Pretty uneventful show today, with not a lot to talk about for the first time this tour. Kakihara continued to defeat Kanemoto, indirectly today, but a win is a win. Makabe, TAKA & Fujita got another good win, beating Koshinaka, Liger & Heat when Makabe once more lariated Heat for the win. "The Four Pinnacles" (or "Strongest Quartet" as they were nicknamed today) were victorious in the main event, just too good for the Makai Club today. Finish saw Nagata drop Mask #2 on his head with a wrist-clutch Exploder for the 1-2-3.
NJPW, 12/5/02
Kochi Resident Gymnasium
1,600 Fans
1. Blue Wolf beat Toru Yano (6:47) with a Mongolian slam.
2. Osamu Nishimura & El Samurai beat GOKU-DO & Super Crazy (16:09) when Nishimura used a back cradle on GOKU-DO.
3. Masahito Kakihara & Masayuki Naruse beat Koji Kanemoto & Stampede Kid (10:38) when Naruse used the Crazy Cyclone on Kid.
4. Shinya Makabe, TAKA Michinoku
& Minoru Fujita beat Shiro Koshinaka, Jushin Thunder Liger & Heat (12:41) when Makabe used a lariat on Heat.
5. Mike Barton & Jim Steele beat Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto (10:36) when Barton used the Barton buster on Hiro.
6. Scott Norton & Rick Steiner beat Yutaka Yoshie & Kenzo Suzuki (11:28) when Steiner used a Death Valley bomb on Suzuki.
7. Masahiro Chono, Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi beat Kazunari Murakami, Ryushi Yanagisawa, Makai Mask #1 & Makai Mask #2 (15:02) when Nagata used a wrist-clutch Exploder on Mask #2.
---
Saturday's show has several interesting matches. This isn't listed as a TV taping, but the main event at least will air in some form, as title matches always do. Hopefully on the Complete Edition show or SXW, because the IWGP Jr. Tag Title match from April (Jado & Gedo vs. Shibata & Inoue) only aired clipped on the 60 minute show. On the undercard, Liger is teaming with Heat and Naruse, so either this "faction split" won't go into effect yet or was just a one night argument. Triathlon Survivors, Nakanishi & Nishimura, face Barton & Steele in what could be considered an unofficial IWGP Tag Title #1 contender match. Chono & Tenzan face Yanagisawa & Mask #2, which serves as a lead-in to their title match with Yasuda & Yanagisawa on the tour climax. The awesome team of Nagata & Iizuka finally reunite, the 2000 G1 Tag League winners, who bested Tenkoji to win that tournament, facing Murakami & Mask #1, another tag that will lead into a title match (Nagata vs. Murakami). And the main event should be a thriller, with Kanemoto defending the IWGP Jr. Title against Kakihara in what has been a very interesting feud. Kakihara has two singles wins over Kanemoto this year, plus many tag wins on this tour (two direct fall victories), so Koji must find his form or there will be a new IWGP Jr. Champion in Tokushima.
NJPW, 12/7/02
Tokushima Municipal Gymnasium
1. El Samurai vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
2. Jushin Thunder Liger, Heat & Masayuki Naruse vs. GOKU-DO, Stampede Kid & Super Crazy
3. Kenzo Suzuki & Toru Yano vs. Yutaka Yoshie & Blue Wolf
4. Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Scott Norton & Shinya Makabe
5. Manabu Nakanishi & Osamu Nishimura vs. Mike Barton & Jim Steele
6. Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Ryushi Yanagisawa & Makai Mask #2
7. Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka vs. Kazunari Murakami & Makai Mask #1
8. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Koji Kanemoto (c) vs. Masahito Kakihara
---
--> "NAVIGATION, UPRISING SPIRIT 2002" <--
After today's fifth match, Akiyama and Shiga had an impromptu singles match before their schedule match on 12/7. It ended quickly though, when Shiga was DQ'd for refusing to release the Shiga sleeper when Akiyama got to the ropes. When Shiga wouldn't break at the five count, the referee called for the bell.
NOAH, 12/5/02
Ishioka Movement Park Gymnasium
1,700 Fans
1. Mitsuo Momota beat Haruka Eigen (7:56) with a cradle cutback.
2. Akitoshi Saito beat Kishin Kawabata (12:26) with the Sickle of Death.
3. Tamon Honda, Masao Inoue & Jun Izumida beat Takeshi Morishima, Takeshi Rikio & Masashi Aoyagi (19:29) when Honda used the rolling Olympic Hell II on Aoyagi.
4. Yoshinari Ogawa & Takuma Sano beat Kentaro Shiga & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (17:07) when Ogawa used a backdrop suplex hold on Kikuchi.
5. Jun Akiyama, Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat Michael Modest & Donovan Morgan (10:45) when Kanemaru used a brainbuster on Morgan.
6. Jun Akiyama beat Kentaro Shiga (3:21) by DQ.
7. Kenta Kobashi & KENTA beat Mitsuharu Misawa & Kotaro Suzuki (17:01) when KENTA used a kick on Suzuki.
8. Vader, Scorpio & Bison Smith beat Akira Taue, Daisuke Ikeda & Takashi Sugiura (18:51) when Scorpio used a diving body press on Sugiura.
---
The full lineup for NOAH's big Yokohama show was announced, matches #1 to #3 added today.
NOAH, 12/7/02 (NTV)
Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium
1. Mitsuo Momota & Masashi Aoyagi vs. Haruka Eigen & Kishin Kawabata
2. Takuma Sano, Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue vs. Takeshi Morishima, Takeshi Rikio & Kotaro Suzuki
3. Akira Taue, Daisuke Ikeda, KENTA & Takashi Sugiura vs. Scorpio, Michael Modest, Donovan Morgan & IZU
4. Kenta Kobashi vs. Bison Smith
5. Jun Akiyama vs. Kentaro Shiga
6. Akitoshi Saito vs. Vader
7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (c) vs. Jado
& Gedo
8. GHC Heavyweight Title: Mitsuharu Misawa (c) vs. Yoshinari Ogawa
---
Big Japan launches a new show on Samurai! TV on 12/9. It basically looks into the career of a certain wrestler and his history. The first two shows will cover Ryuji Yamakawa's career from when he changed his first name from Seiji to Ryuji. The 12/23 show covers Yamakawa & Yoshihiro Tajiri's successful tag team. Big Japan also announced that 5'5" IPW Cruiserweight Champion, Naphtali, will work the tour as one of the "Allied-Forces Foreigner" mystery wrestlers. The IPW Hardcore star will defend that title on the opening show of the tour (12/6 @ Korakuen Hall) against The Winger.
Browse