7. Thiago Tavares (20-4-1) beat Spencer Fisher (25-8) at 2:51 of the second round. Tavares got two takedowns as well as got Fishers back late in the first round. Tavares was bleeding from under the right eye in the first round. Crowd was real hot for the Brazil vs. USA match-up. In the second round, Tavares corner told him to stop kicking. So he came out and threw two high kicks. Tavares powered Fisher to the ground and was landing a lot of punches. After about 25 unanswered punches, it was stopped.
8. Stanislav Nedkov (12-0) beat Luiz Cane (12-4, 1 no contest) in 4:13. Nedkov is only the second Bulgarian ever to compete in UFC, and a two-time national freestyle champion. The crowd again started singing in unison here. Nedkov, who was a lot smaller, couldnt get the takedown. Cane, the Brazilian, was landing punches while Nedkov couldnt get him down. He appeared to have busted Nedkovs nose, but suddenly Nedkov landed a left hook to the jaw and Cane was hurt. He tried to dance away, but Nedkov just overwhelmed him with punches, put him down and landed 18 straight hard lefts to the head and ref Mario Yamasaki stopped it. The crowd went quiet at that point.
9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (33-6-1, 1 no contest) knocked out Brendan Schaub (9-1) in 3:09. Schaub was booed like crazy and Nogueira was, by far, the most popular fighter on the card. Still, Schaub loved Brazil and had both an American and Brazilian flag on his gi when it came out. Crowd was just going crazy here. They were in a clinch and traded short punches to the jaw. Schaub landed a hard right and kicked Nogueira in the knee. Schaub started landing punches but then Nogueira came back with a hard left and right, followed by a left that landed perfectly, which put Schaub down and out. This was apparently the biggest reaction to a finish in UFC history. Even not well micd, you could see the drinks flying everywhere in celebration and the crowd literally dancing and jumping up and down. Just a crazy scene.
10. Edson Barboza (9-0) beat Ross Pearson (14-5) on a split decision on scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28. Very close fight. Pearson was moving forward early and putting Barboza on his heels, which he wasnt used to. Both landed both punches and kicks in the first round, with no takedowns and Pearson did land more. In the second, Barboza scored the only knockdown with an overhand right. Pearson tried a takedown but couldnt get it. Pearson started coming back. Each landed, with Barboza with body kicks and a spin kick. Pearson again couldnt get a takedown. Barboza took the round with a knockdown so I had it even going into the third. Pearson with a left to the jaw and Barboza back with a spin kick. Barboza with a body kick and a left by Pearson. Pearson with a knee. Pearson had a nasty hematoma on the left side of the head, and again tried and couldnt get takedowns. Spin kick by Barboza but Pearson moved enough to avoid most of it. Pearson with several punches, but Barboza right back with a punch that busted Pearsons hematoma open. Pearson landed more punches late in the round and hit a knee. It was probably the swelling and busting open the hematoma that won Barboza the fight. From a pure technical fighting standard it was the best thing on the show.
11. Mauricio Shogun Rua (20-5) beat Forrest Griffin (18-7) in 1:53. This was a rematch of a 2007 fight that Griffin won, that turned Griffins career around. Griffin mentally wasnt here for the fight. His wife was nine days from giving birth and while he was in Brazil, seemed to figure out it was a mistake to be there. They traded, but Ruas punches were a lot harder. Griffin just didnt move like himself. Rua landed a hard right and Griffin took a delayed fall. Shogun landed four punches on the ground and seven really hard hammer firsts and Griffin was out by the fourth or fifth one. As soon as the fight was over, Griffins wife texted him saying that it was about time, so he rushed home as she apparently went into labor. But he wasnt aware of it until maybe 20 or 30 minutes after the fight was over. Rua looked sharp, but its going to be hard for him to get a title shot if Jon Jones remains champion because he didnt even look competitive against Jones in the title loss.
