New Japan announced earlier Friday that Hiroshi Tanahashi would not be able to return for the Dominion PPV show for his scheduled ladder match with Intercontinental Champion Kenny Omega.
The 6/19 match at Osaka Jo Hall — the first ladder match ever in New Japan and scheduled for the IC title, was the No. 2 match on what is one of the company’s three biggest shows of the year. Omega will now defend his title in a ladder match against Michael Elgin, a rematch of Omega’s last title defense.
With a severe shoulder injury, Tanahashi is physically in considerably worse condition than they are letting on. An angle was shot on the first day of the Super Juniors tour where Omega “injured” his shoulder to cover for the injury. There is no word on when he will return.
The realization that Tanahashi probably couldn’t do the show was only known for perhaps the last 48 hours or so.
The other top matches on the show will be Tetsuya Naito defending the IWGP title against former champion Kazuchika Okada, and Never Open weight champion Yuji Nagata defending against former champion Katsuyori Shibata.
No other matches have been announced but it is expected that Ricochet, Will Ospreay, Matt Sydal and The Young Bucks will all be wrestling on the show in key matches.
Day 10 and 11 results are here for you all to see. Since Day 10 footage dropped just a few hours before day 11 went live in New Japan, I combined them into one post instead of two.
6/2 from Aichi, B block action:
Chase Owens vs. Volador Jr.
Solid match. Owens has come across better as a heel within the Bullet Club on this tour.Volador hit early with a tope suicida but Owens controlled most of the match, even taking off Volador’s mask and taunting him as he beat him up while wearing the mask. Voldaor made a comeback near the end, and the two exchanged some pretty good near falls. Volador scored the win with the super hurricanrana off the top rope.
Tiger Mask vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
Crowd was really into this as the bell rang. They’ve been feuding for a years with one another, sometimes over the NWA Junior Heavyweight title so that may be why. Tiger Mask did a big dive in the first minute of the match, but Liger got a super quick pinfall with a crucifix. It’s one of those finishes that happen just to make you think anything can happen, though it also probably means it won’t be the last time they face off, either.
Bobby Fish vs. Will Ospreay
Great match. Ospreay did a bunch of cool stuff here. Fish was really good in laying in stiff kicks and keeping Ospreay grounded during his offense, and Ospreay was great in coming up with dynamic ways of laying him out and getting the edge. He did the Sasuke special and that wiped out Fish at one point. Fish went for a brainbuster but Ospreay turned it into a stunner. Ospreay eventually made one last comeback and won with the springboard stunner. The whole dynamic of this match was pretty great.
Baretta vs. Ricochet
Good back and forth match. Ricochet went for the Benadryller but Baretta countered with a reverse Dudebuster for a really great nearfall. Ricochet took a half nelson suplex on the apron, landing on his head and crashing to the floor. If anyone wants to complain about something around here, it should be all the head first spots on the apron. They teased a countout spot, but Ricochet got back in on time. Baretta hit the knee strike for another nearfall, but Ricochet reversed the pin and got the 3.
6/3 results from Korakuen Hall, live on New Japan World:
Volador Jr., Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Ricochet vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Will Ospreay and Trent Baretta
This was really great, one of the best openers on the tour so far. Ospreay wanted to start with Volador, and mostly held his own when doing lucha offense with him, though timing was slightly off at times. Ishii and Tenzan were in and hit each other hard. Ospreay and Ricochet were in (which the crowd liked very much) and had a great back and forth battle. They have excellent chemistry with one another! Volador and Ricochet did some amazing dives to the outside. Volador went for a sunset flip but Baretta simply just sat down on him and got the win. That felt a bit anti climatic.
Katsuyori Shibata, Jay White, Juice Robinson and Bobby Fish vs. Yuji Nagata, Tiger Mask, Jushin Thunder Liger and Manabu Nakanishi
Fun tag match. Lot of tropes here but the crowd was into it and was never dull. People popped big time when Nakanishi went to the top rope and laid out Robinson with a crossbody. Nagata and Jay White are the ones left in the ring, as it has usually been as I guess they’re in kind of a mini feud. White doesn’t win, as he’s pinned with a backdrop suplex.
