Posts Tagged ‘Syuri’

Kicking ass in Japan

Posted: May 29, 2013 in Life, Professional Wrestling
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The other night I just landed back home after my latest tour of the “Land of the Rising Sun” this past week, wrestling in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.  The Wrestling New Classic (WNC) cards that I fought on with my team Synapse (StarBuck, AKIRA, Syuri) also featured some interesting new acquaintances: 62-year old legend Gran Hamada, Zero-1/ECW star Masato Tanaka, MMA star Koichiro Kimura, former NJPW Jr. Heavyweight Champion El Samurai and current WNC Champion Osamu Nishimura.

At 62-years of age, Gran Hamada is a legend in his own time (especially in Mexico)!

At 62-years of age, Gran Hamada is a legend in his own time (especially in Mexico)!

On May 24 in Tokyo, I teamed with AKIRA and Syuri to defeat the trio of WNC Champion Nishimura, TAJIRI and WNC Women’s Champion Lin Byron.  AKIRA pinned TAJIRI after a Musabi Press off the top rope, right after I hit the spike-piledriver on “The Japanese Buzzsaw”.  I have to say that Osamu Nishimura is a heck of a wrestler, and I thoroughly enjoyed wrestling against him, as our styles meshed very well.  Nishimura expressed interest in joining our Synapse contingent after the match, after some miscommunication in the six-man match, after TAJIRI mistakenly thrust-kicked Nishimura late in the bout.  We didn’t commit to his wish as of yet, but Nishimura did say that he is bringing my old arch-nemesis Michael Kovac of Austria to Japan next month.  Kovac beat me for the TopCatch European Championship back in September 2011, and there’s still a good deal of heat between our parties, so I am not too excited about the developments that Nishimura is looking to push with his personal agenda now…

A show of respect between WNC Champ Nishimura and myself after our match.

A show of respect between WNC Champ Nishimura and myself after our match.

We hit the road for Osaka on May 25, where AKIRA and I lost a heated match-up against The Big Guns (Zeus and The Bodyguard), who are almost like Japan’s version of The Road Warriors.  The Bodyguard pinned AKIRA after the opposition hit a double-chokeslam on my tag team partner and I was unable to break up the pin.

On the WNC tour bus, AKIRA awaits arrival in Osaka, where we have our next match.

On the WNC tour bus, AKIRA awaits arrival in Osaka, where we have our next match.

Former WNC Women's Champion Syuri washes some midnight laundry in Osaka.

Former WNC Women’s Champion Syuri washes some midnight laundry in Osaka.

May 26 saw us land in Nagoya, where I teamed with Syuri in a mixed tag encounter, against rookie Masaya Takahashi and Makoto.  I pinned Takahashi with my spike-piledriver in about nine-minutes to bring our team to victory once again.

Having a good time at Rikidozan's former chef's restaurant in Tokyo.

Having a good time at Rikidozan’s former chef’s restaurant in Tokyo.

I also had the pleasure of dining at the famous Hong Kong restaurant, headed up by the former chef of Rikidozan, Japan’s pro wrestling pioneer from the 1950s.  The photos on the establishment’s wall tell of the famous Antonio Inoki vs. Mohammed Ali match from 1976.  The real catch in that tale was the astronomous amount that New Japan Pro Wrestling, under whose banner the match was held, had to pay to Ali, to the tune of 10 billion Yen.  That equates to about 10 million USD.   New Japan paid off their debt a couple of years back, after over 35-years of carrying that financial monkey on their backs.  Talk about someone leveraging themselves into a huge personal win situation!

StarBuck on tour in Japan May 2013

Posted: May 20, 2013 in Professional Wrestling
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I will be leaving tomorrow for a WNC (Wrestling New Classic) tour of Japan.  I will be wrestling once again alongside AKIRA and Syuri in our SYNAPSE team, and at least one of the matches on the tour features our trio against that of “The Japanese Buzzsaw” TAJIRI, WNC women’s champion Lin Bairon and WNC champion Osamu Nishimura at Shinjuku Face arena in Tokyo.

The schedule reads May 24 in Tokyo, May 25 in Osaka and May 26 in Nagoya.  For all the fine folks and great wrestling fans in Japan, you can see the locations and venues on the poster below.

