NJPW held night one of their Strong Showdown tapings Saturday night at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
Minoru Suzuki vs. Chris Dickinson headlined night one. Sunday’s show will be headlined by Suzuki and Lance Archer vs. Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston in a Philadelphia street fight.
Below are night one’s results.
*Thanks to Travis L.*
**********
Hikuleo defeated Kevin Knight
Hikuleo won by pinfall with a Tongan Driver.
BATEMAN, Misterioso & Barrett Brown defeated Brody King, Karl Fredericks & The DKC
BATEMAN won with the This is a Kill tombstone, pinning The DKC.
JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson defeated David Finlay, Alex Coughlin & Yuya Uemura
Nelson pinned Uemura after a springboard cutter.
Juice Robinson defeated El Phantasmo
Juice won by pinfall and reportedly debuted a new finisher.
Alex Zayne defeated Ariya Daivari
Zayne won by pinfall with a Taco Driver.
Fred Rosser & Rocky Romero defeated Tom Lawlor & Danny Limelight
Rosser pinned Lawlor after reversing a rear naked choke.
Ren Narita & Clark Connors defeated Will Ospreay & TJP
Narita pinned TJP after a bridging suplex.
Jay White defeated Fred Yehi
White won by pinfall with the Blade Runner.
Minoru Suzuki defeated Chris Dickinson
Suzuki won by pinfall with the Gotch-style piledriver.
Jay White vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Juice Robinson vs. Moose and the debut of Buddy Matthews were announced for NJPW Battle in the Valley on November 13 in San Jose.
Tonight’s episode featured part two of NJPW Strong’s Autumn Attack series from Texas.
Chris Dickinson defeated Alex Coughlin via submission
These two were great. The first five minutes took place almost exclusively on the ground. Dickinson had the advantage and maintained top-position over most of it, but Coughlin gave Dickinson a hard time while on defense. He showed off a few impressive escapes, but Dickinson held the advantage.
Coughlin powered out of Dickinson’s hold, and later the two exchanged hard chops and big elbows. Coughlin’s chest turned red. These two are similar in a lot of ways, actually, though Dickinson seems to have a deeper martial arts background.
Coughlin eventually turned the tide when he took Dickinson out with a flying shoulderblock. He put Dickinson down with a few power suplexes. Dickinson would later use a cheap shot on the rope to regain his advantage, then used a single-arm suplex out of the corner. He’d continue to focus on Coughlin’s arm and was aggressive with his Kimura lock attempts, sticking to Coughlin like glue. He transitioned to a more traditional cross armbreaker and got Coughlin to tap after kicking Coughlin’s hands in order to break Coughlin’s grip and extend the arm. Again, great stuff from both.
Mega Coaches (Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero) defeated West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs)
The crowd chanted for Taguchi before things got underway. He feigned the hip attack early. Isaacs used a nice vertical suplex on him before he tagged out to Nelson.
Romero and Nelson had a good exchange next. When Taguchi tagged in, we saw some Mega Coaching spots which saw him and Romero exchange baseball coaching signals. Taguchi coached Romero to do Forever Clotheslines to Nelson in the corner.
On the floor, Isaacs, who wasn’t the legal man, dropped Romero on the apron and tossed him back in the ring. The WCWC double-teamed Romero for a bit, then posed. Somehow they got hold of a Luka Doncic t-shirt, the star player from the Dallas Mavericks, threw it on Romero and stomped him.
Romero was able to counter WCWC’s offensive with a swinging DDT and tagged out to Taguchi, who went on a hip attack frenzy next. He cleaned house and tagged back out to Romero, who’d use a double-frankensteiner on WCWC. Later, the Mega Coaches scored tandem hip attacks.
The finish came when Nelson came off the top rope with a back elbow, but Romero countered it with a backslide for the win. Really nice match.
The Mega Coaches celebrated with a jumping hip-attack high five in the ring. Before they exited, Romero recovered the aforementioned Doncic t-shirt and the two held it up in celebration.
Juice Robinson, TJP, Lio Rush & Clark Connors defeated Bullet Club (Hikuleo, Chris Bey, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) via disqualification
The first part of this was pretty much Bullet Club working over Lio Rush. We saw a number of back-rake variations, “inner-thigh” stomps, even a titty-twister, all to Rush. After a few minutes, Rush tagged out. Connors and TJP did some double-team work, and later Juice Robinson cleaned house. The match spilled out onto the floor where pretty much everyone in the match did a dive, with Robinson scoring the final plancha from the top rope down onto everyone on the floor.
Ahead of their upcoming bullrope match, Robinson carried a bullrope to the ring before the match, but as the babyface team turned up the heat towards the end, Hikuleo grabbed the bullrope and decked Robinson with it inside the ring, thus disqualifying Bullet Club from the match. BC taunted Robinson and posed over him before the end of the segment.
Will Ospreay defeated Karl Fredericks
They aired a promo package before the match, setting the story up between the two. At NJPW Resurgence in August, Ospreay called the LA Dojo students “losers,” and Fredericks responded on Fighting Spirit Unleashed saying he’d defend his “family” at the Dojo.
They collided early on. Fredericks landed a cross-body block. Ospreay slowed things down a bit and forced Fredericks into his groove, working him over, at one point landing a diving knee drop to Fredericks who was draped over the apron. Fredericks fired back with a low dropkick à la Katsuyori Shibata. He did the same minutes later when they fought on the floor.
Ospreay nailed Fredericks with a Phenomenal Forearm and Cheeky Nandos kick. Fredericks fired a counter enzuigiri kick. The two went move for move at one point in the match, German suplex for German suplex, elbow for elbow.
When Ospreay went for the OsCutter, Fredericks countered with a dropkick, then laid Ospreay out with a spinebuster. He attempted Manifest Destiny, but Ospreay countered with a hook kick the bonked Fredericks in the face. Fredericks then struck Manifest Destiny, but Ospreay rolled to the floor to avoid getting pinned.
Fredericks shoved referee Jeremy Marcus and elbowed Ospreay, folding him. Ospreay landed a Spanish Fly out of nowhere, then connected with the OsCutter, but Fredericks kicked out. That’s big. Ospreay landed a pop-up elbow, then finished Fredericks off, finally, with the Hidden Blade back elbow for the win. This was excellent.
Ospreay elbowed a downed Fredericks after the match. What a heel. Clark Connors made the save and speared Ospreay. On the floor, Ospreay grabbed the mic and said he’d “even the odds.” Then, Connors’ tag team partner and former Super J-Cup opponent TJP appeared. His initials flashed on the screen along with the United Empire logo. He ambushed Connors and laid him out. TJP said he’d help Ospreay show Connors what a “real killer” looked like. Ospreay and TJP celebrated before leaving the ring.
Final thoughts:
Was tonight’s main event the best mach in NJPW Strong history? There’s certainly an argument to be made for it. The entire show felt like a bigger deal than a typical episode of Strong, similar to last week’s. Aside from the relatively low production quality, the Autumn Attack series has been a really good showcase of both top stars and new talent getting their chance to shine without getting overshadowed by bigger stars like Hiroshi Tanahashi or Tomohiro Ishii.
If you haven’t caught the show before tonight, this might be a nice jumping on point, as it had both a great lineup of matches, but also featured forward motion on the creative side of things. Robinson and Hikuleo built towards their Bullrope Match, Lio Rush and Taiji Ishimori teased what could be an awesome upcoming singles match, and TJP joined United Empire alongside Ospreay, while Fredericks and Connors continue to cement themselves as the homegrown babyface stars of the show.
Buddy Matthews will debut for the promotion on the Saturday, November 13 Battle in the Valley event in San Jose, California.
NJPW made the announcement with a video promo during tonight’s NJPW Strong tapings in Philadelphia. The video can be seen below. The company later tweeted the video, which Matthews then retweeted.
The tweet read:
“‘They say as one door closes, another opens… Maybe it was staring at me the entire time.’
Buddy Matthews is coming.”
Matthews joins an announced lineup for Battle in the Valley that includes Jay White, Will Ospreay, Tomohiro Ishii and Juice Robinson. No matches have been made official for the event as of yet.
Matthews was released from his WWE contract on June 2, 2021. He had been with the company since signing in March 2013. After a lengthy run in NXT, Matthews joined the 205 Live brand when it was part of WWE’s main roster in 2018.
Matthews had a run on SmackDown in 2019, but had his most high-profile run after joining Raw in the 2019 WWE Draft. With Paul Heyman as Executive Director of Raw, Matthews and Aleister Black had a series of matches late in the year and in early 2020 that served to elevate both.
Matthews aligned with Seth Rollins and feuded with Black and the Mysterio family in 2020. Matthews later turned face and began a storyline romance with Mysterio’s daughter Aalyah. The romance storyline was later abruptly dropped.
Matthews would make only a couple of more WWE appearances after the Mysterio story was discontinued. His appearance in the 2021 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the April 9, 2021 edition of SmackDown would be his last in WWE.
The NJPW appearance will be the most high-profile for Matthews since leaving WWE, though he wrestled a pair of independent matches in September following his non-compete expiring.
An indie match against Black for Battleground Championship Wrestling on December 18 in Philadelphia has also been announced.
It’s amazing how far ahead of Fujita that Oiwa is. Oiwa is already good. The difference really shows.
Hiromu and Oiwa began and picked up where they left off the other night with Hiromu just chopping Oiwa half to death. Fujita jumped in for a double tackle on Hiromu and some of the only Young Lion offense of the match. BUSHI and Hiromu took turns working the young boys over.
Fujita made a brief comeback on BUSHI and got a crab applied, but Hiromu broke it up with chops. Hiromu went to the floor with Oiwa and sent him into the barricade as BUSHI used a Boston crab to quickly submit Fujita.
B Block: Chase Owens defeated Taichi (w/Miho Abe) (12:05)
Taichi must be hurting, because he hasn’t done much of anything in his last two matches. Owens took the bulk of the match and tried to work enough or both of them.
They started with some comedy, as Owens acted like he wanted a sumo match. He would posture up, then beg off and drink from a water bottle. They brawled outside. Owens reversed a whip into the barricade and followed with a dropkick into the barricade.
Owens worked over Taichi’s taped ribs. Taichi got a couple of hope spots with an axe bomber and a backdrop suplex, but Owens dominated. Owens asked Miho Abe to kiss him, she declined.
Taichi went for an axe bomber, but Owens cut him off at the pass and hit two v-triggers. He followed with a legdrop off the top and a package piledriver for the pin.
