Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the seventh 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 four quarterfinal 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 7 Results
Quarterfinal Match: Hiromu Takahashi def. Tomohiro Ishii (19:29) Hiromu charged Ishii immediately, but his recklessness resulted in him making one of the worst possible decisions: challenging Ishii to a chop battle. Ishii decisively won said battle and started Hiromu off on the back foot, showing Hiromu he’d need to be more tactical to win. The more you watch these two together, you realize that they’re not that different in size for supposedly being in two different weight classes. Hiromu went to repeatedly applying an armbar known as D to Ishii’s right arm, but was unable to disable Ishii’s lariats. Ishii went for the brainbuster, but Hiromu reversed it and lifted Ishii for the Dynamite Plunger and a near fall. Hiromu went for the Time Bomb but Ishii stuffed it, only for Hiromu to floor him with a loud headbutt. Hiromu hit the Time Bomb but Ishii kicked out of it at two, being the only second person after Will Ospreay to kick out of it. Ishii briefly fired back up, only for Hiromu to drop him on his head with the Time Bomb II. Hiromu Takahashi advances to the semifinals.
Quarterfinal Match: EVIL def. YOSHI-HASHI (2:00) YOSHI-HASHI was limping to the ring during his entrance, clearly feeling the effects of hyperextending it during his match with BUSHI yesterday. At the bell, EVIL pushed the referee out of the ring and immediately laid into YOSHI-HASHI’s right leg with a steel chair. From there, EVIL put YOSHI-HASHI in the Darkness Scorpion (sharpshooter) for a solid minute. He kept fighting and didn’t tap out, but the referee saw there was no way out for him and called the match: EVIL won by referee stoppage. EVIL advances to the semifinals.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) def.SHO, Hirooki Goto & Yuya Uemura (9:34) BUSHI entered holding EVIL’s NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship in addition to his own, so every member of LIJ in this match were holding two belts, and it made for a cool visual. No one in this match is in the New Japan Cup running anymore, so there’s no future matches to speak of, but it was well-worked and everyone looked good, especially Yuya Uemura, SHO, and Shingo. BUSHI pinned Yuya Uemura with a spin-out codebreaker. Afterwards, SHO squared up to Shingo Takagi yet again and Shingo held up both his NEVER Openweight and NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team championships at SHO, as if asking him which one he wanted.
Quarterfinal Match: Kazuchika Okada def. Taiji Ishimori (16:52) Okada entered through the stairs opposite the entrance stage, where the orange seats are, and gestured towards a crowd that wasn’t there. Okada took control of the match early on, but within the first five minutes Gedo was out and hit Okada with a spanner while Ishimori distracted the referee. The match evened out from then on, and Ishii was able to get a momentary Yes Lock on before Okada made it to the ropes to break the hold. Okada hit the reverse neckbreaker and went for the top rope elbow drop, but Gedo lurked in the corner and got Okada’s attention, allowing Ishimori to push Okada off the apron and hit a triangle moonsault. Ishimori hit a beautiful La Mistica into the Yes Lock (yes, that Yes Lock) but Okada was able to get his foot on the bottom rope yet again. Okada hit a standing dropkick and the tombstone piledriver, but Gedo got on the top rope and Okada broke the hold to go after him, but reapplied it. He went to flip Ishimori over to get him further away from the ropes, but as he did so, Ishimori pulled the referee’s shirt, flipping his over as well. Gedo came in with a pair of brass knuckles as the referee was down, but Okada dropkicked him to avoid the attack. Finally, Okada hit another dropkick on Ishimori and put him in the cobra clutch for the submission victory. Kazuchika Okada advances to face Hiromu Takahashi in the semifinals.
Quarterfinal Match: SANADA def. Taichi (22:50) The match began with Taichi attempting to be underhanded as usual, trying to choke SANADA with the ropes and tying him up in the ropes to immobilize him, only for it to backfire when SANADA put him in an upside down Paradise Lock while hung up in the ropes. Taichi often has these moments in matches where he realizes that fighting fairly might actually be more effective than cheating, despite it being outside his nature, and this was one of those moments. As Taichi went back to his tried-and-true kicks and backdrop drivers, he began to gain advantage, and went for the Black Mephisto but SANADA blocked it. SANADA hit a corner moonsault into the Skull End but Yoshinobu Kanemaru, who was on commentary, jumped onto the apron. He didn’t do anything, but the referee who was focused on removing him didn’t notice Taichi tapping out in the Skull End. SANADA broke the hold but Taichi hit a backdrop driver on him and his own Skull End, which lasted a good while before SANADA was able to put his foot on the rope to break it. Taichi followed up with a bridging backdrop driver, an homage to Jumbo Tsuruta, but SANADA kicked out at two. Kanemaru tried to distract SANADA again, but SANADA was too smart this time. He pushed Taichi into Kanemaru and pinned him with a bridging O’Connor roll. SANADA advances to face EVIL in the semifinals.
Scheduled for tomorrow, the two semifinal matches are SANADA vs. EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada. Two other matches will also take place.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the sixth 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 eight matches in the second 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 6 Results
Second Round Match: YOSHI-HASHI def. BUSHI (10:22) BUSHI entered wearing a mask with a glowing red eye and a suit with a skeleton design over it, which clearly means he wants a match with Jado. BUSHI attacked YOSHI-HASHI as he posed in the corner before the bell, and it was amusing watching them fight while the latter was still in his green entrance robe. BUSHI targeted YOSHI-HASHI’s right leg, and before long he was moving much slower than usual. However, as BUSHI went for the M-X, YOSHI-HASHI simply lariated him out of the air. YOSHI-HASHI applied the Butterfly Lock, but BUSHI made it to the ropes to force a break. YOSHI-HASHi was able to follow up with the Karma sitout driver for the three-count. YOSHI-HASHI advances to the quarterfinals.
Second Round Match: SHO vs. SANADA (14:43) After vanquishing Shingo Takagi, SHO looked to follow up against another member of Los Ingobernables de Japon. This turned out to be a battle of a heavyweight’s technique versus a junior heavyweight’s power, which is unusual. SANADA often found his more finesse-based moves thwarted by SHO’s sheer strength, as SHO also tried to wear down SANADA’s arm to disable to the Skull End. As SANADA went for a leapfrog, SHO caught him and landed a German suplex into an arm bar, but SANADA was able to lift him into a powerbomb to end the hold. SHO came off the ropes and SANADA went for a rana, but again SHO caught him and lifted him into the Powerbreaker for a near fall. SHO went for the Shock Arrow, but SANADA blocked it and was able to wrestle him to the corner, then moonsault into the Skull End for the submission victory. Still, SHO looked great in defeat. SANADA advances to the quarterfinals.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi) def. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Yota Tsuji As a result of defeating Toru Yano in the second round, Hiromu Takahashi seemed to have gotten over his primal fear of Yano. Nevertheless, Yano brandished in a plastic bag the lock of hair he managed to cut off during their match. Perhaps he viewed it as a symbolic victory. In this match, the main themes were Yota Tsuji getting mercilessly beaten up by everyone, especially Shingo Takagi, and Hiromu facing off against his New Japan Cup quarterfinals opponent tomorrow, Tomohiro Ishii. Tsuji attempted some convoluted submission on Hiromu, like a cross-legged crossface with the opponent held over his knee. In the end, Hiromu Takahashi submitted Yota Tsuji with a Boston crab. After the match, Hiromu got right in Ishii’s face and Ishii grabbed him by the hair, but unlike when Yano did it, it didn’t seem to bother Hiromu at all.
