Big Japan Pro Wrestling 1/29/2024 Yami-Nabe Black Night

Big Japan Pro Wrestling 1/29/2024 Yami-Nabe Black Night

They say they have 118 fans for this one and I'm not sure if I buy that.

Daisuke Sekimoto vs Kosuke Sato

Sato trips him and Sek takes him down. They mat wrestle and regroup. Sato backs him up on the ropes and dropkicks him. Sato then hits another dropkick. Sato hits forearms in the corner. Sek running armdrags him then does a nasty surfboard type of move. Sek stomps him.

Sato hits forearms and Sek leg kicks him. Sek hits machine gun chops. They trade shots and Sato goes down. Sek ties up his legs and pulls. Sek misses a corner charge then Sato hits a nice dropkick. Sato flying corner dropkicks him then slams him down.

They trade forearms and Sato headbutts him. Sato PK's him for 2. Sato grounded guillotine chokes him then Sek shoulder breakers him. Sek low crossbodies him while he's seated for 2. Sato rolls him into a guillotine choke then Sek hits a nasty gordbuster. Seki then does a stretch muffler and taps him out with it.

This wasn't the best opening match as it was slower. It was okay but not their best work possible. Sato did not get that much in here. 

Kazuki Hashimoto, Kota Sekifuda & Satsuki Nagao vs. Astronauts (Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura) & Masaki Morihiro

MM = Masaki Morihiro

Abe and Kaz start us off. Kaz headscissors him then Abe cravates him. Nomura snapmares Kaz then is put in a hammerlock. Kota wristlocks Nomura then Nomura fireman's carry takedowns him. Kota takes a double back elbow then MM hits forearms on Kota. They go head to head and MM hits chest slaps.

Nagao pounds on MM then MM takes a double shoulder block. MM takes knee drops and elbow drops. Nagao slams MM then Kaz kicks MM in the back for 2. MM chest slaps Kota then Kota slams him. Kota hits a splash for 2 then uranage backbreakers him.

Kota boots MM then MM tornado ddt's him. Nomura forearms and slaps Kota. Nomura face kicks him then hits a dropkick. Kota takes a double kick. Abe face kicks Nomura on accident and Nomura slaps him for it. Kota then uses Abe to hit a magic killer on Nomura.

Nagao backdrops Nomura then Nomura PK's him hard. MM and Nagao fight. Nagao blocks a tornado ddt and running forearms MM. Nagao STO's MM for 2. MM and Nagao trade then  Nagao is held for a dragon sleeper. MM and Nagao trade pin attempts for 2. Nagao dropkicks MM then brainbusters him for 2. MM then gets a surprise pin on Nagao and wins it at 9:11.

It was an okay trios match and would have been better suited as an opener. We didn't get to see much of really anyone here except for Morihiro. They kept this one moving.

Yasufumi Nakanoue & Zeke Andino vs. PROJECT HAVOC (Ender Kara & So Daimonji)

YN = Yasufumi Nakanoue

Zeke and Kara start us off. Kara side headlock takeovers him. Kara ducks a high kick then ducks a PK. Zeke flying headscissors him then dropkicks him. Kara dropkicks him in the knee then enzugiri's him. So works on Zeke.

YN gets in and slams So. YN elbow drops him then they shoulder battle with So getting knocked down. Zeke tornado ddt's So for 2. So takes a double shoulder then YN backdrops him for 2.

So uppercuts YN then YN reverse ddt's him at 5 minutes. So spinning back elbows him and they trade shots. YN germans him then So spinning lariats him. So flying lariats YN. Zeke and Kara go at it.

Zeke hits running shots and then pepsi twists him. Zeke springboards and runs into a superman punch from So. Zeke takes a corkscrew kick into a suplex then Kara PK's Zeke for 2. Kara spin kicks YN in the gut then So fallaway slams YN.

Zeke and Kara trade. Kara hits chest kicks then Kara high kicks him. Kara hits a high underhook ddt and gets the win here at 9:02.

These guys were not going to have a bad match here and they didn't. It was fast paced. The heavies stuck to strong style stuff and the juniors did their fast paced offense. It was what you would want and expected out of it and I'd be down for a main event version of this tag.

Kara gets on the mic after. He talks in half-English and half-Japanese. He said he wouldn't have the title without him and said his group loves him and can't thank him enough. So translates for him. Kara says he will defend his title worldwide and said he wants to change the game. Kara then thanks the crowd.

Zeke does a promo after. He said it was a tough fight tonight and BJW has some of the toughest opponents. He said he stood toe to toe with the champ many times and felt like he held his own. He says he will be back in BJW this year.

Kara thanks So and said there would be no PROJECT HAVOC without him. He says Zeke should be proud of himself. He said someone has to earn their shot back to the title and he says he wants into Best of the Super Juniors this year.  He said he's one of the best free agents in the world and says Project Havoc is changing the game.

Daichi Hashimoto & Kazumi Kikuta vs. Kazumasa Yoshida & Yuya Aoki

Yuya and Kikuta go at it. Yuya face kicks him then Kikuta later comes back with a lariat. Yoshida and Hash go at it. Yoshida rolls him up. Hash hits knees to the body then low blocks him. Hash then running face kicks him. Yoshida then kicks the rope into Hash's crotch.

Hash face kicks Yuya. Yuya goes after Kikuta on the apron. Kikuta hits kicks and forearms on him then Hash kicks Yuya's back. Hash slams Yuya then Kikuta axe kicks Yuya. Kikuta shotei's him then uppercuts Yuya.

Hash chinlocks Yuya then stomps on him. Hash slams Yuya then double knee drops him. Hash chest kicks Yuya then Yuya legsweeps him. Yoshida water wheel drops Hash for 2. Hash rakes and slaps Yoshida's back.

