NJPW has added a stipulation to its next NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship match.
Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & YOH will defend their NEVER Six-Man Tag Team titles against EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO in the first-ever “Tornado Dog Cage Survival Match” at NJPW’s Burning Spirit tour show in Beppu on Sunday, September 18. The show will air live on NJPW World.
NJPW described the stipulation for the match:
For the first time ever, this unique bout will see tornado rules apply- there will be no tags, and submissions and pinfalls can count by anyone on anyone. Additionally, in each of the four sides of the ring at ringside will be a dog cage. Teams can opt to lock an opponent inside one of the four cages to eliminate them from the match. Should all three members of a team be shut in a cage, the match will end.
The dog cage stipulation for their rematch stems from how that July match played out. After Toru Yano defeated Dick Togo in a dog cage match, the dog cage was used throughout Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & YOH vs. EVIL, Yujiro & SHO. The match ended with SHO being pinned after his House of Torture stablemates were locked in the dog cage.
Trent made his return to AEW on tonight’s Dynamite.
After The Young Bucks defeated Rocky Romero and Chuck Taylor, they and Adam Cole continued to beat up both Romero and Taylor. Wheeler Yuta tried to make the save, but failed. It was then when Sue’s van showed up in the arena and Trent emerged from the van, sporting a new bald look. He helped clear The Elite out of the ring and hugged his friends as the Roppongi Vice music from his run in NJPW played.
Trent had been out of action since June when he announced he had undergone successful neck fusion surgery. He hasn’t wrestled since the April 21 edition of Dynamite, where he faced Penta El 0 M.
Since Trent’s absence, the Best Friends team has evolved into a stable involving Kris Statlander and Wheeler Yuta. They have also returned to New Japan’s CHAOS stable, teaming in recent weeks with the likes of Tomohiro Ishii and Romero.
A new match has been added to Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
The Young Bucks will return to in-ring competition for the first time since AEW’s Full Gear pay-per-view to face Chuck Taylor and NJPW’s Rocky Romero of CHAOS in a tag match. The Young Bucks and Adam Cole suffered a defeat at the hands of Christian Cage, Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus at Full Gear on November 13 in a falls count anywhere contest.
CHAOS vs. The Bucks joins the already announced Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale on Wednesday’s show. 12 competitors will take part in the battle royale, with the final two wrestlers then squaring off in a singles match to determine who will possess the Dynamite Diamond ring for one year. MJF, Powerhouse Hobbs, Ricky Starks and Dante Martin have been announced for the battle royale. MJF has won the Dynamite Diamond two years running.
Also set for Wednesday, Riho will take on Jamie Hayter. Riho defeated Women’s World Champion Britt Baker on last week’s Rampage to earn the next title shot at Baker.
Number one contender for Hangman Page’s AEW World title Bryan Danielson will also be in action on Dynamite. He will take on Dark Order’s John Silver.
Dynamite will air live from the UBS Arena on Long Island, New York.
NJPW’s Summer Struggle tour continued today with the second of four straight nights in Korakuen Hall.
Members of CHAOS took on a Suzuki-gun squad in an elimination match main event, while Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan faced Kazuchika Okada and Tomoaki Honma in the semi-main.
KOPW 2021 Chase Owens and his next challenger Toru Yano were in action on the undercard, as were IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo.
The opener featured new Young Lions Ryohei Oiwa and Kosei Fujita meeting for the second consecutive night. They drew in Tuesday’s opener.
NJPW’s Summer Struggle tour continued today with the first of four straight nights in Korakuen Hall.
Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and Robbie Eagles of CHAOS took on Suzuki-gun’s Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. and DOUKI in the six-man tag main event.
Kazuchika Okada and Jeff Cobb were on opposite sides of a tag match in the semi-main event. Okada and Cobb will battle on night one of Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome on September 4.
Provisional KOPW 2021 Chase Owens teamed with Jado against Toru Yano and Ryusuke Taguchi. Owens will defend the KOPW title against Yano at Wrestle Grand Slam.
The opener featured the debut of new Young Lions Ryohei Oiwa and Kosei Fujita.
Yuya Uemura defeated Yuto Nakashima by ref stoppage (0:27)
This was quite the inauspicious debut for the newest young lion, Yuto Nakashima.
Nakashima shot for a double-leg takedown. Uemura blocked and they began grappling on the mat. Nakashima landed awkwardly on his left arm and appeared to break or dislocate it.
After a few awkward seconds, the ref realized what had happened and called for the bell. Ringside attendants checked on Nakashima. Nakashima began shouting and cursing. He was helped up and shoved Uemura and stared him down.
They either shot an angle on the fly in the post-match or this was a very convincing work.
Main card —
Great-O-Khan, Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb (w/Bea Priestley) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima & Gabriel Kidd (8:03)
This was a standard opener. Kidd made the most of his time and looked good.
Tanahashi’s side attacked as they entered the ring. Empire overcame the attack and cut Tana off. Tana came back with a dragon screw on Ospreay and tagged Kojima.
