It was announced that due to an injury, Taiji Ishimori is off tonight’s show. The opening tag match is now a singles bout between Yota Tsuji and Robbie Eagles.
Robbie Eagles defeated Yota Tsuji
Eagles was in control for a lot of the match. The size difference was real — Tsuji definately has size. Tsuji cut off Eagles with a dropkick. He fired back with punches, but Eagles grabbed him and pinned him with what I would describe as a snapmare into a falcon arrow. Okay match.
Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and Tomoaki Honma defeated Volador Jr., Soberano Jr. and Ren Narita
This turned into a pretty good match. Narita worked a lot of the match, either being in control or selling and looked good in doing both. He and Honma worked a lot of the match together. Narita rolled up him for a big near fall, but Honma took him down and applied an STF for the submission win.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado defeated ACH and Shota Umino
Much like the previous match, Umino worked a lot of this bout. Maybe it was because he was working Desperado and Kanemaru here, but he seems to be a bit bigger than usual. Umino managed to escape from a Kanemaru camel clutch. ACH finally made a hot tag, then tagged back in Umino, who scored several nearfalls but fell to a stretch muffler.
Shingo Takagi and BUSHI defeated Ryusuke Taguchi and Ayato Yoshida
Tetsuya Naito arrived with the LIJ pair and observed the bout in the crowd. Taguchi worked a lot of this match and looked great. Yoshida came in and worked with Takagi. Takagi hit a lariat and a gory bomb for a nearfall. Takagi then finished off Yoshida pumping bomber for the win. Pretty much the same formula as the other matches on the card so far.
Naito left the crowd and joined up with both BUSHI and Takagi after the match.
Tomohiro Ishii and Rocky Romero defeated Minoru Suzuki and Taka Michinoku
Ishii and Suzuki continued the brawling they’ve done all tour outside of the ring while Romero and Michinoku worked in the ring. Ishii and Suzuki continued to brawl around the arena and finally found themselves in the ring. This match is gonna be wild on Saturday. Suzuki went for the Gotch piledriver. Ishii escaped and countered with a side suplex.
Michinoku and Romero were tagged back in, where they traded near falls until Romero countered a crossface with a la magistral cradle for the surprise win. This was fun.
Once again, Ishii and Suzuki had to be seperated from one another after the match.
Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare
One spot during the match had Owens going to the top rope, teasing he was going to do the high fly flow, but Henare caught him with a boot instead as he jumped off the top rope. Heels continued to get heat on Henare. Tanahashi did get a hot tag, but this crowd was dead for most of the show and the match never really got going except for the last few minutes of the match. Henare tagged back in and eventually fell to the package piledriver by Owens.
SHO & YOH defeated KUSHIDA and Chris Sabin
KUSHIDA and YOH started things off with some chain wrestling. SHO entered but was also taken down by KUSHIDA. Both he and Sabin worked on SHO’s arm. YOH is tagged in and starts to gain the upper hand, but gets cut off by the other team’s, well, teamwork, being taken out with a doomsday device dropkick.
SHO starts taking Sabin out with German suplexes but KUSHIDA catches him. Both he and Sabin kick SHO while his feet were resting on the referee with a cool spot. KUSHIDA misses a moonsault and somehow all four men are down. Sabin starts attacking both but out of nowhere they manage to connect with the 3K, YOH pinning Sabin for the win. This was fine but had no real heat at all. Never felt like it really went to the next level either.
So that makes it a three way tie between Roppongi 3K, Desperado & Kanemaru and BUSHI & Shingo Takagi. After some initial confusion, the announcer said that it would be a three way match at Power Struggle. The other two teams made their way to the ring. Desperado ran down both teams after the match. He promised to win clean.
BUSHI took the mic after, saying they’ll get payback for their loss. Romero then promised that 3K would beat up both teams at Power Struggle.
Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Gedo defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, Beretta and Chuckie T
Bullet Club worked on Beretta for a good while, teasing a tag to Okada until he finally escapes and tags him in. Okada used the dragon screw on Fale, which is interesting given Okada and Tanahashi’s recent relationship change. Best Friends and Yano get their shine in. Okada comes in and bodyslams Fale and dropkicks Tama Tonga.
Chuckie T came in and missed a moonsault. He and White fought as he blocked a low blow. Gedo came in and blasted Chuckie with brass knuckles. White connected with the bladerunner, and that was it. A solid main event.
White and Okada went at it after the match, eventually being seperated. White mouthed off and walked to the back, but Okada ran after him and brawled in the aisle. White beat up some young lions then leaves. Okada grabbed the mic and promised that White would meet a rainmaker at Power Struggle.
More Super Junior Tag League action goes down this morning as New Japan runs Korakuen Hall once again.
Shingo Takagi and BUSHI headline tonight’s show against the current IWGP Jr. tag team champions, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. The LIJ pair are sitting pretty right now, in the lead with eight points. There’s still plenty of matches left in the tournament, however, so it would be best not to let anyone close in on them.
