After overcoming Kohei Sato in his V1 defense of ZERO1-MAX’s World Heavyweight Title, Nagata has an interesting second defense set for 12/17 at Shinjuku FACE. He’ll battle Tatsuhito Takaiwa, a fellow member of the 1992 New Japan dojo class, and someone it has been a very long time since Nagata took on in a singles match. Takaiwa earned this shot by winning 01’s Tenka-Ichi Jr. Tournament recently, where he pinned NJ’s Minoru in the final. Nagata will be the heavy favourite, but Takaiwa has plenty of experience and took part in the 2000 G1 Climax, where he pulled off an upset over Koshinaka.

ZERO1-MAX “ZERO1 DELIGHT 2008″, 12/17/08
Shinjuku FACE

- World Heavyweight Title: Yuji Nagata (c) vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa

And just to confirm, Liger & AKIRA will be challenging the power fighter team of Daisuke Sekimoto & Mammoth Sasaki for the BJW Tag Team Title at Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium on 12/19. The tough man duo overcame Daikokubo Benkei & Yuichi Taniguchi recently in their latest defense to confirm this. Liger isn’t daunted by having to face two heavyweights, as he’s used to it and has scored plenty of wins over bigger opponents in the past. AKIRA, if you recall, was actually part of the heavyweight division for years, before moving back to the junior division earlier this decade.

BJW, 12/19/08
Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium

- BJW Tag Team Title: Daisuke Sekimoto & Mammoth Sasaki (c) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA