Tag: never openweight six-man tag team titles

Title change takes place at NJPW Road to New Beginning

Posted on by Joseph Currier

TMDK’s reign with the NEVER Openweight Tag Team titles has already come to an end.

At Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Monday, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin defeated Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson to claim the NEVER Six-Man belts. It was Goto who got the victory for his team 18 minutes into the match, pinning Oiwa after hitting a GTR. Sabre attempted to break up the pin but was held back by YOSHI-HASHI, while Boltin neutralized Jackson and kept him from getting involved.

Sabre, Oiwa & Jackson were making their first title defense here after having won the belts in a rando at Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4. The last team they eliminated to win that match was Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Boltin.

It looks like a rematch could be happening at some point. After the title change today, the two teams went face-to-face and the commentary team speculated that the issues between them are not over. There are also a couple of potential singles bouts that have been set up. In his backstage comments, Oiwa mentioned wanting to face Goto. YOSHI-HASHI also said that he would like to face Sabre, aiming to get payback after Sabre defeated him in last year’s edition of the G1 Climax.

Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Boltin all have history with the NEVER Six-Man belts, but this is their first time holding them as a trio. Goto & YOSHI-HASHI had previous reigns with Tomohiro Ishii and YOH as partners. Boltin has twice held the titles with Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano.

NJPW reveals teams for NEVER Six-Man title tournament

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NJPW has revealed the four teams that will be vying for the vacant NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles.

New NEVER Six-Man champs will be crowned at Wrestling World 2024 in Taiwan on Sunday, April 14. A four-team, one-night tournament is taking place at the event.

Here are the first-round matches:

  • Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji & BUSHI vs. EVIL, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano & Boltin Oleg vs. Great-O-Khan, Francesco Akira & Callum Newman

Those will be the first two matches of the main card at Wrestling World 2024. The winning teams advance to the tournament final, which is main-eventing the show.

This January, the NEVER Six-Man titles were vacated due to Kazuchika Okada’s departure from NJPW. Okada, Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii were the champions at the time. They retained against Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Kosei Fujita in their final title defense.

Tanahashi is returning to action at Wrestling World 2024 after having been out since February due to an ankle injury.

Wrestling World 2024 is streaming live on NJPW World on April 14. Here’s the full card for the event:

  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team title tournament finals
  • IWGP Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defend against SANADA & Yuya Uemura
  • DOUKI vs. Kosei Fujita
  • Starlight Kid vs. HANAKO
  • Satoshi Kojima & Tiger Mask vs. El Desperado & Shoma Kato
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team title tournament first-round match: Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji & BUSHI vs. EVIL, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team title tournament first-round match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano & Boltin Oleg vs. Great-O-Khan, Francesco Akira & Callum Newman
  • Touyuu vs. Axe Wang (wrestlers from Taiwan’s PUZZLE promotion)

Six-Man Tag Team title defense set for NJPW New Beginning in Osaka

Posted on by Ian Carey

The NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships will be on the line at NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka. 

The promotion announced on Monday that House of Torture’s Sho, Yujiro Takahashi, and EVIL will defend the belts against Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, and Ren Narita. 

While Suzuki Gun disbanded at the end of 2022, Suzuki and El Desperado have continued their alliance. Suzuki has also begun mentoring Ren Narita, who was at first hesitant to join him and Desperado. Their match against House of Torture in Osaka will be the first time the Six Man titles have been defended since last October. 

NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka takes place Saturday, February 11, 2023, from the Edion Arena in Osaka, Japan. The announced lineup for the show is below

  • Toru Yano & Oskar Leube vs. Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan
  • Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Shota Umino, & Tomoaki Honma vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito
  • Master Wato vs. Taiji Ishimori
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions House of Torture (EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, & Sho) defend against Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, & Ren Narita
  • Hikuleo vs. Jay White in a Loser Leaves Japan match.
  • NEVER Openweight Champion Tama Tonga defends against El Phantasmo
  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada defends against Shingo Takagi

NJPW crowns new NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A title change took place at NJPW’s Burning Spirit tour show in Kagawa on Friday.

House of Torture (EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO) defeated CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & YOH) in a Tornado Dog Cage Survival Match to win the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles. After Goto and YOSHI-HASHI had been locked in a dog cage, EVIL pinned YOH to get the win.

NJPW wrote:

September 23’s penultimate evening on the Burning Spirit tour saw the NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Team Championships on the line, the Tornado Dog Cage Survival Match having been delayed from the prior week in Beppu.

The champion side of Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and YOH headed into their bout with EVIL SHO and Yujiro Takahashi with an added rule to the no tag contest- keys for each of the ringside dog cages were on the ring posts, and could be used to release a team mate if they were locked away. That was the position YOH was put in from the outset though, left at an extreme handicap as HOUSE OF TORTURE shut both Goto and YOSHI-HASHI in a cage.

