Puroresu: Today's results, Tons of news, Muto injured, Waltman/NJPW; more Submitted by Justin Rowland on Sunday, October 20, 2002 at 11:56 AM EST
NOAH’s Global Honor Crown committee recently approved of Yoshinari Ogawa to be Mitsuharu Misawa’s next challenger for the GHC Heavyweight title on either 12/01 or 12/07. Ogawa was pleased that Misawa even went as far as to mention his name as a possible opponent for the belt.
Jushin Thunder Liger began training for his big MMA match against Minoru Suzuki earlier today with Takashi Iizuka and Manabu Nakanishi. The match will take place at Pancrase’s 11/30 Yokohama Bunka Gym show, and Liger is currently being taught techniques of using more advanced armbars and leglocks.
In what is some very discouraging news for All Japan Pro Wrestling, Keiji Muto suffered severe ligament damage in his right knee yesterday. The injury came about as he was giving Nobutaka Araya a Shining Elbow. He planted his foot wrong and it was downhill from there, being in a large amount of pain and immediately leaving the ring for the remainder of the match. Following the match, Muto was taken to a hospital in Niigata via ambulance, and more will be known about the injury later on after an examination by the doctors. Muto’s knee problems extend back a pretty far way and this may be the final run for him, as doctors could easily tell him to retire if he doesn’t want to become crippled for the rest of his life.
After successfully defending his PWF Jr. Heavyweight title today against Jimmy Yang, Ka Shin had a run-in with Naohiro Hoshikawa & Tatsuhito Takaiwa of ZERO-ONE. Ka Shin said that he wants either Hoshikawa or Takaiwa to be his next opponent.
NOAH will be holding their second annual "Christmas Eve with NOAH" show on December 24th at Tokyo Differ Ariake. From last year’s show, Jun Akiyama took on the gimmick of Mr. Christmas, wearing a mask, and Mitsuharu Misawa changed to red & white tights instead of green & white.
NOAH will also be running the famous Budokan Hall on January 10th, 2003.
Yoshihiro Takayama wants to challenge GHC Tag Team champions, Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito with Bison Smith as his partner. He wants this title match to take place in either December or January upon his return from injuries.
New Japan opened the "FIGHTING SPIRIT SERIES 2002" tour yesterday with what looks to be a great show. Here are the results:
1. Wataru Inoue beat Hisafumi Yamamoto (5:36) with a crab hold. 2. El Samurai, Masahito Kakihara & Tiger Mask 4 beat American Dragon, Rocky Romero & Ricky Reyes (13:34) when Kakihara used the Kaki Cutter on Reyes. 3. Shiro Koshinaka & Osamu Nishimura beat Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano (12:29) when Koshinaka used a powerbomb on Yano. 4. Kenzo Suzuki & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto went to a draw (20:00) when the time limit expired. 5. Jushin Thunder Liger, Heat & Masayuki Naruse beat Koji Kanemoto, Jado & Gedo (16:13) when Heat used a Fisherman's buster on Jado. 6. Scott Norton & Jack The Bull beat Yutaka Yoshie & Blue Wolf (11:24) when Norton used a powerbomb on Wolf. 7. Tadao Yasuda, Ryushi Yanagisawa & Makai Mask #1 beat Masahiro Chono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi (5:21) when Yanagisawa used a right high kick on Chono.
NJPW Results - 10-20-02 - Beppu Beacon Plaza "FIGHTING SPIRIT SERIES 2002"
Earlier today NJPW held it’s second show of the tour. In a newsworthy item, Masahiro Chono stated that he would give Joanie Laurer a rematch, only if she has a sex change, and not at any other time. Sean Waltman will be working a few shows during NJPW’s December tour, teaming with Joanie.
1. Makai Mask #2 beat Toru Yano (6:50) by submission. 2. Koji Kanemoto & Gedo beat Masayuki Naruse & Tiger Mask 4 (13:26) when Kanemoto used an ankle hold on Naruse. 3. American Dragon, Rocky Romero & Ricky Reyes beat Jushin Thunder Liger, Heat & Masahito Kakihara (11:17) when Dragon used a crossface hold on Kakihara. 4. Shiro Koshinaka & Takashi Iizuka beat Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto (11:05) when Iizuka used a sleeper hold on Hiro. 5. Ryushi Yanagisawa beat Wataru Inoue (7:05) with a right high kick. 6. Yutaka Yoshie & Blue Wolf vs. Kenzo Suzuki & Hiroshi Tanahashi went to a draw (20:00) when the time limit expired. 7. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura beat Scott Norton & Jack The Bull (11:12) when Tenzan used a diving headbutt on Jack. 8. Masahiro Chono & Manabu Nakanishi beat Tadao Yasuda & Makai Mask #1 (8:44) when Chono used a Cobra Twist on Mask #1.
AJPW Results - 10-20-02 (Samurai! TV) - Miyagi Sports Center "OCTOBER GIANT SERIES 2002"
1. George Hines & Gran Hamada beat Nobukazu Hirai & Ryuji Hijikata (11:12) when Hines used the Hines Driver on Hijikata. 2. Johnny Smith & Kaz Hayashi beat Kendo Ka Shin & Gran Naniwa (11:07) when Hayashi used the Final Cut on Naniwa. 3. Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo beat Yoji Anjo & Kazushi Miyamoto (12:56) when Rotundo used a Blockbuster on Miyamoto. 4. Mike Barton & Jim Steele beat Mitsuya Nagai & Jimmy Yang (17:05) when Barton used a Last Ride on Yang. 5. Genichiro Tenryu, Abdullah The Butcher, Nobutaka Araya & Hideki Hosaka beat Keiji Muto, Taiyo Kea, Terry Funk & Tomoaki Honma (16:39) when Abdullah used a jumping elbow drop on Honma. 6. Satoshi Kojima beat Arashi (18:32) with a lariat.
ZERO-ONE Results - 10-20-02 (Samurai! TV) - Tokyo Korakuen Hall "IMPROVEMENT II 2002"
ZERO-ONE opened their new tour today at Korakuen Hall. Spanky officially announced that following this tour he will be going to WWE. More of a working relationship between ZERO-ONE and WEW looks to be forming, as Z1 will be sending more wrestlers over to Kodo Fuyuki, possibly in return for guys like Kanemura and Kuroda who have toured a lot with ZERO-ONE this year. Masato Tanaka & Shinjiro Otani’s reign as NWA Intercontinental Tag champions ended today, losing to Nathan Jones and John Heidenreich.
1. Shinya Hashimoto beat Keiji Sakoda (8:40) with a DDT. 2. Kuroge Wagyuta & Fugofugo Yumeji beat Shinsuke Z Yamagasa & Fuyuki Takahashi (8:55) when Wagyuta used the Japanese Beef buster on Yamagasa. 3. The Predator & Jimmy Snuka Jr. beat Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kohei Sato (9:40) when Snuka used a Superfly splash on Sato. 4. Naohiro Hoshikawa beat Yoshito Sasaki (11:31) with the Comet Lock II. 5. Steve Corino & C.W. Anderson beat Low Ki & Leonardo Spanky (10:36) when Anderson used a spinebuster on Ki. 6. Wataru Sakata beat Akio Kobayashi (4:08) with an armlock. 7. Kazuhiko Ogasawara beat Hirotaka Yokoi (6:18) by KO. 8. NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Title: Nathan Jones & John Heidenreich beat Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka (c) (11:19) when Heidenreich used the Power Dunk on Tanaka to become the 3rd champions.
Osaka Pro began their annual "Tenno-zan" singles tournament today. El Samurai was there to help draw their first sellout at the Delfin Arena since a few months back. Looks to have been a very good show.
1. Tsubasa & Black Buffalo beat Azteca & Yutaka Fukuda (7:00) when Buffalo used a lariat on Fukuda. 2. Super Delfin beat Tortuga (3:48) with a Tiger suplex hold. 3. Ebessan & Kengo Takai beat Gamma & Daio QUALLT (7:22) when QUALLT was DQ'd. 4. Tenno-zan 2002 - Round 1: Tigers Mask beat Kuishinbo Kamen (9:39) with a la magistral cutback. 5. Tenno-zan 2002 - Round 1: Big Boss MA-G-MA beat Monster King Mandora (8:14) with a diving body press. 6. Tenno-zan 2002 - Round 1: Takehiro Murahama beat Miracle Man (13:39) with a cross armbreaker. 7. Tenno-zan 2002 - Round 1: El Samurai beat Billy Ken Kid (14:01) with a chickenwing armlock.
Partial credit for all of the above goes to Stuart Max of PuroresuFan.com. Check out his great site if you are a fan of Japanese Wrestling, or if you are looking for more information about it.
