WWK debut TV show 8-17-94 Hash/Kawada vs Muto/Kobashi!
Aug 17, 2024 22:48:34 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Aug 17, 2024 22:48:34 GMT
Airs across Japan on Saturday, August 17, 1994 on:
Taped on August 14 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announcers: Kenji Wakabayashi, Akira Fukuzawa and Kosuke Takeuchi
Ring Announcer: Hidekazu Tanaka
Referees: Red Shoes Unno, Tiger Hattori, Kyohei Wada
KENJI WAKABAYASHI, AKIRA FUKUZAWA and KOSUKE TAKEUCHI open the show.
They welcome us to Korakuen Hall for the debut episode of NTV’s World Wrestling Kingdom!
This week, we’ll see some big-time matches, including a few that we’ve never seen before, and never thought we would!
In 6-man tag team action, three of the biggest legends in puroresu, Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami and Genichiro Tenryu, team up to face Masa Saito, Kensuke Sasaki, and youngster Satoshi Kojima!
The Miracle Violence Connection, Terry Gordy and Steve Williams, will be on this tour! Today, they’ll face the tough young team of Tamon Honda and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi!
Stan Hansen will face Akira Taue!
In the semi final match, Mitsuharu Misawa goes one on one with one of the biggest names of the past 20 years in this sport, Riki Choshu!
And, our main event will see what some are calling a “dream” tag team match, as Shinya Hashimoto and Toshiaki Kawada team up to face Keiji Mutoh and Kenta Kobashi!
It’s the very first World Wrestling Kingdom show, and we’re kicking off the new promotion in a BIG way!
ANTONIO INOKI & “THE DRAGON” TATSUMI FUJINAMI & GENICHIRO TENRYU defeat MASA SAITO & KENSUKE SASAKI & SATOSHI KOJIMA. In the lead-up to this first show, some in the media have questioned whether it’s time for the legends to step aside and make room for the new generation of superstars at the top of the card. Inoki and Fujinami responded that they still have plenty left in the tank, and said that if the younger generation want to reach the top of the mountain, they’ll have to prove they belong there by beating them!
The commentators mention that this is the first time we’ve seen Genichiro Tenryu on NTV since he left AJPW in the spring of 1990.
Saito and Inoki faced off in some extremely violent, bloody matches over the years, and they tear into each other early on in this one! Saito pummels the legend, but Inoki keeps fighting back!
Fujinami shows why he’s considered one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of puroresu, putting on a clinic here, taking his opponents down to the mat and working them over.
Tenryu is his usual dick self here, slapping the youngster Kojima around, and yelling at Satoshi to tag out so that Tenryu can have some real competition! Inoki and Fujinami don’t seem pleased with Tenryu’s behaviour.
In the end, Fujinami gets the win, catching Kojima with the Dragon Suplex for the 1, 2, 3!
Afterwards, Inoki and the Dragon shake hands with their opponents, but Tenryu just leaves the ring and heads to the back.
THE MIRACLE VIOLENCE CONNECTION: TERRY “BAMM BAMM” GORDY & “DR. DEATH” STEVE WILLIAMS defeat TSUYOSHI KIKUCHI & TAMON HONDA. This match lasted just over four minutes, as Williams and Gordy just destroyed their opponents!
Honda and Kikuchi are certainly no slouches, both have backgrounds in amateur wrestling, especially Honda who has won World championships, and even competed in the Olympic games in 1984, 1988 and 1992! However, despite his amateur success, Honda is less than a year into his pro career, and he’s clearly the weak link for his team.
The MVC methodically take Kikuchi and Honda apart, and as we pass the 4-minute mark, Gordy hits Honda with a vicious Powerbomb and covers him for the 1, 2, 3!
After the bout, Williams gets on the house mic and says that he and Gordy have their eyes on tag team gold, and says that whenever the tag champions are decided, they had better be a part of it!
STAN “THE LARIAT” HANSEN defeats AKIRA TAUE. Taue is one of the very few active Japanese wrestlers that can match the size of Hansen. Taue doesn’t back down from the wild cowboy at all, taking a beating, but continuing to fight back!
As we near the 12-minute mark, Taue seems to actually have the match in hand, and stuns Hansen with three big overhand chops! But when he attempts to set Hansen up for the Nodowa Otoshi, Hansen repeatedly elbows him in the side of the head, and when Taue lets go of him, Hansen clotheslines him to the mat!
Taue slowly gets back to his feet, still a little stunned, and Hansen charges at him . . . LARIATOOOOOOO!!! Hansen nearly takes Taue’s head off with the Western Lariat, and that’s all she wrote, as Hansen covers Taue for the 1, 2, 3!
MITSUHARU MISAWA defeats RIKI CHOSHU. Misawa said in the lead-up to this debut show, that he wants to prove himself against the men that came before him, that paved the way for him and the new generation of stars in puroresu. Today, he begins by squaring off with Riki Choshu, a man who many say has revolutionized wrestling in Japan over the course of his career.
Choshu made his pro debut 20 years ago, almost to the day, and while he may not be in the prime of his career any more, he’s still as tough as the come, and he gives Misawa all he can handle here!
In the end, Misawa shows off his fighting spirit, as he takes everything Choshu throws at him, and just keeps fighting back! Misawa stuns Choshu with an elbow smash, then delivers the Tiger Suplex for the 1, 2, 3!
Before the main event, the announce team says that this debut tour will end with two big shows.
On September 1, they will be at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan. On that card, the main event will see a “dream” match, as Mitsuharu Misawa faces off against Tatsumi Fujinami, with the winner being crowned the very first King’s Crown champion!
Then, two days later on September 3, WWK will be at Osaka-jō Hall for the final night of the tour. On that show, the first tag team champions will be crowned, and we’ll see a generational battle, as Mitsuharu Misawa, Keiji Muto and Kenta Kobashi meet the legendary trio of Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami and Riki Choshu!
THE KINGS OF DESTRUCTION: SHINYA HASHIMOTO & TOSHIAKI KAWADA defeat KEIJI MUTO & KENTA KOBASHI. These two teams are both considered to be dream teams by many fans, and they’ll meet here in the very first WWK main event!
The action is fast and furious, both teams get plenty of offence in throughout the contest. Hash and Muto are very familiar with each other, as are Kawada and Kobashi, and it seems like they know what the other is going to do before they do it!
In the end, the Kings of Destruction get the win when Hashimoto hits Kobashi with a vicious Brainbuster for the 1, 2, 3!
The two teams shake hands afterwards.
Wakabayashi, Fukuzawa and Takeuchi thank the fans for tuning in to this debut show, and then hype next week’s card.
Credits Roll
© 1994, World Wrestling Kingdom
Working on it now.