Tag: Sanada

Daily Update: Mr. Niebla passes away, SANADA, Fandango

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

F4W NEWSLETTER: Recapping WWE TLC 2019 Joseph Currier gives his thoughts on WWE’s final PPV of the decade.

WWE’s final pay-per-view of the decade took place on Sunday night and exemplified some of the changes we’ve seen over the past 10 years.

TLC 2019 was very much a B-level PPV in the WWE Network era. Not only were the top men’s and women’s singles titles from each brand not defended, there were no singles titles on the line at all. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens and AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton seemed like they were being built up as non-title matches that would help anchor the card, but they didn’t end up getting added. The show even ended with an angle instead of a match. After Asuka & Kairi Sane’s tables, ladders, and chairs match against Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair, a locker room brawl that featured Roman Reigns and Baron Corbin continued. The image that closed the show was Reigns spearing Corbin from an elevated area onto a pile of bodies. It felt like the ending of an episode of Raw or SmackDown instead of a major event.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

WON NEWSLETTER: December 23, 2019 Observer Newsletter: TLC and Final Battle reviews, more

We’ve got complete coverage of the last series of major shows held around the world in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer, as well as bios on a number of wrestlers who have passed away in recent weeks.The new issue also covers:

TLC, focusing on the behind-the-scenes of the Kairi Sane situation, who knew,when did they know, the channels where the ball was dropped and what can and needs to be learned from it. We note the business of the event, the U.S. popularity levels, plus have match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

Exactly how AEW was formed, including what match made Tony Khan feel opposition was viable and what conversation with what major person in television made it happen, as well as who was contacted first to be part of it. We also have the story from the market rep who got Bullet Club shirts into Hot Topic.

DVR numbers for pro wrestling shows right now as well as how meaningful they are and what it says about audiences. We also look at how and why the dynamic of how people watch wrestling on Wednesdays has changed over the past several weeks.  We also look at wrestling viewership in Canada.

Big names who have signed new WWE deals and a major name who has not, a WWE overseas TV deal, how many people buy WWE video games, pro wrestling offers to Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez’s next WWE show, the story behind Chelsea Green and Deonna Purrazzo on Raw and what it means short and long-term, a reboot of a WWE tag team, new feuds being started in WWE, most-watched shows on the WWE Network, WWE stock value and a look at all the WWE & NXT shows held over the past week with business notes and highlights.

UFC 245, with business notes, notes about the fighters who elevated their games, the title picture, plus match-by-match coverage.

ROH as it goes into 2020, who is going, who is staying, what is unknown, what kind of deals are being offered plus Final Battle coverage, with business notes, poll results, match-by-match coverage and star ratings.

AAA Guerra de Titanes, the creation of the new top stable, the debut of Sin Cara, thoughts and problems with the new name he’s using and more.

A bio on Randy Colley, best known as Moondog Rex, including his legal issues with WWE, what happened with the fans that ruined what would have been his biggest career break, other gimmicks he had, the birth of the Moondog gimmick and his biggest matches.

NWA, its YouTube numbers, its television tapings direction for the next several weeks, its net PPV show, as well as coverage of its Into the Fire show with poll results.

2019 cable numbers for the stations that carry pro wrestling and MMA and what they mean.

Notes on the career of Alberto Munoz, who was supposed to become a legend, and what happened in 1973 that ended that dream.

Dragon Gate’s Final Gate show with coverage of the event.

A personal look at how a law that was poorly thought out will affect reporters and web sites that use people from California and how adhering to it will make it nearly impossible for anyone in the state to start out in the field, and for the vast majority who work for publications outside the state, to likely lose their jobs.

The life of Scottish Hall of Famer Andy Robin, and his protege, Hercules the Bear.

Regarding the Wednesday numbers, we’ve got full details, demos that each side won, how every segment did and what match ended up as the difference maker. 

Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.

In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.

Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week. 

Current subscribers click here to read.

ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].

Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.

In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.

For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.

If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.

MONDAY NEWS UPDATE

In horrible news, Mr. Niebla, a CMLL major star, just passed away. He had been hospitalized with a blood infection. He was 46. Niebla has been with CMLL since 1995, and while he had numerous issues over the years, he was always taken back. He was a former CMLL world heavyweight champion, tag team champion and two-time world trios champion.

Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw and other notes, as well as taking your email questions to [email protected]. Garrett Gonzalez and I talked about pro wrestling in 2020 on last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio, taking questions on the subject.

Sanada vs. Zack Sabre Jr. is still on the lineup for the 1/5 show at the Tokyo Dome. Nothing has been said more about Sanada’s injury and those we were in contact with had the impression it was not serious.

Fandango is back out of action for several months to a year after Tommy John surgery from an elbow injury suffered in the tag match on the 12/11 NXT show. You could see him favor his arm in the match with the Singh Brothers.

Jumanji: The Next Level was a distant number two behind Star Wars at the box office this past weekend doing $26.5 million in week two.

WWE

  • Glenn Jacobs talked to Sports Illustrated about how Bryan Danielson, whose political beliefs are the opposite of his, has helped shape his own political viewpoints. I remember hearing about how Mick Foley, whose beliefs were similar to Danielson, always admired Jacobs because of how smart he was in debating opposite opinions. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
  • Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny did a music video featuring Steve Austin. You can watch it on Youtube or the link attached here. The song “Quien tu eres? (Who are you?) is from last year’s “X Siempre” (for ever) album that was released on Christmas eve 2018. So in the one year anniversary he released the video clip. It’s kind of funny especially at the end. It’s the second time that Bad Bunny features a pro-wrestler in a video as he did one with Ric Flair a few years ago. He grew up in the 90’s watching RAW and is a big fan of WWE and had made various references to pro-wrestlers in his songs. (thanks to Leonardo Mendez Toledo)
  • Maria Menounos will be on WWE Backstage tomorrow night.
  • Evolve runs 1/17 in Ybor City, FL and 1/18 in Orlando.  There will be meet and greets on those shows with Rhea Ripley and Cameron Grimes in Orlando and Dominik Dijakovic both nights.  The shows will feature some NXT vs. Evolve matches.

 UFC

  • With Frankie Edgar finished by Chan Sung Jung on Saturday, Edgar’s attempt to fight twice in a short period of time, a second fight with Cory Sandhagen on 1/25 in Raleigh, NC, is out.  Sandhagen is now off the show and looking for a name opponent and asked for either Marlon Moraes or Dominick Cruz.

AEW

  • Matt Jackson on Instagram wrote that he and his brother have decided to leave Twitter permanently, saying it took away time from their family and felt it seemed to stifle their creativity.  He said they will continue to post stuff online.
  • Cody has said he will announce some surprises on Christmas day.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • The WWN produced WrestleExpo in association with WrestleMania week has two shows on 4/2 called Accelerate: Initiate, with stars from NXT, NXT UK, Evolve, Progress and wXw. The shows will take place at Noon and 4 p.m. that day, the Thursday before WrestleMania at the Bryan Glazer JCC, which is the site of the old Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa.
  • AAW’s 15th annual Windy City Classic on 12/28 at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, IL, which will air as an iPPV on FITE TV, has Josh Alexander vs. Jacob Fatu with the AAW champion defending against the MLW champion, whose title is not at stake. Also Jessicka Havok defends the women’s title against Kris Statlander, Paco defends the Heritage title against Hakim Zane, tag champs Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett defend against Sami Callihan & Jake Crist, Jimmy Jacobs vs. Good Brother #3 in a dog collar chain match,Eddie Kingston & David Starr vs. Curt Stallion & Jake Something in a Bourbon street fight, Killer Kross vs. Matt Justice and Kimber Lee vs. Hyan.
  • Julian Ward vs. Mikey Nicholls for the EPW title was announced for 2/8.
  • Defy Wrestling on 1/3 in Seattle at Washington Hall with Matt Cross vs. Matt Sydal, Schaff & The Amerikan Gunz vs. Artemis Spencer & Jacob Fatu & Josef Samael, and Psicosis & Guillermo Rosas vs. Judas Icarus & Eli Surge.
  • The Rock & Roll Express and Private Party will be appearing 12/27 in Baltimore for a show at Perry High School.  Renee Michelle (Drake Maverick’s wife) vs. Aria Palmer vs. Gia Scott for the women’s title is also on the how. Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson face King McBride & Rayo.
  • Pro Wrestling Revolver on 12/27 in West Des Moines, IA at the Val Air Ballroom has a battle for control of the promotion with Killer Kross & Ace Romero & JT Dunn & Jessicka Havok vs. Sami Callihan & Mad Man Fulton & Dave & Jake Crist, plus Jake Manning vs. Tent, Ace Austin defends the Impact X title against Trey Miguel and Blake Christian, Josh Alexander & Ethan Page defend the Revolver tag titles against Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz, Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett, Rich Swann & Jason Cade ad James Logan & Tyler Matrix.
  • Bill Apter talks to Alicia Atout.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Homicide wins ROH title at Final Battle 2006

CONTACT INFORMATION

Daily Update: SANADA, Rey Fenix, Japan schedule

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

F4W NEWSLETTER: Recapping WWE TLC 2019 Joseph Currier gives his thoughts on WWE’s final PPV of the decade.

WWE’s final pay-per-view of the decade took place on Sunday night and exemplified some of the changes we’ve seen over the past 10 years.

TLC 2019 was very much a B-level PPV in the WWE Network era. Not only were the top men’s and women’s singles titles from each brand not defended, there were no singles titles on the line at all. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens and AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton seemed like they were being built up as non-title matches that would help anchor the card, but they didn’t end up getting added. The show even ended with an angle instead of a match. After Asuka & Kairi Sane’s tables, ladders, and chairs match against Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair, a locker room brawl that featured Roman Reigns and Baron Corbin continued. The image that closed the show was Reigns spearing Corbin from an elevated area onto a pile of bodies. It felt like the ending of an episode of Raw or SmackDown instead of a major event.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

WON NEWSLETTER: December 23, 2019 Observer Newsletter: TLC and Final Battle reviews, more

We’ve got complete coverage of the last series of major shows held around the world in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer, as well as bios on a number of wrestlers who have passed away in recent weeks.The new issue also covers:

TLC, focusing on the behind-the-scenes of the Kairi Sane situation, who knew,when did they know, the channels where the ball was dropped and what can and needs to be learned from it. We note the business of the event, the U.S. popularity levels, plus have match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

Exactly how AEW was formed, including what match made Tony Khan feel opposition was viable and what conversation with what major person in television made it happen, as well as who was contacted first to be part of it. We also have the story from the market rep who got Bullet Club shirts into Hot Topic.

DVR numbers for pro wrestling shows right now as well as how meaningful they are and what it says about audiences. We also look at how and why the dynamic of how people watch wrestling on Wednesdays has changed over the past several weeks.  We also look at wrestling viewership in Canada.

Big names who have signed new WWE deals and a major name who has not, a WWE overseas TV deal, how many people buy WWE video games, pro wrestling offers to Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez’s next WWE show, the story behind Chelsea Green and Deonna Purrazzo on Raw and what it means short and long-term, a reboot of a WWE tag team, new feuds being started in WWE, most-watched shows on the WWE Network, WWE stock value and a look at all the WWE & NXT shows held over the past week with business notes and highlights.

UFC 245, with business notes, notes about the fighters who elevated their games, the title picture, plus match-by-match coverage.

ROH as it goes into 2020, who is going, who is staying, what is unknown, what kind of deals are being offered plus Final Battle coverage, with business notes, poll results, match-by-match coverage and star ratings.

AAA Guerra de Titanes, the creation of the new top stable, the debut of Sin Cara, thoughts and problems with the new name he’s using and more.

A bio on Randy Colley, best known as Moondog Rex, including his legal issues with WWE, what happened with the fans that ruined what would have been his biggest career break, other gimmicks he had, the birth of the Moondog gimmick and his biggest matches.

NWA, its YouTube numbers, its television tapings direction for the next several weeks, its net PPV show, as well as coverage of its Into the Fire show with poll results.

2019 cable numbers for the stations that carry pro wrestling and MMA and what they mean.

Notes on the career of Alberto Munoz, who was supposed to become a legend, and what happened in 1973 that ended that dream.

Dragon Gate’s Final Gate show with coverage of the event.

A personal look at how a law that was poorly thought out will affect reporters and web sites that use people from California and how adhering to it will make it nearly impossible for anyone in the state to start out in the field, and for the vast majority who work for publications outside the state, to likely lose their jobs.

The life of Scottish Hall of Famer Andy Robin, and his protege, Hercules the Bear.

Regarding the Wednesday numbers, we’ve got full details, demos that each side won, how every segment did and what match ended up as the difference maker. 

Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.

In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.

Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week. 

Current subscribers click here to read.

ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].

Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.

In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.

For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.

If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.

SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

We have a show that I did yesterday with Garrett Gonzalez and Patric Laprade, talking Hall of Fame, Rene Goulet, Wednesday nights and what we’ve learned from recent weeks and more. Garrett Gonzalez and I are doing a show today. One of the topics will be 2020 wrestling. If you’ve got any questions on that topic send to [email protected]

I’m doing a show and a meet and greet at Toudoukan in Tokyo at 11 a.m. on 1/4, several hours prior to the first of the two Tokyo Dome shows. I’ll just tell you this, if you are going to Japan, whether you want to see the show or not, you need to go to Touduokan’s. Ticket info is here. Jim Valley and I will also be doing a podcast from Toudoukan. 

Regarding Sanada, we haven’t gotten an update from anyone past it being downplayed to us.  New Japan hasn’t announced any injury or card changes yet, although Bushi beating Zack Sabre Jr. yesterday came out of nowhere and feels like a backup plan.  Sanada missed yesterday’s show with what was called a head injury.

The Kevin Nash pulling out of the Jericho Cruise over doing a movie is legit. He got a good part in an upcoming Alec Baldwin movie. There were people questioning the reason. 

Rey Fenix missing PWG over transportation issues was legit. His flight out of Mexico City to Tijuana was delayed. The hope was until late in the show that he could make it, but traffic issues on Friday night made it impossible. David Starr ended up working twice and replaced Fenix in a match with Jonathan Gresham.

