Tag: Njpw New Year’s Golden Series Live Results

NJPW New Year’s Golden Series live results: Okada vs. Naito

Posted on by Chick Fritts

Kazuchika Okada defends the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Tetsuya Naito in the main event of the final night of NJPW New Year’s Golden Series.

Okada will look to make his seco defense since winning the title on night one of Wrestle Kingdom on January 4. 

In the semi-main, Bullet Club’s House of Torture, EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, and SHO will defend the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship against Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, and YOH.

The provisional KOPW 2022 trophy will be on the line as Minoru Suzuki defends against Toru Yano in a dog cage match, where the winner must trap his opponent inside said cage. 

The rest of the card: 

  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata & Tomoaki Honma vs. SANADA, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
  • Great-O-Khan vs. Satoshi Kojima
  • Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Tomohiro Ishii & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Taichi & DOUKI
  • Robbie Eagles, Tiger Mask & Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Jado

Our live coverage begins at midnight Eastern time. 

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El Phantasmo, Jado & Taiji Ishimori (BULLET CLUB) defeated Robbie Eagles, Tiger Mask, & Kosei Fujita

There is some tension growing between Ishimori and ELP, stemming from ELP’s lack of confidence after his loaded boot was rendered useless.

Bullet Club started the match by jumping TM. The Bullet Club trio worked to isolate TM, keeping him in their corner. TM finally got the tag after a tiger driver.

Eagles turned things around for his team, taking out ELP in a quick sequence. ELP broke the flow with a dropkick, prompting a double tag to Fujita and Ishimori. Once legal, Fujita locked in the Boston crab, forcing Jado to break up the hold; this led to a ring clear. Ishimori set ELP up for a superkick, but ELP hesitated. After Ishimori failed to end the match, Ishimori hit bloody cross and pinned Fujita to close the match.

DOUKI & Taichi (Suzuki-gun) defeated Ryohei Oiwa & Tomohiro Ishii

Taichi and Ishii were the focus of this match; it seems a singles match, perhaps at the New Japan Cup, is in their future.

Ishii and Taichi opened the match with a quick sequence. After the pair proved they were near equals, they tagged out.

Oiwa fought his heart out only to fall to DOUKI offence. DOUKI was entirely dominant until a scoop slam bought Oiwa enough time to tag out. Ishii turned the match around, running through DOUKI and Taichi.

A quick enziguri let DOUKI tag back into Taichi. Taichi and Ishii levelled each other with strikes before a German suplex left Taichi lying. Oiwa tagged back in, to immediate offensive success. Oiwa locked in a Boston crab, forcing Taichi into the rope. After the rope break, Taichi turned things around with an axe bomber followed by a quick suplex. Taichi then pinned Oiwa, bringing this one to an end.

Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-gun)

Wato started the match hot, scoring uncontested arm drags on Desperado before tagging in Taguchi. Taguchi poached himself on the top rope, but Kanemaru reversed the whip, throwing Wato into Taguchi’s rump. Taguchi, unaware that his partner’s face bounced off his rear, was caught off guard once both of his opponents were left standing. Desperado and Taguchi then worked over Taguchi for some time.

A flying hip attack bought Taguchi a tag, and Wato took control back for his team, landing a springboard uppercut for a near fall. Desperado landed a spinebuster to turn things back around, but Wato withstood the attempt at double team offence before tagging into Taguchi.

Taguchi jumped off the ropes and fell; his knee appeared injured. Desperado and Kanemaru capitalised for a moment before a double hip attack left Taguchi back in the driver seat for a moment. Taguchi set up for the finish, but Kanemaru caught him with a dropkick to the knee before locking in a figure four leglock. Even after Taguchi escaped, Suzuki-gun continued to focus the leg. Kanemaru tried for another figure four, but Taguchi reversed for a quick pin that ended the match. 

Great-O-Khan defeated Satoshi Kojima

This match was quite good. O-Khan’s selling was excellent, and Kojima put in an emotional performance.

O-Khan started the match with a quick takedown into an armbar. After Kojima found the ropes, O-Khan brought the action outside. O-Khan slammed Kojima into the barricade and pulverised his arm with a chair. Back in the ring, O-Khan locked in the sheep killer and hit a TTD for a near fall.

