Members of the Blackpool Combat Club and Los Ingobernables de Japon are squaring off on Dynamite.
Tony Khan announced on social media that Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli will face the LIJ team of Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, and Titan of CMLL on Dynamite. This comes just days before Moxley is set to defend the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against LIJ member Tetsuya Naito at Forbidden Door. Bryan Danielson, who will face Takagi at Forbidden Door, will be on commentary.
TOMORROW, Wed 6/26 Buffalo, NY TBS, 8pm ET/7pm CT Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite
The BCC in recent weeks have been scoring wins as a team, defeating opponents from both NJPW and CMLL. However, Castagnoli came up short against PAC in a Owen Hart Foundation tournament match on Dynamite last week. After the match, he yelled at Danielson at ringside before walking away.
Tony Khan also announced we’ll be hearing from Mercedes Mone on the program:
TOMORROW, Wed 6/26 Buffalo, NY TBS, 8pm ET/7pm CT Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite
We'll hear from @TBSNetwork Champion Mercedes Moné TOMORROW on her channel!
The fallout from Forbidden Door continues on a NJPW-inspired Ring of Honor on HonorClub tonight.
LIJ’s BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi will attempt to take the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles back to Japan as they challenge The Embassy (Brian Cage, Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun).
El Desperado will make his ROH debut against Willie Mack while United Empire’s Kyle Fletcher, TJP & Jeff Cobb take on Christopher Daniels, Action Andretti & Darius Martin in trios action.
Sho & Yujiro Takahashi will face Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta).
In two separate Proving Ground matches, ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli will face Chuck Taylor while ROH Women’s Champion Athena will take on KC Spinelli.
The rest of the 11-match card is highlighted by an eight-man tag team match featuring ROH Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers, El Hijo del Vikingo & Komander vs. The WorkHorsemen (JD Drake and Anthony Henry), Shane Taylor & Gringo Loco.
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Taped in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Tony Khan and Stokley Hathaway opened the show backstage and ran down parts of the card, before sending the show to Ian Riccobani and Caprice Coleman on commentary.
Dralistico & Preston Vance (w/ Jose the Assistant) defeated Mark Wheeler & Vikram Prashar (2:14)
Vance and Dralistico jumped their opponents before the bell. Vance hit Wheeler with a spinebuster, Dralistico dove in with a springboard codebreaker on Prashar, and Vance finished off Wheeler with a discus lariat. This was a total squash.
The Righteous Vincent & Dutch (w/ Stu Grayson) defeated Alex Reynolds & John Silver (5:32)
Grayson was a member of the Dark Order but has been swayed to the Righteous.
The Dark Order did not follow through with the Code of Honor and attacked The Righteous before the bell. Silver confronted Stu Grayson on the floor and Vincent rammed Silver into the ring apron. This led to a setup, where Vincent brought a steel chair into the ring, but when the ref turned around he saw Evil Uno holding it, so Uno was ejected from the match. Dutch hit Silver with a black hole slam to take control.
Silver reversed a suplex attempt from the much larger Dutch and made the tag to Reynolds. Reynold ran wild on Dutch and hit a charging knee in the corner. They fought to the floor, and Reynolds sent Vincent into the ring barricade and took Dutch down with a tornado DDT.
Back in the ring, Silver hit Vincent with a deadlift brainbuster. Dutch pulled Silver out of the ring. Behind the ref’s back, Grayson ran in and hit Reynolds with a running knee, and Vincent rolled up Reynolds for the pin. Not a great week for the Dark Order.
After the match, the Righteous beat down Silver and Reynolds. Evil Uno ran in with a chair to break it up, but Stu Grayson got in Uno’s face. Uno wouldn’t hit his former partner with the chair. This is quite the little angle between former partners and the crowd was into the Reynolds/Uno conflict. But, Alex Reynolds wasn’t happy with Evil Uno’s lack of action.
