The full cards were announced today for the Kizuna Road tour, which kicks off later this week in Shizuoka.
Watch Kizuna Road live and in English on NJPW World!
The first two events NJPW World viewers will see live and with English commentary will be from Korakuen on June 16 and 17, with some big attractions at both.
On Sunday, the G1 Climax entrants and blocks will be revealed. At Dominion on June 9, Jon Moxley, Shingo Takagi and KENTA all threw their hats in the ring, and requested to be a part of professional wrestling’s most prestigious tournament. We’ll find out the full lineup in Korakuen.
June 16 will be headlined by a match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. SHO and YOH, Roppongi 3K will defend their titles for the second time against a new combination of Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo.
At the Best of the Super Junior finals on Wednesday June 5, El Phantasmo scored a pin on YOH in a six man tag team match to give the BULLET CLUB a right to challenge. Yet the match was Robbie Eagles’ to win after he landed a gorgeous 450 Splash. ELP blind tagged the young Australian phenom to land a CR2 and win.
Post match, Eagles walked out of ELP and Ishimori’s celebration, and now, with a IWGP Junior Heavyweight challenge on the horizon, will reset and focus on Southern Showdown in Melbourne. Phantasmo and Ishimori will look to score tag gold for the first time, and ELP may look to right a notch in the loss record against YOH during BOSJ.
On June 17, some of the key matches for each stop on the G1 tour will be revealed. This will include the opening night in Dallas, so US fans will be seeing just who makes history with the first G1 Climax matches on American soil!
The card will be headlined by a CHAOS versus Suzuki Gun 10 man elimination match. Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Junior, Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru will go up against SHO, YOH, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI and Kazuchika Okada. For YOSHI-HASHI, after he pinned ZSJ at Dominion in Osaka Jo Hall, a key match for momentum going into his bout for the RPW Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship match in Sendai. For Suzuki Gun, a chance to wreck shop and stake claim to dominance ahead of the G1 Climax.
June 17 will also see a match for the NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Team Championships. A BULLET CLUB team of El Phantasmo, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi will challenge Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano and Togi Makabe. Phantasmo could leave the Kizuna Road tour with two titles, after challenging for the IWGP Junior tag belts one day prior. The Taguchi Japan squad have beaten two BULLET CLUB teams during this current reign already, and will look to stay one step ahead of the BC trio in Korakuen.
Also on June 17, Hiroshi Tenzan makes his return to action. Tenzan has been away from the ring since April as he underwent knee surgery. He now returns along with his long time tag partner Satoshi Kojima, Tiger Mask, Jyushin Thunder Liger and Kota Ibushi to face the Los Ingobernables De Japon team of BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi.
