Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI
Report —
Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall was again the venue for today’s show.
Gabriel Kidd defeated Yota Tsuji (7:44)
This was a nice little sprint to kick things off.
They opened up with some mat work. They traded side headlocks. Kidd tried some shoulder tackles but Tsuji would not go down. Tsuji hit an uppercut forearm and dropped Kidd with his own shoulder block.
Tsuji hit a slam and used a camel clutch. Kidd came back with a backdrop and another side headlock. Kidd landed some strikes and dropped a knee on Tsuji’s chest for a near fall. After a striking battle, Kidd hit a senton for a two count.
Tsuji hit a vertical suplex, a slam, a senton and a splash for a near fall. He locked on a crab but Kidd made the ropes to force a break.
Kidd fought off a powerslam and used two quick cradles for near falls. Tsuji hit a sunset flip for a two count. Kidd reversed the sunset flip and escaped with the pinfall victory.
I’m not sold on Great-O-Khan. I like his look but his offense doesn’t look very good by NJPW standards.
Okada and O-Khan began. Ospreay jumped in for the immediate illegal double team. Okada fought it off and hit O-Khan with a neckbreaker before tagging out.
Ospreay tied Uemura up in the ropes, allowing O-Khan to go to work on the Young Lion. Ospreay sent Okada into the barricade on the outside while O-Khan established the advantage over Uemura.
Ospreay and O-Khan cut the ring in half and used a series of quick tags in working Uemura over. Ospreay took the referee and Priestley joined in on the attack from the floor.
Uemura finally avoided a charge into the corner from O-Khan and tagged out. Okada hit a running back elbow on O-Khan and hit an interfering Ospreay with a flapjack.
Okada used a DDT for a near fall. O-Khan blocked an air raid crash and the two traded strikes. O-Khan hit some Mongolian chops. Okada then hit an air raid crash.
Uemura tagged in and hit some tandem offense with Okada. Uemura went for a butterfly suplex but O-Khan blocked. Uemura used a crab while Okada and Ospreay fought to the floor. O-Khan powered out.
O-Khan hit a uranage for two as Okada broke up the pin. Ospreay and Okada did some cool teases and misdirections before brawling to the floor again.
O-Khan then hit the Dominator on Uemura and pinned him.
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Okada and O-Khan got into it after the bell. Okada locked on the Money Clip. Ospreay broke it up and O-Khan hit Okada with the Dominator. O-Khan posed over Okada ahead of their match on Saturday.
They began fighting before the bell. Shingo and Suzuki went at it on the floor, as did BUSHI and Kanemaru.
Hiromu and Desperado began in the ring and LIJ got the early edge. Shingo got a tag and again went after Suzuki on the apron. BUSHI ended up the legal man for LIJ while Shingo and Suzuki brawled outside. Suzuki sent Shingo into the barricade.
Suzuki-gun worked over BUSHI. Suzuki no-sold a series of BUSHI’s strikes and used a crab. Shingo broke the hold with a lariat to the back of Suzuki’s head and they again fought to the floor.
BUSHI hit a sloppy enzuigiri on Desperado and was finally able to tag out. Shingo and Suzuki brawled again, this time as the legal participants in the match. They proceeded to have an excellent exchange.
Kanemaru tagged and and fell victim to tandem offense from Hiromu and BUSHI. Shingo then deadlifted him for a Last of the Dragon and the pin.
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After the bell, Suzuki hit Shingo with a chair and a Gotch-style piledriver. He then used a Boston crab. Suzuki fought off the ringside attendants who tried to break the hold, then wrenched back on Shingo with a high-angle single-leg crab before posing over him with the NEVER title.
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The Best of the Super Jr. 27 field and the return of the Super J-Cup were announced before intermission.
BOSJ will be ten participants competing in a single block.
The J-Cup will be a one-night tournament with eight participants held in the United States and broadcast on NJPW World on Saturday, December 12.
The lineups:
Best of the Super Jr. 27 —
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Taiji Ishimori
Hiromu Takahashi
El Desperado
Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Ryusuke Taguchi
Master Wato
SHO
BUSHI
Robbie Eagles
DOUKI
Super J-Cup 2020 —
2019 Super J-Cup winner El Phantasmo
Clark Connors
TJP
ACH
Lio Rush
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champion Rey Horus
Blake Christian
Chris Bey
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Jay White, KENTA & Chase Owens (w/Gedo) defeated Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma (12:25)
There was a stretch earlier this year where Honma was working more regularly and had started to look better in the ring. That has not been the case the last two nights.
White and KENTA pulled Tsuji into the ring before the match and menaced him into clapping for them during their introductions.
Owens and Honma started out as the legal men while White and KENTA went after Ibushi and Tanahashi on the outside. Bullet Club then cut Honma off and worked him over for several minutes.
Honma finally came back on KENTA with a DDT before tagging out to Tana. Tanahashi hit a series of strikes, a flying forearm and a dragon screw on KENTA. Tanahashi tried for a cloverleaf but Owens broke it up. Owens got hit with a dragon screw for his trouble.
KENTA hit Tanahashi with a powerslam, a swing DDT and a top rope clothesline. Tanahashi hit a slingblade after a striking battle.
Ibushi and White tagged in. They exchanged blows. White hit a DDT and a DVD for a near fall. Ibushi came back with a snap rana before tagging out.
White got hit with a triple team from Tanahashi, Ibushi and Honma. Honma hit a bulldog and kokeshi. White blocked a lariat and hit Blade Runner for the pin.
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White and KENTA laid out Ibushi and Tanahashi with briefcase shots after the match. Ibushi had to be restrained from going after White by Kidd and Tsuji after he recovered.
Naito and SANADA tried a jumpstart at the bell. Naito pulled EVIL to the floor and sent him into the barricade. Back in, Naito choked EVIL with his sweatshirt. Naito tagged out. SANADA hit a rana on EVIL but missed a plancha. Bullet Club took over from there.
EVIL sent Naito into the barricade and hit him with a chair. Togo took the referee while Yujiro posted SANADA. SANADA got whipped into an exposed buckle. EVIL twice sent SANADA into the barricade and knocked over the ring announcer Abe on the other side.
