Tag: david finlay

New Japan Cup night 12 results: Will Ospreay vs. SANADA

Posted on by Parker Klyn

The final two New Japan Cup quarterfinal matches took place during today’s show from Shizuoka. Here are the results of the preliminary matches and a full report of the Cup matches.

Yuya Uemura defeated Gabriel Kidd (7:22)

Uemura pinned Kidd with his overhead suplex.

Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan defeated Yuji Nagata & Yota Tsuji (11:58)

O-Khan pinned Tsuji with the Eliminator.

KENTA & Bad Luck Fale defeated Juice Robinson & Toa Henare (8:37)

Fale pinned Henare with the Grenade.

Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, & BUSHI defeated EVIL, Chase Owens, & Taiji Ishimori (10:12)

Naito pinned Owens with the Destino. Shingo and EVIL will face off in the semifinals of the New Japan Cup in two days.

New Japan Cup semifinal: David Finlay defeated Jay White (19:26)

This was filled with NJPW tropes and annoyances at the start, but the finish was fantastic.

Juice Robinson joined Finlay out there as a second to counter Jay White and Gedo. Finlay was introduced as an Impact tag team champion.

White stalled at the start, attempting to play mind games. A brief distraction from Gedo allowed White to attack, but Finlay came back with a dropkick as the two went to the floor. Another distraction from Gedo allowed White to take advantage by driving Finlay into the ring and the barricades.

Back in the ring, White targeted Finlay’s midsection repeatedly. Finlay fought back with an uppercut, but yet another Gedo distraction allowed White to regain control. Finlay escaped a suplex attempt and hit a neckbreaker. He followed it up with a running uppercut and a plancha before landing a diving elbow smash for two.

White laid in a hard chop but Finlay fired up and clotheslined them both out of the ring. Yet another Gedo distraction gave White the chance to drive Finlay into the barricade again. Finlay fought off the attack, but upon re-entry, Gedo grabbed Finlay’s leg and White strung him against the ropes. That made five successful distraction attempts from Gedo, so Juice simply picked him up and carried him away from ringside.

With Gedo out of the picture, White hit the Blade Buster for two. They traded running strikes until Finlay hit a Blue Thunder bomb. White surprised Finlay with a flatliner and a German suplex. He went for the Blade Runner, but Finlay fought and fought until he was dumped out of the ring. White hurried to bring Finlay back in and nail a uranage for two. 

Gedo wasn’t out there, so White had to call for the Kiwi Crusher himself. He was able to hit it before just tossing Finlay into the corner. They both went for big moves before Finlay hit another Blue Thunder bomb. He tried to follow it up with the Acid Drop, but White escaped and tossed him back into the corner.

They traded forearms in the center of the ring, a battle which Finlay won before hitting a backbreaker for two. Finlay downed White with a lariat and a ushigoroshi for two. He went for the stunner, but White countered it into a sick sleeper suplex. Finlay countered the Blade Runner into the stunner and then hit the Acid Drop for the upset victory.

New Japan Cup semifinal: Will Ospreay defeated SANADA (18:55)

This was an awesome main event with tons of innovative, athletic sequences and spots.

SANADA immediately avoided a dropkick and hit one of his own. He feinted on a dive as Ospreay rolled to the floor, where the Brit took control by sending SANADA into the barricade, including a specific attack on SANADA’s left arm. Ospreay continued his beatdown in the ring, wrenching on SANADA’s arms until the latter reached the ropes.

After another beatdown on the floor, Ospreay hit Pip Pip Cheerio for two. SANADA came back by attacking Ospreay’s nose before dropkicking his legs out from under him. SANADA hit a dropkick after his signature high leapfrogs and caught Ospreay with a hurricanrana. Ospreay turned it around with a handspring kick. 

Ospreay laid in chops and forearms before being caught with another nose attack. SANADA tied Ospreay up in the Paradise Lock, setting him up so his face was propped up against the corner pad. He broke up the hold with a dropkick and followed it up with a plancha. Ospreay starched SANADA with a forearm and went for the Liger bomb, but SANADA turned it into Skull End before flipping over into a Magic Killer in a nice spot.

SANADA went for the moonsault, but Ospreay rolled out of the way and hit a standing Spanish Fly. He followed it up with a diving forearm to the back of SANADA’s head and a hard powerbomb for two. Ospreay laid in Kawada kicks, but SANADA turned the Stormbreaker into a tiger suplex bridge for two. He went for the moonsault again, but Ospreay stopped him and pulled him through for the Cheeky Nando’s kick and a facebuster for two.

