Tag: NJPW results - Page 9

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku live results: Five title matches

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Chick Fritts

Five title bouts headline today’s NJPW Wrestling Dontaku show.

In the main event, SANADA defends the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi.

In the semi-main, Tama Tonga puts the NEVER Openweight Championship up against David Finlay.

Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Ren Narita will defend the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship against Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii.

Zack Sabre Jr. defends the NJPW World Television Championship against Jeff Cobb.

KENTA defends the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship against Hikuleo.

Cards for the Best of the Super Juniors tournament will also be announced during today’s event.

The undercard:

Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
Shota Umino, KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight vs. Aaron Henare, TJP & Francesco Akira
Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita vs. Aussie Open & Great-O-Khan
Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & YOH vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahahsi, SHO & Dick Togo
Young Lion gauntlet match (will not air on the broadcast): Ryohei Oiwa vs. Yuto Nakashima vs. Oskar Leube vs. Boltin Oleg

Our live coverage begins at 5 a.m. Eastern time.

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CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, YOH & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi)

This match opened with Bishamon attacking EVIL and Yujiro, who had stolen the IWGP tag belts earlier in the tour. From here, the match continued in a brawl until Bishamon was alone in the ring with Togo. They hit Togo with Shoto and pinned him for a quick pin.

After the match, the fighting continued. Aussie Open made the save and took their belts back. Fletcher then made the challenge to Bishamon and HOT for a three-way title match.

United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste)

Fujita tried to challenge as the match began, only to be outclassed by all of UE. Once Fujita finally tagged out, Aussie Open and Haste/Nicholls traded moves long enough for Fujita to recover.

When O-Khan and Fujita came to blows again, Fujita held his own. A German suplex to O-Khan forced Aussie Open to break up the tag. O-Khan responded with a suplex of his own and a sheep killer to win the match.

Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA) & Shota Umino defeated United Empire (Aaron Henare, Francesco Akira & TJP)

Shota started the match by squaring off with Henare. Henare won out in the opening exchange, leaving the rest of UE free to isolate Shota for some time. Shota eventually tagged out to Knight, who was able to turn the match around for his team.

The match broke down with both teams hitting dives and fighting on the floor. Through all the chaos, KUSHIDA secured an inside cradle and pinned TJP for a sudden win.

After the match, Intergalactic Jet Setters and Catch 22 stared each other down. Henare and Shota also stared each other down post-match, but I think that was so they wouldn’t feel left out.

Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito)

This match opened with a scramble, and J5G were able to isolate Naito from his team, at least in the early moments.

Taichi and Shingo soon came to blows. Both men traded strikes as if the KOPW belt was on the line before passing off the match to others.

There was a brief struggle for control before J5G secured three separate submissions in the middle of the ring. Taichi’s stretch plum forced BUSHI to tap out, leaving J5G with another win.

BOSJ Cards

May 23 – A Block Finals – KUSHIDA vs. Ryusuke Taguchi | Hiromu Takahashi vs. Titan | DOUKI vs. SHO | Lio Rush vs. Mike Bailey | TJP vs. Taiji Ishimori

May 24 – B Block Finals – BUSHI vs. Francesco Akira | El Desperado vs. Robbie Eagles | Master Wato vs. Kevin Knight | YOH vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru | Dan Moloney vs. Clark Connors

May 26 – BOSJ Semi-Finals – A Block Leader vs. B Block 2nd Place | B Block Leader vs. A Block 2nd Place

May 28 – BOSJ Finals

NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Hikuleo defeated KENTA (c)

Hikuleo opened the match with a big boot, resulting in a knockout scare. KENTA baited Hikuleo while selling the boot, launching a prolonged attack on the leg.

During what started as a comeback, Hikuleo knocked out the referee with a big boot. KENTA took advantage, using a kendo stick to beat down Hikuleo. Hikuleo powered through, broke the stick, and hit KENTA with a powerbomb, but the referee remained down during Hikuleo’s pin attempt.

KENTA took control back as the referee returned to his senses. Hikuleo caught KENTA with a powerslam to turn momentum in his favor. A chokeslam from Hikuleo allowed him to pin KENTA, and win the Strong belt.

NJPW World Television Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Jeff Cobb (Time Limit Draw)

Cobb established control early, using his strength to withstand ZSJ’s wrestling. ZSJ focused on Cobb’s leg, even while on the defensive.

A gut-wrench superplex from Cobb at the 10-minute mark was answered with a rally from ZSJ. Cobb held on before trying to close with Tour of the Islands. ZSJ reversed Cobb’s finish into a choke, but Cobb powered trough, launching ZSJ across the ring with a suplex.

With three minutes remaining, ZSJ started attempting desperate roll-ups. ZSJ then turned to strikes, which opened the door for Cobb to land Tour of the Islands. ZSJ rolled to the floor before Cobb could pin him. With the final seconds closing in, Cobb lifted ZSJ for multiple powerbombs, each time being caught in an arm bar. This played out until the clock expired, resulting in a time-limit draw.

After the match, both men seemed visibly frustrated with being unable to close. A rematch would be unsurprising.

NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita) (c)

The match opened with Tanahashi attempting to prove he was good to go following his recent injury. Strong Style were able to gain the upper hand until Narita tagged in.

Narita and Okada came to blows early, with Okada punishing Narita outside of the ring. A side eye from Tanahashi got Okada to calm down and return to the ring. After continuing his bullying for a while in the ring, Okada tagged Tanahashi back into the match.

Narita was able to tag to Suzuki, escaping punishment, at least for a moment. Tanahashi and Suzuki went back and forth for control, trading strikes and moves, but never giving up too much. Suzuki changed this trend with a targeted attack on Tanahashi’s broken ribs. Ishii saved Tanahashi from his anguish, buying him some time to recover.

Ishii then tagged in, as did Desperado, leaving the rivals free to go to war. Desperado was one foot ahead but failed to hit his finish. Ishii answered with a German and Desperado a spear. Desperado tried for Pinche Loco multiple times but was unable to connect. Ishii dropped Desperado with a headbutt, prompting another double tag.

Narita and Okada started fighting again. This time, Narita led the action to the floor and maintained a lead against Okada. Back in the ring, Narita continued to control the pace. Narita scored multiple near falls on Okada with suplexes before locking in a cobra twist that forced Ishii to make the save.

It took Tanahashi, Ishii, and Okada to take control back from Narita. Okada landed an air raid crash, a dropkick, and a landslide to set up the rainmaker. After connecting with the rainmaker, Okada pinned Narita to win the match and the Never Six Man belts for the dream team.

After the match, Shota Umino walked to the ring. He queued up an announcement for Jon Moxley’s return at Dominion, presumably for a six-man title match. The third man on the team is still unannounced.

NEVER Openweight Championship: David Finlay defeated Tama Tonga (c)

Before the match could even begin, Finlay attacked Tama. Finlay and Tama then brawled to the floor before fighting deep into the crowd. The pair returned to the ring for a moment, but it didn’t take long for them to wander outside again. This time, Tama whipped Finlay into the barricade, establishing a strong lead.

Tama attempted Supreme Flow, but Finlay blocked with his knee. Finlay followed up with an Irish curse and a barrage of crossface strikes.

Tama turned the match around with a bloody Sunday before locking in a sharpshooter. After Finlay escaped, Tama climbed to the top, but Finlay shoved him off, sending him crashing to the floor. Finlay followed up with an apron powerbomb and a brutal throw into the turnbuckle post, nearly leaving him with a count-out victory.

Back in the ring, Finlay hit an eliminator, three powerbombs, and several intense strikes. With the end in sight, Finlay hit Oblivion twice but refused to pin Tama, trying to get Jado to throw in the towel. After the third Oblivion, Finlay gave in and pinned Tama to win the NEVER Openweight Championship.

After the match, a masked man walked to the ring and attacked Finlay. After clearing the ring of Gedo, the man removed his mask, revealing El Phantasmo. Phantasmo unloaded on Finlay, inside the ring and out.

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: SANADA (c) defeated Hiromu Takahashi

Hiromu gained an early lead after landing an apron dropkick which he followed with a dropkick into the barricade. Hiromu connected with a rana and a falcon arrow to slow SANADA’s attempt to fight back.

SANADA landed a dropkick and a plancha to put Hiromu on the backfoot. Hiromu bounced back after escaping a dragon sleeper by connecting with a DDT and a slam into the corner.

SANADA held on through Hiromu’s advance before finally securing a dragon sleeper. Hiromu escaped, but SANADA followed up with a moonsault. On SANADA’s second moonsault attempt, Hiromu blocked and hit timebomb for a nearfall.

When Hiromu tried for timebomb again, SANADA escaped and hit a shining wizard. Hiromu held on, landing a German suplex in response. SANADA continued to advance, however, landing forearms to knock Hiromu senseless.

In a last-ditch, Hiromu landed a cutter and a dynamite plunger, a lariat, and timebomb 2; SANADA kicked out. SANADA tried for shining wizard, but Hiromu blocked. As Hiromu tried to follow up, SANADA caught him in Skull End. SANADA then hit another moonsault for another nearfall.

Hiromu tried for a Hiromu-roll, but SANADA answered with a shining wizard. To close, SANADA hit Deadfall and pinned Hiromu.

After the match, and SANADA’s closing promo, the video package with dinosaurs, falling buildings, and exploding planets played again. A monstrous Yota Tsuji walked out and attacked all of J5G, leaving them lying. Tsuji speared SANADA into the floor before taunting him with the IWGP belt.

NJPW Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni live results: Two title matches

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Chick Fritts

Two titles are on the line at NJPW Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni.

In the main event, Shingo Takagi defends the provisional KOPW 2023 title against Taichi in a Takagi Style Triad match. The winner will be the first to win three falls either by pinfall, submission, stoppage, knockout or countout.

In the semi-main, Aussie Open make their first defense of the IWGP Tag Team titles against Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste of TMDK.

The undercard:

Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. SANADA, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
Tama Tonga, Hikuleo, Master Wato & Jado vs. David Finlay, KENTA, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Togi Makabe & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Yuto Nakashima
Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita vs. Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan
Tomoaki Honma, KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight vs. Aaron Henare, TJP & Francesco Akira
Shota Umino & Oskar Leube vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi
Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Toru Yano & Boltin Oleg

Our live coverage begins at 4 a.m. Eastern time.

**********

Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano

This match was all Boltin, and he looked good. He was given a lot, especially considering he was going up against the former tag champs.

Boltin started the match by taking out Goto and YH with a shoulder tackle. After furthering this early lead, Boltin tagged in Yano, who immediately lost his team’s advantage by grabbing the turnbuckle pad.

The hot tag eventually came to Boltin, who retook control. He locked Goto in a Boston crab and chopped down YH when he tried to make the save. It took both of Bishamon working together to overwhelm Boltin. Together, they hit Shoto to win the match.

House Of Torture (EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Oskar Leube & Shota Umino

HOT started the match by rushing their opponents, isolating Leube in the ring. HOT cheated to maintain this advantage for as long as possible.

Shota eventually tagged in and led a prolonged comeback. Leube tagged in and held his own for some time, but a distracted referee allowed SHO to drop Leube with a wrench shot. Yujiro then hit Leube with pimp juice to win the match.

United Empire (Aaron Henare, Francesco Akira & TJP) defeated Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA) & Tomoaki Honma

The match opened with UE attacking the babyface trio. The Jet Setters held on, winning out in the early exchange, even after being blindsided. After Honma tagged in, UE worked to isolate him, turning the match back in their favor.

The match eventually broke down, but even through the chaos, UE maintained their control. Honma tried to rally back, but Henare was able to catch him in Ultima, leading to the submission victory.

United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb) defeated TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.)

O-Khan and Fujita opened the match with a scramble where O-Khan’s wrestling proved superior. With his protege on the back foot, ZSJ tagged in, gained control, and passed the match back to Fujita. Together they worked O-Khan’s legs, forcing Cobb to get involved.

Cobb took care of ZSJ outside of the ring. Back inside, UE beat down Fujita for his hubris. Once ZSJ recovered, he tagged in to mount a comeback, but he was overwhelmed by the strength of Cobb.

After tagging back in, Fujita wrestled O-Khan to the mat and secured a leglock, forcing him into the ropes. O-Khan answered with a suplex, leading into a back-and-forth sequence late in the match. Ultimately, O-Khan would secure the iron claw to win the match via submission.

Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita) & Yuto Nakashima defeated CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii), Ryohei Oiwa & Togi Makabe

Before the match could even start, Okada and Narita locked eyes. Once the bell sounded, Okada gained the initial lead over him, but the match broke down before he could achieve anything substantial. Once the fog cleared, Okada tagged out.

Ishii and Desperado fought outside while the match’s fillers traded tags and momentum for a while. Once Desperado and Ishii finally tagged in, they traded moves and control until neither could continue.

Okada and Narita came to blows again, and again, Okada bested him with ease. Suzuki followed Narita and knocked Okada to the floor before passing the baton back to Narita. Narita connected with offense, but Okada reversed the momentum back in his favor.

