Here are the results from this morning’s Kizuna Road show, the last of the three live events on New Japan World. This morning’s show from Korakuen Hall featured the retirement of Super Strong Machine, Junji Hirata, who is retiring after 40 years in the business.
Yujiro Takahashi and Taiji Ishimori defeated KUSHIDA and Ren Narita
Not much to talk about here. Your typical match where the young lion is worked over but makes a comeback until he gets cut off. Takahashi pinned Narita with the pimp juice DDT.
Togi Makabe, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask defeated Toa Henare, Tomoyuki Oka, Shota Umino
A bit more active here, but still just your typical six man tag team bout. Seemed to be a platform for Togi Makabe since he’s in the G1 this year. He picked up the win, pinning Oka with the king kong knee drop.
El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taka Michinoku defeated Rocky Romero and Roppongi 3K
Another solid tag match. This was to get Desperado’s win back after last night’s loss. Romero was going for a sliced bread but Desperado escape. He distracted the referee long enough for Kanemaru to spray Romero, allowing Desperado to pick up the win with a modified cradle.
Lineups for all nineteen shows were announced. We will have a post later this morning with full cards, but highlights include Tanahashi/Suzuki and Okada/White headlining the first night, Okada/Suzuki on 8/2, Naito/Ibushi and Ishii/Omega on 8/4, Naito/SANADA on 8/8, Tanahashi/Okada on 8/10 and Naito/Sabre and Omega/Ibushi on 8/11.
Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano defeated Taichi and Takashi Iizuka
This was goofy and lame. It has just about every lame Suzuki-gun trope ever produced into one match. Iizuka’s gimmick is so old hat at this point, he detracts from everything he does. Iizuka and Taichi ganged up on Yano, but Ishii blasted Iizuka’s iron fingers of death with a lariat and Yano scored the pinfall with a low blow and roll up.
Before the next match, it was announced that Juice Robinson has a badly broken hand and was fighting against doctor’s orders. Per the referee, attacking the hand has been made illegal.
Kazuchika Okada, Jay White, Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin, Jeff Cobb and David Finlay
Early on, this was a showcase for Elgin, who took on both YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto. Same with Cobb, who went at it with Goto. Robinson and White went at it as well in the closing moments. Both teased their finish. White attacked the hand right in front of the referee, but nothing happened. He then pinned Robinson with the Bladerunner. Very good match overall.
It is now time for the Super Strong Machine retirement ceremony. I think part of it had Ryusuke Taguchi transform into one of the machines in between clips of his career. Shogun Ky Wakamatsu came out alongside Super Strong Machine once all the machines made their entrance.
Strong Machine Ace, Strong Machine Don, Strong Machine Buffalo, Strong Machine No. 69 and Strong Machine Justice defeated Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI
There was one spot early where all of LIJ tried to unmask the machines, but to no avail. They built up to a big spot where they all chained together for a giant suplex, where all of LIJ were suplexed at the same time. No. 69 tried for the strong machine suplex, but BUSHI cut him off and isolated him.
Buffalo took Naito to the outside where Super Strong Machine took him out with a lariat. No. 69 then planted BUSHI with Super Strong Machine’s hammerlock suplex for the win. Not a great main event, but a fine tribue to the Strong Machine gimmick with a couple of good spots.
They aired a video featuring interviews with Shibata and Jushin Thunder Liger. Super Strong Machine then came out as Wakamatsu came out to give him flowers. Hiro Saito, Masahito Kakihara, Ryoto Chikuzen, Kazunari Murakami, Katsuyori Shibata, Watoru Inoue and Yuji Nagata all came out to give him flowers. More of the roster, including Liger, Tiger Mask and KUSHIDA and the participants from the main event came out for pictures.
After meeting all the young lions, Strong Machine cut a promo, basically saying that he wasn’t able to take bumps for the last few years and thus had this ceremony. He wants to relax, heal his body and venture onto new things after that. Before he left, he paid tribute to his wife, who passed away in January after battling cancer. From what it sounds like, very nice and touching way to close out the show.
Here are this morning’s results from Korakuen Hall for the second of three Kizuna Road shows that will be broadcast live on New Japan World. We’ll also see bracketing for next month’s G1 Climax tournament.
Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura went to a time limit draw
This was pretty fun. These two have improved tons in the last few months and a built a very basic, solid opening match. The two traded near falls that got the crowd into the match. Tsuji trapped Uemura in a Boston crab and struggled to get him to submit, but wouldn’t and the time limit soon expired.
Yujiro Takahashi and Taiji Ishimori defeated Ren Narita and Shota Umino
A solid match. These kind of matches are usually designed to showcase the young lions, and both looked good here. Umino actually busted out a la magistral cradle for a cool nearfall. Yujiro cut him off and hit the pimp juice DDT for the win,
Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Tomoyuki Oka
Another solid match featuring guys who didn’t make the cut for this year’s G1. Nagata not being in is so crazy, he’s always the one that has sleeper matches with some of the best talent. An average, pretty good tag team bout. Nagata pinned Oka with a back suplex.
Roppongi 3K, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, David Finlay, Henare
Fast-paced, really good match. Lots of tags that allowed everyone to get some shine in. For someone that’s mostly done tags this year YOSHI-HASHI has bandages everywhere. Boiled down to Henare and YOSHI-HASHI. Henare showed some good fire, but got cut off by YOSHI-HASHI who submitted him with the butterfly lock.
Time for block announcements:
A Block: Togi Makabe, Michael Elgin, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Jay White, YOSHI-HASHI, Bad Luck Fale, Hangman Page, EVIL, Minoru Suzuki
B Block: Juice Robinson, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Tama Tonga, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, Zack Sabre Jr., Kota Ibushi, Kenny Omega
So yes, in other words, Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi is happening very soon. Get ready!
Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, SANADA and EVIL defeated Taichi, Takashi Izuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taka Michinoku
Hey, guess what. This match started with Suzuki-gun jumping everyone and they ended up brawling on the outside. It was an ok match, but kinda short. BUSHI scored the win for his team after hitting Michinoku with the MX.
