NJPW has announced the top matches for their next tour, which starts in a matter of days.
New Japan Road will start on September 3 and run through September 11. The card on September 11 will feature two title matches.
The finals of a round robin tournament will take place on that card. The participants in the tournament include El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI, and Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato.
The September 11 show will be headlined by a NEVER Six-Man Tag Team title match. New champions Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI will defend their titles against fellow CHAOS stablemates Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, and SHO.
New IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental champion Tetsuya Naito will be in action on this tour. On both September 5 and 6, he will team with Shingo Takagi and SANADA to take on EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, and Jado.
Full cards for the tour, the final tour prior to this year’s G1 Climax tournament, can be found on NJPW’s schedule page.
The Yujiro/Gedo bad match tour continued here. They had another bad match and Uemura and Kidd had to get whipped by Gedo’s belt to add injury to insult.
This was all Yujiro and Gedo for the first several minutes. Gedo whipped Kidd with the belt on the outside. Uemura finally got a tag. Uemura and Kidd hit a double suplex for a near fall. Uemura hit Yujiro with a double underhook suplex for another.
Gedo jumped in and helped Yujiro cut Uemura off. Yujiro hit a fisherman buster and Pimp Juice for the pin.
Honma and Taguchi tagged in and Taguchi sold big for Honma’s tackles and chops. Taguchi did some comedy. Honma missed a kokeshi. Taguchi answered with a kokeshi.
Kojima and Nagata used quick tags in continuing to work Honma over. Honma tagged Makabe who ran wild with clotheslines. Makabe used a northern lights suplex for a two count on Nagata. Nagata answered with an exploder.
Makabe and Kojima had an exchange of strikes and chops. Makabe cut Kojima off before he could try his top rope elbow. Tsuji got a tag and hit his new senton/splash sequence for a near fall.
Kojima hit a cutter for a two count. Everyone entered the ring to set up the finish. Tsuji hit a spear for a two count after a 3-on-1. Tsuji used a Boston crab but Kojima powered out. Tsuji rolled Kojima up for another near fall.
Tsuji hit the ropes but ran into a Kojima lariat for the pin.
Shingo Takagi & SANADA defeated Minoru Suzuki & DOUKI (12:09)
Suzuki-gun attacked before the opening bell and turned this into a brawl. It was a pretty great brawl.
Suzuki used a chair on Shingo on the outside. They then had a lengthy exchange in the ring. They traded huge forearm strikes. Suzuki used a PK. Shingo missed with a sliding lariat. Suzuki used a choke to back Shingo into the Suzuki-gun corner and tagged out.
Suzuki went over to the announcers and started jawing with them and laughing maniacally. Shingo made a comeback on DOUKI with a jab and a lariat. SANADA got a tag and hit a standing moonsault for a two count.
Suzuki jumped in and knocked Shingo off the apron with a high kick. DOUKI hit a springboard double stomp on SANADA for a near fall. Shingo and Suzuki had another striking battle. Suzuki ducked a pumping bomber and put Shingo in a rear naked choke.
DOUKI used daybreak and a cradle for near falls. SANADA answered with an O’Connor roll for the pin.
**********
Suzuki officially made a challenge to Shingo for the NEVER title in Jingu on the 29th. Shingo accepted.
**********
*****Intermission*****
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Master Wato defeated Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (12:45)
This was very good.
Tanahashi started for his team. He wanted Taichi. Taichi stalled forever, tagged in, then immediately tagged out to Sabre. Suzuki-gun forced a brawl around ringside. Taichi choked Ibushi with a camera cable.
Back inside, Taichi and Tenzan ended up legal. Tenzan hit a mountain bomb and tagged Ibushi. They had a fairly even exchange that ended after a Taichi high kick and an Ibushi frankensteiner.
Wato and Kanemaru tagged in and had a nice sequence. Wato tagged Tanahashi. Tana hit a dragon screw on Desperado. Sabre and Taichi entered to cut Tanahashi off. They teased their tandem dragon screw but Ibushi saved. He hit Sabre with a high kick and a Kamigoye on Taichi.
Ibushi and Tanahashi hit the Golden Blade on Kanemaru. Tanahashi hit an interfering Sabre with a High Fly Flow. Wato hit a tornillo on Desperado.
After missing it the last two nights, Tanahashi hit High Fly Flow on Kanemaru and picked up the pin.
Taichi used a chair on Uemura at ringside after the match, selling how frustrated he was after the loss. Tanahashi and Ibushi posed with the tag titles so a rematch is almost certain for Jingu.
Bullet Club attacked before the opening bell. BUSHI got cut off and worked over by Ishimori and EVIL. BUSHI made a comeback and tagged Naito. Naito repeatedly shoved the referee down as he attacked EVIL in the corner.
