Fignuts
12-16-2006, 04:15 PM
Yeah so we got a NOAH thread, may as well make one for the other big two.
This can also be known as the Shuji Kondo appreciation thread. As he is a fucking beast.
AJ and NJ are now working closely together again for the big Tokyo Dome show. Here's the final card:
NJPW "WRESTLE KINGDOM IN TOKYO DOME", 1/4/07 (WPW/PPV)
Tokyo Dome
1. WELCOME TO TOKYO DOME! New Year Funny Waltz: Masanobu Fuchi , El Samurai & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kikutaro, Nobutaka Araya & Akira Raijin
2. Artistic Tag Team Battle: Jado & Gedo vs. NOSAWA & MAZADA
3. Rockin' Your Hearts of Fxxxing Outlaws: Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii vs. D-Lo Brown , Buchanan & Travis Tomko
4. Dimension Zero: Riki Choshu, Manabu Nakanishi, Takashi Iizuka & Naofumi Yamamoto vs. TARU, Suwama , RO'Z & Giant Bernard
5. Top of the World ~ Arts of War: Koji Kanemoto, Tiger Mask, Kaz Hayashi , TAKA Michinoku & Wataru Inoue vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Minoru, Milano Collection AT, Shuji Kondo & "brother" YASSHI
6. Dangerous Rapture: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Toshiaki Kawada
7. Triple Crown: Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Yuji Nagata
8. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Taiyo Kea
9. Super Dream Tag Match ~ "This is Wrestle Kingdom": Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima
This looks like an amazing card. Particularly excited to see Nakamura vs Kawada.
Fignuts
12-17-2006, 02:57 PM
Tanahashi's world strategy, show cancelled, Liger in WMF by Stuart - 17 Dec 2006 - [Comments (3)]
Supposing he beats Kea on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome, Tanahashi wants to defend his title overseas. During his contract signing in January, he's going to speak to management about setting up overseas defenses, including one in TNA. Tanahashi said he hasn't forgotten the fans chanting his name in TNA, and wants to return a year later to show them how much his status has improved since then.
New Japan has had to cancel its 2/17 Furukawa house show for unknown reasons. Apparently, they will try to reschedule it for another date in 2007, but the first tour of 2007 is now a twelve match series.
Liger's pilgrimage between tours continued today when he acted as Soldier's opponent when Soldier returned to his local Toyohashi. Liger won the match with his brainbuster and added yet another promotion to the long list of ones he has appeared in.
WMF, 12/17/06
Toyohashi City Gymnasium #2
- Jushin Thunder Liger beat Soldier (13:33) with a brainbuster.
Fignuts
01-09-2007, 12:48 AM
After a one year interval, New Japan returned to the Tokyo Dome today and despite the possibility of the tradition ending, the January 4th saga continued to begin 2007. 28,000 fans turned up at the Tokyo Dome, which wasn't too far from the truth compared to some claims, and with the second floor and outfield not open (no tickets were sold for them from the start as part of expense reductions), most of the available seats were full on the day, so New Japan will be happy about that. However, the question remains whether running the Tokyo Dome is worth it with things how they are, even if it keeps a tradition alive, when a show like this could have overfilled a building like Sumo Hall, which costs far less to hire than the expensive Dome and tends to create a warmer atmosphere. Most reports are positive for what was an entertaining show that displayed the combined package of New Japan and All Japan, and was a very bright start to the year for New Japan after some disappointing 1/4 shows in recent years. "Inoki's shadow has disappeared from New Japan and the professional wrestling of Yuke's has arrived" said one report. This was the first 1/4 show in recent history with no "1-2-3-DAA" from Antonio Inoki, who has very little direct influence inside New Japan at present, despite speculation that he would like to buy back the company from Yuke's. Today's show also had a cash injection from new sponsor Fields, the famous pachinko machine manufacturer, who also sponsor K-1 and who have monopoly rights to use Inoki's image on machines.
