Tag: juice robinson

NJPW-ROH Honor Rising night two results: Tag team titles on the line

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New Japan and Ring of Honor ran the second out of two Honor Rising shows tonight, featuring ROH, ROH tag team and IWGP tag team title matches.

Toa Henare and Jonathan Gresham defeated Zack Sabre Jr. and Taka Michinoku

Good opener. Gresham looked great, he and Sabre had some cool exchanges. He should really be back here soon, he would fit right in and he got over both nights.

Sabre seemed to have tweaked his knee while running to the corner. He worked most of this match, but tagged out to Taka. He and Gresham went at it as they had some nice exchanges, including a shooting star press from Gresham that looked really good. Taka eventually submitted to Gresham’s Octopus stretch.

They mentioned that the participants for the New Japan Cup will be revealed this Monday on the company’s website.

Marty Scurll defeated Robbie Eagles

This was fine. Pretty athletic, people were into Marty and the match overall but it was short. It also felt like a there was just a bunch of moves with no real story.

A lot of this match featured some back and forth that got over with the crowd. Scurll dodged a 450 splash by Eagles at one point. Eagles met him on the top rope and hit a super frankensteiner off the top rope for a good nearfall.

Scurll went for the fingers spot, but Eagles escaped. As Eagles hit the ropes, Scurll grabbed him and sunk in the chickenwing. Eagles immediately tapped out.

Colt Cabana and Toru Yano defeated Delirious and Cheeseburger

This was fun, and the crowd had fun with everyone’s antics. Colt Cabana and Cheeseburger wrestled and due to the size discrepancy, there was a lot of comedy. Most of this match was, really. Delirious and Yano were in and Colt Cabana introduced not one, but two turnbuckle posts. Yano smashed Cheeseburger with one, but he rallied back and struck Cabana with the shotei palm strike.

Cabana took down Delirious but was repulsed when grabbing his feet. Delirious low blowed Cabana and rolled him up, but he kicked out. Cabana cut off Delirious, hit the Chicago skyline (a snake eyes across the turnbuckle) then used his feet to roll up Delirious for the win.

Will Ospreay and Hirooki Goto defeated Jeff Cobb and Dalton Castle

A good match. They kept Cobb isolated, knocking out Dalton multiple times during the the match. He may still be injured as Cobb worked most of the match, though Dalton did get involved here and there. Ospreay in this match looked excellent. Ospreay hit the elbow to the back of the head then hit the stormbreaker for the pinfall victory.

Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi defeated Matt Taven and Vinny Marseglia

This was alright, a standard tag team match. Everyone worked hard and for the most part, the crowd was into it. Kingdom got the heat on Shingo until he finally tagged in Naito who cleared house. Shingo came in and hit the pumping bomber on Marseglia, with Naito capping it off with the Destino for the victory.

Jay Lethal defeated TK O’Ryan to retain the ROH World title

This was very average, at best. O’Ryan just isn’t there as a singles yet and they had a competent, okay match that was nothing special.  

Lethal entered the ring and immediately hit a suicide dive, taking out O’Ryan and suplexing him on the mat. Once back in the ring, they had a decent back and forth match. Lethal hit the Lethal Combination but O’Ryan cut him off on the top rope, but Lethal countered with and inverted suplex.

Lethal applied the figure four, then went for the Lethal Injection. O’Ryan escaped and tried for a pin with an O’Connor roll. Lethal escaped the roll, springboarded off the ropes and hit the Lethal Injection for the win.

Matt Taven jumped Jay Lethal after the match, grabbing the ROH title and said that he’ll see Lethal in Vegas for the Anniversary show.

Guerillas of Destiny defeated SANADA and EVIL for the IWGP tag team titles

Real good, action-packed match. These two teams have great chemistry with one another and had another hot match tonight. GoD are the most pushed and consistent team on the roster right now, so putting the titles back on them makes sense, especially after what happened following the next match.

Some good back and forth to start things off. Eventually, the challengers took the champions to the outside and started to brawl with them around the arena. Heels worked on SANADA until he cut them off and made the hot tag to EVIL, who went at it with Tanga Loa.

After SANADA was tagged back in, he and EVIL hone in on Tama Tonga. He escaped the magic killer and hits a gun stun on EVIL. SANADA grabs him and puts him in the skull end and looked to finish with the moonsault. Tonga rolls out of the way, sending SANADA crashing to the mat.

Loa entered the match, but EVIL followed with a lariat to the corner. They take Tonga for the magic killer but he shoves SANADA into the ref. GoD take control, grab SANADA and hit the super powerbomb for the win, making them five time IWGP tag team champions.

The Briscoes defeated Juice Robinson and David Finlay to retain the ROH tag team titles

This was a pretty hot match until David Finlay injured his shoulder, landing badly doing an uppercut off the top rope. It was serious enough that the match grinded to a halt and went right to the finish. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious but it didn’t look good here.

More hot back and forth action to start things off. Mark launched off with a giant tope con hilo to the floor, wiping out Lifeblood. Good back and forth throughout the match. Lifeblood are also starting to gel well as a team, taking out the Briscoes with stereo rolling sentons to the outside.

Lifeblood tried to go for the Doomsday Device but Jay cut them off, hit a superplex on Finlay as Mark landed the froggy bow for a nearfall. Finlay countered with a roll-up and cleared the ring, tagging to Juice. Finlay went for a uppercut but landed badly on his shoulder on impact. He told referee Todd Sinclair that his shoulder went out. They immediately went to the finish, with Mark posting Juice then landing the froggy bow on Finlay, with Jay covering to retain the titles.

Jay started the post-match promo saying they’re still the tag team champions. They brought up the Guerillas of Destiny, who are the new IWGP Heavyweight tag team champions. They officially challenged the Guerillas of Destiny for a title vs. title match for the G1 Supercard event on April 6.

Guerillas of Destiny came out. Tanga Loa accepted the challenge on their behalf as the two tag team champions held up their titles. They did a fake out on the Briscoes, left the ring as Jay said they’ll meet them at MSG as the show closed.

A pretty hot show overall. The tag team titles matches were good and work overall was pretty strong. We also have our first official match for the G1 Supercard, which sounds really cool and intriguing on paper. If the first match is indicative of anything, these two promotions are going to have some hot matches during WrestleMania weekend.

NJPW New Beginning USA Nashville results: Elimination tag match

Posted on by F4W Staff

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s three-show New Beginning USA tour wrapped up at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday night.

– Katsuyori Shibata did the pre-show welcome with Clark Connors in the ring with him.

– Karl Fredericks defeated Alex Coughlin in 9:48

Fredericks submitted him with a Boston crab right as the 10-minute time limit was coming up.

– Shane Taylor & Lance Archer defeated Colt Cabana & Jonathan Gresham in 11:12

Taylor got the pin on Cabana after hitting a modified piledriver.

– The Great O-Kharn defeated Harlem Bravado in 10:34

The Iron Claw slam got the win for O-Kharn.

– Marty Scurll defeated Clark Connors in 13:51

Scurll submitted him with the crossface chicken wing.

– Jeff Cobb defeated Brody King in 22:27

The Tour of the Islands got the win for Cobb.

– IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Tracy Williams defeated Beretta, Chuckie T & Rocky Romero in an elimination tag match in 31:26

Eliminations could occur via pinfall, submission, or being thrown over the top rope. It came down to Robinson and Romero, with Robinson hitting Pulp Friction to win.

The eliminations were:

  • Finlay threw Chuckie T over the top rope
  • Romero sent Williams over the top rope
  • Finlay pinned Beretta
  • Romero threw Finlay over the top rope right after he pinned Beretta
  • Robinson pinned Romero after hitting Pulp Friction

Robinson got on the microphone and thanked the fans to close the show. Both teams showed each other respect.

NJPW New Beginning USA Charlotte results: IWGP US title match

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Sammy Eanes

Katsuyori Shibata welcomed everyone to start the show. The crowd at the Grady Cole Center was hot all night, with lots of folks wearing NJPW and Bullet Club gear.

– Karl Fredericks vs. Clark Connors ended in a 10-minute time-limit draw

Very solid opener. It was a physical match where both wrestlers showed a ton of potential. Shibata watched intently from ringside. Fredericks threw some big-time chops, and Connors had a Boston crab applied on Fredericks as time expired.

The fans gave both wrestlers a standing ovation after.

– Colt Cabana & John Skyler defeated Lance Archer & Shane Taylor in 10:13

Archer attacked all the young lions at ringside during his entrance. The early portion of the match mostly consisted of Taylor and Archer working over Skyler. Cabana eventually got a hot tag, and there were some decent exchanges between Skyler and Archer. Cabana rolled up Taylor for the pin.

Archer and Taylor laid out Cabana and Skyler afterwards. They also laid out Fredericks and Connors, who had come to ringside as seconds during the match.

– Great O-Kharn defeated Tracer X in 8:57

This was hyped as O-Kharn’s United States debut. Tracer X got a lot of offense in before losing, including a beautiful hurricanrana, slingshot clothesline, and a slingshot into a downward spiral.

O-Kharn, who kind of seemed like a cross between Killer Khan and Great Muta, used an iron claw, then transitioned it into a unique backbreaker-like submission while still holding onto the claw. O-Kharn then did an iron claw slam for the pin.

– Marty Scurll & Brody King defeated Jeff Cobb & Jonathan Gresham in 13:46

They had the second-best match of the night. The crowd was super into Scurll. There were some “Elite” chants, but nothing overwhelming. Cobb was introduced as the ROH Television Champion and had the belt with him.

King and Cobb started by trading power moves and throws. Scurll and Gresham followed with some great transitions that led to dueling chants for the two.

King really shined at various points of the match, including hitting a hurricanrana on Cobb, then doing a flip dive outside onto both Cobb and Gresham that brought the house down. Back inside, Scurll powerbombed Gresham for a near fall.

From there, Cobb went on an impressive run that included a standing moonsault and doing a double pumphandle suplex on both King and Scurll simultaneously. Despite that, Scurll and King regained control. Scurll broke Gresham’s fingers and hit a piledriver on him for the pin.

– Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Alex Coughlin in 10:07

Tiger Hattori came out to referee the match, receiving a standing ovation and loud “Tiger” chants.

A basic match here — both guys worked hard. It was essentially a squash that a lot of fans treated as an intermission.

– David Finlay & Tracy Williams defeated Rocky Romero & Chuckie T in 17:08

The beginning of the match had some good action mixed with comedy. At one point, Finlay hit a pescado on Chuckie T and Williams hit a Death Valley Driver on Romero for a near fall.

Williams eventually secured a crossface on Chuckie T, forcing him to tap. The ending felt somewhat abrupt.

– IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson defeated Beretta in 27:39 to retain the title

Really good match — especially the second half. Beretta hit a running flip dive to the floor, which led to a lot of brawling outside the ring. He draped Robinson on the rail, then jumped off the apron with a stomp to Robinson’s back.

Inside, Beretta went for a tornado DDT, but Robinson blocked it and tossed Beretta stomach-first on the top rope. Robinson followed that with a gutbuster for a near fall. Beretta ended up selling his abdomen the remainder of the match.

Robinson did a diving headbutt to the small of Beretta’s back and hit two powerbombs for two near falls. Outside the ring, Robinson was on the floor and Beretta nailed him with a running shining wizard off the apron. Beretta then hit a tornado DDT on the floor. Back inside, the two traded German suplexes — before Beretta hit another tornado DDT for a near fall.

Beretta did a piledriver on the apron that really got the crowd going, then followed it up with a shining wizard and a snap piledriver for another near fall.

Robinson, who had a bloody nose by this point, came back and hit Pulp Friction — but he was too exhausted to go for the pin. Robinson tried another Pulp Friction, but Beretta countered with La Magistral for a very close near fall. I think part of the crowd actually thought they were going to see a title change.

Robinson nailed Beretta with a hard lariat, but Beretta hit the Dudebuster for yet another near fall. These two had the crowd going completely nuts at this point.

Beretta did a top rope hurricanrana, but Robinson rolled through with a sunset flip for a near fall. Robinson was able to maintain momentum, hitting another Pulp Friction for the pin.

Both received a standing ovation afterwards. This was a very solid New Japan-style main event.

Robinson cut a promo to close the show, thanking the fans for coming and apologizing that there weren’t more Japanese wrestlers on the card, citing the government shutdown. That led to a very loud “FU Trump” chant. Robinson said New Japan would come back with the full crew at some point in the future.

Beretta extended his hand for a handshake. Robinson said he wasn’t going to shake his hand, then held it high. Beretta held his hand high, they high fived, hugged, and wrapped up the show.

Overall, this was a very fun, well-paced show that clocked in right at 2.5 hours. They really made It feel like a true New Japan spot show, with an NJPW ring, young lions from the LA Dojo seconding at ringside, and intros in both Japanese and English.

NJPW New Beginning USA LA results: Robinson-Williams vs. RPG Vice

Posted on by F4W Staff

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s New Beginning USA tour began at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California on Wednesday night.

The three-show tour was affected by the United States’ government shutdown, with NJPW unable to get visas for their Japanese wrestlers in time.

– Katsuyori Shibata did the pre-show greeting with Karl Fredericks (from NJPW’s dojo in California) in the ring with him. He apologized for the issue with the visas but said they and the U.S. dojo all have NJPW in their soul.

– Alex Coughlin vs. Clark Connors ended in a 10-minute time-limit draw.

– Jonathan Gresham defeated Tyler Bateman via pinfall in 11:36

– Colt Cabana defeated Shane Taylor via pinfall in 10:22

– Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.) defeated Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll & Brody King) in 13:09

KES pinned King after hitting the Killer Bomb.

– Jeff Cobb defeated Karl Fredericks in 6:57

Cobb hit Tour of the Islands to win.

– David Finlay defeated Chuckie T in a no DQ match in 15:31

Finlay superplexed Chuckie T through a stack of chairs and hit Trash Panda for the win.

– IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson & Tracy Williams defeated RPG Vice (Beretta & Rocky Romero) in 32:20

This was promoted as a one-night reunion of Beretta & Romero as RPG Vice. Robinson hit Pulp Friction on Romero and pinned him.

Robinson and Beretta went face-to-face after but shook hands ahead of their title match in Charlotte on Friday. Robinson closed the show by apologizing for the visa issues and thanking the fans.

ROH TV taping spoilers: Bandido debuts, NWA title match

Posted on by F4W Staff

Here are tonight’s ROH television taping spoilers from Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia.

– Sons of Savagery and Joe King defeated Odinson, Parrow and Jackson in a dark match.

– The Briscoes defeated Chuckie T and Colt Cabana to retain the ROH tag team titles

Jay defeated Chuckie with the Jay Driller. Cabana filled in for Beretta, who couldn’t make it due to a family emergency. After the match, Mark put Chuckie through a table with an elbow.

– Tracy Williams defeated David Finlay

– Bandido defeated Mark Haskins

Bandido won with the top rope assisted German suplex. Was said to be a good match.

– Silas Young defeated Eli Isom

Young defeated Isom with misery, earning a TV title shot in the process. He, Jeff Cobb and Shane Taylor brawl after the match.

– Marty Scurll, Brody King and PCO defeated Corey Hollis, John Skyler and an unknown competitor

Scurll submitted Hollis with the chickenwing.

– Kelly Klein defeated Rockelle Vaughn to retain the Women of Honor title.

– Nick Aldis defeated PJ Black to retain the NWA World’s Heavyweight title.

Juice Robinson came out and said he would be appearing a lot in the promotion this year. He formed a stable with Mark Haskins, David Finlay, Bandido, Tracy Williams and Tenille Dashwood. The new group is called Lifeblood, with the goal of bringing honor back to ROH.

– Shane Taylor defeated Luchasaurus, Rhett Titus, Chris Sabin, Kenny King and Flip Gordon in a six way match

Taylor defeated Titus with a tombstone. Kenny King was ejected from the match at one point due to bringing in a chair. Chris Sabin may have also been injured during this match, as he was favoring his knee as he was helped to the back.

– Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas defeated Marcus Kross and Griff Garrison

Bruiser and Milonas won following a power plex.

Lifeblood confronted Jay Lethal, setting up a tag team match for later in the tapings with Lifeblood taking on Lethal and four men of his choosing.

– Cheeseburger, Eli Ison and Ryan Nova defeated Griff Garrison, Marcus Kross and Slim J.

– Madison Rayne defeated Sumi Sakai and Jenny Rose in a triple threat match.

– Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Tracy Williams, Mark Haskins and Bandido defeated Jonathan Gresham, Flip Gordon, Dalton Castle, Jeff Cobb and Jay Lethal in a ten man tag team match

Haskins tapped Castle to score the win for his team. All ten shook hands after the match.

Juice Robinson, Rocky Romero sign multi-year deals with NJPW

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Two members of the New Japan Pro Wrestling roster have re-signed with the company on multi-year deals.

On an episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that was released overnight, Dave Meltzer reported that Juice Robinson has signed a three-year deal with NJPW. Meltzer noted that WWE was interested in Robinson, but there was no talking between the two sides. Meltzer also said that All Elite Wrestling “obviously wanted’ Robinson.

Robinson won the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship by defeating Cody Rhodes at Wrestle Kingdom 13. This is Robinson’s second reign with the title. He won it from Jay White at last July’s G1 Special in San Francisco, lost it to Cody at Fighting Spirit Unleashed in September, and won it back at Wrestle Kingdom on January 4.

Robinson joined NJPW in 2015 after requesting his release from WWE/NXT.

Rocky Romero also announced via Twitter on Monday that he’s come to terms with NJPW on a multi-year deal: “Happy to say I came to terms with @njpw1972 for a multi-year deal. RoppongiLights,RoppongiVice #RPG3k #CelebrateProWrestling”

EVIL & SANADA, Juice Robinson set for ROH Global Wars tour

Posted on by Joseph Currier

ROH has announced the next three wrestlers for this year’s Global Wars tour.

After announcing Tetsuya Naito for the tour yesterday, ROH has confirmed that Los Ingobernables de Japon members EVIL and SANADA will be in action on the Global Wars shows. Former IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson is also set for the tour.

EVIL and SANADA wrestled for ROH at their post-Death Before Dishonor television tapings last month. They took part in a four-way tag match that included The Young Bucks, Beretta & Chuckie T, and Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian.

Robinson hasn’t appeared for ROH in the United States since facing Marty Scurll at a set of TV tapings in January 2017.

The Global Wars tour will begin in Lewiston, Maine on November 7. There are also stops in Lowell, Massachusetts on November 8, Buffalo, New York on November 9, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 11.

NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed live results: Cody vs. Juice Robinson

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New Japan returns to Long Beach, California tonight for Fighting Spirit Unleashed, where a number of key matches will take place.

Two titles will be on the line tonight, one which will feature Cody challenging current champion Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States championship. The Young Bucks will also make their first defense of the IWGP tag team titles as they will face the Guerillas of Destiny. There’s no love loss between the four following what happened in San Francisco back in July.

Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll will clash once again tonight as well, this time with the winner meeting KUSHIDA at King of Pro Wrestling on 10/8 for the vacant IWGP Jr. championship. The show will be headlined by a tag team match pitting the Golden Lovers against the CHAOS team of Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii.

Join us for live coverage this evening at 8 p.m. EDT. The show will air live on New Japan World, with the AXS TV broadcast airing this Friday at 8 p.m. EDT.

**********

Jushin Thunder Liger, ACH and Ryusuke Taguchi  defeated Roppongi 3K and Rocky Romero

This was a pretty hot opener. There’s noticeable empty seats throughout the arena, but the crowd is still hot. Rocky briefly had the heat on Liger but cut him and R3K off and tagged in ACH, who made a nice hot tag. 

Rocky and Taguchi are back in. Taguchi runs wild with the hip attacks. ACH wiped out 3K on the outside with a double suicide dive as Taguchi planted Romero with the dodon for the win. Good opener.

The Addiction defeated Hangman Page and Chase Owens

This was a good, solid tag team match. Page and Owens showed some good tandem offense. Kazarian made the hot tag to Daniels. Page went for the shooting star shoulderblock on the outside but Kazarian got the knees up and took him out. The duo then laid out Owens and Daniels hit the BME for the win.

Jeff Cobb, Chris Sabin and Flip Gordon defeated Best Friends and Hirooki Goto

CHAOS worked on Sabin until he made a hot tag to Gordon, who ran wild on everyone with some really cool looking offense. Goto gets tagged in and runs wild on Cobb. Goto attempted a GTR but Cobb countered with a suplex. 

He missed a standing moonsault as the Best Friends came in and took out Cobb with a double suplex. Cobb laid them out out with a double suplex in return. Chuckie piledrove Cobb and went for the moonsault, but it didn’t connect. Cobb gave him a lariat then pinned him following the tour of the islands. A good match and a great highlight reel for Cobb.

Goto confronted Cobb after the match as the two had a staredown. Doesn’t look like the end for them.

