The Navigation Log 11.23.08: Mauritius Cup Update, Tanahashi vs. Muto is Official, and Foreign Representatives to New Japan

Onto the Navigation Log!

NOAH: Hirayanagi Rocks Mauritius
The Winter Navigation has been uneventful thus far, except for the Mauritius Cup tournament going on right now. Here are the current standings:

Genba Hirayanagi: 6 points
Akihito Ito: 3 points
Takashi Okita: 2 points
Kento Miyahara: 1 point
Ippei Ota: 0 points

Genba has been extremely dominant this time out. Last year he was the tournament’s designated jobber, so his performance this year shows how far he’s progressed up the card. So far he’s already beaten Ota, Okita, and Miyahara cleanly with only Ito left on the list to face in Niigata on 11/28. Hirayanagi is nearly a lock to win this, but that rest mostly on how Ota and Ito finish out. Ito has two matches, one against Ota and his match with Hirayanagi on the 28th. If he manages to win both, then he’ll win the cup. If Ota manages to win his final three matches (that includes a win against Ito) then he’ll tie with Hirayanagi which will force a play-off final. There’d be a similar situation with Ito if he manages to tie with Ota then beat Hirayanagi. Okita and Miyahara are essentially out of the finals, but they could still play a part in determining the finals if one of them manages to beat Ota. I’m still thinking that Hirayanagi will win this thing. Out of all three guys, he’s shown the most character and promise in 2008 with his tremendous heel persona. The guy was probably taking notes from SUWA before his retirement. Ota or Ito would be real surprises to me. Ota has not really gotten a good push this year, while Ito seems to be surging late. It’s often claimed that Ota has attitude problems of some sort which could hurt him and Ito is pretty damn bland. Especially when you’re already pushing Shuhei Taniguchi, I don’t see him winning.

In addition to the Mauritius Cup NOAH is running two other tournaments during the Winter Navigation that are rapidly approaching. First, is a one night trios tournament for the heavyweights which will feature the following matches:

11/23
-Akitoshi Saito, Bison Smith, & Keith Walker vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Takeshi Morishima, & Mohammad Yone
-Kensuke Sasaki, Yoshihiro Takayama, & Takashi Okita vs. Jun Akiyama, Takeshi Rikio, & Takashi Sugiura
-Finals

These pairings are fairly good as you’ve got a good mix of regular tag teams joining up with their extra partner. NOAH’s specialties are tag matches and they’re hoping to make a splash with this. A win for Saito, Smith, & Walker would be the best choice of booking if only to help push Saito as a main event threat for his title bout against Sasaki at the end of the tour.

The following night there will be another one night trios tournament, this time featuring the junior division with these matches lined up.

11/24
-Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Kotaro Suzuki, & Genba Hirayanagi vs. Naomichi Marufuji, Atsushi Aoki, & Akihito Ito
-KENTA, Taiji Ishimori, & Ippei Ota vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Ricky Marvin, & Kento Miyahara
-Finals

These should end up being some pretty wild matches. The finals seem to favor a match between Kanemaru, Suzuki, & Hirayanagi vs. KENTA, Ishimori, & Ota, to add to the feud between Kanemaru & Suzuki and KENTA & Ishimori that has been going on all year. Depending on how the points fall in the Mauritius Cup, the Hirayanagi and Ota pairing could wind up being a preview of a finals match. Meanwhile, KENTA and Nakajima will be reviving their feud from earlier in the year as well in their preliminary match.

One last bit of tournament based news from NOAH is the announcement of the 30th man in massive The Tournament 2008. Go Shiozaki has been added to the field and this will mark his return to NOAH after his extended stay in the US. Shiozaki wound up being fairly successful, capturing the FIP World Title and the main singles title in Harley Race’s WLW promotion. This tournament could wind up being a coming out party for Shiozaki, to highlight the progress that he made during his time in the US. If that’s the case then 2009 could be a break out year for him. This announcement leaves just two spots left to be filler. One position is reserved for the winner of the Mauritius Cup while the final spot could go to anyone. I’m still holding out for an outsider from New Japan or All Japan, but it could also go to a foreigner.