12. Anderson Silva (31-4) beat Yushin Okami (27-6) at 2:04 of the second round to retain the middleweight title. Neither would touch gloves. Okami came into the cage with this face like he wasnt confident. Silva looked much bigger which is funny since Okami is pushed like hes this super strong powerhouse. Okami came out and missed punches. He got a clinch and threw punches. Silva landed a jab and was dancing but Okami got another clinch. Okami landed a lot of punches from the clinch, and then they tried knees. Okami tried a takedown and didnt get it, Silva threw a knee while they were in the clinch which made Okami back off. Silva landed a right and followed with a high kick that hurt Okami. But the second round, Silva came out fast, putting on a show with his speed and movement. He then put his hands down and dared Okami to punch. Okami threw the punch and Silva came right back and knocked him down with a right jab. Silva backed off, letting Okami up. He kept his hands low again. Okami paused, not wanting to throw, but when he saw an opening, fired a left, and Silva put him down with another right to the jaw and finished him with punches on the ground.
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Wrestling in Japan may be at near its lowest level of popularity to the mainstream in its history, but 8/28 showed that with the right promotion and attraction, there are still a lot of people who will attend shows even without major television promotion, as what was reported as more than 28,000 fans came out to see two head-to-head shows in Tokyo.
A joint show, with All Japan, New Japan and Pro Wrestling NOAH all working together for a show to raise money for victims of the earthquake and tsunami sold out Budokan Hall to the tune of 17,000 fans, selling out well in advance. The crowd was hot and into everything, in a show that didnt feature one singles match. The biggest thing on the show was Kenta Kobashi & Keiji Muto as a tag team, , ending with double moonsaults as Kobashi pinned Takashi Iizuka while Muto did the same thing to Toru Yano.
It was a nostalgia crowd, because there were huge reactions to wrestlers from another era, the biggest surprises being Super Strong Machine and Masa Fuchi. Fuchi in particular had his name chanted when he came out for the Battle Royal.
The show was considered a major success. It was even covered on the NTV nightly newscast, with a few minutes covering all three major companies working together although one of the reasons it got the coverage was because of it being an earthquake victims benefit show.
Before the main event started, all the wrestlers from the three promotions came to the ring and Tanahashi was given the role of being the big modern star, and he said the three groups would be doing a second earthquake benefit show on 2/19 in Sendai, which was the major city that got hit the worst from the earthquakes.
Not far away, at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Antonio Inokis IGF show did a sellout announced at 11,600 fans. Live reports from both shows noted the sellouts were legit. This show also had a hot crowd, and a very different audience feel. Inokis gimmick of using the kind of guys that would be stars in the 70s (including some that actually were stars in the 70s like Abdullah the Butcher, Mil Mascaras and Tiger Jeet SinghButcher and Singh appeared but didnt wrestle ), freak show guys and real fighters who arent necessary smooth workers, usually isnt a big deal. This show did not draw your usual wrestling crowd, but non fans and a casual audience that came to see names from the past in Japan like Jerome LeBanner, Mascaras and Peter Aerts. The quality of matches was said to be what youd expect given the lineup, but the live crowd was entertained seeing Mascaras vs. Tatsumi Fujinami, the return to pro wrestling of Naoya Ogawa as well as the K-1 legends back in Japan. Inoki had promoted the show heavily in Fukushima, which is about 180 miles from Tokyo, and they had 1,000 people come from that city which was one of the places hit by the earthquake.
While looking at these numbers would give an impression that things are starting to turn around in Japan, those who are there says you do get the impression when attending these big shows because the fans who came are really into it that things are the case, but the Japanese economy for pro wrestling right now is really bad and there is no sign of a turnaround. Because of the weakness in the Japanese economy, the sponsor money (which has always been a big part of their business long before it was in the U.S.) isnt there, there isnt the Yakuza finance money of spot shows as in the past and pro wrestling used to have mainstream appeal, with the two stars well known celebrities, which is not the case today. Both All Japan and Pro Wrestling NOAH are in very bad shape financially right now, although New Japan is on solid footing.
At Budokan Hall, the show opened with the three champions, Tanahashi, Suwama and Shiozaki, as well as NOAH Vice President Naomichi Marufuji (out with an injury) coming out and thanking the fans for coming.
1. The opener had the theme of some of the best high flyers, as Kota Ibushi (DDT) & Bushi (All Japan) & Hiroshi Yamato (All Japan) & Taiji Ishimori (NOAH) beat Tiger Mask (New Japan) & Kaz Hayashi (All Japan) & Shuji Kondo (All Japan) & Ricky Marvin (NOAH) in 10:05 when Ishimori pinned Marvin after a 450 splash. Fast paced well worked match.
2. The second match theme was the rising stars, as Tetsuya Naito (New Japan) & Seiya Sanada (All Japan) & Shuhei Taniguchi (NOAH) beat Yujiro Takahashi (New Japan) & Manabu Soya (All Japan) & Mohammed Yone (NOAH) in 11:10 when Sanada pinned Takahashi after a moonsault. This had Naito vs. Takahashi, which is a New Japan feud, with Sanada & Soya, a regular All Japan tag team combination, were on opposite sides.
3. Togi Makabe (New Japan) & Akitoshi Saito (NOAH) beat Hirooki Goto (New Japan) & Taiyo Kea (All Japan) in 9:54 when Makabe pinned Kea after the King Kong kneedrop.
4. In another junior heavyweight match, Prince Devitt (New Japan) & Ryusuke Taguchi (New Japan) & Kotaro Suzuki (NOAH) & Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH through the Kensuke Office) & Kai (All Japan) beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH) & KENTA (NOAH) & Genba Hirayanagi (NOAH) & Koji Kanemoto (New Japan) & Minoru (All Japan) in 15:07 when Kai pinned Hirayanagi after a splash. The winning team consisted of Devitt & Taguchi, the current IWGP jr. tag champs, Suzuki, the GHC jr. champ, and Kai, the All Japan jr. champion. They went against KENTA & Kanemaru, the GHC jr. tag champs, with Hiryanagai, the third guy on their regular team, and Kanemoto & Minoru, who were the best tag team in the world many years back, and teamed up for the first time in years. Also a very good match, with interesting sequences with Devitt & Taguchi vs. KENTA & Kanemaru as well as Nakajima vs. Kanemoto.
5. In a reunion match of sorts, Jushin Liger (New Japan) & Masakatsu Funaki (All Japan) & Takuma Sano (NOAH) beat Minoru Suzuki (free agent) & Taichi (New Japan) & Atsushi Aoki (NOAH) in 12:47 when Funaki beat Aoki with a chicken wing facelock submission. Liger, Funaki & Sano all started together in the New Japan dojo.
6. Kentaro Shiga won a 23 man Battle Royal for The Destroyer Cup. The Destroyer (Dick Beyer, now 81) came to the ring with son Kurt Beyer (who wrestled for All Japan in the 90s). He was not moving very well, but that shouldnt be a surprise given his long career in wrestling and working a physical style. He needed the guard rails and ropes for support. They opened up the ropes so he could get into the ring and there was a sad moment because he tried to get in and couldnt bend over enough. Then they spread open the middle and top rope and he was able to get in. He did a promo before the match started and he can still deliver, in Japanese to boot, and the crowd gave him a big reaction. Shiga won in 11:54, pinning Gedo (New Japan) in a symbolic gesture. Shiga is a free agent, who worked for years with NOAH, and is from Sendai. Others in the match were Hideo Saito (New Japan), Tomohiro Ishii (New Japan), Takaaki Watanabe (New Japan), Super Strong Machine (New Japan), Jun Nishikawa (Kensuke Office), Satoshi Kajiwara (Kensuke Office), Kento Miyahara (Kensuke Office), Lee Che Gyong (All Japan), Sho Soya (All Japan), Soshun (All Japan), Yasufumi Nakanoe (All Japan), Mazada (All Japan), Masa Fuchi (All Japan), Rene Dupree (All Japan), Joe Doering (All Japan), Zack Sabre Jr. (NOAH), Masao Inoue (NOAH), Yoshinari Ogawa (NOAH) and Akira Taue (NOAH).
7. The fat team against the early 90s New Japan class match saw Akebono (All Japan) & Ryota Hama (All Japan) & Takeshi Morishima (NOAH) & Yutaka Yoshie (free agent) over Hiroyoshi Tenzan (New Japan) & Yuji Nagata (New Japan) & Osamu Nishimura (All Japan) & Wataru Inoue (New Japan). The ending came at 11:20 when Morishima pinned Nishimura after a back suplex. Morishima carried the bout.
8. Jun Akiyama (NOAH) & Kensuke Sasaki (Kensuke Office) beat the return of Team No Fear of Yoshihiro Takayama (NOAH) & Takao Omori (All Japan) in 15:44 when Sasaki pinned Omori after the Hokuto bomb.
9. In the match that got the most reaction, Kenta Kobashi (NOAH) & Keiji Muto (All Japan), two of the greatest wrestlers in Japanese history and for an historical standpoint, clearly the two biggest stars on this show, beat Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano (New Japan heels) in 14:58. Kobashi & Muto came out first, which was weird, but that was because the heels went to attack them from behind during their ring entrance. Iizuka tried to cut Kobashis hair. Muto did a moonsault on Iizuka and then he told Kobashi to do the same. Kobashi slowly climbed the ropes and did a moonsault on Iizuka for the pin.
10. Hiroshi Tanahashi (New Japans IWGP heavyweight champion) & Suwama (All Japan Triple Crown champion) & Go Shiozaki (NOAHs GHC heavyweight champion) beat Takashi Sugiura (NOAH) & Kenso (All Japan) & Shinsuke Nakamura (New Japan). Finish came in 22:50 when Tanahashi pinned Kenso with the high fly flow. This was said to be the best match on the show. Tanahashi & Kenso started their careers together in New Japan. Because Kenso, who went by his real name of Kenzo Suzuki, was a member of the national team in rugby and the bigger guy, he got more of a push starting out, but Tanahashi was the better wrestler and showed more charisma, so he was the one who ended up as arguably the biggest new generation superstar. From the start, Sugiura and Nakamura had problems with Kenso. Kenso was about to get pinned, but Nakamura made the save. Then Kenso attacked Nakamura, and then hit Sugiura. Everyone turned on Kenso. Nakamura gave Kenso the bom a ye and then Sugiura gave him the Olympic slam. Suwama then gave him a German suplex, followed by Shiozaki giving him a lariat. Suwama then gave Kenso a last ride power bomb before Tanahashi came off the top with his frog splash for the pin.
The show ended with a rock band and dancers came out while the wrestlers were in the ring and the crowd was chanting Pro Wrestling is awesome.
8. Stanislav Nedkov (12-0) beat Luiz Cane (12-4, 1 no contest) in 4:13. Nedkov is only the second Bulgarian ever to compete in UFC, and a two-time national freestyle champion. The crowd again started singing in unison here. Nedkov, who was a lot smaller, couldnt get the takedown. Cane, the Brazilian, was landing punches while Nedkov couldnt get him down. He appeared to have busted Nedkovs nose, but suddenly Nedkov landed a left hook to the jaw and Cane was hurt. He tried to dance away, but Nedkov just overwhelmed him with punches, put him down and landed 18 straight hard lefts to the head and ref Mario Yamasaki stopped it. The crowd went quiet at that point.
9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (33-6-1, 1 no contest) knocked out Brendan Schaub (9-1) in 3:09. Schaub was booed like crazy and Nogueira was, by far, the most popular fighter on the card. Still, Schaub loved Brazil and had both an American and Brazilian flag on his gi when it came out. Crowd was just going crazy here. They were in a clinch and traded short punches to the jaw. Schaub landed a hard right and kicked Nogueira in the knee. Schaub started landing punches but then Nogueira came back with a hard left and right, followed by a left that landed perfectly, which put Schaub down and out. This was apparently the biggest reaction to a finish in UFC history. Even not well micd, you could see the drinks flying everywhere in celebration and the crowd literally dancing and jumping up and down. Just a crazy scene.
