Tag: evil

NJPW Road to Dontaku results: Juice & Tanahashi vs. Naito & EVIL

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New Japan was back for a second Korakuen Hall show this weekend as they continued the build towards Wrestling Dontaku and other big events slated for the next couple of weeks. Here are some quick results from this morning’s show:

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

Oka/Kitamura and Umino/Kawato worked one another early. Umino briefly escaped a Boston crab attempt by Oka but a powerslam and a second Boston crab attempt sealed the deal.

– Will Ospreay & Jado defeated Taka Michinoku & El Desperado when Ospreay pinned Michinoku with the Ozcutter.

This was a basic, solid match. Jado was worked on for a lot of it. Ospreay did his thing and looked good. 

– Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & David Finlay when Takahashi pinned Finlay.

They had an okay match, but nothing out of the ordinary. Finlay and Yujiro had some good back and forth towards the end. Finlay kicked out of the Miami Shine before falling to the Pimp Juice DDT.

– Roppongi Vice, Toru Yano & Hirooki Goto defeated Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & Yoshinobu Kanemaru when Yano pinned Iizuka with a roll-up.

Suzuki and Goto brawled around the ring, with Suzuki freely using a steel chair as a weapon. A lot of the focus was on them, which made the match pretty solid for what it was. With the help of Roppongi Vice, Yano was able to block the iron fingers and roll up Iizuka for the win. 

– Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI & SANADA defeated Ricochet, Ryusuke Taguchi & Yoshitatsu when SANADA submitted Yoshitatsu with the Skull End.

This was a bit slow, but turned out fine with Ricochet and Takahashi’s program getting a push here. Takahashi now has dolls with his and Ricochet’s name on them; I guess because he’s weird. BUSHI threw down Yoshitatsu as everyone came in. SANADA floated over Yoshitatsu and submitted him for the win.

– Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii when Owens pinned YOSHI-HASHI.

Of course, the two big feuds highlighted here were Okada/Fale and Ishii/Omega, who continued where they left off from last night. YH had Owens set up for Karma but Fale came in and broke it up. He laid out Okada with the Grenade, then laid out YOSHI-HASHI with a tombstone. He dragged the lifeless Owens on top of YH so he could pick up the win. This was another solid tag team match with good action.

Ishii and Omega had a staredown after the match, with Omega backing off first. It looked like somewhere during the match Ishii busted his nose as it was bloodied up.

– Juice Robinson & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated EVIL & Tetsuya Naito when Tanahashi pinned EVIL with the High Fly Flow.

They had a great match; easily the best match New Japan put on this weekend. Robinson jump started things by laying out Naito with a tope. Naito had Robinson in the Destino, but that was countered into a lungblower by Robinson.

The action really picked up towards the end as everyone countered one another and laid everyone out. Juice caught EVIL and assisted Tanahashi with a slingblade but Naito crotched him. Robinson took care of Naito and laid out EVIL with the Pulp Friction. Tanahashi followed with the High Fly Flow for the win.

Both Robinson and Tanahashi played the air guitar to close out the show.

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

Posted on by Bryan Rose

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They had a good, standard tag team match. 

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

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

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

New Japan Cup semifinals results: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The Big Takeaway —

Bad Luck Fale and Katsuyori Shibata advanced to the New Japan Cup finals, taking place on March 20th. 

Prelim Results —

Juice Robinson, Tomoyuki Oka & David Finlay defeated Hirai Kawato, Yuji Nagata & Katsuya Kitamura when Robinson pinned Kitamura with the Pulp Friction.

Gedo & Jado defeated Desperado & Taka Michinoku when Jado pinned Michinoku with a DDT.

Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Tiger Mask, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima when Suzuki pinned Tiger Mask with the Gotch piledriver.

Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin & KUSHIDA defeated BUSHI, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito when Taguchi pinned BUSHI with the la magistral cradle.

Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & Hirooki Goto defeated Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Yujiro Takahashi & Kenny Omega when Okada pinned Takahashi after the Rainmaker.

New Japan Cup Semifinals Results —

Bad Luck Fale defeated EVIL

There was an interesting spot early as EVIL tried to do his usual chair into the post spot, but Fale countered it and attacked him on the outside and into the crowd, the highlight being Fale throwing a barricade on a prone EVIL. 

Fale hit a big splash in the corner, then another big splash on the floor, but EVIL kicked out. He then motioned for the Grenade, but when lifting him EVIL escaped and ran to the referee. He fired back with some shots and hit three lariats but the referee was pulled out of the ring by Tama Tonga. BUSHI laid Tonga out with the MX as they brawled to the back.

