New Japan Pro-Wrestling thirtieth annual G1 Climax tournament has arrived!
Watch on NJPW World with a paid subscription. Only live Japanese commentary available. English commentary will be uploaded within several days. This event will have reduced attendance capacity to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.
Yota Tsuji def. Yuya Uemura Tsuji and Uemura have become very proficient at expressing the power versus technique dynamic. Watching Tsuji definitively overpower Uemura in a test of strength, forcing him into a bridge, but Uemura laying down to slip out of it and make it back onto his feet impressed me. It’s a level of making something simplistic yet satisfying and interesting that young lions usually become very good at before they graduate, thanks to their intentionally limited moveset. After Uemura nearly made it to the ropes to break the Boston crab, Tsuji busted out a giant swing, and reapplied the Boston crab for the victory. Also, it looks like he’s growing his beard back out too, which is nice.
A Block: Minoru Suzuki def. Yujiro Takahashi (7:53) Yujiro showed an uncharacteristic energy, as if he had something to prove to the self-proclaimed King of Pro-Wrestling. The fact that Yujiro was putting up more of a fight than expected enraged Suzuki, and he mercilessly beat Yujiro with a chair, then demanded the audience to applaud for him. Suzuki cranked on Yujiro’s neck with a guillotine choke, but Yujiro was able to lift Suzuki into a Fisherman Buster. Yujiro fired up and yelled like a young lion trying to escape certain defeat as Suzuki pelted him with slaps and elbow strikes. Nevertheless, Suzuki hit the Gotch-style piledriver and it was all over. Suzuki 6 points, Yujiro 0 points
A Block: Kota Ibushi def. Jeff Cobb (10:43) Jeff Cobb’s size and strength was sufficient to intimidate even Ibushi, who was hesitant to engage Cobb in close quarters at first. He tried to stay out of Cobb’s range, hitting sharp leg kicks. This was not enough to deter Cobb, whose surreal agility was on display as he landed a dropkick that Okada would be proud of. As Cobb delivered his arsenal of slams and suplexes, Ibushi needed a reprieve, and hung onto the ropes to catch his breath, but Cobb overpowered his grip and lifted him into the Athletic-Plex. Cobb tried for the Tour of the Islands, but Ibushi slipped out of it and hit a loud jumping knee strike, followed by the Kamigoye for the victory. Ibushi 6 points, Cobb 2 points
A Block: Kazuchika Okada def. Taichi (17:03) El Desperado was a guest commentator for this match, and pulled out a chair when the match began. The referee left the ring to take the chair away from him, but this was merely a distraction, for Taichi had also gotten a chair and was pummeling Okada’s wrapped back with it. Taichi then rained down fast kicks on Okada, but Okada finally retaliated with elbows and uppercuts. He rose to the top rope, looking for a missile dropkick, but Taichi moved out of the way and Okada landed loudly on the mat. Like a shark smelling blood, Taichi hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and applied a half Boston crab while driving his knee into Okada’s back. As Taichi went for a thrust kick, Okada countered it with a dropkick, but Taichi quickly hit a backdrop driver that gave Okada a dazed facial expression. Desperate, Okada used a turning Tombstone piledriver, followed by a short-range lariat. Okada attempted a discus lariat, but Taichi dodged it and his wrist-clutch Axe Bomber achieved another near fall. Okada applied the Money Clip again and Taichi was visibly losing consciousness, so the referee called for the bell. Okada 4 points, Taichi 6 points
A Block: Will Ospreay def. Jay White (18:46) Early on, Jay White was laying into Ospreay with backhand chops, but a single chop from Ospreay put White flat on his back, which was likely a wake-up call for Jay. He did his best to keep Ospreay on the mat, using holds like a half Boston crab to wear him down and stop him from taking advantage of his otherworldly speed. Unfortunately, Ospreay was able to get to his feet, but White intelligently bailed out of the ring and to the corner, avoiding Ospreay’s imminent Sasuke Special. Ospreay was visibly slowed by White’s earlier leg attacks. He could see Ospreay’s springboard forearm coming, and smootly reversed it into the Complete Shot. Ospreay was able to finally catch Jay off guard with a springboard shooting star press, but Jay hung onto his leg when he tried for the Oscutter. Ospreay tried for it again, but it was avoided, and he found himself on the receiving end of a Kiwi Crusher. Jay tried for the Blade Runner, but Ospreay reversed it into a sitout powerbomb, and finally managed to hit the Oscutter. Gedo tried to come in and help Jay, pulling the referee away and trying to hit Ospreay with a pair of brass knuckles, but Ospreay stopped him and dispatched Gedo with a rolling elbow. Jay went for a sleeper suplex while his opponent was occupied, but Ospreay backflipped out of it. He followed up with a rolling elbow, the Hidden Blade, and the Stormbreaker for the victory. Ospreay 6 points, Jay 6 points
A Block: Tomohiro Ishii def. Shingo Takagi (26:01) When two wrestlers like Ishii and Shingo meet in the ring, you know what’s coming. You could probably count the number of moves that were not strikes in this match on two hands. Nevertheless, it always stays compelling, because of the way that they differ. Shingo wrestles Ishii the way he would wrestle an older, more weathered version of himself, peppering his strikes with a certain level of disdain and pity. How could he become weaker than he used to be? But when Ishii, with his flabby midsection and graying stubble starts fighting back, or kicking out, it’s all the more satisfying for it. Ishii kicked out of Shingo’s Made in Japan and Pumping Bomber, and put Shingo on his back with a running lariat of his own. He tried for the vertical drop brainbuster, but Shingo stuffed it and landed a pop-up death valley driver. He kicked out of Ishii’s lariat at a count of one before rising to his feet and collapsing on top of his opponent. Ishii landed a sliding lariat for a near fall and tried again for the brainbuster, but Shingo got out of it and delivered a sliding elbow that made Ishii crumple to the mat, followed by Pumping Bomber that Ishii kicked out of just a split second before 3. Shingo readied the Last of the Dragon, but Ishii dropped down out of it into a DDT! Finally, he hit an enzuigiri followed by the vertical drop brainbuster for the victory! Ishii 2 points, Shingo 2 points
G1 Climax Updated Standings
A Block: 6 points – Taichi, Jay White, Minoru Suzuki, Kota Ibushi, Will Ospreay 4 points – Kazuchika Okada 2 points – Jeff Cobb, Shingo Takagi, Tomohiro Ishii 0 points – Yujiro Takahashi
New Japan Pro-Wrestling thirtieth annual G1 Climax tournament has arrived!
Watch on NJPW World with a paid subscription. Only live Japanese commentary available. English commentary will be uploaded within several days. This event will have reduced attendance capacity to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.
Gabriel Kidd def. Yota Tsuji (7:40) The match began with Gabriel Kidd taking the advantage over Yota Tsuji while mat wrestling, as the commentators speculated that Kidd’s training in Lancashire wrestling would grant him the edge when working on the ground. Yota Tsuji, whose new blown out hair style is reminiscent of Andre the Giant, gained control with his superior power landing a body slam into a running splash. He applied a single-leg Boston crab, but Kidd achieved a rope break. Kidd landed a dropkick and won the match with a double underhook suplex.
A Block: Taichi def. Yujiro Takahashi (11:03) Unfortunately, Yujiro and Taichi’s valets, Pieter and Miho Abe, were absent for this match. As one would expect from a match between two of the dirtiest fighters in NJPW, this match was full of rule-bending. The first move of the match was Yujiro hitting Taichi with his cane, but Taichi would respond with choking Yujiro with a microphone cable and slamming his head into the ring post. Taichi seemed to have the advantage in physical prowess, and he wore Yujiro down with kicks. He yelled at Yujiro, mentioning Tetsuya Naito, likely alluding to how far above Yujiro Naito is now, when years ago they were a tag team. He then hit the Axe Bomber for a near fall. He stood in the corner waiting for Yujiro to rise to his feet, but as he went for the thrust kick, Yujiro caught him and hit the Miami Shine, for another two count. He went to follow up with the Pimp Juice DDT, but Taichi pushed him away, then hit a sneaky low blow and pinned him with the Taichi-style Gedo clutch. Taichi 6 points, Yujiro 0 points.
A Block: Minoru Suzuki def. Jeff Cobb (9:24) Suzuki started by laying on his back and challenging Cobb to grapple with him, a tall order considering Cobb’s Olympic-level ability at freestyle wrestling. And yet, despite Cobb’s physical advantages, Suzuki seemed to be getting the better of him on the mat. Cobb moved to his feet, and from there he used his great strength to throw Suzuki with suplexes. Suzuki made it behind Cobb and applied the sleeper hold, but Cobb threw him off easily when he attempted the Gotch-style piledriver. Cobb continued his series of suplexes and slams, but when he went for the Tour of the Islands, Suzuki caught him in a guillotine choke and forced himself free. He then applied the sleeper hold again and lifted the bulky Cobb up for the Gotch-style piledriver. Suzuki 4 points, Cobb 2 points
A Block: Kota Ibushi def. Tomohiro Ishii (15:41) Ibushi and Ishii went at each other with a great intensity from the getgo, throwing strikes and with Ishii blocking Ibushi’s loud kicks. Ishii backed Ibushi into the corner and egged him on, tanking Ibushi’s elbow strikes. He knocked Ibushi to the ground and landed kicks of his own, but Ibushi rose up and engaged Ishii in a strike battle: his kicks versus Ishii’s backhand chops. Ishii finally started showing pain, taking a knee, but he Isfired up and they traded German suplexes, but a dropkick from Ibushi put them both on their backs. They sat up and exchanged slaps but Ibushi dropped Ishii with a final slap to the chest. Ishii fired back up, but Ibushi just stared blankly at him and then kicked him in the head, then hit an elevated powerbomb for a near fall. Ibushi tried for a Frankensteiner, but Ishii countered it, then Ishii went for the vertical drop brainbuster, but Ibushi countered that too. In a desperation move, Ibushi went for the Kamigoye, but with a headbutt, Ishii had averted it. However, Ibushi hit the Boma Ye for a near fall, followed by another Boma Ye and the Kamigoye for the victory, in a match that was exhausting to watch and keep up with. Ibushi 4 points, Ishii 0 points
A Block: Shingo Takagi def. Will Ospreay (22:03) These two men have only fought in one singles match before, and it was in the final of last year’s Best of the Super Juniors. Ospreay won that match and since then he has grown in mass, but so has his ego. He spoke recently about wanting to beat Shingo in Kobe City, where this event is taking place, because it’s where Dragon Gate, Shingo’s home promotion, is based. These two fought with great intensity, and Ospreay continues to demonstrate that his increased bulk has not come at the cost of his agility, getting the better of Shingo in the early going. Shingo tried to neutralize Ospreay’s speed by applying a Figure Four Leglock, but Ospreay stopped it before it was cinched in, and when Shingo tried for the Noshigami, Ospreay reversed it into a stunner. Ospreay lifted Shingo for the stormbreaker, but instead hung Shingo upside down over the turnbuckle and hit a corner-to-corner dropkick. Ospreay went for the Oscutter, but Shingo countered it into the Noshigami, then hit the Sol del Japon for a near fall. Shingo went to follow up with the Pumping Bomber, but Ospreay moved out of the way and hit a Liger Bomb for a near fall of his own, and then the Oscutter only for Shingo to kick out again! Ospreay went for the Stormbreaker, but Shingo blocked it and lifted Ospreay into the Made in Japan. Ospreay blocked the Last of the Dragon, when Shingo went for another Pumping Bomber Ospreay reversed it into a spanish fly. Ospreay landed a heavy rolling elbow and went for the top rope Oscutter, but Shingo got to him and hit the Stay Dream from the middle rope for the near fall. He hit one last Pumping Bomber and the Last of the Dragon for the victory! Shingo 2 points, Ospreay 4 points
A Block: Jay White def. Kazuchika Okada (18:48) Like the villain he is, Jay White got on the microphone before the match began and chanted for Okada, encouraging the audience to do so as well, except they aren’t allowed to cheer out loud. Gedo was a continual thorn in Okada’s side throughout this match, making minor offences like pulling Okada’s leg from the outside, but running like a coward whenever Okada was perturbed enought to confront him. Jay White was dominating Okada, wearing him down with punches to the lower back, but when Okada went after Gedo again, Jay chased after him. It ended up with Okada planting both Gedo and Jay with a double DDT on the entrance ramp. Okada then put Gedo’s bucket hat on, which made the audience laugh. In the ring, Okada tried for the reverse neckbreaker, but his back was in too much pain, and he crumpled to his knees when he tried to lift Jay onto his back. Okada irish whipped Jay into the ropes and followed up with the dropkick, but Jay hung onto the ropes and Okada just landed on his back. Gedo yelled for Jay to do the Rainmaker, but Okada countered Jay’s Rainmaker into the tombstone Piledriver, then applied Money Clip. Jay was able to reach the bottom rope to break the hold, however. Okada hit a rolling lariat and applied the Money Clip again, but Gedo distracted the referee and Jay broke the hold with a low blow. Jay went for the Blade Runner, but Okada blocked it applied the Money Clip again from a standing position. Still in the hold, Jay hit the SSS suplex and the Blade Runner for the victory, which made the crowd react in shock. Jay 6 points, Okada 2 points
Jay White got on the microphone and thanked Okada for wrestling him when two years ago, almost on the same day of the year, Gedo turned on Okada and teamed up with Jay. He said that he is the present and the future, and that Okada is history.
Standings
A Block: 6 points – Taichi, Jay White 4 points – Will Ospreay, Minoru Suzuki, Kota Ibushi 2 points – Kazuchika Okada, Jeff Cobb, Shingo Takagi 0 points – Tomohiro Ishii, Yujiro Takahashi
A Block: Taichi def. Minoru Suzuki (12:11, Pinfall, Black Mephisto)
A Block: Will Ospreay def. Tomohiro Ishii (18:20, Pinfall, Stormbreaker)
A Block: Jay White def. Kota Ibushi (20:28, Pinfall, Blade Runner)
Standings
A Block 4 points – Will Ospreay, Taichi, Jay White 2 points – Jeff Cobb, Kazuchika Okada, Minoru Suzuki, Kota Ibushi 0 points – Tomohiro Ishii, Shingo Takagi, Yujiro Takahashi
New Japan Pro-Wrestling thirtieth annual G1 Climax tournament has arrived!
Watch on NJPW World with a paid subscription. Only live Japanese commentary available. English commentary will be uploaded within several days. This event will have reduced attendance capacity to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.
Start Times (September 19, 2020): 1AM Pacific, 4AM Eastern, 9AM UK, 5PM Japan, 6PM East Australia
G1 Climax 30 Day 1 Results
Yuya Uemura def. Yota Tsuji (6:57) Yota Tsuji has shaved his goatee off since his last match, and I’m personally not a fan of the clean-shaven look. These two are going to be wrestling a lot over the course of the tournament. Every date, except perhaps the last, will start with a singles match involving a combination of Uemura, Tsuji, and Gabriel Kidd, so it will be enlightening to see if anyone gets an edge against each other. These two in the ring has demonstrated the dynamic between them after their years as young lions: Tsuji being the harder hitter while Uemura has more finesse and is more easy to root for. Uemura hit a beautiful dropkick and submitted Tsuji with a high-angle Boston crab for the victory.
A Block: Will Ospreay def. Yujiro Takahashi (7:34) Will Ospreay is back in Japan, and he got a great reception from the crowd. He has gained significant muscle mass over the last half year, and his billed weight has increased to 105 kilograms. Nevertheless, he seems not to have been slowed down too much by the weight gain, still flying through the air with ease. Yujiro tried to slow him down whenever possible, but Ospreay had too much energy and power for him. Ospreay hit the Stormbreaker for the not that hard-fought pinfall victory. Afterwards, he got on the microphone and talked about how he has nothing to fear because he is Will Ospreay. Not just his body, his head has clearly gotten bigger as well. Ospreay 2 points, Yujiro 0 points
A Block: Taichi def. Jeff Cobb (12:47) Jeff Cobb seems to have acquired the goatee that Yota Tsuji removed, and it looks good on him. Rumor has it that he is now a contracted NJPW full-time wrestler, so he has a lot to prove. Unfortunately, Miho Abe will be absent for all of Taichi’s matches in the G1. Taichi did not want to fight Cobb head-on, and Cobb had to chase him around the ring until Taichi hit him with the bell hammer, which he had stealthily stolen. Now in control, Taichi tried to immobilize Cobb through attacking his legs, but Cobb would rise to his feet and dominate Taichi with his powerful throws. Taichi retaliated with beautiful leg kicks and slowed Cobb’s pace to a crawl, flooring him with a jumping high kick. Cobb tried to pick Taichi up for the Tour of the Islands, but Taichi slipped out of it and delivered a backdrop driver as the crowd swelled with applause. He finally was able to lift Jeff Cobb for the Black Mephisto and make it on the G1 board. Taichi 2 points, Cobb 0 points
A Block: Minoru Suzuki def. Tomohiro Ishii (13:00) Neither Ishii nor Suzuki brought the belts they possess to the ring, which is irrationally upsetting to me. Nevertheless, these two men started as we knew they would, at each other’s throats and just slapping, punching, and mouthing off to each other without a care in the world. They both made early attempts at their match-ending moves, but these were in vain. The really loud elbow strikes they threw resounded especially in the building where the crowds can only clap, not cheer loudly. Suzuki took the edge in the battle of strikes, and Ishii crumpled to the ground, but not for long. He rose up and continued taking the fight to Suzuki. They traded headbutts before Ishii lifted Suzuki and hit a reverse piledriver! In a last-ditch effort, Suzuki hit a fast Gotch-style piledriver for the win! Suzuki 2 points, Ishii 0 points
A Block: Jay White def. Shingo Takagi (19:28) Since we’re talking about facial hair so far on this show, Jay White still has the disgusting-looking goatee, and it suits him. As the match began, Jay White continued to stall for time, but when he finally did get in the ring to fight, Gedo helped him intermittently, such as by holding Shingo’s leg to give Jay an opening. Shingo tried for the Noshigami, but Jay blocked it and dropped Shingo on his back with repeated suplexes. Shingo tried to run to the ropes for a lariat, but Jay hit the Complete Shot to slow his roll once again, which was the theme of this whole match: Jay continuing to cut Shingo off whenever he mounted a comeback. Jay attempted the Blade Runner, but Shingo reversed it and hit the Made in Japan for a near fall. Shingo lifted Jay for the Last of the Dragon, but Jay grabbed the referee so Shingo would lose his balance. Fed up, Shingo hit the Pumping Bomber and the Last of the Dragon again, but while Jay was on Shingo’s shoulders, he kicked the referee so there was no one to count the pinfall. With the referee down, Jay hit a low blow followed by the Blade Runner when the refeee made it back in the ring. Jay 2 points, Shingo 0 points
A Block: Kota Ibushi def. Kazuchika Okada (21:35) Ibushi and Okada were tentative to confront each other, despite the fact that if they were to last as long against each other as they did in their Wrestle Kingdom match this year, this bout would end in a time limit draw. Okada’s victory eight months ago seemed to make him not take Ibushi too seriously, as even when he gained an advantage, he would clap and stomp to rile up the crowd instead of putting the pressure on Ibushi. Okada applied the Money Clip, which is the name for the cobra clutch that he’s been using ever NJPW resumed, but Ibushi got his foot on the bottom rope to break the hold. Okada pulled Ibushi outside the ring and tried to hit the tombstone piledriver on the floor, but Ibushi got out of it, and then hit an asai moonsault to Okada on the outside. Okada and Ibushi fought over another piledriver in the ring, but Okada was finally able to hit the tombstone. Okada let Ibushi get to his knees and challenged him to hit him, but Ibushi got to his feet and kicked the kneeling Okada in the head. Ibushi tried to follow up, but Okada caught him and hit a spinning tombstone piledriver, than applied the Money Clip again, but Ibushi was able to get Okada off him. Okada grabbed Ibushi’s hands like he was going for the Kamigoye himself, but Ibushi lifted him into a sitout powerbomb, and then hit the Kamigoye for the three count! Ibushi 2 points, Okada 0 points
New Japan Pro-Wrestling returns to Meiji Jingu Stadium for their first outdoor wrestling event in 21 years, as the Summer Struggle 2020 tour comes to a head.
Watch on NJPW World with a paid subscription. Live English and Japanese commentary available. This event will have reduced attendance capacity to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.
Start Times (August 29, 2020): 1AM Pacific, 4AM Eastern, 9AM UK, 5PM Japan, 6PM East Australia
NJPW Summer Struggle in Jingu Results
Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. Master Wato (7:31) The atmosphere of an outdoor show in daylight, albeit the sun beginning to set, was enjoyable and novel for me. Kanemaru dominated the match early, using strikes and holds to wear down his more energetic opponent, for whom this is only his second match since returning in early July. Wato took control with a dropkick to the outside and a plancha. His ability was never in question, just this persona and look of his was the subject of criticism and some humor. Kanemaru pushed Wato into the referee and tried to spit whiskey in his face, but Wato kicked the bottle out of his hand before he could. Wato was on the verge of winning, about to set up his corkscrew senton, but Kanemaru grabbed his legs and rolled him into a flash pin for the three count.
KOPW 2020 Final Four Way Match: Toru Yano def. Kazuchika Okada, SANADA, El Desperado (7:01) Toru Yano was visibly distraught by the smoke machines as he made his entrance. I’ve never seen a four way match involving heavyweights in my time watching NJPW, but this brought something novel and interesting. Wrestlers from different factions working together to break up other wrestlers’ pinfalls, and wrestlers from the same faction working together, and then turning on each other when one went for the pinfall. Okada and Yano engaged in the latter, and it was sufficiently amusing. SANADA caught Okada in the skull end, but El Desperado broke it up with a top rope splash. Okada caught Desperado with the cobra clutch, but Toru Yano snuck up on Okada from behind, hit him with a blow blow, then rolled him up for the victory! Toru Yano is the provisional KOPW 2020 Champion.
The KOPW 2020 trophy is amusingly small.
NEVER Openweight Championship: Minoru Suzuki def. Shingo Takagi (c) (14:56) People have been looking forward to seeing Shingo and Suzuki in a straight up fight, but it was not before long that Suzuki’s cunning was on display, as he bullied Shingo around the outside of the ring, slamming him into barricades. As the match returned to between the ropes, Shingo fired back up with his powerful strikes and throws. Perhaps Suzuki had the advantage in pain tolerance too, as he ate Suzuki’s strikes and came up laughing. From there, Suzuki fought back with headbutts, and put Shingo in the sleeper hold. He looked for the Gotch piledriver again, but Shingo slipped out of it, and came off the ropes looking for the Pumping Bomber, but Minoru Suzuki slowed his roll with a dropkick. The two of them continued to exchange strikes and headbutts, which resounded loudly even in the open air stadium. After a particularly blunt sounding elbow strike, Suzuki applied the sleeper hold again and hit the Gotch-style piledriver for the 3 count! Minoru Suzuki is now a two-time NEVER Openweight Champion!
SUMMER STRUGGLE in JINGU NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH@suzuki_D_minoru 'Headbutt'
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori def. Hiromu Takahashi (c) (13:30) This match had a thunderous start, as Hiromu and Ishimori came at each other with all the energy they had, moving fast enough that neither of them could catch each other. But something had to give, and Ishimori was able to throw himself into a La Mistica, putting pressure down on Hiromu’s left shoulder, which is in poor shape as a result of Ishimori’s attacks on it in recent weeks. Hiromu tried to fight back by hitting the sunset flip powerbomb with his opponent on the apron, but Ishimori backflipped out of it and continued to press the advantage. Frustrated, Hiromu ripped all the supportive tape all his shoulder. He tried to throw a running Ishimori into the turnbuckle pad, but Ishimori was able to catch himself, only to fail to do so after Hiromu tried it again. The two madmen traded German suplexes, and Hiromu floored him with a lariat and the Dynamite Plunger. Hiromu kept the pressure on, but Ishimori granted himself a few moments of rest when he hit the Cipher Uteki. He hit the La Mistica again into the Yes Lock, but Hiromu was able to get a free hand on the ropes to break the hold. Ishimori set up the Bloody Cross, but Hiromu got out of it, only for Ishimori to put him down again with a lariat. He tried the Bloody Cross again, but Hiromu stopped the lift, then brought Ishimori to his shoulders and hit a death valley bomb into the turnbuckle pad. He hit the Time Bomb, but Ishimori kicked out at two! He tried for the Time Bomb II, but Ishimori blocked it and hit a move I’ve never seen before, the reverse Bloody Cross. He applied the Yes Lock again and Hiromu submitted! Taiji Ishimori is now a two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.
SUMMER STRUGGLE in JINGU IWGP Jr. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH@taiji_ishimori 'Corbata Armbreaker'
IWGP Tag Team Championship: Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi) (c) def. Golden Ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi) (16:01) As the sky turned dark, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi entered to new mashup entrance music.These two teams, some of the most high-profile to fight for the IWGP Tag Team Championships in recent memory, have been at each other’s throats ever since NJPW began having shows again in June. As such, they know what to expect of each other more than ever. Furthermore, the dynamic between Golden Ace has been brought into question; Ibushi questioned his faith in Tanahashi as a partner after he took the losing fall at Dominion, but they have since reassured the public that they are fine. As Ibushi and Taichi were about to begin, Tanahashi called out that Zack was sneaking up behind Ibushi. Dangerous Tekkers focused their double team offense on Tanahashi, meaning perhaps they thought he was the weak link of the team as well. Ibushi ran wild after getting tagged in, hitting a running shooting star press on a prone Taichi. Ibushi and Taichi engaged each other in a battle of kicks under the lights. After Ibushi hit a brutal high kick, he tagged in Tanahashi, who delivered repeated dragonscrew leg whips to Zack Sabre Jr, and then to Taichi, with the aid of Ibushi. Zack slowed Tanahashi’s roll with the Jim Breaks Armbar, but was interrputed by Taichi, who had pulled out the Iron Finger from Hell. Ibushi kicked him in the face nonchalantly and continued on. Tanahashi hit the High Fly Flow on Zack Sabre Jr., and climbed to the top rope for another, but Zack moved out of the way. From that point, Taichi ran in, and they together hit the Zack Mephisto on Tanahashi for the pinfall victory. Dangerous Tekkers retain the IWGP Tag Team Championships. Kota Ibushi looked absolutely distraught, and perhaps disappointed yet again.
IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Championship: EVIL (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito (26:20) EVIL had a very cool entrance, emerging from the dugout in pitch-blackness, with the stadium lights turned off, as if entering from “The Darkness World” if you will. EVIL controlled the match early on, as well-timed help from Dick Togo enabled him to take advantage of the leader of the unit he used to be a part of. Naito came back multiple times, but Dick Togo was continually a thorn in his side. It’s unknown whether Naito, like Hiromu, has insisted to the rest of LIJ that he fight his own battle regardless of the circumstances, but he could really use their help in these circumstances. Naito’s comebacks continued to garner thunderous applause, and he looked to be making the most progress yet before EVIL pushed the referee into an exposed turnbuckle, and Dick Togo came in again to attack Naito. He and EVIL hit the Magic Killer on Naito, prompting heavy boos. BUSHI ran in and fought off the two of them, but Gedo was also there to take out BUSHI. EVIL brandished a chair as Naito rose to his feet, but Naito kicked it away before Dick Togo came in and choked him with a wire. SANADA ran in and he and BUSHI fought off everyone, hitting simultaneous planchas on Togo and Gedo. EVIL and Naito rose to their feet, and Naito hit the running Destino for a near fall. Naito hit the Destino again, but EVIL blocked it and hitting a mule kick. EVIL went for his self-named finish, but Naito managed to block it. EVIL tried to hit Naito in the groin again, but Naito blocked his hand and slapped him in the face before hitting the Valentia. Finally, he hit the Destino for the three count. Tetsuya Naito is IWGP Heavyweight Champion and IWGP Intercontinental Champion again!
As he always does after winning in a main event, Tetsuya Naito performed the roll call of Los Ingobernables de Japon, emphasizing not mentioning EVIL. A firework display began, and Naito posed under the dazzling night sky.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling has announced that, following EVIL’s defection to Bullet Club from Los Ingobernables de Japon, the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship has been vacated. It was previously held by EVIL, BUSHI, and Shingo Takagi. Their reign lasted 206 days with 2 successful defenses.
To determine new champions, NJPW will hold a single-elimination tournament with eight teams during next week’s events as part of the Summer Struggle tour. The tournament is scheduled as follows:
New NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions will be determined next week!
Start Times: 2AM Pacific, 5AM Eastern, 10AM UK, 6PM Japan, 7PM East Australia
An English commentary version will be uploaded later in the week. Note: This event was held with a reduced attendance capacity so that the crowd could maintain social distancing.
NJPW Sengoku Lord 2020 in Nagoya Results
Taiji Ishimori def. Yuya Uemura (8:02) It continues to be obvious that Yuya Uemura has a lot of potential. If I were in charge, I would have both him and Yota Tsuji skip excursion and simply turn up as non-Young Lions one day. After all, it’s not going to be practical or fruitful to send them overseas to wrestle any time soon. Uemura looked a bit awkward when he did a springboard crossbody, he lost his balanced on the top rope but was able to save it. Taiji Ishimori submitted Yuya Uemura with the Yes Lock after hitting the Cipher Uteki.
Togi Makabe, Satoshi Kojima & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Gabriel Kidd (10:25) Tomoaki Honma and Yota Tsuji were also supposed to be on oppiste teams in this match, but NJPW reported that they had recently been on a TV show, where they were in close proximity with a cast member who has since tested positive for COVID-19, so they were removed from the show out of an abundance of caution. This match was at its best towards the end when it involved young lion Gabriel Kidd against Togi Makabe. Makabe was using his power to run over Gabriel with lariats, but Kidd was able to get Makabe down for multiple near falls using clever pinning combinations. Togi Makabe pinned Gabriel Kidd with a bridging German suplex.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito & SANADA) def.CHAOS (SHO, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) (10:31) The most interesting thing about this match is what’s going to happen with two sets of splintered tag team championships that have members present here. SHO has the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, but YOH is likely going to be out for the rest of the year with the ACL tear he sustained. The NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships, which are held by EVIL, SANADA, and BUSHI, are also in an obvious state of flux. EVIL said in an interview that he didn’t need the championship other than the fact that he was able to call himself a triple champion, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Notably, while SHO brought his championship, SANADA and BUSHI did not bring theirs, and EVIL likely will not bring his during his match tonight. SANADA submitted SHO with the Skull End. After the match, all of LIJ attacked the referee, which they used to do frequently, but haven’t done at all recently.
At this point, an intermission to disinfect the ring was held, but NJPW had a major announcement to make. They will be running their second outdoor event in history on August 29th to conclude the Summer Struggle Tour. It will take place at Meiji Jingu Stadium, a baseball stadium in Tokyo that can seat over 30,000 people. Read all about it.
For the first time in 21 years, open air action in the legendary Jingu Stadium!
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Master Wato def. Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI) (12:55) It was notable that Tenzan entered to Master Wato’s music while all the other members of that team entered to Tanahashi’s. It’s really being presented that Tenzan and Wato are in something of a master-and-student relationship. Kota Ibushi pinned DOUKI after the Kamigoye. He and Tanahashi gestured at IWGP Tag Team Champions Taichiand Zack Sabre Jr. as if they wanted their championships back. The match in which Dangerous Tekkers won the championships involved heavily unfair two-on-one offence, so it might be the best course of action to give them a rematch.
Kazuchika Okada def. Yujiro Takahashi (13:43) Yujiro was hesitant to start this match from the beginning. In interviews leading up to this match, Yujiro had acknowledged that Okada was stronger than him, but said that he would try to brign Okada down to his own level. Okada got Yujiro in the cobra clutch, which he has been using to win matches lately, but Yujiro was able to get his foot on the bottom rope to braek the hold. Following that, Gedo came in and hit Okada with a spanner, but Okada still kicked out when Yujiro went to pin him. Finally, Okada knocked Gedo off the apron when he tried to interfere again, then hit Yujiro with a spinning tombstone piledriver and then submitted him with the Cobra Clutch.
NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) def. El Desperado (17:03) El Desperado entered wearing the NEVER Openweight Championship that he had stolen from Shingo Takagi at Dominion. Furious, Shingo Takagi entered quickly to start the match, and laid waste to Despy with his explosive power. However, El Desperado knew he wouldn’t be able to outmatch Shingo blow for blow, and instead relentlessly went after Shingo’s legs. Shingo was still capable of brief bursts of quickness, but his damaged leg stopped him from following up at speed. El Desperado lured Shingo out of the ring only to hit him with his own NEVER Openweight Championship. As Shingo barely made it back in before the count, Despy floored him with a spear and the Guitara de Angel for a two count. With a brief display of energy, Shingo was able to get Despy up for Made in Japan, but it only garnered a near fall. El Desperado tried to push Shingo into the referee and give him a low blow, but Shingo blocked it. With his last energy, he hit the Pumping Bomber and Last of the Dragon to put El Desperado away. He them limped back up the ramp, damaged but victorious.
IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Championships: EVIL (c) def. Hiromu Takahashi (33:57) EVIL’s look has improved substantially from his victory several weeks ago, as he’s substituted the awkward skirt for some tights that are more appropriate for the rest of his look. Dick Togo entered with him, wearing an all white suit that made him look like a drug lord. Hiromu Takahashi blitzed him at the start of the match, incensed by the betrayal of his former stablemate and friend. He took advantage early, but well-timed and subtle interference from Dick Togo let EVIL firmly take control. The crowd was all for Hiromu here, wanting to see good conquer EVIL, so to speak. He tried to hit Hiromu with the Darkness Falls on the apron, but Hiromu stuffed it and made EVIL’s plan backfire with an apron death valley bomb, then a diving senton bomb from the top rope to the outside. EVIL was able to fire back with a superplex and he went for the EVIL, but Hiromu blocked it, only for EVIL to throw him with multiple high-angle German suplexes. He went for the EVIL again, but Hiromu just slapped him in the face, and followed up with a lariat for a 2.9 count. EVIL threw Hiromu into the referee and this gave Dick Togo the opportunity to interfere again. He and EVIL hit a Magic Killer on Hiromu, and Dick Togo went to the top turnbuckle, but Hiromu kicked EVIL into the ropes, causing Togo to fall. Hiromu capitalized by hitting EVIL with his own self-named finish, then a death valley bomb into an exposed turnbuckle. He then hit the Time Bomb, but it onlymanaged a two count! He then hit the Time Bomb II, and it looked like he would win, but Dick Togo pulled the referee out right before the three. Hiromu was about to take out Togo, but EVIL hit him with a low blow from behind to slow his roll. Togo was out, but EVIL hit the Darkness falls and the EVIL for the pinfall victory. He retains the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships.
Following the match, Taiji Ishimori attacked the fallen Hiromu, and tried to hit him with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but Tetsuya Naito finally ran in to scare him off. Naito stared EVIL down and expressed his desire for revenge, before leaving with Hiromu slumped over his shoulder.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the eighth day of the 2020 New Japan Cup. The New Japan Cup is NJPW’s annual 32-man single elimination tournament, usually scheduled for the Spring. The winner will challenge Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships at NJPW Dominion on July 12. Today’s card will hold the two semifinal matches.
Watch exclusively on NJPW World with Japanese commentary. English commentary will be recorded and uploaded to NJPW World this week. Note: This event was held in an empty arena.
New Japan Cup 2020 Day 8 Results
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado & Taichi) def.Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Yuji Nagata & Gabriel Kidd As expected, the main theme of the match was continuing the heated rivalries forged during the New Japan Cup, namely Minoru Suzuki with Yuji Nagata and the Golden Aces against Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi. I wouldn’t be surprised if both of said rivalries culminate at Dominion. In addition, Gabriel Kidd’s gumption was on display, as he stepped right up to Minoru Suzuki, only for Suzuki to eat his elbow strikes and drop him with one slap. In the end, El Desperado finished Kidd off with a punch to the face and the Pinche Loco. The fighting continued after the match, and the Dangerous Tekkers threw the IWGP Tag Team Championships at Tanahashi and Ibushi as Zack exclaimed “We’ll make those belts worth something!” Ibushi chased them backstage in a fit of rage.
CHAOS (SHO, Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) If there had to be one wrestler who was the focus of this match, it was undoubtedly SHO. He came out like a house of fire against every member of LIJ to prove what he had to offer. When Shingo Takagi and SHO fought last year, it seemed like SHO was always on the back foot, that Shingo was never in danger of losing. After beating Shingo in the first round of the tournament and his performance in this match, he now feels like Takagi’s equal and I can think of no greater praise than that. SHO pinned BUSHI with the Shock Arrow. Afterwards, Shingo brandished his two championships at SHO, asking which one he wanted. SHO pulled the NEVER Openweight Championship, making his intentions clear. Shingo attempted to hit SHO with said Championship, but SHO dodged it and hit an impactful spear to state his case. Expect that match to take place at Dominion as well.
Prior to the cleaning and disinfection intermission, a new vignette played involving the new wrestler coming to NJPW who has been referred to as “The Grandmaster.” It revealed that this was Hirai Kawato, who was returning from his learning excursion in Mexico. His gimmick appears to be something of a martial artist, and his new name is “Master Wato.” Personally, I think it looks too goofy and it’s hard to take seriously. It turned out that he was in the building and made his entrance to speak a few words in the ring. As he posed, DOUKI came out of nowhere and attacked him, and Wato needed to be helped to the back after the assault. Perhaps DOUKI will be Master Wato’s first obstacle to overcome.
Semifinal Match: EVIL def. SANADA (20:13) The match began at a tempered pace, as the teammates gingerly approached each other. Their level of trust has been a recurring theme in their matches together, and EVIL has won his matches so far in the tournament in less than sportsmanlike ways. The question was whether or not EVIL would fight fairly and honorably in this match. As you would guess from his name, of course not. SANADA offered a handshake and EVIL accepted it only to go for his EVIL finish right away, but SANADA had it scouted. As the match progressed, EVIL seemed to have the advantage most of the way through. Shortly after the ten minute mark, he hit the Darkness Falls for a near fall. Not out yet, SANADA wrenched on the Skull End, but EVIL flipped backwards over him to get out of the hold and then floored him with an evil lariat. SANADA fired back up with a cutter from the top rope, but appeared to land on his own head and it looked bad. As EVIL looked to capitalize on the mistake, SANADA rolled him into the Skull End again, but stood up to go for a top rope moonsault but EVIL blocked it with his knees. EVIL pushed SANADA into the referee and hit a low blow, then hit him in the face with a steel chair. With the referee still down, EVIL stomped on SANADA’s groin. He then pushed the referee into the ring, hit the EVIL and won. EVIL advances to the New Japan Cup Final.
Semifinal Match: Kazuchika Okada def. Hiromu Takahashi (27:00) Hiromu looked excited to wrestle against Okada, while Okada didn’t have any particular expression about him. Hiromu took control of the early going, hitting Okada with rapid and high-powered offense and using his speed advantage on the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Okada had 20 kilograms on Hiromu but that extra weight was costing him. Okada hitting a flapjack and a shotgun dropkick to even out the momentum of the match. Okada continued with a top rope dropkick, sending Hiromu flying across the ring, and now seemed firmly in control. Okada went to the top rope, but Hiromu dropkicked off of it, and then sunset flip powerbombed Okada to the floor. He followed up with the Dynamite Plunger, but Okada managed a standing dropkick to end his momentum. Okada hit the Tombstone piledriver and the Cobra clutch, but Hiromu struggled to his feet, picked Okada up, and gave him a death valley bomb in the corner turnbuckle pad. Hiromu hit Okada with a rainmaker of his own and the Time Bomb, but Okada kicked out just before the three count. Hiromu went for the Time Bomb II, but Okada wiggled out of it and hit a spinning Tombstone piledriver and a discus Rainmaker. Finally, he hit a wrist-clutch Rainmaker and applied the Cobra clutch again. Hiromu was unresponsive, and the referee called the match for Okada. Kazuchika Okada advances to face EVIL in the New Japan Cup Final.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the third day of the 2020 New Japan Cup. The New Japan Cup is NJPW’s annual 32-man single elimination tournament, usually scheduled for the Spring. The winner will challenge Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships at NJPW Dominion on July 12. Today’s card will hold four of the sixteen matches in the first round.
