New Japan ran a special Taichi hometown event today, the first time that I can recall they’ve visited his hometown of Ishikari, which he shares his last name with although he hasn’t used it in wrestling in a long time. There was also a lot of participation from TAKA Michinoku’s JTO (Just Tap Out) promotion.
Today’s event was held at Minami Junior High School Gym in Hokkaido and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.
The announced paid attendance was 871, a legit advance sellout.
Match 1: Masatora Yasuda beat Jewel Bird (JTO).
Match 2: Katsuya Murashima & Satoshi Kojima beat Shoma Kato & Yuji Nagata. Kojima pinned Kato after a lariat.
Match 3: JTO Girls Tag Team Champions Rhythm & Tomoka Inaba beat Aoi & Azusa Inaba to retain the titles. Tomoka Inaba pinned Azusa Inaba after Tomoka Kick. V4 for the champs.
Match 4: Daiki Nagai, Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji beat Ryoma Tsukamoto, Bomber Bomber Tatsuya & Thunder Masami. Tsuji pinned Tsukamoto after Gene Blaster.
Match 5: El Desperado & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo & EVIL. Tanahashi beat Togo with a Texas cloverleaf.
Main Event: TAKA Michinoku, Yuya Uemura & Taichi beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI & SANADA. Taichi pinned Kanemaru after Black Mephisto. Taichi finished things off to send the crowd home happy and suggested a return next year was possible.
The next event is the Super Jr. Tag League 2025, the annual Junior Heavyweight tag team tournament, starting Thursday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. If what New Japan has been saying on social media holds true, every remaining event this year will be available live & on demand on the service (there may be one or two PPVs though). That includes Tokyo Dome with Hiroshi Tanahashi’s retirement match (77 days to go as New Japan is counting down) and New Year Dash!! the day after.
In other news, the first match for a House Of Torture Produced event on 11/19 at Korakuen Hall has also been announced, it will be EVIL vs. Shun Skywalker (Dragon Gate) in a match chosen by EVIL himself. The event is being dubbed “Purge Night Of Torture”.