Naomichi Marufuji, Fenix out of action due to injury

Both Naomichi Marufuji and Fenix are dealing with injuries that has put them out of action.

It was reported on Yahoo Japan this morning that Naomichi Marufuji would miss the rest of NOAH’s Global League due to what is being described as a left shoulder contusion. It isn’t known how long he will be out for.

As a result, the Global League tournament is in a bit of a mess as Marufuji was leading the A Block ahead of the finals on November 25. NOAH announced that there will now be a triple threat match between Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kohei Sato that will determine the A Block winner. They will face B Block winner Kaito Kiyomiya in the finals.

As for Fenix, he wrote on Instagram this morning that he suffered a groin strain in a match against Barbaro Cavernario during CMLL’s usual Friday night event. He said that he has informed promoters that he won’t be able to make any of his December dates, effectively putting him out of action for the rest of the year. He also said to not to blame Cavernario on the injury and congratulated him on his win.

First set of names announced for Wrestling All-Star Battle

The first batch of names have been announced for next year’s Wrestling All-Star Battle.

Tokyo Sports announced that the following stars would be making an appearance on the show:

  • Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW)
  • Kento Miyahara (AJPW)
  • Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH)
  • Jun Akiyama (AJPW)
  • Daisuke Sekimoto (BJW)
  • The Great Kojika (BJW)
  • Takao Omori (AJPW)
  • Taichi (NJPW/Suzuki-gun)
  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NJPW/Suzuki-gun)
  • Tomoaki Honma (NJPW)
  • Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW)
  • Kazushi Miyamoto (Free Agent)
  • Tomohiko Hashimoto (Free Agent)
  • Taiyo Kea (Free Agent)

Wrestling All Star Battle will feature wrestlers from Japan’s top wrestling promotions, including NJPW, AJPW, NOAH, BJW, Wrestle-1 and more. It will also feature the retirement ceremony for Abdullah the Butcher, who hasn’t wrestled a match since around 2010. Stan Hansen will also make an appearance.

The show is being held in honor of the 20th anniversary of Giant Baba’s passing and the 60th anniversary of Tokyo Sports’ founding. It will take place on February 19, 2019 at Sumo Hall. There is no word on plans for a broadcast.

Wrestling All-Star Battle to be held at Sumo Hall in February

A multi-promotional event featuring a number of high profile Japanese promotions will take place next February.

Tokyo Sports announced this morning that Wrestling All-Star Battle will go down on February 19 at Sumo Hall. It will feature wrestlers from All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Big Japan Pro Wrestling and Wrestle-1. Broadcasting information for the event isn’t currently known, nor were any matches announced.

The event is in commemoration of two events: the 20th anniversary of Giant Baba’s death (which took place on January 31, 1999) as well as the 60th anniversary of Tokyo Sports itself.

The last Wrestling All-Star Battle took place in August of 1979. On that show, Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki, who teamed for years before a split led to the eventual founding of both AJPW and NJPW, teamed for the last time. They defeated Abdullah the Butcher and Tiger Jeet Singh.

Taiji Ishimori joins NJPW at Wrestling Dontaku

Bone Soldier did in fact return this morning, but it was none other than former NOAH star Taiji Ishimori.

Ishimori made his debut this morning at Wrestling Dontaku, jumping Will Ospreay from behind after successfully retaining the IWGP Jr. heavyweight championship. Tama Tonga, who distracted Ospreay before the attack, then took off the Bone Soldier mask revealing Ishimori as the new Bone Soldier and the latest member of the Bullet Club. It seems likely he’ll be a part of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament that takes place later this month.

Originally trained in the Toryumon dojo, Ishimori had been a staple of Pro Wrestling NOAH since 2006, starting as a freelance wrestler and eventually becoming a staple of their junior heavyweight division. He won the Junior title on three occasions and the Junior tag team titles on six occasions. He left NOAH back on March 12, citing people like Shinsuke Nakamura and Hideo Itami inspired him to travel around the world.

Since his departure, Ishimori has competed for PWG as well as Impact Wrestling.

Taiji Ishimori leaves Pro Wrestling NOAH

In a surprise move, longtime junior heavyweight Taiji Ishimori announced today that he is leaving Pro Wrestling NOAH effective immediately.

Ishimori, 35, announced that starting today he would become a freelance wrestler after being a part of Pro Wrestling NOAH for over 12 years, starting with the promotion back in 2006. Ishimori said in a press conference at NOAH’s Tokyo office Monday that people like Hideo Itami and Shinsuke Nakamura inspired him to make the move.