Diamante defeated Leila Grey (w/ “Smart” Mark Sterling) (6:00)
Sterling distracted Diamante on the floor, and Grey got the advantage. She hit a suplex and controlled Diamte with a surfboard, then transitioned to a chinlock when Diamante was about to escape. Diamante escaped with a jawbreaker and floored Grey with a series of clotheslines and a German suplex. Grey came back with a sit-out uranage for a near fall. Diamante hit a shotgun dropkick, but Sterling broke up the pin attempt by putting Grey’s foot on the bottom ropes. That didn’t stop Diamante, who hit Grey with the Cross Rhodes and got the pinfall.
Diamante looked good here.
Lucha Brothers, El Hijo del Vikingo & Komander (w/ Alex Abrantes) defeated The WorkHorsemen (JD Drake and Anthony Henry), Shane Taylor & Gringo Loco (8:58)
This was taped in Chicago.
Gringo Loco was something of a hometown favorite here. Loco press slammed Rey Fenix, and Taylor followed up with a big splash for a near fall. Fenix caught Taylor with a superkick. Kommander got the tag and was mowed down by a lariat from Taylor. Kommader was triple-teamed by the heels, and Loco hit a twisting springboard moonsault on Kommander for a near fall.
Kommander caught Drake with an enziguri and made the tag to Vikingo. Viking hit an amazing headscissors while standing on Loco’s shoulders. The Lucha Bros double-teamed Drake. Penta went for the stuff piledriver on Drake, but Drake escaped and both guys were down following a double clothesline.
Fenix and Anthony Henry got the tags for their teams. Henry dropped Fenix with a brainbuster for a near fall. Vikingo and Kommander hit a pair of dives on the floor, while in the ring Fenix and Penta double-teamed Henry. The Lucha Bros hit a double superkick on Henry, then finished him off with the Fear Factor to get the win. Great match.
– ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe’s promo was interrupted by Stokely Hathaway. Hathaway may run ROH, but Samoa Joe runs Hathaway.
Big Bill & Lee Moriarty defeated Karou & Tarik (3:18)
Big Bill looked awesome, taking down Karou with a big boot and Tarik with a black hole slam. Moriarty caught Tarik in the Border City Stretch and got the submission.
The Embassy (Brian Cage, Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun) defeated LIJ (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi) to retain the ROH Six Man Tag Team Championship (7:37)
Takahashi did a fantastic job overselling all of Cage’s power moves. Liona dropped Takahashi back-first on the turnbuckles, and Khan hit him with a senton on the ring apron. Takahashi countered a slam attempt with a spinning DDT. Takagi got the tag and hit Bishop Khan with a lariat. Takagi hit a flatliner/DDT combo on Khan and Cage, then got a near fall on Khan after a DDT. Khan came back with a lungblower, but BUSHI got the tag and flew in with a top rope dropkick.
Kaun got triple-teamed by the LIJ team. BUSHI hit a twist and shout neckbreaker for a near fall, but Kaun came back with a clothesline. Cage floored Takahashi and Shingo with a double clothesline. Cage took out Shingo with a powerslam and Takahashi with a powerbomb at the same time. BUSHI sprayed black mist in Cage’s face, but back in the ring, the Gates of Agony gave BUSHI a double-team face first slam and got the pinfall.
El Desperado defeated Willie Mack (9:03)
The crowd chanted “This is awesome!” before the bell even rang. Mack wowed the crowd with a leapfrog and flying leg lariat. Mack caught Desperado with a fallaway slam, then kipped up and hit a standing moonsault for a near fall. Desperado caught Mack with a low dropkick and started working over Mack’s leg. Desperado tied up Mack with an Indian Death Lock, which Mack escaped by grabbing the ropes.
