As this is a tournament I am going to try my best to follow along with the rounds and everything as well, as obviously the winners advance and the losers go home. We begin with a man in the ring talking in Japanese and probably just saying what I just typed about being able to follow this at home with a bracket system. The ring looks really small and the crowd looks... intimate. A decent amount of both talking and laughing. I wonder if he is a stand up comedian, the opening act if you will, but he appears to be running down the card. It's strange to think of the card because you only know in advance everyone involved in the tournament and not the matches which are a result of the winners. There are twelve people listed for the card though- men and women- so it will be interesting to see how they do this without a division of eight. The commentators check in (or one of them does, maybe there is only one) and lights flash in the ring as we appear to be on our way to the opening match. Nope, no opening match yet, but rather all of the participants in the tournament tonight are in the ring for a photo op. A woman comes in to talk and as they talk more I sort of drift off until I see them all leave the ring and we are officially under way for the first match.
Match One: Hiroshi Fukuda vs. Gouma Ryu
The first guy comes out chanting "U-S-A" and he has long blonde hair with trunks in the pattern of the flag ala Lex Luger. His opponent is in full suit and tie deal and they exchange words before the match. I'm not sure who is who here so I'm going to have to make it up as I go. The Lex Luger guy dominates early on, using the other guy's tie to his advantage. The guy in the suit makes a come back though. Okay, a quick internet search and the official Union Pro website shows me that the guy in suit who came out with a book is Gouma Ryu and as per Cage Match dot net he faced Hiroshi Fukuda in the first round so that makes Fukuda "Lex Luger". Now let's get to normal. And it doesn't matter because Fukuda just got the pin. He's such an interesting looking character but we will be seeing more of him in the night now so more on him later.
Match Two: Isami Kodaka vs. Daichi Kazato
The commentator- there is only one- talks over the entrances and any sound made in the arena is muted. I figured out who this match was based on their Cage Match dot net profile photos. Kodaka came out with a Samurai sword. Both were well received and streamers were thrown. They shook hands before the match as well. These two seem like they should be high flyers but there is a lot of rolling around in the ring, trading submission holds. Kazato flies out of the ring at one point and Kodaka merely side steps him. I was kind of surprised they had the space to do that. Kazato goes for a submission finish but Kodaka gets to the ropes. Kazato puts on an ankle lock next up and Kodaka once again goes for the rope break. This goes on for a while- Kodaka breaking up the submission attempts with the ropes. The two trade blows in the middle of the ring and that leads to Kodaka locking on a leg submission of his own, which Kazato gets to the ropes to break. This is going on pretty long for a first round match so I feel like whoever wins this will have a lot taken out of them and that will come into play in the next round. Brainbuster by Kazato. And a nice Asai Moonsault by Kazato to follow up on the outside. Kazato throws Kodaka back into the ring and goes to the top rope. A dropkick attempt is caught and a submission hold is locked on before it quickly turns into a pin attempt of two. Kodaka lights Kazato up with some kicks. A brainbuster of his own from Kodaka but it's only good for two. Back and forths and whoever wins this match is likely to be spent for the next round. Kodaka connects with the top rope double foot stomp (He missed it earlier in the match) and he gets the three count but he got worked over more in this match in some ways so he might not survive the next match I'm thinking.
Match Three: Cherry vs. Shuji Ishikawa
Cherry is out first and it's easy enough to pick her out because there are two women in this match and she's the one who isn't Mio Shirai, who I recognize from Ice Ribbon. Cherry is probably around more than just this too though, so I'll have to look into that later. Ishikawa comes out with a title and he is just a monster compared to Cherry. In terms of WWE this would be like AJ Lee fighting Kane, though in all fairness Ishikawa might not be as big as Kane but he certainly feels like it. Cherry tries to mount a comeback at one point to no avail. Cherry hits a low blow on accident. She climbs up on Ishikawa's back and begins ripping out bits of his hair. She is ruthless. Ishikawa takes her down and stands on her, using the ropes for leverage. Ishikawa wrenches the neck and I'm not sure Cherry knows where she is. Cherry even sells the scoop and slam like being hit by a car. Why does Cherry continue to kick out? She seems hurt. Live to fight another day! Cherry is taking control now somehow. But she is caught on the top rope and dumped to the outside of the ring where thankfully someone out there catches her. (I think it was the guy from the beginning of the show who ran down the card but I didn't get a good look at him) Cherry avoids being counted out. Ishikawa hits some big knees off the top rope but Cherry still kicks out. Cherry chops up Ishikawa, takes him down with an arm drag and then locks on an arm bar. Ishikawa powers out of it, picking up Cherry and dumping her in the corner. A suplex is only good for a two count. Cherry will not stop. A series of reversals turns into near falls for Cherry. Ishikawa hits Cherry with what looks like the finisher of Homicide before giving her the Razor's Edge into a sit down powerbomb for the pin and win.
