- Antonio Inoki announced he would run a show on 5/1 called "INOKI DAY"... at the Tokyo Dome... one day before New Japan's own Tokyo Dome show (as if Bom-Ba-Ye running less than a week before 1/4 wasn't hurtful enough). Inoki, the majority owner in New Japan, has deliberately set the show before the New Japan one for some reason. He isn't sure of the content yet, and there may not even be any combat. Inoki hinted that he may sing to the audience, and do some other theatrical stuff. The best case scenario would be that this is a pre-show type thing for New Japan's big event, because it would obviously hurt the New Japan convention heavily if Inoki was to run his own combat festival the day before. Inoki said in Sapporo yesterday that New Japan has grown stale, and that he wanted Chono to make 5/2 (rumoured to be called "ULTIMATE CLASH") a card that even he would pay for. Inoki also expressed confusion at Chono saying one half should be pro wrestling, and the other half MMA, saying pro wrestling and MMA are now the same thing.

- Yuji Nagata nominated either Josh Barnett or Tadao Yasuda as the fighter that he would like to be the V9 challenger for his IWGP Heavyweight Title. Although Nagata can't personally name an opponent, he suggested a #1 contendership match between the two, the winner of which would probably face him at the end of "HYPER BATTLE 2003". Nagata revealed that if he managed to make his V9 defense successfully, he would like his V10 defense to be against the only other man with nine successful defenses, Shinya Hashimoto.

- Jun Akiyama and Yoshihiro Takayama spoke with Bob Sapp today at a bean scattering event in Uemoto (a lot of wrestlers were there, including Keiji Muto and Kensuke Sasaki). Akiyama was there to act as an intermediary for a possible Kobashi vs. Sapp dream match, and revealed that he and Sapp had a pleasant chat. Akiyama said he would love to see a "Strong Arm vs. Wild Beast confrontation". Meanwhile, Takayama said that he would form a tag team with Sapp and challenge for the GHC Tag Team Title. Sapp is interested in the match, and the two could challenge Akiyama & Saito some time after March.

- Another name being rumoured as Don Frye's mystery partner on 3/1 is Dan Devine. Devine is a disciple of Frye, and Choshu was even impressed by him personally after seeing footage of him in the WCW Powerplant. He hasn't worked a New Japan tour since "SUMMER FIGHT SERIES 2002", and could well show up in WJ Pro.

- Matt Ghaffari will take his 30-year-old younger brother with him to ZERO-ONE soon, and they will wrestle as a tag team. His brother is even heavier, weighing around 440lbs and supposedly standing 7'0" tall.