Second Round Match: Taichi def. Kota Ibushi (18:08) In Ibushi and Taichi’s respective corners were Hiroshi Tanahashi and Zack Sabre Jr., who spent as much of the match fighting each other as Ibushi and Taichi did. Ibushi started the match on the back foot, as Taichi took him outside the ring and smashed his face into folded up bleachers, leading Ibushi to nearly get counted out. In the ring, Ibushi and Taichi engaged in a battle of leg kicks, which seemed mostly evenly matched.Taichi landed a high-angle backdrop driver on Ibushi and went for the Taichi-style Last Ride, but a violent head kick sent him falling to the mat, and Ibushi followed up with the sitout elevated powerbomb. Zack Sabre Jr. briefly distracted the referee, giving the opportunity for Taichi to hit a low blow on Ibushi and pin him, but Ibushi kicked out at two. Ibushi landed a jumping knee and went for the Kamigoye, but Taichi avoided it and hit another backdrop driver. As Ibushi went for the Kamigoye yet again, Taichi pushed him into the referee, and Zack came in and attacked Ibushi, only for Tanahashi to fight him off. With the referee still down, Taichi hit Ibushi with the Iron Finger from Hell and the Black Mephisto for the pinfall victory. Taichi advances to face SANADA in the quarterfinals.
Second Round Match: EVIL def. Hirooki Goto (18:25) EVIL entered first and waited outside the ring for Goto, so the brawling commenced before they even got in the ring. EVIL took advantage early, perhaps partly due to a stray chair shot, and arrogantly brushed his boot in Goto’s face as if it was completely earned. Incensed, Goto fired up and delivered a belly-to-back suplex followed by the Ushigoroshi. As they struggled for a suplex, Goto spun EVIL around and hit the reverse GTR, but didn’t go for a pin. He was determined to continue punishing EVIL for his disrespect, but paid for it when he went for a headbutt and got hit with a heavy elbow to the face. EVIL hit the Darkness Falls for a near fall and went for the EVIL, but Goto reversed out of it and hit a headbutt and the GTW, but EVIL kicked out at two. EVIL hit a stomp to the groin and then hit the EVIL for the three count. EVIL advances to face YOSHI-HASHI in the quarterfinals.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the fourth 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 4 Results
New Japan Cup First Round Match: BUSHI def. YOH (15:42) YOH entered to new music that I’ve never heard before. In singles matches in the past, he always entered to the Roppongi 3K music. YOH and BUSHI have a lot of experience against each other, but in the past it has been almost exclusively tag team affairs for the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. BUSHI took control at the start softening up YOH’s neck for the M-X, but YOH fought back soon enough with flying forearms and a figure four leglock that BUSHI got out of with a rope break. BUSHI tried to scramble to the ropes for the M-X, but YOH got out of the way and laid in consecutive German suplexes. YOH kept going for a dragon suplex, but BUSHI stuffed his attempts. BUSHI rocked YOH with a codebreaker and then hit the M-X for the victory. Both sets of Tag Team Champions had one member lose and one advance in the first round.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: YOSHI-HASHI def. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (17:35) YOSHI-HASHI brought an uncharacteristic aggression as he took the fight to Tenzan, reddening the Raging’s Bull’s chest with a flurry of chops. He delivered a headbutt only to recoil in pain while Tenzan seemed unharmed. YOSHI-HASHI seemed determined to put the 49-year-old out of his misery, but Tenzan showed the spirit was still within him, running up to the top rope to attempt a super Mountain bomb. YOSHI-HASHI blocked it and sunset flipped over Tenzan to land a sitout powerbomb. Tenzan wrenched YOSHI-HASHI into an STF and broke the hold to go for the top rope moonsault, and he did pull it off but YOSHI-HASHI moved out of the way. YOSHI-HASHI capitalized and put on the Butterfly Lock but Tenzan made it to the ropes. Tenzan applied his patented Anaconda Vice, but YOSHI-HASHI rolled over him and got his shoulders down for a near fall, then tapped out Tenzan with the Butterfly Lock. He will advance to to face BUSHI in the second round.
CHAOS (SHO, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & SANADA) ended in a Double Countout Hiromu Takahashi made his entrance first and looked positively traumatized by the sight of Toru Yano. As a young lion, Hiromu’s head was involuntarily shaved by Yano and they just so happen to be facing each other in the second round. Hiromu demanded that the referee check Yano for foreign objects, and Yano was indeed smuggling a spray bottle of water and a hair trimmer in his tights. As SHO engaged Shingo in battles of heavy strikes and power moves, and tried to overwhelm SANADA’s finesse with brute force, Yano continued to stalk Hiromu with his clippers. When Yano and Hiromu were both legal, Yano chased Hiromu into the lobby and duct-taped his legs together. Okada followed Yano to remind him to get back in the ring on time, but it was too late, and both legal men were counted out.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Hirooki Goto def. Yujiro Takahashi (16:40) With Pieter unavailable, Yujiro’s only valet was Jado. Yujiro knew that he would be outmatched in a straightforward fight so he stalled outside the ring until Goto lost his patience and was lured into a trap on the outside, in which Yujiro evaded Goto’s attack while Jado irish whipped Goto into the barricade. Yujiro continued to control the match, not being rocked by Goto’s lariats and getting him to the top rope for a super fisherman’s suplex. Goto used a moment of opportunity to land the Ushigoroshi, and when Yujiro tried to fight back, Goto leveled him with a cracking forearm to the face. Goto then landed a gnarly rope-hung reverse GTR, but couldn’t follow up when Jado hit him with a kendo stick as he ran the ropes. Opportunistically, Yujiro used this moment to land the Miami Shine, but Goto blocked his attempt at the Pimp Juice DDT. Jado distracted the referee leading to Yujiro attempting to hit Goto with his pimp cane. However, Goto saw it coming and avoided the attack, and then irish-whipped Yujiro into Jado to take Jado out. Finally, Goto hit the GTW only for Yujiro to kick out at two, and then hit the GTR to advance to the second round.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: EVIL def. Satoshi Kojima (20:08) EVIL had a game plan from the moment the bell rang: take out Kojima’s right arm, the arm that his delivered so many match-ending lariats. Between arm-wringers and bashing Kojima’s arm with a steel chair, EVIL dominated the early going of the match. A DDT from Kojima brought the match on even footing, and Kojima’s continued use of chops and elbows showed that EVIL hadn’t done enough to take out his dominant arm. Kojima hit the Koji Cutter, then lifted EVIL to the top rope for a super Koji Cutter, but EVIL was not down yet. EVIL buffeted Kojima with repeated lariats, bringing Kojima to his knee, and EVIL finally took him down with yet another running lariat. EVIL hit the Darkness Falls for a near fall. EVIL went to follow up, but Kojima responded with a left arm lariat to get EVIL down for a count of two, exposing the flaw of EVIL’s strategy. As EVIL hit the ropes, Kojima hit the lariat with his right arm, but was in too much pain to go for the pin immediately, and EVIL kicked out at two. Kojima kept going to the well with the lariat, but EVIL kept blocking them and caught Kojima with the EVIL STO for the pinfall victory. EVIL will face Hirooki Goto in the second round.
All eight second round matches have been determined. They are as follows:
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 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 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.
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.
Day 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 14 took place on January 4th, and it made for a very eventful evening. Full results of the show can be read here and a shorter synopsis with key takeaways can be read here. Three matches from Day 1 pertained to the card of Day 2. An IWGP US Heavyweight Championship match has been scheduled for Day 2 in which Juice Robinson would challenge the winner between the title bout between Jon Moxley and Lance Archer, which ended up with Moxley the victory. Also, the “Double Gold Dash” will come to a head, as Kazuchika Okada and Tetsuya Naito left Wrestle Kingdom 14 as the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champions respectively, and will face off in the main event of Day 2. Their respective opponents, Kota Ibushi and Jay White, will also compete in a singles match.