“While I personally do like to fight on the front line of things, I have experienced [a] overseas expedition and [am] more interested in the outside world now,” he is quoted as saying in a translation from a Yahoo Sports article. “I have been at NOAH for twelve years and a wrestler for sixteen. If I do not make this decision, I will regret it unless I take the first step.”

“WWE is the goal and I want to keep trying to end up there” he mentioned.

Ishimori had been a big staple of the junior heavyweight division in the promotion, winning the GHC Junior Heavyweight championship three times. He most recently appeared for Impact Wrestling where he held the X Division title until this past January when Matt Sydal defeated him for the title.

Eddie Edwards becomes first American to win GHC Heavyweight title

Global Force Wrestling’s Eddie Edwards has become the first American wrestler to win Pro Wrestling NOAH’s GHC Heavyweight Championship.

Edwards defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima to win the title at this morning’s NOAH Summer Navigation 2017 event at Korakuen Hall. Edwards has been a semi-regular since GFW established a working relationship with NOAH back in February. Nakajima had been champion for 307 days, defeating Takashi Sugiura on October 23rd of last year.

Naomichi Marufuji came out after the match and challenged Edwards to a title match. That will take place in Yokohama on October 1st.

Since taking over GFW, Jeff Jarrett has established ties with a number of international promotions, including NOAH, to bring talent over to the US for Impact tapings. Both Taiji Ishimori and Marufuji have wrestled for the promotion in recent months. GFW has also set up relationships with Konnan’s The Crash promotion in Tijuana and AAA.

The Summer Navigation 2017 event featuring Edwards’ title win is set to air on G+ in Japan on September 3rd.

June 26, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Birth of NOAH, Vince Russo quits WCW, tons of news

Mitsuharu Misawa announced officially the formation of his new promotion, Nippon TV officially announced cancellation of the All Japan television show and Toshiaki Kawada talked about attempting to go to New Japan were highlights of the aftermath of the All Japan split.

Misawa held his press conference on 6/16 at Diffa Ariake, the new building in the Ariake suburb of Tokyo, which was built specifically for pro wrestling to replace Korakuen Hall as the small show mecca in the Tokyo area and which, ironically enough, has its first show on 7/1 booked by the All Japan promotion.

Misawa portrayed his split publicly using the 1972 analogy of when Shohei Baba left the failing Japanese Wrestling Alliance, which had been the dominant promotion for nearly two decades and was the group of Rikidozan, to form All Japan. He said he was unable to make changes from the traditional approach favored by Motoko Baba. He compared it to Shohei Baba attempting to modernize pro wrestling with the formation of All Japan.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

Big Audio Nightmare: Amazing AJPW; NOAH’s new look, DDT, more

After being gone for a minute, Adam Summers and Mike Sempervive are back with the original alternate here at Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online.

After a little warm up where the guys discuss the winter of Adam’s discontent getting (temporarily) erased by THE BOSS, the Chicago sporting mentality, and some other non-grapple tidbits, we get into a cavalcade of puroresu hot messiness.

Topics include having all the GUTS World in the world, DDT’s Osaka Octopus, an Uwai Station reunion reference so obscure that they’re celebrating at Victor Zangiev’s house, NOAH’s new look and future plans, an amazing All Japan show, New Japan’s march to 1/4, the Les Bullet Club, watermelon shirts, Tokyo Produced produce, and so much more.

It’s the show that inspired other shows to do shows, because they figured how hard could it be? It’s the Adam and Mike BIG AUDIO NIGHTMARE, here at F4WOnline.com.


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Big Audio Nightmare: Thoughts on the last two weeks of shows in Japan

The oldest show here at F4WOnline.com that doesn’t include A Man Named Vince is back, and we are reinvigorated, with fighting spirit.

Maybe it’s because of the American presidential debate. Maybe it’s the American throw ball game. Either way, we’re pretty sure it’s not Monday Night Raw or the Clash. And on this edition of the original alternate, the topics include, but aren’t limited to, where we stand on the climb of YOSHI-HASHI, Katsuyori Shibattering ram, BUSHI, Kyle O’Reilly Moves Like…, the last few New Japan shows and the company’s direction, DDT’s Osaka Bay Blues, Dragon Gate feeling blue, and the hosts occasionally working blue, NOAHone was there to see the show, FMW, Nick Numbers and the Numeral Posse, continuing unabashed loved for the U-30 pro wres landscape, and much more.

