New Japan News: Full 10/28 US Card Announced

New Japan returns to the US this Saturday for Fighting Spirit Unleashed, and the full card has been announced today (also the match order):

Pre-Show:
Matt Vandagriff vs. Buck Skynyr
Danny Limelight, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs vs. Jakob Austin Young, Baliyan Alki & Titus Alexander

PPV:
Satoshi Kojima vs. Fred Rosser, Jeff Cobb & Alex Coughlin in a 4-way for the next STRONG Openweight Championship shot
Lluvia & Johnnie Robbie vs. Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis
Tom Lawlor vs. Gabriel Kidd
Atlantis 40th Anniversary Match: Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Mistico & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Rocky Romero, Soberano Jr., Tiger Mask 4 & Adrian Quest
STRONG Women’s Champion Giulia vs. Hyan for the title
STROKG Tag Team Champions Hikuleo & El Phantasmo vs. Alex Zayne & Lance Archer for the titles
STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston vs. HENARE for the title
SANADA & Yuya Uemura vs. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi
NEVER Openweight Champion Tama Tonga vs. Shingo Takagi for the title

The event begins with the pre-show matches at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET. The PPV will be streamed LIVE on New Japan World in Japanese (for all paid subscribers, no additional purchase required) and FITE in English ($19.99). The pre-show should air on New Japan World but may not air on FITE.

New Japan 10/24/23 Results

New Japan continued the Road To POWER STRUGGLE Tour today with Day 2 of the Super Junior Tag League.

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 simulcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1020.

Match 1: Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan beat Oskar Leube, Ren Narita & Shota Umino. Khan pinned Leube.

Match 2: Yuya Yemura, Taichi & SANADA vs. Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito went to a 20 minute time limit draw.

Match 3: NJPW WORLD TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. beat Boltin Oleg by submission to retain the title. V15(!) for Sabre.

Super Junior Tag League:
Match 4: The DKC & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Titan & BUSHI. Taguchi pinned BUSHI.
Match 5: Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Fujita pinned TAKA.
Match 6: MUSASHI & Yoh beat Master Wato & El Desperado. Yoh pinned Wato aftrr Direct Drive.
Match 7: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho beat Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA. Sho pinned Knight after Shock Arrow.
Main Event: Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors beat Francesco Akira & TJP. Connors pinned TJP after Full Clip.
After 2 days Moloney/Connors are 2-0, TAKA/DOUKI are 0-2, everyone else is 1-1.

The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. This will also be a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.

New Japan 10/21/23 Results

New Japan begin the Road to POWER STRUGGLE Tour and the 2023 Super Junior Tag League today.

Today’s event was held at Kumagaya Citizen Gym in Saitama and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1065.

Match 1: Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan beat Yuto Nakashima, Ren Narita & Shota Umino. Khan beat Nakashima with an arm triangle.

Match 2: Yuya Uemura & SANADA beat Boltin Oleg & Oskar Leube. Uemura pinned Leube with Deadbolt Suplex. This was Uemura’s official return match after completing his overseas training excursion to Impact Wrestling.

Match 3: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Gedo & Taiji Ishimori. Naito pinned Gedo after an assisted spike DDT.

Super Junior Tag League:
Match 4: Francesco Akira & TJP beat Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles. TJP pinned Fujita after 2/2.
Match 5: Kevin Knight & KISHIDA beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. KUSHIDA beat TAKA with Hoverboard Lock.
Match 6: Master Wato & El Desperado beat The DKC & Ryusuke Taguchi. Wato pinned DKC with Tsutankaku German.
Match 7: Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors beat MUSASHI (Michinoku Pro) & Yoh. Connors pinned Yoh after Full Clip.
Main Event: Titan & BUSHI beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho. Titan pinned Sho after a springbord double stomp.

The next event is Tuesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. This will be a Samurai! TV simulcast in Japan.

New Japan 10/14/23 Results (Updated 10/16)

New Japan returned to England today for ROYAL QUEST 3, their 3rd visit in recent years to the UK as they continue their post-pandemic international expansion efforts.

Today’s event was held at Copper Box in London, England and can be watched on demand on the Revolution Pro Wrestling on demand streaming service (subscription required, which is around $9.50/month or $90/year). It will be available on demand on New Japan World for all subscribers at a later date.

The paid attendance was not announced.

Match 1: Taiji Ishimori beat Robbie X. This was Ishimori’s first match in several months as he returned from injury today.

Match 2: El Desperado beat Trent Seven.

Match 3: Yota Tsuji beat Luke Jacobs.

Match 4: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors beat Leon Slater & Cameron Khai to retain the titles. Connors pinned Khai after Full Clip. V3 for the champs.

Match 5: El Phantasmo, Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga beat Gabriel Kidd, Alex Coughlin & David Finlay. Loa pinned Finlay after Apeshit.

Match 6: Ren Narita & Shota Umino beat Francesco Akira & Great-O-Khan. Umino pinned Akira after Death Slider.

Match 7: BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito beat DOUKI & SANADA. Naito pinned DOUKI after Destino.

Match 8: Michael Oku, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Eddie Kingston beat TJP, HENARE & Jeff Cobb. Oku pinned TJP.

Match 9: Shingo Takagi beat Tomohiro Ishii.

Main Event: IWGP US (Self-Proclaimed UK) Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay beat Zack Sabre Jr. to retain the title. V2 for Ospreay. Next up: Umino. That match will happen on 11/4 at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka.

The next international event is Fighting Spirit Unleashed on 10/28 at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, NV. Live streaming on New Japan World in Japanese (for all paying subscribers) and FITE in English only ($19.99) will begin at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET.

In Japan. next up is the Road To POWER STRUGGLE Tour with the Super Junior Tag League beginning on 10/21 at Kumagaya City Gym in Saitama. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET. At this time all but maybe 2 of the tour’s events will be broadcast. This year’s field is 10 teams in a single group round-robin format, with the top 2 teams in the standings advancing to the Finals. The teams: Yoh & TBA, KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight, Ryusuke Taguchi & The DKC, El Desperado & Master Wato, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku, BUSHI & Titan, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita, TJP & Francesco Akira, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney, Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Yoh & Lio Rush were the defending champions and Rush was going to be paired with Yoh but plans changed after Rush missed the end of the Road to DESTRUCTION Tour due to illness. The winners presumably will get an IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship shot unless Connors & Moloney (the current champions) win.

UPDATE: MUSASHI (Michinoku Pro) has been announced as the partner for Yoh in the Super Jr. Tag League.

10/16/23 UPDATE: The event is now available on demand on New Japan World in English for all subscribers. Japanese will be available at a later date.

New Japan 10/9/23 Results (Updated x2)

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 10/7/23 Results (Updated 10/8)

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.

Injury Report: Another Bum Rush (Updated)

And another absence to add to the growing body count as New Japan just added Lio Rush to the sidelined lists. Illness. Out tomorrow and Thursday. No mention of whether it may be coronavirus related. Ryusuke Taguchi is the replacement.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: Rush posted an update on social media in Japanese to the fans addressing this. Fever. And a very bad one at that-105. No word on his status after Thursday.

New Japan 10/1/23 Results (Updated)

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 9/30/23 Results

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!

DEVELOPING: Top AEW Star Staying With Promotion

It’s been a good week for Eddie Kingston. He now has 2 championships, won them in his hometown of New York City, and now is getting paid. Kingston has now told an unspecified podcast that he has re-signed with All Elite Wrestling and will stay with the promotion, it’s a 4-year deal. He didn’t say how much he’ll get paid or exact length beyond “I got four more years”, but it was also revealed by New Japan that Kingston is headed to London for New Japan’s Royal Quest 3 event on 10/14. He’ll team with Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Oku to face TJP, HENARE & Jeff Cobb.

This also comes shortly after Kingston sating he will not be working any non-AEWRing Of Honor or New Japan dates for a while due to a back injury, causing a planned STRONG Openweight Championship defense against Rocky Romero tonight to be cancelled.

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