NJPW has revealed both blocks and matches for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
A Block will feature Taka Michinoku, Titan, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Marty Scurll, Jonathan Gresham, SHO, Shingo Takagi, Dragon Lee, Taiji Ishimori, and Tiger Mask IV. B Block meanwhile will feature Robbie Eagles, Flip Gordon, El Desperado, Bandido, El Phantasmo, Will Ospreay, BUSHI, Ryusuke Taguchi, YOH, and Rocky Romero.
The first show will take place on May 13 with A Block action. The main event will be a rematch from the first night of Wrestling Dontaku, with Dragon Lee facing Ishimori. Shingo vs. SHO, Scurll vs. Gresham, Titan vs. Kanemaru, and Tiger Mask vs. Michinoku are also set.
Will Ospreay vs. El Phantasmo, which was teased during the second Wrestling Dontaku show when they wrestled in a tag team match, will take place on May 22.
The full schedule for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament can be found here. The tour will end on June 5 at Sumo Hall. All shows will air live on New Japan World with English commentary.
If IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Dragon Lee doesn’t win the tournament, it’s expected that the winner will get a shot at his title at Dominion on June 9.
It was also announced that Brody King will be working the Best of the Super Juniors tour in the undercard matches. He was a part of the New Beginning in USA shows earlier this year, after New Japan talent were unable to make it due to visa issues.
A triple threat match for the IWGP title headlines this morning’s King of Pro Wrestling event in Sumo Hall.
Kenny Omega will face not one, but two opponents as he faces Cody and Kota Ibushi. The match was set up last week when Cody proposed a solution that would enable Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega to square off, continuing to keep their promise that their next big match would be at the biggest venue possible. The co-main event will feature Hiroshi Tanahashi defend his Wrestle Kingdom 13 IWGP title contract against Jay White.
Other title matches set for this morning include the finals of a IWGP Jr. title tournament where KUSHIDA and Marty Scurll will battle to determine the new champion. The IWGP Jr. tag team titles will also be on the line, as veterans Tiger Mask and Jushin Liger take on champions Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru in the opener.
One of the more intriguing matches in the undercard will be an eight man tag team match with LIJ members taking on CHAOS members. In a video earlier this week, Tetsuya Naito promised that a new “pareja” will team with them at this morning’s show. Let the speculation begin!
Join us for live coverage starting at 4 a.m. EDT. There will be English commentary.
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EL DESPERADO & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU DEFEATED JUSHIN LIGER & TIGER MASK TO RETAIN THE IWGP JR. HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (9:53)
This was weird for an opener, as the heels won, and they did a bunch of shenanigans and a ref bump. The wrestling itself was fine.
Liger and Tiger Mask got jumped during their entrance. Desperado used a chair on Liger, and Kanemaru sent Tiger into the security fence.
Suzuki-gun finally brought the action into the ring. Desperado and Kanemaru worked over Tiger, and teased taking off his mask. Tiger made a comeback, and tagged Liger. Liger hit a top rope rana on Kanemaru, and cradled Kanemaru for a nearfall.
Liger used an armbar on Kanemaru. Desperado jumped in for the save, and ate a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Tiger got a tag and hit a diving headbutt on Kanemaru for a two count. Desperado got a tag and hit a brainbuster and a spear on Tiger.
Liger came in for the save, but Kanemaru took him out. Tiger hit Desperado with a tiger driver for two. Tiger put Desperado on the top rope, and hit a tiger suplex. He covered, but Kanemaru slid a whiskey bottle in, stopping the count.
Kanemaru spit the whiskey mist in Tiger’s eyes, and the ref took a bump. Liger hit Kanemaru with a somersault senton from the apron to the floor. Tiger got a visual pinfall on Desperado, but the referee was out. Desperado hit a low blow. Desperado hit the pinche loco on Tiger, and got the pin to retain the titles.
TOGI MAKABE & TOMOAKI HONMA DEFEATED JUICE ROBINSON & TOA HENARE (10:21)
A very simple, basic tag match. Honma did more and looked better than he has since his return.
Honma and Henare started off. They hit each other with shoulder tackles. Honma hit a slam, bt missed a kokeshi. Juice tagged in and hit a vertical suplex, but then tagged out immediately. Honma hit a vertical suplex, and both Honma and Henare tagged out.
Honma hit juice with ten punches in the corner, but Juice came back with corner clotheslines, a cannonball, and his jab series. Makabe ducked a jab, hit a lariat, and tagged Honma. Honma hit a bulldog and a kokeshi. Honma hit a lariat and made a cover, but Henare jumped in to break it up.
Honma went up top, but Juice press slammed him to the mat. Juice tagged Henare, who hit a lariat for a two count. Honma hit a diving kokeshi, and tagged Makabe. Henare hit a tackle for a two count.
Makabe hit a lariat on Henare for a one count. Honma jumped in and they hit double lariats. Honma hit a kokeshi, and Makabe hit a king kong knee drop for the pin.
TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA, BAD LUCK FALE & TAIJI ISHIMORI DEFEATED THE YOUNG BUCKS, CHASE OWENS & HANGMAN PAGE (12:06)
A great match. Everyone looked spectacular.
Owens and Loa started off. They did virtually nothing, before tagging Nick and Ishimori, who did a lightning quick stalemate sequence. All eight men jumped in, and the Elite team hit stereo dropkicks, sending everyone to the floor. Nick hit a senton off the top to the floor. Matt teased a dive, but got tripped.
Loa slammed Matt on the floor, and the OGs turned it into a brawl around ringside. Matt was the legal man, and found himself worked over by Ishimori and Tonga. Matt had his back taped up and was wearing the weight belt. Tonga took the belt off, and Fale ripped the tape off. Fale stood on the back. Tonga hit a stinger splash to the back.
Tonga went for a second splash in the corner, but Matt escaped. He hit a superkick to Loa, and a spear on Tonga, then tagged Page. Page ran wild, hitting a dropkick on Loa into a standing moonsault on Ishimori. Page hit a moonsault from the post to the floor, wiping out the OGs.
Page hit a buckle bomb to Ishimori into double enziguris from the Bucks. Owens hit a backbreaker for a two count. Ishimori slipped going for a handspring kick. Everyone jumped in and hit a big move. Page hit the buckshot lariat. The Bucks double superkicked Fale. Ishimori hit a fantastic twisting plancha to the floor.
Owens escaped a gun stun, and hit a pump kick and a step-up knee on Loa. He went for a package piledriver, but Loa countered, and lifted him into a gun stun from Tonga, and the OGs got the victory.
This served to set up Suzuki and Ishii’s RPW title match next week, and set up Ospreay as a challenger for Taichi. I suppose someone finally realized that maybe, just maybe, the NEVER Openweight title could mean something if it were truly an openweight title, rather than a tertiary heavyweight belt.
Suzuki-gun tried to jump CHAOS at the bell, but CHAOS was ready. Ospreay and Goto ran wild. Suzuki grabbed Goto’s arm and applied an armbar over the ropes, and employed some small joint manipulation on Goto’s fingers. This enabled Suzuki-gun to take over, and it devolved into a wild brawl.
