- Kosei Fujita & Yasutaka Yano wrestle to a time-limit draw
- TenCozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) & Yuji Nagata def. Akitoshi Saito, King Tany, & Muhammad Yone
- CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, & YOSHI-HASHI), Master Wato, & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Daiki Inaba, Daisuke Harada, Hajime Ohara, Kinya Okada, & Yoshiki Inamura
- SHO def. Atsushi Kotoge
- HAYATA & Seiki Yoshioka def. Bullet Club (Gedo & Taiji Ishimori)
- Suzuki-gun (DOUKI & El Desperado) def. NOSAWA RONGAI & YO-HEY
- Kazushi Sakuraba, Takashi Sugiura, & Toru Yano def. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, & TAKA Michinoku)
- Go Shiozaki & Masa Kitamura def. Bullet Club (Dick Togo & EVIL)
- Naomichi Marufuji & Yoshinari Ogawa def. Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Zack Sabre, Jr.)
- Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi, & Tetsuya Naito) def. ALEJA, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kenoh, Manabu Soya, & Tadasuke vs.
- Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada def. Keiji Muto & Kiyomiya Kaito
Category: New Japan Pro Wrestling
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 Night Three 1/8/2022
DATE: January 8, 2022 12:00 am
LOCATION: Yokohama Arena, Kanagawa, Japan
AVAILABLE ON: NJPW World
* Pre-show: Kosei Fujita vs. Yasutaka Yano
* Pre-show: Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima) and Yuji Nagata vs. Funky Express (King Tany, Muhammad Yone, Akitoshi Saito)
* NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion Sho vs. Atsushi Kotoge
* The Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori, Gedo) vs. Stinger (Seiki Yoshioka, GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion & GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Hayata)
* Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Douki) vs. Yo-Hey and Nosawa Rongai
* Chaos (NEVER Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi), Master Wato and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Daisuke Harada, Hajime Ohara, Daiki Inaba, Akitoshi Saito and Kinya Okada
* Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru, IWGP Tag Team Champion Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Yoshinari Ogawa and GHC Tag Team Champion Naomichi Marufuji
* House of Torture (NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion Evil, Dick Togo) vs. Go Shiozaki and Masa Kitamiya
* IWGP Tag Team Champion Taichi, Minoru Suzuki and Taka Michinoku vs. Kazushi Sakuraba, Takashi Sugiura and TBA
* Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kaito Kiyomiya and GHC Tag Team Champion Keiji Mutoh
*Los Ingobernables de Japón (IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, Sanada, Hiromu Takahashi, Bushi) vs. Kongo (GHC Heavyweight Champion Katsuhiko Nakajima, GHC National Champion Kenoh, Manabu Soya, Tadasuke, Aleja)
NJPW Returning To AXS TV With New Weekly Series
New Japan Pro-Wrestling returns to AXS TV later this month with a weekly one-hour series that will air on Thursday nights at 10 p.m.
The new deal with AXS TV’s owner, Anthem Sports & Entertainment, was announced during the broadcast of Night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 16 on Tuesday. New Japan had a weekly series on AXS TV from 2015-2019.
The new agreement gives AXS TV the option to re-air those past broadcasts. AXS TV will begin airing select episodes from New Japan’s first run on the network beginning on January 20. That episode will feature the IWGP United States Championship match between Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho from Wrestle Kingdom 12. New episodes will begin airing on March 3.
The agreement also puts New Japan’s weekly series on Anthem’s Fight Network. The network is available in Canada, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
New Japan’s new timeslot on AXS TV provides it with Impact Wrestling as a lead-in. Impact’s flagship show airs Thursday nights from 8-10 p.m.
New Japan and Impact Wrestling have been working together and sharing talent over recent months. The working agreement has brought Jay White, Minoru Suzuki, Juice Robinson, David Finlay, El Phantasmo, and other New Japan stars onto Impact’s broadcasts.
Impact wrestlers including Moose and Josh Alexander have appeared on recent New Japan shows. And Impact’s Chris Bey landed a spot in Bullet Club last summer after accepting an invitation from Jay White.
