Thursday, August 17, 2023

FREEDOMS 8/11/2023 Yokohama Rush 2023 ~ Feast Of The Free People

FREEDOMS 8/11/2023 Yokohama Rush 2023 ~ Feast Of The Free People


GENTARO, Mammoth Sasaki & Rekka vs. ERE (Kyu Mogami, Toshiyuki Sakuda & Violento Jack)


Kyuu's gear has random swear words on it. Sakuda does a bad hurricanrana on Rekka to start then Rekka does a kamehakameha to him. Jack and Mammoth trade strikes and both end up shouldering each other over. Kyu and Gentaro go face to face then Jack chokes Gentaro. Gentaro takes a sandwich basement dropkick then Kyu running back elbows Gentaro. Kyu slams him then Gentaro eye pokes him.

Gentaro chops Kyu in the throat and tags in Rekka. Rekka leg lariats Kyu then Kyu flying single leg dropkicks Jack. Rekka plancha's Jack then shotgun dropkicks Kyu. Kyu does a nice face kick on Rekka then Jack hits strikes on Rekka in the corner. Jack slingshot ddt's Rekka over the middle rope.

Jack lariats Rekka then Rekka does a nice dropkick on him. Mammoth and Sakuda shoulder battle. Sakuda headbutts and chinbreakers him. Sakuda suplexes him then Mammoth takes corner moves. Rekka springboard dropkicks Sakuda as he is held up then Gentaro backdrops Jack. Kyu facekicks Gentaro then Kyu ddt's Rekka. Kyu fights with the ref over a chair. Sakuda throws a chair at Mammoth then Mammoth hits a chair with a chair while it's on Sakuda's neck. Mammoth lariats Sakuda for 2. Mammoth brainbusters Sakuda and wins it.

It wasn't that good and wasn't exactly a good hype up match to get you excited. It wasn't awful and was watchable, but it could have been better. 

Yuya Susumu vs. Dobunezumi Fukki



Fukki comes to the ring with a shopping cart full of cans. Yuya immediately takes him out of the ring and whips him into the post. Yuya then slams someone on him outside. Fukki throws cans at Yuya's head then rams the cart into him. Yuya grabs a doll out of the cart and hits Fukki with it. Yuya then throws him onto the cart off the top.

Yuya suplexes Fukki for 2. Yuya goes to german him but Fukki grabs the ref and low blows Yuya. Fukki brainbusters him on a playstation and the ref stops him from using a keyboard on Yuya for some reason. Yuya low blows him and hits a cross arm ddt to win.

I didn't get the finish at all. This was short at under 10 minutes and I guess it was fine for what it was. Yuya is thrown out after with the ref after hugging him.

Barefoot Toy Block Death Match - Minoru Fujita vs. Takayuki Ueki




They take off their shoes to start. The ref does an official dumping of the toy blocks in the ring. They try to lock up while avoiding the toys. Ueki's back is so nasty from various deathmatches that it looks like has freckles. Ueki headlock takeovers him on the blocks then Fujita does the same. They both try to kip up but slip on blocks and go down. Ueki has a block stuck between his toes and they throw the toy plate at each other. Ueki slips on a block and tries for a dropkick but just ends up falling ont blocks. He is tripped onto the blocks then Fujita misses a 2nd rope double stomp onto them.

Ueki stunners him but just ends up sitting on blocks. Ueki puts blocks on a car then Fujita grabs a kendo stick. Fujita swings at his legs, so Ueki jumps and puts his own feet into the blocks. Fujita spills out the toys on Ueki's face, then misses a 2nd rope splash, landing on the toys.

Ueki takes off his pants and Fujita throws toys at him. Fujita puts toys in a bag and wraps it around Ueki's foot. Ueki is then pulled down and lands on the foot with the bag in it. Fujita spears him. Ueki puts the bag over Fujita's head and airplane spins him, then he rolls him up on the blocks to win it. Ueki held up a cardboard title in the shape of a foot after.

It was a comedic hardcore match. It was completely stupid though it had a couple of funny moments. 

Kohei Keiko Shippudoto Death Match - Daisuke Masaoka, Takashi Sasaki & Yusaku Ito vs. Daiju Wakamatsu, Kazumi Kikuta & Yuki Ishikawa


 

DM = Daisuke Masaoka, TS = Takashi Sasaki

TS takes a double hiptoss then has a bucket dropkicked into his head. Ito acidentally nails Yuki then DM top rope crossbodies Kiku and Yuki off of it.  Daiju takes a double shoulder for 2. DM slams and elbow drops Daiju. Daiju nd Ts trade shots and TS leg lariats him. TS hits Daiju with a barbed wire bat then knees it into him, hurting his own knee.