WNC summer tour poster 2013

StarBuck returns to Japan with SYNAPSE

Posted: March 27, 2013 in Professional Wrestling
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I will be returning to Japan this coming weekend to wrestle with my SYNAPSE team (WNC champion AKIRA, WNC women’s champion Syuri, StarBuck) vs.  Holland’s Emil Sitoci, Ivan Markov of Russia and Russian female competitor Bonnie Ekaterina at the Wrestling New Classic event on March 31 at Shinjuku Face arena in Tokyo.

heels

Emil Sitoci, Ivan Markov, Bonnie Ekaterina

There will be an afternoon and an evening show at Shinjuku Face on the same day.  The six-person tag is in the afternoon, and in the evening I will have a singles encounter against either Akira Shinose or Koji Doi, both of whom are just out of their rookie year in the wrestling business.  Both Shinose and Doi will have a match against each other in the afternoon to see which one of them will get the “honor” of facing Yours Truly on the evening card.

Photo by Susumu Tobari 02

AKIRA, StarBuck, Syuri

It feels great to be returning to Japan after a half a year away!  Sou desu ne!!!

My SYNAPSE team adds a new member!

Posted: January 8, 2013 in Professional Wrestling
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After dominating the WNC (Wrestling New Classic) title tournament finals last month in Tokyo, my SYNAPSE teammate and new WNC Champion, AKIRA, has cordially invited Big Japan Wrestling standout star Shinya Ishikawa to join our ranks.

shinya

I fought against Ishikawa in a physical match, which I won with my spike piledriver, back in May 2011.  I was told that my bout against the rising star was likened to a vintage Harley Race match, in terms of psychology, as noted by my good friend, Dr. Hiroaki Terasaki.  The one thing I do vividly recall of the match with Ishikawa is the fact that he hit like a mule, and his “Dropkick from Hell” was aptly named, leaving me feeling like I had been hit by a baseball bat.  Below are some of the pictures from that event (photos courtesy of SMASH).

02 12 08

Shinya Ishikawa’s SYNAPSE debut will be on January 25 at Shinjuku FACE arena in Tokyo at the next WNC event.

So now, SYNAPSE is fourfold strong: WNC Champion AKIRA, WNC Women’s Champion Syuri, StarBuck and Shinya Ishikawa.

Welcome aboard the winning team, Ishikawa-san!

SYNAPSE wins the WNC title tournament

Posted: December 27, 2012 in Professional Wrestling
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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.

02 photo by Yuichi Kojima 03 photo by Yuichi Kojima 04 photo by Yuichi Kojima

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.

05 photo by Yuichi Kojima 06 photo by Yuichi Kojima 01 photo by Yuichi Kojima

Big props and a huge salute to my SYNAPSE teammates on their dual victories in Tokyo today!

(Photos by Yuichi Kojima)

Syuri AKIRA StarBuck

SYNAPSE dominates the WNC title tournament

Posted: December 16, 2012 in Professional Wrestling
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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.

triad at gym

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.

TRIAD collage

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 vs Dreamer by Kengo Takahashi 01

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)

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.

Ohara finally defeats StarBuck

Posted: October 28, 2012 in Professional Wrestling
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Arriving home today from participating in the opening round of the WNC (Wrestling New Classic) title tournament this past Friday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, I have to admit that I am feeling battered and bruised.  I fought a very violent, spirited match against my former FCF teammate Hajime Ohara, a brawl in which he managed to blacken my left eye socket, only to see me lose the match, thanks to the chicanery from his DQN contingent members.

Piledriving Ohara — a sure win sabotaged by his DQN teammates (photo by Susumu Tobari)

I have faced Ohara on several occasions prior to this tournament match this past weekend, and in every encounter that we have had in the 2+ years prior to this encounter, I have soundly defeated my former protege every time, with my famous jumping spike piledriver.  This match was no different, up until the end, when I piledrove Ohara for the seeming victory once again.  However, this time his new team members Jiro Kuroshio and Nagisa Nozaki interjected themselves at the moment of the pin, causing the referee to become engaged with their antics.  Ohara was able to come around and shake the cobwebs off enough to hit me with a low blow behind the ref’s back, and then nail me with a loaded forearm strike to the throat for the tainted win.

