Ahead of his challenge of Impact World Champion Josh Alexander at Saturday’s Under Siege, NJPW star Tomohiro Ishii will take on Steve Maclin on Thursday’s Impact on AXS TV.
Ishii was the surprise challenger revealed at the end of last Thursday’s show that would challenge the winner of the Alexander vs. Moose rematch. Earlier in the broadcast, Maclin felt he like should be in line for a title shot himself and bristled at the fact he wasn’t the one to take on Alexander.
This will be Ishii’s third match in the company since April as he has wins over JONAH and Eddie Edwards in that time. It will also be his first match on Impact TV.
The show will also feature Bullet Club’s Jay White & Chris Bey against Rich Swann & Willie Mack, made during the following backstage segment released Monday:
The first match for Saturday, May 14’s NJPW Capital Collision has been announced.
After issuing a challenge to Tomohiro Ishii at last Saturday’s Windy City Riot, Eddie Kingston will indeed face Ishii in Washington D.C., as NJPW made the match official today.
Ishii defeated Minoru Suzuki at Windy City Riot in the show’s semi-main event. After the bout, Kingston appeared and issued the challenge during an in-ring promo segment.
Ishii appeared at this week’s AEW Rampage taping, facing Adam Cole in an Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament qualifying match. That match will air Friday on Rampage on TNT.
Kingston has been a regular at NJPW Strong tapings in recent months, appearing at March’s Strong Style Evolved taping, last December’s Nemesis taping, as well as last October’s New Japan Showdown taping in Philadelphia.
Capital Collision will air as a pay-per-view event on FITE TV.
An Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament qualifying match has been announced for Friday’s AEW Rampage airing.
Adam Cole will face NJPW’s Tomohiro Ishii in a qualifier. The Rampage match was announced during the Dynamite announcement of the June 26 AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door joint pay-per-view.
Also added to this week’s Rampage, Lance Archer will take on Serpentico. Archer vs. Wardlow has also been announced for next week’s Dynamite.
A promo segment with Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland was also announced for Rampage, as was an interview with Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament qualifiers Toni Storm, Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D., and Jamie Hayter.
Jade Cargill defending the TBS title against Marina Shafir, plus Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia in a match where everyone is banned from ringside were already announced for Rampage, which will be taped Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.
The Rampage lineup:
AEW Rampage, Friday, April 22, 10 p.m. Eastern time on TNT —
TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Marina Shafir
Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament qualifier: Adam Cole vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Everyone banned from ringside: Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia
Lance Archer vs. Serpentico
Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland interview
Toni Storm, Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D, Jamie Hayter interview
Eddie Kingston challenged Tomohiro Ishii to a match for NJPW’s Capital Collision event on May 14.
After Ishii defeated Minoru Suzuki at tonight’s Windy City Riot event in Chicago, Kingston came out and confronted Ishii. He said that while Ishii is known for his strong style, Kingston lives and breathes the king’s road style, referring to All Japan’s style of wrestling in the 1990s. He then issued the challenge for May 15th in Washington D.C., a challenge that Ishii quickly accepted.
Kingston has made several appearances for New Japan Strong in the last year. Most recently, he teamed with Fred Rosser to defeat Daniel Garcia and Fred Yehi at NJPW’s Strong Style Evolved tapings that were held on March 20. That continued the ongoing feud between Kingston and the Jericho Appreciation Society, which Garcia is a member of.
Names already announced for Capital Collision include Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jay White, Will Ospreay, Jon Moxley, Minoru Suzuki, Jeff Cobb, Tom Lawlor, and Fred Rosser.
The Philadelphia Strong taping will follow the Capital Collision pay-per-view event in Washington D.C. the night before. Kazuchika Okada and AEW’s Jon Moxley have been announced for D.C., but not for Philadelphia.
