New Japan Pro Wrestling celebrated its 45th anniversary today with a big show at Tokyo’s Ota Ward Gymnasium, the same building in which they held their first show way back on this day in 1972.
The birthday show was headlined by a non-title match between IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and Tiger Mask W, who everyone knows is Kota Ibushi under the mask, and elsewhere four championships were on the line on the stacked card.
The event was held under somewhat of a dark cloud however, as Tomoaki Honma was forced to miss the show (and all events for the foreseeable future) after suffering a career-threatening injury at a live event a few days prior, and many of the stars performed small tributes to Honma throughout the night.
The full results of the show can be found below.
#1 Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tomoyuki Oka
New Japan Dad defeats valiant fighting Tomoyuki Oka. You know exactly how this match went as we’ve seen it a hundred times, although Oka’s progress is clear for all to see.
#2 Jado, Gedo, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, TAKA Michinoku, El Desperado & Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Jado was wearing a Honma wristband here, and CHAOS picked up the win when YOSHI-HASHI forced TAKA to submit to the Butterfly lock.
There was nothing particularly special about the match, other than whetting the appetites of those hoping to see Goto and Davey Boy go at it later in the year.
#3 Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & David Finlay vs. Bad Luck Fale, Kenny Omega, Tama Tonga, Tonga Roa & Yujiro Takahashi
More standard undercard multi-man tag match fare here, with Fale picking up the win for Bullet Club after hitting David Finlay with the Grenade.
Omega was in full undercard live event mode here, focusing more on comedy than pro wrestling, giving very little ideas as to where his year is headed.
#4 IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship – Roppongi Vice (c) vs. Taichi & Kanemaru
The first title change of the night saw the Suzuki-gun duo end the title run of Roppongi Vice a lot earlier than most would have hoped.
There were shenanigans-a-plenty along the way, and Gedo & Jado ran out to save Trent from a beatdown after the match, signalling a likely future title match between the Suzuki-gun duo and the World Class Tag Team.
#5 RevPro British Heavyweight Championship – Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Suzuki-gun’s championship success continued in this match, albeit through a man who wasn’t a member of the Suzuki-led stable until the end of the match.
Zack Sabre Jr. pinned Shibata to pick up the RevPro championship after Minoru Suzuki hit the ring and planted the former champion with a Gotch Piledriver, and after the match, ZSJ was confirmed in the group as Suzuki said that they were still looking to take New Japan apart.
#6 IWGP Tag Team Championship – Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano (c) vs. TenCozy (Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan)
Tenzan & Kojima replaced Makabe & Honma in this match and were able to defeat the CHAOS duo to pick up the championships.
This was a great tag match with the expected stiff work from Tenzan, Kojima and Ishii juxtaposing well with Yano’s antics. TenCozy seem destined to face War Machine for the titles at some point over the summer.
#7 Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Juice Robinson & KUSHIDA vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI
Los Ingobernables de Japon picked up the win here after Naito hit Juice with Destino.
A lot of the match centred around interactions between Tanahashi and EVIL ahead of their New Japan Cup first round clash.
#8 IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship – Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
Taguchi may not be everyone’s cup of tea in 2017 but when the Funky Weapon has his working boots on, he is still capable of something special. It wasn’t enough here, however, as Takahashi picked up the win after hitting Taguchi win the Time Bomb.
After the match, KUSHIDA stepped up to the plate to challenge Takahashi for the title that the Timesplitter had lost at Wrestle Kingdom 11.
#9 Kazuchika Okada vs. Tiger Mask W
Yet another fantastic match to add to what is turning into a special year for the IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
Okada picked up the win after hitting Tiger Mask W (Ibushi) with three Rainmakers in a match that was every bit as good as you would expect Okada vs. Ibushi to be.
Send us news tips at [email protected]
