Tonight saw the final installment from NJPW Strong’s Mutiny tapings in Hollywood, California.
KEITA and Yuya Uemura defeated Kevin Blackwood and Lucas Riley
Uemura and Blackwood started things off. Uemura was quick on the turnaround off the first lock-up, spinning out of Blackwood’s hands and taking him over with a flying mare—and got a pop for it. It’s a sequence many of us have seen ad nauseam, but this crowd was here for Uemura and whatever he did.
Moments later, the crowd heated up when he landed a shoulderblock, then a deep Steamboat-style arm drag. They went back and forth with Blackwood scoring a hip toss.
Blackwood returned Uemura’s attack with some kicks until KEITA and Riley were in next. Keita landed a big modified backbreaker which received a loud response from the crowd. Blackwood tagged in and landed a low dropkick to KEITA’s head while Riley held him upside down. Riley then hit KEITA with a low dropkick to the back of his head.
KEITA tried tagging out, but Blackwood pulled him back and landed a German suplex for two. KEITA came back with a jawbreaker and an upkick to tag Uemura back in. The crowd came alive for his return to the ring. He took Blackwood out with a flying forearm smash that’d make Tito Santana proud. This kid is on another level right now. Blackwood used a big roundhouse kick to counter, knocking Uemura down to the mat.
KEITA and Uemura double-teamed Riley after KEITA threw Blackwood to the floor.
Before the finish, each wrestler seemed to have gotten a few of their last licks in. KEITA took out Blackwood. Riley took out KEITA. Then, finally, it was Uemura who would take out Riley, landing a Frankensteiner for the win. This was a good opener, but I need to mention that Uemura is special. Now might be the best time to hop on the bandwagon because he is hitting his stride in 2022.
Afterward, Blackwood and Riley cut a promo backstage where Riley explained that it was all right and that the second time would be better. When he attempted to confer with Blackwood, he was met with frustration and contempt. Blackwood blamed Riley for the loss. He then said that he was still 1–0 in NJPW and reiterated that it was Riley who had lost the match not himself.
Bullet Club (El Phantasmo & Chris Bey) defeated Alex Zayne and Christopher Daniels
Zayne and Bey were in first and had a quick, creative exchange. Zayne did a standing corkscrew senton for two.
Daniels, at 51, is still looking real fit for his age. Bey would tag out to El Phantasmo. He would later jump off the ropes and rake Daniels’ back with his fingernails. Bey did a superfluous backrake spot of his own, too. They used a combo that saw ELP earn a two after landing on Daniels with a standing moonsault.
Daniels later used an STO, finally freeing himself up from Bey. He tagged out to a fresh Zayne who landed a few punches before a standing Harlem Hangover/Harlem sidekick combo for two.
Bey and Daniels fell out of the ring. Zayne went for a shooting star press, but missed. He landed on his feet and rolled out of the way, but Phantasmo laid him out with the C4 for two. He then put Zayne out for good with his Sudden Impact superkick which Zayne took a Fatu-style spinning bump for.
Tomohiro Ishii defeated Big Damo
The story is that these two had a match seven years ago in RevPro out of the UK where Damo actually took the victory.
The two locked up, but Damo immediately shoved Ishii into the red corner. Both elbowed and shouldered the hell out of each other next. Damo had the advantage early on, though Ishii constantly barked at him to bring more of it on.
There were a few hecklers in the crowd who ganged up on Damo and told him to shave his back. Damo handled them well, at one point telling them off before giving the hecklers a full, proud view of his back, arms outstretched.
While this was a good moment, the ringside trolls at the show wouldn’t let up, regardless of what was going on which definitely hurt the vibe of the main event as a whole. Thankfully, much of it was inaudible on the recording. In a different setting, this match could have been much better.
Ishii tried to come back, whipping Damo into the corner and crashing into him with a corner lariat. Ishii unloaded his version of Genichiro Tenryu’s goo punch–chop sequence in the corner; jab, chop, jab chop.
Damo countered the attack later with a running crossbody block and a jump kick to Ishii’s face after trading more blows. Tomohiro Ishii: perpetual underdog.
Ishii survived a fisherman’s superplex, standing up almost immediately after landing on the mat. He fired up which the crowd fed on. Damo missed another jump kick and Ishii then put the big man down with a vertical suplex.
Damo hit a huge John Woo dropkick before using a slingshot senton into the ring. He pinned Ishii for two as the ten-minute announcement sounded over the house PA.
When Damo went for a Vader Bomb, Ishii moved out of the way and Damo crashed into the mat face down. He elbowed Ishii who responded with headbutts and a hard headbutt of his own. He took Damo out with a running lariat for two. Later, he scored a sliding lariat for two before putting Damo away for good with a big vertical drop brainbuster for the win in a little over 13 minutes.
Final thoughts:
The main event was good, but would have been better if it hadn’t gone on last at the Mutiny tapings which was a good four hours into the card. Fans sounded restless and it seemed to affect the match quality.
The opener between Uemura and KEITA vs. Blackwood and Riley had much better energy which makes sense since at the tapings, it was the second match of the night. Nitpicks aside, this was a solid episode to wrap the Mutiny tapings with.
Next week kicks off NJPW Strong’s next “tour” titled Collision, which was taped in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania last month.
Bullet Club (Hikuleo & Chris Bey) Stray Dog Army (Bateman & Barrett Brown)
Brown and Bey were first for their teams. They locked up but neither could gain the upper hand. After a stalemate, Bey threw up the Too Sweet gesture and asked if Brown wanted in Bullet Club. Brown flipped him off instead. From here, they kicked their exchange into full gear, running the ropes, trading headscissors and chops.
Later, the two taller teammates, Bateman and Hikuleo, squared off. Bateman tried chopping Hikuleo down with elbows, but Hikuleo wouldn’t budge. He sent Bateman flying with a shoulder block. When the match spilled to the floor, Hikuleo hoisted Bateman up and dropped him throat-first into the guardrail with snake eyes.
Bey tagged himself in back in the ring. Hikuleo looked annoyed by that, continuing the storyline between Hikuleo and the Bullet Club.
Bey used a variety of submissions on Bateman, taking the taller Bateman off his feet and neutralizing him in the center of the ring. When the ten-minute call sounded, Bateman was able to slam Bey into the corner post, breaking a sleeper, and eventually tagged out to a fresh Barrett Brown, who cleaned house.
