Tetsuya Naito will defend both his IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships on July 12th, 2020. He will face the winner of the currently ongoing New Japan Cup in the main event of Dominion from Osaka Jo-Hall. A limited number of fans will be permitted to attend the event. Fans will be socially distanced and wearing masks.
Naito recently spoke to NJPW1972.com about the promotion having to go on hiatus from February to June due to the global pandemic. He also spoke about wanting to get back in front of live audiences again.
“I really would have liked to come back to a full building, but circumstances are what they are, there’s nothing I can do about that. It does hurt. Last year, when I thought I might be done with my eye injury, I started talking about the importance of ‘now’. You can only see the Tetsuya Naito of right now, right now. So I really want as many people as possible to see me, and it hurts that we can’t do that,” Naito said.
Naito also commented on NJPW’s response to the pandemic.
“I hope we can get to those jam-packed arenas to close the show with my roll calls as soon as possible. And it is kind of cool that we are the biggest. All the way around, in terms of doing this, and in terms of how well we’re handling it all, pro-wrestling is taking the lead, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling is taking the lead. We can be proud of that.”
No other matches have been announced for the event thus far. Other matches will likely be confirmed as the New Japan Cup grows closer to its finish.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the seventh day of the 2020 New Japan Cup. The New Japan Cup is NJPW’s annual 32-man single elimination tournament, usually scheduled for the Spring. The winner will challenge Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships at NJPW Dominion on July 12. Today’s card will hold the four quarterfinal matches.
Watch exclusively on NJPW World with Japanese commentary. English commentary will be recorded and uploaded to NJPW World this week. Note: This event was held in an empty arena.
New Japan Cup 2020 Day 7 Results
Quarterfinal Match: Hiromu Takahashi def. Tomohiro Ishii (19:29) Hiromu charged Ishii immediately, but his recklessness resulted in him making one of the worst possible decisions: challenging Ishii to a chop battle. Ishii decisively won said battle and started Hiromu off on the back foot, showing Hiromu he’d need to be more tactical to win. The more you watch these two together, you realize that they’re not that different in size for supposedly being in two different weight classes. Hiromu went to repeatedly applying an armbar known as D to Ishii’s right arm, but was unable to disable Ishii’s lariats. Ishii went for the brainbuster, but Hiromu reversed it and lifted Ishii for the Dynamite Plunger and a near fall. Hiromu went for the Time Bomb but Ishii stuffed it, only for Hiromu to floor him with a loud headbutt. Hiromu hit the Time Bomb but Ishii kicked out of it at two, being the only second person after Will Ospreay to kick out of it. Ishii briefly fired back up, only for Hiromu to drop him on his head with the Time Bomb II. Hiromu Takahashi advances to the semifinals.
Quarterfinal Match: EVIL def. YOSHI-HASHI (2:00) YOSHI-HASHI was limping to the ring during his entrance, clearly feeling the effects of hyperextending it during his match with BUSHI yesterday. At the bell, EVIL pushed the referee out of the ring and immediately laid into YOSHI-HASHI’s right leg with a steel chair. From there, EVIL put YOSHI-HASHI in the Darkness Scorpion (sharpshooter) for a solid minute. He kept fighting and didn’t tap out, but the referee saw there was no way out for him and called the match: EVIL won by referee stoppage. EVIL advances to the semifinals.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) def.SHO, Hirooki Goto & Yuya Uemura (9:34) BUSHI entered holding EVIL’s NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship in addition to his own, so every member of LIJ in this match were holding two belts, and it made for a cool visual. No one in this match is in the New Japan Cup running anymore, so there’s no future matches to speak of, but it was well-worked and everyone looked good, especially Yuya Uemura, SHO, and Shingo. BUSHI pinned Yuya Uemura with a spin-out codebreaker. Afterwards, SHO squared up to Shingo Takagi yet again and Shingo held up both his NEVER Openweight and NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team championships at SHO, as if asking him which one he wanted.
Quarterfinal Match: Kazuchika Okada def. Taiji Ishimori (16:52) Okada entered through the stairs opposite the entrance stage, where the orange seats are, and gestured towards a crowd that wasn’t there. Okada took control of the match early on, but within the first five minutes Gedo was out and hit Okada with a spanner while Ishimori distracted the referee. The match evened out from then on, and Ishii was able to get a momentary Yes Lock on before Okada made it to the ropes to break the hold. Okada hit the reverse neckbreaker and went for the top rope elbow drop, but Gedo lurked in the corner and got Okada’s attention, allowing Ishimori to push Okada off the apron and hit a triangle moonsault. Ishimori hit a beautiful La Mistica into the Yes Lock (yes, that Yes Lock) but Okada was able to get his foot on the bottom rope yet again. Okada hit a standing dropkick and the tombstone piledriver, but Gedo got on the top rope and Okada broke the hold to go after him, but reapplied it. He went to flip Ishimori over to get him further away from the ropes, but as he did so, Ishimori pulled the referee’s shirt, flipping his over as well. Gedo came in with a pair of brass knuckles as the referee was down, but Okada dropkicked him to avoid the attack. Finally, Okada hit another dropkick on Ishimori and put him in the cobra clutch for the submission victory. Kazuchika Okada advances to face Hiromu Takahashi in the semifinals.
Quarterfinal Match: SANADA def. Taichi (22:50) The match began with Taichi attempting to be underhanded as usual, trying to choke SANADA with the ropes and tying him up in the ropes to immobilize him, only for it to backfire when SANADA put him in an upside down Paradise Lock while hung up in the ropes. Taichi often has these moments in matches where he realizes that fighting fairly might actually be more effective than cheating, despite it being outside his nature, and this was one of those moments. As Taichi went back to his tried-and-true kicks and backdrop drivers, he began to gain advantage, and went for the Black Mephisto but SANADA blocked it. SANADA hit a corner moonsault into the Skull End but Yoshinobu Kanemaru, who was on commentary, jumped onto the apron. He didn’t do anything, but the referee who was focused on removing him didn’t notice Taichi tapping out in the Skull End. SANADA broke the hold but Taichi hit a backdrop driver on him and his own Skull End, which lasted a good while before SANADA was able to put his foot on the rope to break it. Taichi followed up with a bridging backdrop driver, an homage to Jumbo Tsuruta, but SANADA kicked out at two. Kanemaru tried to distract SANADA again, but SANADA was too smart this time. He pushed Taichi into Kanemaru and pinned him with a bridging O’Connor roll. SANADA advances to face EVIL in the semifinals.
Scheduled for tomorrow, the two semifinal matches are SANADA vs. EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada. Two other matches will also take place.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the sixth day of the 2020 New Japan Cup. The New Japan Cup is NJPW’s annual 32-man single elimination tournament, usually scheduled for the Spring. The winner will challenge Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships at NJPW Dominion on July 12. Today’s card will hold four of the eight matches in the second round.
Watch exclusively on NJPW World with Japanese commentary. English commentary will be recorded and uploaded to NJPW World this week. Note: This event was held in an empty arena.
New Japan Cup 2020 Day 6 Results
Second Round Match: YOSHI-HASHI def. BUSHI (10:22) BUSHI entered wearing a mask with a glowing red eye and a suit with a skeleton design over it, which clearly means he wants a match with Jado. BUSHI attacked YOSHI-HASHI as he posed in the corner before the bell, and it was amusing watching them fight while the latter was still in his green entrance robe. BUSHI targeted YOSHI-HASHI’s right leg, and before long he was moving much slower than usual. However, as BUSHI went for the M-X, YOSHI-HASHI simply lariated him out of the air. YOSHI-HASHI applied the Butterfly Lock, but BUSHI made it to the ropes to force a break. YOSHI-HASHi was able to follow up with the Karma sitout driver for the three-count. YOSHI-HASHI advances to the quarterfinals.
