The day after news broke that UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was injured and out of his UFC 197 title defense against rival and former champion Jon Jones, Double J now has a new opponent –Ovince Saint Preux — and a new goal: the UFC interim light heavyweight title on April 23rd.
The news was made official by Dana White during ESPN Sportscenter on Saturday night with White saying since Jones never lost the title, they felt it was right for the title to be on the line. Recently, UFC announced an interim featherweight title fight between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar for UFC 200, so the buzzword of 2016 is ‘interim”.
Anthony Johnson and Rashad Evans were considered, but Johnson recently had dental surgery that made him unvailable. Jones said Saturday he doesn’t like short notice fights, but was up for anything at light heavyweight or heavyweight.
Jones is returning after more than a year off due to a slew of legal issues. He last fought and beat Cormier in January 2015 and the rematch was expected to do big PPV business. While this match is interesting, the show will no doubt take a hit with PPV buyers, especially with a lack of star power on the rest of the show.
OSP (19-7) is coming off a February decision win over Feijao Cavalcante, and has won three of his last four.
St. Joseph, Missouri: – Orville Brown beat Lee Wyckoff – Sailor Fred Blassie beat Wild Red Berry by dq – Al Getz and Mike Ryan drew Carlos Rodriquez and Jack Nasworthy
1959
Kansas City, Kansas: – NWA World Heavyweight Champion Pat O’Connor beat Dick Hutton in 2 out of 3 falls by dq – Hans Herman and Otto Von Krupp beat Dino Bravo and Bobby Bruns 2 out of 3 falls – Farmer Don Marlin beat Lee Henning by dq – Lorraine Johnson and Laura Martinez
1972
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: – The Sheik beat Pampero Firpo by countout – Tony Parisi beat Hells Angel – Johnny Valentine beat Mighty Ursus – Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello/Don Kent) beat Ivan Kalmikoff/Tex McKenzie – Love Brothers (Reginald Love/Hartford Love) beat Sweet Daddy Siki/Lou Klein – Lee Henning/Chris Colt drew Tony Marino/Bob Harmon – Mighty Igor/Ben Justice drew Mike Loren/Man Mountain Cannon – Bill Miller/Dan Miller drew Gino Brito/Tony Baillargeon – Jacques Rougeau beat Masked Marvel 1
1989
Clash of the Champions VI: New Orleans, Lousiana: – Mike Rotunda & Steve Williams defeated The Road Warriors to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship – NWA World Champion Ricky Steamboat defeated Ric Flair in a 2 out of three falls match to retain the title – The Samoan Swat Team defeated The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) – The Junkyard Dog defeated Butch Reed – The Great Muta defeated Steve Casey
Wrestlemania V: Atlantic City, New Jersey: – Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage to win the WWF World Title – Hercules defeated King Haku – Big Bossman & Akeem defeated Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty – Brutus Beefcake vs. Ted DiBiase ended in a double countout – The Bushwackers defeated Jacques & Raymond Rougeau – Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig defeated The Blue Blazer – WWF World Tag Team Champions defeated The Powers Of Pain & Mr. Fuji in a handicap match – Dino Bravo defeated Ronnie Garvin – Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard defeated Tito Santana & Rick Martel – Jake Roberts defeated Andre The Giant via DQ – Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart defeated Honky Tonk Man & Greg Valentine – Rick Rude defeated The Ultimate Warrior to win the WWF Intercontinental Title – Hacksaw Duggan vs. Bad News Brown ended in a double DQ – The Red Rooster defeated Bobby Heenan
1995
Wrestlemania XI: Hartford, Connecticut: – Owen Hart & Yokozuna defeated The Smoking Gunns to win the WWF World Tag Team Titles – Bret Hart defeated Bob Backlund in an I Quit match – WWF World Champion Diesel defeated Shawn Michaels – Lex Luger & Davey Boy Smith defeated Jacob & Eli Blu – Razor Ramon defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett via DQ – The Undertaker defeated King Kong Bundy – Lawrence Taylor defeated Bam Bam Bigelow
2000
