NJPW is teasing that Gedo has someone in mind for Hiroshi Tanahashi’s final opponent.
Following Final Homecoming today in Gifu, Gedo approached Tanahashi backstage and asked if a decision had been made regarding who Tanahashi will wrestle at the Tokyo Dome on January 4. When Tanahashi said the opponent hasn’t been decided yet, Gedo offered to make arrangements for him, saying he “can make it happen.”
NJPW posted a transcription of part of their exchange (translated):
“Gedo: ‘Tanahashi-san, have you decided on your opponent for your retirement match yet?‘
Tanahashi: ‘I haven’t decided on my opponent for my retirement match yet.‘
Gedo: ‘It hasn’t been decided yet… If that’s the case, well… I’ll prepare it. Just let me know.”‘
‘I can make it happen’ Is Gedo offering to ‘make arrangements’ for Tanahashi’s final match??? https://t.co/dJD1U12Yua
One name often mentioned as a possible final opponent for Tanahashi is Shinsuke Nakamura. The possibility of Nakamura facing Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 20 was addressed by Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez recently on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer said on the show:
“Nakamura, on the first night in Tokyo, he was doing some Tanahashi mannerisms. So there’s been a lot, a lot of talk about Tanahashi and Nakamura at the Tokyo Dome show. I would just say it’s not a done deal right now.”
“Could it happen? I mean, Nakamura has in his contract he can do stuff in Japan, that was part of the deal that he signed. It’s a weird political thing, because obviously New Japan and AEW work very closely together, and Nakamura is a WWE guy.”
One half of the champions, SHO, appeared at today’s press conference and officially vacated the titles, saying that YOH is unlikely to come back before the end of the year due to a knee injury. SHO had said they would be vacating the titles in a post-match interview at Summer Struggle in Jingu.
As a result, a four team round robin tournament will start on September 3. The two teams who score the most points will face off in the finals of the tournament on September 11.
The following teams will compete:
Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato
Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
SHO and YOH had held the titles for 239 days, defeating El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori at Wrestle Kingdom 14 on January 5, their second reign as champions. The duo had successfully defended the title twice before vacating.
New Japan Cup first round match: Taiji Ishimori defeated Gabriel Kidd (8:54)
There was not a lot wrong with the work in this match but it would have benefited greatly from having a crowd.
Kidd grabbed an armbar. Ishimori briefly escaped but Kidd got back to the armbar and got a quick one count. Kidd hit a shoulder tackle. He tried for a crab but Ishimori forced a rope break before the hold could be applied.
Ishimori tripped Kidd near the ropes and tossed him outside. Ishimori whipped Kidd into the barricade, then rolled him back inside for a near fall. Ishimori hit some knee strikes and raked Kidd’s back.
Ishimori hit double knees in the corner. He teased an attack off the second rope but Kidd intercepted him with a dropkick. Kidd fought for and finally landed a vertical suplex for a near fall.
Ishimori cut Kidd off. He teased a sliding German but opted for a springboard attack instead. Kidd was supposed to catch him off the ropes and apply a crab but the timing was messed up. Kidd got the crab but Ishimori forced a rope break.
The finishing sequence saw Ishimori hit a back elbow and a back handspring kick for a near fall. He then applied the Yes Lock and Kidd tapped.
New Japan Cup first round match: Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Yuya Uemura (9:34)
These two had a good match. They had a hot start and a great series of near falls at the end.
Uemura is gigantic.
They came up with a creative start as Uemura attacked Kanemaru before the opening bell. Uemura hit a slam and a dropkick. Kanemaru rolled outside. Uemura avoided a whip into the barricade and hit some strikes.
Back inside, Uemura used a side headlock. Kanemaru broke free and took the fight back to the floor. This time he was able to send Uemura into the barricade. Kanemaru then hit a leg slice over the edge of the barricade.
In the ring, Kanemaru used a headscissors on the mat. Kanemaru hit some short kicks to taunt Uemura. Uemura fired up and hit a vertical suplex, a dropkick and a springboard crossbody for a near fall.
Uemura hit his trademark double underhook belly-to-belly but Kanemaru kicked out at two. Uemura charged but Kanemaru pulled the referee in his path. Kanemaru hit a kick and grabbed his whiskey bottle. The ref pulled the bottle away and Uemura rolled Kanemaru up for a near fall.
Uemura used three quick cradles for near falls. Kanemaru then cut him off with a dropkick and hit an inverted DDT for a near fall.
Kanemaru then climbed to the second rope and hit Deep Impact for the pin.
The CHAOS team went four-on-one against BUSHI at the outset. Goto hip tossed YH on top of BUSHI for a near fall. LIJ then used a four-on-one to cut YH off. They focused on YH’s left arm in working him over. EVIL hit a senton for a two count.
SANADA used a cobra twist. Shingo tagged in and took a shot at his first round opponent SHO on the apron. Shingo hit a knee drop on YH. YH fired up and tagged SHO who had a nice power exchange with Shingo. SHO powered Shingo up with a suplex for a near fall.
SHO and Shingo exchanged strikes and lariats. Shingo ducked a lariat and hit a German. SHO no-sold it and hit a lariat into a double down.
YOH and BUSHI tagged back in. YOH hit a nice hip toss, a dropkick and kipped up. YOH hit a head and arm suplex into a bridge for a two count as the other six competitors brawled around ringside.
BUSHI hit a jaw breaker and a rewind kick. YOH tried a Pele kick but their timing was off and it looked bad. Goto tagged in and fell victim to a four-on-one. BUSHI hit a back stabber for a near fall and a swinging DDT for another two count.
