Wrestling World 2003

Legacy Review

Wrestling World 2003

January 4, 2003 from the Tokyo Dome

We're really starting to get into the worst depths of Inokism now, and to prove it all you have to do is look at the crowd. In just one year the attendance for this show has gone from 56,000 to 30,000. Part of the problem is New Japan was undergoing a forced roster overhaul after two high profile mass defections over the prior couple of years: the essentially exiled Shinya Hashimoto taking a group of guys with him to his new Zero-One promotion in '01, and just after Wrestling World '02 Keiji Mutoh shocked the wrestling world by leading another group over to All Japan. Compounding the problem is Inoki, in his zeal to try to blend the worlds of worked pro wrestling and shoot MMA fighting, trying to fill the voids more and more with shoot fighters that had little to no wrestling experience, severely hurting the quality of the product and turning more fans away.

As usual this is from the New Japan World archive so Japanese commentary only.

 

Osamu Nishimura def Tatsumi Fujinami in 8:10- This is certainly an interesting opener. These two teamed up at last year's 1/4 show, now they're facing each other in a "student vs mentor" match. This is probably the lowest Fujinami has ever been on a New Japan card. I spot young Toru Yano as a Young Lion taking Fujinami's robe off. Watch out to see if Yano passed him any tape rolls. This is also the old school all black trunks and boots with no kneepads match. Fujinami hits a big backbreaker out of a lockup. And a second. Early dragon sleeper attempt. Nishamura gets to the ropes then rolls out for a think. Back in Fujinami works a headscissors. Nishamura does a nice delayed handstand to get out. Knucklelock. Nishimura bridges down, tries to fight back up and suplexes out. Cravat from Fujinami as he continues to dominate. Nishimura counters with a headscissors and goes to some arm work. Fujinami counter transitions to leg work. A Fujinami body slam is the first high impact move of the match. Nishimura immediately bridges back up and transitions into a cobra twist. Fujinami counters with a roll up. Nishimura hits uppercuts and dropkicks. Fujinami dodges a kneedrop off the top rope. Dragon screw! Sleeper! Roll up for 2. Nishimura rolls up a SANADA/ZSJ style Euro clutch and gets the pin! I believe this was Nishimura's first ever victory over his mentor. Perfectly fine old school rasslin'. With more time and a higher card placement they could have likely cranked out something pretty good. **1/4

 

Young Generation Cup Semifinals: Yutaka Yoshie def Shinya Makabe in 13:20- Part of tonight's festivities is a one night, four man Young Generation Cup tournament, a sort of spinoff of the Young Lion Cup tournament New Japan holds on a semi-regular basis. Makabe is Togi Makabe, who'll go on to have easily the best career of the guys in this tournament. Yoshie had gone through the Dojo all the way back in 1994 but had trouble finding any kind of career consistency. Arm wringer tradeoff and Makabe tries to work the much larger Yoshie down and they trade off headlocks. Big boi shoulderblock standoff. Forearm exchange. Makabe headbutt in the corner. Some more fairly dull mat work follows. Yoshie cranks on Makabe's taped up leg, obviously a hurt body part coming in. Big splash on the leg! Makabe gets some space and goes into his own leg work. He shows some fire by not breaking right away on a rope break. Big suplex fight that Yoshie wins. He stomps Makabe down in the corner. Makabe dodges an avalanche. Corner lairato and suplex from Makabe for 2. He hooks on a single leg crab. Another extended slugfest with some stiff forearms. Makabe powerslam for 2. Yoshie blocks a German suplex but runs into a double chop for 2. Another German try. Yoshie backs Makabe into the corner. This time the avalanche hits. Yoshie powerslam for 2. Thesz press off the second rope for 2. Nice of Makabe to get himself in position to get hit with that. Huge Makabe lariato. Another! Yoshie kicks out! The crowd's getting into it now. The German hits! Another kickout. Makabe runs to a Thesz press for 2. Yoshie big splash off the top rope! HE'S A UNIT, KEVIN! That gets the pin. Mostly dull match but the stretch run wasn't bad. *1/2

 

