NJPW debuts in Chicago April 16
New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s long awaited Chicago debut is finally upon us, as Windy City Riot hits the sold out Odeum Expo Center on April 16. With a stacked lineup of eight massive matches, it’s a night you cannot afford to miss live!
WINDY CITY RIOT April 16 tickets SOLD OUT!
Watch LIVE in English on FITE!
Main event: Jon Moxley vs Will Ospreay
A first time ever singles confrontation will see Jon Moxley go head to head with Will Ospreay in our main event. This dispute all started when Windy City Riot was first announced some weeks ago. Along with the event announcement came a message from Jon Moxley; after being absent from NJPW’s last PPV scale event in San Jose last November, he wanted to make sure the fans knew he would be in full force, and eager to wrestle New Japan’s best.
Yet Mox didn’t include Will Ospreay’s name in his list of potential opponents, and the fragile ego of the Commonwealth Kingpin was duly triggered. Even as Ospreay wrestled in the New Japan Cup, he was calling out Moxley and deriding him for ‘running scared’ from the United Empire member. Moxley was not going to back down from a fight, and soon agreed to a fight in Chicago, whether in the ring, or in the parking lot, all while Ospreay continued to push buttons, and the envelope from afar.
Even while Moxley vowed to ‘make an example of (Ospreay) that all of NJPW will read crystal clear’ while making a surprise appearance at Lonestar Shootout in Dallas, Ospreay was playing a dangerously personal game, going as far as to bring Moxley’s wife Renee Paquette into the situation on social media with a tweet sent from the entrance way during Hyper Battle. Will Moxley teach a valuable lesson to Ospreay that his actions have consequences? Or will Ospreay pick up his biggest singles victory of an already significant 2022 to date in Chicago?
7th Match: Tomohiro Ishii vs Minoru Suzuki
Singles record: 3-2 Suzuki
Some rivalries are born of championship greed, some of betrayal, some of historic vendettas. Sometimes, as is the case with Tomohiro Ishii and Minoru Suzuki, two wrestlers simply despise one another and fight on sight. The King and the Stone Pitbull fought all over Japan when opposite one another in tags on the New Japan Cup tour, and when both happened to head to America at the same time, they couldn’t stay far apart there either. Ishii and Suzuki would confront one another at Lonestar Shootout in Dallas, and now, perhaps, some catharsis in the form of their sixth singles match- for a short time at any rate. In this battle of two of the hardest hitters in the game, who walks out under their own power and with their hand raised?
6th Match: U-S-of-Jay Open Challenge: Jay White vs X
The sixth match in Jay White’s U-S-of-Jay Open Challenge series sees the Switchblade take on a mystery opponent in Chicago. After facing Christopher Daniels back at Nemesis, White’s challngers went through a spell of mystery opponents in the form of Jay Lethal and then SW3RVE, before Mike Bailey and Chris Sabin made their intentions known ahead of time. At Mutiny, Hikuleo steps up in the midst of emotional BULLET CLUB turmoil. Tonight though, the self styled ‘catalyst of professional wrestling’ is apparently once again at the mercy of fate. Who might step through the curtain on April 16? And can they stop the Switchblade’s momentum?
5th Match: Chicago Streetfight- Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Brody King vs TMDK (Shane Haste, JONAH & Bad Dude Tito)
Battle in the Valley in November saw the shocking debut of JONAH in NJPW, and he made a statement from the word go. Taking out Juice Robinson, he followed with a senton to David Finlay, starting a feud with FinJuice that has continued all the way into the spring. At Nemesis, JONAH aligned with Bad Dude Tito to form a team to take on FinJuice, and at Rivals, that team grew with the addition of the Top Dog’s TMDK running buddy Shane Haste.
What followed was a brutal attack on Juice, Finlay, and David’s younger brother Brogan, who hasn’t been seen since the violent assault. Matters made personal, FinJuice headed to Florida to face TMDK, but their tag match quickly ended in disqualification. Now, in Robinson’s home town, a Chicago Streetfight is an appropriate way to settle things, and Brody King an appropriately violent partner to level the numbers game.
4th Match: United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare, TJP, Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) vs BULLET CLUB (El Phantasmo, Hikuleo, Chris Bey, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows & Scott Norton)
A massive 12 man tag team bout will see the Unoited Empire in full force against BULLET CLUB at Windy City Riot. In the face of the United and growing Empire, with Aussie Open recently welcomed into the NJPW and STRONG fold, and Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb seizing the IWGP Tag Team Championships, BULLET CLUB have been anything but united in recent weeks. The expulsion of the Guerrillas of Destiny from the group, as Good Brothers were welcomed back into the faction, caused shockwaves around the world, and the biggest question in recent weeks has been how Hikuleo is handling his siblings’ ousting. For now at least, he is on the BULLET CLUB side though, as is none other than Scott Norton. The legendary powerhouse was a driving force behind the nWo in Japan and TEAM2000, but for tonight at least dons the black and white for BULLET CLUB.
3rd Match: Tom Lawlor vs Yuji Nagata
Yuji Nagata faces Tom Lawlor in singles competition on the third match of the evening. After successfully defending his STRONG Openweight Championship against Clark Connors in Florida, the ever confident Lawlor declared that he had run out of opponents; in response Yuji Nagata would send a video message to set up this Chicago bout. Tom Lawlor’s MMA background makes this an interesting bout to watch, Nagata having long fought for the sanctity of professional wrestling against invaders from other sports, including a man with whom Lalwor is well familiar in Josh Barnett. Though this is a non title affair, a win for Blue Justice will all but guarantee a shot at the STRONG title, and an opportunity to bring it back to Japan.
2nd Match: Fred Rosser, Ren Narita, Chris Dickinson, Josh Alexander & Alex Coughlin vs Team Filthy (JR Kratos, Danny Limelight, Royce Isaacs, Jorel Nelson & Black Tiger)
Ten man tag team action will see Fred Rosser lead an all star team of Josh Alexander, Ren Narita, Chris Dickinson and Alex Coughlin to face Team Filthy. When Lawlor did make his successful eighth defence of the STRONG Championship, taking him to a year with the title, it was Rosser who first stepped to his rival Lawlor. The champion turned Rosser away though, leaving Mr. No Days Off to prove himself to the world and to the champion. Here he leads a team with members who have competed against, as much as with, one another, but one that is unified in mutual respect. Do they have what it takes to beat the self professed kings of the ten man tag in Team Filthy?
1st Match: LA Dojo (Karl Fredericks, Yuya Uemura & Clark Connors) vs The Factory (Nick Comoroto, QT Marchall & Aaron Solow)
The night’s action kicks off with the LA Dojo in six man tag team action with The Factory. On NJPW STRONG, QT Marshall came to Fredericks with an invitation to join the Factory, something Fredericks was quick to decline. Uemura and Connors would join the Alpha Wolf as The Factory tried to lay the boots in, and now this match is set. QT Marshall and Nick Comoroto will be joined by a man in Aaron Solow who has his own NJPW styled training experience in the Fale Dojo- which development system will prove stronger as Windy City Riot gets underway?
