Impact Wrestling results: The North vs. Marufuji & Edwards

Impact Wrestling returns from the St. Claire College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Opening video focused on how last week oVe managed to antagonize the whole Impact roster, ending with Callihan being humiliated by Tessa Blanchard and Rich Swann, which led to tonight’s Daga vs Jake Crist match and the tag team main event. 

Twitch stream was hosted by Melissa Santos, who promoted the upcoming Impact Plus special No Surrender, the Throwback Throwdown Thanksgiving special, and January’s pay-per-view, Hard to Kill.

Ace Austin opened the show coming down to join the commentary table for the next X-Division Championship No. 1 Contendership match.

Trey Miguel defeated Petey Williams, Rohit Raju, Aiden Prince, Brent Banks, Willie Mack to become X-Division Championship No. 1 Contender.

Rohit Raju started the match strong, not only taking out Mack, but tossing Prince out of the ring and following with a dive on to Mack. Left in the ring, Miguel, Banks, and Petey all traded ranas and arm drags. Trey hit a dive on everyone outside, leaving Banks and Petey going one-to-one with Petey getting the better of Banks. Petey hit a diving headscissors on Miguel to the outside. 

Mack returned to the ring and took down Banks and Prince with arm drags and ranas. Mack ended taking out the men in the ring, and a dive on top of everyone outside. 

Back in the ring, the local talent faced off, Prince and Banks were pretty equal to each other, at the end, they just hit double dives too. 

Again in the ring, it was now Miguel, Banks, and Prince going at each other with Miguel taking them out with a meteora, only for Rohit to come in and hit a northern lights and rolling up to an extra auplex to take him out. Petey came in and hit a rana and Flatliner combo, setting up the Destroyer, but Rohit countered and picked up a two count with a roll up, countered into a Sharpshooter for the submission tease until Mack broke it up.

Mack hit the Samoan drop and moonsault combo on Petey for a two count. Banks hit a poison rana on Mack. Prince hit a butterfly brainbuster on Banks for a two count. Finally, Trey Miguel hit some Cheeky Nandos, but got cut off by Banks. Prince suplexed Banks onto Miguel, hit a 450, followed by a Frog Splash, followed by a Canadian Destroyer, but at the end, it was Trey Miguel stealing the pin by rolling up Petey for the win.

Match started weak with everyone selling outside, but it got really good towards the end. Rohit Raju was fantastic here, and Impact really needs to bring back Brent Banks.

Throughout the match, they showed Trey Miguel’s mom in attendance, with constant hinting that Ace Austin is going to try and seduce Trey Miguel’s mother.

Gabby Loren interviewed Rich Swann about next week’s 5-way No. 1 Contender’s match for Callihan’s title. Swann said that becoming world champion would prove everyone wrong that his size will not stop him. 

Next up, Loren interviewed Michael Elgin about the same match. Elgin said that a lot of people wish they can win, but at the end, it’s him that will win. Elgin has proved to get things done since his debut, and now his sights are on the title.

Madison Rayne (w/Kiera Hogan) defeated Alexia Nicole

Rayne mocked Nicole to start the match and got beat up early until she blocked a backstabber and hit a blockbuster for a quick pin attempt. Rayned locked in a cravate and hit some knees, followed with a sliding clothesline for another two count. Kiera Hogan got a slap in on Nicole for good measures. 

Nicole made a small comeback with a desperation Neckbreaker. They traded some forearms with Nicole getting the better of Rayne. Nicole followed with a shotgun dropkick, a backstabber, and an electric chair drop for a two count. Rayne tried to leave the match, but Nicole pulled her back to the ring the hard way, but as she did, distracted herself with Hogan, allowing Rayne to hit a draping neckbreker.

Nicole got a roll up for a near fall, but Rayne came back with Cross Rayne for the win. Ok match, what Rayne lacks in wrestling ability, she makes up with her character work.