Kojima ran wild with machine gun chops on Ospreay. Cobb illegally entered and pressed Kojima off the top as he teased his diving elbow. Ospreay hit pip pip cheerio for a near fall. Kojima blocked a Storm Breaker attempt and hit a cutter.
Kidd and Cobb got tags and traded chops and strikes. Kidd hit a dropkick. Tana and Kojima cleared the apron and helped Kidd slam Cobb for a near fall. O-Khan and Ospreay broke up the pin.
Tana hit slingblade on O-Khan. Ospreay hit a hook kick to Tana. Kojima hit an elbow to Ospreay. Cobb hit an elbow on Kojima. Kidd hit a dropkick for a near fall on Cobb.
Kidd teased a butterfly suplex. Cobb blocked and hit a spin cycle for a near fall, then used Tour of the Islands to pin Kidd.
This was another standard undercard tag. Hiromu sold most of the way and didn’t get much offense on his next challenger.
ELP and Hiromu began with some comedy and crowd work. Your mileage may vary, but this was better than usual ELP comedy.
ELP hit a cartwheel out of a hurricanrana attempt. Hiromu used a backslide for a quick near fall. ELP hit a superkick to the gut, then began with his back rake attacks. Hiromu found himself isolated in Bullet Club’s corner.
Hiromu blocked a superkick with the loaded boot and hit a dragon screw to ELP. BUSHI and Ishimori got tags. BUSHI hit some trademark spots and scored a near fall. Ishimori used a shoulder breaker. BUSHI fought off ELP interference. Ishimori hit a backflip kick into a double down.
Yujiro and Shingo tagged in and traded strikes. Yujiro hit a neckbreaker for two. Shingo fought out of Miami Shine and LIJ triple teamed Yujiro. Everyone jumped in and hit a move. Yujiro used Miami Shine for a near fall on Shingo.
Shingo blocked Pimp Juice and hit a DDT and a sliding lariat. He followed with Last of the Dragon for the pin.
Tetsuya Naito & SANADA defeated Kota Ibushi & Yuji Nagata (13:32)
There was a lot of very good mat wrestling from Naito and Ibushi in this one. SANADA and Nagata were good as well.
Ibushi and Naito started off. Both missed on takedown attempts. They traded waistlocks. Ibushi got a head scissors applied on the mat. Naito escaped and tried to bar Ibushi’s knee, but Ibushi forced a rope break. They continued the mat work, grappling to a stalemate. Both tagged out.
Nagata fought out of a paradise lock attempt and hit a kitchen sink. Nagata hit some kicks. Naito tripped Nagata as he hit the ropes and the LIJ playbook was on full display.
All four began brawling around the ring. LIJ gained the advantage in the brawl. SANADA and Naito worked on Nagata in the ring. Naito hit a basement dropkick for two. Nagata fired up and they traded strikes. Nagata hit an overhead bell-to-belly and tagged Ibushi.
Ibushi hammered Naito with a flying kick and used a standing moonsault for a near fall. Naito caught a kick and worked on Ibushi’s legs, first with dropkicks, then a a figure four. Ibushi forced a rope break. Naito ducked a high kick and swept the leg. Ibushi hit a dropkick into a double down.
SANADA and Nagata got tags. Nagata hit a running boot in the corner. SANADA avoided the follow-up exploder and hit a springboard dropkick. Nagata blocked a TKO. SANADA tried for a dragon sleeper. Nagata reversed into a crossface. Naito broke up the hold.
Ibushi jumped in and took Naito out with a high kick. With the deck cleared, Nagata hit a step-up knee in the corner and a vertical suplex for a two count. SANADA landed on his feet off a suplex. Nagata hit an enzuigiri.
SANADA then used an O-Connor roll and bridged to pin Nagata.
Elimination match: EVIL, Jay White, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Chase Owens (w/Gedo, Jado & Dick Togo) defeated Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano (22:57)
As lukewarm as the promotion feels right now, they are doing a great job building up White vs. Ishii and G.O.D. vs. YH and Goto. They’re really trying to heat up Okada vs. EVIL as well, but that feels less successful than the other two feuds between CHAOS and Bullet Club.
CHAOS attacked as soon as they stepped through the ropes. They brawled around the ring. Owens produced a strap, teasing a strap match against Yano for the KOPW title. Owens threw Yano over the top by the strap for the first elimination. *Yano eliminated*
Yano then pulled Owens over the top to the floor for the second elimination. *Owens eliminated*
The sides continued brawling around ringside. Okada and EVIL finally squared off in the ring. CHAOS cut EVIL off in their corner. Okada used a slingshot senton. G.O.D., Goto and YH jumped in. White knocked Ishii off the apron.
The match devolved into a brawl again. Bullet Club cut Okada off and worked on his padded left elbow. Bullet Club used their human centipede abdominal stretch. White slapped on a chinlock to slow things down. Okada finally came back with a big boot and tagged Ishii.