Watch exclusively on NJPW World with Japanese commentary. English commentary will be recorded and uploaded to NJPW World this week. Note: This event was held in an empty arena.
New Japan Cup 2020 Day 3 Results
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI) def. Yuji Nagata, Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura & Gabriel Kidd (10:33) After the first three days of NJPW action taking place in a nondescript television studio, New Japan is back in Korakuen Hall, which has a decidedly better atmosphere even without a crowd. Minoru Suzuki went on a rampage against Uemura and Nagata, thanks to the latter eliminating him from the New Japan Cup in the first round last week. El Desperado landed a slap on Yota Tsuji that echoed throughout the hall, then hit the Pinche Loco for the pinfall victory. Only Nagata and Kanemaru are still in tournament contention. Respectively, they will face off against Kazuchika Okada and Taiji Ishimori in the second round two days from now.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: SANADA def. Ryusuke Taguchi (15:47) SANADA didn’t enter wearing his pirate, which I feel means he should be blackballed from the sport for not taking Taguchi seriously. Taguchi caught SANADA’s leg and placed him in the Paradise Lock. SANADA lackadaisically removed himself from Taguchi’s improperly applied hold and put Taguchi in the Paradise Lock. SANADA elected to attack Taguchi’s tailbone through repeated atomic drops. SANADA attempted the Skull End, but Taguchi got out of it and applied the Oh My and Garankle. SANADA was able to roll out of it and apply the Skull End with a giant swing. Taguchi attempted to fight back with a hip attack, but SANADA did one more atomic drop and then pinned Taguchi with an O’Connor roll to advance to the second round.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: SHO def. Shingo Takagi (17:06) Determined to prove himself after his loss in last year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament, SHO immediately blasted Shingo with a brutal lariat. Shingo had a guard of some sort on his right hand, which SHO noticed and immediately went to work attacking Shingo’s right arm to try and nullify the Pumping Bomber. A left arm lariat from Shingo showed that this strategy could only ever be so effective. Shingo lifted SHO to the top rope but SHO blocked his move with a headbutt, then sunset flipped over him and hit the Powerbreaker. SHO hit a very delayed bridging German suplex for a two count. SHO set up the Shock Arrow but Shingo blocked it. An incredibly loud slap and Made in Japan from Shingo landed a near fall, then a Pumping Bomber resulted in yet another. Shingo went for the Last of the Dragon, but SHO got out of it and hit a cross-arm piledriver, followed by the Shock Arrow to score the upset. SHO will face SANADA in the second round.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Kota Ibushi def. Zack Sabre Jr. (15:15) The match began with fast-paced mat wrestling until Ibushi lost his patience and started kicking Zack in his spindly legs. Zack responded by trying to apply holds to Ibushi’s legs, but Ibushi responded by throwing heavy forearms and Zack crumbled under their force. In a classic brains versus brawn battle, Zack continued to grind down Ibushi’s limbs while Ibushi just tried to apply as much blunt force trauma as possible. The attrition favored Zack the longer the match went, but out of nowhere, Ibushi hit a running knee strike and then hit the Kamigoye for the pinfall victory.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Taichi def. Hiroshi Tanahashi (21:51) Tanahashi entered wearing an all silver ring attire with massive shoulder spikes, reminiscent of a Road Warrior. As Tanahashi posed on the turnbuckle to the crowd that didn’t exist, Taichi got under him and powerbombed him, then delivered a Buzzsaw Kick as Tanahashi writhed in pain. DOUKI was also present, as he attacked Tanahashi with his bent pipe when he rolled out of the ring. Tanahashi finally began fighting back as Yota Tsuji pounded the mat for his hero to get up. As Tanahashi rebounded off the ropes to hit the Sling Blade, Taichi attempted a big boot but Tanahashi caught his leg and hit a dragonscrew. Tanahashi fought back but Taichi landed repeated kicks to Tanahashi’s abdomen and then planted him on his head with a backdrop driver. Taichi went for another backdrop but Tanahashi reversed it into the Sling Blade. Tanahashi hit the Sling Blade for a two count, then the High Fly Flow on a standing Taichi. He went for another High Fly Flow, but DOUKI tried to interfere only for Tanahashi to slap him away. Taichi used the distraction to hit a low blow into the Gedo Clutch, but Tanahashi kicked out at two. Taichi an Axe Bomber and an elevated powerbomb for another two count. Finally, Taichi removed his pants, hit a superkick, and put Tanahashi away with the Black Mephisto. He will face Kota Ibushi in the second round.
Taichi and DOUKI continued to attack Tanahashi after the match ended. Kota Ibushi came to Tanahashi’s rescue, and he and Taichi stood each other down in the ring, before DOUKI and Taichi teamed up on Ibushi also. Taichi hit Tanahashi with one of the IWGP Tag Team Championship belts, then posed on top of both members of Golden Ace. Taichi said on the microphone that both the IWGP Tag Team Championships and the New Japan Cup would be his.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the second day of the 2020 New Japan Cup. The New Japan Cup is NJPW’s annual 32-man single elimination tournament, usually scheduled for the Spring. The winner will challenge Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships at NJPW Dominion on July 12. Today’s card will hold four of the sixteen matches in the first round.
Watch exclusively on NJPW World with Japanese commentary. English commentary will be recorded and uploaded to NJPW World this week. Note: This event was held in an empty arena.
New Japan Cup 2020 Day 2 Results
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Gabriel Kidd vs. Taiji Ishimori (8:53) Gabriel Kidd is a British wrestler who was personally scouted from Revolution Pro Wrestling by Katsuyori Shibata last year. This would be his first singles match against non-young lion opposition. Ishimori channeled his absent tag team partner El Phantasmo with dirty techniques like back rakes and irish whipping Kidd into the outside guardrail. Ishimori went for a springboard rana but Kidd caught his legs and lifted him into a Boston crab, but Ishimori made it to the ropes to force a break. Ishimori hit a springboard kick to Kidd’s face and then applied the Yes Lock to defeat Gabriel Kidd by submission. Ishimori advances to the second round.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. Yuya Uemura (9:32) If Yuya Uemura truly wants to be in the ring one-on-one against Minoru Suzuki like he’s said, winning this match would be the first step towards that achievement. Meanwhile, if Kanemaru wins, his opponent would be Taiji Ishimori.Those two have wrestled one-on-one twelve times and Ishimori has never won. Kanemaru dominated the bulk of the match, but Uemura landed a springboard splash for a near fall and desperately tried to land the arm-trap suplex to no avail. Kanemaru attempted to spit his whiskey in Uemura’s face, but the referee stopped him. Nevertheless, Kanemaru landed a dropkick followed by the diving DDT known as Deep Impact to win and advance to face Taiji Ishimori in the second round.
CHAOS (SHO, YOH, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, EVIL, BUSHI & SANADA) (12:14) The two main themes of this match were LIJ demonstrating their lack of adherence to proper tag conduct by all beating down Goto and YOSHI-HASHI together, and SHO and Shingo delivering a hard-hitting preview to their first round tournament match coming up next week. BUSHI tagged in and went for the M-X, but Goto dodged it and hit the GTR to pin BUSHI for the win.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Yuji Nagata def. Minoru Suzuki (20:35) Happy birthday to Minoru Suzuki, who turns 52 today. Unfortunately, there was no crowd to chant “Kaze Ni Nare” on this special day. These two old men took their sweet time slapping and forearming each other and jaw-jacking about how they wanted to be hit harder in between. With Nagata’s neck being an appropriate shade of crimson, Suzuki took the match to the outside and hit Nagata with a folding chair so hard that the seat popped off. Back in the ring, Nagata made a comeback by attacking the right arm of Suzuki with kicks and arm wringers. As Nagata went for another, Suzuki applied a sleeper hold and pushed Nagata to the ground. He pinned him for a near fall then lifted him up to apply the Gotch-style piledriver. Nagata blocked it and lifted him into a back body drop. A slap and headbutt from Suzuki got Nagata bleeding from the mouth. Incensed, Nagata delivered an exploder suplex followed by a bridging backdrop driver to win the match and advance to the second round. Minoru Suzuki loses on his birthday.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Kazuchika Okada def. Gedo (15:30) Gedo entered with his right arm in a sling and got on the microphone to say that he injured himself during practice today, but still wanted to fight in this match. Gedo slowly removed the sling, but hid a can of spray in his hand that Okada slapped away. Okada also found a set of brass knuckles on Gedo’s person and wrenched them away. Gedo then brandished a spanner and hit Okada with it. With Okada laying, Gedo stole the ring announcer’s table and repeatedly bashed it into Okada’s chest, and then did the same with a folding chair. After more than five minutes of this, Okada rallied and went for a diving elbow drop, but Gedo rolled out of the ring and tried to escape. When Okada caught him, Gedo revealed that he had stolen the ring announcer’s bell hammer and attacked Okada with it. Okada came back with the revesre neckbreaker and went for the tombstone piledriver, but Gedo wiggled out of it and pushed Okada into the referee to hit a low blow. Gedo removed part of the ring apron to remove another set of brass knuckles that he had stashed there at some point. He punched Okada with them and applied the Gedo Clutch, but Okada kicked out at two. Gedo even attempted the Blade Runner. Jado then showed up and distracted the referee while Gedo went for another brass knuckle punch, but Okada caught him with a dropkick, knocked Jado off the ring apron, and submitted Gedo with a cobra clutch. Okada will face Yuji Nagata in the second round.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the first day of the 2020 New Japan Cup. The New Japan Cup is NJPW’s annual 32-man single elimination tournament, usually scheduled for the Spring. The winner will challenge Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships at NJPW Dominion on July 12. Today’s card will hold four of the sixteen matches in the first round.
Watch exclusively on NJPW World with Japanese commentary. English commentary will be recorded and uploaded to NJPW World this week. Note: This event was held in an empty arena.
New Japan Cup 2020 Day 1 Results
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Togi Makabe def. Yota Tsuji (8:41) It’s going to take a while to get used to hearing Togi Makabe’s actual music be played instead of a generic dubbed track to avoid playing licensing fees. As a young lion, Yota Tsuji was overeager to prove himself against the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Makabe. Tsuji leveled Makabe with a spear and a shoulder tackle as soon as the bell rang. Makabe quickly gained the advantage back, but Tsuji showed more than one would have expected for a young lion. Makabe leveled Tsuji with a lariat and pinned him with a bridging German suplex to advance to the second round.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Toru Yano def. Jado (9:07) Jado entered wearing a shirt that said “So What, I Don’t Care.” I’m sure he does care somewhat but he’s been wrestling for thirty years and hasn’t had a singles match since 2016 for good reason. Toru Yano started the match by attempting to rally a crowd that didn’t exist with “Yano To-Ru” chants. Amused, Jado responded by chanting “Jado-o!” at him. As the referee fought Jado to take away his kendo stick, Yano knocked Jado square on the head with a turnbuckle pad. Jado fell on his face a la Ric Flair and Yujiro Takahashi briefly attacked Yano while the referee was checking on the fallen Jado. Despite Jado’s sluggish pace, he was able to work over Yano with punches to the lower back and a cobra twist. Yano thwarted Jado’s kendo stick attack and pinned him with a low blow and schoolboy to advance to the second round.
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def.Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Yuji Nagata & Yuya Uemura (13:27) The bulk of this match consisted of all of Suzuki-gun collectively trying to destroy Hiroshi Tanahashi’s knees. Leg locks and a cheeky dragonscrew from Zack Sabre Jr. left Tanahashi writhing in agony. ZSJ and Ibushi always fight hard, even in large tag team matches when they don’t have to. Yuya Uemura has been vocal about wanting to fight Minoru Suzuki head on and he briefly locked the Boston crab on Suzuki before Kanemaru broke it up. Suzuki got his revenge with the Gotch-style piledriver on Uemura for the pin.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Hiromu Takahashi def. Tomoaki Honma (18:45) Hiromu and Honma have been building up this first round match as a battle of two men who have both had their necks broken. The power of youth is evident: despite being sidelined for over a year, Hiromu has not lost a step, while nearly every movement Honma makes is labored. Hiromu dominated the heavyweight Honma with dropkicks and neck holds. Honma made a brief rally with a running bulldog and a Kokeshi. Honma attempted a Kokeshi headbutt of his own but missed. Hiromu hit Honma with a death valley driver on the outside of the ring, and Honma barely avoided being counted out. Hiromu pushed Honma into the mat with his foot on the back of Honma’s neck. Honma made a comeback and hit three consecutive Kokeshis only for Hiromu to kick out. Honma went for the top rope Kokeshi but missed. Hiromu capitalized with the Time Bomb to to win and advance to the second round. His opponent will be Toru Yano.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Tomohiro Ishii def. El Desperado (20:17) El Desperado taunted Ishii about his height, but Ishii seemed to take advantage early with his superior strength and durability. Desperado used leg kicks and twists to target Ishii’s knee and removed a corner turnbuckle pad. Ishii eventually had enough and used strikes to level the junior heavyweight. Persistently, El Desperado kept going back to the knee. He applied his Numero Dos stretch muffler but Ishii managed to flip over and break the hold. Ishii hit a powerslam to turn the momentum of the match. He attempted to powerbomb El Desperado but his knee buckled and he needed to do it a second time, but it only received a near fall. Despy hit a discrete low blow followed by a small package hold, but Ishii kicked out at two, followed by the Guitarra de Angel only for Ishii to kick out again. El Desperado went for the Pinche Loco, but Ishii levelled him with a headbutt and a lariat for a two count. Finally, he hit the vertical drop brainbuster to defeat El Desperado and take his place in the second round. His opponent in the second round will be Togi Makabe.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold their first wrestling event in 110 days. Since late February, the promotion has cancelled all events as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. However, with testing of workers and staff, and approval of the Japanese government, that hiatus ends today.
