New Japan is back in the US today to start a mid-Atlantic weekend doubleheader with their return to Washington, DC for the second “Capital Collision” event. After major technical issues last time out and at this event last year, hopefully things will go smoother for this event, which features wrestlers from New Japan, the LA Dojo, partners Impact Wrestling & All Elite Wrestling, Mexico and more. We’ll also see NEW IWGP Word Heavyweight Champion SANADA in his first match since winning the title. There are 3 title matches set for the event as well-first, NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defends the title against Tom Lawlor, then both STRONG Championships are up for grabs as KENTA defends the STRONG Openweight Championship against Eddie Edwards, followed by the main event in which STRONG Tag Team Champions Motor City machine Guns defend in a 3-way against NEW IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Aussie Open and the dream team of Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada. Aussie Open were the inaugural champions and no doubt want the belts back and to become double champions. And another reason to buy-maybe the hottest wrestler in North America, Mike Bailey, is on the card in the opening match. It’s a 10-man tag match so we may not get much of him but he never disappoints.
Today’s event will be held at Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, DC and can be watched LIVE on FITE in English and New Japan World in Japanese. There are some event-day tickets still available for today. You have two options on FITE: The event is available for $19.99 or you can get a combo pack for $29.99 that includes tomorrow’s PPV in Philadelphia at a $5 discount (note that tomorrow’s PPV IS NOT available on New Japan World). You get both the live broadcast and unlimited on demand replays with purchase. The New Japan World broadcast will cost around $22 US and the replay window is limited (probably 2-3 months before it’s made available to all paying subscribers), plus you have to sign up for the service. The matches will also air on New Japan World via STRONG On Demand at a later date. There will also be a FREE pre-show on FITE 30 minutes before the PPV begins. With the pre-show this should be a standard length PPV so anticipate the full event running about 3 1/2 hours, but with no matches having more than a 30 minute time limit it won’t go past 4 hours.
Today’s lineup (in order):
Pre-show:
Bad Dude Tito & Shane Haste vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs)
PPV:
The DKC, Clark Connors, Lio Rush, Rocky Romero & Chuck Taylor vs. Kevin Knight, Gabriel Kidd, Mike Bailey, Volador Jr. & KUSHIDA
Fred Rosser vs. Juice Robinson
AR Fox vs. David Finlay
NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tom Lawlor for the title
Tomohiro Ishii vs. El Desperado
Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SANADA
STRONG Openweight Champion KENTA vs. Eddie Edwards for the title
STRONG Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) and Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada in a 3-way for the titles
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT.
3:30 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
Mandatory FBI Warning…
We are LIVE from Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, DC. Your hosts are Ian Riccaboni, Veda Scott & Alex Kozlov. Japanese ring announcer only at the start.
The paid attendance should be announced after the event. It’ll depend on the layout (the venue’s maximum capacity normally is 4200) and there were still some tickets available today, suggesting it’ll be at least 80-85% full. The setup takes away roughly 30% of capacity so I think we’ll be topping out around 2500. Realistically it’ll probably be closer to 2000 (based on what I saw after the first match I’m lowering the estimate to closer to 1500, a lot of empty arena section seats).
Pre-show:
Bad Dude Tito & Shane Haste vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs). 20 minute time limit
Result: Bad Dude Tito & Shane Haste beat West Coast Wrecking Crew. Tito pinned Isaacs after TKO.
Match ended at 3:45 PM PT. Updates will resume at 4 PM PT when the PPV portion begins.
PPV:
Opening promo video starts right on time.
Match 1: The DKC, Clark Connors, Lio Rush, Rocky Romero & Chuck Taylor vs. Kevin Knight, Gabriel Kidd, Mike Bailey, Volador Jr. & KUSHIDA. 20 minute time limit
Result: Kevin Knight, Gabriel Kidd, Mike Bailey, Volador Jr. & KUSHIDA beat The DKC, Clark Connors, Lio Rush, Rocky Romero & Chuck Taylor. Volador pinned Romero. After the match, as they were heading towards the back Connors sneak-attacked DKC from behind and rolled him back into the ring for a beatdown.
Match 2: AR Fox vs. David Finlay. 30 minute time limit
Result: David Finlay beat AR Fox. (Side note: Finlay’s new look and ring gear makes him look like a cross between Roman Reigns and a cheap EVIL knock-off)
Afterwards, Finlay with microphone. He called out Clark Connors. Finlay announced Connors is now part of “his” Bullet Club.
Match 3: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tom Lawlor for the title. 15 minute time limit
Result: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tom Lawlor to retain the title. V5 for Sabre.
Match 4: Tomohiro Ishii vs. El Desperado. 30 minute time limit
Result: Tomohiro Ishii beat El Desperado
Match 5: Fred Rosser vs. Juice Robinson. 30 minute time limit
Result: Never happened. During Rosser’s entrance, Robinson attacked Rosser from behind and beat him down all over the place, knocking out the ref as they got to the ring. This included a beatdown with a chair Rosser placed at ringside reserved for Robinson’s real-life wife, AEW wrestler Toni Storm. Afterwards, Robinson with microphone. He warned Rosser not to bring his wife into this.Robinson finished with a loaded shot with a roll of silver dollars in his fist.
(Post-match note: The official result per New Japan’s English website was No Contest)
Match 6: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SANADA. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SANADA beat Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito. Kanemaru pinned Takahashi with a toe hold rollup.
Match 7: STRONG Openweight Champion KENTA vs. Eddie Edwards for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Openweight Champion KENTA beat Eddie Edwards to retain the title. V2 for KENTA. Next up: Hikuleo via video. That match will happen at WRESTLING DONTAKU 2023 on 5/3 in Fukuoka, Japan.
Main Event: STRONG Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) and Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada in a 3-way for the titles. 30 minute time limit
Result: Aussie Open beat STRONG Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns and Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada in a 3-way, when Fletcher pinned Sabin, to win the titles. Aussie Open become the 3rd STRONG Tag Team Champions. And double champions! Before we go, Aussie Open with microphone proclaiming themselves the best tag team in the world, which got an FTR chant from the crowd.
While Rosser-Robinson not really happening was a bit of a letdown, this otherwise was an excellent card from start to finish. All the matches either met or exceeded expectations and commentary was fantastic, plus no issues with the stream this time. Everything is worth watching. If you missed it live, buy the replay as it’s must-see.
Overall show grade: A-
End Show.
The next event is Collision in Philadelphia tomorrow at the 2300 (ECW) Arena in Philadelphia, PA. Live streaming ONLY ON FITE ($14.99 or $29.99 with a combo bundle including this event, a $5 discount; no live broadcast on New Japan World) will begin at 2 PM PT/5 PM ET. Live results will be posted.
Post-went Update: The announced paid attendance was 2179.