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NJPW, 12/4/02 (WPW) (Buy)
Hiroshima Sun Plaza 3,800 Fans
1. Hiro Saito beat Toru Yano (5:07) with a diving senton.
This show wrapped up the Triathlon Survivor tournament, but not the tour. The attendance was very disappointing, one of New Japan's smallest in Hiroshima Sun Plaza, even with the tournament final taking place there. It reflects on the Triathlon Survivor concept's success, but more on that at the end. The fans was so/so, the sort that are enjoying themselves as they respond with enthusiasm, but are reluctant to cheer in sustained fashion. Yano vs. Hiro was another fun opener. I love Hiro, and Yano is progressing very well. Hiro nearly beat Yano early, wasting no time and bringing out the SENTON!. Yano survived that, and did fight back, impressively lifting Hiro into a Canadian backbreaker! Hiro won after two second rope diving sentons. Liger, Kakihara & Naruse vs. Kanemoto, Stampede & Crazy was one of the most enjoyable junior six man tags for a while. It was continuous action with interesting moves, so while they may not have the name value of Jado & Gedo, Stampede & Crazy were a lot more interesting/fresher I found. Crazy didn't do much, but when he was in was fun, one of the highlights because a sweet lucha sequence with Liger. Stampede got to show more offensively here than in Fujisawa earlier in the series, and is a great young prospect. He has some spectacular moves, including a twisting springboard Blockbuster, where he leaps from the inside of the ring on to the ropes, turns on them, and hits (Buff) Blockbuster. Kanemoto was on fire again in this match, guiding his new friends so well and looking great. The finish surprised everyone, as after a tremendous closing session, Kakihara pinned Kanemoto a few days before their IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title match (which sadly didn't air on Complete Edition, despite big praise from those who saw it in clipped version nationally). Koshinaka vs. Makai #2 was short and very forgettable, as I can't remember what happened except for most of #2's moves having no impact on Koshinaka until he went downstairs. An easy win for an uninspired Koshinaka, who hit a jumping hip attack and covered. Fujinami, Samurai & Heat vs. Makabe, TAKA & Fujita was slower than I expected and could have been better. It had four juniors, and two former juniors (Fujinami and Makabe), but the rudo team just brawled a lot and didn't do much. They showed the attitude, but didn't back it up with the wrestling we know they are capable of (well, TAKA and Fujita; Makabe is still not doing much). It did pick up later on though, and after a messy miscommunication, TAKA cradled Sammy. Kenzo & Wolf vs. Norton & Steiner on the other hand was a lot better than I expected. This was thanks to Norton on the gaijin team, who worked very hard and looked back in his 3/02 to 6/02 form. Steiner also looked better than earlier on the tour, but Norton did most of the good stuff for his team. As it was short, there was almost no downtime, so it was move after move. Wolf was great, again the star of the match, but succumbed to Norton's powerbomb in the end. Chono, Iizuka & Tenzan vs. Murakami, Yanagisawa & Makai #1 was one of the longest non-concept New Japan vs. Makai Club multi-man tag matches so far. It had the usual dose of wild brawling, but more wrestling action than the normal fare. With his big title match coming up, Murakami scored a massive win for himself, using a flying cross armbreaker take down to submit the man who controlled him in 2000, Iizuka. The last match was the Triathlon Survivor final, between Nagata, Barton & Steele and Gotch-ism. Now, while Team Nagata had dominated the group stage, Gotch-ism had handed them their only loss in Ueda, so it was difficult to pick a winner here. Each wrestler got individual entrances, except Barton & Steele, those two entering as a team. Barton's New Japan catchphrase is funny. He shouts "BARTON BOM-BA-YE!", and whenever someone in the crowd shouts "Barton!", he replies with "Bom-Ba-Ye!". Anyway, because it was survival of the fittest, the two teams that got this far were going a long way. This was established by the steady pace, which was slow, but interesting for the first 15 minutes. It was see-saw a lot of the way, and a highlight was seeing Nishimura outwrestle Barton on the mat, the big man not able to compete in Nishimura's domain. It picked up when Yoshie was tagged, and was all fiery as always. He and Nagata had some intense strike exchanges, similar to those in their great singles match last year. Yoshie also took care of the others briefly, and the fans were behind him. Eventually though, his fortune ran out, and Barton took the first fall by pinning the power fighter. The second fall saw original Gotch-ism, Nakanishi & Nishimura, tie things up by beating Nagata & Steele. The tempo was increasing, with wrestlers looking to wrap things up. Nishimura got the pin, backsliding Steele, to set up a huge final fall! There wasn't much of a buzz when Nagata and Nakanishi squared off, which disappointed me. But soon, things changed, and their fall got the best response of the night. The crowd heat was triggered by Nakanishi fighting through the Nagata Lock II. His hand was in the air, and he was SO close to tapping, but didn't. The action was really hot after this, making me anticipate their unavoidable title match even more. Nakanishi now has a backup plan for when his Argentine backbreaker doesn't work, as was the case here. He lets the victim get down, but tricks them so that they are in a waistlock, ready for his German suplex. Nagata clamped on a choke sleeper to try and get out of the hold, so Nakanishi let him down. No sooner said than done, and Nagata was on his back, the victim of a German suplex hold! 1-2-3! The fans JUMPED OUT OF THEIR SEATS, overjoyed by the result! The response was amazing, so much louder than anything else on the night. Gotch-ism won the match in over 37 minutes, and came out of the tournament as New Japan's top trio. I enjoyed this match, it really was survival of the fittest, and a testament to the stamina and conditioning of these wrestlers. It really didn't compare to G1 Tag League finals though. Triathlon Survivor is a cool concept, but is not something that should replace the G1 Tag League. G1 Tag League is more interesting, and also draws bigger crowds. I think Triathlon Survivor in elimination form would be great for one of the non-concept tours though, like the long summer series. Pretty good show overall. Still a little below the quality of most 2002 tours before it, but the main event and the nice junior match early on made this worthwhile viewing. There was the big tour climax in Osaka to come, so New Japan had chance to conclude their end-of-year tag league series with a bang like the memorable Osaka show in 2001.
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& Minoru Fujita 