They brawled around ringside, with Suzuki-gun using chairs. They teased a countout, but Goto made it back in at 19. Iizuka bit everyone. Goto made a comeback and hit a brainbuster on Suzuki. Ishii got a tag, and Ishii and Suzuki stood in the center of the ring, trading blows. Suzuki ended up with a bloody mouth. Suzuki blasted Ishii with some short forearms.
Ishii fired back. He teased a brainbuster. Suzuki teased a Gotch. Ishii hit a flying tackle, and they did a double down. Ospreay and Taichi got tags. Ospreay hit pip pip cheerio, and a handspring into a kick. Taichi came back with a high kick. Goto and Ishii got sent to the floor, and Suzuki-gun triple-teamed Ospreay. Taichi hit an axe bomber for a nearfall, but Ishii and Goto made the save.
Taichi took his pants off. Maybe his balls was hot?
Ospreay’s chest was all welted up. Iizuka tried to use the iron hand, and he took the referee. Taichi tried to use the NEVER belt on Ospreay, but Ospreay hit a standing spanish fly. Goto hit an ushigoroshi on Iizuka, while Ishii took Suzuki to the floor.
Ospreay hit the storm breaker on Taichi, and got the pin. They played this up like it was a big deal, and Ospreay said he was next for Taichi.
They played a video package before the next match, teasing the new LIJ member. LIJ did their entrance. Naito cut a promo. He teased that the new member was Milano Collection AT, but Milano denied it. Naito then introduced The Dragon. The Dragon entered, and unmasked as Shingo Takagi, formerly of Dragon Gate.
Takagi and YOH started off. All eight men quickly jumped in. SANADA tied Yano up in the paradise lock over the bottom rope. He then tied YOH up, and dropkicked him into Yano, freeing him. BUSHI hit a missile dropkick, then tagged Naito. YOH hit dragon screws on Naito and BUSHI.
Okada got a tag, and DDT’ed Naito. He followed with a flapjack for a two count. Naito hit an inverted atomic drop and the slingshot dropkick in the corner. Naito and BUSHI hit Okada with basement dropkicks, and picked up a nearfall.
Naito went for gloria, but Okada countered, and hit a dropkick. Naito went for a destino, but Okada countered. Naito hit a flying forearm, into a double down. SHO and BUSHI got tags. SHO hit a spear, then a backstabber, while YOH delivered a dropkick.
SHO and YOH went for a 3K on BUSHI, but he countered, and tagged Takagi. The match broke down, and all eight jumped in. Takagi hit his finish, the last falconry, on SHO for the pin.
ZACK SABRE JR. VS. EVIL NEVER STARTED, WAS RULED A NO CONTEST
EVIL made an entrance with druids. One of the druids jumped him, and unmasked as Chris Jericho. Jericho hit a codebreaker, then laid EVIL out with a belt shot with the Intercontinental title. Jericho took off.
They ruled that EVIL was unable to compete, but Sabre went after him anyway. He applied an armbar, but Naito ran in for the save. Naito hit a swinging DDT on Sabre, and Sabre bailed.
KUSHIDA DEFEATED MARTY SCURLL TO WIN THE VACANT IWGP JR. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP (18:34)
This turned into a hell of a match by the end. KUSHIDA’s matches always start slower than I anticipate, but his closing sequences are among the best in the world.
They began with some chain wrestling. KUSHIDA hit a flying armbar, but Scurll turned it into a cradle for a two count. They executed a series of cradles and reversals, ending with Scurll getting a nearfall. KUSHIDA rolled to the floor, and Scurll hit him with a superkick down the line, and he took control of the match.
Back inside, Scurll used a romero special. KUSHIDA came back with a cartwheel dropkick. KUSHIDA went after Scurll’s left arm, trying to soften him up for the hoverboard lock. KUSHIDA went up top, but Scurll cut him off and hit a superplex. KUSHIDA rolled through the superplex into a pinfall, but Scurll kicked out and hit a thrust kick to the side of the head.
Scurll hit a stiff forearm shot, leading to another series of cradles and reversals. Scurll popped out of a cradle and hit a superkick. They traded knee strikes to the head. KUSHIDA hit a bicycle kick, Scurll hit a rebound lariat, and both hit simultaneous overhand chops, leading to a double down.
KUSHIDA hit a cartwheel kick, and Scurll rolled to the floor. KUSHIDA went to the top, but Scurll cut him off, and joined him on the top rope. KUSHIDA slapped on the diablo armbar, and they crashed to the mat. Scurll hit a short slingshot under the bottom rope. He charged at KUSHIDA, but KUSHIDA used a drop toehold to send Scurll into the corner pad.
KUSHIDA went for a back to the future, but Scurll jumped into the chicken wing, locking it on in the center of the ring. KUSHIDA rolled through, but Scurll locked on a hoverboard lock of his own. KUSHIDA kept his hands locked, then escaped. Scurll hit a suplex, dropping KUSHIDA right on his head.
KUSHIDA countered a graduation with an air raid crash. KUSHIDA went for back to the future, but Scurll slipped out and stomped on KUSHIDA’s hand. KUSHIDA tried to lock on the hoverboard, but because of the hand stomp, he couldn’t lock it on.
Scurll hit a powerbomb, then a package driver for a two count. Scurll hit a lariat, and attempted to roll into a chicken wing, but KUSHIDA blocked it. KUSHIDA then hit two back to the futures for the pin, winning the title.
HIROSHI TANAHASHI DEFEATED SWITCHBLADE JAY WHITE TO RETAIN THE TOKYO DOME IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP CHALLENGE RIGHTS CERTIFICATE (20:40)
The match was good for what it was, especially given all the gaga and interference. It featured some incredible work from Tanahashi, but all of that was secondary to the post-match.
White began with some stalling. He rolled to the floor. He came back inside, and they locked up. White broke cleanly on the ropes, but Gedo tripped Tana from the floor. White sent Tana into the fence. Gedo jumped in for a cheap shot, and Tana chased him into the ring. While Gedo took Tana, White hit a chop block, then played air guitar.
White went to work on Tana’s left leg, and played air guitar with it. He pulled Tana to the apron, and worked the leg over on the apron. White posted Tana’s leg, and Gedo used the briefcase on the leg. White sent Tana over the top. Tana kicked off Gedo and skinned the cat, but the interference allowed White to grab the leg and continue working it over.
White sent Tana into the corner, but Tana was able to counter with a dragon screw. Tana hit a scoop slam, second rope senton, and an inverted dragon screw. Tana used a cloverleaf, but White reached the ropes immediately. White Saito suplexed Tanahashi over the top rope to the floor, where he then slammed Tana into the fence.
White pulled a chair from under the ring. As he attempted to bring it inside, Red Shoes stopped him, and Tana hit a dragon screw over the rope. White rolled outside, and Tana hit a high fly flow to the floor. Back inside, Tana went for sling blade, but White cut him off twice. White hit an exploder, into a double down.