They had a long counter sequence where Ospreay had to step up out of the Skull End but was met with a heel kick and a backflip into the Skull End. SANADA swung Ospreay around in the hold before locking it on in the center of the ring. Ospreay faded until SANADA released it and went for the moonsault, but Ospreay got the knees up. SANADA escaped Stormbreaker, fell victim to a hook kick, and locked on the Japanese Clutch for two.

Ospreay popped up and hit a great reverse hurricanrana and the Oscutter for a near fall. A forearm to the back of the head and the Stormbreaker followed to give Ospreay the win.

The two New Japan Cup semifinal matches are EVIL vs. Shingo Takagi and Will Ospreay vs. David Finlay.

After the match, Ospreay cut an unhinged promo complaining about the fans. He started to talk about how he was going to beat Jay White in the next round, but then was all happy when he remembered that Finlay is his opponent. He acted as if Finlay wasn’t a threat to end his promo and the show.

Two titles change hands at Impact Sacrifice

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Two new champions were crowned during tonight’s Impact Sacrifice event on Impact Plus.

A new X-Division champion was crowned, with Ace Austin defeating TJP to win the championship for the second time. He ended TJP’s third reign with the championship after 92 days. Austin defeated TJP after pinning him with a double stomp and The Fold.

FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) defeated The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) in the co-main event to win the Impact World Tag Team titles, with Juice coveiring Anderson following a doomsday device. FinJuice, who are signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling, are holding the titles for the first time. Anderson and Gallows had held the titles for 120 days, winning them from The North (Ethan Page and Josh Alexander) back on November 14.

Rich Swann in the main event unified the Impact and TNA Heavyweight titles, defeating Moose. He will move on to the Rebellion pay-per-view event on April 24, where he faces AEW World Champion Kenny Omega in a title vs. title match.

Impact Wrestling live results: Good Brothers-FinJuice contract signing

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Preview by Josh Nason

Tonight’s Impact Wrestling on AXS will feature the contract signing for the Good Brothers vs. FinJuice Tag Team title match on this Sunday’s Sacrifice special on Impact Plus.

In the preview video, the signing goes from laughs to clenched fists rather quickly. The two teams united last week in a win over XXXL and Reno Scum with a tag title match seemingly in the cards ever since David Finlay and Juice Robinson debuted.

Also on Tuesday’s show, former X-Division champions Ace Austin and Chris Bey will go one-on-one after current champion TJP tricked the two into a match as they were confronting him on last week’s show, and Rohit Raju will team with Shera to take on Beer Guns (Chris Sabin and James Storm).

On the BTI pre-show, the aforementioned TJP will battle Madman Fulton in a non-title match.

Our live coverage begins at 8 PM Eastern.

* * * * * * * * * *

TJP defeated Madman Fulton (with Ace Austin) in the BTI match.

TJP won with the Mamba Splash. Austin and Fulton attacked him after the match.

* * * * * * * * * *

Opening video recapped last week’s match where the Good Brothers and FinJuice teamed up to defeat XXXL and Reno Scum, that eventually led to dissension and the challenge made for a tag team title match at Sacrifice. Also featured, was the main event where Purrazzo defeated Grace and Hogan, only to be attacked by ODB.

Jazz (with Jordynne Grace) defeated Tasha Steelz (with Kiera Hogan)

The team of Jazz and Jordynne Grace will be challenging for the Knockouts tag team titles at Sacrifice. Last week, Hogan and Grace clashed in the 3-way that also included  Deonn Purrazzo, this time around, it’s time for Jazz and Steelz.

Steelz started the match cocky, making fun of Jazz, so Jazz got in some offense in order to teach her a lesson. Steelz finally took Jazz seriously and cut her off. They went back and forward for a couple of minutes. 

Jazz got a couple of near falls before locking in an STF for the submission win. This was really good once they started going back and forward.

– Gia Miller interviewed ODB about challenging for the Knockouts title at Sacrifice. ODB said she’d be a 5-time Knocked Up Champion soon. Susan confronted ODB and challenged her to a match. ODB was fantastic.

– D’lo Brown & Matt Striker ran down tonight’s card. D’Amore is set to make an announcement about the Swann vs Moose match at Sacrifice.

– Backstage, Trey Miguel saw Sam, one of his trainees, the one that was approached by Sami Callihan last week. Sam said that Callihan told him that if he showed up at Impact and challenged Miguel, he’d wimp out. Sam pushed Miguel’s buttons into accepting the match.

– We got a video package for Swann vs Moose, similar to last week’s, with Moose talking about going for Swann so he’ll be taken seriously, while Swann wanting to beat Moose, who is stronger and faster, but doesn’t want it as much as he does.

Beer Guns (James Storm & Chris Sabin) defeated Desi Hit Squad (Rohit Raju & Mahabali Shera)

These two teams have had a slight feud going for some weeks after Storm’s beer got spilled by Raju. Storm defeated Raju in last week’s episode of BTI, but ended with problems between Storm and Shera.

