Tag: Bushi

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors results: KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Here are notes from the fifth day of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, which was held live at Korakuen Hall today. All of today’s BOSJ matches are from the B Block.

Interestingly, it was shown on Twitter that WWE’s William Regal and Canyon Ceman were at the show. They’ve been to AJPW and Zero-One events as well over the weekend.

– Tomoyuki Oka & Hirai Kawato defeated Syota Umino & Katsuya Kitamura when Kawato submitted Umino with the Boston crab.

– Taichi & Taka Michinoku defeated Will Ospreay & Gedo after Taichi hit Gedo with a superkick.

– Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Marty Scurll & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Ricochet, David Finlay & War Machine when Tonga pinned Raymond Rowe with a Gun Stun. This was a pretty good match that people got into. War Machine never seem to have an off day.

– Juice Robinson, Jushin Thunder Liger, Satoshi Kojima & Dragon Lee defeated SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi when Robinson pinned EVIL after hitting the Pulp Friction.

Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Volador Jr.

This wasn’t much of a match at all, and it had a dumb finish to boot. 

Kanemaru gained the advantage early in the match, laying out Volador with a DDT on the outside. Volador got some offense in, but when he went for a cover Kanemaru grabbed the referee’s hand in the only cool spot of the match.

Taka Michinoku distracted the ref, allowing Kanemaru to strike Volador with some sort of alcohol bottle, which let him finish Volador off with the top rope DDT for the win.

Tiger Mask defeated ACH

Pretty good match. ACH is really good and looked great when he was on offense.

Tiger Mask had control early. ACH made a really great comeback, hitting three suicide dives in succession. Tiger Mask met him on the top rope and unleashed a butterfly suplex, then hit a Tiger Driver. They traded some great back and forth until Tiger Mask caught him with a crucifix for the win.

El Desperado defeated Ryusuke Taguchi

They had a pretty good match. Taguchi has been really reliable as a great worker in the last year and with the connection he has with the crowd always brings some pretty heated matches. Desperado hasn’t had the opportunity to shine, but he can have good matches with the right opponent.

Desperado low blowed Taguchi when he was coming off a springboard for heat. He followed that up by drowning him in chairs, then threw one right on the square of his back. He continued the assault, grabbing a pen and…well, sticking it where the sun doesn’t shine.

Despite the heinous attack, Taguchi managed to make a comeback, hitting a tope con hilo on the outside, then landed a springboard hip toss. Taguchi went for the Dodon, but Desperado transitioned that into a stretch muffler. Taguchi managed to lock in the ankle lock, but Desperado managed to make it to the ropes.

Taguchi hit a running hip attack, then a modified version of the Dodon where his shins strike Desperado, but it didn’t get the job done. Desperado suddenly took off his mask and threw it at Taguchi. The ref argued with him long enough for Desperado to put on a second mask, jump Taguchi, then nail him with the Angel’s Wings for the win.

KUSHIDA defeated BUSHI

This was a really good match — the crowd was into it and the action was really good. The story of whether or not KUSHIDA could pick up a win added to the drama too.

They brawled around the ring to start. KUSHIDA hit a drop toe hold on BUSHI into a chair, kicked him, wrapped his shirt on top of his head, and hit a running dropkick. BUSHI gained revenge by grabbing KUSHIDA and slamming him down on the apron head first.

KUSHIDA caught BUSHI on the top rope with a springboard and tried for an armbar, ultimately succeeding. A hot back and forth ensued, with BUSHI getting the better after a Canadian Destroyer. He landed the MX, but KUSHIDA kicked out. He went for another, but KUSHIDA came back and nailed a Codebreaker of his own.

KUSHIDA grabbed him and sunk in the hoverlock. BUSHI tried to escape, but KUSHIDA kept him in the middle. BUSHI tried to escape again, but KUSHIDA rolled over, got to his feet, and landed a brainbuster for the win.

The show ended with a KUSHIDA promo.

Current B Block Standings —

  • El Desperado — 6
  • Ryusuke Taguchi — 4
  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru — 4
  • Tiger Mask — 4
  • ACH — 2
  • Volador Jr. — 2
  • KUSHIDA — 2
  • BUSHI — 0

Current A Block Standings —

  • Dragon Lee — 4
  • Marty Scurll — 4
  • Ricochet — 4
  • Taichi — 4
  • Will Ospreay — 4
  • Taka Michinoku — 2
  • Hiromu Takahashi — 2
  • Jushin Thunder Liger — 0

NJPW Road to SG results: NEVER six-man titles on the line

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Here are this morning’s results for the final Road to Sakura Genesis show before the PPV itself takes place on Sunday morning. This aired live from Korakuen Hall on New Japan World.

– El Desperado, Takashi Iizuka & Taka Michinoku defeated Hirai Kawato, Jushin Thunder Liger & Manabu Nakanishi when Michinoku submitted Kawato with a crossface.

Kawato jumped the heels at the bell. He scored a ton of near falls towards the end as he battled with Michinoku. 

– Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens defeated Tomoyuki Oka & Yuji Nagata when Owens pinned Oka with the package piledriver.

This was a hot match with a lot of fast-paced action. 

– War Machine & David Finlay defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Tiger Mask when Rowe pinned Tenzan after hitting Fallout.

This was another solid match with a lot of heat. The finish was interesting as it gives War Machine the advantage heading into the IWGP tag title match at Sakura Genesis.

– Toru Yano, Hirooki Goto, Jado & Gedo defeated Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Zack Sabre Jr. when Yano pinned Taichi following a cane shot to the groin.

Yano’s usual antics led to the finish. It was fine, but not as interesting as the last few matches. Suzuki beat up some of the young lions with chairs after the match.

– Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale defeated Tomohiro Ishii & Baretta when Fale pinned Baretta with the grenade.

Baretta looked really good here. It was a good tag team bout overall with solid heat. 

– Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi defeated KUSHIDA & Juice Robinson when Naito pinned Robinson following a low blow and the Destino.

Early in the match there was a wild brawl where KUSHIDA did a running missile dropkick onto Takahashi that sent him through the guardrail. This set the tone of the match, as it was all action and by far one of the best matches of the night.

– Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Togi Makabe & Katsuyori Shibata when Okada pinned Makabe following the Rainmaker.

They had a good, standard tag team match. 

Shibata and Okada had a staredown after the match. As Shibata started to leave, Okada sat down and did Shibata’s pose, mocking him. Shibata didn’t like this one bit, dashing to the ring and kicking Okada square in the back. He went for the penalty kick, but Okada countered with the tombstone. He cut a promo on Shibata before leaving.

– Ryusuke Taguchi, Ricochet & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI to win the NEVER six-man tag titles when Ricochet pinned BUSHI after hitting a lifting DDT.

This was a long, very good main event that built well and had some great action, especially towards the finish. Tanahashi had it won with the High Fly Flow, but the heels ganged up on him. BUSHI went to mist Ricochet but it hit SANADA instead. After an assist by Taguchi, Ricochet hit the benadryller but BUSHI kicked out. Ricochet finally won it with the lifting DDT.

The Week In Japanese Wrestling: Naito, BUSHI power LIJ rebound in New Japan

Posted on by Alan Counihan

When New Japan’s Destruction tour wrapped up this past weekend, the key takeaway was that Los Ingobernables de Japón won’t be taking much of a back seat in booking plans following a G1 Climax final which moved the focus to Kenny Omega and a NOAH vs. New Japan feud.

Destruction was all about the LIJ rebound with leader Tetsuya Naito dethroning Michael Elgin for the Intercontinental title, and BUSHI ending KUSHIDA’s reign as junior champ.

Elgin vs. Naito was an excellent 32 minute contest, right up there with their classic from the G1 at Korakuen Hall. The Kobe crowd got extremely into the match with Elgin doing a wonderful job selling the knee attacks throughout the match from Naito. They dished out some incredible offence in the second half of the match, holding nothing back and building to a brilliant finish.

There was a big interference train about five minutes from the end which saw the rest of LIJ, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and KUSHIDA all get involved. This was inoffensive. more or less, as the crowd reacted well to it, and it did end up coming down to Naito vs Elgin one on one again. 

Elgin looked like he had it won and was shaping up for his buckle bomb/spiral bomb combo, but Naito countered with a Destino followed by another for the win.

