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Category: Japan

  • NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2016 results: Kenny Omega vs. Michael Elgin I-C title match

    Juice Robinson and Jay White  vs. Captain New Japan and David Finlay

    Pretty short. Had internet problems during this bout, so didn’t see much of it. Really just saw the finish where Robinson submitted CNJ with what looked like a version of the camel clutch. On Twitter, he mentions he calls this the Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Clutch. No, really!

    Yoshi-Hashi and Roppongi Vice vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi

    Pretty solid match. Heels controlled most of the match, faces made a comeback. Nakanishi and Yoshi-Hashi brawled into the crowd. Tiger Mask avoided Romero but he grabbed his mask and rolled him up for the win.

    Romero cut a promo for his team, saying they’ll be retaining the titles at Dontaku against Sydal and Ricochet.

    Yoshitatsu and Great Bash Heel vs. Guerrillas of Destiny and Yujiro Takahashi

    Bullet Club came out wearing white camo. Largely a solid match, nothing all that interesting. Crowd woke up when Makabe was tagged in and ran wild on Tanga Loa. Loa made a comeback, but eventually with the rest of the team’s help Makabe got the win with the king kong knee drop.

    Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger vs. Katsuyori Shibata and Kushida

    Lots of brawling. They brawled inside, outside, just about everywhere. A lof of the match was Shibata beating up Nagata and vice versa. Liger had Kushida in a figure four for a good while  At one point Kushida had escaped from it, but Liger put it back in. The Jushin Liger of 2016 has some really good mat work and it’ll probably play a part in their upcoming match. There were good aspects of this match, but it felt really, really longer than it needed to be. Nagata and Shibata went at it for a long time until tagging in their partners. Liger tried working on Kushida’s bum legs and worked in an arm wringer but Kushida grabbed Ligers arm and snagged him in a modified roll up for the win.

    Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Bushi and Sanada vs. Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo

    New Japan eight man tag matches usually follow a formula, and this one followed it to a tee: everyone works against their rival, then something happens and they all wind up on the outside and brawl. Here, it was Sanada using his submission finisher the Skull End on Okada. Goto and Evil were in there and had really good chemistry with one another. Evil is one of those guys that is going to do very well as far as doing that hard hitting stiff style. Everyone came in towards the end and laid out one another, with Ishii laying out Naito. Bushi came in, ate a lariat and a brainbuster and that was it. Pretty good match.

    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale

    Fale, as you’d expect, used big guy power spots to start. Wasn’t particularly interesting. Fale dominated, Tanahashi made a comeback, including the high fly flow to the floor. Fale made a comeback, got a near fall after a grenade. Tanahashi countered the Bad Luck Fall, hit the slingblade and pinned Bad Luck Fale with the high fly flow. It was a very patterned match, but it was fine. Tanahashi is excellent as a ring general as he knows how to work with a guy like Fale.

    Intercontinental Title: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Michael Elgin

    Omega was all alone for this title defense, but had plenty of weapons anyway, including a ladder for some reason. He tried to use them all as Elgin stomped on him but Elgin kicked them all away. Elgin used the ladder to shove Omega into the barricade but Omega came back with it. They set up a table on the outside. Some really good back and forth in the ring. Omega used to be good, but now he’s like really good, not just in terms of athleticism but also just being the overall package. He has a ton of confidence. At one point Omega went for a hurricanrana, Elgin blocked it and powerbombed him through the table in a crazy spot.

    Elgin hit the buckle bomb and was going to the Elgin bomb but Omega spiked him with a reverse hurricanrana as he was going up, then another one after Elgin blocked the One Winged Angel. Elgin went for another buckle bomb but Omega came back with two knee strikes and hit the One Winged Angel to retain the title. Great main event.

    Tanahashi came out after the match and challenged Omega. Omega said he’d think about it. He proceeded to think about it for approximately two seconds by low blowing Tanahashi, saying his answer was no. He took the ladder and put it on top of the fallen Tanahashi. He climbed to the top of the ladder and basically said he never wanted to face Tanahashi again, and that is real. He left, streamers flying as the show closed. Obviously this is the next program, so I guess eventually Omega’s going to change his mind. Or maybe not, who knows!

