Due to a fever and not being allowed to fly in as a result, Hiromu Takahashi is off Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view.
The NJPW standout was set to team with Sting, Darby Allin & Shingo Takagi against The Young Bucks, Hikuleo & El Phantasmo on the PPV, announced on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
The match will now be Sting, Allin & Takagi vs. the Bucks & ELP with Hikuleo in their corner.
It’s the latest change for the card due to injury as CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Tomohiro Ishii were all removed at several points over the last month due to various injuries.
Here’s the current lineup for Sunday’s sold-out show from Chicago’s United Center:
Interim AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Jay White (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada vs. Hangman Page vs. Adam Cole
AEW All-Atlantic Championship: Malakai Black vs. PAC vs. Miro vs. Clark Connors
AEW Women’s World Championship: Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Toni Storm
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships / ROH World Tag Team Championships: United Empire (Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan) (c) vs. FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (c) vs. Roppongi Vice (Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero)
IWGP US Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Orange Cassidy
Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki & Sammy Guevara vs. Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta & Shota Umino
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. TBA
Bullet Club (Young Bucks & El Phantasmo) vs. Dudes with Attitudes (Sting, Darby Allin & Shingo Takagi)
Buy-In: Max Caster & Gunn Club (Billy Gunn, Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) vs. LA Dojo (Yuya Uemura, Alex Coughlin, Kevin Knight & The DKC)
Buy-In: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. Aaron Solo and QT Marshall
Buy-In: Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado
Hiromu Takahashi will make his NJPW Strong debut at the High Alert taping in North Carolina on July 24.
NJPW announced on social media on Tuesday evening that Hiromu, the 2022 Best of the Super Juniors winner, will appear on Strong for the first time at the Charlotte, North Carolina event next month.
Hiromu became the only wrestler to win NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament four times with his third consecutive tournament victory, defeating El Desperado in the finals on June 3.
NJPW also announced that AEW’s Eddie Kingston will return to the promotion for the High Alert taping.
Previously announced, the finals of a tournament to crown the first NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions will also be held in Charlotte.
Here is the High Alert lineup so far:
NJPW Strong: High Alert, Sunday, July 24, Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, NC —
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament finals
Both the IWGP Junior and Junior Tag Team titles will be defended during the New Japan Road tour that will take place following Dominion.
The Junior Tag Team titles will be on the line June 20, with champions Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato defending against TJP and Franceso Akira of the United Empire. The following day, June 21, Best of the Super Junior 29 winner Hiromu Takahashi will get his Junior Championship match against champion Taiji Ishimori. Both shows will take place at Korakuen Hall.
Takahashi defeated El Desperado in the Best of the Super Junior tournament to win his fourth trophy and his third in a row. Also at the Best of the Super Junior finals, the United Empire picked up the win over Taguchi and Wato. The team motioned they wanted the next shot at the Tag Team titles.
The New Japan Road tour starts on June 15 in Tochigi and ends on July 5 at Korakuen Hall.
It’s been announced that Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto in an interim AEW World Championship eliminator match has been added to Dominion. The winner of that match will advance to compete for the interim AEW World Championship at Forbidden Door.
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NJPW has released the full card for Dominion that will take place later this month.
The card will take place June 12 at Osaka-Jo Hall. New championship matches have been added in addition to the IWGP World Heavyweight title match between champion Kazuchika Okada and challenger Jay White.
Juice Robinson will be defending the United States title against Will Ospreay, who issued a challenge, and SANADA, who returned at the Best of the Super Junior finals after recovering from injury. Tama Tonga will defend the NEVER Championship against Karl Anderson, Shingo Takagi will face Taichi for the KOPW 2022 provisional trophy, and Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale will defend the IWGP Tag Team titles against the United Empire’s Jeff Cobb and The Great-O-Khan.
Hiromu Takahashi, who won the Best of the Super Juniors, will not get his championship match against Taiji Ishimori at Dominion. That will instead take place June 21 at Korakuen Hall.