Hikuleo and Bateman got into it a few moments later. Chris Bey low bridged Bateman over the ropes onto the floor, then dived onto him with a tope con giro. In the ring, Brown tried coming off the top rope, but Hikuleo shut it down. He finished Brown off with a massive chokeslam to pick up the win for Bullet Club.
Bey tried celebrating with Hikuleo after the match, but the big man wasn’t having it as he was still sore over G.O.D.’s fresh removal from Bullet Club.
Christian went in for a double-leg early on, but JONAH peeled Christian off and placed him on the apron. Back in the ring, Christian tried flipping and weaving out of JONAH’s way in an attempt to find an opening or at least tire JONAH out, but to no avail. JONAH press slammed Christian, then dropped him onto the guardrail before throwing him back in the ring for more punishment.
Chrisitian came back and connected with a tornado DDT before diving onto JONAH with a Fosbury Flop to the floor. No luck on the Flop, though, since JONAH caught him mid-air. Christian did, however, get himself out of the pickle by using yet another swinging DDT on JONAH, this time onto the floor. Christian then scored a nearfall with a springboard 450. Christian flew off the ropes again, but this time JONAH caught him flush with a cross body-block. He then power bombed Christian onto the Lion Mark logo, then squashed him with the Bam Bam Bigelow-style diving splash for an emphatic finish, which woke up the crowd.
Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs & JR Kratos) defeated Fred Rosser, Alex Coughlin and The DKC
“Why are they so small?!” Kevin Kelly exclaimed. He was referring to Team Filthy, who decided to wear tiny sombreros to the ring for this match. The Three Filthy Amigos.
Coughlin and Kratos got into each other’s faces during the ring announcements before the match. When things got underway, it looked as though Rosser and Isaacs would start the match off for their teams, but before they could lock up, JR Kratos dashed to the opposite corner and ambushed Coughlin. Rosser saw what happened, so instead of locking up with Isaacs, he enacted some tit for tat action and bashed “Filthy” Tom off the apron. The match immediately turned into a scene of bedlam, with bodies flying everywhere, both in and out of the ring.
When the match settled back into the ring, Coughlin laid Isaacs out with a gutwrench suplex. Coughlin tagged out to Rosser, who tenderized Isaacs with a series of forearms, but Isaacs returned fire with a capture suplex. He tagged Lawlor into the match next. Lawlor did the Filthy Strut before working Rosser over in the corner. Team Filthy would take turns beating on Rosser, each tagging in and out. Rosser was able to muscle out of the blue corner, lay Lawlor and Isaacs out with a double lariat, and finally tag out to the DKC.
DKC was fired up when he got back into the ring, but Kratos steamrolled him within seconds, total kibosh. He flattened the DKC with a lariat, and later launched him with a vertical suplex. Lawlor and Isaacs would come into the ring and Team Filthy posed over a dazed DKC.
Kratos tagged Lawlor in. His plan to take advantage of a helpless DKC backfired when Rosser decided to drag Lawlor out of the ring by his ankles. Rosser planted him with a falling backdrop on the apron after whipping him into the barricade outside the ring.
Back in the ring, Kratos and Coughlin finally had their chance to go at it one-on-one. Coughlin tried lifting Kratos in a fireman’s carry, but no dice. Their fight went onto the floor next, while the DKC chopped up a storm back in the ring. He likes to do a spot where he takes a prone opponent, lies them back-first across his knee, then proceeds to shout “DKC FIRE!” before furiously chopping the opponent in the throat with knife-edged karate chops. He did DKC Fire to both Lawlor and Isaacs, but earned only a two when he pinned Lawlor.
Lawlor came back and slammed the DKC into his team’s corner, but when he and Isaacs went for a double-team gutbuster type move, the DKC slipped out of Isaac’s clutch and Isaacs’ ended up coming face-down onto Lawlor’s knees. The DKC then took Lawlor out with a Liu Kang-style jump kick.
When the DKC went to the top rope, Lawlor climbed up from behind him and slapped on a sleeper. This gave Isaacs a chance to grab the DKC and take him out with a spinning avalanche powerslam for the win.
Right after the match, Fred Rosser got on the mic and said when he challenged Tom Lawlor in Florida for his STRONG Openweight championship, Lawlor just walked away “like a little bitch.” On this night in Texas, he demanded a shot at Lawlor’s title. Lawlor said that his answer again was “no.”
But then Lawlor said he was feeling generous. He asked if Rosser was “feeling ready for primetime,” a subtle dig at Rosser’s time in WWE as part of the Primetime Players tag team. He asked if Rosser would show up, or would he prove to Lawlor that he’s the same guy he was ten years ago. He then offered Rosser a shot at the STRONG Openweight title, with the caveat being he must beat both Royce Isaacs and Isaacs’ tag team partner, Jorel Nelson, in a handicap match at NJPW Strong: Mutiny in Hollywood. Lawlor said he wasn’t worried, though, because he believed that still, even after a handicap match, his answer to Rosser would be “no.”
Final thoughts:
Tonight’s NJPW Strong was solid fare, as usual. It was more focused on storytelling and prolonged angles, like the story between Hikuleo and Bullet Club and the continuation of the Fred Rosser vs. Team Filthy feud.
Next week sees the first episode from NJPW Strong’s Mutiny tapings from Hollywood.
WWE’s final PPV offering without live fans was the 6/20 Hell in a Cell show from Tampa.
The show was based around matches that mostly looked good on paper, for the most part delivered, and under normal circumstances would have been considered a very good show.
It took a lot of good work from creative to drag the show down to a mid-level show. The Alexa Bliss vs. Shayna Baszler match was pretty much as expected so that was the “given,” but the finishes of the last two matches really took the show down.
In the Raw women’s title match, Rhea Ripley was defending against Charlotte Flair. Aside from a foot stomp spot that would have been a viral sensation had it been in AEW, the two were having a great match. Then, out of nowhere, Ripley hit Flair with the top of the announcers table. The bell rang and it was over, with a DQ called. The idea was to turn Ripley heel and build a rematch, although not turn Flair babyface. But, Ripley then laid Flair out with the riptide after the match, which made no sense given the direction of the storyline. Bobby Lashley retained the WWE title in the Hell in a Cell match main event over Drew McIntyre. The stipulation was that if McIntyre lost, he could never challenge for the title as long as Lashley is champion. This could easily build to a brand switch, which also gives Roman Reigns a fresh new opponent since he obviously needs one.
