Tanahashi Bids Farewell To Sapporo Venue
Hiroshi Tanahashi took to Twitter to say goodbye to Tsukisamu Dome in Sapporo. The venue is where Tanahashi won his first IWGP Heavyweight Title in 2006, defeating Giant Bernard in a tournament after the belt was vacated by Brock Lesnar. The dome closed in 2016, and is now being demolished.
初めてIWGPヘビー級ベルトを巻いた会場。初めて「愛してます！」と言った会場。ありがとう。ありがとう #月寒グリーンドーム 。 https://t.co/a2kJ6uSscm
— 棚橋 弘至 (@tanahashi1_100) April 25, 2018
NJPWWorld Schedule For Road To Wrestling Dontaku & Wrestling Hi No Kuni
New Japan Pro Wrestling will present the last Road To Wrestling Dontaku event to air on NJPWWorld.com. The 4/27 show will feature Hirooki Goto defending his NEVER Openweight Championship against Juice Robinson.
Also, in the main event, Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi will face off in tag team action.
ROAD TO WRESTLING DONTAKU (4/27) 5:30am EDT
- Yuya Uemura vs. Ren Narita
- Shota Umino, Tomoyuki Oka & Yuji Nagata vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask & Jushin “Thunder” Liger
- Roppongi 3K (Sho, Yoh & Rocky Romero) vs. Suzuki-gun (TAKA Michinoku, Taichi & Takashi Iizuka)
- David Finlay, Toa Henare, Togi Makabe & Michael Elgin vs. CHAOS (Jay White, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI)
- Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, SANADA, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi) vs. Suzuki-gun (Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki)
- NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Champion Hirooki Goto vs. Juice Robinson
- Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA vs. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay)
This weekend will also see New Japan Pro Wrestling present Wrestling Hi No Kuni. The event will be headlined by Tetsuya Naito challenging Minoru Suzuki for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. Also Killer Elite Squad will face the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, EVIL & SANADA, in a Wrestle Kingdom rematch that’s months in the making.
The event is set to air at 2am EDT on NJPWWorld.com
WRESTLING HI NO KUNI (4/29) 2am EDT
- Ren Narita & Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoyuki Oka & Shota Umino.
- Taguchi Japan (Ryusuke Taguchi, Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Tiger Mask & David Finlay) vs. CHAOS (Sho, Yoh, Rocky Romero & Jay White)
- Togi Makabe & Toa Henare vs. CHAOS (Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii)
- Bullet Club (Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi) & The Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) vs. Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Takashi Iizuka, TAKA Michinoku & Taichi)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, KUSHIDA & Juice Robinson vs. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, Will Ospreay & Hirooki Goto)
- BUSHI vs. El Desperado
- Hiromu Takahashi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA & EVIL) (c) vs. Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.)
- IWGP Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship Match: Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
Correction: The original publication erroneously listed Kota Ibushi as a Bullet Club member.
Post-Match Press Conference Highlights From 4/24
The latest post-match press conferences are up on New Japan Pro Wrestling’s official YouTube channel.
Nagata addresses how it feels celebrating his 50th birthday in an NJPW ring. Henare talks about why Pitbulls are his favorite dogs. Jay White continues to play mind games.
#njdontaku pic.twitter.com/93Aika1lPh
— Ross W Berman IV (Philosopher Pirate) (@RossWBermanIV) April 25, 2018
Ryusuke Tagushi Added To LIONSGATE: Project 12
As Young Lion Tetsuhiro Yagi is currently injured, Ryusuke Taguchi will be stepping into his place on 5/15. Yagi was set to team up with Ren Narita to take on Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Hiro Saito.
The show will also feature the New Japan debut of Daisuke Sekimoto. The show will air on 5/15 at 6am EST on NJPWWorld.com.
Card update! Due to Yagi’s absence, Taguchi stands in to face the legendary Hiro Saito & Tenzan‼︎https://t.co/z0hOsxpEzH#njpw #njgate pic.twitter.com/bxkdPKRIIx
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) April 25, 2018
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