Today's show was headlined by a dream tag match between stars of New Japan's second and third generations, now separated by promotions. After dominating the Real World Tag League and defeating Muto & Kawada in the final, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima looked to continue their reunion with a win over their mentors, Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono. The four men have been linked for a long time and were leading members of nWo Japan, and this was in fact Muto & Chono's first match as a tag team since the nWo golden era. Both teams entered to remixed union tracks, Muto's "Trans Magic" and Chono's "Crash" joined together, leading to a great entrance as you'd expect. Both looked up to the heavens as they entered, and an image of Shinya Hashimoto, the third "Musketeer", appeared on the screen. The match took a while to pick up, but had all the big moves later on and showed "Wrestle Kingdom" to the newer fans and numerous of the lost fans from the 90s golden age who showed up to see the generation they followed back then. The finish was a big surprise to many, given TenKoji's training and form leading in, as the second generation scored a sort of "double submission" victory, Chono with his cross-style STF on Tenzan (the legal men) and Muto with his figure-four leglock on Kojima. So despite besting their teachers in singles matches in recent years, Tenzan and Kojima still haven't totally exceeded them, and despite their increasing age and worsening physical condition, Muto and Chono showed today that they are still threats in 2007. The show was over, but Muto and Chono put on white headbands to commemorate Hashimoto and pointed to the sky. Hashimoto's proud figure appeared on the big screen and the Tokyo Dome erupted in "Hashimoto! Hashimoto! Hashimoto!" calls. Although Chono did the same for Hashimoto after winning the 2005 G1, with Muto here it was more symbollic and many felt it was the de facto 3 Musketeers performance that Kusama nixed in 2004. Muto said he and Chono had borrowed Hashimoto's power, and that the three will forever be bonded. Chono said he found the same energy he had in his young lion days today, and was that he dug down deep before losing his remaining strength. Chono said that New Japan and All Japan have lasted 35 years, and that if you look for one of the big fighting promotions (like PRIDE and K-1), they can't boast the same thing. Chono said the promotions that know history, New Japan and All Japan, will lead professional wrestling this year and pull the industry together.
Both New Japan and All Japan's main titles were on the line today and there were no border-breaking switches. Hiroshi Tanahashi's first reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion continues to grow with him, as last year's Champion Carnival winner and previous Triple Crown Champion, Taiyo Kea, joined Tenzan and Nakamura on Tanahashi's increasingly impressive list of successful defenses. This was never an easy match for Tanahashi, even though he brushed Kea off in the media and looked forward to potential defenses against Muto and Kojima. Kea knew what a big opportunity this was and savagely attacked Tanahashi, pulling up the ringside mats early on and dropping Tanahashi on the exposed concrete with his TKO finisher. This was a performance that raised Kea's stock in the eyes of many new fans who saw him, as he was impressive when he attacked the champion. Tanahashi began his counterattack after 10 minutes, and the closing stretch was said to be very good, with the Dome getting into a match between two men who have struggled to hold the crowd in the past. Tanahashi survived both Kea's Surfing suplex and TKO34th, pulling through with a cross-arm German suplex, release Dragon suplex, and finally the High Fly Flow to complete a successful defense. After Tanahashi received his belt from the advisor Seiji Sakaguchi, the two shook hands, praising each other on a good fight. Tanahashi continues to work hard to convince the fans he deserves the belt, but these defenses are taking their toll on him and he will have to be at his very best to fend off upcoming challenges, especially with some of the potential challengers that could pop up shortly. Tanahashi called Kea a wonderful wrestler, and said he was very emotional at having been able to defend the title on this 35th anniversary show. Tanahashi just wants to become stronger in 2007 like he did in 2006, and said he wants to protect the "foundations" of professional wrestling. He wants to spread the merit of pro wrestling to all kinds of new fans, and is looking forward to the challenge. Kea said that if he had to lose, he wanted to lose in a good match, and believes it was, thanking Tanahashi deeply for his part in the match. Kea said the handshake was one from the bottom of his heart.
In what has been described as a memorable match worthy of its setting, old enemies Yuji Nagata and Minoru Suzuki revived their grudge in Suzuki's V2 defense of the Triple Crown. Nagata looked to kill Suzuki's steam, which saw him lift the Triple Crown last year and become the industry's MVP for 2006 as voted by Tokyo Sports. Hate-filled slap battles dominated the early stages, the men showing their contempt for each other (Nagata described Suzuki as "filth" before the match). Suzuki used a Kashin-style cross armbreaker around the ropes, before things got very nasty. Both began to bleed and "Killer" Nagata returned, the same figure that left Kensuke Sasaki (1/4/04) and Kazunari Murakami (1/4/06) down and out in the same building previously. A seething Nagata tried to break Suzuki's arm, the whites of his eyes showing. After more hot fighting, Suzuki trapped Nagata in an Octopus hold, then hit his Gotch-style piledriver. Nagata struck back with a brutal backdrop that shook the Dome, but an attack ended in Nagata reverse dropped and in Suzuki's sleeper. Nagata refused to tap out, showing incredible fighting spirit, and perceiving serious danger, the referee stopped the match, ending one of the most intense matches in recent Tokyo Dome history. This was the sort of performance that has made Nagata one of the most popular wrestlers in the pro wrestling community, despite his disappointing lack of titles or tournaments since he lost the IWGP Heavyweight Title in 2003. Perhaps Nagata's time at the very top will return again, but right now its time to rebuild himself.