New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced that the New Japan Cup USA tournament will be taking place next month on NJPW Strong.
The tournament will start on April 2, with the winner receiving a future championship match against IWGP United States champion Jon Moxley. Like last year, it will be an eight man single elimination tournament, with qualifying matches taking place on Strong during the month of March.
Two qualifying matches will take place on March 5. Tom Lawlor of Team Filthy will face The DKC, and Rocky Romero will square off against Lio Rush.
New Japan first held their New Japan Cup USA tournament last year. In the finals that aired on August 20, KENTA defeated David Finlay to win a briefcase with a IWGP United States title contract. It wasn’t until last week’s NJPW Strong that a match for the championship took place, with Moxley defeating KENTA to retain the title.
NJPW continued their latest US tour with tonight’s New Beginning USA event in Durham, North Carolina.
During the show, Marty Scurll appeared in person and challenged Jay White to a match at ROH Supercard of Honor XIV. Scurll hasn’t been seen in NJPW since his participation in last year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
Here are quick results from tonight’s event:
Yujiro Takahashi defeated Misterioso
– Takahashi pinned Misterioso with the Pimp Juice DDT.
Yuji Nagata and Satoshi Kojima defeated TJP and Alex Coughlin
– Nagata pinned Coughlin with the backdrop hold.
Toru Yano, Colt Cabana and Rocky Romero defeated Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson and Alex Zayne
– Toru Yano pinned Zayne with a schoolboy
Jeff Cobb defeated Clark Connors
– Cobb pinned Connors with the Tour of the Islands.
Lance Archer defeated Ren Narita
– Archer pinned Narita with the EBD Claw.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, YOSHI-HASHI, David Finlay and Juice Robinson defeated Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens and Jado
This year’s G1 Climax will be kicking off in the United States.
Between the Wrestle Kingdom 13 pre-show match and the start of the main card, New Japan Pro Wrestling revealed the schedule for some of their upcoming big shows. That included significant announcements concerning this year’s G1, with the first show of the tournament set to take place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on July 6.
NJPW also announced some G1 dates for Japan. There will be shows in Otaku on July 13 and July 14, along with an event in Hokkaido on July 15. The tournament will again conclude with three straight nights at Budokan Hall, with those shows taking place on August 10, August 11, and August 12.
Later in the Wrestle Kingdom 13 broadcast, NJPW confirmed another event for their New Beginning USA tour. The additional show will take place in Nashville, Tennessee on February 2. The other New Beginning USA tour stops are in Los Angeles, California on January 30 and Charlotte, North Carolina on February 1. Kevin Kelly noted that additional tickets for the show in Los Angeles will be made available soon.
The New Beginning USA shows will feature young lions from the NJPW dojo in California and wrestlers who aren’t on the New Beginning tour in Japan.
New Japan Pro Wrestling will be debuting at a legendary pro wrestling venue when they return to California later this year.
At Strong Style Evolved in Long Beach tonight, NJPW confirmed that they’ll be holding a show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco on Saturday, July 7th. The show will be called a G1 Special, which was the name of the two NJPW events in Long Beach last summer. Fighting Spirit Unleashed appears to be the tagline for it.
Dave Meltzer reported earlier this month that NJPW had a preliminary hold on the July 7th date at the Cow Palace. Meltzer noted that the listed capacity for pro wrestling is more than 14,000 people.
This year’s G1 Climax tournament will begin at Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo on July 14th. At the 2017 G1 Specials, Kenny Omega won a two-day tournament to become the inaugural IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion.
WWE and the UFC both also have shows on July 7th. WWE will be at Madison Square Garden for a house show, which features Ronda Rousey making her MSG debut. For the UFC, Stipe Miocic will be defending his heavyweight title against Daniel Cormier at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
New Japan Pro Wrestling returns to the United States tonight with Strong Style Evolved at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California.
In the main event, Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi team against The Young Bucks. The match was set up when The Young Bucks moved up to heavyweight and took exception to Omega calling his Golden Lovers duo with Ibushi the best tag team in the world. The Bullet Club’s in-fighting will also continue earlier in the night, with Cody Rhodes & Marty Scurll taking on Guerrillas of Destiny.
The semi-main event features Jay White defending his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Hangman Page. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and Zack Sabre Jr., who are set to face off at Sakura Genesis on April 1st, will be on opposite sides of a tag match. Okada will be teaming with Tomohiro Ishii to take on Sabre & Minoru Suzuki.
With Rey Mysterio missing the show due to his bicep injury, Will Ospreay is taking his place against Jushin Thunder Liger.
There are nine matches on the Strong Style Evolved card in total. The show airs live on AXS TV at 8 p.m. Eastern and will be live on New Japan World everywhere except the United States.
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Per Dave Meltzer, the main event has been changed from a 30 minute time limit to a 60 minute time limit. This breaks from tradition as NJPW only does 60 minute time limits for title maches.
Roppongi 3K ran wild on Kazarian in the early going. Kaz appeared to tweak his knee coming off the middle rope. He sold it for a minute, but continued working. Daniels hit an Asai moonsault to the floor, and Sky hit a springboard cutter as his team firmly took over.
YOH was able to make a tag to Romero, who fired up and shifted the momentum. Romero hit a springboard legdrop. SHO and YOH were sent outside, and Sky hit an awesome tope con hilo to the floor.
The teams traded nearfalls, before SHO and YOH hit Sky with the 3K, and SHO pinned Sky. A good opener.
JUICE ROBINSON & DAVID FINLAY DEFEATED HIROOKI GOTO & GEDO
Juice and Goto started off, and traded forearms, shoulder blocks, and elbow strikes. Goto came away from the sequence with a bloody mouth. Gedo and Goto worked over Juice, who responded by hitting his trademark jabs. Gedo and Juice traded thumbs to the eye, before tagging in their partners.
Finlay ran wild momentarily, but Goto cut him off. All four men jumpd into the ring as the match broke down, before Juice sent Goto outside. Juice landed a plancha on Goto, while Finlay hit Gedo with a cutter, and scored the pinfall.
DAVEY BOY SMITH, JR. & LANCE ARCHER DEFEATED CHUCK TAYLOR & TORU YANO
This match was built around Smith and Archer working over Taylor, while Yano played chicken and did his trademark comedy spots.
Smith and Archer jumped Taylor and Yano before the bell, and dominated the first several minutes of the match. Smith hit an impressive deadlift german on Taylor, and Archer did the Spoiler/Undertaker ropewalk spot.