EVIL and Naito had a nice exchange. Naito used a Koji Clutch. Togo jumped on the apron and took the ref. EVIL hit Darkness Falls for a near fall.
EVIL shoved Naito into the referee. The ref took a bump to the floor. EVIL hit a low blow. Togo jumped in and choked Naito with a ligature.
Bullet Club put the boots to Naito. Hiromu Takahashi ran in for the save and cleared the ring. The ref woke up and called for the bell as Hiromu was pounding on Ishimori with punches.
Hiromu cut a promo after.
**********
NEVER Openweight 6-Man Championship Tournament Finals: Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & SHO to win the titles (24:19)
This was an excellent main event.
YH and Okada started off. Okada went for his trademark clean break after locking up but YH nailed him with strikes, putting over that this was a more intense YOSHI-HASHI than usual.
Goto and SHO had a clunky exchange. SHO ended up cut off in the opposing corner. Ishii hammered SHO with chops and strikes. YOSHI-HASHI hit his draping dropkick. SHO came back with a brainbuster on Goto.
Yano and Goto had a brief exchange, then it was back to Okada and YH. They had an intense striking battle. Okada hit a back elbow, back elbow in the corner, then a DDT for a near fall.
Okada teased a tombstone but YH blocked. YH hit a headhunter. Ishii entered for a suplex on Okada. YH hit a diving headhunter off the top for a near fall on Okada.
A chaotic sequence saw SHO hit YH with a dropkick. Ishii hit SHO with a lariat. Yano exposed a buckle. Ishii got sent into the buckle. Goto hit a lariat on Yano. Okada hit a flapjack on Goto. YH hit a superkick on Okada and all six men were down.
Okada used a cobra clutch on YH. YH fought the hold for a long time. It looked like this could be the finish but Ishii jumped in and made the save.
Okada hit a Rainmaker. He went for a second Rainmaker but YOSHI-HASHI answered with his own lariat. YOSHI-HASHI hit a second lariat for a near fall. YH used the butterfly lock. Okada fought his way to the ropes. Okada hit a dropkick into a double down.
SHO and Ishii got tags. Ishii hit a brainbuster. SHO hit a spear. Yano sent an interfering Goto into the exposed buckle. He then sent Ishii into the buckle. SHO hit a German on Ishii for a near fall.
SHO put Ishii in the cross armbreaker but Ishii powered out. Ishii hit a powerbomb for a near fall. Ishii hit a lariat for another two count as Yano broke up the pin. Ishii fought for the Vertical Drop Brainbuster but SHO blocked repeatedly and got another armbar. Goto broke it up.
SHO hit a straightjacket German for a two count. He hit a lariat and called for Shock Arrow. Ishii hit a backdrop out of the Shock Arrow attempt. SHO ran into a thrust kick/ushigoroshi combo from YH and Goto. YH hit a meteora. Ishii hit a sliding lariat for a near fall as Okada and Yano saved.
Okada, YH, Goto and Yano brawled to the floor. Ishii hit a lariat, then used the Vertical Drop Brainbuster for the pin to win the titles.
**********
This was YOSHI-HASHI’s first title win in NJPW. All six competitors are CHAOS members so they were all happy for YH and everyone raised each other’s arms after the match. Milano Collection AT was crying on commentary. Okada put the belt on YH after the match.
New NEVER Six-Man Tag Team champions will be crowned next week.
NJPW announced this evening that the championships, which were held by Shingo Takagi, EVIL, and BUSHI, have been vacated. EVIL had previously stated in a backstage interview following Dominion last month that he had no desire to keep the championship.
A tournament will be held next week to determine the next champions. The single elimination eight team tournament will be held on August 6, with the finals taking place on August 9. All events will be held at Korakuen Hall.
The opening round will take place on August 6 and 7 with the following matches:
August 6:
Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, and SHO vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Jado, and Gedo
SANADA, Shingo Takagi, and BUSHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, and DOUKI
August 7:
Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Master Wato vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, and YOSHI-HASHI
The semifinal matches will take place on August 8, and the finals to crown new champions will be held the following day.
New opening matches have been added to both days of Wrestle Kingdom 14.
NJPW made the announcements this evening. January 4 will now have an eight man tag team match featuring Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji taking on Alex Coughlin, Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors and Toa Henare. A tag team match was also announced, with Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan teaming up to take on Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi.
On January 5, there will be a five team gauntlet match for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles. Current champions Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe and Toru Yano will defend against the team of Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HISH & Robbie Eagles, EVIL & Shingo Takagi & BUSHI, Taichi & Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens.
These will take place an hour prior to the main shows, which start at 1 a.m. EST.
Full cards have already been revealed for the two Wrestle Kingdom events. Both shows will center around a double title match that will take place on January 5, pitting the winners of January 4th’s IWGP and Intercontinental title matches in a match for both titles.