Match Four: Goro Jr vs. Seiya Morohashi
Goro Jr. is out first and even though he has no profile picture on Cage Match dot net I recognize the commentator saying his name. He's got a strange mask on which is probably why it's hard to find pictues of him. He wears a tank top with long tights like X-Pac. Morohashi is out next and he receives streamers. He seems better favored to win here if only because he has a profile picture on Cage Match as well as a superstars page on the official Union Pro site. (I couldn't find one for Goro Jr.) These guys seem to be about the same size and build, so this looks like a pretty even match up. It's slow right now to start, just some slight submission holds and headlocks. Goro Jr. punches the foot or leg of Morohashi at one point and I feel like Goro Jr. should be in either CHIKARA or Osaka Pro. His mask is somewhat clown-ish looking in the face and then he has hair on top of it in the form of a small curly afro. Submission holds are traded, ropes are used to break them. Nice suplexes by Morohashi. Morohashi seems to be in control of most of this match. As I'm thinking that, and I type it, Goro Jr. makes him comeback and manages to score the pin and win.
I'm not sure how they determined who would fight when (There must have been some method to it) but since they have eight people in this tournament the first round was eight people narrowed down to four. Those four winners and now each going into second round matches not to fight each other but rather fresh opponents who are entering the tournament for the first time. It's kind of strange since Goro Jr., for example, might seem like he's at a disadvantage because he already fought once in the show and FUMA has not yet fought.
Match Five: Hiroshi Fukuda vs. SAGAT
"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan returns! I do recognize SAGAT from BJW. This is the second match for Fukuda and the first for SAGAT so SAGAT seems to be at an advantage here. Fukuda does have a distinct size advantage over SAGAT though. Chops by Fukuda on the outside get some "wooos" from the crowd. They're going around the ring and it looks like the rows go about two deep. SAGAT has a spot in the ring where he bites the butt of Fukuda. For some reason, watching this match makes me feel like I'm playing a video game but I love both of these characters ever so much now. Fukuda whips SAGAT into the ref and the ref goes down hard selling the leg. SAGAT tries to use it to his advantage but Fukuda eventually comes back from it and gets the pin and win. So maybe the fact that this was Fukuda's second match and SAGAT's first doesn't matter then, huh? Some post match talking by someone with SAGAT still in the ring. He seems to like SAGAT.
Match Six: Isami Kodaka vs. Mio Shirai
Kodaka is out first with his sword and Shirai comes out next with what I believe is her Ice Ribbon Championship. Kodaka tries to put Shirai away early on and Shirai has a missed 619 attempt. Kodaka side steps a missile dropkick and follows up with a diving cross body. Huge running knee into the corner on Shirai. Insuguri by Shirai. Both competitors are down but Shirai looks hurt somehow. Mio Shirai hits some swift kicks to the head that I thought should have been all. Mio Shirai locks a submission hold on while atop the shoulders of Kodaka only for Kodaka to fall back and into a bridging pin for the win. I'm not really a fan of the Ice Ribbon Champion losing here but that was a pretty cool move. The fact that Kodaka had such a hard fought battle in his first match could have played into a Shirai win here but I'm not booking it. With Mio Shirai, there goes my interest in this tournament. No, really. If I was in the live crowd I'd probably get up and leave now. Go home and watch Ice Ribbon or Dragon Gate.
Match Seven: Shuji Ishikawa vs. Ladybeard
Ishikawa is out first with that title belt again. I guess I should look up what exactly he is the champion of exactly. Ladybeard is out next. Ladybeard is a guy who dresses in wrestling attire for women (There is someone similar in Dragon Gate, in the Millenials stable, and probably other than that as well) except he doesn't have quite the same feminine look because he has... wait for it... a beard! He looks like an American. Rhett Titus, is that you? Ladybeard says something on the mic before hand but I wasn't paying attention. Ladybeard is outsized and outclassed in this match up and once again it looks as if the person who has already won a match might be going over the one in their first match. Ladybeard has a big head scissors spot but I don't see Ladybeard getting past Ishikawa here. Ishikawa has to be a favorite to win or at least be the heel for the face to defeat in the finals. Is that face Lex Luger? (Fukuda) I would watch that. Well, I am watching it actually. Ladybeard puts up a decent fight, but the size and power give the pin and win to Ishikawa.
Match Eight: FUMA vs. Goro Jr.
There is a decent amount of time before the match. Goro Jr is out first. FUMA comes out second. FUMA is wearing a title that I will also being looking into. FUMA is the Union Pro MAX Champion so spoiler alert he'll be winning this tournament because who would Union Pro want to actually give a win over their current champion? This a slow paced, methodical match. It is worth noting that all three of the competitors prior to this match who have fought already won their second matches, so Goro Jr. must be the odds on favorite in the match based on that statistic and that statistic only. These two seem evenly matched and it's nice to see what the champ can do. FUMA has some stiff kicks but Goro Jr. can take them. A huge diving cross body by Goro Jr. FUMA wins with a diving head butt from the top rope and apparently Krispen Wah is not a thing in Japan. After the match Goro Jr. takes his mask off and reveals he is Yuya Kubo which I had to look up (Thanks, Keeping The Spirit Alive on Tumblr!)
Even though there are still two semi-final matches and a final match to this tournament, this is where this video ends for me so I'll have to seek out those matches perhaps independently and watch them.
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