#David Finlay square go

[hugcollector]

"The very first thing I need to do is to right a wrong that started a long tìme ago. And that's you, David Finlay."

"This all started at Ryogoku, when you got Ishimori to turn his back on me. When you got KENTA to turn his back on me. And you kicked me out of Bullet Club..."

"Things just haven't been the same. I failed and I failed and I failed again to get some retribution."

"But I know, this is what I need to do. I need to beat you, Goto, I need to get my fighting spirit maxed out and I need to take it to the final day against you, David Finlay. And I need to beat you. I need to beat you clean, in the middle of the ring, I need to pin you, 1-2-3."

"And then... and then... ELP can finally, finally, FINALLY go after some Singles Gold in New Japan Wrestling. And ELP can finally climb that ladder to the top upper echelon of New Japan Pro Wrestling, where I wanna be and where the fans want me to be."

"Because I need to do it for me, for you and you, and you, and you, and everyone who watches at home and goes to the shows and supports me."

"I'm gonna do it for you."

"My story's just getting started."

El Phantasmo's Backstage Comments - NJPW G1 CLIMAX 34 8/7/24 Part 2/2 (Part 1)

[wrestlingisfake]

King of Pro Wrestling preview

Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - Naito is defending the IWGP world heavyweight championship. Sabre scored a win over Naito in July, during the G1 Climax, before going on to win the whole tournament. Normally the G1 winner would receive a title match at the Tokyo Dome in January, but Zack has elected to skip the wait and do it now. He hopes to win the title and bring it to the London show on October 20. Zack is already scheduled to face SANADA at that show; if he's successful here, that will become his first title defense.

New Japan desperately needs to establish a wave of new stars, and at 37 years old, Sabre is not exactly the ideal candidate to lead the next generation. But at this point New Japan has booked themselves into a corner. Naito is 42 and looks increasingly worn down, Hiroshi Tanahashi is a spent force at 47, and everybody else at their level has signed with WWE or AEW. EVIL, Shingo Takagi, and Sanada didn't catch fire. The Reiwa Musketeers (Shota Umino, Ren Narita, and Yota Tsuji) are still years away from being allowed to grab the brass ring, with Yuya Uemura and Ryohei Oiwa bottlenecked in line behind them. So under the circumstances, Sabre is the best available option in 2024.

That doesn't make it a lock Sabre will win the big one here. When Kenny Omega won the G1 in 2016, I was certain he'd be coronated as the top champion right away, but it didn't end up happening for almost two years. I don't really think they should pull the rug out from Sabre, but they're not afraid to do it if they're not ready to put a new guy on top.

It's particularly hard to predict New Japan's future plans because we have no idea what the Tokyo Dome main event will end up being. Normally that match would be locked in by now, and this year we can't be certain either Naito or Sabre will make it to Wrestle Kingdom. I suspect there's a reason for that, but I can't figure out what it could be.

I haven't gotten much out of Naito's matches lately, so this will mainly depend on the drama of Sabre trying to beat a top guy who's always been a cut above him, to finally score the crowning achievement of his career. If he doesn't win, a lot of fans are going to be bitterly disappointed, and I don't think New Japan will have a contingency plan for that. So I'm pulling for him, but I've been burned too many times to count on a title change.

David Finlay vs. Hirooki Goto - Finlay defended the IWGP global title against YOSHI-HASHI a couple of weeks ago, so now Yoshi's partner Goto wants a shot. These two were scheduled to meet on March 16 during the New Japan Cup, but Finlay had to withdraw due to a medical issue. When they finally squared off in August, Goto scored an upset victory. So Finlay is looking for some vengeance.

I'd love to tell you Goto has at least a shot of winning, but I can't convince myself of that. Finlay is just going to roll over this guy like he did Yoshi. These are placeholder matches against lower midcarders because Finaly has run out of guys that are worth beating. I'd like to think that after this match a young guy will step up to challenge him for the Tokyo Dome, but there aren't really that many young guys handy to fill that role. With that in mind, it's no wonder Finlay has--and will retain--the #2 heavyweight belt in the promotion.

DOUKI vs. SHO - Sho attacked Douki on September 29 and swiped the IWGP junior heavyweight title, so this is one of those matches where the champion intends to get his belt back by giving a title shot to the guy who stole it. I really don't need another run for Sho as the undeserving chickenshit heel champion. Douki should retain.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino & El Phantasmo vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru - This is billed as Tanahashi's 25th anniversary match, celebrating his in-ring debut in 1999. This is a trios match, and Tana is one of the NEVER trios champions, and Evil's team has been chasing that title for weeks. But for this match Tana is teaming with ELP and Shota instead of Toru Yano and Oleg Boltin, so the belts aren't at stake. I'm not sure what the point is, except that Shota finally convinced Phantasmo to stop thinking about joining Houe of Torture, and formally align with Hontai. An American booker would use this opportunity to fake us out and have ELP go ahead and double-cross the Hontai team to help Evil's team win. But I can't see New Japan doing that. More likely Yujiro or Nobu will simply lose the fall.

Jeff Cobb vs. Yota Tsuji vs. Ren Narita - Cobb's NJPW World television title is on the line, so this match has a 15-minute time limit. The first man to score a pin or submission on either opponent within the time limit will win the match and the title. On September 8, Cobb retained his belt against Tsuji in a time limit draw, and then Narita attacked both men to put himself in the title picture. I figure this is a way to move the title to Narita without cleanly beating either guy.

Shingo Takagi vs. Ryohei Oiwa - Takagi regained the NEVER title on September 29, and Oiwa stepped up to be the first challenger. I don't want to say it's too soon for Oiwa to get a push and/or a title run. But HENARE spent years trying to win the NEVER belt, and he finally won it from Shingo, only to lose it right back. If he's still just a good hand, I don't know why they'd strap a rocket to Oiwa's back. Something tells me this will be a straightforward win for Takagi, where the story for Oiwa will be how good he looked in defeat.

Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls vs. Bad Luck Fale & Caveman Ugg - Haste and Nicholls are defending the IWGP heavyweight tag title. The STRONG tag title is not at stake; Haste and Nicholls are scheduled to defend that one on October 20. Fale was a key member of Bullet Club, but he hasn't done much in Japan lately as he's been focused on the Bullet Club subgroup, Rogue Army, over in NJPW's shows in Australia and New Zealand. Ugg is a caveman in said Rogue Army. I could see this going either way. World Tag League is coming up, but I can't really see how it'd make a difference which of these teams heads into that with the belts.

Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney vs. KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight - Knight pinned Moloney in a trios match on August 30, so now he gets a shot for the IWGP junior heavyweight tag title. This is the first time he's teamed with Kushida since June, and the first time the Intergalactic Jet Setters have challenged for the junior tag title since April. In two-on-two matchups, the Jet Setters are 2-1 against the champions, but they've never beaten Connors and Moloney when the gold is on the line. I've been ready for a junior tag title change for a while now, but I don't have much confidence it'll happen this time. The safe bet is for the champs to retain.

Mistico vs. Hiromu Takahashi - Mistico is the MLW middleweight champion and the CMLL historic middleweight champion, but neither of those titles is at stake here. I think the story here is that Hiromu just wants to wrestle him. It seems like a pretty huge match, so it's kind of weird it's just opening the show. Mistico probably needs to win, unless they're setting up a title match someplace.

[fang-revives]

Syb Books Forbidden Door

Hi welcome to my completely unrealistic (as in, some of these wrestlers already have confirmed matches) fantasy booking for Forbidden Door. I simply felt like doing this :) Looking forward to the real card, hope you enjoy my silly little musings!

PRE-SHOW:

Utami Hayashita & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jamie Hayter & Eddie Kingston

Actual intergender none of that mixed tag shit. I'm gonna be real here this is just four wrestlers I think are neat. I also think Eddie deserves a Tana match to add to his accolades. Utami and Tanahashi to win, just a good sportsmanlike time. 

CHAOS (Chuck Taylor,Trent?, Rocky Romero, Lio Rush, YOH) vs. The Elite (Golden Lovers/Young Bucks/Hangman)

Listen man. I know people are hyped for Omega vs Ospreay big singles 2 but idk I don't really want a rematch and I'd love to let the Elite get a chance to rest and do zany shit. Booking a GL kiss spot in ring. Lio Rush and YOH are there because boyfriends vs. husbands match. Elite win, lots of goofy hijinks. Okada can show up at the end for tension and then shake hands with Kenny :)

*

MAIN SHOW:

MJF vs. Toro Yano (anything goes rules)

This would never in a million years happen because joyless hacks don't think a biggest boy belt can also be a comedy match. However. MJF is excellent at Wile E. Coyote comedy and I'd love to see him go up against the resident trickster. He can even coward heel it up about not wanting to do a strong style match, it'd work for him! I'd book him to win but barely, this way he can gloat to Mox later that he did what Mox could not. 

TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr., Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Lee Moriarty) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castiglioni, Shota Umino) 

We all wanna see DBry vs ZSJ in the ring and this could lead to a big singles afterwards. Yeah I fantasy booked Moriarty in TMDK he's good and deserves more shine. Because this is an AEW show and they're cheating bastards (affectionate) BCC should take this one. But lots of grapple fucking before that please :) 

Kris Statlander vs. AZM 

I think we should do HER BIG against HER FAST I think that would be a really fun matchup. Would be great to see how Kris works with a speed wrestler :") Kris win but barely. This would probably be an all timer on the card. 

Katsuyori Shibata & Ren Narita vs. KENTA & Clark Connors 

Playing to the NJPW fans in the audience but this would have eons of juicy drama behind it. Kenta came back from a grueller of a bad American tour in 2019 to Japan and debuted in NJPW with a then-just-recovered from injury Shibata as his manager. Kenta then betrayed Shibata for Bullet Club. Narita and Connors would have trained together in the LA Dojo– most of the gaijin LA Dojo trainees have gone to Bullet Club by now. The story of Kenta and Shibata grudge match against the backdrop of the golden protegé and the fallen protegé squaring off writes itself. Booking Shibata and Ren to win after a tough fight – lbr, Bullet Club deserves to be put down a little for stealing ALL those good boys. 

David Finlay vs Jay White "who is the REAL bullet club" match 

Ex-Bullet club leader and all around pathetic wet rat Jay White was ousted by his longtime rival Finlay when he left NJPW. Did you know these guys are 12 (Jay) - 2 (Finlay) in singles? Holy shit the drama there. I'd book Finlay to win because Jay is sooooo fun when he's pathetic. 

The Outcasts (Toni Storm and Ruby Soho) vs. God's Eye (Syuri and Konami) vs. Donna Del Mondo (Giulia & Maika) 

I feel like AEW audiences need to see how fuckin sick women's wrestling can be, and we do need at least two Joshi teams to make that happen. I don't follow Stardom in detail but Syuri being an ex-member of Donna Del Mondo might lead to some fun drama. Either of the Stardom teams gotta take this one, I am kinda crushing on Giulia so it can be her (just to stick it to the Outcasts twice, I suppose ;) )

Orange Cassidy vs. El Desperado

Despy is good. So good he deserves to be the one who takes the belt on a Japanese tour. American audiences can enjoy his extremely good splits and he and Orange would be excellent opponents. Despy to win, I really hope they do have a cool Japanese wrestler take the belt on a little tour :)

FTR vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi)

I'm gonna be real with you, this is an obligatory tag match because NJPW doesn't pay nearly enough attention to their tag matches. At least Shingo and Naito will be fun. FTR win obviously, why would they lose against two singles guys?

Jon Moxley vs. Kazuchika Okada 

No shade to Bryan who is a good booking too but I wanna see Okada bleed because I'm a funky little pervert 😌 doesn't matter who wins as long as crimson mask Okada 🥰

[waywardwrestlewritingwaif]

Raise the Stakes, Part 11

Let's mainline some angst, shall we?

(Don't forget to check the Master List for previous segments)

Pairing: David Finlay x OFC x Jay White

Word count: 1,483

Content advisory: language and some toxic relationship stuff that some might find disturbing/ upsetting

You smack your arm on the corner of a crate of equipment as you pass. It hurts and it’s probably going to leave a bruise but you don’t care. There are other people around but you hardly see them. If any of them is trying to talk to you, you can’t hear them because the blood pounding in your ears blocks everything else out. You’re on a mission. You’re going to kill the son of a bitch.