Kojima sent O-Khan crashing to the floor to reverse momentum for the first time; this marked the beginning of O-Khan’s rib selling, a crucial point for the rest of the match. Once O-Khan was back between the ropes, Kojima connected with a flurry of chops and an elbow drop. Kojima tried for a rolling forearm, but O-Khan fell to the mat, clutching his ribs. Kojima then landed a cutter and a brainbuster before attempting a lariat; O-Khan ducked.

O-Khan retook control with a claw, letting out painful cries in the process. O-Khan landed an eliminator before pinning Kojima to close the match.

Even on his way to the back, O-Khan was heaving. He collapsed before making it through the curtain. 

BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Shingo Takagi (Los Ingobernables de Japon) defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yuji Nagata

This match felt pretty trivial, especially on this card.

Tanahashi and SANADA opened the match but didn’t stay in the ring long. Honma and the rest of his team tried isolating Hiromu, prompting the rest of LIJ to hit the ring, taking over the match.

With Tanahashi now legal and LIJ in control, SANADA tagged back in. After tying Tanahashi into the paradise lock, SANADA tried to take leg control. Tanahashi was able to turn things around with a dragonscrew before tagging Nagata in. Nagata found offensive success over SANADA and tagged in Makabe.

Against Makabe, SANADA scored a dropkick. Shingo tagged in and continued to gain momentum for LIJ. Makabe fought back with a lariat before tagging out to Honma. Honma connected with a bulldog and KoKeShi just as the rest of Honma’s partners hit the ring. After a short sequence, LIJ returned the favour, with all four members attacking Honma. Shingo landed a pumping bomber for a near fall before last of the dragon actually brought the match to an end.

After the conclusion, LIJ shared a moment in the ring, in a way letting SANADA celebrate his title win from last night. 

King Of Pro-Wrestling Championship, Dog Cage Match: Toru Yano defeated Minoru Suzuki (c)

This match, unsurprisingly, was ridiculous.

Something called “Tomo-Kun” accompanied Yano to the ring. Tomo-Kun is a red horned beast of some kind. Apparently, it’s an advertisement for Hokkaido of some sort.

Suzuki came to the ring with handcuffs and a bull rope.

Before the match started, Yano gave the referee his handcuff keys for some reason.

This match is won by locking your opponent in a dog cage.

Of all things, this match started with a chain wrestling sequence. This was followed by a strike exchange that saw Suzuki win out. Once the action left the ring, Suzuki slammed Yano into the barricade before leading Yano up the ramp. Suzuki then ran over Yano with the cage.

Suzuki threw Yano into the cage, but instead of locking Yano in it to win, Suzuki climbed into the cage with his opponent. After landing some strikes inside the cell, Suzuki tried to close it, but Yano escaped.

Things worked their way back to the ring. Suzuki then handcuffed one of Yano’s wrists, but a low blow let Yano escape sure defeat once more. Yano followed up by handcuffing Suzuki. Suzuki’s responded by bashing Yano over the head and completing Yano’s handcuff. Now both men were restrained.

The pair traded blows before Suzuki secured a choke. During this struggle, Suzuki procured a key from Yano and unlocked his handcuffs. Suzuki then began to whip Yano with the bull rope he brought to the ring. Suzuki took the bull rope and hung Yano over the ring before using it as a leash. Suzuki led Yano like a dog to the cage and placed him in it. Yano managed to link the rope to the cell, yank the collar, and trade positions with Suzuki. Yano threw Kosei Fujita into Suzuki to further occupy him. Suzuki couldn’t free himself, letting Yano lock up the cage to win the match.

After the match, Yano taunted Suzuki from outside the dog cage, KOPW trophy in hand. Suzuki took out his frustration, beating Fujita down as the other young lions rolled the cage to the back.

EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi (House Of Torture) (c) defeated Hirooki Goto, YOH & YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS)

Yes, this was bad.

This match started with a brawl. The CHAOS trio gained the lead early, singling out Yujiro. After Yujiro was dealt with, the CHAOS squad hunted down Dick Togo and beat him down. This bought HoT enough time to turn things around.

The HoT squad isolated YH, slowly picking him apart. After a prolonged, cheating filled control sequence, YH reversed a suplex, leading to the hot tag. Goto launched a CHAOS rally, but HoT’s Togo stopped that from going too far.

SHO and YOH were left in the ring, letting YOH get in some offence. A dragonscrew into an OOP leg submission forced SHO into the ropes. SHO stole spacing by pulling the referee into YOH’s path, but YOH was unphased, landing a falcon arrow before a double tag.

