Apollo 55 vs. Golden Lovers for the Junior Tag Titles at Destruction ’10!
A match that has a lot of steam building behind it is for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match at October 11th, Destruction ’10 show.
Apollo 55 broke out as a strong team in New Japan on July 5th, 2009 when they defeated “The Motor City Machine Guns” Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley for the IWGP Jr Championship. They would go on to be a dominate team with holding the belts for a total of 10 months until May 8, 2010 when they would be forced to relinquish the the belts due to 30 days of inactivity and Devitt suffering from a minor injury. He would come back soon after to compete in a tournament for the Tag Belts, but in the finals Kohji Kanemoto & El Samurai would defeat them and become the tag champions. Things would not be a total loss as Devitt would make it back by the end of the month to compete in the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament. As most of know Devitt went on to win the tournament and a few weeks later he won his first major singles title when he defeated NOAH’s Naomichi Marufuji for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship. Devitt was building up a lot of backing and was becoming a standout with the fans and the media alike. He was becoming noticed and with a another big win coming from the Sports Crown 6-Man Openweight Tag Team Tournament at the end of June with Ryusuke Taguchi and Hirooki Gotoh. This would build Apollo 55 with the the force that they needed to take on Kanemoto & Samurai on July 19, 2010 and they would manage to win back the belts, and in the process making Devitt one of the top Junior Champions of all time. This would bring them up to a few weeks back, Sept. 26 to be exact, when they would successfully defend the belts against Gedo and the returning Jado. They are aiming to keep the belts where they belong in New Japan, but the “Golden Lovers” Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega are not going to be a push over in the least.
The Golden Lovers have built themselves up as a team that are known to wrestle in anywhere in a match for their home promotion of DDT “Dramatic Dream Team”. They are not to be labeled as a pure comedy group as they are also known for the over the top acrobatics and their exceptional strength. They have even left there marks as stand out singles competitors as Omega made it into the finals of this years Best of the Super Junior tournament against Devitt and even Though he did not win he opened the eyes of the New Japan fans as someone who is definitely worthy of being champion. Even Omega had a very strong showing against Devitt just a little over a month ago. This leads me to Kenny Omega who is known all around the world for his interesting wrestling style and his over the top personality. Together both of these men blend together almost pretty seemingly and are just looking to prove that they are worthy of being the champions in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
So this leaves us with a match that is sure to be an excellent showing no matter who leaves as the champions. Following Destruction ’10 on October 11th we will see who strongest Jr team in the world and who should be leading into 2010 as the team to face.
NJPW vs. NOAH at Destruction ’10!
The NJPW vs. NOAH war continues to rage on as we will be seeing 2 Heavyweight and 2 Juniors from both promotions going to battle in a tag match.
Yuji Nagata and Kohji Kanemoto will be carrying the helm for New Japan and Go Shiozaki and Atsushi Aoki have the honor of doing NOAH proud. Kanemoto comes into the match with a mark on his head for currently being 1/2 of the current GHC Jr. Tag Team Champion with Tiger Mask. Aoki is especially looking to leave his mark as him and KENTA are aiming to win the Jr. Tag Cup this month and go on to have a Title match against the current champions. Will Aoki be able to stand toe to toe with the veteran Kanemoto or will he face his wrath like so many before him?
“NOAH’s Young Ace” Shiozaki is looking to gain revenge for his loss at the hands of Nagata at this years G1 Climax. Nagata also mentioned that Shiozaki has a lot of potential and he knows that Shiozaki will be going into this match with Nagata thinks highly of Shiozaki, but he also has stated that he plans on making him submit if given the right opportunity for revenge. He notes that Shiozaki’s “rubber arm” tactics are going to be a big factor in the match, but he plans to fight back with his, just as hard, kicks to keep Shiozaki from gaining the advantage.
The same stands on the side of Kanemoto and Aoki who both wrestle and aim to finish their matches primarily with submissions.
This match will be hard hitting and very technical in the least. NOAH has the most to lose on 10/11 because so far at this time New Japan is pulling ahead with the solid victories. Which promotion will be standing high after the dust settles? We will see after Destruction ’10 is all said and done.
“The Soul of a Warrior” vs. “The Rebel of Strong Style” at Destruction ’10!
Hirooki Gotoh has quickly risen the ranks from a Junior Heavyweight wrestler to a full fledged Heavyweight competitor. With his fighting spirit and a seemingly endless ability to adapt and learn from his previous matches he has become someone who is on the verge of championship glory.
Shinsuke Nakamura is the youngest person in New Japan history to hold the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, age of 23, and has since gone on to prove that he is one of the, if not the, most talented wrestler in the promotion. He himself has changed his styles over the years starting with a more MMA based/speed style earlier in his career to a more strong based style and now an almost blending on everything he has learned in the last 8 years of his professional wrestling career.
Both men have had their differences throughout the years, but primarily this year we have seen this two going at one another in a bit more physical manor. Nakamura and Gotoh are going into this match at about an equal level both men have victories over one another this year, and this match is what you can call a set up to “who is the better between the two”.
What seperates Gotoh from Nakamura is that he is still hungry to taste the gold, unlike Nakamura who is already a 3 time IWGP Champion. Gotoh has found himself close everytime to getting his hands on the belt but in the end who is just caught off guard and his fate has been sealed. He has had success though this year with winning the New Japan Cup earlier in the year, and the J Sports Crown Open-weight Tournament, so he is definitely finding himself closer than ever at tasting gold in just a matter of time. He has even said that “the past is irrelevant, I am learning and all that matters is that I continue to move forward.”
One thing that is sitting behind both of their mind is the possibility of being called the #1 contender for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. This match and the match between Tanahashi/Naitoh are both being looked at to make a contendership bout soon after. So this match is a very pivotal point in both of their careers because it means that they are one step closer to headlining the Tokyo Dome show against whoever survives following Makabe vs. Kojima on 10/11. (That is if they don’t get their title match sooner?)
Gotoh vs. Nakamura Press Conference
“The Genius” vs. “Pure Talent” at Destruction ’10!
This year, we have seen a lot of growth and from NO LIMIT and especially in the last few months from Tetsuya Naitoh. He has slowly but surely finding his nitche as a singles competitor. Hiroshi Tanahashi on the other hand has been active as an ace, “the phenomenon of the century,” in the eyes of the New Japan fans. Though some may disagree with that statement outside of Japan, but in Japan Tanahashi is a really big deal for NJPW. He was noted as bringing back some life in a company that was beginning to falter a bit with the changing over of the new century.
Naitoh just like Gotoh was for the beginning of his career a junior style wrestler it was not until this year that him and Yujiro Takahashi had stepped out and really became noticed as Heavyweight wrestlers. Takahashi is fast, cunning, and believes himself to be the top “pure talent” in New Japan right now. Not too many people are going to fight that claim, because Naitoh has shown that he is very skilled and can easily become a key player in the promotion in not time whatsoever.
Hiroshi Tanahashi on the other hand has established himself as “The Ace” of New Japan in the 2000’s. He has been trained by Keiji Mutoh of all people so his talent is very much derived from his early learning experiences from the “original genius of wrestling.” Tanahashi though in the last few years has opted to adapt his style to be his own over trying to be a clone of Mutoh (aka “Baby Mutoh” as he was labeled early in his career). Tanahashi has done pretty much everything in New Japan that a Heavyweight can do.
Well one thing that I should point out, well and can be pretty obvious as that both of these are very similar in styles and grew up idolizing the style and ability of Keiji Mutoh. Naitoh has even been noted to being very similar to a young Tanahashi in that Naitoh shares a lot of the same traits with flash pins, the Stardust Press from the top rope, and the fact that Naitoh has a lot of untapped potential.
This match is stemming off of Naitoh pinning Tanahashi in this years G1 Climax and generating a lot of buzz around the 28 year old Naitoh. Tanahashi will be looking to pick up to get the win and show that his loss was just a fluke and dealing with the rigorous schedule of the G1.