David Finlay vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Pretty good stuff. The crowd helped this match as they were into it most of the way. Finlay fought out of a half Boston crab and the crowd popped when he grabbed the ropes. Finlay busted out the stretch muffler then hit a German suplex for another nearfall. O’Reilly came back with a brainbuster but Finlay got the shoulder up. O’Reilly followed that with the gogoplata and got the win.
Gedo vs. Rocky Romero
So everyone comes out and they start arguing. Gedo wants to know why he brought Trent with him. Rocky says he just wants to see the match. They all act like they’re going to fight, but then stop and hug each other. Gedo then says he has a big surprise – the bell will ring and Romero will cover him 1, 2, 3. Romero likes this idea. So the bell rings. Gedo goes to lay down, Romero covers…but Gedo tricks him and counters the roll up for a near fall. From here its a pretty solid back and forth match. Baretta interfered a lot in the match, sometimes right in front of the referee which is really nice of the ref to let him do that. Romero gets the win with two knee strikes, and everyone makes up after the match.
Hiroshi Tanahashi came out. It was announced that he is out of Dominion, so the IC title match with Kenny Omega is off. He aims to return in time for the G1 Climax. Kenny Omega comes out, not particularly happy. He says that instead of apologizing to the fans, you should be apologizing to me. Tanahashi told him to shut up, which led to Omega cheap shotting Tanahashi. Bullet Club members came down to beat him up, but suddenly their opponents for the upcoming eight man tag arrive and clear house, Elgin leading the way, dishing out a huge tope con hilo to the floor. This is where we start the next match.
Kenny Omega, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi and Bad Luck Fale vs. Yoshi-Hashi, Yoshitatsu, Captain New Japan and Michael Elgin
This was mostly just a one man wrecking crew kind of match as Elgin completely dominated the match, disposing everyone with ease. He did all of his power spots, including the powerbomb to the floor that wiped out a lot of the Bullet Club. He powerbombed Chase Owens for the win in a relatively short match.
Elgin takes out a ladder and says he feels comfortable up here, so maybe he can challenge at Dominion. Omega says your time has come and gone, maybe it’s Captain New Japan or Yoshitatsu’s time but it isn’t yours. Omega finishes off saying he’s looking forward to the rest of the tour, which pretty much means we’ll get a confirmation by the end of it.
Kazuchika Okada, Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito, Evil and Sanada
Naito’s deal today was he kept trying to make eye contact with Milano Collection AT but it wouldn’t happen. Good match. Crowd was into it, as they have been for a lot of this show. Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada are another duo who have developed a rivalry on this tour. They fought back with some back and forth good action. Crowd was white hot for the ending. Yoshi-Hashi kicked out of a lot of nearfalls but got caught in the skull end. Yoshi-Hashi tried valiantly to escape, but couldn’t, eventually passing out.
Bushi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
Taguchi’s silliness today has him emulating Bushi and Naito, complete with green lipstick and green suit. Some solid work. Taguchi has been really good in this tournament. He unleashed another tope. There was a blatant low blow towards the end of the match that the ref didn’t seem to care about. This was not a good night when it came down to refereeing a match here in New Japan. There was a ref bump towards the end. Taguchi was on top of Bushi when the referee tumbled to the floor thanks to Bushi, who grabbed him as he was being rolled up. Taguchi got distracted just long enough with Bushi to break free and hit the codebreaker for the win. Pretty decent.
Kushida vs. Matt Sydal
Really good match. Solid work throughout leading to a heated, pretty great finish.Lots of mat work early. Kushida zoomed in on the leg quickly. Kushida sprang forward with a swanton bomb to the floor, knocking Sydal loopy. Kushida went to the top turnbuckle, Sydal tried to counter with a standing hurricanrana but Kushida turned it into a roll up for a nearfall. Sydal followed that back with a reverse rana and tried for the shooting star press but Kushida avoided it. He fought back with the hoverboard lock. Sydal tried to escape, but after Kushida rolled him into the middle he had no choice but to submit.
The two shook hands and bowed after the match. Sydal says he still has a chance of winning the tournament, but even if he doesn’t he still wants a title match down the line. Kushida seemed fine with this and the two shook hands again, with Kushida cutting a promo to close out the show.
