New Japan Osaka Dome 11/13 early card

The big news of this show is definately the announcement of HIROYOSHI TENZAN VS TOSHIAKI KAWADA in a SINGLES MATCH! This alone makes me want to dish out my 35 bucks for the tape! Also, Shinsuke Nakamura faces Hiroshi Tanahashi in singles action! Whether or not any titles will be on the line in these two big matches remains to be seen, and will be very interesting to see how the matches will be played out.

NJPW "TOUKON FESTIVAL", 11/13/04 (PPV)
Osaka Dome
1. Young Lion Toukon Tournament - Semi Final: Winner of Goto/Yujiro VS Winner of Anzawa/Nakajima
2. Young Lion Toukon Tournament - Semi Final: Ryusuke Taguchi VS Winner of Yamamoto/Nagao
3. Young Lion Toukon Tournament - Final:
4. Minoru Suzuki VS Kensuke Sasaki
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi VS Shinsuke Nakamura
6. Hiroyoshi Tenzan VS Toshiaki Kawada

New Japan 10/24/2004 Results

1. 3 out of 5 falls: Gedo,Jado,Jushin Thunder Liger & Katsushi Takemura beat Hirooki Goto,Taiji Ishimori,Katsuhiko Nakajima & Ryusuke Taguchi in 21:00. Takemura used the M9 on Nakajima at 8:29. Liger used a brainbuster on Taguchi at 12:17. Ishimori used the Superstar Elbow on Jado at 18:34. Jado used the Crossface of JADO on Ishimori at 21:00.
2. Wataru Inoue & El Samurai defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Yutaka Yoshie in 8:54 when Inoue used a half crab on Yujiro.
3. Love Machine Arashi & Super Love Machine beat Tatsutoshi Goto & Toru Yano in 5:50 when Arashi used a Devil Windmill Suplex hold on Goto. Hoshino came out after the match and placed a Machine mask on Yano.
4. Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask IV defeated Jamie Gibson & Osamu Nishimura in 13:48 when Suzuki used an Octopus hold on Gibson.
5. President Hoshino ¥10,000,000 Offer Tag Tournament – Semifinals: Masahiro Chono & Katsuyori Shibata beat Kensuke Sasaki & Genichiro Tenryu in 17:53 when Shibata used the FK on Tenryu. Kazunari Murakami returned here by helping Shibata win after punching Tenryu.
6. President Hoshino ¥10,000,000 Offer Tag Tournament – Semifinals: Shinsuke Nakamura & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Toshiaki Kawada & Mitsuya Nagai in 20:53 when Nakamura used a standing jujigatame on Nagai.

Tenzan & Kawada got into a verbal confrontation after the match and both men agreed that they want to face each other and it could happen as soon as 11/13 at the Osaka Dome. Tenzan said that he doesn’t want Kawada’s Triple Crown, he just wants to beat him. Kawada told Nagai after the match to take the All-Asia Tag Titles with Masayuki Naruse from Masa Fuchi & Genichiro Tenryu on 11/3 at Sumo Hall and gave him a slap to the face for good luck.
7. U-30 Openweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat American Dragon in 16:16 with a Dragon Suplex hold to retain his title.
8. Blue Wolf & Yuji Nagata defeated Jurassic Powers (Manabu Nakanishi & Scott Norton) in 18:25 when Wolf used a lariat on Nakanishi. Wolf said after the match that he used a lariat to beat one of Riki Choshu’s top students, so now he wants to face Choshu himself and use the lariat to beat him.
9. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Heat (Minoru Tanaka took the mask off during the match) battled Koji Kanemoto to a double KO after stereo kneel kicks in 19:24 to retain his title. Tanaka said after the match that he wants to defend the title next against Kanemoto and he wants a full conclusion.
10. President Hoshino ¥10,000,000 Offer Tag Tournament – Finals:

Shinsuke Nakamura & Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Masahiro Chono & Katsuyori Shibata in 19:28 when Tenzan pinned Chono after the Ten-Naka Koroshi (Tenzan lifts the opponent in a flapjack position in the corner and Nakamura comes off the top rope with a DDT.) Nakanishi tried to kidnap Nakamura and take him to the back but Nagata cut him off at the pass and Nakamura returned to the ring. After the match, Hoshino brought his check out but tore it up in the ring.

NOAH 10/24/2004 Results

1. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Go Shiosaki beat Mitsuo Momota & Trevor Rhodes in 8:37 when Kikuchi used a jackknife hold on Rhodes.
2. Donovan Morgan & Doug Williams defeated Masashi Aoyagi & Tamon Honda in 8:56 when Morgan used the Sayonara on Aoyagi.
3. Masao Inoue, Takeshi Rikio & Takashi Sugiura beat Daisuke Ikeda, Kishin Kawabata & Mohammed Yone in 12:16 when Inoue used a modified inside cradle on Kawabata. Kawabata said after the match that he wants to enter the Dark Agents and hopes to have some type of assessment match on the next tour.
4. Michael Modest, Ricky Marvin & SUWA beat KENTA, Naomichi Marufuji & Kotaro Suzuki in 18:06 when Modest used the Reality Check on Suzuki.
5. Low-Ki, Mike Awesome & Bison Smith beat Jun Akiyama, Makoto Hashi & Jun Izumida in 17:30 when Ki used the Phoenix Splash on Hashi. Bison & Akiyama got into a scuffle after the match and had to be broken up.

6. GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title: Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated TAKA Michinoku in 20:49 with a revolution-style brainbuster to retain his title. Akitoshi Saito came up to TAKA in the locker room after the match and invited him to join the Dark Agents and TAKA said that he would think about it.

7. GHC Tag Titles: Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa beat Takuma Sano & Akira Taue in 22:22 when Misawa used an avalanche-style Emerald Frosion on Sano to retain their titles.

8. GHC Heavyweight Title: Kenta Kobashi defeated Akitoshi Saito in 28:55 with a brainbuster to retain his title. Kobashi used an STF & Nagata Lock II as a small tribute to the two New Japan wrestlers (Chono & Nagata) whom he defended his title against and he used a Misawa style facelock and a Yoshinari Ogawa style backdrop suplex hold as well.

NOAH 10/22/2004 Results

1. Masao Inoue & Trevor Rhodes beat Jun Izumida & Kishin Kawabata in 10:53 when Inoue used the Argentine Backbreaker on Kawabata.
2. Low-Ki, Michael Modest & Donovan Morgan defeated Makoto Hashi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in 14:25 when Modest used the Reality Check on Kikuchi.


3. Mike Awesome beat Daisuke Ikeda in 8:03 with the Kamikaze Awesome Bomb. Ikeda wore camoflauge pants to provoke Awesome but it failed.
4. Naoki Sano, Akira Taue & Mohammed Yone beat Tamon Honda, Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiosaki in 21:31 when Yone used the Muscle Buster on Shiosaki. Kobashi told his student Shiosaki after the match that even though they lost, it was a pleasure to wrestle with him.
5. Takeshi Rikio beat Doug Williams in 13:23 with the Muso (modified backdrop suplex.)
6. Shiro Koshinaka, Akitoshi Saito & Takashi Sugiura beat Mitsuharu Misawa, Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki in 14:56 when Sugiura used the Olympic Slam on Suzuki.


7. Jun Akiyama beat Bison Smith in 4:08 with a neck-clutch cradle. This ended with a wild brawl between Bison and the seconds especially Izumida who traded shots with Bison holding his own. After the ring cleared, Akiyama raised Izumida’s hand and they left.


8. GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles: KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji beat Ricky Marvin & SUWA in 24:34 when KENTA used the Go 2 Sleep on Marvin to retain their titles. SUWA left Marvin laying in the ring after the match and told the press that he only wants to wrestle alone now.

DSE/Zero-One HUSTLE-6 Results

1. Kaz Hayashi & Spanky beat Red & Super Virus (Super Crazy) in 9:23 when Spanky used the Sliced Bread #2 on Red.
2. Katsuhisa Fujii & Mr. USA (Nathan Jones?) defeated Piranian Monster & Russian 54 (Jack Bull) in 6:49 when USA used a backbreaker drop on Monster.
3. HUSTLE Masks I & II beat El Hatenas I & II in 5:31 when HUSTLE Mask I used a fishhook camel clutch on Hatena II.
4. Hardcore Match: Kintaro Kanemura, Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Masato Tanaka beat Tomoaki Honma, Tomohiro Ishii & Jun Kasai in 13:48 when Tanaka used the Complete Dust on Kasai after bashing a guitar over his head. Ishii & Kasai brawled with each other after the match.
5. 3 Way Dance where the loser must leave the Takada Army: Dan Bobish beat Mark Coleman & Gigante Silva in 7:33 with a rotating chokeslam on Coleman.
6. Loser’s second must get his head shaved: Commander Ann Joe (Yoji Anjo working in Umanosuke Ueda gimmick) (Yuji Shimada) beat Wataru Sakata (Yoshiyuki Nakamura) in 8:00 with a knuckle punch after blinding Sakata with powder.
7. Toshiaki Kawada & Riki Choshu beat Monster C (Steve Corino) & Monsieur DO Barbarossa (George King) in 7:46 when Kawada used a jumping right high kick on Monster C.
8. Naoya Ogawa defeated Tiger Jeet Singh in 9:49 with the STO Bomber.
After the match, the Takada Army attacked Ogawa and while Ogawa was down, Nobuhiko Takada entered the ring and asked to himself if he wanted a match with Ogawa. Ann Joe then rang the bell and Takada put his foot on Ogawa for a three count. After the ring cleared, Ogawa got up to his feet and told the crowd that he would be the only one to eliminate the Takada Army.

WWE Taboo Tuesday results and thoughts

Ok, I'll admit Taboo Tuesday was a descent PPV with some good matches and one surprising title change. I'd also like to thank ASTRO for completely cutting out the Christy/Carmella match. Yes, I'm being sarcastic on that last line.

Show kicks off with the seven participants in the Fulfill Your Fantasy Diva's Battle Royal for the Women's Championship coming out and Coach announces the results of the votes for the battle royal:
Nurse - 17%
French Maid -30%
School Girl - 53%

The Diva's then go to the back to get ready as Coach announces the results of the IC title match vote:
Shelton Benjamin - 37.48%
Batista - 20.11%
Coach - 7.01%
Christian - 6.69%
Rhyno - 5.77%
Maven - 4.23%
William Regal - 3.81%
The Hurricane - 3.77%
Tyson Tomko - 2.49%
Tajiri - 2.36%
Steven Richards - 2.24%
Val Venis - 1.69%
Rosey - 1.10 %
Chuck Palumbo - 0.68%
Rodney Mack - 0.58%
Isn't it interesting that COACH would actually pull in third in the polls???

Chris Jericho VS Shelton Benjamin - Intercontinental Title
This was a good opening match. Great back and forth action between a new-blood and a veteran. Benjamin would hit his dragon-whip spin kick for a near fall, as well as the top-rope flying clothesline for a near fall. Jericho would miss the Lionsault and almost get pinned when Benjamin countered a Walls of Jericho attempt into a roll-up. Finish saw Benjamin whip Jericho into the corner, and Jericho would try to sprinboard out but got caugth in Benjamin's T-bone slam giving Benjamin the win! NEW IC Champ!
Match Rating: ***
Post match, Jericho congratulates Benjamin and shakes his hand before leaving.

Backstage interview with the three World Title contenders, and the results of the vote are as follows:
Shawn Michaels - 39%
Edge - 33%
Chris Benoit - 28%
Edge storms off in anger, and Benoit congratulates HBK, who has a legitimate knee injury from RAW.

Trish Stratus VS Jazz VS Nidia VS Gail Kim VS Victoria VS Molly Holly VS Stacy Kiebler - WWE Women's Title
Rules are that the women can be thrown through the ropes (since most of them aren't tall enough to be thrown OVER) and both feet must hit the floor to be eliminated. Standard match with alot of quick eliminations. Nidia was first outsted when Gail ripped her top off, Victoria eliminated Jazz, Gail tried to hurricanrana Victoria out of the ring but Victoria held on and Gail herself was eliminated, Molly & Trish double team slingshoted Victoria to eliminate her, Molly knocked Stacy off the apron to eliminate her and Trish tossed out Molly from behind to win and retain her title.
Match Rating: **

Gene Snitzky VS Kane
Results for the match type votes:
Lead Pipe - 29.24%
Steel Chair - 29.93%
Chain - 40.84%
I thought this was a pretty fun brawl, but it went on just way too long for my liking. But I am surprised they actually let Snitzky beat the crap out of Kane, including jamming his head in a chair and stomping on it off the second rope, much like what Kane did to HBK a few months back, coughing up blood and all. The referee looks to stop the match and Snitzky walks off, but runs back in and pins Kane for the win!
Match Rating: **1/2
Post match, EMTs strap Kane to a gurney and wheel him out, but Snitzky shows up again and overturns the gurney!

Eugene VS Eric Bischoff
This was quick and useless. How come Eugene showed his rage here, but not against Snitzky??? Eugene wins with a Hulk Hogan-esque leg drop.
We are the given the results of the voting:
Shave Bald - 58.73%
Wear Dress - 20.77%
Be Servant - 20.50%
Coach tries to help Bisch weasal his way out of the stipulation, but Mr. McMahon shows up and forces Bisch to either get his hair cut, or he's FIRED. Bisch actually contemplates walking out, but Coach actually convinces him to go through with it. As Eugene hacks off the GM's hair, Vince forces Coach to strip and put on the dress as punishment for trying to help Bisch. McMahon then rips on Bisch for dying his hair when it's revealed his hair is all grey after being shaved off.

La Resistance VS Chris Benoit & Edge - World Tag Team Titles
Edge still frustrated over not being picked to face HHH walks out on Benoit halfway through the match, leaving the Rabid Wolverine to fend for himself, And he did just that! Benoit fought off both champions and German suplexed both of them before ejecting Grenier from the ring and tapping out Conway with the Crippler Crossface to win the tag team titles!
Match Rating: ***

Christy Hemme VS Carmella
Lingerie Pillow Fight 56.48%
Evening Gown Match 33.22%
Aerobics Challenge 10.30%
ASTRO cut out this match in the replay of the show. We paid for this event, and still they want to cut things out??? Anyways, from internet reports, this was short (about 1:30) and Christy won.

Triple H VS Shawn Michaels - World Heavyweight Championship
I'm guessing this would have been in the main event slot if not for HBK's legit knee injury, and give HBK ALOT of credit for putting on a gutsy performance when he could barely even stand! End of the match saw HBK hit Sweet Chin Music on HHH, but Batista distracted the referee and Edge came out of nowhere to Spear HBK, and HHH could barely crawl over to make the pin and retain the title.
Match Rating: ***

Results for the Orton/Flair match stipulation:
Steel Cage 68%
Falls Count Anywhere 20%
Submission Match 12%

Ric Flair VS Randy Orton - Cage Match
How cool is it to see Ric Flair in a PPV MAIN EVENT in this day and age? Simple: VERY COOL! And this was an excellent match to boot! Heck, give referee Earl Hebner some credit too for pulling Flair's trunks back up as I believe Flair could have easilly gone the rest of the match with them half down and his ass out! Flair used all his trademark dirty tricks including blatant low-blows and even pulled out the brass knucks that got him a near fall! Both men bled gushers, and Flair tried to escape the cage and almost did, but Orton managed to pull him back in and Flair pulled a chair in with him. Flair took a swing with chair and missed, leading to Orton hitting the RKO for the win!

Post match, Flair shook Orton's hand and both men embraced in a true passing of the torch moment. Now if only HHH would do the same...
Match Rating: ****

Overall: Like I said at the top, this was a pretty descent PPV with alot more good than bad. And for those of you who were wondering, Kane played up the injury bit cause he'll be away to Australia to film his upcoming movie,"Eye Scream Man".

