Ganbare Pro 7/10/2022 Wrestle Sekigahara 2022

Ganbare Pro 7/10/2022 Wrestle Sekigahara 2022

This will be the first Ganbare show I've seen. I have videos of it, but there's too much stuff to watch nowadays, it's not exactly high on the list of things to watch and I don't know if I really get what this promotion is about. It's a DDT sub-brand and it has some of the same wrestlers but also some different wrestlers.

Isami Kodaka & Shuji Ishikawa vs Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie

Isami forearms Ishii then Ishii facekicks him back. Irie knocks Shuji off the apron. Ishii lifts up Isami and drops him chin first on Irie's head in an unusual spot then Shuji double lariats both opponents. Shuji drops Ishii with a forearm then picks him up by the crotch and bangs his head off the buckle. Ishii gets double shouldered.

Shuji drops Ishii with a forearm and Ishii keeps trying to trade even though he gets dropped. Shuji backdrops him then knees him in the gut. Ishii hits an enzugiri and facekick. Irie hits a piledriver on Isami on top of Shuji. Irie and Shuji trade forearms and Shuji headbutts him. Shuji then backdrops him and Irie backdrops him. Shuji then kind of catches his cannonball then takes another one.

They trade headbutts and Irie hits a flurry of headbutts. Irie no sells his dragon suplex then flies at him with a headbutt. Isami dragon screws Ishii. Ishii leg sweeps him and does a nice jumping knee drop. Isami superkicks Ishii then Shuji dominator Isami onto Ishii, and Isami lands on him with double knees. Irie senton cannonballs Shuji off the apron the Isami tope con hilos him through the ropes. Isami then hits a pepsi twist lariat for 2.

Isami runs at Ishii in the corner, but he goes up and over and germans him. Ishii then tiger suplexes him for 2. Irie crossbodies Shuji as he sits on the apron. Isami and Ishii trade forearms and Ishii slaps his chest. Irie hits a nice lariat on Isami then Ishii hits a stiff paradigm shift ddt for 2. Isami punches Ishii hard then Shuji running knees Ishii. Shuji hits a fire thunder on him then Isami top rope double knee drops Ishii for 2. Ishii hurricanrana's Isami for 2 then gets a buzzsaw kick and pumping knee. Isami then superkicks him for the win.

They went a little overboard on the kickouts, but it was an entertaining match Ishii being the fiery underdog here. This was real stiff and fast paced and ended up being a good one. 

Kouki Iwasaki & Tyson Maeguchi vs 5th Generation Black Tiger & Tatsuhito Takaiwa

Takaiwa shoulders Kouki over and they trade forearms for facekicks. Kouki kick combos Takaiwa and Tyson gets in. Tyson has weird pink hair and colorful tights. He hits kicks on Takaiwa. Tiger gets in throws out Tyson then throws him into the post. Tiger then throws a ring attendant into Tyson.

Takaiwa grabs Tyson by the nose and headscissors him. Takaiwa slams Tyson and crabs him but he ropebreaks. Tyson dropkicks Takaiwa out of the corner. Kouki hits a nice kick combo on Takaiwa then butterfly suplexes him. Takaiwa hits a top rope elbow on Kouki for 2. Takaiwa death valley drivers him. Tyson and Tiger in and Tyson hits a knee combo. Tiger hits some suplexes on Tyson then Tyson gives him one back.

Takaiwa superplexes Tyson then Tiger tombstones Tyson for 2. Tiger lariats his own partner on accident then Takaiwa lariats Tyson. Kouki twisting brainbusters Takaiwa and Tyson kick combos Tiger. Tyson then PK's Tiger for 2. Tyson top rope splashes Tiger for the win.

This wasn't anything special. The match just didn't really click with too many different styles at play. It also went too long.

Minoru Suzuki vs Shuichiro Katsumura

This is my first time seeing Shu. They trade leg kicks to start and go to the mat. They leglock each other at the same time and get tied up in the ropes with it. Suzuki does a nice back roll through a hammerlock and kneels on his face while in the triangle position. Shu then goes for an armbar and Suzuki ropebreaks when he gets it on.

Shu works his arm and hits body kicks. Suzuki then leg locks him through the ropes and then throws him into chairs in the crowd. They brawl some on the floor and Shu takes a chair to the face and back. Suzuki drops him with a forearm then tries an armbar on him inside. He twists his fingers thne hits forearms and a facekick.

Shu tries to fire up and hits body kicks. Suzuki is tripped into the middle rope and takes a slingshot dropkick. Shu pounds on him with forearms then footchokes him. Suzuki comes back with a facekick then PK's him. Suzuki footslaps him and Shu tries chest slaps. They trade forearms and Suzuki drops him. They trade more forearms and Suzuki drops him again but Shu fights back. Shu then rolling armbars him.