Really good show. Nothing was bad, crowd was hot and everything was good.
The Best of the Super Juniors tournament continues with A block matches in Osaka.
After the foreigners took center stage on Friday in Tokyo with the Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet match everyone is talking about, it’s the Japanese in the main event tonight with Kushida (1-2) facing Ryusuke Taguchi (3-0). In addition, we’ve got Matt Sydal (2-1) vs. Kyle O’Reilly (3-0) in what should be a great match, plus Gedo (1-2) vs. David Finlay (0-3) and Rocky Romero (2-1) taking on Los Ingobernables de Japon member Bushi (0-3).
Given the records, you can probably figure out the results but we’ll see how they get there.
WILL OSPREAY & TRENT BARETTA & TOMOHIRO ISHII VS. HIROYOSHI TENZAN & VOLADOR JR. & MICHAEL ELGIN
Heated crowd tonight. Very good opener but usual rush job with all this talent. Tenzan had one of his better nights. Ospreay and Volador stole the show with some great spots. Ospreay has started to just take over and knows he’s the big deal now and the crowd already treats it like he’s something special when he tags in. The finish saw Elgin pin Baretta. Baretta went for a codebreaker but Elgin blocked it and power bombed him.
JUSHIN LIGER & TIGER MASK &. MANABU NAKANISHI & YUJI NAGATA VS. KATSUYORI SHIBATA & JAY WHITE & BOBBY FISH & JUICE ROBINSON
Another very good match. Nagata and Shibata are going to tear the house down when they come back for their singles match in Osaka on the 19th. They were super hard hitting and solid with everything they did. Nakanishi actually came off the top rope twice in this match and worked surprisingly well with Robinson, who is more animiated. But it was another rush job. Nakanishi and Nagata double-teamed White with a chop off the top by Nakanish and enzuigiri by Nagata at the same time and Nagata put him way with the bridging back suplex.
DAVID FINLAY VS. GEDO
Another good match, very physical. Gedo was on fire here doing all the little things that most don’t do as far as bringing intensity and selling Finlay’s stretch muffler. Early on he used the ring bell hammer, a chair and and rammed Finlay’s head into the table a few times. Finlay’s work and comebacks were solid all the way across. Finlay got a cradle and a big crowd pop for the upset.
ROCKY ROMERO VS. BUSHI
Better match than you’d think largely due to Romero. Again solid wrestling with strong heat. Bushi did a good tope and most of his spots. Good counters and near falls at the end. Bushi blew green mist when the ref was distracted and then came off the top rope with a codebreaker and got the pin.
INTERMISSION
SATOSHI KOJIMA & YOSHITATSU & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN & RICOCHET VS. BAD LUCK FALE & KENNY OMEGA & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & CHASE OWENS
Another match better than you’d think largely due to Ricochet, Kojima and Omega and even Captain. Omega was the star of the match. Ricochet worked great spots with him including doing a twisting dive over the top. In the end, Captain came in and got great near falls on Omega that the crowd bought including a uranage and frotn rolling cradle. But Fale squashed Captain in the corner and Omega used Hiroshi Tanahashi’s big moves, the sling blade and high fly flow for the pin. After the match Omega hit Captain over the head hard with a garbage can. Even with an object that gives they can lay off the hard head shots.
KAZUCHIKA OKADA & HIROOKI GOTO & YOSHI-HASHI VS. TETSUYA NAITO & SEIYA SANADA & EVIL
Great match. Real wild with super heat, paricularly Okada vs. Nito and and Yoshi-Hashi vs. Sanada. Crowd is really into the latter feud. The finish saw hard hitting action with Goto and Evil and Goto scoring the clean pin after a guillotine ino a final cut. Naito threw the belt i the air again. Naito grabbed Milano Collection A.T. after. Okada stomped the hell out of Evil. Goto wanted a singles match with Evil. Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada brawled some after the match.
MATT SYDAL VS. KYLE O’REILLY
This is quite the show. Another great match here showcasing two of the best wrstelers in the world right now. Hard hitting solid, some great moves by Sydal and great submission set ups by O’Reilly. Sydal won when he knocked O’Reilly off the top with a head-butt from superplex position and hit a double kneedrop off the top and followed with the shooting star press.
KUSHIDA VS. RYUSUKE TAGUCHI
Excellent match. I can’t even remember the last time Taguchi was in something this good. He hung wih Kushida for 16 minutes and both were drenched when it was over. What’s interesing is that the super juniors usually means a lot of high flying but this year it’s more solid wrestling for most guys and the high flying was left to Ospreay, Volador and Ricochet. Lots of near fall and submissions. Kushida once did a divoce court off the apron and a running flip dive. Kushdia kicked out of the Dodon and Taguchi escaped the hoverboard lock. The finish was a series of reversals and Kushida went for an armbar but Taguchi cradled him. But Kushida then got the armbar again and Taguchi had to tap out. Kushdia did an interview after.
Overall one of the better shows of the year. Everyone worked hard and the key matches they were building for Dominion all hot had a lot of intensity.
Matt Sydal and Michael Elgin vs. Rocky Romero and Yoshi-Hashi
Fun opening match. It’s a unique tag combination and led to some interesting back and forth offense. Elgin looked great, even doing a senton off the apron at one point while doing all of his cool power spots. As Elgin did the senton Sydal went to the top rope for the shooting star press, Romero countered and hit the ropes. He tried to roll up Sydal while holding onto the ropes but the ref noticed. He snuck by with a win regardless in a flash pin.
Jay White, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi, Kushida & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata, David Finlay, Manabu Nakanishi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Kyle O’Reilly
Kyle worked with Kushida early. When Taguchi tagged in, he worked against Tenzan and acted like he was going to do the Mongolian chops, doing the hand gesture, but did the hip attacks instead. Of course the focus of the match was on Shibata and Nagata, as they are due for a rematch over the NEVER title at Dominion. They spend some time smacking one another until White was tagged in. He put in a great comeback, but ultimately fell to a back drop hold. Pretty solid for what it was.
Chase Owens vs. Tiger Mask
Owens jumped Tiger Mask as he was climbing to the top rope to pose during his entrance, and power slammed him off the rope. Then Yujiro grabbed him and proceeded to carry him all the way to the back and ran back to the ring to tease a count out. Didn’t work as Tiger Mask laid him out and came back in time. Standard back and forth match, just kind of there. Tiger Mask had him in his submission but Yujiro pulled out the ref. Tiger Mask dispatched Yujiro but Chase laid him out, got the ref back in and teased the package piledriver but Tiger Masked escaped, took down Owens and pinned him.
Chase Owens superkicked Kawato after the match because he’s very mean.
Trent Baretta vs. Bobby Fish
Really good match. Baretta has been on fire this tour, and he and Fish already have pretty strong chemistry together. Fish went for a suplex but Baretta reversed it to the floor, sending both men down. Fish worked on the legs but Baretta reversed it into a bridging pin for a nearfall. Baretta went to do something on the rop rope but Fish dropkicked him in the knee and hit a brainbuster from the top rope. When Baretta kicked out, Fish locked in the leg lock again and Baretta submitted.
Yoshitatsu, Captain New Japan and Satoshi Kojima vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale and Kenny Omega
Standard tag match. Omega took the camera to lament about the young lions and how useless they were before the match started. Captian New Japan got some near falls on Omega that the crowd surprisingly got into. Fale helped even the odds for the Bullet Club as Omega went to the top rope and did the high fly flow, mocking Tanahashi. Liked that finish.
Omega beat up Captain New Japan with the ladder after the match and laid him out the same way he did to Tanahashi on night one – or at least tried to, but Kojima and Yoshitatsu broke it up.
Kazuchika Okada, Gedo, Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Sanada, Evil, Bushi and Tetsuya Naito
Naito took his usual long time getting to the ring. Milano Collection AT up and left the announcer’s table while Kushida, who was doing guest commentary, was sitting at ringside. Naito goaded him on a bit before Okada flew out of the ring with a senton, crashing into all of Los Ingobernables. This was a really great match, better than some of your usual tag matches you see on these cards. Everyone were looked good. People got into this match big time and were lit when Goto and Evil were duking it out. Okada came in and worked against both Naito and Sanada and looked great. Sanada ended up submitting Gedo with the Skull End for the win.
