New Japan Pro-Wrestling thirtieth annual G1 Climax tournament has arrived!
Watch on NJPW World with a paid subscription. Only live Japanese commentary available. English commentary will be uploaded within several days. This event will have reduced attendance capacity to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.
Yota Tsuji def. Gabriel Kidd (6:43) Two of the last three opening singles matches between young lions have ended in time limit draws, including the last one between Tsuji and Kidd. Evidently, the two of them had taken that to heart and didn’t want it to happen again. They spared the audience the formality of grappling at all and went straight to brawling and trying for their finishing holds. After much striking and grunting, Tsuji hit a spear on Kidd and locked in the Boston crab. He leaned back to put even more tension on Kidd’s spine and Kidd had nowhere to go.
A Block: Tomohiro Ishii def. Yujiro Takahashi (15:25) Yujiro attacked Ishii before the bell and spent the opening minutes controlling the match against the Stone Pitbull. After slowing Yujiro’s role with a vertical suplex, he took his shirt off and threw it at the laying Yujiro, which drew applause from the crowd. Ishii threw Yujiro with a German suplex into the turnbuckle pad, then lifted him to the top rope for a superplex and a near fall. Yujiro was hurt, but he managed to reverse Ishii’s powerbomb and hit an Olympic slam for a two-count and the Miami Shine for yet another. Yujiro tried for the Pimp Juice DDT, but Ishii blocked it. Yujiro blocked his multiple attempts at the vertical brainbuster, and managed to hit a brainbuster of his own. Desperate, Yujiro tried to roll Ishii up, but that didn’t work. With a headbutt, a sliding lariat, and the vertical drop brainbuster put Yujiro away. Credit to him for lasting as long as he did, though. Ishii 6 points, Yujiro 0 points
A Block: Kazuchika Okada def. Jeff Cobb (11:03) Okada realized that he would be fighting an uphill battle against the powerhouse Cobb once the opening bell rang. As Cobb was coming off the ropes, Okada tried to jump over him, but Cobb caught him in midair and laid him out with a vertical suplex. Cobb missed a corner splash and Okada used this opportunity to use multiple swinging neckbreakers to ready Cobb for the Money Clip. This was not enough to slow Cobb, though. Okada, a deceptively large man in his own right, experienced being tossed multiple times like an infant. Cobb’s Athletic-Plex and standing moonsault both received close near-falls from the Rainmaker. However, Okada would block Cobb’s try at the Tour of the Islands and hit a standing dropkick and Tombstone piledriver to even the odds. Okada applied the Money Clip, but Cobb was able to get to his feet and hit a standing dropkick of his own! Okada dropeped multiple more attempts at the Tour of the Islands and applied a rana pin for the victory. Okada 8 points, Cobb 4 points
A Block: Will Ospreay def. Minoru Suzuki (14:26) From jump, the wily Suzuki was frequently ready for Ospreay’s moves. On the outside of the ring, Ospreay tried to do a flying forearm off the barricade, but Suzuki caught him in an armbar. Suzuki kept attacking Ospreay’s right arm, and when Ospreay tried to pop up and hit an elbow strike, he recoiled in pain. Not the smartest tool in the shed. Suzuki laid in his chops and had Ospreay bleeding from the chest. A handspring kick and standing shooting star press helped Ospreay gain some breathing room, but another top rope attack led to him being trapped in an armbar yet again. He was able to put his foot on the bottom rope to break the hold, but Suzuki was still in control. He laughed at Ospreay’s feeble strikes, and when Ospreay tried to go to the top rope again, Suzuki caught him, only for an Ospreay headbutt to send him to the mat. Suzuki blocked Ospreay’s attempt at the Stormbreaker, but Ospreay hit a suplex to grant himself some slight reprieve. Suzuki dodged the Hidden Blade and applied a sleeper hold. He tried for the Gotch-style piledriver, but Ospreay got out of it and hit an enzuigiri, followed by the Stormbreaker for the win. Ospreay 8 points, Suzuki 6 points
A Block: Jay White def. Taichi (15:16) Every time Jay tried to leave the ring to troll Taichi, Taichi left the ring too, like a never-ending battle of who could hold out for longer. Eventually, Jay got tired of this, and threw Taichi into the barricade. He brought Taichi back in and focused on attacking Taichi’s back until Taichi retaliated with his powerful kicks. When he missed a kick in the corner, Jay capitalized with a chop block, followed by the Bladebuster. After landing a uranage, Jay attempted the Blade Runner, but Taichi blocked it and hit a backdrop driver at the 10-minute mark. Jay couldn’t land the snap sleeper suplex and Taichi applied the Gedo Clutch, but Gedo himself came in to distract the referee so he couldn’t count the pin. Jay pushed Taichi into the referee, and Gedo tried to interfere, but Taichi kicked him in the crotch. Then he kicked Jay White there too, but he kicked out of the Gedo Clutch at 2. Taichi hit an elevated powerbomb for another near fall, then set up for a thrust kick. As he went for it, Jay caught his leg, then swiftly hit the Blade Runner. Jay 8 points, Taichi 6 points
A Block: Shingo Takagi def. Kota Ibushi (21:56) Ibushi and Shingo have never wrestled in a singles match before, and this match was highly anticipated. These two men are both incredible athletes who can do most anything, but Ibushi has the advantage in speed, Shingo in strength. The winner of this match would be he who could press that advantage greater, and at first it was Shingo. He battered Ibushi with strikes that Ibushi couldn’t match, and Ibushi was confident enough to play Shingo’s game. Finally, Ibushi wised up, and took the advantage using his trademark aerial offense. Shingo would continually cut Ibushi off, though, as his left arm lariat made Ibushi land on the mat head-first, and then he landed the Noshigami for a near fall on last year’s G1 Climax winner. Shingo tried for a German suplex, but Ibushi backflipped out of it and kicked the sitting Shingo right in the back of the head. After Ibushi’s sitout powerbomb achieved a near fall, Shingo would grant himself some space with a death valley driver, then lift Ibushi for the Last of the Dragon. It did not work, but he avoided a kick from Ibushi to land the Made in Japan for a near fall once more. Shingo followed up with two Pumping Bombers, but Ibushi kicked out just in time! Shingo lifted Ibushi to his feet and went for the Last of the Dragon again, but Ibushi shifted his weight to avoid it. A big lariat from Ibushi put Shingo on his back, and a Boma Ye put Shingo down for a two-count. Ibushi tried to finish the match with the Kamigoye, but Shingo grabbed Ibushi’s knee, and lifted him by it into the Last of the Dragon! Shingo 6 points, Ibushi 8 points
G1 Climax 30 Standings
A Block: 8 points – Kota Ibushi, Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, Jay White 6 points – Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, Tomohiro Ishii, Shingo Takagi 4 points – Jeff Cobb 0 points – Yujiro Takahashi
New Japan Pro-Wrestling thirtieth annual G1 Climax tournament has arrived!
Watch on NJPW World with a paid subscription. Only live Japanese commentary available. English commentary will be uploaded within several days. This event will have reduced attendance capacity to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.
Yuya Uemura def. Gabriel Kidd (7:35) The neck strength fostered at the NJPW Dojo, and likely most of the dojos in Japan, is truly otherworldly. It’s not even the first time they did this in this series of tournament matches, but watching Uemura bridge while an adult man is kneeling on his torso never fails to impress. What also never fails to please is when someone takes the most obvious move possible, to break the hold they’re trapped in, seen in this match when Kidd ended Uemura’s arm wringer with a loud elbow to the face. I enjoy the struggle that young lion matches embody and oftentimes non-young lions focus more on showcasing their repertoire than embodying that struggle. Yuya Uemura won by submission with a high-angle Boston crab.
A Block: Shingo Takagi def. Yujiro Takahashi (13:38) Yujiro was sensible enough to understand that fighting dirty was the only hope he had against a powerhouse like Shingo. He bent the rules in every way possible, between hair pulling, biting, and slamming Shingo’s head into the corner post, and a reverse DDT on the apron for good measure. Eventually, Shingo got frustrated enough to bite Yujiro on the hand the way he did to Shingo earlier. It must hurt being bitten by a dragon. Yujiro pushed Shingo harder than I expected, hitting the Miami Shine and trying to set up for Pimp Juice, but Shingo stopped him. Eventually, Yujiro pushed the referee and tried to hit Shingo with his pimp cane, but Shingo lariated it away. A following Pumping Bomber and Last of the Dragon put Yujiro away in decisive fashion. Shingo 4 points, Yujiro 0 points
A Block: Jeff Cobb def. Jay White (12:24) Taking a lesson from Bullet Club stablemate Yujiro in the previous match, Jay White used underhanded tactics to try and cut Mr. Athletic down to size. At one point, Gedo tried to interfere but Jeff Cobb caught both him and Jay, and delivered a double noggin knocker, something I’m surprised not to see more of in wrestling. Impressively, White was able to lift the rotund Cobb for the Bladebuster, but found himself thoroughly outmatched in a battle of strikes. Jay then transitioned into taking out the big man’s legs with a chop block and a dragonscrew. Cobb fired up and still had enough of a base that he could still try for the Tour of the Islands. Jay blocked it at first, but Gedo came in to distract Cobb and give Jay a moment of reprieve. However, this backfired spectacularly, when Cobb lifted Gedo up, press-slammed him into Jay White, and then hit the Tour of the Islands to pin Jay White. Cobb 4 points, White 6 points
A Block: Kazuchika Okada def. Minoru Suzuki (14:10) Okada tried to grapple with Suzuki only to get summarily stretched, and then rocked when he tried to throw elbows with Suzuki. Okada has come back from behind to defeat Suzuki in the past, but it never seemed quite so one-sided. Okada tried to run off the ropes, but Suzuki caught him in a sleeper hold and went for an early Gotch-style piledriver. Okada blocked it and hit the Reverse Neckbreaker, which was the most relevant moment of offense he had achieved thus far. Still, Suzuki had the mettle to hold his hands behind his back and challenge Okada to hit him hard enough to hurt. Instead, Okada hit a standing dropkick followed by a Tombstone piledriver, then applied his cobra clutch, the Money Clip. Suzuki got to his feet and made it out of the hold. He put on a sleeper hold with bodyscissors, and when Okada managed to stand up out of it, he applied it again, but Okada grabbed Suzuki’s legs and pushed him down into a prawn hold for the pinfall victory. Likely the least earned win Okada has had in this tournament, and has ever had over Suzuki. Okada 6 points, Suzuki 6 points
A Block: Tomohiro Ishii def. Taichi (18:48) Taichi truly has come along way over the last several years. In the early going of this match, Taichi was trading his kicks for Ishii’s forearm strikes and coming out the better man for it. Of course, Ishii did eventually find the werewithal to push through the pain and start laying the boots to Taichi. Perhaps his hubris got the better of him, as he went for an early attempt at the brainbuster, but Taichi blocked it and a cracking head kick put Ishii’s head flat on the mat. Ishii made it back to his feet but Taichi continued to punish him with heavy strikes. Ishii popped up yet again and hit a buckle bomb and a lariat, then endured a buzzsaw kick to the head and continued laying on his strikes. He went for the brainbuster yet again, but Taichi dropped out of it. In a moment of desperation, he pushed the referee at Ishii and kicked Ishii in the groin, but even this could not put Ishii away for a three-count. Ishii stood up and hit a lariat but Taichi kicked out at one, then stood up and dropped Ishii on his head with a backdrop driver! Down but not out, Ishii blocked Taichi’s attempt at Black Mephisto and hit a jumping high kick, followed by a sliding lariat. The vertical drop brainbuster finished Taichi off in emphatic fashion. Ishii 4 points, Taichi 6 points
A Block: Kota Ibushi def. Will Ospreay (15:56) The way Ospreay behaved towards Ibushi as this match began was almost comically condescending. He ruffled Ibushi’s hair with his hand when they were locked up against the ropes, then again with his boot later when Ibushi was on the mat. Ibushi did not take this lightly. When Ospreay did his fakeout Sasuke Special and posed in the ring, Ibushi bolted in and grabbed his arms for a Kamigoye attempt. It did not land, but it’s the thought that counts. Similar to their encounter late last year, Ibushi tried for a top rope Frankensteiner, only for Ospreay to land on his feet out of it, albeit with a bit less balance than last time. He was also getting the better of Ibushi when it came to striking too. Ospreay tried for a Stombreaker early on but couldn’t make it stick, and hit a gnarly sitout powerbomb to put Ibushi down for a two-count. Ospreay set up in the corner for the Hidden Blade, but Ibushi stood up just in time to block it, and hit a powerbomb of his own for a near fall. Feeling the need to end the match quickly, Ospreay went for the Oscutter, but Ibushi hit a jumping knee to hit Ospreay in midair, and then the Kamigoye for an abrupt but utlimately satisfying victory. Ibushi 8 points, Ospreay 6 points
New Japan Pro-Wrestling thirtieth annual G1 Climax tournament has arrived!
