NJPW Summer Struggle results: NEVER Six-Man tourney semifinals

Recommended matches —

• Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & DOUKI 
• Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi & Master Wato 

Report —

Korakuen Hall was the venue. They announced a sellout with 698 people in attendance. 

Taiji Ishimori defeated Yuya Uemura (8:14)

Ishimori is still great but you can really see the toll of all of his injuries this year. He’s slowed down so much. Uemura had a better night tonight than he did with Nagata yesterday. 

Uemura fired off some strikes at the opening bell. Ishimori responded by sending him outside and into the barricade. Ishimori used a chinlock as he slowly worked Uemura over. 

Uemura came back with a dropkick and a variety of suplexes. Ishimori blocked a crab attempt and used a cradle for a near fall. Uemura got the crab on his second attempt but Ishimori forced a break. 

Uemura ended up bleeding from the mouth here. He blocked a handspring Pele kick and hit a suplex. Uemura bridged into a near fall. 

Ishimori used a jumping knee strike and a lungblower for near falls before using the Yes Lock for the submission. 

Yujiro Takahashi & Gedo (w/ Jado) defeated Yota Tsuji & Gabriel Kidd (7:52)

This was really a terrible match. The Gedo/Yujiro team stands out in a bad way anyway, but when you see them three days in a row their pairing is even worse. 

It sucks for the guys in there with Gedo too because they have to get whipped with his belt for real which can’t be fun. 

They put over on commentary that Okada and Yujiro’s KOPW match could be a lumberjack match of some kind. 

Kidd and Tsuji fought off an illegal double team at the outset. Gedo sent Tsuji outside with a handful of trunks and it was all Bullet Club from there. 

Kidd started to make a comeback on Yujiro but ran into a kendo stick shot from Jado on the floor. Yujiro followed up with a fisherman buster and Pimp Juice for the pin. 

Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Yuji Nagata (10:34)

This was a standard Suzuki-gun brawl. 

Suzuki-gun attacked before the opening bell and cut Nagata off. Taichi choked him with a camera cable on the floor. Nagata came back with a dragon screw on Sabre and tagged Makabe. Makabe got some offense before tagging Honma. 

Honma missed a kokeshi on Taichi. Honma’s teammates jumped in for a three-on-one on Taichi. Honma hit a diving kokeshi and a standard kokeshi. He made a cover but Sabre and Kanemaru broke it up. 

Nagata, Makabe, Sabre and Kanemaru brawled to the floor, leaving Honma and Taichi in. They traded strikes. Honma hit a lariat. Sabre and Kanemaru jumped in. Nagata, Makabe, Sabre and Kanemaru brawled to the outside again. 

Taichi hit an axe bomber but Honma no-sold it. Taichi hit a backdrop suplex and used a stretch plum for the submission. 

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They announced the G1 schedule, then followed with an intermission. 

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Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & DOUKI (9:38)

Suzuki matches are pretty much a guaranteed recommendation from me. This was the best match on the show up to this point.

Tenzan and Desperado started out. DOUKI came in for a double team and Suzuki-gun cut Tenzan off. DOUKI and Desperado crotched Tenzan with the post. Suzuki used a kneebar. Kojima jumped in to break it up but he got caught in a kneebar too. 

Suzuki tried a PK but Tenzan caught it. Tenzan hit a wheel kick and tagged Taguchi. Taguchi hit each member of Suzuki-gun with multiple hip attacks. Taguchi did his Nakamura poses and tried for one more hip attack but Suzuki caught him in a choke. Taguchi slid out, hit a hip attack and tagged Kojima. 

Kojima hit Suzuki with machine gun chops. He went for a top rope elbow but Suzuki-gun cut him off. DOUKI tagged in and hit a double stomp for a near fall. DOUKI used a triangle. DOUKI tried to hit Kojima with a pipe but Kojima’s teammates saved. 

Everyone jumped in for a big move as the match broke down. DOUKI tried a rolling cradle but Kojima kicked out. Kojima hit two lariats and got the pin. 

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Kojima challenged Desperado in the KOPW tournament after the match. Desperado accepted. 

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NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team title tournament semifinal match: Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & SHO defeated Shingo Takagi, SANADA & BUSHI by countout (13:07)

This was just okay. There was some decent wrestling but Yano’s involvement and the comedy finish didn’t help things. 

SANADA and SHO started with a mat wrestling sequence. BUSHI and Yano tagged in for some comedy spots. 

Shingo and Okada tagged in and locked up. Okada broke cleanly against the ropes. They traded strikes. Yano interfered from the apron. BUSHI then interfered and LIJ cut Okada off. Shingo worked on Okada’s left arm. SANADA tagged in and continued working on the arm. 

Okada fought off a paradise lock attempt and hit a flapjack before tagging SHO. SANADA fought for Skull End but SHO escaped. SANADA blocked a spear and hit a rope-assisted neckbreaker. 

BUSHI and YOH tagged in for some more comedy. Yano exposed a turnbuckle. Yano tried a schoolboy but BUSHI cradled him instead. BUSHI hit a missile dropkick. LIJ cleared the apron and went three-on-one on Yano. 

SANADA, Shingo, Okada and SHO fought to the floor. BUSHI sent Yano outside. BUSHI missed a tope suicida and crashed to the floor.

Yano pulled a roll of tape from under the ring. Shingo got the tape away from Yano. Yano tied the laces of BUSHI’s mask to the barricade and beat the count back in for the countout victory. 

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SANADA pointed at SHO after the match. This seemed to indicate that they’ll be facing off in the KOPW tournament. 

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NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team title tournament semifinal match: Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi & Master Wato (w/ Hiroyoshi Tenzan) (17:12)

This was a fun main event. 

All six guys jumped in early. Tanahashi and Ibushi hit tandem dropkicks on Goto and Ishii. Master Wato and Goto ended up the legal men. Goto tagged YH and YH and Wato had an even exchange. 

Ibushi and Ishii tagged in and proceeded to beat the hell out of each other. They traded stiff strikes. Ibushi hit a suplex but Ishii no-sold it, hit a running tackle and a powerslam. Ibushi came back with a double Pele kick on Ishii and Goto. 

Tanahashi got a tag and ran wild with dragon screws. He used a cloverleaf on Goto but YH broke it up. Wato nailed YH with a springboard uppercut. Goto came back on Wato and Tanahashi. Goto hit a wheel kick and backdrop suplex on Tana for a near fall. 

Everyone jumped in again. Ibushi hit Ishii with a snap rana. Goto hit Tana with a misdirection lariat. Goto hit Tana with a headbutt and an inverted GTR. He tried another GTR but Tana blocked and hit two twist and shouts. 

Goto went for an ushigoroshi. Ibushi saved and hit a high kick which allowed Tana to use a crucifix on Goto for a two count. Ibushi and Tanahashi hit the Golden Blade on Goto. Tana went for High Fly Flow but Goto rolled out of the way and Tana crashed to the mat. 

Wato and YH got tags. Wato fell victim to a three-on-one. YH used a sit-out powerbomb and a stack cover for a near fall. YH hit a lariat for another near fall. They clearly wanted to make Wato look strong before they beat him. 

Ibushi hit an interfering Ishii with a springboard dropkick. Tana held YH up while Wato and Ibushi hit him with tandem high kicks. Wato went for the RPP but YH rolled out of the way. Wato hit a series of kicks and used a cool throw for a near fall. 

Wato was again the victim of a three-on-one. Goto hit him with an ushigoroshi. Ishii hit a sliding lariat. YH hit a meteora for a two count as Tanahashi saved. 

YH then hit Karma and got the pin. 

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Ishii and Ibushi faced off after the match as tempers flared, so that looks to be a KOPW match as well. Tanahashi got involved as well. Ishii hit Ibushi with a chop. YH and Tanahashi pulled them apart. 

YOSHI-HASHI closed the show with a promo.