New Japan returned to England for the first time since 2019 today with the first half of ROYAL QUEST 2, a doubleheader featuring talent from Japan, the US and of course Europe and in particular England.
Today’s event was held at Crystal Palace National Sports Center in London, England and will be available on demand on New Japan World at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The paid attendance has not been announced, but it was a legit advance sellout. Based on the venue’s capacity and layout, I would estimate it being approximately 2000.
Match 1: Gabriel Kidd Return Match: Gabriel Kidd beat Dan Maloney.
Match 2: Michael Oku & Ricky Knight Jr. beat Gideon Gray & Great-O-Khan. Knight pinned Gray after Good Knight Driver.
Match 3: Alex Windsor & Ava White (Alpha Female) beat Kanji & Jazzy Gilbert. Windsor pinned Kanji after GTF.
Match 4: Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Tetsiuya Naito beat DOUKI, El Desperado & Zack Sabre Jr. Naito pinned DOUKI after Destino.
Match 5: Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada beat Zak Knight & Bad Dude Tito. Ishii pinned Knight after a vertical drop brainbuster. Zak Knight was a last-minute replacement for Jonah, who is off this weekend’s events due to travel issues caused by Hurricane Ian’s impacts to the southeast US.
Match 6: Jado, Hikuleo, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tama Tonga beat Gedo, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson & Jay White. Tanahashi pinned Gedo after High Fly Flow.
Match 7: Will Ospreay beat Shota Umino by ref stoppage.
Main Event: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions FTR beat Aussie Open to retain the titles. Dax Harwood pinned Kyle Fletcher after Big Rig. V1 for the champs. This match went just a moment short of 32 minutes.
The second event is tomorrow at 11:30 AM ET/8:30 AM PT. There is no live broadcast. It will be available on demand on New Japan World at a later date.
In other news, and while you’re waiting, New Japan World has assembled a special collection of Antonio Inoki videos and matches in honor of their late founder and the Hall of Fame legend who died yesterday at age 79. Look for the banner link on New Japan World’s front page-a number of matches can be watched FOR FREE without a subscription (paid subscribers have access to all the matches in the collection).
UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 2137.