SANADA made a comeback. He avoided another whip into the buckle and sent EVIL into it instead. Naito tagged in and hit some signature offense on EVIL. Togo tripped Naito, which allowed Yujiro and EVIL to hit tandem offense on the champion.
SANADA jumped in and hit EVIL with a dropkick. EVIL and SANADA brawled outside, leaving Yujiro and Naito legal. Yujiro tried to hit Naito with his pimp cane but Naito ducked the shot. Yujiro hit an Olympic slam for a two count.
Naito ended up with a bloody mouth after taking a hotshot over the top strand from EVIL.
Naito and Yujiro were in for a very clunky closing sequence. Naito avoided Miami Shine. SANADA entered to double up on Yujiro. Naito hit Gloria and a Destino and got the pin.
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI to retain the titles (34:50)
This went about ten minutes too long but everyone worked hard. It felt like they reached the pinnacle of the match, then kept going and couldn’t get it back to the peak.
Taichi and YH started off by locking up. Taichi backed into the ropes to force an immediate break. He repeated the spot before tagging Sabre. Sabre took YH down right away and began manipulating his arms. YH came back with a hurricanrana and a tackle.
Goto tagged in for some tandem offense on Sabre. Taichi entered for an illegal double team but Goto fought it off. Sabre went after Goto’s neck, twisting it with his legs. Taichi pulled Goto to the floor and choked him with a camera cable.
Goto got worked over for several minutes. He eventually avoided a Taichi backdrop suplex and hit a lariat. YH and Sabre tagged in and went back and forth. Sabre continued attacking YH’s arms. He then went after YH’s legs with a sweep and a series of ankle locks, heel hooks and kneebars.
Goto got a tag. Sabre avoided a misdirection lariat and used an octopus. Goto fought out and went for an ushigoroshi but Sabre slipped to a guillotine. Goto hit a vertical suplex to end the sequence.
Suzuki-gun doubled up on Goto after fighting off interference from YH. Sabre hit a PK on Goto for two. Goto fought out of Zack Mephisto. Sabre hit a DDT and used a triangle. They did a long submission tease before Goto reached the ropes.
Taichi tagged in and went for a last ride. Goto fought out of it. Sabre and Taichi tried a tandem dragon screw but YH intercepted it. Goto and YH hit the GYR on Taichi for a two count.
Goto hit a mid kick, no-sold a backdrop suplex and hit a lariat to Taichi. YH tagged in and hit a lariat for two. YH fought off a Black Mephisto, no-sold a lariat and hit a powerbomb for a near fall as Sabre broke it up.
YH hit a senton bomb for a two count. YH used a butterfly lock. Sabre tried to break it up but Goto intercepted him. YH transitioned to a sleeper. Taichi grabbed the ref and hit a low blow. Taichi used a clutch hold for a near fall.
Sabre got in and Goto hit him with an ushigoroshi. All four guys were down and exhausted by this point.
Taichi and YH traded strikes. YH hit a superkick, a dragon suplex and a lariat for a near fall. He hit a brainbuster for another two count. Goto and Sabre got back in. Goto got hit with Zack Mephisto. YH hit a meteora on Sabre.
In the closing sequence, YH hit a lariat and used a stack cover for two. Taichi blocked Kharma. Sabre got in. Taichi and Sabre hit YH with Zack Mephisto and Taichi covered for the pin.
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They shot an angle after the match. There was a stark contrast in the tone of the long battle for the titles that we just saw and the total comedy that followed.
Toru Yano jumped up from the commentary table and climbed into the ring. He took off all four corner pads. He cut a promo and said that Sabre pisses him off because he always tries to put the pads back on when Yano takes them off, so their KOPW match on Saturday will now be a no corner pads match.
Sabre then sent Yano into an exposed buckle. Yano went backstage. Yano could still be heard shouting from backstage as Sabre and Taichi tried to cut their end of show promo. Sabre went backstage with a chair and returned a few seconds later.
The NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles will be on the line at Road to Power Struggle night one.
NJPW has revealed the full card for Road to Power Struggle night one, with it being headlined by NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defending their titles against Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI. The match was set up by Taichi, Sabre Jr., DOUKI & El Desperado defeating Ishii, Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano in an eight-man tag match at the G1 finals.
DOUKI pinned YOSHI-HASHI to get the win in that eight-man tag match. After the match, Taichi, Sabre & DOUKI attacked Ishii, Goto & YOSHI-HASHI and posed with the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag team titles.
Ishii, Goto & YOSHI-HASHI have been NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions since winning the titles in a tournament this August. EVIL, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI were the champions prior to that, but the titles were declared vacant after EVIL joined Bullet Club.
NJPW has yet to reveal the cards for the rest of the Road to Power Struggle tour. The tour is leading into Power Struggle being held at the Edion Arena in Osaka, Japan on Saturday, November 7. Power Struggle will feature six singles matches.
Road to Power Struggle night one is taking place at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo this Friday (October 23) and will air live on NJPW World starting at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time. Here’s the full card for the show:
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defend against Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI
Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. EVIL & Dick Togo
Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma vs. Jay White, KENTA & Gedo
Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Kazuchika Okada & Gabriel Kidd vs. Will Ospreay & The Great O-Khan
NJPW’s NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team title tournament is down to its final two teams.
It will be an all-Chaos final as Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & SHO face off with their stablemates Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI to determine the new NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions. The match is taking place at NJPW’s Summer Struggle show at Korakuen Hall on Sunday (August 9).
Okada, Yano & SHO advanced to the finals by defeating SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI at today’s Summer Struggle event. They won by countout after Yano tied the laces of BUSHI’s mask to the barricade.
Ishii, Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi & Master Wato in today’s main event to advance to the finals.
In the first round of the tournament, Okada, Yano & SHO defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Gedo & Jado and Ishii, Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi.
The NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles were declared vacant after EVIL left Los Ingobernables de Japon and joined Bullet Club. He had held the titles with Shingo & BUSHI.
Sunday’s Summer Struggle show will begin at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time.
Two NJPW wrestlers are currently out of action with knee injuries.
NJPW announced tonight that YOSHI-HASHI and YOH both suffered knee injuries in recent matches. YOSHI-HASHI’s injury is to his right knee, while YOH’s is to his left knee.
YOSHI-HASHI and YOH won’t be able to wrestle at the New Japan Cup finals on Saturday, July 11 or Dominion on Sunday, July 12 due to their injuries. NJPW wrote that there’s no current timetable for when either will be able to return.
YOSHI-HASHI’s injury appeared to happen when he defeated BUSHI in the second round of the New Japan Cup. YOSHI-HASHI still wrestled against EVIL in the quarterfinals, but his injury was worked into the story of the match. It was only two minutes long and ended in a referee stoppage as EVIL had YOSHI-HASHI locked in a Scorpion Deathlock. EVIL attacked YOSHI-HASHI’s knee with a chair before the bell rang and then attacked him again after the match.
YOH hasn’t wrestled since losing to BUSHI in the first round of the New Japan Cup. SHO & YOH are the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.
Following King of Pro Wrestling, NJPW has made four matches official for Power Struggle.
Those matches are:
IWGP Intercontinental Champion Jay White defending against Hirooki Goto
NEVER Openweight Champion KENTA defending against Tomohiro Ishii
Tetsuya Naito vs. Taichi
Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi
NJPW has been building to White vs. Goto since the aftermath of White winning the IWGP Intercontinental title from Naito at Destruction in Kobe last month. At King of Pro Wrestling, Goto, Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI defeated White, KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi.
KENTA won the NEVER Openweight Championship from Ishii at Royal Quest in August.
Naito & Shingo Takagi defeated Taichi & DOUKI by disqualification at King of Pro Wrestling. Taichi laid out Naito after the match, then mocked him for losing the Intercontinental title and having his quest to become a double champion get derailed.
Taichi also defeated Naito in this year’s G1 Climax.
Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Ibushi & Tanahashi is part of the build to Okada defending his IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 14 night one on January 4.
Power Struggle is taking place in Osaka, Japan on Sunday, November 3. The show will also feature the finals of this year’s Super Junior Tag League.
A Six-Man Tag Team title defense is now set for Monday’s New Japan Road show.
NJPW has announced that NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Ryusuke Taguchi will defend their titles against Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI at the October 7 event.
The match was originally announced as being non-title, but it was made a title match after Tanahashi, Honma & YOSHI-HASHI defeated the champions in non-title action at Friday’s New Japan Road show.
Makabe, Yano & Taguchi have held the NEVER Six-Man Tag Team titles since January.
Tanahashi is having a series of four matches to mark the 20th anniversary of his debut. The Six-Man Tag Team title match will be the third in that series. The fourth match will take place at King of Pro Wrestling on October 14, with Tanahashi & Honma facing Makabe & Yano.
Monday’s New Japan Road show will air live on New Japan World with Japanese commentary. It’s taking place at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and will begin at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time. Here’s the updated card for it:
Kazuchika Okada & Kota Ibushi vs. SANADA & EVIL
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Ryusuke Taguchi defending against Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI
What was originally a special tag team match has turned into a IWGP Tag Team title match.
The Guerrillas of Destiny will now defend the titles against the team of Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI on September 15 in Beppu.
NJPW made the tag team title match following a six man tag team match that took place this morning at a Road to Destruction event in Korakuen Hall. YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii and Rocky Romero teamed together to defeated The Guerillas of Destiny and Jado after YH submitted Jado with the butterfly lock.
After the match, the Guerrillas of Destiny laid out Ishii ringside and looked to finish off YOSHI-HASHI with a magic killer. Ishii made the save, however, and sent them packing as he and YOSHI-HASHI posed with the titles.
The title match will the co-main event of Destruction in Beppu. New RevPro British Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi will defend the title against former champion Zack Sabre Jr. in the main event.
NJPW’s Kizuna Road tour ended today in Sendai, with a pair of RPW title matches closing the event.
The main event featured Zack Sabre Jr. defending his RPW British Heavyweight title, as well as his spot in the G1 Climax tournament, against YOSHI-HASHI.
In what was a complete comedy match, the semi-main saw El Phantasmo defend his RPW British Cruiserweight title against Ryusuke Taguchi.
Nagata and Tsuji double-teamed Kojima at the outset. Once Nagata exited, Kojima made a comeback. Tenzan got a tag, and TenKoji worked over Tsuji. Kojima hit his machine gun chops, then hit a diving elbow.
Tsuji hit a dropkick, allowing him to tag Nagata. Nagata hit Kojima with kicks and used an exploder for a near fall. Kojima hit a Koji Cutter, then tagged Tenzan. He hit a sloppy brainbuster, then followed up with chops.
Nagata got a Nagata Lock applied, but Kojima broke it up. Tsuji got a tag. He hit a body slam for a two count, then used a crab. Tenzan flipped out of the crab. Tsuji hit a spear for a near fall as Kojima broke up the pin.
Tenzan and Kojima hit a TenKoji Cutter on Tsuji, but Nagata broke up the pin. Nagata and Kojima brawled to the floor, and Tenzan used the Anaconda Vice on Tsuji for the submission. A below average opener.
EVIL again refused to participate in the LIJ fist bump before the bell.
Umino and Naito started out. Naito sent Umino outside, then hit his tranquilo pose. Umino jumped back in and hit a dropkick. BUSHI and Honma tagged in. Honma missed a kokeshi, and LIJ took the opportunity to begin brawling around ringside.
Back inside, LIJ worked over Honma. SANADA tried for a TKO, but Honma blocked it, hit a kokeshi, and tagged Makabe.
The crowd got into it as Shingo and Makabe exchanged lariats. Ibushi and EVIL tagged in. EVIL missed a senton, and Ibushi connected on a standing Shooting Star Press. EVIL used a misdirection spot, then dropped Ibushi with a clothesline.
Ibushi hit a double backflip kick to Shingo and EVIL, then tagged Narita. Narita hit a brainbuster and a belly-to-belly on Shingo for a near fall. Naito jumped in for the save.
The match broke down, and everyone hit a big move. Shingo went for a noshigami, but Narita turned it into a backslide for a two count. Narita got another near fall off a cradle. Shingo hit a Pumping Bomber for a near fall, then hit noshigami for the pin.
The action really picked up in the last few minutes, particularly once Narita tagged in. Good stuff.
After the match, Ibushi had a staredown with all five members of LIJ in the ring. Naito teased an attack, but Ibushi escaped unscathed.
JUICE ROBINSON & MIKEY NICHOLLS DEFEATED TAMA TONGA & TANGA LOA
They brawled all around the arena at the opening bell. They did a countout tease, but everyone made it back in at 18. Loa and Juice were left the legal men. Tonga hit a neckbreaker, and Tonga and Loa went to work on Juice.
Loa used a chinlock. Juice rolled out, then tagged Nicholls. Nicholls briefly ran wild, but Jado used a kendo stick shot from the floor to cut him off. Loa hit a diving headbutt off the top, and Tonga hit a top rope splash for a near fall.
Tonga took the ref, and Jado jumped in. Juice no-sold a kendo stick shot, then hit a series of jabs. Tonga cut him off with a Gun Stun. Tonga went for a Gun Stun on Nicholls, but Nicholls turned it into a backslide for the pin.
After the bell, Nicholls hit a Mikey Bomb on Tonga, then said that he and Juice want the IWGP Tag Team titles. I expect that to be on the Australia show on Saturday. This was not the most inspired effort from either team, but I guess they accomplished what they set out to do, which was to establish Juice & Nicholls as challengers.
Tanahashi’s team went for a quadruple dropkick on Ishimori, but Ishimori avoided it, and Bullet Club took over. White used a single-leg crab on SHO. Tanahashi got a tag. He and YOH hit stereo dragon screws. Tana hit a somersault senton on White for a two count.
White came back with a Saito suplex, then a brainbuster. He tried for Blade Runner, but Tana reversed it into a Twist and Shout. Henare tagged in and fought off Yujiro. He hit White with a delayed vertical suplex for a two count.
The match broke down. Tana and YOH hit stereo planchas. Henare hit White with a spear for a two count. He tried for a uranage, but White hit a suplex, then used the Blade Runner for the pin.
The match was nothing special, but Henare looked good here. Tanahashi is clearly hurting.
White cut a promo on Hirooki Goto after the match. He said he saw that he ran off to the LA Dojo to see Shibata. He said Goto and Shibata are two failures. Goto ran in and hit a lariat on White. He hit Gedo with an ushigoroshi for good measure.
This was a standard Suzuki-gun brawl. They worked over Tiger Mask at the outset. Things picked up once Okada and Archer tagged in. Okada hit a slam, then avoided Archer’s EBD Claw. Okada hit a dropkick.
Ishii and Taichi tagged in. Taichi connected with a buzzsaw kick and used a stretch plum. They did a long submission tease, but Liger made the save for Ishii.
The match broke down. Yano sent Suzuki into an exposed buckle. Taichi hit an axe bomber on Yano, then hit one on Ishii for a near fall. Ishii blocked a buzzsaw and hit a suplex. DOUKI blind-tagged in, and Suzuki-gun ganged up on Ishii.
DOUKI hit a DDT on Ishii, but Okada saved. Okada hit Archer and DOUKI with dropkicks, allowing Ishii to hit a lariat. Ishii hit the vertical drop brainbuster, then pinned DOUKI.
The last few minutes were fun, but the rest was forgettable.
RPW BRITISH CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: EL PHANTASMO DEFEATED RYUSUKE TAGUCHI TO RETAIN THE TITLE
They did a total comedy Taguchi match. They started with crowd work. They did rope-running comedy. ELP pulled Taguchi’s tights down, exposing his red underpants. Taguchi worked for several minutes with his tights down.
ELP used a chinlock, then hit a quebrada for a two count. Taguchi came back with hip attacks, a rana, and a springboard hip attack to the floor. ELP retaliated by attacking Taguchi’s nipples. ELP hit an airplane spin neckbreaker for a two count.
Taguchi hit Three Amigos, then a DDT. He followed up by hitting Nakamura’s pose, then a running hip attack for a near fall. Taguchi went up top, but got crotched. ELP broke out a reverse rana off the top.
ELP went for a frog splash, but Taguchi got his knees up. Taguchi hit Dodon for a near fall, then slapped on an ankle lock, but ELP reached the ropes.
Taguchi used a cradle for a two count, then went back to the ankle lock. ELP tried to roll through to a cradle, but Taguchi kept the hold applied. ELP reached the ropes, then hit a Canadian Destroyer off the second rope for a near fall.
ELP hit CR2 and got the pin. This was the third time I’ve seen them do a version of the same comedy match in the last month, so this didn’t do anything for me. If you haven’t seen it before, maybe you would enjoy this. More power to you.
RPW BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH WITH A SPOT IN THE G1 CLIMAX 29 AT STAKE: ZACK SABRE JR. DEFEATED YOSHI-HASHI TO RETAIN THE TITLE
They began with some mat wrestling. Sabre had the clear edge, but YH held his own. YH hit a couple of chops to the chest, and Sabre decided he was done toying with YH. He used a heel hook over the bottom rope, then sent the same left leg of YH into the barricade.
Back in the ring, Sabre continued to target the left leg. YH fired up and hit a chop, and Sabre responded by hitting a dropkick to the bad leg. YH came back with a brainbuster, a dropkick to the back, then a neckbreaker.
YH missed a swanton bomb, and Sabre went for a cross armbreaker. YH rolled to the ropes. Sabre used a triangle choke. YH hit a powerbomb, breaking the hold. YH went to the top rope, but Sabre cut him off. Sabre used an ankle lock over the top rope.
Sabre tried for a superplex, but YH fought him off. YH hit a Headhunter off the top rope for a two count. YH tried for the butterfly lock. Sabre went for the octopus, but YH turned it into an octopus of his own, then hit a shoulder breaker.
YH hit a thrust kick, then applied the butterfly lock. Sabre rolled to the ropes, forcing a break. Sabre blocked a lariat. YH hit the ropes, but ran into a step-over toehold. Sabre then used a neck crank, but YH reached the ropes.
YH blocked a Zack Driver and hit a backstabber. He followed with double knees off the ropes for a two count. Sabre blocked Kharma, then hit a PK. He hit another PK, then strolled around the ring. Yep, he just went for a walk.