DM and Daiju trade forearms then DM does a pump kick on him. DM 2nd rope vader bomb elbows him then chairs him. Daiju germans DM then Kikuta delay dropkicks DM in the corner. Kikuta gamengiri's TS then DM schwein's Kikuta. TS ddt's Kikuta and superkicks him in the face. They trade forearms then Kikuta slams him. Kikuta high kicks Yuki on a failed double team then Kikuta superkicks him.

Daiju shotgun dropkicks TS out of the corner then Ts takes running corner moves. Yuki and Kikuta do a sandwich enzugiri + gamengiri combo to TS then Daiju top rope dropkicks TS. Daiju top rope elbows TS then TS suplexes him. Daij spinning heel kicks him then Yuki and Ito trade forearms. Yuki enzugiri's him and Ito headsbutts him.

Ito is flatlinered into a chair then he low blows Yuki and ddt's him. Yuki takes running moves in the corner then TS hits a to prope superplex. Ito top rope headbutts Yuki for 2. DM does an asai moonsault outside while Ito michinoku drivers Yuki. Ito puts Yuki in an octopus stretch then Yuki slams him on pencils for 1. Yuki ranhei's him on the pencils and picks up the win.

It was fine. It was fast paced, they had a few highlights and  it was a perfectly acceptable midcard match. I still have no idea the gimmick of this was supposed to be even after watching it though. Daiju was the easy MVP of this one.

Hiromu Takahashi & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Dragon Libre & Takahiro Katori


TT = Tatsuhito Takaiwa, HT = Hiromu Takahashi

TT grabs a chair and sits on it outside. HT sits on top and says something. Libre back elbows HT then basement dropkicks him. Katori throws his toy at HT. HT doesn't know what to do but ends up chopping him. HT then puts the toy down in the corner.

HT and Libre trade chops then HT suplexes Katori on the floor. HT and Libre continue to trade chops. HT chops him down then Sasaki tries to fire up Libre. HT tilt-a-whirl backbreakers both opponents. Libre dropkicks HT. Katori hits a step up enzugiri on HT then Katori suplexes him into the buckles. Katori standing octopus stretches him and HT ropebreaks. HT then flips him with a clothesline.

TT gets up from his seat outside and HT tags him in. TT running lariats Katori then brainbusters him. Katori hurricanrana's him then flying knees him. Libre gets in and hits a top rope crossbody. He trades chops with TT then is lariated over. Libre comes off the 2nd rope and hits an ugly tornado ddt on HT then top rope dropkicks him. Libre fisherman swinging neckbreakers him.

HT lariats Libre in the corner then basement dropkicks him in the head. HT holds Libre for a TT lariat. TT and HT boston crab their opponents at the same time. Libre double knees HT then superkicks him. Libre dragon suplexes HT for 2. HT superkicks and lariats him then hits a falcon arrow for 2. TT death valley drivers Katori and then Libre. HT hits a dynamite plunger on Libre and wins it.

I don't know what this was except for a burial of Katori and Libre. Hiromu handled both with ease as Takaiwa sat outside for most of the match. Little happened during this one and there was a 3 minute long chest chop section that really messed up the pace of this.

King Of FREEDOM World Junior Heavyweight Title Match - Jun Masaoka (c) vs. Kengo


 Jun grabs a wristlock and side headlock. Jun boots him in the corner then takes a back body drop. Jun bangs Kengo's head off the mat then stomps his fingers. Kengo double stomps Jun in the gut. Kengo mounts him and hits punches then armbars him.

Kengo kicks him while he is down ten hits a stiff kick to the body. Kengo drops him with a forearm then Jun hits hit him with a sign. Jun baseball slides him in the corner then paintbrush slaps him. Jun grabs him by the nose then curbstomps him.

Jun cutters him over the top and misses a slingshot elbow. Kengo then piledrivers him on the apron. Jun top rope crossbodies him then hits a lariat in the corner that makes a real weird wood on wood type of sound. They fight up top and Jun double stomps his back up there. Jun does a near coast to coast dropkick then does a short spike hurricanrana through the ropes.

