–> “CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPAN ALIVE” <--

NJPW, 11/29/08
Tex Port Imabari
1,300 Fans - No Vacancy

1. Mitsuhide Hirasawa beat Nobuo Yoshihashi (7:13) with the Hira Bottom.
2. Milano Collection AT beat Minoru (14:20) with the Victoria Milanese.
3. Koji Kanemoto, Tiger Mask & Taichi Ishikari beat Jushin Thunder Liger, AKIRA & Kazuchika Okada (11:19) when Kanemoto used a crab hold on Okada.
4. Wataru Inoue, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito beat Jado, Gedo & Tomohiro Ishii (13:50) when Jado was DQ’d.
5. Riki Choshu, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi beat Takashi Iizuka, Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (10:36) when Nakanishi used an Argentine backbreaker on Anderson.
6. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to IMABARI!: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Tomoaki Honma & Low Ki (14:51) when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on Honma.

-

The Junior * Stars reunite next month for one night only, when they enter Masaaki Mochizuki’s 15th anniversary show! They will face men they are both familiar with, Mochi and Shinjiro Otani in a special tag match.

Buyuden “MASAAKI MOCHIZUKI 15TH ANNIVERSARY”, 12/27/08
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

- Masaaki Mochizuki & Shinjiro Otani vs. Koji Kanemoto & Minoru

–> “CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPAN ALIVE” <--

NJPW, 11/28/08
Matsuyama City Community Center
2,550 Fans - No Vacancy

1. Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA beat Tiger Mask & Nobuo Yoshihashi (9:38) when AKIRA used a Musasabi press on Yoshihashi.
2. Milano Collection AT, Minoru & Taichi Ishikari beat Wataru Inoue, Koji Kanemoto & Kazuchika Okada (13:30) when Milano used a super scrap kick on Okada.
3. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi beat Takashi Iizuka & Tomoaki Honma (14:33) when Nagata used a backdrop hold on Honma.
4. Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono beat Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (8:32) when Chono used a Shining Yakuza kick on Anderson.
5. Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Low Ki (14:34) when Nakamura used the Landslide on Ishii.
6. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to MATSUYAMA!: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito beat Togi Makabe, Jado & Gedo (19:05) when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on Gedo.

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

–> “CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPAN ALIVE” <--

NJPW, 11/27/08 (SXW)
Hiroshima Trade Center
1,200 Fans - Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Wataru Inoue & Koji Kanemoto beat Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Kazuchika Okada (12:27) when Kanemoto used an ankle hold on Okada.
2. Manabu Nakanishi, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask beat Milano Collection AT, Minoru & Taichi Ishikari (12:32) when Tiger used a chickenwing armlock on Ishikari.
3. Takashi Iizuka beat AKIRA (10:41) with a Jigoku Tsuki.
4. Low Ki, Jado & Gedo beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito (16:06) when Ki used the Ki Krusher ‘99 on Yujiro.
5. Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Goto beat Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (14:06) when Goto used a modified armlock on Anderson.
6. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to HIROSHIMA!: Riki Choshu, Masahiro Chono, Yuji Nagata & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Tomoaki Honma (15:39) when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on Honma.

New Japan will be sending a batch of wrestlers to A BATHING APE’s “BAPESTA!! PRO WRESTLING 2008″ special show at the not-quite-second-Korakuen (they said that about Differ too), Tokyo JCB Hall. JCB was hyped as the next big thing for pro wrestling, and ZERO1-MAX christened it with a big show earlier this year, but the usage cost is extremely high and so it has seen very little use as far as pro wrestling goes. Anyway, BAPESTA!! will be using it, and will utilize wrestlers from all over in some intriguing matches, such as… Muto vs. Chono! In six man tag form, that is.

A BATHING APE “BAPESTA!! PRO WRESTLING 2008″, 12/23/08
Tokyo JCB Hall

1. Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Tigers Mask
2. Teriyaki Boy & Super Milo vs. Ebessan & Kuishinbo Kamen
3. Minoru Suzuki , NOSAWA Rongai & MAZADA vs. X, Jado & Gedo
4. Satoshi Kojima & THE APEMAN vs. Manabu Nakanishi & THE APEMAN GOLD
5. Keiji Muto , Ultimo Dragon & Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Masahiro Chono , Sanshiro Takagi & TAKA Michinoku

Mexican sensation Mistico is on his way to New Japan and sent a photograph of himself to Japan, that you can see above. He also attached a message that sounds very familiar, about how honoured he is to be appearing at the Tokyo Dome on 1/4, and that it will be a special show for him - his first appearance in Japan, in fact. He has heard of the “all-star” nature of the show, with TNA superstars and names from across Japan appearing, so it has given him motivation to show that lucha libra is the world’s number one style.

