New Japan has announced some changes to upcoming events today:
First, El Phantasmo is off the next 2 events. Right knee injury that kept him off this week’s earlier events. Status uncertain for Sunday where he is supposed to defend the NJPW WORLD TV Championship vs. TBA (open challenge).
Second, Don Fale is off the rest of the current tour. Death in his family. He was to have been in a G1 CLIMAX 35 Qualifier on 7/4 against Ryohei Oiwa. Satoshi Kojima is the replacement. This could mean Fale will be out until after the G1 ends in mid-August. The winner of Kojima-Oiwa is in the tournament.
In other news, after being forced to wait for his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match until after yesterday’s PPV, Kosei Fujita finally gets El Desperado for the title. That match will happen on 7/6 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Also set for 7/6 is IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Sho & DOUKI vs. Yoh & Master Wato for the titles, an immediate rematch from DOMINION. On that day there also will be Hiroshi Tabahashi vs. Tiger Mask on the latest Tanahashi Retirement Road match, which is also a TM 4 30th Anniversary match.
Announced for 7/4 at Tokyo Budokan in Tokyo (it’s not Nippon Budokan) is NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita vs. Toru Yano, Yoh & Master Wato for the titles. That joins IWGP Global Champion Gabriel Kidd vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the title as title matches on that day.