AEW

  • Cody Rhodes was interviewed by Sports 1 in Germany.
  • Nyla Rose, on a gimmicked suspension from AEW is working for the Marvelous promotion in Japan right now.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • For those going to Japan who have asked, this is just some of the Tokyo schedule. It’s not everything, but it is the major groups:
  • December 29, Sunday
    WAVE, 11:45am at Korakuen Hall
    Pure J, 1:00pm at Hana Gekijyo, Asakusa, Tokyo
  • Dec.30, Monday
    OWE, 11:30am at Korakuen Hall
    Hard Hit, 6:30pm at New Pier Hall, Tokyo Bay area
    Big Japan, 6:30pm at Korakuen Hall
    ACT, 6:30pm at Shinkiba
  • Dec. 31, Tuesday
    Ice Ribbon, 11:30am at Korakuen Hall
    Rizin New Year’s Eve show, Saitama Super Arena 2 p.m.
    New Year’s Eve show 8:00pm until next morning at Korakuen Hall
  • January 1, Wednesday
    ZERO-1, 2:00pm at Korakuen Hall
    WAVE, 6:00pm at Shinkiba
  • January 2, Thursday
    Kyushu, 1:00pm and 3:00pm at Shinkiba
    All Japan, 11:30am at Korakuen Hall
    Big Japan, 6:30pm at Korakuen Hall
    Stardom, 6:00pm at Shinkiba
  • January 3, Friday
    All Japan, 11:30am at Korakuen Hall
    Freedoms, 12:30pm at Shinkiba
    Stardom, 6:00pm at Shinkiba
    DDT, 6:30pm at Korakuen Hall
  • January 4, Saturday
    Stardom, 12:00pm at Ryogoku KFC Hall
    New Japan 4:00pm at Tokyo Dome
    NOAH 6:30pm at Korakuen Hall
    Tokyo Joshi 11:30am at Korakuen Hall
    Big Japan, 12:00pm at Shinkiba
    Ice Ribbon, 12:00pm at Yokohama Radiant Hall
  • January 5, Sunday
    NOAH, 11:30am at Korakuen Hall
    SEAdLIING, 12:00pm at Shinkiba
    New Japan, 2:00pm at Tokyo Dome
    Dragon Gate, Heiwajima Boat Race
    Sendai Girls & OZ Academy, 12:00pm and 6:00pm at Shinjuku Face
  • January 6, Monday
    New Japan, 6:30pm at Tokyo Ota Ward Gym
  • Rico Verhoeven came back from being knocked down twice to win when Badr Hari was injured in the third round while delivering a spin kick in a fight he was winning in the biggest kickboxing match of the year.  The Glory heavyweight title fight drew gigantic numbers in Holland, not Super Bowl numbers but maybe NFC championship finals numbers.
  • The only thing that made the Google search list over the weekend from combat sports was Julio Caesar Chavez Jr.’s fight on Friday night which was No. 15 for the day with 100,000 searches.  Nothing from UFC or Bellator made the list, nor from Smackdown.
  • Northeast Wrestling from last night in Bethany, CT:  Christian Casanova won three-way over Keith Youngblood and JT Dunn to become Live champion, Brian Pillman Jr. b Mike Verna, Dan Maff b Wrecking Ball Legursky in a no DQ match, Royce Bishop & Trigga the OC b Traevon Jordan & Jaylen Brandyn, Tasha Steelz b Angel Sinclair, Chuck O’Neil b Jake Manning, Chris Battle & RJ Rude & Zane Bernardo b Brett Ryan Gosselin & Aide Aggro & Danger Kid. They announced Flip Gordon and Marty Scurll for the 1/25 show.  TK O’Ryan was there and talked about his concussion issues that have kept him out of action for months. He said he suffered three concussions in 2019 but will be back and wrestling in NEW in 2020. (thanks to Nick Mahmood)
  • Pro Wrestling Phoenix on Wednesday night from Omaha, NE:  Pat Powers b K-Dos, Lars Metzger b Logan Ocean-COR, Willy Sweet b Nick Scent, Jack Darling & Uncle Ricky b Manford Zablinski & Gideon Tenpenny, Moonshine Russell b Con Artiest, Seto Kobara & Tim Boston b Paul Daniels & Joey Daniels, Tony Cortez b Donnie Peppercricket, Arik Cannon b Duke Cornell-DQ.  Next show is 1/3 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha.
  • Ignite Wrestling on 1/11 in Vero Beach, FL at the Walking Tree Brewery with Aaron Epic, Serptentico, Kaci Lennox and more.
  • Dynamo Pro Wrestling on 12/28 in St. Louis at the Concordia Turners Gymnasium.
  • Glory Pro Wrestling from last night in Sauget, IL:  Valentina Loca b Sophie King, Devon Monroe won eight-way, Mike Outlaw won four-way over Dak Draper, Paco Gonzalez and Jake Lander, Elayna Black won three-way over Seishin and Lanie Luck, Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett b Air Wolf & Angel Dorado, Hakim Zan b PB Smooth, Rickey Shane Page b Kevin Lee Davidson, Danny Adams & Barackus & Kody Lane b Steve Manders & Eddy Only & Billy Brash in a bunkhouse match, Jake Something b Matthew Justice in a no DQ match Curt Stallion b Effym, Halal Beefcake b Philly Collins & Marino Tenaglia, A.J. Gray b Mance Warner in a death match (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
  • Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 1/4 in Columbus, IN at the 4-H Fairgrounds.
  • Mike Mooneyham on Rene Goulet (thanks to Chris Cruise)
  • Here are photos from Friday’s PWG event.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Rikidozan becomes Japanese Heavyweight Champion

CONTACT INFORMATION

NJPW World Tag League 2019 winners crowned

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Juice Robinson and David Finlay are this year’s World Tag League winners.

They defeated EVIL and SANADA at this morning’s World Tag League finals, their first time winning both individually and as a team. Finlay scored the pinfall for his team after hitting a springboard stunner off the middle rope.

After the match and the trophy presentation, the rest of the babyface roster came out with Zimas to celebrate FinJuice’s win. Robinson called out current IWGP Tag Team champions Guerillas of Destiny, who came out with Jado. Robinson officially challenged the team to a title match at the Tokyo Dome. Tama Tonga bluntly replied by flipping off everyone in the ring as the trio left.

It had boiled down to three teams going into the finals: EVIL and SANADA, Guerillas of Destiny and Robinson & Finlay. GoD lost their match against Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI in the semi main event, putting them out of the tournament. 

EVIL & SANADA were going for a third straight win tonight after winning in 2017 and 2018.

NJPW King of Pro Wrestling live results: Okada vs. SANADA

Posted on by Ethan Renner

NJPW’s biggest event of the fall takes place this morning at Sumo Hall.

Despite the weather that has been going on over the weekend, the show is still scheduled to take place. Kazuchika Okada will defend the IWGP Heavyweight title against SANADA in the main event. This will be a rematch based on their last match during the G1, when SANADA pinned Okada.

The semi-main will feature a similar storyline. EVIL defeated Kota Ibushi during the G1, and has also pinned him in the tours since. The match will be for Kota Ibushi’s IWGP title shot at Wrestle Kingdom 14.

Two other title matches will take place on the show. Due to travel issues, Jon Moxley is off the show and the IWGP United State stitle has been declared vacant. Juice Robinson will now face Lance Archer for the vacant title. Will Ospreay will defend the IWGP Jr. title against Super J-Cup winner El Phantasmo.

Jushin Thunder Liger will also face Minrou Suzuki in a special singles match. The two have been feuding with months, and it recently got to the point where Jushin Liger brought out his Kinshin Liger persona, nearly taking out Suzuki with a spike.

Join us for live coverage starting at 4 a.m. ET.

**********

The card was totally revamped due to travel issues related to Typhoon Hagibis. Jon Moxley was stripped of the U.S. title, and Lance Archer will now face Juice Robinson for the vacant title. Zack Sabre Jr. is also off the card. 

EL DESPERADO & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU DEFEATED SHO & YOH 

This was Desperado’s return match after suffering a broken jaw in May. He feigned a jaw injury early, allowing his team to take control of the match. 

Kanemaru hit a leg slice over the barricade on SHO. Desperado kept YOH at bay while Kanemaru used a full crab on SHO. Desperado got a tag and traded forearm shots with SHO. Kanemaru and Desperado continued using quick tags to work over SHO. 

SHO blocked a vertical suplex and hit his own on Kanemaru. YOH got a hot tag and ran wild. He sent Desperado outside with a dropkick, then hit a flying forearm on Kanemaru. YOH then used a head and arm suplex into a bridge for a near fall. 

Kanemaru cut YOH off with a dropkick to the leg. Desperado tagged in. He did well to fight off a Roppongi 3K double team at first, but got cut off with stereo knee strikes. 

SHO and YOH teased a 3K, but Kanemaru pulled YOH outside. SHO used a deadlift German on Desperado for a two count while Kanemaru and YOH fought on the outside. 

We got a ref bump here in the opener, as Desperado shoved SHO into the official. Kanemaru jumped in and spit whiskey in SHO’s eyes. Desperado then hit the Pinche Loco on SHO and pinned him. 

This was a fun opener, screwy finish aside. Desperado looked gigantic, having put on some muscle mass in his time off. 

HIROSHI TANAHASHI & TOMOAKI HONMA DEFEATED TOGI MAKABE & TORU YANO  

Wataru Inoue, who debuted with Tanahashi and now works in the NJPW office came to ringside and got a nice reaction. 

It was so weird seeing Tanahashi in the second match in a nothing tag.

Tana and Makabe began. Tana hit a hip toss. Honma and Yano tagged in. Yano tried to untie a turnbuckle pad. Honma and Tana missed a double kokeshi attempt. Yano then untied a corner pad and sent Honma into the exposed buckle. 

Yano then sent Tana into the exposed buckle. Makabe and Yano used quick tags as they continued working over Honma. Honma came back with a shoulder tackle and tagged Tana. 

Tana hit dragon screws on both Makabe and Yano. He then hit a somersault senton on Makabe for a two count. Makabe cut him off with a lariat, then tagged Yano. Yano got sent into the exposed buckle. 

Yano tried a low blow on Tana, but Makabe made the save. Tana and Honma hit a double kokeshi on Yano, but Makabe broke up the pinfall. 

Honma took Makabe out with a kokeshi. Yano sent Tana into the exposed buckle and used a schoolboy for a two count. 

Tana then hit a slingblade on Yano, and followed with a High Fly Flow for the pin. 

TETSUYA NAITO & SHINGO TAKAGI DEFEATED TAICHI & DOUKI BY DQ

A lame match with a lame finish. 

Naito and Shingo worked over DOUKI at the outset. DOUKI used a thumb to the eye to gain the upper hand on Shingo, and Suzuki-gun then turned this into a brawl around ringside. Taichi sent Naito over the barricade, then used a chair on Shingo. 

Back inside, DOUKI and Taichi worked over Shingo. Shingo came back with jabs and a lariat on DOUKI, then tagged Naito. Taichi tagged in as well. 

Taichi attacked Naito’s legs with kicks. Naito hit a hurricanrana, then a basement dropkick. Taichi came back with an enziguri, while DOUKI cleared Shingo off the apron. Naito hit a clunky swinging DDT, and both tagged out. 

Shingo hit a pair of corner clotheslines, then used a DDT for a near fall. Shingo hit a noshigami for a two count, as Taichi made the save. Naito and Taichi brawled to the floor. Shingo hit a Pumping Bomber on DOUKI. 

Shingo set up DOUKI for Made in Japan. Taichi jumped in with his mic stand and used it on Shingo for the DQ. 

After the bell, Taichi blocked a Destino from Naito, then hit him with the stand. Taichi then hit a Last Ride. He got a visual pinfall on Naito as DOUKI counted to three. 

Taichi cut a promo after the match and promised to finish what Naito started, since Naito couldn’t get it done. Presumably this was in reference to Naito’s quest to be a double champion. 

MINORU SUZUKI DEFEATED JUSHIN LIGER

Liger came to fight tonight. He entered sans wig and the top half of his bodysuit. He is in remarkable shape. 

Liger dared Suzuki to go to the mat with him. Liger used a trip takedown. Suzuki got a kimura applied, but Liger reached the bottom rope. Suzuki then invited Liger to the mat with him. Liger trapped Suzuki in a triangle, but Suzuki forced a break. 

They rolled outside. Liger tried to use a chair, but the referee stopped him. Suzuki shoved the ref down, then used a chair on Liger against the barricade. The referee again tried to intervene, and again Suzuki threw him down. 

Suzuki went for Liger’s mask. They traded palm strikes on the floor, with Suzuki getting the best of the exchange. Suzuki used an armbar over the ropes. Suzuki hit a headbutt, then a right hand. 

Liger fired up and hit a couple of palm strikes. He then hit a shotei, then a rolling capo kick. Liger went for a brainbuster, but Suzuki reversed into a rear naked choke. Liger feigned passing out, then fell to the mat. Liger baited Suzuki to the ground, where he then used an armbar. Suzuki forced a break. 

Liger continued to work over Suzuki’s right arm. Suzuki slapped on a sleeper. He then went for a Gotch-style piledriver, but Liger hit a backdrop. Liger then used a Thesz Press for a two count. 

Liger hit a brainbuster for a two count. He hit the ropes, but ran right into a Suzuki dropkick. Suzuki connected with a series of palm strikes. Liger fired up and countered with his own palm strikes. Suzuki countered. Liger tried to counter, but he lost steam on his strikes. 

Suzuki hit a hard forearm shot to the neck. Liger hit a final palm strike. Suzuki no-sold it, then again went for the Gotch piledriver. Suzuki held the hold for a long time, then dropped Liger with the piledriver. Suzuki then covered for the 1-2-3. 

After the bell, Suzuki grabbed a chair. He cleared the ring of the Young Lions tending to Liger. He teased a chair shot to Liger. Instead, Suzuki dropped the chair. He then fell to his knees, and bowed down to Liger. 

After Suzuki left, Liger took the microphone. He thanked Suzuki then left. 

This was tremendous. They got a lot out of a very simple match, and the post-match emotion was awesome. 