Mack tried to come back, but Desperado cut him off by attacking the leg again. Mack finally caught Desperado with a pop-up forearm. Mack hit a huge cannonball in the corner for a near fall. Mack went to the top for a splash, but Desperado got out of the way. He went for a stretch muffler, but Mack countered into a cradle for a near fall. Mack called for the brainbuster, but Desperado escaped and dropkicked Mack’s leg again. Mack went for a powerbomb, but Desperado escaped. Desperado pulled Mack into a backslide to disorient him, then caught him with the Pinche Loco (a double underhook facebuster) to get the pinfall. Very good match, and they must find something more for Willie Mack to do.
Sho and Takahashi (members of the House of Torture) did not adhere to the Code of Honor to start. Romero hit a place kick on Takahashi and Beretta followed up with a standing moonsault for a near fall. The heels got the advantage when Sho caught Beretta with a clothesline on the floor. Sho hit a deadlift suplex for a near fall. Beretta came back with a tornado DDT on Takahashi. Romero got the tag and chopped away at Sho. Romero hit a step-up rana on Sho. Romero hit charging clotheslines on both Sho and Takahashi in the corners. Beretta hit a sliding knee on Sho for a near fall.
Takahashi pushed Romeo off the top when he went for Strong Zero. Sho gave Beretta a powerbomb into a lung blower for a near fall. Takahashi hit a top rope fisherman’s buster on Beretta for a near fall. Romeo and Sho broke up the pin attempt. Romeo took Sho out with a dive, and Beretta and Romero combined for Strong Zero on Takahashi to get the pinfall. This felt unnecessarily long.
The House of Torture attacked Romero and Beretta after the match until Orange Cassidy walked in to make the save. After the match, a group hug from the almost Best Friends delighted the crowd.
Christopher Daniels, Action Andretti & Darius Martin defeated United Empire (Kyle Fletcher, TJP & Jeff Cobb) (8:11)
Cobb got a near fall on Daniels after a standing moonsault. He picked up Daniels for a suplex, then made the tag to Fletcher and handed Daniels to Fletcher so he could finish the suplex. Daniels caught TJP with an exploder and made the tag to Darius Martin. Martin hit Fetchers with a spinning DDT, then took down Cobb with a flatliner. TJP caught Martin with a back suplex. Andretti hit TJP with an enziguri and a handspring back elbow. Andretti hit a falcon arrow for a near fall. TJP came back with a spinning DDT. TJP hit a splash off the top for a near fall. Daniels caught TJP with a forearm in the corner, and Andretti and Martin gave TJP a double-team slam and got the upset pinfall.
– Lexi Nair interviewed The Kingdom and Jerry Lynn. The Kingdom trashed ECW, and tried to stir up trouble between Jerry Lynn and Stokely Hathaway. Lynn then made a match between The Kingdom and Maria Kanellis against The Infantry and Trish Adora, presumably for next week.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated KC Spinelli in a Proving Ground match (2:37)
A Proving Ground match is a non-title match, where if Spinelli wins or goes the time limit with Athena, she will get a title match.
This match was so enthralling the commentators spent most of it talking about Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas. Athena won with a forearm. This was Athena’s 28th win in a row according to Ian Riccobani.
Athena attacked Spinelli with a dropkick on the floor after the match.
ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli defeated Chuck Taylor in a Proving Ground match (5:28)
This evolved from a backstage interview earlier in the show, where Taylor asked for a title shot from Castignoli. Even though this is a Proving Ground match, Claudio added the stipulation that Taylor has to win to get the title shot. Taylor can’t the title shot by lasting the time limit. Taylor has a winning record against Castignoli.
Taylor sent Castignoli to the floor with a Soul Food. On the floor, Claudio got the advantage and sent Taylor over the barricade with a forearm. Taylor tried to get back in the ring, but a big boot from Castignoli sent Taylor back to the floor.
Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta came to ringside to encourage Taylor. Taylor came back with a flatliner and locked in a Koji Clutch. Castignoli broke the hold by making the ropes. Taylor caught Castignoli with a knee and a stuff piledriver for a near fall. Castignoli hit a popup uppercut for a near fall. Taylor escaped a Neutralizer attmpt, but Castignoli came back with a clothesline. Castignolia followed up with the Ricola Bomb to get the pinfall.