Taylor was able to escape the Hart Attack clothesline, and made a hot tag to Yano. Yano hit an inverted atomic drop, but Archer no-sold it. Yano was sent outside, and tricked Archer and Smith into running into each other, allowing Taylor to hit a tope. Yano teased one of his own, but just untied the turnbuckle pad instead.
Archer charged into the exposed buckles, and Taylor scored a nearfall. Taylor hit a piledriver on Archer and went for the pin, but Smith broke it up. Smith took Yano outside, while Archer and Taylor traded nearfalls off an Archer chokeslam spot.
The finish saw Smith jump back in the ring, and aided Archer in hitting the Killer Bomb for the pinfall win. Smith and Archer are a good team, and Taylor looked good here.
CODY & MARTY SCURLL VDEFEATED TAMA TONGA & TANGA LOA
Cody and Marty did boo/yay spots with the mic. This was not a pro-Cody crowd. “F*** you, Cody” chants. Cody said that there would be no match, as the Bullet Club were friends. Tanga Loa grabbed the mic and said that they would not deny the crowd their match, and that if he and Tonga were on a team, it would NOT be Team Cody.
The teams traded offense, before Cody and Scurll took over. Scurll teased the chicken wing, but Cody stole his spotlight and tagged himself in. He went for Cross Rhodes on Loa, but Loa reversed and hit one of his own.
Cody hit a disaster kick and went to the top, but Tonga cut him off and hit a superplex. Tonga went to the top, but Scurll cut him off and hit a superplex. Loa hit a superplex on Scurll, and Tonga, Loa, and Scurll rolled ouside. Cody teased Omega’s terminator dive, but Loa cut him off and hit a spear.
Loan and Tonga briefly took over, but Cody recovered and hit Cross Rhodes on Loa for the pin.
I know the idea here was to sell chaos and the match was just a backdrop for the Bullet Club dissent angle that is going on, but it felt like the finish came out of nowhere. Not that it matters, as Cody got a megastar reaction, and this had the most heat of anything on the show to this point.
Tana and Naito started off. SANADA jumped in for the immediate double team, but Tana used a headscissors to escape. Lee and Takahashi tagged in and traded dozens of palm strikes to the chest, which got a great reaction. Takahashi went for a flying headscissors, but Lee used a handspring to avoid taking a bump, and hit a tope on Takahashi.
Taguchi orchestrated his train attack into the corenr on Takahashi, with everyone on the team hitting splashes or clotheslines in the corner consecutively, punctuated by Taguchi’s hip attack. KUSHIDA tagged in, but the LIJ team jumped in and cut him off. They used a quick succession of tags to gain the advantage, with the highlight being SANADA tying KUSHIDA up with the paradise lock.
KUSHIDA was able to tag Tana, who hit double dragon screws on BUSHI and Takahashi. SANADA tagged in and stopped Tana’s momentum by hitting a springboard dropkick. Tana tagged Taguchi, while SANADA tagged in Naito. Taguchi, Tana and KUSHIDA all attempted submissions at the same time, but Takahashi broke them up.
Things broke down into a four-way, which ended with Takahashi & Naito double-teaming Taguchi. While Takahashi fended off Taguchi’s team, Naito hit Destino for the win.
Before the next match, Rey Mysterio came out. He apologized for being hurt, and promised to wrestle in New Japan when healthy.
WILL OSPREAY DEFEATED JUSHIN “THUNDER” LIGER
Ospreay won with an Oscutter. They worked at Liger’s pace, which is about ten times slower than your typical Ospreay match, but Liger is about as great as you can be at 53 years old. This was fun.
Liger hit all of his trademarks including the Romero Special, the Shotei, the Frankensteiner, and multiple Liger Bombs. Ospreay sold a knee tweak for much of the match, perhaps to explain working at a slower pace.
After the match, Ospreay cut a promo. He thanked Liger, and challeged Rey to a future match, saying he needs to beat legends to create his own legacy.
As he talked, Scurll attacked from behind. Mysterio tried to make the save, but Scurll hit him and took hi mask off. Liger chased Scurll, and gave Rey his mask back. Rey and Liger posed together, and Rey and Ospreay shook hands, concluding the post-match festivities.
Okada and Sabre started, and worked to a stalemate. They tagged their partners, but continued going at it on the outside. Suzuki and Ishii also went outside, and Suzuki used a chair on Ishii right in front of the referee.
Ishii and Sabre double-teamed Ishii with armbars while Okada took the referee. Sabre worked over Ishii’s right leg, while the crowd did dueling chants for and against him. Suzuki tagged in and continued working on the right leg of Ishii.
Ishii made the hot tag to Okada, who ran wild on Sabre. Sabre grabbed a hold to stop Okada’s momentum, and regained control of the match with a modified octopus hold. Okada made the ropes, but abre quickly re-applied a standing octopus. Okada reversed into a tombstone attempt, but Sabre transitioned to a wristlock.
Okada tried to apply his Cobra Clutch, but Sabre slipped out. Okada went for the Rainmaker, but Sabre ducked. Sabre went for the double wristlock, but Okada slipped away. Both men tagged out, and Ishii and Suzuki traded chops, with Ishii getting the better of the exchange. They traded hard forearms in the center of the ring, with Suzuki getting the better of that one. Ishii fought back, leading to a double down.
Suzuki tagged Sabre, who scored a nearfall on Ishii. Suzuki took Okada to the floor and applied a sleeper, while Ishii got his second wind in the ring. Ishii hit a powerbomb for a nearfall. Sabre tried for a guillotine, but Ishii slipped out. Okada jumped in and hit his dropkick, leading to an Ishii nearfall on Sabre.
While Suzuki held Okada down in the corner, Sabre was able to apply his Orienteering with Napalm Death, a calf slicer/single-leg crab combo, and the referee called for the stoppage.
After the match, Sabre laid out Okada with an octopus hold, seven days before they meet for the IWGP title at Sakura Genesis. Standard, by the numbers booking here, but the crowd loved Suzuki and Ishii, and Okada was treated like the megastar he is.
They announced a North American return date, July 7 in San Francisco at the Cow Palace for a G1 Special show, Fighting Spirit Unleashed.
IWGP UNITED STATES CHAMPION JAY WHITE DEFEATED HANGMAN PAGE
The first few minutes of the bout saw them trading offense, with neither gaining a clear edge. That changed when Page clotheslined White with the middle rope, sending him to the floor. He whipped White into the guardrail, and threw him into the ring post.