IWGP JR. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: WILL OSPREAY DEFEATED EL PHANTASMO TO RETAIN THE TITLE (27:59)

This was the third match with a ref bump, if you’re keeping score. The match was fantastic, but they kicked out of absolutely everything, almost to the point of parody. 

ELP put out a babyface statement on Twitter earlier in the day, promising to change his ways. Taiji Ishimori accompanied ELP, while Robbie Eagles seconded Ospreay. ELP continued with the babyface routine, as he sent Ishimori to the back. Ospreay then sent Eagles away as well. 

After the opening bell, both men broke cleanly against the ropes. ELP offered a handshake, but Ospreay refused. They did a series of flips and counters, ending in a standoff. ELP again offered a handshake, and again Ospreay refused. 

ELP offered a knuckle lock, and Ospreay obliged. They traded monkey flips while keeping the knuckle lock, then both bridged out. ELP hit a slap to the face. Ospreay answered with his own slap. ELP hit a chop, while Ospreay countered with a heavier chop, establishing Ospreay as having the power edge. 

ELP poked Ospreay in the eye, but pretended like it was an accident. He helped Ospreay up, but then went back and raked the eyes again. ELP hit a springboard hurricanrana, then mocked Ospreay’s pose in the center of the ring. 

Ospreay retaliated with a Pip Pip Cheerio, then a space flying tiger drop. On the outside, Ospreay threw ELP over the barricade into Gino Gambino at the commentary desk. ELP flew about five rows deep. Ospreay went into the crowd after ELP, but ELP hit him with a soft chair shot to the head. 

They fought into the audience. They climbed atop an overhang and fought there, about a ten foot drop to the arena floor below. Ospreay slid off, landing on his feet. ELP then hit a crossbody off the overhang. 

Back in the ring, Ospreay took a front turnbuckle bump. ELP tied Ospreay to the tree of woe, then hit a sliding dropkick. He teased a second dropkick, but stomped on Ospreay’s crotch instead. Ospreay countered with a snap spider German out of the corner. 

Ospreay hit a dropkick, then a standing shooting star. He teased a Storm Breaker, but ELP blocked. Ospreay teased an Oscutter, but ELP blocked. ELP teased his airplane spin neckbreaker, but Ospreay blocked. 

Ospreay landed on his feet out of an attempted top rope rana from ELP. Ospreay hit a cutter. He then tried an Oscutter, but ELP cut him off and hit the airplane spin neckbreaker. ELP teased a CR2 on the apron, but Ospreay blocked. 

They traded strikes on the apron. Ospreay blocked another CR2 attempt. Ospreay rolled to the floor, then jumped off the barricade. ELP jumped off the apron into a cutter from the barricade to the floor. 

After a countout tease, ELP dove back inside, right into a coast-to-coast from Ospreay. Ospreay hit a shooting star press for a two count. He followed with a Robinson Special, then hit the Oscutter. Ospreay covered, but Ishimori ran in and pulled the ref out of the ring. 

Ishimori teased a belt shot, but Eagles ran down to even the odds. Eagles hit a flip dive through the ropes, then dragged Ishimori to the back. 

ELP grabbed the title belt. Ospreay ducked a belt shot, then hit a hook kick. Ospreay missed a Hidden Blade. ELP hit a low blow, then a belt shot. ELP hit a top rope splash. He covered, but Ospreay kicked out at two. 

ELP hit Ospreay with a Cheeky Nandos kick, then hit a neckbreaker off the second rope for a two count. ELP hit a Styles Clash, but Ospreay again kicked out at two. 

ELP hit a V-Trigger. He teased a One-winged Angel, but Ospreay blocked it, then hit a Spanish Fly for a two count. 

They traded strikes. Ospreay hit a series of hook kicks, then hit a Canadian Destroyer for a two count. Ospreay climbed to the top rope. ELP kicked the ref into the ropes, and Ospreay got crotched on the top rope. 

ELP went for a Frankensteiner off the top rope, but Ospreay turned it into a powerbomb. Ospreay hit a Hidden Blade, then hit Storm Breaker for the pin. 

HIROOKI GOTO, TOMOHIRO ISHII & YOSHI-HASHI DEFEATED JAY WHITE, KENTA & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI

This felt like a buffer match after the craziness of the Ospreay match right before it. They focused on Goto vs. White, then Ishii and KENTA. 

Bullet Club worked over YH for a long time at the outset. YH hit a vertical suplex, and Ishii got a tag. Ishii and KENTA had a nice exchange, ending with a DDT from KENTA to Ishii. Ishii’s selling was great. 

Goto and White got tags. Goto hit a wheel kick in the corner, then hit a Saito cuplex for a two count. White used a distraction from Gedo to avoid an Ushigoroshi, then hit Goto with a DDT. 

Yujiro tagged in. Goto and Yujiro exchanged lariats. Yujiro and KENTA double-teamed Goto. KENTA hit a Shibata dropkick in the corner, and Yujiro hit a fisherman buster for a two count. 

Yujiro went for Pimp Juice. YH made the save for Goto. White went for a Blade Runner, but Goto escaped, then sent White outside. Yujiro hit an inverted DDT on Goto for a two count. 

Goto blocked Pimp Juice, then hit an Ushigoroshi. He followed up with a GTR, and got the pin on Yujiro. 

After the match, Ishii and KENTA brawled to the back. White teased getting in with Goto, but begged off. 

Tanahashi was on commentary and had a staredown with White after the match. White acted as though he has no intention of defending the title against Goto or Tana, but those look to be the next challengers for White. 

IWGP U.S. HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: LANCE ARCHER DEFEATED JUICE ROBINSON TO WIN THE TITLE (14:59)

This was a cold match with no build thanks to Moxley’s travel issues. They tried with all of the plunder, but they spent a ton of time just moving furniture around. This felt like a misfire. 

Juice began this no-DQ match with an inside cradle. Archer kicked out at two. Archer rolled to the apron, and Juice hit a spear through the ropes. Juice used a chair. He teased a cannonball against the barricade, but Archer jumped up and hit a big boot. 

Archer hit a chokeslam over the barricade through a table, then hit Juice with a chair. Archer removed all of the turnbuckle pads, then went back to the floor and hit Juice with a chair. 

Archer set up a bunch of furniture in the ring. He sent Juice into a chair wedged in the corner. Juice sold his hand and may have dislocated a finger. Juice came back with a superplex, a Left Hand of God, then hit a cannonball through a table. 

Juice went for Pulp Friction. Archer pushed Juice off, then hit a Pounce, sending Juice through a table. 

They had a sword fight with chairs. Juice blocked an EBD Claw, then hit a Juice Box for a two count. Juice set up a pile of chairs in the center of the ring. He teased a Pulp Friction on the chairs, but Archer blocked, then slammed Juice on the chairs. 

Archer then hit Blackout on the chairs. He covered, but Juice kicked out at two. 

Archer slammed Juice’s head into the chairs repeatedly, then used the EBD Claw to pin Juice and win the title. 

Archer continued his assault after the bell. David Finlay ran in to make the save. He hit a pair of stunners, and Archer bailed. 

I expected that it was going to be difficult for NJPW to get dates on Moxley once AEW’s schedule kicked in, but I still expected him to be in for big shows. After this, it would appear that they are moving forward as though Moxley isn’t going to be around. Interesting. 

KOTA IBUSHI DEFEATED EVIL TO RETAIN THE RIGHT TO CHALLENGE FOR THE IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP AT WRESTLE KINGDOM (24:05)

They started slowly, as EVIL worked a side headlock. Ibushi came back with a dropkick. EVIL sent Ibushi to the floor, then whipped him into the barricade. EVIL maintained a methodical pace as he went back to a side headlock. 

Ibushi came back with a powerslam out of the corner, then a moonsault. EVIL came back with a foot stomp. Ibushi avoided a bronco buster in the corner by hitting a double stomp to EVIL’s chest. Ibushi teased a deadlift German from the apron back into the ring, but EVIL countered with a cutter, dropping Ibushi’s neck on the top rope. 

EVIL pulled two chairs from under the ring. He placed one on Ibushi’s head and neck, then hit him with the other. This wasn’t a DQ because it happened on the floor, I guess. 

Back inside, EVIL hit a superplex for a near fall. EVIL tried for a misdirection lariat, but Ibushi caught him with a hurricanrana. Ibushi teased a Last Ride off the top rope, but EVIL tossed him to the apron. Ibushi popped up, then hit a top tope rana for a two count. 

Ibushi grabbed wrist control, teasing a Kamigoye. EVIL fought it off. EVIL tried a German, but Ibushi landed on his feet. EVIL no-sold a lariat, then hit his own lariat for a near fall. 

EVIL hit Darkness Falls for a two count. EVIL tried for Everything is EVIL, but Ibushi pulled him into a cradle for a two count. Ibushi dropped EVIL on his head with a spike package piledriver. Ibushi then hit a Last Ride for a near fall. 

Ibushi went for a Bomaye, but EVIL nailed him with a lariat. EVIL then hit a second lariat for a near fall. Ibushi blocked Everything is EVIL, then hit a straightjacket German into a bridge. EVIL got his shoulders up, then hit a pair of half-and-half suplexes. 

EVIL removed his elbow sleeve and went for a lariat, but Ibushi cut him off with a lariat. Ibushi went for Kamigoye, but EVIL reversed into a headbutt. They traded headbutts. Ibushi hit Kamigoye, but EVIL kicked out at two. 

Ibushi immediately hit a second Kamigoye, and this time it was enough for the 1-2-3. 

This was a good match, but felt just short of the NJPW main event match quality. 

IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: KAZUCHIKA OKADA DEFEATED SANADA TO RETAIN THE TITLE (36:21)

Another fantastic Okada vs. SANADA match. 

Okada tried a shotgun dropkick at the opening bell, but SANADA escaped. They traded strikes. Okada tried a series of dropkicks, but missed all of them, as they continue to tell the story that Okada can’t hit the dropkick on SANADA. 

SANADA ducked a Rainmaker. Okada hit an armdrag to avoid Skull End. SANADA missed a moonsault. Both missed on a double dropkick spot, ending a crazy opening sequence. 

Okada worked a wristlock. SANADA reversed into a hammerlock. Okada slipped to a side headlock, then pushed SANADA into the ropes. Okada teased a strike on the break, but broke cleanly instead. 

Okada hit a shoulder block. He sent SANADA rolling outside with a sliding kick. On the floor, Okada sent SANADA over the barricade with a big boot. SANADA avoided a draping DDT on the barricade, then countered with a swinging neckbreaker off the barricade. 

Back inside, SANADA used a chinlock. Okada countered with uppercut forearm strikes. Okada hit a running back elbow, then another in the corner. Okada hit a DDT out of the corner for a two count. 

SANADA took a flip over the turnbuckle to the apron. Before he could hit a follow-up springboard attack, Okada hit a dropkick, sending SANADA to the floor. Okada hit a big boot, sending SANADA over the barricade. Okada hit a crazy running crossbody over the fence, wiping out the first three rows of chairs. 

Okada asked Red Shoes to stop his count to allow SANADA to get back inside. SANADA tried to fire up, but couldn’t get anything on his strikes. Okada hit a slam, then went to the top. SANADA jumped up before Okada could try a top rope elbow. SANADA hit a leapfrog dropkick, then a plancha, before standing and posing on the barricade. 

SANADA got the Paradise Lock applied, then broke it with a dropkick. SANADA covered for a two count. SANADA missed a moonsault, but landed on his feet. Okada hit a shotgun dropkick, then a missile dropkick. 

Okada hit a top rope elbow, then hit his Rainmaker pose. They traded cradles. SANADA teased a TKO, but went for Skull End instead. Okada reversed into a Tombstone attempt. SANADA reversed that into his own Tombstone, and hit it. SANADA then hit a TKO for a near fall. 

SANADA used Skull end. Okada slipped his head out of the hold, but SANADA re-applied it. Okada slipped out again, but SANADA again re-applied the hold. They did a long submission tease. Red Shoes really tried to sell this. Okada sat back into a cover and got a two count. 

SANADA took Okada’s back, but Okada was able to get back to his feet. SANADA tried to get Skull End again, but Okada hit a Rainmaker. He was slow to make a cover, and SANADA kicked out at two. 

They traded strikes from their knees, then continued to trade while standing. SANADA dropped Okada to one knee with an uppercut forearm. SANADA no-sold an uppercut, and Okada dropped Okada to the mat with an uppercut. 

SANADA missed with a rolling elbow. Okada missed a Rainmaker. SANADA went for Skull End, but Okada hit a dropkick to the back. Okada then hit another dropkick. SANADA avoided a Rainmaker, then got Skull End applied again. 

SANADA used a spinning Skull End, then sat down in the hold with a bodyscissors applied. SANADA gave up the hold and covered, but Okada just got a shoulder up. 

SANADA hit one moonsault to the back. SANADA went for another, but Okada rolled over and got his knees up. 

SANADA got Skull End, but Okada used the ropes to reverse into a Tombstone. SANADA kicked off a Rainmaker, but Okada maintained wrist control. SANADA used an O’Connor roll into a Japanese Clutch for a great near fall. 

Okada hit an armdrag to avoid Skull End, then hit a dropkick. SANADA ducked a Rainmaker. Okada ducked a counter Rainmaker. Okada avoided a pop-up TKO. SANADA hit a rolling elbow. He again tried the pop-up TKO, but Okada blocked it. 

Okada teased another Tombstone, but SANADA wrapped an arm around his neck, looking again for Skull End. Okada hit a Michinoku Driver, then hit a Rainmaker. He covered, and got the pin. 

Okada offered a handshake after the match, and SANADA accepted, before walking off in tears. 

Okada cut a promo after the match. He said he’d like to do it again with SANADA one day in the Tokyo Dome main event. 

Okada then turned his attention to Ibushi. He said Ibushi has avenged his G1 losses, but Okada, who lost to Ibushi, hasn’t yet. 

Ibushi came to the ring. He congratulated Okada. He said he wants both the Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles. He said it’s no fun anymore with Okada on top all the time. He asked if it was okay to challenge Okada. 

Okada said it’s not that easy. He said Ibushi has to come at him first at the Tokyo Dome. Ibushi agreed. They will face off on January 4. 

