Dove wrestlers all chipped in with promotional duties; Kabuki Kid took posters round shops in Osaka who co-sponsored Dove. Uchida said he wanted to do right by Gunso and sell t-shirts as he wanted the money.
YO-HEY got very little sleep as he was being kept awake by helicopters. He also later tried to bite Tsubasa.
Mexican wrestler, Rollin, went missing so Tsubasa posted on his Twitter;
"Lost Child
Name Rollin Boy ① 170 cm 88 kg ② Hometown: Mexico ③ Debut: 2007.4.30 ④ Estado de Mexico Welterweight Tag Champion. Scheduled to participate in Dove pro wrestling from 18:00 today."
They eventually found him in Namba district, and had no idea how he even got there. Tsubasa's comment, "Bastard".
Ray Paloma had a video of himself flirting with the belt (he was the champion at the time). He was later challenged by Ultimate Spider Jnr. Paloma told him to apply on a postcard and send it to the Dove office.
Isami was given a welcome to Dove tequila toast, while GUNSO told him that he wanted to see Isami vs HAYATA next time, did he also want to face YO-HEY too? When the injury healed, he wanted to face him in a singles too. Anyway "Today Isami, welcome to Dove!"
Then everyone got drunk, and at some point Tadasuke went missing. After three in ring tequilas from Rollin Boy, the GinGin Boys hit the bar, about three minutes later according to YO-HEY. He also passed out at the party after the aftershow party, to be told by HAYATA that he was the "Strongest deadhead".
"I got some kind of money from some promotion. What is Gingin Boys?"
"It's my first time watching Dove!!
"Please put this money in GinGin crotch!” .. What kind of wrestling you do. .."
This was a combination event that Dove took park in which featured many different promotions (and an appearance by Kenta Kobashi) appearing on a show which had continuous wrestling for twenty four hours from the 25th - 26th July. Also appearing at the event were FREEDOMS, WAVE, OZ Academy, Kai-En-Tai Dojo. Dove made their appearance at 8.30pm. One fan who came to the event said that one of the Dove wrestlers (I don't know who), had been a classmate.
Much to Gunso's excitement, Dove were mentioned in an article on Yahoo Japan. He did post the link, but sadly this is gone now as they don't keep their old articles up.
Notable card
Shoichi Uchida vs Ray Paloma (Uchida won with the roll up)
Black Buffalo & Kabuki Kid vs GUNSO & HAYATA (Hardcore Match which GUNSO won)
The GinGin Boys (YO-HEY & Kenshin Chikano) vs Naoki Tanizaki & Yas Kubota. (YO-HEY won with the Bamboo Butterfly, which fans who had never see before thought was amazing).
The event
"Dove Wrestling, two people who get stronger when they take their clothes off. Mystery system!"
Some of the audience were confused by Dove, especially when they got "some kind of currency" which you stuffed down the pants of The GinGin Boys, and Ray Paloma who signed autographs "SOX". Others were reminded of ECW by them. However, the Dove experience was not understood by everyone, especially as the music played was not related to what was going on in the ring. That being said, the crowd found it fun and Dove found that more people came to Hiroshima and Osaka.
During the promotion introduction, Ray Paloma said he was so excited that his new t-shirt smelled of pheromones.
YO-HEY tried not to laugh, and HAYATA looked to the side with his arms crossed.
Referee Yoshino warned The GinGin Boys to hurry up in their entry, and later told them no crotch grabbing! At ringside, Hide Kubota advertised a towel. He wasn't wrestling as he had a knee injury.
If controlling the GinGin Boys was one thing, Referee Yoshino later had his hands full with Uchida and Paloma, especially when Paloma took off his ring shoes, and so Uchida removed his arm guard, so Paloma took off his tights and socks. In the end the pair of them ended up in the usual fashion, barefoot and fighting in their pants. Uchida won, and they had a fight afterwards, which the long suffering referee had to break up. It also turned out that Paloma had put a remote controlled vibrator in his pants, hidden in his...
At the end of the event there was a big battle royale, which some Dove wrestlers were in, and Ray Paloma managed to get himself eliminated when he was thrown out of the ring and landed on his head.
