Night 12 of 19 is here, which marks a return to B Block Tournament action. Tonight’s matches will be highlighted by Kenny Omega vs. Zack Sabre Jr., and Kota Ibushi facing Hirooki Goto. I would not be surprised at all to see the champions lose and thus have to defend their titles when the tournament is over.
Since this is B Block, the undercard will be tag matches involving A Block participants in preparation for their respective tournament matches.
Bad Luck Fale & Tanga Loa of Bullet Club OGs b. Michael Elgin & Shota Umino when Loa pinned Umino with an Over The Shoulder Piledriver. Kevin Kelly let us know that Elgin may have suffered a torn bicep in a previous match with Minoru Suzuki. Fale tried to swat Elgin in the face, which didn’t sway Elgin from getting in his face. Fale then missed a corner splash, and was knocked off his feet by an Elgin shoulderblock. Both tagged out, and Loa took control against Umino. Loa missed a legdrop, giving Umino a chance to recover. Before Umino could capitalize with a missile dropkick, Fale knocked him off the top rope. Elgin hit the ring, and a four way broke out. In the ensuing brawl, Loa hit the Over THe Shoulder Piledriver to pin Umino.
Hangman Page & Chase Owens b. Togi Makabe & Toa Henare when Page pinned Henare with a Rite Of Passage. Both Page and Makabe are mathmetically eliminated from winning the block. A brawl broke out before the bell with Page and Makabe spilling to the outside, leaving Henare and Owens as the legal men. Page and Owens got the heat on Henare. Makabe got the hot tag and hit a Northern Lights Suplex on Page for a two count. Henare taggen in and got another near fall. Page rebounded and hit a Buckshot Clothesline. Henare kicked out of the pin attempt, but could not escape the Rite Of Passage. Page boasted to the announcers that he and Owens are 5-1 in the tag matches.
YOSHI-HASHI & Sho of CHAOS b. “Switchblade” Jay White & Yo, also of CHAOS when Hashi submitted Yo with the Butterfly Lock. Once again, this pitted both members of Roppongi 3K against each other. White offered to lay down for Hashi, saying that it’s just a tag match and it doesn’t matter. Hashi refused, so White attacked him from behind, claiming “you made me do this”. Of course, as soon as Hashi made a comeback, White immediately tagged out to Yo. Yoshi did likewise with Sho, and the Roppongi 3K teammates went at it. White tagged himself in and smashed Sho on the outside, then held Sho for Yo to take a cheap shot. Yo refused, and White started berating him. Sho dropkicked White from behind and tagged in Hashi, who made a comeback. White grabbed a chair from White, but got got caught in the Butterfly Lock. White entered the ring and taunted Yo, rather than make the save. Yo submitted, and Rocky Romero copped a fit at ringside. White told Rocky that it could’ve been an easy night. Rocky said he needs to talk to Okada about this. The saga of the CHAOS leadership continues.</
EVIL & BUSHI of Los Ingobernables De Japon b. Hiroshi Tanahashi & David Finlay when EVIL pinned Finlay with Everything Is Evil. Kevin Kelly pointed out that since 2009, Tanahashi has never finished worse than second in a block. That is a fair argument for Tanahashi to be a winner, since an Omega/Tanahashi main event at the Tokyo Dome does sound pretty cool. That said, I’m sticking with my pick of Okada. Finlay and Tanahashi did some quick double teaming on Bushi. Evil disrupted Finlay’s momentum and brawled with Tanahashi on the outside. Back in the ring, Bushi capitalized on Evil’s interference and choked out Finlay with a T-Shirt. The heels got the heat on Finlay before Tanahashi got the hot tag. Finlay and Evil tagged back in and went back and forth, with Finlay getting a few surprise near falls on Evil. However, in the end, it was Everything Is Evil for the pin on Finlay in a fun finish.
Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado b. Kazuchika Okada & Gedo when Desperado ppinned Gedo with a Pinche Loco. The fight broke out immediately, and of course spilled to the outside right off the bat. The Suzuki-Gun members pummeled both opponents with chairs and railings. Desperado sat in the ring as the countout began. Gedo beat the count to the ring, and got instantly pounced on by Desperado. Suzuki and Desperado worked over Gedo, including Suzuki getting his Over The Ropes Armbreaker on Gedo. Okada got a tag and ran wild. Suzuki and Okada traded back and forth elbows, then Suzuki applied the Read Naked Choke. Smelling blood, Suzuki tried to finish off Okada with a Gotch Piledriver. Okada reversed into a neckbreaker and tagged Gedo. Desperado tagged in and battled Desperado. Suzuki held Okada in a Read Naked Choke, forcing him to watch Desperado pin Gedo with the Pinche Loco.
After the match, Suzuki grabbed one of the ring attendants and piledrove him, just for the fun of it.
