New Japan "King of IWGP" Finals results! NEW CHAMPION CROWNED!

The night started off with a Jr tag match pitting El Samurai & Osaka Pro's King of Comedy, Ebessan against Curry Man & Katsuhiko Nakajima. Good back and forth action with Samurai refusing to let loose like Ebessan & Curry Man, and his seriousness gave his team the win as he hit two consecutive Samurai-bombs on Curry Man for the win. The IWGP tournament kicked off with a bang as Takayama barely managed to overcome young supernova Shinsuke Nakamura! Nakamura struck quickly early in the match taking down the big man and locking on his triangle choke! Nakamura had Takayama reeling on the ropes several times, but one lapse in concentration cost him the match as Takayama hit a big knee lift followed by the Everest German to advance to the semi finals! Power was the order of the day in the next match as two big bulls in Nakanishi and Norton clashed! Nakanishi had the advantage early on, even locking on the iron claw to the point Norton started bleeding! Norton came back and hit the Norton for a two count, and Nakanishi rallied back with a big German suplex, but Norton prevailed with a chokeslam for the win and advanced to face Takayama! Black Charisma overcame Mr. Saikyo next as Masahiro Chono advanced over Yuji Nagata in another back and forth battle. Nagata hit the belly-to-belly off the top on Chono early on and attacked his legs with the Nagata Lock, but Chono rallied back and scored the Yakuza Kick to Nagata face to pin the former IWGP champion! Tenzan was all business next he battled the bulk of Yoshie! Tenzan almost totally dominated the big man here. Yoshie surprised everyone when he managed to break the Anaconda Vice, but a TTD put him away in short order. The Junior wars continued as Liger & Takemura of CTU faced the NJPW team of HEAT & Tiger Mask! The action was non-stop, but the NJPW team had a lot of trouble overcoming Liger alone who could only be stopped by double team moves! HEAT looked off his game today and that was probably what led to Takemura scoring the upset pin the IWGP Jr champion with a moonsault in the end! Two exhausted ex-IWGP champions clashed in the first semi-final of the night, with Takayama scoring a surprisingly quick win on Norton when he hit the big Dynamic knee lift early on for a flash 3 count to reach the finals! Takayama was obviously exhausted after the match, but said he just has one more hurdle to cross. The second semi-final saw Tenzan’s momentum come to a shocking halt as Chono hit the breaks on his charge to the title! Despite having the advantage early on, Chono would rally back and attack Tenzan’s neck with a dangerous backdrop and a modified STF. Tenzan would make a short comeback, but missed a top-rope diving headbutt which would lead to Chono locking on the stranglehold and Tenzan eventually was forced to tap out! The grudge match of Murakami and Yano almost became another quick count-out affair when both men brawled out of the ring early on! The bigger Yano took some hard strikes from Murakami, but came back with a big STO followed by several float-over suplexes! Yano then sprayed alcohol in Murakami’s eyes and hit a big spear for a huge upset win! The second grudge match of the night would see Makabe show his incredible fighting spirit again, but come up short to the former IWGP champion. Fujita tried to shoot on Makabe early on, but Makabe actually broke his guard several times and landing some big blows! Makabe would score several near falls, but the hard headed former IWGP champion would come back with hard knee strikes and put away young Makabe with a standing side neck crank! Fujita would then say that Makabe does indeed have a lot of heart, but is STILL a loser! Chono thought that with Takayama exhausted that he would have the title in the bag, but Takayama surprised everyone as he attacked with relentless fury! Takayama totally dominated Chono with a series of hard strikes and a big running knee lift before arrogantly pinning the Black Charisma with one boot on his chest to become the NEW IWGP champion!!! New Japan "King of IWGP" Finals Tokyo Sumo Hall Ebessan & El Samurai beat Curry Man & Katsuhiko Nakajima in 17:30 when Samurai pinned Curry Man with the Samurai-bomb. 67% IWGP Title Tournament – Yoshihiro Takayama beat Shinsuke Nakamura in 11:11 with the Everest German Suplex hold. 78% IWGP Title Tournament – Scott Norton beat Manabu Nakanishi in 18:38 with a chokeslam. 85% IWGP Title Tournament – Masahiro Chono beat Yuji Nagata in 11:39 with a Yakuza Kick. 78% IWGP Title Tournament – Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Yutaka Yoshie in 8:59 with the TTD. 64%. Jushin Thunder Liger & Katsushi Takemura beat HEAT & Tiger Mask IV in 15:14 when Takemura pinned HEAT with a moonsault press. 63% IWGP Title Tournament Semi Final – Yoshihiro Takayama beat Scott Norton in 4:13 with a Dynamic knee lift. 60% IWGP Title Tournament Semi Final – Masahiro Chono beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 14:12 with a stranglehold. 76% Toru Yano beat Kazunari Murakami at 12:40 with a spear. 69% Kazuyuki Fujita beat Togi Makabe in 16:15 with a standing side crossface. 70% IWGP Title Tournament Finals – Yoshihiro Takayama beat Masahiro Chono in 5:15 with a knee lift. 56%