Okada thanked the fans for coming to see the show in spite of the typhoon. He said it’s their job as wrestlers to give people struggling right now the energy to get back on their feet. 

Okada thanked everyone, and the show closed with confetti flying and his music playing. 

New Japan Road results: Okada & Ibushi vs. SANADA & EVIL

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall was the site of today’s New Japan Road event.

Hiroshi Tanahashi teamed with Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI in an effort to take the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles from Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano & Togi Makabe in the semi-main event. This was the third in a series of four matches commemorating Tana’s 20th anniversary in NJPW. 

The main event previewed the top two matches at next Monday’s King of Pro Wrestling event, as Kazuchika Okada & Kota Ibushi took on SANADA & EVIL in tag team action. 

Ibushi will defend his right to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom against EVIL next week, while Okada will defend said championship against SANADA. 

Here are full results and match recaps from today’s show:

HIROYOSHI TENZAN, SATOSHI KOJIMA & YUYA UEMURA DEFEATED YUJI NAGATA, MANABU NAKANISHI & YOTA TSUJI

This was a fun opener, especially considering the advanced age of four of the competitors. 

Tenzan and Nagata began. Tenzan hit some Mongolian chops. Uemura and Tsuji tagged in. Uemura was a house of fire, quickly dispatching of Tsuji. Nakanishi tagged in and hit Uemura with a headbutt, then his team took over. 

Nagata got a tag and continued working over Uemura. Tsuji tagged in, looking to redeem himself. He hit Uemura with three slams, then used a lateral press for a two count. 

Uemura came back with a spear before Nagata and Kojima tagged in. Kojima hit some machine gun chops. Nagata cut him off before he could hit a top rope elbow. Kojima hit a Koji Cutter. He went for a finishing lariat, but Nagata caught him in an exploder suplex and tagged Nakanishi. 

Nakanishi fired up the crowd and hit a weak lariat for a two count. He got the Argentinian backbreaker on Kojima, but Tenzan broke it up. Tenzan and Kojima tried to double up on Nakanishi, but he hit them with a double suplex instead. 

Tsuji got a tag. He hit Tenzan with forearms and a dropkick, then hit a slam for a two count. Nagata and Nakanishi jumped in for a triple team on Tenzan. Tsuji hit a spear, then used a full crab on Tenzan, but Kojima quickly broke it up. 

Tsuji went nuts with chops on both Tenzan and Kojima. He hit the ropes, but ran right into a TenKoji Cutter. Tenzan then used an Anaconda Vice on Tsuji for the submission victory. 

SHINGO TAKAGI DEFEATED TOA HENARE

As you might expect, they didn’t get a lot of time, but they had an excellent match. Shingo’s matches have a different feeling to them, as his intensity is nearly unmatched. Henare rose to the occasion and more than held up his end of the bout. Good stuff. 

Henare came out of the gate quickly. He aggressively went after Shingo, with him sending Shingo to the floor with a shoulder block. Shingo fired back quickly. He sent Henare over the top rope, then hit his own shoulder block on the floor. 

Back inside, Shingo used a series of short kicks to the head, then a double sledge to the chest. Henare ducked a Pumping Bomber, then hit a diving shoulder tackle. Henare followed up with a corner clothesline, then hit a vertical suplex. 

Henare hit a diving chop for a near fall. Shingo came back with jabs, a lariat, and a throw. Henare blocked Noshigami, then hit a headbutt to the chest. Henare hit a big rugby tackle out of the corner, earning a two count. 

Shingo blocked a uranage attempt, then hit Noshigami for a two count. Henare no-sold a lariat. Shingo hit a series of short elbows, but Henare fired up and hit a big series of strikes. 

Shingo came back with a lariat, then hit a Pumping Bomber. He covered, but only got a two count. Shingo then hit Made in Japan for the pin. 

MINORU SUZUKI & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU DEFEATED JUSHIN THUNDER LIGER & TIGER MASK BY DQ

Suzuki and Kanemaru attacked Liger and Tiger as they were climbing into the ring. Suzuki attacked Liger with chairs, then choked him with an umbrella. Back inside, Suzuki and Kanemaru went for their opponents’ masks, but stopped before they would have been disqualified. 

Suzuki hit Liger with a stiff forearm shot. Liger went down. Kanemaru tagged in and hit some stomps. Liger fired up and went after Suzuki on the apron, but Suzuki slapped on an armbar over the ropes. Kanemaru hit Liger with a drive-by kick on the apron. 

Suzuki used a kimura on Liger. He hooked Liger’s left arm over the ropes, then attacked it with kicks. Liger blocked a PK, then hit some Shotei palm strikes. Suzuki tried a misdirection spot to set up a rear naked choke, but Liger cut him off, then hit a brainbuster. 

Tiger and Kanemaru tagged in. Tiger used a rolling kneebar, which Kanemaru sold in a big way. Kanemaru forced a rope break. Tiger hit a tombstone, then went to the top rope. He missed on a diving headbutt attempt. 

Kanemaru hit a lariat, then hit a perfect top rope moonsault for a two count. Tiger fought off a Deep Impact attempt, then hit a Tiger Driver. Both tagged out. 

Liger and Suzuki exchanged palm strikes to the chest. They fought to the floor, where Suzuki sent Liger into the barricade, then used a chair. Suzuki brought two chairs into the ring. He took one, and Liger took the other. 

Suzuki shoved the referee down, and Liger and Suzuki had a chair fight. Liger snapped, then hit the ref with the chair for the DQ. 

Suzuki grabbed a microphone and taunted Liger. They did several pull-aparts. Thanks to Chris Charlton and Google Translate, I was able to deduce that Liger and Suzuki promised to fight to the death next week, and Suzuki called Liger by his shoot name. I really need to learn Japanese. 

Suzuki and Liger is the feud of the year. Change my mind. 

HIROOKI GOTO, SHO, YOH & TOMOHIRO ISHII DEFEATED YUJIRO TAKAHASHI, TAIJI ISHIMORI, GEDO & JADO

Ishii and Yujiro began. Ishii hit some big forearm shots. The CHAOS team was able to fight off Bullet Club’s first attempt at a group attack, but they fell victim to the second. This became a brawl around the arena, but couldn’t touch the heat of the last match. 

Jado ended up the legal man, and he started working over Ishii with eye rakes. Gedo tagged in and choked Ishii in the blue corner. Ishimori tagged in. He tried a backflip kick, but Ishii caught him with a suplex, then tagged YOH. 

YOH hit a flying forearm on Ishimori. Gedo jumped in, and so did SHO. SHO and YOH hit stereo dropkicks on Gedo. YOH then used a falcon arrow on Ishimori for a two count. 

YOH teased a dragon suplex, but Ishimori blocked. YOH hit Jado with a baseball slide. YOH ducked under a series of attempted strikes from Ishimori, but ran into a kendo stick shot from Jado. 

Yujiro and Goto tagged in. Goto hit a wheel kick in the corner, then hit a suplex for a two count. Goto teased an Ushigoroshi, but Yujiro blocked it. Yujiro hit a basement dropkick, then tagged Gedo. Gedo hit a jawbreaker, then used a superkick for a near fall. 

The match broke down here. Gedo grabbed brass knuckles. YOH fought him off. Goto fought off a kendo stick shot from Jado. Yujiro hit Ishii with an inverted DDT. SHO and YOH hit stereo planchas. Gedo used a schoolboy for a two count on Goto. 

Goto hit Gedo with an Ushigoroshi, then hit a GTR for the pin. This match was kind of a mess. 

Goto cut a promo on Jay White after the match. 

TETSUYA NAITO & BUSHI DEFEATED TAICHI & DOUKI

Boy did this show start to drag after the Suzuki and Liger angle. 

Naito and DOUKI began. Naito got hit with a kamaguri by Taichi from the apron. From there, DOUKI and Taichi turned the match into a brawl around ringside. DOUKI and Taichi established the advantage, then went to work on Naito. 

DOUKI and Taichi used a series of tags, working over Naito in a dull manner. The crowd doesn’t buy DOUKI as a threat, and Taichi was not having a good night. Naito came back with an enzuigiri, then hit Taichi with a low dropkick. 

BUSHI got a tag. He hit Taichi with a missile dropkick, then used a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Taichi cut him off with a kamaguri in the corner, then tagged DOUKI. DOUKI connected on a springboard DDT for a two count. 

DOUKI called for Suplex de la Luna. BUSHI blocked it, then rolled into a cradle for a two count. Naito and BUSHI doubled up on Taichi. Naito sent Taichi outside after a dropkick. 

DOUKI and BUSHI were still legal. DOUKI used a rolling cradle for a near fall. BUSHI hit a codebreaker, then hit the MX for the pin. 

NEVER OPENWEIGHT SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: RYUSUKE TAGUCHI, TORU YANO & TOGI MAKABE DEFEATED HIROSHI TANAHASHI, YOSHI-HASHI & TOMOAKI HONMA TO RETAIN THE TITLES

Tana and Taguchi began with a nice mat wrestling exchange. YH and Yano got tags. Yano tried to untie a corner pad, but YH cut him off. Makabe and Honma tagged in. The former GBH teammates got a nice reaction. Honma ducked a lariat, then dropped Makabe with a shoulder tackle. 

Honma hit Makabe with chops. Taguchi and Yano jumped in, but Tana slammed both of them. Tana and Honma missed on kokeshi attempts. Taguchi missed a kokeshi on Honma. Yano untied a corner pad, and Makabe sent Honma into the exposed buckle. 

Yano tagged in. He sent Honma and Tana into the exposed buckle. Taguchi got a tag and hit Honma with a series of hip attacks. Makabe tried a brainbuster on Honma. Honma reversed into what was supposed to be a brainbuster, but it was really sloppy and dangerous. 

YH got a tag. He dropped Makabe with a shoulder block. Makabe cut him off with a lariat, then tried for ten punches in the corner. YH hit a powerbomb out of the corner. Makabe popped up, then hit a lariat. 

Tana and Taguchi tagged in. Tana blocked a hip attack. He teased slingblade, but Taguchi hit him with a hip attack, then went for three amigos. Tana blocked the third amigo, then hit Twist and Shout. Tana hit a slingblade. 

Tana went to the top rope. Makabe and Yano grabbed his ankles. Honma and YH fought them off, but the distraction was useful. Tana missed a High Fly Flow. Taguchi missed a Bomaye. Tana tagged Honma. 

Honma hit a bulldog, but he missed another kokeshi attempt. Taguchi hit a series of thumbs to the eye, then tagged Yano. Yano ran into the exposed buckle. Honma missed a kokeshi. Tana hit Yano with a dropkick, and Honma finally hit a kokeshi. Tana and Honma then hit stereo kokeshis. 

YH hit Yano with a meteora, and Honma used that to get a near fall. Honma hit a diving kokeshi off the second. Taguchi hit him with a hip attack. YH took out Taguchi with a lariat. YH and Tana ducked a Makabe double lariat. 

Yano hit low blows on Tana, YH, and Honma. Taguchi hit a hip attack to Honma, and Yano used a schoolboy on Honma for the pin to retain the titles. 

Other than the fans holding up placards for Tanahashi as he entered, there was nothing special at all about this anniversary show for The Ace. 

SANADA & EVIL DEFEATED KAZUCHIKA OKADA & KOTA IBUSHI

Ibushi and EVIL started off. They had an intense staredown. EVIL hit a shoulder tackle, but Ibushi kipped up out of it. Ibushi hit a dropkick, then tagged Okada. Okada demanded that SANADA tag in, and he obliged. SANADA and Okada did some crowd work. Red Shoes played along, and this seemed to be a pro-SANADA crowd. 

Okada missed a series of dropkick attempts. The story heading into their match next week is that Okada can’t hit his dropkick on SANADA. SANADA hit a dropkick. EVIL and SANADA took control as the match spilled to the outside. EVIL and Ibushi fought in the crowd. 

Back in the ring, SANADA scored a near fall off his attack on the floor. EVIL got a tag, then hit a seated senton on Okada in the corner. SANADA tagged back in to hit a series of short elbows. He then used a back elbow for a two count before working a chinlock. 

Okada came back with a flapjack, then tagged Ibushi. EVIL tagged in as well. Ibushi ran wild, hitting a back elbow, a mid kick, and connecting with a standing moonsault for a two count. EVIL hit his ref-assisted mid kick, then tagged out. 

SANADA locked Ibushi in the Paradise Lock, then broke it with a dropkick. SANADA covered, but Ibushi kicked out at two. Ibushi hit a frankensteiner, then tagged Okada. Okada hit a running back elbow. 

Okada and SANADA exchanged forearm strikes. SANADA hit a basement dropkick, then blocked a dropkick attempt in the corner. Okada countered with an air raid crash, a slam, and a top rope elbow. 

Okada hit his Rainmaker pose. EVIL jumped in and hit him with a German. Ibushi hit EVIL with a backflip kick. SANADA hit Ibushi with a springboard dropkick. Okada went for a tombstone, but SANADA reversed it into Skull End. Ibushi broke up the hold. 

SANADA hit a backbreaker. He went for a moonsault press, but Okada rolled out of the way. SANADA landed on his feet. He teased a TKO, then tried for Skull End. Okada ducked out, and SANADA ducked a Rainmaker. Okada hit the ropes, then finally hit a dropkick. Both tagged out. 

Ibushi and EVIL traded strikes. EVIL tried a misdirection lariat, but Ibushi countered with a powerslam, then hit a moonsault for a two count. 

Ibushi tried for a Last Ride. EVIL blocked it. Ibushi hit a German into a bridge for a near fall. Ibushi went for a Bomaye. EVIL blocked it with a lariat, then hit Darkness Falls. Okada broke up the pin. SANADA jumped in and threw Okada outside. 

EVIL tried Everything is EVIL, but Ibushi blocked it. EVIL hit a rolling elbow. He tried a lariat, but Ibushi countered with a high kick for a two count. EVIL escaped a Kamigoye. SANADA hit Ibushi with a dropkick. Okada sent SANADA outside. 

