We are over halfway through the tournament, and it’s back to B Block Tournament action. As per the usual format, the first half of the show will feature tag matches between wrestlers competing in the A Block tournament on Monday.
Bad Luck Fale & Tanga Loa of Bullet Club OG b. Togi Makabe & Toa Henare when Loa pinned Henare with an Over The Shoulder Piledriver. The Makabe/Fale match on Momday should be a hekuva hossfight. Henare and Loa started the match, with Loa backing Henare into the corner. Fale and Loa stalked Henare and worked him over until Makabe got the hot tag and ran wild on Fale. Loa tagged back in against Loa and hit a top rope shoulderblock. Makabe abd Fale started brawling on the outside. While they brawled, Loa leveled Henare with a lariat and hit the Over The Shoulder Piledriver an pinned him.
Hangman Page & Chase Owens b. “Switchblade” Jay White & Yoh of CHAOS when Page pinned Yoh with the Rite Of Passage. Unfortunately for Yoh, he’s once again paired with Jay White, who will likely leave him to the dogs. Of course, just as I typed that, White teased starting the match, only to tag in Yoh. Before Yoh locked up though, White did attack Owens from behind to give Yoh an advantage. White got tagged in after Owens had been worked over. After taking some punishment, Owens managed to tag Page in. Page did a cool sequence where he dropkicked Yoh, and moonsaulted onto White. Not surprisingly, White tagged out soon after that. Page and Yoh traded a few moves, then White grabbed Page from behind and held him so Yoh could strike. Page ducked, and Yoh hit White. Page then hit the Rite Of Passage on Yoh and pinned him while White looked on. White clearly could have broken the pin, but didn’t.
Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado of Suzuki-Gun b. EVIL & BUSHI of Los Ingobernables De Japon when Suzuki pinned Bushi with a Gotch Piledriver. Another matchup where everybody involved is a heel, so it was not surprising in the least to see the action immediately spill to the outside. EVIL had the upper hand on Suzuki until he started tauntin him with kicks. That raised Suzuki’s ire, and he rose to trade blows with Evil. Bushi tagged in and landed a missile dropkick. EVIL and Deperado began brawling, leaving Bushi to deal with Suzuki in the ring. This obviously did not end well for Bushi, as he wound up on the wrong end of a Gotch Pilerdriver.
YOSHI-HASHI & Sho of CHAOS b. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino when Sho pinned Umino with a German Suplex. Hashi and Umino exchanged chops, which did not end well for Umino. However, he did recover and tag in Tanahashi, who got a two count with a senton, Sho tagged in and quickly got a neckbreaker. Umino got the tag and fired up against Sho, even using a Boston Crab. Hashi tried to break the hold, but was held off by a dropkick. While this made Umino look tough, it allowed Sho to recover and lock in and armbreaker. Tanahashi managed to break the hold at the last second. Umino continued to fight valiantly and kicked out of a backcracker. However, Sho managed to hit a bridging German Suplex on Umino to finally win the match for CHAOS.
Michael Elgin & David Finlay b. Kazuchika Okada & Gedo of CHAOS when Finlay pinned Gedo with a Stunner. Elgin and Finlay used double team moves on Gedo, and worked over his beard. Yes, you’re reading that correctly. Finlay got cut off, and Okada and Gedo returned the favor by working over his beard. Elgin got the tag and hit a Norhtern Lights Suplex. Okada landed a top rope bodtpress and went for an inverted neckbreaker. Elgin proved to be too powerful and escaped the hold. A Powerslam by Elgin lead to a double tagout. Elgin broke up a Gedo-Clutch pin attempt. Finlay then pinned Gedo with a Stunner.
After the match, Elgin and Okada had a tense staredown, but shook hands.
That brings us to the B Block tournament matches.
Zack Sabre Jr. (4) b. Tama Tonga (2) via DQ when Bad Luck Fale interfered. Taka Michinoku once again accompanied Sabre to the ring, and did his usual ring intro. Tanga Loa accompanied his brother Tama Tonga, and cut a profanity laced promo putting him over. So not only were both men heels, but both men had their heel lackeys with them. The match started with Sabre using his usual assortment of holds and locks, with Tonga trying to brawl his way out. Loa tripped Sabre from behind on the ring apron, and as the referee turned to investigate, Taka did the same to Tonga. Afterward, Loa decked Taka with a clothesline, and attacked Sabre while Tonga distracted the referee. Back in the ring, Sabre managed a few near falls, but mainly it was Tonga on the offense. Sabre kicked out of a roll-up, which propelled Tonga into a forearm by Taka. This turned the tide and allowed Sabre to get a submission hold of Tonga. Unfortunately, the referee was shoved down, an Loa hit the ring. The Tongan Brothers double teamed Sabre, with Loa holding Sabre for a Gun Stun attempt. Sabre dodged, and Loa got stunned by his own brother. ZSJ locked in another armbreaker, which caused Tonga to tap. However, the referee was still down and couldn’t call the submission. Bad Luck Fale hit the ring and attacked Sabre. The referee came to, saw Fale in the ring, and signaled for the DQ.
IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson (0) p. Toru Yano (2) with Pulp Friction. Both men locked up with each other into the ropes, and each offered a clean break. Yano offered a handshake, which Juice accepted and got kicked for. Yano tossed Juice into the guardrail and taped his arm to it. Juice still managed to beat the countout. Yano went to work on Juice’s injured right hand. Yano removed turnbuckle pads at opposite ends, and had a brief turnbuckle fight. Juicce picked up Yano in a fireman’s carry and did an airplane spin. This dizzied both men for a double down. Juice recovered first and threw Yano into the exposed buckle. Yano responded with catapaulting Juice into the same turnbuckle. Yano tried several pin attempts, but was unsuccessful. Juice, finally fed up with his hand being targeted, removed the case from his own hand and went for Pulp Friction. Yano tried to reverse out of it several times, but in the end Juice hit it and got the pin for his first win of the tournament.
Kota Ibushi (4) p. Tomohiro Ishii (4) with a Kamigoye. The match began with both men charging into each other like bulls. Ishii pummeled Ibushi in the corner with strikes. Ibushi tried to strike back, but that only resulted in Ishii saying “Bring it for real”. Ibushi finally got some traction with a dropkick and plancha to the outside. Ibushi then uncharacteristically took Ishii out to the stands for a moonsault off the stands. Referee Red Shoes did not start any count, and instead tried to get the two back into the ring. Once the match resumed in the ring, Ibushi tauntingly kicked Ishii, who responded by decking him with one forearm shot. Ishii hit a superplex, which Ibishi shook off, followed by a German suplex. Ibushi shook that off too and hit a suplex of his own. Ishii was unfazed by that, so Pele kicked him to the mat. Ibushi threw Ishii into the turnbuckle like a lawn dart, and resumed kciking him in a taunting manner. This lead to an exchange mid-ring, with Ishii returning the favor by mockingly kicking Ibushi. Ibushi fired up and battled back with punches and a lariat. Ishii kicked out of a powerbomb and a German Suplex. Ibushi went for the Kamigoye, but Ishii ducked and hit back with his own Kamigoye. Ishii hit a powerbomb and a lariat for a pair of near calls. Ibushi responded with a brainbuster and a knee strike. Ishii kicked out with authority at 1. Another striking battle ensued, this time with Ibushi on top. Ibushi finally hit the Kamigoye knee strike for the win.
Tetsuya Naito p. NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto with Destino. A lockup began the match, which Naito did not break cleanly. Goto won a battle of strikes, and worked over Naito with kicks. When the action spilled to the outside, where Naito gained the upper hand and whipped Goto into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Naito continued the attack. The two went back and forth, with Naito even hitting a top rope hurricanra. Got hit the Ushi-Garoushi and went for a GTR. Naito countered with a German Suplex. Goto countered a Destino with an inverted GTR. Both Goto and Naito tried their respective finishers, with Naito finally hitting Destino. Goto kicked out, but Naito simply hit the move again for the three count.
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega (8) p. SANADA (6) with a One Winged Angel. Back and forth action in the early minutes. Kenny was sent careening to the outside. Sanada held the ropes for Omega to re-enter. When Sanada himself tried to get back in, Omega dropkicked his leg. For the next several minutes, Omega was in control of the match. Sanada countered with a dropkick and plancha. Kenny tried the “You Can’t Escape” moonsault, which Sanada promptly escaped by getting his knees up. Sanada tried a comeback with a springboard dropkick, but Omega countered with a pop-up powerbomb for a two-count. Omega hit a missile dropkick of his own, and followed up with a Dragon Suplex. Sanada battled back and hit a Tiger Suplex for a near fall. Sanada kicked out of a Jay Driller. Omega went for the kill with a V-Trigger and the One Winged Angel. Sanada reversed the One Winged Angel into a Skull End attempt, which Omega escaped. Sanada missed a moonsault, and the two exchanged strikes. Omega countered another Skull End attempt into a piledriver. Sanada desperately tried to evade the One Winged Angel, but failed. Omega remains undefeated so far in the tournament.
After the match, Omega cut a promo saying it took him longer to beat Sanada than it did before. He vowed to beat Zack Sabre Jr. in his next tournament match.
STANDINGS
10 Omega
8 Naito
6 Ibushi
6 Sabre
6 SANADA
4 Goto
4 Ishii
2 Tonga
2 Robinson
2 Yano
