Tanigawa Claims DREAM and Sengoku Will NOT Merge

Tanigawa and company have sure found a way to keep fans on the edge of their seats about K-1 Dynamite!! this year, as very few bouts have been announced at this point, but the speculation has once again reached a pitch that many will describe as feverous. Tanigawa gave an interview to Japanese magazine Kamipro recently and it has just hit the stands in Japan, apparently it is very telling. N.O.B. has done his usual great translating from various Japanese boards.

He says that they can do various things, but he himself wants a DREAM vs. SRC showdown, somewhere from 5 vs. 5 to 7 vs. 7. Besides Masato/Souwer, Ishii/Yoshida, K-1 Koshien, and superfights he wants all fights to be DREAM vs. SRC.

Tanigawa was also asked about the previous rumor of a dual broadcast (two events at different locations aired on the same program) of the events on TBS. He said that sponsors and stuff like that was too big of a hurdle. The same sponsors couldn’t be on the ring of the Dynamite!! and SRC 12 events, which would be a problem.

Much like we have been speculating, Tanigawa wants to do a Sengoku vs. DREAM type showdown and create a "feud" between the two companies. The biggest news would be that Tanigawa does not want the companies to merge, as he believes there needs to be "competition" and would like to see regular DREAM vs. Sengoku cards on the horizon. For the uninitiated, don't ever take Japanese mouthpieces seriously and be skeptical of FEG wanting an actual long-term competitor. 

Japanese wrestling and martial arts promotions have a long history of co-promotion, but there is always one company calling the shots, as well as being the true survivor. With WVR in a financial bind and FEG being a juggernaut it is a hard pill to swallow at the moment that World Victory Road as we know it will continue to exist. Once again, my bet is that we see Sengoku branded events in the future, and Sengoku vs. DREAM cards, but World Victory Road cannot continue on in this fashion without closing their doors I believe.