Mistico has revealed his apparent Tokyo Dome match to the SuperLuchas magazine in Mexico and it involves another luchadore. Barring a change of plans, he will team up with fellow young juniors Taguchi and Devitt against CMLL rival Averno, who teams up with fellow veterans Jado & Gedo. Not exactly the huge match for Mistico that was hinted, but this isn’t completely unexpected given that juniors rarely get big singles matches at the Dome unless a belt is on the line. Thanks to The Cubs Fan for that news!

–> “CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPAN ALIVE” <--

NJPW, 11/25/08
Kyoto KBS Hall
1,300 Fans - Super No Vacancy

1. Koji Kanemoto beat Mitsuhide Hirasawa (8:21) with an ankle hold.
2. Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask beat Minoru & Kazuchika Okada (10:52) when Tiger used a chickenwing armlock on Okada.
3. Manabu Nakanishi & Wataru Inoue beat Milano Collection AT & Taichi Ishikari (13:37) when Nakanishi used an Argentine backbreaker on Ishikari.
4. Riki Choshu, Masahiro Chono & AKIRA beat Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii & Tomoaki Honma (11:03) when Chono used a Shining Yakuza kick on Honma.
5. Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Giant Bernard, Karl Anderson & Low Ki (13:55) when Nakamura used a flying cross armbreaker on Anderson.
6. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to KYOTO!: Yuji Nagata, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito beat Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Jado & Gedo (18:45) when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on Jado.

–> “CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPAN ALIVE” <--

NJPW, 11/24/08
Hyogo Prefectural Budokan
950 Fans

1. Wataru Inoue & Koji Kanemoto beat Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Nobuo Yoshihashi (10:47) when Kanemoto used an ankle hold on Yoshihashi.
2. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & AKIRA beat Milano Collection AT, Minoru & Taichi Ishikari (10:53) when AKIRA used a Musasabi press on Ishikari.
3. Takashi Iizuka beat Kazuchika Okada (5:59) by referee stop.
4. Riki Choshu, Ryusuke Taguchi, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito beat Low Ki, Jado, Gedo & Tomohiro Ishii (14:37) when Taguchi used the Dodon on Gedo.
5. Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Goto beat Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma (11:24) when Nakamura used a flying cross armbreaker on Honma.
6. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to HIMEJI!: Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Toru Yano, Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (14:35) when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on Anderson.

–> “CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPAN ALIVE” <--

NJPW, 11/23/08
Mie Prefectural Sun Arena Sub Arena
870 Fans

1. Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA beat Kazuchika Okada & Nobuo Yoshihashi (10:20) when AKIRA used a Musasabi press on Yoshihashi.
2. Wataru Inoue, Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask beat Milano Collection AT, Minoru & Taichi Ishikari (14:03) when Inoue used the Oracion Flame on Ishikari.
3. Takashi Iizuka beat Mitsuhide Hirasawa (7:11) with a Jigoku Tsuki.
4. Low Ki, Jado, Gedo & Tomoaki Honma beat Riki Choshu, Ryusuke Taguchi, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito (13:52) when Ki used the Ki Krusher ‘99 on Naito.
5. Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Goto beat Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii (15:11) when Nakamura used a flying cross armbreaker on Ishii.
6. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to ISE!: Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Togi Makabe, Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (14:28) when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on Anderson.

–> “CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPAN ALIVE” <--
Hiroshi Tanahashi returned from America today in sweeping form, pinning Gedo in the main event. The theme of the current tour is Sekigun and RISE vs. GBH, so old rivals Tanahashi and Nakamura (plus Goto) team up on a few occasions.

NJPW, 11/22/08 (SXW)
Chichibu Miya Memorial Gymnasium
1,300 Fans

1. Milano Collection AT, Minoru & Taichi Ishikari beat Wataru Inoue, Koji Kanemoto & Nobuo Yoshihashi (11:41) when Milano pinned Yoshihashi after a union thrust kick.
2. Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA beat Tiger Mask & Kazuchika Okada (11:32) when AKIRA used a Musasabi press on Okada.
3. Low Ki & Jado beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Yujiro (14:25) when Ki used the Ki Crusher ‘99 on Yujiro.
4. Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono beat Tomohiro Ishii & Tomoaki Honma (8:31) when Chono used a Shining Yakuza kick on Honma.
5. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi beat Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (13:15) when Nakanishi used an Argentine backbreaker on Anderson.
6. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to FUJISAWA!: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto & Tetsuya Naito beat Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Gedo (16:02) when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on Gedo.