It’s the radio show whose strongest attribute is its temperament, the Adam and Mike BIG AUDIO NIGHTMARE.

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Big Audio Nightmare: Adam & Mike are back talking NJPW, DDT, and much more

Main image: @JaimsVanDerBeek

Intending to do a quick show, we here at the original alternate ended up babbling on for over an hour about a bunch of different topics, that include — but aren’t limited to: the Adam Universe Suspension of Disbelief Anthology Showcase will NOT be debuting on the WWE Network anytime soon, Kevin Owens’ title win, Punk’d, the leaky hole in the bottom of the J-Cup, a veteran’s tag team main event locks up the Lion’s Gate show, fifty centimeter arm lariatos and Pulp Friction, DDT’s annual Peter Pan extravaganza, kissing up to Kazusada Higuchi, LiliCo, Konosuke Takeshita and Titan, New Japan’s upcoming Destruction tour (with some sweet main matches), Takashi Sugiura’s next GHC title defense, and much, much more.

Yes, all that, and this sweet ass picture of Hiroshi Tanahashi proving both Lion and Hawk Be Strongest. It’s the Adam and Mike Big Audio Nightmare, proudly here at WrestlingObserver.com.

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Lion’s Gate Project 3 results: NOAH and New Japan battle in 10-man tag madness

The Lion’s Gate project continues as they put on their third show tonight, taking place at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo.

Quiet Storm vs. Henare

Henare is making his in-ring debut here as a young lion after being a ringside attendant for the last month. He’s from New Zealand and already has the size to be a heavyweight. Henare looked good on offense and on selling for the most part. We had a solid back and forth ending with a Quiet Storm lariat to complete a solid match.

Hajime Ohara def. Hirai Kawato

Typical young lion match where Kawato sold a ton, made a brief comeback that looked fine, and was submitted by Ohara’s armbar/half crab submission. Didn’t look bad but nothing worth noting.

Kenoh def. Teruaki Kanemitsu

This was a good, competitive match. Kenoh stands out as a great worker and had a fun match with Kanemitsu, who didn’t look bad and got some offense, including a boston crab. Kenoh swept him and hit a double foot stomp. When that didn’t work, he hit the penalty kick and got the win.

Tomoaki Honma def. Shiro Tomoyose

Tomoyose is a NOAH rookie who has been out for a while with an injury. He’s stocky, but pretty short. Pretty quick match with Honma getting the win with the kokeshi. Honma wanted to shake hands after the match, but Tomoyose slapped him and left.

David Finlay def. Go Asakawa

Finlay has ditched the young lion gear and is wearing a new ring outfit, which begs the question if he’s graduated beyond that status. Solid, short back and forth match. They traded forearms for a bit before Finlay laid him out with a uranage then pinned Asakawa with a stunner, so that might be your answer.

Juice Robinson def. Ayato Yoshida

Pretty solid match as Yoshida (rookie from Kaientai Dojo) stood out to me more than others on this card. He looked pretty good already, showing some intensity and ring familiarity. Robinson pinned him with the unprettier.

Ryusuke Taguchi def. Hitoshi Kumano

Another perfectly fine match, but nothing special. Kumano taunted Taguchi early by slapping his butt and using hip attacks of his own. Kumano took a lot of the offense, but Taguchi came back and hit the dodon for the win.

Katsyuori Shibata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi def. Go Shiozaki, Maybach Taniguchi, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masa Kitamiya and Kaito Kiyomiya

Nothing revolutionary, but a solid match where everyone worked well with one another. Shibata’s shoulder is still all taped up. Kiyomiya, another rookie, was worked on early before NOAH guys managed to get a hot tag. Shiozaki tagged in, and he and Shibata went at it immediately.This turned into your usual ten man tag you’d see on any “Road To” show. It boiled down to Kiyomiya holding his own against Nagata until being caught by an overhead belly to belly suplex, a knee to the corner and a huge backdrop suplex for the win.

Nakajima jumped Shibata after the match as everyone went wild on one another. Shibata then caught Shiozaki in a sleeper and held it for a long time, ignoring anyone who tried to stop him. NJPW guys got the better of it and posed with Yuji Nagata closing the show with a promo.

