#njoa

[imvgeswrestling]

》》》

#jay white #shota umino #njpw #in ring #post match #in action #wrestling #tv show #njpw strong #male #singles #singles match #*mine #njoa

[scarskelly]

Me, an Aussie, minding my own business:

New Japan:

#njpw #new japan pro wrestling #i knew there was an announcement but I thought it would just be something NJoA related

[allelitewrestlings]

NJPW1972.com: A wild night of surprises in NYC for Night Before【NJoA】

#jon moxley #eddie kingston #aew #aewedit #wrestlingedit #njpw #njpwedit #aew x njpw #event: nj night before #candids #ours: edits #maker: r #* #tag team: moxley & kingston

[elitehanitje]

Rocky Romero has been instrumental in fostering a relationship between New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling. It was recently reported that Romero now works in the front office of AEW. However, he has now taken up a new position in NJPW. Romero revealed on his social media ahead of the Windy City Riot show in Chicago that he is the "NJOA VP Of Show & Talent Coordination."

Romero has worked with NJPW in some capacity since 2010. He is currently signed with the promotion as an in-ring talent and an ambassador. Romero is credited as the person to helped bring Mercedes Moné into NJPW at Wrestle Kingdom 17 and helped get the first Forbidden Door pay-per-view between AEW and NJPW off the ground in 2022.

NJPW has also worked with IMPACT/TNA Wrestling for Multiverse United, a similar concept to Forbidden Door. Last fall, MLW entered a working relationship with NJPW and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre that saw the latter stepping through the proverbial forbidden door.

"CMLL has always been known for not doing partnerships besides the New Japan partnership that they've had for many, many years. Both companies are extremely loyal to each other. I reached out to CMLL and they floated the idea around and they liked having another partner, especially if New Japan was going to be linked and involved with it. I was able to get them all to meet over a Zoom call and they had a great conversation and that was the start. I think you're going to see a lot more CMLL talent coming to MLW very, very soon."

In his on-screen talent roles, Romero works for various companies, including NJPW, MLW, AEW, CMLL, and ROH. 

#Rocky Romero #NJPW #NJPW World #ROH #AEW #CMLL #All Elite Wrestling #New Japan Pro Wrestling #New Japan Wrestling #Ring of Honor #Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre #AEW Dynamite #AEW Rampage #AEW Collision #Forbidden Door #Mercedes Mone #All Elite #MLW #Major League Wrestling #Tony Khan #Hiroshi Tanahashi #Windy City Riot #NJRiot

[darkmindedpixie]

Andere: Ihhhh, eine Leiche, lass mal, dafür haben wir die Spusi!

Vincent: Njoa, da lege ich mich doch direkt mal daneben in meinen wunderbaren Klamotten!

#polizeiruf frankfurt #polizeiruf swiecko #vincent ross #Polizeiruf 110

[eldesperadont]

ohmyfucking god im getting jay vs kingston 🥺

#funfact eddie has been quite supportive of jay on social media which im very fond of #the rest of the card also looks great #percht.txt #njpw #njpw strong

[joearlikelikeswrestling]

#njpw #impact wrestling  #New Japan Pro Wrestling

[elphantasmo]

Maybe he's only going to be in NJoA....

#njpw lb

[gdwessel]

Otani Surgery Successful, Treatment Begins; NJPW Windy City Riot 4/16/2022: Surprise Return & Juice Robinson Farewell; NJPW, AJPW, Joshi Summit Shows for Korakuen Hall 60th Anniversary 4/15 + 4/16/2022; AJPW Champion Carnival, STARDOM Cinderella, DDT, Tokyo Joshi, Dragon Gate, NOAH Results

Shinjiro Otani had a surgery on Wednesday on his spine, for the cervical spinal injury he suffered last Sunday in the main event of ZERO1’s show at Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan. It was said the procedure “went as planned,” and Otani has now been moved to another hospital to begin the next phase of his treatment and hopeful recovery. Otani’s wife Eriko also released a statement (translated by POST Wrestling):

"I married a professional wrestler, Shinjiro Otani, so I was prepared to accept a situation like this, but when I think of Shinjiro’s disappointment, I cry. However, we will not look down, but forward, and with the help of pro wrestling, we will continue to support Mr. Shinjiro. We will do our best with your warm support. We hope that you will continue to watch over us warmly. Finally, I would like to ask for your continued support for Zero One and all the wrestlers that Mr. Shinjiro has been protecting."

As ever, we’ll keep you posted.

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Last night in my neck of the woods (or really, 20 minutes south of my neck of the woods), New Japan of America ran Windy City Riot, a live PPV event in Japanese on NJPWWorld, and in English on FITE TV. Apparently the FITE TV feed has issues, and from comments seen on Twitter, this is not the first time this has been an issue with the English live feeds on FITE TV (I have never watched any so I don’t know for certain).

I was actually in attendance for this one, my first live wrestling event since AEW Revolution 2020. I missed the first couple of matches due to parking issues, and also the massive line of people that was still outside even after the show started. I ended up actually being sat with a whole bunch of Rocky Romero’s extended family members, including his mother, whom I talked to and is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met on this planet.

