–> “CIRCUIT 2010 NEW JAPAN CUP ~The Perfect Generalist~” <--
Hirooki Goto's second New Japan Cup trophy in a row brought to an end several months of misery for him and made him the number one contender for Shinsuke Nakamura's IWGP Heavyweight Title. Goto's career had been going backwards in recent months but his "never say die" attitude brought him back up several rungs today. His series with ZERO1 ace Masato Tanaka seemed to be over when Tanaka beat him at the recent Sumo Hall show but Goto was given a chance to change that today, and he did, pinning Tanaka in one of the semi finals. The other one saw NO LIMIT's impressive NJC final end as Tetsuya Naito couldn't follow up on his victory over Tanahashi. He almost did defeat Makabe but a missed Stardust press was the turning point, Makabe finishing him off shortly after.

This set up the final of Goto vs. Makabe, a repeat of the 2008 G1 Climax, and the result was the said, Goto's Shouten ending a grueling struggle and setting up Nakamura vs. Goto for 4/4 Korakuen. Goto said he had "seen Hell" and is ready to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title for the first time. Nakamura, who confronted his former RISE second-in-command, has other ideas though and will look to make a successful V6 defense in two weeks time.

NJPW, 3/22/10 (Samurai! TV)
Amagasaki Memorial Park Gymnasium
5,500 Fans - Super No Vacancy

1. Jushin Thunder Liger, Koji Kanemoto & Tomoaki Honma beat Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Kyosuke Mikami (7:34) when Kanemoto used a crab hold on Mikami.
2. Yujiro Takahashi beat Mitsuhide Hirasawa (7:47) with a moonsault press.
3. New Japan Cup - Semi Final: Togi Makabe beat Tetsuya Naito (15:52) with a top rope King Kong kneedrop.
4. New Japan Cup - Semi Final: Hirooki Goto beat Masato Tanaka (11:15) with the Shouten.
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi & Strong Man beat Toru Yano, Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (15:14) when Tanahashi used a backslide on Anderson.
6. Shinsuke Nakamura, Takashi Iizuka & Gedo beat Riki Choshu, Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue (9:39) when Nakamura used the Boma Ye on Inoue.
7. New Japan Cup - Final: Hirooki Goto beat Togi Makabe (21:42) with the Shouten.

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NJPW “NEW DIMENSION”, 4/4/10 (WPW)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Manabu Nakanishi vs. King Fale (debut)
1. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Naomichi Marufuji (c) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
2. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Hirooki Goto