Here are the results from tonight’s New Japan Showdown event at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California. It featured a six-man tag match in the main event, with LIJ members facing off against The Bullet Club.
TJP & Amazing Red defeated Alex Zayne & Aaron Solow
– Red pinned Solow with the Code Red.
Colt Cabana & Toru Yano defeated Alex Coughlin & Karl Fredericks
– Cabana pinned Fredericks with the Superman pin.
Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer & El Desperado defeated Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Clark Connors
– Suzuki defeated Connors with the Gotch Style piledriver.
SANADA & EVIL defeated Tomohiro Ishii & Rocky Romero
– SANADA submitted Rocky with the Skull End.
Kota Ibushi defeated Ren Narita
– Ibushi submitted Narita with an elevated Boston crab.
The full card for this Sunday’s Power Struggle event has been revealed.
Following Friday’s Road to Power Struggle event, the finals of the Super Junior Tag League are set as the top two teams, SHO & YOH and El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru, will clash to determine this year’s tournament winner.
A IWGP Jr. title match has also been announced, with Will Ospreay defending against BUSHI. It was BUSHI who challenged Ospreay following the October 28 Road to Power Struggle event, with Ospreay accepting as long as it was after his involvement with the tournament.
A number of undercard matches is also set, which include participants in this year’s Super Junior Tag League tournament.
Here is the full card, which will take place on November 3 at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium:
Jay White vs. Hirooki Goto for the IWGP Intercontinental title
Will Ospreay vs. BUSHI for the IWGP Jr. title
KENTA vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER Openweight title
El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. SHO & YOH in the Super Junior Tag League finals
Tetsuya Naito vs. Taichi
Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi
EVIL, SANADA & Shingo Takagi vs. Lance Archer, Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr.
Robbie Eagles & Rocky Romero vs. El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori
Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Yuya Uemura vs. Volador Jr., Titan, TJP & Clark Connors
More names have been added to the 2019 Super J-Cup that takes place later this month.
New Japan Pro Wrestling announced this evening that YOH, BUSHI and Amazing Red will be taking part in the tournament. This would be Amazing Red’s first time wrestling for the promotion. He originally retired back in March, citing severe neck injuries.
Red, BUSHI and YOH join TJP, SHO, CMLL’s Caristico, Ryusuke Taguchi and Taiji Ishimori as participants in this year’s tournament. Overall, there will be sixteen participants, including wrestlers from NJPW, CMLL, and Ring of Honor. Will Ospreay and El Phantasmo have also been featured on advertising, though they have yet to be announced for the tournament.
The first round of the Super J-Cup will take place at the Temple Theater in Tacoma, Washington on August 22. The next round takes place at the San Francisco State University Student Life Event Center on August 24 in San Francisco. The finals will take place on August 25 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California.
NJPW was at Korakuen Hall today for another Road to Wrestling Dontaku event. Kazuchika Okada and YOH teamed up in the main event to battle future opponent SANADA and BUSHI in the main event.
The participants for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament was also announced, and you can check out that information here.
Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata and Toa Henare defeated Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura and Shota Umino
Tsuji was highlighted during parts of the match, attacking Kojima before the match started. He got in some shine against Nagata, as did Umino. Henare cut off Uemura with a giant headbutt and suplex. He then scored the win following the uranage, which he calls the Toa Bottom. Fine opener.
Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and Ren Narita
Suzuki zoned in on Liger, since they will be squaring off in another tag match tomorrow as part of Liger’s 30th anniversary under the gimmick. A solid match, not much more. Suzuki wore him down with a half crab. Narita kicked out of an assisted spear by Desperado, but fell to the angel’s wings.
Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi and Taka Michinoku defeated Tomoaki Honma, YOSHI-HASHI and Rocky Romero
Same structure as the other matches. Story was that Romero, as a result of the Ibushi/Naito storyline, was shuffled to teaming without his CHAOS teammates. He and Taichi were at it near the end, with Taichi eventually cutting him off and submitting him with a new neck crank submission.
Sabre attacked YOSHI-HASHI after the match, taking his arm, then took down the young boys that tried to stop him. That could be a future program.
Juice Robinson, Mikey Nicholls, Toru Yano and Togi Makabe defeated Guerillas of Destiny, Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens
The commentators pushed there was some dissension between Jado and Tama Tonga on social media. They argued in the ring, but then Jado attacked their opponents with kendo sticks, so it was pretty much just a swerve.
Yano immediately took out one of the turnbuckles. Heels were in control but Juice made the same for his team as the crowd came alive. Owens tried for the package piledriver, but Nicholls cut him off. Robinson came in with a punch, then Nicholls pinned Owens with the Mikey bomb.
Hirooki Goto, Dragon Lee and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Jay White, Taiji Ishimori and Hikuleo
Goto and Jay White were the highlights here as the two faced off during the match. Hikulelo also got some time to shine and is progressing well, After Goto sent White out, Hikuleo came in and ate the GTR, giving Goto the win.
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL and Shingo Takagi defeated Kota Ibushi, Tomohiro Ishii and SHO
Both EVIL and Naito worked on Ibushi for a good while. EVIL was working on Ibushi when Ishii came in and kicked him square in the back. EVIL responded by giving Ishii a punch that sent him to the floor. Ibushi finally tagged in Ishii who came in like a ball of fire against EVIL.
Takagi and SHO had a short sprint before Naito came in and have him a hurricanrana off the top rope. Everyone came in and did a big move. SHO hit his deadlift German suplex on Naito, but he kicked out. He went for the shock arrow, but Naito blocked in and Shingo came in for the assist.
Takagi laid out SHO with the pumping bomber, then Naito pinned him following the Destino. This was easily the best match of the night, a great six man tag with a hot crowd.
Kazuchika Okada and YOH defeated SANADA and BUSHI
A very good main event. YOH and BUSHI looked great here, as did Okada and BUSHI when they were in. They stepped it up and had a really fun match.
Juniors and heavys paired off early. BUSHI reddened YOH’s chest with hard slaps, it looked ugly. Okada and SANADA came in and did their part. SANADA put Okada in the paradise lock and dropkicked him.
BUSHI and Okada went at it on the outside, but SANADA catches Okada with the skull end. He escapes and counters by driving him and BUSHI over the guardrail with a kick. YOH, who was at the bleachers area in the crowd, jumped off with a tope con hilo that wiped everyone out.
YOH and BUSHI had another hot exchange toward the end before Okada laid out BUSHI with the dropkick and a tombstone. Okada sunk in the cobra clutch (which could play in a role in his upcoming match against SANADA), then hit the rainmaker for the win.
Both Okada and YOH cut promos to close out the show. YOH had to repeat his catchphrase several times for whatever reason.
After they were set up at the New Beginning in Osaka on Monday morning, New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced two title matches for this year’s anniversary show.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Taiji Ishimori will defend his title against Jushin Thunder Liger at the anniversary event, and SHO & YOH will challenge for Shingo Takagi & BUSHI’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight titles.
Ishimori called out Liger (who was on commentary) after retaining his title against Ryusuke Taguchi at the New Beginning in Osaka. Liger said he’d accept Ishimori’s challenge at any place or time.
SHO & YOH attacked Takagi & BUSHI and grabbed their title belts after Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Takagi & BUSHI) defeated Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado) in a six-man tag match. Takagi & BUSHI took the belts back after both teams got on the microphone and set up their title match.
This year marks NJPW’s 47th anniversary. The anniversary show is taking place at Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo on Wednesday, March 6 and will air live on New Japan World.
NJPW and CMLL kicked off their Fantasticamania tour this morning in Osaka with a number of matches, including the debut of Atlantis Jr., son of Atlantis.
Taiji Ishimori, Templarino and Gedo defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask and Audaz
Gedo stalled early. Kinda boring until Audaz was tagged in and did an amazing corkscrew moonsault to the floor, wiping out Templarino. They ended up having some pretty good chemistry together and was a highlight of the match.
Ishimori and Taguchi, who was wearing his pharaoh outfit as he normally does on these tours, went at it. It was pretty okay.Templarino picked up the win over Audaz with a sitout powerbomb. Pretty solid opener.
Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Forastero defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Titan and Flyer
This felt kind of uninteresting until Liger started to make a hot comeback, sending Forastero to the floor. He took out Kanemaru on the outside as Flyer and Kanemaru went at it.
Titan and Forastero had some fun back and forth towards the end. Forastero scissored him and went for the triangle armbar, submitting Flyer. Dull in parts but largely okay.
Okumura and Sanson defeated Atlantis and Atlantis Jr.
This is the debut match of Atlantis Jr., who naturally is the son of Atlantis. He and Sanson worked together early and looked okay, doing some cool spots including a suicide dive to the floor, taking out Sanson.
It was kind of sad seeing Atlantis, as it seems clear his knee is still bothering him, especially when he has to run. Atlantis Jr. wiped out both with a tope con hilo as Atlantis went to the top rope, hitting a crossbody to the floor.
As the match wore on, Atlantis Jr. continued to work the bulk of the match, looking good.
Okumura planted him with a draping cutter off the top rope but Atlantis broke it up. Sanson took Atlantis out of the ring as Atlantis Jr. got a near fall with a roll up. As he was arguing with referee, Okumura grabbed him and hit a spinning DDT for the win.
Okumura and Sanson took the masks of both father and son after the match.
Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero and Cuartero defeated Mistico, Dragon Lee and Niebla Roja
Everyone paired off against one another with some good back and forth. Gran and Ultimo teamed up to slam Mistico off the top rope. The technicos then teamed up to send all three rudos out of the ring.
Dragon Lee and Mistico teamed up to work on the rudos, doing some great tandem offense to take out the Guerreros. Niebla Roja and Cuatero worked against one another, and both looked good. Roja took out Cuatero with a giant Sasuke special as Lee and Mistico took out the Guerreros with stereo topes.
Roja and Cuartero continued their offense until Cuartero cut off Roja and pinned him with the Cuatero bomb. A pretty good match, with Mistico and Dragon Lee’s offense being the highlights.
Caristico, Namajague and Barbaro Cavernario defeated KUSHIDA, Volador Jr. and Soberano Jr.
Namajague was Desperado’s gimmick during his CMLL excursion years ago.
Volador and Caristico had a hot sprint early. Namajague used his belt as a rope to choke and attack KUSHIDA throughout the match. Soberano came in and did a big moonsault dive to the floor that wiped out both KUSHIDA and Namajague on the outside.
Volador and Caristico were back in the ring and did a few more spots before Volador tapped to la mistica. Short, but good action while it lasted.
Tetsuya Naito, El Terrible, BUSHI and Shingo Takagi defeated Satoshi Kojima, Toa Henare, Raijin and Fujin
Fujin and Raijin, much like Desperado, were SHO and YOH wearing their CMLL masks.
The first few minutes of this was just kind of a match. People would tag in, get worked over for a bit before tagging out. Nothing particularly interesting.
Fujin and Rajin picked things up toward the end by working over BUSHI with some tandem offense. They went for the 3K, but it was broken up by Shingo who attempted to clear house.
Fujin went for a dragon suplex, but BUSHI countered with the BUSHI roll and got the win. Again, the first half of this was really dull but it picked up towards the end.
This was an easy two in a half hours to watch. If you like these shows, it’s worth a look, but there isn’t anything that I would consider must see barring the debut of Atlantis Jr..
Ring of Honor’s Global Wars tour began in Lewiston, Maine on Wednesday night.
The Big Takeaway —
This was a low-stakes house show. The gymnasium was clearly half-empty on camera, but the crowd was enthusiastic throughout the night. Only the Matt Taven-Dalton Castle angle was furthered to build Final Battle.
Two of the matches (The Briscoes vs. Cody & Hangman Page and Silas Young & Bully Ray vs. The Young Bucks) were interrupted by streaming issues and/or power outage issues in the town of Lewiston, according to Ian Riccaboni. Viewers were not able to see the finish of the Young & Ray vs. Young Bucks match
Show Recap —
A small but excited crowd were on their feet at the start of this show. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana were on commentary tonight. They introduced the card.
Flip Gordon defeated Eli Isom
Rookie Eli Isom came out with Cheeseburger and Ryan Nova. Gordon got a noticeable pop from this Wednesday night crowd. Cabana brought up the “bird incident” from the Jericho Cruise last week.
Gordon and Isom began the match with a smooth set of chain wrestling and rope-running sequences. Gordon hit a great looking dropkick to Isom in the corner. He followed up with his nip-up Pele kick spots, finishing the sequence with a tope con giro.
Back in the ring, the two traded chops. Gordon’s one-foot dropkick is real pretty. Isom was pushed on commentary as a promising rookie. He didn’t look bad here. Isom hit a nice backdrop suplex onto Gordon. They did a wild spot that consisted of Gordon nipping up off the apron, a jump enzuigiri kick, and them rolling back into the ring for another kicking sequence. It was all at lightning speed, and the crowd was on their feet after this.
Isom’s suplexes are solid; he used a nice wheelbarrow German suplex for two at one point. Gordon responded with a Falcon Arrow, and later a springboard spear, before finally hitting a Flip 5 for the win. The two shook hands and posed afterwards.
A quick but satisfying opening match. These guys had great chemistry together, but Gordon was the obvious star meant to shine here.
ROH Tag Team Champions SoCal Uncensored (Scorpio Sky & Frankie Kazarian) defeated The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) in a non-title match
The New Age Out–I mean SoCal Uncensored came out and did their pre-match promo work in the ring. They were very over with the crowd. The gymnasium looked empty on some camera shots but the fans down in front were enthusiastic, mitigating any embarrassing camera work.
The match itself was mostly fun old school-styled tag team wrestling. The Bouncers played big bully heels, and Beer City Bruiser did a few high spots to the outside.
There was a mildly funny moment where the ref accused Bruiser of biting. The camera zoomed in just as he said “I don’t have no teeth!”
Cabana said “Oh, mylanta” at one point during this match.
The Bouncers abused Kazarian for a long while. Sky broke up a number of near falls. The pace was slowed toward the end of this match because the Bouncers aren’t athletic. It weighed the match down. Milonas is impressive to a point but is very slow.
Sky and Kazarian powerbombed Milonas off the top rope to win the match. The teams shared beers afterwards.
ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Cheeseburger in a non-title match
Cheeseburger came out with Ryan Nova and Eli Isom. The two shook hands before the bell.
The story was clear from the start of this bout: Cobb is massive and strong, Cheeseburger is wily, scrawny, and tenacious. Cobb rag-dolled Cheeseburger around the ring and it felt more like an exhibition than a contest for a lot of it.
A big, long bear hug spot, a bigger dropkick, and an insane dangling vertical superplex from Cobb to Cheeseburger all got just two.
Cheeseburger countered a few of Cobb’s moves and was able to use a Shotei in the corner, then a springboard cannonball senton for a pity two-count.
Cobb used a tremendous spinning backdrop suplex, then hit Tour of the Islands for the win.
A fine match that was more like an enhancement match for Cobb. The crowd seemed to enjoy it.
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) defeated Dalton Castle & The Boys to retain their titles
Rhett Titus came out before the match. He posed, then joined Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana on commentary.
It sounded like it was a surprise to the announce team that this had been scheduled to be for the Six-Man titles. Bobby Cruise announced it as such, though.
The crowd was into Castle and chanted for him before the match started. Marseglia attacked one of the Boys before the bell. While Castle screamed about the Boys’ bags to the referee, Taven and O’Ryan attacked. The bell finally rang.
This was chaotic from the start. Taven and company pounded on Castle with flurries of punches and kicks in the corner. O’Ryan worked over Castle’s injured back. Castle is still taped up around his left thigh, has a weight belt, and has some other serious looking knee compression gear.
O’Ryan did a cool running spot with the Boys. He carried one Boy in powerslam position and swung one Boy at the other.
The Boys did a flashy double stomp spot, then a wild nonstop sequence of “topes” that were basically just Castle taking the guys by the hair and repeatedly tossing them over the ropes onto The Kingdom.
Three red balloons flew up in the air at this point in the match.
Castle used a Bang-a-Rang on Marseglia for a near fall. Later, Taven countered out of another Bang-a-Rang attempt and booted Castle hard in the face.
One of the Boys came back into the ring wearing a rugby sweater. He was acting like Freddy Krueger and started back-raking Marseglia with his “claw.” He did a number of cool spots, like a standing Sliced Bread, and then Castle screamed “What have you become?” at the Boy, who then snapped out of it.
Taven and Castle squared off and did a Frye-Takayama punching spot all the way to the floor. The two other Kingdom members did a special tag team finisher — a modified double powerslam thing — on one of the Boys for the win here.
Taven cut a good promo on Castle. He claimed he owns this Kingdom of New England, and that he’ll get to him at Final Battle soon. The crowd booed without fire.
This match did its job. It built Taven and Castle for Final Battle, which could be better than people may expect.
