It’s official! Akebono and Bob Sapp advance on the Tokyo Dome as part of the New Japan vs. CHAOS opening match with the 3 vs. 3 becoming a 4 vs. 4 featuring the two behemoths. And a final reminder that you can order and watch this show live on iPPV on 1/4 (US$35) anywhere in the world.

I’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

UPDATE: Another late card change but this time forced as young Daichi Hashimoto has suffered a fracture to his left forearm which requires two months of healing. The son of New Japan legend Shinya Hashimoto was set to make his first New Japan appearance but will be replaced by Shinjiro Otani, making his first return to New Japan in quite a while.

NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM 7 ~EVOLUTION~ IN TOKYO DOME”, 1/4/13 (WPW/PPV/iPPV)
Tokyo Dome

0-1. Wataru Inoue, Tama Tonga & Captain New Japan vs. Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Jado
0-2. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA & BUSHI
1. Special 8 Man Tag Match: Manabu Nakanishi, MVP, Strong Man & Akebono vs. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Yujiro Takahashi & Bob Sapp
2. NEVER Openweight Title: Masato Tanaka (c) vs. Shelton Benjamin
3. IWGP Tag Team Title: Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. (c) vs. Hirooki Goto & Karl Anderson
4. Special Singles Match: Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki
5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title – 3WAY Match: Prince Devitt (c) vs. Low Ki vs. Kota Ibushi
6. Special Tag Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Keiji Muto & Shinjiro Otani
7. Special Singles Match: Togi Makabe vs. Katsuyori Shibata
8. Double Main Event I – IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
9. Double Main Event II – IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada

–> “NJPW 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR ~ ROAD TO TOKYO DOME” <--

NJPW, 12/23/12 (Samurai! TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2,040 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Tiger Mask & BUSHI beat Hiromu Takahashi & Takaaki Watanabe (6:53) when BUSHI used a Firebird splash on Takahashi.
2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi, Wataru Inoue & Captain New Japan beat Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Yujiro Takahashi, YOSHI-HASHI & Jado (10:57) when Yano was DQ’d.
3. Road to TOKYO DOME 1: Hirooki Goto beat TAKA Michinoku (6:32) with the Shouten Kai.
4. Road to TOKYO DOME 2: Shinsuke Nakamura beat KUSHIDA (9:02) with the Boma Ye.
5. Road to TOKYO DOME 3: Togi Makabe beat Tomohiro Ishii (12:15) with a King Kong kneedrop.
6. Road to TOKYO DOME 4: Minoru Suzuki beat Jushin Thunder Liger (11:16) with a Gotch-style piledriver.
7. Road to TOKYO DOME 5: Yuji Nagata beat Taichi (6:22) with a backdrop hold.
8. Road to TOKYO DOME 6: Kazuchika Okada beat Ryusuke Taguchi (9:51) with the Rainmaker.
9. Road to TOKYO DOME 7: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Gedo (14:55) with the High Fly Flow.

* New Japan finished an exciting and successful 2012 today at a packed Korakuen Hall with a series of special singles matches, mostly following the heavyweight vs. junior theme with heavyweights winning all of them as expected. Akebono turned up to help the New Japan team in the second match and looks likely to be added to the planned six man Tokyo Dome tag match where CHAOS plan to add Bob Sapp. Sapp vs. Akebono was once a huge rivalry in K-1 that made lots of money and while both have long since fallen out of mainstream fame, if they are added it will turn a formula six man tag into something with a little more Tokyo Dome worthy novelty.

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The 1/4 Tokyo Dome will be available worldwide at a cost of US$35 on USTREAM. This is higher than the previous iPPVs but this is the biggest event on the Japanese calendar and is likely to be 4-5 hours long and good value for money. Click here for New Japan’s channel where you can order it (right near the bottom under “Upcoming Shows”). Here is the card but as mentioned the official opening match is now likely to feature Sapp and Akebono so may become 4 vs. 4.

NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM 7 ~EVOLUTION~ IN TOKYO DOME”, 1/4/13 (WPW/PPV/iPPV)
Tokyo Dome

0-1. Wataru Inoue, Tama Tonga & Captain New Japan vs. Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Jado
0-2. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA & BUSHI
1. Special 6 Man Tag Match: Manabu Nakanishi, MVP & Strong Man vs. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Yujiro Takahashi
2. NEVER Openweight Title: Masato Tanaka (c) vs. Shelton Benjamin
3. IWGP Tag Team Title: Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. (c) vs. Hirooki Goto & Karl Anderson
4. Special Singles Match: Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki
5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title – 3WAY Match: Prince Devitt (c) vs. Low Ki vs. Kota Ibushi
6. Special Tag Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Keiji Muto & Daichi Hashimoto
7. Special Singles Match: Togi Makabe vs. Katsuyori Shibata
8. Double Main Event I – IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
9. Double Main Event II – IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada

–> “NJPW 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR ~ ROAD TO TOKYO DOME” <--

NJPW, 12/20/12 (Samurai! TV)
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium #2
1,610 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Sho Tanaka vs. Yohei Komatsu went to a draw (10:00) when the time limit expired.
2. Tiger Mask & BUSHI beat Hiromu Takahashi & Takaaki Watanabe (8:41) when BUSHI used the Reed Road on Watanabe.
3. Yujiro Takahashi & Jado beat Wataru Inoue & Captain New Japan (8:00) when Takahashi used a Bukko Nuki German suplex hold on Captain.
4. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi beat Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & YOSHI-HASHI (10:39) when Iizuka was DQ’d.
5. Yuji Nagata, Hirooki Goto & Jushin Thunder Liger beat Minoru Suzuki, TAKA Michinoku & Taichi (11:17) when Liger used a shotei on TAKA.
6. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii beat Togi Makabe & KUSHIDA (14:41) when Ishii used a brainbuster on KUSHIDA.
7. Kazuchika Okada & Gedo beat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi (19:18) when Okada used the Rainmaker on Taguchi.

* Toru Yano is saying that he will bring former IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Bob Sapp, to the Tokyo Dome in January as a mystery partner which means he could replace a CHAOS member in the six man tag. Sapp once headlined a New Japan Tokyo Dome show when he was the biggest thing in Japanese pop culture, but his star has long since fallen and if he does appear it’ll be in the planned opening match. New Japan chairman Takaaki Kidani is considering bringing back MMA fighters to New Japan in 2013 to challenge top stars after publicly backing Sakuraba and Shibata and opposing President Sugabayashi who has done so much work to make New Japan an honest pro wrestling group again. This is all a storyline with no telling where it’ll lead, my only hope is if MMA fighters do appear next year the booking will be a lot less reckless than what happened in the 2000s which put New Japan’s whole existence in danger. Dave Meltzer says it could possibly see Kidani as a heel owner in an nWo style group with Antonio Inoki possibly used as a retired version of Hulk Hogan.

–> “NJPW 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR ~ ROAD TO TOKYO DOME” <--

NJPW, 12/18/12
Zentsuji Citizen Gymnasium
850 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Takaaki Watanabe beat Sho Tanaka (7:40) with a crab hold.
2. Jushin Thunder Liger & BUSHI beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Hiromu Takahashi (9:10) when BUSHI used a modified reverse figure-four leglock on Takahashi.
3. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Jado & Gedo beat Manabu Nakanishi, Wataru Inoue, Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan (11:05) when Yano used the Uragasumi on Captain.
4. Minoru Suzuki & Taichi beat Yuji Nagata & KUSHIDA (12:12) when Suzuki used a Gotch-style piledriver on KUSHIDA.
5. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Hirooki Goto beat Shinsuke Nakamura, Yujiro Takahashi & YOSHI-HASHI (15:00) when Goto used the Shouten Kai on YOSHI-HASHI.
6. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe beat Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii (18:35) when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on Ishii.

–> “NJPW 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR ~ ROAD TO TOKYO DOME” <--

NJPW, 12/17/12
Tokushima Municipal Gymnasium
800 Fans

1. Takaaki Watanabe beat Yohei Komatsu (7:08) with a crab hold.
2. Jushin Thunder Liger & KUSHIDA beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Hiromu Takahashi (8:51) when KUSHIDA used a jumping moonsault press on Takahashi.
3. Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan beat Jado & Gedo (12:05) when Tiger used a crucifix hold on Jado.
4. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Yujiro Takahashi & Tomohiro Ishii beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi & Wataru Inoue (13:15) when Yano used the Uragasumi on Inoue.
5. Minoru Suzuki & Taichi beat Yuji Nagata & BUSHI (13:18) when Taichi used the Low Fly Flow on BUSHI.
6. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe & Hirooki Goto beat Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura & YOSHI-HASHI (15:50) when Goto used the Shouten Kai on YOSHI-HASHI.

–> “NJPW 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR ~ ROAD TO TOKYO DOME” <--

NJPW, 12/16/12
Tex Port Imabari
1,300 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Hiromu Takahashi beat Sho Tanaka (7:30) with a crab hold.
2. Jado & Gedo beat Captain New Japan & Takaaki Watanabe (12:24) when Jado used the Crossface of JADO on Watanabe.
3. Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask beat KUSHIDA & BUSHI (8:50) when Tiger used a Destroy suplex hold on BUSHI.
4. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi & Wataru Inoue beat Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Yujiro Takahashi & YOSHI-HASHI (12:00) when Kojima used a lariat on YOSHI-HASHI.
5. Minoru Suzuki & Taichi beat Yuji Nagata & Ryusuke Taguchi (14:17) when Suzuki used a Gotch-style piledriver on Taguchi.
6. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe & Hirooki Goto beat Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii (16:12) when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on Ishii.

Kazuchika Okada, one of Japanese pro wrestling’s biggest breakout stars in years, dominated the 2012 Tokyo Sports awards. Not only did he become the MVP aged just 25 but his memorable match with Tanahashi on June 16th, when Tanahashi won the IWGP Heavyweight Title back from Okada, was named Best Bout. Along with these two awards, Shinsuke Nakamura added a third for New Japan by winning the Technique Prize while New Japan legend Seiji Sakaguchi picked up a Lifetime Achievement Prize.

Tokyo Sports 2012 MVP: Kazuchika Okada
Tokyo Sports 2012 Best Bout: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (6/16 @ Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium)
Tokyo Sports 2012 Technique Award: Shinsuke Nakamura

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Satoshi Kojima failed in his attempt to win the GHC Heavyweight Title in the main event of NOAH’s Sumo Hall show on which the legendary Kenta Kobashi announced he is retiring from pro wrestling. NOAH has been struggling more and more since the death of Misawa but was able to draw a reasonable attendance of 7,500 (if real) for the show.

NOAH “GREAT VOYAGE 2012 IN RYOGOKU VOL. 2″, 12/9/12
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
7,500 Fans

- GHC Heavyweight Title: Takeshi Morishima (c) beat Satoshi Kojima (20:17) with a backdrop suplex (8th defense).

–> “NJPW 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR ~ ROAD TO TOKYO DOME” <--

NJPW, 12/9/12
Akita Terrsa Hall
2,000 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Hiromu Takahashi beat Yohei Komatsu (7:34) with a missile kick.
2. KUSHIDA beat Takaaki Watanabe (8:13) with a chickenwing armlock.
3. Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask beat Jado & Gedo (10:39) when Tiger used a crucifix hold on Gedo.
4. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Yujiro Takahashi beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi & Captain New Japan (11:04) when Takahashi used a Bukko Nuki German suplex hold on Captain.
5. Minoru Suzuki, TAKA Michinoku & Taichi beat Yuji Nagata, Ryusuke Taguchi & BUSHI (12:37) when Taichi used the Low Fly Flow on BUSHI.
6. Shinsuke Nakamura & YOSHI-HASHI beat Togi Makabe & Wataru Inoue (10:28) when Nakamura used the Boma Ye on Inoue.
7. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto beat Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii (17:36) when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on Ishii.