NJPW Back to the Yokohama Arena - 25 май 2014

[nWoHulkster]

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)

"BACK TO THE YOKOHAMA ARENA" (WPW/iPPV)

May 25th, 2014

Yokohama, Japan

Yokohama Arena

 

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match

AJ Styles © vs. Kazuchika Okada

IWGP Intercontinental Title Match

Shinsuke Nakamura © vs. Daniel Gracie

IWGP Tag Team Title N1 Contendership Match

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata

NEVER Openweight Title Match

Tomohiro Ishii © vs. Kota Ibushi

Pro-Wrestling vs. Jiu-jitsu MMA Fight

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Rolles Gracie Jr.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Bad Luck Fale

Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka vs. Minoru Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin

3-Way Match for the NWA World Tag Team Titles

TenKoji (Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) © vs. Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.) vs. Rob Conway & Wes Brisco

Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Tomoaki Honma & Captain New Japan vs. Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows & Tama Tonga)

Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, El Desperado & Mascara Dorada vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA, Alex Shelley & BUSHI

[nWoHulkster]

NJPW “BACK TO THE YOKOHAMA ARENA” (WPW/PPV/iPPV)

May 25th, 2014

Yokohama Arena

7,800 Fans

1. Road to BEST OF THE SUPER Jr. XXI: Ryusuke Taguchi, Alex Shelley, KUSHIDA & BUSHI beat Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Mascara Dorada & El Desperado (8:25) when BUSHI used the MX on Desperado.

2. Special 8 Man Tag Match: Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga beat Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Tomoaki Honma & Captain New Japan (9:03) when Takahashi used the Miami Shine on Captain.

3. NWA World Tag Team Title – 3WAY Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima © beat Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Rob Conway & Wes Brisco (11:38) when Tenzan used a moonsault press on Brisco (2nd defense).

4. Special Tag Match: Minoru Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin beat Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka (8:00) when Suzuki used a Gotch-style piledriver on Yano.

5. Special Singles Match: Bad Luck Fale beat Tetsuya Naito (12:05) with the Bad Luck Fall.

6. Wrestling vs. Jiu-jitsu MMA Fight: Kazushi Sakuraba beat Rolles Gracie (5:33) by referee stop.

7. NEVER Openweight Title: Tomohiro Ishii © beat Kota Ibushi (19:22) with a brainbuster (4th defense).

8. IWGP Tag Team Title #1 Contenders Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe beat Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata (17:22) when Makabe used a King Kong kneedrop on Goto.

9. IWGP Intercontinental Title – Wrestling vs. Jiu-jitsu MMA Fight: Shinsuke Nakamura © beat Daniel Gracie (10:24) with the Boma Ye (1st defense).

10. IWGP Heavyweight Title: AJ Styles © beat Kazuchika Okada (26:05) with the Styles Clash (2nd defense).

New Japan returned to the Yokohama Arena for the first time since November 3, 2003, today, drawing 7,800 fans. Ticket advances were poor and so was the final attendance after so much success in recent times. This will probably be considered the first New Japan box office disappointment for a major show in quite a few years.

New Bullet Club leader AJ Styles retained the IWGP Heavyweight Title in the main event as CHAOS boss Kazuchika Okada failed in an attempt to regain the belt he lost to AJ in Fukuoka earlier this month. Okada had been unstoppable in his latest reign as champion but the arrival of Styles has turned Bullet Club into an even bigger force and despite some early help from Bullet Club members, he beat Okada cleanly with his Styles Clash in a 26 minute match. The Bullet Club occupied the ring after the match to a chorus of boos.

The Gracie rampage was finally cut short as the alliance of Shinsuke Nakamura and Kazushi Sakuraba completely defeated members of the famous fighting family. In the bigger of the two matches, Shinsuke avenged an MMA loss to Daniel Gracie from many years ago and successfully defended his IWGP Intercontinental Title, pinning Daniel after the Boma Ye. Bad Luck Fale, who had earlier beaten Tetsuya Naito, issued a challenge after the match. Earlier on, the grizzled veteran Sakuraba trapped Rolles Gracie in his Sakuraba Lock, forcing a referee stoppage. The Gracies were beaten by the Japanese heroes, a throwback to the early 2000s when Saku was the “Gracie Hunter” in PRIDE.

The ‘ace’ team of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Togi Makabe became #1 contenders for Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows’ IWGP Tag Team Title with a hard fought win over Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata. This was a heated match, with Tanahashi and Shibata in particular having beef with each other. Tanahashi dropped his High Fly Flow on Goto and Makabe followed with a King Kong kneedrop to earn them the right to challenge the Bullet Club’s IWGP Tag Team Champions in the near future.

NEVER Openweight Champion met IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion as Tomohiro Ishii made a successful V4 defense of the NEVER belt against junior Kota Ibushi in a great match. These are considered two of Japan’s most exciting performers and didn’t disappoint in a 20 minute Blockbuster that saw Ishii spike Ibushi with a brainbuster for the win. Fresh off betraying CHAOS, Yujiro attacked Ishii after the match and looks set to challenge him next.

Legendary tag team Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima retained the NWA World Tag Team Title in a 3WAY Match against the returning Killer Elite Squad and the NWA duo of Rob Conway & Wes Brisco. Kojima hit Brisco with a lariat and Tenzan showed he can still fly by dropping a moonsault press for the win. Kojima’s monopoly of the historic NWA titles continues as he also still holds the NWA World Heavyweight Title.