The talent lineup announced so far for the Sunday, May 15 show:
Hiroshi Tanahashi
Minoru Suzuki
Tomohiro Ishii
Will Ospreay
Jeff Cobb
Jay White
NJPW Strong Openweight Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor
Fred Rosser
Chris Dickinson
David Finlay
Juice Robinson
Hikuleo
Ren Narita
Rocky Romero
Yuya Uemura
Clark Connors
Karl Fredericks
Tickets for the Philadelphia show are on sale now.
NJPW last ran Philadelphia in October 2021 for NJPW Strong: Showdown, a two-night event that featured appearances by Moxley, Eddie Kingston, and Lance Archer.
A new match has been announced for NJPW Windy City Riot on Saturday, April 16.
Minoru Suzuki will face Tomohiro Ishii in a bout that was set up at today’s Lonestar Shootout pay-per-view in Dallas.
Suzuki defeated the debuting Killer Kross at Lonestar Shootout, while Ishii defeated Chris Dickinson in the main event of the show. Following Ishii’s win, Suzuki appeared and issued a challenge to Ishii. The match was then officially announced by the promotion.
Jon Moxley also appeared at Lonestar Shootout to hype his Chicago match against Will Ospreay. Moxley vs. Ospreay, Suzuki vs. Ishii, a Jay White open challenge, plus a 10-man tag have been announced for the show so far. The lineup:
NJPW Windy City Riot, Saturday, April 16, 8 p.m. Eastern time on FITE TV —
Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay
Minoru Suzuki vs. Tomohiro Ishii
US of Jay open challenge: Jay White vs. TBA
Fred Rosser, Josh Alexander, Chris Dickinson, Ren Narita & Alex Coughlin vs. Team Filthy (Royce Isaacs, Jorel Nelson, JR Kratos, Black Tiger & Danny Limelight)
New Japan legend Ishii will make his Impact debut next Friday at Impact’s Multiverse of Matches on Impact Plus as he takes on Eddie Edwards.
Another singles match was made Thursday as current Ring of Honor World Champion Jonathan Gresham will take on Honor No More leader Eddie Edwards.
Gresham hasn’t agreed with the tactics of his old ROH running mates in Impact and made his return Thursday to aid Rocky Romero after Edwards was attacking him following their match. It was not announced as a title match as Gresham defends against Bandido at ROH’s Supercard of Honor PPV next Friday.
In another update to the April 23rd PPV lineup, “Speedball” Mike Bailey earned his way into an X-Division title shot on the show.
Bailey defeated Laredo Kid and Willie Mack in a three-way Thursday, giving him a spot in the Rebellion three-way against X-Division Champion Trey Miguel and former champion Ace Austin.
Here’s the current card for the Poughkeepsie, New York, event:
Impact World Champion Moose vs. Josh Alexander in a title match
X-Division Champion Trey Miguel vs. Mike Bailey vs. Ace Austin in a title match
Tomohiro Ishii will face Eddie Edwards over WrestleMania weekend.
Impact Wrestling announced Wednesday that Edwards vs. Ishii has been booked for their Multiverse of Matches show on Friday, April 1. The event is part of WrestleCon and will take place from the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas.
A new bout has been added to the Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow at WrestleCon.
NJPW’s Tomohiro Ishii will face Timothy Thatcher on the Thursday, March 31 event at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas as part of WrestleMania weekend’s festivities. The show will air live on FITE TV at 9 p.m. Central time.
Ishii will also be in action the following day at NJPW Strong Lonestar Shootout, facing Chris Dickinson on that card.
Thatcher is coming off a WWE NXT run that began when he signed in February 2020. He debuted on NXT TV in April 2020, with his last match in the company airing in August 2021. News of Thatcher’s WWE release broke on January 5, 2022.
