Japanese Pro-Wrestling in 2015, A Year in Review

Keep in mind that I have not covered everything that has been posted throughout this year, but at the top of every month I have linked back to the archive for all the posts I that I have made for that specific time throughout this year. As well as links to the specific stories can be found right after the dates listed, that is if I actually covered them on the blogs. So be sure to double check there for further details on any of any event or news that caught your attention. Thanks for supporting PS this year, and as every years comes I hope to continue growing in my vast knowledge and in turn providing you will all with the latest news and information in regards to Japanese Pro-Wrestling. Thanks for the support and let’s see what 2016 has to offer.

P.S. If you found this post informative, please help “Keep The Spirit Alive” by supporting through donations or even through the monthly Patreon (link is located right on top of the left column). This is a project of love, but as I am getting into my 30’s it is becoming harder and harder to dedicate as much free time as I would like.  Just $1 a month would be a tremendous help in covering the server costs as well showing the wife that this isn’t all for nothing. I do not plan on stopping anytime soon, as time is permitted, but any support would be much appreciated. Every like or follow on the Puroresu Spirit facebook and or twitter means a lot as it builds towards noticing the amount of real work that I personally do everyday in regards to the sport. Thanks for following the website, facebook page, twitter, and or the tumblr blog. [Charles/BushidoRX]

Be sure to check out the “Puroresu Title History 2015” for a record of title changes throughout the course of the year.
http://puroresuspirit.net/puroresu-title-history-2015/

I have also updated that”2015 Recommended Puroresu Matches” as I have watched and then decided to add them.
http://puroresuspirit.net/2015-recommended-puroresu-matches/

Quick jump to a specific month….

JAN (Below) – FEB – MARCH – APRIL – MAY – JUNE
JULY – AUG – SEPT – OCT – NOV – DEC

The listing goes in chronological order from the dates that they happened then a link to the news story, if published by Puroresu Spirit, and then a quick wording of what happened. If you want more details be sure to click on the link provided.

JANUARY 2015

[1/1] ZERO1 – Held their New Years Show at the Korakuen Hall. Kohei Sato defeated Ryoji Sai to retain the World Heavy belt. Masato Tanaka also took on Takashi Sugiura.
[1/2] AJPW – Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori defended the World Tag belts against KENSO & Mitsuya Nagai. Naoya Nomura also claimed his first career victory over Yuma Aoyagi.
[1/2] BJW – Yuko Miyamoto defended the Deathmatch Heavy belt against Kankuro Hoshino.
[1/3] AJPW – Go Shiozaki became the Triple Crown champion after defeating Joe Doering. Mitsuya Nagai & Takeshi Minamino also became the Asia Tag Champions after beating Kento Miyahara & Kotaro Suzuki.
[1/3] DDT – Held a special New Year box office. Brahman Brothers and Gorgeous Matsuno defended he KO-D 6 Tag belts.
[1/4] NJPW – Their biggest show of the year was held at the Tokyo Dome. Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Kazuchika Okada to defend the IWGP Heavyweight belt. Okada left in tears. Shinsuke Nakamura also defended the IWGP IC belt against Kota Ibushi in a match of the year contender. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata captured the IWGP Tag belts. Togi Makabe defeated Tomohiro Ishii to capture the NEVER belt. Kenny Omega also captured the IWGP Jr. belt.
[1/5] NJPW – AJ Styles pinned Tanahashi to become the next contender for the belt. Yuji Nagata challenged Nakamura for the IWGP IC belt. Liger defended the NWA Jr. belt against El Desperado. The the groundwork was set for Minoru Suzuki to invade NOAH.
[1/6] NJPW – Tanahashi vs. Styles was made official.
[1/7] AJPW – Held a show in Shirakawa where Shiozaki won the main event as the headlining champion.
[1/10] NOAH – Marufuji defended the GHC Heavy belt against Satoshi Kojima. Minoru Suzuki appeared as he declared war on NOAH’s turf.
[1/11] NOAH – Marufuji announced that he would take on Suzuki on 3/15. TMDK would also defend the GHC Tag belts against KES on 2/11.
[1/11] WRESTLE-1 – Manabu Soya defeated Keiji Mutoh via submission. Kaz Hayashi & Shuji retained the W-1 Tag belts against Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yusuke Kodama. KAI also defeated Masakatsu Funaki.
[1/12] NOAH – The official start of the Suzuki-gun NOAH invasion begins as they compete for the first time in the NOAH ring. Suzuki-gun completely dominated the NOAH wrestlers throughout the show.
[1/12] LEGEND – Tiger, Takatoriki, and Riki Choshu defeated Atsushi Onita’s team in the main event. LEONA (Fujinami) claimed his first career victory.
[1/12] AJPW – Zeus became the next contender for the Triple Crown belt after beating KENSO.
[1/13] NJPW/FANTASTICA MANIA – The opening of the joint NJPW & CMLL show was held.
[1/16] DRAGON GATE – Jimmy Susumu became the next contender for the Open The Dream Gate Championship. He challenged the champion BxB Hulk for a match on 2/5.
[1/18] NJPW/FANTASTICA MANIA – Ultimo Guerrero vs Atlantis took place at the Korakuen Hall.
[1/19] NJPW/FANTASTICA MANIA – The final show of the yearly series took place at Korakuen. Mascara Dorada announced that he signed a 1 year contract to compete in NJPW.
[1/22] Cho-Hanabi – Atsushi Onita unveiled that Bakuha-o championship belt with his opponent Yoshihiro Takayama.
[1/23] NOAH – Suzuki-gun continued to dominate NOAH as Suzuki stomped on the NOAH flag and had no respect for the late Mitsuharu Misawa.
[1/23] Cho-Hanabi – Yoshihiro Takayama became the first ever Bakuha-o champion after he beat Onita.
[1/24] NOAH – Suzuki-gun claimed a win after a 5 vs 5 elimination match. Atsushi Kotoge defended the GHC Jr. belt against Daisuke Harada. Taichi and Zack Sabre challenged the champion after the match.
[1/25] DDT – Kota Ibushi teamed with Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi.
[1/25] TAKA & Taichi Produce – TAKA, Taichi & Desperado lost to K.E.S. (Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.) in a special tag match.
[1/26] NOAH – Marufuji announced that he would be bringing in someone to compete on NOAH’s side against Suzuki-gun.
[1/29] FREEDOMS – Masashi Takeda & Jun Kasai defended the FREEDOM TAG belts against El Hijo del Winger Uno & El Hijo del Winger Dos (Brahman Bros.).
[1/30] WRESTLE-1 – Keiji Mutoh defended the W-1 Championship against Manabu Soya. Hayashi & Kondo defended the W-1 Tag belts against KAZMA SAKAMOTO & Koji Doi. KAI also defeated Masayuki Kono. Shotaro Ashino and Kumagoro both made their in-ring debuts.
[1/31] AJPW – A show was held in memorial to Giant Baba’s 17th anniversary since his passing. Suwama also faced Genichiro Tenryu for the first time ever in a tag match.