NJPW 2/19/06 Sumo Hall

[floydthebarber]

*Brock Lesnar was back in action today when he and his opponnent from 1/4, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Riki Choshu and Akebono. A future Brock v. Akebono match was teased throughout, with Brock attempting to lift the former sumo wrestler for the Verdict (F-5) before being stopped by Choshu. Also of note, former WWE wrestler Albert, now wrestling as Giant Bernard, lost in his attempt to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles. However, after the match Bernard alligned himself with Chono/Tenzan, which may put him in a possition to challenge Brock Lesnar for the IWGP Title at some point. There was also two title changes, one of which was Tiger Mask defeated Black Tiger to end their feud, and also win the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title as well as the NWA Jr Heavyweight Title.


NJPW, 2/19/06 (WPW/PPV/NJ+IWTV Internet)
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
8,000 Fans

1. Koji Kanemoto beat GENTARO (6:39) with an ankle hold.
2. Jushin Thunder Liger, Jado & Gedo beat Kintaro Kanemura, BADBOY Hido & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (15:13) when Gedo used a Superfly splash on Hido.
3. Takashi Iizuka & Naofumi Yamamoto beat Togi Makabe & Toru Yano (9:23) when Yamamoto used a backdrop suplex on Yano.
4. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: El Samurai & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Minoru & Hirooki Goto (c) (26:29) when Samurai used a chickenwing armlock on Minoru to become the 16th champions.
5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title & NWA Jr. Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask beat Black Tiger (c²) (14:57) with a Tiger suplex hold to become the 49th IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion & new NWA Jr. Heavyweight Champion.
6. Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Yuji Nagata (21:11) with a Dragon suplex.
7. Brock Lesnar & Shinsuke Nakamura beat Riki Choshu & Akebono (12:49) when Lesnar used the Verdict on Choshu.
8. IWGP Tag Team Title: Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (c) beat Manabu Nakanishi & Giant Bernard (19:55) when Chono pinned Nakanishi after a Shining Yakuza kick & lariat combination (2nd defense).

[Mad Dog]

I was glad to see Tanahashi get the win over Nagata. Hopefully this is the beginning of his road to the IWGP Title. Also glad to see El Samurai getting another title run. I had thought he was basically done at this time last year.

Not thrilled about Tiger Mask IV getting the junior title back. He's easily bottom 5 in the division due to his laziness and the division needs to move past him to shine again.

[floydthebarber]

I like how they tore Tanahashi down a bit before building him up again with some nice wins. He'll get a shot at the IWGP Title sometime soon, but like Nakamura, I don't expect him to beat Brock on his first try.

El Samauri getting some gold is a nice nod to a long time very good wrestler. From the sounds of it, he really was a one man show in the Title bout.

I can see why Tiger Mask is the Jr. Champion, and can see the benifit of using his 'face' to promote NJPW in other places, but your right, he has a pretty bad rep as lazy and someone who is never happy. There probably are more deserving guys, but maybe in terms of selling the product, its better to have a well known name/face at the top of the division?

Looks like both Giant Bernard and Scott Norton are going to be on the next tour too.