#njpw47th

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

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]

Strong Style Story Episode Fifty Now on Pro Wrestling Only

New Japan Pro Wrestling is 47 years young today, and they celebrated that fact at the site of the original NJPW rally, Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium, in a show you can see now on NJPWWorld. There were 2 title matches, as well as a Champion v. Champion special singles match.

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

Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens & Hikuleo [Bullet Club] d. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS], Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO], Shota Umino & Ren Narita (Owens > Yoshida, Package Driver, 9:12) 

Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] d. Yuji Nagata & Toa Henare (YOSHI-HASHI > Henare, Kumagoroshi, 12:09)

Satoshi Kojima, Tomoaki Honma, Tiger Mask IV, Ryusuke Taguchi & Dragon Lee [CMLL] d. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG] (Taguchi > TAKA, Dodon, 11:05)

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship:  SHO & YOH [CHAOS] d. BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] © (SHO > BUSHI, 3K, 16:51) - BUSHI/Shingo fail their 2nd defense - Roppongi 3K are the 59th champions

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] © d. Jushin Thunder Liger (Yes Lock, 15:51) - Ishimori succeeds his 2nd defense

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] d. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] (Goto > SANADA, Gotoshiki, 12:58)

NJPW 47th Anniversary Match - Champion v. Champion: Jay White [Bullet Club] d. Will Ospreay [CHAOS] (Blade Runner, 29:07)

Post-main, Kota Ibushi initially came out to rescue Ospreay, which brought out the Bullet Club, which brought out Tanahashi, Okada and Goto. So they are clearly keeping up this Seikigun/CHAOS alliance thing throughout. Good day for the Bullet Club. Not so good for LIJ. The IWGP junior tag belts are always gonna be hot potatoes so we’ll see how long before BUSHingo get them back. Ishimori beats the legend Liger, and a challenge has been made for Dragon Lee to face Ishimori at the Madison Square Garden show.

Happy anniversary to NJPW!

It was announced yesterday that wrestler Christopher Pallies, better known as King Kong Bundy, passed away at the far too young age of 61. While Bundy is much more famous for his time in WWF, where he “crushed Hulk Hogan’s ribs” and headlined Wrestlemania 2, I knew him first from his run in World Class Championship Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions before he made that mega heel run “up north.” His biggest shtick was forcing the referee to do a “5-count” rather than the normal 3.

As for NJPW, Bundy did work about 70 NJPW shows in 1985, including that year’s New Year’s Golden Series tour, during which he had 2 “$15,000 Body Slam Challenges” against Antonio Inoki (who else!). He was pretty popular in Japan, and really all over the world, having a distinct look and presence. And was a pretty decent worker too, if you ask me. 

Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time. RIP to a legend.

Once more, we return to Osaka EDION Arena for this week’s NJPW on AXS. Continuing The New Beginning in Osaka, this week’s advertised matches are the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title match between Taiji Ishimori v. Ryusuke Taguchi, as well as a special singles match between Kazuchika Okada v. Bad Luck Fale. Show starts at 8pm EST / 7pm CST, with hosts Kevin Kelly & Don Callis, followed by an all-new WOW Women of Wrestling.

The next show is on Friday, the beginning of the 2019 New Japan Cup. The full cards have not yet been released for this or any other show on the tour. ALl shows will be live on NJPWWorld for this tournament, so strap in because there’s a lot of NJPW to be seen in the month of March.

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]

NJPW 47th ANNIVERSARY EVENT ~ Raising An Army (March 6th 2019, Tokyo, Ota Ward Gymnasium)

Togi makabe, Toru Yano, Shota Umino, Ayato Yoshida & Ren Narita vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny, Bad Luck Fale, Hikuleo & Chase Owens  **1/2

Yuji Nagata & Toa Henare vs. Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI  ***1/4

Satoshi Kojima, Tomoaki Honma, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger MAsk & Dragon Lee vs. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku  ***1/4

IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title Match: Shingo Takagi & BUSHI (c) vs. Roppongi 3K  ****1/4

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title Match: Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger  ****1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA  ***1/2

Jay White vs. Will Ospreay  ****1/2

Photos.

Once again the New Japan Anniversary show delivered big with a super fun show that featured nothing but good to great matches, and absolutely nothing approaching bad. The show opened with a trio of enjoyable multi-man outings. Nagata and Ishii’s stiff exchanges, to build heat for their impending NJC match was probably the highlight of the undercard, though the strongest match of the bucnch was the Suzuki-gun/Taguchi Japan contest. This really picked up whenever Dragon Lee was in there, though Kojima and Suzuki going at it was fun too. Taguchi scored the win for his team when he pinned TAKA following the Dodon after 11 minutes of all-action. Things really picked up next in the Junior Tag Title bout. This was great stuff which exceeded expectations. To no real surprise, Shingo and SHO’s incredible exchanges were the stand-out here,  their lariat exchanges are something else, and I’d love to see a singles match between the two. The finishing stretch was really hot; after BUSHI took YOH out with a tope suicida, he gave SHO the dokukiri, the champions hit Rebellion, which saw YOH come out of nowhere and break it up at the last split second. This looked amazing and got a big pop. BUSHI tried MX on SHO, but he was caught and deadlifted into the 3K which saw the titles change hands at 16:51.

The Junior Heavyweight Championship bout between Ishimori and living legend Jushin Thunder Liger was an absolutely excellent match. Watching it, I got the feeling this was probably Liger’s last challenge for the belt, and the next day Liger announced his intentions to retire at one of the Tokyo Dome shows next year. The sold out crowd were white hot for this, 100% behind Liger, who worked a really smart match. He nearly won via countout after hitting Ishimori with his patented Brainbuster on the floor (a spot he does in all his big matches nowadays), but the champion got back in at 19.99999. Liger hit his tope rope Frankensteiner, and Taiji hit a version of the Golden Triangle, in a super smooth spot. Back in the ring the legend obliterated Ishimori with a huge Shotei, then scored a believable near fall with a Liger Bomb. Ishimori caught a Koppo Kick and turned it into a LeBell/Yes Lock, but the challenger made the ropes, again to a big pop. Liger scored more near falls with a cradle and Thesz press, but the champion once again caught him in the Yes Lock, and this time Liger had no choice but to tap at the 15:51 mark. Dragon Lee came out in the post match to be set up as Ishimori’s challenger at MSG. Bandido has since been added to the match, so that should be pretty damn spectacular. As I say, this was excellent stuff. Liger really turned back the hands of time here, putting in a great performance in what is probably his last shot at the Junior crown, and I can’t be entirely sure, but I think this may be the best Liger singles outing since his fanatastic 2004 bout with Kanemaru in NOAH at Tokyo Dome. The all-star six man which followed was very good, but felt somewhat flat after the Liger stuff. The point of this was to get the shine on Goto, who of course is the winningest New Japan Cup participant ever. He scored the win over his first round opponent, SANADA with the Goto Shiki at 12:58.

The main event of the IWGP Heavyweight champion taking on the NEVER Openweight title holder was an exceptional outing between two very young and talented superstars. In front of a slightly more receptive crowd, this would probably have been even better, but regardless, it was a tremendous wrestling contest. The story of this was White working over Ospreay’s ribs he injured at the back end of last year, and Ospreay pulled a great sell job throughout. This also featured a return of that crazy spot they did back in their ROH match from a couple of years ago in which Jay catches Ospreayon a tope suicida, and turns it into a belly to belly into the barricade. The finishing stretch was incredible in that they hit so many creative spots and counters. The Ariel Assassin went for the Oscutter, but Switchblade caught him in a crucifix and rained down the Danielson style elbows. Ospreay escapes Blade Runner by hitting a reverse rana, then tries to kill White with that devastating back elbow strike. The dastardly Gedo distracted the ref, which allowed Jay to hit a low blow and a sleeper suplex for a near fall. Ospreay turns another Blade Runner attempt into a Liger Bomb, then gets a great near fall with the imploding 450 which saw Jay grab the ropes. Ospreay hit some superkicks, then trid Oscutter again, but White caught him in a mid air Blade Runner, hit the move again and scored the win at 29:07. The post match saw Bullet Club put a beatdown on Will, which saw Kota Ibushi make the save, but also get beaten down. This brought out Tanahashi, Okada and Goto to clear house, and they, along with Ibushi and Ospreay, all promised to win the New Japan Cup. All in all, this was an excellent show in my opinion. It’s an easy watch and is well worth checking out.

The tour resumed today for its final house show before the 47th Anniversary Show on Wednesday. 

- ¾/2019, Fukushima Big Palette

Yota Tsuji TLD Yuya Uemura (10:00)

Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino d. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] (Nagata > Yoshida, Backdrop Hold, 10:54)

Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado [SZKG] d. Dragon Lee [CMLL] & Ren Narita (Suzuki > Narita, Gotch Style Piledriver, 10:46)

Tomoaki Honma, Tiger Mask IV & Ryusuke Taguchi d. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG] (Taguchi > TAKA, Dodon, 11:09)

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] d. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Hikuleo [Bullet Club] (Goto > Hikuleo, GTR, 10:10)

Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] d. YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Toa Henare & Jushin Thunder Liger (Owens > Henare, Package Driver, 8:14)

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Rocky Romero [CHAOS] SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] d. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] (Okada > BUSHI, Rainmaker, 14:47)

Team TanaKada-3K celebrated post-main. I really hope that Dragon Lee v. Suzuki is a backdoor way of getting a Suzuki v. Rush feud going here soon. Ayato Yoshida falls to his old nemesis Yuji Nagata once more.

Late last night it was announced that Ryusuke Taguchi would be taking David FInlay Jr.’s place in the New Japan Cup, making Taguchi the new opponent for Hiroyoshi Tenzan on 3/10/2019. Meaning all four Cup matches that day are now must-sees.

Of course there is an internet campaign, which Taguchi himself has now jumped in on, saying Taguchi should totally be the 69th IWGP Heavyweight Champion, as that is kinda “his number” and he was also the 69th IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion (and 51st). Even @damascenocs alluded to it last episode of the Podcast. So we shall see if there is anything to this. I get the feeling it won’t be him but it’d be fun to see him try.

Speaking of the Podcast, we will be posting our FIFTIETH episode later tonight at the Pro Wrestling Only podcast feed so stay tuned for that.

Also yesterday, NJPWWorld has now posted the three New Beginning USA shows that took place in early February. There are still some sore feelings about there only being 1 Japanese talent on these shows.

 However, it may be worth going to those shows to see not only an IWGP US Heavyweight title match, but also: a reunion of Roppongi Vice, the final NJPW matches for Dustin & Greg for the foreseeable future, Johnathan Gresham’s first forays in the NJPW ring, Jeff Cobb v. Brody King, and last but not least, Tomoyuki Oka in his Dominator Great O-Kharn gimmick that is serving him well on his RevPro excursion. We may even get video evidence of the FUCK YOU TRUMP chant in South Carolina, if NJPWWorld let it on their channel.

So check them out, you might find something you like on these shows.

The next show takes place Wednesday, the 47th Anniversary show, from the site of the original NJPW show on 3/6/1972, Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium. There will be 2 title matches, and a special Champion v. Champion main event as well. This one will be live on NJPWWorld.

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]

The tour continued today.

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

Yota Tsuji TLD Yuya Uemura (10:00)

Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino d. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Ren Narita (Nagata > Narita, Nagata Lock II, 11:41)

Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado [SZKG] d. Dragon Lee [CMLL] & Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] (Suzuki > Yoshida, Gotch Style Piledriver, 8:01) 

Tomoaki Honma, Tiger Mask IV & Ryusuke Taguchi d. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG] (Taguchi > TAKA, Dodon, 9:18)

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] d. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Hikuleo [Bullet Club] (Makabe > Hikuleo, King Kong Knee Drop, 9:45)

Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] d. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Toa Henare & Jushin Thunder Liger (Fale > Henare, Grenade, 8:52)

Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] d. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Rocky Romero [CHAOS] SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] (Naito > SHO, Destino, 15:42)

Naito said post-main next time he wants to have all six members of LIJ with him for the roll call.

The last house show of the tour is on Monday.

- 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]