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Alternate Reality NJPW 1995- From Below Ground Zero


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Introduction- Kayfabe

 

Entering the Wrestling World from the business world had its perks, but it also had its negatives- a lot of companies, especially puro companies would baulk at the idea of a non-wrestling mind overseeing a wrestling company. But having watched the sad managed decline of the two biggest Japanese companies over the last three years led them to break away from the traditions that they had held since the days of Rikidozan.  

 

Walking into the Tokyo headquarters of NJPW I knew that I had my work cut out for me, the company in financial ruin with a debt of almost $16 million, I didn’t have long until the debt collectors came calling. My job was to try and rebuild this once legendary company back to its glory days and save it from the colossus financial failure it had become. It could be worse though... somehow we are still doing better than Baba’s show 

 

The pressure was going to be on from day one- I needed to boost ticket sales, increase revenue streams such as merchandising and especially put on a product that people would be interesting in seeing, when you’re hot you can do no wrong. But when you’re cold, everything you touch turns to ice... and to top it all off, no pressure with my first show in charge, its only the January 4th Tokyo Dome Show 

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Introduction- Breaking Kayfabe

 

 

How has this save come to fruition, on my Youtube channel, I did a video where I simulated the new generation era using the 1992 Chronicles mod up until January 1995- 

 

One of the things which interested me was how poorly both major Puro companies had done financially, with both AJPW and NJPW being in the 8 Figures of debt. This made me want to do a pt 2 video about trying to rebuild the companies from below ground zero but I couldn’t think of a way to make a rebuild video interesting which led me here. I converted my sim save into a database and added myself in as the new Owner of NJPW. With a debt of almost 16 Million I know its going to be a challenge but I think it will make for some fun roleplay and stories. Hope you join me on this ride

 

The way dating will work in this save is using a traditional calender and having days be numbered but assuming that any days past 28 just disappear into the eather. So those days will still exist and records will be calculated on a 365 day calender, but all months will start on Monday 1st 

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Roster

 

Heavyweights 

Akitoshi Saito 

Animal Hamaguchi 

Antonio Inoki 

Brad Rheingans 

Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow 

Franz Shumann 

Hiroshi Hase 

Hiroyoshi Tenzan 

Keiji Mutoh 

Kengo Kimura 

Kensuke Sasaki 

Kim Duk 

Kuniaki Kobayashi 

Manumu Nakanishi- Young Lion 

Masahiro Chono 

Masashi Aoyaga 

Michiyoshi Ohara 

Mitsuo Momota 

Osamu Nishimura 

Riki Choshu 

Satoshi Kojima 

Scott Norton 

Shinya Hashimoto 

Shiro Koshinaka 

Takashi Iizuka 

Tatsumi Fujinami 

Tatsutoshi Goto 

Tony Halme 

Yuji Nagata 

 

Juniors

Akio Sato  

Akira

Bill Anderson 

Damien 

Dean Malenko 

El Pantera 

El Samurai

Flying Scorpio 

Gerard Gordeau 

Grigory Verichev 

Hayabusa 

Hiro Sato 

Hirofumi Miura 

Joe Malenko 

Jushin Thunder Liger 

Katsumi Usada 

Kazuo Yamazaki 

Kendo Kashin- Young Lion 

Kiyoshi Tamura 

Koji Kanemoto 

Norio Honaga 

Poison Sawada 

Ricky Fuji 

Rob Kaman 

Satoru Sayama 

The Great Gama 

Wellington Wilkins Jr 

Wild Pegasus 

 

 

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Championships

 

IWGP World Heavyweight

IWGPHeavyweight.jpeg.3aa234e5c77e071c76b2b0e54d25486e.jpeg

Record Length Reign- Antonio Inoki- 511 Days- July 1992 to December 1993

Record Defences- Antonio Inoki- 10 Defences- July 1992 to December 1993

 

Masahiro Chono- Defeated Antonio Inoki- December Week 2 1993

 

IWGP Tag Team

Tag.jpeg.7ccdd31b47af6d6c51aa90596a13acc8.jpeg

Record Length Reign- Riki Choshu & Masa Saito- First Reign- 279 Days- June 1988 to March 1989

Record Defences- Kengo Kimura & Kensuke Sasaki- Second Reign- 16 defences- March 1994 to November 1994

 

Tatsumi Fujinami & Takashi Iizuka- Defeated Shinya Hashimoto & Bam Bam Bigelow @ Anniversary Show XXIII- Week 2, February 1995

Shinya Hashimoto & Bam Bam Bigelow- Defeated Masasho Aoyagi & Kuniaki Kobayashi @ Wrestling World 1995- Week 1, January 1995

Masasho Aoyagi & Kuniaki Kobayashi- Defeated Kengo Kimura & Kensuke Sasaki- November Week 3 1994 

IWGP Junior Heavyweight

Junior.jpeg.d66d6e46b423f700847dcf876368b631.jpeg

Record Length Reign- Shiro Koshinaka- Second Reign- 317 Days- September 1986 to August 1987
Record Defences- El Samurai- First Reign- 13 Defences- March 1992 to November 1992

 

Hayabusa- Defeated Wellington Wilkins Jr @ Wrestling World 1995- Week 1, January 1995

Wellington Wilkins Jr- Defeated Satoru Sayama- August Week 3 1994 

Best Of Super Juniors

bosj.jpeg.0297d09a7e50458b06722f3429feae39.jpeg

Not Held Since 1991 

 

G1 Climax

g1.jpeg.adef38f02b4b48c61ba9ef3c5a99dff4.jpeg

1994- Antonio Inoki

Super Grade Tag League

worldtagleague.jpeg.7816dea7db56aff6e807214c4c23c510.jpeg

1994- Big Van Vader & Shinya Hashimoto

Young Lions Cup

 1994- El Samurai

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Stables

 

Apocalypse 

Koji Kanemoto- Leader 

Akira 

Kim Duk 

Shiro Koshinaka 

 

Dragon Bombers 

Tatsumi Fujinami- Leader 

Jushin Thunder Liger 

Takashi Iizuka 

El Samurai

 

Raging Staff 

Hiro Saito 

Norio Honaga 

Tatsutoshi Goto 

 

The Revival 

Kuniaki Kobayashi- Leader 

El Pantera 

Masashi Aoyagi 

Michiyoshi Ohara 

Poison Sawada 

 

Death Riders

Masahiro Chono- Leader

Keiji Mutoh

Hiroyoshi Tenzan

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January 4th 1995- Tokyo Dome

 

It’s the biggest day of the year for NJPW- and terrifyingly my first proper day on the job, one of the things that didn’t make me happy in the first few days working for this illustrious yet completely broke company was the fact that I came in just as one of our biggest stars and our lead commentators contracts were expiring, If we want to be able to create a product that people are interesting In watching then Keiji Mutoh is going to be an essential part of that, so despite him burning a massive hole in our pocket Mutoh was given a new contract which we expect him to sign in the next few days. 

As for Yamamoto, there are very few who are as good at colour commentary as him in the world, not to mention the added fact that he is a vital hand to have around as a producer and road agent as well. 

 

God Damn rescuing the money is going to be harder than I anticipated, fortunately I feel like we have put together a strong card for Wrestling World 1995 with some of the biggest matches possible. 

 

IWGP Heavyweight Championship- 1/60- Masahiro Chono (C) vs Antonio Inoko 

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship- 1/60- Wellington Wilkins Jr (C) vs Hayabusa 

IWGP Tag Team Championship- 1/60- The Revival (Kuniyaki Kobayashi & Masashi Aoyagi vs Bam Bam Bigelow & Shinya Hashimoto 

Special Singles Match- 1/30- Riki Choshu vs Kensuke Sasaki 

Special Tag Team Match- 1/30- Tatsumi Fujinami & Takashi Iizuka vs Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Mutoh 

Special Singles Match- 1/30- Satoru Sayama vs Wild Pegasus 

Special Tag Team Match- 1/30- Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs The Malenko Brothers 

 

Predictions Welcome 

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  • thisisobc changed the title to Alternate Reality NJPW 1995- From Below Ground Zero

 

NJPW Wrestling World 1995

New_Japan_Pro_Wrestling_Logo_2_svg.png.8a12016e2a936c95498465331ebb2046.png

January 4th 1995

Tokyo Dome

42,000 sell out 

 

Your Japanese Commentary team is Ichiro Furutachi, Yoshinari Tsuji & Kotetsu Yamamoto 

Your English Commentary team is Mauro Ranello & Don Callis 

 

Match 1

Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs Dean & Joe Malenko 

 Your Opening Contest is a Special Tag Team Match with a 30 Minute time limit featuring Four of the greatest Junior Heavyweights of the decade so far. Jushin Thunder Liger teaming with long term friend and rival El Samurai to take on the brother tag team of Dean and Joe, The Malenko Brothers- trained by their legendary father Boris Malenko. 