The Briscoes defeated Hangman Page & IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Cody (w/ Brandi Rhodes)
The camera got an excellent shot of a very excited Briscoes fan, someone’s mother, I imagine, hopping up and down before the match.
Mark Briscoe tossed a chair into the ring for no apparent reason. The crowd woke up for this.
Mark and Page started off the match. There was a presence that all four wrestlers carry with them into this match that is very different from the wrestlers I watched in the matches before. Their body shape and size stood out, along with the conviction in the way they got into each other’s faces and locked heads.
The way Cody would rile the crowd up was something worth mentioning. His ring instincts are so attuned to the crowd regardless of what the plan is.
The ROH feed cut out in the middle of this match. The ROH logo spun around for a few minutes until it came back to the match. Riccaboni explained that the power in the building went out and that’s why the stream went out.
The match stayed on track in the building, with the crowd fiercely behind the newly-anointed Elite members (Elitists?). When the stream came back, Cody was in the middle of a hot high spot sequence inside the ring. It was eventually slowed to a halt, with both Jay and Mark Briscoe showcasing their unsung talent as vicious heels who are mostly always exciting to watch.
Page got a hot tag into the match later on. He and Jay traded a lot of punches and elbows and they really laid them into each other.
Page used a Shooting Star shoulder block off the apron, essentially out of nowhere, onto Mark on the floor. He hopped back into the ring and German suplexed Jay for only two.
Jay and Page brawled on the outside, and Cody and Mark got into the mix. Back in the ring, the Briscoes used the Redneck Boogie powerbomb/neckbreaker combination on Cody for a two count.
They exchanged uppercuts and straight right punches. Brandi Rhodes stood on the apron and was quickly knocked off it by Mark. There was some chaos outside the ring, which was capped off by a huge moonsault from the top turnbuckle to the outside.
This turned into a wild, fast-paced brawl in and outside the ring. Jay used the Jay Driller and then Mark smashed Page with a Froggy Bow for the win.
Despite the technical difficulties in the middle of this match, this was very much worth the watch. The Briscoes are having an under-the-radar type year of very good to excellent matches in various promotions. They are a great heel matchup with any of the Elite members, and this was all without a real storyline.
If there was a just a hair of narrative between these two teams, aside from the lightly touched upon history Riccaboni mentioned over the broadcast, it could make for a very hot two to three month program in either the United States or in Japan. Keep an eye out for matches featuring any combination of these four.
Juice Robinson defeated Christopher Daniels
Riccaboni put Robinson over as an international star. The wrestlers shook hands before the match started. The crowd seemed split over Daniels and Juice. I’d say 60/40 in Robinson’s favor.
This was a well-paced match, organic and smooth in every exchange. Daniels slowed things down for a while for a chinlock, but not to the levels of stagnancy often seen in some WWE matches. Daniels later used an Arabian press on Robinson for two.
People sounded to have sided more strongly with Robinson as the match went on. They did more back and forth, with one sequence of Robinson firing up. They fought to a double knockdown spot until Robinson headed to the top turnbuckle and Daniels crotched him onto the ropes.
After a long-ish lull in the match, Robinson started doing the Terry Funk/Dusty Rhodes cowboy punches. He tried Pulp Friction a few times and eventually landed it for the win.
This was good but not great, everything the sixth match on a Wednesday night card should probably be.
Silas Young & Bully Ray defeated The Young Bucks
Bully Ray came out to only boos. He screamed at ring announcer Bobby Cruise to shut up and was generally bully-ish. As he should be. He and Matt Taven were the most loudly booed wrestlers of the night so far.
People threw ribbons in the ring for the Bucks before the match. Bully Ray was very, very loud. He did a lot of crowd work here; he screamed “Your heroes SUCK!” at someone in the crowd. It was all very house show-ish, charming in its aesthetic.
The Bucks finally were able to tope their way onto the offense. Young was the pawn in the match, the way to let the Bucks shine without devaluing Ray as a heel.
As the match slowed, the heels took over. The crowd began chanting “Yankees suck!”
Matt Jackson used a spear on Bully Ray. Young put Matt into a Boston crab, working his storyline-injured back. Nick came into the ring with energy and made a few attempts to connect with the crowd after doing some of his signature moves to Young.
Young used a handful of power moves on Nick Jackson, including an Anarchy suplex. Nick was able to turn things around quickly with a couple of superkicks and a moonsault from the apron onto Bully Ray outside of the ring.
More superkicks inside the ring, and just as things were getting exciting, the stream went out again. The ROH logo spun around Windows 98 screensaver style for a couple of minutes until the feed came back and, apparently, Silas Young pinned one of the Bucks to win the match for his team.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) defeated Jonathan Gresham, Chris Sabin, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA & ROH World Heavyweight Champion Jay Lethal
Between the matches, Riccaboni explained that there may have been a power outage issue in Lewiston tonight and apologized for the other stream outage.
LIJ were introduced one by one, each of them in full character garb. The crowd roared for Naito. They looked like absolute superstars tonight, with a visual charisma that carries across the screen in an almost jarring way.
His name is “Constellation” Chris Sabin now. Colt Cabana was as surprised as you and I were about this because he found out when we did. “Constellation’s” hair is in currently at AJ Styles soccer-mom length.
Gresham and Naito started the match. Naito looked gigantic compared to Gresham. He quickly tagged out, rudo style, allowing for SANADA to enter.
The crowd started chanting “Sa-Na-Da!” He had a fun but forgettable exchange with Gresham. EVIL and Sabin had it out for a bit in the ring. EVIL was popular with the crowd and received loud chants.
Sabin and KUSHIDA did some good tag work to EVIL. Lethal and Gresham double-teamed EVIL for a while and showed off some of the offense they’re using together these days as a semi-regular tag team. Gresham worked over EVIL’s arm and elbow.
