We’ve a fairly familiar line up as New Japan returned to Korakuen Hall today, with a pair of United Empire vs. LIJ tag team matches to headline.
Quick Results
YOH, SHO & Tomoaki Honma pinned Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki in 8:36 (**½)
Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI submitted Jado, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa in 10:38 (**¾)
Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, Hiroshi Tanahashi, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii pinned Gedo, EVIL, KENTA, Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori in 15:29 (***)
Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb pinned BUSHI & Shingo Takagi in 12:41 (***¼)
Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan pinned SANADA & Tetsuya Naito in 20:01 (***¼)
Yes. That first half of the card IS the same as we had on Thursday in Korakuen *shakes fist at Gedo*… and you wonder why they’re drawing crowds in the 300s these days at Korakuen. I get it, attendances aren’t the be-all and end-all of business in 2021, but it’s becoming a worrying indicator…
Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) & Tomoaki Honma
Will Suzuki tap out Honma again? We’ve a jump start to get us going, as Suzuki tries to choke out Honma, following with a hanging armbar before Honma got taken into the rails. Triple-team stomps wear down Honma for a bit, before a brief fightback on Suzuki ended as you’d expect. Yep, with a leaping Kokeshi.
SHO’s in to try his luck, deadlifting Desperado for a German suplex that ends with Despy stomping free before YOH tagged in. A Figure Four from Kanemaru quickly has YOH in trouble as Desperado stretches SHO in the background, only for Honma to Kokeshi the hold apart. From there, Kanemaru heads up top for a Deep Impact DDT that nearly ends the match. He stays on the knee, but nearly falls to an inside cradle, before an O’Connor roll gets YOH the win. A perfectly fine opener, which continued the “let’s work over YOH’s knee” routine – but didn’t do too much to fire you up for that title match next month. **½
Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI) vs. Bullet Club (Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) & Jado)
Here we go again… the Sabre vs. Tanga and Taichi vs. Tama matches are in a shade over two weeks, so let’s run this back.
Of course we’ve a jump start, with Jado using the Kendo stick on DOUKI right in front of the ref. A second swing’s ducked as DOUKI ALMOST wins with a Magistral cradle, before he’s taken outside as the guard rails became his friend again. Back inside, Jado charges down DOUKI and poses, as the Guerrillas then took over. Tama splashes DOUKI in the corner after he’d fought to beat a count-out, then missed a second one as Taichi came in with Kawada kicks. Chokes follow, with Taichi tossing Jado out like he was doing sumo… but Tama Tonga stops it all as Taichi makes a tag out to Sabre, who changes things around.
Sabre’s brief flurry ends with Tanga Loa clotheslining and choking him, before Jado took a two-count from Tanga’s backdrop suplex. Taichi’s in for more choking as the ring fills up, while DOUKI took to the air with an Asai moonsault to Tanga Loa out of nowhere. Jado tries to nick a win with the OJK crossface, but Sabre countered into a cross armbar for a rapid tap. This was a little better, but again, the feud feels like they’ve stretched it out too much. Then again, what other tag teams are there around here? **¾
Bullet Club (EVIL, KENTA, Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii
It’s been announced that the “home vote” came through for Yano, so his KOPW defence vs, April 28 will be a Creation of Darkness Blindfold match – blindfolds on each corner post, with one of them needed to be put on your opponent to win. Yep. Curse you Gedo…
Gedo and Toru Yano boo/yay Tanahashi as he takes off his ring jacket, and we start with Tanahashi and not-Jay-White. They quickly build to Tanahashi teasing a Blade Runner, but evil breaks it up as we do the usual “tag in so those who have future matches get a go” stuff. Yano takes off a turnbuckle cover, then tries to blindfold EVIL… it’s kicked away before Dick Togo poked Yano in the eye and covered his head. Yano’s able to avoid Everything is EVIL before pulling off the hood, before we cycled some more. Ishii and Goto team up on Yujiro and Ishimori, before KENTA came in to take a low dropkick from YOSHI-HASHI. Distractions get the Bullet Club team back in it as the match spills outside, with EVIL wiping out the timekeeper once more, before Ishii got pounded on back inside the ring.
The chained abdominal stretch follows as Ishimori nearly fell off the apron, before Yujiro almost pinned Ishii. Tags finally bring in YOSHI-HASHI and KENTA for a proper go around, with YOSHI-HASHI pulling ahead with a Blockbuster… but KENTA’s back with a flying clothesline for a two-count, before a Green Killer draping DDT gets a similar result. From there, Ishimori tags back in… Goto too… but the ring quickly fills and empties again, as Gedo tries to nick the win with the brass knuckles. Of course it’s a distraction as we get a Parade of Interference, then a Parade of Moves, culminating in a GYW onto Gedo for the win. A perfectly fine multiman, but there’s not much you need to see here – they don’t replay KENTA chasing YOSHI-HASHI’s Bo Staff, as he grabbed it before we could do the dog-with-a-stick routine. ***
During the interval, Hiromu Takahashi’s focused on as part of the ring cleaning crew… which he abandons so he can join commentary.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. United Empire (Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb)
Hey, they shuffled the line-ups for the second half of the show.
Ospreay launches into Shingo to start, but edges ahead as BUSHI came in… only for BUSHI to get baited into a Cobb clothesline on the apron. Cobb tags in to throw BUSHI into the corner, before Ospreay’s Figure Four headscissors continued to wear him down. An enziguiri stops Cobb briefly, and gives BUSHI time to tag out to Shingo, who lit up Cobb in the corner. Ospreay interferes, but is taken care of as Shingo ends up Exploding Cobb into the corner. Cobb returns the favour with an overhead release belly-to-belly, then tagged Ospreay back in as we get an exchange of elbow strikes. Rapid-fire elbows from Shingo earn him a chop, but he fakes out and drills Ospreay with a DDT as BUSHI then tried to take the match over the line. A spinebuster/backcracker combo on Ospreay nearly gets BUSHI the win, before Cobb came in to help turn it back around.
A reverse Bloody Sunday gets Ospreay a two-count, before a Chelsea Grin dropped BUSHI ahead of a Storm Breaker to win it. The expected result, but a pretty good tag as they build up anticipation for Shingo/Ospreay next month. ***¼
United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & SANADA)
A different main event, as Henare and Great-O-Khan look to strike a blow against LIJ on their own.
Before the match, Naito encourages Hiromu to help him get in the ring, and sanitise those ropes. I mean, you can’t be too careful… O-Khan jumps Naito at the bell, having powdered to the floor for Naito’s introduction, and we get plenty of fun with guard rails as Henare tries to wipe out the commentary team. When things settled down, O-Khan elbowed away on Naito before a leglock ended in the ropes. Henare tags in to grind Naito’s ankle against the ropes, before O-Khan went back to the knee. Henare has the same idea, but SANADA breaks it up and eventually gets tagged in to hit low dropkicks on both opponents. A plancha wipes out O-Khan on the floor, before Henare’s pulled into a Paradise Lock… and you know how that ends.
SANADA head up top, but leaps over Henare, who caught him with a step-up knee into the corner, before a Blue Thunder bomb lands in the middle of the ring. Tags get us back to O-Khan and Naito, with the former’s Mongolian chop being shrugged off as Naito takes him to the corner for a Combinacion Cabron dropkick. Some headscissors on the mat sees Naito force O-Khan into the ropes, before Gloria was elbowed out of. A Judo throw has Naito back down, as he’s then taken into the corner and given some Mongolian chops to the back ahead of a baseball slide as Naito was hanging in a Tree of Woe. A bear hug’s countered into a DDT by Naito, before tags get us back to SANADA and Henare once more.
SANADA’s springboard missile dropkick has Henare down, only for Henare to catch a crossbody and counter with a Samoan drop. Another PK gets a near-fall as Naito dives in at the last second, before a spear tackle – the old Toa Bottom – gets another near-fall. From there, Henare goes for a Fisherman suplex, but SANADA escapes as Naito helps out, passing him back for a TKO for a near-fall, A second TKO’s switched into a Skull End, after Henare tried for a death valley driver, but instead we’ve a Parade of Moves that ends with an O-Khan lariat. SANADA’s back as he rolls into a Skull End on Henare, swinging him around before a head claw and an Eliminator broke it up. That leaves Henare free to pick up SANADA for the Streets of Rage fisherman buster, and that’s your lot. I’ll take that after Henare ate the fall the other night, as the Empire finish the night going two-for-two after a relatively lengthy tag match. ***¼
New Japan’s back in Korakuen Hall tomorrow, and we’re headlining with a trio of singles matches ahead of the NEVER trios title match: Yujiro vs. Ishii, Goto vs. Ishimori and YOSHI-HASHI vs. KENTA. This was a slight step-up from Thursday’s affair, as yet-another house show continues to inch us closer to the Dontaku shows next month. At least we’re moving into the business end of the tour with some rejigged line-ups…