Here is the updated card for the SuperShow:
Minoru Suzuki vs. Biff Busick
The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) vs. The Rottweilers (Low Ki & Homicide)
Bandido vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Timothy Thatcher
Atsushi Onita, Jonathan Gresham, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson), Michael Oku, Black Taurus, and PCO set for action
United Empire (Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, The Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Ryohei Oiwa
United Empire led this match almost through its entirety. The babyface quartet tried to rally, but a Rampage Tackle from Henare dropped Oiwa for the pin.
Bullet Club (El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI)
This match had wider Bullet Club implications as Yujiro teamed with Bullet Club proper. For the first time since the stateside schism, both sub-groups teamed together and seemed to be on the same page. In fact, the only tension was between ELP and Ishimori, which Yujiro worked to calm.
The Bullet Club team had the win secured after Ishimori hit BUSHI with a Bloody Cross, but ELP had secretly tagged into the match. After Ishimori wasn’t allowed to pin BUSHI, ELP dropped BUSHI with CR II and pinned him himself.
After a match with plenty of offense from both sides, ZSJ secured an armbar on YOH, leading to the Suzuki-gun victory.
New Japan Cup first-round match: Chase Owens defeated Jado
This wasn’t great, but it could have been a lot worse — a small victory, but we take those.
A quick knee to Jado after a deceptive handshake left Owens with an early lead. Owens continued making advances until Jado caught a C-Trigger. For the first time, Jado landed a pair of lariats to take control into his own hands.
A Green Killer to Owens left Jado with a near fall. Owens sprung back with a Jewel Heist. After kicking out, Jado answered with the Crossface of Jado. Owens couldn’t reach the rope to break the hold, instead pulling the referee. Owens tapped while the referee was down, convincing Jado he had won the match. Jado, in anger, grabbed his stick. Owens talked him out of using the weapon, only to hit a low blow after the act of borderline courtesy. A C-Trigger brought this match to an end.
After the match, Owens paid care to Jado, giving him an ice pack and helping him to the back.
Owens moves on to wrestle Tiger Mask in round two.
New Japan Cup first-round match: EVIL defeated Ryusuke Taguchi
This was bad.
Taguchi came to the ring in a jank EVIL costume, complete with a dollar store skull mask, plastic scythe, and ill-fitting cloak. Once he removed his mask, Taguchi revealed his EVIL-inspired face paint, but to be honest, he just looked tired.
Once the match started, both men immediately tried for Everything is Evil. EVIL dropped Taguchi, but a hip attack kept him in the match. Strangely, a missed hip attack allowed EVIL to take complete control. EVIL slammed Taguchi into the barricade before choking him with a foreign object.
Taguchi launched a comeback after a deadman sit-up. A low blow dropped EVIL, prompting Dick Togo to make his presence felt. Taguchi pulled Togo into the ring and smothered him with his backside. A series of B-Triggers, both to EVIL and Togo, left Taguchi with a strong lead. Taguchi connected with the Three Amigos, an enzuigiri, and a Bomaye, resulting in a near fall.
Taguchi looked to close with an ankle lock, but EVIL grabbed the referee. With the official distracted, Togo hit the ring with a wire. Taguchi turned his attention to Togo, locking him into the ankle lock and forcing him to tap out. With Taguchi’s attention subverted, EVIL snuck in and hit Everything is Evil to close the match.
EVIL moves on to face Tama Tonga, a match with significant implications following the recent Bullet Club happenings.
New Japan Cup first-round match: Hiromu Takahashi defeated SHO
This was not for me in any way. Other than this match structure being utterly played out, the actual contents bored me to tears. It felt like they were just going through the motions.
Before the match could even start, SHO carried Hiromu from the back, wielding a chair. SHO beat Hiromu with the chair all the way to the ring.
Once inside the ring, Hiromu immediately turned things around with an explosive sunset flip powerbomb to the floor. He then led an extended offensive sequence, mainly on the outside. Hiromu removed the padding next to the ring, buying SHO enough time to grab the ring bell hammer. After hitting Hiromu with said hammer in plain sight of the referee, SHO dropped Hiromu with a piledriver on the concrete.