Other tournament matches for tonight include Chris Sabin & KUSHIDA vs. Robbie Eagles and Taiji Ishimori, Soberano Jr. & Volador Jr. vs. SHO & YOH and Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger vs. ACH & Ryusuke Taguchi.
More heavyweight tag team matches will also fill the undercard. Most of them are the same matches from yesterday, just with a few people switched here and there. A ten man tag team match pitting the members of the Bullet Club against members of CHAOS is the main highlight.
Join us for live coverage starting at 5:30 a.m. EDT. There will be English commentary.
A decent opener, maybe slightly below the level of the typical Young Lion battles that fill the lower spots on these cards.
Tsuji briefly got some offense, but Umino hit a low dropkick, and his team took over. Honma hit a kokeshi, then tagged Umino. Tsuji came back with a dropkick of his own, and tagged Yoshida.
Yoshida ran wild, and connected with elbows in the coner and a series of kicks, picking up a nearfall. Yoshida landed some more kicks, but Umino hit a beautiful dropkick. Uemura and Narita tagged in. Tsuji and Uemura hit double dropkicks on Narita, and Tsuji dropkicked Honma off the apron.
Uemura applied a crab to Narita, but Umino made the save. Narita used a victory roll to transition to a crab, but Uemura reached the ropes. Narita used a bridging bell-to-belly to earn a nearfall, then applied a crab, and got the tapout.
We just got a taste of Ishii vs. Suzuki here, and it was wonderful.
Ishii and Goto attacked before the bell. Ishii used a chair on Suzuki, and choked him with his t-shirt. Ishii attempted to whip Suzuki into the crowd, but Suzuki reversed, then attacked with a chair.
TAKA worked Ishii over in the ring, then took the ref as Suzuki hit another chairshot on the outside. Back inside, Suzuki hit a yakuza kick in the corner, but Ishii no-sold it. Suzuki and Ishii traded shots. Both stumbled, thne fell at the same time. The crowd loved that exchange.
Ishii hit a vertical suplex on TAKA, then tagged Goto. Goto hit a Saito suplex for a nearfall. He went for an ushigoroshi, but Suzuki jumped in and cut him off. Suzuki hit a running PK, and TAKA hit a running knee for a nearfall.
Ishii and Suzuki brawled to the back. Goto hit an ushigoroshi and a GTR on TAKA, and picked up the pin.
Goto cut a promo on Taichi after the match, and challenged him for the NEVER Openweight title at Power Struggle. Taichi was at ringside doing commentary, and climbed onto the apron. He asked the crowd if they wanted to see the match, then declined Goto’s challenge. Goto responded by saying that Ospreay is still coming for the title.
KOTA IBUSHI, YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & CHASE OWENS DEFEATED HIROSHI TANAHASHI, TOGI MAKABE & TOA HENARE (9:05)
They teased some conflict between the Bullet Club and Ibushi, and something between Tana and Ibushi, which plays into Omega and Tana at the Tokyo Dome. The match itself was just okay.
Tana, Makabe and Henare all hit ten punches in the corner. The action spilled to the floor, where Yujiro got the advantage on Makabe. Back in the ring, Yujiro and Owens worked over Makabe.
Ibushi got a tag and hit a mid kick, then followed up with a series of punches. Makabe demanded more, then countered a right hand with a lariat, as Ibushi took a flip bump. Tana tagged in and hit a dragon screw. Ibushi went for a rana, but Tanahashi turned it into a cloverleaf. Yujiro jumped in for the save, but Tana hit him with a dragon screw.
Ibushi went for a standing moonsault, but Tana got the knees up. Tana sold his knees, and Ibushi hit a german, into a double down.
Henare and Owens tagged in. Henare hit a diving tackle, a lariat, and a Samoan drop. The match broke down, and all six men jumped in. Owens hit a running knee. Tana hit twist and shout. Ibushi hit a missile dropkick. Makabe hit a lariat.
Owens and Yujiro hit a double team elevated neckbreaker, and Owens got a nearfall on Henare. Owens followed with a package piledriver, and got the victory.
SWITCHBLADE JAY WHITE, BAD LUCK FALE, TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA & GEDO DEFEATED KAZUCHIKA OKADA, TORU YANO, BERETTA, CHUCKIE T & ROCKY ROMERO (14:44)
This started slow, but really picked up by the end, and the post-match was great, as they continue to tease an Okada/Tanahashi alliance.
Yano and Fale started out with a couple of comedy spots, before Yano begged off. Beretta and Tonga tagged in and had a really nice sequence. Romero and Chuck jumped in for a three on one on Tonga.
The action spilled outside, and the OGs took over. White slammed Okada on the floor, then slammed a Young Lion on top of him. Back in the ring, Tonga and Fale worked over Chuck. White pulled him to the floor and rammed him into the ring frame, then tossed him back inside.
Gedo jumped in for a spot, then tagged White, who continued working over Chuck. Jado hit him with a kendo stick from the floor, and Loa hit a blue thunder bomb for a nearfall. Chuck made a comeback. He hit soul food on Loa, then sliced bread on White, and tagged Okada.
Okada hit a DDT on White, and a forearm shot to Gedo. Okada hit a flapjack on White for a two count. White hit an uranage, and a flying forearm. Okada went for a dropkick, but White escaped. Okada hit a neckbreaker over his knee, and Romero and Gedo got tags.
Romero hit a clothesline in the corner, and fought off an attempted double team from Tonga and Loa, hitting both with ranas. Fale jumped in, but got whipped into the exposed buckle by Yano. Beretta hit a plancha to the floor. Okada hit Gedo with a dropkick.
Romero went for a sliced bread, but Gedo reversed it. He hit it on the second try, but White jumped in and hit him with a blade runner, then put Gedo on top of him for the pin.
Okada tried to jump White after the match, but he got beat down by Fale and Loa. White went for a blade runner, but Tanahashi ran in for the save. They hit a double sledge on Tonga. They went for one on White, but White bailed out.
Tanahashi offered Okada a handshake, and Okada accepted.
SUPER JR. TAG LEAGUE MATCH: RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & ACH DEFEATED TIGER MASK & JUSHIN LIGER (12:43)
This was mostly a comedy match, and the comedy was hit and miss.
Taguchi and ACH came out wearing Liger and Tiger masks, respectively. The referee wouldn’t allow them to wear them for the match, so they did some comedy over removing them.
Taguchi did some comedy with Liger, and blew himself up running the ropes, allowing Liger to apply a Romero special. ACH jumped in and broke it up. Taguchi was selling like he had an upset stomach.
Tiger tagged in and nailed Taguchi with a right hand to the stomach. He used a stomp to the gut, and a kick. Tiger applied a camel clutch, but Taguchi reached the ropes. Liger tagged back in. He hit a right hand, then an atomic drop. Taguchi hit a hip attack, into a double down.
ACH tagged in and business picked up. ACH hit a seated senton off the apron onto Tiger. He hit Liger with a discus lariat and a frog splash. Liger rolled to the floor. ACH missed with a senton attempt off the apron, and Liger hit a lariat.
Back in the ring, Liger hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. ACH hit a dropkick, and both tagged out. Taguchi went for a hip attack, but Tiger hit him with a dropkick. Tiger teased a tiger suplex off the top. ACH came in for the save, but kicked Taguchi, allowing Tiger to hit it. Tiger got a two count, as ACH broke up the pinfall. ACH was slightly late on the save.
ACH hit a hip attack on Tiger, allowing Taguchi to get back to his feet. Taguchi hit a tiger driver for a two count. They did some comedy involving trading pinfall attempts, and ACH was again slightly late on a save.
Tiger went for a backslide, but Taguchi held him down and picked up the pin.
This is probably as good a place as any to comment on the English commentary. Rocky Romero and Kevin Kelly are the best commentary team in the business, so perhaps we’ve been spoiled. Chris Charlton is a great third man in the booth. He’s an encyclopedia of New Japan knowledge, and provides translation ability as well.
I like Lanny Poffo and I would like there to be a place for him in wrestling, but I’m not sure this is it. Mavs Gillis did a fine job filling in for Kelly, but Charlton had to correct him on some details. Couple that with trying to fit in with Lanny, and this made for an awkward night for all three.
SUPER JR. TAG LEAGUE MATCH: ROPPONGI 3K DEFEATED SOBERANO JR. & VOLADOR JR. (11:56)
They started off hot, and there was a lot of good action, but they lost the crowd at certain points.
YOH and Volador started off with a great sequence, and they got the crowd into it right away. Soberano and SHO tagged in. Soberano went for a rana, but SHO cut him off. SHO and YOH doubled up on Soberano, and took over.
SHO hit a back elbow. He used a front facelock, and tagged YOH. YOH hit a mid kick, and a bridging suplex for a nearfall. Soberano made his own comeback, and hit a springboard dropkick, then tagged Volador. Volador hit a handspring back elbow on SHO and YOH. Soberano hit a space flying tiger drop to the floor, and Volador followed with an Asai moonsault.
Back inside, Volador went for a handspring attack, but bounced right into a deadlift german from SHO. YOH tagged in, but right into an atack from Volador. Soberano hit a tornillo off the top, and a moonsault off the second rope, while YOH was draped in the ropes.
YOH went up top, but Soberano hit an enziguri. SHO and YOH hit a superplex/powerbomb combo on Soberano, but Volador jumped in with a frog splash, and all four men went down.
SHO and Volador traded forearms. Volador went for a rana, but SHO hit him with a backstabber. Soberano hit the ropes, but ran right into a 3K, and YOH got the pin.
