#super j-cup

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW SUPER J CUP 2019 Review

Day 1 (August 22nd, Temple Theater, Tacoma, WA)

SUPER J CUP ~ First Round

Rocky Romero vs. Soberano Jr.  ***

Clark Connors vs. TJP  ***3/4

Carístico vs. BUSHI  ***1/4

Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jonathan Gresham  ***1/4

Robbie Eagles vs. El Phantasmo  ****1/4

YOH vs. Dragon Lee  ***1/2

SHO vs. Taiji Ishimori  ***3/4

Will Ospreay vs. Amazing Red  ****3/4

Day 2 (August 24th, Student Life Events Center, San Fransico, CA)

SUPER J CUP ~ Quarter Final Round

Carístico vs. Soberano Jr.  ***

El Phantasmo vs. TJP  ***1/2

Dragon Lee vs. Ryusuke Taguchi  ***

Will Ospreay vs. SHO  ****1/2

Day 3 (August 25th, Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, CA)

SUPER J CUP ~ Semi Final Round

Dragon Lee vs. Carístico  ***1/4

Will Ospreay vs. El Phantasmo  ****+

SUPER J CUP ~ Final: Dragon Lee vs. El Phantasmo  ****1/2

Photos.

This was a great tournament which featured an absolutely tremendous main event on all three nights, and there wasn’t a match that was anywhere below being good. However, lets get the negatives out of the way now; the presentation of these shows (from a home viewing perspective) was atrocious. The camera work was sub-indy levels, with nauseatingly jerky movements, and even missing some key spots, and some of the lighting wasn’t much better. It all lead to this whole tournament being brought down a bit for me. The second night in particular suffers as its a single hard-cam show, which is focussed soley on the ring, essentially with just the turnbuckles on either side in frame. This means that whenever someone dives out of the ring, or if the action ends up outside the ring, and with this being the J Cup, that essentially means every match, they disappear into the void and all we can see is an empty ring and a crowd popping for unseen spots. This effects the commentary too as whenever the action spills outside, Kevin Kelly for example, on the English feed, has no idea whats happening, so there’s just dead air until they get back inside. Also, the camera is placed in such a way that if someone goes on the top rope, their head and shoulders vanishes out of sight too. This was very frustrating as it really hurts some of the action, a lot of which was probably way better than we got to see here, and I feel somewhat unfair rating a lot of the matches on this night, as you do miss quite a bit. I know that these are essentially fancy house shows, but this is pretty unforgivably shoddy production from a mainstream promotion. Anyway, these gripes aside, onto the action. In notable happenings from the three nights:

The Tacoma show saw former LA Dojo Young Lion TJP very unsurprinsingly roll over current LA Dojo Young Lion Clark Connors in a surprisingly great little match, that ended up being amongst the best of the tourney. The dastardly ELP was victorious over Robbie Eagles in an excellent 12 minute match. The was the second best outing of the first round, and both guys looked great. Phantasmo won after hitting a punch straight to the dick, followed by a small package. The finish was flat given all that came before it, but it playedinto the bigger story they were telling with Phantasmo. Dragon Lee’s victory of YOH, and the latters tag partner SHO’s win over Taiji Ishimori were both really good indeed, with SHO/Ishimori being the better of the two. Lee put YOH away with Desnucadora, and SHO advanced with Shock Arrow. On the plus side, Ishimori looked much better than he has in a while since injuring himself in the BOSJ. And in the final first round outing, Will Ospreay advanced over one of his childhood heroes, Amazing Red, in a fantastic high flying outing, that was the best match of the Cup, and the best match I’ve ever seen Red in. He looked like a guy in his prime out there, and it was like it was 2003 again. They went 28:19, which it felt half of, and the worked incredibly well, with Ospreay doing everything in his power to make Red’s offence look great. Of course, Ospreay went over when he put the veteran away with Storm Breaker. Will put Red over on the mic in the post-match, and thy hugged to send everyone home happy.

The second show in San Fran had the problems I mentioned above in that it just wasn’t possible to keep track of a lot of the action, so as a result it’s kind of hard rate or review them. The one exception was the Ospreay/SHO match, which was excellent. Yes, it featured the complete blind spot whenever they left the ring, but the action in the ring was exceptional. It was a hard-hitter which went 30:32, and was slightly more methodical than Ospreay’s match with Red the previous night. It was, however, a completely different kind of match to almost anything else in the tournament, so it really stood out. To the surprise of no one, Ospreay won with Storm Breaker to advance to the semis.

