Jamie Noble to NJPW (!)

[Guest Real F'n Show]

from Strong Style Spirit:

 

10/10~10/19 cards! by Stuart - 27 Sep 2004

New Japan announced first lineups for the upcoming "TSUYOKU-ARE ~ TOUKON SERIES 2004" tour, which is going to be a big one. It turns out that 10/1 Korakuen and 10/9 Sumo Hall will be separate from the tour, and will be pushed as stand-alone events. Special and limited participants so far are as follows,

 

- Masahiro Chono: 10/10, 10/17 to 10/19, 10/24

- Scott Norton: All shows

- American Dragon: All shows

- Jamie Noble: All shows

 

The new tag team of American Dragon & Jamie Noble enters the junior division! Having recently left the WWE, former WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Noble, switches from America's top promotion to Japan's top promotion, and has some big matches on his first tour. Gaijin legend, Scott Norton, also returns for the first time since April as well, meaning a foreign crew has been booked unlike the last tour (they are listed as starting on 10/9, so will probably be added to Sumo Hall). The tour begins with an SXW taping on 10/10 at Atsugi Ogino Movement Park Gymnasium (I have no record of any major promotion running here before), with all nine matches already announced. The 2-0 Tenzan & Nakamura team continues with a big match against Norton & Shibata. Nagata leads Makabe & Wolf against Chono, Nagai & Yanagisawa. Nakanishi and Nagao also continue to team regularly, facing Yoshie & Yamamoto (big chance for him) on the show. Nishimura, Tanahashi & Naruse face Hiro, Goto & Yano, while the Dragon & Noble team starts off big against IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions (this will be one day after their defense against Kanemoto & Tanaka, so it is anyone's guess if they will still have the belts then), Jado & Gedo. That is one of four junior matches, the others being Kanemoto & Wataru vs. Liger & Takemura, plus two singles matches, Heat vs. Samurai and Tiger Mask vs. Kakihara. 10/13 Kagoshima has an openweight trios match, with Tenzan, Kanemoto & Tiger Mask facing Norton, Dragon & Noble. A very big tag match pits Nagata & Nakamura against Suzuki & Shibata, who aren't on very good terms, despite repeated hints at an alliance. Nakamura has another fairly quiet tour from the matches announced so far, but it is all experience. He teams with Makabe in Kagoshima against Nakanishi & Nagao. 10/15 Miyakonojo sees Nagata and Nakamura team up against Nagai & Shibata, while Yoshie, Tanahashi & Naruse face Norton, Jado & Gedo. 10/17 Fukuoka is the WPW taping of the tour, and looks awesome. Last year, New Japan drew a bad crowd of 3,300 in the building, and this card seems like a definite attempt to change that, after success in the prefecture earlier this year with the "TOUKON FESTIVAL" double header in Hakata. Three HUGE Grudge Matches highlight the show! For the first time since their Tokyo Dome bloodbath in January, Yuji Nagata and Kensuke Sasaki go to war! Tenzan vs. Chono may be resolved with a rematch from Korakuen on the last tour, while Liger has chance at last to avenge three successive losses to Kanemoto, as they meet for the first time since Liger's turn to the dark side! Nakanishi vs. Norton is another big singles match, their first since the end of 2003, when Norton defeated Nakanishi, while Heat takes on Minoru Suzuki. There will be a one night trios tournament, with Hiro, Goto & Yano facing Nagai, Shibata & Chikuzen (even though the Makai Club is dead, outside members are still getting bookings), and in a young generation match, Wolf, Nakamura & Nakajima go opposite Makabe, Yoshie & Tanahashi. The final will take place on the same show. The whole show looks interesting in fact, with Tiger Mask & Naruse vs. Dragon & Noble also promising, plus a young lions vs. CTU six man, as Taguchi, Goto & Nagao face Jado, Gedo & Takemura. This show has potential to be truly spectacular if everything turns out well.

 

10/18 Nagasaki will have a trios main event of Tenzan, Yoshie & Tanahashi vs. Chono, Nagai & Shibata. Chikuzen has a chance to avenge his tag loss to Yano from the G1 bonus show, in a singles match between them. Suzuki & Tiger Mask are also teaming up again like the tour just gone, facing Liger & Takemura on this show. The 2003 Teisen Hall Cup winners, Hiro, Goto & Nakamura reunite for the first time since then, against Norton, Dragon & Noble. 10/19 Kumamoto is the last card announced so far. Tenzan & Nakamura vs. Kensuke & Nakajima should be damn good, and may be the main event. Battle of the rulebreakers pits Chono against Yano, while Nagata, Kanemoto & Naruse face Norton, Jado & Gedo. Lineups for 10/21 Ogori to 10/31 Korakuen, including the 10/24 Kobe World Hall show, have yet to be announced.

