The IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag team titles are on the line as Roppongi 3K defend against the Bullet Club’s Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo in a WrestleKingdom rematch.
Quick Results
Great-O-Khan submitted Yota Tsuji in 11:30 (**¾)
Kota Ibushi submitted Yuya Uemura in 13:17 (***)
Tomohiro Ishii, Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & Hirooki Goto pinned Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yuji Nagata in 13:19 (***)
El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi pinned BUSHI, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & SANADA in 12:27 (***)
El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori pinned YOH & SHO in 26:43 to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships (***¼)
We’re back at Korakuen Hall for the second time this week – and we’ve a slight change to the undercard as we shed a Bullet Club tag, and gain the New Japan Dads instead.
Yota Tsuji vs. Great-O-Khan
The end of the Yota Tsuji trial series then, and it’s a return to some temptation for Tsuji, who had seemingly been offered a spot in the United Empire back in February…
O-Khan takes Tsuji down from the off, finding a front facelock before rolling Tsuji back to the mat for a pinning attempt. Tsuji responded with a tackle as he looked for a submission attempt… but O-Khan’s able to escape and return with a grounded head and arm choke that ended in the ropes.
Stomps keep Tsuji down, as did Mongolian chops, before Tsuji snuck in a dropkick. Tsuji’s shoulder blocks lead to the Mount Tsuji splash, then a slam for a two-count, before he countered a suplex attempt. The Boston crab follows, but that doesn’t get a submission, as O-Khan got back to his feed and chopped the ear.
A side Salto suplex sees O-Khan ragdoll Tsuji across the ring, before chops were exchanged. Tsuji nicks in with a spear for a two-count, then headed up top for a big splash… O-Khan rolls away from it, then pulled Tsuji into that standing head and arm choke. He turned it into a Final Cut for a two-count, then rolled Tsuji into a Boston crab right by the ropes.
Tsuji makes the expected rope break, but was picked up for a slam, before he countered out of a bear hug with a lucha roll. O-Khan shuts the door quickly though, catching a running Tsuji with a belly-to-belly, then rolled him into a Boston crab… pulling him away from the ropes and sinking the hold in for the submission.
**¾
Post-match, O-Khan kept the hold on and switched into a STF before relenting…
Yuya Uemura vs. Kota Ibushi
Given Ibushi’s challenging at the Tokyo Dome, this ought to be as close to a squash as you can get…
Uemura started off hot, going in with a side headlock on Ibushi, who tried to roll through as he eventually found his way into a half nelson on the Young Lion. Uemura escapes with a hammerlock, which Uemura muscled out of as he slowly rolled Uemura into a side headlock. That turns into a headlock takedown after Uemura tried to roll free, before Ibushi just let go of the hold…
Uemura, seemingly insulted, threw some elbows at the next title challenger, who responded by just decking him with a single shot. It gets Ibushi a one-count, before he moved into almost an Arabian clutch on Uemura, stretching back the chin before the Young Lion got to the ropes.
Ibushi holds onto the ropes to avoid a desperation dropkick attempt, but Uemura connected flush at the second try. A dropsault followed in the corner as Uemura tried to take his chance, with a flying forearm and a backdrop suplex next for a two-count. Uemura slaps Ibushi silly as he tried to get in a Boston crab, but Ibushi just powered out and hit a double stomp for good measure.
Kicks from Ibushi keep Uemura down, but the Young Lion’s back to trade right hands en route to a Kanuki suplex attempt. Ibushi counters it with what I can best describe as an inverted full nelson mixed with a chinlock that had Uemura bridging backwards nastily… but his pliability ensured he slipped out into a Boston crab on Ibushi, which turned into a Lion Tamer as Ibushi got his way to the ropes.
My feed drops out, and returns with Uemura’s strikes being thwarted with a lariat from Uemura, before a half crab looked to force a submission… eventually doing so as Ibushi turned it into half a Lion Tamer as he finally twisted Uemura into a position he couldn’t take. This was a different outing to what I expected, as Ibushi took his chance to test Uemura, rather than use him as a tackling dummy – and seemingly, Uemura earned some respect by the end of this. ***
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano
This match was changed from what was originally listed – a Bullet Club undercard tag – to this, after the New Japan Dads asked for a shot at the NEVER trios titles last night.
We start with Ishii and Nagata, given what happened after last night’s main event, but Nagata juist takes Ishii to the ropes and met him with some knees to the midsection. Ishii gets free, but quickly gets swarmed as the match threatened to fall apart, with the NEVER trios champions and their prospective challengers flooding the ring.
A front kick from Nagata drops Ishii, while Tenzan and Kojima worked over Goto and YOSHI-HASHI in the corners. Togi Makabe’s in to charge though Okada, which led to some mounted punches in the corner, but Okada’s able to return with a DDT before tagging out to Yano. This feels like they’re roaring through stuff – is this the match they’re shaving to give the main event the obligatory 30 minutes?
Yano controls Makabe and throws him into the corner as YOSHI-HASHI came in to isolate Makabe as Ishii decided to take it upon himself to chuck all of the opposing team into the guard rails. Goto’s in to keep working over Makabe, but a tag brings in Kojima to light up Goto with Machine Gun chops, only for YOSHI-HASHI to swarm as Kojima teased going up top.
Goto and YOSHI-HASHI double-team Kojima, which draws in Tenzan with some Mongolian chops. A suplex from Kojima on Goto lands for a two-count, before Goto countered a Cozy lariat attempt by lifting up Kojima for an ushigoroshi. It’s escaped as a Koji Cutter landed instead, before Nagata came in to hit Goto with a stuttering dropkick.
Goto’s back with a clothesline, before we get back to Ishii and Nagata trading strikes. A double underhook suplex from Nagata almost gets the win as Ishii struck back with a scoop slam off the ropes, only to get caught with an Exploder for good measure. In comes Honma, who scores with a bulldog, but misses a Kokeshi (of course) as we enter a Parade of Moves… calming down with Yano throwing Makabe into an exploded corner before Makabe returned with clotheslines for Yano and Okada.
From there, Makabe and Honma sandwich Ishii with clotheslines, before Ishii got caught with a suplex. A diving Kokeshi lands for a two-count, before Honma went up top… and got caught by Goto as my feed drops. It’s back in time to see Ishii clobber Honma with a clothesline for a two-count, before Honma landed a pair of Kokeshi…
An attempted Kokeshi Otoshi from Honma’s quickly thwarted though, as Ishii countered right back with a sheer-drop brainbuster for the win. This was a fun multi-man tag, with the real meat and potatoes being in the trios title match that should be a hoot if everyone’s on their A-game. ***
Hiromu Takahashi’s back on the staff, working as a cameraman and panning the tiered seating in Korakuen Hall. he’ll be joining commentary after the intermission.
Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI)
We’re focusing more on the tag title match at Summer Struggle next month here… and for some reason, Taichi’s out with a box. Perhaps it’s a belated birthday present for Naito?
Hiromu had some party poppers for Naito… while Taichi kicked Hiromu out of the ropes. Only his present can be opened, I guess? Naito accepts the box… and bonks Taichi over the head with it as the match starts on the outside.
When we calm down, SANADA and Sabre trade uppercuts before a full nelson from SANADA provided some questions. He and Sabre trade counters before BUSHI and Shingo came in to stay on Sabre’s arm, landing a double sledge off the middle rope. Naito tries to use his box again, but Taichi just breaks it over Naito’s head as the match spills outside once more, this time throwing in trips to the guard rails for extra effect.
Taichi chokes Naito with some camera cables, before they returned to the ring as Desperado began to work over Naito… who found himself in the wrong corner as the Suzukigun lads wore him down. Eventually things break down as Taichi, SANADA, Sabre and Naito fought in the ring, with all four men being left laying as my feed stuttered badly.
We calm down with Shingo and Kanemaru again, as Shingo hits his elbow and jab, before falling to a tiltawhirl DDT. A tag brings in Desperado, who’s quickly taken outside for a tope suicida from BUSHI. Back inside, a low dropkick and a DDT gets BUSHI a two-count, before Desperado managed to rake BUSHI’s eyes through the mask, following up with a spinebuster.
Guitarra del Angel’s next from Desperado, forcing SANADA in to break the count, before Sabre and Taichi tied up SANADA and Naito in submissions… restraining them as Desperado went for Pinche Loco, only to fall to a BUSHI Roll for a near-fall. Kanemaru breaks that up as everyone else powders outside, leaving us with the two masked men as BUSHI dropkicked Despy into the ropes.
Desperado pushes away a Fisherman screw, then knocked BUSHI towards the referee… who cowered as Desperado punched out BUSHI before a Pinche Loco got the win. This was fine, but very much felt like we were still in the early days of the “confirmed build” to the title match, as we got some after-the-match stuff with Sabre and Taichi for good measure. ***
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Bullet Club (El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) (c)
It’s a rematch from last year’s WrestleKingdom, with ELP and Ishimori looking to win the tag titles for a third time here… but they’ll likely have to do it without the power of the back rakes, as El Phantasmo tweeted a photo before the show suggesting that referee Red Shoes Unno had given him a manicure beforehand…
Ishimori and YOH start us off, while ELP noted “we’ve got sixty minutes.” I see you… Ishimori works the wrist early as YOH tried to defend, eventually flipping free ahead of a dropkick. SHO tags in and hits a low dropkick before a YOH’s step-up elbow knocked Phantasmo off the apron.
