Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

Best Korakuen ever?


Alan4L

Recommended Posts

Adam Summers raised the question two weeks ago of whether the August 1st G1 show was the best Korakuen ever on the strength of AJ/Suzuki, Shinsuke/Ishii, Nagata/Shibata, Naito/Makabe, Goto/Tenzan and the other fun matches on that show. I'm struggling to think of something definitely better but here are some candidates that come to mind.

NJPW, 02.08.2013 (TV Asahi Ch.1 & Ch.2/iPPV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2,015 Fans - Super No Vacancy Full House

1. G1 Climax - Block B: Karl Anderson [4] besiegt Shelton Benjamin [2] (6:28) mit dem Gun Stun.
2. G1 Climax - Block B: Yujiro Takahashi [4] besiegt Hiroyoshi Tenzan [0] (9:07) mit einer Moonsault Press.
3. G1 Climax - Block B: Yuji Nagata [4] besiegt Toru Yano [0] (6:46) mit einem Backdrop Hold.
4. G1 Climax - Block A: Lance Archer [4] besiegt Prince Devitt [2] (8:14) mit dem Blackout.
5. G1 Climax - Block A: Satoshi Kojima [4] besiegt Katsuyori Shibata [2] (9:40) mit einer Lariat.
6. G1 Climax - Block A: Davey Boy Smith Jr. [2] besiegt Togi Makabe [2] (10:13) mit einer Bulldog Bomb.
7. G1 Climax - Block B: Kota Ibushi [4] besiegt Tetsuya Naito [0] (13:16) mit einem Phoenix Splash.
8. G1 Climax - Block B: Minoru Suzuki [2] besiegt Shinsuke Nakamura [0] (13:44) mit einem Gotch-Style Piledriver.
9. G1 Climax - Block A: Hirooki Goto [2] besiegt Kazuchika Okada [0] (12:43) mit dem Shouten Kai.
10. G1 Climax - Block A: Tomohiro Ishii [2] besiegt Hiroshi Tanahashi [0] (17:42) mit einem SSD.

Last year's Korakuen G1. The main event is one of the best matches ever in the building and it's backed up with two really great matches in Shibata/Kojima and Ibushi/Naito.

Dragon Gate, 28.08.2008 (GAORA TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2,350 Fans - Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Naoki Tanizaki & m.c.KZ. besiegen Shisa BOY & Super Shenlong II (4:22) nach dem Implant von Tanizaki gegen Shenlong.
2. Summer Adventure Tag League II - Semi Final: Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino besiegen Susumu Yokosuka & Ryo Saito (10:24) nach einem V9 Clutch Cutback Reversal von Doi gegen Yokosuka.
3. Summer Adventure Tag League II - Semi Final: Shingo Takagi & Dragon Kid besiegen Cyber Kong & YAMATO (14:10) durch Referee Stop (Takagi besiegte Kong mit einem Trunk-Bundle Sleeper Hold).
4. Gamma, Yasushi Kanda & Genki Horiguchi besiegen BxB Hulk, Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson (10:20) nach dem Beach Break von Horiguchi gegen Matt.
5. Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, K-ness & Super Shisa besiegen Kenichiro Arai & Taku Iwasa, Akira Tozawa & Shinobu (13:10) nach dem Shin Saikyou High Kick von Mochizuki gegen Tozawa.
6. Summer Adventure Tag League II - Final: Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino besiegen Shingo Takagi & Dragon Kid (25:52) nach dem Lightning Spiral von Yoshino gegen Kid.

The three tag league matches are amazing. Unfortunately this one is hard to judge because alot of the other matches on the show were clipped or didn't air. Looking at the pairings though (especially in match 5) it seems like it would be very good.

NOAH, 19.08.2005 (NTV/G+)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2,100 Fans - Super No Vacancy

1. Mohammed Yone besiegt BJ Whitmer (6:50) mit einem Muscle Buster.
2. Yoshinari Ogawa, Richard Slinger, Low Ki & Mushiking Terry besiegen Akitoshi Saito, Takashi Sugiura, Kishin Kawabata & Mushiking Joker (20:11) nach einem Cradle von Slinger gegen Kawabata.
3. Scorpio & Bison Smith besiegen Jun Izumida & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (11:31) nach einer Moonsault Press von Scorpio gegen Kikuchi.
4. Takeshi Morishima besiegt SUWA (9:46) mit einem Backdrop.
5. Akira Taue & Takuma Sano besiegen Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki (15:50) nach einer Northern Light Bomb von Sano gegen Shiozaki.
6. Takeshi Rikio besiegt Masao Inoue (11:49) mit dem Muso.
7. Minoru Suzuki & Naomichi Marufuji besiegen Tamon Honda & KENTA (16:51) nach einem Gotch-Style Piledriver von Suzuki gegen Honda.
8. Jun Akiyama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru besiegen Kenta Kobashi & Makoto Hashi (24:50) nach dem Touch Out von Kanemaru gegen Hashi.

May not look like much on paper but this show was mega-fun from top to bottom. Last two matches are pretty great.

Any 90s cards come to anyone's mind?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good luck narrowing it down with a building that's held literally THOUSANDS of shows over the years.

AJPW in the 90's alone probably had 20 "four star" shows in that building.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As much as anything, the lack of full undercards airing before the mid-90s makes this next to impossible to even attempt

I was lucky enough to attend the 8/19/05 show in person, and it's about as solid a show as you'll see in Japan in terms of not having a bunch of crap scattered throughout. Bouts that would normally be dull, like the 8-man, turned out good. Not a bad pick, given how many Korakuen shows only produced one or two actively good matches (if that).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Two joshi cards that come to mind:

 

JWP's 1st anniversary show from 4/93 amazing fucking card and the main event is off the charts intense.

 

- Mayumi Ozaki vs. Candy Okutsu

- Cuty Suzuki & Plum Mariko vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Sumiyo Toyama

- JWP Openweight Title: Dynamite Kansai © vs. Hikari Fukuoka

- Devil Masami vs. Bull Nakano

 

Also AJW's 5/7/95 show with Suzuka Minami's hyper emotional retirement match with a Bull appearance and the Marine Wolves final tag and also featuring the hour draw between Manami Toyota and Kyoko Inoue which was 1995 WON MOTY.

 

- Yumi Fukawa vs. Yoshiko Tamura

- All Japan Jr. Title: Chapparita ASARI © vs. Nobue Endo

- Takako Inoue, Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Mariko Yoshida, Kaoru Ito & Rie Tamada

- Aja Kong & Reggie Bennett vs. Lioness Aska & Bison Kimura

- Suzuka Minami Retirement: Suzuka Minami & Yumiko Hotta vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita

*Special: Marine Wolves (Suzuka Minami & Akira Hokuto) © vs. Bull Nakano & Yumiko Hotta

- WWWA World Singles Title: Manami Toyota © vs. Kyoko Inoue

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One that comes to mind immediately is the 10/23/92 NJPW show that started the NJPW/WAR feud. That's the best end to a card ever held there, I'm pretty sure.

 

just watched this. It was actually a WAR show, and man was that crowd MOLTEN!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...