“There is a great deal of support and synergy between the two companies, and we could not be more proud to have them back on AXS TV as they prepare to celebrate an incredible milestone in NJPW history,” Impact Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore said in a news release. “We are excited to continue to build on our growing relationship with NJPW, and look forward to seeing what new opportunities arise from this partnership in the future.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 Night Two Results 1/5/2022
IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Flying Tiger (Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask) (c) defeated Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) vs. The Mega Coaches (Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero)
Tam Nakano & Saya Kamitani defeated Mayu Iwatani & Starlight Kid
PROVISIONAL KOPW 2022 TROPHY
Minoru Suzuki defeated Chase Owens, Cima, and Toru Yano
NEVER OPENWEIGHT 6-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
House of Torture (Evil, Yujiro Takahashi & Sho) (c) (w/ Dick Togo) defeated Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi & Yoh)
Sanada defeated Great-O-Khan
Tetsuya Naito defeated Jeff Cobb
NO DQ MATCH FOR THE IWGP UNITED STATES HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated KENTA (New IWGP United States Champion)
IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Will Ospreay
Pro-Wrestling NOAH made its presence felt during New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s flagship event. Members of the NOAH roster briefly occupied the ring during Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom 16 on Wednesday.
A large contingent of NOAH wrestlers was led to the ring by Keiji Mutoh. Speaking during the English language broadcast on New Japan World, Chris Charlton said it was Muto’s first time in Tokyo Dome since Wrestle Kingdom 8.
Keiji Mutoh is a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion from his years in New Japan. Early last year, Mutoh signed a contract with Pro-Wrestling NOAH, where he won the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Mutoh is currently one-half of the GHC Tag Team Champions alongside Naomichi Marufuji.
Kaito Kiyomiya and Kenoh took the microphone and addressed the crowd at the Tokyo Dome. They were eventually confronted by New Japan’s Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, and BUSHI. The trio exchanged words with the NOAH wrestlers inside the ring but left without any physical interaction.
Keiji Mutoh took a picture while the NOAH wrestlers were in the ring. He later posted it on Twitter, along with words explaining that NOAH had occupied the ring at New Japan’s biggest event of the year.
Members of the Pro-Wrestling NOAH and New Japan Pro-Wrestling rosters are preparing to meet in matches on Night 3 of Wrestle Kingdom 16. That card will be held at Yokohama Arena on Saturday.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 Night Two 1/5/2022
DATE: January 5, 2022 12:00 am
LOCATION: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
AVAILABLE ON:NJPW World
CARD
– IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Tiger Mask & Robbie Eagles (c) vs. Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori
– Starlight Kid & Mayu Iwatani vs. Saya Kamitani & Tam Nakano
– KOPW 2022 Four Way
– NEVER Six-Man Tag Team Championship: SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL (c) vs. YOH, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto
– SANADA vs. Great-O-Khan
– Tetsuya Naito vs. Jeff Cobb
– IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: KENTA (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in a No DQ Match
– IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Will Ospreay
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Night One) Results 1/4/2022
Yoh defeated Sho w/ Dick Togo
Bullet Club (KENTA, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and The Mega Coaches (Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero)
United Empire (Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Sanada & Bushi)
Katsuyori Shibata defeated Ren Narita
NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Evil (with Dick Togo) defeated Tomohiro Ishii (new NEVER Openweight Championship)
IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
El Desperado defeated Hiromu Takahashi
IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION
Kazuchika Okada defeated Shingo Takagi (New IWGP Heavyweight Champion)
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Night One) 1/4/2022
DATE: January 4, 2022 12:00 am
LOCATION: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
AVAILABLE ON:NJPW World
CARD
– New Japan Ranbo: Final Four Advance to KOPW 2022 Four-Way Match on Night Two
– YOH vs. SHO
– Rocky Romero, Ryusuke Taguchi & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & KENTA
– BUSHI, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito vs. Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb
– Katsuyori Shibata vs. X in a Catch Wrestling Rules Match
– NEVER Openweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. EVIL
– IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi (c) vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto (World Tag League Winner)
– IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: El Desperado (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi (BOSJ Winner)
– IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada (G1 Climax Winner)
FTR Sets Its Sights On The IWGP Tag Titles As AEW Contracts Wind Down
AEW stars Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler are teasing a potential New Japan run and declaring their desire to challenge for the IWGP tag titles.
FTR members Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler have a few very clear-cut goals … but not all of them involve AEW. And if their own words are anything to go by, they’re more than ready to part ways with Tony Khan’s promotion in order to take care of business.
Harwood and Wheeler addressed their future and their current AEW contract status during a recent chat with Brandon F. Walker on Barstool Rasslin‘. The FTR said they want to regain the AEW tag titles next year and they intend to defeat The Briscoes, the stalwart Ring Of Honor tag team they confronted during last week’s Final Battle pay-per-view.