Backstage, Johnny Swinger told Aiden Prince that he took a dump in Petey Williams’ bag, but he accidentally did it to Ken Shamrock’s bag. Swinger will suffer for this.

RVD cut a promo from his pool along with Katie Forbes, who was just out there twerking. Rob said that he doesn’t need the money, but that Impact needs him, and so he’ll be back next week. Not good.

Daga defeated Jake Crist

Great match. Daga is in the 5-way No. 1 Contendership match for Callihan’s title, and thus got the win tonight in a great showing. 

They started the show with a fast paced sequence of kicks, slaps, and counters, that ended with Crist outside the ring and Daga hitting a springboard tornillo on him. 

Back in the ring, Crist got Daga with a Dragon Screw, sending him outside, following with a diving DDT, but Daga managed to rebound and drop Crist instead, but at a cost, Daga seemed hurt from the rebound. 

Back from commercial, Crist and Daga are back in the ring exchanging chops before Daga school boys Crist for a quick two count. Crist locks in the Last Chancery, which Daga escapes by elbowing Crist on the face. Crist goes back on the head submission against the ropes and follows with a good old rake to the eyes. 

Daga made a comeback with some elbows and a bit neckbreaker and DDT combo for a two count. Both men exchanged Pop-up Death Valley Drivers. Crist blocked a Dragon Suplex, but ended up eating a couple of Germans instead for a two count. Crist countered Daga with a Powerslam into the corner, followed with a kick combo for a two count. 

Both men took to the top of the turnbuckle and exchanged strikes until Daga hit a rana for a two count. Daga followed with a Tiger Driver ‘98 for the win.

We got a fantastic recap of Joey Ryan vs Ken Shamrock with opera music.

Loren interviewed The North about tonight’s match with Edwards and Marufuji. Great short promo by confident champions, happy to go against top talent. 

oVe (Impact World Champion Sami Callihan & Madman Fulton) defeated Rich Swann & Tessa Blanchard

Tessa and Swann rushed the ring, supekicked Callihan out, and team up against Fulton, how fell to a kick and backstabber combo. Swann hit a phoenix splash to the outside. 

Back in the ring, Tessa and Callihan faced off, Tessa started with strikes, but Fulton distracted her, giving Sami the opening for a Brainbuster. 

Swann tagged in and ran wild on Callihan, catching him with a kick and Rana on the top rope. Fulton came in and cut him off, hitting a Reverse Suplex to regain control of the match. Fulton chokeslammed Swann and tried to snap his neck against the ropes. Scoop Slam followed by Callihan’s elbow and into the headlock. The beatdown continued with Fulton striking Swann’s back and locking in a Bearhug. Slingshot plancha by Callihan for a two count and back into the headlock. Complete dominance by oVe. 

Eventually, Swann managed to roll around and dodge Callihan enough to get the tag to Tessa, who came in and hit a Samoan Drop on Callihan, tilt-a-whirl DDT on Fulton, diving cutter on Callihan. Tessa set up the Magnum, but Callihan blocked it, fed her to Fulton’s slam for a two count when Swann made the save. Swann took out Fulton with a kick, sending him outside, running knee on Callihan, followed by a DDT. 

Tessa took out Fulton with a dive, while Swann got a two count over Callihan with a Moonsault. Callihan went for Swann’s eyes and his baseball bat, but the referee took it away. With the referee distracted, Callihan instead used the belt to take out Swann and pick up the win for his team. Great match.

After the bell, oVe took out Swann with another belt shot. Tessa went for the save, but took a belt shot too from Sami. As the beatdown continued, Brian Cage came down for the save, took out Fulton with an F-5, but Callihan escaped. Cage is not in contention of the title after losing at Turning Point, but he’s not done with Callihan.

Backstage, Loren asked Brian Cage what was next for him. Cage said that he wasn’t done with oVe, Callihan, or the title. Cage said he will be in next week’s title contention match. 

Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was the Ultimate X match of Rich Swann vs Jake Crist vs Ethan Page vs Trey Miguel from the Homecoming Pay Per View.

Johnny Swinger is now bragging about taking a dump on Shamrock’s bag, but the people there tell him that is probably illegal. 

On the other side of the building, Jordynne Grace came up to Taya and told her she wants her shot at the Knockout’s title. Taya said Jordynne doesn’t just get to make challenges, but Bravo takes the challenge instead. Next week, it’s Jordynne Grace vs both Taya and Bravo.

Moose cut a promo from a tennis court talking about he is the greatest of all time. He said that by defeated Shamrock, he proved that he is the greatest MMA fighter of all time, and now he was going to prove he was the best tennis player of all time by defeating Mikey, who he bullied into losing. 

Havok defeated Krystal Moon

Total squash, Havok tossed around Moon from corner to corner, kicked her while down in the corner, rammed her against the apron, beat her down, and hit a Chokeslam for the pin, except Havok broke her own pin, only to deliver a tombstone piledriver instead. Moon was really green even for a squash, but she had great facial expressions of fear and pain. 

Backstage, Suzie found Havok as she returned from the ring. Havok pushed Suzie away, which triggered something in Suzie that brought back some memories of her former self.

It was officially announced that Brian Cage has been added to next week’s No. 1 Contendership match. 

Impact World Tag Team Champions The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page) defeated Naomichi Marufuji & Eddie Edwards to retain their titles. 

Edwards and Marufuji started the match with control, out-wrestling Alexander and chopping around Page, but after some exchanged, the North’s teamwork paid off and they managed to cut off Marufuji for a bit. Marufuji and Edwards came back and sent the North outside, where Marufuji kicked away Alexander, and Eddie hit a rope auicida on Page. 

Back from commercial, Eddie and Marufuji are still in control of the match, working over Page with chops, you can tell that Page is starting to feel them. Right when it seems all good for Eddie, the quick tag work of The North overtakes Eddie and Alexander takes him out with a dive while Page takes out Marufuji. 

The North, now in control, start working over Eddie with quick tags, cheap shots, double team moves, and keeping him away from Marufuji. Page got a two count with a double backbreaker. Alexander went for a suplex, but Edwards blocked it and hit a desperation one instead, finally getting the chance to tag in Marufuji. 

Marufuji came in and ran wild over The North, chopping and kicking both Page and Alexander. Eddie came with the aid with a Frankenstiner, feeding Page into Marufuji’s running knees. Page and Marufuji exchanged strikes but with a blind tag, Alexander came in, blindsided Marufuji, and cut him off. 

The North went for their team finisher, but Marufuji blocked and got rid of Page. He hit a Curb Stomp on Alexander and tagged in Edwards, who delivered a Blue Thunder Bomb for a two count. Alexander went for the ripcord elbow, but Eddie blocked. All four men exchanged kicks and lariats until they were all down. 

Marufuji kicked Alexander, Edwards hit a Powerbomb and a Liger Bomb for a two count. Page pulled Eddie’s ankle, allowing Alexander to kick him. Page and Alexander hit an elbow and kick combo on Marufuji, leaving Eddie alone for the double team finisher and a huge near fall. The North deliver their assisted Spinerbuster finisher next and pin Edwards to retain the titles. Great match.

Final Thoughts — 

Really strong show inside the ring with only a couple of storyline developments, as most of the show built towards next week’s big 5-person elimination match to pick a new contender for Callihan’s championship.

Naomichi Marufuji confirmed for Impact Bound for Glory 2019

Impact Wrestling has officially confirmed a Pro Wrestling NOAH star for next month’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view.

Impact announced on Thursday night that Naomichi Marufuji will be wrestling at Bound for Glory 2019.  At last month’s Impact television tapings in Mexico City, Michael Elgin issued a challenge for Marufuji to face him at Bound for Glory.

