#cmll lucha libre

[playingthesaint7823]

One of the most prettiest Tornilo’s I have ever seen done.

This was during Hector Garza vs Averno in March 7th 2008.

[gdwessel]

Jay White, FinJuice Make Surprise Appearances At Impact Slammiversary PPV 7/17/2021, Kojima Does Not; Podcast Recording Today

Last night’s Slammiversary PPV from Impact Wrestling had a couple of NJPW flavored surprises. The biggest one coming at the end of the show, once Kenny Omega retained the Impact World Championship in a No-DQ hardcore match against *spits* Sami Callihan. The lights went out, and Jay White’s entrance theme and video start playing, with Switchblade himself coming to the ring, holding the NEVER Openweight Championship. Once in the ring, Omega, Don Callis and the Good Brothers (”Machine Gun” Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows, who regained the Impact World Tag Team titles earlier in the show) tried to throw Too Sweets at Jay, but did not return the gesture before the closing titles faded up.

Honestly, it would be more interesting if the Bullet Club itself were to war with the Elite once more, because a) they’d already been going that way, mostly on social media, but also on-screen on AEW Dynamite, with KENTA’s infamous “Shut the fuck up” to Omega b) it never had a proper ending the last time, with the Elite just deciding they were done with the feud on the Jericho Cruise in 2018. Since then, of course, there’s been a LOT of alluding and name-dropping of the Bullet Club on AEW and Impact programming, even before the whole “Forbidden Door” thing was made official. We’ll see where this goes. Jay has a win over Omega as it is, going back to 2018, beating Omega for the IWGP US Heavyweight title, in the early days of the Switchblade character.

Earlier in the show, former IWGP and Impact tag team champions Juice Robinson & David Finlay Jr. made a surprise appearance as well, taking on and defeating Madman Fulton & Shera in a very short (1:15) impromptu match. Coincidentally, two of these NJPW surprises have a NEVER Openweight Title match coming up at NJPW Resurgence in about a month’s time, so luckily here’s a venue for them to do some build for that match!

In other related news from this show, NJPW Strong featured wrestler Josh Alexander retained the X Division title, defeating Super J-Cup 2020 participant Chris Bey, Rohit Raju, Petey Williams, Trey Miguel and Ace Austin in an Ultimate X Match. Also, prior to the main event, a teaser was shown for the forthcoming Bound For Glory PPV, which featured the logos of both NJPW and AAA, the lucha libre company that kinda sorta works with Impact. That won’t make NJPW’s Mexican partners CMLL very happy at all. NJPW has all the leverage in that relationship, however, as has been noted before, so CMLL may just have to deal with it if they want to continue that relationship. CMLL already cut ties with ROH earlier this year, more or less on the fly, over talents working for the ultimately-cancelled Federacion Wrestling event, so who knows what they will do.

It should be noted that Satoshi Kojima took no part in this show at all, and there were fans in attendance, Impact’s first such event since the pandemic. I’m not sure if this was pre-taped or not at this point. It would be hard to keep certain spoilers like what we saw here, or like AEW/NWA’s Thunder Rosa appearing as a mystery opponent, under wraps very long.

Myself and @damascenocs​ will discuss this, and a wholllllllllle lot more, later today, as we record Episode 76 of the Strong Style Story podcast, so stay tuned for that!

[playingthesaint7823]

These guys killed it.

[playingthesaint7823]

I know he was feeling that for a few days.

[gdwessel]

NJPW Presenta CMLL Fantasticamania 2020 Night 7 - 1/19/2020; KENTA, Jay, Ospreay, ELP at ROH Supercard Of Honor XIV on 4/4/2020; Rocky Romero in Black Label Pro 1/18/2020

The tour resumed for its final two shows today, and you can see it now on NJPWWorld. Two title matches, as well as the annual tribute match to Victor Mar Manuel, Black Cat, took place on this show.