SANADA refused to fist bump Naito after the match, teasing their eventual match in the B Block.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Juice Robinson, Jeff Cobb and KUSHIDA defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Jay White, Tomohiro Ishii and Gedo
Ishii and Elgin went at it and had some good back and forth. Cobb and Goto did some brief exchanges as well, since they are likely to be the next NEVER title match. KUSHIDA scored the win, submitting Gedo with the hoverboard lock.
White jumped KUSHIDA and Elgin after the match, laying them both out. White then threw Robinson into the barricade. He took him back into the ring, planted him with a back suplex and went for the Bladerunner but Juice started to fire back .Robinson went for pulp friction but White low blowed him and beat him up with elbows. He followed up by wrapping Robinson’s hand with a chair then used another to smash Robinson’s hand.
The IWGP Jr. title got a cool champions roll call package before the main event.
Hiromu Takahashi defeated El Desperado to retain the IWGP Jr. title
Takahashi came out to the ring with a guitar case. Inside the cage was a nice bouquet of flowers that Takahashi gave to Desperado. When Takahashi turned his back, Desperado very rudely jumped him with the flowers to kick off the match.
Takahashi gained control and took Desperado into the stands. Takahashi charged toward him but Desperado drove the guitar case into his chest. Desperado followed by clearing out an aisle and drove Takahashi head first into the row of chairs.
Desperado continues to wear and tear Takahashi until he finally fires back with a running dropkick into a barricade on the outside. Desperado counders by undoing the turnbuckle pad. When Desperado tries to whip Takahashi into the turnbuckle, he counters and sends Desperado into the post.
Takahashi continued to do crazy stuff, including hitting a sunset flip bomb to the floor and landing a gigantic senton from the top rope to the outside. Back inside the ring, the two have a big striking match where Takahashi gets the upper hand.
Desperado went for the guitara de angel but Takahashi blocked it, After a low blow attempt fails, Desperado nailed Takahashi with a lariat. Yoshinobu Kanemaru then came in with a chair. As the ref was taking care of him, Desperado used the chair to wallop Takahashi. Hiromu used the opportunity to plant Desperado with the dynamite plunger on the chair.
BUSHI took out Kanemaru with the mist as Takahashi hit the running driver into the corer. Desperado dodged, taking out the ref and low blowing Takahashi. Desperado grabs the belt, but Takahashi grabbed the mask. Desperado was stunned at first, but then whalloped Takahashi with the belt and hit the guitara de angel, but didn’t get it.
Desperado went for another but Takahashi went for a triangle. Desperado powerbombed him, but Takahashi kept it on. Desperado escaped and after a brief flurry Takahashi put it on again. This time, Desperado deadlifted him and powerbombed him into the exposed turnbuckle. Desperado went for a charge, but Takahashi responded with a belly to belly into the turnbuckle.
Takahashi followed with the running driver into the turnbuckle and hit the time bomb for the win. Excellent match. Good start, Takahashi made a great comeback and the layout of the finish was awesome.
Takahashi cut a short promo to end the show. Main event is strong enough to check out on its own.
The first of three Kizuna Road shows will feature a high profile NEVER Openweight title match.
New champion Michael Elgin will defend his title against the former champion, Hirooki Goto. Considering that he never took the pin in the triple threat match at Dominion, Goto has a valid reason for getting such a quick rematch. It’ll be up to him to regain the title that he never lost.
NJPW is also set to announce the entrants for this year’s G1 Climax tournament, which is set to kick off next month. We’ll only get a list of names on tonight’s show — block and match announcements won’t be announced until the 6/18 and 6/19 shows, respectively. One has to wonder who will make the cut this year and who may be entering as a surprise.
Join us for live coverage tonight at 5:30 a.m. EST. The show will not have English commentary.
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Yuya Uemura went to a time limit draw with Yota Tsuji
They began with a crisp chain wrestling sequence. Uemura moved to working the left arm, using a hammerlock. He went for a cross armbreaker, but could not get it, and Tsuji capitalized. Tsuji used a kneebar and a heel hook, attacking the left leg.
Tsuji continued working the leg, with stomps on the ground, and in the corner. Uemura made a comeback, hitting a shoulder block and a scoop slam. He used an armbar and a wristlock, until Tsuji made the ropes. Tsuji hit a dropkick and a pair of scoop slams, as Uemura really sold the damage to his leg.
Tsuji applied a single leg crab, but Uemura was able to reach the ropes. Tsuji tried to irish whip Uemura, but Uemura went down, selling the leg. Uemura hit a dropkick, then went for the cross armbreaker. Tsuji transitioned to a crab, but Uemura finally got the armbreaker. Tsuji reached the ropes.
After the rope break, Uemura went for a cover, but the bell sounded, as they reached the ten minute time limit. A fundamentally sound opener, with good selling from both guys.
Oka and Nakanishi traded strikes to a stalemate, until Nakanishi hit a shoulder block, dropping Oka. Nagata and Umino tagged in, and Umino got some early offense on Nagata, hitting a dropkick, and picking up a nearfall.
Nagata came back with strikes. Oka came in to aid his partner, and Nagata sent him to the floor. Nakanishi went for the backbreaker rack on Umino but Oka jumped in for the save. Nakanishi hit a stiff forearm shot, but Umino countered with a dropkick, and made the tag to Oka.
Oka hit Nakanishi with a pair of avalanches in the corner, and used a double underhook suplex for a nearfall, as the Korakuen crowd got behind him. Oka hit a vertical suplex for a nearfall, but Nakanishi countered with a spear, and made the tag to Nagata.
Nagata hit Oka with strikes, but ate a hip toss, and Umino tagged in. Umino ran wild with back elbow strikes, and a front dropkick off the top. He went for an armbar, but Nakanishi made the save. While Oka and Nakanishi brawled to the floor, Nagata hit a kick and a knee lift.
Nagata hit an exploder, and used a Nagata Lock, forcing Umino to tap. This was a standard Young Lions vs. Veterans tag match, with Umino and Oka getting a touch more offense than usual.
Tenzan and Yujiro started off. Korakuen loves Tenzan. Tenzan hit some chops, and both guys tagged out.
Taiji hit a seated senton, and a low dropkick, before tagging Yujiro. Yujiro used shoulder blocks, a slam, and a crab, until Tenzan lumbered in to break the hold. Yujiro hit a yakuza kick on Narita, who came back with a dropkick, and tagged Tenzan.
