New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) are back again and we’re headed on the road to Wrestle Kingdom 14 now that the G1 Climax 29 is in our rear view, folks.
Seeing as it’s September, we’re coming up on New Japan’s now-standard trifecta of Destruction shows, starting with Destruction in Beppu yesterday (Sept. 15), then Destruction in Kagoshima the day after, and finishing up with Destruction in Kobe today (Sept. 22). Like all of New Japan’s other major events, these shows will be broadcast worldwide on New Japan's streaming service, NJPW World.
We'll have the standard match recommendation post later for those of us who can’t be up in the wee hours watching wrestling, but if you can, why not watch along with the best pro wrestling community on the internet?
Today’s action takes place in Hyogo’s Kobe World Hall, kicking off at a brisk 3AM Eastern / 12AM Pacific, and features a main event of Tetsuya Naito defending his IWGP Intercontinental Championship against “Switchblade” Jay White.
Yota Tsuji, Yuji Nagata, & Yuya Uemura over Alex Coughlin, Manabu Nakanishi, & Michael Richards by submission with a Boston Crab from Tsuji on Coughlin.
Clark Connors over Ren Narita by submission with a Boston Crab. (Young Lions Cup)
Karl Fredericks over Shota Umino by submission with a single-leg Boston Crab. (Young Lions Cup)
With that victory, Fredericks won the Young Lions Cup.
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, & Yujiro Takahashi) over Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) & Toa Henare by pinfall with a package piledriver from Owens on Henare.
Suzuki-gun (DOUKI, Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, & Zack Sabre, Jr.) over Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jushin Liger, Rocky Romero, & Tiger Mask IV by disqualification after Suzuki tore Liger’s mask and brought Kishin Liger out, who proceeded to attack Suzuki with spike and mist.
Chaos (SHO, Tomohiro Ishii, Will Ospreay, YOH, & YOSHI-HASHI) over Bullet Club (El Phantasmo, KENTA, Taiji Ishimori, Tama Tonga, & Tanga Loa) by pinfall with a flash pin from YOH on Loa.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA) over Chaos (Kazuchika Okada & Robbie Eagles) & Kota Ibushi by submission with Skull End from SANADA on Eagles.
Hirooki Goto over Shingo Takagi by pinfall with GTR.
“Switchblade” Jay White over Tetsuya Naito (c) by pinfall with Blade Runner to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
Post-match, Goto came out, attacked Switchblade, and then challenged him.
Enjoy the show!