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fagcrisis · 11 months

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my friend ellis @jonny-dykeville wants to get into njpw, and i thought id write her a little summary of whats been going on lately! im posting it here in case its useful for anyone who wants to get into nooj but finds it a little too confusing (understandable) or has stopped watching in the last couple years and now wants to get back into it

this will include a list of matches at the end from 2023 that i think were good and/or are important to storylines! this is accurate to the day im writing it which is 2023/05/15

LINKS TO BE UPDATED

The landscape of New Japan Pro Wrestling has changed enormously in the past couple of months. For example if you told someone a year ago that Kazuchika Okada would hold a non singles belt, theyd laugh in your face.

So how did we get here?

google doc version

Your current champions

Sanada beat Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP heavyweight championship at Sakura Genesis, and has since defended it against Hiromu Takahashi, the current junior heavyweight champion.

Hiromu won the belt at Wrestle Kingdom in a four-way match against Master Wato, El Desperado, and former champion Taiji Ishimori.

The IWGP women’s title was created last year and won by Kairi at Historic X-over. She lost the belt to Mercedes Moné, who was champion until Mayu Iwatani dethroned her recently.

Aussie Open hold the tag titles after defeating Bishamon, and they’ve gone on to win the Strong openweight tag team championships from the Motor City Machine Guns.

David Finlay is the NEVER openweight champion, bringing the belt back in to Bullet Club after Tama Tonga defeated Karl Anderson for it at Wrestle Kingdom.

Intergalactic Jetsetters (Kushida And Kevin Knight) finally ended the reign of Catch 2/2 (Tjp And Francesco Akira) as junior heavyweight tag team champions during the road to Wrestling Dontaku tour, thank god.

Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii are the NEVER openweight six man champions winning the titles from Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki And Ren Narita). If you think that sentence is insane, don’t worry I’ll explain whats happening.

Zack Sabre Jr became the inaugural NJPW World TV champion, winning the tournament at Wrestle Kingdom by defeating Ren Narita, and he’s had some incredible defenses since (you might’ve seen him on ROH).

the KOPW trophy graduated to a belt after El Phantasmo broke it, and Taichi is the current provisional champion having defeated Shingo Takagi for it.

Kenta lost the strong openweight championship to Hikuleo in the first defense of the belt in Japan, after winning it from Fred Rosser (with Juice interference).

at the time of writing this the Strong women’s title does exist but the tournament to decide its first owner has yet to be held (Resurgence may 21st).

Karl Anderson will pay for his crimes

Those who have been following me since november last year know that Suzuki-gun, a heel faction in NJPW led by Minoru Suzuki, has come to an end. I was inconsolable. There are multiple reasons for this happening, but the main one is Karl Anderson.

While Anderson is a member of Bullet Club, and in fall of last year was still the NEVER openweight champion, he is contracted to WWE and was on a handshake deal with NJPW, essentially promising he’ll appear at shows they book him for. There was a scheduling conflict with one of WWE’s saudi shows, and Anderson essentially ghosted the company not appearing for his title defense against Hikuelo, which meant I had to watch Yujiro Takahashi wrestle. anyway this all meant that New Japan lost faith in their freelancers, and because the majority of Suzuki-gun were on handshake deals, this meant the faction had to go. Their last match was on december 23rd (njpwworld) (bilibili link) and it was very emotional and beautiful, and I was incredibly sad.

Shota came back!

Shota Umino, who you may know as the protege of Jon Moxley, returned from excursion in the fall of last year. Young lions (NJPW trainees) are sent abroad to foreign promotions by the company to train and gather experience in different environments to Japan. Shota was in Britain for a time and he returned, challenging Will Ospreay for the US title he still held at the time. He lost but with this high profile title shot he joined the ranks of the young stars NJPWhas much faith vested in.

This also includes Ren Narita, who you may not know because he was never adopted by a mean american man. he was trained by Katsuyori Shibata, earning the nickname Son of Strong Style and wearing similar gear to Shibata as well. The company seems to be trying to set him up to be Shibata’s successor, and he wrestles a similarly, clean technical style.

A recent addition to their ranks is Yota Tsuji, whose return I will explain later.

The IWGP women’s title

Women’s wrestling promotion Stardom and NJPW are both owned by Bushiroad. Because of this last year there was a crossover between the two promotions, which saw the first mixed tag matches in an NJPW ring. Great show, you should watch it. (njpwworld link) (bilibili link)

For this event, the IWGP women’s championship was created and won by Kairi. Now I have some thoughts about how Stardom is already full of accomplished talented women, and putting a women’s match on the card once in a blue moon isn’t a win for women in wrestling and you should maybe try watching Stardom instead (guide on how to do that). But I digress. Regardless of whether or not this is pandering, every match for the belt was undoubtedly incredible and I will be linking them all in the rec section.

A brief Wrestle Kingdom aside

You fucking know what happened at Wrestle Kingdom I shouldn’t have to explain this to you. Kenny Omega returned and defeated Will Ospreay for the US title, and Okada won his beloved IWGP belt back from Jay White, starting him down the path of leaving NJPW.

What you might not know is what happened at Wrestle Kingdom Night 2, which confusingly was held some weeks later. Wrestle Kingdom traditionally is a show between NOAH and NJPW, so Night 2 saw the two promotions pitch their most popular wrestlers against each other. Okada was set to fight Kaito Kiyomiya in a tag team match, but he thought this challenge beneath him and attempted to murder Kiyomiya ruling the match a no contest.

Later in february, at Keiji Muto’s retirement show, Okada did have to face off Kiyomiya in a singles bout, despite his protests that he is not some cheap whore (his words not mine). That entire show is incredibly good but not extremely relevant to NJPW storylines, as crossover events usually are not. (njpwworld) (unoffical link)

After Wrestle Kingdom, New Japan holds New Year’s Dash and the New Beginning shows where they set up new storylines that will likely last the whole year. Jay White challenges Hikuleo to a loser leaves Japan match, because he blames him and his brothers (Guerillas of Destiny) for Bullet Club weakening and his loss at Wrestle Kingdom. He promptly loses this match. Bummer.

El Desperado refuses to accept that Suzuki-gun is over and joins Minoru Suzuki in defending Ren Narita from House of Torture’s dastardly attack, leading to the formation of their trios team; Strong Style. They then go on to defeat House of Torture for the NEVER openweight six man tag team titles. Now this is crazy but we dont have time to dwell on it because the other remnants of Suzuki-gun are also making moves that are considerably more insane.

Its time for: faction madness

There are a lot of factions in New Japan Pro Wrestling. like a lot. Every storyline is heavily driven by who is in what faction and where their allegiences lie. This might be confusing to you if you only watch AEW, a promotion where factions matter less than what Tony adds to commentary.

TMDK

Naturally ex-Suzuki-gun member and best technical wrestler in the known universe Zack Sabre Jr couldn’t simply remain in Hontai, the main body of New Japan where factionless members of the roster belong. Luckily he was a free agent for all of five seconds before his old australian buddies snatched him and his fresh tv championship up. TMDK, known as an australian faction despite a solid half not being from Australia, has suffered some losses in the past year. Jonah, their strongest member, a man who defeated even Kazuchika Okada, left Japan for WWE. Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls, founding members of the faction and a tag team under the same name, have failed to succeed in winning Tag League in fall of last year. Safe to say, they needed a win. Zack has teamed with them during his time in NOAH, so it was only logical that he would return to his old friends. They even recruited a young lion, Kosei Fujita, who became the first young lion in a faction if you don’t count Hikuleo which was a slightly different situation. TMDK also includes Bad Dude Tito (or Big Teets) over in the States.

The addition of Zack really reinvigorated the faction. Shane and Mikey challenged and failed to defeat Aussie Open for the tag titles, and Robbie Eagles left Chaos for more australian pastures, joining the faction when he challenged Hiromu Takahashi for his championship. Robbie also lost but TMDK didn’t let these setbacks stop them from cutting the weirdest promos after every match and staunchly insisting Fujita (who they’ve nicknamed Big Fooj) will be the first young lion to win a championship.

United Empire

Will Ospreay is no longer the IWGP US heavyweight champion. After losing to Kenny Omega he threw a hissy fit and declared that he would give professional wrestling one more year. He also entered the New Japan Cup, a tournament for the right to challenge for the IWGP championship. Unfortunately in a match against his friend and stablemate Mark Davis (of Aussie Open and ass size fame) he injured his shoulder which put him out of action until about last week. He won the 1pw world title though, so he’s fine.

