Takahashi wins NEO Japan Cup

I finally managed to find a couple of pics from NEO's Aug. 23 Itabashi Green Hall show. This was the final of NEO Japan Cup and the winner of the round robin tournament gets to job to Kyoko...er...gets a NEO Singles & NWA Pacific Title shot at Kyoko Inoue's 20th Anniversary show Oct. 4 at the Kawasaki City Gym. The problem was the fans who blogged about this show don't usually take pictures and the only one who took any pics doesn't take a lot. Whoever wins the two zones has a match the following day to determine the winner. Misae Genki won the Red Zone with a win over Natsuki*Taiyo. So it came down to a Blue Zone match between Nanae Takahashi & Yoshiko Tamura. If Tamura wins, she ties Takahashi. Instead it was a 20 minute draw and then Takahashi defeated Genki at the Aug. 24 Cinema Club show to win the NEO Japan Cup. It was reportedly a really good match. I'm not sure where Tamura goes from here but I'll have some ideas about that in a moment.

So NEO is running this Oct. 4 show in a building that they're not going to be able to fill. So you can be sure NEO president Koda will pull out all the stops. They held a press conference last week and Kyoko Kimura was teasing Etsuko Mita about her current tag team partner Makoto. She suggested that maybe Mita should place a call to Mexico and get her real tag team partner. Mita defended Makoto but then Makoto started crying and said she's trying to get stronger but now she's weak and maybe Kimura is right and Mita should call Mima Shimoda. So now we know where they're going with it. Shimoda has responded in a coy manner stating she is very happy in Mexico teaming with HIROKA but she would like to come to her old pal's anniversary show. She wants to think about it. Meanwhile, Koda has been whining about what is being done with the Daily Sports Tag Team Championships recently won by Kayoko Haruyama & Tsubasa Kuragaki. Haruyama has been flapping her gums a lot lately and that was a problem with creating a title without any plan for its future. It will likely be defended on the Oct. 4 show and I expect Yoshiko Tamura & Misae Genki to be the challengers. A little consolation prize for the NEO regulars.