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From Gifu, Japan:
Full house tonight for Tanahashi's final event in his hometown.
Aaron Wolfe is working ringside as a young lion. A confrontation with EVIL is coming.
1 - Boltin Oleg, Shoma Kato and Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Katsuya Murashima, Masatora Yasuda and Zane Jay
Oleg pins Zane with an F5.
2 - Hiromu Takahashi, Gedo and Daiki Nagai vs. Robbie Eagles, Kosei Fujita and Hartley Jackson
Jackson hits the Jagged Edge on Nagai and gets the pin.
3 - El Desperado, KUUKAI, Tiger Mask and YAMATO vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Dragon Dia, KUSHIDA and Yuki Yoshioka
Taguchi pins Tiger Mask with cradle roll up.
4 - Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura, Toru Yano, Master Wato and YOH vs. Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yurijo Takahashi, Dick Togo and EVIL
Wato tries for a Tsutenkaku on Togo. Kanemaru spits whiskey in Wato's eyes. EVIL smashes Wato in the head with the NEVER Title. EVIL puts Togo on Wato.
Togo pins Wato.
House of Torture beats up the Hontai team. EVIL challenges Yano, Wato and YOH for the NEVER Openweight 6 man Titles.
EVIL was about to hit Yano with the belt but Aaron Wolfe jumps in the ring. Wolfe takes down EVIL with a Judo Throw. Wolfe picks up the NEVER belts to give to the referee.
New Japan have already announced Aaron Wolfe vs. EVIL as the first match at Wrestle Kingdom. But not for the NEVER Title. This match (young lion vs. an established star) should not be for any title. That seems like a break in tradition. EVL is a good soldier for doing this match, but he does not benefit from it at all, with the hope that Wolfe is the next big thing.
5 - Yuto-Ice, OSKAR, Shingo Takagi and Clark Conners vs. Great O-Khan, Callum Newman, Templario and Jakob Austin Young
Yuto-Ice is from this area in Gifu, Japan.
Newman, with his new heel attitude, started messing with Yuto and OSKAR during their ring introductions. It looked like OSKAR and Yuto started to shoot on Newman but it was broken up.
The match quickly gets into a brawl. Yuto and OSKAR target Newman. It gets back to a normal tag match. Good stiff match.
Yuto hits a right punch to Young's jaw and hits a Claymore-style kick.
Yuto pins Young.
After the match, Newman attacked Yuto and OSKAR. Yuto and Newman threw punches. Templario jumped in but OSKAR threw him aside. The young lions immediately jumped in the ring to separate Newman and Yuto. Newman was dragged from the ring and Newman slapped one of the lions right in the face.
Whether this was legit heat or not, this help build some anticipation for World Tag League. Yuto and OSKAR just debuted and won the IWGP Tag Title on their first try. They will be targets in this tournament. Callum Newman's new attitude does freshen up United Empire a bit.
6 - Super Jr. Tag League Finals: Robbie X and Taiji Ishimori vs. DOUKI and SHO
One year ago, Robbie X debuted in New Japan in the Super Jr. Tag League. Now he is in the Finals.
Good match. SHO and DOUKI tried their tricks. Robbie and Ishimori wrestled like a tag team with lots of double team moves. Ishimori hits a Cipher Utaki on DOUKI and Robbie hits an X Express. SHO pulls the referee from the ring. SHO hits Robbie in the back with a wrench. DOUKI tries to use his metal pipe but Ishimori blocks it and applies the Bone Lock. DOUKI escapes. SHO tries to use his metal sheet, but Ishimori blocks it and hits SHO in the head. Big pop from the crowd. Ishimori tries for a Bloody Cross on DOUKI but DOUKI escapes and tries to push Ishimori into the referee. DOUKI pulls down his mask and spits red mist into Ishimori's eyes. DOUKI hits a low blow and rolls up Ishimori.
DOUKI pins Ishimori.
SHO and DOUKI win the Super Jr. Tag League. They are 10-0 in the tournament.
As current Champions and winners, SHO and DOUKI have the ability to choose their own opponent for Wrestle Kingdom and their next defense.
DOUKI is the Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Jr. Tag Team Champion and the Super Jr. Tag League winner. This shows the confidence that New Japan has in both DOUKI and SHO to lead the Jr. Division. Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado have carried the division on their back for years, and now others are stepping up.
7 - IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship: Yota Tsuji vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Good match. Tanahashi hits Aces High, but misses a High Fly Flow. Tsuji hits a Gene Blaster. They trade strikes and Tsuji hits a headbutt. Tanahashi goes for another High Fly Flow but Tsuji gets the knees up. Tsuji hits another Gene Blaster.
Tsuji pins Tanahashi.
Yota Tsuji retains the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.
After the match, Tsuji gives his thanks to Tanahashi and says that New Japan is good hands with him.
Tanahashi gets the mic and puts over Tsuji and expects him to take the ball and run with it. Tanahashi thanks the fans in his hometown.
After the match, Yuto-Ice comes to the ring and he challenges Tanahashi to a next match next week in Anjo, Japan. Yuto says it is Ace vs. Ice, and invites everyone in attendance to attend this match.
8 - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Hirooki Goto
Another good match. Both men started wrestling, but it broke down to trading strikes. Both hit stiff shots. Crowd was cheering Goto. Goto hit a reverse GTR. Takeshita with a neck snap and a cross face chicken wing. Goto fights out and hits a sunset flip off the ropes. Two count. Takeshita hits a Bastard Driver and a release German suplex. They trade more strikes and Takeshita hits a lariat. Two count. Lots of reversals. Goto hits a GTR. Two count. Takeshita hits a Poisonrana, a Power Drive Knee, and a Last Ride. Goto kicks out. Goto blocks another Power Drive Knee. Goto hits a lariat. Goto hits a Shotenkai. Two count. Goto sets up from another GTR, but Takeshita hits Straight Murder, a high Power Drive Knee, and finishes with Raging Fire.
Takeshita pins Goto.
Konosuke Takeshita retains the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Takeshita puts over Goto after the match. They both shake hands and hope to get one more match. Takeshita says who is the next one up to face him at Wrestle Kingdom.
Yota Tsuji comes to the ring. Tsuji says it is going to be him. Takeshita accepts the match if Tsuji puts his belt on the line. Tsuji accepts.
It will be Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji. One winner wins both IWGP World and IWGP Global Titles.
Interesting decision to make the main event between two champions. This direction leaves potential challengers for each title out of the Wrestle Kingdom picture at this point.
What about Zack Sabre Jr. who never got a rematch? Is it too soon to give Goto another shot? Where does that leave David Finlay, Gabe Kidd and Shingo Takagi in the Global Title picture? With EVIL connected to David Wolfe, no one else in House of Torture (ie. SANADA or Ren Narita) deserves to be a heavyweight single title contender.
This is hot shot booking to just give the best (potential) match. Hopefully, Takeshita will be around to build up to this match.
While the announcers are hyping this to be the biggest Wrestle Kingdom event ever, the card has yet to be fully determined. So far, the Wrestle Kingdom card is not shaping up to be a memorable one.
World Tag League begins on November 20, with no participants yet announced, other than the Knockout Brothers.
Thank you for reading.
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