    That main event blew the rest of this card out of the water, so if there’s one match you need to see it’s that one.

  • New Japan on AXS report: AJ Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada

    This week’s show was our final look at Dominon, held last July at Osaka Jo Hall.

    Okada is this week’s interview subject. The interviewer mentions how this is the first wrestling card in over 20 years. Okada says he should be thanked for that, but it also felt good to see the arena packed. As far as AJ goes, he wanted his title back. He’s a great wrestler. It was tough, no doubt about it.

    I loved the early parts of this match with the interference. Now, Bullet Club freely interferes on many occasions; this is hardly news. But this felt like the culmination of every other time they ever interfered because this time, Red Shoes had enough of their shenanigans. He told the Bullet Club to suck it, then told AJ to suck it. It’s a little detail in this match, but I thought it was a nice touch.

    As for the match itself, it was awesome. It was just two guys who know how to have a great match going out there and giving it everything. Once the Bullet Club was ejected the workrate was high, and they totally delivered. The last few minutes were excellent with Styles and Okada trading some high profile offense until Okada hit his second or third Rainmaker for the win. Another nice touch was that even though Okada laid out Styles with multiple rainmakers, he didn’t pin Styles until he knew he had him beat. In an era where finishers are spammed to death, it’s nice to know New Japan protects them for when it’s most important.

    It kinda hit me while watching this match that as good as AJ Styles was in New Japan, he’s never going to be that good in WWE. Not that he won’t have good matches, he’s already proven that in spades. But even if WWE gives someone like AJ enough time to have a PPV quality match, he’s bound to a bunch of road agents who are commanded to tell people how to work a certain way. AJ came to his own in New Japan as a ring general and flourished. In WWE, that ain’t happening. It’s a shame, but this match proved just how much AJ upped his profile within a years’ time in New Japan.

    Gedo cuts his usual promo after the match, saying Okada’s at a whole other level and that the future of pro wrestling is in his hands. Okada has three things to say. His first two points is as champion, he’ll definitely compete and win in the G1. The third point…well, he doesn’t have a third point. He promises that it’ll rain money all over New Japan as a big confetti celebration starts

    AJ didn’t have anything to say backstage. Okada said it was a great fight, and seeing so many people live was awesome. He was happy to get the result he wanted, and hopes NJPW can do it every year. They have a toast with some beer, with Okada jokingly noting that Gedo is really washing it down.

    He was nervous going into the match, but was happy with the result. AJ was a tough person to beat, and was also happy to do it in front of so many people. A lot of wrestlers watch his matches, so he is grateful he faced such a great wrestler as it brought up his caliber.
    Great show this week. Check it out if you haven’t seen this match before.

  • NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2016 results: Kenny Omega, Okada, more

    Jay White submitted David Finlay with a Boston Crab

    They traded some cool spots and boston crab submissions. Standard, solid fare from these two.

    Yoshi-Hashi, Rocky Romero and Trent Baretta defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask and Captain New Japan

    Good action, especially when RPG Vice were in the ring. Romero’s totally underrated in terms of knowing what to do in order to get a match over. Yoshi-Hashi got the win for his team with a submission over, why yes, Captian New Japan. How did you know?

    Katsuyori Shibata, Juice Robinson and Kushida defeated Jushin Liger, Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi

    Much like how Shibata’s been kicking Nagata in the face all these weeks leading to their big match, Nagata returned the favor during this bout. Shibata responded by laying in some ugly sounding kicks. Pretty good match. Shibata scored the win for his team, pinning Nakanishi with the penalty kick.

    Shibata kicked Nagata in the face again after the match and put him to sleep. Interestingly, Liger and Kushida brawled into the stands. I thought they were friends? I guess they aren’t anymore. 

    Sanada and Bushi defeated Kazuchika Okada and Gedo

    Fun match that the crowd was hyped for. Sanada looked great in his offense as he was the main focus here, working over Okada. He and Gedo went at it for a bit, but eventually Gedo fell to Sanada’s new waistlock dragon sleeper.

    Today, Okada got the red mist instead of the usual green after the match for his troubles.

    Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto defeated Tetsuya Naito and Evil

    Crowd was really hot for this match and were all over it. Some high profile moves from Ishii, including a big time superplex to the floor. Crowd ate up the last few minutes. Goto hit the neckbreaker on the knee and Ishii hit the sliding D for a nearfall. Ishii then blasted Evil with a lariat for another nearfall, then got the win after a brainbuster. This was one of the better matches of the weekend, mostly thanks to the awesome crowd though the work was great here as well.

    Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and Guerillas of Destiny defeated Great Bash Heel, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yoshitatsu and Michael Elgin in an elimination match

    Another good match to cap off the show, about the same par as last nights show. They worked the first ten minutes with no eliminations, then went full force with them. Tanga Roa is the first one eliminated when Makabe punches him as he was jumping off the apron. Makabe gets dumped not too long after that. Honma and Tonga end up on the apron. Fale went for a lariat but hit Tonga, eliminating him. Honma tried to fight back, but was taken out with a grenade by Fale. Tanahashi battled him next and did the skin the cat spot. He went for it a second time but Omega distracted him, allowing Fale to dump him. Elgin immediately eliminated Fale.

    The four remaining guys battle it out until Yujiro’s eliminated by a Elgin bomb. Elgin has the upper hand on Omega, but the rest of Bullet Club freely interfere and he’s eliminated after Omega uses his hair spray on Elgin, dumping him to the floor. Last two guys are Yoshitatsu and Omega. They have great chemistry with one another. Yoshitatsu manages to use the hairspray to his advantage, but Omega takes him out with a knee strike and pins him with the One Winged Angel.

  • New Japan Road to Wrestling Dontaku results: Chaos vs. Los Ingobernables elimination match

    Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Roppongi Vice and Gedo

    One dude doesn’t fit here. Not only is Nakanishi immobile but he’s a bit heavier than his opponents, I gotta say. Everyone took a bump for him as he threw the trio around. Standard match. There was a funny spot near the end where Taguchi and Tiger Mask did stereo hit attacks, then wanted Nakanishi to do one. He obliged, but his feet barely left the ground in doing so. He submitted Gedo with the torture rack.

    Jay White and David Finlay vs. Great Bash Heel

    The young lions showed great fire with their back and forth against the champions. Finlay actually took a spike piledriver to the floor. Kinda sad that it used to be one of those moves that used to put you out for months, and now it’s just a spot in a match. Solid work all around regardless. Honma got the win for his team by pinning Finlay with the sitout piledriver, which I think is the first time in forever he’s pinned someone with that.

    Juice Robinson and Captain New Japan vs. Guerrillas of Destiny

    Captain New Japan has aligned himself with Yoshitatsu as they have formed a “Bullet Club Hunters” faction. Too bad one half of this team is a guy who never wins a match. Mostly a match designed for GoD to look strong, which they did. I think Robinson continues to improve in every match he’s in, though, he looked good here. CNJ was pinned after a elevated DDT finish by GoD.

    Katsuyori Shibata and Kushida vs. Yuji Nagata and Jushin Thunder Liger

    These guys had a long match, pretty good in a lot of places. Liger and Kushida worked together and were pretty good. Shibata and Nagata were great as they not only did some grappling but also made sure to strike one another pretty fiercely. At one point Liger/Shibata and Nagata/Kushida worked another, which was pretty cool because you don’t see that happen too often, though it’s been popping up a bit more recently. Liger got a flash pin over Kushida with a bridge pin.

    Nagata tore into Shibata after the match, pummeling him with kicks and of course had to be pulled apart. Ended up being another staredown between the two teams.

    NEVER Six Man Titles: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin and Yoshitatsu vs. Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi

    Yoshitatsu’s new gimmick is that he mimics Triple H by doing his water spot on the apron when making his entrance and now wears the same kind of tights. That’s just as lame as Taguchi doing the Nakamura spots, but at least he’s doing it for comedy. Pretty good match. Elgin and Omega worked together for a bit and worked really well in their preview for next week. Yoshitatsu and Tanahashi did topes to the outside, leaving Elgin and Takahashi. The latter tried to get a sneaky win with a low blow and roll up, but Elgin kicked out and after some back and forth, pinned Yujiro after a buckle bomb and a power bomb.

