The Cubed Circle
Newsletter
This week we have a pretty varied issue, from UFC and how it
relates to professional wrestling to the Bull Nakano retirement show. This
week’s issue also covers some thoughts on the Royal Rumble and who I think is
most likely to win, some great pictures from the Bull Nakano retirement
ceremony and more! As always feel free to send in any thoughts you had on the
topics covered in this week’s newsletter, either in the comment section below
or on Facebook or Twitter, you can find more contact information at the end of
the newsletter.
UFC 141: A Lesson Learned
It’s been said a million times in this newsletter, this
newsletter does not feature MMA coverage, but we keep coming back to it. Why do
you think that is? The reason is simple MMA and professional wrestling are two
sides of the same coin and if you don’t see this you are in denial.
No other show in the past couple of years proved this more
than UFC 141: Aldo vs. Mendez, from the strength of the crowd, to the finishes
and even the bad refereeing decisions, most of the things that made the show
great were from the Big Book of Wrestling Tactics, whether it was intentional
or not.
When MMA was still in it’s infancy it learned from the
promotional tactics used in professional wrestling, this was a major
contributing factor to it’s success. Even promotions like PRIDE, who were
formed for pro wrestlers like Sakuraba. All of them learned to build fights
from professional wrestling, to the to the babyface heel dynamic that has been
used countless times, to promos. These tactics will work in MMA and professional
wrestling, because of the fact that they play off of intrinsic elements of
human nature. Elements so built into the nature of humans and combat sports
(scripted or non-scripted) that they can happen spontaneously like we saw at
UFC 141.
Some of the events at UFC 141 didn’t even seem to be
spontaneous, like in the Anthony Johnson vs. Vitor Belfort match, when the
fight went to the ground or they were in the clinch the referee stood the
fighters up. Which could have been because they were in Brazil and they boo
when they go to the ground, or because they wanted Belfort to go over in
Brazil. I would say it was the former, but even that proves something and that
is the fact that the UFC is not a 100% sport.
Regardless the moments that were created at UFC 141 like the
amazing knockouts and Aldo’s celebration, will be shown on countless highlight
reels and TV promos and that is something that the WWE or any other wrestling
promotion for that matter don’t have going for them at the moment. Sure the WWE
will probably have some incredible footage to place in video packages, promos
etc. after the Cena vs. Rock match and probably from the WrestleMania 29
mainevent too, but then what happens after that?
Whether anyone would like to admit it or not, now is the
time for wrestling to learn back what MMA learned from it and I don’t mean give
everyone an MMA gimmick like some promotions are doing. I mean the simple
dynamics that should be used in wrestling make wins and losses matter, have the
championship be the most important thing in the promotion and book matches for
a specific area just like the UFC did here. After all wrestling and MMA are cut
from the same cloth, some of the major things that work for one will
undoubtedly work for the other, that’s just the way it works.
Bull Nakano Produce
Empress Retirement Show Thoughts
1. Aja Kong vs. Ayako Hamada
This was an enjoyable opener, with Hamada going over Kong in
front of an older audience which was good to see, even though Kong really isn’t
in the same position that she was in when these fans were following Joshi.
There were some fun spots in the match, including a moonsault to the floor and
a big powerbomb on Kong from Hamada. Hamada won the match with the Fisherman
driver in 15:14.
***
2. Tag Team Match
AKINO & Maki Narumiya vs. Kayoko Haruyama & Ryo
Mizunami
This match showed AKINO and Narumiya having trouble as a
team and attempting to overcome it, but they could not. I thought that the ending
spot was good, with AKINO missing the super kick and hitting it on Narumiya, setting
up the finish. The match ended in 14:46 with Mizunami pinning Narumiya with a
top rope leg drop.
***
4. 10 Man Tag Team Match
Dump Matsumoto, Kyoko Inoue, Leon , Sawako Shimono &
Tsukushi vs. Cherry , Jaguar Yokota, Manami Toyota, Natsuki Taiyo & Tomoka
Nakagawa
Everyone on Toyota’s team took a headshot with the metal bin
from Dump Matsumoto. They brawled at ringside and the entire thing broke down,
Matsumoto and Inoue were terrible, botching move after move and they could not
take bumps very well. Luckily Toyota along with the other good workers saved
the match from being horrid. Matsumoto’s team won the match in 16:15, when
Kyoko Inoue hit a big powerbomb on
Cherry. They continued to brawl after the match, the
brawling wasn’t really note worthy and didn’t really add anything to the match
that I could see.
** ¼
5. Singles Match
Kagetsu vs. Kana
This was a really fun shoot style match, both of the women
in the match exchanged armbars, various submissions and takedowns. They went
back and forth up until the point where Kana locked in the dragon sleeper on
the ground for the win in 11:23. Overall a very fun shoot match, that I would
recommend just to see the shoot style pulled off so well.
*** ½
6. Six Man Tag Team Match
Emi Sakura, Meiko Satomura & Nanae Takahashi vs. Ayumi
Kurihara, Tsukasa Fujimoto & Yoshiko
Definitely the best tag match on the show, it had a lot of
unique spots like a double step up drop kick to the top rope and a double code
breaker. Fujimoto hit some really stiff kicks, both teams shook hands at the
end of the match after Sakura hit the Firebird Splash on Fujimoto for the win
in 21:41.
*** ¼
7. Singles Match
Hikaru Shida vs. Yuzuki Aikawa
This match had shoot elements, but it definitely leaned
towards the strong style side, rather than shoot. These two women were the only
wrestlers on the show that had their entrances air and they really came across
great and just with the entrances alone they got over the champion vs. champion
aspect. The match was by far the best match on the show, with Aikawa hitting a
big axe kick on Shida for the win in 15:11. Shida gave an emotional speech
after the match.