This will be the first time Marufuji has wrestled for Impact since 2017. He teamed with Taiji Ishimori at Slammiversary XV that year, with LAX (Santana & Ortiz) defeating Drago & El Hijo del Fantasma, Garza Jr. & Laredo Kid, and Marufuji & Ishimori in a four-way tag match. Marufuji was in action at Impact’s post-PPV TV tapings following that event as well.

Marufuji is a former three-time GHC Heavyweight Champion for Pro Wrestling NOAH. He’s also held Junior Heavyweight titles in NOAH, NJPW, and AJPW during his career.

This year’s Bound for Glory PPV is taking place at the Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park, Illinois on Sunday, October 20.

Naomichi Marufuji, Fenix out of action due to injury

Both Naomichi Marufuji and Fenix are dealing with injuries that has put them out of action.

It was reported on Yahoo Japan this morning that Naomichi Marufuji would miss the rest of NOAH’s Global League due to what is being described as a left shoulder contusion. It isn’t known how long he will be out for.

As a result, the Global League tournament is in a bit of a mess as Marufuji was leading the A Block ahead of the finals on November 25. NOAH announced that there will now be a triple threat match between Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kohei Sato that will determine the A Block winner. They will face B Block winner Kaito Kiyomiya in the finals.

As for Fenix, he wrote on Instagram this morning that he suffered a groin strain in a match against Barbaro Cavernario during CMLL’s usual Friday night event. He said that he has informed promoters that he won’t be able to make any of his December dates, effectively putting him out of action for the rest of the year. He also said to not to blame Cavernario on the injury and congratulated him on his win.

First set of names announced for Wrestling All-Star Battle

The first batch of names have been announced for next year’s Wrestling All-Star Battle.

Tokyo Sports announced that the following stars would be making an appearance on the show:

  • Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW)
  • Kento Miyahara (AJPW)
  • Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH)
  • Jun Akiyama (AJPW)
  • Daisuke Sekimoto (BJW)
  • The Great Kojika (BJW)
  • Takao Omori (AJPW)
  • Taichi (NJPW/Suzuki-gun)
  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NJPW/Suzuki-gun)
  • Tomoaki Honma (NJPW)
  • Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW)
  • Kazushi Miyamoto (Free Agent)
  • Tomohiko Hashimoto (Free Agent)
  • Taiyo Kea (Free Agent)

Wrestling All Star Battle will feature wrestlers from Japan’s top wrestling promotions, including NJPW, AJPW, NOAH, BJW, Wrestle-1 and more. It will also feature the retirement ceremony for Abdullah the Butcher, who hasn’t wrestled a match since around 2010. Stan Hansen will also make an appearance.

The show is being held in honor of the 20th anniversary of Giant Baba’s passing and the 60th anniversary of Tokyo Sports’ founding. It will take place on February 19, 2019 at Sumo Hall. There is no word on plans for a broadcast.

WWE’s Hideo Itami set for Naomichi Marufuji anniversary show

For the first time since he was known as KENTA, Hideo Itami will be sharing the ring with Naomichi Marufuji later this year.

At today’s Pro Wrestling NOAH show, it was announced that Marufuji vs. Itami (using his WWE name) would be the main event of Marufuji’s 20th anniversary event at Sumo Hall in Tokyo on September 1. The semi-main event for the anniversary show will be Takashi Sugiura & Daisuke Harada vs. Jun Akiyama & Atsushi Aoki.

Marufuji and Itami have a history as both rivals and opponents in NOAH. Itami departed the company in 2014 as he signed with WWE.

Itami joined the 205 Live roster last December and has recently been positioned as a top challenger for Cedric Alexander’s Cruiserweight Championship.

Dave Meltzer reported in last week’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE and NOAH had made a working agreement of some sort that would see Itami return for a show.

AJPW crowns 2018 Champion Carnival winner

Naomichi Marufuji has just pinned the All Japan Triple Crown champion, winning the Champion Carnival for the first time in his career.