Taboo Tuesday votes

Taboo Tuesday is going on now as I type this, and since I will only be able to watch the replay tonight since I'm working now, I thought I'd post what I voted for at the WWE website:

Triple VS CHRIS BENOIT

Chris Jericho VS STEVEN RICHARDS

Randy Orton VS Ric Flair in a CAGE MATCH

Kane VS Gene Snitzky in a STEEL PIPE MATCH

Eugene VS Eric Bischoff in a LOSER GETS HIS HEAD SHAVED MATCH

Diva Battle Royal in SCHOOLGIRL UNIFORMS

Christy Hemme VS Carmella in an EVENING GOWN MATCH

Hoshikawa in coma

After a steel cage match against Tatsuhito Takaiwa for the ZERO-ONE Jr. Title, Naohiro Hoshikawa had to be rushed to the hospital where a craniotomy (opening of the skull) was done to stop internal bleeding. At present, Hoshikawa is in a coma and his body in a paralyzed state.
It was said that Hoshikawa's head trauma was caused by repeated hard head-shots over the past few shows, which culminated with the cage match where he took a powerbomb off the cage before Takaiwa ended the match with a stiff, unprotected lariat, which resulted in his brain hemorage.
This whole scenario is pretty much like what happened to Yoshihiro Takayama, but Takayama was very lucky compared to what happened to Hoshikawa here.
I really hope Hoshikawa pulls through, not only because he's one of my favourites, but because no one deserves to be struck down like this.

Credit: PuroresuPower for the info.

Marufuji wins gold!

In a big shocker, NOAH's Naomichi Marufuji beat Jun Akiyama for the openweight Global Hardcore Crown on the promotion's 10/16 show! I'm not sure of the details, but the Jr. Heavyweight ace won the title on a count-out victory. Would appreciate if anyone could fill me in on how it went down.

Full results from the show:
NOAH 10/16/04 (NTV/G+)
Tokushima Municipal Gymnasium
2,000 Fans
1. Haruka Eigen & IZU beat Mitsuo Momota & Kishin Kawabata (13:09) when Izumida used the Mukado Domu on Kawabata.
2. Kotaro Suzuki beat Go Shiosaki (13:41) with the Blue Destiny.
3. Doug Williams & Donovan Morgan beat Daisuke Ikeda & Mohammed Yone (9:46) when Williams used a German suplex hold on Yone.
4. Takeshi Rikio, Takuma Sano & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi beat Akitoshi Saito, Masao Inoue & Masashi Aoyagi (16:09) when Kikuchi used a jackknife hold on Aoyagi.
5. Michael Modest, SUWA & Low Ki beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Takashi Sugiura & Makoto Hashi (18:52) when Modest used the Reality Check on Hashi.
6. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa beat Akira Taue & Trevor Rhodes (10:17) when Misawa used a Tiger Driver on Rhodes.
7. GHC Hardcore Openweight Title: Naomichi Marufuji beat Jun Akiyama (c) (10:41) by countout to become the 2nd champion.
8. Bison Smith, The Gladiator & Ricky Marvin beat Kenta Kobashi, Tamon Honda & KENTA (21:59) when Smith used the Bisontenial on Honda.

NJPW news and thoughts

Director Uei resigns
This was kinda surprising, or maybe not since he was responsible for that debacle of an IWGP heavyweight title match last week where Kensuke Sasaki beat Fujita for the title in under three minutes. Question now is who will take over the booking for New Japan, and whether or not he can fix the current title situation. Cause lets face it, the title's worth has been SHIT all year.

Chono 20th Anniversary Show early card
Masahiro Chono's 20th Anniversary Show on 11/3, titled Chrono Stream is looking to be a good event, and the early card looks really good, especially with the Toshiaki Kawada taking on Katsuyori Shibata one-on-one! This ONE match alone peaks my interest to get this show, solely to see Kawada show Shibata how to throw a REAL knock-out kick! On that note, I hope NJPW aren't thinking of trying to catch lightning in a bottle with Sasaki and Tanahashi in the main event (~cough *Nakamura* ~cough).
NJPW "CHRONO STREAM ~ MASAHIRO CHONO 20TH ANNIVERSARY", 11/3/04 (WPW)
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Jado & Gedo (c) vs. Tiger Mask & Taiji Ishimori
2. All Asia Tag Team Title: Genichiro Tenryu & Masanobu Fuchi (c) VS Mitsuya Nagai & Masayuki Naruse
3. Katsuyori Shibata VS Toshiaki Kawada
4. Masahiro Chono 20th Anniversary Match: Masahiro Chono & X VS Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yuji Nagata
5. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kensuke Sasaki (c) VS Hiroshi Tanahashi

Ultimo Dragon to unmask as ASAI in WWE
At a recent independant show ran by Ultimo Dragon, he announced that he would indeed be unmasking when he returns to WWE soon, as a super cruiserweight heel known as ASAI. I'll believe it when I see it.
But the show itself looks really fun and I'm thinking of getting a tape of it should it become available. I'm especially interested to check out the "Sake Drinking Death Match" with Toru Yano!
Ultimo Dragon Indepedent "DRAGON FIRE ~ THE FINAL CHALLENGE", 10/14/04
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Manabu Murakami beat Small Dandy Fuji (12:58) with an inside cradle.
2. Michinoku Tag League: Jinsei Shinzaki Michinoku Pro & Shinji Nohashi beat Kei Sato & Shu Sato (11:16) by double pinfall after a double Nenbetsu powerbomb.
3. Toru Yano VS King Ali Baba went to a double countout (5:34).
3a. Sake Drinking Death Match: Toru Yano beat King Ali Baba by TKO (alcohol poisoning).
4. UWA Welterweight Title: Takeshi Minaminno beat Taiji Ishimori (9:56) with an avalanche-style Death Valley bomb.
5. Original Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama), Koji Kanemoto (Tiger Mask 3) & Tiger Mask 4 beat Ultimo Dragon, Jushin Thunder Liger & Great Sasuke (20:41) when Original Tiger used a Tiger suplex hold on Dragon.