 

In the end it was the masked wrestlers who picked up the win with Jushin Thunder Liger hitting the Shooting Star Press onto Joe Malenko 

 

Winners- Jushin Thunder Liger and El Samurai 

Time- 21:58 

Rating- 88 

 

 

Match 2

Satoru Sayama vs Wild Pegasus 

The Second match saw one of the greatest legends of Junior Heavyweight Wrestling Satoru Sayama take on the up-and-coming Wild Pegasus. 

Pegasus is able to use his speed and stamina against the veteran giving him an advantage throughout most of the proceedings, Pegasus also uses mind games to get into the head of the original Tiger Mask by using moves which people often associate with one of Sayama’s greatest ever rivals, The Dynamite Kid- including his patented diving headbutt.  

Sayama does get a section on top near the end however faking a suicide dive with his Tiger Feight before hitting a big Tiger Bomb onto Pegasus, however in a shocking moment that gets the entire Tokyo Dome on their feet Pegasus kicks out at 1 rolling the cover into an STF. Once it became clear that Sayama wasn’t going to tap out to an STF he converted into a Cross-face which finally led Sayama to submit and pass the baton of Technical Wizard Junior down to The Wild Pegasus 

 

Winner- Wild Pegasus 

Time- 17:45 

Rating- 81 

 

 

 

Match 3

Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Mutoh vs Takashi Iizuka & Tatsumi Fujinami 

 

Former IWGP Tag Team Champions Hase & Mutoh take on the Dragon Bombers team of Iizuka and Fujinami. Watching the match you can tell that the Dragon Bombers team are clearly the weaker of the two, with Iizuka not quite being a main event star which Hase and Mutoh are, whilst Fujinami is certainly on his way back down from his glory days as IWGP Heavyweight Champion back in 1992 

In the end it is the two current top-level stars who were able to pick up the victory, Mutoh scoring the pin over Iizuka with a big moonsault, and Hase holding back Fujinami to prevent the break up 

 

Winners- Hase & Mutoh 

Time- 22:41 

Rating- 83 

 

 

 

Match 4

Kensuke Sasaki vs Riki Choshu 

 

In our final preliminary match before the championship matches, we get another match between a legend of the division and someone trying to take their spot at the top of the card as Former IWGP Heavyweight and Greatest 18 Champion Riki Choshu takes on former 3 time IWGP Tag Team Champion and 2 Time winner of the Young Lion’s Cup- Kensuke Sasaki 

 

But sometimes youthful energy is no match for experience as it’s the former world champion who is able to put Sasaki down for the three count.  

 

Winner- Riki Choshu 

Time- 21:35 

Rating- 68 

 

Match 5- IWGP World Tag Team Championship

Kuniaki Kobayashi & Masashi Aoyagi (C) vs Shinya Hashimoto & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow 

 

Having won the Tag League with Big Van Vader late last year before the Mastodon's departure to WCW shortly afterwards- (God Damn, the AI was a mess) we bought in Vader’s former tag team partner with Big Bad and Dangerous- Bam Bam Bigelow, to team with Shinya Hashimoto in his shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship. The Champions, Kuniaki Kobayashi and Masashi Aoyagi of the Revival have been champions since November.  

 

But despite the thrown together team of Hashimoto & Bigelow not working amazingly together with a lack of chemistry, they were able to pick up the win with a Spike DDT into a Bam Bam Sault to pick up the IWGP Tag Team Championship 

 

Winners- Bam Bam Bigelow & Shinya Hashimoto

AND NEW IWGP TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS 
Time- 23:09 

Rating- 75 

 

Match 6- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

Wellington Wilkins Jr (C) vs Hayabusa 

 

In a styles clash that represents the battle for the heart of the Junior division, technical wrestling vs High Flying risk taking as WW2 the Canadian technical mastermind takes on Hayabusa, the FMW Dojo graduate who is willing to put his entire body on the line to win. Is there a risk of Hayabusa injuring himself which gives WW2 a perfect target to pick off.  

