Tag: njpw

New Japan wrapped up the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today with the last of a stretch of non-televised Hokkaido events.

Today’s event was held at Yakumo Town General Gym in Hokkaido. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 939, a legit sellout.

Match 1: Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask beat Daiki Nagai & Yasutora Yasuda. Taguchi pinned Nagai.

Match 2: Francesco Akira beat Katsuya Murashima.

Match 3: Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino beat Shoma Kato & Jado. Umino pinned Kato.

Match 4: Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Sho pinned TAKA.

Match 5: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Oleg pinned Togo after Kamikaze.

Match 6: Taichi & SANADA beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. Taichi pinned Fujita after Black Mephisto.

Match 7: Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo with Butterfly Lock.

Main Event: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman, Jeff Cobb, HENARE & Great-O-Khan. Naito pinned Young after Destino.

The next event is DESTRUCTION Sunday at Kobe World Hall in Kobe. Live streaming on New Japan World OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. This will be an exclusive TV Asahi broadcast in Japan.

New Japan continued the Road To DESTRUCTION 2024 Tour today with another non-televised event in Hokkaido.

Today’s event was held at Obihiro City General Gym in Hokkaido. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1105.

Match 1: Yasutora Yasuda vs. Daiki Nagai went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb beat Katsuya Murashima, Shoma Kato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask. Akira pinned Murashima after Fireball.

Match 3: Taichi & SANADA beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Taichi pinned Honma after Holy Emperor’s Cross Mausoleum.

Match 4: Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Sho pinned TAKA.

Match 5: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Tanahashi pnined Togo after High Fly Flow.

Match 6: Great-O-Khan & HENARE beat BUSHI & Shingo Takagi. Khan beat BUSHI with Subaru Sheep Killer.

Match 7: Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. Goto pinned Gedo after GTR.

Main Event: Yota Tsuji & Tetsuya Naito beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. Tsuji pinned Fujita after Gene Blaster.

The next event is tomorrow at Hokkaido Wind Hill Kushiro Super Arena in Hokkaido. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan continued the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today with the halfway event of their Hokkaido portion of the tour.

Today’s event was held at ES-CON FIELD HOKKAIDO F NEOBANK GATE Concourse in Hokkaido. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 896, a legit sellout. Not a full capacity setup for the venue as the one photo on New Japan’s Japanese website shows levels of empty seating.

Match 1: Yasutora Yasuda vs. Daiki Nagai went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask beat Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato. Taguchi beat Kato with Oh My & Gar Ankle.

Match 3: Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino beat Jacob Austin Young & Callum Newman. Umino pinned Young after Death Rider.

Match 4: Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Yakahashi pinned TAKA after Big Juice.

Match 5: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Sho & EVIL. Yano pinned Togo. Sho apparently assaulted Yasuda pre-match during his “ring boy” duties but afterwards Yasuda returned the favor. With perhaps some help from Tanahashi.

Match 6: Taichi & SANADA beat Kosei Fujita & Zack abre Jr. Taichi pinned Fujita with a backdrop hold.

Match 7: Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay went to a double countout. Which led to…
Match 7 (again): Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo with Butterfly Lock.

Main Event: Francesco Akira, Jeff Cobb, HENARE & Great-O-Khan beat BUSHI, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsiua Naito. Khan beat BUSHI with Subary Sheep Killer.

The next event is Friday at Obihiro City General Gym in Hokkaido. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

In other news, the 2024 edition of the World Tag League, the promotion’s annual year-end tag team tournament, was also announced today. Participating teams and matches will be announced at a later date, only the schedule was announced today:
11/19-Asahikaga Municipal Gym, Tochigi
11/21-Funabashi Arena, Chiba
11/22-Yokohama Budokan, Yokohama
11/23-Fujisawa City Chichibunomiya Memorial Gymnasium. Kanagawa
11/24-Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
11/26-Big Palette Fukushima, Fukushima
11/27-Yume Messe Miyagi Main Building Exhibition Hall C, Miyagi
11/28-Lily Arena Mito, Ibaraki
11/29-Twin Messe Shizuoka North Building, Shizuoka
12/1-Osaka Prefectural Gym 2, Osaka
12/2-Kochi Prefectural Gym, Kochi
12/4-Karatsu City CUltural Gym, Saga
12/5-Nobeoka Arena Sub Arena, Miyazaki
12/6-Sun Arena Sendai, Kagoshima
12/8-Grand Messe Kumamoto, Kumamoto
Also interesting-following a recent decision by Pro Wrestling NOAH for an upcoming event, video recording by fans will be allowed for the Korakuen event here. Normally it is prohibited at New Japan events. It appears they will allow fans to do it for certain matches. (The only promotions I know of in Japan that allow video recording are DDT & Tokyo Joshi Pro, but they ask fans to limit recordings to a minute if they are going to upload to social media or send via SMS/text, and not record entrance themes)

New Japan continued the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today with another house show in Hokkaido.

Today’s event was held at Asahikawa City Gym in Hokkaido. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1155.

Match 1: Yustora Yasuda, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask beat Daiki Nagai, Shoma Kato & Jado. Taguchi beat Nagai with Oh My & Gar Ankle.

Match 2: BUSHI beat Katsuya Murashima.

Match 3: Francesco Akira & Callum Newman beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Newman pinned Honma after a running knee attack.

Match 4: Sho & Yoshinobu Kanematu beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Sho pinned TAKA.

Match 5: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Yano pinned Togo.

Match 6: Taichi & SANADA beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. Taichi pinned Fujita after Tensho Cross Fang.

Match 7: Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. Goto pinned Gedo after GTR.

Main Event: Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Jacob Austin Young, Jeff Conb, HENARE & Great-O-Khan. Takahashi pinned Young after Time Bomb.