The final show in Walter Pyramid saw a couple of excellent contests. Dragon Lee was the first to advance to the finals after he pinned fellow CMLL superstar, Caristico, in a good Lucha outing, when he pinned Caristico with Desnucadora in 11:10. ELP moved to the finals next when pinned foe Will Ospreay with CRII after Taiji Ishimori broke up a Storm Breaker attempt, and layed the Ariel Assassin out with Bloody Cross. This was a fun grudge match, but was lkept short (11:25), undoubtedly so they could have rematch for the Junior Title down the road. It was still a ton of fun, regardless of this though. And in the finals of the 2019 Super J Cup, the dastardly Phantasmo won the sought after golden jacket, when he pinned Lee after hitting a second rope, walking reverse TKO, followed by CRII, at 25:33 of an exceptional and dramatic Tournament final. There was an amazing spot which lead to ELP bleeding heavily from the forehead after powerbombing the masked man onto, and through, the announce table, then followed up with a massive double stomp off the top, and over the guardrail and into the wreckage. Upon landing though, he slipped and hit his head off a chair in the crowd, which lead to the juice. After winning, Phantasmo disrespected Jushin Thunder Liger by kicking over the cup as he was handing it to him, then demanded the legend adorn him in the winners jacket. This disrespect brought out Ospreay, who was laid out by Ishimori again, but this time Robbie Eagles charged down to even the odds. Ospreay buried ELP on the mic, then promised to get his win back in a Junior Title Match.

NDT

[gdwessel]

Upcoming NJPW Events - 7/4/2019

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.

G1 Climax 29

A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Will Ospreay [CHAOS], Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club], Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG], Lance Archer [SZKG], EVIL [Los Ingobernables], SANADA [Los Ingobernables], KENTA [FREE]

B Block: Juice Robinson, Jeff Cobb [ROH], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], Toru Yano [CHAOS], Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Jay White [Bullet Club], Taichi [SZKG], Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables], Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables], Jon Moxley [FREE]

All Shows on NJPWWorld Except Where Noted

- 7/6/2019, American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX (AXS TV [USA])

SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club]

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Shota Umino v. Jeff Cobb [ROH] & Ren Narita

Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Jay White & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Toru Yano [CHAOS], Juice Robinson & Jushin Thunder Liger v. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: EVIL [Los Ingobernables] v. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: SANADA [Los Ingobernables] v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kota Ibushi v. KENTA [FREE]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS]

- 7/13/2019, Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

Kota Ibushi, Will Ospreay [CHAOS] & Yuya Uemura v. EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Lance Archer & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] v. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. KENTA [FREE], Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks

Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Juice Robinson v. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Jon Moxley [FREE] v. Taichi [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. Jeff Cobb [ROH]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

- 7/14/2019, Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

Juice Robinson, Toa Henare & Yota Tsuji v. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura

Jeff Cobb [ROH] & Ren Narita v. Jon Moxley [FREE] & Shota Umino

Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

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

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Lance Archer [SZKG] v. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

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

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kota Ibushi v. EVIL [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. KENTA [FREE]

- 7/15/2019, Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kitayell

Kota Ibushi, Jushin Thunder Liger & Shota Umino v. Will Ospreay [CHAOS], Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura

Tomoaki Honma, Toa Henare & Ren Narita v. EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Hiroshi Tanahashi,KENTA [FREE], Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks v. Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Juice Robinson v. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Jeff Cobb [ROH] v. Jon Moxley [FREE]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] v. Taichi [SZKG]

- 7/18/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Yuya Uemura v. Jon Moxley [FREE] & Shota Umino

Juice Robinson, Toa Henare & Yota Tsuji v. Jeff Cobb [ROH], Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS]

Toru Yano [CHAOS], Tomoaki Honma & Ren Narita v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

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

G1 Climax 29 A Block: KENTA [FREE] v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: EVIL [Los Ingobernables] v. SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kota Ibushi v. Will Ospreay [CHAOS]

- 7/19/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] v. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma v. Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]

Kota Ibushi, KENTA [FREE] & Clark Connors v. EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Will Ospreay [CHAOS] & Toa Henare

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Taichi [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Juice Robinson v. Jeff Cobb [ROH]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. Jon Moxley [FREE]

- 7/20/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Juice Robinson & Yota Tsuji v. Jon Moxley [FREE] & Shota Umino