BUSHI called for the MX. Goto ducked and the move missed. Everyone jumped in for a big move. YH hit EVIL with a lariat and fought off a Magic Killer. SHO suplexed Shingo.
The finish saw Goto hit BUSHI with an ushigoroshi and a GTR for the pin.
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A Way to The Grandmaster hype video played before intermission.
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New Japan Cup first round match: Yuji Nagata defeated Minoru Suzuki (20:36)
This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but these guys presented a master class on getting a lot out of a little, playing to your strengths, selling and intensity. Happy Birthday to the king, as Suzuki turned 52 today.
Suzuki hit a big boot at the opening bell. Both men then fired off a series of strikes. Suzuki laughed as Nagata gave him his neck and invited some forearm shots. They traded forearm strikes to the side of the neck. Both saw their necks turn red from the force of the strikes.
After trading forearms, they moved on to trading slaps to the face and neck. Suzuki teased going down after several unanswered slaps but stayed up. The first five minutes of the match consisted entirely of strikes back and forth.
Nagata hit a big boot. He went for a second boot but Suzuki grabbed a kneebar. Nagata forced a rope break. They rolled outside where Suzuki sent Nagata into the barricade. Suzuki hit Nagata with a bucket and a water bottle.
Suzuki grabbed a chair. The referee tried to grab the chair. Suzuki shoved the ref to the ground and he took a bump. Suzuki then retrieved a second chair and used it on Nagata’s right arm. Suzuki wrenched Nagata’s left arm in the barricade.
They teased a countout but Nagata made it back in at 19. They traded strikes again in the corner. Suzuki dropped Nagata with a slap. Suzuki tried for a figure four around the post but the ref broke it up.
Suzuki hit a series of palm strikes to the chest in the corner. Nagata tried to fire up but couldn’t. Suzuki hit a kick in the corner. He went for a PK but Nagata caught the kick. Nagata then hit a series of kicks to a seated Suzuki.
Nagata hit a big boot in the corner. He tried for a suplex but Suzuki caught him in a guillotine. Nagata powered out of the hold and wrenched Suzuki’s right arm. Nagata then hit a series of kicks to the right arm.
Nagata continued working the right arm. Suzuki sold as though his elbow was dislocated. Nagata tried to wrench the arm again but Suzuki blocked and applied a rear naked choke. Nagata teased passing out. Suzuki gave up the hold and made a cover but Nagata kicked out.
Suzuki used a sleeper. He transitioned for a Gotch-style piledriver attempt. Nagata blocked the piledriver. Suzuki hit a knee strike. He tried for the piledriver again but Nagata powered out.
They traded forearm strikes. Nagata was bleeding from the mouth. They traded hard slaps to the face. Suzuki hit a headbutt and Nagata dropped to a knee. Suzuki hit two more headbutts and both men went down. The last headbutt was borderline unsafe. They traded more strikes.
Nagata hit an exploder out of nowhere. Suzuki used misdirection to try to set up a rear naked choke but Nagata blocked and hit a high angle suplex hold and pinned Suzuki for the upset.
New Japan Cup first round match: Kazuchika Okada defeated Gedo (15:31)
They used every trick in the book to make this a passable manager vs. wrestler battle.
Gedo entered with his right arm in a sling. He cut a promo. Okada entered. Okada demanded that Gedo remove the sling before the match started. Gedo pulled a spray bottle out of the sling and tried to spray something in Okada’s eyes but Okada blocked.
The bell rang and Gedo laid down, inviting Okada to pin him. Gedo tried to pull brass knuckles out of his jacket but Okada blocked and took them away. While the referee disposed of the knuckles, Gedo pulled a wrench out of his pants and used it on Okada’s abdomen.
Gedo again used the wrench on the floor. Gedo grabbed a table and hit Okada with it. Okada beat the count back inside but Gedo sent him back to the floor. Gedo used a chair on Okada at the five-minute mark.
Back inside, Gedo hit a series of kicks and punches. Okada blocked a kick and hit a big boot. Okada hit a running back elbow in the center and another in the corner. Okada hit a DDT for a two count, still selling his abdomen.
Okada hit a scoop slam. He teased a top rope elbow but Gedo rolled out of the ring. Gedo used a hammer to attack the abdomen and tossed Okada back inside.
Okada reversed a whip and missed a dropkick attempt. Gedo covered for a two count. Gedo used a bow and arrow but Okada reached the ropes for a break. Gedo blocked a flapjack but Okada countered with an air raid crash.
Okada went for a tombstone but Gedo fought it off by holding on to the referee. Gedo threw Okada into the ref and hit a low blow.
Gedo retrieved another set of brass knuckles that had been taped to the post. Gedo used the brass knuckles and revived the referee. Gedo used the Gedo Clutch but Okada kicked out at two.
Jado made his way to ringside. Gedo tried a Blade Runner but Okada blocked. Okada again tried for the dropkick but Gedo avoided it.
Jado took the ref. Gedo tried another brass knuckles shot but Okada ducked and hit a dropkick. Okada hit a second dropkick at 15 minutes, sending Jado crashing to the floor.
Okada hit a tombstone and used the Deep In Debt for the submission victory.
Here are the results from tonight’s New Japan Showdown event at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California. It featured a six-man tag match in the main event, with LIJ members facing off against The Bullet Club.
TJP & Amazing Red defeated Alex Zayne & Aaron Solow
– Red pinned Solow with the Code Red.
Colt Cabana & Toru Yano defeated Alex Coughlin & Karl Fredericks
– Cabana pinned Fredericks with the Superman pin.
Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer & El Desperado defeated Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Clark Connors
– Suzuki defeated Connors with the Gotch Style piledriver.
SANADA & EVIL defeated Tomohiro Ishii & Rocky Romero
– SANADA submitted Rocky with the Skull End.
Kota Ibushi defeated Ren Narita
– Ibushi submitted Narita with an elevated Boston crab.
We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE show in Winnipeg to [email protected].
BELLATOR’S BIGGEST EVENT OF THE YEAR TONIGHT IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN ON DAZN
Top prelim bouts starting at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time
Rena Kubota (111.2) vs. Lindsay VanZandt (111.4)
Robson Gracie Jr. (168.6) vs. Oscar Vera (168.8)
Valerie Loureda (125) vs. Larkyn Dasch (125.8)
Heather Hardy (127.8) vs. Taylor Turner (127.8)
Aaron Pico (145.4) vs. Adam Borics (145.4)
Main card: at 10 p.m. Eastern time
Darrion Caldwell (134.6) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (134.4) for Bellator bantamweight title
Eduardo Dantas (145.6) vs. Juan Archuleta (145.8)
Ricky Bandejas (136) vs. Patrick Mix (135.6)
Dillon Danis (175) vs. Max Humphrey (174.4)
Lyoto Machida (204.4) vs. Chael Sonnen (205.6)
Rory MacDonald (169.4) vs. Neiman Gracie (169.8) for welterweight title
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TONIGHT ON AXS TV
Shingo Takagi vs. Satoshi Kojima
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jay White & Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori
Jon Moxley vs. Shota Umino
Dragon Lee vs. Will Ospreay for IWGP jr. title
Kazuchika Okada vs. Chris Jericho for IWGP heavyweight title
CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO IN MEXICO CITY TONIGHT AT 9:30 P.M. ON THE CMLL FACEBOOK PAGE AND AFTER THE EVENT ON YOUTUBE
Triton & Esfinge & Rey Cometa vs. Polvora & Kawato San & Tiger
Valiente & Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. vs. Cuatrero & Sanson & El Hijo de Villano III
Euforia vs. Rey Bucanero
Austin Theory & Caristico & Volador Jr. vs. Rush & Negro Casas & Cavernario
Block B in the Copa Dinastias tournament with Mistico & Dragon Lee, Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero, Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja and Mascara Ano 2000 & Sanson
IMPACT AT 10 P.M. ON PURSUIT TV IF SOMEBODY AT THE STATION IS AWAKE
Willie Mack vs. Michael Elgin
Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. Ethan Page & Josh Alexander
Havok vs. Marsha Slamovich
Madison Rayne vs. Jordynne Grace
We’re looking for reports Saturday from the Raw show in Anaheim, CA and Smackdown show in Denver to [email protected].
MLW AT 9 P.M. EASTERN ON BEINSPORTS
Sami Callihan vs. Mance Warner
NEW JAPAN FROM KORAKUEN HALL IN TOKYO AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN ON SUNDAY ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
The ending of Super ShowDown brought a scary end to what was an embarrassing night for WWE.
Goldberg vs. The Undertaker reinforced the amount of risk that exists when you put two 50-year-old wrestlers against each other. The match was laid out exactly as it should have been and was on its way to being good, but things fell apart when Goldberg got knocked out.
Goldberg (who already had a mark on his forehead going into the match) got busted open when he went for a spear into the corner and rammed his head into the post less than three minutes in. From there, things only got worse.
A look at Undertaker vs. Goldberg, Naito vs. Ibushi and why referees and doctors need to be stopping matches when talent is legitimately hurt is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. Look at how small independents are ahead of the game when it comes to precautionary measures involving talent this past week.
Read complete coverage of New Japan Dominion, WWE Super Showdown and UFC 238, with business notes, poll results, match-by-match coverage and star ratings for the pro wrestling shows.
Look at the injury situation and risks, look back at the Undertaker vs. Mick Foley Hell in a Cell match and what resulted from that, and the heyday of All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Look at what happened with the attempt to put on a women’s match in Saudi Arabia, the silliness of TV coverage in the past and not allowing women to wrestle there, and more behind the scenes at the show.
Also look at the upcoming G-1 Climax tournament and who to expect to be in it, TV coverage in the U.S. expanding, the newcomers to G-1, who is out from last year, the new Super J Cup tournament, a history of the Super J Cup, G-1 announcement plans and New Japan going to Australia.
Look at a wrestling television show being voted on for a nomination for a major award, John Cena’s future, FS 1 talk show on wrestling, HHH working in Japan and latest cards, and a Sasha Banks update.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Not sure of the weekend schedule but Garrett Gonzalez and I will be doing a show on business sometime in the next 24 hours and Bryan and I will be doing a weekend show. The biggest weekend shows are Bellator tonight and Verano de Escandalo on Sunday. Verano de Escandalo tickets are almost sold and that is very rare for a show in Mexico because most tickets are still bought day of.
The final number of those who were in the queque and tried to get tickets for All Out on 8/31 in Chicago, the next AEW PPV show, was 72,500 after about 30 minutes, and that is verified as they actually gave people their number in line. Keep in mind a few things about that stat. Some people logged in multiple times. Some of those people were fake. And those who ordered tickets probably averaged at roughly three tickets per order. Based on how quick it took to sell out, how many went through, which factors in multiples and fakes, the actual number of tickets that would have been sold would be just over 130,000. That ticket demand first 30 minutes beat any WrestleMania in history and would be the highest for any pro wrestling show I’ve ever heard of. The only show higher would have been the first time UFC went to Rio when the ticket demand was legit 250,000 for a 16,000 seat arena. Obviously they way undershot in booking the Sears Center and these numbers are both insane and telling. Stubhub had 893 tickets on sale the last time I checked. With most prices going at 4x ticket value, there will be more put up as they are moving and people are putting more up just because of the markup. The secondary market was on fire today as well.