Tenzan hit some chops in the corner, and called for a brainbuster, but hit more of a vertical suplex. Yujiro came back with a low kick and a fishermans suplex. He hit a yakuza kick in the corner, but Tenzan hit a leg lariat, and they tagged their partners.
Narita got a nearfall off a back elbow, and went to the crab, but Taiji reached the ropes. Taiji hit his handspring into a kick, then hit a lungblower for a nearfall. He followed up with a Lebell Lock, and Narita tapped.
This was good when Narita and Taiji were in, and below average when Tenzan and Yujiro were.
KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi, Toa Henare, Jeff Cobb & Togi Makabe defeated Rocky Romero, SHO, YOH, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI
SHO and KUSHIDA started out, and it was awesome. They exchanged holds on the ground, armbar attempts, and went at a crazy pace. YOH and Taguchi tagged in and did some comedy. Taguchi ran the ropes until he dropped. YOSHI-HASHI tagged in and ate a hip attack, leading to Taguchi’s corner train spot.
Henare tagged in and the Chaos team cut him off. Taguchi and Rocky brawled into the crowd, while Yano and Henare worked in the ring. Makabe got a tag, and he worked over YOSHI and Yano with clotheslines. Taguchi and Makabe hit a series of hip attacks on Yano, and Makabe hit a suplex for a nearfall.
Yano hit his inverted atomic drop, and Rocky and Cobb tagged in. Rocky went for a springboard rana, but Cobb caught him. Rocky went for an avalanche, but Cobb caught him and hit an overhead belly to belly and a standing shooting star. Cobb followed up with a Tour of the Islands, and got the pin.
They announced the G1 Field:
Kenny Omega, Michael Elgin, Jay White, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Juice Robinson, Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Hangman Page, Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Kota Ibushi.
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi defeated TAKA Michinoku, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & Takashi Iizuka
Suzuki-gun jumped LIJ at the bell. While the other seven guys brawled on the floor, EVIL ran wild on TAKA and Kanemaru in the ring. LIJ overcame the odds, and Naito and Hiromu jumped in. Taichi hit Naito with the mic stand from the apron, and another brawl broke out.
Desperado sent Hiromu into the crowd, and attacked his left leg with a chair. Iizuka kind of just wandered around the building. Taichi worked over Naito, who just beat the count back inside. Iizuka bit Naito while Taichi took the ref, but Taichi and Naito were still the legal men.
Naito hit an enziguri and a neckbreaker, and SANADA got a tag. He tied up an interfering Kanemaru with the paradise lock, and ran wild with dropkicks. Taichi and Iizuka cut him off, raking his eyes and biting him.
Desperado and Hiromu tagged in, and they did a cool criss-cross sequence. Desperado hit a spear, but Hiromu came back with his overhead throw into the corner. TAKA and BUSHI tagged in, and Suzuki-gun quickly cut BUSHI off.
TAKA got a couple of nearfalls, while the other eight guys brawled on the floor. Naito recovered and hit TAKA withh a corner dropkick. BUSHI hit a codebreaker for a nearfall, then hit TAKA with an MX for the pin.
This was mostly a showcase for the popular LIJ faction, and an appetizer for Desperado vs. Hiromu, which takes place tomorrow.
Kazuchika Okada, Jay White & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi & David Finlay
Juice and White started out. White used underhanded tactics to gain the advantage on Juice. Okada and Tana tagged in, and the place started buzzing. Okada hit a slingshot senton, and took Tana to the corner, where he tagged in Ishii. Ishii no-sold Tana’s chops, and hit a suplex for a nearfall. White tagged in and used a crossface.
Okada tagged back in, but got nailed with a dragon screw. White and Juice tagged back in. Juice hit a dropkick and a sit-out lariat. He followed with his jabs, a clothesline in the corner, and went to the top. Juice missed a high cross, and White shit a suplex, before tagging Ishii. White and Ishii attempted a double team, but Juice hit a crossbody on both, and tagged in Finlay.
Finlay ran wild on Ishii. He hit a back elbow off the turnbuckle. He survived Ishii blocking a dropkick. Tana tagged in and hit sling blade on Ishii, and intercepted an interfering Okada, hitting a dragon screw.
Juice hit White with a cannonball in the corner. Finlay went for a cutter, but Ishii blocked. Finlay used a series of cradles for nearfalls. Ishii went for the brainbuster, but Finlay slid out. Ishii hit a german and a lariat for a nearfall, then hit the brainbuster, getting the win.
White teased leaving, then came back out and attacked Juice as he was walking to the opposite locker room. White sent Juice into the post, then whipped him into the barricade twice. He hit a suplex on the floor, then grabbed a chair, and attacked the Young Lions that tried to restrain him.
He tossed Juice into the ring, and teased a con-chair-to on Juice’s arm, but Juice escaped at the last minute, and punched the chair into White’s face.
A good match, all action, and a hot angle after to set up White vs. Juice for the US title next month.
Hirooki Goto defeated Michael Elgin to win the NEVER Openweight Championship
They traded shoulder blocks and power stuff early, establishing that neither had a significant strength advantage.
Elgin hit a suplex, Goto rolled to the floor, and Elgin hit a footstomp from the apron to the floor. He followed up with a slingshot footstomp back inside.
Elgin hit a buckle bomb and teased going for the quick win with an Elgin Bomb, but got blocked it, and took over. Goto used a sleeper, but Elgin powered out and hit a german. He went for another, but Goto blocked it with his foot, and Elgin had to transition to an exploder, securing a nearfall.
They exchanged chops and palm strikes to the chest, then Elgin connected with a dropkick. Elgin hit a delayed vertical suplex for a nearfall, then hit an avalanche and a middle rope senton for another. Goto came back with strikes, and hit a big lariat, leading to a double down.
Goto hit a corner lariat, then a running leg lariat in the opposite corner. Elgin came back with a series of strikes to the chest, before hitting a powerslam for a nearfall. Elgin hit a series of clubbing blows to the chest and back, but Goto cut him off with an ushigoroshi.
