BUSHIDO
GOLDBERG and Toshiaki Kawada finally collide for Dangerous K's Triple Crown.
Disclaimer: None of the mentioned in this work is the property of the author. These are the property of the respective interests involved.
Chapter 1
It had to happen and it should have happened. All Japan Pro. Wrestling President Keiji Muto and General Nobuhiko Takada of HUSTLE had both agreed to have Toshiaki Kawada make his fourth defence of All Japan's prestigious Triple Crown at HUSTLE-3 against GOLDBERG. Unfortunately this dream match failed to materialise as first Kawada broke a finger during a match on All Japan's Champion Carnival tour. Although Kawada made a quick recovery, GOLDBERG re-injured his right arm while in training for the match. This injury was in part due to an encounter GOLDBERG had had with a limousine window years earlier that had torn his arm half to shreds, but that had not stopped some of his critics from suggesting that this was just an excuse. These cynics believed that the fearless GOLDBERG was afraid of the man they call Dangerous K, after all Kawada had almost crippled his friend turned bitter rival, Pro-Wrestling NOAH President Mitsuharu Misawa on January 23rd, 1999 with the infamous Ganso Bomb, when he had a broken arm himself. Kawada was also the man who knocked out cold The Gladiator also known as Mike Awesome on September 6th, 2003 on route to his fifth Triple Crown reign. The match was cancelled and Kawada successfully defended the International Heavyweight, United National and PWF Heavyweight Championships against Cactus Jack at HUSTLE-3 instead.
Prior to his match against Mrs. Foley's baby boy, Kawada accused GOLDBERG of not being a man. This was understandably considered as a cheap shot by Kawada against the former WWE Superstar dubbed The Man himself. Bill Goldberg was not freighted of Kawada as was suggested. The match would have been his first since his victory over Brock Lesnar at WRESTLE MANIA XX on his last night for World Wrestling Entertainment and GOLDBERG was excited by the opportunity to become the first gaijin (foreigner) since Vader to capture the Triple Crown. A less than 100 GOLDBERG had already destroyed All Japan's two future Triple Crown prospects, Satoshi Kojima and Taiyo Kea on consecutive days in a total combined time of eight minutes almost two years earlier. GOLDBERG had also defeated the former World Judo Champion and 1996 Olympic Games Judo Silver Medallist Naoya Ogawa at HUSTLE-1 as a member of The Monster Faction that General Takada had assembled to earn his shot against Kawada before he was struck down with injury. The injury extremely frustrated GOLDBERG as he had already been compelled to cancel his proposed match against Shinya Hashimoto at HUSTLE-2 at the behest of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon as it would take place just a week before WRESTLE MANIA XX. GOLDBERG desperately wanted to be a champion again and he desperately wanted to wrestle and defeat the best fighters that the world had to offer.
Although GOLDBERG had not aspired to become a professional wrestler, he had still grown up watching both Texas Championship Wrestling and Mid-South wrestling at his grandmother's house every Saturday evening. One of the wrestlers that Bill Goldberg had watched on those evenings was Bruiser Brody, who he admired for his sheer relentlessness. Brody had also been a legendary gaijin at All Japan along with another favourite of The Man, Terry Funk. GOLDBERG wanted to emulate and surpass both men's achievements in the promotion and thus guarantee his place in professional wrestling history. GOLDBERG also wanted to renew his lucrative contract with Dream Stage Entertainment, the parent company of HUSTLE and PRIDE FC, the Mixed Martial Arts promotion. GOLDBERG knew that his chance of a favourable contact renewal diminished with every show that he missed and that he had something to prove to General Takada and the management.
As soon as his film commitments, marriage to long-time girlfriend Lisa and their honeymoon had concluded, GOLDBERG contacted All Japan and Muto to request a match against Kawada for the Triple Crown. GOLDBERG later got a phone call from All Japan's Pacific Wrestling Federation President, the legendary Stan The Lariat Hansen informing him that his request had been accepted and that the match would be the main event of ROYAL ROAD TRADITION â 6 YEARS OF GIANT BABA'S DEATH on February 5th, 2005 at the Tokyo Nippon Budokan. GOLDBERG was both delighted and relieved when he heard Hansen's news for various reasons. Victory over Kawada would not only strengthen his chances of receiving a favourable contract renewal from DSE, but also capture the Triple Crown and bring with it bragging rights that would surely upset WWE, Vince McMahon and his son-in-law. Bill Goldberg's rescheduled match against Toshiaki Kawada for Dangerous K's Triple Crown had suddenly the most important match of his brief, but already storied career since he captured his second World Heavyweight Championship. GOLDBERG told Hansen to deliver a simple message to Kawada on his behalf before their match, "Kawada-san, YOU'RE NEXT!"