Some matches have been announced for upcoming standalone shows, including the Christmas double header. The first show will follow the old “DREAM * WIN” format of young lions against more experienced wrestlers, while the second show has a big general six man tag match that sees the Neo 3 Musketeers unite.

NJPW “ONLY ONE NIGHT ~AREA K~”, 12/20/08 (Samurai! TV)
Koshigaya Katsura Studio

1. Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito vs. Milano Collection AT & Taichi Ishikari
2. Koji Kanemoto & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. AKIRA & Nobuo Yoshihashi
3. Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask & Kazuchika Okada vs. Jado, Gedo & Tomohiro Ishii
4. 15 Man Battle Royal Koshigaya ~ Participants: New Japan elite wrestlers, Kuniyoshi Wada (Riki Pro) ~ Special referee: Kantaro Hoshino
5. JUSTICE SANCTION: Yuji Nagata vs. Mitsuhide Hirasawa
6. Riki Choshu, Masahiro Chono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomoaki Honma
7. Special Tag Match ~ Wrestle Kingdom Signal Red: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Wataru Inoue vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Goto

NJPW “NEXT ~CATCH THE VICTORY III~”, 12/22/08
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. NEW JAPAN NEXT: Tiger Mask vs. Nobuo Yoshihashi
2. NEW JAPAN NEXT: Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro
3. NEW JAPAN NEXT: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kazuchika Okada
4. NEW JAPAN NEXT: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito

NJPW “THEORY ~CHAOS OF CHRISTMAS~”, 12/23/08 (SXW)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Special 6 Man Tag Match ~ Wrestle Kingdom Chaos of Trinity: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Goto vs. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Thunder Liger

Meanwhile, Chono announced the full card for Boxing Day’s PREMIUM show, which features a “DREAM * WIN” concept of its own, interpromotional style, as well as more Super J Cup preview fights.

PREMIUM, 12/26/08 (Samurai! TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. PREMIUM FUTURE I: Shinjiro Otani vs. Kazuchika Okada
2. PREMIUM FUTURE II: Manabu Nakanishi vs. Shito Ueda
3. PREMIUM FUTURE III: Yutaka Yoshie vs. Nobuo Yoshihashi
4. ROAD to SUPER J-CUP “PREMIUM APPETIZER”: Milano Collection AT & El Samurai vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Ikuto Hidaka
5. PREMIUM ENTRÉ: Riki Choshu & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Kohei Sato & Osamu Namiguchi
6. ROAD to SUPER J-CUP “PREMIUM POISSON”: Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA vs. Ultimo Dragon & Mineo Fujita
7. PREMIUM VIANDE ~ Ookami Gundan vs. Complete Players: Masahiro Chono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Hiro Saito vs. Masato Tanaka , Jado & Gedo

There will be two New Japan vs. All Japan legend matches on next month’s installment of the Showa Puroresu series at Korakuen Hall that is booked by Seiji Sakaguchi.

Showa Puroresu, 12/18/08
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

- New Japan vs. All Japan: Kotetsu Yamamoto & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Great Kojika & Great Kabuki
- New Japan vs. All Japan: Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono vs. Masanobu Fuchi & Tarzan Goto

A gorgeous cast of foreigners will advance on the highest stage of Japanese pro wrestling on January 4th when New Japan hits the Tokyo Dome for “WRESTLE KINGDOM III IN TOKYO DOME”. From TNA Wrestling we will see the return of former IWGP 3rd Belt holder Kurt Angle, nWo co-founder Kevin Nash, the world famous Team 3D (Brother Ray & Brother Devon), and the Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin). From CMLL we will be treated to the first appearance of Mexico’s young icon, “Child of God” Mistico, in his first Japanese appearance.

President Sugabayashi held a press conference in which he held the mask of Mistico up to the media and spoke of these big events. It was Mistico he chose to focus the press conference on, as the luchadore has a lot of hype in Japan and is called a national hero of Mexico. Sugabayashi said he is held in such high esteem in Mexico that he acted as a local reporter in the recent Beijing Olympics. Sugabayashi said nothing but a big match would be suitable for the young revolution fighter.