In a match called "Dangerous Rapture" and one of the big matches, Toshiaki Kawada returned to New Japan for the first time since the October '05 Tokyo Dome, facing "Black Savior" Shinsuke Nakamura. This was their third meeting after two previous tags, which saw Tenzan & Nakamura defeat Kawada & Nagai in October '04 and Nakamura & Tanahashi defeat Kawada & Anjo in October '05. It was a different Nakamura today though, much bigger and physically stronger, if not as quick as he once was. Nakamura had difficulties striking with Kawada, but held his head high and got in some good shots. Nakamura lured Kawada on to the ground and succeeded in swinging the match his way, showing that he is still adept on the mat despite his bulky frame. Kawada became angry at being outsmarted and dropped his knee to the back of Nakamura's head, but Nakamura persisted and trapped Kawada in a cross armbreaker. Kawada was in serious pain, but managed to escape the juji and fight on. Nakamura was hit by a lariat, and while once he would have flipped over, he didn't even flinch this time. Using a different approach, Kawada applied his Stretch Plum to wear down Nakamura some more. The match became very exciting when they traded big moves, Nakamura's reverse body slam -> Kawada's Dangerous backdrop -> Nakamura's release German -> Kawada's Dangerous backdrop -> Nakamura's release Tiger suplex. Kawada charged at Nakamura with a lariat, but Nakamura brilliantly countered it with his flying cross armbreaker! Nakamura went for his Landslide, but had to modify it slightly to more of a Death Valley bomb, and could only get a two count as a result. As Nakamura tried to tackle Kawada, Kawada counter-struck him hard in the face with a middle kick and covered, getting the win and ending a hard fought war. Kawada took the microphone and said, "Nakamura! I've fought you three times, but today you were better than before! Don't let New Japan be crushed!". Backstage, Kawada demanded continuing participation in New Japan, his eyes perhaps on the champion, Tanahashi. After an impactful return from America with back to back tag tournament wins, Nakamura has hit a brick wall as he continues to adjust to his new style and bulk. Losses to Tanahashi and Kawada in succession are not what he wanted, but perhaps the most important thing is that Nakamura is now really starting to look the real thing, and fans were very impressed by his performance today, as they were when he fought Tanahashi.
Some of the industry's biggest juniors assembled in a huge ten man tag match. The babyface team of Kanemoto, Tiger Mask, Kaz Hayashi, TAKA & Wataru beat the CTU/Voodoo Murders alliance of Liger, Minoru, Milano, Kondo & YASSHI, a match featuring three singles champions. They wasted no time, setting a lightning fast pace early on, a string of dives in the opening moments exciting the fans. Many combinations were in focus like Kanemoto vs. Kondo and Minoru vs. Hayashi, and the action never slowed, before Tiger Mask pinned YASSHI with his Tiger suplex hold. CTU and VM went on a rampage after the match, promising that this wasn't the end of this grudge. After their interaction, the junior dream match of Kanemoto vs. Kondo seems to have been informally determined for an upcoming show, possibly New Japan's 2/18 Sumo Hall event, as Kondo is supposed to be defending his AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title against Nakajima on All Japan's next tour, with their 2/17 Sumo Hall show being the ideal spot. After intruding recently on a New Japan show, Voodoo Murders and their secret spy, Giant Bernard, took on the Sekigun foursome of Choshu, Nakanishi, Iizuka & Yamamoto. Choshu attacked TARU immediately with a Riki lariat, and drew cheers from the fans as he stomped VM's influential backer. Yamamoto was tagged in and things turned around as he was manhandled by big foreigners, Bernard and RO'Z. When he tagged out, Nakanishi exploded into the ring, even lifting RO'Z into his Argentine backbreaker! But the match came down to Yamamoto vs. Suwama, Suwama proving himself to be way above Yamamoto's current level by dropping him with a beautiful backdrop hold for the win. One year after making a good impression in his first Tokyo Dome singles match, Yamamoto doesn't seem to have come very far and it may perhaps be time for him to think about going overseas to self-train. After the match, Bernard had a big dispute with Voodoo Murders, which led to a brawl and his quick reunion with them ending already!