Super J-Cup opening round results: Kushida vs. Taiji Ishimori

Here’s a rundown of this morning’s Super J-Cup, held live at Korakuen Hall:

Matt Sydal (ROH) defeated Kaji Tomato (Kaientai Dojo)

Tomato’s gimmick is, in fact, coming to the ring with tomato pom-poms that turn into plush tomatoes.

He showed some nice offense early. Sydal took control but Tomato came back with some good offense, including a really great cradle near fall. Sydal laid him out with a Meteora (that Tomato kicked out of in another good near fall) and pinned him with the shooting star press to advance.

Sydal wanted to shake hands after but Tomato refused, instead giving him his tomato plush. Sydal appreciated it, but gave it back.

Kenoh (Pro Wrestling NOAH) defeated Gurukun Mask (Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling)

Crisp offense to start. Kenoh was the heel and took control of the match. He stands out and has good presence. Gurukun Mask came back with a crossbody to the floor but Kenoh came back with some on point offense.

Gurukun Mask escaped early from an ankle lock attempt but withstood punishment for a good while after a second one was applied. Kenoh’s kicks came off as particularly vicious. In fact, it looked pretty silly when Gurukun Mask tried to counteract them with his own and didn’t even come close to sounding effective.

Gurukun Mask hit Kenoh with a Celtic Cross and a top rope moonsault for a good near fall. Kenoh was able to hit a snap dragon suplex and a penalty kick for a great near fall. Kenoh finished it off with the Ragou (dominator position into a powerbomb) for the win. Turned into a really good match towards the end.

Taichi (Suzuki-Gun) defeated Yuma Aoyagi (All Japan)

Taichi had an elaborate entrance where a woman in a mask similar to his danced around the crowd until he emerged. Milano Collection AT, doing commentary, was very interested in this couple and took photos.

Taichi stalled forever, refusing to take his outfit off, Desperado came in to cause mischief, etc. Aoyagi was distracted by Desperado and Taichi smashed a chair into his back.

As a gimmick/sidekick Taichi is good, but as a wrestler he’s just there, and they had a match with tons of interference and stalling for the first half. Not good.

Aoyagi took both out with a crossbody to the floor. It picked up towards the end as Aoyagi was good in his underdog babyface role. Taichi pinned him with a superkick. First half was really lame, but got better as the match progressed. Taichi got the win with a second superkick and a Last Ride powerbomb.

Jushin Thunder Liger (New Japan) defeated Eita (Dragon Gate)

Eita picked this show right out of the doldrums by laying out Liger with a huge senton to the floor. I think he busted his eye in the process.

Liger made a comeback and hit a powerbomb, then got him in the surfboard. Eita escaped with quick, agile offense. He stretched Liger with a double underhook submission for a while before Liger got his feet on the ropes.

Liger came back with a Shotei then pinned him with the brainbuster. Didn’t seem like the right finish at all as I’m not sure why Liger needs a win over Eita, but then remember who is hosting this. Still a very good sprint of a match.

Will Ospreay (Chaos) defeated Titan (CMLL)

This started off really great. Ospreay is trained in lucha so he fit in really well with Titan’s style and they had some great back and forth before Ospreay hit a shooting star press to the floor.

Titan came back with a huge springboard moonsault, laying out Ospreay. Ospreay went for an atomic drop, but Titan countered with a dragon screw in a cool spot. Ospreay came back with a flurry of great offense including a forearm, standing shooting star press, and a Phoenix splash from the middle rope for a near fall.

Ospreay hit a kick and a springboard cutter for the win. Very good.

Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-Gun) defeated Bushi (Los Ingobernables de Japon)

This got wild as Bushi jumped Kanemaru and they brawled around the arena, going into the crowd. Bushi laid him out with a DDT and hit an amazing crossbody off a stairwell to the floor.

It’s funny because both are heels, and even though Bushi took a lot of this match, Kanemaru was the total heel and spent most of the match being worked on, though he did come back one or two times.

Bushi went to distract the referee, then went to mist Kanemaru, but he low blowed him and finished him with a brainbuster. It was kind of a weird match given the layout but Bushi looked great.

Ryusuke Taguchi (New Japan) defeated Daisuke Harada (Pro Wrestling NOAH)

Taguchi was in control, doing his comedy routine and working on Harada’s ankle. They had a pretty good match, full of good back and forth action. Harada laid out Taguchi at one point with a crazy looking Death Valley Driver.

They rolled around and traded ankle locks with one another in some great submission spots. Harada kicked out a Dodon, but didn’t kick out of a second.

