NJPW Soul tour - June 16 - July 5, 2024

[Chris]

IWGP Global, Jr. Tag title matches set for Soul in Sapporo!​

June 16 sees two championship bouts official

Two championship matches have been made official for New Japan Soul in Sapporo’s Hokkai Kita Yell June 16, with a loaded lineup set to kick off the summer in style up north!

Watch New Japan Soul LIVE in English on NJPW World!

David Finlay will defend the IWGP Global heavyweight Championship against the returning SANADA. After his first reign was very quickly cut short by Nic Nemeth, David Finlay had been driven to regain the IWGP Global Championship he said was ‘created for him’, and did indeed become a two time champion at Dontaku. In the wake of his victory, Finlay threw out the name that was ‘the only small blemish’ to his past year, that being SANADA. Having lost to SANADA in the 2023 New Japan Cup finals, Finlay was driven to score revenge, but a health concern saw to it that they wouldn’t meet in the 2024 tournament.

Now Finlay finally gets his rematch with SANADA. For the Just Five Guys member meanwhile some new hunger for gold has been building. SANADA has said his status as a former World Champion will bring much needed prestige to the young title. In the same venue where Finlay’s first reign was cut short, will lightning strike twice, or will the Rebel get his Gloabl title reign properly on track?

Also confirmed for Soul, TMDK challenge IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Drilla Moloney and Clark Connors. The War Dogs continued to rampage through Best of the Super Jr 31, and if it wasn’t results they were getting, it was headlines through a destructive wave that even saw more than one referee in its path. Yet for all of Connors’ explosivity, and the complete establishment of Moloney’s Drilla Killa as the most powerful finishing move in professional wrestling today, TMDK seem to have their number.

Following on from a win in Super Jr. Tag League for Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita in a mere 3:33, the ‘Ichiban Sweet Boys’ each achieved singles success over Moloney and Connors respectively in the Best of the Super Jr. tournament. Then in six man action on semifinal night, the result was a TMDK win again; even a post match beat down from the champions was quickly defused. For the champions, what started as an irritating distraction has now become a source of full blown rage, but will TMDK secure tag god in Sapporo?​

 

[Chris]

New Japan Soul night 1 (June 16) Full card, preview​

Loaded night in Hokkai Kita Yell

June 16 sees the second of two nights for much of NJPW in Sapporo, as after All Together on June 15, the next night will see the start fop the New Japan Soul tour.

The tour to come will see a lot of high stakes matchups as G1 Climax 34 qualifiers will be taking place, but before that, a stacked lineup will see a lot of fallout from Dominion and a historic main event.
Watch New Japan Soul LIVE in English on NJPW World!
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Main event: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Match- SHO vs El Desperado​

Singles record: 3–3

The main event sees Best of the Super Jr. winner El Desperado get his shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion SHO- under unique circumstances in the first singles match contested inside a steel cage in 20 years in NJPW, and the first time ever the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship has been on the line in the environment.

Desperado lost the junior heavyweight gold in the same venue of Hokkai Kita Yell back during the New Beginning tour. It was a match that saw a parade of interference culminating in Ren Narita appearing from underneath the ring and choking out the then champion to allow SHO to win via countout. From there, SHO has put together a reign marked either with luck, as his match against YOH at Sakura Genesis ended barely after it began due to injury, or more interference, against DOUKI at Satsuma no Kuni.

SHO couldn't resist attempting to rain on Despe’s parade after the masked man won his first ever Best of the Super Jr. trophy in the main event of Dominion. As SHO attempted to vigorously stroke his own ego, Desperado suggested that if he truly can win all by himself with no outside interference, he should have no issue taking a steel cage match. Certainly a whole new side of SHO will have to be shown in this one if he’s to survive with his junior title- or given Desperado’s sadistic reputation, if he’s to survive at all.
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8th Match: IWGP Global Championship- SANADA vs David Finlay​

Singles record: 1–0 SANADA

Already announced for New Japan Soul, per David Finlay’s request, his first defence of his second reign as IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion will be against SANADA. Back in the 2023 New Japan Cup, SANADA’s first time with the spring trophy, and his route to the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, ran through Finlay in the finals, and the Rebel would since be determined to gain revenge.

That revenge could have come in the New Japan Cup one year later as the brackets worked out, but Finlay’s sudden withdrawal due to health concerns put paid to the bout taking place. In the end Finlay returned and seized ‘his’ Global gold from Nic Nemeth at Dontaku, before demanding to face SANADA, recovering from his own health issues, for that title. SANADA, musing that a former world champion winning the Global title would add considerable prestige to the new belt, readily accepted, but who will leave with the white and gold belt?
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7th Match: NEVER Openweight Championship- HENARE vs Shingo Takagi​

Singles record: 2–2–1

The NEVER Openweight Championship will be on the line when Shingo Takagi defends against HENARE in a rematch from Dominion. HENARE promised that the ‘mana’ of champion and challenger would collide over the NEVER title in Osaka, and that it indeed did, but neither man seemed to be stronger than the other, and a hard hitting war ended in a double knockout. Coming to before Takagi, HENARE was furious and frustrated, asking for one more shot to settle this score. Will that score be settled int he Maori Berserker’s favour?
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6th Match: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships- TMDK (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita) vs BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors)​

Tag record: 1–0 TMDK

Also already announced after tangles during the Best of the Super Jr. series, Kosei Fujita and Robbie Eagles challenge for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championships in Sapporo. A pair of singles wins for Fujita and Eagles over the champions can be added to a three minute, 33 second win for the duo over the War Dogs during Super Jr. Tag League, as the Ichiban Sweet Boys seem to consistently have the War Dogs number. Will they have their titles as well after Sunday?
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5th Match: NEVER Openweight 6 man Tag Team Championships: Boltin Oleg, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Yota Tsuji, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi)​

Six man record: 1–0 LIJ

Another rematch from Dominion sees Los Ingobernables De Japon put their freshly won NEVER 6 Man titles on the line against the former champions, Boltin Yano and Tanahashi. Two headlines came out of the NEVER 6 man bout at Dominion June 9. The first was Tsuji getting an emphatic win to secure his first NJPW championship after delivering a Gene Blast to his one time mentor Tanahashi. The other was an incredible physical performance from Boltin, who was the standout on the outgoing champion side, and was not satisfied with the end result. As Boltin requested one more go at the trios belts, the challenge has been accepted for the first of our five title matches on the night.
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4th Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Titan & Tetsuya Naito) vs Just Five Guys (TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura)​

LIJ face Just Five Guys in tag team action in Hokkaido. One night after his main event meeting with Jake Lee at All Together, Naito will want to reset his sights on Forbidden Door, and his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship challenge to Jon Moxley. Meanwhile Uemura, freshly relieved of his KOPW 2024 title thanks to Great-O-Khan, wants to set a new course to gold and glory through G1 Climax 34.
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3rd Match: YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Shota Umino vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL)​

At Dominion, Shota Umino was a key force in the corner of Jon Moxley as he and the Third Generation saw to it that the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship did not fall into EVIL hands. The King of Darkness has revenge on hsi mind though, and with Bishamon as powerful partners to the Roughneck, this should be a heated six man bout.
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2nd Match: Just Five Guys (DOUKI & Taichi) vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Ren Narita)​

Tag action sees DOUKI and Taichi team up against Kanemaru and Narita of HOUSE OF TORTURE. Taichi and Kanemaru’s long friendship was torn asunder last autumn when Kanemaru joined H.O.T, while DOUKI has not forgotten about how Narita cost him the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship back in April, leading to a lot of bad blood in this one.
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1st Match: Katsuya Murashima, Shoma Kato, Tomoaki Honma, Tomohiro Ishii & Satoshi Kojima vs United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & TJP)​

Ten man action gets the main card underway as a Hontai force, including the returning MLW Champion Satoshi Kojima face off against a full strength United Empire force, including a recovered Francesco Akira making his return. As Akira seeks to hit the ground running, and O-Khan and Cobb want to assert their will as champions, Callum Newman wants to assert himself as someone who could enter the qualifiers to be in the G1.
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Kickoff: Young Lion Debut Match- Masatora Yasuda vs Daiki Nagai​

A ten minute kickoff match will see the debuts of new Young Lions Masatora Yasuda and Daiki Nagai.

Born in Mexico and raised from the age of three in Sapporo, 175 cm, 83 kg Yasuda is actually a second generation wrestler, the son of luchador Zumbido. Initially accepted into the Dojo in 2020, the 24 year old sustained an injury and withdrew from the Dojo before refocusing in 2022, and now making his home prefecture debut.

