Kris & David are joined by Alan Counihan (@Alan4L) for the first part (of two) of this week's BTS, as we discuss the week that was July 7-13, 2004. This was a Patron-requested show, selected by CasualWayne, who we thank for his contribution. We lead off with Pro Wrestling NOAH running their first Tokyo Dome show, headlined by Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama in one of the best matches of the era, and also featuring the first ever meeting between Keiji Mutoh & Mitsuharu Misawa, as they faced off in a tag team match. We also talk about Rusher Kimura's retirement, plus give a detailed rundown of every match on the show. We also go in depth on everything else in Japan, including the real stories of why Hiroshi Tanahashi didn't jump to All Japan in 2002 and the genesis of Dragon Gate, with information that very few even knew. Alan also joins us for the WWE section, where we talk about the Vengeance PPV featuring the Evolution/Eugene angle, as well as Raw & SmackDown that week. Raw also includes the beginning of the Diva Search, which would become (in)famous for many reasons. Excellent stuff here, so you’d better not miss out!!!!

Timestamps:

0:00:00 Japan: NOAH, AJPW, NJPW, Zero-One, DDT, Osaka Pro, PWC, Ryuma Go, Ultimo Dragon, Dragon Gate, GAEA, & Jaguar’s Cup

3:12:27 Classic Commercial Break

3:16:21 Halftime: Housekeeping/In-House Notes

3:31:09 WWE

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