Watch: NJPW World (English Commentary) NJPW World (Japanese Commentary) Note: This show was held in an empty arena.
NJPW Together Project Special Results
Yota Tsuji def. Gabriel Kidd (8:43) Even without a crowd, the fire of young lions often leaps off the screen. The noise of the commentary, the ring, the grunts and growls of the wrestlers, and their hard strikes more than compensated for the lack of an audience to react. Yota Tsuji hit a spear and then submitted Gabriel Kidd with a Boston crab.
Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def. Tomohiro Ishii & Yuya Uemura (12:57) Yuya Uemura has clearly gained muscle mass over the last several months. Ishii and Uemura attacked the Suzuki-gun junior heavyweights before the bell rang. The main focuses of this match were Suzuki-gun beating down Uemura together, followed by Ishii fending off both of them by himself. Suzuki-gun worked together to attack Ishii’s knee. After taking him out of commission, they systematically dismantled Yuya Uemura in similar fashion. El Desperado submitted Yuya Uemura with a Numero Dos, a stretch muffler.
Ishii did some squats outside of the ring to show El Desperado that his knee wasn’t affected that much. Tomorrow, June 16th, Tomohiro Ishii faces El Desperado in the first round of the New Japan Cup, as does Yuya Uemura against Yoshinobu Kanemaru on June 17th.
Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori, Yujiro Takahashi, Gedo & Jado) def.Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomoaki Honma (13:20) Toru Yano entered with a disinfectant spray bottle instead of his usual spitting water, as compliant with NJPW safety regulations. YOSHI-HASHI entered with new black and red gear that says “Get Back Up” on one leg, which I’m convinced is a rib. Yano immediately went to remove the turnbuckle, while Jado brandished a kendo stick. They dared each other to drop their weapon first. Honma missing the second-rope Kokeshi was surprisingly impactful considering the lack of reaction, but this gave Yujiro the opening he needed to secure the victory. Yujiro Takahashi pinned Tomoaki Honma with the Pimp Juice DDT.
The New Japan Cup fixtures for this match are as follows: Toru Yano versus Jado (6/16), Taiji Ishimori versus Gabriel Kidd (6/17), and Hirooki Goto versus Yujiro Takahashi (6/23).
During the intermission to disinfect the ring and the ringside area, a vignette played for a new wrestler coming to NJPW. It only referred to them as “The Grandmaster.”
Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) (13:33) Tenzan and Kojima looked much more well-rested than they did prior to this hiatus. Kojima and EVIL took each other on in a battle of brawn. Failed attempt at the Paradise Lock aside, Taguchi looked surprisingly capable of standing in the ring with SANADA. Notably, SANADA is the only member of Los Ingobernables de Japon who does not possess any championship, and some have postulated that he should be the favorite to win the New Japan Cup. This was a chaotic match involving a lot of teamwork, but TenCozy and Taguchi showed unexpected synergy. Ryusuke Taguchi submitted BUSHI with his ankle lock known as Oh My and Garankle to win.
The New Japan Cup first round matches involving people in this match are Ryusuke Taguchi versus SANADA (6/22), Hiroyoshi Tenzan versus YOSHI-HASHI (6/23), and EVIL versus Satoshi Kojima (6/23).
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe & Yuji Nagata def. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI) (13:04) Hiroshi Tanahashi might have appreciated three months of rest more than anyone. Neither arm of his donned a compression sleeve for what seems like the first time in ages. Suzuki and Nagata defied their combined age of 104 years old with some of the hardest strikes on this whole show while Zack Sabre Jr., the only non-young lion foreign wrestler on this show, squared off against Ibushi at a high rate of speed. Ibushi hit a double Pele Kick on both DOUKI and Zack to stop Suzuki-gun all ganging up on him. Togi Makabe hit the King Kong Knee Drop on DOUKI to win the match for his team. Makabe’s music, a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song, played in the building. This is unusual, usually a generic dubbed rock song plays when he wins since paying for licensed music is expensive.
Minoru Suzuki goes one-on-one with Yuji Nagata on day one of the New Japan Cup tomorrow while Tanahashi and Ibushi compete against Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr. respectively on June 22.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi) def. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, SHO & YOH) (14:17) It was amusing watching Okada gesticulate excessively to absent members of the crowd. In what might be a first for Okada, he was the only person in this six man tag team match to not be a Champion. Naito and Okada briefly opened the match with grappling, but it kicked into the next gear when SHO and Shingo Takagi tagged in to batter each other. SHO and Shingo have both stated that their rivalry that began in last year’s Best of the Super Juniors is not over, and they took the fight especially hard to each other. Tetsuya Naito pinned YOH with the Destino to close out the show. Naito and Hiromu fist-bumped each other after the match, but Shingo did not take part.
In the New Japan Cup first round, Kazuchika Okada will face Gedo, Hiromu Tanahashi will face Tomoaki Honma, it’s Shingo Takagi versus SHO, and YOH versus BUSHI. Tetsuya Naito sits out of the New Japan Cup as the reigning IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Champion, set to defend both championships against the winner of the tournament at Dominion next month.
On May 25th, the Japanese government lifted the nationwide state of emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic. New Japan Pro-Wrestling has announced their plans to return to conducting live wrestling events over the next month. To ensure minimal risk of virus propagation, NJPW has been conducting antibody testing on wrestlers, crew, trainers, and other live event staff, and preparation of venues has begun.
The last NJPW event took place on February 26th in Okinawa, Japan. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s first live event following the end of Japan’s COVID-19 state of emergency will be an empty arena event on June 15th, called the NJPW Together Special. In all, eleven events have been scheduled, including a rescheduled New Japan Cup and Dominion.
The New Japan Cup participants have changed to accommodate international travel restrictions caused by the pandemic. The majority of participants who live overseas have been replaced. As such, the 32-man New Japan Cup, usually a heavyweights-only tournament, now includes a number of NJPW’s junior heavyweight wrestlers. Also, it has been announced that, as previously, Tetsuya Naito will defend both his IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental championships against the winner of the New Japan Cup.
All events will be streamed live on NJPW World. NJPW has also announced that their Summer Struggle 2020 tour, originally scheduled to take place from July 11 to July 19, has been cancelled.
NJPW Event Schedule
June 15: NJPW Together Project Special
Matches unknown
June 16: New Japan Cup 2020 First Round (empty arena)
Togi Makabe vs. Yota Tsuji
Tomohiro Ishii vs. El Desperado
Toru Yano vs. Jado
Tomoaki Honma vs. Hiromu Takahashi
Unknown “special match”
June 17: New Japan Cup 2020 First Round (empty arena)
Kazuchika Okada vs. Gedo
Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki
Yuya Uemura vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Gabriel Kidd vs. Taiji Ishimori
Unknown “special match”
June 22: New Japan Cup 2020 First Round (empty arena)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taichi
Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. SANADA
SHO vs. Shingo Takagi
Unknown “special match”
June 23: New Japan Cup 2020 First Round (empty arena)
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. YOSHI-HASHI
YOH vs. BUSHI
Satoshi Kojima vs. EVIL
Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Unknown “special match”
June 24: New Japan Cup 2020 Second Round (empty arena)
Four New Japan Cup second round matches
Unknown “special match”
July 1: New Japan Cup 2020 Second Round (empty arena)
Four New Japan Cup second round matches
Unknown “special match”
July 2: New Japan Cup 2020 Quarterfinals (empty arena)
Four New Japan Cup quarterfinal matches
Unknown “special match”
July 3: New Japan Cup 2020 Semifinals (empty arena)
Two New Japan Cup semifinal matches
Two unknown “special matches”
July 11: New Japan Cup 2020 Final (Osaka-jo Hall, Osaka, one third capacity attendees)
New Japan Cup 2020 Final match
July 12: Dominion (Osaka-jo Hall, Osaka, one third capacity attendees)
New Japan Pro-Wrestling has announced the lineup for the first round of their annual springtime single-elimination tournament, the New Japan Cup.
NJPW has confirmed that the winner of the New Japan Cup 2020 will challenge Tetsuya Naito for his IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships at Sakura Genesis on March 31st. All days of the New Japan Cup 2020 will be broadcasted live on NJPW World with an English commentary option.
Similar to last year, the field will consist of 32 NJPW wrestlers. The first round will take place over four events on March 4, 7, 8, and 9. The second round will take place over four events as well, on March 10, 12, 13, and 14. The quarter-finals will be held over three events on March 16, 17, and 18. Finally, the semi-finals will take place on March 20th, with the final match to decide the New Japan Cup winner on March 21st.
In the 2019 New Japan Cup, Kazuchika Okada took victory against SANADA in the final, and used the victory to challenge Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He would go on to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the G1 Supercard event at Madison Square Garden during WrestleMania weekend.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling presents The New Beginning in Osaka 2020. This event will be held at Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, Japan. This event will be available to watch on their live streaming service, NJPW World. English and Japanese commentary are available.
Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan def. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Toa Henare & Ryusuke Taguchi This match was dubbed “Manabu Nakanishi Final in Osaka-jo Hall” and indeed, this will be the last big arena show of Nakanishi’s 27-year career. To be honest, it looked to be about time for him. His lariats were slow and his chops were lethargic, but nevertheless, the crowd popped for everything he did. Nevertheless, the crowd was with him, especially when he climbed to the top rope for perhaps the last time ever. Nakanishi delivered a top rope brain chop to Tomoaki Honma, setting up Satoshi Kojima to deliver the lariat and get the pin. (7:08)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) (c) def. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) Roppongi 3K attacked Suzuki-gun before the bell to remove the possibility that they would receive that treatment themselves. After getting into a gnarly slap fight with El Desperado, YOH tagged in SHO, but both members of Suzuki-gun cut SHO off and began assaulting his knee. Kanemaru held him in a long figure four leglock but SHO was able to make the rope break. Kanemaru hit the Deep Impact on SHO, who kicked out at two. As Rocky Romero rallied the capacity crowd, SHO rallied with heavy lariats. Roppongi 3K went for their 3K finish, but El Desperado was in to break it up. SHO hit the Shock Arrow on Kanemaru for a near fall. Finally, Roppongi 3K hit the dropkick and Shock Arrow combination known as Strong X for SHO to get the pinfall on Kanemaru and make their first championship defense. (16:22)
After the match, as Roppongi 3K celebrated in the ring, Ryusuke Taguchi entered the ring, with a basketball and a rugby helmet on. He told Rocky Romero that he was not only the manager of SHO and YOH, but a great wrestler in his own right. Taguchi stated that he and Rocky, as The Mega Coaches, should challenge Roppongi 3K for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. He threw his basketball to Rocky and made a hoop with his arms. Despite RPG 3K’s assistance otherwise, Rocky shot the ball into Taguchi’s hoop, signifying his agreement to challenge for the Championships.
Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi def. Bullet Club (Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi) This matched Kota Ibushi’s return to the ring following a short absence due to a bout of influenza. One wouldn’t have known that he was running a 104 degree fever within the last two weeks, due to some superhuman healing factor. The factor that was of greatest note in this match was the appearance of Tanahashi and Juice. Tanahashi had a very fluffy pompadour and Juice Robinson’s hair was in an afro, continuing the ’70s-dancer-esque appearance he has been going for recently. Tanahashi pinned Tanga Loa with a bridging roll-up. (10:50)
Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi reiterated their desire to challenge for the IWGP Tag Team Championships.
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay) def. Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi) Following their respective losses at The New Beginning in Sapporo, Will Ospreay and Taichi wrestled with chips on their shoulders to avenge their losses. Taichi seemed unfazed by his defeat among the hometown crowd of Sapporo, and laid into Okada with his hard-hitting offense. The crowds went wild for his dangerous backdrop drivers and loud kicks, but the CHAOS team’s combined might was too much for Dangerous Tekkers. Ospreay landed the Oscutter followed by Okada’s Rainmaker for Okada to take the pin on Taichi. (11:50)
Will Ospreay held the belt around his waist before putting it down on the mat for Zack. Angrily, ZSJ yelled “Look at it, you moron! This is coming back to Japan with me!”