Just like Gotoh vs. Nakamura match this bout is being aimed to set up a #1 contender for the IWGP Heavywieght Championship. Will Naitoh be able to pull off the biggest win of his career or will Tanahashi show his experience and put the young talent back to square one?
Tanahashi vs. Naitoh Press Conference
“The Unchained Gorilla IWGP Champion” vs. “The G1 Climax 2010 Champion” at Destruction ’10!
Tohgi Makabe has had a big year in terms of proving that he is a fighting champion. He debuted back in 1997 as a Junior Heavyweight wrestler and would spend his early career and would not become a heavyweight until he has an excursion around 2001. He would come in as a Heavyweight and no longer under his surname “Shinya”, now Toghi or “Togi”. He would be set back in the 2004 G1 Climax due to injury, that would sort of believed as what has kept him back for a few years, but he would return after he healed and began running in NJPW as one of their top heels. He would see some success in his career, but it was not till the 2008 G1 Climax in which he would get noticed as a strong singles competitor, though losing to Hirooki Gotoh in the Finals. He would then go on to win the tournament in 2009 though, and he would become a fan favorite for his attitude and his fighting spirit. His brutal style and anti-hero attitude, even though having lots of fans backing him. Kind of Stone Cold like if you want to aim picture it like that. On May 3rd, 2010, he would defeat Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and from their go on to defend it against NOAH’s Go Shiozaki and Zero1’s Masato Tanaka. This brings us to his 3rd title defense against the G1 Climax XX (2010) Champion Satoshi Kojima.
Satoshi Kojima on the other hand is a born and breed New Japan Young Lion who debuted for the promotion back on July 16th, 1991. Kojima had a rough time earlier on in his career with injuries and minor set-backs. He would first find his niche in the tag team wrestling most notably with Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 1999-2001. Since then he has been in All Japan Pro Wrestling from 2002 to early 2010 and is where he bloomed as a singles competitor. He would leave All Japan due to “claiming” that he had aggravating issues to his elbow that needed surgery. Well he did have surgery but it was only minor and he was ready to return to wrestling with in a couple months. This takes us to July when Kojima appeared and announced that he will be competing in this years G1 Climax in New Japan. He would go on to win five of his seven matches and ended up with the win for his block. Hiroshi Tanahshi would be the winner of Block A, and in the end well you can see who picked up the victory there. So this sets us up to the present time where we have Kojima getting his title match against the current IWGP Champion, Makabe.
This match has a lot of backing going into it, we have two almost very similar wrestler’s who can be considered very evenly matched in all aspects. This match will be explosive and should be a pivotal point in both of their careers. The winner will more than likely go on to Wrestle Kingdom V as the champion, with at least 1 defense set forth in December.
This match has been building, and it seems that Kojima is looking as the favorite, but Makabe at the same time is proving that he is a dominate champion. This match is sort of hard to call at this moment in time, but it should be an excellent, in my opinion, nonetheless.
Below I will post the youtube that has just been released a few hours ago with the Press Conference between these two men. I would say if you do not know Japanese to sort of skip through to about 7-8 mins. just to see the tension aspect that is building between the two.
Makabe vs. Kojima Press Conference
The Complete card:
NJPW “Destruction ’10 PPV” 10/6/2010 (Mon) (17:00)
Location: Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tama Tonga
2. Giant Bernard, Karl Anderson & Tiger Mask vs. Takashi Iizuka, Yujiro Takahashi & Tomohiro Iishi
3. Jushin Thunder Liger, Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma vs. Masato Tanaka, Gedo & Jado
4. TAJIRI vs. Tohru Yano
5. IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship Match: “Apollo 55” Devitt & Taguchi vs. “The Golden Lovers” Ibushi & Omega
6. NJPW vs. NOAH: Yuji Nagata & Kohji Kanemoto vs. Go Shiozaki & Atsushi Aoki
7. Special Singles Match: Hirooki Gotoh vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
8. Special Singles Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naitoh
9. IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Tohgi Makabe (c) vs. Satoshi Kojima (G1 Climax 2010 Winner)