Chapter 2
He was unmoved; it was just another big gaijin as far as he was concerned. That did not mean that Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada underestimated his forthcoming opponent, but he certainly did not think Bill Goldberg was anyone special. It was an opinion shared by most of GOLDBERG's counterparts and most of the internet wrestling community, who were pulling for Dangerous K to live up to his nickname and reputation by crippling GOLDBERG permanently. The majority of these fans never forgave GOLDBERG for giving Bret Hit Man Hart three separate concussions during their WCW World Heavyweight Title match at STARRCADE, concussions that were in large part later responsible for Hart's retirement. Kawada would of course do everything possible to retain the Triple Crown, but he was not a sadist. Kawada was actually quietly pleased that he would finally face GOLDBERG in the ring.
When Kawada became injured just before HUSTLE-3, he did everything he could to ensure that he would be able to face GOLDBERG only for GOLDBERG himself to cancel the match with an injury of his own. Kawada had been less than impress with GOLDBERG's replacement for his V4 defence, Cactus Jack and expected GOLDBERG himself to at least offer more of challenge. Kawada was well aware of Bill Goldberg's reputation for quick and decisive victories over his opponents long before their match had been originally announced for HUSTLE-3 by General Nobuhiko Takada. Kawada had seen GOLDBERG work at first hand during his victories over Satoshi Kojima, Taiyo Kea, Rick Steiner, KroniK and Naoya Ogawa. Kawada saw how close Ogawa had been to victory over the former NFL linesman at HUSTLE-1 and was quietly confident of victory.
Kawada was a battle-hardened veteran who had contested and won many wars against Keiji Muto, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kensuke Sasaki, Kenta Kobashi and above all his former friend and eternal rival, The Untouchable Mitsuharu Misawa. Kawada had already planned in his mind to survival the critical first five-to-ten minutes of any GOLDBERG match by drawing GOLDBERG out to attack just enough in order to exhaust him. Kawada would continue to provoke GOLDBERG with a few strikes every time The Man dropped pace until he had tired sufficiently enough for Dangerous K to unleash the full and hard-hitting array of his arsenal.
Kawada's historic eleventh Triple Crown defence meant as much to him as his first defence did against Don Frye over a year ago. When Misawa, most of the talent roster and promotion officials left All Japan to form Pro-Wrestling NOAH in 2000, Kawada became the last living symbol of the Royal Road Tradition of puroresu (professional wrestling) created by the late Shohei Giant Baba. It was Kawada refusal to join NOAH out of loyalty to the spirit of Baba that had almost certainly saved All Japan from extinction. The promotion still continued to be plagued with problems that had occurred before, during and after the NOAH watershed such as a thin talent roster, heavy debts and Muto shifting the emphasis of All Japan away from the Royal Road Tradition towards North American-style Sports-Entertainment, but it had defied the odds and survived, thanks mainly to the effects and presence of Kawada. Ironically enough, Kawada's loyalty to All Japan had been questioned by Baba himself only a few years before his death because Dangerous K had made some mild criticism about the direction of the promotion at the time. Now no one could question not only his loyalty, but also his integrity and especially his bitterness towards Misawa.
For years Kawada had resented Misawa. Kawada resented how Misawa had received preference treatment from both Baba and All Japan's other great figurehead, Jumbo Tsuruta before their deaths. Kawada also resented Misawa's handsome facial appearance. Above all though, Dangerous K resented how Misawa turned his back on the promotion after being removed from the position of All Japan Pro. Wrestling President by a majority vote of the executive board on May 28th, 2000, despite everything Baba and Jumbo had done for him. When both were still alive, all the native wrestlers like Misawa, Kawada and Kobashi looked up to and admired Baba and Jumbo as father-like figures, yet it became clear to Kawada that Misawa was both Baba and Jumbo's favourite 'child' and would be treated as such. While Baba purchased the Tiger Mask persona from Antonio Inoki's New Japan Pro-Wrestling for Misawa, Kawada was sent away on learn excursions to North America, where for a time he was presented as a man supposedly from Seoul. While Baba groomed Misawa to replace Jumbo as the promotion's ace, he allegedly wrote off Kawada as being too small to be a major player in All Japan. Yet though dedication, natural talent, sheer hard work and a little luck, Kawada had become a major player in the promotion. Despite this though, Kawada would never replace the equally talented Misawa as the ace on a level playing field, even though Dangerous K believed himself to be just that little bit better than his old school friend.
It was only when Misawa left All Japan that Kawada eventually emerged his shadow to become the promotion's ace despite the injuries he had acquired through years of intense fighting and the turmoil around him. As the ace, Kawada had vowed to conduct himself as both Baba and Rikidozan, the father of Japanese puroresu had in previous decades against all comers, particularly gaijins. Kawada had already seen the challenges for his Triple Crown from Frye, Foley and Jamal, All Japan's gaijin ace. Kawada was determined to continue in this vain against the most formidable gaijin threat yet in GOLDBERG at what was until a year previously, All Japan's holy palace â the Tokyo Nippon Budokan.