New Japan presented another good show today, taped for it's Strong Style eXtreme Wrestling show on ESPN International (it will air on 2/24 at 10pm, repeated on 2/28 at 10am). The next SXW (2/10, covering 1/30 Korakuen show) will have another feature on YM, the famous mask maker who makes Tiger Mask, Great Sasuke, and others' hoods, after overwhelming mail demand for more footage. New Japan christened Dream Messe Miyagi with it's first wrestling show today. 2,500 fans turned up, and it was a "Super No Vacancy" crowd. Hidekazu Tanaka said New Japan sold out all it's seats, but saw that the building could seat more people, so added day tickets. This was another abnormally long convention for New Japan, running from 6:30pm to 9:50pm. Before the matches, Kengo Kimura announced his "retirement". He seemed to say that he is actually just about retired now, but doing a "fan appreciation" tour of sorts, one last lap of the circuit. This is news that has been expected for years, but held off for a while to allow Kengo to wrestle a little more. Iizuka & Kakihara avenged their Tokyo Dome loss to Makai #4 (Shibata) & Makai #5 (Nagai), defeating them in the final IWGP Tag Team Title #1 Contender Tournament first round match today. A furious Iizuka choked #4 to near-death with a sleeper hold, forcing the referee to urgently call for the bell. So the semis for 2/9 in Osaka are Iizuka & Kakihara vs. Yasuda & Yanagisawa, and Hiro & Goto vs. Barton & Steele. Barnett & Saturn remained undefeated as a team, putting away the odd tandem of Nakanishi & Heat when Barnett submitted the children's hero (Heat). Koji Kanemoto made a successful V5 defense of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title against Kaientai Dojo's Minoru Fujita, but the challenge was a lot tougher than most expected. Fujita impressed fans by lasting over 17 minutes against the junior ace, before tapping out to an ankle hold. New Japan is very high on Fujita, which is why he has been a virtual full-timer for a while now, and his progress in this match could be a good sign for his future in the junior division. Kanemoto is also impressed by him, and recruited him as a tag partner, effective tomorrow. The question remains, who will be the man to take Kanemoto's title after five challengers have failed? Two six man tags closed the show, both seeing New Japan trios fall to outsider trios. Firstly, the Makai Club's top three, Yasuda, Murakami & Yanagisawa (wearing open finger gloves for the first time in New Japan to prepare for 2/16) defeated Nagata, Yoshie & Nakamura, Yanagisawa high kicking Yoshie for the pinfall victory. The emphasis then switched from the out of control mayhem to a more traditional main event, which saw Takayama, Barton & Steele overcome the elite trio of Chono, Tenzan & Nishimura, Takayama pinning Mr. Muga. Makabe showed up as a paying spectator. Barton & Steele seem like the most logical challengers for Chono & Tenzan on 2/16 now, but they have to win two more matches to get there. Takayama said he was upset at not being in the main event just recently (before today), and taunted New Japan by claiming he would defend the NWF Heavyweight Title in World Japan, NOAH, and ZERO-ONE if they didn't start treating him properly. Tiger Mask revealed in a recent magazine interview that one of his main reasons for signing with New Japan was to advance on the mixed martial arts world. Tiger is hoping to fight in PRIDE at some point. Some good news about the 5/1-5/2 Tokyo Dome situation. Paying spectators for the 5/2 New Japan show will gain free entry to Inoki's 5/1 "fun festival", so it seems to be a mutual cooperation thing after all.
NJPW, 2/6/03 (SXW)
Dream Messe Miyagi
2,500 Fans - Super No Vacancy
1. Ryusuke Taguchi beat Naofumi Yamamoto (6:44) with a cross armbreaker.
2. Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto beat Kengo Kimura & El Samurai (9:47) when Hiro used a diving senton on Samurai.
3. Makai #1 & Makai #2 beat Blue Wolf & Toru Yano (11:47) when Makai #2 used a diving body press on Yano.
4. Tiger Mask 4, Super Crazy & Curry Man
beat Jushin Thunder Liger, Jado & Gedo (14:02) when Curry used the Spicy Drop on Gedo.
5. IWGP Tag Team Title #1 Contender Tournament - Round 1: Takashi Iizuka & Masahito Kakihara beat Makai #4 & Makai #5 (9:51) by referee stop (Iizuka beat Makai #4).
6. Josh Barnett & Perry Saturn beat Manabu Nakanishi & Heat (12:56) when Barnett used a cross heel hold on Heat.
7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Koji Kanemoto (c) beat Minoru Fujita
(17:06) with an ankle hold (5th defense).
8. Tadao Yasuda, Kazunari Murakami & Ryushi Yanagisawa beat Yuji Nagata, Yutaka Yoshie & Shinsuke Nakamura (14:32) when Yanagisawa used a right high kick on Yoshie.
9. Yoshihiro Takayama, Mike Barton & Jim Steele beat Masahiro Chono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura (18:31) when Takayama used a German suplex hold on Nishimura.
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KOJI KANEMOTO (fourth reign as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion - 7/19/02 to present - 5 defenses)
1. (9/22/02 @ Osaka Namihaya Dome) Koji Kanemoto beat Tiger Mask 4 (17:40) with an ankle hold (1st defense).
2. (10/14/02 @ Tokyo Dome) Koji Kanemoto beat Heat (18:43) with an ankle hold (2nd defense).
3. (10/26/02 @ Fukuoka International Center) Koji Kanemoto beat Bas Rutten (10:11) with an ankle hold (3rd defense).
4. (12/7/02 @ Tokushima Municipal Gymnasium) Koji Kanemoto beat Masahito Kakihara (16:38) with an ankle hold (4th defense).
5. (2/6/03 @ Dream Messe Miyagi) Koji Kanemoto beat Minoru Fujita (17:06) with an ankle hold (5th defense).
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One of the more minor shows of the tour tomorrow, but still, nine matches again. The main event sounds really promising when you consider who are under the masks. Fujita begins teaming with Kanemoto and Liger in an exceptional trio, the three taking on another quality threesome, Heat, Kakihara & Curry Man. Barnett's study of pro wrestling continues when he faces Goto. Beware the backdrop!
NJPW, 2/7/03
Yamagata Sports Center Sub Arena
1. Blue Wolf vs. Naofumi Yamamoto
2. El Samurai vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
3. Jado & Gedo vs. Tiger Mask 4 & Super Crazy
4. Kengo Kimura & Hiro Saito vs. Osamu Nishimura & Yutaka Yoshie
5. Koji Kanemoto, Jushin Thunder Liger & Minoru Fujita
vs. Heat, Masahito Kakihara & Curry Man
6. Manabu Nakanishi & Toru Yano vs. Mike Barton & Jim Steele
7. Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Josh Barnett
8. Yoshihiro Takayama & Perry Saturn vs. Tadao Yasuda & Ryushi Yanagisawa
9. Masahiro Chono, Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Takashi Iizuka vs. Kazunari Murakami, Makai #5, Makai #4 & Makai #1
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