YOH valiantly fought in the face of H.O.T punishment, landing a barrage of Dragon Screws to EVIL and Yujiro before a neckbreaker to SHO gave him enough time to grab a key and release his partners. With the same furious energy, YOH shot SHO into the ringside guardrail before slamming a dog house over his former partners head; still he was unable to lock SHO away, instead being shut inside a separate cage by Yujiro after a Pimp Juice on the floor.

Goto was able to free YOH, but EVIL shut YOSHI-HASHI away, leaving HOUSE OF TORTURE with the numbers edge again. Dick Togo would provide the illegal added advantage before SHO brought another cage into the ring. As Goto took the fight to the floor, EVIL shut Goto in a cage with Yujiro and SHO on the outside, putting YOH at a practical handicap again with EVIL and Dick Togo.

YOH swung for the fences with a lariat to EVIL before striking Togo with an STO. Locking Togo into the in ring cage, YOH then kicked EVIL low and got a nearfall from a Five Star Clutch before a thrust kick, but EVIL escaped Direct Drive and hit EVIL for the victory, new champions being crowned. 

With their victory, EVIL, Yujro & SHO regained the NEVER Six-Man Tag Team titles after having lost them to Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & YOH this July.

The Tornado Dog Cage Survival Match was originally scheduled to take place this past Sunday, but NJPW had to cancel two shows on the Burning Spirit tour due to Typhoon Nanmadol.

The Burning Spirit tour will conclude with a show from Kobe airing live on NJPW World on Sunday (September 25). 

Six-Man tag title match set for NJPW Road to Power Struggle night one

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles will be on the line at Road to Power Struggle night one.

NJPW has revealed the full card for Road to Power Struggle night one, with it being headlined by NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defending their titles against Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI. The match was set up by Taichi, Sabre Jr., DOUKI & El Desperado defeating Ishii, Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano in an eight-man tag match at the G1 finals.

DOUKI pinned YOSHI-HASHI to get the win in that eight-man tag match. After the match, Taichi, Sabre & DOUKI attacked Ishii, Goto & YOSHI-HASHI and posed with the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag team titles.

Ishii, Goto & YOSHI-HASHI have been NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions since winning the titles in a tournament this August. EVIL, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI were the champions prior to that, but the titles were declared vacant after EVIL joined Bullet Club.

NJPW has yet to reveal the cards for the rest of the Road to Power Struggle tour. The tour is leading into Power Struggle being held at the Edion Arena in Osaka, Japan on Saturday, November 7. Power Struggle will feature six singles matches.

Road to Power Struggle night one is taking place at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo this Friday (October 23) and will air live on NJPW World starting at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time. Here’s the full card for the show:

  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defend against Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI
  • Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. EVIL & Dick Togo
  • Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma vs. Jay White, KENTA & Gedo
  • Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Kazuchika Okada & Gabriel Kidd vs. Will Ospreay & The Great O-Khan
  • Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura

Finals confirmed for NJPW NEVER Six-Man Tag Team title tournament

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NJPW’s NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team title tournament is down to its final two teams.

It will be an all-Chaos final as Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & SHO face off with their stablemates Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI to determine the new NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions. The match is taking place at NJPW’s Summer Struggle show at Korakuen Hall on Sunday (August 9).

Okada, Yano & SHO advanced to the finals by defeating SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI at today’s Summer Struggle event. They won by countout after Yano tied the laces of BUSHI’s mask to the barricade.

Ishii, Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi & Master Wato in today’s main event to advance to the finals.

In the first round of the tournament, Okada, Yano & SHO defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Gedo & Jado and Ishii, Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi.

The NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles were declared vacant after EVIL left Los Ingobernables de Japon and joined Bullet Club. He had held the titles with Shingo & BUSHI.

Sunday’s Summer Struggle show will begin at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time.

Semifinals set for NJPW NEVER Six-Man Tag Team title tournament

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Following two nights of action at Korakuen Hall, the semifinals are set for NJPW’s NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team title tournament.

Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & SHO vs. SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI and Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi & Master Wato vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI are the semifinal matches for the tournament. Both will take place at this Saturday’s Summer Struggle show.

The tournament finals will then be held at Sunday’s Summer Struggle event. Both of this weekend’s shows are taking place at Korakuen Hall.

The NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles were declared vacant after EVIL left Los Ingobernables de Japon and joined Bullet Club. EVIL had held the titles with Shingo & BUSHI.

Okada, Yano & SHO defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Gedo & Jado in the first round of the tournament on Thursday, while SANADA, Shingo & BUSHI defeated Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & DOUKI. The first round then concluded today with Tanahashi, Ibushi & Wato defeating Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Ishii, Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeating Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi.