Quick Results
Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura submitted Gabriel Kidd & Tiger Mask in 8:48 ( ¾)
Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado defeated Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI via disqualification in 7:53 ( ½)
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi submitted Gedo, Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori in 9:36 ( ¾)
Jeff Cobb, Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay pinned BUSHI, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi in 12:17 ( )
Toru Yano pinned EVIL in 14:58 in a Creation of Darkness Blindfold Match to retain the Provisional KOPW 2021 Trophy ( )
SHO & YOH pinned Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado in 27:09 to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship ( ½)
We’re at the Nishihara Shokai Arena in Kagoshima for the first half of these “B+” shows that are nestled into the Wrestling Dontaku tour. Orange you glad to be here? I’ll quit with the satsuma and fruit puns before we get started…
Quick Results
Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki pinned Tiger Mask, SHO & YOH in 7:09 ( ½)
Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI defeated Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado via disqualification in 6:53 ( ¾)
Dick Togo, EVIL, Gedo, Taiji Ishimori & Yujiro Takahashi pinned Toru Yano, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato in 12:17 ( ½)
Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb pinned BUSHI & Shingo Takagi in 13:23 ( ¼)
SANADA pinned Aaron Henare in 23:28 ( ¾)
Tetsuya Naito pinned Great-O-Khan in 27:05 ( ½)
With the new State of Emergency in Tokyo, New Japan’s gotten lucky – they were away from Tokyo for the best part of two weeks to conclude the Wrestling Dontaku tour; but overnight the promotion announced three Road to Wrestle Grand Slam shows on May 8, 10 and 11 that were scheduled for Korakuen Hall as they prepare for shows at Yokohama Stadium and the Tokyo Dome.
Quick Results
Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga & Jado pinned Zack Sabre Jr., DOUKI & Taichi in 12:33 ( ½)
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano defeated Gedo & EVIL via disqualification in 6:34 ( ¾)
Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare, Jeff Cobb & Will Ospreay pinned BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi in 14:41 ( ¾)
Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI pinned Taiji Ishimori, KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi in 20:14 to retain the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship ( ½)
Well, the crowd at Korakuen Hall yesterday barely scraped past 300 – for what was one of the better Road-to shows this year.
Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) & Tomoaki Honma
We’re continuing to build for the junior tag title rematch next week between Roppongi 3K and Desperado/Kanemaru…
Quick Results
Toru Yano, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma pinned Dick Togo, Gedo & EVIL in 8:54 ( ½)
Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare pinned BUSHI, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & SANADA in 7:43 ( )
Tomohiro Ishii pinned Yujiro Takahashi in 15:17 ( ¼)
Taiji Ishimori pinned Hirooki Goto in 12:08 ( ½)
KENTA pinned YOSHI-HASHI in 26:07 ( ½)
Of course, after my gripe yesterday about New Japan “grenading” interest, they drew a crowd of 641 – a little bit below the NOAH show that ran there hours earlier, but it almost doubled the attendance for Thursday’s show, and was New Japan’s highest crowd since the New Japan Cup quarter-final show.
Oh, we’re back to the reduced hard camera side for this…
Quick Results
Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI submitted Jado, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa in 10:38 ( ¾)
Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, Hiroshi Tanahashi, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii pinned Gedo, EVIL, KENTA, Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori in 15:29 ( )
Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb pinned BUSHI & Shingo Takagi in 12:41 ( ¼)
Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan pinned SANADA & Tetsuya Naito in 20:01 ( ¼)
Yes. That first half of the card IS the same as we had on Thursday in Korakuen shakes fist at Gedo … and you wonder why they’re drawing crowds in the 300s these days at Korakuen. I get it, attendances aren’t the be-all and end-all of business in 2021, but it’s becoming a worrying indicator…