    Elimination match: Yoshi-Hashi, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Bushi, and Sanada

    It was your typical eight man for a lot of the match in that everyone got to work with one another- Goto/Evil, Ishii/Naito, etc. Sanada worked a lot of the match and looked right at home. He’s had potential ever since he was a rookie in All Japan. Naito was the first one eliminated, deciding to eliminate himself. Ishii soon followed after a distraction by Naito sent him to the floor. Goto beat up Evil some more and tossed him to the floor to eliminate him. Bushi came in and briefly got his butt kicked, but managed to get Goto to the apron then sprayed him with the mist to eliminate him.

    Okada tried to give Bushi the rainmaker but Sanada blocked him. Bushi and Okada made it to the apron as Okada tried to eliminate Bushi but Sanada dropkicked Okada, sending him to the floor and leaving just Yoshi-Hashi to fend for himself. He managed to eliminate Bushi as he and Sanada went at it. They had some pretty good back and forth between one another. Yoshi-Hashi had the better of it as he went to the top rope but Evil held on to him as Sanada recovered and gave him a superplex, then eventually submitted him with a dragon sleeper into a waistlock.

    Everyone from Chaos was laid out after the match. Evil gave Goto the STO, Sanada laid out Okada, Bushi gave Ishii the mist as Naito cut a promo. Ishii tried to attack him again but he was laid out once more as Los Ingobernables made their exit.

  • NJPW cancels PPV due to Kumamoto earthquakes

    Due to the series of earthquakes in Kumamoto, New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced the cancellation of its 4/29 Wrestling Hinokuni PPV.

    The show, scheduled at Grand Messe Kumamoto, was one of the two big shows on the current tour and featured three title matches.  Whether this will result in changes to the 5/3 show in Fukuoka to get at least those matches on the card has not yet been released.

    The city was hit by a series of earthquakes over the last few days: a 6.2 on Thursday night, a 6.0 earthquake three hours later just after midnight, a 7.0 earthquake on Saturday at 1:25 a.m, and another aftershock last night. The earthquakes have left at least 41 dead and 968 injured, destroyed 90 homes and have led to the evacuation of more than 91,700 people in the city.

    However, the other shows that weekend on the island of Kyushu are still on the schedule.

    New Japan is expected to run a major show in the city when things have calmed down, and several Japanese promotions are likely to do benefit shows.

    The show’s original lineup was:

    • Jay White vs. David Finlay
    • Juice Robinson & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Yoshi-Hashi & Kazushi Sakuraba
    • Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger
    • Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Yoshitatsu vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga
    • Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta vs. Matt Sydal & Ricochet for the IWGP jr. tag titles
    • Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil & Bushi
    • Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata for the Never Open weight title
    • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale
    • Kenny Omega vs. Michael Elgin for the IC title

  • New Japan on AXS results: Hirooki Goto vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

    Part 3 of our look back Wrestling Dontaku 2015, which took place on July 5, 2015, features two big title matches.

    IWGP Jr. Champion Kushida vs. Kenny Omega

    I forgot just how great this match was. Omega’s work on Kushida’s leg was great. Kushida made such a great comeback. Both of these guys are just simply phenomenal and showed that here. It’s worth going back and watching these title matches again as NJPW title matches are ALWAYS a big deal and this match came off as something important. Crowd heat was awesome towards the end too. Omega went for the One Winged Angel but Kushida went for the hoverboard lock and eventually got it, securing the submission.

    Omega says that Kushida has now made the title garbage. Omega says he’ll clean him up. Kushida says lots of things have changed in the last year. He used to think the title was too far away for him, but now he wants to make sure it never leaves his grasp.

    Hirooki Goto is interviewed this week. He mentions that before, he only went to Osaka Jo Hall for concerts. He doesn’t want to comment on the match but he would have loved to be in the main event.

    Intercontinental Champion Hirooki Goto vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

    Jim Ross made a good comparison at the start of this bout, comparing Nakamura and Goto to Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. It doesn’t fit perfectly, but there are some aspects here that work. This was a really great match. Everything just seamlessly clicked and these two were on a roll. Nakamura did everything well and got some cool nearfalls, including one where he straight up hit the boma ye and Goto kicked out. Finishes are so protected here that when people actually kick out of them, it’s a surprise. Goto powered back, hit his neckbreaker and walloped Nakamura with the shouten kai to retain the Intercontinental title. Another one of those matches where if you rewatch again, you kind of forget just how awesome it actually was.