Jay White def. SANADA In the buildup to this match, Jay White had attempted to get under SANADA’s skin in a way that few have been able to do before, with very little success. SANADA did not seem to be intimidated, and often overpowered Jay when the competition was fair. SANADA hit the backbreaker and went for the moonsault, but Gedo tried to knock him off his perch. SANADA responded by pulling on his Gedo’s beard and using the ropes for a groin attack. Jay tried to capitalize on the opportunity with the Blade Runner, but SANADA caught him and hit the giant swing into the Skull End. SANADA broke the hold and went for the top rope moonsault, but Jay White moved out of the way. White hit the sleeper suplex and Blade Runner for the pinfall victory. (21:52)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Hiromu Takahashi (c) def. Ryu Lee For the better part of a decade, Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee have had a reputation of wrestling each other with an exceptional amount of reckless abandon. For the better part of the first five minutes of the match, Hiromu and Lee simply traded slaps to each other’s chests: over and over, until their pectorals were purple, and that was just the start. Ryu Lee teased the Phoenixplex that put Hiromu out of action with a broken neck for over a year, but Hiromu reversed it as the crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief. Lee went for the Phoenixplex once more later on, but Hiromu reversed it into a Canadian Destroyer. Hiromu hit the Time Bomb, but Lee kicked out, so Hiromu simply hit the Time Bomb again and marked the first successful defense of his title reign. (23:54)
IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) def. Minoru Suzuki This match has been highly anticipated ever since Moxley and Suzuki locked eyes for the first time. It’s safe to say that they delivered on what was expected of them. This was simply a brawl from the outset, when Suzuki invited Moxley to have a chair-swinging fight. They did no acrobatics, they just hit each other, sometimes with foreign objects. Suzuki smashed Moxley’s hand with a chair and then put him in an armbar, only for Moxley to lift him up and powerbomb him through a table. Moxley was clearly chagrined by Suzuki’s remarks that Moxley lacked redeeming qualities as a wrestler. Suzuki went for the Gotch-style piledriver, but Moxley reversed it into a double-arm DDT. He didn’t get much lift on it, so Suzuki was able to kick out at two. Moxley and Suzuki traded strikes until Suzuki pushed Moxley just a bit too far, and Mox decided he had had enough. He bowled Suzuki over with a lariat and hit the Death Rider to retain the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship. (17:16)
After the match, Zack Sabre Jr. ambushed Jon Moxley and took him to the ground with a rear naked choke and bodyscissors. Moxley was temporarily subdued as the British submission specialist held up the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship.
IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Double Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito (c) def. KENTA KENTA entered with the majority of Bullet Club with him, and they pushed Red Shoes Unno down before the match even began. All the Bullet Club members save KENTA were removed from ringside. As the match began, KENTA was reluctant to begin, rolling out of the ring instead of engaging Naito. The crowd booed as KENTA took a Naito teddy bear from the crowd and stepped on it, and he relished in the boos. KENTA attempted to remove a turnbuckle pad, but Red Shoes caught him and stopped him in the process, only for KENTA to remove the opposite one as Red Shoes was retying the one he had partially removed. KENTA continued to methodically work over Naito with kicks and arm holds. Naito rallied with elbows, but KENTA was able to apply the Game Over facelock only for Naito to crawl and wriggle his way to the rope for the break. Naito was able to hit a top rope hurricanrana into the valentia. Naito went for the Destino, but KENTA pushed him into the ropes and then Jay White came in to interfere. BUSHI tried to stop Jay White to no avail, but then Hiromu Takahashi came in and successfully apprehended Jay. KENTA went for the Go 2 Sleep but Naito reversed it with a counter Destino. KENTA threw Naito into the exposed turnbuckle, causing him to bleed profusely from his face. KENTA went for the Go 2 Sleep again, but Naito blocked it with a reverse frankensteiner. Finally, the bloody Tetsuya Naito hit the valentia and Destino to retain the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships. (35:50)
The still-bleeding Naito then challenged his faction-mate Hiromu Takahashi to a singles match at the 48th Anniversary Show next month. Hiromu and Naito mutually agreed to it.
Minoru Suzuki will face Jon Moxley for the IWGP United States Championship this Sunday from Osaka, Japan. Suzuki spoke with NJPW1972.com about his new rival.
“He’s a guy who stepped in my house and didn’t take his shoes off at the front door,” Suzuki said about Moxley. “The ‘former WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose’. Changed his look up a bit and here he is. Look, I’ve been watching him for a while, yeah. Can he grapple? No. Is he strong? No. Tough? No. He can’t do s**t.”
Suzuki would continue to say, however, that Moxley stands out despite the things he can’t do.
“It’s a bit of a paradox, but it’s because of that he got chances in WWE. There’s nobody else like him, right? Nobody in the majors in America is like him. So he stands out. Nobody gets that,” Suzuki continued. “Look. An absolute all-round perfectionist, the perfect complete player, tens in every category? Not even Tanahashi is that. Naito isn’t that. They don’t exist.”
Suzuki then spoke about what goes into rating how good a pro-wrestler is.
“Everyone in this business is a mark, you included. You fans have this idea of ratings, of skill points. You put all those points in a hexagon graph and calculate an average; ‘oh he’s a good wrestler, over 80 overall’. BS. Who the hell will pay money to buy a ticket, and see a guy who’s a perfect hexagon, 8 out of 10 or above in all areas? The guy with zero overall, the guy who can’t do anything at all, he’s a better draw.”
Suzuki would conclude that even though Moxley might not be the most skilled wrestler, he has an intangible feel to him that makes people take notice.
“He has something very special about him,” Suzuki concluded.
Suzuki also gave his thoughts on WWE’s international expansion.
“They’re going into all these countries, buying up promotions, snatching away talent, and sapping the business there. But the one place they haven’t been able to do that yet? Japan. Japan and Mexico are the only places that have carried a strong sense of wrestling culture that was uniquely theirs. Business is down in Mexico. WWE are getting their claws in there, too. But they haven’t come here yet, because Japanese wrestling has too much presence. Uniquely Japanese wrestling does.”
The full interview with Minoru Suzuki can be read here.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the first day of their two-day event, The New Beginning in Sapporo. The event will be held at the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in Sapporo City, Japan. This event will be available to watch on their live streaming service, NJPW World. English and Japanese commentary are available.
Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) def.Tiger Mask IV & Yuya Uemura The match began with both members of Bullet Club taking turns beating up Yuya Uemura. This built up to the hot tag to Tiger Mask. The crowd went wild as Uemura managed to put Phantasmo in a Boston Crab and hit him with his overhead suplex. Uemura got several near falls with a school boy and a small package hold. Taiji Ishimori submitted Yuya Uemura with the Yes Lock. (8:13)
Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare def. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi & Yota Tsuji Exactly three weeks from today, Manabu Nakanishi will retire from professional wrestling. The youngest and most sprightly wrestlers in this match, Tsuji and Toa Henare, made for the high point of this match as they fought. Toa Henare pinned Yota Tsuji with the Toa Bottom uranage. (9:41)
SHO, YOH, Will Ospreay & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI) This was a fast-paced match, no surprise considering the majority were junior heavyweights. The main focus was on the two upcoming title matches involving the participants: Zack Sabre Jr. defending the Rev Pro British Heavyweight Championship against Will Ospreay tomorrow, and Roppongi 3K defending against Desperado and Kanemaru next week. Ryusuke Taguchi pinned DOUKI with the Dodon. Also, DOUKI brought a new metal rod, that was a little more professional than the one he was using before. (11:45)
Ryu Lee & Robbie Eagles def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI) Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee were not waiting until their IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match at The New Beginning in Osaka to go to war. Their rivalry that has gone on since Hiromu’s excursion to CMLL is revered for good reason: the two men never hold back around each other. Robbie Eagles also performed well. He may have felt slighted for not getting his own title match after pinning Hiromu in his return match last December. Robbie submitted BUSHIH with the Ron Miller Special, an inverted figure four leg lock. (11:47)
Bullet Club (KENTA & Jay White) def.Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & SANADA) This tag team match was a preview for two singles matches at The New Beginning in Osaka: SANADA versus Jay White and Tetsuya Naito defending his IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships against KENTA. It could be said that this match was a tale of two matches. The first half could have been described more as physical banter than proper wrestling. Naito and KENTA taunted each other, entered the ring only to leave immediately, and generally tried not to take each other seriously. As the match progressed, all wrestlers involved became more urgent in their actions, and this gradual escalation made for a high-quality match. Jay White pinned SANADA with a victory roll. (18:42)
Suzuki-gun (Taichi & Minoru Suzuki) def.Kazuchika Okada & Jon Moxley Kazuchika Okada in a tag team match with Jon Moxley as his partner was something that no one could have predicted a year earlier. Okada against Taichi is the main event of tomorrow’s show, but the stars of this match were Moxley and Suzuki. It was not lost on them as to how much people are anticipating their IWGP US Heavyweight Championship match next Sunday, and gave the crowd today a delightful appetizer. They beat each other every which way, hit each other with guardrails and fans’ seats, spent a clearly illegal amount of time outside the ring, and traded their hardest hits. Suzuki pinned Moxley with the Gotch-style piledriver. (17:48)
After the match ended, Okada tried to hit a Rainmaker on Taichi, but Taichi avoided hit and knocked Okada down with the Iron Finger from Hell. Will Ospreay came out to apprehend Taichi, but Zack Sabre Jr. showed up to stop him. Taichi hit a Black Mephisto on Okada on the ramp.
Tomohiro Ishii def. EVIL It was known all along that this match would be, as another wrestler put it “two meaty men slapping meat” and it lived up to that expectation. These two fridge-shaped men traded chops and lariats as close to the larynx as possible, and EVIL even seemed at times to have a hoarse voice from them. EVIL accidentally didn’t get enough lift on a corner suplex and Ishii fell on his head, but the match seemed to pick up from there, so maybe it energized him. EVIL used Ishii’s trademark superplex, but it only netted him a near fall, as did a following Darkness Falls. After a white-hot closing stretch, Tomohiro Ishii pinned EVIL with the vertical drop brainbuster. (21:14)
NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Shingo Takagi def. Hirooki Goto Shingo and Goto were clearly not content to be outdone by the previous battle of rectangular, heavy men. So many lariats were traded, so many angry Japanese words that are probably inappropriate were said, and so much sweat flew. After landing a monstrous lariat, Goto was too tired to stand up, so Shingo lifted him to the top rope and hit him with an avalanche brainbuster known as the Stay Dream. To add insult to injury, Takagi landed a rope-hung GTR on Goto, which he had been referring in the lead-up to this match as the Great Takagi Revolution. Goto got a second wind and hit the Shouten Kai for a near fall. Goto hit the reverse GTR and was winding up for the regular version, but Shingo countered it into Made in Japan. He followed up with Last of the Dragon to win the NEVER Openweight Championship. (20:10)
Hirooki Goto’s reign lasted 25 days with 0 successful defenses.
Japanese wrestling legend and leader of the Suzuki-gun faction Minoru Suzuki made a shock appearance at Wrestle Kingdom. The strong style practitioner appeared following the IWGP United States Championship match between Jon Moxley and Juice Robinson. This match was set following the events of Night 1; where Moxley defeated Lance Archer to recapture the US belt. The US Championship was stripped from Moxley back at the King of Pro Wrestling event, as Moxley was unable to appear due to severe weather conditions preventing travel.
When Suzuki appeared he marched straight down to the ring and began trading blows with the AEW star. There had been speculation that Moxley would not be leaving Japan with the belt, due to complications with the AEW/NJPW relationship and Moxley’s schedule.
Minoru Suzuki then revealed his desire to challenge for the United States Championship. It has not been confirmed when that bout will be happening but it can be expected down the line.
There had also previously been speculation that Minoru Suzuki wanted to leave New Japan. The Suzuki-gun leader apparently liked the idea of joining the revitalised Pro Wrestling NOAH promotion as he was unhappy with his booking and placement on the New Japan roster. It is not known if this is a ‘farewell’ feud for Suzuki.
Moxley’s reaction after getting his ass laid out by Suzuki was fantastic. #njpw14
New Japan Pro-Wrestling is kicking off 2020 with their biggest event of the new year, Wrestle Kingdom 14. For the first time ever, Wrestle Kingdom will be a two-day event, with shows in the Tokyo Dome on January 4th and 5th. This event will be available to watch on their live streaming service, NJPW World, as well as Fite TV. Both platforms enable a choice between English or Japanese language commentary.
Pre-show start times are the following. The main show starts one hour after the listed time. Note that the dark match will start at the listed time, but it will not be live streamed, so the live stream will begin after the first match ends.
(Dark Match) STARDOM Women’s Wrestling Exhibition Match: Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki def. Hana Kimura & Giulia This match was not aired on NJPW World or televised, due to television airing conflicts. Mayu Iwatani pinned Hana Kimura after a dragon suplex and a moonsault.