YH tried to fire up. He hit a chop, but Sabre stomped on his arm. Sabre hit a series of uppercuts, then slaps to the face. YH used a cradle for a near fall, then hit a lariat. He dropped Sabre again with a forearm, then hit a fisherman buster for a near fall.
Sabre blocked Kharma, then trapped YH’s legs in a figure four. He also pinned YH’s arms underneath him, and torqued on the legs with his arms for good measure. YH submitted. The move wasn’t Napalm Death or Hurrah!, so I’m not sure what to call it.
A good effort from both guys, but this was a style clash to say the least.
Sabre cut a promo after the match. He promised to win the G1 — and to become the first British IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
A stipulation has been added to Zack Sabre Jr. and YOSHI-HASHI’s match at Kizuna Road next week.
Sabre is set to defend his Revolution Pro Wrestling British Heavyweight Championship against YOSHI-HASHI at NJPW’s Kizuna Road show in Sendai next Tuesday (June 25). After a challenge that was issued by YOSHI-HASHI, Sabre’s spot in this year’s G1 Climax will also be on the line as part of the match.
Sabre, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Will Ospreay, KENTA, EVIL, SANADA, Bad Luck Fale, and Lance Archer have been announced as the A Block participants for the G1.
RevPro British Cruiserweight Champion El Phantasmo is defending his title against Ryusuke Taguchi at Tuesday’s Kizuna Road show. It will air live on New Japan World. Here’s the full card:
RevPro British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defending against YOSHI-HASHI (Taguchi will take Sabre’s spot in the G1 Climax if he wins)
RevPro British Cruiserweight Champion El Phantasmo defending against Ryusuke Taguchi
The quarterfinal round of the 2019 New Japan Cup kicked off today in Shizuoka, with two stellar tournament matches on top.
The undercard on the show felt like filler. With Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay on top, nothing underneath was likely to steal the show anyway.
And so, the opening tag matches provided little in the way of excitement. Only one undercard tag bout cracked the 10-minute mark, and the show moved at a brisk pace.
Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI delivered in the semi-main position, while the main event was a showcase for two of the 10 best wrestlers on the planet.
Business picked up a bit once Nagata tagged in, but this was not a strong opener. Nakanishi and Tenzan moved in slow motion. Nagata tapped out Tsuji with the Nagata Lock II.
JUICE ROBINSON, MIKEY NICHOLLS & RYUSUKE TAGUCHI DEFEATED CHASE OWENS, BAD LUCK FALE & HIKULEO
Bullet Club took control early on, as Jado used a kendo stick on Taguchi’s glutes. Chase will challenge Juice for his IWGP United States Heavyweight title on Sunday, but he wanted no parts of the champ today.
Chase repeatedly begged off, but Juice finally got his hands on him in the ring. Juice hit jabs and a cannonball. He teased Pulp Friction, but Jado provided a distraction, allowing Chase to hit a combination of strikes.
Nicholls and HIKULEO got tags. Nicholls hit HIKULEO with the Mikey Bomb and picked up the win.
MINORU SUZUKI, LANCE ARCHER, DAVEY BOY SMITH JR & TAICHI DEFEATED TOMOAKI HONMA, TOGI MAKABE, MICHAEL ELGIN & TORU YANO
Suzuki-gun, the rogues that they are, attacked before the opening bell. They then had a middling brawl. Makabe and Suzuki had an intense striking exchange, but aside from that, not much in the way of action here.
The match broke down, with Taichi and Honma left the legal men in the ring. Taichi kicked Honma low, then used the Gedo Clutch for the pin.
They continue to plant seeds for another singles encounter between Naito and Ibushi. Naito taunted Ibushi after the match, while Ibushi remained silent.
During the match, Ibushi landed right on the top of his head while executing a backflip kick on Naito and Shingo. That was terrifying.
Shingo gave Narita a good bit of offense, and Narita even kicked out of one Pumping Bomber, before eventually falling victim to a second.
EVIL & SANADA DEFEATED COLT CABANA & TOA HENARE
SANADA and Cabana gave a preview of their quarterfinal match tomorrow. They did some comedy, which worked well, and their serious wrestling was quite good. Cabana busted out a second rope moonsault.
EVIL hit Darkness Falls on Henare, but Cabana broke up the pinfall. SANADA took Cabana out with a dropkick, and SANADA and EVIL hit the Magic Killer on Henare, leading to the pin.
ZACK SABRE JR. & TAKA MICHINOKU DEFEATED HIROSHI TANAHASHI & SHOTA UMINO
TAKA and Sabre dominated Umino early on. Tanahashi tagged in for a couple of signature spots, going head-to-head with Sabre. Sabre blocked one Dragon Screw, but Tanahashi managed to hit a second.
Umino got a tag and hit an awesome missile dropkick, then kicked out of a PK from Sabre. Sabre sold tweaking his right knee, which is worth noting ahead of Tanahashi vs. Sabre tomorrow.
Sabre used a Cobra Twist, then Orienteering with Napalm Death for the submission win over Umino.
NEW JAPAN CUP QUARTERFINAL MATCH: TOMOHIRO ISHII DEFEATED YOSHI-HASHI (20:25)
A very good match. Ishii is amazing. YOSHI-HASHI held up his end of the bargain, and he looked good in defeat.
The story of the match was that, as members of the same CHAOS faction, these guys know each other well. Each had a counter for the other as they tried to trade holds at the outset.
With that reaching a stalemate, Ishii looked to use his power advantage. YH had his left shoulder taped, and Ishii dumped him on that shoulder with a powerslam. YH stood up to a series of shoulder tackles and hit a headhunter.
YH drew blood from Ishii’s chest with a series of chops. They traded elbow strikes for a long time, and YH finally went down. Ishii hit an extended sequence of chops and punches in the corner, and he tore the tape of YH’s shoulder.
YH spit at Ishii, then slapped him in the face. YH dropped Ishii with a mid kick, then dropped him again with a lariat. YH hit a Liger Bomb for a two count. He slapped on the Butterfly Lock, then transitioned to a sleeper.
YH hit a backstabber, then went back to the Butterfly Lock, but Ishii powered his way to a rope break. YH missed with a swanton bomb. Ishii hit a backdrop driver, but YH blocked the following lariat.