10. Edson Barboza (9-0) beat Ross Pearson (14-5) on a split decision on scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28. Very close fight. Pearson was moving forward early and putting Barboza on his heels, which he wasnt used to. Both landed both punches and kicks in the first round, with no takedowns and Pearson did land more. In the second, Barboza scored the only knockdown with an overhand right. Pearson tried a takedown but couldnt get it. Pearson started coming back. Each landed, with Barboza with body kicks and a spin kick. Pearson again couldnt get a takedown. Barboza took the round with a knockdown so I had it even going into the third. Pearson with a left to the jaw and Barboza back with a spin kick. Barboza with a body kick and a left by Pearson. Pearson with a knee. Pearson had a nasty hematoma on the left side of the head, and again tried and couldnt get takedowns. Spin kick by Barboza but Pearson moved enough to avoid most of it. Pearson with several punches, but Barboza right back with a punch that busted Pearsons hematoma open. Pearson landed more punches late in the round and hit a knee. It was probably the swelling and busting open the hematoma that won Barboza the fight. From a pure technical fighting standard it was the best thing on the show.
11. Mauricio Shogun Rua (20-5) beat Forrest Griffin (18-7) in 1:53. This was a rematch of a 2007 fight that Griffin won, that turned Griffins career around. Griffin mentally wasnt here for the fight. His wife was nine days from giving birth and while he was in Brazil, seemed to figure out it was a mistake to be there. They traded, but Ruas punches were a lot harder. Griffin just didnt move like himself. Rua landed a hard right and Griffin took a delayed fall. Shogun landed four punches on the ground and seven really hard hammer firsts and Griffin was out by the fourth or fifth one. As soon as the fight was over, Griffins wife texted him saying that it was about time, so he rushed home as she apparently went into labor. But he wasnt aware of it until maybe 20 or 30 minutes after the fight was over. Rua looked sharp, but its going to be hard for him to get a title shot if Jon Jones remains champion because he didnt even look competitive against Jones in the title loss.
12. Anderson Silva (31-4) beat Yushin Okami (27-6) at 2:04 of the second round to retain the middleweight title. Neither would touch gloves. Okami came into the cage with this face like he wasnt confident. Silva looked much bigger which is funny since Okami is pushed like hes this super strong powerhouse. Okami came out and missed punches. He got a clinch and threw punches. Silva landed a jab and was dancing but Okami got another clinch. Okami landed a lot of punches from the clinch, and then they tried knees. Okami tried a takedown and didnt get it, Silva threw a knee while they were in the clinch which made Okami back off. Silva landed a right and followed with a high kick that hurt Okami. But the second round, Silva came out fast, putting on a show with his speed and movement. He then put his hands down and dared Okami to punch. Okami threw the punch and Silva came right back and knocked him down with a right jab. Silva backed off, letting Okami up. He kept his hands low again. Okami paused, not wanting to throw, but when he saw an opening, fired a left, and Silva put him down with another right to the jaw and finished him with punches on the ground.
***********************************************************************
Wrestling in Japan may be at near its lowest level of popularity to the mainstream in its history, but 8/28 showed that with the right promotion and attraction, there are still a lot of people who will attend shows even without major television promotion, as what was reported as more than 28,000 fans came out to see two head-to-head shows in Tokyo.
A joint show, with All Japan, New Japan and Pro Wrestling NOAH all working together for a show to raise money for victims of the earthquake and tsunami sold out Budokan Hall to the tune of 17,000 fans, selling out well in advance. The crowd was hot and into everything, in a show that didnt feature one singles match. The biggest thing on the show was Kenta Kobashi & Keiji Muto as a tag team, , ending with double moonsaults as Kobashi pinned Takashi Iizuka while Muto did the same thing to Toru Yano.
It was a nostalgia crowd, because there were huge reactions to wrestlers from another era, the biggest surprises being Super Strong Machine and Masa Fuchi. Fuchi in particular had his name chanted when he came out for the Battle Royal.
The show was considered a major success. It was even covered on the NTV nightly newscast, with a few minutes covering all three major companies working together although one of the reasons it got the coverage was because of it being an earthquake victims benefit show.
Before the main event started, all the wrestlers from the three promotions came to the ring and Tanahashi was given the role of being the big modern star, and he said the three groups would be doing a second earthquake benefit show on 2/19 in Sendai, which was the major city that got hit the worst from the earthquakes.