Okada and Ibushi missed a double dropkick on EVIL. EVIL hit Everything is EVIL on Okada. Ibushi hit EVIL with a Bomaye. Ibushi went for a Kamigoye on EVIL. SANADA saved, then hit Ibushi with a TKO. 

EVIL hit Everything is EVIL on Ibushi, then used a jackknife cover for the pin. This was a heck of a main event tag match. 

NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed results: East Coast tour begins

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Jesse Collings

NJPW’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed East Coast tour kicked off at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts on Friday night. It will continue in New York City on Saturday and then conclude in Philadelphia on Sunday. The NYC show will air live on New Japan World with Japanese commentary.

Here are the results from night one:

– Karl Fredericks defeated Alex Coughlin

Basic Young Lions match — a lot of hard chops and typical NJPW style with a lot of selling. Fredericks won with a modified half-crab.

– Lance Archer defeated Ren Narita

Archer felt like a superstar. His theme song was over and people in unison all chanted “Everybody Dies!” during it. Narita was given a lot for a Young Lion facing a veteran.

They worked a spot where Narita kept trying to slam Archer — and when he finally did the crowd popped big for it. Narita kicked out of the Texas Hightower (Archer’s chokeslam). Archer pinned him with the EBD Claw.

– Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls defeated Clark Connors & TJP

Basic tag match. They worked on Connors for a long time before TJP made a hot tag. Nicholls eventually pinned Connors after a Blue Thunder Bomb.

– Chase Owens & Jado defeated The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson)

Considering he was the only guy who could really take a lot of bumps, Owens had to work very hard during this match. Morton and Gibson were pretty over as a nostalgia act — and Morton actually hit a tope to the outside.

Owens eventually pinned Morton after a package piledriver.

– Tomohiro Ishii & Amazing Red defeated BUSHI & Shingo Takagi

The crowd was really into Ishii and Takagi and they had their typical fight: big forearm exchange spot, shoulder tackles, etc. Ishii pinned BUSHI after a brainbuster. Interesting that they didn’t pin Red since he doesn’t even work full-time for the company.

– Hirooki Goto, Rocky Romero & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Gedo, Jay White & KENTA

KENTA didn’t do much in the match. He hit a few moves but just looked like he was going through the motions. The crowd liked Goto and reacted to him like he was a star. White worked really hard and fast and crisp with all of his stuff.

YOSHI-HASHI submitted Gedo with his Butterfly Lock.

– IWGP Tag Team Champions Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) defeated Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) to retain their titles.

This ended up being really good. Guerrillas of Destiny were over pretty big during their entrance.

They built a great series of spots at the end where YOH rolled Tonga up a couple of times for some really close near falls. Tonga then went for the Gun Stun, with YOH catching him into a backslide for an awesome near fall, since it felt like if they were going to pull off the upset, it would have to be on a move like that.

Tonga slipped out of the pinning attempt and hit the Gun Stun for the win.

– Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi defeated Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & EVIL

The match was mostly about the personalities in it. The crowd really dug the star power in the ring, especially on the babyface side. They didn’t do anything crazy, but they didn’t have to.

They built up to the finish with everyone going for their trademark moves. Naito tried to cradle Tanahashi, but Tanahashi reversed it and pinned Naito. The crowd didn’t really expect that finish.

Tanahashi stayed in the ring after the match and cut a short promo in English, saying he doesn’t have a title now but he will never give up, never retire, and that when he comes back, he will have a title.

Three title matches announced for NJPW King of Pro Wrestling

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Editor’s note: This article references results from NJPW’s Super J-Cup.

NJPW has confirmed three title matches for King of Pro Wrestling 2019.

The event will be headlined by IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada defending his title against SANADA. The match was set up by SANADA defeating Okada in this year’s G1 Climax.

Okada retained the IWGP Heavyweight title against Minoru Suzuki at Royal Quest this past weekend.

The IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship will be on the line at King of Pro Wrestling as Jon Moxley defends against Juice Robinson in a no DQ match. Moxley won the title from Robinson at June’s Best of the Super Juniors finals. Robinson then defeated Moxley in the G1.

El Phantasmo is challenging for Will Ospreay’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at King of Pro Wrestling. Phantasmo was the winner of this year’s Super J-Cup, defeating Ospreay in the process. Phantasmo defeated Robbie Eagles in the first round, TJP in the quarterfinals, Ospreay in the semifinals, and Dragon Lee in the finals.

Ospreay & Eagles are challenging for Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles at Destruction in Kagoshima on Monday, September 16. That comes after Ospreay & Eagles defeated Phantasmo & Ishimori in a non-title match at Royal Quest.

King of Pro Wrestling is taking place at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan on Monday, October 14.

ROH TV results: EVIL & SANADA vs. Nagata & Kojima

Posted on by Dan Velten

Ian Riccaboni and NWA National Champion Colt Cabana called the action from the Odeum in Villa Park, Illinois

– Allure (Mandy Leon, Velvet Sky & Angelina Love) came to the ring to speak. Velvet Sky said Allure were the most credible women to enter Ring of Honor. Angelina Love said the fans needed to get familiar with Allure. Mandy Leon called the fans Twitter trolls, and she called Kelly Klein an embarrassment.

This brought out Jenny Rose with Klein. They slid in the ring and went after Allure. A brawl with all five women ensued until security got in the ring to break it up. Love used hairspray in the eyes of Rose. Allure then bailed and Klein got on the microphone. She said that she and Rose would take them on anytime, anywhere.

The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Milonas) defeated The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan), Coast 2 Coast (LSG & Shaheem Ali), and Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors in a four corner survival match

Milonas and LSG started it off. Milonas bounced LSG off his shoulder and LSG tagged Marseglia. Milonas crushed him with a crossbody and tagged in the Bruiser. Marseglia tagged in O’Ryan, then Coughlin tagged himself in and then quickly tagged in Connors. Chaos ensued as the show went to break.

After the break, The Kingdom were working over Connors. Marseglia hit a suplex and tagged in O’Ryan, but Ali blind tagged himself in off of O’Ryan. Ali tagged his partner LSG in, and they hit a double-team hip toss slam on Connors.

Eventually, Connors fought to the corner and tagged in his partner Coughlin. He beat up Coast 2 Coast until Bruiser tagged himself in to continue the pummeling. O’Ryan tagged himself in off of LSG and came off the top rope, but Milonas caught him and hit a side slam. He landed another spinning side slam on Marseglia.

Coast-to-Coast double-teamed Bruiser, who was tagged out by Connors. The NJPW Young Lions (Coughlin and Connors) came in and took out Coast 2 Coast. This brought in The Kingdom, who used the House of 1000 Horses double team slam on Connors. Ali tagged himself in and went for the cover, but Bruiser broke up the pin at two.

Milonas tagged in — as did Coughlin. Milonas smooshed him in the corner and then nailed the Closing Time leg drop to get the win.

– Backstage, Mark Haskins and Tracy Williams said they were fed up with Bully Ray. PJ Black walked up and said that if they needed some assistance, he was there to help.

– A recap of Colt Cabana’s NWA National Championship victory over Willie Mack aired, including Cowboy James Storm coming out and challenging Cabana. That match will air next week.

– Another recap of Silas Young’s wrestling clinic from last week aired.

– Also from last week, they recapped Kenny King defeating Jay Lethal in the first match of their best-of-three series.

– They showed the first of a two-part video package highlighting Jeff Cobb’s amateur wrestling background, including his representation of Guam at the 2004 Olympics. Cobb will challenge ROH World Champion Matt Taven at the Best in the World pay-per-view on June 28.

Josh Woods defeated Maverick Boone

Woods shoved Boone to the mat and followed it up with a gutwrench powerbomb. Woods got the pin on Boone after a Seismic Toss.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA & EVIL) defeated Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata

Nagata and SANADA started it off. Kojima kicked SANADA in the back, which allowed Nagata to start kicking as well. He tagged Kojima in as SANADA kipped up. It didn’t take long for this one to break down into a crazy brawl. In the ring, SANADA applied the Paradise Lock on Kojima and gave him a dropkick to the rear as the show went to commercial.

After the break, Kojima nailed SANADA with a DDT. He tagged in Nagata, who went back to the kicks, a big boot, and an exploder suplex. A forearm exchange ensued. Nagata got the better of it until SANADA caught his leg and went for the Paradise Lock — but Nagata fought free.

Nagata applied a Nagata Lock armbar on SANADA. Kojima prevented EVIL from breaking it up. SANADA fought free and landed a dropkick and tagged in EVIL.

EVIL chopped Nagata hard, but Nagata hit a low dropkick and tagged in Kojima. Kojima chopped EVIL a million times. SANADA came in and took a million chops as well. SANADA hit the mat and Kojima went up top and connected with an elbow, but SANADA kicked out at two.

EVIL tagged in and LIJ beat down Kojima. They went for the Magic Killer on him, but Nagata cut them off and Kojima hit a Koji Cutter on EVIL. SANADA broke the pin up at two. Kojima hit a brainbuster on EVIL, but he kicked out at two. Kojima went for the clothesline, but EVIL ducked.

SANADA came in and hit a dropkick, and that allowed LIJ to hit the Magic Killer on Kojima to pick up the win.

– Dalton Castle entered and got in the ring. He challenged Rush’s brother Dragon Lee to a match at Best in the World. Just then, The Boys came out and looked to attack Castle, but they got caught on the outside of the ring and took a beating from their former master.

Castle put both Boys on a table and then kicked it over as the show went off the air.

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night two live results: Okada vs. SANADA

Posted on by Bryan Rose

NJPW finishes up their Wrestling Dontaku tour this morning with their second straight event taking place in Fukuoka.

Kazuchika Okada will defend the IWGP Heavyweight title against SANADA in the main event. The two faced each other in the New Japan Cup finals, and although SANADA put on a hell of a showing, came up short. Getting another shot at the title could be all the incentive needed to pull off a major upset.

Tomohiro Ishii will take on EVIL in the co-main event. The two have been feuding with one another all tour, exchanging blows every time they enter the ring against one another. This time, there will be no limits as to what they can do.

A tag match that will take place in the undercard will reveal the final entry in this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament. A Bullet Club member, they will team with Taiji Ishimori to take on the team of Dragon Lee and Will Ospreay.

Join us this morning at 2 a.m. EST for live coverage. There will be English commentary.

**********

Ren Narita and Shota Umino defeated Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji

Very good, basic opener, par the usual for these four. Uemura was worked on until he made the tag to Tsuji, who did a comeback. With Narita’s help, Umino dropped Tsuji with a missile dropkick then pinned Tsuji with a perfect plex.

Narita stomped on Uemura after the match, continuing to build a young lion feud between the two.

It was announced that the blocks for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament will be revealed on Tuesday.

Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Desperado, Taka Michinoku defeated Jeff Cobb, YOSHI-HASHI, Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi and Toa Henare

Suzuki-gun actually did not attack their opponents before the bell, maybe a first in I don’t know how long. Regardless, it did not take long for it to devolve into a brawl as Suzuki-gun took it to the outside, with Suzuki blasting YOSHI-HASHI with a chair.

It eventually became the patterned tag team match that’s on every New Japan card. After Toa Henare made a comeback against Taichi, he cut him off and pinned him clean with a superkick. That felt kinda flat.

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano and Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Jado

Bullet Club as well took no time to take things outside of the ring. Tama Tonga focused on Liger, who was also attacked by Jado, who is now wearing a shirt saying “So what, I don’t care”. This ended up being another pretty good tag team match.

At one point, Jado took his cane to attack Yano but Makabe cut him off. Yano used the confusion to low blow Jado and roll him up for the win.

The announcers mentioned it was the Bullet Club’s fourth loss this tour.

Juice Robinson, Tomoaki Honma and Mikey Nicholls defeated Jay White, Chase Owens, Hikuleo

White, Owens and Hikuleo worked on Honma for a good while until Goto made the tag, laying everyone out with suplexes. After a confrontation with Hikuleo, Juice is tagged in as he and Nicholls go after Hikuleo.

Hikuleo grabs him for a chokeslam but Juice blocks it as he and Nicholls hit an assisted suplex. Juice finishes off Hikuleo with a big left then pins him with the pulp friction, handing Bullet Club another loss.

They aired the same video from last night, featuring the words “Time’s Up”. Whoever it is, they will be revealed at the Best of the Super Junior finals on June 5.

‘X’ was revealed to be El Phantasmo, the newest member of the Bullet Club.

El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori defeated Dragon Lee and Will Ospreay

The announcers are playing it up as if Ospreay is shocked that El Phantasmo is part of the Bullet Club. He shoves Ospreay at the bell, spitting on his hand and chopping him. He then rope walked around the ring, springboarded off the middle rope back to the top and laid out Ospreay with a hurricanrana.

Lee and Ishimori came in with some stiff shots as ELP tagged in. The other three participants ended up on the outside of the ring. ELP again rope walked around the top rope, went to where they were at and launched with a giant Asai moonsault.

Ospreay tried to fight back in the ring but ELP blocked the Oscutter and pinned Ospreay with a no hands Gotch piledriver. This was the best showcase possible for ELP and the match did a great job of making him look special.

Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi and BUSHI defeated Kota Ibushi, SHO and YOH

Everyone had stories here — YOH paired off with BUSHI, SHO paired off with Takagi and of course Natio and Ibushi. SHO and Takagi have great chemistry with one another and the crowd got really into it whenever they were in the ring.

Naito blasted Ibushi with a hurricanrana off the top rope and followed with a big boot. Naito tried Gloria, but Ibushi blocked it. Naito hit it the second time, with Ibushi landing right on the back of his neck. He’s gonna break it someday and I don’t know if he cares or not.

YOH is tagged in as he lands a Falcon Arrow on Naito. He lands a superkick, but Takagi comes in with a lariat. BUSHI took out SHO on the outside and Takagi held Ibushi back as Naito landed the Destino on YOH for the win. Great tag team match.

Naito took the mic after the match. The story is Naito has yet to name a time or place for the eventual IC title match. He officially laid out the challenge for June 9 at Dominion. He asked Ibushi if he accepted the challenge. Ibushi came back to the ring and accepted, so that match seems to be official.