It's Dove Pro vs Osaka Pro, and tonight both HAYATA and Daisuke Harada are both on the card. Harada had a banner hung on the wall. However, HAYATA and Harada did not fight each other. At this point in time they knew of each other, Harada called them "acquaintances", as they weren't as close as they would become in later years in Noah, despite HAYATA being in Osaka Pro. Naturally, because this is Daisuke Harada, he has a belt.
The event was due to start at 18:30, but it actually started at 19:00 due to a delay of half an hour.
Notable card
HAYATA vs A.K. (HAYATA won with The Headache)
Kaiki vs Daisuke Harada
Ebesan vs Ray Paloma (who for some reason wrestled with a bowtie on). They had a dance off, and even the referee joined in.
The event
Daisuke Harada refused to shake hands with Kaiki, who after the match challenged him for the belt in Osaka Pro. Harada told him "You are weak".
When Ebesan entered the ring, Ray felt he had to count how many streamers he had compared to himself, and he seemed pleased that he got more. When Ebesan left the ring, he dropped his coin box and it went everywhere. Children at ringside helped him pick them up.
504 (Gunso) and Kabuki Kid were tagging together in a team called "Hiroshima Violent Revolutionaries"
This small event was held at Kure University, Hiroshima. Crowd were said to be very different from the normal Dove crowd, which ruined it for the Dove faithful as they were a lot quieter, and sat and watched politely. The atmosphere was also offputting, as it didn't seem to gel with what the promotion is and what the promotion does. There was no HAYATA, YO-HEY or Tadasuke tonight, and seemingly only a handful of wrestlers. I think there must have been about four matches in total on the card, including the curry eating competition.
The only wrestlers on the card included Gunso, Shoichi Uchida, Magnitude Kishiwada, Kabuki Kid, Souther, Ray Paloma, SUSUMU and a couple of others who were not Dove regulars.
The event was streamed live on USTREAM, but as if to add more woe to the already unfamiliar surroundings, the stream managed to go down. Fans were happy with the quality, but not the commentators, especially as they seemed to know nothing about Dove and did not understand some of the wrestlers names either, and at times even remember who was who.
During the break (a 30 minute one which seemed like a filler as there was hardly anyone on the card) Kabuki Kid won a curry eating competition. His opponents were SUSUMU, Souther and the general public who got into the ring to compete.
"Wrestling x Music x Sake ← Is there anything better than this? ! That's why everyone should come"
Dove had been hit by three injuries; Gunso had a posterior cruciate ligament tear, Ray Paloma had a right ankle fracture and AK a fibula fracture. Despite his injury, Gunso was still on the card, as was Ray Paloma. Notable Card
HAYATA & Tadasuke vs Kubota Brothers (HAYATA won)
GinGin Boys vs INFINITY.
Ippei once again didn't show up at the event, so for one night only, Zeus became a GinGin Boy...I don't think he grabbed his crotch,YO-HEY'S or had money stuffed down his tights though.
The event
Tadasuke was looking forward to his Texas trip.
Yasu Kubota used Tadasuke's skateboard slide on HAYATA.
Hide Kubota had participated in Noah a few days before the event (the brothers had been appearing in Noah since 2013, but on this occasion they had faced XX who were Hi69, now known as Nio, and Taiji Ishimori who left Noah in 2018)
YO-HEY brought the wrong t-shirt to the venue, but he saw the funny side and said his "GinGin" had risen by 30. Fans, however, were buzzing about his scent, whatever aftershave or spray he used was apparently too good.
"I want to prove in Hiroshima that we are the best in the world." Gunso
Event took place in a snowy Hiroshima. This would be the last event of Dove in their "turbulent 2017" as BillyKenKid put it. Yasshi said this was a "dangerous way" to spend his Christmas (this is someone who drinks and smokes in the ring, because this is Dove).
Kenshin Chikano had two business ventures; a calendar (which he sold ten copies at max of) and a Taco bar. YO-HEY babbled something about Kenshin making Chanko, and mentioned the disaster of the Soy Sauce Chanko he had apparently made a few years ago...anyway, YO-HEY turned up to help Kenshin make Tacos.
In Noah, YO-HEY & HAYATA were the GHC Junior Tag Team Champions at the time, and sadly this was to be their farewell to Dove. Fans prepared special paper tape for them.
