- After a slip-up yesterday in which Heat accidentally hit Samurai, the New Japan junior army appears to have split into two sides.

Side 1 (old UWF-I style wrestlers): Heat, Masahito Kakihara & Masayuki Naruse
Side 2 (traditional New Japan wrestlers): Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai

Whether this sticks remains to be seen, but could be the start of three way warfare (with T2000 the other side), and where Takemura, Wataru, Tiger Mask (probably Liger), and Shibata stand is unclear if so.

- Inoki made some more comments about Bom-Ba-Ye yesterday. Firstly, he said that although Takayama was mentioned as an opponent for Sapp at the beginning, it's unlikely now, and that he'll return at the Tokyo Dome on 1/4. Inoki has two possible opponents for Bob Sapp in mind: Tadao Yasuda and "Super Rookie" Shinsuke Nakamura, who has been training at the L.A. Dojo for a while now and has an amaresu background. Fujita vs. Cro Cop was officially decided, and Inoki suggested his final disciple, Ryoto Machida, compete on the show.

- The Inoki Army corps wrote an online account of meeting Hisashi Shinma at a live talk show the other day. Shinma was very optmistic about 1/4 ticket sales, bragging that 500 sheets (which isn't 500 tickets, there are a lot of tickets per sheet) alone had already been sold. Shinma said he plans to make his presence felt again at the Tokyo Dome on 1/4, and help revive pro wrestling to it's former glory. A match between Tatsumi Fujinami and Minoru Suzuki has been suggested, with the idea being that Fujinami was responsible for the mess that led to Kensuke's resignation, so he should take responsibility and face Suzuki. Also, Inoki vs. Steven Seagal in a short Exhibition Match is still a possibility, and would be great for ticket sales.

Some news from Kris of World Wide Wrestling now...

Masahiro Chono is highly upset at Tadao Yasuda taking time off to train for his fight on the Inoki Bombaye show on 12/31 saying that Yasuda should come to work and quit disregarding the fans of New Japan, because if he doesn�t, he is promising sanctions on him.

NOAH�s show on Nippon TV on 12/1 drew a 3.0, so the ratings are going back up.

Yoshinari Ogawa stated today that he doesn�t forget and plans on sending Mitsuharu Misawa out on a stretcher after he beats him for the GHC Heavyweight Title on 12/7 at Yokohama Bunka Gym. Misawa gave Ogawa an Emerald Frosion in their singles match on 4/4/01 in Okayama and Ogawa had to be taken out on a stretcher. Ogawa now plans on doing the same to Misawa and vows to crush him.

--> "TRIATHLON SURVIVOR 2002" <--
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.

(Sorry for the server downtime, it went down for a couple of hours *just* as I was about to post this update, it should work fine now)


--> "TRIATHLON SURVIVOR 2002" <--
The Triathlon Survivor tournament (the tour itself isn't over yet) ended today in Hiroshima Sun Plaza. Although this is a cool concept, it may not be a successful one, as New Japan failed to sell out Hiroshima Sun Plaza for the first time in a ages today. However, the crowd was very lively and cheered a lot. There are hints that the tournament may return next year, maybe in elimination format (like the junior version), and possibly for a title. The undercard saw Kakihara get his second direct win of the tour over Kanemoto, and we could well see a title change in Tokushima if Koji doesn't get his act together. Makabe, TAKA & Fujita scored one of their few wins of the tour as a unit, TAKA using a horizontal cradle ("schoolboy") to pin Sammy. The Makai Club minus Yasuda, plus Murakami, downed a strong New Japan trio today, with Murakami again getting the win, using something similar to a Minoru Special (jumping cross armbreaker) on Iizuka for the tap out. Hoshino took a cheap shot in every sense of the word today, throwing a Mongolian chop at Tenzan. Hoshino is quickly becoming "that man" fans want to maul. Then came the Triathlon Survivor final, between group stage winners, Team Nagata, and the only team to beat them during that stage, Gotch-ism. The first fall lasted 23 minutes itself, with Team Nagata getting the duke when Barton pinned Yoshie. Nakanishi & Nishimura tied it up at the 31 minute mark though, Nishimura backsliding Steele... leaving Nagata vs. Nakanishi! These two good friends locked horns again in a singles match, both exhausted, and took it home with a race to the finish. It would be Nakanishi who pinned the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, using, like in the G1, a German suplex hold to pin the ace. A big win for Gotch-ism, establishing them as the trio with the best combination of power, endurance and teamwork in New Japan. I would guess that if Nagata gets past Murakami and Barnett, Nagata vs. Nakanishi for the IWGP Heavyweight Title will headline the big 2/16/03 Tokyo Sumo Hall show.

NJPW, 12/4/02 (WPW)
Hiroshima Sun Plaza
3,800 Fans

1. Hiro Saito beat Toru Yano (5:07) with a diving senton.
2. Jushin Thunder Liger, Masahito Kakihara & Masayuki Naruse beat Koji Kanemoto, Stampede Kid & Super Crazy (16:51) when Kakihara used the Kaki Cutter on Kanemoto.
3. Shiro Koshinaka beat Makai Mask #2 (5:01) with a hip attack.
4. Shinya Makabe, TAKA Michinoku & Minoru Fujita beat Tatsumi Fujinami, El Samurai & Heat (11:30) when TAKA used a horizontal cradle on Samurai.
5. Scott Norton & Rick Steiner beat Kenzo Suzuki & Blue Wolf (11:03) when Norton used a powerbomb on Wolf.
6. Kazunari Murakami, Ryushi Yanagisawa & Makai Mask #1 beat Masahiro Chono, Takashi Iizuka & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (15:02) when Murakami used a cross armbreaker on Iizuka.
7. Triathlon Survivor - Final: Manabu Nakanishi, Osamu Nishimura & Yutaka Yoshie beat Yuji Nagata, Mike Barton & Jim Steele (37:33) by 2-1.
- Yuji Nagata, Mike Barton & Jim Steele beat Manabu Nakanishi, Osamu Nishimura & Yutaka Yoshie (22:54) when Barton used the Barton buster on Yoshie.
- Manabu Nakanishi & Osamu Nishimura beat Yuji Nagata & Jim Steele (31:02) when Nishimura used a backslide on Steele.
- Manabu Nakanishi beat Yuji Nagata (37:33) with a German suplex hold.

---

Tomorrow's show is very basic, a transition between the Triathlon Survivor tournament and two closing shows with IWGP title matches. The main event features "the four pinnacles" against the modified Makai Club (no Yasuda, with Murakami replacing him again), which will be another heat-up for the big matches in Osaka.

NJPW, 12/5/02
Kochi Resident Gymnasium

1. Blue Wolf vs. Toru Yano
2. Osamu Nishimura & El Samurai vs. GOKU-DO & Super Crazy
3. Masahito Kakihara & Masayuki Naruse vs. Koji Kanemoto & Stampede Kid
4. Shiro Koshinaka, Jushin Thunder Liger & Heat vs. Shinya Makabe, TAKA Michinoku & Minoru Fujita
5. Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Mike Barton & Jim Steele
6. Yutaka Yoshie & Kenzo Suzuki vs. Scott Norton & Rick Steiner
7. Masahiro Chono, Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Kazunari Murakami, Ryushi Yanagisawa, Makai Mask #1 & Makai Mask #2

New Japan has booked Nagoya Rainbow Hall (10,000 seat range) again for 3/9/02, and will return to Amagasaki City Memorial Park Gymnasium (home of the Chono & Tenzan vs. Nagata & Nakanishi IWGP Tag Team Title Tournament final earlier this year) on 3/23/02. Both shows will be on "HYPER BATTLE 2003", and the only other event known is 3/8 at Hiratsuka City Gymnasium.

---

--> "NAVIGATION, UPRISING SPIRIT 2002" <--

NOAH, 12/4/02
Kira Messe Numazu
1,600 Fans (Sell Out)

1. Haruka Eigen beat Mitsuo Momota (7:55) with a backslide.
2. Takashi Sugiura vs. Donovan Morgan went to a draw (15:00) when the time limit expired.
3. Bison Smith & Michael Modest beat Masao Inoue & Kishin Kawabata (14:59) when Smith used an iron claw slam on Kawabata.
4. Akira Taue & Daisuke Ikeda beat Kentaro Shiga & KENTA (16:14) when Ikeda used a muscle buster on KENTA.
5. Takeshi Morishima, Takeshi Rikio & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi beat Yoshinari Ogawa, Tamon Honda & Masashi Aoyagi (14:58) when Rikio used a short lariat on Aoyagi.
6. Vader & Scorpio beat Kenta Kobashi & Jun Izumida (18:28) when Scorpio used a 450 splash on Izumida.
7. Jun Akiyama, Akitoshi Saito & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat Mitsuharu Misawa, Takuma Sano & Kotaro Suzuki (18:04) when Kanemaru used a brainbuster on Suzuki.

---

Last event before Yokohama tomorrow. 12/7 will end this run of really formulaic chain of non-major shows recently.

NOAH, 12/5/02
Ishioka Movement Park Gymnasium

1. Jun Akiyama, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TBA vs. Bison Smith, Michael Modest & Donovan Morgan
2. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Kenta Kobashi & Kentaro Shiga
3. Akira Taue, Daisuke Ikeda & Takashi Sugiura vs. Vader, Scorpio & TBA

---

--> "REAL WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2002" <--
The injury bug is ravaging All Japan right now. Both RWTL matches ended up cancelled today, with Mitsuya Nagai the latest to go down. According to All Japan's website, he picked up a cervical vertebra sprain (a painful injury) yesterday, and he is also off the Budokan show. With no RWTL matches today, fans were left with a regular house show. Some clarification on the new rookie's name. It's Taichi ("ichi" being the "#1" that I was confused about) Ishikari, not Futoshi Ishikari #1. Fuego "The Amazing Red" Guerrero of MLW will work All Japan's January tour.

AJPW, 12/4/02
Ishinomaki City Gymnasium
2,600 Fans

1. Masanobu Fuchi & Gran Hamada beat Kaz Hayashi & Gran Naniwa (9:59) when Fuchi used an inside cradle on Naniwa.
2. Mike Awesome & PJ Friedman beat Kazushi Miyamoto & Extreme Blade (14:46) when Awesome used a running Awesome bomb on Miyamoto.
3. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka beat Kendo Ka Shin & Ryuji Hijikata (12:06) when Otani used a Spiral bomb on Hijikata.
4. Real World Tag League: Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo [7] beat Arashi & Nobutaka Araya [2] by forfeit.
5. Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo beat Nobutaka Araya & Hideki Hosaka (12:06) when Rotundo used a Blockbuster on Hosaka.
6. Real World Tag League: Satoshi Kojima & Taiyo Kea [9] beat Yoji Anjo & Mitsuya Nagai [4] by forfeit.
7. Satoshi Kojima & Taiyo Kea beat Yoji Anjo & Jimmy Yang (13:39) when Kea used the Agnes buster on Yang.
8. Genichiro Tenryu, Big John Tenta & Nobukazu Hirai beat Keiji Muto, Animal Warrior & Shigeo Okumura (14:47) when Tenta used the Earthquake Drop on Okumura.

---

Only two matches left now, and as I explained yesterday, only Muto & Animal, Kojima & Kea and Tenryu & Tenta can win the tournament, even if the league table doesn't really reflect that.

1. Keiji Muto & Animal Warrior [10]
2. Satoshi Kojima & Taiyo Kea [9]
3. Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo [9]
4. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka [8]
5. Genichiro Tenryu & Big John Tenta [8]
6. Yoji Anjo & Mitsuya Nagai [4]
7. Mike Awesome & PJ Friedman [2]
8. Arashi & Nobutaka Araya [2]

---

Williams & Rotundo get another forfeit win on Friday, and watching the announcement for that would probably be better than a Varsity Club match. However, Miyamoto replaces Nagai, so we get Varsity Club vs. Anjo & Nagai. The undercard has been shuffled a bit, with a three way match added. I will have real-time results of this show.

