My SYNAPSE teammates were crowned champions in Japan today in Tokyo at Korkuen Hall. AKIRA defeated “The Japanese Buzzsaw” TAJIRI to become the very first WNC (Wrestling New Classic) Champion in history in the tournament finals. AKIRA defeated Adam Angel in the first round, former ECW World Champion Tommy Dreamer in the second round, and TAJIRI in the finals.
Consecutively, Syuri became the first WNC Women’s Champion, defeating team DQN’s Nagisa Nozaki in the finals. In the opening round, Syuri defeated Lin Bairon to advance to the second round, where she defeated FCF Wrestling’s gender bender Jessica Love, and then Nozaki in the finals.
Big props and a huge salute to my SYNAPSE teammates on their dual victories in Tokyo today!
On December 27 in Tokyo, Japan, history will be made as my SYNAPSE teammates AKIRA and Syuri vie for the WNC (Wrestling New Classic) Men’s Championship and WNC Women’s Championship respectively.
First off, I must say I am damn proud of my SYNAPSE partners, who more than deserve the top spots in Japanese professional wrestling, as champions. AKIRA has wrestled an active career nearing 30-years in the business, and to this day he is one of the best in the country of Japan. Syuri has worked her ass off to become one of the brightest female combatants in Japanese rings since her debut in 2010, also successfully doubling as an competitive kickboxer.
When AKIRA, Syuri and I joined forces to form SYNAPSE this past summer, we had a common agenda and end goal in mind: Total dominance. It was clear from the onset, that we would go on to rule the wrestling world in Japan as a unit, and our united front has proven to be an awesome force to this day in all of our matches, both in terms of singles matches and tag team bouts.
This past October, I took part in the opening round of the WNC title tournament, losing in very controversial fashion to my former FCF teammate Hajime Ohara in a violent and spiteful encounter. This marked Ohara’s first-ever win over me, and it also sent him straight into the semi-finals of the tournament. AKIRA and Syuri also won both of their opening round matches, advancing to the semis last month in Tokyo, where AKIRA downed former ECW Champion Tommy Dreamer and Syuri defeated FCF Wrestling’s gender bender Jessica Love.
AKIRA applies his Old Boy submission stretch on Tommy Dreamer (photo by Kengo Takahashi)
Now on December 27 at the infamous Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, the final round in the WNC title tournament sees AKIRA up against SYNAPSE arch-nemesis TAJIRI, as Syuri does battle with team DQN’s Nagisa Nozaki. New champions will be crowned in those matches, and history will be written.
Last year, when SMASH held its championship finals in the men’s and women’s divisions, I faced TAJIRI in the men’s final and defeated him to become the first-ever SMASH Champion in history. One month earlier, Kana defeated Syuri to become the first-ever SMASH Diva Champion. I would go on to lose the SMASH Championship to Dave “Fit” Finlay in November 2011, whereas Syuri would get her comeuppance over Kana, winning the SMASH Diva Championship in February of this year, right before SMASH ceased operations.
Syuri (photo by Kazu Yanagi)
I would have personally loved to have been able to make it to the finals of the WNC title tournament, but as the saying goes, “United we stand, divided we fall.” In so saying, I can only wish for the best of luck to both AKIRA and to Syuri, both of whom I respect very much as teammates and competitors. They are worthy of the gold.
A couple of weeks back, I wrestled multi-time Danish wrestling champion Chaos in Copenhagen, Denmark before a red-hot crowd in the main event of the evening. Our match was an ECW-style brawl, with weapons galore and the physicality was off the charts in that encounter. I also wrote a report about the experience for The Wrestling Press online.
Enjoy the following photo gallery of the fight, brought to you by professional lensman Hans Bærholm.
Check out the complete match on video at my Facebook fan group, “LIKE” and join here and get access to the full footage!
This coming weekend on Saturday, November 17 in Copenhagen, Denmark, I will be facing multi-time Danish wrestling champion Chaos in an ECW-style brawl match-up at Amager Bio, with a bell time of 21:00.
I previously faced Chaos in a pair of singles hardcore matches in 2009. One was in Köge, Denmark, which he won, and the other was in Helsinki, Finland, in which I was victorious. Those were violent, bloody brawls, and I would be very surprised if our outing this coming weekend will be any different. Actually, I am preparing for a major war, as Chaos is one tough SOB, with amateur credentials on his resume.
Last night I arrived back home in Finland after two weeks out in Japan, during which I was on tour with Wrestling New Classic in five different cities across the country.
AKIRA, StarBuck and Syuri (photo by Kazuhiko Kato)
My new team with AKIRA and Syuri rocked the houses every night, and we were a dominant trio, pulling out wins in every single one of our six-person tag matches.
TAJIRI one-upped me in Hakata, Japan (Photo: WNC)
The only loss my team suffered was my personal singles match loss to TAJIRI at Hakata Starlanes in Fukuoka on August 6th.
training with my team at American Gym in Fukuoka
In our first team encounter on August 2nd in Tokyo against TAJIRI, Hajime Ohara and Kana, Tajiri knocked my front tooth out as we brawled on the outside of the ring.
TAJIRI caught me with a knee right in the chops as I charged for him on the floor, and in the process the blow busted the bridge that I have for a prosthetic tooth up front, which I lost in a stunt-riding BMX accident when I was 9-years old. In the picture below you can see the damage.
We traveled across Japan, from Tokyo southbound toward the southernmost tip of the country in Kagoshima, where WNC kindly offered to get my tooth fixed, saving me the expense in the process. The friendly ladies at Calla Orthodontic Clinic in Kagoshima made my mug look like brand new, sparkling smile et al…
I was able to meet some very cool, new people in Japan on this trip, from avid wrestling fans of mine to ring legends like The Great Kabuki at his restaurant Kabuki with Family in Tokyo. As I usually do with old timers who knew Bruiser Brody – one of my all-time favorites in the game and a legend in Japan too – I grilled Kabuki on his take as to the death of Brody in Puerto Rico in 1988 at the hands of Invader #1, where Brody got stabbed to death in the locker room. Out of respect, the details of our conversation will remain anonymous, but I got a good understanding of the possible reasons behind the incident.
The Great Kabuki
My next tour with WNC takes place at the end of this month, starting on August 30th at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, where I again team with AKIRA and Syuri in the main event against TAJIRI, Kana and Mikey Whipwreck of ECW fame in a huge barbed-wire board match, which will not be for the faint of heart!
Our team victorious across Japan (Photo by Nobuya Iwatsubo)
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