SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
RADICAN’S NEW JAPAN KIZUNA ROAD REPORT
JULY 2, 2021
TOKYO, JAPAN
KORAKUEN HALL
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
Note: This show is available for free on NJPW World
(1) KOTA IBUSHI vs. YOTA TSUJI
Ibushi wore the same tights he wore at WK: Night 2 in January. Tsuji got in a lot of offense including an airplane spin into a Boston Crab. He looked great against Ibushi. Ibushi ended up getting the submission with a high angle stretch muffler. Ibushi showed Tsuji respect after the march was over.
WINNER: Kota Ibushi at 12:10. (***1/2)
(2) IWGP WORLD HVT. CHAMPION SHINGO TAKAGI vs. YUYA UEMURA – Non-Title match
Tremendous outing for Uemura, who went strike for strike with Takagi. He got some really good near falls late with some slick pinning combinations. Takagi ended up pinning him with a Pumping Bomber.
After the match, Uemura used Takagi to pull himself to his feet. He then shoved Takagi away. Takagi seemed to indicate that one say in the future they would wrestle for the title. Uemura was left alone in the ring after Takagi gave him a small bow. He eventually got to his feet and the fans applauded. Uemura’s mouth was bloodied.
WINNER: Shingo Takagi at 11:03 (***1/2)
(3) EL DESPERADO & MINORU SUZUKI & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU vs. JADO & ELP & TAIJI ISHIMORI
The finish saw El Desperado tap out Jado with the stretch muffler. There was also some interaction between Desperado and Ishimori ahead of Desperado defending the IWGP Jr. Hvt. Tag Team Championship against Ishimori on July 10 at Summer Struggle in Sapporo: Night 1
WINNERS: El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru at 11:08
(4) BUSHI & SANADA & TETSUYA NAITO vs. ZACK SABRE JR. & TAICHI & DOUKI
The finish saw Bushi pin Douki with MX. This match was used to further the build towards Naito & Sanada challenging Taichi & Sabre for the IWGP Hvt. Tag Team Championship on July 11 at Summer Struggle in Sapporo: Night 2.
WINNERS: Bushi & Sanada & Tetsuya Naito at 12:13
(5) YOSHI-HASHI & HIROOKI GOTO & TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. HIROYOSHI TENZAN & SATOSHI KOJIMA & YUJI NAGATA
Ishii hit a ton of chops on Kojima in the corner at one point and his chest turned bright red. As expected, there was a lot of hard-hitting exchanges given the participants. Tenzan and Ishii traded headbutts at one point, which made me cringe. Kojima took a big combination of moves from Yoshi-Hashi and Goto late in the match, but managed to kick out. Goto struggled to hit the GTR late in the match, but he smoothed a rough spot over and hit it for the win on Kojima.
WINNERS: Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto & Tomorhiro Ishii at 26:50 to retain the NEVER Openweight SIx Man Tag Team Championship. (***3/4)
The lights went out after the match while Goto was cutting a promo and when they came back on, Dick Togo and Evil beat up the champions. They isolated Ishii and Evil gave him EIE before Goto and Yoshi-Hashi ran them off.
Follow Sean on Twitter @SR_Torch. Email him at radicansean@pwtorch.com
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