Naito stepped in by tripping KUSHIDA, allowing for SANADA to dropkick KUSHIDA in the face. LIJ dominated from here, using a strategy of two wrestlers standing on the apron and two seemingly guarding the area around the ring, something we see much more in Japan than in the States.
Naito and later BUSHI finally showed up in the ring. A BUSHIroonie happened. Fans rallied behind KUSHIDA minutes later, but he wasn’t able to escape SANADA’s Paradise Lock and shotgun dropkick to the posterior.
KUSHIDA fired up and used a handspring back elbow. He was able to tag Lethal back into the ring. Lethal cleaned house and soaked in some of the louder crowd reactions of the night.
The ROH/NJPW team did a triple plancha spot. SANADA did a slingshot swinging neckbreaker suplex to Lethal.
BUSHI and Gresham worked well together. I found it fresh since BUSHI was the big guy. He’s usually a few kilos lighter than whomever he’s in the match with in NJPW matches, so this matchup felt like it could lead to something new or interesting.
The finishing sequence consisted of Lethal hitting a Lethal Injection on BUSHI, then EVIL using Darkness Falls on Lethal, and finally Naito using Destino on Gresham for the win.
This was a good match but, again, not a great one. It felt like a warm-up match, a match where some of the guys who haven’t worked with each other much before (BUSHI and Gresham, for example) can feel each other out and plan a tighter set for the bigger shows this weekend.
Earlier this week, Juice Robinson was also announced for the Global Wars tour.
KUSHIDA last appeared for ROH at September’s post-Death Before Dishonor television tapings, where he teamed with Jushin Thunder Liger against Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham. KUSHIDA faced Lethal at ROH’s Best in the World pay-per-view in June and wrestled Gresham at a set of tapings after that PPV.
BUSHI also wrestled at Best in the World and the June tapings.
The Global Wars tour begins in Lewiston, Maine on November 7. There are also shows in Lowell, Massachusetts on November 8, Buffalo, New York on November 9, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 11.
Coming out of tonight’s show in Long Beach, California, the finals of NJPW’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship tournament are set.
Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay renewed their rivalry at Fighting Spirit Unleashed, with Scurll hitting his Graduation finisher to advance to the finals. The other semifinal took place at Destruction in Kobe earlier this month. KUSHIDA defeated BUSHI, becoming the first wrestler to get a spot in the finals.
Scurll will face KUSHIDA at King of Pro Wrestling on Monday, October 8 to decide the new Junior Heavyweight Champion.
Due to the neck injury that Hiromu Takahashi suffered in his match against Dragon Lee at July’s G1 Special in San Francisco, NJPW announced last month that the Junior Heavyweight title had been vacated. Scurll, KUSHIDA, Ospreay, and BUSHI were the four wrestlers included in the tournament.
Kenny Omega defending his IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kota Ibushi and Cody Rhodes in a three-way match is also set for King of Pro Wrestling. The full card should be announced in the coming days.
The appearance of Los Ingobernables de Japón in Arena Mexico has been altered a bit due to an injury.
The original match was slated to be Tetsuya Naito, EVIL and BUSHI vs. L.A. Park, Volador Jr. and Diamate Azul. However, the card for the 8/31 show was posted today on the Arena Mexico Twitter account, with Rush taking EVIL’s spot in the main event. The poster noted that EVIL would be a valet for the Ingobernables instead.
Dave Meltzer mentioned on Twitter that EVIL is currently suffering from a knee injury, which may be why he’s off the card in an active capacity. It isn’t known how serious the injury is, but he was recently announced for the Destruction events that will be taking place next month.
The co-main event of the 8/31 card will have a singles match between two of the participants in the 85th Aniversario main event, as Matt Taven will take on Barbaro Cavernario. Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia and Gran Guerrero will also team up to take on Ciber the Main Man, The Chris and Scharly Rock Star.
EVIL was super over with the crowd, while Taylor got “Cleveland sucks” chants due to being from Ohio. EVIL won after hitting a headbutt, a lariat, and Everything is EVIL. The match was plodding at times and probably should have ended three minutes before it did.
– Tenille Dashwood & Jenny Rose defeated Women of Honor Champion Sumie Sakai & Stella Grey
Dashwood was really popular with the crowd. Rose used what looked like a Rock Bottom-type of move to pin Grey.
After the match, Rose dusted off the Women’s title and tried to hand it to Sakai, but Sakai got offended and slapped her. They brawled and Sakai tried to put Rose in an ankle lock, but she kicked her away before other referees broke it up. Commentary put over Sakai vs. Rose for the title at Sunday’s television tapings in Chicago.
– Hangman Page vs. Punishment Martinez never got started
Page jumped Martinez with a chair from behind and threw the chair in Martinez’s face. Things spilled to the outside and Page quickly set up a table on one of the ring post corners on the outside, driving Martinez through it. The referees ordered Page to leave ringside.
– Marty Scurll defeated Matt Taven, Kenny King, and SANADA in a four-way match
Jay Lethal was supposed to be in the match but was replaced by SANADA due to injury. SANADA was cheered big time.
Scurll won with a low kick and an inside cradle on Taven as Taven argued with and pushed referee Todd Sinclair. There were some comedy bits during the match as SANADA did his hog-tie move on King and Taven, then Scurll tried to do it on him but couldn’t figure out how. Scurll and SANADA teased doing it on Sinclair.
– Roppongi 3K (Sho & Yoh) defeated Motor CIty Machine Guns and The Young Bucks
There were dueling chants of “Motor City” and “Let’s go Bucks,” but Roppongi 3K won in an upset by hitting 3K. It was kind of a cluster match that picked up in the last several seconds. The rules were that anybody could tag anybody in, and the finish came as the Bucks and MCMG were trying to take each other out with their usual crazy moves and Roppongi 3K snuck in to take advantage.