Second Round Match: SHO vs. SANADA (14:43) After vanquishing Shingo Takagi, SHO looked to follow up against another member of Los Ingobernables de Japon. This turned out to be a battle of a heavyweight’s technique versus a junior heavyweight’s power, which is unusual. SANADA often found his more finesse-based moves thwarted by SHO’s sheer strength, as SHO also tried to wear down SANADA’s arm to disable to the Skull End. As SANADA went for a leapfrog, SHO caught him and landed a German suplex into an arm bar, but SANADA was able to lift him into a powerbomb to end the hold. SHO came off the ropes and SANADA went for a rana, but again SHO caught him and lifted him into the Powerbreaker for a near fall. SHO went for the Shock Arrow, but SANADA blocked it and was able to wrestle him to the corner, then moonsault into the Skull End for the submission victory. Still, SHO looked great in defeat. SANADA advances to the quarterfinals.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi) def. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Yota Tsuji As a result of defeating Toru Yano in the second round, Hiromu Takahashi seemed to have gotten over his primal fear of Yano. Nevertheless, Yano brandished in a plastic bag the lock of hair he managed to cut off during their match. Perhaps he viewed it as a symbolic victory. In this match, the main themes were Yota Tsuji getting mercilessly beaten up by everyone, especially Shingo Takagi, and Hiromu facing off against his New Japan Cup quarterfinals opponent tomorrow, Tomohiro Ishii. Tsuji attempted some convoluted submission on Hiromu, like a cross-legged crossface with the opponent held over his knee. In the end, Hiromu Takahashi submitted Yota Tsuji with a Boston crab. After the match, Hiromu got right in Ishii’s face and Ishii grabbed him by the hair, but unlike when Yano did it, it didn’t seem to bother Hiromu at all.
Second Round Match: Taichi def. Kota Ibushi (18:08) In Ibushi and Taichi’s respective corners were Hiroshi Tanahashi and Zack Sabre Jr., who spent as much of the match fighting each other as Ibushi and Taichi did. Ibushi started the match on the back foot, as Taichi took him outside the ring and smashed his face into folded up bleachers, leading Ibushi to nearly get counted out. In the ring, Ibushi and Taichi engaged in a battle of leg kicks, which seemed mostly evenly matched.Taichi landed a high-angle backdrop driver on Ibushi and went for the Taichi-style Last Ride, but a violent head kick sent him falling to the mat, and Ibushi followed up with the sitout elevated powerbomb. Zack Sabre Jr. briefly distracted the referee, giving the opportunity for Taichi to hit a low blow on Ibushi and pin him, but Ibushi kicked out at two. Ibushi landed a jumping knee and went for the Kamigoye, but Taichi avoided it and hit another backdrop driver. As Ibushi went for the Kamigoye yet again, Taichi pushed him into the referee, and Zack came in and attacked Ibushi, only for Tanahashi to fight him off. With the referee still down, Taichi hit Ibushi with the Iron Finger from Hell and the Black Mephisto for the pinfall victory. Taichi advances to face SANADA in the quarterfinals.
Second Round Match: EVIL def. Hirooki Goto (18:25) EVIL entered first and waited outside the ring for Goto, so the brawling commenced before they even got in the ring. EVIL took advantage early, perhaps partly due to a stray chair shot, and arrogantly brushed his boot in Goto’s face as if it was completely earned. Incensed, Goto fired up and delivered a belly-to-back suplex followed by the Ushigoroshi. As they struggled for a suplex, Goto spun EVIL around and hit the reverse GTR, but didn’t go for a pin. He was determined to continue punishing EVIL for his disrespect, but paid for it when he went for a headbutt and got hit with a heavy elbow to the face. EVIL hit the Darkness Falls for a near fall and went for the EVIL, but Goto reversed out of it and hit a headbutt and the GTW, but EVIL kicked out at two. EVIL hit a stomp to the groin and then hit the EVIL for the three count. EVIL advances to face YOSHI-HASHI in the quarterfinals.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold the fourth day of the 2020 New Japan Cup. The New Japan Cup is NJPW’s annual 32-man single elimination tournament, usually scheduled for the Spring. The winner will challenge Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships at NJPW Dominion on July 12. Today’s card will hold four of the sixteen matches in the first round.
Watch exclusively on NJPW World with Japanese commentary. English commentary will be recorded and uploaded to NJPW World this week. Note: This event was held in an empty arena.
New Japan Cup 2020 Day 4 Results
New Japan Cup First Round Match: BUSHI def. YOH (15:42) YOH entered to new music that I’ve never heard before. In singles matches in the past, he always entered to the Roppongi 3K music. YOH and BUSHI have a lot of experience against each other, but in the past it has been almost exclusively tag team affairs for the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. BUSHI took control at the start softening up YOH’s neck for the M-X, but YOH fought back soon enough with flying forearms and a figure four leglock that BUSHI got out of with a rope break. BUSHI tried to scramble to the ropes for the M-X, but YOH got out of the way and laid in consecutive German suplexes. YOH kept going for a dragon suplex, but BUSHI stuffed his attempts. BUSHI rocked YOH with a codebreaker and then hit the M-X for the victory. Both sets of Tag Team Champions had one member lose and one advance in the first round.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: YOSHI-HASHI def. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (17:35) YOSHI-HASHI brought an uncharacteristic aggression as he took the fight to Tenzan, reddening the Raging’s Bull’s chest with a flurry of chops. He delivered a headbutt only to recoil in pain while Tenzan seemed unharmed. YOSHI-HASHI seemed determined to put the 49-year-old out of his misery, but Tenzan showed the spirit was still within him, running up to the top rope to attempt a super Mountain bomb. YOSHI-HASHI blocked it and sunset flipped over Tenzan to land a sitout powerbomb. Tenzan wrenched YOSHI-HASHI into an STF and broke the hold to go for the top rope moonsault, and he did pull it off but YOSHI-HASHI moved out of the way. YOSHI-HASHI capitalized and put on the Butterfly Lock but Tenzan made it to the ropes. Tenzan applied his patented Anaconda Vice, but YOSHI-HASHI rolled over him and got his shoulders down for a near fall, then tapped out Tenzan with the Butterfly Lock. He will advance to to face BUSHI in the second round.
CHAOS (SHO, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & SANADA) ended in a Double Countout Hiromu Takahashi made his entrance first and looked positively traumatized by the sight of Toru Yano. As a young lion, Hiromu’s head was involuntarily shaved by Yano and they just so happen to be facing each other in the second round. Hiromu demanded that the referee check Yano for foreign objects, and Yano was indeed smuggling a spray bottle of water and a hair trimmer in his tights. As SHO engaged Shingo in battles of heavy strikes and power moves, and tried to overwhelm SANADA’s finesse with brute force, Yano continued to stalk Hiromu with his clippers. When Yano and Hiromu were both legal, Yano chased Hiromu into the lobby and duct-taped his legs together. Okada followed Yano to remind him to get back in the ring on time, but it was too late, and both legal men were counted out.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: Hirooki Goto def. Yujiro Takahashi (16:40) With Pieter unavailable, Yujiro’s only valet was Jado. Yujiro knew that he would be outmatched in a straightforward fight so he stalled outside the ring until Goto lost his patience and was lured into a trap on the outside, in which Yujiro evaded Goto’s attack while Jado irish whipped Goto into the barricade. Yujiro continued to control the match, not being rocked by Goto’s lariats and getting him to the top rope for a super fisherman’s suplex. Goto used a moment of opportunity to land the Ushigoroshi, and when Yujiro tried to fight back, Goto leveled him with a cracking forearm to the face. Goto then landed a gnarly rope-hung reverse GTR, but couldn’t follow up when Jado hit him with a kendo stick as he ran the ropes. Opportunistically, Yujiro used this moment to land the Miami Shine, but Goto blocked his attempt at the Pimp Juice DDT. Jado distracted the referee leading to Yujiro attempting to hit Goto with his pimp cane. However, Goto saw it coming and avoided the attack, and then irish-whipped Yujiro into Jado to take Jado out. Finally, Goto hit the GTW only for Yujiro to kick out at two, and then hit the GTR to advance to the second round.
New Japan Cup First Round Match: EVIL def. Satoshi Kojima (20:08) EVIL had a game plan from the moment the bell rang: take out Kojima’s right arm, the arm that his delivered so many match-ending lariats. Between arm-wringers and bashing Kojima’s arm with a steel chair, EVIL dominated the early going of the match. A DDT from Kojima brought the match on even footing, and Kojima’s continued use of chops and elbows showed that EVIL hadn’t done enough to take out his dominant arm. Kojima hit the Koji Cutter, then lifted EVIL to the top rope for a super Koji Cutter, but EVIL was not down yet. EVIL buffeted Kojima with repeated lariats, bringing Kojima to his knee, and EVIL finally took him down with yet another running lariat. EVIL hit the Darkness Falls for a near fall. EVIL went to follow up, but Kojima responded with a left arm lariat to get EVIL down for a count of two, exposing the flaw of EVIL’s strategy. As EVIL hit the ropes, Kojima hit the lariat with his right arm, but was in too much pain to go for the pin immediately, and EVIL kicked out at two. Kojima kept going to the well with the lariat, but EVIL kept blocking them and caught Kojima with the EVIL STO for the pinfall victory. EVIL will face Hirooki Goto in the second round.