They traded short forearms. Tana went to using right hands, but White kicked at the leg. White hit some right hands, but Tana hit a palm strike, then another. They did an insane sequence of reversals, ending with White hitting a right hand. Tana then hit two twist and shouts. He went for a third, but White reversed it into a spinning brainbuster. He went for another, but Tana hit another twist and shout.
Tana hit sling blade. Gedo jumped onto the apron. White went for a blade runner, but Tana turned it into a dragon suplex for two. Tana hit a high fly flow to a standing White. He hit another to a fallen White. Red Shoes counted to two, but Gedo pulled him out of the ring before he could count the pinfall.
Gedo jumped in with brass knuckles. Tana ducked them and KO’ed Gedo, but White hit a low blow, then grabbed a chair. He swung the chair, but Tana ducked it and hit a low blow. Tana slammed White on to the chair. He went for a high fly flow, but White rolled out of the way, and Tana landed on the chair.
White hit a chair shot. Red Shoes was revived. Rather than cover immediately, White tried to hit a blade runner first, allowing Tanahashi to counter with a roll-up for the three count.
White and Gedo assaulted Tana after the match. White went for a blade runner, but Okada ran down for the save. Okada laid out White. Gedo tried to sneak attack him, but Okada fired back. Jado ran in to make the save for his brother, while wearing an Okada shirt. He talked Okada into backing off.
The Bullet Club OGs came to ringside. Fale grabbed Gedo. Tonga grabbed Jado. Okada hit the ropes to hit Gedo, but Tonga hit him with a gun stun. Gedo, Jado, Loa, Tonga, Fale, Ishimori, and White, all threw up the too sweet, and White hit a blade runner on Okada.
So, White, Gedo, and Jado have aligned themselves with the Bullet Club.
After the Bullet Club scattered, Tana got back into the ring, and stood over Okada. He didn’t help him to his feet, and was then helped to the back by the Young Lions, who then escorted Okada to the back.
KENNY OMEGA DEFEATED CODY & KOTA IBUSHI TO RETAIN THE IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP (34:14)
This was intricately laid out. There was no absence of ring psychology here, and the underlying story of the match was the complications that Omega and Ibushi’s relationship brought to the bout.
That said, it was primarily about all three guys trying to win the championship, and there were approximately six billion moves. Omega was slightly less crisp than his impossible standard, but still incredible. Ibushi and Cody were excellent. The crowd wasn’t into it in some stretches, but they were into it at the end.
Cody sent Ibsuhi to the floor, and hit Omega with his dropdown right hand. Omega rolled to the floor, and Ibushi jumped back in. Ibushi hit a dropkick. Omega jumped back in and hit a kotaro krusher. Ibushi covered, but Omega pulled him off. Omega covered, and Ibushi pulled him off.
Cody hit a gutbuster on Omega, who sold his right shoulder. cody rolled to the floor and hit Ibushi with a gutbuster on the floor. He jumped back in and hit Omega with a knee to the gut, before jumping back outside. Ibushi ran at Cody, and Cody sent him over the fence, into the crowd.
While Ibushi sold his knee outside, Cody jumped back in and hit a running knee strike on Omega, picking up a two count. Omega hit a snap rana, sending Cody to the floor. Omega hit the rise of the terminator.
All three men climbed back inside. Omega hit you can’t escpae. Ibushi hit a moonsault. Omega went for a one-winged angel on Ibushi, but Ibushi slipped out. Cody hit a powerslam on Omega. Ibushi hit a powerslam on Cody, then a moonsault for a two count.
Cody talked Omega into trying a double brainbuster on Ibushi, but as they lifted him, Cody rolled up Omega for two. Omega and Cody traded strikes, and Cody applied a figure four. While they sat in the figure four, Ibushi hit both with kicks, then hit a standing moonsault on Omega for a nearfall.
Ibushi went for a moonsault on Cody, but Cody got the knees up. Omega hit a snap dragon on Cody, side-stepped a disaster kick, then gave Cody a snap dragon. Omega went for a v-trigger, but Ibushi hit him with a dropkick. Cody hit Ibushi with a springboard dropkick, then hit a hammerlock DDT for a nearfall.
Omega rolled to the floor. Cody hit a suicide dive to Omega. Ibushi teased a golden triangle on both, but Cody cut him off. He teased a cross Rhodes on the apron, but Omega grabbed him and powerbombed him through the announce table. Ibushi then hit a twisting springboard moonsault to the floor on Omega.
Ibushi had a chance to try a springboard maneuver on Omega, but stepped inside and dared Omega to lock up instead. They locked up, then traded strikes. They exchanged front kicks, then Ibushi hit a combination. Omega countered with a snap dragon. They did a series of reversals, and Omega hit a v-trigger. Omega went for a rana, but Ibushi flipped out, landed on his feet, and hit a thunderous lariat.
Ibushi teased a phoenix splash, but Cody shoved him from the top to the floor. Cody hit a canadian destroyer for a two count on the champion. Cody teased din’s fire, but ate a wheel kick to the back of the head. Omega hit a v-trigger, sending Cody into the corner pad.
Omega teased a top rope dragon suplex. Ibushi cut him off. Omega recovered. Ibushi hit a kick to the back. Ibushi teased lawn darting Omega, but Omega buckle bombed Ibushi into Cody. Omega hit a package driver for two on Ibushi. WIth Cody tied to the tree of woe, Ibushi lawn darted Omega into Cody.
They did a take on the stacked up superplex spot, with Omega hitting a springboard sunset flip. He didn’t quite execute it perfectly. Omega hit both with v-triggers. Cody lifted Omega into a german from Ibushi, but then broke up the ensuing pinfall. With Omega on the apron, Cody hit him with a disaster kick. He went for a table, but it was on the other side of the ring, so he went to the other side of the ring and set up a table.
Omega went for a springboard attack, but Cody pushed him off, and he went through the table. Ibushi hit a superplex, but Cody rolled through into a cradle for a two count. Cody went for a disaster kick, but Ibushi hit him with a kick. Ibushi hit a sit-out powerbomb for a two count.
Ibushi hit a straightjacket suplex, but didn’t have Cody’s shoulders down. He slid to a lateral press for a two count, but Omega grabbed Red Shoes’ hand, holding up the count. The crowd had not really been into the match for some time, but that spot got them back into it.
Omega tried to apologize to Ibushi, but Ibushi hit him with a palm strike. Omega hit a desperation single-leg, but Ibushi ended up on top. Ibushi slipped to mount, and hit Omega with a series of closed fists. Ibushi hit a bomaye for a two count.
Ibushi teased a kamigoye, but Cody pulled him to the floor. Cody hit a cross Rhodes and made a cover on Omega, but Ibushi hit a double foot stomp, breaking it up. Cody hit a second cross Rhodes, and the crowd bought it as a finish, but Omega kicked out at two.
Cody hit din’s fire on Ibushi, but Omega broke up the pin. Cody went outside and grabbed a chair, but settled on using his US title belt as a weapon. He tossed the belt to Nick Jackson, then grabbed the chair again. Omega laid over Ibushi, begging Cody not to hit him.
