All Japan News and Notes!

The big show of the month and really the biggest show since the split with Keiji Muto’s crew, was on 8/25 at Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo. It drew an announced 1,304 fans, but the real number was 1,059. Either way it was a major negative for the first major show of the new era, held in a 3,800-seat arena. This was a major negative and fans are saying how Nobuo Shiraishi is killing the company. It was just a negative vote of confidence regarding Shiraishi that on 8/27 he announced that he would soon be relinquishing his post as president. He said that the new president would be either Suwama, Masa Fuchi or Masao Inoue. Suwama immediately said that he knows nothing about management and shouldn’t be president. Fuchi then said it should be Suwama as president and Jun Akiyama as Vice President, based on the old Japanese tradition in wrestling where the top guy in the company is made president. While that did work historically with Rikidozan, Giant Baba and even Mitsuharu Misawa and you can argue Antonio Inoki (even though Hisashi Shinma really handled the booking and business in the growth of New Japan), the idea that the guy who fits best as the top star of the promotion is the same guy who should make the business decisions is an antiquated notion and it’s not like this company is in such great shape popularity and business-wise right now that they should choose their president based on symbolism. 

The crowd was considered a real bad sign when Keiji Muto’s group, without having even announced a match, sold out its debut show the first day tickets went on sale, so the feeling is that it’s showed that the fans are taking Muto’s group as the real future of All Japan rather than All Japan.

For 8/25, in the main event, Suwama retained the Triple Crown pinning Go Shiozaki in 35:02 after a Last Ride power bomb. People were raving about the match. Suwama announced that the new Triple Crown belt, which will be one modern belt instead of the three old ones dating back to the 60s and 70s, would be unveiled on the 10/27 show at Sumo Hall. I don’t know if they’re billing it as the 41st anniversary show. The company has traditionally promoted a big late October anniversary show.

The first-ever All Japan Pro Wrestling show was October 21, 1972, in Tokyo, headlined by Bruno Sammartino & Terry Funk beating Giant Baba & Thunder Sugiyama (Japan’s Greco-Roman heavyweight in the 1964 Olympics) via count out. 

The three original Triple Crown belts have been given to Motoko Baba, Giant Baba’s widow. Yoshinobu Kanemaru retained the jr. title pinning Hikaru Sato in 22:28 after a brainbuster. The two shook hands and may be becoming a tag team. Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Aoki retained the All-Asia tag titles beating Drago & Argenis from AAA, with Aoki pinning Argenis in 11:54. On the undercard, president Nobuo Shiraishi made his debut, in what was billed as an exhibition match. Masahiro Chono & Joe Doering beat Kenso & Shiraishi in 8:52 when Chono used the STF on Shiraishi. Shiraishi wrestled in a robot suit but took his mask off. After the match, Doering laid out Shiraishi, who then said it was both his first and his last match.

Takeshi Morishima returns from being out with injuries on 9/15 at the Yokohama Bunka Gym, facing Kensuke Sasaki. 

They had a world tag title match on the 8/17 show at Hakata Star Lanes in Fukuoka, but only drew 452 fans as Jun Akiyama & Go Shiozaki retained the titles beating Suwama & Takao Omori in 33:26 when Shiozaki pinned Omori after a lariat.

At the 9/7 show at Differ Ariake, headlined by KENTA vs. Shane Haste for the GHC title, there are three New Japan wrestlers scheduled. Liger faces Daisuke Harada and Tiger Mask & Yuji Nagata face Mohammed Yone & Hitoshi Kumano. Fenix from AAA is also on the next tour.