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New Japan was back for a second Korakuen Hall show this weekend as they continued the build towards Wrestling Dontaku and other big events slated for the next couple of weeks. Here are some quick results from this morning’s show:
– Tomoyuki Oka & Hirai Kawato defeated Shota Umino & Katsuya Kitamura when Oka submitted Umino with the Boston crab.
Oka/Kitamura and Umino/Kawato worked one another early. Umino briefly escaped a Boston crab attempt by Oka but a powerslam and a second Boston crab attempt sealed the deal.
– Will Ospreay & Jado defeated Taka Michinoku & El Desperado when Ospreay pinned Michinoku with the Ozcutter.
This was a basic, solid match. Jado was worked on for a lot of it. Ospreay did his thing and looked good.
– Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & David Finlay when Takahashi pinned Finlay.
They had an okay match, but nothing out of the ordinary. Finlay and Yujiro had some good back and forth towards the end. Finlay kicked out of the Miami Shine before falling to the Pimp Juice DDT.
– Roppongi Vice, Toru Yano & Hirooki Goto defeated Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & Yoshinobu Kanemaru when Yano pinned Iizuka with a roll-up.
Suzuki and Goto brawled around the ring, with Suzuki freely using a steel chair as a weapon. A lot of the focus was on them, which made the match pretty solid for what it was. With the help of Roppongi Vice, Yano was able to block the iron fingers and roll up Iizuka for the win.
– Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI & SANADA defeated Ricochet, Ryusuke Taguchi & Yoshitatsu when SANADA submitted Yoshitatsu with the Skull End.
This was a bit slow, but turned out fine with Ricochet and Takahashi’s program getting a push here. Takahashi now has dolls with his and Ricochet’s name on them; I guess because he’s weird. BUSHI threw down Yoshitatsu as everyone came in. SANADA floated over Yoshitatsu and submitted him for the win.
– Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii when Owens pinned YOSHI-HASHI.
Of course, the two big feuds highlighted here were Okada/Fale and Ishii/Omega, who continued where they left off from last night. YH had Owens set up for Karma but Fale came in and broke it up. He laid out Okada with the Grenade, then laid out YOSHI-HASHI with a tombstone. He dragged the lifeless Owens on top of YH so he could pick up the win. This was another solid tag team match with good action.
Ishii and Omega had a staredown after the match, with Omega backing off first. It looked like somewhere during the match Ishii busted his nose as it was bloodied up.
– Juice Robinson & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated EVIL & Tetsuya Naito when Tanahashi pinned EVIL with the High Fly Flow.
They had a great match; easily the best match New Japan put on this weekend. Robinson jump started things by laying out Naito with a tope. Naito had Robinson in the Destino, but that was countered into a lungblower by Robinson.
The action really picked up towards the end as everyone countered one another and laid everyone out. Juice caught EVIL and assisted Tanahashi with a slingblade but Naito crotched him. Robinson took care of Naito and laid out EVIL with the Pulp Friction. Tanahashi followed with the High Fly Flow for the win.
Both Robinson and Tanahashi played the air guitar to close out the show.