GLEAT 1/21/2024 GLEAT Ver. 8
Here's what I saw:
UWF Rules Match - Hartley Jackson vs. Tetsuya Izuchi
Hart rushes TI and knocks him down with knee to the body. TI's takedown is blocked and he's senton'd. TI hits some kicks then Hart takes him down. TI's triangle attempt is blocked. Hart backs him up and belly to belly's him then TI single leg crabs him on the mat. TI goes for a grounded choke, Hart backpacks him and drops him backwards.
Hart goes for a choke and TI turns it around by scissoring Hart's legs. TI takes him down and goes for a leglock. Hart grabs TI's hair and the ref breaks it up. TI starts doing a headbutt flurry on him and the ref yellow cards him.
TI hits some kicks and Hart powerbombs him. Hart charges at him and TI Drops down, tapping him out with an ankle lock.
It started off a little slow and got better as it went on. I would have liked to have seen more of Hart using his size on TI here and TI making a big comeback.
Black Generation International (Action Jackson, Black Andromeda, El Bendito & Emperador Azteca) vs. JD Lee, Jun Tonsho, Kaz Hayashi & MICHIKO
Bendito wore a cool giant samurai helmet for his entrance. Jun and Action goes at it with Jun doing a basement dropkick. Action armdrags him into a pin attempt. Jun backslides him. Andromeda and Miciko go at it. Michiko headscissors him then he diving corkscrew armdrags her.
Azteca and Kaz go at it. Azteca flying headscissors him then monkey flips him. Kaz spinning headscissors him. JD hits leg kicks on Bendito and superkicks him in the gut. JD uses the ropes to springboard armdrag him then hits rotation headscissors. Azteca backbreakers JD then Tonsho headscissors Azteca. JD takes corkscrew kicks.
JD is powerbombed then Andromeda handstands off his partners shoulders on the buckles and splashes JD. Azteca hits a dive outside but the camera's miss it. Jun takes a double team spinebuster > superkick > wheelbarrow suplex. Action and Bendito do stereo asai moonsaults outside. Andromeda corkscrew moonsaults outside.
Jun radles Azteca then Azteca spin kicks him high. Azteca hits a reverse cradle shock on Jun and wins it.
There were too many people here and not enough time. They had a bunch of flyers and we really didn't get to see that much flying. The few spots we did get to see looked good though.
Kendo Kashin & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Junior Stars (Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka)
Koji hits leg kicks on Takaiwa. Takaiwa rolls through a wristlock and takes him down. Takaiwa is double teamed, taking a suplex and a double knee drop. Takaiwa suplexes Tanaka then Tanaka is foot chokes by both opponents in the corner. Takaiwa nails Kendo on a failed double team then chops down Tanaka. Tanaka dropkicks Kendo then Koji stomps Kendo in the corner. Koji facewash kicks Kendo.
Koji and Kendo trade euros then double lariat each other. Tananka 2nd rope dropkicks Takaiwa. Tanaka rolls up Takaiwa and basement dropkicks him. Takaiwa chops his opponents then takes kicks from both and a dropkick to knee. Takaiwa death valley drivers Tanaka then hits a nasty looking brainbuster for 2.
Takaiwa running lariats Tanaka for 2. Koji hits leg kicks on Takaiwa then Tanaka top rope double stomps Takaiwa. Tanaka ankle locks him and Kendo breaks it up by pushing the ref on them. Koji ankle locks Kendo and Tanaka rolls into a leglock on Takaiwa at the same time. Tanaka and Koji win by submission.
It started off poorly with some sloppy moves. It got a little better later but still wasn't that good. Kendo wasn't good in 2004 yet alone in 2024 and Koji didn't look good here.
STRONGHEARTS (El Lindaman, T-Hawk & Takehiro Yamamura) vs. Yan's Family (Issei Onitsuka, Takanori Ito & Yusuke Kodama)
Issei and Yamamura start us off. They each do some rolls and Yama armdrags and dropkicks him out. Yama goes for a dive but is shouldered over. Ito and Linda go at it. Ito shoulders him over and takes forearms. Ito euros him and is dropkicked in the back.