Back inside, Page deadlifted white, then bridged into an unorthodox pinning suplex attempt. Page typically does at least one spot in every match that I’ve never seen before. White was able to stop Page with a lariat and a double sledge. White got a nearfall with a low suplex into the buckle pad, but started selling his lower back.
White went for the Kiwi Crusher, but Page turned it into a small package, scoring a nearfall. White hit a bridging german for a nearfall, and continued selling his back. Page countered with a draping DDT for a nearfall. Page went to the apron for a slingshot, but White cut him off. He tied Page in the ropes and chopped him hard, as the crowd got into the match for the first time.
White went for the Blade Runner on the apron, but Page avoided it. White had to settle for a DDT on the apron, and he hit a gutwrench suplex on Page from the apron to the floor, which got the crowd chanting. They went up top and Page hit a swinging neckbreaker off the ropes to the mat.
They kneeled on the mat and traded forearm strikes, selling exhaustion. Both men got to their feet and continued trading. White suplexed Page over the top rope to the floor, then went outside and hit another suplex on the floor. White tossed Page inside, and hit another suplex, and then another.
White went for Blade Runner, but Page countered into a powerbomb. He followed with a piledriver for a nearfall. White rolled outside, and White followed him out, nailing a standing shooting star from the apron to the floor. Page then hit a moonsault from the post to the floor.
Page hit a lariat for a nearfall. Page went for the Rite of Passage, but White rolled through for a nearfall. White hit a half nelson suplex for a nearfall, and a Kiwi Crusher for a nearfall. White went for Blade Runner, but Page countered. He hit a superkick and went for the Right of Passage, but White countered into a Blade Runner, into a three count.
This was very good, even great at times, but the lack of heat hurt it. As I said, I appreciate Page’s creativity, but I think that both guys could do slightly less and get the same result that they’re hoping for, saving some wear and tear on their bodies.
After the match, David Finlay attacked White, and made a challenge for the title on April 24 at Korakuen Hall.
THE GOLDEN LOVERS DEFEATED THE YOUNG BUCKS
Matt and Ibushi started, but Matt demanded that Kenny tag in. He did, and Matt cheap-shotted Ibushi on the apron, then tagged out. Omega tagged out, leavig Nick and Ibushi the legal men. Ibushi delivered some kicks, but Omega started selling that he was conflicted, allowing the Bucks to take advantage of his kindness and take over the match.
Omega went for the terminator dive, but Matt hit a superkick. Matt pulled a table from under the ring, in a bit of foreshadowing. Nick hit a springboard dive from the top to the floor onto both Omega and Ibushi. While Omega sold on the floor, the Bucks used tandem offense inside. Ibushi countered, and hit a dive from the post to the floor on Nick. Ibushi’s offense was short-lived, as the Bucks regained control. Matt began selling his lower back.
Ibushi hit a desperation dropkick, and tagged in Kenny, who went to work on Matt’s back. The Lovers took over, and hit a succession of moonsaults for a nearfall. They hit stereo Golden Triangle moonsaults, the Cross Slash, in an insane spot. Ibushi worked over Matt’s back with kicks.
Matt was able to tag Nick, who shifted momentum to the Bucks with a bulldog on both of the Lovers. Nick hit a tope to the floor on Omega. Matt hit a blockbuster on Ibushi, and Nick covered for a nearfall. Both Bucks went to the top rope, but Ibushi shoved Nick to the floor. Omega and Ibushi hit a tandem superplex on Matt.
Omega and Ibushi teased the Golden Shower, but Nick cut them off and hit Omega with a suplex on the apron. The Bucks set up a table bridge from the apron to the guardrail. They teased an electric chair through the table, but Ibushi grabbed Matt from that position and hit a scary german suplex from the top rope into the ring.
Nick and Omega brawled outside, while Ibushi and Matt traded strikes in the ring. Omega jumped back inside and cut Matt off with a V-Trigger, but Ibushi hit a Last Ride for a nearfall. Matt rolled through into another V-Trigger, which got the Lovers another nearfall.
Omega whipped Nick over the barricade while Matt and Ibushi worked inside. Ibushi went for a standing moonsault, but Matt got the knees up. Omega jumped in for the save, but ate a superkick from Nick.
Nick hit a moonsault and a tornado DDT to the floor on Omega, while Matt applied the sharpshooter on Ibushi. Matt was forced to relinquish the hold after his back gave out, leading to a double down. Matt got to his feet and tagged Nick. They teased More Bang for Your Buck on Ibushi, but Matt splashed Omega through the table bridge instead.
With Omega out on the floor, Nick hit a splash onto a prone Ibushi, who was draped on the middle rope by Matt, leading to a nearfall. The crowd started dueling chants for the teams.
Ibushi ate stereo superkicks, but Omega made it back inside and briefly cut off Matt. The Bucks rebounded with superkicks, but Ibushi hit a bicycle kick on both men. All four men were down, and the crowd chanted “fight forever.”
Omega nad Matt traded strikes as the show hit the four hour mark. Omega hit a dragon suplex, but didn’t get all of it. Matt rebounded with a piledriver. He removed his belt and started whipping Omega with it, Hollyood Hogan-style, but Omega grabbed the belt and tossed it away, choosing to attack Matt with two V-Triggers. He went for a third, but Matt countered with a spear.
Nick went for the Meltzer Driver, but Ibushi hit a Last Ride through a ringside table. Omega picked up Matt, and Ibushi hit a Meltzer Driver for a nearfall. Omega hit a powerbomb for a nearfall. As Omega sold exhaustion, Matt hit a superkick. Ibushi helped Omega up, and Omega hit another V-Trigger on Matt.
Omega picked Matt up for the One-Winged Angel, and reluctantly hit it on his former friend. He went for the pin, but Nick dove in to break it up. With Matt down, Nick jumped in and hit both Lovers with strikes. Ibushi cut him off, and sent him outside. Omega and Ibushi hit the Golden Trigger on Matt for the pin.
Omega cradled Matt’s head in his hands after he covered him, upset that he had to put his former Bullet Club mate down. He came to peace with his decision, and posed with Ibushi in celebration.
As the Golden Lovers left, Cody ran down to attack the Bucks. Omega and Ibushi ran back in to make the save before Cody could do any damage. Omega offered a handshake to Nick, and they embraced. Omega offered Matt his hand, but Matt refused, and rolled out of the ring.