Zack Sabre Jr. and Killer Elite Squad defeated Tetsuya Naito, EVIL and SANADA

Much like in the previous matches, KES worked over SANADA. He tagged in Naito who went at it with Davey Boy Smith Jr.. Sabre and EVIL were tagged in, and went at it as they’re in the middle of a feud. EVIL hit a cool fisherman’s buster and tagged in SANADA as all three LIJ members went at it.

Naito and SANADA took out KES as EVIL went for the STO but Sabre countered out of it. EVIL hit darkness falls, but Sabre kicked out. EVIL went for the STO again, but Sabre escaped, bridged EVIL and pinned him in another good match.

KES beat up one of the young lions after the match for good measure. EVIL wasnt happy about taking the pin.

Jay White and Gedo defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and KUSHIDA

Tanahashi went to the top rope for the high fly flow, but when White got the referee distracted Gedo punched Tanahashi with what may have been brass knuckles. White then grabbed Tanahashi and hit the Bladerunner for the win. A solid match, not really into the ending.

White grabbed a microphone after the match. The crowd wouldn’t let White talk and drowned him out in boos and other naughty chants. White says Okada drew with you, but I beat you and thus I have the rights to this briefcase. He asks what is he waiting for? He says you and NJPW are scared because NJPW can’t deal with the thought of him or two headliners in the main event of WrestleKingdom.

White says that it is an inevitability, and you and everyone here will breathe with the Switchblade.

Marty Scurll defeated Will Ospreay

An excellent match, it goes without saying that these two have excellent chemistry with one another. The layout of the match was so well done.

Ospreay went a million miles an hour right at the bell, hitting a giant spanish fly, a Sasuke special, shooting star press then a suicide dive all within the first minute of the match. Scurll catches him on the outside with a superkick. He takes Ospreay to the ring and works him over with chops.

Scurll works on Ospreay’s neck, dragging him to a bottom rope and using all of his weight while standing on Ospreay’s neck. Ospreay comes back with a springboard kick, but Scurll cuts him off and takes him back to the outside. Back in the ring, Ospreay cuts him off and hits a giant sunset flip bomb to the floor.

The two traded offense, with Ospreay getting the better of thing with a lariat. The two meet on the top rope, where Scurll hits a springboard hurricanrana. Ospreay powers through Scurll chops and unleashes some of his own. The two trade some great back and forth near falls.

Ospreay connects with the cheeky nandos kick and went to go for something off the top rope, but Scurll meets him there again and smashes his head into the turnbuckle. Scurll unleashed a giant chickenwing suplex, then what I can only describe as a package sidewalk slam. Scurll then got the win with Graduation.

This makes it Marty Scurll vs. KUSHIDA at King of Pro Wrestling for the IWGP Jr. title.

The Guerillas of Destiny defeated The Young Bucks for the IWGP tag team titles

A different match than most Young Buck bouts, but a good match that told a good story.

The match starts out pretty even, until Tanga Loa took out Matt with a running powerslam. A table was introduced by Loa. The Young Bucks fire back, with Nick hitting a big dive onto Loa. Matt tries to go something on the top rope, but Tonga shoved Matt off, sending him into the table.

GoD focus on Nick as they work him over. They got the heat on him for a while until Matt came in and made a comeback. Matt went for a sharpshooter on Tonga but Loa attacked his back. They continued to work over his lower back until he finds and opening and tags in Nick.

The Bucks try for the More Bang for Your Buck but Matt’s back kept bothering him, and took a long while before he could actually connect. They try for the Meltzer driver but Tama Tonga hits a gun stun out of nowhere. An assisted gun stun on Matt seals the deal.

Cody defeated Juice Robinson to win the IWGP United States title

I liked this match a lot, not blow away but very good. Great heel work by Cody and Brandi throughout, and the finish was excellent.

Cody went for a dive off the top rope but Juice grabbed him on the outside and hit a belly to belly suplex. Brandi Rhodes, who accompanied Cody, tried to grab Juice but he shoved her away. In the confusion, Cody laid out Juice with an inverted DDT.

Juice came back with some roll ups, then connected with the cannonball in the corner. He went for a running powerbomb, but Cody countered with a hurricanrana that sent Juice into the turnbuckle. After Brandi rake the eyes, Juice managed to dodge a kick by Cody and connected with a crossbody.

Cody countered Juice with a figure four lock. Juice reversed it as Cody escaped and was consoled by Brandi, who gave him water. After distracting the ref, he blinded Juice with water and laid him out. Juice came alive and ended up hitting the pulp friction. But once again, Brandi came to Cody’s rescue by dragging him out of the ring.

After telling Red Shoes to stop counting, he exited the ring to grab Cody, only for Cody to come alive and plant him with the crossroads. They make it back to the ring where the two start exchanging punches until Cody rakes Juice in the eyes and laid him out with the Din’s fire (vertebreaker). Juice cut off Cody on the top rope and connected with a superplex, but Cody out of nowhere hooked Robinson’s legs on impact, cradling him and scoring the pinfall and the championship.

Golden Lovers defeated Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii

Great main event. It was nothing but action throughout and ended up turning into a really heated tag team match.

Things start off with some solid tag team work — Ishii worked against Omega, and Ibushi worked with Okada. The story of the early portion of the match was that Omega and Okada avoided one another, but every other variation worked against one another until finally Okada was tagged in. They went at it briefly before the Golden Lovers wiped both Okada and Ishii out with the Cross Slash.

Okada and Omega eventually do see eye to eye as they traded offense. Okada escaped a One Winged Angel attempt and connected with a dropkick. Golden Lovers connected with with tandem offense as Omega lays it in with a v-trigger. Okada counters another One Winged Angel attempt with a tombstone, and Ishii connected with a sliding D.

Omega laid out Okada with a uranage as Ishii and Ibushi came back in. The two exchanged strikes, which Ishii got the better of. He then hit a moonsault, but landed his knees on Ishii’s gut. Golden Lovers go for the Golden Trigger but Okada breaks it up. Ishii came in and soon enough all four men are laid out.

Ishii and Ibushi exchanged strikes once more, with Ibushi again getting the better of things with a lariat. Ishii powers back and Okada helps him get the advantage. Omega takes out Okada on the outside as Ibushi blocked a lariat and scored a huge kick to the head. Ibushi tried for the kamigoye but Ishii headbutted him. Omega comes in and they connect with the Golden Trigger for the win. 

Omega after the match said it wasn’t the best night for the Bullet Club, and apologized to the Young Bucks. Despite some empty seats near the rafters, he sees so many familiar faces, happy faces who were happy to see The Elite. The worldwide movement is only beginning. 

He then turned his attention to Ibushi. He said that when we decided to protect our ten year promise, it proved to be a disappointment to the front office and the fans. They want to see the rematch. At that moment, Cody came out. He said let me help you out and alleviate the burden. He asks the crowd if he wants to see the rematch….Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi….vs. Cody Rhodes. 

Omega said that this is actually ingenious. They want to make history, and they want to do it their own way. Let’s show the beauty of professional wrestling and have a triple threat match. This isn’t personal, this is about the beauty and originality of professional wrestling. So it looks like we have our main event for King of Pro Wrestling next weekend.

NJPW Road to Destruction live results: Tanahashi/Juice vs. Okada/Beretta

Posted on by Ethan Renner

NJPW returns to Korakuen Hall this morning as the build to the three Destruction shows taking place later this month continues.

In the main event, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada will square off again, this time in a tag team match. Tanahashi and Juice will team together to take on the returning Beretta and Kazuchika Okada.

Meanwhile, Tomohiro Ishii and Kenny Omega will face each other, but this time it will be in a trios match. Ishii will team up with Toru Yano and Will Ospreay to challenge Omega, Kota Ibushi and Yujiro Takahashi.

Ayato Yoshida, a Kaientai Dojo regular, continues his New Japan main roster run by taking on Chase Owens. We’ll also see a young lion tag team match, with Shota Umino and Yuya Uemura facing Ren Narita and Yota Tsuji.

Join us for live coverage starting at 5:30 a.m. eastern time. There will be no English commentary.

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YUYA UEMURA & SHOTA UMINO DEFEATED REN NARITA & YOTA TSUJI (8:49)

A nice little opener here. Everyone’s selling was top notch. 

Tsuji and Narita worked over Uemura’s lower back with strikes and stomps. Uemura hit a back bodydrop out of desperation, and made a hot tag to Umino. Umino and Tsuji traded palm strikes, and both hit dropkicks. 

Umino hit a spinebuster, then used a crab. After a long struggle, Tsuji made the ropes. Umino hit a top rope woo dropkick, then went back to the crab, and got the submission. 

CHASE OWENS DEFEATED AYATO YOSHIDA (8:33) 

Yoshida is a K-Dojo product. I’ve seen him on at least one Lion’s Gate Project show, and I really like him. He got some good offense in early. 

Lots of mat work early. Yoshida hit a hip toss and went for an armbar, but Owens made the ropes immediately. Yoshida targeted Owens’ left arm, hoping to work back to that armbar. 

Owens used an abdominal stretch. Owens got a nearfall off a roll-up, but Yoshida finally got the armbar. Owens made the ropes, then hit a backbreaker and a running knee, getting another two count. 

Yoshida was able to slap on a kimura, but Owens raked his eyes, and made the ropes. Owens hit the package driver, and got the pin. 

TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA, BAD LUCK FALE & TAIJI ISHIMORI DEFEATED TOGI MAKABE, MICHAEL ELGIN, DAVID FINLAY & TOA HENARE (9:11) 

Good stuff here. All action. 

Elgin and Loa started out. Elgin lit Loa up with chops. Ishimori tried to attack from the apron, but missed on a seated senton, and hit Loa. Finlay tagged in for some spots with Ishimori, and they worked incredibly fast. 

Tonga and Fale cleared the babyfaces from the apron, and the OG’s went to work on Finlay in their corner. Ishimori hit a standing shooting star press. Fale missed a charge into the corner, and Finlay was able to tag Makabe. 

Makabe ran wild, and took Fale off his feet with a lariat. Tonga and Henare tagged in, and Tonga hit a sweet dropkick. The OG’s hit a series of moves on Henare in the corner, before the match broke down into chaos. 

Tonga went for the gun stun on Henare, but Henare blocked, then hit a samoan drop for a two count. Tonga popped up, then hit the gun stun on his second attempt, and got the pinfall victory. 

HIROOKI GOTO & YOSHI-HASHI DEFEATED TAICHI & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU (9:58) 

This was all about establishing Taichi as Goto’s next challenger for the NEVER title. It had its moments, but was the weakest match on the show to this point. 

Taichi attacked Goto with his mic stand before the bell. Goto made a comeback, and sent Taichi into the security fence. YH and Kanemaru did a couple of spots in the ring, but the action then went into the crowd, where Suzuki-gun took over. 

Back inside, Kanemaru worked over YH with stomps and elbows. Taichi tagged in and raked and gouged YH’s eyes. After Taichi taunted Goto and threw his title belt from the ring to the floor earlier, Goto finally got a hot tag, and the two faced off. 

Goto and Taichi traded kicks and right hands. Taichi tagged out after hitting an enziguri, and Kanemaru worked over Goto’s left leg. Taichi did his pants spot. Kanemaru went for the whiskey mist, but YH ducked it, and hit a superkick. 

Goto hit the ushigoroshi on Kanemaru, and Taichi jumped in with the mic stand for the DQ. 
Taichi hit a last ride on Goto after the match, and got a visual pinfall. 

TETSUYA NAITO, EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI DEFEATED MINORU SUZUKI, TAKASHI IIZUKA, EL DESPERADO & TAKA MICHINOKU (12:37) 

This was a wild brawl, and served its purpose quite well. 

Suzuki brutalized Naito, as Suzuki-gun attacked LIJ before the opening bell. He then turned his attention to EVIL, and used a series of chair shots on him, then took the referee, allowing his teammates to attack three on one in the ring. 

Suzuki used a heel hook on EVIL, but EVIL was able to make the ropes. Desperado took Iizuka’s muzzle off, and Iizuka bit EVIL’s head and foot. SANADA made the save, and tied up TAKA with the paradise lock. SANADA hit the Flair flip into the corner into a springboard dropkick on Iizuka, before Naito and Suzuki got tags. 

Naito hit a swinging neckbreaker and a dropkick to a seated Suzuki. Suzuki missed a yakuza kick, but was able to slide into a rear naked choke. He went for the Gotch piledriver, but EVIL broke it up. 

Naito hit his swinging dropkick in the corner, and tagged in BUSHI. BUSHI hit a missile dropkick, and a BUSHI-rooni, but fell victim to a four-on-one assault. LIJ made the save. BUSHI hit a codebreaker for a nearfall on TAKA, then hit the MX, and got the pinfall. 

Naito attacked Suzuki after the match, and choked him with a banner. Suzuki went after Naito with a chair, but the Young Lions held him back. 

TOMOHIRO ISHII, TORU YANO & WILL OSPREAY DEFEATED KENNY OMEGA, KOTA IBUSHI & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (9:15) 

A fun sprint. They teased a lot that the people wanted to see with Omega/Ishii and Ibushi/Ospreay, but they saved a lot for their singles matches down the road. 

Pieter accompanied Yujiro to the ring, and got her own introduction from the ring announcer. As she should. 

Omega and Ishii started things off. Ospreay got a tag and hit an Ishii-assisted standing moonsault on Omega, but then demanded that Ibushi tag in. 

Ospreay and Ibushi went razy. Ospreay teased a Sasuke special, but Yujiro cut him off, and the Bullet Club went to work on him. Yano jumped in and tried to untie a couple of turnbuckle pads, but Omega and Ibushi stopped him, and Yujiro continued the assault on Ospreay. 

Ibushi tagged back in, and Ospreay hit him with a handspring kick. Omega tagged in and ate a cutter. Ospreay tagged Ishii, and Ishii and Omega teased their upcoming IWGP title match. Ishii blocked a V-trigger, stopped an interfering Ibushi, and hit a powerslam. 

Omega came back with a kotaro krusher, and tagged Yujiro. Yano got a tag from Ishii, and untied a turnbuckle pad. They did a comedy spot where everyone pulled the hair of the guy next to him. Omega went to do it to Ishii, but Ishii is bald, of course. That was awesome. 

Ibushi, Ospreay, and Omega all hit planchas, leaving Yujiro and Yano the legal men. Yano used a schoolboy on Yujiro for the pin. 

Omega and Ishii had a brief staredown after the match, but there was no physicality in the angle. 

HIROSHI TANAHASHI & JUICE ROBINSON DEFEATED KAZUCHIKA OKADA & BERETTA (21:35) 

This was a good main event. Not a mind-blowing match by any means, but it was a lot of fun. 

Beretta and Juice started off exchanging holds, with neither man gaining a clear edge. Tana and Okada tagged in. Tana did not break cleanly after an early grappling exchange. Okada teased a dropkick, but Tanahashi went low and took out his leg with a dropkick. 

Juice tagged in. He went up top, but Okada hit the ropes, and Juice crashed to the mat. Beretta made a tag and sent both Juice and Tanahashi over the top rope. Both teased skinning the cat, but Beretta dropkicked them to the floor. 

Back in the ring, Okada worked over Juice. Okada kicked Juice low. Okada claimed the kick hit the inside of the thigh, but Red Shoes was not so sure. Okada tagged out, and Beretta sent Juice to the floor, and hit a plancha. 

Juice was able to make a tag, and Tanahashi ran wild with dropkicks. He sent Okada to the floor with a dropkick, and hit another on Beretta. He hit the second rope senton, but Beretta popped right up, and took Tana down with a lariat. 

Okada tagged in, and hit Tana with a back elbow in the corner. He teased a DDT, but Tanahashi blocked it. Okada hit a shotgun dropkick. He went for a tombstone, but Tana slipped out and hit a dragon screw. Okada went for a rainmaker, but Tanahashi hit a palm strike, leading to a double down. 

Juice got a tag. He went for his series of jabs, but Okada cut him off after just one. Juice hit a sit-out lariat, and followed with a pair of clotheslines in the corner. He went for another, but Okada hit a flapjack, and tagged Beretta. Beretta hit a high cross for a nearfall. 

Beretta went for a tornado DDT, but Juice cut him off, and hit a series of jabs. Okada jumped in for the save, knocked Tana off the apron, and hit Juice with a neckbreaker. Beretta covered for a nearfall, while Okada and Tanahashi fought on the floor.

Beretta took a Ray Stevens flip into the corner, and Juice and Tana hit him with a combination Hart Attack/slingblade. Juice missed a cannonball. Tana hit a slingblade on Beretta. Okada hit a tombstone on Tanahashi, and all four men went down. 

Juice recovered and hit a cannonball on Beretta. He went to the top while Okada and Tana fought on the floor, but Beretta cut him off, and hit a top rope belly-to-belly. Juice hit a powerbomb for a two and a half count. 

Juice went for pulp friction, but Beretta reversed it, and hit a piledriver. He covered, but Tanahashi made the save for Juice. Juice went for pulp friction twice, and Beretta twice escaped with enziguris. 

Juice finally hit pulp friction, covered, and got the victory. 

Three matches announced for NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Three matches are official for NJPW’s next show in the United States.

Cody Rhodes challenging for Juice Robinson’s IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, The Young Bucks defending their IWGP Tag Team titles against Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa, and Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll in an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship tournament semifinal match have been announced for Fighting Spirit Unleashed, which will take place at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California on September 30.

Ospreay vs. Scurll is part of a four-man tournament to decide the next Junior Heavyweight Champion. KUSHIDA will face BUSHI at Destruction in Kobe on September 23 in the other semifinal match, and the finals will be held at King of Pro Wrestling on October 8.

Hiromu Takahashi had to relinquish the Junior Heavyweight title after suffering a neck injury at last month’s G1 Special in San Francisco.

Cody was set up as Robinson’s next challenger when he pinned Robinson during a tag match at the G1 finals. The Young Bucks and Tonga & Loa are on opposite sides of the feud between the Bullet Club and the Bullet Club OGs, and Tonga, Loa, & Taiji Ishimori won the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles from The Young Bucks & Scurll at the G1 finals.

WOR: Juice Robinson and Jay White

Posted on by Josh Nason

Before they go head-to-head on Saturday night at the NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco, Wrestling Observer founder and editor Dave Meltzer sat down with Juice Robinson and IWGP U.S. Champion Jay White in separate interviews.

We begin with Dave’s 15 minute talk with Robinson (seen above) about the promo that reminded Dave of Dusty Rhodes, his run in New Japan to date and 2018 in particular, and his match against White on Saturday night. They discuss injuries, the toughness of Ishii, how he suffered a broken hand, how he got into wrestling, today’s industry, and more.

We then transition to Dave’s 17 minute conversation with White. We begin with the story of how White found wrestling in New Zealand and the WrestleMania trip that changed everything. Then, he talks about his fast rise in NJPW, his big match against Tanahashi at the Tokyo Dome, his first G1 tournament, the Saturday match against Robinson, and plenty more.

If you haven’t checked it out, listen to Dave’s 45-minute conversation with Hiroshi Tanahashi now, available for subscribers.

Timestamps:

Juice Robinson:
Start – 1:48: The broken hand promo
1:48 – 4:50: Leaving NXT for New Japan
4:50 – 8:00: New Japan’s standard
8:00 – 8:19: How he injured the hand
8:19 – 10:30: G1 thoughts, his quick ascension
10:30 – 14:34: How he got into wrestling, getting motivated

Jay White:
14:34 – 16:31: How he got into wrestling
16:31 – 18:02: Facing Tanahashi
18:02 – 20:31: Preparing for the G1
20:31 – 22:40: Being a part of the next generation
22:40 – 25:07: headlining against David Finlay at Korakuen Hall
25:07 – 26:23: Learning from past experiences
26:23 – 27:48: The fundamentals of training at the New Japan Dojo
27:48 – 29:07: His run in ROH and his match with Ospreay
29:07 – end: The recent New Japan show in England, final thoughts ahead of tomorrow

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New Japan Cup night seven results: Tanahashi vs. Juice Robinson

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The Ace is still in the hunt.

Hiroshi Tanahashi took another step towards claiming his first New Japan Cup in a decade with a win over Juice Robinson Friday in Tokyo. Tana’s win keeps the possibility of another chapter being written in the epic Okada vs. Tanahashi rivalry, with the winner of the tournament likely to challenge IWGP heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada at the Sakura Genesis event on April 1.

Below are the results from the seventh night of the current tour.

Prelim bouts:

  • Yujiro Takahashi & Tanga Loa defeated Tomoyuki Oka & Tetsuhiro Yagi
  • Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith, Jr. & Taichi defeated Shota Umino, David Finlay & Michael Elgin
  • Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated Togi Makabe & Toa Henare
  • YOSHI-HASHI, Chuckie T & Hirooki Goto defeated Kota Ibushi, Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale
  • Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka defeated Kazuchika Okada & Gedo
  • Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Yujiro Takahashi & BUSHI defeated Zack Sabre Jr., TAKA Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado

New Japan Cup Semifinal bout:

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Juice Robinson

Tana refused a handshake before the bout. They started at a deliberate pace, doing knuckle locks and tests of strength. Tana took it to the mat with a side headlock. Juice escaped, Tana missed a bodypress off the middle rope, and Juice rolled him up for a nearfall.

Tana slid outside and posted Juice’s left leg. He continued stomping on the leg on the floor, exhibiting a mean streak. Back inside, he employed a deathlock and a modified figure four, continuing to attack the lower extremities.

The pace picked up near the fifteen minute mark, as Juice fired up and nailed a lariat. Juice missed a cannonball, which looked painful. They went outside and Juice whipped Tana into the barricade. Back inside, Juice went to the top, but got crotched.

Tana looked for High Fly Flow, but Juice pushed Red Shoes into the ropes, crotching Tana, leading to a double down. Back on their feet, they traded chops and uppercuts. Juice went for a gutbuster, but Tana countered, hitting a dragon screw. He slapped on the cloverleaf, continuing to attack the legs, but Juice made the ropes.

Juice countered a Sling Blade attempt with a full nelson slam, into a nearfall. Juice went for Pulp Friction, but Tana turned it into a Sling Blade. Tana went up top, but Juice nailed him with a jab. He went for a superplex, but Tana shoved him off and hit High Fly Flow. Juice rolled through for a nearfall.

Juice popped up and hit a flying crossbody, followed by a High Fly Flow of his own for a great nearfall. Juice went for Pulp Friction, but Tana slipped out. They traded strikes, selling exhaustion, with Tana getting the best of the exchange. He hit two High Fly Flows on an exhausted Juice to earn the win.

This was an absolute clinic and one of the best matches of the tournament so far. Check it out.

The 2018 New Japan Cup semifinals are set

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The semifinals for the New Japan Cup have been set. 

Juice Robinson and Hiroshi Tanahashi fill the first two slots. Robinson defeated Michael Elgin to advance on March 14, while Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Bad Luck Fale by countout to advance. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Juice Robinson will now headline tomorrow morning’s New Japan Cup show, with the winner advancing to the finals.

SANADA and Zack Sabre Jr have advanced to the semifinals as well. SANADA outwitted Toru Yano on this morning’s show to advance. Meanwhile, Zack Sabre Jr. pummeled Kota Ibushi bad enough that the referee stopped the bout and ruled Sabre the winner. These two will square off on March 18.

Once the two semifinalists make it to the final round, they will face off on March 21. The winner will have the right to challenge for the IWGP title, the NEVER title, or the Intercontinental title.

The show on March 16 will start at 5:30 a.m. EDT. The last two shows will start at 2:30 a.m. EDT. All three shows will have English commentary.

New Japan Cup night five results: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The New Japan Cup tour continued Wednesday in Shizuoka, with both Juice Robinson and Hiroshi Tanahashi earning spots in the tournament’s final four. 

Juice pinned Michael Elgin in a solid, but not spectacular outing, and Tanahashi did his best to have a good match with Bad Luck Fale, which is no easy feat. Working with Fale is like trying to wrestle a refrigerator, or a large recliner. 

On the undercard, Kazuchika Okada’s quest to get his Cobra Clutch over as a finisher continued. After nailing Takashi Iizuka with two dropkicks, both of which got big reactions, Okada applied the hold to a muted reaction, at best. 

Thursday’s show in Korakuen Hall will feature SANADA vs. Toru Yano in a quarterfinal bout in the semi-main, and Zack Sabre, Jr. will main event with the man who has to be considered the favorite to win the tournament, Kota Ibushi, in the last quarterfinal match. 

Prelim bouts:

El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi & Ryusuke Taguchi
Toa Henare, David Finlay, & Ren NNarita defeated Shota Umino, Yuji Nagata, & Tomoyuki Oka
Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith, Jr. defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Tanga Loa
Chase Owens & Kota Ibushi defeated TAKA Michinoku & Zack Sabre, Jr.
Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, & Chuckie T defeated BUSHI, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Takashi Iizuka, Minoru Suzuki, & Taichi

New Japan Cup quarterfinal results:

Juice Robinson defeated Michael Elgin

The opening sequence featured some mat wrestling, which ended in a stalemate. Juice attempted to match Elgin’s power moves with shoulder blocks, to no avail, but did take Elgin off his feet with a suplex. Elgin sold that well, but quickly asserted control of the bout with slams and suplexes. 

Juice tossed Elgin to the floor and hit a plancha, then a flapjack for a nearfall. Elgin tried to land forearm strikes, but Juice countered them, and hit a gutbuster. Elgin came back with forearm strikes, and followed with a double underhook powerbomb, scoring a nearfall of his own. 

Elgin went to the top for a moonsault, but missed. They traded lariats before Juice hit a powerbomb for a nearfall. They were selling exhaustion as they neared the fifteen minute mark, which felt a bit forced. Juice went for Pulp Friction, but Elgin turned it into a backslide, and a tilt-a-whirl slam for a nearfall. Elgin turned another Pulp Friction attempt into a german suplex. 

Elgin hit two lariats, then a buckle bomb. He picked Juice up for the Elgin Bomb, but Juice small packaged him for the pinfall victory. 

There are few New Japan matches that I feel should have gone longer, but for the story they were trying to tell, this could have used five more minutes. This was good, but not a blow away match. 

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Bad Luck Fale

Tanahashi tried to take Fale down with a drop toehold, but failed. HE finally got the big man off his feet, and sent him outside, before hitting a baseball slide. They brawled on the outside, and Fale tried to whip Tanahashi into the barricade, but Tanahashi jumped the railing, and ran back into the ring. 

Tanahashi went back outside, and this time Fale succeeded in throwing him into the crowd. Fale dropped a stack of barricades on Tanahashi, who beat the twenty count back in. Fale hit a splash on the apron, and they teased another countout.

Fale used a nerve hold, and a host of forearm strikes, but missed a charge into the corner, giving Tanahashi his opportunity to land some blows. Tanahashi hit three dropkicks then caught Fale on the rebound for a slam. Fale caught him coming in and hit a Samoan drop and a splash for two nearfalls. 

Tanahashi turned a Razor’s Edge attempt into a roll-up, and Fale mildly botched the kickout. Tanahashi hit a suplex, which really got the crowd into the match, and hit a sling blade. He followed up with a clothesline, sending Fale to the floor, and hit a High Fly Flow off the top to the outside. 

Fale rebounded with a clothesline on the apron, and teased powerbombing Tanahashi into the crowd, but Tanahashi pushed off the post, freeing himself, and sending Fale over the barricade. Tanahashi beat the twenty count back inside, scoring the countout win. This is worth checking out, if only for that spot. 

Fale tried to attack after the match, but Tanahashi hit a dragon screw before going into his post-match promo and air guitar routine to send the fans home happy. 

NJPW Destruction in Kobe live results: Kenny Omega vs. Juice Robinson

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The last of NJPW’s three Destruction shows take place tonight as Kenny Omega returns from injury to defend his IWGP United States title for the first time against Juice Robinson.

Omega will return just a couple of weeks after having surgery on his left knee’s lateral meniscus. He’s missed most of this tour, with the goal being to defend the title tonight. The big question heading into tonight is if he will be at 100 percent after coming back so early from surgery.

The other big title match is the third and final meeting between War Machine, Killer Elite Squad, and Guerrillas of Destiny over the IWGP Tag Team titles. War Machine won the first two matches, so tonight may be ripe for a title change.

The rest of the undercard focuses on King of Pro Wrestling, which will take place on October 9th. Tag matches featuring participants in the top three matches at King of Pro Wrestling (Tetsuya Naito/Tomohiro Ishii, EVIL/Kazuchika Okada, and Hiroshi Tanahashi/Kota Ibushi) will all take place as well.

Join us for live coverage early this morning at 3 a.m. Eastern time. Kevin Kelly and Don Callis will be at the show providing English commentary. 

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Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Hirai Kawato defeated Katsuya Kitamura and Tomoyuki Oka

This was a solid opener. Kevin Kelly on commentary mentioned that Oka and Kitamura have been going by the team name Monster Rage. Tenzan then submitted Oka with the anaconda vise.

Togi Makabe, Tiger Mask, Jushin Thunder Liger, Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Takashi Iizuka, Desperado, Taka Michinoku, Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru 

This was below average, and if you guessed it was because of Suzuki-gun, give yourself a round of applause. There were the usual distracted referee spots. Taichi took the ring bell and stuck it inside Taguchi’s butt for heat. Iizuka went to use the iron fingers but Taguchi took him out with a hip attack. Ricochet hit a great fosbury flop, then Makabe pulled off the win on Michinoku with the king kong knee drop.

YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto defeated Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens

Better than the last match, but nothing special. YOSHI-HASHI has been picking up a lot of wins on this tour. I think they’ve been teasing him and Goto as a team for the World Tag League in November. YOSHI-HASHI picked up the win over Chase Owens after blocking the package piledriver and pinning him with karma.

Baretta defeated Yujiro Takahashi

Baretta did a cool tope con hilo to the floor early. Takahashi got heat by giving him the snake eyes on one of the barricades. Baretta made a comeback but one of Takahashi’s ladies gave him his cane and used it to attack Baretta after a dive. He gave him a fisherman’s buster on the metal railing, then hit the Miami shine but Baretta kicked out.

Baretta took out Takahashi on the top rope but Takahashi crotched him, gave him a fisherman’s buster off the top rope and followed it with the Tokyo pimps — Baretta kicked out of both. Baretta countered out of the pimp juice attempt and piledrove Takahashi.

Takahashi whipped him hard into the ropes as Baretta did a Flair bump into the corner, but rebounded back, took out Takahashi, hit a flying knee then pinned Yujiro him with the dudebuster. A good match, though the crowd was dead for some of it.

Killer Elite Squad defeated IWGP Tag Team champions War Machine and the Guerillas of Destiny to win the titles

They started outside the ring as everyone brawled into the crowd. Davey Boy Smith Jr introduced a table as Archer and Smith focused on Rowe. War Machine makes a comeback bur Archer throws him down, grabs him, goes for the old school spot then leaps off with a crossbody to the floor, wiping out everyone.

Guerillas of Destiny come back and lay out Archer with the Guerilla Warfare on the entryway ramp. War Machine then lays out Davey Boy Smith Jr. with an assisted splash on the table, seemingly putting both members of KES out, leaving it between War Machine and the Guerillas of Destiny.

War Machine start out strong, but Guerillas of Destiny make a comeback. They go for the Guerilla Warfare on Rowe but Hanson comes in and clears house. Hanson hits fallout on Loa but Dave Boy Smith Jr. comes in and takes out the referee, KES are alive and back in the match. Archer shoves Hanson on the apron, sending him through a table.

Rowe fights back, escaping a Killer bomb, but the numbers game is too much. They hit it a second time, with Archer pinning Rowe to win the match and the titles. This was a pretty solid match with a good story and some good brawling. Not sure where to put it in terms of the matches they’ve already had, probably somewhere between the first and the second.

They showed the same mysterious vignette they’ve been showing since the G1 Finals.

Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin defeated Kota Ibushi and David Finlay

This was good. It was mostly between Ibushi/Tanahashi and Elgin/Finlay, and in both cases it was solid action. Finlay went for the stunner but was clocked by a Elgin lariat, got buckle bombed, then was pinned with the Elgin bomb.

Ibushi and Tanahashi had a staredown after the match. 

Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and Rocky Romero defeated Tetsuya Naito, SANADA and BUSHI

This was good. The crowd was into Naito whenever he was on defense. He and Ishii worked with one another a ton, and continued to focus on the knee. He’s been targeting it all tour, so it should be a focal point in their singles match on 10/9. Ishii managed to isolate BUSHI then pinned him with a brainbuster.

Ishii and Naito went at it after the match. Ishii tore into him then left, with Naito standing tall in the ring. 

Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay defeated EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi

Ospreay and Takahashi have great chemistry with one another and worked a lot of the match together. EVIL and Okada worked over each other as well and looked great. EVIL worked on Okada’s injured shoulder. Everyone teased their finishers on one another. Okada laid out EVIL with the rainmaker, then Ospreay hit the Ozcutter on Takahashi for the win. This turned into a really good match towards the end.

IWGP United States champion Kenny Omega defeated Juice Robinson to retain his title

This was awesome. A lot of great, dramatic work and some brilliant back and forth that made it really seem like a back and forth battle. Robinson more than brought it to the table and looked excellent in the big moments, to the point that there were some moments in the match where I thought the title would change. The finish was fantastic, an out of nowhere spot that looked tremendous in execution.

A lot of it early was some good back and forth action. Omega hit a big tope con hilo to the outside and continued to work on him inside the ring. He went for the One Winged Angel, but Robinson countered with a victory roll, where both men countered one another until Robinson got a two count. Omega went for another, but Robinson clipped his leg and started to work on it.

Robinson draped Omega’s knee against the turnbuckle but Omega responded by shoving him into the barricade. Undeterred, Robinson immediately comes back and works on Omega’s injured leg once more. He takes him to the apron but Omega blocks it and after a struggle, suplexes him to the floor.

Omega works on Robinson in the ring, drilling him with big v-triggers. Robinson catches one, strikes Omega and goes for the pulp friction but Omega counters, smashes him in the corner and lands a Jay driller. Robinson kept fighting back and repeatedly tried for the pulp friction but Omega kept avoiding it until finally Robinson landed it…but Omega kicked out, becoming the first person to do so.

Juice goes for the pulp friction off the top rope but Omega slips under and instead drills Robinson with a One Winged Angel off the top rope to retain the title.

Omega made it clear after the match that the Cleaner was back. Surgery or no surgery, it doesn’t matter. He commended Juice on his effort. He is best in the world, but must head back to Canada. Goodbye, and good night. 

YOSHI-HASHI came out during Omega’s post match interview and challenged. Omega eventually agreed.

Final Thoughts:

The main event was fantastic, and the other two billed matches delivered in their own right. But as a whole, the show was just there. I think it was some good build towards King of Pro Wrestling, but then again I can see matches like this on a two hour Korakuen Hall show and wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. I get why they do three shows in September as it’s worked pretty well in terms of ticket sales, but even two big shows in a month stretches the cards thin; doing three is overkill. Watch the two title matches and Baretta/Takahashi, but everything else is skippable.