It occurs to you that maybe you should grab something so that you might look a little threatening. If there wasn’t still action going on in the ring, you’d run out and see what was stashed under it. That’s where all the potential weapons are kept, right?

You keep replaying the backstage scene in your head. One minute Juice and David are there, pumped from winning their match and talking about challenging for the tag titles again and then they’re just ambushed, a coward’s attack.

Son of a bitch. You’re going to murder him when you find him.

His voice gives him away, always too loud because he wants to make it impossible to focus on anyone but him. And although you can’t hear much of the sound around you, that voice cuts right through. You find him sitting with Chris Bey, of course, the two of them laughing and carrying on. He turns to face you, smile still plastered on his face, but his eyes are predatory. He wanted this showdown. You’ve played into his hands but you don’t care because he’s taken things too far.

At first, David had withstood the attack well enough, he’d gotten some blows in. But it wasn’t a fair fight. Jay had been fresh and knew what was coming. Even then, he’d resorted to smashing a heavy palette with equipment cases right into David’s prone body. It was at that point that you’d covered your face but the sounds were bad enough.

As soon as you’d made sure that David was off to get checked by the doctor, you’d started hunting down his nemesis. Your nemesis.

“Uh-oh, looks like he sent his muscle after you,” Bey croons as you enter the room.

“Damn right. She’s the scary one,” Jay laughs.

“You sleazy bastard,” you snarl. “You pompous little chickenshit. What the hell were you trying to prove?”

“Look out man, I think you pissed her off.”

“You think this is pissed off? This is what she’s like when she’s happy.”

The two of them crack up laughing again.

“Get the hell out, Chris,” you seethe. “I have to talk to your new boss alone.”

He glances at Jay who gives him a little nod, then makes his way out of the room, acting like he’s scared of you.

“Are you not enjoying the show tonight, angel?”

“If you ever pull anything like that again…”

“That’s the job. If he can’t handle a few punches then maybe he should go work as a crossing guard or a data entry clerk or something. Might be easier for him, now that I think about it. Less chance of being a complete failure.”

“The job is to make audiences believe in what they’re seeing, not to actually hurt people.”

“Hey, I’m the one getting hurt. He stole my shot at the title in Japan. He stole my girlfriend. You should be feeling sorry for me, not him.”

You aren’t quite able to hide the surge of feeling you get when you hear him call you his girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend, you tell yourself.

“You leave him alone. Have your big big blow off match since that’s what you want so much. Then you get on a plane back to Japan and stay there. You don’t come near him otherwise.”

“Strange that they haven’t told you yet.”

He knows something you don’t and although you hate to play into his hands, you can’t help but do so.

“Who hasn’t told me what?”

“New Japan. They’re doing more shows in America. A bunch of them. So they needed to bring in some star power. I guess they’re trying to figure out who’s going to do all this liaising or whatever you’re calling it.”

“I can handle a little extra work.”

“You’re not going to be doing it.”

“Is that your way of saying you’re going to get me fired? And I’m supposed to be all scared like I could never get any other job?”

“Fired? Of course not. You’ll always have a job as long as I’m around.”

He stands and moves closer to you, running his fingers up your forearm with an unkind smirk.

“Stop that. I don’t work for you anymore.”

“Believe me, I know. I think about it all the time.”

You back away, trying unsuccessfully to avoid getting pinned against the wall.

“I am going to beat him. I am going to humiliate him. There’s nothing you can do about that.” He leans in close and continues, “But whatever else happens, that’s up to you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I told you: I can make it so that he can’t get work at anything larger than a midwestern bingo hall. But I’m a generous man, so I’ll leave it in your hands.”

You stare at him, hoping he’s not implying what you think. His cheeks are flushed with excitement. He’s winning and he knows it.

“You come back to work for me. You forget this silly fling you’re having and get back to what’s important. And if you do that, I’ll let your little boyfriend keep his job.”

“Are you for real? That is sick, Jay, even by your standards! You want me to whore myself out to you to protect the man I love? What sort of tacky 19th-century melodrama are you living in?”

At the sound of the words “the man I love”, you can see something dark pass over his features. It takes him a long moment to compose himself before he takes both your hands in his and presses them to his lips, kissing them and letting his tongue slide over the skin.

“I know it’s my fault. You felt neglected and so you ran to the person you knew was desperate to please you. And when I got you back so quickly-”

You flinch the second you hear that but you grips your arms tight and continues.

“I clearly didn’t express some things well enough. If my reactions seem extreme, it’s actually because I want the drama over with. Sweet though I’m sure he is, David Finlay is a distraction for you. So consider this me protecting you from your own bad instincts.”

This is one of those moments, and there have been a number of them over the years, when you wish that Jay would haul off and punch you the way he would if you were a man; like somehow it would be easier to take if the two of you could just get in a fist fight than engaging in this sort of dialogue. The wounds would heal faster.

Everything he’s saying is about his ego, manipulative and self-serving and yet you know it would be so easy to lean in, to let him kiss you which you can tell he wants to do. He still occupies a space inside your head, big enough that no matter what sort of bullshit he’s spouting, you feel obliged to consider it.

“No,” you snap, twisting to get out of his grip. “Not this time. Get your hands off me.”

His hold on you tightens.

“Jay, I’m serious, let me go right now or else.”

“Or else what?”

“Let her go.”

David’s voice slices right through, an unusually dark tone behind it.

Jay laughs a little and waits for a few seconds before releasing you and stepping back to allow you to leave. You scramble clear and grab hold of David’s arm, gasping like you’ve been held underwater. At first you don’t notice the look passing between them but when you do, it almost frightens you. There’s real violence in it, real hatred. You’ve been watching the two of them bond and square off for years, you’ve seen the bitterness, envy, and insecurity they’ve raised in each other but never anything like this. They’d look like animals preparing to tear into each other if the emotions on their faces weren’t so uniquely human.

“Come on,” you whisper, gently tugging on David’s hand. Every muscle is tensed, all the way up to his neck and you’re worried that you’re not going to be able to stop a fight. “Please,” you whimper.

David relaxes just a little and leans back without ever taking his eyes from Jay’s. He doesn’t move to leave on his own but he lets you lead him away very slowly. It feels like a long time before you’re able to pull him close to you.

[gdwessel]

Kizuna Road 2021 Night 5 - 6/20/2021; State Of Emergency Now Lifted In Nine Prefectures; NJPW Resurgence In Los Angeles With Fans, Moxley, Jay, Good Brothers, Shooter, Lio Rush 8/14/2021; NJPW Strong Episode 44 - 6/18/2021: Josh Alexander Debuts, Tag Team Turbulence w/ Good Brothers In July on Strong

The tour continued today, in another show that was not streamed. Meanwhile, the state of emergency is now lifted in nine prefectures, with Okinawa remaining under the order until 7/11/2021. Seven of those nine, including Tokyo and Osaka, will have quasi-emergency measures taking place (as detailed in an earlier post), but also, there are claims that the vaccinations will be accelerated during this not-state-of-emergency period by the government. We’ll see if that actually takes place. So far they have seemed more willing to try to hold the Olympics than to take care of the needs of the people. (One wonders if this modern IOC would have forced the Games to go on during World War II, but then, they literally did hold the Games in Nazi Germany in 1936, so...)

Results:

- 6/20/2021, Ibaraki Lily Arena MITO

El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] d. Ryusuke Taguchi & Yuya Uemura (Desperado > Uemura, Numero Dos, 10:49)

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Master Wato d. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Yota Tsuji (Tenzan > Tsuji, Anaconda Vice, 11:15)

Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano [CHAOS] d. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo & Jado [Bullet Club] (Ishii > Togo, DQ, 11:26)

SHO, YOH & Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] d. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Gedo [Bullet Club] (Okada > Gedo, Money Clip, 12:11)

Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki & DOUKI [SZKG] (Takagi > DOUKI, Last Of The Dragon, 16:40)

I had the last match listed incorrectly (twice) in earlier posts, oops. EVIL, Yujiro and Togo attacked the CHAOS team following the DQ and declared they would be the next NEVER 6-Man Comedy champions.

Last night, New Japan of America announced Resurgence, taking place on 8/14/2021 at The Torch At LA Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. This will be NJPW’s first show in the USA with fans since the last night of The New Beginning USA 2020 in Atlanta, GA on 2/1/2020. (Several shows had been planned, including Lion’s Break: Project 3 during Wrestlemania Weekend and Wrestle Dynasty in Madison Square Garden but obviously the pandemic put those plans on hold.)

The talents announced are quite something. Both IWGP US Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley and NEVER Openweight Champion Jay White are listed for the event, as is Shota Umino, marking his first NJPW match since the 12th Young Lions Cup final day on 9/22/2019. Speculation is rife that we will see a reunion between Mox and Shooter, and it seems quite likely!

Also listed are the Good Brothers, “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows, returning to the NJPW ring for the first time since February 2016. Juice Robinson & David Finlay are listed as well, as is NJPW Strong Openweight Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, and Lio Rush, in what may be his final match both with NJPW and in wrestling.

No card has been announced yet. Tickets will go on sale on 6/30/2021, starting at $39. This show will also be shown in English on FITE TV for a price, and in Japanese on NJPWWorld.

This Friday’s episode of NJPW Strong was pretty Impact Wrestling heavy, as Satoshi Kojima was in the main event, and Impact’s X Division champion Josh Alexander made his NJPW debut, continuing the Ignition series of shows.

Josh Alexander [Impact] d. Alex Coughlin (Divine Intervention, 11:25)

Bateman [ROH] & Barrett Brown d. Fred Rosser & Adrian Quest (Bateman > Quest, This Is A Kill, 9:41)

Satoshi Kojima d. JR Kratos [Team Filthy] (Lariat, 11:26)

Kojima gets the win in his grudge match, whilst Barrett Brown continues to come out on top over Adrian Quest in their former-partners beef. Alexander acquitted himself nicely in his NJPW debut.

Next week will have the NJPW Strong Openweight title match between “Filthy” Tom Lawlor v. Karl Fredericks.

Coming soon to NJPW Strong is the Tag Team Turbulence tournament starting in July. The Good Brothers will be taking part in this, but so will Yuji Nagata, returning to NJPW Strong. Here are the first round matchups for this single elimination tournament starting on the 7/16/2021 edition of NJPW Strong:

TJP [FREE] & Clark Connors v. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows [Impact]

Kevin Knight & The DKC v. Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs

Yuji Nagata & Ren Narita v. Fred Yehi & Wheeler Yuta

Brody King [ROH] & Chris Dickinson v. JR Kratos & Danny Limelight [Team Filthy]

It’s single elimination, but let’s face it, the odds are high the Good Brothers are winning this, being multiple IWGP tag champs in the past.

The tour takes a day off tomorrow, before resuming Tuesday with a title match main event. The Young Lions’ trial series’ continue as well.

- 6/22/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Yuya Uemura Trial Series: Yuya Uemura v. Taichi [SZKG]

Yota Tsuji Trial Series: Yota Tsuji v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

SHO, YOH, Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, Gedo & Jado [Bullet Club]

Kota Ibushi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata v.  Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship: Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] © v. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo [Bullet Club]

[buttdawg]

World Tag F’N League 2020

I was getting kind of antsy when they announced the BOSJ matches but not the WTL participants, but I guess they saved that for Monday.  

I think it sucks how NJPW refuses to come up with cool team names for these guys, even when some teams actually have an official name.    So I’m gonna run through this lineup under the cut.

1. Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi & Zack Sabre Junior)   They’re the IWGP tag team champions, and that’s all that really needs to be said.  The Tekkers fuckin’ rule, and if they don’t win this tournament, they’ll probably crush the winner when they face off for the tag titles at WrestleKingdom 15.    Between ZSJ’s submission expertise and Taichi’s background in cheating, sumo, and kicking stuff, they’re the team to beat, period.

2. Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa). The former tag team champions from about a year ago, G.O.D. was the only other team in WTL 2019 that I deemed worthy of my time.   I’m pretty jazzed about seeing them back in this tournament, and looking forward to their inevitable clash against the Tekkers.    The G.O.D. are the only guys in Bullet Club I can actually take seriously.    They can be goofballs too, but unlike the rest of BC, they can actually beat the shit out of you instead of rolling out of the ring fifty times.  

3. FinnJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson).   Last years WTL winners, FinnJuice absolutely sucks.   They won the tag titles at WK14 and then lost them back to G.o.D. on their first defense.  That tag title reign was presumably Juice Robinson’s next step after losing his singles feud with Jon Moxley, and it ended up even worse.   Juice sucks and David Finlay is on thin ice by association.