Fale went for the Bad Luck Fall but EVIL escaped and gave him a headbutt. He tried for the STO, and even was misted, but Fale escaped. EVIL walked into a big time lariat, ate the Grenade, and was thrown to the ground with the Bad Luck Fall for the win.

This was a better match than you would think. It helped that the crowd was hot for it.

Katsuyori Shibata defeated Tomohiro Ishii

They felt each other out for a while before they went into some good back and forth, with Shibata controlling. They traded hard elbows for a long time before Ishii got the better of it. Ishii laid it in with lariats but Shibata stood tall. 

Ishii continued to pelt him with forearm shots but Shibata gave him one of his own. Ishii laid out Shibata but he immediately got up and smacked him with a big boot. Ishii started to mount a comeback, but Shibata retaliated with an STO and applied an armlock.

Shibata tried to go for a sleeper after this, but Ishii threw him over his shoulder. Shibata retaliated with another boot to the face.

There was more back and forth. Ishii laid out Shibata with the lariat but he immediately popped back up. Ishii responded with another, then followed that with a sliding D. Ishii continued headbutting him. Shibata went to the floor and begged Ishii to do something. They slapped each other silly until Shibata went for the sleeper. Ishii hit a side suplex but Shibata immediately popped up and laid him out. 

Shibata went for the penalty kick but Ishii grabbed his arm and put on an armlock, only for Shibata to escape. Ishii destroyed Shibata’s shoulder until Shibata roared back with an enzuigiri.

Shibata finally had the sleeper locked in. Ishii tried to grab the rope, but Shibata hit a half dragon suplex. 

They traded one counts until Shibata got the sleeper in once again. This time, Ishii started to pass out as he fell to the floor. Shibata hit the penalty kick, but then transitioned into another sleeper to make sure he’s out to win the match.

This was an incredible match. It was on par with Ishii vs. Omega from March 12th. The intensity was great and the last few minutes were really awesome.

Ishii sold the sleeper, struggling to get up after the match and still wanting to lay it into Shibata. The young lions took him out of the ring  Shibata cut a short promo to end the show.

Final Thoughts —

This was a one match show, with that one match being really awesome. The prelims are what they are — if you’ve seen one New Japan multi-man tag, you know what to expect; good action, good build towards future matches, but absolutely nothing you need to see.

The two tournament matches delivered. EVIL vs. Fale was a good brawl, with EVIL looking like a top act in hanging in there with Fale until the very end. The main event was incredible, with Ishii continuing to be one of the most consistently top-notch workers in the industry today, and Shibata more than held his own in the match as well. 

The final match in this tournament sounds like a tough sell, but Fale does well in big main event matches and Shibata should be an interesting opponent for him. Aside from the 235 multi-man tags, it should be an interesting night tomorrow.

New Japan Cup first round results: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The Big Takeaway —

EVIL, Yuji Nagata, Bad Luck Fale and Toru Yano all advanced to the next round of the New Japan Cup.

Non-Tourney Results —

– Desperado & Taka Michinoku defeated Hirwai Kawato and Ryusuke Taguchi when Desperado pinned Kawato with the guitarra de angel.

– Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Tiger Mask, Tamayuki Oka and Manabu Nakanishi when Kojima pinned Oka with a lariat.

– Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi defeated YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii after Omega pinned YOSHI-HASHI with the One Winged Angel.

This was better than the other two matches and more lengthy. YOSHI-HASHI and Omega worked each other and have good chemistry with one another.

– SANADA, Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI defeated David Finlay, KUSHIDA and  Katsuyori Shibata when SANADA submitted David Finlay with the Skull End.

This was a good match and had some nice heat while it lasted.

– IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada, Gedo, Jado and Hirooki Goto defeated Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru when Okada pinned Taichi with the rainmaker in a solid bout.

**********

New Japan Cup Opening Round results —

– Yuji Nagata defeated Tanga Roa 

This didn’t have that much heat, and came off more like something on WWE Main Event than on a big New Japan show. There was no intensity. Roa missed a big splash. Nagata came back and they traded offense but the crowd still wasn’t getting into it. Nagata worked on Roa’s arm and eventually pinned him with the exploder after a few near fall attempts. To say this was plodding would be an understatement.

– Toru Yano defeated Tama Tonga

Yano stalled at the beginning, posing on the ropes and exiting the ring. Tonga stomped on him upon re-entry and worked on him. Tonga went for the gun stun after a few minutes, but Yano pushed him into the ref. He tried to follow that with a low blow but Tonga blocked it. He followed that with a headbutt, then Yano grabbed the ref. He pushed him into Tonga then low blowed him for the flash pin. It was your typical Yano match.

– Bad Luck Fale defeated Michael Elgin

Fale dominated early, working on Elgin’s back. Elgin tried to lift Fale for a powerbomb, but it didn’t work and neither did a German suplex attempt. Elgin finally landed one but Fale responded with a spear then the Grenade for the pinfall. This wasn’t bad, but nothing to write home. Fale usually is booked strong in tournaments so this was no big surprise. 

– EVIL defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

There was a lot of early back and forth work. Tanahashi dragon screwed EVIL’s leg and sent him to the outside. Tanahashi followed with the High Fly Flow, taking them both to the floor. EVIL shoved the referee to the ropes, crotching Tanahashi. 

EVIL grabbed a chair and smashed the back of Tanahashi. He blocked another attempt and hit EVIL with a steel chair shot of his own. Tanahashi smashed EVIL in the corner with forearms and when the referee tried to stop it, he got shoved down for his troubles. Tanahashi hit the Sling Blade and a High Fly Flow. From here, EVIL came back and did several great nearf alls that really got the crowd into the match.

EVIL locked in a sleeper until Tanahashi seemingly was asleep, but he still kicked out of a pinfall attempt. He tried the STO but Tanahashi fought him off and hit the slingblade. Tanahashi tried for the German suplex, but EVIL got a hold of the ref and shoved him to the corner. In the confusion, EVIL unleashed his new misting abilities, blinding Tanahashi as he fell to the STO was was pinned in a big upset.

Ths was very slow at first, but picked up and got very hot towards the end. EVIL cut a promo at the end, talking about Tanahashi and said everything was evil.

– Round 2 matches: EVIL vs. Yuji Nagata; Bad Luck Fale vs. Toru Yano

Final Thoughts —

I wouldn’t call this a good show. The preliminary bouts were solid, but nothing outstanding. Most of the New Japan Cup matches just didn’t deliver, save for the main event which ended up being very good. I guess it’s the luck of the draw as the next day’s tournament matches look way better on paper. 

NJPW Wrestling World 2016 results: EVIL vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New Japan Pro Wrestling was back in Singapore this morning for their annual Wrestling World event, held at the Marina Bay Sands. Here are the results:

Juice Robinson defeated David Finlay

Solid opener. Lots of support for Robinson, who was pretty over with the crowd. Good, basic match leading to a Robinson win after hitting the unprettier.

Roppongi Vice defeated Jushin Liger & Ryusuke Taguchi

They did the fake babyface spot where Romero wanted to shake hands, but Liger stalled. When he finally did, Romero did the turn but Liger blocked him. They worked on Liger until Taguchi did a hot tag. Liger was tagged back in and was isolated as he was pinned by Romero after RPG Vice did their double team finish.

Guerillas of Destiny defeated Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo

Gedo was enjoying himself here, channeling Ric Flair (or is it Jado?) in doing the strut. Ishii looked good in warding off the two, but of course Gedo was the weak link. He fell to the Guerilla Warfare, giving the win to the heavyweight tag team champions.

Hirooki Goto defeated Tomoaki Honma

Good match, but there have been better between these two. Lots of stiff slaps and punches throughout. Honma was being worked on until he made a comeback with the Kokeshi and worked on Goto’s arm, but Goto turned the tide with an ushigiroshi and pinned Honma with the GTR.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA & Togi Makabe defeated BUSHI, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito

They brawled around the ring to start things off. Ingobernables were over and this, by far, had the most heat of any match up to this point. Cool six-man man match, about what you would expect. The finish was pretty cool as it looked like KUSHIDA was going to finish off BUSHI with a moonsault, but instead did a leap to the floor wiping out SANADA. Tanahashi finished the match instead with a High Fly Flow.

Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi

Standard tag match, which means it was good, but nothing beyond what you would normally see on a New Japan house show. Omega always comes across like someone with headliner potential; his work at this point is stellar. Okada got the win for his team with the Rainmaker.

Katsuyori Shibata defeated NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL to regain the title

This was good, but the crowd was just kind of there – I think they may have peaked earlier for the six-man. As far as a championship match though, this was really well worked.

Shibata worked on EVIL’s arm to start. They went to the outside where Shibata tried to use a chair, but failed, instead letting Evil put the chair on his head and slammed it against the post. He also trapped it on Shibata’s arm and smashed it against the steps. EVIL targeted the arm but Shibata hulked up and fired back.

Shibata locked in the sleeper but EVIL grabbed the arm and wrung it on the top rope, sending Shibata to the floor. After a back and forth battle, Shibata put on the sleeper but bumped into the ref by accident. EVIL grabbed more chairs, wrapped Shibata around one and swung the other onto him.

EVIL hit a tree slam but Shibata still kicked out. He tried the STO but Shibata countered with one of his own. He got the sleeper back on, hit a sleeper suplex, then hit the penalty kick to regain the title.

Overall, this was pretty much your typical New Japan house show event with a pretty good main event. Everyone worked hard, leading it to be a very solid show.

NJPW G1 Climax 26 night 14 results: EVIL vs. Tetsuya Naito

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Night 14 of the 26th G1 Climax is upon us, this time featuring a clash of stablemates as Tetsuya Naito tackles EVIL. Here are this morning’s show results, which took place in Shizuoka:

Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, & Captain New Japan defeated David Finlay, KUSHIDA, & Ryusuke Taguchi when Liger pinned Finlay with a crucifix.

Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii defeated SANADA & BUSHI when Goto pinned BUSHI with the GTR.

Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi, & Togi Makabe defeated Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan when Makabe pinned Nakanishi with the King Kong knee drop.

Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale, & Tama Tonga defeated Naomichi Marufuji, Kazuchika Okada, & Gedo when Yujiro pinned Gedo with the Pimp Juice DDT.

Toru Yano defeated Michael Elgin

Typical Yano match — didn’t last long and was just what it was. Yano went for the turnbuckle but Elgin laid him out with a release German suplex. Elgin fought back; Yano tried for the hair pull, but in case you didn’t know Elgin doesn’t have any hair.

Yano did the low blow/ref spot then cradled Elgin for the surprise win.

Katsuyori Shibata defeated YOSHI-HASHI

Good match. They brawled around the ring to start. Nice back and forth action, lots of striking and big shots.

YOSHI-HASHI missed the swanton and kept avoiding Shibata’s moves to avoid the sleeper. He sank in the butterfly lock but Shibata escaped. YH hit the senton, this time connecting, but Shibata still kicked out.

Shibata applied the butterfly lock, threw him in a suplex, and put him in the sleeper. One Penalty Kick later and he scores the win.

Katsuhiko Nakajima defeated Tomoaki Honma

Really good stuff, the crowd was into it and both guys worked well with one another. Nakajima leveled Honma early with a DDT to the apron. Honma fought back, hitting the Kokeshi.

Turned out to be a pretty competitive back and forth match that the crowd eventually got into. Very hard hitting, including a kick and chop battle. Honma nailed the Kokeshi in the back of the head then hit another but missed the finish.

Nakajima hit a big time kick on Honma, who was on the top rope, then nailed him with a backdrop suplex. He eventually hit the Penalty Kick and the brainbuster for the win.

Kenny Omega defeated Yuji Nagata

To me, this seemed like a clash of styles. It wasn’t bad by any means, it just came off like they never got on the right footing to take it to the next level.

Omega worked on Nagata’s leg, using submissions and targeting it throughout the match. It seemed like Omega was light years ahead in speed, making Nagata seem older as far as in ring style.

Nagata grabbed him through the middle rope and suplexed him to the floor. Nagata targeted his arm but Omega came back with the One Winged Angel for the win.

Tetsuya Naito defeated EVIL

Nice match. It took a while to get things rolling, but they got there and this ended up being pretty good. They took their time, but eventually the bell rang and they went at it.

Naito controlled a lot of the match early, doing stuff that was fine but nothing out of this world. Naito worked on EVIL’s leg. EVIL made the comeback and leveled Naito with a clothesline from the top rope, a half nelson suplex, and a big lariat but Naito went back to the leg.

EVIL took Naito on his shoulders and went to the top rope but Naito came back with a hurricanrana in a fantastic spot. He went for Destino but EVIL countered with a powerslam. EVIL hit a roaring elbow and a lariat and went for the STO but Naito quickly countered into the Destino for the win.

Naito cut a promo after the match. All’s good in Los Ingobernables de Japon as both guys fist pumped after the match as well. A good, not great show.

Current Standings:

Block A

  • Kazuchika Okada (10)
  • Naomichi Marufuji (10)
  • Togi Makabe (8)
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi (8)
  • Bad Luck Fale (8)
  • Hirooki Goto (8)
  • Tama Tonga (6)
  • Tomohiro Ishii (6)
  • SANADA (4)
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4)

Block B

  • Tetsuya Naito (10)
  • Michael Elgin (8)
  • Katsuyori Shibata (8)
  • Katsuhiko Nakajima (8)
  • Toru Yano (8)
  • Kenny Omega (8)
  • YOSHI-HASHI (6)
  • Yuji Nagata (6)
  • EVIL (4)
  • Tomoaki Honma (4)