Windy City Riot - 4/16/2022 Odeum Expo Center, Villa Park, IL (FITE TV)

Rocky Romero [CHAOS] & Wheeler Yuta [AEW] d. Kevin Knight & The DKC (9:30)

QT Marshall, Aaron Solow & Nick Comoroto [AEW] d. Karl Fredericks, Yuya Uemura & Clark Connors (Marshall > Uemura, Diamond Cutter, 11:56)

Chris Dickinson, Ren Narita, Fred Rosser, Alex Coughlin & Josh Alexander [Impact] d. Danny Limelight, Black Tiger, JR Kratos, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs [Team Filthy] (Rosser > Tiger, Crossface Chickenwing, 13:50)

NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor [Team Filthy] (c) d. Yuji Nagata (Strangle Knee, 13:57) - Lawlor succeeds his 9th defense

Jeff Cobb, Great O-Khan, Aaron Henare, TJP, Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher [United Empire] d. Scott Norton, Karl Anderson [Bullet Club], Doc Gallows [Bullet Club], Chris Bey [Bullet Club], Hikuleo [Bullet Club] & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club] (Fletcher > Bey, Corealis, )

Chicago Street Fight: Juice Robinson, David Finlay Jr. & Brody King [AEW] d. JONAH, Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito (Finlay > JONAH, Acid Drop, 24:11)

U-S-Of-Jay Open Challenge: Jay White [Bullet Club] d. Shota Umino (Blade Runner, 15:45)

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] d. Minoru Suzuki [SZKG] (Vertical Drop Brainbuster, 18:46)

Jon Moxley [AEW] d. Will Ospreay [United Empire] (Death Rider, 21:24)

The finish of the main was kinda screwy. A very bloody Mox hit two Death Riders on Ospreay, which lead to a 2.9 count but the bell was rung regardless. Mox then applied a bulldog choke on Ospreay to “fix” the finish, and then hit a Death Rider on the ref before getting a mic. Moxley then declared he actually had respect for Ospreay now for stepping up, and called out Hiroshi Tanahashi one last time, to meet him at Capitol Collision in Washington, DC, on 5/14/2022, or else.

Tomohiro Ishii beat Minoru Suzuki, which prompted a challenge from AEW’s Eddie Kingston, also at the DC show; Brody King challenged Suzuki for the same.

The big surprise opponent for Jay White was introduced via video of Jon Moxley, saying “Go get him, Shooter!” Which was amazing. Shota Umino wrestles his first NJPW match of any kind since his final match in the 12th Young Lions Cup on 9/22/2019, having been in RevPro ever since, including during the pandemic. He looked amazing, very much in a Hiroshi Tanahashi mold, despite the obvious Moxley connection. Hopefully he’ll be back in the NJPW very soon.

Whilst we got one return, we also got what was very definitely a farewell, as it’s become publicly stated that Juice Robinson is not renewing with NJPW once his contract runs out at the end of this month. Indeed, the interview where he said this has him saying he may not return to wrestling at all, as he “doesn’t have the urge to wrestle really anymore.”  He is currently engaged to AEW’s Toni Storm, so he may be able to live vicariously on that Tony Khan money for a little while. In any event, he hugged it out with Finlay post-match, and gave a very extended goodbye, including to a cheering section that was very clearly for him with signs and everything. Whatever he ends up doing, hope he does well. A big part of that match saw both Juice v. Tito and Brody King v. Shane Haste in my area of the seating, so that was fun.

I was also very pleased to see Great O-Khan live, and he even gave a post-match promo as the Empire beat the Bullet Club. There were too many people in that match; Scott Norton is now apparently part of the Bullet Club, betraying TEAM2000 (With Cheeseburger) in the process. Also, Norton was good for a couple of bumps and a suplex or two, but that was about it. Nagata goaded Lawlor into making their match a title match, which Lawlor won.

There were no announcements or teases about the rumored AEW + NJPW joint promoted show in Chicago that has been the talk of Wrestling Twitter this weekend. It looks like anything to do with that will be coming up on AEW Dynamite this Wednesday, as Tony Khan may want to deliver this message on his own.

All in all, it was a pretty fun return to live wrestling, especially for a show I was initially iffy about for various reasons. It does not appear that there was an NJPW Strong episode last night either, so there’s one less thing I need to write up.

Tomorrow begins the Golden Fight Series tour in Japan. As for what the rest of the roster were up to this week? See below….

Korakuen Hall 60th Anniversary

This weekend saw two shows commemorating the 60th Anniversary, having first opened on 4/16/1962. In addition to its status as the place to go for pro wrestling (indeed, for some promotions Korakuen Hall is the biggest show they run), there were boxing matches held here during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. I don’t exactly know why they chose not to do the same in the 202(1) Olympiad, but here we are.

Two shows were run here. On Friday, a joshi summit card, with wrestlers from all sorts of companies taking part in the event, while Saturday had a joint AJPW/NJPW 50th Anniversary show. The shows were shown on SKYPerfect TV, so I am assuming they will be available at some point, on NJPWWorld if nothing else for the Saturday event. Attendances for these shows were listed at 1251 and 1588 – if that is the case, that is the highest Korakuen Hall attendance for either NJPW or AJPW since before COVID-19. It makes me wonder if restrictions are looser now, or Korakuen Hall is simply not following them.

