NJPW Kizuna Road results: IWGP Junior Tag Team title match
NJPW’s Kizuna Road tour continued today at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships were on the line in the main event as SHO & YOH defended against Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo.
Following yesterday’s show-closing angle with Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata confronting the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI, a change was made to today’s card.
The scheduled Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo, Gedo & Jado match was changed to Okada, Goto, Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Yano vs. Tenzan, Kojima, Nagata, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma.
On the undercard, Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji’s singles gauntlets continued. Tsuji faced Great-O-Khan in the opener, while Uemura took on Kota Ibushi in the second match.
Below are results and a report on today’s show.
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Recommended matches —
- Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo vs. SHO & YOH
- Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma
- Kota Ibushi vs. Yuya Uemura
Report —
Great-O-Khan defeated Yota Tsuji (11:30)
This was solid. A little more offense for Tsuji would have made for a more exciting match, but O-Khan was booked to look dominant.
They opened with some chain wrestling. O-Khan got a takedown off an ankle pick. Tsuji got a takedown and began working for an armbar. O-Khan forced a quick rope break. O-Khan took control of the bout after hitting a throw.
O-Khan worked Tsuji over. Tsuji came back with a dropkick, a splash and a powerslam. Tsuji used a crab, but O-Khan forced a break. O-Khan hit a gutwrench throw for a double down.
They traded chops. Tsuji hit a spear for a near fall. Tsuji missed a top rope splash. O-Khan used an elbow for a near fall, then used a Boston crab. Tsuji forced a rope break at the 10 minute call.
O-Khan hit a powerslam and a vertical suplex. Tsuji cradled O-Khan for a near fall. O-Khan came back with a belly-to-belly, then used a Boston crab for the submission.
Kota Ibushi defeated Yuya Uemura (13:13)
This was very good. I think Taichi actually had a better match with Uemura yesterday, but Uemura continues to shine. Ibushi gave him a ton of offense.
Uemura hit a series of strikes to begin. Ibushi took him down and dominated a mat wrestling sequence. Ibushi used a camel clutch, but Uemura forced a break.
Ibushi dared Uemura to strike with him. Ibushi then dominated a striking battle. Uemura went for a dropkick and missed. He got the dropkick on his second attempt and had an offensive flurry. Uemura hit a back suplex and a series of slaps.
Ibushi blocked a crab attempt and hit a double stomp to the chest. Ibushi hit a series of kicks, but Uemura refused to go down. They traded heavy forearms in the center of the ring. Uemura tried for a double overhook suplex, but Ibushi blocked. Uemura fought off a submission attempt from the overhook position and got a high-angle crab applied. Ibushi forced a break.
Uemura hit a beautiful bridging German for a two count. Uemura ran off the ropes into an Ibushi lariat for a near fall. Ibushi then used a single-leg crab at a crazy high angle for the submission.
Ibushi applauded Uemura after the match and urged the crowd to do so as well. A classy move.
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma (13:19)
This was a lot of fun. An all-action brawl.
Ishii and Nagata began, playing off the angle at the end of yesterday’s show. Kojima and Tenzan jumped in to make it three-on-one. Ishii bailed to the floor.
Okada and Makabe tagged in. Makabe hit some forearms and punches. Okada hit a back elbow in the corner and a DDT to cut Makabe off. CHAOS then went to work on Makabe. Yano exposed a buckle and whipped Makabe into it.
Makabe came back with a powerslam on Goto. Kojima tagged in and hit machine gun chops on Goto, then sent him into the exposed buckle. YH saved for Goto and it was Kojima’s turn to be cut off. Tenzan saved for Kojima and ran wild with Mongolian chops. Tenzan and Kojima hit a double suplex on Goto.
Kojima hit Goto with a rolling elbow. Goto blocked a lariat. Kojima blocked an ushigoroshi attempt. Kojima hit a cutter, then tagged Nagata. Nagata hit a low dropkick to Goto. Goto answered with a lariat.
Ishii got a tag. Ishii and Nagata had an awesome striking battle. Neither guy sold much of anything for the other. Nagata hit an exploder out of the corner. Ishii came back with a powerslam. Nagata hit a second exploder and tagged Honma.
Honma hit Ishii with chops and a running bulldog. Honma missed a kokeshi, but caught an interfering Goto and YH with a lariat combo. Honma hit Ishii with a lariat. Okada saved for Ishii. Makabe jumped in. Okada missed a dropkick. Makabe nailed him with a lariat.
Yano and Okada ate a double lariat from Makabe. Makabe and Honma hit Ishii with a GBH lariat. Honma hit a diving kokeshi and a brainbuster to Ishii. He hit a second diving kokeshi for a near fall.
Honma went up top, but Goto cut him off. Honma took out Goto and YH with lariats. Ishii then hit Honma with a lariat for a near fall. Honma blocked a brainbuster and hit two more kokeshis.
Ishii blocked a Honma brainbuster and hit his Vertical Drop Brainbuster for the pin.
Tenzan, Kojima and Nagata briefly brawled with Ishii, Goto and YH in the ring after the match.
Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI (12:26)
There was some good wrestling comedy here involving Naito and a cardboard box.
Yesterday was Naito’s 39th birthday, so Taichi brought a box to the ring as a present. Hiromu Takahashi was on commentary and had paper poppers for Naito. Taichi kicked Hiromu off the apron and Hiromu took a bump to the floor.
Taichi gave Naito his present. Naito made a big show of accepting the box, then promptly hit Taichi over the head with it.
SANADA and Sabre started the match with a nice sequence. Shingo briefly tagged in in the plus position on Sabre. Naito tagged in and began working on Sabre’s arms. Taichi hit Naito in the head with the box, then put the box on Naito’s head and kicked it. The box was empty.
Naito ended up cut off in the Suzuki-gun corner. Taichi tagged in and choked Naito. BUSHI tried to save, but Desperado and Kanemaru sent him outside. Sabre tried to double up on Naito. SANADA saved and hit a rana to Taichi. Sabre hit a PK to SANADA. Naito hit a neckbreaker to Sabre. Taichi hit an axe bomber to Naito, who took a flip bump.
Shingo and Kanemaru got tags. Kanemaru went after Shingo’s left leg. Shingo ate a DDT, but hit Kanemaru and Desperado with a double lariat. BUSHI tagged in for a missile dropkick and a tope suicida.
BUSHI hit Desperado with a low dropkick and a DDT. Desperado blocked a swinging neckbreaker and hit a spinebuster. Desperado hit Guitarra de Angel for a near fall. Naito and SANADA tried to save for BUSHI, but Sabre and Taichi cut them off with dueling cobra twists. Kanemaru and Shingo brawled to the floor.
BUSHI and Desperado traded strikes. BUSHI hit a dropkick. Desperado blocked a codebreaker and hit a right hand. Desperado followed with Pinche Loco and pinned BUSHI.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo defeated SHO & YOH to win the titles (26:43)
You knew they were going a long time based on the pacing. The first ten minutes were filler, but they found another gear and turned in a great overall performance.
First SHO, then YOH were cut off. Ishimori hit YOH with a sliding German. ELP tagged in for some comedy offense. YOH managed a tag to SHO. SHO and YOH used dueling submissions on ELP and Ishimori. ELP and Ishimori then returned the favor.
They did a long submission tease with SHO in Ishimori’s Yes Lock, but SHO forced a break. SHO hit a lungblower and tagged out. Ishimori tagged ELP as well.
YOH and ELP traded strikes and slaps, then pinning combinations. YOH hit a thrust kick and a nice German into a bridge for a near fall. ELP used a cradle for a near fall. YOH used a jackknife cradle for a two count.
ELP missed a v-trigger. YOH used an O-Connor roll for a two count. ELP kicked out, sending YOH into an Ishimori kick on the apron. Ishimori tagged in, then hit a plancha to SHO. ELP hit an airplane spin neckbreaker to YOH, then Ishimori covered for a near fall.
Ishimori hit YOH with a lungblower. ELP tagged back in and hit a frog splash for a two count. Ishimori hit a codebreaker to YOH. ELP missed a moonsault and hit Ishimori by mistake. SHO hopped in and Roppongi doubled up on Ishimori.
SHO and YOH hit a 3K to Ishimori. SHO and YOH hit the Strong X for a near fall on ELP with Ishimori saving. SHO hit a deadlift German on Ishimori and a kick on the apron as they fought to the floor.
YOH went for Direct Drive on ELP. ELP blocked and stomped on YOH’s foot with a loaded boot. ELP then hit a Sudden Death superkick with the loaded boot. YOH sold like he was knocked out and ELP covered for the pin to win the titles.
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Live action returns to NJPW World on Thursday, July 1 and Friday, July 2. Both shows will be at Korakuen Hall and will air for free on NJPW World. No cards have been announced for those events as of yet.