On Friday, November 28, 2008 at 3:53 PM EST
Welcome to this week's version of the Rising Sun Soliloquy. My aplogies in Advance for the brevity. With all the Turkey packed in the stomach AND being on the road, this week's version will be slightly abbreviated but STILL all so important. Enjoy!
Mistico's Wrestle Kingdom III Rumored Match
According to our sources, it appears that Mistico's big match at the upcoming Wrestlekingdom III show at the Tokyo Dome has been determined.
Barring a change of plans, he will team up with fellow young juniors Taguchi and Devitt against CMLL rival Averno, who teams up with fellow veterans Jado & Gedo. Not exactly the huge match for Mistico that was hinted, but this isn’t completely unexpected given that juniors rarely get big singles matches at the Dome unless a belt is on the line.
Wrestle Kingdom III Show Sporting International Flavor
An interesting cast of foreigners will advance on the highest stage of Japanese pro wrestling on January 4th when New Japan hits the Tokyo Dome for “WRESTLE KINGDOM III IN TOKYO DOME”. From TNA Wrestling we will see the return of former IWGP Champion Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, the world famous Team 3D (Brother Ray & Brother Devon), and the Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin).
From CMLL we will be treated to the first appearance of Mexico’s young icon, “Child of God” Mistico, in his first Japanese appearance.
President Sugabayashi held a press conference in which he held the mask of Mistico up to the media and spoke of these big events. It was Mistico he chose to focus the press conference on, as the luchadore has a lot of hype in Japan and billed as 'a national hero of Mexico'.
Sugabayashi put him over even more by saying 'he is held in such high esteem in Mexico that he acted as a local reporter in the recent Beijing Olympics.' Sugabayashi said nothing but a big match would be suitable for the young revolution fighter.
All of TNA Wrestling’s representatives have experience in Japan. Kurt Angle and Kevin Nash are both members of TNA’s Main Event Mafia, and unsurprisingly it looks like they are looking to potentially add a Japanese member, with Sugabayashi suggesting that the likes of Chono may be involved with them. Angle defeated Yuji Nagata in a match being considered for Tokyo Sports’ 2008 Best Bout award, before losing the big IWGP unification match to Nakamura in February. He then returned for a couple of tag matches in the G1, pinning Tanahashi in one of them. Nash appeared at the huge Osaka Dome show in 1997 when the nWo was at its peak, but hasn’t been seen in New Japan since, and his return will come over a decade later.
A fax arrived here from New Japan letting us know that Team 3D requesting a match at the Tokyo Dome, with particular interest in the IWGP Tag Team Title. On this year’s show they defeated last year’s Japanese Tag MVPs and current IWGP Tag Team Champions, Togi Makabe & Yano, so in the eyes of many, deserve the title shot. Sugabayashi isn’t sure though, because Makabe & Yano still have to defend against Nakanishi & Yoshie on December 6th in Nagoya.
Sugabayashi also noted that TenKoji may be involved in some way, and four teams - Makabe & Yano, Nakanishi & Yoshie, TenKoji, and Team 3D - are on the president’s mind, and it looks like in some way those two teams will be involved in two matches, one for the title and one possibly a contendership match.
The Motor City Machine Guns are one of the top junior tag teams in America, so its only natural they are being linked to an IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title shot. Sugabayashi hinted that it is almost a lock that they will challenge the winners of NO LIMIT vs. Jado & Gedo, set to take place on 12/7 in Osaka.
Go Shiosaki's Scheduled Return
According to our sources, Go Shiozaki will be revealed to be one of the two mystery men taking part in “The Tournament” on the 23rd and 24th December. There is no word as yet on whether this will be the beginning of a full return for Shiozaki, who has been wrestling in the United States for various different promotions during his time away from Pro Wrestling NOAH.
NOAH Winter Navigation Show Results
NOAH “WINTER NAVIGATION 2008″, 11/28/2008
Niigata City Gymnasium
1,900 Fans
1. Mauritius Cup: Ippei Ota defeated Takashi Okita
2. Mauritius Cup: Akihiko Ito [7] defeated Genba Hirayanagi [6]
3. Doug Williams, Buchanan & Keith Walker defeated Takuma Sano, Takashi Sugiura & Masao Inoue
4. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki defeated Taiji Ishimori & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
5. Yoshinari Ogawa, Ricky Marvin & Atsushi Aoki defeated Kensuke Sasaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara
6. Mitsuharu Misawa, Naomichi Marufuji & Mohammed Yone defeated Jun Akiyama, Takeshi Rikio & Kentaro Shiga
7. GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title: KENTA (c) defeated Eddie Edwards
8. GHC Tag Team Title: Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith (c) defeated Akira Taue & Takeshi Morishima
Mauritius Cup Final Standings
1. Akihiko Ito 7 Points
2. Genba Hirayanagi 6 Points
3. Ippei Ota 3 Points
4. Takashi Okita 2 Points
5. Kento Miyahara 2 Points
NOAH “WINTER NAVIGATION 2008″, 11/27/2008
Zepp Sendai
1,100 Fans - Super No Vacancy
1. Mauritius Cup: Akihiko Ito defeated Ippei Ota
2. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori defeated Kentaro Shiga & Genba Hirayanagi
3. Doug Williams & Eddie Edwards defeated Takeshi Rikio & Atsushi Aoki
4. Akitoshi Saito, Bison Smith & Takashi Sugiura defeated Akira Taue, Takuma Sano & Masao Inoue
5. Takeshi Morishima & Mohammed Yone defeated Buchanan & Keith Walker
6. Jun Akiyama, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki defeated Mitsuharu Misawa, Yoshinari Ogawa & Ricky Marvin
7. AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Naomichi Marufuji (c) defeated Tsuyoshi Kikuchi