Not far away, at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Antonio Inokis IGF show did a sellout announced at 11,600 fans. Live reports from both shows noted the sellouts were legit. This show also had a hot crowd, and a very different audience feel. Inokis gimmick of using the kind of guys that would be stars in the 70s (including some that actually were stars in the 70s like Abdullah the Butcher, Mil Mascaras and Tiger Jeet SinghButcher and Singh appeared but didnt wrestle ), freak show guys and real fighters who arent necessary smooth workers, usually isnt a big deal. This show did not draw your usual wrestling crowd, but non fans and a casual audience that came to see names from the past in Japan like Jerome LeBanner, Mascaras and Peter Aerts. The quality of matches was said to be what youd expect given the lineup, but the live crowd was entertained seeing Mascaras vs. Tatsumi Fujinami, the return to pro wrestling of Naoya Ogawa as well as the K-1 legends back in Japan. Inoki had promoted the show heavily in Fukushima, which is about 180 miles from Tokyo, and they had 1,000 people come from that city which was one of the places hit by the earthquake.
While looking at these numbers would give an impression that things are starting to turn around in Japan, those who are there says you do get the impression when attending these big shows because the fans who came are really into it that things are the case, but the Japanese economy for pro wrestling right now is really bad and there is no sign of a turnaround. Because of the weakness in the Japanese economy, the sponsor money (which has always been a big part of their business long before it was in the U.S.) isnt there, there isnt the Yakuza finance money of spot shows as in the past and pro wrestling used to have mainstream appeal, with the two stars well known celebrities, which is not the case today. Both All Japan and Pro Wrestling NOAH are in very bad shape financially right now, although New Japan is on solid footing.
At Budokan Hall, the show opened with the three champions, Tanahashi, Suwama and Shiozaki, as well as NOAH Vice President Naomichi Marufuji (out with an injury) coming out and thanking the fans for coming.
1. The opener had the theme of some of the best high flyers, as Kota Ibushi (DDT) & Bushi (All Japan) & Hiroshi Yamato (All Japan) & Taiji Ishimori (NOAH) beat Tiger Mask (New Japan) & Kaz Hayashi (All Japan) & Shuji Kondo (All Japan) & Ricky Marvin (NOAH) in 10:05 when Ishimori pinned Marvin after a 450 splash. Fast paced well worked match.
2. The second match theme was the rising stars, as Tetsuya Naito (New Japan) & Seiya Sanada (All Japan) & Shuhei Taniguchi (NOAH) beat Yujiro Takahashi (New Japan) & Manabu Soya (All Japan) & Mohammed Yone (NOAH) in 11:10 when Sanada pinned Takahashi after a moonsault. This had Naito vs. Takahashi, which is a New Japan feud, with Sanada & Soya, a regular All Japan tag team combination, were on opposite sides.
3. Togi Makabe (New Japan) & Akitoshi Saito (NOAH) beat Hirooki Goto (New Japan) & Taiyo Kea (All Japan) in 9:54 when Makabe pinned Kea after the King Kong kneedrop.
4. In another junior heavyweight match, Prince Devitt (New Japan) & Ryusuke Taguchi (New Japan) & Kotaro Suzuki (NOAH) & Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH through the Kensuke Office) & Kai (All Japan) beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH) & KENTA (NOAH) & Genba Hirayanagi (NOAH) & Koji Kanemoto (New Japan) & Minoru (All Japan) in 15:07 when Kai pinned Hirayanagi after a splash. The winning team consisted of Devitt & Taguchi, the current IWGP jr. tag champs, Suzuki, the GHC jr. champ, and Kai, the All Japan jr. champion. They went against KENTA & Kanemaru, the GHC jr. tag champs, with Hiryanagai, the third guy on their regular team, and Kanemoto & Minoru, who were the best tag team in the world many years back, and teamed up for the first time in years. Also a very good match, with interesting sequences with Devitt & Taguchi vs. KENTA & Kanemaru as well as Nakajima vs. Kanemoto.
5. In a reunion match of sorts, Jushin Liger (New Japan) & Masakatsu Funaki (All Japan) & Takuma Sano (NOAH) beat Minoru Suzuki (free agent) & Taichi (New Japan) & Atsushi Aoki (NOAH) in 12:47 when Funaki beat Aoki with a chicken wing facelock submission. Liger, Funaki & Sano all started together in the New Japan dojo.
