Tour resumes with second night in Korakuen Hall

After a fortnight’s break, NJPW resumes touring action on February 6 in Chiba, before the next night sees the New Year’s Golden Series tour return to Korakuen Hall. There a big main event will see a preview of championship action February 11 in Sendai, as Master Wato and El Desperado meet in a tag battle before their Sun Plaza Hall IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match!

Watch New Year’s Golden Series LIVE IN ENGLISH on NJPW World!

Main Event: Six or Nine (Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato) vs Suzuki-Gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado)

The main event in Korakuen Hall will see the Six or Nine team of Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato face El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. On January 5, Wato stunned the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Desperado, catching him in the new Vendeval submission hold for the tapout win, and instantly cementing a claim to his title. Sendai Sun Plaza Hall will see what is undoubtedly the biggest match in Wato’s young career to date, and one where he will have to show the champion the sum total opf all his efforts over the last year in NJPW. 

Desperado has been oft critical of the young blue haired prodigy, after Wato struggled to find his way immediately after returning from excursion. Yet his improvements over the last several months have been inarguable, and his potential as a threat to the masked man’s throne should not be overlooked. Wato will seek to prove that point tonight. Meanwhile, just over one year removed from a bitter defeat in the Tokyo Dome for Wato and Taguchi opposite their Suzuki-Gun opposition tonight, the duo will be seeking to make a point, and for Taguchi’s sake, hoping to cement themselves as future contenders to IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team gold- maybe, should events in Sapporo play their way, keeping Taguchi’s dreams of being the 69th tag champion alive in the process. 

6th Match: Togi Makabe, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Shingo Takagi, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito)

Before the New Year’s Golden Series entered its break, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada were not enjoying the best of starts. The IWGP United States and IWGP World Heavyweight Champions were on the losing end of tags to open the tour, with wins for Tetsuya Naito and then SANADA highlighting the first two Korakuen Hall stops. Monday will see another six man preview of February 13’s tag team main event in Osaka and then the championship matches set to headline in Sapporo February 19 and 20. There is where the wins will count the most, but will LIJ maintain an upper hand, and a mental advantage tonight in the Hall?

5th Match: CHAOS (YOH & Tomohiro Ishii) vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (SHO & EVIL)

Another team that has struggled with early series losses has been HOUSE OF TORTURE. Always a step ahead when holding the numbers advantage, the group hasn’t been as H.o.T when sides were even through the early stages of the tour. Dick Togo had been handed defeats in early events, and while NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL will be unconcerned, pointing toward his February 13 meeting with Tomohiro Ishii in Osaka as the true test of respective mettle, this time the King of Darkness may be sweating. 

In Osaka, EVIL and Ishii will be meeting in a Lumberjack Match, with representatives from HOUSE OF TORTURE and CHAOS around ringside. The presence of teammates for Ishii present to nullify any interference means that previews like this eight man are more closely related to the singles championship encounter than may appear, and means CHAOS’ current form is a source of concern for the champion and his cohorts. 

4th Match: Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Toru Yano vs Suzuki-Gun (DOUKI, TAKA Michinoku, Taichi & Minoru Suzuki)

The fourth match of the evening will see Minoru Suzuki and Toru Yano once again lock horns as they continue on the path to a Sapporo encounter where the KOPW 2022 trophy will be on the line. As Yano has maintained a vise like grip on the KOPW trophy over the last two years, it was a surprise that Suzuki would scoop victory in the Tokyo Dome on January 5 to be the first trophy holder of the year. Yet Yano was determined to regain ‘his baby’, and was quick to handcuff Suzuki to the ring ropes in the Dome, and then again in Korakuen Hall weeks later. Rules have yet to be announced for the KOPW encounter, but restrants may be a part of proceedings- will Suzuki make good on his promise to make the world ‘regret putting the rules in (his) hands’?

3rd Match: Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask vs BULLET CLUB (Gedo & Yujiro Takahashi)

Tiger Mask will continue to fly the flag for Flying Tiger in the third match of the evening as one half of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag team Champions teams with Tomoaki Honma to face Gedo and Yujiro Takahashi.

Due to card changes, Yujiro Takahashi will be substituting for Taiji Ishimori in this match, removing a valuable preview for Tiger Mask and a chance for revenge. 

The following Friday in Sendai, Tiger will be facing Ishimori one on one, with some personal anger at stake as well; last time the two shared a ring in Korakuen Hall, it was Ishimori ripping the mask from Tiger’s head after Gedo sampled a submission defeat. Will the Yujiro ensure that BULLET CLUB continues to play head games tonight ahead of their singles meeting, and a challenge for BULLET CLUB’s Cutest Tag Team to Tiger and Robbie Eagles at the end of the tour?

2nd Match: Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI)

The start of the new year’s Golden Series saw Hiromu Takahashi present Ryohei Oiwa with a money making opportunity; a ‘New Year’s Pocket Money’ match where Oiwa could pick up some extra cash if he yanked a mask from Takahashi’s head. Oiwa would be frustrated and then submitted that night, but now connects with teammate Kosei Fujita, as the two take on Hiromu and BUSHI. Last year, the G1 series saw Oiwa and Fujita take some violent chops at the hands of the LIJ duo; will they be able to fire back tonight?

1st Match: Yuto Nakashima vs Great-O-Khan

Singles action will kick off the evening as Great-O-Khan will take on Young Lion Yuto Nakashima. O-Khan has not had the best of starts to 2022, and after his defeat to SANADA at the Tokyo Dome, seemed almost panicked backstage by his positioning on the undercard, albeit appearing in ring with signature trademark swagger. Last time in the Hall, he flashed one million Yen in cash to Ryohei Oiwa before handing it off to departing ring announcer Kimihiko Ozaki, but as partner Jeff Cobb is set for an imminent return, now is the time when the Eliminator will be looking to get down to business and make a swift example of Nakashima.