The next event is tomorrow at Hokkaido Ballpark ES-CON FIELD HOKKAIDO F NEOBANK GATE Concourse in Hokkaido. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

UPDATE: Hiroyoshi Tenzan, who was pulled off this event due to a right knee injury, is now off the rest of the tour. That means at least a week. Status beyond next week uncertain.

New Japan continued the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today with the second event of the Hokkaido portion of the series.

Today’s event was held at Kitami Sports Center in Hokkaido. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 1041.

Match 1: Yasutora Yasuda & Katsuya Murashima beat Daiki Nagai & Shoma Kato. Murashima pinned Nagai.

Match 2: Francecso Akira, Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb beat Jado, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask. Newman pinned TM 4 after a running knee.

Match 3: Taichi & SANADA beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Taichi pinned Honma after Holy Emperor’s Cross Mausoleum.

Match 4: Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI. Kanemaru beat TAKA with a Figure 4.

Match 5: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Sho & EVIL. Yano pinned Togo.

Match 6: Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuhi & Shingo Takagi beat Jacob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan & HENARE. Takahashi pinned Young after Time Bomb.

Match 7: Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. YOSHI-HASHI beat Gedo with Butterfly Lock.

Main Event: Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. beat BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito. Sabre pinned BUSHI after Zack Driver.

The nest event is tomorrow at Asahikawa City General Gym in Hokkaido. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan may be a bull in New Japan only in the headgear he wears for his entrances, but he’s still been going occasionally in the ring. Yesterday it didn’t go well as New Japan announced he was injured. Right knee. Out tomorrow. Not sure how this affected the card tomorrow but my guess now is he’a replaced by either Jado or Shota Umino. It’s not yet known how long Tenzan may be out.

UPDATE: Now out the rest of the current tour, which means at least another week. Status for DESTRUCTION and beyond remains uncertain.

New Japan began the second half of the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today, which will take place in Hokkaido the rest of the way.

Today’s event was held at Noboribetsu City General Gym in Hokkaido and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1255, a legit advance sellout.

Match 1: Kazushi Sakuraba (Pro Wrestling NOAH) & Toru Yano beat Daiki Nagai & Yasutora Yasuda. Sakuraba beat Yasuda with an Achilles hold.

Match 2: Shota Umino won a 20 man battle royal, last eliminating Zack Sabre Jr. Staggered/timed entry with over the top rope rules. Former New Japan wrestler Takashi Iizuka was a special participant in the match. CRAZY KOUZU!!!

Match 3: Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay beat Tomohiro Ishii, Hitooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI. Kidd pinned Goto after Drill-a-Hole piledriver.

Match 4: Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman, HENARE, Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. HENARE beat BUSHI with Ultima.

Main Event: NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Champions Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL to retain the titles. Yano pinned Togo after Demon Slayer. V1 for the champs. Obviously this result sent the crowd home happy.

The next event is Monday at Kitami Sports Center in Hokkaido. There will be no live or on demand broadcasts. In fact, today was the last broadcast of the tour, no more video the rest of the way (2 weeks).

New Japan has announced the first official matches for Royal Quest 4, their return to England on 10/20:
The first match is Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANADA, which as of now is a NON-TITLE match. That could change is Sabre wins the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at DESTRUCTION later this month. Right now it’s a “special single match”, meaning 1 Hour time limit.
The second match is fallout from CAPITAL COLLISION 2024, where Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii earned the next STRONG Tag Team Championship match against Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. That match will happen on 10/20.

Broadcast plans are TBA for the event, which will start that day at 5:30 PM England time (1:30 PM PT/10:30 AM PT).

Since jumping from Pro Wrestling NOAH to New Japan, Jake Lee joined Bullet Club and formed a team apparently called UGLY BASTARDS with Gabriel Kidd. It hasn’t started well as Lee was injured in his match yesterday. Right foot. Out indefinitely including Saturday. He was to have teamed with Kidd, Gedo & David Finlay to face YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii. Honma is now off and it will be a 6-man tag. It’s not yet known how long Lee will be out.

More as it becomes available.

New Japan finished up the first part of the Road To DESTRUCTION Tour today in Sendai.

Today’s event was held at Sendai Sun Plaza in Sendai and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1126.

Pre-show match: Yasutora Yasuda vs. Daiki Nagai went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Before the matches began, a 10 Bell Salute was held for former wrestler & New Japan Dojo head Kuniaki Kobayashi, who died earlier this week.

Match 1: Tiger Mask & Tomoaki Honma beat Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato. TM 4 pinned Kato with a tiger suplex hold.

Match 2: Francesco Akira beat TAKA Michinoku.

Match 3: Taichi & SANADA beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. SANADA pinned Sabre after Deadfall. Between this and post-match comments, if Sabre wins the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship later this month (not waiting until Tokyo Dome for his G1 CLIMAX 34 prize use), this could set up a title match at Royal Quest 4.

Match 4: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Boltin Oleg, Shota Umino, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Togo pinned Taguchi after Magic Killer.

Match 5: Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Jake Lee, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. Goto pinned Kidd after a brainbuster.

Match 6: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tauji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Jacob Austin Young, Callum Newman, HENARE, Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan. Naito pinned Young after Pluma Blanca.

Main Event: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI beat Taiji Ishimori to retain the title. V1 for DOUKI. Next up: Possibly Kanemaru.

The next event is Saturday at Noboribetsu City General Gym in Hokkaido to begin the second part of the tour, with all remaining events in Hokkaido. Former New Japan wrestler Takashi Iizuka will participate as will Kazushi Sakuraba, and there will also be a NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship match. The event is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. This is the last broadcast for the tour (the rest after this will have no live or on demand video).