One of New Japan’s most famous tag teams is back! Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima, affectionately known as TenKoji, are reuniting and New Japan has hurriedly altered the big 12/4 Aichi lineup to pit them against the dastardly CHAOS’ duo of Iizuka & Saito. It will be about 2 1/2 years since TenKoji last teamed in a reunion that ended on a flat note with the two losing to Bad Intentions on 5/3/09 in Fukuoka. Could fate drive them towards facing that very team who have become the most successful IWGP Tag Team Champions of all time?

NJPW, 12/4/11 (WPW/PPV)
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

1. Karl Anderson & Killer Rabbit vs. Jado & Gedo
2. Tomoaki Honma, Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tama Tonga vs. Toru Yano, Yujiro Takahashi, Tomohiro Ishii & Rocky Romero
3. Special Tag Match: Hirooki Goto & KUSHIDA vs. Takashi Sugiura & Atsushi Aoki
4. Special Tag Match: Togi Makabe & Wataru Inoue vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Lance Archer
5. Special Tag Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Takashi Iizuka & Hideo Saito
6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt (c) vs. Davey Richards
7. IWGP Intercontinental Title: Masato Tanaka vs. MVP
8. Special Singles Match: Giant Bernard vs. Minoru Suzuki
9. Special Singles Match: Tetsuya Naito vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
10. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Yuji Nagata

Former IWGP Tag Team Champions, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura, reunited earlier on Hiromitsu Kanehara’s 20th anniversary show against Daisuke Ikeda & The Great Sasuke. Tenzan pinned Sasuke for the win and the two had a nostalgic chat backstage, Nishimura saying it felt like only yesterday when the two beat Yutaka Yoshie & Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the IWGP Tag Team Title back on 12/14/03 at the Nagoya Rainbow Hall. Nishimura of course has long since left New Japan, becoming a freelancer in January ’06, but when Tenzan invited him home Nishimura thanked him and said maybe he would some day.

Hiromitsu Kanehara Produce “Hiromitsu Kanehara 20th Anniversary Show ~U-SPIRITS~”, 11/16/11
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

- Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura beat Daisuke Ikeda & The Great Sasuke (15:42) when Tenzan used the TTD on Sasuke.

Hiroshi Tanahashi will be the next big name New Japan star to head to CMLL in Mexico. He’ll depart after the multipromotional “ALL TOGETHER” show at Budokan on 8/27 and return in the middle of September. Interestingly enough, he will miss several New Japan shows at the time (see below) including probably a big Kobe World Hall show. This would be especially strange if he is still IWGP Heavyweight Champion at that time.

An expanded schedule has been announced up until early October. As mentioned, there is the customary September series with a big show at Kobe World Hall. But the main talking point is that on October 3rd, Hiroyoshi Tenzan will have a 20th anniversary show at Korakuen Hall. The big news? Tenzan wants to revive Ookami Gundan for the show and announced that for the first time since his harmonious exit from New Japan in January ’10, “Mr. G1″ Masahiro Chono will return home! Tenzan also wants to bring back Hiro Saito, who left New Japan in January ’06 with Tatsumi Fujinami, so the trio Tenzan was part of after returning to New Japan from his overseas learning excursion in the mid-90s looks set for an emotional reunion.

- 8/30 “NAGATA PRODUCE ~ BLUE JUSTICE.3″ @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall SAMURAI!

G1 CLIMAX SPECIAL 2011 (9/3/11 to 9/19/11)
- 9/3 @ Yokkaichi Australia Memorial Hall
- 9/4 @ Twin Messe Shizuoka
- 9/8 @ Toyama Techno Hall
- 9/9 @ Chichibu Cultural Sports Center
- 9/10 @ Tokorozawa Citizen Gymnasium #2
- 9/11 @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall SAMURAI!
- 9/15 @ Fukuchiyama Park Gymnasium
- 9/16 @ Hiroshima Green Arena Small Arena
- 9/17 @ Izumo City Gymnasium
- 9/18 @ Okayama Orange Hall
- 9/19 @ Kobe World Hall WPW/PPV

NEW JAPAN LIVE 2011 (9/22/11 to 9/25/11)
- 9/22 @ Niihama Citizen Gymnasium
- 9/23 @ Takamatsu City Gymnasium
- 9/24 @ Yawatahama Citizen Sports Center
- 9/25 @ Tokushima Municipal Gymnasium

- 10/3 “HIROYOSHI TENZAN 20TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW” @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall SAMURAI!

Hiroyoshi Tenzan is back! After over 14 months on the shelf with serious injuries that threatened his career, the multiple time IWGP Heavyweight Champion is ready to ease himself back into action. Rather than a high profile return match, Tenzan has volunteered to appear on NEVER.4, the fourth installment of New Japan’s youth-oriented brand that has been a success so far. This takes place on November 18th at Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo. He joins several other names in being announced including two first timers…

From New Japan:
- Hiroyoshi Tenzan
- “NO LIMIT” Yujiro Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito (CHAOS)
- Tomoaki Honma (GBH)
- King Fale (Seigi Gun)
- Hiromu Takahashi
- Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS)
- Tama Tonga

Returning:
- Shinobu (666)
- Keisuke Ishii (DDT)
- Madoka (freelancer)
- Daisuke Sasaki (freelancer)

Introducing:
- Jun Ogawauchi (freelancer ~ former Toryumon Japan/T2P)
- Antonio Honda (freelancer ~ former DDT)

Hiroyoshi Tenzan is about to return with a bang, firstly in the TenKoji reunion and today announced a showdown with the legendary Kenta Kobashi! Tenzan is one of several New Japan wrestlers who will appear on Pro Wrestling NOAH’s May 6th Tokyo Nippon Budokan show. He will take promising young lion Kazuchika Okada with him and the two will face Kobashi and NOAH youngster Atsushi Ito. Once they were nicknamed “The Unbeatables”, Jushin Thunder Liger & Koji Kanemoto being the team that entered NOAH to bring home the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title in 2003. They re-board the Ark on the same show as they face Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Genba Hirayanagi in response to provocation from the team aimed at the New Japan legends. By the way, this show is on the same day as the second half of NJ’s Korakuen double header, the first half of which sees Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada vs. Takashi Sugiura & Atsushi Aoki in another NJ vs. NOAH bout.

NOAH “GLOBAL TAG LEAGUE ‘09″, 5/6/09
Tokyo Nippon Budokan

- Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Genba Hirayanagi vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Koji Kanemoto
- Kenta Kobashi & Atsushi Ito vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Kazuchika Okada

Both IWGP Tag titles were successfully defended at TNA’s “LOCKDOWN” PPV on the 19th. Team 3D went to war with Beer Money Inc. in an IWGP Tag vs. TNA Tag double title match and the world famous tandem came out on top, Brother Ray pinning Robert Roode after a 3D through the table. Meanwhile, NO LIMIT again failed to recapture the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title, this time in a 3WAY cage match as champions, the Motor City Machine Guns, defeated both them and Homicide and the 285lbs (yeah…) Shawn Hernandez. Both matches were officially sanctioned IWGP defenses unlike various others held in America in the past. The task remains for teams from New Japan to beat Team 3D and the MCMG.

TNA “LOCKDOWN”, 4/19/09 (PPV)
Philadelphia Liacouras Center

- 3WAY Tornado Six Sides of Steel Cage Match - IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley (c) beat Homicide & Shawn Hernandez and Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito (11:53) when Sabin pinned Naito after the Made in Detroit (3rd defense).
- Philadelphia Street Fight - IWGP Tag Team Title & TNA World Tag Team Title: “Team 3D” Brother Ray & Brother Devon (c) beat James Storm & Robert Roode (c) (13:57) when Ray pinned Roode after a 3D through a table (2nd defense) to become the 11th TNA World Tag Team Champions.

Takashi Iizuka is missing his old “friend” Hiroyoshi Tenzan, who is sidelined until May with the eye injury that forced him (and TenKoji) off the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show. It is almost a year ago now since Iizuka betrayed Tenzan to join GBH, ending their “friendship” tag team. Their bloody feud rolled on all across Japan and their most decisive grudge match to date at Sumo Hall last October saw Iizuka choke out Tenzan for the win. Still the blood feud rolled on after that, but with Tenzan injured Iizuka seems to feel that something is missing from his life. He can’t wait for Tenzan to return so that he can see his blood again.