Story of the match was that Storm and Shera wanted each other, so even when Sabin and Storm had control over Raju, Storm threw  it away to get Shera in. Storm was able to get the upper hand on Shera, but when he tagged in Sabin for the double team, Shera regained control and cut off Sabin.

Eventually, Storm got the hot tag and ran wild over Raju. After a couple of minutes, Raju managed to bring down Storm and get ready for the kill, but Shera, who was still hot, jumped in and interrupted Raju to attack Storm. Raju and Shera exchanged words, allowing Sabin and Storm to recover with Sabin hitting Cradle Shock for the win on Raju.

– Backstage, XXXL and Reno Scum discussed who lost last week’s match. Decay interrupted them. XXXL walked away because they didn’t want to deal with Rosemary, but Reno Scum was all in for a match with Decay at Sacrifice.

– Deaner was finally let out of his week-long punishment. James Storm and Chris Sabin approached them and called out EY for the things they were doing to Deaner. Violent By Design attacked Beer Guns and left them laying.

– Brian Myers confronted D’Amore and tried to get Eddie Edwards terminated if he wanted to avoid a lawsuit. D’Amore said that he and Edwards can settle things at Sacrifice in a No Rules match.

– Prior to the match, Sami Callihan came out to cut a promo and call Miguel a quitter, saying the only good thing Miguel has ever done is train Callihan’s new protege. 

Trey Miguel defeated Sam Beale

Last week, we saw Callihan go to Trey Miguel’s gym, attack the trainers and trainees there, cause some mayhem, and try to recruit one of Miguel’s guys, Sam Beale

Match lasted one minute when Miguel locked in Beale in a submission and tapped him out. 

After the match, Callihan dropped Beale with a package piledriver and used his magic hacking skills to disappear.

– Sabin and Storm cut a promo to EY, asking whatever happened to him. They’ve known EY for 20 years and don’t know where he went wrong. Storm said that at Sacrifice, they’re coming for Violent By Design. Jake Something walked up to them and offered his help to neutralize EY while Beer Guns worked the match.

– We got our weekly  AEW commercial with Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone. They said they had a big buyrate at Revolution, they talked about some of the results from Revolution, and even referenced that Omega is terrible at building exploding rings and Eddie Kingston’s actions at the end of the pay per view.

– Good Brothers and FinJuice sat down with D’Amore for the contract signing. D’Amore couldn’t get them to sign because they were challenging each other to drink some shots. D’Amore eventually left and told them to sign the contract and get it back to him. They just kept drinking shot after shot after shot before finally signing the contract. Last shot ended all over the Good Brother’s face before they started brawling all over D’Amore’s conference room.

Chris Bey defeated Ace Austin (with Madman Fulton)

Ace Austin and Chris Bey were both in the #1 contendership 3-way match along with Black Taurus, the match that was won by Austin after Fulton helped him take out Bey. Chris Bey wants revenge on Austin, and after being tricked by TJP, this match came about.

The match was fantastic. It started with a good series of reversals and chain wrestling. 

The match then turned into a more aerial match, with Austin gaining control of the match after a couple of kicks and dives on Bey.
Bey made a comeback and the match proceeded with both men going back and forward, some amazing sequences of counters and dodges. At one point, both men fought on top of the turnbuckles, ending with both men spilling to the floor after Austin failed to hit a double underhook superplex.

There were a couple of great near falls, a big one when Austin blocked the art of finesse, only to get hit with the Verta-bey-ker for a near fall. 

At the end, Austin was hurt and had to hide behind Fulton and allowed Austin to attack Bey. TJP came out and made sure to lure Fulton to the back, but with the distraction, Bey recovered and hit the art of finesse for the win. Great match.

At this point, Bey may get added to Austin vs TJP. 

– Over at Swinger’s Paradise, Josh Alexander confronted TJP for not taking Austin seriously. Cocky TJP said that he beat Alexander, and so he’ll beat Austin too. Alexander told him he’ll be coming after him if he retains.

– Rohit Raju confronted Shera for costing him his second match. Shera attacked Raju and told him he didn’t owe him anything. 

ODB defeated Susie

Purrazzo, Kimber Lee, and Susan have been feuding with Jordynne Grace, Jazz, and ODB for some weeks. ODB pinned Susan when both teams met in a 6-woman tag match, and so Susan wanted to get some revenge on ODB. 

Match was a squash, ODB beat on Susan from bell to bell, hitting all her signature moves. Susan’s only hope spot came after poking ODB’s eyes, but the advantage didn’t last long. Match ended when Susan threw out all of ODB’s alcohol, ODB got angry, and finished off Susan for the win. 