Pre-Show Eight Man Tag Team Match: Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura vs. Toa Henare, Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks & Alex Coughlin This was the first broadcasted match of the WK14 pre-show. The young lions from both teams looked motivated to perform in front of the Wrestle Kingdom crowd, and were working stiffly, especially Yota Tsuji against Toa Henare. The match was fairly brief but worked at a fast clip and the crowd was loud for it. Toa Henare pinned Yota Tsuji with the Toa Bottom. (7:36)
Pre-Show Tag Team Match: TenKoji (Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) def.Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi It was interesting to see these once-main eventers now working a pre-show match, but probably preferable to having them still main event given their varying states of physical condition. Kojima went for his signature top rope elbow drop but Nakanishi threw him to the mat. Nakanishi put him in a torture rack, but Kojima got out of it and hit a lariat for the pinfall victory. (5:47)
Jushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match I: Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi def.Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV Kero Tanaka, the NJPW ring announcer from the 1990s, was here to announce the entrants for this match. Norio Honaga, one of Liger’s rivals from that same period, was the special guest referee as well. Most of the men in the match were clearly in the twilight years of their athletic ability, but they tried their best to pull off the spots they were remembered for decades ago, such as Sano’s dive through the ropes, Otani’s facewash, and Fujinami’s dragon screws and dragon sleeper. It was a very heartfelt match, despite the age showing, or perhaps because of the age showing, as it exemplified the effort these men were putting in for Liger’s sake. Ryusuke Taguchi pinned Liger with the Dodon. Afterwards, Liger’s team hoisted him up and celebrated as his music played. Jushin Thunder Liger’s last ever match is tomorrow. (8:52)
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & El Desperado) def.Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) Notably, the Suzuki-gun team entered to Zack Sabre Jr.’s music, even though Minoru Suzuki is usually considered the faction leader. Zack defends his Revolution Pro British Heavyweight Championship against SANADA tomorrow, and the match was centered around those two. The other wrestlers will be participating in the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship gauntlet match tomorrow, with the exception of Minoru Suzuki, who does not have a match tomorrow. Hard-hitting exchanges between Shingo and Taichi were the arguable highlight for this match. Shingo was exceptional at playing to the Dome audience, despite it being only his second time wrestling for an audience of this size. Zack Sabre Jr. locked a Jim Breaks Armbar on BUSHI to get the submission victory.
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) def. Bullet Club (KENTA, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi) KENTA is defending the NEVER Openweight Championship against Hirooki Goto, while the rest of the participants are participating in the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship gauntlet match. Highlights of this match were Toru Yano trying to outpower Bad Luck Fale, whose “Ready for War” t-shirt may be unsavory considering current events, and Goto easily overpowering KENTA, but using Bullet Club’s help to even the odds, and Ishii suplexing Fale. Goto hit the Ushigoroshi and GTR to pin Yujiro for the win, but will he win tomorrow?
IWGP Tag Team Championship Match: FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay) def.Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (c) Juice and Finlay bravely stood outside the ring and tried to attack the Guerrillas of Destiny before the match began, but it backfired on them, leaving Juice laying after taking a painful-looking back body drop on the ramp. From there, G.o.D. dominated the early going, befitting of the fifth most dominant IWGP Tag Team Champions of all time, but they may have played with their food a bit too much. They hit the Magic Killer on Finlay but he kicked out of it, only to hit another for Juice to break up the pin, and receive a Magic Killer of his own for his trouble. G.o.D set up the top rope power bomb, but Finlay reversed it. Juice hit a punch to knock out Jado on the ring apron, enabling David Finlay to hit the Acid Drop on Tama Tonga. Juice Robinson and David Finlay are the new IWGP Tag Team Champions! G.o.D.’s reign ended at 312 days and 7 successful defenses.
IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Texas Deathmatch: Jon Moxley def.Lance Archer (c) Jon Moxley came out wearing jeans, as is customary for a match with a hardcore stipulation, whereas Archer was wearing a leather jumpsuit and brandishing spray-painted trash can lids. Lots of weapons were used in this match, including a gnarly shot to Archer’s head with said trash can lid, and a suplex through chairs. Archer dived over the top rope and chokeslammed a young lion onto Moxley. A reverse crucifix powerbomb onto four chairs put Moxley down for a count of 8, but Moxley managed to trap Archer with an armbar. Archer put the EBD Claw on Moxley with a plastic bag on his hand, but Moxley was not defeated yet. Lance Archer set up two tables outside the ring, but he paid for it, as Moxley hit a Death Rider from the apron, putting them both through the two tables. Moxley was able to recover before the count of ten, but Archer could not. Jon Moxley wins back the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship that he never lost in a match to begin with. After the match, he said that he would settle the score with Juice Robinson. (14:26)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Hiromu Takahashi def.Will Ospreay (c) Both men in this match put a lot of effort into their entrance outfits, with Ospreay having a white tiger’s head on his shoulder and Hiromu resembling a peacock more than a wrestler. As the match began, it looked like Ospreay was a step ahead of Hiromu at every turn, blocking his moves and stuffing his attempt at the apron sunset flip powerbomb. Ospreay made an effort to focus his offense on Hiromu’s head and neck, with this being his first major match since breaking his neck in July 2018. Arguably the highlight of this match was Ospreay going for the Sasuke Special and missing it, only to have Hiromu throw him through the ropes, after which he finally hit the move in one fluid motion. Ospreay hit the Oscutter for a near fall, and went for the hidden blade once again but missed, then being felled by a pop-up powerbomb. Hiromu hit another Canadian destroyer, but Ospreay blocked the Time Bomb. Ospreay finally hit the hidden blade, but Hiromu blocked the Stormbreaker to hit another Canadian destroyer, followed by the Time Bomb, but Ospreay kicked out of it. Hiromu hit a sliding forearm followed by a move that I can’t describe to finally get the victory. Hiromu Takahashi becomes the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match:Tetsuya Naito def.Jay White (c) As Jay White bailed from the ring to start the match, Naito left as well to grab Gedo by his beard, which the audience enjoyed. Nevertheless, Gedo was there to hold onto Naito for brief moments, enabling White to take advantage. White was incredibly smug in this match, showboating and gloating to the crowd when he wasn’t working over Naito’s knees or his neck. Naito was able to outsmart Jay at times to take control back, and the crowd was almost entirely with him. Naito was able to reverse White’s offense at times, but his damaged knee slowed him down at times, which White capitalized on. White locked in the same leglock that submitted Tanahashi to win him the IWGP Heavyweight Championship last February, but Naito made it to the ropes, garnering a thunderous ovation. Naito managed a rolling kick into a pop-up spinebuster to make a labored but effective comeback. Naito spat in his face and then hit a top rope Frankensteiner, followed by the Gloria for a near fall. Gedo tried to hit Naito with a chair, but Naito stopped him with a kick to the groin, but left an opening for White to hit him with a chair. White followed up with sleeper suplexes, but Naito hit a flash Destino that he was too tired to capitalize on, followed by a reverse rana and another running Destino. White went for the Blade Runner, but Naito blocked it and hit a final Destino for the pinfall victory. Tetsuya Naito wins the IWGP Intercontinental Championship for the fifth time, an accolade only matched by Shinsuke Nakamura. (33:54)
IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) def. Kota Ibushi Kota Ibushi’s entrance music was slightly remixed, but Okada’s entrance was so over-the-top it has to be seen to be understood, but it included a white, glow-in-the-dark robe. Underestimating Ibushi, Okada attempted his first Rainmaker mere minutes into the match, but Ibushi dodged it easily. Ibushi never really seemed to intimidate Okada, who invited him to hit Okada harder. Okada locked in the Red Ink submission but Ibushi got his hand on the bottom rope to break the hold. Okada signaled the Rainmaker coming with his trademark pose, but Ibushi flattened him with a dudebuster and a double footstomp on his chest, followed by a triangle moonsault outside the ring and a missile dropkick off the ropes. Okada landed uppercuts and slaps on Ibushi, but Ibushi stood still and retaliated, even standing up after a front dropkick. Ibushi laid into a fallen Okada with strikes as the crowd began to boo him. Ibushi tried to throw Okada into the ring post from the apron, but Okada countered and hit an apron tombstone piledriver. Ibushi laid outside the ring until nearly getting counted out, only for Okada to pounce on him as he finally entered the ring. Ibushi countered with an incredible lariat and blocked Okada’s Rainmaker with another huge lariat of his own. Ibushi hit the Kamigoye but Okada barely kicked out of it, and gave him a dropkick when Ibushi attempted another. Okada attempted a missle dropkick, but Ibushi countered it into a sitout powerbomb. Ibushi went for a phoenix splash, but missed, leaving Okada the opening to hit the Rainmaker, which Ibushi kicked out of. Okada kept the pressure on and hit another piledriver followed by the Rainmaker for the win. Kazuchika Okada retains the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. (39:16)
After the match, Tetsuya Naito entered the ring to confront Okada. They posed with their respective championships, and Naito left peacefully, as Okada cut a go-home promo to end Day 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 14.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling has just announced details for 2019 edition of their annual heavyweight tag team tournament, the World Tag League.
The last major tour of the NJPW calendar, this tournament determines IWGP Tag Team Championship challengers for the following year’s Wrestle Kingdom.
This year’s World Tag League will have a single block with sixteen teams. Over the seventeen day tournament, each team will compete against each other, earning 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.
All matches will have a 30-minute time limit. Los Ingobernables de Japon’s EVIL and SANADA have won the World Tag League for the past two years.
World Tag League 2019 Teams
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare
Juice Robinson & David Finlay
Toru Yano & Colt Cabana
CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI)
Hirooki Goto & Karl Fredericks
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
Jeff Cobb & Mikey Nicholls
Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & SANADA)
Los Ingobernables (Shingo Takagi & El Terrible)
TenKoji (Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan)
Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma)
Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)
Suzukigun (Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi)
Suzukigun (Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer)
Bullet Club (Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale)
Bullet Club (KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi)
World Tag League 2019 Schedule
November 16Live on NJPW World
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Hirooki Goto & Karl Fredericks
Toru Yano & Colt Cabana vs. Jeff Cobb & Mikey Nicholls
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Shingo Takagi & El Terrible
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi
Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer vs. Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma
Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi
November 17Live on NJPW World
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare vs. KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. EVIL & SANADA
December 1December NJPW World Schedule TBA
Hirooki Goto & Karl Fredericks vs. Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer
Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Jeff Cobb & Mikey Nicholls
Toru Yano & Colt Cabana vs. Shingo Takagi & El Terrible
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare vs. EVIL & SANADA
Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
December 2December NJPW World Schedule TBA
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Shingo Takagi & El Terrible
Jeff Cobb & Mikey Nicholls vs. Chase owens & Bad Luck Fale
Toru Yano & Colt Cabana vs. KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi
Hirooki Goto & Karl Fredericks vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
EVIL & SANADA vs. Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI
December 3December NJPW World Schedule TBA
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Toru Yano & Colt Cabana
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare vs. Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer
Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale
Hirooki Goto & Karl Fredericks vs. EVIL & SANADA
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
December 5December NJPW World Schedule TBA
Hirooki Goto & Karl Fredericks vs. Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale
Jeff Cobb & Mikey Nicholls vs. KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. EVIL & SANADA
Shingo Takagi & El Terrible vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer
December 6December NJPW World Schedule TBA
Hirooki Goto & Karl Fredericks vs. Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shingo Takagi & El Terrible
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. EVIL & SANADA
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi
Toru Yano & Colt Cabana vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi
Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer
December 8December NJPW World Schedule TBA
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare vs. Hirooki Goto & Karl Fredericks
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. EVIL & SANADA
Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
Toru Yano & Colt Cabana vs. Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale
Jeff Cobb & Mikey Nicholls vs. Shingo Takagi & El Terrible
Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer vs. KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi
The match order for the final day on December 8 will be decided based on team standings as of the final day. There is no specific Final match to determine the winners. A de facto final match will be determined based on the highest ranking teams going into the final day.
Before the event began, NJPW ring announcer Makoto Abe announced that Jon Moxley and Zack Sabre Jr. were unable to attend the event due to flight cancellations caused by Typhoon Hagibis. Additionally, it was announced that the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship was declared vacant due to Moxley’s inability to defend the Championship. The announcement that Juice Robinson would now be competing against Lance Archer for the vacant Championship received a positive reponse.
King of Pro-Wrestling 2019 Card
Suzukigun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeatedRoppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) This was El Desperado’s first match back since getting his jaw broken in a deathmatch against Jun Kasai in May, which resulted in his removal from the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. El Desperado entered wearing a blood-stained dress shirt and vest. After blocking SHO’s Shock Arrow, El Desperado pushed SHO into the referee, enabling Yoshinobu Kanemaru to spit whiskey in SHO’s face. El Desperado pinned SHO after the Pinche Loco. (10:44)
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma defeated Most Violent Players (Togi Makabe & Toru Yano) This match was made to celebrate 20 years since Hiroshi Tanahashi’s wrestling debut in October 1999. Wataru Inoue, a retired NJPW wrestler who debuted at the same time as Tanahashi, was at ringside for this match. Toru Yano removed a corner turnbuckle pad and Irish whipped Hiroshi Tanahashi into it, then rolling him up for a near fall. Tanahashi hit a Sling Blade followed by the High Fly Flow to pin Toru Yano. (9:43)
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi) defeated Suzukigun (Taichi & DOUKI) Shingo Takagi hit DOUKI with a Pumping Bomber, and then lifted him for the Last of the Dragon, but Taichi came in and hit Shingo with his microphone stand in full view of the referee. Los Ingobernables defeated Suzukigun by disqualification. (9:00) After the match ended, Taichi downed Shingo with a high kick and Naito with a microphone stand hit, backdrop drivers, and an elevated powerbomb.
Minoru Suzuki defeated Jushin Thunder Liger Jushin Thunder Liger entered in his Battle Liger attire, wearing only the pants portion of his bodysuit and a modified mask. Contrary to the bloodlust that Liger expressed in the leadup to this match, Liger challenged Suzuki to a technical wrestling battle. They fought for holds on the mat before Liger decided this was not a battle he could win. Suzuki battered Liger with chair shots and repeatedly tore at his mask. Liger targeted Suzuki’s arms, but Suzuki applied the sleeper hold and went for the Gotch-style piledriver, which Liger reversed into a back body drop. Suzuki pummeled Liger with strikes and Liger absorbed them, but his ripostes did not phase Suzuki. Minoru Suzuki pinned Jushin Thunder Liger after the Gotch-style piledriver. (17:38) He continued to hit Liger with chair shots after the match ended, then kneeled and bowed to the fallen Jushin Thunder Liger. Liger eventually got to his feet and said to Suzuki on the microphone, “Thank you.”
