In an effort to compete with WWE, New Japan owner Takaaki Kidani announced Thursday that the company will be bringing back the Super J Cup this year, a one-night junior heavyweight tournament that is clearly the company’s shot at WWE’s cruiserweight tournament on the WWE Network.
The Super J Cup, which has occurred five times previously, the most recent being in 2009, will take place on 8/21 at the Ariake Coliseum. New Japan, Ring of Honor, CMLL, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Dragon Gate, Suzuki-Gun, Zero-One and K-Dojo all will participate.
At today’s New Japan show at the Ota Ward Gym, NOAH president Naomichi Marufuji and K-Dojo’s Taka Michinoku appeared to say wrestlers from their companies would be competing.
They also announced the revival of the Tiger Mask television cartoon, which was a famous series in Japan during the 1970s. New Japan wrestlers will be characters in the new series which the company hopes will open up their audience more to kids. When making the annoucement, Kidani even made a remark that this is something WWE won’t be able to do.
Back after a short hiatus due to Adam’s immune system going viral, the original alternate returns by taking it old school. How old school? The first half of the show is all about the NHL’s trade deadline kind of sold school. What can we say? We had to ease back into things. And what better way than speaking upon the Imperial Blackhawks leaving everyone else in their dust? We also get into some other things too, like New Japan’s Cup looking to be filled, Stardom’s new streaming service, Kota Ibushi’s visions, the new unofficial official band of the BAN, and much more. It’s the radio show that knows all of the stuff that Chrisley doesn’t; it’s the Adam and Mike BIG AUDIO NIGHTMARE~! Proudly here at WrestlingObserver.com.
Announced last year, this morning’s Lion’s Gate event was the first in what is to be a regular series of events highlighting rookies from New Japan, NOAH, and other associated promotions with New Japan. Tonight’s card is a mixture of NOAH and New Japan rookies and veterans squaring off in a nice mix of singles and tag matches.
Takumi Honjo vs. Shuhei Taniguchi
Taniguchi is the former Maybach Taniguchi who I guess has taken off his mask in recent weeks and has sided in NOAH in their battle against Suzuki-gun. This is Honjo’s debut match, graduating from the New Japan dojo. The former Maybach isn’t the best first match to have. Honjo looked like someone in his first match and Taniguchi wasn’t that good. Honjo got some chants going for him at least. Taniguchi got the win quickly with a Boston crab.
Kawato Hirato vs. Hitoshi Kumano
Kawato is the really young NJPW lion, only 18 years old. He looked good here and showed some fire with his offense, and his strikes look good. This didn’t last long either. Kuwato him have some offense, cut him off and pinned him with a fisherman’s suplex.
Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
Kiyomiya is a NOAH rookie, wearing green tights as I guess that’s the rule over in that promotion. He has a good dropkick and handled basics pretty well. It was very much in the same formula as the previous two matches. Taguchi eventually cut him off and got the win with the dodon.
David Finlay vs. Taiji Ishimori
Pretty good while it lasted. Ishimori came off looking really good, doing some great dynamic spots throughout the match. I wonder why he didn’t get a spot in the Super Juniors tournament last year. Finlay got some great near falls and submissions, including the stretch muffler. Ishimori gave him a lot. ishimori gave him a uranage then followed with a 450 for the win.
Jay White vs. Yoshinari Ogawa
Another good match. White looked good here too. He’s the best out of the current crop of the young lions in terms of overall athleticism and ability. He would have been my rookie of the year if Chad Gable hadn’t come along. He took a lot of this match and people were behind him big time. He even handled some mat wrestling with Ogawa well. He cut him off with an eye poke and tried to go for a superplex but White stopped him. Ogawa avoided him, gave him a dragon screw and put him in a figure four, submitting him.
Lion’s Gate Project 2 was announced for 5/19.
Quiet Storm vs. Manabu Nakanishi
I haven’t seen a singles bout from Nakanishi in forever. There’s a good reason for that. Storm is an interesting story as he wrestled in the very early era of Ring of Honor, was mostly a small independent level guy, then went to Japan in the mid 2000s and has pretty much found consistent work there ever since. They did a lot of big guy spots even though Nakanishi is about a head taller than Storm. Wasn’t bad. Nakanishi can only do so much, but he got all of this spots in and was fine. After Storm teased putting the Rack on Nakanishi, he cut him off and put him in the rack, with Storm quickly submitting.
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Genba Hirayanagi & Captain NOAH
Genba was billed as Captain Genba as he was wearing a mask like Captain NOAH’s. Kojima & Tenzan dominated a lot of the match. Genba got heat momentarily by cutting off Kojima with a testicular claw. That’s one way of halting a comeback. The masked duo got double submissions on Tencozy but they didn’t submit. Kojima came back with a diamond cutter and a brainbuster but NOAH broke it up, only to get a 3D. Genba tried to get a cheap win with the claw again and a roll up, but Kojima hit the ropes and scored a lariat for the win. Perfectly fine match.