The story throughout the match was an early spot where Hayabusa attempted a big dive to the outside which Wilkins managed to get out of the way of, leading to him tweaking his knee. This leads to chop blocks and knee bars throughout the match before Hayabusa manages to reverse a dragon screw into an enziguri, and a falcon arrow combination for the 3 Count 

 

Winner- Hayabusa

AND NEW IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION 

Time- 11:32 

Rating- 75 

 

 

 

 

MAIN EVENT 
Match 7- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship 

Masahiro Chono (C) vs Antonio Inoki 

 

In the main event of the Tokyo Dome, the founder and patriarch of New Japan Pro Wrestling Antonio Inoki has one potentially final chance to make it to the top of the mountain, whilst officially this isn’t his reward for winning the G1 Climax there is a part of me which thinks adding a championship stipulation could make the tournament more exciting and give it high stakes, which could justify higher ticket sales and help us cut down our debts. Financially though Inoki is still a massive asset to have around the company, just from the first few days I’ve been here, and the primary reports from the Tokyo Dome show, he is by far the biggest merch seller almost doubling the merch sold by his nearest competitor. As for Chono he has been champion for over a year now, winning the belt just before the Tokyo Dome show in 1994, ironically from Antonio Inoki. So all the story is in place, it’s the veteran looking for one last shot at glory after grinding to win the most difficult tournament in Pro Wrestling, against the new face of Puro and the man who ended the veterans last title reign, I mean the story just writes itself doesn’t it... well no, I still have to write it. 

 

The match goes nearly 20 minutes with Antonio Inoki’s age showing about half way through though the match as he starts to get very tired and lethargic with his movements, I mean he is in his 50s now. But all this does is make Chono look even better as he starts running laps around his aged, fatigued opponent. Chono starts getting more Viscous being meticulous with all of his strikes, as the crowd starts to turn on him as he beats down their icon. Chono even pulls Inoki’s shoulder off the mat after a Yakuza Kick at 2 just so he can continue the beatdown on the legend, by this point the crowd have fully turned on Chono, booing him out the building and willing on Inoki to get back into this match. But the elder statesman just doesn’t have it in him any more as Chono hits a big Belly to Belly Suplex into the turnbuckle with 3 consecutive Yakuza kicks into the corner, not even allowing Inoki the respite of falling to the floor until the last kick, which of course is way too much for Inoki to kick out of. 

 

Winner- Masahiro Chono

AND STILL IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

Time- 18:30

Rating- 79

 

 

Overall I would say Wrestling World 1995 was a success, fast nationals from TV Asahi show that really 500,000 people watched the show in Japan alone, which is pretty good and just from Ticket sales we managed to bring in over $1.5 Million Dollars, which is a great help with the debt, of course I know that its not always going to go this smoothly as we can’t run the Tokyo Dome every single month but I think this show sets us up for a good year where hopefully we are able to bring down the debt.  

 

Narratively I think having a new top heel for everyone to hate and want to see beaten will be a great draw for ticket sales and give us a great storyline throughout the year of who can be the one to topple Chono. 

 

Overall Rating- 81

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Thursday 11th January 1995

 

One Weeks has passed since the Tokyo Dome show as he head towards our first tour- Fighting Spirit leading to the anniversary show in Nippon Budokan 

The best news of the inbetween week was that we were able to secure contract extensions for both Keiji Mutoh and Kotetsu Yamamoto with Mutoh even willing to take a Pay Per Apperance deal rather than and garunteed contract, which will be a massive financial boost as we won’t be using him on every single tour date. 

 

In other financial news due to the closure of some of the mid range Japanese companies over the past 3 years there were some very tasty free agents lurking around who could be picked up for very cheap, two of them we have signed with both being a massive boost to our Junior division and could be top level stars in that division from day one; both of their debuts will occur during the Fighting Spirit tour. 

 

(First few nights of the tour will be up either later tonight or tomorrow) 

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Predictions 

 

NJPW Fighting Spirit Night 1- Korakuen Hall 

Kazou Yamazaki & Kendo Kashin vs Raging Staff (Norio Honaga & Hiro Saito) 

Yuji Nagata vs Tatsutoshi Goto 

Jushin Thunder Liger vs Debut #1 

Kengo Kimura & Kensuke Sasaki vs Michiyoshi Ohara & Akitoshi Saito 

Keiji Mutoh vs Satoshi Kojima 

 

NJPW Fighting Spirit Night 2- Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium  

Animal Hamaguchi vs Manubu Nakanishi 

El Pantera vs Debut #2 

Brad Rheingans & Wild Pegasus vs Gerard Gordeau & The Great Gama Singh 

Flying Scorpio vs Damian 666 

Masahiro Chono & Bam Bam Bigelow vs Tatsumi Fujinami & Takashi Iizuka 

 