We do have tickets for Bryan and my show in Chicago but all combined show and tickets sold out in like a minute.
The story going around about Gedo being out as New Japan booker is false. No idea where it came from but New Japan has denied it, and Gedo has told friends he has no idea where it came from.
Takeover Toronto will have:
Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano for the NXT title
Velveteen Dream vs. Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong for the North American title
Shayna Baszler vs. Mia Yim for the women’s title
Street Profits vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly for the tag titles
Finals of the Breakout tournament
WWE
Becky Lynch is not listed on tonight’s Raw show in Winnipeg but is listed for Anaheim and San Diego. Charlotte Flair is listed as being back on the road tomorrow in Denver for the Smackdown tour. No word on Andrade but he is not being advertised. Lars Sullivan is off with an injury.
Ric Flair and Ron Simmons were being interviewed today for an A&E documentary on Booker T according to Mike Johnson.
A story on A.J. Kirsch setting up Becky Lynch meeting a fan whose home was destroyed in one of the many Northern California fires.
Finn Balor will be signing at Eternal Con at NYCB Live on 6/22.
MISCELLANEOUS
Willie Williams, a karate expert who had a legendary match with Antonio Inoki on February 27, 1980 for the old WWF World Martial arts championship (I’ll tell the story of it, but it is one of the most famous matches in Japan of that generation), passed away last week at the age of 68. The match is fascinating to watch now, very intense, realistic but not real, but tensions were very high like you would rarely see. Nobody would do the job. In Japan in 2003 it was listed as the greatest martial arts fight of the 20th century. The legend of that match was such that in 1992 Akira Maeda brought Williams back to be one of the big stars in RINGS. His matches there were pro wrestling matches but he is listed as having a 9-4 MMA record. He actually did do one MMA fight but it was when he was about 45 years old. Inoki vs. Williams finally had their rematch at the Tokyo Dome in 1997 and he also wrestled for FMW. This wasn’t as famous as Inoki’s match with Muhammad Ali or Willem Ruska, but was more famous that his supposed (not real) fights with Andre the Giant, the later Ruska match, Chuck Wepner, Leon Spinks, Allen Coage, Shota Chochoshvili and others.
Steve Austin will return to podcasting on 6/18 with a show with Tony Khan as his guest.
The G-1 tournament blocks will be announced early Sunday morning during the broadcast of the Korakuen Hall shows. The main events for every show on the tour will be announced early Monday morning.
FITE TV has announced it is broadcasting Fyter Fest on 6/29 for iPPV outside the U.S. (B/R Live), the U.K. and Ireland. No word yet on the U.K. but the fact it was specifically excluded would indicate a deal being worked on.
Daga won’t be used going forward by MLW. The promotion said that he pulled himself off the 6/1 show in Milwaukee saying he was going on vacation, only for them to find out he was wrestling in Mexico. He was then pulled from future bookings.
Slam Wrestling in Rauma, Finland on 6/29 has Sadie Gibbs vs. Meiko Satomura vs. Ivelisse in the main event, plus Tajiri vs. Starbuck, Shanne vs. Natalia Markova vs. Betty Rose and more.
Former wrestlers Jon Stewart and Cue Ball Carmichael have inked a developmental deal on a reality show called “The Graveyard Shift,” about murder and crimes committed after hours in the U.S. Adam Wilkenfeld (“Saw Dogs”) is the producer.
Ross & Marshall Von Erich have been announced for the 7/25 MLW tapings in New York at the Melrose Ballroom.
NSPW sold all of its 548 available tickets for its 11th anniversary show on 10/5 in Quebec City at the new Le Diamant. Le Diamant is partly the brainchild of Robert Lepage, an actor, playwright, stage director and award winning film director who is a part of Quebec’s entertainment landscape. Shawn Spears vs. Matt Angel will headline.
The Hannibal TV’s nearly 3 hour interview with UFC Hall of Famer and former New Japan Pro Wrestling Star Mark “The Hammer” Coleman is now posted free.
The feud between Gedo and former protege Kazuchika Okada will come to a head this morning at Korakuen Hall.
Gedo shocked the world when he turned on Okada following Destruction in Kobe back in September. He has since aligned himself with Jay White and have taken over the Bullet Club name. Okada would probably love nothing more than to get his hands on Gedo, but it is likely there will be plenty of interference to even the odds this morning.
The main event will be an eight man tag team match, with members of the Elite (Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens) taking on CHAOS members Hiroshi Tanahashi, Will Ospreay, Togi Makabe, Toru Yano and the person that’s been aligned with CHAOS as of late, Hiroshi Tanahashi.
A singles match between Shingo Takagi and young lion Shota Uminto will take place on the show as well.
Join us for live coverage starting at 4:30 a.m. PT.
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The show began with a year in review video package. It was lengthy, but well done.
Chris Jericho is posting on his social media from Tokyo, so expect him here tonight or tomorrow.
KUSHIDA, TIGER MASK, JUSHIN LIGER & TOMOAKI HONMA DEFEATED YUYA UEMURA, REN NARITA, AYATO YOSHIDA & TOA HENARE (11:17)
They got a fair amount of time, and had a nice opener.