Juice Robinson vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
This was pretty good. Robinson was given a lot and has improved a lot in his time here with New Japan. He’s that weird situation where it doesn’t seem like he’s a young lion, but not really a pushed guy either in New Japan, so he was given a lot more here than other young lions in previous matches. Nakajima is riding a big wave of momentum as he’s pinned Minoru Suzuki and is probably next in line for the GHC Heavyweight title. Robinson also got over big time with the crowd as they were with him from the start. Lots of back and forth great action. Nothing too fancy, but a really well worked match that people got into. Nakajima picked up the win after a brainbuster.
Yuji Nagata vs. Mitsuhiro Kitamiya
Kitamiya looked good against Nagata, who did a good job in this match. There’s the occasional showing his age signs here and there, but he’s still a tremendous preformer and looked great here. He gave Kitamiya a lot and they had a pretty good back and forth match, as was the theme for many of tonight’s matches. Nagata hit the backdrop driver but Kitamiya kicked out. Kitamiya laid into Nagata with some slaps but Nagata no sold them and fired back with another backdrop driver for the win. Very nice main event with a great finish.
Nagata said a few things to close out the show.
Overall, this was a solid show. Quality wise, maybe about your average New Japan house show, maybe a little less. Nothing really bad, mostly solid to good. The unique matches really added a lot to the show and made it a fun watch.
DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show: Today’s show is a mailbag show with topics and questions including Shane McMahon’s return to WWE and some interesting scenarios it could set up that might appeal to the largest demographic watching WWE and more about the demographics of WWE and observations. Other mailbag questions and topics include womens wrestling including a look back at how they have historically been booked and presented in wrestling history and how that is changing and what wrestling can learn from MMA. We revisit the top of top Canadian stars including a possible new front-runner in the biggest Canadian draw of all time and it’s probably not who you think. Also addressed today is a thought provoking email about the dangers of stiff strong style wrestling. I also play with my new Amazon Echo which may be the greatest thing in the history of ever. If you have been thinking about ordering one please consider buying it from the link at my website http://www.dragonkingkarl.com and maybe pick up a Super Stern Stick Flash Drive while you are over there. Enjoy today’s FREE show! (Photo of strong style headdropper Steve Williams by Karl Stern)
There is quite a bit of news related to Japan today.
WWE held a press conference on Monday in Tokyo to announce Shinsuke Nakamura has signed with the company, a formality since that’s been known since 1/4 and he was already announced at the NXT tapings for a match with Sami Zayn on 4/1 in Dallas.
The other big news is that Kota Ibushi will be returning on 3/21 at DDT’s Tokyo Sumo Hall show, but will no longer be under contract to either DDT or New Japan. Ibushi said that while he was injured, he realized he was keeping a ridiculous pace working for both groups.
He announced he was forming the Kota Ibushi Pro Wrestling Kenkyujo (which means Ibushi Pro Wrestling Research Institute. Not a lot is known about what that all means, but Ibushi was very important to New Japan with Shinsuke Nakamura gone, as he could have been elevated to big four status easily, and a feud with Kenny Omega would have been a natural.
His first match back with be a falls count anywhere weapons three-team match with Jun Kasai & Sanshiro Takagi, Ibushi & Gota Ihashi and Kenso & Michael Nakazawa.
Also announced today by New Japan is the first round matches in the New Japan Cup tournament, which take place on 3/3 at the company’s anniversary show at the Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo.
The single elimination tournament will decide Kazuchika Okada’s opponent at Invasion Attack on 4/10 at Sumo Hall.
On last night’s Honor Rising event, Tomohiro Ishii shocked everyone by beating Roderick Strong for the ROH Television championship. It’s one thing for a title to switch hands, but is it possible for both ROH singles titles to change hands on the same tour two nights in a row? It’s entirely possible as this morning, ROH World champion Jay Lethal faces off against perrenial underdog Tomoaki Honma. While Honma is known for getting the occasional big win when it matters, Lethal not only has been very strong as champion, but his manager Truth Martini is known for getting involved in matches. Will the same happen here tonight, or will Honma reign supreme as a double champion?
David Finlay vs. Jay White
Really nice back and forth match. These two will probably be facing off in singles bouts just like Komatsu and Tanaka, and those two always had nice, solid matches. Lots of back and forth with some nice uppercuts by Finlay. White continues to look very good as well. He gets the submission with the Boston crab.
