New Japan Pro Wrestling 2008

[dnmt]

[b][color=yellow][Results] New Japan, 2/8/08[/color][/b] by [b][color=red]DEAN[/color][/b] - [i]8 Feb 08[/i] [center][img]http://www.njpw.co.jp/result_data/20071208/photo/07_04.jpg[/img][/center] -->"[b][color=red]CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPANISM[/color][/b]"<-- Yuji Nagata continued to gain momentum today, earning the victory over RISE for his New Japan Sekigun team. Nagata, as seen above, made IWGP Tag Team Champion Giant Bernard submit to an ankle hold in a highly-competitive 10-man tag team match. This is Nagata's second tag win over RISE team, the first of which was on 1/25. Nagata is looking as strong as ever on this tour, and very well may regain the IWGP Heavyweight Title come 2/18. [b]NJPW, 2/8/08 Tokorozawa Citizen Gymnasium #2 6,700 Fans[/b] 1. Tomoaki Honma beat Takashi Uwano [b](8:33)[/b] with the Crazy Elbow. [i]Rather pedestrian.[/i] Rating: [b][color=yellow]C[/color][/b]. 2. Milano Collection AT & Prince Devitt beat Naofumi Yamamoto & Mitsuhide Hirasawa [b](12:57)[/b] when Milano used the AT Lock on Hirasawa. [i]Milano came out of this looking good, and that seemed to be the main point.[/i] Rating: [b][color=yellow]C[/color][/b]. 3. TAKA Michinoku [img]http://puroresufan.com/images/logo/kdojos.jpg[/img], Dick Togo, Wataru Inoue & Tetsuya Naito beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Yujiro & Kazuchika Okada [b](15:37)[/b] when TAKA used the Michinoku Driver on Okada. [i]Naito seemed to be gassed by the end. That's something that's kinda expected of him in these longer matches he's been having. TAKA came out of this looking great. Not that great of a match all together though.[/i] Rating: [b][color=orange]D+[/color][/b]. 4. Jado & Gedo beat Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA [b](18:05)[/b] when Gedo used the Superfly Splash on AKIRA. [i]Big win for GBH, big loss for Legend. Liger looked great, but when doesn't he? Hot match.[/i] Rating: [b][color=green]B[/color][/b] (Tie for Match of the Night). 5. Masahiro Chono, Riki Choshu & Super Strong Machine beat Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii [b](15:04)[/b] when Machine used the Devil Windmill Suplex on Ishii. [i]Chono really looked great here. This was a crazy brawl: blood, chaos, etc. Post-match, in a scene not too often spotted in New Japan, GBH attacked Legend! Chains were used, and eventually the two groups were separated by the crew/dojo boys at ringside.[/i] Rating: [b][color=darkgreen]B-[/color][/b]. 6. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Takashi Iizuka, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Koji Kanemoto beat Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto, Travis Tomko, Giant Bernard & Minoru [b](23:05)[/b] when Nagata used an Ankle Hold on Bernard. [i]Good match. Nagata is picking up even more steam, getting a win over the champ's group. Nagata is looking more and more dangerous by the day.[/i] Rating: [b][color=green]B[/color][/b] (Tie for Match of the Night). Final Rating: [b][color=darkgreen]B-[/color][/b].

[dnmt]

