Remembering Mitsuharu Misawa
While not a New Japan wrestler, New Japan Pro Wednesday would be remiss not to remember Mitsuharu Misawa on the 9th anniversary of his death on June 13th, 2009. Misawa was 5 time AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, a 3 time GHC Heavyweight Champion, and the founder of Pro Wrestling NOAH.
Misawa’s legend was built in AJPW in the 90s. His historic rivalries Kenta Kobashi and Toshiaki Kawada were responsible for some of the greatest matches of all time, including a 6 star match against Kawada on June 3rd, 1994. After the death of AJPW owner Giant Baba, Misawa led an exodus from the promotion. He named the promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH, after the biblical Noah who built an ark to save human and animal life from a great flood.
Misawa died from a cervical spinal cord injury. Misawa was tagging with Go Shiozaki against Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith, when he lost consciousness following a Belly To Back Suplex from Saito. He was pronounced dead later that night.
Misawa’s legacy goes beyond classic matches and founding Pro Wrestling NOAH. Misawa created the Emerald Flowsion move, and as his time as the second Tiger Mask, he invented the Tiger Driver. Misawa was 46 when he died.
Below is Pro Wrestling NOAH’s ceremony for their fallen founder, featuring a retrospective.
Lionsgate Project 13 Results
New Japan Pro Wrestling presented LIONSGATE Project 13 on Wednesday. The event saw the rookies of the NJPW Dojo do battle, as they build their skills and hope to impress the higher-ups. The show was headlined by Shota Umino taking on Ayato Yoshida. The entire event is available on NJPWWorld.com.
- Yota Tsuji wrestled Yuya Uemura to a Time Limit Draw (10:00)
- Ren Narita def. Shunske Sayama by submission via Boston Crab (8:02)
- Toa Henare & Manabu Nakanishi def. Dinosaur Takuma & Hiroyoshi Tenzan by pinfall. (10:33)
Toa Henare pinned Dinosaur Takuma via Uranage. - Yuji Nagata def. Tomoyuki Oka by pinfall via Backdrop Driver. (12:38)
- Ayato Yoshida def. Shota Umino by pinfall via Backdrop Driver. (16:47)
Kizuna Road 2017
NJPW will be following up their wildly successful Dominion event with the Kizuna Road Tour. Three shows from the tour are scheduled to air live on NJPWWorld. June 17th will see Michael Elgin defend his newly won NEVER Openweight Championship against the previous title holder, Hirooki Goto.
6/17 5:30am EDT
- Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
- Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata vs. Shota Umino & Tomoyuki Oka
- Ren Narita & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori)
- Taguchi Japan (Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA, Toa Henare, Jeff Cobb & Togi Makabe) vs. CHAOS (SHO, YOH, YOSHI-HASHI, Rocky Romero & Toru Yano)
- Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi) vs. Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado, TAKA Michinoku, Taichi & Takashi Iizuka)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, David Finlay & Juice Robinson vs. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Jay White)
- NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Michael Elgin (c) vs. Hirooki Goto
June 18th will see Hiromu Takahashi defend his IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship against rival El Desperado.
6/18 5:30am EDT
- Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
- Ren Narita & Shota Umino vs. Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori)
- Tomoyuki Oka & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata.
- Taguchi Japan (Ryusuke Taguchi, Toa Henare, David Finlay & Togi Makabe) vs. CHAOS (SHO, YOH, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano)
- Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) vs. Suzuki-gun (TAKA Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & Takashi Iizuka)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Jeff Cobb, Juice Robinson & KUSHIDA vs. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Jay White, Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo)
- IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match: Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. El Desperado
June 19th will be the retirement celebration of NJPW legend Super Strong Machine. The show will be headlined by a huge 10-man tag match that will see Los Ingobernables de Japon take on 5 Super Strong Machines, with the original looking on.
6/19 5:30am EDT
- Ren Narita & KUSHIDA vs. Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori)
- Togi Makabe, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Toa Henare, Shota Umino & Tomoyuki Oka
- Roppongi 3K (SHO, YOH & Rocky Romero) vs. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku)
- CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) vs. Suzuki-gun (Taichi & Takashi Iizuka)
- Michael Elgin, Juice Robinson, Jeff Cobb & David Finlay vs. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Jay White)
- Super Strong Machine Commemorative Invitational Match: Super Strong Machine Ace (likely Hiroshi Tanahashi), Super Strong Machine No. 69 (likely Ryusuke Taguchi), Super Strong Machine Justice (likely Yuji Nagata), Super Strong Machine Buffalo (likely Hiroyoshi Tenzan), Super Strong Machine Don (likely Manabu Nakanishi) (w/ Super Strong Machine) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, SANADA, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi)
The retirement of the legendary Super Strong Machine – highlight the Kizuna Road tour#njpw #njkizunahttps://t.co/yzf4fls7IB pic.twitter.com/dheSBPTk9R
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) June 11, 2018
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