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We start with a look at TNA stars' views on Japan. Angle likes having to elevate his game. Tomko apparently has picked up Japanese. Team 3D are excited to compete in the Tokyo Dome for the first time. Scott Steiner sounds bizarrely normal when he's not in character. Brother Ray is wearing a Homicide jacket, which baffles me on several levels. They claim that this is the first time TNA has sent talent overseas, but didn't they used to stress that Jarrett defended the TNA title all over the world?

[Commercial Break]

We follow Tomko as he tries to navigate the Tokyo subway system. This is kind of interesting, but don't they only have an hour to get over a dozen people wrestling?

Kurt Angle is taking pictures. They have a press conference. Brother Ray calls out their opponents, whose names I won't be able to spell till they appear on screen. Kurt runs down his accolades, and I'm tempted to fast forward. That's not a good sign for an hour-long show.

[Commercial Break]

Kurt's looking forward to making Nagata tap out. We walk with the talent from their hotel to the arena. Is there some legal reason they can't just show us some wrestling?

We finally see clips from the first match, which features AJ Styles, Christian Cage, Petey Williams, and three Japanese folk. The TNA wrestlers appear to have won with a Styles Clash.

Abyss wrestles some guy who I'm pretty sure is the Japanese Samoa Joe (Japan Joe?). Despite the various wrestlers' emphasis on Japan's greater focus on wrestling and lesser focus on entertainment, there are a lot of thumbtacks involved in that match. Abyss lost to something.

Team 3D's match involves tables, trash cans, ladders, and a chain. Team 3D wins with a Power Bomb off the top rope through a table.

Tomko and A-Train square off against the Steiner Bros. Tomko sounds genuinely honored in the pre-match interview when he talks about facing them. He and A-Train win with that same double team move he does with AJ.

[Commercial Break]

Yuji Nagata is looking to regain his IWGP World Championship, which apparently he held at some point for 392 days. He says that he respects Kurt, but that Kurt is not the real champion. Kurt hasn't defended the title since he won it, and only won it from an American (Lesnar) in the first place.


At the 31 minute mark we finally get a commentary team and settle in for a real match. The production values in the Tokyo Dome not surprisingly put the Impact Zone to shame.

[Commercial Break]

It finally starts to make a little more sense that they only showed us one match, as they advertise the full event on DVD.

(1) Kurt Angle defeats Yuji Nagata

Angle and Nagata first trade punches, and then trade Belly to Belly Overhead Suplexes. Angle takes a breather and then comes in for some chain wrestling. The crowd is dead silent—it's creepy. Angle shoots off Nagata but gets taken down with a Drop Toe Hold. Nagata goes for a Crippler Crossface but Angle rolls out of the ring. They do some wrestling in the middle of the ring, but Angle gets frustrated and goes for some punches. Nagata counters with some kicks, but Angle gets him with a Suplex for one. Nagata pops up and takes Angle down with an elbow before locking in some sort of Sleeper. Angle powers out and clips Nagata's legs out from under him. Nagata rolls out, but Angle follows him and keeps working the leg. He drags him back into the ring and then cinches in a couple of Leg Locks. Nagata kicks him off, but Angle just comes back with a Figure Four. Nagata almost rolls him over into the Indian Death Lock, but Angle fights back onto his back. On his second attempt he does roll over, but Angle just rolls back. Nagata, realizing that the reversal isn't happening, drags himself over to the ropes. Angle continues to work the leg and knee, but Nagata nails a series of kicks from his back and is able to lock in an Arm Bar.

[Commercial Break]

We come back to see Angle nail a German Suplex, and then hang on for one more. Angle goes for the Olympic Slam, but it's reversed into a T-Bone Suplex for two. Nagata goes for a trio of Suplexes (which actually look almost like Brainbusters), but only gets two before Angle blocks it. Angle goes for a takedown but gets caught in the Crippler Crossface . Angle reverses directly into the Angle Lock, but Nagata rolls back into the Crossface. Apparently we're making up for not being able to enjoy Benoit's matches with Angle by just recreating them. Angle rolls back into the Angle lock, but Nagata kicks him off. When Kurt comes back at him he gets caught in the Crossface again, but is able to roll through directly into an Olympic Slam for a long two count. Angle goes for a Moonsault off the top rope but gets nothing. Nagata hits a big running knee in the corner, lifts Angle up onto the top rope and then nails a Super Belley to Belly Overhead Suplex for two. Nagata goes back to the Crossface. Angle slips out for a second, but there's nowhere to go. He looks like he's going to slip out again, and so Nagata transitions into a Rings of Saturn. Angle escapes and goes for an Angle Lock, but it's blocked and we end up with an all-out brawl. Angle wins the showdown with a clothesline, but gets up directly into a Suplex for a long two count. Nagata goes for a big running kick, but Angle catches his leg and cinces in a mean looking Angle Lock. Nagata tries to reach the ropes, but he's in the middle of the ring. It's over, but it was awesome while it lasted.
After the match Nagata and Angle share a big hug.

Angle has another press conference, where he talks about how good Nagata is and how much he loves his belts. They recap the show, which is funny when you consider that we didn't see most of it.

Overall: I'm not sure how to rank the first half hour, since it wasn't really a wrestling show as much as a documentary about wrestlers in Japan. Just taking the second half hour, the match was a rock-solid A.


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