Hiroshi Tanahashi came to the ring. He’s been gone most of this tour due to an elbow injury. He said his cast had just come off yesterday and was sad he couldn’t wrestle on this tour. He mentioned how this time last year he ended up winning the G1 and won the IWGP title at WrestleKingdom, but now he’s lost all of his momentum and is at his lowest.

He confirmed that he will be back on June 5 at the Best of the Super Junior finals and will look to reclaim the IWGP Heavyweight title again.

Jay White entered the ring with Gedo. He said the line starts with him and he deserves to be in the back of the line, even behind Goto. Gedo distracted him momentarily which allowed Jay White to jump him and attack the elbow. He grabbed a chair and wrapped Tanahashi’s arm in the chair and looked to destroy it with another chair, but was stopped. He told Tanahashi that he was next.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated EVIL

This was about what you would expect: a really awesome back and forth match, easily the best match of the tour so far. The story of EVIL trying to submit Ishii with the Scorpion Deathlock was a nice touch too.

They immediately went after each other with shots. EVIL was the first to hesitate but quickly took back control on the outside, throwing Ishii into the barricade. Ishii literally bounced off the ringpost, making a nasty sound.

EVIL took him down and worked on his legs, but both wind up exchanging chops again, this time with EVIL getting the better of things. He goes for the Scorpion Deathlock, but Ishii blocks it. He fights back, going for a superplex. EVIL tries to fight it off, but ISHII headbutts him and lays him out on the floor.

On the outside, Ishii tries to suplex EVIL into the barricade, but EVIL counters by draping Ishii on the barricade and laying him out with a neckbreaker. Back in the ring, EVIL does what Ishii did to him earlier by laying him out with a big superplex. EVIL finally gets in the Scorpion Deathlock, which he has been using on this tour to taunt Ishii, but Ishii makes it to the ropes.

EVIL goes for a lariat, but Ishii responds with one of his own then applies the Scorpion Deathlock, the move his mentor Riki Choshu made famous. EVIL manages to make it to the ropes as well. The two go crazy, with EVIL hitting a giant German suplex and a lariat, then a second lariat, but to no avail.

At one point, both men hit lariats but stumble to the ground, dazed. They get back up and start countering again until EVIL connects with a half nelson suplex. Ishii connects with an enziguri and connects with another lariat but EVIL kicks out. A brainbuster finally keeps him down.

Kazuchika Okada defeated SANADA to retain the IWGP Heavyweight title

This was a great NJPW main event. It started out real slow, to the point where you knew they were going long, but it did build well and by the end turned out to be a great match. I kind of expected more for the finish, but this was all well done.

They start things off pretty slowly, spending the first five minutes just grappling. Okada gets the advantage and holds him down. It seems based on the pacing they’re going to go for quite a while.

SANADA gets the advantage at the ten minute mark and after working on Okada’s leg, puts Okada in the paradise lock. On the outside, Okada sends SANADA over the barricade with a boot then hits a giant flying crossbody to the inside of  the crowd.

Back in the ring, SANADA leapfrogs over Okada, sends him to the floor and connects with a big crossbody. Back in the ring, they exchange some good near falls. SANADA goes for a bridge, but Okada kicks out and grabs SANADA for the Cobra clutch. SANADA escapes and hits a tiger  suplex, but misses the moonsault.

Okada hits the dropkick and goes for the rainmaker, but SANADA escapes and puts Okada in the cold skull. Okada resists, so he shifts his weight and applies the hold on the other arm. Okada tries to get to the ropes, but can’t. SANADA lets go and hits the moonsault once, but Okada gets the knees up after a second is attempted.

The two exchange strikes until SANADA goes for the cold skull again, but SANADA transitions for the tombstone. SANADA counters it and tries one of his own, but Okada reverses again only for SANADA to counter with the cold skull again. SANADA avoids the rainmaker twice then hits one of his own for a near fall.

SANADA goes for the cold skull again, but Okada counters and hits the twisting tombstone, then lays out SANADA with the rainmaker for the win at the 38 minute mark.

Okada extends his hand after the match. SANADA says one more, then fist bumps Okada as he makes his exit. After posing with the sponsors, he cuts a promo. He mentioned the changing of the eras in Japan, saying he will be the one to change the wrestling scene in the Reiwa era and he’s got plenty more to do.

He said he was going to make it rain when all of a sudden, the lights go dark. None other than Chris Jericho appears on the screen, calling himself the painmaker. At June 9 at Dominion, he challenges for the IWGP Heavyweight title and he’s going to win, win win. Okada says lets do it, saying that he will be the one who will win.

NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku results: SANADA, Okada in tag action

Posted on by Bryan Rose

NJPW was at Korakuen Hall today for another Road to Wrestling Dontaku event. Kazuchika Okada and YOH teamed up in the main event to battle future opponent SANADA and BUSHI in the main event.

The participants for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament was also announced, and you can check out that information here.

Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata and Toa Henare defeated  Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura and Shota Umino

Tsuji was highlighted during parts of the match, attacking Kojima before the match started. He got in some shine against Nagata, as did Umino. Henare cut off Uemura with a giant headbutt and suplex. He then scored the win following the uranage, which he calls the Toa Bottom. Fine opener.

Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and Ren Narita

Suzuki zoned in on Liger, since they will be squaring off in another tag match tomorrow as part of Liger’s 30th anniversary under the gimmick. A solid match, not much more. Suzuki wore him down with a half crab. Narita kicked out of an assisted spear by Desperado, but fell to the angel’s wings.

Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi and Taka Michinoku defeated Tomoaki Honma, YOSHI-HASHI and Rocky Romero

Same structure as the other matches. Story was that Romero, as a result of the Ibushi/Naito storyline, was shuffled to teaming without his CHAOS teammates. He and Taichi were at it near the end, with Taichi eventually cutting him off and submitting him with a new neck crank submission.

Sabre attacked YOSHI-HASHI after the match, taking his arm, then took down the young boys that tried to stop him. That could be a future program.

Juice Robinson, Mikey Nicholls, Toru Yano and Togi Makabe defeated Guerillas of Destiny, Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens

The commentators pushed there was some dissension between Jado and Tama Tonga on social media. They argued in the ring, but then Jado attacked their opponents with kendo sticks, so it was pretty much just a swerve.

Yano immediately took out one of the turnbuckles. Heels were in control but Juice made the same for his team as the crowd came alive. Owens tried for the package piledriver, but Nicholls cut him off. Robinson came in with a punch, then Nicholls pinned Owens with the Mikey bomb.

Hirooki Goto, Dragon Lee and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Jay White, Taiji Ishimori and Hikuleo

Goto and Jay White were the highlights here as the two faced off during the match. Hikulelo also got some time to shine and is progressing well, After Goto sent White out, Hikuleo came in and ate the GTR, giving Goto the win.

Tetsuya Naito, EVIL and Shingo Takagi defeated Kota Ibushi, Tomohiro Ishii and SHO

Both EVIL and Naito worked on Ibushi for a good while. EVIL was working on Ibushi when Ishii came in and kicked him square in the back. EVIL responded by giving Ishii a punch that sent him to the floor. Ibushi finally tagged in Ishii who came in like a ball of fire against EVIL.

Takagi and SHO had a short sprint before Naito came in and have him a hurricanrana off the top rope. Everyone came in and did a big move. SHO hit his deadlift German suplex on Naito, but he kicked out. He went for the shock arrow, but Naito blocked in and Shingo came in for the assist.

Takagi laid out SHO with the pumping bomber, then Naito pinned him following the Destino. This was easily the best match of the night, a great six man tag with a hot crowd.

Kazuchika Okada and YOH defeated SANADA and BUSHI

A very good main event. YOH and BUSHI looked great here, as did Okada and BUSHI when they were in. They stepped it up and had a really fun match.

Juniors and heavys paired off early. BUSHI reddened YOH’s chest with hard slaps, it looked ugly. Okada and SANADA came in and did their part. SANADA put Okada in the paradise lock and dropkicked him.

BUSHI and Okada went at it on the outside, but SANADA catches Okada with the skull end. He escapes and counters by driving him and BUSHI over the guardrail with a kick. YOH, who was at the bleachers area in the crowd, jumped off with a tope con hilo that wiped everyone out.

YOH and BUSHI had another hot exchange toward the end before Okada laid out BUSHI with the dropkick and a tombstone. Okada sunk in the cobra clutch (which could play in a role in his upcoming match against SANADA), then hit the rainmaker for the win.

Both Okada and YOH cut promos to close out the show. YOH had to repeat his catchphrase several times for whatever reason.

IWGP Heavyweight title match set for G1 Supercard

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Kazuchika Okada is the winner of this year’s New Japan Cup.

The finals ended up being an evenly paced match, with both men putting everything out there. After multiple finisher attempts, including the TKO and the dead skull, SANADA still couldn’t find a way to victory once Kazuchika Okada hit the rainmaker. This is his second time winning the tournament, his first back in 2013.

After the match Okada called out Jay White, who he will face for the IWGP Heavyweight title. Gedo told him that he was going to hell, and this crowd was going to hell too. Jay White said he will enter Madison Square Garden the IWGP Heavyweight champion then leave the IWGP Heavyweight champion. Okada said he couldn’t understand what he was saying, because he is not at his level. Streamers then hit as he exited the ring, shaking Katsuyori Shibata’s hand to close out the show.

The next IWGP Heavyweight title match will take place on April 6 at the G1 Supercard event, which will be held inside Madison Square Garden.

New Japan Cup finals live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The finals of this year’s New Japan Cup is now upon us.

Kazuchika Okada and SANADA have bested through some of the best talent New Japan has to offer and have made it to the finals. Okada defeated Tomohiro Ishii to advance to the finals, while SANADA defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi in what many would consider an upset to claim his spot.

The winner of this year’s tournament gets a crack at Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight title. And it’s not just anywhere: it will be at New York’s Madison Square Garden at the G1 Supercard next month on April 6.

Meanwhile, Chase Owens will get his first major title shot in NJPW as he will challenge Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States championship. He beat Juice clean in the first round, and even though he was immediately eliminated in the next round by YOSHI-HASHI, he’s proven himself worthy of a title shot.

Join us for live coverage starting at 2 a.m. EST. There will be English commentary.

**********

YUJI NAGATA & MANABU NAKANISHI DEFEATED YOTA TSUJI & YUYA UEMURA (6:32)

A very basic opener. 

The youngsters bumped all over the place for the veterans early on, fighting from underneath. Tsuji slammed Nakanishi, then hit a powerslam on Nagata, as the momentum shifted. 

Nagata powered out of a crab, then hit an exploder for a nearfall on Uemura. Tsuji broke up the pin, but Nakanishi entered and put him in the backbreaker rack.

With Tsuji at bay, Nagata used the Nagata Lock II on Uemura for the submission. 

MICHAEL ELGIN, COLT CABANA & TOA HENARE DEFEATED HIROYOSHI TENZAN, SATOSHI KOJIMA & SHOTA UMINO (8:22)

They packed a lot into eight minutes. This was a step up from the opener, but not spectacular. 

Tenzan hit a bunch of Mongolian chops on Colt early on. They locked up, and Colt broke cleanly against the ropes. Tenzan refused to follow suit when he had the chance. 

Colt took over on Tenzan after Tenzan and Kojima missed a headbutt/slingshot elbow drop double team move. Colt hit Tenzan with Mongolian chops, and Tenzan countered with a mountain bomb. 

Kojima hit the machine gun chops, but Colt rolled out of the way before Kojima could execute his top rope elbow. 

They tripled up on Elgin, and Umino hit a vertical suplex for a nearfall. Umino went for a missile dropkick, but Elgin turned it into a powerbomb for a nearfall. Umino used a rollup for a good nearfall on Elgin. 

Elgin hit a lariat for a two count, then hit a buckle bomb, followed by an Elgin bomb for the pin on Umino. 

MINORU SUZUKI, LANCE ARCHER & DAVEY BOY SMITH JR. DEFEATED TOGI MAKABE, TORU YANO & TOMOAKI HONMA (7:32)

Suzuki-gun continued their winning ways, wrapping up this tour with another victory. 

Suzuki-gun attacked before the bell. Suzuki attacked Makabe with a chair on the outside, while Smith and Archer worked over Yano in the ring. Archer did a ropewalk spot, then tagged Suzuki. Yano used a thumb to the eye and an inverted atomic drop, then tagged Makabe. 

Makabe hit ten punches in the corner, then a northern lights suplex for a two count. They traded forearm shots, and Suzuki dropped Makabe. They used a misdirection spot, and Suzuki tagged Archer, as Suzuki-gun cut the ring in half. 

Makabe managed a tag to Honma, who hit a bulldog and a kokeshi on Archer. Archer hit a Black Hole Slam for a nearfall. Makabe came in and hit a lariat, allowing Honma to recover. Honma hit a kokeshi for a nearfall. 

Honma went for a kokeshi off the second rope, but missed. Suzuki jumped in and put Honma in a choke, then Smith and Archer hit the Killer Bomb. Archer pinned Honma. 

TETSUYA NAITO, SHINGO TAKAGI, EVIL & BUSHI DEFEATED KOTA IBUSHI, TOMOHIRO ISHII, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & REN NARITA (11:38)

The match was secondary to the storyline advancement here, as they continued the build for Naito vs. Ibushi, and planted seeds for EVIL vs. Ishii. 

Taguchi did some comedy early, calling plays for Ibushi and Narita. Ishii refused to play along. LIJ cornered Taguchi, who then did the LIJ fist raise, but they weren’t having it. Naito used a figure four on Taguchi, who reached the ropes. 

Taguchi managed to hit a combo DDT/inverted DDT on Naito and BUSHI, then tagged Ibushi. Ibushi lit Naito up with kicks, then hit a standing moonsault for a two count. Naito responded with the combinacion de cabron for a two count. 

Ibushi avoided Gloria, landed on his feet out of a release german, then hit a roundhouse on Naito. Ishii and EVIL got tags. Ishii dropped EVIL, but EVIL popped right back up. They traded strikes. EVIL dropped Ishii to a knee with elbows, then hit a thrust kick. 

Shingo tagged in, and Ishii greeted him with a powerslam. Narita got a tag, and hit an awesome release belly-to-belly. Narita followed with a vertical suplex, but Shingo hit a lariat. 

Everyone jumped in and hit a big move, highlighted by Ibushi hitting Naito with a Last Ride. Shingo and Narita were left the legal men. Narita used a rollup and a magistral cradle for great nearfalls. 

Narita ducked one Pumping Bomber, but Shingo hit a second, and pinned him. 

Ibushi taunted Naito after the match, then left ringside. EVIL and Ishii had a pull-apart in the ring. 

ZACK SABRE JR. & TAICHI DEFEATED HIROSHI TANAHASHI & WILL OSPREAY (10:25)

This was also about building future matches, with Taichi in line for a NEVER title match, and teasing the possibility of Sabre defending his RevPro title against Tanahashi. 

Sabre went after Tanahashi while he was taking his ring jacket off. Ospreay jumped in to make the save. TAKA took the ref, allowing Taichi to use a mic stand and a chair on Ospreay on the floor. Sabre also attacked Tanahashi on the floor, leaving him laying. 

While Taichi took the referee, Sabre used a neck crank and a guillotine on Ospreay, using the ropes for leverage. Sabre tagged in, and used a single-leg crab. 

Taichi and Sabre used a series of quick tags, working over Ospreay. Ospreay hit a handspring kick, and managed a tag to Tanahashi. Tana hit dropkicks on Sabre and Taichi, then a crossbody off the second rope on Sabre. 

Tana hit a dragon screw, but Sabre countered a slingblade attempt with a cobra twist. Taichi jumped in for dueling cobra twists, but Tana and Ospreay reversed into twists of their own. 

Tana hit a pumphandle slam, and caught a PK. Sabre dodged slingblade again, and hit a step-up PK. Ospreay and Taichi got tags. Ospreay hit an enziguri, but Taichi hit a buzzsaw kick. Ospreay caught a second kick, then hit a lariat. He made a cover, but Sabre broke up the pin. 

Tana jumped in and hit Twist and Shout on Sabre, then rolled him to the floor. Ospreay went for the Storm Breaker, but Taichi hit a low blow, then used a Gedo Clutch for the pin. 

Sabre and Taichi beat down Tana and Ospreay after the bell. Sabre posed over Tana with his British Heavyweight title, while Taichi took Ospreay’s NEVER title, and posed with it. 

SWITCHBLADE JAY WHITE, BAD LUCK FALE & HIKULEO DEFEATED HIROOKI GOTO, YOSHI-HASHI & MIKEY NICHOLLS (9:48)

A showcase match for the IWGP Champion White. 

Bullet Club used a distraction from Gedo to take over at the outset. They brawled into the crowd. YOSHI-HASHI beat the count back inside at 18. 

They beat on YOSHI-HASHI for a long time, before he finally hit a screw kick and tagged Nicholls. Nicholls and HIKULEO worked well together, before White and Goto got tags. 

Goto avoided a Blade Runner, while White escaped an ushigoroshi and a GTR. The match broke down, again leaving Goto and White legal. 

Goto hit an ushigoroshi for a nearfall. Goto went for a GTR, but White popped up and hit a Blade Runner, then got the pin. 

IWGP UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: JUICE ROBINSON DEFEATED CHASE OWENS TO RETAIN THE TITLE (22:13)

They started off having an okay match. It was kind of slow, but it was kind of good. It told a nice story, as both guys worked over each other’s ribs. 

Then, the spirit of Vince Russo entered the building. I haven’t seen anything this overbooked in years. 

We had two ref bumps, manager interference, weapons, powder, a run-in, a low blow, a belt shot, and an immediate post-match beatdown of the winner. 

Juice entered like a man possessed, running down the ramp and diving into the ring. They threw hands. Juice went to hit the ropes, but Jado grabbed his ankle. Chase used the distraction to nail Juice with a superkick on the floor. 

Chase posted Juice’s back, and stretched him. Back inside, Chase continued to focus his attack on Juice’s core, stomping on his ribs. Chase teased a Juice Box off the top rope, but Juice fought it off. Chase hit a knee to the ribs as Juice was draped across the top rope, then used a bodyscissors on the mat. 

Juice fired up and made a brief comeback, but Jado used a kendo stick shot to cut him off. Chase sent Juice to the floor. He went for a suplex, looking to drape Juice over the barricade, but Juice countered, and suplexed Chase into the railing. 

Juice repeatedly sent Chase into the barricade, slammed him against the post, then hit a senton, back in the ring. Juice went for a second senton, but Chase got his knees up. Chase hit a GTR, then a shining wizard. 

Chase hit a short knee strike to the face, then hit the Jewel Heist for a two count. Chase went for a package piledriver, but Juice backdropped out. With Chase kneeling, facing the corner, Juice hit a cannonball. 

Juice hit a superplex into a jackhammer for a two count. Juice used a crab, and Chase tapped, but Jado took Red Shoes, the referee, and he missed the tapout. Chase sent Juice into Red Shoes, who took a bump to the floor. 

Juice pounded on Chase with left hands. Jado jumped in and hit Juice with two kendo stick shots, but Juice no-sold them. Juice hit Jado with a jab, then a pair of kendo stick shots. Chase threw powder in Juice’s eyes. Well, he tried anyway. He missed Juice, but Juice had to sell as though it hit him. 

Chase hit him with a low blow, then a gutbuster. It looked like the finish, but Juice kicked out. Juice hit the Left Hand of God and a powerbomb, but Jado pulled Red Shoes out before he could count to three. 

Fale ran in and speared Juice. Chase grabbed the belt, but missed Juice with it, and hit Fale. Juice hit the Left Hand again, then hit Pulp Friction for the pin. 

Fale attacked Juice after the match. He went for the Bad Luck Fall, but Nicholls ran down to make the save. 

NEW JAPAN CUP FINAL: KAZUCHIKA OKADA DEFEATED SANADA TO WIN THE 2019 NEW JAPAN CUP (33:08)

I knew they were going a long time based on the first ten minutes, but the match never dragged. It kicked into high gear around the 18 minute mark, and never let up from that point on. Both guys were incredible here. 

They began with five minutes of mat work. They traded holds, and traded one counts. Okada used a standing side headlock, but SANADA used the hold to transition to the Paradise Lock. SANADA broke the lock with a dropkick. 

SANADA went for his leapfrog dropkick, but Okada dumped SANADA to the floor, then hit a pescado. Back in the ring, Okada hit back elbows in the corner, then a neckbreaker. Okada hit a one-legged dropkick to the neck, then continued to work the neck with a chinlock. 

Okada used a sleeper, then went back to the chinlock. SANADA escpaed, and hit a dropkick to the left knee. SANADA went for a standing moonsault, landed on his feet, then hit a dropkick to the back. SANADA then hit the leapfrog dropkick, and low-bridged Okada to the floor. He followed with a senton off the apron. 

Back in the ring, Okada hit a back elbow in the middle, a back elbow in the corner, and used a DDT for a nearfall. Okada hit the Air Raid Crash for a two count, again, working the neck. Okada hit a top rope elbow, then hit the Rainmaker pose. 

SANADA didn’t allow Okada to attempt the Rainmaker. He took a whip into the buckle, flipped to the apron, then hit a springboard dropkick. 

They exchanged strikes. SANADA dropped Okada with an uppercut forearm. He went for a TKO, but Okada slipped behind. Okada placed SANADA on the second rope, then dropkicked him to the floor. 

Okada sent SANADA into the railing, then booted him over the barricade. Okada hit a draping DDT off the barricade, still attacking the neck. SANADA beat the count back inside. Okada hit a Woo dropkick off the top rope, and got a nearfall. 

Okada went for a tombstone, SANADA reversed to Skull End. Okada reversed back to the tombstone, but SANADA reversed and hit the tombstone. SANADA hit a back suplex for a two count. 

SANADA used Skull End. As Okada fought for the ropes, SANADA hit a tiger suplex for a nearfall. SANADA went for a top rope moonsault, but Okada got his knees up. 

Okada used a backslide to gain wrist control, and hit a Rainmaker. He went for a second, SANADA slid out, and Okada hit a dropkick. 

Okada hit a tombstone. SANADA slipped out of a Rainmaker, and used Skull End. Each ducked a Rainmaker, and Okada used Skull End. SANADA reversed that into his own Skull End. 

SANADA used a giant swing with the Skull End grip, then sat down in the hold. Okada laid down for a nearfall, but SANADA went back to Skull End. 

SANADA transitioned to a lateral press, but Okada kicked out at the last millisecond. SANADA went up top, but missed with a moonsault. Both men sold complete exhaustion at the 30 minute mark. 

SANADA missed a moonsault, landed on his feet, and Okada hit a Woo dropkick. SANADA no-sold it, and hit a TKO for a nearfall. 

SANADA hit a backbreaker. He walked towards the turnbuckle, but Okada grabbed him by the ankle. SANADA climbed to the second rope, went for a moonsault, but Okada caught him, into a tombstone. 

Okada grabbed wrist control. SANADA slipped out and went for a moonsault. Okada hit a spinning Rainmaker. 
Okada hit one more Rainmaker, and pinned SANADA. 

White and Gedo came to the ring during Okada’s post-match promo. Gedo told Okada that White would send him to hell at MSG. White said that he’s better than Okada, Okada has never beaten him, and Okada can’t beat him. 

White promised to leave MSG the IWGP Champion, and promised Okada that he will breathe with The Switchblade. 

Okada said that he doesn’t understand what White said, but White isn’t on his level. He promises to go to MSG and win the title. 

Confetti fell, and Okada posed with the New Japan Cup trophy as the show ended. 

New Japan Cup night 11 results: Okada vs. Ishii, Tanahashi vs. SANADA

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Niigata was home to today’s semifinal matches in the New Japan Cup tournament, which is starting to finally wind down after 11 days of pretty good action. Tomorrow will determine this year’s New Japan Cup winner, as well as the number one contender to Jay White’s IWGP Heavyweight championship. Here are the undercard results:

– Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima defeated Michael Elgin, Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji and Colt Cabana

Nagata submitted Tsuji with the Nagata lock.

– Shingo Takagi and BUSHI defeated Shota Umino and Ren Narita

Takagi pinned Narita with the Noshigami.

– Minoru Suzuki and The Killer Elite Squad defeated Togi Makabe, Toru Yano and Toa Henare

Lance Archer pinned Henare with blackout.

– Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi defeated Will Ospreay and Ryusuke Taguchi

Sabre submitted Taguchi for the victory.

– Tetsuya Naito and EVIL defeated Kota Ibushi and Tomoaki Honma

EVIL pinned Honma with the Everything is Evil.

– Juice Robinson, YOSHI-HASHI, Mikey Nicholls and Hirooki Goto defeated Jay White, Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale and Hikuleo

Goto defeated Hikuleo with the GTR. Fale attacked everyone after the match as Chase Owens posed with the title.

New Japan Cup Semifinals:

Kazuchika Okada defeated Tomohiro Ishii

Another classic match between the two. I wouldn’t say it’s their best, but this was one of the better matches of the tournament so far. It was a mostly offense match and the crowd was into it.

They start off hot, each exchanging blows once Ishii broke out of a clean break with a slap. They continue dealing with some hard shots. Ishii strikes back with some chops and offense of his own as he takes Okada into a corner. The two exchange elbows.

Okada takes down Ishii but he gets right back up as soon as he hits the rainmaker pose. He fires with a lariat but Okada popped right back up with a dropkick. Okada hit the tombstone but Ishii blocked the rainmaker with a big headbutt/lariat combo.

Ishii starts to fire back with some offense as the crowd gets hot. He looks for the brainbuster but Okada knees him. Ishii fires back with a forearm but eats an Okada dropkick. Okada went for the rainmaker but Ishii traps him with a straight armbar. Okada fights before making it to the bottom rope.

Okada mounts some offense, hitting a shotgun dropkick. Ishii countered with a lariat but Tanahashi kicked out at one. Another brainbuster attempt, but Okada went for the rainmaker. Ishii headbutted him, but Okada still took him out with a dropkick. Rainmaker attempt again, but Ishii continues to fight on and cuts him off. Okada countered with the spinning tombstone then pinned Ishii with the rainmaker.

SANADA defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

I liked this match a lot, though it was tough to follow the previous match. They built up well and had a hot crowd that popped huge when SANADA pulled off the upset.

Crowd was into SANADA tonight, leaving Tanahashi in the cold. SANADA took him down early, applying a leglock. They eventually go to the outside, with SANADA taking out Okada with a flying crossbody to the floor.

Tanahashi comes back and goes for the cloverleaf, but SANADA makes it to the ropes. Tanahashi tries again, this time sinking it in. SANADA escapes, then tries the skull end. He send him flat as SANADA hits two moonsaults, but Tanahashi grabs him for an inside cradle and a near fall.

Tanahashi goes for a slingblade but SANADA counters, only for Tanahashi to catch him in a roll-up. The two trade near-falls as Tanahashi goes for the dragon suplex. SANADA tried to swing him around for the skull end, but Tanahashi counters with two sling blades.

SANADA floated over a Dragon suplex and went for a O’Connor Roll, but Tanahashi countered and went for the rolling clutch. SANADA grabs him instead and traps him with the skull end. Tanahashi struggles, but with no options has to tap out. That officially makes it Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA in the New Japan Cup finals.

After the match, SANADA asks for the crowd to turn on their cell phones. The lights turn off, making the arena look like a Bray Wyatt entrance. SANADA says this is his favorite town, and he’ll see them tomorrow.

New Japan Cup night 10 results: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The 2019 New Japan Cup semifinals are set. 

Quarterfinal action wrapped up today as NJPW ran their second consecutive night in Shizuoka. 

The main event featured a rematch of last year’s New Japan Cup final, with Zack Sabre Jr. taking on Hiroshi Tanahashi, reprising that battle with another instant classic. 

The other tournament bout saw the end of Colt Cabana’s Cinderella story in wrestling’s version of March Madness, with him falling to SANADA in the semi-main. 

Full results and match recaps are below:

HIROYOSHI TENZAN, SATOSHI KOJIMA & YUYA UEMURA DEFEATED YUJI NAGATA, MANABU NAKANISHI & YOTA TSUJI 

A stronger opening contest than last night here, with the youngsters carrying much of the match. Kojima hit Tsuji with a lariat and pinned him. 

