Giant Baba Memorial Cup

Last updated
Giant Baba Memorial Cup
Promotion All-Japan Pro Wrestling
DateJanuary 2-January 14, 2002
City Tokyo, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Osaka and Yokohama
Venue Korakuen Hall (January 2–3)
Hakata Star Lane (January 5)
Nagasaki NCC Studio (January 6)
Sasebo Sports Bunka Hall (January 7)
Kokura Northern Gymnasium (January 8)
Kagoshima Prefectural Gymnasium (January 9)
Osaka Central Gymnasium (January 11)
Yokohama Bunka Gym (January 14)
Attendance2,000 (January 2–3) [1] [2]
2,200 (January 5) [3]
650 (January 6) [4]
1,600 (January 7) [5]
1,200 (January 8) [6]
1,350 (January 9) [7]
1,500 (January 11) [8]
4,800 (January 14) [9]
chronology
 Previous
Giant Baba Memorial Spectacular
Next 
Giant Baba Memorial Six Man Tag Team Tournament

The Giant Baba Memorial Cup was a professional wrestling memorial event produced by the All-Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) promotion, which took place from January 2 to January 14, 2002 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Hakata Star Lane in Fukuoka, the Nagasaki NCC Studio, Sasebo Sports Bunka Hall, Kokura Northern Gymnasium, Kagoshima Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka Central Gymnasium, and the Bunka Gym in Yokohama, Japan. It was the second event held in honor of AJPW founder Shohei "Giant" Baba preceding the Giant Baba Memorial Spectacular in 2001 and was followed by the Giant Baba Memorial Six Man Tag Team Tournament three months later. Thirty-one professional wrestling matches were featured on AJPW's "New Year Giant Series" tour over a three-week period, with the opening rounds, semi-finals and the final match airing on Gaora TV. [10] [11]

The Giant Baba Memorial Cup, held as a round robin tournament, had a uniquely different point system traditionally used by the Champion Carnival or World's Strongest Tag Determination League. Winners were awarded points on the duration of the match rather than simply defeating an opponent. [10] [11]

The participants were separated into two separate blocks; Shigeo Okumura, Nobukazu Hirai, Hideki Hosaka, Hi69, Mitsuya Nagai and Ryuji Hijikata were in "Block A" and Nobutaka Araya, Yaz Urano, Tomoaki Honma, Gran Naniwa, Kazushi Miyamoto, and Masato Tanaka were in "Block B". The winners of each block, Mitsuya Nagai and Nobutaka Araya, faced each other in the tournament finals at the Yokohama Bunka Gym on January 14, 2002. [10] [11]

Results

The Giant Baba Memorial Cup was a round-robin tournament consisting of two six-man blocks, and running from January 2 to January 14, 2002.

Final standings [11]
Block ABlock B
Mitsuya Nagai 24Nobutaka Araya21
Shigeo Okumura 14 Masato Tanaka 19
Nobukazu Hirai 11 Tomoaki Honma 8
Hideki Hosaka8 Kazushi Miyamoto 8
Ryuji Hijikata 8 Gran Naniwa 7
Hi690Yasu Urano0
Block A [10] Mitsuya Nagai Nobukazu Hirai Ryuji Hijikata Hi69 Shigeo Okumura Hideki Hosaka
Mitsuya Nagai XNagai (4:27)Nagai (1:59)Nagai (3:00)Nagai (2:19)Nagai (7:16)
Nobukazu Hirai Nagai (4:27)XFujiwara (9:14)Hirai (5:18)Nagai (15:58)Hirai (4:30)
Ryuji Hijikata Nagai (1:59)Hijikata (9:05)XHijikata (7:41)Okumura (4:23)Hosaka (10:33)
Hi69Nagai (3:00)Harai (5:18)Hikata (7:41)XOkumura (2:27)Hosaka (2:09)
Shigeo Okumura Nagai (2:19)Hirai (15:58)Okumura (14:23)Okumura (2:27)XOkumura (5:13)
Hideki HosakaNagai (7:16)Hirai (4:30)Hosaka (10:33)Hosaka (2:09)Okumura (5:13)X
Block B [10] Kazushi Miyamoto Masato Tanaka Tomoaki Honma Yasu Urano Gran Naniwa Nobutaka Araya
Kazushi Miyamoto XTanaka (5:54)Homna (7:13)Miyamoto (8:54)Miyamoto (8:06)Araya (2:08)
Masato Tanaka Tanaka (5:54)XTanaka (7:16)Tanaka (4:16)Tanaka (3:17)Draw (20:00)
Tomoaki Honma Homna (7:13)Tanaka (7:16)XHonma (8:16)Naniwa (12:24)Araya (1:14)
Yasu UranoMiyamoto (8:54)Tanaka (4:16)Honma (8:16)XNaniwa (6:37)Araya (1:48)
Gran Naniwa Miyamoto (8:06)Tanaka (3:17)Naniwa (12:24)Naniwa (6:37)XAraya (3:29)
Nobutaka ArayaAraya (2:08)Draw (20:00)Araya (1:14)Araya (1:48)Araya (3:29)X
Final [10] [11]
   
A1 Mitsuya NagaiSub
B1 Nobutaka Araya 18:35

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  2. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW New Year Giant Series 2002 - Tag 2". Events. Cagematch.de. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18.
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  7. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW New Year Giant Series 2002 - Tag 7". Events. Cagematch.de. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18.
  8. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW New Year Giant Series 2002 - Tag 8". Events. Cagematch.de. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18.
  9. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW New Year Giant Series 2002 - Tag 9". Events. Cagematch.de. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18.
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  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Giant Baba Cup". Misc. All Japan Events. ProWrestlingHistory.com.