3/2 ZERO1 Results
ZERO1 is holding their 11th Anniversary Commemoration event today, results from Korakuen via SportsNavi:
As always, they didn’t announce attendance. but SportsNavi reports they used the entire available space instead of what they usually do-half-and “many audiences were gathered”. So probably in the 1000s.
Hustle Offer Match: Ryouji Sai & Yusaku Obata beat Shinsuke Wakataka & UEXILE in 15:49. Sai pinned Wakataka after Nachi Waterfall.
In a Double Title Match, ZERO1 International Jr. Heavyweight Champion Takuya Sugawara beat NWA World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in 8:12 to retain the ZERO1 title and win the NWA Title. Sugawara becomes the 3rd NWA World Jr. Heavyweight Champion. ZERO1 V5 for Sugawara.
Kohei Sato, Shito Ueda & Craig Classic beat Yuji Okabayashi, Tskumi Tsukamoto & Kazuki Hashimoto (Big Japan) in 17:52. Sato pinned Tsukamoto with a German suplex hold.
Mineo Fujita & The Barracuda beat Ikuto Hidaka & Takafumi Ito (Pancrase/MMA) in 8:52. Fujita pinned Hidaka.
NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champions Masato Tanaka & Zeus beat Steve Corino & The Sheik in 14:51 to retain the titles. Tanaka pinned Sheik after Sliding D. V3 for the champs.
Akebono beat ZERO1 World Heavyweight Champion KAMIKAZE in 10:12 to win the title. Akebono becomes the 14th ZERO1 World Heavyweight Champion. I believe this is the first singles title ever won by the former sumo.
ZERO1 11th Anniversary & Daichi Hashimoto 1st Anniversary Match: Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Shinjiro Otani & Daichi Hashimoto in 24:36. Sasaki pinned Hashimoto after a lariat.
After the main event, Otani vs. Daichi was made for what likely is the next event, the annual Yasukuni Shrine event on 3/25.
Wow, Chad won a singles title!? That is shocking. It might be short lived, though. I’ve read that ‘Bono is interested in coming back to NJPW, which could mean that the title reign would be cut. And congrats to Takuya for winning double and get a new shiny title to boot, that is going to make headlines in NWA world, I say.
He’s going to begin participating in New Japan this summer (NJPW announced it at the live concert the other day), but I’m assuming he will continue to maintain his freelancer status much like Tanaka, Takayama & Minoru Suzuki. As for the NWA title, nah-they call this one the New Wrestling Alliance title, not the “other” NWA.