Nexess VI (2005): WrestleFile Historical Verdict

Black New Japan's Toru Yano and Togi Makabe defeated Osamu Nishimura and Yutaka Yoshie in 5:36 to open Nexess VI on May 14, 2005 at Tokyo Dome. WrestleFile scored the tag C / 6.3, a brief supporting result on a nine-match event whose climax changed the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Yano partnered Makabe, with Nishimura and Yoshie on the opposite side; this was not a title match or a different CHAOS lineup from later New Japan years. Hiroyoshi Tenzan's eventual heavyweight singles win over reigning Satoshi Kojima and C.T.U.'s junior tag title acquisition belonged to distinct later contests.

Minoru Suzuki defeated Alexander Otsuka in 4:46 in the second match of Tokyo Dome's Nexess VI event on May 14, 2005. The brief singles result received WrestleFile's C / 6.3, below the B- scores attached to several championship and special tag matches later in the card. Suzuki was the documented winner and Otsuka the opponent, with no specific finishing hold or championship at stake in the saved record. This bout should not be confused with Suzuki's later partnership with Yoshihiro Takayama or with Hiroyoshi Tenzan taking the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Satoshi Kojima in the main event.

C.T.U.'s Hirooki Goto and Minoru defeated defending IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Koji Kanemoto and Wataru Inoue in 14:42 to WIN those titles at Nexess VI. WrestleFile graded the third match B- / 7.1. Unlike the later October 2005 C.T.U. title retention against Negro Casas and Felino, this May Tokyo Dome contest was the moment Goto and Minoru became champions. Kanemoto and Inoue were the incumbents entering the match and the losing pair afterward. The new junior tag titleholders must also be distinguished from the IWGP Junior Heavyweight singles champion, Tiger Mask, who successfully defended a different belt against Black Tiger in the following match.

Tiger Mask defeated Black Tiger in 9:28 to RETAIN the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at Nexess VI in May 2005. WrestleFile graded this fourth bout C+ / 6.9. It was a junior singles title defense by Tiger Mask, contrasting with the previous match's title CHANGE to new junior tag champions Hirooki Goto and Minoru of C.T.U. Black Tiger would later defeat Tiger Mask for the individual IWGP junior title at Toukon Souzou in October, but that future result should not be applied retroactively to this May Dome defense. The source for this event credits Tiger Mask with the win and continued championship ownership.

Yuji Nagata defeated Tsuyoshi Kohsaka in 8:35 at Nexess VI, an individual fifth-match victory graded C+ / 6.5 by WrestleFile. The record does not identify a specific submission or knockout, so the historical analysis keeps the winner and duration distinct from the fighting backgrounds of the participants. Nagata's singles victory followed the Tiger Mask-Black Tiger junior championship defense and preceded Keiji Muto's contest with Ron Waterman. Neither of these supporting results installed a new IWGP Heavyweight Champion; that transfer was made by Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeating Satoshi Kojima in the closing match of May 14, 2005.

Keiji Muto defeated Ron Waterman in 11:16 in the sixth match of Tokyo Dome's May 2005 Nexess VI. WrestleFile graded the result C+ / 6.5, a supporting evaluation with no championship changing hands in the source. Muto and Waterman were singles opponents, not part of the inter-promotional tag featuring Tatsumi Fujinami and Mitsuharu Misawa against Liger and Chono two matches later. That special tag drew B- / 7.1, while Tenzan-Kojima's championship match ultimately carried B+ / 8.1. Keeping the independent matches separate preserves both participant identities and the specific result sequence of the event.

Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Manabu Nakanishi and Kendo Kashin of Team JAPAN in 17:59 to RETAIN the IWGP Tag Team Championship at Nexess VI. WrestleFile gave the seventh match B- / 7.4. Nakamura and Tanahashi were the defending heavyweight team champions, not challengers; Nakanishi and Kashin lost their attempt to take the belts. The result is different from the earlier IWGP junior team title TRANSFER to C.T.U.'s Goto and Minoru. And the final would produce another new champion, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, in the singles IWGP Heavyweight title match against Satoshi Kojima. These are three separate title lineages with distinct outcomes.

Tatsumi Fujinami and Mitsuharu Misawa defeated Jushin Thunder Liger and Masahiro Chono in 14:49 in the special Super Dream Match at Nexess VI. WrestleFile graded the penultimate tag B- / 7.1. Fujinami and Misawa formed the winning pairing; Liger and Chono were the losing team. Although the event emphasized the names and cross-promotion appeal of the lineup, no championship transfer is documented for this tag. The actual heavyweight singles title change occurred immediately afterward when Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat champion Satoshi Kojima, while C.T.U. had already taken the junior tag title earlier in the Tokyo Dome show.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated incumbent champion Satoshi Kojima in 19:34 to WIN the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Nexess VI on May 14, 2005. WrestleFile awarded the main event B+ / 8.1, the show's highest match score. The result is a new IWGP titleholder, not a successful defense by Kojima. At the preceding Nexess V in March, Kojima had retained against Shinsuke Nakamura by time-limit draw; the May Tokyo Dome finish must be recorded separately. The card also crowned C.T.U.'s Goto and Minoru as new junior tag champions, while Tiger Mask and heavyweight tag champions Nakamura/Tanahashi retained their own independent championships.