Ishii and White had a nice exchange. Ishii chopped White half to death. White hit a DDT and a Blade Buster. Ishii blocked a uranage backbreaker and hit a powerslam. Ishii knocked White off the apron, but Tanga caught him for the save. Gedo jumped on the apron and took a bump. White and Ishii fought on the apron. Tanga ran into White by mistake and knocked him to the floor. *White eliminated*
Tanga took the ref. White pulled Ishii off the apron. The ref didn’t see it, but called for the elimination anyway. Ishii and White brawled to the back. This elimination was very weak. *Ishii eliminated*
G.O.D. double teamed YH. Goto saved. Jado hit YH with a kendo stick from the floor, knocking him off the apron. *YH eliminated*
G.O.D. doubled up on Goto. Goto made a valiant comeback. Okada must have been taking a nap on the floor. Goto clotheslined Tanga out for an elimination. *Tanga eliminated*
Jado tripped Goto on the apron and Tama hit a gun stun to eliminate him. *Goto eliminated*
EVIL and Tama double teamed Okada. Okada sent Tama to the apron. EVIL knocked Tama to the floor by accident with a shoulder block. *Tama eliminated*
It came down to just EVIL and Okada. EVIL ducked a Rainmaker, but that set up Okada’s dropkick. Okada used the Money Clip. Togo jumped on the apron and Okada gave up the hold. EVIL used the distraction to dump Okada to the apron.
EVIL took the ref. Togo choked Okada with his ligature. EVIL then knocked Okada to the floor for the last elimination. *Okada eliminated*
Okada ran back in and chased EVIL out of the ring to close the show.
**********
Okada cut a heated promo on EVIL in the backstage comments after the show.
NJPW returned today with its first show in 110 days, the Together Project Special.
The show began with a video recap of some of the Together Project content posted on NJPW World over the last few months. The recap continued with video messages sent in from NJPW fans celebrating the return.
After the video package, we got our first look at the empty arena. The set resembled an empty theater.
The ring announcer called out the Taguchi Japan members of the NJPW roster. Hiroshi Tanahashi cut a promo in Japanese.
The ring announcer then presented the card for the evening.
This was your standard, technically sound NJPW opener.
Kidd got a waistlock takedown. Tsuji powered Kidd back into the ropes and broke cleanly. Each tried to work the other’s left arm. Kidd briefly had an armbar before Tsuji grabbed a heel hook. Kidd escaped and applied a cross armbreaker but Tsuji forced an immediate rope break.
Tsuji hit a shoulder tackle. Tsuji hit a series of strikes in the corner. Tsuji hit a hip toss for a near fall. Tsuji applied a camel clutch. Tsuji hit a splash for another near fall.
Kidd blocked a slam and hit one of his own. Kidd tried a pair of tackles but could not get Tsuji down. Kidd hit some forearm strikes and then finally got Tsuji off his feet with a tackle. Kidd hit a dropkick for a two count.
Kidd fought for a full crab. Tsuji kicked him off so Kidd settled for a single-leg crab. Tsuji forced a rope break.
Tsuji hit a backdrop and used a vertical suplex for a two count. Kidd used a cradle for a surprise near fall. They traded strikes and some hard slaps.
For the finish, Tsuji used a spear for a two count then got a full Boston crab applied. Kidd tapped.
Desperado and Kanemaru attacked before the opening bell. They hit Ishii with a 3D and he rolled outside. Uemura came back with a dropkick on both Desperado and Kanemaru. Kanemaru cut him off with an eye rake.
Desperado taunted Ishii and Ishii jumped in illegally. Ishii and Desperado traded strikes while Kanemaru ran Uemura into the barricade.
Kanemaru tagged in and continued working Uemura over. Kanemaru used a camel clutch while Ishii and Desperado fought on the floor. Desperado raked Ishii’s eyes.
Uemura missed one dropkick but hit a second and tagged Ishii. Ishii dropped Kanemaru with a tackle. Ishii no-sold an eye rake. Desperado nailed Ishii from the apron. Ishii brought Desperado inside with a brainbuster.
Desperado and Kanemaru tried to double team Ishii. Ishii side-stepped a big boot and Kanemaru nailed Desperado. Ishii hit Kanemaru with a powerslam.
Kanemaru hit a low dropkick to Ishii’s left leg. Desperado tagged in and worked on the same leg. Desperado tried Numero Dos but Ishii forced a rope break. Ishii hit a backdrop suplex and tagged out.
Uemura entered and first went after Kanemaru on the floor, whipping him into the barricade. He then attacked Desperado with a vertical suplex and a full crab. Kanemaru attacked and forced Uemura to give up the hold.
Desperado hit Uemura with a spinebuster. Kanemaru connected with a one-legged dropkick and Desperado covered for a two count. Ishii jumped in. Uemura cradled Desperado for a two count.
Desperado hit a spear for a near fall then used the stretch muffler for the submission win.
This was a comedy brawl. Sometimes the comedy was unintentional. This would have been a stretch to make work in front of a crowd and it had no chance in this setting.
All of these guys were very vocal. Jado can barely move and shouldn’t be in the ring.
Yujiro and Goto began. Goto went for an ushigoroshi early but Yujiro blocked.