1/19/2020, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Luciferno & Namajague d. Audaz & Yota Tusji (Namajague > Tsuji, Aleman, 7:48)

Soberano Jr., Flyer & Guerrero Maya Jr. d. Tiger, Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] & DOUKI [SZKG] (Soberano > DOUKI, Fire Driver, 7:29)

Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja & Titan d. Sanson, Cuatrero & Forastero (Oro > Sanson, La Mecedora, 12:26)

NWA World Historic Light Heavyweight Championship: Stuka Jr. (c) d. Shigeo Okumura (Torpedo Splash, 10:25) - Stuka Jr. succeeds his ?th defense

EVIL, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Dulce Gardenia, Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi (BUSHI > Fuego, BUSHIroll, 12:01)

CMLL World Heavyweight Championship: Ultimo Guerrero © d. Satoshi Kojima (Guerrero Special, 13:05) - Ultimo Guerrero succeeds his ?th defense

Black Cat Memorial Match: Caristico, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tiger Mask IV d. Negro Casas, Euforia & Barbaro Cavernario (Tanahashi > Casas, High Fly Flow, 11:23)

The pre-main ceremony featured not only Black Cat’s widow, but his cousin Juan Mar Manuel, and his nephew, Scandalo. Caristico made a challenge to Barbaro Cavernario, to also make their title match tomorrow a mask v. hair match. Considering Stuka v. Okumura turned out to not be a mask v. hair match (but did become a title match after all), I wouldn’t hold your breath. Mask/Hair challenges get made all the time in lucha, oftentimes not amounting to anything. If tomorrow’s main event does become mask v. hair, I will be very surprised.

Los Hermanos Chavez + Titan beat the Dinamitas in the final prelude match for their title match tomorrow. This really is one match where I can’t tell which way it will go, and we may see a title change tomorrow. They have done a very good job of building to this match all tour.

El Desperado, no matter what mask he wears, continues to be a nemesis for Young Lions everywhere.

Several NJPW wrestlers have been announced for Ring Of Honor’s Supercard of Honor XIV, during Wrestlemania Weekend, on 4/4/2020 in Lakeland, FL, 45 minutes away from actual Tampa. Announced so far have been KENTA, Jay White, Will Ospreay and El Phantasmo. No word on what they may be doing as yet.

The upshot here, is that on the surface, there still continues to be some sort of relationship between NJPW and ROH. This, despite there being no Honor Rising shows on the schedule this year, and the heavy discussion we all everyone had around Wrestle Kingdom and whether or not the future lay with AEW. All that, in addition to NJPW Of America being formed. Considering there was virtually no NJPW involvement with ROH post-G1 Supercard (indeed, last year’s War Of The Worlds tour was with CMLL, not NJPW), up to and including Juice Robinson & David Finlay Jr. both flat out saying they would not be returning, it looked doubtful. For that matter, the health and viability of ROH itself looked doubtful for a lot of 2019. And yet, here we are. 

We’ll see if any more NJPW talents will be named for this show, or if this even means anything long-term.

Last night in Crown Point, Indiana, Rocky Romero took part in Black Label Pro’s Nobody Puts BLP In A Corner event (the name itself being a bit of an inside joke, after the original name, Crown Point Jewel, got them a C&D letter from WWE). This was the same promotion near me that hosted Ren Narita back in November, however I was not able to attend this one sadly. Rocky defeated long-time Chikara veteran Ophidian at the event, in addition to holding a day-long seminar for wrestlers before the show.

The tour finale is tomorrow, with two title matches, and will be live on NJPWWorld.

- 1/20/2020, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG]

Tiger Mask IV v. Tiger

Flyer, Audaz & Guerrero Maya Jr. v. Euforia, Luciferno & Namajague

Dulce Gardenia, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yuya Uemura v. EVIL, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Satoshi Kojima, Soberano Jr. & Stuka Jr. v. Ultimo Guerrero, Negro Casas & Shigeo Okumura

Mexican National Trios Championship: Sanson, Cuatrero & Forastero © v. Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja & Titan

NWA National Historic Middleweight Championship: Caristico © v. Barbaro Cavernario

[gdwessel]

G1 Climax 29 Nights 9 -12: 7/27, 7/28, 7/30, 8/1/2019; 6 Super J-Cup 2019 Participants Announced; RIP Harley Race; This Week’s NJPW on AXS

Yes, I am back, at last! I would have come back sooner however I really hurt my back during the move, and also unfortunately, that new IKEA furniture doesn’t build itself, contrary to popular belief. We will get into the results for the last 4 G1 Climax 29 shows (that I have yet to see, boo hoo), but first:

An offering of condolences to the friends, family, and the entire wrestling community over the sad passing earlier today of 8-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, Harley Race. To my surprise, he never worked in NJPW, although he did work extensively in All Japan Pro Wrestling during his time (Race was retired as a wrestler by the time NJPW and WCW were working together; he was a manager at that point, most notably managing Vader). Words cannot describe what an impact he had on the world of professional wrestling. He will be missed.

