Tag: Njpw Golden Series Tour

NJPW announces changes to Golden Series tour following injuries, COVID-19 protocols

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New Japan Pro Wrestling announced this morning new changes to their Golden Series tour due to COVID-19 protocols and injuries.

NJPW announced that Jeff Cobb is currently recovering from a left patellar tendon tear and a muscle strain in his left leg following his match against Tetsuya Naito on January 5. As a result, he will not be on the Golden Series tour. Young Lion Yuto Nakashima is also out of action after suffering a blow to the head on February 7 and will be out up to February 13. Additionally, YOSHI-HASHI and Taiji Ishimori have been pulled from the February 11 event in Sendai due to COVID protocols.

Cobb was originally set to team with Great-O-Khan on February 11 against Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Instead, Great-O-Khan will face Kojima in a singles match and will continue to wrestle in singles matches for the rest of the tour, including the February 13 event in Osaka where he will face Togi Makabe.

Nakashima was originally set to team in the kickoff match on February 13. That match has been changed to Ryohei Oiwa, Kojima, and Tenzan facing Kosei Fujita, Tomoaki Honma, and Yuji Nagata.

A six-man tag that YOSHI-HASHI was scheduled to be in will now have Hiroyoshi Tenzan take his place as he teams with Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii to face EVIL, Dick Togo, and Yujiro Takahashi. Gedo will replace Ishimori in a singles match against Tiger Mask.

NJPW cancels remainder of January events due to COVID-19 protocols

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New Japan Pro Wrestling has canceled the remainder of their events for January due to COVID-19 medical protocols.

The company announced on their website this morning that due to wrestlers “presenting elevated temperatures or being in close contact with same”, the company will cancel the remainder of their tour this month and will resume with live touring on February 6 in Chiba. All ticketholders for these events will be refunded.

Dates affected by these cancelations include the January 25 show in Fukushima, January 29 at Korakuen Hall, and January 30 in Ibaraki. The January 28 show that was scheduled to take place in Aichi has been postponed to April 18, and tickets for the January 28 show will be valid for April 18.

The cancelations take place after six NJPW wrestlers missed three consecutive dates during the Golden Series tour that started this week. Toru Yano, Tomoaki Honma, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Taka Michinoku, and Satoshi Kojima were among those pulled from the shows. NJPW last held an event on January 22 in Gunma.

Title matches announced for NJPW’s Golden Series tour

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Title matches have been announced for NJPW’s Golden Series tour that begins on January 20 and will run through February 20.

The final two nights of shows in Hokkaido will have title matches. On February 20, Kazuchika Okada will defend the IWGP World Heavyweight title against Tetsuya Natio, Toru Yano will face Minoru Suzuki for the KOPW 2022 provisional trophy, and NEVER Six Man Tag Team Champions EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, and SHO are set to defend against Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, and YOH. 

February 19 will have Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the IWGP United States title against SANADA, Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI defending the IWGP Tag Team titles against EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi, and IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask defending against El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori.

Additionally, Tomohiro Ishii will challenge for the NEVER title against EVIL in a lumberjack match February 13 in Osaka, while El Desperado will defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title against Master Wato on February 11 in Miyagi.

The championship matches come as a result of events that went down at Wrestle Kingdom 16 earlier this month. After defeating Jeff Cobb, Naito challenged Okada at the end of the January 3 card, with Okada accepting. Master Wato pinned Desperado in a tag match on the January 5 card, and Toru Yano ended up handcuffing Suzuki to the ring ropes following their match.