Golden Week in Japan will see lots of great pro wrestling, and Ganbare Pro Wrestling will contribute in its own way. GanPro will present LOVE PHANTOM 2023 in Korakuen Hall for the first true big event of the year. There’s a lot to be excited about from title matches, to imports, and of course a big debut. Let’s take a look at what the wildcard company of CyberFight has in store.
RIARA Debut Match: YuuRI vs. RIARA
RIARA makes her highly anticipated debut in GanPro, as she takes on someone who’s sorta been the heart of GanJo with Yuna Manase out in YuuRI. I’ve spoken at length about RIARA’s debut ahead of her first exhibition at the GanJo relaunch, and during that Exhibition, she impressed big time. To put it into perspective for fans of Joshi, she had strong Hiromi Mimura vibes in how she portrayed the underdog. However, I’m more interested in how YuuRI approaches the match being the more experienced wrestler in the match. This is a rare occurrence for her, but if her recent outings are any indication then RIARA is in for a rough night.
Syuichiro Katsumura & Moeka Haruhi vs. HARUKAZE & Hartley Jackson
Moeka Haruhi announced at the beginning of April that she will be going on hiatus, as she will be donating a kidney to her sister. This will be her last Korakuen before her hiatus, as she gets to team with her old teammate in THE HALFEE in Syuichiro Katsumura. They held the GWC 6-Man Tag Titles together with Shu Sakurai on two different occasions. Moeka even challenged for the Independent World Junior Championship when it served as the top belt in GanPro. Losing her for a little while is a significant blow to the company and the GanJo branch. If Yuna Manase is the heart of GanJo, then Moeka Haruhi is a wall that surrounds the heart that you must overcome to reach it.
What she does for GanJo can’t be replicated by anyone, and she is probably the most consistent wrestler in GanPro. Facing off with Hartley Jackson and HARUKAZE should provide a fun time, and a fierce fight to send Moeka out.
Yoshiko Hasegawa vs. Nao Kakuta
Yoshiko Hasegawa, as of recently, has really started to have those good performances you want to see her have. Now with Moeka Haruhi headed to hiatus, now is the time for Yoppy to take that big leap she’s been slowly climbing toward. She’s been getting a lot of big singles matches recently, and this one is no different as she battles TJPW’s Nao Kakuta. They are both formerly of Actress girl’Z, and just as of this writing Yoppy faced Tae Honma in a singles match. The perfect warmup for this big match. What I’m looking to gauge here is how far Yoppy has come since signing with GanPro.
GANPRO vs. Warrior Race: Ken Ohka, Shinichiro Tominaga & Munetatsu Nakamura vs. Isami Kodaka, Minoru Fujita & Daiki Simomura
This match was set whenever Isami Kodaka was announced as Shota’s 15th Debut Anniversary opponent. Over the past two months, we have had a few previews, as Daiki and Munetatsu have had a singles. Then recently Isami and Fujita faced Ohka and Tominaga in a tag team bout, and both times GanPro came out on the losing end. Their back is against the wall, and now is the time to showcase their strength and come out victorious against the former UWA World Trios Champion team.
ROMANCE DAWN(Shota & Soma Takao) vs. Dan The Dad & Kody Lane
ROMANCE DAWN went into the Spirit of Ganbare World Tag Team Championship tournament as favorites, but unfortunately failed to make the finals. Now it’s back to the drawing board for Shota and Soma Takao, as they battle imports Kody Lane and Dan The Dad. Kody and Dan were announced as coming to GanPro a little while back, and if you’d like to speculate it could be that Shota discovered them on his recent U.S. excursion. Let’s see if they can impress against a GanPro staple.
Spirit of Ganbare World Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals: Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yumehito Imanari vs. Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi
After two semi-final matches we now find ourselves in the finals of the Spirit of Ganbare World Tag Team Championship tournament. The Hentai Punch Drunkers team of Hikaru Sato and Tyson Maeguchi defeated Syuichiro Katsumura and Ken Ohka to advance. While Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Yumehito Imanari bulldozed ROMANCE DAWN to find themselves in the finals. This was the best possible final that we could’ve gotten due to how both teams mesh. Maeguchi has been improving rapidly this year, and the minor preview we got for this? Came on the final show of a triple header at Basement MONSTAR which saw him and Imanari slug it out in trios action, and Imanari get the win.
No doubt he’s going to be out for revenge, and looking to showcase his growth since becoming a GanPro regular by taking the World Tag Titles with Sato. However, will skill be enough to overcome a bond joined together via a connection with Shinjiro Otani? Takaiwa and Imanari vowed to never meet in singles until the GM could see it, but when this tournament came about? They joined forces. This might not be the best match of the night, but it will be the stiffest.
Spirit of Ganbare Openweight Championship: Mizuki Watase (c) vs. Keisuke Ishii
Mizuki Watase has captured the heart of fans in GanPro transferring from DDT after not reaching the heights he hoped he would have. Immediately becoming someone whose love for GanPro ran deep, and defended them at any given turn. Culminating in his big moment of becoming the top singles champion in GanPro. What if I told you that Keisuke Ishii did all of that, and arguably even more before Watase did? Keisuke Ishii was a part of the iconic Dream Future’s trio of he, Shigehiro Irie, and Soma Takao dubbed to be the future of DDT. Ishii had success but never got that KO-D Openweight Championship. A win that would solidify himself at the top of DDT. In 2018, Ishii and Kouki Iwasaki were sent to GanPro on a loan that soon turned into a full transfer.
Since then, he’s been one of GanPro’s top stars and he held the Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship twice when it was GanPro’s top belt. Across those two reigns, he held that belt for well over 500 days and had classics along the way. However, it has been almost three years since Ishii was singles champion. Plus this time it’s different as the belt he is aiming for actually reads Ganbare on it, and isn’t some belt handed down to GanPro.
The Final Roadblock
Keisuke Ishii pinned Mizuki Watase to earn this title match, and they’ve stiffed each other countless times en route to this title match. Watase has even introduced a new Wrist Clutch Tombstone finish designed for this match with Ishii. Why is that? He knows his title reign is in danger. Watase has turned back challenge after challenge and has gone head-up with some of the toughest wrestlers out there. In order to prove that he’s the right choice to lead GanPro, but now he faces his final roadblock. While he is the Spirit of Ganbare Champion, Keisuke Ishii is the symbol of strength in Ganbare Pro Wrestling.
You can check out Ganbare Pro LOVE PHANTOM 2023 on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
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