New Japan Pro Wrestling 6/16/2024 New Japan Soul 2024 Day 1

New Japan Pro Wrestling 6/16/2024 New Japan Soul 2024 Day 1

The opener did not air. That had 2 new debuts in it with Zumbido's son being one of them. I skipped one match here:

House Of Torture (Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI & Taichi)

Douki gets double teamed to start. He flying headscissors Ren then YK takes boots from both. Douki goes for a dive but is tripped and pulled out. Douki is sent into the rails. YK elbows Douki in the head then Ren works on Douki. Ren running facekicks Douki.

YK eye rakes Douki then ddt's him. Ren catapults Douki's throat into the bottom rope. Douki flying headbutts Ren then Tacihi facekicks Ren in the corner. Taichi hits Kawada kicks on YK then side kicks him. Ren knee presses Taichi down then YK dropkicks Taichi in the knee. Taichi spin kicks YK the enzugiri's him.

Douki armdrags YK off the hiptoss attempt and springboard back elbows him. YK dropkicks Douki in the knee then figure fours him. YK reverse ddt's Douki then Douki ddt's him. Douki puts him in the Douki chokey. Ren breaks it up then takes a lariat from Taichi.

Douki is pushed into the ref and YK step up enzugiri's him. YK  tries to spit whiskey at him but is stopped then Douki pins him.

Thoughts: It was nothing special as expected with the heels doing basic stuff to the faces and the faces keeping it simple as well. 

Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. House Of Torture (Dick Togo & EVIL)

Goto's team is hit before it starts. Evil stomps Yoshi's leg then arm wringers him. Evil takes a oduble shoulder. Yoshi is hiptossed onto Evil then Togo is double clubbed on. Yoshi chops Evil then Evi lthrows him out. Togo sends Yoshi into the rails then Evil stomps Goto's leg.

Togo stomps Yoshi's leg then Togo punches him off the headlock. Togo fist drops him then eye rakes him. Evil chokes Yoshi with something. Yujiro reverse ddt's Yoshi outside. Yoshi hits forearms then dropkicks Yoshi in the knee. Goto comes in and suplexes Togo onto Yoshi. Yoshi spin kicks Evil in the corner then backdrops him for 2.

Evil sends Goto into the exposed buckle then Togo stomps Goto. Yoshi takes corner attacks and is suplexed. Togo chokes Yoshi with a weapon. Togo gets superkicked then takes a superkick into an ushigoroshi. Togo takes an elbow slice + a bomb and is pinned.

Thoughts: It was your usual HoT match that was nothing special.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & Titan) vs. Just 5 Guys (TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura)

Yuya and Titan go at it. Tita has some weird throat cover on his mask. Titan rolls him with the front facelock. Yuya side headlocks him then dropkicks Naito outside through the ropes. Titan has his legs split. Titan ducks a lariat then jumping kicks Taka.

Naito wristlocks Taka. Titan double stomps Taka's arm off the top. Naito back elbows and baseball slides Taka. Taka pump kicks Naito. Yuya gets in and armdrags and dropkicks Titan. Yuya armdrags and dropkicks Naito.

Yuya crossbodies Naito. Naito step up enzugiri's him then tornado ddt's him. Titan springboard corssbodies Yuya then Yuya backdrops him. Taka gets in and running knees Titan. Taka puts him in just facelock. Naito eye rakes Taka then Taka eye pokes him. Taka superkicks Titan and Titan ddt's hi. Titan topes Taka and Yuya outside then springboard double stomps him to win.

Thoughts: I was surprised to see Titan pick up the win here. It was an okay throwaway tag. They did a decent job putting over Titan and it was nice to see Yuya get to work a faster paced match.

They announced the line-up for the 2021 G-1 Climax. It'll be 2 blocks of 10 wrestlers. Block A has Tetsuya Naito, Shota Umino, Shingo Takagi, SANADA, Great O-Khan, Zack Sabre Jr, Gabe Kidd, EVIL, Jake Lee and a tournament for the last spot.

Block B has Hirooki Goto, El Phantasmo, Yota Tsuji, Jeff Cobb, HENARE, David Finlay, Ren Narita, Yuya Uemura, Konosuke Takeshita and a tournament for the last spot.

Takeshita's definitely going to help out Block B but if history is any judge, he's gonna lose a lot of matches here. Block A's going to have a lot of styles clashes and people I'm not big fans of. As always, I have no idea why none of the US NJPW Strong guys are involved and I don't know why they don't have some other AEW talents involved. As I said before, I have concerns about Naito and Goto being able to make it through the tournament without getting injured.

NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title Match - Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji) (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano

Hiromu and Yano start us off. Yano goes to take a turnbuckle pad off, Yano stops him then Yano takes it off. Yano is tripped into the ropes and Hiromu kicks the ropes. Yano atomic drops him then Hiromu takes a double shoulder. Oleg slams Hiromu and splashes him for 2. Yano takes a triple team with dropkicks to the leg.

Bushi knee chokes Yano in the corner. Yano takes a top rope double axe handle on the arm. Hiromu corner lariats Yano then basement dropkicks him. Yano pushes Hiromu and Bushi into each other then pulls them both down backwards. Tana dropkicks Yota in the knee then flying forearms him.

Tana slams Yota then 2nd rope swantons him for 2. Yota throws Tana over the top and Tana skins the cat up. Yota splashes Tana and shoulders him over. Yota splashes him for 2. Tana hits a twist and shout. Oleg gets in and hits shots on Yota.

Oleg blocks a flying headscissors and turns it into a karelin's lift. Yota basement dropkicks him. Bushi top rope dropkicks Oleg then spinning neckbreakers him. Oleg takes corner attacks, a superkick and a backstabber. Everyone starts getting in. Tana hits a double dragon screw then slingblades Bushi. Bushi step up enzugiri's Oleg. Bushi rolls him up then Tana hits a triple crossbody off the top. Oleg finlay rolls Bushi and wins.

Thoughts: It was shorter and far the best it could have been. It was okay though for a random micard match. I don't think I ever saw a double dragon screw and a triple crossbody like we saw here.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match - BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney) (c) vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles)

Clark takes a hiptoss into a PK. Drilla has his knees banged off the mat. Kosei goes for a dive and gets pounced by Clark. Drill and Rob fight in the seats then Rob is thrown into them. Kosei is then thrown into the seats. Kosei's head is banged off the post then Clark chokes him with his knee.

Drilla foot chokes Kosei then spinning chops him. Drilla holds Kosei and Clark elbow drops Kosei. Clark ties up both of Kosei's legs. Kosei flying kicks Clark. Drilla and Rob get in. Rob flying hurricanrana's Drilla then hits chest kicks. Rob kicks Clark then elbows him in the back of the neck.

Rob running knees Drilla in the corner. Rob rolls Drilla and ties up his legs. Clark then breaks it up.  Rob and Kosei hit stereo springboard dropkicks. Kosei springboard swantons outside. Drilla takes a t-gimmick. Clark gets thrown over the top then he slips off the apron. Kosei tries to sunset flip Drilla but gets double stomped. Kosei avoids the senton though.

Clark powerslams Rob. Kosie backrolls Clark then ties up his legs with a chinlock. Rob ties up Drilla's legs while Clark is pulled backwards with the chinlock. Rob is caught on a tope con hilo and takes a piledriver on the floor. Clark hits a big spear on Kosei then Kosei takes a high/low for 2.

 Kosei spinning high kicks Clark then pop-up germans him for 2. Kosei takes an over the shoulder piledriver. Clark suplexes Kosei. Kosei takes a slam + crossbody and is pinned.

Thoughts: It was okay with the point of this being to put over Kosei some. Kosei didn't impress that much though and didn't really get the spots he needed to do this right.

NEVER Openweight Title Match - Shingo Takagi (c) vs. HENARE

They go head to head and trade forearms while Shingo has his jacket on. They collide with shoulders. Shingo hits a double chop and is headbutted. They headbutt battle and Henare jumping headbutts him. Henare hits a chest kick and Shingo shoulders him over. Shingo hits a chop and punch combo in the corner.

Shingo backdrops him and suplexes him for 2. Henare is sent into the rails outside and they bang each others heads off the apron. Henare hits forearms then is lariated over. Shingo hits knees to the gut and pop-up samoan dropped. Henare throws him down and sentons him.  

Henare springboard enzugiri's him then berzerker bombs him. Shingo hits a punch and a ddt. Shingo hits another ddt then superplexes him. Shingo lariats him twice and slaps him around. Shingo hits forearms then hits a big lariat. Henare hits a big spear. Henare PK's him then is shouldered over.

Shingo and Henare trade headbutts and slaps. They trade kicks for chops. Henare spinning heel kicks him then Shingo hits a last of the dragon for 2. Shingo sliding lariats him then takes a knee from Henare. They headbutt battle. Shingo is knocked down, pops up and lariats him. Henare headbutts him down and Shingo sliding forearms him.

They collide with lariats. Henare hits a spin kick and Shingo lariats him over. Shingo hits a big lariat for 2 then Henare hits a streets of rage for 2. Shingo hits chest headbutts then is headbutted and PK'd for 2. Shingo slaps and headbutts him then Henare headbutts him in the shoulder to win.

Thoughts: It was their usual match with lots of headbutts, lariats and power moves. The crowd did react but didn't go as crazy as they should have. Something just didn't fully click here despite all of the pieces being there and I'm not sure what it was. It was good but not great.

IWGP Global Heavyweight Title Match - David Finlay (c) vs. SANADA

DF spits on him on a rope break to start. Sanada shoulders him over, leapfrogs and dropkicks him. Sanada is knocked off the apron and has his head banged off the apron. DF hits mounted punches. DF rakes him with his boot.

Sanada and DF hit shots to the gut and Sanada misses a standing moonsault. Sanada is thrown into the buckles. DF throws him on a suplex then is back body dropped over the top. Sanada hits some plancha's. Sanada russian legsweeps him. DF blue thunders him then lariats him over the top. Sanada is sent into the rails then back body drops DF on the floor. DF charges at him and runs into the rails. Sanada ddt's him on the floor outside.

DF spits at him and gives him the finger. Sanada flurries him with punches and pushes the ref. DF pulls Sanada's throat into the ropes. Sanada takes snak eyes and a dominator for 2. DF crossfaces Sanada then lariats him in the back of the head for 2.

Sanada hurricanrana's him then dragon sleepers him off a backroll. DF gets his knees up on a top rope moonsault. They trade shots on their knees and trade euros. Sanada hits a bridging twisting neckbreaker after a dragon sleeper attempt. Sanada top rope moonsaults him for 2. Gedo tries to get involved and Sanada kicks the rope into his crotch. Sanada shining wizards DF from behind. Sanada misses a shining wizard and takes oblivion for 2.

Sanada bridge pins him for 2 the hits a shining wizard. Sanada enzugiri's him. DF powerbombs him then hits overkill to win.

Thoughts: It was an average match as expected. DF is just not a main event level talent  and Sanada is not the type of guy to carry him to the next level. There was nothing special about this. There were no big spots. There were no great feats of athleticism and there were no big kickouts.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Steel Cage Match - SHO (c) vs. El Desperado

Sho is heavily checked for weapons and many are found. Why this matters in a No DQ Cage Match is unknown.

They trade some basic holds. Sho trips him and ties up his legs and arm. Despy armlocks him and side headlock takedowns him. Sho headscissors him and gets leglocked. Despy armdrags and shoulders him over. Sho slides out and sends him into the cage. Despy back body drops him on the floor.

Evil gives Sho a wrench, the ref takes it and Sho hiptosses Despy into the cage. Despy is sent into the cage then has his mask ripped. Desy's head and face are raked on the cage. Sho eye rakes him and chokes him with the turnbuckle pad strap. 

Despy hits chops then is punched. Despy is busted open. He headbutts Sho and takes a knee to the gut. Despy is laid on the top rope and knee'd by Sho. Sho lariats him off the apron then sends him into the cage. Sho is sent into the cage then Despy tope con hilos him through the ropes into the cage. Despy sends Sho into the cage many times.

Despy backdrops and suplexes him. Despy top rope frogsplashes him. Despy pump handle bombs him for 2 and Sho throws him down backwards. Sho takes off a turnbuckle pad and Despy goes into it twice. 

Sho puts Despy in a gogoplata. Sho lariats him then sitout dominators him for 2. Despy olympic slams him. Sho hits a forearm flurry then is forearmed over. Despy hits pinche loco then Despy is pushed into the ref. Sho shotgun dropkicks Despy into the ref.

House of Torture come down. Despy's face is pushed against the cage and Ren chairs it. House of Torture throw chairs in. Despy chairs Sho. Sho is put on the chair seat and Despy chairs the chair. Team New Japan fights with House of Torture then Sho low blows Despy. Despy beach breaks him and hits a jay driller and an angel's wings to win.

Thoughts: It was nothing special. It was just a basic heel vs face match for the most part with Sho cheating or using the cage to hurt Despy, then Despy made his comeback and won. Having a ref bump in this was stupid especially since it's a cage match and nobody was going to be DQ'd.

Despy talks on the mic after and Douki comes down, likely setting up a match.

Overall thoughts: On paper it looked like it maybe could have been good but it didn't deliver. Sho and Despy had a basic and average match in the cage. Finlay/Sanada was nothing of note. Shingo and Henare had a good but not great match. The Junior Title match was okay and maybe the second best match of the night and nothing else was really worth seeing. It's just not a good period for NJPW with a depleted roster and House of Torture shenanigans stinking up multiple matches at a time. I wouldn't recommend this.