Liger and Uemura began the match. Liger used a Romero special, then a kimura, but Uemura forced a rope break and threw a chop. Another break on the ropes, and another chop from Uemura.
Honma tagged in, and Uemura bullied him into his team’s corner, and tagged Yoshida. Honma hit a slam, but missed a kokeshi. Yoshida hit a flying boot, then tagged Narita. Narita used a vertical suplex for a nearfall.
They went to the ground, and Honma pulled guard. Narita threw some strikes. Honma reversed the position, and threw some strikes from a mount position, then tagged Tiger. Tiger hit a suplex, and tagged KUSHIDA.
KUSHIDA hit a pair of body slams, then tagged Liger. Liger used the Romero special on Narita, but gave up the hold. KUSHIDA got a tag, and immediately made three pinfall attempts, but Narita kicked out at two on all of them.
KUSHIDA hit a cartwheel dropkick. Narita used a standing switch into a belly-to-belly, then tagged Henare. Henare and KUSHIDA had a nice exchange, ending with a Henare tackle. All of KUSHIDA’s partners jumped in to break up a Samoan drop, but Henare fought them off and executed the move.
KUSHIDA hit a DDT, and tagged Tiger. Uemura tagged in. Uemura and Narita doubled up on Tiger, and hit a double suplex. Uemura used a crab on Tiger. Liger came in for the save, but ate a dropkick.
The match broke down, and everyone hit a big move. Senton off the apron by KUSHIDA. Shotei by Liger. Spear by Henare. Kokeshi by Honma. Tiger hit a tiger driver on Uemura and got the pin.
SHINGO TAKAGI DEFEATED SHOTA UMINO (10:45)
Big night for Umino. This was excellent. Exactly what it needed to be.
They started with some chain wrestling. Umino slipped out of a side headlock and hit a back elbow and a dropkick. Umino missed a second rope dropkick, and Shingo clotheslined him over the top to the floor. Shingo slammed Umino into the ring frame, and then the barricade.
Shingo used a slingshot kneedrop, then a double stomp back in the ring. Shingo hit a pair of elbow drops, then used a senton for a nearfall. Umino threw a couple of chops. Shingo chopped the hell out of Umino, then used a vertical suplex. Shingo hit another chop. Umino cut off a pumping bomber attempt with a dropkick.
Umino hit a dropkick off the top rope for a nearfall. Shingo hit a DDT out of nowhere, two corner lariats, and a reverse elbow off the second rope for a nearfall. They traded strikes. Shingo went for the pumping bomber again, but Umino ducked it, and hit a bridging german for a great nearfall.
Shingo hit a huge lariat for a nearfall. Umino was bleeding from the mouth. Shingo went for his finish, but Umino kicked out. Shingo hit noshigami, but Umino kicked out. Shingo hit a pumping bomber, then hit the last of the dragon for the pin.
Shingo offered a handshake after the match, but Umino slapped his hand away.
Suzuki has such an aura that he can’t really have a bad match, but this was just okay.
Suzuki-gun jumped Goto and Romero before the bell. While Iizuka choked Goto with his ring jacket on the floor, Rocky and Suzuki went at it in the ring. Rocky hit a flying headscissors. Suzuki used an armbar over the ropes, then pulled Rocky to the floor.
They brawled into the crowd, and Suzuki hit Rocky with chairs. Rocky beat the count back to the ring at 19. Suzuki used an armbar. Goto tried to break the hold, but Suzuki put him in a heel hook.
Suzuki removed Iizuka’s muzzle. Iizuka bit Romero and Goto. Iizuka and Suzuki stomped Romero in their corner. Suzuki and Romero traded chops. Rocky hit a jumping knee strike, then made a hot tag to Goto.
Goto suplexed Iizuka on to Suzuki. Goto hit a leg lariat and a suplex for a two count. Suzuki hit a knee, a boot in the corner, and a PK. Suzuki went for the Gotch, but Goto backdropped out of it, then hit a lariat. Both tagged out.
Rocky did some moves on Iizuka. Suzuki sent Goto to the floor and hit Rocky with a PK. Iizuka covered for a nearfall. Iizuka grabbed the iron glove, but Goto cut him off. Goto hit an ushigoroshi on Suzuki, then hit a lariat on Iizuka, and Rocky used a schoolboy for the pin.
Miho Abe, in a Santa suit, accompanied Taichi to the ring. Write your own joke.
Business picked up when Ishii tagged in, but the match wasn’t much before then. Lots of YOH selling, which was fine, but Suzuki-gun working him over dragged a bit.
Suzuki-gun did NOT jump their opponents before the bell. Desperado and YOH started. Kanemaru jumped in quickly for a double team opportunity, but SHO jumped in and evened the odds.
The fight went to the floor, and this did not go well for Ishii, SHO and YOH. Back in the ring, Taichi worked over YOH with heel tactics. Kanemaru hit a running dropkick on the floor, as YOH was draped over the apron.
They worked YOH over in their corner for a long time. YOH finally hit dragon screws on Desperado and Kanemaru, and was able to tag SHO. SHO hit a jumping knee and a german on Desperado, picking up a nearfall.
Desperado hit a spinebuster, then tagged Taichi. Taichi went for a last ride, but SHO hit a spear, then tagged Ishii, who saw his first action of the match. Ishii made Taichi look great with an intricate series of misdirection spots. Ishii hit a powerslam.
Taichi used kicks to chop at Ishii’s legs. Ishii hit a big chop, cutting Taichi’s chest. Taichi hit a lariat in the corner, then took his pants off. Taichi hit an axe bomber. Kanemaru and Desperado hit a double team move, then Kanemaru hit deep impact. YOH jumped in to break up the pinfall.
