ZIP JAPAN Archive Thread

- Minoru Hoshino vs Super Scorpio

A solid, fast paced opener with both guys using their speed and agility to great effect. Ultimately, Mr 450 was forced to tap out to one of Scorpio's signature submissions.

8 Woman elimination Battle Royal
- Yumi Yamaguchi vs Hanako Yoshii vs Eun-jin Choi vs Rebecca Roxx vs Aya Mizuno vs Cutie Booties vs Psycho Witch vs Vicki Violence

Frantic action and insanity throughout this one, the biggest Joshi match in ZIP JAPAN history. Rebecca Roxx, fresh off her unexpected win at the 49th Parallel, was busted open in the first minute, but still managed to eliminate Cutie Booties with her Camel Clutch. Pyscho Witch forced Vicki Violence to tap out to a Stretch Plum shortly before Yumi nearly killed Hanako Yoshii with a sickening Avalanche Dragon Suplex. Aya Mizuno fell to a Yumi Angelic Driver and Psycho Witch tapped to a Choi Kneebreaker. Roxx was finally put down by another Angelic Driver from Yumi, leaving best friends Yumi and Eun-jin Choi as the final two. It didn't take long for Choi to secure the biggest win of her career with another Kneebreaker. Excellent stuff.

- Demon Otsu vs Akira Shinjo

Great match and a big win for Shinjo, who I had always kinda hoped would have a healthy Heavyweight title run, but who always seemed to come up short in the big singles matches. This was a very fine performance from both men, both very aggressive throughout, but Shinjo ultimately picking up the win after the second Schoolboy Suplex of the match.

- Darkness HAGE vs Saburo Hamada

One last kick at the can for Hamada, who has been trying to find a singles win over his former sensei Darkness HAGE for what seems like a year or more. Once again, he put up a valiant effort but came up just short. Lots of high flying and high impact in this encounter, with HAGE ultimately winning after a nasty piledriver in the center of the ring.

- Storm of the Century (Wataru Nakajima/Thunder Fist) vs Pure HEEL (Kenzo Kobayashi/Kenji Sawada)

An excellent tag team match between ZIP JAPAN's most popular team and ZIP's most ruthlessly effective team. SotC were on fire, absorbing and shrugging off all of Pure HEELs antics and tricks,and delivering serious offense of their own. Excellent back and forth action, and just when it seemed like SotC were finally going to fall to HEEL's onslaught, Nakajima nailed Kobayashi with his Old Man Driver for a huge feel-good win. This was my pick for MOTN.

Archive match from 2003
- King ZIP vs Gorobei

Dipping into the archives one last time, Reiko picked a doozy between two titanic legends in ZIP JAPAN history. Gorobei was on the cusp of his massive superstardom coming into this match, and he more than held his own against the monstrous King ZIP, surviving an early ZIP Driver and hitting his patented Spin Cycle on the arena floor. In the end, a giant Chokeslam from King ZIP won the day, but this proved to be one of the last matches Gorobei would lose for nearly 4 years. A legend was born with this performance.

Fatal Four way elimination match
- Touma Tanaka vs Mr Suplex vs Jin Matsuda vs GORO

3 former ZIP JAPAN Heavyweight Champions, and one of the most promising up and comers in the business did battle here, and what a war it was. Mr Suplex was on a rampage in there, eliminating both Jin Matsuda and Touma Tanaka with Genki-Raigaplexes. Suplex tried to make the clean sweep, but the ever opportunistic GORO shut him down with a Victimizer out of nowhere to steal the victory. Don't worry GORO, no one will forget what an asshole you are.

ZIP JAPAN Junior Heavyweight Championship match
- Yutaro Ichikawa vs Shuji Tsukamoto (C)

The first of four big title matches offered fans a huge surprise as returning Yutaro Ichikawa smashed his way through champion Tsukamoto like he was a wet paper bag. A totally dominant performance from Ichikawa to reclaim the Junior Championship from a man who many considered to be likely to hold to the belt a long time.

ZIP JAPAN Tag Team Championship match
-Rekless Endangerment (Johnny Rekless/Danger Daniels) vs Doogan Bros (Donnie Doogan/Dougie Doogan) (C)

A massive undertaking for the Junior Heavyweight team, to try and unseat the powerhouse Doogan Bros. Rekless and Daniels put in a solid effort, doing their best to maintain a high pace and avoid the Doogan's biggest offense. There were a handful of nice hope spots for RE but the power of the Doogans ultimately proved to be too much. There is no shame in losing to a Doogan Hammer II.

ZIP JAPAN Joshi Championship match
- Suki ZIP vs Momoe Ito (C)

The disliked daughter of King ZIP trying to reclaim her birthright here, against the supremely popular and talented Champion Momoe Ito. ZIP hit a ZIP driver very early in this one, and Momoe fired back with some twisting sentons and a Momoe Latch for a nearfall. Suki did some flying of her own, nailing a series of moonstomps before Momoe moved in for the kill. Ms Ito crushed Suki with a brainbuster onto the top turnbuckle and followed it up with a massive running kick the face to earn another title defense.

ZIP JAPAN Heavyweight Championship match
- Daisuke Shimura vs Justin Starr (C)

The Heavyweight Title run of Justin Starr has absolutely cemented his place as a true legend of ZIP JAPAN, but it had to come to an end eventually. Tonight Shimura played the part of the spoiler in a great match, the two men absorbing each others best offense and dishing it back in a thrilling display of pure pro wrestling. Just as Starr was turning up the heat on Shimura with a pair of nasty Tiger Suplexes, Shimura cut him off with a savage leg whip that led directly to his Sasori-gatame finisher, forcing Starr to submit, and ultimately returning the Heavyweight title to a Heavyweight wrestler. Starr's run with the big belt has been the most fun storyline ZIP has produced in the last year, and I'm glad to see it get a fitting conclusion here.