Wrestlemania 2000: Anaheim, California: – Edge & Christian defeated The Hardys and The Dudleys in a ladder match to win the WWF World Tag Team Championship – Chris Benoit won the Intercontinental Title and Chris Jericho won the European Title in a two fall match with Kurt Angle (Angle entered the match holding both titles) – Triple H defeated The Rock, Mick Foley and The Big Show in a Four Way Elimination Match to retain the WWF World Title – Big Bossman & Bull Buchanan defeated The Godfather & D’Lo Brown – Hardcore Holly won a 15-minute Hardcore Battle Royal to win the WWF Hardcore Title – Chyna & Too Cool defeated Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn & Dean Malenko – Kane & Riskihi defeated X-Pac & Road Dogg
2006
Wrestlemania 22: Chicago, Illinois: – WWE Champion John Cena defeated Triple H – Rob Van Dam won the Money In The Bank Match – JBL defeated Chris Benoit to win the United States Title – WWE Tag Team Champions Kane & Big Show defeated Carlito & Chris Masters – Mickie James defeated Trish Stratus to win the Women’s Title – The Undertaker defeated Mark Henry – Shawn Michaels defeated Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred match
2011
ROH Takes Center Stage 2: Atlanta, Georgia: – Kings Of Wrestling defeated Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly – Tommaso Ciampa defeated Homicide – SHIMMER Tag Team Title Match: Daizee Haze & Tomoka Nakagawa defeated Hiroyo Matsumoto & Ayumi Kurihara to retain titles – Christopher Daniels defeated Michael Elgin – Jay & Mark Briscoe defeated All Night Express – El Generico defeated Roderick Strong – ROH World Tag Team Champions Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin beat American Wolves to retain titles
2015
New Japan Road To Invasion Attack: Tokyo, Japan: – Alex Shelley, KUSHIDA & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Jay White, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV – Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Cody Hall, Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows (Bullet Club) – Tama Tonga & Kenny Omega (Bullet Club) defeated Captain New Japan & Mascara Dorada – Hirooki Goto, Tomoaki Honma, Katsuyori Shibata, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe defeated YOSHI-HASHI, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba – The Young Bucks & Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club) defeated Beretta, Rocky Romero & Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) – AJ Styles & Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club) defeated Tetsuya Naito & Kota Ibushi
Tonight’s episode features highlights from the big Dominion event from Osaka Jo Hall that took place July 5, 2015.
IWGP Jr. Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks (c) vs. Roppongi Vice vs. reDragon
I thought this was a really good match, but the problem is the matches eclipse the titles in terms of importance. During this match I kept trying to think who the champions were during this time and I kept drawing a blank. They’ve done so such hot shotting with the titles it kind of renders them useless, even though they aren’t. There needs to be an “ace” kind of team in this division because really it’s just a bunch of great athletes trading wins. Nothing wrong with that, as again this was a great match, but the purpose of the titles comes into question here. Bucks, who were in fact the champions, retained their titles, pinning Romero with the More Bang for Your Buck.
Nick said we might’ve been first, but we were the main event. Matt called themselves the greatest champions of all time and have added prestige to these titles. We can wrestle anywhere, any company, and we chose here because the best are here, and so are the Young Bucks.
IWGP Tag Team titles: The Kingdom (c) vs. Bullet Club
This was a very slightly better version of every Kingdom/BC match they ever had. Bit more tandem action, but still tons of “Anderson is infatuated with Maria” kind of stuff. Gallows laid out Maria and Anderson gave Bennett a gun stun on the paron. Taven made a brief flurry of a comeback, but it was too much and was laid out with the Magic Killer, allowing Anderson to get the win as he and Gallows regain the tag team titles. Not much to say about it.
