In big news, New Japan’s IWGP and NWF Heavyweight title has been made vacant by the promotion. The reason is because titleholder Shinsuke Nakamura, who won the title from Hiroyoshi Tenzan in October, has sustained injuries which most notably include a broken orbital bone. The broken orbital was broken during Nakamura’s New Years eve shoofight with Alexey Ignashov. Despite the injuries, he worked a match on 4/1/04 against Yoshihiro Takayama and went over, unifying the IWGP and NWF titles. New Japan will be running an eight-man tournament on 15/2 at Sumo Hall to crown a new champion.
Wrestling 101