Two hours and 11 matches just feel like far too much for these shows.
Ryusuke Taguchi, Satoshi Kojima & Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & Gabriel Kidd
Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado vs. Yuji Nagata & Yuya Uemura
Report —
Korakuen Hall was the venue for today’s show in front of an announced attendance of 482. The show was a tidy one hour, 51 minutes including intermission.
Ryusuke Taguchi, Satoshi Kojima & Togi Makabe defeated Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & Gabriel Kidd (9:33)
Five of these six men were in the opener on yesterday’s show as well and they worked a very similar match.
The focus was on Kidd trying to bait Makabe into a feud. They started the match and traded power spots. Ishii and Taguchi tagged in and did another great comedy sequence similar to yesterday but with a few added wrinkles because Ishii is great at every aspect of wrestling.
Kojima cut Ishii off. They built to a tag to Makabe and Goto, then Taguchi and Kidd entered for the closing sequence. Taguchi hit a bomaye for a near fall and then hit Dodon for the pin.
YH and Shingo feels like it might be a NEVER title program soon. That doesn’t sound ideal but they worked well together here.
Yano and Shingo started with some comedy. Shingo and YH exchanged tackles. Shingo sold just enough to make YH look dangerous and YH brought great intensity. BUSHI and Shingo used a double team to cut YH off.
Yano got a tag and exposed a turnbuckle. He used the corner pad as a weapon on Shingo and BUSHI. BUSHI hit a backstabber for a near fall. They did a clever spot where BUSHI held Yano in a sunset flip position while Shingo tried a lariat.
The finish saw Yano tease bumping the ref and teasing a low blow. Yano rolled BUSHI up but BUSHI reversed and trapped Yano’s legs for the pin.
This was more of a prolonged angle than a match. They continued to tease another Suzuki/Nagata singles match.
Suzuki and Desperado took the first half of the match working over Uemura. They stretched him over the bottom rope and pounded him with hard forearm shots.
The match built to a spot where Uemura side-stepped a Suzuki boot and hit a dropkick. Nagata tagged in and he and Suzuki renewed hostilities and traded shots. Suzuki got a choke applied but Nagata slid out and hit an exploder.
Desperado and Uemura tagged in for the closing sequence. Uemura fought out of a single-leg crab and forced a break before Desperado hit him with Pinche Loco for the pin.
Suzuki and Nagata continued fighting after the bell. Suzuki then cut a promo. He challenged Nagata to a match and asked NJPW to make it happen and set the date.
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There was a mid-show intermission while they cleaned the ring.
The babyface team attacked Suzuki-gun before the opening bell, using their own tactic against them. Wato and Kanemaru started off the legal men. Wato teased a tope but DOUKI jumped in and stopped him.
Tenzan tagged in. Taichi took the ref while DOUKI choked Tenzan with a pipe. The ref saw DOUKI choking Tenzan with the pipe but did not call for a DQ. DOUKI continued working over Tenzan while the other six fought on the floor. Taichi used a camera cable to choke Tana.
Tenzan hit a wheel kick on Sabre and tagged Tanahashi. Tanahashi got some offense but got caught in an armbar when trying an elbow drop. Tana broke the hold with a dragon screw.
Ibushi and Taichi got tags and traded strikes. Ibushi turned a last ride attempt into a hurricanrana. Taichi hit a lariat into a double down. Suzuki-gun went four on one against Ibushi. DOUKI hit a springboard double stomp for a near fall. DOUKI hit a daybreak DDT for a near fall as Tenzan made the save.
The finish saw everyone jump in for a big move. DOUKI grabbed his pipe again but Ibushi blocked a shot with a high kick. Ibushi then hit Kamigoye for the pin.
Ibushi and Taichi jawed at each other after the match.
These guys worked practically the same match that they did yesterday also but with a different finish. Yujiro and Gedo as a team is just yuck and this is a waste of Okada.