EVIL distracted YH, giving Yujiro time to bite YH’s hand. This was followed by all of HoT attacking YH and scoring a near fall after a fisherman buster. Yujiro tried to use the cane, but the referee stopped him. The rest of CHAOS hit the ring, Goto and YH hit shoto and went for the pin; Togo pulled the referee to the outside.

With the referee down, EVIL hit YH with a chair before landing a magic killer with Togo’s help; YH managed to kick out even after this. CHAOS hit the ring, making the save. Meanwhile, SHO began assaulting people with the wrench. With the referee not looking, SHO flattened YH with the wrench, which Yujiro followed with big juice and the match-winning pin. 

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Tetsuya Naito

This is a foundational matchup for modern New Japan, but it didn’t feel that way heading into this particular iteration of this feud. Their last singles match is one of my all-time favourites, the climax to a generational rivalry, gold-standard championship reign, and a lightning-in-a-bottle title chase; this wasn’t entirely on that level because it couldn’t be, but it was close. That’s not to say this was anything less than fantastic; it clearly was. This was the best match so far from 2022 New Japan.

The match began with a prolonged feeling out process; both men scored takedowns and light offence in the early going.

A neckbreaker to the floor from Naito was the first piece of substantial offence. Naito continued to build momentum in the ring, landing moves and working Okada on the mat.

Okada started a rally with an air raid crash, followed by a flapjack. Okada’s continued his attack with a DDT to the ring apron and a hangman’s DDT to the floor. Back in the ring, Naito bounced back with a DDT of his own. Naito hammered away at Okada with heavy elbows before trying for Gloria; Okada stopped this with a boot. Okada then tried for a tombstone; Naito fought out only for Okada to secure the money clip. After Naito escaped the money clip, Okada maintained his control with a dropkick, followed by another money clip.

Okada tried for the rainmaker, but Naito reversed into the pluma blanca. Okada escaped, tried for heavy rain, but Naito reversed, almost into Destino. Naito tried for a full Destino, but Okada dropped him with a lariat. Okada gained wrist control on the mat but couldn’t land a rainmaker. Instead, Okada landed a tombstone and tried for a rainmaker once again; Naito reversed and landed Destino, leading to a near fall. Naito climbed to the top and landed stardust press; Okada kicked out again. Naito tried for Destino again, but Okada reversed into one of his own. Naito landed a German, Okada a dropkick, a brutal landslide, and a rainmaker to end this match.

After the match, Okada cut the show ending speech. He acknowledged El Desperado, presumably his opponent at the upcoming anniversary show. 

NJPW New Year’s Golden Series live results: Tanahashi vs. SANADA

Posted on by Chick Fritts

Three titles are on the line tonight on the penultimate night of NJPW’s New Year’s Golden Series tour.

In the main event, Hiroshi Tanahashi will defend the IWGP United States Heavyweight title against SANADA. Tanahashi is in the midst of his second reign with the US belt, defeating KENTA at Wrestle Kingdom in January to kick off his second run.

In the semi-main, Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI will try for their first defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles, facing EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi.

A four-way for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles will take place today, with Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask defending against Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo.

The rest of the card:

  • Kazuchika Okada, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata vs. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi
  • Great-O-Khan vs. Tomoaki Honma
  • Tomohiro Ishii & YOH vs. Dick Togo & SHO
  • Toru Yano & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Minoru Suzuki & Taichi
  • Togi Makabe & Kosei Fujita vs. TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI

Our live coverage begins at 3 a.m. Eastern time.

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DOUKI and TAKA Michinoku (Suzuki-gun) defeated Kosei Fujita and Togi Makabe

This was a fine opener.

Fujita opened the match passionately, taking the fight to both his opponents; his eagerness was punished as the Suzuki-gun pair found their footing. DOUKI and TAKA had their way with the young lion, eventually forcing the tag.

Makabe connected with heavy offence after tagging in, successfully fending off both opponents for some time. When Fujita tagged back in, he maintained this momentum, locking DOUKI into a Boston crab, forcing a rope break. An inside cradle nearly left Fujita with the quick win, prompting TAKA to hit the ring. TAKA and DOUKI landed a double kick, and DOUKI secured the DOUKI Chokie to submit Fujita. 

Minoru Suzuki and Taichi (Suzuki-gun) defeated Ryohei Oiwa and Toru Yano

This match was quite busy, but somehow they pulled it off. It was silly fun, start to finish, with a decent Taichi/Oiwa match snuck in.

Yano came to the ring pushing his dog cage.