There was an aftershow party at Ray Paloma's restaurant, Acapulco. Notable card
"Brother" Yasshi & Naoki Tanizaki vs Shoichi Uchida & Ray Paloma
Kenshin Chikano vs HAYATA (HAYATA was the Dove World Heavyweight champion)
Tadasuke was not on the card. The event "No alcohol, no Dove"
Aoki got some GinGin money from a fan, and put it down his pants. Inside the ring, Referee Yoshino was trying to get YO-HEY to hurry up and get in the ring. Naturally his entry took a while as fans wanted to say goodbye to him.
HAYATA defeated Chikano with the Headache and retained the belt, and in an emotional moment he quietly laid the belt in the middle of the ring, bowed to it deeply and then left, which caused YO-HEY to cry. On the ramp the Dove roster were waiting and they gave he and YO-HEY (who had been seconding HAYATA, but also made time for old friend Kenshin) a send off with handshakes and hugs. Fans wept, as did GUNSO with HAYATA.
"How is it? It looks cool. JOIN THE DOVE ARMY! ! And RIP Lemmy."
Lemmy from Motorhead had died in 2015, and GUNSO (a massive music fan), used his image on a poster for a Dove show, and later for his match a remixed version of "Ace of Spades". Then he said something about alcohol. Shoichi Uchida put the poster up in his bar as the event was going to take place in Osaka.
A fan said they had GinGin money for the first time (its the currency that gets printed for the show and tucked into YO-HEY & Kenshin's pants), but had to drink to get up the courage to use it.
There was also going be an aftershow party, which was held at Shoichi Uchida's Bar BB.
Notable card
Kohei Konoshita vs Tadasuke (Konoshita said he had taken part in a fan event which promotions hold to teach children when he was in elementary school).
HAYATA vs Shoichi Uchida (HAYATA won with the Headache)
Naoki Tanizaki, YO-HEY & Tsubasa vs The Kubota Brothers & Brother Yasshi (YO-HEY'S fellow GinGin had a singles match that evening).
The event
Shoichi Uchida said he got home from Hiroshima to Osaka at 3am, he had to immediately do laundry because of the show later that day.
Naoki Tanizaki managed to break his suitcase (apparently this is a constant occurrence)
For YO-HEY'S entrance (well, maybe "their" entrance as Naoki Tanizaki became a stripper for the evening), the GinGin Boys were accompanied by a cocktail waitress who served tequila. Fans called this "Tequila Time". The entry was described as "chaotic", and Yasshi got annoyed by how long it took. One of the Tsubota brothers were more charitable though, saying that Tanizaki was "hot and GinGin".
Tsubasa, however, didn't want to team with The GinGin's (his team "Infinity" are their enemies), and tried to bribe the Tsubota brothers into joining their team. It didn't matter, as the GinGin's decided they didn't want to team with him either, and attacked him, but only after Tanizaki had stopped YO-HEY & Tsubasa arguing, and then kissed YO-HEY on the lips (seriously, this was a real smooch).
HAYATA vs Shoichi Uchida was voted the best match of the evening. Afterwards, YO-HEY poured water on HAYATA'S head (Dove need all the ice they can get to cool their beer 😉). Referee Yoshino described the match as "fierce".
"The temperature inside the venue is 3-4 degrees higher than the lobby"
GUNSO took Kabuki Kid and YO-HEY on promotion to hand out flyers and posters for the event, which was the first round of their tag league. The GinGin Boys were the tag champions in Dove. At this time YO-HEY, HAYATA & Tadasuke were freelancing in Noah by September of that year they would sign with the promotion and make an emotional farewell in December.
YO-HEY, HAYATA & Tadasuke all on the card
Tadasuke and HAYATA teaming together for the tag tournament, as were Naoki Tanizaki and Brother Yasshi. Tanizaki saying he was going to declare war on the GinGin Boys.
Ring was set up for a hardcore match as soon as the fans entered with a ladder set up in the ring in one corner, with a table in another with a pile of steel chairs underneath it, while the split curtain that the wrestlers enter\exit through was hung high up on the wall.
Usual fan chaos, some travelling a long distance there and a long distance back, work on very little sleep, and a group came into the venue and three of them lost their phones, with one getting a cracked screen.