There was one other great match in Kobe and it was an unexpected one as David Finlay Jr. filled in for MIA Matt Sydal in a NEVER trios championship contest. Finlay and new partners Ricochet and Satoshi Kojima defeated the well oiled trio of Adam Cole and The Young Bucks in a thrilling contest which the crowd adored. It was all action and once again, Kojima looked to be having the time of his life in this environment. Finlay was made to look very strong, and he and Ricochet will be taking on the Bucks for the junior tag titles at King Of Pro Wrestling on October 10th.

The Hiroshima show a few days prior did not have the benefit of such a hot crowd as Kobe but there was some great efforts put in up and down the card.

The two all gaijin title matches — Briscoes vs Bucks and Cole vs Will Ospreay – were extremely well wrestled and won over the tough crowd by the end in both cases. The main event of Omega vs. YOSHI-HASHI had more heat from the start than those two and build into a very strong match by the end. They went over 27 minutes, a feat which would have been unthinkable for YOSHI even six months ago. He was fantastic in a losing effort against the man who looks all set for the Tokyo Dome main event.

NJPW Destruction in Tokyo results: Shibata vs. Bobby Fish; KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Here are results from this morning’s New Japan Destruction event. It’s the first of three big shows taking place over the next couple of weeks, all featuring big title matches. Tonight’s big matches are Katsuyori Shibata defending the NEVER title against Bobby Fish, and KUSHIDA defending the Jr. Heavyweight title in the main event against BUSHI.

Roppongi Vice defeated David Finlay & Henare

This was the typical young lion match you see on every opener. Henare is still pretty green and not as good as other young lions that have come up in the system, but there’s always room for improvement, especially at this stage. He took the loss after being planted by Beretta’s dudebuster. Fine match.

On New Japan World’s Twitter, he mentioned David Finlay is no longer a young lion. This makes sense as he’s changed his gear and got a win with the stunner on the last Lion’s Gate show.

Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata defeated Captain New Japan & Yoshitatsu

This was the same story as usual, with Yoshitatsu starting to grow tired of CNJ constantly losing. Both Yoshitatsu and CNJ were pretty much overwhelmed by Nakanishi. Yoshitatsu made the tag and CNJ cleared house. With YT helping him, they got rid of Nagata, but Nakanishi came back and the tide turned back to them. Nagata got the win with an exploder suplex. This was okay.

Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask defeated Jushin Liger, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan

None of the guys really have a program at the moment so there wasn’t much here in this typical six-man NJPW tag. It’s interesting that Liger and Tiger Mask are on different teams since they usually team together. There were some cool interactions between Liger and Honma. Eventually Honma got the win for his team, pinning Liger with the top rope kokeshi.

Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & Gedo defeated Chase Owens, Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa

This was okay. The GoD just don’t feel over at all and have stalled big time in a lot of ways here. The best moments of the match were when Goto and Tonga were in as they have really good chemistry with one another. Ishii picked up the win, drilling Roa with the brainbuster.

Kyle O’Reilly defeated Juice Robinson

This was pretty fun. O’Reilly looks a bit bigger than usual and looked great here. Robinson went for a sunset flip but O’Reilly grabbed an arm and went for an armbar, and worked on Robinson’s arm. O’Reilly worked on him a while until Robinson cut him off and did a huge dive to the outside. O’Reilly made a comeback with the guillotine but Robinson got up, only to fall back down. O’Reilly transitioned into a leglock, then added in an armbar and Robinson submitted.

YOSHI-HASHI, Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale

Yujiro, who was accompanied by many women continuing his transition to a lame Godfather like gimmick, did a big introduction for Omega. A lot of the focus was on Okada and Fale since they are due for a clash somewhere down the line. Ospreay was tagged in, and he and Kenny had a really fun back and forth. YOSHI-HASHI got in and traded some offense with Yujiro, eventually getting the with the pumphandle driver he calls Karma.

Fale jumped Okada after the match and tried to give him the Bad Luck Fall but was stopped before he could land it. Once the heels were cleared, YOSHI-HASHI cut a promo.

Michael Elgin, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA

This was another good six man. A lot of the early portion of the match was on Elgin and Naito, but Tanahashi and SANADA had some exchanges as well. Taguchi made a comeback and, for whatever reason, did the white eyes armbar like Yuji Nagata except he got cross-eyed. He eventually got trapped in the Skull End submission, and had no other alternative but to tap.

Naito destroyed Elgin’s leg after the match. I think they’ve done this in previous matches, so that might play a part in their upcoming IC title match later this month.

NEVER Champion Katsuyori Shibata defeated Bobby Fish to retain

This was really good, but not out of this world, and felt short more than anything. But, a lot of the match was pretty intense and full of hard impact spots, interesting considering how banged up Shibata is.

They start off with some pretty good mat wrestling with Shibata getting the better of it. Fish takes it outside and works on Shibata’s still taped up shoulder, including wrapping it around the barricade. Fish hit a suplex into a DDT that looked downright scary, and was dangerous (stupid?) for Shibata to take considering he nearly couldn’t compete in this match due to an already bad neck.

Shibata started to make his comeback and hit the dropkick in the corner. Fish got in a suplex, but Shibata immediately fired back with a German suplex then the penalty kick, but couldn’t get the cover. Fish went for a brainbuster but Shibata hit him with a giant headbutt, put him in a sleeper, and then got the win with the PK.

O’Reilly entered the ring and made it clear he’s next in line. Shibata responded by kicking him and they had a staredown. Shibata then cut a promo sealing the deal.

BUSHI defeated KUSHIDA to win the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title

The last few minutes were good, but a lot of this was interference and LIJ tomfoolery. It never really got going to another level, and as a main event was pretty much a disappointment. It was ok.

The mysterious Ingobernable that made his debut at the Road to Destruction event on Monday was here, again seconding BUSHI. Eventually, they made it to the outside where BUSHI trapped KUSHIDA’s arm with a chair and hit a running dropkick. BUSHI remained in control until KUSHIDA escaped from the top rope where he was draped, and laid out BUSHI.

The mysterious Ingobernable interfered but bumped into BUSHI. Then, the two accidently collided into one another. There was a ref bump that ended up with KUSHIDA getting misted. Naito strolled down to the ring and helped BUSHI connect with a tope suicida. BUSHI was going for the finish when Elgin came in and took them both out, then beat up Naito all the way to the back.

They had a big slugfest as the match resumed. KUSHIDA started to wrench the arm, then sunk in the kimura. BUSHI tried to escape, but couldn’t until he grabbed an unsuspecting KUSHIDA in a roll-up for a near fall. BUSHI countered another kimura attempt with a Canadian destroyer in a cool spot.

BUSHI eventually made his way to the top rope and hit the codebreaker, but KUSHIDA kicked out. He went for a second and hit it, covered and got the three count to win the title. After the match, BUSHI cut a promo and misted the title.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This was fine up and down the card, but it felt like a “Road to” show until the top two matches, and neither really blew me away. This was a show where you can tell them going with the three show idea really dilutes the idea of these big shows feeling special.

NJPW Kizuna Road results: G1 announcements, Naito and Bushi vs. Okada and Ospreay

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The card for Kizuna Road itself isn’t all that interesting, though we do have a unique match in Will Ospreay and Okada teaming up to take on Naito and Bushi in the main event. The real interest will be during the intermission, in which the participants for the G1 will be announced, and the big matches on the tour will be highlighted as well. Will Tanahashi make the cut? Who gets left out? Will Yujiro still somehow maintain a spot? We’ll find out soon enough!

David Finlay vs. Ryusuke Taguchi

About as solid of a match as you’d expect from these two. Taguchi looked good, as did David, who is now sporting a beard. He lost here to the dodon by Taguchi.

Rocky Romero, Trent Baretta, Tomohiro Ishii and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Captain New Japan and Manabu Nakanishi

Nakanishi has a new shirt that says Monster Morning, because he has a really big breakfast. No, really, he posts his breakfast like every day on Twitter. Captain New Japan demanded for Sakuraba to get in there. Sakuraba wasn’t interested. Eventually he relented but CNJ ran to Liger for protection. A lot of comedy stuff to start out with- Baretta wanted to shake Liger’s hand. Liger, who is probably aware by now the handshake spot almost always leads to the dumb babyface getting jumped, had no interest.

Baretta went around shaking everyone’s hand (including a member of the audience) until Liger finally relented. This time, however, Liger caught Baretta trying to lay him out and instead took him out. Basic eight man tag with with pretty fun spots. CNJ and Sakuraba did have another confrontation towards the end, with the latter getting the upper hand. Ishii’s the one to get the win, pinning CNJ with the brainbuster.

Hangman Page, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima, Yoshitatsu and Matt Sydal

Heels jumped faces before the bell rang. Everyone looked good here, as it was an  action packed six man tag. Page and Sydal worked together and aside from one noticeable botch they worked pretty well with one another. Kojima made the hot tag, took out Yujiro who was interfering, and pinned Owens with the lariat.

Bullet Club didn’t like that too much, so they jumped the faces after the match and hanged Yoshitatsu. Given he was out for over a year with severe neck injuries I’m pretty sure they could have put someone else in this spot.

Here we are: G1 time!

  • A Block: Togi Makabe, Satoshi Kojima, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Sanada, Naomichi Marufuji, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • B Block: Katsuyori Shibata, Yuji Nagata, Tomoaki Honma, Michael Elgin, Toru Yano, Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Kenny Omega, Yoshi-Hashi, Katsuhiko Nakajima

Big matches:

  • 7/18: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Sanada, Okada vs. Marufuji
  • 7/22: Nagata vs. Naito, Shibata vs. Honma
  • 7/23: Tanahashi vs. Makabe, Okada vs. Sanada
  • 7/24: Nakajima vs. Shibata, Honma vs. Yoshi-Hashi
  • 7/25: Makabe vs. Sanada, Okada vs. Goto
  • 7/27: Yano vs. Naito, Shibata vs. Elgin
  • 7/28: Ishii vs. Marufuji, Goto vs. Sanada
  • 7/30: Omega vs. Elgin, Shibata vs. Naito
  • 7/31: Makabe vs. Marufuji, Tanahashi vs. Goto
  • 8/1: Yoshi Hashi vs. Nakajima, Honma vs. Naito
  • 8/3: Tanahashi vs. Ishii, Makabe vs. Okada
  • 8/4: Nakajima vs. Naito, Shibata vs. Omega
  • 8/6: Tanahashi vs. Marufuji, Okada vs. Ishii
  • 8/7: Omega vs. Nagata, Naito vs. Evil
  • 8/8: Ishii vs. Sanada, Tanahashi vs. Kojima
  • 8/10: Honma vs. Elgin, Shibata vs. Nagata
  • 8/12: Goto vs. Marufuji, Tanahashi vs. Okada
  • 8/13: Shibata vs. Evil, Naito vs. Omega

Additionally, all shows will be airing live on New Japan World.

Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoaki Honma vs. Juice Robinson, Togi Makabe and Katsuyori Shibata

Good match, fast paced and solid throughout. Honma and Shibata, who are in the same block and are also facing off soon over the NEVER title, worked against one another for a lot of the match. Tenzan, who is not in the G1 this year, seemed particularly motivated in this match. He got the win with the moonsault, pinning Robinson. I guess that’ll stick it to those in charge.

Shibata and Honma had to be separated after the match. Tenzan cut a short promo once that was all settled, wondering why he wasn’t in the G1.

Evil and Sanada vs. Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi

Really great match, easily the best of the night in terms of heat. This was all about Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada as they’ve been feuding for the last month.This got a lot of great heat towards the end as Yoshi-Hashi got a submission in on Sanada and nearly tapped him out. They had a really good back and forth exchanged towards the end. Yoshi-Hashi is ready in terms of being a big breakout singles star. They’ve kept him in tags for years and it’s time to go beyond that. Sanada is going to excel here and in the G1. Evil flattened him with a lariat but Yoshi-Hashi kicked out. They did several more great near falls that people were super into. Finally Sanada went for the Skull End once again but Yoshi Hashi slipped to the ground and rolled up Sanada for the flash pin.

Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito and Bushi

Since Naito didn’t have Milano Collection AT or any announcers to bully, he opted to lay out the camera guy instead. Pretty good main event overall. It couldn’t match the previous bout, but people were still very much into it. This crowed loved Naito and there were huge changes for him throughout the match. Ospreay came in for fun great highspots including a tornillo dive to the outside. He hit a spanish fly on Bushi, then a spinning kick but missed the springboard cutter and ate a Canadian destroyer by Bushi. Okada broke up that fall, but Bushi came back and hit the codebreaker for the win.

Bushi cuts a promo and asks why he isn’t in the Super J Cup. Naito says yes, those are the two big events of the summer…but until then, tranquilo.

Good show, and very newsworthy to boot. Definitely check out the co-main as it has some awesome heat and action.