Tag: New Japan

DESTRUCTION in RYOGOKU, New Japan’s October blowout event, is now in the books.

Today’s event was held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and can be watched in demand on New Japan World outside Japan. It may not yet be available in Japan where it aired live only on ABEMA.

The announced paid attendance was 5002. While they do use a smaller layout for the venue now than the full capacity used for sumo (in particular for the mass/box seats being at only half capacity), this seems rather low for Ryogoku.

Pre-show Match: Oskar Leube, Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask & YOSHI-HASHI beat Takahiro Katori (Eagle Pro Wrestling), Jun Masaoka (Independent/Freelancer), Kengo (Independent/Freelancer), Takeshi Masada (DDT) & Kazuma Sumi (DDT). Taguchi beat Katori with Oh My & Gar Ankle.

Match 1: Yuya Uemura, DOUKI & Taichi beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho & Yujiro Takahashi. Uenura pinned Takahashi with a suplex hold. Uemura, just back from Impact Wrestling, is now part of Just 5 Guys.

Match 2: Tanga Loa beat Chase Owens.

Match 3: BUSHI, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Callum Newman, HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb. Naito pinned Newman after Destino.

Match 4: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors beat Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA to retain the titles. Moloney pinned KUSHIDA after Full Clip. V2 for the champs.

Match 5: Best of 7 Series Match 7: Master Wato, Shota Umino & Yuji Nagata beat Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki. Umino pinned Narita after Death Slider. 3-3-1. DRAW.

Match 6: El Phantasmo & Hikuleo beat STRONG Tag Team Champions Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin to win the titles. Phantasmo & Hikuleo become the 6th STRONG Tag Team Champions. Phantasmo pinned Coughlin after Super Thunder Kiss ’86.

Match 7: NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada beat Josh Alexander, Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley (Impact Wrestling) to retain the titles. Tanahashi pinned Shelley after High Fly Flow. V3 for the champs.

Match 8: Tama Tonga beat NEVER Openweight Champion David Finlay to win the title. Tonga becomes the 40th NEVER Openweight Champion.

Match 9: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi beat Yoh & Mike Bailey in a 3-way by pinning Yoh to retain the title. V6 for Takahashi. Next up: Possibly Taiji Ishimori, who attacked Takahashi afterwards. Ishimori has been out the last several months due to injury.

Main Event: In a Lumberjack Deathmatch, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA beat EVIL to retain the title. V4 for SANADA. Next up: It’s probably Tokyo Dome, which means, if all goes as planned the next 3 months, Naito. Destino.

The next event is ROYAL QUEST 3 Saturday at Copper Box in London, England. The event will be a live PPV via Revolution Pro Wrestling and their on demand streaming service beginning at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT. The service costs $9.49/month or $89.99/year and additional purchase may be required, but you must subscribe first. It will be available on demand on New Japan World at a later date.

UPDATE: If you believe New Japan’s official English social media outlets, it’s now official. Naito-SANADA at Tokyo Dome on 1/4.

UPDATE 2/ The first 1/4 press conference, with the first matches announced, will be tonight at 12 PM PT/2 AM ET and can be watched live FOR FREE on New Japan World and may also be available on YouTube in Japanese.

New Japan wrapped up the Road to DESTRUCTION Tour today with the final event before Monday’s blowout event.

Today’s event was held at Yume Messe Miyagi Main Building Exhibition Building Exhibition Hall C in Miyagi and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1089.

Match 1: Boltin Oleg beat Yuto Nakashima.

Match 2: Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat Oskar Leube, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI. Khan pinned Leube after Royal Right.

Match 3: Best of 7 Series Match 6: El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki beat Master Wato, Shota Umino & Yuji Nagata. Suzuki pinned Nagata after a Gotch-style piledriver. Suzuki’s team leads 3-2-1.

Match 4: El Phantasmo, Tanga Loa, KUSHIDA, Jado & Tama Tonga beat Drilla Mooney, Gedo, Chase Owens, Clark Connors & David Finlay. Tonga pinned Gedo after Gun Stun.

Match 5: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, Sho & EVIL beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Taichi & SANADA. Kanemaru pinned DOUKI after Touch Out.

Main Event: In an Elimination Match, Yoh, Tomohiro Ishii, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsua Naito. Yoh was the only winner left, last eliminating Takahashi.

The next event is DESTRUCTION in RYOGOKU, the October blowout event, Monday at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET. The live broadcast in Japan will only be on ABEMA and available on demand on New Japan World at a later date.

10/8 UPDATE: At a pre-event presser for DESTRUCTION, a late change was announced for the event: Lio Rush is off due to the illness that kept him off the last few events. He was to have faced IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi and Mike Bailey in a 3-way for the title. Yoh is the replacement. Monitor for potentially more last-second changes as Bailey could be cutting it close on making it to the event in time due to other international commitments.

New Japan continued the Road To DESTRUCTION Tout today with the second half of a weekend doubleheader in Tokyo.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World FOR FREE! No login or signup required!

Click below to watch in Japanese:

https://njpwworld.com/p/s_00660_11_1

Click below to watch in English:

https://njpwworld.com/p/s_00660_12_1

The announced paid attendance was 1062.

There were some last-minute changes to this event (and yesterday) due to no Yoh. Fever. Out indefinitely.

Before the event, House Of Torture attacked SANADA at the end of a pre-event autograph session.