Before the match, Suzuki made the referee do a full frisk of Yano, revealing Yano came to the ring with handcuff keys.

After the referee found Yano’s key, Suzuki rushed him only to find a few more keys hidden in his wrist tape. Then Yano and Suzuki wandered to the outside, where Yano tried rolling Suzuki over with the dog cage (it’s on wheels). Yano missed his target but slammed Suzuki into the cage regardless.

Back inside, Yano smacked Suzuki with a turnbuckle pad only to be slammed into the buckle himself. Yano then patted Suzuki’s head; Suzuki responded by securing a leg lock. Yano managed to reverse the piledriver and tag out, leaving Taichi and Oiwa legal.

Oiwa, try as he might, had little success over Taichi; he even had a significant string of offence, but generally, Taichi was unphased. Taichi tried to lock in a single leg Boston crab, but Yano interrupted. This prompted Suzuki and Yano to continue brawling on the outside. Taichi secured the cobra twist, forcing Oiwa to submit.

While the finishing sequence played out in the ring, Suzuki handcuffed Yano and the referee to the dog cage. Suzuki’s music played him out as Yano and the official awkwardly walked to the back attached to end this spectacle.

YOH and Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) defeated SHO and Dick Togo (House of Torture)

This match wasn’t filled with the HoT junk, but it wasn’t particularly good.

YOH started the match by attacking SHO on the outside, prompting a brawl on the floor. Inside the ring, YOH continued his attack. SHO responded by throwing YOH back to the outside. Then the dynamic change as SHO focused Ishii and Togo focused YOH.

Once Togo established control over YOH, SHO tagged back in to choke his former partner with a buckle cover. YOH eventually tagged out, allowing Ishii to run through Togo and SHO. SHO turned things around with a quick knee to the midsection. After Togo tagged in, Ishii landed a suplex, opening the match up for YOH to take control once more.

YOH fell to a double team combination punctuated with a SHO spear. Ishii made the save, however, leading to a CHOAS rally. Ishii landed a sliding lariat, letting YOH tie up Togo in his new leg submission; Togo tapped out immediately after YOH locked in the hold.

Great-O-Khan defeated Tomoaki Honma

I might be crazy, but I quite liked this match. Even though Honma was never beating O-Khan, this match gave me just enough hope to believe it was possible.

O-Khan and Honma went back and forth in the opening moments in a basic wrestling exchange. As things progressed, O-Khan gained mat control, locking in a head-and-arm choke that forced Honma into the ropes. O-Khan then sat on the back of Honma, pressing him into the top turnbuckle to cement his control.

After escaping a stomach claw, Honma landed a DDT. Honma’s follow up consisted of a shoulder tackle, a bulldog, and a KoKeShi attempt; O-Khan avoided the headbutt, resulting in a match reset.

The pair traded strikes, with O-Khan winning out. O-Khan landed a throw and a powerslam for a near fall. O-Khan then landed a few Mongolian chops but was cut off by a rocket, KoKeShi, followed by a falling KoKeShi. Honma climbed to ropes and delivered a rocket KoKeShi from the top for a near fall. Honma landed a lariat; O-Khan kicked out at one. Honma tried for another rocket KoKeShi but was caught by O-Khan. O-Khan transitioned into the eliminator; after landing the move, O-Khan pinned Honma to close the match. 

Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables de Japon) defeated Kazuchika Okada, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata

Okada and Naito opened the match with a tie-up. Naito used a headlock to take the match to the mat, and Okada responded with a takedown of his own. After the pair established they were on equal footing, they tagged out.

Shingo and Nagata traded blows, as did Hiromu and Nagata. Kojima struck down Hiromu, forcing Hiromu to tag back into Naito. Naito unloaded on Kojima, forcing a reversal followed by a tag back into Okada. Okada and Naito traded forearms before Okada gained control with an air raid crash neckbreaker. Okada landed heavy rain for a near fall. Naito turned things around with a dropkick to Okada’s knee, followed by a neckbreaker of his own. Naito tried for Gloria, but Okada avoided the move, transitioning into the money clip. Naito fought free, resulting in a match reset.

Nagata and Shingo traded strikes again. Nagata landed an exploder and locked in a chinlock, forcing the save. Nagata landed the justice knee and driver for a near fall. Hiromu made the save, prompting Okada to hit the ring. Naito answered, dropping Okada with Destino. Shingo then landed a pair of lariats for another near fall. Shingo closed the match after hitting Nagata with last of the dragon.

