Giant Baba Memorial Six Man Tag Team Tournament
The Giant Baba (Hai Sodatsu) Memorial Six Man Tag Team Tournament, or simply the Giant Baba Six Man Cup, was a professional wrestling memorial event produced by the All-Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) promotion, which took place from April 13 to May 12, 2002, at the Nippon Budokan,[1] Iwate Prefectural Gym,[2] Niigata City Gym[3] and Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. It was the third and final event honoring AJPW founder Shohei "Giant" Baba, the previous shows being the Giant Baba Memorial Spectacular and Giant Baba Memorial Cup in January 2001 and 2002 respectively. Seven professional wrestling matches were held over a three-week period,[6] with both the tournament semi-finals and final match held at Korakuen Hall.[1][4]
| Giant Baba Memorial Six Man Tag Team Tournament | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Promotion | All-Japan Pro Wrestling | ||
| Date | April 13-May 12, 2002 | ||
| City | Tokyo, Japan | ||
| Venue | Nippon Budokan[1] Iwate Prefectural Gym[2] Niigata City Gym[1][3] Korakuen Hall[1][4] | ||
| Attendance | 16,000 (April 13)[1] 2,100 (April 27) [1][5] 2,700 (April 30)[1][2] 3,150 (May 1)[1][3] | ||
| chronology | |||
| |||
Keiji Mutoh, Kaz Hayashi and George Hines won the tournament by winning three matches all aired on pay-per-view.[7] Over the course of the tournament, they defeated Satoshi Kojima, Tomoaki Honma and Jimmy Yang in the quarter-finals,[5] Taiyō Kea, Mitsuya Nagai and Shigeo Okumura in the semi-finals and Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi and Nobutaka Araya in the final match.[6] Earlier in the semi-finals, between Genichiro Tenryu's team and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, Mike Rotunda and Yoji Anjo, Anjo accidentally hit Rotunda in the face with a back-fist punch which eventually led to their defeat. Blaming Anjo for the loss, Williams turned his back on Anjoh causing a split between the two former teammates.[4]
Results
edit| No. | Results[6] | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, Mike Rotunda and Yoji Anjo defeated Mike Barton, Jim Steele and Cedman | Giant Baba Memorial Cup quarter-final match | 16:16[1] |
| 2 | Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi and Nobutaka Araya defeated Kendo Kashin, Johnny Smith and Abdullah the Butcher | Giant Baba Memorial Cup quarter-final match | 19:11[3] |
| 3 | Keiji Mutoh, Kaz Hayashi and George Hines defeated Satoshi Kojima, Tomoaki Honma and Jimmy Yang | Giant Baba Memorial Cup quarter-final match | 13:35[5] |
| 4 | Taiyō Kea, Mitsuya Nagai and Shigeo Okumura defeated Masa Fuchi, Hideki Hosaka and Gran Naniwa | Giant Baba Memorial Cup quarter-final match | 18:50[2] |
| 5 | Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi and Nobutaka Araya defeated Steve Williams, Mike Rotunda and Yoji Anjo | Giant Baba Memorial Cup semi-final match | — |
| 6 | Keiji Mutoh, Kaz Hayashi and George Hines defeated Taiyo Kea, Mitsuya Nagai and Shigeo Okumura | Giant Baba Memorial Cup semi-final match | — |
| 7 | Keiji Mutoh, Kaz Hayashi and George Hines defeated Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi and Nobutaka Araya | Giant Baba Memorial Cup final match | — |
Tournament brackets
editThe tournament took place between April 13 and May 12, 2002. The tournament brackets were:
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Steve Williams, Mike Rotunda and Yoji Anjo | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Mike Barton, Jim Steele and Cedman | ||||||||||||||
| Steve Williams, Mike Rotunda and Yoji Anjoh | ||||||||||||||
| Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi and Nobutaka Araya | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi and Nobutaka Araya | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Kendo Kashin, Johnny Smith and Abdullah the Butcher | ||||||||||||||
| Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi and Nobutaka Araya | ||||||||||||||
| Keiji Mutoh, Kaz Hayashi and George Hines | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Keiji Mutoh, Kaz Hayashi and George Hines | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Satoshi Kojima, Tomoaki Honma and Jimmy Yang | ||||||||||||||
| Keiji Mutoh, Kaz Hayashi and George Hines | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Taiyo Kea, Mitsuya Nagai and Shigeo Okumura | ||||||||||||||
| Taiyo Kea, Mitsuya Nagai and Shigeo Okumura | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Masa Fuchi, Hideki Hosaka and Gran Naniwa | ||||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cole, Brian (April 21, 2002). "411's International News Report #94 (Tons Of Japan News)". Video Reviews. 411mania.com.
- ^ a b c d Cole, Brian (May 4, 2002). "411's International News Report #100 (Special Milestone Edition!)". Video Reviews. 411mania.com.
- ^ a b c d Cole, Brian (May 11, 2002). "411's International News Report #103 (Hakushi, Scorpio, Abby & More)". Video Reviews. 411mania.com.
- ^ a b c Cole, Brian (May 14, 2002). "411's International News Report #104 (Lucha Report, All Japan News & More)". Video Reviews. 411mania.com.
- ^ a b c Cole, Brian (April 27, 2002). "411's International News Report #97 (WWF/New Japan Teaming Up? & More)". News. 411mania.com.
- ^ a b c "Giant Baba Memorial Six Man Tag Tournament". Misc. Events. ProWrestlingHistory.com.
- ^ All-Japan Pro Wrestling (Producer) (2002). AJPW All Japan Pro Wrestling 2002 VHS DVD Zen Nihon Puroresu Tapes Videos (VHS). Tokyo: Quebrada.net.