Oiwa tagged in while the match continued to devolve on the outside. Narita retook control, hitting suplexes and securing a hold that resulted in a submission victory.

After the match, Ishii and Desperado continued to brawl on the floor. Eventually, both teams fought as if the bell never rang. The brawl was chaotic and exciting. Great stuff here.

Guerrillas Of Destiny (Hikuleo, Jado & Tama Tonga) & Master Wato defeated BULLET CLUB (David Finlay, Gedo, KENTA & Taiji Ishimori)

Hikuleo gained the upper hand on KENTA, leading to a frustrated Bullet Club early on. Once Jado gained the lead, Bullet Club rushed the ring, gaining advantage for their team.

Eventually, Tama was able to fight back into the match. After knocking Finlay to the floor, Tama hit Gedo with a gun stun to win.

After the closing bell, Finlay laid out Tama with the shillelagh while KENTA beat down Hikuleo with a kendo stick.

Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito)

J5G opened the match by jumping LIJ. Most of the action fell outside of the ropes, but DOUKI and Naito were left alone in the ring. It didn’t take long for Naito to establish control. To get his team back in the match, DOUKI escaped to the floor, where he whipped Naito into the barricade. After returning to the ring, J5G were able to maintain their lead for a while longer.

SANADA and Hiromu tagged into the match. Hiromu gained a significant lead on SANADA, even withstanding aid from Kanemaru.

SANADA slowly worked his way back into a favorable position, eventually securing a skull end on BUSHI, resulting in a match breakdown as LIJ made the save. After the ring was cleared, SANADA established the hold again and forced BUSHI to submit.

IWGP Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) (c) defeated TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste)

The match opened with a typical feeling-out process, but as all four men entered the ring, Aussie Open established the first lead. Once the action wandered outside the ring, TMDK turned things around.

After dropping him on the ring apron, TMDK isolated Fletcher from Davis. Once receiving the tag, Davis took out both of his opponents, setting up Fletcher for a dive to the floor.

After surviving a backdrop that resulted in a nearfall, Nicholls stepped up to Davis, trading strikes and moves with him until both men had to tag out. Fletcher and Haste kept the back-and-forth going after entering the match. Eventually, all four men found their way into the ring, and the action followed.

Haste hit Davis with a powerbomb for a nearfall. Nicholls then tagged in to drop Davis with a lariat, but Davis answered with a German suplex and a lariat of his own.

Aussie Open toyed with Nicholls before dropping him with a double superkick. As they tried to follow up, Haste hit them with a crossbody from the top rope and a suicide dive. Back in the ring, TMDK hit Fletcher with his own tag finisher, Coriolis; Davis made the save.

Aussie Open cleared the ring of TMDK, only for TMDK to hit Fletcher with a pair of tank busters. Again, Davis was able to break up the pin.

TMDK tried for thunder valley, but Fletcher reversed. Aussie Open hit tandem elbow strikes and a pair of drivers to fight back into control. After clearing the ring of Nicholls, Aussie Open hit Haste with Coriolis to win the match and retain their belts.

After the match, Bishamon walked to the ring, but before they could challenge the champions, House of Torture arrived and attacked everyone. The rest of Untied Empire made the save.

NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling Championship Takagi-Style Triad Match: Taichi defeated Shingo Takagi (c)

To win this match, you needed to score three different victories, either by pin, submission, KO, TKO, or ring out. A bingo board on the bottom of the screen marked which options had been filled.

The match opened with some chop trading before wandering to the outside. On the floor, the strike trading continued, almost into a count out.

Once Shingo beat the count, the pair traded quick pin attempts, with Shingo scoring the first fall of the match.

Now with the upper hand, Shingo dropped Taichi on his face and called for the referee’s count. Once it was clear Taichi was beating the ten count, Shingo tried to submit him with a crossface, but Taichi found the ropes.

Shingo dropped Taichi on the apron, nearly scoring a count out for a second fall. Instead of a fall, Taichi scored one with a quick backslide after beating the count, tieing the score.

Taichi tried kicking Shingo down, but Shingo answered with a suplex. Taichi responded with a dangerous backdrop of his own but was floored, triggering a double KO count from the referee, which both men beat.

Once they were back to their feet, they traded more lariats before Taichi connected with a high kick, a powerbomb, and a Black Mephisto, initiating another count from the referee. Shingo failed to get to his feet, leaving Taichi with his second point and the lead.

Taichi didn’t waste time trying to score the deciding fall, locking in a choke that forced Shingo into the ropes. Shingo reversed the follow-up kick attempt and landed made in Japan to reset the match’s momentum. Once both men got back to their feet, they continued to trade clubbing blows. Shingo won out and hit a pumping bomber and last of the dragon to score his KO point.

Shingo landed STAY DREAM before trying for a choke. Taichi escaped to the floor, buying him some time to recover. Once Taichi was back between the ropes, Shingo hit him with a pumping bomber and attempted a choke, but Taichi reversed into a dangerous backdrop. Two more strikes from Taichi sent both men tumbling to the floor; Shingo barely beat the count.

Once both men were to their feet, they traded more strikes, which eventually escalated into headbutts. Taichi landed a front high kick before securing a choke, but the sweat on Shingo’s face allowed him to slip free.

Taichi landed multiple leaping high kicks and locked in the stretch plum. As Shingo began to fade, Hiromu climbed on the apron with a towel but chose not to use it, instead choosing to cheer Shingo on. Hiromu’s support couldn’t stop the inevitable, however; Shingo was out. Even without Hiromu’s concession, the referee stepped in and called the match for Taichi.

Taichi is your new King of Pro Wrestling.

After the match’s conclusion, Just 5 Guys cut the show-ending promo and hoisted Taichi onto their shoulders with his new belt.

NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku live results: Two title matches

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Chick Fritts

Two titles are on the line at today’s NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku show.

In the main event, Hiromu Takahashi defends the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

In the semi-main, TJP & Francesco Akira defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against challengers KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight.

Tetsuya Naito takes on DOUKI in a featured singles bout.

The entrants for the upcoming Best of the Super Juniors 30 tournament will also e revealed on the show.

The undercard:

Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. SANADA & Taichi
Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Shota Umino
TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr., Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste) vs. Aussie Open & Jeff Cobb
Tama Tonga, Hikuleo & Master Wato vs. David Finlay, KENTA & Taiji Ishimori
Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & YOH vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo
Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare vs. Oskar Leube & Boltin Oleg

Our live coverage begins at 5:10 a.m. Eastern time.

**********

United Empire (Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan) defeated Oleg Boltin & Oskar Leube

This was a great opening tag. It was brief and to the point, but still showed off the young lions’ potential.

Oleg and O-Khan opened the match with an excellent bit of grappling. Throughout the match, the pair continued to interact, proving to be a real highlight.

Ultimately, Henare won the match for UE with Ultima, which he used to submit Leube.

CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, YOH & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi)

This is the kind of match you would expect from this pairing. It was total silliness and filled with cheating for most of it. Bishamon attempted to increase the match’s seriousness but didn’t accomplish much.

In the end, YH pinned Togo after hitting GYR with Goto.

BULLET CLUB (David Finlay, KENTA & Taiji Ishimori) defeated Guerrillas Of Destiny (Hikuleo & Tama Tonga) & Master Wato

The match opened with a babyface-initiated brawl. This, unsurprisingly, worked in BC’s favor as the match continued.

Finlay would go on to finish the match after hitting Wato with Trash Panda.

KENTA and Hikuleo continued to fight after the match, further setting up their future Strong title bout.

TMDK (Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr.) defeated United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)

This was a good six-man that did nothing but add to the upcoming title matches between these teams.

Aussie Open and Haste and Nicholls opened the match with a burst, leaving Cobb and ZSJ free to grapple early on. After Cobb landed a suplex, Davis and Fletcher would establish substantial control over ZSJ.

Haste and Nicholls tried to maintain TMDK’s lead after Davis tagged in but couldn’t hold on. Instead, Aussie Open and Haste and Nicholls went back in forth, forcing Cobb and ZSJ to interfere to keep their partners alive. In this chaos, Haste and Nicholls hit Fletcher with Tank Buster to score a win over the tag team champions.

Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita) & Shota Umino defeated CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii) & Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma)

While not great, this was a good match that accomplished a lot.

This eight-man set out to achieve multiple goals: Okada continued to explore his impatience during segments with Ren and Desperado; Ishii and whoever he was in the ring with went to war; and GBH was here to beat down Shota so he could shine in the end.

After being on the receiving end of a kokeshi, Shota recovered and hit Makabe with a Death Rider, leading to the win for his team.

Both during and after the match’s runtime, Okada and Ren had numerous heated exchanges, with Okada showing visible frustration throughout. Suzuki was seen eyeing down Okada, but he left most of the fighting to his protege.

Just 5 Guys (SANADA & Taichi) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI & Shingo Takagi)

Taichi and Shingo opened the match with a prolonged singles exchange. The pair fought both in and out of the ring until they were both forced to make a tag.

BUSHI gained a bit of an upper hand on SANADA, scoring a near fall with a rollup and landing a dive to the floor. All of this proved inconsequential as SANADA locked in Skull End and forced the submission.

Best of the Super Juniors Lineup

A video package was played to reveal the lineup for the upcoming BOSJ.

A Block: Hiromu Takahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi, DOUKI, Taiji Ishimori, SHO, TJP, Titan, KUSHIDA, Lio Rush, Mike Bailey

B Block: El Desperado, Master Wato, YOH, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, BUSHI, Clark Connors, Robbie Eagles, Francesco Akira, Kevin Knight, Dan Moloney

Tetsuya Naito defeated DOUKI

DOUKI started the match strong, rushing Naito, not giving him time to undress. After escaping the DOUKI chokey, Naito landed a neckbreaker to buy himself a breather.

On the outside, Naito gained control by whipping DOUKI into the barricades, and in the ring, Naito maintained his control long enough to force a desperate DOUKI rally.

In the end, Naito held on through DOUKI’s offense. He survived a DDT on the floor, a DOUKI chokey, and Daybreak before finally landing Destino to win the match.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA) defeated Catch 22 (Francesco Akira & TJP) (c)

The match opened with a scramble between TJP and KUSHIDA, leaving both men on equal footing. Akira and Knight tagged in for an athletic sequence that ended with a dropkick to Knight’s nether regions.

The match then developed into a two-on-two affair, with Akira landing a dive to take out both opponents with aid from TJP. This led into an extended period of Catch 22 control, with a focused effort made to isolate KUSHIDA.

Once Knight tagged in, he was able to turn things around for his team. A dropkick to Akira, while he was positioned on KUSHIDA’s shoulders, scored the challengers a nearfall. This wasn’t the end, though, as Catch 22 fought back, hitting Knight with a tandem facebuster and a top rope double-foot stomp for a pair of nearfalls.

Kushida pulled TJP from the ring to block Catch 22’s finish before tagging in. Once in the match, TJP caught KUSHIDA in a leg submission, which he had set up earlier. Kushida survived and landed a lariat simultaneously with TJP, resulting in a match reset.

Knight tagged in and missed a frankensteiner. TJP capitalized, hitting a splash and a sandwiching double knee strike with Akira; Kushida hit the ring to make the save.

Knight tried again for the frankensteiner, hitting it on his second attempt. Then, Kushida lifted Knight onto his shoulders, allowing Knight to hit their rolling DDT on Akira. Knight then pinned him to win the match and the belts.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi (c) defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru

The match opened slow, with Kanemaru trying to gain an advantage with a headlock early. As Hiromu gained control, he matched Kanemaru’s pace with a leglock. Kanemaru answered Hiromu’s leg targeting with dropkicks to Hiromu’s knee before slamming Hiromu knee-first onto the floor. Hiromu spent a ton of time on the floor to recover.

Back in the ring, Kanemaru continued his leg-based attack, using a leglock of his own for quite some time. Eventually, Hiromu mounted a comeback after interrupting Kanemaru’s whiskey spot. Hiromu landed timebomb for a nearfall.

After surviving Hiromu’s finish, Kanemaru landed another dropkick to the knee and returned to the leglock. Kanemaru landed a DDT, a moonsault, and Deep Impact, but Hiromu kicked out. Growing desperate, Kanemaru landed Touch Out, but Hiromu kicked out again, so he returned to the leglock.

After escaping another extended period in the leglock, Hiromu dropped Kanemaru on his head, and a lariat knocked Kanemaru off of his feet. Hiromu took this opportunity to finish the match, following up with a timebomb and a timebomb 2 to win and retain his belt.

In his show-closing promo, Hiromu adjusted his sights to his match with SANADA.

NJPW Collision in Philadelphia live results: Aussie Open vs. Ishii & Lio Rush

Posted on April 16, 2023 by Chick Fritts

Aussie Open will defend their NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team titles in the main event of Collision in Philadelphia.

An injury to Hiroshi Tanahashi forced him off today’s card and out of what had been scheduled as a trios match main event with Tanahashi, Lio Rush, and Tomohiro Ishii facing TJP & Aussie Open. Travel issues also prevented TJP from making it to Philadelphia for the show.

