New Japan wrapped up their 2024 today with the final event of the year and the conclusion of the Road To TOKYO DOME Tour.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.
The announced paid attendance was 1509, a legit sellout.
Pre-show match; Hiromu Takahashi beat Katsuya Murashima.
Match 1: Jeff Cobb beat Hartley Jackson (Independent/Freelancer).
Match 2: Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA vs. Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles went to a no contest. Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors interference. Then United Empire interference. Which led to…
Match 3: Francesco Akira & TJP vs. Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney went to a no contest in 40 seconds. Chairs used by Bullet Club. Afterwards, Fujita proposed changing the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 4-way match on 1/4, possibly to either a No DQ or a TLC (Tables, Ladders, Chairs) match. We’ll see.
Match 4; Master Wato, Satoshi Kojima & El Desperado beat TAKA Michinoku, Taichi & DOUKI. Desperado pinned TAKA after Pinche Loco.
Match 5: Tomoaki Honma, Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano, El Phantasmo & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita & EVIL. Phantasmo pinned Takahashi after Thunder Kiss 86. Afterwards, EVIL cut off at least some of Tanahashi’s hair, much to the anger of the crowd.
Match 6; Gedo, SANADA & David Finlay beat BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji. Finlay pinned BUSHI after Overkill.
Main Event: Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Umino beat Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. Umino pinned Oiwa after Death Rider.
2024 has now come to a close for New Japan. And you know what that means…it’s the end, but also the beginning…
The next event is WRESTLE KINGDOM 19, the annual year-opener and the biggest event in all of Japanese pro wrestling and perhaps the biggest in the world outside of WrestleMania, on 1/4 at The Tokyo Dome. Live streaming on New Japan World OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. This will be a live and exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan. (UPDATE: The event will now begin with a pre-show match on 1/3 at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET)
UPDATE: Another 1/4 change-the KOPW Title is now dead. Retired by Great-O-Khan and won’t return next year. Instead, the New Japan Ranbo Battle Royal on 1/4 now has a new stip-the winner will get an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship shot after 1/5.
UPDATE 2: Both the 1/4 & 1/5 events will also be available as PPVs on Triller/FITE. Pricing TBA as they are not yet available for pre-order (I’m thinking they’ll be around $30 each with a $50 combo pack that has both). New Japan World subscribers get both included with subscription meaning you can watch both there for $9.99.
UPDATE 3: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 4-way on 1/4 is now a Ladder Match.
UPDATE 4: PPV pre-orders on Triller/FITE are now available. $30 each or $48 for combo pack. Each includes live broadcast and unlimited replays for 3 months (until 4/4 and 4/5, respectively)