Team SYNAPSE: AKIRA, Syuri and StarBuck

The last time I was in Japan prior to this trip, my SYNAPSE teammate AKIRA took me to a special physical trainer for pro wrestlers named Mr. Kenji Ohkido.  I have now gone to Mr. Ohkido about four times, and I plan on making an excursion to his offices whenever I visit Japan, as Mr. Ohkido knows exactly what kinds of duress and physical challenges pro wrestlers’ bodies undergo, due to his extensive experience in treating fighters over the years.  For anyone visiting Tokyo or living in the area, be sure to visit his establishment and get your torso lined back into shape.

Physiotherapist Kenji Ohkido knows his stuff!

I was able to visit a few extremely cool restaurants with various friends on this trip to Tokyo.  All of them bear mention, so I will start with the excellent Stomach Hold yakitori (chicken) restaurant, run by famous former PRIDE Fighting Championships and Pro Wrestling NOAH grappler, Yoshihiro Takayama.  Takayama-san is a truly nice gentleman to boot, and my good friend Dr. Hiroaki Terasaki often takes me to Stomach Hold to eat when I visit Japan.

My good friend Dr. Terasaki and me, visiting Takayama’s Stomach Hold

Another tremendous place to eat was named Hong Kong, run by Japanese wrestling pioneer Rikidozan’s (RIP) former personal chef, Mr. Masanobu Takanashi.  Dr. Terasaki took me, AKIRA and All-Japan GAORA champion Sanada to eat at Hong Kong, and the food was off the charts awesome!  The food at Hong Kong was traditional Japanese cuisine, and I highly recommend checking out the video below about the owner and the establishment.

From left to right: GAORA champion Sanada, me, head chef Mr. Takanashi, AKIRA, Dr. Terasaki

Last but not least, a couple of my female fans named Mayumi and Atsuko took me to eat at a small but superb sushi establishment, named Shin-Zushi, in a quiet neighborhood of Tokyo last night.  I have never enjoyed such mouth-watering, fresh sushi in my life!  I am talking about tastes that would make anyone’s sensory overdrive explode!  Just amazing sushi, done right by a master chef who knows his piece of business.

The head chef at Shin-Zushi prepares everything truly fresh

Seafood so good it melts in your mouth

With great fans like these, your enemies seem like a distant memory

I should also mention that our SYNAPSE team logo was created by the famous Manga cartoon writer behind the super-popular Cobra comic in Japan, Mr. Terasawa Buichi.

SYNAPSE team logo by Mr. Terasawa Buichi.

My special fan Mayumi also took me to see the world-famous Senso-Ji Asakusa temple in Tokyo.  The place is a major tourist attraction, and I also found a very cool shop next to the temple called Caricature Japan, where artist Itsumi Nakabachi drew up a cartoon portrait of Yours Truly as a special memoir.

The Asakusa Senso-Ji temple

I think my pic looks like a cross between Vince Neil of Motley Crue and Lynyrd Skynyrd vocalist Johnny Van Zant — which is a cool thing!

I would like to wish my SYNAPSE team members Syuri and AKIRA the best of luck in the WNC title tournament, as they vie for the women’s and men’s championships respectively, moving on to round two — the semi-finals — next month.  On October 26, Syuri defeated Lin Byron to advance to round two in her division and AKIRA defeated Adam Angel to advance.

Syuri (photo by Kazu Yanagi)

For anyone who does not know, Syuri is also a kickboxer, and she will be competing in the next KRUSH event in Japan once again next month.  In her last KRUSH match, Syuri downed her competition via knockout in the second round.

Barbed wire warfare aftermath

Posted: September 3, 2012 in Professional Wrestling
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Having just returned back home an hour ago from my last tour of Japan with Wrestling New Classic, I can now sit back and reminisce on a very memorable jaunt … and I say memorable for a few reasons.

In a major surprise, my old MMA buddy Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen from Norway showed up with his girlfriend at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo to watch me fight and to say hello.  It had been the summer of 2009 that I saw Hellboy last in Oslo, and he happened to be training in Japan when I was there, so he made plans to come see my match.  Hansen is a great guy and one hell of a fighter, so check him out on YouTube if you are not familiar with him.  He is known as “The Japanese Killer” in the Land of the Rising Sun, because he has beaten so many of the Nippon best out there over the years.

