#my bad guesses? he's gonna be kota all belts (he will take the US jr and never titles as well as the first 2)

[breadclubrising]

WHAT DOES IT MEAN

[wrestlingisfake]

Wrestle Grand Slam preview

Originally New Japan Pro Wrestling was going to do two big stadium shows in May. I'm guessing the strategy was to keep fans socially distanced, but book bigger buildings so they could sell more tickets. Unfortunately Japan had another surge in COVID-19 cases, and another state of emergency was declared. New Japan ultimately canceled the Yokohama show and postponed this one, in the Tokyo Dome, to July 25. Unfortunately, with the pandemic going the way it is in Japan, the government has probably limited the number of people who can attend, and New Japan is probably taking a bath on this show no matter what.

But that's not our problem. All you need to know is that you can stream the show live at 3am EDT, Sunday morning, July 25. You can stream it on NJPW World (about $9.05 US per month). Or if you don't want the hassle of subscribing to a Japanese service, you can get the show for $19.99 on Fite.tv. Both services will provide English commentary, and both of them let you watch it later on-demand (in case you don't want to be up all night).

Shingo Takagi vs. Kota Ibushi (maybe) - Shingo is the 3rd IWGP world heavyweight champion, and he's making his first defense of the title. As of this writing Ibushi is still the advertised challenger, despite missing several recent shows due to a case of aspirational pneumonia. Hopefully the time off has allowed him to recover. If he's forced to pull out, I'm beginning to think New Japan will not announce that until the start of the show.

The main event of this show has been cursed for months. Originally, Will Ospreay beat Ibushi for the title and Takagi in his first defense, to set up Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada on May 29 in the Tokyo Dome. Then Ospreay went home with a neck injury, and Okada caught COVID-19, and the show was postponed. So Okada faced Takagi for the vacant title on June 7, and after Takagi won he challenged Ibushi to face him on the "biggest stage" possible. Then the Tokyo Dome show was rescheduled, with the unfortunate main event of "two guys Ospreay just beat." Now Ibushi has pneumonia, and if there's going to be replacement there will be zero time to set it up.

Under normal circumstances, this match headlining a big show would be a real treat. It won't be as fun if I'm worried about Ibushi's cardio. I know the running gag is that everybody thinks Ibushi is superhuman, because he looks ten years younger than he is and he falls on his neck and acts like it's no big deal. But dude. I mean, if he shows up at this show ripped to shreds and ready to go, it'll be great and play into the myth. But I can't imagine he'll be 100%.

At last night's New Japan show, Hiroshi Tanahashi said he's ready to take Ibushi's place if needed. That's as close as anyone has come to being positioned as a replacement. Honestly, that's not a bad consolation prize, and Shingo-Tana even has a ready-made instant storyline. (Tanahashi beat Shingo for the NEVER title a few months ago, so he's a logical challenger for Shingo's world title now.)

A title change would be pretty wild right about now, but I think this new world title has bounced around too much as it is. We need stability, and we need a champion who can weather these difficult times. My man Shingo can do it.

Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi - Naito and Sabre won the IWGP heavyweight tag team title from Dangerous Tekkers on July 11, so this is the rematch.

I really don't understand why you'd book the Tekkers to chase Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa for six months just to immediately pull the belts back off of them, especially if you're just going to do an immediate rematch. Makes no sense. Whichever team loses here is going to look kind of pathetic, to the point that I'm wondering if you have to start teasing a breakup angle. But it's New Japan, so I don't think they'd jump right into that sort of thing.

My preference is to see one of these two teams defend the title more than once against various teams. I don't care which of them does it, but the other needs to go to the back of the line. That would be pretty disastrous for Dangerous Tekkers, so I guess I'm rooting for them to regain the belts and get back on track.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Jeff Cobb - With Will Ospreay out of action, Okada is stuck feuding with one of Ospreay's henchmen in the United Empire. That's not a knock on Cobb, who's strong as hell and super cool. But it's like one of those He-Man episodes where he just fights Mer-Man, because Skeletor is out of town or something. Mer-Man is dope as hell, but nobody thinks he's gonna beat He-Man on Skeletor's day off. With that said, it'd be mighty cool if Cobb scored a huge upset to set him up as a key player in the main event scene.

El Desperado vs. Robbie Eagles - Despy had just finished a grueling defense of the IWGP junior heavyweight title against Taiji Ishimori when Eagles announced he was next in line for a title shot.

Eagles, an Australian, has been pretty scarce since the pandemic began. He did compete in December's Best of the Super Jr. tournament, but even so it's a special event to get to see him. Even so, Eagles is not exactly a dominant force in New Japan's junior division, and I'm not expecting him to be a major threat to Desperado here. With Hiromu Takahashi cleared to compete, the money is in setting up Hiromu-Despy for the title. I don't see Eagles figuring into that picture, so he should take the L.

El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero - ELP and Ishimori are defending the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team title. Taguchi is the coach of his not-quite-a-real-thing group, Taguchi Japan, and Romero coaches Roppongi 3K, so together they are the Mega Coaches. I like the Mega Coaches but they're going to lose hard here.

New Japan Ranbo - This is a gauntlet battle royale for possession of Toru Yano's KOPW 2021 trophy. Two wrestlers will start the match and each additional participant will enter at regularly-scheduled intervals. Participants can be eliminated at any time. Once everyone has entered the match, and all but one has been eliminated, the remaining entrant is declared the winner and win the trophy.

Normally in a New Japan Ranbo match, eliminations occur via pinfall, submission, or exiting the ring over the top rope. But since this is a KOPW match, added stipulations were proposed for the fans to vote on. The winning stipulation is that handcuffs will be placed around the ring, and you can eliminate an opponent by handcuffing him to something. I suspect this rule has not been thought through, and some weird edge cases will come up during the action. In layman's terms, this will be a wacky shit show with crazy shenanigans. I'm looking forward to it.

No participants have been announced except for Yano. I would expect a bunch of the older guys and prelim guys will show up, and maybe some wrestlers we haven't been seeing lately. But this isn't a Royal Rumble, or even a Battle Riot or a Casino Battle Royale, so I wouldn't hold my breath for any earth-shattering surprises. Anyone could win, but at this point Yano is to the KOPW trophy what R-Truth is to the WWE 24/7 title. The winner of this match is either going to be Yano or be losing to Yano very soon.

[hazyheel]

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 1 Predictions

Wrestle Kingdom is always in contention for show of the year come December, even though it is usually the first big show of the year. New Japan is just that good. And this year’s card is just as appetizing as past years, even if it is split into a two night event. So we don’t have all the big title matches on one night, but it is still a packed night. Ten huge matches with a lot of big names. i’m still definitely looking forward to it. Here are my predictions for this year’s Wrestle Kingdom.

Oh yeah, also I’m back. Went through a bit of a rough patch in my life (college is hard) but I’m back on the wrestling train. Happy to be blogging again :)

Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki vs. Giulia & Hana Kimura: This is a Wonder Ring Stardom showcase match that I did not expect to happen, but here it is. I have heard great things about Stardom, but my only real experience with it was in my small experience with Ring of Honor. So I have only really seen Iwatani wrestle, but she is pretty good, so there is no reason not to look forward to this. Iwatani is currently the World of Stardom Champion (main event), while Hoshiki is the Wonder of Stardom Champion (midcard). Since I have no clue who anyone other than Iwatani are, I am just gonna guess that she will win. This will probably be pretty good. 

Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks & Toa Henare vs. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura: A young lion showcase at the Tokyo Dome. This is probably the biggest stage that any of the young lions have been on, so good for them for getting on the card. I’m gonna say that the US Dojo boys will win this one, only because Fredericks won the Young Lion Cup so he may get the pin. But I will be rooting for my boy Tsuji all the way. This could be good, but I’m not going to get my hopes up.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata: The last pre show match has a few of the older guys on the roster in a tag match. While I’m not a huge fan most of these guys, other than Nagata, they have been working together for a long time and have probably developed a good amount of chemistry. I’m calling TenKoji to win this, because they are an actual tag team. Again, could be a good match, but I’m not willing to bet on it. 

The Great Sasuke, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami & Tiger Mask IV vs. Naoki Sano, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shinjiro Ootani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa: The match opening up the official Wrestle Kingdom Card is Jushin Thunder Liger’s first retirement match, and features a host of Japanese wrestling legends. Now, I don’t know much about old school New Japan, but I definitely recognize a few of these names. I’m gonna say that Liger’s team will get the win on this one, just so he can have one last pin to his name. I’m not expecting much from this match, but the aftermath should be quite touching. 

BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA & Shingo Takagi vs. El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr: Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Suzuki-Gun. An 8 man tag that serves to get a bunch of deserving people on the wrestle kingdom card, and preview the British Championship match for night two. Not much else to say about this, but there is a lot of good talent in this match. I’m not normally into the hastily thrown together multi-man tags in New Japan, but this might be good if they step up their game for the Tokyo Dome. I’m going to say that Suzuki-Gun gets the win, because then the heels will get to beat down the faces, and that is always fun. 

Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI: CHOAS vs. BULLET CLUB. Another big 8 man tag that gives a big old Wrestle Kingdom Paycheck to some deserving guys. This match, however, kinda previews two matches. Not only the NEVER Openweight Championship, but the 6-man tag team championships as well. I don’t care much about this match because most of the Bullet Club guys aren’t super exciting to watch, but I’m looking forward to whenever Kenta gets in the ring. I’m gonna call the CHAOS team winning so that there can be a bit of tension between Ishii, Hashi and Yano, because Ishii and Hashi are gunning for Yano’s title on Night two. 

FinJuice vs. The Guerrillas of Destiny for the IWGP Tag Team Championships: The unlikely winners of the World Tag League take on the totally dominant Guerrillas of Destiny. The big story coming into this match is that GOD beat FinJuice in the World Tag League late last year, so they have the edge going into this match. Even though I really want FinJuice to win this, and I’ll probably be rooting for them on the day, I doubt they are coming away with the big win. It’s not even really because they are a bad team, I just don’t think that they want to have Juice with two belts before the main event of night two (spoilers for my later predictions). I hope this is a good match, because I feel like it will be but GOD can be kinda iffy sometimes. But I think it will be pretty good. 

Jon Moxley vs. Lance Archer in a Texas Death Match for the IWGP United States Championship: New Japan does not often use stipulations of any kind, and this is actually quite the big one. In this match, there are no pinfalls. The win can only come from a submission or a KO, to be represented by a ten count. So it’s kinda a hybrid between a submission match and a last man standing match. Very interesting. This match came about on the final day of the World Tag League, when Moxley confronted Archer after his final league match with Suzuki. Because of the violent nature of both of these wrestlers, they busted out the aforementioned violent stipulation. I think that Moxley is winning this match because Archer has really just been a transitional champion. Moxley never actually lost this belt, and it’s a damn shame that we didn’t get the Moxley-Robinson rematch last year. So I think we are gonna get it on Night two. This looks like it’ll be a brutal match with a lot of weapons and maybe even a bit of blood. I’m really looking forward to this wild brawl, because we never see matches like this in New Japan. 

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: MY LOVELY LOVELY BOY IS BACK! I’ve missed Takahashi so so much. The story of this match goes back a while actually. In 2018, Takahashi won Best of the Super Juniors and went on to beat Ospreay for the Junior Heavyweight Championship at that year’s Dominion. Unfortunately, the next month, Takahashi suffered a broken neck during his match with Dragon Lee at the G1 Special in San Fransisco. So he had to forfeit the title and has been out for a year and a half. While was out, Ospreay won last year’s best of the Super Juniors by beating Takahashi’s stablemate and now heavyweight Shingo Takagi, and went on to beat Dragon Lee at Dominion. He has held onto the title since then with defenses against Robbie Eagles, El Phantasmo and BUSHI, as well as entering the G1 Climax and New Japan Cup while he was still a Junior Heavyweight. After he beat BUSHI, Ospreay offered an open challenge to anyone in the Junior Heavyweight division, and Takahashi returned. And everything was right in the world. I think that Takahashi is winning here, because he never lost his belt and he deserves it back. Also, Ospreay has been flirting with the heavyweight division for a long time, and it’s about time that he moves up. He’s beaten a whole bunch of heavyweights, and he needs to be higher up on the card. This should be an amazing match. Ospreay is probably my favorite wrestler in the world right now, and Takahashi is just as amazing. Any other card and I would’ve predicted this as the match of the night, but Wrestle Kingdom is stacked as hell this year. 

Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship: This match has higher stakes than the Intercontinental Championship, as it is also to qualify for the main event double championship match of night two. These two absolutely hate each other, and were very passive aggressive when they interacted during their feud last year. Naito lost the Intercontinental Championship to White at Destruction in Kobe last year, and since then, both men have announced that they want to be double champions. So that is where we are with this feud. I think that Naito is winning here, mostly because of my next prediction and the fact that they have held off on a match that they seemed very fond of for a really long time. I think it could be White winning here, because they like him a lot, but it’s Naito’s time to main event in the Tokyo Dome. This should be a really good, if not great, match, but it is kinda falling in the background for me considering Takahashi’s return and the main event. 

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship: The big passing of the torch match that I have been waiting for since I started watching New Japan. These two faced off in the G1 Climax A Block, with Ibushi picking up the big win against the champion. Ibushi went on to win in the finals of the G1 Climax and earn his title shot here. Since then, both men have defended their status, with Okada beating Minoru Suzuki and SANADA to retain his title, while Ibushi defended his contract against KENTA and EVIL. Now the two are on a collision course, and I can’t wait to see them go all out. I think that Ibushi is winning here, because it is his time to shine in the sun. He didn’t leave for AEW with Kenny, and he deserves to be World Champion for that. Also, I NEED THIS. I have literally predicted that he would win the Heavyweight Championship for the past two years, but none of it has happened. I need him to win here. Also, Naito and Ibushi in the main event of night two would be epic. This is the match I am most looking forward to. I can practically see the A+ that I will give it. 

[wrestlingisfake]

G1 Climax B Block finals preview

Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay White - Naito is the IWGP intercontinental champion, but his title is not at stake.  This is for points in the G1 Climax tournament--the winner gets 2, the loser gets 0, or both men get 1 if there’s a 30-minute time limit draw.  Naito and White both have 10 points, putting them in a four-way tie for first place in B Block with Hirooki Goto and Jon Moxley.  There’s no guarantee that the winner of this match will win the block, but the loser certainly won’t, so the stakes are high.  The winner of B Block will go on to face the winner of A Block in the finals on August 12.

There are scenarios where neither White nor Naito will win the block, depending on what happens in Goto and Moxley’s matches.  However, I think by the time this match starts, those scenarios will be wiped out, and this one will be for all the marbles.  Both Naito and White had rough starts this year, clearly to keep us expecting them to be on the brink of elimination right up until the last minute.

These two have largely been kept apart during the past two years, as White has dramatically shot to the top.  White has wins over Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Kenny Omega, leaving Naito as arguably biggest name he has yet to conquer.  (I say “arguably” because I don’t think he’s tangled with Kota Ibushi yet either...funny how that works out.)  Even if White doesn’t win the tournament, a win here sets up a feud over the intercontinental title that could easily be the match for both men at Wrestle Kingdom in January.

The wrestling in this match could get interesting since Naito’s style revolves around trolling opponents into losing their chill, while White’s style is based on counterattacks.  I picture this one starting with both guys trying to bait the other into making the first move, which could lead to a shit-ton of stalling.

The bottom line is which of them is the better opponent for Kota Ibushi in the finals.  We’ve already seen Naito feud with Ibushi back in the spring, so I think it’s White’s turn this time.

Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson - Moxley’s IWGP United States championship is not on the line.  This is another tournament match for 2 points.  Moxley has 10 points, and he could still win the block if he and Naito tie at 12, although a three-way tie with Goto would be more complicated.  At 6 ponts, Robinson can’t win the block, but he at least has a chance to avenge his loss in Moxley’s debut, where Mox captured the US belt.  A Robinson win would almost certainly set up a rematch for the title, perhaps as soon as September to avoid scheduling conflicts with AEW.

I’ve seen a lot of talk about who the MVP is in this tournament, but for my money it’s Moxley.  He may not deliver the highest star ratings or the best workrate, but his offbeat style has freshened up a tournament that is known for largely featuring the same guys year after year.  Usually at this stage only a few tournament matches still feel important, but this one is a big ass deal.  Juice hasn’t been the same since his loss to Mox on June 5, and it’s time to find out if that personality shift will pay off, or if he’ll sink further down the card and have to reinvent himself even more.

I think Juice is going to get his win back, if only to eliminate Moxley and simplify the narrative heading into Naito-White.  But I’m sure they’ll have me second-guessing that prediction all through the match.

Hirooki Goto vs. Shingo Takagi - Another tournament match.  Goto has 10 points, and he holds tiebreakers over both Moxley and White, so he’s actually not in a bad position here.  He can’t win a two-way tie with Naito, but in a Goto-Naito-Moxley tie there’s no clear resolution except to compare in-ring time, so he’s at least got a chance.  Unfortunately for Goto he’s up against Shingo, so I don’t think getting to 12 will be an easy feat for him.

Shingo went 9-1 in the Best of the Super Jr. tournament, which made it a no-brainer to give a run with the heavyweights.  His 3-5 record thus far would be disappointing if you didn’t take into account that his summer schedule has been far more grueling.  Unless they’re really gonna go somewhere with Goto (or if they really want to tease some complex tie scenarios during the main event), I think Shingo steamrolls him to finish with 8 points.

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Taichi - Yet another tournament match for 2 points, although neither man can win the block.  Ishii won the the NEVER openweight title from Taichi on June 9, so even though the championship isn’t being defended, this is Taichi’s chance to earn a title shot down the road.

The basic story between Ishii and Taich in 2019 is that Taichi is a rule-breaker’s rule-breaker, bringing a bunch of gimmicks with him and using every cheap shot in the book, but for something about wrestling Ishii makes him want to put all that aside and have a clean fight.  Unfortunately for Taichi, that may have cost him victories against Ishii in the New Japan Cup and for the NEVER title.  So will he be inspired to play fair again, or will he pull every trick to reverse his fortunes?  Personally I don’t think it matters, because Ishii is a human wrecking ball.

Jeff Cobb vs. Toru Yano - Yano has cheated and schemed his way to 8 points in the tournament, but Cobb is the biggest dude he’s had to face yet.  I was expecting Cobb to do a lot better than the 6 points he’s earned so far, so this may be his chance to save some face.  I don’t expect this one to go very long.  I’m picking Cobb to win, but Yano won’t make it easy.

Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. & Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru - Tanahashi and Ospreay just had a big match the day before, but I would imagine the good guy team will all be on the same page.  In contrast, Sabre and Archer were not getting along in the buildup to, and aftermath of, their tournament match last week.  Heel solidarity goes a long way, but Sabre’s a dick and Archer isn’t the forgiving type.  I think that will hand victory to Okada’s team.

Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare vs. KENTA & Karl Fredericks & Clark Connors - Ibushi won the A Block, so this is his “night off,” so to speak, before he leaves it all on the ring in the finals 24 hours later.  One of his teammates could do a job here, but I would expect his team to win anyway.

EVIL & SANADA & BUSHI vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens - Another LIJ vs. Bullet Club matchup.  I dunno, flip a coin, I guess.

Syota Umino & Ren Narita vs. Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji - Everybody in this match is a Young Lion, so it’s basically a battle of the jobbers.  These actually tend to be more fun than seeing any of these guys fighting real stars, since they’re actually allowed to beat one another.  Jon Moxley’s faithful assistant, Umino, is the head of the class and should probably pick up the win.

[wrestlingisfake]

Destruction in Kobe preview

Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay White - Naito is defending the IWGP intercontinental championship.  White pinned Naito in the G1 Climax, eliminating Naito from the tournament and earning White this title match.  There’s a decent chance the winner of this match will defend the title at Wrestle Kingdom 14, seeing as there probably won’t be many more title matches between now and January.

Naito’s goal for months has been to hold the intercontinental title long enough to also secure the IWGP heavyweight title and be the first double champion with those two belts.  His best chance to do that was to win the G1 Climax, but Kota Ibushi won the tournament to qualify for the heavyweight title match at Wrestle Kingdom.  Since Ibushi lost the intercontinental title to Naito, and since he has a particular fondness for that belt, and since Wrestle Kingdom 14 is a two-day event, Kota suggested that he could challenge for the heavyweight belt on January 4 and then the winner could face the intercontinental champion on January 5 in a double title match.  That obviously got Naito’s attention. 

It looks like White also took notice.  Since he didn’t win the G1 Climax, the earliest opportunity he will have to regain the heavyweight title would be if he’s in the possible double title match on January 5.  (If it happens--technically it hasn’t been officially announced.)  But to be in that match he has to have the intercontinental title, which means he needs to beat Naito for it.  To that end, he attacked Naito on August 25 and declared his “destino” to be the first double champion.

The Big Five in New Japan this year are Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi, and Jay White.  (White’s mainly at that level because he filled in for the role of Kenny Omega earlier this year; it’s not clear if this current storyline was originally mapped out for Kenny.)  We already know Okada-Ibushi for the heavyweight title is set for Wrestle Kingdom, and Tanahashi vs. Chris Jericho is also clearly pencilled in.  So it’s a safe bet we’ll get White-Naito for the intercontinental title on January 4, with the winner facing the winner of Okada-Ibushi on January 5.  The only real question is whether Naito or White will enter the Tokyo Dome as the champion.  This match will likely decide that.

With all that in mind, I think it makes the most sense for White to win the title here, so Naito can earn his way into a rematch.  On the other hand, White is 1-0 against Naito in singles matches, so a Naito victory here would set up a rubber match in January.  But the image of White gloating at all of us with his shiny new belt for the next three months is just too perfect to pass up.  It’s Jay’s time now.

Hirooki Goto vs. Shingo Takagi - This is a rematch from their G1 Climax match on August 11, which Shingo won.  Takagi entered New Japan as a junior heavyweight and just went sickhouse on everybody’s ass.  Then he entered the G1, had a respectable 4-5 record, and said “fuck it, I’m a full-time heavyweight now.”  Meanwhile, Goto returned from a stint at the LA Dojo with a head of steam, going 5-4 in the G1 Climax.  If Goto is going to finish 2019 in a better position than last year, he needs to start by avenging his loss to Shingo.  That won’t be easy.

Their previous match was intense as fuck and very well reviewed.  This one is going to come down to which guy is getting a big push.  If Shingo is on track for a title run next year, he should probably just go 2-0 on Goto and move on to bigger stars.  The thing is, these two are so similar that there’s no real reason to push them both, so if Goto is fed to Shingo I don’t see any point to rehabbing him for some other storyline.  In short, Goto needs this win a little more than Shingo.  I can’t really be sure which one will get it.

Kazuchika Okada & Kota Ibushi & Robbie Eagles vs. SANADA & EVIL & BUSHI - Okada and Sanada are on course for a title match on October 14.  Now that Ibushi has defended his G1 title match contract against Kenta, Evil is next in line, so those two have a match coming down the line, which hasn’t been scheduled yet.  This could go either way, but count on Bushi or Eagles eating the pin.

KENTA & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori vs. Will Ospreay & SHO & YOH & Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI - Roppongi 3K (Yoh and Sho) lost the junior tag title to Phantasmo and Ishimori a while back, but then everything got shook up on September 16 when Yoh pinned Tama Tonga.  Now R3K are in line for a heavyweight tag title match against the Guerillas of Destiny, who had just successfully defended against Ishii and Yoshi on September 15 with help from Kenta.  GOD is probably pretty pissed about it, and I would expect them to be on the warpath here.

Meanwhile, Phantasmo is looking to challenge Ospreay for the junior singles title at some point, and Kenta doesn’t have a challenger for his NEVER openweight title.  I could see someone pinning Kenta to set up a title match, but I don’t really see any of these guys doing it.  The smart money is on Yoshi losing this match.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jushin Thunder Liger & Rocky Romero & Tiger Mask vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre, Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI - Things are still heating up between Liger and Suzuki, although we still don’t know when they’re going to build to a singles match.  Suzuki managed to pull off Liger’s mask last week so I am more certain than ever (I was already pretty certain) that Liger is going to flip the fuck out and turn into Kishin Liger.  Could that happen tonight???  I mean, it could, but it could have happened half a dozen times before now, and it still could happen at King of Pro Wrestling or Power Struggle.  So my big question is, how much shit can Jushin Liger take before he loses his mind?  As for this match, I guess Douki or Tiger Mask loses, and between the two of them Douki is the bigger jobber.

Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare vs. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi - This is a trios match and Makabe is one of the NEVER trios champions, but he never actually teams with the other two champions anymore, so this isn’t a title match.  Anyway, forget all that shit, what matters is that Fale and Chase spent most of the G1 Climax tour talking up their plans to STORM AREA 51 to BEAT UP ALIENS.  I mean, that Storm Area 51 thing was kind of a dumb joke, but when BAD LUCK FALE is telling you about it, it seems a little more important.  They made a shirt and everything! 

So anyway these guys would have had about 48 hours to get from the 9/20 Kyoto show to Las Vegas, storm Area 51, and then fly back to Kobe for this match, so I am real real curious what they’re gonna tell us about that trip.  I assume Kevin Kelly will do his duty and try to get some comments from them about it.  I was about to say “before they get clobbered in this match” but actually for once they may be the favorites to win, so maybe the real aliens were Makabe, Honma, and Henare all along!

Syota Umino vs. Karl Fredericks - This is one of two Young Lion Cup tournament matchs on the card, and the last night of the tournament.  Umino and Fredericks are in a three-way tie with Ren Narita at 10 points.  Knowing how New Japan books these things, I would guess it all comes down to who wins this match.  My man Shooter Umino controls his own destiny, so if he wins this match he wins the tournament no matter what else happens.  Fredericks needs to win this match and he needs Narita to not win.  The big story of the tournament has been the New Japan dojo guys having a beef with the gaijin from the LA Dojo and Bad Luck Fale’s dojo.  It’s not New Gaijin Pro Wrestling so I’m pretty sure a Japanese guy is going to win, and my money is on the Shooter.

Ren Narita vs. Clark Connors - This is the other Young Lion Cup tournament match.  Connors can’t win the tournament even if he wins this match.  Narita could win, but he needs to win this match and he needs Umino to not win.  Ren doesn’t have to lose this match, but if he does Umino-Fredericks is for all the marbles, so I’m very sure that Connors will win to make that possible.

Yuji Nagata & Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Alex Coughlin & Michael Richards - Once again Nagata and Nakanishi are teaming with all the Young Lion Cup guys that don’t have tournament matches on this card.  I could see Nakanishi’s team winning just to let Coughlin and Richards have a little moment before they go back home, but NJPW prides itself on making these guys suffer so maybe not.

[wrestlingisfake]

All In preview

This is the big independent show everyone’s been talking about.  Several big promotions have allowed their talent to do this show, but none of them are directly running this show.  Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks are promoting this out of their own pockets, which is pretty amazing when you think about it.

This all came about because some guy on Twitter asked Dave Meltzer asked if Ring of Honor could run a 10,000-seat venue and Dave was like “not anytime soon” and Cody was like “I’ll take that bet.”  Then everyone was like “what market is going to have enough hardcore fans to fill a building that big?” and Chicago was like “hold my beer” and the place sold out in 30 minutes.  So yeah, fuck Wrestlemania going to New York and Florida all the time, we’re gonna do our own Wrestlemania with indy guys and stupid storylines off of Youtube!

This will be airing live on pay-per-view, ROH’s Honor Club service, and Fite.tv, with a one-hour pre-show on WGN America.  September 1, 6pm Eastern/5pm local.

Nick Aldis vs. Cody Rhodes - This is for the NWA world heavyweight championship, which Aldis won last year--the same title Cody’s father held in 1979, 1981, and 1986. 

Aldis is probably best known as Magnus for his run in TNA, where he held what is now the Impact world title.  (He also held the Global Force Wrestling world title for most of that group’s existence.)  Cody is, of course, a former ROH world champion and WWE intercontinental champion; he’s a top act in ROH and part-time special attraction with New Japan Pro Wrestling.  He’s also one of the promoters of this show, which may or may not give away the finish.

The great irony here is that “independent wrestling” used to mean “wrestling unaffiliated with an NWA member,” but now the NWA has no members, which means it has the most prestigious championship that is truly independent of the major players today.  The current NWA business model, under Billy Corgan, is to fly the champion around to other people’s indy shows, resembling the old-school pattern of Harley Race or Ric Flair coming to an NWA territory once or twice a year.  Since this show isn’t being promoted by a group with its own world champion, it’s a perfect fit for that model.  So it’s a good thing Aldis got booked, because if he hadn’t the NWA would’ve looked pretty bush-league.

The main story here is that Cody and Corgan arranged this title match without consulting Aldis.  Aldis then tried to hold out for added incentive to defend the title, suggesting that if Cody regained the ROH world championship they could have a double title match.  Cody came up short, but still managed to goad Aldis into accepting the challenge.  Obviously the crowd for this show is going to be solidly behind Cody simply for making this show possible, and moreover they’re going to be into the angle that Cody has a chance to recreate one of his father’s career highlights.

I don’t foresee a lengthy NWA title reign for Cody, since his obligations to ROH and New Japan probably don’t line up with Corgan’s business plans.  However, if I was Corgan, I’d want to get the belt on Cody while he’s the talk of the wrestling world.  At the very least, I’d want to set up a Cody/Aldis program to run through October’s NWA anniversary show and maybe even the ROH/NJPW Madison Square Garden show in April.  So a title change makes sense, but it’d depend on a lot of things falling into place behind the scenes, so it’s not a lock either.  In the end, though, this is a bad weekend to bet against Cody.

Kenny Omega vs. Pentagon, Jr. - Omega holds the IWGP heavyweight championship--the top title of New Japan--but the title is not at stake here.  Penta works all over the place but is probably best known from AAA and Lucha Underground.  His biggest accolade is possibly the LU championship, but he also briefly held the Impact Wrestling world title earlier this year.

This is easily the biggest dream match that this show could book.  To the average US wrestling fan, Omega is the hottest guy in Japan and Penta is the hottest guy out of Mexico.  But since Penta’s never really been to NJPW or ROH, and since Omega’s never really been to AAA or Impact, there’s never been a way to book this match on a big show...until now.

I don’t really know anything about Pentagon except that he’s fucking scary, dude, and I’m pretty stoked to finally see what this cat’s deal is.  Omega has made a name for himself delivering some of the best matches of the decade, but Penta is a brawler so this won’t be a wrestling clinic.  It should be a unique spectacle, worthy of this one-of-a-kind event.

I feel like New Japan would not authorize this appearance if their champion was going to lose, so I would be very shocked if Penta wins.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Marty Scurll - Okada isn’t quite the ace of NJPW, but he’s getting there, especially after a record-setting 720-day run with as IWGP champion.  Scurll is a junior heavyweight in NJPW, but in ROH he’s approaching the main event level, and if he sticks around long enough he’ll probably become their world champion.  In Japan, heavyweights and junior heavyweights almost never compete against one another one-on-one, so this match is automatically a rarity.

Scurll is sort of just there in the grand scheme of things, but within the context of a 10,000 indy wrestling fans in Bullet Club shirts, he’s practically the second coming of Christ.  Between the quality of his opponent, the historic nature of the event, the favorability of the crowd, and the timing of his peak popularity, this could be the match of Scurll’s life.  But that said, he’s bound to lose, because I can’t imagine New Japan allowing an upset to disrupt their pecking order among the weight classes.  That’s fine with me, because while everyone else will be whooping for Scurll, I’ll be there to see Okada.

Rey Mysterio & Fenix & Bandido vs. Kota Ibushi & Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson - Fenix is the brand-new AAA heavyweight champion.   Mysterio is a former WWE champion and the current champion of Mexico’s #3 group, The Crash.  There isn’t much info (at least, not in English) on Bandido except that he’s worked in CMLL, AAA, and various smaller promotions.  Aside from being a finalist in NJPW’s G1 Climax tournament this year, Kota Ibushi is legendary for his high-risk style and his preference to be a freelancer rather than commit to a single company.  Nick and Matt, the Young Bucks, are currently the IWGP heavyweight tag team champions, and have become synonymous with the post-ironic style that has defined the modern age of indy wrestling.

There really isn’t a story or direction to this match beyond getting all these guys in the ring at the same time to work with each other.  The Bucks do their spots with everyone in the indies, this is their big special show, and so as a special treat they’re going to do their shit with Rey and Fenix.  Ibushi seems to be here because Kenny Omega is occupied elsewhere, and to get his last chance to work with Rey before Mysterio returns to WWE.  Bandido seems to be here primarily to do the job, which kinda suggests Ibushi and the Bucks are winning.

Hangman Page vs. Joey Janella - Page is one of the lesser white guys in Bullet Club, but he had a decent run in the G1 Climax recently, and it seems like he’s starting to move up in the world.   Janella is best known for a) Joey Janella’s Spring Break, GCW’s Wrestlemania weekend event and b) a 2016 match with Zandig where they did an insane rooftop bump into a pickup bed filled with glass and barbed wire.  This is being billed as a Chicago street fight, which could mean anything really but generally means no count-outs, no disqualifications, so you can fight all over the place, but you still have to score a fall in the ring.

The, uh, storyline in this match is that Page, yeesh, either murdered Joey Ryan or believes that he did.  Joey Ryan is arguably the most popular American indy wrestler who is not booked on this show, and he’s conspicuous by his absence since a good chunk of the build for this show is about his fate.  Anyway, Page is, uh, afraid to wear his cowboy boots because they keep...well...talking to him about how he’s going to kill “another Joey,” apparently meaning Janella.  So yeah, the big idea is that it’s significant that Ryan and Janella have the same first name.  It’s like that whole “Martha” thing in Batman v. Superman, only dumber.  This is what happens when the main television for your show is Being the Elite, which is slightly less absurd than Southpaw Regional Wrestling or Z! True Long Island Story.

In any case, Page is suitably deranged enough to brutalize Janella, which means Janella has sufficient motivation to go sickhouse on Page.  These two ought to give us a good brawl and some nasty hardcore spots.  Dave Meltzer seems to think this could steal the show, and I wouldn’t go that far, but it might have everyone talking afterwards, if only for sheer wtf-ness.  I’m not sure it matters who wins, but Page is the one who’s friends with the promoters so I’d bet on him.

Jay Lethal vs. the winner of Over Budget Battle Royal - Lethal (probably best known for his Randy Savage impression in TNA ten years ago, and a sexual harassment scandal this summer) is defending the Ring of Honor world title against whoever wins the battle royal in the pre-show.  Since the battle royal includes at least one woman, there’s at least a chance this could become an intergender match.  This is the biggest match on the show that does not involve any members of Bullet Club, although I suppose the battle royal winner could, like, join Bullet Club or something.

Being the Elite has been setting up the idea that Lethal’s “Black Machismo” persona is re-emerging, so the big angle for this match is the hype that Lethal might bring that stuff back.  I don’t know how that will play off of whoever wins the battle royal, but I guess they have some crazy idea.

For historical purposes, a title change at this show would be a feather in ROH’s cap.  But I don’t expect them to see it that way, or for the battle royal winner to be anywhere close to ROH’s ideal world champion.  I’m picking Lethal to retain.

Christopher Daniels vs. Stephen Amell - Daniels has been around so long that he appeared (as a jobber) on both sides of the Monday Night Wars, won the first King of the Indies, held the IWGP junior tag title with Daniel Bryan, and became a founding father in the early history of both ROH and TNA’s “X” division.  These days he’s primarily known as the leader of ROH’s SoCal Uncensored faction.  Amell plays the superhero Green Arrow on TV, and became friends with Cody Rhodes through Cody’s appearances on that show and a celebrity tie-in match at Summerslam 2015.

During the whole “Joey Ryan was murdered” storyline, Amell was arrested but then later it came out that Daniels framed him.  I feel like that should leave Daniels in deep legal shit but I guess we’re not worrying about that.

Amell is looking to prove he can hold his own in the ring despite his limited experience, and Daniels has the challenge of making him look even better than that.  I think they’ll probably do fine.  That said, I don’t watch Arrow or Being the Elite and I barely even pay close attention to ROH weekly television, so I sure don’t give a fuck about this match.  I guess Amell wins. 

Tessa Blanchard vs. Madison Rayne vs. Chelsea Green vs. Britt Baker - Blanchard is the reigning Impact women’s champion and WSU world champion; neither title is not at stake.  This is presumably a standard four-way where the first wrestler to score a fall wins the match.  This is the only women’s match on the card--okay technically Jordynne Grace is in the battle royal but that’s not really the same thing.

Rayne is probably best known for her tenure in TNA/Impact (she held the women’s title five times), although she recently competed in both the ROH Women of Honor tournament and WWE’s Mae Young Classic.  Green wrestled as Laurel Van Ness in Impact and is of late appearing in Lucha Underground.  Baker has yet to really move up into the bigger indies, so her biggest claim to fame may be as one of the jobbers Nia Jax squashed early in her run on WWE Raw.

There really isn’t anything at stake in this match.  In theory a victory over Blanchard would set up a title match, but this isn’t Japan and I don’t know if Impact or WSU will really care who wins here.  So it kinda just comes down to whoever Cody and the Young Bucks want to go over.  I tend to think that’ll be Blancard since she’s the next big thing in women’s wrestling.  Although if somebody’s looking to make a statement about the next next big thing, that could be a case for pushing Green or Baker.

Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky - This is currently scheduled for Zero Hour, the free pre-show.  The Briscoes are the current Ring of Honor tag team champions, but as far as I know the title is not on the line.  To build for this match, SoCal Uncensored made a video where they’re training like it’s Rocky III.  The Briscoes responded with a video in which they can’t really be bothered to watch a damn 12-minute YouTube video, but then they do and they like go all dark and shit like it awoke something inside of them.  I don’t understand why every angle for this show has to be like one of those Channel Awesome crossovers where they team up and fight supervillains or whatever.

Anyway, I always kinda dug the Briscoes, it’ll be neat to see ‘em live finally, and I think they’re gonna win.

Over Budget Battle Royal - This is set for the pre-show.  Assuming it’s a standard battle royal, the match begins once everyone has entered the ring, and can only end when all but one participant has been eliminated.  The last one left is the winner, and qualifies to challenge Jay Lethal for the ROH world title later in the show.

This has been announced as a 15-person battle royal, although I doubt the exact number is a hard requirement.  Named participants so far are:

Colt Cabana (ROH)

Moose (Impact Wrestling)

Brian Cage (Impact X division champion)

Jimmy Jacobs (Impact Wrestling)

Punishment Martinez (ROH television champion)

Rocky Romero (New Japan)

Billy Gunn (WWE legend)

Austin Gunn (Billy’s son)

Jordynne Grace (WSU Spirit champion)

Ethan Page (Chandler Park from Impact Wrestling)

Marko Stunt (a very small indy guy)

Brandon Cutler (PWG)

It’s worth pointing out that CZW champion MJF was booked for All In but as of this writing hasn’t been put in a match.  So I’m kind of expecting him to end up here, although I don’t see the point of withholding that information until the last minute.  Similarly, a huge part of the All In promotion has been Flip Gordon’s failed attempts to get on the show, and it seems ridiculous to resolve that by just not using him anywhere.  Also similarly, I can’t believe the “murder” of Joey Ryan is such a big deal with this show and that the actual real live Joey Ryan won’t be wrestling on it.  The promotion of All In has been really weird, basically.

Other surprise entrants that I could see happening include Pac (formerly Adrian Neville, who has very recently been released from WWE), and Austin Aries (the Impact world champion).  Considering Jordynne Grace is already there, it wouldn’t be a big deal to add additional women.  However if there’s any group that I believe Cody and the Bucks want to see more represented in this match, it would be one-note running joke performers like Papa Buck, Cheeseburger, or Chico El Luchador.

The finish here is going to depend on which winner can have the most entertaining title match with Jay Lethal.  If we’re talking “biggest match possible,” that’d probably be Brian Cage or (if he’s available) Austin Aries for the “ROH vs. Impact” vibe.  If we’re talking “local guy hometown pop,” then Cabana is the obvious choice.  But if the plan is to follow through on an angle that’s particularly important to the target audience, then it pretty much has to be someone who hasn’t been announced for the match yet, which means literally anything is possible.