Toa Henare, Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors, & Karl Fredericks b. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Yuya Uemura, & Yota Tsuji when Henare pinned Tsuji with a Toa Bomb – As mentioned before, this was a battle of the Dojos. Tsuji and Uemura represented the original New Japan Dojo while Fredericks, Coughlin, and Connors representing the LA Dojo. Of course, the foreigners played the heels. Uemura got worked over until getting the hot tag to Makabe. I still say Makabe has one of the best hot tags in wrestling today. Makabe got cut off from doing his “ten-punches in the corner” spot to the chagrin of the crowd. Honma made the save and joined Makabe in his own corner-punch spot. Tsuji put Henare in a Boston Crab. Coughlin broke the submission, which allowed Henare to make a comeback and get the pin with the Toa Bomb.
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan b. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata when Kojima pinned Nakanishi with a Lariat – Commentator Chris Charlton noted that Nagata has wrestled every January 4th Tokyo Dome Show since 1994. This match actually started off hot with both teams going at it off the bat. Kojima hit the Machine Gun Chops on Nakanishi and went for his top rope elbow. Nakanishi met Kojima at the top and tossed him to the map, turning the match to his team’s favor. Nagata and Nakanishi rallied briefly, but Kojima landed a Koji Cutter and a Lariat on Nakanishi to get the pin.
Ryusuke Taguchi, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Shinjiro Ootani, & Naoki Sano w/Kuniaki Kobayashi b. Jyushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke, & Tiger Mask IV w/ El Samurai when Taguchi pinned Liger with a Dodon – All of the men involved in this match are longtime friends and/or rivals of Liger’s through the years. Needless to say, the crowd reaction was off the charts. Fujinami landed some Dragon Screws, Taguchi and Liger duked it out while all the other veterans brawled on the floor. Taguchi hit a Dodon for the pin.
After the match, all the wrestlers stood in the ring and saluted the crowd. Sasuke and Tiger lifed Liger on their shoulders for a victory lap.
Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr. El Desperado, & Taichi) b. Los Ingobernables De Japon (SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI, & Shingo Takagi) when Sabre submitted BUSHI with a Sabre-Lock – Takagi ran wild at the five-minute mark before Taichi grounded him. A double tag saw Sabre and Sanada go at it. Sabre got teamed up, which lead to a brief multi-man brawl. When the dust settled, Sabre put Bushi in the Sabre-Lock for the submission.
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, & YOSHI-HASHI) b. Bullet Club (KENTA, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens) when Goto pinned Takahashi with a GTR– The match began with Yano doing his usual comedy against Fale. The heels worked over Goto until Ishii made the save and hit an impressive brainbuster on Fale. Goto made a comeback and hit the GTR on Takahashi for the pin.
FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay) b. IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team ChampionsThe Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) when Finlay pinned Loa with a Bulldog to win the titles – The match broke out on the floor when the babyfaces met the heels halfway down the ramp. Robinson got backdropped onto the ramp, which halted the babyfaces’ momentum. GOD worked over Juice for several minutes before Finlay got the hot tag and ran wild. Soon, Finlay too was cut off and worked over until Juice got his own hot tag. The babyfaces made their comeback and set Tonga up on the top rope. Loa made the save and the heels went for a Magic Killer at the ten-minute mark. Juice broke the pin and was given his own Magic Killer for his troubles. GOD lifted Finlay for a Super Powerbomb. Finlay escaped with a Hurricanrana and rolled up Tonga with an O’Conner Roll. Jado struck Finlay with his Shinai, but Finlay still kicked out. Juice came in and hit Jado with the Left Hand Of God and Tonga with the Pulp Friction. Finlay followed up with the Bulldog on Loa and got the pinfall.
Jon Moxley b. IWGP US Champion Lance Archer in a Texas Death Match to win the title – This version of the Death Match was simply KO or submission only. No pinfalls. Just make the opponent unable to answer the ten count. As expected, the match spilled to the floor quickly. After a brief brawl on the floor, the two got back in the ring and used chairs, sticks, and trash can lids. A lot of big spots including a Blackout through chairs, a chokeslam onto the remaining chairs, and a suffocation attempt with a plastic bag by Archer. Moxley responded with a Death Rider through two tables set up at ringside, which caused a count to both men. Moxley made it into the ring, while Archer could not.
After the match, Moxley took the mic and cut a promo saying he will settle the score with Juice Robinson tomorrow.
A recap video of Takahashi’s return aired. Takahashi made the claim that he effectively died in 2018 and remade himself. Ospreay vowed to retain the title. Hiromu said it’s hard to kill what has already died. Ospreay came across as the heel in the video.
Hiromu Takahashi p. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay with a modified Timebomb to win the title – Takahashi came to the ring in an outfit Elton John might have found to be a little flamboyant. The two went toe-to-toe for the first few minutes. The first scary spot was Ospreay hitting a double stomp while Takahashi was caught in the ropes and following up with a draping DDT. Ospreay tried a Space Flying Tiger Drop which Takahashi dodged and tried to turn into a German Suplex on the floor. Ospreay still managed to land on his feet and charged back at him. Takahashi flung Ospreay back into the ring, only for Ospreay to turn that momentum into another Space Flying Tiger Drop. This time, it connected. Ospreay continued the assault and got some near falls with a 450 splash and an Oscutter. Takahashi hit a desperation Pop-Up Powerbomb and made his comeback around the 20-minute mark. Ospreay still managed to kick out of a Timebomb. However, Takahashi followed up with what can only be best described as a reverse Timebomb to finally get the pin.
Tetsuya Naito p. IWGP Intercontinental Champion “Switchblade” Jay White with a Destino to win the title – White tried his usual stalling tactics in the opening moments, but Naito didn’t fall for it. He countered by grabbing Gedo and threatening him until White got back in the ring. Eventually, Gedo distracted Red Shoes long enough for White to low blow Naito. Then White distracted Red Shoes while Gedo used a chair on Naito’s knee. Other than a few spurts of offense from Naito, White controlled the majority of the match. He worked over Naito’s leg with Dragon Screws and Inverted Figure Four Leglocks. Naito broke the Figure Four and made his comeback. White dodged a Destino attempt and whipped Naito into Red Shoes. With the referee down, Gedo tried to use a chair. Naito dodged and hit a low-blow. This gave White the moment he needed to clobber Naito with a chair. White spat in Naito’s face and hit a Saito Suplex. Naito no-sold it and hit a Destino, but was unable to make the cover. Naito hit a second Destino, but White kicked out. Finally, White hit a Jackhammer followed by a third Destino to at last put White away.
An impressive video package played that highlighted the main event. The announcers put over that Ibushi is on an 11 match win streak, and Okada is 18-3 for the past year. Okada came to the ring with a flashing trenchcoat and new shorter tights.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kota Ibushi – Both men started slowly with the feeling out process. Ibushi matched everything Okada came up with, to the point where Okada could tell without even looking that Ibushi was getting up. At the ten-minute mark, Okada hit a draping DDT on the floor. Ibushi made a comeback before getting dropkicked off the top to the floor. Ibushi tried for a Pele Kick, but Okada caught him and tried to turn it into a neckbreaker. Ibushi instead reversed into a piledriver. After a moonsault to the floor, Ibushi was in full control. Okada countered with a Dropkick. At this point, Ibushi started no-selling all of Okada’s offense. At the 25-minute mark, Ibushi started punching Okada like those scout troopers punched Baby Yoda. Ibushi tried the Deadlift German Suplex on Okada, only for Okada to reverse into a Tombstone Piledriver on the apron for the obligatory big match apron bump. At the 30-minute mark, Ibushi hit the Deadlift German Suplex. Ibushi went for the Lawn Dart, but Okada reversed into a Rainmaker. Ibushi countered and hit his own Rainmaker instead. Ibushi hit a pair of Boma-Yes for two counts. Okada even kicked out of a Kamigoye. Okada countered a second Kimagoye attempt with a Dropkick. At the 35-minute mark, Ibushi hit a flurry of kicks before collapsing in exhaustion. He still managed to reverse a Shotgun Dropkick by Okada into a Powerbomb. Okada kicked out and hit two straight Rainmakers for a close two-count. Okada hit two more Rainmakers (four total so far) but before he hit a fifth, Ibushi erupted into a series of strikes. Okada hit another Tombstone followed by a fifth Rainmaker to finally get the pin.
After the match, Naito made his way to the ring. He cut a promo about winning tomorrow before posing with his belt and leaving. Okada took the mic and cut a promo about being the strongest champion in New Japan.
That makes tomorrow’s main event IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito for both titles.
