New Japan 3/4/2005 Results

Big night for New Japan as new champions were crowned! In the main event of the evening, Yuji Nagata & Blue Wolf battled defending champions Yoshihiro Takayama & Minoru Suzuki for over half an hour to finally win the titles, Wolf choking out Suzuki with one of his own moves in the sleeper hold! The challengers took a massive beating, but toughed it out to win the titles. Another big shocker in the semi-main event when Tenzan introduced his mystery partner as NOAH's own Jun Akiyama! The STERNESS excursion continues, and Akiyama was dominant over the shocked tandem of Chono & Shibata. Akiyama hit a high-angle Exploder on Chono before tagging Tenzan to finish the job by locking on the Anaconda Vice! Post match, Akiyama thanked the New Japan fans for welcoming him, then said to expect more from STERNESS in the coming weeks! The Young Lion leaders, Shinsuke Nakamura & Hiroshi Tanahashi put up a valiant fight against the Black NJPW power gaijin duo of Scott Norton & Don Frye. The youngsters used all their skill and speed, but still came up short as Frye rocked Tanahashi with a series of Dynamite Punches after Norton hit the Norton-Bomb for the win. The long reign of Jado & Gedo as Jr. Tag Team Champions also came to an end as the team of Naruse & Kakihara won the titles after an almost dominant performance, utilizing their martial-arts skills against the cheating tactics of the champions. The opener of the night also had a surprise in store as Ryusuke Taguchi held off the IWGP Jr. Champion, Tiger Mask IV to a 20-min time limit draw. Taguchi showed good form and scored several near falls in the final sprint. Post match Taguchi appealed for a Jr. Title match, and based on his performance tonight, many agreed he should get it. NJPW New Year’s Gold Series – 3/4/2005 Korakuen Hall - 1,200 Fans Tiger Mask VS Ryusuke Taguchi went to a 20-minute Draw. 70% Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Katsushi Takemura in 11:53 with a high-angle German Suplex pin. 79% Toru Yano beat Hiroshi Nagao in 14:21 with a Canadian Backbreaker. 79% Manabu Nakanishi beat Naofumi Yamamoto in 10:18 with the Argentine Backbreaker. 60% Koji Kanemoto & Yutaka Yoshie beat Jushin Thunder Liger & Mitsuya Nagai in 24:40 when Yoshie pinned Liger with a diving body press. 90% IWGP Jr. Tag Team Titles: Masayuki Naruse & Masahito Kakihara beat Jado & Gedo in 26:35 when Kakihara used an arm-bar on Jado to become the new champions. 77% Scott Norton & Don Frye beat Shinsuke Nakamura & Hiroshi Tanahashi in 28:40 when Frye pinned Tanahashi following a Dynamite Punching attack. 86% Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jun Akiyama beat Masahiro Chono & Katsuyori Shibata in 21:42 when Tenzan beat Chono with the Anaconda Vice. 69% IWGP Tag Team Titles: Yuji Nagata & Blue Wolf beat Yoshihiro Takayama & Minoru Suzuki in 38:52 when Wolf beat Suzuki with a sleeper-hold to become the new champions. 72%