New Japan Pro Wrestling

The New Japan Cup first round continued here today, and you can see it now on NJPWWorld. As stated previously, Great O-Khan has a bye into the second round due to Kota Ibushi’s withdrawal, where he will face Taiji Ishimori on 3/12/2022.

- 3/6/2022, Fukushima Big Palette

Yuji Nagata d. Kosei Fujita (Nagata Lock II, 7:36)

Chase Owens, El Phantasmo & Gedo [Bullet Club] d. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask IV (ELP > Honma, Thunder Kiss ‘86, 9:03)

Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Master Wato d. EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club] (Tanahashi > Yujiro, Roll-Up, 9:59)

Shingo Takagi, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables] d. Tomohiro Ishii, Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & YOH [CHAOS] (SANADA > YOH, Skull End, 13:23)

Bad Luck Fale & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] d. Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire] (Fale > O-Khan, Grenade, 11:12)

New Japan Cup 2022 1st Round: Aaron Henare [United Empire] d. Yuto Nakashima (Rampage Tackle, 8:40) 

New Japan Cup 2022 1st Round: Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] d. Ryohei Oiwa (Heel Hook, 10:35) 

New Japan Cup 2022 1st Round: Will Ospreay [United Empire] d. BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] (Hidden Blade, 12:48) 

There should be absolutely no surprises as to who advanced on this show, given we had two Young Lions in Cup matches, and they never give BUSHI anything anyway. The second round matches for today’s winners look like this:

- 3/12/2022, Aichi Dolphin’s Arena

New Japan Cup 2022 2nd Round: El Phantasmo [Bullet Club] v. Will Ospreay [United Empire]

New Japan Cup 2022 2nd Round: SANADA [Los ingobernables] v. Aaron Henare [United Empire]

New Japan Cup 2022 2nd Round: DOUKI [SZKG] v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

New Japan Cup 2022 2nd Round: Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] v. Great O-Khan [United Empire]

More TBA

Yesterday also had the first NJPW Strong from the Rivals taping in February, from the Vermont Hollywood in LA.

TJP [United Empire] d. Brogan Finlay (Pinoy Stretch, 9:06)

Christopher Daniels [FREE] d. Karl Fredericks (Best Moonsault Ever, 11:40)

JONAH & Bad Dude Tito d. Juice Robinson & David Finlay Jr. (Tito > Finlay, Frog Splash, 8:16)

Bad night for the Brothers Finlay, I guess.

Elsewhere, last night at Impact’s Sacrifice PPV event, Jay White beat Alex Shelley, whilst Eric Young & Joe Doering, now with Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa aligned with Violent By Design against Jay’s Bullet Club faction, beat The Good Brothers for the Impact World Tag Team titles.

The Cup’s final 1st Round matches take place tomorrow.

- 3/7/2022, Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma v. Will Osreay, Great O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Aaron Henare [United Empire]

Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & YOH [CHAOS] v. El Desperado, Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG]

New Japan Cup 2022 1st Round: Chase Owens [Bullet Club] v. Jado [Bullet Club]

New Japan Cup 2022 1st Round: Ryusuke Taguchi v. EVIL [Bullet Club]

New Japan Cup 2022 1st Round: Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables] v. SHO [Bullet Club]

New Japan Cup 2022 1st Round: Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Dragon Gate

The two nights of Champion Gate 2022 in Osaka have taken place, and you can see them now on DG Network. The opening matches of both cards (I think) are on YouTube, so do check those out. Many title matches were had across the two nights.

Champion Gate 2022 in Osaka Night 1 - 3/5/2022, Osaka EDION Arena Subarena (Dragon Gate Network)

Open The Brave Gate Championship: Dragon Dia [D’Courage] © d. Takuma Fujiwara (Double Cork, 11:00) - Dia succeeds his 1st defense

Masaaki Mochizuki, Gamma, Shuji Kondo & Churaumi Saver [Ryukyu Dragon] d. Dragon Kid [HIGH-END], Ben-K [HIGH-END], La Estrella & Gurukun Mask [Ryukyu Dragon] (Kondo > Estrella, King Kong Lariat, 10:13)

Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage] d. SB KENTo [Z-Brats] (DQ, 8:31)

HYO & Diamante [Z-Brats] d. Eita & Yosuke Santa Maria (HYO > Yosuke, Schoolboy, 4:17)

YAMATO, Kagetora & Jason Lee [HIGH-END] d. Don Fujii, Takashi Yoshida & Jason Lee (YAMATO > Fujii, Frankensteiner Of The Almighty, 11:21)

Big Boss Shimizu, Susumu Yokosuka & Genki Horiguchi [Natural Vibes] d. KAI, BxB Hulk & Shun Skywalker [Z-Brats] (Shimizu > KAI, La Magistral, 9:29)

Open The Triangle Gate Championship: Naruki Doi, Kota Minoura & Kaito Ishida [Gold Class] d. Kzy, U-T & Jacky “Funky” Kamei [Natural Vibes] © (Minoura > U-T, Gang, 14:30) - Kzy/U-T/ Kamei fail their 1st defense - Gold Class are the 77th champions

I mean, once Gold Class had their name and look, it was obvious they were winning these titles. Almost seems a bit facetious now to have had that tournament a few weeks back, but I am not a pro wrestling booker. Takumi Hayakawa is still Minorita, and accompanied the unit to the ring. It’s also pretty obvious that KAI will retain at tomorrow’s show, given Big Boss Shimizu now has another direct win before the title match. It’s just pro wrestling rules and logic; AEW gave away a few finishes for tonight’s PPV on Dynamite on Wednesday too.

Takuma Fujiwara showed out on this show, showing heavy young Jun Akiyama vibes in his title challenge against Dragon Dia. He and Ryu Fuda are gonna be good ones, just wait.

Z-Brats were in a good spot on this show. Gurukun Mask and Churaumi Saver (I thought it was Sabre but apparently it is Saver) from Ryukyu Dragon appeared today too. Gurukun Mask & YAMATO fell to Jun Kasai & Takashi Sasaki at the RDPW show in Shinjuku on Friday. However, Kzy & U-T did win the Twin Ryuo Tag Team titles from Churaumi Saver & Minoru Fujita, becoming the 4th champions of those titles. NOAH’s Kendo Kashin was also on that show, beating Hibiscus Mii.

 Champion Gate 2022 in Osaka Night 2 - 3/6/2022, Osaka EDION Arena Subarena (Dragon Gate Network)

Naruki Doi, Kota Minoura & Kaito Ishida [Gold Class] d. BxB Hulk, Shun Skywalker & Diamante [Z-Brats] (Minoura > Hulk, Engranaje, 10:35)

Masaaki Mochizuki & Ho Ho Lun d. Shuji Kondo & Ryu Fuda (Mochizuki > Fuda, Twister, 6:59)

Takashi Yoshida, Strong Machine J & Gurukun Mask [Ryukyu Dragon] d. Don Fujii, Gamma & Churaumi Saver [Ryukyu Dragon] (Gurukun > Gamma, Gurukun Leg Roll Clutch, 8:43)

Ben-K [HIGH-END] NC Jason Lee (10:15)

Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka, U-T & Jacky “Funky” Kamei [Natural Vibes] d. YAMATO, Dragon Kid, Kagetora & Keisuke Okuda [HIGH-END] (Kzy > Kagetora, Running Elbow Smash, 10:08)

Open The Twin Gate Championship 3-Way Match: Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage] © d. HYO & SB KENTo [Z-Brats] and Eita & Yosuke Santa Maria - Yosuke > KENTo, Inside Cradle, 14:12 - Yoshioka > Eita, Pinfall, 16:27 - D’Courage succeed their 2nd defense

Open The Dream Gate Championship: KAI [Z-Brats] © d. Big Boss Shimizu [Natural Vibes] (Authorized Gannosuke Clutch, 18:23) - KAI succeeds his 2nd defense

I’ve not had a chance to watch any of this show, so no idea who if anyone challenged KAI to be the next defense. D’Courage did retain their belts, however Yosuke got some measure of revenge over the two members of Z-Brats who usurped Eita’s position in R.E.D., so maybe that will take this Eita/Yosuke thing somewhere. Kota Minoura continues to be the one who wins for Gold Class, and I can’t help thinking there is a storyline thing here somewhere; Minorita was there as well this time too. Ben-K v. Jason Lee ended due to Z-Brats interference, leading into this 3-way match for I guess the rights to Jason Lee’s unit membership? I don’t know, seems a bit goofy.

The next show is on Saturday, a house show from Okayama. Eita has a title match challenge in NOAH next weekend, as does Masaaki Mochizuki, so I wouldn’t expect them on the Sunday 3/13/2022 show at least. The next livestreamed event is on 3/19/2022 from Kyoto KBS Hall, and the next one after that is not until 4/7/2022 from Tokyo Korakuen Hall, the retirement match for K-Ness.

GLEAT

GLEAT came back to action yesterday, with an all-Lidet-UWF-Rules show, which makes it an automatic must-see. The event was live on YouTube, so check it out.

GLEAT LIDET UWF Ver. 2 - 3/5/2022, Tokyo Shinjuku FACE (YouTube)

UWF Rules: Kaz Hayashi & Soma Watanabe d. TAKA Michinoku [JTO] & Akira Jumonji (8:30)

UWF Rules: Madeline d. Michiko Miyagi (4:55)

UWF Rules: Daisuke Sekimoto [BJW] d. Rionne Fujiwara (8:40)

UWF Rules: Takanori Ito & Minoru Tanaka d. Kengo Mashino & Takuro Niki (KO, 14:02)

UWF Rules: Daisuke Nakamura d. Daijiro Matsui (7:28)

UWF Rules: Tetsuya Izuchi d. Yu Iizuka (Referee’s Decision, 0:39)

That’s a… short main event there.

DDT / Tokyo Joshi

Tokyo Joshi ran their final prelude show on Saturday before Grand Princess ’22 on 3/19/2022 from Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan. It was announced that Hidekazu “Kero” Tanaka, the former NJPW ring announcer who was just at the 50th Anniversary Show on Tuesday, will be at that event; apparently he just had a brink-of-death recovery from COVID-19 recently, so glad to hear he is OK from that!

Tokyo Joshi 2022 Winter - 3/5/2022, Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko d. Nao Kakuta & Kaya Toribami (Kiryu > Toribami, Spinebuster, 10:34)

3-Way Match: Hyper Misao d. Yuki Aino & Arisu Endo (Misao > Endo, La Magistral, 7:53)

Hikari Noa & Yuki Kamifuku d. Raku & Pom Harajuku (Noa > Harajuku, Blizzard Suplex, 8:50)

Nodoka Tenma d. Marika Kobashi (Killswitch, 9:12)

Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Suzume d. Shoko Nakajima, Yukai Arai, Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Moka Miyamoto (Itoh > Arai, Ioth Punish, 23:45)

Maki Itoh gets a direct win on her challenger on 3/19, as the champions team beat the challengers team. Hope this isn’t any sort of omen. Nodoka Tenma and Marika Kobashi are both leaving TJPW around the same time, after having started around the same time, and now Tenma has beaten Kobashi as they both are on the way out.

TJPW also ran some sort of gimmick show today from Itabashi Green Hall that won’t be on Wrestle Universe until Wednesday, so no idea what all these gimmicks are.

TJPW Universe Member Box Office – Pure Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling 6 - 3/6/2022, Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

Cooking Match – Rice You Want To Make On White Day: Arisu Endo d. Yuka Sakazaki (Omelet Rice > Napolitan Rice by Daisuke Kiso Judgement)

Banned Act Lost Point System Tag Match: Miu Watanabe & Moka Miyamoto TKO Miyu Yamaashita & Maki Itoh (11:03)

Foot Sole Reading Anagram 5-Way Match: Shoko Nakajima d. Mizuki, Yuki Kamifuku, Raku & Kaya Toribami (11:01)

Hyper Misao & Haruno Neko d. Mil Nodcaras & Yuki Caras (Misao > Nodcaras, Jackknife Hold, 9:53)

Costume Change Match: Rika Tatsumi, Marika Kobashi & Suzume d. Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Mahiro Kiryu (Tatsumi > Kiryu, Torso Squeeze Dragon Sleeper, 13:59)

I am making a wild guess that the “Caras”es in the semi-main were Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino in Mil Mascaras masks.

DDT has announced that Kazuki Hirata is back from COVID-19, and will be in a 6-man tag match on DDT’s 3/13/2022 show. They also announced that a match inside a moving train from Goi Station to Yoro Valley Station, both in Chiba Prefecture, will take place on 4/2/2022. The trip usually takes an hour and a half, if Google Maps is to be believed. 32 fans will be aboard this train as well.

Tokyo Joshi is done until Ryogoku, whilst DDT runs next weekend.

STARDOM

STARDOM, another joshi promotion heading to Ryogoku later this month, ran two shows this weekend themselves.

- 3/5/2022, Osaka Rinkai Sports Center

Saki Kashima [Oedo Tai] d. Hanan [STARS] (Kishikaisei, 6:59)

Natsupoi [Donna del Mondo] d. Momo Kohgo (9:34)

Giulia, Himeka, Thekla & Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] d. Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa, Unagi Sayaka & Waki Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] (Thekla > Tsukiyama, Toxic Spider Death Drop, 11:47)

Syuri, Maika & MIRAI [Donna del Mondo] TLD Mayu Iwatani, Koguma & Hazuki [STARS] (15:00)

AZM, Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani & Lady C [Queen’s Quest] d. Rina, Ruaka, Starlight Kid & Momo Watanabe [Oedo Tai] (C > Rina, Chokeslam, 17:06)

- 3/6/2022, Shizuoka Kira Messe Numazu

Saki Kashima [Oedo Tai] d. Waka Tsukiyama (5:16)

AZM [Queen’s Quest] d. Hanan [STARS] (German Suplex Hold, 8:54)

Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani & Lady C [Queen’s Quest] TLD Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa & Unagi Sayaka [Cosmic Angels] (20:00)

Ruaka, Fukigen Death, Starlight Kid & Momo Watanabe [Oedo Tai] d. Giulia, MIRAI, Thekla & Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] (Ruaka > Thekla, Freezer Bomb, 16:05)

Syuri, Maika, Himeka & Natsupoi [Donna del Mondo] d. Mayu Iwatani, Koguma, Hazuki & Momo Kohgo [STARS] (Syuri > Kohgo, White Tiger, 16:26)

I’m confused as to what unit Momo Kohgo actually belongs to. Maybe none, and she’s an unaffiliated rookie or something? It’s possible. Ruaka gets a direct win over the SWA champion, so I am expecting a title match to come from that pretty soon. STARDOM’s English Twitter account really liked AZM v. Hanan, so check that one out when it hits STARDOM World I guess.

STARDOM’s next show is on Friday 3/11/2022, New Blood v1, which will have the debut of Miyu Amasaki against Utami Hayashishita. The company also runs on Saturday and Sunday next weekend too.

Pro Wrestling NOAH

NOAH held another N Innovation show yesterday, from Yokohama Radiant Hall.

N Innovation - 3/5/2022, Kanagawa Yokohama Radiant Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon] d. Yasutaka Yano (9:03)

Tadasuke & Nio [Kongo] d. Alejandro & Kai Fujimura (Nio > Fujimura, Stuka Splash, 11:22)

Kaito Kiyomiya & Daiki Inaba d. Kotaro Suzuki & Ikuto Hidaka [Perros del Mal de Japon] (Inaba > Hidaka, DDD, 15:00)

NOSAWA Rongai [Perros del Mal de Japon] d. YO-HEY (9:47)

HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa & Yuya Susumu [STINGER] d. Daisuke Harada, Hao & Junta Miyawaki (Ogawa > Miyawaki, 22:15)

Atsushi Kotoge d. Hajime Ohara [Kongo] (KIllswitch, 24:15)

Kotoge gets a win over his now-former Momo no Seishun Tag partner Hajime Ohara, whilst NOSAWA Rongai gets one over on the guy he kicked out of Perros del Mal de Japon. There’s a lot of other NOAH-related news down at the bottom of this post, as a bunch of NOAH talents worked ZERO1 today.

NOAH’s next show is a big one, Grand Voyage in Yokohama, next Sunday, which will be shown live on Wrestle Universe. The GHC Heavyweight Tag Team vacancy will be filled here, and there’s a GHC junior title match as well.

Great Voyage 2022 in Yokohama - 3/13/2022, Kanagawa Yokohama Budokan (Wrestle Universe)

Junta Miyawaki v. Kinya Okada

GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Tournament 1st Round: Naomichi Marufuji & Masaaki Mochizuki [M’s Alliance] v. Kaito Kiyomiya & Daiki Inaba

GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Tournament 1st Round: Kenoh & Masakatsu Funaki [Kongo] v. Takashi Sugiura & Hideki Suzuki [Sugiura-gun]

HAYATA [STINGER], Yoshinari Ogawa [STINGER] & Yasutaka Yano v. Tadasuke, Hajime Ohara & Nio [Kongo]

Atsushi Kotoge, Hao & Alejandro v. NOSAWA Rongai, Super Crazy & Ikuto Hidaka [Perros del Mal de Japon]

YO-HEY v. Kotaro Suzuki [Perros del Mal de Japon]

Go Shiozaki v. Manabu Soya [Kongo]

Kazuyuki Fujita, Kazushi Sakuraba & Kendo Kashin [Sugiura-gun] v. Masato Tanaka [M’s Alliance], Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura

GHC Juniorheavyweight Championship: Daisuke Harada © v. Eita [Perros del Mal de Japon]

GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Tournament Final: TBD

Other News

Pro Wrestling ZERO1 ran today in Tokyo Korakuen Hall billed as “Shinjiro Otani Debut 30th Anniversary Year – ZERO1 21st Anniversary Launch.” ZERO1, founded by Shinya Hashimoto & Shinjiro Otani, did run their first show on 3/2/2001 from Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan, the main event of which had NOAH’s Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama beating Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata. The debut show was a Who’s Who of Japanese wrestling at the time. In today’s ZERO1, NOAH’s Takashi Sugiura is their World Heavyweight Champion, and remains so, having beaten Takuya Sugawara today. Post-main, none other than Shinjiro Otani challenged Sugiura for that title. There was also a title change, as Junya Matsunaga & Takafumi beat Gajo & Tomohiko Hashimoto for the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship. Masato Tanaka also beat the Big Tank Yoshiki Inamura. If you want to see this one, it was shown on Wrestle Universe, so have at it.

Speaking of the Hashimoto family and title changes, Big Japan also have new tag team champions, as Okami (Daichi Hashimoto & Hideyoshi Kamitani) beat Strong BJ (Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji OKabayashi) in the main event of their Korakuen Hall show today. That will be on Samurai! TV soon enough. That does actually sound like a good main event. I still think BJW has done wrong by Kamitani (and maybe Hashimoto) over the years, but to their credit, they’ve stuck by BJW regardless.

Osaka Pro held a Pre-Launch Battle card, before their relaunch, earlier today in Osaka, oddly enough. The main event had Black Buffalo, Kazuaki Mihara & Quiet Storm beating Ares, Billy Ken Kid & Zeus. Some of the other Osaka Pro standbys of old including Tsubasa, Ebessan, Kuishinbo Kamen and Tigers Mask were on the show too.

Other promotions that ran this weekend include 2AW, 666, Ice Ribbon, Diana, HEAT UP, Michinoku Pro, PURE-J, Marvelous, ChocoPro, as well as some one-off shows.

Happy Halloween if you celebrate it. The tour continued today.

- 10/31/2021, Fukushima Big Palette

Yuto Nakashima TLD Ryohei Oiwa (10:00)

El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] d. Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] & Kosei Fujita (Kanemaru > Fujita, Boston Crab, 11:01)

Great O-Khan & Aaron Henare [United Empire] d. Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Tomoaki Honma (Henare > Honma, Streets Of Rage, 10:52)

SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Togi Makabe & Ryusuke Taguchi (SANADA > Taguchi, O’Connor Bridge, 8:50)

EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo [Bullet Club] d. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Master Wato (EVIL > Wato, EVIL STO, 12:35)

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Yuji Nagata & Tiger Mask IV d. KENTA, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club] (Okada > Jado, Money Clip, 14:42)

Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables] d. Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI [SZKG] (Takagi > DOUKI, Reverse STF?, 12:17)

The NJPW official results called the winning move for the main event a “Back STF” so I guess that’s a reverse STF of some kind? Maybe? Honma got his one win for the year and it’s been downhill ever since. Yuto Nakashima’s return match went much better than his debut, going the full 10 minute time limit without any issues. Good to see he stuck through it and returned.

This week’s episode of NJPW Strong concluded the matches from the Autumn Attack taping sessions in Garland, TX.

Fred Rosser & Rocky Romero [CHAOS] d. JR Kratos & Danny Limelight [Team Filthy] (Rosser > Limelight, Gut Feeling, 14:40)

Lio Rush [AEW] d. Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] (Final Hour, 15:13)

Minoru Suzuki [SZKG] & Lance Archer [AEW] d. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor & Royce Isaacs [Team Filthy] (Suzuki > Isaacs, Gotch Style Piledriver, 11:07)

Post-main, Chris Dickinson came out and challenged Suzuki for the Philadelphia show (that has already happened). Suzuki responded by saying he spoke very little English, but also “Fuck you.” Of course, those Philly tapings should start with next week’s episode of Strong. Rush v. Ishimori seems very much worth watching.

In other NJoA news, three more matches were announced for Battle In The Valley on 11/13/2021. In a battle featuring three guys who will be out of a ROH contract in December, VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King & Chris Dickinson) will take on two of the Stray Dog Army, Bateman & Misterioso. The two most recent Impact World Champions will also be in attendance, as Josh Alexander faces Yuya Uemura, whilst Juice Robinson goes against *spits* Moose.

Meanwhile, what could be the full card for Detonation, on 11/15/2021 in Riverside, CA, has been released. First, it is now official, that Fred Rosser will challenge “Filthy” Tom Lawlor for the NJPW Strong Openweight title. However, the biggest news here is that Josh Barnett wrestles his first NJPW match since 5/3/2004, when he beat Ken Shamrock by DQ in the Tokyo Dome. Barnett did work several events for Inoki Genome Federation after that over the years, and was of course the color commentator for NJPW on AXS from 2015 - 2018, before a shoot incident between himself and Jay White at G1 Special in San Francisco on 7/7/2018 saw the beginning of the end of his career with AXS. Barnett will now be the next opponent in Alex Coughlin’s challenge series.

Full card as announced below:

Detonation (NJPW Strong Taping) - 11/15/2021, Riverside Municipal Auditorium, Riverside, CA

Alex Coughlin Challenge Series: Alex Coughlin v. Josh Barnett [FREE]

Kevin Knight & The DKC v. Jordan Clearwater & Brogan Finlay

Lio Rush [AEW] & Adrian Quest v. Bateman & Misterioso [Stray Dog Army]

Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors & Ren Narita v. Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb & TJP [United Empire]

Gabriel Kidd v. Jonathan Gresham [ROH]

Chris Dickinson [VLNCE UNLTD] & Alex Zayne v. Jay White & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. Brody King [VLNCE UNLTD]

NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor [Team Filthy] (c) v. Fred Rosser

Last bit of news: Rocky Romero appeared in Impact on their TV show this past Thursday, challenging and falling to the new X Division champion Trey Miguel. This show was part of the tapings at Sam’s Town in La Vegas, NV, that started this past Sunday 10/24/2021, so expect to see Minoru Suzuki on episodes in the coming weeks as well. It does appear at this time that co-promotion between Impact and AEW is done, at least for now.

The tour continues tomorrow.

- 11/1/2021, Saitama Kumagaya Citizen Gymnasium

Yuto Nakashima v. Kosei Fujita

Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] & Ryohei Oiwa v. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Togi Makabe v. Great O-Khan & Aaron Henare [United Empire]

Yuji Nagata & Tiger Mask IV v. SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables]

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi v. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Tomoaki Honma & Master Wato v. KENTA, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club]

The tour continued today, in another show that was not streamed. Meanwhile, the state of emergency is now lifted in nine prefectures, with Okinawa remaining under the order until 7/11/2021. Seven of those nine, including Tokyo and Osaka, will have quasi-emergency measures taking place (as detailed in an earlier post), but also, there are claims that the vaccinations will be accelerated during this not-state-of-emergency period by the government. We’ll see if that actually takes place. So far they have seemed more willing to try to hold the Olympics than to take care of the needs of the people. (One wonders if this modern IOC would have forced the Games to go on during World War II, but then, they literally did hold the Games in Nazi Germany in 1936, so...)

Results:

- 6/20/2021, Ibaraki Lily Arena MITO

El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] d. Ryusuke Taguchi & Yuya Uemura (Desperado > Uemura, Numero Dos, 10:49)

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Master Wato d. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Yota Tsuji (Tenzan > Tsuji, Anaconda Vice, 11:15)

Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano [CHAOS] d. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo & Jado [Bullet Club] (Ishii > Togo, DQ, 11:26)

SHO, YOH & Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] d. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Gedo [Bullet Club] (Okada > Gedo, Money Clip, 12:11)

Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki & DOUKI [SZKG] (Takagi > DOUKI, Last Of The Dragon, 16:40)

I had the last match listed incorrectly (twice) in earlier posts, oops. EVIL, Yujiro and Togo attacked the CHAOS team following the DQ and declared they would be the next NEVER 6-Man Comedy champions.

Last night, New Japan of America announced Resurgence, taking place on 8/14/2021 at The Torch At LA Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. This will be NJPW’s first show in the USA with fans since the last night of The New Beginning USA 2020 in Atlanta, GA on 2/1/2020. (Several shows had been planned, including Lion’s Break: Project 3 during Wrestlemania Weekend and Wrestle Dynasty in Madison Square Garden but obviously the pandemic put those plans on hold.)

The talents announced are quite something. Both IWGP US Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley and NEVER Openweight Champion Jay White are listed for the event, as is Shota Umino, marking his first NJPW match since the 12th Young Lions Cup final day on 9/22/2019. Speculation is rife that we will see a reunion between Mox and Shooter, and it seems quite likely!

Also listed are the Good Brothers, “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows, returning to the NJPW ring for the first time since February 2016. Juice Robinson & David Finlay are listed as well, as is NJPW Strong Openweight Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, and Lio Rush, in what may be his final match both with NJPW and in wrestling.

No card has been announced yet. Tickets will go on sale on 6/30/2021, starting at $39. This show will also be shown in English on FITE TV for a price, and in Japanese on NJPWWorld.

This Friday’s episode of NJPW Strong was pretty Impact Wrestling heavy, as Satoshi Kojima was in the main event, and Impact’s X Division champion Josh Alexander made his NJPW debut, continuing the Ignition series of shows.

Josh Alexander [Impact] d. Alex Coughlin (Divine Intervention, 11:25)

Bateman [ROH] & Barrett Brown d. Fred Rosser & Adrian Quest (Bateman > Quest, This Is A Kill, 9:41)

Satoshi Kojima d. JR Kratos [Team Filthy] (Lariat, 11:26)

Kojima gets the win in his grudge match, whilst Barrett Brown continues to come out on top over Adrian Quest in their former-partners beef. Alexander acquitted himself nicely in his NJPW debut.

Next week will have the NJPW Strong Openweight title match between “Filthy” Tom Lawlor v. Karl Fredericks.

Coming soon to NJPW Strong is the Tag Team Turbulence tournament starting in July. The Good Brothers will be taking part in this, but so will Yuji Nagata, returning to NJPW Strong. Here are the first round matchups for this single elimination tournament starting on the 7/16/2021 edition of NJPW Strong:

TJP [FREE] & Clark Connors v. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows [Impact]

Kevin Knight & The DKC v. Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs

Yuji Nagata & Ren Narita v. Fred Yehi & Wheeler Yuta

Brody King [ROH] & Chris Dickinson v. JR Kratos & Danny Limelight [Team Filthy]

It’s single elimination, but let’s face it, the odds are high the Good Brothers are winning this, being multiple IWGP tag champs in the past.

The tour takes a day off tomorrow, before resuming Tuesday with a title match main event. The Young Lions’ trial series’ continue as well.

- 6/22/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Yuya Uemura Trial Series: Yuya Uemura v. Taichi [SZKG]

Yota Tsuji Trial Series: Yota Tsuji v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

SHO, YOH, Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, Gedo & Jado [Bullet Club]

Kota Ibushi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata v.  Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Last night was the next episode of NJPW Strong to come from the Autumn Attack tapings in September down in Texas. This episode was not unopposed, as AEW ran a (pretty lackluster, honestly) special Saturday episode of Dynamite. 

Alex Coughlin Challenge Series: Chris Dickinson [ROH] d. Alex Coughlin (Cross Armbreaker, 13:03)

Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero [CHAOS] d. Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs [Team Filthy] (Romero > Nelson, Backslide, 13:41)

Juice Robinson, Lio Rush [AEW], TJP [FREE] & Clark Connors d. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, Hikuleo & Chris Bey [Bullet Club] (Robinson > Hikuleo, DQ, 11:07)

Will Ospreay [United Empire] d. Karl Fredericks (Hidden Blade, 18:08)

Ospreay defeats Fredericks, and then welcomed TJP into the ranks of the United Empire by helping with the beatdown. Two scumbags can be in the same unit; poor O-Khan. I think this would have worked better had TJP’s match from that night not had been the previous one, which ended when Hikuleo used a bullrope on Juice in lead-in to their Bullrope Match. Think there may have been some poor choice in match placement in the editing room here. There also seems to be some confusion as to who actually won Dickinson v. Coughlin. NJPW’s English site says Coughlin, others including Cagematch and F4W say Dickinson. 

Next week’s episode continues the Autumn Attack cycle. The Showdown shows should be wrapping up right about now if they haven’t already. Again, I’m not going to spoil anything so I have something to discuss when the episodes air on NJPWWorld.

Minoru Suzuki was at the Showdown Strong tapings in Philly yesterday and today, but on Friday, he was in Miami for the AEW Rampage Buy-In where he and Bryan Danielson wrestled what was, frankly, a MOTYC and one of the best matches I’ve seen in North America ever. It was magnificent, and you need to see it now on AEW’s YouTube channel. Danielson did win the strike and submission heavy match with a Busaiku Knee, almost going the full 30-minute time limit, and believe me, they could have gone longer and I would have been Just Peachy. Seriously, watch it now. This may be my #1 match for Suzuki’s US tour now, displacing Suzuki v. Homicide in GCW on 9/24/2021, but then, I’ve still not seen all of the matches yet.

This past Saturday was an extra-length episode of NJPW Strong, with matches from Autumn Attack a few weeks ago. This one kinda deserved it, with a title match, a champion v. champion battle and Minoru Suzuki.

Minoru Suzuki [SZKG] d. Fred Rosser (Gotch Style Piledriver, 11:34)

NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor [Team Filthy] (c) d. Ren Narita (St. Andrew’s Cross, 20:14) - Lawlor succeeds his 5th defense

Jay White [Bullet Club] d. Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] (Blade Runner, 18:07)

The NEVER Openweight Champion defeats the IWGP Juniorheavyweight Champion, also his former stablemate. Following the match, Jay fired some shots at EVIL, reminding everyone who’s in charge of this New Era. Narita failed in beating “The Strongest For The Longest,” “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, but seems to be adopting a much more Shibata-like demeanor now. Fred Rosser tried to tell Suzuki that he was in Rosser’s house, which did not end well for him. This was not the only time this happened over the weekend. More on that below.

Next Saturday’s episode continues the Autumn Attack cycle of episodes; the next two episodes also run against special Saturday editions of AEW Dynamite.

It was another weekend of Minoru Suzuki doing Minoru Suzuki things on the US indies.

On Friday, Suzuki defeated the current indie flavor Daniel Garcia (at the same time a pre-taped match between Garcia v. CM Punk was shown on AEW Rampage. Funny how this keeps happening with Garcia), at West Coast Pro’s 3rd anniversary show, No Leaf Clover.  It was a very shoot and strike heavy match that included several refrains of “FUCK YOU YOUNG BOY!” from Suzuki. OH MY. Also on that show, Yuya Uemura & Karl Fredericks teamed with Juicy Finau to defeat D-Rogue, Kevin Blackwood & Vinnie Massaro in the show opener, whilst Clark Connors & Kevin Knight of the LA Dojo fell to the West Coast Wrecking Crew of Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson. Slight followup item to all this below. You can see this on-demand on IWTV.

Suzuki took Saturday off, but then returned to Game Changer Wrestling on Sunday to face Joey Janela, he of the Spring Breaks, in the semi-main of The Aftermath. (The Aftermath of what, you ask? Jon Moxley v. Nick Gage for the GCW World title on Saturday’s show, which was a gnarly deathmatch that saw Mox retain.)  This was a fun outing, with Suzuki not really taking Janela very seriously throughout the match as they brawled all over the Showboat in Atlantic City, NJ. Post-match, Chris Dickinson said that Suzuki was in “his house” (there’s that phrase again), and said even tho they have a match next weekend in Philadelphia at the NJPW Strong tapings (that’s on Saturday 10/16/2021 at the 2300 Arena), they have “unfinished business” in GCW too, meaning, their Bloodsport match that never happened due to the pandemic. AFAIK Suzuki’s match at Bloodsport 7 has yet to be announced, so this could be that. But also, we never got Suzuki v. Orange Cassidy either, from the postponed Spring Break from that year, and that has yet to be rescheduled too. Suzuki laughed off the “His House” comment too. Honestly, the Saturday card was more engaging than the Sunday one overall, but both are worth watching, which you can on FITE TV.

This coming weekend, Suzuki is at the aforementioned NJPW Strong tapings, which will also have he and Lance Archer in a Philadelphia Street Fight against Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston, the latter making his NJPW (NJoA, really) debut.