21 year old Nagai, at 170 cm and 84 kg, debuts after joining the Dojo in April 2023. Nagai graduated high school in his home of Kawasaki before joining the Japan Self Defence Forces, his military trainign preparing himn for the rigours of the wrestling ring. How will these two fare at the beginning of their pro-wrestling journeys?​

 

[Leon TrotSky]

Half Mexican YL? I hope his eventual excursion isn't just to CMLL and is somehow completely left field

 

[Kim Jong Umb]

fuck I remember Robbie Eagles I figured he be stateside promotion by now.

 

[Chris]

LIJ lost the 6 man titles back just like that lmao

 

[Chris]

Shota Umino, who was scheduled to participate in the "NEW JAPAN SOUL" Sapporo tournament held today, will also be absent due to a back injury. Due to this, there will be some changes to the fight card. We apologize for the sudden announcement and thank you for your understanding.

 

[Chris]

Hell yeah that Henare win ruled

 

[Chris]

These Kennel from hell cages have got to go

 

[Chris]

Big matches made for Tokyo Budokan July 5​

IWGP Junior Heavyweight title bout, G1 qualifier finals

The New Japan Soul tour will conclude on July 5, when NJPW heads to the Tokyo Budokan for the first time since 2002, with big matches now confirmed for the last Japanese event before G1 Climax 34.

Watch live in English on NJPW World!

The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship will be on the line when El Desperado tales on DOUKI. After Desperado was victorious over SHO in Sapporo to lift the junior gold once more, he called out DOUKI, stating that their semifinal match in Best of the Super Jr. was an indicator that Japaones Del mal can produce in an IWGP Championship setting. A deep emotional connection exists between these two men, but the championship is top priotity for both champion and challenger in this Korakuen rematch.

After first round matches over the June 22 and 23 weekend, and then semifinals on July 3 in Korakuen Hall, we will find out the last two members of the G1 Climax 34 lineup at the New Japan Soul finale. who will complete the lineup in the tournament of tournaments?

Having grown up in the Adachi area of Tokyo, BUSHI and Tetsuya Naito have a homecoming match in the Tokyo Budokan when they combine for an all LIJ bout. BUSHI, Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito will take on Titan, Hiromu Takahashi and Yota Tsuji, and they will not be holding back in this supposed ‘friendly’.

Plus, after a road accident took him out of the running in Best of the Super Jr. Ryusuke Taguchi will make his return to the ring on July 5. We’ll find out the Coach’s competition in due course, as well as the rest of what will be a stacked card in the Tokyo Budokan!​

 

[Chris]

New Japan Soul night 4 (June 22) Preview​

G1 qualifiers get underway

After two nights on the road and away from the cameras, action on the New Japan Soul tour will continue on June 22. LIJ and HOUSE OF TORTURE will take the top spot on the card, while the first qualifying matches are set to take place ahead of G1 Climax 34!

Watch live or in English on demand on NJPW World!
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Main event: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Titan, BUSHI, Yota Tsuji & Tetsuya Naito) vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (Yoshinobu Kanemaru, SHO, Ren Narita & EVIL)​

An eight man main event sees Los Ingobernables De Japon tangle with familiar enemies in HOUSE OF TORTURE. Tetsuya Naito’s IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match with Jon Moxley, a rematch rom Windy City Riot, is now set for June 30 and Forbidden Door. Some hints may come in competition with the man who last fell to Moxley at Dominion in EVIL, who along with his crew wants to make a statement after his Osaka loss and ahead of G1 Climax 34 entry.
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6th Match: G1 Climax 34 A Block Qualifier 1st round- YOSHI-HASHI vs Chase Owens​

Singles record: 2–0 YOSHI-HASHI

First round qualifier action sees YOSHI-HASHI and Chase Owens vying to be a part of the twenty entrants in G1 Climax 34. The winner of this contest will meet another tough test in Tomohiro Ishii on July 3; will the Headhunter score his third singles win over Chase Owens, or after tag team victory for he and KENTA over Bishamon back in May, will it be third time lucky in a singles setting for the BULLET CLUB member?
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5th Match: G1 Climax 34 A Block Qualifier 1st round- Callum Newman vs Yujiro Takahashi​

Our other first round qualifier match for A Block will pit Callum Newman against Yujiro Takahashi. Yujiro will have to slow the Prince of Pace if he’s to take a step closer to his first G1 in two years, while Callum Newman will need to step up and claim his biggest singles victory to date in NJPW, a rematch with first round bye Tomohiro ishii portentially in the offing July 3 in Korakuen.
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4th Match: Boltin Oleg, El Desperado, Toru Yano, Hirooki Goto & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Just Five Guys (TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA)​