B Block: SANADA defeated Hirooki Goto (15:32)
They had a good closing stretch, but the match itself was nothing special.
After trading hammerlocks and headlocks, Goto sent SANADA outside after a shoulder tackle and a clothesline over the top. Back in, Goto worked a chinlock. SANADA pulled Goto off the second rope and rolled him outside.
SANADA sent Goto into the barricade. Back inside, SANADA used a paradise lock and a chinlock. Goto came back with a lariat, a heel kick, a bulldog and a misdirection lariat. SANADA fought off an ushigoroshi and hit a plancha.
Goto avoided a springboard dropkick and hit the ushigoroshi. They traded strikes. SANADA hit Goto with an ushigoroshi. Goto tried to use Skull End as they went for each other’s big moves, but SANADA reversed and hit a neckbreaker. SANADA missed a moonsault.
SANADA got Skull End. Goto reversed into a neckbreaker for a near fall. SANADA blocked a mid kick. SANADA used a cradle and an O’Connor roll for near falls. Goto escaped Skull End and cradled SANADA for two.
Goto hit a GTR. He missed with a lariat and SANADA used an O’Connor roll into a bridge for the pin.
B Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated YOSHI-HASHI (14:13)
Very good stuff.
They traded headlocks. Tana hit a crossbody off the second rope and a dropkick to the knee. Tana worked over the left leg with a leg lock and an Indian deathlock. YH tried to fire back with chops, but Tana continued to keep him grounded by kicking at the left leg.
Tana missed a charge into the corner. YH hit a headhunter, chops and a neckbreaker. They did a great sequence where YH hit a vertical suplex, but Tana held on and hit twist and shout after landing. YH hit another vertical suplex off the grip. Tana hit two more twist and shouts from the position.
They traded strikes. YH ducked a slingblade. Each teased a dragon suplex, but YH was the first to land it. YH hit a lariat for a two count. Tana used an inside cradle for a near fall. YH hit a lariat. YH hit a backbreaker and a meteora.
YH hit kumagoroshi for a two count. Tana blocked Kharma and hit another twist and shout. They charged each other like rams. Tana hit slingblade. YH popped up and hit a lariat. Tana hit another slingblade for a near fall.
Tana hit a standing High Fly Flow. He followed with a second High Fly Flow to get the pin.
B Block: Jeff Cobb defeated EVIL (w/Dick Togo) (16:45)
This was the overbooked mess that you would expect.
EVIL rolled to the floor immediately. Togo jumped on the apron for a distraction. EVIL jumped Cobb from behind, but Cobb overcame the attack to hit a leapfrog dropkick. EVIL used another distraction from Togo to take Cobb to the floor.
EVIL sent Cobb into the barricade. EVIL hit his baseball swing chair shot. Togo exposed a buckle. EVIL hit chops in the corner, then raked Cobb’s face. EVIL bumped Cobb into the barricade and the ring announcer.
Cobb made his comeback on the floor. He sat EVIL at the timekeeper’s table and bumped Togo into him. Back inside, Cobb hit uppercut forearms and a standing moonsault for a near fall. Cobb went for Tour of the Islands, but EVIL blocked with an eye gouge and slammed Cobb into the exposed buckle.
Cobb blocked Everything is EVIL. Togo jumped on the apron. Cobb tried to bump EVIL into Togo, but knocked the ref out instead. Cobb hit a powerslam. Togo hit Cobb with a chair. EVIL hit Darkness Falls for a two count. EVIL sent Cobb into the exposed buckle, but Cobb fired out with a lariat into a double down.
Togo interfered to prevent a Tour of the Islands. Cobb hit a spin cycle, but bumped the ref again. Togo choked Cobb with his ligature. Cobb hit a thrust kick to Togo. EVIL hit a low blow to Cobb.
Cobb ducked a chair shot and hit a thrust kick, sending the chair into EVIL. Cobb then hit Tour of the Islands for the pin.
B Block: Tama Tonga (w/Jado) defeated Kazuchika Okada (24:44)
Very good match with a great series of avoiding each other’s finishers in the closing stretch.
They began with some chain wrestling. Okada had the slight edge, then hit a slingshot senton to establish the advantage. Tonga rolled outside. Okada tried a whip into the barricade. Tonga reversed, but Okada jumped over the barricade to avoid impact. Tonga then hit a Gun Stun over the barricade to take over.
Okada beat the count back in. Tonga used a snap suplex and a chinlock. Okada came back with a flapjack. Okada sent Tonga outside and into the barricade. Okada blocked another Gun Stun on the barricade and hit a draping DDT off the barricade.
Back in, Okada went for the Money Clip. Tonga fought off the first attempt. Okada got it on a second time, but Tonga forced a break. Okada hit a DDT, a top rope elbow and a dropkick. Tonga ducked a Rainmaker and hit veleno.
Okada blocked a Tongan Twist. Tonga blocked landslide and hit a complete shot, then hit the Tongan Twist for a near fall. Okada avoided a Gun Stun and hit a spinning Rainmaker, but could not follow up.
Okada ducked a superman punch, but Tonga connected on an enzuigiri. Tonga avoided a shotgun dropkick attempt. Okada blocked a splash in the corner. Tonga blocked an air raid crash and hit a death valley bomb and supreme flow for a near fall.
Okada hit a backdrop and a dropkick. Okada hit a spinning tombstone. Tonga ducked the Rainmaker. Okada blocked a Gun Stun. Tonga avoided a dropkick. Tonga ducked another Rainmaker and hit a bloody Sunday DDT.
Okada blocked another Gun Stun and tried to reverse into landslide, but Tonga reversed that into a Gun Stun, then hit a double underhook piledriver to secure the upset.
Okada vs. Cobb on Wednesday will be for a spot in the finals. Okada needs a win, Cobb can advance with a win or a draw.
**********
Here is the lineup for the next show:
G1 Climax 31 night 17, Monday, October 18, 5:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
The G1 Climax 31 A Block continued today in Sendai.
Shingo Takagi took on The Great-O-Khan in the main event, while Zack Sabre Jr. faced Toru Yano in the semi-main.
KENTA vs. Tanga Loa and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yujiro Takahashi were the other tournament matches.
Kota Ibushi vs. Satoshi Kojima, plus Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kosei Fujita were the non-tournament matches today.
Here are results and a report from the show.
**********
Recommended matches —
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Kota Ibushi vs. Satoshi Kojima
Report —
Hiromu Takahashi defeated Kosei Fujita (7:46)
Hiromu gave Fujita a little bit more than he gave Oiwa last night, but not much. They had the same basic match.
Oiwa wanted to wrestle, but Hiromu just chopped his chest raw. Oiwa hit a slam, Hiromu cut him off with more chops. Hiromu went for a crab, but Oiwa used a small package for a near fall.
Hiromu hit more chops, then used the Boston crab for the submission.
Kota Ibushi defeated Satoshi Kojima (14:56)
I’m not even sure Ibushi broke a sweat here and he still had a great match. This was very good stuff.
They began simply, trading side headlocks and shoulder tackles. Kojima went for a plancha, but Ibushi got out of the way. Ibushi sent Kojima into the barricade and hit a big boot. Ibushi hit a slingshot splash back into the ring for a near fall.
After a rest hold, Ibushi won a striking battle. Ibushi hit a springboard dropkick. Ibushi missed an elbow in the corner, allowing Kojima to hit machine gun chops and his top rope elbow for a near fall as the momentum shifted.
Kojima hit a rolling elbow. Ibushi hit a flying mid kick. Ibushi hit a combination of strikes and a standing moonsault as he regained control. Kojima fought out of a last ride and hit a DDT. They rolled to the apron. Kojima hit a DDT on the apron. Ibushi may not have been able to beat the count back in, but Kojima went out after him and threw him back in.
Ibushi blocked a cutter and hit a last ride for a two count. Ibushi hit a Bomaye for another near fall. Kojima blocked Kamigoye and hit a cutter. Kojima hit a brainbuster for a near fall.
Ibushi blocked one lariat, but Kojima hit one with his other arm for a near fall. Ibushi hit a massive lariat. They hit simultaneous lariats. Ibushi went down, but Kojima did not. Ibushi blocked another lariat and hit a v-trigger.
Ibushi followed with the Kamigoye to get the pin.
A Block: Tomohiro Ishii defeated Yujiro Takahashi (w/Pieter) (17:00)
Ishii isn’t going to have a bad match. If he’s in there with someone who can’t work up to his level, he’s going to make sure the psychology is superb, so they laid out an intricate match with a bunch of counters and reversals of big moves.
Yujiro attacked as soon as Ishii stepped through the ropes. They brawled to the floor. Pieter took the ref while Yujiro used his walking stick on Ishii. Back in, they traded chops. Yujro used his legdrop and fisherman buster.
Ishii came back with a whip into the corner and a superplex. Ishii went for a powerbomb, Yujiro blocked by biting Ishii’s hand. Yujiro again avoided the powerbomb and hit a DDT. Ishii blocked an Angle slam. They traded strikes. Yujiro then connected with the slam for a two count. Ishii blocked Miami Shine. Yujiro blocked an enzuigiri and hit a lariat.
Yujiro hit a buckle bomb. He almost dropped Ishii right on his head as he just barely made it into the buckle. I watched this three times and I’m not entirely certain Ishii’s head didn’t just bounce right off the mat. He was okay enough to finish the match, and he’s so good at selling that it’s impossible to say, but I’m pretty sure he hurt his head, neck and shoulder on this spot.
Yujiro hit Miami Shine for a two count. Ishii blocked Pimp Juice and hit a Saito suplex.
They traded strikes. Ishii hit an enzuigiri and a sliding lariat for a two count. Ishii fired up and hit another lariat. Yujiro reversed Ishii’s finisher into a brainbuster. Yujiro hit Pimp Juice, but Ishii kicked out.
Ishii blocked Big Juice. They did a great series of counters and reversals. Ishii hit a lariat for a near fall, then hit the Vertical Drop Brainbuster to get the pin.
A Block: KENTA defeated Tanga Loa (w/Jado) (22:12)
KENTA saves himself for big spots, and he did not consider this a big spot. The match wasn’t bad, but I marvel sometimes at the way he manages to do absolutely nothing.
KENTA spent the first five minutes of the match running away from Loa. KENTA would roll outside, Loa would go out after him, KENTA would roll back in the ring.
Jado finally put a stop to this and blocked KENTA as he went to roll out of the ring. Loa then took control of the match. He used a chinlock and an OJK. Loa busted out a standing moonsault for a near fall. Loa used a blue thunder bomb.