Pat Patterson resigns!

If this doesn't convince Vince McMahon what the main problem on RAW is, I guess nothing will. Pat Patterson had a huge falling out with Vince after surveying recent WWE house shows and coming to the conclusion that one of RAW's main problems is Triple H taking up so much air time. They had a big dispute which lead to Patterson, a long running and one of Vince's most trusted advisors, handing in his resignation with his last working day being at Taboo Tuesday next week.

So WHAT will eventually convince Vince that they need less Triple H and more new faces on RAW? It's pretty obvious the ratings are down regardless of whether or not HHH is champion or not. The Lita/Kane/Snitzky angle is sh*t from day one, and former champions like Benoit & Jericho are being reduced to curtain jerkers. Of all the champions on RAW in the past year, the ONLY consistant face in the world title scene is HHH. Every other former champion (Benoit, Jericho, Orton, etc.) is being brushed aside. Though it's obvious Orton will meet HHH at WrestleMania for the title, we'll be lucky if Jericho or Benoit EVER see the World Heavyweight Title around their waist again.

Spoiling The Illusion

RAW was pretty good last night, and I don't really have much to complain about. Emphasis on "much"! So here we go!

Dusty Finish in the UK
Sure they explained why they did it, but I really hated that they gave William Regal & Eugene a tag title win in front of Regal's home crowd (which went nuts when he scored the win) only to yank it out from under them on the premise that Bischoff was watching backstage and made the call of Regal using the brass knucks. It's those double standards coming back to haunt WWE again.
I say WWE should have kept the titles on Regal & Eugene, then it would have been more shocking to have Bisch announce that THEY would defend the title against the two men not picked to face Triple H at Taboo Tuesday. Wouldn't that have been more punishing for Bisch to have Eugene wrestle his friends?
Another scenario they could have done was keeping the belts on them and leave the fans happy for one week, before dropping the titles back to La Resistance (which no one really cares about) next week on RAW.

Snitzky has a point
OK, I'll admit it was tasteless of Snitzky to mock Kane with the imaginary crying baby and saying the only thing that's dead is Kane's baby, but he actually made a valid point of Kane threatening his life therefore leaving him no choice but to be prepared and defend himself last week with the lead pipe attack! If someone said I was a dead man, especially a 7ft monster like Kane, you damn right I'd take some defensive precautions! And after Kane single handedly destroyed 4 guys on RAW, it just shows Snitzky has every right to protect himself with some kind of weapon.
And couldn't you just picture Vince with a big smile on his face when Snitzky said, "the only thing that's dead is your baby" after he mouthed off on Flair for talking about bleeding virgins last week?

This is how we make matches longer...
I'm really getting bored with WWE turning run-in finishes into tag matches, like what happened between Rhyno & Benoit with Christian & Tomko. While the end result is always a fun bout, It's just getting too redundant. There seems to be one of these almost everyweek either on RAW or SmackDown!.

Where's Simon Dean???
Why the heck is ASTRO cutting out the Simon Dean vignettes? Don't they know it'll just confuse the locals when he suddenly just pops out of nowhere? The point of these vignettes it to give the viewers some background on the wrestler before they make their debut. I can just tell alot of people will be asking what the heck the Simon System is when he starts preaching about it. Heck, I'M still wondering what the Simon System philosophy is since they never showed any of them here.

Additional Taboo Tuesday Prediction:
World Tag Team Titles
La Resistance VS either combination of Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit & Edge
- I'm guessing WWE is banking on Edge not getting picked for the title shot, which will leave him to tag with a face after his heelish tactics the past few weeks. If Edge is not the World Title match, then I expect him and whoever he teams with to become the new tag champs just so WWE can continue the disfunctional team angle with Edge going heel paired with a babyface.
And if by some twist of fate (aka the results are rigged) that Edge does make the main event slot next Tuesday, I'm banking on the tag champs retaining by getting disqualified or something.

Mutoh 20th Anniversary Tour kicks off

Mutoh & Tanahashi give Kojima stereo Shining Wizards! That had to hurt!

All Japan kicked off it's Mutoh 20th Anniversary tour with a bang at Korakuen Hall, a show that saw participation from several New Japan workers.
Three generations of MUGA disciples teamed up as Keiji Mutoh, Osamu Nishimura & Hiroshi Tanahashi battled Satoshi Kojima, Kaz Hayashi & Tomoaki Honma.
Also on the card was a surprising encounter between Triple Crown champion Toshiaki Kawada against IWGP champion Kensuke Sasaki in tag action!
Also of note was the debut of Kohei Suwama, who was said to look very good. He debut against Hiroshi Hase after Taiyo Kea couldn't make it to the show due to tropical storms. Alot of praise has been given to this youngster due to his amateur background, going as far as to call him the next Jumbo Tsuruta! Hopefully he'll live up to the hype.

Full results from All Japan's tour opener:
AJPW Mutoh 20th Anniversary ~ Love & Bump 10/11/04
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2,000 Fans - Super No Vacancy
1. Ryuji Hijikata beat Yuki Ishikawa in 8:05 with a Fisherman buster.
2. AKIRA & Hi69 beat Nobukazu Hirai & Akira Raijin in 15:21 when AKIRA used a Musasabi press on Raijin.
3. Super Love Machine & Love Machine Arashi beat Nobutaka Araya & Gran Hamada in 10:54 when Arashi used a powerbomb on Hamada.
4. Hiroshi Hase beat Kohei Suwama (debut) in 11:02 with a crab hold.
5. All Asia Tag Team Title: Genichiro Tenryu & Masanobu Fuchi (c) beat NOSAWA & MAZADA in 19:38 when Fuchi used a backdrop hold on NOSAWA (3rd defense).
6. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Toshiaki Kawada & Taichi Ishikari 18:17 when Sasaki used a lariat on Ishikari.
7. Keiji Muto, Osamu Nishimura & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Satoshi Kojima, Kaz Hayashi & Tomoaki Honma in 15:23 when Tanahashi used a Dragon suplex hold on Honma.

Sasaki wins 5th IWGP Title!

New Japan Pro Wrestling's Sumo Hall show yesterday had more than it's fair share of surprises for the fans that were in attendance and following it through the internet.
Perhaps the biggest shocker of the night was Kensuke Sasaki winning his fifth IWGP (second one this year) from Kazuyuki Fujita in just under THREE MINUTES!!! Not only was this surprising, but it left the fans who were in attendance that had been hot all night with a real bad taste in their mouths.
In the match, Fujita actually had the advantage and locked on a ground sleeper on Sasaki, but Sasaki shifted his weight back and the referee counted Fujita's shoulder's down!

This looked like a really dumb mistake on Fujita's part, and I haven't heard (or seen) a shooter get beat so easilly in a wrestling match since Murakami's run in the 2002 G-1! Guess it serves Fujita right for being away from the ring for so long, and at least we won't have to hear him bitch about defending the title anymore since he won't have to.

Other surprises of the night was the return of Riki Choshu and Minoru Tanaka betraying his long time buddy Koji Kanemoto and joining CTU! The CTU unit now looks stronger than ever as Manabu Nakanishi & Scott Norton also seemed to have joined Chono and his cohorts.


Despite the IWGP title finally being around the waist of someone who can defend it regularly, it's credibility has been shot all year, even now Sasaki is trying to avoid defending the title against Hiroyoshi Tenzan, the man who rightfully deserves his shot AND to be champion. When are NJPW gonna learn to strike when the fire is hot and not when they choose to?

NJPW "PRO-WRESTLERS BE STRONGEST", 10/9/04 (WPW/NJ+IWTV Internet)
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
11,000 Fans - Super No Vacancy

1. Young Lion Special Match: Naofumi Yamamoto beat Yujiro (9:21) with a crab hold.
2. Young Lion Special Match: Hirooki Goto & Akiya Anzawa beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Hiroshi Nagao (9:21) when Goto used a cross armbreaker on Nagao.
3. Masayuki Naruse beat Katsuhiko Nakajima (6:03) with the Crazy Cyclone.
4. Tomoaki Honma beat Toru Yano (10:10) with a Turmeric clutch.
5. Jushin Thunder Liger, Katsushi Takemura & Dick Togo beat Tiger Mask, Ultimo Dragon & Taiji Ishimori (12:43) when Liger used a brainbuster on Dragon.
6. Minoru Suzuki beat Manabu Nakanishi (9:01) with a cradle.
7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Jado & Gedo (c) beat Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka (11:44) when Gedo used a Superfly splash on Kanemoto (3rd defense).
8. Katsuyori Shibata beat Genichiro Tenryu (4:45) by DQ.
9. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shinsuke Nakamura beat Keiji Muto & Osamu Nishimura (21:25) when Tanahashi used an inside cradle on Nishimura.
10. Lumberjack Death Match: Masahiro Chono & Don Frye beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yuji Nagata (22:43) when Chono used a Shining Yakuza kick on Nagata.
11. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kensuke Sasaki beat Kazuyuki Fujita (c) (2:29) by pinfall to become the 39th champion.

WWE Taboo Tuesday PPV predictions

As of this moment, only 7 matches are cofirmed for Taboo Tuesday. I believe those are all the matches we'll see though, since I expect there to be alot of talking going on in between matches given they have to announce the stipulations voted for by the fans and such. There's still the possibility a tag title match could be added though.

World Heavyweight Championship
Triple H VS Chris Benoit OR Edge OR Shawn Michaels
- Hands down no matter who gets picked, you just know HHH will retain cause unlike Randy Orton, he will not bow down and have a 1 month reign. I expect HHH to hold on to the title before dropping it back to Orton at WrestleMania XXI.

WWE Intercontinental Title
Chris Jericho VS Batista OR Christian OR Chuck Palumbo OR Jonathan Coachman OR Maven OR Rhyno OR Robert Conway OR Rodney Mack OR Rosey OR Shelton Benjamin OR Steven Richards OR Sylvain Grenier OR Tyson Tomko OR Val Venis OR William Regal OR Yoshihiro Tajiri
- This past Monday I'm guessing WWE tried to steer the fans in the direction of either choosing Rhyno who cost Jericho the match against HHH, or Steven Richards who was first to attack Y2J on the outside. But if they are going for fan favourites, I'm guessing Shelton Benjamin would be the people's choice. Though I got the strong feeling Jericho will retain.

Sudmission, Steel Cage or Falls Count Anywhere Match
Randy Orton VS Ric Flair
- Interesting set of choices, but it's pretty obvious Orton will go over here. What they do with Flair to react to the loss on Monday should be pretty interesting.

