#njpw 47th anniversary

[silhouetteofadancer]

Ibushi Kota, a brave and solidary man with no grudges.

[gdwessel]

Upcoming NJPW Events - 2/28/2019

This is the most up to date list of upcoming New Japan Pro Wrestling events I can provide, with full cards announced where possible.(NJPWWorld) means the event will be shown live on NJPWWorld. All cards subject to change.

NJPW 47th Anniversary Tour - 3/1/2019, Saitama Kumagaya Citizen Gymnasium

Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura

Yuji Nagata & Tiger Mask IV v. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Ren Narita

Ryusuke Taguchi, Dragon Lee [CMLL] & Shota Umino v. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Tomoaki Honma & Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] v. Minoru Suzuki & Taichi [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Toa Henare v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Rocky Romero [CHAOS] SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

- 3/2/2019, Nagano Saku City General Gymnasium

Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura

Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino v. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Ren Narita

Dragon Lee [CMLL] & Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] v. Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado [SZKG]

Tomoaki Honma, Tiger Mask IV & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Toa Henare & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Rocky Romero [CHAOS] SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

- ¾/2019, Fukushima Big Palette

Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura

Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino v. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO]

Dragon Lee [CMLL] & Ren Narita v. Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado [SZKG]

Tomoaki Honma, Tiger Mask IV & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Hikuleo [Bullet Club] 

YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Toa Henare & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Rocky Romero [CHAOS] SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

NJPW 47th Anniversary Show - 3/6/2019, Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium (NJPWWorld)

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS], Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO], Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

Yuji Nagata & Toa Henare v. Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS]

Satoshi Kojima, Tomoaki Honma, Tiger Mask IV, Ryusuke Taguchi & Dragon Lee [CMLL] v. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] © v. SHO & YOH [CHAOS]

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] © v. Jushin Thunder Liger

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

NJPW 47th Anniversary Match - Champion v. Champion: Jay White [Bullet Club] v. Will Ospreay [CHAOS]

New Japan Cup 2019 - 3/8/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Manabu Nakanishi v. YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS]

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Tomoaki Honma v. Taichi [SZKG]

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Juice Robinson [Lifeblood] v. Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Yuji Nagata v. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS]

- 3/9/2019, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (NJPWWorld)

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Toa Henare v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. Michael Elgin

- 3/10/2019, Hyogo Baycom Gymnasium (NJPWWorld)

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Hiroyoshi Tenzan v. TBA

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Shota Umino

New Japan Cup 1st Round: EVIL [Los Ingobernables] v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Kota Ibushi v. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables]

- 3/11/2019, Kagawa Takamatsu City General Gymnasium #1 (NJPWWorld)

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Togi Makabe v. Colt Cabana [ROH]

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Satoshi Kojima v. Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]

New Japan Cup 1st Round: Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Davey Boy Smith Jr. [SZKG]

- 3/13/2019, Okayama ZIP Arena (NJPWWorld)

New Japan Cup 2nd Round: WINNER Nakanishi/YOSHI-HASHI v. WINNER Robinson/Owens

New Japan Cup 2nd Round: WINNER Nagata/Ishii v. WINNER Honma/Taichi

- 3/14/2019, Nara Centennial Hall (NJPWWorld)

New Japan Cup 2nd Round: WINNER Okada/Elgin v. WINNER Nicholls/Hikuleo

New Japan Cup 2nd Round: WINNER Ospreay/Fale v. WINNER Henare/Archer

- 3/16/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

New Japan Cup 2nd Round: WINNER Ibushi/Naito v. WINNER EVIL/Sabre

New Japan Cup 2nd Round: WINNER Tanahashi/Umino v. WINNER Tenzan/TBA

- 3/17/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

New Japan Cup 2nd Round: WINNER Makabe/Cabana v. WINNER Yano/Smith

New Japan Cup 2nd Round: WINNER Kojima/Suzuki v. WINNER Goto/SANADA

- 3/20/2019, Shizuoka Twin Messe (NJPWWorld)

New Japan Cup Quarterfinal: TBA

New Japan Cup Quarterfinal: TBA

- 3/21/2019, Shizuoka Act City Hamamatsu (NJPWWorld)

New Japan Cup Quarterfinal: TBA

New Japan Cup Quarterfinal: TBA

- 3/23/2019, Niigata Aore Nagaoka (NJPWWorld)

New Japan Cup Semifinal: TBA

New Japan Cup Semifinal: TBA

- 3/24/2019, Niigata Aora Nagaoka (NJPWWorld)

New Japan Cup Final: TBA

ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard - 4/6/2019, Madison Square Garden, NYC (PPV)

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team v. ROH World Tag Team Championships: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] © v. Jay & Mark Briscoe* © (* - If the Briscoes retain v. PCO & Brody King on 3/15/2019)

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Jay White [Bullet Club] © v. TBA New Japan Cup Winner

More TBA

Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2019 - 4/13/2019, Ibaraki Tsukuba Capio - 4/14/2019, Gunma New Sunpia Takasaki - 4/15/2019, Yamanashi Kofu Civic Center Yamano-Miyako Arena - 4/17/2019, Fukui Prefecture Industrial Hall - 4/18/2019, Toyama Techno Hall - 4/22/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 4/23/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 4/24/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 4/27/2019, Yamaguchi Kaikyo Messe Shimonoseki - 4/30/2019, Kagoshima Sun Arena Sendai - 5/1/2019, Oita Beppu B-Con Plaza

Sengoku Lord in Nagoya - 4/20/2019, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2019: Aki no Kuni Sengoku Emaki - 4/26/2019, Hiroshima Green Arena Subarena

Wrestling Hi no Kuni - 4/29/2019, Kumamoto Grand Messe

Wrestling Dontaku 2019 - 5/3/2019, Fukuoka Convention Center - 5/4/2019, Fukuoka Convention Center Best of the Super Juniors 26 - 5/13/2019, Miyagi Sendai Sunplaza Hall - 5/14/2019, Miyagi Sendai Sunplaza Hall - 5/15/2019, Aomori Martial Arts Hall - 5/16/2019, Aomori Industrial Exhibition Concourse - 5/18/2019, Yamagata Big Wing - 5/19/2019, Yamagata Big Wing - 5/22/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 5/23/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 5/24/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 5/26/2019, Chiba Makuhari Messe International Conference Hall 7 - 5/29/2019, Aichi Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall - 5/30/2019, Osaka EDION Arena Subarena - 5/31/2019, Ehime Item - 6/3/2019, Okayama ZIP Arena - 6/5/2019, Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-Jo Hall - 6/9/2019, Osaka Osaka-Jo Hall

Kizuna Road 2019 - 6/14/2019, Shizuoka Kira Messe Numazu - 6/15/2019, Tokyo Machida Gymnasium - 6/16/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 6/17/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 6/19/2019, Saitama Mainichikogyo Arena Kuki - 6/20/2019, Fukushima City National Memorial Gym - 6/21/2019, Niigata City Gymnasium - 6/23/2019, Iwate Morioka Takaya Arena - 6/24/2019, Aomori Hachinohe City East Gymnasium - 6/25/2019, Miyagi Sendai Sunplaza Hall

G1 Climax 29 - 7/6/2019, American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX - 8/10/2019, Tokyo Nippon Budokan - 8/11/2019, Tokyo Nippon Budokan - 8/12/2019, Tokyo Nippon Budokan

NJPW Royal Quest - 8/31/2019, Copper Box Arena, London

[beltfucker]

I will pay Sanada to shave his beard

[hazyheel]

NJPW 47th Anniversary Review

The night started with a big 10 man tag, pitting Ren Narita, Shota Umino, Ayato Yoshida, Togi Makabe and Toru Yano, up against the BULLET CLUB team of HIKULEO, Chase Owens, Tonga Loa, Tama Tonga and Bad Luck Fale. Early on in the match, Narita started to target Jado on the outside, causing the heels to attack all the young lions viciously. Narita got beat down for a long portion of the match, until Makabe got the hot tag, but even that didn’t last long. BULLET CLUB was just way better functioning as a unit. Chase Owens was able to pick up the win with a package pile driver to Yoshida for the win.

Grade: C. A bit boring, but I always like to see the young lions in action. Owens needed the win so that he would have momentum going into his match with Juice Robinson. Good booking, match that was just a bit pointless.

Next up, a tag match pitting Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI against Toa Henare and Yuji Nagata. Nagata and Ishii started out, their rivalry finally making its way into the ring. Henare looked especially good, with several strong, two handed chops, and speed that I just didn’t think he had. Henare and YOSHI-HASHI had a really stiff striking contest in the corner, one that YOSHI-HASHI came out ahead of, to my delight and surprise. There was an interesting spot where YOSHI-HASHI was attempting to break up a submission from Nagata, and the crowd just booed the shit out of YOSHI-HASHI. I was surprised at how much they liked Yuji Nagata, but he was impressive. YOSHI-HASHI picked up the win with a new twist on a brain buster.

Grade: B-. I didn’t expect this match to be anything special, but I enjoyed it. I hadn’t really given much credit to either Henare nor Nagata, but they put on a good match. YOSHI-HASHI picking up the win is a good sign, gives him momentum going into a match with Nakanishi, where he is apparently the underdog. I was not aware of that. Anyway, fun match. Looking forward to seeing all these guys in the New Japan Cup.

Next match was another 10 man tag. It was Suzuki-gun, consisting of Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, El Desperado, Yoshinobi Kanemaru and TAKA Michinoku, up against a rag tag team, Dragon Lee (yay) Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma and Satoshi Kojima. Taichi made a show of having the Iron Glove with him, the weapon he inherited from Iizuka. A lot of moving parts in this match, with several previews of the New Japan Cup, along with Desperado and Lee renewing their rivalry from the Best of the Super Juniors tournament last year. Also, I don’t know why this stuck out to me, but Honma’s voice sounds very raspy. Must be a smoker. Future opponents Kojima and Suzuki faced off, with Kojima hitting enough machine gun chops to cut Suzuki’s chest open. There was also a very brief technical exchange between Taguchi and TAKA, showing that TAKA still has it. Taguchi then hit Dodon for the win. After the match, Suzuki beat the crap out of the young boys at ringside, while Don laughed

Grade: C+. Good match, very excited for what will follow in the tournament. Taguchi did need a win before the tournament, so this made sense.

Then came BUSHI and Shinto Takagi defending the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships against Roppongi 3k. Don and Colt Cabanna argued on commentary on the merits of Rocky Romero, but the match started fast and furious. Takagi and Sho started out, and really brutalized each other with hard clothesline’s. It didn’t take long before Roppongi hit dual Tope con Hilo’s, with Sho even overshooting and nearly landing on top of the barricade. As Los Ingobernables got control, the match slowed a bit, but it remained exciting due to the crowd’s desperation for Roppongi 3k to win. A big story throughout the match was Takagi’s injured knee. Despite him being the powerhouse of his team, he was very vulnerable, and that was exploited through various submissions throughout the match. Some awesome interactions between Sho and Takagi, where Sho countered the pumping bomber with a German suplex. However, BUSHI was able to hit Sho with the mist allowing for a Pumping Bomber and then Rebellion for a great near fall. BUSHI looked to finish the match with an MX, but Sho caught him by the knees and the faces were able to hit 3k for the win. As Rocky celebrated with his team, Takagi attacked him a bit, but eventually backed off

Grade: B+. Very good match. While the intensity was not constant throughout, it picked up at the perfect moments. Yoh had incredible timing throughout the match, always being there to rescue Sho. As stated, the interactions between Takagi and Sho highlighted the match, and they showed incredible chemistry. And Bushi was able to hit several important spots, and did a great job of being a sort of crafty wildcard throughout the match. Very good stuff amongst these guys, and I thought it was a surprising outcome, so I enjoyed it.

Next up was Jushin Thunder Liger vs Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. An interesting story built for this, where Ishimori challenged Liger. Commentary built it up as a rite of passage match: if Ishimori can beat Liger, then he will be confirmed as the top guy of the division, no question. Liger has control for much of the beginning of the match, firmly keeping Ishimori on the mat. However, Ishimori took every inch and made it a mile, speeding around the ring and flipping around. Generally being incredibly vicious. Liger even took the match into the crowd, hitting a brain buster on the floor and going for a count out. Ishimori showed off some awesome offense, hitting a moonsault to the outside off the middle turnbuckle. At one point, Liger looked to be completely out after double knees into the turnbuckle, and then a gut buster for a near fall. Liger still had something left. Liger hit the Liger bomb for a big pop and a near fall. Liger showed off some impressive resilience, especially in a spot where he was locked in a cross face for a long time, and was able to barely crawl to the other rope. In the finish, Ishimori locked in the submission again, and Liger couldn’t escape this time. He tapped out, and Ishimori retained.

Grade: A-. Another surprisingly good match. Liger is very impressive in singles matches, especially for his age. Ishimori did a great job selling the sunmissions, and hitting some awesome offense in the process. The match was not as quick as other Junior Heavyweight matches might be, but the storytelling was on point, the mat exchanges were very cool, and Liger put on another great match. And the right guy won too. Ticks all the boxes.

After the match, Ishimori cut a promo asking for another challenger, and Dragon Lee answered the call. The match was booked for the G1 Supercard. Dream match, I am now super excited. They also revealed the schedule for the G1 climax, with a couple dates in the US.

Into a special 6-man tag, pitting Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi against Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, and EVIL. Naito and Okada started the match together, and they went at it quick and hard. Goto and Sanada had time together, and they are in a first round match together. There was some emphasis put on the fact that, while Goto, Okada and Tanahashi is a dream team, they are not always on the same page. This was evident when they hit a triple team move, but didn’t have a pose for afterwards. Tanahashi had his knee worked over throughout the match, and there were a lot of awesome technical exchanges. Most members of the match were taken out of the ring in one of those “big move fests,” followed by Goto wrapping SANADA up in a pinning predicament for the win. After the match, all members of the winning team said they would win the New Japan Cup

Grade: B+. Very fun match, with 6 of the companies top guys. This match couldn’t have been bad. Plus the finish implied some foreshadowing in the Goto Sanada match. Definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it. Very hard hitting and exciting.

And in the main event, we had the NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay take on the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jay White in a special, non title match. Immediately when the match started, White backed out of the ring. Ospreay had the advantage early on, using his speed to amplify his strength. They tore into each other like their rivalry has extended back for years. White targeted the ribs of Ospreay, playing to his injury that took him out of wrestling for a few months last year. Using that injury, he slowed Ospreay down just enough to be able to counter Ospreay’s moveset. And Ospreay played an awesome underdog, even fooling me into thinking the match was ending in a countout (I’m gullible). As the match wore on, Ospreay got more and more frustrated and violent. He wanted to get his hands on both Gedo and white himself. Ospreay even nailed an awesome avalanche electric chair for a near fall. As Ospreay was about to finish up the match, Gedo distracted the ref, allowing white to hit a low blow, into a half and half suplex. White then nailed a sort of Bloody Sunday for a near fall. White went for Blade Runner, but Ospreay flipped around his arm, and hit a huge power bomb for a near fall, then an inverted 450 for another near fall injuring the ribs as he hit. In the finish, Jay white countered he Os Cutter into a blade runner, before hitting another for good measure and winning. After the match, Gedo attacked Ospreay with a chair, but Ibushi made the save. The rest of BULLET CLUB beat down Ibushi, only for Tanahashi, Goto and Okada to back him up. White then held his belt aloft for his New Japan Cup contenders, mocking them.

Grade: A. Phenomenal match. They were incredibly stiff, and nailed their power moves with such authority, and even flew in a smooth fashion. The match really highlighted their underrated strength, and showed an awesome side to a possible future rivalry. Easily match of the night, it was awesome. The best striking contest I’ve seen in a while.

Overall Grade: B +

Pros- young lions :) ;Dragon Lee is back; awesome title matches, Champion vs champion

Cons- multi man tags were a bit boring

[wrestlingisfake]

NJPW 47th Anniversary preview

Jay White vs. Will Ospreay - White is the new IWGP heavyweight champion, and Ospreay is the NEVER openweight champion, but neither title is at stake.  The angle here is that Ospreay is undefeated against White, mostly because they haven’t faced each other since White was a rookie on excursion in Ring of Honor.  The crazy thing is, White’s been pushed so hard that you have to go back that far to find a credible challenger for him, and he’s been pushed so fast that “going back that far” really only takes you to 2017.

It would’ve been unthinkable two years ago that this could be the main event, but that just goes to show how much rebuilding New Japan has to do this year, and how committed they are to getting it done.  Ospreay is done screwing around and is emphasizing non-flippy offense to prove he can be dangerous in more than one dimension.  He could win to set up a rematch for the title later in the year.  But White feels unstoppable right now, so I’m not inclined to bet against him.  White wins.

Tetsuya Natio & EVIL & SANADA vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto - This random six-man tag is just a way to get Tana, Okada, and Naito in one big match for the anniversary.  All six men are in the New Japan Cup tournament.  Tana wants to win to recapture his belt from Jay White, Okada wants revenge on Jay for betraying him, and Naito wants to win White’s belt while holding the intercontinental championship to be the first double champion.  Everybody else is just looking for momentum and a big win heading into the tournament.  Goto is probably the most expenable guy here, and probably the one who will get pinned.

Taiji Ishimori vs. Jushin Thunder Liger - Ishimori is defending the IWGP junior heavyweight championship after calling out Liger at The New Beginning in Osaka.  Liger then scored a shocking flash pin on Ishimori during a tag match at Honor Rising, enraging the champion and giving momentum to the aging challenger.  Whoever wins the title here will most likely be the champion heading into G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden.

I’ve written about the lack of junior heavyweight singles contenders lined up for Ishimori, so there’s no need to belabor the point.  Suffice it to say that using Liger here is an effective stopgap, but he’s got very little chance of winning and they need to set up someone who does.  My guess is that Ishimori will retain, and there’ll be an angle to set up his G1 Supercard opponent immediately afterwards.

Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. SHO & YOH - Roppongi 3K are challenging Takagi and Bushi for the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team championship.  The winning team will likely hold the title by the time of G1 Supercard, although I’m not confident they’ll necessarily be booked for that show.

These teams have been locked in a three-way feud along with El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru for nearly a year.  So as soon as Shingo and Bushi finally settled things with Despy and Kanemaru, it was inevitable they’d have to deal with the other team.  If the LIJ team can retain, they can finally bury this feud six feet under and move on, and New Japan will finally have to put together a new junior team to challenge them.  If there’s a title change, though, I suspect Despy and Kanemaru will end up back in contention and the whole three-way feud will start up all over again.  So I’m really pulling for Bushi and Shingo here.

Minoru Suzuki & Taichi & El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Dragon Lee & Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask - This is Suzuki-gun’s first big outing since Takashi Iizuka retired a couple of weeks back, leaving his dreaded “iron glove” in the ring for Taichi to pick up.  I have a feeling Taichi will be rolling that out here for the win.

The opposing team is kind of a grab-bag of guys who all normally team with other wrestlers, and CMLL’s Dragon Lee for some reason.  I’m sure I’m not the only one wondering if a random booking for Dragon Lee is meant to set up some angle involving the return of Hiromu Takahashi, but that’s pure speculation.  It’s probably best not to get our hopes up.

Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yuji Nagata & Toa Henare - This is the next step in the Ishii vs. Nagata feud.  They’re scheduled to face one another on 3/8 in the first round of the New Japan Cup, which I guess is supposed to be the blowoff match, maybe?  Anyway, the Okada/Tanahashi team-up has caused CHAOS and the NJPW “home team” to mend fences, but Ishii doesn’t act like he got the memo, so he’s been a major dick to Nagata, who doesn’t take that kind of crap.  I’m not sure who wins here, although you can bet it’ll be Yoshi or Henare doing the job.

Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Bad Luck Fale & HIKULEO & Chase Owens vs. Togi Makabe & Toru Yano & Ren Narita & Shota Umino & Ayato Yoshida - Tama and Loa are the new IWGP heavyweight tag team champions, Hikuleo is their “little” brother just back from an injury, Fale is their big mean cousin, and Chase is an “honorary Tongan” because Fale says so.  Makabe and Yano are going up against all that with three young boys.  So yeah, the Tongans are gonna annihilate ‘em.

[frentique]

[kazuchikaokada]

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW KING OF PRO-WRESTLING 2019 Review (Oct 14th, Tokyo, Ryogoku Kokugikan)

El Desperado Comeback Match: El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Roppongi 3K  ***1/4

Tanahashi 20th Anniversary Match IV: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma vs. Togi Makabe & Toru Yano  **3/4

Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi & DOUKI  *1/4

Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Minoru Suzuki  ****1/4

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title Match: Will Ospreay (c) vs. El Phantasmo  ****1/2

Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Jay White, KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi  **1/2

IWGP U.S. Title Decision Match: Juice Robinson vs. Lance Archer  ***1/4

Tokyo Dome No.1 Contenders Contract Match: Kota Ibushi vs. EVIL  ****

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. SANADA  ****

Photos.

This was a problematic show in that it suffered several misfortunes due to Typhoon Hagibis, the worst typhoon to tear through Japan in a generation, and this caused both Jon Moxley and Zack Sabre Jr to miss the show due to not being able to get into the country. As a result of Moxley not being able to make the show, New Japan stripped him of the U.S. Title, and the belt was declared vacant, with Juice now taking on Lance Archer in a decision match. Beyond this totally unforseen and unpreventable natural disaster, the show had an issue in that it didn’t offer anything especially interesting from a fresh match stand-point. Beside the long-teased Liger/Suzuki bout, it was a card full of matches we’ve seen before, granted matches we knew would deliever, but still, it hardly got me really excited at the prospect. A probelm New Japan’s been facing this entire post-G1, pre-WK season. However, those matches we knew would deliver did, so on the whole, despite being somewhat disappointing, it was a very enjoyable supershow.

The returning El Desperado lead his team with Kanemaru to victory over Roppongi 3K in a hot opener, which saw the masked man get the win over SHO after he took the whiskey in the face off Kanemaru, and Despy nailed Pinche Loco at the 10:44 mark. Tanahashi hit the High Fly Flow to pin Toru Yano in a fun, but unspectacular 9:43 doubles match to celebrate his 20th anniversary as a wrestler. It was weird seeing Tana in a totally nothing old-timers match. The Naito/Shingo vs. Taichi/DOUKI tag match was by far the worst thing on the show, and it ended in a DQ when Taichi nailed Naito with the mic stand right in front of the ref. Taichi laid Naito out with a Last Ride in the post match. I honestly couldn’t give a rat’s ass about another match between these two. Then things got great with the long-awaited Liger vs. Suzuki battle. This wasn’t the crazy brawl they’ve been teasing for months, instead it started as a mat based grapple battle, then turned into a Strong Style grudge match. At 55 and 51 years respectively, these guys worked an excellent match with incredible emotion. They started hitting each other really hard, with Liger, in Battle Liger garb, laying in the Shoutei’s and Suzuki coming back with hard strikes and forearms. It looked like Liger might get the submission win with the Brakes Special arm submission, but Suzuki escaped and locked in a sleeper. Liger scored a very close near fall with the Thesz Press, then hit his Brainbuster finish, but again Suzuki kicked out. After hitting his trademark big dropkick, Suzuki floored the masked legend with a stiff forearm, then hit the Gotch Piledriver at the 17:38 to end this. In the post match, Suzuki nailed the Young Lions with a chair, then threatened to hit the helpless Liger with it, but instead threw it away, kneels and bowes to Liger in a sign of total respect as Kokugikan went crazy. Liger thanked Suzuki over the house mic as he left his final match at Ryogoku Kokugikan. This was great.

The Junior Title Match followed and it was pretty damn crazy. They were out there for 28 minutes and hit so many crazy spots that its impossible to remember them all. Whilst it was my favourite match of the night, I can’t help but feel they maybe did too much. It reminded me of those Adam Cole NXT main events that I just can’t get away with in that they hit so many big moves that weren’t the finish, it became a bit beliveability-stretching. Now thats out of the way, this was a tremendous encounter. The story was that ELP in the early going decided to eschew his evil ways and play the honest babyface, which of course everyone knew was bullshit. After attacking the eyes and hitting frankly brutal back rakes, Ospreay sent Phantasmo into fellow Bullet Club member Gino Gambino at ringside. This lead to them brawling through the crowd, where Phantasmo hit a massive balcony dive. Back in the ring, ELP tried the tree-of-woe-nut-stomp, but Will countered into a Spider German. Ospreay escapes a CRII on the apron and hit an Oscutter off the guardrail whilst Phantasmo was still on the apron, which teased a countout, but ELP ate a huge corner-to-corner dropkick as he enters, and Will gets a near fall with the Shooting Star Press. After Ospreay scored a near fall with Oscutter, Taiji Ishimori ran out, but was sent packing by Robbie Eagles. This allowed ELP to hit a dick punch and a belt shot, then hit the Big Splash, but Will kicks out. A Styles Clash from Phantasmo gets another near fall, then he hits the V-Trigger, then attempts One Winged Angel, but Ospreay rolls through into a cradle for a near fall. Will gets a near fall with Essex Destroyer, then gets crotched as he tries to go up top. Phantasmo tries the super Frankensteiner, but Ospreay turns it into a massive sitout Powerbomb, hits Hidden Blade, then retains the title, and finally avenges his losses to Phantasmo after putting him away with Storm Breaker. As I say, I thought this was great stuff indeed, but it got a bit silly, and I mean PWG levels of silly, by the end.

The six man that followed was the epitome of an OK bout, with the focus being on White and Goto, KENTA and Ishii tearing it up, and Yujiro looking frankly terrible out there in this one. Goto won for his team when he hit Takahashi with GTR at the 12:27. The match for the now vacant U.S. Title followed, and was made a No DQ match (the planned Moxley/Juice encounter had the same stip). This felt utterly superfluous as there was no reason for this to be No DQ, and the plunder spots felt forced. Much of the match was spent setting up furniture, which hurt it slightly. Juice suffered a nasty looking dislocated finger along the way here. The finish saw Archer hit Black Out into a pile of chairs for a close near fall. The big man became infuriated and slammed Juice’s head into the pile of chairs repeatedly, then applied the EBD Claw to win the title at 14:58. Before he could do anymore damage, the returning David Finley ran out and hit his Stunner on Archer, so thats The American Psycho’s first title programme. Interesting. Kota Ibushi avenged his G1 defeat to EVIL in his successful defense of the IWGP Briefcase in another great match. This wasn’t as good as their G1 outing in July however, and personally speaking, the show felt as though it was starting to drag by this point. This started slow, but built into a hot closing stretch with loads of great counters. The King Of Darkness gets a near fall with Darkness Falls, but Kota counters into the Bastard Driver, and scores a near fall of his own with a Last Ride. Ibushi tries Boma Ye but EVIL turns him inside-out with a huge Lariat counter. The STO is turned into a Straight Jacket German, and EVIL hits a Half Nelson Suplex, then tries another Lariat, but Ibushi counters with one of his own, hits a V-Trigger, then Kamigoye for a super close near fall. Ibushi lifts EVIL up and hits another Kamigoye to keep the briefcase at the 24:05 mark.

And in the main event, Okada and SANADA squared off for the fourth time this year in a major bout. This was an excellent match, no doubt, but it had several things going against it. Namely that its the fourth match between these two this year, it was probably never going to live up to their G1 encounter, and no one could feasibly have believed SANADA was going to win this. Indeed he didn’t, but he still put in a great effort. However, I’ve been saying this for years now, and this match just cements this with me, but he needs to drop that Skull End as a finish. It just isn’t a believable submission in the slightest. The amount of times he locked it on in this particular match really jumped the shark, especially when it never looked good, and no one bought it. This was a long, story-based match that went 37 minutes and felt every single second of it. It started really hot but slowed to a very methodical pace, and by the end, I was very tired indeed, so perhaps I’m doing this a disservice. This featured tremendous counters sequences. SANADA turned a TKO in to Skull End but Okada reversed into a Tombstone attempt. SANADA reversed that into a Tombstone of his own, then nailed the TKO for a near fall. Cold Skull locks on Skull End again, Okada freeing his head, but SANADA kept locking on Skull End. He laid there in the hold for what felt like an eternity and Red Shoes really tried to sell us that he was going to stop it. Okada finally fought free and counters a SANADA rolling elbow into a Rainmaker atempt, but SANADA turns it into another Skull End attempt, but Okada hits a dropkick to the back for the double down. Okada with a dropkick, but SANADA escapes another Rainmaker, and locked on another Skull End. SANADA with a Moonsault to the back, rolls the champion over and goes for another, but Okada gets the knees up. Another goddamn Skull End is applied, but Okada escapes by walking up the turnbuckles and hitting a Tombstone. SANADA escapes another Rainmaker and scores a fantastic near fall with the Rolling Leg Clutch. Okada arm drags his way free of maybe the 47th Skull End attempt, and SANADA ducked another Rainmaker attempt. The finish saw SANADA again try Skull End, but Okada turned it into a Fire Thunder Driver, then hit the Rainmaker to finally retain the title.

As I say, this was an excellent match, but it started to lose me by the end. The post match however, was incredible. As SANADA lay on the mat crying, knowing he’s now 7-1 against Okada, the champion sat next to him giving him a thumbs up. This is the sort of believable emotion that sets NJPW apart rom almost every other company. Okada cut a promo in the post match saying he believes one day, these two will main event the Tokyo Dome. We’ll see. This brought out Ibushi, and Okada noted that Ibushi has avenged his G1 losses, but Okada, who lost to Golden Star on the final A Block day at Budokan, has yet to do so. Okada then said Ibushi was overlooking him in wanting to become a double champion, when theres no way he’s getting past Okada on January 4th. They then pretty much made the main event for the first Dome show official, and Okada thanked everyone for coming out in the midst of a Typhoon, and noted that its the wrestlers job to give the fans the energy to carry on through such adversity.

NDT

[vijayabalaji]

NJPW 47th Anniversary Results

NJPW 47th Anniversary Results

NJPW 47th Anniversary March 6, 2019 Ota City General Gymnasium Ota, Japan

First Match: The Guerrillas Of Destiny, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens and Hikuleo vs. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Shota Umino, Ren Narita and Ayato Yoshida in a 10-Man Tag Team Match 

njpwworld✔@njpwworld

[Replay ‘Anniversary Event’ on Mar 6th, 2019] 1ST MATCH: #NJPW main unit & @YTR_CHAOS vs. #BulletClub!! #NJPWWorldWatc…

[gdwessel]

New Japan Cup 2019 Night 6 - 3/14/2019; This Week’s NJPW on AXS

The 2nd Round of the New Japan Cup took place today, and you can see it now on NJPWWorld. 

- 3/14/2019, Nara Centennial Hall (NJPWWorld)

Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi d. Michael Elgin & Yota Tsuji (Nagata > Tsuji, Nagata Lock II, 9:14)

Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, Hikuleo & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] d. Togi Makabe, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Ren Narita (Owens > Narita, Package Driver, 10:30)

Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] d. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] & Shota Umino (Takagi > Umino, Pumping Bomber, 8:40)

Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Taichi [SZKG] d. SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] (Taichi > BUSHI, Seiteijujiryo, 10:47)

Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma d. Zack Sabre Jr. & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG] (Ibushi > TAKA, Kamigoye, 8:07)

Ryusuke Taguchi, Colt Cabana [ROH], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Juice Robinson d. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Toa Henare (Robinson > Henare, Pulp Friction, 11:05)

New Japan Cup 2nd Round: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] d. Lance Archer [SZKG] (Stormbreaker, 18:08)

New Japan Cup 2nd Round: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] d. Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] (Rainmaker, 17:25)

Suppose it was too much to ask for Mikey Nicholls to beat Okada in his 2nd singles match in the company. Will Ospreay, Giant Killer, continues, and now the other quarterfinal match for 3/20/2019 is set as Okada v. Ospreay. They have had 2 great matches before, Okada won both. We will see!

Chase Owens attacked Juice and challenged for the IWGP US title. Suzuki taunted SANADA post-match as well.

Well, there is a new NJPW on AXS this week, but I have no idea what it is because AXS’s website seems to be offline right now. Looking at my cable guide, it says “47th Anniversary” so I’m guessing perhaps Jay White v. Will Ospreay, or either of the two title matches, or a combination thereof, that happened at the NJPW 47th Anniversary event on 3/6/2019 at Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium. So I guess we’ll all find out together! 8pm EDT / 7pm CDT as usual, with Kevin Kelly & Don Callis on the call. WOW had its season finale last week, and there’s no MMA happening this week either, so there are several repeats of NJPW on AXS afterwards, so enjoy that if you decide to watch.

The tour takes a day off tomorrow, before returning to Tokyo Korakuen Hall for two nights this weekend. As usual, the full card is not released yet, however I am greatly looking forward to both of these Cup matches.

- 3/16/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

New Japan Cup 2nd Round: Kota Ibushi v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

New Japan Cup 2nd Round: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Ryusuke Taguchi

[beltfucker]

all those guys in the ring and the crowd was chanting Ibushi’s name

[hazyheel]

NJPW  47th Anniversary Show Predictions

1) Ren Narita, Shota Umino, Ayato Yoshida, Togi Makabe and Toru Yano vs. HIKULEO, Chase Owens, Tonga Loa, Tama Tonga and Bad Luck Fale. Just a classic ten man tag. BULLET CLUB will probably come away with the win, if only because the other team has three young lions on it.

2) Toa Henare & Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI. Not a lot of information to go on here, but I am going to go with the CHAOS team, because Ishii losing is a big deal, and YOSHI-HASHI is a bit of a rising star right now.

3) Dragon Lee (Yay!), Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma and Satoshi Kojima vs. TAKA Michinoku, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, and Minoru Suzuki. As excited as I am to see Dragon Lee back, I really can’t see the face team winning. They have too many of the older guys that don’t really get too many wins. Suzuki-Gun is taking home the win.

4) Roppongi 3k (SHO and YOH) vs. BUSHI and Shingo Takagi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. I think that the LIJ team is going to retain here, mainly because I think that Hiromu Takahashi, who suffered a terrible neck injury last summer, may be coming back soon. He may not be wrestling, but he is due to make an appearance soon. I think that he and Takagi may develop a bit of a rivalry, considering Takagi basically replaced Takahashi in LIJ. If Takagi had a belt. So for the purpose of an infighting storyline in Los Ingobernables de Japon, BUSHI and Takagi need to retain. Either way, we are in for a great match with these guys.

5) Jyushin Thunder Liger vs. Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship. This is another case where I just can’t see Liger winning on account of his age. He did recently get a win over Ishimori at the Honor Rising shows, but I don’t think putting the belt on Liger is the best move at this point. Ishimori is an awesome wrestler, and he could be the ace of the division for years. It’ll be a big win for him.

6) Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL, SANADA and Tetsuya Naito. This could be a really great match, but I am trying not to get my hopes up. I think that LIJ probably should get the win here, but I am a bit uncertain given the caliber of the other team. As big of a fan as I am of Goto, I really don’t see a reason for him to be in this match other than to take the pin. So LIJ should probably go over here.

7) In the main event, NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jay White. I want Ospreay to win more than anything here. Mainly because I am a big fan of his, and White is a very effective heel. However, White hasn’t even defended his belt yet. He can’t lose this match and still be seen as a strong champion. Ospreay, on the other hand, has defended his belt before, and he is losing to a champion that is a much higher caliber. Jay White should win this match, but if Ospreay wins, that gives a new favorite for the New Japan Cup. Very excited for this match, it should be great.

[wrestlingisfake]

NJPW 2020 schedule (so far)

January 4-6: Wrestle Kingdom & New Year Dash

January 10-20: NJPW presents CMLL Fantastica Mania tour

January 24-February 1: The New Beginning USA tour

January 25-February 9: The New Beginning tour

February 1-2: The New Beginning in Sapporo

February 9: The New Beginning in Osaka

February 19-March 3: New Japan Road/Anniversary tour

March 3: 47th Anniversary Event

March 4-21: New Japan Cup tournament

March 20-21: New Japan Cup semifinals/finals

March 31: Sakura Genesis

April 11-May 4: Dontaku tour

April 29: Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni

May 3-4: Wrestling Dontaku

May ??-June 6: Best of the Super Jr. tournament

June 6: Best of the Super Jr. finals

June 14: Dominion

Summer: ????

September ??-October 18: G1 Climax tournament

October 16-18: G1 Climax finals

The big news is that the G1 has been bumped to the fall, since all the good venues are going to be booked up during the 2020 Olympics (July 4-August 9).  This will likely displace the Destruction tour (typically in September) and the King of Pro Wrestling show (normally early October).  Typically, those shows wrap up most of the loose ends from the G1, but it looks like that will all have to happen in the Power Struggle/Super Jr. Tag League tour (late October to early November).  After that we’ll likely get the World Tag League (mid-November to mid-December) and the Road To Tokyo Dome (Late December) as usual.

I can’t imagine New Japan just going on hiatus between mid-June and mid-September.  A summer tour in Japan is probably impossible, but they could tour the US, and/or run some shows in the UK and Australia.  You could call such a tour “Destruction” to keep it on the schedule, not that it matters. 

Personally I’d run the World Tag League in the US this summer--it’s always a nothing burger in Japan, but I think US fans would feel privileged to get a whole tournament that affects the Tokyo Dome card.  Plus that would free up the November/December tour to catch up on angles that have to be pushed back because of the G1.

I’m really surprised they didn’t go ahead and announce anything about Wrestle Kingdom 2021.  Usually they do, since everybody already knows the date and venue a year in advance.  This time maybe they haven’t finalized whether it’ll be one day or two...although that seems like a no-brainer since this year was a clear success.  A more likely issue, though, is that they know it’ll be two days but haven’t settled on whether to run January 3-4 or January 4-5.

[frentique]

[kazuchikaokada]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