All of TNA Wrestling’s representatives have experience in Japan. Kurt Angle and Kevin Nash are both members of TNA’s own version of Legend called the Main Event Mafia, and unsurprisingly it looks like they are ready to conspire with Legend in some way, Sugabayashi suggesting that the likes of Chono may be involved with them. Angle defeated Yuji Nagata in a match being considered for Tokyo Sports’ 2008 Best Bout award, before losing the big IWGP unification match to Nakamura in February. He then returned for a couple of tag matches in the G1, pinning Tanahashi in one of them. Nash appeared at the huge Osaka Dome show in 1997 when the nWo was at its peak, but hasn’t been seen in New Japan since, and his return will come over a decade later.

A fax arrived from Team 3D requesting a match at the Tokyo Dome, with particular interest in the IWGP Tag Team Title. On this year’s show they defeated last year’s Japanese Tag MVPs and current IWGP Tag Team Champions, Makabe & Yano, so have already perhaps earned a rematch. Sugabayashi isn’t sure though, because Makabe & Yano still have to defend against Nakanishi & Yoshie on 12/6 in Nagoya. Sugabayashi also noted that TenKoji may be involved in some way, and four teams - Makabe & Yano, Nakanishi & Yoshie, TenKoji, and Team 3D - are on the president’s mind, and it looks like in some way those two teams will be involved in two matches, one for the title and one possibly a contendership match.

The Motor City Machine Guns are one of the top junior tag teams in America, so its only natural they are being linked to an IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title shot. Sugabayashi hinted that it is almost a lock that they will challenge the winners of NO LIMIT vs. Jado & Gedo, set to take place on 12/7 in Osaka.

Hiroshi Tanahashi has answered the wishes of President Sugabayashi and will challenge mentor Keiji Muto for the IWGP Heavyweight Title at the Tokyo Dome on January 4th! Tanahashi and Muto have a storied history, with Tana unable to defeat the man he has looked up to, but earlier this year in the Champion Carnival, battling him to a time limit draw. The next logical step would be to defeat him, but logic doesn’t always work and Muto will look to defy any patterns like he did when he deprived Nakamura of a revenge win in October. The 1/4 show will both be a live PPV and have a TV Asahi special, running for 90 minutes from 1AM hours after the event finishes.

NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM III IN TOKYO DOME”, 1/4/09 (WPW/PPV)
Tokyo Dome

1. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Keiji Muto (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Tanahashi has cancelled all of his TNA appearances, which is probably for the best given how “well” he was being positioned on cards there. He will compete on all shows on the upcoming “CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPAN ALIVE” as the center point, with two big singles matches on the two major shows - against Bernard in Aichi (one year after he defeated the gaijin ace in the same building) and against Makabe in Osaka.

NJPW, 11/22/08 (SXW)
Chichibu Miya Memorial Gymnasium

1. Ryusuke Taguchi & Yujiro vs. Low Ki & Jado
2. Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Tomoaki Honma
3. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson
4. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to FUJISAWA!: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto & Tetsuya Naito vs. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Gedo

NJPW, 11/23/08
Mie Prefectural Sun Arena Sub Arena

1. Mitsuhide Hirasawa vs. Takashi Iizuka
2. Riki Choshu, Ryusuke Taguchi, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito vs. Low Ki, Jado, Gedo & Tomoaki Honma
3. Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Goto vs. Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii
4. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to ISE!: Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe, Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson

NJPW, 11/24/08
Hyogo Prefectural Budokan

1. Kazuchika Okada vs. Takashi Iizuka
2. Riki Choshu, Ryusuke Taguchi, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito vs. Low Ki, Jado, Gedo & Tomohiro Ishii
3. Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Goto vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma
4. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to HIMEJI!: Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano, Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson

NJPW, 11/25/08
Kyoto KBS Hall

1. Riki Choshu, Masahiro Chono & AKIRA vs. Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii & Tomoaki Honma
2. Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Giant Bernard, Karl Anderson & Low Ki
3. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to KYOTO!: Yuji Nagata, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito vs. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Jado & Gedo

NJPW, 11/27/08 (SXW)
Hiroshima Trade Center

1. AKIRA vs. Takashi Iizuka
2. Ryusuke Taguchi, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito vs. Low Ki, Jado & Gedo
3. Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Goto vs. Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson
4. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to HIROSHIMA!: Riki Choshu, Masahiro Chono, Yuji Nagata & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Tomoaki Honma