Marufuji, representing Pro Wrestling NOAH, pinned Kento Miyahara tonight in the finals of the All Japan Pro Wrestling Champion Carnival tournament that had been running for the last month. After an intense back and forth match, Marufuji finally picked up the win after the Emerald Flowsion. With the win, it is likely that Marufuji will get a future shot at the Triple Crown championship, though that is not outright confirmed yet.

The final standings for the A Block have Kento Miyahara at 10 points. Yuji Hino, Joe Doering, Shuji Ishikawa and Shingo Takagi end with eight points. Ryoji Sai finishes with six points and Naoya Nomura and The Bodyguard tie for last with four points.

B Block finishes with Naomichi Marufuji with 10 points. Suwama, Zeus and Jun Akiyama end with eight. KAI, Yoshitatsu and Dylan James finish with six, and Yutaka Yoshie rounds it out with four points.

Marufuji was only couple of years into the business when he jumped from All Japan in 2000 to help form Pro Wrestling NOAH. He has made several trips over the years back to his original promotion, including winning their Junior Heavyweight title on one occasion.

NJPW King of Pro Wrestling live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Naomichi Marufuji

The biggest show of New Japan’s fall season is upon us, as King of Pro Wrestling is set to take place tonight at Sumo Hall. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino of ROH will be providing English commentary for the event on New Japan World.

The show will feature a big interpromotional match as Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Naomichi Marufuji looks to take the IWGP Heavyweight title from New Japan’s Kazuchika Okada. With Okada losing in their first bout on the opening day of the G1, he looks to gain a measure of revenge tonight by retaining the championship.

In other key title matches, we’ll see Katsuyori Shibata (who is battling some injuries, which may play into tonight’s match) defend against Kyle O’Reilly, the IWGP Heavyweight tag team titles will be on the line as The Briscoes defend against the Guerillas of Destiny, and IWGP Junior tag champions the Young Bucks defend against Ricochet and David Finlay.

We’ll also see Kenny Omega defend his championship opportunity at WrestleKingdom 11 as he takes on Hirooki Goto in a rematch from the G1 finals.

Our live coverage kicks off at 3 a.m. ET.

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Tiger Mask W defeated Red Death Mask

This all seems to promote the new Tiger Mask anime that just premiered. The new Tiger Mask has a mask that doesn’t look comfy at all, and he adjusted it several times throughout the match. Not sure who is under either mask. Tiger Mask actually dished out Ibushi’s Golden Triangle moonsault to the floor. Actually, he did several of Ibushi’s moves. I guess we have to get that rumor mill starting. Tiger Mask got the win with a delayed tiger driver that somewhat resembled a last ride powerbomb. Make your own conclusions but I’m pretty sure I have mine.

Will Ospreay, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale and Adam Cole

Pretty good, heated match. Your usuual six man with everyone pairing off and working with one another. Ospreay and Cole together worked great, especially Ospreay who does a great job of being the highlight reel in the match. I wish they had their match in front of this crowd as they were way more receptive to this match than their singles match a few weeks ago. Ospreay does a great dive to the floor that wipes out everyone except Ishii and Yujiro, who go at it for a bit before Ishii pins Yano with a brainbuster. 

Great Bash Heel, Ryusuke Taguchi and Bobby Fish defeated Jado, Roppongi Vice and Toru Yano

Announcers were pushing at the start of the match the dissention that Baretta and Romero showed at the Road to from a few weeks ago. Anothe pretty good match, another atypical New Japan eight man tag. They seemed to set up a tag title match down the line with GHC Hevyweight tag champions Yano and Marufuji against Great Bash Heel. Like in his last match, Romero took the pinfall after Honma’s kokeshi from the top rope connected. Baretta didn’t look happy with Romero after the match.

Go Shiozaki, Maybach Taniguchi, Katsuhiko Nakajima and Masa Kitamiya defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi

This got really good twoards the end. It’s another eight man match! The New Japan team looked good throughout a lot of it. Nagata got in the white eyes armbar until Kitamiya stopped him. Nakanishi and Shiozaki had a intense chopping battle .Nakanishi had Shiozaki trapped in the torture rack but Tanaguchi interfered, so Nakanishi threw Shiozaki on him. Shiozaki got the advantage and hit the lariat for the win.

New Japan guys were mad after the match and jumped the NOAH guys. That wasn’t nice! All the NOAH and NJPW young guys came in and eventually broke it up, so this NJPW/NOAH feud must continue.

The Young Bucks defeated David Finlay and Ricochet to retain the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles

Good match, not an out of this world match or anything but plenty of cool spots throughout. Ricochet looked great, doing a great flosbury drop that took out both Young Bucks. Lots of good back and forth. The faces blocked both a Meltzer Driver and a Indytaker attempt but it still wasn’t enough to get the win. One of the bucks wiped out Ricochet on the outside, then followed with the win after the More Bang for Your Buck.

No one challenged after the match. Seems like the next challengers will probably be whoever wins the annual Junior tag team tournament, usually held in the next couple of months.

Guerillas of Destiny defeated The Brisoces to win the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles

Okay match, the last few minutes helped pick this up. GoD came out and didn’t get much of a reaction. Briscoes looked great in their offense. while GoD was just kind of there. Not bad, but not really doing anything to get me into the match. Briscoes hit a big powerbomb neckbreaker and went to do te Doomsday device on Tama Tonga but Loa came in and broke it up. Loa broke up another Doomsday Device by grabbing onto Tonga when the Briscoes hit their finish.Loa drilled Loa with a powerbomb, Tonga hit the gun stun and hit the Guerilla Warfare for the win.

Guerillas of Destiny, along with the Young Bucks, took care of the Briscoes after the match. Ishii tried to make the save, but was laid out by GoD. Seems whatever the next tag team title program will be will revolve around him.

Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal, Hiroshi Tanahashi and KUSHIDA defeated Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, EVIL and SANADA

Naito straight up shoved the referee to the floor and didn’t get disqualified. Elgin came in and did his big power spots. They also had KUSHIDA and BUSHI together since KUSHIDA’s probably getting a rematch next month. There was a spot in the match where KUSHIDA went for a dive and landed badly on the guardrail. Lethal and Elgin isolated Naito as Lethal hit the Lethal Injection, then Elgin followed with the powerbomb for the win.

Elgin posed with the title after the match, indicating he wants the next IC title shot. Evil grabbed KUSHIDA after the match and laid him out with his chair spot. The rest of the Ingobernables laid out Lethal and Tanahashi as BUSHI laid out KUSHIDA with the MX. He cut a promo, challenging KUSHIDA for the next title match. KUSHIDA did a stretcher job after.

Katsyuori Shibata defeated Kyle O’Reilly to retain the NEVER championship

Excellent match! They built everything up nicely and had some really brilliant exchanges during the latter half of the match. Crowd helped make this special too as they were into everything. Sto

They traded stiff shots early. Shibata focused on one of Kyle’s elbows, stomping on it. Kyle responded by working on Shibata’s bad, taped up leg, wrapping himself around it and wearing him down. Kyle locks in a guillotine and manages to transition that into an armbar but Shibata immediately gets to the ring ropes. Back on their feet, Shibata gets in a sleeper then lands a Saito suplex. Back up on their feet they have a crazy suplex exchange, with Shibata ending it with a kick to the chest. Kyle blasts Shibata with the PK but Shibata kicks out. Shibata gets in the sleeper and hits the PK, then followes with a a sleeper. He tries to fight out of it, but passes out, giving the match to Shibata.

Suddenly who should enter the ring but Go Shiozaki. Shibata held the title high but Go stared him down. Shibata pushed him, but Go made clear he was next in line for a title match. But then, EVIL came in and laid him out with the STO, grabbing the championship. Kevin Kelly pointed out EVIL beat Shibata during the G1. He laid the title on Shibata as he made his exit.