 

NJPW, 10/10/04 (SXW)

Atsugi Ogino Movement Park Gymnasium

 

1. Ryusuke Taguchi & Akiya Anzawa vs. Hirooki Goto & Yujiro

2. Tiger Mask vs. Masahito Kakihara

3. Heat vs. El Samurai

4. Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Katsushi Takemura

5. American Dragon & Jamie Noble vs. Jado & Gedo

6. Osamu Nishimura, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Masayuki Naruse vs. Hiro Saito, Tatsutoshi Goto & Toru Yano

7. Yutaka Yoshie & Naofumi Yamamoto vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroshi Nagao

8. Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe & Blue Wolf vs. Masahiro Chono, Mitsuya Nagai & Ryushi Yanagisawa

9. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Scott Norton & Katsuyori Shibata

 

NJPW, 10/13/04

Kagoshima Arena

 

1. Masayuki Naruse & Hirooki Goto vs. Jado & Gedo

2. Yutaka Yoshie & Blue Wolf vs. Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto

3. Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Mitsuya Nagai

4. Togi Makabe & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroshi Nagao

5. Yuji Nagata & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki & Katsuyori Shibata

6. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask vs. Scott Norton, American Dragon & Jamie Noble

 

NJPW, 10/15/04

Miyakonojo City Gymnasium

 

1. Togi Makabe vs. Ryusuke Taguchi

2. Heat vs. Hirooki Goto

3. Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask

4. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Blue Wolf vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroshi Nagao

5. Yutaka Yoshie, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Masayuki Naruse vs. Scott Norton, Jado & Gedo

6. Yuji Nagata & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Mitsuya Nagai & Katsuyori Shibata

 

NJPW, 10/17/04 (WPW/NJ+IWTV Internet)

Fukuoka International Center

 

1. Ryusuke Taguchi, Hirooki Goto & Hiroshi Nagao vs. Jado, Gedo & Katsushi Takemura

2. Tiger Mask & Masayuki Naruse vs. American Dragon & Jamie Noble

3. Yuko 6 Man Tag Team Tournament - Semi Final: Hiro Saito, Tatsutoshi Goto & Toru Yano vs. Mitsuya Nagai, Katsuyori Shibata & Ryota Chikuzen

4. Yuko 6 Man Tag Team Tournament - Semi Final: Blue Wolf, Shinsuke Nakamura & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Togi Makabe, Yutaka Yoshie & Hiroshi Tanahashi

5. Heat vs. Minoru Suzuki

6. Manabu Nakanishi vs. Scott Norton

7. Yuko 6 Man Tag Team Tournament - Final:

8. Grudge Match: Koji Kanemoto vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

9. Grudge Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Masahiro Chono

10. Grudge Match: Yuji Nagata vs. Kensuke Sasaki

 

NJPW, 10/18/04

Nagasaki Prefectural Gymnasium

 

1. Hiro Saito, Tatsutoshi Goto & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Scott Norton, American Dragon & Jamie Noble

2. Heat & Masayuki Naruse vs. Jado & Gedo

3. Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Katsushi Takemura

4. Togi Makabe & Koji Kanemoto vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima

5. Toru Yano vs. Ryota Chikuzen

6. Yuji Nagata & Blue Wolf vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroshi Nagao

7. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Yutaka Yoshie & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Masahiro Chono, Mitsuya Nagai & Katsuyori Shibata

 

NJPW, 10/19/04

Kumamoto City Gymnasium

 

1. Hiroshi Nagao vs. Hirooki Goto

2. Minoru Suzuki , Heat & Tiger Mask vs. Manabu Nakanishi, American Dragon & Jamie Noble

3. Togi Makabe, Yutaka Yoshie & Blue Wolf vs. Mitsuya Nagai, Katsuyori Shibata & Ryota Chikuzen

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Katsushi Takemura

5. Yuji Nagata, Koji Kanemoto & Masayuki Naruse vs. Scott Norton, Jado & Gedo

6. Toru Yano vs. Masahiro Chono

7. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima

 

 

--------------------------------

This is great news, I'm happy for Jamie. I may need to buy some of these shows, specifically 10/17.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Hopefully they get the Jr. Tag Titles away from Gedo/Jado.

[Steviekick 0]

. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask vs. Scott Norton, American Dragon & Jamie Noble

 

I guess its just my lack of Puro watching, but it really seems interesting to see Norton workign with cruisers/juniors.

[Guest Black Tiger]

Hopefully they get the Jr. Tag Titles away from Gedo/Jado.

As with the Dragon/Curry Man title reign, they aren't always the best choice for champions, because they're not always available.

 

I'm banking on Tanaka/Kanemoto to actually take the belts, unless they pull the Tanaka heel turn and put him into CTU.

[SinToxic 0]

I got a feeling that Tanaka will win the tag belts too, why would they make him come back unmasked and team up with his best teammate ever?

 

He'll probably work the singles and the tag title together, masked and unmasked.

 

NJ is so snatchy when it comes to juniors (or fatsack MMArtists), they leave out guys that have been standing in the back for months. The way they treat Tiger Mask, Samurai and Kakihara is a joke. I'm pretty sure Noble had few more choices aside from NJ.

[2GOLD 0]

There needs to be a damn international wrestling channel that shows nothing but matches from outside the US.

 

Cause I want to SEE this stuff and not have to buy a DVD I may never watch again.

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

Noble and Dragon as a team?!?! MUST GET HOLD OF THAT SHOW!

[Guest Contentious C]

. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask vs. Scott Norton, American Dragon & Jamie Noble

 

I guess its just my lack of Puro watching, but it really seems interesting to see Norton workign with cruisers/juniors.

Really not all that uncommon. I've got a Benoit/Norton vs. Liger/Hashimoto match from '96 that's not too bad - only 6 minutes or so, but Liger's willingness to die by Norton power bomb didn't go unappreciated in my house.

[Guest TraeIchiban]

Due to WWE owning the "Jamie Noble" name, the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion will now enter New Japan under his real name, James Gibson.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

I believe his real name is Jamie Howard.

[Guest TonyJaymzV1]

Why doesn't he just go by Jamie Knoble?

[SinToxic 0]

Why doesn't he just go by Jamie Knoble?

I'd think that WWE owns that name too since they used it for a while but Gnoble i'm pretty sure they don't.

[Guest Real F'n Show]

What about Jamie-San?