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2/19/22 Results from New Japan’s New Years Golden Series in Hokkaido, Japan:
DOUKI and TAKA Michinoku vs. Togi Makabe and Kosei Fujita
DOUKI tapped out Fujita to the Italian Stretch No. 32
Ryohei Oiwa and Toru Yano vs. Taichi and Minoru Suzuki
Yano pushes a dog cage to the ring. Suzuki comes to the ring with handcuffs. Suzuki tells the referee check Yano for weapons. The referee finds a handcuff key. Suzuki attacks Yano and Taichi takes Oiwa to the floor. Suzuki pulls two more keys off of Yano. They all battle on the floor.
Taichi forces Oiwa to tap out to a brutal Cobra Twist.
After the match, Suzuki handcuffs the referee to Yano and drapes them over the cage. Suzuki laughs at Yano as they will face each other tomorrow for the KOPW 2022 Trophy. With no keys left, they had to push the cage back to the locker room.
Tomohiro Ishii and YOH vs. Dick Togo and SHO
YOH forces Togo to tap out to the Stargazer.
Great O-Khan vs. Tomoaki Honma
O-Khan pins Honma after hitting an Eliminator.
O-Khan has been in single matches in January and February while his United Empire teammates are dealing with injuries. These matches are good preparation for New Japan Cup. I expect O-Khan to do well in the tournament.
Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata and Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito
When Takagi was battling Nagata in the ring, Okada jumped in to make the save. Naito hit a clean Destino on Okada. Naito pushed Okada to the floor and took out a chair to watch the rest of the match.
Takagi pins Nagata with Last of the Dragon.
After the match, Naito threw Okada into the guardrails and continued to beat him down. Naito posed in front of the fallen Champion. Young lions rushed to help Okada while Los Ingobernales de Japon fist bump in the ring.
IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 4-way Match: El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori vs. El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato vs. Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask
El Phantasmo comes to the ring wearing the mask that Ishimori stole from Tiger Mask.
High spot match. Too much action to recap. Eagles hit an insane Super Frankensteiner on ELP off the top and onto the other competitors. Taguchi and Wato corner Tiger Mask in the ring. Taguchi lifts Tiger Mask into a Dodon, while Wato hits a Flatliner.
Taguchi pins Tiger Mask.
Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato win the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. This is Wato’s first major title win in New Japan.
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Yujiro Takahashi and EVIL vs. YOSH-HASHI and Hirooki Goto
The tag champs are attacked by SHO and Dick Togo as they come to the ring. Tomohiro Ishii and YOH make the save. They get match finally into the ring. All men remain at ringside and interfere throughout the match. Too much chaos in the match.
Yujiro hits a low blow on YOSHI-HASHI. Referee takes a bump. House of Torture quadruple-teams YOSHI-HASHI. Goto brings in his Bo Staff and clears the ring of House of Torture. It becomes a normal tag match.
YOSHI-HASHI and Goto hit a Shoto on Yujiro.
YOSHI-HASHI pins Yujiro.
The Champions retain the Tag Team titles against the House of Torture.
Solid match. The problem for me is the same eight men surrounding three title pictures. It becomes repetitive and predictable. Hopefully things will change after the New Japan Cup.
IWGP U. S. Heavyweight Championship Match: SANADA vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Good match. No gimmicks just wrestling. Back and forth match between these good wrestlers. They traded their best moves. Tanahashi missed a High Fly Flow. SANADA rolled up a fallen Tanahashi in an O’Connor Roll.
SANADA pins Tanahashi.
SANADA wins the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship. This is his first singles title in New Japan.
SANADA takes the mic and says after seven years he has his first singles title. He pays respect to Tanahashi. He asks for the lights to dim. The crowd shines the lights from their cell phones. SANADA looks like he is in a sea of stars.
SANADA tells Tanahashi anytime anywhere, they can do this again. He thanks the fans for buying tickets to come see him. He said he is not good at expressing his emotions but Sapporo is his favorite place to be. He tells the fans “see you tomorrow!”
They blast confetti in the ring as SANADA as poses with the title. SANADA fist bumps Hiromu Takahashi who is on Japanese commentary.
This was a nice surprise. Tanahashi, coming off of the hardcore style match with KENTA, said he wanted a good wrestling match and opponent for his first defense. SANADA beat Great O-Khan at Wrestle Kingdom, which earned him a shot at Tanahashi. When compared to the multi-man clusters which came before, this match was great.
Without the IWGP Intercontinental Title, I believe that Hiroshi Tanahashi wanted to establish another title with high prestige that other wrestlers could challenge for. I thought it could have been the NEVER Openweight Title which EVIL holds. However, this would be the best second choice. There challengers already lined up according to Kevin Kelly including, Tanahashi, KENTA, and Lance Archer. I would also include Chase Owens who beat Tanahashi in the G1 Climax, but never got a title shot.
The question is: Will SANADA now travel to the United States to defend the belt or will the challengers have to come to Japan?
Thank you for reading.
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