SHO and YOH hit stereo knees on Desperado. Kanemaru spit whiskey, but Ishii ducked it. Kanemaru used a rollup for a nearfall. Kanemaru hit a lariat for a nearfall. Ishii hit a lariat for a nearfall, then hit the vertical drop brainbuster for the victory.
Kanemaru and Desperado, and SHO and YOH went at it after the match.
TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA, BAD LUCK FALE & TAIJI ISHIMORI DEFEATED TETSUYA NAITO, EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI (11:57)
No Jericho angle here. The match itself was just kind of there.
BUSHI and Ishimori did a couple of quick spots, then BUSHI tagged Naito. Ishimori teased locking up with Naito, but begged off and tagged Fale. Naito ducked a grenade, then spit on Fale. Loa took the referee, and Jado hit Naito with a kendo stick. From there, the Bullet Club went to work on Naito.
Fale stood on Naito. Tonga got a tag and hit a suplex. They made a series of quick tags, keeping Naito in their half of the ring. Naito made a comeback against tonga, hitting an inverted atomic drop and an enziguri. Fale went for a grenade, but Naito hit him with a sloppy DDT and they rolled to the floor.
EVIL and Loa tagged in. EVIL ran wild and hit a lariat on Tonga while hitting a bulldog on Loa. SANADA tagged in and hit a senton on Tonga. SANADA flipped out of a suplex attempt. SANADA missed a moonsault, but landed on his feet. He went for a standing moonsault, but Tonga got his knees up. SANADA hit a pescado on Jado.
Loa avoided a springboard dropkick. SANADA escaped a powerslam attempt, and reversed a suplex into one of his own. EVIL cleared the apron, while BUSHI tagged in. BUSHI, EVIL and Naito hit a triple dropkick on Loa.
Loa escaped an MX. Ishimori hit a springboard senton. Fale took out Naito. Jado hit BUSHI with the stick. Loa hit a lariat and covered for a nearfall. Fale and Ishimori went to the floor with Naito, EVIL and Naito, allowing Loa to hit the super powerbomb on BUSHI for the pin.
KAZUCHIKA OKADA DEFEATED GEDO (12:37)
This was obviously more of an angle than a match, and it was done perfectly.
Gedo came out with his arm in a sling, and walking with a crutch. He said he was in a car crash this morning, and the stupid driver was wearing a CHAOS shirt. Gedo said the match is canceled.
Okada wasn’t having any of this. He said we have to have a match. It doesn’t have to be a seven star classic, it can be quick. Okada kicked away the crutch, and Gedo could stand perfectly fine.
Gedo sprayed Okada with pepper spray, then hit him with brass knuckles. The bell rang, Gedo made a cover, but Okada kicked out at two.
Gedo sent Okada outside, and hit him with a chair. Okada got whipped into the security fence. Gedo hit a draping DDT off the barricade. Okada sold his neck on the floor, but beat the count back in at 17.
Gedo sent Okada into an exposed turnbuckle twice, then threw him to the floor again. They went into the crowd, and Gedo piled chairs on top of Okada. Gedo threw Okada back inside, and mocked him with a rainmaker pose.
Okada reversed a whip and sent Gedo into the exposed buckle. Okada hit a back elbow, a back elbow in the corner, then a DDT, before getting a nearfall. Gedo tried to run away, but Okada chased him down and sent him back into the ring. Okada hit a woo dropkick.
Jado made his way to ringside and distracted Okada, then took the ref. Gedo hit a low blow, then used a Gedo clutch for a close nearfall. The ref took a bump. Okada ducked a kendo stick from Jado and hit him with a boot.
Okada hit a neckbreaker and made a cover, but the ref was out. Jay White ran in and attacked Okada. They traded strikes in the center of the ring. White hit a huge uranage. Rocky Romero left the commentary and jumped in for the save. He went for sliced bread, but White hit him with a blade runner.
White went for a blade runner, but Okada slid out and hit him with two dropkicks. Okada hit Gedo with a tombstone, then hit the rainmaker for the win.
Okada hit White with three forearm shots after the match. White dropped Okada with a half nelson suplex, and Okada sold it big.
HIROSHI TANAHASHI, WILL OSPREAY, TOGI MAKABE & TORU YANO DEFEATED KENNY OMEGA, KOTA IBUSHI, YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & CHASE OWENS (14:58)
Good main event. Lots of teases for the Tokyo Dome.
Ospreay and Ibushi began by locking up. Ibushi backed into the ropes, and Ospreay made a clean break. Ibushi kipped up out of a shoulder tackle. They did a ridiculous sequence, ending with both kipping up. These two are going to tear the Tokyo Dome to the ground.
Yano and Yujiro tagged in for some comedy. Makabe tagged in and hit ten punches in the corner. Owens jumped in for the illegal double team. Yujiro and Owens cleared the apron. Ibushi got a tag and hit Makabe with a mid kick.
Omega tagged in and taunted Tana. Omega tagged Owens, and they hit the three sweet elbow drop. Yujiro got a tag. Omega and Owens hit a drop toehold on Makabe, and Yujiro followed with a low dropkick. Yujiro hit a running boot. Yano attempted to help Makabe, but Yujiro sent Makae into Yano, knocking him to the floor.
Yano used a chair from the floor on Yujiro. Makabe and Yujiro tagged Tana and Omega. Tana hit a dropkick to Omega’s legs. Omega stood up at Tana went for his second rope senton, taunting him.
Tana and Omega traded chops and slaps. Tana blocked a v-trigger. Omega sent Tana over the top, but Tana skinned the cat. Tana blocked a one-winged angel, and hit twist and shout. Tana went for a cloverleaf, but Ibushi jumped in and broke it up.
Ibushi got sent over the top, and hit his back on the ring frame. That looked eerily like the bump that HBK took on the casket that took four years off his career. Tana hit a dragon screw.
Ospreay got a tag and hit a 619 on Omega. He went for a standing shooting star but Omega got his knees up. Ospreay hit a cutter. Omega blocked the oscutter, and hit a snap dragon. Ibushi tagged in, and lit Ospreay up with strikes. Ibushi hit a standing moonsault for a two count.
Ospreay escaped a last ride, but Ibushi hit him with a lariat, and Ospreay took a flip bump. Owens hit a gutbuster on Ospreay, and Omega powerbombed Ospreay on to Owens’s knees.
Everyone jumped in for big moves. Yano hit a DDT. Ibushi and Omega hit Tana with a double team attack. Makabe hit a double clothesline. Ospreay hit a Sasuke special. Owens hit a slingshot DVD on Ospreay. Ospreay escaped a package piledriver. Tana hit Owens with slingblade. Ospreay hit Owens with a storm breaker for the pin.
Ospreay and Ibushi had a staredown after the match, but it was cordial. Tana and Omega had a staredown, and they talked some trash.
As Ospreay cut the show-closing promo, Omega jumped on English commentary and said that Ospreay is clearly on the Tanahashi diet. I wonder what that means? I know what that means.
Ospreay said that January 4 will be the biggest night of his life, and promised to win the NEVER title at Wrestle Kingdom.
Tanahashi thanked the fans for making him the Tokyo Sports MVP for the fourth time. Tana promised to win the IWGP title at Wrestle Kingdom. He said he didn’t bring his air guitar with him, and ended the show saying he loves the fans.
The fallout from Jay White and Gedo leaving CHAOS continues, as they have aligned themselves with the Bullet Club OGs.
After defending his Wrestle Kingdom 13 title shot against Jay White successfully, Hiroshi Tanahashi was jumped by White. He was going for the bladerunner when Kazuchika Okada ran in for the save, sending him to the outside. Okada and Gedo got involved, which brought out Jado, who was wearing a Kazuchika Okada t-shirt.
As he was trying to ease tensions, the Bullet Club OGs came out and circled around the ring, eventually entering. Members held up both Jado and Gedo as Tama Tonga told Okada to go after Gedo. He did, but then walked right into a gun stun by Tama Tonga, swerving him. All of them, including Jado, threw up the too sweet, aligning themselves with one another as White came back into the ring and laid out Okada with the blade runner.
After everything went down and the OGs vanished, a battered Tanahashi checked on Okada, who was motionless in the ring. He was helped to the back as Okada got out of the ring and was helped to the back not too long after.
Along with everything that went down, Bad Luck Fale announced on Twitter that the Bullet Club OGs would be bringing in Australian wrestler Robbie Eagles to team with Taiji Ishimori in the Super Jr. tag tournament, which is set to start later this month.
The two Tiger Masks defeated IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada and Gedo in the main event, setting up the showdown between Okada and Tiger Mask W at the 45th Anniversary show. The rest of the card built momentum towards their eventual matches in the New Japan Cup preliminary round.
Show Recap —
Yujiro Takahashi defeated Tomoyuki Oka
Yujiro had him in control early, Oka came back and looked good and nearly had him in a Boston Crab, but Yujiro escaped. Yujiro cut off Oka and planted him with the pimp juice DDT for the win in a basic match.
This was a solid, action packed eight man match. Taichi used a ring bell to beat up Jado with. Everyone worked on Yoshi-Hashi at one point with Taka Michinoku signaling him out. Yoshi-Hashi cut him off and locked in the butterfly lock to which Taka submitted quickly.
Taichi was mean, throwing the ref to the floor after the match. The rest of CHAOS posted for the fans and helped the referee to the back.
Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Tonga Roa defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
Another solid bout although the previous match was a bit better. The heels worked over Kojima, but both Nagata and Nakanishi came in to clear house. Omega laid out Nagata with a snap German suplex but walked into the tomahawk chop by Nakanishi. Omega came back with the knee strike and Tama Tonga followed with the gun stun for the pinfall.
Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe
This was another pretty good tag team match. Honma and Ishii had a really nice exchange, and so did Ishii and Makabe. Yano came in and was worked over by all three of his opponents. Liger did Yano’s spot where he shoved Yano into Ishii then did a low blow/roll up, but Yano kicked out. Yano did his own low blow and Ishii rebounded with a lariat, then Yano rolled up Liger for the win.
Minoru Suzuki and Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated David Finlay and Katsuyori Shibata
Suzuki and Shibata started things off, but he tagged in Finlay, who got worked over by both men. In terms of physical appearance, I think this is the best Smith Jr. has ever looked. Shibata came back in but his bum shoulder got worked over. They both wore each other out and DBS unloaded with a butterfly suplex. Suzuki put Finlay in the sleeper but Shibata came back and wiped him out on the outside. DBS cut off Finlay and planted him with the bulldog bomb for the win in a good match.
Shibata and Suzuki brawled after the match. Desperado and Davey Boy Smith wiped out the ringside staff and DBS even powerbombed one of them. Suzuki bailed as Shibata tried to recover on the outside.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin, Ryusuke Taguchi & KUSHIDA defeated SANADA, BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito and EVIL
This felt shorter than the other tag matches on the card, but was pretty good as well. Tanahashi and company actually laid Naito out with a five way dropkick which looked kinda silly but cool at the same time. They tried it again, but failed. Elgin went for an assisted inverted Alabama Slam using Tanahashi, but it backfired with EVIL getting the knees up. Juice and BUSHI came in, and after some back and forth, Robinson pinned BUSHI with the Pulp Friction.