Jushin Thunder Liger and Matt Sydal vs. Gedo and Delirious
Not really much of a match but there were some funny antics by the heels. There was a funny moment before the bell where everyone was wondering why Delirious turtled up in the corner. The bell rang, he went crazy…then promptly tagged in Gedo. Gedo was all nice and wanted to shake Liger’s hand twice. Everything was cool the first time, then he jumped him after the second. Babyfaces always seem to fall for that in New Japan. Delirious took a lady’s purse from the front row and used it as a weapon. That’s a new one. Matt Sydal won with the shooting star press on Gedo.
Delirious mentioned Stokely Hathaway and Cheeseburger (who should have totally been on these cards) after the match.
Frankie Kazarian vs. Dalton Castle
Nice match. It was a slow build kind of match, given a lot of time, but things got going pretty well towards the end. People liked Castle but there wasn’t a ton of heat for this which hurt it. There was some comedy to be had here as Castle did a lot of antics to start off the match, including posing with the boys as well as doing a bit with Tiger Hattori where he leaned all the way down to the floor and Hattori counted his shoulders. Fans tried to start some American chants, rooting for Castle, but they never lasted really long. Castle unleashed some great offense towards the end and pinned Kazarian after a tilt a whirl reverse facebuster.
Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. reDragon, Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto
Bullet Club were all wearing new shirts. They had their usual eight man tag. They continued teasing something with Goto as he argued with Shibata at one point in the match. He’s had offers from Okada to join Chaos since losing the IWGP title match. Gallows and Anderson teased the Magic Killer but Goto came back and he and Anderson had some good comebacks. Gallows gave Shibata the Gallows Poll for a great near fall. Shibata came back, put him to sleep and hit the penalty kick for the win. Last few minutes were really good.
Bullet Club all got together and hugged after the match as it’s Anderson and Gallows last match with the company (I’m pretty sure, anyway). Tonga and Fale bowed to them and made their exit. Gallows and Anderson then bowed to all four corners of the ring, then knelt down at the last one. Fans were emotional and so were they. Anderson’s music then hit as they made their exit.
Moose and Kushida vs. Tetsuya Naito and Bushi
Fine tag team match. Again, this was to showcase Moose, who is very much over with the crowd in doing his chant. Evil accompanied Naito and Bushi on the outside and aided them in beating up the faces whenever possible. Moose looked really great on offense, especially when having to do the hot top. He even did the Okada dropkick to Naito, who tumbled out of the ring. He pinned Bushi with the spear.
Michael Elgin, Roderick Strong and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi and Kazuchika Okada
Pretty good six man bout. It was shaped like a lot of New Japan tags as everyone worked with their rival (Tanahashi/Okada, Strong/Ishii, etc.). A lot of the focus was on Ishii and Strong. Everyone looked pretty good and worked well with one another. Crowd was here and there, but were really into the last few minutes of the match where Yoshi-Hashi got some near falls on Elgin. He overcame them and got the win for his team, pinning Yoshi-Hashi with the buckle bomb and spinning power bomb.
Ishii and Strong got pulled apart several times after the bell rang, making it clear that there’s probably going to be a rematch down the line for the title. Maybe at the TV tapings at the end of the month?
NEVER Six Man Tag Team titles: Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks vs. The Briscoes and Toru Yano (c)
Good match. Omega and the Bucks gel really well togther and helped make the match stand out. Kenny Omega came out wearing a New Day t-shirt saying he’s going to get Austin Creed (Xavier Woods). They have a rivalry going on for the Up Up Down Down show.Cody Hall accompanied the heels and freely interfere in the match, giving the Bullet Club the advantage. Lots of cool tandem work. Yano at one point undid the turnbuckle and laid out Omega with it. It played a part later in the match as all the heels ended up taking the turnbuckle spot.
Omega went for the hairspray but Yano rolled him up for a very close two count. Eventually the Bucks came back and laid out the Briscoes with a double Indytaker. They laid out Yano and gave him an extra More Bang for Your Buck (with Omega also hitting a swanton bomb) to win the titles. Makes sense as they’ve been building them as The Elite as of late.
These NEVER titles seem to be like the Hardcore title of New Japan at this point – we’re already on the fourth champions and the belt’s only existed for over a month!
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal vs. Tomoaki Honma
Good main event. Not great. Honma looked really good. Lethal looked good in places but the finish was kind of lame considering it happens in every Lethal match in Japan. Started off kinda slow. Good action, but nothing extraordinary. Lethal had him laid out and went for the Lethal Injection but Honma countered with a kokeshi. He took him to the floor and hit another one off the top rope. Honma hit all kinds of kokeshis but missed one off the top rope. Ref bump. In a surprise, suddenly Evil and Bushi came out and helped Martini lay him out with the Book of Truth…only to no sell it! He took out Martini but the distraction was enough as Lethal came back and laid him out with the Lethal Injection to retain the title.