NJPW Fighting Spirit Night 3- Sendai Sun Plaza 

The Malenko Brothers vs Ricky Fuji & Hirofumi Miura 

Akira vs Wellington Wilkins Jr 

Poison Sawada vs Rob Kaiman 

Mitosu Mimota & Osamu Nishimura vs Scott Norton & Tony Halme 

Shinya Hashimoto vs Satoru Sayama 

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NJPW Fighting Spirit Night 1- Korakuen Hall 

 

Raging Staff (Norio Honaga & Hiro Saito) beat Kazou Yamazaki & Kendo Kashin in 9:01

72

Yuji Nagata beats Tatsutoshi Goto in 11:51

52

 

 

The Debut is 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GreatSasuke.jpg.16a0c2e53d0f99126541b07c1ffdb60b.jpg

Great Sasuke 

 

Jushin Thunder Liger beats Great Sasuke in 14:12

78

Kengo Kimura & Kensuke Sasaki beat Michiyoshi Ohara & Akitoshi Saito in 12:30

63

Keiji Mutoh beats Satoshi Kojima in 19:10

72

 

Overall Rating- 72 

 

 

 

 

NJPW Fighting Spirit Night 2- Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium 

 

Animal Hamaguchi beats Manubu Nakanishi in 10:24

46

 

 

The second debut is... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UltimoDragon.jpg.aed15342502ff2fb878afab0c402e4ed.jpg

Ultimo Dragon 

Ultimo Dragon beats El Pantera in 13:38 

70 

 

Brad Rheingans & Wild Pegasus beat Gerard Gordeau & The Great Gama Singh in 9:42

(Rheingans & Pegasus had Great Chemistry teaming) 

65

 

Flying Scorpio beats Damian 666 in 12:21

57

 

Tatsumi Fujinami & Takashi Iizuka beat Masahiro Chono & Bam Bam Bigelow in 21:02

Fujinami & Iizuka challenge Bigelow & Hashimoto for the Tag Titles on the Anniversary Show 

75

 

 

Overall Rating- 72 

 

NJPW Fighting Spirit Night 3- Sendai Sun Plaza

 

The Malenko Brothers beat Ricky Fuji & Hirofumi Miura in 12:21

65

 

Wellington Wilkins Jr beats Akira in 12:19

66

 

Poison Sawada beats Rob Kaiman in 11:43

(Sawada suffered Chronic Lower Back Pain)

47

 

Scott Norton & Tony Halme beat Mitosu Mimota & Osamu Nishimura in 9:26

(Mimota & Nishimura didn’t click as team-mates)

54 

 

Shinya Hashimoto beats Satoru Sayama in 19:47

Hashimoto accepts the tag title challenge 

80

 

 

 

Overall Rating- 75

 

 

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End Of Month Review 

The Financial Situation is going to be very difficult to get out of, despite a sold-out Tokyo Dome on January 4th we only managed to make $150,000 this month.  

 

The two debuts both went well with both Great Sasuke and Ultimo Dragon signing 3 Year deals on the cheap. Both men hadn’t really done much since the dissolution of ULL early in 1993, except for a run in Mexico for both, but could be great hands in our Junior Division. Dragon is the one who will most likely be the star out of the two, but both will be serious contenders after a settling process. It was announced after Night 3 that both men will team up for the first time ever at the Anniversary Show against the team of Jushin Thunder Liger and El Samurai 

 

A New Young Lion will be starting with us for the next tour, Sanshiro Takagi was bought in to train at the NJPW Dojo from his training school with Goro Tsurumi- The Contract is for two years with the intention to send him on an excursion at the end of the contract 

 

In a post-show Press Conference on the second night Wild Pegasus & Brad Rheingans announced that they are become a registered Tag Team and will be looking to go for the tag team titles, their official documentations confirmed that are going to be called The Lords of The Ring. 

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NJPW Fighting Spirit Night 4- 1833 @ Hiroshima Sun Plaza- Monday 1st February 1995 

 

Koji Kanemoto defeated Akio Sato in 6:53 by submission with a Koji Clutch. 

67 

 

The Lords Of The Ring (Wild Pegasus & Brad Rheingans) defeated Dutch Braid (Rob Kaman & Gerard Gordeau) in 16:04 when Brad Rheingans submitted Gerard Gordeau with a Chickenwing Arm Lock. 

65 

 

Apocalypse (AKIRA and Shiro Koshinaka) defeated Manabu Nakanishi and Kendo Kashin in 6:11 when AKIRA pinned Kendo Kashin. 