The full card is as follows:
Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Interim AEW World Championship eliminator match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto
Juice Robinson vs. SANADA vs. Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Championship
Tama Tonga vs. Karl Anderson for the NEVER Openweight title
Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi for the provisional KOPW 2022 trophy
Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale vs. Jeff Cobb & The Great-O-Khan for the IWGP Tag Team titles
EVIL, SHO, and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and El Desperado for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man titles
Toru Yano vs. Doc Gallows
Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, and Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo, Ace Austin, and Taiji Ishimori
TJP, Francesco Akira, and Aaron Henare vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado square off today in the NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 29 finals.
Hiromu will look to make it three BOSJ crowns in a row and four overall, while Desperado will try to win the tournament for the first time. Tatsumi Fujinami will be on hand as a special guest at ringside for the finals.
IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson takes on Tomoaki Honma in a non-title match in the only other singles bout on the card. A series of tag matches fill out the lineup.
Here is the card:
Best of the Super Juniors 29 finals: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado
Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Tama Tonga & Jado vs. Jay White, Doc Gallows, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI
Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Aaron Henare vs. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & El Phantasmo
Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. EVIL & SHO
Juice Robinson vs. Tomoaki Honma
Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. TJP & Francesco Akira
Robbie Eagles, Clark Connors, YOH & Titan vs. El Lindaman, Wheeler Yuta, Ace Austin & Alex Zayne
Our live coverage begins at 5 a.m. Eastern time.
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The show opened with a card change announcement. Current IWGP champion Juice Robinson is afflicted with appendicitis and has been removed from tonight’s show. In his place, young lion Ryohei Oiwa steps up to challenge Tomoaki Honma.
Tomoaki Honma defeated Ryohei Oiwa
I’m a sucker for young lion matches—this was fun.
Oiwa opened the match with a stint of offense, but, unsurprisingly, Honma took control from the young lion after the match developed. Oiwa continued to fight, even with his back against the wall, eventually securing a single-leg Boston crab. Honma survived the hold and landed a pair of KoKeShi to bring this match to a close.
Ace Austin, Wheeler Yuta, El Lindaman, and Alex Zayne defeated Robbie Eagles, YOH, Titan, and Clark Conners
Yuta and Eagles opened the match with a speedy wrestling sequence before passing their batons to Lindaman and YOH. After YOH and Lindaman traded moves, Titan tagged in and established firm control for his team—a similar sequence played out with Zayne, Austin, and Conners until a match reset left Zayne and Conners alone in the ring.
Yuta and Lindaman rushed the ring, taking control for their team before landing a double dive. Once the ring was cleared again, Zayne hit Conners with the cinnamon twist to win the match.
The English commentary was doing their best to establish Zayne and Conners as a legitimate pairing moving forwards.
TJP and Fransico Akira (United Empire) defeated Master Wato and Ryusuke Taguchi (Six or Nine)
UE tried to gain an early advantage by rushing the junior tag champions as the opening bell rang but failed to establish significant control. UE was able to take the lead after withstanding a short stint of Taguchi control.
Wato eventually landed a dropkick which sent Akira to the floor, leading to a dive that took out both UE representatives. In the ring, Six or Nine double-teamed TJP, scoring a near fall after a barrage of b-triggers.
Taguchi forced Akira to make the save after locking TJP into an ankle lock. This led to a prolonged rally from the UE team, ending with an elevated cutter into a stretch hold from TJP. Taguchi tapped to the hold, leaving the UE team with a win over the IWGP Junior Tag Team champions.
This was, presumably, to set up a future IWGP junior tag title match.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Zack Sabre Jr. (Suzuki-gun) defeated EVIL and SHO (House of Torture)
This was a nothing match, but at least it was short-lived.
The HoT team jumped Suzuki-gun before the match began—this led to an extensive lead for the HoT pairing. After being on the receiving end of an HoT beatdown, Kanemaru eventually tagged out to ZSJ, who helped take control for the first time. A distraction from EVIL and a run-in from Dick Togo ended ZSJ’s rally, but a well-timed low blow from Kanemaru forced Togo to spray EVIL in the eyes with Kanemaru’s alcohol. Kanemaru dropped SHO with another low blow, and ZSJ forced him to tap with an arm bar.
Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale, and El Phantasmo defeated (Bullet Club)Jeff Cobb, Arron Henare, and Great O-Khan (United Empire)
I was not a fan of this at all.
This match opened with a brawl. O-Khan focused Owens, forcing Fale to make an early save. Bullet Club then worked to isolate O-Khan, eventually leading to a tag out to Cobb. Cobb rocked Fale with a pair of lariats, but Fale answered with a shoulder tackle, leading to a double tag.
ELP and Henare worked through a short sequence before the match broke down into another brawl. Once things calmed down, Ace Austin walked to the ring and flashed an ace playing card and a too-sweet at Henare, leaving ELP free to hit CR2 and pin Henare.
After the match concluded, a close-up revealed Austin’s ace was Bullet Club branded. Austin is officially the Bullet Club.
SANADA Speaks
In an unannounced appearance, SANADA walked to the ring and challenged for the IWGP US championship at Dominion. The English commentary seemed uncertain about Robinson’s readiness come Dominion, given his ongoing battle with appendicitis.
BUSHI, Shingo Takagi, and Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables de Japon)defeated Taichi, TAKA Michinoku, and DOUKI (Suzuki-gun)
This wasn’t very good.
This match opened with an awkward brawl. The match tried to develop in-ring but continually fell into chaos for some time. Eventually, Naito escaped a prolonged period of Suzuki-gun control, tagging out to Shingo.
Shingo and his King of Pro Wrestling rival, Taichi, traded blows before a tag to TAKA allowed Taichi to escape. Shingo then ran through TAKA, but Taichi interrupted the pin after the pumping bomber. Taichi and Shingo teased a sumo spot, and Shingo sent Taichi to the floor. Shingo then rolled up TAKA to win the match.
After the match, Shingo rolled up Taichi for a five-count, perhaps teasing a future stipulation for the KOPW trophy.
Once he recovered, Taichi announced if you want to see the choices for stipulations ahead of his KOPW challenge, you will need to watch his YouTube channel.
Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Tama Tonga, and Jado defeated Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, Doc Gallows, and Jay White (Bullet Club)
Before the match, Jay White announced he had a surprise. KENTA’s music hit, and he walked to the ring.
Gallows and Yano opened the match with a silly little sequence. Gedo tagged in and jumped Jado to establish control for Bullet Club. White cemented this control as he and his partners worked Jado into the corner.
Jado eventually secured the hot tag to Okada, leading to a strong rally for the babyface team. Gedo interrupted Okada’s offense long enough for White to retake control, scoring a near fall with a blade-buster. Okada avoided the blade-runner and White avoided the rainmaker, but a dropkick from Okada hit the mark.
Tama and Gedo tagged in. With Jado’s help, Tama hit gun-stun and pinned Gedo to win the match.
Once the match concluded, Okada and White had a staredown and heated verbal exchange.
Best of the Super Juniors Finals: Hiromu Takahashi defeated El Desperado
This pairing feels more than overexposed at this point. The match was pretty slow until the twenty-minute mark; once the pair reached this point, the match was rather exciting. The closing sequence was what you would expect—a ton of kick-outs in the ultimate battle of one-upmanship.
After an extended feeling out process, Hiromu established control with a slam into the ring post and a suplex to the floor. Back in the ring, Desperado turned things around with a knee-breaker, beginning his attack on Hiromu’s leg. Desperado took the action to the floor himself, landing a scoop slam on the outside before a backdrop on the inside left him with a two-count.
Desperado locked in multiple wear-down holds, continuing to focus Hiromu’s leg. Hiromu eventually fought back into the match, landing a dropkick to the floor to slow Desperado’s advance. Back in the ring, Hiromu led an offensive sequence, connecting with multiple big moves.
Desperado turned things back around with a beautiful dive to the floor. A frog splash scored Desperado a near fall, leading into another stent of leg work. Hiromu avoided Pinche Loco and locked in D to turn momentum on its head.
Once Desperado escaped Hiromu’s triangle choke, the pair traded strikes. From the exchange, Desperado tried for Pinche Loco, but Hiromu reversed the move again. A quick lariat yielded a near fall for Hiromu, which he followed with a victory royal. As Hiromu tried for D again, Desperado landed a spinebuster, but the followed Pinche Loco attempt was blocked once more. Desperado hit a forearm that slumped Hiromu and a pair of Pinche Locos; Hiromu kicked out.
