NJPW - 12 ноември 2011

[Remus]

“POWER STRUGGLE” will live up to its name as today’s full card announcement for the 11/12 Osaka super-show confirmed that all five IWGP titles will be on the line and each one will have a New Japan vs. enemy faction theme. G1 Tag League 2011 winners Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer are granted their IWGP Tag Team Title match quickly as they face the most successful champions in the title’s 26 year history, Bad Intentions. This will be Bernard & Anderson’s V10 defense of the belts and although they already hold the defense record, reaching double figures would be a massive achievement for the two and is something they will want to do. 11 matches make up the show with two special tag matches also added today, including one-time tag partners from long ago Makabe and Takayama renewing their feud. The full card for 11/13 Kyoto was also announced.

NJPW "POWER STRUGGLE", 12.11.2011 (WPW/PPV)

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

1. Tama Tonga & Killer Rabbit vs. Jado & Gedo

2. Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma vs. Takashi Iizuka & Hideo Saito

3. Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii

4. Special Tag Match: Togi Makabe & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Taichi

5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Davey Richards & Rocky Romero © vs. Tiger Mask & KUSHIDA

6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt © vs. TAKA Michinoku

7. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Naito & MVP vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Yujiro Takahashi

8. Special Singles Match: Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

9. IWGP Intercontinental Title: Masato Tanaka © vs. Hirooki Goto

10. IWGP Tag Team Title: Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson © vs. Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer

11. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs. Toru Yano

Edited November 8, 2011 by Remus

[Remus]

NJPW “POWER STRUGGLE”, 11/12/11 (WPW/PPV)

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

6,000 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Jado & Gedo beat Tama Tonga & Killer Rabbit (4:32) when Gedo used the Complete Shot on Rabbit.

2. Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma beat Takashi Iizuka & Hideo Saito (3:42) when Honma used a lariat on Iizuka.

3. Yuji Nagata beat Tomohiro Ishii (9:53) with a backdrop hold.

4. Special Tag Match: Yoshihiro Takayama & Taichi beat Togi Makabe & Ryusuke Taguchi (8:39) when Takayama used an Everest German suplex hold on Taguchi.

5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Davey Richards & Rocky Romero © beat Tiger Mask & KUSHIDA (12:43) when Richards pinned KUSHIDA after the Contract Killer (1st defense).

6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt © beat TAKA Michinoku (12:13) with the Bloody Sunday (1st defense).

7. Special Tag Match: MVP & Tetsuya Naito beat Shinsuke Nakamura & Yujiro Takahashi (12:18) when MVP used the Irreversible Crisis on Takahashi.

8. Special Singles Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Satoshi Kojima (15:49) with a moonsault press.

9. IWGP Intercontinental Title: Masato Tanaka © beat Hirooki Goto (9:51) with the Sliding D (1st defense).

10. IWGP Tag Team Title: Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson © beat Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer (17:15) when Anderson pinned Archer after the Giant Gun Stun (10th defense).

11. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi © beat Toru Yano (22:01) with a Texas Cloverleaf hold (9th defense).

* Hiroshi Tanahashi is now just one step away from equaling Yuji Nagata’s V10 defense record as IWGP Heavyweight Champion after fending off CHAOS’ Toru Yano today at a sold out Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium. And guess who stepped up to challenge Tanahashi for the belt? Nagata! Nagata was due to challenge Tana this time before Yano hijacked that possibility by stealing the IWGP Heavyweight Title belt that was finally retrieved today. Tanahashi entered the ring with a half painted face today that he sported in Mexico on his excursion there.

* Bad Intentions have now established themselves as one of the strongest tag teams to ever step foot on Japanese soil. The holders of both New Japan and NOAH’s tag titles today became the first team to ever go into double figures with IWGP Tag Team Title defenses after making their 10th successful defense against G1 Tag League winners Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer. They unveiled the “Giant Gun Stun”, a double team version of the Gun Stun (RKO/Diamond Cutter) I think, to sink Archer. They had already broken Chono & Tenzan’s defense record after their V8 defense so to reach ten means it is likely to be a record that stands for many years. Their reign is now closing in on 1 1/2 years long, a very long time in professional wrestling.

* Masato Tanaka revived his old rivalry with Hirooki Goto in his V1 defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Title and defeated him in a fast paced match to retain. Goto has again been inconsistent of late after he seemed very close to finally reaching the highest level.

* Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima, their careers forever entwined and having seen them go from young lions together to nWo Japan members to forming one of the most popular tag teams ever to headlining the Tokyo Dome against each other, collided again today. They were 1-1 in recent matches going into this but Tenzan, written off as a spent force by some, showed great energy to defeat his sworn friend. There was CHAOS involvement after the match leading to Kojima helping Tenzan and suggestions of a TenKoji reformation.

* G1 Climax 2011 finalists Nakamura and Naito got into an argument backstage after the seventh match that led to Nakamura beating down his former CHAOS underling.

* Prince Devitt, in his second reign as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, made a successful V1 defense of the belt today against TAKA Michinoku who he also defeated in his previous reign. Devitt was nearly unstoppable in his first reign until Kota Ibushi, after several attempts, managed to dethrone him. But Ibushi’s injury meant the belt was straight back on Devitt and another collision between the two could be imminent.

* Davey Richards & Rocky Romero started off what was a night of successful defenses, with all five IWGP belts held on to by their reigning champions, by beating Tiger Mask & KUSHIDA in their first defense of the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title. Having dethroned Apollo 55 recently, the gaijin tandem was in no mood to drop the prestigious belts so soon and Richards made sure that would not happen by pinning KUSHIDA.

* Takayama and Makabe continued their feud in a tag match today that looks certain to lead to a singles match in the near future.