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Yuya Uemura v. Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Jeff Cobb [ROH], Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Ren Narita v. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] v. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: KENTA [FREE] v. EVIL [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kota Ibushi v. SANADA [Los Ingobernbales]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. Will Ospreay [CHAOS]

- 7/24/2019, Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall

Will Ospreay [CHAOS], Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura v. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino v. Kota Ibushi & Ren Narita

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Toa Henare v. KENTA [FREE], Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Juice Robinson v. Toru Yano [CHAOS]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. Taichi [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Jon Moxley [FREE] v. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Jeff Cobb [ROH] v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables]

- 7/27/2019, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

Jeff Cobb [ROH], Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji v. Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Juice Robinson, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Toru Yano  & Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS]

Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Jon Moxley [FREE] & Shota Umino

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kota Ibushi v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: EVIL [Los Ingobernables] v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. KENTA [FREE]

- 7/28/2019, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

Ren Narita v. Yuya Uemura

Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare v. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Will Ospreay [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Shota Umino v. Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, KENTA [FREE] & Karl Fredericks v. EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. Toru Yano [CHAOS]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Juice Robinson v. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Jeff Cobb [ROH] v. Taichi [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] v. Jon Moxley [FREE]

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

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura v. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Yota Tsuji

Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Ren Narita v. Jon Moxley [FREE] & Shota Umino

Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Juice Robinson, Jeff Cobb [ROH] & Toa Henare v. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kota Ibushi v. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: KENTA [FREE] v. SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. EVIL [Los Ingobernables]

- 8/1/2019, Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium

KENTA [FREE], Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks v. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takakashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki [SZKG] v. Lance Archer & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare

Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Jeff Cobb [ROH] v. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Jon Moxley [FREE]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Juice Robinson v. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Taichi [SZKG] v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS]

- 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]

- 8/4/2019, Osaka EDION Arena

Toa Henare & Yuya Uemura v. Shota Umino & Ren Narita

EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma v. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens

Kauzchika Okada, Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. KENTA [FREE], Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. Toru Yano [CHAOS]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Juice Robinson v. Taichi [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. Jeff Cobb [ROH]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Jon Moxley [FREE] v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] v. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

- 8/7/2019, Shizuoka Hamamatsu Arena

Toru Yano [CHAOS], Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura v. Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Jon Moxley [FREE] & Shota Umino

Juice Robinson, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], Jeff Cobb [ROH] & Ren Narita v. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: SANADA [Los Ingobernables] v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. KENTA [FREE]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kota Ibushi v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

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

- 8/8/2019, Kanagawa Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium

Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura

EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

KENTA [FREE], Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks v. Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Hiroshi Tanahashi & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Kota Ibushi, Will Ospreay [CHAOS] & Toa Henare

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Taichi [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Jeff Cobb [ROH] v. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. Jon Moxley [FREE]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Juice Robinson v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

- 8/10/2019, Tokyo Nippon Budokan

Juice Robinson & Ren Narita v. Jon Moxley [FREE] & Shota Umino

Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Tomoaki Honma v. Jeff Cobb [ROH] & Toa Henare

Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. Kota Ibushi

G1 Climax 29 A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Will Ospreay [CHAOS]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: KENTA [FREE] v. Zack Sabre  Jr.  [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: EVIL [Los Ingobernables] v. Lance Archer [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 A Block: SANADA [Los Ingobernables] v. Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

- 8/11/2019, Tokyo Nippon Budokan

Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura

EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare v. KENTA [FREE], Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Hiroshi Tanahashi, Will Ospreay [CHAOS] & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Juice Robinson v. Jon Moxley [FREE]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. Taichi [SZKG]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Jeff Cobb [ROH]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 29 B Block: Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

- 8/12/2019, Tokyo Nippon Budokan

G1 Climax 29 Final: WINNER A Block v. WINNER B Block

More TBA

Super J-Cup 2019 - 8/22/2019, Temple Theater, Tacoma, WA - 8/24/2019, SFSU Student Life Events Center, San Francisco, CA - 8/25/2019, Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, CA

NJPW Royal Quest - 8/31/2019, Copper Box Arena, London

Road to Destruction - 9/4/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 9/5/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 9/6/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 9/8/2019, Chiba Togane Arena - 9/10/2019, Shizuoka Fujisan Messe - 9/11/2019, Aichi Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall - 9/12/2019, Osaka EDION Arena Sub-Arena - 9/14/2019, Yamaguchi Refresh Park - 9/18/2019, Shimane Matsue City Public Gymnasium - 9/19/2019, Tottori Prefectural Industrial Gym - 9/20/2019, Kyoto City Gymnasium