[b][color=yellow][Results] New Japan, 2/9/08[/color][/b] by [b][color=red]DEAN[/color][/b] - [i]9 Feb 08[/i] -->"[b][color=red]CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPANISM[/color][/b]"<-- [b]NJPW, 2/9/08 Kiyohara City Gymnasium #2 5,370 Fans[/b] 1. Tiger Mask beat Kazuchika Okada [b](6:08)[/b] with a Millenium Suplex. [i]Tiger looked good in a relatively bad match.[/i] Rating: [b][color=orange]D[/color][/b]. 2. Jado & Gedo beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Yujiro [b](10:23)[/b] when Jado used the Crossface of Jado on Yujiro. [i]Nothing too special. After the match, Jado and Gedo said they deserve a shot at both tag team titles in New Japan, and they are going to get one.[/i] Rating: [b][color=orange]C-[/color][/b]. 3. Koji Kanemoto, Wataru Inoue & Tetsuya Naito beat Minoru, Milano Collection AT & Prince Devitt [b](12:51)[/b] when Kanemoto used the Falcon Arrow on Devitt. [i]Decent match. Koji looked really clean out there.[/i] Rating: [b][color=yellow]C+[/color][/b]. 4. TAKA Michinoku & Dick Togo beat Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA [b](17:21)[/b] when TAKA used the Just Facelock on AKIRA. [i]Nothing really significant beyond being a pretty good match. Legend dropping the fall, even to the Jr. Tag champs, was a bit of a surprise.[/i] Rating: [b][color=darkgreen]B-[/color][/b]. 5. Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii & Tomoaki Honma beat Hirooki Goto, Travis Tomko & Giant Bernard [b](13:32)[/b] when Makabe used a rope-assisted roll-up on Tomko. [i]Makabe and Bernard were the stars of this match. The finish to this was great in that heel heat way, but took away a bit from the match quality.[/i] Rating: [b][color=yellow]C+[/color][/b]. 6. [b]Special Singles Match[/b]: Shinsuke Nakamura beat Toru Yano [b](18:55)[/b] with the Landslide. [i]A glorified squash. Nak looked good though.[/i] Rating: [b][color=yellow]C+[/color][/b]. 7. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Mitsuhide Hirasawa beat Hiroshi Tanahashi, Takashi Iizuka & Naofumi Yamamoto [b](17:55)[/b] when Nagata used a Back Drop Hold on Iizuka. [i]The Nagata Train rolls on. He looked awesome in this match. Yamamoto dragged it down a smudge at the end, he looked tired. Otherwise, crowd loved it.[/i] Rating: [b][color=green]B[/color][/b] (Match of the Night). Final Rating: [b][color=darkgreen]B-[/color][/b].

[dnmt]

[b][color=yellow][Results] New Japan, 2/11/08[/color][/b] by [b][color=red]DEAN[/color][/b] - [i]11 Feb 08[/i] [center][img]http://www.njpw.co.jp/result_data/20071209/photo/07_01.jpg[/img][/center] -->"[b][color=red]CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPANISM[/color][/b]"<-- The RISE vs. GBH feud continued today, in a special 10-man brawl that lasted over 20 minutes and culminated in a big Nakamura win. On this tour, Nakamura has been on the losing end of quite a few tags, specifically to teams on which Yuji Nagata was on. That was not the case today, as Nakamura used his Landslide technique to put away Dick Togo, who, along with TAKA Michinoku, were special 1-night-only members of GBH for this tag. In another tag, the IWGP 3rd Champion, Yuji Nagata, scored another pinfall win, this time a Back Drop Hold to score the in against Shinsuke Nakamura's stablemate, Prince Devitt. Nagata clearly has RISE's number, as he has defeated members of RISE on 2 other occasions this tour alone. Nagata is on quite the winning streak, and he is going into the 2/17 Unification match with a ton of momentum. [b]NJPW, 2/11/08 Gifu Industrial Hall 4,260 Fans[/b] 1. Manabu Nakanishi, Tetsuya Naito, Wataru Inoue & Kazuchika Okada beat Mitsuhide Hirasawa, Ryusuke Taguchi, Yujiro & Tiger Mask [b](11:24)[/b] when Nakanishi beat Tiger Mask with the Mt. Fuji German Suplex Hold. [i]Nakanishi looked excellent here. Otherwise, not too great of a match.[/i] Rating: [b][color=orange]C-[/color][/b]. 2. Masahiro Chono, Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA beat Tomoaki Honma, Jado & Gedo [b](11:31)[/b] when AKIRA used the Musasabi Body Press on Honma. [i]As expected, Chono looked awesome.[/i] Rating: [b][color=yellow]C[/color][/b]. 3. Riki Choshu & Super Strong Machine beat Takashi Iizuka & Naofumi Yamamoto [b](14:11)[/b] when SSM used the Devil Windmill Suplex on Yamamoto. [i]Not much to be said here.[/i] Rating: [b][color=yellow]C+[/color][/b]. 4. [b]Special Singles Match[/b]: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Takashi Uwano [b](13:54)[/b] with the High Fly Flow. [i]This was a fun match, one of Uwano's best actually. Good singles encounter.[/i] Rating: [b][color=green]B[/color][/b] (Tie for Match of the Night). 5. Yuji Nagata & Koji Kanemoto beat Hirooki Goto & Prince Devitt [b](17:48)[/b] when Nagata used a Back Drop Hold on Devitt. [i]Goto is still improving. Nagata's momentum is picking up big time.[/i] Rating: [b][color=darkgreen]B-[/color][/b]. 6. [b]GBH Special Members Match[/b]: Shinsuke Nakamura, Travis Tomko, Giant Bernard, Minoru & Milano Collection AT beat Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, TAKA Michinoku & Dick Togo [b](24:40)[/b] when Nakamura used the Landslide on Togo. [i]Nakamura and Makabe looked awesome, they were easily the best people in the match. The RISE vs. GBH feud adds another chapter.[/i] Rating: [b][color=green]B[/color][/b] (Tie for Match of the Night). Final Rating: [b][color=darkgreen]B-[/color][/b].

[SHaynes23]

Good card there, got all the big players for the championship in the winners column, and man, Nagata is looking tough going into the unification match.

[dnmt]

Just wanted to say that this isn't done. I'll probably get a new show or two up tonight.

[dnmt]

[b][color=yellow][Results] New Japan, 2/14/08[/color][/b] by [b][color=red]DEAN[/color][/b] - [i]14 Feb 08[/i] -->"[b][color=red]CIRCUIT 2008 NEW JAPANISM[/color][/b]"<-- In the last event before the big Sumo Hall show, Yuji Nagata continued his dominance of RISE, defeating Hirooki Goto, arguably RISE's #2 to Shinsuke Nakamura, with the Nagata Lock III in a great contest. Nagata, the current IWGP 3rd Title holder, will face Nakamura on the 17th in order to unify the IWGP 3rd Title and the IWGP Heavyweight Title. For those not aware, the IWGP 3rd Title was the belt Brock Lesnar refused to return to New Japan after he was stripped of the title. It became nothing more than a material belt, and was defended in non-sanctioned IWGP matched in Antonio Inoki's IGF promotion. On the 1/4/08 Tokyo Dome show, Yuji Nagata defeated Kurt Angle, who defeated Lesnar for the "title" on an IGF card in 2007. This unification match will rid the IWGP Heavyweight Title of any controversy. [b]NJPW, 2/14/08 Hitachinaka Matsudo Gymnasium 3,850 Fans[/b] 1. Takashi Uwano beat Mitsuhide Hirasawa [b](7:46)[/b] with the STU. [i]Uwano and Hirasawa have pretty good chemistry, it added a lot to what was an mediocre match.[/i] Rating: [b][color=orange]D+[/color][/b]. 2. Tiger Mask beat Kazuchika Okada [b](6:19)[/b] with a Tiger Suplex Hold. [i]Tiger Mask looked really good.[/i] Rating: [b][color=orange]D[/color][/b]. 3. AKIRA beat Tetsuya Naito [b](9:10)[/b] with the Musasabi Body Press. [i]Not too great.[/i] Rating: [b][color=orange]D+[/color][/b]. 4. Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Yujiro [b](10:47)[/b] when Inoue used the Triangle Lancer on Yujiro. [i]Koji looked really good here.[/i] Rating: [b][color=yellow]C+[/color][/b]. 5. Minoru & Milano Collection AT beat Jado & Gedo [b](10:49)[/b] when Milano used the AT Lock on Gedo. [i]Minoru and Milano have awesome chemistry together. Decent match...should have been better though.[/i] Rating: [b][color=yellow]C+[/color][/b]. 6. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi, Takashi Iizuka & Naofumi Yamamoto beat Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Tomoaki Honma [b](14:32)[/b] when Yamamoto used a Texas Cloverleaf on Yano. [i]Good match. Makabe, Tanahashi, and Nakanishi looked really good. Just a fun brawl here.[/i] Rating: [b][color=darkgreen]B-[/color][/b]. 7. Shinsuke Nakamura, Travis Tomko, Giant Bernard & Prince Devitt beat Masahiro Chono, Riki Choshu, Super Strong Machine & Jushin Thunder Liger [b](15:48)[/b] when Bernard used the Bernard Driver on SSM. [i]Great contest here. Nakamura, Chono, and Liger all stole the show. This match got the crowd going. A big win for RISE over Legend.[/i] Rating: [b][color=green]B[/color][/b] (Match of the Night). 8. [b]Special Singles Match[/b]: Yuji Nagata beat Hirooki Goto [b](16:43)[/b] with the Nagata Lock III. [i]Should have been better.[/i] Rating: [b][color=darkgreen]B-[/color][/b]. Final Rating: [b][color=yellow]C+[/color][/b].