SHO could not finish the match, leaving Hiromu with an opportunity after a missed clothesline. Hiromu rallied, landing a Falcon Arrow. SHO stole the lead back after a brief back and forth by pulling the referee into Hiromu’s path and landing a spear. A powerbomb into the Snake Bite forced Hiromu into the ropes.
SHO then grabbed a chair and his wrench. The referee confiscated the chair but left SHO with his signature blunt object. Hiromu dodged the wrench attack, landing a German suplex and a lariat. Hiromu’s offense continued with a thrust kick, lariat, and Victory Royal, but SHO kicked out.
After surviving Hiromu’s rally, SHO pushed him into the referee and landed a low blow. SHO tried using the wrench again, but Hiromu ducked. Hiromu then ran SHO into an exposed turnbuckle corner, prompting Yujiro Takahashi to hit the ring. Yujiro dropped Hiromu with his cane, leaving SHO free to land a cross-arm piledriver. Hiromu held on, reversing a Shock Arrow into a quick roll-up for a surprise win.
Hiromu will face Minoru Suzuki in the next round.
New Japan Cup first-round match: Shingo Takagi defeated Tomohiro Ishii
This was the kind of match you would expect from these two. Full of high impact sequences, big moves, and brutal strikes.
The match opened with a heavy feeling out process filled with shoulder tackles. After Shingo fell, Ishii took the fight to the floor, throwing Shingo into the barricades. Shingo answered with strikes and a Death Valley Driver to the floor. Back in the ring, Shingo continued making offensive inroads with a senton, standing suplex, and a back elbow drop.
Shingo came off the ropes, perhaps looking for the Pumping Bomber, but Ishii caught him with a slam. Ishii then worked Shingo into the corner, landing heavy strikes, but he wasn’t ahead for long. Shingo connected with a lariat to initiate a long back and forth. Ishii eventually won out, landing one more backdrop than Shingo.
Ishii connected with a superplex but couldn’t follow up as a quick Shingo DDT left him grounded. A nasty buckle bomb and superplex from Ishii yielded Shingo a near fall of his own. Shingo tried to close with a Pumping Bomber, but Ishii avoided the move, initiating another back-and-forth sequence. Shingo won out, hitting a Pumping Bomber for a believable false finish.
Ishii blocked Last of the Dragon and followed up with a nasty headbutt that brought both men down. Ishii tried dropping Shingo with a snap German, but Shingo popped up. Ishii was quick to respond with a lariat. Shingo kicked out at the count of one. Shingo reversed the brainbuster and hit one of his own. Ishii kicked out before the one count. After two more one-count kickouts, Shingo connected with Made in Japan for an actual near fall. Shingo then picked Ishii up and set him down with Last of the Dragon. This time, Ishii did not kick out.
NJPW star Tomohiro Ishii is among the latest additions to this year’s WrestleCon SuperShow.
WrestleCon announced today that Ishii, Michael Oku, Black Taurus, and PCO have been added to the 2022 Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow. The event is being held at The Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas on Thursday, March 31. It will be available to watch via Fite TV.
Opponents for the four new wrestlers set for the SuperShow have yet to be announced.
Ishii is also set to face Chris Dickinson at NJPW Lonestar Shootout in Dallas on Friday, April 1. Lonestar Shootout is taking place as part of WrestleCon.
This year’s WrestleCon convention begins on March 31 and ends on Saturday, April 2.
Here’s the updated card for the SuperShow:
Minoru Suzuki vs. Biff Busick
The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) vs. The Rottweilers (Low Ki & Homicide)
Bandido vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey
Atsushi Onita, Jonathan Gresham, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson), Tomohiro Ishii, Michael Oku, Black Taurus, and PCO set for action
Chris Dickinson vs. Tomohiro Ishii is official for NJPW Lonestar Shootout.
