Nishimura’s first singles match of the All Japan tour saw him defeat veteran craftsman, Masanobu Fuchi. Two of the few wrestlers still using old style wrestling, they traded many holds for 23 1/2 minutes, before Nishimura prevailed with a backslide. Muto said he wants Nishimura to win the Triple Crown from Kawada (who defeated Nishimura’s former dojo classmate, Kojima, in the main event of the show), with the idea that Nishimura as 3-Crown Champion would lead to a classic wrestling boom. MAZADA (Kazuhiko Shoda) hooked up with CTU, teaming again with fellow Muga graduate (three of them on the show), Takemura, against Gran Hamada & Ryuji Hijikata. The two were up to their tricks again, and MAZADA was DQ’d for referee violence. Meanwhile, TAKA Michinoku sported a CTU shirt when teaming with BLUE-K (GENTARO) against Kaz Hayashi & New Japan USA’s Rocky Romero. TAKA pinned the AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Champion with a cradle, and hinted strongly at re-advancing on New Japan’s prestigious junior division soon, to team with Liger, Togo, Takemura, Jado, and Gedo against the regular army. This feud looks set to explode over two promotions, New Japan and All Japan, with Kaz Hayashi, Ryuji Hijikata, Taichi Ishikari, and others defending All Japan like Heat, Kanemoto, Tiger Mask, and others defend New Japan.
AJPW, 8/23/04
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2,100 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Taichi Ishikari vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima went to a draw (15:00) when the time limit expired.
2. Gran Hamada & Ryuji Hijikata beat Katsushi Takemura & MAZADA (5:42) when MAZADA was DQ’d.
3. TAKA Michinoku & BLUE-K beat Kaz Hayashi & Rocky Romero (11:45) when TAKA used a horizontal cradle on Hayashi.
4. Jamal & Buchanan beat Nobutaka Araya & Nobukazu Hirai (4:37) when Jamal used a flying sausage on Hirai.
5. Genichiro Tenryu & Kensuke Sasaki beat Taiyo Kea & D-Lo Brown (9:24) when Sasaki used a Northern Light bomb on Brown.
6. Takao Omori, Shiro Koshinaka & Koichiro Kimura beat Keiji Muto, Arashi & Tomoaki Honma (12:11) when Omori used an Axe Bomber on Arashi.
7. Osamu Nishimura beat Masanobu Fuchi (23:29) with a backslide.
8. Toshiaki Kawada beat Satoshi Kojima (24:12) with a running face kick.
Wrestling 101