KENTA got a brief comeback with a powerslam and a clothesline off the top, but Loa regained control after tossing KENTA outside and into the barricade. KENTA cut Loa off as he went to get back in and hit a green killer for a near fall. KENTA hit a double stomp off the top for a two count.
They traded strikes. Loa hit an exploder. KENTA bumped the referee and hit a low blow. Jado got on the apron. KENTA kicked the middle rope into Jado’s groin.
KENTA grabbed Jado’s kendo stick and did the Eddie Guerrero spot as the referee was revived. As the ref went to get Jado out of the ring, Loa hit a low blow on KENTA.
Loa went for a powerbomb. KENTA blocked. Loa went for Apesh*t, but KENTA backed him into the buckle and schoolboyed him with his feet on the ropes for the pin.
A Block: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Toru Yano (6:42)
This was short. A typical Yano comedy match.
Sabre tried to steal a win by attacking Yano as he stepped through the ropes. Sabre used a cradle for a near fall. Yano got a cradle for two. Sabre got another near fall.
Yano rolled out to the floor. Sabre went after him. Yano got back in the ring. Yano hit a belly-to-belly. Sabre rolled outside. Yano carried Sabre backstage. Yano ran back to the ring. Sabre entered with a blindfold on. Sabre beat the count.
Yano used a cross armbreaker. Sabre reversed into his own cross armbreaker, but Yano got his foot on the ropes. They fought on the floor. Yano crawled under the ring. Sabre pulled him back out with an ankle lock.
Yano brought out a pair of handcuffs. Sabre cuffed himself to Yano. They beat the count back in. Yano used a fireman’s carry into a cradle. They traded cradles. Sabre got a cross armbreaker. Yano got the handcuff key out, but Sabre kept him from freeing himself and Yano tapped.
A Block: Shingo Takagi defeated Great-O-Khan (25:50)
This was missing something. Shingo had his ribs taped up, but O-Khan didn’t really go after them until past the 15 minute mark. They just kind of went back and forth, your turn, my turn on offense until that point.
After trading shoulder blocks, Shingo rolled outside in an attempt to control the pace. O-Khan knocked him off the apron with a pump kick, then sent him into the barricade. O-Khan again sent Shingo into the fence.
O-Khan used a nerve hold and a chinlock. They traded chops. They traded Mongolian chops. Shingo hit a DDT, a knee lift and got a knockdown off a tackle. Shingo hit a corner clothesline and a vertical suplex.
O-Khan blocked a sliding lariat and hit a judo throw. O-Khan tied Shingo to the tree of woe and hit a running kick. O-Khan used the iron claw on the back of Shingo’s head. Shingo fired up and hit a combination of strikes in the corner.
They traded strikes. Shingo hit a lariat and a Saito suplex. O-Khan answered with a pump kick. Each no-sold a suplex. Shingo hit a sliding lariat. O-Khan blocked Made in Japan and noshigami.
O-Khan used a bearhug and slammed Shingo into the corner pad. O-Khan used the sheep killer. He gave up the hold and hit a slam for a two count.
Shingo blocked the Eliminator and got a cross armbreaker applied. Shingo snapped back on the arm. O-Khan absorbed two lariats. Shingo blocked a pump kick and used it to set up Made in Japan for a near fall.
O-Khan reversed a Last of the Dragon attempt into a gordbuster. They traded strikes. Shingo blocked an iron claw with a short forearm strike.
O-Khan blocked Last of the Dragon. O-Khan blocked a Pumping Bomber with a lariat for a near fall.
Shingo blocked the Eliminator and hit a dragon suplex and a sliding forearm. Shingo hit a Pumping Bomber for a near fall.
Shingo hit Last of the Dragon and got the pin.
**********
Here is the lineup for the next show:
G1 Climax 31 night 16, Thursday, October 14, 5:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
B Block: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tama Tonga
B Block: Jeff Cobb vs. EVIL
B Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI
B Block: Hirooki Goto vs. SANADA
B Block: Taichi vs. Chase Owens
Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita
NJPW has unveiled the full lineups for this weekend’s Showdown events at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
Four new matches have been added to Saturday’s show.
NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Tom Lawlor will team with Danny Limelight against Rocky Romero and Strong regular Fred Rosser.
Three other members of Lawlor’s Team Filthy will be in action, as JR Kratos, Jorel Nelson and Royce Isaacs face David Finlay, Yuya Uemura and Alex Coughlin. Brody King, Karl Fredericks and The DKC will face Bateman, Barrett Brown and Misterioso in another trios match. Hikuleo will face LA Dojo’s Kevin Knight in the other added match.
For Sunday’s show, three new matches have been announced.
Juice Robinson and David Finlay will face Yuya Uemura and Kevin Knight. Brody King, Chris Dickinson and Daniel Garcia will take on Bateman, Barrett Brown and Misterioso in a trios match. New United Empire member TJP will face Clark Connors in singles competition.
Sunday’s show will be headlined by Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston vs. Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer in a tag team Philadelphia street fight match, while Minoru Suzuki vs. Chris Dickinson is listed as Saturday’s main event.
The G1 Climax 31 B Block continued today in Sendai.
Hiroshi Tanahashi faced Jeff Cobb in the main event, while Hirooki Goto took on EVIL in the semi-main.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Chase Owens, SANADA vs. YOSHI-HASHI and Taichi vs. Tama Tonga were the other tournament matches.
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryohei Oiwa was the non-tournament opener today.
Here are results and a report from the show.
**********
Recommended matches —
Jeff Cobb vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Kazuchika Okada vs. Chase Owens
Taichi vs. Tama Tonga
SANADA vs. YOSHI-HASHI
Report —
Hiromu Takahashi defeated Ryohei Oiwa (7:16)
This was just Hiromu toying with Oiwa.
Oiwa scored a quick knockdown with a shoulder tackle. He went for a slam, but Hiromu blocked. They traded chops. Hiromu won the chop battle, then continued to lay in the chops. He hit about 40 unanswered chops.
Oiwa’s chest was bright red from all the chops. Hiromu went for a series of covers off the chops, but Oiwa kept kicking out. Hiromu went for a crab, but Oiwa got to the ropes before it was applied.
Oiwa missed with two dropkick attempts. He hit one on the third try. Hiromu blocked another slam. Oiwa hit a slam and a gutwrench throw for a two count. He went for a crab, but Hiromu blocked and started chopping again.
Hiromu applied a full Boston crab. Oiwa couldn’t reach the ropes and tapped out.
B Block: Tama Tonga (w/Jado) defeated Taichi (w/Miho Abe) (12:58)
The story of the match was Tama going after Taichi’s taped-up ribs. Taichi wasn’t able to sustain any offense without selling the ribs. A simple story, but a good match.
Tonga used a body scissors early. Taichi answered with a kick, but dropped to the mat to sell the damage to his ribs from the hold.
Tonga blocked an enzuigiri and hit a dropkick. He missed a corner splash and Taichi hit a gamengiri in the corner, but again sold his ribs. Tonga missed his supreme flow frog splash. Taichi hit an axe bomber. He hit a second, but Tonga popped right up.
Taichi blocked a Gun Stun and hit a backdrop suplex. Tonga avoided Black Mephisto and hit a death valley bomb. Tonga hit a frog splash for a near fall.
Tonga then connected with the Gun Stun for the upset win.
B Block: SANADA defeated YOSHI-HASHI (17:35)
I don’t think of either of these guys as a ring general who can have a good match with anyone, so this had me worried. To their credit, they delivered and had a very good match.
YOSHI-HASHI got the better of a mat wrestling sequence. SANADA hit a dropkick. He went to the apron to try a springboard, but YH cut him off and pulled him to the floor. YH hit a drop toe hold onto the barricade to take control of the bout.
Back inside, YH hit some strikes. He connected with a running chop in the corner. SANADA avoided a neckbreaker, hit a dropkick to the knee, then used an atomic drop to set up a paradise lock.
After breaking the hold, SANADA sent YH to the floor with a rana. He went for a plancha, but missed. YH followed with his own plancha. YH hit a blockbuster for a near fall as he remained in the plus position.
SANADA avoided one powerbomb, but YH was able to hit a misdirection lariat. He then hit the powerbomb for a near fall. SANADA blocked a bunker buster and hit a magic screw into a double down as the match reset.
SANADA hit a missile dropkick. He used the threat of a TKO to set up Skull End. YH fought out of the hold and went for Kharma. SANADA reversed into the TKO for a two count. SANADA went for a moonsault, but YH got his knees up. YH tried a senton bomb, but SANADA got his knees up.
They exchanged strikes. Time stood still as YH waited to set up a spot. YH used a dragon suplex, but SANADA rolled through. YH hit a meteora, then hit Kumagoroshi for another two count.
SANADA used an O’Connor roll for a near fall. YH used a cradle for a two count as they traded near falls. SANADA draped YH across the top rope to hit a TKO.
SANADA hit a moonsault, then locked in Skull End. YH tapped out.
B Block: Kazuchika Okada defeated Chase Owens (15:37)
They told a great story. Okada was in cruise control. Owens got lucky on blocking a couple of big moves, then gained confidence as the match wore on. Owens didn’t score much of his own offense, but he had a counter for all of Okada’s big moves and almost pulled off the upset.
Okada broke cleanly after locking up, then hit some tackles. Okada did some of his greatest hits with a neckbreaker and a running back elbow. Owens got his knees up on a slingshot senton, allowing a brief flurry.
Okada hit a DDT on the floor to regain control. He went for the Money Clip in the ring, but Owens forced free and hit a backbreaker. Owens got another flurry with a top rope cutter and a slingshot spear for near falls.
Okada reversed a whip and hit a dropkick. He used the Money Clip, but Owens forced a rope break. Okada hit a slam and a top rope elbow drop. Okada hit his Rainmaker pose.
Owens elbowed free of a Rainmaker attempt Owens hit two v-triggers. Okada stepped out of the way of a third and hit a German suplex. Owens avoided a Rainmaker and a dropkick. Okada hit a backdrop to avoid the package piledriver.
Okada used a backslide to set up a Rainmaker attempt. Owens hit two kicks and another v-trigger to break the attempt. Okada slid out of another package driver attempt. Okada used the Money Clip to set up a tombstone.
Owens ducked a Rainmaker and used a backslide to set up a package driver attempt. They traded cradles for near falls.
Okada hit a backbreaker, then went back to the Money Clip. Owens tapped out.
B Block: EVIL (w/Dick Togo) defeated Hirooki Goto (14:16)
They used every EVIL trope at least once. Goto tried and had a better match than most guys have had with EVIL, but this was no good.
Togo immediately exposed a turnbuckle. EVIL bumped Goto into the ring announcer for a countout tease. EVIL bumped Goto into the ring announcer again. EVIL sent Goto into the exposed buckle. Goto fired out and hit an ushigoroshi.
EVIL bumped the referee. Togo jumped in and they hit a Magic Killer for a near fall. EVIL hit Darkness Falls for a near fall. Goto managed a reverse GTR and a lariat for a two count.
Goto cradled EVIL, but Togo took the ref. Togo jumped into the ring. Goto sent EVIL into Goto. Goto sent EVIL into the buckle and hit the GTW for a near fall.
Goto went for a GTR, but EVIL hooked the ref. Togo choked Goto with his ligature. EVIL hit Everything is EVIL and got the pin.
B Block: Jeff Cobb defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi (19:05)
Great main event. For all their issues, NJPW has perfectly booked Cobb this year. His matches never go too long, everything he does looks great, plus he sells just enough to make his opponents credible. Tanahashi continues to have an incredible year in the ring as well.
Tana did his best to avoid Cobb’s power. He took a powder after a lockup. Tana worked a side headlock. Cobb came back and nailed a dropkick and a standing moonsault, trying to show he could win with his agility if Tana avoided his power.
Cobb went for a somersault senton to mock Tana, but missed with it. Tana then hit a senton for a near fall. Tana hit a dropkick to the legs and a dragon screw. Tana used his Texas Clover Hold, but Cobb forced a rope break. Cobb sold the damage to his legs.
Cobb went for a superplex, but Tana blocked and dragged Cobb down the apron to hit a dragon screw in the ropes, still attacking the legs.
Tana hit a High Fly Flow to the floor. Cobb just beat the count back in. Cobb blocked a slingblade. Tana reversed a suplex attempt into twist and shout. Tana hit slingblade for a near fall.
Cobb got his legs up and Tana crashed and burned on a High Fly Flow. They traded strikes. Tana reversed a spin cycle into another slingblade for a near fall.
Tana went for High Fly Flow again, but Cobb caught him and hit an F5. Tana reversed a Tour of the Islands into an inside cradle and a near fall.
Cobb absorbed a palm strike, then hit a deadlift German and a Tour of the Islands for the pin to remain undefeated.
**********
Here is the lineup for the next show:
G1 Climax 31 night 15, Wednesday, October 13, 5:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
NJPW has revealed the full lineup for this week’s episode of Strong.
In the main event, United Empire’s Will Ospreay will face KArl Fredericks. Ospreay is still claiming to be the rightful IWGP World HEavyweight Champion, having never lost the title in the ring. NJPW announced that Ospreay had vacated the title due to injury in May. Ospreay was out of action until returning at NJPW Resurgence in August in Los Angeles and announcing that he was going to defend the “real” World Championship on NJPW Strong.
Also on this week’s episode, Juice Robinson, Lio Rush, Clark Connors and TJP will face Bullet Club’s Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, Hikuleo and Chris Bey in an eight-man tag.
In the second match on Saturday’s show, Rocky Romero and Ryusuke Taguchi will tag against West Coast Wrecking Crew, Team Filthy’s Jorel Nelson and Royce Isaacs.
In the opener, Alex Coughlin’s challenge series will continue one-on-one against Chris Dickinson.
The Autumn Attack episodes of Strong were taped on September 25 and September 26 in Garland, Texas.
Strong airs at 8 p.m. Eastern time this Saturday on NJPW World. The show will also be available on demand immediately following airing.
Here is Saturday’s full lineup:
NJPW Strong Autumn Attack night two, Saturday, October 16, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World–
Will Ospreay vs. Karl Fredericks
Juice Robinson, Lio Rush, Clark Connors & TJP vs. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, Hikuleo & Chris Bey
Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero vs. Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
Tonight’s episode was called Autumn Attack and was filmed in front of a crowd in Dallas. Matt Rehwoldt (fka WWE’s Aiden English) filled in for Kevin Kelly tonight on commentary. Kelly is in Japan right now for the G1 tournament.
The show opened with a pre-taped promo from Fred Rosser where he explained why he needs the STRONG Openweight title, and in order to do that, he’d have to beat Suzuki.
Minoru Suzuki defeated Fred Rosser
Rosser jumped Suzuki before the bell. Suzuki smiled and answered back with hard elbow shots. Rosser shouted that NJPW Strong was “his house” a few times. When Suzuki was seated, Rosser got into his face to let him know this again. Suzuki slapped him.
Suzuki would next go to work on Rosser’s left arm. He did an armbar while draped over the rope, then started smashing Rosser’s arm against the barricade on the floor and around the ringpost. Suzuki rolled back into the ring and did the Los Ingobernables tranquilo pose—sort of.
This fired Rosser up. He tried bringing a chair into the ring but the referee grabbed it from his hands. Suzuki continued working over Rosser’s arm. Rosser was able to catch Suzuki off the ropes with a scoop Emerald Flowsion for two.
Rosser ripped his wrist tape off and wrapped it around Suzuki’s next before applying a chicken-wing facelock. I don’t think I’ve seen Rosser use this since he was Darren Young in WWE when he was feuding with the Miz with Bob Backlund, master of the chicken-wing, in his corner. Suzuki looked amused while he was in the hold.
Rosser had to break the hold when Suzuki made it to the ropes. Rosser dragged Suzuki to the apron and landed a back suplex.
Suzuki was able to put Rosser in a sleeper, then readied him for his patented Gotch-style piledriver. He got the crowd pumped for it, but he waited too long, and Rosser back bodydropped himself out of harm’s way. The crowd booed this. Rosser reacted perfectly and flexed at the crowd while they continued booing.
Rosser threw a few closed fists and headbutts, but it wasn’t enough to put Suzuki away, as Suzuki hit Rosser with the Gotch piledriver for the win.
STRONG Openweight championship: Tom Lawlor (c) defeated Ren Narita to retain the title via submission
We saw a segment centered on Ren Narita promo next. He has beaten Chris Dickinson, Karl Fredericks and Fred Rosser this year. Lawlor had already beaten Narita previously in the New Japan Cup USA tournament.
They felt each other out for a minute or so as things got started. Lawlor shot on Narita a few times but wasn’t able to take Narita down. Narita grabbed a waistlock, dragged Lawlor to the mat and went for an armlock, but Lawlor slipped out. This was a great example of modern chain wrestling, two guys going hold for hold while also demonstrating actual wrestling and submission grappling techniques.
Lawlor got frustrated after a few minutes and slapped the ring post. He threw Narita into a side headlock and clearly pulled Narita’s hair. Narita slipped out the back door and locked Narita into an achilles lock. Lawlor tried chopping his way out but Narita wouldn’t let go. Lawlor had to use a few dirty closed fists so that he could stand up and create space. Narita shut it down and went back to the achilles lock. Lawlor literally had to drag Narita out of the ring by the arms, then smashed him into the guardrail. “Filthy” celebrated with a short strut on the floor.
Lawlor blasted a seated Narita with two low kicks. Narita ate both and asked for more. He sat cross-legged like Shibata. Narita’s new facial hair and tan makes him look an awful lot like his trainer these days. Lawlor threw another and Narita again ate it, then stood up and delivered a low kick of his own to Lawlor.
Narita went suplex-crazy towards the end, putting Lawlor down with three different variations by around the ten-minute mark. The crowd really enjoyed Narita throughout the match.
Lawlor responded with two giant drop uranages. Narita somehow slid into a ankle slicer/achilles hold that looked to have Lawlor close to tapping until he grabbed the ropes for a break. Later, Lawlor earned a two-count after a big exploder suplex.
The two traded sleeperholds towards the end of the match. They traded maybe four sleepers until Narita got the better of the exchange. He’d transition to an octopus hold, but Lawlor escaped, then jumped guard and locked Narita in a guiltillione choke. Narita powered out of it with a wrist-grip suplex with a bridge for two. Lawlor saw an opening and quickly locked Narita in a triangle choke, then moved into an armbar submission, but Narita escaped and eventually locked in a figure-four. Lawlor sold this like he knee was ripping in half. Narita would later move into an STF; Lawlor barely escaped.
Lawlor would eventually score the submission win with a wild 10th Planet-style double-arm, double-leglock. I’ve never seen this one before. Narita, effectively limbless, had no choice but to tap: Lawlor retained via submission.
Lawlor shouted “STRONGEST FOR THE LONGEST” after the match. This was one of the top matches of the show this year.
Jay White defeated Robbie Eagles
This was a non-title bout between Eagles, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion, and the NEVER Openweight champion in White.
White went to “too sweet” the ex-Bullet Clubber, but when Eagles refused, White slapped him in the face. When the bell rang, Eagles ran at White, ducked a lariat, then unloaded a barrage of punches. White shut Eagles down with shoulder blocks and chops, but he couldn’t control Eagles’ rhythm.
Eagles wears a handkerchief around his neck when he wrestles, so White choked him with it minutes into the match. When he flexed to the crowd, they actually cheered him. White got similar reactions at NJPW’s Resurgence show in Los Angeles; while he’s technically a heel, in the US, he’s popular, regardless of character.
At five minutes in, Eagles landed a jumping double knee strike on White in the corner. White spiked him on top of his head with a DDT. Eagles landed a somersault dive through the middle ropes, onto White and over the barricade, landing on his feet.
From here, a frustrated White made Eagles pay for a good section of the match. Nothing flashy, just a slow, methodical beatdown. At one point, he did a stalling Saito suplex where he carried Eagles around the ring with one arm, like a doll, before spiking him.
When White set Eagles up for the Bladerunner, Eagles smacked White in the face before he could do the move. Eagles then went after White’s knee and leg, then finally locked on his reverse figure-four variation, his submission finish. White teased tapping but eventually broke the hold.
Eagles landed a 450 splash from the top on White’s knee, and again applied his inverted figure-four. White escaped and planted Eagles with a snap sleeper suplex. After a brainbuster and finally the Bladerunner, that was it, and White walked away with the win in just over 15 minutes. This was really good.
“When I’m away, everybody else seems like they get over-confident and get carried away with the decision making in Bullet Club.”
White specifically referred to EVIL, who the Dallas crowd booed.
‘It’s almost like they’ve forgotten who makes the decisions. It’s almost like they’ve forgotten who is in charge!”
He said he was the leader of Bullet Club, he confirmed that he still makes the decisions, and that this was still his “new era” before exiting to the back. Those who were in attendance ate it up.
Final thoughts:
This felt more like a special edition episode of Strong than what we’re used to. It was almost 30 minutes longer than the show usually is, and each match had relatively high stakes either because of the wrestlers involved (guests like Suzuki, White and Eagles) or because of titles on the line (Lawlor vs. Narita).
While everything on this episode was very good, I preferred the STRONG Openweight title the most. White and Eagles had an excellent match as well, though I imagine they’ll top themselves whenever they meet again in their next bout.
Rosser vs. Suzuki was good, but I can’t say it was better than Rosser’s match with Ren Narita a few weeks ago. Ultimately, I think what this match did was build Rosser as a more believable contender on the show as it unfolds over the rest of the year.
A decent tag team opener. Oiwa remains ahead of Fujita at this point in their development, but Fujita was good here.
Oiwa and Kanemaru started off. Fujita jumped in for a double shoulder block. Oiwa got hit with a back suplex from Kanemaru and was cut off.
Oiwa made a comeback on Desperado with a gutwrench suplex and a dropkick. Fujita got a hot tag and hit Despy with a dropkick. After failing to get a crab on Desperado in their singles match, Fujita got one here, but Desperado reached the ropes.
Desperado hit a backdrop and put the Indian deathlock on Fujita. Oiwa saved, but Kanemaru tossed Oiwa outside. Fujita used an inside cradle for a near fall.
Desperado then locked on Numero Dos and Fujita tapped out.
Tomohiro Ishii defeated Hiromu Takahashi (18:13)
Excellent match. Their New Japan Cup match from a year ago was more crisp, but that was one of the first great matches of the pandemic era and it isn’t really fair to compare them.
Ishii side-stepped a shotgun dropkick at the opening bell. Hiromu avoided a sliding lariat. Each avoided a series of big moves from the other. A great way to open.
Ishii took over, using his heavyweight power to win an exchange of shoulder tackles. Ishii got the better of a chop battle. Hiromu came back with a hurricanrana. He teased a sunset bomb, but Ishii blocked. Hiromu hit a DVD on the apron instead.
Hiromu escaped an electric chair and hit something resembling dynamite plunger for a near fall. Hiromu hit some palm strikes to the face. They traded some working headbutts. Ishii hit a lariat, then the sliding variation for a near fall.
Hiromu escaped a brainbuster attempt and tried a wheelbarrow bulldog, but slammed Ishii’s head right into the mat for real. Ishii appeared to be okay. Hiromu rolled through on an Ishii German and hit three superkicks.
Hiromu reversed another brainbuster attempt and hit victory royal. He then hit a DVD into the corner pad. Hiromu hit Time Bomb, but Ishii kicked out. Hiromu hit a clothesline for a two count.
Ishii again tried for a brainbuster, again Hiromu blocked. Ishii hit a clothesline, an enzuigiri and a another clothesline for a near fall.
Hiromu reversed another brainbuster attempt and used a cradle for a two count. Ishii no-sold a superkick and hit a lariat.
Ishii then was finally able to hit the Vertical Drop Brainbuster for the pin.
A Block: KENTA defeated Zack Sabre Jr. (22:24)
These guys did something I haven’t seen done well in a long time, which was a heel vs. heel match where both played heel and did it effectively. Sometimes someone plays babyface just for the match to make it work better, but not here. Both guys were extremely unsavory, but still entertaining. This was a great match.
They beat the crap out of each other. It felt like a real fight at points. They began striking. The story of most Sabre matches is that he gets out-struck, but with KENTA being a smaller heavyweight, they went back and forth pretty evenly in the striking.
They brawled outside. Sabre stomped on KENTA’s taped left knee. KENTA answered in the ring with a DDT. KENTA covered Sabre with one foot, Sabre kicked out before one. Sabre came back with two neck twists, then covered KENTA with one foot.
They continued to go back and forth with strikes. KENTA tried a green killer, but Sabre blocked and slapped on an octopus in the ropes. Sabre then stomped on KENTA’s taped left shoulder and targeted it for the rest of the match.
Sabre used two submission attempts, KENTA forced two rope breaks. KENTA hit a Busaiku knee. He went for a second, but Sabre caught him in a heel hook for the second time in the match. KENTA forced a break. Sabre propped KENTA up in the corner and kicked at the left leg.
KENTA blocked a PK and hit a clothesline. Sabre ducked a kick and trapped both of KENTA’s legs, but KENTA forced another rope break. Sabre stomped on the left leg. KENTA went for Go To Sleep, but Sabre blocked and used a clutch hold for a near fall.
They traded palm strikes. Sabre blocked a GTS and used an ankle lock on the left leg. KENTA twisted out and hit a drop toe hold into an exposed turnbuckle, then caught Sabre on the rebound with a GTS for the pin.
A Block: Toru Yano defeated Yujiro Takahashi (w/Pieter) by countout (10:23)
Yano matches should all be under five minutes. This was five minutes of comedy stretched across ten minutes.
Yujiro hit a running boot before the bell, then busted out a tope suicida after the bell. Yujiro wrapped Yano up in athletic tape and hit a big boot with Yano seated on a chair at the bottom of the ramp. Yano beat the count back in at 19.
Yujiro exposed a buckle and whipped Yano into it. Yano exposed a second buckle and whipped Yano into it. Yujiro exposed a third buckle and whipped Yano into it. Pieter took the ref as Yujiro hit Yano with his walking stick.
Yujiro hit a drive-by kick, but Yano hit an inverted atomic drop. Yano avoided a whip and used a schoolboy for a two count. Yujiro blocked a low blow. Yano took a front turnbuckle. Yano raked Yujiro’s eyes and hit a belly-to-belly. Yujiro stopped the comeback with a lariat.
Yujiro hit a fisherman buster for a two count. Yano blocked Pimp Juice and hit a low blow. He used a school boy, but Yujiro grabbed the ref and bumped him. Yujiro hit a low blow.
They went to the floor. Yujiro tried to handcuff Yano. Yano escaped and crawled under the ring. Yujiro went under the ring. Yano emerged and got back in. Yujiro crawled out with his hands cuffed behind his back and could not beat the count back in. Yano stole a countout win.
A Block: Shingo Takagi defeated Tanga Loa (w/Jado) (19:08)
This was Shingo doing his best NWA Champion in the 80s match. He gave Loa a ton of offense before finally slipping over in the end. A very good match.
Shingo got an early knockdown and hit a senton. Loa reversed a whip and hit a dropkick. He low-bridged Shingo to the apron and hit a back suplex on the apron to take control of the match.
Loa hit a slingshot senton and a standing moonsault for a two count. Loa used a chinlock, no-sold a snap vertical suplex and hit a tackle. Loa backed Shingo into the corner and hit some clotheslines. Loa hit a powerslam for another near fall.
Loa used the OJK. Shingo forced a break. Shingo came back with strikes and hit a DDT. Shingo hit a suplex. Loa hit a blue thunder bomb for a near fall. Shingo hit a backdrop. Loa hit an exploder and a lariat.
Loa hit a sit-out powerbomb for a near fall. They fought to the top rope. Loa slipped coming off the second rope as he hit a powerslam. Shingo immediately started selling his collarbone and I was concerned that he was hurt, but he appeared fine. Loa could have torn his knee up slipping like that also. A scary spot.
Shingo blocked Apesh*t and hit a sliding lariat and a superplex. Shingo hit a Pumping Bomber, but Loa didn’t go down. Loa ate two more lariat, then blocked a third with a spear.
Shingo blocked a powerbomb with a hurricanrana and hit a lariat. They exchanged strikes. Loa hit a headbutt to the chest. Shingo blocked Apesh*t again and hit a GTR in the ropes.
Shingo hit Last of the Dragon for the pin.
A Block: Kota Ibushi defeated Great-O-Khan (20:22)
This never reached the level of a great NJPW main event to me. A good match, but was overshadowed by the previous bout.
They started very slowly. They did some tentative striking, then some mat wrestling with neither gaining a notable advantage. O-Khan took Ibushi down and hooked his leg in a submission attempt, then began kicking at the left leg.
Ibushi fired off some sharp upkicks from the mat, then locked in a figure four. Ibushi pounded the mat to try to get the crowd into it. O-Khan used a rolling kneebar, but Ibushi reached the ropes. O-Khan was firmly in control as he laid in some strikes in the corner.
Ibushi went into murder Ibushi mode and hit a series of palm strikes and a Bomaye. O-Khan ended up with a bloody nose. O-Khan used a heel hook to set up an ankle lock, but Ibushi kicked his way free.
Ibushi fired off some more palm strikes and hit a big knee. He called for Kamigoye, but O-Khan avoided it. Ibushi avoided the iron claw and hit a high kick for a near fall.
Ibushi went for Kamigoye, but O-Khan put the iron claw on the knee. Ibushi blocked the Dominator and hit a v-trigger, then hit Kamigoye and got the pin.
**********
Here is the lineup for the next show:
G1 Climax 31 night 14, Tuesday, October 12, 5:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
The G1 Climax 31 B Block continued today in Kochi.
Kazuchika Okada took on Taichi in the main event, while Hiroshi Tanahashi faced EVIL in the semi-main.
SANADA vs. Jeff Cobb, Hirooki Goto vs. Chase Owens, plus YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tama Tonga were the other tournament matches today.
El Desperado vs. Kosei Fujita was the non-G1 opener.
Here are results and a report from the show.
**********
Recommended matches —
Kazuchika Okada vs. Taichi
Jeff Cobb vs. SANADA
Report —
El Desperado defeated Kosei Fujita (8:27)
This followed the same template as last night’s Desperado/Oiwa match, but Oiwa is more advanced and Fujita’s offense was simpler.
They traded holds. Desperado got fed up and turned to striking to take control. Fujita came back with a backdrop, then tried to lock on a crab, but couldn’t get it.
Desperado used an Indian deathlock for the submission, as he did yesterday.
B Block: YOSHI-HASHI defeated Tama Tonga (w/Jado) (13:14)
Good match, good effort from both guys. They worked it like the second match of the card, meaning they didn’t kick out of a bunch of stuff. The story of the match was Tonga going for a Gun Stun to put it away but never being able to hit it.
They traded headlocks and head scissors escapes on the mat. YH hit a back elbow, a tackle and a headhunter. YH draped Tonga across the top strand and hit a dropkick to the back for a near fall.
Tonga turned the tide with a chop and a series of elbow drops. Tama reversed a neckbreaker attempt into a Tongan Twist for a near fall. He used an SRC and his Supreme Flow frog splash for a near fall. YH blocked a Gun Stun with a backstabber.
YH blocked a Gun Stun and hit a lariat and a Kumagoroshi for a two count.
YH blocked another Gun Stun attempt and hit a lariat, then hit Kharma for the pin.
B Block: Hirooki Goto defeated Chase Owens (12:41)
After an upset win over Tanahashi on the last B Block show, they had a built-in story as Owens looked to surprise another veteran. Good match, but they didn’t have time to build it into a great one.
Owens hit a shotgun dropkick at the opening bell, then followed with a missile dropkick off the top as he tried to steal an early victory. Goto hit a shoulder block to slow the momentum.
They traded submission attempts. Owens went for a package driver on the apron, but Goto fought it off and sent Owens to the floor. Owens went for the driver in the ring, but Goto blocked with a strike. Owens hit a knee strike into a double down.
Owens hit a jewel heist for a two count. Owens reversed one GTR attempt. Goto looked to set up an ushigoroshi, but used the position to hit the GTR and get the pin.
B Block: Jeff Cobb defeated SANADA (14:17)
Cobb has been booked perfectly. His matches rarely go over 15 minutes, nor should they. This felt like a real athletic contest.
SANADA hit a senton off the apron as he looked to outclass Cobb with his speed. SANADA kicked at Cobb’s left knee. Cobb rolled outside. SANADA went for a plancha, but Cobb caught him and powered him into the post.
Back inside, Cobb hit a standing moonsault for a two count. SANADA flipped over the top rope on a whip into the corner, then hit a springboard dropkick and a standing moonsault of his own.
Cobb blocked a TKO. SANADA hit a dropkick to the left leg as he continued to target it. SANADA used Cobb’s momentum off the ropes to hit a TKO for a two count. SANADA hit a magic screw, but Cobb reached under the ropes to break the pinfall attempt.
Cobb hit a gutwrench throw. Cobb went for Tour of the Islands, but SANADA reversed into Skull End. SANADA used an O’Connor roll for a near fall. SANADA rolled through on a moonsault attempt as Cobb rolled out of the way.
SANADA tried another moonsault, but Cobb caught him and planted him with Tour of the Islands for the pin.
B Block: EVIL (w/Dick Togo) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi (17:22)
If we didn’t see the same EVIL match every night, this would have been fine. Tanahashi had a much better match with him than anyone else has, but I’m beyond over EVIL. The gimmick and his matches are just brutal.
Tanahashi tried to keep the match in the ring. EVIL sent him to the apron and kicked the rope into his crotch. EVIL sent Tana into the barricade.
Togo exposed a buckle and took the ref. EVIL dragged Tana to the ramp and used a chair on his left knee. Tanahashi made it back in before a countout, but EVIL found his target in the left leg.
Tana fired up, but EVIL used an eye poke to cut him off. Tana fired up, EVIL pulled his hair. Tana then pulled EVIL’s hair. Tana hit a flying forearm out of the corner. Tana hit a slam and a somersault senton for a near fall.
EVIL blocked slingblade. Togo interfered and hit Tana. EVIL hit a lariat on the floor. EVIL bumped Tana into the barricade and the ring announcer took a bump. EVIL repeatedly used a scorpion deathlock on the floor. Togo pulled Tana back to the floor for a countout tease.
They traded whips into the exposed buckle. Tanahashi reversed an STO into twist and shout. Tana hit a High Fly Flow to the back. He used his Texas Clover Hold, but Togo pulled the ref out of the ring.
Tana put Togo in the Clover Hold, but EVIL saved. Tana hit Everything is EVIL on Togo. He tried to hit EVIL with his own finish, but EVIL blocked. They traded low blows. The ref was revived as they did a double down after the low blows.
Tana went for slingblade, but EVIL threw the ref in his path as we had our second ref bump.
EVIL hit Darkness Falls, then hit Tana with the IWGP US title belt. EVIL hit Everything is EVIL and covered for the pin.
B Block: Kazuchika Okada defeated Taichi (w/Miho Abe) (23:10)
This was a psychological thriller with one of the best closing stretches you’ll see all year.
The thing that Okada does better than anyone ever is to change up the order of his signature spots. These guys have had a million matches, but you’ve never seen this one before because of the way he sequenced his big moves throughout.
After Okada’s obligatory clean break after the opening lockup, they fought to the floor. They traded whips into the barricade. Taichi lifted the floor padding and hit a DDT on the floor to take over.
Back in the ring, Okada came back wit a flapjack. Okada hit a neckbreaker. Taichi answered with a DDT and a gamengiri. Taichi ducked a Rainmaker swing, but Okada blocked Black Mephisto. Taichi hit a chokeslam, but Okada answered with a dropkick.
Okada used the Money Clip, reapplying the hold twice as Taichi tried to fight to the ropes. Taichi fought the hold for a long time, then finally made the ropes just past the 15 minute call.
Okada hit a top rope elbow, then hit his Rainmaker pose. Taichi ducked a Rainmaker and hit a huge thrust kick. They traded strikes.
Okada slid out of Black Mephisto and sat down into a cradle for a two count. Taichi ducked a Rainmaker and hit a dropkick. This sequence was great. Taichi hit a gamengiri and a backdrop suplex for a near fall.
Taichi absorbed a spinning Rainmaker and stumbled into the ropes. Taichi hit an axe bomber. Okada hit another dropkick and a spinning tombstone.
Taichi ducked another Rainmaker and used a Gedo clutch for a near fall. Taichi hit a buzzsaw kick to the head. Okada blocked the three point stance forearm and hit a landslide, then hit the Rainmaker for the pin.
**********
Here is the lineup for the next show:
G1 Climax 31 night 13, Saturday, October 9, 4 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
A Block: Kota Ibushi vs. Great-O-Khan
A Block: Shingo Takagi vs. Tanga Loa
A Block: Toru Yano vs. Yujiro Takahashi
A Block: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. KENTA
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hiromu Takahashi
El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita
The G1 Climax 31 A Block continued today in Hiroshima.
Tomohiro Ishii took on The Great-O-Khan in the main event, while Shingo Takagi faced Toru Yano in the semi-main.
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Yujiro Takahashi and Kota Ibushi vs. Tanga Loa were the other tournament matches today.
Hiromu Takahashi vs. KENTA and El Desperado vs. Ryohei Oiwa were the non-G1 matches.
Here are results and a report from the show.
**********
Recommended matches —
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Great-O-Khan
Hiromu Takahashi vs. KENTA
Kota Ibushi vs. Tanga Loa
Report —
El Desperado defeated Ryohei Oiwa (6:38)
This was a fun little battle.
They traded holds. Desperado fish hooked Oiwa to get the better of the grappling exchange. They then traded strikes. Desperado took the match back to the mat and went to work on Oiwa’s legs.
Oiwa hit a cool suplex out of a waistlock, then hit a dropkick. He tried for a crab, but Desperado fought him off and used an Indian deathlock. Oiwa tried to fight out with strikes, but eventually tapped out.
KENTA defeated Hiromu Takahashi (19:01)
Very good stuff. They worked Hiromu’s pace and KENTA more than held his own.
Hiromu hit a shotgun dropkick right off the bat. They brawled to the outside. Hiromu threw KENTA into the fence, but KENTA posted Hiromu to take control of the bout. KENTA mocked Tetsuya Naito’s signature taunt.
Hiromu made a comeback with a hurricanrana and a falcon arrow. KENTA escaped a dynamite plunger and hit a powerslam. KENTA hit a DDT for a near fall. KENTA hit a swing DDT across the top rope, then another DDT.
KENTA locked on Game Over. Hiromu fought out as KENTA tried to re-position the hold. KENTA low-bridged Hiromu to the floor. He teased a DDT off the apron, but Hiromu shoved KENTA into the security fence. KENTA hit a powerslam on the floor.
KENTA hit a stalling dropkick in the corner as Hiromu climbed back into the ring. KENTA missed with a double stomp off the top. Hiromu launched KENTA into the corner pad with a release German.
They traded strikes. KENTA bumped Hiromu into the referee and hit a DDT. With the ref out, KENTA brought a chair in. Hiromu dared KENTA to use the chair, so KENTA hit a series of strikes instead. They traded strikes. Hiromu hit the ropes, but KENTA tossed the chair at him. KENTA then hit two more chair shots and a Green Killer on the chair. The ref was revived, but Hiromu kicked out at two.
Hiromu escaped two GTS attempts, but KENTA hit him with a series of palm strikes to the face and neck. Hiromu tried to block a Busaiku knee with a lariat, but couldn’t get any power on it. They stumbled as Hiromu went for a victory royal, but Hiromu got it on his second attempt for a double down.
KENTA slid out of a Time Bomb attempt. Hiromu hit two thrust kicks and a lariat for a near fall. Hiromu hit a DVD into the corner pad. KENTA escaped another Time Bomb attempt, sent Hiromu into an exposed turnbuckle and used a schoolboy for the pin.
A Block: Kota Ibushi defeated Tanga Loa (w/Jado) (13:46)
This was not the most crisp effort in the sense that their timing wasn’t perfect, but they worked hard and had a great match.
Ibushi hit a dropkick and sent Loa rolling to the floor. Ibushi teased a running kick against the barricade, but Loa hit a spear on the floor. Back inside, Loa used a chinlock and an exploder.
Ibushi came back with a flying mid kick, a powerslam, then hit a second rope moonsault for a near fall. Loa hit a combination of strikes and a blue thunder bomb for a two count. Ibushi answered with a last ride for a two count.
Ibushi went for a Kamigoye to the back, but Loa reversed and hit his own Kamigoye to the back. Loa hit a powerbomb for a two count. They traded Germans, then traded poison ranas.
Ibushi hit a Bomaye. He tried to set up Kamigoye, but Loa hit a spear instead. Ibushi escaped Apesh*t and hit a tombstone.
Ibushi then hit Kamigoye to get the win.
A Block: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Yujiro Takahashi (w/Pieter) (14:15)
Our run of good matches tonight ended here. This was a style clash to say the least.
Sabre was outclassing Yujiro on the mat early. Yujiro used the threat of a ref bump to set up a low blow, but Sabre blocked. Sabre continued to dominate on the mat.
Yujiro bit Sabre’s foot and hit a basement dropkick. Sabre rolled to the floor. Yujiro sent him into the barricade, then used his pimp cane as a weapon. Sabre beat the count back inside.
Yujiro worked Sabre over in a dull manner. Just slow-motion offense after slow-motion offense. Sabre blocked a fisherman buster and kicked at Yujiro’s left arm. Sabre continued to attack the arm. Yujiro answered with a reverse DDT.
Sabre reversed an Angle slam into a crucifix for a two count. Yujiro missed a sliding dropkick. Yujiro then hit the Angle slam. They traded strikes. Sabre got an octopus applied, but Yujiro hit Miami Shine out of it for a two count.
Yujiro hit Pimp Juice for a near fall. He went for Big Juice, but Sabre pretzeled him with a head scissors and a hammerlock. Yujiro tapped out.
A Block: Shingo Takagi defeated Toru Yano (8:17)
As Yano comedy matches go, this was certainly not a classic.
Yano produced two blindfolds. He threw one to Shingo and tried to get him to put it on. Shingo relented when the crowd cheered for it. As soon as he put his on, Yano took his own blindfold off and used a schoolboy for a two count.
They did some more comedy with the blindfolds, then dueled with the corner pads. Shingo hit chops and a senton for a near fall. They traded strikes, then pulled each other’s hair.
Yano hit a drop toe hold into an exposed buckle for a near fall, then hit a low blow for another. Shingo hit a lariat. He pulled Yano’s shirt over his head and hit a sliding lariat for a two count.
With Yano’s shirt still pulled over his head, Shingo hit Last of the Dragon for the pin.
A Block: Tomohiro Ishii defeated Great-O-Khan (26:26)
Ishii used every trick he knows to get a great match out of O-Khan.
Neither would go down as they traded shoulder tackles. O-Khan used a misdirection shoulder tackle to finally send Ishii to the mat. They traded strikes. Ishii scored a knockdown off a forearm strike, but sold his right arm after.
They fought to the outside. O-Khan sent Ishii into the barricade. Ishii sold his arm and his lower back. Back inside, Ishii avoided O-Khan sitting on his neck in the corner, but O-Khan hit a Mongolian chop off the middle rope.
Ishii hit a tackle, then a series of chops. Ishii hit a vertical suplex. O-Khan caught Ishii charging in and hit a throw. O-Khan tied Ishii to the tree of woe and hit a sliding dropkick. The referee freed Ishii from the corner.
They traded chops as the match reset. O-Khan hit two Mongolian chops. Ishii stepped out of the way of a third and hit a backdrop suplex. Each no-sold forearm shots from the other. O-Khan finally dropped Ishii with a heavy forearm in the corner at 15 minutes.
Ishii blocked a superplex and hit a powerbomb out of the corner for a two count. O-Khan blocked a sliding lariat and used a head and arm choke. Ishii escaped and hit a divorce court, then used a kimura. He slipped to a cross armbreaker, but O-Khan forced a break.
Ishii blocked an iron claw. They traded some working headbutts, then Ishii hit a headbutt to the chest. Ishii hit a sliding lariat for a two count.
O-Khan escaped a brainbuster. Ishii blocked a pump kick. O-Khan hit a gordbuster into a double down at 20 minutes.
O-Khan hit a back suplex for a two count. Ishii hit forearm strikes. O-Khan hit a pounce. O-Khan blocked a lariat and locked on the sheep killer. O-Khan hit a tombstone driver, but Ishii kicked out at two.
Ishii escaped the Eliminator. Ishii hit a German. O-Khan rolled through on the suplex and hit a pump kick. O-Khan hit the ropes, but ran into a lariat. O-Khan kicked out at one.
O-Khan ducked a lariat and hit his own clothesline just past 25 minutes. They teased finishers. Ishii hit an enzuigiri. Ishii hit a lariat. O-Khan kicked out at two.
Ishii hit the Vertical Drop Brainbuster and got the pin.
**********
Here is the lineup for the next show:
G1 Climax 31 night 12, Friday, October 8, 6 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
NEVER Openweight Champion Jay White will face IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Robbie Eagles in a non-title match in the main event of this week’s NJPW Strong Autumn Attack.
White joined the CHAOS faction in 2018 shortly after returning to NJPW after his international excursion, then defected to Bullet Club later in the year. Eagles joined Bullet Club the same year after making his NJPW debut, then turned on White and joined CHAOS in 2019, so there is plenty of backstory to the match.
In the second match, former Team Filthy’s Tom Lawlor will defend the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship against Ren Narita.
In the opener, Minoru Suzuki will take on Strong regular Fred Rosser.
The Autumn Attack episodes of Strong were taped on September 25 and September 26 in Garland, Texas.
Strong airs at 8 p.m. Eastern time this Saturday on NJPW World. The show will also be available on demand immediately following airing.
Here is Saturday’s full lineup:
NJPW Strong Autumn Attack night one, Saturday, October 9, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World–
Jay White vs. Robbie Eagles
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Tom Lawlor (c) vs. Ren Narita
The G1 Climax 31 B Block continued today at Korakuen Hall.
Kazuchika Okada faced SANADA in the main event, while Hirooki Goto took on YOSHI-HASHI in the semi-main.
Taichi vs. Jeff Cobb, EVIL vs. Tama Tonga, plus Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Chase Owens were the other tournament matches today.
Here are results and a report from the show.
**********
Recommended matches —
Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA
Hirooki Goto vs. YOSHI-HASHI
Jeff Cobb vs. Taichi
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Chase Owens
Report —
B Block: Chase Owens defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi (10:58)
You have to see this if only for the result.
They opened with some grappling. After trading holds, Owens hit a dropkick. Tana came back with a crossbody off the second rope. Owens answered with his own crossbody. As Tana went for a flying forearm, Owens hit a dropkick to the left leg to take control of the match.
Owens continued to attack the left leg with holds and strikes. Tana managed a flying forearm, but Owens cut him off again by going after the leg. Owens hit a short clothesline in the corner and a jewel heist for a near fall.
Owens went for the package piledriver, but Tana hit a backdrop and sent him to the apron. Tana hit a dragon screw in the ropes, then connected with a slingblade.
Tana hit a standing High Fly Flow. He went for another High Fly Flow, but Owens got his knees up. Owens used a schoolboy with his feet on the ropes for a two count. Owens used a backslide for another near fall.
Tana blocked a v-trigger with a palm strike. Tana went to hit the ropes, but Owens hit two more v-triggers to block. Owens hit the package piledriver and pinned Tanahashi.
Chase Owens pinned Hiroshi Tanahashi clean in the middle.
Owens draped Tanahashi’s IWGP US belt across the fallen Ace’s chest after the match to set up a future title match.
NJPW seems to think that the American audience only wants to see Americans holding or challenging for the United States title. I think the Americans would much rather see the best guys and the best matches possible regardless of nationality. No offense intended to the Chase Owens and David Finlays of the world.
B Block: EVIL (w/Dick Togo) defeated Tama Tonga (w/Jado) (13:47)
We were this close to finally getting a good match out of EVIL. Then the finish happened.
All four did the too sweet hand gesture before the match to signify that they would be adhering to the Bullet Club code of honor.
Tonga hit some classic Haku offense early. EVIL rolled outside to collect himself. Togo exposed a turnbuckle and Tonga missed a splash into the steel. Togo tried to interfere, but Jado wandered over to stop him.
Tonga dodged a charge and EVIL ran into the buckle. Tonga hit a neckbreaker and three dropkicks as he turned the bout in his favor. Tonga whipped EVIL into the exposed buckle. Tonga hit a splash in the corner for a two count.
EVIL blocked a Tongan Twist with a rake of the eyes and hit a ref-assisted mid kick. EVIL went for a scorpion deathlock. Tonga used a Tongan death grip to block, then used his own scorpion deathlock. EVIL forced a rope break.
Tonga went up top, but aborted whatever he had planned as EVIL grabbed the referee. EVIL pulled the ref in Tonga’s path and hit a ref-assisted Magic Killer for a two count. EVIL got the scorpion deathlock applied, but Tonga got to the ropes.
Tonga blocked Everything is EVIL and hit a Tongan Twist for a two count. EVIL blocked a Gun Stun. Tonga blocked a low blow and hit a death valley driver. Tonga hit a top rope splash for a two count.
Tonga called for the Gun Stun, but the lights went out. When the lights came back on, Togo was choking Tonga with his ligature and the ref was out. Jado used a kendo stick on Togo.
EVIL hit Everything is EVIL and revived the ref, then covered Tonga for the pin.
SHO came to the ring after the match for the big reveal that he had turned the lights out.
B Block: Jeff Cobb defeated Taichi (w/Miho Abe) (15:15)
These guys had a banger. Great stuff.
Cobb broke cleanly against the ropes after locking up. Cobb threw Taichi to the mat after another lockup. Taichi needed a new plan, so he went after Cobb’s taped left leg with kicks. They fought to the floor and Taichi sent Cobb into the barricade and choked him with camera cables.
Back inside, Cobb blocked a gamengiri in the corner and launched Taichi across the ring with a throw. Cobb stayed on offense and drove Taichi into the corner pads, just ragdoll-ing him around the ring. Taichi sold his back. Taichi came back with a high kick, then a gamengiri in the corner.
Taichi removed his trousers. Cobb hit a dropkick for a two count. Taichi hit an enzuigiri, then hit a series of mid kicks to the chest. Cobb dared him to fire more kicks, but Taichi kicked his leg out of his leg instead.
Cobb blocked an axe bomber and hit his own clothesline. Cobb hit a spin cycle and a standing moonsault for a pair of near falls. Taichi blocked a Tour of the Islands. His back gave out as he went for a backdrop suplex, selling the damage of the match.
Taichi blocked another attempt at Tour of the Islands with an illegal choke, then hit his backdrop suplex for a near fall. Cobb blocked a thrust kick and hit a thrust kick. Taichi hit a gamengiri and used a Gedo clutch for a near fall.
Taichi went for Black Mephisto. Cobb blocked and hit strikes to the lower back. Cobb dropped Taichi with a forearm strike. Taichi blocked Tour of the Islands with an axe bomber. Cobb avoided Black Mephisto and another high kick and hit a German.
Cobb then finally connected with Tour of the Islands and got the win.
B Block: Hirooki Goto defeated YOSHI-HASHI (16:57)
This was a great brawl. Great intensity from both guys. The crowd was alive tonight which helped greatly.
They had a striking battle at the outset. They brawled in the ring, then brawled to the floor. YH had the upper hand after a neckbreaker on the floor. Goto made it back in after a countout tease.
YH remained in control until Goto hit a lariat to cut him off. YH avoided a misdirection lariat, but Goto hit a throw and an ushigoroshi to get a near fall. Goto hit an inverted GTR, but YH kicked out. Goto went for a standard GTR, but YH reversed into Goto’s own Shouten Kai move.
They exchanged strikes. YH fired off chops. Goto threw a kick, but YH caught it and hit a headbutt. YH hit double knees for a near fall. YH hit a dragon suplex. Goto no-sold, but YH hit him with a thrust kick and a kumagoroshi for a two count.
YH used a sleeper at the 15 minute mark. Goto blocked Kharma and hit a headbutt. After a double down, Goto hit a GYW and a GTR for the pin.
B Block: Kazuchika Okada defeated SANADA (29:14)
A great main event to cap what was probably the best night of the tournament so far.
They did some basic mat wrestling. Headlock takeovers, head scissor escapes and the like. Okada broke cleanly against the ropes after teasing a strike. Okada hit a big boot and an elbow drop. SANADA hit a dropkick five minutes in.
Okada avoided the paradise lock on the first attempt. SANADA used a frankensteiner to set up a second attempt and got the paradise lock on. SANADA broke it with a dropkick and got a two count. SANADA used a chinlock, Okada forced a rope break.
SANADA hammered at Okada’s neck with elbows. He hit a snap suplex for a two count as Okada sold his back. SANADA hit a back elbow, but missed a standing moonsault. Okada hit a running back elbow.
Okada hit a running back elbow in the corner, then a DDT out of the corner for a two count. SANADA blocked a tombstone attempt, but Okada hit a neckbreaker. Okada used a neck tie with SANADA’s own arms. SANADA forced a break at the 10 minute call.
Okada hit a sliding dropkick. SANADA avoided a senton and Okada sold his back again. SANADA hit a basement dropkick to the left knee and kipped up. SANADA hit an arm drag, a back breaker and a plancha.
Okada sent SANADA from a seated position on the top rope to the floor with a dropkick, then hit a DDT on the floor. SANADA beat the count back in at 18. Okada used the Money Clip. SANADA broke it quickly. Okada avoided a moonsault. SANADA landed on his feet and sold his right knee giving out on landing.
Okada hit a knee breaker and continued to go after the bad leg. Okada used the Money Clip again. After a long submission tease, SANADA fought to the ropes for a break.
Okada hit a slam and an elbow off the top. He hit his Rainmaker pose. SANADA ducked a Rainmaker and used Skull End. Okada immediately got out of the hold, but SANADA hit a TKO for a two count.
SANADA used a spinning Skull End and applied a body scissors with it on the mat at 20 minutes. SANADA gave up the hold as he always does against Okada. It’s a total logic break when he does that. SANADA went for a moonsault. Okada rolled out of the way and SANADA landed and sold his knee.
SANADA used a Destino to set up Skull End with the body scissors again. Okada made the ropes after teasing tapping out.
Okada avoided a magic screw. SANADA avoided a Rainmaker, but Okada hit his dropkick. SANADA hit a pop-up TKO and a moonsault. Okada kicked out at two. We heard the 25 minute call.
Okada used the threat of an air raid crash to use his sit-down cradle for a near fall. Okada hit a spinning tombstone into a double down. They traded strikes at the 27 minute call. SANADA no-sold a shotgun dropkick. Okada hit a German. SANADA used an O’Connor roll for a near fall at 28 minutes.
SANADA blocked the landslide and got Skull End again. Okada escaped. SANADA ducked a Rainmaker. Okada hit the landslide, then hit a Rainmaker. Okada covered for the pin.
Each gave the other a thumbs up after the match.
**********
Here is the lineup for the next show:
G1 Climax 31 night 11, Thursday, October 7, 5:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
The G1 Climax 31 A Block continued today in Aichi.
Shingo Takagi faced Kota Ibushi in the main event, while Tomohiro Ishii took on Zack Sabre Jr. in the semi-main.
Tanga Loa vs. Yujiro Takahashi, and KENTA vs. Great-O-Khan were the other tournament matches today.
Toru Yano took on BUSHI, plus Yoshinobu Kanemaru faced Kosei Fujita in the two non-tournament matches.
Here are results and a report from the show.
**********
Recommended matches —
Shingo Takagi vs. Kota Ibushi
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Report —
Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Kosei Fujita (7:34)
Fujita is not as good as Oiwa is my hot take on the new Young Lion duo. Oiwa had a really good match with Kanemaru the other night. This was just there.
Fujita tried some forearm strikes early. Kanemaru cut him off and worked him over. Fujita made a comeback and hit a dropkick. Kanemaru cut him off again and used a Boston crab for the submission.
Toru Yano defeated BUSHI (7:14)
This was complete haha.
They blindfolded each other with tote bags. BUSHI tied Yano to the barricade with a towel for a countout tease. Yano exposed a buckle. Yano tied BUSHI to the barricade by the mask for another countout tease.
BUSHI hit a missile dropkick and a suicide dive. Yano put a blindfold over the ref’s head. BUSHI rolled up Yano but there was no referee.
Yano hit a low blow and used a schoolboy for the pin.
A Block: KENTA defeated Great-O-Khan (19:39)
This was okay. The Great-Okay.
They did some promo work before the match where each asked the other to bow down to the other. The loser of the match would be forced to bow down to the winner.
KENTA stalled early and hid under the ring. He popped out from under the ring and attacked O-Khan on the floor. They traded leg holds on the mat. O-Khan took control of the match after some Mongolian chops.
O-Khan used an iron claw and went for the Eliminator, but KENTA escaped and hit a DDT. KENTA followed up with the green killer for a near fall. KENTA hit a running boot and stalling dropkick in the corner.
KENTA rolled through after missing a double stomp, but O-Khan cut him off with a pump kick. They traded hard slaps, with KENTA getting the better of the sequence. O-Khan escaped a GTS attempt an went for an Eliminator, but KENTA used a knee strike to block.
O-Khan used the sheep killer. KENTA slid out and bumped O-Khan into the referee. KENTA brought a chair in and used it on O-Khan. KENTA put O-Khan’s hat on and hit a double stomp off the top onto O-Khan on the chair.
KENTA brought a baseball bat into the ring. He threw the bat to O-Khan. The ref was revived and saw O-Khan with the bat. KENTA used the distraction to schoolboy O-Khan and pin him.
KENTA sat on a chair and demanded that O-Khan bow down. O-Khan almost did, but popped up at the last minute and hit the Eliminator on KENTA. KENTA gets the win, O-Khan keeps his pride.
A Block: Tanga Loa (w/Jado) defeated Yujiro Takahashi (w/Pieter) (12:36)
They had a fine brawl, they didn’t overstay their welcome, they worked hard. No complaints about this one which looked like it could have been a struggle on paper.
Loa gained the early advantage and busted out a standing moonsault for a two count. He continued on the offensive with a blue thunder bomb. Loa used a chinlock.
Yujiro came back and actually hit a suicide dive. These guys weren’t messing around tonight.
Yujiro hit an Angle slam for a two count. Loa came back with a sit-out powerbomb. Yujiro hit Miami Shine and scored a near fall.
Yujiro went for Big Juice, but Loa blocked and hit Apesh*t to get the pin.
A Block: Tomohiro Ishii defeated Zack Sabre Jr. (18:40)
Really good match with a simple story. Sabre went after Ishii’s right arm. Would Ishii be able to deliver enough punishment before the arm gave out?
Sabre tried to steal a quick win with a European clutch. Sabre used kicks and holds in working over the arm. Ishii went for a superplex, but Sabre escaped and hit a powerbomb off the second rope. Ishii came back with a German after blocking a PK.
Ishii went for a sliding lariat, but Sabre caught his right arm in an armbar. Ishii forced a rope break. He adjusted the wrap on his arm and continued to sell it.
Ishii no-sold a kick and kicked Sabre’s right leg. Ishii no-sold another kick and hit a big forearm shot. They traded strikes. Ishii hit an enzuigiri and a powerbomb with a stack cover for a near fall.
Sabre again avoided a sliding lariat and caught Ishii in a crucifix for a two count. Ishii kicked out and then hit the sliding lariat at 15 minutes.
Ishii hit another lariat. Sabre avoided another lariat swing and used a clutch for a two count. Sabre used a kimura, then transitioned to a cross armbreaker. He then slid to a triangle. Ishii forced a break with kicks.
Ishii escaped a Zack Driver and hit a headbutt and a lariat. Ishii rammed his own arm into the corner pad and ripped the padding off.
Ishii hit a lariat for a two count, then hit the Vertical Drop Brainbuster for the pin.
A Block: Kota Ibushi defeated Shingo Takagi (23:57)
A classic G1 match. This was easily Ibushi’s best match since his return from pneumonia.
They started simply, hitting shoulder blocks and trading headlocks. They turned to striking. Shingo hit some strikes, but Ibushi went into Murder Ibushi mode and no-sold. Ibushi hit a flying mid kick.
Ibushi sent Shingo to the floor with a snap rana, then hit a gorgeous Asai moonsault. Back in, Ibushi used a standing moonsault for a two count. Shingo blocked a last ride attempt with a backdrop, then hit a neckbreaker to halt Ibushi’s momentum.
They traded half-and-half suplexes. They traded strikes. Ibushi dumped Shingo with a suplex, but Shingo no-sold and hit a diving forearm to the back into a double down.
Shingo hit a superplex for a two count. Ibushi blocked a Pumping Bomber, but Shingo hit a left-arm lariat. Shingo used a standing switch to set up Made in Japan for another two count. Ibushi blocked Last of the Dragon and hit a knee strike to the face.
Shingo blocked Bomaye and tried a sliding lariat. Ibushi avoided it, then hit an enzuigiri. Ibushi then connected with the Bomaye and a last ride for a near fall.
Ibushi went for Kamigoye at 20 minutes. Shingo blocked and hit his own Kamigoye. Ibushi sold this huge. Shingo could not immediately follow up. Shingo hit a Pumping Bomber. Ibush took a flip bump. Shingo covered for a two count.
Shingo went for Last of the Dragon. Ibushi powered out with forearm strikes. Shingo hit a combination of strikes. Ibushi hit a palm strike and a hook kick. Ibushi blocked a Pumping Bomber attempt with a high kick.
Ibushi hit a Kamigoye, but Shingo kicked out at two.
Ibushi pulled down the knee pad and tried another Kamigoye, but Shingo blocked and tried Last of the Dragon. Ibushi slid out and hit a poison rana.
Ibushi hit a v-trigger and two more Kamigoyes and got the pin.
Ibushi held up one finger after the match, as if to say let’s do it one more time.
**********
Here is the lineup for the next show:
G1 Climax 31 night 10, Monday, October 4, 5:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