Pre-Show: In an arm wresting match, Tanga Loa beat Chase Owens. Bullet Club attacked Loa afterwards.

Match 1: Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii beat Boltin Oleg & Oskar Leube. Ishii pinned Leube after a sliding lariat.

Match 2: HENARE & Jeff Cobb beat Yuto Nakashima & Hiroshi Tanahashi. HENARE pinned Nakashima after Rampage.

Match 3: Toya Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan. Takagi pinned Newman after Pumping Bomber.

Match 4: Best of 7 Series Match 5: Master Wato, Shota Unino & Yuji Nagata beat El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki. Wato pinned Desperado after Recientemente 2. 2-2-1. So either the team that wins the 6th match takes the series or it will be a draw.

Match 5: Lio Rush, YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito. YOSHI-HASHI beat BUSHI with Butterfly Lock.

Match 6: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Taichi & SANADA. Kanemaru pinned TAKA.

Main Event: In an Elimination Match, Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA, El Phantasmo, Hikukeo, Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga beat Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors, Gabriel Kidd, Alex Coughlin, Chase Owens & David Finlay. Tonga was the only winner left, last eliminating Finlay.

The next event is Tuesday at Akita Terrsa on Akita. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. The next 3 events are non-televised with the next broadcast being Saturday’s tour-ender.

UPDATE: After the event New Japan announced Hirooki Goto, who has missed the last couple events due to an MCL injury, is now out the rest of the tour, which covers the rest of this week.

New Japan continued the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today with the start of a weekend doubleheader in Tokyo.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This was a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 1476, a legit sellout.

Match 1: HENARE beat Oskar Leube.

Match 2: YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Yuto Nakashima, Boltin Oleg & Tiger Mask. Tanahashi beat Nakashima with a Texas cloverleaf. Afterwards, Impact Wrestling’s Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley & Josh Alexander appeared via recorded video and issued a NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship challenge.

Match 3: BUSHI, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb. Tsuji pinned Newman with a reverse campana.

Match 4: Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo beat Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors, Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin. KUSHIDA pinned Moloney with Perfect Small Package.

Match 5: Jado, Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga beat Gedo, Chase Owens & David Finlay. Loa pinned Gedo after OJK.

Match 6: Best of 7 Series Match 4: El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki beat Master Wato, Shota Umino & Yuji Nagata. Narita pinned Umino with a front suplex hold. 2-1-1 in favor of the winners.

Match 7: TAKA Michonoku, DOUKI & SANADA beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho & EVIL. DOUKI pinned Sho with a jackknife. Afterwards, Taichi announced his return for the rest of the tour. He missed a couple events this week for personal reasons.

Main Event: Lio Rush & Kazuchika Okada beat Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito. Rush pinned Takahashi after Final Hour.

The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World and ABEMA (in Japan only) will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET, and best of all you can watch this event live and on demand FOR FREE!

New Japan has just announced 2 wrestlers are now out for the immediate future:

Hirooki Goto suffered an undisclosed injury today at DESTRUCTION IN KOBE. Out indefinitely but will miss non-televised events tomorrow & Tuesday at a minimum.

Taichi has requested and was granted a leave of absence for unspecified reasons. Out indefinitely but presumably off the rest of the tour, or at least through 10/7.

More as it becomes available.

DESTRUCTION in KOBE, one of 2 major events on New Japan’s current tour, went down earlier today in its traditional place on the calendar.

Today’s event was held at Kobe World Hall in Kobe and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This event aired in Japan as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2023 on TV Asahi.

The announced paid attendance was 4212, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors beat Kevin Knight & Tiger Mask. Moloney pinned TM 4 after Full Clip.

Match 2: TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI & SANADA beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. TAKA pinned Togo after Michinoku Driver 2. Wait, when was the last time TAKA won a match in New Japan, let alone be responsible for the win?

Match 3: Jado, El Phantasmo, Hikuleo, Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd, Alex Coughlin, Chase Owens & David Finlay. Tonga pinned Gedo after Gun Stun.

Match 4: Yoh & Lio Rush beat BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi. Rush pinned BUSHI after Final Hour.

Match 5: Bad Dude Tito & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada. Sabre pinned Ishii with European Clutch.

Match 6: In a Seconds Handcuffed Match, where House Of Torture members were handcuffed to Just 5 Guys members at ringside, Sho beat KOPW 2023 Chaampion Taichi to win the title. Yoshinobu Kanemaru interference. He seemingly turned on Just 5 Guys to help Sho win. So maybe they will now be Just 4 Guys.

Match 7: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls to retain the titles. YOSHI-HASHI pinned NIcholls. V2 for the champs.

Match 8: Shingo Takagi beat Great-O-Khan.

Match 9: Tetsuya Naito beat Jeff Cobb. As a result, Naito retained his spot in the 1/4 Tokyo Dome main event.

Main Event: IWGP US Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay beat Yota Tsuji to retain the title. V1 for Ospreay. Next up: Sabre. This could happen at Royal Quest 3 in England. It should be noted that Ospreay has rebranded the title as the IWGP UK Heavyweight Championship although it does not seem to be recognized as such by New Japan. (UPDATE: It’s now official for Royal Quest 3 on 10/14)

The next event is tomorrow at Nagoya Congress Center in Nagoya. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. Also a heads-up for the second DESTRUCTION event in October at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo-at this time New Japan lists the event as only being broadcast live on ABEMA. So it may not be available on New Japan World outside of Japan, but we’ll see what happens.