Once the match ended, Naito continued to attack Okada ahead of their match tomorrow. Naito then symbolically pinned Okada, Hiromu counted to three and lifted Naito’s hand. 

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: Master Wato and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask (Flying Tiger) (c), El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori (BULLET CLUB’s Cutest Tag Team), El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-gun)

This match was always in full gear—absolutely packed full of flying sequences and general insanity.

This match opened chaotically. Suzuki-gun managed to isolate TM, but Bullet Club fought off the Suzuki-gun squad to focus TM themselves. Eagles kind of made the save, occupying the attention of ELP. Wato and Taguchi tried to score a quick pin over TM, prompting Wato and Eagles to trade moves.

Eagles tried for a dive, but Ishimori interrupted him to land a dive of his own. Desperado interrupted Ishimori’s dive to try a dive of his own, but he was interrupted by ELP. ELP and Desperado traded strikes before swapping positions with TM and Taguchi. TM considered a dive but was stopped by Suzuki-gun. Perhaps wisely, Suzuki-gun let TM get in his dive by throwing him through the ropes. Ishimori and Wato also landed their dives soon after. ELP tried for own of his own, but Eagles stopped him with a super rana to the floor.

Flying Tiger isolated Taguchi. TM landed a butterfly suplex from the top, and Eagles landed a 450 for a near fall. TM locked in an armbar that Bullet Club interrupted. Bullet Club landed plenty of double team offence before Kanemaru made the save. Wato dropped Kanemaru with a dropkick. Taguchi dropped everyone in the match with a hip attack before two quick pin attempts from Flying Tiger. Taguchi tried for a pin attempt of his own that everyone broke up. Somehow Taguchi, Wato, and TM were left alone in the ring. Taguchi hoisted up TM, setting Wato up for an assisted facebuster. Taguchi then pinned TM to win the match and become the 69th IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions.

From the beginning of their hunt, Taguchi and Wato wanted these belts just to be the 69th champions; tonight, they accomplished their goal. 

IWGP Tag Team Championships: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI (Bishamon) (c) defeated EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi (House Of Torture)

Someone, anyone, please, make this stop. 

This match began with HoT jumping Bishamon. Once in the ring, Goto and YH were able to gain some ground, but on the outside, SHO and Togo (who accompanied EVIL and Yujiro to the ring) made things difficult for the champions.

Yujiro and EVIL isolated YH after Togo and SHO beat him with chairs. YH eventually tagged out, letting Goto turn things around for a little while. An exposed buckle and another outside beatdown allowed HoT to retake control. EVIL choked Goto with a shirt for three near falls.

Goto landed a lariat to slow down HoT’s snowballing offence. YH had some successes against Yujiro until Yujiro bit his hand; Yujiro landed a slam for a near fall of his own. YH connected with a pump kick for a quick turnaround, but Togo distracted the referee. Yujiro landed a low blow before bumping the official, letting all four HoT members attack YH. Goto interrupted the beatdown with a stick, buying enough time for the rest of CHAOS to make a save.

Once the referee was standing, YH landed a lariat for a near fall over Yujiro; a GYR yielded another. EVIL stopped all of Bishamon’s offence with a chair shot to YH. Yujiro landed pimp juice for a near fall of his own. Goto then hit the ring, fighting off EVIL and Yujiro. Bishamon landed Shoto and pinned Yujiro to end the match.

After the match, the CHAOS squad posed with the NEVER belts ahead of their match for the titles tomorrow. 

IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: SANADA defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi (c)

I’m generally not a fan of big match SANADA, but there was a lot to like here. Overall, this was a good match with an excellent showing, as always, from Tanashai.

This match opened with an extended feeling-out process. The alternating control in the prolonged kickoff sequence continued on the outside. SANADA gained the first lead following a paradise lock/dropkick combination. As a result, SANADA took the match to the mat, slowly wearing down the defending champion.

Tanahashi began to turn things around following a leaping forearm. A senton from the second rope left Tanahashi with a two count and a strong lead over the challenger. Tanahashi then turned his attention to the leg of SANADA. After a dropkick to the leg and a dragonscrew, Tanahashi tied SANADA into the paradise lock. Tanahashi sent SANADA to the outside before jumping to the floor, delivering a picture-perfect crossbody. As SANADA tried to make his way back in the ring, Tanahashi continued to focus the leg. SANADA escaped the Texas cloverleaf once, only to be locked in the move again moments later.

