Big Japan Pro Wrestling 4/21/2023 Kobayashi Day 2023

Big Japan Pro Wrestling 4/21/2023 Kobayashi Day 2023

I feel bad for not getting more BJW shows covered, but there's just too much stuff to cover these days. I think I saw more than anyone else in the world last year at over 500 shows and I still feel I was probably 200 shows short.

Kaji Tomato, Kazuki Hashimoto & Kota Sekifuda vs. Ender Kara, Ryo Hoshino & Yuichi Taniguchi

Kaiji and Kota do Kaiji's dance during intros. Ender and Hash start us off. Ender rolls out of an armlock and grabs a leg. They end up ropebreaking and tag out. Ryo and Kaji go at it. Kaji cartwheels over him then Ryo dropkicks him. Ryo is kicked into a bulldog and baseball slide.

Kota slams Ryo then the two trade forearms. Kota slams him and does his slingshot double stomp. Hash gets in and headbutts Ryo. Ryo top rope dropkicks Hash then Ender kicks Hash. Ender hits an enzugiri on him and knocks him down.

Hash russian legsweeps him  then is stuck on the 2nd rope where he takes ennzugiri's and then a slingshot splash. Ender takes a backdrop into a backcracker then rebound germans Kota. Yuichi gets in and running throat thrusts Kota in the corner. He suplexes Kota for 2 then he walks the top rope while holding his arm.

Kaji tries to help and Yuichi wristlocks both from up top. Ender and Ryo grab arms too and we get 5 people helping Yuichi walk the top rope. Kota throws Yuichi off the top then splashes him for 2. Kaji planchas opponents outside and Kota tries pin attempts on Yuichi before winning it at 8:44.

Nothing wrong with this as an opener. The walk rope spot was fun and it was just a short thing to get the crowd going.

Ender and Hash attack people after the bell.

Kazumi Kikuta & Yuki Ishikawa vs. Astronauts (Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura)

Nomura and Kikuta start us off. They wrestle to the mat and go for some holds before getting back up. Yuki and Abe get in. Yuki dropkicks him then sweeps him into a double stomp. Abe tries to do it back to him but takes another double stomp. They repeat this sequence and Yuki gets facekicked off the apron.

Abe tries another double stomp but Yuki sweeps him again and double stomps him. Nomura then tries it on Yuki and gets double stomped out of it. Yuki takes a double kick from his opponents for 2 and Nomura misses another double stomp attempt and takes one again. Abe tries again for the double stomp and can't get it.

Abe tries again and takes a double stomp then Nomura does as well. Yuki enzugiri's him. Kikuta gets in and dropkicks Abe in the corner then Kikuta 2nd rope knee drops him. Kikuta goes for a kick and takes a dragon screw then Abe spin kicks him in the corner. Nomura dropkicks Kikuta then he suplexes him for 2.

Kikuta and Nomure trade forearms then Kikuta palm strikes him. Yuki top rope dropkicks Nomura. Nomura takes corner attacks then a double enzugiri and double superkick combo for 2. Yuki hits a nice forearm on Nomura then is backdropped for 2. Nomura PK's Yuki for 2 and Yuki tries roll-ups on him for 2. Yuki hits a superkick then Abe catches him with an octopus. Nomura abdominal stretches Kikuta at the same time and Astronauts with via submission on Yuki at 10:52.

I thought this was a fun match. They went in cold and there was no big reason to care for it, but they made it fun with the double stomp attempts.

Abe tries to double stomp Yuki again after the match but gets stomped then Nomura does too.

Daisuke Sekimoto & Yasufumi Nakanoue vs. Daimonji So & Yuya Aoki

YN = Yasufumi Nakanoue

So and YN start us off. YN flips out of an armbar and upkicks him. So is taken down and has his legs split. Sek goes to ankle lock So but So gets out. Yuya hammerlocks Sek then takes one back. Yuya goes for a shoulder block but is shouldered over. Seki slams him then Yuya takes a double shoulder.

YN hiptosses Yuya and knocks So off the apron. YN then hits an elbow drop for 2. Sek chops Yuya in the corner and Yuya asks for more. Yuya hits chest slaps on Sek then is shouldered over. Yuya armdrags him off a powerbomb attempt and dropkicks him.

