New Japan ran a special standalone TakaTaichiMania 2.5 event today produced by Taichi & TAKA Michinoku, the second such exclusive PPV put on by the Suzuki-gun faction this year.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on New Japan World only as a standalone PPV for an additional 3000 yen (about $23-24 US) on top of a monthly subscription. It will be behind this paywall until August 6.
The paid attendance was not announced. Note the matches were listed as Match 4-7 so there may have been more than what New Japan listed:
Match 1: Minoru Suzuki beat Ren Ayabe (JUST TAP OUT). JTO is a promotion run by TAKA Michinoku which he started after moving on from his former KAIENTAI DOJO.
Match 2: TAKA Michinoku & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat Dick Togo & Gedo. Kanemaru beat Gedo with a Samson clutch.
Match 3: Taichi & Yoshitatsu 20th Anniversary Match: Taichi beat Yoshitatsu. Yoshitatsu, real name Naofumi Yamamoto (I think), changed his name when he left New Japan for a chance in WWE over a decade ago, and continues using the name after being released following a largely failed stint there. It was absolutely not his fault, he was just badly misused by Creative.
Main Event: In a Hardcore match, Jun Kasai (Freedoms) & Tomoaki Honma beat DOUKI & El Desperado. Kasai pinned DOUKI after a reverse Tiger driver. They teased a potential Kasai-Desperado match in the future afterward.