He kicked off Cody, who rolled to the floor, then hit a v-trigger on Ibushi. He followed with a jay driller for two, then hit the one-winged angel for the pin.
After the match, Omega said that he wouldn’t address the crowd until Ibushi could get to his feet. Ibushi got up.
Omega told him that he loved him. He told Cody that he loved him and his dog, too. He told the Bucks that he loved them.
Just as he was about to goodbye and goodnight, Tanahashi appeared. Omega offered him the microphone. Tana said he was angry, but that they shouldn’t settle their differences today, but rather at the Tokyo Dome.
The full card has been released for next week’s King of Pro Wrestling.
As expected, the main event will feature Kenny Omega defending the IWGP title in a triple threat match against Cody and Kota Ibushi, which was set up this past Sunday at Fighting Spirit Unleashed. In the co-main event, Hiroshi Tanahashi will defend his WrestleKingdom 13 briefcase against Jay White.
The finals of the Jr. heavyweight title tournament will have KUSHIDA taking on Marty Scurll for the vacant IWGP Jr. title. The Jr. tag team titles will be on the line, as champions Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru will defend against Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask in the opening contest.
Meanwhile, a new member of Los Ingobernables de Japon will make their debut at the show, after a YouTube video featuring LIJ indicated that they would be bringing in a new pareja. The mystery partner will team with Naito, SANADA and BUSHI in an eight man tag against CHAOS.
A special singles match between EVIL and Zack Sabre Jr. has been set after Sabre has repeatedly gotten the better of EVIL on a number of occasions during recent tours. Another eight man tag will also go down, pitting members of the Bullet Club against the Bullet Club OG’s.
Here is the full card for King of Pro Wrestling, which will take place next Monday at Sumo Hall:
Kenny Omega vs. Cody vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP title
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White for Tanahashi’s WrestleKingdom 13 title shot briefcase
KUSHIDA vs. Marty Scurll for the IWGP Jr. title
EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano and Roppongi 3K vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, BUSHI and a mystery partner
Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto and Will Ospreay vs. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi and Takashi Iizuka
The Young Bucks, Hangman Page and Chase Owens vs. Guerillas of Destiny, Bad Luck Fale and Taiji Ishimori
Togi Makabe and Tomoak Honma vs. Juice Robinson and Toa Henare
Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask for the IWGP Jr. tag team titles
Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi will determine the 28th G1 Climax champion.
For all the math involved going into each block finals, the results were relatively simple. For the A Block, Jay White lost the match he needed to stay alive, then Tanahashi drew with Kazuchika Okada. Since Tanahashi had two more points than Okada going into the match, he advanced to the finals.
For the B Block. Tetsuya Naito could not get the win needed to spoil the main event, falling to a Zack Driver by Zack Sabre Jr.. Instead, it was Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega who determined the B Block. After a fierce match with tons of crazy spots, a kamigoye sealed the deal for Ibushi, who won the block with the win.
Ibushi and Tanahashi have faced off in three big singles matches in the past. Tanahashi originally beat Ibushi during the 2015 G1 tournament. Ibushi scored a win at last year’s tournament, but failed to take the Intercontinental title off of Tanahashi at last year’s Power Struggle.
We will have live coverage of tonight’s finals starting at 2:00 a.m. EDT.
Uemura used his better physique to his advantage to throw more powerful elbow shots and chops, but Narita worked over the back throughout the match. Narita landed a ton of chops before a series of slams set up a Boston crab for a victory.
Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Shota Umino, Tomoyuki, Oka, and Yuji Nagata
Nagata prevented a Romero special, so Liger disposed of him and went to apply it again, but Umino prevented it. Taguchi ate a barrage of corner shots before Umino missile dropkicked Taguchi down for 2.9. Another Boston Crab was locked on, but it didn’t get the win win. A la majistral cradle got 2, but a Taguchi hip attack got 2.9. A Taguchi jumping high kick followed by a double-armed chickenwing facebuster end it.
SHO & YOH and Rocky Romero defeated TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, and Takashi Iizuka
Taka hit YOH in the corner with a running kick before landing another one on him. Iizuka got the iron fingers and threatened the referee, but SHO avoided them and landed a series of forearms. However, Iizuka hit an inverted atomic drop and TAKA superkicked SHO for 2. YOH ran wild with superkicks while Romero hit a suicide dive on the floor to Taichi. SHO hit a backstabber on Iizuka before a pump knee strike hits. SHO got the iron fingers and felt their power before landing the Iron Fingers from Hell on Iizuka and landing the 3K to win it.
Toa Henare, Big Mike, Togi Makabe, and David Finlay defeated YOSHI-HSHI, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, and “Switchblade” Jay White
Finlay and Switchblade went at it with Finlay hitting a jumping European uppercut and a charging variant in the corner. Switchblade landed a snap Saito suplex, but ate an Irish curse backbreaker. YOSHI-HASHI came in with Big Mike for more forearms and chops. A jumping mule kick got HASHI an edge before a running blockbuster and everyone hit charging attacks in the corner before Ishii landed a German and HASHI laid Mike out with a lariat. Henare saved it at 2, but gets tossed outside. Everyone was standing around on the floor, leading to HASHI ducking low and Big Mike hitting a flip dive on the pile. Mike caught HASHI and apron powerbombed him. Mid-ring, he hit the giant lariat to get 2 and a buckle bomb set up the Elgin bomb for the win.
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI, and Hiroumu Takahashi Desperado, Kanemaru, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, and Minoru Suzuki
LIJ poses before Suzuki-gun is out and Lance sprays the crowd down. Suzuki jumps Naito while he’s kneeling and they brawl on the floor. Bushi hits a double rana on Desperado and Kanemaru. Takahashi lands a big dropkick on Desperado for 2. Kanemaru sends him to the floor where hte brawl continues and extends to include DBS Jr. and Suzuki tearing apart barricades to smash Naito with. Archer and Hiromu go at it in one of the biggest size-mismatches you’ll see in New Japan this year. Hiromu lands some chops, but eats a pounce that sends him to the apron – where Suzuki lightly kicks him to get him to move out of his way so Archer can resume his punishment.
Davey Boy comes in and deadlift Saito suplexes him before throwing him across the ring with a butterfly suplex. Suzuki tags in to face Hiromu, and this is going to be fantastic. He shuffles around before round kicking his chest, picks him up, and round kicks him again. Minoru Suzuki smiles in a menacing manner before locking on a half-crab that Naito makes a save for. This offends Suzuki, so he dashes at him and kicks him off the apron before Desperado comes in and slaps Hiromu. Hiromu lands a palm strike and goes to tag EVIL, but KES prevents it and teases a Hart Attack that Hiromu turns into a DDT before tagging EVIL in.