SUPER JR. TAG LEAGUE MATCH: ROBBIE EAGLES & TAIJI ISHIMORI DEFEATED KUSHIDA & CHRIS SABIN (12:32)
A good match. All action. I feel that it would have been better with a slightly slower pace, and maybe five more minutes.
KUSHIDA and Sabin ran wild at the outset, but Eagles took over with a dropkick on KUSHIDA’s knee. Ishimori tagged in and continued working over the left leg of KUSHIDA. KUSHIDA hit an enziguri, and made a tag to Sabin.
Sabin hit a high cross off the top onto both Eagles and Ishimori. Sabin hit a tornado DDT, and Eagles rolled to the floor. Sabin hit a missile dropkick on Ishimori, and got a two count. KUSHIDA went for a moonsault, but landed on his feet, and sold his leg.
Eagles and KUSHIDA tagged in and traded elbows and forearms. Eagles hit a cutter on KUSHIDA, and went for a 450, but got caught in a triangle. KUSHIDA slipped to an armbar, then a kimura. Ishimori jumped in, and Ishimori and Eagles both hit superkicks.
Ishimori hit an enziguri to KUSHIDA, then his sliding german. Eagles and Ishimori hit tandem kicks for a pinfall attempt on KUSHIDA, but Sabin jumped in for the save. Ishimori went for the bloody cross, but Sabin and KUSHIDA landed kicks.
KUSHIDA hit a cartwheel dropkick. Sabin took Eagles out on the floor. KUSHIDA went for back to the future, but Ishimori reversed, and hit a lungblower. Ishimori followed with the bloody cross, and got the pin.
SUPER JR. TAG LEAGUE MATCH: EL DESPERADO & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU DEFEATED SHINGO TAKAGI & BUSHI (18:05)
Kanemaru and Desperado jumped LIJ before the bell, and they brawled around ringside. Shingo and BUSHI took over as the action spilled into the crowd. They fought up into the second level of the hall, and BUSHI hit a crossbody onto both Desperado and Kanemaru.
Back in the ring, BUSHI choked Kanemaru with his t-shirt. Shingo got a tag, and hit a snap vertical suplex, picking up a one count. Shingo went for a running attack, but Kanemaru low-bridged him, and he went over the top to the floor.
They brawled into the crowd again, and Kanemaru and Desperado both used chairs. Back inside, Desperado and Kanemaru worked over Shingo. Kanemaru hit a DDT. Desperado tagged in and used a chinlock, then a side headlock. Shingo used a Saito suplex, into a double down.
BUSHI tagged in and hit a missile dropkick on Kanemaru. Desperado kicked him in the back from the apron, and Suzuki-gun briefly regained control. BUSHI hit a double rana, and tagged Shingo. Shingo tackled Desperado, and scoop slammed Kanemaru.
Shingo hit a basement dropkick to the leg of Kanemaru, then a powerslam. Kanemaru hit a tornado DDT, as Shingo sold his neck. Kanemaru made a tag, and Desperado stopped Shingo from making a tag, sending BUSHI off the apron. Desperado came off the ropes, right into a death valley driver, allowing Shingo to tag BUSHI.
BUSHI jumped in, but right into a spinebuster from Desperado. Desperado followed with a swinging neckbreaker. He missed a back elbow in the corner, and Shingo jumped in for a lariat. BUSHI hit an enziguri, and covered, but Kanemaru jumped in to break it up.
Shingo hit a bomber. Shingo and BUSHI went for rebellion, but KAnemaru and Desperado countered. Three men rolled to the floor. BUSHI went for a suicide dive, but Desperado side-stepped, and he went crashing into Tsuji, the Young Lion.
Kanemaru hit a running kick into a side slam from Desperado, but Shingo broke up the pinfall attempt on BUSHI. As Shingo and Kanemaru brawled to the floor, BUSHI spit black mist and used a backslide, but Kanemaru stopped the count, pulling the referee out.
Kanemaru spit whiskey mist, but BUSHI ducked it. Desperado hit a low blow, and got a two count. He pulled off BUSHI’s mask, and used the opportunity to roll him up for the pin.
More Super Jr. Tag League action takes place tonight at Korakuen Hall.
In tonight’s main event, ACH and Ryusuke Taguchi (2 points) will take on the team of SHO and YOH, Roppongi 3K (6 points). The latter team has far more experience than Taguchi Japan, but ACH and Taguchi need the points. It all may boil down to just who wants it more.
Other tournament matches scheduled for tonight include Shingo Takagi and BUSHI (6) taking on Robbie Eagles and Taiji Ishimori (4) in the co-main event, Volador Jr. and Soberano Jr. (2) taking on El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (4) and Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask (4) vs. Chris Sabin and KUSHIDA (4).
The other half of the card, as per usual on this tour, will consist of a bunch of tag matches. The highlight will be a 5 on 5 bout pitting members of CHAOS (headed by Kazuchika Okada) against members of the Bullet Club (headed by Jay White)
Join us for live coverage starting at 5:30 a.m. EDT. There will be English commentary, with newcomers Mavs Gillis and Lanny Poffo calling the action.
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Yota Tsuji, Shota Umino and Toa Henare defeated Yuya Uemura, Ren Naria and Ayato Yoshida
This was a good opener, but not much of note — your standard opener. Everyone got a chance to come in and look good. The new announcer, Mavs Gillis, seems fine and has done his homework. Poffo was pretty quiet. Umino eventually submitted Uemura with a Boston crab.
Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano defeated Minoru Suzuki and Taka Michinoku
Ishii and Suzuki started wailing each other with stiff forearm shots to start things off. They even went into the crowd, using a chair. Yano came in and undid the turnbuckles. Suzuki tagged out to Michinoku who accidently ran into the turnbuckle after a charge. Yano rolled him up and grabbed the tights for the win. This was fun.
Suzuki and Ishii continued to beat each other silly after the match.Officials tries to separate them, but there was no point. Suzukii threatened Ishii with a table. Eventually they continued slapping each other as they went to the back.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma defeated Kota Ibushi, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi
This was pretty heated when Kota Ibushi and Hiroshi Tanahashi, who were clearly the stars of the match, worked against one another. Tanahashi got the better of the exchange, with Ibushi tagging in Owens. Tanahashi let Honma hit the kokeshi as he went to the top rope and pinned Owens with the high fly flow. Another good match.
Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Gedo defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Beretta, Chuckie T and Rocky Romero
Chuckie T took everyone out with a big dive. GoD cut off Beretta from everyone and let the rest of Bullet Club work him over. Gedo comes in and works over Beretta but he finds a way to break free and tag in Okada, who starts running roughshod. Gedo quickly bails as the rest of GoD work him over.
White comes in and attacks Okada while he had Gedo in his clutches. Turns into a big battle where both Goto and Romero came in. Crowd got very hot for this match. White had Romero on his shoulders. Romero tried to counter with an armdrag, but White held him and hit the Bladerunner for the win.
Okada kicked White and sent him to the outside after the match. They exchanged some words with one another.
Super Jr. Tag League: KUSHIDA and Chris Sabin defeated Tiger Mask and Jushin Thunder Liger
Liger and Tiger Mask honed in on KUSHIDA early, working on his back. He hit a backspring elbow and tagged in Sabin, who hit a missile dropkick on Liger. KUSHIDA came back in, but was taken out by a Liger shotei.
Tiger Mask went for a tiger bomb off the top rope, but Sabin got involved. Tiger Mask dispatched him as Tiger Mask hit the tiger bomb on KUSHIDA but he kicked out. Tiger Mask followed with the tombstone. Sabin came back in and helped even things out, doing tandem work similar to the Timesplitters. They hit their finish called the Outta Time (neckbreaker/moonsault combo) on Tiger Mask for the win. Solid, but nothing special.
Super Jr. Tag League: El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Volador Jr. and Soberano Jr.
Desperado took Volador around the ring early, brawling with him. They wind up in the stands. Kanemaru has Soberano, and both heels why to whip their opponents into each other. Instead, Soberano and Volador whip Desperado and Kanemaru into one another, then launch off with giant dives off the top of the entranceways. That was a really cool spot.
Soberano and Kanemaru work in the ring against one another but Desperado grabs Soberano off the apron as he’s thrown into the nearby chairs. Desperado puts Soberano on the top rope and tries to take off his mask, but to no avail. Kanemaru and Volador are then in and exchange some back and forth. Both luchadors launch huge dives, wiping out Kanemaru and Desperado on the outside.
Soberano hit his tornillo, then went for something but got shoved in Kanemaru’s direction. Kanemaru sprayed whiskey in Soberano’s face as Desperado crucifixed him and scored the win. Pretty good match until the very weak finish.
Super Jr. Tag Tournament: Shingo Takagi and BUSHI defeated Taiji Ishimori and Robbie Eagles
Things started off with some back and forth. Eagles started working on BUSHI’s leg. BUSHI hit a double hurricanrana and tagged in Takagi, who took on Ishimori. They went at it for a bit before Ishimori started to grind him down with a crossface.
Eagles and BUSHI are back in as BUSHI connects with a big missile dropkick. Eagles countered back with a springboard sliced bread. He hit a 450 splash on BUSHI’s bum leg and went for a submission but Takagi managed to break it up. BUSHI hit a Canadian destroyer and the MX, but Eagles kicked out of both.
Ishimori and Takagi came in as Takagi took him out with the pumping bomber. With Takagi holding him up, BUSHI hit a second MX for the win. Another good match; the legwork Robbie Eagles did with BUSHI’s leg was well done and the action was consistently good.
Super Junior Tag League: ACH and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Roppongi 3K
ACH and SHO started things off. ACH went for a fist bump after an exchange, but SHO refused. Taguchi and YOH did the same thing, but Taguchi instead went for a double fist bump. YOH faked him out but Taguchi got control anyway and started working him over.