4. HenarACE (Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare).  This duo was in last years WTL, but in between Tanahashi formed a separate team with Kota Ibushi and won the tag titles.   Then they lost the titles to the Dangerous Tekkers and tried to get them back in a rematch, and then Kota Ibushi won the G1, so I guess Golden Ace is on hold until Ibushi gets his singles business squared away.   Personally, I find the reformation of HenarACE kind of awkward.  We all know who Tana would rather have as his partner, and Tana was presented as the weak link in Golden Ace, so it doesn’t feel like Toa Henare got a winning hand here.   

5. GTY (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI).  Goto and Yoshi are two-thirds of the NEVER 6-man tag champions.    Their team defended the titles from Dangerous Tekkers and Douki, so then Goto and Yoshi challenged for the tag titles and lost.    Both matches were great, so I’m looking forward to them in this tournament.   

6. Cold Dragons (SANADA & Shingo Takagi).   SANADA had a nice run in World Tag League with EVIL, but EVIL turned heel and joined Bullet Club, so SANADA has to start a new team with Takagi, the only other guy in LIJ who didn’t have something else going on.  Takagi’s the NEVER Openweight Champion, and SANADA won the B-Block in the G1, so you’d expect them to have a decent showing here, but it’s a new team, so maybe not.  

7. Area 51 aka the Rogue Jewels (Bad Luck Fale & Chas Owens).   Bullet Club has three teams in this tournament, which seems kind of ridiculous for a ten-team block, but I’ve missed General Fale and Chase Owens.   Will they still be talking about the Area 51 meme in their post-match promos?  

8. PIMPEVIL (Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL).   This team fucking sucks.

9. Tag Team (Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii).   Hello!  Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii are both members of CHAOS!, the fun-loving stable that loves to have fun.   There are two of them and so they are now a tag team it is whimsical.    Ishii is really tough and mean, but Yano is very sneaky!    I wonder if he will take the turnbuckles off the ring again.    Uh-oh!

10. Hugs ‘n’ Kisses (The Great O-Kahan & X).  Fuck Will Ospreay and fuck his stupid Empire stable, but at least this gives me a chance to see O-Kahn in action without looking at Ospreay’s Hitler Youth haircut.    O-Kahn’s partner is “X”, like seriously, the announcer said “ecks” while naming the participants.   So I don’t know if that’s literally the guy’s name or if this is just O-Kahn doing a mystery partner angle.    I hope it turns out to be the Shockmaster.

This year’s World Tag League is a block of ten teams, and the two top scoring teams will face off in the final.   I’m rooting for Dangerous Tekkers vs. G.O.D. in the final, just so I get to see them wrestle each other twice, and maybe a third time at WK15.   Takagi/SANADA might be a safer bet, but I picked SANADA to win the G1, and he kind of let me down.   

Also, they’re running the Best of the Super Juniors 27 tournament at the same time, so now I gotta figure out which shows feature which tournament, because I do not give two shits about the Super Juniors.   Here’s the rundown.

November 15: Opening Night, featuring ten matches for both tournaments.  Seems kind of weird, but okay.

Dangerous Tekkers vs. GTY

G.O.D. vs. FinnJuice

November 16: WTL Night 2

G.O.D vs. Area 51

FinnJuice vs. PIMPEVIL in a “crappy” match.

Dangerous Tekkers vs. HenarACE in an “end Tanahashi’s career” match

November 19: WTL Night 3

G.O.D. vs. PIMPEVIL

Dangerous Tekkers vs. Cold Dragons

November 22: WTL Night 4

Dangerous Tekkers vs. G.O.D. FUCK YEAH

November 24: WTL Night 5

G.O.D. vs. Tag Team

Dangerous Tekkers vs. Hugs ‘n’ Kisses

November 28: WTL Night 6

Dangerous Tekkers vs. PIMPEVIL

G.O.D. vs. GTY

November 30: WTL Night 7

G.O.D. vs. Cold Dragons

Dangerous Tekkers vs. FinnJuice

December 4: WTL Night 8

Dangerous Tekkers vs. Area 51

G.O.D. vs. Hugs ‘n’ Kisses

December 6: WTL Night 9, also BOSJ Night 9.

G.O.D. vs. HenarACE

Dangerous Tekkers vs. Tag Team

December 11: WTL Finals.

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW THE NEW BEGINNING in Osaka 2020 Review (Feb 9th, Osaka-Jo Hall)

Nakanishi Final in Osaka-Jo Hall: Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Ryusuke Taguchi & Toa Henare  **1/2

IWGP Jr. HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: SHO & YOH (c) vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru  ***1/2

Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny, Yujiro & Chase Owens  **1/2

Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.  ***1/4

SANADA vs. Jay White  ***1/4

IWGP Jr. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. Ryu Lee  ****3/4

IWGP U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki  ****1/2

IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT AND IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL DOUBLE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. KENTA  ****

Photos.

This was a show that got off to a bit of a slow start, but ended incredibly well. It opened with Manabu Nakanishi’s final ever match in Osaka, as his team was victorious when Kojima Lariated his way to victory over Honma at 7:09. The match was nothing really, but ended in Nakanishi bowing to the fans as he exited, getting a good ovation in a nice moment. The Jr. Tag straps were on the line next as Roppongi 3K defended against Desperado and Kanemaru. This was very good, but was missing something I felt. The Suzuki-gunners worked over SHO’s knee they injured at the Korakuen shows mid-week all match, but the champions overcame the odds. After SHO countered a Kanemaru whiskey mist attempt with a big German Suplex, he hit a cross-armed piledriver for a near fall, then the champions hit Strong X for the win at the 16:22 mark. Taguchi came out in the post match and asked Rocky Romero to join him in a challenge for the belts next. So it looks like 3K are getting the Coaches. Tanahashi, sporting one of his more preposterous “do’s” in quite some time, pinned one half of the IWGP Tag Champions when he locked Tanga Loa in a small package to end an average 8-man outing at 10:50, which was more about setting up future programmes. Tana and Ibushi challenged G.O.D. for the next title shot, but former champions Fin-Juice, who only lost the titles last week, appeared upset by this. It looks like it may be a 3-way.

New Japan announced a return to Madison Square Garden in August, as well as the firs two nights of G1 being held in Osaka in September, and a return to prime time Japanese TV in the mini interval. Well thats all newsworthy. Okada, teaming with Ospreay, once again pinned Taichi, teaming with ZSJ, with a Rainmaker to end a good 12 minute tag match. This was a brief sprint, though entertaining as it was, it was pretty forgettable stuff and really just a reason to get all four on the card I reckon. Next up, Jay White took on SANADA. I’m not going to lie, watching live, I fell asleep during this match, and had to go back and rewatch it before reviewing, and I can say that, whilst good, no doubt, it wasn’t anything too interesting. It went on an incredibly long time (22 minutes) and just didn’t feel like they got out of first gear. After Cold Skull kicked the ropes into an interfering Gedo’s crotch, he locked on Skull End, but made the age old mistake of letting go to try the Moonsault. Jay obviously avoided it, but gets caught in another Skull End. This time Jay makes the ropes, but SANADA gets a near fall with the Japanese Leg Clutch. White hits the Sleeper Suplex, a version of the Regal Plex, and finally the Blade Runner to take the win. As I say, this was really good by the end, but has to rank as something of a disappointment.

It was time to watch through fingers next as Hiromu defended the Jr. Title against arch nemesis Ryu Lee. Look, there’s no denying the spectacular nature of this match-up, but it was fucking terrifying to watch. Baring in mind, the last time these two fought resulted in one of them breaking their necks, this was never going to be an easy watch. Perhaps they’d have slowed down, or worked a less crazy style? Nope, it was business as usual, and it was frightening. They started with an epic overhand chop battle, until Lee hit a Frankesteiner out of the ring, sending the champion to the floor, then hitting a frankly insane tope suicida as Hiromu was sat on the barricade, wiping out all and sundry. Takahash followed that up with a Sunset Bomb out of the ring, and hits a nasty Death Valley Bomb into the corner, which Lee landed right on his head for. Hiromu locks in the triangle choke he calls “D”, but the Dragon hoists him up and teases the Dragon Driver, the same move which broke Hiromu’s neck, in a terrifying moment. Ryu Lee hits a double stomp off the top to the floor, then they end up on the apron, where Lee charges Hiromu, but ends up getting overhead suplexed off the apron to the floor. Hiromu goes up and hits his batchit crazy Senton off the top to the outside. Back inside, they trade Germans, and Lee attempts Desnucadora, but Takahashi catches him in D. Lee escapes with a buckle bomb, but runs straight into an overhead suplex into the corner pad. A devastating knee strike from Ryu gets a near fall, then he tries the Dragon Driver again (please stop!), but Hiromu escapes, then counters a Last Ride attempt into a Canadian Destroyer. Another huge knee strike by Lee gets a tremendous near fall, but Hiromu hits another Destroyer, followed by Time Bomb for another super close near fall. Takahashi pulls Lee up and hits a huge elbow strike, following it up with a second Time Bomb, this time getting the win and retaining the title at 23:54. As mind-blowing as this match was, I don’t need to see another between them for some time.

Moxley and Suzuki had a tough act to follow, but ended up being more than up for the task by having a very different, but no less crazy outng for the United States Championship. This was a wild brawl. They started the match by brawling through the crowd, and exchanged hard strikes. Suzuki worked over Moxley’s arm, wrapping it in a chair and bashing the chair clad arm with another chair. Suzuki locks on an arm bar, but Mox powers him up and powerbombs Suzuki through a table at ringside. They go to a close up of Suzuki who has a smile on his face as he lays in the wreckage, which was tremendous. They trade more forearms back in the ring, which Suzuki obviously wins, then locks on a tight rear naked choke, releasing it and getting a two count. A stiff sliding kick from Minoru follows, and Moxley returns the favour by hitting the Regal Knee. The Ill-Natured Man puts Moxley down with a big dropkick, then goes for the Gotch, but Moxley counters into Death Rider. Suzuki actually kicks out of Death Rider, then they had a chair duel, resulting in Mox hitting a DDT onto one of the chairs. They trade again with forearms and punches, before Moxley hits another Death Rider, this time finishing the match at 17:16. This was excellent. Zack Sabre Jr. came out in the post match, nailing Mox with the title belt, then chokes him out, signifying that he’s Moxley’s next challenger. That’s an interesting match-up indeed.

And in the main event, Tetsuya Naito defended both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Titles against KENTA. OK, so this ended up being really great, but there’s no denying that both have seen better days, physically speaking, and expecting them to go 36 minutes seemed like a stretch. Whilst neither are as good as they were in 2014 say, both have tons of charisma, and that’s what got them by here. Also, some very fortuitous hard-way juice helped make it really dramatic down the stretch. The early going was a hard slog in all honesty, but this really picked up when Naito outlasted a Game Over, and hit Gloria for a near fall. After a ref bump, Jay White ran out and nailed a Sleeper Suplex on the champion, which brought out BUSHI, but he’s inturn taken out with Blade Runner. Hiromu comes running down, and takes care of Jay, dragging him to the back, whilst Naito hits his signature flying forearm on KENTA. From here, KENTA blocks a Destino attempt with a Lariat, then tries Go 2 Sleep, by Naito turns it into Destino. Naito charges KENTA, but the dastardly heel sends him into the exposed turnbuckles, which split Naito’s forehead open, and he juices really heavily. A KENTA Busaiku Knee gets a near fall, but another Go 2 Sleep is turned into a reverse rana, then Naito nails another Destino to end this at the 35:50 mark. In the post match, a bloody Naito calls out Hiromu, and challenges him to their long-talked-about match. Hiromu accepts his mentors challenge, so that shuld be pretty damn great.

NDT

[throughtheblue]

For @clarasimone @mormontlady @myloveiainglen et al. COULD HE BE ANY MORE DREAMY? 😱

(I highlighted the parts that stood out most to me)

—————————————-

IS HE THE REAL THING?

In and around the Prince Edward Theatre a sense of bristling urgency is evident. Out on Soho’s Old Compton Street men shin up ladders and position huge posters in glass frames on its walls; inside, stagehands stride briskly around, looking purposeful and barking staccato phrases.

All this bustle is in aid of ensuring a good send-off to one of the most anticipated West End musicals of recent years, Martin Guerre, the latest creation of the two Frenchmen, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, whose Les Misérables and Miss Saigon are seemingly permanent fixtures on London’s theatre scene.

It’s a £3.5-million production ­ a lot is riding on it. But you’d never know it from a visit to the dressing room of Iain Glen, the star of Martin Guerre. Upstairs, the atmosphere may be sticky, rushed and stressful; in here, it is cool and tranquil, and Glen is talking about the role in calm, soothing tones.

“If you fall on your face you fall on your face. It’s only theatre,” he says in his genteel Edinburgh accent. “I’m philosophical about it. Nothing comes of worrying if I’ll be good enough. You just have to be careless enough to think, well, I’ll just give it a go.” He smiles beatifically.

My first reaction is to phone the producer Cameron Mackintosh and ask if he knows of his star’s nonchalant attitude. (😂) My second is to wonder if Glen is in an advanced state of denial, or just failed to grasp the problem. The stakes are, in theatrical terms, sky-high; and as Arnaud ­ a soldier who turns up in a 16th-century French village claiming to be Martin Guerre, one of its natives feared long dead in the wars ­ Glen is pivotal to the show’s success.

Because Martin Guerre is a sung-through musical, with a mere smattering of spoken dialogue, Glen’s serene demeanour is even harder to comprehend: he is, after all, a man who has never sung on stage in his life. “I play guitar and piano ­ but I’ve only ever sung to my Mum and Dad,” he says.

He’s been chosen for his acting, of course. Before Miss Saigon, remember, Jonathan Pryce was not exactly noted for his singing. “They’re story-tellers” says Glen of Boublil and Schönberg, “and I think they feel actors can tell stories more effectively than someone who has only trained as a singer.”

In nine years since leaving Rada, Glen, 33, has amassed a wide range of credits. But nothing prepared him for the rigours of starring in a musical.

Mackintosh cast him just before Christmas, then ordered him to do intensive voice work. Glen readily agreed. “I had no real confidence in my singing, and I’d have been too terrified to try and cruise through.” He has since attended three singing lessons a week, and is drinking four litres of bottled water a day to protect his vocal chords.

And now? “Singing is like running 100 metres,” he reports. “The more you do it, the easier it becomes. “ He also finds it induces exhilaration and has been surprised to find himself moved by the French duo’s songs. “We did a first run-through with a 40-piece orchestra at Sadler’s Wells, and I was overawed. Music I’d heard being plonked on a piano for the previous 10 weeks was suddenly being played by violins, clarinets and bassoons. I started to cry at one point in the middle of a song, it was so overpowering.”

He grew up in Edinburgh and attended Aberdeen University, where the drama society lured him. As a Scot with an Equity card, he found work came early after Rada, and soon did a couple of Screen 2 dramas for the BBC in Scotland.

After the film Mountains of the Moon, Glen’s blond, clean-cut, square-jawed looks attracted Hollywood producers. “I was offered a couple of films that went on to be quite big in America,” he says. “But they just didn’t excite. Since then, I’ve been happy not to be typecast.”

Stardom then has not been an issue until now. Glen and his wife, actress Susannah Harker, try to live a quiet life in a suburban London with their 13-month-old baby son, Finlay. “In this country, it’s possible to have a rich, varied career without being spread all over the tabloids,” he says. “A lot of the actors I admire most can quite happily go shopping and not be bothered.”

Glen is a pleasant man who seems to think it is within his power to keep stardom at arm’s length and his private life private. As I leave the cool quiet of his quarters and rejoin dozens of stagehands and technicians upstairs, hotly labouring to make Martin Guerre a hit, the thought occurs: he may be in for a shock on both counts.

– By David Gritten

[closetofanxiety]

Wrestlequest: Tokyo

Hey everyone! I’m back from Japan. What a trip! I will post a bunch of stuff about it in a bit (still unpacking, jet lagged, etc), but as a baseline, here are the shows I attended while I was there, courtesy of Cagematch. I thought 10 shows was a lot, but I met a bunch of fans from overseas who were going to 20+. If it wasn’t clear before, it should be now: I am a fake wrestling fan. I might as well wear be wearing a Dolph Ziggler t-shirt and have a Twitter screen name like “WokenCloset316.” 

Anyway, here’s the list:

December 28, 2019

DDT

“D-Ou Grand Prix 2020: The Final!”

Korakuen Hall

Taped for Abema TV 

Attendance: 2,019 

Chihiro Hashimoto and Yuki Ino defeat Keigo Nakamura and Keisuke Ishii

One Count Rule Gauntlet Match: Antonio Honda, Danshoku Dino, Hiroshi Yamato, Kazuki Hirata, Mad Paulie, Masahiro Takanashi, Mizuki Watase, Toru Owashi, Yoshihiko, vs. Makoto Oishi (Makoto Oishi wins)

Saki Akai defeats Sakura Hirota

Three-Way Tag Match: Nautilus (Naomi Yoshimura and Yuki Ueno) defeat ALL OUT (Akito and Shunma Katsumata) and DAMNATION (Nobuhiro Shimatani and Soma Takao)

Shinya Aoki defeats Super Sasadango Machine

Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi and Yukio Sakaguchi defeat Bull James and Yukio Naya

Four Way Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeats Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sasaki, and HARASHIMA

D-Ou Grand Prix Final Match: Masato Tanaka defeats Tetsuya Endo 

December 30, 2019

Gatoh Move

“GTMV #26″

Ichigaya Chocolate Square

Attendance: 77

Hagane Shinnou defeats Lulu Pencil

Chris Brookes defeats Mitsuru Konno

Six Man Tag Match: Antonio Honda, Baliyan Akki, and Mei Suruga defeat Masahiro Takanashi, Rin Rin, and TAMURA

December 30, 2019

Big Japan Wrestling: The World Is Not Enough Round 2

Korakuen Hall

Taped for Samurai TV

Attendance: 1,150

Six Man Tag Match: Kazuki Hashimoto, Shinobu, and Yuya Aoki defeat Koju Takeda, Kota Sekifuda, and Tatsuhiko Yoshino

Tag Team Match: Kazumi Kikuta and Ryuichi Kawakami defeat Kankuro Hoshino and Masaya Takahashi

Daisuke Sekimoto defeats Kosuke Sato

Six Man Tag Match: Daichi Hashimoto, Hideyoshi Kamitani, and Takuya Nomura defeat Freddie Krueger, Leatherface, and Raijin Yaguchi

Six Man Tag Match: Masashi Takeda, Takumi Tsukamoto, and Toshiyuki Sakuda defeat Koji Kanemoto, Shinjiro Otani, and Tatsuhito Takaiwa

Six Man Tag Match: Akira Hyodo, Yuji Hino, and Yuji Okabayashi defeat Hideki Suzuki, Takuho Kato, and Yasufumi Nakanoue

Six Man Tag Match: Strong Hearts (El Lindaman, Shigehiro Irie, and T-Hawk) defeat Abdullah Kobayashi, Yuko Miyamoto, and Masato Tanaka 

January 1, 2020

YMZ Pro Wrestling

“The 7th Sunrise”

Basement Mon Star

Attendance: 120

Tag Team Match: Manami Katsu and Mari Manji defeat Eito and Kaji Tomato

Tag Team Match: ASUKA and Hagane Shinnou vs. Daiki Shimomura and Tsubasa Kuragaki (Time Limit Draw)

No English Allowed Match: Cherry defeats Kakeru Sekiguchi 

Six Man Tag Match: Kuishinbo Kamen, Syuri, and Yuko Miyamoto defeat Daiki Shimomura, Hikaru Sato, and Kaori Yoneyama (w/Matsuzawa-san)

January 2, 2020

All Japan Pro Wrestling

“New Year Wars 2020, Day 1″

Korakuen Hall

Streamed live on AJPW.tv

Attendance: 1,445

Six Man Tag Match: Akira Francesco, Danny Jones, and Rising HAYATO defeat Atsuki Aoyagi, Dan Tamura, and Yusuke Okada

Six Man Tag Match: Fuminori Abe, Jake Lee, and Naoya Namura defeat Black Menso-re, Jun Akiyama, and Takao Omori

Six Man Tag Match: Masanobu Fuchi, TAJIRI, and The Great Sasuke defeat Abdullah Kobayashi, Frank Atsushi, and the Great Kojika 

New Year Battle Royal: Danny Jones defeats Akira Francesco, Atsuki Aoyagi, Black Menso-re, Chikara, Dan Tamura, Fuminori Abe, Jake Lee, Naoya Nomura, Osamu Nishimura, Rising HAYATO, Takao Omori, and Yusuke Okada

Eight Man Tag Match: Izanagi, Lucas Steel, Shigehiro Irie, and UTAMARO defeat Hokuto Omori, Kento Miyahara, Yoshitatsu, and Yuma Aoyagi

AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal Match: Hikaru Sato defeats Kagetora

AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal Match: Susumu Yokosuka defeats Koji Iwamoto

AJPW World Tag Team Title Match: Violent Giants (Shuji Ishikawa and Suwama) defeat Ryouji Sai and Zeus by KO - Title Change! 

January 2, 2020

World Wonder Ring Stardom

“New Year’s Stars, Night 1″

Shin-kiba 1st Ring

Attendance: 408

Tag Team Match: Queen’s Quest (Hina and Leo Onozaki) defeat Rina and Ruaka

Three Way Match: Leyla Hirsch (debut) defeats Itsuki Hoshino and Saya Iida

Six Man Tag Match: Queen’s Quest (Bea Priestly, Momo Watanabe, and Utami Hayashishita) defeat Oedo Tai (Natsuko Tora and Natsu Sumire) and Zoey Skye

Tag Team Match: Andras Miyagi and Giulia defeat Oedo Tai (Jamie Hayter and Martina)

Tag Team Match: Kagetsu and AZM defeat STARS (Starlight Kid and Mayu Iwatani)

Eight Man Tag Match: Tokyo Cyber Squad (Death Yama-san, Konami, Jungle Kyona, and Hana Kimura) defeat Saya Kamiani and STARS (Arisa Hoshiki, Saki Kashima, and Tam Nakano)

January 3, 2020

Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS

“Happy New Freedom 2020″

Shin-kiba 1st Ring

Attendance: 215

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Match: Kenji Fukimoto defeats Masashi Takeda

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Match: Takashi Sasaki defeats Rina Yamashita

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Match: Yuko Miyamoto defeats Kamui

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Match: Chikara defeats Takumi Tsukamoto

Two On One Handicap Elimination Match: Naoki Kamata and Tomoya Hirata defeat GENTARO

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Semifinal Match: Takashi Sasaki defeats Kenji Fukimoto

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Semifinal Match: Yuko Miyamoto defeats Chikara

Tag Team Match: Mammoth Sasaki and Violento Jack defeat Toru Sugiura and Yuya Susumu

King of FREEDOM World Title #1 Contender One-Day Tournament Final Match: Yuko Miyamoto defeats Takashi Sasaki 

January 3, 2020

World Wonder Ring Stardom

“New Year’s Stars, Night 2″

Shin-kiba 1st Ring

Attendance: 453

Three Way Match: Starlight Kid defeats Natsu Sumire and Ruaka

Three Way Tag Match: Itsuki Hoshino and Saya Kamitani defeat Leyla Hirsch and Rina and Queen’s Quest (Hina and Leo Onozaki)

Tag Team Match: Andras Miyagi and Giulia defeat Natsuko Tora and Zoey Skye

Six Man Tag Match: Tokyo Cyber Squad (Death Yama-san, Konami, and Jungle Kyona) defeat Bea Priestley and Oedo Tai (Jamie Hayter and Martina)

Six Man Tag Match: Queen’s Quest (AZM, Momo Watanabe, and Utami Hayashishita) defeat STARS (Arisa Hoshiki, Saya Iida, and Tam Nakano)

Oedo Tai Reunion (Hana Kimura and Kagetsu) defeat STARS (Mayu Iwatani and Saki Kashima) - Saki Kashima betrays Mayu and joins Oedo Tai

January 5, 2020

Tokyo Joshi Pro

“New Year Dish”

Itabashi Green Hall

Streamed live on DDT Universe

Attendance: 223

Tag Team Match: BAKURETSU Sisters (Nodoka Tenma and Yuki Aino) defeat Mizuki and Sena Shori

Akemi Daredasore defeats Pom Harajuku 

Three Way Match: Shoko Nakajima defeats Mahiro Kiryu and Yuki Kamifuku

Six Man Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Raku, and Suzume defeat Haruna Neko, Hikari Noa, and Natsumi Maki

Six Man Tag Match: Miu Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi, and Yuka Sakazaki defeat Mina Shirakawa, Mirai Miumi, and Yuna Manase

International Princess Title Match: Thunder Rosa defeats Maki Itoh - Title Change!  

