NJPW “WRESTLE KINGDOM V IN TOKYO DOMEâ€, 1/4/11 (WPW/PPV)
Tokyo Dome
42,000 Fans – No Vacancy
0-1. World Wrestling Interpromotional Match: Wataru Inoue, Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma & Tama Tonga beat Yujiro Takahashi, Tomohiro Ishii, Jado & Gedo (7:33) when Inoue used the Spear of Justice on Gedo.
0-2. World Wrestling Invitation Match: Koji Kanemoto & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Kenny Omega & Taichi (8:04) when Taguchi pinned Taichi.
1. IWGP Tag Team Title – 3WAY Match: Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (c) beat James Storm & Robert Roode and Manabu Nakanishi & Strong Man (8:36) when Anderson used the Gun Stun on Roode (4th defense).
2. ROAD TO FANTASIC MANIA: La Sombra & Mascara Dorada beat Jushin Thunder Liger & Hector Garza (7:42) when Sombra pinned Liger.
3. DEEP SLEEP TO LOSE: Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Takashi Iizuka (11:13) with the Anaconda Cross.
4. Hardcore NJPW-TNA Greatest Showcase: Rob Van Dam beat Toru Yano (11:28) with the Five Star frog splash.
5. NO JUSTICE, NO LIFE: Yuji Nagata beat Minoru Suzuki (16:15) with a backdrop hold.
6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt (c) beat Kota Ibushi (16:22) with an avalanche-style Bloody Sunday (4th defense).
7. NJPW vs. NOAH Battle Combustion I – Kazuchika Okada Return Match: Takashi Sugiura & Yoshihiro Takayama beat Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada (12:08) when Takayama used an Everest German on Okada.
8. TNA World Heavyweight Title: Jeff Hardy (c) beat Tetsuya Naito (11:04) with a Swanton bomb.
9. NJPW vs. NOAH Battle Combustion II: Shinsuke Nakamura beat Go Shiozaki (14:17) with the Boma Ye.
10. The Absolute Exhaust: Togi Makabe beat Masato Tanaka (12:46) with a King Kong kneedrop.
11. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Satoshi Kojima (c) (21:57) with the High Fly Flow to become the 56th champion.
* 42,000 fans, if true, make this the biggest Tokyo Dome crowd for New Japan since the 1/4/06 show five years ago.
* Hiroshi Tanahashi reclaims his place as “ace of the universe†and leads New Japan into 2011 after ending the brief reign of Satoshi Kojima today. Tanahashi pinned Kojima with his High Fly Flow to begin his fifth reign as champion, much to the delight of the Tokyo Dome. Tanahashi gave his crowd-pleasing speech to end the show, with no one appearing to make a challenge this year, and sent the fans home happy to end a successful Tokyo Dome show!
* As expected, the Makabe vs. Tanaka match, like their others, was very stiff and physical, with some weapon usage and big bumps. Makabe replicated his IWGP Heavyweight Title defense victory over Tanaka from last year, pinning him following a King Kong kneedrop.
* Nakamura achieved revenge on NOAH’s Go Shiozaki, kicking out of the Go Flasher then brutalizing Go with strikes en route to a Boma Ye victory.
* Naito fell short of beating Jeff Hardy for the TNA World Heavyweight Title but such a big match on a big stage is sure to mark the beginning of a big year for the NO LIMIT man.
* Young hope Kazuchika Okada returned, looking much bigger and stronger, and going toe to toe with Sugiura and Takayama, even backdropping Takayama. As expected, he eventually lost but made an impression on his return.
* New Japan’s 2011 advance on the USA was announced after the sixth match. “NJPW INVASION TOUR ~ATTACK ON EAST COAST~†was formally announced with three shows: 5/13 New Jersey, 5/14 New York, and 5/15 Philadelphia.
* Devitt once again held on to the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title in a tremendous match against the man he defeated in the Best of the Super Jr. final last year, Kota Ibushi. Devitt’s victory was his fourth defense of the prestigious belt, and all have come against outsiders.
* In a rematch from the first ever “WRESTLE KINGDOM†titled show, Nagata earned his long awaited revenge over old rival Minoru Suzuki, pinning him with a backdrop hold in 16 minutes.
* Yano vs. RVD was a hardcore match and was said to have entertained the fans as they used a lot of different weapons before RVD scored the win with his frog splash.
* The long-running grudge feud between Tenzan and Iizuka continued in a match that could end only when one of the two was put to sleep. And it was the recently returned Tenzan who came out victorious, his return gaining momentum.
* En route to the New Japan/CMLL shows coming up later this month was a special tag match featuring three Mexican stars and Liger, with the lucha libre style on show and a surprise outcome as Liger was pinned.
* The opening match on camera for the IWGP Tag Team Title was said to have been quite exciting due to the fast pace for a heavyweight three way tag, Bad Intentions once again retaining the belts as they fended off Seigi Gun and one of America’s top tag teams from TNA Wrestling, Beer Money Inc., Anderson pinning Robert Roode.