Ito takes a double back elbow and Stronghearts pose. Ito kicks Yama in the gut. Kodama slams and slingshot swantons Yama. Issei cravates Yama and Yama is beaten up in the corner. Yama hits chest chops on Ito then is kneed in the gut. Ito fallaway slams T, Linda and Yama.
Yama enzugiri's Kodama then flying forearms him. T hiptosses Issei onto Kodama then T and Kodama hit shots on each other. Ito is pulled over the top then Kodama rolls up Linda for 2. Linda shoulder throws him then ddt's him. Linda takes double team kicks in the corner then Linda exploders Ito. Ito backdrops him.
Yama and Issei trade chops, then slap each other at the same time. Yama springboard dropkicks Ito out then Linda shoulder throws Kodama. T pop-up knees Kodama and reverse sitout slams him. Linda then germans Kodama for the win.
It felt rushed and just felt like people trying to get through it. There was comedy here and a lot of people coming in and out, making it hard to get anything going.
Soma Watanabe & Yuya Susumu vs. SBK & TAKUMA
Yuya and SBK headlock takeover each other. Yuya takes him down by the arm and goes for an ankle lock. SBK rolls out and they stare down. Takuma misses a dropkick on Soma and cartwheels out of his armdrag. Takuma rolls over Soma's back and Soma hurricanrana's him out of the ring. Soma tope con hilos both opponents outside.
Yuya russian legsweeps Takuma. Takuma headscissors him and cranks his arm off of it. Soma's arm is worked on. He trades with SBK then is pop-up dropped. SBK superkicks him for 2. SBK stomps on Soma then Soma handsprings into a cutter on him.
Yuya ddt's SBK for 2 then hits kicks on him. SBK enzugiri's Yuya then is armdragged into a crucifix. Yuya crossfaces him. SBK ties up Yuya's legs and rolls him into a submission. Takuma chops Yuya and Yuya fireman's carry gutbusters him. Soma superkicks Takuma then walk up the buckles 2nd rope spanish flies him.
Takuma takes a superkick and codebreaker then a spinning ki krusher for 2. Soma top rope dropkicks SBK. Soma goes up top and is crotched by Takuma. They trade forearms on the 2nd rope. Soma takes a top rope hurricanrana then a top rope splash by SBK. Yuya takes a springboard double stomp then Takuma does his run up the ropes corkscrew moonsault.
Soma step-up enzugiri's SBK then takes a german. Takuma pumping knees and poisonrana's Soma. Soma no sells it and dropkicks him. Takuma hits a top rope 630 splash and wins it.
They had some cool spots but there was no real flow to the match and it just didn't click like it should have.
BULK Orchestra (Check Shimatani, KAZMA SAKAMOTO & Quiet Storm) vs. Black Generation International (Flamita, Kaito Ishida & Kotaro Suzuki)
BGI jump their opponents before the bell. Everyone fights outside and Check is thrown into storm. Flam handpsrings off the ropes into the ring, flying headscissors Kazma then dropkicks him. Flam takes lariats on the ropes from all 3 opponents then takes a double stomp and splash. Check boots Flam in the corner then foot chokes him.
Check hits punches on Flam then is gabbed on the ropes by Suzuki. Flam rolls Check into a PK and standing ssp. Flam armbars Check and Suzuki yanks on Check's arm. Suzuki hammerlocks Check on the mat. Check avoids a double team and dropkicks Suzuki. Check suplexes Kaito.
Storm gets in and doublelariats Kaito and Suzuki. Storm spinebusters Flam then low crossbodies him. Flam enzugiir's Storm then Flam takes a double shoulder. Storm leg lariats Flam in the back of the neck for 2. Flam handspring back elbows him then standing moonsaults him.
Flam superkicks Kazma then Kazma stops him and enzugiri's him. Flam takes running corner lariats then a triple sandwich bodyblock. Kazma superkicks Kaito then pop up knees him. Kazma takes a running forearm and running kick from the apron. Storm takes corner attacks then Flamita tope con hilos Kazma outside. Flam misses a 450, superkicks Check then is hurricanrana'd by him. Flam then does a rolling octopus on Check and submits him to win.
They worked Check's arm some here and that lead to the finish at the end. I think there was too much going on and too many people involved to do that kind of match effectively.