NJPW, 11/28/08
Matsuyama City Community Center

1. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Takashi Iizuka & Tomoaki Honma
2. Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono vs. Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson
3. Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Low Ki
4. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to MATSUYAMA!: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito vs. Togi Makabe, Jado & Gedo

NJPW, 11/29/08
Tex Port Imabari

1. Wataru Inoue, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito vs. Jado, Gedo & Tomohiro Ishii
2. Riki Choshu, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Takashi Iizuka, Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson
3. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to IMABARI!: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Tomoaki Honma & Low Ki

NJPW, 12/1/08
Tokushima Municipal Gymnasium

1. Riki Choshu, Masahiro Chono & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Takashi Iizuka, Tomoaki Honma & Low Ki
3. Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito vs. Giant Bernard, Karl Anderson, Jado & Gedo
3. HIGH FLYING STAR come back to TOKUSHIMA!: Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii

NJPW, 12/6/08 (WPW)
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

1. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & AKIRA vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Tomoaki Honma & Karl Anderson
2. Milano Collection AT & Taichi Ishikari vs. Minoru & Kazuchika Okada
3. Ryusuke Taguchi, Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito vs. Low Ki, Jado & Gedo
4. Wataru Inoue vs. Takashi Iizuka
5. Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Goto
6. New Japan vs. ZERO1-MAX: Yuji Nagata & Koji Kanemoto vs. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka
7. IWGP Tag Team Title: Togi Makabe & Toru Yano (c) vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yutaka Yoshie
8. HIGH FLYING STAR going to TOKYO DOME ~prominence~: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Giant Bernard

NJPW, 12/7/08 (Samurai! TV)
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

1. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Jado & Gedo
2. Koji Kanemoto, Tiger Mask & Kazuchika Okada vs. Milano Collection AT, Minoru & Taichi Ishikari
3. Riki Choshu, Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue vs. Masahiro Chono, Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA
4. Manabu Nakanishi & Yutaka Yoshie vs. Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii
5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Low Ki (c) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
6. Wrestle Kingdom Duel for Existence ~tempest~: Hirooki Goto vs. Giant Bernard
7. Wrestle Kingdom Duel for Existence ~sublimation~: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Toru Yano
8. Wrestle Kingdom Duel for Existence ~prominence~: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe

Finally, the Complete Players vs. Ookami Gundan in a battle of reuniting trios has been made official for the 12/26 PREMIUM show at Korakuen Hall.

PREMIUM, 12/26/08 (Samurai! TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

- PREMIUM VIANDE ~ Ookami Gundan vs. Complete Players: Masahiro Chono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Hiro Saito vs. Masato Tanaka , Jado & Gedo

PREMIUM’s Boxing Day offering features the reunion of the Complete Players! Yes, after many years, Masato Tanaka, Jado, and Gedo reunite against a trio yet to be named. The Complete Players developed a good track record as a unit, starting in FMW, before breaking away during the company’s dying days and even running their own independent show. They will be joined in reunion by Chono, Tenzan, and Hiro Saito, who may end up as opponents for the Complete Players. The interviewer brought up Tanaka being opposed to Jado and Gedo’s GBH boss, Makabe, and they called this a separate venture, though noted that Makabe probably wouldn’t second them to avoid a dispute.

Meanwhile, Jado & Gedo completed the signing ceremony for their 12/7 shot at Yujiro & Naito’s IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title. Both teams put pen to paper, and old dog Kantaro Hoshino showed up promising to enforce sanctions against GBH like he did to Gedo on 9/21 when he tried to interfere in the Muto vs. Makabe match. Hoshino got really angry at the two today and ended up trying to attack them. Gedo said he would prepare a seat for the elderly at ringside for President Hoshino. Naito, who was quiet for the duration, talked about Jado & Gedo’s reputation as a world class tag team, and called it past talk, saying the time of NO LIMIT is here. He and Yujiro plan to overcome this challenge and dream of making their first Tokyo Dome appearances on January 4th.

Nakanishi & Hirasawa returned to ZERO1-MAX again for a couple of matches recently.

ZERO1-MAX, 11/15/08
Kurihara Takashimizu Sports Center

- Manabu Nakanishi & Mitsuhide Hirasawa beat Shinjiro Otani & Shito Ueda (13:20) when Nakanishi used an Argentine backbreaker on Ueda.

ZERO1-MAX, 11/16/08
Iwaki Municipal Gymnasium

- Kohei Sato & Ryouji Sai beat Manabu Nakanishi & Mitsuhide Hirasawa (13:54) when Sai used the Nachi Waterfall on Hirasawa.