All eight second round matches have been determined. They are as follows:
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold 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)
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling presents The New Beginning in Osaka 2020. This event will be held at Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, Japan. This event will be available to watch on their live streaming service, NJPW World. English and Japanese commentary are available.
Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan def. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Toa Henare & Ryusuke Taguchi This match was dubbed “Manabu Nakanishi Final in Osaka-jo Hall” and indeed, this will be the last big arena show of Nakanishi’s 27-year career. To be honest, it looked to be about time for him. His lariats were slow and his chops were lethargic, but nevertheless, the crowd popped for everything he did. Nevertheless, the crowd was with him, especially when he climbed to the top rope for perhaps the last time ever. Nakanishi delivered a top rope brain chop to Tomoaki Honma, setting up Satoshi Kojima to deliver the lariat and get the pin. (7:08)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) (c) def. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) Roppongi 3K attacked Suzuki-gun before the bell to remove the possibility that they would receive that treatment themselves. After getting into a gnarly slap fight with El Desperado, YOH tagged in SHO, but both members of Suzuki-gun cut SHO off and began assaulting his knee. Kanemaru held him in a long figure four leglock but SHO was able to make the rope break. Kanemaru hit the Deep Impact on SHO, who kicked out at two. As Rocky Romero rallied the capacity crowd, SHO rallied with heavy lariats. Roppongi 3K went for their 3K finish, but El Desperado was in to break it up. SHO hit the Shock Arrow on Kanemaru for a near fall. Finally, Roppongi 3K hit the dropkick and Shock Arrow combination known as Strong X for SHO to get the pinfall on Kanemaru and make their first championship defense. (16:22)
After the match, as Roppongi 3K celebrated in the ring, Ryusuke Taguchi entered the ring, with a basketball and a rugby helmet on. He told Rocky Romero that he was not only the manager of SHO and YOH, but a great wrestler in his own right. Taguchi stated that he and Rocky, as The Mega Coaches, should challenge Roppongi 3K for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. He threw his basketball to Rocky and made a hoop with his arms. Despite RPG 3K’s assistance otherwise, Rocky shot the ball into Taguchi’s hoop, signifying his agreement to challenge for the Championships.
Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi def. Bullet Club (Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi) This matched Kota Ibushi’s return to the ring following a short absence due to a bout of influenza. One wouldn’t have known that he was running a 104 degree fever within the last two weeks, due to some superhuman healing factor. The factor that was of greatest note in this match was the appearance of Tanahashi and Juice. Tanahashi had a very fluffy pompadour and Juice Robinson’s hair was in an afro, continuing the ’70s-dancer-esque appearance he has been going for recently. Tanahashi pinned Tanga Loa with a bridging roll-up. (10:50)
Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi reiterated their desire to challenge for the IWGP Tag Team Championships.
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay) def. Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi) Following their respective losses at The New Beginning in Sapporo, Will Ospreay and Taichi wrestled with chips on their shoulders to avenge their losses. Taichi seemed unfazed by his defeat among the hometown crowd of Sapporo, and laid into Okada with his hard-hitting offense. The crowds went wild for his dangerous backdrop drivers and loud kicks, but the CHAOS team’s combined might was too much for Dangerous Tekkers. Ospreay landed the Oscutter followed by Okada’s Rainmaker for Okada to take the pin on Taichi. (11:50)
Will Ospreay held the belt around his waist before putting it down on the mat for Zack. Angrily, ZSJ yelled “Look at it, you moron! This is coming back to Japan with me!”
Jay White def. SANADA In the buildup to this match, Jay White had attempted to get under SANADA’s skin in a way that few have been able to do before, with very little success. SANADA did not seem to be intimidated, and often overpowered Jay when the competition was fair. SANADA hit the backbreaker and went for the moonsault, but Gedo tried to knock him off his perch. SANADA responded by pulling on his Gedo’s beard and using the ropes for a groin attack. Jay tried to capitalize on the opportunity with the Blade Runner, but SANADA caught him and hit the giant swing into the Skull End. SANADA broke the hold and went for the top rope moonsault, but Jay White moved out of the way. White hit the sleeper suplex and Blade Runner for the pinfall victory. (21:52)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Hiromu Takahashi (c) def. Ryu Lee For the better part of a decade, Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee have had a reputation of wrestling each other with an exceptional amount of reckless abandon. For the better part of the first five minutes of the match, Hiromu and Lee simply traded slaps to each other’s chests: over and over, until their pectorals were purple, and that was just the start. Ryu Lee teased the Phoenixplex that put Hiromu out of action with a broken neck for over a year, but Hiromu reversed it as the crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief. Lee went for the Phoenixplex once more later on, but Hiromu reversed it into a Canadian Destroyer. Hiromu hit the Time Bomb, but Lee kicked out, so Hiromu simply hit the Time Bomb again and marked the first successful defense of his title reign. (23:54)
IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) def. Minoru Suzuki This match has been highly anticipated ever since Moxley and Suzuki locked eyes for the first time. It’s safe to say that they delivered on what was expected of them. This was simply a brawl from the outset, when Suzuki invited Moxley to have a chair-swinging fight. They did no acrobatics, they just hit each other, sometimes with foreign objects. Suzuki smashed Moxley’s hand with a chair and then put him in an armbar, only for Moxley to lift him up and powerbomb him through a table. Moxley was clearly chagrined by Suzuki’s remarks that Moxley lacked redeeming qualities as a wrestler. Suzuki went for the Gotch-style piledriver, but Moxley reversed it into a double-arm DDT. He didn’t get much lift on it, so Suzuki was able to kick out at two. Moxley and Suzuki traded strikes until Suzuki pushed Moxley just a bit too far, and Mox decided he had had enough. He bowled Suzuki over with a lariat and hit the Death Rider to retain the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship. (17:16)
After the match, Zack Sabre Jr. ambushed Jon Moxley and took him to the ground with a rear naked choke and bodyscissors. Moxley was temporarily subdued as the British submission specialist held up the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship.
IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Double Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito (c) def. KENTA KENTA entered with the majority of Bullet Club with him, and they pushed Red Shoes Unno down before the match even began. All the Bullet Club members save KENTA were removed from ringside. As the match began, KENTA was reluctant to begin, rolling out of the ring instead of engaging Naito. The crowd booed as KENTA took a Naito teddy bear from the crowd and stepped on it, and he relished in the boos. KENTA attempted to remove a turnbuckle pad, but Red Shoes caught him and stopped him in the process, only for KENTA to remove the opposite one as Red Shoes was retying the one he had partially removed. KENTA continued to methodically work over Naito with kicks and arm holds. Naito rallied with elbows, but KENTA was able to apply the Game Over facelock only for Naito to crawl and wriggle his way to the rope for the break. Naito was able to hit a top rope hurricanrana into the valentia. Naito went for the Destino, but KENTA pushed him into the ropes and then Jay White came in to interfere. BUSHI tried to stop Jay White to no avail, but then Hiromu Takahashi came in and successfully apprehended Jay. KENTA went for the Go 2 Sleep but Naito reversed it with a counter Destino. KENTA threw Naito into the exposed turnbuckle, causing him to bleed profusely from his face. KENTA went for the Go 2 Sleep again, but Naito blocked it with a reverse frankensteiner. Finally, the bloody Tetsuya Naito hit the valentia and Destino to retain the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships. (35:50)
The still-bleeding Naito then challenged his faction-mate Hiromu Takahashi to a singles match at the 48th Anniversary Show next month. Hiromu and Naito mutually agreed to it.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s double champion Tetsuya Naito has addressed his upcoming opponent KENTA in a recent interview with njpw1972.com. The Los Ingobernables de Japon leader holds both the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. He won the dual titles after emerging victorious from NJPW’s Double Gold Dash over Wrestle Kingdom 14 two day event.
