New Japan Pro Wrestling celebrated half-a-century of operations on Tuesday. Legends from NJPW’s past returned to the cerulean canvas to pay tribute to the company.
In the main event, three legendary champions teamed up to face a trio of vicious wrestlers. IWGP World Heavyweight Champion wrestled alongside Hiroshi Tanahashi and NJPW legend Tatsumi Fujinami to defeat Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., and technical-wrestling master Yoshiaki Fujiwara. The match was a nostalgic styles clash, as the three company aces overcame the intense stretching at the hands of the three grapplers.
Elsewhere on the card Great Bash Heel reunited for one night only, as GBH’s Makabe & Honma reunited with Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii and first IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Shiro Koshinaka. The five men lost to Los Ingobernables de Japon.
Koshinaka wasn’t the only former-Jr. champion to return, as Minoru Tanaka teamed with Taichi & TAKA Michinoku in a losing effort against Bullet Club. The BC trio’s celebration was cut short backstage, as Gedo informed them that Jay White was making them choose sides.
Gedo addressed @elpwrestling, Ishimori and Bad Luck Fale backstage today: "Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you. I have a message for you from @JayWhiteNZ. Jay said, 'Which side are you going to be on? I hope you guys make the right choice.' I hope so, too." pic.twitter.com/3SzfGZ1ssX
— Ciarán (@CiaranRH93) March 1, 2022
Elsewhere on the show, United Empire stood victorious over the third generation and a team of Young Lions, and House of Torture also got to beat some sense into rookie Ryohei Oiwa. The IWGP Heavyweight and Junior Heavyweight tag champs went to war, with CHAOS defeating Six or Nine relatively soundly. Everyone is gearing up for this month’s New Japan Cup, hoping to head into Wednesday’s kickoff with as much momentum as possible.
Here are the full results:
3/1
NJPW 50th Anniversary Show
Available on NJPWWorld.com for Non-Japanese residents
- House of Torture (EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO) def. Tiger Mask, YOH & Ryohei Oiwa by pinfall. (6:35)
Yujiro Takahashi pinned Ryohei Oiwa via Pimp Juice. - Bullet Club (El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & Bad Luck Fale) def. Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Minoru Tanaka by pinfall. (9:50)
El Phantasmo pinned TAKA Michinoku via Thunder Kiss ’86. - STRONGHEARTS (CIMA, T-Hawk & El Lindaman) def. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI) by pinfall. (9:22)
CIMA pinned DOUKI via Meteora. - United Empire (Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Aaron Henare) def. Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, Kosei Fujita & Yuto Nakashima by pinfall. (9:20)
Great-O-Khan pinned Kosei Fujita via Eliminator. - Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI) vs. Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Shiro Koshinaka) by pinfall. (12:38)
Shingo Takagi pinned Tomoaki Honma via Last of the Dragon. - Non-Title Match: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto) def. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Six or Nine (Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi) by pinfall. (15:04)
Hirooki Goto pinned Ryusuke Taguchi via Shoto. - Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tatsumi Fujinami def. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshiaki Fujiwara by pinfall. (18:12)
Kazuchika Okada pinned Minoru Suzuki via Rainmaker.
NJPW will return for New Japan Cup: Night 1 on March 2nd at 3:30am ET on NJPWWorld.com