Okada and Yujiro began and Okada got the upper hand after some simple offense. SHO tagged in and got cut off immediately. Gedo and Yujiro exposed a buckle and used a bunch of old school heel tricks to work him over.
SHO made a comeback and tagged Okada. Okada fought off a double team. Okada slid out of Pimp Juice and hit an air raid crash on Yujiro before tagging SHO again.
SHO had Yujiro in a kimura. Gedo took the ref and Jado stumbled his way to the ring with a kendo stick. Jado used the stick on SHO. Yujiro then hit Pimp Juice for the pin.
Yujiro left Okada laying after the match with a pimp cane shot on the floor.
EVIL, Dick Togo & Taiji Ishimori defeated Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi (10:40)
Hiromu and Ishimori and EVIL and Naito are theoretically the top two programs right now so this was all about laying more of a foundation for those.
The story of the match was that Hiromu’s shoulder is so thrashed that he can’t do anything.
Ishimori and Hiromu began. Hiromu’s left shoulder was heavily taped. Ishimori worked it over, including hitting a la mistica. They built to a big showdown between EVIL and Naito after a Naito hot tag.
Naito ran wild with headscissors and was moving great here. He and EVIL squared off and Naito hit a series of unanswered strikes. Red Shoes tried to pull Naito off but Naito shoved him down twice. This was not a DQ for some reason.
Bullet Club cut Naito off and triple teamed him. SANADA jumped in and hit a TKO on Togo. EVIL tagged Ishimori. Naito hit a dropkick to Ishimori before tagging Hiromu for the closing sequence.
Hiromu went for Time Bomb but he got shoved shoulder-first into an exposed buckle. Ishimori hit a backstabber and rolled into the Yes Lock for the submission.
Ishimori refused to give up the hold after the bell. Naito and SANADA jumped in for the save.
Ishimori cut a promo on Hiromu, taunting him. Naito and EVIL stared each other down from across the arena as the show closed.
It was announced today that for the first time, the Los Ingobernables de Japon stable will be making an appearance in Arena Mexico.
CMLL announced today during a press conference that Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI and EVIL will make an appearance at the Friday 8/31 Arena Mexico show. They will be taking on the team of Volador Jr., LA Park and Dinamate Azul. Although Naito and BUSHI have made appearances for CMLL in the past, this would mark their first time they are coming in as a group. It would be EVIL’s first time appearing for the company.
In addition to the LIJ announcement, CMLL also announced that The Briscoes and David Finlay will compete in their CMLL Gran Prix tournament on October 5. Four more foreign wrestlers will later be announced on their talk show, Informa.
Los Ingobernables de Japon is an offshoot of the Los Ingobernables stable in Mexico, which currently consists of La Bestia del Ring (Pierroth), Rush and El Terrible.
This episode of Ring of Honor television was again taped at the Odeum in Chicago, Illinois.
The Bullet Club (Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Marty Scurll, and Adam “Hangman” Page) opened the show and announced that their opponents for the main event tonight would be Los Ingobernables de Japon in a 10-man tag team match. Bullet Club said the J in LIJ stands for jabronis.
Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana called the action. Riccaboni mentioned that Chicago is Cabana’s hometown — to which Cabana replied that there are many billboards of him up in the area.
Kenny King defeated Chuckie T
On his way to the ring, King said he had not forgotten about Austin Aries giving him a low blow and a brainbuster a few weeks back.
King wanted a hug of honor instead of a handshake. An even matchup started it off and a nice wrestling exchange ended in a hug. Another grappling mix-up ended in another hug, but Chuckie T used it as an opportunity to connect with a belly-to-belly suplex.
King nailed a twisting dive to the floor and then took time to pose for a selfie with a fan, who took too long so King left and yelled, “have your cameras ready.” Then Chuckie T hit a dive and gave the same fan a chance to get a selfie with him instead. Back in the ring, Chuckie hit a snap piledriver, then went for the Awful Waffle, but King countered into the Royal Flush for the pin and the win.