“I think we are going to be the first-ever two-time AEW Tag Team Champions,” said Wheeler. “In 2022, we are going to get the titles back. We are going to have the title run that we should’ve had the first time,” he added. “Rematch with the Young Bucks. Beat the s**t out of The Briscoes. Hold titles everywhere.”
Harwood later revealed that the lads don’t have much time left on their AEW contracts.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen from there. But we have a short amount of time to accomplish what we want to accomplish,” Harwood said, before declaring FTR’s intention to challenge for the coveted IWGP Tag Team Championship at some point.
So far, FTR has been unsuccessful in its attempt to recapture the AEW World Tag Team Championship, but they didn’t manage to win the AAA tag titles from the Lucha Bros on Dynamite a few weeks ago.
Harwood and Cash Wheeler formed a tag team while they were both members of WWE’s developmental roster. For the majority, they were known as The Revival, due to their penchant for an old-school style of tag team wrestling. The duo parted ways with WWE in 2020 and subsequently jumped ship to AEW. They made their AEW debuts on the May 27, 2020 edition of AEW Dynamite.
Source: TheSportster
New Japan’s Tomohiro Ishii Debuts On AEW Dynamite, Leads CHAOS To Victory
Veteran Japanese wrestler Tomohiro Ishii made his AEW debut during this week’s edition of AEW Dynamite, on which he teamed up with Orange Cassidy.
Veteran Japanese wrestler Tomohiro Ishii walked away from his AEW debut with a victory under his belt when he and Orange Cassidy defeated The Butcher and The Blade on the latest episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT.
It all went down in Norfolk, Virginia on the first episode of AEW Dynamite to air since Saturday’s Full Gear pay-per-view. Ishii and OC were accompanied to the ring by their CHAOS stablemates Rocky Romero, Chuck Taylor, Wheeler YUTA, and Kris Statlander, while The Butcher and The Blade had The Bunny, Matt Hardy, and a few other Hardy Family Office members in their corner … needless to say, chaos ensued.
Hardy and The Bunny did their best to sabotage Ishii’s AEW debut, but ultimately the experience and brute strength of New Japan’s NEVER Openweight Champion was too much for the HFO to overcome. The finish came when Orange Cassidy took out the HFO with a dive outside, allowing Ishii to land a massive lariat on The Blade followed by a brainbuster. Ishii then covered Blade for the 1-2-3, delivering a huge win to CHAOS and adding a W next to his name in the AEW record books.
In case you missed it, Ishii’s New Japan colleague Rocky Romero made his in-ring AEW debut against Bryan Danielson on last week’s Dynamite. Before the show kicked off, Romero approached The Best Friends (Orange Cassidy, Kris Statlander, Chuck Taylor, and Wheeler YUTA) with a tantalizing proposition. Romero informed the group that Kazuchika Okada had invited them to join his stable CHAOS. Taylor, who was a member of CHAOS from 20017-2019 accepted Romero and Okada’s offer on behalf of his teammates. The best friends then accompanied Romero to the ring for his match with Danielson on Dynamite as official CHAOS members.
Not much has come of the partnership between AEW and NJPW, but with several members of CHAOS infiltrating the AEW roster, it seems inevitable that CHAOS leader Okada will soon join them.
Source: TheSportster
NJPW Star Tetsuya Naito Announces Return To The Ring
Tetsuya Naito went down with a knee injury in September that cost him being involved in this year’s NJPW G1 Climax tournament. The injury was sustained on September 18 against Zack Sabre Jr. and Naito had to forfeit the remaining matches — ending with a 0-9 record.
At today’s Wrestle Kingdom 16 Press Conference, Naito announced he would not need surgery and is returning to the ring for the World Tag League on November 14. His tag partner is fellow LIJ member, SANADA.
“I’ve torn ligaments in my knee twice before, and I know that with severe ligament damage, you tend to need surgery that can put you on the shelf for a year,” Naito said to the media. “That’s what I was preparing myself mentally for as I went to the hospital, but thankfully there was no ligament damage, and no need for surgery.
“It was a painful injury, and I needed time to heal, but on November 14, in Korakuen Hall on the first night of World Tag League, I will be back. My partner? Of course, SANADA. I messaged SANADA yesterday, and all I got in response was a thumbs up emoji. That’s pretty on brand, right?”
The rest of the World Tag League field has yet to be announced. Typically, the winners receive a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship in January. The current title holders are Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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