New Japan Road results: Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii
NJPW ran their second of four straight nights in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall today with a New Japan Road show that featured two title matches.
The top two matches are well worth going out of your way to see.
Here are full results and match recaps:
YOTA TSUJI DEFEATED GABRIEL KIDD
Kidd really has something. He’s not as good as Karl Fredericks, but he’s better than Tsuji.
They started out with some chain wrestling. Kidd broke cleanly against the ropes. Tsuji did not break cleanly when given the same chance.
Tsuji used a slam for a two count. Tsuji went for a crab but couldn’t get it. Kidd blocked another slam attempt and hit a dropkick, then used a slam for a two count.
Kidd applied a single-leg crab. After a long struggle, Tsuji forced a rope break. Kidd hit some stomps. They traded forearm strikes. Tsuji hit a spear, then a powerslam, before locking in a full crab. Kidd tapped out. Good opener.
MINORU SUZUKI, TAICHI, EL DESPERADO & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU DEFEATED WILL OSPREAY, HIROOKI GOTO, YOSHI-HASHI & YUYA UEMURA
This was a crazy fun brawl.
The CHAOS team employed a Suzuki-gun tactic in attacking before the bell. Uemura ran into the ring and blasted Suzuki with a dropkick, then hit dozens of unanswered forearm strikes in the corner. Referee Marty Asami got shoved down by Uemura, which was not a DQ.
YH tagged in and Suzuki came back with an armbar over the ropes. Suzuki-gun turned this into a brawl around Korakuen, and Suzuki absolutely killed Uemura, hitting him with slaps and strikes, then using a chair and a variety of plunder as they fought all around the building.
Taichi went to work on YH in the ring, hitting a series of kicks. YH came back with a rewind kick. Ospreay tagged in and hit Pip Pip Cheerio on Taichi, then a double handspring kick to an interfering Desperado and Kanemaru.
Goto blind tagged in. Ospreay hit a standing shooting star to Taichi. Goto covered for a two count. Taichi and Goto traded lariats. Taichi hit a high kick into a double down.
Uemura and Kanemaru tagged in. CHAOS went 4-on-1 against Kanemaru. Uemura hit a dropkick and an overhead belly-to-belly for a near fall.
The match broke down and everyone jumped in. Suzuki got one last shot in on Uemura, hitting a PK. Kanemaru used a Boston crab on Uemura, who finally forced a break.
Uemura used a cradle for a two count, but Kanemaru then hit Deep Impact for the pin.
Suzuki hit Uemura with a knee strike after the bell. He teased hitting the Gotch-style piledriver, but let Uemura go instead, perhaps in a grudging show of respect.
KAZUCHIKA OKADA, TORU YANO & COLT CABANA DEFEATED TOGI MAKABE, TOMOAKI HONMA & TOA HENARE
Yano and Cabana did some comedy right at the outset, fighting over who should start the match. Okada started instead.
Honma and Okada began. Honma missed a kokeshi. Yano and Henare tagged in. Yano untied a turnbuckle pad. Henare hit some strikes. Yano used a hair pull, then sent Henare into the exposed buckle.
Cabana tagged in and did some more comedy spots with Yano. Henare fired back on Cabana with chops, then missed a splash off the second rope. Okada tagged in and got hit with a vertical suplex.
Makabe got a tag and hit a powerslam, then ten punches in the corner. Okada blocked a northern lights suplex, then ran into a lariat for a two count. Okada hit an air raid crash, then tagged Cabana.
Cabana hit some jabs and a bionic elbow. Makabe responded with a lariat, then tagged Honma. Honma hit a bulldog and a kokeshi. Henare and Makabe cleared the opposing apron, then went 3-on-1 on Cabana. Honma hit a diving kokeshi for a near fall as Okada and Yano saved.
The finish saw Yano hit Honma with a low blow while Cabana took the ref. Cabana then used his Superman cover for the pin.
MANABU NAKANISHI, YUJI NAGATA, SATOSHI KOJIMA, HIROYOSHI TENZAN & TIGER MASK DEFEATED TETSUYA NAITO, SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI & HIROMU TAKAHASHI
Sort of a surprising result here.
Nakanishi and Naito started off. An LIJ triple team failed, Naito rolled outside, then Nakanishi hit a double tackle on BUSHI and Hiromu, who both flew around for Nakanishi. Nakanishi and Tiger worked over Naito for a bit, before LIJ went to work on Tiger.
