#wrestling hinokuni

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU (April 26th 2019, Hiroshima Green Arena)

Shota Umino & Ren Narita vs. Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura  ***

Hirooki Goto, Dragon Lee & Will Ospreay vs. Jay White, Taiji Ishimori & Hikuleo  ***1/4

Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Kota Ibushi vs. SANADA, EVIL & Tetsuya Naito  ****1/4

IWGP Jr. Tag Title Match: Roppongi 3K (c) vs. Shingo Takagi & BUSHI  ****1/2

NJPW WRESTLING HINOKUNI 2019 (April 29th, Kumamoto, Grand Messe Arena)

Dragon Lee & Will Ospreay vs. Taiji Ishimori & Hikuleo  ***

Mikey Nicholls vs. Bad Luck Fale  *3/4

Juice Robinson vs. Chase Owens  **1/2

Okada, Ishii, Ibushi & Roppongi 3K vs. SANADA, EVIL, Naito, Shingo & BUSHI  ***3/4

IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Guerrillas Of Destiny (c) vs. Togi Makabe & Toru Yano  **1/2

Hirooki Goto vs. Jay White  ****

Photos.

Well these were truly a tale of two shows. The first, held in front of a white hot crowd in Hiroshima, had a couple of excellent matches, including the best junior tag title match in years. Things opened with your usual, very solid Young Lions match-up, then devolved into the usual, decent enough multi mans, before picking up again with the Goto-gumi vs. White-gumi six man. This was a fun 10 minute sprint, which culminated in Goto hitting the GTR on Hikuleo (of course) to win for his team. The Ibushi and CHAOS/LIJ six man that followed was the best bout these teams have had against each other so far this tour. Which is saying something; These matches have been what has carried this tour so far, and have made these shows go from the usual fare, to must see stuff. This was an all-action 16:58 battle, that built to a fantastic climax. The exchanges between EVIL and Ishii once again drove this, with them stiffing the hell out of each other (that singles match on May 4th should be off the chain). After Ishii scored a near fall with a big Lariat, he nailed a german and a headbutt, but the King Of Darkness cut him off with his STO to win for the Ungovernable team. This was great.

Then the main event, which was even better. As I said, this is the best Junior tag title outing in forever, probably as far back since the Young Bucks/Time Splitters classic at Dominion 2014, and by far the best match on the tour thus far. It too was action packed, with the hard-hitting exchanges between SHO and Shingo really being the highlight here (give me that BOSJ match ASAP), and featured great spots and sequences. It built to a dramatic, and unpredictable, finishing stretch. After Red Shoes was bumped, BUSHI hit a low blow on YOH, followed by a backslide for a very believable near fall. A standing MX from the masked man gets another near fall, then he ate a 3K, but Shingo ran in to break up the pin. YOH then lifted BUSHI up, as SHO detained Shingo, and hit a bridging Dragon Suplex at 25:10, to score the win, and the teams first successful title defence ever. This match was exceptional stuff, and I recommend it to everyone highly.

The Kumamoto show, however, was not as good. in fact, it wasn’t anywhere near. In vast contrast to the hot Hiroshima faithful, the Kumamoto crowd seemed either completely dead or asleep throughout most of this show. Not that it would have helped some of these matches. I missed the beginning of the show, but saw everything from the third match on. Will Ospreay pinned Hikuleo with the Oscutter to win a decent match for he and Dragon Lee. This featured the weakest exchanges so far from Lee and Ishimori, who usually light these matches up. I can only but imagine they’re tired, as some of the stuff looked pretty sloppy. All in all, it was a good match though. Bad Luck Fale inexplicably pinned Mikey Nicholls in a bout which wasn’t very good at all, and performed in front of silence. Also, it isn’t the finish I’d have gone with as Nicholls hardly needed to lose this. Juice Robinson squared off with Chase Owens again for some reason. The work was good, but the crowd didn’t care (who could blame them?). Juice won with Pulp Friction, which hopefully ends this feud now, and Robinson can go on to better opponents. Things got much better in the CHAOS/Ibushi vs. LIJ battle that followed, and it succeeded in waking up the crowd. This was great stuff, yet again, though far from the best of the tour. After SHO scored a near fall on SANADA with a deadlift German, this really broke down; Shingo broke up a SHO Shock Arrow attempt, they trade lariats, before Takagi hits a Pumping Bomber. Ishii breaks up Skull End, EVIL takes him out with a German suplex, Ibushi wipes out EVIL, Naito takes Kota down with a dropkick, BUSHI hit a tope suicida on YOH, and SANADA taps SHO out with Skull End at the 14:40. This was lots of fun.

The same cannot be said of the IWGP Tag Title match, however. Even though it only went 14:50, it felt double that, probably because the crowd were indifferent to what they were seeing. The match was fine, but there was nothing especially interesting about it, featuring the usual quota of shenaningans; ref bumps, interference etc. The finish saw Tanga Loa break up a King Kong Knee Drop pin attempt, Makabe clotheslines him out of the ring, but is distracted by Jado, then Tama Tonga gets a fist-full-of-tights-assisted school boy pin on Makabe to reclaim all their belts, which Yano stole. The main event between Jay White and Hirooki Goto was another excellent bout. In front of a livlier crowd, this would have been even better, as the closing stretch was actually super-dramatic. Unfortunately, it took them a while to get there, and a lot of the early portion was Jay stalling, and/or locking on chin locks for heat. It built to a great finish though, which saw some really creative counters. Goto tried Shouten Kai, but Jay knees himself free. Aramusha cut White off with a big lariat, hit a hanging neckbreaker and scored a near fall with his Kaiten sunsetflip bomb off the top. They exchange strikes, before an interfering Gedo rolls in, but he eats an Ushigoroshi for his troubles. White tries to use a chair, but gets headbutted, then Goto scores a near fall with the reverse GTR. From here they reversed the Blade Runner into the GTR and back again, so many times it was impossible to keep track, and it was great every time. Jay finally hits a sleeper suplex, but Goto popped up, tried a lariat, but ate another sleeper suplex, then was put away with Blade Runner in 23 minutes of an excellent contest. So it looks like Switchblade is getting the Okada/SANADA winner at Dominion, but where Goto goes from here is anyones guess. Especially as the whole story to the match was that he always chokes in the big matches. Many think he should go to All Japan where he’d actually be a big fish in a small pond, as opposed to the treading water he’s doing in NJPW nowadays. I’ve always been a big Goto fan, and at this stage I tend to think those people are right.

NDT

[gdwessel]

Upcoming NJPW Events - 4/11/2019

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.

Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2019 - 4/13/2019, Ibaraki Tsukuba Capio (NJPWWorld)

Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura

Toa Henare v.  Ren Narita

Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino v. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Tomoaki Honma v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

Kota Ibushi, YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

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

- 4/14/2019, Gunma New Sunpia Takasaki

Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura

YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Shota Umino

Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Ren Narita v. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Toa Henare v. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

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

Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

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

- 4/15/2019, Yamanashi Kofu Civic Center Yamano-Miyako Arena

Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura

Toa Henare v. Shota Umino

Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Ren Narita v. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS], Tomoaki Honma & Dragon Lee [CMLL] v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Jado & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

Kota Ibushi, YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

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

- 4/17/2019, Fukui Prefecture Industrial Hall

Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura

YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Ren Narita

Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino v. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS], Toa Henare & Dragon Lee [CMLL] v. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, Hikuleo & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Jay White, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Gedo [Bullet Club]

Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

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

- 4/18/2019, Toyama Techno Hall

Ren Nartia v. Yuya Uemura

Shota Umino v. Yota Tsuji

Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Toa Henare v. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Tomoaki Honma v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens & Jado [Bullet Club]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Ryusuke Taguchi & Dragon Lee [CMLL] v. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Hikuleo & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Kota Ibushi, YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

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

- 4/22/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Tomoaki Honma v. Ren Narita, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura

Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Shota Umino v. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Kota Ibushi, YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Toa Henare v. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

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

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood] & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship: Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi (c) v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] & Dragon Lee [CMLL] v. Jay White & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

- 4/23/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Toa Henare v. Shota Umino, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura

Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Ren Narita v. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS], Juice Robinson [Lifeblood] & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Ryusuke Taguchi & Dragon Lee [CMLL] v. Jay White, Hikuleo & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero & SHO [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Kazuchika Okada & YOH [CHAOS] v. SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

- 4/24/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Satoshi Kojima, Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Yuji Nagata, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura

Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Jushin Thunder Liger 30th Anniversary Match: Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Dragon Lee [CMLL] v. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

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

Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Kazuchika Okada & SHO [CHAOS] v. SANADA & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

- 4/27/2019, Yamaguchi Kaikyo Messe Shimonoseki

Tiger Mask IV & Shota Umino v. Toa Henare & Yota Tsuji

Ryusuke Taguchi & Ren Narita v. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS], Juice Robinson [Lifeblood] & Tomoaki Honma v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

Jeff Cobb [FREE], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS]. Will Ospreay [CHAOS], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Dragon Lee [CMLL] v. Jay White, Gedo, Bad Luck Fale & Taiji Ishimori

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

- 4/30/2019, Kagoshima Sun Arena Sendai (NJPWWorld)

Tiger Mask IV & Yuya Uemura v. Shota Umino & Ren Narita

Jushin Thunder Liger & Ryusuke Taguchi v. El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Tomoaki Honma v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Bad Luck Fale & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

Jeff Cobb [FREE], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Toa Henare v. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS]. Will Ospreay [CHAOS], Juice Robinson [Lifeblood] & Dragon Lee [CMLL] v. Jay White, Gedo, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

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

- 5/1/2019, Oita Beppu B-Con Plaza

Tiger Mask IV & Shota Umino v. Toa Henare & Yota Tsuji

Ryusuke Taguchi & Ren Narita v. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Tomoaki Honma v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club]

Jeff Cobb [FREE], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Elimination Match: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS], Will Ospreay [CHAOS] & Dragon Lee [CMLL] v. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, Hikuleo & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Elimination Match: Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

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

Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura

Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, Tomoaki Honma, Toa Henare & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Dragon Lee [CMLL] v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa  & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Jay White & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: Juice Robinson [Lifeblood] (c) v. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Kota Ibushi (c) v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

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

Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura

YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Tiger Mask IV & Toa Henare v. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS], Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Tomoaki Honma v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Jado [Bullet Club]

Jeff Cobb [FREE] & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Will Ospreay [CHAOS] & Dragon Lee [CMLL] v. Jay White, Hikuleo & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Rocky Romero [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

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

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

Tomoaki Honma, Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Toa Henare, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura

Jeff Cobb [FREE], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Dragon Lee [CMLL] & Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. Taiji Ishimori & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood] v. Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

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

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] (c) v. Togi Makabe & Toru Yano [CHAOS]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

Wrestling Dontaku 2019 - 5/3/2019, Fukuoka Convention Center (NJPWWorld)

Tomoaki Honma, Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Toa Henare, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura

YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

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

Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Juice Robinson [Lifeblood] & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

NEVER Openweight Championship: Jeff Cobb [FREE] (c) v. Taichi [SZKG]

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Dragon Lee [CMLL] (c) v. Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

- 5/4/2019, Fukuoka Convention Center (NJPWWorld)

Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura

Jeff Cobb [FREE], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Toa Henare, Tiger Mask IV & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Tomoaki Honma v. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

Dragon Lee [CMLL] & Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] & X

Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. EVIL [Los Ingobernables]

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] (c) v. SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

ROH/NJPW War Of The Worlds - 5/8/2019, Buffalo RiverWorks, Buffalo, NY - 5/9/2019, Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, ON, CAN - 5/11/2019, DeltaPlex, Grand Rapids, MI - 5/12/2019, Odeum, Villa Park, IL 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 - 7/13/2019, Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium - 7/14/2019, Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium - 7/15/2019, Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kitayell - 7/18/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 7/19/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 7/20/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 7/24/2019, Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall - 7/27/2019, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium - 7/28/2019, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium - 7/30/2019, Kagawa Takamatsu City General Gymnasium - 8/1/2019, Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium - 8/3/2019, Osaka EDION Arena - 8/4/2019, Osaka EDION Arena - 8/7/2019, Shizuoka Hamamatsu Arena - 8/8/2019, Kanagawa Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium - 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

[frentique]

[rikatatsumi]

[pwrestlingxpress]

Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2018 Opening

This year’s theme to Wrestling Dontaku is “civil warfare”.  Four factions (Bullet Club, Chaos, Los Ingobernables de Japon, and Suzuki-gun), three wars.  Starting on April 13th in Korakuen Hall and ending on May 4th in Fukuoka, there will be 3 civil wars within New Japan where everything is on the line and where only one faction will rise in these three wars as the winners. Want to note that two of these wars will involve those who are not members of the four factions mentioned above. With that said, let’s get started with the official opening to Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2018 which features three of those wars where feuds have become personal (a picture of those three feuds is posted at the end of this post):

Did you enjoy the opening? If so, then you know that there are three wars happening within New Japan and during the tour, everything will be on the line and things will be settled.�� With that, let’s start off with the first war which involves two groups that have the same agenda, destruction: 

Throughout the 2018 New Japan Cup, there were matches between Los Ingobernables de Japon and Suzuki-gun in which IWGP Intercontinental Champion Minoru Suzuki grew interested in Tetsuya Naito, requesting a title match against the former champion though until Sakura Genesis 2018, Naito had no interest in the title or the match itself.  Meanwhile, the Killer Elite Squad brought destruction throughout the Tag-Team division demanding a rematch to the reigning IWGP Tag-Team Champions while Hiromu Takahashi became obsessed with wanting the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship as well as the Champions themselves.   

Due to the number of members within Los Ingobernables de Japon, the remaining members of Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Takashi Iizuka, Taka Michinoku, and Zack Sabre Jr.) will be facing Roppongi 3K (Sho Tanaka, Yoh Komatsu, and Rocky Romero) during the first portion of the tour (April 13th-27th) and Bullet Club during the last portion of the tour (April 29th-May 1st). Those members will be revealed in the next warfare going on within New Japan. With that, these matches will be taking place within a two-day span which you can see in the video package above:

April 23rd (Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2018):  IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship - [Challenger Team] Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI vs. [Champion Team] El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru

April 29th (Wrestling Hinokuni 2018):  IWGP Tag Team Championship - [Challenger Team] Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer (Killer Elite Squad) vs. [Champion Team] Seiya Sanada and “King of Darkness” EVIL

 April 29th (Wrestling Hinokuni 2018):  IWGP Intercontinental Championship - [Challenger] Tetsuya Naito vs. [Champion] Minoru Suzuki

The second warfare is more of an infighting war than a stable vs. stable-type war cause it involves the battle for leadership and supremacy:

On January 28th during the second night of The New Beginning in Sapporo, the infighting within Bullet Club was exposed when “The American Nightmare” Cody betrayed leader Kenny Omega in an attempt to take over the stable and make it his own. Cody’s betrayal within Bullet Club lead to the reunion of the Golden☆Lovers when Omega and Kota Ibushi hugged it out to end the second night in Sapporo.  Ibushi is the the only non-member involved in this Bullet Club infighting.  Everyone thought that things would be settled at Ring of Honor’s Supercard of Honor XII in New Orleans back on April 7th but all that did was escalate the infighting when The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) inadvertently caused Kenny Omega his match against Cody.  

Due to scheduling conflicts with Ring of Honor, this warfare will be settled at the main show itself despite it actually starting at Wrestling Hinokuni 2018.  What that means is this:  Ring of Honor has two events scheduled for April 27th in West Palm Beach and April 28th in Lakeland in which members of Bullet Club who are on Team Cody will be booked to compete in other matches thus making it difficult to bring them here to New Japan on those dates.  

Again, due to that scheduling conflict, Bullet Club members Kenny Omega, Yujiro Takahashi, and Chase Owens will be teaming up with Kota Ibushi to face four Suzuki-gun members who are not involve in the war against Los Ingobernables de Japon on April 29th as part of Wrestling Hinokuni 2018.  Then on May 3rd, during the first day of the main show itself, the infighting will be resumed in which these matches are to take place as seen in the video package above in and then the next day, those participants will be participating in a huge tag match that could have serious implications:

NEVER Open-weight Six Man Tag Team Championship:  [Challenger Team] Marty Scurll, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson vs. [Champion Team] Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and Bad Luck Fale

Kota Ibushi [Golden☆Lovers] vs. “The American Nightmare” Cody

Kenny Omega [Golden☆Lovers] vs. Hangman Page 

Lastly, those who are not a member of Bullet Club, Los Ingobernables de Japon, or Suzuki-gun will be facing the following stable:

Also known as Taguchi Japan (only when Ryusuke Taguchi is involved in which he won’t be this year) there will be a total of four matches between these members and members of Chaos that be split in three dates with two of them being a part of the main show itself.  While three of these matches are focused on wanting to prove something, one of the four matches is personal which will you see in the video above.  With that, here are the four matches pitting the non-stable wrestlers (or Taguchi Japan if you want to call them that) and Chaos: 

April 24th (Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2018):  IWGP United States Championship - [Challenger] David Finlay vs. [Champion] Jay White

April 27th (Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2018 ~Aki no Kuni SENGOKU EMAKI~):  NEVER Open-weight Championship - [Challenger] Juice Robinson vs. [Champion] Hirooki Goto

May 4th (Wrestling Dontaku 2018):  IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship - [Challenger] KUSHIDA vs. [Champion] Will Ospreay

May 4th (Wrestling Dontaku 2018):  IWGP Heavyweight Championship - [Challenger] Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. [Champion] Kazuchika Okada 

Two of these wars (LIJ vs. Suzuki-gun and Non-Stable vs. Chaos) will begin on April 13th while the other (Bullet Club infighting) will start on the 29th with Suzuki-gun subbing for Bullet Club-Team Cody through May 1st.  

Welcome to the Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2018, where war has begun and in the end of these three wars: one faction will stand tall in each of them. Who will stand tall? Find out starting this Friday (April 13th) on NJPW World. 

[njpwdaily]

NJPWDAILY SUPERLATIVES 2018 BEST HEAVYWEIGHT WRESTLER → Tetsuya Naito (28.6% of votes)

Perhaps it was the controversial loss to Okada at Wrestle Kingdom, or the re-gaining of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship at Wrestling Hinokuni against the formidable Minoru Suzuki, or the consistently great in-ring performance in G1 Climax 28, or the protection and loyalty to his L.I.J brethren, or the defiant attitude towards the legendary Chris Jericho. Whatever the reason, fans found themselves more endeared than ever to Tetsuya Naito in 2018. And what’s not to love anyway? Despite not holding the IWGP Heavyweight Championship during the year, Naito more than proved that he belongs at the head of the pack and, in his own tranquilo way, can carry New Japan on his shoulders in the foreseeable future.

RUNNER-UPS: Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi (19%), Hiroshi Tanahashi (11.9%), Kazuchika Okada (9.5%), Jay White & Tomohiro Ishii (4.8%), Zack Sabre Jr. (2.4%)

2017 WINNER: Kazuchika Okada

[nyggmas]

NJPW Wrestling Hinokuni [Apr 29,2018]

[kennykotas-blog]

Ah! What event did kenny and Kota just wrestle in? I thought we weren’t getting to see them til wrestling dontaku next weekend!!

it was wrestling hinokuni at NJPW!!! it was a pretty quick four man tag but they got their usual double team spots and looked beautiful and boyfriendy so a good night was had

[jculture-en]

NJPW’s Wrestling Hinokuni: Guerrillas of Destiny get violent with the Players

#kendo [Canoe]“Master Heater” Jado came out before the champs carrying his kendo stick and blasting his irritating air horn. He attacked the ring announcer smacking him in the leg with the kendo …

[kendonews-en]

NJPW’s Wrestling Hinokuni: Guerrillas of Destiny get violent with the Players

#kendo [Canoe]“Master Heater” Jado came out before the champs carrying his kendo stick and blasting his irritating air horn. He attacked the ring announcer smacking him in the leg with the kendo ...

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW Road To WRESTLING DONTAKU & WRESTLING HINOKUNI 2018 Reviews

April 23rd, Tokyo, Korakuen Hall:

IWGP Jr. Tag Title Match: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI  ***1/2

April 24th, Tokyo, Korakuen Hall:

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toa Henare  ***3/4

IWGP U.S. Title Match: Jay White (c) vs. David Finlay  ***3/4

April 27th, Hiroshima:

NEVER Openweight Title Match: Hirooki Goto (c) vs. Juice Robinson  ****1/4

Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA  ***3/4

WRESTLING HINOKUNI 2018, April 29th, Kumamoto, Grand Messe:

Yuji Nagata & Ren Narita vs. Tomoyuki Oka & Shota Umino  ***

David Finlay & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jay White & Rocky Romero & Sho & Yoh  **¾

Togi Makabe & Toa Henare vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano  **½

Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Takashi Iizuka & Taichi & Taka Michinoku   ***

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson & Michael Elgin & KUSHIDA vs. Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI  ***¼

BUSHI vs. El Desperado  **1/2

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru  ***

IWGP Tag Title Match: EVIL & SANADA © vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.  ***1/2

IWGP Intercontinental Title Match: Minoru Suzuki © vs. Tetsuya Naito  ***1/2

Photos.

This has been a very long tour indeed, and I must admit that I’m not too fussed about it anymore, just get to the Fukuoka shows already. And even then the Bullet Club: Civil War show on the 3rd does nothing for me either, so just get to the 4th. The gimmick for this tour is LIJ vs. Suzuki-gun, CHAOS vs. New Japan, and Bullet Club vs. Bullet Club, which we’ve thankfully pretty much been spared so far.

The Korakuen Hall shows were your standard Road To... shows with some strong matches. The Suzuki-gunners retained the IWGP Jr Tag belts against the LIJ Junior Heavy squad in a match which started slow and oh so very familiar, but then turned into a very good outing. Desperado pinned BUSHI with Pinche Loco after a lot of silliness, as is prerequisite with most of Suzuki-gun bouts these days. Henare and Ishii finally squared off in a hard-hitting singles collision on the 24th. This was great, with both guys killing each other with strikes, including a great exchange later on. Ishii did a tremendous job of selling a body blow, before unsurprisingly putting the rookie away with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster in 15:20. And in the main event of that show, Jay White beat David Finlay in another great outing, after pinning him with Blade Runner at the 26:49 mark. The main problem here is that no one bought Finlay really winning, and neither are especially over as main event guys. Beyond this though, the match was really good. Also these shows drew fairly disappointing houses to Korakuen.

The Road To... show in Horishima was a lot of the same, in terms of all the usual tag variations we’ve seen all tour, but it did feature an excellent NEVER Title defence by Goto, taking on the fiery Juice Robinson. This went a little long for my liking (26:36), but it was great stuff, and the best match on the entire tour so far. The finishing stretch was highly believable as Juice nailed a devastating Brainbuster on Goto, which looked like it nearly killed him, for a great near fall, then Goto busted out the old Shouten Kai for a super-close near fall, before finally hitting the GTR to retain. Both guys looked tremendous here, especially Robinson, who has come such a long way in the last two years. Of all the people in the world to be Goto’s next challengers, Michael Elgin and Taichi came out to set up some kind of three way. This is as random as it gets folks. Then in the main event, Tanahashi pinned Will Ospreay with the High Fly flow in 18:15 to end another really good tag bout.

The returning Wrestling Hinokuni show (its been on hiatus since Kumamoto was devastated by that earthquake in 2016) was a really disapointing show in my opinion. It featured nothing bad at all, everything was pretty much good, but the top two matches didn’t deliver like I thought they would at all. The main theme of this show was LIJ vs. Suzuki-gun as BUSHI took on Desperado and Hiromu battled Kanemaru in singles contests, K.E.S. looked to regain the tag belts from SANADA and EVIL and Suzuki put the I.C. Title on the line against Naito. BUSHI beat Despy by DQ in an OK match after Kanemaru interfered, then Hiromu came in to make the Kanemaru match immediate. Takahashi won this after the Suzuki-gun guys interfernce backfired, BUSHI misted Kanemaru, then Hiromu hit his Dynamite Plancha, the Death Valley Bomb into the corner and the Time Bomb to win in 11:28. All of this was fine, but I don’t fully understand the reason for it. I have no real interest in seeing them square off in the BOSJ either. EVIL and SANADA retained the Tag Titles over K.E.S. in a very good brawl which was on a par with their WK12 match. This featured some good action, including K.E.S. hitting a Killer Bomb on SANADA off the apron and through a table, which took him out for a while and EVIL had to go it alone. He put up a brave fight, even kicking out of an assisted middle rope power slam and a Magic Killer, which put him away at Sakura Genesis. The LIJ duo rallied back, hitting a Magic Killer of their own, and EVIL hit Smith with a chair, before scoring the win with the STO at the 17:58 mark.

And Tetsuya Naito won the I.C. Title in something of a shock in the main event. This was a very good match but was just missing something. Suzuki worked over Naito’s knees in glorious Suzuki fashion throughout, locking on kneebars aplenty, and Naito did a really great job in selling this, but the Kumamoto crowd just didn’t buy Naito submitting for whatever reason. I mean it was all believable, but they were dead for his peril and struggles. For example, there were points where Suzuki had Naito trapped in a figure four and the same kneebar he defeated Tanahashi with, but you could probably literally hear a pin drop in the building. This kind of fell apart in the closing moments for some reason, as Suzuki locked in a choke, but Naito tried to counter with a neckbreaker (possibly), but they totally botched it and fell to the mat unceremoniously. They had a tremendous slap exchange, which resulted in Suzuki bleeding from the nose and mouth. Naito then hit what looked like a Northern Lights Bomb, but it too looked maybe like a botch, before hitting a Destino out of nowhere to end the match unexpectedly, and give LIJ the clean sweep. The crowd certainly weren’t expecting the finish, but popped for the Naito title win. As I say, there was nothing wrong with this match, but it just didn’t do much for me. Their encounters in the 2013 and 2014 G1s were much better in my opinion, and the finish just seemed kind of flat. One problem was it was maybe too long (30:22) and with the quiet crowd, this made it seem much longer. Naito winning is a surprise, but I suppose it keeps him at the top end of the card, and at nearly 50 years old, Suzuki, though still great, maybe can’t go at the top level as much as he’d like to, so could do with some time in the mid card and in multi-man’s. All in all, these are decent shows and the Goto/Juice match is well worth going out of your way for.

NDT

[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

[frentique]

[njpwdaily]

After the Sakura Genesis main event on April 9, Katsuyori Shibata struggled backstage to the locker rooms before ultimately collapsing (source) (trans). He was taken to the hospital where he was found to have a subdural hematoma and had to have emergency surgery (source) (trans). He will miss the next tour (Wrestling Dontaku/Hinokuni) and an update will be provided as soon as possible. Recover well, Shibata!

[rikatatsumi]

[gdwessel]

G1 Supercard - 4/6/2019; Wrestling Dontaku Tour: Featured Matches, Tanahashi & Tenzan Injured; Nagata/Kojima in Crockett Cup; This Week’s NJPW on AXS

Yes, hi, hello. It’s been a bit. After two twelve-hour drives, five wrestling shows (which is apparently NOT ENOUGH judging by how many shows some people attended, or WORKED, during Mania Weekend), and a brush with death (I’ll explain next time I record), I needed to recover a bit. I’m still kinda half-assing it now, since I won’t be going through the full lineups for Wrestling Dontaku in this post. But youse all can forgive me, right? Anyway, let’s start with the whole reason I went to NYC...

(And hey, you can also listen to me do a podblast on Pro Wrestling Only about the event!)

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

Honor Rumble: Kenny King d. Jushin Thunder Liger, Great Muta [Wrestle-1], TK O’Ryan, Vinny Marseglia, Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], King Haku [Bullet Club], Cheeseburger, Minoru Suzuki [SZKG], Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Jonathan Gresham, Toru Yano [CHAOS], Colt Cabana, Delirious, Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Rocky Romero [CHAOS], PJ Black, Tracy Williams [Lifeblood], Brian Milonas, Chase Owens [Bullet Club], Will Ferrara, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables], Rhett Titus, SHO [CHAOS], YOH [CHAOS], Shaheem Ali, LSG, BUSHI [Los Ingobernables], Beer City Brusier (42;21, OTTR)

NEVER Openweight Championship & ROH World Television Championship Title v. Title: Jeff Cobb [FREE] © d. Will Ospreay [CHAOS] © (Tour Of The Islands, 12:52) - Ospreay fails his 2nd defense - Cobb succeeds his 6th defense, and is the 24th NEVER Openweight Champion

Rush [Los Ingobernables] d. Dalton Castle (Skewer Dropkick, 0:15)

Women of Honor World Championship: Kelly Klein d. Mayu Iwatani [STARDOM] © (K Power, 10:38) - Iwatani fails her 3rd defense - Klein is the 4th champion

NYC Street Fight Open Challenge: Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Flip Gordon & Mark Haskins [Lifeblood] d. Bully Ray, Silas Young & Shane Taylor (Gordon > Bully, Four Flippy Splash, 15:01)

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship 3-Way Match: Dragon Lee [CMLL] d. Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] © & Bandido [Lifeblood] (Lee > Bandido, Desnucadora, 8:54) - Ishimori fails his 3rd defense - Dragon Lee is the 84th champion

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team v. ROH World Tag Team Championships Title v. Title 4-Way Match: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] © d. PCO & Brody King [Villain Enterprises] ©, EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] and Jay & Mark Briscoe (Loa > King, Super Powerbomb, 9:54) - Guerillas of Destiny succeed their 1st defense - PCO/King fail their first defense; Guerrilas of Destiny are the 54th ROH World Tag Team champions

RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] © d. Hiroshi Tanahashi (Jim Breaks Armbar, 15:14) - Sabre succeeds his ? defense

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Kota Ibushi d. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] © (Kamigoye, 20:53) - Naito fails his 2nd defense - Ibushi is the 21st champion

ROH World Championship 3-Way Ladder Match: Matt Taven d. Jay Lethal © & Marty Scurll [Villain Enterprises] (29:35) - Lethal fails his 13th defense - Taven is the 21st champion

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] d. Jay White [Bullet Club] © (Rainmaker, 32:33) - White fails his 1st defense - Okada is the 69th champion

Hoo wee, a lot to unpack here. This actually ran longer than Wrestle Kingdom 13. And it did feel every bit of that towards the end, sitting in MSG, I have to say. But this was a great show, and for being the last show I saw this weekend, it was a great way to end my Mania Weekend.

Which isn’t to say there are some major questions here. Like, was this the right move to take titles off White and Naito? Both are VERY over in their respective roles, Naito the only NJPW wrestler to get pre-match chants, White clearly the most hated heel in NJPW, both in Japan AND America. While Ibushi in his first championship as a contracted wrestler offers fresh title matches, Okada retaking the belt does not. And they were in the midst of an angle whereby Naito wanted to win the IWGP Heavyweight title while still IC champion. So that was... a waste of time and energy? Neither of which says the matches were not good, because both of them were. Just not sure of the results.

Tanahashi got injured, maybe by that Jim Breaks Armbar? So he is out of the next tour. So is Hiroyoshi Tenzan, which, not sure how he got injured considering he didn’t work this show. Maybe it happened during the New Japan Cup tour, or whilst in training. 

The Guerrillas of Destiny are now double-champions, however their belts were stolen by Toru Yano at the conclusion of the match. Not that anyone in MSG actually noticed, because everyone’s attention was on the (what we now know to be worked) crowd invasion by fucking Enzo & Cass. I really don’t want to spend too much time on those two scumfucks. MSG let their feelings known in no uncertain terms, however. As did many of the wrestlers, like, true to form, Tama Tonga. This was a recurring theme, of Ring Of Honor really not reading the room, and having such shitty booking decisions. The Women of Honor match was patently Not Good, and a waste of Mayu Iwatani’s talents; this goes double for the Beautiful People appearing at the end, to absolute crickets in MSG. Kenny King robbing both Jushin Thunder Liger and the absolute surprise entrant THE GREAT MUTA (yes, I absolutely did lose my shit seeing him at this show, why do you ask?) of an MSG moment (Muta did spit red mist in King’s face tho). A streetfight clusterfuck that became a 6-man match to put over Herb Gordon. The way too long ladder match. ROH stinks, folks. Stop watching them. They are awful. The only thing  on their end that was remotely good was Rush destroying Dalton Castle, but Dalton is either turning heel or leaving the company, following his attacks on The Boys. But yeah, this show made it crystal clear that NJPW are way better off without fucking around with Sinclair Broadcasting Group, especially if they are going to hire scumbags like Enzo Amore.

Dragon Lee finally wins the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title! That was a bit of a shocker. So was Ospreay ending his Giant Killer push by losing the NEVER title to a much deserving Jeff Cobb. Real happy he finally has an NJPW title.

Long story short, I really did enjoy this show, but mostly by ignoring the ROH content. I also had a wonderful weekend, where I met quite a lot of people, both regular folk and wrestlers (ZSJ! Shibata! Chinsuke Nakamura! Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio!), saw friends and co-hosts, ate some great food, and saw some awesome wrestling. Including the RevPro show on Friday, which had a lot of NJPW guys, but I don’t have the energy to go over that now. And what’s passed, is past. Time to look into the future yo...

This Saturday (my 46th birthday!), we begin the cycle of shows leading in to Wrestling Dontaku, which will be a 2-day event once again. I don’t have the energy to enter in the full tour cards right now. I will get to that tomorrow/Friday when I do a new Upcoming Events post. But I can go over some of the feature matches...

On 4/20, we will have Sengoku Lord in Nagoya, at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. Two title defenses on this show, as Kota Ibushi will make his first defense of the IWGP Intercontinental title against Zack Sabre Jr., who of course beat Ibushi during the New Japan Cup. Also on this show, Juice Robinson will defend the IWGP US belt against Bad Luck Fale.

Another title match takes place on 4/29, at the annual Wrestling Hi no Kuni  event in Kumamoto. Here, GOD will defend the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team straps against the Most Violent Players, Togi Makabe & Toru Yano. The main event of this show is a special singles match between Hirooki Goto v. Jay White. Not sure why, but here we are. There will also be a special singles, non-title match (if Juice retains on 4/20) between Juice v. Chase Owens.

The first day of Wrestling Dontaku, on 5/3 in Fukuoka, has the first time the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title is a main event match for a megashow in... a long time. (Someone tweeted when the last time was, and I didn’t save it, and I can’t fathom looking right now.) Dragon Lee makes his 1st defense against the previous champion, Taiji Ishimori. That ought to be good. Also, Jeff Cobb makes his first defense of the NEVER Openweight title against Suzuki-gun’s Taichi. And only that belt.

The following day, on 5/4, sees Kazuchika Okada make his first defense of the IWGP Heavyweight title against LIJ’s SANADA. Those three have had great matches before, including the recent New Japan Cup Final. They are also advertising a special singles match between Tomohiro Ishii v. EVIL, as well as a tag match that sees Dragon Lee & Will Ospreay team v. Taiji Ishimori & an X wrestler. Not sure why they are going the X route when we all know it’s El Phantasmo. 

As I said above, I will list all cards tomorrow or Friday in an Upcoming Events post.

Meanwhile, the brackets have been announced for the 2019 Crockett Cup tag team tournament, taking place on 4/27/2019 at Cabarrus Arena in Concord, NC. NJPW will be sending over the team of Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima to this event; one assumed it would have been TenKoji were Tenzan not injured. They will face the recently dethroned ROH World Tag Team champions PCO & Brody King in their matchup. Should Nagata/Kojima win, they will face the winners of The Briscoe Brothers v. The Rock’n’Roll Express. Yes, you read that right. Over in the other block, an ROH team of Herb Gordon & Bandido (poor Bandido) goes up against a CMLL tandem of Stuka Jr. & Guerrero Maya Jr., whilst the War Kings (Jax Dane & Crimson) face off against the winner of a Wild Card Battle Royale that will take place during this show. This event will also have an NWA World’s Heavyweight title defense by Nick Aldis v. Marty Scurll. 

Finally, NJPW on AXS has a 2-hour special this week, with matches from G1 Supercard just last weekend. The advertised matches are the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental matches. You can scroll above to see who is in those. Show starts at 8pm EDT / 7pm CDT.

And that’s it. I’m still recovering, so off to bed with this old man. Tour starts Saturday. Happy to be back. Hope you enjoyed the G1 Supercard, and anything else you watched during Mania Weekend. Come back for the Road to Wrestling Dontaku!