A pair of new champions have been crowned tonight at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s The New Beginning USA show in Trenton, New Jersey.
The first was Oleg Boltin, who pinned Tomohiro Ishii with a Verdict (F5) and Kamikaze (rolling fireman’s carry slam) to win the STRONG Openweight championship.
It’s the first STRONG Openweight championship for Boltin, and the second singles title in New Japan—he held the NEVER Openweight championship for 120 days last year. He is also a three-time winner of the Never Openweight Six-Man Championships, including his current reign along with Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi.
The match ended Ishii’s first reign as STRONG Openweight champion. He had won the belt from Gabe Kidd at Windy City Riot in Chicago, Illinois, last April.
The second new champion on the show was Konosuke Takeshita, who defeated El Phantasmo to win the NJPW World Television championship. The match originally ended in a time limit draw, but ELP challenged Takeshita to an overtime period. Takeshita accepted and went on to win with a powerdrive kneestrike and raging fire.
This is Takeshita’s first reign as NJPW World Television champion. He is also a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion, IWGP Intercontinental Champion, and NEVER Openweight Champion.
ELP is now a two-time former NJPW World Television champion. He originally won the belt from Ren Narita at Wrestle Kingdom 19 in January of 2025, in a four-way that also included Jeff Cobb (now known as JC Mateo on SmackDown) and Ryohei Oiwa. He lost the belt to Great-O-Khan the following April, but regained it later that same month.
Konosuke Takeshita lost New Japan Pro Wrestling gold early in January. He’ll have a chance to get some back when he challenges El Phantasmo late in February.
NJPW has announced that ELP will defend his NJPW World TV Championship against Takeshita at New Beginning USA at the CURE Arena in Trenton, New Jersey, on February 27. Tickets for the event are already on sale.
The NJPW World TV title is contested under 15-minute time limits, which is notable given the history between ELP and Takeshita. The two have met in four prior singles encounters, with Takeshita winning twice. Takeshita also challenged ELP for the TV title last May at Dontoku, but the match went to a time limit draw. For his part, Phantasmo has one win over Takeshita, beating him in last year’s G1 Climax tournament in a match that went 15 minutes, 2 seconds.
The two also clashed at New Year Dash on January 5, with Takeshita teaming with Rocky Romero defeating ELP and Shoma Kato in tag team action when Takeshita pinned Kato.
A new match has been announced for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20.
El Phantasmo will defend his NJPW World Television title against DDT’s Chris Brookes on the show. The match was set up on today’s NJPW Road to Tokyo Dome show at Korakuen Hall. Following ELP’s successful title defense against Ryusuke Taguchi, he put out an open challenge for the Tokyo Dome and Brookes came out to answer the call.
“New Japan World TV Championship open challenge Tokyo Dome, Wrestle Kingdom!” ELP said on the show.
This led to Tatsuya Matsumoto in a Santa costume coming out with a present for ELP. As ELP was opening the gift, Brookes attacked him from behind and revealed he would be his challenger at Wrestle Kingdom. Brookes then gave ELP a Praying Mantis bomb.
The updated lineup for the show is below:
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 (Sunday, January 4, 2026 on NJPW World) —
Hiroshi Tanahash’s retirement match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
Winner-take-all match: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji
NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL defends against Aaron Wolf
IWGP Junior Heavyweight title number one contender’s match: El Desperado vs. SHO vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishiimori
David Finlay, Shingo Takagi, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman, Henare, Andrade El Idolo & A Mystery Partner
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions YOH, Master Wato & Toru Yano defend in a multi-team ranbo
NJPW World TV Champion El Phantasmo defends against Chris Brookes
#andSTILL From festive fun to Dome-bound danger. El Phantasmo survived Taguchi’s Funky challenge, but Chris Brookes made it clear: Wrestle Kingdom 20 is next!#njwk20 report:https://t.co/lP72F1StWO
NJPW announced that after missing Thursday’s New Japan Soul show, ELP will also miss the Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22 legs of the tour due to the same injury.
Phantasmo, the NJPW World TV Champion, had been scheduled for six-man tag team bouts on both Saturday and Sunday in the headline bouts. The cards have been adjusted with 10-man tags earlier in the card shifted to eight-man tags, and substitutions for ELP in the six-mans. Boltin Oleg will sub for ELP on Saturday, and Tomoaki Honma will take his spot in Sunday.
No announcement has been made regarding the rest of the tour, and speciifically Monday’s New Japan Soul event set for Korakuen Hall in Tokyo where ELP is scheduled to team with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jado against Gabe Kidd, Taiji Ishimori, and Gedo in an undercard tag.
“Thank you for supporting New Japan Pro-Wrestling. El Phantasmo, who was scheduled to compete at events Saturday in Yamagata and Sunday in Fukushima, has sustained an injury to his right knee and will not be appearing. We apologise to fans who were looking forward to seeing Phantasmo wrestle, and appreciate your understanding.“
A knee injury forced El Phantasmo to miss Thursday’s NJPW show in Aomori.
Phantasmo was scheduled to headline the New Japan Soul event in a six-man tag match, teaming with Hirooki Goto & Yuya Uemura against Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson. Instead, Tomoaki Honma replaced him in the match. Their team was victorious with Uemura pinning Jackson.
NJPW announced the late change when they informed fans before the show that Phantasmo was not cleared to compete.
“El Phantasmo has sustained a right knee injury and has not been cleared to compete tonight,” the promotion wrote. “Tonight’s main event will see Tomoaki Honma replace ELP against TMDK.”
There has been no further announcement regarding Phantasmo’s injury or when he’ll be back in action. His next match is supposed to be this Saturday.
This was the second night of the New Japan Soul tour. The tour began on Wednesday with Phantasmo, Goto & Shota Umino defeating Sabre, Oiwa & Jackson.
Phantasmo is the current NJPW World Television Champion.
After their last match ended in a double countout, El Phantasmo and Jeff Cobb are set to meet again for the NJPW World TV title.
A TV title match with ELP defending against Cobb will headline NJPW’s Road to the New Beginning show at Korakuen Hall on Monday, February 3. The match will likely have a no countouts stipulation with NJPW saying that both competitors have requested it.
Shortly after returning from a battle with cancer, ELP won the NJPW World TV title in a four-way match at Wrestle Kingdom 19. Cobb — who was also part of that bout — got a one-on-one shot against ELP at NJPW Battle in the Valley last weekend, but it ended with ELP retaining due to a double countout.
Ren Narita was NJPW World TV Champion prior to ELP winning the title at Wrestle Kingdom. Cobb held the championship from May-October 2024 before dropping it to Narita.
NJPW has also announced a title match for the Tuesday, February 4 Road to the New Beginning show at Korakuen Hall. El Desperado will defend his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Kosei Fujita in that night’s main event.
The NJPW Ranbo has officially been added to Wrestle Kingdom 19.
The annual battle royal will take place on the kickoff portion of NJPW’s January 4 event. Additionally, El Phantasmo has been added to what will now be a four-way match for the New Japan World Television title.
After the Great-O-Khan retired the KOPW Championship at Road to Tokyo Dome, he suggested that the winner of the Ranbo should get a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight title. New Japan confirmed the match and stipulation on Sunday.
ELP made his return on Saturday morning’s show and announced that he was medically cleared. After a match featuring the House of Torture, Jado appeared as Santa Claus and gave Narita a gift. When Narita opened it, it was a pair of ELP’s sunglasses, signaling ELP’s return after taking time off due to a cancer diagnosis.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 (Saturday, January 4) —
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defends against Shota Umino
Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiromu Takahashi
IWGP Global Champion David Finlay defends against Yota Tsuji
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI defends against El Desperado
NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi defends against Konosuke Takeshita (Takeshita’s AEW International Championship will also be on the line if still champion)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL
Four-way match: NJPW World TV Champion Ren Narita defends against Jeff Cobb, Ryohei Oiwa, and El Phantasmo
IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani defends against AZM
Four-way match: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight defend against Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita, TJP & Francesco Akira, and Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney
Kickoff: NJPW Ranbo battle royal for future IWGP World title shot
He returned on today’s Road to Tokyo Dome show at Korakuen Hall and appears in the mix for the NJPW World TV title. After his match today, Champion Ren Narita was approached by Jado (dressed as Santa), who gave him a gift. Inside was a pair of ELP’s sunglasses. ELP then came out and cleared House of Torture from the ring.
ELP told the live crowd he doesn’t speak Japanese, whispered something to Jado, and then Jado revealed to the fans that ELP was medically cleared to return.
Two months ago, NJPW announced that ELP would be taking an indefinite leave for medical reasons. Shortly after, ELP revealed that doctors had found “a little tumor of cancer.”
NJPW1972.com wrote of his return, “ELP had been absent from the World Tag League due to medical reasons, but now fully recovered, he wasted no time making an impact.”
Narita is scheduled to defend his TV title against Jeff Cobb and Ryohei Oiwa in a triple threat at Wrestle Kingdom. Based on what happened today, ELP could be added to the match to make it a four-way.
ELP said he’s also cleared to compete on Monday’s show at Korakuen Hall. While NJPW has not officially confirmed his match on the show, the event’s lineup has Katsuya Murashima vs. mystery opponent listed. Monday will be the promotion’s last show before Wrestle Kingdom on January 4, 2025.
El Phantasmo revealed on social media Tuesday that cancer has been found in his body.
“The last 2 weeks I’ve had a bunch of scans and tests done, and doctors have found a little tumour of cancer,” he wrote. “Things are happening really fast, but I have amazing family, friends, and fans by my side, and I’m so grateful to have the support of warriors who have gone through the same thing before, and I look forward to help those going through it next.”
“Believe me when I say I’m in good spirits, and I’m not nervous, worried or scared,” he added.
ELP ended his statement asking people to send love and prayers to Chris Bey, who underwent neck surgery after an injury took place during TNA’s television tapings on Sunday. He promised when he’s ready, he’ll be back stronger than ever.
New Japan Pro Wrestling issued a statement on Tuesday morning announcing ELP would be out of action indefinitely due to a health concern.
“EL Phantasmo, who was scheduled to wrestle this week on the Super Jr. Tag League Tour and at Power Struggle November 4, will be taking indefinite leave due to a health concern,” their statement reads. “We apologise to fans who were looking forward to seeing Phantasmo wrestle, and appreciate your understanding.”
Phantasmo was scheduled to wrestle in tag matches on November 2 in Nagoya and November 4 in Osaka. Oleg Boltin has replaced him for both matches. He last wrestled on the second night of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling’s Forged in Excellence event on October 20, where he lost to Speedball Mike Bailey.
A storyline had taken place in recent months involving ELP being recruited both by NJPW’s main roster unit Hontai and EVIL’s House of Torture stable after the Guerillas of Destiny left NJPW for WWE. ELP and manager Jado eventually decided to join forces with Hontai.
El Phantasmo will be the final participant in the TNT title ladder match at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.
ELP defeated AR Fox in a qualifying bout on Friday’s taped AEW Rampage episode to earn the sixth and final spot in the match to crown a new TNT Champion at Sunday’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view.
Phantasmo joins Konosuke Takeshita, Mark Briscoe, Jack Perry, Lio Rush, and Dante Martin in the bout to fill the TNT title vacated due to Adam Copeland’s injury.
Forbidden Door airs Sunday, June 30 beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time on AEW’s digital media channels with the Zero Hour pre-show. The main card kicks off at 8 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view. The lineup:
AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland defends against Will Ospreay
Ladder match for the vacant TNT Championship: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Jack Perry vs. Lio Rush vs. Dante Martin vs. El Phantasmo
Title for title: TBS Champion Mercedes Mone vs. NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer
AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm defends against Mina Shirakawa
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley defends against Tetsuya Naito
Owen Hart Foundation men’s tournament quarterfinal match: Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi
MJF vs. Hechicero
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy
The Elite (Kazuchika Okada & The Young Bucks) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & The Acclaimed
The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho, Big Bill, and TBA) vs. Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata
Zero Hour: Kris Statlander & Momo Watanabe vs. Willow Nightingale & Tam Nakano
Zero Hour: Owen Hart Foundation women’s tournament quarterfinal match: Saraya vs. Mariah May
Zero Hour: Mistico & The Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) vs. Titan, Yota Tsuji & Hiromu Takahashi
The lineup for the pre-Forbidden Door edition of AEW Rampage next Friday is now confirmed following the show’s taping Thursday in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
As expected, the Friday, June 28th show will feature a mix of AEW and NJPW wrestlers ahead of next Sunday’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view from the UBS Arena on Long Island, New York.
The Forbidden Door go-home edition of Collision will be taped this Wednesday after the live Dynamite in Buffalo, New York.
Gabe Kidd will make his AEW debut as he teams with former AEW International Champion Roderick Strong against The Infantry in tag team action. At this point, neither Kidd or Strong is officially on the Forbidden Door card.
Ahead of his challenge of Bryan Danielson at Forbidden Door in the opening round of the men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, Shingo Takagi will battle former ROH World Champion Dalton Castle. Takagi will make his AEW TV in-ring debut on tonight’s show against AR Fox.
After being part of the first two Forbidden Doors, El Phantasmo will make his return to an AEW ring as he battles the aforementioned Fox.
Former AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy will take on The Outrunners in a handicap match. Cassidy will face Zack Sabre Jr. next Sunday at the PPV.
Queen Aminata will make her return to AEW for the first time since February as she takes on Skye Blue.
Jack Perry has been announced for NJPW’s upcoming show in Chicago.
The promotion revealed on Tuesday that Perry, Tomohiro Ishii, ELP & Hikuleo, and Ren Narita will all be in action at NJPW Windy City Riot on Friday, April 12 in Chicago’s Wintrust Arena.
NEW TICKET RELEASE!! 💨 Windy City Riot 💨 Chicago- Wintrust Arena 💨 Friday, April 12
New Talent Announcement! 🌬️GOD 🌬️Ishii 🌬️Narita 🌬️Jack Perry
Over 4500 tickets to the show have been distributed as of last week. Additional tickets went on sale today. Our own Dave Meltzer addressed ticket sales to the show in last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Meltzer wrote:
They opened up more seats for the 4/12 show in Chicago, headlined by Tetsuya Naito vs. Jon Moxley, Mustafa Ali vs. Hiromu Takahashi and likely Jack Perry vs. Shota Umino. They sold the new seats out immediately and are now at 4,559 seats out in a place that legit would sell out at 7,000. Why they haven’t opened it up for 7,000 when they’ve turned away people on both sale openings is beyond me
Perry made his NJPW debut at Battle in the Valley last month. He attacked Shota Umino before putting on an armband that read, “Scapegoat” and appearing to tear up his AEW contract. Perry hasn’t wrestled since being involved in a backstage altercation with CM Punk at AEW All In at Wembley Stadium last summer.
NJPW Windy City Riot lineup for Friday, April 12 —
Tetsuya Naito vs. Jon Moxley
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mustafa Ali
Scheduled for the show: Jack Perry, ELP & Hikuleo, Tomohiro Ishii, Ren Narita
NJPW has issued an update on the lineup for New Beginning in Nagoya.
On Sunday, the promotion announced the Hikuleo & El Phantasmo vs. KENTA & Chase match scheduled for the show will now be for the Strong Tag Team titles. The announcement follows ELP & Hikuleo successfully defending the titles against Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors on Saturday at Battle in the Valley. The IWGP Tag Team Championships, also held by TJP & Hikuleo, will not be on the line.
NJPW has also announced the rules for the KOPW match at New Beginning in Nagoya. The voting saw Taiji Ishimori’s proposed Ring Fit match beat out Great-O-Khan’s Bullrope Deathmatch rules with 77% of the votes. The match stipulation requires both wrestlers to do 30 seconds of high-intensity circuit training every 3 minutes.
Ishimori will defend his KOPW 2024 belt against Tanahashi in a 10 minute Ishimori Ring Fit Match. Ten minutes will be on the clock, with the last title holder at the end of the time limit the victor. Additionally, at three minute intervals, the two must stop for 30 seconds of high intensity circuit training. Who will have the wind to prevail in this demanding match type?
The event takes place at Dolphin’s Arena in Nagoya on Saturday, January 20.
Here is the full card for NJPW New Beginning in Nagoya:
NEVER Openweight Title: Tama Tonga defends against EVIL
KOPW 2024: Taiji Ishimori defends against Great-O-Khan in a Ring Fit match
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi, and BUSHI) vs. Just Five Guys (SANADA, Taichi, Taka Michinoku, DOUKI, and Yuya Uemura)
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, and Togi Makabe vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste, and Kosei Fujita
NJPW Strong Tag Team Champions Guerillas of Destiny (Hikuleo and El Phantasmo) defend against Chase Owens & KENTA
El Desperado & Master Wato vs. SHO and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, TJP, Henare, & Jeff Cobb) vs. Bullet Club War Dogs (David Finlay, Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors, Gabe Kidd, and Alex Coughlin)
Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino vs. House of Torture (Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi)
NJPW World Tag League 2023 concluded on Sunday in Kumamoto.
Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI defeated El Phantasmo & Hikuleo today to win the tournament for a record third straight time. They are also the first team to win the tournament while also holding the IWGP Tag Team Championships.
Bishamon have made history!
The first IWGP Tag Champions to win World tag League, and the first to ever threepeat!
With the win, Bishamon earned the right to pick which team will challenge them for the IWGP Tag Team Championships at Wrestle Kingdom. Goto said in a post-match promo that they would like to face ELP and Hikuleo again, this time with both the IWGP Tag titles and the NJPW Strong tag titles at stake inside the Tokyo Dome.
ELP and Hikuleo defeated Bishamon in the round-robin portion of the tournament, making a clash at Wrestle Kingdom essentially a rubber match.
A full report from today’s show is available here.
