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.