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by Sochiro Mizaki, November 15th, 1998 
Interfederational events have become a huge market in American
wrestling. Such events as the IIeW, the Night Of Glory, and the Jay
Ralston Memorial Card drew huge ratings, and hosted outstanding
matches. But many people notcied something missing. The emphasis
in these events was on the big-name American stars, the U.S.
headliners. Though international-style wrestling was represented, it
usually amounted to little more than token matches.However, fans of the exciting style exemplified by cruiserweights around the world, and particularly some of puroresu's finest, will soon have an event that will cater to their tastes. It is the ICTC... the International Cruiserweight Tournament of Champions. Many of the top stars, and exciting newcomers seen in Japanese wrestling will be on hand, as a three-bracket, 24-man tournament will display some of the most skilled wrestlers in the world, and present the winner an opportunity to shine with all the eyes of the world on them. Such known puroresu stars as "Kill Devil" Hakisho Shiniko, and The Banshee will be in the tournament, as will exciting young prospect Tasogare no Prince, and a man who is no stranger to Japanese fans, Greg "Millionaire" Miller. The Egg Dome itself will host one of the three brackets, a bracket which contains some of the best unheralded cruisers in the world, as well as the Final Night... the culmination of the entire event, certainly one of the hottest tickets in town. Early projections say that when tickets go on sale in a week, the Final Night card will sell out in two days tops. The first and second rounds of the Japanese bracket are expected to sell out within the week. Oddsmakers have projected the two favorites out of the Mexican Division; "Ladykiller" Chris Tyler and "Mr. Main Event" Chris Douglas. But as puroresu fans all know... in this style of match, ANYTHING can happen. Shikita, Banshee, Prince, and Miller are all projected as possible upset winner candidates, as are Johnny Glamour, Sid Starr, Alex Extreme, Lawrence Williams, V.D. Vitrone, Shawn Harrison, Bad Boy McCade, Andrew Tucker, and the Trixxster. Truthfully, ANYONE in the tournament could walk away the winner! Possibly even more significant, is the fact that some of the feature non-tournament matches will be sponsored by Japanese leagues, bringing the quality of competition to the world's eye. In a match that promises to be nothing short of spectacular, TORA Wanizame faces the Kabuki Kid, in a G-Pro sponsored Dream Match. SJPW will host a six-man tag team match, which will truly have an international flavor, as luchadores Metamorphico, Juventud Sagrada, and Scorpio will meet puroresuers Angel Taboo, "Young Dragon" Hideoh Kanamera, and "Black Dragon" Masata Kurasawa. Truly, these matches have a chance to truly shine, and show the world why the 'pure' style of wrestling is number one to it's fans and followers. ICTC founder Dan McQuade was quoted as saying "The Japanese style of wrestling goes very well with Cruiserweight action, so Japan hosting the Final Night was a sound move. And we picked the Tokyo Dome because we knew it would sell out quickly, and get a great, enthusiastic crowd." Anyone interested in recieving information on the card should contact it's organizer, Dan McQuade, at dmcquade@uscom.com 
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