[Results]NJPW “DIVERGENCE”, 5/5/09

Part one of the Korakuen double header saw a packed house for one of two makeshift cards in the absence of Mexican sensation Mistico. The emphasis became New Japan vs. NOAH (+ DDT) with the addition of Tanahashi & Kanemoto vs. Morishima & Kota Iibushi which saw Kanemoto’s losing ways of late continue as he fell to Morishima. And in the semi final Takashi Sugiura, who has spearheaded NOAH’s attack in many ways, teamed with Atsushi Aoki to defeat Goto & Okada, the latter of whom was said to have really emerged from the undercard with a great performance (he also teams with Tenzan in NOAH tomorrow). New Japan will look to retaliate tomorrow when a party of four enters NOAH’s Tokyo Nippon Budokan big show. Leaving both matches there were hints of Tanahashi vs. Morishima and Goto vs. Sugiura soon but more decisive seemed to be the inclusion of both Iibushi and Aoki in the upcoming Best of the Super Jr. tournament. President Sugabayashi recently sent a call out for young, fresh talent from other promotions, wanting to make this year’s tournament more youth-centric and the call seems to have been answered. Iibushi is a wrestler many have wanted to see in New Japan for a while and if he impresses, might perhaps be offered something more regular ala Minoru Tanaka and Tiger Mask in the past.