Everyone beat each other up some more after the match. Yoshi-Hashi came out to even the odds but was laid out by Sanada . Bushi misted Ishii. Naito choked Yoshi-Hashi with what looked like a towel until Okada came back for the save.
Volador Jr. vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
Another good match. They worked really well together and had some cool spots. Liger threw Volador out of the ring and did a big time crossbody to the floor. Crowd was really into this. Liger went to the top rope but Volador came back and hit the spanish fly/C4 off the top rope and pinned Liger.
Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay
They had a tremendous exchange early. These guys move fast and know their body really well, in case you haven’t heard or seen. Ricochet took out Ospreay on the outside and did an amazing step up corkscrew plancha to the floor. Just an array of crazy moves. Ospreay hit an instance looking Sasuke special to the floor then kissed the camera after the match.. Ricochet gave him a death valley driver on the apron and somehow came back with a crazy looking rana. This match was so crazy people were actually chanting “This is awesome” in Korakuen Hall.
Ricochet laid him ou with a northern lights suplex followed by a brainbuster for a near fall and went for the 630 but Ospreay rolled out of the way. Ricochet came back and went for the Benadryller but Ospreay reversed in air, grabbed the leg and slammed him to the floor. He hit the spinning punch then pinned him with the springboard stunner. Amazing spectacle of a match, you kind of have to rewatch it just to see all the crazy stuff that went down.
Ospreay and Ricochet teased like they were going to fight after the match, but shook hands as the crowd chanted “One more match”.
+++++++
Great show with some really great matches and an awesome main event. Check it out when you can, and go out of your way to watch the main event.
Day 5 results are in (though you probably already know that reading this evening’s edition of the Observer), which featured A Block action in Iwate:
Gedo vs Matt Sydal
The heel Gedo jumped Sydal immediately with a superkick to the gut. He was in control for most of the match. Sydal escaped from Gedo and took him down, remained in control and got the win rather quickly with a shooting star press. Okay for what it was.
Kyle O’Reilly vs. BUSHI
This was just there. Crowd was kind of into it, but not really. It was solid but the crowd hurt it a bit. There was a ref bump but O’Reilly avoided the mist and hit the brainbuster for a nearfall. The referee recovered way too quickly over that ref bump; doing it in every Bushi match is going to get really tiresome, plus they come up with the most contrived ways to execute them. O’Reilly immediately sank in the armbar and got the submission.
Kushida vs. David Finlay
Another solid match here. Kushida worked on Finlay’s arm early. Finlay came back with a German suplex and did the uppercut in the corner. Finlay broke out the stretch muffler but Kushida made it to the ropes. Some hot nearfalls toward the end. After some back and forth reversals Kushida got in the hoverboard lock and after some fighting, Finlay submitted.
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Rocky Romero
Taguchi decided to wear a pirate costume to the ring. And when I mean costume, I mean a plastic hook and an eyepatch. Not imaginative, but gets the job done I guess. Another okay match. Everything looked fine, nothing wrong with it. Romero kicked out of a running hip strike. Taguchi went for another but Romero grabbed him. Taguchi countered by reversing into an ankle lock submission, which got him the win.
The original alternative is back with 45 minutes of New Japan pro graps gooeyness!
Some time has passed since the New Japan-Ring Of Honor joint show in Chicago Ridge, but it allowed Adam’s thoughts to ferment like a cold bottle of Arbor Mist purchased at a gas station…and we’re gonna open that bottle and let them flow right down your earhole. We talk the greatness of seeing some greats, the main event angle, unbridled joy for KAMAITACHI (and Dragon Lee too), Adam sees your ‘Kyle O’Reilly as pioneer’ argument – and then completely smashes it into dust, the first few days of NJ’s Best of the Super Juniors, Chase, Will, Beretta, KUSHIDAMANIA, Pittsburgh’s HBK line, and much more.
It’s the radio show that wonders if other radio shows have ever put the Ronnie James Dio in radio; it’s the latest edition of the Adam and Mike BIG AUDIO NIGHTMARE~!