A now frustrated Desperado whipped the leg of Hiromu multiple times before locking in numero dos. Hiromu reversed the submission into destroyer; Desperado refused to fall. After two quick pin attempts, Hiromu dropped Desperado with a lariat. Hiromu then hoisted up Desperado and hit Time Bomb 2; Desperado kicked out.
Hiromu, now as desperate as Desperado, tried closing things with a close fist strike. Desperado answered Hirmou with a punch of his own before trying for Pinche Loco again. Hiromu wiggled free from the underhooks, landing two cutters, a Time Bomb, and a Time Bomb 2 to close the match and win the tournament.
After the tournament’s conclusion, Hiromu cut a promo thanking the people responsible for the tournament and celebrating his third consecutive win.
Scott D’Amore has invited NJPW’s Hiromu Takahashi to challenge for Impact Wrestling’s X-Division Championship.
Takahashi defeated the current champion, Ace Austin, in the Best of the Super Juniors on Saturday. Following the match, Austin congratulated Takahashi on his victory in a tweet he posted in Japanese.
“Congratulations. I am forced to respect you, but I will meet again,” reads a Google translation of Austin’s post.
“A man never breaks his word, right? I want your belt!” Takahashi responded.
This led D’Amore to invite Takahashi to travel through the forbidden door and challenge for the X-Division Championship in an Impact Wrestling ring.
“Well @TIMEBOMB1105, there is an open door for you to walk through. Come step in an @IMPACTWRESTLING ring anytime. Your title shot awaits…” he wrote.
Both Takahashi and Austin went into their match on Saturday undefeated with 2-0 records. Austin defeated Clark Connors and Yoshinobu Kanemaru in his first tournament matches. Takahashi defeated Ryusuke Taguchi and Francesco Akira in his opening contests.
Changes have been made to next month’s Wrestling Dontaku event in Fukuoka.
A new singles match between YOH and Hiromu Takahashi has been added to the May 1 card. Takahashi was originally set to team with Shingo Takagi and Tatsumi Fujinami against Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, and Taka Michinoku in the opening match of the card. BUSHI will take Takahashi’s place instead.
“YOH’s motivation seemed to be in question in recent weeks, and after a loss during the Golden Fight Series tour opener this past Monday, he found himself aggressively called out by Hiromu Takahashi,” NJPW’s website wrote. “The Time Bomb stated that YOH was a ‘completely different person’ to the one who fought so valiantly in the Best of the Super Jr. 28 final this past December, a criticism that YOH took to heart. Bringing fire to the ring in Korakuen Hall this week, YOH would take to the microphone and promise that he would ‘crush’ Hiromu. Not waiting for Best of the Super Jr., YOH demanded the match happen sooner, and that bout is now official for Fukuoka.”
Here is the updated card for Wrestling Dontaku 2022:
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight title
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States title
El Desperado vs. Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title
EVIL vs. Tama Tonga for the NEVER Openweight title
YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan vs. Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens for the IWGP Tag Team titles
Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and DOUKI for the IWGP Junior Tag Team titles
Tanga Loa vs. Yujiro Takahashi
YOH vs. Hiromu Takahashi
Tatsumi Fujinami, Shingo Takagi, and BUSHI vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, and Taka Michinoku
NJPW’s Golden Fight Series tour got underway on Monday with an event at Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall.
Ahead of their IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestling Dontaku on May 1, Kazuchika Okada and Tetsuya Naito met in tag team action on Monday. Here are the results from the show:
Takahashi got the win after hitting Time Bomb on YOH. Okada and Naito were fighting on the floor near the end of the match, with Okada giving Naito a DDT.
Following the match, Takahashi cut a show-closing promo:
Post match, Hiromu slammed a ‘lack of fire’ in YOH, and dared him to enjoy professional wrestling more. That was a call for Naito to rise to, as he conducted a mock sports interview with Takahashi, allowing Hiromu to predict El Ingobernable would become IWGP World Heavyweight Champion at Dontaku, before giving his own version of Naito’s ‘De Japon!’ role call.
– Shingo Takagi & BUSHI defeated Taichi & TAKA Michinoku
– Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado defeated EVIl, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo
After their first 11 singles matches against each other ended in 10-minute time limit draws, Oiwa broke the deadlock against Fujita here by submitting him with a Boston Crab. It’s the first singles win of Oiwa’s career.
Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale defeated Yuji Nagata and Yuto Nakashima
This was fine enough for what it was, I suppose — about what one would expect from this match on paper.
Nagata and Nakashima started the match by isolating Fale, Owens entered the fray, creating enough separation for Fale to get the upper hand on Nakashima. Fale and Chase then traded tags, slowly picking apart Nakashima far from his corner. Owens and Fale crushed Nakashima, forcing Nagata to save his desperate partner. Eventually, Nakashima escaped a corner splash, allowing Nagata to tag in finally.
Nagata had a short rally but soon fell to Fale’s power; Nagata continued to slip after Owens tagged back into the match. Nakashima tagged back into the match after recovering on the apron. He gained a quick lead over Owens, locking in a Boston crab that Fale broke up. Fale’s distraction allowed Owens to land a lariat for a near fall and a C Trigger for the actual fall to bring this match to a close.
DOUKI and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Toru Yano and Kosei Fujita
This was not great.
Kanemaru and DOUKI started the match by jumping their opponents. Kanemaru doused Yano with his alcohol before launching an innovative offensive sequence outside the ring. The match returned to the mat but soon devolved into an outside scrap once more.
After the outside fighting, Kanemaru and DOUKI isolated Fujita. Eventually, Fujita scored the hot tag, prompting Yano to remove the turnbuckle pad; this immediately backfired as Yano flew back first into the turnbuckles, but this really didn’t matter. Kanemaru tried to hit Yano with his bottle, but Yano ducked. Yano teased hitting Kanemaru with his own bottle, but instead, the match went back outside the ring. Yano then fetched a bottle of alcohol of his own that he used to drench Kanemaru. Kanemaru lay on the outside for some time. Once he returned to the ring, he sprayed Yano with a mouth full of liquor. Both men then tagged out.
Fujita forced DOUKI into the ropes with a deep Boston crab. After surviving the hold, DOUKI immediately took advantage, scoring a near fall. Fujita was not done fighting, however; he tried for two quick roll-ups, both of which DOUKI escaped. DOUKI then caught Fujita with the Italian Stretch No.32, leading to the submission victory.
Yujiro Takahashi, SHO, and EVIL defeated Ryohei Oiwa, YOH, and Tomohiro Ishii
I can’t imagine this match succeeded in any of its goals. If the EVIL vs Ishii, SHO vs YOH, or NEVER 6-Man matches look anything like this come the 4th, that would be a disappointment.
House of Torture jumped their opponents as the match started. In the chaos, SHO and YOH were left alone in the ring. SHO tried working the fingers of YOH, but YOH fought through, delivering a dropkick before tagging out of the match; after the tag, the match fell into chaos again.
After the dust settled, EVIL and Ishii were alone in the ring. The pair took turns throwing one another into an exposed corner. Oiwa tagged in, having moderate success before succumbing to the numbers. House of Torture isolated Oiwa, leaving him desperate for a tag. The tag never came. After an extended period of domination, Takahashi had a pin on Oiwa, but instead of taking it, he pulled Oiwa from the mat. EVIL then hit Oiwa with the singles NEVER belt, then Takahashi pinned Oiwa.
Tiger Mask, YOSHI-HASHI, and Hirooki Goto defeated TAKA Michinoku, Zack Sabre Jr, and Taichi
Anything with Tiger Mask or YH will be fun, so this had its moments.
YH and ZSJ opened the match with a wonderful sequence that soon involved every other competitor. ZSJ and Tiger Mask were soon alone in the ring, and after some ZSJ targeting, Tiger Mask was in deep trouble. As Taichi entered the match, things only grew direr for Tiger Mask.
A tiger driver allowed Goto to tag into the match and take momentum for his team; YH tagged back into the match, and Suzuki-Gun regained control. TAKA locked in a deep choke that forced YH into the ropes. Moments later, the match broke down into a 6-way brawl. YH and Goto hit TAKA with Shoto, leading to the pin.
Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori, and Gedo
For a match structured on Taguchi’s hindquarters, this was decent.
ELP and Taguchi started the match by playing chicken; this evolved into a silly sequence that ended with Wato being slammed into Taguchi’s rear. The distraction this caused allowed Bullet Club to gain control by isolating Taguchi. After raking his back for minutes, ELP slapped Taguchi’s buttocks that Gedo and Taji exposed; Taguchi seemed ashamed.
Taguchi, with his pants around his thighs, finally landed a hip attack before tagging Wato into the match. Wato had a short sequence before tagging in Tanahashi. Tanahashi, unfortunately, fell victim to a referee distraction and kick from ELP’s loaded boot. Before Bullet Club could put away Tanahashi, Taguchi hit the ring, his butt still out. After Taguchi landed a hip attack to clear the ring, Tanahashi locked in the cloverleaf and tapped out Gedo.
Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan, and Jeff Cobb defeated BUSHI, SANADA, and Tetsuya Naito
This match was a little bloated, but it was the first match of the night that actually made me more excited for a Tokyo Dome match; every Cobb/Naito interaction left me wanting more.
Cobb wanted Naito from the opening bell, but Naito denied him; instead, O-Khan and SANADA opened the match. O-Khan was sure to show off his wrestling that earned him a technique award early in his exchange. SANADA, on the other hand, grabbed O-Khan’s braid, pulling him across the ring by his lone lock.
SANADA tied O-Khan up in the paradise lock, causing The United Empire to hit the ring. O-Khan gained control over SANADA on the inside, and on the outside, Cobb flattened Naito. The United Empire then picked apart SANADA as Naito watched on.
SANADA eventually tagged out, allowing Naito and Cobb to interact in the ring. Naito led the first sequence inside the ropes by targeting Cobb’s leg. Cobb was only slightly phased, however, as his power soon overwhelmed Naito. What followed was a fantastic back and forth exchange that left both men laid out.
The match broke down, and everyone traded moves for some time. Eventually, O-Khan hit BUSHI with an Eliminator to close the match.
Hiromu Takahashi and Shingo Takagi defeated Kazuchika Okada and Robbie Eagles
This is precisely what you would expect from a preview tag with these guys—tons of interaction without over-delivering before the Dome show.
Okada and Shingo opened the match with some chain wrestling to establish equality between the two. Then Eagles and Hiromu tagged in, having a lightning-quick sequence that broke down into a brawl on the outside. Eagles emerged with advantage before Okada tagged back in and cemented his teams lead. Eagles and Okada then took turns keeping Hiromu from tagging out.
Hiromu eventually got the hot tag, allowing for a significant Shingo offensive sequence. Though, Shingo’s offense was cut short as Okada caught him in the money clip, forcing a rope break and a momentum reversal. After an air-raid crash neckbreaker, Okada tried for the money clip once more, but Shingo escaped, landing a lariat to reset the match.
The juniors tagged back in, and Eagles immediately tied up the legs of Hiromu. Hiromu barely escaped but managed to find the ropes. The pair then struggled for control, with Hiromu eventually driving Eagles into the turnbuckle pad. Eagles answered some light offense but was thrown back into the corner with even more intention.
Shingo tagged in to keep Eagles from Okada. Okada saved Eagles from a pin following the pumping bomber, but he could not make the save following last of the dragon. Shingo pinned Eagles to close the match.
Hiromu Takahashi has won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament for the third time.
Hiromu defeated YOH in 38:30 in today’s tournament finals at Sumo Hall in Ryogoku to capture his second consecutive BOSJ and his third in four years. While not yet official, Hiromu is next in line to challenge IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado, most likely at Wrestle Kingdom 16.
YOH’s former Roppongi 3K tag partner SHO from Bullet Club’s House of Torture interfered in today’s bout by attacking both competitors, which could lead to future bouts with either YOH or Hiromu.
SHO grabbed the house mic and declared the bout a no contest after leaving both laying, but referee Red Shoes Unno refused to call the match. World Tag League winners Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI chased SHO away from the ring, then tended to YOH. Hiromu’s LIJ stablemates Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi came to ringside as well to encourage Hiromu to continue on.
NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors 28 finals are set following the final block action today in Hyogo.
Hiromu Takahashi and YOH finished atop the block and will face off in the finals on Wednesday, December 15 to determine the winner.
Hiromu defeated former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Robbie Eagles in the main event of today’s show to get to 15 points and secure his spot in the finals. Earlier in the night, YOH defeated his former Roppongi 3K tag team partner SHO to get to 14 points.
YOH defeated Eagles in their head-to-head matchup in the tournament, so he held the tiebreaker over Eagles. El Desperado could have gone to 14 or 15 points with a draw or win against El Phantasmo, but ELP defeated Desperado with his loaded boot Sudden Death superkick to eliminate him. That left Hiromu needing a win or draw in the main event to advance, while Eagles could have advanced with a victory.
Hiromu and YOH had a brief promo exchange after the main event to set up Wednesday’s match.
Hiromu will be going for his third career BOSJ tournament win and his second in a row. He defeated Taiji Ishimori in the 2018 finals, then defeated El Desperado in the 2020 edition.
The 28th NJPW Best of the Super Juniors tournament wrapped up its block action today in Hyogo.
Six competitors were still mathematically alive heading into the night, but no tiebreakers were needed as the block leaders finished ahead of the field.
Hiromu Takahashi finished with 15 points to lead the block. YOH finished in second with 14 points. They will face off in Wednesday’s finals to determine the winner of the Best of the Super Juniors 28.
Here are today’s results:
Yuto Nakashima drew with Ryohei Oiwa (10:00)
The Young Lions went to a time limit draw.
Best of the Super Juniors: DOUKI defeated Master Wato (11:50)
DOUKI wrapped up his tournament with a pinfall win with Suplex de la Luna.
Best of the Super Juniors: BUSHI defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru (9:10)
BUSHI won with the MX, finishing at 10 points.
Best of the Super Juniors: Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Taiji Ishimori (12:45)
Taguchi won by pinfall with Dodon.
Best of the Super Juniors: YOH defeated SHO (15:31)
YOH won by pinfall with Direct Drive to stay alive at 14 points.
Best of the Super Juniors: El Phantasmo defeated El Desperado (21:11)
ELP eliminated Desperado from contention with Sudden Death.
Best of the Super Juniors: Hiromu Takahashi defeated Robbie Eagles (27:07)
Hiromu got the pin after hitting Time Bomb II to advance to the finals, eliminate Eagles and guarantee YOH’s spot in the finals.
The 28th NJPW Best of the Super Juniors tournament continued today in Ehime.
Hiromu Takahashi took on DOUKI in the main event, while IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado faced Ryusuke Taguchi in the semi-main.
The other tournament action was comprised of SHO vs. Taiji Ishimori, YOH vs. El Phantasmo, Robbie Eagles vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Master Wato vs. BUSHI.
Young Lions Kosei Fujita and Ryohei Oiwa faced off in the non-tournament opener.
Here are today’s results:
Kosei Fujita drew with Ryohei Oiwa (10:00)
The Young Lions went to a time limit draw.
Best of the Super Juniors: Master Wato defeated BUSHI (11:15)
Ishimori used the Bone Lock to pick up the submission win.
Best of the Super Juniors: Robbie Eagles defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru (12:23)
Eagles used the Ron Miller Special to get the submission victory.
Best of the Super Juniors: YOH defeated El Phantasmo (14:32)
YOH got the pin with the Five Star Clutch.
Best of the Super Juniors: Taiji Ishimori defeated SHO (13:30)
Ishimori won by pinfall with a backslide after a low blow.
Best of the Super Juniors: El Desperado defeated Ryusuke Taguchi (18:11)
Desperado used Numero Dos for the submission.
Best of the Super Juniors: Hiromu Takahashi defeated DOUKI (20:34)