    Nakamura in the post match interview said you should be interviewing the champion. He says there is magic to that belt. Goto cuts a rather short promo to the fans after winning, simply saying “cheers”. Backstage, he feels things have calmed down. He destroyed his path, and that’s something to take pride in. There’s only one thing left, and that’s the G1. He’ll take it with his own hands.

    Reflective interview: Goto says in the end, he broke Nakamura’s pattern, but there was still G1. He wants to fight in that tournament like they are all title matches.

    Great show this week. If you’ve been missing out and want to check out just one show, check this one out. It’s really strong in two great title matches.

  • New Japan announces line-ups for next two big shows

    New Japan just announced lineups for its next two major shows, coming off angles earlier today at the Invasion Attack show.

    The first show will be on 4/29 in Kumamoto which will be a 4 a.m. Eastern and 1 a.m Pacific show on a late Thursday night/early Friday morning from Kumamoto Grand Messe.

    Kenny Omega vs. Michael Elgin for the IWGP IC title will headline, plus a grudge match with Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale, Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata for the Never Open wight title and Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta defend the IWGP jr. tag title against Ricochet & Matt Sydal.

    New IWGP heavyweight champion  Tetsuya Naito and former champion Kazuchika Okada are in an eight-man with Los Ingobernables de Japon of Naito & Evil & Bushi & Seiya Sanada vs. Chaos of Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay.

    The annual Wrestling  Dontaku show is 5/3 at the Fukuoka Convention Center, which is a downsize for the usual International Center that they drew poorly in for G-1.  Matches announced so far are Kushida vs. Jushin Liger for the IWGP jr. title, Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa defend the IWGP tag titles against former champions Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma, Goto vs Evil, Okada vs. Sanada and Naito vs. Ishii for the IWGP heavyweight title.

  • Cody Hall believed to be OK after scare at Invasion Attack

    Cody Hall is expected to be okay after a major scare at today’s Invasion Attack show at Sumo Hall in Tokyo.

    Hall, who wasn’t wrestling, was one of six people on the floor when Nick Jackson did a swanton off the balcony of the building during the Young Bucks & Kenny Omega Never trios title defense against Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Yoshitatsu.  Jackson landed mostly on Hall but not in a manner that looked scary. Upon landing you could see Nick talking to him and the match then continued.

    Hall never moved and was carried out on a stretcher.

    The report we got is that he was examined and there was not a concussion and no fractures.  The belief is that he suffered a very bad stinger.

    Part of the story of the match was that Yoshitatsu, whose career nearly Cody Hall is expected to be okay after a major scare at today’s Invasion Attack show at Sumo Hall in Tokyo.

  • Alan4L’s Japanese Wrestling Notebook: Champion Carnival & NJPW Invasion Attack notes

    I took in the opening show of the Champion Carnival for All Japan. It was a really hot show, and even though I’m a big supporter of current AJPW even I was surprised by the attendance they did. Korakuen was not far off being packed. Had to be the best crowd they’ve drawn there in a while.

    The undercard was fun with the stand-out actually ending up being The Bodyguard vs young Naoya Nomura. The rookie stepped up huge and gave a great performance en route to getting a big upset win. He looked alot more ready for the spot than Jake Lee who faced Atsushi Aoki in the opener. Jun Akiyama vs Super Tiger was on it’s way to being fantastic match when it ended abruptly at the 8 minute mark after Akiyama was KO’d and referee Kohei Wada called for the doctor and the bell rang. Can’t say for sure that it was a work but my instinct tells me it was Akiyama trying to get the outsider over for the tour. It was really well played by Wada and Jun especially. Felt very legit.

    The novelty match of the undercard was an 8 man legends tag with a combined age of 436 and 10 months! It was amazingly my second time seeing Dory Funk Jr. wrestle this week. The star of the match was Masanobu Fuchi.

    This show was all about the main event though. An absolute classic 30 minute draw between Triple Crown champ Kento Miyahara and Kengo Mashimo. This may have been the best performance of both men’s careers. Miyahara is stepping up in a big way since the departure of Go Shiozaki and Akebono, and the injury of Suwama. The company has been put on his back and he’s carrying it. He looked every bit the ace they need here.

    Mashimo was off the charts good. New Japan really missed the boat on him in 2013. He has such a command over the situation when he’s in the ring. His facial expressions are perfect for a greasy heel with a chip on his shoulder trying to knock off a pretty boy ace. This performance he had with Miyahara would have been perfect for a title match with Okada.

    The story of the match was Mashimo going at Miyahara’s arm like a pitbull, but the champ firing back with knee strikes and kicks to get a reprieve. It built and built to the point around the 25 minute mark when you realised they were fighting the clock as well as each other. The final few minutes were frantic as a result and the crowd was losing its mind.

    Post match, Mashimo glared at the title, and he deserves a shot after this match. A rematch after the tournament could easily do a great crowd because everyone in Korakuen tonight lived and died with this match.

    NJPW Invasion Attack Thoughts:

    – There was a crazy amount of Naito support. We were seeing Los Ingobernables de Japón shirts from the station by our hotel all the way to Sumo Hall and then at the venue, it was covered in them.

    – The line was wrapping around the building which regulars noted was not a normal occurrence.

    – The merch was flying off the tables in the building. The scene down by the LIJ section was crazy, and really came across like a super hot product.

    – The crowd was insane live, and was really heated the whole way through the show.

    – Not many in the crowd knew Will Ospreay going in, but he was a star by the time he left. Many people were asking me about him after his match. In our section, a bunch of the Japanese fans were trying to chant for him, although they found the name a bit tricky!

    -All of the confrontations to set up future matches got big reactions, particularly Omega vs. Elgin.

    -The atmosphere for the main event was off the charts. The crowd was firmly behind Naito but they were never disrespectful to Okada. Naito’s post-match promo got over big.

  • NJPW Invasion Attack live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Championship

    This morning’s Invasion Attack iPPV, live from Sumo Hall in Japan, is the second big New Japan event of the year following January’s WrestleKingdom 10.

    Kazuchika Okada faces Tetsuya Naito in the main event. The Los Ingobernables de Japon founder won the New Japan Cup last month, putting him in the top spot. It’ll be interesting to see if Okada, who has held the title since July, can successfully defend against Naito, who continues to gain momentum since his heel turn last year.

    We’ll also see the Japan debut of Will Ospreay, who has also built a ton of momentum in the last year, both in the UK and United States. He’ll face Kushida for the IWGP Jr. title in what should be a fantastic bout. We’ll also see a return, as Yoshi Tatsu will return to action after being out over a full year due to a bad bump after taking the Styles Clash.

    RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & JUICE ROBINSON VS. BAD LUCK FALE & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI

    This wasn’t much at all.  A short match ending when Fale pinned Robinson with the Bad Luck Fall.  Takahashi looked bad and then it was over.

    KAZUSHI SAKURABA & TORU YANO & YOSHI-HASHI VS. JUSHIN LIGER & SATOSHII KOJIMA & YUJI NAGATA

    This was better, particularly Nagata.  Another short match but all action and fun all the way.  Nagata pinned Yoshi-Hashi after a back suplex.  It was Nagata’s second try with the move.  The first time Yoshi-Hashi reversed into a small package.  

    HIROOKI GOTO & TOMOHIRO ISHII VS. EVIL & BUSHI

    This was really good.  Goto & Ishii and Evil were physical as hell with each other.  They were really pushing a Goto vs. Evil feud as they did a post-match pull-apart.  The finish saw Goto use the neckbreaker over the knee on Bushi and Ishii followed with a sliding lariat for the pin.  

    RICOCHET & MATT SYDAL VS. ROCKY ROMERO & TRENT BARETTA FOR IWGP JR. TAG TITLES

    Great match.  Baretta pinned Ricochet with Strong Zero, which is the Dudebuster (Omori driver) by Baretta with Romero using a missile dropkick.  The title change and who got pinned tells you all you need to know.  All four looked great with so many smooth moves.  Baretta worked with jacked up ribs but you probably couldn’t tell it by his work.  Ricochet & Sydal are such a fantastic team.  Ricochet did a tope on Romero and followed with a running flip dive on Baretta.  Lots of great near falls. 

    KUSHIDA VS. WILL OSPREAY FOR IWGP JR. TITLE

    I’d say it took Ospreay all of two minutes to get over by doing all the Steve Wright nip ups.  Super match and a star making performance.  Ospreay was wearing trunks with I love Kris Travis.   Most of the match was Kushida working the left arm.  There was an incredible move where Ospreay was on the top rope and Kushida jumped to the top for a flying armbar.  The finish was Kushida with the hoverboard lock and rolling Ospreay to the center just when it looked like he’d make the ropes.  At one point Ospreay did a rainmaker tease.  Kushida did a flip dive and Ospreay did a Fosbury Flop dive.     

    Liger came out to challenge Kushida after the match.  The crowd went nuts when Liger came out to challenge for his belt.   He said he wants to be a 12 time champion.   Kushida accepted it and they shook hands.

    G-1 starts on 7-18 in Hokkaido and finishes 8-12 through 8/14 at Sumo Hall.  No names announced.

    YOUNG BUCKS & KENNY OMEGA VS. HIROSHI TANAHASHI & MICHAEL ELGIN & YOSHITATSU FOR NEVER TRIOS TITLE

    Another strong match.  The story of the match was Yoshitatsu returning after 18 months.  Omega kept going for the Styles clash on him but his teammates kept saving.  They also teaed a Meltzer driver on Tatsu but Elgin jumped in and caught Nick and threw him over the top rope.  We had another title change as  Elgin pinned Nick afer a super power bomb  A lot of comedy  mixed in with hot moves.  Nick did a flip dive off the balcony of Korakuen Hall onto everyone.  Cody Hall was stretchered out at this point.  Omega before the match said that everyone wasted their money last week because he was the real star.  Nick challenged the New  Day again.   

    After the match they set up Omega vs. Elgin for the IC title.  Both put their belts on the ground.  After it seemed like it was over, Fale attacked Tanahashi laid him out with a grenade so this is Tanahashi’s new program.

    KATSUYORI SHIBATA VS. HIROYOSHI TENZAN FOR NEVER OPEN WEIGHT TITLE

    Nagata, Nakanishi and Kojima were in Tenzan’s corner and Masahiro Chono was doing commentary.   Good match as people were into the story of Tenzan past his prime going for a title.  Tenzan mostly did head-butts.  His timing was good but some of the klunking head-butts were used by Tenzan which is not good.  Shibata did most of his trademark stuff and won with a rear naked choke, let it go and finished Tenzan with a penalty kick for the pin.  

    Shibata sucker kicked Nagata after the match.  Clearly setting up Shibata vs Nagata.  They had to hold Nagata back.  People wer really hot for Shibata vs. Nagata.   

    TOGI MAKABE & TOMOAKI HONMA VS. TAMA TONGA & TANGA ROA FOR IWGP TAG TITLES

    New champions again.  Tonga & Roa are called the Guerillas of Detiny.  Very good stuff with Honma doing all the kokeshi’s but he missed the diving head-butt.  They won with two combination power bombs and revese DDTs and Tonga pinned Honma to take the title.

    KAZUCHIKA OKADA VS. TETSUYA NAITO FOR IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE

    Naito won the title thanks to interference by Evil, Bushi and newcomer Seiya Sanada.  The crowd was wanting Naito to win.  Naito won with the Destino in a long good match.  Bushi blew the mist at Oakada after and Sanda used the dragon sleeper.  Ishii and Goto cmae in.  Okada had the match in control after hitting the dropkick when the new guy in a mask showed up and gave Okada neckbreaker and a moonsault.  Naito tried to finish him with Destino, but Okada got out and used a German suplex.  He went for the rainmaker but Naito ducked and hit Destino for the pin.  

    Ishii will be getting the next title shot as they had a square off after the match.  Naito attacked and dropkicked Red Shoes when he was given the belt.  Naito thanked the fans for supporting him.  Fans were chanting Naito’s name.  Good to see Sanada put in a good position.  Naito said Los Ingobenables have taken over New Japan.  Everyone chanted “Los Ingobernables del Japon” with him.  Naito then threw the belt in the air and walked off without the belt.