Show results:

Korakuen Hall 60th Anniversary Festival: Joshi Pro Wrestling Dream Festival - 4/15/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Maria [Marvelous] TLD Riko Kawahata [T-HEARTS] (10:00)

Asahi [Ice Ribbon], Crea [PURE-J], Kaho Matsushita [Ice Ribbon] d. Madeleine [Diana], Nanami [Diana] & Kanon [Sendai Girls] (Crea > Kanon, Sky de Special, 9:24)

Yuki Miyazaki [WAVE], Hirota Sakura [WAVE] & Hibiscus Mii [Ryukyu Dragon] d. Tomoko Watanabe [Marvelous], Kaori Yoneyama [YMZ] & Yuki Mashiro [Ice Ribbon] (Miyazaki > Mashiro, Moonsault Press, 13:03)

Koguma [STARDOM], Manami [Sendai Girls] & Chie Ozora [PURE-J] d. Yuko Sakurai [COLOR’S], Rico Kaiji [SEAdLINNNG] & Lady C [STARDOM] (Koguma > Sakurai, Diving Body Press, 8:52)

Kyoko Inoue [Diana], Sonoko Kato [OZ Academy] & Leon [PURE-J] d. AKINO [OZ Academy], Ayako Sato [Diana] & Rydeen Hagane [PURE-J] (Inoue > Hagane, lariat, 10:21)

Tsukasa Fujimoto [Ice Ribbon] & Arisa Nakajima [SEAdLINNNG] d. Yurika Oka [Sendai Girls] & Ai Hozan [Marvelous] (Fujimoto > Hozan, Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex Hold, 9:34)

Unagi Sayaka & Mina Shirakawa [STARDOM] TLD Rin Kadokura [Marvelous] & Haruka Umesaki [Diana] (15:00)

Chihiro Hashimoto [Sendai Girls] & Yuu [EVE] d. MIRAI [STARDOM] & Maika Ozaki [FREE] (Hashimoto > Ozaki, Albright, 18:51)

Mayumi Ozaki [OZ Academy], Maya Yukihi [FREE] & Starlight Kid [STARDOM] d. Nagisa Nozaki [WAVE], SAKI [COLOR’S] & Takumi Iroha [Marvelous] (Kid > SAKI, Eternal Foe, 29:31)

Starlight spit mist to set up her win. Ozaki questioned it, but understood as she has been a heel in the past too. STARDOM’s champion Syuri stared down Chihiro after the semi-main. Sayaka/Shirakawa will be going to Diana on 4/29/2022 (the date of STARDOM’s big show at Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium) ti challenge for the WWWD tag team titles from Haruka Umesaki & Miyuki Takase.

Korakuen Hall 60th Anniversary Festival: 50th Anniversary New Japan Pro Wrestling + All Japan Pro Wrestling - 4/16/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Kosei Fujita d. Ryo Inoue (Boston Crab, 9:32)

Yoshitatsu, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato d. Takao Omori, Yuto Nakashima & Ryohei Oiwa (Yoshitatsu > Oiwa, Backdrop Hold, 8:01)

TAJIRI [TOTAL ECLIPSE] & Toru Yano [CHAOS] d. Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] & Black Menso-re (TAJIRI > Menso-re, Samson Clutch, 10:12)

Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Yuma Aoyagi [NEXTREAM], Atsuki Aoyagi [NEXTREAM], Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma (Naito > Honma, Destino, 17:25)

Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & YOH [CHAOS] d. Suwama, Shotaro Ashino & Dan Tamura [Evolution] (Goto > Tamura, Shoto, 13:47)

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kento Miyahara [NEXTREAM] TLD Jake Lee [TOTAL ECLIPSE] & Taichi [SZKG] (30:00)

Tanahashi invited Jake Lee to come to NJPW any time. Kento said he wanted to face Tana once again in the ring, which Tana was all into as well. This is, I believe, Kosei Fujita’s first ever victory!

And while we are talking AJPW...

All Japan Pro Wrestling

Champion Carnival rolled on Friday with another round of matches:

Champion Carnival 2022 Night 5 - 4/15/2022, Tokyo Shinkiba 1st-RING

Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura [Evolution] d. Izanagi & Ryo Inoue (Tamura > Inoue, Boston Crab, 9:21)

TAJIRI & Koji Doi [TOTAL ECLIPSE] d. Takao Omori & Black Menso-re (Doi > Menso-re, Hitogoroshi Lariat, 8:42) 

Jake Lee, Hokurto Omori & Yusuke Kodama [TOTAL ECLIPSE] d. Kento Miyahara, Atsushi Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO [NEXTREAM] (Omori > HAYATO, Narcissist Roll, 9:53)

Champion Carnival A Block: Shigehiro Irie d. Ryuki Honda [TOTAL ECLIPSE] (Flying Headbutt, 10:08)

Champion Carnival B Block: Yuma Aoyagi [NEXTREAM] d. Yoshitatsu (Pinfall counter, 9:11)

Champion Carnival A Block: Shuji Ishikawa d. Shotaro Ashino [Evolution] (Splash Mountain, 12:36)

Champion Carnival B Block: Suwama [Evolution] d. Kuma Arashi [TOTAL ECLIPSE] (Backdrop Hold, 14:48)

Here are the current standings after Day 5:

A Block T-Hawk: 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Irie: 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Ishikawa: 4pts (2W 0D 2L) Ashino: 4pts (2W 0D 2L) Lee: 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Honda: 0pts (0W 0D 3L)

B Block Suwama: 5pts (2W 1D 1L) Aoyagi: 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Nomura: 4pts (2W 0D 2L) Miyahara: 3pts (1W 1D 1L) Arashi: 2pts (1W 0D 2L) Yoshitatsu: 2pts (1W 0D 2L)

Suwama suddenly takes the lead in B Block with Yuma breathing down his neck. All tied up in A Block, except for Honda, who is still winless.

AJPW takes a break until Saturday from Chiba, continuing Champion Carnival.

STARDOM

STARDOM resumed the Cinderella Tournament 2022 with a show from Tokyo Korakuen Hall. They are listing this one at 1151 attendance, lending credence to the idea that Korakuen Hall, at least, is no longer restricting attendance numbers since we are getting back to what they were pre-pandemic. The second round wrapped up here, as well as the quarterfinals.

Cinderella Tournament 2022 - 4/17/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Thekla [Donna del Mondo] d. Lady C [Queen’s Quest] (Leg Roll Clutch, 5:35)

Hanan, Hazuki & Momo Kohgo [STARS] d. Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa & Waka Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] (Hazuki > Tsukiyama, Michinoku Driver II, 8:22)

Utami Hayashishita, AZM, Saya Kamitani, Hina & Miyu Amasaki [Queen’s Quest] d. Ruake, Rina, Starlight Kid, Momo Watanabe & Fukigen Death [Oedo Tai] (Hina > Ruaka, 11:18)

Cinderella Tournament 2022 2nd Round: Saya Iida [STARS] d. Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] (Iidaiwa, 5:52)

Cinderella Tournament 2022 2nd Round: Natsupoi [Donna del Mondo] d. Unagi Sayaka [Cosmic Angels] (Fairy Train, 4:45)

Cinderella Tournament 2022 2nd Round: Koguma [STARS] d. Giulia [Donna del Mondo] (OTTR, 7:38)

Cinderella Tournament 2022 2nd Round: Saki Kashima [Oedo Tai] d. Mayu Iwatani [STARS] (Kishikaisei, 0:17)

Syrui & Ami Sorei [God’s Eye] TLD Maika & Himeka [Donna del Mondo] (15:00)

Cinderella Tournament 2022 Quarterfinal: Koguma [STARS] d. Saya Iida [STARS] (120% Schoolboy, 4:52)

Cinderella Tournament 2022 Quarterfinal: MIRAI [God’s Eye] d. Saki Kashima [Oedo Tai] (Miramare, 6:47)

With this, the semifinals are now set for the tournament final show on 4/29/2022 from Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium, that will also feature two title matches. The semis are Hazuki v. Koguma, and MIRAI v. Natsupoi. STARDOM’s next show is Saturday 4/23/2022 from Hyogo Kobe Sambo Hall.

DDT / Tokyo Joshi

Marika Kobashi has retired from pro wrestling (at least for now, until she finishes college), and her retirement show was today in Tokyo Joshi.

TJPW Spring Tour ‘22 - 4/17/2022, Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta d. Yuki Aino & Pom Harajuku (Noa > Harajuku, Rotating Foot Hold, 8:59)

Miyu Yamashita, Raku & Yuki Arai d. Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu (Yamashita > Kiryu, Attitude Adjustment, 12:50)

Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki d. Maki Itoh & Haruna Neko (Sakazaki > Neko, Magical Merry-Go-Round, 13:45)

Hyper Misao, Miu Watanabe & Moka Miyamoto d. Shoko Nakajima, Suzume & Arisu Endo (Misao > Endo, Hypami Returns, 12:52)

Marika Kobashi Graduation Commemorative 1 v. 20 Handicap Tag Match: Shoko Nakajima, Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki, Maki Itoh, Miyu Yamashita, Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, Miu Watanabe, Raku, Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta, Yuki Kamifuku, Suzume, Arisu Endo, Moka Miyamoto, Pom Harajuku, Haruna Neko, Mahiro Kiryu & Yuki Arai  d. Marika Kobashi - All 20 Wrestlers > Kobashi, Goodnight Express, 2:26 - Raku > Kobashi, Front Neck Lock, 17:41 - Yamashita > Kobashi, Attitude Adjustment, 21:10

Kobashi said she is focusing on graduating and doing new things that will help her be a more rounded wrestler, and hopes to return to TJPW some day, as well as actually beat Abdullah Kobayashi. Hyper Misao gets a win on her way to challenging Shoko Nakajima, using Nakajima’s title belt as a weapon both pre- and during the match.

Meanwhile, DDT posted the semi-finals to the King Of Street Wrestling tournament yesterday.

King of Street Wrestling - 4/16/2022, various (Wrestle Universe)

King of Street Wrestling Semi-Final – Shizuoka Fumotoppara: Chris Brookes d. Hikaru Machida (Octopus Stretch on top of a tree, 22:24)

King of Street Wrestling Semi-Final – Kanagawa Ofuronokuni: Abdullah Kobayashi [BJW] d. Shunma Katsumata [The 37KAMIINA] (Bakachinga Elbow into a bubble bath, 22:07)

The first match was at a campground. The second was at a public bath house. The final is Brookes v. Abdullah, which will be shown 4/23/2022, taking place at a Sengoku battle site in Kawanakajima in Nagano Prefecture.

DDT also ran a show with indie promotion ONLY WE.

DDT / ONLY WE Max Bump 2022 Tour In Chiba - 4/17/2022, Chiba 2AW Square (Wrestle Universe)

Soma Takao d. Yuya Koroku (Official Endless Waltz, 8:41)

Danshoku Dino & Yuki Iino [Pheromones] NC Chris Brookes & Antonio Honda (11:33)

Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani [Eruption] d. Hiroshi Yamato, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida (Higuchi > Ishida, Brain Claw Slam, 9:20)

Yukio Naya & KANON d. Akito & Shunma Katsumata [The 37KAMIINA] (Naya > Katsumata, Backdrop Hold, 13:20)

Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada [Burning] d. Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima [The 37KAMIINA] (Okada > Kojima, Sudden Death, 20:29)

HARASHIMA [DISASTER BOX], Yuji Hino & Quiet Storm d. Daisuke Sasaki [DAMNATION TA], Shogun Okamoto & Akira Raijin (Storm > Raijin, 50cm Arm Lariat, 14:13)

DDT next run on 4/22/2022 from Tokyo Shinjuku FACE.

Dragon Gate

The Gate of Passion 2022 tour resumed on Saturday. Earlier today, the company held a matinee and evening show from Fukuoka, both of which were streamed live on DG Network.

The Gate of Passion 2022 Night 8 - 4/16/2022, Nagasaki Heiwakaikan Hall

Kota Minoura, Naruki Doi & Kaito Ishida [Gold Class] d. Yosuke Santa Maria, Strong Machine J & Takuma Fujiwara (Minoura > Fujiwara, R-301, 11:12)

Shun Skywalker [Z-Brats] d. Ishin Iihashi (Moonsault Knee Drop, 10:03)

Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage] d. KAI & SB KENTo [Z-Brats] (Dia > KENTo, DQ, 10:00)

Jason Lee d. U-T [Natural Vibes] (Inside Cradle, 7:52)

Ultimo Dragon, Eita & Yasushi Kanda d. BxB Hulk, HYO & Diamante [Z-Brats] (Kanda > HYO, Inside Cradle, 9:28)

YAMATO, Dragon Kid, Ben-K & Keisuke Okuda [HIGH-END] d. Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka, Big Boss Shimizu & Jacky “Funky” Kamei [Natural Vibes] (YAMATO > Kamei, Galleria, 18:02)

The Gate of Passion 2022 Night 9 Afternoon Show - 4/17/2022, Fukuoka Acros Fukuoka (DG Network)

Kota Minoura, Naruki Doi & Kaito Ishida [Gold Class] d. Big Boss [Natural Vibes], U-T [Natural Vibes] & Takuma Fujiwara (Minoura > Fujiwara, R-301, 11:28)

Masaaki Mochizuki d. Stan Ichikawa (Lariat, 0:13)

Ultimo Dragon, Dragon Kid [HIGH-END] & Ben-K [HIGH-END] d. Eita, Yosuke Santa Maria & Ishin Iihashi (Ben-K > Ishin, Spear, 11:45)

Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage] d. YAMATO & Keisuke Okuda [HIGH-END] (Yoshioka > Okuda, Frog Splash, 12:11)

BxB Hulk & HYO [Z-Brats] d. Jason Lee & Strong Machine J (HYO > J, Nekotamashi, 8:56)

KAI, SB KENTo, Shun Skywalker & Diamante [Z-Brats] d. Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka, Genki Horiguchi & Jacky “Funky” Kamei [Natural Vibes] (Skywalker > Kamei, SSW, 14:44)

Some sort of drama happened between Ultimo Dragon and the members of HIGH-END. Shun basically abducted Jason Lee after the semi-main, leading to…

The Gate of Passion 2022 Night 9 Evening Show - 4/17/2022, Fukuoka Acros Fukuoka (DG Network)

Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka & U-T [Natural Vibes] d. KAI, BxB Hulk & HYO [Z-Brats] (Yokosuka > HYO, Yokosuka Cutter, 11:21)

Eita d. Ishin Iihashi (Boston Crab, 8:34)

Shun Skywalker [Z-Brats] & Jason Lee d. Big Boss Shimizu & Jacky “Funky” Kamei [Natural Vibes] (Lee > Kamei, Maximum Driver, 11:22)

Yosuke Santa Maria, Strong Machine J & Takuma Fujiwara d. Ultimo Dragon, Masaaki Mochizuki & Genki Horiguchi [Natural Vibes] (J > Horiguchi, Machine Suplex, 9:00)

Masaaki Mochizuki d. Stan Ishikawa (Udegatame, 5:44)

Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage] d. SB KENTo & Diamante [Z-Brats] (Dia > KENTo, DQ, 8:03)

Kota Minoura, Naruki Doi, Kaito Ishida & Minorita [Gold Class] d. YAMATO, Dragon Kid, Ben-K & Keisuke Okuda (Minoura > Okuda, R-301, 14:30)

Gold Class dared anyone to challenge them for the Open The Triangle Gate titles to close the show, and nobody did. Shun Skywalker forced Jason Lee into a tag match with him, still calling him his “property.” This will all, hopefully, be resolved at the 4/25/2022 Korakuen Hall show. Shun also made a challenge for the Open The Twin Gate titles for Dead Or Alive 2022, however GM Ryo Saito shot it down, saying Dragon Dia already has a match booked, against Shun’s own stablemate at that. Seems like a very wrestling thing to make someone with two titles defend both on a show, but what do I know.

The tour continues with a house show tomorrow, before a break, then resumes Thursday with a streamed show from Kyoto KBS Hall.

Pro Wrestling NOAH

NOAH held the final Real Overture 2022 show, before their big weekend at Ryogoku at the end of the month.

Real Overture 2022 - 4/17/2022, Niigata Bandaijima Multipurpose Plaza (Wrestle Universe)

Seiki Yoshioka [STINGER] d. Kai Fujimura (Tornado Strike, 7:26)

Tadasuke & Hajime Ohara [Kongo] d. NOSAWA Rongai & Super Crazy [Perros del Mal de Japon] (Tadasuke > Rongai, Fuyuki Special, 8:36)

Daisuke Harada d. Alejandro (Katayama German Suplex Hold, 10:39)

Daiki Inaba, Yoshiki Inamura & Kinya Okada d. King Tany, Muhammad Yone & Akitoshi Saito [Funky Express] (Inaba > Tany, DDD, 14:59)

Atsushi Kotoge, YO-HEY & Junta Miyawaki d. HAYATA [STINGER], Yoshinari Ogawa [STINGER] & Yasutaka Yano (Kotoge > Yano, Killswitch, 17:38)

Naomichi Marufuji [M’s Alliance] & Kotaro Suzuki [Perros del Mal de Japon] d. Kaito Kiyomiya & Yuya Susmu [STINGER] (Suzuki > Susumu, Tiger Driver, 16:32)

Takashi Sugiura [Sugiura-gun], Go Shiozaki, Masa Kitamiya & Hao d. Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Manabu Soya & Nio [Kongo] (Shiozaki > Nio, Gowan Lariat, 20:13)

Shiozaki declared “We Are NOAH!” once more in victory. Kenoh & Nakajima attacked Sugiura backstage. Hao v. Nio will not only be a match for their names, but their hair as well.

NOAH is now off until 4/29/2022, the first night of Majestic at Sumo Hall.

Other News

A Jumbo Tsuruta Memorial Show will be taking place on 5/31/2022 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall. So far only one match has been signed, Yuji Nagata & Suwama v. Taichi & TAKA Michinoku, but Shingo Takagi, Jun Akiyama, Tatsumi Fujinami, Great Kojika, and others will be taking part. Guests will include Stan Hansen, Kenta Kobashi, Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue.

Another memorial show at Korakuen Hall, for Hana Kimura on 5/23/2022, has their main booked, with STARDOM’s Syuri v. DDT’s Asuka. I am still rattled by her death.

Yuko Miyamoto remains BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Champion, beating Hideyoshi Kamitani today in Sapporo for his fifth successful defense. Drew Parker challenged Miyamoto for Yokohama Budokan on 5/5/2022, whilst Kamitani accepted a challenge from the team of Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe for Kamitani/Daichi Hashimoto’s tag team titles.

A lot of other promotions ran this weekend. This weekend was a lot. And Golden Week will be coming soon as well.

#Shinjiro Otani #new japan pro wrestling #NJPW #new japan pro Wrestling of America #njoa #windy city riot #njriot #shota umino #jon moxley #Jay White #Eddie Kingston #juice robinson #rocky romero #Tokyo Korakuen Hall #all japan pro wrestling #AJPW #champion carnival #Hiroshi Tanahashi #kento miyahara #jake lee #stardom #World Wonder Ring Stardom #DDT #ddtpro #tokyo joshi pro #marika kobashi #Dragon Gate #Pro Wrestling NOAH #go shiozaki #jumbo tsuruta

[officials1nx]

A Longtime Coming.

El Rey Network, which brought Lucha Underground to wrestling fans, is shutting down at the end of the year (2020). It was announced today (December 30th, 2020) that CableFax reported the network from Robert Rodriguez will cease operations on December 31st, 2020.

El Rey Network aired a lot of content both new and acquired during its seven year run on air. It had shows such as From Dusk till Dawn: The Series, Matador, Texas Justice, El Rey Nation, and more, but for wrestling fans it was best known as the home of Lucha Underground which operated for three seasons (4 of you count the cross promotion between them and Impact streaming on Twitch), although fans of the show have said that they only count the first two seasons as it's great run, seeing as the third season saw many wrestlers leave the company. Since the promotion folded, the network had stayed in business with wrestling content in a lesser capacity through the talk show Vampiro: Unleashed.

The writing was on the wall for El Rey Network after Univision announced in November that it was taking its stake in the network in order to explore new sale opportunities. El Rey Network had a downward spiral in ratings, and after being dropped by AT&T in January and Charter in September of this year (2020) it was only a matter of time.

After Univision exited Rodriguez said that he was “Confident that with this strong foundation we will continue to successfully serve one of the most important and influential audiences.” There's speculation of the network moving operations into a streaming capacity. Rodriguez has found success with content like directing episodes of The Mandalorian for Disney+ and Netflix releasing Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl sequel We Can Be Heroes on Christmas Day.

What can this mean for the fans of Lucha Underground? Lets keep in mind that back in February of 2019, it was reported that Jorge Luis Alcantar, who worked as King Cuerno for Lucha Underground, had filed a lawsuit in California against the El Rey Network and the Baba-G production company behind Lucha Underground. The lawsuit claimed that the LU contract "Illegally restricted" wrestlers from working in their "lawful profession" by being restricted from working for other companies while under contract with LU, which only paid per episode. Alcantar's stated that this usually is less than $1,000 per appearance, with some of the LU cast earning only about $4,000 a year from the show. Alcantar's lawyer also revealed that he had filed a class action lawsuit against LU over the contracts that he claims are not legal under California law. Other wrestlers such as Ivelisse Vélez, Joey Ryan and Melissa Cervantes joined him in the class action lawsuit, looking to invalidate their contracts. It wasn't until March of 2019 that all lawsuits had been settled. In an interview, Vampiro stated that though not officially announced, Lucha Underground was over, "90% of the roster is in AEW and the other 10% is in the WWE. The writers are gone, the production crew is gone, the company is split. Keep in mind that El Rey Network was originally launched as a condition of Comcast’s merger with NBCUniversal.

What's going to happen with Lucha Underground. At this point Robert Rodriguez can do one of two things. One is to just let it go, us wrestling fans have a lot to watch nowadays. There's the power house which is WWE, the underdog known as AEW, Impact Wrestling is still around, we have Ring of Honor, and now New Japan Pro Wrestling is creating New Japan of America. The second option is to have it streaming on one of the big services, and to be honest the options are slim. Only companies that would possibly stream a Lucha Underground reboot would be Netflix or Hulu. You then run into complications such as companies lending wrestlers, drawing up contracts, and of course there must be trust this time around.

Only time will tell what will happen with Lucha Underground.

#Lucha Underground #LU #El Rey #El Rey Network #WWE #AEW #Impact Wrestling #Ring of Honor #RoH #New Japan Pro Wrestling #NJPW #New Japan of America #NJoA #wrestling #wrestlers #Robert Rodriguez #World Wrestling Entertainment #WWF #World Wrestling Federation #All Elite Wrestling #BTE #Being The Elite #NBC #Comcast

[jaywhxte]

my dad just surprised me with tickets to NJoA’s New Beginning in Nashville in January. i’m crying.

#NJPW #NJoA

[maloned]

So awesome meeting #TheAce @Hiroshi_Tanahashi!!! #OnceinaCenturyTalent 1/100 #NewJapan was so much fun. A fun, intimate show. The crowd that was there was so hot for the product and performers! @NJPW1972 @NJPWglobal #njnbgusa #NewJapanNewBeginnings #theNewBeginning #NJPWofAmerica #NJoA #NJPW #njpwenglish #njpwenglishoffical (at Charles F. Dodge City Center Pembroke Pines) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7_TJvqHb34/?igshid=8wrb8khx6tqg

#theace #onceinacenturytalent #newjapan #njnbgusa #newjapannewbeginnings #thenewbeginning #njpwofamerica #njoa #njpw #njpwenglish #njpwenglishoffical

[scarskelly]

To be Expected - David Finlay Op-ed

I'm not too sure what to call this: a Op-ed, intelligent rant, infodump, sort of an Essay, retrospective?

I'm not going to make this intro too long but basically: I have written a thing on David Finlay inspired by rambles on a discord server and the recent developments with him and Jay and Bullet Club. I have liked David for a while now and I have a lot of thoughts on his character arc and possible reasoning as to why he did what he did.

If that sounds interesting but you don't have time to read 1400 words on that, here's a quick summary.

TL;DR: David Finlay's character arc in NJPW involved him trying to deal with the two chips on his shoulder: his heritage and his temper. He went from 'desperate to be different' to 'able to coexist healthily' before regressing into what we see now. I also talk about what led to this regression and all of the factors involved (continual failure, words hurt Ospreay). I discuss David's relationship with Jay and how his finale in Japan was the last straw for David, leading him to attack at Battle in the Valley.

Look under the cut for the whole thing!

First things first: David Finlay did not start out in NJPW as a Young Lion. He actually came into the promotion as an already fully trained wrestler, having been trained by his father Fit. He gave up all of that knowledge and started again after a match against Jushin Thunder Liger who Fit had wrestled in New Japan back in '91.

David's heritage is something that has bothered him for years. Especially during his young lion and early post-graduation days, it was the big chip on his shoulder. Of course there was the element of everyone already having pre-conceptions and expectations of you but that wasn't the problem for David. His main problem was that he couldn't just be 'David', commentary would always mention (both English and Japanese) his father, grandfather, great-grandfather before him. So, when David graduated he tried to make himself as distinct as possible.

How did he do this without dropping the Finlay name?

He didn't wrestle like Fit (specifically the brawler part which we'll get to) and aesthetically he kept himself separate through different gear, hair, facial hair and even the inclusion of eyeliner for a short period of time.

The other chip on his shoulder was related to his heritage: his temper. Finlay's are quick to anger and like to brawl, Fit's nickname was literally the Belfast Bruiser. However as a young lion and later a babyface hanging out with Taguchi, you cannot be a bruiser. So, David wasn't and that was another thing he had to tussle with.

Over the years, David did make progress in these areas.

When it came to his heritage there is of course the Shillelagh but an item that he introduced earlier was the spiked leather jacket. His first one from 2018 he has passed onto Brogan (his younger brother) and he's had versions of a spiked leather jacket since then. This style of jacket being a reference to something that Fit wore during his WCW run. Speaking of Brogan, you could see his increased interaction with his brother including on some NJoA shows as a acceptance of the Finlay dynasty (even if that included Brogan getting squished by Jonah, whoops).

So what about his temper? well for this I have 2 matches to compare.

Jay White vs David Finlay, Road to the New Beginning, 5th of Feb 2018, US Championship match.

We will focus on David's relationship with Jay later but for now I want to look at the end of this match. David snaps, Jay's treatment of him from reappearance as the Switchblade until now takes its toll. While Jay is downed David grabs a chair from under the ring, bringing it in even in the presence of Red Shoes. He very nearly almost hits Jay over the head with it but ends up stopping himself. This gives Jay the opportunity to win the match.

2. Juice Robinson vs David Finlay, G1 Climax 32, 26th of Jul 2022.

In this match David is certainly much more willing to be violent and less concerned about being a pure babyface but only because of Juice's provocation. Juice starts it by targeting David's shoulder and he's the one who tries to hit David with the US title first. David even breaks his pin on Juice after hitting him with the Shillelagh to actually hit a move before picking up the win.

I like this comparison because both of these matches are ones where David is facing someone who was once very close to him shortly after they turned heel. Both times Jay and Juice try to convince David not to follow through on his violence (Jay just looks at him, possibly saying something, Juice verbally begs him).

We can see how David has grown and progressed, accepting his heritage and his short fuse as just who he is and even managing to use them to his advantage. 2022 was a good year for David. He had a successful G1 debut and very nearly almost won in a US title match. But, after being around in NJPW since 2015, 'good' and 'very nearly' had become insufficient for David.

There are so many possibilities as to why David is like how he is now. I wouldn't be surprised if it is all of them coming together to finally break the guy. Maybe the things Ospreay said to him during that press conference weighed on his mind. His absent father, his championship wins being dictated by other people and in turn the absence in actual singles glory to his name. Maybe those big wins he experienced in the G1 started an addiction for David, and with his loss to Ospreay came a desperation to experience that big win feeling again. Maybe David came to the realisation after the Ospreay match that he needed to change. This David Finlay was a loser and that would never change, so why stick with it?

Enter Jay White.

Quick Jay and David history lesson: David, Jay and Juice were in the same young lion class. They were a close knit trio but Jay and David were in particular quite close which is obvious enough from the various pictures, gifs and twitter exchanges floating around on this site. When Jay returned from excursion, both David and Juice mentioned that Jay never told them anything about his debut and attack on Tanahashi. Jay found David and Juice beneath him now, having gone off on excursion and now getting to face Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom. David and Juice didn't even get excursions.

David has an unfortunate trend associated with him which is 'his best friend indirectly turns heel on him by attacking Tanahashi' as Juice also did the same as Jay last year. This certainly left David with a bad taste in his mouth, he was so insignificant to these two, two of the guys he was closest in NJPW with, that they won't even directly turn heel on him? What does that say about him? or the friendships he's tried to create with fellow members of Hontai and other face groups?

Whenever he saw fit, Jay would bully David. He would lord his sheer number of wins against David over him (even when most of them were from the young lion days). When David finally did get a win over Jay he made it sound like the world was ending ("I just lost to David Finlay? Is this real right now?"). Even in Impact, Jay busied himself with continuing to bully David. Jay was also very likely the one who convinced Juice to dump David and join the Bullet Club.

In short: Jay was an annoying dickhead who nobody outside of the Bullet Club liked.

Then after losing the IWGP Championship in a situation where all of the odds were against him, Jay finds a scapegoat in Hikuleo. He lashes out and seriously threatens the career of an up and coming star in New Japan basically because the guy embarrassed him. He in turn also sabotages his own career because he's stopped caring about wrestling in Japan as he's done everything there is to do. He doesn't care about the fans or his fellow wrestlers including his own faction mates who would be leaderless. He loses and...everyone forgets everything that Jay did up to that point? Hikuleo doesn't care, Tanahashi doesn't care, the crowd doesn't care, Gedo doesn't even care.

Imagine how David felt watching this go down. Hoping to see the man he once could call a best friend who became a dastardly person, made David's life a living hell for years and stole his best friend get his just deserts. But instead he's allowed to leave unscathed and everyone is all of a sudden going to miss him so much?

Whether David was contacted by Gedo beforehand or not, he witnesses the same thing happen at Battle in the Valley and does not let Jay get his moment in the sun.

Now we're at present day. David has regressed when it comes to the relationship with his heritage, having said that all of the generations before him were losers and now he will be the Finlay to make this dynasty something to be proud of. As mentioned after attacking Jay, David has never felt truly at home anywhere and I believe he partially blames his father for that one. He's accepted his short temper and penchant for violence completely and utterly. Now he's very quick to anger in many situations not yet seen before (lashing out at fans and their signs, young lion attacks and hostile tags).

As David begins to become a more important character in New Japan, I think it is important to look back on his arc in this promotion so far as to understand what is happening now and what may happen in the future. I hope this was helpful for someone out there, or at least was an interesting read!

Thank you coming to my TED Talk.

#David Finlay #Jay White #Juice Robinson #Bullet Club #Happy 10 years you old ass faction #NJPW #New Japan Pro Wrestling

[cory25mac]

Go ACE @hiroshi_tanahashi #NJoA #njnbgusa #b #NJPWmiami https://www.instagram.com/p/B76130aJKqr/?igshid=19w3od1xhl02r

#njoa #njnbgusa #b #njpwmiami

[leaveharmony]

Nice lil interview with Lance :-)

#Lance Archer #Rasslin'

[reinmeka]

today was so so amazing. working a week nonstop on my okada cosplay was so worth it.

many people came up to me and asked for pictures and complimented my hard work! then when i was in line for the meet and greet, i met the president of NJoA and shook his hand— they had me in front of a camera twice for that.

before doors opened for the M&G, a gentlemen offered to sell me a ringside ticket (a REALLY GOOD ONE) for some change— he said “thank you rainmaker” bc i gave him more than what he asked for (which was still considerably cheap compared to what he paid).

meeting okada was a dream come true and although it was very short and sweet, it was really nice. luckily i didn’t have an anxiety attack even though i’m completely in love with him lmao

i got to hang out with my friend jasmine and i got to relax in my civies before getting back into my cosplay for the show!

more people complimented me and asked for pictures and when i saw where i was NOW SITTING compared to the ticket i originally bought I WAS SHOCKED. IT WAS SUCH A GOOD SEAT. the show was amazing and when it came to the main event (okada/ospreay v ibushi/amazing red) the camera man raced over to me and put me on the screen when okada’s music played because i JUMPED UP

i got to high five okada many times after his victory and i even stood up and did the rainmaker pose when he did it i felt like such a dork but i couldn’t help myself

after the show ended, i got to meet rocky romero and we took a picture— then the crew had me stick around for a little because they wanted to record me again for an interview okada was doing backstage. they kept asking if i knew japanese (bc there were many japanese fans there and i’m asian but i am not japanese LOL) so all i understood was “please wait a second”. from what i can gather, okada finished his interview and at the end it cut to me and i waved at him?? idk i was standing and staring into that camera for a long time trying to traverse the language barrier LMAO

i took more pictures with other fans and even saw some wrestling friends! overall it was such an amazing experience and i was so glad i was able to have it. i’m going to be embarrassed seeing my face everywhere bc im ugly but GOD I HAD FUN 😭