Lethal wanted to shake Honma’s hand. There seems to be a theme to never trust the heels when it comes to shaking hands, but the babyfaces fall for it every time anyway. Of course, Honma obliged, and immediately Bushi sprayed him with the mist, leaving him a mess on the outside. Seems obvious the next tag title program is GBH and Naito/Evil.
Truth has the mic and says that Los Ingobernables and Lethal together are unstoppable. Naito then cuts a promo putting over Lethal, calling him his amigo, to end the show.
Pretty good show. There’s nothing absolutely you need to see, but for a live show this was pretty fun to watch. Hope ROH and New Japan do more shows together in the future as they both have some great talent that really shone on these last two shows.
Tonight’s episode are matches from NJPW Wrestling Hinokuni, which took place on April 29, 2015 at Grandmesse Kumamoto
First up is a NWA title defense as new champion Hiroyoshi Tenzan defends against Big Daddy Yum Yum. The challenger is former WWE developmental wrestler Byron Wilcott who has been here a few times in the past, most famous for selling Kojima’s chops in the most bizarre manner possible. He has good presence but everything else just feels off, from his offense to his selling to his ring gear. Even the announcers were saying this wasn’t good, and it really wasn’t. Tenzan should be the one carried at this point, not the other way around. Tenzan eventually got the win with a second anaconda vise. Pretty bad.
Makabe talks about how he had to vacate the NEVER title due to the flu. He mentions how Ishii said he’d have to win the title from Ishii for it to really mean something. He thinks wrestling is all about your heart, and this upcoming match shows this.
The match aired. I’m torn when it comes to these matches. They’ve never been terrible. Both guys are great brawlers and know their style very well. Ishii has always been consistently great. Some people want to rip on Makabe because he’s one of the more protected guys (he has mainstream popularity due to his love for sweets, among other things) even though he’s not as dynamic as others on the roster, but he can still put up a tremendous performance. Problem is, in 2015 they faced off for the NEVER title at least four times. It was overkill by the third defense, and the fourth was just kind of unnecessary.
But in terms of how the match was…it was every match they’ve had. Which means, in other words, it was quite the spectacle. People were into it from the start, as Ishii has this kind of vibe and style where you can get into his work pretty much immediately. Lots of stiff shots, kicks, lariats and all the like. Ishii took very hard suplexes to the back of his head. He can’t be doing this style forever. After 25 minutes of intense back and forth brawling, Makabe won the NEVER title back after pinning Ishii with the King Kong knee drop.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the match, and if you’ve never seen it before, it’s worth your while to check it out. For me, personally, I’ve seen these guys have plenty of great matches, and I just kind of want to move on from watching them. They spent too much of last year feuding, is what I’m getting at here. I think we’re only halfway done with this feud as well as far as this timeline goes, so that’s kind of a bummer for me personally.
Ishii didn’t have anything to say after the match.
Makabe takes a microphone after the match and says that no matter how many times we’ve been beat, we come back up because we have guts. Makabe says he and Ishii might look dirty, but we are talented. He gave away this belt once, but it came back to me. That’s what a true wrestler does.
Makabe backstage says he’ll disprove andy prejudices with this belt. He then says anyone else watching this that has championships, he’ll overthrow them.
In his reflective interview, he says that he knew he had to get the belt back. It was an obstacle, for sure. But he knew that’s the match the people wanted, which is why it was so intense. It’s nice to see different kinds of matches. To him, it’s all about the heart of the match.
And that’ll do it for this season of New Japan on AXS! We’ll return March 4 with Jim Ross replacing Maruo Ranallo. Much thanks to Mauro as he really helped these initial seasons of New Japan on AXS feel really special, and his knowledge of the product felt really refreshing compared to virtually everyone else who does English language broadcasting.
We’re looking for your thoughts on today’s New Beginnings in Niigata as well as Thursday’s New Beginnings in Osaka so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
Raw will be Monday in Anaheim. No Brock Lesnar or Paul Heyman on to the go-home show for Fast Lane. Ticket sales picked up with the announcement of A.J. Styles, although I’m sure in management that will be passed off as pure coincidence, and maybe it is. But this looks to be the first sellout of a Raw show this year. It’s very close at this point and Anaheim is good walk-up market.
Lesnar will make his first appearance on Smackdown since 2004 at the Tuesday tapings in Ontario, CA.
If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!
The newest issue of the Wrestling Observer is one of the best of the year. A very detailed look at the end of Bryan Danielson’s career and retirement. Looking back at sports, pro wrestling and the ramifications that are and are not being talked about. Danielson’s retirement is a big story, both his short and long term impact on pro wrestling. How his story will act as a catalyst for change not only within pro wrestling but all contact sports. If you are a wrestling fan, a sports fan or a science fan, this may be the most important issue of the year.
