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Tag: NJPW

  • NJPW Road to Destruction 9/4 results: Eight man tag action; debut of Juice Robinson

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Welcome to this morning’s coverage of the New Japan Pro Wrestling show, taking place at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. We kick off the Road to Destruction tour as a eight man tag featuring the Bullet Club headlines, as well as the debut of former NXT star CJ Parker, now going under the name Juice Robinson. 

    David Finlay vs. Jay White

    Very good, technical match. Crowd was quiet for a lot of it but were into the big spots. Both guys had a back and forth match with a lot of mat wrestling and counters. Very different that what you would normally see, which is nice. Finlay hit the rolling senton. White tried to reverse but Finlay caught White with the stretch muffler and he had to tap out.

    Yuji Nagata & Sho Tanaka vs. Yohei Komatsu & Manabu Nakanishi

    Good match. Komatsu and Tanaka continue to look like they’re far beyond ready to move beyond the young lion stage and Nagata did his part well. There was one point in the match where Tanaka teased a deadlift on the immobile Nakanishi but he blocked it. Nagata and Komatsu had a nice exchange at the end with Nagata drilling him with a great belly to belly overhead suplex then pinned him with the backdrop hold.

    Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi Hashi and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Captain New Japan and Tomoaki Honma

    Another good tag team match. They didn’t work it entirely like a standard New Japan six man as they have a formula, and that’s what I liked about the match. Everyone looked good and had their moments. Liger and Ishii had a cool exchange, as well as Ishii and Honma. They did a spot where Liger laid out Ishii and Honma hit the kokeshi, then CNJ splashed him on the top rope but he kicked out. Sakuraba came in and put him in a sleeper, then Yoshi Hashi helped Ishii set up the sliding D but CNJ kicked out of that. Ishii followed with a brainbuster and pinned him.

    Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito and Juice Robinson vs. Tiger Mask, Togi Makabe and Katsyuori Shibata

    Looks like Tiger Mask is back after being out for most of the G1 with a neck injury. This was good but it’s clear that some people didn’t fit here. People were into it whenever Shibata and Naito interacted, and were also into Ibushi and Makabe, but crowd was dead whenever Robinson and Tiger Mask were in. Of course it’s not a main event so putting in junior heavyweights was a given, but still. Shibata cleared the ring with a big boot to Naito that sent him to the floor as Tiger Mask pinned Robinson with a roll up variation. Both Ibushi/Makabe and Shibata/Naito got into it after the match and had to be repeatedly seperated.

    Kazuchika Okada and Toru Yano vs. Tama Tonga and Cody Hall 

    Just a match. Not bad, but nothing memorable at all. Most of the highlights involved Toru Yano being afraid of Tama Tonga whenever he got creepy and doing his trademark spots. Okada pinned Hall with the rainmaker.

    Roppangi Vice and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto, Ryusuke Taguchi and Mascara Dorada

    Good match. Nakamura and Goto worked together and so did RPG Vice, Taguchi and Dorada. Taguchi is doing this gimmick where he imitates Nakamura and it gets on Nakamuras nerves as he laid him out with a kick before the bell rang. At one point in the match Goto helped Taguchi land a sliding hip toss onto Nakamura and scored a near fall there. Good back and forth match from here as everyone has good chemistry with one another. Dorada and Beretta were the ones in the ring as Dorada tried to hop over Beretta but he grabbed him and hit the dudebuster as Romero hit the dropkick for the win.

    Kenny Omega, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and Bad Luck Fale vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kushida, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima

    This was a good main event. Lots of action and everyone worked well against one another, and the crowd was very much into it which helped as well. They did every New Japan multi man tag trope in the world with barricade spots, brawling out into the crowd, everyone pairing off with their rivals, etc. But the action was good enough that it turned out to be fine. The finish came after Gallows landed the Gallows Poll but Kojima kicked out. Gallows went to the corner to hit something but Kojima blocked and blasted him with a lariat for the win, setting up a future title program with them. It’s not the most interesting feud of all time, but considering the division is stale and uninteresting, and New Japan doesn’t have any plans to fix that, this is what we’ll get. 