Goto went for a DDT, but Elgin backed him into Red Shoes in the corner, and the ref took a bump, and rolled to the floor. Elgin hit a falcon arrow, then teased the Elgin Bomb, but Taichi ran in and nailed both with his mic stand. Jeff Cobb ran down and suplexed Taichi, before chasing him to the back.
Goto and Elgin traded forearms on the mat, then both got to their feet and continued to trade. Goto hit a suplex, but ate a pair of enziguris off a charge into the corner. Elgin hit a scoop slam and went up top, but Goto cut him off, and knocked him to the apron.
Goto tried to suplex Elgin into the ring, but Elgin blocked, and pulled him to the apron. Goto knocked Elgin to the floor with strikes, and Elgin countered, pulling Goto to the floor and hitting a fishermans suplex on the floor.
Elgin tossed Goto back inside and went to the top rope. He hit a splash off the top for a nearfall. He went for an Elgin Bomb, but Goto backdropped out. They traded forearms, and Elgin pulled off his elbow pad and hit a huge strike, then a modified chokeslam for a nearfall.
Elgin put Goto on the top rope, and teased a crucifix bomb, but Goto blocked. Elgin stepped to the apron and hit a clothesline, knocking Goto to the mat. Elgin put Goto back on the top and teased the crucifix bomb again, but Goto blocked. Elgin hit an enziguri, then fought for a superplex, but Goto countered, hitting a powerbomb off the top for a nearfall.
Goto went for the GTR, but Elgin blocked it. Goto hit a Shouten Kai for a nearfall, which the crowd really bought as a potential finish. Goto measured out a kick, but Elgin caught it, and hit a huge forearm. Goto used a sleeper, but Elgin hulked up and broke the hold with a throw.
Elgin hit a massive forearm, then a lariat, which Goto took a flip bump off. Elgin hit the Elgin Bomb, but Goto kicked out at two. Elgin hit a buckle bomb, but Goto fired out of the corner with a lariat. Goto hit a lariat and this time Elgin took a flip bump, and Goto got a two count.
Goto went for the GTR, but Elgin slippe dout. He went for the Elgin Bomb, then maybe a torture rack bomb, but Goto slipped out and hit a lariat. Goto then hit two GTRs, and got the pin, winning the title.
Cobb came back out after the match and went face-to-face with Goto. He grabbed a mic and challenged Goto for the title, so that looks to be a future direction.
This was a great main event, and they worked at a pretty crazy pace for 31 minutes, especially for two bigger guys.
Full lineups for Kizuna Road have been revealed, featuring two big matches and G1 announcements.
The G1 Climax 28 tournament announcements will be strung across all three shows. 6/17 will announce the participants. The second show on 6/18 will have block announcements and the last show on 6/19 will announce the main events for each show.
Title matches announced for the Kizuna Road tour features Michael Elgin vs. Hirooki Goto headlining the 6/17 show for the NEVER title. Elgin won the title at Dominion by pinning Taichi, so it makes sense that the unpinned champion would be the next challenger for the title. Hiromu Takahashi meanwhile will also defend the Junior heavyweight title against Desperado on the 6/18 show.
The main event on the 6/19 show will feature the retirement ceremony of Super Strong Machine, who hasn’t wrestled since 2014. While he won’t be wrestling on the card, the main event will be filled with Strong Machines: Strong Machine No. 69, Strong Machine Ace, Strong Machine Justice, Strong Machine Don and Strong Machine Buffalo will team up to take on all of Los Ingobernables de Japon.
Here is the entire rundown for each Kizuna Road show that will air on New Japan World. All three shows will take place at Korakuen Hall:
June 17 (features participants announced for this year’s G1):
Michael Elgin vs. Hirooki Goto for the NEVER Openweight title
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson and David Finlay vs. Kazuchika Okada, Jay White and Tomohiro Ishii
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI and Hiromu Takahashi vs. Takashi Iizuka, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado and Taka Michinoku
Togi Makabe, Jeff Cobb, Toa Henare, KUSHIDA and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, Rocky Romero and Roppongi 3K
Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Ren Narita vs. Taiji Ishimori and Yujiro Takahashi
Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tomoyuki Oka and Shota Umino
Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
June 18 (features G1 block announcements):
Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado for the IWGP Jr. title
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Juice Robinson, Jeff Cobb and KUSHIDA vs. Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Jay White, Tomohiro Ishii and Gedo
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI vs. Takashi Iizuka, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taka Michinoku
Ryusuke Taguchi, Toa Henare, David Finlay and Togi Makabe vs. Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI and Roppongi 3K
Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Tomoyuki Oka vs. Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi
Taiji Ishimori and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Ren Narita and Shota Umino
Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
June 19 (features match announcements for G1):
Strong Machine No. 69, Strong Machine Ace, Strong Machine Justice, Strong Machine Don and Strong Machine Buffalo (w/Super Strong Machine) vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI and Hiromu Takahashi
Michael Elgin, Jeff Cobb, Juice Robinson and David Finlay vs. Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Jay White and YOSHI-HASHI
Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano vs. Takashi Iizuka and Taichi
Rocky Romero and Roppongi 3K vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado and Taka Michinoku
Togi Makabe, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask vs. Toa Henare, Tomoyuki Oka and Shota Umino
KUSHIDA and Ren Narita vs. Taiji Ishimori and Yujiro Takahashi
New Japan brought us the third Kizuna Road show of the month at Korakuen Hall this morning, complete with a big IWGP Junior Heavyweight title match as KUSHIDA looked to successfully defend his title against former champion BUSHI.
We also got a look at all the big matches lined up for the G1 Climax, with dates included.
Tetsuhiro Yagi and Shota Umino went to a time limit draw
This was a nice match to kick off the show. They did a bit more than usual and looked pretty good. Yagi was in control for a lot of the match and looked good when on offense; same with Umino when it came to selling. Umino eventually cut him off and had the Boston crab in when the time limit expired.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taka Michinoku defeated Tiger Mask IV & Hirai Kawato
A solid match, with Kawato being the highlight with his intensity. They built up Kawato’s near falls very well as the crowd got into all of them. Michinoku eventually took him down and applied the crossface for the submission.
Tiger Mask and Kanemaru got into it after the match.
It was Kitamura’s time to shine, working mostly with Ishii. Kitamura, as far as star quality goes, probably could be the biggest star in the promotion in a few years. They’d need to do it soon though as he’s 31 years old already. He took the pinfall after eating a lariat from Ishii.