ACH tried for some sort of hip toss attack on the top rope, but YOH responded by putting two of his fingers…well…where the sun doesn’t shine. Same thing for Taguchi, who’s the legal man. SHO is tagged in as RP3K focus on Taguchi.
Taguchi hits a hip attack as he tags in ACH, who runs with, including a spectacular tope con hilo that wipes out RP3K on the outside. Taguchi is eventually tagged back in, who works over YOH. He channels Nakamura as he goes for a running hip attack but YOH counters with a roll-up. RP3K try for the 3K, but Taguchi dodges.
SHO tries to deliver multiple German suplexes on ACH but is blocked after a third. Tauchi and YOH exchange some very good pinfall attempts. ACH and Taguchi hit a tandem move but SHO breaks it up. They then try for an assisted facebuster, but once again SHO breaks it up.
ACH takes out SHO with a dive as YOH kicks out of a running hip attack. Taguchi then debuts a new finish, a half nelson suplex with a bridge, for the win. This was a great match, with the last few minutes being especially fun. Definitely the best match the show.
Taguchi and ACH cut a promo at the end of the show, mostly doing humor. They promised to win the tournament.
Current standings:
Shingo Takagi and BUSHI: 8
SHO and YOH: 6
El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru: 6
Chris Sabin and KUSHIDA: 6
ACH and Ryusuke Taguchi: 4
Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask: 4
Robbie Eagles and Taiji Ishimori: 4
Volador Jr. and Soberano Jr.: 2
The second day of Super Junior Tag League action continues this morning with more matches taking place inside Korakuen Hall.
Tonight’s matches include Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger vs. Soberano Jr. and Volador Jr., ACH and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Robbie Eagles & Taiji Ishimori, Chris Sabin and KUSHIDA taking on Shingo Takagi & BUSHI and Roppongi 3K vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru in the main event. The tournament will run through November 1 when the top two teams will face off against one another at Power Struggle. It’s still early into the tournament, so no one’s leading the pack thus far.
The undercard has a number of multi-person tag matches, with the most high profile bout pitting Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano and Best Friends against Jay White, Bad Luck Fale and the Guerillas of Destiny.
Join us for live coverage this morning at 5:30 a.m. EDT. There will be English commentary.
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Tomoaki Honma, Shota Umino and Ren Narita defeated Ayato Yoshida, Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura
Yoshida and Honma went at it. Yoshida connected with a penalty kick, but Homna took him down and landed the kokeshi. Yoshida worked with Narita, who also took a nasty penalty kick to the back as well. Tsuji came in and looked great. He managed to battle out of a Boston crab attempt by Umino, but managed to escape. Umino quickly got it back in and this time Tsuji tapped. A good opener.
Yoshida and Umino got into each other’s faces after the match, as well as Uemura and Narita.
Kota Ibushi, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe and Toa Henare
Story of the match had Henare being worked over constantly as Ibushi and the Bullet Club worked him over well. Even when Henare found an opening to tag, he couldn’t as his partners were taken out. Henare instead had to handle Ibushi and his kicks.
Henare finally tags out to Tanahashi, who went after Ibushi, who seems to be serving as a surrogate to Kenny Omega for this tour. They had a great exchange, including Ibushi busting out a jumping hurricanrana. Henare and Owens are tagged in and after a good exchange Henare walks right into the package piledriver for the win.
Jay White, Bad Luck Fale and the Guerillas of Destiny defeated Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano and Best Friends
Yano tried to use his tricks early but the OGz beat him down and worked him over as others on the outside beat up the rest of CHAOS. Beretta and Tama Tonga had some nice back and forth here as well. Okada is tagged in, but the OGz quickly work him over, capitalizing after Fale landed a big splash.
After everyone came in for a bit, Okada came back and started to get his head back, including landing a bodyslam on Fale. He went for the rainmaker on Loa but Gedo walks in and blasts him with brass knuckles for the DQ. I really liked when these used to be rare.
White went for the Switchblade after the match but Tanahashi ran to make the save. Tanahashi stood in the ring waiting for Okada to get up, but Okada bailed out of the ring instead.
Super Jr. Tag League: Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask defeated Volador Jr. and Soberano Jr.
Tiger Mask and Soberano did some good mat wrestling for a bit. Volador got the heat on Liger, with both he and Soberano working over the leg that cost he and Tiger Mask their match from last night.
Liger finds his opening after Volador accidently kicks Soberano on the apron. Everyone comes in. Soberano laid out Tiger Mask with his tornillo. He doesn’t seem used to these ropes as some of his stuff looked a bit off. Tiger Mask catches him with a crucifix, but he kicks out.
Tiger Mask lands the tombstone on Soberano and Liger comes in with a shotei. Liger hit the Liger Bomb and Tiger Mask hit the Tiger Bomb, but Volador broke up the pin. Liger dispatched him out of the ring as Tiger Mask hit the Tiger Suplex for the win. Good match, not great but was a very good, basic match.
Super Jr. Tag League: Taiji Ishimori and Robbie Eagles defeated Ryusuke Taguchi and ACH
They brawled outside of the ring early. Ishimori took care of ACH insider the crowd and brought him back in. ACH was worked over as the announcers sold the idea that he may have suffered rib injuries like Will Ospreay did the other day. It ended up looking like he might have injured his leg in a dive early on in the match. Taguchi tags in and runs wild.
ACH does manage to come back in and works with Ishimori, who ended up getting the heat on ACH once again. The two reversed one another in tombstone positions until Ishimori connected with the double knees. Eagles took out Taguchi from the outside as Ishimori connected with the Bloody Cross for the win. This was alright, though I think both teams had better matches last night.
Super Jr. Tag League: Shingo Takagi and BUSHI defeated KUSHIDA and Chris Sabin
Some good back and forth early, with Takagi and KUSHIDA working together while BUSHI and Sabin battled each other. They end up getting the heat on Sabin. Shingo took him out of the ring and brawled with him as BUSHI kept the heat on him in the ring. Sabin rolled up Takagi then tagged in KUSHIDA, who made the hot tag.
KUSHIDA hit a giant tope con hilo from the middle rope to the floor on Takagi. He came back to the ring and worked over BUSHI’s arm with an armlock. Sabin takes control of things, taking out BUSHI on the apron and connecting with a tornado DDT on Takagi for a nearfall. Takagi caught him with a pop up death valley driver. Takagi laid out Sabin with a inverted facebuster then hit the pumping bomber for a nearfall, then got the pin with the Last of the Dragon. Another good match, great heat towards the end.Takagi is clearly a standout in this junior heavyweight roster.
Super Jr. Tag League: Shingo Takagi and BUSHI defeated KUSHIDA and Chris Sabin
Some good back and forth early, with Takagi and KUSHIDA working together while BUSHI and Sabin battled each other. They end up getting the heat on Sabin. Shingo took him out of the ring and brawled with him as BUSHI kept the heat on him in the ring. Sabin rolled up Takagi then tagged in KUSHIDA, who made the hot tag.
KUSHIDA hit a giant tope con hilo from the middle rope to the floor on Takagi. He came back to the ring and worked over BUSHI’s arm with an armlock. Sabin takes control of things, taking out BUSHI on the apron and connecting with a tornado DDT on Takagi for a nearfall. Takagi caught him with a pop up death valley driver. Takagi laid out Sabin with a inverted facebuster then hit the pumping bomber for a nearfall, then got the pin with the Last of the Dragon. Another good match, great heat towards the end.Takagi is clearly a standout in this junior heavyweight roster.
Super Jr. Tag Leauge: Roppongi 3K defeated El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Kanemaru and Desperado jumped Roppongi 3K as they entered the ring and started a brawl outside of the ring.Desperado rammed SHO back first into a row of chairs and smashed one of his knees with a chair. Meanwhile, Kanemaru bodyslammed YOH on the exposed floor.
YOH was worked over for a bit until SHO made the hot tag. From here, it’s a big back and forth battle. Roppongi 3K hit stereo knees to Kanemaru, but he hit the whiskey mist on them both. YOH kicked out of the moonsault but Kanemaru went for the Deep Impact. He connected from the middle rope, but YOH kicked out.
SHO blocked another Deep Impact attempt but Desperado came him and took care of things. Kanemaru went for a brainbuster on YOH but YOH blocked it and pushed him into Desperado. SHO took care of Desperado as YOH rolled him up with a bridge. It didn’t look pretty, but it got him the win. A good main event that also had good heat.
Desperado and Kanemaru jumped RPG3K after the match, but left as Rocky stared them down. SHO and YOH cut a promo promising to win the league and the titles. Rocky Romero promised revenge against Takagi and BUSHI to close out the show.
Current Team Standings:
Taiji Ishimori & Robbie Eagles (2-0)
BUSHI & Shingo Takagi (2-0)
Roppongi 3K (1-1)
El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (1-1)
Volador Jr. & Soberano Jr. (1-1)
Tiger Mask & Jushin Thunder Liger (1-1)
KUSHIDA & Chris Sabin (0-2)
ACH & Ryusuke Taguchi (0-2)
Due to a rib injury, Will Ospreay is off New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Road to Power Struggle tour.
NJPW announced the news overnight, with them noting that Ospreay will miss the tour to “focus on the NEVER Openweight Championship match” that he’s having against Taichi at Power Struggle in Osaka on November 3. Taichi also won’t be wrestling on the Road to Power Struggle tour because of Ospreay’s absence.
The matches that Ospreay and Taichi are missing are from October 19 to November 1.
Ospreay also tweeted about having to miss the Road to Power Struggle events: “Once again I’m really sorry guys. This is up there with the worst pain I’ve ever been in. Promise once I’m ready to come back, I’m picking up where I left off.”