*** ¾
The first Bull Nakano retrospective was shown, it featured
the start of her career and early feuds.
The first match reenactment took place, it was a reenactment
of Bull Nakano & Dump Matsumoto vs. Lioness Asuka & Chigusa Nagoya. It
wasn’t the real Asuka and Nagoya, but just some random wrestlers wearing
ridiculous masks. Nakano put on weight just for this appearance. The beginning
of the match was reenacted, but they soon cut to clips of the actual match.
They cut off at the dual submission spot and came back to the arena were Nakano
got the win. These reenactments were good on the show, but I couldn’t help
thinking that it was just a blatant disregard for kayfabe.
 |
| Bull Nakano Standing in the middle of the ring during the ten bell salute. |
Part two of the retrospective was shown featuring the next
rendition of Nakano and the build to the chain match with Shinobu Kandori. Kandori
made her entrance, she still looks completely in shape, then out came Nakano
after Kandori was chained, the cosmetic work for the retirement ceremony was
phenomenal. As Kandori was getting chocked with the chain in the arena by
Nakano, they cut to the real footage once more. They cut back to the arena as
Nakano and Kandori began to brawl into the crowd and the crowd actually got
really into it. They cut back to the actual footage for the finish. They were
then unchained and shook hands.
Part three of the retrospective was shown showing the build
to the famous steel cage match with Aja Kong and one of the most memorable
moments in Joshi history. Aja Kong made her entrance and so did Nakano. There
was a segment of the cage that was set up in the corner, they then cut to the
footage once again. When they cut back to the arena were Kong was choking
Nakano, they used the same weapons they used in the match and then cut back to
the real footage once again for the more intensive spots and the set up for the
leg drop. When they cut back to the arena Nakano was on the top of the cage
praying ,they obviously cut to archive footage for the leg drop, but it was
still pulled off amazingly well. Phenomenal work.
They showed the fourth and final retrospective focusing on
the rest of her career and her retirement match against Kong. They came back to
were she handed the belt over to Kong and Kong grabbed the mic and reenacted
what I can only assume was the same promo, which I thought was a bit odd.
Nakano was then standing in the ring as we had a ten bell
salute for her old life and her new life was brought in, in the form of her
real wedding ceremony.
Overall Show Thoughts
Wrestling wise this wasn’t the best show in the world, there
was some really good stuff on the show like the Hikaru Shida vs. Yuzuki Aikawa
match, which I would recommend, but there was nothing world beating. However
the Nakano retirement ceremony really was one of the best retirement ceremonies
I have ever seen, possibly better than Ric Flair’s on Raw. The production was
incredible, the reenactments were amazing and the way that everything just fell
together was great.
Apparently Nakano is thinking about a backstage or PR role
which could really help revive Joshi and is a massive positive. I would suggest
that anyone who hasn’t seen the show already check it out, even if you just
catch the Nakano retirement.
The Chris Jericho
Angle Part II
I thought that the Jericho angle was pulled off really well
this week, having him walk out on his partners further cemented his
selfishness, without turning him into a full blown heel in the eyes of the
casual fans just yet.
I think it will be very interesting to see where they go
from here and where the inevitable conclusion on the angle lies. One think that
I am sure of is that with Jericho behind the wheel of this angle, I think we
are in for an interesting ride
The Royal Rumble 2012
Thoughts
Men most likely to win the rumble in order:
1. Randy Orton
2. Chris Jericho
3. Dolf Ziggler
4. Mystery Man
I think that this year’s Rumble is important, not because of
the stage that it is on, but because the Rumble is at risk of losing it’s
importance. Since the 2007 Rumble where Undertaker won and went on to win the
World Heavyweight Championship from Batista at WrestleMania 27, the Royal
Rumble winner has not been victorious at WrestleMania. And besides the winner
of last year’s Royal Rumble, Alberto Del Rio, they have all been mainevent
stars who didn’t really need the Rumble win anyway.
I think that Orton is the most likely candidate to win the
Royal Rumble this year, it is in his hometown of St. Louis and they seem to be
keeping him off of TV to build to his entrance in the Royal Rumble. I don’t
think that Orton winning the Rumble is necessarily the best move, but if Bryan
still is the World Heavyweight Champion by the time Mania comes around, they
should have one hell of a match.
I think that Chris Jericho also stands a good chance of
winning, many people have thought of possible scenarios where Jericho takes a
very long time to complete his entrance and then by the time he get’s to the
ring it will have emptied substantially. I think that since Jericho is still a
returning face that has been off of TV for a couple of years, I think that it
could work.
Even though Ziggler is in the championship match on the PPV,
it seems that they went out of their way to point out that anyone former
champions and challengers from the PPV can enter the Rumble. Since he is
already in the title picture as of right now, I think that it would be a good
move to have him be seen in the title picture with this match, lose the match
and then go on to mainevent Mania. Of course Ziggler is the heel and this is
more of a face angle, but I think that they could make it work pretty easily.
A mystery man is a possibility and some inside sources have
said that there is a possibility of someone that isn’t a part of the roster as
of now winning the Rumble. I don’t know if it would be the best idea in the
world, given that you already have the return of the Rock and Jericho, but I
see them possibly going that way.
Next Week’s Issue
Next week we will be covering the go home show for the Royal
Rumble, the TNA Genesis Buyrate, all the news from the week, and more. For more
information on next week’s issue and the Cubed Circle Wrestling Newsletter head
over to cubedcirclewrestling.blogspot.com.
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