  • New Japan on AXS TV report 8-28-15: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bad Luck Fale

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Today’s show is another look at the Destruction PPV event from last year, which took place on September 21, 2014 from Kobe Hall.

    First match up tonight is Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi of CHAOS taking on Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows of Bullet Club. The tag team division in New Japan consists of the Bullet Club and whoever wants to team up against them that month, so that’s where we get this match. It’s not very exciting, or interesting, but New Japan’s focus isn’t really on heavyweight tags so we get this. Yoshi-Hashi is an interesting case because I think by now he’d be good to go on his own as a singles, but is almost always in tags during the year. He’s better than people think he is. Anderson and Gallows are acceptable as a team, I guess, but them being the mainstays in the division isn’t helping it feel all that hot – they’re fine, but nothing beyond that. The match was pretty good. Yoshi-Hashi’s great in when making a comeback as people are totally into him. Yujiro runs in and attacks YH, leaving him open to a Gallows Poll by Gallows and the Magic Killer to retain the tag team titles.

    Okada and Gedo cut a promo after the match, saying that their and Yoshi-Hashi’s goal of winning the titles wasn’t deterred and they’ll be back. Gedo scoffed at their win, saying the Rainmaker will come back and destroy them. Come to think of it, they never have. Most challengers never do. I wonder if anyone actually wants to win the heavyweight tag titles in New Japan at this point.

    Nakamura was interviewed about the match beforehand. He was frustrated with his G1 performance and wanted Fale to bring it on. With Fale, Nakamura seems to feel that he garners strength from the audience to gain an advantage, which interests him.

    The main event aired. People I talk to are divided about Bad Luck Fale and his monster push. It’s easy to see that he’s very much protected in New Japan booking – hardly anyone kicks out of the Bad Luck Fall and it’s not like he’s pinned all that often. He’s the big gajin heel that they want, and for the role he’s…acceptable. As a worker, he’s sluggish. But New Japan’s booking of him is strong enough that he can have pretty good matches despite this. When I first watched this match, I thought it was really good, and a testament to just how great Shinsuke Nakamura was last year as a main event guy. Looking at this match again, I think there were still periods where it was just kind of dull. Action picked up towards the end that made it a fun, but not great main event. Fale has to be with the right guy to be in main events, and Nakamura is definitely one of those guys. He wins the title for the fourth time by countering Fale and hitting him flush in the face with a boma ye.

    After the match Nakamura says he can’t express this win in words, and sure enough gives out a YEAOH. Backstage, he says the championship expresses the winner’s will, and he will do whatever he likes with the title.

    Reflecting back, Nakamura says he was one of the more heaviest guys he’s faces. His power can be a destructive force, and felt that during the match. He knew eventually he was running out of gas and a win was not too far away. As far as future title defenses are concerned he doesn’t seem to care; he sees it as a toy. He likes how many people come to challenge for the belt and that’s where he has fun with it the most.

    Not a terrific episode by any means, but it was solid with a decent main event. For the first time in what seems like weeks, it probably wasn’t the best television show of the week. Then again, you can’t win them all!

  • AJ Styles to challenge for IWGP title at NJPW’s King of Pro Wrestling

    A.J. Styles will officially be challenging for the IWGP heavyweight title against champion Kazuchika Okada in the main event of New Japan’s King of Pro Wrestling show on 10/12 at Sumo Hall in Tokyo.

    King of Pro Wrestling is the company’s biggest event between the G-1 finals and the Tokyo Dome show.

    Styles was expected to get the next title shot after cleanly pinning Okada on 8/16 at Sumo Hall in a six-man tag team match. Okada defeated Styles on July 5 in Osaka at the Dominion PPV to win the title that Styles had won from Hiroshi Tanahashi on 2/11 in Osaka.

  • ROH Field Of Honor 2015 results: Okada vs. Roderick Strong, Nakamura & Jay Lethal vs. ReDRagon

    Submitted by Gregory Vassiles

    From MCU Park in Brooklyn, NY 

    Dark Match:

    Will Ferrara wins a prelim.

    – Taelor Hendrix gets a Women of Honor intro.