Omega cut a promo after the match. He said that there are casualties in war. He’s upset that dissension between The Elite was one of those casualties, but he chooses to find the silver lining. The silver lining is that the Golden Lovers are back, and they’ll be back when New Japan returns in July. He promised to beat up Cody when they return, in a bigger and better building. Omega said he might have broken orbital bone, then finished his promo with a “Goodbye, and Goodnight, bang!”
This was an insane main event, capping a very good show.
AXS TV officially announced that New Japan Pro Wrestling’s March 25th Strong Style Evolved show from Long Beach will air live on the station starting at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. local time.
The story was first reported in the Wrestling Observer a few weeks ago.
The show sold out in less than 20 minutes even with an issue with the website crashing. Thus far, only Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, and Hiroshi Tanahashi have been announced as appearing.
“New Japan Pro Wrestling’s popularity and ratings in the U.S. are at an all-time high,” said AXS TV Fights CEO Andrew Simon. “The G1 Special last summer sold out in a few hours, while Strong Style Evolved, in an arena twice the size, sold out in less than ten minutes. This second U.S. event is a great opportunity to further our relationship with NJPW and TV Asahi and we are looking forward to growing their strong style brand of wrestling in the states.”
Jim Ross and Josh Barnett will be calling the action.
The Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito IWGP Heavyweight title match from the Tokyo Dome will be replayed this coming Friday night on the station.
NJPW will be back in Long Beach, California on March 25th, 2018 for an event called “Strong Style Evolved.” It will take place at Walter Pyramid, which is a 5,000-seat venue that’s located on the campus of Long Beach State University.
Walter Pyramid is a bigger venue than the portion of the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center where NJPW’s two G1 Special events took place this summer. Tickets to those shows sold out shortly after being put on sale, with over 2,300 people in attendance each night. No ticket details for Strong Style Evolved have been announced yet.
March 25th falls on a Sunday next year, meaning NJPW will be coming to Long Beach two weeks before WrestleMania takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana. There will be NJPW representation at Ring of Honor’s show over WrestleMania weekend, with Kenny Omega and Hiroshi Tanahashi already announced for it.
When I first heard about New Japan coming to the United States, I had it already set in my mind that I had to go. It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to shows I’ve been covering for this website for the last three years — I mean after all, how could I pass something like this up, going to and experiencing a real New Japan experience? Considering that I’m still a bit of a ways off in funds to travel to Korakuen Hall, going to Long Beach was a far more realistic goal.
Once the weekend was over and everything went down the way it did, I was more than happy that I was able to go and cover the two events. It felt like something special was happening. Maybe after all of this talk about New Japan expanding into North America and California…maybe it was actually feasible? Maybe it could work?
Bullet Club, in particular Kenny Omega, may be the key. He was without a doubt the star of the weekend; each performance he brought to the table was excellent. His wins in stellar matches over the likes of Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal led to an incredible match on the last day of the weekend, defeating Tomohiro Ishii to become the first ever IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion.
With his contract coming up after the end of the year, it seems very clear now that where New Japan is going in the United States will more than likely be based on where Omega goes. But while Omega was the clear king of the weekend, I can’t help but think about just how amazing Ishii’s career has been in the last few years.
It was only about a decade ago that Ishii was a midcarder in New Japan, seemingly destined to be in the same multi-man matches for the rest of his life, being just another cog in the wheel. But through sheer determination and his incredible work, he became one of the most popular wrestlers of the weekend, something one would never expect during the times he was feuding with Tiger Mask.
I loved the main event of the second night. I can’t call it my match of the year, because the performances put on by Omega and Kazuchika Okada have been some of the best stuff to come along in decades. But as much as Omega ruled that night, I have to give credit to Ishii’s performance in that match. His tenacious drive to win in every match he participates in always resonates.
I mean, that spot where he fought valiantly to escape Omega’s dragon suplex, going as far as to biting the ropes to prevent it — that was something really special, and of course I’ll always remember when everything he tried failed and Omega put him through the table anyway.
You also have to hand it to Cody Rhodes. Aside from Billy Gunn and Yoshitatsu, who were booed out of the building, he was the top heel of the weekend. The kind of reaction he got relates to the crowd, who were mostly comprised of fans who watch the NJPW product and were probably familiar with promotions like Ring of Honor.
The fact that Cody — who some argue hasn’t lived up to the high standards of the promotions he wrestles for — would get the big title shot against Okada, and even had a chance to win, was something so completely egregious that it had to be seen to be believed.
I had expected Cody to rise to the occasion and have a killer match with Okada, and he did, meeting the high standards of an IWGP Heavyweight title match. The last few minutes of the match were particularly great, with Cody constantly teasing the Cross Rhodes over and over, complete with the crowd freaking out whenever he had it locked in. But when Okada nailed Cody with two Rainmakers to win the match, people were elated.
And that’s another thing about the weekend that stood out, fans leaving home happy on both nights. Okada beat the nefarious Cody to retain the title, and Omega defeated three great opponents in amazing fashion to become the first IWGP United States Champion. It kind of makes you wish WWE would take the hint when it comes to their own product.
There were other things on the shows that I loved as well. The Young Bucks were not too far behind Omega in being the biggest stars of the weekend, putting on excellent performances. Night two featured a super memorable match with Roppongi Vice, pulling out all the stops including a tribute to Dave Meltzer’s father with one of the craziest versions of the Meltzer Driver yet, going off the top rope onto the floor.
Roppongi Vice breaking up after the match was a bit sad, as they always gelled well as a team and had consistently great matches over the years. At the same time, there’s a bit of intrigue with the split. How will Beretta do as a singles heavyweight? Will Rocky Romero break out as a singles junior star, or will he find another partner?
During the second show, it was announced that New Japan would be returning to the United States in 2018. That in itself wasn’t weird, because with these two shows selling out in such quick fashion, it seemed inevitable. But weirdly, they didn’t announce where it would be, or when they would be back. It seems like New Japan is very interested in coming to North America on a more frequent basis, but they still don’t have everything worked out.
NJPW promoter Takaaki Kidani is still set on establishing a dojo and an office in California in the next year. So far, it seems like the time is right to expand business to California. But a lot of variables are still in play. Will Omega stay with New Japan, becoming the top star for their North American expansion? Will the 3,000 people who attended both shows continue to show up, or was this a one weekend only experiment that just happened to work out very well?