Young Generation Cup Semifinals: Ryushi Yanagisawa def Kenzo Suzuki in 9:23- Suzuki had actually won the most recent iteration of the Young Lion Cup in 2000. Yanagisawa was, shock, a former MMA fighter that came in the previous year and joined the big new heel stable, Tadao Yasuda's Makai Club, who were responsible for breaking up Masahiro Chono's Team2000. You'll be hearing a lot more from them as the night goes on. Suzuki charges at the bell and hits a spear! Into an armbreaker! Yanagisawa tries to block it. Suzuki stays on the arm. For a while. High knee from Suzuki and Yanagisawa rolls to the floor to recover. Suzuki charges and high knees him off the apron! Yanagisawa high kicks Suzuki from the apron and comes back in with an ankle lock. Suzuki slowly but eventually gets to the ropes. Yanagisawa puts it right back on. Considering his background the not so generous part of me wonders if that's the only hold he knows. Suzuki hulks up off kicks and wants some more. After about a dozen he grabs Yanagiawa's leg and slams him. Yanagisawa rolls right back into the ankle lock. Think that's my theory confirmed then. Suzuki gets to the ropes again. He pops out of the corner with another high knee. And a running high knee in the corner. Is that the only move Suzuki knows too? No, there's a Saito suplex. He charges but runs into a Yanagisawa enzuguri. Suzuki pops back up with another spear for 2. Sleeper from Yanagisawa. After a long fight Suzuki rolls to the ropes. More Yanagisawa kicks. Suzuki charges with a weak ass spear that Yanagisawa turns into a guillotine. Suzuki suplexes out. Running high knee from Yanagisawa and that gets the pin. Very not good. Doesn't give me much hope for the finals. 1/2*

 

Dai Majin and Makai #1 def Tatsutoshi Goto and Hiro Saito in 7:50- The first of back to back tag matches for masked members of Makai Club. Majin is Giant Silva and #1 is Junji Hirata, the former Super Strong Machine. The Goto/Saito team try the Suzuki-Gun jump but get jumped instead. Maijin fights off both guys on the floor. 1 works Saito over in the ring. Suplex and senton for 2. Jawbreaker from Saito and his own senton. Goto corner lariato. 1 says eff that and hits his own lariato. Low blow from Goto. Silva, er, Majin's in with his clubbing blows and stomps. He and Goto have a horrible time coordinating a whip then the Majin big boot at the other end is almost as bad. Majin slam and elbow drop. Saito tags in and Majin no sells chops. Back elbow on Saito. 1 gutwrench suplex on Saito. Saito chops 1 back into his corner. Double team headbutt. 1 goes Makai in peril a bit before hitting a low blow and corner lariatos. DONNYBROOK! 1 lariatos Majin. Majin still fights everyone off. Goto and Saito team up to dump him over the top rope by the legs. The Goto/Saito team have chairs! The ref tries to take one away but Goto hits him with a chair! Majin saves a pin and takes a chair shot that he, shock, no sells. Chair fight and Goto takes a chair shot. Lariatos all around from the Makai team. Majin powerbombs Saito. Makai's manager comes in and counts the pin. The ref allows it and the bell rings? The ref looks like a wrestler so there might be some shenanigans here I don't know about since I can't understand commentary. The match still sucks regardless. 1/4*

 

Makai #4 and Makai #5 def Masahito Kakihara and Takashi Iizuka in 10:54- Makai 4 is none other than young Katsuyori Shibata, while 5 is Mitsuya Nagai. Kakihara and I think 4 start. Hard to tell with the masks and shirts but I think that's Shibata. Lots of kick swinging. Kakihara goes down, but then works into a leg hold. 5 comes in and puts Kakihara into a leg hold at the same time! The ref restores order. 5 throws Kakihara in his own corner and wants Iizuka. Then when Iizuka tags in he tags right back out to 4 again. Classic heel work. Iizuka and 4 do a pretty decent extended mat sequence. Arm wringer tradeoff. 4 ends up in the wrong corner and Kakihara pummels him with knees and a suplex for 2. Now Kakihara is in the wrong part of town. Both Makai guys pick his leg apart a bit. 5 ends up in the face corer and Iizuka finally gets a hold of him, stomping him down in the corner. Iizuka Boston crab. 5 grabs a rope. 5 and Kakihara exchange kicks with 5 winning. 4 running corner elbow on Kakihara, followed by a suplex for 2. The Makais make a wish on Kakihara. Iizuka breaks up a 5 hold. Kakihara heel kick for 2. Iizuka tries an armbar but 5 gets to the ropes. 5 kicks Iizuka back to the corner and just abuses him with stiff kicks. Iizuka charges out with a tackle! Everyone in the pool! Iizuka rips 5's shirt off. Makai double team Pele kick/knee strike for 2. 5 springboard high knee for 3! The fight continues long after the bell with some of it cut off of this video. 5 and Iizuka want to kill each other. At least it was better than the last two matches. *