EVIL takes care of Davey and Archer before bringing SANADA in – but Davey hits a double Northern Lights on them before tagging Archer in for a Demolition Decapitation splash and a Hart Attack on SANADA for 2. Killer Bomb is set up, but SANADA kicks Davey away and hits a springboard dropkick to Archer. NAITO AND SUZUKI ARE IN and Suzuki lands a series of elbows, a corner kick, and his charging PK while a giant “NAITO” chant breaks out. Naitro hits his corner carging kick and goes for the basement dropkick, but Suzuki catches hte foot and locks on a kneebar.Suzuki locks on a kneebar and an armbar before turning it into a figure four. Naito is saved by a rope break, but his bandaged right knee is in even more trouble – so Suzuki mockingly kicks his head and wants his best shot – which he laughs on before measuring him for an elbow strike.
Suzuki lands measured elbow strikes while Naito responds with overhand chops. Naito goes for the eyes, but gets locked in a sleeper before going for the Gotch piledriver. However, Naito senses it and kicks away for a rope-assisted tornado DDT. Suzuki kicks the right leg more and tosses him in for an Irish whip, but Naito drops down and Suzuki-gun lands corner charges on him. Kanemaru hits a diving DDT before EVIL makes a save. Kanemaru hits a charging kick, but Naito sets him up for an EVIL kick, corner charge from his team, and then a double team-assisted shotgun dropkick from Hiromu for before landing Destino on him for the pin. This was an awesome ten man tag and a perfect use of the format. Naito talks smack to Suzuki after the match and Suzuki has to be restrained to avoid beating him up.
NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto defeated Juice Robinson
Juice gets a nice reaction coming out, while Goto’s theme plays and the fans clap along. Juice works on him with headlocks and armbars for a bit. Goto gets a hiptoss and they meet in the middle for a shoulder charge where no one budges. Goto rains down corner forearms, so Juice responds in kind before a slap exchange breaks out and he sends Goto outside to eat a tope. While he’s down, Juice lands a series of punches from the mount – showing that while he may look goofy, he can still kick ass. They brawl on the floor and Goto lands a sick neckbreaker on the barricade – which plays into just about every major move in his arsenal. Juice is placed up top for a draping neckbreaker, which hits and he rolls outside to heal up.
He’s outside for a 17 count, rolls back in, and recovers more before Goto just goes out and chucks him inside to wrench his neck and gets an extended headscissors. Goto hits a diving elbow for 2. Goto attempts to drive his elbow into the nose, but gets blocked and Juice lands a side kick to get his first major blow. Juice lands his punching combo, but Goto ducks the last shot, so Juice chops him instead. A lariat hits, but Goto doesn’t budget and they both lariat each other until Juice lands a sliding Hart Attack lariat to send him down. A corner lariat hits for Juice, but he goes back to the other corner and eats a lariat of his own – only to do the same to Goto when Goto tries it. Juice charges back again, so Goto thinks he has a chance, but Juice ducks his spinkick and lands a cannonball for 2. Juice goes up top, buto Goto goes to the floor only to eat a crossbody anyway. Juice hits a crossbody mid-ring for 2, leaving him absolutely gobsmacked. Juice sets up Pulp Friction, but Goto avoids that and eats a German, only to get up and land a sick lariat, that Juice gets up from, only to eat the ushigoroshi.
A mid-ring elbow exchange fires up Juice, who wins that only to eat a round kick, but then land a big dropkick, but take a running kick to the chest on his way back up to his feet! Juice gets up in the corner and eats the corner spinkick that Goto set up earlier. A Saito suplex hits and further damages Juice’s neck before a second one lands. Red Shoes teases a stoppage, but Goto picks him up and signals for the GTR. Another Ushigorishi hits and gets 2.9! Goto sets him up top for some elbow strikes and teases a super ushigoroshi, but Juice fights out and wants a powerbomb – but Goto avoids that and eats a burning hammer to hte knee and a giant left-arm lariat for 2.9!
Juice lands a giant brainbuster for another 2.9 count, leaving him even more shocked than before. Goto locks on a sleeper to further damage the neck and weaken Juice, but Jucie backs him into hte corner. Juice runs up the corner, but still can’t escape until he snapmares his way free. Reverse GTR hits for Goto, leading to the GTR, but Jucie gets a small package for 2. Goto almost eats a Pulp Friction, but avoids that, giving Juice an opening for a giant elbow strike. A second one hits and Juice fires up and goes for another Pulp Friction. Goto avoids that and lands a shouten kai for 2.9.
Goto lands a round kick to the chest and a GTR ends it. After the match, Big Mike comes in and squares off with Goto and says that Goto has something he wants – the NEVER Openweight Title. He says he will be Goto’s next challenger, but Taichi comes down and attacks Goto, leading to Big Mike running him off. Mike grabs the title so Taichi doesn’t snatch it, and Goto rips it from his hands. The main event participants come out, with Tana getting a fantastic reaction and Ospreay’s reaction eclipsing Tana’s. Ospreay does his pose right in KUSHIDA’s face when he comes into the ring. Okada’s reaction tops everyone’s as he calmly climbs to the top and strikes his signature pose.
KUSHIDA and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Will Ospreay and IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada
Ospreay and KUSHIDA did a ton of matwork to start. KUSHIDA locked on a headscissors that Ospreay couldn’t counter, so he got a rope break. Ospreay teased a dive, but backflipped mid-ring and posed for a fakeout. Tanahashi tagged in and the crowd chanted for Okada, who tagged in and the fans got into a chant-off for the heavyweight legends.
Tanahashi was put into the ropes, but his experience allowed him to use an opening and elbow Okada in the jaw. Tanahashi avoided a rainmaker and Okada avoided a slingblade, but Tanahashi couldn’t avoid a spike DDT. They brawled on the floor and Okada teased a tombstone, but Tanahashi avoided it while Okada kept carrying him around, impressive given his size. They all fought in the crowd for a bit before Ospreay tossesd KUSHIDA into a chalkboard.
Ospreay came in to face Tanahashi and hit a sliding dropkick before executing a double-armed torture lock. Okada came in to pick the bones and work over the bad arm. Tanahashi fought off both members of Chaos, but ate a tombstone. Okada got a cobra clutch while Ospreay hit a space flying tiger drop on KUSHIDA. KUSHIDA ran in and saved Tana with a dropkick before slapping the turnbuckle pad to motivate him to tag out. KUSHDA dropkicked Okada down to a huge “KUSHIDA” chant. He hit a tope con hilo off the top to the floor on Ospreay before hitting a slingshot DDT on Okada mid-ring. KUSHIDA got an armbar, but Okada made it to the ropes.
Okada avoided a punt, but ate a discus elbow and tagged Ospreay in. Ospreay hit a corner European uppercut and a basement hesitation dropkick before a standing SSP got 2. KUSHIDA mule kicked his way out of the head-trapped superkick and hit a somersault DDT. Tana comes in and dragon screwed Okada before hitting a twist and shout on Ospreay for 2. He went for a dragon suplex on Ospreay, but Okada dropkicked him in the back of the head before dropkicking KUSHIDA on the jaw. Tanahashi avoided another tombstone on the floor and landed a slingblade. Ospreay superkicked Tanahashi down before landing the kneeling tornado kick. KUSHIDA’s springboard dropkicked Ospreay’s arm before executing the Hoverboard Lock to put him in position for the High Fly Flow, which ended it.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest show of the year takes place overnight as the Tokyo Dome hosts Wrestle Kingdom 12.