G-INFINITY Title Match - Saito Brothers (Jun Saito & Rei Saito) (c) vs. Ryuichi Kawakami & So Daimonji
Rei backs up So on the ropes then So does it to him and cheapshots him. They trade chops for punches. Rei knocks him down with a double chop. Ryu chops Jun then is side headlocked. They shoulder battle and Jun face kicks him. Ru goes up and over in the corner, trips him and sentons his back.
Ryo slams So onto Jun then So slams Ryu onto Jun. Rei comes in and double suplexes his opponents then Ryu is sandwiched with shoulderblocks. Rei shoulders Ryu over then walks on him. Jun slams Ryu and elbow drops him. Rei stands on Ryu then hits a chop flurry on him.
Rei corner splashes him and Ryu gets a boot up. Rei slams him then misses a splash. Ryu slams him then So gets in. So lariats Rei many times then flying lariats him. Jun is pulled over the top by So then So fallaway slams Rei. So topes the Saito's outside.
So superman punches Rei down for 2. Rei splashes so on the ropes then Jun running face kicks So. Jun hits corner punches then delay suplexes So for 2. So armdrags Jun out of a chokeslam attempt and Jun misses a splash. Ryu corner splashes Jun then hits forearms. Ryu flying shoulders him and they trade forearms. Jun face kicks him down.
Rei corner lariats Ryu then Ryu takes a double hiptoss. Jun is thrown by both opponents off the top. Ryu slips from the top then does a top rope splash for 2. Ryu hits headbutts and burning hammers Jun. Jun takes a lariat and spear combo from his opponents for 2 then Ryu running lariats him for 2.
I hated the burning hammer kickout. That looked so nasty and they just kept on going. I thought they could have shaved a few minutes off of this one and picked up the pace a little earlier. There were some good spots but the crowd wasn't the best and they just didn't know how to hype them up. It was an okay match but the Saito's have a problem of taking matches the next level quality wise and that's what happened here.
G-REX Title Match - Hayato Tamura (c) vs. Galeno Del Mal
Galeno won a battle royale earlier in the show to get this shot.
They lock up and shoulder battle. Galeno shoulders him over and Tamura goes out. Tamura is chopped out there, then he shoulders him over in the ring. Tamura top rope shoulders him for 2. Tamura hits a chop and forearm combo. Tamura corner lariats him then takes a stiff running lariat. Galeno slams him then splashes him. Galeno camel clutches him then running chops him.
Galeno brainbusters him then Tamura running shoulders him. Galeno pump kicks Tamura hard then Tamura forearms and germans him. Tamura spits on him then Galeno spinning lariats him. Galeno corner lariats him then cannonballs him. Galeno hits forearms then they collide twice with lariats. The second collision is real stiff and both go down.
They collide with shoulders and Tamura hits headbutts. Galeno half-nelson suplexes him, Tamura no sells it then hits a stiff lariat. Galeno hits a reverse suplex then top rope frogsplashes him for 2. Galeno goes for a suplex and is suplexed instead.
They trade forearms on their knees then get up and trade. Galeno hits a chop flurry then is lariated. Tamura drops him with a lariat for 2. Tamura hits another nice lariat and wins it at 18:21.
It was somewhat good but not as good as it could have been. Tamura oversold early and really slowed the match down. They picked it up in the second half though. Galeno did not hit a lot of his better offense here unfortunately and there wasn't a big finishing stretch either. We did get some great lariats from Tamura though. I can't say I'm surprised this didn't deliver to its fullest as letting people down is something GLEAT excels at.
Overall thoughts: It was a long GLEAT show and I wouldn't recommend it. They had the pieces for some good stuff but they didn't deliver as usual. The main didn't get enough time and barely even had a real finishing stretch. The foreign fly-in's were stuck in short multi-man tags where they didn't get a lot in and the Saito's had their usual okay but not great match in the semi-main.
Hartley Jackson is pretty much the last person on the GLEAT roster that I’d imagine as a good fit for UWF style matches. Thanks for sitting through this, I guess. It reaffirms that I can pretty much steer clear of this promotion. Looking at their schedule, the customary UWF show in March even seems to be not happening.
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