So gets in and top rope lariats Sek. So hits punches on Sek then flying clotheslines him. So fallaway slams Sek. So gets both Sek and YN on his shoudlers then samoan drops both. Sek and So trade shots then Sek rolls him into a suplex.

YN flying clotheslines So then 2nd rope double stomps him. YN then vader bombs him for 2. So hits a flying forearm then Yuya gets in. Yuya chest slap flurries YN then hits an impressive exploder on him for 2. YN flapjacks Yuya then Yuya takes a double backdrop. Yuya and Sek hit elbow drops on him for 2. Yuya tries pin attempts on YN. YN tries to flip him with a lariat but he holds on and back slides him for 2. Yuya then lariats him for another 2. Yuya lariats YN and wins it.

Not a classic or anything but it was a decent tag match. Sekimoto didn't get a lot of stuff in here and they pushed Yuya and So getting the win as an upset. The crowd liked Yuya.

Yuji Okabayashi vs Necro Butcher

They lock up and Oka arm ringers him then Necro headlocks him. They shoulder battle and Oka back off from Necro's punch attempt. Oka hits chops in the corner then Oka returns fire. Oka hits machine gun chops.

Oka throws him off on a lock up and they trade holds on the mat. Yuji pulls both of his arms back then backdrops him. Necro goes out to stall and pulls Oka out with him. They only have one camera here so it's hard to see what is happening outside, but Oka gets his head banged off the apron and gets stomped. Oka hits chops outside.

They back in and Oka armlocks him. Oka hits a nice suplex but Necro gets his knees up on Oka's splash. Necro spinning beckbreakers him then rips Oka's tights when he pulls him on a piledriver. Necro sits him up top but is knocked down. Oka top rople splashes him then Necro hits a nice hook and both men go down. Oka running lariats him for 2 then torture racks him for the win at 13:34.

It was an interesting styles clash. I don't know what Necro vs Okabayashi was supposed to look like when you think about it as Oka wrestlers like a hoss and Necro is a brawler/deathmatch guy, in a non-hardcore match. I didn't expect all of the arm work though and thought it would have been better if Necro heeled it up some on Oka then Oka made his comeback to win it.

Barbed Wire Board Death Match - Abdullah Kobayashi, Ryuji Ito & Yuko Miyamoto vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani, Kankuro Hoshino & Mad Man Pondo

Everyone fights to start and only Abby is left in the ring from his team. He takes a very slow irish whip into the barbed wire board in the corner then Abby and Pondo try to stab each other with stuff. Abby gets something inserted into his head, but the video quality and camera angle make it hard to see.

Everyone fights outside but we can't see half of it. Yuko pushes a barbed wire bat into Hoshino's head then Yuko and Pondo duel with weapons. Yuko takes some kind of saw blade on a stick to the gut and Pondo stabs him with something. Pondo uses a stape gun on Yuko then uses his saw blade on a stick to cut up Yuko.

Hoshino tries to shoulder over Abby and can't then Yuko trips him from outside. Kami puts a barbed wire board in fornt of Ito then runs through it into him. Ito slams Kami through a barbed wire board bridged on chairs then beats the board into his back with a kendo stick. Everyone goes outside again and we can't really see any of it. Abby pushes a bared wire board into Pondo outside  then Kami pushes the board into Abby. Ito hits kicks on Pondo then is eye poked. Pondo pumphandle tombstones him then has a stop sign dropkicked into his face. Yuko uses the giant slicer thing on his back then staple guns him in the head.

Kami reverses a hiptoss from Yuko into an armdrag then Kami and Abby lariat battle. Hoshino sto's Abby then Pondo accidentally hits Hoshino with a stop sign. Hoshino takes a baseball bat shot to the leg and has a chair thrown at his face. Abby then rolls him up and wins it.

It really wasn't good and it wasn't anything special. They only went 10 minutes and had a couple of people like Pondo and Abby who are immobile at this point. We also couldn't see a lot of it due to the camera set up.

Overall thoughts: I saw 5 of the 6 matches. The camera set-up messed up the last two matches as you couldn't see what was going on. Some of the undercard was fun but the semi-main and main didn't really hit like it should have.