Pre-show start times are the following. The main show starts one hour after the listed time.
(Pre Show) NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship Gauntlet Match: Los Ingobernables de Japon Win Teams: – Champions: Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Ryusuke Taguchi – CHAOS: Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Robbie Eagles – Los Ingobernables de Japon: Shingo Takagi, EVIL & BUSHI – Suzuki-gun: Taichi, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru – Bullet Club: Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
The match began with the Bullet Club and CHAOS teams. CHAOS eliminated Bullet Club when Tomohiro Ishii hit a vertical drop brainbuster on Chase Owens. The Suzuki-gun trio entered second, but also fell to the CHAOS team as Eagles hit a small package hold on Kanemaru. With two teams dispatched, CHAOS finally fell to Los Ingobernables de Japon, the third trio to enter, after EVIL hit Tomohiro Ishii with the Darkness Falls. With LIJ the last of the challenger teams standing, the champions Makabe, Yano, and Taguchi entered to determine the ultimate winner. There was a close call in which Taguchi hit Shingo Takagi with the Dodon, which he used to finish off Jushin Thunder Liger yesterday, but Takagi kicked out. BUSHI sprayed black mist in Taguchi’s face and Shingo hit him with Made in Japan and got the pinfall victory to win the match. Los Ingobernables de Japon won the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships, putting another piece in place for every member of LIJ leaving Wrestle Kingdom 14 as champions.
Jushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match II:Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee def.Jushin Thunder Liger & Naoki Sano (with Yoshiaki Fujiwara) Ryu Lee entered using his new, non-CMLL namesake for the first time, donning the ROH Television Championship and a mask with Liger’s horns. He held the rope open for Hiromu Takahashi, who was wearing half-Liger styled tights, as he made his entrance. The crowd was ablaze as Jushin Thunder Liger walked down the ramp for his final match. Hiromu tagged to Lee, but they double-teamed Liger as the crowed booed. Liger rallied with tilt-a-whirl backbreakers and was able to tag in Naoki Sano, who briefly rallied with surprising agility. The match went back to Liger and Hiromu, and Liger showed great fire against his junior heavyweight successor. Crowds came unglued for his comebacks and were thrilled with his kickouts. They did not want the illustrious career of Jushin Thunder Liger to end. But it did end, when Hiromu Takahashi hit the Time Bomb on Liger to pin the junior heavyweight legend in his final match. Liger briefly spoke on the microphone to the Tokyo Dome audience, his music played, and an era of pro-wrestling ended. Jushin Thunder Liger’s retirement ceremony takes place tomorrow at New Year Dash. (12:16)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) def.Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) (c) Roppongi 3K rushed Bullet Club before the bell rang, presumably as payback for stealing their Super Junior Tag League trophies. Soon, the Bullet Club turned the tables with underhanded offense. In one of the most magnificent displays of ostentation, El Phantasmo hit a springboard backflip into a back rake. Theoretically, this match should have struggled to hook the crowd following Liger’s heartfelt retirement, but the crowds were solidly behind Roppongi 3K. Bullet Club attempted to do Roppongi 3K’s self-titled finish, but SHO countered it and the three-time Super Junior Tag League winners were able to take control. Phantasmo tried to get in a belt attack and a groin attack, but they were both foiled. Roppongi 3K hit a combination Shock Arrow and diving double foot stomp, to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. (14:08)
Revolution Pro Wrestling British Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) def. SANADA As is the theme of matches between Zack Sabre Jr. and SANADA, this was a match that was highly ground-based and full of counters, and counters of counters. Zack and SANADA traded control in holds and on the ground, with Zack becoming increasingly frustrated as he realized that SANADA did not succumb to his skill as easily as most others. He had promised to defeat SANADA by submission in the Tokyo Dome. SANADA took the match to stand-up and Zack couldn’t match him in that regard. Nevertheless, Zack deftly caught SANADA with a Japanese leg roll clutch to retain the British Heavyweight Championship. (12:32)
IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) def. Juice Robinson Despite his rather comedic facial hair and entrance outfit, Juice rushed Moxley as he made his entrance with the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship that he had won less than 24 hours prior. Moxley was arguably at a disadvantage considering the danger of the Texas Deathmatch with Lance Archer that he went through yesterday, but he soon was dominating Juice with strikes. Juice had won a match against Moxley on one of the final days of the G1 Climax, but he looked worse for wear at first. He urged Juice to hit him harder, and then put him out of his misery. Jon Moxley hit the Death Rider to retain the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship. (12:48)
Then, Minoru Suzuki’s music started playing. He entered in his ring gear and gave Jon Moxley a Gotch-style piledriver. He held the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship above a fallen Moxley and left the ring.
NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Hirooki Goto def.KENTA (c) After an initial burst from Goto, KENTA kept throwing him out of the ring, eliciting heavy boos from the Dome audience. He pompously rubbed his boots in Goto’s face and kicked him while he was down, until Goto lost his patience and floored him with a single forearm. Goto was tired of KENTA’s constant belittling, calling him cute and not taking him seriously. KENTA briefly countered with kicks but Goto continued his momentum with the Ushigoroshi. A corner dropkick and a penalty kick, followed by a shotgun dropkick held Goto down for a near fall. KENTA went for the Go 2 Sleep but Goto caught his leg and headbutted him to the ground. KENTA had a second wind of furious strikes, but Goto powered through them all and delivered the GTR to win the NEVER Openweight Championship. (16:12)
Singles Match: Jay White def. Kota Ibushi This match involved the two losers of the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championship matches from Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 1. Ibushi looked understandably disappointed as he entered, while Jay White seemed unfazed by his loss. White started the match in the lead, working over Ibushi while proclaiming that his people didn’t care about him anymore. Ibushi was not interested in being slowly worn down, and responded in his usual ferocious manner. He struck Jay down as if he were insignificant, and a wobbly White struggled to land a hit on him. White hit a fast Complete Shot and German suplex to give himself a moment of reprieve. He landed a Kiwi Crusher for a near fall as Gedo barked orders at him. White went for the Blade Runner but Ibushi blocked it with a high kick, and Gedo came in with a chair after the referee had been hit. He hit Ibushi on the back with it, but Ibushi turned around, unfazed, and felled Gedo with a slap to the chest. Ibushi hit an elevated sitout powerbomb on White, but the referee was still down. He left the ring to pull the referee back in, and hit a Kamigoye, but Gedo pulled the referee out of the ring. Gedo came in once again, and Ibushi caught him, but White used the moment to hit Ibushi with a chair, then hit the Blade Runner for the victory. (24:58)
Singles Match: Chris Jericho def. Hiroshi Tanahashi The video package for this match showed Tanahashi making a comedic parody of the video package that played when Chris Jericho challenged him in November, wearing Juggalo face paint and pretending to sing. Chris Jericho entered wearing the AEW World Championship, after claiming that Tanahashi would be granted an opportunity to challenge for it if he defeated him at Wrestle Kingdom, which was also shown in the video package. The most interesting part of the early stages of this match was Jericho attempting to flex his muscles at Tanahashi, which seemed to amuse him. Jericho used all sorts of unconventional tactics in this match, such as DDTing Tanahashi through an announce table and flogging him with his belt. Not the championship, the belt of his pants. Jericho went for a Lionsault but Tanahashi pushed him off the ropes, and then did a High Fly Flow onto him on the outside. Jericho tried to retaliate with the Codebreaker, but Tanahashi caught him and punished him with repeated dragon screws. Tanahashi went for a High Fly Flow in the ring, but Jericho blocked it with his knees, and then hit a Lionsault for a near fall. Tanahashi blocked the Judas Effect, but Jericho got him in the Walls of Jericho. He was in it for what seemed like forever, but broke the hold and hit a Sling Blade. Tanahashi went for the High Fly Flow yet again, but Jericho stood up in time and hit the Codebreaker in mid-air. Tanahashi blocked the Judas Effect again and hit a Codebreaker of his own for a near fall. Jericho rolled through another High Fly Flow attempt and reapplied the Walls as the crowd went into a frenzy. Jericho arched into the Liontamer and Tanahashi had nowhere to go. Chris Jericho defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi by submission. (22:24)
IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Double Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito def. Kazuchika Okada Before the two men even touched, the crowd was absolutely ballistic for this match once the bell rang. This was the match to decide the first ever Heavyweight and Intercontinental double champion, and a one-on-one encounter that had not been seen in two years. As the match began, Okada took advantage early, controlling the pacing and working over Naito’s neck. Naito briefly took control with his own neck attacks, but Okada’s big boot put him flat on his back. Okada hit the reverse neckbreaker, diving elbow drop, and then called for the Rainmaker with unexpected urgency. This Okada was not the same Okada who was toying with Kota Ibushi yesterday. Naito dodged the Rainmaker easily, but Okada compensated with attacking Naito’s damaged knees, including dropping him knee-first on a commentator’s table. Naito barely made it back to the ring before the 20-count and Okada leveled him with a missile dropkick as he made it back. Naito desperately turned the tables with his rope-assisted tornado DDT, followed by the Gloria. Okada blocked the Destino attempt, only for Naito to avoid the Rainmaker. Naito hit a running Destino for a near fall as the crowd erupted. He attempted another, but Okada blocked it and hit his signature dropkick. Naito blocked the Rainmaker with a slap to the face, only for Okada to follow up with a discus lariat. Okada hit a Tombstone piledriver and the Rainmaker, but Naito kicked out. Okada rallied the crowd as he picked Naito up for another tombstone, but Naito struggled out. Okada smashed Naito’s knee against the mat and was roundly booed for it. Okada hit a Rainmaker and held onto Naito’s wrist, then hit another. Naito countered a third rainmaker and hit a Destino for a near fall. Naito body slammed Okada in the corner and hit the Stardust Press for yet another near fall as the ring announcer called that 35 minutes had passed. Naito hit the Valentia and Destino to become the first ever simultaneous IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Champion. (35:37)
As Naito was about to complete the roll call of Los Ingobernables de Japon at Wrestle Kingdom, KENTA came out of nowhere and attacked him. He sat on Naito’s chest holding the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships, then left. BUSHI came out to help Naito up, and carried him to the dugout with the roll call left incomplete.
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.
Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 18. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continues today and will run until Day 19 on August 12.
Twenty wrestlers, divided into two blocks of ten, compete against every other member of their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.
Jon Moxley, Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito, and Jay White are all still in the running to win the B Block. Who will be the man to come on top in the B Block and face Kota Ibushi in the 29th G1 Climax final?
Watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese.
Day 18 Undercard
Shota Umino & Ren Narita defeated Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura Ren Narita submitted Yuya Uemura with a Boston crab at 7:34. Uemura was locked in for a long time and frantically struggling to escape, with the crowd vocally cheering him on.
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) SANADA was wildly over in this match. Yujiro Takahashi pinned BUSHI at 7:54 after the Pimp Juice DDT.
Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare defeated KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks Toa Henare pinned Karl Fredericks with the Toa Bottom (uranage) at 8:22.
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated Suzukigun (Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Zack Sabre Jr. with a flash lateral press at 10:35. As ZSJ threw a tantrum ringside, Tanahashi made a one-two-three gesture with his fingers.
Day 18 G1 Matches
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jeff Cobb defeated Toru Yano The referee found that Yano was smuggling nearly half a dozen rolls of athletic tape in his trunks. After he baited Cobb into a handshake, he trapped Cobb’s hands inside his singlet and rolled him up, but Cobb kicked out. Running out of options, Yano hit Cobb with an impressive belly-to-belly suplex. Jeff Cobb blocked Yano’s mule kick and hit a superkick, followed by the Tour of the Islands to defeat Toru Yano at 5:16. Final scores: Cobb 8 points, Yano 8 points
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Taichi defeated Tomohiro Ishii Taichi was unexpectedly ferocious at the start, immediately hitting several backdrop drivers on Ishii. There was no shtick with him, only the strikes and throws everyone knows he can do when he’s not being a coward. After removing his pants, Taichi went for a Black Mephisto, but Ishii reversed it and floored him with a headbutt. Ishii went for the brainbuster twice but Taichi countered it both times. Taichi pinned Tomohiro Ishii with the Black Mephisto at 11:56. Final scores: 8 points Taichi, 8 points Ishii
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Juice Robinson defeated Jon Moxley Shota Umino came out with Jon Moxley wearing a leather jacket and posing alongside him. The match began with a fistfight before Moxley began to attack Juice’s knee, which had been significantly damaged by Jay White several days ago. Juice bit Moxley on the ear, causing his earring to come out, which Juice threw into the crowd. They traded punches as the crowd yelled “Juice! Mox!” depending on who hit one. Moxley put Juice in a long chinlock and the referee was about to call for the bell before Juice pulled on his leg to stop him. Angered by the referee’s refusal to make the decision, Moxley began throwing weapons in the ring. Losing his cool gave Juice the opportunity to fire back with punches followed by the Pulp Friction to pin Jon Moxley at 16:26 and end his hopes for the G1 Final. Final scores: 8 points Juice, 10 points Moxley
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Shingo Takagi defeated Hirooki Goto Coming off his victory against Tomohiro Ishii, Shingo Takagi expressed arrogance in the early going, but Goto was able to more than match him with regards to power. Goto wore Shingo with tight-looking sleeper holds, but Shingo broke it with a reverse noshigami, then followed up with a sliding lariat and a regular noshigami. This turned into a battle of lariats, then Goto reversed the ushigoroshi into the Made in Japan, but Goto kicked out at 2. Goto hit the reverse GTR, but Shingo floored him with a pumping bomber, followed by another. Shingo Takagi pinned Hirooki Goto with the Last of the Dragon at 15:10, and knocked him out of G1 final contention. Final scores: Shingo 8 points, Goto 10 points
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jay White defeated Tetsuya Naito Jay White stalled outside the ring to begin this match, but when he was finally ready to fight, Naito returned the favor, angering Jay. White dominated the match at first, and the crowd booed him all the while. Later on, Gedo tried to interefere, but Naito caught him and low blowed him, then kicked him out of the ring, then intercepted Jay’s attempted sneak attack. Naito reversed the Blade Runner attempt and hit the running Destino for a two-count, but White reversed the following Destino and hit a sleeper suplex. After a long series of counters, White hit another sleeper suplex, then a Bloody Sunday. Jay White pinned Tetsuya Naito with the Blade Runner at 18:51. Final scores: Jay White 12 points, Tetsuya Naito 10 points
Jay White called out Kota Ibushi, who came to the ring. Jay White said the match would be one-on-one, with no Gedo. They shook hands, but White nearly kicked him. As Ibushi left the ring, Gedo held his leg and White attacked him and hit his leg over and over with a chair.
Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 16 New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continues today and will run until Day 19 on August 12.
Twenty wrestlers, divided into two blocks of ten, compete against every other member of their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.
Watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese.
