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gdwessel · 2 years

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Positive COVID-19 Tests Force Changes to NOAH (Fujita), NJPW (Fujinami + Ospreay) Supercards; NJPW Golden Fight Series Nights 8 + 9 - 4/27 & 4/28/2022; Accusations Against Chris Dickinson; Full Dead Or Alive 2022 Card; ZERO1 Otani Benefit Show Announced

I know I said I was gonna just do a post tomorrow initially, but too much has happened since Tuesday that it behooves me to do so.

COVID-19 is still a thing, especially in Japan. It’s now altered two of the Golden Week supercards.

The first announcement came yesterday from Pro Wrestling NOAH, where it was revealed a positive PCR test meant that Kazuyuki Fujita would not be able to defend the GHC Heavyweight title against Go Shiozaki on Saturday at Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan. The title has been vacated, and Go Shiozaki will now face a TBD opponent. Kaito Kiyomiya put himself forward as Shiozaki’s opponent . Kiyomiya is already booked to team with Yoshiki Inamura against Naomichi Marufuji & a mystery opponent. We will see what becomes of this. The altered match(es) have not yet been announced.

There was a lot of snark on Twitter (and I contributed to some of it), because while I don’t think the COVID-19 diagnosis is anything but genuine, this is a very Kazuyuki Fujita thing to do, in order to get out of doing a job he doesn’t want to. Then again, I am not shy about my contempt for Fujita, and it may be coloring my reaction. That said, hope he recovers without too much difficulty.

This morning, NJPW announced that both Tatsumi Fujinami and Will Ospreay also both tested positive, and therefore would miss Wrestling Dontaku 2022 on Sunday from the Fukuoka Pay Pay Dome. Ospreay was supposed to be in the IWGP US Heavyweight title decision match against Hiroshi Tanahashi; that match is now Tanahashi v. Tomohiro Ishii. As for Fujinami, he will now be replaced by a mystery wrestler in the 6-man tag match with Shingo Takagi & BUSHI (himself a replacement for Hiromu Takahashi, who is now wrestling YOH in a singles match) against Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & TAKA Michinoku. I’m a little concerned for Fujinami – the man is 68 years old, hardly a spring chicken. Hoping he (and Ospreay) also recover soon.

Since we’re here, let’s wrap up the Golden Fight Series tour, shall we?

New Japan Pro Wrestling

- 4/27/2022, Hiroshima Big Rose

Kosei Fujita d. Ryohei Oiwa (Boston Crab, 6:43)

DOUKI & El Desperado [SZKG] d. Master Wato & Tiger Mask IV (Desperado > Tiger, Pinche Loco, 11:40)

Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] d. Ryusuke Taguchi & Togi Makabe (Sabre > Makabe, Armbar, 8:13)

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Tomoaki Honma d. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo [Bullet Club] (Yano > Gedo, Schoolboy, 10:17)

Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables] d. Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG] (Hiromu > TAKA, Nameless Hiromu Roll, 11:01)

EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo [Bullet Club] d. Tama Tonga [GoD], Tanga Loa [GoD], Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jado [GoD] (SHO > Jado, Pinfall, 12:07)

Kazuchika Okada & YOH [CHAOS] d. Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] (Okada > BUSHI, Rainmaker, 16:14)

- 4/28/2022, Yamaguchi KDDI Ishin Hall

Ryusuke Taguchi d. Kosei Fujita (Oh My & Garankle, 7:50)

Master Wato d. Yuto Nakashima (Bendabar, 7:58)

Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano [CHAOS] d. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask IV (Goto > Honma, Shoto, 9:19)

El Desperado, Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG] d. Taiji Ishimori, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Gedo [Bullet Club] (DOUKI > Gedo, Diving Foot Stomp, 10:45)

Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG] (Shingo > TAKA, Pumping Bomber, 11:37)

EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo [Bullet Club] d. Tama Tonga [GoD], Tanga Loa [GoD], Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jado [GoD] (SHO > Jado, Snakebite, 11:34)

Kazuchika Okada & YOH [CHAOS] d. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables] (YOH > Hiromu, Five Star Clutch, 17:05)

YOH vowed to finish Hiromu on Sunday.

Last night on Twitter, a series of posts from wrestler Christina von Eerie went out citing abuse, gaslighting, etc., from a former partner of hers, recent NJPW signing Chris Dickinson. Dickinson has denied any such abuse took place. All the tweets are out there. You decide what to do with the information. For myself, I’m pretty disappointed to hear of all this. I also know that NJPW typically does absolutely nothing regarding their non-Japanese talents being accused of anything (indeed, they rarely do for their Japanese talents), so I am not holding my breath for any repercussions to come from NJPW or NJoA. It’s a shitty situation, and one that continues to be all-too frequent in wrestling. Change needs to come.

The tour is over, and the next event is Sunday’s big Wrestling Dontaku 2022 from Fukuoka. The event will be shown live on NJPWWorld, and I think FITE TV as well if you want. Below is the revised card.

Wrestling Dontaku 2022 - 5/1/2022, Fukuoka Pay Pay Dome (NJPWWorld)

X, Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

YOH [CHAOS] v. Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables]

Tanga Loa [GoD] v. Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club]

IWGP Juniorheavyweight Tag Team Championship: Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato © v. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG]

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 3-Way Match: Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire] © v. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

NEVER Openweight Championship: EVIL [Bullet Club] © v. Tama Tonga [GoD]

IWGP Juniorheavyweight Championship: El Desperado [SZKG] © v. Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Decision Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS]

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] © v. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables]

Dragon Gate

The full card for Dead Or Alive 2022 has been announced. The biggest noticeable thing is there is no Dead Or Alive Cage Match this year. Which is OK. We do not need to have The Dead Or Alive Cage Match every year just for the sake of having The Dead Or Alive Cage Match. We already have one man wrestling twice in two title matches, and a stipulation where someone has to leave a unit if they lose. It’s OK.

One note – Hip Hop Kikuta has now announced he is no longer Hip Hop Kikuta, but is going back to his given name, Madoka Kikuta. This really feels like they are over-egging Kikuta’s return where he will TOTALLY NOT BE JOINING Z-BRATS to where it’s becoming obvious HE IS TOTALLY JOINING Z-BRATS. They are not being subtle here.

Dead Or Alive 2022 - 5/5/2022, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (DG Network)

4-Way Match: Shachihoko Boy v. Punch Tominaga v. Mondai Ryu v. Yosuke Santa Maria

Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, Yasushi Kanda & Shuji Kondo v. Strong Machine J, La Estrella, Ishin Iihashi & Takuma Fujiwara

Madoka Kikuta & Jacky “Funky” Kamei [Natural Vibes] v. BxB Hulk & HYO [Z-Brats]

Genki Horiguchi, Big Boss Shimizu & Jason Lee [Natural Vibes] v. Ben-K, Keisuke Okuda & Kagetora [HIGH-END]

Open The Triangle Gate Championship: Kota Minoura, Naruki Doi & Kaito Ishida [Gold Class] © v. Eita, NOSAWA Rongai & Kotaro Suzuki [Perros del Mal de Japon]

Open The Dream Gate Championship: KAI [Z-Brats] © v. Susumu Yokosuka [Natural Vibes] - If Susumu loses, he must leave Natural Vibes and revert his name to Susumu Mochizuki

Other News

Pro Wrestling ZERO1 will be holding a benefit show for Shinjiro Otani on 6/4/2022 from Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium. So far, support and participation has been pledged from NJPW (specifically Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma, the latter of whom has had similar issues to what Otani has suffered), NOAH, BJW, 2AW, FREEDOMS, Ganbare!, OZ Academy, Diana and Tatsumi Fujinami. More details as they come.

In other tribute show news, another match has been announced for the Jumbo Tsuruta Memorial show on 5/31/2022 at Korakuen Hall. Shingo Takagi will team with a mystery partner, against the Aoyagi brothers, Yuma & Atsuki, from All Japan. Shingo has said his mystery partner may not be a member of Los Ingobernables, or indeed any other wrestler from NJPW.

More Fortune Dream 7 matches have been announced as well, as #STRONGHEARTS will take on AJPW in two matches. First, Takao Omori will face off against Issei Onitsuka, whilst CIMA & T-Hawk will take on the TOTAL ECLIPSE tandem of Jake Lee & Hokuto Omori. That’s on 6/15/2022 from Korakuen Hall as well.

In some final housekeeping news, if you follow my @StrongStylStory Twitter account, it will be changing its name to either @gdwessel (my current personal one, which I am retiring and merging into this one), or @GeoffreyWessel or @GeoffreyDWessel as a temporary measure if there is such a thing as Twitter time limits or something. We’ll see. Just a word of warning, this will be happening Sunday, probably AFTER I do that day’s post.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow for the start of the Golden Week megacards.

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