Destruction in Beppu - 9/15/2019, Oita Beppu B-Con Plaza

Destruction in Kagoshima - 9/16/2019, Kagoshima Arena

Destruction in Kobe - 9/22/2019, Hyogo Kobe World Hall

Wrestle Kingdom 14 - January 4, 2020, Tokyo Dome - January 5, 2020, Tokyo Dome

[gdwessel]

Post-G129 Press Conference: Ibushi Challenges Okada AND Naito for WK14, Full Super J-Cup, Royal Quest Lineups Announced; This Week’s NJPW on AXS

Last night/this morning, NJPW held their post-G1 Climax 29 press conference, which included statements from the winner, Kota Ibushi. Ibushi accepted the match contract at Wrestle Kingdom 14, to challenge Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He also said, he would take challenges from EVIL and the newest Bullet Club member, KENTA, as they beat Ibushi during G1.

He then blew the doors wide open on Tetsuya Naito’s chances of becoming a double champion, by challenging Naito to defend the IWGP Intercontinental Championship the next night, on 1/5/2020, assuming Ibushi wins the IWGP Heavyweight belt. So there you have it. The seeds are sown, as they’ve been seeding them since WK13 -- Naito and Ibushi both gunning to be double champions, and they are one of the only real feuds that has happened in NJPW in 2019.

So aren’t you all glad you had your nervous breakdown about Naito, Twitter? He now has a bigger window of opportunity than he would have had he WON G1 Climax.

Needless to say, this all depends on if NJPW actually do bite on this, however it’s all scripted, and you don’t tease a storyline all year long and not pay it off.

NJPW also finally announced the final three entrants into the Super J-Cup, as CHAOS members Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles (which happened while I was on my hiatus, at the Souther Showdown shows in Australia) and Bullet Club’s El Phantasmo. Sadly, as suspected, the only people outside the NJPW/ROH/CMLL sphere of interest are Amazing Red and *spits* TJP.  Which, the wrestlers are OK? But one of the appeals of the previous Super J-Cups were the combinations of wrestlers from other companies beside the hosts (Remember, NJPW was not always the host of Super J-Cup: WAR, Michinoku Pro and Osaka Pro had hosted in other years, although NJPW did host the inaugural event as well as the last two before this one). Now the Super J-Cup is an NJPW-centric single elimination tournament. Which is... OK, I guess?, but nothing special, other than it being held in the USA.

The full lineups will be below. NJPW is also stating that on 8/25/2019 in LA, Tetsuya Naito, Jay White and Juice Robinson will be appearing on that show.

The full card for the Royal Quest show in London on 8/31/2019 was also announced. Four title matches feature on this show, including an IWGP Heavyweight title defense between Kazuchika Okada v. Minoru Suzuki, who directly pinned Okada in a tag match yesterday. I was hoping this would be for King of Pro Wrestling. However, given how much Suzuki has been in, and part of, RevPro the last year or so, this does make sense, and should be a popular match.

Also on the show, Hiroshi Tanahashi will make his second challenge for Zack Sabre Jr.’s RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight title in 2019, and hopefully not mess up his arm this time. The NEVER Openweight title will also be on defense, as Tomohiro Ishii will defend against KENTA, which should be hot and hard-hitting. Finally, the Guerillas of Destiny will face the challenge of the TBD winners of a currently ongoing RevPro tag tournament, as they also defend the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles.

Also on this show, Tetsuya Naito will face the man who dumped him out of G1 Climax 29, Jay White, in a tag match, in what is surely build for a forthcoming IWGP Intercontinental defense.

According to NJPWWorld, all four shows listed below will be on tape delay of some kind; they’d best not wait too long since Road to Destruction starts on 9/4/2019. It also seems strange they wouldn’t have Royal Quest live during a weekend where a lot of wrestling is going on, what with AEW’s ALL OUT event going out live, but later in the day.

Super J-Cup 2019 - 8/22/2019, Temple Theater, Tacoma, WA

Jushin Thunder Liger & Karl Fredericks v. Shota Umino & Ren Narita

Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: Rocky Romero [CHAOS] v. Soberano Jr. [CMLL]

Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: Clark Connors v.TJP [FREE]

Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: Caristico [CMLL] v. BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: Ryusuke Taguchi v. Jonathan Gresham [ROH]

Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] v. El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]

Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: YOH [CHAOS] v. Dragon Lee [CMLL]

Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: SHO [CHAOS] v. Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. Amazing Red [FREE]

- 8/24/2019, SFSU Student Life Events Center, San Francisco, CA

Super J-Cup 2019 Quarterfinal: TBD

Super J-Cup 2019 Quarterfinal: TBD

Super J-Cup 2019 Quarterfinal: TBD

Super J-Cup 2019 Quarterfinal: TBD

More TBA

- 8/25/2019, Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, CA

Super J-Cup 2019 Semifinal: TBD

Super J-Cup 2019 Semifinal: TBD

Super J-Cup 2019 Final: TBD

More TBA

NJPW Royal Quest - 8/31/2019, Copper Box Arena, London

Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH [CHAOS]

Kota Ibushi & Juice Robinson v. Yujiro Takahashi & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]

Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] v. Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] v. Jay White & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] (c) v. TBD

NEVER Openweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] (c) v. KENTA [Bullet Club]

RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] (c) v. Hiroshi Tanahashi

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] (c) v. Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]

Well we are off same-day coverage of the Saturday G1 Climax shows, for obvious reasons. This week, NJPW on AXS will feature the B Block finals from Tokyo Nippon Budokan this past Sunday, 8/11/2019. Including the match that made Wrestling Twitter melt down. Show starts at 9pm EDT / 8pm CDT, preceded by WOW Women of Wrestling.

This might be it for me the rest of this week, until Super J-Cup begins, barring anything newsworthy. We are planning to return with a podcast this weekend to wrap up the G1 29 cycle, with a lot of rants and raves, and to talk Super J-Cup and Royal Quest some too. Stay tuned.

[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]

Full Kizuna Road, Southern Showdown Lineups; Super J-Cup 2019 Announced: 3 Dates in USA; Kojima at Fortune Dream 6

Strong Style Story Podcast Episode 54 on Pro Wrestling Only

In the aftermath of Dominion, the lineups for not only the Kizuna Road tour, but also the Southern Showdown tour of Australia were announced today.

The tour headliners are two RevPro UK titles being defended. On the final day, Zack Sabre Jr. will defend the Undisputed British Heavyweight title against YOSHI-HASHI, coming from the latter’s shock pin of the former yesterday in a tag match. RevPro’s Undisputed British Cruiserweight belt will also be defended, as El Phantasmo takes on Ryusuke Taguchi.

Earlier on, at Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Roppongi 3K will meet the challenge of Bullet Club’s Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo for SHO & YOH’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles, whilst the NEVER Openweight Comedy 6-Man Tag Team belts will also be on defense the next day. The two shows will also feature announcements for the participants, blocks and feature matches for G1 Climax 29.

The tour also features two wrestlers returning from injury, as Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Yujiro Takahashi both return to the lineups. Mikey Nicholls, Lance Archer and DOUKI also make their returns. Neither Jon Moxley nor KENTA feature in this tour, Moxley having AEW commitments during this time.

As for Southern Showdown, as promised, Will Ospreay defends the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title against Robbie Eagles in Melbourne, in a show that will be on both NJPWWorld and FITE TV. There are also a ton of Aussie wrestlers, including Gino Gambino teaming with his Bullet Club stablemates.

Kizuna Road 2019 - 6/14/2019, Shizuoka Kira Messe Numazu

Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura

Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Shota Umino v. Lance Archer, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Togi Makabe & Ren Narita v. SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS], SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. MInoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI [SZKG]

- 6/15/2019, Tokyo Machida Gymnasium

Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura

Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Ren Narita v. Lance Archer, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] & Shota Umino v. Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS], SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. MInoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI [SZKG]

- 6/16/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], Tomoaki Honma & Ren Narita v. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG]

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club]

Kota Ibushi, Yuji Nagata, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Shota Umino v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Toa Henare v. MInoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr. & Lance Archer [SZKG]

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: SHO & YOH [CHAOS] (c) v. Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]

- 6/17/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura

Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino v. Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare

Hiroyoshi Tenzan Return Match: Kota Ibushi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Ren Narita v. Jay White, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship: Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi (c) v. Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]

Elimination Match: Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

- 6/19/2019, Saitama Mainichikogyo Arena Kuki

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima v. Yuji Nagata & Yuya Uemura

Tiger Mask IV & Yota Tsuji v. Lance Archer & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Ren Narita v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Jushin Thunder Liger v. EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Kota Ibushi & Shota Umino v. Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toa Henare, Ryusuke Taguchi, SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi, El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI [SZKG]

- 6/20/2019, Fukushima City National Memorial Gym

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima v. Yuji Nagata & Yota Tsuji

Tiger Mask IV & Yuya Uemura v. Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Ren Narita v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club]

Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Jushin Thunder Liger v. EVIL, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Kota Ibushi & Shota Umino v. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toa Henare, Ryusuke Taguchi, SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Chase Owens, El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer & DOUKI [SZKG]

- 6/21/2019, Niigata City Gymnasium

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima v. Yuji Nagata & Yuya Uemura

Tiger Mask IV & Yota Tsuji v. Lance Archer & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Ren Narita v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Jushin Thunder Liger & Shota Umino v. Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toa Henare, Ryusuke Taguchi, SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi, El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI [SZKG]

- 6/23/2019, Iwate Morioka Takaya Arena

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima v. Yuji Nagata & Yota Tsuji

Tiger Mask IV & Yuya Uemura v. Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Ren Narita v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club]

Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Jushin Thunder Liger v. SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Kota Ibushi & Shota Umino v. Tetsuya Naito & EVIL [Los Ingobernables]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toa Henare, Ryusuke Taguchi, SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Chase Owens, El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer & DOUKI [SZKG]

- 6/24/2019, Aomori Hachinohe City East Gymnasium

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima v. Yuji Nagata & Yuya Uemura

Tiger Mask IV & Yota Tsuji v. Lance Archer & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Ren Narita v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Jushin Thunder Liger v. EVIL, SANADA & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Kota Ibushi & Shota Umino v. Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toa Henare, Ryusuke Taguchi, SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi, El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI [SZKG]

- 6/25/2019, Miyagi Sendai Sunplaza Hall (NJPWWorld)

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima v. Yuji Nagata & Yota Tsuji

Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] 

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood] & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga, & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toa Henare, SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], Toru Yano [CHAOS], Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV v. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Lance Archer, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG]

RevPro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship: El Phantasmo [Bullet Club] (c) v. Ryusuke Taguchi

RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] (c) v. YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS]

Southern Showdown - 6/29/2019, Festival Hall, Melbourne (NJPWWorld, FITE TV)

Toa Henare, Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Mark Tui, Andrew Villalobos & Michael Richards

Aaron Solow v. Slex

Toru Yano, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Gino Gambino, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo [Bullet Club]

Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Rocky Romero [CHAOS] v. El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood] & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga, & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club]

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] (c) v. Robbie Eagle [Bullet Club]

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

- 6/30/2019, University of New South Wales Roundhouse, Sydney

Andrew Villalobos & Michael Richards v. Tome & Stevie Filip

Rocky Romero [CHAOS] v. Tony Kozina

Jack Bonza v. Mick Moretti

Aaron Solow v. Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Juice Robinson [Lifeblood], Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Gino Gambino [Bullet Club]

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. Toa Henare

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale & Robbie Eagles [Bullet Club]

The announcements didn’t stop there, as Jushin Thunder Liger today announced the return of Super J-Cup for 2019. The difference this time, it will be a 3-day event, and take place entirely in the USA. I just hope it’s better than the 2016 edition, which was very hyped and seriously failed in many ways. No announcements have been made for talents, although it is assumed that CMLL and ROH will be sending participants to this event.

Super J-Cup 2019 - 8/22/2019, Temple Theater, Tacoma, WA - 8/24/2019, SFSU Student Life Events Center, San Francisco, CA - 8/25/2019, Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, CA

Tickets go on sale on Monday 6/24/2019 12pm PDT (3pm EDT). More news as it comes.

Earlier today at Tokyo Korakuen Hall, the legend Kenta Kobashi (not KENTA) ran his 6th self-produced Fortune Dream card, which was shown live on G+. The semi-main feature NJPW’s Satoshi Kojima, fresh off his loss to Shingo Takagi yesterday. Today he won, teaming with ZERO-1′s (and NJPW veteran) Shinjiro Otani, as they defeated a Big Japan tandem of Daisuke Sekimoto & Hideyoshi Kamitani. It looks like it was a really good show, featuring a “talk battle” between Kobashi & Akira Maeda, and a whole host of other talents from all over the spectrum of Japanese pro wrestling. Check it out if you can.

Strong Style Story Podcast Episode 54 on Pro Wrestling Only

[gdwessel]

Super J-Cup 2020 - 12/12/2020

The 8th Stage of Super J-Cup was aired last night on both NJPWWorld and FITE TV. Eight juniorheavyweight wrestlers across several different companies competed in this tournament.

Super J-Cup 2020 - NJPW LA Dojo, 12/12/2020 (NJPWWorld, Fite TV)

Super J-Cup 2020 1st Round: Chris Bey [Impact] d. Clark Connors (Art of Finesse, 9:36) 

Super J-Cup 2020 1st Round: ACH [FREE] d. TJP [FREE] (Midnight Star, 9:52)

Super J-Cup 2020 1st Round: Blake Christian [GCW] d. Rey Horus [ROH] (Frog Splash, 12:00)

Super J-Cup 2020 1st Round: El Phantasmo [Bullet Club] d. Lio Rush [FREE] (Schoolboy, 15:16)

JR Kratos & Danny Limelight [Team Filthy] d. Rocky Romero [CHAOS] & Fred Rosser (Limelight > Romero, pinfall, 12:49)

Super J-Cup 2020 Semifinal: ACH [FREE] d. Chris Bey [Impact] (Midnight Star, 8:27)

Super J-Cup 2020 Semifinal: El Phantasmo [Bullet Club] d. Blake Christian [GCW] (Superkick, 7:24)

KENTA & Hikuleo [Bullet Club] d. Ren Narita & Kevin Knight (KENTA > Knight, Boston Crab, 10:02) 

Super J-Cup 2020 Final: El Phantasmo [Bullet Club] d. ACH [FREE] (CR2, 16:11) - El Phantasmo wins Super J-Cup 2020

El Phantasmo, winner of last year’s SJCup, is now a two-time winner, putting him in such heady company as Jushin Thunder Liger and Naomichi Marufuji. And if that doesn’t make you question the whole continuing Super J-Cup thing, I don’t know what else will, because hoo lordy. El Phantasmo, two-time Super J-Cup winner, isn’t exactly something worth praising. I didn’t watch the event (I chose to see AAA Triplemania instead) so I don’t know if he made any anti-autism slurs this time around. But fact of the matter is, ELP is barely serviceable as a wrestler, not really worthy of a Two-Time Super J-Cup Winner push. (And no, it has nothing to do with his not being Japanese; the very first winner of Super J-Cup was Chris Benoit ffs. And the less said about him the better.) 

After the debacle of 2016′s overhyped and underwhelming edition, the last one to take place in Japan, this and the previous edition just felt the least Super J-Cuppy Super J-Cups ever. 

Now, to bring some positivity into this, I do appreciate there were more Black wrestlers featured in this than at any other time, with one even making the Final. And that Impact and GCW were able to get entries, into the semi-finals at that, is worth commending. 

But even so, this feels less and less like a summit of juniorheavyweights, as Jushin Thunder Liger envisioned the tournament in 1994, and more an excuse for NJPW to prove their superiority. I did appreciate the rotating sponsors of SJCup in years past, where WAR, Michinoku Pro and Osaka Pro would host the event. Now it’s basically an NJPW invitational, and really, a New Japan of America invitational. And if NJoA is booking, that means Bullet Club is getting pushed.

In any event, this show was pre-taped; at which point, I don’t know, I would assume during the same swath of tapings NJPW Strong is in, given the appearance of Team Filthy in a previously unannounced match. The semi-main was changed, as Karl Fredericks was injured, but again, since this was pre-taped, who knows WHEN that injury actually took place. Another indie wrestler of color, Kevin Knight, was inserted into Fredericks’ place. Ren Narita, meanwhile, is shown in his first match since February. Why wasn’t he featured in the tournament, one has to wonder?

But there were plenty of other choices last night. Indeed, Chris Bey was challenging for Impact’s World Title against Rich Swann at Final Resolution, whilst Lio Rush was under a Marvel-sponsored mask as Arcano (a Spider-Man luchador) at Triplemania. Nothing here seems worth catching up on, although ACH and Lio Rush are always worth watching. Maybe we can get Lio Rush in an actual NJPW ring soon.

For now, allegedly, we will get an El Phantasmo v. Hiromu Takahashi match in the near future, possibly night 1 of WK15, to possibly lead into a title match at night 2 against Taiji Ishimori. In the meantime, no tour lineups, no further matches for WK15 announced. Knowing NJPW they’ll hold a presser when I’m in bed tonight, so perhaps tomorrow morning we’ll know more.

[gdwessel]

Road to Destruction Night 6 - 9/11/2019; Super J-Cup 2019 on NJPWWorld; Ticket Information for New Japan Showdown in San Jose

The tour continued today, with two more Young Lions Cup matches. Yesterday’s Cup matches are now on NJPWWorld for your viewing pleasure.

- 9/11/2019, Aichi Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall

12th Young Lions Cup: Clark Connors d. Yota Tsuji (Boston Crab, 7:43)

12th Young Lions Cup: Ren Narita d. Alex Coughlin (Narita Special #4, 7:49)

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura d. Satoshi Kojima, Karl Fredericks & Michael Richards [Fale Dojo] (Tenzan > Richards, Anaconda Vice, 10:57)

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi d. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Jado [Bullet Club] (Makabe > Jado, King Kong Knee Drop, 12:05)

Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Chase Owens [Bullet Club] d. Will Ospreay [CHAOS], Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] & Toa Henare (Owens > Henare, Package Driver, 10:30)

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jushin Thunder Liger, SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] d. Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG] (YOH > DOUKI, 3K, 11:08)

SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto & Rocky Romero [CHAOS] (Takagi > Romero, Made In Japan, 12:24)

Tetsuya Naito & EVIL [Los Ingobernables] d. Jay White & Gedo [Bullet Club] (EVIL > Gedo, Scorpion Deathlock, 14:13)

Naito once again declared he would be the first to hold both the Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles. Liger and Suzuki brawled post-match. Updated Young Lions Cup standings:

Connors: 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Coughlin: 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Fredericks: 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Umino: 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Narita: 4pts (2W 0D 1L) Richards: 2pts (1W 0D 2L) Tsuji: 2pts (1W 0D 2L) Uemura: 0pts (0W 0D 3L)

I mentioned above that the Young Lions Cup matches from yesterday were now online. All three nights of Super J-Cup 2019, from Tacoma, San Francisco and Long Beach, are also online now, so check them out whilst we are in a waiting period for live streams.

NJPW have released the ticketing information for New Japan Showdown in San Jose, which goes on sale this Friday, 9/13/2019:

Bay Area fans have been hyped for New Japan Showdown in San Jose since its announcement during the Super J-Cup. With tickets set to go on sale this Friday, September 13, tiers and prices have now been revealed.

New Japan Showdown in San Jose

San Jose Civic, San Jose CA

Saturday November 9 7PM start

Ringside: $300 Arena A: $200 Arena B: $100 Arena C: $80 Dress Circle A: $100 Dress Circle B: $80 Dress Circle C: $50 Dress Circle D: $30 Balcony A: $100 Balcony B: $80 Balcony C: $50 Balcony D: $30

TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 13 12:00PM

Ticket URL:

https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C005725F28A8468

Once again, ticket prices seem a little steep, especially for a show that probably won’t offer much in the way of anything meaningful, coming after all the singles titles are done with their defenses before Wrestle Kingdom, and right before the World Tag League, when most start to tune out for the rest of the year. But we’ll see, as always. They’ve never run San Jose, so this could work out being a first time show.

The tour continues tomorrow.

- 9/12/2019, Osaka EDION Arena Sub-Arena

12th Young Lions Cup: Ren Narita v. Yota Tsuji

12th Young Lions Cup: Karl Fredericks v. Alex Coughlin

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura v. Satoshi Kojima, Clark Connors & Michael Richards [Fale Dojo]

Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Jado [Bullet Club]

Will Ospreay [CHAOS], Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jushin Thunder Liger, SHO [CHAOS] & YOH [CHAOS] v. Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG]

Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto & Rocky Romero [CHAOS] v. SANADA, Shingo Takagi & EVIL [Los Ingobernables]

Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Jay White & Gedo [Bullet Club]    

[gdwessel]

Strong Style Story Podcast Episode 56.5 - Royal Destruction

So hey, I had to record this one solo since @damascenocs was sick. It happens. Listen to it now at the Pro Wrestling Only Podcast Network.

So Chris is out sick so Geoffrey takes this one solo for a special half-episode of the Strong Style Story Podcast. This time out, Geoffrey talks Super J-Cup 2019 and Royal Quest as best he can since the footage isn't available on NJPWWorld yet; previews the Destruction cycle of shows as best he can since the full lineups aren't out yet (but hey we have Blue Justics IX and Young Lions Cup!); takes El Phantasmo to task for using ableist slurs in promos; and more!

Thanks for listening!