NWA World Welterweight Tournament, 2001
The NWA World Middleweight Championship, promoted by Toryumon in 2001, was declared vacant after a December 15, 2000 title match. Susumu Mochizuki, the challenger, defeated Keni'chiro Arai and was initially awarded the title. The match was subquentially thrown out, due to outside inteference, and the title was declared vacant.
Toryumon held a two stage, 7 wrestler tournament to determine a new champion. On Janurary 22, 2001, all seven men particpated in a battle royal. The winner, Yasushi Kanda, earned a first round bye in the next stage of the tournament, and eliminations determined the rest of the seeding.
Keni'chiro Arai--
|Keni'chiro Arai--
Genki Horiguchi-- |
|Keni'chiro Arai--
Susumu Mochizuki- | |
|Susumu Mochizuki- |
Ryo Saito-------- |
|Keni'chiro Arai
Darkness Dragon-- |
|double CO-------- |
Dragon Kid------- | |
|Yasushi Kanda----
Yasushi Kanda---- |
|Yasushi Kanda----
BYE--------------
The second stage of the tournament, single elimination matches, were held on Janurary 29, in Korakuen Hall. The last first round matchup resulted in a double countout, so Kanda received a second bye, taking him all the way to the finals without a match. Keni'chiro Arai defeated Kanda, winning the championship.
It is understood, as a result of these events, Keni'chiro Arai is considered to have back to back title reigns (with a vacancy in between). It's believed Susumu Mochizuki gets no official credit for the title match that would get thrown out, but that's a technical and disputed point.