It was made clear on commentary that the winners of the next two matches will be the WrestleKingdom 11 main event.

Kenny Omega defeated Hirooki Goto to retain his title shot at WrestleKingdom 11

Another awesome match, best of the show. Just a brilliant back and forth match and the crowd was white hot. Even in losing, Goto looked like a threat and it came off like Omega won, but just by a hair.

Goto decides he’s just going to bring it early and lays out Omega with the briefcase then DDTs him on the briefcase, then wipes out the Young Bucks as the match began on the outside. Omega came back and foot stomped Goto on top of the table. Back and forth follows until the Young Bucks help Goto onto a table. YOSHI-HASHI comes out and distracts the Young Bucks to the back as Goto fights back against Omega and makes a comeback.

Finally Omega goes to springboard but Goto punches him, sending him flying through the table. Goto hits the ushigiroshi and tries for the GTR but Omega counters, only for Goto to hit the shouten kai but Omega somehow kicks out. Omega follows another GTR attempt with a rollup, then follows with a snap German suplex. Goto tries a comeback but Omega cuts him off, hitting two knee strikes then goes for the One Winged Angel but Goto fights back…only for Omega to hit it and score the win.

Kazuchika Okada defeated Naomichi Marufuji to retain the IWGP Heavyweight title

Really good match. I wouldn’t say it’s better than the previous match, or better than their G1 match but this was your normal great main event that had a lot of cool spots and good wrestling overall.

Marufuji dominated early, brawling around rinside. He settles on working on Okada’s arm and applying holds. Okada came back with a dropkick that sent Marafuji tumbling to the floor. Okada countered back, hitting a huge dive over the barricade and into some chairs. But Marafuji soon countered back with a piledriver on the apron. Not really a fan of those spots when they really should be saved for a big angle, because immediately breaking a count out spot sort of invalidates it as a big move.

They do some more back and forth. Marufuji hits a superkick, but Okada immediately shoots back with a dropkick that sends Marufuji down. Okada misses a charge and walks into a big knee that sends him down. Marufuji hit the sliced bread but Okada kicked out. Marufuji went for another one but Okada blocked it and came back with a rainmaker. Okada holds on to him but Marufuji starts countering all rainmaker attempts. Okada counters back with a tombstone, hit a side slam then hit the rainmaker for the win.

That makes it Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada for WrestleKingdom 11. Gedo calls out Omega as he makes his way to the ring by himself. Omega says everything has been given to him by the company and by Gedo. He is the symbol of New Japan, he’s protected Japanese wrestling. He’s taken everything up to this point, and he will take everything that you treasure. He will win at the Toyko Dome and will treat him just like they did in America (refering to the TNA run). Okada said he’ll see him at the Toyko Dome and they had a staredown as Omega exited, and Okada celebrated to close out the show.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This was a really good PPV headlined by three great matches. Actually top to bottom I don’t think there was one bad match on the show. Lots of great wrestling and some strong buildup through the rest of the year and WrestleKingdom 11. Kinda goes to show that one big show is always better than three watered down events.

NJPW G1 Climax 26 night 13 results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii

After another day’s break we’re back for another day of G1 action, with today’s show being held in Osaka.

Tiger Mask & Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Ryusuke Taguchi & Captain New Japan when Captain New Japan submitted to the double arm scissors submission. Taguchi’s been doing his alter ego gimmick he does outside of pro wrestling on the second half of this tour and singing his way to the ring.

They aired a taped Jay Lethal promo. He’s got title defenses all around the world, the next being Satoshi Kojima. He’ll beat him faster than anyone in his entire life. Just another blip on the radar — Kojima will be no different. Lethal will leave Japan still Ring of Honor champion.