    Main Card:

    – Adam Cole b. Christopher Daniels

    Cole and Daniels had a professional opener. Spot on, but nothing to overshadow the later matches. Daniels is great at this.

    – War Machine (Hanson/Ray Rowe) b. Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr./Lance Archer)

    War Machine and KES a good mean guy match. Harry was the standout.

    – Number One Contender Elimination Gauntlet Match for TV Title Shot: Tomo Watanabe earned the next TV title shot.

    Order was as follows: Dalton Castle beats Adam Page, Castle beats Frankie Kazarian, Silas Young beats Castle, Bushwhacker Luke gets counted out, Moose beats Young, Moose beats Donovan Dijak. Cedric Alexander beats Moose, Tomo Watanabe beats Cedric Alexander.

    The Elimination match was long, but never boring. Luke did his Rumble Spot, except this time he walked around the bases, of course not in 10 seconds. Dijak did a nice Fosbury Flop.

    – Cheeseburger beats Steve Corino in one of those silly baseball park match races.

    – The Young Bucks, ACH and Matt Sydal beat Rappongi Vice (Beretta/Rocky Romero) and the Kingdom (Taven & Bennett)

    The Bucks match was ok, more comedy than anything else. Maria is a great heel valet; only distracts when it’s right for the match. WWE should have done more with Sydal.

    – Hirooki Goto beats Michael Elgin

    Goto and Elgin another brutal hard hitting match. Both looked fine.

    – The Briscoes beat the reunited Time Splitters (Alex Shelley/Kushida)

    Great to see the Time Splitters back, even if just for one match. Shelley looked like he hadn’t missed a beat. There was a great false finish before Jay hit the driller.

    – IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada beats Roddy Strong

    Okada and Strong had an excellent match. It took 2 pile drivers, a back suplex and the rainmaker for Okada to win. Hopefully they rematch in Japan.

    – Shinsuke Nakamura & ROH Champion/TV Champion Jay Lethal beat ReDRagon

    The main event was fun; built up tension with Nakamura and Lethal. Apparently that match will happen somewhere. Nakamura is not a big fan of Books of Truth.

    Notes:

    – Nakamura and Okada did autographs preshow

    – Overall a really good show; VOD recommended.

  • New Japan on AXS results 8-21-15: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Hiroshi Tanahashi has had some extensive, amazing feuds over the years. We saw a great example of that last weekend when he defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in a sensational match for the G1 Climax 25 trophy. We’ve also seen his many battles against Kazuchika Okada, considered by some to be the best matches this decade has to offer, with more to come from what it looks like. But one never seemed as personal as it was when Katsuyori Shibata came back after being away for ten years. Tonight’s show is the culmination of their feud, one that’s been building up since 2004, when Shibata left New Japan on bad terms. Between Tanahashi’s goal for revenge and Shibata’s utter stiffness, the end result should end up being one hell of a bout, which it in fact did turn out to be.

    Tonight’s show takes place at Kobe World Hall on September 21, 2014. This is part two of our look at the Destruction in Kobe event.

    They first aired a match between Hirooki Goto against Togi Makabe. I liked this match. It was hard hitting, and played into their match from the G1 where Goto broke Makabe’s jaw legit. Unfortunately, this was lost on the announce team as I don’t think that match was shown during G1 highlights, and was never really brought up. To me it felt like that was a big part of the story being told in the match, but who knows. Again, this was good stuff with both guys hitting hard and delivering some cool moves. Makabe at one point double sledged Goto in the face hard. Pretty good, very stiff match, as much as you’d expect between these two.

    Makabe is interviewed after, telling Goto to bring on it and won’t be stopped so easily.

    Tanahashi is interviewed. He didn’t like the way Shibata originally quit in 2004 to go freelance, then eventually MMA. But he was fine with his return in 2012. Fans starting to cheer him and him saying that he was starting to think pro wrestling was fun was the final straw for him. Those turn of events made the match more meaningful to him. He wanted to pin him with a small package to make it personal, having him there for four or even five seconds. The G1 match he was shocked by because people cheered for Shibata more, and that made him upset. When he lost, he felt like for the first time in ten years he couldn’t get back up. He questioned if these last ten years were for naught as Shibata boasted he had accomplished as much as Tanahashi has in the last ten years.