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Will Ospreay (c) defeated El Phantasmo El Phantasmo came out wearing non-Bullet Club gear with Taiji Ishimori in tow. Will Ospreay entered with his tag team partner, Robbie Eagles. Before the match began, El Phantasmo told Ishimori to leave, saying that he would handle this match by himself. The match began with ELP acting aggressively sportsmanlike, offering handshakes and not taking cheap shots when they were offered to him. After a matter of time, however, he dropped the act and raked Ospreay’s eyes. They fought into the crowd until they ended up on the platform above the entrance way, and ELP hit a monstrous dive on Ospreay. Ospreay hit the Oscutter and went for the pin, but Ishimori had returned to the ring and pulled the referee out of the ring. Ishimori tried to hit Ospreay with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but Robbie Eagles came in and apprehended him. Phantasmo hit a low blow on Ospreay and then hit him with the Championship, then hit a frog splash for a near fall, then a Styles Clash for another near fall. Ospreay turned the tide with a Spanish fly, an Essex destroyer, and the Hidden Blade. Finally, Will Ospreay hit the Stormbreaker and pinned El Phantasmo to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. (27:58)
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated Bullet Club (Jay White, KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi) The majority of the match revolved around KENTA, with him beating up YOSHI-HASHI and antagonizing Tomohiro Ishii, taunting him in the ring and provoking him when he wasn’t the legal man. Hirooki Goto hit the Ushigoroshi followed by the GTR on YOSHI-HASHI to win the match by pinfall (12:27). Ishii continued to assault KENTA after the match, while Jay White repeatedly yelled that Goto didn’t deserve to challenge him and that he was the best.
7th IWGP US Heavyweight Champion Determination Match (No Disqualification): Lance Archer defeated Juice Robinson Before the match began, Lance Archer took the microphone and proclaimed that this match should have no disqualifications, since the fans expected to see a no DQ match. Juice agreed to it, and it was made so. Before long, Archer sent Lance crashing through a ringside table, and removed all four turnbuckle pads from the ring. Lance battered Juice every which way, leaving him with a bleeding nose and a bent finger. Both men were sent crashing into tables. After a reverse crucifix powerbomb into a pile of chairs, Lance Archer pinned Juice Robinson with the EBD Claw to win the vacant IWGP US Heavyweight Championship. (14:58)
As Lance Archer celebrated, he was attacked by the returning David Finlay, who has been sidelined with a torn labrum since February.
Wrestle Kingdom 14 IWGP Heavyweight Championship Challenge Match: Kota Ibushi (c) defeated EVIL EVIL came into this match vexed that the reputation of the G1 winner’s right to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship had yet to change hands between the G1 and Wrestle Kingdom. EVIL pressed the advantage early, using his superior power to bully Ibushi, while Ibushi managed to keep him from maintaining the edge for too long with his quickness and strikes. Reeling from the Darkness Falls, Ibushi retaliated and hit an elevated powerbomb. Ibushi called for the Boma Ye, but a massive lariat from EVIL took him off his feet, with another lariat for good measure. EVIL went for his self-named hold, but Ibushi countered it. Ibushi attempted the Kamigoye, but EVIL reversed it. Ibushi finally hit the Kamigoye, but EVIL kicked out, so he pulled his knee pad down hit another, and pinned EVIL. (24:05) Kota Ibushi remains the named challenger for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 day 1.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated SANADA This match began with an explosive start, as Okada rushed SANADA with dropkicks right as the bell rang. SANADA was ready for him, though, leading Okada to change tactic and try to grind SANADA down with holds. Okada got him in position for a barricade-hung DDT, but SANADA countered it and hit a barricade-hung cutter. Having fought multiple times this year, both men seemed more prepared for each other’s moves than ever before, countering them in never before seen ways. Okada went for the Tombstone piledriver only for SANADA to counter it into his own, followed by the TKO. SANADA locked in the Skull End, but Okada managed to get out of it and hit a Rainmaker, and pinned him weakly for a near fall. Okada missed the rolling Rainmaker and SANADA caught him in a swinging Skull End. SANADA let go of it to hit two top rope moonsaults, but Okada blocked the second one with his knees. Okada blocked another attempt at the Skull End and hit a spinning Tombstone piledriver, and went for the Rainmaker, but SANADA blocked it with kicks. Finally, Okada hit the Rainmaker to pin SANADA and retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. (36:21) Okada shook SANADA’s hand after the match.
Following the match, Kota Ibushi entered with his contract for the Wrestle Kingdom 14 IWGP Heavyweight Championship match. Kazuchika Okada versus Kota Ibushi was confirmed for Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 1.
At New Japan Pro Wrestling’s recent Destruction in Kobe event, Jushin Liger would attack Minoru Suzuki and other members of Suzuki-Gun before the bell. The two veterans have been building a rivalry as of late and will face each other at King of Pro Wrestling on October 14th, 2019.
Liger unmasked to reveal his more monstrous side, Kishin Liger. This version of Liger is said to be the most dangerous, evident by his attempting to stab Suzuki with a large spike in Kobe.
NJPW1972.com posted an in-depth article today detailing Kishin Liger’s history in the promotion.
The name Kishin carries a connection to the gods and also of personal transformation.
“The name Kishin carries with it connections to deities, but also personal transformation. Its kanji ?? can be easily translated as ‘fierce god’, and can also be read as onigami (the god of the oni demons) or kijin. The word carries with it an idea of totality, a universal spirit of all creation both living and dead. It can also suggest the idea of extremely powerful latent ability, traits that Kishin Liger has clearly demonstrated,” NJPW1972.com’s article reads.
In 1996, NJPW returned to Kobe after a two year absence.
Kobe World Hall got a dream match as Jyushin Thunder Liger faced the Great Muta, but they couldn't imagine what would happen…
Kishin Liger has only appeared in NJPW four times, the first coming in 1996 at the hands of the Great Muta. Liger was unmasked by Muta, leading to the first appearance of Kishin Liger.
“The Great Muta was a wild violent force that Liger kept standing up to, but it was only when Muta tried to remove his mask that the superhuman Kishin appeared.”
It was against Muta that Liger learned to counter the poison mist with a toxic spew. Liger used a poison mist like substance in his attack against Suzuki-Gun in Kobe as well.
NJPW1972.com’s article goes in-depth on all four appearances by Kishin Liger in NJPW and what his reappearance likely means for his match against Minoru Suzuki at King of Pro Wrestling. The full article can be read here.
Jon Moxley’s next match for New Japan Pro Wrestling will take place on October 14th at King of Pro Wrestling. He’ll face Juice Robinson in a No DQ match for the IWGP United States title that night.
During a recent interview published on the New Japan website, Mox also expressed interest in working with Minoru Suzuki.
“I want to test my potential by fighting Minor Suzuki. I’d like to see what happens.”
Also during the interview, which is currently only available in Japanese, Moxley refers to the G1 as the hardest series of matches in his career. Moxley finished the tournament with a 5-4 record after having won his first 5 matches. His first loss in the tournament came via count-out to Toru Yano.
In his final match in the round-robin, Moxley lost to Juice Robinson who he had previoulsy defeated for the IWGP United States championship, setting up the rubber-match at King of Pro-Wrestling on October 14th.
Moxley is also scheduled to face Kenny Omega at AEW’s Full Gear PPV on November 9th in Baltimore.
Jon Moxley On Minoru Suzuki
During a previous interview with Moxley this summer for NJPW1972.com, Moxley commented on possibly facing Suzuki.
“I would love nothing more than to share a ring with him. He snaps my arm, cool, it was an honor. I snap his, and I’ve snapped the arm of the great Minoru Suzuki. So either way it’s a good result for me and the fans. That idea, it’s just two dudes who… I feel I understand him.”
He continued, The pleasure he gets out of inflicting pain, and the pleasure he gets out of being in wars. I saw him at WrestleMania weekend live and in person at an independent show. It was a wild 20 minute brawl with sweat flying everywhere and I loved it. I’m a big fan of his.”
NJPW’s first ever non-co-promoted event in the United Kingdom takes place today at the Copper Box Arena in London: it’s Royal Quest!
This event cannot be watched live on NJPW World. Rather, it is streaming live exclusively on Fite TV for $24.99 USD. English and Japanese commentary streams are available. Start times: 9:30AM Pacific, 12:30PM Eastern, 5:30PM UK, 2:30AM East Australia
Royal Quest Match Card
Roppongi 3K (SHO, YOH & Rocky Romero) defeatedRyusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino & Ren Narita The crowd was hot for everyone in this opener, especially Shota Umino, who received repeated “Shooter!” chants. Unfortunately, preduction issues caused this match to lack commentary in either language as well as cut out intermittently. SHO pinned Ren Narita after a powerbomb lungblower.
Kota Ibushi & Juice Robinson defeated Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi & Hikuleo) Hikuleo is currently undergoing something of a learning excursion in England and looks faster than he did when he was in Japan. Kota Ibushi pinned Hikuleo after a Boma Ye followed by the Kamigoye.
CHAOS (Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles) defeated Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) Will Ospreay pinned Taiji Ishimori after a double-team top rope Spanish fly with Robbie Eagles. Ospreay got on the microphone, dubbed himself and Eagles as “The Birds of Prey” and said they want to challenge for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & SANADA) defeated Bullet Club (Jay White & Chase Owens) Jay White got the loudest boos of the night so far, while Naito got arguably the loudest cheers. SANADA submitted Chase Owens with the Skull End. After the match, Jay White continued attacking LIJ and was given a chair by Gedo. White hit SANADA with the chair, but Naito evaded it and hit White with a Destino, then tapping his own three-count on the mat.
IWGP Tag Team Championship Match: Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (c) defeated Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) There were dueling G.o.D. and Aussie Open chants which lasted for multiple minutes long, rather impressive for a match that no build besides Aussie Open winning a number one contenders tournament. Tama Tonga pinned Kyle Fletcher after a top rope powerbomb from Tanga Loa. Guerrillas of Destiny make their fifth consecutive defense of the IWGP Tag Team Championships. Their reign is currently 189 days long.
NEVER Openweight Championship Match: KENTA defeatedTomohiro Ishii (c) KENTA was roundly booed by the audience due to his new association with Bullet Club. Starting off, KENTA was reluctant to face Ishii head-on, stalling on the outside for a prolonged period. When KENTA mimicked Katsuyori Shibata’s running front kick followed by the corner dropkick, he was booed once again. Ishii took everything KENTA had and asked for more. KENTA went for the diving double foot stomp followed by the Go 2 Sleep but Ishii powered out. Then, Ishii attempted the vertical brainbuster but KENTA stuffed it. The Guerrillas of Destiny interfered in the match but Ishii fought them both off, only for them to pull the referee out when Ishii went for a pin. G.o.D. hit Ishii with the Magic Killer, but couldn’t finish Ishii off. KENTA pinned Ishii with the Go 2 Sleep and became the 27th NEVER Openweight Champion. Tomohiro Ishii’s reign lasted 89 days with 0 successful defenses.
British Heavyweight Championship Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi defeatedZack Sabre Jr. (c) Despite Zack having the home field advantage, the crowd response seemed fairly evenly split for him and Tanahashi. This was a ground-based fight with submissions and pin attempts as each of them worked to immobilize the other with joint attacks. In particular, Zack targeted Tanahashi’s arms, but he was still able to block multiple attempts at the Zack Driver. Tanahashi went for the High Fly Flow but Sabre got the knees up. Following a bridging dragon suplex and sling blade, Tanahashi went for the High Fly Flow once more. Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Zack Sabre Jr. and became the 22nd RevPro British Heavyweight Champion. Zack Sabre Jr.’s reign lasted 235 days.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Minoru Suzuki Okada and Suzuki were both wildly over before the bell rang. The match began with wrestling on the mat, then transitioned into standing up fighting as Suzuki lost his patience. Suzuki took a steel chair from under the ring but the referee told him not to, and Suzuki threatened to hit him with the chair. Suzuki laughed at Okada’s strikes and began to dominate the match, working over Okada’s right arm. Okada put his hands behind his back and beckoned Suzuki to hit him, but forearms to the face sent Okada crashing down. Suzuki headbutted Okada multiple times and looked to follow up but Okada stopped him with a dropkick and then put him in a sleeper hold, which the crowd didn’t like. Okada hit the Rainmaker followed by another, but Suzuki stopped his rampage with many slaps to the face and body. Suzuki went for the Gotch-style piledriver, but Okada struggled out of it. Kazuchika Okada hit the Rainmaker once again and defeated Minoru Suzuki by pinfall. Okada makes his third defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
After the match, Okada cut a promo that was partially in English, thanking Suzuki and the fans. SANADA came out and made it clear that he would be next to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and said he would be the Champion by the time he returned to London.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling has announced the card for their event in London, England on August 31, 2019, titled Royal Quest. This is the first time NJPW has run a non-co-promoted event in the United Kingdom. It will take place at the Copper Box Arena, which has seating for up to 7,500 spectators.
Although this event is only under NJPW branding, Revolution Pro-Wrestling is currently hosting a tag team tournament to determine challengers for the IWGP Tag Team Championships at Royal Quest. The winners are yet to be determined.
The card for Royal Quest is as follows, in descending order: