#taka and taichi produce

[thistledropkick]

Congrats to El Desperado for finally getting kissed by Kasai Jun, I always believed in you.

[gdwessel]

NJPW New Year’s Golden Series, WrestleCon STRONG Taping Announced; NOAH, Dragon Gate, STARDOM, TAKA Taichi Mania 3 Results

New Japan Pro Wrestling

NJPW have now announced the full lineups for the New Year’s Golden Series, running from 1/20/2022 until 2/20/2022. I won’t be posting those lineups here today, but there will be an Upcoming Shows post in the very near future I assure thee.

The biggest announcement is Kazuchika Okada’s next defense of the IWGP World Heavyweight title against Tetsuya Naito, the main event of the closing event in Sapporo on 2/20/2022. Also that day will be two other title matches, as the House Of Torture defense the NEVER Openweight 6-Man titles against Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and YOH in a rematch of the clusterfuck from WK16. Minoru Suzuki also defends his Provisional KOPW2022 trophy against Toru Yano that night.

On the night before, 2/19/2022, Hiroshi Tanahashi will defend his IWGP US Heavyweight Championship against SANADA. Both tag team championships will be on the line as well, when Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defend their newly-won titles against EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi, whilst Flying Tiger matches up against Bullet Club’s Cutest Tag Team for the junior straps.

EVIL, somehow, is part of three title matches on this tour, as on 2/13/2022 in Osaka, he will defend the NEVER Openweight title against Tomohiro Ishii in a lumberjack match, that is the rematch to what was hands down the worst Wrestle Kingdom match in memory.

On 2/11/2022 in Sendai, the IWGP Juniorheavyweight belt will be on the line, as El Desperado defends against Master Wato. This will be Hirai Kawato’s first-ever challenge for this title. Despy and Kawato have a long history of Despy beating Kawato, and I don’t really see that changing much here.

As I mentioned above, I will post the full lineups very soon.

NJPW also announced that an NJPW Strong show will be happening at WrestleCon in Dallas, TX, on 4/1/2022, during Wrestlemania weekend. No details including ticket sales have been revealed as yet. AAA and current NJPW partners Impact Wrestling have announced WrestleCon events as well, and (former?) NJPW partner Ring of Honor is set to return during that weekend too, with on-sale dates for Supercard Of Honor already announced. We’ll see how that goes.

Pro Wrestling NOAH

The third and final N Innovation U-CUP show was yesterday, with a title match main event.

- 1/10/2021, Yokohama Radiant Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Ikuto Hidaka [Perros del Mal de Japon] & Daiki Inaba d. Yoshiki Inamura & Kai Fujimura (Hidaka > Fujimura, Shawn Capture, 11:43)

Seiki Yoshioka & Yuya Susumu [STINGER] TLD Hajime Ohara & Atsushi Kotoge (20:00)

NOSAWA Rongai, YO-HEY & Kotaro Suzuki [Perros del Mal de Japon] d. ALEJA, Nao & Nio [Kongo] (YO-HEY > ALEJA, Dropkick, 7:26)

Kaito Kiyomiya d. Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon] (Tiger Suplex, 16:42)

U-CUP Unit Shuffle Tag Match: Tadasuke [Kongo] & Junta Miyawaki d. Eita [Perros del Mal de Japon] & Yoshinari Ogawa [STINGER] (Tadasuke > Eita, lariat, 6:42)

GHC Juniorheavyweight Championship: Daisuke Harada d. HAYATA [STINGER] © (DOKAAAN!!, 27:02) - HAYATA fails his 9th defense - Harada is the 47th champion

HAYATA’s third reign ends after 197 days. This is Harada’s fifth reign as champion; only Yoshinobu Kanemaru has more at seven, but not since 2016. Eita and Perros del Mal de Japon all attacked Ogawa post-match, and challenged for a GHC junior tag title match. Kiyomiya returns to winning ways after losing to Kazuchika Okada on Saturday. The first match was changed, with BIG TANK Yoshiki Inamura filling Yasutaka Yano’s spot for reasons I am not aware of.

NOAH’s next show is on Sunday, with Katsuhiko Nakajima’s next defense of the GHC Heavyweight title as the main event. Keiji Muto & Naomichi Marufujii also defend their GHC tag team titles against Kongo’s Kenoh & Manabu Soya. NOAH and DDT have also announced the date and locale of CyberFight Festival 2022, on 6/12/2022 at Saitama Super Arena.

Bumper Crop in Sendai - 1/16/2022, Sendai Sunplaza Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Kinya Okada v. Yasutaka Yano

NOSAWA Rongai, YO-HEY, Kotaro Suzuki & Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon] v. Tadasuke, ALEJA, Nao & Nio [Kongo]

King Tany & Muhammad Yone [Funky Express] v. Masakatsu Funaki & Masato Tanaka [M’s Alliance]

HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa, Seiki Yoshioka & Yuya Susumu [STINGER] v. Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge, Hajime Ohara & Junta Miyawaki

Go Shiozaki, Kaito Kiyomiya, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura v. Takashi Sugiura, Kazushi Sakuraba, Kendo Kashin & Kazuyuki Fujita [Sugiura-gun]

GHC Tag Team Championship: Keiji Muto & Naomichi Marufuji [M’s Alliance] © v. Kenoh & Manabu Soya [Kongo]

GHC Heavyweight Championship: Katsuhiko Nakajima [Kongo] © v. Masa Kitamiya

STARDOM

STARDOM ran a small show yesterday that was not streamed.

New Year Stars 2022 Night 3 - 1/8/2022, Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall

Saki Kashima & Fukigen Death [Oedo Tai] d. Unagi Sayaka & Mai Sakurai [Cosmic Angels] (Kashima > Sakurai, Kishikaisei, 8:09)

Hazuki [STARS] d. Rina [Oedo Tai] (8:19)

Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani & Lady C [Queen’s Quest] d. Ruaka, Starlight Kid & Momo Watanabe [Oedo Tai] (Hayashishita > Ruaka, German Suplex Hold, 11:47)

Syuri, Maika & Himeka [Donna del Mundo] d. Mayu Iwatani, Hanan & Koguma [STARS] (Maika > Hanan, 13:49)

Giulia, MIRAI & Thekla [Donna del Mundo] d. Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa & Waka Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] (Thekla > Tsukiyama, Toxic Snake Death Drop, 18:26)

STARDOM next run in Gifu on Saturday.

Dragon Gate

Dragon Gate’s tour continued today. The show was not streamed live, however the main event was posted to YouTube so you can watch that if you want.

Open The New Year Gate 2022 - 1/11/2022, Mie Kuwana Yamamori Gymnasium

Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka, Big Boss Shimizu & Jacky “Funky” Kamei [Natural Vibes] d. Takumi Hayakawa, Takuma Fujiwara, Ryu Fuda & Shoya Sato (Shimizu > Hayakawa, Big Boss Press, 13:43)

Ultimo Dragon, Naruki Doi & Takashi Yoshida d. Dragon Kid, Ben-K & Keisuke Okuda [HIGH-END] (Yoshida > Okuda, Pineapple Bomber, 12:24)

Masaaki Mochizuki & Jason Lee [MASQUERADE] d. Riki & Ishin Iihashi (Lee > Riki, Maximum Driver, 11:07)

BxB Hulk & SB KENTo [R.E.D.] d. YAMATO & Kagetora [HIGH-END] (KENTo > Kagetora, SB Shooter, 13:58)

Shun Skywalker, Kota Minoura & La Estrella [MASQUERADE] d. KAI, Kaito Ishida & HYO (Skywalker > HYO, SSW, 14:06)

Once again, MASQUERADE beats R.E.D. despite the beef within MASQUERADE because of a botched cheating spot, this time Ishida intentionally hitting HYO with their signature plastic box before Shun hit SSW. If you watch the main event at the link above, you see Minoura and Estrella come out just in their ring gear, whilst Shun wants to do the full MASQUERADE entrance, even carrying another outfit with him to get somebody, anybody to put it on. Either this group will be unstoppable or they are disbanding soon. Jason Lee has already been teaming with others recently, and Naruki Doi wants Kota Minoura for the unit he’s planning to form soon.

One thing I have been neglecting to mention – this is K-ness’s retirement tour, as he is quitting at age 47 due to a neck injury. Not sure when his actual retirement show is, but this tour is subtitled Final Burst Out! K-ness Forever.

Two nights at Tokyo Korakuen Hall follow tomorrow and Thursday, and those will be shown live. No cards announced.

Other News

TAKA & Taichi Produce returned for the first time in some years, with TAKA Taichi Mania 3 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall yesterday. It was run as a JUST TAP OUT show, but you can actually see it on NJPWWorld now. Which tells me TAKA Michinoku really is back in good graces with NJPW. As for Suzuki-gun goings on, Taichi defeated DOUKI in the main event, whilst El Desperado beat TAKA. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. also teamed at the show, defeating the indie tag team of KANON & Ren Ayabe. Check it out.

Michinoku Pro ran a two-match Dojo event yesterday in Takizawa.

MARVELOUS ran yesterday at Korakuen Hall as well, with Takumi Iroha beating Sendai Girls’ Chihiro Hashimoto to win the vacant AAAW Championship. 

Gatoh Move’s ChocoPro wrestling show in a day care playroom had its latest event yesterday too, I think you can still catch those on YouTube?

[keepingthespiritalive]

TAKA and Taichi will be holding their produce shows again this year as the two Suzuki-gun teammates will be taking on two members of Los Ingobernables de Japon in Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI.

TAKA & Taichi Produce SEASON 2, 8/28/2017 [Mon] 19:00 @ Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo

(-) Special Tag Best 2 out of 3 Falls Match:: TAKA Michinoku & Taichi vs. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI

http://puroresuspirit.net/tag/taka-taichi-produce/

[alibomaye]

Miho Abe makes the mistake of taunting Hiromu with her scarf and now she can't get it back lol

[frentique]

Hiromu knows all the words.

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW WRESTLING DONTAKU 2019 Review (May 3rd and 4th, Fukuoka Kokusai Centre)

May 3rd

Tomoaki Honma, Shota Umino & Ren Narita vs. Toa Henare, yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura  ***1/4

Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku  ***1/4

Kota Ibushi & Roppongi 3K vs. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI  ***1/2

Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. SANADA & EVIL  ***3/4

NEVER Openweight Title Match: Jeff Cobb (c) vs. Taichi  ***1/4

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title Match: Dragon Lee (c) vs. Taiji Ishimori  ****1/2

May 4th

Shota Umino & Ren Narita vs. Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura  ***1/4

Dragon Lee & Will Ospreay vs. Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo  ***1/2

Kota Ibushi & Roppongi 3K vs. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI  ***3/4

Tomohiro Ishii vs. EVIL  ****3/4

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. SANADA  ****1/2

Photos.

These shows were the culmination of a great tour that surpassed all expectations, and suitable to form, they were two very fun shows. Night 1 featured some great action, most notably all of the Young Lions in the opener (of both nights, this really is a standout class they have presently), and the continuation of the heated Liger/Suzuki feud. Things got really good with the Ibushi/RPG3K vs. LIJ six-man, which was a fun, all-action battle, just as you’d excpect, and just as they’ve been all tour long (the 10 man elimination tag from May 1st was a **** match and is well worth checking out, by the way). After 11:31 of hot action, Ibushi put BUSHI away with the Kamigoye to win for his team. In the post-match, the I.C. champion demanded an answer from Naito as to when, and if, his challenge will take place. Naito told him to “tranquillo” and he’d let Ibushi know tomorrow. After another mystery man challenged Juice Robinson via video, it was time for the Okada/Ishii vs. SANADA/EVIL doubles clash, which was great stuff. This was all about building to the two big singles matches the next night, and featured some great sequences. After beating the hell out of each other all match, it boiled down to EVIL and Ishii, after the Stone Pitbull was unable to tag out, and found himself locked in the Scorpion Deathlock (the patented move of one of Ishii’s legendary mentors; Riki Choshu), whilst SANADA held Okada at bay with Skull End. Ishii fought valiantly to the ropes, in dramatic fashion, but after being dragged back to the centre of the squared circle, the referee called a stoppage at 16:52.

The NEVER title bout between Jeff Cobb and Taichi was... interesting. I was fixing to hate this thing during the first 10 minutes, as Taichi did his usual stall and cheap-heat tactics, and TAKA and Kanemaru interference, as I felt myself about to lose conciousness through the abject boredom of it all, but it did pick up into a very decent match by the end. However, Taichi wasn’t even the thing I disliked the most about this; Cobb appeared to sleepwalk through this thing. He sold incessantly, Jeff Cobb, an olympian, a SHOOTER, lifelessly sold for Taichi’s pretend Kawada offence in totally baffling fashion. This guy should do the whole Dr. Death/Vader thing and be a monster who only sells when he needs to (yes, he’s short, but he’s a crazy powerhouse with super impressive and believable offence). This gained life with a hot closing stretch, which was very good indeed, culminating in Taichi hitting Black Mephisto on Cobb, and pin him at the 17:50 mark, clean as a sheet, to win the belt. This was inexplicable as I would have kept the belt on Cobb, believing there to be potential in a run with it, but whatever. Taichi is your new NEVER Champion.

The main event of night 1 was a truly excellent high flying display between two of the best junior heavyweights anywhere in the world right now. This started slow but built into a tremendous match, with the crowd super hot for the finishing sequence, which saw Lee hit his snap German off the ropes, but Ishimori popped up and hit a Canadian Destroy, only for Dragon to ‘fighting spirit’ his way up from the move and hit a Falcon Arrow for the double down. The champion hit the double stomp off the top in the corner for a near fall, then Ishimori counters Desnucadora into a cradle for another great near fall. Bone Soldier Reborn locked in the Yes Lock, which Lee did a great job of selling, leading to a dramatic sequence where it looked like the masked man was going to tap, but he eventually made the ropes, to a big pop. After scoring a near fall with a gutbuster, Ishimori went for Bloody Cross, but Lee counters into a reverse rana, hits another snap German, and scored a very believable near fall with a Busaiku Knee strike, which got the stomping treatment from the Fukuoka faithful. From there, Dragon hit Desnucadora to retain in 25:53 of fantastic action, and to cement himself as the rightful champion, having finally scored a pinfall over Ishimori. Also, this was the first time the juniors have main evented a major show in three years, and to say it was a success, both in-ring, and at the box office, would be putting it lightly, which is a good sign for the impending BOSJ, which I’m really excited for.

Night two had a much less entertaining undercard, but the top half was really great. Aside for the good Young Lion opener, the first thing of note on the show was El Phantasmo’s (to the surprise of few) debut in a very good doubles clash, teaming with Ishimori to take on Dragon Lee and ‘good friend’ Will Ospreay. This was all about getting Phantasmo over, and it worked. He was impressive doing his signature rope-walk highspots, with his exchanges with Ospreay being the undoubted highlight. After superkicking an Oscutter attempt out of the sky, Phantasmo hit his old spinning TKO finish, before hitting his new finish, an arm-capture Styles Clash, for the pin in 9:58. Ibushi, SHO and YOH delivered yet another great bout against Naito, Shingo and BUSHI, this time with Naito pinning YOH with Destino at the 13:47 mark. The post match saw Naito challenge Ibushi to an IC Title Match at Dominion, which of course was accepted. These tag matches, whilst fundamentally the same match every time, always deliver the goods, and have been all tour long. Hiroshi Tanahashi made his return next, and let me tell you, this man was rocking a look. He looked just like Patrick Swayze in Point Break, but with added hot pants-esque cycling shorts, and a blazer. He said he’ll be returning to the ring at the June 5th Sumo Hall show, promised to return to full strength and regain the IWGP Heavyweight Title. This brought out that no-good sunuvabitch Jay White, who told Tana to get to the back of the queue if he wants a title shot, then laid him out. He was about to bash the surgically repaired elbow with chairs, but the Young Lions jumped in for the save.

Speaking of delivering, the purported “first time” outing between Ishii and EVIL was an absolute war. The exchanges between these guys all tour have lead you to believe their singles contest would be a classic, and it certainly was. They slammed into each other with hard shoulder tackles and lariats, and forearmed the bejeezus out of each other in glorious fashion for 23:08. EVIL worked over Ishii’s knee, both hit superplexes and locked the other in Scorpion Deathlocks. After a lariat exchange, EVIL escapes a Brainbuster Muto-Hashimoto style, by kneeing his way free, hit a German suplex, but Ishii popped up and laid him out with a massive lariat. Ishii then countered the STO with a German, and another huge Lariat for the doule down. EVIL’s flip-bump sells of the lariats in this were tremendous. After no-selling a lariat, Ishii hit a headbutt, EVIL hit a big half-and-half suplex, and the Stone Pitbull fires back with a stiff looking gamengiri. Ishii hit another massive lariat for a great nearfall, then hit the Vetical Drop Brainbuster for the win. This was the best match on the tour for my money, the best match of EVIL’s career, and just a truly excellent fight. Backstage, Taichi taunted Ishii with the NEVER title, so there’s your next programme for that particular belt. These guys had an excellent match in the NJC, but really I’d like to see Ishii a bit higher up the card at this stage.

The main between Okada and SANADA had a tough act to follow, but they succeeded in producing an excellent match that was completely different in every way. This match will undoubtedly be very divisive, but I really loved it. The crowd started super hot for these guys, and they tempered down soon after as, for the first 15 minutes or so of this thing, they worked an almost entirely mat-based technical contest, reminiscent of a bout between two babyfaces (the Sekimoto-Okabayashi match the next day in BJW was similarly worked too). This worked well as they were trying to weave a compelling story, being the defence based counterpart to the offence based war which preceeded it, with the idea being that each have scouted the other perfectly. This wasn’t as good as their New Japan Cup final (or probably their IWGP Title match last February either), but it was an engrossing wrestling match nonetheless. At 38 minutes, it was maybe a little long, but it never felt like a chore to sit through. It all built to a great closing stretch built around counters. The crowd got super into this again after Okada kept escaping Skull End, SANADA (rocking a new look, and thankfully having shaved that hideous Dr. Zaius beard) hits a Muto Moonsault to the back, goes up for the proper version, but Okada gets the knees up. They trade strikes, which culminated in Okada hitting the John Woo dropkick and a spinning Rainmaker. They each tried Tombstone attempts, but they were continually countered, ending in SANADA getting Skull End on again. Okada escapes, tries a Rainmaker, but SANADA counters into a Rainmaker of his own for a great near fall which the crowd really bought. SANADA locks in Skull End again, but Okada turns that into a Tombstone, then hits the Rainmaker finally, to retain in an excellent match. In the post match, there was yet ANOTHER video package, this time being a returning Chris Jericho, who challenged Okada at Dominion. This was obviously accepted, so there is your Dominion main event. I have no doubt it will be an excellent battle indeed.

NDT

[henrytcasey]

Watch This Wrestling 20 (5/18—27)

So, yet again, this took me a little more time than usual to produce. What's different about this week is that I've put more days of research (read: me watching as much wrestling as I can, with a notebook at my side) than usual. Here on out, the reports will start on Sundays and end on Saturdays.

As for when reports will come out? I'm hoping Sundays, but could see it happen on Mondays or Tuesdays at the latest. It all depends on how much wrestling there was. As you'll see below, there's a shitton of graps going on in New Japan Pro Wrestling's Best of the Super Juniors. On top of that, I'm putting time into starting PROGRESS, which might lead to me putting notes from that into this.

In marvelous news, though, we get Lucha Underground back this week! Yay!

One final note, I skipped the ROH TV show this week, because it was all Honor Rising material I saw in February.

As always, if I'm missing anything that can be accessed without too much trouble, @ me on twitter: henrytcasey.

What I Watched

NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, Odds and ends of matches from 5/18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27

Being The Elite Ep. 53, 54, 5/18, 23

EVOLVE 84, 5/20

EVOLVE 85, 5/21

PROGRESS Ch. 48: Bang The Drum, hit VOD 5/21

WWE Backlash, 5/21

Monday Night Raw, 5/22

SmackDown LIVE, 5/23

205 Live, 5/23

Talking Smack Live, 5/23

NXT, 5/24

WCPW World Cup Canadian Qualifier, up on YouTube 5/26

Upcoming Watch List

NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/28, 5/29, 5/31, 6/1, and 6/3

Monday Night Raw, 5/29

ROH Wrestling, 5/29

SmackDown LIVE, 5/30

205 Live, 5/31

Talking Smack Live, 5/31

Lucha Underground Season 3.5 Premiere, 5/31

Non-WWE Segment of The Week

Who Will Keith Lee Challenge?

EVOLVE 85, 5/21

EVOLVE doesn't do as much theatrical storytelling in the style you see from WWE, so clashes like these mean something. Lee shows up with a decision to make, challenge WWN champ Matt Riddle, or take on EVOLVE champ Zack Sabre Jr. (note to fans: make a ZSJ to Zack Sabre Jr. text shortcut, it's worth it). What happens next, is delightful.

EVOLVE 85 is available on FloSlam.

Honorable Mentions:

the arm is bye bye..., Darby Allin/WWN Live 5/18

After The Press Conference...Being The Elite, 5/19

Ep. 54: A Curtain CallBeing The Elite, 5/23

Non-WWE Match of The Week:

Bushi vs Kushida

NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/23

I had originally picked Dijak vs Lee for this, but hot damn did Bushi and more specifically Kushida change my mind. As of this moment, Kushida isn't in the lead in the Best of the Super Juniors tour, but it's bringing the fire back to his performances, after getting buried to set up that Ricochet/Takahashi match.

And yes there are a lot of matches in this below list, pick based on your favorites if your time is limited.

New Japan's Best of The Super Juniors tournament is available on NJPW World.

Honorable Mentions:

Donovan Dijak vs Keith Lee, Evolve 84, 5/20

Ethan Page vs Zack Sabre Jr. (c), Evolve 84, 5/20

Kyle O’Reilly vs Matt Riddle (c), Evolve 84, 5/20

Will Ospreay vs Ricochet, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/18

Ricochet vs Hiromu Takahashi, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/21

Matt Riddle vs Tyler Bate PROGRESS Ch. 48: Bang The Drum, 5/21

Jinny vs Session Moth Martina, PROGRESS Ch. 48: Bang The Drum, 5/21

Marty Scull, Yujiro Takahashi, and The Gorillas of Destiny vs David Finlay Jr., Ricochet, and War Machine NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/22

Ryusuke Taguchi vs El Desperado, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/22

Will Ospreay vs Jushin Thunder Liger, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/23

Taichi vs Hiromu Takahashi, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/23

El Desperado vs Volador Jr., NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/25

Speedball Mike Bailey vs Brent Banks, WCPW World Cup Canadian Qualifier, up on YouTube 5/26

Taichi vs Marty Scurll, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/26

Taka Michinoku vs Hiromu Takahashi, NJPW Best of The Super Juniors, 5/26

WWE Match of The Week:

Pete Dunne vs Tyler Bate (c)

NXT: TakeOver Chicago, 5/20

The WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament two-day event may have been big, but this one match did more for UK wrestling as a whole. Not only does it give Pete Dunne the shine he so greatly deserves on an NXT TakeOver special, but it stole the damn show away.

After this show, TakeOver Brooklyn III neeeds it some Pete Dunne. Hell, we all do. Sure, Pete was the biggest rising star outside of the WWE, but now it’s Network-official. 

Honorable Mentions:

DIY vs AOP, NXT: TakeOver Chicago, 5/20

The Usos vs Breezango, Backlash, 5/21

The Usos vs Breezango Pts 1 & 2, SmackDown LIVE, 5/23

Akira Tozawa vs The Brian Kendrick, 205 Live, 5/23

WWE Segment of the Week:

TakeOver Chicago Ends

NXT: TakeOver Chicago, 5/20

Even if you saw it live, it's time to watch this again:

Everything about this is great. It being a post-credits-bug moment, the first since Owens turned on Zayn. The crowd's shock and boos and horror at it all. The fact that only those who knew about a mistaken and deleted tweet (regarding Gargano getting new solo music) saw it coming. The social media kayfabe thereafter.

This, is how you break up a tag team. Unless you want ironic THANK YOU GOLDDUST chants.

Honorable Mentions:

Shattered Dreams Productions, Monday Night Raw, 5/22

Money In The Bank Entrants Announcement, SmackDown LIVE, 5/23

Are The Fashion Police turning in their badges?, SmackDown LIVE, 5/23

Cold Open: The Brian Kendrick Promo, 205 Live, 5/23

Hi, I'm Drew Gulak, 205 Live, 5/23 

[puroresulist]

Puroresu Best Bout Listing for December 2016

All Japan Pro Wrestling

Takao Omori & Manabu Soya vs. Kento Miyahara & Jake Lee, 12/18 @ Korakuen Hall Naoya Nomura & Jake Lee vs. Yoshihisa Uto & Takuya Nomura, 12/20 @ Shinkiba 1stRING

Big Japan Pro Wrestling

Kankuro Hoshino vs. Abdullah Kobayashi, 12/18 @ Yokohama Gym Hideyoshi Kamitani vs. Daisuke Sekimoto, 12/18 @ Yokohama Gym Kohei Sato & Shuji Ishikawa vs. Masaya Takahashi & Takayuki Ueki, 12/30 @ Korakuen Hall

DRAGON GATE

YAMATO vs. Naruki Doi, 12/25 @ Fukuoka International CIMA & Dragon Kid vs. Shingo Takagi & T-Hawk, 12/25 @ Fukuoka International Eita vs. Jimmy Kagetora, 12/25 @ Fukuoka International

DRAMATIC DREAM TEAM

Shuji Ishikawa vs. HARASHIMA, 12/4 @ EDION Osaka Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Mike Bailey, 12/4 @ EDION Osaka KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi vs. Daisuke Sasaki, Shuji Ishikawa & Tetsuya Endo, 12/10 @ Hakata StarLanes HARASHIMA vs. Shigehiro Irie, 12/25 @ Korakuen Hall

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa, 12/10 @ Sekisui Heim, Miyagi Yuji Nagata vs. Manabu Nakanishi, 12/17 @ Korakuen Hall

Pro Wrestling NOAH

Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Minoru Suzuki, 12/2 @ Korakuen Hall Atsushi Kogi vs. Taichi, 12/2 @ Korakuen Hall Takashi Sugiura vs. Minoru Suzuki, 12/3 @ Korakuen Hall Go Shiozaki & Maybach Taniguchi vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr, 12/3 @ Korakuen Hall Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada vs. HAYATA & Tadasuke, 12/14 @ Shinjuku FACE Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Masa Kitamiya, 12/24 @ Korakuen Hall Naomichi Marufuji vs. Takashi Sugiura, 12/24 @ Korakuen Hall

Pro Wrestling ZERO1

Yusaku Obata & KAI vs. Kohei Sato & KAMIKAZE, 12/10 @ Shinkiba 1stRING Yusaku Obata & KAI vs. Akebono & Shogun Okamoto, 12/18 @ Shinkiba 1stRING

WRESTLE-1

Masayuki Kono vs. Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio, 12/9 @ Korakuen Hall Kaz Hayashi & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Koji Doi & Kumagoro, 12/9 @ Korakuen Hall Yusuke Kodama vs. MAZADA, 12/9 @ Korakuen Hall

MISC/INDIE

GUTS World - Masked Mystery vs. Shota, 12/3 @ Shinkiba 1stRING GUTS World - Keizo Matsuda & YUJI KITO vs. Kenichiro Arai & Buffalo, 12/3 @ Shinkiba 1stRING   RJPW - Shinjiro Otani vs. Taka Kunoh, 12/7 @ Korakuen Hall Michinoku - The Great Sasuke, Shu Brahman, Kei Brahman, Ultraman Robin & Mothra vs. Killer Crock GAINA, Harley Quinn #2, Dead Shot #1, Gungjin Minila, 12/15 @ Korakuen Hall Ganbare - Ken Ohka vs. Atsushi Maruyama, 12/22 @ Shinkiba 1stRING BASARA - Isami Kodaka vs. Trans Am ★ Hiroshi, 12/25 @ Korakuen Hall BASARA - Koji Kanemoto, Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu vs. Abdullah Kobayashi, Masaya Takahashi & Takayuki Ueki, 12/25 @ Korakuen Hall Apache Army - Koji Kanemoto vs. Kintaro Kanemaru, 12/25 @ Shinkiba 1stRING K-DOJO - Kengo Mashimo vs. Kaji Tomato, 12/25 @ Blue Field K-DOJO - Shiori Asahi vs. Yuki Sato, 12/25 @ Blue Field FREEDOMS - Violento Jack vs. Daisuke Masaoka, 12/26 @ Korakuen Hall FREEDOMS - Masashi Takeda vs. Miedo Extremo, 12/26 @ Korakuen Hall Kanemaru Retirement Show - Kintaro Kanemaru, Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda vs. Daisuke Sekimoto,  Ryuji Ito & Yuji Hino, 12/27 @ Korakuen Hall Hard Hit - Hikaru Sato vs. Joshua Robinson, 12/29 @ Shinjuku FACE Hard Hit - Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Takuya Wada, 12/29 @ Shinjuku FACE TAKA/Taichi Produce - Minoru Suzuki vs. Taichi, 12/30 @ Shinkiba 1stRING New Years Wrestling - Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita, 12/31 @ Korakuen Hall

Joshi Selection

Stardom - Kyoko Kimura & Kagetsu vs. Thunder Rosa & Holidead, 12/4 @ Shinkiba 1stRING OZ Academy - Dynamite Kansai vs. Mayumi Ozaki, 12/11 @ Korakuen Hall WAVE - Ryo Mizunami & Misaki Ohata vs. Sumire Natsu & Rina Yamashita, 12/16 @ Korakuen Hall JWP - Nakajima vs Command Bolshoi, 12/18 @ KFC Hall SEAdLINNNG - Aja Kong & Arisa Nakajima vs. Yoshiko & Sareee, 12/21 @ Korakuen Hall Stardom - Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani, 12/22 @ Korakuen Hall Stardom - Kyoko Kimura & Kagetsu vs. Yoko Bito & Kairi Hojo, 12/22 @ Korakuen Hall Marvelous - Kyoko Kimura vs. Takumi Iroha, 12/25 @ Shinkiba 1stRING JWP - Arisa Nakajima vs. Hanako Nakamori, 12/28 @ Korakuen Hall WAVE - Yuu Yamagata vs. Ryo Mizunami, 12/29 @ Korakuen Hall Ice Ribbon - Risa Sera vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto, 12/31 @ Korakuen Hall Ice Ribbon - Nanae Takahashi vs. Maya Yukihi, 12/31 @ Korakuen Hall

[emoyachin]

告知とか久々にしてみます！！笑SUMIRE.で出演させていただきます！！ よろしくお願いいたします！！ 遊びに来たい方、連絡ください🙋🏻‍♀️ 2018/04/28(土)@clubcitta'川崎 【Activist 10th Anniversary Special】 〜Real Hiphop Underground Party〜 open 23:30〜midnight Door 4000/noD Dis 3500/noD 【GUEST DANCER】 👑STEZO&TAKUYA 👑DAISAKU+RYUMA+TAICHI 👑YO-SIN+TAKA+RICKY+Ryohey 👑静流 👑NAOTO+MAMIZO+KAZ+MIO 👑LOW to BONG & GROOVIN/SLASH 👑MARIKO+Macchin+MAME+CHICCO 👑SUMIRE. 👈🏼これね！！笑 【HUMAN BEATBOX × EXHIBITION 3on3 DANCE BATTLE】 🎤HIRONA 🎤TRIP 🔥KENTO(S.T.O/KENTO&CanDoo) 🔥HICKY(SHUFFLE!!) 🔥akihic☆彡(S.T.O) 🔥SHUHO(HOUSE OF NINJA/TOKYO FOOTWORKZ) 🔥KTR(BLACKⅢMURAI) 🔥WETs-T(JamJackClan) 【SPECIAL SEXY SHOWCASE】 💄Sweet Room〜Produced by NaNa from OH GIRL! 【Legacy Showcase】 🎩RYUZY(Let's Boogie)&BUMMEI(DELTRIX) 🎩KO-SKE(GUERRILLA GORILLA)&NOBU(FUCTARD) 【Prom Night Showcase】 〜from Cracker since 2007〜 🤡U-KI the retro & TATSUKI & TRACEY & Taiga & LEO & KANU & KAI→ 【Five Carats Special Solo Dancer】 💥HERO(至芸) 💥KAi MiWA(UNVISION) 💥EB(IWGP) 💥Misaki(FORPANCAKE) 💥$hun(Vertex) 【DANCER】 ⭐️DIAMANT FORCE ⭐️GRAND FORCE ⭐️resonatura ⭐️MADR!T ⭐️bushman ⭐️Black NAKKS ⭐️RYOMA+Nagisa ⭐️ADOLFO ⭐️ZEAKLAN ⭐️Twiggz LADYS ⭐️marina+emi+hikari ⭐️BEY-Monster ⭐️YUCARI+ MOE ⭐️M-DA ⭐️m&m's ⭐️TAKAHIRO Number ⭐️TAICHI Number ⭐️NAOTO Number ⭐️KAZUKI Number 【MC】 🎤RABBIT SHOT aka YAMAKOU(Funk P Radio/R&C) 🎤TSURU(L.A.R.) 【DJ's】 🎧KENZO(Brushup sound) 🎧YARI(Brushup sound) 🎧SHUNSUKE 🎧NATO(Bed4ord) 【VJ】 📽DOT TV 📽HAKAAKI 【PHOTO】 📸yuki* チケットぴあ 0570-02-9999　http://t.pia.jp/ （Pコード：111-556) ローソンチケット 0570-084-003 http://l-tike.com/　(Lコード：76104) e+ イープラス http://eplus.jp チケット発売日: 2018年3月17日(土)

[usatrendingsports]

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 outcomes; Stay recap, grades, evaluate, easy methods to watch

New Japan Professional-Wrestling celebrates the brand new 12 months with its personal model of WrestleMania on the Tokyo Dome on Jan. four. Wrestle Kingdom 12 is among the largest occasions within the firm’s historical past because the pay-per-view includes a title match lengthy within the works and co-main occasion together with a well-known WWE celebrity towards arguably the very best wrestler on the planet.

This is every part you have to know to get pleasure from Wrestle Kingdom 12, together with easy methods to watch the present, a full match card and each outcomes and highlights on the backside of the story.

Viewing data

Date: Thursday, Jan. four, 2018 Location: Tokyo Dome — Koraku, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan Stay stream: NJPWWorld.com (English broadcast out there)

Remaining card

IWGP Heavyweight Championship — Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito  

IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship (No Disqualification Match) — Kenny Omega (c) vs. Chris Jericho

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 outcomes

<em>Click on right here to refresh the reside outcomes.</em>

New Japan Rumble: Japan’s model of WWE’s Royal Rumble noticed the sector improve from 14 to 21 for the fourth annual match. The one distinction in guidelines are that pinfalls and submissions can produce eliminations, together with being thrown excessive rope. As anticipated, with so many legends and shock entrants, the motion was extra clunky and enjoyable than unbelievable. There have been loads of nostalgic pops for the likes of Jyushin “Thunder” Liger, Tiger Masks, Yuji Nagata and Taka Michinoku, however the feel-good second got here within the type of the ultimate entrant, Masahito Kakihara, who lately battled most cancers. Kakihara and the gang favourite Cheeseburger, finest recognized for his work in Ring of Honor, grew to become a shocking closing two after they teamed as much as maintain down the ropes and concurrently get rid of Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Ngata. Ultimately, the 45-year-old Kakihara used his legsweep/STO finisher, dubbed the Kaki Cutter, to pin Cheeseburger. Grade: C-

Area: Mashito Kakihara def. Bushi, Chase Owens, Cheeseburger, David Finlay, Delirious, El Desperado, Gino Gambino, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jyushin “Thunder” Liger, Katsuya Kitamura, Leo Tonga, Manubu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima, Taka Michinoku, Tiger Masks, Toa Henare, Yoshi-Hashi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yuji Ngata and Yujiro Takahashi 

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Group Championship — The Younger Bucks def. Roppongi 3K (c) through pinfall to win the titles: Speak about a enjoyable match to kick off the primary card. Not solely had been excessive spots aplenty — which is all however assured in a Matt and Nick Jackson match — this one combined in psychology and enjoyable completely. The story concerned the promoting of decrease again accidents as a double Tope Con Hilo spot from Roppongi early on noticed Yoh favoring himself after touchdown laborious on the ground. Matt, who successfully eradicated Roppongi supervisor Rocky Romero with a again drop on the ramp, started to favor his personal again after lacking a spot exterior. Artistic spots involving all 4 members of the match continued from there, together with a double sharpshooter spot from Roppongi that noticed Nick intercept his brother’s arm to forestall him from tapping out. 

Yoh turned in an amazing efficiency total by how effectively he bought his accidents and fought to keep away from being pinned or submitted, together with a kick out after a twin swanton spot on his again. After a enjoyable spot late through which Sho and Nick took turns kicking one another’s companion within the again, the end was definitely worth the construct because the Bucks hit their Meltzer Driver finisher on Yoh. Matt adopted up with a sharpshooter to provide the faucet because the Younger Bucks secured their seventh reign of the junior tag belts. Grade: B+

NEVER Openweight 6-man Tag Group Championship — Chaos (Beretta, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano) def. Michael Elgin & Battle Machine, Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Takahashi Izuka, Zack Sabre Jr.), Taguchi Japan (Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe) and the Bullet Membership (c) (Unhealthy Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa) in gauntlet match to win the titles: This one was bodily, quick-moving and chaotic. Simply as shortly as Suzuki-gun despatched Battle Machine packing after Sabre choked out Raymond Rowe, Chaos ran in to drive a fast elimination after a low blow from Toru Yano. Following a artistic spot through which all three members of Taguchi Japan took turns touchdown operating strikes on Yano as he was pinned within the nook, the comedic genius was in a position to flip the tables and roll up Ryusuke Taguchi for the pin. The defending champion Bullet Membership then introduced the violence after eradicating the turnbuckle pad. Beretta was in a position to kick out of a stun gun from Tonga late and hit his Dude Buster finisher to drive the title change. Grade: C+ 

Elimination order: Zack Sabre Jr. (Suzui-Gun) def. Raymond Rowe (Elgin/Battle Machine) through submission; Toru Yano (Chaos) def. Izuka (Suzuki-Gun) through pinfall; Yano (Chaos) def. Taguchi (Taguchi Japan) through pinfall; Beretta (Chaos) def. Tonga (Bullet Membership) through pinfall

Kota Ibushi def. Cody through pinfall: This one had potential to steal the present, and it certain did its finest to attempt. Cody (nee Rhodes), a former WWE star, probably turned in the very best match of his profession and was actually at his heel finest on this one, completely marrying top-shelf psychology with the massive spots which have change into Ibushi’s calling card. Whereas Ibushi bought the gang roaring together with his picture-perfect Golden Triangle Moonsault, no spot was larger (or extra harmful) than the Cross Rhodes that Cody hit off of the ring apron and onto the ground.

Cody, whose hair was dyed blond for an upcoming film function, additionally did effectively in utilizing spouse Brandi Rhodes’ fixed interference as a key theme to the match. An early spot from Ibushi noticed him land on the ground and by accident knock over Brandi. Ibushi’s babyface character confirmed loads of compassion in comforting Brandi and choosing her up simply as Cody got here in to slap him within the face.

Each wrestlers kicked out of massive strikes late as Cody hit a springboard hurricanrana from the highest rope and Ibushi hit each his Final Journey powerbomb and a straight jacket German suplex. After Ibushi landed his stiff operating knee, he adopted with an absurd Phoenix splash to lastly put Cody away. With Cody having misplaced his Ring of Honor world title in December, this match had nothing at stake however each delivered as if it was the primary occasion. Grade: A-

IWGP Tag Group Championship — EVIL & SANADA def. Killer Elite Squad (c) through pinfall to win the titles: The story right here was all in regards to the comeback as Los Ingobernables de Japon spent 90 % of this match promoting energy strikes and nearfalls. A Killer Bomb 5 seconds into the match practically noticed Smith pin EVIL because the destruction solely continued from there. Davey Boy Smith and Lance Archer showcased their athleticism effectively for being so huge, with the very best spot coming from Archer’s Spanish fly off the highest rope on EVIL. A Saito suplex from Smith, full with a bridge, practically noticed the match finish earlier than EVIL made a diving save to cancel the pin. SANADA kicked out of 1 closing two depend following a Killer Bomb from the champions. The end noticed an enormous rally from LIJ which included a Magic Killer on Smith and a wide ranging moonsault from SANADA for the 1-2-Three. Grade: B- 

NEVER Openweight Championship — Hirooki Goto def. Minoru Suzuki (c) through pinfall in a haircut match: The psychotic genius of Suzuki’s character was on full show right here as he sadistically beat down Goto for almost all of the match (even kicking kicking away ring medical doctors). The storytelling was good, helped by English coloration analyst Don Callis, as Suzuki twice refused to complete off a near-beaten Goto through sleeper maintain and stubbornly got here up empty in makes an attempt to hit his Gotch piledriver. As anticipated with a Suzuki match, the motion was easy and as visually stiff as doable.

The stipulation, at Suzuki’s request, of no seconds being allowed at ringside solely performed a minor function in the long run as each wrestlers so their respective factions run in, solely to take one another out at ringside. Goto’s late rally was completely arrange as he landed mixed a head butt and absurd tremendous ushigoroshi from the highest rope for 2. He adopted with yet another head-butt and a pair of GTR’s in the course of the ring, together with an added revolution on the ultimate one to complete the 49-year-old off. An indignant Suzuki initially left the ring after the loss, solely to return together with his personal chair. He then grabbed the razor from Goto and shaved his personal head earlier than strolling off. Grade: B+

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship – Will Ospreay def. Marty Scurll (c) [via pinfall], Hiromu Takahashi and Kushida to win the title: This stunning catastrophe of untamed spots, close to falls and “oh $#!&” moments was the proper showcase for what makes the division — NJPW’s model of cruiserweight — so dynamic. Competed at a breakneck tempo over the second half, you merely could not blink. The high-flying Ospreay largely performed a sport of “are you able to prime this” when it comes to spots as he adopted Kushida’s harmful 450 splash off the highest rope with a moonsault from the lighting tower. Kushida later hit an avalanche cross-armbreaker off the highest rope right into a triangle choke that Ospreay one-upped with a taking pictures star press onto the ground. Takahashi additionally hit linked on back-to-back sundown energy bombs excessive rope and onto the ground.

The match’s true story, personified by Scurll’s line of “dying, taxes and Scurll beats Ospreay” throughout the buildup, was effectively informed, as was the fixed tease of Ospreay’s incapability to hit his OsCutter finisher on the champion. Scurll was at his villain finest on this match and hit Ospreay’s finisher on him for 2. Lastly, Ospreay broke the curse to shut the match by hitting an OsCutter for the 1-2-Three. Grade: A-

IWGP Intercontinental Championship — Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Switchblade: Stay now. 

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[thistledropkick]

El Desperado and Hiromu have both been talking about wanting to team up together recently, and I'm starting to think it has a chance of actually happening.

Desperado brought this up on an Instagram livestream he did with Kanemaru and Mitani (the host of the New Japan talk show) back in June. The stream was archived and you can watch it here.

When Mitani asks Desperado if there's someone he'd like to team up with, he brings up Hiromu. He says that he'd like to form a team with Hiromu, but only for one specific match: Desperado and Hiromu vs Kasai Jun and Takeda Masashi.

I can only presume that Desperado has a deathmatch in mind for this match, considering the team he wants to face. If this match was to ever take place it'd probably have to happen in a Taka Taichi Despe produce show. Also, Hiromu is friends with Kasai and has been a fan of his work since he was a teenager, so I'm sure he'd be excited to wrestle him. And Hiromu has appeared on a Taka Taichi produce show before, although it's been a while.

I wasn't going to take this too seriously as long as it was just Desperado talking about it. But recently, when Hiromu was on an episode of New Japan's talk show, Mitani asked him who outside of LIJ he'd like to form a tag team with. Somewhat reluctantly, Hiromu admitted that he'd like to team up with El Desperado. You can watch the episode here.

The fact that they're both talking about this is making me wonder if it might actually happen. I really hope so - I never really dared to hope that Desperado and Hiromu might actually get a chance to form a tag team together, even a temporary one.

[gdwessel]

Best of the Super Juniors 26 Blocks, Lineups, Dominion Title Matches Announced; TAKA Taichi Mania 2 - 5/7/2019; This Week’s NJPW on AXS

It’s Best of the Super Juniors season, and earlier today, NJPW released both the blocks and the tour lineups for this year’s tournament. I will not be writing out the lineups today, as I don’t have the time or wherewithal to do so today. There will be another Upcoming NJPW Events post coming this week sometime for this purpose.

In the meantime, here are the blocks, with debutants in itlaics:

A Block: Tiger Mask IV, SHO [CHAOS], Dragon Lee [CMLL], Titan [CMLL], Marty Scurll [Villain Enterprises], Jonathan Gresham [ROH], Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club], Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG], TAKA Michinoku [SZKG], Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

B Block: Ryusuke Taguchi, Will Ospreay [CHAOS]. Rocky Romero [CHAOS], YOH [CHAOS], Bandido [Lifeblood], Flip Gordon [ROH], El Phantasmo [Bullet Club], Robbie Eagles [Bullet Club], El Desperado [SZKG], BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

With 20 participants, this is a bigger tournament than usual, and it shows when they have also booked Ryogoku Kokugikan for the final. A special singles match has been booked for the show as well, as Hiroshi Tanahashi makes his return from injury here, and will face off against Jay White in a match that will probably be the semi-main. I’m not sure why they booked that match here instead of Dominion.  Tanahashi and Jay in a meaningless tag match at NJPW’s (arguably) 2nd biggest show of the year seems a bit of a waste. Here is where you do the tag match, and blow it off at Dominion a mere 4 days later. I know this blog is supposed to “make sense of New Japan Pro Wrestling” but sometimes it don’t make no sense.

It should also be noted that Brody King will be on this tour as well, partnering up with Marty Scurll, despite not participating in BOSJ for rather obvious reasons.

As for Dominion, the three teased title matches so far have been made official. Kazuchika Okada will defense the IWGP Heavyweight title against Chris Jericho. Tetsuya Naito challenges Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Intercontinental belt, whilst Taichi has his first defense of the NEVER Openweight strap against Tomohiro Ishii. Dragon Lee will most likely defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title against the BOSJ winner, assuming he does not win the tournament himself. There are rumors and speculation...

The second TAKA Taichi Mania card of the TAKA & Taichi Produce series happened today at Tokyo Korakuen Hall. Unfortunately, I am getting incomplete results for this, but as for the ones that have relevance to NJPW, Taichi, clad in white for the first time in.... a while... defeated Ryusuke Taguchi in the main event (Black Mephisto, 28:04). TAKA Michinoku beat an old nemesis in Gedo with a Michinoku Driver II in 8:11. El Desperado v. Jun Kasai from all accounts was indeed a deathmatch, initially ending with a double countout at 6:55, before referee Kyohei Wada restarted the match, at which point it went to a No Contest at 7:13. In the opener, Shota Umino defeated the debuting Tatsuya Musashi, of TAKA’s new Pro Wrestling JUST TAP OUT project, with a Boston Crab at 9:20. Three matches happened in between Umino/Musashi and Despy/Kasai, but I have no idea what they were, and I can’t seem to find them right now. This show will make the rounds soon, as it airs on Samurai TV next week.

This week on AXS, we get featured matches from Wrestling Dontaku 2019, from 5/3/2019  at Fukuoka Convention Center, will be shown. Dragon Lee defends the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title against the previous champion, Taiji Ishimori, whilst Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii square off against EVIL & SANADA in an IWGP Heavyweight title defense prelude. Usual time and place and hosts.

Tomorrow begins the ROH War of the Worlds tour, however those results will be on a day’s delay as I am not staying up til all hours waiting for those shows to end, especially since my patience with ROH is paper thin at this point. So be it.

[keepingthespiritalive]

News Listings for June 30, 2017

AJPW NEWS Some updates were announced for upcoming shows, including the match order for the July 5 show in Shinkiba, Hikaru Sato defending the World Junior belt against Minoru Tanaka on July 17, and Ultimo Dragon to hold his 30th anniversary show on August 19 in conjunction with All Japan. The full event card was announced for the Korakuen Hall show on July 17, as it was made official that Hikaru…

[alibomaye]

[frentique]

[thistledropkick]

The Taka Taichi produce shows are usually held in Korakuen these days, so when they announced that the upcoming Taka Taichi Despe show would be held in a venue with about twice the capacity as Korakuen, I kinda assumed it was just because they thought they'd sell twice as many tickets as usual. The main event is Desperado vs Kasai, which is a pretty big draw.

It turns out they actually plan to sell the same number of tickets as they usually do in Korakuen, but they're limiting the bigger venue to half capacity - so they can allow cheering at the show.

Desperado vs Kasai in a no-DQ match with a cheering crowd is gonna be wild. Especially considering that Desperado felt the need to give a content warning for the amount of blood to people considering buying a ticket.