The new main event for Collision in Philadelphia features Aussie Open defending the Strong Tag titles against Ishii & Lio Rush. Aussie Open won a triple threat match last night in Washington at Capital Collision to win the Strong titles.

A tournament to determine the number one contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP United States title also kicks off today.

What had been advertised as Lance Archer vs. Juice Robinson will now be Archer vs. Fred Rosser due to a storyline suspension given to Robinson. The winner of today’s match will face either Tanahashi or Will Ospreay at NJPW Dominion in Osaka, Japan in June.

Today’s undercard:

Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi vs. KENTA & Chase Owens
AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy defends against Gabriel Kidd
Homicide & Rocky Romero vs. SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
TMDK’s Zack Sabre Jr., Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito vs. Tom Lawlor, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
Clark Connors vs. The DKC
ROH Pure rules match: Alex Coughlin vs. Tracy Williams
El Desperado & Volador Jr. vs. Delirious & Kevin Knight

Our live coverage begins at 5 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

El Desperado & Volador Jr. defeated Delirious & Kevin Knight

Delirious started things off by leaping at Desperado, but after missing, he had Volador tag in before tagging out himself. Knight and Volador had a competitive sequence before Desperado tagged back into the match to take the lead. Delirious grabbed Desperado by the leg, pulling his team back into the match.

A hot tag to Volador after an extended period of opposition control led to a strong comeback. Only by escaping to the floor were Knigh and Delirious able to stay competitive.

Eventually, Desperado tagged in, leading to a strike exchange between him and Delirious. A frankensteiner/frog splash combination nearly scored the Knight/Delirious team the win. After Volador broke up the pin, he hit a backbreaker, setting Desperado up for a match-winning Pinche Loco.

Pure Rules: Alex Coughlin defeated Tracy Williams

I loved this match. From the compelling mat work to the explosive transitions, this was pure wrestling.

The match opened with mat work that quickly escalated. Williams and Coughlin locked hands, trading pins, holds, and bridges. Once the grip was broken, Williams dropped Coughlin and landed a suplex from the top rope before returning to working on the mat. From the mat, Coughlin secured underhooks, which nearly ended with a driver, but Williams flipped free and landed a suplex.

Williams struck Coughlin down before locking in a sleeper. Coughlin stood out of the sleeper, landing a powerbomb to reset the match in his favor. A vertical suplex from Coughlin scored him a nearfall.

In the end, the pair looked to trade strikes. Coughlin ducked a Williams lariat, hitting a bridging German suplex to win the match.

Clark Connors defeated The DKC

Before the match, David Finlay cut a promo. He berated ELP and hyped Connors. Finlay then declared he would be the first Bullet Club leader who “gets the Bullet Club before the Bullet Club gets him”. His Bullet Club would be willing to make cuts to maintain a roster of “killers”.

DKC rushed the ring to start the match, scoring a quick, if short, lead. It didn’t take long for Connors to reverse momentum. Connors dominated DKC, taking his time to pick him apart. Conners ended DKC’s only attempt at a rally with four nice spears. Connors then pinned DKC to win his first match with Bullet Club.

Team Filthy (Jorel Nelson, Royce Isaacs & Tom Lawlor) defeated TMDK (Bad Dude Tito, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr.)

This match was a ton of fun. Lawlor and ZSJ have crazy chemistry, and the rest of TMDK gel very well with the West Coast Wrecking Crew—a great match.

Before the match could begin, Team Filthy was caught with a metal carabiner, a tube of super glue, and a toothbrush. The referee confiscated all of their foreign objects.

The actual match saw TMDK gain a short lead that ended when Nelson landed a sudden backbreaker, and Team Filthy rushed the ring. Team Filthy then used their advantage to slow the pace while isolating Haste.

Haste reversed a move from the top rope into a superplex, buying him a hot tag into ZSJ. ZSJ locked Nelson and Isaacs in submissions simultaneously to establish TMDK control. Lawlor was forced to tag in to help his team stay competitive.

ZSJ and Lawlor went back and forth. When ZSJ landed a strike, Lawlor answered with one of his own. When ZSJ locked in a hold, Lawlor established on of his own. This stalemate forced a double tag.

Tito and Isaacs tagged in, traded bombs for a few seconds, and tagged out. Haste and Nelson tagged in and also traded heavy strikes, forcing another double tag, leaving ZSJ and Lawlor alone in the ring once more.

ZSJ and Lawlor went off on one another. ZSJ caught Lawlor in a cobra twist as TMDK played defense. Lawlor broke free regardless, leading to a match breakdown. After a chaotic war between the teams, Lawlor landed a knee to the back of Tito’s head, leading directly to the pin.

Just 5 Guys (SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Homicide & Rocky Romero

The match began with Rocky turning down a drink from Kanemaru’s whiskey. After this, SANADA and Homicide had a fairly uneventful back-and-forth to start the actual competition. Rocky and Kanemaru soon tagged in and had a mat-based exchange that Rocky left with the upper hand.

Homicide tagged into the match, but Kanemaru gained the upper hand, forcing Rocky to involve himself again. The match then spilled to the floor, where Rocky and Homicide gained a significant lead.

A tag to SANADA turned the match back to J5G favored. A dropkick to Rocky and Homicide allowed SANADA to tie Rocky in the paradise lock.

Rocky saving Homicide from Skull End resulted in a match breakdown. Homicide scored a nearfall over SANADA with a cutter. Homicide tried to close again with the cop killer, but SANADA reversed, turning it into a bridging pin to win the match.

AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) defeated Gabriel Kidd

This was another great match on this show and another great Cassidy defense.

Kidd rushed Cassidy to try for an early lead, but Cassidy was able to hold on through the blitz. Cassidy landed a dive that forced Kidd to slow down, much to his favor. Kidd landed a big chop that sent Cassidy to the floor. Back in the ring, Kidd taunted Cassidy with his own mannerisms.

During Kidd’s control, a camera revealed David Finlay and Clark Conners were watching on from the balcony.

Kidd’s taunting proved to be his downfall as it allowed Cassidy to gain a leg up. Cassidy landed a super kick, a Superman punch, a top rope crossbody, and a DDT for a nearfall.

Cassidy climbed to the top for another dive, but Kidd caught him with a brainbuster. Kidd then tried choking Cassidy out with a visually impressive choke from the top rope. Kidd missed the moonsault follow-up, but he hit a spinning tombstone piledriver regardless.

Cassidy caught Kidd with an orange punch, but Kidd bounced off the rope with a lariat. Kidd tried to follow up with a kimura, but Cassidy transitioned into a mouse trap pin, which scored him the win.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito) defeated BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & KENTA)

The opening scramble saw LIJ rush Owens to establish an early lead. Once KENTA involved himself, Bullet Club was able to take control.

KENTA ended an LIJ rally with a DDT but failed to hit the GTS. Hiromu answered with a dragonscrew, forcing a double tag. Naito made quick work of most Owens resistance, but a Destino reversal into snake eyes allowed Bullet Club to maintain their lead. A running knee forced Hiromu to make the save.

Owens reversed another Destino, but Hiromu was quick to help Naito recover. Finally, after another team-on-team brawl, Naito hit Destino to win the match.

After the match, Rocky Romero walked to the ring. He asked Hiromu about an All-Star Junior Festival in the United States. On August 19th in Philidelphia’s 2300 Arena, the All-Star Junior Festival will make its U.S. debut.

IWGP United States Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership Tournament Match: Lance Archer defeated Fred Rosser

Rosser came to the ring taped up following his brutal beatdown last night.

Archer cut a promo before the match. He threatened Rosser’s life before asking him to make this a Philadelphia street fight. He grabbed two kendo sticks, one for himself and one for Rosser. Rosser accepted for some reason.

This was a bad match.

Rosser was the first to strike, using the Kendo stick to the best of his ability, but Archer was able to wade the storm. On the outside, Archer slowly beat down Rosser, eventually fighting into the crowd.

At some point, they disappeared. The cameras couldn’t find them, and the fans chanted, “We can’t see.” Once the cameras did find them, they were meandering around the outside.

Archer continually attacked Rosser with kendo sticks, paying particular attention to his stitched head, eventually drawing blood. Archer then used a chair to continue his attack.

Rosser sidestepped an Archer attack, sending him crashing into a chair. Rosser took advantage, beating him with a kendo stick. After laying out Archer, Rosser locked in a stepover chicken wing. Before Archer could tap, Juice Robinson came out from the crowd and attacked Rosser, and because this was a street fight, there were no repercussions.

A loaded Left Hand of God from Juice and a lariat from Archer allowed the Murderhawk Monster to secure a win and advance in the tournament.

After the match, Archer cut another promo. He called out Tony Khan and Kenny Omega. He said Omega couldn’t beat without help. He then said Khan couldn’t protect Omega for long. Archer said he’d win the tournament in Osaka and dethrone Omeaga at Forbidden Door 2.

NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) (c) defeated CHAOS (Lio Rush & Tomohiro Ishii)

The feeling-out process ended early, as Davis called out Ishii. Ishii and Davis traded blows, but Rush tagged in, which caused a short brawl favoring CHAOS. Once Fletcher recovered, he rushed the ring allowing Aussie Open to take the lead.

Rush avoided a senton, buying him the time to tag in Ishii. Ishii fought off both of his opponents, standing tall after a shoulder tackle. Fletcher blocked the brainbuster and sent Ishii to the floor in an attempt to rally.

Fletcher tried to hit a dive from the rope, but Davis stopped him from doing so. This distraction allowed Rush to hit a super rana and re-establish control. Ishii and Rush isolated Fletcher, hitting him with multiple tandem moves.

Once Davis recovered, he hit the ring, helping Fletcher to survive the Chaos attack. This led to another Ishii/Fletcher exchange, ending with an Ishii brainbuster. Ishii could not finish, and a Saito sent him to the floor.

Rush landed a dive to the floor, buying Ishii enough time to recover. Together, Ishii and Rush knocked Davis off his feet. Ishii scored a nearfall with a lariat, but Davis reversed his brainbuster attempt into a suplex.

Rush tried to pick up where Ishii left off, but Davis dropped him with a crucifix powerbomb. Once Ishii could help Rush, they turned things back around. Ishii landed a lariat into a Rush frog splash, forcing Fletcher to make the save.

Fletcher and Davis worked together to fight back against the CHAOS pair. A lariat to Rush marked the end of a team-on-team struggle, leaving all four men on the mat.

A double boot set Rush up for Coriolis, but Ishii made the save. Fletcher dropped Ishii with a piledriver, leaving Davis free to land a piledriver of his own on Rush. Then Aussie Open landed a lariat and Coriolis to close out their first Never Openweight Tag Team championship defense.

Fletcher cut the show-ending promo, which was primarily braggadocious, with a slight jab at FTR inserted.

NJPW Capital Collision live results: Strong Tag Team title match

Posted on April 15, 2023 by Chick Fritts

Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Aussie Open challenge Motor City Machine Guns for the Strong Openweight Tag Team titles tonight at NJPW Capital Collision.

The triple threat tag team main event will see MCMG going for their fourth defense of the Strong Tag titles, belts they have held since October. Aussie Open will look to regain those titles, and to add them to their IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team gold. Okada & Tanahashi will attempt to win their first titles as a “dream team” duo.

In the semi-main, KENTA will defend the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship against Impact’s Eddie Edwards.

The undercard:

Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi vs. SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Tomohiro Ishii vs. El Desperado
NJPW World TV Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. defends against “Filthy” Tom Lawlor
David Finlay vs. AR Fox
Juice Robinson vs. Fred Rosser
KUSHIDA, Volador Jr., Mike Bailey, Gabriel Kidd & Kevin Knight vs. Chuck Taylor, Rocky Romero, Lio Rush, Clark Connors & The DKC
Kickoff match: TMDK (Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito) vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs)

Our live coverage begins with the kickoff show at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

TMDK (Bad Dude Tito & Shane Haste) defeated The West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs)

This was a fun little opening match.

TMDK started the match hot, controlling the ring for the majority of the opening. An apron suplex to Tito allowed WCWC to fight back into the match.

Haste was on the receiving end of WCWC offense for some time, before a hot tag to Tito allowed TMDK back in the match. Tito landed the F5 and secured the pin for his team.

Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA), Gabriel Kidd, Mike Bailey & Volador Jr. defeated CHAOS (Chuck Taylor, Lio Rush & Rocky Romero), Clark Connors & The DKC

This was the kind of match you would expect from this lineup. Lots of action bell-to-bell.

After an extended period of traded tags, the match fell into an extended period of dives to the floor. After everyone was whipped out, KUSHIDA, Knight, and Volador Jr. isolated Romero, beating him down before a Volador backbreaker laid him out for the pin.

David Finlay defeated AR Fox

Finlay and Fox went back and forth in the opening portion of the match, but after Finlay took the match to the floor he established a strong lead. Fox fought back with a cutter, opening Finlay up for a period of offense.

Fox landed a number of dives, scoring more and more convincing near falls before a Finlay lariat flipped momentum on its head. Finlay hit Trash Panda.

After the match, Finlay called Clark Conners to the ring and added him to the Bullet Club roster.

NJPW World Television Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) defeated Tom Lawlor

Another fantastic defense from ZSJ. Say what you will, but this title is the best thing in New Japan.

The match opened with a scramble on the mat. ZSJ led the exchange, but Lawlor held his own. Once standing, the pair traded strikes with Lawlor winning out before ZSJ took the mat back to the floor.

ZSJ continued to struggle for holds while Lawlor landed bombs while standing if being slightly outclassed while grappling. Lawlor’s heavy offense while standing nearly won him the match multiple times, but in the end, ZSJ was able to win out in a rolling pin exchange to retain his title.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated El Desperado

Ishii opened the match by chopping Desperado into the ground. Desperado fought back into the match by targeting Ishii’s leg.

After more chops from Ishii, the pair fought to a standstill after trading bombs in the middle of the ring. Desperado was able to chop Ishii to the mat, where he was able to focus on further damaging his leg, but a defiant Ishii continued to rise.

A quick headbutt from Ishii and a powerbomb scored him a nearfall, but Desperado was quick behind with Pinche Loco. Desperado was unable to land a second of his finishers, leading to a strike exchange. Ishii won out, landing a brainbuster and pinning Desperado to win this match.

Juice Robinson vs. Fred Rosser

As Rosser made his way to the ring, it was revealed he left a reserved seat for Robinson’s wife, Toni Storm.

Robinson jumped Rosser before the match could begin. Robinson dropped Rosser with a piledriver on the ramp and a suplex on the floor. The referee tried scolding Robinson only to also be laid out with a forearm.

Once Robinson brought the action to the ring, he grabbed the “Toni Storm” labeled chair, which he used to beat down Rosser. One last loaded punch to Rosser marked the end of the beatdown.

After destroying Rosser, Robinson grabbed a microphone. Robinson told Rosser to, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f*cking mouth”, and left.

Just 5 Guys (SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito)

Kanemaru and Hiromu opened the match, and it didn’t take long for Hiromu to establish a lead. After gaining control of the match, Hiromu knocked SANADA off the apron, being sure to taunt his upcoming opponent.

SANADA pulled Hiromu to the floor where he returned the favor, while also buying Kanemaru some much-needed time. After tagging into SANADA, the match began to turn around for J5G.

A hot tag to Naito allowed LIJ to fight back into control. Kanemaru provided SANADA a distraction, allowing him to reset momentum once more. Hiromu and SANADA came to blows again, but with Kanemaru’s help, SANADA was basically uncontested.

The match eventually broke down, leaving Kanemaru and Hiromu alone in the ring. The pair traded moves and pin attempts before a pair of rollups from Kanemaru scored him the victory.

Kanemaru pinning the junior champion before the junior champion challenges the heavyweight champion is certainly a bold call.

NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship: KENTA (c) defeated Eddie Edwards

Even if you’re nostalgic for this pairing, I’d recommend skipping this. This match was an attempt at a NOAH tribute in slow motion.

It didn’t take long for this match to spill out to the floor. Once it did, Edwards was able to take a small lead, but KENTA turned things back around once returning to the mat.

Edwards and Kenta traded momentum for some time. Edwards landed a backpack stunner for a nearfall. The pair then traded boots before a lariat dropped KENTA.

KENTA was the first to recover, allowing him to drop Edwards with a rope-assisted DDT. A dropkick in the corner led to a double-stomp for a nearfall favoring KENTA. KENTA dropped Edwards with a running knee, and Edwards kicked out again.

Edwards landed a nasty buckle bomb and a tigerdriver for a nearfall of his own. A follow-up shining wizard and die-hard flowsion left Edwards with another.

After surviving everything Edwards could throw at him, KENTA ran into the referee. With the official down, KENTA grabbed the STRONG belt. Edwards blocked the attack with a superkick and grabbed the belt himself. Edwards tried to use the belt, but KENTA reversed with a low blow. KENTA then dropped Edwards with the belt and hit the GTS for the win.

After the match, the lights went out. Instead of a run-in, a video played with Hikuleo challenging KENTA to a title match at Dontaku. KENTA accepted the challenge.

NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada and The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) (c)

The match opened with an extended feeling-out process. Eventually, the match broke down into a brawl. After the ring was cleared, Okada was left in control over Davis. With help from Tanahashi, Okada kept control for some time.

Eventually, each team took small leads by utilizing two-on-one offense. A good portion of the match saw Aussie Open and MCMG trade control as Okada and Tanahashi watched on.

Fletcher was ultimately forced to tag in Okada, the freshest man in the match. After a double tag, Tanahashi was able to further his team’s lead.

MCMG interrupted a double submission by Okada and Tanahashi, leading to a match breakdown. Once the fog cleared, Aussie Open had a strong lead over Tanahashi, forcing Okada to make the save. Okada and Tanahashi then climbed to the top rope for an elbow drop/high fly flow combination, but Davis got his knees up to save himself.

MCMG and Aussie Open then landed dives to the floor, with Fletcher landing a nasty flip that draped him over the metal barricade. Back in the ring, Sabin was able to fight through Aussie Open control, leading into Made in Detroit for a convincing nearfall.

Okada hit the ring, making a short save, but MCMG fought him off. This distraction from Okada bought Aussie Open enough time to recover. Aussie Open landed Coriolis on Sabin and pinned him to win the match and the belts.

Aussie Open posed with their four belts, but Okada and Tanahashi made their presence felt with a staredown. Once Okada and Tanahashi left the ring, the new champions cut a promo celebrating, declaring themselves the best in the world. Fletcher acknowledged an FTR chant, announcing that they were going to assemble the best tag team belt collection of all time.

NJPW Sakura Genesis live results: Okada vs. SANADA IWGP title match

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Chick Fritts

Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA headlines today’s NJPW Sakura Genesis event at Sumo Hall in Tokyo.

Okada is set to defend the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against SANADA, the 2023 New Japan Cup winner. Okada is 8-1 in nine career singles bouts against SANADA.

A total of five title bouts are set for the show.

In the semi-main, Hiromu Takahashi defends the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title against Robbie Eagles, the newest member of TMDK.

Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI will defend the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles against Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher of Aussie Open.

Zack Sabre Jr. will defend the NJPW World Television title against Shota Umino.

Mercedes Mone puts the IWGP Women’s title on the line in a triple threat match versus AZM and Hazuki.

The undercard:

Tama Tonga, Hikuleo & Master Wato vs. David Finlay, KENTA & El Phantasmo
Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
Jeff Cobb, Aaron Henare & Francesco Akira vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO
Mystery six-man tag team match

Our live coverage begins at 4 a.m. Eastern time.

**********

Shinnichi Champion Grand Prix Celebration Six-Man Tag Match: Toru Yano, Great O-Khan, & Minoru Suzuki defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, YOH, & El Desperado

This was an enjoyable opening bout that explored faction relations atypically.

This match’s oddball lineup was a part of the stip. Factionmates stood apart from one another while partnering with longtime rivals.

Suzuki and Desperado started the match and had a sportsmanly back-and-forth. This was the end of normalcy, however, as the struggle for tags began around this point.

With neither team wanting to engage in tags, O-Khan and YOH were left to fight each other for some time. Tanahashi eventually forced himself into the fray, taking momentum for his team. O-Khan grew desperate for a tag, but his partners refused to engage.

After much debate, Yano tagged into the match, and partners O-Khan and Suzuki were left to fight each other. Poor Yano was left in a three-on-one situation, but he took advantage of the dysfunction. YOH slapped his partner Desperado, and in the chaos that followed, Yano hit Tanahashi with a low blow and rolled him up to win the match.

United Empire (Aaron Henare, Francesco Akira & Jeff Cobb) defeated House Of Torture (EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi)

This match opened with a brawl. SHO and Akira were left in the ring to fight for control, where SHO gained full advantage for HOT. It took a tag to Cobb for UE to fight into the match, but HOT was willing to use their numbers to retake the lead.

SHO distracted the referee with his wrench, giving Dick Togo an opportunity to hit the ring with his cord. While being choked by Togo, Cobb stood up, grabbed SHO, and dropped him with tour of the islands. With Togo on his back, Cobb pinned SHO and secured the UE win.

After the match, Akira accepted KUSHIDA and Kevin Knight’s challenge for the junior tag titles.

Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito)

Naito started the match quickly by rushing DOUKI. LIJ fought with what felt like personal animosity towards J5G, leading to an extended sequence of control.

After a double tag, Taichi and Shingo traded heavy blows. BUSHI continued to keep up the fight after tagging in to handle Kanemaru. Kanemaru was able to turn things around, securing a figure four leglock in the center of the ring. As the rest of LIJ tried to make the save, J5G caught them in other holds, protecting BUSHI long enough for him to secure the win.

After the bell, DOUKI held Naito in the DOUKI Chokey for an extended period, forcing the ringside crew to break the hold. DOUKI later would challenge Naito to a singles match.

BULLET CLUB (David Finlay, El Phantasmo & KENTA) defeated Hikuleo, Tama Tonga, & Master Wato

Bullet Club drama will never end. Ten years after this faction’s creation, we’re still dealing with schisms, splinter groups, and betrayals.

Before the match could begin, ELP and Finlay had a bit of squabble. Once the bout actually started, the babyface squad was quick to take control.

The BC trio eventually took the lead but didn’t do much to capitalize as ELP and Finlay continued to argue. Finlay and ELP traded ‘tags’ that were closer to chops, leading to a rally from the faces.

Even though the disfunction, ELP was able to drop Wato with sudden death and a CR2.

Once the match concluded, Finlay dropped Tama with the NEVER championship. As Finlay beat down Tama, ELP tried to pull him off. Finlay dropped ELP with a forearm, leading into a strike exchange. After being pulled apart, ELP removed his Bullet Club gear. KENTA, who was playing a peacemaker role up to this point, dropped ELP with a GTS.

After KENTA’s action, KENTA and Gedo presented ELP to Finlay, who was now wielding his shillelagh. Taiji Ishimori hit the ring to make an apparent save, but instead, he dropped ELP with a low blow. Ishimori then helped Finlay deliver the shillelagh strike, dissolving The World’s Cutest Tag Team and ELP’s involvement in Bullet Club propper.

Since his arrival in the faction, ELP has been questioning Finlay’s authority. ELP seems to be brushing up to Bullet Club Gold and Black, which appears to be Jay White’s AEW schism group.

G1 Climax 2023 Schedule

IWGP Women’s Championship: Mercedes Mone (c) defeated Hazuki and AZM

The match opened with a fast triangle sequence, leaving all women on equal footing. AZM and Mone made an on-the-fly agreement to write off Hazuki, but instead, Hazuki took control of both of her opponents.

After a brief sequence of Hazuki control, the match turned into a series of dives. From here, the trio traded tandem submissions and quick pin attempts, never leaving out any competitor for long.

Mone eventually landed a pair of code breakers and a Meteora for a near fall over AZM. AZM scored a nearfall of her own with a quick trapping pin before Hazuki fought back into the match with an explosive set of strikes.

Hazuki tried to close with a brainbuster, but AZM hit the ring to interrupt. Instead of securing a pin, as she had hoped, AZM was caught by Mone. Mone dropped AZM onto Hazuki with Money Maker, winning the match and retaining her belt.

After the match, Mayu Iwatani walked to the ring to challenge Mone for the Women’s title. Mone answered with a slap to the face.

NJPW World Television Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) defeated Shota Umino

The match opened with a series of quick pin attempts. After the opening pin sequence, things calmed down a little, with both men trading uppercuts instead. Some intensity from Umino allowed him to gain a lead, which he used to work the leg.

ZSJ caught Shota with an armbar that forced him into the ropes. Continued work on the arm allowed ZSJ to retake the lead after Shota began to rally.

After escaping a brutal armbar, Shota attempted another rally with various quick pins. A swinging DDT and a death rider scored Shota a convincing nearfall late in the match. Shota tried for another death rider, but ZSJ reversed into a pin, winning the match.

IWGP Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) (c)

Aussie Open started the match by isolating YH. Once Goto tagged in, Aussie Open upped the stakes to maintain their control, landing huge dives to the outside, leaving Bishamon on the backfoot.

YH eventually launched a rally, but Fletcher and Davis kept on the same page. At some point, Fletcher was busted open, but he continued to fight, even with a tapped-up head.

Once Goto tagged into the match, he began to turn things around. After sending Davis to the floor, Goto dropped Fletcher with a lariat and a backdrop. YH hit the ring to help Goto close, but Fletcher escaped Shoto. Goto persisted, dropping Fletcher with GYW, but Davis was able to make the save.

Another save from Davis allowed Fletcher to score a near fall. To clear the ring of YH, Aussie Open hit a double lariat. A follow-up sandwiching-lariat to Goto and Coriolis was able to close out the match for Aussie Open, winning them the match and IWGP gold.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi (c) defeated Robbie Eagles

The opening sequence saw Hiromu bait Eagles to the floor. Hiromu tried his sunset flip bomb, but a bad knee gave out, opening him up to a targeted attack from Eagles. Eagles’ attack on the leg was focused and relentless, using strikes, holds, and his environment to put Hiromu through the wringer.

Hiromu’s eventual rally started with a victory royal after minutes of agony. Back-and-forth suplexes led to a slam into the corner and a Timebomb for a Hiromu nearfall.

An encounter that forced the pair into the corner ended with a poison rana and a 450 to Hiromu’s knee. After landing the splash, Eagles locked in the Rob Miller Special; Hiromu barely escaped.

After a brief pause, Hiromu was able to land Dynamite Plunger and Timebomb 2 to win the match.

SANADA defeated Kazuchika Okada to win the IWGP World Heavyweight title

The match began with a typical collar-and-elbow tie-up. As the match continued, it soon worked its way to the floor. On the outside, SANADA dropped Okada on the concrete with a barricade-assisted DDT. Back in the ring, SANADA maintained this control for some time.

A flapjack to SANADA allowed Okada to fight into a leading position. A dropkick from Okada sent SANADA crashing to the floor, where he returned the concrete-DDT favor.

SANADA was quick to fight back after returning to the ring. A quick dropkick to Okada left SANADA a step ahead. The match wandered back outside again, leading to a SANADA dive.

Okada blocked SANADA’s moonsault attempt by extending his knees. A follow-up suplex led to a pair of lariats and the money clip. Okada landed a dropkick and landslide, but SANADA reversed the rainmaker attempt into a lariat of his own.

After escaping Okada’s finish, SANADA challenged Okada to a strike exchange. Okada ended the strike exchange with a dropkick, but SANADA revered the rainmaker into a cutter and a pair of moonsaults for a nearfall.

Okada tried for landslide, but SANADA turned it into a choke. After dropping Okada, SANADA landed a shining wizard but failed to follow up. Once he escaped another finish attempt, Okada tried again for rainmaker. This time, SANADA reversed rainmaker into Deadfall. After landing his swinging DDT variation, SANADA pinned Okada to win the belt for the first time in his career.

During SANADA’s victory speech, Hiromu walked to the ring. He congratulated SANADA for his win before challenging for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Kanemaru asked Hiromu for a junior title shot before Hiromu got a chance to challenge for the heavyweight title.

SANADA closed the show with a promo and shower of confetti. Just 5 Guys have arrived.

Impact x NJPW Multiverse United results: Tanahashi vs. Bailey

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Ethan Renner

Impact Wrestling and NJPW held their Multiverse United pay-per-view event on Thursday night in Los Angeles featuring talent from both promotions.

In the show’s main event, Hiroshi Tanahashi took on “Speedball” Mike Bailey. Three titles were also up for grabs — the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship, the Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championship, and the Impact X-Division Championship.

A spot in the Impact Knockouts Championship match at the Rebellion pay-per-view set for April 16 was also on the line at the event.

Below are results from the show at the Globe Theatre:

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: KENTA defeated Minoru Suzuki to retain the title
KUSHIDA defeated Lio Rush
Impact World Tag Team Championship: Chris Bey & Ace Austin defeated Motor City Machine Guns, Aussie Open, and TMDK to retain the titles
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Masha Slamovich, Gisele Shaw, and Miyu Yamashita to advance to the Knockouts title match at Rebellion
Jeff Cobb defeated Moose
Fred Rosser, Alex Coughlin, PCO & Callihan defeated “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, JR Kratos, Eddie Edwards & Joe Hendry
Impact X-Division Championship: Trey Miguel defeated Frankie Kazarian, Rich Swann, Kevin Knight, Clark Connors, and Rocky Romero in a scramble match to retain the title
Pre-show: Yuya Uemura defeated Gabriel Kidd

New Japan Cup finals live results: SANADA vs. David Finlay

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Chick Fritts

SANADA will face David Finlay today in the finals of the 2023 New Japan Cup tournament.

In the build to the finals, SANADA broke off from the Los Ingobernables de Japon group and joined the Just Five Guys stable, while Finlay joined Bullet Club.

The New Japan Cup winner will face Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis on Saturday, April 8.

This is the first New Japan Cup finals appearance for Finlay, while SANADA was the runner-up in 2019.

In the semi-main event, Hiromu Takahashi is set to defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Lio Rush.

The full card:

New Japan Cup finals: SANADA vs. David Finlay
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi defends against Lio Rush
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Jeff Cobb & Aussie Open
Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi vs. Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare
El Desperado, Ren Narita, Ryusuke Taguchi & Toru Yano vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo
Tama Tonga, Tomohiro Ishii & Tomoaki Honma vs. KENTA, Chase Owens & El Phantasmo
Shota Umino & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yuto Nakashima vs. Taichi & DOUKI

Our live coverage begins at 4 a.m. Eastern time.

**********

Just 5 Guys (DOUKI & Taichi) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yuto Nakashima

This was a fine little opener here to shine some light on Nakashima.

DOUKI and Taichi took an early lead over an overly-ambitious Nakashima. Once Nakashima tagged to Tanahashi, the crowd came unglued. After Tanahashi gained control, Nakashima begged for a tag. Once obliged, Taichi hit Nakashima with an axe bomber and a dangerous backdrop to win the match.

Ryohei Oiwa & Shota Umino defeated TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.)

The young lions opened the match with a bit of grappling. Despite Fujita’s accelerated learning as a part of TMDK, Oiwa took the lead and passed it off to Umino. After a tag to ZSJ, TMDK started to fight into the match.

After an ample selection of back-and-forths, Fujita tagged back in. He nearly caught Umino with a bridging pin, but Umino kicked out, hit Fujita with a death rider, and won the match.

After the match, Umino challenged ZSJ to a TV title match; ZSJ accepted.

BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, El Phantasmo & KENTA) defeated Tama Tonga, Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii

Ishii and Owens were a bit of a focal point throughout this match. I still don’t know why this is happening.

Bullet Club used heelish tactics early to take advantage. The match then played out fairly typically, filled with Bullet Club using their numbers to overwhelm their opponents before an eventual babyface rally. In the end, ELP won by hitting Honma with CR2.

House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Strong Style (El Desperado & Ren Narita), Ryusuke Taguchi & Toru Yano

This was far from a good match, but the post-match visuals were powerful. If they were to set up something other than a HOT trios match, I would have loved this.

The match opened with HOT attacking their Strong Style opponents. After a mostly one-sided beatdown, Yujiro hit Taguchi with a wrench.

After the match concluded, HOT unmasked Desperado. The post-match beatdown continued with HOT cutting off Narita’s shirt and spraypainting “HOT” on his torso. This led into an even more brutal beatdown and another Desperado unmasking.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) defeated United Empire (Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan)

This was a tag built entirely around some firey exchanges between Shingo and Henare. For most of the match, Naito failed to get his wheels turning, and O-Khan was just kind of there.

In the end, it was O-Khan and Naito left alone in the ring while Henare and Naito brawled outside of the ring. Naito caught O-Khan with a rollup to win the match.

Henare and Shingo had a staredown over the KOPW belt after the match, further setting up their upcoming bout.

United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI)

CHAOS gained the upper hand early, but UE fought back, using environmental offense to take control. After an extended period with UE in the lead, the match entered a stretch of turbulence, with neither team being clearly ahead.

Ultimately, Aussie Open weathered the storm and came out on top after hitting YH with Coriolis.

After the match, Aussie Open made their challenge for Bishamon’s title clear. Cobb also called out Kenny Omega, who he imitated at points in the match.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi (c) defeated Lio Rush

The match opened at a fast pace, with Lio taking the fight to the floor. Hiromu landed a powerbomb onto the apron and a slam into the barricade to take the early lead. Back in the ring, Hiromu maintained control for a while with a variety of wear-down moves.

To get himself back in the match, Lio hit an impressive flipping dive from the apron to the floor. Hiromu answered Lio with a powerbomb, but Lio held on, landing a poison rana and Rush Hour for a quick response.

Lio landed one splash, but Hiromu reversed the second and immediately followed with timebomb for a nearfall. Lio fought back with a Spanish fly and a DMV, both yielding nearfalls. Lio hit YOH’s direct drive and attempted another dive, but Hiromu rolled out of the way.

After surviving everything Lio could throw at him, Hiromu hit a lariat and timebomb 2 to win the match.

After the match, Zack Sabre Jr walked to the ring and announced the next challenger would be the newest member of TMDK, Robbie Eagles.

New Japan Cup 2023 Final Match: SANADA defeated David Finlay

This was a nothing match, but the crowd made it bearable.

This match opened with the loudest reaction from a New Japan crowd in years, in support of Niigata’s own, SANADA.

Finlay opened the match, taking the match to the floor and establishing control. As SANADA tried to fight back into the match, Finlay took the match back outside, slamming him into the barricade and apron. Back in the ring, Finlay clubbed SANADA with offense for quite some time. Most of the match spawned from this period of control.

Finlay began to look for the finish, but SANADA reversed the trash panda attempt into skull end. After escaping skull end, the pair traded shots at their finishers until SANDA landed a shining wizard and his new DDT to win the match.

After the match, SANADA challenged Okada to meet him in the ring. Okada toyed with SANADA, pointing out his previous failings ahead of their title bout. Before leaving, Okada stood tall, IWGP in hand.

After Okada left, SANADA cut the show-ending promo with a sea of lights in the crowd.

New Japan Cup semifinals live results: SANADA vs. Davis, Tonga vs. Finlay

Posted on March 19, 2023 by Chick Fritts

NJPW holds the semifinals of the 2023 New Japan Cup today in Gunma.

In one semifinal bout, SANADA faces Mark Davis. SANADA jumped factions this past week, leaving Los Ingobernables de Japon for Just Five Guys. Davis is an injury substitution for his fellow United Empire stablemate Will Ospreay.

In the other semifinal contest, Tama Tonga takes on David Finlay. Finlay has gotten a push of late after joining Bullet Club, Tama’s former stable.

The New Japan Cup finals take place on Tuesday, with the winner earning an IWGP World Heavyweight title shot against Kazuchika Okada at Sakura Genesis on April 8.

Today’s undercard:

Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi vs. YOH & Lio Rush
Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan
YOSHI-HASHI & Tomoaki Honma vs. Jeff Cobb & Kyle Fletcher
Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo
Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Ryohei Oiwa vs. KENTA, Chase Owens & El Phantasmo
Shota Umino & Oskar Leube vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita

Our live coverage begins at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time.

**********

Oskar Leube & Shota Umino defeated TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.)

This was a fantastic opening tag. Everyone looked great.

ZSJ and Shota had a fun verbal spat before the Young Lions started the match. ZSJ tagged in to help Fujita further his developing lead, eventually setting up a hot tag to Umino. After a set of back-and-forth exchanges, Umnio submitted Fujita with the STF.

BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, El Phantasmo & KENTA) defeated CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) & Ryohei Oiwa

This was a match filled with tomfoolery. In the end, ELP rolled up Oiwa to win the match.

Ishii and Owens spent a lot of time interacting with each other; this seems to be a singles feud they’re setting up for some reason.

House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita) & Ryusuke Taguchi

This was another match built on cheating, but Strong Style’s relative seriousness kept things from turning too silly. In the end, SHO won the match for HOT with a wrench shot to Taguchi.

It looks like HOT might challenge for the six-man belts again soon.

United Empire (Jeff Cobb & Kyle Fletcher) defeated Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI

This was a by-the-numbers tag. After some interaction between all four guys, Cobb hit Honma with Tour of the Islands to win the match.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito) defeated CHAOS (Lio Rush & YOH)

This match existed to further promote the upcoming Hiromu/Rush title match. While Rush and Hiromu spent the latter part of the match interacting with each other, Naito worked to win the match for his team. Naito eventually hit YOH with Destino to secure victory.

New Japan Cup: David Finlay defeated Tama Tonga

This was not good.

Finlay was quick to gain the lead with a back suplex before slowing the match to a crawl. Finlay began picking apart Tama, slamming him into barricades and locking in wear-down submissions.

A Tongan twist reset the match, letting Tama hit a supreme flow for a nearfall, but when Tama tried for gun stun, Finlay repeatedly reversed.

Finlay hit a blue thunder bomb and a spear for a nearfall of his own. When Finlay tried for the Trash Panda, Tama reversed into a sharpshooter.

After escaping the submission, Finlay hit a backbreaker and a dominator for a nearfall. Once Tama kicked out, he rebounded with a bloody Sunday for a nearfall of his own but, again, failed to hit gun stun. After surviving all of Tama’s finish attempts, Finlay hit Trash Panda and won the match to advance to the finals.

New Japan Cup: SANADA defeated Mark Davis

This was a very good outing from Davis and seems to be the start of a new era for SANADA.

Before the match, SANADA entered the ring with his new faction, Just 5 Guys. SANADA debuted a new look, featuring black hair and tights to match.

Davis gained a quick lead with a standing senton. He then continued to advance his lead for some time before a dropkick, and a dive to the floor got SANADA back into the match. Davis answered with a dive of his own that wiped out both men.