After escaping Texas cloverleaf a second time, SANADA responded with skull end. Tanahashi slipped free, lading a sling blade followed by high fly flow; SANADA blocked the move with the knee Tanahashi focused earlier in the match, sending both men into deep pain. Through the pain, SANADA locked skull end in once more. Once Tanahashi was lifeless, SANADA tried for a moonsault; Tanahashi blocked it with his knees.

The pair went back and forth, trying for a skull end/dragon sleeper, respectively. Once the submission seemed unlikely, Tanahashi transitioned into a triad of twist and shouts followed by a sling blade. Tanahashi went for high fly flow, but SANADA rolled through. SANADA landed TKO and a moonsault but missed the second moonsault attempt. Tanahashi capitalised with a dragonscrew.

Once the pair was back standing, they traded passionate strikes. SANADA dropped Tanahashi and tried following with a TKO; Tanahashi escaped, landing a suplex and a sling blade before trying another high fly flow. SANADA rolled out of the way and bridged into a leg clutch pin. Tanahashi failed to kick out, leaving SANADA with the win. SANADA is the US Champion.

After his title win, SANADA cut a promo, offering Tanahashi a rematch and saying thanks to the fans. Lance Archer and Jon Moxley were mentioned by commentary as potential challengers. 

NJPW New Year’s Golden Series live results: Okada & Tanahashi vs. LIJ

Posted on by Chick Fritts

NJPW’s New Year’s Golden Series hits Osaka today at the EDION Arena, headlined by a tag preview of next weekend’s top two title matches.

IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi team against their next challengers, Tetsuya Naito and SANADA of Los Ingobernables de Japon. Tanahashi defends against SANADA on Saturday, February 19, while Okada vs. Naito for the World title closes the tour on February 20. 

In the semi-main, EVIL will defend the NEVER Openweight Championship against Tomohiro Ishii in a lumberjack match. 

A pair of singles matches will preview the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag title match set for later this week, as Robbie Eagles faces Taiji Ishimori, while Tiger Mask takes on El Phantasmo.

In a trios match, Toru Yano, Master Wato, and Ryusuke Taguchi will face Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, and TAKA Michinoku. LIJ’s Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, and BUSHI take on Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and DOUKI in another six-man. 

Great-O-Khan faces Togi Makabe in a singles match. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, and YOH take on Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo, and SHO in the main card opener. 

In a pre-show match, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, and Ryohei Oiwa face Yuji Nagata, Tomoaki Honma, and Kosei Fujita. 

Our live coverage begins with the pre-show at 2:30 a.m. Eastern time.

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Ryohei Oiwa, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Kosei Fujita, Tomoaki Honma, & Yuji Nagata

This was an appealing little tag match.

Nagata and Kojima opened the match with some basic back and forth. Things turned in Kojima’s favour after Fujita tagged into, prompting Oiwa to enter on behalf of his team. The young lions traded strikes with each other, but Oiwa paid special attention to his senior opponents, throwing forearms multiple times as they stood on the apron. Once Honma and Nagata tagged in, Oiwa was punished for his petulance.

Eventually, Kojima and Nagata shared the ring again, and again the pair went back and forth; this continued with the Kojima and Honma pairing. Tenzan tagged in for the first time, coming toe to toe with Honma. Honma gained a slight lead before tagging in Fujita, who scored a near fall after a falcon arrow. After the kick-out, Fujita turned Tenzan into the Boston crab but couldn’t finish the match. Tenzan turned the bout back around with a quick lariat and a Boston crab of his own that forced Fujita to submit. 

YOH, YOSHI-HASHI, & Hirooki Goto (CHAOS) defeated SHO, Dick Togo, and Yujiro Takahashi (House of Torture)

This felt less awful than an average HoT match, so that’s something.

This match started when YOH rushed SHO, inciting a brawl. SHO and YOH were left alone in the ring early on, but SHO escaped by tagging Togo into the match. The CHAOS squad pummeled away at Togo and Yujiro before turning their attention to SHO. Once Togo and YH were left alone, the HoT used distraction to take back the lead.

YH reversed a fisherman buster before a tag to Goto that let CHAOS back into the match. HoT interfered just enough to distract Goto, allowing Yujiro to reset the match with a double lariat. Togo and YOH tagged in, but all of HoT beat down on YOH. SHO tried an attack with his wrench, Yujiro with his cane, and Togo with his wire; YOH stopped them all. A miscommunication from HoT and a well-timed CHAOS rally allowed YOH to win the match with a bridging pin on Togo.