Road to Power Struggle continued today with a stop at Korakuen Hall. Tag team bouts dominated as usual, hyping the various matches going down at Power Struggle.
Meanwhile, we also saw the semifinals of the Jr. Tag Team Tournament, with Ricochet and David Finlay facing ACH and Taiji Ishimori in the main event. The other semifinal bout had Ryusuke Taguchi and CMLL’s Fuego teaming to take on Roppongi Vice.
Teruaki Kanemitsu defeated Hirai Kawato
Both guys have filled out compared to earlier this year. Kanemitsu has size, at least compared to Kawato who is pretty tiny. Solid young boy match with a lot of basic back and forth sports. Kanemitsu got the win, submitting Kawato with the Boston crab.
Yoshitatsu & Juice Robinson defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Bone Soldier by DQ
This was on the same level as their worst match of the year candidate a few weeks ago. Devoid of heat, uninteresting wrestling,and a bad finish to boot. Yoshitatsu cut a promo on Bone Soldier and jumped him as the match started. Yujiro worked on Yoshitatsu for a bit, then Juice got the hot tag, which made this match a bit better than the last tag but not by much.
Other than that, there was absolutely no heat for this match. Then Bone Soldier just low blowed Yoshitatsu for the DQ. He put on a full nelson, then tried to choke him, but Robinson made the save. This feud is quickly outpacing Titus O’Neil and Darren Young for worst feud of the year in record fashion.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask defeated Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Angel de Oro & Titan
Standard eight-man tag match. Angel de Oro and Titan looked good when they were in. Tenzan worked with them as well and looked good. Tiger Mask gained the win for his team with the tiger suplex hold on Titan.
Another standard match, mostly good action throughout with Ishii getting the win with the brainbuster on Chase Owens, who was wearing some sort of pumpkin face paint. GoD taunted Ishii after the match that sent him in a rage, brawling with Tonga into the crowd.
The roster for January’s Fantasticamania shows are as follows: Atlantis, Mistico, Volador Jr., Maximo Sexy, Dragon Lee, Titan, Stuka Jr., Blue Panther Jr., Soberano Jr., Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia, Ephesto, Barbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Okumura and Raziel.
Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks defeated Will Ospreay, Gedo & Kazuchika Okada
Great match, blew away everything on the show up to this point. Your usual great Young Bucks six-man with plenty of cool spots galore, plus Ospreay is one of the best high flyers in the world and he showcased that here.
Omega and Matt were dressed as Ghostbusters while Nick was playing the ghost. Actually pretty amazing outfits, loved it! This was a fun tag match full of the normal spots you’d see whenever The Elite team up. Ospreay was on point with his great offense as well, putting on Nick’s ghost costume and launching off with a corkscrew. The last few minutes of this were great with Ospreay doing a double hurricanrana on the Young Bucks.
Everyone ran in to do some great spots. Ospreay went for the springboard cutter but Omega grabbed him. Matt came in and accidentally superkicked Omega. Ospreay went for the Sasuke Special but Omega grabbed him and the Young Bucks hit the Indytaker on the outside. A triple superkick followed but Gedo broke it up. Omega hit the One Winged Angel on Ospreay and picks up the in.
Solid match. Crowd was into this since Ingobernables are hot as a unit right now. Tanahashi and SANADA had some cool exchanges in preparation for their singles bout next week. Honma was on a hot streak, laying out Naito with a lariat. But BUSHI misted him and Naito rolled him up for the win. Shibata went after EVIL after the match but was laid out with a belt shot and the STO.
Rocky Romero & Baretta defeated Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi in a tournament match
Fuego and Taguchi have such terrific chemistry as a comedy face tag team, it’s actually amazing they’ve never done it until now. Taguchi worked the first half of the match, both on offense and defense. Fuego made the hot tag and did a step up crossbody to the floor. Romero got in and was running wild until he got derailed with an assisted dropick by Taguchi.
Baretta ran in and did a giant tope to the floor. Taguchi came back with the Dodon but Baretta kicked out. Fuego came in, and after laying out Taguchi on the floor, Romero helped Baretta pin him with the dudebuster/dropkick combo. RPG Vice did tease dissension throughout the match, but were fine after.
ACH & Taiji Ishimori defeated Ricochet & David Finlay in a tournament match
This was fine. Not bad by any means, but I expected more. Also felt pretty short. Some good back and forth wrestling from ACH and Ricochet, some cool dives, but not really much of anything. Crowd was quiet in spots, which hurt the match. ACH and Ishimori won the match, getting the win with their stereo 450 splashes.
That makes it Roppongi Vice vs. ACH and Taiji Ishimori for Power Struggle.
RPG Vice came in after the match. Romero cut a promo in Japanese, then said this is New Japan territory and he’ll send Ishimori and ACH back to NOAH. Ishimori then cut a promo to close out the show.
A good show overall. Tag matches can get a little too same-y at times, but the last three matches were pretty good, especially the six-man.
