[Results] NJPW, 6/7 (Nagata vs. Sasaki)

[Guest Stuart]

New Japan ran it's big Tokyo Nippon Budokan show today. It drew 9,000 fans into thw 16,000 seat building, which isn't a very good crowd. They drew 9,000 on 9/23/99, 10,000 on 6/2/00 and 13,200 on 6/6/01. Despite the bad crowd, this looked like another good show by New Japan. All they can keep doing in the current downswing is put on good shows and hope the fans come back. In the DDT match, MIKAMI & Takashi Sasaki beat Poison Sawada JULIE & Hebikage when MIKAMI (an excellent high-flyer) used a Swanton bomb (senton atomico) off a ladder on to Hebikage. MIKAMI, who is about 5'6", said he wants to fight Giant Silva. 19 minutes of joshi puroresu followed with ARSION's defense army beating Lioness Asuka's Ground Zero group (the bad gals in ARSION) in a match that was received well by New Japan fans. Tadao Yasuda showed up late AGAIN, meaning Nishimura had to fight two against one for a while, before Yasuda arrived. Talk of Yasuda being banished from New Japan. Yutaka Yoshie downed Kaientai Dojo's Minoru Fujita, who was given a reality check, but wants to wrestle again in New Japan. Yoshie was facing an indefinite learning excursion to Mexico if he lost, but the win may seal him a place in the G1 Climax. Bas Rutten had a surprisingly tough challenge from Naruse, who took the former UFC star longer than Nakanishi did, before being TKO'd. Chono & Norton, as expected, downed Tanaken. In the second biggest match of the show, freelancer, Yoshihiro Takayama, beat Nakanishi after almost 18 grueling minutes, KO'ing him with a knee kick, then scoring the pin. Nakanishi pulled his right thigh muscle on 6/5, so has something of an excuse. Takayama is expected to compete in the G1 Climax, and Nakanishi called for a rematch there, saying he wants to reach the extreme of Strong Style. In the main event, Yuji Nagata continued to hold the throne as IWGP Champion, beating a man he'd only beaten once previously, Kensuke Sasaki, in a big main event. Nagata hit an Exploder, enzuigiri, then a backdrop suplex hold to score the win, making his record against Kensuke 2-5 now. His next defense is expected to be against Bas Rutten, probably on one of the bigger shows in July. Rutten re-challenged Nagata, showing up after Yuji's win.

 

NJPW "BATTLE ZONE 6-7", 6/7/02 (TV)

Tokyo Nippon Budokan

9,000 Fans

 

1. El Samurai & Blue Wolf beat Katsuyori Shibata & Wataru Inoue (7:24) when Wolf used a Mongolian slam on Inoue.

2. MIKAMI & Takashi Sasaki beat Poison Sawada JULIE & Hebikage (14:39) when MIKAMI used a Swanton bomb on Hebikage.

3. Mariko Yoshida , Michiko Omukai , Rie Tamada , Ai Fujita & baby A beat Lioness Asuka , GAMI , noki-A , Fabi Apache & Bionic J (19:02) when Fujita used a firebird splash on Apache.

4. Tadao Yasuda & Osamu Nishimura beat Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto (2:21) when Nishimura used a ground Cobra Twist on Goto.

5. Koji Kanemoto, AKIRA, Black Tiger 3 & Gedo beat Jushin Thunder Liger, Minoru Tanaka, Tiger Mask 4 & Curry Man (12:36) when AKIRA used an STF on Curry.

6. Yutaka Yoshie beat Minoru Fujita (6:16) with a backfist.

7. Bas Rutten beat Masayuki Naruse (6:37) by TKO.

8. Masahiro Chono & Scott Norton beat Kenzo Suzuki & Hiroshi Tanahashi (11:59) when Norton used a Jackhammer on Suzuki.

9. Yoshihiro Takayama beat Manabu Nakanishi (17:50) with a left knee kick.

10. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Yuji Nagata © beat Kensuke Sasaki (22:44) with a backdrop suplex hold (2nd defense).

 

---

 

YUJI NAGATA (first reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion - 4/5/02 to present - 2 defenses)</center>

 

1. 5/2/02: Yuji Nagata © beat Yoshihiro Takayama (15:36) with a knee high kick (1st defense).

2. 6/7/02: Yuji Nagata © beat Kensuke Sasaki (22:44) with a backdrop suplex hold (2nd defense).

 

---

 

- The Steiner Brothers will work the entire "SUMMER FIGHT SERIES" tour, which spans around 22 shows. It'll be especially tough for Scott, who has a history of back problems. I'm guessing they may challenge Chono & Tenzan for the belts on either 7/19 or 7/20, one of the big Sapporo shows. Scott Norton will work the last two weeks of the four week tour, which is New Japan's longest in ages. No other gaijin listed yet, but probably some juniors will be brought in. With the smallish roster and four weeks of shows, they'll need to bolster the roster some more for a grueling month.

 

- Big Japan's Kamikaze, who was supposed to join All Japan a couple of months ago, is expected to work ZERO-ONE's Fire Festival. This year's festival should be a great one, with the likes of Otani, Tanaka, Kamikaze, Kuroda, Kanemura and Sekimoto to be involved.