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Koji Kanemoto, Jushin Thunder Liger and Takehiro Murahama def Tiger Mask, Heat and Masayuki Naruse in 16:10- This is the early days of an interesting period in Liger's career when he was starting to flirt with heelishness, teaming up with longtime rival and former Team2000 pillar Kanemoto. It would be the path that would lead to Liger founding the heel stable CTU (Control Terrorism Unit, quite possibly inspired by the TV show 24, dammit Chloe) the next year. Heat is Minoru Tanaka under very lame Liger-esque mask. He's one step removed from the Super Liger disaster. In keeping with his new heel leanings Liger is in all red with black trim tonight. Everyone jumps before the bell and it's on! Murahama tope con hilo on Naruse! Liger dodges a TM plancha! Heat hits the ropes for a dive but runs right into a Kanemoto snap belly to belly suplex! Liger baseball slide on Heat and the heels stand tall in the ring. Reset with Heat and Murahama. Both guys swing kicks. A nice speed/counter run ends with a simo dropkick attempt. Murahama and Kanemoto double dropkick on Heat. Kanemoto corkscrew senton off the second rope. Heat gets him caught in the face corner. Kanemoto fights out of a headlock and gives Naruse a knee to the face. Liger splash off the top for 2. All three heels stomp the crap out of Naruse. Liger goes to work on his taped up arm and shoulder, ripping the tape off. Kanemoto and Murahama miscommunicate on a double team. TM is in with a dropkick. TM and Heat chop Murahama down with some kicks and Naruse gives him a PK. TM gets pushed in the heel corner and beat down. Tiltawhirl backbreaker from Liger. TM flips out of a brain buster and spin kicks Liger to the floor. Tope suicida! Liger grabs a TM kick and gives him a dragon screw. Kanemoto absorbs some Naruse kicks. Naruse gets beat down in the heel corner again. Murahama single leg crab. Liger elbow off the top to Naruse's back. Think that was supposed to hit his hurt shoulder. Naruse rolls to the floor clutching his shoulder and his teammates check on him. One of the ring attendants sprays it down with something. Liger dodges a Heat dropkick, but Heat rolls around and hits the next attempt. Dropkick to Liger's knee. Kneebar! Kanemoto immediately comes in to break it up. Liger corner shotei! Powerbomb! Murahama head kick and Liger fisherman's buster for 2. Murahama dodges a Heat missile dropkick off the second rope but runs into a high kick. Murahama tries a spinning heel kick on TM but TM catches and slams him! Murahama slips out of a suplex. TM hits a backbreaker. Double underhook powerbomb for 2. TM tries for a moonsault, sees the dodge and lands on his feet, but Murahama wobbles him with a kick. Murahama brain buster for 2. Spinning heel kick for 2. TM and Murahama kick each other in the head at the same time! Meanwhile, the camera cuts to Liger giving Heat a brain buster on the entrance ramp! He's dead. Kanemoto moonsault on TM for 2. Both guys try tiger suplexes that are blocked. TM dropkick. Open hand slaps. Kanemoto high knee on Naruse. Naruse manages to give Kanemoto about half an exploder suplex with his bum shoulder. Kanemoto dropkick on the shoulder! Ankle lock! Liger wipes out TM. Heat is stirring so Murahama goes out to make sure he's still dead. Naruse slips out of a suplex and rolls Kanemoto up for 2. Kanemoto sweep kick and back to the ankle lock. Naruse taps! The usual good stuff from the juniors, they usually deliver no matter what. It'd sure be nice to have a proper junior title match on one of these shows again. ***1/2

 

Young Generation Cup Finals: Ryushi Yanagisawa def Yutaka Yoshie in 6:48- Young Red Shoes gets this match. Slugfest at the bell. Yanagisawa hits a bunch of open hand slaps. Yoshie responds with stiff shots of his own and Yanagiawa is the first guy down. Yoshie slam and big splash for 2. He hits a trio of butt splashes for 2. Boston crab. Another forearm exchange. Yanagisawa kicks Yoshie down and he rolls all the way to the floor, clutching the arm Yanagisawa kicked. When he gets back in Yanagisawa is right back on it. Yoshie swings an ugly chop that hits Yanagisawa right in the face. Yanagisawa tries an armbreaker but Yoshie is too close to the ropes. Yanagisawa corner charge, Yoshie catches and spinebusters him. DVD for 2. Thesz press for 2. Yanagisawa hits a couple of high knees and an enzuguri. Yoshie wobbles in the middle of the ring. The armbreaker is on and Yoshie taps out. I appreciate the stiffness and fairly tight psychology, but it was still a boring and pretty sloppy match. If you were looking to showcase the company's young talent, these guys were not the right choice. Neither would make any major mark in New Japan and both would be gone within a few years. *1/4

