In April 2002, Yoshihiro Takayama re-debuted in New Japan Pro Wrestling by attacking Yuji Nagata after he had won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Tadao Yasuda in Nippon Budokan and began a long running feud with Nagata. Takayama quickly skyrocketed up the card and became one of the most well-known pro wrestlers in Japan thanks to his fights in Pride Fighting Championship. In 2002, Antonio Inoki declared the NWF Heavyweight Championship would return, and a tournament was set up throughout late 2002 and early 2003. At Wrestling World 2003, Takayama defeated Tsuyoshi Kosaka in the final of the tournament to win the vacant title. While Takayama was NWF Champion, Nagata had held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for over a year. A unification match was later set up for Ultimate Crush, where the winner would get both belts. On January 10, 2003, Masahiro Chono debuted for Pro Wrestling Noah, teaming with Mitsuharu Misawa in a loss to Kenta Kobashi and Akira Taue in what was called a "dream match", pitting All Japan's top stars of the 1990s against New Japan's top villain of the 1990s. On April 13, Chono was in attendance to watch Kobashi successfully defend the GHC Heavyweight Championship against Tamon Honda at Ariake Coliseum, and after the match, was invited to ringside by Kobashi. Chono expressed his wish to challenge for the GHC Heavyweight Title in the Tokyo Dome on May 2, in what he called a "Mr. Pro Wrestling vs Mr. Pro Wrestling" match. In early 2003, Kazunari Murakami and the Makai Club began a feud with Michiyoshi Ohara's Crazy Dog's stable, with the two exchanging wins throughout the start of the year. On January 4, Ohara teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura to beat Murakami and Tadao Yasuda at Wrestling World 2003, and on March 21 Makai Club beat Crazy Dogs, however, Masahiro Chono came to their aid during a post match beatdown and helped the Crazy Dogs stuff Makai Club president Kantaro Hoshino into a doghouse, something that would become a trademark of the Crazy Dogs. During this time, Crazy Dogs recruited MMA fighter Enson Inoue to join the group and combat Kazunari Murakami, and a match was later set up to pit Murakami against Inoue in the Tokyo Dome.
Storylines
Ultimate Crush featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
Results
Aftermath
After beating Nagata, Yoshihiro Takayama defended both the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and NWF Heavyweight Championship separately throughout the rest of 2003. He successfully defended the NWF title against Shinsuke Nakamura, Tadao Yasuda and Minoru Suzuki, and successfully defended the IWGP title against Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Masahiro Chono twice, including in a cage deathmatch. Takayama dropped the IWGP title to Tenzan on November 3, but retained the NWF title until January 4, 2004, when he lost to IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a unification match, effectively retiring the NWF Heavyweight Championship once again. Enson Inoue and Kazunari Murakami would face off once more in June, with Inoue once again winning by referee stoppage. After the Crazy Dogs began to break up, Inoue primarily aligned himself with Yuji Nagata and the rest of the New Japan sekigun before leaving New Japan in early 2004.
