All-Japan ran their claimed "last" show at Nippon Budokan, claiming 16,000 paid. Wow, if this is true, then it`s really depressing. That would be like WWE not running Madison Square Garden, or when the Von Erich`s stopped shows at the Dallas Sportatorium. At least they ended their run with a great main event, bringing back memories of the days when Budokan had no trouble selling out with guys like Jumbo Tsuruta, Misawa, Brody and Kawada on the marquee. Hashimoto versus Kawada is one of the few dream matches that has not happened, and they did not fail to deliver. The show was like a later 90`s Budokan show: Almost nothing on the undercard, but a super main event.

Abdullah the Butcher, Ebedullah Buchan, & Yaz Urano defeated Shigeo Okumura, Gran Hamada, & Taichi Ishikari in 11 minutes, 58 seconds when Butcher pinned Ishikari after an elbow drop. Um, yeah. You can tell with this match that it was 11 minutes too long.

Ryuji Hijikata & Nobukazu Hirai defeated Nobutaka Araya & Hideki Hosaka in 9 minutes, 8 seconds when Hijikata used a Fisherman Suplex Hold on Hosaka for the win.

TAKA Michinoku, The Gladiator, & Bull Buchanan defeated Arashi, Hi69, & Masayuki Kono in 12 minutes, 9 seconds when Gladiator pinned Kono.

Hardcore Tag Match: Tomoaki Honma & Kazushi Miyamoto defeated NOSAWA & MAZADA in 12 minutes, 27 seconds when Honda pinned NOSAWA.

Gen'ichiro Tenryu defeated Masa Fuchi in 10 minutes, 43 seconds with a powerbomb. I only saw the end of this match but it looked good because Fuchi`s chest was beat red, meaning Tenryu didn`t hold back.

World Jr. Title Match: Kaz Hayashi defeated BLUE-K (TAKA Michinoku) in 14 minutes, 31 seconds with the Final Cut. Kendo Ka Shin has disappeared and nobody knows where he is (for real, AJ is not resetting the Mic Foley"Lost in Cleveland" angle from early 90`s WCW). I saw his face on a milk carton the other day. TAKA came to the ring in a mask, then unmasked, and proceeded with a match. I find it troubling that All-Japan has their guys working twice or even three times (Hayashi and Kojima defended their titles 3 times on recent show). Good match, but I thought it could be a little better. They didn`t do a spot crazy match but opted to go for a slower, psychology based match, spacing out the highspots. It worked well, reminding me of a mid-90`s New Japan Junior matches.

Taiyo Kea defeated Satoshi Kojima in 19 minutes, 23 seconds with the Hawaiian Smasher.

Keiji Mutoh & Bob Sapp defeated Jamal & D-Lo Brown in 15 minutes, 5 seconds when Mutoh pinned D-Lo after the Shining Impact. This is the blow-off you all have been waiting for: Bob Sapp vs Jamal!!!!!!!!! This match was about as bad as you might expect.

Triple Crown: Toshiaki Kawada defeated Shin'ya Hashimoto in 19 minutes, 57 seconds by TKO when ZERO-ONE manager Nakamura threw in the towel after Kawada put Hashimoto in the Stretch Plum. I`m such a mark when I hear Hashimoto`s entrance theme. These guys did what they did best by starting out early with good stiff shots. Hashimoto targeted Kawada`s leg, while Dangerous K obviously went after Hashimoto`s shoulder. Great selling by both guys. They really put over the toll of each other`s strikes. Hashimoto and Kawada don`t drop the ball when it comes to inter-promotional matches and this match was no exception. My only problem with this match is the ending. I don`t care if a match is ended with "throwing in the towel," but I felt Hashimoto had a little more left in him. This shoulder injury has been a blessing in disguise for him because he can do all these jobs without ever being pinned or submitted, but it still leaves you feeling a little empty at the end. At least the stretch plum is a believable finisher because Kawada has done a great job on both AJ and Zero-One shows recently using it as a finishing move.

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