The annual January 4th event will air live on New Japan World and will have options for English (with Kevin Kelly and Don Callis) and Japanese commentary. The pre-show begins at 2 a.m. Eastern time with the New Japan Rumble, which is a Royal Rumble-style battle royal featuring surprise entrants from the past and members of the NJPW roster who aren’t otherwise booked, before the main card kicks off at 3 a.m. Eastern time.
Mr. Lariato on Twitter has some time zone conversions:
For those not watching live, Wrestle Kingdom will be available on New Japan World shortly after it ends. AXS TV will also be showing a three-hour special of the top matches on Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern.
At their fan festival last night, Yuji Nagata announced that there had been 32,600 tickets sold for the event in the pre-sale before walk-ups are accounted for. The fan festival also included the final promos hyping up the card as the wrestlers met face-to-face with their opponents. Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho didn’t appear ahead of their match, seemingly to have their previous two angles as the final build going into tonight.
Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Tetsuya Naito will go on last after Omega vs. Jericho takes place second from the top. Here’s the full lineup for Wrestle Kingdom 12:
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada defending against Tetsuya Naito
IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega defending against Chris Jericho in a no DQ match
IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defending against Jay White
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Marty Scurll defending against Will Ospreay, KUSHIDA, and Hiromu Takahashi in a four-way match
NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki defending against Hirooki Goto in a hair vs. hair match where Suzuki-gun and Chaos are barred from ringside
IWGP Tag Team Champions Killer Elite Squad defending against SANADA & EVIL
Kota Ibushi vs. Cody (w/ Brandi Rhodes)
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Bad Luck Fale & Guerrillas of Destiny defending against Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Beretta, Togi Makabe, Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi, Michael Elgin & War Machine, and Zack Sabre Jr., Takashi Iizuka & Taichi in a gauntlet match
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Sho & Yoh defending against The Young Bucks
The original alternate returns with a look at the upcoming New Japan Wrestle Kingdom at the Tokyo Dome, including our predictions (aka the winds of title change).
Plus, we talk about NOAH’s most recent Korakeun Hall show, this weekend’s AAW, and much more.
It’s the show that’s already looking forward to the The Best of 2018 compilation — it’s the Adam & Mike BIG AUDIO NIGHTMARE!
Korakuen Hall was home to a second show building up the big matches to the first Destruction show of the month this Sunday morning. With Minoru Suzuki battling Michael Elgin for the NEVER title just 24 hours away, their respective teams squared off in an elimination tag match. Here are the results:
Kitamura worked on Kawato for a part of the match, and Nakanishi worked on Oka. Eventually boiled down to Oka and Umino, with the former submitting the latter with a Boston crab. Solid opener.
This was a pretty solid match; everyone looked good but there isn’t much to talk about. Focus was Baretta getting a measure of revenge over Yujiro Takahashi from a few days ago where he lost cleanly to him. This time, he scored the win by hyperextending one of Takahashi’s legs and pinning him.
Bullet Club jumped Chaos after the match, with Takahashi gaining the upper hand once again by laying out Baretta with the pimp juice DDT. This seems to be an angle that’ll play out over the next month.
War Machine & Togi Makabe defeated Killer Elite Squad & Taka Michinoku
War Machine and KES worked a lot of the match against one another, brawling around the ring before going at it inside. The action here was pretty good, particularly when War Machine was on offense. They clearly don’t have an off night. KES looked really good too. Eventually there was an opening where Makabe laid out Michinoku and pinned him with the king kong knee drop.
Rocky Romero & Will Ospreay defeated Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
Ospreay came out with cat whiskers painted on. He and Takahashi have been arguing on Twitter over if Ospreay is a cat or not. I guess this proves Takahashi’s assumptions, though Ospreay still denies that he is a cat. Hey, don’t ask me what’s going on there. I don’t think he is a cat either, for the record.
Match focused between those two, though others were in too and overall the match was good. Ospreay took out Takahashi with a dive, allowing Romero to strike BUSHI with a knee for the win.
The same vignette from a few days ago (and from the G1 finals) aired briefly following intermission.
Juice Robinson & David Finlay defeated Chase Owens & Leo Tonga
A lot of this was Owens working over Finlay, with Tonga coming in to do big spots. Robinson came in and cleared house on Tonga. Robinson was going for the pulp friction when Tonga was about to come in with a big boot. Robinson dodges in the nick of time, causing Tonga to lay out Owens and gave Robinson the opportunity to lay out Tonga with the pulp friction for the win.
Another match that was dedicated to the feuds. Naito and Ishii worked a bulk of the match, with the action looking pretty damn good, same with EVIL and Okada. Whenever Yano and SANADA were in, hijinks would ensue — turnbuckle pads removed, hair pulling, etc. SANADA eventually got the win for his team after a ref spot by Yano went awry, allowing SANADA to low blow him and roll him up.
Michael Elgin, Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & Ricochet defeated Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Desperado in an elimination tag match
Heels worked early to eliminate Tanahashi but everyone else came in to his rescue. Tanahashi gets Suzuki on the apron, but Suzuki counters with an armlock on the ropes. Heels worked on Tanahashi’s still injured bicep. Ricochet comes in and lays out Kanemaru. Taichi interferes, allowing a distracted Ricochet to be rolled up by Kanemaru for the first elimination.
Taguchi came in and got the next pin. Kanemaru jumped off the top rope and was met with a hip attack. Kanemaru tried to roll him up, but Taguchi held on and pinned him instead. Taichi pinned Taguchi with the Gedo clutch next after Kanemaru misted him with the whiskey.
Taichi was eliminated next after taking an errant whiskey spot by Kanemaru and getting hit with a springboard by KUSHIDA. After escaping the stretch muffler, KUSHIDA went for the Back to the Future, but Iizuka came in with the iron fingers, blasted him, then Desperado rolled him up to eliminate him.
Tanahashi and Desperado went at it as they were both dangling on the apron. Elgin came in to eliminate Desperado, but Iizuka grabbed Tanahashi as he was skinning the cat and threw him to the floor, eliminating him.
Elgin took care of Iizuka with an Elgin bomb not too long after, thus leading us to the two participants for Sunday morning’s show. Suzuki grabs an arm, but Elgin deadlifts him until Suzuki stops him near the ropes. Suzuki-gun came back to interfere, but Tanahashi and Ricochet came back to even the odds.
Elgin went for his finish, but Suzuki blocked. Elgin managed to send Suzuki to the apron where he blasted him with a kick to the temple that sent him to the floor, giving his team the win in a really good main event.
Elgin says no matter where Minoru Suzuki is at tomorrow, he is going to be stepping in the ring with him. Tomorrow, New Japan has a new NEVER Openweight champion, Big Mike.
With Steve Corino leaving Ring of Honor and his announcing duties with New Japan Pro Wrestling for a job at the WWE Performance Center, NJPW was tasked with filling the spot on their streaming service’s English broadcast team opposite Kevin Kelly.
