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"WRESTLING WORLD 2000" kicked off the new millenium for King of Sports, New Japan Pro-Wrestling. It was a stacked Tokyo Dome super-show, with no less than twelve matches on offer, many styles of wrestling on display. After using the finisher of Kensuke Sasaki's wife, Akira Hokuto, to defeat Kensuke himself on 10/11/99 at the Tokyo Dome, Genichiro Tenryu made his V1 defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Title against Sasaki. Kensuke had the chance to kill two birds with one stone, both to avenge his loss to Tenryu, and also to capture the title that had eluded him since 1998. In a match billed as "Black Summit", eternal rivals, Keiji Muto (nWo Japan leader) and Masahiro Chono (Team 2000) leader, met in an important match in the ongoing struggle between their armies. The New Japan vs. UFO war raged on, with Hashimoto and Ogawa again locking horns, this time in tag competition. Although Bill Goldberg was forced to cancel his much hyped appearance due to injury, WCW sent "Macho Man" Randy Savage to replace him in a featured singles match against Rick Steiner. One of the best technicians ever, Kazuo Yamazaki, would call it a day at the Tokyo Dome, retiring against Yuji Nagata. And much, much more was on offer, as New Japan began 2000 with a bang before an immense crowd of 63,500 fans.
Foreign participation:
Don Frye (Team 2000)
Kimo
Randy Savage (WCW)
Rick Steiner (WCW)
Scott Norton (nWo Japan)
Wild Pegasus (WCW)
Special participation:
Genichiro Tenryu
Kazunari Murakami (UFO)
Naoya Ogawa (UFO)
NJPW "WRESTLING WORLD 2000", 1/4/00 (WPW) (Details)
Tokyo Dome
63,500 Fans - Super No Vacancy Full House
1. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa (c) beat Kendo Kashin & Minoru Tanaka  (13:19) when Takaiwa used the Takaiwa Driver on Kashin (3rd defense).
2. Shiro Koshinaka beat Satoshi Kojima (10:17) with a powerbomb.
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Wild Pegasus  (10:55) with a diving headbutt.
4. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger (c) beat Koji Kanemoto (3:56) with a brainbuster (1st defense).
5. Manabu Nakanishi beat Kenzo Suzuki (debut) (6:41) with an Argentine backbreaker.
6. Kazuo Yamazaki Retirement Match: Yuji Nagata beat Kazuo Yamazaki (6:44) with a backdrop hold.
7. Kimo beat Kazuyuki Fujita (4:02) by DQ.
8. Scott Norton beat Don Frye (8:50) with a powerbomb.
9. Rick Steiner beat Randy Savage (11:08) with a diving bulldog headlock.
10. Shinya Hashimoto & Takashi Iizuka beat Naoya Ogawa  & Kazunari Murakami (11:29) when Iizuka used a sleeper hold on Murakami.
11. Masahiro Chono beat Keiji Muto (25:00) with a cross-style STF.
12. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kensuke Sasaki beat Genichiro Tenryu (c) (14:43) with a Northern Light bomb to become the 27th champion.
Points of note:
As an example of the convention's depth, a title match kicked things off, with Otani & Takaiwa making a successful V3 defense of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title against the technician team of Kashin & Minoru Tanaka. Takaiwa used his new Takaiwa Driver to pin Kashin, the brilliant champions again winning.
Following a great run of form in New Japan by WCW's Wild Pegasus late last year, Chris Benoit graduated to the heavyweight division, facing Tenzan. Tenzan's brute force was too good for Pegasus though, the nWo Japan star pinning him following a diving headbutt in a stiff match.
In one of the most eye-opening matches of the show, Liger absolutely destroyed one of his greatest challengers, Kanemoto, in his V1 defense of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title. Liger appeared in a new black costume, and dominated Kanemoto without receiving any offense whatsoever. Following a jumping Liger bomb, Liger used a brainbuster to finish off Kanemoto in under 4 minutes. Liger expressed interest in a heavyweight challenge following the match, hinting that he and Benoit would challenge IWGP Tag Team Champions, Nakanishi & Nagata.
"Super Rookie" Kenzo Suzuki, one of the most hyped young prospects in history, debuted on the highest stage against Nakanishi. Although he was dominated by Nakanishi, the former rugby star Kenzo used several rugby-style attacks, including a tackle, and began a promising career.
Kazuo Yamazaki ended an 18 year career when he lost to Nagata in his final match. Yamazaki, a star of the old UWF and UWF-I, had a ceremony after the match, with two of his sworn friends, Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada, in attendance. The wrestlers threw Yamazaki up and down, celebrating his great career.
nWo Japan's Scott Norton and Team 2000's Don Frye clashed, with the title of New Japan's gaijin ace unofficially on the line. Norton retained the rank, pinning Frye after a powerbomb.
Before a molten Tokyo Dome crowd, Hashimoto & Iizuka defeated UFO's Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murakami in one of the most intense fights ever seen in wrestling. Iizuka broke out as a superstar when he defended New Japan with great pride, neutralizing Murakami while Hashimoto fought with Ogawa. The match got out of control, and was ruled a no contest, but Antonio Inoki entered the ring and called for a restart. Immediately, the fight continued, and Iizuka trapped Murakami in a sleeper hold to boost his career with a massive win! While he was choking out Murakami, Hashimoto had Ogawa on the outside in a chickenwing armlock, controlling Inoki's greatest disciple!
Chono viciously attacked Muto's knee in their match, his aim clear - to put Muto out of action and monopolize the black side of New Japan. Chono put Muto away in exactly 25 minutes with a new cross-style STF that Muto had no answer for, and a long-term cancellation for Muto to rehabilitate his knees became a possibility.
Wrestling with a 39 degree fever, Kensuke Sasaki began his second reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion, conquering Mr. Puroresu himself, Genichiro Tenryu. The two exchanged hard blows in a slugfest, before Sasaki truly avenged his October loss to Tenryu by using a Northern Light bomb for the victory and title! He immediately declared that he would crush the black army corps, nWo Japan and Team 2000, and lead New Japan into the new millenium.
Forward to: "FIGHTING SPIRIT 2000" (2/1/00 to 2/20/00)
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