasushi Kanda & Cyber Kong. The most notable non title match will be the clash between Junction Three’s Shingo Takagi and his former Kamikaze stablemate Akira Tozawa (who is one of the newest recruits of Blood Warriors).

Thoughts: Great line up for the top show of the year. I’m looking forward to seeing how heel Hulk differs in the ring from face Hulk. I’m guessing his current style will be a blend of his BxB Hulk and Killer Hulk personas. Shockingly, I am yet to see Enter The Dragon 2010 (I’ll be getting the DVD soon though!) so I don’t know how the last Mochi/Hulk match turned out (well, I know Hulk went over, but I know nothing of the match quality). Can Hulk carry the company as Dream Gate Champion? We may find out. 

Also, a victory for Tozawa over Shingo would be huge. 

Sources (for line ups and results of the shows I haven’t seen): puroresufan.com, chotliwala on the “Strong Style Symphony” forum, iheartdg.com

Thank you sources!

I hope everyone enjoyed the first edition of PuroMania. Stay tuned for number 2! It will probably be some time next week.