Hiroshi Tanahashi is this week’s reflective interview. They felt ready that night in Osaka, the roster couldn’t wait to get there. He talks about how Yano is confidence in his abilities and how he can win without breaking the rules. He has a strong grabbing technique, and you can never tell that by just looking at him.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano
This was a good little match. Not great or anything, but Yano’s style is so different than anyone else’s, it’s kind of fun to just watch and see it. It’s a refreshing change of pace, in other words. Yano kept using his tricks, like the low blow, the turnbuckle spot, and using the ref to the point that eventually Tanahashi had to go to Yano’s level to gain the advantage. He got the win over Yano after another high fly flow.
Tanahashi laments he and Yano should have faced earlier, or else it wouldn’t have taken him this long to get there. The biggest disappointment to him is that he’s not in the main event, as he wanted to headline Osaka Jo Hall.
Back to the reflective interview, he said it was a luxurious stage to fight on, and the match itself got him ready for the G1 tournament, which we’re no too far away from
For those F4W Empire members riding the bus, as of now, the plan is for the buses to pick up the group behind the Hyatt Regency hotel, located at Hyatt Regency Dallas – 300 Reunion Boulevard – Dallas, Texas 75207, in the parking lot.
It’s NOT the side parking lot, it’s behind the hotel. Look for someone holding a sign directing you to the bus.
The first bus is scheduled to depart at 2:00 pm central time, the second bus will leave between 2:30 and 3:00, but do NOT be late. Ed will be outside the bus checking people in, and seating is first come first serve. The first bus needs 56 people on it.
After the show, the bus is leaving promptly at 11:00 pm central time. Please do not be late as you may be left behind.
I just would like to personally thank everyone I came in contact with the past few days here, particularly those at our banquet yesterday at the Texas de Brazil steakhouse. All the nice things said are really appreciated and to be able to meet people from all over the world. I want to mention that this website, the newsletters, and the audio aren’t just a product of us, but also of everyone. If you see shows or great matches from around the world, we’re always up for reports and links.
Again, it was just wonderful to see so many people who share a common passion and just how nice everyone was. I will be heading home today because for my job, WrestleMania really has to be viewed on TV. But for everyone I met at the banquet, thanks so much. e all work so hard and it’s days like the last two that really make it feel like it’s worth it.
To the news and notes:
– NXT was a great show last night. Bobby Roode and Kota Ibushi were surprise announcements and in both cases, they makes sense. When Ibushi announced he wasn’t staying with DDT and New Japan, WWE made sense as the next step, particularly with cruiserweight tournament. For Roode, once he left TNA, it made sense for both sides for him to be in WWE. It looks like NXT, and they can use a veteran in the ring.
– The big questions coming out of last night’s TakeOver show is what’s next for Nakamura, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe. We already know what’s next for Sami Zayn. It wouldn’t shock me at all to see him win the title tomorrow although WWE has a ton of different ways to go. But Zayn and Kevin Owens seem like the only logical picks. Zayn could use the big boost and the story of Owens complaining that he lost the title, how Zayn never beat him and how he hurt Zayn before makes sense. But there are really a lot of directions because A.J. Styles needs to be in a top program. I could see a big blow off with Chris Jericho in a month or so, at that point there are new things needed for both.
– I have to watch the NXT show when I get back to get the feel of it from a TV perspective. Live, it was a great show, well placed. I didn’t leave thinking it was the greatest show of the year or anything like that, but I know people who saw it did. Nakamura and Joe should be main roster main eventers. Joe should be in the mix with people like Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar. In watching the match last night, and the aura he had, it really felt like Lesnar vs. Joe should have been built for nine months for Mania this year more than the original plans for Bray Wyatt or Dean Ambrose.
– We only saw some of ROH with the big news at the show being Colt Cabana’s return to face Jay Lethal. All the key shows were packed.
– Evolve’s business was through the roof as compared to their normal standards or last year’s Mania. They were expecting close to 1,500 for the noon show today with Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet. I didn’t see Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr. from yesterday but last night there were people who saw that and Zayn vs. Nakamura and said the former was better. But aside from NXT, that match as the talk of the weekend so far.
– The dark matches at NXT last night were Manny Andrade over Chris Girard which was said to be good but short, and Apollo Crews over Elias Sampson, which was originally scheduled for the special. They are taping TV at Fan Axxess from 1-5 p.m.
– Last night I was at the Kaiju Big Battel show. Not a lot of say about it. A show ending at 3 a.m. would be the second latest time I think I’ve ever been to a wrestling show at. Kota Ibushi wrestled a stuffed animal. It was actually pretty impressive how he did it. He made an entertaining spectacle, out of it and did some cool things without taking any actual risks.
– Regarding the UFC situation with Daniel Cormier pulling out of the title match with Jon Jones, the real question is how badly hurt is Cormier. If he’s hurt enough that he would need surgery, it’s one thing. If he can go by July, and be healthy at that point, they should take their lumps on 4/23 and it’ll just make UFC 200 even bigger with that fight added.
If he can’t, things get tricky.
Rumble Johnson would be the obvious replacement, and is also the most dangerous fighter as far as an opponent for Jones because he’s got the most power. Jones has been training for an entirely different type of fighter and if he were to pull out or just say he wants to wait until June or July for Rumble, I can understand it. At the same time, it may be the best thing for Jones to face Rumble in a short notice fight because he’ll be facing his most dangerous foe when not at his best. Really, if he were to lose to Jones on a short notice fight and Jones ends up as champion, he’s got far more at risk. Jones is going to be a superstar either way. For Rumble, the Jones match, when it happens, is a career and life changer for him if he wins, and a loss, even though he won’t be at his peak conditioning wise and people should know it, it will hurt him.
Daniel Cormier has pulled out of his April 23rd rematch with Jon Jones due to an apparent knee injury. There have been reports of people seeing Cormier limping around earlier in the week.
Cormier lost the first bout against Jones by decision in January of 2015 at UFC 182. Cormier then won the UFC Light Heavyweight title over Anthony Johnson by submission in his next fight after Jon Jones was stripped of the title following a felony hit and run incident that ended in a plea agreement. Rumors are that Anthony Johnson has been training and is willing replace Cormier but there is no guarantee that Jones will accept the fight. Anthony Johnson since losing the title fight against Cormier has dispatched both Jimi Manuwa and Ryan Bader by knock-out.
The title fight was already in doubt when Jon Jones was arrested last week for violating his probation after being cited in Albuquerque, New Mexico for drag racing. Though that was resolved when Jones agreed to anger managment and driver improvement courses along with 60 more hours of community service.
There is already a title fight on the card between Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson and Henry Cejudo.
Kansas City, Kansas: – World Heavyweight champion Frank Gotch beat George Lurich 2 falls to 0
1924
St. Louis, Missouri: – World Heavyweight Champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis beat Jim Londos 2 falls to 1
1961
St. Paul, Minnesota: – Gene Kiniski beat Wilbur Snyder to win AWA US Title – Hard Boiled Haggerty beat Stan Kowalski – Jim Hady beat Tony Nero – Joe Scarpello beat Bill Green
1965
Kansas City, Kansas: – NWA World Champion Lou Thesz beat Bob Geigel by dq in 2 out of 3 falls – Dick the Bruiser and Art Neilson beat Doug Gilbert and Ron Reed – Missouri Mauler beat Dutch Savage – Steve Bolus beat Great Hercules – Bob Brown beat Bobby Shane
1972
St. Paul, Minnesota: – AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Bill Watts & Dr X in 2 out of 3 falls – Billy Robinson beat Big K – Dusty Rhodes ddq Don Muraco – Larry Hennig beat Bull Bullinski – Ramon Torres drew Chris Markoff – Dennis Stamp beat Rick Ferrera
1984
Chicago, Illinois: – Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura beat The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke dq – Nick Bockwinkel beat Billy Robinson dq – Dick The Bruiser & Blackjack Mulligan & Blackjack Lanza beat Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan – Fabulous Ones beat Larry Zbyszko & Roger Kirby – Road Warriors beat Steve O & Buck Zumhofe – Greg Gagne beat Steve Regal – Brad Rheingans beat Kevin Kelly
1989
Memphis, Tennessee: – Master Of Pain defeated Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified Heavyweight Title
1990
Wrestlemania VI:Toronto, Canada: – Demolition defeated the Colossal Connection (Andre the Giant and Haku) to win the WWF Tag Team championship – WWF Intercontinental champion The Ultimate Warrior pinned WWF champion Hulk Hogan to win the WWF World Title – Brutus Beefcake pinned Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig – The Hart Foundation defeated The Bolsheviks – Rick Martel submitted Koko B. Ware – Roddy Piper fought Bad News Brown to a double countout – The Barbarian pinned Tito Santana – Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire defeated Randy Savage and Sherri Martel – The Orient Express, Pat Tanaka and Akio Sato defeated The Rockers by countout – The Earthquake pinned Hercules Hernandez – Hacksaw Duggan pinned Dino Bravo – Ted DiBiase defeated Jake Roberts to regain possession of his “Million Dollar Belt” – Big Bossman defeated Akeem – Rick Rude pinned Jimmy Snuka
1994
Pikeville, Kentucky: – The Rock N’ Roll Express defeated the Heavenly Bodies (Tom Pritchard & Jimmy Del Ray) for the SMW Tag Team Titles
1996
San Bernadino, California: – Goldust defeated Savio Vega to win the WWF Intercontinental Title
2001
Wrestlemania 17: Houston, Texas: – Kane beat Raven and Big Show to win the WWF Hardcore championship – Eddie Guerrero pinned Test to win the WWF European championship – Chyna pinned Ivory to win the WWF Women’s championship – Steve Austin pinned The Rock in a No DQ match to win the WWF World Title – The APA & Tazz defeated The RTC (Bull Buchanan & The Goodfather & Val Venis) – Kurt Angle pinned Chris Benoit – Shane McMahon pinned Vince McMahon in a Streetfight – Edge & Christian defeated The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz in a TLC match to win the WWF Tag Team championship. – The Undertaker pinned Triple H
2007
Wrestlemania 23: Detroit, Michigan: – The Undertaker defeated Batista to win the World Title – Ken Anderson won Money in the Bank Ladder match – US Champion Chris Benoit defeated MVP – The Great Kahli defeated Kane – ECW Originals (The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu & Rob Van Dam) defeated New Breed (Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn, Marcus Cor Von & Matt Striker) – ECW Champion Bobby Lashley, with Donald Trump, defeated Intercontinental Champion Umaga, with Armando Alejandro Estrada & Vince McMahon in a hair vs. hair match. Steve Austin will be the special referee – WWE Women’s Champion Melina defeated Ashley in a Lumber Jill Match – WWE Champion John Cena defeated Shawn Michaels
2011
ROH Honor Takes Center Stage Night: Atlanta, Georgia: – Charlie Hass and Shelton Benjamin defeated the Kings of Wrestling to win the ROH World Tag Team Titles – Michael Elgin beat El Generico – In a Four Corner Survival match, Homicide defeated Tommaso Ciampa, Colt Cabana and Caleb Konley – Jay & Mark Briscoe vs Kyle O’Reilly & Adam Cole – Roderick Strong defeated Davey Richards – ROH World Title Match: Eddie Edwards defeated Christopher Daniels to retain the title
2012
Wrestlemania 28: Miami, Florida: – Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan to win the World Title – Big Show defeated Cody Rhodes to win the Intercontinental Title – Kane defeated Randy Orton – Hell In A Cell: Undertaker defeated Triple H (Shawn Michaels was special referee) – WWE Title Match: CM Punk defeated Chris Jericho to retain the title – The Rock defeated John Cena
John Cena said he was already medically cleared in an interview done at the beginning of the week with Complex Sports.
In the interview, Cena said he felt he could have come back two weeks ago. He said he can do anything they ask of him to do and when they call, he’ll be there.
“If you ask me today, I should’ve been back two weeks ago. I’ve logged almost 400 hours of physical therapy. I got 111 visits in 12 weeks time. I go every single second I can. People say I have a Wolverine-like style of recovery. I was given a nine month quota to come back and after three months I can tell you that I am ready to do asked of me possible. It’s a matter of when they call me.”
What is notable about that is if Cena’s return was looked at to be a major surprise, he would have never answered the question that way since he’s basically saying he’ll be back imminently.
*As the story goes, there were practices for aspects of a big stunt on Sunday.
*On last night’s Steve Austin podcast with Mick Foley, where daughter Noelle did a cameo, they confirmed earlier reports of Foley doing a family reality show of the network, which will include Noelle training to be a WWE performer. She’s already on the network doing some segments.
*NXT will start live at 8:30 p.m. with a few dark matches. The TV broadcast starts at 9 p.m. The’s local time, add an hour later for Eastern time. Ticketholders, or at least some, were sent an e-mail this morning telling them about the new start time for the show at the Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
*Unlike last year where things were spread out all over town, NXT, Evolve and ROH are all within walking distance of each other. Going to be weird as a lot of people with ROH tickets are also going to NXT, so I’m guessing there will be an exodus about 50 minutes into the ROH show.
*It’s hilarious, because based on the vibe here, if Roman Reigns turns, it may get one of the biggest babyface pops. That’s all I hear of people saying how much they want him to turn.
*Mauro Ranallo will be announcing the first three matches of WrestleMania, and hosting the WWE Network first hour as well as the USA Network simulcast second hour.
*WaleMania was last night. First, I want to say think you to everyone I got to meet from the site last night. It was really cool meeting people from all over the country and all over the world. Tons of wrestlers were there and I’m probably leaving out a ton of names but among them were Jim Ross, Konnan, Kevin Sullivan, Big E, Alberto Del Rio, Chris Jericho, Zack Sabre Jr., Eddie Edwards, Will Ospreay, Mojo Rawley, Enzo Amoe, Liv Morgan, Amanda (Mandy Rose) from Tough Enough, MVP, Carlito, Primo, Mark Henry, Taya, Pentagon Jr., Drago, Melissa Anderson (Mariposa), Kobra Moon, Justin Roberts, Virgil, Teddy Haft, Chelsea Green (recovering from a broken collarbone while wrestling in India), Noelle Foley, several ex-WWE writers like Alex Greenfield and Ed Ferrara (who now is a teacher at Full Sail University and has never attended an NXT show). Wale is a huge fan and student of wrestling. This looks to be an annual part of the WrestleMania weekend on the Thursdayprior to the show.
*About the only actual news that came out of the event was MVP saying that he’s starting with Lucha Underground.
*There is a real buzz among this audience regarding Lucha Underground. I think it’s the combination of something entirely different and the hot live audience that gives the show a cool feel. They made a huge mistake not running a live event this weekend.
*Bryan and I will start our nightly audio shows tonight after the NXT show.
New Japan is back this morning in Korakuen Hall as the Road to Invasion Attack continues! On hand tonight is a six man tag featuring all of Los Ingobernables Japon taking on top members of Chaos. We’ll also see a big elimination match as the co-man, always a delight as these type of matches work pretty well in NJPW.
Hirai Kawato vs. Teruaki Kanemitsu
Solid opener. These two are pretty good considering how many matches they’ve had. That’s the entire point of the dojo though, to refine basic skills until you can graduate to having matches, and here they had a basic match with some fun back and forth between the two. Kanemitsu had the Boston Crab on Kawato but the ten minute time limit expired, thus turning it to a draw. He stomped on Kawato after the match and looked upset.
David Finlay vs. Jay White
Good match. These two have pretty good chemistry with one another. White looked really good. People buy into him and got behind him whenever he did a comeback or had a clever counter. Finlay is also very good. Both have a ton of potential down the line. Finlay had White on his shoulders, but White escaped and managed to counter into a boston crab, the required finish for all young lions. Finlay tried to escape, but ultimately couldn’t and tapped.
Kushida, Tiger Mask and Jushin Liger vs. RPG Vice and Gedo
Pretty solid stuff. It was very much your usual New Japan six man tag, but but the crowd was into it and maybe a bit more shorter than usual. Kushida stood apart from everyone else in terms of skill, he’s just fantastic at this point. Romero worked on trying to get the mask off of Tiger Mask during the match but couldn’t do it. Gedo & Kushida had a fun exchange towards the end with Kushida getting the submission with the hoverboard lock..
Kushida cut a promo on Chaos after the match, then danced with his friends. That’s nice!
Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata
Not that interesting. It’s not the best four guys I’d put together to have a match. Wound up as a brawl on the outside fairly quickly with Yano using chairs and the like outside the ring. Nakanishi made a hot tag, or whatever you’d want to call it, and took down Yano. Nakanishi took out Yoshi-Hashi as he and Yano battled it out. Yano used the ref to his advantage, grabbing and lifting him high in the air. When Nakanishi went to check on him, Yano low blowed him and got the win with a roll up.
Katsuyori Shibata & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tencozy
Good match. Largely a backdrop for the future NEVER title match coming at Invasion Attack, but still good stuff. Shibata and Tenzan went right at it at the bell. Kojima and Taguchi worked together as well, though wasn’t as interesting. Shibata kicked Tenzan right on the face on the apron, sending him crashing to the floor. He managed to get up rather quickly to be tagged in for the comeback. Maaaaaybe sell that spot a bit more. Kojima and Taguchi went at it for a while. Taguchi blocked a lariat attempt but after hitting a boma ye and attempting his own finish, Kojima clocked him with a lariat and pinned him.
Shibata and Tenzan continued to go at it after the match, with referees and young lions having to pull the two apart.
Elimination match: Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Tonga Roa
Pretty fun match. Most elimination matches in New Japan are, as they’re pretty much full of action from start to finish. Everyone got a chance to shine early. Elgin came in and destroyed Yujiro, giving him a buckle bomb. Omega tried to stop it, but Elgin grabbed him off the top rope and powerbombed him into Yujiro, allowing Elgin to eliminate him with a powerbomb. Elgin and Omega fought to the outside of the apron where Elgin gave Omega a Death Valley Driver onto all of his opponents on the outside. Robinson made a comeback but Roa and Tonga hit their new finisher and pinned him, evening the odds.
Honma fought back but got eliminated after a huge dropkick by Roa, sending him off the top rope to the floor. Roa was eliminated after two lariats to the outside, and soon after that both Tama Tonga and Makabe eliminated themselves going over the top rope. All that’s left is Tanahashi and Fale. They have some good back and forth until Tanahashi gets the win with a hurricanrana into a rollup. At least, that’s what they tried, but the execution wasn’t exactly there.
Fale beat up on Tanahashi after the match. They’re still teasing something with these two as they’ve squared off on and on since New Beginning.
Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto vs. Evil, Tetsuya Naito and Bushi
Fun main event. Everyone worked with one another and everything built up pretty well. Okada and Naito worked against one another and looked really good. They’ve had great matches in the past, so Invasion Attack shouldn’t be any different. Goto cleaned house as Okada set his sights on Evil. Bushi tried to interfere but was immediately given a Rainmaker. Evil came in but got tombstoned, then pinned after another Rainmaker.
Okada was about to do his promo, but Naito (after acting calm and tranquillo following the bell) ran in and took out Gedo. Okada chased him out as he cut a promo on Naito to close out the show.
Fun show overall. Nothing blow away, but if you like elimination and multi man matches, along with a couple of rookie bouts, this show is right up your alley.