EVIL, BUSHI, & Tetsuya Naito defeated Satoshi Kojima, KUSHIDA, & Juice Robinson after EVIL pinned Robinson with an STO.

Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi when Yujiro pinned Nakanishi with the Pimp Juice DDT.

Katsuhiko Nakajima, Toru Yano, Gedo, & YOSHI-HASHI defeated David Finlay, Katsuyori Shibata, Michael Elgin, & Tomoaki Honma when Nakajima pinned Finlay with the Penalty Kick.

Tama Tonga defeated SANADA

Started off slow but picked up very well towards the end of the match. While Tama Tonga holds his own in matches, SANADA comes off as a better personality and is more fluid in the ring. SANADA tried for the Skull End submission but Tonga countered with the waistlock DDT.

After a great back and forth, SANADA hit a TKO and locked in the Skull End but Tonga reversed it into an inverted DDT. SANADA nearly got him with a cradle but Tonga bounced back with a Gun Stun for the win.

Bad Luck Fale defeated Togi Makabe

Solid match, better than you would think. All action and never dragged. This turned into a slugfest early as they brawled out of the ring to the outside. Turned into a competitive back and forth match.

Makabe was going for the knee drop, but Fale came back and was going for the Bad Luck Fall when Makabe reversed it. Fale splashed him in the corner and was going for punches when Makabe powerbombed him. Fale fought back and got the win with the grenade.

Hirooki Goto defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Good match. The effects of this G1 were already pretty apparent with Tenzan as he hobbled to the ring. They had a pretty good match regardless.

Goto went for the GTR but Tenzan reversed it with the TTD and followed with the moonsault. They went at it some more, with Tenzan decking Goto with headbutt shots. Goto came back with the sleeper, then hit the GTR for the win.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated Kazuchika Okada

Incredible match, the last few minutes were outstanding and is probably up there with some of the best matches of the tournament.

Started off hot with both trying to do their finishes early but both were able to dodge them. Okada laid out Ishii with a draping DDT on the barricade to the floor. Ishii made a comeback in the ring but Okada laid him out with a Death Valley Driver. Ishii responded with a giant superplex and laid him out with the sliding D.

Okada countered a brainbuster and hit three sliding kicks. Okada tried for the Rainmaker, Ishii dodged it and went for a lariat but Okada hit the German suplex. He hung on to him and went for the Rainmaker but Ishii responded with headbutts that laid Okada out.

Ishii brought him up but Okada sprung to life and tried to tombstone him. Ishii responded by reversing it, piledriving him, then laying him out with the brainbuster for the win.

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Naomichi Marufuji

This didn’t compare to the previous match but was still really good. Both guys looked on point. They started off mat wrestling. They made it to the apron where Marufuji hit a piledriver on the apron, geez.

Marufuji worked on him a lot after that, including wiping him out with a plancha on the outside. Marufuji attempted the Sliced Bread a few times, but Tanahashi blocked it and hit the Sling Blade. He went for the High Fly Flow but in mid-air Marufuji caught him with the double knees.

Marufuji’s kicks always look on point and it’s awesome. Tanahashi caught Marufuji with a twisting neckbreaker, then came back with the Sling Blade and two High Fly Flows for the win.

Another good show. Definitely check out the Ishii vs. Okada match.

Current Standings:

Block A

  • Kazuchika Okada (10)
  • Naomichi Marufuji (10)
  • Togi Makabe (8)
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi (8)
  • Bad Luck Fale (8)
  • Hirooki Goto (8)
  • Tama Tonga (6)
  • Tomohiro Ishii (6)
  • SANADA (4)
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4)

Block B

  • Tetsuya Naito (8)
  • Michael Elgin (8)
  • Katsuyori Shibata (6)
  • YOSHI-HASHI (6)
  • Katsuhiko Nakajima (6)
  • Toru Yano (6)
  • Kenny Omega (6)
  • Yuji Nagata (6)
  • EVIL (4)
  • Tomoaki Honma (4)