Bryan Danielson’s retirement speech, career highlights, home town, character both in and out of the ring, booking, the crazy way he ended up as champion for the first time, the birth of the “Yes” chant, the build to WrestleMania 30 & 31, the various exams, why he wanted to continue wrestling and WWE didn’t, his goals outside of WWE and why he changed his mind in the last few weeks.
The quandary he was in about continuing his career, how his career began, the formation of ROH and the changing landscape of independent wrestling, the changing ideas of what a pro wrestling headliner can look like, the first time I ever saw him wrestle while sitting with Red Bastien and Nick Bockwinkel
The suspension of Titus O’Neil, a longtime WWE star talking about going into another sport, another star looking at retiring soon, lots of WrestleMania plans including an early summer major match, Steve Austin’s WrestleMania status, update on promotion of Stephanie McMahon, star who may be interested in returning, Fast Lane, A.J. Styles talks his beginnings in WWE and how hard he tried to hide the Royal Rumble story, how DDP figured in Styles’ return, Linda McMahon forms a new company, Roman Reigns in Raw main events, WWE cuts five in developmental, new WWE books. New announcer hired, Update on many Tough Enough competitors from the past season, plans for a WWE show taped this summer, international star WWE has interest in, as well as a look at all the weekend house shows from WWE & NXT with business notes.
PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.
Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.
Today’s Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kenny Omega IC title match main event (available on New Japan World) was a must-see match. Really everything after intermission was great but when it comes to storytelling and accomplishing a goal (Omega had to be made as a new superstar in one match because of the departures of A.J. Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura; but Tanahashi couldn’t be hurt because he’s more important than ever) this was a masterpiece.
Ronda Rousey will be on the cover of this year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue that comes out this week. There will be three different covers. She will also be on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday promoting the cover. (thanks to Jon Southerland)
Congratulations to Milena Roucka (Rosa Mendes) who gave birth to a baby girl, Jordan Elizabeth Schubenski, yesterday.
A likely WrestleMania match with Stardust vs. Stephen Amell started with an angle shot yesterday at the Dallas Comic Con where Stardust crashed Amell’s Q&A and threw waster in his face. The angle had actually been planned at a different convention, but the original show they were going to shoot it on was canceled.
WWE
Baron Corbin and Cameron are on the current California house show tour. Corbin worked a three-way with Fandango and Viktor of the Ascension last night. Cameron was in a six-women’s match back as part of Team BAD.
Even as late as the day of the show (yesterday), all the commercials in Fresno for the house show were built around Roman Reigns defending the WWE title against Sheamus. He lost the title weeks ago, Sheamus was injured, and Reigns replaced John Cena on the European tour as soon as Cena was hurt.
The WWE was nominated for some CableFax Digital Awards including Bert App, Digital team of the Year, Digital Marketing Campaign (WrestleMania 31), Social Good Campaign (Conor’s Cure), Social Media Campaign (WrestleMania 31), Best Social Media team and Best use of Facebook.
A piece comparing presidential debates to UFC (thanks to Chris Cruise)
MISCELLANEOUS
The Evolve roster for the 4/2 show in Dallas at Noon, with a main event of Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet, also includes Timothy Thatcher, Johnny Gargano, Zack Sabre Jr., Chris Hero, Sami Callihan, Drew Gulak, Tracy Williams, TJ Perkins, Matt Riddle, Anthony Nese, Ethan Page and Fred Yehi.
The California-based Pro Wrestling Revolution promotion will join the WWNLive.com family of shows with an iPPV on 2/27 headlined by Juventud Guerrera.
CZW’s 17th anniversary show was last night in Voorhees, NJ before an SRO crowd: Masada b AR Fox, Amazing Gulaks b Dub Boys, Joey Janela b Lio Rush to keep the Wired title in a 2/3 fall match, Dave Crist & Zachary Wentz & Dezmond Xavier b Neiko Sozio & Frankie Prichard & Conor Claxton, Danny Havoc b Rickey Shane Page, Blk Jeez & Pepper Parks b EYFBO to keep CZW tag titles, Sami Callihan b Speedball Mike Bailey (excellent match), Matt Tremont b Devon Moore in a ladder match to keep the CZW title. They inducted WWE referee Drake Weurtz (Drake Younger) into the CZW Hall of Fame at intermission. Next show is 3/3 with Callihan vs. Masada, Bailey vs. Jonathan Gresham and Fox vs. B-Boy.
