–> “CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPAN ALIVE” <--
Hiroshi Tanahashi today completed the rare feat of a "perfect tour" - that is, not only winning every match, but scoring the pin or submission in all of them. He faced another old rival today in the form of Togi Makabe and bled heavily en route to a heroic victory. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Keiji Muto, ahead of his V4 defense against Tanahashi, watched and confronted his former disciple after the match, Tanahashi’s form likely to present a great challenge for the legend at the Tokyo Dome. Shinsuke Nakamura downed the other half of the IWGP Tag Team Champions by avenging his upset G1 loss to generation rival Toru Yano, unbanning his highly dangerous double-arm piledriver for the win. With some similarities to Mitsuharu Misawa’s Tiger Driver ‘91 and being the move that defeated Misawa’s greatest rival Toshiaki Kawada in the G1, perhaps this was a message from Shinsuke, who again called out the NOAH president today. Hirooki Goto, Nakamura’s tag partner and the man likely to battle a NOAH tandem with him on 1/4, was unable to avenge his October loss to foreign ace Giant Bernard today, losing his second successive singles match to the American. Though Goto has really been unable to follow up on his G1 win with much, this is all vital experience for him as he’ll surely be looking to win his first heavyweight title in 2009.
Low Ki made a successful V1 defense of his IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title by fending off a strong challenge from former champion Taguchi. After pinning Taguchi, he got into it with the man he dethroned, Tiger Mask, all but confirming their expected rematch for the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show. Earlier in the event, NO LIMIT scored their biggest win yet, the young lions beating the world famous Jado & Gedo in the V1 defense of their IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title. Naito unleashed his Stardust press on Jado to secure a victory and quite possibly a defense against TNA Wrestling’s Motor City Machine Guns on January 4th.
NJPW, 12/7/08 (Samurai! TV)
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
5,000 Fans
0. Tomoaki Honma & Karl Anderson beat Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Nobuo Yoshihashi (7:00) when Anderson used the Gun Stun on Yoshihashi.
1. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito (c) beat Jado & Gedo (18:25) when Naito used a Stardust press on Jado (1st defense).
2. Koji Kanemoto, Tiger Mask & Kazuchika Okada beat Milano Collection AT, Minoru & Taichi Ishikari (11:11) when Tiger used a Tiger suplex hold on Ishikari.
3. Riki Choshu, Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue beat Masahiro Chono, Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA (8:34) when Nagata used a backdrop hold on AKIRA.
4. Manabu Nakanishi & Yutaka Yoshie 
beat Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii (11:19) when Nakanishi used an Argentine backbreaker on Ishii.
5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Low Ki (c) beat Ryusuke Taguchi (18:08) with a diving footstomp (1st defense).
6. Wrestle Kingdom Duel for Existence ~tempest~: Giant Bernard beat Hirooki Goto (13:55) with the Bernard Driver.
7. Wrestle Kingdom Duel for Existence ~sublimation~: Shinsuke Nakamura beat Toru Yano (13:13) with a double-arm piledriver.
8. Wrestle Kingdom Duel for Existence ~prominence~: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Togi Makabe (21:03) with the High Fly Flow.