After the match, Purrazzo and Lee came out and attacked ODB until Grace and Jazz made the save. Hogan and Steelz joined the brawl and attacked Grace and Jazz, who they’ll be wrestling at Sacrifice. Heels dominated the ring afterwards. This was good for what it was.

Brown and Striker ran down the Sacrifice card, including the newly added matches of Edwards vs Myers, VBD vs Beer Guns, Decay vs Reno Scum, and Dashwood and Kaleb vs Havok and Nevaeh.

– It was time for D’Amore’s announcement. Moose came out to the ring to hear the announcement and called out D’Amore, who came out and brought out Rich Swann to give the announcement to both men. 

D’Amore announced that the main event of Sacrifice will be a title vs title world title unification match. D’Amore also added that whoever wins as the World champion, will be defending at Rebellion against Kenny Omega, in an Impact Championship vs AEW Championship, winner takes all match.

Afterwards, we saw Don Callis talk with Omega, telling him that things are going according to plan.

Three title matches added to Impact Wrestling’s Sacrifice

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Three title matches were announced Tuesday for March 13th’s Sacrifice on Impact Plus.

A match for the Tag Team titles was announced as The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) will defend against New Japan Pro Wrestling’s David Finlay and Juice Robinson, aka FinJuice.

The two teams have traded exchanges in the last few weeks. On this week’s Impact, the two teams defeated XXXL (Larry D and Acey Romero) and Reno Scum (Luster The Legend and Adam Thornstowe) in an eight-man tag. The winners all had a staredown afterward.

The X-Division title will be on the line as TJP will defend against former champion Ace Austin. Austin defeated Black Taurus and Chris Bey in a number one contenders three way Tuesday. Austin later confronted TJP backstage, which then led to Chris Bey appearing and challenging Austin for a match on next week’s Impact.

Finally, ODB will challenge Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo. Tuesday’s show ended with ODB attacking the champion for her attack on ODB backstage last week. The Impact veteran made it clear as the show was going off the air that she wanted a title match.

Here is the current card for Sacrifice:

  • Impact World Champion Rich Swann vs. TNA Champion Moose
  • Knockouts Tag Team Champions Fire ‘N Flava vs. Jordynne Grace and Jazz
  • Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo vs. ODB
  • Impact Tag Team Champions Good Brothers vs. David Finlay and Juice Robinson
  • X-Divison Champion TJP vs. Ace Austin

Impact Wrestling live results: Juice Robinson & David Finlay appearance

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Preview by Josh Nason

As announced at the end of Saturday’s No Surrender, New Japan’s Juice Robinson and David Finlay will be in the Impact Zone Tuesday night to make their intentions known.

The show will also feature Tommy Dreamer vs. Moose in an old school rules match. Dreamer was on the losing end of his match with  Impact World Champion Rich Swann Saturday while Moose is the next top challenger to Swann’s title. In other action, X Division Champion TJP will defend against no. 1 contender Josh Alexander while Willie Mack, Daivari, Suicide and Trey Miguel will square off in a four-way.

Before the show, Impact will launch “Behind The Impact”, a weekly pre-show that will focus on angles and interviews with Impact talent. Tonight’s debut will feature Decay (Black Taurus and Crazzy Steve with Rosemary) vs. Team XXXL (Larry D and Acey Romero).

Our live coverage begins at 8 PM Eastern.

* * * * * * * * * *

Opening video recapped No Surrender, including the Good Brothers retaining against Private Party and Beer Guns. Rich Swann retained against Tommy Dreamer, followed by the beat down at the hands of Moose. And finally, the tease debut of FinJuice.

X Division Champion TJP defeated Josh Alexander to retain the title

Alexander won a title shot at TJP after winning the Triple Threat Revolver match at No Surrender. TJP defeated Rohit Raju to retain such title.

This was a great, fast paced, exchange of submission work and reversals. TJP went after Alexander’s arm, while Alexander focused on the back and legs. It wasn’t until TJP changed his game to aerial moves, that he managed to get some momentum, but it consequently made Alexander go for strikes as a counter. 

At one point, Alexander went for a Jay driller from the top rope, but TJP blocked it, went for the mamba splash, only to get countered by Alexander with an ankle lock. Finish saw TJP hit the detonation kick and mamba splash for the win. This was a great match.

Alexander lost the title shot he had just earned, so hopefully this is not the last time these two wrestle for the title.

– Gia Miller interviewed Dreamer about his recent meeting with D’Amore. Dreamer had requested a match with Moose after the attack from No Surrender, and the match will be Old School Rules.

– Backstage, Myers and Hernandez met up. Hernandez wanted his share of the money, which Myers properly paid. Hernandez also got paid to beat Cardona in tonight’s match. After Myers left, Bahh approached him and tried talking Hernandez to gamble. Hernandez agreed to invest in Bahh.

– D’lo Brown & Matt Striker ran down tonight’s card, hyping up the debut of Juice Robinson and David Finlay, who will be taking on Reno Scum.

Trey Miguel defeated Willie Mack, Suicide, & Daivari

These are four of the eight participants that lost the Triple Threat Revolver match at No Surrender. Now that Alexander has lost his title shot, these four are looking to get on the winning side and start building up numbers to get a title match.

Ok match, aside from a couple of minutes that Daivari and Suicide got together, it was all mostly 3-way action with someone always being taken out. No one in particular looked impressive, but everyone did get a chance to show off a little bit. At the end, Miguel hit a meteora on Daivari for the win.

Backstage, Callihan waited for Miguel. He told him that Miguel has no passion and that he always fails when it matters. Miguel sucked it up and walked away.

– Ace Austin walked up on D’Amore and TJP having a talk. Austin brought up that he won the Super X Cup and he still hasn’t had his title shot for the X Division title. D’Amore said that next week, they’ll have a 6-man match, with the winning team advancing to a 3-way #1 contendership. Austin said he wouldn’t jump D’Amore’s hoops.

Matt Cardona defeated Hernandez (with Brian Myers)

Prior to No Surrender, Cardona inserted himself between Myers and Edwards’s issues, when Myers hired Hernadez to take out Edwards, Cardona made the save for Edwards. At No Surrender, Myers pinned Cardona, and tonight, he hired Hernandez to take out Cardona for good.

Match saw Cardona dominate the match until Myers distracted the referee, allowing Hernandez to low blow Cardona and cut him off. Hernandez worked over Cardona’s back for a bit before making a comeback and winning with the radio silence. Nothing match. 

Gia Miller interviewed Cardona after the match. She asked about Myers, but Cardona cut her off to say that he’s not here for Myers, and wanted to wrestle for himself. Myers cut him off to tell Cardona that Impact was his. Due to the distraction, Hernandez attacked Cardona, which brought out Eddie Edwards for the save. Cardona poked Myers’ eye accidentally.

– We got our weekly AEW commercial with Khan and Schiavone. Khan said he got nothing for St. Valentine, but instead he gave many gifts, one of which was money to Impact, that he passes as charitable donations. They run down the card for Dynamite, teasing that the forbidden door is open and anyone can show up now.

– Havok and Nevaeh talk about losing another shot at the tag team titles at No Surrender. Dashwood and Kaleb with a K walked up to them and teased them in her usual Dashwood way. Havok and Nevaeh are still not on the same page.

FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay) defeated Reno Scum (Luster The Legend & Adam Thornstowe)

This is FinJuice’s debut on Impact Wrestling, and the return of Reno Scum after some months away from the promotion. 

This was a good introduction for Robinson and Finlay, even with Reno Scum getting so much offense on them. Match saw Reno Scum cut off Finlay for a couple of minutes before Robinson got the hot tag. Finish saw Robinson pin Thornstowe after a Superplex by Finlay, and a top rope splash from Robinson.

Robinson, who had dropped off Wrestle Kingdom due to injury, looked healed and in good condition.

After the match, the Good Brothers came down to welcome FinJuice. They made fun of FinJuice, calling them young boys. They teased them for remembering when they had to carry Anderson’s and Gallows’ bags over in Japan. 

Robinson told them that this isn’t 2015 and they’re not young boys anymore, and instead invited them to get some beers, FinJuice had the first round as long as Anderson could keep up.

– Rohit Raju and Mahabali Shera shared a drink. Raju blamed Shera for losing the X Division match at No Surrender. Shera eventually pushed him off, but accidentally fell into James Storm and spilled his beer. Storm took out Raju, so Shera and Storm got face to face. Sabin broke off the fight before it got violent. No match was pacted, but we could be getting Desi Hit Squad vs Beer Guns soon.

Swinger invited Storm and Sabin to his Swinger’s Palace. They did some comedy with Alisha and Fallah Bahh, who got kicked out for not having money.

Tenille Dashwood (with Kaleb with a K) defeated Nevaeh

This match was booked after Dashwood antagonized Nevaeh and Havok earlier. 

Nevaeh had the power advantage until Kaleb aided Dashwood to get some heat. Nevaeh made her comeback and started chasing the finish, but she could keep Dashwood down for the 3 count, and as frustration set in, Dashwood hit a taste for Tenille and the spotlight kick for the win. Ok match, nothing special.

Nevaeh’s losing frustration will continue for now.

– We got a promo by Violent By Design. Deaner addressed Jake Something about being invited to join them and he had chosen to be something else, and because of that, he’ll be punished. At No Surrender, he got the pin, but he lost the war. Deaner told EY and Doering that this is family business, and next week, he’ll defeat them in a tables match, and if he fails again, he’ll suffer the consequences of his failures. Good promo.