A replay of The Briscoes beatdown of The Young Bucks with chairs from a few weeks ago led into a Briscoes promo. Jay Briscoe said the Bucks were the best in the world at selling T-shirts, but that they would not beat them for the titles on June 29 in Baltimore, Maryland, at the Best in the World pay-per-view.
Shane Taylor cut a promo in the ring and called Josh Woods and King Mo “losers,” which led to our next match.
Shane Taylor defeated Josh Woods
A replay of Woods getting a win over Taylor from West Palm Beach, Florida with an assist from King Mo reminded us of why Taylor was so upset.
Taylor hit a bowling ball roll on Woods into the barricades. He was firmly in control until Woods took his back and hit two German suplexes, but Woods walked into a huge right hand and got knocked out for the pin.
ROH World Champion Dalton Castle and The Boys joined Riccaboni and Cabana to get a closer look at his upcoming opponents, Cody and Marty Scurll.
Bullet Club (Cody, The Young Bucks, Marty Scurll & Adam Page) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi)
Cody and Naito started it off, with Naito spitting at him and Cody bailing. Naito faked going for a dive and instead laid down for a relaxing pose. This brought Scurll and BUSHI in for some chain wrestling. The Bucks then entered and squared up with EVIL and SANADA. This brought everyone in for a 10-man standoff that turned into a wild brawl. Bullet Club got the advantage after some dives, but Takahashi used Daryl Jr. to clear house until he ate a superkick.
Scurll and Takahashi tagged in for a striking exchange. Scurll used a foot stomp and multiple superkicks and went for the chicken wing. Takahashi countered and backdropped Scurll into the corner.
Nick Jackson got the tag and nailed a facebuster for a near fall. The Bucks locked on double Sharpshooters but were cut off by Takahashi and Naito, who then got cut off by the Buck Shot from Page. Out of nowhere, Punishment Martinez came to the ring and he and Page battled to the back in anticipation of their match at Best in the World.
After the break, LIJ were in control briefly until each man from both teams came in and hit moves back and forth, including a Japanese Destroyer from BUSHI and a Magic Killer on Matt Jackson. It looked like that was the end, but Nick pulled referee Todd Sinclair out of the ring at the last second.
It looked like Nick was going to take a sunset flip powerbomb to the floor, but Burnard the Business Bear made the save and then took the green mist from BUSHI. Cody grabbed BUSHI from behind and Scurll went to hit him with his cane, but BUSHI moved and Scurll hit Cody.
A superkick party ensued and the Bucks finally landed the 5 Star Meltzer Driver on BUSHI for the win.
After a few weeks off, New Japan returns with a busy month ahead, as we not only have three big shows this month, but a few smaller shows in between. Tonight’s Road to Destruction show in Korakuen Hall would fall into the latter category, headlined by a big elimination match. Here are the results:
Shota Umino and Tetsuhiro Yagi went to a time limit draw
This was a solid opener, but not a lot of heat. It was a basic match they just did mat wrestling, with Umino dominating for most of the match. You can tell Umino added some size in between tours as he looked much bigger than Yagi. Yagi started to make a comeback towards the end of the match, but Umino cut him off. He had him in the Boston crab, but Yagi managed to gut it out until the bell rang.
Mainly a battle between the two elder NJPW wrestlers and the young lions. Everyone looked pretty decent, though it is clear Kitamura has a lot of charisma and will go far once he gets the push. Nagata picked up the win with a backdrop driver on Oka in a solid match.
Killer Elite Squad, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & Taka Michinoku defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Ricochet, Togi Makabe, David Finlay & Hirai Kawato
A lot of the start was KES dominating, looking good in their return match. Ricochet came in for a hot tag and looked great. Kawato came in for the hot tag, but was eventually singled out by Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, who sprayed Taguchi with the whiskey. Kanemaru pinned Kawato with the deep impact DDT.