Monstersauce (Alex Zayne & Lance Archer), Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata defeated BULLET CLUB (Alex Coughlin, Bad Luck Fale, Gabe Kidd & Jack Bonza)
United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Jeff Cobb) defeated CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano), Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima
House Of Torture (Ren Narita & SHO) defeated Shota Umino & Tiger Mask
House Of Torture (EVIL, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Kaito Kiyomiya, Ryohei Oiwa & Tomoaki Honma
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada defeated Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona)
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji) & Zandokan Jr. defeated Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura)
World Tag League Final: Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated Guerrillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo)
NJPW World Tag League 2023 final round-robin standings:
A Block —
Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd (5-2): 10 points
Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls (5-2): 10 points
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano (4-2): 8 points
Great-O-Khan & HENARE (4-3): 8 points
EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi (3-4): 6 points
Shota Umino & Ren Narita (3-3): 6 points
Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona (2-5): 4 points
Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa (2-5): 4 points
B Block —
Hikuleo & El Phantasmo (5-2): 10 points
Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI (4-2-1): 9 points
Lance Archer & Alex Zayne (4-3): 8 points
Taichi & Yuya Uemura (4-2): 8 points
Atlantis Jr. & Soberano Jr. (3-3-1): 7 points
Yota Tsuji & Zandokan Jr. (3-3): 6 points
Yuji Nagata & Minoru Suzuki (2-5): 4 points
Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza (2-5): 4 points
December 8, NJPW World Tag League 2023 night 15 tournament results:
NJPW World Tag League 2023 semifinal: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Gabe Kidd & Alex Coughlin
NJPW World Tag League 2023 semifinal: El Phantasmo & Hikuleo defeated Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls
December 10, NJPW World Tag League 2023 night 17 tournament results:
NJPW World Tag League 2023 finals: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated El Phantasmo & Hikuleo
El Phantasmo cut an emotional promo following his match with The Great-O-Khan in Nagaoka this weekend.
ELP is currently winless in the G1 Climax, having dropped his third straight match of the tournament on Friday. During his post-match comments that night, ELP revealed that he learned of his grandfather’s passing only an hour before his match against Kazuchika Okada on 7/18.
“You may think you know how hard the G1 Climax really is on you. You can look up and down the blocks and everybody’s got some sort of injury, my traps f—ed, people’s necks are f—ed, their legs, their knees, and that’s fine, that’s what we expect,” ELP said.
“But what you guys don’t realize is how hard emotionally it can be when you are all by yourself, when you have no friends, you get a call from your dad who says your Papa has passed away an hour before you gotta go out there and wrestle Okada in the main event and you try and block those emotions and go do your job. And then you finish, and the adrenaline wears off and you go back to your little, tiny, dinky ass Japanese hotel and then you realize that it’s too late to call your grandma, whose husband of 70 years just died, whose daughter died a year ago, and you’ve got to stay up all night by yourself, unable to tell them how much you love them.
And then in the morning, you call grandma, and you talk about how Papa’s gone and that’s okay. But then you have to lie to her and you have to tell her that you’re doing good. You can’t say that you’re here, you lost three matches, you have zero points, the bottom of the block. You’ve got to tell her that you’re winning and you’re fighting for Papa.
Then you go to the gym by yourself, you listen to music, and you come here and you pretend everything’s okay but it’s not. That’s what this job is.
I was here all pandemic when my Aunt died and now I’m here when my Papa dies. And I don’t know how much the people know but when you guys chant my name, that’s the only love I get around here these days and it means so much to me. You guys don’t know, you guys don’t know, just three little letters keep me going.
I told myself I wouldn’t be sad. My Papa was 91 years old. He was supposed to die a month ago, that’s why I was at the hospital, I couldn’t do Wrestling Revolver. He was supposed to die but he kept fighting, not one week, not two weeks, not three weeks, but he fought four weeks passed the time he was supposed to pass away. Now, that is fighting spirit, that’s the fighting spirit that I need. That’s the fighting spirit that I need to have to win, to win matches, to win the G1 Climax, to tell my Grandma that I’m okay.”
ELP dropped his first match of the tournament to YOSHI-HASHI and his second to Okada before dropping his third straight to Great-O-Khan on Friday. He’ll return to action on Tuesday’s show from Korakuen Hall against Tanga Loa, who is 1-2 thus far in the tournament.
ELP made his G1 Climax debut in last year’s event. He went 3-3 with wins over Shingo Takagi, Yujiro Takahashi, and David Finlay. His losses were against Will Ospreay, Juice Robinson, and YOSHI-HASHI. ELP’s six points were enough for him to finish tied for second in the block. Ospreay advanced out of the group with a 4-2 record.