– ROH Television Champion Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser defeated The Boys
Young and Bruiser won after a big splash from Bruiser off the rope and Young hitting Misery.
Cheeseburger was out and acting all banged up from being attacked by Bully Ray previously. There were huge chants for Liger and tons of streamers thrown for him.
SoCal Uncensored picked up the victory by pinning Cheeseburger after the Best Meltzer Ever. Aside from a few spots when Gordon was in, this felt like a boring old-school house show match.
After the match, Gordon left but Liger and Cheeseburger posed on the ropes. Bully Ray then came out and gave Liger a low blow from behind, powerbombed Cheeseburger, and attacked them with his chain. Gordon made the save and tackled Bully, then superkicked him out of the ring. Liger and Cheeseburger were helped to the back.
– Cody Rhodes (w/ Burnard the Business Bear) defeated Hiromu Takahashi (w/ Daryl Jr.)
Tons of streamers were thrown for this one. Daryl Jr. was on commentary with a headset, though it was thankfully brief. There was lots of comedy at the start as Burnard and Daryl Jr. acted like they wanted to fight each other and security separated them. The ref ejected Burnard and sent Daryl back to the timekeeper’s table.
Cody got the pin after a vertebreaker. This was good, but I’d say it was only a small notch above house-show level. There was a slow but good pace and everything they did seemed to have purpose.
– ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defeated Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI to retain their titles
The NJPW wrestlers continued to be crowd favorites, but The Briscoes retained with a Jay Driller and a top rope elbow drop on BUSHI. The crowd was into BUSHI, but I think they knew he was taking the pin.
New Japan Pro Wrestling has one more title match scheduled before Wrestle Kingdom 12 at the Tokyo Dome.
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI will defend their titles against Bad Luck Fale & Guerrillas of Destiny at NJPW’s Road to Tokyo Dome show on December 17th. With SANADA & EVIL challenging Killer Elite Squad at Wrestle Kingdom, a title change would clear the way for the NEVER tag belts to be featured on the card.
SANADA & EVIL defeated Guerrillas of Destiny in this year’s World Tag League finals, with BUSHI getting disqualified against Fale earlier in the show after using the black mist.
The NEVER Six-Man titles were featured in a gauntlet match at Wrestle Kingdom 11. Whether Los Ingobernables de Japon retain or not, the full card for January’s Dome show likely won’t be announced until after Sunday’s six-man title match happens.
SANADA & EVIL vs. KES for the IWGP Tag Team Championship was added to the Wrestle Kingdom 12 lineup at a press conference overnight. Minoru Suzuki vs. Hirooki Goto in a match where Suzuki’s NEVER Openweight title and Goto’s hair are both on the line has been set up as well, though NJPW has yet to officially announce it.
Korakuen Hall will host Road to Tokyo Dome shows on December 17th and 18th as the final build to Wrestle Kingdom takes place. Hiroshi Tanahashi isn’t listed on the card for either night at Korakuen, which means that his first match back from his knee injury is scheduled to be when he faces Jay White at the Dome.
Kazuchika Okada facing off against Tetsuya Naito in tag team matches ahead of their IWGP Heavyweight Championship bout is the main event for both Road to Tokyo Dome shows. Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Naito & Hiromu Takahashi will headline night one, with Okada, Sho & Yoh vs. Naito, Takahashi & BUSHI set for night two.
New Japan brought us the third Kizuna Road show of the month at Korakuen Hall this morning, complete with a big IWGP Junior Heavyweight title match as KUSHIDA looked to successfully defend his title against former champion BUSHI.
We also got a look at all the big matches lined up for the G1 Climax, with dates included.
Tetsuhiro Yagi and Shota Umino went to a time limit draw
This was a nice match to kick off the show. They did a bit more than usual and looked pretty good. Yagi was in control for a lot of the match and looked good when on offense; same with Umino when it came to selling. Umino eventually cut him off and had the Boston crab in when the time limit expired.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taka Michinoku defeated Tiger Mask IV & Hirai Kawato
A solid match, with Kawato being the highlight with his intensity. They built up Kawato’s near falls very well as the crowd got into all of them. Michinoku eventually took him down and applied the crossface for the submission.
Tiger Mask and Kanemaru got into it after the match.
It was Kitamura’s time to shine, working mostly with Ishii. Kitamura, as far as star quality goes, probably could be the biggest star in the promotion in a few years. They’d need to do it soon though as he’s 31 years old already. He took the pinfall after eating a lariat from Ishii.
Here are the big matches taking place in this year’s G1, along with the dates for them —
July 17th: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito
July 20th: SANADA vs. EVIL, Minoru Suzuki vs. Kenny Omega
July 21st: Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr., YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tetsuya Naito
July 22nd: Kenny Omega vs. Tama Tonga, Minoru Suzuki vs. SANADA
July 23rd: Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto
July 25th: Toru Yano vs. Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA
July 26th: Togi Makabe vs. Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto
July 27th: Minoru Suzuki vs. EVIL, Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega
July 29th: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tetsuya Naito
July 30th: Satoshi Kojima vs. Kenny Omega, Juice Robinson vs. Kazuchika Okada
August 1st: Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi
August 2nd: Satoshi Kojima vs. Minoru Suzuki, Kenny Omega vs. EVIL
August 4th: Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe
August 5th: Satoshi Kojima vs. SANADA, Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL
August 6th: Togi Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii
August 8th: Kenny Omega vs. SANADA, Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki
August 11th: Kota Ibushi vs. Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito
August 12th: Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki, Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi defeated David Finlay, Ryusuke Taguchi, Juice Robinson & Hiroshi Tanahashi
This time everyone tried to wrap SANADA up in the ball, but they all failed and in stereo all looked ashamed that they couldn’t get it done. That was funny. This turned into a pretty good match with a lot of heat towards the end. Everyone worked well against one another. Finlay made a good comeback before eventually submitting to SANADA’s Skull End.
I think Taguchi wanted SANADA to join Taguchi Japan, or at least give him his towel, after the match. SANADA acted like he was going to grab it, but then jumped him and sent him out of the ring.
Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Taichi & El Desperado defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo
This was another good back-and-forth match between CHAOS and Suzuki-gun, with everyone coming in and getting some shine. Suzuki got Gedo in the sleeper, then shoved him to Desperado, who got the win with his new finisher, the Angel’s Wings.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA defeated BUSHI to retain his title
This was a good, but not great match. There was nothing particularly wrong about it, but it never truly felt heated. Hiromu Takahashi coming in to do spots was kind of annoying, as it was similar to the way the NEVER title match went on this tour, but it wasn’t as pronounced and may at least be a prelude to another showdown between him and KUSHIDA.
BUSHI went for a handshake; KUSHIDA obliged but immediately hit him into the ropes for a hot back and forth. BUSHI gained control and ground down KUSHIDA with some submission work.
BUSHI went to do something off the top rope, but KUSHIDA latched on and took him down to the floor, looking for a Kimura lock. Hiromu Takahashi, with his stuffed cat Darryl, came in to interfere, but KUSHIDA quickly took him out, then followed with a tope con hilo. His feet landed on top of the rail, hurting his leg.
KUSHIDA came back to the ring and hit the Back to the Future, but Takahashi came in instead and pretended to be the ref, counting to three. KUSHIDA got up, allowing Takahashi to superkick him, then followed with the sunset flip bomb before exiting.
BUSHI came around and took over on offense. He went to hit the MX, but KUSHIDA countered and laid him out. He misted KUSHIDA (while the ref was distracted, of course), then went for a bridge, but KUSHIDA kicked out. BUSHI went to jump off the top rope for the MX, but KUSHIDA caught him and landed the Back to the Future for the win.
Desperado came out after the match and hit KUSHIDA with his guitar, channeling Jeff Jarrett. He does have a win over KUSHIDA from the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, so he has his reason for challenging. The G1 finals would make the most sense for that match.
The first of three Kizuna Road shows aired earlier this morning at Korakuen Hall. The show had a big main event as Los Ingobernables de Japon defended their NEVER Six-Man tag titles against KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & Juice Robinson. We also found out who will be in this year’s G1 Climax.
Korakuen Hall looked particularly empty this morning — some visible empty seats could be seen in wide shots.
Tomoyuki Oka defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi
Oka worked over Yagi a ton of the match. Yagi did a good job in playing the babyface in peril. He kicked out of a running powerslam, but Oka immediately locked in the Boston crab and submitted him.
El Desperado, Taka Michinoku & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Shota Umino, Tiger Mask IV & Jushin Thunder Liger
Umino worked a lot of this match and looked pretty good — the crowd got into him and he was great in his selling and execution of moves. Really good performance from him. Desperado submitted him with the stretch muffler.
Liger and Tiger Mask posed for fans after the match.
This was just there. Kitamura is very green, but he’s perfectly decent for his experience level. Nakanishi seems to move slower and do less the more I see him in the ring. Nagata controlled Kitamura for a lot of the match and ended up pinning him with the backdrop driver.
This was a solid six-man bout. There was a lot of brawling outside of the ring and through the crowd early. Ishii worked a lot of the match and looked good, so did everyone else here really.
Kojima and Tenzan hit the 3D on Jado, then Makabe followed with the King Kong knee drop for the win.
The participants in this year’s G1 Climax tournament were then announced. The field is:
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Michael Elgin, Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, Juice Robinson, Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., and Kota Ibushi.
The blocks will be announced on June 26th, with matches revealed the next day.
Takahashi came to the ring with a stuffed cat doll. He treated it like it was a living thing. Naito even fist-bumped it. His name is Darryl, if you were wondering.
This was Kawato’s big test, being in a more higher profile match than usual and he ended up scoring pretty well. He did great in his selling and has such great natural intensity that it resonated with the fans, so they got into him early, especially when he ran out and jumped Naito before the bell.
He still lost the match for the team, with Takahashi submitting him with the Boston crab.
A female interviewer talked with Taguchi Japan before their title match. Taguchi talked about the team and their match tonight for a bit.
YOSHI-HASHI, Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto defeated Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & Davey Boy Smith Jr.
YOSHI-HASHI jumped Suzuki right at the bell and kept hammering at him until the ref had to pull them apart. It then turned into a solid back-and-forth match. I think this is Smith’s first time on a tour in ages and he looked really good both physically and in the ring.
Suzuki and YH had a great back and forth towards the end of the match. Suzuki laid him out as Taichi went to get a chair, but Okada broke it up. YH came back and locked in the butterfly lock for the submission.
Suzuki-gun tried to clear house after the match, but Okada and YH fought back, enabling YH to apply the butterfly lock on Suzuki for a long time until Okada finally broke it up.
The interviewer tried to talk to the NEVER Six-Man tag champs, but none of them seemed all that chatty. BUSHI did end up saying a few words.
NEVER Six-Man Tag Team Champions SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA & Juice Robinson to retain their titles
This was good, and it was easily the best match on the show. It wasn’t out of this world, but for a Korakuen Hall house show main event it delivered.
BUSHI and KUSHIDA started the match. They looked really good against one another, a positive sign for their match on the 27th. There was a cool spot where KUSHIDA struggled to get the armbar on BUSHI, so Robinson responded by headbutting BUSHI to execute it properly.
Everyone cleared each other out of the ring as Robinson cleared house. Taguchi did a Doomsday hip attack from the top rope. Robinson then went for the Pulp Friction, but when SANADA countered he hit a powerbomb instead. He went for it again, though SANADA kept escaping.
SANADA tripped him on the rope, which allowed EVIL on the outside to wallop him with a steel chair shot. SANADA threw him into BUSHI, who hit the MX, with SANADA following with his Skull End submission and leaving Robinson no real alternative but to tap.
Aichi was home to the B Block finals of the 24th Best of the Super Juniors tournament this morning.
Will Ospreay has made it to the finals for the second year in a row from the A Block — with everyone in the opposite block at six points going into the last night of competition, anyone can wind up facing him in the finals on June 3rd.
Prelim matches —
– Taka Michinoku & Taichi defeated Hirai Kawato & Jushin Thunder Liger when Michinoku submitted Kawato with a crossface.
– SANADA, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Ricochet, Dragon Lee & Juice Robinson when SANADA submitted Dragon Lee with the Skull End.
– Bad Luck Fale & Guerrillas of Destiny defeated David Finlay & War Machine after Fale hit Finlay with the Grenade.
– Yujiro Takahashi, Kenny Omega & Marty Scurll defeated Gedo, Will Ospreay & Kazuchika Okada following Takahashi hitting Gedo with the Pimp Juice DDT.
Tournament matches —
Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated El Desperado by countout
This was fine. It was full of the stuff you normally see in Suzuki-gun’s matches on this tour, but it was never bad.
Taka Michinoku cornered Desperado for this match, while Taichi decided to corner Kanemaru. They started off slow, but it soon became a brawl with Desperado attempting to use a chair on the outside. Kanemaru threw him into the crowd and body-slammed him on the floor.
Taichi teased the whiskey spot, but after some counters accidentally sprayed Kanemaru. Desperado built his momentum with a big suicide dive. He tried for a brainbuster on the concrete floor, but instead Kanemaru countered with a reverse DDT on the mat.
The referee started counting. Desperado tried to climb in to beat the count, but Taichi pushed Michinoku into Desperado, sending him to the floor. Kanemaru beat the count and won the match.
Desperado wasn’t too happy about the result, even though everyone wanted to make up after the match. Desperado eventually obliged.
This eliminated ACH, Volador Jr., and El Desperado from contention based on tiebreakers.
Ryusuke Taguchi defeated ACH
Taguchi worked on ACH’s behind early. ACH countered that with two atomic drops and a cheap shot to the nether regions.
Taguchi came back and kept it on the ground, now working on ACH’s legs. He mounted a comeback until Taguchi connected with a knee. ACH tried to low blow him, but Taguchi used his thighs to block it. Taguchi continued to work him over, using a lot of butt-based offense.
ACH finally connected with a superplex. More back and forth and reversal after pin reversal followed until Taguchi countered one more roll-up with one of his own for the win. It was a solid match, but it wasn’t anything special.
Taguchi, BUSHI, and KUSHIDA remained as viable block winners.
BUSHI defeated Tiger Mask IV
This was okay. There were a few good spots, but otherwise it was just kind of average.
Early in the match, BUSHI took a chair and tried to use it, but the ref stopped him. Undaunted, he continued to work over Tiger Mask, leveling him with a missile dropkick. Tiger Mask tried to mount a comeback, and despite BUSHI going after his mask, managed to take him to the floor with an arm drag.
Tiger Mask caught BUSHI in a waistlock sleeper-type move until he was able to get to the ropes. BUSHI managed to knock the ref down and dropkicked Tiger Mask in the leg. He got a chair, threw it at Tiger Mask, and landed a Codebreaker, but it didn’t work. The MX, however, did.
That left it between BUSHI and KUSHIDA, which led us to the main event.
KUSHIDA defeated Volador Jr.
Great main event. These two worked really well together and it led to a great back-and-forth match with some great spots. At times it felt like a contest to see who could match who and that added to the excitement.
Some mat wrestling early led to some quick back and forth. KUSHIDA bailed to go to the outside — wrong move as Volador met him there with a giant tope con hilo. Not too long after that, however, the tides were turned and KUSHIDA came back with one of his own.
KUSHIDA went for a charge, but Volador jumped over him, landed his knees on KUSHIDA’s back, and utilized a reverse monkey flip. Volador went for a dive, but KUSHIDA caught him with an armbar in mid-air. KUSHIDA went to attack Volador on the apron, but Volador instead hopped over him and met him on the floor with an Asai moonsault.
Volador looked to build momentum, but KUSHIDA caught him, sending him to the floor. KUSHIDA went for something off the top rope, but Volador met him there — which gave KUSHIDA the opportunity to take him to the floor with a super rana. KUSHIDA went up, though again Volador Jr. met him there and landed a super rana of his own for a near fall.
Volador spiked KUSHIDA with a reverse rana, but KUSHIDA trapped him in an armbar — only for Volador to counter. He went for a la magistral cradle, though KUSHIDA countered with a roll-up for another near fall. KUSHIDA landed the La Mistica and sunk in the hoverboard lock, then while still in the move hit Back to the Future for the win.
That makes it Will Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA in the Best of the Super Juniors finals on June 3rd.
Ospreay came to the ring to cut a promo. He said he’s out here to congratulate KUSHIDA. He knows that he can beat him and needs to prove it. As much as he respects him, he will not let him stand in his way. Please bring your best, because it won’t be enough and I will be back-to-back Best of the Super Junior.
KUSHIDA’s response was simple: Let’s go crazy. The two had a staredown as Ospreay left. KUSHIDA said a few more words then left as the show went off the air.
