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NJPW FIGHTING SPIRIT UNLEASHED in New York Review (Sept 28th, 2019, Manhattan NY, Hammerstein Ballroom)

TJP vs. Ren Narita  ***1/4+

Lance Archer vs. Karl Fredericks  ***

Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls vs. Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin  ***

Roppongi 3K vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny & Jado  ***1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi & The Rock ‘N Roll Express vs. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI  ***1/4

Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & Amazing Red vs. Jay White, Chase Owens & Gedo  ***

NEVER Openweight Title Match: KENTA (c) vs. YOSHI-HASHI  ***3/4

Kazuchika Okada & Kota Ibushi vs. SANADA & EVIL  ****

photos.

This was a fun, sub-three hour show that featured nothing but good matches, and was a breeze to sit through. It was essentially an international Korakuen Hall show, however it wasn’t especially memorable for its in-ring output, but the circumstances surrounding the shows 90 minute delay in starting are sure to be talked about for a while yet. The hated TJP submitted the beloved Ren Narita in a really fun 9 minute opener when he locked the Young Lion in the TJP Clutch. After a spirited attempt to make the ropes, Narita (who is now officially on excursion, though where remains a mystery) had to submit. Lance Archer pinned LA Dojo trainee and Young Lion Cup winner Karl Fredericks with the EBD Claw in an enjoyable little outing in which both guys looked good. The returning Mikey Nicholls Mikey Bombed Alex Coughlin to win a decent 8:29 doubles match for his team with Juice. The G.O.D. pinned Rocky Romero with a Last Ride into a Gun Stun to end a really good six man at the 10:46 mark. This would have been even better had Jado not been there. And in a match to mark legendary referee Tiger Hattori’s final match in his hometown, Tanahashi and the Rock N’ Roll Express defeated the L.I.J. trio of Naito, Shingo and BUSHI, when Tana hit the High Fly Flow on BUSHI after 10 minutes of fun action. This wasn’t a MOTY or anything, but the crowd were hot for everything and everyone put on a good show. The sight of 63 year old Ricky Morton hitting a big Tope on Shingo was quite the spectacle. They had a retirement ceremony for Tiger in the post match, in which he brought his family out. This was a nice little moment.

Hirooki Goto pinned Gedo with the GTR to win for his team in another good 12 minute six man. He’ll undoubtedly be challenging White for the I.C. Title in Osaka at Power Struggle, so his win streak has to continue. Unsurprisingly, Ishii was the star of this one. To the surprise of no living soul, KENTA retained the NEVER Title over YOSHI-HASHI in a great match that would have been better had it not gone so long (25:04). KENTA stalled forever in the opening minutes so to get the crowd who were cheering him, to boo him. Which was a success. This turned into a really fun hard-hitter; after the rerequisite Bullet Club ref bump, G.O.D. ran in and tried the Super Bomb on YH, but Tiger Hattori came back out and dragged both brothers to the back by their hair. This was a great, but preposterous moment. YOSHI won a strike exchange and scored a near fall with Meteora. KENTA tried Go 2 Sleep, but YH reversed it into the Butterfly Lock. After a long battle, KENTA made the ropes, hit the Busaiku Knee, and eventually hit Go 2 Sleep for the win. As I say, this would have been excellent if it were 5-7 minutes shorter. And in the main event, SANADA and EVIL were victorious over Okada and Ibushi in the hottest match on the show. This was an all action match which the crowd were super into. It was every doubles match these guys have been having for the last month, but it was still the best thing on the show (a sequence in which everyone laid each other out tore the house down). Ibushi and EVIL had a great sequence at the end, which culminated in The King Of Darkness hitting the STO at 18:46 for the win, and hype up their match for the Tokyo Dome title shot in Ryogoku on October 14th. As I say, this was a very fun card, that was above usual houyse show levels, in which everyone worked hard, and the crowd were hot throughout.

New Japan completed their three-night tour of the Northeast at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Running on their own without the assistance of a domestic promotion, tonight drew a near-capacity crowd of fans from all over. I was last at the Arena over two months ago for EVOLVE 131 (the one that aired live on the WWE Network). That was a no vacancy crowd as well, though I was close to the ring in the North section and really felt the heavy body heat. This time, I secured a Row 10 seat (though it still had good views) in the South section, where it felt considerably cooler. Granted, it’s also late September, and it was more comfortable outside today than yesterday, but I didn’t have as many people surrounding me. The referees were three from Japan (including Red Shoes in the main event) and one from the US (presumably California).

1. Rocky Romero beat Clark Connors with a cross arm breaker out of a Falcon Arrow. Right off the bat, the crowd was up for everyone, including the Young Lions of the LA Dojo. Romero is still a ball of charisma. Romero and Connors exchanged a lot of strikes and chops, with Connors delivering the heavier ones. Connors came close with a nearfall from a small package; the Young Lion nearfalls are a tried and true trope that still hooks the crowd.

2. Mikey Nicholls beat Karl Fredericks with a running Mikey Bomb. The former Nick Miller of NXT (not New GIrl), back to his TMDK moniker with a slight Mad Max aesthetic was pretty evenly matched by the recent winner of New Japan’s Young Lion Cup. Nicholls got heat from the crowd by shoving the ref. Fredericks came close to winning with a half-crab, then Nicholls locked on one of his own for the near submission. Nicholls was able to follow up with a Death Valley Driver and a sliding lariat leading into the finish.

3. Lance Archer beat Alex Coughlin with the EBD claw. During Archer’s entrance, he clocked some ringside attendants and hit Coughlin with a lariat before the bell. He’s not wasting any time. Coughlin went after Archer right at the start after recovering, but the next five minutes was pretty much all Archer. He nearly walked all four top ropes while holding onto Coughlin, only stopping his full trip to spite the crowd. Archer was tremendous here. Coughlin started to mount a comeback and successfully bodyslammed Archer after some failed attempts, but Archer hit him with a spinning splash off the middle rope, as well as the Blackout, prior to the finish.

4. Amazing Red beat Ren Narita with Code Red. Narita has begun his United States excursion, rocking the LA Dojo colors (which are still black and white). Red doesn’t seem like someone who retired, but definitely came off like a humble veteran (in that current-day Rey Mysterio mold), very well-liked by the crowd. Narita stood up to him early on, and he came close to winning with a rolling cloverleaf.

5. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, and Shingo Takagi) beat Juice Robinson & Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) when SANADA made YOH submit to Skull End. The first big dose of star power of the night, with each of these six guys getting chants before it ended with a chant for “All These Guys.” Naito still wrestled in his shirt, but whatever, tranquilo. Very fun match that had the crowd fully invested; everyone went nuts when SANADA put Robinson in the Paradise Lock. Following the end of the match, Naito and Robinson spat loogies at one another.

6. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & BUSHI) beat Kota Ibushi & TJP after EVIL hit TJP with Everything Is Evil. The G1 Climax 29 winner Ibushi was beloved, while his still-babyface partner TJP was soundly booed by everyone in the crowd. Interesting dynamic. Everyone looked good here as this continued to build towards Ibushi and EVIL going one-on-one at King of Pro Wrestling next month. This included EVIL taking Ibushi into the front row and working him over against fans’ chairs. Ibushi was taken out of the match towards the end when BUSHI sprayed mist in his face, then hit him with a tope suicida on the floor.

7. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) beat Bullet Club’s Jay White, KENTA, Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa), Chase Owens, and Gedo (w/ Jado) in a 6-on-6 Elimination Match. Within New Japan, eliminations in these matches occur via pinfall, submission, or being thrown over the top rope with both feet touching the floor. I’m usually not a fan of these matches that I’ve already seen from New Japan a few times this year, but I was swayed by being in a crowd for one, especially this crowd, and seeing the star power on display, Individual entrances for everyone. After each team had a chance to run wild on the other, it settled onto Tanahashi getting worked over by the Bullet Club. The first man eliminated was Gedo when he was tossed over the top by both Morton and Gibson. These two are still game for everything. Owens got into it with Morton and attempted to hit him with a package piledriver, but Morton back body dropped Owens and hit him with a Canadian Destroyer to a standing ovation. As Morton celebrated though, Jay White came up from behind him and tossed him over the top to eliminate him. Right after this, I believe it was Owens that rolled up Gibson to eliminate him as well, so both Ricky and Robert got to leave the match together to a big ovation from the crowd. Rock ‘n’ Roll lives on. YOSHI-HASHI had a chance to shine after this. He eliminated Loa by tossing him over the top, and then he fought with Tonga afterward, leading YOSHI-HASHI to end up on the outside apron. While Tonga drew away the ref’s attention, Loa yanked YOSHI-HASHI down the floor, eliminating him. A few moments later, YOSHI-HASHI turned the tables by eliminating Tonga the same way. Down to three on each team, this led into KENTA and Ishii squaring off. They both went over the top rope wound up on the outer edge, striking each other until they both fell to the floor, eliminated simultaneously. Once they got up, they continued fighting to the back, so This Feud Must Continue. White and Goto went at it, continuing to build towards an eventual match for White’s newly won Intercontinental Title. Goto was able to toss White over the top rope to eliminate him, but then right afterward Owens (who I forgot about still being in this match) came up from behind and tossed Goto over the top to eliminate him. As Owens celebrated, Tanahashi came up from behind him. Tanahashi avoided being eliminated (holding onto the top rope and powering himself back into the ring), hit Owens with a sling blade, and pinned him the High Fly Flow to win the match. This match went a little over 20 minutes.

After this, Tanahashi teased leaving the ring, but stayed inside and invited the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express back out, wanting to play guitar with them. Tanahashi retrieved invisible guitars for Morton, Gibson, and himself, they jammed on them, played an encore demanded by the crowd, and then smashed them on the mat in unison. After Ricky and Robert left, Tanahashi thanked us all in the crowd for coming in English, then gave us all a brief lesson in the Japanese language so that he and the crowd could say his closing catchphrase together for the hard cam. Tanahashi ended the night by going around ringside to greet and take pictures with fans.

The final night of Fighting Spirit Unleashed has taken place at the good ol’ ECW Arena. No word on when/if this or the Lowell show will show up on NJPWWorld.

- 9/29/2019, 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, PA

Rocky Romero [CHAOS] d. Clark Connors (Diablo Armbar, 9:03)

Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Karl Fredericks (Mikeybomb, 10:00)

Lance Archer [SZKG] d. Alex Coughlin (EBD Claw, 8:25)

Amazing Red [FREE] d. Ren Narita (Code Red, 8:57)

Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] d. Juice Robinson, SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] (SANADA > YOH, Skull End, 11:45)

EVIL & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Kota Ibushi & TJP [FREE] (EVIL > TJP, EVIL STO, 11:23)

Elimination Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Ricky Morton [FREE] & Robert Gibson [FREE] d. Jay White, KENTA, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens & Gedo [Bullet Club] (Tanahashi > Owens, High Fly Flow, 22:20)

I don’t have the eliminations. I’m sure the match was a hoot. Amazing Red gets the win in probably his final NJPW appearance. It was a house show, basically, and fair enough.

We recorded the next episode of the podcast this afternoon. I’m working to get it all assembled and uploaded to stay tuned for that.

The next show is the first of three New Japan Road shows coming up, this Friday. This will have the first of four special Hiroshi Tanahashi 20th Anniversary Matches. I won’t be around to blog about that or the one on Saturday as I will be in NYC (ironically). No I wasn’t there for the NJPW show last night, I’m attending New York Comic Con instead. Maybe I’ll see some of you. If I don’t return to the blog this week, have a good one.

New Japan Road - 10/4/2019, Toyama Takaoka Techno Dome

Yuji Nagata v. Yuya Uemura

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima v. Manabu Nakanishi & Yota Tsuji

Jushin Thunder Liger & Toa Henare v. Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], YOH [CHAOS] & Tiger Mask IV v. Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori, Gedo & Jado [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Taichi & DOUKI [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi 20th Anniversary Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi

The second night of Fighting Spirit Unleashed just wrapped up in NYC, and you can see it on NJPWWorld in a little while if you didn’t catch it live. The show itself was delayed 90 minutes due to, allegedly, an issue and misunderstanding with obtaining an ambulance for the show. There were reports of unhappy fans but for a rescue by Mr. Tezuka of NJPW apologizing, and Rocky Romero giving a pep talk and T-Shirts to the crowd. Once the show got going, the crowd was hot for nearly every match.

- 9/28/2019, Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, NY (NJPWWorld)

TJP [FREE] d. Ren Narita (Pinoy Stretch, 8:49)

Lance Archer [SZKG] d. Karl Fredericks (EBD Claw, 7:37)

Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] d. Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin (Nicholls > Coughlin, Mikeybomb, 8:27)

Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club] d. Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] (Tonga > Romero, Killshot, 10:46)

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ricky Morton [FREE] & Robert Gibson [FREE] d. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] (Tanahashi > BUSHI, High Fly Flow, 10:18)

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Amazing Red [FREE] d. Jay White, Chase Owens & Gedo [Bullet Club] (Goto > Gedo, GTR, 11:59)

NEVER Openweight Championship: KENTA [Bullet Club] © d. YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] (Go2Sleep, 25:03) - KENTA succeeds his 1st defense

SANADA & EVIL [Los Ingobernables] d. Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & Kota Ibushi (EVIL > Ibushi, EVIL STO, 18:46)

EVIL cut a promo welcoming NYC to the Darkness World, and that New York City is Evil. The title match went way too long, and really stunk, frankly. A run-in from the retiring Tiger Hattori had to rescue it. Earlier, Hattori had a brief sending off ceremony from the USA, with his family present, flowers presented and everything, including a brief speech from Tiger. His final match in the USA was the Tanahashi/Rock’n’Roll Express v. LIJ 6-man, and that was by far the best match of the night. I take back everything bad I said about the Rock’n’Roll Express in 2019 because they were absolutely fun, including Ricky Morton hitting a tope suicida on Shingo. What a massively fun match. Overall the show was fun, the crowd was into it, and was a lot better than it had any right to be. Other than the delays, the camera work was WWE levels of gawdawful, so hey NJPW if you’re out there, maybe don’t use that crew next time.

Earlier tonight it was making the rounds that the former “Big Titan” Richard Bognar had died at the far too young age of 49. Cause of death was not announced. Bognar spent many years in FMW, often alongside Mike Awesome in his Gladiator years. Infamously, Bognar was also the “Fake Razor Ramon” that the WWF trotted out in Vince’s infinite wisdom, as a stand-in for Scott Hall. If you don’t remember this, you can imagine how well it went over. (His partner as “Fake Diesel,” Glen Jacobs, turned out OK in the end...)

Following that debacle, Bognar would find himself in NJPW, back in his Big Titan identity, as part of the nWo Japan stable. A serious neck injury he suffered in February 1998 in a match against Shinya Hashimoto would leave him limited, and he never fully recovered. His final match in wrestling was in NJPW on 4/23/1999 at Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan, teaming with fellow nWo members Keiji Muto & Hiroyoshi Tenzan, defeating Tatsumi Fujnami, Manabu Nakanishi & Osamu Nishimura. Afterwards he would briely run a wrestling school in Calgary, Alberta, with Bad News Brown. 

Our condolences to his family and friends at this time.

The tour wraps up at the ECW Arena tomorrow.

- 9/29/2019, 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, PA

Rocky Romero [CHAOS] v. Clark Connors

Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Karl Fredericks

Alex Coughlin v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

Ren Narita v. Amazing Red [FREE]

Juice Robinson, SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Kota Ibushi & TJP [FREE] v. EVIL & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

The three night East Coast tour Fighting Spirit Unleashed began last night. There was a title match on that show, and we begin to say goodbye to Tiger Hattori.

Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2019 - 9/27/2019, Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, MA

Karl Fredericks d. Alex Coughlin (Elevated Half-Crab, 8:47)

Lance Archer [SZKG] d. Ren Narita (EBD Claw, 7:23) 

Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] d. TJP [FREE] & Clark Connors (NIcholls > Connors, Mikeybomb, 8:04)

Chase Owens & Jado [Bullet Club] d. Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson [FREE] (Owens > Morton, Package Driver, 9:10)

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Amazing Red [FREE] d. Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] (Ishii > BUSHI, Vertical Drop Brainbuster, 8:48)

Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Rocky Romero [CHAOS] d. Jay White, KENTA & Gedo [Bullet Club] (YOSHI-HASHI > Gedo, Butterfly Lock, 12:28)

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] © d. SHO & YOH [CHAOS] (Tonga > YOH, Gunstun, 16:43) - GOD succeed their 7th defense

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Kota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi d. SANADA, EVIL & Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] (Tanahashi > Naito, Ground Cobra Twist, 20:26)

Naito doing the job here seems a bit shit but Naito doesn’t have a title match to look like a contender for coming up either. Guerrillas of Destiny continue to hang on to the titles and let’s face it will do so until WK14 where they will be beaten by the eventual World Tag League winners. The tag division is trash and GOD are the face of it now. The match may end up on NJPWWorld on tape delay eventually. Chase Owens pins his trainer Ricky Morton, and the Rock’n’Roll Express lose their NJPW debut match. His partner in the match, Jado is 51 years old today.

In the wee hours of the night, something rather major happened behind the scenes in CMLL.

Firstly, Rush defeated Matt Taven at Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor PPV to become the first-ever Mexican ROH World Champion, with his brother Dragon Lee and father La Bestia del Ring (and son, above) in attendance. Rumors had been flying for weeks about Dragon Lee’s status in home promotion CMLL, stemming from Dragon Lee disobeying a directive from CMLL to not work Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s Battle of Los Angeles last weekend (Barbaro Cavernario was also booked for BOLA, but did withdraw his participation under that same directive; the reason given, is CMLL is once again considering both Pentagon Jr./Penta el 0M and Rey Fenix as AAA wrestlers once more so they are forbidding wrestlers from working with them). From this, Dragon Lee was pulled from CMLL’s 86th Aniversario, which also ran last night.

Within the hour of Rush winning the ROH title, Rush posted a video on his Twitter announcing both he and La Bestia del Ring were now independent wrestlers, and indeed both KAOZ Lucha and The Crash have announced Rush as working there soon as El Toro Blanco, as CMLL own the Rush trademark. Not long after THAT, CMLL tweeted out that they have fired both Rush and Dragon Lee. Dragon Lee posted on Facebook he was devastated by this, and indeed this really seems to be retaliatory. There are reports he may be working ROH’s TV taping tonight. Dragon Lee was also CMLL’s Welterweight champion at the time of his release.

I will stop right here and say that friend of the show/blog TheCubsFan posted a podcast with Rob Viper late last night summarizing this situation and you should listen to it; it’s only 40 minutes, but packed with information.

But it should go without saying that both Rush and Dragon Lee were pretty integrated in their way with New Japan as well. Dragon Lee especially has been pretty popular in NJPW, and of course his story is very well tied in to that of Hiromu Takahashi, and indeed Hiromu tweeted at Dragon Lee this morning. There are reports he was due to be in the upcoming Super Junior Tag League, presumably paired with another CMLL wrestler. but who knows if that can or will happen now. It’s become very murky politically. NJPW could outright sign Dragon Lee (or whatever he calls himself now -- there are reports of Toro Rojo being a possibility) if all parties agree, but he could also go to WWE, or somewhere else. 

It all kinda depends on how strong the relationship between NJPW and CMLL is at this point and whether NJPW values CMLL or Dragon Lee more. There have been signs of strain between NJPW and its partners, ROH and CMLL; the ROH relationship has been the more obviously strained, especially since G1 Supercard at MSG, where ROH’s contributions were, frankly, absolute shite. However, other than Fantasticamania (which is usually a great payday for the visiting luchadors) and appearances in Best of the Super Juniors and Super J-Cup, there doesn’t seem to be much going on with the CMLL relationship right now. The last couple of excursions ended suddenly and without notice, as when Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu were Raijin & Fujin and then... weren’t (Hirai Kawato, I discuss below). Shota Umino and Ren Narita both are on excursion now, but neither went to CMLL, where before it was assured at least one would. Jushin Thunder Liger appeared at Arena Mexico this summer for a retirement show, but Liger is able to make his own bookings without NJPW’s involvement (which is how Liger was able to wrestle Tyler Breeze at the 2015 NXT Takeover in Brooklyn). Consider that around this time last year, Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & BUSHI all made appearances in Arena Mexico. This year, there were no NJPW wrestlers at the CMLL Grand Prix, where usually there is at least one or two, even if it were the likes of Michael Elgin, Satoshi Kojima, or even David Finlay. As NJPW broaden their global profile on their own, there seems to be a gradual withdrawal from their partners. As I said, which do NJPW value more, a continued partnership with CMLL, or Dragon Lee on their roster?

Then there’s the other elephant in the room: the status of Los Ingobernables. Straight up, CMLL own the trademark, and always have. There’s a CMLL trademark on LIJ shirts. The unit started in CMLL, between Rush, La Sombra and La Mascara. La Sombra is now Andrade Cien Almas in WWE, and the other two have been fired for various reasons. Los Ingobernables as a functional thing in CMLL is now dead, unless they want to do the typical lucha promotion business where they just shellac other wrestlers onto a popular gimmick after the original wrestler(s) behind said gimmick leave - indeed, it’s how Rush & Dragon Lee’s brother became the second Mistico. (His status is unknown, assumed not leaving, but who knows. If he does, Caristico can reassume the Mistico identity, which would make the Arena Mexico crowd happy.) There is a possibility that CMLL could keep Los Ingobernables alive with Terrible and some others, but I can guess how well that’s going to go over. 

Los Ingobernables de Japon has to end, at some point. It’s just inevitable. Rush is still in ROH until at least 2020, so there is a possibility that Naito and the boys will reunite with Rush (although the last few times Rush and LIJ members were on the same ROH cards, they deliberately kept them apart, even at meet & greets). If the NJPW and CMLL relationship is starting to disintegrate, a very large part of NJPW’s current identity, and merch money, will be going away soon. Rush being shown the door by itself doesn’t mean LIJ is over just yet. It is not the first time the NJPW branch of a famous stable outlasted its home company. But this could be the harbinger of that unit coming to an end, until LIJ goes into its TEAM2000 phase.

Long story short, shit is wild, and complicated, and political, and who knows what ripples this pebble in the river will produce.

Above, I mentioned Hirai Kawato and his excursion in CMLL as Kawato San. I’ve been teasing a piece for weeks, and, well, here it is. 

Hirai Kawato has not worked a match since 7/28/2019, a Sunday night show at Arena Mexico, teaming with Dark Magic & Misterioso Jr. in a losing effort v. Rey Cometa, Flyer & Dulce Gardenia. Prior to that, on 6/30/2019, Kawato had bested Audaz to win the CMLL World Super Lightweight title vacated by (ironically) Dragon Lee. Since then... nothing. 

Apparently, according to TheCubsFan (him again), Kawato got seriously ill and had to go back to Japan for recovery. There’s been no official word about his status at all, including whether or not he will return to Mexico. It’s a real shame, as his excursion looked to finally be working, evidenced by getting a title, and it looked like they might begin an actual program with Audaz, but such is not to be right now. I hope he is recovering OK, no matter what happens next for him, as it sounded serious enough for him to go home.

Tomoyuki Oka is another one who’s been MIA. Last seen in RevPro UK under the gimmick of Dominator Great O-Kharn, Oka has not wrestled a match since his appearance as the only Japanese talent at the ill-fated New Beginning USA shows, beating Harlem Bravado on 2/2/2019 in Nashville. There is even less info about his whereabouts - his last tweet was on 3/4/2019, advertising the NBUSA shows on NJPWWorld. (FWIW, Kawato’s last tweet was on 7/26, and last Instagram post was on 7/3.) 

I wish I had more, but I simply don’t; I don’t have sources or anything like that. But it’s a little disconcerting when not one but two Young Lions have gone missing in action whilst away. Makes you wonder what the future holds for Shooter and Ren.

(Whilst we’re here - David Finlay is still recovering from injury and surgery. He is still pretty active on social media.)

Ideally I should’ve posted this earlier but there were no posts and we’re here now. After taking last week off, NJPW on AXS returns tonight with a double header of episodes, all taking place from various Destruction shows from a couple of weeks ago. Advertised matches are:

9pm EDT / 8pm CDT - RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) v. Zack Sabre Jr., Destruction in Beppu, Oita Beppu B-Con Plaza, 9/15/2019 10pm EDT / 9pm CDT - Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Challenge Rights: Kota Ibushi v. KENTA, Destruction in Kagoshima, Kagoshima Arena, 9/16/2019

There will be other matches as these alone are not enough to fill an hour of TV each. It’s also preceded by an all-new WOW Women of Wrestling. Incidentally, it looks like AXS’s new owners Anthem are moving their own wrestling company, Impact, to Tuesdays later this month, so there is some assurance of them not actively messing with NJPW, at least, not yet.

Of course, you are spoiled for choice of watching NJPW tonight, as tonight’s FIghting Spirit Unleashed show from the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC is live on NJPWWorld. Show starts at 7pm EDT. Once again we have a title match tonight, too, although... let’s face it, we know who’s winning this.

- 9/28/2019, Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, NY (NJPWWorld)

Ren Narita v. TJP [FREE]

Karl Fredericks v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin

Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ricky Morton [FREE] & Robert Gibson [FREE] v. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Amazing Red [FREE] v. Jay White, Chase Owens & Gedo [Bullet Club]

NEVER Openweight Championship: KENTA [Bullet Club] © v. YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS]

New Japan Pro Wrestling unleashed a torrent of show lineups today, as the Fighting Spirit Unleashed tour starts Friday in Lowell, MA, going through the weekend.

Surprisingly, we are actually getting two title matches on this tour, one I thought would be saved for King of Pro Wrestling (see below), as on Friday, the Guerrillas of Destiny hold their 7th defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles against an ostensibly juniorheavyweight team in Roppongi 3K. But they built to this match during the Destruction tour so it’s all fair. Saturday’s show from the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC also features a title bout, this time KENTA making his 1st defense of the NEVER Openweight belt against, erm, YOSHI-HASHI. OK. All of this pales to the main event from Philadelphia on Sunday, as there is a special TWELVE-MAN Elimination match, featuring Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson.

Yes. It is 20fekhakta19, and the Rock'n'Roll Express, are headlining a New Japan Pro Wrestling show, in the ECW Arena, on Sunday. Words I never in a million years thought I would write.

Whilst these cards may not be... the best?... it is important to remember, too, that these are also the retirement shows for referee Tiger (Masao) Hattori, having been a referee for over 42 years, starting in the NWA in the USA, but spending the majority of his career in NJPW, including doing PR work for the company. His presence will be missed in the NJPW ring.

Returning on these shows are TJP, Mikey Nicholls, and Amazing Red gets one more stint in the NJPW ring as well.

The lineups for King Of Pro Wrestling were also announced, in addition to the lead-up New Japan Road tour. New Japan Road shows are usually ones where they hit venues not commonly touched by NJPW, and they typically have all-native lineups. This time, however, there is a show that will be on NJPWWorld from Tokyo Korakuen Hall.

During New Japan Road, and culminating at King of Pro Wrestling, will be not one but FOUR Hiroshi Tanahashi 20th Anniversary Matches. They are all more or less the same match, honestly, but it’s all in celebration. Tanahashi debuted in NJPW on 10/10/1999, against Shinya Makabe; all four of these matches will feature the man now known as Togi Makabe as his opponent as well. Should all be good fun.

As for KOPW, the final supercard of 2019, some interesting additions to the card. First off, we have the return of El Desperado (Kyosuke Mikami) after being out since just before Best Of The Super Juniors, having had his jaw broken in a deathmatch against Jun Kasai at a TAKA Taichi Produce show. Interestingly, he will be teaming with the man who took his spot, DOUKI, in the opener of the show.

Also added to the show in a Jushin Thunder Liger v. Minoru Suzuki singles match. I would have sworn they would have made that Liger’s retirement match at WK14, but what do I know. NJPW are really pushing the Kishin Liger angle, so we may see a resurgence of that as well.

In addition to the three title matches already announced, they have also made official the briefcase match between Kota Ibushi v. EVIL, for the right to challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, whomever that will be (it’ll be Okada) at WK14.

In the meantime, two wrestlers who will not be appearing in the NJPW ring very much in the near future are the two senior Young Lions, Shota Umino & Ren Narita. We already knew Narita asked to go to the LA Dojo, and Katsuyori Shibata has granted that. He will be working the Fighting Spirit Unleashed shows as part of this excursion.

In the meantime, Shooter will be leaving the tender arms of Jon Moxley and is due to head to the UK, to work in Revolution Pro Wrestling. I don’t have any dates or matches, but I will keep you posted on that. This is a bit of a surprise, both the excursion happening now, and the location.

Especially since, NJPW already had a Young Lion on excursion in the UK, and indeed, one in CMLL. Neither of whom have been seen lately. What’s up with that? Well... I’ve been slowly trying to find out, and hopefully I can report on that soon. 

We wish both Shooter and Ren the best on their journeys.

Full lineups for the upcoming shows below:

Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2019 - 9/27/2019, Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, MA

Karl Fredericks v. Alex Coughlin

Ren Narita v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. TJP [FREE] & Clark Connors

Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson [FREE] v. Chase Owens & Jado [Bullet Club]

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Amazing Red [FREE] v. Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Rocky Romero [CHAOS] v. Jay White, KENTA & Gedo [Bullet Club]

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] (c) v. SHO & YOH [CHAOS]

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

- 9/28/2019, Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, NY (NJPWWorld)

Ren Narita v. TJP [FREE]

Karl Fredericks v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin

Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ricky Morton [FREE] & Robert Gibson [FREE] v. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Amazing Red [FREE] v. Jay White, Chase Owens & Gedo [Bullet Club]

NEVER Openweight Championship: KENTA [Bullet Club] (c) v. YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS]

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & Kota Ibushi v. SANADA & EVIL [Los Ingobernables]

- 9/29/2019, 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, PA

Rocky Romero [CHAOS] v. Clark Connors

Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Karl Fredericks

Alex Coughlin v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

Ren Narita v. Amazing Red [FREE]

Juice Robinson, SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Kota Ibushi & TJP [FREE] v. EVIL & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Elimination Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Ricky Morton [FREE] & Robert Gibson [FREE] v. Jay White, KENTA, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens & Gedo [Bullet Club]

New Japan Road - 10/4/2019, Toyama Takaoka Techno Dome

Yuji Nagata v. Yuya Uemura

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima v. Manabu Nakanishi & Yota Tsuji

Jushin Thunder Liger & Toa Henare v. Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], YOH [CHAOS] & Tiger Mask IV v. Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori, Gedo & Jado [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Taichi & DOUKI [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi 20th Anniversary Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Kota Ibushi & SHO [CHAOS] v. SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

- 10/7/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuya Uemura v. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Yota Tsuji

Toa Henare v. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV v. Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori, Gedo & Jado [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Taichi & DOUKI [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi 20th Anniversary Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & Kota Ibushi v. SANADA & EVIL [Los Ingobernables]

New Japan Road: Ganbarou! Uonuma 2019 - 10/5/2019, Niigata Uonuma Horinouchi Gymnasium

Satoshi Kojima v. Yota Tsuji

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yuya Uemura v. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi

Jushin Thunder Liger & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Minoru Suzuki & DOUKI [SZKG]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], SHO [CHAOS] & Tiger Mask IV v. Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori, Gedo & Jado [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi 20th Anniversary Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare v. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Kota Ibushi & YOH [CHAOS] v. SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

King Of Pro Wrestling - 10/14/2019, Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan (NJPWWorld)

El Desperado Return Match: Ryusuke Taguchi, SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi 20th Anniversary Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma v. Togi Makabe & Toru Yano [CHAOS]

Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer & Taichi [SZKG]

Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Jay White, KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club]

Jushin Thunder Liger v. Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] © v. El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: Jon Moxley [FREE] © v. Juice Robinson

Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship Challenge Rights: Kota Ibushi v. EVIL [Los Ingobernables]