Day 16 Undercard
Shota Umino & Ren Narita defeated Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura This was a match featuring all young lions. Shota umino pinned Yota Tsuji with a bridging Fisherman’s suplex at 5:39.
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI) Chase Owens attempted to put a Paradise Lock on SANADA, but even with the verbal instructions of Milano Collection A.T., he was unable to figure it out. Chase Owens pinned BUSHI after a package piledriver at 7:50.
Suzukigun (Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki) defeatedKENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks Minoru Suzuki pinned Clark Connors after a Gotch-style piledriver at 7:17. After the match, Zack Sabre Jr. condescendingly kicked KENTA out of the ring and said that now he was KENTA’s senpai (superior).
Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Kota Ibushi, Will Ospreay & Toa Henare YOSHI-HASHI pinned Toa Henare with the Kumagoroshi (Fisherman’s brainbuster) at 7:20. Okada and Ibushi stared each other down after the match. Then, Okada stood with his back to Ibushi while holding up the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
Scheduled G1 Climax matches for Day 17 (August 10 – A Block):
EVIL vs. Lance Archer
SANADA vs. Bad Luck Fale
KENTA vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Will Ospreay
Kota Ibushi vs. Kazuchika Okada (The result of this match determines the finalist: a win for either person sends them to the Final; a draw sends Kazuchika Okada to the final)
Day 16 G1 Matches
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Toru Yano defeated Taichi Taichi started the match by being uncooperative and generally unwilling to face Yano head on. Toru Yano simply tried to leave to the backstage area in frustration, but Yoshinobu Kanemaru came out and brought him back to the ring. Taichi rolled up Yano using the ring apron, which nearly won Taichi the match via countout. On the outside, Kanemaru tried to spit whiskey in Yano’s face, but Yano ducked and it hit Taichi instead. Yano then hit low blows on both of them and rolled them up together in the ring apron. Miho Abe tried to free them, but it was too late. Toru Yano defeated Taichi by countout at 5:04. Yano 8 points, Taichi 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Tetsuya Naito defeatedJeff Cobb Naito made fun of Cobb’s great bulk by posing like a sumo wrestler. Cobb started off using his power to beat down Naito and shrug off his offense, but Naito countered with attacks to the leg. Visibly slowed, Cobb continued to use his power moves whenever possible. Cobb managed to reverse the running Destino into an F5. Then, Cobb went for the Tour of the Islands but Naito countered it into a reverse DDT. Tetsuya Naito pinned Jeff Cobb after a Destino at 12:47. Naito 10 points, Cobb 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Hirooki Goto defeated Jon Moxley Moxley was visibly angry as he made his entrance, with his early lead on the competition evaporating before his eyes. He and Goto fought in a contest filled with forearms and lariats, in which they seemed evenly matched in terms of power and toughness. They even fought on the outside until nearly both getting counted out. After a double-arm DDT, Moxley went for the Death Rider but Goto stopped it. Hirooki Goto pinned Jon Moxley with an Ushigoroshi floated over into the GTR at 8:38. Goto 10 points, Moxley 10 points. This was Jon Moxley’s first clean singles match loss in NJPW.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jay White defeated Juice Robinson Jay White used his cerebral wrestling style to avoid taking hits from Juice while asserting an early advantage and attacking Juice’s knee. Noticeably hobbled, Juice attempted to make a comeback with punches but White went right back to the leg, taunting Juice all the while. Juice managed to make a comeback and attack Jay’s knee in return. Juice landed his left-handed punch, but Gedo distracted the referee. Jay White attacked Juice’s leg further with a chair. Jay White submitted Juice Robinson with the J.T.O. (Juice Tapped Out) at 23:01. White 10 points, Juice 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Shingo Takagi defeated Tomohiro Ishii If anyone has seen these two men wrestle for any significant length of time, they could probably visualize this match and not be far off from reality. Ishii and Shingo both traded their hardest hits, called each other bastards, and challenged each other to hit them harder. A big lariat from Shingo made Ishii’s ear start bleeding. They traded one-count kickouts after lariats. It was a magical spectacle of masculinity and stubbornness. Shingo Takagi pinned Tomohiro Ishii with the Last of the Dragon at 22:41. Shingo 6 points, Ishii 8 points. They continued attacking each other after the match ended, obviously.
Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 14. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continues today and will run until Day 19 on August 12.
Twenty wrestlers, divided into two blocks of ten, compete against every other member of their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.
Watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese. Start times: 11PM Pacific, 2AM Eastern, 7AM UK, 4PM East Australia
Day 14 Undercard
Shota Umino & Ren Narita defeated Toa Henare & Yuya Uemura There were no G1 Climax participants involved in this match. Shota Umino pinned Yuya Uemura with a bridging Fisherman’s suplex at 6:06.
Suzukigun (Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki) defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI) Minoru Suzuki pinned BUSHI after a delayed Gotch-style piledriver at 6:38. After the match, Lance Archer attacked SANADA as he was leaving and smashed his head against a wall.
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma Chase Owens pinned Bad Luck Fale after a package piledriver at 8:16.
CHAOS (Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks YOSHI-HASHI submitted Clark Connors with the Butterfly Lock at 8:24. KENTA and Ospreay nearly came to blows after the match. As CHAOS was making their way to the back, Ospreay yelled to the camera operator “KENTA is my bitch!”
Scheduled G1 Climax matches for Day 15 (August 7 – A Block):
Lance Archer vs. SANADA
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale
KENTA vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL
Day 14 G1 Matches
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Tomohiro Ishii defeated Toru Yano Ishii immediately went after Yano before the bell to finish him off quickly, but Yano pulled his t-shirt over Ishii’s face and nearly rolled him up for the win. Yano took a chair and sat on the ramp, taunting Ishii to come attack him, but Ishii didn’t take the bait, and Yano rushed back into the ring to avoid the countout. From that point, Yano started using actual wrestling moves like lariats and suplexes to make this a very heated match between stablemates. Tomohiro Ishii pinned Toru Yano after a vertical drop brainbuster at 9:36. Ishii 8 points, Yano 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Taichi defeated Juice Robinson Yoshinobu Kanemaru was seconding Taichi and attacked Juice Robinson as he was making his entrance, allowing Taichi to start the match at an immediate advantage. Taichi continued to dominate after the match returned to the ring. Juice made a comeback, but Taichi countered the Pulp Friction to cut him off. Then, Kanemaru tried to interfere again, but a big punch from Juice neutralized him. However, Taichi capitalized on the distraction and pinned Juice Robinson after a Black Mephisto at 12:28. Taichi 6 points, Juice 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Hirooki Goto defeated Jeff Cobb From the outset, it became clear that Cobb was the stronger and more resilient man in this match, as he controlled the match early with strikes and slams, with occasional bursts of retaliation from Goto. Goto roared to life with an ushigoroshi followed by kicks and a reverse GTR, and the match continued to favor him as it went on, with Cobb looking visibly tired. Hirooki Goto pinned Jeff Cobb after a GTR at 11:20. Goto 8 points, Cobb 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jay White defeated Jon Moxley After not being able to get his hands on White at all yesterday, Moxley jumped Jay White before the bell. He went to set up a table on the outside, but Gedo removed it from the ringside area to heavy boos. With White down, Gedo distracted Moxley for enough time for White to hit a low blow followed by a brass knuckles punch from Gedo. That didn’t end the match, but it didn’t last much longer after that. Jay White pinned Jon Moxley after a Blade Runner at 15:15. White 8 points, Moxley 10 points. Although it was not a fair fight, Jay White has achieved the first pinfall victory on Jon Moxley in NJPW.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Tetsuya Naito defeated Shingo Takagi Being a never-before-seen match between two stablemates, this match had a big fight feel from the outset. They didn’t fight with the sportsmanship and respect one would expect from teammates and long-time friends, as this match contained condescending cheap shots, spitting, mean name-calling, and cocky pins. Takagi looked very strong in this match, throwing Naito all over the place and cleverly countering many of Naito’s moves. For the second day in a row, the main event came close to a draw, and it seemed like Naito just eked out a win over his fellow LIJ member. Tetsuya Naito pinned Shingo Takagi after a Destino at 27:15. Naito 8 points, Shingo 4 points.
Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 12. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continues today and will run until Day 19 on August 12.
Twenty wrestlers, divided into two blocks of ten, compete against every other member of their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.
Watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese. Start times: 2:30AM Pacific USA, 5:30AM Eastern USA, 10:30AM UK, 7:30PM East Australia
Day 12 Undercard
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) def.KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks Chase Owens pinned Karl Fredericks at 8:11 after a package piledriver. KENTA versus Bad Luck Fale takes place on Day 13 in the A Block (August 13).
Suzukigun (Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki) def. Suzukigun (Lance Archer & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) This was a match involving two teams from the same faction. Nevertheless, Sabre and Suzuki attacked Archer and Kanemaru as they were making their entrance. Sabre pinned Kanemaru with the European Clutch at 5:00. Lance Archer faces Zack Sabre Jr. on Day 13.
Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare defeatedHiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino & Ren Narita Toa Henare pinned Ren Narita with the Toa Bottom at 8:18. Hiroshi Tanahashi faces Kota Ibushi on Day 13, in a rematch of last year’s G1 Final.
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI) YOSHI-HASHI submitted BUSHI with the Butterfly Lock at 9:14. EVIL versus Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada versus SANADA take place on G1 Day 13, the latter of which is the main event.
Day 12 G1 Matches
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jeff Cobb defeated Shingo Takagi Shingo Takagi attempted to match Jeff Cobb early on in terms of strength, but was unable to bring down the heaviest member of the B Block was shoulder tackles. Shingo switched to targeting Cobb’s legs to counteract Cobb’s agility, then transitioned to wearing him down with strikes and power moves. Noticeably slowed, Cobb managed to make a comeback and pinned Shingo Takagi after the Tour of the Islands at 12:27. Cobb 6 points, Shingo 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Toru Yano defeated Jon Moxley Yano sprayed Moxley with water and then begged for his forgiveness by offering his DVD, but Moxley did not take the bait. Yano tried to tape Moxley’s legs together, but Moxley reversed it on him and taped his arm to the barricade for a near countout. Moxley took out a table and tried to use it against Yano, but Yano dodged the attack, low blowed Moxley and Shota Umino, then taped their legs together outside the ring. Toru Yano defeated Jon Moxley by countout at 5:08. Yano 6 points, Moxley 10 points. This is Moxley’s first defeat in NJPW.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Tetsuya Naito defeated Juice Robinson Juice attempted to provoke Naito by taking an excessively long time to begin, the same way Naito did so against Moxley, which lead to his defeat. Irate, Naito mimicked Juice’s moves and mannerisms against him, cheering for Juice in a mocking way. Angered, Juice fired back up, drawing blood from Naito. Nevertheless, Naito pinned Juice after a Destino at 13:17. Naito 6 points, Juice 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jay White defeated Taichi Both men took a long time to start this match, avoiding making contact for several minutes. They both fought dirtily and their their valets fought as well, with Gedo pulling Miho Abe’s hair to distract Taichi. White condescendingly taunted Taichi to attack him and the match eventually broke down as both men went for low blows and received interference from their seconds. Jay White pinned Taichi after a Blade Runner. White 6 points, Taichi 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Hirooki Goto defeated Tomohiro Ishii Not a lot of detail can be given about this match. This was simply a slugfest between two men who, despite being stablemates, held nothing back. Even after his excursion to the LA Dojo, Goto was still subject to Ishii’s underestimation and taunts to hit him harder. On this day, those taunts and Ishii’s perception of himself as an unbreakable wall were his undoing. Hirooki Goto pinned Tomohiro Ishii after a GTR at 18:01. Goto 6 points, Ishii 6 points.
Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 10. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continues today and will run until Day 19 on August 12.
Twenty wrestlers, divided into two blocks of ten, compete against every other member of their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.
Watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese.
Day 10 Undercard
Ren Narita defeated Yuya Uemura This was a singles match involving young lions, so no participants are involved in the G1 Climax tournament. Ren Narita pinned Yuya Uemura with a bridging belly-to-belly suplex at 7:25.
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) defeated Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare Yujiro Takahashi pinned Tomoaki Honma with the Pimp Juice DDT at 8:20. Kota Ibushi faces Bad Luck Fale on Day 11 (July 30) in the A Block.
Suzukigun (Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeatedKazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI & Shota Umino Yoshinobu Kanemaru pinned Shota Umino with the Deep Impact DDT at 9:35. Respectively, Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay’s next opponents in the A Block are Lance Archer and Zack Sabre Jr. After the match, Archer took the microphone from English commentary and cut a threatening promo on Okada.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) defeatedHiroshi Tanahashi, KENTA & Karl Fredericks BUSHI pinned Karl Fredericks with the M-X at 8:59. KENTA faces SANADA and Hiroshi Tanahashi faces EVIL on G129 Day 10, the latter of which is the main event.
Day 10 G1 Matches
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match:Hirooki Goto defeated Toru Yano Toru Yano feigned sportsmanship against his CHAOS faction-mate, but he could not resist his urge to cheat, attempting to put his t-shirt over Goto’s head and roll him up, but failed to do so. Hirook Goto blocked the mule kick and pinned Toru Yano with the Goto Shiki in 1:42. Goto 4 points, Yano 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Tomohiro Ishii defeated Juice Robinson Not many different moves were done in this match that served more as a test of Juice’s grit. Juice probably took more punishment and got back up than in any NJPW match of his to date, perhaps trying too hard to show his toughness at the expense of his victory. Tomohiro Ishii pinned Juice Robinson after a vertical drop brainbuster. Ishii 6 points, Juice 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jeff Cobb defeated Taichi Taichi feigned a show of sportsmanship with a handshake, but soon reverted to his old tricks, such as using his valet Miho Abe as a human shield. When Jeff Cobb was finally able to get his hands on Taichi, he dominated him with relative ease with his strength. Jeff Cobb pinned Taichi after a Tour of the Islands at 12:30. Cobb 4 points, Taichi 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jay White defeated Shingo Takagi Shingo was able to overpower White during the short bursts that the were in the ring together, but White outsmarted him into leaving the ring, where he was able to achieve his own advantage with moves on the apron and barricades. White cleverly avoided a lot of Shingo’s offense and it likely made the difference. Jay White pinned Shingo Takagi after the Blade Runner at 19:26. Shingo 4 points, White 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jon Moxley defeated Tetsuya Naito Naito went to great lengths to rile Moxley up before the match, making his entrance especially slowly and then throwing his tearaway pants at the US Heavyweight Champion. This match was full of personality, with the short fuse of Moxley being lit again and again by Naito’s antics, and Naito just might have pushed him too far. Jon Moxley pinned Tetsuya Naito after the Death Rider at 16:41. Moxley 10 points, Naito 4 points.
Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 8. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continues today and will run until Day 19 on August 12.
Twenty wrestlers, divided into two blocks of ten, compete against every other member of their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.
Watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese.
Day 8 Undercard
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) defeated Will Ospreay, Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura Yujiro Takahashi pinned Yuya Uemura with the Pimp Juice DDT at 9:20. Will Ospreay faces Bad Luck Fale in the A Block on July 27.