Ten man tag team action will see brand new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado facing off opposite DOUKI, ahead of their title bout July 5. Meanwhile, the NEVER Openweight 6 man Tag Team Champions are on the same side tonight, but the Be-Bop Champions will have to refocus on individual competition the very next night, where Boltin will face Toru Yano as Tanahashi awaits with a second round bye.
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3rd Match: Tomoaki Honma, Tomohiro Ishii & Satoshi Kojima vs United Empire (HENARE, Jeff Cobb & TJP)​

Six man action will see a preview of Sunday’s G1 Qualifier first round between TJP and Satoshi Kojima. With new NEVER Openweight Champion HENARE in action and Jeff Cobb and Tomohiro Ishii back opposite one another, the hits should be hard as United Empire want to put together a show of force ahead of Newman’s qualifier to come later in the evening.
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2nd Match: Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato vs United Empire (Francesco Akira & Great-O-Khan)​

KOPW 2024 Champion Great-O-Khan is in action alongside Francesco Akira in the second match of the evening. As Murashima and Kato are no longer the most junior members of the active NJPW roster, will we see them step up against their much more established competition?
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1st Match: Masatora Yasuda vs Daiki Nagai​

Singles record: 0–0–3

After their debuts on night one of New Japan Soul, Masatora Yasuda and Daiki Nagai go head to head with ten minutes on the clock. If prior Young Lion form is anything to go by over the years, it’s unlikely we’ll see a winner in this one, but should either youngster get a result it could instantly define their new careers for years to come.​

 

[Chris]

No Ishii in G1, fuck this company

 

[Apoho Creed]

Man they are super pushing Newman to the Moon aren't they? I like Newman but he should of been out from the get go. YOSHI HASHI I don't know man I'm indifferent towards him. Sometimes he'll give you a damn good Match then he rack up a bunch of stinkers.

Taichi better beat Oleg!

 

[Chris]

New Japan Soul night 8 (July 5) full card, preview​

G1 Qualifier finals, Naito homecoming, IWGP Junior title

The New Japan Soul tour reaches its conclusion on July 5, and along with it we see the last domestic steps made on the road to G1 Climax 34. The Tokyo Budokan will see the qualifying tournament finals, while BUSHI and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito wrestle in their home district of Tokyo in Adachi for the first time ever in their careers. Indeed, this is the first event in the Tokyo Budokan since 2002 with a historical link to one of our undercard matches tonight.

Watch live in English on NJPW World!
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Main event: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship- El Desperado vs DOUKI​

Singles record: 4–0 Desperado

The main event sees El Desperado seeking his first defence of his fourth reign as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion when he battles DOUKI. Years of history links these two men long before DOUKI’s NJPW debut in 2019; both competed in Mexico and spent considerable time with one another in the country. When a broken jaw for Desperado necessitated a last minute entry into Best of the Super Jr. in 2019, it coincided with DOUKI beiong back in Japan, and Japones Del Mal’s personal connections to Taichi and Desperado led to him being a part of Suzuki-Gun before the group disbanded in 2022.

Though DOUKI and Desperado subsequently went separate ways, their mutual respect has been intact and Desperado’s presence as a big brother figure to DOUKI has not been diminished. Subsequently every time the two have tied up, there’s beena sense that Desperado has been testing DOUKI’s progress as a rounded professional wrestler, and the BOSJ semifinals this year was one such test.

After DOUKI nearly drove Desperado to unconsciousness in a Korakuen Hall nail biter, Despe would later confess that it was a corner turned for DOUKI- that he was more than capable of competing at an IWGP championship level. Indeed that’s been borne out with his results in 2024, including a pair of wins over Hiromu Takahashi, and a first time career victory over Robbie Eagles. Yet DOUKI has never beaten Desperado- can he defeat someone he’s never defeated to win a title he’s never been able to call his own?
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6th Match: Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI Homecoming- Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi) vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Titan, Yota Tsuji &Hiromu Takahashi)​

An all Los Ingobernables six man tag team match will see Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI in their Adachi homecomings. Naito started his pro wrestling journey in the famed Animal Hamaguchi gym while working part time in a convenience store; his high school junior BUSHI first made acquaintance with the future El Ingobernable when school rumours led him to drop by on Naito at work and ask for a way into the pro-wrestling business. It all eventually begat what LIJ became, and there are many a thread between the competitors in this contest.