Firstly, I wrestled the first barbed wire matches of my career in Japan this time around, and I must say that the danger aspect of these kinds of bouts is off the charts.  The main objective of any rational wrestler in one of these matches is to stay away from the barbed wire as much as possible, yet at the same time trying to run your opponents into the same structure.  It can be a very tricky and vulnerable scenario, and over the course of the tour, every single of the combatants in these intense matches got scarred and wounded, the girls included.

My team with AKIRA and Syuri defeated the team of TAJIRI, Mikey Whipwreck and Kana in both Tokyo on August 30th and Osaka on August 31st in said barbed wire warfare, but on September 1st in Toyohashi, our team fell to our adversaries when I was thrown by my opponents into the barbed wire board positioned in the corner of the ring, and my hair got entangled in the wire.

The story of Absalom, son of King Salomon in the Bible came to mind, when he rose up in defiance against his father and God struck him down in the battle of Ephraim Wood when he rode his mule into battle: Absalom, decked in long tresses of hair, rode his steed underneath an oak tree in the melee, and his locks got entwined in the branches, wherewith he was hung to death.

In the Toyohashi match, as I attempted to finish off Whipwreck with my trademark piledriver, TAJIRI hit me with a blindside high kick, after which he nailed me with a side thrust kick to the temple that jarred my neck.  I was a sitting duck after that incident, as our opposing team laced into me with kicks when I was down, and then proceeded to flail me into the barbed wire board in the opposite ring corner.  Not only did the board splinter and break upon my body crashing through it, my hair got wickedly entangled in the steel wire barbs, causing even more strain on my injured neck when my frame slumped down after the impact.  Whipwreck then added the final coup de grâce, hitting me with a stunner for the academic pinfall and consequent first loss for our trio in Japan to date.

I will not have to take a few weeks off to properly heal my neck, but you can rest assured that there will be retribution and a day or reckoning in store for TAJIRI when I return to action in Japan the next time!

In Osaka, AKIRA, Syuri and I held a special afterparty for the WNC fans at Wrestling Bar 2.99, where I performed an acoustic number for those on hand, which was received warmly.

It was also in Osaka that I went out after the event to eat at the famous Cowboy Steak House with AKIRA, where we were treated to some of the finest beef that I have ever sunk my teeth into.  Kudos to the friendly staff at Cowboy for sponsoring our meal!

My good friend Dr. Hiroaki Terasaki also took me out to eat at a fine restaurant, run by one of his long-time friends, seen in the photo below.  Terasaki-san also introduced me to the editor of Tokyo Sports newspaper at lunch yesterday, and I will soon have some big news coming out of that meeting, so stay tuned to my website for more infos shortly!

Barbed wire battleground

Posted: August 20, 2012 in Professional Wrestling
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In just over a week, I will be fighting for the first time in my career in a barbed wire grudge match in Japan for Wrestling New Classic.  My trio with AKIRA and Syuri will face the vengeance-hungry team of TAJIRI, Mikey Whipwreck and Kana, and there it is guaranteed that there will be blood.  It all comes down on August 30th at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.

From there, my team will do battle against TAJIRI’s trio on August 31st in Osaka and on September 1st in Toyohashi, and these encounters will also be barbed wire matches.  You can be sure that none of us will be the same after the dust settles next week across Japan!  My team is undaunted however, and we will show once again how we dominate, just as we did on our last tour of Japan.

First however, I will be gunning for my fifth FCF Championship title reign at DOMination 5 in Helsinki, Finland on August 24&25th, as over a two-day period a tournament will be held to crown a new titleholder.  It was 2010 last that I held the FCF crown, defeating TAJIRI in Tokyo on July 24 that year, before losing it back to TAJIRI on November 22, 2010 in Tokyo also.

In round one on Friday, August 24th, I will fight in the main event in a triple threat match against King Kong Karhula and “Wildman” Heimo Ukonselkä.  The winner of that match goes on the next night to advance to the semi-finals, and should they be victorious, the finals on the same night.

Tour report from Japan

Posted: August 11, 2012 in Professional Wrestling
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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)

For more infos go to the WNC website!

Photos by Wrestling New Classic

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