AJPW, 12/6/02 (PPV)
Tokyo Nippon Budokan

1. Gran Hamada vs. Gran Naniwa vs. Nobukazu Hirai in a Triple Threat Match
2. Masanobu Fuchi & Taichi Ishikari vs. Nobutaka Araya & Hideki Hosaka
3. Kaz Hayashi & Jimmy Yang vs. Mr. Problem & Extreme Blade
4. Shigeo Okumura & Ryuji Hijikata vs. Mike Awesome & PJ Friedman
5. AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Kendo Ka Shin (c) vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa
6. Real World Tag League: Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo [9] beat Yoji Anjo & Mitsuya Nagai [4] by forfeit.
7. Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo vs. Yoji Anjo & Kazushi Miyamoto
8. Real World Tag League: Keiji Muto & Animal Warrior vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Big John Tenta
9. Real World Tag League: Satoshi Kojima & Taiyo Kea vs. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka

Weekly Pro announced the foreigners for All Japan's January tour. No Steve Bradley listed, despite rumours. More may be added though, with Tenta and Animal also rumoured to return.

- Taiyo Kea
- Abdullah The Butcher
- The Gladiator (changing his name back from Mike Awesome)
- Steve Williams
- Mike Rotundo
- Johnny Smith
- George Hines
- Jimmy Yang
- Fuego Guerrero (Red)

Today's news from Kris of World Wide Wrestling, which you can now find hosted here at Puroresufan.com (the forums)! Although Kris' news tends to disappear from my site after a while (because I try to keep the front page down to a good size to prevent load times), it is all archived at WWW.

Jan "The Giant" Nortje who is a K-1 fighter from South Africa is desiring participation for the Wrestle-2 show on 1/19/03 at the Tokyo Dome. Nortje wants to fight Bob Sapp and when hearing of this, Sapp was open to the idea saying it would be a battle of the giants.

Jun Akiyama wants to wrestle on the Wrestle-2 show on 1/19/03 at the Tokyo Dome and wants Mitsuharu Misawa to make a decision on the matter. Akiyama said that technically W-2 isn�t part of All-Japan and that should go into Misawa�s decision making. There is one problem though, NOAH has a show in Takamatsu on that day and that will also weigh high on Misawa�s mind. Akiyama stated that he wants to fight guys like Bill Goldberg, Great Muta, Shinya Hashimoto, & Bob Sapp.

Kenta Kobashi was asked today about Bob Sapp and how he plans to wrestle him if it ever comes about. Kobashi stated that Sapp is a top rank athlete, but isn�t perfect and thinks that he may not have the experience or stamina that would be necessary of they had a match. Kobashi said that he would plan on taking Sapp to at least 30 to 40 minutes. Kobashi said that he would fire off reverse chops as hard as he could on Sapp�s chest, lariat him as hard as he could and put him up in a hanging brainbuster like he has done with Vader. Kobashi ended by saying that strength is important, but experience & stamina would pay off in the end.

Manabu Nakanishi said today that he wants to go "Wild Beast Hunting" again and has said that he wants to fight Bob Sapp on New Japan�s 1/4/03 Tokyo Dome show. Nakanishi said that after he beats Sapp, he wants a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Champion on 2/16/03 at Sumo Hall in Tokyo.

Minoru Fujita, Shinya Makabe, & TAKA Michinoku have named their group the Honesty Party saying that they aren�t defiant or heels, but they are honest and in their world, honesty does pay.

Riki Choshu received a phone call from Road Warrior Hawk yesterday and Hawk stated that the Road Warriors are coming to World Japan to crush Choshu and his cronies and will succeed in doing so on their debut show on 3/1/03 at Yokohama Arena. Hawk also stated that Animal & Power Warrior (Kensuke Sasaki) would join him in what is a interesting statement considering that Kensuke Sasaki is a free agent and all signs are pointing to him signing with World Japan.

Tadao Yasuda after initially turning down Antonio Inoki�s offer to fight Jerome LeBanner on the Inoki Bombaye show on 12/31, accepted the offer today and said that he plans on beating LeBanner again.