Kushida (New Japan) defeated Taiji Ishimori (Pro Wrestling NOAH)

This started out slow but started to build up as time went on. They really laid it in, which got the crowd into the match big time behind Kushida. Ishimori went to the top rope but Kushida grabbed his arm. Ishimori fought back and hit what can be best described as a reverse Green Bay plunge then missed a 450 splash.

Kushida tried going for the Hoverboard Lock but Ishimori kept blocking. Kushida finally got it in, and after fighting it for a while, Ishimori tapped. Another good match.

The 8/21 tournament matches therefore are:

  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taichi
  • Kushida vs. Kenoh
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Will Ospreay vs. Matt Sydal

Final Thoughts: This was a weird show. There were no outright terrible matches on this card, and actually top to bottom, if you just look at workrate, this was a really solid show. But the booking just came off as super flat.

You’re looking at a second round where five out of eight guys are wrestling regularly for New Japan, and beyond that Taichi was a regular for years and has had plenty of matches with Liger, who I am already surprised enough beat Eita pretty clean in the middle.

You can also mention the other two outsiders are NOAH guys, but at least that kind of creates a fresh dynamic in some ways for the second round.

I expected a far more interesting, diverse second round is what I guess it boils down to. Not exactly the reaction I expected myself having upon the return of the Super J-Cup, but I guess in the end it’s New Japan’s tournament in more ways than one, isn’t it?

Lion’s Gate Project 2 results: NOAH vs. New Japan eight man tag

Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Hirai Kawato

This is a battle between New Japan (Kuwato) and NOAH (Kiyomiya) rookies. NOAH young lions wear green instead of black like in New Japan, but both are required to have boston crab as finishers, as was the case here. A lot of the match was Kuwato being worked on. Kiyomiya got the win with a Boston Crab. Kuwato wasn’t pleased after the match and the two brawled for a bit, slapping and kicking each other.

Shiro Tomoyose vs. Teruaki Kanemitsu

Apparently my theory about all NOAH rookies wearing green was wrong. Tomoyose is a NOAH rookie as well, but is wearing black. Apparently all NOAH rookies choose a color to wear, and Tomoyose’s color is black. Kanemitsu is taller than Tomoyose, but Tomoyose is more stout and looks a bit more physically imposing. He controlled a lot of the match, but Kanemitsu made a comeback and had him in a Boston crab for a long time. He eventually escaped, but Kanemitsu had his arm and was going for a submission when the bell rang, a time limit draw. Good, basic match.

Kanemitsu went for a handshake after the match but Tomoyose would have none of it. Tomoyose eventually was convinced to shake hands, but then Kanemitsu tricked him by slapping the taste out of his mouth and bailing. These New Japan kids are pretty rude this morning.

Hitoshi Kumano vs. Ayato Yoshida

Kumano is another NOAH rookie; he wears red. Yoshida represents Michinoku Pro. The latter had a lot of good looking strikes. This was solid, if not unspectacular.  Kuwano got the win with a chokeslam/spinebuster combination.

Yoshinari Ogawa vs. David Finlay

Finlay showed a lot of great fire early. In terms of presence and look he really outshines White, who is a bit better in the ring. Ogawa controlled a lot of the match and kept it on the ground, working on Finlay’s left arm. Finlay made a good comeback and kicked out of a back suplex. Finlay looked like he was going to capture Ogawa’s arm in an armbar, but in transition Ogawa held him down and pinned him. Cool finish to a pretty solid match.

Captain NOAH & Genba Hirayanagi vs. Muhammed Yone & Ryusuke Taguchi

This was a total comedy match, at least the first half of it. Genba’s gimmick apparently is that he likes to use the testicular claw on everyone, as he did during the early parts of the match. Taguchi wore an afro like Yone’s, I guess to match. NOAH and Taguchi had a chop battle and Taguchi teased doing the Flair flop, since that is Jado’s thing (he’s Captain NOAH, spoilers) but NOAH fell anyway. This was VERY LONG. Not terrible or anything but felt way longer than it needed to be. This was at least a twenty minute segment or longer when it needed to be half that.

Taguchi finally got the win for his team after two sliding hip attacks on Genba. Captain NOAH cut a promo after the match. No idea what he said.