They traded chops in the center of the ring. Ishii hit a jackknife powerbomb for a two count. YH ducked a first sliding lariat attempt, but Ishii connected on the second for a near fall. Ishii went for a brainbuster, but YH rolled him up for a two count.
YH used another roll-up for a near fall, then hit a lariat, as they went into a double down. Ishii hit a lariat, and they exchanged headbutts. YH hit double knees for a near fall, then a fisherman buster for another two count.
Ishii reversed a Karma attempt into a DDT. Ishii hit a headbutt, no-sold two thrust kicks, then hit a lariat for a near fall. Ishii then hit the vertical drop brainbuster for the victory.
NEW JAPAN CUP QUARTERFINAL MATCH: KAZUCHIKA OKADA DEFEATED WILL OSPREAY (20:11)
A great match. I could have used about five more minutes, as they really picked it up around the 15-minute mark. They left me wanting more, and they will meet again, I’m sure.
They started slowly, exchanging headlocks and wristlocks. Okada broke cleanly on the ropes. Ospreay hit a monkey flip. He teased a dive, but hit his pose instead. Okada drew him to the floor, then sent him towards the barricade, but Ospreay leaped over the barrier. Ospreay came off the fence into an uppercut, and Okada took over.
Okada hit a slingshot senton, a neckbreaker, then worked a chinlock, focusing his attack on Ospreay’s neck. Okada placed Ospreay on the turnbuckles, then dropkicked him to the floor. Ospreay climbed back to the apron, and Okada hammered him with forearms.
Ospreay pulled Okada to the floor with a rana, then hit a Sasuke Special. Back inside, Ospreay hit a handspring corkscrew kick. Okada countered with a flapjack, then hit an air raid crash for a two count.
Okada hit a top rope elbow. He teased his Rainmaker pose, but Ospreay nailed him with an enzuigiri. Ospreay followed with Pip Pip Cheerio. Ospreay hit a series of kicks to the chest. He went for the Storm Breaker, but Okada hit an arm drag, then sent Ospreay into the corner with a kick.
They traded strikes, and Okada won the exchange. Ospreay used a backslide, grabbed wrist control, then hit a lariat. Ospreay hit a second short arm lariat. He went for a Rainmaker, but Okada hit a dropkick. Okada missed with a second dropkick, and Ospreay hit a kick.
Ospreay continued to pepper Okada with kicks, then hit an avalanche move off the ropes for a two count. Okada blocked an OsCutter and went for the Rainmaker, but Ospreay turned it into a standing Spanish Fly for a close near fall.
Ospreay went to the top and hit a shooting star press, then another, and picked up another two count. Ospreay went for the OsCutter, but Okada hit a dropkick. Okada hit a tombstone, then went for the Rainmaker. Ospreay reversed into a Storm Breaker attempt, but Okada countered that with a spinning tombstone.
A number of new programs were started earlier this morning at New Japan Dash.
The theme of the main event centered around the return of YOSHI-HASHI to the promotion, who had been gone since September with a bad concussion following a bad fall. Despite the big return, he was pinned by Jay White in a six man tag team match main event.
White made it clear after the match that he was targeting Hiroshi Tanahashi’s newly won IWGP Heavyweight title. Bad Luck Fale laid out Kazuchika Okada with the grenade after he tried to make the save for Tanahashi, who was attacked by Fale, Gedo and White.
Meanwhile, Suzuki-gun’s targets for 2019 are Los Ingobernables de Japon, who currently hold the bulk of New Japan’s titles. Taichi made Naito’s next program crystal clear, hitting him with a steel chair to kick off a ten man tag team match featuring the two groups. Taichi stunned everyone by pinning Naito with the black mephisto (air raid clash), setting up a future title match.
The Rev Pro tag team champions Zack Sabre Jr. and Minoru Suzuki attacked new IWGP tag team champions SANADA and EVIL after the match, while former El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru attacked new Jr. tag champions Shingo Takagi and BUSHI, setting up title programs in both divisions.
In addition, Yuji Nagata and Tomohiro Ishii had to be pulled apart after their tag match, while Hirooki Goto and Jeff Cobb also exchanged words.
The only angle of the show involved Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens. After leaving Hangman Page and Marty Scurll to dry during Wrestle Kingdom 13’s pre-show, they made it clear where their allegiance lies after helping the Guerrillas of Destiny and Taiji Ishimori retain the NEVER six-man tag team titles, pushing Togi Makabe off the top rope with Chase Owens leaving Togi Makabe lying following the package piledriver. Both Owens and Yujiro celebrated with the Bullet Club after the match, rejoining the stable.
Kenny Omega makes his first stateside defense of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship as Ring of Honor’s Global Wars tour reaches its final stop tonight.
YOSHI-HASHI will be challenging for Omega’s title in Chicago, which was set up when YOSHI-HASHI challenged Omega after NJPW’s Destruction in Kobe event last month. Omega’s only other title defense was against Juice Robinson at that show.
Members of the Bullet Club will also be involved in another key match tonight. Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks & Hangman Page will team against the Search and Destroy team of Motor City Machine Guns, Jonathan Gresham & Jay White in an eight-man tag match.
Elsewhere on the show, Marty Scurll faces Hiromu Takahashi, Will Ospreay takes on Flip Gordon, Suzuki-gun will be in action in a six-man tag match, KUSHIDA teams with Cheeseburger against The Addiction, Colt Cabana faces off with Toru Yano in what’s sure to be a comedy match, and Trent Barreta & Chuck Taylor team up against Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Cody did an interview. He said this has been the most financially lucrative tour in ROH history. Cody cut a promo about Roman Reigns saying he wears a vest to hide hit gut and to hide his failed drug tests. He said it’s really hiding envy. He said ROH isn’t an indie, it’s a club. He asked Cary Silkin to kiss the ring. Silkin didn’t want to kiss the ring. He then said he was going to bring a fan into the ring to kiss the ring. He bought in a planted fan in a mask with a Cody T-shirt. The fan acted like he couldn’t get into the ring. Cody wanted to film it for “Being the Elite.” They were filming it for video. The fan unmasked and it was Dalton Castle. Castle suplexed Cody. Castle took him down and started ground and pounding him. Cody ran off. The crowd was loving Cody but the way the segment was done it worked really well. I don’t think the fans knew it was Castle until he unmasked.
