Pre-Show: Tatsuya Matsumoto vs Zane Jay — (Time Limit Draw, 10:00)
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Third time in a row we’ve had Zayne applying the crab when the time limit expired, but that’s because of house shows.
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Post match they do the “spirited but respectful trash talking” thing that YL often do. Matsumoto goes back up the ramp and through the curtain, while Zane goes out the side alley.
Pre-show: Daiki Nagai, Katsuya Murashima def Masatora Yasuda, Shoma Kato — (9:18, Boston Crab)
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Nagai calls out Yasuda to start and they have a brief shoving match before the bell rings.
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This was good. Nagai hit his Shibata-esque stalling dropkick and pulled out a brand new spinebuster before locking in the crab.
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In his Backstage Comments, Nagai acknowledges Shingo is interested in him (which TBH I missed) and asks to join the “Unaffiliated” group. I don’t exactly know how that would work, but okay.
Tiger Mask, Yuji Nagata, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii, Shota Umino def Dick Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI, SANADA, EVIL — (7:37, STF)
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There’s one male fan booing loudly during the very beginning of HoT’s entrance.
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Shota is back to regular gear as ELP returned from his brief injury hiatus at TANA JAM, though he’s (understandably) not on today’s card.
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Pretty much as soon as he gets in the ring, Taichi attacks DOUKI. The bell rings just before he ends up getting beat down by all three former Guys.
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HoT Shenanigans level: moderate. Dick tried to unmask Tiger, EVIL did the announce table spot.
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Post match, Taichi gets DOUKI’s pipe and berates him from inside the ring before tossing it back
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After the faces celebrate, Shota tucks the t-shirt he was wearing into his waistband so he can pull it off while Taichi depantses. He tries to put the shirt on an uncooperative Taichi. Then as per usual, Umino briefly kidnaps a young fan before finally leaving.
Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi def Jakob Austin Young, Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan[w/Mafia Kajita] — (10:05, MADE IN JAPAN)
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Kajita is a radio personality, YouTuber (202k subs), voice actor (notably in F/GO which GOK has a sponsorship with), gaming news writer, and one of GOK’s many famous otaku friends. He comes out with a cosplay mech fist.
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Decent pop for Hiromu’s music. This is Naito and BUSHI’s hometown arena, where last year they had the LIJ vs LIJ tag match that ended in a draw.
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Tsuji and Callum start off. They’re in the same G1 Block, as are Shingo and GOK.
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At one point GOK hit Hiromu in the chest with the fist that Kajita brought out.
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This was fun enough.
Boltin Oleg, Yuya Uemura, El Desperado def Hartley Jackson, Zack Sabre Jr., Kosei Fujita — (8:39, Hurricanrana)
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This is a preview for Fujita finally cashing in his Junior title shot on our next show (6th). Yuya and Oleg also share a G1 Block.
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If you haven’t found a way to watch TANA JAM, this is your first time since February seeing IWGP WHC ZSJ.
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Fujita and his trophy get right in Despe’s face and the end up starting the match. Pre-lockup crowd poll is 60/40 in favor of Fujita.
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Another fun one.
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Post match, Fujita and Despe stare each other down on the outside; while in the ring Oleg and then Yuya have to be pulled away from ZSJ. Zack finally makes it out of the ring and chats with Fujita as they leave (Hartley went straight to English comms).
G1 A Block Play-in: Ryohei Oiwa def Satoshi Kojima — (9:44, THE GRIP)
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ICYMI Kojima is replacing Fale, who left the tour due to a death in the family.
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Pre-lockup crowd poll is about 50/50.
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Great match between the two lariat specialists. Oiwa joins guys like Tsuji, Yuya, Tana, and Finlay in A Block.
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Post match, Oiwa goes over and chats with Kojima then accepts a handshake and hug. He also stops to shake Hartley’s hand before leaving.
G1 B Block Play-in: YOSHI-HASHI def Chase Owens — (12:03, Karma)
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You could hear a pin drop during one of these entrances. I will not specify which.
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The ref spots Chase wearing his boot spurs and tells him to take them off. He does, but then blasts past the ref to attempt to hit YH in the head with one; but fails.
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HoT varmintry level: fairly mild, and surprisingly a lone varmint for the entirety of the match.
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Y’know what, this was good. Wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it but didn’t feel like I wasted my time.
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YH joins ZSJ, Shingo, Gabe, and TAKESHITA among others in B Block.
NEVER 6-Man titles: Master Wato, YOH, Toru Yano def SHO, Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita[c] — (12:06, side cradle)
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This was a byproduct of the SHO/DOUKI vs YOH/Wato feud, with their Jr. Tag titles match happening on the 6th.
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HoT jump the faces from behind before they even make it off the ramp, and take back possession of the rice bag that has HoT’s five belts in it. They quickly get to the ring where YOH and SHO start the match.
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HoT Shenanigans level: mid-high, ineffective.
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At one point Wato gets SHO in Vendaval, but DOUKI comes out and rings the bell to confuse Wato and get him to let go of the hold.
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In the closing moments, Kanemaru comes out to try and mist Yano, but due to a low blow hits Yuj instead. A couple more slick Hontai moves leads to the win.
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Post match, Wato and YOH taunt HoT with the Jr. Tag belts, but do give them back.
IWGP Global Heavyweight title: Gabe Kidd[c] def Hiroshi Tanahashi — (23:58, Drill a Hole Piledriver)
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184 days of Tanahashi left.
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After making his entrance, Gabe gets right in Tana’s face for a moment.
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Pre-lockup crowd poll sounded 70/30 in favor of Tana to me, but tough to tell.
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This was very good as you’d expect. Tana hit an Ace’s high from the top turnbuckle to the floor. Gabe tried and missed a High Fly Flow. But for some reason it just didn’t fully click for me. Someone in the livethread said ”Ever since his match against Kenny [Gabe’s] been trying really hard to have every match be a puro epic and like as much as I love him he is just not built to be having those kinds of matches consistently” and I think that’s part of what went wrong for me here. I also feel like it would’ve been better in front of a better crowd, and possibly without the goofy self-imposed cloud of Gabe having the Death Riders logo on his kneepad while still yelling about how “I am New Japan.”
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Post match Gabe is clearly emotional. That one loud fan starts a “Gabe” chant, which this time does catch on.
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Gabe cuts a promo in part Japanese and part English: he talks about his past mental health issues, and how during his lowest every day Tana would FaceTime with him for hours. Gabe starts crying. Without Tanahashi, Gabe may not be alive anymore. So this match means the world to him. Six months still left in Tana’s wrestling life, do his best. And then Gabe will carry the NJPW torch. Gabe tells Tana Aishitemasu; Tana is crying as well.
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There’s many obstacles in life, but Gabe promises his body, his life is on the line for this company and he gives his all every time. NJPW is the best. He’ll win the G1. Ijo.
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*Show number in post title is only counting televised shows, to avoid confusion.
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by EffingKENTA