During the 70s and 80s, Blackjack Mulligan was one of the legendary characters in pro wrestling, a man whose life and career had major ups and just as legendary downs.
Tag: invasion attack
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Adam & Mike Big Audio Nightmare: New Japan’s Invasion Attack~!
The original alternate is back with a singular subject – New Japan’s Invasion Attack, with all of it’s awesometicity and whatnot. Topics include, but aren’t limited to: being jealous of The Kayfabulous Gaijin Pilgrimage, Tired Mike Says Words, the amazing Will Ospreay, an awesome main event, and so much more. It’s not just a podcast; It’s the Adam and Mike BIG AUDIO NIGHTMARE~! Here at WrestlingObserver.com.
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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.
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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.
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NJPW Road to Invasion Attack results: Okada and Naito square off in 6-man tag action
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.
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New Japan Road to Invasion Attack results: ROH TV Champion Ishii vs. Evil
Here is a full report for the 3/20 New Japan Road to Invasion Attack show from Hyogo, Japan. This show wasn’t aired live, but can be seen in full on New Japan World via individual matches.
Roppongi Vice vs. Jay White and David Finlay
Solid match. Finlay and White are really good as a team and do all the young lion stuff really well at this point. Both of them show great fire when doing their comeback.Romero hit a suicide dive on Finlay on the outside while Beretta pinned White with the Dudebuster.
Kushida vs. Gedo
This was really good. Gedo is excellent at what he does and Kushida is one of the best in the planet. They worked a good while with Gedo getting in control for most of the match. Kushida cut him off and and had some good back and forth from there, with some really good near falls. The crowd was into it as well. Kushida had Gedo in the kimura lock at one point but Gedo escaped. Kushida rolled around, got it back on and Gedo tapped.
Yoshi-Hashi, Kazushi Sakuraba and Toru Yano vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata
Your typical New Japan six man, though I’ve seen better. Nothing too wrong, but a lot of comedy and a lot of these guys don’t mix well together. Yano got the win for his team after a low blow on both Taguchi and Nakanishi, rolling up the latter for the win.
Katsuyori Shibata and Captain New Japan vs. Tencozy
Gee, I wonder who is taking the fall here. The problem with CNJ is that he almost never wins, so you already know who is losing before the match even starts. It’s not even like Honma where he’s so great people will buy into anything; there’s just not much you can do with CNJ beyond the opening bout. This was all an angle to continue towards a Tenzan/Shibata match for the NEVER title, as Tenzan challenged after Kojima lost his title match. Match was fine but tough to get into considering. Tenzan locked in the anaconda vise on CNJ and he tapped out quickly.
Shibata and Tenzan had a staredown after the match.
Cody Hall, Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga and Bad Luck Fale vs. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask
Standard eight man tag. Not much to talk about. Tiger Mask didn’t have the NWA Jr. title with him as he lost it on 3/19 back to Steve Anthony, so even though they teased another Liger/Tiger match, it probably is out of the books now. Tama Tonga got the win, pinning Tiger Mask with the waistlock DDT.
Never Six Man Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin and Juice Robinson
Good, crazy six man as you’d expect from a Bucks match. Omega had a bunch of weapons and used them freely during the match, using his trash can and the new spraycan they bring to the ring (maybe it’s Febreze? Who knows). Tanahashi and Omega had some good back and forth towards the end. Maybe they’re keeping that title situation alive? Faces mounted a good comeback, but Robinson got isolated after his team mates were laid out with superkicks and Omega pinned him with the One Winged Angel to retain the titles.
Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada vs. Bushi and Tetsuya Naito
This was fine, but never really felt it. I think it was just the way it was positioned on the card. Goto has debuted new red gear during this tour as he’s officially in Chaos. Goto and Bushi worked each other, as did Naito and Okada since they’re headlining Invasion Attack. Goto hit his knee neckbreaker on Bushi (does he really need to do that to someone who’s been out months due to a bad neck?) then hit a new finisher, sort of like a reverse slam into a knee neckbreaker, for the win.
Okada and Naito had a staredown after the match, but Naito simply walked away before anything went down.
ROH TV Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs. Evil
Very good match. Ishii was his stiff self as usual and Evil is coming into his own as a worker. Not at the same level as Ishii, obviously, but he held his own here. Lots of lariats and back and forth action in general. This was stiff, but not to the level you’d see from normal Ishii matches where he destroys himself. Lots of back and forth towards the end. Evil kicked out of the sliding D. They both went for double headbutts and they fell to the floor. Evil clonked Ishii with a lariat and went for the STO but Ishii fought back. Ishii hit a running knee to the face and hit the brainbuster for the win.
Overall a pretty solid card. The main event was good, the Young Bucks six man was good and Kushida/Gedo was good as well. Those three matches are priorities.