Watch on NJPW World with a paid subscription. Only live Japanese commentary available. English commentary will be uploaded within several days. This event will have reduced attendance capacity to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.
Yota Tsuji def. Yuya Uemura Tsuji and Uemura have become very proficient at expressing the power versus technique dynamic. Watching Tsuji definitively overpower Uemura in a test of strength, forcing him into a bridge, but Uemura laying down to slip out of it and make it back onto his feet impressed me. It’s a level of making something simplistic yet satisfying and interesting that young lions usually become very good at before they graduate, thanks to their intentionally limited moveset. After Uemura nearly made it to the ropes to break the Boston crab, Tsuji busted out a giant swing, and reapplied the Boston crab for the victory. Also, it looks like he’s growing his beard back out too, which is nice.
A Block: Minoru Suzuki def. Yujiro Takahashi (7:53) Yujiro showed an uncharacteristic energy, as if he had something to prove to the self-proclaimed King of Pro-Wrestling. The fact that Yujiro was putting up more of a fight than expected enraged Suzuki, and he mercilessly beat Yujiro with a chair, then demanded the audience to applaud for him. Suzuki cranked on Yujiro’s neck with a guillotine choke, but Yujiro was able to lift Suzuki into a Fisherman Buster. Yujiro fired up and yelled like a young lion trying to escape certain defeat as Suzuki pelted him with slaps and elbow strikes. Nevertheless, Suzuki hit the Gotch-style piledriver and it was all over. Suzuki 6 points, Yujiro 0 points
A Block: Kota Ibushi def. Jeff Cobb (10:43) Jeff Cobb’s size and strength was sufficient to intimidate even Ibushi, who was hesitant to engage Cobb in close quarters at first. He tried to stay out of Cobb’s range, hitting sharp leg kicks. This was not enough to deter Cobb, whose surreal agility was on display as he landed a dropkick that Okada would be proud of. As Cobb delivered his arsenal of slams and suplexes, Ibushi needed a reprieve, and hung onto the ropes to catch his breath, but Cobb overpowered his grip and lifted him into the Athletic-Plex. Cobb tried for the Tour of the Islands, but Ibushi slipped out of it and hit a loud jumping knee strike, followed by the Kamigoye for the victory. Ibushi 6 points, Cobb 2 points
A Block: Kazuchika Okada def. Taichi (17:03) El Desperado was a guest commentator for this match, and pulled out a chair when the match began. The referee left the ring to take the chair away from him, but this was merely a distraction, for Taichi had also gotten a chair and was pummeling Okada’s wrapped back with it. Taichi then rained down fast kicks on Okada, but Okada finally retaliated with elbows and uppercuts. He rose to the top rope, looking for a missile dropkick, but Taichi moved out of the way and Okada landed loudly on the mat. Like a shark smelling blood, Taichi hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and applied a half Boston crab while driving his knee into Okada’s back. As Taichi went for a thrust kick, Okada countered it with a dropkick, but Taichi quickly hit a backdrop driver that gave Okada a dazed facial expression. Desperate, Okada used a turning Tombstone piledriver, followed by a short-range lariat. Okada attempted a discus lariat, but Taichi dodged it and his wrist-clutch Axe Bomber achieved another near fall. Okada applied the Money Clip again and Taichi was visibly losing consciousness, so the referee called for the bell. Okada 4 points, Taichi 6 points
A Block: Will Ospreay def. Jay White (18:46) Early on, Jay White was laying into Ospreay with backhand chops, but a single chop from Ospreay put White flat on his back, which was likely a wake-up call for Jay. He did his best to keep Ospreay on the mat, using holds like a half Boston crab to wear him down and stop him from taking advantage of his otherworldly speed. Unfortunately, Ospreay was able to get to his feet, but White intelligently bailed out of the ring and to the corner, avoiding Ospreay’s imminent Sasuke Special. Ospreay was visibly slowed by White’s earlier leg attacks. He could see Ospreay’s springboard forearm coming, and smootly reversed it into the Complete Shot. Ospreay was able to finally catch Jay off guard with a springboard shooting star press, but Jay hung onto his leg when he tried for the Oscutter. Ospreay tried for it again, but it was avoided, and he found himself on the receiving end of a Kiwi Crusher. Jay tried for the Blade Runner, but Ospreay reversed it into a sitout powerbomb, and finally managed to hit the Oscutter. Gedo tried to come in and help Jay, pulling the referee away and trying to hit Ospreay with a pair of brass knuckles, but Ospreay stopped him and dispatched Gedo with a rolling elbow. Jay went for a sleeper suplex while his opponent was occupied, but Ospreay backflipped out of it. He followed up with a rolling elbow, the Hidden Blade, and the Stormbreaker for the victory. Ospreay 6 points, Jay 6 points
A Block: Tomohiro Ishii def. Shingo Takagi (26:01) When two wrestlers like Ishii and Shingo meet in the ring, you know what’s coming. You could probably count the number of moves that were not strikes in this match on two hands. Nevertheless, it always stays compelling, because of the way that they differ. Shingo wrestles Ishii the way he would wrestle an older, more weathered version of himself, peppering his strikes with a certain level of disdain and pity. How could he become weaker than he used to be? But when Ishii, with his flabby midsection and graying stubble starts fighting back, or kicking out, it’s all the more satisfying for it. Ishii kicked out of Shingo’s Made in Japan and Pumping Bomber, and put Shingo on his back with a running lariat of his own. He tried for the vertical drop brainbuster, but Shingo stuffed it and landed a pop-up death valley driver. He kicked out of Ishii’s lariat at a count of one before rising to his feet and collapsing on top of his opponent. Ishii landed a sliding lariat for a near fall and tried again for the brainbuster, but Shingo got out of it and delivered a sliding elbow that made Ishii crumple to the mat, followed by Pumping Bomber that Ishii kicked out of just a split second before 3. Shingo readied the Last of the Dragon, but Ishii dropped down out of it into a DDT! Finally, he hit an enzuigiri followed by the vertical drop brainbuster for the victory! Ishii 2 points, Shingo 2 points
G1 Climax Updated Standings
A Block: 6 points – Taichi, Jay White, Minoru Suzuki, Kota Ibushi, Will Ospreay 4 points – Kazuchika Okada 2 points – Jeff Cobb, Shingo Takagi, Tomohiro Ishii 0 points – Yujiro Takahashi
New Japan Pro-Wrestling thirtieth annual G1 Climax tournament has arrived!
Watch on NJPW World with a paid subscription. Only live Japanese commentary available. English commentary will be uploaded within several days. This event will have reduced attendance capacity to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.
Gabriel Kidd def. Yota Tsuji (7:40) The match began with Gabriel Kidd taking the advantage over Yota Tsuji while mat wrestling, as the commentators speculated that Kidd’s training in Lancashire wrestling would grant him the edge when working on the ground. Yota Tsuji, whose new blown out hair style is reminiscent of Andre the Giant, gained control with his superior power landing a body slam into a running splash. He applied a single-leg Boston crab, but Kidd achieved a rope break. Kidd landed a dropkick and won the match with a double underhook suplex.
A Block: Taichi def. Yujiro Takahashi (11:03) Unfortunately, Yujiro and Taichi’s valets, Pieter and Miho Abe, were absent for this match. As one would expect from a match between two of the dirtiest fighters in NJPW, this match was full of rule-bending. The first move of the match was Yujiro hitting Taichi with his cane, but Taichi would respond with choking Yujiro with a microphone cable and slamming his head into the ring post. Taichi seemed to have the advantage in physical prowess, and he wore Yujiro down with kicks. He yelled at Yujiro, mentioning Tetsuya Naito, likely alluding to how far above Yujiro Naito is now, when years ago they were a tag team. He then hit the Axe Bomber for a near fall. He stood in the corner waiting for Yujiro to rise to his feet, but as he went for the thrust kick, Yujiro caught him and hit the Miami Shine, for another two count. He went to follow up with the Pimp Juice DDT, but Taichi pushed him away, then hit a sneaky low blow and pinned him with the Taichi-style Gedo clutch. Taichi 6 points, Yujiro 0 points.