Yano and Jado tagged in. Yano grabbed a corner pad and Jado brought his kendo stick into the ring. Yano ducked a kendo stick shot. Jado took the ref and Yujiro attacked Yano.
YH tagged in. Gedo hit him from behind and attempted a double team but YH fought it off. Jado cut YH off and the heels took turns working him over. YH hit a headhunter on Ishimori to set up a tag to Goto.
Goto used a misdirection lariat, a wheel kick and a Saito suplex to earn a near fall. Ishimori blocked an ushigoroshi and hit a handspring kick.
Gedo tagged in and hit a jaw breaker. Goto blocked a thrust kick and tagged Honma. Honma sent Gedo into the exposed buckle and hit a bulldog. Honma missed a kokeshi.
Yujiro tagged in and all four faces teamed up against him. Honma hit a kokeshi for a near fall. Honma hit a slam. Honma tried a kokeshi off the second rope but missed.
Jado used a kendo stick on Honma. Yujiro followed with a fisherman buster but Goto broke up the pin.
Yujiro then hit Pimp Juice for the pin.
**********
A hype video played for The Grand Master. He is coming soon.
**********
Some staff members were shown cleaning the ring and ringside area. The announcers filled time. The announcers were several feet apart with partitions between them.
We then got an official cleaning and disinfection intermission.
These guys had a really good match and the finish was surprising. The time off looked to have done Tenzan some good as he was moving well.
Taguchi and SANADA locked up. They had a nice chain wrestling exchange that ended in a stalemate. Taguchi offered a fist bump but then kicked SANADA instead.
They did a great comedy spot where Taguchi thought he had successfully applied the paradise lock. He hadn’t. Taguchi did his Nakamura mannerisms and hit a hip attack to SANADA’s head.
Tenzan and SANADA traded palm strikes to the chest. Tenzan hit some Mongolian chops. Kojima cleared the LIJ corner and joined Tenzan for some tandem offense on SANADA.
LIJ took control of the match after BUSHI tripped Tenzan from the floor. BUSHI tagged in and choked Tenzan with his shirt. LIJ took turns working over Tenzan. Tenzan managed to tag out after hitting a wheel kick to EVIL.
Kojima hit machine gun chops on EVIL and connected with the follow-up top rope elbow for a near fall. Taguchi tagged in for a series of hip attacks on SANADA and BUSHI.
Taguchi hit a springboard hip attack and used an ankle lock on SANADA. Taguchi blocked a TKO, blocked a Skull End and used a cradle for a two count. SANADA hit a low dropkick.
The match broke down. BUSHI hit Taguchi with a backstabber for a two count. BUSHI hit a rewind kick. Taguchi countered with a hip attack and an ankle lock. SANADA broke up the hold. Tenzan and Kojima hit a TenCozy Cutter on EVIL.
BUSHI blocked Dodon. Taguchi hit a Bomaye for a two count, then got the ankle lock applied again. BUSHI tapped out.
This was about setting up New Japan Cup matches and teasing some spots for those matches.
Suzuki-gun attacked before the opening bell in this match as well. Suzuki and Nagata started off as the legal men and traded strikes.
Sabre and Ibushi tagged in. They traded strikes until Sabre grabbed a hold. Ibushi tried to shoot Sabre off into the ropes but Sabre hit a flapjack and Suzuki-gun turned this into a brawl around ringside.
Suzuki-gun isolated Ibushi in their corner. It was something else seeing DOUKI get offense on Ibushi. Ibushi came back with a backflip kick and tagged out.
Tanahashi hit a slam and a somersault senton on Taichi for a two count. Taichi blocked a slingblade. Tana blocked a backdrop suplex. They traded strikes. Taichi hit a high kick. He went for a buzzsaw kick but Tana blocked and hit a dragon screw.
Makabe tagged in and hit Taichi with punches in the corner. Sabre and Suzuki tried to interfere but they were intercepted by Tana and Ibushi.
DOUKI and Makabe ended up as the legal men. Makabe got caught in a triangle but forced a rope break. Everyone jumped in for a big move. Nagata and Suzuki brawled to the floor.
DOUKI hit Makabe with a pipe and rolled him up. Makabe kicked out at two. Makabe then hit a slam and hit the King Kong Knee Drop for the pin.
Taichi and Tanahashi had a long staredown after the match.
Okada and Naito began the match. They locked up. Okada broke cleanly against the ropes. Naito kicked Okada off the break. They traded holds. Naito used a side headlock takeover. Okada used a headscissors escape.
Shingo and SHO tagged in for an electric exchange. Hiromu jumped in. YOH intercepted him and SHO and YOH nailed Hiromu with dropkicks.
SHO got the upper hand on Shingo with some hard kicks. Shingo sold them big time for SHO. SHO tried a series of lariats but Shingo did not go down.
LIJ used an illegal triple team to assert control of the match. They isolated SHO in their corner and worked him over. Shingo used a brainbuster for a near fall. Naito tagged in and worked on SHO’s left leg. Hiromu tagged in and worked on the left leg and left arm.
Hiromu hit a dropkick and made a cover but YOH broke up the pin after just a one count. SHO came back with a spear to Shingo and a vertical suplex on Hiromu.
Okada tagged in for a running back elbow, a running back elbow in the corner and a DDT for a two count. Hiromu avoided a top rope elbow attempt and Okada landed on his feet. Hiromu avoided a tombstone and dropped Okada with a back suplex.
Naito and Okada had another exchange. Naito avoided an air raid crash on the first attempt. Okada landed the move on the second try.
YOH tagged in and nailed Naito with a flying forearm and a missile dropkick for a near fall. LIJ saved for Naito. The match broke down. SHO and Shingo jumped in and hit lariats.
Naito went for Destino. YOH blocked and rolled up Naito for a two count. Naito blocked a falcon arrow and hit a flipping inverted Destino. I’m not sure that’s what the move is, but I don’t know what else to call it. The move looks awesome.
Naito then hit YOH with the traditional Destino and pinned him.
**********
Naito cut a promo to close the show. He mentioned the New Japan Cup and ended with the LIJ roll call.
Here are the results from this morning’s New Japan event in Sydney, Australia:
Michael Richards and Andrew Villalobos defeated Stevie and Tome Filip
– Richards pinned Tome.
Rocky Romero defeated Tony Kozina
– Romero submitted Kozina with an armbar.
Jack Bonza defeated Mick Moretti
– Bonza pinned Moretti with a vertical drop falcon arrow.
Chase Owens defeated Aaron Solow
– Owens pinned Solow with the package piledriver.
Juice Robinson, Mikey Nicholls and Toru Yano defeated Guerillas of Destiny and Gino Gambino
– Yano rolled up Gambino for the win.
Tomohiro Ishii defeated Toa Henare
– Ishii pinned Henare following a vertical drop brainbuster.
Will Ospreay, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada defeated Robbie Eagles, Bad Luck Fale and Jay White
– Ospreay pinned Eagles with the stormbreaker.
Bullet Club jumped the babyfaces after the match, with White instructing Eagles to lay out Ospreay with a chair. Eagles grabbed the chair, but ultimately refuses to strike Ospreay. White goes to do it himself, but Eagles stops him and attacks White, with Tanahashi and Okada coming in to even things out.
Ospreay recovered and cut a promo, confirming that Robbie Eagles was done with the Bullet Club and Eagles was now with CHAOS.
Eagles cut a promo saying he’d never thought he’d be here sharing a ring with his three opponents while the fans were chanting his name. He asked the crowd wanted to see Tanahashi, Okada, and himself and Will Ospreay as a tag team back in Australia. The crowd reacted positively.
Ibaraki was home this morning to the first Road to Wrestling Dontaku card, headlined by a ten man tag team match pitting members of CHAOS against members of Los Ingobernables de Japon. Here are results from this morning’s event:
Yota Tsuji defeated Yuya Uemura
Basic, simple opener. Most young lion singles matches end in draws, but Tsuji got the submission win here with the boston crab, marking the first singles win of his career.
Toa Henare defeated Ren Narita
Another pretty basic match, the kind of formulaic bout you’d see between a young lion and someone further up the card. Narita made a hot comeback, but Henare cut him off with a headbutt and won with the uranage.
Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado defeated Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata and Shota Umino
A good match. Match started with the usual Suzuki-gun brawling. Kanemaru gave Umino a guillotine leg drop across the barricade. Suzuki-gun made sure to work over him a lot. He got some close near falls on Suzuki, but quickly fell to a Gotch piledriver once Suzuki connected.
Guerillas of Destiny and Taiji Ishimori defeated Togi Makabe, Toru Yano and Tomoaki Honma
Bullet Club basically did what Suzuki-gun did and brawled with their opponents throughout the crowd. It’s okay if one stable does it, but two is kind of overkill. Another okay match. Honma survived a Jado kendo stick shot, but was no match for Tanga Loa’s sitout piledriver, which ended the match.
Yano once again took possession of the IWGP tag belts after the match, which led Tama Tonga to chase after him into the back.
Juice Robinson, Hirooki Goto, Mikey Nicholls and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens and Hikuleo
Juice has very…loud new ring gear. Another formulaic tag match, but people did get into Juice. Hikuleo seems more confident in the ring even though he’s still pretty green. Juice cut him off and hit the pulp friction for the win. Fale stared him down after the match, as that is the next US title program.
Kota Ibushi, Jushin Thunder Liger and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi and Taka Michinoku
Naturally, the highlight was the faceoff between Sacre and Ibushi, who go at it at the end of this month. Taichi set hits sights on Liger, who he threw into a bunch of empty chairs outside the ring. This ended up being another solid match that the crowd got into. Ibushi took out Sabre with a dive to the floor as YOSHI-HASHI hit a lariat on Michinoku. He followed up with karma and scored the pinfall for his team.
Suzuki-gun jumped the faces after the match. Sabre laid out Ibushi with the Zack driver and held both the IC and British Heavyweight titles over the fallen Ibushi.
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, BUSHI, SANADA and Shingo Takagi defeated Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Roppongi 3K
SANADA and Okada, the two that will face off next month for the IWGP title, squared off first. EVIL and Ishii had a huge striking battle, while the two junior tag teams went after each other as well. Naito, whose storyline on this tour seems to be that he has nothing to do, paired off with Rocky Romero.
SANADA tried to put Okada in a paradise lock at one point, but failed to do so. That may play into their future match. EVIL put Ishii in the sharpshooter, then Naito scored the win over Romero with the Destino. A fine house show main event, but nothing special in the larger scope of things.
Naito closed off the show with a promo and the LIJ roll call.
– Young Bucks defeated Juice Robinson & Toa Henare
Fun match with a lot of comedy. Young Bucks are very charismatic performers live, and both Juice and Henare gave strong showings. Henare comes off as having a potential superstar presence. Young Bucks won with the Meltzer Driver.
– Lance Archer defeated Elliot Sexton
Solid big man match with a fair amount of comedy in it. Sexton is a member of TMDK and former MCW Heavyweight Champion. Archer won with his finish.
– Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Yugi Nagata & Mareko
Mareko is one of wrestlers trained through Fale Dojo and he was making is pro debut here. He’s a thickly built Samoan and showed potential. Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa are both very entertaining to watch up close. Tama does a lot of little subtle humour for the crowd that you sometimes miss on TV. GOD won with Tama using the Gun Stun on Mareko.
– Bullet Club (Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Gino Gambino & Chase Owens) defeated TMDK (Marcius Pitt, Damien Slater, Jonah Rock & Slex)
Good 8-man tag match. TMDK did not look out of their depth against Bullet Club. Crowd was split, mostly supporting TMDK who were formed in Perth, but cheering for Kenny when he was in.
Wanted to make a special mention of how good Marcius Pitt was in this match, and I very much hope that him and Slater get brought into NJPW on an ongoing basis. Jonah Rock was also impressive and him vs Fale got a big reaction. Omega tried to get a Chase is on the Case chant going for Owens. Omega pinned Slex with the 1 Winged Angel to win the match.
– Minoru Suzuki defeated Davis Storm
Storm is a veteran of Australian wrestling who was one of the founders of EPW in Perth. He also did sometime training at the Inoki LA Dojo in the mid-00s. He was very well received by the crowd as was Suzuki who is fascinating to watch in person. Suzuki won with the Gotch Piledriver in a short but intense match. Storm took a series of chops that were so brutal his chest was red afterwards.
– Jay White & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Mick Morretti & KUSHIDA
Good match. Morretti is a Sydney based wrestler who made a very good impression. White won with the Blade Runner on Morretti. After the match KUSHIDA got in Ishii and White’s face in a way that came off like he was challenging them.
– Cody defeated Will Ospreay and Robbie Eagles in a triple threat match
Ospreay and Eagles have excellent chemistry together. Eagles should be in the BOSJ tournament this year. Cody got the biggest reaction of the night, and came off like a total main event talent.
At the start of the match Ospreay pointed out that one half of the crowd was cheering Cody and the other half were booing him. This became a thing throughout the whole match, with the crowd playing along with one side of the room cheering him and the other booing him the entire time.
Cody won by pinning Eagles after Ospreay had hit the Oscutter and throwing him away. After the match, Cody tried to do the One Winged Angel to Eagles, but Ospreay stopped him and hit Cody with the Oscutter and then Eagles hit a 450. Possibility that the match might lose something on tape rather than live, but definitely a must-see once it is available.
– EVIL & SANADA defeated Rocky Romero & Okada
Good match, everyone involved was over but it also suffered a little following on from the 3-way. EVIL beat Romero with the STO. Surprisingly for me, they didn’t do an angle where Okada chased LIJ away. Instead EVIL and SANADA did the closing promo.
The production crews from Australian promotions were taping all of the shows, so it’s likely that a selection of matches from the tour will go up on NJPW World.
Submitted by reader Dan Lennard. Additional thanks to Joseph Reynolds.
– KUSHIDA defeated Rocky Romero
The fans loved both guys. KUSHIDA won by submission with the Hoverboard Lock.
– Yuji Nagata defeated Jack J. Bonza
They essentially had a squash match, with Nagata beating him with a backdrop hold. There was nothing wrong with this, but it was too short.
– SANADA & EVIL defeated Robbie Eagles & Mick Moretti
This was the only match where the fans were solidly behind the locals, though there were plenty of Los Ingobernables de Japon fans in the crowd. EVIL got the pin on Eagles in a very fast-paced bout.
– The Bullet Club (Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Guerrillas of Destiny) defeated TMDK (Jonah Rock, Damian Slater, Marcius Pitt, Slex & Elliott Sexton)
The best match of the night up to this point. The Bullet Club was super over, especially Omega. Everyone hit their big moves and all the Aussies got in some great offense, including an interesting spot where Slex got heat on Omega.