Who knows, and maybe no one will know until New Japan at least tries doing the things that they want to do. But this weekend felt like the start of something special, or at the very least a step in the right direction that pro wrestling in the United States needs to take.
New Japan is a long, long ways away from achieving the kind of success that WWE has in the United States, but if they continue to establish the right people like they have in the last year, it could very well lead into something incredible.
The first IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion will be crowned as New Japan Pro Wrestling hosts another G1 Special in Long Beach, California tonight.
The semifinals and finals of the US title tournament will take place on the show. After their wins last night, Kenny Omega and Jay Lethal will face off on one side of the bracket, with Tomohiro Ishii and Zack Sabre Jr. squaring off on the opposite side. Whoever wins those matches will meet in the finals.
Also on the show, two more titles will be up for grabs. In an unusual matchup, Hiroshi Tanahashi will defend his IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Billy Gunn. And The Young Bucks will put their IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship on the line against Roppongi Vice.
Multi-man tags highlight the rest of the card, including Cody Rhodes, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Marty Scurll teaming against Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & The Briscoes.
The show will be available to watch live on New Japan World in the United States and everywhere else where the service is available. Our coverage begins when the event starts at 8 p.m. ET.
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Jushin “Thunder” Lyger, Kushida and David Finlay vs Yoshitatsu and The Tempura Boys (Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu)
Fun opener. Crowd HATED Yoshitatsu. At the start of the match, all six guys climbed the ropes to get crowd reactions and they loved Liger’s team and hated Yoshitatsu’s. They got the ref to go up and the crowd loved him to. JR, at one point, called Komatsu and Tanaka the “Teriyaki Boys”….woops.
Tempura Boys did most of the work for their team but Yoshitatsu looked okay in his limited time in there. Liger had a long heat spot and then made his own comeback on all 3 opponents. Then everyone got a chance to do their stuff before Finlay locked on a stretch muffler on Yoshitatsu. Tempura Boys ran in and Liger put a surfboard on one of them and Kushida the Hoverboard lock and Yoshitatsu tapped to give Finlay and his team the win.
WINNERS – LIGER, KUSHIDA AND FINLAY (Yoshitatsu submitted to Finlay 9:00)
US Title Tourney – Semifinal round:
Kenny Omega vs Jay Lethal
Omega got past Michael Elgin to advance in a really good match last night while Lethal won over Hangman Page to earn his spot in the semifinals.
Great match. Story was Lethal had damaged ribs coming into last night’s show and it got worse after the Page match.
Lethal had his moments and even briefly turned the crowd after three superkicks and a Lethal Injections looked like it might get him an early pin but Omega rolled out of the ring before Lethal hit his 3 running dives.
Duelling crowd chants through a lot of the match but they were solidly behind Omega at the end. Omega really worked over the rips in the latter part of the match . Lethal then hit a Blue Thunder Bomb out of nowhere but couldn’t cover because he hurt his ribs again.
Finishing sequence saw Omega with Lethal up for an electric chair. Lethal reversed it into a Tombstone piledriver but before he could hit it, Omega reversed that and hit the One Winged Angel for the pin
WINNER – KENNY OMEGA by pinfall in 13:00
US Title Tourney – Semifinal round:
Zach Sabre Jr vs Tomohiro Ishii
Ishii upset Tetsuya Naito to book his spot in the semis while Zach Sabre Jr submitted Juice Robinson to advance.
Best match of the tourney so far. Sabre was working submissions almost the whole match, while Ishii would struggle to get out and usually power out with headbutts.
Key spot in the match was about ten minutes in when Sabre Jr had a combination triangle and Kimura lock. Ishii was struggling for the ropes and Sabre Jr kept grabbing limbs. Crowd exploded when Ishii finally made the ropes.
Sabre Jr started to get cocky and throwing more strikes. Ishii was begging him on. Sabre Jr hit a penalty kick but then was hit by lariat by Ishii. Ishii finished it with a brainbuster to advance.
WINNER – TOMOHIRO ISHII by pinfall in 12:00
Dragon Lee, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Voldar Jr and Titan vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi, Seiya Sanada, EVIL, Bushi and Tetsuya Naito)
Crazy lucha match with a ton of moves and not much psychology but real good if you like this sort of thing.
Duelling LUCHA LIBRE/LIJ chants which got louder and louder for LIJ. Volador Jr wrestled with his mask for this one.
Highlights included:
– a springboard dive to the outside by Volador onto Tanashi and Bushi
– Juice running wild on all 5 members of LIJ including a Double A spinebuster on EVIL and a cannonball on Naito
– Dragon Lee and Tanashi slapping the hell out of each for over a minute which the crowd loved.
Jay White and Bushi worked most of the last two minutes of the match. Bushi hit a missile dropkick and then a Spinarooni. White then hit a Rock Bottom and a Flatliner on Bushi to get the pin for his team.
WINNERS – DRAGON LEE, JAY WHITE, JUICE ROBINSON, VOLADOR JR AND TITAN when White pinned Bushi in 13 minutes
The Bullet Club – Guerillas of Destiny (Tanga Roa and Tama Tongo) and Hangman Page (w/Haku and Chase Owens) vs War Machine (Ray Rowe/Hansen) and Michael Elgin
Not sure if JR used this word at all during the match but this was a slobberknocker if you’ve ever seen.
Elgin and Page started off with Page trying to show that he could hang with Elgin in the strength department to no avail.
After a few minutes of Elgin and War Machine overpowering all three of their opponents, eventually Hansen was stuck in there for awhile while GOD and Page tagged in an out.
Hansen made his own comeback before GOD double teamed all three opponents separately. Rowe was back in by himself and got more or less out of nowhere by Hangman Page, who hit him with the Page Turner for the win. Finish came off really flat as no one was expecting it.
WINNERS – BULLET CLUB when Hangman Page pinned Ray Row in 11 minutes.
They made an announcement after this match that NJPW would return to the US in 2018. Obviously that was going to happen.
Long intermission with nothing but crowd shots and generic rock music in the background. While I have moment, my condolences to Dave Meltzer and his family on the loss of his father today. My thoughts and prayers are with you, Dave.
IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match –
Champions The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs Rappongi Vice (Rocky Romero and Trent Baretta)
Incredible match. Matt spent the whole match trying to get a Sharpshooter and it eventually played into the finish.
I counted 16 superkicks by the Bucks, which is probably about average for one of their matches.
