Osaka Pro Wrestling 4/8/2023 Osaka Castle Pro Wrestling 2023 Day 1

Osaka Pro Wrestling 4/8/2023 Osaka Castle Pro Wrestling 2023 Day 1

From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAm0dZHZKck

This show was held outside. Hey, if nothing else, it's well lit.

Zeus vs Soran Sano

They lock up and Sano forearms him off the break. Zeus is mad and goes head to head with him while Sano hits forearms. Zeus side headlock takedowns him then shoulders him over twice. They shoulder battle and Sano puts him down to one knee then gets him all the way down. Zeus slams him and throws him out. Sano gets back in and dropkicks him while he's on the apron.

They go outside and Sano is thrown into the posts outside. Sano is chopped down then hits forearms. Zeus shoulders him over and running back elbows him for 2. Zeus hits chops then slams him. Zeus then boston crabs him and Sano hits a dropkick. Sano hits another dropkick then running forearms him for 2.

Sano slams him then Zeus suplexes him for 2. Zeus corner lariats him then bearhug belly to belly suplexes him for 2. Sano spears him for 2 then rolls him up. Zeus hits a stiff lariat then crabs him for the win.

It went too long and the result was obvious. If they made Sano seem like more of a threat, the length would have been fine, but they made it clear that he really wasn't in Zeus' league so don't bother. Zeus' look wasn't good here as he hasn't been tanning, cut his hair and is off roids, so he looks like a normal person.

Ebessan vs. Billy Ken Kid vs. Joichiro Osaka

Osaka has some kind of samurai boxing gimmick and wears boxing gloves with a samurai face. Billy and Eb do a clean break and Osaka wants in on the lockup, but is stuck watching. Eb and Billy standoff after a takedown and Osaka is mad that he can't get in on the match. He tries to stop them and they completely ignore him. Osaka puts himself in between them.

Osaka finally gets them to try and lock up with him but then he ducks both and poses. They kick him together then he double shoulders them. Osaka then teases a dive but poses instead. Osaka's legs are grabbed and fans are invited to pull Osaka into the post. The fans leave then Billy pulls him in for good measure. Billy dropkicks him off the bottom rope then double stomps him.

Billy tags in Ebessan, even though that's not really the rules of this thing. Eb eye pokes Osaka then flipping sentons him then purposely misses in a comedic moment. Osaka takes corner lariats then evades a 1v2, causing Ed to lariat Billy. Osaka punch combos Eb and does this weird bobbing and weaving thing under the top rope to punch Billy. He tries it on Eb but Billy crotches him. Eb and Billy then get on the middle rope and stomp it to crotch him more. Osaka then hits the top rope and both of those guys get crotched and they trade crotch attacks. Billy 2nd rope cannonballs his opponents outside.

Billy does a pendulum style bronco buster in the corner then dropkicks him against the buckles for 2. Eb throws Billy out and vader bombs Osaka for 2. The ref irish whips Ebessan into Billy then superkicks him and Billy hits a schwein on Ebessan to win it.

It was mostly all comedy and went 11:55. The crotch spot on the ropes was clever but the ref getting involved wasn't good and this was not real serious.

Black Buffalo & The Bodyguard vs. Takoyakida & Ultimate Spider Jr.

USJ and Tako do a dance for their entrance.

Tako and BB go at it. Tako hits a side headlock takeover and they stand off. BB then side headlocks him. BB shoulders him then Tako dropkicks him. Body and USJ get in. USJ tries forearms on Body then dropkicks him. Body shoulders him over then takes a double dropkick from Tako and USJ.

Body double lariats Tako and USJ then BB beats up USJ in the crowd. BB chairs him while Body chinlocks Tako out there. BB back elbows USJ then Body lariat flurries USJ in the corner. Body elbow drops USJ  then Tako is thrown out. BB poses on USJ over the bottom rope and then drops a leg on him. BB then sliding kicks him on the apron.

USJ running forearms BB then Tako dropkicks both opponents. Body is tripped onto the middle rope then USJ running forearms him. Body blocks Tako's superkick then hits a nice spinebuster. Tako takes corner lariats from both opponents then is backdropped for 2. Body accidentally clotheslines him own partner then Tako superkicks him. USJ gets in and top rope dropkicks Body then facebusters BB.

BB takes a 2v1 then takes stereo kicks and a double suplex. Tako corner lariats BB then USJ rolls into a cutter on BB. Body goes over the top rope then Tako topes him in the crowd. USJ step up enzugiri's BB then falcon arrows him for 2. USJ slams BB then does a 180 corkscrew splash for the win from the top.

This was a fun little match. The heels heeled it up then the faces made their comeback and won it. Real simple and good wrestling here. 

Quiet Storm, Tigers Mask & Tsubasa vs. Kazuaki Mihara, TORU & Yuto Kikuchi

Yuto is in the red and black, Toru's in the purple and black and Mihara is the thicker guy in the black and pink.

Yuto and Tsu go at it and Tsu armdrags him. Yuto uses the ropes to flip out of an armlock then Tsu headstands and spinning headscissors him. Yuto is thrown into the ropes and flips over them then handsprings and backflips over Tsu into a dropkick. Storm and Toru go at it.

Storm throws him down then they shoulder battle. Toru steps on his foot then Storm shoulders him over. Tigers and Mihara trade forearms then Tigers hits kicks before getting lariated. Mihara runs through a double lariat then hits one of his own on Storm and Tsu. Yuto then hits a nice tope con hilo outside.

Mihara slams him then splashes him for 2. Tigers hits forearms on Yuto then Yuto standing moonsaults him for 2.  Toru suplexes Tigers for 2. Toru dropkicks Tigers in the corner for 2 then Tigers hits an interesting enzugiri with the back of the leg. Tsu top rope crossbodies Toru then takes over Yuto and Mihara with a headscissors + headlock takeover.

Mihara and Storm trade forearms then Storm spinebusters him for 2 at 10 minutes. Toru and Storm do running corner lariats then lariat battle. They scream at each other and Storm wins their lariat collision. Mihara suplexes Storm. Tigers and Yuto gets in and Tigers hits kicks. Tigers superkicks and dropkicks him then kicks him in the head. Yuto takes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker then Tigers buzzsaw kicks him for 2.

Toru dropkicks Storm then Mihara delay sit out F-U's Tigers. Yuto and Toru get on Mihara's back and they all splash Tigers for 2. Tigers high kicks Yuto then Yuto hits a great dropkick on him. Yuto pumping knees him then hits a kudo driver variation for 2. Yuto top rope double stomps Tigers and picks up the win.

Tigers shouldn't have kicked out of the kudo driver, but I really liked this otherwise. We got some flying and we got some hoss fighting here. The heels were all good and it was just good traditional wrestling with clear faces and heels. Yuto's probably going places further than Osaka Pro. 

Battle Royale

Everyone on the show is in this one. Tako and Osaka try to get the crowd going then fight. Osaka slams Tako then USJ, Billy, Black Buffalo and Sano all slam Tako. Osaka tries to get Bodyguard to do it then he pushes Tako over on him and gets Bodyguard eliminated.

Toru and Mihara fight. Toru dropkicks him in the knee and dragon screws him. Toru does Keiji Mutoh's pose and figure fours him leading to Mihara being pinned.  Toru is tripped into a USJ basement dropkick then USj turns on Tsubasa. Tsu rolls up USJ and pins him with help from everyone, then the pin is reversed and everyone uses USJ to pin Tsubasa. I don't know if that should be allowed since USJ was out, though it was partially only him. Yuto dropkicks Takoyakida and cobra twists him then a female bear mascot with a pink hat comes in.

The mascot loses their hat twice then punches Tako. Yuto falls back with Tako and everyone helps get Tako pinned. Yuto was also somehow pinned in this. Zeus and Black Buffalo pose with the mascot then the mascot leaves. Storm and Zeus lariat battle each other and they both kick out of a group pin attempt. They pose at each other and both are rolled up and pinned. The two continue to taunt each other inside and out.

Billy snapmares Osaka then we get a chain of headscissors. Buffalo then turns over everyone with a boston crab. Sano hits the ropes and it must be broken. Everyone runs into each other on a battering ram and all of them fall down. Everyone starts running the ropes and running in circles then Sano decides to run the ropes hard on his own. Sano of course gets tired and slows down then Tigers rolls him up and pins him with help from everyone else.

Buffalo sunset flips Tigers and pins him, then everyone rolls Tigers back onto Buffalo and pins him. Osaka, Ebessan and Billy are the last three left. They try to do a chop > chop > punch sequence but Osaka has gloves on and can only punch. They do a few more rotations of chop > chop > punch then Eb is double punched. Osaka holds Eb and then Billy is punched and uranage'd. Eb pins Billy, then Osaka rolls Billy onto Eb and wins it in an upset 12 minutes.

It was a comedy battle royale. Obviously they didn't try to make it look real but it was entertaining and goofy fun. 

Overall thoughts: It's Osaka Pro wrestling. It's wrestling mixed with light hearted fun and comedy. I didn't like the comedy as much but the tag match and the trios match were good wrestling matches.