Other than that, the faction has been doing fairly well for themselves. After a titanic struggle against Bishamon, Aussie Open won the tag titles and have gone on to defend them against TMDK and somehow, Best Friends on AEW television. They also won the Strong tag titles, and Kyle Fletcher managed to botch a moonsault in both matches. You’ve definitely seen them even if you don’t watch NJPW, their schedule is insane and they have a banger of a match practically on a weekly average.

Also tag champions in the faction were Catch 2/2, who held the junior titles until fairly recently. They’ve had great defenses against YOH and his new tag partner, Lio Rush (more on that in a second) and Douki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. What you need to know about Catch 2/2 is that TJP is a PragerU weirdo and Akira is good albeit italian.

UE also includes Jeff Cobb, who you might’ve seen challenging for Kenny Omega’s US title on Dynamite. He is incredible I don’t have anything else to say. He also kind of thinks flat earthers have a point. He’s really good though.

Also in the faction are Aaron Henare, men’s rights weirdo who challenged and lost to Shingo Takagi for the KOPW belt and Great O Khan who is somehow the Revpro champion. He is notable for having a nice bow in his hair and screeching. The most recent recruit to the faction is Dan Moloney, who unfortunately is fairly unknown to me. He joined the faction as a junior heavyweight and subsequently entered the Best of Super Juniors Tournament, which I will explain later.

Chaos

I’ve previously described Chaos as Hontai 2.0, because that’s really what it is. Lead by Kazuchika Okada, Chaos was the original heel faction in NJPW, founded by Shinsuke Nakamura. Nowadays it is a loose collection of allegiances that confusingly includes the entire Best Friends faction in AEW. Yes, that includes Trent’s mum Sue. Since becoming faces, Chaos members regularly team with Hontai because it all doesn’t really matter.

Kazuchika Okada defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi at Battle in the Valley, and then asked him to tag together. They named themselves the Dream Team, and I only briefly pondered how well it ended the last time Tana teamed with a younger star. Anyways I’m sure this will go fine. They challenged Okada’s fellow Chaos members Bishamon for their tag titles they still held at that time, and sadly lost that match. They defeated the team of Shota Umino and Ren Narita, and then once again failed to obtain gold in a 3-way match against the Motor City Machine Guns and Aussie Open (who won). After Okada lost his belt, they recruited Tomohiro Ishii, who doesn’t like Tanahashi and doesn’t want to team with him because he isn’t in Chaos. Despite this, they managed to defeat Strong Style for the NEVER openweight six man championships.

Bishamon I’ve covered sufficiently enough I think, they are the team of Hirooki Goto who recently celebrated his 20th anniversary in professional wrestling and YOSHI-HASHI who used to be incredibly horrible and is less bad recently. They are fun and I like them.

YOH and SHO were a junior tag team in Chaos until SHO turned heel, joining Bullet Club. This left YOH in a sort of strange limbo, where he contemplated quitting wrestling and pursuing his more artistic ambitions (he is a musician and an artist). Rocky Romero, also a member of Chaos, got him and Lio Rush together to team for Junior Tag League, and they ended up winning the tournament! Although they failed to defeat catch 2/2 at Wrestle Kingdom, and Lio got injured, teaming with him seemed to bring YOH’s confidence back. He’s been wrestling slightly differently and with more self-assurence. The pair both separately challenged and lost to Hiromu Takahashi, two incredible matches that I will link below. Not even these losses brought YOH’s confidence down though, and he’s entered BOSJ alongside Lio although they are in different blocks.

Also members of Chaos are Rocky Romero, Best Friends (including Kris Statlander, Orange Cassidy, Sue, and I think quite possibly Danhausen), Toru Yano who is kind of a funny little man, and Tomohiro Ishii.

Los Ingobernables de Japon

Led by Tetsuya Naito, the tweener group is more of a loose collection of talented individuals than your regular faction. LIJ has a policy of letting their members forge their own paths and create their own success, instead of letting them fall back on the power of the group.

Maybe the only exception to this rule is Hiromu Takahashi, who owes a lot of his success to the faction as well as his mentor Tetsuya Naito. Hiromu is very talented and has a very unique style both in his wrestling and his fashion sense. Unbiased corner ahead I like him a lot. He holds junior wrestlers in very high regard and recently organized the All Star Junior festival to showcase junior heavyweights from all around japan (njpwworld ppv) (vk link). He has a plush cat named Daryl. Hiromu is kind of the ace of the junior division right now, he is on his fifth title reign and is trying to defend the belt 12 times to beat the current defense record of 11 held by Minoru Tanaka. Currently he is 4 defenses into this streak, having defeated YOH, Lio Rush, Robbie Eagles and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Despite being champion he entered BOSJ, a tournament he’s won four times, three times in a row. If he wins, he’ll get to hand pick his opponent at Dominion.

I have no clue what to say about Tetsuya Naito. To quote my friend Jay, “it’s naito. he is an indescribable force of non-functional knees and the driest hair you've ever seen. he takes ten years to remove his entrance gear. he is naito”. You fucking know who Tetsuya Naito is.

This year, the main thing he’s done is defeating his mentor Keiji Muto at his retirement show in Febuary (njpwworld link) (vk link). He has a very hands off approach towards leading his group, sort of letting everyone figure their things out, which is why he didn’t really seem worried about his match against his stablemate Sanada in the New Japan Cup. You can imagine his surprise when Sanada not only defeated him but then declared that he would be leaving the faction, but more on that later. He also recently had a singles match against DOUKI, which was incredible.

Also members of LIJ are Shingo Takagi, winner of KOPW 2022 and former KOPW 2023 provisional champion, and also living legend. He made his name in Dragon Gate, a different japanese promotion you should also watch (I’m not at all being held at gunpoint by people whose names start with J), Bushi and Titan, who are both junior heavyweight luchadors I don’t know as much about as I should. They’re really good and they are both in BOSJ this year.

Bullet Club

Do I even need to explain. Don’t worry I will.

Jay White lost his loser leaves Japan match to Hikuleo, but there was hope. He promised Gedo he would go to America and wrestle on Strong and right his wrongs. So obviously he immediately lost a loser leaves New Japan match to Eddie Kingston, barring him from ever wrestling in a New Japan ring ever again. After weeks of radio silence, he showed up on Dynamite, forming Bullet Culb Gold (2 bullet 2 club) with Juice Robinson and you all know what happened after that.

It’s spring which means it’s Bullet Club infighting season. After Jay’s loss, his long time rival David Finlay waltzed into the ring all goth and angry, cutting a promo about how the japanese fans never appreciated him and he is an outsider wherever he goes. If this didn’t make it clear to you that he was the new leader, don’t worry it wasn’t clear to me or El Phantasmo either.

ELP was friends with Jay White, and made the rest of the Club agree that they will let Jay ride off into the sunset. A peaceful transfer of power is however impossible in Bullet Club, which is kind of a Stanford prison experiment for closeted gay men. It started bothering Phantasmo, that everyone in his faction so readily accepted Finlay as the new leader, like they weren’t fully behind Jay only a week ago. And anyone who questions the leader has to go.

Then came a months long game of gay betrayal chicken. Every postmatch, Phantasmo would assure Finlay that they were doing it for the club, refuse to too sweet the new leader, and the two slapping eachother in place of a tag. Meanwhile the faces in Hontai were increasingly more accepting towards ELP, Shota Umino even gave him one of his bracelets. The tension came to a boil at Sakura Genesis, where in a tag team match against Guerillas of Destiny and Master Wato, Phantasmo refused to commit the clubs usual heel antics and was brutally kicked out in response. Despite his close friendship with Taiji Ishimori and Kenta, both men readily betrayed him for David Finlay.

Phantasmo returned as a face to beat Finlay up after he defeated Tama Tonga for the NEVER belt, and the two have a title match set at Dominion.

As I mentioned Kenta and Taiji Ishimori are both members of Bullet Club, and Finlay recently recruited Clark Connors to be the clubs newest junior. He entered BOSJ alongside Taiji. Gedo, the head booker of NJPW is also a member of BC but he mainly stands ominously in the background and in kayfabe doesn’t have a massive role in storylines.

