8. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuyuki Fujita beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan ? (13:59) with a knee kick to become the 42nd champion.

Yeah Fujita is on title reign number three for some unknown reason. This is also the third title change this year. I guess they have no intention of booking a long term IWGP Champion anymore. Tenzan also seems destined to never get a good run with the belt.

It'd be funny, if it wasn't so sad. And NJPW diehards wonder why this company can't draw squat. NOAH just put 50,000 legit in the Tokyo Dome, NJPW hasn't done that (the key word there is legit) in years.

I think NOAH's worse off than NJPW to be honest. They're drawing big shows right now but they still don't have a next generation to take over for Kobashi, Misawa, etc. They really need to start building stars or they're screwed in the long run.

 

NJPW could easily fix itself by treating the IWGP belt like it means something again, exile all the shoot fighters like Fujita and pull the trigger on Nakamura and Tanahashi as the real main eventers of the promotion. Guys like Tenzan, Chono and Saski should just be side attractions now. Not contending for major titles. I think getting power away from Inoki is also another thing that needs to happen for New Japan to right itself.

Tenzan jobbed to a knee kick in under fourteen minutes?

 

The fuck?

Fujita is one of those shoot fighters who can't really wrestle but Inoki loves and pushes them.

I think NOAH's worse off than NJPW to be honest. They're drawing big shows right now but they still don't have a next generation to take over for Kobashi, Misawa, etc. They really need to start building stars or they're screwed in the long run.

They have to a point, right now none of the old guard have any of the belts. I'm hopeful that Rikio's nomination of Misawa as his next challenger does in fact take place, and that the right ending is booked.

Fujita can wrestle insofar as he has national amateur championships under his belt, but he can't work a pro wrestling style match at all. They keep fucking cutting Tenzan off at the knees when he's who the fans seem to want to support and probably the most likely and willing guy to give a rub to a new guy. It makes no sense to put the belt back on the guy who is partially responsible for the dip in ticket sales during his last reign.

Fujita *just* bitched up a storm about NJ and now he gets the belt. Tenzan should have jumped to AJ with Muto, Kojima, Hayashi, and KaShin. What a waste of talent.

 

The Takeshi's, Mohammed Yone, Go Shiosaki, KENTA, Marufuji, Kotaro Suzuki, and Ricky Marvin are a good young core of wrestlers that NOAH can build around for the next 5 years. Add some strong rookies.

 

Tenzan got screwed.

To be honest (and I include myself in this group of people) why anyone is surprised by this, is beyond me. It's not like NJPW has ever given Tenzan even an opportunity to be a successful champion, despite him being the guy the fans seem to want to see succeed.

 

Fujita is a proven failure, both of his previous IWGP Title reigns were far from successful. His last one wasn't very successful from a money drawing standpoint, and the ending of it was probably the biggest disgrace done to that title (and in the year 2004, that's saying something).

 

I actually can't lay claim to really being a NJPW fan at this point. I've gotten a whopping three of their shows from 2005. The two shows featuring Gedo and Jado facing Kanemoto and Inoue, and their May Tokyo Dome show. I just don't find NJPW to be that interesting anymore. And putting the title onto a guy who publically trashes pro wrestling doesn't seem like it's going to do anything to change that aspect.

 

Hopefully somewhere down the line, Hiroyoshi Tenzan will get his rightful run with the title, and a successful reign. I can just hope that it's not too late. Maybe if NJPW had stuck with Tenzan way back in 2003, they wouldn't be in this mess.