The match quickly devolved into both men trying for bigger and bigger moves. Both men tried for top rope dives, and both men reversed. An insane piledriver from Davis scored him a nearfall, but SANADA avoided the finish. After slipping free from the waterslide, SANADA hit his new finishing DDT to win the match and advance to the finals.

After the match, Finlay and Gedo walked to the ring. Gedo called SANADA’s new faction “Just 5 Losers,” and they left the ring.

SANADA cut a short promo before handing the microphone to TAKA. TAKA ended the show with the Just 5 Guys call.

NJPW New Beginning in Osaka live results: Okada vs. Shingo

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Chick Fritts

The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship is on the line on the final night of the NJPW New Beginning tour in Osaka.

In the main event, Kazuchika Okada defends the IWGP World title against Shingo Takagi. It will be the fifth career singles meeting between the two, who have split their previous four meetings 2-2.

In the semi-main, Tama Tonga defends the NEVER Openweight Championship against El Phantasmo.

Jay White faces Hikuleo in a “loser leaves Japan” match on the show.

The NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles are also on the line, with EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, and SHO defending against Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, and Ren Narita.

In a special singles match, Hiroshi Tanahashi faces KENTA.

In another singles contest, Master Wato takes on Taiji Ishimori.

Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, BUSHI, and Hiromu Takahashi will take on Shota Umino, Tomoaki Honma, Tiger Mask, and Ryusuke Taguchi in an eight-man tag.

In the opener, Great-O-Khan and Aaron Henare face Toru Yano and Oskar Leube.

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

**********

Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan (United Empire) defeated Oskar Leube & Toru Yano

Leube and Henare opened the match with a test of Leube’s will. Yano and O-Khan tagged in and had a slightly less intense sequence. UE quickly isolated Yano, eventually leading to a Leube hot tag.

UE rushed Leube, but Yano was close behind, helping Leube maintain his control. After clearing the ring of O-Khan, Leube locked Henare in the Boston crab. Henare escaped, dropped Leube with the rampage, and won the match.

BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables de Japon) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Shota Umino, & Tomoaki Honma

After some playful back and forth with the veterans, LIJ lost the lead to Umino, who ran through his opposition. Eventually, Naito, with an assist from BUSHI, reversed Umino’s momentum, forcing a tag to Taguchi.

LIJ overwhelmed Taguchi, landing a quadruple dropkick for a nearfall. After a short stint of chaos, Hiromu hit Taguchi with Timebomb 2, winning the match for LIJ.

After the match ended, the lights dimmed, and a video package from Lio Rush played. Rush challenged Hiromu for the junior title, and Hiromu was quick to accept the match.

Taiji Ishimori defeated Master Wato

Wato gained the upper hand early, but Ishimori used an exposed corner to steal control. After an extended struggle, Wato hit a dive to the floor to challenge Ishimori’s advance.

Ishimori and Wato continued to go back and forth for some time before Ishimori cemented control with a sliding German, slam into the exposed corner, and a shoulder-breaker. Ishimori secured the bone lock, but Wato survived. Ishimori tried for bloody cross, but Wato escaped, leading into a slick sequence ending with a Wato German.

Ishimori hit a quick knee and lariat to turn things back in his favor. Ishimori hit bloody cross and pinned Wato to win the first singles match of the night.

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated KENTA

This was a great outing from this pair.

As the match opened, both men fought for admiration from the crowd. KENTA rushed Tanahashi while he had his back turned, taking momentum early. KENTA worked Tanahashi on the mat, establishing a long period of control.

As Tanahashi reversed the flow of the match, he won over the previously split crowd, but a referee bump allowed KENTA to steal the lead back. Without an official, KENTA grabbed a chair and went to town on Tanahashi. Tanahashi avoided any significant damage from the chair, leading to a strike exchange. KENTA dropped Tanahashi with a rope-assisted DDT before landing the double foot stomp for a near fall.

KENTA tried for the GTS, but Tanahashi reversed into twist and shout. KENTA responded with two running knees, but Tanahashi held on. KENTA tried for GTS again, but Tanahashi reversed into a sling blade. After a second sling blade, Tanahashi climbed to the top and hit high fly flow, winning the match.

NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship: Ren Narita, El Desperado, & Minoru Suzuki defeated EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, & SHO (House of Torture) (c)

Before the match could begin, HoT attacked Narita on the ramp. As Suzuki and Desperado came to his aid, HoT continued the attack, using their belts to beat down the challengers.

After the opening bell, the lawless attack continued. For quite some time, HoT broke every rule in the book, beating down Suzuki and Desperado.

Suzuki began a rally late in the match, landing a forearm before tagging in Narita for the first time. Narita led a firey comeback, but a low kick let HoT maintain their advantage. HoT tried rushing the ring, but Suzuki and Desperado made the save and helped Narita retake their newfound lead.

Just as Narita had the win in sight, a referee distraction allowed HoT to rush the ring again. Again, Suzuki and Desperado made the save. Desperado, Suzuki, and Narita secured submissions, forcing HoT to tap out. Narita, Suzuki, and Desperado are 6-man champions.

After the match, Suzuki cut a promo, naming the trio “Strong Style.”

Loser Leaves Japan: Hikuleo defeated Jay White

White played chicken with Hikuleo early. White’s early bait attempts failed as Hikuleo hit a big boot which he followed with strikes in the corner to establish control. On the floor, Hikuleo continued making advances, throwing White into barricades and ringside tables.

A distraction from Gedo bought White a moment to breathe. White whipped Hikuleo into the barricade violently, buying more time and nearly stealing a count-out win.

Back in the ring, White mocked Hikuleo with demeaning chops; Hikuleo responded with a violent whip of his own into the corner. Hikuleo furthered this lead with a scoop slam.

Hikuleo forced White into the corner, but a swift shot to the knee allowed White to slide back into the lead. White targeted the knee relentlessly before hitting a blade buster. White’s legwork grounded Hikuleo long enough for some chair shots after a Gedo distraction.

White ripped off Hikuleo’s top and returned to the mocking strikes. Hikuleo responded with chops that sent White to the floor before hitting a powerslam. White blocked the chokeslam by bumping the referee and hitting a low blow. Hikuleo responded with a lariat.

Hikuleo tried for another powerslam, but White reversed into a Bladerunner. White tried for a second, but Hikuleo reversed into a giant powerbomb; White kicked out. Hikuleo then grabbed White by the neck. Before finishing the job, Hikuleo too sweeted White. After the gesture, Hikuleo hoisted White up, hit him with a chokeslam, and won the match. Jay White must leave Japan.

NEVER Openweight Championship: Tama Tonga (c) defeated El Phantasmo

This was needlessly long and painfully dull.

This match opened with an extended feeling-out process. ELP took control of the match first from the floor. Tama turned things around eventually, however, much to the delight of the Osaka crowd.

ELP caught Tama with a tope after he tried to catch a breath on the floor. On the way back into the ring, Tama connected with three dragonscrew leg whips to ground ELP. Tama continued to work the legs from this point on.

The pair traded strikes in the middle of the ring. Tama dropped ELP and hit supreme flow. After a back and forth, ELP answered with a styles clash.

After failing to close, ELP grabbed the NEVER belt; understandably, the referee stopped ELP from using the belt, buying Tama enough time to attempt some rollups. ELP reversed the gun stun, but failed to close again. Tama tried for gun stun again, and hit it, but ELP kicked out. Finally, to close, Tama hit the Jay driller and pinned ELP to retain the belt.

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Shingo Takagi

The match opened with a textbook feeling-out process. After the grappling and chops, Okada hit a dropkick that sent Shingo tumbling to the floor.

Back in the ring, the pair traded heavy blows. Shingo dropped Okada and advanced with powerful drops and a lariat that sent Okada to the floor. On the outside, Shingo whipped Okada into the barricades, threw him onto the apron, and dropped him on the concrete. Once inside the ropes, Shingo hit a superplex and a sliding lariat for a nearfall.

After being on the back foot for some time, Okada hit a piledriver on the floor. Okada then locked in the money clip after returning to the ring. Okada hit the dropkick, but Shingo reversed the rainmaker with a lariat of his own.

A strike exchange left Shingo in strong control. He hit made in Japan for a near fall. Okada tried to answer with a lariat, but Shingo ate it, reversing into a Takagi driver, followed by a massive elbow. Shingo tried for Last of the Dragon, but Okada escaped, hitting a sudden rainmaker.

Okada tried for another rainmaker, but Shingo ducked. Okada was quick to respond with a landslide. When Okada tried for rainmaker again, Shingo reversed, hitting Last of the Dragon; Okada kicked out.

Shingo hit a dragon suplex, but Okada responded with a sudden dropkick. Shingo didn’t stay down, though, answering with a lariat. Shingo tried for a pumping bomber, but Okada caught him with a lariat of his own. Okada then set up for and hit the rainmaker, winning the match and retaining his belt.

After the match, Okada cut a show-closing promo, thanking Shingo and the crowd. Okada asked Tanahashi, who was seated at the commentary desk, to challenge him in San Jose. Tanahashi threatened to return the favor of the rainmaker shock at Battle in the Valley.

NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo live results: Three title matches

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Chick Fritts

Three titles are on the line on night two of NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo.

In the main event, Hiromu Takahashi defends the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against YOH.

In the semi-main, Zack Sabre Jr. defends the NJPW World TV title against Tomohiro Ishii.

Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI defend the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles against TMDK’s Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls in the night’s other title match.

A series of tag team matches round out the undercard:

Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Shota Umino & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, SANADA & BUSHI
Tama Tonga, Hikuleo & Jado vs. Jay White, El Phantasmo & Gedo
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Master Wato vs. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori
Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Yuto Nakashima vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo
Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan, TJP & Francesco Akira vs. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku

Our live coverage begins at midnight Eastern time.

**********

Great-O-Khan, Will Ospreay, TJP, & Francesco Akira (United Empire) defeated DOUKI, TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Just 4 Guys)

DOUKI, Kanemaru, TJP, and Akira picked up from where they left off last night in the opening sequence. J4G gained an early lead and started targeting TJP’s knee as they did yesterday.

Once Ospreay entered the fold, he began to turn things around for his team. Ospreay and Taichi soon came to blows, retelling a bit of last night’s story.

After a hand full of back-and-forth sequences between both teams, Ospreay hit Michinoku with a Michinoku driver and a hidden blade to win the match for UE.

Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Ren Narita, & Yuto Nakashima defeated Dick Togo, EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, & SHO (House of Torture)

HoT attacked their opponents before the opening bell. HoT then used distractions and sleight of hand to maintain their early lead.

EVIL choked Suzuki with a shirt, leading to Narita making the save. After the save, Narita tagged in and took control of the match until HoT rushed the ring. SHO tried hitting Narita with the wrench, but Narita avoided the attack. Narita’s partners hit the ring, leaving Narita free to land the suplex into the abdominal stretch, forcing Yujiro to submit.

After the match, Narita and Suzuki shook hands and embraced. Suzuki grabbed a microphone and challenged the HoT trio to a NEVER 6-man title match. EVIL denied the challenge, saying the 6-man titles were retired. Suzuki declared they would be challenging for the belts in Osaka next week.

Taiji Ishimori & KENTA (Bullet Club) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Master Wato

The Bullet Club team gained the initial lead by isolating Wato. Once Wato finally reached Tanahashi, the babyfaces were able to gain some footing.

After taking out Bullet Club with multiple dragonscrews, Tanahashi tagged back out into Wato. Wato and Ishimori both tried for multiple big moves, but, in the end, Ishimori was able to slam Wato into an exposed corner. After running Wato into the turnbuckle, Ishimori stole the win with a pin with his feet on the ropes.

After the match, Bullet Club attempted a beatdown, but Tanahashi fought off his attackers.

Jado, Hikuleo, & Tama Tonga defeated Gedo, Jay White, & El Phantasmo (Bullet Club)

The opening portion of this match featured both teams fighting for the crowd’s favor.

Once White entered the match, the Bullet Club trio worked to isolate Jado. The babyfaces made the save, leading to an extended match breakdown. Once order was restored, White and Hikuleo shared the ring. Hikuleo tried for a chokeslam, but White reversed into a DDT.

A pair of double tags led to ELP vs. Tama and Gedo vs. Jado exchanges before another breakdown. Hikuleo and White provided a distraction on the outside, leaving Gedo free to attempt a brass knuckle shot. Jado avoided the shot. Tama quickly responded with a gun stun, leaving Jado with the easy finish.

After the match, ELP dropped Tama with Tama’s NEVER Openweight Championship belt.

Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Toru Yano, & Kazuchika Okada defeated SANADA, Shingo Takagi, BUSHI, & Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables de Japon)

Naito and Umino opened the match, picking up from where they left off last night. They had a relatively short-lived encounter before other wrestlers tagged into the match.

Shingo and Okada went back and forth for a while, with Shingo gaining the upper hand on the champion. Okada challenged Shingo’s lead with a strike battle but could not achieve more than a match reset.

SANADA tagged into the match and had a decent showing against Okada until Okada’s partners rushed the ring. Once the chaos ended, Okada locked SANADA in the money clip; SANADA escaped and locked in skull end. Umino broke up the hold, leading to another all-out scrap between the teams. Once the fog cleared, Okada hit SANDA with a piledriver, spinning rainmaker, and a traditional rainmaker to close the match.