Perhaps the most discussed of those threads is the one that exists between Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi. A singles match between early career mentor and protege has been one oft talked about ever since it was on the table back in early 2020. The COVID pandemic saw it cancelled and the timing for the two to be in opposite corners has never quite worked out. Tonight, Hiromu and Naito will be opposite one another for the very first time in their careers, and for one, Hiromu is determined not to let this be a one and done.
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5th Match: G1 Climax 34 B Block Qualifier Final- Boltin Oleg vs Taichi​

In what should be a hard hitting heavyweight clash, Boltin Oleg faces Taichi for a place in the G1 Climax 34 B Block. Boltin reached the qualifier final by defeating both of his NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Team Championship teammates, with a win against Toru Yano followed by an incredible upset against Hiroshi Tanahashi. It puts the big man from Kazakhstan in position to make the fastest turnaround from in ring debut to G1 entry since Shinsuke Nakamura in 2003, but to get there, he has to defeat Taichi.

Taichi’s wrestling leanings are more on the sumo dohyo than the amateur mats, and the Holy Emperor has been upset at his perceived rankings dropping. As someone who didn’t make his G1 debut until 2019 among a lot of trials and tribulations, and a pronounced shift in attitude after transitioning to heavyweight, the Just Five Guys member is not willing to give up his spot in the tournament of tournamwents to someone so inexperienced. Will Boltin be able to continue his hot streak, or will he learn a valuable lesson in overcoming setbacks from Taichi?
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4th Match: G1 Climax 34 A Block Qualifier Final: Callum Newman vs YOSHI-HASHI​

Driven to tie La Sombra at 21 as the youngest G1 entrant, Prince of Pace Callum Neman has been enjoying a hot streak of his own in this qualifier tournament. While his singles track record in NJPW was brief and largely on the losing end of the ledger until his summer began, Newman secured the biggest win of his young career against Yujiro Takahashi June 22 before topping that by some margin with a very hard fought win against KENTA July 3. Now he wants one more win to how that he belongs in the very top flight of professional wrestling that is the Grade One.

Yet YOSHI-HASHI is someone who wants to keep that honour just as badly. His semifinal victory over Tomohiro Ishii was a clash of iron wills and determination, one that saw the Headhunter survive and secure his first ever career suingles victory over his senior. Much like Taichi in the opposite block, he’s determined to show that a veteran’s drive can defeat youthful vigour; who will reach the G1?
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3rd Match: Ryusuke Taguchi return- Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma, Yuji Nagata & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (Yoshinobu Kanemaru, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita & EVIL)​

After injuries sustained in a road accident back in the spring put the Coach on the shelf for the last few months, Ryusuke Taguchi returns to action in Adachi as he captains a Hontai squad against the HOUSE OF TORTURE. In among the five man Hontai team are two of the three, along with Gedo, participants on tonight’s card that can say they’ve wrestled in the Tokyo Budokan before- Hiroshi Tanahashi, who is facing the prospect of his first summer without a G1 entry in 23 years, and Yuji Nagata. The last time NJPW was in the Tokyo Budokan, Nagata defeated Tadao Yasuda to start a legendary V10 IWGP Heavyweight Championshiop reign; at that point the most dominant in history. Tonight a chance to commemorate by bringing some Blue Justice to the HOUSE OF TORTURE.
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2nd Match: Just Five Guys (TAKA Michinoku, Yuya Uemura & SANADA) vs United Empire (Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & TJP)​

Six man action will pit three of Just Five Guys against the United Empire. While TJP comes to terms with his eleimination from G1 contention, he seeks to captain his trio of Akira and KOPW 2024 title holder O-Khan, who is getting set to start his G1 campaign opposite Zack Sabre Jr. in Osaka on July 20. This match also sees an early preview of August 8 in Yokohama where O-Khan and SANADA meet at a critical G1 juncture; who can set the pace for the summer?
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1st Match: TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs BULLET CLUB (KENTA & Gedo)​

Tag team action will kick us off in Adachi as TMDK battle BULLET CLUB. Zack Sabre Jr. and KENTA have had memorable exchanges in G1s past, but KENTA has not made the Grade One in 2024, while Sabre, fresh off a momentum building win against Orange Cassidy at Forbidden Door is looking to make the summer his.​

 

[Chris]

WHAT THE FUCK DOUKI JUST WON THE TITLE

 

[Chris]

Absolutely baffling Despy booking but I'm so happy for Douki I'll be mad at that later