First sick spot of the match was Nick hitting a superkick on Trent, who was being held by Matt on the apron. Matt then hit a running power bomb on the ramp on Trent, who was out for awhile.
Bucks doubleteamed Rocky for a long time and eventually the pro-Bucks crowd was chanting for him. Trent eventually got in and ran wild on the Bucks.
Trent and Nick were in together for awhile. Trent hit a tornado DDT on Nick. Eventually Bucks took over and Matt powerbomed Rocky onto Trent’s back in a sick spot.
Bucks hit a Meltzer driver off the top turnbuckle onto Rocky after Matt caught him doing a dive outside the ring. It only got two but the crowd erupted in a MELTZER chant and JR and Barnett sent condolences to Dave in a nice touch.
Back in the ring and the Bucks eventually hit another Meltzer driver, sending it out to Dave and then both Bucks put both members of Rappongi Vice in Sharpshooters to get the pin.
WINNERS – THE YOUNG BUCKS by submission when both Bucks submitted both Vice members in 22 minutes
After the match, Ricochet did a run-in and lait out both Bucks, challenging them to a Jr tag title match against he and Taguchi.
Rocky Romero did a promo, basically breaking up the team and sending Trent on his own into the heavyweight division.
Bullet Club (Marty Scurll, Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale and Cody) w/Brandi Rhodes vs Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) w/Gedo
Cody got his own entrance from the rest of the BC. Fale was wearing a shirt that said “Make Jobbers Great Again”. That was awesome.
Surprisingly this match was mostly comedy. Mark Briscoe and Marty Scurll opened, doing their crow and crane stuff and the crowd ate it up. Then came a sequence where for five minutes, no one locked up with anyone as people were just tagging in and out while the crowd was eating it right up, telling everyone who to tag to.
Eventually they got to wrestling and Okada and Fale were in a few minutes against each other. While Okada was down, Fale tagged in Cody and they went at it for a bit with neither guy really getting the advantage.
Ospreay started to run wild, doing a bunch of different flying moves on Cody and Yujiro and while Ospreay was coming off the top rope, Cody caught him with a disaster kick in mid-air and then hit the Crossroads for the win. Cody grabbed the world title belt and held it up, which the crowd hated.
WINNERS – BULLET CLUB by pinfall when Cody pinned Will Ospreay in 17 minutes
IWGP IC Title match –
Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Billy Gunn
Despite the opinion of a lot of people on my Twitter feed, this was better than it had any right to be. Tanahashi was in control early, doing mostly ground work after headlock takedowns.
Gunn took over with a Flatliner and started working over the injured arm of Tanahashi. He looked pretty bad when he would run the ropes but other than that, he was methodical and it was fine.
There was a spot where Tanahashi pulled down Gunn’s tights and he had another pair of trunks on underneath that were neon. Then Gunn pulled down Tanahashi’s trunks and we got a full moon.
Gunn hit a One and Only and got a near fall. Tanahashi hit a neckbreaker and went for the High Fly Flow but Gunn rolled out.
Gunn hit a Famouser and the crowd totally bought it as a finish but Tanahashi kicked out. Tanahashi then hit a sling blade and the High Fly Flow to win.
WINNER – HIROSHI TANAHASHI by pinfall in 14 minutes
Main event for the inaugral IWGP United States Championship –
Kenny Omega w/The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs Tomohiro Ishii
Another incredible match, at least 4 3/4 stars in my book. They started out doing strong style right out of the gate with Omega holding his own against Ishii.
Ishii actually took control after a suplex and Omega rolled out of the ring. They brawled out into the crowd and were out there for a long time with the ref not even counting.
When they came back to ringside Ishii hit a suplex on the matts but Omega landed on his feet. Omega then hit one and Ishii landed right on his head.
When they went back in, the Bucks set up a table on the outside. They fought for a long time just over the table with Ishii continually blocking an attempt by Omega to suplex him through it. At one point, he even bit the top rope to block it. Omega finally hit the suplex and they both went through the table.
Back in the ring and they did more strong style stuff. Omega had his first attempt at the One Winged Angel but Ishii reversed into a DDT. 25 minutes in they were trading hard chops and the place was coming unglued.
Omega hit a high knee but Ishii blocked another with a headbutt. Omega hit another high knee and then Ishii hit a lariat out of nowhere.
Ishii hit a One Winged Angel of his own but Omega kicked out at two. Amazing finishing sequence as Omega hit a neckbreaker and a running knee. Ishii kicked out at one. Omega hit a reverse Frankensteiner and then another jumping knee and then hit the One Winged Angel for the pin.
WINNER AND FIRST EVER IWGP US CHAMPION – KENNY OMEGA by pinfall in 32 minutes
Cody grabbed the belt from Omega and they teased dissension but eventually they embraced. Omega cut a total babyface promo saying it’s been a tough year but they’ve done what they set out to do and took New Japan to a new level.
Following the completion of last night’s show, New Japan Pro Wrestling has revealed the full card for G1 Special night two.
The complete lineup couldn’t be announced until the first round of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship tournament took place. The semifinals will see Kenny Omega face Jay Lethal and Tomohiro Ishii square off with Zack Sabre Jr. Whoever wins those will go on to the finals, with the inaugural champion being crowned in the main event.
Those who lost in the first round of the tournament are involved in multi-man tag matches on night two. Kazuchika Okada and Cody Rhodes will also be on opposite sides in an eight-man tag after their title match last night, with Okada teaming with The Briscoes & Will Ospreay against Cody, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Marty Scurll.
Two title matches that were known about in advance will take place on the show as well. Hiroshi Tanahashi will defend his IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Billy Gunn and The Young Bucks will put their junior tag titles on the line against Roppongi Vice.
Tonight’s show will air live on New Japan World (with English commentary available) everywhere in the world. It will then be shown on AXS TV on Friday. The full card is:
The finals of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship tournament
IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defending against Billy Gunn
Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & The Briscoes vs. Cody, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Marty Scurll
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks defending against Roppongi Vice
Michael Elgin & War Machine vs. Hangman Page & Guerrillas of Destiny
Juice Robinson, Jay White, Volador Jr., Dragon Lee & Titan vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr. in an IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship tournament semifinal match
Kenny Omega vs. Jay Lethal in an IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship tournament semifinal match
KUSHIDA, Jushin Thunder Liger & David Finlay vs. Yoshitatsu & The Tempura Boyz (Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu)