Here are the big matches taking place in this year’s G1, along with the dates for them —
July 17th: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito
July 20th: SANADA vs. EVIL, Minoru Suzuki vs. Kenny Omega
July 21st: Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr., YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tetsuya Naito
July 22nd: Kenny Omega vs. Tama Tonga, Minoru Suzuki vs. SANADA
July 23rd: Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto
July 25th: Toru Yano vs. Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA
July 26th: Togi Makabe vs. Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto
July 27th: Minoru Suzuki vs. EVIL, Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega
July 29th: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tetsuya Naito
July 30th: Satoshi Kojima vs. Kenny Omega, Juice Robinson vs. Kazuchika Okada
August 1st: Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi
August 2nd: Satoshi Kojima vs. Minoru Suzuki, Kenny Omega vs. EVIL
August 4th: Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe
August 5th: Satoshi Kojima vs. SANADA, Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL
August 6th: Togi Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii
August 8th: Kenny Omega vs. SANADA, Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki
August 11th: Kota Ibushi vs. Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito
August 12th: Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki, Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi defeated David Finlay, Ryusuke Taguchi, Juice Robinson & Hiroshi Tanahashi
This time everyone tried to wrap SANADA up in the ball, but they all failed and in stereo all looked ashamed that they couldn’t get it done. That was funny. This turned into a pretty good match with a lot of heat towards the end. Everyone worked well against one another. Finlay made a good comeback before eventually submitting to SANADA’s Skull End.
I think Taguchi wanted SANADA to join Taguchi Japan, or at least give him his towel, after the match. SANADA acted like he was going to grab it, but then jumped him and sent him out of the ring.
Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Taichi & El Desperado defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo
This was another good back-and-forth match between CHAOS and Suzuki-gun, with everyone coming in and getting some shine. Suzuki got Gedo in the sleeper, then shoved him to Desperado, who got the win with his new finisher, the Angel’s Wings.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA defeated BUSHI to retain his title
This was a good, but not great match. There was nothing particularly wrong about it, but it never truly felt heated. Hiromu Takahashi coming in to do spots was kind of annoying, as it was similar to the way the NEVER title match went on this tour, but it wasn’t as pronounced and may at least be a prelude to another showdown between him and KUSHIDA.
BUSHI went for a handshake; KUSHIDA obliged but immediately hit him into the ropes for a hot back and forth. BUSHI gained control and ground down KUSHIDA with some submission work.
BUSHI went to do something off the top rope, but KUSHIDA latched on and took him down to the floor, looking for a Kimura lock. Hiromu Takahashi, with his stuffed cat Darryl, came in to interfere, but KUSHIDA quickly took him out, then followed with a tope con hilo. His feet landed on top of the rail, hurting his leg.
KUSHIDA came back to the ring and hit the Back to the Future, but Takahashi came in instead and pretended to be the ref, counting to three. KUSHIDA got up, allowing Takahashi to superkick him, then followed with the sunset flip bomb before exiting.
BUSHI came around and took over on offense. He went to hit the MX, but KUSHIDA countered and laid him out. He misted KUSHIDA (while the ref was distracted, of course), then went for a bridge, but KUSHIDA kicked out. BUSHI went to jump off the top rope for the MX, but KUSHIDA caught him and landed the Back to the Future for the win.
Desperado came out after the match and hit KUSHIDA with his guitar, channeling Jeff Jarrett. He does have a win over KUSHIDA from the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, so he has his reason for challenging. The G1 finals would make the most sense for that match.
The Kizuna Road tour returned this morning for a big main event at Korakuen Hall. We not only had some young lions matches and your usual tags, but also a NEVER Openweight title match with Minoru Suzuki defending against YOSHI-HASHI.
Shota Umino and Tetsuhiro Yagi went to a time limit draw
They had a solid opening match — standard stuff you’ll see in the usual young lion match. Both seem to show a lot of promise, with both of them continually improving as time goes on.
Once it went to a draw, Umino went to pick up Yagi, but he’d have none of it, and they butted heads for a bit before leaving.
The locker room segments that were seen on the previous Kizuna Road show made their return here. An announcer guy tried to interview Suzuki in the Suzuki-gun locker room, with the kind of results one would expect.
Tomoyuki Oka and Katsuya Kitamura went to a time limit draw
This was also solid. The crowd got into it towards the end as Kitamura was doing power spots, including a gutwrench suplex. Oka had the advantage and was landing some near falls when the bell rang, ending the match. Oka wasn’t done and continued working on Kitamura as both eventually had to be separated.
Announcer guy was back, this time with YOSHI-HASHI, who was all alone in the CHAOS locker room. YOSHI-HASHI politely answered the announcer’s questions.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & Taka Michinoku defeated Hirai Kawato, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV
This was Kawato’s match to shine. As far as the young lions go, he is probably the overall highlight out of the current bunch in terms of intensity. He scored a number of big near falls on Kanemaru which got the crowd hot for him. Kanemaru came back with his DDT finish for the win.
Nagata and Ishii had a really good back-and-forth brawl. Nakanishi and Yano came in, then Nakanishi and Nagata worked on Yano together. An errant clothesline by Nakanishi into Nagata gave Yano ample opportunity to low blow Nakanishi and roll him up for the win.
This year’s G1 blocks were announced —
A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe. Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Bad Luck Fale, Yuji Nagata, Zack Sabre Jr., Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito
B Block: Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Satoshi Kojima, Michael Elgin, Juice Robinson, Tama Tonga, SANADA, EVIL, Minoru Suzuki, Kenny Omega
Match lineups will be announced on tomorrow’s show.
El Desperado & Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Kazuchika Okada & Gedo
Desperado had the stretch muffler on Gedo at one point until Okada broke it up. DBS grabbed Okada and prevented him from entering the ring again, allowing Desperado to score the win with an Angel’s Wings.
Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, EVIL & BUSHI defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Ryusuke Taguchi & Togi Makabe
This match was full of solid action, but it was nothing too memorable. It was basically a showcase for Los Ingobernables. I did like one spot where Taguchi went to roll up SANADA in a ball, but he then exited the ring frustrated because he couldn’t get the job done. EVIL submitted Finlay with what looked like a chicken wing sleeper hold.
NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki defeated YOSHI-HASHI to retain his title
This was one of those Suzuki-gun matches where the constant interference spots superseded everything, making you really wonder why New Japan makes their refs look so incompetent in trying to keep a match going without any interference. Once that all got settled, however, this turned into a pretty good bout.
YOSHI-HASHI was seconded by Okada, while Suzuki had Desperado, Kanemaru, Taka Michinoku, and Taichi. Okada proved his worth early, fending them off as YOSHI-HASHI bailed to the outside after taking some stiff kicks. Suzuki responded by grabbing the referee and walking away, leaving the heels to gang up on the faces. I didn’t know it was that easy.
Suzuki took YH and beat him down in the crowd, pelting him with steel chair shots. It turned into a wild mess where Suzuki laid out Okada and the rest of the heels picked apart YOSHI-HASHI.
Suzuki gained control, but when going for the Gotch piledriver, YH countered into a back body drop. YH came back with the butterfly lock, but the rest of Suzuki-gun interfered. Okada cleared house again, but Davey Boy Smith Jr. laid him out.
Smith went for the Bulldog Bomb, but suddenly the rest of Chaos emptied out of the locker room, finally evening the score!
YOSHI-HASHI sent Suzuki down with a sleeper and hit a senton, but Suzuki kicked out. He locked in the butterfly lock. Suzuki writhed in pain, but had trouble making it to the ropes. After being in it for a long while and teasing several times like he was going to submit, Suzuki managed to get one foot on the ropes.
Suzuki flew back with a dropkick, evening the odds. The two had a slap battle, with Suzuki winning. He put on the sleeper, then nailed YH with the Gotch piledriver to retain the title.
The first of three Kizuna Road shows aired earlier this morning at Korakuen Hall. The show had a big main event as Los Ingobernables de Japon defended their NEVER Six-Man tag titles against KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & Juice Robinson. We also found out who will be in this year’s G1 Climax.
Korakuen Hall looked particularly empty this morning — some visible empty seats could be seen in wide shots.
Tomoyuki Oka defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi
Oka worked over Yagi a ton of the match. Yagi did a good job in playing the babyface in peril. He kicked out of a running powerslam, but Oka immediately locked in the Boston crab and submitted him.
El Desperado, Taka Michinoku & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Shota Umino, Tiger Mask IV & Jushin Thunder Liger
Umino worked a lot of this match and looked pretty good — the crowd got into him and he was great in his selling and execution of moves. Really good performance from him. Desperado submitted him with the stretch muffler.
Liger and Tiger Mask posed for fans after the match.
This was just there. Kitamura is very green, but he’s perfectly decent for his experience level. Nakanishi seems to move slower and do less the more I see him in the ring. Nagata controlled Kitamura for a lot of the match and ended up pinning him with the backdrop driver.
This was a solid six-man bout. There was a lot of brawling outside of the ring and through the crowd early. Ishii worked a lot of the match and looked good, so did everyone else here really.
Kojima and Tenzan hit the 3D on Jado, then Makabe followed with the King Kong knee drop for the win.
The participants in this year’s G1 Climax tournament were then announced. The field is:
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Michael Elgin, Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, Juice Robinson, Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., and Kota Ibushi.
The blocks will be announced on June 26th, with matches revealed the next day.
Takahashi came to the ring with a stuffed cat doll. He treated it like it was a living thing. Naito even fist-bumped it. His name is Darryl, if you were wondering.
This was Kawato’s big test, being in a more higher profile match than usual and he ended up scoring pretty well. He did great in his selling and has such great natural intensity that it resonated with the fans, so they got into him early, especially when he ran out and jumped Naito before the bell.
He still lost the match for the team, with Takahashi submitting him with the Boston crab.
A female interviewer talked with Taguchi Japan before their title match. Taguchi talked about the team and their match tonight for a bit.
YOSHI-HASHI, Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto defeated Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & Davey Boy Smith Jr.
YOSHI-HASHI jumped Suzuki right at the bell and kept hammering at him until the ref had to pull them apart. It then turned into a solid back-and-forth match. I think this is Smith’s first time on a tour in ages and he looked really good both physically and in the ring.
Suzuki and YH had a great back and forth towards the end of the match. Suzuki laid him out as Taichi went to get a chair, but Okada broke it up. YH came back and locked in the butterfly lock for the submission.
Suzuki-gun tried to clear house after the match, but Okada and YH fought back, enabling YH to apply the butterfly lock on Suzuki for a long time until Okada finally broke it up.
The interviewer tried to talk to the NEVER Six-Man tag champs, but none of them seemed all that chatty. BUSHI did end up saying a few words.
NEVER Six-Man Tag Team Champions SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA & Juice Robinson to retain their titles
This was good, and it was easily the best match on the show. It wasn’t out of this world, but for a Korakuen Hall house show main event it delivered.
BUSHI and KUSHIDA started the match. They looked really good against one another, a positive sign for their match on the 27th. There was a cool spot where KUSHIDA struggled to get the armbar on BUSHI, so Robinson responded by headbutting BUSHI to execute it properly.
Everyone cleared each other out of the ring as Robinson cleared house. Taguchi did a Doomsday hip attack from the top rope. Robinson then went for the Pulp Friction, but when SANADA countered he hit a powerbomb instead. He went for it again, though SANADA kept escaping.
SANADA tripped him on the rope, which allowed EVIL on the outside to wallop him with a steel chair shot. SANADA threw him into BUSHI, who hit the MX, with SANADA following with his Skull End submission and leaving Robinson no real alternative but to tap.
New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced many of the matches for the shows in Long Beach on July 1st and 2nd.
The July 1st live show on AXS TV will be headlined by Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody for the IWGP Heavyweight title and will also feature first round matches in the United States Heavyweight title tournament. Those are: Kenny Omega vs. Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal vs. Hangman Page, Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tetsuya Naito, and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Juice Robinson.
The semifinals and finals of the tournament will be on July 2nd, plus a weird match with Hiroshi Tanahashi defending his Intercontinental title against Billy Gunn.