Great-O-Khan defeated Togi Makabe

This match was fine for what it was, nothing blow away, but a strong showing for O-Khan.

Makabe and O-Khan opened the match with a typical sequence that soon spilt to the outside. After slamming Makabe into the barricade, O-Khan was in a strong position. Makabe challenged O-Khan with a lariat that led to an offensive stint of his own. O-Khan interrupted Makabe on the top rope, but slamming him to the mat had little effect. O-Khan locked in a sheep killer and dropped an elbow, but again, Makabe was unphased. Finally, O-Khan secured a face claw that turned into the eliminator; this was enough to finish Makabe. 

BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, and Shingo Takagi (Los Ingobernables de Japon) defeated DOUKI, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-gun)

This was a by the book tag. With nothing really on the line, not much was explored with any interesting singles implications. Regardless, Shingo and Taichi seem to have something to settle.

Shingo and Taichi began by trading strikes. After Shingo won out, BUSHI tagged in, but he couldn’t maintain LIJ’s early lead. Suzuki-gun worked to cement Taichi’s control by attacking LIJ as Taichi held down BUSHI. Kanemaru and DOUKI traded tags to keep Suzuki-gun’s momentum going.

A hot tag to Hiromu led to a brisk sequence where he temporarily took out all of his opponents, but eventually, the numbers got the better of him. After escaping the DOUKI chokie, Hiromu connected with a powerbomb. A tag to Shingo prompted Suzuki-gun to hit the ring, but Shingo withstood the onslaught. A pumping bomber to DOUKI finished the match, leaving Shingo and the rest of his team with a win.

After the match, Shingo and Taichi stared each other down.

Toru Yano, Master Wato, and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated TAKA Michinoku, El Desperado, and Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-gun)

Yano started the match by rushing Suzuki on the outside. After failing in his attempt to lock Suzuki in a dog cage, Yano returned to the ring. Yano tried to gain advantage by throwing Suzuki into an exposed buckle, but again he failed. Suzuki pulled Yano back to the outside but also failed in throwing Yano in the dog cage. Once things were back in the ring, Suzuki-gun beat down Yano. The beatdown finally ended when Yano reversed a piledriver and landed an atomic drop, allowing Wato to tag in.

Wato gained a quick lead over Desperado. Desperado responded with a spinebuster to turn things back in his favour. After a double tag, Suzuki-gun gained advantage over Taguchi. Michinoku let this lead fade. A double team facebuster allowed Taguchi to pin Michinoku to close the match.

Sometime during the last sequence, Suzuki got Yano in the cage. The ringside young lions had to save Yano. Suzuki then handcuffed Oiwa and Fujita for daring to interfere.

Tiger Mask defeated El Phantasmo

I quite liked this match. It was focused and to the point, while not forgetting its purpose of selling the upcoming junior tag title match.

TM opened the match with leg kicks that sent ELP to the outside. Back inside, a toss took ELP to the mat, allowing TM to keep working on the legs. ELP rolled to the outside again, prompting TM to attempt a tope; ELP stuffed the dive with a kick to the head. ELP landed a tree of woe for a dropkick before attempting to walk the ropes. TM sent ELP crashing into the ropes before meeting him at the top. An arm drag from the top rope left TM in control once again.

ELP landed a crossbody to send TM to the outside. ELP capitalised with a dive that slammed TM into the barricade. A pair of springboard moonsaults left ELP with a near fall. TM managed to rally with a quick kick followed by a tiger driver, but ELP stayed in the match. A tombstone piledriver led into a flying headbutt attempt from TM, which ELP avoided. ELP responded with thunder kiss ‘86, resulting in a near fall of his own.

TM ducked a lariat and transitioned into a crucifix pin. After ELP kicked out, TM turned the pin into a submission. With ELP staring down defeat, Taiji Ishimori hit the ring to beat down TM. The referee called for the disqualification. Robbie Eagles made the save just as Ishimori unmasked TM.

Robbie Eagles defeated Taiji Ishimori

This was a perfect follow-up to the previous match and a fun watch all around. 

This match started fluidly as the last ended. Ishimori used underhanded tactics to gain a quick lead and maintain it in the early going. Ishimori paid special attention to Eagles arm, slamming it into an exposed corner multiple times.

It took a while, but Eagles eventually began to rally, focusing Ishimori’s leg. Eagles tried for the turbo backpack, but couldn’t connect due to his arm. Ishimori took advantage, locking in a submission before slamming Eagles into the ring post and landing a shoulder breaker. Ishimori locked in another submission that forced Eagles into the ropes.

Ishimori paused after a forearm, prompting a strike exchange. The pair then went back and forth, trading reversals before Eagles eventually landed the turbo backpack. Eagles then landed a 450 to legs and locked in the Ron Miller special. ELP tried to break up the hold, but TM made the save; with nowhere to go, Ishimori tapped out.

After the match, Master Wato and Ryusuke Taguchi walked to the ring and began cutting a promo. Then Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Desperado walked to the ring and cut a promo of their own. Eagles then picked up the match, announcing a four-way tag team match for the junior belts. 

Lumberjack Match, NEVER Openweight Championship: EVIL (c) defeated Tomohiro Ishii

This match, unsurprisingly, was far too busy, at least for my liking. Regardless, this was significantly better than their Wrestle Kingdom match, especially in the last act.

The lumberjacks were equal parts CHAOS, equal parts House of Torture. The match opened with EVIL rolling to the HoT side, but CHAOS worked to get him back in the ring. EVIL gained advantage with help from HoT, who removed the turnbuckle pad and beat on Ishii mere moments into the match. This chicanery continued as the match developed.

Ishii eventually fought off all of HoT by himself as CHAOS distracted the referee for some reason. The CHAOS lumberjacks then helped Ishii by pounding on the back of EVIL, before sending him back into the ring. Ishii landed a big shoulder tackle before trying for a superplex, but HoT fought to stop this from happening. Yujiro power bombed Ishii from the top rope before Togo and EVIL hit the magic killer for a near fall. EVIL landed a superplex for another two count.

Ishii landed a superplex of his own for a near fall. Then EVIL threw the referee into Ishii and a spear from SHO sent the referee crashing. After a brawl with all the lumberjacks, EVIL lined up a shot with the NEVER title; Ishii saw it coming, connecting with a lariat that sent the belt flying. Ishii hit a dragon suplex and a sliding lariat for another near fall. EVIL responded with a pair of suplexes of his own.

EVIL and Ishii traded clotheslines before an Ishii enziguri dropped EVIL and an Ishii lariat yielded another near fall. As Ishii looked for a finish, EVIL reversed his brainbuster attempt and transitioned into everything is evil. EVIL then pinned Ishii to retain the belt. 

SANADA & Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables de Japon) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada 

Tanahashi and SANADA opened the match with some chain wrestling. After the pair proved to be on equal footing, Okada and Naito tagged in. Okada and Naito also started their exchange with grappling. Okada gained advantage by focusing the knee, and in retaliation, Naito attacked the knee of Okada. As Naito and SANADA traded tags, they continued the assault on Okada’s knee.

Tanahashi eventually got the hot tag and took control for his team. This lasted until SANADA avoided a sling blade and connected with a rana for a match reset. A neckbreaker to Naito bought Tanahashi enough time to tag back into Okada.

Naito immediately caught Okada, turning his attention back to the knee. In response, Okada landed a dropkick to create some separation, and a DDT to the floor left Okada ahead. Naito answered with a neckbreaker for another match reset. The pair then traded strikes before a rope-assisted DDT left Naito in control once more. Naito tried for Destino, but couldn’t connect; instead, Okada landed a dropkick and both men tagged out.

SANADA and Tanahashi traded dragonscrew leg whips prompting Naito to hit the ring. Naito ate a leg whip of his own before retreating to the outside. On the outside, Okada positioned Naito and SANADA, allowing Tanahashi to leap from the top rope for a high fly flow to the floor. Tanahashi then landed more dragonscrews on SANADA before locking the cloverleaf; Naito tried to make the save, but Okada caught him in the money clip. After a long struggle, SANADA found the bottom rope.

After a quick exchange, SANADA slipped Tanahashi into skull end; Okada made the save. Tanahashi avoided a follow-up moonsault and connected with twist and shout. Naito tagged in and took over the match once more. Okada made the save with a dropkick, but SANADA landed a TKO. Tanahashi landed a pair of sling blades, one on each opponent, for a near fall.

When Tanahashi tried for high fly flow to end the match Naito rolled out of harm’s way. Naito tried for Destino, but couldn’t connect. Okada hit the ring and tried for a rainmaker, but Naito avoided it. Instead, Naito hit Okada with Destino. In quick succession, Naito also hit Tanahashi with Destino to close the match.