Will's Puroresu News Digest

New Japan…

…held two special Masahiro Chono-produced shows in Makuhari. The big news was that the September 1^st show marked the return of Tatsumi Fujinami, Osamu Nishimura and the rest of the NJPW wrestlers who left the company in January 2006 to form Muga World. It’s hoped this could be the beginning of a reconciliation between the two sides.

New Japan have booked the 11,000 capacity Ryogoku Kokugikan again for 11/11 for a standalone show. This could be a hard sell, as they already have it booked for 10/8 (Nagata vs. Tanahashi).

The other potentially big news from New Japan is that they are planning on expanding into South Korea. No real concrete plans as of yet other than they’ll be sharing some resources with the South Korean AWF, which NJPW wrestlers have worked for in the past. New Japan certainly don’t have a deep enough roster to run full tours in South Korea and Japan, so I’d guess that this could be more of a brand-extension a la Lock Up or Wrestleland, running occasional shows with New Japan and AWF talent. Former NJ wrestler Kantaro Hoshino, who’s promoted New Japan shows for years, seems to be heading up the project.

All Japan…

…didn’t really do that much this week. Keiji Muto appealed to both Masakatsu Funaki, and diamond-eared baseball star Kazuhiro Kiyohara to join All Japan after they retired from MMA and baseball respectively. Funaki will be making a return to the ring on HEROs’ big New Years Eve show, and could (unlikely) return to wrestling. Kiyohara would be awesome… but let’s just say that Muto appeals to a lot of big names to join All Japan.

NOAH…

…neared the end of their number-one contenders tourney. Front runners are Jun Akiyama, Naomichi Marufuji and Akitoshi Saito. The winner will be decided this Sunday at Budokan Hall, on a card that also features Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Nishimura.

Other things…

Michinoku Pro’s 4^th Fukumen World League came to its conclusion on September 2^nd. New Japan’s Tiger Mask beat CMLL legend Atlantis with a cross armbreaker in the final. It’s the second time the former Michinoku Pro star has won the League, having previously tapped Mexican legend Dos Caras with the same move in the 1999 final.

Indy minnows KAGEKI will celebrate their 10^th birthday next month in style. As a gift from Jushin Thunder Lyger, the show will feature an IWGP Junior Heavyweight title match. KAGEKI ace Azteca will take on either Ryusuke Taguchi or Tiger Mask, who clash on 24/9.

Less than a week to go before the Inoki Genome Federation holds its big show in Nagoya, and we finally have a match announced. Legendary shoot-stylist Kiyoshi Tamura will wrestle K-1 freak show Montana Silva, last seen in a wrestling ring stinking it up with Yutaka Yoshie back in 2003.

Takeshi Morishima made a successful ROH title defence on Kensuke Office’s 9/1 show at Differ Ariake, beating Katsuhiko Nakajima with a lariat.

HEROs’ 9/17 show will feature a battle of ex-pro wrestlers – Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kazushi Sakuraba. While well past his prime, Saku will be by far the toughest guy Shibata has faced in his short MMA career. Shibata will certainly have to do better than he did in his last fight.