- 7/27/2019, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] d. Jeff Cobb [ROH], Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji (Kanemaru > Tsuji, Deep Impact, 8:46)

Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club] d. Juice Robinson, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare (Owens > Henare, Package Driver, 9:06)

Toru Yano  & Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] d. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] (Yano > YOSHI-HASHI, Schoolboy, 7:15)

Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] d. Jon Moxley [FREE] & Shota Umino (Takagi > Umino, Pumping Bomber, 7:50)

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kota Ibushi d. Lance Archer [SZKG] (Kamigoye, 11:42)

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] d. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club] (DQ, 9:08)

G1 Climax 29 A Block: EVIL [Los Ingobernables] d. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] (EVIL STO, 16:00)

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi d. SANADA [Los Ingobernables] (High Fly Flow, 18:07)

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] d. KENTA [FREE] (Rainmaker, 26:53)

- 7/28/2019, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

Ren Narita d. Yuya Uemura (Front Suplex Hold, 7:25)

Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club] d. Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare (Yujiro > Honma, Pimp Juice, 8:20)

Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]  d. Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Will Ospreay [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Shota Umino (Kanemaru > Umino, Deep Impact, 9:35)

EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Hiroshi Tanahashi, KENTA [FREE] & Karl Fredericks (BUSHI > Fredericks, MX, 8:59)

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] d. Toru Yano [CHAOS] (Rollup, 1:42)

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] d. Juice Robinson (Vertical Drop Brainbuster, 17:54)

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Jeff Cobb [ROH] d. Taichi [SZKG] (Tour Of The Islands, 12:30)

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Jay White [Bullet Club] d. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] (Blade Runner, 19:26)

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Jon Moxley [FREE] d. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] (Death Rider, 16:41)

- 7/30/2019, Kagawa Takamatsu City General Gymnasium

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Yota Tsuji d. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura (YOSHI-HASHI > Uemura, 9:24)

Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Ren Narita d. Jon Moxley [FREE] & Shota Umino (Yano > Umino, Rollup, 4:08)

Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club] d. Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] (Owens > Kanemaru, Package Driver, 7:39)

Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Juice Robinson, Jeff Cobb [ROH] & Toa Henare (Takagi > Henare, Pumping Bomber, 9:27)

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kota Ibushi d. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club] (Kamigoye, 9:27)

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] d. Will Ospreay [CHAOS] (Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than The Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All to Happiness, 20:02)

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] d. Lance Archer [SZKG] (Rainmaker, 14:15)

G1 Climax 29 A Block: SANADA [Los Ingobernables] d. KENTA [FREE] (Moonsault, 16:10)

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi d. EVIL [Los Ingobernables] (High Fly Flow, 23:02)

- 8/1/2019, Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium

Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takakashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club] d. KENTA [FREE], Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks (Owens > Fredericks, Package Driver, 8:11)

Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki [SZKG] d. Lance Archer & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] (Sabre > Kanemaru, European Clutch, 5:00)

Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare d. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino & Ren Narita (Henare > Narita, Toa Bottom, 8:18)

Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] d. EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] (YOSHI-HASHI > BUSHI, Butterfly Lock, 9:14)

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Jeff Cobb [ROH] d. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] (Tour of the Islands, 12:27)

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Toru Yano [CHAOS] d. Jon Moxley [FREE] (Countout, 5:08)

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] d. Juice Robinson (Destino, 13:47)

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Jay White [Bullet Club] d. Taichi [SZKG] (Blade Runner, 15:07)

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] d. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] (GTR, 18:01)

As I said, I have not had a chance to watch any of this. However, I have seen a lot of what was said on Twitter. Between the hurt feelings about favorites not winning, the OMG NAITO IS GETTING BURIED narrative returning for a second straight G1, the new narrative of SANADA Is Actually Bad, and other ridiculous hot takes, I am thinking next year’s G1, I am going to just uninstall Twitter from my phone because for the last two years, G1 Climax means Wrestling Twitter collectively loses its entire damn mind, and I think I’ve had my fill of it. There are some shockers here, to be sure, but overall I can’t take the ceaseless complaining about Gedo and The Booking at this rate.