Tetsuya Naito’s Stolen Moment
His Wrestle Kingdom celebration would be unfairly cut short thanks to a blindsided attack by KENTA. Addressing his opponent, who he faces this Sunday at The New Beginning in Osaka event, Naito surprisingly gave Kenta credit for the attack.
“You have to give him credit for turning the focus to himself. I said this at the press conference, but as a wrestler, I have to respect what he was able to do, completely wrecking the ending to that weekend,” Naito said.
“Look, there were probably a ton of guys in the back who were cursing me out behind my back after I won. Plenty of people who would want to do what KENTA did, but he was the one that ran out and did it. Esepcially after he lost the NEVER Championship, just jumping me like that took a lot of balls.”
KENTA’s actions ruined Naito’s “moment,” something that isn’t lost on the LIJ leader. He explained how “To the fans who understand that, what KENTA did was [unforgivable]. n wrestling it’s all or nothing. Indifference is the worst reaction that can be; he might have been booed by over 30,000 people, but KENTA made that happen. He did get those fans in chorus, against him.”
Los Ingobernables De Japon’s Championship Glory
Tetsuya Naito isn’t the only LIJ member to enjoying championship glory. Hiromu Takahashi is the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, and Shingo Takagi recently won the IWGP NEVER Openweight Championship after defeating Goto. LIJ members EVIL, Takagi and BUSHI are also the current IWGP NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions.
Reflecting on his group’s success, Naito commented on how LIJ has no intention of slowing down:
“Me and Hiromu are lighting the fire. That’s what we have going on here. In 2020, already, I’ve won double gold in the main event of the Tokyo Dome, and Hiromu’s come back, won the belt, beaten Liger, and has all the charisma in the world. That gets you thinking about what might happen within LIJ as the year goes on.”
New Japan Pro-Wrestling has announced that KENTA will challenge Tetsuya Naito for both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships at the New Beginning in Osaka event on February 9, 2020. This will be Naito’s first defense of both Championships since winning them on Day 2 of Wrestle Kingdom 14.
This challenge was prompted by KENTA attacking Tetsuya Naito after he won the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 14. This prevented Naito from having a proper post-match celebration of becoming the first simultaneous IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion.
Naito vs KENTA
At a press conference following the events of Wrestle Kingdom 14, Tetsuya Naito expressed reluctance to defend his newly won Championships against KENTA. He claimed that the importance of being a double champion would be reduced if both titles were on the line on a regular basis. He stated that he would prefer to defend each one individually, even if he had to wrestle more frequently to do so.
Naito also questioned the legitimacy of KENTA’s challenge. He argued that Jay White, Kota Ibushi, and Kazuchika Okada were all more rightful challengers than KENTA, since the latter had lost the NEVER Openweight Championship to Hirooki Goto at Wrestle Kingdom 14 as well.
NJPW’s “The New Beginning in Osaka 2020” event will be streamed live on NJPW World.
Naito: But really, my thoughts on KENTA? Good at Twitter. Failed in America. Was a big fish in a different company once. That's about it. I'm not making fun of him, I just haven't been in the ring with him much. I'll find out. Properly, with the world watching. #njwk14#njnbg
Tetsuya Naito and Kazuchika Okada battled to determine the first ever concurrent IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 2. Naito took the win in the bout after hitting a huge reverse brainbuster followed by a final Destino.
Tetsuya Naito and Okada earned the right to challenge for the belts at Night 1. Okada defeated Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Conversely Naito defeated Jay White to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to secure his slot in the main event of Night 2. New Japan were billing this mini-tournament style event as ‘Double Gold Dash,’ as Naito had previously claimed that he was desperate to be the first ever double IWGP champion on New Japan Pro Wrestling history.
Naito recently made the following comments regarding his want to become the first ever ‘dual’ Champion at Wrestle Kingdom to NJPW1972.com. “There’s always been a distinction between the two titles; people wrestling for the Intercontinental Championship haven’t mixed with the Heavyweight contenders. So rather than have people think that I’ve gone back to just wrestling for the IC title; I wanted to say, no, I’m going to have this and wrestle for the heavyweight title as well,” Naito stated. “I wanted to get rid of this idea that once you’re in that position of wrestling for the IC; you never move away from it. Bear in mind, too, that I never had any interest in the Intercontinental belt in itself. The Heavyweight title has always been the number one belt to me.”
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.
Wrestle Kingdom 14 sees the first time in New Japan history that the iconic event will be held over two days. Traditionally Wrestle Kingdom is a January 4th exclusive event. However the now 2 day extravaganza will also be taking place on January 5th. Night 1 of the event saw the start of the Double Gold Dash; where the IWGP Intercontinental and IWGP Heavyweight Championships were defended.
Night 2
The winners of the two respective matches will go on to compete at Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom. There to determine the first ever concurrent IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Champion.
Naito vs Okada
Tetsuya Naito defeated Bullet Club’s Jay White to capture the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and secure his place on the January 5th card. Naito will be heading into the main event of Night 2 against Kazuchika Okada. Okada defeated Kota Ibushi in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom Night 1 to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
“There’s always been a distinction between the two titles…”
Naito recently made the following comments regarding his want to become the first ever ‘dual’ Champion at Wrestle Kingdom to NJPW1972.com. “There’s always been a distinction between the two titles; people wrestling for the Intercontinental Championship haven’t mixed with the Heavyweight contenders. So rather than have people think that I’ve gone back to just wrestling for the IC title; I wanted to say, no, I’m going to have this and wrestle for the heavyweight title as well. I wanted to get rid of this idea that once you’re in that position of wrestling for the IC; you never move away from it. Bear in mind, too, that I never had any interest in the Intercontinental belt in itself. The Heavyweight title has always been the number one belt to me.”
Kazuchika Okada defends the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kota Ibushi in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 14 day 1.
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.
Ahead of his IWGP Intercontinental Championship clash against Bullet Club leader Jay White, Tetsuya Naito sat down with njpw1972.com to discuss his Double Dash Gold opportunity. Naito was clear about why he wanted to be the one to walk away on Sunday with both titles: to make history.
Naito was the first in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) to begin openly talking about being a double champion last year. For him, it’s all about making history and breaking old records.
“But when you’re the first to do something, that stays forever,” he explained. “I was trying to think of something that’s never been done before, that I could be first at. And then it hit me; double IWGP champion.”
He explained how “[…] there’s always been a distinction between the two titles; people wrestling for the Intercontinental Championship haven’t mixed with the Heavyweight contenders. So rather than have people think that I’ve gone back to just wrestling for the IC title, I wanted to say, no, I’m going to have this and wrestle for the heavyweight title as well.”
Tetsuya Naito’s Day One Ambition
The Los Ingobernables de Japon leader shared how he wanted to get rid of the idea that those competing for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship never move away from that scene. He reiterated how he’s never had any genuine interest in that championship, with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship always being his “number one belt.”
For Naito, defeating Jay White and once again becoming Intercontinental Champion is a means to an end. That end being the Heavyweight gold. Despite his goal, however, Naito stressed how “[…] the thing that I want the absolute most right now is the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. Remember, that’s what I’ve said since day one: I want to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship while holding the Intercontinental.”
Tetsuya Naito faces off against Jay White this Saturday on Night One of Wrestle Kingdom 14. The winner of their championship bout will go on to face the winner of Kazuchika Okada and Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on Night Two.
Wrestle Kingdom 14 takes place this weekend on 1/4 and 1/5 from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.
This Saturday, during Night One of New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Wrestling Kingdom 14 event, Tetsuya Naito gets his opportunity at reclaiming the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. He faces Bullet Club leader Jay White for the gold.
Despite his Double Gold Dash opportunity, the Los Ingobernables de Japon leader revealed in an interview with njpw1972.com that for approximately six months he considered ending his wrestling career.
“I don’t want to go into specifics, but for a while, I thought I couldn’t wrestle anymore,” Naito stated. “Truth is for about six months, maybe since May, I had this kind of crisis of confidence.”
He continued, “From about May, I’d felt something was up, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. I thought I could cover it up, but I think the result was that it did come through. I was constantly wrestling in that state of unease. I hate going to the hospital, but I really wasn’t myself for a time.”