January 5, 2020

New Japan Pro Wrestling: 

“Wrestle Kingdom 14, Night 2″

Tokyo Dome

Streamed live on NJPW World

Attendance: 30,063

Dark Match: NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title Gauntlet Match: Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL, and Singo Takagi) defeat Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, and Yujiro Takahashi), CHAOS (Robbie Eagles, Tomohiro Ishii, and YOSHI-HASHI), Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Taichi, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) and Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, and Toru Yano - Title Change!

Tag Team Match: Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee defeat Jushin Thunder Liger and Naoki Sano (w/Yoshiaki Fujiwara) - Liger’s final match

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match - Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) w/Rocky Romero defeat Bullet Club (El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori) - Title Change!

RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Title Match - Zack Sabre Jr. defeats SANADA

IWGP US Heavyweight Title Match: Jon Moxley defeats Juice Robinson (w/David Finlay)

NEVER Openweight Title Match: Hirooki Goto defeats KENTA - Title Change!

Jay White (w/Gedo) defeats Kota Ibushi

Chris Jericho defeats Hiroshi Tanahashi

IWGP Heavyweight/IWGP Intercontinental Title Match: Tetsuya Naito defeats Kazuchika Okada - Title Change! (also Title Retention!)

[pwrestlingxpress]

Sakura Genesis 2018 Opening

WrestleMania Week 2018 is finally upon us and this year, it’s New Japan that’ll start off the big week of professional wrestling (and not the WWE as it was in the past couple of years) by presenting their Spring Pay-per-View event, Sakura Genesis presented by Wakasa Seikatsu's Body Recovery. 

The video above is the official opening to the event where these following matches have an important part going into the event:

The fourth match:  On March 21st at the New Japan Cup 2018 Finals, Juice Robinson pinned the NEVER Champion (Hirooki Goto) granting him a future shot at the NEVER Open-weight Championship.  Four days later, at Strong Style Evolved, David Finlay decides to insert himself into a title scene by attacking IWGP United States Champion and long-time rival, Jay White after his first title defense against Hangman Page.  His reason:  revenge for losing to Jay White in ten of their previous 1-on-1 matches and this desire for revenge could play a key-factor in future matches as April 24th will draw closer for these two. 

The fifth match:  The Killer Elite Squad want to regain the IWGP Tag Team Championship from reigning champions EVIL and Seiya Sanada while Minoru Suzuki wants Tetsuya Naito to acknowledge his existence and accept his challenge to a future IWGP Intercontinental Championship match.  However, Naito has no interest in becoming a 2-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion still considering it to be nothing more than a 10-cent belt but Minoru will not take no for an answer and will do anything to make Naito accept his challenge to a title match. 

The sixth match:  Not again! Just when they get the belts back, RPG 3K lose the IWGP Junior Tag Titles this time, to Suzuki-gun.  Now, they want revenge but there’s another team who also wants the belts.  All this while the champions keep claiming they won fair and square.  This is a rematch from the 46th Anniversary show. 

The seventh match: Will Ospreay wants to forge his own legacy after regaining the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome.  However..a old rival (Marty Scurll) has returned, wanting revenge for being embarrassed at the same event those 3 months ago. Want to note that if Marty wins, he’ll go into Ring of Honor’s Supercard of Honor XII as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion as he’ll be challenging Dalton Castle for the ROH World Championship. 

The eighth match (Semi-final):  Despite suffering what we can all officially call minor injuries in Long Beach, the Golden☆Lovers (Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega) WILL compete at Sakura Genesis 2018.  On October 11, 2010 at Destruction, in Ryogoku Sumo Hall, the Golden☆Lovers shocked the Japanese wrestling world by defeating Apollo 55 (Ryusuke Taguchi and Prince Devitt) to become the 27th IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions. Now, almost eight years later, after betraying each other for their own personal success, the Golden☆Lovers have reunited and now return to the same place where they shocked the Japanese wrestling world with one mission:  change the world and dominate the Tag Team wrestling scene in Japan. But first, the Lovers must save the Bullet Club from its own destruction by defeating their arch-nemesis and the one who started all the infighting within the stable, “The American Nightmare” Cody. Note that whoever wins this tag match will have momentum on their side heading into Supercard of Honor XII six days later.

The ninth match (Main Event):  If Kazuchika Okada thought that Kenny Omega was his toughest opponent to date in his fourth reign as IWGP Heavyweight champion, he’s about to be in for a rude awakening as his next challenger is tougher than Omega and perhaps smarter than Omega.  Not only that, his submission holds have forced most of his opponents to tap out. Zack Sabre Jr. has been an unstoppable force since entering New Japan Pro Wrestling last year and not many have stop him.  With momentum clearly on ZSJ’s side, Okada will be entering his toughest challenge in 10 months and with only 10 days to get ready for this match, this title defense will not be easy for Okada for this could be his toughest one to date.  Chances are Zack could become the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion and be the one to do what no one else could, defeat Okada in a Championship match. 

Down Below is the final match card for Sakura Genesis presented by  Wakasa Seikatsu's Body Recovery along with the video package for the main event. Enjoy Sakura Genesis this Sunday (April 1st) at 3 AM Eastern (4 PM local time) on NJPW World with English or Japanese Commentary.  You must be a member to watch this event live like I will be this Sunday.: 

Tag Match with a 20-Minute Time Limit:  Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club] vs. Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson [The Young Bucks/Bullet Club]

Tag Match with a 20-Minute Time Limit:  Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii [Chaos] vs. Taichi and Takashi Iizuka [Suzuki-gun]

6-Man Tag Match with a 60-Minute Time Limit for the NEVER Open-weight 6-Man Tag Team Championship:  [Challenger Team] Ryusuke Taguchi, Michael Elgin, and Togi Makabe vs. [Champion Team] Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club)

Special 6-man Tag Match with a 30-Minute Time Limit:  David Finlay, Juice Robinson, and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI, Jay White, and Hirooki Goto [Chaos]

Special 6-man Tag Match with a 30-Minute Time Limit:  Seiya Sanada, “King of Darkness” EVIL, and Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables de Japon] vs. Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr, and Lance Archer [Suzuki-gun]

3-Way Match with a 60-Minute Time Limit for the IWGP Junior Tag-Team Championship:  [Challenger Team #1] Sho Tanaka and Yoh Komatsu (RPG 3K/Chaos) vs. [Challenger Team #2] Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI (Los Ingobernables de Japon) vs. [Champion Team] El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-gun)

Singles Match with a 60-Minute Time Limit for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship:  [Challenger] Marty Scurll (Bullet Club) vs. [Champion] Will Ospreay (Chaos)

Special Tag Match with a 30-Minute Time Limit: Kenny Omega [Golden☆Lovers/Bullet Club] and Kota Ibushi [Golden☆Lovers] vs. “The American Nightmare” Cody and Hangman Page [Bullet Club]

Singles Match with a 60-Minute Time Limit for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship:  [Challenger] NJ Cup 2018 Winner Zack Sabre Jr. (Suzuki-gun) vs. [Champion] Kazuchika Okada (Chaos)

[placetobenation]

July 30th, 16:30 from Gifu Industrial Hall, Gifu

The Juice is loose in the main event as he faces off against Okada. Let’s get to it.

Primer

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Here we go…

Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi, Katsuya Kitamura & David Finlay

Zack Sabre Jr. & El Desperado defeated Syota Umino & Togi Makabe

Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Tomoyuki Oka & Yuji Nagata

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Hirai Kawato & Kota Ibushi

Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Gedo & Hirooki Goto

B Block – Round Five

Toru Yano vs. EVIL

Evil attacked before the bell, but of course Yano managed to remove a turnbuckle pad anyhow. Evil landed the ref-assisted side kick, then signalled the STO, but was almost rolled-up for the three-count, then Yano catapulted him into the exposed turnbuckle and distracted the referee to hit a low blow. Evil countered the follow-up, however, and planted Yano with the STO for the win! Poor Yano’s tricks are failing him, but it’s great to see Evil pushing for the top of the block at this stage. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Minoru Suzuki (w/ El Desperado) vs. Tama Tonga

As you might’ve expected, these two began by brawling out into the crowd, and this continued for a good few minutes. And then it kept going. Suzuki choked Tama with a chair, Tama choked Suzuki with a mic cable, and finally they returned to the ring… but then went back to the floor. Tama attacked with the ringbell hammer, but Suzuki recovered and smashed Tama with a bunch of chairs before applying the kneebar on the ramp. The referee decided to start the count at this point and both men rushed into the ring at 19, where Suzuki hit the Penalty Kick for two. Tama landed a dropkick, but Suzuki manoeuvred the referee to get flattened by a Stinger Splash. They had what was effectively a swordfight with chairs, but moments later Tama nailed the Gun Stun. No referee, though, and Suzuki countered the attempted second into a sleeper and spiked Tama with the Gotch-Style Piledriver for the win.

Post-match, Suzuki attacked a young lion with a chair. Well, it was different and I certainly got the impression they hated one another, but this wasn’t my kind of match at all. **

Michael Elgin vs. SANADA

An even opening exchange concluded with Elgin’s shoulder block, and though he missed the slingshot splash, he dropkicked Sanada through the ropes then dropped him onto the apron with a back suplex for a two-count. Sanada recovered and low-bridged Elgin to the floor, then invited him back in through the ropes. Elgin declined and we were back to square one. Back in, Elgin scored an impressive delayed vertical suplex and invited Sanada back into the ring, but was caught with a stunner over the top-rope and then a plancha on the floor, then Sanada unsuccessfully tried to apply the Paradise Lock over the bottom-rope. A back-and-forth exchange ended with Elgin’s powerslam and both men were down. Elgin countered into an Electric Chair Drop and hit a German suplex for two, then set Sanada up top, but Sanada slipped out and scored a powerbomb at the third attempt. They threw elbows and chops, and Sanada’s back kick set up a backdrop, but the moonsault missed the mark. Sanada blocked Elgin’s lariat, though, and landed the impressive springboard dropkick. Both men countered moves, with Elgin earning a near-fall by reversing the leapfrog dropkick to a sit-out powerbomb, then they fought on the apron where Elgin dumped Sanada with a German suplex! Deadlift Super Falcon Arrow – two-count only! Another series of impressive counters allowed Sanada to apply the Dragon Sleeper and he relinquished the hold in order to hit the moonsault! One, two, three.

I got the impression that both men were struggling out there. The heat perhaps, or maybe the tournament is starting to take its toll. Either way, despite the noticeably flat opening minutes of the match, they worked really hard and eventually pulled it together for a good second half. There was lots in here to suggest they could have a great match, but this didn’t quite get there. ***1/4

Satoshi Kojima (w/ Hiroyoshi Tenzan) vs. Kenny Omega

Omega was in his multi-coloured tights and a t-shirt, rather suggesting that, like Okada, he wasn’t taking Kojima seriously. Kojima promptly floored him with a shoulder block, but Omega casually walked away from a plancha and slammed the veteran over the apron. Back in, Omega stayed in control with an elbow drop for two, then he slapped Kojima to the mat and scored the Finlay Roll/moonsault combo for another two-count, but Kojima fired back with elbows. Omega decided to take out Tenzan with a plancha, but Kojima took advantage of the respite to hit a Koji Cutter after ducking Omega’s springboard. Omega initially brushed off strikes, so Kojima used Mongolian Chops, ripped off Omega’s t-shirt and hammered him with machine gun chops. Kojima was caught up top, however, and Omega brought him down to the mat with a very nice cross-legged superplex for near-fall. The cross-legged Ushigoroshi landed, as did the V-Trigger knee, but the One-Winged Angel was countered to a DDT. Elbow strikes back-and-forth, jumping knee from Omega, One-Winged Angle countered to a brainbuster by Kojima! Two-count only. Superkick from Omega, back-of-the-head lariat from Kojima. V-Trigger from Omega, counter lariat from Kojima! Emerald Flowsion! Two-count only! Omega ducked the running lariat and hit a knee strike and Snapdragon suplex, then nailed a Boma Ye-style knee for two. One-Winged Angel! One, two, three.

From the moment Kojima ripped off Omega’s t-shirt this was great, but like the previous match it felt flat for the first half. Pull your weight, Gifu! Sadly, the result means that Kojima – like his contemporary, Nagata – is mathematically eliminated from the running. Boo! ***1/4

Juice Robinson vs. Kazuchika Okada (w/ Gedo)

Okada controlled early with a headlock, but a pair of armdrags and clothesline sent him to the floor. Juice was casually dropped into the crowd, and Okada stood on a chair to gloat, then Juice took a face full of said chair via a drop toehold. Back in, Okada landed a tope atomico, then quelled Juice’s fight back with a neckbreaker before applying a chinlock. He missed to follow-up senton and back elbow, and Juice’s facebuster turned the tide. Leg sweep, senton and a splash for two, and a spinebuster connected after Okada had taken some shots at his leg. Cannonball, and another two-count, but the gutbuster was countered into a modified figure-four from which Juice screamed and scrambled to the ropes. He ducked a big boot and the snap reverse DDT enabled a series of right hands, but Okada ducked the big left.

Juice received a back body drop onto the apron after attempting a piledriver, then leapt in at 19 to break the count, only for Okada to punish him further with a diving elbow. Rainmaker signalled, but ducked, and Juice scored a full nelson slam. He hit a dropkick, then Okada hit The Dropkick, but Juice recovered and nailed a lariat for two. Fireman’s carry gutbuster for two. Pulp Friction blocked and turned into a tombstone – both men down. Okada kicked at Juice and peppered him with insults, elbows and forearms, but Juice fired up and landed the crescent kick, then followed with a powerbomb by countering the reverse neckbreaker. Two-count only. Pulp Friction countered to the Rainmaker! Okada picked up Juice and turned him inside-out with a second! Juice ducked an attempted third, landing his big left-hand haymaker, but the Pulp Friction was beautifully countered mid-jump to a German suplex and Okada smashed him with a final Rainmaker for the three-count.

Great main event and a top performance by Juice, who looked comfortable in ring with the champion. Okada looked superior, but Juice was impressive in his resilience and fighting spirit. And that German suplex counter at the end – swoon. They had to work hard to engage the crowd, but kept at it, and were rewarded with a heated closing stretch. To my surprise, Juice has only won one of his five matches thus far, but it says a lot that his matches have an impression beyond the results. The guy is really making the most of this opportunity. ****

B Block standings after Round Five

Okada – 10

EVIL – 8

Omega – 8

SANADA – 6

Suzuki – 6

Elgin – 4

Tonga – 4

Robinson – 2

Yano – 2

Kojima – 0

Final thoughts: Tough crowd tonight. They were slow to react and generally quiet until the last few minutes of a match. As a result of that, as well as the understandable fatigue from it being the very middle show of the tournament, there’s not a huge amount to recommend here, but the main event is definitely worth your time. Go Juice!

I’m back on Tuesday with A Block, featuring Ibushi vs. Tanahashi. See you then. 

Ten down, nine to go. We’re on the home stretch!

[lamzillasreelthoughts]

Souled Out 1999 Review

After becoming the hottest act in wrestling, and winning 176 consecutive matches, WCW decided to have Goldberg lose his first match. While there is nothing wrong with this, as that time would have to come eventually, having him lose because of being tased by Scott Hall killed most of Goldberg’s credibility. This placed Goldberg square in the middle of the conflict between WCW and the newly reunited nWo. Before getting his title back, Goldberg sought revenge against Hall, with the setting being Souled Out, and the taser coming back into play. From Charleston, West Virginia, it’s Souled Out!

1. Chris Benoit vs. Mike Enos: The opening contest for this pay-per-view would have been better suited to open a Nitro instead. As great as Benoit was in the ring, he couldn’t have a great match with everybody, and this contest proves it. Easily Forgettable.

2. Norman Smiley vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.: Another match that would have been better suited for Nitro. Guerrero wanted revenge after Smiley destroyed his wooden horse Pepe. You read that correctly. They try some interesting mat-based submission moves, but they come off awkward, as if they weren’t sure what the other was planning. Not a terrible match, but nothing special either.

3. Fit Finlay vs. Van Hammer: This was basically a filler match designed to kill time and fill out three hours. No background story heading into this match, so there is no heat, and the fans don’t care one bit. Skip-able.

4. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Wrath: Holy crap, it’s ANOTHER Nitro quality match. Bigelow had just come to WCW from ECW so they were trying to make him a big deal. Ultimately, it was pointless, because by the end of the year, Bigelow was the leader of the failed hardcore division. Better than most big man matches, but still pretty forgettable.

5. Lex Luger vs. Konnan: Finally, the show starts to have matches that have build-up. Konnan had been kicked out of the nWo by Luger, and was out for revenge. At one point, these guys were awesome, but on this night, they really phoned it in. This match was used to further the feud instead of end it, and the interference is predictable and awful. Nothing special or memorable.

6. Chris Jericho vs. Perry Saturn: Given the talent of these two men, this really should have been better. Granted, this was at a point when both guys knew they were never going to be pushed seriously, so most of their matches were disappointing in 1999. The loser of this match has to wear a dress, and that’s about the only thing worth mentioning. 

7. Billy Kidman vs. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera vs. Psychosis in a Fatal 4-Way Match for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship: As usual, the cruiserweights deliver the best match of the night. While this one isn’t a classic, or even come close to some of the legendary title bouts, it stands out on a show with so little quality. Fast paced, and filled with excellent story-telling, this is probably the only match on the show worth watching.

8. Ric and David Flair vs. Barry Windham and Curt Hennig: Flair was the new WCW commissioner, and began feuding with the nWo, leading to this tag match where his son, David, volunteered to be his partner. Standard tag match, with the heels beating down the faces, until a hot tag saves the day. After the match, Hogan and the nWo beat down the Flairs. Only notable for Windham’s hilarious jean jacket with jeans ring attire.

9. Goldberg vs. Scott Hall in a Stun Gun Ladder Match: Earlier in the show, Goldberg was attacked to add some drama to this match. This match was better than I expected, but still wasn’t great. Both guys spend too much time selling and lying around the ring. The only way to win is to retrieve the stun gun, and use it on your opponent, and even that takes them about a minute to execute. Despite how silly the stipulation is, and the slow pace, this one is worth a watch, just for the spectacle.

This PPV was treated like a secondary show, and it suffers greatly because of that. There are too many Nitro quality matches, and only one title match out of the nine matches presented. The Cruiserweight match is great, and the stun gun ladder match is so bad it’s good, but other than that, this is an entirely forgettable show. Only worth watching if you want to check out how far WCW had fallen in early 1999.           

[wrestlingisfake]

Destruction in Ryogoku preview

SANADA vs. EVIL - Sanada is defending the IWGP world heavyweight title. The winner of this bout will presumably go on to defend against Tetsuya Naito in the Tokyo Dome on January 4. This is a lumberjack match, so wrestlers will surround the ringside area, to make sure both participants stay in the ring. The assigned lumberjacks are all members of Sanada's faction Just 5 Guys and Evil's faction House of Torture.

This is a rematch from August 10, when Evil handed Sanada his only defeat in the G1 Climax tournament, eliminating him in the quarterfinals. On August 13, Evil attacked Sanada after a tag match, handcuffed him to the ring rope, and stole the world title belt. It was later confirmed that Sanada had been coping with a partial bicep tear throughout that tour; I'm not convinced he's taken enough time to heal it properly.

When Sanada proposed lumberjack rules, the stipulation seemed to favor him, since his Just 5 Guys outnumbered House of Torture five to four. However, on September 24 Yoshinobu Kanemaru switched sides. So now Evil has SHO, Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi, and Kanemaru at ringside, ready to clobber Sanada. If that happens, Taichi, DOUKI, and TAKA Michinoku won't be enough backup for the champ. However, J5G is supposed to be revealing a new fifth guy in the opening match, so we'll see if he can level the playing field.

The ongoing story of Sanada's title reign is that it's been a disappointment, because his challengers have either been too scrawny (Hiromu Takahashi, Jack Perry) or too inexperienced (Yota Tsuji). In kayfabe, the doom and gloom this time is that Evil is bound to cheat his way to a victory and ruin the main event of the Tokyo Dome, because Sanada isn't good enough to stop him. In real life, the doom and gloom is that this match is going to suck ass, on purpose, and waste everybody's time. Evil will pull every cheap trick in the book, and I'm supposed to get angry but I just end up bored every time. If Sanada is a disappointing world champion, the booking team has only themselves to blame.

I absolutely think Sanada will retain the title and go on to face Naito at the Tokyo Dome. Which actually makes this match worse, since I'm going to have to listen to the announcers cry in their beer about every Evil near-fall without ever once convincing me he could really win.

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mike Bailey vs. YOH - This is a three-way match, so the first man to score a fall on either opponent will win the decision and Takahashi's IWGP junior heavyweight championship. Originally this was booked as Hiromu vs. Bailey vs. Lio Rush, since Bailey and Lio both challenged the champ on August 19-20. However, Lio fell ill recently, and his tag partner Yoh scored a pin on Hiromu on October 7, so he's stepping in as a replacement.

In singles matches, Hiromu is 4-1 against Yoh, and 1-1 against Bailey; Bailey and Yoh have never squared off. The originally scheduled match felt more even, but now we've got the factor of Yoh's long-running struggle to beat Hiromu. Theoretically the champ should focus on exploiting Yoh's insecurities, and Yoh will be obsesssed with pinning Hiromu. That could benefit Bailey, who can step back and swoop in with a cool move when the time is right.

Anybody could win this, really, but my sense is that Lio and Yoh will move back into the junior tag scene, while Bailey heads back to Impact for a while. I suppose any of them could return for another shot against Takahashi at Wrestle Kingdom. But my preference would be for Hiromu to retain and get a new challenger.

David Finlay vs. Tama Tonga - Finlay beat Tama for the NEVER title back in May, but then in July Tama was the first to beat Finlay in the G1 Climax, so now he gets a rematch with the gold on the line.

I like both guys here, but I'm not feeling any hype for this match. I suppose that's because neither man has gotten much out of holding the NEVER belt. Tama has held it twice and only defended it successfully once, against El Phantasmo. Finlay also only has one defense so far...against El Phantasmo. The biggest win either guy has had all year is against each other. One of them has to move on to bigger and better things, and that can't happen until this match is out of the way, so I'm just in a hurry to get it over with.

My guess here is that Finlay will retain, and somebody will come to the ring to challenge him for Wrestle Kingdom. (Shingo Takagi, maybe?) As for Tama, it's high time he gets back with Tanga Loa for World Tag League and another run for the tag team title.

Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin & Josh Alexander - Tanahashi invited anyone from Impact Wrestling to challenge his team for the NEVER trios title, so Josh Alexander and the Motor City Machine Guns stepped up. Shelley, the Impact men's world champion, successfully defended the title against Tana on August 20. Alexander, making his debut in Japan, is slated to challenge Shelley on October 21. Sabin, Impact's X division champion, and also has a defense scheduled for 10/21, against KENTA.

I have no idea what the plan is for the trios title, so I guess either team could win. But it's hard to imagine Impact will keep Shelley and Alexander on friendly terms for the next three months, so it may not work for them to hold the belts until Wrestle Kingdom. If Okada's team retains, they should probably keep doing interpromotional matches--I could easily see them in the Tokyo Dome against an all-star squad from AEW or NOAH.

Gabe Kidd & Alex Coughlin vs. El Phantasmo & Hikuleo - Kidd and Coughlin are putting the STRONG tag team title up for grabs. The ELP/Hikuleo team is the culmination of Phantasmo being turfed from Bullet Club, having no friends, and basically being adopted by the Guerillas of Destiny. Winning a title from a Bullet Club team would be a nice happy ending on that story, but I'd hate to see Kidd and Coughlin fall short so soon into their run as David Finlay's scary enforcers.

All four guys will probably be at the STRONG show on October 28, and November's World Tag League tournament, so my guess is they'll continue feuding no matter who wins here.

Shota Umino & Master Wato & Yuji Nagata vs. Ren Narita & El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki - This is the seventh match in a "best of seven" series between these two trios. Strong Style (Narita's team) currently leads with 3 wins, 2 losses, and 1 time limit draw. So Umino's team literally can't win the series; the best they can do now is win this match to get a 3-3-1 tie. In any other outcome--even a no-contest--Strong Style gets the last laugh.

This series was announced after these six men got into a post-match brawl on August 13. Specifically, Narita and Umino have hated each other since their Young Lions days, Despy has been Wato's nemesis since 2020, and Suzuki and Nagata have been rivals for decades. I suppose the idea is to let them fight a lot until they get it out of their system. I get the feeling that won't work.

Assuming Strong Style wins the series, you'd think that would put them in line for a shot at the NEVER trios title. Then again, they usually put less logic and planning into booking that title. Other than that, I don't really have any gut feelings about this match. One way or another I figure Umino and Narita will keep slugging it out and going nose-to-nose.

Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney vs. KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight - Connors and Moloney are the defending the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team title. The winning team will probably be the champions heading into the Super Jr. Tag League tournament, which will determine the next title match at Wrestle Kingdom.

The Jet Setters lost the title in June to TJP and Francesco Akira, who then dropped them to Connors and Moloney a month later. However, these two teams have never faced off two-on-two before. The big question is whether the legendary Kushida is starting to lose a step, and whether the up-and-coming Knight can step up to compensate. I could see this one going either way, but my gut says Connors and Moloney retain.

Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji & BUSHI vs. Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan & HENARE & Callum Newman - This is basically an epilogue to Naito vs. Cobb, Takagi vs. Khan, and Tsuji vs. Will Ospreay on September 24. Ospreay isn't here, so the United Empire's designated jobber Callum Newman gets to step in.

Now's as good as time as any to mention my theory that Great-O-Khan will leave the United Empire to join Just 5 Guys. Khan's been in a slump all year, so I think it Means Something that Taichi motivated him in their match on August 6. Khan needs a change, and J5G needs a new guy, it all makes sense. However, if Khan is the new member debuting in the opening match, that will certainly leave the United Empire in a bad way for this match. That makes me think it won't really happen. But it'd sure be interesting if it did happen, eh?

Either way, I expect Newman to get pinned.

Tanga Loa vs. Chase Owens - Not much to this one. Tanga's buddies in Guerillas of Destiny are all feuding with Bullet Club, so he needed a Bullet Club guy to beat up. Occasionally they give Chase a win to make it seem like he's being pushed, but he's still basically a jobber to the stars. Loa should win.

SHO & Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Taichi & DOUKI & ??? - Taichi and Douki have a mystery partner, who will become the new 5th guy in Just 5 Guys. The group has been down a guy since Kanemaru defected to House of Torture. As noted above, my prediction is Great-O-Khan, but since he's already got a match that may not work. Yuya Uemura is probably returning from excursion soon, so he'd also make sense. Regardless, I expect the new guy to be a heavyweight who can team with Taichi in World Tag League. I can't remember the last time a team with a mystery partner lost a match, so Sho's side is pretty fucked.

[waywardwrestlewritingwaif]

Raise the Stakes, Part 6

Moving right along...

Don't forget to read Place Your Bets and the first 5 part of Raise the Stakes, which you can find in the Master List.

Pairing: David Finlay x OFC x Jay White

Word count: 2,031

Content advisory: sexual references, cursing, giant dump trucks of angst and hurtfulness

There is nothing weird about this, you tell yourself. This is what adults do. They acknowledge their mistakes and achieve some kind of closure that leaves everyone a little sadder and wiser, but also peaceful.

“Yeah, idiot,” you murmur out loud, “that’s why you’re standing here scared shitless of a door.”

You have to knock. You have to do this. You’re so worked up you feel nauseous.

The last few days have been awful. You’d slunk around under a dark cloud of shame and guilt, which was only emphasized by the fact that Jay had been as cheery and relaxed as you’d ever seen him in his life. He was funny and attentive and you hadn’t been able to enjoy any of it because there wasn’t an atom in your body that felt like you deserved it.

Even worse, as you’ve been dragging yourself around work, you’ve been trying to get caught, wandering around where you’re going to run into David Finlay. It’s only half-conscious but you feel like if you could just get him to say something, scream at you, dump all the scorn and abuse you so richly deserve on your shoulders, it might actually make things better.

But as much as you’ve tried to worm your way into his path, Finlay hasn’t so much as glanced. It’s a conscious effort on his part. It has to be. But the only look he’s given is still that awful, gutting one you got when he’d reappeared in Japan and seen you on Jay’s lap,,,

Perhaps you wouldn’t be quite so shaken up if things hadn’t seemed a bit tense with Jay earlier. He’d headed out to go to dinner and clubs with some wealthy New Japan sponsors, something you knew usually meant hitting hostess clubs and all manner of other things. Yes, you were thrilled that it finally gave you the chance to force contact with David, but it also seemed creepily reminiscent of the way your life had been before Jay had suddenly decided to romance you.

You are not here because you’re insecure about Jay. You are here because if you don’t talk things out at least a little with David, it’s going to kill you. You’re grownups. You can have a serious, respectful conversation where you apologize for everything you’ve done wrong.

Finally, you grit your teeth and knock on the apartment door.

It swings open and there he is, a look of utter disbelief on his face for a second before he rolls his eyes.

“Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me.”

He immediately walks away and back into his apartment but since he doesn’t slam the door in your face, you slip inside it and watch as he cleans up the remains of what appears to be a home cooked dinner. It smells nice.

“I didn’t know you cooked,” you offer meekly.

He doesn’t even bother to turn around. “What do you want?”

He couldn’t sound any less interested.

“I want… I owe you an apology. I mean, I wanted to say that I’m so sorry-“

“Good, ok, message delivered,” he snaps. “Trust you can show yourself out.”

“David, please, I just want to tell you how awful I feel. I never meant for things to get so screwed up and I know that it’s my fault. I’m just so sorry.”

He shifts to the sink and starts washing his hands, way too vigorously.

“Yeah, I heard you the first time.” You can see his shoulders shudder a little and it breaks your heart. All you want to do is hug him and tell him over and over that you feel horrible.

“Bye.” His voices rises enough that you can hear the anger in it.

There’s a wisp of hair that’s fallen over his face and you have to restrain yourself from walking over and brushing it out of the way.

“Can you just look at me, please?”

From what you can see of his face, he looks furious.

“I don’t want to look at you. I don’t want to have to see you at work. I don’t want to smell your perfume. I don’t want to hear your self-important, grating little voice.”

He wipes his hands and throws the dish towel down with a vengeance before he finally turns and meets your eyes.

“And what I really don’t want is to have you here in my home, the place where I’m supposed to be able to relax and clear my head, putting on this little contrite performance so that you can feel better about yourself.”

“That’s not fair.”

He lets out a painful sort of laugh and stares at the floor. “You are unreal, lady. I mean the ego on you-“

“I wouldn’t be here if I… I know you hate me and I deserve that but I want you to understand…”

He brings his hand to his head, pinching his temples like he’s fighting a migraine.

“I know how this looks terrible but it’s like I got hit by an avalanche.”

“I wish you had.”

The line almost makes you laugh out loud because it’s like something you’d say in the same circumstances.

“He just showed up and started freaking out because he saw us together the day before and I should have just tried to stop things but it just all escalated and I’m not trying to say that this isn’t my fault because it is.”

He holds up his hand, frowning and obviously trying to work through what you’ve just said.

“He told you that he saw us together the day before?”

“Yes, and it was like he thought this was some huge betrayal-“

“When did all this escalation happen exactly?”

Your jaw drops as you realize that you’ve just made things much worse.

“I don’t know, I guess it happened pretty quickly.”

“Like what, the day after I left?”

You move your mouth but you can’t make words come out.

“Jesus Christ, it wasn’t even that long, was it? You were probably riding his dick before I was even on the goddamned plane.” He breaks down in a mirthless, disquieting laughter. “Here I’ve been thinking that he was working on you and just wore you down. Son of a bitch didn’t even have to do that.”

“I’m sorry,” you whimper, starting to choke up. “I’m just-“

“So very sorry, I got it. I am not hard of hearing. Might be a bit naive and terribly fucking stupid, but yeah, the hearing is just fine.”

You feel like you’re about to crumple, like even your skeleton is so revolted that it wants to get away from you.

David shakes his head and stares at you, clear-eyed. “You are just pathetic. You know he doesn’t love you. You know this ends with you crying yourself to sleep at night because he’s right back to being the same person he’s always been.”

You feel like you’re on fire. “Alright, you’re hurt and you want to hurt me. I get it. But you know what a lousy thing that is to say.”

“It’s good that you’re back with him. You deserve each other.”

You clench every muscle in your face, determined not to start crying until you’re out the door. You think about the way he looked at you when you had breakfast together and wish that you could go running back to that man.

“No, really. It’s good,” he continues. “Because at least if the two of you are together, the rest of us are safe.”

There’s a long, painful silence before he speaks again.

“Great talk. Thank you for coming here to make sure I know that there was not one ounce of sincerity in anything you said to me, that what happened with us was just your way of getting Jay all riled up and possessive.”

Now it’s you who can’t look him in the eye. You keep mumbling apologies like a mantra, hoping that somehow you can break through this thorny armour he’s donned. Very slowly, head bent in shame, you make your way towards him, unsure what you’re trying to accomplish.

With every step, you expect him to scream at you but when he doesn’t, you move just a little closer. This is it. You’ve lost your goddamn mind. Just once more, you want to experience that profound sense of safety and calm you’d gotten on the two occasions when you’d curled up in bed with him. It’s all destroyed now, of course. You destroyed it. But you keep approaching, your eyes riveted to that perfect space in his shoulder where your head fits so perfectly. You’re close enough that you can feel the radiant heat from his body, the wave of his breath in your hair.

Lightly but insistently, he puts his hands on your shoulders so that you know to stay where you are.

“If there is anything I can do to make this even a little bit better… I know I can’t fix it but if I thought we could at least be… human to each other. Anything at all, I’ll do it.”

“Ok,” he murmurs.

The pressure of his hands on your shoulders grows a little heavier and his lips drift down so that you feel his calm breath against your ear. Your entire body feels electric.

“Here it is,” he whispers. “Get the fuck out of here and never come back.”

You straighten up and fall back a step, hoping you haven’t heard him correctly.

He nods a little. “Now.”

*

You sit on the tiny square of iron and cement that passes for a balcony in your building, knees pulled up to your chest, slowly smoking your way through the “safety pack” of cigarettes you keep in the freezer. You haven’t smoked regularly since college but there are moments when your body just demands it to function.

It’s just as well that Jay’s out entertaining and being entertained because you can’t make yourself think about anything but David. The idea that someone is out there hating you that much is bad enough, but that it’s him, someone you like… someone you’ve always liked. Every time you think of the things he said, the knife twists in your gut a little harder. Some of it was too much, no matter how hurt he was, but very little of it was wrong.

Maybe if the two of you had met up in a place where Jay White didn’t exist to trigger all your insecurities.

The worst part is the sense that you’ve been permanently dismissed, that what happened tonight was the end. You know that you should respect his wishes but you’re already thinking of ways you could trap him and make him speak to you. And you’re very aware that the way you’re thinking is creepy.

It’s ridiculous. You’re getting lavished with attention by the man you’ve been hung up on for years. Maybe he even wants this to be a relationship. But at the moment you feel gutted because the man you dropped to get to where you are now has indicated he doesn’t want to speak. Theoretically, you’re in a great position but it feels like you have nothing.

You’d like to think that you’re just crazy and you just want to find something to be anxious about, or you have a self-destructive compulsion. But that feels like it would be letting yourself off easy, claiming that you couldn’t be any other way, even if you tried. Maybe you can’t be any different here in Japan, isolated and constantly in the presence of the guy who’s been holding your leash for six years. In another universe, where you’ve made different decisions and learned from your mistakes, maybe you would be the sort of girl who could meet someone like David Finlay and revel in the way you feel about him and the way he felt about you.

But your reality is that you are here. You are in this strange position with Jay. And David, who seemed to smitten with you just a few weeks ago, never wants to speak to you again. Nothing you can do to change that. Right?

[gdwessel]

World Tag Leage 2019 Night 4 - 11/19/2019; Lion’s Break: Project 2 Ticketing Info; Rush Claims Dragon Lee Returning To NJPW Soon

The World Tag League continued today. The show was not live on NJPWWorld but will likely be posted on tape delay, probably tomorrow as there is no event tomorrow.