Outlaws collided when GBH's young punk trio of Makabe, Yano & Ishii battled the VM+BLACK gaijin alliance of D-Lo Brown, Buchanan & Tomko. Makabe carried a chain, Yano a chair, and Ishii a GBH flag to the ring. The natives pulled off a very big win, Yano smacking Buchanan from behind with a chair, and WEW World Champion Makabe following up with a lariat for the GBH win! Two "artistic" heel times collided, as IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions, Jado & Gedo, faced the non-title challenge of Tokyo Gurentai, NOSAWA Rongai & MAZADA. The match suffered the problem of being a heel fight between two "craftsmen" teams, the style that never goes over well at the Tokyo Dome, whereas it is the opposite somewhere like Korakuen Hall. In the end, there was a clear difference in ability between the teams, Gedo dropping his Superfly splash on NOSAWA for the win. After beating one indie team, they face the much tougher challenge of DRAGON GATE's Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii at Korakuen on the 7th, and their belts will be on the line this time. NOSAWA & MAZADA ran down New Japan and its fans backstage, showing sour grapes at their loss. The show opened with a lighthearted six man tag, the sort that is a little foreign to New Japan fans, but quite common in All Japan. Fuchi teamed with fellow surly veteran, El Samurai, and "Funky Weapon" Taguchi against comedy king Kikutaro, Nobutaka Araya & Akira Raijin. Taguchi eventually pinned Kikutaro after his Dodon, and invited everyone to do the Tag Dance afterwards... and they did, well except for grumpy Fuchi, who wasn't impressed. Katsuhiko Nagata made a special appearance during intermission, reporting his New Year's Eve victory to the fans. Katsuhiko said that he would continue to carry the signboard of New Japan on his back in K-1 this year, and asked fans for their support. Finally, young lions Hirasawa and Naito both received special trophies today, as their singles match from last October's Kobe World Hall show was chosen as "Young Lion Best Bout" for the year. New Japan's Tokyo schedule shows no signs of easing up, with four Korakuen Hall shows in the next month, then the big 2/18 Sumo Hall event.
Fignuts
01-09-2007, 12:48 AM
NJPW "WRESTLE KINGDOM IN TOKYO DOME", 1/4/07 (WPW/PPV)
Tokyo Dome
28,000 Fans - No Vacancy
1. WELCOME TO TOKYO DOME! New Year Funny Waltz: Masanobu Fuchi , El Samurai & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Kikutaro, Nobutaka Araya & Akira Raijin (8:20) when Taguchi used the Dodon on Kikutaro.
2. Artistic Tag Team Battle: Jado & Gedo beat NOSAWA Rongai & MAZADA (13:06) when Gedo used a Superfly splash on NOSAWA.
3. Rockin' Your Hearts of Fxxxing Outlaws: Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii beat D-Lo Brown , Buchanan & Travis Tomko (9:36) when Makabe used a lariat on Buchanan.
4. Dimension Zero: TARU, Suwama , RO'Z & Giant Bernard beat Riki Choshu, Manabu Nakanishi, Takashi Iizuka & Naofumi Yamamoto (15:38) when Suwama used a backdrop hold on Yamamoto.
5. Top of the World ~ Arts of War: Koji Kanemoto, Tiger Mask, Kaz Hayashi , TAKA Michinoku & Wataru Inoue beat Jushin Thunder Liger, Minoru, Milano Collection AT, Shuji Kondo & "brother" YASSHI (13:01) when Tiger used a Tiger suplex hold on YASSHI.
6. Dangerous Rapture: Toshiaki Kawada beat Shinsuke Nakamura (19:02) with a middle kick.
7. Triple Crown: Minoru Suzuki (c) beat Yuji Nagata (17:22) by referee stop (2nd defense).
8. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) beat Taiyo Kea (17:09) with the High Fly Flow (3rd defense).
9. Super Dream Tag Match ~ "This is Wrestle Kingdom": Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima (18:43) when Chono used a cross-style STF on Tenzan.
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