The NJPW Kizuna Road tour rolled into Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall today.
The show saw a title change in the main event, but that was secondary to the real draw of the event — the announcement of the G1 Climax 29 field.
Here are full results and match recaps:
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YOTA TSUJI DEFEATED YUYA UEMURA
These two continue to trade wins and go to time limit draws. Their series now stands at four wins for Tsuji, three for Uemura, and 21 draws.
After an early mat wrestling sequence, Tsuji used a shoulder tackle to take over. He demonstrated his power edge until Uemura came back with a dropkick. Uemura hit a second dropkick in the corner.
They traded strikes in the center of the ring until Tsuji landed his own dropkick. Tsuji hit a powerslam, but Uemura kicked out of the ensuing cover. Tsuji went for a full crab, but Uemura turned it into a cradle for a two count.
Tsuji got the crab applied on his second attempt. Uemura battled to reach the ropes, but ultimately could not, and Tsuji got the submission. A solid opener.
TAICHI, YOSHINOBU KANEMARU & DOUKI DEFEATED TOMOHIRO ISHII, TOMOAKI HONMA & REN NARITA
DOUKI is still in our lives.
Suzuki-gun used an attack before the bell to establish the early advantage. Narita made a quick comeback, landing a pescado. Kanemaru jumped Narita on the floor and hit him with a guillotine leg slice over the barricade.
While Kanemaru and DOUKI worked over Narita inside the ring, Taichi choked Ishii with a camera cable on the floor. DOUKI landed a double stomp. Narita made another comeback, hitting a knee lift and a dropkick.
Honma tagged in. He was cut off on his first kokeshi attempt, but hit one on Taichi. Honma hit a diving kokeshi on Kanemaru, and Ishii and Taichi received tags.
Taichi hit Ishii with a series of short kicks. Ishii fired up and hit a series of chops. Taichi raked the eyes, but Ishii countered with a shoulder tackle. Ishii ducked a buzzsaw, and Taichi kicked away an attempted lariat. Ishii hit a back suplex, into a double down.
Narita tagged in. Taichi blocked a belly-to-belly. DOUKI jumped in, and Narita hit him with a belly-to-belly. Narita tried for a leg lace on Taichi, but Kanemaru made the save. Taichi removed his pants. Narita used a cradle and a backslide for a pair of near falls.
Taichi hit an axe bomber for a two count, then pinned Narita with a superkick. They worked at a brisk pace, and the match was good.
RYUSUKE TAGUCHI, JUICE ROBINSON & MIKEY NICHOLLS DEFEATED TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA & JADO
They are establishing Juice and Nicholls as future opponents for Tonga and Loa, so the booking here made sense.
Bullet Club attacked before the bell. Tonga and Loa hit Juice with some tandem offense. Tonga missed a splash into the corner, and Nicholls jumped in to aid Juice in hitting their own tandem offense.
Taguchi got a tag, but quickly found his ass being worked over. Tonga and Loa took the referee, enabling Jado to jump in and nail Taguchi with a kendo stick. Taguchi continued to sell his ass as G.O.D. worked it over with kicks and headbutts.
Jado pulled Taguchi’s tights down and threatened to use the kendo stick again, but Juice jumped in to make the save. Juice ran wild with jabs, and Nicholls hit a pescado. Taguchi continued to work the rest of the match with his tights down in the back.
Taguchi and Jado traded cradles. Taguchi used an ankle lock, and Jado tapped out. A total comedy match. The live crowd loved it.
TETSUYA NAITO, SHINGO TAKAGI, EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI DEFEATED KOTA IBUSHI, YUJI NAGATA, JUSHIN LIGER, TIGER MASK & SHOTA UMINO
BUSHI and Tiger started off. Tiger landed a series of kicks, then tagged Liger. A brawl broke out around ringside, while BUSHI used a kick to the face to gain the advantage on Liger. On the outside, Naito went after Ibushi’s eye, which was injured in their match last weekend.
EVIL and SANADA continued to work over Liger. SANADA applied the Paradise Lock over the ropes. Liger hit a backbreaker and a lariat to BUSHI, then tagged Nagata. Nagata looked great here. Naito got a tag, and Nagata absolutely went crazy on him. He hit an exploder, then used a Nagata Lock.
Ibushi got a tag and continued the work on Naito that Nagata started. Ibushi hit a missile dropkick, and a plancha. Naito came up from the floor with a bloody mouth. This interaction was mild and safe by their standards.
Umino and Shingo tagged in. Umino hit a missile dropkick and used a cross armbreaker, but Shingo rolled to the ropes for a break. Shingo sold a lot for Umino. LIJ went five-on-one against Umino. Umino’s team jumped in for the save.
The match broke down, leaving Shingo and Umino in the ring. Shingo hit a noshigami for a nearfall, then hit a Pumping Bomber to pick up the pin.
LIJ posed together in the ring after the match. Naito’s mouth was a complete mess. EVIL refused to join in the group celebration. This wasn’t so much a breakup angle as it was a reminder that G1 is coming, and it’s every man for himself.
G1 CLIMAX 29 FIELD ANNOUNCEMENT
A BLOCK
- Kazuchika Okada
- Zack Sabre Jr.
- Hiroshi Tanahashi
- Kota Ibushi
- EVIL
- SANADA
- Bad Luck Fale
- Lance Archer
- Will Ospreay
- KENTA
B BLOCK
- Tetsuya Naito
- Tomohiro Ishii
- Juice Robinson
- Toru Yano
- Hirooki Goto
- Jay White
- Jeff Cobb
- Shingo Takagi
- Taichi
- Jon Moxley
JAY WHITE, YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & CHASE OWENS DEFEATED HIROSHI TANAHASHI, TOGI MAKABE & TORU YANO
Yujiro returned here after a long absence due to an eye injury.
Makabe worked over Yujiro and Owens. Yano got a tag and immediately untied a corner pad. He was, of course, whipped into the exposed buckle.
After a lengthy beatdown on Yano, White and Tana got tags. White hit a flatliner and a deadlift German, but Tanahashi came back with a Twist and Shout, into a double down. Makabe and Yujiro got tags. Yujiro hit a fisherman buster, then tagged Owens.
Owens hit a Final Cut for a near fall. He teased a package piledriver, but Makabe escaped and hit a lariat. Makabe went up top for a knee drop, but Yujiro cut him off.
The match broke down. Yano sent Yujiro into the exposed buckle. White sent Yano and Tana into the exposed buckle. White hit a Saito suplex on Tana.
The finish saw Owens use a schoolboy on Makabe. He held the tights and got the upset.
MINORU SUZUKI, LANCE ARCHER & ZACK SABRE JR. DEFEATED KAZUCHIKA OKADA, YOSHI-HASHI & TOA HENARE
They had to establish a lot in a short period of time with the booking of this match.
YOSHI-HASHI is challenging for Sabre’s RPW British Heavyweight title on June 29, so the focus was put on them at the outset. They also started a storyline that Suzuki has become unhinged after being left out of the G1. For good measure, they also tried to get over the iron claw as a submission hold for Archer.
YH held his own early on. He landed a big chop. Sabre had enough at that point, got a takedown, and went to work on YH’s legs. He dropped him leg-first over the barricade. Suzuki, meanwhile, went after Okada with a chair. They put over on commentary that Suzuki was upset at being left out of the G1 and was taking it out on the champ.
Okada got the hot tag, and Suzuki tagged in as well. Okada hit a back elbow and used a DDT for a nearfall. Okada hit a slam and started to climb to the top for an elbow. Suzuki no-sold the slam, then attacked Okada from behind.
Suzuki shoved the referee down, then hit Okada with a PK. They exchanged forearm strikes. Suzuki stayed up, while Okada collapsed to the mat. Suzuki applied a kimura, but Okada rolled to the ropes. Suzuki threw Red Shoes out of the ring and maintained the kimura.
Suzuki held Okada in the kimura in the ropes forever, but the ref didn’t call for a DQ. Archer didn’t want to get disqualified, so he tagged himself in. Okada hit him with a dropkick, then dropkicked Suzuki off the apron, before tagging Henare.
The match broke down. Suzuki held Okada in a rear naked choke, while Sabre tied YH up. Archer hit the Blackout on Henare. He made a cover, but pulled Henare up after a two count. Archer then used the iron claw to submit Henare.
Suzuki cut a promo after the match. He demanded to be put in the G1 field. He said the people want to see him in the G1, and he demanded that New Japan give him a match to win his way into the field.
IWGP JR. HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: EL PHANTASMO & TAIJI ISHIMORI DEFEATED SHO & YOH TO WIN THE TITLES
YOH and Ishimori started off with a nice sequence. ELP tried to jump in, but he got sent outside. YOH hit a dive and came up bleeding from the neck. SHO tried to out-wrestle Ishimori, but Ishimori got the upper hand. He hit a series of chops, and he and ELP went to work on SHO.
ELP used a series of back rakes. Ishimori hit double knees in the corner. ELP tied SHO to the tree of woe. SHO managed to escape. He landed a suplex to Ishimori, then tagged YOH. YOH hit a dragon screw. He teased a second, but Ishimori jumped in illegally, cutting him off.
ELP and Ishimori worked YOH over in their half of the ring. Ishimori hit a sliding German. YOH tried to tag SHO, but Ishimori pulled him from the apron, and the extended beatdown on YOH continued.
YOH hit a double dropkick, then suplexed Ishimori. SHO got a hot tag. He hit a series of lariats, then a double spear. Ishimori rolled through on a suplex attempt. He tried to hit a foot stomp, but the timing was off. Ishimori hit a handspring kick. Ishimori blocked a right-armed lariat, but SHO connected with his left arm.
SHO hit another lariat, and Ishimori took a flip bump. SHO went for Shock Arrow, but Ishimori blocked. Ishimori teased the Bloody Cross, but SHO blocked. Ishimori hit a double stomp — and both tagged out.
They traded quick cradles. YOH hit a Final Cut for a near fall. YOH teased hitting a dragon suplex off the top, but ELP slid out and hit a powerbomb. ELP hit a splash off the top for a two count. ELP missed a moonsault, and YOH rolled into a Calf Crusher. Simultaneously, SHO used a cross armbreaker on Ishimori. ELP reached the ropes.
YOH used SHO as a launch pad to hit a back elbow in the corner. They tried for the 3K, but ELP hit a DDT. Ishimori took the referee and slid ELP his title belt. ELP hit YOH with the belt, then used an airplane spin for a nearfall.
ELP tried for the CR2, but SHO made the save. SHO and YOH hit a tandem facebuster, then followed with the 3K. YOH covered, but Ishimori jumped in at the last second to make the save.
SHO hit a jumping knee on Ishimori, then hit a flip dive through the second rope to the floor. YOH hit a bridging German on ELP for a near fall.
SHO hit a backstabber. Ishimori jumped in and threw SHO into the referee. ELP hit a low blow on SHO. Ishimori hit a lungblower on YOH. ELP then used the CR2 on YOH. He got the pin — and the titles.
ELP and Ishimori continued to attack after the bell. Taguchi ran in for the save. ELP promised to win the NEVER Six-Man titles from Taguchi tomorrow, then to beat him again later in the tour to retain the British Cruiserweight belt.
Taguchi grabbed the mic and called SHO and YOH back to the ring to close the show with a promo.
Everyone gave a great effort, but the crowd was quiet for a Korakuen main event.
