NJPW New Japan Road
Night 5
Event Date: September 9, 2020 (18:30 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
#njroad
City: Miyagino, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Venue: Sendai SunPlaza Hall
Attendance: 914
Series: New Japan Road
Commentary (Japanese): Haruo Murata, Milano Collection AT
Ring Announcer: Kimihiko Ozaki (1 – 3), Makoto Abe (4 – 6)
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Title League Bracket (prior to tonight’s matches)
| Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI | Taguchi & Wato | El Desperado & Kanemaru | Ishimori & Gedo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI (4) | - | 9/6 | 9/9 | 9/5 |
| Taguchi & Wato (2) | Hiromu & BUSHI | - | 9/5 | 9/9 |
| El Desperado & Kanemaru (2) | Taguchi & Wato | - | 9/6 | |
| Ishimori & Gedo (0) | Hiromu & BUSHI | El Desperado & Kanemaru | - |
Video
The opening video shows some of the results of the recent Jingu Stadium show including the new NEVER Openweight Champ Minoru Suzuki, and the new Double Champ Tetsuya Naito. It also previews the mini tag league to crown new Jr Heavyweight Tag Champs during New Japan Road since YOH is injured and can’t defend the titles alongside SHO. Also on the New Japan Road tour, Chaos will battle Chaos as the NEVER Openweight 6-Man tag champs of Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, and Hirooki Goto defend their titles against SHO, Toru Yano, and Kazuchika Okada.
Match 1
Yota Tsuji vs Satoshi Kojima
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Satoshi Kojima wins via pinfall after a lariat
Time: 7:34
Match Thoughts
Good match. These two wrestled in the opening match on September 5th, and this match felt very similar to that one. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. Once again Tsuji was impressive when he got bursts of offense, but once again Kojima nearly took his head off with a lariat.
Match 2
Gabriel Kidd & SHO & Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada vs Yuya Uemura & YOSHI-HASHI (NEVER 6-Man Champ) & Tomohiro Ishii (NEVER 6-Man Champ) & Hirooki Goto (NEVER 6-Man Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: SHO submits Yuya Uemura with a cross arm breaker
Time: 14:16
Match Thoughts
Very good match. These Chaos teams continue to be very aggressive and have very entertaining tag match. The big rivalry that everyone is centered around is SHO versus Tomohiro Ishii. Those two guys just want to fight each other, and winning the match seems to come secondary. When they get in the ring against each other, it’s great. Hopefully they’ll have a one on one match at some point after the NEVER Tag Title match. As teams, Goto’s team seems to have better teamwork. Okada’s team has some pretty goo teamwor here and there, but they mostly seem to have strong individual performances more than tandem offense. Both teams are a lot of fun to watch though, and I’m looking forward to the title match in a few days.
Match 3
Tomoaki Honma & Yuji Nagata & Kota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Douki & Zack Sabre Jr. (IWGP Heavyweight Tag Champ) & Taichi (IWGP Heavyweight Tag Champ) & Minoru Suzuki (NEVER Openweight Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Kota Ibushi pins Douki after Kamigoye
Time: 13:33
Match Thoughts
Good match. We’ve seen this match before as well, and ever though there was nothing new really added to it this time, I still enjoyed it. Ibushi against Taichi was probably my favorite part of the match, and I also enjoyed seeing Suzuki repeatedly frustrate Honma by slowly rolling out of the way of Kokeshi (Honma’s headbutt).
Video
The competitors for this year’s G1 Climax, the 30th G1 Climax, are announced.
Competing in A Block are: Kota Ibushi, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Shingo Takagi, Yujiro Takahashi, Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay, and Jay White.
Competing in B Block are: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, Zack Sabre Jr., Juice Robinson, and KENTA.
Intermission
The ring is cleaned and sanitized during a brief intermission.
Match 4
Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo & EVIL vs SANADA & Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC & Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Tetsuya Naito pins Dick Togo after Destino
Time: 9:50
Match Thoughts
Good match. Bullet Club did pretty well at first, but LIJ started to come together as a team when Dick Togo got tagged into the match. Togo didn’t stand a chance against LIJ working all together. This was fun.
Match 5
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Title League Match
Master Wato w/ Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Ryusuke Taguchi (2 pts) vs Gedo & Taiji Ishimori (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ) (0pts)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Taiji Ishimori submits Master Wato with the Bone Lock
Time: 14:34
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Master Wato spent most of the time legal for his team, so Taguchi was basically in a supporting role almost the entire time. Wato did very well, but Gedo and Ishimori are a lot to handle for anyone. Taguchi helped Wato bring the momentum back to his side a few times, but Ishimori looked great towards the end of the match. I particularly enjoyed Ishimori’s sequence of a roll-up into a crucifix pin into the Yes Lock into the Bone Lock. It was impressive.
Match 6
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Title League Match
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado (2 pts) vs BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi (4pts)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: El Desperado pins BUSHI with El Es Claro, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru place first in the tag league, and they will face BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi (who placed second) for the Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles
Time: 17:15
Match Thoughts
Great match. LIJ had a very nice plan to start the match. BUSHI and Hiromu stalled and kept tagging out, and when El Desperado and Kanemaru got sufficiently frustrated, LIJ rushed in with a surprise attack on both Suzuki Gun members. Hiromu took El Desperado out to the floor, and BUSHI beat up kanemaru in the ring. That set up LIJ with a solid advantage to begin the match. The match would go on for a while though, and Suzuki Gun managed to regroup and work together well to gain advantages of their own throughout the fight. The match went back and forth, and the pace and intensity picked up as it went on. One key action was that El Desperado started to pull off BUSHI’s mask fairly early in the match. El Desperado didn’t succeed then, but BUSHI’s mask was never tied properly after that, and it became a source of tension seeing how loose his mask was. That become one of a few different factors that led to a very good finish to the match.
Show Impressions
This was a good show. We’d seen all the matches on the undercard before, but they were still fun again tonight. The two tournament matches made this show worth watching though. This was probably the most fun night for the mini Jr. Tag League tournament.
Match of the Night
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado vs BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi
With the way the Wato/Taguchi vs Bullet Club match went, I think the main event ended to only way it could have. There was a possibility for a three-way tie if Suzuki Gun lost in the main event, and that would have been too complicated for such a small tournament. Plus, this match builds up even more tension for the one on one match to determine the new Jr. heavyweight Tag Champs.
Jr. Heavyweight Tag Title League Bracket (after tonight’s show)
| Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI | Taguchi & Wato | El Desperado & Kanemaru | Ishimori & Gedo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI (4) (2nd Place) | - | 9/6 | 9/9 | 9/5 |
| Taguchi & Wato (2) (4th Place) | Hiromu & BUSHI | - | 9/5 | 9/9 |
| El Desperado & Kanemaru (4) (1st Place) | El Desperado & Kanemaru | Taguchi & Wato | - | 9/6 |
| Ishimori & Gedo (2) (3rd Place) | Hiromu & BUSHI | Ishimori & Gedo | El Desperado & Kanemaru | - |
Jr. Heavyweight Tag Title League Standings
| Team | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Taiji Ishimori (Jr. Heavyweight Champ) & Gedo | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Rysuke Taguchi & Master Wato | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/254248?showResult=1