The card for July 1st is —
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada defending against Cody
Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega in a US title first round match
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tetsuya Naito in a US title first round match
IWGP Tag Team Champions Guerrillas of Destiny defending against War Machine
David Finlay, Jay White, KUSHIDA & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Sho Tanaka, Yohei Komatsu, Yoshitatsu & Billy Gunn
Juice Robinson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. in a US title first round match
Jay Lethal vs. Hangman Page in a US title first round match
Titan, Dragon Lee, Volador Jr. & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI, EVIL & SANADA
Roppongi Vice, Will Ospreay & The Briscoes vs. The Young Bucks, Marty Scurll, Yujiro Takahashi & Bad Luck Fale
July 2nd will have (with more matches to be announced) —
The semifinals and finals of the US title tournament
IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defending against Billy Gunn
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks defending against Roppongi Vice
Before Long Beach, three Kizuna Road shows will air live on New Japan World. The June 20th card has a NEVER Six-Man tag title match pitting KUSHIDA, Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi against champions BUSHI, EVIL & SANADA. Davey Boy Smith Jr. will also make his return to NJPW in a six-man Suzuki-gun vs. Chaos tag match.
Minoru Suzuki will defend his NEVER Openweight Championship against YOSHI-HASHI on June 26th.
The final Kizuna Road show on June 27th will have KUSHIDA defending his newly won IWGP Junior Heavyweight title against BUSHI, who attacked him at Dominion.
Announcements for the G1 (participants, blocks, and matches) will be made across the three shows.
This morning’s Kizuna Road show, live in Iwate on New Japan World, is highlighted by two title matches and an eight man elimination tag team match.
Send your feedback and thumbs up/down/in the middle and a best and worst match to [email protected]
The main event has Katsuyori Shibata, who just won back the NEVER title a few weeks ago at Dominion, defending his championship against Tomoaki Honma, the perennial underdog. It’ll be interesting to see who wins here as they are also scheduled to meet again later this summer in the G1. In another title match, NEVER Openweight Six Man champs The Elite (Young Bucks and Kenny Omega) defend against veteran Satoshi Kojima and former Junior tag champs Ricochet and Matt Sydal.
In between those two matches we have a big eight man elimination match as Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay and Yoshi-Hashi take on Los Ingoberables de Japon – Evil, Bushi, Tetsuya Naito and Sanada.
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CHASE OWENS VS. DAVID FINLAY
Owens won a short, solid match after a package piledriver. Finlay is good, and also getting popular. Owens was animated, sold well, but comes across as just a guy.
Better than usual for this slot. Baretta survived some near falls with Tenzan. It ended with Taguchi using a plancah on Ishii, Tiger Mask did a tope on Romero, Liger did a plancha on Sakuraba and in the ring, Tenzan pinned Baretta after a moonsault. The crowd was pretty hot seeing Tenzan deliver the move. Match kept moving, was good.
Tenzan did a promo after the match. He’s mad he’s not in G-1 this year, and the crowd wants him in.
YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & HANGMAN PAGE VS. YOSHITATSU & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN
Fans were into chanting for the Hunter Club. Match was okay with Page actually the best of the four. Captain got some near falls on Page before Page put him away with the Omori driver. Whenever Page does that move, it looks like the guy is going to get hurt because he drops them on their head.
Page hung Captain over the top rope after the match. Page cut a promo announcing that in August the tag titles come back to Bullet Club. That means that tag title match with Briscoes vs. Page & Takahashi is likely on the final day of G-1 at Sumo Hall.
TOGI MAKABE & JUICE ROBINSON VS. YUJI NAGATA & MANABU NAKANISHI
As you would expect, Nagata pinned Robinson with a bridging back suplex for the win. Robinson worked most of the way and sold. Nakanishi did more than usual including a top rope superplex and a crossbody off the top. Best stuff was Nagata vs. Makabe. Right before the finish, Nagata & Nakanishi did a double-team on Robinson with Nagata doing a high kick and Nakanishi coming off the top rope wth a chop.
It’s intermission time. They ran through the entire undercard in barely an hour.
YOUNG BUCKS & KENNY OMEGA VS. SATOSHI KOJIMA & RICOCHET & MATT SYDAL FOR NEVER TRIOS TITLES
Young Bucks & Omega were all wearing New Day T-shirts. Nick still has his ribs taped up. He was also doing the Big E pelvic thrusts.
Super match, great from start to finish with the belts changing hands. With the Bucks as tag champs, losing the trios belts makes sense but they bounce these belts around too much. The finish saw Kojima hit Omega with a lariat and then, he lariated both Bucks at the same time. Sydal hit the shooting star press on Matt, and Ricochet hit the shooting star press at the same time on Nick with Sydal pinning Matt.
Nonstop action and moves, but at times, it was the Ricochet highlight show. Everyone was at their best here. The Bucks twice tried the Meltzer driver but both times it was stopped. Lots of dives. The Bucks & Omega also did a “The Elite” chant to the cadence of New Day sucks.
Kojima called out Tenzan. He talked about Tenzan not being in G-1, and then offered Tenzan his spot. He really didn’t do much here so maybe he’s hurt, but on paper, that’s a backward move for the tournament.
KAZUCHIKA OKADA & HIROOKI GOTO & YOSHI-HASHI & WILL OSPREAY VS. TETSUYA NAITO & SEIYA SANADA & EVIL & BUSHI IN AN ELIMINATION MATCH
Another excellent match. It came down to Ospreay and Bushi and they were great. Bushi blew the mist but Ospreay moved and it went into Sanada’s eyes. Ospreay won after a standing Spanish fly and the Oscutter, a diamond cutter off the ropes. Pretty heated match. Naito and Okada did their big spots early to make it clear they were going over the top together. Evil clotheslined Goto off the apron to eliminate him. Yoshi-Hashi superkicked Evil off the apron to eliminate him. Sanada revesed a cradle by Yoshi-Hashi to pin him. This left Ospreay with Bushi and Sanada. Ospreay dropkicked Sanada off the apron to eliminate him. Ospreay was booked to be, and was, the star of the match.
KATSUYORI SHIBATA VS. TOMOAKI HONMA FOR THE NEVER OPENWEIGHT TITLE
Another excellent match but a little predictable. I think everyone pretty much knew how the match would go and the ending. Honma got a lot of offense but nobody ever bought him winning. Everything was laid in hard. A highlight was Honma coming off the top rope to the floor with a diving headbutt and escaping a guillotine by turning it into a brainbuster. Lots of hard elbows. Honma did his headbutts.
The finish saw Honma do a Mascaras style headbutt and Shibata caught him with a choke. He choked him almost all the way out, let go and hit the penalty kick for the pin. It just felt from the start that this is a showcase win for Shibata. Because of that, it wasn’t as good as the match they had a few years ago in G-1 which was a match of the year candidate. Last three bouts were all totally different and all delivered.
Shibata helped Honma to his feet and then threw Honma out of the ring and raised the belt.
The card for Kizuna Road itself isn’t all that interesting, though we do have a unique match in Will Ospreay and Okada teaming up to take on Naito and Bushi in the main event. The real interest will be during the intermission, in which the participants for the G1 will be announced, and the big matches on the tour will be highlighted as well. Will Tanahashi make the cut? Who gets left out? Will Yujiro still somehow maintain a spot? We’ll find out soon enough!
David Finlay vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
About as solid of a match as you’d expect from these two. Taguchi looked good, as did David, who is now sporting a beard. He lost here to the dodon by Taguchi.
Rocky Romero, Trent Baretta, Tomohiro Ishii and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Captain New Japan and Manabu Nakanishi
Nakanishi has a new shirt that says Monster Morning, because he has a really big breakfast. No, really, he posts his breakfast like every day on Twitter. Captain New Japan demanded for Sakuraba to get in there. Sakuraba wasn’t interested. Eventually he relented but CNJ ran to Liger for protection. A lot of comedy stuff to start out with- Baretta wanted to shake Liger’s hand. Liger, who is probably aware by now the handshake spot almost always leads to the dumb babyface getting jumped, had no interest.
Baretta went around shaking everyone’s hand (including a member of the audience) until Liger finally relented. This time, however, Liger caught Baretta trying to lay him out and instead took him out. Basic eight man tag with with pretty fun spots. CNJ and Sakuraba did have another confrontation towards the end, with the latter getting the upper hand. Ishii’s the one to get the win, pinning CNJ with the brainbuster.
Hangman Page, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima, Yoshitatsu and Matt Sydal
Heels jumped faces before the bell rang. Everyone looked good here, as it was an action packed six man tag. Page and Sydal worked together and aside from one noticeable botch they worked pretty well with one another. Kojima made the hot tag, took out Yujiro who was interfering, and pinned Owens with the lariat.
Bullet Club didn’t like that too much, so they jumped the faces after the match and hanged Yoshitatsu. Given he was out for over a year with severe neck injuries I’m pretty sure they could have put someone else in this spot.
B Block: Katsuyori Shibata, Yuji Nagata, Tomoaki Honma, Michael Elgin, Toru Yano, Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Kenny Omega, Yoshi-Hashi, Katsuhiko Nakajima
Big matches:
7/18: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Sanada, Okada vs. Marufuji
7/22: Nagata vs. Naito, Shibata vs. Honma
7/23: Tanahashi vs. Makabe, Okada vs. Sanada
7/24: Nakajima vs. Shibata, Honma vs. Yoshi-Hashi
7/25: Makabe vs. Sanada, Okada vs. Goto
7/27: Yano vs. Naito, Shibata vs. Elgin
7/28: Ishii vs. Marufuji, Goto vs. Sanada
7/30: Omega vs. Elgin, Shibata vs. Naito
7/31: Makabe vs. Marufuji, Tanahashi vs. Goto
8/1: Yoshi Hashi vs. Nakajima, Honma vs. Naito
8/3: Tanahashi vs. Ishii, Makabe vs. Okada
8/4: Nakajima vs. Naito, Shibata vs. Omega
8/6: Tanahashi vs. Marufuji, Okada vs. Ishii
8/7: Omega vs. Nagata, Naito vs. Evil
8/8: Ishii vs. Sanada, Tanahashi vs. Kojima
8/10: Honma vs. Elgin, Shibata vs. Nagata
8/12: Goto vs. Marufuji, Tanahashi vs. Okada
8/13: Shibata vs. Evil, Naito vs. Omega
Additionally, all shows will be airing live on New Japan World.
Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoaki Honma vs. Juice Robinson, Togi Makabe and Katsuyori Shibata
Good match, fast paced and solid throughout. Honma and Shibata, who are in the same block and are also facing off soon over the NEVER title, worked against one another for a lot of the match. Tenzan, who is not in the G1 this year, seemed particularly motivated in this match. He got the win with the moonsault, pinning Robinson. I guess that’ll stick it to those in charge.
Shibata and Honma had to be separated after the match. Tenzan cut a short promo once that was all settled, wondering why he wasn’t in the G1.
Evil and Sanada vs. Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi
Really great match, easily the best of the night in terms of heat. This was all about Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada as they’ve been feuding for the last month.This got a lot of great heat towards the end as Yoshi-Hashi got a submission in on Sanada and nearly tapped him out. They had a really good back and forth exchanged towards the end. Yoshi-Hashi is ready in terms of being a big breakout singles star. They’ve kept him in tags for years and it’s time to go beyond that. Sanada is going to excel here and in the G1. Evil flattened him with a lariat but Yoshi-Hashi kicked out. They did several more great near falls that people were super into. Finally Sanada went for the Skull End once again but Yoshi Hashi slipped to the ground and rolled up Sanada for the flash pin.
Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito and Bushi
Since Naito didn’t have Milano Collection AT or any announcers to bully, he opted to lay out the camera guy instead. Pretty good main event overall. It couldn’t match the previous bout, but people were still very much into it. This crowed loved Naito and there were huge changes for him throughout the match. Ospreay came in for fun great highspots including a tornillo dive to the outside. He hit a spanish fly on Bushi, then a spinning kick but missed the springboard cutter and ate a Canadian destroyer by Bushi. Okada broke up that fall, but Bushi came back and hit the codebreaker for the win.
Bushi cuts a promo and asks why he isn’t in the Super J Cup. Naito says yes, those are the two big events of the summer…but until then, tranquilo.
Good show, and very newsworthy to boot. Definitely check out the co-main as it has some awesome heat and action.