New Japan: Tanahashi vs. Muto
Last week I reported on Hiroshi Tanahashi being approached by New Japan to come back from America to challenge Keiji Muto for the IWGP Heavyweight Title. That offer has officially been accepted and Tanahashi will face Muto for the title on New Japan’s first show of the year in 2009. Tanahashi is officially done with TNA and back in Japan to take part in this year’s final tour to prepare for his match.

The Japanese press and fans are already all over this announcement. This match is getting a lot of attention due to the relationship between Muto and Tanahashi. Back when Muto was in New Japan, Tanahashi looked up to Muto as a mentor and nearly jumped to All Japan with Muto. They faced each other earlier this year in All Japan’s Champion’s Carnival in a match that ended in a 30 minute draw. Obviously the feeling here is that Tanahashi has what it takes to beat Muto based on his track record against him and the knowledge he gained while under Muto’s wing. Tanahashi can go the distance against Muto, but to get that extra mile by actually pinning him is a different kind of challenge.

New Japan also announced the foreign participants for the 1/4 Budokan Hall show. TNA will be sending a fairly impressive contingent of their stars to Japan. Kurt Angle and Kevin Nash will be representing the Main Event Mafia and may have some match involving New Japan’s Legend unit so as to set off a big veteran’s bout. Team 3D will also be returning and have requested a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Titles. Nothing is certain yet in this regard, for a few reasons. First is that Togi Makabe & Toru Yano have a pending title defense against Manabu Nakanishi & Yutaka Yoshie in early December. Then, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima are already promised a shot by virtue of their G1 Tag League win. Team 3D’s title shot claim stems partially from beating Makabe & Yano at the 2008 Budokan Hall show in January (the one featured on a special Impact broadcast). While Team 3D might have to wait their turn for a title match, they will definitely be used in a high profile match on this show. Lastly, Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin will be in action, likely challenging for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles. Whether that will be against the current champions Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro or Jado & Gedo who have a coming shot at the belts is up in the air, but the Motor City Machine Guns will be coming to Japan for gold.

Mexico will also be represented at this event, and CMLL will be sending probably their biggest name in Mistico. At the press conference announcing the foreign participants, Mistico was the highlight of the event. While TNA is sending their top stars, Misitico could arguably be the biggest star in all of Mexico. As such, expect to see him involved in a huge match during the show.

Dragon Gate: Shingo Alone
Dragon Gate’s big PPV in Osaka has come and gone with some major shifts. The biggest perhaps was Shingo Takagi leaving Typhoon after only being an official member for about a month and a half. Following his successful Open the Dream Gate title defense against Susumu Yokosuka, Shingo attempted to banish Yokosuka from Typhoon. This motion was blocked by Yokosuka’s tag team partner Ryo Saito. Takagi further insisted that all the current units be disbanded which brought out CIMA to try to smooth things out. Shingo attacked CIMA, which ended in him being formally booted from Typhoon. Shingo then withdrew from King of Gate. The King of Gate tournament now has extra importance as the winner will probably be facing Shingo at the end of the whole thing.

The PPV also saw the end of the Tozawa-juku era. Akira Tozawa, Taku Iwasa, & Kenichiro Arai fell short in their attempt at the Open the Triangle Gate Title held by Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fuji, & Magnitude Kishiwada. While Fuji attempted to talk them out of the stipulation following the loss, the unit insisted on following through on the agreement. They received a special graduation ceremony, which in Japan is a huge event in someone’s life (think 20 times as big as a high school graduation in the US). It’s quite depressing to see this group break up, there was little else they could have done as a unit. While whatever is next for the members of Tozawa-juku is up in the air, they will almost certainly have a bright future. Taku Iwasa is one to definitely watch as he really broke out in Tozawa-juku. Akira Tozawa himself might need a bit more seasoning before he’s moved up the card, but he’ll most likely find a good niche before then.

Weekly Puro
We’re visiting Dragon Gate this week with a little taste of the Osaka PPV. This is the Open the Twin Gate match where Cyber Kong & YAMATO defend against Naruki Doi & Naoki Tanisaki. The Kong/YAMATO team seems mostly to function as a way to highlight YAMATO, as he’s developed a creepy masochistic persona for his heel turn. The match itself is very spotty and not the best tag match Dragon Gate has done this year, but it is fun if you choose to ignore selling and take the match at face value.