Masato Tanaka vs. Shuji Ishikawa Set For ZERO1 Shin-Kiba Event On March 20th

By: Ian McCord

The full card was announced for Pro Wrestling ZERO1’s Shin-Kiba event at 1stRING on March 20th. One of the featured bouts scheduled on the card is Masato Tanaka taking on Shuji Ishikawa.

The last time Tanaka and Ishikawa faced off in singles competition was at NOAH Monday Magic Autumn Vol. 4 in November of 2024. In a match for the GHC Hardcore Openweight Title, Ishikawa defeated Tanaka to retain his championship in just over 19 minutes.

In a special interview posted to ZERO1’s social media, Tanaka discussed Ishikawa’s strengths, and also claimed it’s a must win situation going into his World Heavyweight Championship Defense against Junya Matsunaga at ZERO1’s 25th Anniversary Event on April 4th:

“Hmm, yeah. Well, actually, I’ve lost to him once before—in a Hardcore match, I think. And I already know he’s really strong, so yeah. Well, I think there are parts of his style that are pretty tough to counter, but, well, really… The matches after that are already set, and the title is on the line, so, um, I can’t afford to lose before facing Matsunaga. I really think I have to avoid losing two in a row.”

(English Translation via DeepL)

Here is the full card for ZERO1’s Shin-Kiba event on March 20th:

• Takuya Sugawara & Bryan Ishizaka vs. Quiet Storm & Yuya Aoki
• Chris Vice vs. Yuko Miyamoto
• Yasu Kubota & Hide Kubota vs. Yuki Toki & Van Vert Jack
• Junya Matsunaga vs. Tsugutaka Sato
• Masato Tanaka vs. Shuji Ishikawa
• Hayabusa vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima