With the G1 CLIMAX now in the books, New Japan returns to the US today for their annual visit to the nation’s capital, “Capital Collision 2024”. A total of 11 matches are on tap including all 3 STRONG Championships being defended plus a match to determine the next challengers for the STRONG Tag Team Championship after today’s title match. G1 CLIMAX 34 winner Zack Sabre Jr. and the man he’ll face for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship next month, Tetsuya Naito, will both be in action in single matches. The title matches begin with Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls defending the STRONG Tag Team Championship against Hechicero & Virus, then whoever emerges victorious will know who is next to challenge based on a 3-way opening match. In the second title match, STRONG Openweight CHampion Gabriel Kidd defends the title against Lio Rush. And in the main event, fresh off an AEW TBS Championship defense at AEW All In London in England, Mercedes Mone returns to New Japan to defend the STRONG Women’s Championship against Stardom’s Momo Watanabe. Can the CEO stop the H.A.T.E.? We shall see. Stardom will also be featured on the pre-show as HANAKO, who opted to skip this year’s 5STAR GP Tournament for a training excursion to the USA, teams with Mina Shirakawa, who also skipped the tournament to bring more HLA to AEW, to face the rising star team of Trish Adora-who continues to impress in her appearances in New Japan and elsewhere in Japan (most notably Tokyo Joshi Pro)-and Viva Van, who continues to put herself out there as much as possible and has garnered a fast-expanding fanbase for it.
Today’s event will be held at Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, DC and can be watched LIVE on New Japan World as a PPV for $19.99 in the US and 2990 Japanese yen in Japan and elsewhere (around $20 US) in Japanese and English. You can also watch the pre-show FOR FREE on YouTube. All but one match have 30 minute time limits (that includes the title matches) so including the pre-show I anticipate this being a “standard length” PPV with a total running time of about 3 1/2 hours.
Today’s lineup:
Pre-show:
Matt Vandagriff vs. Allan Breeze
HANAKO & Mina Shirakawa vs. Trish Adora & Viva Van
PPV:
Robbie Eagles & Bad Dude Tito vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Hiroshi Tanahashi and James Drake & Zack Gibson in a 3-way for the next STRONG Tag Team Championship shot after today
YOSHI-HASHI, Kevin Knight & Rocky Romero vs. David Finlay, Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors
Fred Rosser & Tom Lawlor vs. Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Titan
Tetsuya Naito vs. TJP
STRONG Tag Team Champions Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls vs. Hechicero & Virus for the titles
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mustafa Ali
STRONG Openweight Champion Gabriel Kidd vs. Lio Rush for the title
STRONG Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone vs. Momo Watanabe for the title
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 3:30 PM PT/6:30 PM ET.
2:30 PM PT UPDATE: If you pre-purchased the PPV, you can now access the stream although it will be in pre-show mode for the next hour. Updates will begin in 1 hour.
3:30 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, DC. Your Japanese hosts are Haruo Murata, Milano Collection A.T. & Miki Motoi. There is no English commentary yet. I am watching with Japanese commentary (more because I love me some Miki Motoi).
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Based on the latest estimated ticket sales data I saw yesterday, the current estimate looks to be around 1800. The setup was for about 2750, full capacity for the venue (usually for basketball) is 4200. (UPDATE: The announced attendance was 2266)
Pre-show:
Match 1: Matt Vandagriff vs. Allan Breeze. 20 minute time limit
Result: Matt Vandagriff beat Allan Breeze
Match 2: HANAKO & Mina Shirakawa vs. Trish Adora & Viva Van. 20 minute time limit
Result: HANAKO & Mina Shirakawa beat Trish Adora & Viva Van. Shirakawa beat Van with a Figure 4.
The pre-show ends here (3:55 PM PT/6:55 PM ET). Updates will resume when the PPV begins. English commentary comes online now-your hosts are Walker Stewart & Veda Scott.
PPV:
Match 1: Robbie Eagles & Bad Dude Tito vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Hiroshi Tanahashi and James Drake & Zack Gibson in a 3-way for the next STRONG Tag Team Championship shot after today. 30 minute time limit
Result: Tomohiro Ishii & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Robbie Eagles & Bad Dude Tito and James Drake & Zack Gibson in a 3-way when Tanahashi pinned Tito. As a result, Ishii & Tanahashi will get the next STRONG Tag Team Championship shot after today.
Match 2: YOSHI-HASHI, Kevin Knight & Rocky Romero vs. David Finlay, Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors. 30 minute time limit
Result: YOSHI-HASHI, Kevin Knight & Rocky Romero beat David Finlay, Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors. Knight pinned Moloney. Immediately afterwards the Bullet Club beatdown was on as they laid out Knight.
Match 3: Fred Rosser & Tom Lawlor vs. Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs. There has apparently been a last-second change to the match-per the announcer it’s now a No DQ match. 30 minute time limit. They were brawling backstage before even making their entrances.
Result: Fred Rosser & Tom Lawlor beat Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs. Rosser pinned Isaacs.
Quick break for ring area cleaning.
Match 4: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Titan. 30 minute time limit
Result: Zack Sabre Jr. beat Titan by submission
Match 5: Tetsuya Naito vs. TJP. 30 minute time limit
Result: Tetsuya Naito beat TJP
Match 6: STRONG Tag Team Champions Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls vs. Hechicero & Virus for the titles. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Tag Team Champions Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls beat Hechicero & Virus to retain the titles. Nicholls pinned Virus. V1 for the champs. Next up: Ishii & Tanahashi, when is TBA. After things settled down, the next challengers came out. Tanahashi with microphone. He issued the challenge in English for Royal Quest 4 in London, England. Accepted by the champs. So tentatively circle October 20. (Post-match update: It’s now official)
Match 7: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mustafa Ali. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Hiromu Takahashi beat Mustafa Ali. As a result, that means Takahashi DOES NOT have to acknowledge Ali is the top junior heavyweight in the world right now. Had Ali won, Takahashi would’ve had to do that.
Match 8: STRONG Openweight Champion Gabriel Kidd vs. Lio Rush for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Openweight Champion Gabriel Kidd beat Lio Rush to retain the title. V2 for Kidd.
Main Event: STRONG Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone vs. Momo Watanabe for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: STRONG Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone beat Momo Watanabe by submission to retain the title. V1 for Mone. Watanabe kept going for her baseball bat and it was her undoing in the end. Afterwards, Mone with microphone for the traditional post-main event promo. She noted it had been 450 days since she was last in a New Japan ring, briefly putting herself over and sending eveyrone off with get home safely wishes and further putting herself over before celebrating with some children at ringside to send them and the crowd home happy.
It was a longer event than I anticipated, including the pre-show it went 4 hours from start to finish, but another solid event. If you missed it, the replay is worth the $20 if you don’t want to wait until November, when it should be available for all monthly New Japan World subscribers.
End Show.
The next event is the Road To DESTRUCTION 2024 Tour starting on 9/6 at Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall in Nagoya. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. The next outside Japan event is Royal Quest 4 on 10/20 in London, England.