 

Shinsuke Nakamura and Michiyoshi Ohara def Tadao Yasuda and Kazunari Murakami in 7:12- The year after Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi (who's not booked on this show because....well, it's a story, I'll tell you later) made their Dome debut, the last of the New Three Muskateers that would literally save the company post-Inokism is making his debut tonight, none other than the future King of Strong Style Shinsuke Nakamura. As mentioned, Yasuda is the founder and leader of Makai Club. Now this is not the Nakamura we've known and loved for years, it would be a long time before he developed that character and mannerisms. In his early days he was a super serious shoot-style fighter. With a goatee. Commentary calls him "super rookie" (in English) so his big push was already on, more on that at the end of the show. Nakamura charges right on Yasuda at the bell and we're on! They brawl on the mat with Yasuda getting the upper hand. Nakamura's busted open! He came in with a large bandage on his forehead so I assume it's an old cut reopened. Yasuda continues to pound away. Murakami takes his turn to smack Nakamura around and lets both him and the crowd know it's happening. Nakamura tries to fight back but gets floored again with one punch. Yasuda locks on a sleeper. Ohara comes in to break it up. More ground and pound from Murakami. Ohara causes a distraction, allowing Nakamura to tackle Murakami, get some knee shots in and tag. Ohara diving lariato. Murakami tries to get kicks in. Ohara grabs and choke slams him! Cover for 2. Yasuda big boot on Ohara. Ohara rolls and tags Nakamura. His head is all bandaged up now. He tackles Yasuda and the bandage comes off. So much for that. He goes for a German but Yasuda gives him a casual low blow. Running corner knees from both Makai guys and Yasuda hits a double underhook suplex. Power bomb on Nakamura for 2. Ohara trips Murakami on a double team attempt and Nakamura takes Yasuda down. He tries an armbreaker but Yasuda makes the ropes. Ugh, horrible corner dropkick from Nakamura. It's definitely early days. Brain buster from Ohara. Nakamura German on Yasuda for 2. Takedown into some kind of choke hold. Yasuda goes out and the ref calls it! That gets a pretty big shock pop from the crowd. The super rookie push is definitely on. The match was a very stiff and not bad sprint. Nakamura got the piss beaten out of him before winning. **3/4

So, Tanahashi. I have to take a minute to get into this because it's nuts. In November '02 Tanahashi was in the apartment of his (apparently psycho) girlfriend or ex-girlfriend who worked as a news reporter for TV Asahi, New Japan's domestic broadcast partner since pretty much the company was founded. Tanahashi tried to break the relationship off because he was already seeing someone else. The girl didn't take it well. In fact she snapped, grabbed a knife, and stabbed Tanahashi in the back twice, fully intending to kill him. It's a big cultural thing in Japan to keep private lives private, but this got out due to the fact they both had jobs that made them public figures. Fortunately her aim was awful and Tanahashi recovered quickly, returning to the ring in February and still going on to become the Ace of the Universe. No little stab wound was going to stop him.

 