Stardom from Friday in Nagoya: Evie b Haruka Kato, Kaori Yoneyama b Kellie Skater, Santana Garrett & Chelsea Green b Kairi Hojo & Hiromi Mimura, Hiroyo Matsumoto b Jungle Kyona, Io Shirai & Mayu Iwatani b Biper & Kaitlin Diemond to keep the tag titles. Next Korakuen Hall show is 2.21.16 (thanks to Al Haft)
Victory Commonwealth Wrestling on 3/13 in Toronto at Lee’s Palace.
C4 on 3/19 in Ottawa at the Vanier Columbus Club with Mathieu St. Jaques vs Joey Janela.
Paragon Pro Wrestling TV tapings from Sunday in Las Vegas. They taped four weeks worth of shows: Tyshaun Prince won over Eric Wright and Anthony Green, Caleb Konley & Drew Donovan b Jay Riley & Jesse Sorenson, Royce Isaac b Anthony Green, Whirlwind Gentlemen b The Shadows, Jesse Sorensen b Drew Donovan-DQ, Alex Chamberlain b Mikey O’Shea in a PPW title match, Wes Brisco b Tyshaun Prince-DQ, Darin Corbin b Crash Test Cody, Gangrel b Greg Romero, Jay Riley b Caleb Konley, Eric Wright & Anthony Green b Greg Romero b ?, Royce Isaacs b Remy Marcel, Caleb Konley & Drew Donovan NC Jay Riley & Jesse Sorsensen, Alex Chamberlain b Gangrel (thanks to Mike Trask)
VIP Wrestling from Friday night in Arlington, TX before 230 fans: Jerome Daniels b Bolt Brady, Tim Storm & Apoc b Jaxson Stone & Bam Bam Malone, Sinn Bodhi b Markus Burke, Scott McKenzie & Kristopher Haiden d Kenny Steele & Orion Taylor, Gregory James & Jason Silver d Graham Bell & Luke Langley, Green Man b Marcus Love, Raymond Rowe b Keith Lee, Jessica James b Bree Ann Hatfield, Andy Dalton won three-way over Johnny Gargano and Davey Vega, Ricky Sparks & Houston Carson b Brian Cage & PJ Black to keep tag title, Tim Storm & Apoc b Ricky Sparks & Houston Carson to win tag title. Next shows are 3/4 in Fort Worth with New Jack vs. Masada and must be 18 or older to attend; and there is a 4/3 after WrestleMania party featuring Jake Roberts.
ECWA on 2/20 in New Castle, DE at the United Asbury Methodist Church headlined by Bobby Shields vs. Azrael.
St. Louis Anarchy from last night in Alton, IL: Kevin Lee Davidson & Sean Orleans & Kody Krash b Justin D’Air & Luke Langley & Graham Bell, Matt Cage b Paco Gonzalez, Christian Rose b Mike Outlaw, Bucky Collins b Stephen Wolf, Zakk Sawyers b Steve O Reno, Evan Gelistico & Adam Caster won a four-corners tag title match over Devin & Mason Cutter, Alexandre Rudolph & Jake Parnell and Nick Iggy & Kerry Awful, Davey Vega b Jeremy Wyatt, Ricky Starks b Mikey McFinnegan, Andy Dalton b Jojo Bravo, Chris Hero & Trik Davis b Danny Adams & Everett Connors, Mat Fitchett b Gerald James in 2/3 falls to win the heavyweight title (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
All Star Wrestling on 2/20 in Chilliwack, BC at the Tzeachten Community Center and 2/26 in Surrey, BC at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds Alice McKay Building.
Smash Wrestling on 2/20 in Toronto at the Frankin Horner Community Centre featuring Chris Hero and Eddie Edwards plus the Super Smash Brothers, Mike Bailey, Johnny Gargano, Frankie the Mobster, Candice LaRae and more.
Steel City Pro Wrestling on 2/28 in Hamilton, ONT at 2 p.m.
Jim Cornette appears on 3/5 at 11 p.m. at the Laugh It Up Comedy Club in Poughkeepsie.
A Mick Foley podcast interview.