A Block: Minoru Suzuki def. Jeff Cobb (9:24) Suzuki started by laying on his back and challenging Cobb to grapple with him, a tall order considering Cobb’s Olympic-level ability at freestyle wrestling. And yet, despite Cobb’s physical advantages, Suzuki seemed to be getting the better of him on the mat. Cobb moved to his feet, and from there he used his great strength to throw Suzuki with suplexes. Suzuki made it behind Cobb and applied the sleeper hold, but Cobb threw him off easily when he attempted the Gotch-style piledriver. Cobb continued his series of suplexes and slams, but when he went for the Tour of the Islands, Suzuki caught him in a guillotine choke and forced himself free. He then applied the sleeper hold again and lifted the bulky Cobb up for the Gotch-style piledriver. Suzuki 4 points, Cobb 2 points
A Block: Kota Ibushi def. Tomohiro Ishii (15:41) Ibushi and Ishii went at each other with a great intensity from the getgo, throwing strikes and with Ishii blocking Ibushi’s loud kicks. Ishii backed Ibushi into the corner and egged him on, tanking Ibushi’s elbow strikes. He knocked Ibushi to the ground and landed kicks of his own, but Ibushi rose up and engaged Ishii in a strike battle: his kicks versus Ishii’s backhand chops. Ishii finally started showing pain, taking a knee, but he Isfired up and they traded German suplexes, but a dropkick from Ibushi put them both on their backs. They sat up and exchanged slaps but Ibushi dropped Ishii with a final slap to the chest. Ishii fired back up, but Ibushi just stared blankly at him and then kicked him in the head, then hit an elevated powerbomb for a near fall. Ibushi tried for a Frankensteiner, but Ishii countered it, then Ishii went for the vertical drop brainbuster, but Ibushi countered that too. In a desperation move, Ibushi went for the Kamigoye, but with a headbutt, Ishii had averted it. However, Ibushi hit the Boma Ye for a near fall, followed by another Boma Ye and the Kamigoye for the victory, in a match that was exhausting to watch and keep up with. Ibushi 4 points, Ishii 0 points
A Block: Shingo Takagi def. Will Ospreay (22:03) These two men have only fought in one singles match before, and it was in the final of last year’s Best of the Super Juniors. Ospreay won that match and since then he has grown in mass, but so has his ego. He spoke recently about wanting to beat Shingo in Kobe City, where this event is taking place, because it’s where Dragon Gate, Shingo’s home promotion, is based. These two fought with great intensity, and Ospreay continues to demonstrate that his increased bulk has not come at the cost of his agility, getting the better of Shingo in the early going. Shingo tried to neutralize Ospreay’s speed by applying a Figure Four Leglock, but Ospreay stopped it before it was cinched in, and when Shingo tried for the Noshigami, Ospreay reversed it into a stunner. Ospreay lifted Shingo for the stormbreaker, but instead hung Shingo upside down over the turnbuckle and hit a corner-to-corner dropkick. Ospreay went for the Oscutter, but Shingo countered it into the Noshigami, then hit the Sol del Japon for a near fall. Shingo went to follow up with the Pumping Bomber, but Ospreay moved out of the way and hit a Liger Bomb for a near fall of his own, and then the Oscutter only for Shingo to kick out again! Ospreay went for the Stormbreaker, but Shingo blocked it and lifted Ospreay into the Made in Japan. Ospreay blocked the Last of the Dragon, when Shingo went for another Pumping Bomber Ospreay reversed it into a spanish fly. Ospreay landed a heavy rolling elbow and went for the top rope Oscutter, but Shingo got to him and hit the Stay Dream from the middle rope for the near fall. He hit one last Pumping Bomber and the Last of the Dragon for the victory! Shingo 2 points, Ospreay 4 points
A Block: Jay White def. Kazuchika Okada (18:48) Like the villain he is, Jay White got on the microphone before the match began and chanted for Okada, encouraging the audience to do so as well, except they aren’t allowed to cheer out loud. Gedo was a continual thorn in Okada’s side throughout this match, making minor offences like pulling Okada’s leg from the outside, but running like a coward whenever Okada was perturbed enought to confront him. Jay White was dominating Okada, wearing him down with punches to the lower back, but when Okada went after Gedo again, Jay chased after him. It ended up with Okada planting both Gedo and Jay with a double DDT on the entrance ramp. Okada then put Gedo’s bucket hat on, which made the audience laugh. In the ring, Okada tried for the reverse neckbreaker, but his back was in too much pain, and he crumpled to his knees when he tried to lift Jay onto his back. Okada irish whipped Jay into the ropes and followed up with the dropkick, but Jay hung onto the ropes and Okada just landed on his back. Gedo yelled for Jay to do the Rainmaker, but Okada countered Jay’s Rainmaker into the tombstone Piledriver, then applied Money Clip. Jay was able to reach the bottom rope to break the hold, however. Okada hit a rolling lariat and applied the Money Clip again, but Gedo distracted the referee and Jay broke the hold with a low blow. Jay went for the Blade Runner, but Okada blocked it applied the Money Clip again from a standing position. Still in the hold, Jay hit the SSS suplex and the Blade Runner for the victory, which made the crowd react in shock. Jay 6 points, Okada 2 points
Jay White got on the microphone and thanked Okada for wrestling him when two years ago, almost on the same day of the year, Gedo turned on Okada and teamed up with Jay. He said that he is the present and the future, and that Okada is history.
Standings
A Block: 6 points – Taichi, Jay White 4 points – Will Ospreay, Minoru Suzuki, Kota Ibushi 2 points – Kazuchika Okada, Jeff Cobb, Shingo Takagi 0 points – Tomohiro Ishii, Yujiro Takahashi
A Block: Taichi def. Minoru Suzuki (12:11, Pinfall, Black Mephisto)
A Block: Will Ospreay def. Tomohiro Ishii (18:20, Pinfall, Stormbreaker)
A Block: Jay White def. Kota Ibushi (20:28, Pinfall, Blade Runner)
Standings
A Block 4 points – Will Ospreay, Taichi, Jay White 2 points – Jeff Cobb, Kazuchika Okada, Minoru Suzuki, Kota Ibushi 0 points – Tomohiro Ishii, Shingo Takagi, Yujiro Takahashi
New Japan Pro-Wrestling thirtieth annual G1 Climax tournament has arrived!
Watch on NJPW World with a paid subscription. Only live Japanese commentary available. English commentary will be uploaded within several days. This event will have reduced attendance capacity to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.
Start Times (September 19, 2020): 1AM Pacific, 4AM Eastern, 9AM UK, 5PM Japan, 6PM East Australia
G1 Climax 30 Day 1 Results
Yuya Uemura def. Yota Tsuji (6:57) Yota Tsuji has shaved his goatee off since his last match, and I’m personally not a fan of the clean-shaven look. These two are going to be wrestling a lot over the course of the tournament. Every date, except perhaps the last, will start with a singles match involving a combination of Uemura, Tsuji, and Gabriel Kidd, so it will be enlightening to see if anyone gets an edge against each other. These two in the ring has demonstrated the dynamic between them after their years as young lions: Tsuji being the harder hitter while Uemura has more finesse and is more easy to root for. Uemura hit a beautiful dropkick and submitted Tsuji with a high-angle Boston crab for the victory.
A Block: Will Ospreay def. Yujiro Takahashi (7:34) Will Ospreay is back in Japan, and he got a great reception from the crowd. He has gained significant muscle mass over the last half year, and his billed weight has increased to 105 kilograms. Nevertheless, he seems not to have been slowed down too much by the weight gain, still flying through the air with ease. Yujiro tried to slow him down whenever possible, but Ospreay had too much energy and power for him. Ospreay hit the Stormbreaker for the not that hard-fought pinfall victory. Afterwards, he got on the microphone and talked about how he has nothing to fear because he is Will Ospreay. Not just his body, his head has clearly gotten bigger as well. Ospreay 2 points, Yujiro 0 points
A Block: Taichi def. Jeff Cobb (12:47) Jeff Cobb seems to have acquired the goatee that Yota Tsuji removed, and it looks good on him. Rumor has it that he is now a contracted NJPW full-time wrestler, so he has a lot to prove. Unfortunately, Miho Abe will be absent for all of Taichi’s matches in the G1. Taichi did not want to fight Cobb head-on, and Cobb had to chase him around the ring until Taichi hit him with the bell hammer, which he had stealthily stolen. Now in control, Taichi tried to immobilize Cobb through attacking his legs, but Cobb would rise to his feet and dominate Taichi with his powerful throws. Taichi retaliated with beautiful leg kicks and slowed Cobb’s pace to a crawl, flooring him with a jumping high kick. Cobb tried to pick Taichi up for the Tour of the Islands, but Taichi slipped out of it and delivered a backdrop driver as the crowd swelled with applause. He finally was able to lift Jeff Cobb for the Black Mephisto and make it on the G1 board. Taichi 2 points, Cobb 0 points
A Block: Minoru Suzuki def. Tomohiro Ishii (13:00) Neither Ishii nor Suzuki brought the belts they possess to the ring, which is irrationally upsetting to me. Nevertheless, these two men started as we knew they would, at each other’s throats and just slapping, punching, and mouthing off to each other without a care in the world. They both made early attempts at their match-ending moves, but these were in vain. The really loud elbow strikes they threw resounded especially in the building where the crowds can only clap, not cheer loudly. Suzuki took the edge in the battle of strikes, and Ishii crumpled to the ground, but not for long. He rose up and continued taking the fight to Suzuki. They traded headbutts before Ishii lifted Suzuki and hit a reverse piledriver! In a last-ditch effort, Suzuki hit a fast Gotch-style piledriver for the win! Suzuki 2 points, Ishii 0 points
A Block: Jay White def. Shingo Takagi (19:28) Since we’re talking about facial hair so far on this show, Jay White still has the disgusting-looking goatee, and it suits him. As the match began, Jay White continued to stall for time, but when he finally did get in the ring to fight, Gedo helped him intermittently, such as by holding Shingo’s leg to give Jay an opening. Shingo tried for the Noshigami, but Jay blocked it and dropped Shingo on his back with repeated suplexes. Shingo tried to run to the ropes for a lariat, but Jay hit the Complete Shot to slow his roll once again, which was the theme of this whole match: Jay continuing to cut Shingo off whenever he mounted a comeback. Jay attempted the Blade Runner, but Shingo reversed it and hit the Made in Japan for a near fall. Shingo lifted Jay for the Last of the Dragon, but Jay grabbed the referee so Shingo would lose his balance. Fed up, Shingo hit the Pumping Bomber and the Last of the Dragon again, but while Jay was on Shingo’s shoulders, he kicked the referee so there was no one to count the pinfall. With the referee down, Jay hit a low blow followed by the Blade Runner when the refeee made it back in the ring. Jay 2 points, Shingo 0 points
A Block: Kota Ibushi def. Kazuchika Okada (21:35) Ibushi and Okada were tentative to confront each other, despite the fact that if they were to last as long against each other as they did in their Wrestle Kingdom match this year, this bout would end in a time limit draw. Okada’s victory eight months ago seemed to make him not take Ibushi too seriously, as even when he gained an advantage, he would clap and stomp to rile up the crowd instead of putting the pressure on Ibushi. Okada applied the Money Clip, which is the name for the cobra clutch that he’s been using ever NJPW resumed, but Ibushi got his foot on the bottom rope to break the hold. Okada pulled Ibushi outside the ring and tried to hit the tombstone piledriver on the floor, but Ibushi got out of it, and then hit an asai moonsault to Okada on the outside. Okada and Ibushi fought over another piledriver in the ring, but Okada was finally able to hit the tombstone. Okada let Ibushi get to his knees and challenged him to hit him, but Ibushi got to his feet and kicked the kneeling Okada in the head. Ibushi tried to follow up, but Okada caught him and hit a spinning tombstone piledriver, than applied the Money Clip again, but Ibushi was able to get Okada off him. Okada grabbed Ibushi’s hands like he was going for the Kamigoye himself, but Ibushi lifted him into a sitout powerbomb, and then hit the Kamigoye for the three count! Ibushi 2 points, Okada 0 points
New Japan Pro-Wrestling returns to Meiji Jingu Stadium for their first outdoor wrestling event in 21 years, as the Summer Struggle 2020 tour comes to a head.
Watch on NJPW World with a paid subscription. Live English and Japanese commentary available. This event will have reduced attendance capacity to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.
Start Times (August 29, 2020): 1AM Pacific, 4AM Eastern, 9AM UK, 5PM Japan, 6PM East Australia
NJPW Summer Struggle in Jingu Results
Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. Master Wato (7:31) The atmosphere of an outdoor show in daylight, albeit the sun beginning to set, was enjoyable and novel for me. Kanemaru dominated the match early, using strikes and holds to wear down his more energetic opponent, for whom this is only his second match since returning in early July. Wato took control with a dropkick to the outside and a plancha. His ability was never in question, just this persona and look of his was the subject of criticism and some humor. Kanemaru pushed Wato into the referee and tried to spit whiskey in his face, but Wato kicked the bottle out of his hand before he could. Wato was on the verge of winning, about to set up his corkscrew senton, but Kanemaru grabbed his legs and rolled him into a flash pin for the three count.
