Section 1- Results
All Japan: Mutoh pinned Kea on last Friday’s tour opener. That probably signals Kea as out of the running for a title shot in the next few months, unless the current storyline of RO&D and Voodoo Murders being in flux leads to a push for him. I sense that the stables will be merged into VM&D or something like that. The tour has already ended, much like the one-week tour last month… not a good sign at all. Whatever its recent troubles, New Japan is in dramatically better shape than any wrestling-only promotion besides NOAH.
Dragon Gate: Magnum Tokyo got the biggest win of his career on Sunday, pinning Tenryu in under 7 minutes. It was an unscheduled match. Also on the show Dragon Kid vs Yoshino went to a no-contest, and the Brave Gate title is held up.
New Japan: Tanahashi got a big win on Sunday, pinning Nakamura. He’ll be in line for a title shot if he beats Nagata this coming Sunday. Abebono & Choshu got off to a good start by defeating Chono & Tenzan in a non-title match.
Section 2- News
All Japan: They’ve announced a 6 team round-robin tournament for juniors to be held in March. Also, there is build towards a Kondo vs Milano Collection AT junior title match based on their feud in the Dragon Door promotion.
New Japan: Simon Inoki is meeting with WWE today for some reason, I’m sure we’ll find out more about that soon. In regular news there are two changes on the Sumo Hall card. First, Chono & Tenzan vs Albert & Nakanishi is now for the tag titles. Second, El Samurai has replaced Ishii in the junior tag title match. That little piece of news will come back later in the column.
NOAH: The bulk of the 3/5 Budokan card has been announced. The main event is Akiyama defending against Minoru Suzuki, which I think is being done to play off of both men’s abilities as legit grapplers. Thankfully for Akiyama he has a decent undercard to back him up. Juniors will get some prominent placement as KENTA faces Kobashi and Marufuji takes on Taue. If either one wins there’s a good chance he’ll get a title shot. Morishima will have a huge chance to move up in the world with a match against Misawa. Last but not least (well, maybe least) is Rikio vs Yoshinari Ogawa. Ogawa ended Akiyama’s first title reign, Rikio was recently champ, so the winner has a decent chance of a title shot.
Other news coming out of NOAH revolves around overseas activities. The announced 3/25 ROH match of KENTA & Marufuji vs Samoa Joe & American Dragon is apparently just the beginning of an American expansion. The concept of American expansion is standard boilerplate nobody in Japan really expects to happen, so NOAH seems to be setting the bar low. For starters, Kobashi/KENTA/Marufuji have all gotten visas designed to let them work in the US more often following the ROH matches. NOAH is also planning to get an apartment in England for when wrestlers appear there. They’re also planning a website in English designed to push DVDs and other merchandise, with pirated NOAH shows on the English-speaking internet used to prove demand. Don’t get your hopes up; wrestling DVDs in Japan are outrageously expensive and I doubt they *lower* the price for gaijin.
Section 3- NJ situation starts making sense
No new departures to report. It’s possible there will be more after the tour ends but I honestly doubt it.
In the last week or so a number of rumors have emerged which when put together explain a lot of what’s been happening. First, Choshu’s entry into the promotion led to a lot of bad feelings. When he left to form World Japan his booking style was already in dispute, and his return with ‘full power’ made a number of wrestlers unhappy. This in turn led to Fujinami and his contingent (Muga-related wrestlers such as Nishimura, Takemura and Samurai) to discuss forming a new promotion. Whether Fujinami’s theoretical fed was tied to the rumored fed linked to ex-announcer Tanaka is anyone’s guess, but it could explain a few key departures and overall anti-Choshu grumblings.
Well, the Fujinami fed has been nixed. Why? Perhaps it has to do with doubts about viability. Perhaps it was never that seriously planned. Perhaps he was placated by Choshu having his booking power cut into, with usual names like Chono and Liger back in the mix. This is evidenced in the way Ishii, Choshu’s boy, was been yanked from something as small as a junior tag title match. Choshu’s role should be ironed out soon, and then the company will have stability for at least the rest of the year. If it’s one thing the company could use right now it’s stability.
Beyond that, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see several wrestlers return over the course of the year. Whether they didn’t like Choshu as top dog, or wanted to join up with The Dragon, or thought they could do better than New Japan’s money offer, there are a number of guys I just can’t see doing well outside of New Japan and would be welcomed back. That would be much-needed good PR and would remove the need for Choshu-affiliated indy wrestlers (whose presence is causing some grumbling). All’s I know is that they better get Yoshie back while there’s still a chance for Yoshie vs Akebono, dammit.