Shayna Baszler interview about her 3/6 match with Colleen Schneider at the Premier show, and also talks about Daniel Bryan
Brainbuster Pro Wrestling from last night in Holly woof, FL: Maxx Stardom won over Chasyn Rance, Mike Monroe, Chico Adams and CT Brown, Shaniah Ariyana b Angel Rose, DWB b Earl Cooter, Josh Powers b Eli Vega, Ace Andrews & Rex Bacchus b Michael Patrick & Leo Brien, Jonny Vandal b AJ Jannazzo, Maxwell Chicago b Aaron Epic, Shawn Prime b Craig Classic. Next show is 5/14/16
The Crash from Friday night in Tijuana: Black Boy won elimination match for jr. title over Proximo, Mirage, Septimo Dragon and Jinzo, El Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Angel Metalico, Arez & Geniodel Aire & Super Nova b Tony Casanova & Star Boy & Zarco, El Texano Jr. & Mr. Maldito & Taurus b The Psycho Circus, Blue Demon Jr. & Fenix & Rey Hours b Teddy Hart & Johnny Mundo & Pentagon Jr. (thanks to Kris Zellner)
Maryland Championship Wrestling from last night in Joppa, MD: Drake Carter & Shaun Cannon b Rob Locke & Joe Keys, Delirious b Fenix Fury, Brandon Scott b Sean Studd, Eric Chapel & Diry Money kept tag titles over Bo Nekoda & Oakley Woods, Ken Dixon b The Bruiser, Bill Collier & Paul Jordane b Sexy Steve & Jimmy Stars, Shane Strickland (Killshot in Lucha Underground) b Facade, Matt Hardy b King McBride via DQ so McBride retained his MCW title. Matt & Jeff Hardy b McBride & Ken Dixon
NWA Mid South on 2/20 in Dyresburg, TN at the Herb Welch Wrestle Plex with Matt Riviera & Rob Conway defending the NWA tag title against Bobby Fulton & Dexter Hardaway, Greg Anthony defends the NWA National title in a three-way against Rodney Mack and John Saxon
Pure Wrestling Association on 3/6 in Kitchener, ONT at the Registry Theatre
Crossfire Wrestling on 3/20 in St. Catherines, ONT at the Merritton Community Centre at 4 p.m.
This morning marks the second card for New Beginnings, the annual February NJPW PPV. Three big title matches headline this second outing. Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson challenge the new champions Great Bash Heel (Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe) for the IWGP Tag Team titles. Kushida defends his IWGP Jr. Heavyweight championship against Los Ingobernables member Bushi.
In the main event, the vacant IWGP Intercontinental championship will be up for grabs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, a former champion and longtime ace of the promotion, looks to capture another title by defeating Kenny Omega, who has recently moved up to heavyweight as well as obtaining a high ranking within Bullet Club by putting AJ Styles out of commission.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show as well as on Thursday’s show fro Osaka, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for each show at dave@wrestlingobserver.com
Live coverage provided by Dave Meltzer at 11pm PST.
TIGER MASK & JUSHIN LIGER & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN VS. YOUNG BUCKS & CODY HALL
Short match with not much to it. They kept things moving, did a few near falls and the match ended when Hall had Captain in a tombstone position and both Bucks came off the top rope to spike him and Matt scored the pin.
BOBBY FISH & KYLE O’REILLY VS. KAZUSHI SAKURABA & GEDO
Another short match. The early matwork sequence with Sakuraba and O’Reilly was really good. The rest of the match was okay. Fish pinned Gedo after Chasing the Dragon.
MATT SYDAL & RICOCHET & SATOSHI KOJIMA & HIROYOSHI TENZAN VS. YUJI NAGATA & MANABU NAKANISHI & RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & DAVID FINLAY
Good match after Nakanishi and Tenzan started. Crowd was into Kojima vs. Nagata the most. Sydal & Ricochet didn’t do what you’d expect on a big show but this wasn’t the match or spot ont he show to be tearing it up. They looked good with what they did. The finish saw Ricochet pin Finlay after a shooting star press.
TETSUYA NAITO & EVIL VS. MICHAEL ELGIN & JAY WHITE
Naito fist bumped Milan Collection A.T. at the announcers table and went to do the same with Nogami. But Nogami was loyal to Blue Justice. Milano then hopped hte rail and opened the ropes for Naito. They first bumped again so the two announcers were on opposite sides of the fence here. Another short match. Good match ending when Evil pinned White afer an STO. White & Elgin looked good. Naito gave the ref a sliding dropkick. after the match. Naito wanted a fist bump from Milano after but he declined because Naito attacked the ref. Nogami kept yelling “Justice” at him so at some point Nagata may be going against Naito.
BAD LUCK FALE & TAMA TONGA & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI VS. MARK & JAY BRISCOE & TORU YANO FOR NEVER OPEN WEIGHT TRIOS TITLES
The Briscoes & Yano regained the titles. The match was better than Thursday since Tonga seemed to carry the heel side. The Brisoces also looked good and Yano’s heel act is over. During the match Yujiro tried to low blow Yano but the ref caught him The finish was the ref distracted and as the Briscoes pulled Tonga and Fale out of the ring. Yano gave Yujiro a low blow and inned him with his outside cradle. Not bad but no great matches on the first half of the show.
HIROOKI GOTO & KATSUYORI SHIBATA & JUICE ROBINSON VS. KAZUCHIKA OKADA & TOMOHIRO ISHII & YOSHI-HASHI
Real good, best match so far. Okada was really good here, definitely came across like the superstar in the match. Robinson got to do more than usual. The finish saw Okada used the neckbreaker over the knee and Randy Savage elbow on Robinson. He set up the rainmaker but Goto broke it up. Okada hit the dropkick on Goto and then the rainmaker on Robinson for the pin. Highlight was Shibata vs. Ishii. After the match Okada offered to shake hands with Goto and invited him to join CHAOS. Goto walked off. Okada grabbed the mic and said something to Gogo, who walked off.
KUSHIDA VS. BUSHI FOR IWGP JR. TITLE
This was a great match. All kinds of great stuff. They did dives and lots of near falls. Kushida survived the mist in the face, a backslide and bridge and Bushi’s MX finisher which is coming off the top rope into a codebreaker while landing. He tried a second one but Kushida caught Bushi with the codebeaker. Evil interfered a few times. Evil grabbed Kushida but Taguchi hip attacked Evil for the save. Naito tried to interfere but White grabbed Naito by the legs. The finish saw Kushida grab the hoverboard lock and then while holding it kicked Naito off the apron and got the submission. The negative is it was really stupid for Kushida to be working the several minutes with green mist all over his face and the ref not caring.
TOMOAKI HONMA & TOGI MAKABE VS. KARL ANDERSON & DOC GALLOWS FOR THE IWGP TAG TEAM TITLES
Another great match. And it would have been hard to follow the jr. match. It was mostly Honma selling but he survied his arm being worked on, kicked out of the gun stun, survived a Gallows power bomb and a bloody sunday DDT by Anderson. The finish saw Makabe revive and slap Honma over and over to revive him. Makabe put Anderson on his shoulders and Honma used the kokeshi double impact. Makabe clotheslined Gallows over the top, and then Makabe used the King Kong kneedrop on Anderson and Honma used a diving head-butt to pin Anderson.
Tama Tonga came out and said that there is a new member of the Bullet Club and he and that person challenge Makabe & Honma to a title match. Honma accepted the challenge.
HIROSHI TANAHASHI VS. KENNY OMEGA FOR THE VACANT IC TITLE
Omega won the title in 30 minutes with the One Winged Angel in what will be among the best matches of 2016 even though it was filled with inteference. Early in the match Yujiro Takahashi and Cody Hall interfered. Omega told them that the smart marks will take stars off this match if there is too much outside interference (which basically meant the match was going to have a ton of inteference later since he’s a heel) and he needed to win clean. Most of the match was Omega working over Tanahashi’s bad shoulder and Tanahashi working over Omega’s knee. Omega did a totally believable sell job on his knee. Tanahashi used two dragon screws and the Texas cloverleaf. He had the match won when Hall came back out and distracted the ref. The Young Bucks came from under the ring and gave Tanahashi a double superkick and the Indy taker. Omega used the Styles Clash but Tanahashi kicked out. The Bucks sprayed the numbing spray on Omega’s knee. Omega went for the bom a ye but Tanahashi used a dragon suplex. Omega used a ton of forearms and worked over the shoulder but Tanahashi came back. Omega used a reverse Frankensteiner dropping Tanahashi on his head. Omega went for the One Winged Angel but Tanahashi revesed it into a reverse huracanrana. Tanahashi used a straight jacket German suplex and went to the top rope. Nick Jackson shoved him off and put a garbage can around the shoulder. They threw the garbage can but it knocked out ref Red Shoes. The Bucks put the boots to Tanahashi and put his bad shoulder on the garbage can. Omega went to the top rope but Michael Elgin ran in and picked up both Bucks and used a fallaway slam on both. Tanahashi slammed Omega off the top rope onto the garbage can. Elgin carried both Bucks to the back. Tanahashi used a neckbreaker and a sling blade, and a cross body off the top, but missed the high fly flow. Omega used a bom a ye to the back of Tanahashi’s neck, and jumping knee to the chin but Tanahashi kicked oiut. Omega used another bom a ye and the One Winged Angel for the pin.
Omega said some of you may be surprised, some of you may be sad. It’s Valentine’s Day and some of you wish Tanahashi could be your Valentine. You have a new Valentine, you have a new God. I can wrestle. I can talk. I can sing. All you ladies, me and the Young Bucks are the Elite. The Bucks were wearing “Elite” shirts insead of Bullet Club shirts. Then he sang Teenage Dream. This was the the new Sueprstar performance needed. Every booker needs to watch this match as far as a lesson on how to make a new star, well, if you’ve got someone with incredible talent and a Hiroshi Tanahashi on your roster to make him. Omega played air guitar when it was over, jumped in the air, and collapsed, selling his knee. Then he left the ring. Everyone knew what they needed to do here and they did it the best way possible.
