ZERO-ONE ran a big show at Korakuen Hall today. After defeating Kohei Sato, Hirotaka Yokoi announced that he would work UFO's 8/8 Tokyo Dome mega-show. In a rematch from late 1996, Kintaro Kanemura downed TAKA Michinoku, defeating the junior with a diving senton using chairs. Spanky successfully defended the Z1/UPW/NWA Jr. Title, beating C.W. Anderson (who I never saw as a junior), and is expected to make his next defense against TAKA. Tetsuhiro Kuroda scored a crucial win, defeating Steve Corino, while the big one and a rematch from last year's thriller saw Masato Tanaka score a revenge win over Shinjiro Otani. Tanaka bled, just like he did against Kanemura the other day, but won after three lariats.

ZERO-ONE, 7/31/02 (Samurai! TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Kuroge Wagyuta & Fugofugo Yumeji beat Kamikaze & Shinsuke Sumiya (12:18) when Wagyuta used a camel clutch on Sumiya.
2. Fire Festival - Block B: Hirotaka Yokoi [4] beat Kohei Sato [2] (7:02) by referee stop.
3. Fire Festival - Block A: Kintaro Kanemura [3] beat TAKA Michinoku [2] (9:55) with a diving senton.
4. Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Yuki Ishikawa & Daisuke Sekimoto beat Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Naohiro Hoshikawa & Yoshito Sasaki (15:46) when Ishikawa used a ground sleeper hold on Sasaki.
5. ZERO-ONE/NWA/UPW Jr. Heavyweight Title: Spanky (c) beat C.W. Anderson (10:26) with a front cradle (2nd defense).
6. Fire Festival - Block B: Tetsuhiro Kuroda [2] beat Steve Corino [2] (9:46) with a Gannosuke clutch.
7. Fire Festival - Block A: Masato Tanaka [3] beat Shinjiro Otani [2] (14:06) with a lariat.
8. Shinya Hashimoto, Kazuhiko Ogasawara & Ryouji Sai beat Tom Howard , The Predator & King Joe (11:01) when Hashimoto used a DDT on Joe.

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New Japan announced full lineups and match order for the first two shows of the "BATTLE TYPHOON G1 CLIMAX 2002". Couple of surprises. Firstly, Sasaki vs. Takayama headlines the tour opener above Nagata vs. Chono, which is a battle of the company's top two stars. Secondly, Osamu Nishimura gets another huge chance, as he and Chono will main event the 8/4 show above Tenzan vs. Takayama. Jado also returns from his spinal injury, which kept him out of action for a while.

NJPW, 8/3/02 (PPV/WPW)
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

1. Masahito Kakihara & Masayuki Naruse vs. Blue Wolf & Wataru Inoue
2. Jushin Thunder Liger, Minoru Tanaka & El Samurai vs. Koji Kanemoto, Jado & Gedo
3. G1 Climax - Block A: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
4. G1 Climax - Block A: Yutaka Yoshie vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
5. G1 Climax - Block B: Kenzo Suzuki vs. Tadao Yasuda
6. G1 Climax - Block B: Manabu Nakanishi vs. Osamu Nishimura
7. G1 Climax - Block B: Yuji Nagata vs. Masahiro Chono
8. G1 Climax - Block A: Kensuke Sasaki vs. Yoshihiro Takayama

NJPW, 8/4/02 (WPW)
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

1. Blue Wolf vs. Toru Yano
2. Masayuki Naruse vs. Wataru Inoue
3. Jushin Thunder Liger, Minoru Tanaka & Masahito Kakihara vs. Koji Kanemoto, Jado & Gedo
4. G1 Climax - Block A: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Yutaka Yoshie
5. G1 Climax - Block B: Yuji Nagata vs. Kenzo Suzuki
6. G1 Climax - Block A: Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
7. G1 Climax - Block B: Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tadao Yasuda
8. G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yoshihiro Takayama
9. G1 Climax - Block B: Osamu Nishimura vs. Masahiro Chono

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- Toshiaki Kawada, still recovering from his bad injury, has begun training for his eventual comeback. Kawada said that although Royal Road is changing under the Muto regime, he will never change. He didn't give a return date, but said he's training hard to come back as soon as possible.

- Hiroshi Tanahashi made a bold comment the other day, saying he would defeat his mentor, Kensuke Sasaki, in the G1 Climax, then dismiss the new SWING-LOWS faction, as it's purpose (which is Sasaki mentoring the three young lions) would be over.