In the end, Omega hit the One Winged Angel on Slater for the finish. Omega spoke to the crowd after, mentioning that it’s funny they’re booed in Japan but cheered in Sydney. He thanked everyone and pointed out that Fale helped put the tour together.
– Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer defeated Juice Robinson & Toa Henare
Everyone was into everything Suzuki did. He was probably the third most over wrestler of the night (behind Okada and Omega), with the fans singing along to his theme music before and after the show.
The match was fun and ended when Suzuki hit Henare with a Gotch-style piledriver. Suzuki beat the heck out of Henare for most of the bout. The crowd also loved Suzuki when he did a brief post-match promo.
– Tomohiro Ishii defeated Gino Gambino
This match started slow — there were mostly NJPW fans in the crowd and they clearly didn’t know many of the Australian wrestlers. Despite that, this got a big reaction by the end.
Ishii gave Gambino a lot and it was very back and forth. The ending seemed slightly botched as Ishii appeared to deadlift Gambino for a brainbuster. Ishii then stormed to the back, but maybe that’s how he is all the time.
– Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Jay White & Will Ospreay) defeated The Bullet Club (Cody Rhodes & The Young Bucks)
The crowd hatedCody, and he played up being the bad guy throughout the match. There was a lot of comedy in the opening minutes, but it soon turned into a sensational bout and was probably the match of the night.
The MVP for the show had to be Ospreay, who was on fire. Everyone was great, though. The ending came when Okada hit Matt Jackson with a Rainmaker for the pin.
Everyone in Chaos spoke following the match. White got booed mercilessly when he accidentally called us Melbourne fans instead of Sydney fans. Ospreay was rolling on the mat laughing — even Okada mocked him when he had the microphone. Okada also said NJPW will definitely be coming back to Australia for another tour.
All in all, this show was sensational from top to bottom. Every match was good, and a couple were great. Lines for all merchandise, particularly Bullet Club and Young Bucks merch, was insane.
After a few weeks off, New Japan returns with a busy month ahead, as we not only have three big shows this month, but a few smaller shows in between. Tonight’s Road to Destruction show in Korakuen Hall would fall into the latter category, headlined by a big elimination match. Here are the results:
Shota Umino and Tetsuhiro Yagi went to a time limit draw
This was a solid opener, but not a lot of heat. It was a basic match they just did mat wrestling, with Umino dominating for most of the match. You can tell Umino added some size in between tours as he looked much bigger than Yagi. Yagi started to make a comeback towards the end of the match, but Umino cut him off. He had him in the Boston crab, but Yagi managed to gut it out until the bell rang.
Mainly a battle between the two elder NJPW wrestlers and the young lions. Everyone looked pretty decent, though it is clear Kitamura has a lot of charisma and will go far once he gets the push. Nagata picked up the win with a backdrop driver on Oka in a solid match.
Killer Elite Squad, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & Taka Michinoku defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Ricochet, Togi Makabe, David Finlay & Hirai Kawato
A lot of the start was KES dominating, looking good in their return match. Ricochet came in for a hot tag and looked great. Kawato came in for the hot tag, but was eventually singled out by Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, who sprayed Taguchi with the whiskey. Kanemaru pinned Kawato with the deep impact DDT.
Heels worked on YOSHI-HASHI for a lot of the match. Fale threw him into some chairs on the outside. Goto came in for the hot tag but Fale blocked a lariat. Everyone came in at one point, with it eventually coming down to Baretta and Yujiro Takahashi. Baretta went for the strong zero but Takahashi countered and planted the pimp juice DDT on Baretta for the win.
Yujiro told Baretta not to mess with the NJPW heavyweights after the match.
After intermission, the vignette that aired at the G1 finals aired once again.
Juice Robinson & War Machine defeated Guerrillas of Destiny & Leo Tonga
Leo Tonga was protected well, never staying in long and did big power spots when in. Heels worked on Hanson until Rowe came in to clear house. GoD and Leo focused on Juice towards the end. Leo hit a big suplex but War Machine came in to help Juice, chopping down the big guy. Robinson took out Tama Tonga, then pinned Leo Tonga with the pulp friction for the win.
Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Takashi Iizuka defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin & KUSHIDA
For those wondering, yes, Tanahashi still has the weird short hair for his movie role. Between this and Go Ace still a thing, I’m pretty conflicted.
Elgin and Suzuki wasted no time in zeroing in on one another, brawling around the ring. Suzuki took an umbrella and choked Elgin with it. Meanwhile, Desperado took out KUSHIDA and brawled around the area. KUSHIDA was the one worked on for a bit before the hot tag to Tanahashi.
It went back between Elgin and Suzuki. With the ref conveniently taken out, Suzuki continued to pelt Elgin with steel chair shots. Elgin started to no sell, then grabbed the steel chair and wrecked havoc upon anyone that came his way, taking out everyone in the match and even the other members of Suzuki-gun on the outside. The ref came back into the match and told Elgin to drop the weapon, and after shoving him twice the referee called for the DQ. Weak finish to a solid brawl.
Suzuki suggested to Elgin after the match that they have a lumberjack death match on 9/10. Elgin said it was fine, because it doesn’t matter who you bring in because the NEVER title will be his. Suzuki said a few more words before leaving, destroying a young lion with the chair on the way out.
EVIL, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI & SANADA defeated Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero, Toru Yano & Will Ospreay in a ten-man elimination tag match
Everyone’s rival squared off with one another to kick things off- Ishii/Naito, Okada/EVIL, Ospreay/Takahashi, SANADA/Yano and BUSHI/Romero. Ishii and Naito wrestled each other a lot; this made the match pretty heated since Naito was by far the most over wrestler on the show. Naito took Ishii to the apron and hit a running dropkick, but Ishii held on. Naito then eliminated himself by hitting a neckbreaker and landing with his feet on the floor, but also eliminated Ishii in the process.
Yano took apart the turnbuckle as comedy ensued. He managed to low blow both SANADA and BUSHI, then rolled up SANADA for the win. BUSHI misted Yano in response and with his shirt threw Yano to the floor to eliminate him. After a short back and forth, Ospreay picked up another win for his team, pinning BUSHI after an Ozcutter.
Takahashi replaced BUSHI as he went on defensive. Ospreay cut him off, but Takahashi stunned him regardless and eliminated Ospreay with the sunset flip bomb off the middle rope, thus saving himself but not Ospreay.
Okada came in and managed to thwart off both remaining members of LIJ, hitting both with dropkicks and eventually pinning Takahashi with the rainmaker, leaving it between him. Rocky Romero and EVIL. They went to the apron where Okada went for the tombstone, but EVIL cut him off and hit a roaring elbow, eliminating him in a shock.
Romero immediately tried to roll up EVIL, but no dice. After some nice back and forth, EVIL picks up the win with the STO on Romero. This was a pretty fun main event, though I kind of wish most of the finishes didn’t all happen under what felt like a two minute period.
EVIL ended the show with a promo, saying “Welcome to the darkness world” and finishing with his “Everything is evil” catchphrase.
– Kelly Klein won a dark match before the show started.
– Dalton Castle defeated Bobby Fish
Castle hit the Bang-a-Rang to win a good opener.
– Jay White & Motor City Machine Guns defeated The Rebellion
People were into MCMG in Michigan and Shane Taylor got a good response from the crowd tonight. The match was all action, with Jay White looking very good.
– Silas Young defeated KUSHIDA
Young won clean with his finisher. This was good, though it wasn’t great.
– War Machine defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jay Lethal
Lethal took the pin. The match was good, with Tanahashi working hard again tonight. I think some fans were upset with some of the NJPW guys losing as much as they did as they were really over, more so than in Toronto.
– ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Bully Ray & The Briscoes defeated EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI to retain their titles
BUSHI got put through a table by a Dudley bomb for the finish. EVIL and SANADA were accidentally hit by the green mist leading up to that. The match was declared a “no disqualification match” by Bully Ray at the start. It was a wild brawl mostly. Bully Ray was over huge tonight, giving away the broken pieces of table heading into intermission.
ROH didn’t play up that this was their six-man tag champs against the NEVER six-man tag champions at all despite both teams bringing their belts.
– Tetsuya Naito defeated Punishment Martinez
Naito hit the Destino to win after Martinez countered the move earlier. This was okay.
– Cheeseburger defeated Beer City Bruiser, Marty Scurll, Frankie Kazarian, Will Ferrara, Gedo, and Vinny Marseglia in an Instant Reward Proving Ground match
Cheeseburger pinned Beer City Bruiser to get an immediate shot at Scurll’s TV title. This had lots of comedy, including Gedo forming a “tag team” with Scurll and a “human centipede” of head scissors that got reversed by Scurll and everyone sold big. Marseglia got on the mic and added himself to the match before it started. It was very entertaining.
– ROH World Television Champion Marty Scurll defeated Cheeseburger to retain his title
Scurll submitted Cheeseburger with the crossface chicken wing in a quick match.
– ROH World Champion Christopher Daniels defeated Matt Taven to retain his title
Daniels won with the Best Moonsault Ever in a better match than expected. Both guys worked hard and this would’ve been a great match, but nobody thought Taven could win, even though everyone was into it at the end.
Taven busted Daniels’ nose with a knee strike at one point and it bled for the rest of the match and may have been broken.
– Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay & Roppongi Vice defeated Cody, Hangman Page & The Young Bucks
Ospreay pinned Nick Jackson after hitting a double OsCutter on both Bucks. The match went around 25:00. It was another very good multi-man match from the Bucks, but more serious with less comedy than usual.
Ospreay was the star of the night by far, and his performance in this match was nothing short of incredible, doing all of his usual flying stuff. He did a double reverse hurricanrana on the Bucks and the spectacular finishing move. I took a friend who doesn’t follow modern wrestling and all he could talk about was Ospreay on the ride home. It was a very good main event.
To take nothing away from The Young Bucks at all, without Kenny Omega their reaction coming out was nothing compared to Toronto. In fact, Cody might have got the most cheers coming out for their team.
