New Japan Pro-Wrestling presented another show from Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall this morning. They’ll be in the venue tomorrow for a special retirement ceremony for Super Strong Machine as well.
The main event for the show was an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match between champion, Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado.
NJPW Kizuna Road
Monday, June 18th, 2018
Tokyo, Japan
Korakuen Hall
- Yota Tsuji vs Yuya Uemura – Time Limit Draw
- Taiji Ishimori and Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club) defeated Ren Narita and Shota Umino
- Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata defeated Tomoyuki Oka and Hiroyoshi Tenzan
- Sho, Yoh, Yoshi-Hashi and Toru Yano (CHAOS) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Toa Henare, David Finlay, and Togi Makabe
- Bushi, Evil, Sanada, and Tetsuya Naito (LIJ) defeated Taka Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, and Takashi Iizuka (Suzuki-Gun)
- Kushida, Jeff Cobb, Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Gedo, Tomohiro Ishii, Jay White, Hirooki Goto, and Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS)
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion
Hiromu Takahashi (c) (LIJ) defeated El Desperado (Suzuki-Gun)
Kizuna Road Developments
- In the closing moments of the main event, El Desperado landed a low blow with the referee down. Takahashi countered by unmasking El Desperado (who made little attempt to shield his face). Desperado then hit Takahashi with the title belt and placed his mask back on. As the referee came to, Desperado hit his opponent with a sit-down piledriver for a near-fall. Takahashi countered Desperado’s next attempt into a triangle, however. Shortly after, Takahashi hit the Time Bomb for the win.
- Yoshi-Hashi scored the win for his team. He made Henare tap out to a Butterfly Lock. As he doesn’t normally win matches for his team, this was likely done to build Yoshi-Hashi up a bit since he’ll be included in this year’s G1. Togi Makabe, who will be in the same G1 Block as Yoshi, attempted to get in his face after the match as well.
- Following Los InGobernables’ victory over the Suzuki-Gun team, Sanada and Naito shared a moment in the ring. The two will be in the same Block for this year’s G1 tournament. Naito attempted to give a fist-bump to Sanada but Sanada left him dry.
- Following the semi-final match, Jeff Cobb and Hirooki Goto brawled to back, previewing their upcoming title match.
- As he did on Sunday as well, White attacked Juice Robinson after the match. The two will meet for the IWGP United States Championship on July 7th from the Cow Palace. This time Juice was able to fight back, however. As Juice was going for the Pulp Friction, however, White low-blowed him. He then proceeded to hit Juice with a series of elbows from the crucifix position. After that, he then attacked Juice’s arm with a chair shot.
NJPW Super Strong Machine Retirement Ceremony
June 19th, 2018
Tokyo, Japan
Korakuen Hall
- Ren Narita and KUSHIDA vs Taiji Ishimori and Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club)
- Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Togi Makabe vs Shoto Umino, Tomoyuki Oka, and Toa Henare
- Sho, Yoh, and Rocky Romero (CHAOS) vs Taka Michinoku, El Desperado, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-Gun)
- Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs Taichi and Takashi Iizuka (Suzuki-Gun)
- David Finlay, Juice Robinson, Jeff Cobb, and Michael Elgin vs Yoshi-Hashi, Jay White, Hirooki Goto, and Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS)
- SS Machine No.69, SS Machine Don, SS Machine Justice, SS Machine Buffalo, SS Machine Ace vs Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI, SANADA, EVIL, and Tetsuya Naito (LIJ)