- 11/19/2019, Fukushima Big Palette

World Tag League 2019: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] & Karl Fredericks d. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima (Goto > Kojima, GTR, 11:39)

World Tag League 2019: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare d. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi (Tanahashi > Nakanishi, High Fly Flow, 10:37)

World Tag League 2019: Juice Robinson & David Finlay Jr. d. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma (Robinson > Honma, Pulp Friction, 11:49) 

World Tag League 2019: Shingo Takagi & Terrible [Los Ingobernables] d. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club] (Takagi > Owens, Made In Japan, 9:28)

World Tag League 2019: Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Colt Cabana [FREE] d. Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] (Cabana > YOSHI-HASHI, Superman Pin, 10:02)

Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Jay White & Gedo [Bullet Club] (BUSHI > Gedo, MX, 11:51)

World Tag League 2019: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] d. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi [SZKG] (Tonga > Taichi, Schoolboy, 11:31)

World Tag League 2019: EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] d. Jeff Cobb [ROH] & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] (SANADA > Nicholls, Magic Killer, 13:06)

Shingo & Terrible get on the board. Safe to say Nagata & Nakanishi will NOT be winning this year’s tournament. GOD & EVIL/SANADA return to the tournament and both get wins. With their win, Yano/Cabana shoot to the top of the table on head-to-head against Ishii/YOSHI-HASHI.

Current standings:

Yano/Cabana: 6pts (3W 0D 1L) Ishii/YOSHI-HASHI: 6pts (3W 0D 1L) FinJuice: 6pts (3W 0D 1L) EVIL/SANADA: 4pts (2W 0D 0L) KENTA/Yujiro: 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Cobb/Nicholls: 4pts (2W 0D 2L) GBH: 4pts (2W 0D 2L) Goto/Fredericks: 4pts (2W 0D 2L) Sabre/Taichi: 4pts (2W 0D 2L) TanaHenare: 4pts (2W 0D 2L) TenKoji: 4pts (2W 0D 2L) GOD: 2pts (1W 0D 1L) Suzuki/Archer: 2pts (1W 0D 2L) Fale/Owens: 2pts (1W 0D 3L) Shingo/Terrible: 2pts (1W 0D 3L) Nagata/Nakanishi: 0pts (0W 0D 4L)

NJPW has released the ticketin info for Lion’s Break: Project 2, and as with last year’s event, it’s more or less free in standing room, if you already have a badge for CharaExpo. If you want seating, well, it’s a little more convoluted this year:

・How to watch Lion’s Break Project 2 Seating ticket: Any customer that spends $30 or more on merchandise at the NJPW merchandise booths can get either one Lion’s Break Project 2 seating ticket or one NJPW M&G ticket ※1. Amount must be spent in a single transaction. Purchases totaling under $30 will not receive a ticket ※2. Any customers who purchase over $60 in merchandise get their choice of two tickets(e.g. 1 seating ticket & 1 M&G ticket; 2 seating tickets; 2 M&G tickets).

The standing room area is open to anyone!

※CharaExpo USA 2019 admission ticket is required for this event. 　Details about CharaExpo USA 2019: https://www.charaexpo-usa.com/

So you have to buy merch, and have a CharaExpo badge, if you want to sit down at the shows. 

There are some rumblings going around that Dragon Lee may be in NJPW sooner than later. Currently he is unsigned anywhere, following his firing in September from CMLL, which is how he is able to work both ROH’s Final Battle PPV, and challenge Kenny Omega in AAA coming up. But from a report from friend of the blog/show TheCubsFan...

There was also an Arena Neza show last night. Rush talked with the press after his match, making the point that he’s happy being his own boss now and big things are happening. He talked about forming a new group in Ring of Honor, something that’s been teased for months. In his last words before leaving, Rush mentions one of his brothers is going to NJPW soon. Mistico was left off the FantasticaMania tour, so this is obvious. The NJPW people surely talked to both CMLL and Dragon Lee while they were in town to work out what’s next, though probably not at the same time. Rush dropping that hint right now suggests those talks went fairly well. I’d expect Dragon Lee and Hiromu Takahashi will be in the same ring as each other once again in January (though the actual match may wait to February.) It is unclear if NJPW is running their Honor Rising co-promoted tour with Ring of Honor in February, but Dragon Lee sliding over to those shows instead of FantasticaMania would probably help all parties.

The NJPW officials being in Mexico were of course due to the special ceremony that CMLL threw for Tiger Hattori on Friday at Arena Mexico. For the moment, it would have appeared that NJPW was more willing to work with CMLL then Dragon Lee, but NJPW were also very high on Dragon Lee, even crowning him IWGP Juniorheavyweight Champion at G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden. Who knows if any of this will pan out. But with Hiromu Takahashi being back, to not have Dragon Lee return now would be nothing short of cruel.

The tour takes a day off tomorrow, but returns to action on Thursday.

- 11/21/2019, Yamanashi Aimesse

World Tag League 2019: Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi v. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] & Karl Fredericks

World Tag League 2019: Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma v. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima

World Tag League 2019: Jeff Cobb [ROH] & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer [SZKG]

World Tag League 2019: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare v. Juice Robinson & David Finlay Jr.

World Tag League 2019: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] v. KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Jay White & Gedo [Bullet Club]

World Tag League 2019: EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] v. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

World Tag League 2019: Shingo Takagi & Terrible [Los Ingobernables] v.  Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi [SZKG]

[lastthingyouforget]

G1 Climax 27 Night 3: YOSHI’s Story

We’re back in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall for the third night of action featuring the Block A second round matches.

Match 1: David Finlay, Juice Robinson vs. Hiromu Takahashi, EVIL

Juice and EVIL start out with LIJ getting the advantage after Hiromu attacks Robinson from behind. Juice mounts a comeback with a running crossbody taking out both opponents but LIJ again get the upper hand when EVIL trips up Finlay from outside the ring.

The finish sees Finlay kick out after a lariat from EVIL but tap out to the Banshee Muzzle. After the bell EVIL applies the same submission on Juice ahead of their match.

Match 2: Taichi, Minoru Suzuki vs. BUSHI, SANADA

Suzuki catches SANADA unaware to start and in typical Suzuki-gun fashion the action immediately spills out into the crowd. Suzuki dumps a drink onto SANADA who attempts to out-bastard him with a rake to the eyes.

In the ring SANADA and Suzuki both throw forearms with the latter gaining the advantage and following up with a penalty kick. Suzuki applies a sleeper hold but his Gotch-style piledriver attempt is reversed.

BUSHI with a standing hurricanrana on Taichi who responds by trying to rip off his mask. Shenanigans to finish as Taichi throws the ref in the way of BUSHI before hitting him with a foreign object and rolling up for the win.

Taichi steals BUSHI’s mask before they’re separated. Fun opening match and SANADA/Suzuki should be a good watch.

Match 3: Yujiro Takahashi, Kenny Omega vs. Chase Owens, Tama Tonga

Comedy spots to start as both Bullet Club teams refuse to fight. Owens gets scolded for gingerly working Omega’s injured leg but after Tonga tags in he immediately targets it himself. Gun Stun from Tonga to Omega but Yujiro get’s the win for his team with a DDT on Owens.

Omega and Tonga continue to argue after the bell and have to be separated by their partners. Not much of a match but adds a bit more story for when Omega and Tonga face-off.

Match 4: Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Michael Elgin vs. Gedo, Toru Yano, Kazuchika Okada

Kojima and Tenzan double-team Yano with Kojima delivering rapid-fire chops in the corner. Yano does his routine of removing the turnbuckle padding but takes a cutter from Kojima.

Elgin and Okada both tag in and Elgin teases a buckle bomb into the exposed corner. Okada avoids it but can’t avoid a massive forearm. After some back and forth between Tenzan and Okada, Tenzan submits Gedo with the Anaconda Vice.

Match 5: Yuji Nagata (0 pts) vs. Hirooki Goto (2 pts)

Exchange of holds at the beginning. Like YOSHI-HASHI on night 1, Goto makes the mistake of slapping the veteran Nagata who retaliates with stiff kicks and an exploder suplex.

Goto is back in control after hitting an Ushigoroshi but Nagata escapes a GTR attempt. Nagata looks out of it but manages to lock in a Fujiwara armbar in the middle of the ring that Goto barely manages to get to the ropes to break.

Nagata has the momentum and after more stiff kicks gets a nearfall from a Saito suplex. The crowd are really behind Nagata as both men exchange forearms whilst trying to get to their feet. Goto counters another Saito suplex attempt with a sleeper and eventually gets the win with a GTR.

Nagata was the firm crowd favourite in this and the energy from the crowd gave it a big fight feel. Another good showing from Goto.

Match 6: Togi Makabe (0 pts) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (0 pts)

Lock-up to start before an exchange of shoulder blocks and forearms sees Ishii off his feet first. Ishii eventually takes control on the outside after throwing Makabe chest-first into the barriers on all four sides of the ring.

Chops and headbutts by Ishii are followed up with a huge superplex. Makabe takes more punishment but shows his fighting spirit by popping up and hitting Ishii with multiple lariats for a nearfall.

It’s Makabe’s turn to hit a suplex off the turnbuckle but he misses with a knee-drop from the top. The two lads repeatedly bounce off each other with clotheslines before Ishii gets the upper hand and gets the win with a brainbuster.

As with Goto/Ishii on night 1 it was going to be difficult for this not to be entertaining considering the hard-hitting style that both of them work. Makabe looked better than against Fale and I’m looking forward to seeing what Ishii can do against other types of opponents in future rounds.

Match 7: Kota Ibushi (0 pts) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (2 pts)

This is a first-time singles match between these two. ZSJ gets the better of it on the mat but Ibushi keeps him at bay with strikes when they’re stood up.

More unique submissions by ZSJ as he begins to work the neck. In a great spot Ibushi’s standing moonsault is countered into a triangle choke and a flurry of elbows. ZSJ counters a leapfrog into a bridging pin but Ibushi escapes an octopus hold and nails a standing double stomp.

Both men exchange kicks on the ground before getting in each others face and throwing uppercuts and foremans. A backflip kick from Ibushi is countered into a STF which looked great. A triangle choke applied by ZSJ is turned into a sitdown powerbomb to give Ibushi the win.

Really fun back and forth action with some novel spots. Ibushi toned down the high flying a bit and his emphasis on striking was a nice contrast to ZSJ’s technical style. Only criticism is that I think it could easily have gone longer at least 5 minutes longer.

Match 8: Hiroshi Tanahashi (0 pts) vs. Bad Luck Fale (2 pts)

Fale with the obvious size and power advantage but Tanahashi rolls him up for some early nearfalls. It’s not long before Fale begins to target the injured right arm including trapping it in the ringside barrier.

Fale continues to dominate in the ring but Tanahashi manages to hit a German suplex before unsuccessfully attempting to body slam his much bigger opponent. Sunset flip attempt by Tanahashi is interrupted with a hipdrop and running splash for a nearfall. Tanahashi is thrown out of the ring but manages to skin the cat, only to be immediately hit with a huge spear.

Great ending sequence as Tanahashi hits a High Fly Flow from the turnbuckle to Fale outside of the ring. Referee starts the count and as Fale attempts to get back in the ring, Tanahashi hits a Slingblade on the apron. Tanahashi then rolls into the ring whilst Fale is still down and wins by countout.

This was surprisingly great. Tanahashi bumped around and making Fale look like a monster. Finish made both guys look good as Tanahashi had to use all his experience to just squeak a win whilst not being at 100%.

Match 9: YOSHI-HASHI (2 pts) vs. Tetsuya Naito (2 pts)

Main event time. Naito takes control after catching Y-H off-guard early. The two trade reversals before Y-H hits a standing double stomp to the back and gets a nearfall from a powerbomb into a jacknife pin. Y-H is then cut-off as he goes up top and takes a super hurricanrana.

Destino attempt is countered. After an exchange of forearms Naito is hit square in the nose with a stiff kick. After an ugly looking mid-air collision Y-H applies a butterfly lock that he keeps applied as Naito attempts to roll through. Naito kicks out of a Swanton but gets caught in another butterfly lock before reaching the ropes.

Y-H goes for Karma but Naito lands a surprise Destino and gets the win after hitting a second. LIJ are out to celebrate and a promo by Naito closes the show.

It wasn’t for lack of trying but I don’t think this compared favourably to the main events from the first two nights (especially Naito/Ibush)i. Crowd were into Naito throughout and action was fine but there was no real throughline to get me invested.

tldr;

All five tournament matches were good to great with Ibushi/ZSJ and Tanahashi/Fale the most entertaining. Naito seems to be a lock to win Block A at the moment but it’ll be interesting to see who else they keep strong in the next few rounds.