Naito immediately jumped Juice after the match but Tanahashi made the save. EVIL and Tanahashi met and had a staredown as they are due to meet at the opening round of the New Japan Cup.
Tiger Mask W and Tiger Mask IV defeated IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada and Gedo
This was a good main event as people were into it and the action was really well done. W sported a new mask and worked tons better under it than he did with the old mask, which had to be a pain.
W and Okada went at it and exchanged some great back and forth, both dodging Tiger Driver and Rainmaker attempts. Okada and Gedo worked as heels, trying to rip off the masks. IV and Gedo went at it as W wiped out Okada with a hurricanrana. Gedo kicked out of the Tiger Driver at one point for a big pop.
Gedo had IV n the Gedo Clutch roll but W broke it up. Both Tiger Masks took out Okada with a double dropkick and hit diving headbutts on Gedo. W wiped out Okada with the Golden Triangle moonsault on the outside and IV followed with the Tiger Suplex into a bridge for the win.
Both Okada and IV cut promos after the match. W and IV interacted with fans to close out the show.
Final Thoughts —
This wasn’t a bad show, but there was nothing absolutely blow away. It was a skippable show, but did do a good job to building for the New Japan Cup and the 45th Anniversary show that are taking place soon.
Day 5 results are in (though you probably already know that reading this evening’s edition of the Observer), which featured A Block action in Iwate:
Gedo vs Matt Sydal
The heel Gedo jumped Sydal immediately with a superkick to the gut. He was in control for most of the match. Sydal escaped from Gedo and took him down, remained in control and got the win rather quickly with a shooting star press. Okay for what it was.
Kyle O’Reilly vs. BUSHI
This was just there. Crowd was kind of into it, but not really. It was solid but the crowd hurt it a bit. There was a ref bump but O’Reilly avoided the mist and hit the brainbuster for a nearfall. The referee recovered way too quickly over that ref bump; doing it in every Bushi match is going to get really tiresome, plus they come up with the most contrived ways to execute them. O’Reilly immediately sank in the armbar and got the submission.
Kushida vs. David Finlay
Another solid match here. Kushida worked on Finlay’s arm early. Finlay came back with a German suplex and did the uppercut in the corner. Finlay broke out the stretch muffler but Kushida made it to the ropes. Some hot nearfalls toward the end. After some back and forth reversals Kushida got in the hoverboard lock and after some fighting, Finlay submitted.
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Rocky Romero
Taguchi decided to wear a pirate costume to the ring. And when I mean costume, I mean a plastic hook and an eyepatch. Not imaginative, but gets the job done I guess. Another okay match. Everything looked fine, nothing wrong with it. Romero kicked out of a running hip strike. Taguchi went for another but Romero grabbed him. Taguchi countered by reversing into an ankle lock submission, which got him the win.
This week’s show was our final look at Dominon, held last July at Osaka Jo Hall.
Okada is this week’s interview subject. The interviewer mentions how this is the first wrestling card in over 20 years. Okada says he should be thanked for that, but it also felt good to see the arena packed. As far as AJ goes, he wanted his title back. He’s a great wrestler. It was tough, no doubt about it.
I loved the early parts of this match with the interference. Now, Bullet Club freely interferes on many occasions; this is hardly news. But this felt like the culmination of every other time they ever interfered because this time, Red Shoes had enough of their shenanigans. He told the Bullet Club to suck it, then told AJ to suck it. It’s a little detail in this match, but I thought it was a nice touch.
As for the match itself, it was awesome. It was just two guys who know how to have a great match going out there and giving it everything. Once the Bullet Club was ejected the workrate was high, and they totally delivered. The last few minutes were excellent with Styles and Okada trading some high profile offense until Okada hit his second or third Rainmaker for the win. Another nice touch was that even though Okada laid out Styles with multiple rainmakers, he didn’t pin Styles until he knew he had him beat. In an era where finishers are spammed to death, it’s nice to know New Japan protects them for when it’s most important.
It kinda hit me while watching this match that as good as AJ Styles was in New Japan, he’s never going to be that good in WWE. Not that he won’t have good matches, he’s already proven that in spades. But even if WWE gives someone like AJ enough time to have a PPV quality match, he’s bound to a bunch of road agents who are commanded to tell people how to work a certain way. AJ came to his own in New Japan as a ring general and flourished. In WWE, that ain’t happening. It’s a shame, but this match proved just how much AJ upped his profile within a years’ time in New Japan.
Gedo cuts his usual promo after the match, saying Okada’s at a whole other level and that the future of pro wrestling is in his hands. Okada has three things to say. His first two points is as champion, he’ll definitely compete and win in the G1. The third point…well, he doesn’t have a third point. He promises that it’ll rain money all over New Japan as a big confetti celebration starts
AJ didn’t have anything to say backstage. Okada said it was a great fight, and seeing so many people live was awesome. He was happy to get the result he wanted, and hopes NJPW can do it every year. They have a toast with some beer, with Okada jokingly noting that Gedo is really washing it down.
He was nervous going into the match, but was happy with the result. AJ was a tough person to beat, and was also happy to do it in front of so many people. A lot of wrestlers watch his matches, so he is grateful he faced such a great wrestler as it brought up his caliber. Great show this week. Check it out if you haven’t seen this match before.