62 

 

El Samurai defeated Norio Honaga in 11:42 by submission with a Samurai Clutch. 

58 

 

Winners face each other in a number one contenders match @ Anniversary Show 

Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Mutoh defeated Kensuke Sasaki and Kengo Kimura in 19:01 when Hiroshi Hase pinned Kensuke Sasaki. 

75 

 

Overall Rating- 72 

 

NJPW Fighting Spirit Night 5- 1882 @  Hakata Starlines- Tuesday 2nd February 1995 

 

Yuji Nagata defeated Mitsuo Momota in 4:03 by pinfall with a Belly to Back Suplex. 

39 

 

The Malenko Brothers defeated Halme & Norton in 13:07 when Dean Malenko submitted Scott Norton with a Texas Cloverleaf. 

67 

 

Great Sasuke defeated The Great Gama in 11:57 by pinfall with a Michinoku Driver. 

54 

 

Bill Anderson and Wellington Wilkins Jr. defeated Ricky Fuji & Hirofumi Miura in 13:38 when Wellington Wilkins Jr. pinned Ricky Fuji. 

55 

 

The Revival (El Pantera, Kuniaki Kobayashi and Masashi Aoyagi) defeated Hayabusa, Jushin Thunder Liger and El Samurai in 18:11 when Kuniaki Kobayashi submitted Hayabusa. 

El Pantera challenged Hayabusa for an IWGP Junior Heavyweight title match at Anniversary Show 

71 

 

Overall- 68 

 

 

NJPW Fighting Spirit Night 6- 1722 @ Nakajima Sports Center- Thursday 4th February 1995 

Antonio Inoki, Animal Hamaguchi and Mitsuo Momota defeated Grigory Verichev, The Great Gama and Bill Anderson in 12:25 when Antonio Inoki pinned The Great Gama with an Enzuigiri. 

60 

 

Dragon Bombers (Tatsumi Fujinami & Takashi Iizuka) defeated Dutch Braid (Rob Kaman & Gerard Gordeau) in 13:02 when Tatsumi Fujinami pinned Gerard Gordeau with a Dragon Backbreaker. 

(Gerard Gordeau sustained a Bruised Pectoral Muscle) 

59 

 

Akitoshi Saito defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 8:55 by pinfall with a Death Brand. 

(Tenzan was seen storming to the back after the match, refusing the assistance from the Young Lions around the ring) 

47 

 

Ultimo Dragon defeated Damien in 11:45 by pinfall with an Asai DDT. 

65 

 

Apocalypse (Koji Kanemoto, AKIRA and Shiro Koshinaka) defeated Raging Staff (Tatsutoshi Goto, Norio Honaga and Hiro Saito) in 12:35 when Koji Kanemoto pinned Norio Honaga with a Moonsault. 

68 

 

Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Satoshi Kojima in 19:06 by pinfall with a Diving Headbutt. 

(Bigelow and Kojima had no chemistry against each other making it an awkward bout) 

59 

 

Overall Grade- 61

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Tuesday 2nd February 1995

Kuniayaki Kobayashi came up to me after Night Four, we had a decent chat but it seemed like was annoyed about the new planned push for The Lords Of The Ring over The Revival, he started complaining to me that Wild Pegasus wasn’t connecting with the crowd, but Pegasus is always the best in-ring performer whenever he has had a tag team match so fair, so I’m hoping over time he will begin to connect with the crowd a little bit more 

 

Friday 5th February 1995

The Injury to Gerard Goudreau last night isn’t majorly serious. He could work through it, however we aren’t going to take that risk, so we don’t plan on using him throughout the rest of the tour. 

 

Masahiro Chono made a speech at an unofficial NJPW Press Conference the day after Night 6 talking about if he makes it past The Explosion Tour and The Detonation event as Champion then he will break both records currently held by Antonio Inoki regarding the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. It would be his 11th Defence and would guarantee that he would pass Inoki’s 511 days as Champion between 1992 and 1993. As such he issues a challenge, he doesn’t see Hase or Mutoh as much of a threat (That defence will happen at Battle Formation) so Inoki can pick anyone (It cannot be him as he lost at the Tokyo Dome) to challenge Chono at that Detonation Event. Inoki’s last chance to keep his record. 

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NJPW Fighting Spirit Night 7- Wakayama Prefectural Gymnasium- 2000 (Sell-Out)- Friday 5th February 1995 

 

Koji Kanemoto defeated Hiro Saito in 8:47 by submission with a Koji Clutch. 