That spot has been filled, with Don Callis (formerly known as The Jackyl in WWF and Cyrus in ECW) announcing on the latest episode of his “Killing the Town” podcast — that he does with Lance Storm — that he has accepted a position to be NJPW World’s new lead English color commentary voice.
Callis noted on the podcast that he had agreed to the deal within the last week and would be working on the broadcast team alongside Kelly, who he worked with previously in the WWF in the 1990s. Callis thanked Kenny Omega for helping facilitate the deal.
NJPW announced last week that they would be ramping up their English commentary broadcast schedule as they attempt to further appeal to international fans.
New Japan today has announced a full schedule of events on New Japan World with English language commentary of the events that will air live.
As has already been reported, both major shows in February, the New Beginning in Sapporo on February 5th with the Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki IWGP title match and the February 11th New Beginning in Osaka with the Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin IC title match will have English language commentary.
The other shows between now and August with English commentary are:
March 6th — 45th Anniversary show at the Tokyo Ota Ward Gym
March 20th — New Japan Cup finals (winner to get an IWGP title match on 4/9)
April 9th — Sakura Genesis at Tokyo Sumo Hall
May 3rd — Wrestling Dontaku in Fukuoka’s International Center Arena
June 3rd — Best of the Super Junior finals
June 11th — Dominion in Osaka Jo Hall (the biggest event between now and G-1)
July 1st — The show in Long Beach, CA
July 2nd — The second show in Long Beach, CA
July 17th — Opening night of the G-1 tournament in Sapporo
August 11th — A block finals of G-1 at Sumo Hall
August 12th — B block finals of G-1 at Sumo Hall
August 13th — G-1 Climax championship match at Sumo Hall
Kevin Kelly will be the lead announcer for the broadcasts. At this point it’s unknown who will be working with him now that Steve Corino has taken a job as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center.
The complete lineup for Wrestle Kingdom 11, which is the biggest non-WWE pro wrestling event in the world each year, was announced at a New Japan press conference on Monday.
The lineup was mostly the same matches listed in yesterday’s update with more teams involved in the trios title picture, a Cody Rhodes match, plus a Tiger Mask W match.
The matches will go on, in this order:
New Japan Rumble — This is a Royal Rumble match basically for all the talent on the roster not on the card, as well as surprise legends and outsiders. It’s more played up for surprising old-timers and that type of pop.
Tiger Mask W (who was Kota Ibushi the first time) vs. Tiger the Dark — This is based on the Tiger Mask anime that airs on TV-Asahi.
Young Bucks vs. Rocky Romero & Baretta for the IWGP Jr. tag titles
A Trios title gauntlet match featuring these teams:
SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI
Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page
Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay
Champions Satoshi Kojima, Ricochet & David Finlay
Cody vs. Juice Robinson
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole for the ROH title
Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma for the IWGP tag team titles
KUSHIDA vs. Hiromu Takahashi for IWGP Jr. title
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hirooki Goto for NEVER Openweight title
Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for IC title
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega for IWGP heavyweight title
The show will air live exclusively on New Japan World with Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino as announcers in English as well as a Japanese language feed. There will be no U.S. television PPV of this show.
The New Japan Pro Wrestling “On The Mat” iPPV from New Zealand had to change to an on-demand broadcast and as of Saturday morning, is not expected to be available for another 72 hours.
The company announced late Friday that due to the live quality output not being at the standard they wanted to provide, they made the decision go VOD.
While they initially planned to upload 30 minutes after the show ended, that was not the case. From Sakura Events’ Facebook page:
“Hey faithful fans, We have witnessed a great show! We really want to put it up, however, we are having technical difficulties that we are unable to resolve as quick as anticipated. We expect to be able to deliver the show through Sakuranz.com within 72 hours. We apologize to all the fans, NJPW & Sakura Events for this inconvenience. We know it is worth the wait!”
As of this point, there is not a purchase option on the site. Once available, the show is expected to be a seven day rental for just under $11 US.
The card without spoilers:
– Kenny Omega & IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada & Roppongi Vice
– RJ Brewer vs Jay White w/ “Boxing Badboy” Brown Butta Bean as special guest referee
– Tanahashi vs Dalton Castle
– ROH TV Champion Bobby Fish vs. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Kushida vs David Finlay
– Haku Dynasty (Haku, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa) vs. Nasty Nate (Local Radio DJ), Juice Robinson, Marcus Kool
– Gedo & Yoshihashi vs. Yujiro & Bad Luck Fale
– Jon Strongman w/ Princess Of Flowers vs. El Terrible w/ Ashley Tonga
– Hirooki Goto vs. Paul Sayers
– Henare vs HikuLe’o (The debut of the youngest son of Haku)
We’re getting closer to the finals, but there are still a few shows to go as we recap this morning’s matches held in Kanagawa.
Katsuhiko Nakajima defeated David Finlay with the brainbuster.
Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Satoshi Kojima & Captain New Japan when Yujiro pinned CNJ with the Pimp Juice DDT.
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, & BUSHI defeated Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, & Gedo when BUSHI pinned Gedo after a Codebreaker off the top rope.
Katsuyori Shibata, Michael Elgin, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & Juice Robinson defeated Yuji Nagata, Tomoaki Honma, Manabu Nakanishi, Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask when KUSHIDA submitted Tiger Mask with the Hoverboard Lock.
Naomichi Marufuji defeated Tama Tonga
Solid match. These two had some pretty good exchanges throughout. Marufuji was pelting him with kicks when Tonga evened the score with a reverse Gun Stun. Tonga tried going for another but Marufuji kept stopping him. Marufuji then got the win with the Sliced Bread.
SANADA defeated Tomohiro Ishii
Awesome match! The crowd got really into it towards the end and the action was super throughout. SANADA is really showcasing himself as a future star, and Ishii is becoming the MVP of this tournament like he has in other years.
Really good back and forth. They were doing some great exchanges when SANADA started to get the upper hand with a hurricanrana out of nowhere and a dropkick from the top rope. SANADA kept trying for the Skull End submission, but Ishii avoided it and hit the sliding D.
Crowd picked up at this point. They did some great suplex counters until SANADA laid Ishii out with a TKO (after a great exchange) and put on the Skull End. Ishii fought it for a bit, but eventually couldn’t fight anymore and submitted.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Good match. Tenzan worked as the babyface with Tanahashi doing the subtle heel role. He even did the Mongolian chops for heat. Tanahashi did a great job in carrying Tenzan as he did a good bulk of the work.
Tanahashi missed the High Fly Flow, which allowed Tenzan to come back with a lariat to the back of the head. Tenzan hit the moonsault but Tanahashi started fighting back, hit the Sling Blade and the High Fly Flow for the win.
Bad Luck Fale defeated Kazuchika Okada
Another solid match. After days of being beaten up by Fale, the ring announcer finally got smart and bolted from the ring before Fale could do any more damage.