– Backstage, Deonna Purrazzo and Kimber Lee tried to stop Susan from challenging Jazz to match,they told her to manage her emotions and instead, she walked up to D’Amore and asked for Susan and Lee to get a shot at the Knockouts tag team titles. D’Amore decided that next week, Lee and Susan get a match against Jazz and Grace for the #1 contendership match for the tag titles.

– Brown & Striker ran down next week’s card. Ace Austin, Chris Bey, and Black Taurus vs Willie Mack, Josh Alexander, & Trey Miguel, and Deaner vs Jake Something in a tables match.

Moose defeated Tommy Dreamer in an Old School Rules match

After the main event ended at No Surrender, Moose ran down and attacked the Impact World Champion Rich Swann and Tommy Dreamer. With Swann being out tonight, Dreamer decided to do something about it and challenged Moose to an Old School Rules match.

Commentary sold it perfectly, Moose is a dangerous man, give him a weapon, and he becomes more dangerous, and that was the story of the match. Moose beat up Dreamer from the get go, Dreamer had some early shots in, but they didn’t do much damage to Moose. 

Dreamer had to rely on the groin claw in order to finally slow down Moose and get a desperation cutter to get him down. Dreamer got a couple of weapon shots in before Moose cut him off again. Moose ended up setting a table that he got speared through, but he recovered again and finished off Dreamer for the pin. Not good enough for a main event, it was somewhat boring.

After the match, Moose posed as the show went off the air.

NJPW’s Juice Robinson & David Finlay to appear on Impact

Posted on by Bryan Rose

NJPW’s Juice Robinson and David Finaly will appear on Impact Wrestling this Tuesday.

A video aired at the end of tonight’s Impact Wrestling showing highlights of Finlay and Robinson as the NJPW logo was shown. Impact’s social media later confirmed that the two were headed to Impact, and would appear on this Tuesday’s edition of Impact Wrestling.

 The duo are former IWGP Tag Team champions and most recently competed in the 2020 World Tag League tournament, losing to Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa in the finals. Robinson was originally scheduled to face KENTA for the IWGP United States title shot briefcase at Wrestle Kingdom 15. However, he was sidelined with a fractured orbital bone in December, putting him out of action. Satoshi Kojima replaced him in their match on January 4 in a losing effort.

Impact has had several stars from AEW appear on their weekly television. Kenny Omega, Matt Hardy, and Private Party have all appeared on Impact over the last couple of months. NJPW’s KENTA also made an appearance on AEW Dynamite, attacking Jon Moxley. Moxley will defend the IWGP United States title against KENTA on the February 26th edition of NJPW Strong.

NJPW crowns winners of BOSJ 27, World Tag League 2020

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The winners for both the World Tag League and the Best of the Super Juniors have been decided.

Hiromu Takahashi has won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament for the second time, defeating El Desperado in the tournament finals. It was a fierce back and forth match; at one point, Desperado’s mask had been ripped so much that he took it off and continued fighting. But after two time bombs, Hiromu pinned Desperado to win the tournament.

After the match, Hiromu praised Desperado, saying there was plenty more still to come. He told Desperado that he won this time, but he will see him again. 

Hiromu said that before he faces Ishimori, there is something that he needs to do. He says he wants the winner of the Super J Cup tournament that takes place this weekend. 

He thanked the fans, saying he loves the Jr. heavyweight division and NJPW. 

In the semi-main event, The Guerillas of Destiny defeated FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay) thanks to interference from both Jado and KENTA. Jado, who was repeatedly ejected from the arena only to return anyway, distracted the referee long enough to allow KENTA to come into the ring and strike Juice Robinson with his US title contract briefcase. This allowed Tanga Loa to pin Robinson following an assisted powerbomb off the top rope.

This marks the first time the team has won the trophies. Previously, they made it to the finals in 2016, 17, and 18, but lost all three times.

NJPW reveals full card for World Tag League-BOSJ finals

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The full card for the Best of the Super Juniors/World Tag League finals has been revealed.

The Best of the Super Juniors 27 finals will headline the card. Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado advanced to the finals on Sunday morning’s card. The World Tag League finals will serve as the co-main event, with David Finlay and Juice Robinson squaring off against The Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa).

Tag matches round out the undercard. Wrestle Kingdom 15 opponents Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito will face off in a tag match. Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay will also face off in a six-man tag team match. A match between the Bullet Club and CHAOS stables will open the card.