Shu hooks onto him for a guillotine choke and oddly lets go. Suzuki gets backdropped and fights off submissions. Suzuki catches him with a choke then package piledrivers him for the win.

This was a good match. I really liked this one. Shu fought well as an underdog against the vet Suzuki and tried to overcome him before being put down. They didn't do too much and they made it look realistic without any real issues to it. Maybe a few minutes could have been taken off, but this was good stuff.

Romance Dawn (Shota & Soma Takao) vs Calamari Drunken Kings (Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi)

We get some mat work early and Shota uses his feet to try and pin Masa. CB and Soma go at it and Soma dropkicks him. Shota gets an enzugiri while Masa holds him for CB, then CB does an octopus stretch on two opponents at once. Shota has Masa in an indian deahtlock and CB chops Shota over which makes it worse. He continues to do it like an idiot then Shota and Soma double suplex him while Shota/Masa's legs are still tied. Masa then takes a double hiptoss into elbow drops. Shota gets pulled to the apron then he is bridging neckbreakered + senton'd by CB while CB dropkicks Soma at the same time.

Soma is taped to a luggage cart and CB pushes him to the back of the arena. CB and Masa stomp on Shota then CB rolls Shota's legs into a figure four variation. Soma is untaped and heads backto the ring as Shota 2nd rope ddt's Masa. Yuuri gets grabbed by CB and gorilla pressed onto Shota and Soma outside. Shota backcrackers Masa and tags out to Soma. Soma gets in and dropkicks Masa. Soma then 2nd rope footstomps Masa's back into a tornado ddt on CB.

Masa suplexes Soma then CB 2nd rope sentons Soma's back for 2. CB leg lariats and piledrives Soma. Soma hits a ddt off the 2nd rope on CB then Shota top rope crossbodies CB for 2. CB slingshot cutters Shota then Soma 2nd rope double stomps CB as he is pinning Shota. CB rolls from the 2nd rope onto the other side and double underhook superplexes Soma off the top.

Masa and Soma trade shots. Masa then superkicks him tries some pin attempts on him. Soma then tries pins on him for 2. CB 2nd rope double stomps Soma. Soma gets bridged on the 2nd rope then CB sentons him for 2. CB gets pushed into a Shota flatliner. Soma top rope hurricanrana's CB and Shota frogsplashes him for 2.

CB hits Shota in the head with a belt but only gets 2. Shota gets superkicked into a double underhook driver for 2. CB topes Soma on the floor then Shota rolls him up out of nowhere and wins it.

It went longer than it needed to and they probably did do more than they needed to. However, they did a decent job with the face and heel work and that helped this one along. It wasn't a great match and it had issues with comedy and CB stupidly causing his own partner to get hurt out of the indian deathlock stop, but I still did like some of it.

Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title Match - Yumehito Imanari (c) vs Ken Ohka

They shoulder battle early then trade forearms. They trade more forearms and flurry each other in the corner. Ken shoulders him and hits a nice dropkick. Ken then misses a diving shoulder off the apron and Yume hits la silla on him. They trade forearms ouside and Yume ddt's him on the floor.

They trade more forearms and then bodyslams. Ohka single leg crabs him. They trade more forearms and Yume russian legsweeps him. They fight up top and Ohka superplexes him. Ken forward rolling fireman's carries him and shoulders him off the 2nd rope. Ohka then whips him into the ropes and bulldogs him from the other.

Yume puts him in the stf then facewashes him in the corner. Ken blocks the final kick and throws him off. They no-sell 2 germans a lariat before both go down after a lariat. Ken then cradle shocks him for 2. Ken runs at him with a spear and Yume jumping cutters him. Ken hits some forearms and headbutts him. Yume tries to rebound off the ropes and runs right into a punch. Yume then lariats him.

They trade slaps and Yume Thesz presses him. Ken then hits a big spear. Ken suplexes him then spears him for another 2. They trade more forearms and chest slaps. Yume then running clotheslines him for 2 and hits a tiger driver for another 2. Yume hits another lariat and wins it.

This was a good match. It was just filled with heated strike battles and they showed a lot of fire. It looked and felt like the biggest match on their biggest show and they didn't overdo it like these matches often do. I was real surprised by this but it's definitely worth a look. 

Overall thoughts: I saw 5 of the 8 matches. The Suzuki match and the main were very good and the opener was good as well. Even though the semi-main had issues, it still had some redeeming qualities and I did like it. This was a good show overall.