Tetsuya Naito’s Mental Strain
Reflecting on that time, Naito compared his mindset to having an injury. He noted how “things don’t get back to 100%”. When it comes to this particular issue he’s managed to recover thanks to some time off. He stressed that, 100% or not, he felt he was close to zero due to the mental strain, believing he might not be able to get into a ring again.
If successful in his match against White, Naito would go on to compete against the IWGP Heavyweight Champion on Night Two of Wrestle Kingdom 14. Kazuchika Okada and Kota Ibush clash for that title on Night One.
Wrestle Kingdom 14 takes place this weekend on 1/4 and 1/5 from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.
Following the events of New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Power Struggle 2019 event on November 3, NJPW has announced updated cards for Wrestle Kingdom 14, their two day event at the Tokyo Dome on January 4 and 5, 2020.
NJPW conducted a 24-hour online fan vote on November 4 asking whether the fans would want to see a double championship match, with the winner becoming both IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The final result was 15,952 people voting “Yes” and 9,055 people voting “No.”
With that in mind, the second day of Wrestle Kingdom 14 will feature the first ever IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental double championship match.
NJPW has stated that, when finalized, both cards will feature between 8 and 10 matches. Both days of Wrestle Kingdom 14 will be available to watch live on NJPW World.
Wrestle Kingdom 14 (January 4)
Jushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match #1: Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV (with El Samurai) vs. Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhiko Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi (with Kuniaki Kobayashi) (Special Referee: Norio Honaga)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Jay White (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
Wrestle Kingdom 14 (January 5)
Jushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match #2: Match TBA
Singles Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Chris Jericho
Singles Match: Loser of IWGP Heavyweight Championship match vs. Loser of IWGP Intercontinental Championship match from the previous day
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) (c) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH)
IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championship: IWGP Heavyweight Champion vs. IWGP Intercontinental Champion
Titán, Volador Jr., TJP & Clark Connors def. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV, Ryusuke Taguchi & Yuya Uemura (5:43) With the exception of Liger, this tag team match was composed of wrestlers who failed to advance to the Final in the Super Junior Tag League. Volador Jr. entered wearing a Spiderman mask and rash guard. As always, Jushin Thunder Liger was incredibly over, but work from everyone involved was brisk and fast-paced. TJP pinned Yuya Uemura after a Detonation Kick.
Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo)def. CHAOS (Robbie Eagles & Rocky Romero) (8:42) With his tag team partner involved in a defense of IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, Robbie Eagles was left with Rocky Romero as a partner. Ishimori and Phantasmo used their superior experience to keep the CHAOS team apart. At one point, El Phantasmo walked the ropes with Rocky Romero in a fireman’s carry, then came crashing down on Robbie Eagles. El Phantasmo pinned Rocky Romero with the CR II.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, SANADA & EVIL) def. Suzukigun (Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki) (9:07) The Suzukigun team entered to Lance Archer’s music, who walked to the ring bow-legged, carrying his newly won IWGP US Heavyweight Championship with one half of the strap in his pants. The highlight of this match was a long battle of strikes between Shingo and Minoru Suzuki. SANADA defeated Zack Sabre Jr. with a rolling cradle, as Suzuki and Shingo continued to battle outside the ring and the frustrated Zack Sabre Jr. put the referee in an armbar. Meanwhile, Lance Archer told the English commentators that he wanted to defend his IWGP US Heavyweight Championship against David Finlay.
Kota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi def. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) (10:51) All wrestlers received separate entrances except for YOSHI-HASHI. Tanahashi looked disinterested as Ibushi made his entrance, not wanting to be the second fiddle to the G1 Winner. He had really been focused on finding his own path to Wrestle Kingdom 14. Down the stretch, the fans really were hoping for YOSHI-HASHI, as was able to get near falls on Tanahashi. Nevertheless, Tanahashi reversed his Karma finisher. Tanahashi pinned YOSHI-HASHI with the High Fly Flow.
After the match ended, the lights went out, and a video of musicians with blonde hair getting beaten up played, then transitioned to Chris Jericho on the screen. He challenged Hiroshi Tanahashi to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 2, on January 5, 2020. He said “It’s going to be a classic match. It’s also going to be your last match!”
Tetsuya Naito def. Taichi (12:56) In contrast to his lackadaisical attitude, Naito immediately attacked Taichi at full speed. Their fight spilled into the crowd, where Taichi was able to get the upper hand. As Naito went for an avalanche hurricanrana, Taichi reversed it into a falling powerbomb, and taunted the downed Naito. Their other matches this year involved lots of out of the ring trickery, but now, Taichi was able to face Naito head on, eating his strikes and asking for more, and countering Naito’s first attempt at the Destino. Taichi hit the falling elevated powerbomb for a near fall as the crowd gasped. Naito hit a running Destino for a near fall, falling by the Valentia. Naito attempted the Destino once more, but Taichi caught him and tried to hit the Black Mephisto, and Naito wiggled out. Naito hit his own Black Mephisto, and then the Destino for the three count.
Super Junior Tag League 2019 Final Match: Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) def. Suzukigun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) (14:13) As Roppongi 3K entered, Suzukigun snuck up behind them and attacked them, taking an advantage before the bell rang. With that advantage, they dominated the early going, isolating YOH. SHO was able to rally when he tagged them in, but more good teamwork put him on the disadvantage as well. El Desperado went for the Pinche Loco on SHO, but it was reversed, then Roppongi 3K were able to take control when they finally worked together. El Desperado reversed the Shock Arrow and hit a headbutt, but YOH came in and Roppongi 3K were able to hit 3K to pin El Desperado and win the Super Junior Tag League. This is their third time winning the Super Junior Tag League.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo came out and attacked Roppongi 3K as they celebrated. With the tournament winners laid out, Bullet Club took the Super Junior Tag League trophies and posed with them as if they had won the tournament.
NEVER Openweight Championship Match: KENTA (c) def. Tomohiro Ishii (20:12) KENTA had been spending the whole tour taunting Tomohiro Ishii, calling him cute and generally belittling him. His patience exhausted, Ishii had no time for KENTA’s antics, immediately going after him and bringing him back in when he tried to bail from the ring. Ishii took KENTA’s strikes and asked for more, but eventually his resiliency found its limit, as KENTA grinded him down with kicks, only for Ishii to find another gear and take the advantage once more. As Ishii went for a sliding lariat, KENTA sneakily managed to put on the Game Over crossface. Due to Ishii’s lack of neck, he was able to make it to the ropes and break the submission. KENTA hit the Busaiku Knee Kick, but Ishii powered through, only to eat a second one. KENTA hit a Falcon Arrow, a PK, but Ishii reversed the Go 2 Sleep attempt. KENTA hit the Go 2 Sleep, then pulled down his knee pad and hit a second one to defeat Tomohiro Ishii and defend the NEVER Openweight Championship.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Will Ospreay (c) def. BUSHI (16:20) Ospreay started the match with guns blazing, sending BUSHI reeling with high-speed offense. BUSHI did a good job of using Ospreay’s momentum against him, countering the Sasuke Special by dropping Ospreay on his head with an apron DDT. BUSHI hit a lightning spiral and went for the MX, but Ospreay got out of the way. Ospreay accidentally hit the referee and BUSHI went to spray black mist in Ospreay’s face, but Ospreay stopped it by taking the black mist from his mouth and spitting it in BUSHI’s face. Ospreay hit a shooting star press only for BUSHI to get the knees up and spray mist in Ospreay’s face. BUSHI went for the MX once more, but Ospreay hit a head kick to stop him. BUSHI hit a codebreaker and the MX, but Ospreay kicked out at two. BUSHI went for another MX, but Ospreay gave him an Oscutter out of mid air, followed by a Hidden Blade. Finally, Ospreay hit the Super Oscutter and Stormbreaker to pin BUSHI and defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
After the match, Ospreay made a list of all the junior heavyweights that he defeated, remarking that he had beaten anyone and there was no one left. As he left the ring, the lights went out, and a video of a Time Bomb scheduled to go off in 1,448 hours played. (1,448 hours from the time of this writing is on January 4th, 2020). Hiromu Takahashi entered to an electric response, pulled off the neck bandage he was wearing, threw it into the crowd, and ran around taking bumps. He took the microphone and said, while in a neck bridge to show that his neck was fine, that Ospreay was now the strongest junior heavyweight, but that now “Hiromu is back” and challenged Ospreay for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match: Jay White (c) def Hirooki Goto (27:40) Ever since Hirooki Goto challenged White for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at Destruction in Kobe, White had done nothing but belittle him, and say that he didn’t deserve to challenge for the Championship. In the early going, he seemed to be correct, as he controlled the early match, despite Goto nearly getting his hands on Gedo, who had yet to involve himself in the match. At one point, White threw Goto into the guardrail near the Japanese announce table, which drew the ire of guest commentator Katsuyori Shibata, who raised from his seat but did not act. White hit the Kiwi Crusher for a near fall. Goto rallied, hitting the Ushigoroshi, then went for the GTR, but White managed to avoid it, as Gedo distracted the referee to boos. White hit the sleeper suplex, but Goto headbutted him to stop him in his tracks, then hit a reverse GTR. Goto followed up with a Shouten Kai for a near fall. Goto hit the GTW, followed by the GTR, but Goto pulled the referee out of the ring so that he couldn’t count the pin, but Shibata came in and apprehended Gedo. KENTA then came in and hit Goto with a Go 2 Sleep, then a kick on Shibata. KENTA continued attacking Shibata, as Jay White hit the Blade Runner on Goto to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
Jay White says he wants to be the first IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion and to wrestle against the winner of Ibushi vs. Okada on the second day of Wrestle Kingdom 14. He taunts Ibushi and Okada to come to the ring, but Tetsuya Naito comes to the ring instead. Eventually, Kota Ibushi and Kazuchika Okada come to the ring as well. Naito and Ibushi are also in favor of a double championship match. However, Okada dissents, and says that there should be a fan vote to decide it. Jay White demands to be announced as “IWGP Intercontinental Champion and future double Champion.” He is announced as such, and confetti rains down as Naito glares at him from the entrance ramp.