Heels worked on YOSHI-HASHI for a lot of the match. Fale threw him into some chairs on the outside. Goto came in for the hot tag but Fale blocked a lariat. Everyone came in at one point, with it eventually coming down to Baretta and Yujiro Takahashi. Baretta went for the strong zero but Takahashi countered and planted the pimp juice DDT on Baretta for the win.
Yujiro told Baretta not to mess with the NJPW heavyweights after the match.
After intermission, the vignette that aired at the G1 finals aired once again.
Juice Robinson & War Machine defeated Guerrillas of Destiny & Leo Tonga
Leo Tonga was protected well, never staying in long and did big power spots when in. Heels worked on Hanson until Rowe came in to clear house. GoD and Leo focused on Juice towards the end. Leo hit a big suplex but War Machine came in to help Juice, chopping down the big guy. Robinson took out Tama Tonga, then pinned Leo Tonga with the pulp friction for the win.
Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Takashi Iizuka defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin & KUSHIDA
For those wondering, yes, Tanahashi still has the weird short hair for his movie role. Between this and Go Ace still a thing, I’m pretty conflicted.
Elgin and Suzuki wasted no time in zeroing in on one another, brawling around the ring. Suzuki took an umbrella and choked Elgin with it. Meanwhile, Desperado took out KUSHIDA and brawled around the area. KUSHIDA was the one worked on for a bit before the hot tag to Tanahashi.
It went back between Elgin and Suzuki. With the ref conveniently taken out, Suzuki continued to pelt Elgin with steel chair shots. Elgin started to no sell, then grabbed the steel chair and wrecked havoc upon anyone that came his way, taking out everyone in the match and even the other members of Suzuki-gun on the outside. The ref came back into the match and told Elgin to drop the weapon, and after shoving him twice the referee called for the DQ. Weak finish to a solid brawl.
Suzuki suggested to Elgin after the match that they have a lumberjack death match on 9/10. Elgin said it was fine, because it doesn’t matter who you bring in because the NEVER title will be his. Suzuki said a few more words before leaving, destroying a young lion with the chair on the way out.
EVIL, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI & SANADA defeated Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero, Toru Yano & Will Ospreay in a ten-man elimination tag match
Everyone’s rival squared off with one another to kick things off- Ishii/Naito, Okada/EVIL, Ospreay/Takahashi, SANADA/Yano and BUSHI/Romero. Ishii and Naito wrestled each other a lot; this made the match pretty heated since Naito was by far the most over wrestler on the show. Naito took Ishii to the apron and hit a running dropkick, but Ishii held on. Naito then eliminated himself by hitting a neckbreaker and landing with his feet on the floor, but also eliminated Ishii in the process.
Yano took apart the turnbuckle as comedy ensued. He managed to low blow both SANADA and BUSHI, then rolled up SANADA for the win. BUSHI misted Yano in response and with his shirt threw Yano to the floor to eliminate him. After a short back and forth, Ospreay picked up another win for his team, pinning BUSHI after an Ozcutter.
Takahashi replaced BUSHI as he went on defensive. Ospreay cut him off, but Takahashi stunned him regardless and eliminated Ospreay with the sunset flip bomb off the middle rope, thus saving himself but not Ospreay.
Okada came in and managed to thwart off both remaining members of LIJ, hitting both with dropkicks and eventually pinning Takahashi with the rainmaker, leaving it between him. Rocky Romero and EVIL. They went to the apron where Okada went for the tombstone, but EVIL cut him off and hit a roaring elbow, eliminating him in a shock.
Romero immediately tried to roll up EVIL, but no dice. After some nice back and forth, EVIL picks up the win with the STO on Romero. This was a pretty fun main event, though I kind of wish most of the finishes didn’t all happen under what felt like a two minute period.
EVIL ended the show with a promo, saying “Welcome to the darkness world” and finishing with his “Everything is evil” catchphrase.