Suzukigun (Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki) defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) Minoru Suzuki pinned BUSHI after a Gotch style piledriver at 8:09. Suzuki’s frustration at being excluded from the G1 reared its head after the match, as he attacked young lions and ripped up barricades. Zack Sabre Jr. dared EVIL to confront him in the ring, but bailed out when EVIL took the bait. A Block matches on July 27 include EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino defeated Kota Ibushi & Ren Narita With unique and entertaining interactions between young lions and elite NJPW wrestlers, this was definitely the undercard match to watch if one had to be chosen. Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Ren Narita after a Sling Blade at 7:45. Tanahashi and Ibushi compete against SANADA and Lance Archer, respectively, on G129 Day 9.
Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Toa Henare defeated KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks) The interactions between Okada and KENTA alone make this match also worth watching, with the two of them acting condescendingly towards each other, as well as Okada diverting his attention multiple times to attack KENTA even when he wasn’t the legal man. YOSHI-HASHI submitted Clark Connors with the Butterfly Lock at 8:51. The main event of G1 Climax 29 Day 9 is Kazuchika Okada versus KENTA.
Day 8 Tournament Matches
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Juice Robinson defeated Toru Yano This match revolved around Juice being onto Yano’s tricks, including catching himself on the slingshot into the exposed turnbuckle, noticing the roll of tape in Yano’s tights, and avoiding the low blow. He was too clever for Yano throughout the match and dispatched the trickster with relative speed. Juice Robinson defeated Toru Yano by pinfall after a Pulp Friction at 4:28. Juice 6 points, Yano 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Taichi defeated Hirooki Goto After Taichi stole a young lion’s “LA Dojo” shirt and stomped on it in the ring, Goto fought like he had vengeance to claim, while Taichi used underhanded tactics before eventually letting his wrestling do the talking, after soon understanding the levity of his opponent. The longer the match went, the more Taichi realized he was outmatched and would have to win by any means necessary. Taichi defeated Hirooki Goto by pinfall with a Gedo Clutch after a low blow at 12:11. Goto 2 points, Taichi 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jon Moxley defeated Shingo Takagi Shingo and Moxley wasted no time breaking into a raw slugfest, but Moxley turned the match in a different direction, attacking Shingo’s left leg to slow down the explosive junior heavyweight. Shingo struggled for the rest of the match on a bad limb and it hindered everything he did, with only short bursts of energy before fading again. Jon Moxley defeated Shingo Takagi by submission with a Texas cloverleaf at 14:45. Moxley 8 points, Shingo 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jay White defeated Jeff Cobb White immediately was trying to take every advantage that he could on Cobb, for fear that he would be outgunned in a fair fight. Gedo was a thorn in Cobb’s side throughout the match, so Cobb hit him with what was apparently the most excruciating body slam of all time. Jay White defeated Jeff Cobb by pinfall with the Blade Runner at 15:50. It was not a clean victory and was by the skin of his teeth, but White is finally on the board. 2 points Cobb, 2 points White.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Tetsuya Naito defeated Tomohiro Ishii Naito was incredibly over from the outset, on account of this event taking place in Hiroshima, the home of his favorite baseball team. Naito focused on the head and neck (or lack thereof) of the stone pitbull with DDTs, ranas, and neckbreakers. Eventually, this devolved into an all-out war of attrition with a molten hot crowd. Tetsuya Naito defeated Tomohiro Ishii by pinfall after a Destino in 18:58. Ishii 4 points, Naito 4 points.
Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 6. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continues today and will run until Day 19 on August 12.
Twenty wrestlers compete in blocks of ten against every other wrestler in their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.
Watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese.
G1 Climax 29 Day 6 Undercard
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens) defeated (Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) Bad Luck Fale pinned Yoshinobu Kanemaru at 4:40 after a Grenade. After the match, Zack Sabre Jr. tried to sneak attack Fale and choke him out, but Fale caught him and laid him out with the Grenade. Bad Luck Fale vs. Zack Sabre Jr. is scheduled for tomorrow in the A Block.
Suzukigun (Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma Archer’s shoulder was heavily taped up, likely due to KENTA’s Game Over submission yesterday. Lance Archer pinned Tomoaki Honma with the EBD Claw at 9:48. He refused to release the claw on Honma after the match ended, then used the claw on Tanahashi as well. Archer and Tanahashi clash in the A Block tomorrow.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI)defeated Kota Ibushi, KENTA & Clark Connors BUSHI pinned Clark Connors at 9:02 with the MX. Following the match, Ibushi and SANADA stared each other down in the ring and appealed to the crowd for cheers. Neither wrestler seemed to be getting more cheers than the other. EVIL vs. KENTA and SANADA vs. Ibushi both take place tomorrow.
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated Will Ospreay & Toa Henare YOSHI-HASHI pinned Toa Henare at 8:46 with the Kumagoroshi suplex. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay is the main event of tomorrow’s A Block show.
G1 Climax 29 Day 6 Tournament Matches
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Shingo Takagi defeated Taichi After a brief period where Taichi tried to use underhanded tactics and weapons on the outside of the ring, this turned into a hard-hitting battle of lariats and kicks. Shingo Takagi pinned Taichi with the Last of the Dragon at 14:40. Takagi 4 points, Taichi 2 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jeff Cobb defeated Juice Robinson This was a more slower-paced encounter than the previous one, with Juice trying to apply his usual offense but being overtaken by Cobb’s great weight and strength. Jeff Cobb pinned Juice Robinson at 13:21 with the Tour of the Islands for his first win of the G1. Cobb 2 points, Juice 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Toru Yano defeated Jay White This was a brief match with a very high density of cheating. Jay White thought he had Yano figured out, such as avoiding the slingshot into the exposed turnbuckle, but that was not the case. Toru Yano hit a low blow using brass knuckles while the referee was distracted and pinned Jay White with a roll up at 3:04. Yano 4 points, White 0 points. Notably, all three of White’s matches so far were against members of CHAOS, the faction he betrayed last year, and they all got their revenge.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Tetsuya Naito defeated Hirooki Goto Goto came after Naito right out of the gate and had most of his moves scouted, but Naito used his greater quickness to get in fast attacks and counter Goto’s moves. Tetsuya Naito pinned Hirooki Goto with the Destino at 16:01. Naito 2 points, Goto 2 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jon Moxley defeated Tomohiro Ishii This was a brutal battle to end all battles, with Moxley’s penchant for violence fighting against Ishii’s inhuman resilience. Tables and chairs were used, stiff shots were thrown, and Moxley was pushed to his very limit for the first time in NJPW, but it was not enough. Jon Moxley pinned Tomohiro Ishii after a Death Rider at 20:36. Moxley 6 points, Ishii 4 points.
Welcome to our ongoing Live Results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 4. This will be updated with results and new points standings throughout the event.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continued today and will run until Day 19 on August 12. Twenty wrestlers compete in blocks of ten against every other wrestler in their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The most dominant wrestler in each block will move on to a final match, with winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.
One can watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese.