Tama Tonga (2) p. Tomohiro Ishii (4) with a Gun Stun. Loa unsuccessfully tried to trip Ishii from outside the ring, but it still served as enough of a distraction for Tonga to get some shots in. Ishii battled back and unloaded on Tonga with chops. Loa again distracted Ishii, only this time Ishii pulled Loa into the ring and hit several strikes on him. Tonga got a near fall, but Ishii kicked out. After a ref bump, Loa attacked Ishii with a chair. Ishii still made a comeback, and tried a brainbuster onto the chair. Tonga reversed that into a Tonga Twist onto the chair. Ishii still managed to kick out. Tonga tried a Gun Stun, but Ishii blocked it and landed a Lariat for a near fall. Ishii hit a basement lariat, and looked to get the pin, except Loa yanked the referee out of the ring. With the referee again out of the picture, Fale hit the ring and gave Ishii the Hand Grenade. Again, Ishii kicked out.. Obviously frustrated, Tonga went for another Gun Stun. Ishii tried to reverse into a brainbuster, but Tonga turned that into a Gun Stun to get the pinfall.
IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson (2) p. SANADA (6) with a Pulp Friction. Both men wrestled to a stalemate in the opening minutes. They fought on the outside to a near double countout. Once the fight settled back down in the ring, Sanada grounded Juice and used a variety of holds. Juice rallied with punches and a spinebuster. Sanada dropkicked Robinson and went for the Skull End, which Robinson reversed into a Skull End of his own. Sanada dodged a moonsault, and then missed hos own moonsault. Juice got a two count with a thunderous powerbomb. Juice removed the protective from his own injured hand. Sanada ducked a left hand and went for another Skull End. The two reversed each other several times until Juice was finally able to hit the Pulp Friction for the pinfall.
<Tetsuya Naito (8) p. Toru Yano (2) with Destino. Yano is another wrestler that is eliminated from winning. He still could conceivably play spoiler and keep other guys from winning. Naito came tot he ring first, and of course waited until Yano was in the ring before he started taking off his outer clothes. Naito stalled for the first few minutes. When he did his Tranquilo pose, Yano crawled under the ring to the other side to attack him from behind. Yano took Naito to the outside and tried to tape him to the railing, only for Naito to pull a sleight of hand and tape Yano to the railing. Yano had to run into the ring with the railing still taped to his wrist in order to beat the count. Naito dropkicked Yano back to the outside, which broke the tape. Naito stalked Yano in the ring until Yano removed a turnbuckle. Naito dodged a corner splash and Yano hit the exposed turnbuckle. Naito walloped Yano with the turnbuckle and tried a whip. Yano reversed and repeatedly sent Naito into the buckle. Naito kicked out of a roll-up, and shortly afterward hit Destino for the pinfall.
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega (10) p. Zack Sabre Jr. (6). As usual, Taka Michinoku accompanied ZSJ and did his usual pre-match promo. Zack focused on Omega’s ankle, which was apparently hurt during Omega’s title defense against Cody at the G1 Special. The fight went to the outside with Sabre using various submission holds. Red Shoes did not start a countout, but rather warned Sabre, who got back in the ring. Omega beat the countout, but Zack immediately kept the attack on the ankle. Kenny battled back with a Kintaro Crusher and a hurricanrana. Sabre reversed a “You Can’t Escape” into a Sleeper. Omega got out and again tried the “You Can’t Escape”. Sabre escaped that with a bodyscissors. Omega hit a DDT, and then a plancha to the outside. Sabre tried to reverse a high cross body into a submission, only for Omega to turn that into a German Suplex. Omega hit a V-Trigger and tried to follow up with a One Winged Angel. Sabre countered with a bridge for a near fall. Omega kicked out and tried another V-Trigger, only for Sabre to counter that with a Heel Hook. Kenny made the rope break. Zack back suplexed Kenny and hit a Penalty Kick for a two count. Again, Sabre went to a submission, this time a Calf Crusher. Omega got another rope break. The two exchanged several rapid fire reversals and pinning combinations that ended with Omega getting a flash pin. A sudden finish out of nowhere that was very surprising.
Kota Ibushi (6) p. NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto (4) with a Kamigoye. The two felt each other out with lock ups and clean breaks. Goto clotheslined Ibushi off the apron to the floor. This gave Goto the momentum to control the match with headlocks. Ibushi dropkicked Goto the the outside, then hit a moonsault to the floor. Ibushi followed up with a springboard dropkick before Goto countered with a clothesline. Ibushi flipped out of a Ushi-Garoushi and hit a Pele kick. The two exchanged strikes, which ended with Ibushi unleashing a flurry of offense. Goto reversed with an Ushi-Garoushi, and lifted Ibushi to the top turnbuckle. Ibushi escaped, and backfilpped to the mat. A lariat got a near fall for Ibushi, as did a bridging German Suplex. Goto dodged a Kamigoye, and decked Ibushi with a lariat. Sensing victory, Goto hit a reverse GTR. Ibushi tried to counter, but got caught in a Sleeper. Ibushi tried a suplex that got reversed into a Shouter Kai for a two count. Ibushi reversed another GTR attempt into a roll-up, and followed up with several strikes . Goto kicked out of a Last Ride powerbomb. At last, Ibushi was able to land the Kamigoye to put Goto down for the three count
After the match, Ibushi cut a promo to his hometown crowd, presumably thanking them and vowing to win the tournament.
STANDINGS
12 Omega
10 Naito
8 Ibushi
6 Sabre
6 SANADA
4 Goto
4 Ishii
4 Tonga
4 Robinson
2 Yano