KOPW 2020 Final Four Way Match: Toru Yano def. Kazuchika Okada, SANADA, El Desperado (7:01) Toru Yano was visibly distraught by the smoke machines as he made his entrance. I’ve never seen a four way match involving heavyweights in my time watching NJPW, but this brought something novel and interesting. Wrestlers from different factions working together to break up other wrestlers’ pinfalls, and wrestlers from the same faction working together, and then turning on each other when one went for the pinfall. Okada and Yano engaged in the latter, and it was sufficiently amusing. SANADA caught Okada in the skull end, but El Desperado broke it up with a top rope splash. Okada caught Desperado with the cobra clutch, but Toru Yano snuck up on Okada from behind, hit him with a blow blow, then rolled him up for the victory! Toru Yano is the provisional KOPW 2020 Champion.
The KOPW 2020 trophy is amusingly small.
NEVER Openweight Championship: Minoru Suzuki def. Shingo Takagi (c) (14:56) People have been looking forward to seeing Shingo and Suzuki in a straight up fight, but it was not before long that Suzuki’s cunning was on display, as he bullied Shingo around the outside of the ring, slamming him into barricades. As the match returned to between the ropes, Shingo fired back up with his powerful strikes and throws. Perhaps Suzuki had the advantage in pain tolerance too, as he ate Suzuki’s strikes and came up laughing. From there, Suzuki fought back with headbutts, and put Shingo in the sleeper hold. He looked for the Gotch piledriver again, but Shingo slipped out of it, and came off the ropes looking for the Pumping Bomber, but Minoru Suzuki slowed his roll with a dropkick. The two of them continued to exchange strikes and headbutts, which resounded loudly even in the open air stadium. After a particularly blunt sounding elbow strike, Suzuki applied the sleeper hold again and hit the Gotch-style piledriver for the 3 count! Minoru Suzuki is now a two-time NEVER Openweight Champion!
SUMMER STRUGGLE in JINGU NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH@suzuki_D_minoru 'Headbutt'
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori def. Hiromu Takahashi (c) (13:30) This match had a thunderous start, as Hiromu and Ishimori came at each other with all the energy they had, moving fast enough that neither of them could catch each other. But something had to give, and Ishimori was able to throw himself into a La Mistica, putting pressure down on Hiromu’s left shoulder, which is in poor shape as a result of Ishimori’s attacks on it in recent weeks. Hiromu tried to fight back by hitting the sunset flip powerbomb with his opponent on the apron, but Ishimori backflipped out of it and continued to press the advantage. Frustrated, Hiromu ripped all the supportive tape all his shoulder. He tried to throw a running Ishimori into the turnbuckle pad, but Ishimori was able to catch himself, only to fail to do so after Hiromu tried it again. The two madmen traded German suplexes, and Hiromu floored him with a lariat and the Dynamite Plunger. Hiromu kept the pressure on, but Ishimori granted himself a few moments of rest when he hit the Cipher Uteki. He hit the La Mistica again into the Yes Lock, but Hiromu was able to get a free hand on the ropes to break the hold. Ishimori set up the Bloody Cross, but Hiromu got out of it, only for Ishimori to put him down again with a lariat. He tried the Bloody Cross again, but Hiromu stopped the lift, then brought Ishimori to his shoulders and hit a death valley bomb into the turnbuckle pad. He hit the Time Bomb, but Ishimori kicked out at two! He tried for the Time Bomb II, but Ishimori blocked it and hit a move I’ve never seen before, the reverse Bloody Cross. He applied the Yes Lock again and Hiromu submitted! Taiji Ishimori is now a two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.
SUMMER STRUGGLE in JINGU IWGP Jr. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH@taiji_ishimori 'Corbata Armbreaker'
IWGP Tag Team Championship: Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi) (c) def. Golden Ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi) (16:01) As the sky turned dark, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi entered to new mashup entrance music.These two teams, some of the most high-profile to fight for the IWGP Tag Team Championships in recent memory, have been at each other’s throats ever since NJPW began having shows again in June. As such, they know what to expect of each other more than ever. Furthermore, the dynamic between Golden Ace has been brought into question; Ibushi questioned his faith in Tanahashi as a partner after he took the losing fall at Dominion, but they have since reassured the public that they are fine. As Ibushi and Taichi were about to begin, Tanahashi called out that Zack was sneaking up behind Ibushi. Dangerous Tekkers focused their double team offense on Tanahashi, meaning perhaps they thought he was the weak link of the team as well. Ibushi ran wild after getting tagged in, hitting a running shooting star press on a prone Taichi. Ibushi and Taichi engaged each other in a battle of kicks under the lights. After Ibushi hit a brutal high kick, he tagged in Tanahashi, who delivered repeated dragonscrew leg whips to Zack Sabre Jr, and then to Taichi, with the aid of Ibushi. Zack slowed Tanahashi’s roll with the Jim Breaks Armbar, but was interrputed by Taichi, who had pulled out the Iron Finger from Hell. Ibushi kicked him in the face nonchalantly and continued on. Tanahashi hit the High Fly Flow on Zack Sabre Jr., and climbed to the top rope for another, but Zack moved out of the way. From that point, Taichi ran in, and they together hit the Zack Mephisto on Tanahashi for the pinfall victory. Dangerous Tekkers retain the IWGP Tag Team Championships. Kota Ibushi looked absolutely distraught, and perhaps disappointed yet again.
IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Championship: EVIL (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito (26:20) EVIL had a very cool entrance, emerging from the dugout in pitch-blackness, with the stadium lights turned off, as if entering from “The Darkness World” if you will. EVIL controlled the match early on, as well-timed help from Dick Togo enabled him to take advantage of the leader of the unit he used to be a part of. Naito came back multiple times, but Dick Togo was continually a thorn in his side. It’s unknown whether Naito, like Hiromu, has insisted to the rest of LIJ that he fight his own battle regardless of the circumstances, but he could really use their help in these circumstances. Naito’s comebacks continued to garner thunderous applause, and he looked to be making the most progress yet before EVIL pushed the referee into an exposed turnbuckle, and Dick Togo came in again to attack Naito. He and EVIL hit the Magic Killer on Naito, prompting heavy boos. BUSHI ran in and fought off the two of them, but Gedo was also there to take out BUSHI. EVIL brandished a chair as Naito rose to his feet, but Naito kicked it away before Dick Togo came in and choked him with a wire. SANADA ran in and he and BUSHI fought off everyone, hitting simultaneous planchas on Togo and Gedo. EVIL and Naito rose to their feet, and Naito hit the running Destino for a near fall. Naito hit the Destino again, but EVIL blocked it and hitting a mule kick. EVIL went for his self-named finish, but Naito managed to block it. EVIL tried to hit Naito in the groin again, but Naito blocked his hand and slapped him in the face before hitting the Valentia. Finally, he hit the Destino for the three count. Tetsuya Naito is IWGP Heavyweight Champion and IWGP Intercontinental Champion again!
As he always does after winning in a main event, Tetsuya Naito performed the roll call of Los Ingobernables de Japon, emphasizing not mentioning EVIL. A firework display began, and Naito posed under the dazzling night sky.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling has announced that, following EVIL’s defection to Bullet Club from Los Ingobernables de Japon, the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship has been vacated. It was previously held by EVIL, BUSHI, and Shingo Takagi. Their reign lasted 206 days with 2 successful defenses.
To determine new champions, NJPW will hold a single-elimination tournament with eight teams during next week’s events as part of the Summer Struggle tour. The tournament is scheduled as follows:
New NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions will be determined next week!
Start Times: 2AM Pacific, 5AM Eastern, 10AM UK, 6PM Japan, 7PM East Australia
An English commentary version will be uploaded later in the week. Note: This event was held with a reduced attendance capacity so that the crowd could maintain social distancing.
NJPW Sengoku Lord 2020 in Nagoya Results
Taiji Ishimori def. Yuya Uemura (8:02) It continues to be obvious that Yuya Uemura has a lot of potential. If I were in charge, I would have both him and Yota Tsuji skip excursion and simply turn up as non-Young Lions one day. After all, it’s not going to be practical or fruitful to send them overseas to wrestle any time soon. Uemura looked a bit awkward when he did a springboard crossbody, he lost his balanced on the top rope but was able to save it. Taiji Ishimori submitted Yuya Uemura with the Yes Lock after hitting the Cipher Uteki.
Togi Makabe, Satoshi Kojima & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Gabriel Kidd (10:25) Tomoaki Honma and Yota Tsuji were also supposed to be on oppiste teams in this match, but NJPW reported that they had recently been on a TV show, where they were in close proximity with a cast member who has since tested positive for COVID-19, so they were removed from the show out of an abundance of caution. This match was at its best towards the end when it involved young lion Gabriel Kidd against Togi Makabe. Makabe was using his power to run over Gabriel with lariats, but Kidd was able to get Makabe down for multiple near falls using clever pinning combinations. Togi Makabe pinned Gabriel Kidd with a bridging German suplex.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito & SANADA) def.CHAOS (SHO, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) (10:31) The most interesting thing about this match is what’s going to happen with two sets of splintered tag team championships that have members present here. SHO has the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, but YOH is likely going to be out for the rest of the year with the ACL tear he sustained. The NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships, which are held by EVIL, SANADA, and BUSHI, are also in an obvious state of flux. EVIL said in an interview that he didn’t need the championship other than the fact that he was able to call himself a triple champion, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Notably, while SHO brought his championship, SANADA and BUSHI did not bring theirs, and EVIL likely will not bring his during his match tonight. SANADA submitted SHO with the Skull End. After the match, all of LIJ attacked the referee, which they used to do frequently, but haven’t done at all recently.
At this point, an intermission to disinfect the ring was held, but NJPW had a major announcement to make. They will be running their second outdoor event in history on August 29th to conclude the Summer Struggle Tour. It will take place at Meiji Jingu Stadium, a baseball stadium in Tokyo that can seat over 30,000 people. Read all about it.
For the first time in 21 years, open air action in the legendary Jingu Stadium!
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Master Wato def. Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI) (12:55) It was notable that Tenzan entered to Master Wato’s music while all the other members of that team entered to Tanahashi’s. It’s really being presented that Tenzan and Wato are in something of a master-and-student relationship. Kota Ibushi pinned DOUKI after the Kamigoye. He and Tanahashi gestured at IWGP Tag Team Champions Taichiand Zack Sabre Jr. as if they wanted their championships back. The match in which Dangerous Tekkers won the championships involved heavily unfair two-on-one offence, so it might be the best course of action to give them a rematch.
Kazuchika Okada def. Yujiro Takahashi (13:43) Yujiro was hesitant to start this match from the beginning. In interviews leading up to this match, Yujiro had acknowledged that Okada was stronger than him, but said that he would try to brign Okada down to his own level. Okada got Yujiro in the cobra clutch, which he has been using to win matches lately, but Yujiro was able to get his foot on the bottom rope to braek the hold. Following that, Gedo came in and hit Okada with a spanner, but Okada still kicked out when Yujiro went to pin him. Finally, Okada knocked Gedo off the apron when he tried to interfere again, then hit Yujiro with a spinning tombstone piledriver and then submitted him with the Cobra Clutch.
NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) def. El Desperado (17:03) El Desperado entered wearing the NEVER Openweight Championship that he had stolen from Shingo Takagi at Dominion. Furious, Shingo Takagi entered quickly to start the match, and laid waste to Despy with his explosive power. However, El Desperado knew he wouldn’t be able to outmatch Shingo blow for blow, and instead relentlessly went after Shingo’s legs. Shingo was still capable of brief bursts of quickness, but his damaged leg stopped him from following up at speed. El Desperado lured Shingo out of the ring only to hit him with his own NEVER Openweight Championship. As Shingo barely made it back in before the count, Despy floored him with a spear and the Guitara de Angel for a two count. With a brief display of energy, Shingo was able to get Despy up for Made in Japan, but it only garnered a near fall. El Desperado tried to push Shingo into the referee and give him a low blow, but Shingo blocked it. With his last energy, he hit the Pumping Bomber and Last of the Dragon to put El Desperado away. He them limped back up the ramp, damaged but victorious.
IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Championships: EVIL (c) def. Hiromu Takahashi (33:57) EVIL’s look has improved substantially from his victory several weeks ago, as he’s substituted the awkward skirt for some tights that are more appropriate for the rest of his look. Dick Togo entered with him, wearing an all white suit that made him look like a drug lord. Hiromu Takahashi blitzed him at the start of the match, incensed by the betrayal of his former stablemate and friend. He took advantage early, but well-timed and subtle interference from Dick Togo let EVIL firmly take control. The crowd was all for Hiromu here, wanting to see good conquer EVIL, so to speak. He tried to hit Hiromu with the Darkness Falls on the apron, but Hiromu stuffed it and made EVIL’s plan backfire with an apron death valley bomb, then a diving senton bomb from the top rope to the outside. EVIL was able to fire back with a superplex and he went for the EVIL, but Hiromu blocked it, only for EVIL to throw him with multiple high-angle German suplexes. He went for the EVIL again, but Hiromu just slapped him in the face, and followed up with a lariat for a 2.9 count. EVIL threw Hiromu into the referee and this gave Dick Togo the opportunity to interfere again. He and EVIL hit a Magic Killer on Hiromu, and Dick Togo went to the top turnbuckle, but Hiromu kicked EVIL into the ropes, causing Togo to fall. Hiromu capitalized by hitting EVIL with his own self-named finish, then a death valley bomb into an exposed turnbuckle. He then hit the Time Bomb, but it onlymanaged a two count! He then hit the Time Bomb II, and it looked like he would win, but Dick Togo pulled the referee out right before the three. Hiromu was about to take out Togo, but EVIL hit him with a low blow from behind to slow his roll. Togo was out, but EVIL hit the Darkness falls and the EVIL for the pinfall victory. He retains the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships.
Following the match, Taiji Ishimori attacked the fallen Hiromu, and tried to hit him with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but Tetsuya Naito finally ran in to scare him off. Naito stared EVIL down and expressed his desire for revenge, before leaving with Hiromu slumped over his shoulder.
Following the events of yesterday’s New Japan Cup Final, New Japan Pro-Wrestling has been shaken up by the betrayal of EVIL, turning his back on Los Ingobernables de Japon and joining Bullet Club after his victory over Kazuchika Okada to win the New Japan Cup. Today, he challenges Tetsuya Naito in the main event for Naito’s IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships.
Watch exclusively on NJPW World with Japanese commentary. English commentary will be recorded and uploaded to NJPW World this week. Note: This event will have a reduced attendance capacity to comply with social distancing regulations. Also, the live audience was instructed not to cheer loudly to reduce exhalation of potentially contagious aerosols.
NJPW Dominion 2020 Results
Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Gabriel Kidd (9:25) The audience only reacting by applause is still somewhat jarring, but the crowd is making the most of it. There was an extended bit of Kojima and Honma trading Machine Gun chops in which the crowd clapped in time with every single chop. Their hands are going to be sore by the end of the night. These matches do get repetitive, but when a young lion’s in there it’s always satisfying to see the process of their development. Finish: Yuji Nagata over Gabriel Kidd by submission (Nagata Lock II)
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI & SANADA) def. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Yota Tsuji (10:15) The story of this match was more how Los Ingobernables de Japon were processing EVIL’s betrayal yesterday. None of them looked particularly happy to be there. and SANADA and BUSHI weren’t carrying the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships that they were holding with EVIL. Hiromu Takahashi’s hair was frayed like he’d been up all night and his wrist tape had “Why?” written on it over and over again. Finish: Hiromu Takahashi over Yota Tsuji by submission (Boston crab)
Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI) def.Master Wato, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yuya Uemura Master Wato’s strikes are a little loose, but he wrestles with a good energy about him and he’s very young so I don’t view it as particularly problematic. He got over as a young lion for being an underdog who you could really feel for, so his lack of dominance can be forgiven, but Hiroyoshi Tenzan being the one to draw sympathy by being beaten up by all three members of Suzuki-gun seemed misplaced. Finish: El Desperado over Yuya Uemura by pinfall (Pinche Loco)
Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & Yujiro Takahashi) def. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto) Okada threw his big coat at Yujiro as he entered, incensed by Yujiro’s intereference in the New Japan Cup yesterday, and he kept trying to go after Yujiro. This isn’t the first time Yujiro interfered to Okada’s detriment in a big match, so Okada’s bone to pick was evident. After a while, Gedo came out and hit Okada in the back with a spanner while Goto was the legal man, and this gave Ishimori and Yujiro the opportunity to team up on Goto for the victory. Finish: Yujiro Takahashi over Hirooki Goto by pinfall (Pimp Juice)
After the match, Okada was able to shake Gedo off to attack Yujiro some more, but Yujiro planted him with a Pimp Juice of his own. As he said in an interview yesterday, he wasn’t on Okada’s level, but he could pull Okada down to his own level.
NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Shingo Takagi (c) def. SHO We’ve seen a lot of this match over the last month, with SHO defeating Shingo for the first time in the first round of the New Japan Cup, and them coming to blows ever since. SHO has continued to carry himself more and more like Shingo’s equal despite Shingo’s advantage in experience and size. It goes without saying that these two hit each other hard and threw each other hard, but they brought it into a new gear in this match, just potatoing each other in a way that pleased my hindbrain very much. SHO looked to have Shingo on the ropes and lifted him for the Shock Arrow, but Shingo sprawled and lifted SHO for a Made in Japan that gave him a near fall. He hit a Pumping Bomber, but SHO kicked out immediately, even before the one count. SHO attacked with a cross-arm piledriver for a near fall. From that point, he kept going for a cross armbreaker, but Shingo used his strength to keep getting out of it. SHO finally hit a straight punch, followed by a GTW and the Last of the Dragon for the win. Shingo Takagi defends the NEVER Openweight Championship.
As Shingo celebrated on the ramp, El Desperado came from behind the curtain and punched him in the face, then hit Shingo with his own belt. He yelled that Shingo would be accepting this challenge no matter what.
IWGP Tag Team Championship Match: Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.) def. Golden Ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi) (c) Even Zack Sabre Jr., who is considered a relatively noble wrestler by Suzuki-gun’s standards, couldn’t help but stoop down to Taichi’s level. The two of them took turns beating down Tanahashi while keeping him separate from Ibushi. Zack bit off more than he could chew and Tanahashi got out of his abdominal stretch and whipped him with a reverse Dragon screw. He reached Ibushi for the hot tag, who unleashed hot fire on his enemies. Ibushi was on the verge of winning, but Zack came in and put him in a guillotine, which he was nearly disqualified for. Ibushi landed a LOUD high kick that dropped Taichi to the mat, then tagged in Tanahashi as Taichi tagged in Zack. Tanahashi hit a sling blade for a near fall when Taichi came in to break up the pin. Tanahashi hit another sling blade and a high fly flow, but Zack got his knees up. With Taichi holding Tanahashi in place, Zack hit repeated dragonscrews on both of Tanahashi’s legs. Taichi hit a high kick on Tanahashi as Zack planted him with the Zack driver for the victory. Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.) are the new IWGP Tag Team Champions.
IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Championships Match: EVIL def. Tetsuya Naito (c) EVIL entered with new music and a new look about him, like a cross between a Roman gladiator and a dominatrix. Every member of Bullet Club in the country accompanied him to the ring, but the referee refused to start the match with them present. EVIL rolled in and out of the ring as the match began, but the angered Naito ran straight after him. EVIL took the early edge, and with Naito laying, EVIL took Milano Collection AT’s EVIL toy scythe and broke it in half, then threw it at him. Incensed, Milano jumped the barricade and tried to fight EVIL, but EVIL whipped him into the guardrail, knocking him out of commission. EVIL continued to batter Naito, destroying his knee to nullify his speed advantage. He had pulled out a table earlier in the match and he lifted Naito and gave him a sickening knee drop straight through the table on the outside, which also gave Naito a big cut on his back. He grinned (evilly, as you might imagine) at Naito, then floored him with a running lariat and Darkness Falls for a two-count. Naito took back the momentum with a turning rope-assisted DDT and the Gloria for a near fall of his own. He lifted EVIL to the top rope to hit a super hurricanrana, then a running DDT for yet another count of two. Naito went for the Destino again, but EVIL blocked it and pushed him into the referee, giving Bullet Club the opportunity to interfere. Hiromu Takahashi ran out and took on Jado and Taiji Ishimori by himself. Although they were apprehended, EVIL had grabbed a steel chair amidst the chaos and slammed it right over Naito’s head, popping the seat off. He looked to capitalize, but Naito blocked the EVIL finish and went for the Destino only for EVIL to hit a mule kick while pushing the referee down. BUSHI came out and lifted Naito to his feet, only to attack him. EVIL stomped Naito in the groin and hit the EVIL for the three count. EVIL is the new IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Champion.
BUSHI, who had helped EVIL win the match, took his mask off to reveal he wasn’t BUSHI, but Dick Togo, a freelance wrestler who has been in NJPW before. Hiromu Takahashi came out and, to avenge Naito’s loss, wanted to challenge EVIL for his newly won championships. If not both, either one would be fine, he noted. EVIL brushed him off and left Hiromu going ballistic in the ring.
Today, NJPW will hold the ninth and final day of the 2020 New Japan Cup. It is a 32-man single elimination tournament. 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 final match to determine tomorrow’s main event challenger at Dominion!
Watch exclusively on NJPW World with Japanese commentary. English commentary will be recorded and uploaded to NJPW World this week. Note: This event will have a reduced attendance capacity to comply with social distancing regulations.
New Japan Cup 2020 Day 9 Results
Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) def.Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura (9:15) Everyone in this match wrestled with a level of enthusiasm befitting the first NJPW match with a paying crowd in over four months. Also, there was a mystifying new element to this match: the fact that the crowds were told by NJPW not to cheer loudly. Instead, it was just a sea of applause for every cool move and every time the young lions made a comeback. The happiness was palpable. Togi Makabe finished off Yota Tsuji with a bridging German suplex.