Kikuta running shotei's Yoshida then dropkicks him in the corner. Yoshida legdrops Kikuta over the neck while he's bent over. Yuya springboard dropkicks Kikuta then hits a chop flurry on him. Yuya running forearms him then flipping sentons him. Yuya abdominal stretches Kikuta then Yura blocks Kikuta's forearms with his head. Kikuta misses a double stom poff the top then Yoshida full-nelson bombs him.

Yuya springboard dropkicks Kikuta then Kikuta superkicks him off a missed shotei. Yuya hits a lariat on Kikuta and wins it at 11:28.

They actually tried here and inserted some personality to this. Even if the match wasn't perfect, they didn't let it get boring when it really could have been a lame affair otherwise due to Yoshida's and Kikuta's limitations. 

Concrete Block Death Match - Kankuro Hoshino vs. Takumi Tsukamoto

Takumi has a giant mallet with him that looks cool. Hoshino has words for him then sets up some concrete blocks. He sentons himself on them like a dummy then Takumi tries to hit him with the mallet. Hoshino blocks a mallet shot then hits Takumi in the gut and chest with it.

They fight outside and Hoshino eye rakes him. They get on the ramp and tease something happening there but nothing happens. Takumi face kicks him then Hoshino spears him. Hoshino sentons blocks into Takumi, hurting himself as much as Takumi.

Takumi blocks an STO, hitting elbows to the back of the neck then he superkicks Hoshino. Takumi hits Hoshino with the mallet for 2. Takumi slams him on cement blocks and misses a vader bomb style elbow, causing him to elbow the blocks. Hoshino shoulders him over then Takumi is slammed on the blocks. Hoshino 2nd rope sentons him on the blocks.

Hoshino goes up top again and misses a 2nd rope senton, landing on the blocks. Hoshino and Takumi grab blocks then ram them into each other, breaking the blocks. Hoshino STO's him for 2. Hoshino takes an alabama slam on blocks on a chair. Takumi swings a block at a block on Hoshino's head and wins it.

This had the usual issues with Hoshino matches with him hurting his own self on the blocks on purpose. Past that, they kept this moving and did better than I expected. The battle on the ramp wasted a bunch of time here. The finish was real wild with Hoshino having a block banged into his head with another block.

Barbed Wire Board Death Match - Abdullah Kobayashi & Masaya Takahashi vs. Daiju Wakamatsu & Yuki Ishikawa

MT = Masaya Takahashi, DW = Daiju Wakamatsu

MT and DW start us off. DW lays barbed wire boards on the mat and sits down. DW mounts him and both try to send the other into the wire. They block headlock takeovers in a creative spot and stand off.

The boards are put back in the corners then Yuki and Abby go at it. Abby is sent into the board then DW is sent into the other board. MT chairs Yuki outside then Yuki chairs him back. Yuki busts Abby open with a chair shot then Abby goes ti sit in the stands. Abby forks Yuki then gets forked.

DW wraps barbed wire around Abby's head. Yuki puts a spike in Abby's head then Abby has a cowbell rung on his head. Abby hits DW in the throat then they headbutt battle. DW hits a big headbutt then misses a flipping senton on him. Abby elbow drops him.

MT throws a barbed wire board at Yuki's head while he's on the apron then he bulldogs DW. MT throws a chairs at DW's head then hits him with the chair edge in the head. DW is ddt'd on a chair for 2. DW spinning heel kicks a chair in MT's head then Yuki flying forearms MT.

Yuki shining wizards MT for 2. MT takes a double suplex onto barbed wire boards. MT does an interesting drop on Yuki then Abby shining wizards Yuki. DW top rope dropkicks Abby and codebreakers MT. MT takes a double dropkick then MT takes a blue thunder + back cracker combo. MT takes a high reverse ddt and is pinned at 12:22.

It was an okay deathmatch tag. Because it was a tag, they didn't have to sell as much and that helped things. Not great or memorable in anyway but they kept it moving, the bled and we got a couple of nice spots in before it ended.

Moonlight Darkness Death Match - Ryuji Ito vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani

They have light tube stacks in the corner. They turn the arena lights off and light the tubes up. Unfortunately, cheapskate BJW didn't prepare enough tubes and it's real hard to see anything. BJW Core is also only in 480p so the  weak video quality makes it even harder to see.

They battle for basic holds early then grab chairs. They duel with the chairs and shoulder battle. They go outside and fight where Ito gets his head banged off the post. Kami's head is then banged off the post. Ito's back is banged into the post.

Ito hits Kami with a kendo stick then smashes the board into him with kendo stick shots. Ito rakes Kami's back then chairs his back. They fight over a tube and someone gets hit with it. Kami sharpshooters him.

Kami slams Ito then Ito kicks tubes into his back. Ito breaks tubes on Kami's head then rubs them into his head. Kami lariats him off the 2nd rope then spinebusters him. They trade forearms and Kami stunners him. Kami rams a tube into him.

Ito hits him with a chair while he's up top then I think Kami gets suplexed on some chairs. The tubes that are lit up are put on Kami. Ito top rope splashes him. Kami seems to no sell it and brainbusters him for 2. Kami backdrops Ito on the other lit up set of tubes and wins it.

I won't be rating this one. It was too hard to see most of the match. Maybe in person this wasn't an issue, but it was really hard to watch through video. It was a real dumb moment by BJW that could have been fixed by adding more tubes or just by giving up and turning on the lights.

Overall thoughts: The main ruined what was an otherwise good show from BJW. You just couldn't see anything due to the lights being out and due to BJW not using enough light tubes in it. The opening and midcard matches were fine and the only other match I didn't like was the Hoshino/Takumi match due to Hoshino driving himself into concrete blocks like usual.