New Japan ran their fall blowout event today, dubbed “Declaration Of Power” this year today, although the mood was somber as this was the first event held (excluding the England doubleheader) since the death of New Japan founder & Hall of Fame wrester Antonio Inoki, who was going to be named Honorary Lifetime Chairman today.
Today’s event was held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese & English.
The announced paid attendance was 4059. This event aired as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2022 on TV Asahi. Jushin Thunder Liger is the guest on Japanese commentary.
Before the event began, Oleg Boltin joined the promotion, introduced by Yuji Nagata. A 10 Bell Salute was then held for Antonio Inoki.
Match 1: Ren Narita Return Home Match: Ren Narita, Robbie Eagles & David Finlay beat DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado. Narita pinned DOUKI with a front suplex hold.
Match 2: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Bad Dude Tito & Shane Haste. Sabre beat Tito with European Clutch.
Match 3: Ryusuke Taguchi, Hikuleo & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Taguchi pinned Sho.
Match 4: Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Cobb pinned YOSHI-HASHI after Tour of the Islands.
Match 5: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito beat Francesco Akira, TJP, Aaron Henare & Will Ospreay. BUSHI pinned Akira after MX. After the match, Titan (CMLL) appeared to join LIJ after interfering late in the match.
During intermission, a new title was introduced-the New Japan World TV Championship. Determination tournament forthcoming to crown inaugural champion.
Match 6: Master Wato beat Taiji Ishimori.
Match 7: In a Who’s Your Daddy Match, where the loser had to call the winner Daddy on microphone, KOPW 2022 Trophy Holder Shingo Takagi beat El Phantasmo to retain the trophy. But the trophy was destroyed afterwards.
Match 8: Kazuchika Okada beat Jonah.
Main Event: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White beat Tama Tonga to retain the title. V2 for White. Next up: Unless plans unexpectedly change, Okada at Tokyo Dome on 1/4/23.
The next event is the Battle Autumn ’22 Tour beginning Friday at Korakuen Hall. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin Friday at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET and this event will be available FOR FREE!
UPDATE: Instead of making the Inoki announcement today, they announced that the 1/4/23 event will be held in honor & memory of Inoki.
UPDATE 2: Regarding the NJPW TV Championship, it was created to celebrate the promotion’s partnership with TV Asahi, their primary broadcast partner in Japan, and New Japan World. A tournament to crown the inaugural champion will start Friday and will conclude on 1/4/23.
UPDATE 3: A 1/4/23 Press Conference will be held tomorrow and will be streamed FOR FREE on YouTube LIVE TONIGHT at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET on the New Japan World YouTube channel (only in Japanese).
