Tonight’s NJPW Lonestar Shootout pay-per-view features five title matches, plus Jon Moxley in action.
Shingo Takagi defends the NEVER Openweight Championship against Trent Beretta in the main event, while in the semi-main, IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani defends her title against Stephanie Vaquer.
Zack Sabre Jr. will defend the NJPW World TV Championship against “Speedball” Mike Bailey, NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston will defend his title against Satoshi Kojima, and the NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships will be on the line as El Phantasmo & Hikuleo defend against Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs of the West Coast Wrecking Crew in the night’s other title match.
Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta of AEW’s Blackpool Combat Club will face Bullet Club’s David Finlay & KENTA in a tag bout.
Mistico will be in singles competition on the show against TJP of United Empire.
Joey Janela vs. Toru Yano, plus a trios match featuring CMLL legends Atlantis & Ultimo Guerrero are among the evening’s other highlights.
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Kickoff
Matt Vandagriff defeated Barrett Brown
Fred Rosser defeated Tom Lawlor
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Máscara Dorada & Tiger Mask & Atlantis defeated Último Guerrero & Rocky Romero & Hechicero
The match opened with grappling between Atlantis and Ultimo. Hechicero and Dorada entered the match next and continued the back-and-forth. Once they finished, TM and Rocky joined the fray.
After Rocky joined the match, he began to cheat, with his partners’ help, to gain control. After an extended period on the back foot, TM landed a tiger driver, buying enough time to tag out.
Atlantis led the next sequence, taking out the heel trio with help from Dorada. Once Hechicero tagged back in, the babyface rally ended.
The match came to a close after a competitive sequence between Hechicero and Dorada. Dorada won out in the end, landing his shooting star press to bring the match to a close.
Toru Yano defeated Joey Janela
Before the match could begin, Janela jumped Yano. Janela then challenged Yano to make this a no-disqualification match. Yano accepted by spraying Janela in the face with his can of cold spray.
Once the match kicked off, Yano removed all four turnbuckle covers before slamming Janela into the exposed corners. Soon, the match worked its way to the floor, where Janela gained the advantage with the assistance of a steel chair.
Back in the ring, Janela stacked up three stairs, but Yano was the one to land a suplex across the furniture. Janela responded with a piledriver on the chairs for a nearfall. Janela’s lead ended after missing a dive on the side of the ring.
Yano annihilated Janela with a powerbomb across a pair of standing chairs for another nearfall. After Janela kicked out, Yano taped him to a chair. From the chair, Janela kicked Yano low. The referee then freed Janela from the chair, allowing him to land a DDV on another chair.
Janela tapped up Yano’s wrists before grabbing another chair. Yano avoided the attack before stunning Janela with a low headbutt and behind-the-back low blow. Yano then rolled up Janela to bring this to a close.
Chase Owens & Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors & Gabe Kidd (Bullet Club) defeated Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Kushida & Kevin Knight
It didn’t take long following the opening bell for the match to break down. The babyface squad gained the first lead from the chaos, working over Owens for some time.
Once Coughlin tagged into the match, the Bullet Club gained control. The heels used their normal tactics to keep Kushida isolated from his team. Kidd allowed his team’s lead to slip when he chose to spit in Tama’s face instead of focusing on the legal man. Tama then tagged in and beat down all of his opponents.
Bullet Club attempted to rush the ring, but the babyfaces fought back, leading to another chaotic scrap. Connors managed to land a spear on Knight as the rest of Bullet Club cleared the ring. Coughlin and Connors then hit Knight with a tandem DDT to win the match.
NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship: Hikuleo & El Phantasmo (c) defeated Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs (West Coast Wrecking Crew)
The match opened with all four men in the ring. The action then spilled to the floor, where the WCWC gained control. They continued their advance in the ring, isolating ELP in standard fashion.
After an extended period on the back foot, ELP tagged in Hikuleo. Hikuleo took full control of the challengers, dominating the competition.
A miscommunication leading to ELP super-kicking Hikuleo allowed the WCWC to fire back. After clearing the ring of Hikuleo, both men returned to their original strategy of isolating ELP, scoring a nearfall after a driver/elbow drop combination. To make the save, Hikuleo bumped the referee.
With the downed referee, WCWC landed a low blow and a belt shot on Hikuleo to write him off. They tried the same thing on ELP, but he avoided the attack, Nelson into Isaacs with the championship. ELP then pinned Isaacs to retain the title.
Mistico defeated TJP
TJP opened the match by trying to slow it down. Mistico gained a bit of a lead with a dive and some environmental offense on the outside, but as soon as the match was back in the ring, TJP had control.
TJP’s control lasted for the majority of this match. Mistico fired up multiple times, but TJP was quick to regain advantage every time. The match ended rather abruptly with an armbar from Mistico.
After the match, Mistico cleaned his boots with a United Empire towel.