Tencozy def Masahiro Chono and Manabu Nakanishi in 23:18- There's a lot happening in this one so bear with me. Tencozy broke up seemingly for good when Satoshi Kojima was one of the wrestlers who joined Mutoh in his All Japan defection, but he and Tencozy are back for the proverbial "one night only". Kojima's partner Hiroyoshi Tenzan teamed back up with old partner Chono to reform Cho-Ten and won the tag titles again in March '02. In fact this reign, their fourth, would be the longest in the title's history to that point at 446 days, breaking the record held by.....Tencozy. As of this show they're the reigning champions but are on opposite sides in this match. Despite them all being in Team2000 before it disbanded Chono wrestled against Tencozy at the last 1/4 show because they'd been butting heads and some of that is still percolating here. Nakanishi is kind of a hanger on but he and Kojima teamed up before Tencozy formed so there's some logical reason for him to be here. Oh, and because I always like to note these things, Chono won the fourth of his five career G1 Climax tournament victories in '02. Tenzan's really gone all out with his entrance gear tonight. He looks like a Final Fantasy mid-level boss. Kojima and Nakanishi start. Lockup stalemate. Shoulderblock standoff. Nakanishi wins the second one. Here comes the chops. Long exchange of them. Nakanishi hits a backdrop. Tenzan tags in and wants Chono. He's in and the current tag champs go at it. Decent mat exchange. Chono drops some cheap knees during a rope break. Tenzan shoulderblock and lariato. Chono hits the first Yakuza kick. Nakanishi and Tenzan do a test of strength knucklelock. With headbutts. Nakanishi tries to chop. Tenzan responds with Mongolian chops. Kojima/Nakanishi suplex fight that Nakanishi wins. Kojima gets chopped into the wrong corner and he knocks Chono off the apron just because. Kojima falls out of the ring and continues to attack Chono. Nakanishi drops a knee on him from the apron. Back in Kojima hits a Saito suplex. Tenzan and Nakanishi try to chop each other down. Kojima really lays in some stiff chops on Chono in the corner and brain busters him for 2. DDT from Kojima. Chono holds Kojima for a Nakanishi knee off the top rope. Tencozy pound Nakanishi down in their corner. Kojima corner elbow/top rope elbow drop combo for 2. Big Nakanishi lariato for 2. He goes for a German but Tenzan pounds him down from behind. Tencozy go for a double clothesline, but Nakanishi ducks, grabs, and suplexes them both! Chono's in with Yakuza kicks for everyone. Tackle off the top on Kojima. STF! Kojima gets to the ropes. He gets an inverted atomic drop and tags. Tenzan whiffs bad on a spinning heel kick but Chono sells the wind it created. Chono tries a boot up in the corner but Tenzan lariatos him right back in. Falling kneedrop off the top for 2. Kojima knocks Nakanishi off the apron into the barricade. Tencozy elbow drop/headbutt combo. Nakanishi comes back in with a spear! It's all breaking down now. Everyone takes shots and everyone is down. Tenzan grabs a Yakuza kick and dragon screws Chono. Kojima dragon screws Nakanishi! Figure four on Nakanishi while Tenzan wraps Chono up in a choke-type hold. Chono's legal so he gets to the ropes to break everything up. Tencozy double team Chono. Kojima dropkicks Tenzan in the knee! Now Nakanishi and Chono double up on Tenzan. Double knees from opposite directions! Chono Yakuza kicks Nakanishi! Those double teams never work out in the end do they. Tenzan Samoan drop on Chono. Kojima runs into a Nakanishi claw! He puts Kojima in the torture rack while Tenzan Mongolian chops Chono. Chono recovers to put Tenzan in a cobra clutch while Kojima is still in the rack. Lariatos and Yakuza kicks all around and everyone's down again. We're way, way past the 5 count here. FTR could write a novel on all the tag rules ignored in this match. Tenzan headbutt off the top on Chono. Nakanishi breaks the pin up. Kojima and Nakanishi go to the floor and up the entrance ramp. Torture rack on the ramp! Kojima gets free. Kojicutter on the ramp! Tencozy 3D on Chono! Chono *just* kicks out! Tenzan hits the moonsault! Chono kicks out again! Tombstone! Chono's not getting up from that. Good match for sure, but not quite the epic it could have been. ***1/2

After the match is over HIROSHI F'N TANAHASHI shows up! His hair is cut short but I know for sure it's him, it's the right logo on his tights. The video is edited all to hell so it's hard to tell the exact flow of events but he attacks everyone, argues a bit with Nakanishi and gets slammed by him, then after a cut is bowing to the crowd with Nakanishi and Chono looking on and then says a quick something on the mic. The future Ace is back. I wrote that whole bit earlier without even knowing Tanahashi showed up here. Eh, I'm not changing it.

 

Tournament Final for the Vacant NWF Heavyweight Championship: Yoshihiro Takayama def Tsuyoshi Kosaka in 10:19- The NWF (National Wrestling Federation) was a northeast US promotion. Inoki won this title in 1973 and brought it to Japan, where it was originally New Japan's top title before being retired by Inoki in 1981. The NWF itself folded in 1994. The title is being brought back to be a sort of MMA/hybrid style title, but with worked matches still, not straight up shoot fights. Takayama actually had more wrestling background than MMA, working for UWFi, All Japan and NOAH. Kosaka was a straight MMA fighter. Takayama looks like an out of shape shlub but apparently he can kick your ass in a real fight. A non-New Japan ref is handling this one too, maybe an MMA ref. Both guys try for leg based holds at the start. Kosaka gets a takedown but Takayama rolls into a legbar. Kosaka gets on top and tries some ground and pound. Takayama grabs that arm and tries for a triange choke. Kosaka turns over into an STF. Back up both guys swing wildly at each other, and not in a good way. Takayama kicks Kosada down. He misses a real bad dropkick attempt and Kosaka hits him with a halfway decent one. Kosaka tries for a triangle. Takayama fights out into a single leg crab. Kosaka rolls into a legbar, then an armbreaker. Takayama grabs a rope. Forearms from Takayama and he hits a kind of belly to belly suplex. Kosaka dodges what I think is supposed to be a basement dropkick and puts on a rear naked choke. Another rope break. Kicks put Takayama down again. He rope breaks out of a Kosaka armbreaker. Takayama tries a German. Kosaka counters with a very ugly takedown. The lights go out! Everyone turn your car headlights on! Like an old CZW show. They manage to get a spotlight on the ring. Running knee from Takayama. The lights are back. Kosaka tries for more leg submissions. Takayama knees Kosaka out to the floor. Back in he hits the German. Kosaka grabs an arm and tries the triangle again. Takayama escapes, hits Kosaka with a knee to the face, and gets the pin. I may be the low man on this but I just can't get into these pseudo-MMA matches. For a shoot style match is wasn't nearly as stiff as a couple of the previous matches either. *3/4

 

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Yuji Nagata (c) def Josh Barnett in 10:40- This is peak Inokism, with MMA fighter Josh Barnett getting the main event slot in the Tokyo Dome on the biggest night of the year in what is his first ever recorded professional wrestling match. On the other side, Nagata was on of the few bright spots of this era, a proper pro wrestler that was in the middle of a year long run with the title, a reign that would also set the record for most successful defenses with 10. Red Shoes is reffing this match! His first Tokyo Dome main event. It won't be the last. Barnett floors Nagata with a kick right after the bell! Commentary goes nuts for that. Another Barnett takedown. Nagata gets a rope break and goes to the floor to rethink things. Small reset back in with both guys trying kicks. Nagata gets a takedown and starts working on the arm. Both guys block armbreaker attempts. More mat jockeying ends in a stalemate. More standing kicks. Barnett gets a really nice takedown into a sort of MMA figure four. He rolls to keep Nagata from the ropes but Nagata eventually gets there. Barnett gets some shots in the corner but Red Shoes makes him break. Nagata enzuguri! Barnett blocks a Saito suplex into a takedown and headlock. Belly to belly suplex from Barnett into a kimura attempt. Rope break. Barnett straight lifts Nagata by the legs into an ankle lock. More kicks from both guys that start landing. Nagata forearms and knees wobble Barnett. Barnett blocks a kick into an exploder suplex! Guillotine. Nagata just gets a foot on a rope. Barnett flips him over into another kimura and another rope break. Running charge from Barnett with what I think is supposed to be a high knee but he just kind of flops onto Nagata. Nagata dodges another knee in the corner and whacks Barnett right in the face with a knee. Suplex for 2. Nagata crossface. Into a sleeper. Rope break. Another Nagata suplex for a long 2. Barnett blocks another one into another guillotine. Nagata turns it into an exploder! Spin kick from Nagata to Barnett's face, and that gets the pin! Barnett tries to turn over into a crossface but it's over. After the belt and trophy ceremony they shake hands. Oh, and here's new NWF champ Takayama to make a challenge. Not a completely terrible match thanks to Nagata being his usual awesome self and Barnett not being half bad for an MMA guy. He'd stick around New Japan for a while. **1/2

A few notes on the journey of the Heavyweight title over the course of 2003 before we close out: NWF champ Takayama would end up being the man to dethrone Nagata in May, ending Nagata's reign at 392 days (the third longest at that point) and becoming a dual champ. In November Takayama lost just the IWGP title to Hiroyoshi Tenzan, adding a major singles title onto his already impressive tag team record. His reign wasn't long though, as in December Tenzan dropped the title to the "super rookie" himself, Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura became the youngest IWGP Heavyweight champion ever, a record he still holds today. Interestingly though, the crowd didn't embrace Nakamura as they saw him as one of Inoki's MMA guys rather than a traditional wrestler, and Japanese crowds are usually slow to warm up to new guys anyway. Nakamura would change that as the years went on, but it's something he had to deal with his first reign.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- There's a few good matches, but it doesn't help save the show from being the worst January 4th Dome show to date. This is essentially New Japan's verison of rough times like '95 WWF and WCW, when the general malaise drags everything down. It'd be a few more years before they start to get out of it.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D+