New Japan continued the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING tour today with the first half of a Tokyo doubleheader.
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 1433, a legit sellout.
There was a last-minute change to the card today because Jeff Cobb was removed a few hours before due to injury. Left thigh. He was to have faced Alex Coughlin. Great-O-Khan was the replacement. Cobb still was at a pre-event autograph session…and reportedly got a Bullet Club beatdown there.
Match 1: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita, Sho & EVIL beat Boltin Oleg, Togi Makabe, YOSHI-HASHI, El Desperado & Shota Umino. EVIL pinned Makabe after EVIL. After the match, EVIL went nWo on the NEVER Openweight Championship, spraying the belt with black spray paint.
Match 2: Taiji Ishimori, Chase Owens & KENTA beat Tomoaki Honma, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo. Owens pinned Honma after a package piledriver.
Match 3: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomohiro Ishii & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Sabre beat Taguchi with a sleeper hold.
Match 4: TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Uemura beat Tsuji with an armbar.
Match 5: Great-O-Khan beat Alex Coughlin.
Match 6: HENARE vs. Gabriel Kidd went to a Double KO.
Match 7: David Finlay beat Callum Newman.
Main Event: Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors beat IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Francesco Akira & TJP to win the titles. Moloney & Connors become the 75th IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Connors pinned Akira after Full Clip. Bullet CLub stands tall again and of course sends the crowd home very unhappy.
The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET, and you can watch live and on demand FOR FREE! This will be an ABEMA simulcast in Japan.