Updated A & B Block standings:

Okada: 12pts (6W 0D 0L) KENTA: 8pts (4W 0D 2L) Ibushi: 8pts (4W 0D 2L) Tanahashi: 8pts (4W 0D 2L) EVIL: 6pts (3W 0D 3L) Archer: 4pts (2W 0D 2L)   Ospreay: 4pts (2W 0D 4L) Sabre: 4pts (2W 0D 4L) SANADA: 4pts (2W 0D 4L) Fale: 2pts (1W 0D 5L) Moxley: 10pts (5W 0D 1L) Cobb: 6pts (3W 0D 3L) Ishii: 6pts (3W 0D 3L) Naito: 6pts (3W 0D 3L) Goto: 6pts (3W 0D 3L) Robinson: 6pts (3W 0D 3L) Yano: 6pts (3W 0D 3L) White: 6pts (3W 0D 3L) Taichi: 4pts (2W 0D 4L) Takagi: 4pts (2W 0D 4L)

Last week whilst I was away, NJPW announced the first three participants in the Super J-Cup 2019 tournament: SHO, CMLL’s Dragon Lee, and.... TJ Perkins, or TJP, or whatever he calls himself now. Which, bleagh. He’s a sniveling dickhead. But he’s also been in NJPW before, and he’s now a free agent (or signed back with Impact, one of those), so perhaps not so much of a shocker. But gross.

However, there are more, better-than-TJP announcements for the tournament, as Ryusuke Taguchi, Taiji Ishimori and another CMLL luchador in Caristico have been announced as well. So there are three great talents to be in the tournament too.  Ten more to go, plus Jushin Thunder Liger in non-tournament capacities. I am hoping there are more announcements coming from outside of the NJPW/CMLL/ROH sphere, as to do otherwise would be outside the spirit of the Super J-Cup, IMHO.

(Side note: I know that ROH is doing Global Wars this year with CMLL instead of NJPW. Not my problem.)

Just to wrap this up, NJPW on AXS will be featuring matches from the G1 Climax 29 show I am about to list below. So there’s that. Saturday, 9pm EDT / 8pm CDT.

The tour resumes Saturday, the first of two nights in Osaka, with A Block matches. Good to be back.

- 8/3/2019, Osaka EDION Arena

Juice Robinson & Toa Henare v. Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji

Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Toru Yano [CHAOS], Jeff Cobb [ROH] & Tomoaki Honma

Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Jon Moxley [FREE] & Shota Umino v. Jay White & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: KENTA [FREE] v. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. EVIL [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Kota Ibushi

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

[gdwessel]

Upcoming NJPW Events - January 2, 2019

This is the most up to date list of upcoming New Japan Pro Wrestling events I can provide, with full cards announced where possible.(NJPWWorld) means the event will be shown live on NJPWWorld. All cards subject to change.

Wrestle Kingdom 13 Fan Festa 2019 - 1/3/2019, Tokyo Studio Coast (NJPWWorld)

Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV v. Ren Narita & Yuya Uemura

Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi v. Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima v. Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] & Shota Umino

Wrestle Kingdom 13 - January 4, 2019, Tokyo Dome (NJPWWorld, FITE TV, AXS TV on tape delay)

NEVER Openweight  6-Man Tag Team Championship #1 Contenders Gauntlet Match: Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Michael Elgin, Jeff Cobb [FREE] & David Finlay Jr. v. Hirooki Goto, Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor [CHAOS] v. Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. [SZKG] v. Adam Page, Yujiro Takahashi & Marty Scurll [The Elite]

NEVER Openweight Championship: Kota Ibushi [FREE] © v. Will Ospreay [CHAOS]

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 3-Way Match: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG] © v. SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship:Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] © v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 3-Way Match:Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] © v. EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] v. Matt & Nick Jackson [The Elite]

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: Cody Rhodes [The Elite] © v. Juice Robinson

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA © v. Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Chris Jericho [FREE] © v. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables]

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega [The Elite] © v. Hiroshi Tanahashi

New Year Dash!! - 1/5/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall

NJPW Presenta CMLL Fantasticamania 2019

Tecnicos: Atlantis, Mistico, Caristico, Volador Jr., Dragon Lee, Titan, Angel de Oro, Soberano Jr., Flyer, Audaz, Atlantis Jr. Rudos: Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, Terrible [Los Ingobernables], Barbaro Cavernario, Sanson, Cuatrero, Forastero, Shigeo Okumura, Templario 

- 1/11/2019, Osaka EDION Arena Subarena (NJPWWorld) - 1/12/2019, Ehime Texport Imabari - 1/13/2019, Kyoto KBS Hall - 1/14/2019, Gifu Industry Center - 1/16/2019, Chiba Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall (NJPWWorld) - 1/18/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld) - 1/20/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld) - 1/21/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Road to The New Beginning - 1/26/2019, Saitama Wing Hat Kasukabe - 1/28/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld) - 1/29/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld) - 1/30/2019, Miyagi Sendai Sunplaza Hall - 2/6/2019, Nagano Athletic Park Gymnasium - 2/7/2019, Aichi Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall - 2/8/2019, Mie Yokkaichi City Green Park Gymnasium #2 - 2/9/2019, Osaka EDION Arena Subarena

The New Beginning USA - 1/30/2019, Globe Theater, Los Angeles, CA - 2/1/2019, Grady Cole Center, Charlotte, NC

The New Beginning in Sapporo - 2/2/2019, Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kitayell - 2/3/2019, Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kitayell

The New Beginning in Osaka - 2/11/2019, Osaka EDION Arena

New Japan Road - 2/21/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 2/27/2019, Okinawa Prefectural Budokan

Honor Rising: Japan 2019 - 2/22/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 2/23/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall

NJPW 47th Anniversary Tour - 3/1/2019, Saitama Kumagaya Citizen Gymnasium - 3/2/2019, Nagano Saku City General Gymnasium - 3/4/2019, Fukushima Big Palette

NJPW 47th Anniversary Show - 3/6/2019, Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

New Japan Cup 2019 - 3/8/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 3/9/2019, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium - 3/10/2019, Hyogo Baycom Gymnasium - 3/11/2019, Kagawa Takamatsu City General Gymnasium #1 - 3/13/2019, Okayama ZIP Arena - 3/14/2019, Nara Centennial Hall - 3/16/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 3/17/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 3/20/2019, Shizuoka Twin Messe - 3/21/2019, Shizuoka Act City Hamamatsu - 3/23/2019, Niigata Aore Nagaoka - 3/24/2019, Niigata Aora Nagaoka

ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard - 4/6/2019, Madison Square Garden, NYC

[gdwessel]

Omega, KUSHIDA Leaving NJPW; Iizuka Retiring; Ibushi Out Next Tour; Full Fantasticamania, New Beginning Cards Announced

Strong Style Story Podcast Episode 48 on Pro Wrestling Only

New Japan Pro Wrestling just got done with a press conference, in which Fantasticamania tour cards were announced (Just in time for us to release a podcast about it without them, see above or below) as well as feature matches for The New Beginning tour.

However, that seems to pale right now to the announcements at the press conference, as well as one released by Tokyo Sports. Let’s get to those:

Tokyo Sports has published a feature story saying Kenny Omega is leaving NJPW. Now mind you, some of the language in Kenny’s statement to the press seems really worked, and is similar to when he took a few months away from New Japan following WK11. The article points out that his only real options are WWE or All Elite Wrestling. AEW holds a press conference in Jacksonville, FL, on Tuesday 1/8/2019. There are also rumors that AEW may be trying to work out a co-promotion deal with NJPW and ROH. Omega may come back to NJPW from time to time. Nobody really knows anything with AEW right now beyond a couple of signings and some T-shirts. And this could all be a massive work. We’ll know sooner or later, probably sooner.

Meanwhile, at the press conference, NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi announced three things of his own. The biggest news item from all this is that as of 1/31/2019, Yujiro Kushida, aka KUSHIDA, will no longer be part of NJPW. He’s been with the company 8 years, and established himself as one of the top junior heavyweights in the entire world in that run. The date of his departure means his finale in NJPW will either be one of the two Korakuen Hall Road to New Beginning shows, with an outside chance of the New Beginning USA in Los Angeles on 1/30/2019 being one as well. (More on those below) There has been talk of a WWE offer, and he said he was heading overseas, so unless AEW also has a sweet offer for him, expect to see Kushida in NXT or on 205 Live soon. I’ll probably write a longer tribute once we know what his final show will be.

The presser also mentioned the impending retirement of Takayuki Iizuka, aka Suzuki-gun’s Takashi Iizuka, on 2/21/2019, a New Japan Road show at Tokyo Korakuen Hall. Iizuka is 52, and debuted on 11/2/1986 against Akira Nogami, and has been signed to NJPW his entire career. Again, a longer tribute will be coming soon.

Sugabayashi took time to mention that Kota Ibushi will be out the next tour (presumably meaning New Beginning) to recover from the concussion suffered by Will Ospreay’s elbow during WK13. We wish his recovery. 

In the meantime, the full cards have been announced for Fantasticamania (well, mostly), as well as the New Beginning in Sapporo & Osaka shows.

The Fantasticamania shows seem to be a bit of a mish-mash, and indeed the three Korakuen Hall shows are not fully announced yet. They are running a CMLL Family Tag Team tournament this year, similar to last year’s Brothers Tag Tournament, and at one point, the winners of last year’s (Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero) will face the winners of this year’s. There is also a Mexican National Trios title match, with the Nueva Generacion Dinamitas (Sanson, Cuatrero, Forastero) defending against Atlantis, Titan & Angel de Oro. There is also a special My Dad Is A Heel Wrestler match, with NJPW guys under masks, although I’ve not seen the movie so I don’t know who is whom.

One interesting part of this is some of the talents. There are clear listings for wrestlers named Raijin, Fujin and Namahage. Raijin & Fujin, of course, were the identities of Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu when they went on excursion, prior to returning as SHO & YOH in Roppongi 3K. Namahage is interesting case, because Kyosuke Mikami, who is currently El Desperado in Suzuki-gun, was Namajague on his excursion, and lost his mask. It’s neat they are bringing these personas back however there seems to be a lot of units involved this year, moreso than most, and it’s filling the cards.

As for the New Beginning shows,  we pretty much knew what title matches were coming here. Hiroshi Tanahashi will defend the IWGP Heavyweight title against Jay White. LIJ all have title matches against Suzuki-gun. One thing that is pretty clear is that since Tanahashi, Okada, LIJ, Suzuki-gun and Bullet Club are all spoken for on the Sapporo shows on 2/2 and 2/3/2019, there will be not many big names actually appearing at the USA shows. Which is kind of a shame, but there we are. 

Below are the lineups as I have them.

NJPW Presenta CMLL Fantasticamania 2019 - 1/11/2019, Osaka EDION Arena Subarena (NJPWWorld)

Audaz, Tiger Mask IV & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Templario, Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] & Gedo [Bullet Club]

Titan, Flyer & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Forastero, Taichi [SZKG] & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Atlantis Jr. Debut Match: Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. v. Sanson & Shigeo Okumura

Mistico, Dragon Lee & Angel de Oro v. Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero & Cuatrero

Relevos Increiblas: Mistico, Soberano Jr. & KUSHIDA v. Caristico, Barbaro Cavernario & Namahage

Satoshi Kojima, Toa Henare, Raijin & Fujin v. Terrible, Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

- 1/12/2019, Ehime Texport Imabari

Audaz, Ryusuke Taguchi & KUSHIDA v. Templario, Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] & Gedo [Bullet Club] 

Titan & Flyer v. Forastero & Taichi [SZKG]

Atlantis, Atlantis Jr. & Tiger Mask IV v. Sanson, Shigeo Okumura & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Mistico, Soberano Jr. & Angel de Oro v. Ultimo Guerrero, Barbaro Cavernario & Cuatrero

Relevos Increiblas: Volador Jr., Dragon Lee & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Caristico, Gran Guerrero & Namahage

Satoshi Kojima, Toa Henare, Raijin & Fujin v. Terrible, Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

- 1/13/2019, Kyoto KBS Hall

Audaz, Ryusuke Taguchi & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Templario, Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] & Gedo [Bullet Club] 

Angel de Oro & KUSHIDA v. Cuatrero & Taichi [SZKG]

Atlantis, Flyer & Atlantis Jr.  v. Sanson, Shigeo Okumura & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Mistico, Titan & Soberano Jr. v. Ultimo Guerrero, Barbaro Cavernario & Forastero

Relevos Increiblas: Volador Jr., Dragon Lee & Tiger Mask IV v. Caristico, Gran Guerrero & Namahage

Satoshi Kojima, Toa Henare, Raijin & Fujin v. Terrible, Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

- 1/14/2019, Gifu Industry Center

Audaz, Tiger Mask IV & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Templario, Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] & Gedo [Bullet Club] 

Angel de Oro & Flyer v. Cuatrero & Taichi [SZKG]

Atlantis, Atlantis Jr. & KUSHIDA v. Sanson, Shigeo Okumura & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Dragon Lee, Titan & Soberano Jr. v. Gran Guerrero, Barbaro Cavernario & Forastero

Relevos Increiblas: Volador Jr., Mistico & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Caristico, Ultimo Guerrero & Namahage

Satoshi Kojima, Toa Henare, Raijin & Fujin v. Terrible, Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

- 1/16/2019, Chiba Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall (NJPWWorld)

Titan, Ryusuke Taguchi & KUSHIDA v. Forastero, Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] & Gedo [Bullet Club] 

Raijin & Fujin v. BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Angel de Oro, Soberano Jr. & Audaz v. Barbaro Cavernario, Shigeo Okumura & Namahage

Satoshi Kojima & Toa Henare v. Terrible & Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables]

Caristico, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV v. Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero & Templario

CMLL Family Tag Tournament 1st Round: Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. v. Sanson & Cuatrero

CMLL Family Tag Tournament 1st Round: Mistico & Dragon Lee v. Volador Jr. & Flyer

- 1/18/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

CMLL Family Tag Tournament Final: TBA

Soberano Jr. v. Barbaro Cavernario

Black Cat Memorial Match: Satoshi Kojima, Toa Henare, Raijin & Fujin v. Terrible, Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

More TBA

- 1/20/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Satoshi Kojima v. Terrible [Los Ingobernables]

Raijin, Fujin & Toa Henare v. Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

CMLL Brothers Tag Tournament 2018 Winners v. CMLL Family Tag Tournament 2019 Winners: Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero v. TBA

More TBA

- 1/21/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Flyer & Audaz v. Barbaro Cavernario & Templario

Atlantis Jr. v. Shigeo Okumura

Satoshi Kojima, Toa Henare, Raijin & Fujin v. Terrible, Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Mexican National Trios Championship: Sanson, Cuatrero & Forastero (c) v. Atlantis, Titan & Angel de Oro

Mistico, Dragon Lee & Soberano Jr. v. Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero & Namahage

My Dad Is A Heel Wrestler Special Tag Match: Dragon George & Sweet Gorilla Maruyama v. Gokiburi Mask & Ginbae Mask

Volador Jr. v. Caristico

The New Beginning in Sapporo - 2/2/2019, Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kitayell (NJPWWorld)

Ren Narita v. Yuya Uemura

Manabu Nakanishi & Toa Henare v. Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] & Shota Umino

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tiger Mask IV v. Takashi Iizuka & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS], Tomoaki Honma, YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

SANADA [Los Ingobernables] v. Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]

EVIL [Los Ingobernables] v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. Jay White & Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

- 2/3/2019, Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kitayell (NJPWWorld)

Toa Henare v. Yota Tsuji

Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask IV v. Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] & Shota Umino

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Ren Narita v. Takashi Iizuka & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS], Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] (c) v. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] (c) v. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] (c) v. Taichi [SZKG]

The New Beginning in Osaka - 2/11/2019, Osaka EDION Arena (NJPWWorld)

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] v. Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] & Shota Umino

Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Togi Makabe & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club]

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] (c) v. Ryusuke Taguchi

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

Strong Style Story Podcast Episode 48 on Pro Wrestling Only