Naomichi Marufuji vs. Jay White

This was pretty good. White does the little things Finlay doesn’t that really add to the match, though Finlay is a bit more dynamic in what he does. Marufuji gained control early but White made a comeback and hit some very nice spots. This was one of the first times where he did more than just the basic stuff he does in his prelim matches and didn’t look totally out of place, though there were a few moments that looked a bit off. Shiozaki eventually cut him off and won with the sliced bread. This was given some decent time and was a very good match while it lasted.

Go Shiozaki vs. Juice Robinson

Juice has definately improved since working regularly in Japan. I wouldn’t say he’s as good as Finlay or White, but he’s perfectly fine and doesn’t look lost out there – he gets it. Much like the story of other matches on this card, Shiozaki worked on Robinson after dodging some punches and was in control until Robinson made a comeback. He kept kicking out of nearfalls, but eventually he could not kick out of a sick lariat dished out by Shiozaki, and that was the end of Robinson. Pretty solid match.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Maybach Taniguchi, Masa Kitamiya & Quiet Storm

New Japan old guard were the faces here. Storm and Nakanishi traded big guy spots, which is funny since Storm is about a head shorter than Nakanishi. I’ve complained on here before that no one should buy Nakanishi and Nagata’s finish because they’ve never submitted anyone with the armbar/torture rack they do. Well this time, it actually did work. While Nagata didn’t have an armbar in, he did pin Quiet Storm with a backdrop suplex while Nakanishi had Taniguchi in the torture rack. Perfectly okay eight man tag, but nothing memorable.

Nagata got a mic and introduced his two guys that are training in the New Japan dojo. One is Ota, who is a high level wrestler, and Kitamura, who is also a wrestler and jacked to the gills. He teased they might wrestle on the next Lion’s Gate show.

For the most part, everything was good. Marufuji/White was probably the best match on the show.

Alan 4L’s Japanese Wrestling Notebook: NJPW & NOAH’s big weekend

New Japan

NJPW had two shows with titles on the line this past weekend. On Saturday, they were in Nagoya and headlined with a Satoshi Kojima challenge against NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata. After a successful defense, Shibata was challenged by Kojima’s partner Hiroyoshi Tenzan. It looks like the story will be Shibata having to go through “The Third Generation” one by one. The other man who fits that bill is Yuji Nagata and that could end up being a title match in May or June.

Sunday in Amagasaki, Tomohiro Ishii retained his ROH Television championship against the man who gave him a run for his money in the New Japan Cup – EVIL. After 21 minutes, Ishii hit the vertical fall brainbuster for the win. The NEVER 6 Man titles were also on the line as The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks) took on Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin & Juice Robinson. The Elite retained following a One Winged Angel by Omega on Juice.

NOAH

NOAH had a big show at Korakuen Hall and the results were rather questionable as they continue to have Suzuki-gun run through the NOAH babyfaces in an almost nWo-esque fashion. Whilst Takashi Sugiura retaining against Katsuhiko Nakajima was not a suprise, the tag title match result of Killer Elite Squad defeating Go Shiozaki & Maybach Taniguchi was rather head scratching.

KES has held the belts for over a year now and the babyface team needed this win, particularly with Shiozaki the man who needs to be belt as the man to conquer Sugiura. The one set of titles that did change hands were the junior tag titles as Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge dropped their straps to Kenou and Hajime Ohara.

Today, DDT and Dragon Gate took the stage with big shows in Sumo Hall and Wakayama respectively. At its 19th anniversary show before a sold-out 7000 fans, DDT had its K-OD title up for grabs in a big match between Isami Kodaka and multi-time former champion HARASHIMA. Whilst the Open The Dream Gate featured a main event of Shingo Takagi defending against Ryo Jimmy Saito in front of 1500.

Get your DDT results here and your Dragon Gate results here.

Adam & Mike: NOAH’s latest big show, NJPW, Taichi and TAKA celebrate Easter

The original alternate returns with what’s basically a demo tape, that we hope will get us to the mix tape, as we move towards a whole album of a show. And, as a large, bearded, Albanian man once sang, “There’s no hit records on the demo.” But there are topics that include, but aren’t limited to: Apologies world, NOAH more Suzuki-Gun, NJPW, TAKA and Taichi produce EASTER without messy crucifixions or pastel colored eggs, Atsushi Onita takes another Bible story (sort of) to produce death via Barbed Wire Boards and Deadly Poison Apples, as well as some other things that were scribbled down illegibly. It’s the radio show that’s often imitated, but never duplicated (which probably makes sense); It’s the Adam and Mike BIG AUDIO NIGHTMARE~! Proudly here at F4WOnline.com.

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