TenKoji (Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) def. Hirooki Goto & Gabriel Kidd (9:57) The euphoria of the return of the audience was still affecting me during this match, and it must have been affecting Gabriel Kidd too because he was a house of fire in this match. Even after the crowd successfully stifled the instinct to chant Kojima’s “Icchauzo bakayaro” catchphrase, Kidd lifting Kojima up for a vertical sequence got the biggest vocal reaction so far, prompting gasps from the crowd. Katsuyori Shibata must be a great trainer. Satoshi Kojima put Gabriel Kidd down for the three count with a lariat.
Master Wato def. DOUKI (7:46) I’m not sure that Master Wato came out like a house of fire, leveling DOUKI with high kicks and a spinning uppercut. When DOUKI took control of the match, it was mostly with repeated eye-rakes and hitting Wato with his pipe. I’m still not sure about Wato. His strikes are very good and fit his persona well, and he certainly looks better than he did in the video package hyping him up over the last month, but it still feels out of place. Master Wato pinned DOUKI with a top rope corkscrew somersault senton.
Following the end of the match, as Wato celebrated, Yoshinobu Kanemaru came out and attacked him. Hiroyoshi Tenzan came out to pull Kanemaru off Wato and the two of them shook hands.
Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & Yujiro Takahashi) def.Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA & BUSHI) (9:20) It seemed like Los Ingobernables de Japon especially relished the return of live audiences. The crowd roared (with applause) when SANADA applied the Paradise Lock on Taiji Ishimori, and BUSHI was over as well. There was a single person booing when Ishimori tried to rip off BUSHI’s mask, which may have been unintentional comedy. Yujiro Takahashi pinned BUSHI with the Pimp Juice DDT.
Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Yuji Nagata & Ryusuke Taguchi (12:43) Hiroshi Tanahashi experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in this match. He soaked in the crowd’s applause like no one else, then ten minutes later he was having his knees twisted, pummeled, pulverized, and punished by everyone in Suzuki-gun. This damage may make the difference in the outcome of Tanahashi and Ibushi’s first defense of the IWGP Tag Team Championships against Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi tomorrow. Ibushi and Zack Sabre Jr. exchanged incredibly quick blows and transitions, Nagata threw some lovely suplexes, and Taguchi’s shtick is much more enjoyable with a crowd, even if all they do is clap. El Desperado pushed Taguchi into the referee, then hit him with a straight punch and the Pinche Loco for the pinfall victory.
Golden Ace and Dangerous Tekkers came to blows after the match, but for once in this whole rivalry it was Tanahashi and Ibushi who held the IWGP Tag Team Championships high in the end.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi) def. CHAOS (SHO, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) (15:00) This was a wild trios match featuring five great athletes, and one generational athlete in Toru Yano. But seriously, between SHO and Shingo coming to violent blows as they usually do, Hiromu Takahashi and Tomohiro Ishii in a battle of speed versus hardness, and Toru Yano being surprisingly formidable and only going down after being triple-teamed by all three members of LIJ, and getting several dramatic near-falls on the dual IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion, this match was action-packed. Tetsuya Naito pinned Toru Yano with a jackknife pin for the victory.
After the match, the three members of Los Ingobernables de Japon posed in the ring, with five Championship belts between the three of them.
New Japan Cup 2020 Final: EVIL def. Kazuchika Okada (31:50) EVIL has really been living up to his name this tournament. Every match he’s won to make it to this point has occurred in a dastardly fashion, with groin stomps and chair shots as far as the eye can see. He went to finish the match early, going for his namesake finisher within two minutes of the opening bell, but to no avail. Even though the crowd was instructed not to cheer vocally, you could hear people calling out EVIL and Okada’s name from time to time. EVIL’s game plan, at first, was to work Okada’s arm to weaken both the Rainmaker, which Okada has yet to actually win a match with in the tournament, and the cobra clutch, which he has been finishing all his matches with. Okada hit a flapjack and a short-range dropkick to slow EVIL’s roll and applied the cobra clutch, but EVIL made it to the ropes to break the hold. Okada tried to capitalize, but EVIL pushed him into the referee and delivered a low blow to Okada. With both Okada and the referee down, EVIL threw no fewer than four chairs into the ring, and Okada with Darkness Falls into the pile of chairs. Okada had enough energy to hit a reverse neckbreaker, but fell to the mat. EVIL hit a nasty rolling elbow and went to run the ropes, but Okada hit a standing dropkick and reapplied the cobra clutch, but EVIL raked his eyes to stop it. Okada applied the cobra clutch once more, but stopped it to hit a short-range Rainmaker. As Okada went to follow up, Gedo came out and distracted the referee, then Yujiro Takahashi attacked Okada while the referee wasn’t looking. Okada caught EVIL in the cobra clutch yet again, but EVIL broke it with a mule kick and then stomped the laying Okada right in the groin. Finally, EVIL hit the EVIL on Okada for the three count.
EVIL wins the New Japan Cup 2020. He will challenge Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships tomorrow at Dominion!
After the match, Tetsuya Naito showed up to congratulate EVIL on his victory. He said that he enjoyed the new EVIL he’s been seeing lately, and that he was looking forward to their match tomorrow. He offered a fist bump to EVIL, but EVIL met it with a Too Sweet, and he hit the EVIL on Naito. Every Bullet Club member in Japan showed up to applaud him, and he left with then. EVIL is Bullet Club.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the eighth day of the 2020 New Japan Cup. The New Japan Cup is NJPW’s annual 32-man single elimination tournament, usually scheduled for the Spring. The winner will challenge Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships at NJPW Dominion on July 12. Today’s card will hold the two semifinal matches.
Watch exclusively on NJPW World with Japanese commentary. English commentary will be recorded and uploaded to NJPW World this week. Note: This event was held in an empty arena.
New Japan Cup 2020 Day 8 Results
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado & Taichi) def.Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Yuji Nagata & Gabriel Kidd As expected, the main theme of the match was continuing the heated rivalries forged during the New Japan Cup, namely Minoru Suzuki with Yuji Nagata and the Golden Aces against Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi. I wouldn’t be surprised if both of said rivalries culminate at Dominion. In addition, Gabriel Kidd’s gumption was on display, as he stepped right up to Minoru Suzuki, only for Suzuki to eat his elbow strikes and drop him with one slap. In the end, El Desperado finished Kidd off with a punch to the face and the Pinche Loco. The fighting continued after the match, and the Dangerous Tekkers threw the IWGP Tag Team Championships at Tanahashi and Ibushi as Zack exclaimed “We’ll make those belts worth something!” Ibushi chased them backstage in a fit of rage.
CHAOS (SHO, Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) If there had to be one wrestler who was the focus of this match, it was undoubtedly SHO. He came out like a house of fire against every member of LIJ to prove what he had to offer. When Shingo Takagi and SHO fought last year, it seemed like SHO was always on the back foot, that Shingo was never in danger of losing. After beating Shingo in the first round of the tournament and his performance in this match, he now feels like Takagi’s equal and I can think of no greater praise than that. SHO pinned BUSHI with the Shock Arrow. Afterwards, Shingo brandished his two championships at SHO, asking which one he wanted. SHO pulled the NEVER Openweight Championship, making his intentions clear. Shingo attempted to hit SHO with said Championship, but SHO dodged it and hit an impactful spear to state his case. Expect that match to take place at Dominion as well.
Prior to the cleaning and disinfection intermission, a new vignette played involving the new wrestler coming to NJPW who has been referred to as “The Grandmaster.” It revealed that this was Hirai Kawato, who was returning from his learning excursion in Mexico. His gimmick appears to be something of a martial artist, and his new name is “Master Wato.” Personally, I think it looks too goofy and it’s hard to take seriously. It turned out that he was in the building and made his entrance to speak a few words in the ring. As he posed, DOUKI came out of nowhere and attacked him, and Wato needed to be helped to the back after the assault. Perhaps DOUKI will be Master Wato’s first obstacle to overcome.
Semifinal Match: EVIL def. SANADA (20:13) The match began at a tempered pace, as the teammates gingerly approached each other. Their level of trust has been a recurring theme in their matches together, and EVIL has won his matches so far in the tournament in less than sportsmanlike ways. The question was whether or not EVIL would fight fairly and honorably in this match. As you would guess from his name, of course not. SANADA offered a handshake and EVIL accepted it only to go for his EVIL finish right away, but SANADA had it scouted. As the match progressed, EVIL seemed to have the advantage most of the way through. Shortly after the ten minute mark, he hit the Darkness Falls for a near fall. Not out yet, SANADA wrenched on the Skull End, but EVIL flipped backwards over him to get out of the hold and then floored him with an evil lariat. SANADA fired back up with a cutter from the top rope, but appeared to land on his own head and it looked bad. As EVIL looked to capitalize on the mistake, SANADA rolled him into the Skull End again, but stood up to go for a top rope moonsault but EVIL blocked it with his knees. EVIL pushed SANADA into the referee and hit a low blow, then hit him in the face with a steel chair. With the referee still down, EVIL stomped on SANADA’s groin. He then pushed the referee into the ring, hit the EVIL and won. EVIL advances to the New Japan Cup Final.
Semifinal Match: Kazuchika Okada def. Hiromu Takahashi (27:00) Hiromu looked excited to wrestle against Okada, while Okada didn’t have any particular expression about him. Hiromu took control of the early going, hitting Okada with rapid and high-powered offense and using his speed advantage on the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Okada had 20 kilograms on Hiromu but that extra weight was costing him. Okada hitting a flapjack and a shotgun dropkick to even out the momentum of the match. Okada continued with a top rope dropkick, sending Hiromu flying across the ring, and now seemed firmly in control. Okada went to the top rope, but Hiromu dropkicked off of it, and then sunset flip powerbombed Okada to the floor. He followed up with the Dynamite Plunger, but Okada managed a standing dropkick to end his momentum. Okada hit the Tombstone piledriver and the Cobra clutch, but Hiromu struggled to his feet, picked Okada up, and gave him a death valley bomb in the corner turnbuckle pad. Hiromu hit Okada with a rainmaker of his own and the Time Bomb, but Okada kicked out just before the three count. Hiromu went for the Time Bomb II, but Okada wiggled out of it and hit a spinning Tombstone piledriver and a discus Rainmaker. Finally, he hit a wrist-clutch Rainmaker and applied the Cobra clutch again. Hiromu was unresponsive, and the referee called the match for Okada. Kazuchika Okada advances to face EVIL in the New Japan Cup Final.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the 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 fifth 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 5 Results
Second Round Match: Taiji Ishimori def. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (9:18) These two men have a lot of history. They’ve wrestled one dozen singles matches, both in NJPW and NOAH, and Taiji Ishimori has yet to win even one. No sooner did Ishimori walk through the entrance curtain than did Kanemaru follow him and set about laying waste to Ishimori’s left knee, to nullify Ishimori’s agility advantage. Five minutes in, Ishimori was still able to pull off a handspring kick but the pain stopped him from following up. Kanemaru tricked Ishimori into hitting the ref and used the free moment to put whiskey in his mouth, but Ishimori clamped a hand on his face and forced him to swallow it. COVID-19 best practice. From there, he hit a double-knee gutbuster and the Bloody Cross to advance to the quarterfinals and break his losing streak.