CHUCKIE T & BARETTA VS. SILAS YOUNG & BEER CITY BRUISER
Good match. Bruiser hit Chuckie with a beer keg and then Young gave him misery for the pin. A lot of big moves on both sides. Bruiser did a bodyblock off the apron on Baretta after backdropping out of a piledriver on the apron. T & Baretta did a double dive spot.
MARTY SCURLL VS. HIROMU TAKAHASHI
Scurll won by reversing the time bomb into a chicken wing. Out of the 107 ROH vs. NJPW matches, it’s now 53-53 with one draw. Very good match with lots of near falls and a lot of comedy mixed in. It was worked more like an entertaining prelim match as opposed to a major main event. They did several spots with Darryl. Darryl’s wedding to Carol was brought up. Takahashi did the sunset flip out of the ring and power bomb on the floor spot. Both were really over so they took advantage of that.
KUSHIDA & CHEESEBURGER VS. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN
Daniels & Kazarian won by pinning Cheeseburger with the Best Meltzer ever. Some rough spots early. Unfortunately, the stream went out right before the finish. Fairly short match. Kushida looked good based on what we could see. Kazarian was about to put Cheeseburger through a table after the match, but Bully Ray showed up and put Kazarian through the table. This led to an ECW chant. Kazarian was checking his fingers. .
Bully Ray is cutting a promo about wrestling in this building in 1999 and lighting a table on fire in ECW. Bully Ray did the teasing retirement interview he’s been doing all week. He said it was time and the fans were chanting “No.” He said for the first time he has to worry about himself and his own health. The crowd gave him a standing ovation. Thank were chanting “Thank You Bubba.” He said “Thank you.” Said Chicago was one of his favorite places to wrestle. He grabbed a piece of a broken table. They brought a fan in a Cody shirt into the ring. Bully said tonight you represent every single fan I’ve been in front of. He said he can’t thank every single person so he’ll represent everyone in the world and said “Thank you.” Bully claimed this was the last table he’ll ever break and told Chase (the kid) to hold the piece of the table high in the air. Fans were chanting “Chase.” He then apologized if he was taking too much time. He said ROH was always a place he wanted to go and if this is his last day, he wants to Thank God he got to set foot in an ROH ring. The announcers played it up like this was his last match.
CHRIS SABIN & ALEX SHELLEY & JONATHAN GRESHAM & JAY WHITE VS. YOUNG BUCKS & ADAM PAGE & CODY
This was a crazy match. Page used the last rites to pin Gresham. The Young Bucks worked as the babyfaces here, as they got heat on Nick and then heat on Page and then they went crazy with move in the last three-and-a-half minutes. There was a Bullet Club crazy dive sequence which led to a flip stage dive by Matt on everyone. A lot of shtick early including a teased four-way sharpshooter spot by the Bullet Club except White got Cody in it so they broke it up and all superkicked White and Cody put White in the sharpshooter. Crowd was super hot for just about everything. Page & Matt did a shooting star Meltzer driver on the floor.
THE DAWGS WILL FERRARA & RHETT TITUS VS. BRIAN JOHNSON & JUSTIN PUSSER
The crowd wasn’t into this. The Dawgs won with a combination front suplex and crossbody on Johnson.
After the match Jay Briscoe came out and destroyed Johnson & Pusser including a J Driller on Johnson. Jay talked about Mark Briscoe. He said we’ve got to get back to being the baddest tag team on the planet. He said Mark has been worried about singles matches, TV title, six man titles and told him to ice the elbow, heal up quick and it’s time for the Briscoes to take this stuff over.
Shane Taylor did an interview. He said he gets paid to take people out and put people down. He’s replacing Mark Briscoe in the six-man tag match. He said ROH officials have made him the tag team partner.
MINORU SUZUKI & LANCE ARCHER & DAVEY BOY SMITH JR. VS. JAY LETHAL & KENNY KING & SHANE TAYLOR
Long match. The crowd was really into Suzuki, especially in with Lethal. King’s stuff was off but he did a lot of flying moves. The last few minutes was built around Suzuki trying to do the Gotch piledriver on Taylor, who is way over 300 pounds. Suzuki would choke him, but not choke him out because he wanted to beat him with the Gotch piledriver. Time after time it failed until he finally hit it for the pin. Suzuki kicked ref Paul Turner in the gut and threw him out of the ring after. Suzuki just said “We are Suzuki-gun, Ichiban.”
COLT CABANA VS. TORU YANO
They had a comedy match. It was entertaining but the feed went down before the finish. Yano did all his shtick. The crowd liked this a lot.
WILL OSPREAY VS. FLIP GORDON
So this was the match of the show. Ospreay won with the Robinson kick and Oscutter. This was meant for a showcase to get Gordon over. Gordon has unbelievable flying moves with the highlight being a double springboard flip plancha. The beginning was Ospreay doing his cat shtick, but it got going with Ospreay doing a space flying tiger drop and springboard forearm and a shooting star to Gordon’s back as Gordon was draped over the top rope. The crowd was doing the “Fight Forever” at the end.
KENNY OMEGA VS. YOSHI-HASHI FOR U.S TITLE
This was very different from any Omega matches this year. The match featured a ton of interference including all of The Bullet Club, as well as Chaos, which included Flip Gordon and Chuckie T, all after ref Todd Sinclair got bumped. Omega did some of his usual big match stuff like the moonsault off the guard rail and Terminator dive, and the snap dragon suplex. Yoshi-Hashi worked hard but never connected and nobody saw him as having a chance to win. What really made the match was the interference, and it was everyone doing their big moves ending with Ospreay doing a springboard shooting star press to the floor and Nick doing a 450 off the top rope to the floor onto Gordon since Gordon had used a sueprkick earlier in the sequence. Omega did the One Winged Angel at one point but Yano pulled Sinclair out of the ring. The ending saw Omega get his knees up after a swanton, and Omega hit the V trigger and One Winged Angel.