Here is the full card for Friday’s show, which takes place at Budokan Hall:

  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado in the Best of the Super Juniors 27 finals
  • David Finlay and Juice Robinson vs. Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa in the World Tag League 2020 finals
  • Kota Ibushi and Master Wato vs. Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI
  • Shingo Takagi and SANADA vs. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi
  • Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Toa Henare vs. Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, and Great-O-Khan
  • Toru Yano, SHO, and Robbie Eagles vs. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, and Taiji Ishimori

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors, World Tag League finals set

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The Best of the Super Juniors and World Tag League finals have been set.

Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado will meet in the Best of the Super Juniors 27 finals, both reaching 14 points.  Jr. championTaiji Ishimori also finished with 14 points. Takahashi and Desperado both have wins over Ishimori, however, which eliminates him from the tournament.

After Desperado defeated BUSHI to advance to the finals, Takahashi came out and confronted Desperado as the two had a staredown.

Meanwhile, Juice Robinson and David Finlay will meet the Guerillas of Destiny in the World Tag League finals. After Finlay & Robinson defeated Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI to advance, the Guerillas of Destiny jumped Finlay and Robinson before they could cut a celebratory promo. Jado called GoD the leaders of the tournament and that they would be the winners come Friday.

Robinson & Finlay and GoD both finished with 12 points. Champions Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr. also had 12 points, but they lost to both teams.

This would be the second time that Robinson and Finlay have reached the finals, winning the tournament last year over EVIL and SANADA. They went on to defeat the Guerillas of Destiny at Wrestle Kingdom 14 for the IWGP Tag Team titles.

The finals for both tournaments will take place on December 11 at Budokan Hall. Here are the final scores for both tournaments:

Best of the Super Juniors:

  • El Desperado: 14
  • Hiromu Takahashi: 14
  • Taiji Ishimori: 14
  • SHO: 12
  • BUSHI: 8
  • Master Wato: 8
  • Robbie Eagles: 8
  • Ryusuke Taguchi: 8
  • DOUKI: 4
  • Yuya Uemura: 0

World Tag League:

  • Juice Robinson and David Finlay: 12
  • Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa: 12
  • Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.: 12
  • Shingo Takagi and SANADA: 10
  • Tomohiro Ishii and Toro Yano: 10
  • Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI: 10
  • Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb: 10
  • Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens: 6
  • EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi: 6
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare: 2

NJPW WTL results: Taichi & Sabre vs. FinJuice

Posted on by Ethan Renner

NJPW continued their World Tag League tour today in Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Here are the results: 

Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma defeated Yuji Nagata & Yota Tsuji (7:32)

Kojima pinned Tsuji after hitting a lariat. 

World Tag League: Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb defeated EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi (13:02)

Cobb pinned Yujiro with a Tour of the Islands. 

World Tag League: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens (8:03)

Goto pinned Owens after a GYW. 

World Tag League: Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare (14:43)

Ishii pinned Henare with a vertical drop brainbuster. 

World Tag League: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa defeated Shingo Takagi & SANADA (15:28)

Tonga pinned SANADA after hitting a Gun Stun. 

World Tag League: Juice Robinson & David Finlay defeated Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (21:32)

Finlay pinned Taichi after an Acid Drop. 

World Tag League standings —

  • Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano 10 points (5-2)
  • Juice Robinson & David Finlay 8 points (4-3)
  • Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa 8 points (4-3)
  • Shingo Takagi & SANADA 8 points (4-3)
  • Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. 8 points (4-3)
  • Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI 8 points (4-3)
  • Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb 8 points (4-3)
  • EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi 6 points (3-4)
  • Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens 4 points (2-5) *eliminated*
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare 2 points (1-6) *eliminated*

KENTA to defend IWGP US title shot contract on NJPW Strong

Posted on by Ethan Renner

NJPW has released the full lineups for both Showdown episodes of Strong. 

KENTA will defend the IWGP United States Right to Challenge briefcase against David Finlay in the main event of New Japan Showdown night two on Friday, November 20. The bout will be a rematch of the New Japan Cup USA finals, won by KENTA on the August 21 episode of Strong. 

KENTA is coming off a successful defense of the briefcase against Hiroshi Tanahashi at Power Struggle on November 7. 

The November 13 main event is Tama Tonga vs. PJ Black. This will be Tonga’s first singles match since the New Japan Cup USA tournament. Tonga lost a tournament match to Finlay on the August 14 edition of Strong. 

Other highlights from the cards include “Filthy” Tom Lawlor taking on Fred Rosser on night one. 

NJPW Strong airs Fridays at 10 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World. 