After posting a video on Wednesday that featured Dickinson announcing his return from an injury, Dickinson challenged Ishii to meet him in Texas. The match is now set for the Friday, April 1 event in Dallas.
This will be Dickinson’s first NJPW bout since suffering a dislocated leg at Battle in the Valley in November 2021.
Official for Dallas April 1!
Chris Dickinson will go one on one with Tomohiro Ishii at Lonestar Shootout!
Dickinson posted a statement two days after his injury occurred, updating fans on how long he expected to be out of action. He noted that he was given a range of six months recovery time, but returning sooner was possible given his athletic background.
“My timeline I’ve been given for recovery is within the range of six months,” Dickinson wrote. “My surgeon just said because of my background and athletic nature if I do everything right I can probably do it in five months. I give my word I will do my absolute best to return to the ring as fast as humanly possible.”
Chris Dickinson is returning to NJPW in April, and already has a name in mind.
A video posted on NJPW Global’s social media had Dickinson issuing a challenge to Tomohiro Ishii on April 1. That would be NJPW Strong’s Lonestar Shootout event in Dallas, Texas during WrestleMania weekend.
April 1 in Dallas, Chris Dickinson returns to NJPW.
In the video, which you can see above, Dickinson said they said five months has a highly accelerated recovery time, but his response was that he was a highly accelerated human being. He went on to say that he will pick himself up again and again to accomplish his goals, and that is the definition of strong style. The video then ended with Dickinson throwing out the challenge to Ishii.
Dickinson injured his hip joint at NJPW’s Battle in the Valley back on November 13 following a frog splash. In January, Dickinson said he would return to action around GCW’s Spring Break event, which will also take place during WrestleMania weekend.
Tonight’s episode of NJPW Strong was taped in Riverside, CA at the New Japan Detonation show.
Jonathan Gresham defeated Gabriel Kidd
Kidd shook announcer Kevin Kelly’s hand and told him he loved him before the match. Kelly told him the same. This was Kidd’s first match in six months after what’s reported to have been a tumultuous year for him.
They shook hands before the match. When it kicked off, the two went into a fluid mat exchange that lasted a few minutes. Gresham had an arguable edge over the younger Kidd, but even still, it was hard for either to gain the upper hand. Neither threw strikes or resorted to dirty technique.
Not being able to take Kidd down or get a real advantage frustrated and annoyed Gresham midway through the bout. He’d later “accidentally” poked Kidd in the eye. This was disputable, albeit in a kayfabe kind of way. Gresham apologized and offered his hand. A lot of the crowd booed this, but some sounded delighted.
Gresham teased throwing a punch or elbow over the course of this. He got a lot of mileage out of this and was able to get the crowd to react without having to do all that much. It was a good sub-story within the match.
At around ten minutes in, Kidd bodyslammed Gresham. He later went to put Gresham away with the Billy Robinson-style single-arm suplex he’s known to use, but Gresham escaped. After a series of reversals, Gresham picked up the win with a headscissors pin combination.
United Empire (WIll Ospreay, Jeff Cobb & TJP) defeated LA Dojo (Ren Narita, Karl Fredericks & Clark Connors)
This turned out to be a pretty exciting tag match. Both teams jaw-jacked with each other and it quickly turned into a brawl. The bell rang. Fredericks landed a crazy tope con giro to the floor in the first minute. The LA Dojo team was fired up for this one.
After the Dojo babyfaces worked TJP over for a few minutes, Cobb got involved to even the score when he launched Narita into a guardrail on the floor behind the ref’s back. It got a good reaction from the crowd. He’d later ragdoll Narita around the ring, impressing the crowd with a squatting deadlift vertical suplex, again propelling him comically far.
Ospreay used a spinning backbreaker on Narita. He chopped Narita and the sound rang out like a pistol firing. Connors eventually caught the hot tag after Narita threw Ospreay coming off the ropes with a front suplex. Connors cleaned house.
