NJPW Night Before Rumble on 44th Street live results: Halloween special

As part of two nights of pay-per-views in New York City, NJPW will kick things off Thursday with The Night Before Rumble on 44th Street at the Palladium Times Square.

The show is Halloween-themed with a mystery lineup of both NJPW and Stardom wrestlers with matches unknown until the wrestlers come out to the ring.

This is NJPW’s first show in NYC since 2019 with Saturday being called their “most significant American card” this fall. The inclusion of Stardom wrestlers is a first for NJPW on an American card.

Here’s some of the roster of wrestlers that will appear on Friday’s Rumble on 44th Street, perhaps giving some clues as to who will appear Thursday: Okada, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Eddie Kingston, Shingo Takagi, ELP, Minoru Suzuki, Clark Connors, Aussie Open, Motor City Machine Guns, Rocky Romero, Tom Lawlor and more.

Our live coverage begins at 8 PM Eastern.

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Kevin Knight & DKC defeated Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov (Forever Hooligans)

This was a fun opener. Koslov looked good, especially given his time away.

Before the match, a clip of a Rocky Romero therapy session played. Through hallucination-filled counseling, Alex Koslov was revealed to be reuniting with Rocky, at least for tonight.

Rocky and Koslov teased a fight as the match began but hugged instead. This led to the first stint of wrestling between Knight and Koslov. Knight got the better of the returning Koslov before passing the match to their partners.

DKC and Knight maintained their early momentum for some time. Koslov eventually grabbed Knight, buying Rocky enough time to turn things around with DKC. The Hooligans used their newfound lead to isolate Knight. This lead lasted until Rocky decided to run the ropes a little too long. Koslov stopped Rocky’s running with a reverse atomic drop to his own partner. Koslov tried patching things up with a hug, but Rocky responded with an atomic drop of his own. It wasn’t long before DKC and Knight retook control.

After another sequence of extended control, Knight landed a superplex followed by a Boston crab deep in the ring. Koslov broke up the hold with a DDT, resetting the match for his team. A double stomp to Knight scored a near fall, and a sequence of double team moves from the Hooligans scored another. The Hooligans hit a Contract Killer, forcing DKC to break up the fall. In the chaos following the save, Knight rolled up Koslov, scoring a win over the former IWGP Junior Tag Team champions.

Fred Rosser defeated Crowbar

This wasn’t a good match, but it could have been a lot worse. It was sloppy and a bit silly at times, but it was a lot of fun.

Crowbar, also known as Devon Storm, made his New Japan debut in this match.

Rosser opened the match with an energetic rush. Crowbar eventually cut him off with a spinebuster followed by some methodical heel work. Rosser fought back into the match on the edge of the ring, landing a loud slam against the apron. On the outside, Crowbar fought back in the match with a slam into the post and a chair shot. Back in the ring, Crowbar hit a frankensteiner for a near fall.

After surviving a ton of Crowbar offense, Rosser fought back with a northern lights suplex. This led into a Rosser-led sequence, ending with a lungblower into a sidewinder slam. Rosser pinned Crowbar to win the match.

After the match, Rosser cut a promo. He said there’s no better feeling than being under the New Japan Strong lights before asking, “Who’s next?”, ahead of his Strong Openweight Open challenge tomorrow night. Former ROH World Champion Johnathan Gresham answered the call. Gresham cut a short promo in response, paying credit to Rosser while boasting about his own ability. 

Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis (Aussie Open) defeated Joel Maximo & Jose Maximo (Spanish Announce Team)

This was another fun match that was less than great.

This was another New Japan debut, this time from Spanish Announce Team (S.A.T.). Best known for their work in the early 00’s independents, S.A.T. were dubbed, “the innovators of the style” tonight.

Aussie Open rushed S.A.T. as the match opened but was met with a quick bounce back from the veteran team. Aussie Open retook the lead on the outside, even while fighting off the “spot monkies” (persons in monkey suits) who accompanied S.A.T. to the ring.

Back in the ring, Aussie Open maintained their lead for quite some time. After landing multiple double-team moves for near falls, the match spilled to the floor from an S.A.T. tope. An elevated DDT scored the Maximos a near fall of their own. Mark Davis was forced to make a save after S.A.T. landed their signature Spanish fly. From the fog, Aussie Open turned things around, landing Coriolis, leading to the match-deciding pinfall.

Mike Bailey defeated Smiley, Mighty Mante, & Máscara Dorada

This match was all action.

Smiley and Mighty Mante are “local superstars” who currently wrestle for House of Glory. Smiley was also Rock Lobster for some time in Chikara.

This match opened with a sequence of back-and-fourth ranas. It wasn’t long after this that the match broke down with all four men on the outside. From this point on, the match was pretty chaotic.

Bailey landed a standing, twisting shooting star press. Bailey also hit a dive to the floor, but Smiley responded with a dive from the stage. Bailey hit a double knee moonsault on both HOG guys but failed to follow up. Mante scored a near fall with a Swanton bomb.

A tope to the floor left Monte alone in the ring with Smiley. Smiley loaded Monte onto his shoulders, but Bailey interrupted him. Bailey landed a 450 double knee onto Monte, who was still on Smiley’s shoulders, leading directly to the finish.

Minoru Suzuki defeated Tracy Williams

This was a really good match, even if it was a little formulaic.

The match opened with a hot strike exchange that Williams took to the mat early. Suzuki escaped Williams’s control by baiting him into an armbar in the ropes, taking the match to the floor. On the outside, the pair traded more strikes before returning to the ring for more of the same.

After succeeding while standing, Suzuki took the fight to the mat. Williams powered through Suzuki’s control with a suplex. Suzuki continued to wear down Williams, this time with a Fujiwara armbar. Once Williams escaped, the pair went back and forth again before turning to another striking battle.

After winning another strike exchange, Suzuki lifted Williams to the top. Williams blocked Suzuki on the top, delivering a DDT to reverse momentum in his favor. Suzuki survived Williams’s STF and blocked his piledriver attempt. Suzuki locked in a sleeper, landed a forearm, and connected with the Gotch piledriver to win the match.

Shingo Takagi defeated Jake Something

Something controlled a ton of this match. The story was Something’s ability to hold his own against former IWGP World Champion Shingo Takagi.

The match opened with a strike exchange that left Shingo with an early advantage. Something challenged Shingo’s lead with another strike exchange; this time, it ended with a Something body slam. Something took full advantage of his newfound lead, landing multiple heavy moves on the KOPW champion.

After an extended period of Something control, Shingo landed a lariat to begin a comeback. Something blocked Shingo’s sliding lariat, landing a chokeslam and a falcon arrow in response for a near fall. Shingo ducked Something’s attempt to finish and landed a driver to reset the match.

The reset was followed with back-and-fourth lariat attempts. Something won out, dropping Shingo with a big clothesline. Shingo survived, blocking Something’s finish attempt, and responded with a pumping bomber of his own. Shingo landed the sliding lariat and another pumping bomber to close the match.

Elimination Tag Team Match: Amazing Red, Eddie Kingston, Homicide, Jon Moxley, YOH, and Kazuchika Okada defeated Jay White, El Phantasmo, Juice Robinson (Bullet Club), Tom Lawlor, Jorel Nelson, and Royce Isaacs (Team Filthy)

Wrestlers in this match can be eliminated by pinfall, submission, or by being thrown over the top rope.

Okada and White opened the match with a collar-and-elbow. White escalated the match’s intensity with some overhand strikes, a move that Okada mirrored. Both men tried for their finish early before tagging out.

Homicide scared off all of Team Filthy, who were dressed like priests during their attempted exorcism. Homicide spit the holy water in the face of Nelson, leading to Team Filthy jumping Homicide and the match completely breaking down.

The twelve-man brawl eventually calmed down with ELP and Red as the legal men. Red got the best of ELP in a fast sequence, letting the babyface team pass off tags to establish control over their opponent. The heel team returned the favor, isolating YOH after ELP escaped his isolation. After an extended beatdown, Team Filthy threw YOH to the floor, scoring the first elimination.

Red started the rally for his team, scoring a quick pin on Nelson, achieving the first elimination for his team. Isaacs responded with a quick pin on Red, eliminating another babyface. Homicide hit the ring, pinned Isaacs, and evened the score. Homicide and Lawlor went back and forth for a while before the eliminated members of Team Filthy assisted Lawlor in eliminating Homicide.

Kingston and White came to blows after the spree of eliminations, with White gaining a solid lead for his team. With help from the rest of Bullet Club, White worked to maintain this lead. Moxley interrupted the heel’s attack, eliminating ELP by throwing him over the top rope.

The match broke down into another brawl after the score was made even again. Moxley and Lawlor were left alone in the ring after the battle. Moxley stuffed Lawlor’s attempt at a death rider and hit one of his own before scoring another elimination for his team.

Bullet Club rushed Moxley after the elimination, eventually scoring a hot tag to Okada. Okada ran roughshod through his opponents, dropping Robinson with a rainmaker. White quickly responded to the rainmaker, throwing Okada over the top rope and eliminating him. Moxley pinned Robinson while White was occupied with Okada.

The AEW World and IWGP World Champions came to blows alone in the ring. After a short sequence, between the two title holders, Kingston hit the ring and aided Moxley in eliminating White, scoring the win for the babyface team.

After the match, Kingston called out White, saying he was excited to see Okada beat him come January 4th. Moxley followed Kingston’s promo with one of his own. After thanking the crowd, Moxley passed the microphone back to Kingston, who threatened Bullet Club to close the show.