Here are the full cards: 

New Japan Showdown on NJPW Strong, Friday, November 13 —

  • Tama Tonga vs. PJ Black
  • Jay White, Tanga Loa & Chase Owens vs. Juice Robinson, Brody King & Karl Fredericks
  • Tom Lawlor vs. Fred Rosser
  • ACH & Blake Christian vs. Alex Zayne & Adrian Quest

New Japan Showdown on NJPW Strong, November 20 —

  • IWGP US Heavyweight Right to Challenge contract match: KENTA vs. David Finlay
  • Jeff Cobb vs. JR Kratos
  • Rocky Romero vs. Rust Taylor
  • Clark Connors & The DKC vs. Sterling Riegel & Logan Riegel

NJPW Cup USA tournament winner crowned

Posted on by Bryan Rose

KENTA is the first NJPW Cup USA tournament winner.

He defeated David Finlay in the finals to win the tournament. He won after low blowing Finlay following a ref bump. Finlay kicked out of a cradle, but didn’t have any answers once KENTA struck with the GTS, picking up the win.

After the match, KENTA was given both the NJPW Cup USA trophy and a briefcase with the IWGP United States title match contract inside. On commentary, Kevin Kelly mentioned that KENTA would be defending the briefcase going forward, similar to the briefcase G1 Climax tournament winners carry prior to Wrestle Kingdom.

KENTA then cut a promo, calling out IWGP United States champion Jon Moxley in English. When he started to do a promo in Japanese, Jeff Cobb came out and attacked KENTA, who retreated to the stage area. Cobb indicated he wanted the first shot at the IWGP United States title briefcase.

NJPW announced that the start of the Fighting Spirit Unleashed tour would begin next week, though no matches were announced.

Finals set for New Japan Cup USA tournament

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The finals for the New Japan Cup USA tournament have been set.

David Finlay and KENTA will face off on next week’s episode of NJPW Strong. The winner of the match will be eligible for a IWGP United States title match. That title is currently held by AEW’s Jon Moxley.

KENTA defeated Jeff Cobb to advance to the finals after KENTA slipped out of the Tour of the Islands, low blowed Cobb, and rolled him up for the win. Finlay won his match clean, defeating Tama Tonga with his acid drop finish.

In other matches that took place on tonight’s show, Barrett Brown & Logan Riegel defeated Clark Connors & Jordan Clearwater. ACH also returned to the promotion, teaming with Alex Zayne and TJP in a losing effort against PJ Black, Misterioso, and Blake Christian.

NJPW of America have started to air shows on NJPW World since July, focusing on talent currently in the United States. 

Semifinals set for New Japan Cup USA tournament

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The two semifinal matches in the NJPW Cup USA tournament have been set.

KENTA and Jeff Cobb will square off in the first semifinal match. KENTA defeated Karl Fredericks to advance, while Jeff Cobb defeated Tanga Loa of the Guerillas of Destiny.

The second match is between David Finlay and Tama Tonga. Finlay defeated Chase Owens, while Tonga defeated Brody King of ROH.

The winners of both semifinal matches will face off on next week’s episode of Strong. The winners of those matches will advance to the finals of the tournament, which take place on August 21.

Whoever wins the NJPW Cup USA tournament will be eligible for a future IWGP United States title match. The title is currently held by AEW’s Jon Moxley, who won the championship back on January 4.

NJPW Strong, which focuses on NJPW of America talent, premiered tonight. It replaced Lion’s Break Collison, a show that aired in July that also highlighted NJPW USA talent, including Jeff Cobb and Karl Fredericks.

NJPW crowns new Tag Team Champions at New Beginning USA

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The Guerillas of Destiny are once again the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team champions.

Tama Tonga pinned David Finlay to reclaim the titles tonight on the last stop of the New Beginning tour in Atlanta. This marks the sixth time the duo have held the titles.

Juice Robinson and David Finlay had won the World Tag League tournament back in December, earning them the right to challenge then champions Guerillas of Destiny at Wrestle Kingdom 14. Finlay and Robinson went on to capture the titles for the first time. They ended up holding the titles for only 28 days.

Here are the full results from the final stop on the New Beginning USA tour:

Yuji Nagata and Satoshi Kojima defeated Alex Coughlin and Ren Narita

– Nagata pinned Coughlin with the backdrop hold.

YOSHI-HASHI defeated Misterioso

– YOSHI-HASHI submitted Misterioso with the butterfly lock.

Toru Yano and Colt Cabana defeated Yujiro Takahashi and Jado

– Yano pinned Jado with a schoolboy.

Chase Owens defeated Rocky Romero

– Owens pinned Romero after the package piledriver.

Hiroshi Tanahashi and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express deated TJP, Alex Zayne and Clark Connors

– Tanahashi pinned Connors with the high fly flow.

Jeff Cobb defeated Lance Archer

– Cobb defeated Archer following the tour of the islands.

The Guerillas of Destiny defeated Juice Robinson and David Finlay to win the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles.

– Tama Tonga pinned Finlay to regain the titles.