Before the ten-minute announcement sounded, Connors caught TJP with an insane snap powerslam, then speared Ospreay on the apron.
TJP later took Narita out with a cradle back suplex. Fredericks and Cobb were in the ring together next when Fredericks caught Cobb with a big spinebuster. He earned a two-count after a jumping elbow drop.
Connors went to spear TJP towards the end of the match but he couldn’t because his knee gave out. Earlier on, TJP had hyper-extended Connors’ knee, so it’d already been tenderized. He locked in a modified scorpion deathlock. This gave Cobb a chance to stamp Fredericks out completely after a Spin-Cycle suplex. Connors broke up the pin. Cobb then put Fredericks down with a Tour of the Islands for a decisive-looking pin.
Despite the match being over, TJP kept hold on his submission lock, ripping on Connors’ knee. Narita tried attacking the group but staff held him back. Narita escaped and tried taking the three heels out, but he’d get stomped out again. United Abominations posed with their belts in the ring. The crowd showered them with boos. The group messed with Kevin Kelly at the announcers’ table before they’d exit to the back.
NEVER Openweight Championship match: Tomohiro Ishii (c) defeated Brody King to retain
What a match.
They didn’t waste any time getting into the violence. In terms of style, this was the total opposite of Gresham vs. Kidd. They exchanged elbows and shoulder blocks. Neither would go down, neither wanted to give an inch. The bigger King was able to take Ishii down a few times, though, once laying him out after a senton.
Ishii went for a vertical suplex but King shut it down quickly. He blasted Ishii with chops. The first two were so loud. Ishii took a number of them and insisted King throw more at him until he collapsed in the corner. Ishii’s chest was bright red.
It looked like they’d been through actual war by the five minute mark. Ishii somehow was able to spike King with a brainbuster and later chop and elbow him hard in the opposite corner. King was barely able to survive Ishii’s offensive and flattened him with a lariat.
King crushed Ishii in the corner with a cannonball. Ishii reacted like he’d gotten into a car accident, just pure agony. King used a piledriver for two.
They traded nasty elbows. The crowd seemed half in support of King, half in support of Ishii. Ishii threw King with a release German suplex off the ropes. He tried taking King out with a number of lariats of his own, but King wouldn’t go down. King went down after a headbutt, then Ishii went for a Sliding D. King caught Ishii. They were up on their feet and eventually Ishii laid King out with a lariat.
King shouted his tag team partner Chris Dickinson out before dropping Ishii on his head with a Death Valley Bomb for two.
King went for the Gonzo Bomb but Ishii slipped out. They played cat-and-mouse some more until King blasted Ishii with another huge lariat. King went for the Gonzo Bomb but again Ishii escaped, then dazed the giant King with an enzuigiri kick. In the end, Ishii lifted King into the air, then drilled him into the mat with a picture-perfect vertical-drop brainbuster for the win.
Final thoughts:
This was one of the best episodes of NJPW Strong front-to-back. This one has to go in the top five, at least. The six-man tag match sounded like a blast for the crowd. Kidd and Gresham told such a great and physical story. The main event between King and Ishii is as good as one would expect. As a fan, all I can ask for is a lot more of this. Hope there’s a rematch planned for next year.
Three matches have been announced for this week’s episode of NJPW Strong.
In the main event, NEVER Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii will face Brody King in a non-title match. The match will be the first singles meeting between the two.
In the second match, United Empire’s Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb and TJP will take on Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors and Ren Narita in trios action.
In Saturday’s opener, Jonathan Gresham will face Gabriel Kidd. Kidd issued the challenge to Gresham during the prior set of Strong tapings.
The Detonation episodes of Strong were taped on November 15 in Riverside, California. Saturday’s show will also be available on demand immediately following airing.
Here is the full lineup:
NJPW Strong Detonation night two, Saturday, December 11, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World–
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Brody King
Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb & TJP vs. Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors & Ren Narita