Okada and Fale ended up brawling around the arena. Fale went for the Grenade but Okada turned it into a dropkick. He tried the tombstone but couldn’t get Fale up. He tried the Rainmaker but Fale gave him a lariat instead, then hit the grenade and the Bad Luck Fall for the win.
Hirooki Goto defeated Togi Makabe
Good match, but these two have had better. They hit each other hard early. Crowd got into it as they started to exchange punches. Makabe fought for the Spider German on the top rope and got it, but didn’t connect with the King Kong knee drop.
More back and forth. Makabe hit Goto with a lariat so big that they both ended up falling to the floor. Makabe went for a lariat but Goto hit the neckbreaker on the knee, then finished Makabe with the GTR.
It keeps rollin’ on as we enter the seventh night of G1 competition. Will Hiroshi Tanahashi score that big win he needs? Let’s find out on the results of today’s show, which took place in Saitama:
Tiger Mask & Jushin Thunder Liger defeated David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi when Tiger Mask pinned Finlay after a butterfly suplex from the top rope.
Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, Tomoaki Honma, & Manabu Nakanishi defeated YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, Katsuhiko Nakajima, & Gedo when Kojima pinned Gedo with the lariat.
Yujiro Takahashi & Kenny Omega defeated Michael Elgin & Captain New Japan when, as usual, Yujiro pinned Captain New Japan with his new DDT finish.
EVIL, BUSHI, & Tetsuya Naito defeated Katsuyori Shibata, KUSHIDA, & Juice Robinson when EVIL pinned Juice Robinson with the STO. Like with Elgin the other day, Naito put Shibata in a leglock after the match since they’re due to wrestle down the line.
Togi Makabe defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan
This started off with your usual back and forth, though it did get stiff in spots. Tenzan had the Anaconda Vise in for a good while but Makabe escaped to the ropes. Pretty good, solid match with Makabe getting the win with a Samoan drop and the King Kong knee drop off the top rope.
SANADA defeated Hirooki Goto
Good, solid action to start. Crowd didn’t seem to be interested, though it started to pick up once action kept rolling.
SANADA locked in the Skull End submission. Goto came back, but SANADA cut him off and applied the Skull End again. Goto refused to tap out, so SANADA let him go, went to the top rope, and hit the moonsault for the win. Another solid match.
Tomohiro Ishii defeated Naomichi Marufuji
The match started off pretty smoothly, then went towards a more stiff style that’s more Ishii’s fare with chops and other hard hitting moves.
Crowd got really into this as time went on. Marufuji laid him out with kicks, but Ishii came back with a headbutt and a lariat. Ishii then hit a brainbuster and got the win. Wish it went a bit longer, but was good for what it was.
Kazuchika Okada defeated Tama Tonga
This didn’t have a lot of heat going for it, except for when Okada was in control. Tama Tonga just doesn’t seem to be over even though he’s gotten a couple of big wins on this tour.
The action was pretty solid. After a few initial rusty days, Tonga has proven he can hang with anyone. Tonga tried the gun stun but Okada dodged. Tonga missed a charge, ate a German suplex, then was pinned with the Rainmaker. Solid match.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Bad Luck Fale
The storyline for Tanahashi so far in this tournament is that he’s suffered a number of losses and really needs to get back on track at this point with a win tonight.
This went to the outside early, and Fale just flung a barricade right on top of Tanahashi. That seems so dangerous given his injury. He came back and worked on his shoulder, which wasn’t very interesting. Tanahashi went to the top rope, but Fale slapped him right out of the ring.
Tanahashi made his comeback with a hurricanrana then hit a slingblade. He tried for another but Fale got his feet up. Tanahashi kicked out after Fale hit the Grenade. Fale grabbed him and went for the Bad Luck Fall, but Tanahashi escaped and rolled him up for the win.
Great finish as it continues the storyline that Tanahashi is still recovering from injury while also giving him the much needed win at the same time.
Tanahashi closed the show with a few air guitar solos.
A decent show overall. These shows don’t feel like the G1 shows of the past. Seems like the goal is to have decent to good matches on the undercard and at least deliver in the main event. It conserves bodies for sure, and that is a positive, but is also a bit disappointing considering previous years.
We’re chugging along with night five of the G1, held in Fukushima. Here are the results from this morning’s show:
YOSHI-HASHI defeated David Finlay with the butterfly lock. That seems to be his new submission finish.
Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Jushin Thunder Liger, Satoshi Kojima, & Katsuyori Shibata defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Juice Robinson, KUSHIDA, & Michael Elgin after Kojima pinned Robinson with the lariat.
Yujiro Takahashi & Kenny Omega defeated Captain New Japan & Tomoaki Honma after Takahashi pinned, who else, Captain New Japan with a DDT.
EVIL, BUSHI, & Tetsuya Naito defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima, Gedo, & Toru Yano after BUSHI pinned Gedo with the codebreaker.
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Bad Luck Fale
Fale’s new gimmick before every match is to shove the announcer down for no reason. Not very nice. The size difference here is huge too. I’ve never even considered Ishii on the smaller side until now! It did make the visual cooler when Ishii gave Fale a giant German suplex.
It was a nice back and forth match. Fale is obviously limited but they did a good job of making this a pretty solid match, not great but Ishii did a good job of selling and making Fale look dangerous. Ishii got the win with a giant brainbuster.
SANADA vs. Togi Makabe
SANADA took it into the crowd early, brawling and using weapons. SANADA looked very good here, spot on with everything he did. Pretty good back and forth match once it got back in the ring, but nothing totally special. Makabe got the win with the Spider German and the King Kong knee drop.
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Another good match. People are into the Tenzan gimmick of this being his last G1. They did a brawling spot outside the ring. Why do they need to do that two matches in a row?
Tenzan missed the moonsault he has won previous matches with and Marufuji fired a comeback. Tenzan countered with headbutts, but Marufuji laid him out with kicks then pinned him with the Shiranui.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tama Tonga
I haven’t been too into Tama Tonga in this tournament, but he did good with Tanahashi here. They had a very nice back and forth match even though Tanahashi still isn’t at 100%.
Tanahashi hit the High Fly Flow, but Tonga blocked it with his knees. Tonga then hit the Gun Stun and pinned Tanahashi clean. The crowd DIED after seeing this. It wasn’t just that Tanahashi lost, but he lost clean out to nowhere, and to Tonga of all people. That was a gigantic upset.
Tanahashi was not too happy with the result after the match, obviously, yelling out loud as he was making his exit.
Hirooki Goto vs. Kazuchika Okada
It’s hard to get into this match considering I’ve seen these two face each other for what seems like years, but both are great enough workers that this match caught my interest pretty quickly. Okada did a huge crossbody dive over the guardrail, sending Goto into the chairs.
They went into back and forth mode from there, and it was great. Very intense match with the crowd into it all the way. Okada tried to sneak his way into a Rainmaker but Goto countered with a headbutt. Goto tried for the GTR but Okada countered with the tombstone. Goto ate the Rainmaker and that’s it! Great match with a lot of heat.
Seems to me that the tournament this year will have a lot of good, not great matches. That was the theme of tonight’s show, but the main event was really good.