    The match aired. This was given five stars here on this website. As for me, personally, I didn’t think it was at that level at all. I think this was a excellent, stiff, back and forth match. Just not at a five star level, however. Judging it based solely on the match itself, I didn’t think it was at that level. But in terms of telling a story, the story leading to it, the story during the match, and the post-match stuff after the match, it was just excellent. Commentary was great were as well, as they were on point with telling the story about how Shibata had left New Japan and it’s been eating Tanahashi away ever since he came back. Tanahashi manages to score a measure of revenge, hitting Shibata twice with the high fly flow to pin him. Real emotion after the match. Shibata gets to his feet as he and Tanahashi exchange words. Tanahashi puts out his hand and Shibata accepts to a huge pop. Tears stream down Tanahashi’s face as Tanahashi celebrates.

    Tanahashi says that for now, he’s gotten his revenge for the G1 match. He can’t accept how Shibata quit, but he wonders how those ten years were for him, it must have been hard. He gets emotional when talking about what Shibata said after the match, with him saying Shibata told him “Thank you for protecting New Japan Pro Wrestling”. Tanahashi however felt he didn’t have the right to say it. There’s no need for him to say thanks, because it’s all about understanding each other. If he were to say one thing to Shibata, it would be…welcome back.

    In his reflective interview, he felt it was his mission to bring it to the next level. This reminded him back to when they were young lions. He reiterates what Shibata said, which shook him emotionally- you don’t feel like that every day, he mentions. We all protected New Japan Pro Wrestling, it wasn’t just me. As for their relationship now, he doesn’t say much other than Shibata mentioned he always cries after a match no matter what the result. He will stay as he is, at the end of the day and he hopes Shibata stays the same too.

    A fantastic episode of New Japan on AXS. This hour told a great story about the rivalry between Tanahashi and Shibata, and is worth watching alone for the post match interviews from Tanahashi.

  • ROH, New Japan to extend relationship in 2016 with more shows, more talent

    Submitted by Pat Laprade

    As tonight’s Ring of Honor show in Philadelphia, PA, ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that their relationship is stronger than ever. Kevin Kelly hosted the segment attended by Nigel McGuinness, Joe Koff, Cary Silkin, Tiger Hattori and Naoki Sugabayasi.

    – In February, there will be two ROH shows in Tokyo. While there, the ROH World title will be defended for the very first time in a New Japan ring. The belt has been defended four times prior in Japan, all by Takeshi Morishima. 

    – NJPW wrestlers will appear at ROH’s 14th anniversary show in Las Vegas, NV.

    – in May, NJPW talent will again come back to North America to do their usual dates in Philly and Toronto, but they will add more towns, and will bring more & different wrestlers from NJPW in 2016 than in past years.

    It is also expected that both sides will send more talent back and forth and not just those that have gone in the past.

  • Note on upcoming ROH title match in Japan

    While the claim was made tonight at the ROH show in Philadelphia and reported that the ROH title would be defended for the first time in Japan in 2016, that is correct only related to New Japan Pro Wrestling.

    Takeshi Morishima actually defended the ROH title twice in Japan on Pro Wrestling NOAH events.

    –Thanks to Chris Arias

  • New Japan 2015 G1 Climax July 29 results: Naito vs. Styles; Fale vs. Tanahashi

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Welcome today’s coverage of the G1, taking place tonight at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center. Tonight’s show is the usual deal of no commentary but a multi camera setup. Hopefully the crowd is more into this show than yesterday’s crowd.

    Jay White and David Finlay vs. Tiger Mask and Mascara Dorada

    This was short, but pretty fun. White and Finlay are a good young lion team, Tiger Mask was fine and Dorada was his usual great self. Tiger Mask took out White on the outside with a suicide dive which allowed Dorada to pick up the win with the Dorada Screwdriver.

    Yuji Nagata, Yohei Komatsu, Satoshi Kojima and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Karl Anderson, Cody Hall and Tama Tonga 

    Just a match. Everyone paired off with someone and had the usual eight man tag but in abridged form. When Nagata and Anderson were in it was pretty great, though. It boiled down to Tama Tonga and Yohei Komatsu. They had some back and forth for a bit before Tonga pinned him clean with his waistlock DDT.