There was a funny spot where Hiromu made a big show of hitting a Mongolian chop on Tenzan while Naito held Tenzan, who then ducked, and Naito took a comedy bump off the chop from Hiromu.
The dust settled, leaving SANADA and Tiger legal. Tiger blocked a TKO and hit a tiger suplex. Nagata tagged in and hit SANADA with kicks. SANADA blocked an exploder, landed on his feet out of a standing moonsault attempt, then hit a dropkick.
Nagata fought off a paradise lock attempt, blocked a TKO, then hit an exploder. EVIL and Kojima tagged in. Kojima hit machine gun chops on EVIL. He tried for a top rope elbow but got cut off. EVIL and SANADA tried a Magic Killer but Tenzan saved. Tenzan and Kojima hit a TenKoji cutter on SANADA.
Kojima hit a Koji cutter on EVIL. EVIL ducked a lariat and hit Darkness Falls for a near fall. Nakanishi jumped in and racked EVIL, then hit a cutter out of the rack backbreaker position. Nakanishi then hit the ugliest plancha you’ve ever seen onto a bunch of guys. He tried.
The finish saw Kojima hit EVIL with a lariat for the pin. I kept waiting for EVIL to kick out but he never did.
The New Japan dads celebrated their big win.
JAY WHITE, TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA & BAD LUCK FALE DEFEATED HIROSHI TANAHASHI, KOTA IBUSHI, JUICE ROBINSON & DAVID FINLAY
White, Finlay and Ibushi looked great here, where as it was a night off for everyone else.
Bullet Club attacked before the opening bell. Ibushi and White began as the legal men with a hot exchange. Ibushi avoided a kendo stick shot from Jado on the apron, then tagged Finlay, who scored a two count off a diving uppercut from the middle rope.
White suplexed Finlay over the top to the floor, where Bullet Club attacked the opposing team. Back inside, White and Tonga doubled up on Finlay. Tonga and Loa both hit slingshot sentons on Finlay. Fale tagged in and stood on Finlay’s back. Fale looked really heavy and slow, even by his standards.
Tanahashi tagged in and hit a crossbody. He was really not moving well. The match broke down. Ibushi hit a crazy missile dropkick off the top rope. Tanahashi hit a dragon screw to Fale. Loa tagged in and got hit with Twist and Shout.
Juice tagged in and hit a crossbody on Loa off the top rope for a two count. Juice hit an inverted atomic drop and a Russian leg sweep on Loa. All of his teammates hit pescados. Jado jumped in with a kendo stick, but the ref took it away from him.
Juice and Finlay hit a double flapjack to Loa. Finlay hit Loa with a stunner. Gedo took the referee, allowing Tonga to jump in and hit Juice with a belt shot. Loa then covered for the pin.
Tonga hit Ibushi and Tanahashi with belt shots after the match for good measure. Loa then hit Ibushi with Apesh*t, and Tonga hit a gun stun on Tanahashi.
IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: SHO & YOH DEFEATED ROCKY ROMERO & RYUSUKE TAGUCHI TO RETAIN THE TITLES
You know Taguchi has his working boots on when he breaks out offense besides hip attacks. He did that here. These guys tore the house down.
YOH and Taguchi started out with chain wrestling. Romero and SHO tagged in. Romero got cut off. Taguchi got a tag and had a fairly even back and forth with YOH. Taguchi hit a dive from the second turnbuckle to the floor, then a tope con giro.
Back inside, YOH hit a GTR for a two count on Taguchi. Taguchi managed a tag to Romero who hit forever clotheslines and a swing DDT. Romero worked over SHO’s left arm.
SHO went for a sleeper. Romero blocked, then hit a falcon arrow into a cross armbreaker. Taguchi jumped in and locked YOH in an ankle lock. SHO and YOH both reversed the submissions. Romero forced a rope break.
Romero and Taguchi hit stereo hip attacks. They did a comedy spot, teasing ramming Romero’s head into Taguchi’s ass. Romero blocked and hit a swing DDT. Taguchi hit a Bomaye. Taguchi and Romero hit a combination Dodon/codebreaker. Taguchi and YOH fought to the floor, leaving SHO and Romero legal.
SHO blocked a sliced bread attempt. YOH cut off a Romero clothesline attempt. SHO and YOH hit stereo knees to Taguchi. SHO and YOH hit a tandem move for a near fall. Taguchi saved Romero from a 3K. Everyone hit a lariat. Romero hit everyone with knees. SHO hit Taguchi with a spear.
Romero and SHO traded lariats. Romero used a backslide for a near fall, then used a hurricanrana into a victory roll for another two count. Romero took a flip bump off a lariat from SHO.
SHO hit a deadlift German on Romero for a two count. SHO hit a powerbomb onto his knees for a near fall. Taguchi made the save, then got tossed to the floor, where YOH hit a plancha.
Romero used an inside cradle for a near fall. SHO and Romero traded jumping knee strikes. Romero hit a rewind kick. YOH hit an elevated flatliner. SHO covered, but Taguchi made the save. YOH accidentally caught SHO with a superkick.
Taguchi hit a hip attack to YOH. SHO saved. Taguchi missed with a hip attack, got sent outside, then ate a dive from YOH. SHO hit Romero with a lariat, then hit Shock Arrow for a near fall. The place was going nuts.
SHO and YOH then immediately hit Strong X for the pin.
All four celebrated together after the match.
NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: SHINGO TAKAGI DEFEATED TOMOHIRO ISHII TO RETAIN THE TITLE
This was not at the level of their G1 match last year, which was a match of the year candidate, but this was a great main event. These two have a special chemistry.
They had the unenviable task of following the previous match, so they smartly began slowly. They worked a lockup for a long time, then got the crowd going with a serious of shoulder tackles. No one went down on the first several tackles, then Shingo finally got Ishii to go down.
Shingo hit a senton, then a series of knees. Ishii dropped Shingo with his own knee strike. Ishii hit a series of headbutts. Shingo then hit a couple of his own. Ishii dropped Shingo with a headbutt. They traded chops. Shingo hit a vertical suplex.
They traded a long series of forearm strikes. Ishii finally backed Shingo into a corner and hit a series of punch and chop combinations. Shingo stood Ishii on his head with a DDT. Ishii sold his knee on landing. Shingo then answered the previous punch and chop combos with a series of his own.
Shingo hit some short kicks, then one big PK. Ishii fired up, backed Shingo into a corner, then hit a series of chops to the throat. Shingo blocked a charge into the corner. Ishii slid to the apron and teased a suplex to the floor. Shingo blocked, made it to the apron, then hit a death valley driver on the apron.
Back inside, Shingo hit a sliding lariat and noshigami for a near fall. Shingo hit Ishii with a lariat and you could virtually see Ishii’s soul leaving his body. Ishii came back with a powerslam, which Shingo no-sold. Each no-sold two suplexes from the other, before Ishii hit a Saito suplex, which left both men down.
They traded a series of hard lariats, running the ropes like mad men. Shingo took a flip bump off a lariat. Ishii hit a powerbomb and used a jackknife cover for a near fall.
Ishii teased a superplex. Shingo blocked with a series of headbutts. Ishii hit one big headbutt, then connected with the superplex for a two count.
Shingo blocked a sliding lariat. Ishii blocked Last of the Dragon. Shingo hit a lariat. They traded headbutts. Shingo landed a series of unanswered forearm strikes.
Shingo hit Made in Japan. Ishii kicked out at two. Shingo hit a Pumping Bomber. Ishii kicked out at one. You knew the kick out at one was coming, you just didn’t know when. Ishii hit a German. Shingo no-sold. Ishii hit a lariat. Shingo kicked out at one.
Ishii hit an enzuigiri, then used a sliding lariat for a near fall. Shingo blocked a brainbuster and hit a driller for a near fall.
Shingo went for Last of the Dragon, but Ishii blocked. Ishii hit a headbutt to the chest, then a lariat. Shingo hit a headbutt, draped Ishii in the ropes, then hit a GTR.
Shingo hit a Pumping Bomber for a close near fall, then hit Last of the Dragon for the pin.
Both men sold exhaustion after the match. Ishii, unable to stand, threw some strikes at Shingo on the mat. Ishii rolled outside and grabbed a chair. He teased going after Shingo with the chair, before being held back by ringside attendants. Ishii stumbled to the back.
Shingo cut a promo. He said Ishii beat the hell out of him tonight. He said Ishii gave him everything he had and he’s in pain, but it’s a good kind of pain. He said that clashing spirit with spirit is professional wrestling.
Shingo promised to continue elevating the NEVER title, then told anyone who wants the title to come get it.