Kota Ibushi & Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Shota Umino & Yota Tsuji Jushin Thunder Liger’s entrance got a great reaction from the crowd, as expected since this is likely Liger’s last match ever in Hokkaido Prefecture. The match began with Liger stretching Umino out in the mat, then transitioned into Ibushi and Tsuji trading hard hits and slaps. Tsuji breaking up Liger’s Romero Special on Umino got heavy boos from the audience. Tsuji got a lot of offence in on Ibushi, including a turning body slam and a spear, then attempted to put him in the Boston crab only to get it broken by slaps. Kota Ibushi submitted Yota Tsuji with a single-leg Boston crab at 8:19. Liger then cut a promo stating that, since he’s retiring in six months, this is his last match in Hokkaido, but he hopes that all the fans will support him wherever he goes.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) def. Tomoaki Honma, Toa Henare & Ren Narita EVIL entered without his scythe. He was probably not allowed to bring it with him on the flight from Tokyo to Sapporo. Toa Henare hit a stalling suplex on SANADA and he hit a double Kokeshi on BUSHI with Tomoaki Honma. This was a short encounter. after the match, EVIL stared down SANADA, his stable mate who he has as his next G1 Climax match. BUSHI pinned Ren Narita after an M-X at 7:18. He then tried to hit SANADA with the EVIL, but SANADA reversed it into the Skull End, then they broke apart.
Suzukigun (Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def.Hiroshi Tanahashi, KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks Suzukigun attacked Tanahashi, KENTA, and the LA Dojo young lions before the bell, with Lance Archer going after KENTA and Sabre Jr. going after Tanahashi. Karl Fredericks managed to floor Minoru Suzuki with a shoulder tackle, only to get caught in a rope-hung armbar, and then get pulled out of the ring and be pummeled with chairs and sections of the ring barricade. Lance Archer briefly joined the English commentary team. Tanahashi and Zack Sabre Jr. went after each other with dueling cobra twists. Clark Connors put Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a Boston crab and Suzuki kicked him in the face to break the hold, but he held it and bravely asked for more. Yoshinobu Kanemaru pinned Clark Connors after a Deep Impact at 11:32.
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens) YOSHI-HASHI spent most of the match getting beaten up by Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale, until he hit a dropkick to Fale’s knee to enable the hot tag to Kazuchika Okada. Okada’s running shoulder tackle did not knock Fale down, but his body slam did. Owens nearly hit a package piledriver on Okada, but Okada reversed it as YOSHI-HASHI hit a big lariat on Fale that sent both of them tumbling out of the ring. Okada pinned Chase Owens with a Rainmaker at 8:43.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Shingo Takagi [2]defeated Toru Yano [2] Shingo Takagi urged Toru Yano to remove his t-shirt for this bout. He did so, only for Takagi to attack him in the process. He then tried to put his shirt on Takagi’s head and roll him up, but failed. Yano left the ring and baited Takagi into coming out to attack him, only to run back to the ring and put a table and barricades in his way, but he still made it back before he could be counted out. Toru Yano went for his trademark red chair and threw it at Takagi, making it look as if Takagi had used it, but the referee did not believe him. BUSHI came out to distract the referee. Shingo Takagi pinned Toru Yano after a Pumping Bomber at 6:16. Shingo Takagi 2 points, Toru Yano 2 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Juice Robinson [4] defeated Hirooki Goto [2] Goto really does look much leaner after his vacation to the LA Dojo. After Juice managed to reverse the Ushigoroshi, they traded simultaneous lariats until Goto managed to get him down, then land the Ushigoroshi successfully. Goto went for the GTR but Juice broke it with strikes to the head. Juice went for his left hand-punch, but Goto headbutted his fist to block it, then Goto went for a punch of his own and Juice responded in kind. After a hard-hitting fight, Juice Robinson pinned Hirooki Goto after a Pulp Friction at 12:23. Hirooki Goto 2 points, Juice Robinson 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jon Moxley [4] defeated Jeff Cobb [0] Moxley went after Cobb’s arms early to try and reduce his strength advantage, but his chops to the chest that followed seemed to have little effect on Cobb. Moxley looked under the ring for a table, but either changed his mind or couldn’t find one. After a diving elbow drop to a standing Cobb, Moxley went for the Death Rider but was unable to get Cobb off his feet. After a running knee to the head, Jon Moxley pinned Jeff Cobb after a rope-hung Death Rider at 8:54. Jeff Cobb 0 points, Jon Moxley 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Tomohiro Ishii [4] defeated Jay White [0] When the match began, White went to the outside and taunted Cobb to come out with him. Ishii left the ring and then threatened to attack Gedo, which provoked White into finally retaliating. At one point, White landed a DDT on Ishii that landed him right on top of his head. When they had a battle of forearms, Ishii managed to knock him down. White would get the upper hand only for Ishii to come back and ask to be hit harder. The crowd very hot for Ishii to win. White went for the Blade Runner, but Ishii reversed it into a Complete Shot, followed by a sliding lariat and a brainbuster to pin Jay White at 19:13. Jay White 0 points, Tomohiro Ishii 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Taichi [2] defeated Tetsuya Naito [0] To start the match, Naito laid down in the center of the ring, telling Taichi to pin him. Taichi went for the pin only for Naito to roll him up for a 2-count.A back and forth period transpired with Naito’s quick and precise offence against Taichi’s hard kicks. Taichi teased using the retired Takashi Iizuka’s Iron Finger from Hell, but Naito managed to knock it away from him. Naito went for the Destino but Taichi countered it and floored him with a high kick and then a Ganso bomb. After a pop-up low blow that the referee didn’t see, Naito went for a Destino but Taichi reversed it into Black Mephisto. Taichi finally managed to hit Naito with the Iron Finger From Hell into a Last Ride powerbomb for the win at 21:01. Tetsuya Naito 0 points, Taichi 2 points.
New Japan Pro Wrestling will present the finals of their Best of the Super Juniors tournament tomorrow. The promotion released the full lineup for the event today.
Previously, Jon Moxley vs Juice Robinson for the US title, Jay White vs Hiroshi Tanahashi, and the tournament finals had been announced. The event will air live on New Japan World.
Check back early Wednesday morning for results from NJPW BOSJ 26 Finals.
NJPW BOSJ 26 Finals Lineup
Shota Umino, Titan, & Dragon Lee vs Ren Narita, Jonathan Gresham, & Bandido
Ryusuke Taguchi & Roppongi 3K vs Robbie Eagles, El Phantasmo, and Taiji Ishimori
Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Yoshi-Hashi, Toru Yano, and Tomohiro Ishii vs Douki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr, Minor Suzuki, Taichi (Suzuki-Gun)
Toa Henare, Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, and Kota Ibushi vs Bushi, Sanada, EVIL and Tetsuya Naito
Rock Romero & Kazuchika Okada vs Brody King & Marty Scurll
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Jay White
IWGP United States Championship: Juice Robinson (c) vs Jon Moxley
Best of the Super Juniors 26 Finals: Will Ospreay vs Shingo Takagi
Jon Moxley To Debut For New Japan
New Japan GM, Michael Craven recently stated that their signing of Moxley was made independent of his deal with all AEW. He made the comments in a statement to SI.com.
“New Japan and Jon Moxley came to terms on an agreement some time ago, completely independently of All Elite,” Craven said in a statement. “Our understanding is that he is free to wrestle in Japan. We wish AEW well, but have no working relationship as of now.”
New Japan’s annual Tokyo Dome show is now underway. The stacked card could end up being one of NJPW’s best ever and we’ve got the results as and when they happen.
Shingo Takagi and BUSHI captured the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championships in the second match of the night. Takagi hit the Last of the Dragon on SHO to win the Championships and end Suzuki-gun’s run with the belts.
Here’s the full card for the event:
NEVER Openweight Championship Match – Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Will Ospreay
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match – Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado) (c) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & BUSHI)
RPW British Heavyweight Championship Match – Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Zac Sabre Jr.
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match – Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (c) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & SANADA) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship Match – Cody (c) vs. Juice Robinson
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match – KUSHIDA (c) vs. Taiji Ishimori
Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada
IWGP Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship No Disqualification Match – Chris Jericho (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match – Kenny Omega (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi