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11/5/22 Results from New Japan’s Battle Autumn ‘22, Top Guys are made in Osaka, Japan
It is a packed house in Osaka.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Titan and BUSHI vs. Francesco Akira and TJP
LIJ attack the champs with dropkicks and send them to the floor. They hit tope suicidas on United Empire. Akira counters with plancha. Pace picks up with all 4 men flying around. BUSHI hits a double Rama. Titan with a top rope Asai Moonsault. They are wrestling like this a tornado match, with a few tags and all men in the ring. BUSHI and Akira trade chops. United Empire go for their finisher but Titan breaks it up and hits a double stomp on Akira. Akira fights back and hits a Speedfire on BUSHI. United Empire hit a double running knee into BUSHI‘s head. Titan breaks up the count. TJP hits a Final Cut on Titan with Akira hitting a double stomp to the gut.
They pick up BUSHI and hit the Leaning Tower.
Akira pins BUSHI.
United Empire retain the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
Good match. TJP and Akira are clicking as a team. They will head into Jr. World Tag League as the top team and defend the titles at Wrestle Kingdom.
Gideon Grey, Aaron Henare, Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis vs. Toru Yano, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Alex Zayne and David Finlay
Aussie Open hits Corialis in Yano.
Fletcher pins Yano.
Aussie Opens looks be a one of the teams in World Tag League later this month.
Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hikuleo
SHO and Pieter come to the ring with Yujiro. Jado comes to the ring with Hikuleo.
Chris Charlton on commentary spoke of his disdain of what Karl Anderson did and keeping the NEVER Title and not showing up as scheduled.
SHO and Yujiro attacks Hikuleo before the bell. Hikuleo fights them both and drops them with a double lariat. He tells the referee to ring the bell. Hikuleo hits a power slam on Yujiro. He follows with a choke slam.
Hikuleo pins Yujiro. In 28 seconds.
Hikuleo calls out Karl Anderson after the match.
NJPW World Television Title Tournament:
Semifinals: Ren Narita vs. SANADA
They grappled at the start of the match. SANADA traps him in the Paradise Lock. Narita is getting frustrated. They battle to the floor. SANADA hits a Magic Screw off the guardrails. SANADA then piledrives Narita on the floor. Narita gets back to the ring but SANADA tied him up in the ropes. SANADA dropkicks him to the floor. Narita hits an overhead belly to belly suplex. Narita with a head and arm suplex with a bridge. Two count. Narita goes for a cross arm breaker. SANADA fights out. Narita applies a Cobra Twist. Narita with a back suplex. They exchange reversals. SANADA traps him in Skull End. SANADA goes for a moonsault but Narita gets the knees up.
Narita goes for an O’Conner Roll. Two count!! They exchange strikes. They exchange near falls. They hit nasty shots to each other’s head. SANADA goes for a rolling elbow. Narita hits a Narita Special #4 (belly to belly with a bridge).
Narita pins SANADA!
Big gasp from the crowd.
Ren Narita moves on to the Finals for the NJPW World Television Title at Wrestle Kingdom.
Big win for Narita, perhaps the biggest win of his career. He has beaten Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and SANADA in the tournament and he is elevating at a quick pace. He has worked hard and could be the face of the next generation of New Japan wrestlers.
Semifinals: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. EVIL
EVIL and Dick Togo come to the ring with Kosei Fujita . They have him in a headlock and throw him into the ring.
This is a call back to the G1 Climax when Zack Sabre Jr used Kosei Fujita to dress up like him and get a quick win over EVIL.
ZSJ’s music plays and Togo goes up the ramp way. Ryohei Oiwa is dressed as Zack and Togo attacks him. EVIL is pointing a screaming at Togo to take him out.
ZSJ slips into the ring and grabs EVIL in a sleeper. He rolls EVIL into a crucifix for a two count. They battle to the floor and EVIL slams Fujita on ZSJ. ZSJ throws EVIL into the timekeepers table. ZSJ grabs an ankle lock on the floor. They make it back to the ring and they exchange reversals. ZSJ goes for Euro Clutch. Two count.
ZSJ traps EVIL in a sleeper. Togo jumps on the apron. Oiwa and Fujita pull him down. Crowd pops huge for this. Togo tries again but Oiwa and Fujita keep him on the floor.
EVIL hits a low blow to break the sleeper. EVIL with a small package. Two count. EVIL goes for Everything is Evil, but ZSJ reverses into a Cobra Twist pin.
ZSJ pins EVIL.
Zack Sabre Jr moves into the Finals to face Ren Narita for the new NJPW World Television Title at Wrestle Kingdom.
Fun match. They referred to past events between EVIL and ZSJ which is cool. The crowd popped for ZSJ including Oiwa and Fujita in the mix. Big pops when the kept Togo out of the match.
Ren Narita vs. Zack Sabre Jr. should be a good match at Wrestle Kingdom.
Master Wato and El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi and Taiji Ishimori
All four men will face each other in a 4-way match at Wrestle Kingdom for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship. This will be about how they co-exist in this tag match.
Lots of arguing between partners and refusing to tag each other. Hiromu and Ishimori were working better as a team while Desperado and Wato argued. Hiromu threw Desperado into Ishimori who hit a Cypher Utaki. Hiromu picks up Wato for a Time Bomb but Ishimori hit Hiromu in the face with a knee strike. Wato falls on Hiromu and the referee counts for the pin.
Wato pins Hiromu.
Ishimori is the last one standing and holds the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title and all his opponents are on their backs.
Tama Tonga and Kazuchika Okada vs. KENTA and Jay White, with Gedo
Bullet Club pulled out all their tricks to get the advantage. They cornered Tama and worked him over until he tagged in Okada. Back and forth match. KENTA exchanges shots with Tama. Tama hits a Gun Stun.
Tama pins KENTA.
IWGP World Tag Team Championship: Great O-Khan and Jeff Cobb vs. Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood
Watching FTR coming to the ring with the IWGP Tag Titles in a Japanese ring was awesome. Lots of goosebumps. I hope it was a special moment for them.
Cash starts with Cobb. They exchange headlock take downs. Cash takes Cobb down with a hurricanrana. Dax and O-Khan tag in. They exchange chops. Dax with a snap suplex. FTR hits quick double team moves. Cobb catches Dax on the floor and United Empire gets the advantage. Cobb goes for an arm bar on Dax. Dax counters with a Dragon Screw. Cobb knocks Cash off the apron to prevent a tag. O-Khan tags in and works over Dax’s arm. Dax hits a DDT on O-Khan. Cash gets the hot tag. He hits a lariat on O-Khan. He hits a German suplex on Cobb. Damn! Cobb rallies and tries for a deadlift suplex on Cash off the ropes. Dax saves him and Cash puts Cobb on his shoulders. Dax comes off the top rope with a Bulldog. O-Khan breaks the count. O-Khan tosses Cash across the ring with an Exploder. O-Khan drags Cobb to their corner so he can legally tag in.
O-Khan and Dax trade elbows and lariats. O-Khan takes Dax down with an STO. Cash stomps on O-Khan. Cobb charges at Cash who sidesteps him and Cobb goes to the floor. Cash goes for a plancha but Cobb catches him and drops him on the guardrails. Cobb charges at Cash but he dodges and Cobb goes over the rail to the concrete. Cash tags Dax. Dax hits a Superplex and Cash hits a splash. Cobb breaks up the count. Cobb picks up Cash for a Tour of the Islands. Dax chop blocks Cobb, while Cash hits a DDT. FTR sets up O-Khan for a Big Rig, but O-Khan fights out of it. O-Khan hits a TTD (Tenzan Tomstone Driver) on Cash. Two count. O-Khan goes for an Eliminator. Cash reverses out. Tags in Dax. O-Khan whips Cash to the ropes. Cash slides under his legs. Dax picks up O-Khan and FTR hits the Big Rig.
Dax pins O-Khan.
FTR retain the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles!
FTR held the belts high and thanked the Osaka audience. They applauded with respect. O-Khan sold the effect of Big Rig on his way to the locker room. Cobb was selling the chop block. Cash checks on Cobb as he limps away. Dax gave a big kiss to the IWGP Belt showing his respect for the Title. Dax shakes Hiroshi Tanahashi’s hand who was at ringside for commentary. FTR shakes hands with fans at ringside on the way back to the locker room.
Phenomenal match. FTR performed so well in this match. They are a complete throwback to what tag team wrestling and having rules is supposed to be. When you compare the earlier tag matches on this show, often there were few or no tags just so the action keeps going, which is common of New Japan tag matches. I give credit to Cobb and O-Khan. They sold and they kept to the rules of tag team wrestling. O-Khan dragged Cobb to his corner so he could legally tag. The cameras made sure to catch the tags as they happened. United Empire wrestled to FTR’s style of match, rather than just punch and kick strong style match. United Empire lost the Tag Titles in 3-way matches. Now that FTR beat them in a straight on tag match with no interference, United Empire cannot make that excuse anymore.
I was afraid that FTR would be squashed. But they got the rub and respect from Cobb, O-Khan and New Japan, that they are one of, if not the best tag team in the world. At this one event, I think FTR got more from New Japan than Tony Khan has ever gave them.
Now, FTR will be able to move on to the big stage Wrestle Kingdom to defend their titles against the winners of World Tag League. New Japan has established that FTR are the “top guys” in the tag division and the new bar is set.
IWGP U. S. Heavyweight Championship: Tetsuya Naito vs. Will Ospreay
Ospreay starts quickly. They attempt aerial moves but they avoid contact. Both try to one up each other. Naito hit a hip toss on his knee. Ospreay’s spines hits Naito’s knee cap. Ouch! Naito hits a neck breaker and goes for a neck submission. Ospreay gets to the ropes and goes to the floor. Naito grabs Ospreay with a neck cravat. They fight to the top rope. Ospreay hits a chop which sends Naito to the floor. Naito gets thrown into the guardrail and dropped by a forearm. Ospreay hammers his chest with chops. Ospreay with a spinning backbreaker. Naito with a drop kick and keeps attacking Ospreay’s neck and back. Naito pulled Ospreay off the ropes into a neck breaker and traps him in a double leg full nelson. Ospreay fights to get a rope break. Ospreay hits a plancha on Naito to the floor. Back in the ring, Ospreay hits a high kick. Ospreay goes for an Oscutter. Naito blocks it and pushes him into the ropes. Naito drops Opsreay into a neck breaker. He drags him to the ring apron and drops Ospreay with a hangman’s neck breaker on the floor. Damn!
Naito throws Ospreay into the steel post. Ospreay counters with an Oscutter off the guardrail. They get back to the ring and begin throwing elbows and chops. Naito hits a tornado DDT. Naito goes for a Poisonrana but Ospreay lands on his feet. Ospreay hits an Oscutter. Two count. Naito hits a hurricanrana from the top rope. Naito goes for Destino but Ospreay turns it into a sit down powerbomb. Two count. Naito sends Ospreay facefirst into the turnbuckle. Naito hits an Esperanza. Naito hits a Destino. Two count. Ospreay goes for Storm Breaker. Naito reverses into Destino. Two count. Naito goes for another Destino but Ospreay elbows him in the face. Ospreay connects with the Hidden Blade to the face. Ospreay hits a Hidden Blade to the back of Naito’s head. Naito kicks out at two!!
Ospreay picks up Naito and hits a Storm Breaker.
Ospreay pins Naito.
Will Ospreay retains the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship.
Aussie Open and Gideon Grey check on Ospreay.
Ospreay tells the audience that this is how you make the United States Title worthy.
At the Stardom Crossover PPV, he issues an open challenge. No one came to the ring. Ospreay offered to open the “Forbidden Door”. No one answered. He says I guess no one wants to challenge the best wrestler in the world.
Ospreay is about to leave the ring when the lights go out and a video plays. “Roughneck” Shota Umino comes to the ring. Umino gets the mic and punches Ospreay. He takes out Aussie Open and Gideon Grey. He hits a Death Rider on Ospreay. The rest of United Empire hit the ring. Umino escapes through the crowd.
In the interview area, Ospreay hyped his match with Shota Umino. He said Naito was great, and he felt bad that Naito may not have his moment at Wrestle Kingdom, but it is his time now, not Naito’s.
World Tag League and Jr. Tag League begins in a few weeks.
Thank you for reading.
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