TAICHI & TAKA MICHINOKU DEFEATED WILL OSPREAY & SHOTA UMINO 

The audience reacts to Umino in a different way than they do the other young lions. He’s already special, but he’s going to be in main events for a decade, barring injury. 

Ospreay did a lot considering his tough match with Okada the night before. Taichi taunted Ospreay with Ospreay’s NEVER title, and beat him down after the match, so look for that at some point in the future. 

Taichi submitted Umino with the Stretch Plum. 

BAD LUCK FALE, CHASE OWENS & HIKULEO DEFEATED JUICE ROBINSON, MIKEY NICHOLLS & REN NARITA 

Chase and Juice continue to trade tag wins in advance of their U.S. title match on Sunday. 

After a kendo stick shot from Jado, Chase hit a Jewel Heist on Narita for a near fall, then used a package piledriver for the pin. 

After the match, HIKULEO and Fale held Juice and forced him to watch Owens hit a second package piledriver on Narita. 

MINORU SUZUKI, LANCE ARCHER & DAVEY BOY SMITH JR. DEFEATED MICHAEL ELGIN, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & TOA HENARE 

The Suzuki-gun credibility rehab tour continues, as the group picked up another tag victory on this tour. 

Suzuki and Taguchi did some comedy together, which worked because of their differences. Elgin and Smith did a bunch of power stuff together, and that also worked really well. Archer hit the Blackout on Henare for the pin. 

TETSUYA NAITO, EVIL, SHINGO TAKAGI & BUSHI DEFEATED KOTA IBUSHI, TOGI MAKABE, TOMOAKI HONMA & TORU YANO 

Naito and Ibushi are so good that even in taking it easier than usual in an undercard tag match, they were still excellent. We also saw a new wrinkle from EVIL, as he used a Sharpshooter on Honma to pick up the win here via submission. 

Naito again taunted Ibushi after the match, and that looks to be a future Intercontinental title bout. 

TOMOHIRO ISHII & HIROOKI GOTO DEFEATED KAZUCHIKA OKADA & YOSHI-HASHI

This provided a preview of Saturday’s Okada vs. Ishii semifinal bout. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that their match will not be lacking in intensity. 

Early on, Okada tried to break cleanly and taunt Ishii in doing so, but Ishii responded by slapping Okada across the face.

Later, they did an awesome series of counters and reversals as each looked to hit their finisher. Ishii avoided a dropkick, and hit Okada with a lariat. 

The finish saw Goto hit an ushigoroshi, Ishii hit a sliding lariat, and Goto hit the GTR on YOSHI-HASHI for the win. 

NEW JAPAN CUP QUARTERFINAL MATCH: SANADA DEFEATED COLT CABANA (14:57)

They had a solid outing, but not a spectacular match. They never got out of second gear, and they didn’t seem to have a lot of heat. The crowd was not very well mic’d, but even still, not a lot of audience reaction came across on the broadcast. 

They began with some mat work. Colt used a headscissors, and SANADA popped out. Colt offered SANADA the Paradise Lock, but it was a trap, as Colt used a cradle for a near fall. SANADA finally applied the Paradise Lock, then sent Colt to the floor. 

They did a couple of comedy spots, but the focus remained serious. SANADA did his leapfrog dropkick spot, then hit a pescado. SANADA used a chinlock. They traded strikes, and SANADA hit a Frankensteiner. 

Colt hit a double jump splash, picking up a two count. He crashed and burned on a moonsault attempt. SANADA went for a springboard dropkick, but Cabana caught him, then used the Billy Goat’s Curse. SANADA crawled to the ropes, forcing a break. 

Colt hit a top rope rana, but SANADA rolled through into a cover for a two count. SANADA went for Skull End, but had to settle for a draping neckbreaker. 

SANADA went for a moonsault, but Colt got his knees up and used a cradle for a two count. SANADA countered the Superman. Colt went for it a second time, but SANADA escaped, then used Skull End for the submission. 

NEW JAPAN CUP QUARTERFINAL MATCH: HIROSHI TANAHASHI DEFEATED ZACK SABRE JR. (21:12)

They worked a great old school match, almost exclusively built around trading holds. 

Sabre picked up an early one count after the opening mat grappling sequence. He worked for an armbar, but Tanahashi kept his hands clasped, then managed an escape. 

Tanahashi called for a knuckle lock — and Sabre engaged. They traded the advantage in the hold, before Tanahashi used a suplex to break it. 

Sabre used the threat of an armbar, then stomped on Tanahashi’s left arm. Sabre used a wristlock, then again stomped on the left arm, establishing the target of his attack for the match. 

They exchanged forearm shots and uppercuts. Tanahashi hit a flying forearm, a bodyslam, and a somersault senton to pick up a two count. 

They traded cobra twists. Tanahashi used a pumphandle slam. Sabre countered with a kick to the face, then applied an octopus hold over the ropes. On the break, Tanahashi hit a dragon screw, dropkick, and dragon screw combination in the ropes. 

Tanahashi slapped on a cloverleaf, but Sabre slipped out of the hold into a triangle choke. Tanahashi managed to escape and went back to the cloverleaf, but Sabre forced a rope break. 

Sabre used a guillotine, then transitioned to a wristlock, but Tanahashi reversed into a Twist and Shout. Tanahashi hit two more Twist and Shouts, then hit Slingblade for a near fall. 

Sabre used an octopus hold, hit a PK, avoided a dragon screw, and used a European clutch for a near fall. Tanahashi used an O’Connor roll for a near fall, but Sabre used the cover to transition to Orienteering with Napalm Death. Tanahashi used a dragon screw to break the hold. 

Sabre used a wristlock into a clutch for a near fall. He went for a backslide, but Tanahashi escaped and hit an inverted Slingblade. Tanahashi used a Japanese leg clutch hold for the pin. 

Tanahashi closed the show with a series of air guitar encores. 

New Japan Cup night eight results: Minoru Suzuki vs. SANADA

Posted on by Ethan Renner

NJPW ran their second consecutive sellout night at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall on Sunday, highlighted by the conclusion of the second round of the 2019 New Japan Cup. 

The undercard was much stronger than the day before. The matches without tournament implications all delivered with intensity, and the crowd reacted in kind. 

The tag matches that provided previews of upcoming Cup matches were strong as well. 

As for the tournament matches, Cabana and Yano delivered on what had to be one of the most highly-anticipated comedy matches ever, while SANADA and Suzuki followed up with a strong main event. 

Full results and match recaps are below:

YUJI NAGATA, MANABU NAKANISHI & YOTA TSUJI DEFEATED SATOSHI KOJIMA, HIROYOSHI TENZAN & YUYA UEMURA 

Super heated opener. Nakanishi and Tenzan jawed at each other during the match. The finish saw Nagata hit an exploder on Uemura, then he applied the Nagata Lock for the submission. 

CHASE OWENS, BAD LUCK FALE & HIKULEO DEFEATED JUICE ROBINSON, MIKEY NICHOLLS & REN NARITA

This continued the build for Chase eventually challenging Juice for the U.S. title. Juice and Chase started out, but Chase begged off. Fale and HIKULEO went after Juice on the floor, and Chase tagged in once Juice was on the defensive. 

Narita looked good here. He hit Owens with a dropkick and had him in a crab, but Fale made the save. Owens hit the package piledriver on Narita for the pin. 

Chase executed a sneak attack on Juice after the match. He teased a package piledriver on the floor, but Juice escaped. Owens ducked the Left Hand of God, and Jado hit Juice with his kendo stick. Owens tossed Juice into the ring, then left him laying with a belt shot. 

LANCE ARCHER, DAVEY BOY SMITH JR. & TAICHI DEFEATED TOGI MAKABE, MICHAEL ELGIN & TOA HENARE 

Another showcase match for Suzuki-gun, with Smith and Archer on the winning side for the second consecutive night. 

The match began with Taichi and Archer dominating Henare. Henare dodged a charge into the corner and tagged Elgin. Elgin and Archer had a big man battle, then Elgin tagged Makabe. 

The match broke down, and Smith and Archer hit a Hart Attack on Henare. Taichi took his trousers off, and he hit a buzzsaw kick for a near fall. Taichi hit a superkick before using a Stretch Plum for the submission victory over Henare.

TETSUYA NAITO, SHINGO TAKAGI, EVIL & BUSHI DEFEATED SHO, YOH, KOTA IBUSHI & SHOTA UMINO

This was an incredibly fun eight-man, and the last several minutes were excellent. They teased a future match between Ibushi and Naito for the Intercontinental title. 

LIJ beat down SHO for several minutes at the outset. SHO made a comeback with a spear and a deadlift suplex, then tagged Ibushi. Ibushi and Naito did battle, with Ibushi picking up a near fall off a standing moonsault. 

Naito hit a pair of neckbreakers. Both traded strikes, and Naito hit a spinebuster. EVIL tagged in and ate a dropkick. Umino entered and ran wild with back elbows and a missile dropkick. EVIL reversed a fisherman buster attempt into one of his own. 

Everyone jumped in and hit a big move. Umino held off Naito and EVIL at first, kicking out of an inverted atomic drop into a lariat, but eventually fell victim to Everything is EVIL. 

HIROSHI TANAHASHI & TOMOAKI HONMA DEFEATED ZACK SABRE JR. & TAKA MICHINOKU 

Tanahashi and Sabre began the match with a mat wrestling clinic. Tanahashi picked up a near fall off a backslide. Sabre and Tanahashi applied dueling cobra twists to Honma and TAKA. Sabre went for a cobra twist on Tanahashi, but Tana dumped him over the top rope with a hip toss. 

Sabre used a headscissors on Honma, while also applying a heel hook to Tanahashi. Sabre and TAKA worked over Honma, who eventually dumped Sabre on his head on a suplex, then tagged Tana back in. 

Tanahashi went for a cloverleaf on TAKA, but Sabre broke it up. Sabre went for an armbar on Tanahashi, but Honma broke it up with a kokeshi. Tanahashi used a cloverleaf on TAKA for the submission. 

After the bell, Sabre attacked Honma and taunted Tanahashi. 

TOMOHIRO ISHII, WILL OSPREAY & HIROOKI GOTO DEFEATED KAZUCHIKA OKADA, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & YOSHI-HASHI

The highlight here was the interaction between Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI ahead of their matchup in the next round of the tournament. 

Much of it was the fact that he was working with Ishii, but YH looked great, easily the best he’s been since his return from injury. Ishii and YH engaged in several chop battles. Ospreay broke out a standing shooting star press on Okada. 

Near the finish, Okada hit a dropkick. Taguchi hit a hip attack. Goto hit a GTR and got the pin on Taguchi. 

NEW JAPAN CUP SECOND ROUND MATCH: COLT CABANA DEFEATED TORU YANO (7:47)

This had to be one of the most anticipated comedy matches of all time. Expectations were extremely high, but they were met, if not exceeded. 

Cabana grabbed a waistlock on Yano, and he pulled a roll of tape out of Yano’s trunks. Each used a distraction to attempt a schoolboy on the other. After a prolonged log roll spot, Cabana scored a second near fall. 

Yano pulled a third roll of tape from under the ring, but Cabana got a hold of it and taped one of the turnbuckle pads. Yano went to untie it, while Cabana untied another. Yano untied a third turnbuckle pad, and they played catch with it. Yano used a schoolboy for a near fall. 

Cabana blocked a low blow, then used a Superman cover for the pinfall. 

NEW JAPAN CUP SECOND ROUND MATCH: SANADA DEFEATED MINORU SUZUKI (28:45)

Can we put Suzuki in the Hall of Fame again? This was great. 

They teased locking up. SANADA checked a leg kick. Suzuki grabbed a side headlock, then went after SANADA’s left arm. Suzuki used a rear naked choke. SANADA slipped to a hammerlock, Suzuki used a headlock takeover, and SANADA used a headscissors escape. 

SANADA used a headlock, but Suzuki used a headscissors to escape it. SANADA used a handstand to escape the headscissors, and they ended up back on their feet. 

SANADA went for the paradise lock, but TAKA jumped on the apron for a distraction. Suzuki played as though he was in the lock, but when SANADA went for a dropkick to break the hold, Suzuki popped up and pulled him to the apron for a heel hook. 

Suzuki posted SANADA’s legs, then draped the right leg over the barricade and attacked it with kicks. The match spilled into the crowd, and Suzuki used a chair. Suzuki continued to attack the right leg over the barricade. 

Back inside, Suzuki used an Achilles lock. SANADA reached the ropes, forcing a break. SANADA made it back to his feet. After an exchange of strikes, SANADA hit a dropkick to Suzuki’s right knee, then used a dragon screw. 

SANADA hit his leapfrog dropkick, then a pescado. Back inside, Suzuki avoided a springboard dropkick, then hit a PK for a near fall. They exchanged a series of forearm strikes. Suzuki was staggered, but eventually dropped SANADA. 

They did an awesome misdirection spot. SANADA went for Skull End, but Suzuki powered out and applied a rear naked choke with a bodyscissors. Suzuki transitioned to a lateral press for a two count. 

Suzuki hit a couple of short knee strikes, then went for the Gotch Piledriver. SANADA powered out of it. SANADA slipped to the Skull End. He gave up the hold and went for a moonsault. Suzuki popped up, and SANADA rolled through. 

SANADA went for a springboard dropkick, but Suzuki caught him and applied a kneebar. SANADA briefly tried to bridge into a cover, but Suzuki used a rear naked choke. Suzuki hit a series of palm strikes, then used another rear naked choke. SANADA powered out and hit a TKO. 

After an exchange of strikes, SANADA hit a Saito suplex for a two count. SANADA went to the top for a moonsault, but Suzuki cut him off. SANADA eventually hit the moonsault into the Skull End. Suzuki grabbed the knee and briefly got a kneebar. They traded the same holds, and even simultaneously applied them. 

Suzuki slipped to an inverted figure four, but SANADA slid back into the Skull End. Suzuki sold as though he passed out in the hold, so SANADA went for a cover. Suzuki kicked out at two. 
SANADA went to the top rope, hit a moonsault, and got the pin.