Ishimori powders outside as SHO prepared for something off the ropes… SHO fakes out sliding to the floor and met Ishimori by the ropes. Phantasmo tags in and uppercuts away on SHO’s arm, holding him in place as Ishimori lands a double sledge off the middle rope – something the challenger team repeated for a spell…
We head outside as SHO’s arm was taken into the guard rails. Back inside, Ishimori works the arm some more, but some headscissors from ELP get caught as SHO tried to counter into a powerbomb. Instead, we get a shoulder block, with the bad arm, as SHO took down Phantasmo and brought in YOH to take over with some back elbows.
A Manhattan drop stuns Phantasmo, but Ishimori pulls down YOH’s springboard attempt as we head back outside with the guard rails coming into play once more. Back inside, there’s more of the same as YOH’s taken into the corner, then met with a knee drop as Phantasmo picked up a two-count, before YOH go thrown into an exposed corner after ELP’d knocked SHO off the apron.
They keep SHO away as Ishimori took YOH into the Bullet Club corner for a baseball slide German suplex, getting a delayed two-count out of it. A Tree of Woe follows as YOH’s met with Gas Pedals from Phantasmo and Ishimori, before he outwitted the challengers, sidestepping Phantasmo’s charge (that knocked Ishimori off the apron) before landing a neckbreaker.
But still, YOH can’t make the tag out as Ishimori manages to pull SHO off the apron… but some back body drops send the Bullet Club flying before YOH finally made that tag out. SHO clears house with a double spear, before a series of kicks had Ishimori on the mat for a two-count. The pair trade elbows, before a handspring back elbow from Ishimori was caught and turned into a cross armbar by SHO.
Phantasmo looks for the save, but YOH instead traps him with a Figure Four. My feed drops out, recovering as Ishimori hit a Mistica into a Yes Lock on SHO, who was left scrambling for the ropes as Ishimori rolled him back into the middle of the ring. YOH manages to break the hold though, hiptossing ELP’s Cobra Twist into the pile to do so.
SHO tries to hit back with a Shock Arrow, but Ishimori looked to counter into a Cipher UTAKI… which in turn got countered back into a Power Breaker by SHO. Tags get us back to ELP and YOH, who trade right hands and slaps as we go past the 20-minute mark. The pace picks up with roll-ups before a German suplex from Phantasmo led to YOH skinning the cat… then coming in with a superkick and a German of his own for a near-fall.
Hey, whatever happened to the Sudden Death? That move’s been suspiciously dormant lately…
My feed drops out again, recovering with ELP looking for the CR2, but YOH wriggles free and jack-knifes him for a two-count, before Phantamso returned fire with a V-Trigger? A second one misses, with YOH hitting an O’Connor roll… the kick-out takes him into a kick from Ishimori as ELP’s roll-up gets a two-count as the challengers continued to push on.
Ishimori scoops up YOH and hits a Cipher UTAKI, while ELP followed with a big splash off the top… but YOH again kicks out at two. Phantasmo pulls a page out of the old CCK playbook with an elevated Codebreaker on YOH, but the follow up moonsault misses as SHO’s able to come in and help turn the match around, eventually hitting a 3K on Ishimori… then double leaping knees on Phantasmo.
From there, the champions prepare for a spiked Shock Arrow – the Strong X – but Ishimori scampers in at the last moment to break up the pin. SHO takes care of him with a German suplex to the outside, then a PK off the apron, before Phantasmo stomped on SHO’s foot to avoid his finish. There’s the Sudden Death… and there’s the win! I had a feeling that was being kept under wraps for a reason, and that’s the end of Roppongi 3K’s fifth reign. If there’s ever a team that needed to move on from their current act, it’s them, but with the junior division in the state it’s in, I fully expect we’ll be rolling around to them challenging at the Tokyo Dome in January. As for this match, this was fine, but I just couldn’t sink my teeth into it. ***¼
Post-match, ELP bragged about hiding Sudden Death… while Ishimori seemed to look forward to adding the junior singles title to his haul. Can we move away from the junior division flirting with someone having both belts? There’s no instant challenge called, but given he was on the show, my finger-in-the-air guess is Hiromu and BUSHI will be going for those straps when Hiromu’s healed…
That’s all for New Japan shows from Korakuen this month – the Kizuna Road tour has three stops away from the cameras in Miyagi, Aichi and Toyama, before returning to Korakuen Hall at the end of next week for some “go home” shows for the two Summer Struggle in Sapporo shows the following weekend.
We’re back to normal here, with a so-so Korakuen show – and while the main event was newsworthy in terms of the result, the same issues in terms of depth persist. Nothing on here was outright bad, but we still feel a long way off from this product getting back to anything approximating their heights of 2-3 years ago in the current climate.