Second Round Match: Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii (13:28) Ishii and Makabe have fought many times over the years, and you know what you’re getting with them. Immediately they began bashing into each other with reckless abandon, trading forearms and shoulder tackles. Ishii delivered a nasty German suplex to Makabe directly into the turnbuckle pad, causing him to crumple, and from there he handily took control of the match. Down but not out, Makabe finally rose to his feet and got back on offense with a lariat and a powerbomb. Makabe lifted Ishii to the top rope to set up his finishing combo, but Ishii blocked it and delivered a superplex for his troubles. Makabe immediately fired up and tried to hit the King Kong Knee Drop, but Ishii got out of the way. With one last lariat and the vertical drop brainbuster, Ishii took the pinfall victory and cemented his place in the quarterfinals.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI) (13:55) Suzuki-gun entered first today, and Kota Ibushi sprinted out to attack them all immediately, perturbed by the double-team beatdown he received yesterday at the hands of Sabre and Taichi. This didn’t last long though, as Suzuki-gun’s greater commitment to teamwork, regardless of the legality thereof, resulted in all three of them stretching Tanahashi’s legs out, despite him already having been eliminated from the tournament. When Ibushi and Taichi shared the ring, they exchanged brutal leg kicks and Taichi dropped Ibushi right on his neck with a backdrop driver. In the end, following a Sling Blade assist from Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi delivered the Dodon on DOUKI for the pinfall victory. Despite losing, Suzuki-gun attacked Golden Ace once again after the match, but this time they were unable to leave the IWGP Tag Team Champions in a crumpled heap.
Second Round Match: Hiromu Takahashi def. Toru Yano (9:17) Hiromu Takahashi entered wearing an NJPW-branded hard hat, which he must have thought would thwart Yano’s attempts to cut his hair. Fearless, Yano brandished his hair trimmer as soon as the bell rang. Hiromu hid under the ring, leading Yano to chase him while leaving his trimmer in the ring. Hiromu came out the other side of the ring and claimed the trimmer, but it turned out to be a decoy with no batteries, while Yano held another trimmer. The referee wrested it away, but Yano also carried scissors in his trunks, but Hiromu was able to grab those too and throw them away. Hiromu threw Yano out of the ring, but Yano snatched some duct-tape and tied Hiromu’s leg to Yota Tsuji’s leg, and was able to cut off some of Hiromu’s hair with yet another pair of scissors. Incensed, Hiromu and Tsuji took Yano to the lobby of Korakuen Hall, with their legs still taped together, and pushed him into an open elevator. The elevator was sent down to the ground level of the building, and Hiromu and Tsuji scrambled into the ring before the twenty-count. Hiromu Takahashi defeated Toru Yano by countout and will face Tomohiro Ishii in the quarterfinals.
Second Round Match: Kazuchika Okada def. Yuji Nagata (20:14) Nagata came out with a point to prove: that, even at 52 years old, he was still The Anti-Aging Hero. As Okada pushed him into the ropes, Nagata kicked him into the face. Okada might have been a five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, but Nagata still considered himself Okada’s senior. Okada’s pace, initially slow, increased over time as he realized that he had to take Nagata more seriously than he thought. As Okada climbed to the rope to try for a top rope elbow drop, Nagata had it scouted, and caught him with an avalanche exploder suplex. As Nagata went to follow up, Okada managed to hit him with a standing dropkick and a tombstone piledriver, but did not go for the pin. Instead, he tried to go for the cobra clutch, but Nagata reversed it into the Nagata Lock II, but Okada made it to the ropes to break the hold. Nagata went for a wrist-clutch exploder suplex only for Okada to apply the cobra clutch, which he held for a long time before Nagata broke the hold with a suplex. Okada tried a rolling lariat, but Nagata blocked it and hit a backdrop driver for a two count. Nagata kept trying for the backdrop hold, but Okada was able to catch him with another cobra clutch, this time with bodyscissors, for the submission victory. He will face Taiji Ishimori in the quarterfinals.
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 first day of the 2020 New Japan Cup. The New Japan Cup is NJPW’s annual 32-man single elimination tournament, usually scheduled for the Spring. The winner will challenge Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships at NJPW Dominion on July 12. Today’s card will hold four of the sixteen matches in the first round.
Watch exclusively on NJPW World with Japanese commentary. English commentary will be recorded and uploaded to NJPW World this week. Note: This event was held in an empty arena.
New Japan Cup 2020 Day 1 Results
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Togi Makabe def. Yota Tsuji (8:41) It’s going to take a while to get used to hearing Togi Makabe’s actual music be played instead of a generic dubbed track to avoid playing licensing fees. As a young lion, Yota Tsuji was overeager to prove himself against the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Makabe. Tsuji leveled Makabe with a spear and a shoulder tackle as soon as the bell rang. Makabe quickly gained the advantage back, but Tsuji showed more than one would have expected for a young lion. Makabe leveled Tsuji with a lariat and pinned him with a bridging German suplex to advance to the second round.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Toru Yano def. Jado (9:07) Jado entered wearing a shirt that said “So What, I Don’t Care.” I’m sure he does care somewhat but he’s been wrestling for thirty years and hasn’t had a singles match since 2016 for good reason. Toru Yano started the match by attempting to rally a crowd that didn’t exist with “Yano To-Ru” chants. Amused, Jado responded by chanting “Jado-o!” at him. As the referee fought Jado to take away his kendo stick, Yano knocked Jado square on the head with a turnbuckle pad. Jado fell on his face a la Ric Flair and Yujiro Takahashi briefly attacked Yano while the referee was checking on the fallen Jado. Despite Jado’s sluggish pace, he was able to work over Yano with punches to the lower back and a cobra twist. Yano thwarted Jado’s kendo stick attack and pinned him with a low blow and schoolboy to advance to the second round.
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def.Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Yuji Nagata & Yuya Uemura (13:27) The bulk of this match consisted of all of Suzuki-gun collectively trying to destroy Hiroshi Tanahashi’s knees. Leg locks and a cheeky dragonscrew from Zack Sabre Jr. left Tanahashi writhing in agony. ZSJ and Ibushi always fight hard, even in large tag team matches when they don’t have to. Yuya Uemura has been vocal about wanting to fight Minoru Suzuki head on and he briefly locked the Boston crab on Suzuki before Kanemaru broke it up. Suzuki got his revenge with the Gotch-style piledriver on Uemura for the pin.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Hiromu Takahashi def. Tomoaki Honma (18:45) Hiromu and Honma have been building up this first round match as a battle of two men who have both had their necks broken. The power of youth is evident: despite being sidelined for over a year, Hiromu has not lost a step, while nearly every movement Honma makes is labored. Hiromu dominated the heavyweight Honma with dropkicks and neck holds. Honma made a brief rally with a running bulldog and a Kokeshi. Honma attempted a Kokeshi headbutt of his own but missed. Hiromu hit Honma with a death valley driver on the outside of the ring, and Honma barely avoided being counted out. Hiromu pushed Honma into the mat with his foot on the back of Honma’s neck. Honma made a comeback and hit three consecutive Kokeshis only for Hiromu to kick out. Honma went for the top rope Kokeshi but missed. Hiromu capitalized with the Time Bomb to to win and advance to the second round. His opponent will be Toru Yano.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Tomohiro Ishii def. El Desperado (20:17) El Desperado taunted Ishii about his height, but Ishii seemed to take advantage early with his superior strength and durability. Desperado used leg kicks and twists to target Ishii’s knee and removed a corner turnbuckle pad. Ishii eventually had enough and used strikes to level the junior heavyweight. Persistently, El Desperado kept going back to the knee. He applied his Numero Dos stretch muffler but Ishii managed to flip over and break the hold. Ishii hit a powerslam to turn the momentum of the match. He attempted to powerbomb El Desperado but his knee buckled and he needed to do it a second time, but it only received a near fall. Despy hit a discrete low blow followed by a small package hold, but Ishii kicked out at two, followed by the Guitarra de Angel only for Ishii to kick out again. El Desperado went for the Pinche Loco, but Ishii levelled him with a headbutt and a lariat for a two count. Finally, he hit the vertical drop brainbuster to defeat El Desperado and take his place in the second round. His opponent in the second round will be Togi Makabe.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold their first wrestling event in 110 days. Since late February, the promotion has cancelled all events as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. However, with testing of workers and staff, and approval of the Japanese government, that hiatus ends today.
Watch: NJPW World (English Commentary) NJPW World (Japanese Commentary) Note: This show was held in an empty arena.
NJPW Together Project Special Results
Yota Tsuji def. Gabriel Kidd (8:43) Even without a crowd, the fire of young lions often leaps off the screen. The noise of the commentary, the ring, the grunts and growls of the wrestlers, and their hard strikes more than compensated for the lack of an audience to react. Yota Tsuji hit a spear and then submitted Gabriel Kidd with a Boston crab.
Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def. Tomohiro Ishii & Yuya Uemura (12:57) Yuya Uemura has clearly gained muscle mass over the last several months. Ishii and Uemura attacked the Suzuki-gun junior heavyweights before the bell rang. The main focuses of this match were Suzuki-gun beating down Uemura together, followed by Ishii fending off both of them by himself. Suzuki-gun worked together to attack Ishii’s knee. After taking him out of commission, they systematically dismantled Yuya Uemura in similar fashion. El Desperado submitted Yuya Uemura with a Numero Dos, a stretch muffler.
Ishii did some squats outside of the ring to show El Desperado that his knee wasn’t affected that much. Tomorrow, June 16th, Tomohiro Ishii faces El Desperado in the first round of the New Japan Cup, as does Yuya Uemura against Yoshinobu Kanemaru on June 17th.
Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori, Yujiro Takahashi, Gedo & Jado) def.Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomoaki Honma (13:20) Toru Yano entered with a disinfectant spray bottle instead of his usual spitting water, as compliant with NJPW safety regulations. YOSHI-HASHI entered with new black and red gear that says “Get Back Up” on one leg, which I’m convinced is a rib. Yano immediately went to remove the turnbuckle, while Jado brandished a kendo stick. They dared each other to drop their weapon first. Honma missing the second-rope Kokeshi was surprisingly impactful considering the lack of reaction, but this gave Yujiro the opening he needed to secure the victory. Yujiro Takahashi pinned Tomoaki Honma with the Pimp Juice DDT.
The New Japan Cup fixtures for this match are as follows: Toru Yano versus Jado (6/16), Taiji Ishimori versus Gabriel Kidd (6/17), and Hirooki Goto versus Yujiro Takahashi (6/23).
During the intermission to disinfect the ring and the ringside area, a vignette played for a new wrestler coming to NJPW. It only referred to them as “The Grandmaster.”
Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) (13:33) Tenzan and Kojima looked much more well-rested than they did prior to this hiatus. Kojima and EVIL took each other on in a battle of brawn. Failed attempt at the Paradise Lock aside, Taguchi looked surprisingly capable of standing in the ring with SANADA. Notably, SANADA is the only member of Los Ingobernables de Japon who does not possess any championship, and some have postulated that he should be the favorite to win the New Japan Cup. This was a chaotic match involving a lot of teamwork, but TenCozy and Taguchi showed unexpected synergy. Ryusuke Taguchi submitted BUSHI with his ankle lock known as Oh My and Garankle to win.
The New Japan Cup first round matches involving people in this match are Ryusuke Taguchi versus SANADA (6/22), Hiroyoshi Tenzan versus YOSHI-HASHI (6/23), and EVIL versus Satoshi Kojima (6/23).