HOUSE OF TORTURE

I have to explain what’s going on here. Bullet Club has sort of a subesction? Called House of Torture. They’re only really part of BC in name only, and merch sales. Their thing is gratuitous cheating, if one HoT member has a match, the rest of them aren’t far behind making every match a handicap. Their members are EVIL, the leader of the group and former LIJ member, Yujiro Takahashi the incredible slow motion man whose joints creak audibly with every move, Dick Togo and SHO, who joined after betraying YOH and turning heel. SHO is actually pretty good but the presence of HoT at every match really ruins. Everything. I try not thinking about them.

JUST 5 GUYS

NOW baby. The reason I’m even writing this. The worst faction name in the history of pro wrestling. This faction is made of four ex-Suzuki-gun members and Sanada. Originally called Just Four Guys when Taka Michinoku, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and DOUKI announced they would be forming a faction at New Year’s Dash. Taka made some baseless claims about how they will defeat everyone and change the landscape of New Japan. He also came up with their new catchphrase “You already die”. Commentary and everyone else immediately dismissed them as a joke that will last maybe a couple of months. Oh how wrong we were.

Initially, the group did not have much success. Douki and Uncle Nobu lost to Catch 2/2 in their title match against them, Taka kept getting pinned and they failed to deliver on their promises to destroy everyone who stood in their way.

Taichi, as their only heavyweight, entered the New Japan Cup. His first match was against Sanada, a man he’s had some history with when he was still tagging with Zack Sabre Jr as Dangerous Tekkers. Sanada was a man not really renowned for anything, he hasn’t seen any singles success since joining LIJ by helping Tetsuya Naito cheat, except for a US title run cut short with no defenses due to an injury. He had blonde hair and the best or the worst move in pro wrestling history, depending on if you ask my friend Ryan or me. He never hits a moonsault. I don’t think Naito even knew who he was.

Safe to say, absolutely no one expected Sanada to defeat Taichi, much less his superior Naito. What we expected the least is for him to announce he is leaving LIJ for Just 4 Guys, which was now to be renamed JUST 5 GUYS. With dark hair, a clean shaven face and soon, new gear as well, Sanada really found his footing among this motley crew, the way he never managed in his seven years during LIJ. He went on to blaze through the competition in the Cup, winning it and subsequently defeating Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP world heavyweight championship. Absolutely no one has expected this to happen, ever. Yet somehow, it is also one of the coolest things to happen, ever.

His former faction members in LIJ mostly seemed to just sort of accept he left, except for Hiromu. He said while he understood Sanada’s reasons for leaving, he felt betrayed. Hiromu challenged Sanada to a match for the heavyweight championship. No junior heavyweight has been able to defeat the heavyweight champion in the history of the company, although this match is not the first of its kind.

When Sanada defeated Hiromu, the returning Yota Tsuji walked out into the ring and beat him up, held up the LIJ fist and carried Hiromu out of the ring. We don’t really know if this means he’ll be joining the faction, but it’s very likely, and the two have a match set at Dominion.

Obviously other stuff has happened but this is already 4000 words long and I still have things to explain to you.

Whats happening right now

As I’m writing this, the 30th Best of the Super Juniors is just beginning. BOSJ is a round robin style tournament, just like the G1 where wrestlers are divided into two blocks and everyone fights everyone in their block. Usually, the winners of the two blocks face off against each other to win the tournament, but this year, the winner of each block faces off against the person who came second in the other block, and the winners of those matches are the finalists. The winner has the right to challenge for the IWGP junior heavyweight championship at Dominion.

This year’s participants are as follows.

I think this is absolutely the perfect time to get int New Japan. The junior division is full of incredibly talented wrestlers who focus more on fast paced high flying style matches and every one of them is easy to watch and very entertaining. The entire tour will be broadcast with full english coverage.

How do I watch all of this

New Japan conveniently has a streaming service called NJPW world, membership is 999 yen per month. Dont forget to toggle it to english in the upper left corner! Most shows have english commentary and in my opinion it is pretty good commentary. Even if you don’t want to pay for the site, it has a schedule page (upper right corner) which even displays multiple timezones, and links to the card for every upcoming show.

The site also has some free content, for example the backstage comments after every show. Backstage comments are essentially short interviews with the wrestlers directly after every match, which makes for very fun adrenaline fuelled nonsense. Search backstage comment on the site, or check the njpwworld youtube channel. The videos always have subtitles, but it takes the transcribers time, subs are usually out a day after shows air.

PIRACY

In case you’d like to sail the high seas, you have a couple of options.

Watching show’s live I would recommend watchprowrestling.org for. They upload the shows and you can watch them live as well with a bit of delay.

If you’re looking for older stuff, you should try searching on bilibili (dont be intimidated by the language barrier, its quite easy to use) or this specific user on vk.com.

MATCHES TO WATCH

Title changes and defenses:

Kazuchika Okada vs Jay White (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Kenny Omega vs Will Ospreay (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Master Wato vs El Desperado vs Taiji Ishimori (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Zack Sabre Jr vs Ren Narita FREE MATCH

Zack Sabre Jr vs Tomohiro Ishii FREE MATCH

Zack Sabre Jr vs Shota Umino FREE MATCH

Zack Sabre Jr vs Tom Lawlor FREE MATCH

Zack Sabre Jr vs Jeff Cobb FREE MATCH

Catch 2/2 vs YOH and Lio Rush (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Catch 2/2 vs Intergalactic Jetsetters (njpwworld) (unofficial link 2:35:08)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Lio Rush (njpwworld)

Hiromu Takahashi vs YOH (njpwworld) (unofficial link2:48:13)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Robbie Eagles (njpwworld)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Kazuchika Okada vs Shingo Takagi (njpwworld)

Kazuchika Okada vs Sanada (njpwworld)

Sanada vs Hiromu Takahashi (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Aussie Open vs Bishamon (njpwworld)

Aussie Open vs TMDK (njpwworld)

Aussie Open vs Motor City Machine Guns vs the Dream Team (Okada & Tanahashi) (njpwworld ppv)

Kairi vs Mayu Iwatani (njpwworld)

Kairi vs Tam Nakano (njpwworld)

Kairi vs Mercedes Moné (unofficial link)

Mercedes Moné vs Kairi vs Hazuki (njpwworld)

Mercedes Moné vs Mayu Iwatani (njpwworld)

Tama Tonga vs El Phantasmo (njpwworld)

Tama Tonga vs David Finlay (unofficial link)

Taichi vs Shingo Takagi (njpwworld) (unofficial link 1:44:00)

Strong Style vs Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Hikuelo vs Kenta (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Story matches

Tetsuya Naito vs Sanada (njpwworld)

Jay White vs Hikuleo (njpwworld)

Jay White vs Eddie Kingston (njpwworld) (unofficial link 1:04:00)

Bullet Club (David Finlay, Kenta, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) vs Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga, Hikuleo & Jado) & Master Wato (njpwworld link)

just fun

Mark Davis vs Will Ospreay (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Mark Davis vs EVIL (njpwworld)

Tetsuya Naito vs DOUKI (njpwworld) (unofficial link 2:11:32)

El Desperado vs Tomohiro Ishii (njpwworld ppv)

Shota Umino vs Tetsuya Naito (njpwworld)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Speedball Mike Bailey FREE SHOW

Taichi vs Will Ospreay (njpwworld)

#njpw #wrassle #yall this is nearly 5000 words please read it and watch njpw i worked so hard. for you to watch njpw. its so extensive #i explain literally everything

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gdwessel · 2 years

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NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2022 - 5/1/2022: A Good Night For The Bullet Club, BOSJ29 Participants & Blocks Announced; NJPW Strong Episode 88 - 4/30/2022; NOAH Majestic 2022 Night 2 - 4/30/2022; DDT, TJPW, STARDOM, Dragon Gate, Marvelous, Osaka Pro, Onita Fire Pro Wrestling Results

As I said would happen in Thursday’s post, the @StrongStylStory Twitter account is not under that name any longer; it is now @gdwessel. If you happened to follow the previous @gdwessel account, its name has changed, and you should follow the proper @gdwessel one now. Thanks!

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Today was Wrestling Dontaku 2022. Usually the show happens on May 3 (and for the past couple of years, it has been a two-night show). It was streamed live on NJPWWorld, and features a lot of title matches.

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

Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG] d. Shiro Koshinaka, Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] (Taichi > Shingo, Taichi-Style Gedo Clutch, 10:15)

Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables] d. YOH [CHAOS] (Timebomb II, 9:59)

Tanga Loa [GoD] d. Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club] (Apeshit, 11:33)

IWGP Juniorheavyweight Tag Team Championship: Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato © d. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG] (Taguchi > Kanemaru, Rollup, 9:10) - Team Six or Nine succeed their 2nd defense

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 3-Way Match: Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club] d. Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire] © and Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] (Owens > Goto, Rocket Launcher Elbow Drop, 9:42) - Cobb/O-Khan fail their 1st defense - Fale/Owens are the 94th champions

NEVER Openweight Championship: Tama Tonga [GoD] d. EVIL [Bullet Club] © (Gunstun, 13:25) - EVIL fails his 3rd defense - Tonga in the 36th champion

IWGP Juniorheavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] d. El Desperado [SZKG] © (Bone Lock, 14:40) - Despy fails his 4th defense - Ishimori is the 92nd champion

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Decision Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi d. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] (High Fly Flow, 23:20) - Tanahashi is the 14th champion

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] © d. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] (Rainmaker, 34:12) - Okada succeeds his 4th defense

Okada retains against Naito, and is attacked by the entire “new” Bullet Club, which now includes Juice Robinson as a member, with “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows making their first appearance in Japan since 2016. Jay White challenged Okada, while Juice stole the IWGP US title belt. Wrestling Dontaku is the anniversary show for the Bullet Club, formed at the 2013 edition of this show. I mean, sure, wrestling is all a work and the talk of him leaving the company was now all a part of that work. I guess that we are in 2022, and the solution for “We have no ideas left for this guy” is to put him with the Bullet Club. (Or United Empire, sure. But the Empire is still a relatively new unit, and they need numbers.) They’ve done it now with EVIL and SHO the last two years, and but for mere short-term gain; long-term, nobody wants to see EVIL and SHO now, their matches deflate the room. It’s like their one idea for a heel turn now (well, two with the Empire); WCW did the same thing, had their one idea for a heel turn, which was to put somebody, ANYBODY with the nWo and we all know how that turned out long-term.

Yes, Juice v. Tana for the US title makes sense. Why it has to be with Bullet Club is beyond me. But then, this has been one of the biggest issues creatively with NJPW even during the good times in the 2010s. The unwillingness to break up and create new units and stables has made things really stale in that regard. Bullet Club is now nine years old. CHAOS is thirteen, and is so far removed from its original intentions that they may as well be part of the Hontai now. Even Los Ingobernables de Japon is hitting seven years in existence this year, and absolutely none of the founding members of the original Los Ingobernables are even with CMLL anymore. The United Empire felt like a breath of fresh air, despite having scummy dweebs like Ospreay and TJP, because it took five years for a new unit to be formed since LIJ first coalesced in October 2015. That they haven’t been more successful is more how things have gone because of the pandemic than anything. Well, and Ospreay’s injury/whatever last year too.

Look at the landscape of, say, Dragon Gate, and I guarantee you within two years from this writing, none of Natural Vibes, HIGH-END, Gold Class, Z-Brats or even the tag team D’Courage will be around. Three of those were only formed in the last couple of months. A little thing like splitting up existing stables and forming new ones with different members would go a long way to make the booking, which HAS improved in 2022 it must be said, a lot fresher these days.

Overall, however, it was a good night for the Bullet Club, despite EVIL losing the NEVER title to the founder the BC kicked out, Tama Tonga, winning his first ever NJPW singles title. But they gained not only the IWGP junior title, but also, the heavyweight tag belts, with a new configuration, Fale & Owens. I’m pretty sure O-Cobb are not done with the titles either.

Shiro Koshinaka became the new partner for Shingo & BUSHI, with Tatsumi Fujinami waylaid with COVID-19. Shingo challenged Taichi to a rematch soon, probably Dominion if I had to guess.

The blocks and participants for Best Of The Super Juniors 29 were announced, as the tournament returns to its traditional calendar spot after the last two years of Olympics, pandemic and Olympics delays because of the pandemic. It starts 5/15/2022 from Nagoya, ending 6/3/2022 at Tokyo Nippon Budokan. Several debuts from outside NJPW (and one from within) feature this year, as we return to a 20-man field, divided into two blocks.

In A Block, Clark Connors makes his way over from the LA Dojo, whilst Alex Zayne, who has featured on Strong and in GCW, also makes his debut. The Empire’s newest member Francesco Akira is here, as well as Ace Austin of Impact Wrestling.

Meanwhile, B Block gets Wheeler Yuta’s NJPW Japan debut, representing AEW and his stable, the Blackpool Combat Club. El Lindaman of #STRONGHEARTS, GLEAT’s inaugural G-REX Champion, makes his BOSJ debut here as well. Not a debut, but a return, is CMLL’s Titan, meaning the relationship between NJPW and CMLL is still on in some form or fashion, despite NJPW now working with AEW & Impact, both of whom have partnerships with AAA.

Here are the blocks, with debutants in italics:

A Block: Ryusuke Taguchi, YOH [CHAOS], Clark Connors, Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables], Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG], Ace Austin [Impact], Alex Zayne [GCW], Francesco Akira [United Empire], Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club], SHO [Bullet Club]

B Block: Master Wato, Robbie Eagles [CHAOS], Titan [CMLL], BUSHI [Los Ingobernables], El Desperado [SZKG], DOUKI [SZKG], El Lindaman [#STRONGHEARTS], Wheeler Yuta [AEW], TJP [United Empire], El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]

Last night’s NJPW Strong continues (or concludes?) the matches from Strong Style Evolved from St. Petersburg, FL.

The DKC d. Kevin Knight (Reverse Double Armbar, 7:45)

Mascara Dorada [FREE] d. TJP [United Empire] (Dorada Screwdriver, 10:50)

Ren Narita d. Jay Lethal [AEW] (Lethal Injection, 12:17)

In other news, Minoru Suzuki will face Brody King at Capital Collision on 5/15/2022. Also, a new NJPW Strong taping, Ignition, has been signed for 6/19/2022 at the Vermont Hollywood in LA once again. Tickets are already on sale.

Last night in Seattle, DEFY Wrestling held its Wild Ones event featuring as its main event, Jon Moxley of NJPW & AEW defeating the NJPW Strong Openweight Champion, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. El Phantasmo was also on this show, falling to Steve Migs. Other talents who work, or have worked, Strong were on this as well. It was shown live on PLUTO Channel 732. I have no idea how PLUTO actually works, and don’t know if there is a VOD option for this show or not. I did not see it live as it started too late for me, especially after AAA Triplemania XXX Monterrey last night went til midnight my time. UGH. One bad thing about the idea we are somehow past the pandemic, is that wrestling cards are getting way too long again.

The next NJPW tour will, of course, be Best Of The Super Juniors 29. No cards or matches announced yet. Stay tuned for that.

Pro Wrestling NOAH

The second night of Majestic was yesterday, at Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan. You can see it now on Wrestle Universe if you’d like.

Majestic 2022 - 4/30/2022, Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan (Wrestle Universe)

Slex & Kai Fujimura d. Alejandro & Yasutaka Yano (Slex > Yano, Close Of Business, 10:22)

Manabu Soya, Tadasuke & Hajime Ohara [Kongo] d. King Tany, Muhammad Yone & Akitoshi Saito [Funky Express] (Soya > Yone, Ballistic, 12:55)

HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway, Seiki Yoshioka & Yuya Susumu [STINGER] d. NOSAWA Rongai, Eita, Texano Jr., Kotaro Suzuki & Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon] (HAYATA > Eita, DQ, 9:28)

Kazushi Sakuraba & Kendo Kashin [Sugiura-gun] d. Masaaki Mochizuki [M’s Alliance] & Don Fujii [Dragon Gate] (Kashin > Mochizuki, Schoolboy, 6:47)

Rene Dupree [FREE] & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. [FREE] d. Masato Tanaka [M’s Alliance] & Daiki Inaba (Wagner > Inaba, Moonsault Press, 10:51)

Michael Elgin [FREE] d. Masa Kitamiya (Elgin Bomb, 12:33)

GHC National Championship: Masakatsu Funaki [Kongo] © d. Simon Gotch [FREE] (Referee Stoppage, 9:47) - Funaki succeeds his 3rd defense

Dragon Bane [IWRG], Alpha Wolf [IWRG], Extreme Tiger [FREE] & Ninja Mack [GCW] d. Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge, YO-HEY & Junta Miyawaki (Bane > Miyawaki, Bane Twister, 16:33)

Naomichi Marufuji [M’s Alliance] & Satoshi Kojima d. Yoshiki Inamura & Kinya Okada (Kojima > Okada, lariat, 15:01)

GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Takashi Sugiura & Hideki Suzuki [Sugiura-gun] © d. Kenoh & Katsuhiko Nakajima [Kongo] (Suzuki > Nakajima, Double-Arm Suplex, 23:36) - Sugiura/Suzuki succeed their 1st defense

GHC Heavyweight Championship Decision Match: Go Shiozaki d. Kaito Kiyomiya (Strong Arm Lariat, 30:02) - Shiozaki is the 38th champion

Shiozaki becomes the champion, which, to be fair, I am pretty sure was the plan to begin with. Why they decided to sacrifice Kaito Kiyomiya on that altar instead of someone else, I don’t know. Shiozaki was challenged by NJPW’s Satoshi Kojima, who was also Naomichi Marufuji’s mystery partner. Kojima was wearing a NOAH shirt all night, and seems to be looking to be around NOAH for a bit. That match is now set for the CyberFight Festival on 6/12/2022.

Sugiura-gun retain the tag titles, and are challenged by Rene Dupree & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., which will happen on the Tokyo Korakuen Hall show on Wednesday 5/4/2022. Super Crazy & Texano Jr. challenged for the junior tag belts held by Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway. Texano Jr. is a junior heavyweight in the same way Shingo Takagi was in his first nine months in New Japan; that is, not at all. Masa Kitamiya asked Michael Elgin for a partnership, which Elgin agreed to. Which means NOAH is planning on using Elgin, at least in the short-term. Puke.

Keiji Muto returns to action on 5/21/2022 from Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium, where he will team with Marufuji & Kojima against Shiozaki, Kiyomiya & Masato Tanaka.

The next two shows are the beginning of Dream On 2022, both from Tokyo Korakuen Hall. The Hi69 you see is Nio, who had to revert back to this name after his loss to Hao on Friday, something I neglected to mention.

Dream On 2022 - 5/4/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (ABEMA)

Simon Gotch [FREE] v. Kinya Okada

NOSAWA Rongai, Texano Jr. & Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon] v. Alejandro, Kai Fujimura & Yasutaka Yano

Kenoh & Masakatsu Funaki [Kongo] v. Kendo Kashin [Sugiura-gun] & Slex

Tadasuke, Hajime Ohara & Hi69 [Kongo] v. Dragon Bane [IWRG], Alpha Wolf [IWRG] & Extreme Tiger [FREE]

Katsuhiko Nakajima & Manabu Soya [Kongo] v. Masa Kitamiya & Michael Elgin

HAYATA, Yoshinari Ogawa, Chris Ridgeway, Seiki Yoshioka & Yuya Susumu [STINGER] v. Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge, YO-HEY, Hao & Junta Miyawaki

Kaito Kiyomiya v. Ninja Mack [GCW]

Go Shiozaki, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura v. Satoshi Kojima, Naomichi Marufuji [M’s Alliance] & Masato Tanaka [M’s Alliance]

GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Takashi Sugiura & Hideki Suzuki [Sugiura-gun] © v. Rene Dupree [FREE] & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. [FREE]

- 5/5/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Slex v. Kinya Okada

Atsushi Kotoge & Hao v. Texano Jr. & Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon]

Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hi69 [Kongo] v. King Tany & Muhammad Yone [Funky Express]

HAYATA [STINGER], Seiki Yoshioka [STINGER], Yuya Susumu [STINGER] & Yasutaka Yano v. Dragon Bane [IWRG], Alpha Wolf [IWRG], Extreme Tiger [FREE] & Alejandro

Naomichi Marufuji [M’s Alliance], YO-HEY & Ninja Mack [GCW] v. Kenoh, Tadasuke & Hajime Ohara [Kongo]

Manabu Soya [Kongo] v. Michael Elgin

Simon Gotch [FREE], Yoshinari Ogawa [STINGER] & Chris Ridgeway [STINGER] v. Kaito Kiyomiya, Daisuke Harada & Junta Miyawaki

Satoshi Kojima v. Yoshiki Inamura

Go Shiozaki, Masato Tanaka [M’s Alliance], Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba v. Takashi Sugiura [Sugiura-gun], Hideki Suzuki [Sugiura-gun], Rene Dupree [FREE] & Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. [FREE]

DDT / Tokyo Joshi

DDT held the Mega Max Bump 2022 in Yokohama event today, which you can see now on Wrestle Universe. Four title matches, and a special challenge tag match between the GM Hisaya Imabayashi & team against Danshoku Dino’s Pheromones unit to end that feud. We think.

DDT Mega Max Bump 2022 in Yokohama - 5/1/2022, Kanagawa Yokohama Budokan (Wrestle Universe)

KANON d. Yuya Koroku [Burning] (Just Cobra Twist, 7:22)

Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura d. Antonio Honda & Yuki Ishida (Yoshimura > Ishida, Harai Goshi, 9:33)

Shinya Aoki d. Toi Kojima [The 37KAMIINA] (Leglock, 5:04)

KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Championship: Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Thanomsak Toba © d. Sanshiro Takagi, Yoshiaki Yatsu, Akito, Kazuki Hirata & Gota Ihashi (JULIE > Hirata, Cattle Mutilation, 8:45) - JULIE/Sasaki/GENTARO/MIKAMI/Toba succeed their 1st defense

Maya Yukihi & Shunma Katsumata [The 37KAMIINA] d. Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani [Eruption] (Katsumata > Okatani, Totono Splash, 10:28)

Hisaya Imabayashi, AKIRA & Muscle Sakai d. Danshoku Dino, Yuki Iino & Yumehito Imanari [Pheromones] (Imabayashi > Dino, Jackknife Hold, 16:55)

Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON [DAMNATION TA] d. Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Soma Takao (Sasaki > Takao, Crossface, 10:43)

Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi [Eruption] d. HARASHIMA [DISASTER BOX] & Hikaru Sato (Higuchi > HARASHIMA, Brain Claw, 14:25)

DDT Universal Championship: MAO [The 37KAMIINA] © d. Asuka (Cannonball 450, 13:56) - MAO succeeds his 2nd defense

KO-D Tag Team Championship: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi © d. Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada [Burning] (Takanashi > Okada, Cradle, 21:09) - Calamari Drunken Kings succeed their 1st defense

KO-D Openweight Championship: Tetsuya Endo [Burning] © d. Yuki Ueno [The 37KAMIINA] (Burning Star Press, 31:17) - Endo succeeds his 1st defense

MAO & Asuka settled their differences in the ring, and challenged Calamari Drunken Kings for the tag titles. Masahiro Takanashi of CDK challenged MAO to the Universal belt as well. Recent signee KANON is the mystery new member of DAMNATION TA that Daisuke Sasaki teased. Prominence (specifically Suzu Suzuki) attacked Shunma Katsumata. Sasaki is also booked to fight NOAH’s Kenoh at CyberFight Festival 2022 on 6/12/2022. Yuki Iino will defend the DDT Extreme title against AKIRA on 6/1/2022. Gota Ihashi took the place of Gorgeous Matsuno in the KO-D 10-man title match as Matsuno had a family emergency crop up.

Meanwhile, Tokyo Joshi held the second of two nights at Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall yesterday, the final build show to Tuesday’s Korakuen Hall show.

TJPW Spring Tour ‘22 - 4/30/2022, Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Suzume d. Kaya Toribami (Ring A Bell, 9:50)

Yuki Aino d. Arisu Endo (Full Nelson Of Love And Fire, 8:48)

3-Way Match: Raku d. Rika Tatsumi & Haruna Neko (Raku > Neko, Doctor Yellow, 7:43)

Maki Itoh d. Moko Miyamoto (Itoh Punish, 8:46)

Miyu Yamashita & Miu Watanabe d. Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu (Watanabe > Kiryu, Kick de Bakoon!, 12:56)

Hyper Misao, Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta d. Shoko Nakajima, Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (Misao > Nakajima, Vanitas, 11:20)

Challengers beat the champions in the last prelude match to Tuesday’s title matches, with Hyper Misao getting a direct win over Shoko Nakajima. Indeed, here’s the card for that show:

TJPW Yes! Wonderland 2022 – Spread The Wings Of Your Dreams - 5/3/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Exhibition Match: Reika Saiki v. Arisu Endo

Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu v. Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami

Suzume v. Julia Nagano

Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Yuki Arai v. Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku

Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh v. Hikaru Shida [AEW] & Moko Miyamoto

Princess Tag Team Championship: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki © v. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta

Princess of Princess Championship: Shoko Nakajima © v. Hyper Misao

Apparently, Yuka Sakazaki will be getting on a plane immediately following this show as AEW has asked for her to be present for a match this week (which show, I don’t know, there are several to choose from). Ironically, they just gave an out for Hikaru Shida to not be there next week, as she just lost a feud-ender against Serena Deeb on Dynamite this past Wednesday. (In other DDT Talent In AEW news, Konosuke Takeshita will be featured on AEW Dark this week versus Rhett Titus.)

The kicker with this, is on Thursday’s show, the winners of the tag title match are supposed to be teaming with both Maki Itoh and the winner of the Princess of Princess match against Yuki Arai, Suzume, Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo. So, possibly a giveaway for the tag title match? We’ll see!

STARDOM

STARDOM are running a Golden Week Fight Tour all week, which began today. Thursday’s show will be the big one as it has three title matches and an Elimination match.

Golden Week Fight Tour 2022 - 5/1/2022, Hiroshima Big Rose

Thekla [Donna del Mondo] d. Momo Kohgo [STARS] (Dokugumo Death Drop, 5:56)

Ruaka & Starlight Kid [Oedo Tai] d. AZM & Hina [Queen’s Quest] (Kid > Hina, Moonsault Press, 8:06)

Giulia, Maika, Himeka, Natsipoi & Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] d. Mayu Iwatani, Saya Iida, Janan, Koguma & Hazuki [STARS] (Giulia > Hanan, Backdrop, 10:38)

Saki Kashima, Rina & Momo Watanabe [Oedo Tai] d. Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani & Lady C [Queen’s Quest] (Kashima > C, Kishikaisei, 13:12)

Syuri, MIRAI, Ami Sorei & Konami [God’s Eye] d. Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa, Unigi Sayaka & Waka Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] (Konami > Tsukiyama, Triangle Lancer, 19:40)

God’s Eye’s newest member beats the rookie of Cosmic Angels, with Waka still waiting for her first win.

The tour resumes Tuesday.

Dragon Gate

The Gate of Passion 2022 tour continued through the weekend.

The Gate of Passion 2022 Night 16 - 4/30/2022, Fukui Tsuruga Kirameki Minato Building

YAMATO, Dragon Kid & Kagetora [HIGH-END] d. Kzy, U-T & Genki Horiguchi [Natural Vibes] (YAMATO > Horiguchi, Galleria, 12:29)

SB KENTo & Diamante [Z-Brats] d. Takashi Yoshida & Yosuke Santa Maria (KENTo > Yosuke, MCC, 10:13)

Kota Minoura, Kaito Ishida & Minorita [Gold Class] d. Strong Machine J, La Estrella & Takuma Fujiwara (Minoura > Fujiwara, R-301, 11:15)

Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage] d. Ben-K & Keisuke Okuda [HIGH-END] (Yoshioka > Okuda, Frog Splash, 12:09)

Susumu Yokosuka, Big Boss Shimizu, Jacky “Funky” Kamei & Jason Lee [Natural Vibes] d. KAI, BxB Hulk, HYO & Shun Skywalker (Yokosuka > HYO, Aikata, 18:09)

The Gate of Passion 2022 Night 17 - 5/1/2022, Aichi Tsushima Bunka Hall

Susumu Yokosuka, Genki Horiguchi, Big Boss Shimizu & Jason Lee [Natural Vibes] d. KAI, BxB Hulk, HYO & Diamante [Z-Brats] (Yokosuka > HYO, Yokosuka Cutter, 12:11)

Shachihoko Boy & Strong Machine J d. Yosuke Santa Maria & Ho Ho Lun (J > Yosuke, Machine Suplex, 10:46)

Kota Minoura, Kaito Ishida & Minorita [Gold Class] d. Eita, Ishin Iihashi & Takuma Fujiwara (Minoura > Ishin, R-301, 13:21)

Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage] d. Kagetora & Keisuke Okuda [HIGH-END] (Dia > Okuda, Double Cork, 13:29)

YAMATO, Dragon Kid & Ben-K [HIGH-END] d. Kzy, U-T & Jacky “Funky” Kamei [Natural Vibes] (YAMATO > Kamei, Galleria, 19:24)

K-Ness has announced that following his retirement, he is now leaving Dragon Gate entirely. Best wishes to him in his life post-wrestling.

Founder Ultimo Dragon was in AAA last night, wrestling at the Triplemania XXX in Monterrey show. He went on first, defeating Penta 0M in the opening match, which was also the first in the Ruleta de la Muerte tournament. The tournament actually sees the loser advance to the next round, as the Final will be a mask v. mask match, taking place at the Triplemania XXX show in October.

The tour wraps up with two livestreamed shows on DG Network on Tuesday & Wednesday, then Dead Or Alive 2022 on Thursday.

Other News

Marvelous held its 6th Anniversary show today at Korakuen Hall. The main event saw Rin Kadokura & Itsuki Aoki beat Tomoko Watanabe & Kaoru Ito to fill the vacant AAAW Tag Team Championship for the first time since 2005. Afterwards, Kadokura announced she was now married, and her mother-in-law was none other than Akira Hokuto. Meaning, her father-in-law is Kensuke Sasaki, and her husband would most likely be Kennosuke Sasaki. I guess congratulations are in order.

Osaka Pro crowned its new champion today, as Zeus defeated the previous (Openweight) champion Kazuaki Mihara with a Jackhammer in 24:25, becoming the 34th champion, and the first for this new revival of the promotion.

Atsushi Onita ran two Fire Pro Wrestling (not the videogame) shows from Shimane and Hiroshima this weekend, featuring Rising HAYATO, Koji Doi and Hokuto Omori from All Japan. The main events both nights were Electric Current Blast Explosion Bat deathmatches, that saw Onita team with both Osamu Nishimura and a switching third partner between nights, against Mr. Pogo and various others. Onita won yesterday, whilst Devil Magician got a win on Onita today.

Shows also took place by BJW, HARD HIT, Michinoku Pro, 2AW, Kyushu Pro, Colega, Ice Ribbon, ChocoPro, ZERO1, and other one-off events through this Golden Weekend.

I’ll be back Tuesday.

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wwelivetv · 1 year

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Karl Anderson's Never Openweight Title Match Confirmed for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17

Karl Anderson’s Never Openweight Title Match Confirmed for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17

WWE’s Karl Anderson will step through the Forbidden Door next month to defend his NJPW Never Openweight Champion at Wrestle Kingdom 17. Anderson returned to WWE alongside Luke Gallows in October of this year after being released from the promotion in April 2020. The Machine Gun had been scheduled to defend his title at NJPW Battle Autumn in November but instead competed at WWE Crown Jewel that…

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latestinbollywood · 2 years

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Karl Anderson Wife, Wiki, Biography, Age, Records, Height, Net Worth & Parents

Karl Anderson Wiki:- Chad Allegra, who is better known by the ring name "Machine Gun" Karl Anderson, is a professional American wrestler currently signed to WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.) where he performs on the Raw brand. Currently, he is in the news because Karl and Gallows eventually returned to WWE in October 2022. WWE's official Twitter account confirmed this news after posting a tweet. Gallows and Anderson are here! The OC is back and they're taking out #TheJudgmentDay!!!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/PBAZk8Gxgt — WWE (@WWE) October 11, 2022 In this blog, you'll read about Karl Anderson's Wiki, Biography, Wife, Age, Net Worth, Height, Education, Ethnicity, Nationality & More.

Karl Anderson Wife

Karl's marital status is married, and his wife's name is Christine Bui Allegra, who he affectionately refers to as his "hot Asian wife. Karl has four sons with his wife but their details are not known.

Karl Anderson's Wife Christine Bui Allegra

Karl Anderson's "Machine Gun" Biography, Age

Karl Anderson was born on 20 January 1980 in Asheville, North Carolina, United States of America, he is 42 years old now. Karl also makes appearances for NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) International Wrestling Grand Prix where he is the current NEVER Openweight Champion in his first reign. Karl is a founding member and the 2nd leader of the Bullet Club stable, and a 3-time winner of New Japan Pro Wrestling's top tag team tournament.

Karl Anderson Wiki/Bio

Full Name Chad Allegra Nick Name "Machine Gun" Karl Anderson Profession Professional American wrestler Birth Date 20 January 1980 Birth Place Asheville, North Carolina, United States of America, Age 42 years old Zodiac Sign Aquarius Education Qualification Graduation from Mars Hill College Nationality American Hometown Asheville, North Carolina, United States of America, Famous For Returned to WWE in October 2022 Trained By Les Thatcher and Roger Ruffen Debut 10 May 2002 Billed From Cincinnati, Ohio By way of Tokyo, Japan

Karl Anderson Records

Karl is known for his work as a tag team specialist, most primarily in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former 4-time IWGP (International Wrestling Grand Prix) Tag Team Champion. Karl also grasp the record for the longest reign and most defenses with the title, attained on his 1st reign with former partner Giant Bernard (Matthew Jason Bloom).

Karl Anderson's Parents, Siblings

Karl grew up in Asheville, North Carolina with his younger brother and mother, but their details are not available at this moment.

Karl Anderson's Net Worth

Karl Anderson is a wrestler in WWE who has a net worth of 2 Million.

Karl Anderson Height, Weight

Karl Anderson's height is 1.84m and his weight is 98 kg.

Karl Anderson Nationality

Karl Anderson holds the nationality of American.

Social Media Accounts

Twitter Instagram FAQS About Karl Anderson Q1) Who is Karl Anderson? Ans) Chad Allegra, who is better known by the ring name "Machine Gun" Karl Anderson, is a professional American wrestler currently signed to WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.) where he performs on the Raw brand.

Q2) What is the age of Karl Anderson?

Ans) Karl Anderson was born on 20 January 1980 in Asheville, North Carolina, United States of America, he is 42 years old now. Q3) What is the net worth of Karl Anderson? Ans) Karl Anderson is a wrestler in WWE who has a net worth of 2 Million. Q4) Who is the wife of Karl Anderson? Ans) Karl's marital status is married, and his wife's name is Christine Bui Allegra. Q5) What is the Nationality of Karl Anderson? Ans) Karl Anderson holds the nationality of American. Also, Read About:-Gerald William's Cause of Death Read the full article

#KarlAndersonage #KarlAndersonnetworth #KarlAndersonparents #KarlAndersonrecords #KarlAndersonviography #KarlAndersonwife #KarlAndersonwiki

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theblotsays · 2 years

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The Good Brothers Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson Ultimates! Action Figures Series 2 by Super7

Now this release is JUST TOO SWEET! Super7 has just put up for pre-order the second wave of Good Brothers Ultimates! Action figures, featuring the internationally traveled multi-time tag team champions and creators and co-hosts of the Talk N’ Shop Podcast and TNSmania.com, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. The Good Brothers’ reputation was formed in Japan and has continued around the globe capturing a plethora of tag team titles thanks, in no small part, to their devastating finisher, The Magic Killer! Fans can pre-order both of The Good Brothers Ultimates! 7” scale action figures now at Entertainment Earth for $54.99 each (with free US shipping with code FALLFREE22) here. The Good Brothers Doc Gallows Ultimates! Action Figures The Big LG – or #DaddyDangly as he likes to be called – has been described as one of the best big men on the planet! This 7” scale Doc Gallows Ultimates! figure includes multiple interchangeable heads and hands, a beer can, and a Good Brothers title belt. Foes have already learned to steer clear of that same ol’ recipe, “A magic killer, a 1-2-3, and a JUST TOO SWEET!”, so imagine what will happen when you mix in this brand new Ultimates! figure to your collection. The Good Brothers Karl Anderson Ultimates! Action Figures The master of the Spine Buster is no stranger to big stages and big matches! This 7” scale Karl Anderson Ultimates! action figure includes multiple interchangeable heads and hands, a beer can, and a Good Brothers title belt. Any competitor is one “Gun Stun” away from defeat, so have the Machine Gun on your side with this brand new Ultimates! figure! http://dlvr.it/SZWJvJ

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marveloustransformer · 4 years

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#Bullet Club day #Bullet club #Aj styles #Tama tonga #Doc Gallows #Machine #Machine Gun Karl Anderson #Bad Luck Faleq #Bad Luck fale #Bullet club 4 life

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joearlikelikeswrestling · 3 years

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#Kenny Omega #Doc Gallows #Karl Anderson #Rich Swann #Motor City Machine Guns #MCMG #Alex Shelley #Chris Sabin #Impact Wrestling #AEW #TNA

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beingallelite · 3 years

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Kenny Omega SENDS A MESSAGE Ahead of Hard To Kill! | IMPACT! Highlights Jan 5, 2021

#kenny omega #good brothers #luke gallows #karl anderson #don callis #rich swann #motor city machine guns #alex shelley #chris sabian #impact #youtube: impact #aew #all elite wrestling #posted on: 1.5.21

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foreverevanescent · 3 years

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#youtube #impact wrestling #wrestling #ppv #hard to kill #rich swann #kenny omega #bullet club #motor city machine guns #moose #luke gallows #karl anderson #wrestling review #review #predictions

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1heang31 · 4 years

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GHC And IWGP Tag Team Champions At The Same Time! History!

#NJPW #New Japan #NOAH #Pro Wrestling NOAH #Japan #Wrestling #Pro Wrestling #Tag Team #Tag Team Wrestling #Double Champion #2 Belts #Machine Gun #Karl Anderson #njpwworld #newjapan #Albert #Giant Bernard

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gdwessel · 2 years

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Dominion Title Matches, BOSJ29 Cards Revealed; TJPW Yes! Wonderland 2022 - 5/3/2022: Reika Saiki Retires; STARDOM, Dragon Gate, GLEAT Results, Other News

New Japan Pro Wrestling

The feature matches for Dominion 6.12 In Osaka-jo Hall have been announced, for the show taking place, ironically, on 6/12/2022 in Osaka-jo Hall. You'd think this joke would never get old, however, recall that last year's got bumped by one day, so Dominion 6.6 was actually on 6/7/2021.

The main event will of course be Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP World Heavyweight title against the returning Jay White, having made his shock return at Wrestling Dontaku 2022 on Sunday. Another shock returnee has a title match as well, as "Machine Gun" Karl Anderson will wrestle his former stablemate and co-founder of the Bullet Club, Tama Tonga, for the latter's newly-won NEVER Openweight title.

Below are the announced Dominion matches. The full cards for Best Of The Super Juniors 29 have also been announced, however that will be an Upcoming Events post coming in the next week or so.

Dominion 6/12 in Osaka-jo Hall - 6/12/2022, Osaka Osaka-jo Hall (NJPWWorld)

Provisional KOPW2022 Championship: Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] (c) v. Taichi [SZKG]

NEVER Openweight Championship: Tama Tonga [GoD] (c) v. Karl Anderson [Bullet Club]

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club] (c) v. Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire]

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] (c) v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

More TBA

In other news, Hiroshi Tanahashi will be taking the place of Tatsumi Fujinami at Fujinami’s own 50th Anniversary show from Korakuen Hall on 5/12/2022, due to Fujinami’s COVID-19 diagnosis, and effects from that. This will be Tanahashi’s debut match in Dradition, although the show will be carried on NJPWWorld. So that main event match is now Tanahashi, Shiro Koshinaka & Yuji Nagata v. Mitsuya Nagai, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi. Masato Tanaka has also been added to this show, as a fill-in for Shinjiro Otani, who I shouldn’t have to say what happened with him.

Hirooki Goto is booked for the next GLEAT show on 5/18/2022 from Korakuen Hall. He will be facing Hayato Tamura of the BULK Orchestra heel unit. More information on that show below.

Tokyo Joshi

Reika Saiki, the Muscle Idol, has "graduated" (read: retired) from wrestling, with a three-minute exhibition match at TJPW's Korakuen Hall rally today, that also saw two title matches take place. This is on Wrestle Universe.

TJPW Yes! Wonderland 2022 – Spread The Wings Of Your Dreams - 5/3/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Princess Tag Team Championship: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki © d. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta (Mizuki > Noa, Cutie Special, 13:53) - Magical Sugar Rabbits succeed their 4th defense

Exhibition Match: Reika Saiki TLD Arisu Endo (3:00) - Retirement ceremony for Reika Saiki took place post-match

Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu d. Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami (Kiryu > Toribami, Boston Crab, 10:09)

Suzume d. Juria Nagano (Ring A Bell, 5:46)

Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Yuki Arai d. Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku (Arai > Harajuku, Finally, 13:41)

Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh d. Hikaru Shida [AEW] & Moko Miyamoto (Yamashita > Miyamoto, Skull Kick, 15:02)

Princess of Princess Championship: Shoko Nakajima © d. Hyper Misao (Diving Senton, 14:29) - Nakajima succeeds her 2nd defense

Neither title changed hands today, meaning Shoko Nakajima will go on to defend her title at CyberFight Festival on 6/12/2022. Yuka Sakazaki's match was first, so she could get on a plane to make her AEW appearance this week. How this is going to affect the match on Thursday where the tag title winners and the Princess of Princess winner would team with Maki Itoh is beyond me. Maybe someone will be dropped. Speaking of AEW, of course, Shida wrestled here today, on the losing side against Itoh/Miyu Yamashita.

The next show is Thursday. DDT runs on Friday as well.

STARDOM

The Golden Week Fight Tour continued today.

- 5/3/2022, Nagasaki Prefectural Gymnasium

Saki Kashima & Ruaka [Oedo Tai] d. Hanan & Koguma [STARS] (Ruaka > Hanan, Freezer Bomb, 8:34)

Himeka & Natsupoi [Donna del Mondo] d. AZM & Lady C [Queen's Quest] (Himeka > C, JP Coaster, 8:56)

Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani & Hina [Queen's Quest] TLD Rina, Starlight Kid & Momo Watanabe [Oedo Tai] (15:00)

Giulia, Maika, Thekla & Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] d. Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa, Unagi Sayaka & Waka Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] (Maika > Tsukiyama, Enka Otoshi, 13:18)

Syuri, MIRAI, Ami Sorei & Konami [God's Eye] d. Matu Iwatani, Hazuki, Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo [STARS] (MIRAI > Iida, lariat, 21:05)

There are shows tomorrow and Thursday, the latter with several title matches and a God's Eye v. DdM Elimination match.

Dragon Gate

The first of two Gate of Passion tour-ending shows from Kyoto KBS Hall took place today, which you can see now on DG Network. An interesting main event, with the participants of both tag title matches taking place on Thursday in a 4-way match.

The Gate of Passion 2022 Night 18 - 5/3/2022, Kyoto KBS Hall (DG Network)

KAI, BxB Hulk & HYO [Z-Brats] d. Susumu Yokosuka, Genki Horiguchi & Jason Lee [Natural Vibes] (KAI > Horiguchi, Meteo Impact, 10:14)

Strong Machine J d. Ho Ho Lun (Machine Suplex, 9:32)

Eita & Yasushi Kanda d. Masaaki Mochizuki & Yosuke Santa Maria (Eita > Yosuke, Imperial Uno, 10:03)

Masaaki Mochizuki d. Konomama Ichikawa (Reverse Figure-4 Leglock, 2:24)

Masahiro Gano d. Konomama Ichikawa (STF, 0:07)

Kota Minoura, Naruki Doi & Kaito Ishida [Gold Class] d. Kegatora, Ben-K & Keisuke Okuda [HIGH-END] (Minoura > Okuda, R-301, 15:19)

Twin Gate & Twin Ryuo Skirmish 4-Way Match: YAMATO & Dragon Kid [HIGH-END] d. Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D'Courage] and Kzy & U-T [Natural Vibes] and Shun Skywalker & Diamante [Z-Brats] (Kid > Kzy, Bible, 13:44)

Dragon Kid gets a direct pin on Kzy heading into their Ryukyu Dragon Twin Ryuo tag title match on Thursday. KAI also is victorious before the challenge of Susumu Yokosuka for the Dream Gate. The two Konomama Ichikawa matches were of course impromptu, with Mochizuki ending the feud once and for all, before bringing out Masahiro Gano, a comedy wrestler who impersonates NJPW legend Masahiro Chono, to handle the predicted restart. There are a lot of these wrestlers in Japan; I personally met Chinsuke Nakamura, an imitator of Shinsuke Nakamura, at the DDT show in NYC in 2019.

DG reported yesterday that Big Boss Shimizu suffered a left foot injury in training, and now won't be at Dead Or Alive. Punch Tominaga will take his place in the 6-man match Shimizu was scheduled for.

The end of the tour is tomorrow, also streamed live, before Dead Or Alive on Thursday.

GLEAT

GLEAT returned to action today, although I don’t see this show on their YouTube channel as yet. El Lindaman’s next challenger for the G-REX title was determined on this one.

GLEAT G PROWRESTLING Ver.24 - 5/3/2022, Osaka Umeda Sky Building Stella Hall

G-REX Next Challenger Decision Match: Shigehiro Irie d. Nobuhiro Shimatani [BULK Orchestra] (Beast Bomber, 13:42)

Akane Fujita [Prominence] d. Michiko Miyagi (Miken de Pon, 9:35)

Takanori Ito & Masato Kamino d. TiiiDA & HUB (Ito > TiiiDA, German Suplex Hold, 13:49)

T-Hawk [#STRONGHEARTS] d. Keiichi Sato [60 Seconds] (Night Ride, 14:31)

El Lindaman [#STRONGHEARTS] d. Jun Tonsho [60 Seconds] (German Suplex Hold, 9:26)

Tetsuya Izuchi [60 Seconds] d. Issei Onitsuka [#STRONGHEARTS] (Spin Break, 3:38)

Ryuichi Kawakami, Hayato Tamura, KAZMA SAKAMOTO & Quiet Storm [BULK Orchestra] d. Minoru Tanaka, CIMA [#STRONGHEARTS], Yu Iizuka & Soma Watanabe (Tamura > Watanabe, Jackhammer, 21:53)

So there was a #STRONGHEARTS v. 60 Seconds best two out of three series here; why have #STRONGHEARTS win the first two, when the series is then already won? Seems like odd booking to me. Shigehiro Irie becomes the 2nd challenger to El Lindaman’s G-REX title at the 5/18/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall show. The complete card is below:

GLEAT G PROWRESTLING Ver.25 - 5/18/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Minoru Tanaka, MUSASHI [Michinoku Pro] & Soma Watanabe v. Quiet Storm, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Masato Kamino [BULK Orchestra]

Michiko Miyagi v. DASH Chisako [Sendai Girls]

Takanori Ito v. Yu Iizuka

T-Hawk [#STRONGHEARTS], Jack Cartwheel [FREE] & Issei Onitsuka [#STRONGHEARTS] v. Tetsuya Izuchi, Keiichi Sato & Jun Tonsho [60 Seconds]

Hayato Tamura [BULK Orchestra] v. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS]

CIMA 25th Anniversary Match: CIMA [#STRONGHEARTS] & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Ryuichi Kawakami & KAZMA SAKAMOTO [BULK Orchestra]

G-REX Championship: El Lindaman [#STRONGHEARTS] (c) v. Shigehiro Irie

Other News

Not a good day to be Tatsuhito Takaiwa, as he lost not one but two titles today, in two different promotions, in two different cities. First, he dropped the IWA World Juniorheavyweight title in FREEDOMS to Kengo in Yokohama, with Kengo becoming the 40th champion. Then he made his way to Tokyo (which is not TOO far from Yokohama it has to be said), where he lost the Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Championship that Takaiwa was the inaugural holder of, to DDT/Pheromones’ Yumehito Imanari, over in Ganbare Pro at Korakuen Hall. Well, at least it’s less weight in baggae, eh?

Another match has been announced for Kenta Kobashi’s Fortune Dream 7, from Korakuen Hall on 6/15/2022. This time, a six-man, with both teams comprising of wrestlers from AJPW, BJW and DDT, as Shuji Ishikawa, Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Hino (a beefy side if ever there was one) will take on Daichi Hashimoto, Tetsuya Endo & Yuma Aoyagi.

A lot of indie shows happened.

Tomorrow is an interesting day. AJPW has the Champion Carnival Finals. NOAH starts the Dream On tour. But also, Gatoh Move holds its first card that is not a ChocoPro YouTube show since 3/22/2020. Gatoh Move Returns will be at Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall.

See you Thursday.

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