Bullet Club leader Jay White has claimed the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. White defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon’s Tetsuya Naito during New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Destruction in Kobe main event.
Since debuting for the promotion in 2017, ‘Switchblade’ Jay White has held the IWGP United States Championship, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and now the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. His win over Naito also continues the streak of unsuccessful IWGP Intercontinental Championship defenses at NJPW’s Destruction in Kobe event.
After his victory, White would get on the microphone to gloat about his victory, listing out every member of Bullet Club in the manner that Naito speaks about his LIJ stablemates. He would be interrupted by CHAOS member Hirooki Goto.
Leaving the ring, the ‘Switchblade’ was clear in his opinion, stating that Goto is beneath him and undeserving of a championship opportunity. It’s worth noting that Goto holds a victory over Jay White during the G1 Climax tournament this past summer.
During the post-match interview, Jay White listed some of New Japan’s most notable wrestlers as people he has defeated including Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada. He then listed a few opponents that he feels he will be meeting soon including LIJ’s SANADA and EVIL, as well as Kota Ibushi and the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Okada. He once again stressed that Goto was beneath him and not worth his time.
“Switchblade” Jay White will challenge for the IWGP Intercontinental championship on September 22nd in Kobe, Japan. White defeated Naito during the G1 Climax 29 round-robin this year. It was the first time the two former IWGP Heavyweight champions have faced each other in single’s competition.
Intercontinental Championship match signed for DESTRUCTION in KOBE!
Jay White to challenge Tetsuya Naito in Kobe World Hall September 22!
“A huge championship match has been signed for DESTRUCTION in KOBE on Sunday, September 22, as Switchblade Jay White will face champion Tetsuya Naito, it has been announced,” an NJPW press release for the match reads.
White advanced to the finals of the G1 Climax with the win over Naito but would ultimately lose in the finals to Kota Ibushi.
Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 18. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continues today and will run until Day 19 on August 12.
Twenty wrestlers, divided into two blocks of ten, compete against every other member of their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.
Jon Moxley, Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito, and Jay White are all still in the running to win the B Block. Who will be the man to come on top in the B Block and face Kota Ibushi in the 29th G1 Climax final?
Watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese.
Day 18 Undercard
Shota Umino & Ren Narita defeated Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura Ren Narita submitted Yuya Uemura with a Boston crab at 7:34. Uemura was locked in for a long time and frantically struggling to escape, with the crowd vocally cheering him on.
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) SANADA was wildly over in this match. Yujiro Takahashi pinned BUSHI at 7:54 after the Pimp Juice DDT.
Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare defeated KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks Toa Henare pinned Karl Fredericks with the Toa Bottom (uranage) at 8:22.
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated Suzukigun (Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Zack Sabre Jr. with a flash lateral press at 10:35. As ZSJ threw a tantrum ringside, Tanahashi made a one-two-three gesture with his fingers.
Day 18 G1 Matches
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jeff Cobb defeated Toru Yano The referee found that Yano was smuggling nearly half a dozen rolls of athletic tape in his trunks. After he baited Cobb into a handshake, he trapped Cobb’s hands inside his singlet and rolled him up, but Cobb kicked out. Running out of options, Yano hit Cobb with an impressive belly-to-belly suplex. Jeff Cobb blocked Yano’s mule kick and hit a superkick, followed by the Tour of the Islands to defeat Toru Yano at 5:16. Final scores: Cobb 8 points, Yano 8 points
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Taichi defeated Tomohiro Ishii Taichi was unexpectedly ferocious at the start, immediately hitting several backdrop drivers on Ishii. There was no shtick with him, only the strikes and throws everyone knows he can do when he’s not being a coward. After removing his pants, Taichi went for a Black Mephisto, but Ishii reversed it and floored him with a headbutt. Ishii went for the brainbuster twice but Taichi countered it both times. Taichi pinned Tomohiro Ishii with the Black Mephisto at 11:56. Final scores: 8 points Taichi, 8 points Ishii
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Juice Robinson defeated Jon Moxley Shota Umino came out with Jon Moxley wearing a leather jacket and posing alongside him. The match began with a fistfight before Moxley began to attack Juice’s knee, which had been significantly damaged by Jay White several days ago. Juice bit Moxley on the ear, causing his earring to come out, which Juice threw into the crowd. They traded punches as the crowd yelled “Juice! Mox!” depending on who hit one. Moxley put Juice in a long chinlock and the referee was about to call for the bell before Juice pulled on his leg to stop him. Angered by the referee’s refusal to make the decision, Moxley began throwing weapons in the ring. Losing his cool gave Juice the opportunity to fire back with punches followed by the Pulp Friction to pin Jon Moxley at 16:26 and end his hopes for the G1 Final. Final scores: 8 points Juice, 10 points Moxley
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Shingo Takagi defeated Hirooki Goto Coming off his victory against Tomohiro Ishii, Shingo Takagi expressed arrogance in the early going, but Goto was able to more than match him with regards to power. Goto wore Shingo with tight-looking sleeper holds, but Shingo broke it with a reverse noshigami, then followed up with a sliding lariat and a regular noshigami. This turned into a battle of lariats, then Goto reversed the ushigoroshi into the Made in Japan, but Goto kicked out at 2. Goto hit the reverse GTR, but Shingo floored him with a pumping bomber, followed by another. Shingo Takagi pinned Hirooki Goto with the Last of the Dragon at 15:10, and knocked him out of G1 final contention. Final scores: Shingo 8 points, Goto 10 points
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jay White defeated Tetsuya Naito Jay White stalled outside the ring to begin this match, but when he was finally ready to fight, Naito returned the favor, angering Jay. White dominated the match at first, and the crowd booed him all the while. Later on, Gedo tried to interefere, but Naito caught him and low blowed him, then kicked him out of the ring, then intercepted Jay’s attempted sneak attack. Naito reversed the Blade Runner attempt and hit the running Destino for a two-count, but White reversed the following Destino and hit a sleeper suplex. After a long series of counters, White hit another sleeper suplex, then a Bloody Sunday. Jay White pinned Tetsuya Naito with the Blade Runner at 18:51. Final scores: Jay White 12 points, Tetsuya Naito 10 points
Jay White called out Kota Ibushi, who came to the ring. Jay White said the match would be one-on-one, with no Gedo. They shook hands, but White nearly kicked him. As Ibushi left the ring, Gedo held his leg and White attacked him and hit his leg over and over with a chair.
Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 16 New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continues today and will run until Day 19 on August 12.
Twenty wrestlers, divided into two blocks of ten, compete against every other member of their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.
Watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese.
Day 16 Undercard
Shota Umino & Ren Narita defeated Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura This was a match featuring all young lions. Shota umino pinned Yota Tsuji with a bridging Fisherman’s suplex at 5:39.
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI) Chase Owens attempted to put a Paradise Lock on SANADA, but even with the verbal instructions of Milano Collection A.T., he was unable to figure it out. Chase Owens pinned BUSHI after a package piledriver at 7:50.
Suzukigun (Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki) defeatedKENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks Minoru Suzuki pinned Clark Connors after a Gotch-style piledriver at 7:17. After the match, Zack Sabre Jr. condescendingly kicked KENTA out of the ring and said that now he was KENTA’s senpai (superior).
Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Kota Ibushi, Will Ospreay & Toa Henare YOSHI-HASHI pinned Toa Henare with the Kumagoroshi (Fisherman’s brainbuster) at 7:20. Okada and Ibushi stared each other down after the match. Then, Okada stood with his back to Ibushi while holding up the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
Scheduled G1 Climax matches for Day 17 (August 10 – A Block):
EVIL vs. Lance Archer
SANADA vs. Bad Luck Fale
KENTA vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Will Ospreay
Kota Ibushi vs. Kazuchika Okada (The result of this match determines the finalist: a win for either person sends them to the Final; a draw sends Kazuchika Okada to the final)
Day 16 G1 Matches
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Toru Yano defeated Taichi Taichi started the match by being uncooperative and generally unwilling to face Yano head on. Toru Yano simply tried to leave to the backstage area in frustration, but Yoshinobu Kanemaru came out and brought him back to the ring. Taichi rolled up Yano using the ring apron, which nearly won Taichi the match via countout. On the outside, Kanemaru tried to spit whiskey in Yano’s face, but Yano ducked and it hit Taichi instead. Yano then hit low blows on both of them and rolled them up together in the ring apron. Miho Abe tried to free them, but it was too late. Toru Yano defeated Taichi by countout at 5:04. Yano 8 points, Taichi 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Tetsuya Naito defeatedJeff Cobb Naito made fun of Cobb’s great bulk by posing like a sumo wrestler. Cobb started off using his power to beat down Naito and shrug off his offense, but Naito countered with attacks to the leg. Visibly slowed, Cobb continued to use his power moves whenever possible. Cobb managed to reverse the running Destino into an F5. Then, Cobb went for the Tour of the Islands but Naito countered it into a reverse DDT. Tetsuya Naito pinned Jeff Cobb after a Destino at 12:47. Naito 10 points, Cobb 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Hirooki Goto defeated Jon Moxley Moxley was visibly angry as he made his entrance, with his early lead on the competition evaporating before his eyes. He and Goto fought in a contest filled with forearms and lariats, in which they seemed evenly matched in terms of power and toughness. They even fought on the outside until nearly both getting counted out. After a double-arm DDT, Moxley went for the Death Rider but Goto stopped it. Hirooki Goto pinned Jon Moxley with an Ushigoroshi floated over into the GTR at 8:38. Goto 10 points, Moxley 10 points. This was Jon Moxley’s first clean singles match loss in NJPW.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jay White defeated Juice Robinson Jay White used his cerebral wrestling style to avoid taking hits from Juice while asserting an early advantage and attacking Juice’s knee. Noticeably hobbled, Juice attempted to make a comeback with punches but White went right back to the leg, taunting Juice all the while. Juice managed to make a comeback and attack Jay’s knee in return. Juice landed his left-handed punch, but Gedo distracted the referee. Jay White attacked Juice’s leg further with a chair. Jay White submitted Juice Robinson with the J.T.O. (Juice Tapped Out) at 23:01. White 10 points, Juice 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Shingo Takagi defeated Tomohiro Ishii If anyone has seen these two men wrestle for any significant length of time, they could probably visualize this match and not be far off from reality. Ishii and Shingo both traded their hardest hits, called each other bastards, and challenged each other to hit them harder. A big lariat from Shingo made Ishii’s ear start bleeding. They traded one-count kickouts after lariats. It was a magical spectacle of masculinity and stubbornness. Shingo Takagi pinned Tomohiro Ishii with the Last of the Dragon at 22:41. Shingo 6 points, Ishii 8 points. They continued attacking each other after the match ended, obviously.
Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 14. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continues today and will run until Day 19 on August 12.
Twenty wrestlers, divided into two blocks of ten, compete against every other member of their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.
Watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese. Start times: 11PM Pacific, 2AM Eastern, 7AM UK, 4PM East Australia
Day 14 Undercard
Shota Umino & Ren Narita defeated Toa Henare & Yuya Uemura There were no G1 Climax participants involved in this match. Shota Umino pinned Yuya Uemura with a bridging Fisherman’s suplex at 6:06.
Suzukigun (Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki) defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI) Minoru Suzuki pinned BUSHI after a delayed Gotch-style piledriver at 6:38. After the match, Lance Archer attacked SANADA as he was leaving and smashed his head against a wall.
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma Chase Owens pinned Bad Luck Fale after a package piledriver at 8:16.
CHAOS (Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks YOSHI-HASHI submitted Clark Connors with the Butterfly Lock at 8:24. KENTA and Ospreay nearly came to blows after the match. As CHAOS was making their way to the back, Ospreay yelled to the camera operator “KENTA is my bitch!”
Scheduled G1 Climax matches for Day 15 (August 7 – A Block):
Lance Archer vs. SANADA
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale
KENTA vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL
Day 14 G1 Matches
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Tomohiro Ishii defeated Toru Yano Ishii immediately went after Yano before the bell to finish him off quickly, but Yano pulled his t-shirt over Ishii’s face and nearly rolled him up for the win. Yano took a chair and sat on the ramp, taunting Ishii to come attack him, but Ishii didn’t take the bait, and Yano rushed back into the ring to avoid the countout. From that point, Yano started using actual wrestling moves like lariats and suplexes to make this a very heated match between stablemates. Tomohiro Ishii pinned Toru Yano after a vertical drop brainbuster at 9:36. Ishii 8 points, Yano 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Taichi defeated Juice Robinson Yoshinobu Kanemaru was seconding Taichi and attacked Juice Robinson as he was making his entrance, allowing Taichi to start the match at an immediate advantage. Taichi continued to dominate after the match returned to the ring. Juice made a comeback, but Taichi countered the Pulp Friction to cut him off. Then, Kanemaru tried to interfere again, but a big punch from Juice neutralized him. However, Taichi capitalized on the distraction and pinned Juice Robinson after a Black Mephisto at 12:28. Taichi 6 points, Juice 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Hirooki Goto defeated Jeff Cobb From the outset, it became clear that Cobb was the stronger and more resilient man in this match, as he controlled the match early with strikes and slams, with occasional bursts of retaliation from Goto. Goto roared to life with an ushigoroshi followed by kicks and a reverse GTR, and the match continued to favor him as it went on, with Cobb looking visibly tired. Hirooki Goto pinned Jeff Cobb after a GTR at 11:20. Goto 8 points, Cobb 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jay White defeated Jon Moxley After not being able to get his hands on White at all yesterday, Moxley jumped Jay White before the bell. He went to set up a table on the outside, but Gedo removed it from the ringside area to heavy boos. With White down, Gedo distracted Moxley for enough time for White to hit a low blow followed by a brass knuckles punch from Gedo. That didn’t end the match, but it didn’t last much longer after that. Jay White pinned Jon Moxley after a Blade Runner at 15:15. White 8 points, Moxley 10 points. Although it was not a fair fight, Jay White has achieved the first pinfall victory on Jon Moxley in NJPW.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Tetsuya Naito defeated Shingo Takagi Being a never-before-seen match between two stablemates, this match had a big fight feel from the outset. They didn’t fight with the sportsmanship and respect one would expect from teammates and long-time friends, as this match contained condescending cheap shots, spitting, mean name-calling, and cocky pins. Takagi looked very strong in this match, throwing Naito all over the place and cleverly countering many of Naito’s moves. For the second day in a row, the main event came close to a draw, and it seemed like Naito just eked out a win over his fellow LIJ member. Tetsuya Naito pinned Shingo Takagi after a Destino at 27:15. Naito 8 points, Shingo 4 points.
Jon Moxley is currently tearing his way through the B Block in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax 29 tournament.
One current NJPW wrestler, however, hasn’t been too impressed with the former WWE Superstar: the IWGP Intercontinental Champion, Tetsuya Naito.
The Los Ingobernables de Japon leader sat down with njpw1972.com for an interview to discuss the G1 Climax and a few of his opponents, including Moxley.
It’s worth noting that the second part of this interview was only recently uploaded, and was conducted before the G1 matchup between Naito and Moxley on July 28th.
Commenting on the matchup between Moxley and Juice Robinson, Naito stated that the match, which saw Moxley claim the IWGP US Championship, didn’t move him.
“That Moxley match didn’t really move me. I know it was a hot crowd in Ryogoku, that came through on the TV even, but I was left thinking, ‘Why are the people making that kind of noise?’ I couldn’t put my finger on it, myself.”
When discussing Moxley specifically, he claimed to prefer technical wrestlers over Moxley’s current brawling style.
“I prefer technical wrestlers. Plus, with his new gear, he seems more subdued, less showy than how I imagine a WWE wrestler is. Then again, that’s just going off one match. Maybe he has something I haven’t seen just yet,” Naito said.
He continued, “You don’t hold all the championships he has, or get as popular as he’s got purely on luck. Maybe I’ll see something in him after we actually meet in the ring, but for now, he’s an unknown quantity.”
The two clashed a few days ago on July 28th. Jon Moxley defeated Naito, continuing his undefeated streak in the G1 Climax.
Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 12. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continues today and will run until Day 19 on August 12.
Twenty wrestlers, divided into two blocks of ten, compete against every other member of their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.
Watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese. Start times: 2:30AM Pacific USA, 5:30AM Eastern USA, 10:30AM UK, 7:30PM East Australia
Day 12 Undercard
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) def.KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks Chase Owens pinned Karl Fredericks at 8:11 after a package piledriver. KENTA versus Bad Luck Fale takes place on Day 13 in the A Block (August 13).
Suzukigun (Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki) def. Suzukigun (Lance Archer & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) This was a match involving two teams from the same faction. Nevertheless, Sabre and Suzuki attacked Archer and Kanemaru as they were making their entrance. Sabre pinned Kanemaru with the European Clutch at 5:00. Lance Archer faces Zack Sabre Jr. on Day 13.
Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare defeatedHiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino & Ren Narita Toa Henare pinned Ren Narita with the Toa Bottom at 8:18. Hiroshi Tanahashi faces Kota Ibushi on Day 13, in a rematch of last year’s G1 Final.
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI) YOSHI-HASHI submitted BUSHI with the Butterfly Lock at 9:14. EVIL versus Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada versus SANADA take place on G1 Day 13, the latter of which is the main event.
Day 12 G1 Matches
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jeff Cobb defeated Shingo Takagi Shingo Takagi attempted to match Jeff Cobb early on in terms of strength, but was unable to bring down the heaviest member of the B Block was shoulder tackles. Shingo switched to targeting Cobb’s legs to counteract Cobb’s agility, then transitioned to wearing him down with strikes and power moves. Noticeably slowed, Cobb managed to make a comeback and pinned Shingo Takagi after the Tour of the Islands at 12:27. Cobb 6 points, Shingo 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Toru Yano defeated Jon Moxley Yano sprayed Moxley with water and then begged for his forgiveness by offering his DVD, but Moxley did not take the bait. Yano tried to tape Moxley’s legs together, but Moxley reversed it on him and taped his arm to the barricade for a near countout. Moxley took out a table and tried to use it against Yano, but Yano dodged the attack, low blowed Moxley and Shota Umino, then taped their legs together outside the ring. Toru Yano defeated Jon Moxley by countout at 5:08. Yano 6 points, Moxley 10 points. This is Moxley’s first defeat in NJPW.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Tetsuya Naito defeated Juice Robinson Juice attempted to provoke Naito by taking an excessively long time to begin, the same way Naito did so against Moxley, which lead to his defeat. Irate, Naito mimicked Juice’s moves and mannerisms against him, cheering for Juice in a mocking way. Angered, Juice fired back up, drawing blood from Naito. Nevertheless, Naito pinned Juice after a Destino at 13:17. Naito 6 points, Juice 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jay White defeated Taichi Both men took a long time to start this match, avoiding making contact for several minutes. They both fought dirtily and their their valets fought as well, with Gedo pulling Miho Abe’s hair to distract Taichi. White condescendingly taunted Taichi to attack him and the match eventually broke down as both men went for low blows and received interference from their seconds. Jay White pinned Taichi after a Blade Runner. White 6 points, Taichi 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Hirooki Goto defeated Tomohiro Ishii Not a lot of detail can be given about this match. This was simply a slugfest between two men who, despite being stablemates, held nothing back. Even after his excursion to the LA Dojo, Goto was still subject to Ishii’s underestimation and taunts to hit him harder. On this day, those taunts and Ishii’s perception of himself as an unbreakable wall were his undoing. Hirooki Goto pinned Tomohiro Ishii after a GTR at 18:01. Goto 6 points, Ishii 6 points.
Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 10. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continues today and will run until Day 19 on August 12.
Twenty wrestlers, divided into two blocks of ten, compete against every other member of their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.
Watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese.
Day 10 Undercard
Ren Narita defeated Yuya Uemura This was a singles match involving young lions, so no participants are involved in the G1 Climax tournament. Ren Narita pinned Yuya Uemura with a bridging belly-to-belly suplex at 7:25.
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) defeated Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare Yujiro Takahashi pinned Tomoaki Honma with the Pimp Juice DDT at 8:20. Kota Ibushi faces Bad Luck Fale on Day 11 (July 30) in the A Block.
Suzukigun (Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeatedKazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI & Shota Umino Yoshinobu Kanemaru pinned Shota Umino with the Deep Impact DDT at 9:35. Respectively, Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay’s next opponents in the A Block are Lance Archer and Zack Sabre Jr. After the match, Archer took the microphone from English commentary and cut a threatening promo on Okada.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) defeatedHiroshi Tanahashi, KENTA & Karl Fredericks BUSHI pinned Karl Fredericks with the M-X at 8:59. KENTA faces SANADA and Hiroshi Tanahashi faces EVIL on G129 Day 10, the latter of which is the main event.
Day 10 G1 Matches
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match:Hirooki Goto defeated Toru Yano Toru Yano feigned sportsmanship against his CHAOS faction-mate, but he could not resist his urge to cheat, attempting to put his t-shirt over Goto’s head and roll him up, but failed to do so. Hirook Goto blocked the mule kick and pinned Toru Yano with the Goto Shiki in 1:42. Goto 4 points, Yano 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Tomohiro Ishii defeated Juice Robinson Not many different moves were done in this match that served more as a test of Juice’s grit. Juice probably took more punishment and got back up than in any NJPW match of his to date, perhaps trying too hard to show his toughness at the expense of his victory. Tomohiro Ishii pinned Juice Robinson after a vertical drop brainbuster. Ishii 6 points, Juice 6 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jeff Cobb defeated Taichi Taichi feigned a show of sportsmanship with a handshake, but soon reverted to his old tricks, such as using his valet Miho Abe as a human shield. When Jeff Cobb was finally able to get his hands on Taichi, he dominated him with relative ease with his strength. Jeff Cobb pinned Taichi after a Tour of the Islands at 12:30. Cobb 4 points, Taichi 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jay White defeated Shingo Takagi Shingo was able to overpower White during the short bursts that the were in the ring together, but White outsmarted him into leaving the ring, where he was able to achieve his own advantage with moves on the apron and barricades. White cleverly avoided a lot of Shingo’s offense and it likely made the difference. Jay White pinned Shingo Takagi after the Blade Runner at 19:26. Shingo 4 points, White 4 points.
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match: Jon Moxley defeated Tetsuya Naito Naito went to great lengths to rile Moxley up before the match, making his entrance especially slowly and then throwing his tearaway pants at the US Heavyweight Champion. This match was full of personality, with the short fuse of Moxley being lit again and again by Naito’s antics, and Naito just might have pushed him too far. Jon Moxley pinned Tetsuya Naito after the Death Rider at 16:41. Moxley 10 points, Naito 4 points.