IWGP Tag Team Championship: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto (Bishamon) (c) defeated Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste (TMDK)

Bishamon opened the match strong, clearing the ring of TMDK and taking the fight to the floor. On the outside, TMDK fought into a controlling position, slamming the champions into the barricade. Back in the ring, the challengers maintained this lead, at least for some time.

After a hard-fought battle, Goto landed a lariat and secured a hot tag to YH. YH turned things around for his team, leading an extended offensive sequence.

TMDK interrupted YH’s rally with a bomb from the top rope. YH survived and reset the match with a neckbreaker, setting up the tag to Goto. Goto landed a double bulldog to cement control for Bishamon heading into the later leg of the match.

Bishamon tried for a finish, but TMDK reversed and landed a tandem slam. Nicholls hit a blue thunder bomb to further their newfound lead, but YH was quick to make the save. With the time YH bought the champions, they were able to hit Nicholls with a GTR and Shoto to win the match and retain their belts.

NJPW World TV Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) defeated Tomohiro Ishii

The NJPW World TV Championship is such a welcome addition to New Japan. A division that demands sprints in a promotion that leans so heavily on marathons is a total breath of fresh air.

This match was fantastic. Ishii and ZSJ left it all in the ring. No fluff. All action.

The match opened with a prolonged grappling exchange. Ishii held his own for a while, but ZSJ’s prowess eventually won him some advantage. To challenge ZSJ’s wrestling, Ishii used well-timed strikes and general strength.

As the match intensified, both men proved to be on equal footing. The short TV title time limit added to the urgency. Ishii landed a powerbomb, but ZSJ transitioned into an armbar. Ishii found the ropes and hit a flipping powerbomb, but ZSJ survived.

With less than three minutes remaining, the pair traded suplexes. Ishii landed a couple of lariats but couldn’t close. Instead, ZSJ landed a tiger suplex for a near fall of his own. ZSJ hit a penalty kick, and Ishii an enziguri. A flying headbutt and sliding lariat from Ishii seemed to indicate the end for ZSJ, but he held on, catching Ishii on the follow-up with a Zack Driver to close the match.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi (c) defeated YOH

A typical collar-and-elbow initiated the match, but YOH didn’t take long to challenge Hiromu on the floor. On the outside, Hiromu slammed YOH into the barricade to take an early lead. Back in the ring, Hiromu slowed the pace, stretching YOH with multiple holds.

YOH eventually fought back into the match with some chops and a dive to the floor. A top rope drop kick scored YOH a nearfall and control in the ring. With his newfound lead, YOH began to work Hiromu’s legs. After a prolonged struggle, YOH secured a figure four leglock, forcing Hiromu into the ropes.

Hiromu eventually bounced back with a German suplex and a lariat. YOH stopped Hiromu’s rally with a massive clothesline of his own that sent both men to the floor.

YOH tried for direct drive, but Hiromu blocked the finish. Hiromu tried for two quick pins before landing victory royal to take complete control.

YOH avoided all of Hiromu’s finish attempts, landed a poison rana and a superkick, but Hiromu kicked out. YOH hit a dragon suplex, but again, Hiromu kicked out. YOH tried for direct drive, but Hiromu reversed into a timebomb; YOH kicked out.

YOH dropped Hiromu across his knee but still couldn’t hit direct drive. Hiromu answered with a stunner and a piledriver, but YOH kicked out again. YOH tied up Hiromu in his five-star pin, but Hiromu beat the count. Finally, Hiromu landed a pair of bomber lariats and another timebomb to win the match and retain the title.

NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo live results: Naito vs. Umino

Posted on February 4, 2023 by Chick Fritts

NJPW’s New Beginning tour continues today in Sapporo with two featured singles matches, as well as a Junior Tag title bout.

In the main event, Tetsuya Naito will face Shota Umino in Umino’s highest-profile singles bout to date.

In the semi-main, United Empire’s Will Ospreay will face Taichi from the new Just Four Guys stable.

The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles will be on the line, with TJP and Francesco Akira defending against Yoshinobu Kanemaru and DOUKI.

A series of tag bouts, plus a Young Lion singles match round out the card:

Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Ryusuke Taguchi & YOH vs. Shingo Takagi, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tama Tonga, Hikuleo & Master Wato vs. Jay White, KENTA, El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori
Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Yuto Nakashima vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita
Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Ryohei Oiwa vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo
Great-O-Khan vs. Oskar Leube

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

**********

Great-O-Khan defeated Oskar Leube

I’m enthusiastic about Leube’s future generally, and this match only adds to my excitement.

The match opened with a grappling sequence. Leube forced O-Khan into the ropes and gained the upper hand with some strikes.

O-Khan frustration with losing momentum to his underling triggered a quick comeback. O-Khan established control and maintained it for some time.

After withstanding O-Khan’s extended control, Leube bounced back with two massive slams. Leube locked in a deep Boston crab that nearly forced a submission. O-Khan survived the Leube submission attempt and locked in his finishing abdominal stretch/iron claw hold combination, forcing Leube to tap.

Ryohei Oiwa, Ren Narita, El Desperado, & Minoru Suzuki defeated Dick Togo SHO Yujiro Takahashi, & EVIL (House of Torture)

For an HoT match, this was a ton of fun.

This match opened with Suzuki taking out HoT before passing the momentum to Oiwa. Oiwa failed to maintain this advantage, leading to an extended period of HoT control. The hot tag eventually came to Desperado, who nearly evened the score, even after a prolonged HoT beatdown.

Once Narita tagged in, he took control, forcing HoT to rush the ring. Togo tried choking Narita with a wire, but Suzuki made the save. Narita landed a beautiful suplex and locked in the abdominal stretch, forcing Togo to submit.

After the match, Suzuki told Narita he could take him to the top if he stuck by him.

Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, & Zack Sabre Jr. (TMDK) defeated YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto (CHAOS), & Yuto Nakashima

The Young Lions were real standouts in this match.

An opening brawl left CHAOS with a short-lived lead, but TMDK fired back with an extended isolation segment on Goto. After a tag to Ishii, the CHAOS team began to turn things back around.

Goto and YH cleared the ring and tried for Shoto but failed to connect, leading to a double tag to each team’s Young Lion.

The Young Lions went back and forth before Nakashima locked in a deep Boston crab, forcing a save from ZSJ. Nakashima dropped Fujita with a nasty kick, but Fujita answered with a dropkick of his own. Fujita locked in a kimura and forced Nakashima to submit.

Master Wato, Hikuleo, Tama Tonga, Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, KENTA, & Jay White (Bullet Club)

Bullet Club opened the match with a game of chicken, with no one wanting to engage with their opponents. After teasing the newly vocal crowd for some time, BC rushed the ring, stealing momentum before the babyfaces even had a chance.

After extended BC control, a hot tag to Hikuleo left the babyfaces with a chance. Hikuleo beat down White before a sequence of tags allowed the other participants in this match to have a moment in the ring. Once the back-and-forth tags wound down, the match broke down into a scramble for control. Then, in the chaos, Wato caught Ishimori in a bridging pin to win the bout.

BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, & Shingo Takagi (Los Ingobernables de Japon) defeated YOH, Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano, & Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS)

Hiromu and YOH opened the match with a strike exchange before tagging out to Yano and SANADA. Yano removed the corner cover, and SANADA tied Yano in the paradise lock. This silliness continued for some time before a double tag left Shingo and Okada as the legal men for the first time.

Okada gained the upper hand initially, but Shingo was quick to step up to the champion. The pair traded blows, but Taguchi stopped the title match tease. CHAOS rushed the ring, isolating Shingo and forcing LIJ to hit the ring as well.

Shingo scored a nearfall with a pumping bomber, but YOH made the save. After surviving a pair of quick Taguchi pin attempts, Shingo dropped Taguchi with Last of the Dragon and secured the pinfall win for his team.

After the match, YOH attacked IWGP Junior champion, Hiromu Takahashi, in an uncharacteristic show of aggression.

IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship: Francesco Akira & TJP (Catch 22) (c) defeated DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Just 4 Guys)

This was one of, maybe, the best DOUKI outings I’ve ever seen. The consistent leg work added to this match immensely. Good stuff.

The challengers quickly took the lead, rushing the champions and landing a tope. J4G began to relentlessly target TJP’s leg, establishing a game plan for the rest of the match.

The tag to Akira allowed for a Catch 22 comeback of sorts. The leg work from earlier in the match allowed J4G to stay one step ahead, though, taking advantage anytime TJP stepped in the ring.

Kanemaru locked TJP in the figure four, nearly forcing the submission. A double-team facebuster kept Catch 22 in the running, but TJP’s leg failed during the leaning tour attempt. With TJP down, DOUKI locked Akira in a triangle arm bar. Once Akira escaped, Kanemaru hit a moonsault, setting up for Doton-no-Jutsu. TJP made the save, but DOUKI followed up with a Daybreak; Akira kicked out.

Now reaching desperation mode, DOUKI tried for Suplex de La Luna. Akira landed on his feet just in time for backup from TJP. Akira landed a double stomp, but Kanemaru made the save. TJP and Kanemaru fought to the floor, leaving Akira and DOUKI alone in the ring. Akira landed fireball and pinned DOUKI to retain the title.

Will Ospreay defeated Taichi

The match opened with a heavy strike exchange that left Taichi with an early lead, Ospreay answered with a dive to the floor, taking control for the first time. Ospreay took his time, establishing a robust offensive foundation as the early match developed.

Taichi had a short comeback, complete with his pants rip spot, but Ospreay answered with a quick rebound and a springboard forearm.

Taichi blocked an OsCutter attempt, turning it into a sudden suplex for a mid-match reset. The pair traded kicks and chops, and again, Taichi won the strike battle. Taichi tried for a powerbomb, but Ospreay escaped; a high-stakes back-and-forth followed.

Ospreay landed a tiger driver to re-establish his lead. The follow-up OsCutter yielded an Ospreay nearfall. Ospreay attempted a top rope cutter to close, but Taichi caught him and landed a Triple Crown Bomb and a running elbow to the back of the head for a nearfall of his own. A backdrop scored Taichi another nearfall.

Another quick pin attempt almost left Taichi with the win, but Ospreay landed in the perfect position for a hidden blade. After a struggle, Ospreay hit a second, this time leaping, hidden blade, but Taichi kicked out.

Taichi and Ospreay traded strikes again. Ospreay dropped Taichi with a big elbow, leading to the referee counting Taichi down. Taichi barely beat the count, only to be hit with a hidden blade and storm breaker. Ospreay then pinned Taichi to win the match.

Tetsuya Naito defeated Shota Umino

The match opened with an extended feeling out sequence, establishing both men as near equals. Umino eventually forced Naito to the floor before taunting his elder in the first control segment of the match. Naito responded by grabbing a handful of hair, sending Umino to the floor, and slamming him into the barricade.

On the floor, Naito established a strong lead. Back in the ring, he took the match to the mat, working the neck and furthering his control.

A quick rana and dropkick combination started a Umino comeback, Umino connected with multiple big moves but failed to land the death rider.

After a strike battle, Umino landed a giant dive to the floor, a dropkick from the top rope, and secured the STF, forcing Naito into the ropes. Once Naito escaped, Umino kept up the attack, but a sudden DDT left Naito back in control.

Naito landed Gloria, scoring a near fall. Naito then hit a spine buster and tried for Destino, but Umnio reversed, landing a pair of drivers. Umino followed up with another death rider attempt, but Naito answered with Valentía, resetting the match.

Naito tried working the neck after the pause in action, but Umino followed up with a pair of DDTs. After Naito kicked out, he landed Destino and scored a near fall of his own. Naito landed Destino a second time, this time leading to his victory.

After the match, Naito cut a show-ending promo. He addressed the cheering crowd before signing off with the LIJ call. For the first time in a long time, chants of “Naito” and “Takagi” were heard in Sapporo.

NJPW Road to Tokyo Dome live results: Wrestle Kingdom go-home show

Posted on December 23, 2022 by Chick Fritts

NJPW holds their final event of the year today, Road to Tokyo Dome.

The show is also the last event before January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom 17, so any last-minute angles or build will take place today as well.

In the show’s main event, Suzuki-gun will have their final match as a stable before disbanding, with Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, El Desperado, and TAKA Michinoku facing off with Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and DOUKI in an intragroup battle.

A change to the card has been announced, as Oskar Leube will miss his second consecutive event after coming down with a fever. Jado will substitute for Leube in the opener.

The full card:

Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
Kazuchika Okada, YOH & Master Wato vs. El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI
Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi vs. EVIL & Dick Togo
Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Tiger Mask & Ren Narita vs. Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare & Francesco Akira
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita
Jado & Yuto Nakashima vs. Yujiro Takahashi & SHO

Our live coverage begins at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time.

**********

Yujiro Takahashi & SHO defeated Jado & Yuto Nakashima

Yujiro won this rather uneventful match for his team after hitting Nakashima with Pimp Juice.

Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita

This was a ton of fun and a very good match. Ishii managed to end the match with a Boston crab, only after surviving a handful of believable near falls from the young lion pair.

Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare & Francesco Akira defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Tiger Mask & Ren Narita

After everyone got their stuff in, Akira pinned TMIV with a running knee to the back of the head.

After the match, Narita and O-Khan had a brief staredown.

Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi defeated EVIL & Dick Togo

This was an HoT match, that’s for sure. After withstanding a match full of rule-breaking, Shingo hit Togo with a pumping bomber to score an LIJ victory.

Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima

They worked hard in this one, that’s for sure. After a bomb-heavy match, Goto and YH hit Tenzan with shoto to bring home the win ahead of their 1.4 title challenge.

Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino & Ryusuke Taguchi

This was a match packed full of action, especially in the closing act. Shota had a fantastic showing.

Naito won the match for LIJ with a Destino to Taguchi. After winning, Naito had a brief staredown with Shota. BUSHI and Naito then dropped the referee with a dropkick.

Kazuchika Okada, YOH & Master Wato defeated El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo

This was a fairly standard affair — a lot of babyface isolation, leading to hot tags and shine segments.

YOH won the match for his team with a Direct Drive to Gedo.

After the match, Fransico Akira hit the ring and dropped YOH with a suplex.

Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI defeated Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku

This was a fantastic sendoff for the best faction in New Japan. The match’s story mirrored the faction’s breakdown in more ways than one. An emotional, riveting, and beautiful affair—this was the best New Japan match in a long time.

The match came to an end as every faction mate attacked their leader, Minoru Suzuki. ZSJ delivered the final blow, a Zack driver, before pinning Suzuki to mark the faction’s end.

Once the match was over, there wasn’t a dry eye in the ring. In case this wasn’t emotional enough, everyone said a short, individual farewell. Takashi Iizuka fought his way through the crowd like a rabid animal to make his presence felt. In a closing demonstration of sorts, everyone hoisted the Suzuki-gun banner and shouted “Suzuki-gun Ichiban” one last time while being showered in confetti. The closing shot left Suzuki alone in the ring, where he folded the Suzuki-gun flag to his music.

Beautiful.

NJPW Strong results: Taiji Ishimori vs. Alan Angels

Posted on September 25, 2022 by Justin Knipper

Tonight saw the next set of tapings from NJPW Strong’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2022 tapings in Hollywood, California, with IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Taiji Ishimori defending his title against Alan Angels in the main event.

QT Marshall (w/ Aaron Solo) defeated Keita

Marshall got booed a lot, both before and during the match. It was around the time of the five-minute call that Marshall flashed the Diamond Dallas Page diamond gesture, crotch-chopped the audience, then put Keita away with a Diamond Cutter for the win.

Marshall got on the mic and talked about how Shota Umino ruined his moment at NJPW Strong in Charlotte, North Carolina recently. Knowing that Umino wasn’t in the building for this show, Marshall would challenge Umino to a one-on-one match. Suddenly, a backstage vignette of Umino aired where he answered Marshall’s challenge. He showed off his Death Rider jacket Jon Moxley gave him, then addressed Marshall before saying “See you in Las Vegas.” Marshall then started screaming to unbook the match as he exited with Aaron Solo.

TMDK (Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito) defeated Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura

This match was great.

There were sporadic “TITO!” calls came from the audience before things got underway. On commentary, Ian Riccaboni explained that Haste’s usual tag partner in TMDK, Mikey Nicholls, was absent due to the birth of his child, which is why Tito was in his spot. Congratulations to Mikey Nicholls.

Uemura took a beating from TMDK until he was able to stop Haste from coming off the top rope, taking him over with a big double-overhook suplex into the ring. He then tagged out to Daniels, who cleaned house. He took Tito out with a big diving lariat from the second rope before spiking Haste with a Death Valley Bomb for two.

There came a point where Daniels hoisted Haste onto his shoulders in an electric chair so that Uemura could come off the top with a flying bulldog, Steiner Bros. style, just like they’ve used over the summer. However, Bad Dude Tito was able to shove Uemura off the top, which sent him crashing into Daniels and breaking up the spot. Daniels started yelling at Uemura, but Haste capitalized and attacked Daniels while Daniels had his back turned. Tito dragged Uemura out of the ring, and Haste put Daniels away after a fireman’s carry-to-uranage slam for the win.

Afterwards, Daniels apologized to Uemura. The two hugged, and Daniels raised Uemura’s arm . . . just before giving Uemura a low blow. Daniels kicked him in the groin, dropping Uemura immediately. The crowd booed a lot. A scowling Daniels then gave Uemura two double-jump moonsaults before telling off the crowd and heading backstage.

Next up was a short promo interview from TJP. He addressed NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Fred Rosser and the upcoming match between the two. He talked about how they’d both been champions in New Japan and at “a different company” (WWE). He told a story about the WWE Cruiserweight Championship; since he was the inaugural champion, TJP claimed wrestlers would ask him why his name wasn’t featured on the side plates of the belt with the other champions. TJP said that it was because the big part in the middle was made for him. He then said Rosser wouldn’t be “sharing” the ring with TJP but “renting” it from him, because he said without a NJPW Strong there’d be no LA Dojo, and without an LA Dojo, NJPW wouldn’t have existed, saying the he “built this dojo”. He told Rosser to remember the big centerpiece on the Strong Openweight championship before their match, because TJP is the one who “built” that championship.

Ren Narita defeated Jakob Austin Young

This was solid. Young was discovered by NJPW at one of their dojo tryouts. He’s previously worked for OWE in China. He’s very talented.

Narita would pick up the win with a bridging front suplex.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Taiji Ishimori (c) defeated Alan Angels

This was good, but it seemed as though it finished early because of a possible injury towards the end of the match.

Angels has good charisma and is just 24. Towards the finish, Angels did a triangle moonsault from the top rope to the floor, but on his way down, he crashed shin-first into the guardrail. It doesn’t come across that loudly on screen, but inside the venue, it was absolutely jarring; it sounded like a car crash. The crowd reaction was loud, and a number of fans unfortunately began chanting “You f****d up!” The mood changed at the venue from here. Even Ian Riccaboni hoped Angels was all right after the match.

Angels and Ishimori crawled back in the ring and went right to the finish. Angels came off the second rope, but Ishimori caught him on the way down with double-knees to the face. He’d then put Angels away with the Bloody Cross, which looked kind of bad because Angels couldn’t kick his legs up in the air for it.

Final thoughts:

Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura vs. TMDK was the best match of this week’s episode, with Narita vs. Austin as a short but solid runner-up.

Next week sees STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser take on TJP and more.

NJPW Strong results: New Openweight Tag Team Champions crowned

Posted on August 14, 2022 by Justin Knipper

The first set NJPW Strong’s High Alert tapings from North Carolina aired tonight, which featured the finals of the STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament in the main event, with Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura taking on Aussie Open.

Jorel Nelson defeated Shane Haste

Good match with a nice last couple of minutes.

Haste caught Nelson with a nice basement dropkick before Nelson rolled out onto the floor. They brawled around ringside a bit before Nelson launched Haste with a back body drop onto the ring apron. Haste crashed onto the bottom rope on the way down.

Back in the ring, Nelson spun Haste with a reverse dragon screw leg whip before posing for the crowd. Nelson worked over Haste’s legs for the next few minutes. Nelson locked Haste in a Texas Cloverleaf.

Haste countered later with a DDT and later a short dive onto Nelson out to the floor. He threw Nelson back into the ring and and put him down with a big Liger Bomb for two. He dumped Nelson on his head with a backdrop suplex. Nelson came back suddenly with a Claymore Kick that spun Haste inside out.

When Nelson went to the top rope, Haste caught Nelson and perplexed him onto the Lion Mark in the middle of the ring. Shortly after this, Nelson, seemingly out of desperation, caught Haste in the back of the knee with a chop block, then school-boy’d him for the pin. Nelson clearly had a handful of Haste’s tights, too, which is illegal, but the referee missed it and counted to three.

A backstage vignette featuring Rocky Romero aired next. He talked about his three-way tag team match from AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door in June this year, when IWGP tag team champions Roppongi Vice took on FTR and United Empire. Romero explained he couldn’t stop thinking about when he had Dax Harwood pinned in the match. Romero promised he’d get the three-count at High Alert in his singles match with Dax Harwood, which is scheduled to air in a few weeks.

Hikuleo defeated Big Damo

This was a decent but short big man brawl. It was as if Hikuleo was the de facto babyface in this match based on how the North Carolina crowd reacted to him.

The two giants traded shoulder tackles early on. Hikuleo was able to knock Damo off his feet first, but the big man from Belfast was up quickly. While Hikuleo was hyping up the audience, Damo dashed at him, taking him out of the ring with a running lariat.

They brawled on the floor for a bit. Chops flew. Back in the ring, Big Damo would flatten Hikuleo with a big running cross body block, and later a cannonball into the corner. Damo would connect with a running senton later, but he missed on the Vader Bomb follow-up when Hikuleo rolled out of the way.

Hikuleo caught Damo coming off the ropes with a powerslam, but there must have been some miscommunication because it didn’t look like Hikuleo had a proper grip on Damo. He followed that up with a high chokeslam for the win in just over six minutes. The crowd was happy that Hikuleo won, but overall the finish felt a bit flat. I imagine when they have their rematch down the road, it’ll be better, especially if they’re in a different setting and given more time.

STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship finals: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura to become the first STRONG Openweight Tag Team champions

This was really good. Daniels and Fletcher were in first for their teams. Daniels and Uemura would keep Fletcher close to their red corner and work him over with a constant double-team assault.

After a few minutes, Daniels would throw Fletcher to the floor and go for a pescado dive onto both him and Davis, but he missed after they moved. Uemura came running off the apron and dove onto Davis, who caught Uemura mid-air. He and Fletcher would then slam Daniels & Uemura into each other, back-first, before dropping them.

The bout moved back into the ring, with Aussie Open now in control of offense. They isolated Daniels near their blue corner and went on the attack with a series of double-team sequences. They held Daniels in a delayed suplex, with Davis passing Daniels off to Fletcher while hanging in the air before dropping him.

At the five-minute mark, Daniels was able to surprise Davis with an inside cradle pin, but Fletcher distracted the referee and couldn’t make the count in time. Daniels later came off the second rope with a frankensteiner from out of nowhere to Fletcher before finally tagging back out to Uemura, who came in as a proverbial house of fire. He planted Mark Davis with a back suplex for a count of two. The crowd got behind Uemura. He low-bridged Davis out of the ring before launching Fletcher with a double-overhook suplex.

Uemura and Daniels would pull off the double-team elevator bulldog on Kyle Fletcher, the same move that the Steiner Brothers used as a finish. It wasn’t enough to put Aussie Open away, though.

Fletcher and Davis would soon take Uemura out with The Dental Plan and a combination spinning Emerald Flowsion + second-rope diving DDT for a close two. The crowd started chanting “This is awesome!”

When Aussie Open went for Coriolis, their finisher, Daniels made the save for Uemura, who escaped the hold and rolled Davis up for a sudden nearfall. Daniels took Fletcher out with an STO before attempting another diving frankensteiner, but Davis blocked it and power bombed the 51-year-old Daniels coming off the top rope.

Aussie Open went for another Dental Plan, but Uemura blocked it, dropkicked Fletcher out of the ring, then caught Davis with a jumping frankensteiner into a cradle pin—the same one he used on TMDK to advance from the semi-finals—but Fletcher made it back into the ring to break up the pin attempt. More than ten minutes had passed by this point.

Mark Davis was finally able to neutralize Uemura, who was on fire, with a jumping enzuigiri kick. Kyle Fletcher followed up with a jumping lariat in the corner, dizzying Uemura. They’d then spike Uemura with Coriolis to put him away; Davis pinned Uemura for three as Fletcher held Daniels from getting back into the ring. Aussie Open are your first-ever STRONG Openweight Tag Team Champions.

Retired NJPW referee Tiger Hattori presented the team with the brand new title belts, which looked to have platinum plates with cerulean blue leather straps.

Backstage after the match, the team spoke about how they’d won the titles despite only being with NJPW Strong for a couple of months. They loudly claimed to be the best in the world and said they’d take on any team at any time, in any place. West Coast Wrecking Crew’s Jorel Nelson apparently heard this and appeared on screen moments later. He told Aussie Open that it was his team, the West Coast Wrecking Crew, that built NJPW Strong’s tag team division, and according to Nelson, that meant that WCWC deserved the first shot at Aussie Open’s new tag championship. Nelson mentioned NJPW Strong’s upcoming Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2022 event in Hollywood, California this month and said that’d be a good place for both teams to square off. After some light jaw-jacking back and forth, Aussie Open agreed to the match, but said they’d still be champions afterwards.

Final thoughts:

While the openers were solid, the main event is the highlight of this week’s show. It was a very good match that highlighted how much of a wrestling wizard Christopher Daniels is while also showcasing both Uemura and Aussie Open as three of the best younger wrestlers in the game at the moment.