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe & Yuji Nagata def. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI) (13:04) Hiroshi Tanahashi might have appreciated three months of rest more than anyone. Neither arm of his donned a compression sleeve for what seems like the first time in ages. Suzuki and Nagata defied their combined age of 104 years old with some of the hardest strikes on this whole show while Zack Sabre Jr., the only non-young lion foreign wrestler on this show, squared off against Ibushi at a high rate of speed. Ibushi hit a double Pele Kick on both DOUKI and Zack to stop Suzuki-gun all ganging up on him. Togi Makabe hit the King Kong Knee Drop on DOUKI to win the match for his team. Makabe’s music, a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song, played in the building. This is unusual, usually a generic dubbed rock song plays when he wins since paying for licensed music is expensive.
Minoru Suzuki goes one-on-one with Yuji Nagata on day one of the New Japan Cup tomorrow while Tanahashi and Ibushi compete against Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr. respectively on June 22.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi) def. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, SHO & YOH) (14:17) It was amusing watching Okada gesticulate excessively to absent members of the crowd. In what might be a first for Okada, he was the only person in this six man tag team match to not be a Champion. Naito and Okada briefly opened the match with grappling, but it kicked into the next gear when SHO and Shingo Takagi tagged in to batter each other. SHO and Shingo have both stated that their rivalry that began in last year’s Best of the Super Juniors is not over, and they took the fight especially hard to each other. Tetsuya Naito pinned YOH with the Destino to close out the show. Naito and Hiromu fist-bumped each other after the match, but Shingo did not take part.
In the New Japan Cup first round, Kazuchika Okada will face Gedo, Hiromu Tanahashi will face Tomoaki Honma, it’s Shingo Takagi versus SHO, and YOH versus BUSHI. Tetsuya Naito sits out of the New Japan Cup as the reigning IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Champion, set to defend both championships against the winner of the tournament at Dominion next month.
On May 25th, the Japanese government lifted the nationwide state of emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic. New Japan Pro-Wrestling has announced their plans to return to conducting live wrestling events over the next month. To ensure minimal risk of virus propagation, NJPW has been conducting antibody testing on wrestlers, crew, trainers, and other live event staff, and preparation of venues has begun.
The last NJPW event took place on February 26th in Okinawa, Japan. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s first live event following the end of Japan’s COVID-19 state of emergency will be an empty arena event on June 15th, called the NJPW Together Special. In all, eleven events have been scheduled, including a rescheduled New Japan Cup and Dominion.
The New Japan Cup participants have changed to accommodate international travel restrictions caused by the pandemic. The majority of participants who live overseas have been replaced. As such, the 32-man New Japan Cup, usually a heavyweights-only tournament, now includes a number of NJPW’s junior heavyweight wrestlers. Also, it has been announced that, as previously, Tetsuya Naito will defend both his IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental championships against the winner of the New Japan Cup.
All events will be streamed live on NJPW World. NJPW has also announced that their Summer Struggle 2020 tour, originally scheduled to take place from July 11 to July 19, has been cancelled.
NJPW Event Schedule
June 15: NJPW Together Project Special
Matches unknown
June 16: New Japan Cup 2020 First Round (empty arena)
Togi Makabe vs. Yota Tsuji
Tomohiro Ishii vs. El Desperado
Toru Yano vs. Jado
Tomoaki Honma vs. Hiromu Takahashi
Unknown “special match”
June 17: New Japan Cup 2020 First Round (empty arena)
Kazuchika Okada vs. Gedo
Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki
Yuya Uemura vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Gabriel Kidd vs. Taiji Ishimori
Unknown “special match”
June 22: New Japan Cup 2020 First Round (empty arena)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taichi
Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. SANADA
SHO vs. Shingo Takagi
Unknown “special match”
June 23: New Japan Cup 2020 First Round (empty arena)
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. YOSHI-HASHI
YOH vs. BUSHI
Satoshi Kojima vs. EVIL
Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Unknown “special match”
June 24: New Japan Cup 2020 Second Round (empty arena)
Four New Japan Cup second round matches
Unknown “special match”
July 1: New Japan Cup 2020 Second Round (empty arena)
Four New Japan Cup second round matches
Unknown “special match”
July 2: New Japan Cup 2020 Quarterfinals (empty arena)
Four New Japan Cup quarterfinal matches
Unknown “special match”
July 3: New Japan Cup 2020 Semifinals (empty arena)
Two New Japan Cup semifinal matches
Two unknown “special matches”
July 11: New Japan Cup 2020 Final (Osaka-jo Hall, Osaka, one third capacity attendees)
New Japan Cup 2020 Final match
July 12: Dominion (Osaka-jo Hall, Osaka, one third capacity attendees)
New Japan Pro-Wrestling has announced the lineup for the first round of their annual springtime single-elimination tournament, the New Japan Cup.
NJPW has confirmed that the winner of the New Japan Cup 2020 will challenge Tetsuya Naito for his IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships at Sakura Genesis on March 31st. All days of the New Japan Cup 2020 will be broadcasted live on NJPW World with an English commentary option.
Similar to last year, the field will consist of 32 NJPW wrestlers. The first round will take place over four events on March 4, 7, 8, and 9. The second round will take place over four events as well, on March 10, 12, 13, and 14. The quarter-finals will be held over three events on March 16, 17, and 18. Finally, the semi-finals will take place on March 20th, with the final match to decide the New Japan Cup winner on March 21st.
In the 2019 New Japan Cup, Kazuchika Okada took victory against SANADA in the final, and used the victory to challenge Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He would go on to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the G1 Supercard event at Madison Square Garden during WrestleMania weekend.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling held their New Japan Road event at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. In the main event, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi won the IWGP Tag Team Championships from the champions, the Guerrillas of Destiny, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa. The match ended when Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Tama Tonga after a High Fly Flow, and lasted 20 minutes and 10 seconds.
Following the main event, Suzuki-Gun members Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi, who have dubbed themselves as a tag team named “Dangerous Tekkers,” attacked the new champions, and proposed that they would be the first challengers.
The Guerrillas of Destiny’s reign lasted a mere 20 days with zero successful defenses, following winning the championships from Juice Robinson and David Finlay at a New Beginning USA show in Atlanta, Georgia.
This is Kota Ibushi’s first time as an IWGP Tag Team Champion. However, Hiroshi Tanahashi has already been the IWGP Tag Team Champion on two previous occasions in 2003 and 2004. His partners were Yutaka Yoshie and Shinsuke Nakamura, respectively.
The New Japan Road event can be watched on NJPW World with English commentary.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the second 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.
Toa Henare def. Yota Tsuji For several years now, Toa Henare has been in a strange transition stage between being a young lion and a full-fledged member of the roster. He only ever has defeated young lions. Nevertheless, he’s performed well doing so. He and Tsuji had a brief but hard-hitting and enjoyable. Crowds popped when Tsuji scored near falls on Henare, but also when Henare invariably knocked him back down. Toa Henare pinned Yota Tsuji with the Toa Bottom uranage. (8:16)
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask IV def.Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura This match had two main themes: Manabu Nakanishi’s last hurrah, being his last match in the Hokkaido Prefecture, and high quality wrestling between Tiger Mask and Uemura. Nakanishi acted as what he’s been for the last decade or so, the immovable wall that people run into but can’t knock down. Tiger Mask IV pinned Yuya Uemura with a bridging Tiger suplex. (9:48)
El Phantasmo def. Gabriel Kidd Gabriel Kidd is NJPW’s newest young lion. From England, he has already been wrestling for five years, making his NJPW debut. He was scouted from Rev Pro by Katsuyori Shibata last year and has been training at the Los Angeles Dojo for the last several months. He does not look good with the traditional shaved head. He performed to an acceptable standard in the match, but did not have much time to show his true potential, as El Phantasmo dominated the vast majority of the bout. El Phantasmo pinned Gabriel Kidd with a top rope splash, and hit him with the CR II after the match. (8:50)
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & Robbie Eagles) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, EVIL & BUSHI) The majority of this match featured the four men who fought in the final two matches of yesterday’s show, and their hard hits were as much a sight to see as they were yesterday. As EVIL took on Ishii, Shingo taunted Goto with the NEVER Openweight Championship that he lost yesterday. Robbie Eagles hit a 450 splash on BUSHI’s left leg and submitted him with the Ron Miller Special. He remarked to the English commentary team that he wanted to challenge for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. (9:42)
Jon Moxley, SHO, YOH & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI As Jon Moxley entered through the crowd, still wearing the eyepatch that is apparently AEW-related, Minoru Suzuki immediately left the ring to attack him, and they spent the first third of the match fighting on the outside as the other four people in this match wrestled in the ring. Eventually, they were tagged in and fought inside the ring too! Unfortunately, there was not much interaction between Moxley and Ryusuke Taguchi. Taguchi submitted DOUKI with the Oh My and Garankle, an ankle lock. (12:58)
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & SANADA) def. Bullet Club (KENTA, Jay White & Taiji Ishimori) This was a high-energy trios match, likely one of NJPW’s best six man tag team matches so far this year. This match featured Naito continuing to taunt KENTA in the build up to their Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championship match next Sunday, and Jay White bullying Hiromu. SANADA and Taiji Ishimori showed especially good chemistry at the end, with counters met with counters. SANADA submitted Ishimori with the Skull End. Afterward, Naito presented both his championship belts to KENTA, as if that were the closest that would ever be to him winning them. (15:34)
Rev Pro British Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) def. Will Ospreay In the video package for this match, Zack Sabre Jr. remarked that Will Ospreay had never defeated him in a singles match, and that he never would. It was presented as a battle of classic technical wrestling versus innovative high flying. In the early going, Ospreay attempted to match Zack’s mat wrestling, but it quickly became clear that this would not end well, and he pivoted to using his otherworldly body control to reverse or avoid ZSJ’s submission attempts. Eventually, Ospreay grew weary of attempting to fight Zack in his usual way, and simply knocked him down with a forearm to the face. He hit the Oscutter, but Sabre rolled out of the ring so that he couldn’t be pinned. Ospreay soon got him back in the ring, but Zack countered his Hidden Blade attempt into an armbar. Zack countered the Stormbreaker attempt as well and applied a complex submission hold. Zack Sabre Jr. retained the British Heavyweight Championship via referee stoppage. (27:04)
Kazuchika Okada def. Taichi Taichi attacked Okada before the bell and attempted to hit him with the Iron Finger from Hell off the bat, but Okada blocked the attack and the referee removed the foreign object from the ring. Taichi had gone into this match with the intentions of humiliating Okada like he used to many years ago when Okada was merely a young lion. Okada took control during periods when Taichi wasn’t attempting an underhanded tactic. Miho Abe sneakily gave Taichi the Iron Finger when he was downed but Okada once again foiled the weapon attack. Yoshinobu Kanemaru entered and distracted the referee as Taichi hit Okada with a steel chair so hard that the seat popped out. Taichi blocked mutliple Rainmaker attempts and answered with high-angle back suplexes. The crowd was solidly in favor of their hometown man, Taichi. Okada countered the Black Mephisto into a short-range Rainmaker. Taichi pushed the referee in Okada’s way and hit a low blow behind his back and pinned him for a two count, then hit an elevated powerbomb for another two count. Okada countered Taichi’s Black Mephisto to hit a discus lariat. Okada hit a spinning tombstone piledriver and a Rainmaker to defeat Taichi by pinfall. (30:53)
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.