Day 3 results of the Best of the Super Junior tournament are in. Here’s what went down this morning in Niigata, all Block A matches:
Kushida vs. Rocky Romero
They did some mat wrestling early. Kushida was out of the ring and Romero opened the ropes. So like a true dope, Kushida enters and Romero jumps him. New Japan faces are really dumb at the cheap heel heat bait sometimes. Kushida made a comeback and hit the sliced bread but Romero kicked out. Romero made a comeback of his own and won with his running knee strike. Last half of the match was very good.
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay
Today’s Taguchi costume was him wearing an eggplant hat. I’ll leave it to you, the reader, to figure out what he’s trying to convey here. This was solid. Finlay looks good and will probably benefit a lot from working a lot of the guys on his block. He made a good comeback and traded some good near falls with Taguchi. Cool finish as Taguchi went for a hip attack, he countered looking like he was going for a German suplex but Taguchi floated over and snapped on an ankle lock for the submission.
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Gedo
Pretty solid match. Gedo is so great in his style. He never does anything flashy but everything looks good and executes stuff really well when it matters the most. They traded submissions on one another throughout; Kyle worked on the arm, Gedo had a crossface in at one point. Kyle landed some stiff shots followed by a brainbuster, but Gedo kicked out. Kyle responded by immediately sinking in an armbar which got him the submission victory.
Matt Sydal vs. Bushi
Kind of just there as a match. Nothing wrong, just overly solid, if that makes any sense. They traded some back and forth offense. Some of the near falls toward the end were pretty good. Sydal won with the shooting star press, so Bushi (who is a favorite heading into this year’s tournament) has now lost twice in a row. One of the big themes of these tournaments is the slow rise towards victory, though, so we’ll see.
Here’s a recap of the four Best of the Super Juniors B block matches that took place this morning in Shizuoka. Thankfully, New Japan World cut the tag team matches that fill these shows. Not that they’re bad, but they’re super formulaic. Some people get into them, and for the very good ones I can get into them too. Most of the time, I just can’t.
Chase Owens vs. Will Ospreay
This was pretty good. Owens is solid. Not flashy like some guys in this tournament, but works really well with a lot of people. Ospreay’s offense was tremendous here, doing everything including the Sasuke special to Owens on the outside. Owens cut him off and pinned him with the package piledriver in a surprise (at least, for me).
There will probably be many examples like this during the tournament, not just because they want to add an air of unpredictability in the tournament but also because they probably had to change a lot of results due to the Young Bucks being pulled from the tournament.
Trent Baretta vs. Volador Jr.
I guess the rule in Japan if you’re a luchador that’s lost his mask is you can wear it for as long as you want, but you have to take it off sometime during the match. The first half of this was okay, nothing special. Volador did a cool dive to the floor. Seems like every time there was a big spot, things would slow down for a while. Things picked up after a while, but the match as a whole was just kind of there save for a few cool spots by Volador. He hit the top rope hurricanrana that won his match on the opening day, but Baretta kicked out. Volador went to charge in the corner, but Baretta lifted up up into the Dudebuster and nailed it for the win.
Bobby Fish vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
Both Fish’s theme and Liger’s theme are no longer dubbed over. For some reason, though, Owens’ theme was. Fish smacked Liger’s leg with some kicks early and focused on throse throughout the match. Liger made a comeback and hit the liger bomb for a nearfall. Liger went for a hurricanrana off the top rope but Fish grabbed the ropes, causing Liger to land on his bad leg. Fish kept working on Liger’s leg in a long ankle lock submission. Liger escaped, then managed to hold Fish down long enough by grabbing the ropes t o pick up the sneaky win. Do what you gotta do, I guess.
Tiger Mask vs. Ricochet
This was okay for most of it. Nothing bad, but Tiger Mask’s work is always just there, just good enough not to be bad. Ricochet didn’t do anything flashy for this match either and as a result the match in general was just kinda there. Ricochet picked up the submission win with a modified armbar.
New Japan’s top star Hiroshi Tanahashi has joined The Young Bucks on the injury list for the current Best of the Super Juniors tour due to a broken left shoulder.
As noted in the current issue of the Observer, Tanahashi was hurting badly during the ROH tour last week. At yesterday’s tour opening show at Korakuen Hall, Tanahashi was destroyed by the Bullet Club in an angle, most notably by Kenny Omega. The angle was a storyline to explain his absence.
New Japan announced the injury and said he will be out the rest of the tour. They want him to heal up for one of the company’s signature events of the year like the June 19th Dominion show at Osaka Jo Hall where he is set to face Omega in a ladder match.
All of Tanahashi’s bookings for the rest of the tour will be filled by Satoshi Kojima, who will begin a new program against The Bullet Club.
Bobby Fish & Volador Jr. & Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Trent Baretta & Will Ospreay
Pretty solid opener. Volador and Ospreay showed fantastic chemistry for about a minute before tagging out – that should be one hell of a match when the time comes. As for this match, it was your usual six man tag. Kojima and Ishii battled for a while. Fish did too, as he beat Ishii for the ROH TV title a few weeks ago on the ROH PPV. Volador and Baretta battled for a bit before Volador got the win with a standing hurricanrana off the top rope.
Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Juice Robinson & Jay White
Solid match. Pretty much your atypical New Japan six man. Shibata and Nagata were the focus since there’s a title rematch at Dominion. White came in, got in a crossface, then was pinned pretty quickly with the back drop suplex hold.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan & Ricochet vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
Again, your typical multi man New Japan match. Omega and Tanahashi were the focus and worked well. Since Captain New Japan was here, you should know by now he was the one pinned, this time after a lariat and a grenade by Bad Luck Fale.
Bullet Club laid out everyone after the match. Omega brought in a ladder and with assistance, smashed Tanahashi’s arm several times through the ladder with a chair before finally leaving, but not before threatening to rip off a fan’s Tanahashi bear’s arm. Tanahashi had to be stretchered out once Bullet Club left.
Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil
Good match. Naito took his sweet time getting to the ring, and eventually had Milano Collection AT open the ring ropes for him, then spent even more time stalling before finally getting in. Focus, of course, was him and Okada. The real highlight was the ending stretch between Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada. Yoshi-Hashi is super underrated; here’s hoping he gets a G1 spot this year and not Yujiro. After a bunch of near falls, he fell to the Skull End submission.
David Finlay vs. Rocky Romero
Finlay ran roughshod the minute he was introduced in the ring, tearing apart Romero. He looked fantastic here, the best he’s probably ever been in New Japan. Romero gained control and turned into a really good back and forth match. Finlay showed a lot here, and Romero is always consistently great. Romero won the first match of the tournament with a running knee strike.
Gedo vs. Bushi
Solid match. Gedo was over early, even though a lot of people in the crowd were wearing Bushi masks. As far as an all around performer goes, Bushi is improving big time. He’s probably one of the favorites to win the whole thing early. They had some great near falls that people bought as they really wanted Gedo to win. There was a ref bump toward the end but he recovered just in time for Gedo to lock in the Gedo clutch and secured the win.
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Matt Sydal
Taguchi came out wearing a Big Bird balloon for a hat while playing a kazoo. No, I don’t have the faintest idea why. Really good match. Taguchi didn’t do his comedy match routine and Sydal was on point. One crazy spot was Taguchi kneeling on the apron, and Sydal on the floor leaped and hurricanrana’d him off the apron to the floor. Taguchi blocked a shooting star press with his knees and hit two dodons for the win.
Kushida vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Kushida spent the early part of the match working on O’Reilly’s arm. O’Reilly returned the favor, taking Kushida’s knee by smashing it on a chair. O’Reilly ran off the apron and went to attack Kushida but in midair Kushida turned it into an armbar. That was amazing! This was easily the best match of the night, not to the level of their match last year but it was in the ballpark. Excellent body part work by both as they kept going for submissions. O’Reilly finally caught Kushida in a standing armbar. Kushida tried to escape, but O’Reilly got to the ground and Kushida had to tap. O’Reilly gained a measure of revenge by picking up a win over the guy that beat him in the finals of last year’s tournament.
Kushida didn’t shake hands with O’Reilly and went to the floor. O’Reilly said he’d win Best of the Super Juniors and bowed to everyone as his music played to close out the show.
Really fun opening day. Totally check out the main event, though all of this morning’s card was fun to watch.