    Tomoaki Honma and Michael Elgin vs.  Yoshi-Hashi and Tomohiro Ishii

    The last few minutes were super heated with Honma and Yoshi Hashi scoring great near falls on one another. The crowd was white hot for it. Honma actually hit his top rope kokeshi headbutt and managed to pin Yoshi Hashi to a strong ovation. Elgin, Ishii and Honma had to be separated after the match as they all got into it. 

    Kazuchika Okada and Gedo vs. Hirooki Goto and Jushin Thunder Liger

    Decent tag match. Liger and Gedo worked a lot, as well as Goto and Okada. Not much to it beyond that. Liger won with a surprise leg clutch hold on Gedo.

    Toru Yano vs. Doc Gallows 

    Good for what it was. Yano stalled a lot early. He tried to jump Gallows after a hand shake spot but Gallows no sold it. Mostly comedy spots but Yano’s able to work them really well here. It wasn’t the best match workrate wise but it was fun. Yano took out Hall and Tonga from the apron, but Anderson comes in as he and Gallows give him the Magic Killer and Gallows pins him.

    Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Togi Makabe

    Another pretty solid bout. Nothing fancy, as most of the match was just back and forth brawling. Makabe did take it to the outside early, but most of this was in the ring. At one point it seemed like he was working over Tenzan’s eye. Tenzan kept taking Makabe’s offense until Makabe pinned him with the king kong knee drop.

    Kota Ibushi vs. Katsuyori Shibata

    These two exchanged some great offense in the early minutes of the match, including some great mat wrestling. Crowd is SUPER into this match, it was insane. Ibushi did Shibata’s penalty kick at one point that Shibata did not take lightly and returned with one of his own. Just an insane match with incredible heat and super stiff offense. There was one period where they were constantly kicking out at one and just going insane with offense. This is a surefire match of the year candidate and required viewing if you have New Japan World. They were exchanging offense when finally Shibata slapped him HARD, put him in the sleeper and pinned him with the penalty kick.

    Bad Luck Fale vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi 

    Good match; it’s becoming more and more clear that Tanahashi’s one of the best ring generals in pro wrestling right now. There was a ref bump at one point that caused Hall and Tonga to come in and interfere. Fale took out one by accident and Tanahashi took the other out and sent Fale to the outside where he gave them all the big high fly flow on the outside. Tanahashi came back with two high fly flows but the Bullet Club pulled the referee out. Fale tried for the Bad Luck Fall twice but Tanahashi managed to escape both times, but did not escape the grenade. Fale went to the top rope, nearly tripped but came back and hit his own high fly flow for the win.

    AJ Styles vs. Tetsuya Naito 

    The crowd was dead for most of this match. I’m guessing it’s due to the heel/heel dynamic, and no one wanted to cheer either guy. Nothing wrong with it early, as they were wrestling a good technical match, going back and forth. The crowd started to come back and chant for Naito for whatever reason. They were going back and forth after Naito spat at AJ. He hit a pele kick and went for the bloody sunday DDT but Naito countered and hit his new finisher, the sliced bread #2 into a reverse DDT that he calls Destino for the win. Just good, not great.

    Naito took out Red Shoes after the match with a bodyslam and running dropkick and cut a promo, basically saying he’ll win and said his catchphrase to close the show.  

    Current Standings

    Block A

    Katsuyori Shibata- 6

    Bad Luck Fale- 6 

    Tetsuya Natio- 6

    AJ Styles- 4

    Hiroshi Tanhashi- 4

    Kota Ibushi- 4

    Togi Makabe- 2

    Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 2

    Toru Yano- 2

    Doc Gallows- 2

    Block B 

    Tomohiro Ishii- 6

    Kazuchika Okada- 6

    Karl Anderson- 4

    Hirooki Goto- 4

    Yuji Nagata- 2

    Shinsuke Nakamura- 2

    Satoshi Kojima- 2

    Michael Elgin- 2

    Yujiro Takahashi- 2

    Tomoaki Honma- 0