Notable card
HAYATA & Tadasuke vs Naoki Tanizaki & Brother Yasshi vs Black Buffalo & Tsubasa (HAYATA & Tadasuke won). Fans called their team "Hayatada" (YO-HEY called them "Tadahaya"). The event
First match was naturally hardcore with Kubota Brothers vs SAGAT & Isami Kodaka vs Gunso & Jun Kasai. Someone commented, "I thought this was meant to be a tag division..." but the matches were all done as block battles with the two winners facing each other. Every item in the venue could be used as weapon. During the match Isami looked under the ring for weapons, but found nothing.
Kohei Konoshita refused to shake hands with Ultimate Spider Junior
The GinGin Boys made a long entry, so long suffering and much put upon referee, Yoshino, sat and waited for them. He turned round to see their second Tanizaki had arrived at ringside with a can of beer.
YO-HEY had flashing glasses reading either "I ❤ you" or "YO-HEY" (he later gave them to a young fan at ringside).
Aoki was teaming with them as "Sunshine Aoki" (the irony considering 2019). The GinGin Boys won, and Aoki posed with them. Referee Yoshino was exhausted by the end of the event, and said he could hardly stand. He was even feeling dead the next day, although excited about "the future of experimental Aoki." During the match Ray Paloma got his nether regions mauled by The GinGin Boys, who left him upside down.
"I could see Mount Fuji from the train window on the journey to Tokyo. Next to me, Aoki quietly murmured, "I'll make it mine someday" GUNSO
Dove returned to Tokyo and continued their feud with BASARA. Isami told GUNSO that their feud will continue until they die.
Event was said to be quite crowded, and there was an atmosphere of excitement among the crowd, especially when Dove announced that they were happy for fans to videotape parts of the event and upload it to social media (as long as they used the Dove Wrestling hashtag). GUNSO was delighted with the turnout. Tadasuke likened the atmosphere to being at the ECW arena.
Usual Dove chaos as both the reserved and unreserved seats were not clear. One fan commented that if Dove ("insanely creative") has one problem, there is no time to blink.
Notable card "It's funny, cool, erotic, strong ... but there's a fight done with "sex appeal"."
HAYATA vs Yuko Miyamoto (Miyamoto won via submission. HAYATA'S tolerance for submission moves has risen a lot since then.)
Dove Tag Title match: GinGin Boys (champions) vs Infinity (Tsubasa & Black Buffalo). After the match Buffalo said his head hurt and he had no memory of losing. He later decided that he had lost because he didn't drink enough, had new shoes, and had been made to eat a rice cake by Tsubasa. Then the locker room found out there wasn't enough to go around, and made a fuss, and he wished he hadn't broken away from the sandwiches he usually ate.
The event "Main event, two crazy stars shining in the East and West night skies, Eastern Isami vs West GUNSO"
Ray Paloma entered to a theme called "Stripper", accompanied by three women. Uchida asked them to spank him! He got his wish, although it was from Yoshida.
Tsubasa lay down during the GinGin Boys entry. It took over ten minutes. Their second was Tanizaki, who also joined in.
Referee Yoshino was hit by a chair during the tag championship match, and was knocked out again in the main. As he lay there, the match became chaos with everyone fighting each other. He later grumbled that no one cared about the rules anymore.
In the main event Isami brought a table, GUNSO brought his giant scissors. Isami won the match to be told by GUNSO "The Black Christ of Dove Wrestling" that, "you are in my house today, next time I will go alone to yours" as most of the roster looked on (and Brother YASSHI smoked a cigarette).
Dove Wrestling "LIVE AT BUDOKAN"
They were actually at Shinkiba 1st RING. Which isn't The Budokan. Or near The Budokan. However, this was a rare show that took place in Tokyo (which is in Japan according to GUNSO), and not in the usual clubs\venues in and around Osaka and Hiroshima. For little Dove, holding a show in Tokyo was a big deal with the reserved seats selling out quickly. The event was eventually sold out. Dove put on a card which they said could not be seen in Hiroshima and Osaka. One fan commented that "there were points when I did not understand things well". This is Dove after all...
The event was also shown on NicoNico, which they made free for everyone to view. Sadly they do not keep the old shows up, so the link is dead. Earlier, Gunso, YO-HEY and some others had gone to the studio and given an intro to the event.
GUNSO got drunk, and Naoki Tanizaki blew smoke everywhere as he vaped. The traditional Dove tequila came out too (Tanizaki said he didn't have any but said at the venue he wanted to drink tequila and beer, and bathe in Sake.).
"The future begins in Shin-Kiba on August 28, 2016." (Kabuki Kid)
Gunso and Jun Kasai get into a locker room fight
Notable card
Naoki Tanizaki & BROTHER YASHHI vs The Kubota Brothers vs The GinGin Boys (The GinGin boys are now YO-HEY & Kenshin Chikano, who are the tag team champions at this time). YO-HEY got the win with his beautiful Bamboo Dragonfly. Match was described as "Frenzied three way with loud music". Naturally, the GinGin Boys celebrated by groin grabbing each other.
Kazuaki Mihara vs HAYATA (HAYATA won)
Ray Paloma vs Shoichi Uchida (they were enemies at this point)
No Tadasuke
The event
YO-HEY & HAYATA had been to see the Obon ghost stories as told by Junji Inagawa the night before.
Yas Kubota turned up 12 hours early
GUNSO bought some of the roster out to the ring with him to open the show, and thank people for coming.
Trainee Aoki started the event, and was introduced as "Mr. Hiroshima".
Naoki Tanizaki had GinGin money stuffed in his pants. Yasu Kobota also went to shove some money in his own, but was stopped by the referee. GinGin Boys had a long entry time.
Brother YASSHI bought alcohol to the ring, chugged from the bottle during the match, and Tanizaki joined in.
HAYATA looks better in person than on video. Not surprised.
Ray Paloma told Shoichi Uchida (who he had also accused of being half asleep and therefore no fun to wrestle to), "fight me naked", and stood with his pants around his ankles as Uchida was on the turnbuckle as he was going to throw himself off of it in despair. So Uchida got back into the ring, and sat down to take his boots off. The referee looked on dumbfounded, and Kenshin had to leave ringside as he was laughing too much and hide out at the shop. The match was forfeited as they both walked off and got counted out. The referee said that they had walked off into the sunset and wouldn't return to the ring, even if this was the semi final of the evening. It appears they had a falling out over the Asian Tag Titles.
Jun Kasai won the tag main via a piledriver on barbed wire on GUNSO, during the match Black Buffalo had battered GUNSO with a plank, and Kaisai carved him up with a scrunched up can lid. The ringside seats were "messed up".
In the ring at the end, the whole roster gathered (HAYATA hiding in the corner), and Ray Paloma (now clothed and wearing a funky shirt, who someone described as being like a "bird of paradise") spoke on the microphone, said something about "It's hard to be alive, but sometimes it's good to be alive" and "dancing the waltz of the soul".
A fan said they bought a YO-HEY towel, and YO-HEY rubbed it on his crotch before handing it to him. Not that he had asked YO-HEY to do this.
Tired Shoichi Uchida said he had only one ambition left that evening, to snuggle up with his Dennis Lehane crime drama novel, "Pray For The Rain". He wasn't the only one exhausted, YO-HEY fell asleep at a table having been awake for the past forty hours.
GinGin Boys (YO-HEY & Ippei) vs TORU & Chikano Kenshin
Souther vs Tadasuke
GUNSO VS HAYATA
Due to Ippei's non attendances in the past, YO-HEY joked "Who will be my GinGin partner today?" However, Ippei turned up and YO-HEY won the match by pinning Chikano Kenshin.
Souther defeated Tadasuke
GUNSO vs HAYATA went hardcore, HAYATA defeated his teacher with a roll up.
The event
Typhoon rolling in.
It's Kabuki Kid's birthday, so Dove did a fans bring weapons match (the venue prohibited anything that could cause a fire, living creatures, raw fish, explosives, liquids and blades). He himself recommended, "Recommended places to buy are at 100 yen stores, Home Improvement centers, garbage dumps, storerooms, etc". You could also purchase tables and chairs at the venue if you didn't want to bring your own, and he would personalise them.
Infinity told Dove that their wrestlers are small fry after defeating The Kubota brothers; GUNSO came out to the ring after that, along with The GinGin Boys, Tadasuke and HAYATA.
Height and weight do not matter, you must be over 18 years old and healthy.
It is preferable for you to have a driving licence, be punctual, and preferably live in Hiroshima (Hiroshima residents are preferred)
You need to be able to commit yourself to attending joining training, match practice etc almost each time
Dojo fee is about 10,000 to 15,000 yen
Practice is (usually) every Sunday
Exercises
30 push-ups x 3 times
Squats 300 times
Hold a bridge for 3 minutes
Demonstrate mat exercises
Venue: Loft Plus One West
This was Dove's first time here Notable card
GUNSO vs Shoichi Uchida vs Kabuki Kid vs HAYATA
Yo-hey & Ippei vs TORU & Chikano Kenshin
Souther vs Tadasuke
The event
There would be a public contract signing held as wrestlers officially joined Dove. This was to be held at 19:30, but that didn't happen. It was held, just not exactly on 19.30. It was hosted by GUNSO and Kabuki Kid.
The first wrestler to sign with Dove was HAYATA. They somehow got him to speak on the microphone, where he said that Dotonbori and Dove had been working together for a while and that his contract was not exclusive, it meant that he was primarily a member of Dove and will appear primarily for Dove, but he could still appear for other promotions with their permission (Dotonbori, Osaka Pro etc), but he would restrict this.
The second wrestler to sign with Dove was Shoichi Uchida. He apparently had been planning to quit after leaving Osaka Pro, but he said he wants to now repay the kindness that Dove had shown him.
After the signings there was some talk, in which Gunso announced that each week Dove would be holding a club style event like this somewhere in the Kansai region (Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and surrounding prefectures, but not Tokyo or Hiroshima). "Quiet HAYATA" or "The person who doesn't talk" came back up to the podium for a talk show with Tadasuke, Shoichi Uchida, and one of the Kubota Brothers about "Bump Bump Revolution 5". Then the MC left, leaving the three of them alone, no one really knew quite what to say.
Notable card
GinGin Boys (YO-HEY & Ippei*) vs Shoichi Uchida & Osamu Suganuma
Kabuki Kid & HAYATA vs Kubota Brothers
Tadasuke is still on excursion in America.
Ippei again did not turn up at the venue (twice in a row apparently), so YO-HEY, who announced that he wasn't there to the fans, had to team with Super Spider Jnr, who offered himself as partner. He got into the GinGin Boys in a big way, but before all of that, YO-HEY had to check that he was suitable to be a one night GinGin boy. YO-HEY later said, "He was more GinGin than me!"
YO-HEY & Spidey beat Uchida & Suganuma (and Spidey apparently overdid it, and YO-HEY had to perform emergency resuscitation)
Kabuki Kid & HAYATA beat the Kubota Brothers Other
Ray Paloma got the dates mixed up, thought it was on the 15th.
Referee Yoshino has been in rehearsals for Makai.
This is a new venue for Dove.
Elementary students and younger children get in free.
Fans wanted to see the whole card, but only the tag match was written down.
No title matches on the card today.
Gunso said he could not use a public swimming pool because of his tattoos.
One of the loincloths (Uchida's) got stolen by the GinGin Boys, when YO-HEY pulled it off.
Souther came out to a song by Rage Against The Machine.
Brother Yasshi started to turn up at the venue, but wasn't on the card. Fans wondered if he would be one day.
GinGin Boys entry includes a mirrorball.
Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Hall West Building 4th Exhibition Hall.
Fans said that Dove in Hiroshima feels completely different to Dove in Osaka.
Lots of female fans...
Notable card
GinGin Boys (YO-HEY & Daisuke Masaoka*) vs The Kabuta brothers
SUSUMU & HAYATA vs GUNSO & Kabuki Kid (HAYATA won with Shining Wizard on Kabuki Kid)
No Tadasuke as he is in America on excursion
*For some reason Ippei was not contactable, and he did not turn up at the venue.
Event notes Kabuki Kid did catering, bought all you can eat bags of candy and clam chowder
Nice weather in Hiroshima, hot for April according to Kabuki Kid
Tsubasa asked Ray Paloma, "Can you do anything without Billy?"
Paloma said yes, yes he could, he could lose in singles, but win in a tag.
Tsubasa said he didn't care, he was coming for the belts
Referee Yoshino was exhausted after the event, said he felt like he had distorted the elbow bones in his arms. He didn't stay for the aftershow party as he couldn't take anymore and returned to the hotel.
"Fusion of club atmosphere and professional wrestling"
Sadly, the Dotonbori Arena shut down in March 2014, it reopened October 2015 but then shut again. I'm not sure of what has become of the premises since.
Card
Tadasuke has a special send off match tonight as he is going to America on expedition, he will be facing HAYATA (HAYATA won with the Headache).
YO-HEY has a knee injury so he isn't competing, however, he said he would be there to drink Sake and watch.
The Event
The Kubota Brothers vs Shoichi Uchida & Kaiki was changed to a hardcore match last moment
Green Ant & Ophidian challenged PaloBilly (Ray Paloma and BillyKenKid) for the tag titles, and yes, there was a dance off between the four of them. However, the Dove team retained the belts.
HAYATA made a sneak attack on Tadasuke before the bell rang
After the main event title match, Tadasuke sat in the ring and made an emotional farewell on the microphone to the fans and the promotion. Afterwards there was the usual toast with Tequila.
Other
~ One of the Kubota brothers mentioned his busy schedule, likening it to a mini band tour, he even mentioned that he would be appearing in Noah on the 27th February.
~ KabukiKid bought homemade food to the venue
~ As there was a long bus drive tomorrow to Tokyo, HAYATA said he was staying up all night.
"When I was chatting with GUNSO, a cat fell from the ceiling of the Dotonbori Arena! I thought my heart would stop!"
TORU.
HAYATA & Tadasuke vs Green Ant & Ophidian.
This match was the main event, with the announcement being taped to a drum can.
No. I'm not kidding. That is what really happened.
YO-HEY had a knee injury and so didn't wrestle, but he was still at the venue. A fan asked him how he was, he said he was getting better, but it would take a little more time.
GUNSO announced at the start of the event that due to knee ligament injury, he would not be competing that evening. This seemed to be a very last minute decision, and some of the card was changed as a result, but the main event stayed the same.
Referee Yoshino refers to GUNSO'S cat as "The President". He sat on his knee at the Dove office, and he felt that he had been accepted into the promotion.
Despite HAYATA giving Ophidian a headache to the chair, Green Ant won the match.
Ray Paloma refused to let the ref touch his hair during the body check.
Tequila toast at the end. HAYATA went and drank beer. Somehow Ophidian managed to drink with his mask on.
You can read the interview with the GinGin Boys from this video here, but I warn you, if you are easily offended, please don't.
A fan visited a real estate agent in a cold Osaka (snow was forecast), and found that even they were promoting Dove.
Dove sold Taco and Chowder at the venue, which were made by KabukiKid.
TORU turned up hungover, having been doing Mongolian Liquor shots
Card of note Gunso & KabukiKid vs HAYATA & Tadasuke GinGin Boys (now officially known as that) teamed with Ray Paloma against The Kubota Brothers.
Kenshin Chikano came to Dove for the first time, he is an old friend of YO-HEY'S from DragonGate, his opponent Shoichi Uchida was described as the "Pro Wrestling nomad"
After the match, one of the Kubota brothers said he had medicine to help Ippei become a GinGin Boy (I think you can guess exactly what kind of medicine that is). Paloma said it would only help for a while, but he should be "GinGin for life".
At the end of the event, Tadasuke started setting up chairs in the ring, he then sat and announced that he was going on expedition to America, but that he would be in Dove on the 7th and 21st, the roster came out to celebrate with him and toasted with tequila.
Food was available, but it wasn't bought or made by KabukiKid this time. For the evet Tamuta Cafe bought special fried chicken, rice balls (pork miso & egg, tempura, spam). It made the venue smell deep fried (which was probably an interesting mixture along with cigarette smoke and alcohol).
GUNSO has now officially changed his name from 504
At the end of the event there was "Year End party from Hell" as KabukiKid put it
Sadly I have no information on this, but I can imagine what it was like.
On the card tonight HAYATA takes on Kenshin Chikano.
No YO-HEY or Tadasuke.
Referee Yoshino got onto the Shinkansen to Hiroshima at the last moment, one of the Kubota brothers asked him if he had remembered to pack his referee pants and jersey. He said yes he had.
Big crowd turned out, despite it being colder than Nagoya, the event was described as being "Super packed"
"Palobilly" (Ray Paloma and BillyKenKid) got back together to challenge for the tag titles, which are being held at this point by the Kubota brothers, after breaking up in May. Fans asked "When did this happen?" They ended up taking the belts.
Paloma was excited as this was the first belt he had ever won.
During the course of the match, referee Yoshino was knocked out of the ring and he hit the floor hard and was winded. He said he still had slight backache the next day.