61 

 

The Lords Of The Ring defeated The Revival in 12:46 when Wild Pegasus submitted Masashi Aoyagi. 

67 

 

Poison Sawada and El Pantera defeated Hayabusa and Satoru Sayama in 15:12 when El Pantera pinned Satoru Sayama with a Frankensteiner. 

(Hayabusa & Sayama showed excellent chemistry as a team) 

66 

 

Shinya Hashimoto defeated Tatsumi Fujinami in 24:35 by pinfall with a Jumping Spike DDT. 

77 

 

Overall Rating- 74 

 

 

NJPW Fighting Spirit Night 8- Shizouaka Industrial Hall- 1908 People- Tuesday 9th February 1995 

 

Yuji Nagata defeated Scott Norton in 9:21 by pinfall with a Belly to Back Suplex. 

37 

 

Satoshi Kojima defeated Tony Halme in 7:29 by pinfall. 

61 

 

El Pantera and Michiyoshi Ohara defeated Satoru Sayama and Kengo Kimura in 12:40 when El Pantera pinned Kengo Kimura with a Frankensteiner. 

(Sayama & Kimura don’t work well as a team) 

62 

 

Keiji Mutoh, Kensuke Sasaki and Animal Hamaguchi defeated Hiroshi Hase, Riki Choshu and Antonio Inoki in 17:04 when Keiji Mutoh pinned Riki Choshu with a Moonsault. 

73 

 

Overall Rating - 69 

 

 

NJPW Fighting Spirit Night 9- Dream Messe Miyagi- - Thursday 11th February 1995 

 

 

Kensuke Sasaki defeated Manabu Nakanishi in 7:43 by pinfall with a Northern Lights Bomb. 

51 

 

Blond Outlaws defeated Koji Kanemoto and AKIRA in 13:29 when Norio Honaga submitted AKIRA. 

63 

 

El Pantera defeated Satoru Sayama in 12:55 by pinfall with a Frankensteiner. 

67 

 

Hiroshi Hase, Jushin Thunder Liger and El Samurai drew with Keiji Mutoh, Great Sasuke and Ultimo Dragon at 30:00 when the time limit expired. 

78

 

Overall Rating- 73 

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Saturday 6th February 1995

Bam Bam Bigelow became a double champion last night, winning the ECWA Tag Team championships alongside Jeff Farmer at their event last night 

 

Sunday 7th Febuary 1995

A press release was put out by Tokyo Sports announcing that some short-term offers had been made so a variety of Young Lions from different schools to flesh out the field for the upcoming Young Lions Cup during the Big Fight Series Tour. The Full Brackets will be revealed at the Anniversary Show 

  

Monday 8th Febuary 1995

Puro Veteran, Mighty Inoue announced that he was retiring from Pro Wrestling in the next 3 month, as he doesn’t have an active contract currently, after being let go from AJPW during cost cutting measures, I hope a smaller company gives him a shot for that retirement match as currently his last match was on a Tokyo Indie show where he teamed with Chris Benoit and Yoshiaki Yatsu to beat Yoshi Takasugi, Jumbo Genjin & Masayuki Naruse 

 

Wednesday 10th February 1995 

Riki Choshu came and spoke to me in the office today, amongst other things he had high praise for Kensuke Sasaki, who he worked against in last night's six-man tag team main event, to quote the former champion, he called him “money” and someone we should “strap the rocket too”. 

 

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NJPW Anniversary Show XXIII 

Sanshiro Takagi vs Wellington Wilkins Jr- Takagi's young lion debut match 

Tatsumi Fujinami & Takashi Iizuka vs Shinya Hashimoto & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow (C)- IWGP Tag Team Championship 

Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs Ultimo Dragon & Great Sasuke 

Koji Kanemoto vs Norio Honaga 

The Lords of the Ring vs The Malenko Brothers 

Masahiro Chono & Akio Sato vs The Revival 

Keiji Mutoh vs Hiroshi Hase- Number #1 Contenders match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship 

 

 

Show will go up in the next couple of Days- Predictions Welcome

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  • 3 weeks later...

NJPW 23rd Anniversary Show

Sunday 14th February 1995

30,000 (Sellout) @ Kawasaki Stadium 

 

Wellington Wilkins Jr. defeated Sanshiro Takagi in 6:05 by submission. 

53 

 

The Lords Of The Ring defeated The Malenko Brothers in 21:08 when Wild Pegasus pinned Joe Malenko. 

77 

 

Masahiro Chono submitted Masashi Aoyagi with a Deathlock STF. After Hiroyoshi Tenzan ran in and attacked Kobayashi. 

70 

 

 

Chono and Tenzan announce the formation of the Death Riders 

93 

 

Koji Kanemoto defeated Norio Honaga in 19:10 by pinfall with a Moonsault. 

66 

 

Jushin Thunder Liger and El Samurai defeated Ultimo Dragon and Great Sasuke in 21:54 when Jushin Thunder Liger pinned Great Sasuke with a Brainbuster. 

89 

 

Hayabusa defeated El Pantera in 19:14 by pinfall with a Falcon Arrow. Hayabusa makes defence number one of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. 

(Liger came out post-match to challenge Hayabusa for Battle Formation) 

69 

 

 

Dragon Bombers defeated Shinya Hashimoto and Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow in 20:12 when Tatsumi Fujinami submitted Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow with a Dragon Sleeper. Dragon Bombers win the IWGP World Tag Team titles. 

78 

 

Hiroshi Hase defeated Keiji Mutoh in 24:46 by pinfall with a fast roll up. 

(Chono & Tenzan come to the ring to face off with Hase, Mutoh clocks Hase from behind, joins Death Riders) 

79 

 

Overall- 81 

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End of February Recap-

Monday 15th February 1995 

The Anniversary Show did well for us, being shown in 425,000 homes across Japan- only down 75,000 from Wrestling World 1995. The show did well enough that we were able to negotiate with TV Asahi to improve out broadcasting time, taking the 8-10 slot rather than the 10-12 slot we had been in for our events. 

 

Also, today the Death Riders sent in their official Faction Paperwork confirming their Inaugural members as Masahiro Chono (The IWGP Heavyweight Champion), Keiji Mutoh and Hiroyoshi Tenzan, with Chono as the official Ace of the group. 

 

Friday 26th February 1995 

We attempted to sign Dan Severn with the intention of him joining the Death Riders as a tag team partner for Hiroyoshi Tenzan but due to our financial limitations he chose to sign Exclusively with UWFi instead of us. 

 

Monday 1st March 1995 

A few contracts entered their last month today which leads me to the sad news that two in ring talents will be departing NJPW at the end of the month. The three people that are being resigned are El Samurai, who has been a part of the two greatest matches of the save so far, plus referees Mr Nagasaki & Katsuhisa Shibata. All of whom on around $25,000 a month 

The two who will be departing will save more than that however, both Dojo graduates at very different ends of the card. Both of whom would be welcomed back with open arms if we are ever at financially stable enough to bring them back.  

Firstly Osamu Nishimura, graduated from the dojo in 1991. Whilst a great technical wrestler, he hasn’t lit the world on fire in his 4 years since graduation. However, as he is only 23 there is still time for him to go to another company, like a Rings or UWFi and master his trade around other technical wizards and eventually come back and be a big star in the Heavyweight Division 

Secondly, A former 2-time IWGP Heavyweight champion, 2-time IWGP Tag Team champion, 2-time IWGP Greatest 18 Champion. We have come to the decision to let Riki Choshu leave when his contract expires. He will be given a farewell match at Battle Formation but at the age of 42 and already performing worse than some of the upcoming main eventers, like Mutoh, Hase & Hashimoto, there is enough talent at the top of our card to not need Choshu. Plus, his $125,000 per month asking price is a major cut to our expenditure saving us $1.5 Million a year and $7.5 Million over a 5 Year Main Eventers contract. Hopefully this isn’t Choshu’s final run in NJPW as he has been a great servant to the company since his graduation in 1974. Even if one day he comes back as a producer. 

 

Overall, it was another difficult financial month for us despite still making a profit. With lower ticket sales this month due to running the 12,000 seats smaller Kawazaki Stadium rather than the Tokyo Dome, we only saw a profit of $35,000.  

Our Biggest revenue generator was our ticket sales bringing in $1.2 Million down $200,000 from January whilst our biggest Expenditure was Worker Salaries with $1.8 Million, so you can see why having Choshu off the books would be a major benefit 

In terms of merchandising our 3 biggest sellers were Antonio Inoki, Masahiro Chono & Tatsumi Fujinami, with Inoki being out front in a league of his own bringing in nearly 3 times Chono in second place. 

 However out of the two Puro companies in financial peril, somehow, we are still the more successful one. Baba’s company posted a loss of $700,000 this month, pushing them ever nearer to $20 Million in overall debt. 

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