Pre-show: Daiki Nagai vs Masatora Yasuda — (Time Limit Draw, 10:00)
- If you missed it, Yasuda’s return from injury happening on today’s show is due to Shoma Kato being pulled from action after an injury.
Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa def Katsuya Murashima, YOSHI-HASHI — (11:33, Arc Clutch [arm submission while in a camel clutch-esque position])
- Apparently Big Jag has been helping Oiwa tap into his hoss side.
Jado, Togi Makabe, El Phantasmo, Shota Umino def Jakob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb — (7:20, CR II)
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O-Khan takes off his jacket to reveal a Shota Umino shirt. After a moment he rips it in half and throws it at Shota, who briefly puts it on before starting the match opposite O-Khan.
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I said last year that I thought putting Shota alongside ELP would do wonders for him and I stand by that. They didn’t really work together during the match but Shota has obvious, genuine interpersonal chemistry with him, which is rare to see from Umino.
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Post-match, TV Champ ELP taunts his February 3rd (the next televised show) challenger Cobb.
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Umino puts the torn shirt back on as O-Khan slinks to the back. He later gives the shirt to a child fan, and ELP looks directly into the camera and challenges us, the viewers, to boo Shota (for being a good fanservice babyface).
Taiji Ishimori, SANADA def TAKATaichi (TAKA Michinoku & Taichi) — (9:43, Gedo Clutch)
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BC jump the faces during their entrance announcements.
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In the closing moments, TAKA has Ishimori pinned after a Michinoku driver, but SANADA tosses Taichi into the ref. Shenanigans and a low blow lead to Ishimori pinning TAKA.
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Post-match, SANADA feigns an apology to Taichi but then runs him into the wall of the arena.
Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito [full suit t-shirt-Naito version] def Tomoaki Honma, Tomohiro Ishii — (9:29, Puma Blanca)
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Naito and Hiromu jump the stone kokebulls to start the match.
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Immediately post-bell, Naito attacks Ishii for fun, starting a brawl between them. It takes Hiromu and multiple Young Lions multiple tries to get Ishii to finally back down and leave the ring for good.
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Hiromu accidentally knocks Naito’s hat off the ringpost when trying to retrieve it, leading to some teacher-student shenanigans.
Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney, Gabe Kidd def BUSHI, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji — (10:05, No Chaser)
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Gabe still hasn’t worn his new Lion Mark takeoff shirt since the day it debuted, but he does walk out among the fans during his entrance.
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Tsuji and Gabe start the match. (I think they’ve done so in all of those preview tags but would have to double-check.)
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Differently than some of their other recent multiman matches, Clark and Drilla work clean without any overly heel shenanigans.
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Post-match, the Feb. 11 tour finale opponents (Gabe/Tsuji and Drilla/Shingo) once again have words. After LIJ leave, Gabe tells us that New Japan is his heart and this is his company.
We get a video recapping EVIL’s loss at WK and subsequent declaration to never come back to NJPW or Japan in general; along with how Ren, Yujiro, and SHO earned this title shot.
NEVER Openweight 6-Man titles:
SHO, Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita def Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano, Hiroshi Tanahashi [c] — (11:51, flash roll up after a nut shot)
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The Champs beat the House at their own game, jumping them during their entrance and briefly taking back the physical NEVER 6 belts they’d lost way back at Dash. However the face’s advantage doesn’t last long.
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In the closing moments of the match, Kanemaru comes out to try and interfere, but Daiki Nagai manages to hold him back temporarily. Nobu tosses Nagai at the ref to break up a Yano pin on SHO, then attacks Yano and along with a low blow
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Post-match, Oleg tries to get some retribution but is met by a belt shot from Yujiro. HoT briefly celebrate before leaving.
Robbie Eagles, Kosei Fujita, Zack Sabre Jr. def YOH, El Desperado, Hirooki Goto — (16:58, European Clutch)
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Despe starts off the match with his Jr title challenger (Feb. 4) Fujita.
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Fujita and Robbie partake in some fun, cocky shenanigans like mimicking Bishamon’s drum spot on Goto, but Zack (who’s been a bit rattled by Goto’s recent momentum) does not.
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Post-match, Zack taunts Goto a bit while Fujita & Despe and Robbie & YOH have words.
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Robbie starts off the show end promos. He asks where Rocky is now, and says he wants YOH to make sure Rocky is here for the Jr Tag title match in Osaka.
Passes the mic to Fujita, who says he’ll beat Despe to become the youngest Jr Heavyweight Champion. -
Zack says thank you Sendai, chides Robbie for trying to get him to do the goofy Bishamon drums, and says on February 11th Goto will be getting his last chance at the IWGP WHC and will once again walk away empty-handed. TMDK will paint not only New Japan, but the entire world orange.
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Zack stops by the English commentary booth to say it’ll continue to be a very very good year for TMDK. (He also seems to let slip that Shane and Mikey will be back sooner rather than later to challenge for the Heavy Tags [I presume, though he just said “the tag belts” so I guess could also mean the STRONG.])
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by EffingKENTA