Kengo rack drops him then backdrops him. Kengo then drops him on his knees for 2. Kengo does a top rope splash but Jun gets his knees up. Kengo single flying leg dropkicks him. Kengo facekicks him twice and takes a hard splash in between. Jun low blows Kengo and backslides him for 2. Jun superkicks him in the face then headlock drivers him for the win.

This was long, it was slow, the crowd was dead and it was just not good.

Thumbtack Board & Razor Cross Board Alpha Death Match - Masashi Takeda & Rina Yamashita vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai











MT = Masashi Takeda

Rina tries to hit her own partner MT. MT stops her and doesn't try to hit her back. Rina whips Jun into the post then she and MT slap each other. Despy slaps MT then takes a double hiptoss onto tacks. MT puts tacks in Despy's mouth then slaps him. Rina and MT pound gusset plates into their own heads then Jun headbutts them in.

Jun kind of goes into a razorboard cross and doesn't sell it, then is whipped into it. MT chairs part of the board into Jun's back. Rina chairs Jun in the back then ddt's Jun on chairs. MT hits a boom knee on Jun over the 2nd rope. MT and Jun hit each other with razorboard pieces. MT rakes scissors on Jun's head and then stabs him with them. MT armbars Despy then uses the scissors to stop him from preventing it.

MT cuts up Despy's mask with scissors then stabs him with them. Rina puts skewer sticks in Jun's head then Jun takes an exploder onto the tacks. Rina curbstomps Jun then grabs a barbed wire chair and they have a contest where they bang each others heads off of it. Rina hits her her own head with the chair and throws it at Jun. Jun beach breaks Rina on the tacks then Despy spinebusters MT.

Despy chairs Rina and Rina shining wizards him. Rina grabs him by the nuts then lariats him. Rina backdrops Despy onto shredded aluminum cans then MT spears Despy. MT brings out a fork board then ddt's Despy. MT chairs a chair into Despy's head. MT goes to running knee a fork board into Despy, but Despy turns it around and it goes into MT's leg. Despy then spears MT. Kasai drops Mt face first onto chairs then lariats him.

MT uranage's Jun onto a chair and Rina top rope splashes a barbed wire chair on Jun. MT then swantons the chair onto Jun. MT running knees the aluminum cans board into Jun. Despy tries to palm strike a kenzan into MT's head then MT takes a double punch. Jun top rope splashes MT for 2. Jun and Despy hit stereo angels wings. Jun hits a top rope double underhook canadian destroyer for a 1 count off the top on MT. Jun sitout double underhook piledrivers MT then Jun bangs his own head off a board. Jun straightjacket piledrivers MT onto cans, though mostly, he butt drops himself onto it. Jun then picks up the win.

As expected, this wasn't exactly the smartest match ever. People banged their own heads off of things. The women went equal with the men, there were tags even though it was a No DQ match and there was a lot of no selling. I also thought this went longer than it needed to.

King Of FREEDOM World Title Match - Tomoya Hirata (c) vs. Toru Sugiura



They start off slow and Hirata fireman's carries him. Toru slaps a headscissors on. Toru kips up out of a wristlock then Hirata headlock taeovers him. They then stand off. They shoulder battle and Toru hits forearms. Hirata shoulders him over. Hirata grabs an armlock.

Hirata headbutts him and then they trade forearms. Hirata dropkicks him and wants to dive out on him but Toru springboard dropkicks him. Toru runs up the buckles and dives on him outside. Hirata holds his ankle and the ref rings the bell. The match is stopped due to injury.

Well, this ended before it got started. While it's fun to have heavyweights do dives, it's like throwing a piano out of a 3rd story window and asking the guy below to catch it. Someone's getting hurt one way or the other and that's sadly what happened here. I feel really bad for Freedoms and the wrestlers involved. This was their big show where they were supposed to show off what they could do and it was cut short. I hope they get a chance to do this again down the line and I hope the fans who paid don't feel like they got ripped off. It feels like this stuff is happening too much lately, especially in big matches.

While not planned, I think Freedoms should have had someone step in and give the crowd a main event. I know the guys work hard and all, but surely someone could have given them a 10 minute bout of some sort.

Overall thoughts: It may have been a big show, but it wasn't that much different from Freedoms' usual offerings and they really didn't go all out for this one. The main got ruined due to a freak injury. The intergender semi-main didn't have the major gimmicks to really make it seem special. Kengo and Jun flunked and had a boring match despite being placed high on the card. Hiromu and Takaiwa buried their opponents and I probably enjoyed the undercard more than the top of the card.

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