Cody asked the people to raise their hands if they’re life long wrestling fans. Almost everyone did. He said you remember 95-96 when wrestling got cool again, it wasn’t 1995 for sure, more like 96. He said remember that, because wrestling has never been cooler. Cody said he wanted to thank New Japan Pro Wresting. He said we should thank Atlas, the man who carries New Japan on his back and introduced Omega. Omega thanked everyone for the lucrative merchandise sales. Omega said he doesn’t sell merchandise to impolite people and everyone was such a joy. He said that he’s not a full-time member of ROH, that “I represent New Japan by contract only, really I represent Bullet Club and Being the Elite.” He said Being the Elite is everyone who subscribes and even those who leave disparaging remarks on our page. He said Yoshi-Hashi tried hard, but he’s nothing more than try-harder. Omega said he’s suffering form jetlag and it’s after my bed time. Matt took the mic and said we have to take a Bullet Club selfie. But nobody in the ring had a phone. He asked the fans if they have a phone. Everyone did. So he went into the crowd and there was Jimmy Jacobs. Jacobs shot the photo with Bullet Club while people chanted his name. Nick said sorry we got your ass fired. Omega got the mic and asked no profanity, Matt said I’m a Christian boy but we need one more F bomb and we had yet another :F*** The Revival” chant, at least the third one of the night. Kenny bid adieu.
Night three of this year’s G1 Climax took place this morning, once again in Korakuen Hall as the venue hosted A Block action.
Prelim results —
– EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Juice Robinson & David Finlay when EVIL submitted Finlay with the Banshee Muzzle.
– Minoru Suzuki & Taichi defeated SANADA & BUSHI when Taichi pinned BUSHI with a roll-up after a microphone stand shot.
– Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Tama Tonga & Chase Owens after Takahashi pinned Owens with the Pimp Juice DDT.
– Michael Elgin, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & Gedo when Tenzan submitted Gedo with the Anaconda Vise.
A Block matches —
Hirooki Goto defeated Yuji Nagata
They started off slow, with basic grappling and back and forth. Nagata caught Goto and pelted him with some stiff kicks. He followed that with an exploder for a near fall.
Goto came back with a spinning heel kick to the corner and then landed an ushigiroshi. Nagata escaped the GTR, but Goto continued the assault. Nagata eventually caught him and locked in the armbar.
Nagata continued, hitting an ego trip and landing a brainbuster. He went for the exploder but landed an enzuigiri after Goto resisted. He then hit the exploder for a good near fall. They battled, exchanging fierce strikes and kicks until Nagata landed a spinning heel kick.
Goto fired back with a headbutt, then landed the GTR for the win. This was an awesome match. Nagata without a doubt is always the most underrated guy in the G1 even though he’s consistently very good in big matches.
Tomohiro Ishii defeated Togi Makabe
It began as one would expect — back and forth assaults on one another. Ishii took it to the outside where he threw Makabe into the guardrails not once, but twice with fierce force.
A lot of this match consisted of hard shots against one another. Ishii would fire back, then Makabe, and so on. Makabe started to gain momentum with two lariats, but Ishii still kicked out. They fought to the top rope, where Makabe fought off Ishii, sent him to the floor, and went for the King Kong knee drop, but Ishii dodged it.
They continued battling. Ishii dropped Makabe with a few lariats, then a huge one for a near fall. He followed with the brainbuster for the win. This was good, but it reminded me a lot of their previous matches. There were better ones than this one, but this was still a good back-and-forth battle.
Kota Ibushi defeated Zack Sabre Jr.
Sabre started early, taking down Ibushi and taking it to the ground. After a bit of a striking session by Ibushi, Sabre took him down again and focused on one of Ibushi’s legs, then worked on other parts of the body, taking control of Ibushi’s wrists.
Ibushi was caught in a chokehold by Sabre, but he transitioned out of it and actually reversed it. He let go and struck Sabre with a vicious kick that put him in control. Ibushi went for a standing moonsault, but Sabre caught him with a triangle. Ibushi immediately went to the ropes to escape.
Sabre put Ibushi in the octopus hold and tried to follow with a sunset flip, but Ibushi responded with a double foot stomp instead. Both on the floor, they started striking each other and continued to do so as they got up. Ibushi went for a Pele kick, but Sabre grabbed his ankle and wrapped him in an inverted STF.
Sabre caught him as they both got up, but Ibushi controlled Sabre’s wrists and hit a knee straight in his face. Sabre went for a triangle until Ibushi deadlifted him and hit the press powerbomb for the win. Great match that encapsulated both men’s styles. This may have been better than Sabre’s match with Tanahashi from the opening night.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Bad Luck Fale by countout
The story of this match was that every time Tanahashi would gain a modicum of momentum, Fale would fire right back and keep him grounded. After dominating during the early portion of the match, Fale threw him to the apron, but Tanahashi skinned the cat (favoring his arm) only for Fale to counter with a spear.
Tanahashi countered with a clothesline before launching off with the High Fly Flow as both men fell to the outside. Tanahashi then hit a slingblade and made it to the ring right at 20 for the countout win. This was pretty good while it lasted.
Tetsuya Naito defeated YOSHI-HASHI
They kept it mostly even early. Naito got the advantage until YH cut him off with the headhunter neckbreaker. Naito tried for the satellite DDT, but YH not only dodged that, but also an enzuigiri as he hit a double foot stomp.
YOSHI-HASHI hit a shoulderbreaker, though Naito took him down and tried for Gloria. It didn’t work as YH blocked it before hitting an enzuigiri as Naito brought him up. Naito fired back, taking him to the corner and unleashing a super rana. He followed that with Gloria for a near fall.
Naito went for the Destino, but YH countered out of it. They both struggled to get up, but when they did, they exchanged punches and kicks until YH laid out Naito with a codebreaker. He followed that up with the butterfly lock, then a senton for a near fall.
YOSHI-HASHI went right back to the butterfly lock again. Naito tried to make it to the ropes, but YH pulled him back in. He continually struggled until he finally got a leg on the ropes. YH tried for Karma, but Naito fought out of it and hit the koppo kick. YH followed with a big lariat.
YOSHI-HASHI went for Karma, but Naito hit the Destino in mid-air. YH kicked out, then Naito hit another for the win. That was an awesome finish to a great, heated match.
Naito cut a promo to end the show. All five G1 matches delivered and were fun in their own way. The match of the night probably goes to Sabre and Ibushi, but there were plenty of great matches to choose from.