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Eddie Kingston (c) defeated Satoshi Kojima
This match opened with both men trading tackles. Kojima’s tackles left him ahead of Eddie, which he used to control the pace. Eddie eventually caught Kojima in the corner, where he connected with a flurry of machine gun chops and a suplex. Eddie then attempted a suplex on the apron, but Kojima reversed into a DDT to retake the lead.
Eddie landed a pair of suplexes in the ring to reset the match. Kojima and Eddie then traded lariats in the round, with Kojima winning out. A Koji-cutter scored Kojima a nearfall.
Eddie stuffed a Kojima lariat before landing three spinning back fists. After eating three of Eddie’s signature strike, Kojima landed a lariat and a brainbuster, but Eddie found the bottom rope.
Kojima attempted another lariat, but Kingston cut him off with one of his own. A follow-up pair of northern lights bombs won Eddie the match.
After the match, Gabe Kidd hit the ring and attacked Eddie. After dropping Eddie with the STRONG belt, he grabbed the microphone and cut a promo over Eddie’s body.
This might be the most excited I’ve ever been for a STRONG title match. Eddie vs. Kidd should be nothing short of amazing.
Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta (Blackpool Combat Club) defeated Kenta & David Finlay (Bullet Club)
The match opened with a Bullet Club-led brawl. Once the brawling subsided, the Bullet Club pair had control in the ring over Yuta.
Once Moxley tagged in, he violently took control of the match with strikes and a driver. Finlay hit the ring to save KENTA. Once Finlay tagged in, he worked to isolate Moxley while establishing a significant lead.
The hot tag to Yuta launched a BCC rally. Finlay cut Yuta short with a backbreaker. KENTA tried to close with a GTS, but Yuta avoided the attack. KENTA then attempted a belt shot with a distracted referee, but Yuta avoided it, too, leading to a double tag.
Moxley and Finlay traded strikes before moving up to more substantial moves. Both men were grounded, opening the door for a KENTA double foot stomp. After eating the stomp, Moxley traded strikes with KENTA. After escaping a GTS, Moxley hit KENTA with a death rider and won the match.
NJPW World TV Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) defeated Mike Bailey
This was a good match, if a bit predictable.
Bailey opened the match by rushing ZSJ. After sending the champion to the floor, Bailey landed a moonsault to the outside.
Bailey attempted a boot, but ZSJ avoided the strike, allowing him to establish the lead with a neck crank and some mat grappling. Bailey eventually fought to his feet before landing a dropkick to launch an extended offensive sequence.
Bailey attempted his double knee drop, but ZSJ blocked it with his own knees. This reversal acted as a reset, opening the door for a back-and-forth striking sequence. ZSJ secured control on the mat, but the back-and-forth striking continued.
With less than three minutes left on the clock, Bailey landed a double knee to the back of ZSJ for a convincing nearfall. ZSJ answered with a Zack driver for a nearfall of his own.
The pair, now desperate to secure a win, traded pin attempts. With a minute on the clock, Bailey attempted a tornado kick. ZSJ avoided the strike and caught Bailey in an armbar. When the armbar failed, ZSJ turned his attention to Bailey’s fingers, snapping Bailey’s pinky to secure the submission win.
IWGP Women’s Championship: Mayu Iwatani (c) defeated Stephanie Vaquer
This is the only match on this card I’d suggest going out of your way to see. It was totally focused, playing to both women’s strengths with absolutely no fluff. Fantastic.
This match kicked off with a grappling sequence that left both women on equal footing. A leg whip from Vaquer launched the first sequence of control for the challenger. Vaquer used selective offense that either looked devastating or humiliating.
A sudden superkick from Mayu opened the door for her comeback. A follow-up dragon suplex and tope left Mayu with a strong lead.
Mayu’s lead was cut short when Vaquer caught her in a choke following a moonsault. A nasty suplex from Vaquer stopped Mayu’s immediate attempt to rally.
A quick crucifix driver from Mayu reversed the match’s momentum. She followed up with a tombstone and a moonsault to win the match and retain her belt.
NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) defeated Trent Beretta
A collar-and-elbow opened the match, and a fairly standard opening sequence followed. Shingo established control with strikes and work on the mat.
A sudden slingshot spear from Trent bought him some time. To follow up, Trent hit a flip to the floor. Trent maintained his lead by driving Shingo through a table positioned in the corner.
Trent attempted to attack Shingo with the broken table, but Shingo blocked the attack. Shingo then used the table himself, smashing it across Trent’s face and busting him open.
Back in the ring, Trent fought back with a sequence of suplexes. Shingo held on, landing a DDT to maintain his control. Shingo dropped Trent from the top rope for a nearfall. A pumping bomber and another Last of the Dragon scored Shingo another.
Trent caught Shingo with a dude buster for a nearfall of his own, acting as a match reset. A Gotch piledriver from Trent yielded another nearfall. Ultimately, Shingo was able to win the match with Made in Japan, retaining his belt.
After the match, Tama Tonga came to the ring to challenge Shingo to a NEVER Openweight title rematch. Shingo accepted and left the building in a cowboy hat.