Weapons Match: Leaf Pipe, Steel Chair or Steel Chain
Kane VS Gene Snitzky
- Expect Lita to get involved and backfire costing Kane the match. That's right everyone, the monster Kane is going back to scrolling down jobber street to put the next big guy over.

Loser either becomes winner's servent, wears a dress or gets his head shaved
Eric Bischoff VS Eugene
- The actual stipulations haven't been confirmed yet from what I heard, though I seriously don't expect Bischoff to lose. I'm sure somebody will help Bisch or he himself will find somekind of way to weasel himself a victory. The idea of Eugene getting his head shaved is interesting though, since he's already HAGE.

WWE Women's Title
Divas Battle Royal: Fans vote on what the Divas will wear
- The choices of what to expect the Divas to wear haven't been announced yet, though I'm guessing it'll all be skimpy from school-girl outfits to lingerie. The possibility here of someone like Nidia pulling off an upset to become Women's Champion like Gail Kim did the last time a Diva battle royal for the title was held is strong. Heck, with all the upsets she's pulled lately, I wouldn't be surprised if Stacy Kiebler pulled it off (Winning the match, not her clothes). But I'll say Trish retains cause she's been really good at her heel role lately.

Christy Hemme VS Carmella
- No stipulations announced for this one yet, though I doubt if there will be any. Despite the contestants, this will definately be anything BUT pretty since they have ZERO wrestling training or proper time to be trained. I am expecting Christy to surprise me though, as she definately has the energy to learn the ropes and at least do something. Christy is also my pick to win.

WWE's mixed standards

I received word from my buddy TenzanTeam2K yesterday that Ric Flair got in trouble backstage at RAW with Vince McMahon because of the comments he made in his opening promo about deflowering virgins. McMahon was supposedly irate at Flair for making such remarks because he had sponsors and affiliates in attendance and was afraid they would react negatively to Flair's comments.

Personally, I think it's really STUPID. Why is Vince so concerned with what Flair said when they are currently running a dead baby storyline? Why isn't he mad at the writers who suggested Gene Snitzky bring a baby roller to the ring to rub it into Kane and Lita? If Vince was so embarrased by what Flair said, wouldn't he be sweating bullets whent the fans started chanting "baby killer"?

And lets not forget all the other stupid storylines they did in the past. The Lita/Kane sexual extortion angle? Al Wilson humped to death by Dawn Marie? Attempted murder when Big Show tossed Kurt Angle off the balcony? KATIE VICK anyone?!?!?

I get the feeling Vince just picked out Flair as a scapegoat to vent his frustrations, cause if I were a sponsor, I probably would have pulled out way before Flair made those comments on RAW. And I'm pretty sure some of those sponsors watch RAW and SmackDown! on a regular basis and not just when they attend live shows for evaluation of their investments.

Flair came close to being fired on the spot by Vince. In my view it would have been a blessing in disguise for him to finally leave with what dignity he has left. Here is a man who is a TRUE LEGEND in our sport, yet he's the Evolution job-boy and Triple H's lap dog. Heck, if anyone should be having rare matches on TV anymore, it should be Flair and not the Undertaker. Keep Flair out of the ring for some months, and when he finally puts the boots and robe on again, you can bet fans everywhere will be tuning in to watch. THAT would be a true special attraction.

Spoiling The Illusion

I actually missed the beginning of RAW cause they were airing a much sought after Kenta Kobashi VS Bison Smith GHC heavyweight title match on the Z-Channel, and that one match was better than anything on RAW all night! Heck, when I changed the channel back to RAW after the match, they were still doing the damn opening in ring segment with (who else?) Triple H. And I noticed there was A LOT of talking on RAW last night, depsite the fact they were hyping the Taboo Tuesday PPV (the date of which is listed correctly in the ASTRO guide).

Your not the best if you tell someone to say your the best
Last week Flair called Triple H the greatest wrestler alive today, this week he corrects himself and says Triple H is the greatest wrestler of ALL TIME, and only Flair has the authority to make that call. It's true Flair should be qualified to make that call, but he made a rather lame choice, didn't he? And it's pretty obvious with HHH running things (literally), he can have (ie order) Flair to say whatever he wants to make himself (HHH) look good. And having HHH get the pin on Jericho even though they were setting up and Austin... er.. Orton run in proves it, screw job finish or not. He even took a shot a The Rock cause it's obvious HHH is no where near the level Rock is, popularity wise or ring work wise.
Heck, it wouldn't surprise me if next week he got Flair to proclaim HHH is a wrestling God. Triple H can call himself The Game and a 9-time champion all he wants, but until he accomplishes what Flair has done (H isn't even up to a fraction of Flair's accomplishments), He's never gonna get the respect and credibility of a true legend like Flair from the people that count the most: THE FANS.

Stone Cold Randy Orton
'Nuff said. It's obvious that's how WWE is building him up again trying to catch lightning in a bottle with a rehashed gimmick.

Kill a baby, Make a Wish
How ironic is it when WWE push the Snitzky killed Lita's baby angle, then air a piece on WWE receiving a celebrity award from the Make A Wish Foundation??? And how many of those kids will run in terror when Gene Snitzky is around?

No one to blame but yourself
Again I agree with Snitzky that it wasn't his fault what happened to Lita. Just remember Lita CHOSE to get in the ring to HELP Snitzky, an opponent HAND PICKED BY KANE, in a NO QUESTIONS ASKED, NO DQ MATCH given by ERIC BISCHOFF cause Bischoff already shceduled HBK, the man Kane ORIGINALLY TARGETED for something else. Take your pick from any of the above, EXCEPT Gene Snitzky.

What the Hell are JR & Lawler doing there?
I'm really getting SICK of hearing JR & Lawler ask what the hell (insert name here) is doing there on the show. In the first place, the person they always asks about works for the same company as them, so they have a right to be there. And secondly, it's pretty obvious they normally come out cause they have something to say, to make a save or even the odds in a brawl, or whatever. Don't treat it as if the guy just shot in from another planet or something.

You won $250,000... and the right to be Eugene's girlfriend.
God I hope that's not the direction Christy is being pushed in. You can look at it as Christy getting a push as playing a role to keep Eugene's character fresh, or punishment by WWE to us, the fans who voted her the winner, when WWE's choice in Carmella lost.
And again, why is it only now that Carmella is showing signs of some charisma and actual acting talent, when during the contest she showed less life than a cemetary?
And Christy VS Carmella at Taboo Tuesday? I love Christy, but this has Worst Match of the Year written all over it.

Random news and thoughts

Can you believe I actually missed a WWE PPV yesterday? Anyway, full results for the NO MERCY PPV:
Eddie Guerrero beat Luther Reigns with the frog splash
Cruiserweight Title: Spike Dudley beat Nunzio with help from the Dudleys
Billy Kidman beat Paul London with the Shooting Star Press
WWE Tag Team Titles: Rene Dupree & Kenzo Suzuki beat Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam when Suzuki pinned Mysterio using the ropes for leverage.
Big Show beat Kurt Angle with the chokeslam
US Championship-Best of Five Series Finale: John Cena beat Booker T with the FU
Rico, Charlie Haas & Ms. Jackie beat The Dudley Boys & Dawn Marie when Rico pinned D-Von with a moonsault.
WWE Championship-Last Ride Match: John "Bradshaw" Layfield beat The Undertaker with help from John Heidenreich.

Right now I could easily blame ASTRO for my missing the PPV, since they never advertised it and it's listed in the ASTRO guide for NEXT WEEK. Card subject to change? Yeah, Time and Date subject to change, but where the heck does ASTRO get their WWE schedules from? It's a freakin' LIVE show and I KNOW WWE announce the venue months in advance and not at the last minute.

Shinjiro Ohtani injured
Another sign of how hard hitting Japanese wrestling is, Shinjiro Ohtani had his right eye socket fractured in a match on 10/03 where he and his partner Takao Omori lost the NWA IC Tag Titles to Masato Tanaka & Wataru Sakata. Wouldn't surprise me if it was an off angle elbow shot from Tanaka that did it. Not sure how long Ohtani is expected to be out, but it's not a good thing for the company since Zero-One is short of main eventers with Hashimoto also out for shoulder surgery.

GAEA closes it's doors
GAEA, one of the longest running joshi puroresu promotions in Japan is closing it's doors due to amounting financial problems. This shows how far from grace joshi puro has fallen since it's golden years in the early nineties. GAEA and All Japan Women were the forefronts of Japanese Women's wrestling. Hopefully theres still work for the GAEA talent on the indy scene as well as AJW, AtoZ and whatever joshi feds are left.

Wanna HUSTLE???

If your interested to check out some free matches from HUSTLE-5 for download, I recommend you go to the Strong Style Spirit site and sign up for their message boards. There's are links at the All Japan to Zipang board where you can download three fun, though weird, matches from the recent HUSTLE event.

Kawada returning to New Japan!

All Japan's Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada is set to make a one night return to New Japan Pro Wrestling for their "Strong Conviction in Kobe" show on 10/24/2004! This will be Kawada's first appearance in NJPW since 2001 when he All Japan to war in NJPW, narrowly becoming IWGP champion!
Kawada will be teaming with his friend and current Makai Club member Mitsuya Nagai in the President Hoshino 10,000,000 Yen Offer Tag Tournament, a one night 4 team single elimination tournament. And their first opponents will be none other the two former IWGP champions in Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Shinsuke Nakamura! The other two teams in the tournament are Masahiro Chono & Katsuyori Shibata and Kensuke Sasaki & Genichiro Tenryu.
The full card for the show:

NJPW "STRONG CONVICTION IN KOBE", 10/24/04 (Samurai! TV)
Kobe World Hall
1. 2/3 Falls: Ryusuke Taguchi, Hirooki Goto, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Taiji Ishimori vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Jado, Gedo & Katsushi Takemura
2. Togi Makabe & Yujiro vs. El Samurai & Wataru Inoue
3. Osamu Nishimura & Tiger Mask vs. Scott Norton & James Gibson
4. Yuji Nagata & Blue Wolf vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Minoru Suzuki
5. Toru Yano vs. Super Love Machine
6. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. American Dragon
7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Heat (c) vs. Koji Kanemoto
8. President Hoshino ¥10,000,000 Offer Tag Tournament - Semi Final: Masahiro Chono & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Kensuke Sasaki
9. President Hoshino ¥10,000,000 Offer Tag Tournament - Semi Final: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Mitsuya Nagai
10. President Hoshino ¥10,000,000 Offer Tag Tournament - Final:

James Gibson by the way is none other than former WWE Cruiserweight champion Jamie Noble! He's working under his real name since WWE hold the rights to the Noble name.

Credit: Strong Style Spirit for the info