Post by 円相! TV on Sept 2, 2023 17:54:45 GMT
The 4536 Group’s reboot of MAX-J as a brand was the talk of the summer in the world of Japanese pro-wrestling. Flashes of the past combined with the forward-looking ambition of the company has had the critics anticipating what CEO Masaaki “Genki” Sano’s next move would be and today we finally have the answer.
At a press conference in Fukuoka, Sano pointed south and officially proclaimed that MAX-J has taken the lead promoting an event that will occur on 9/23 on the island of Okinawa that has been announced as GRAPPLING SONATA ZERO SPACE (see the promotional poster below). He stressed that this event would have a very different feel from the popular CRUISERWORLD! weekend shows that were hosted earlier in July and the event will take place in the 5,000 seat Shintoshin Blue Ocean Arena.
The All-Japan Sports and Wrestling Commission has cleared several of the matches – including a V2 defense of the World Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship as the night’s main event – to be fought under the sport form rules, a grappling ruleset made popular by MAX-J when it existed as a standalone company. CEO Sano has said that he wants to show the world that cruiserweights are true warriors and not “mere acrobats”.
The show will feature both new and familiar faces to fans of both MAX-J as well as Pollo Road. The current tag champions, METAL HERO and Earth Warrior will defend the titles under sport form rules versus Kaminari Dojo lieutenant Katushiko “Genius” Himura and his recently-recruited friend from the Yokohama-based Shining Road Pro-Wrestling, NOBOSUKE, who has since made a name for himself in Mexico.
In order to finance the event, MAX-J has once again joined forces Pollo Road, but has also brought in an unusual but not entirely unfamiliar partner. The Japan Chessboxing League, whose Tactical Bowl featured on the card of the co-promoted MAX-J and BLACK Lion’s Road New Year’s Festival BOM-BA-YE III, agreed to co-finance the event in exchange for hosting the Gusuku Bowl on the show as a co-main event. David Troy was one of the competitors of the previous show and that performance is still remembered as one of the highest attended chessboxing bouts in Japan. The Gusuku Bowl will feature David Troy's highly anticipated return to the world of chessboxing vs Shigeru “Starboy” Toyama, a protégé of Demon Lord ZENKI (who is otherwise suspiciously absent from the card).
Other sport form bouts will feature a superheavyweight contest between El Cerdo Mostaza and MAX-J alum Balloon Yamazaki, as well as Devlin Masters versus the recently signed “foreign ace” of MAX-J, Jimmy Winner. Pollo Road audiences may be familiar with Winner not only from Lion’s Road but also as the last Scramble Champion in the history of Pollomania Lucha Libre. Winner has said that as a former champion in the universe of lucharesu, he will showcase his skills since fans in North America have last seen him.
The show will open with a six-man tag team match, fought under traditional pro-wrestling rules, that will feature World Cruiserweight Champion AJ Knight leading the tag team of MEZA and LYNX versus the newly acquired talents of the Hokkaido-based faction Sapporo Hansou & Yacht Club (SHYc) who have stated they will “sail the super-yacht” into Naha and give the fans a show. Akira Nakamura and Shinzo Takamori, who were sipping champagne on the beach when asked by reporters what they thought of having an opportunity to step in the ring with the World Cruiserweight Champion, laughed and remarked, “Americans are so broke these days, they’re probably too poor to even travel” but that they would be in attendance and ready for the match regardless.
GRAPPLING SONATA ZERO SPACE
Date: 9/23/2023
Location: Shintoshin Blue Ocean Arena, Naha, Okinawa
1. Pollo Road vs. SHYc: AJ Knight, MEZA, & LYNX vs. Akira Nakamura, Shinzo Takamori, and Takeda Izumi
2. Sport Form Rules: Devlin Masters vs. Jimmy Winner
3. BEAST MEETS WEST!! ~ Sport Form Rules: Balloon Yamazaki vs. El Cerdo Mostaza
4. Japan Chessboxing League Gusuku Bowl: David Troy vs. Shigeru Toyama
5. World Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship – Sport Form Rules: METAL HERO and Earth Warrior (c) vs. Katsuhiko Himura & NOBOSUKE