Super J Cup 2004 Results

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Osaka Pro hosted the fourth stage of the famous Super J Cup concept today at the 16,000 seat Osaka Castle Hall. Regrettably though, the show failed in many aspects, including attendance (6,800 officially, said to be less in reality; at kickoff, reports said the building was about 30% full, which is closer to 5,000, a number that wouldn't even have filled Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium), press coverage, and contents, and the general opinion was that the worth of the concept dropped even more than with the 2000 version, as few established juniors were in the tournament itself. Qualifications for entrance into the tournament required the wrestler to have six or less years of experience, and the entrants were Takehiro Murahama (Osaka Pro), Wataru Inoue (New Japan), Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH), Jun Kasai (ZERO-ONE), Taichi Ishikari (All Japan), Goa (Osaka Pro), and Garuda (WMF/freelance). The first round ended quickly, with no matches hitting 10 minutes. Marufuji vs. Kasai opened the show, and Kasai turned it into a semi-hardcore style match by introducing a table. After surviving the Pearl Harbor splash, Marufuji hit his Shiranui for the win. Garuda overcame Goa in the second match, pinning him with a huracanrana. Wataru defeated Yuasa in the best bout of round one, using New Japan's famous Octopus hold (manjigatame) to win a hard fought match. Finally, Murahama made short work of All Japan youngster, Ishikari, pinning him after a brainbuster. Kuishinbo Kamen captured the unofficial World's #1 Title from Ebessan in an amusing match, but one shorter than their usual bouts. Kuishinbo won with his patented Kankuu Tornado (Skytwister Press), and post-match Ebessan announced that they would have a rematch in America, on NWATNA's 3/3 convention.

 

Round two of the J Cup started with a good match, pitting Marufuji against Garuda. Fans really liked Garuda, as he was the only pure high-flyer of the tournament. He almost defeated Marufuji here, and Marufuji had to use a momentary cradle for the victory. Marufuji said he would like Garuda to tour with NOAH, respecting his strength. The second semi final was also good, but like the first, very short. Murahama defeated Wataru in a very close match, again using a brainbuster for the win. Wataru received a round of applause after the match. In a big upset, Billy Ken Kid & Tigers Mask made a successful V2 defense of their Osaka Pro Tag Team Title, beating TAKA Michinoku & Shiryu (Kaz Hayashi). BKK cradled TAKA with a backslide at lightning fast speed, and declared on the microphone post-match that the Osaka Pro Tag Title is no "cheap belt(s)". The biggest match of the show was not part of the tournament itself, but the semi main event. It was Team Heat vs. Team Liger, but in interpromotional form, with the IWGP Jr. and GHC Jr. champions leading teams of their own generation. Heat led his "ikemen" team of KENTA (NOAH) and CIMA (Toryumon Japan) to victory against the older generation trio of Liger, Jinsei Shinzaki (Michinoku Pro) & Super Delfin (Osaka Pro). CIMA spiked Delfin with his Schwein finisher to end a good match, the young generation showing it's strength. Finally, Murahama and Marufuji battled it out in a fierce final. This was a good match, with plenty of action, and after Murahama kicked out of a regular Shiranui, Marufuji had to use an avalanche-style Shiranui for the victory. Marufuji received a golden jacket and prize money for the tournament, and gave a brief microphone performance, saying the tournament was full of good wrestlers, and that the junior community is still interesting. Overall, the show was independently quite good, with the young wrestlers doing their best, but not up to the J Cup standard, and was sadly a failure overall.

 

Osaka Pro "SUPER J CUP 4TH STAGE", 2/21/04 (PPV)

Osaka Castle Hall

6,800 Fans

 

1. Super J Cup - Round 1: Naomichi Marufuji beat Jun Kasai (8:16) with the Shiranui.

2. Super J Cup - Round 1: Garuda beat Goa (7:01) with a huracanrana.

3. Super J Cup - Round 1: Wataru Inoue beat Kazuya Yuasa (9:25) with an Octopus hold.

4. Super J Cup - Round 1: Takehiro Murahama beat Taichi Ishikari (5:03) with a brainbuster.

5. Ofune beat Apple Miyuki (4:51) with a front headlock.

6. Tomohiro Ishii , MEN's Teioh & MIKAMI beat Kintaro Kanemura, Big Boss MA-G-MA & Azteca (10:35) when Ishii used a brainbuster on Azteca.

7. Kuishinbo Kamen beat Ebessan (8:04) with a Kankuu Tornado.

8. Super J Cup - Semi Final: Naomichi Marufuji beat Garuda (10:22) with an arm arrangement cradle.

9. Super J Cup - Semi Final: Takehiro Murahama beat Wataru Inoue (9:30) with a brainbuster.

10. Osaka Pro Tag Team Title: Billy Ken Kid & Tigers Mask © beat TAKA Michinoku & Shiryu (12:55) when Kid used a backslide on TAKA (2nd defense).

11. Heat , KENTA & CIMA beat Jushin Thunder Liger , Jinsei Shinzaki & Super Delfin (16:53) when CIMA used the Schwein on Delfin.

12. Super J Cup - Final: Naomichi Marufuji beat Takehiro Murahama (14:05) with an avalanche-style Shiranui.

 

Puroresufan.com

 

Finals look pretty awesome. Sounds like a solid show overall.

[Guest Black Tiger]

Bad timing for a J-Cup this year anyways, junior wrestling isn't as big as it was back in the mid 1990's when the J-Cup was developed. The guys who made the first two so memorable were all seasoned veterans at that point (Ohtani maybe being the one exception). Delfin's experience rule is a big reason why this probably bombed so badly. Nobody wanted to see Lyger WIN in 2000, but they sure as hell wanted to see him IN it. Ditto I'm sure for Heat, Delfin, Shinzaki, ect. They all may be veterans, but they are also still big names.

 

While its nice for Marufuji to say he won, he didn't excatly go through an all star field like Benoit and Lyger did. But I'm sure Marufuji will probably use this win to spring himself to a GHC Jr Title win over Lyger (much like Lyger did in 1996 en route to his 1/4/96 IWGP Jr Title match with Kanemoto).

 

I'm not familiar with about half of these guys, so is Murahama the only "shoot" style worker? It'd be cool in this one had its own version of Usuda vs Teioh from 2000.