6. Kentaro Shiga won a 23 man Battle Royal for The Destroyer Cup. The Destroyer (Dick Beyer, now 81) came to the ring with son Kurt Beyer (who wrestled for All Japan in the 90s). He was not moving very well, but that shouldnt be a surprise given his long career in wrestling and working a physical style. He needed the guard rails and ropes for support. They opened up the ropes so he could get into the ring and there was a sad moment because he tried to get in and couldnt bend over enough. Then they spread open the middle and top rope and he was able to get in. He did a promo before the match started and he can still deliver, in Japanese to boot, and the crowd gave him a big reaction. Shiga won in 11:54, pinning Gedo (New Japan) in a symbolic gesture. Shiga is a free agent, who worked for years with NOAH, and is from Sendai. Others in the match were Hideo Saito (New Japan), Tomohiro Ishii (New Japan), Takaaki Watanabe (New Japan), Super Strong Machine (New Japan), Jun Nishikawa (Kensuke Office), Satoshi Kajiwara (Kensuke Office), Kento Miyahara (Kensuke Office), Lee Che Gyong (All Japan), Sho Soya (All Japan), Soshun (All Japan), Yasufumi Nakanoe (All Japan), Mazada (All Japan), Masa Fuchi (All Japan), Rene Dupree (All Japan), Joe Doering (All Japan), Zack Sabre Jr. (NOAH), Masao Inoue (NOAH), Yoshinari Ogawa (NOAH) and Akira Taue (NOAH).
7. The fat team against the early 90s New Japan class match saw Akebono (All Japan) & Ryota Hama (All Japan) & Takeshi Morishima (NOAH) & Yutaka Yoshie (free agent) over Hiroyoshi Tenzan (New Japan) & Yuji Nagata (New Japan) & Osamu Nishimura (All Japan) & Wataru Inoue (New Japan). The ending came at 11:20 when Morishima pinned Nishimura after a back suplex. Morishima carried the bout.
8. Jun Akiyama (NOAH) & Kensuke Sasaki (Kensuke Office) beat the return of Team No Fear of Yoshihiro Takayama (NOAH) & Takao Omori (All Japan) in 15:44 when Sasaki pinned Omori after the Hokuto bomb.
9. In the match that got the most reaction, Kenta Kobashi (NOAH) & Keiji Muto (All Japan), two of the greatest wrestlers in Japanese history and for an historical standpoint, clearly the two biggest stars on this show, beat Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano (New Japan heels) in 14:58. Kobashi & Muto came out first, which was weird, but that was because the heels went to attack them from behind during their ring entrance. Iizuka tried to cut Kobashis hair. Muto did a moonsault on Iizuka and then he told Kobashi to do the same. Kobashi slowly climbed the ropes and did a moonsault on Iizuka for the pin.
10. Hiroshi Tanahashi (New Japans IWGP heavyweight champion) & Suwama (All Japan Triple Crown champion) & Go Shiozaki (NOAHs GHC heavyweight champion) beat Takashi Sugiura (NOAH) & Kenso (All Japan) & Shinsuke Nakamura (New Japan). Finish came in 22:50 when Tanahashi pinned Kenso with the high fly flow. This was said to be the best match on the show. Tanahashi & Kenso started their careers together in New Japan. Because Kenso, who went by his real name of Kenzo Suzuki, was a member of the national team in rugby and the bigger guy, he got more of a push starting out, but Tanahashi was the better wrestler and showed more charisma, so he was the one who ended up as arguably the biggest new generation superstar. From the start, Sugiura and Nakamura had problems with Kenso. Kenso was about to get pinned, but Nakamura made the save. Then Kenso attacked Nakamura, and then hit Sugiura. Everyone turned on Kenso. Nakamura gave Kenso the bom a ye and then Sugiura gave him the Olympic slam. Suwama then gave him a German suplex, followed by Shiozaki giving him a lariat. Suwama then gave Kenso a last ride power bomb before Tanahashi came off the top with his frog splash for the pin.
The show ended with a rock band and dancers came out while the wrestlers were in the ring and the crowd was chanting Pro Wrestling is awesome.