Comics writer. WAR BIRDS out March 2023. Hopefully more soon. This used to be a blog about Japanese wrestling, it probably still will be sometimes. Most socials @gdwessel. http://linktr.ee/gdwessel
Wa-hey, I’m back. This morning, two new Young Lions (Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura) debuted at the first Lion’s Gate show of 2018. This was also the first time Michinoku Pro talent have worked this show, and we even had a mini-reunion of TEAM 2000. You can watch it all now on NJPWWorld.
Lion’s Gate: Project 11 - 4/10/2018, Tokyo Shinjuku FACE (NJPWWorld)
Ayato Yoshida & GO Asakawa [K-DOJO] d. Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino (Yoshida > Umino, Backdrop, 10:03)
Following the main event win, Yoshida called out Nagata once more. This is a rekindling of their feud through the Lion’s Gate shows before he suffered an injury in K-DOJO last summer. Shota Umino actually main events! I could be wrong but I believe this might be Ren Narita’s first-ever victory.
Yesterday, it was announced that IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada will be appearing at the Bullet Club produced All In event on 9/1/2018 from the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, IL. No word on whom he will face, however with previous talent announcements, there is a potential dream match between Okada v. Penta el 0M waiting in the wings. However, there are also some very VERY strong lucha politics where Penta is concerned, and CMLL might get extremely upset over NJPW working with Crash (and former AAA)(and possibly still current Lucha Underground) talent. (There were reports that a match at NOLA this past weekend that got scrubbed was the Golden Lovers v. Penta & Rey Fenix; instead the Lovers faced Chuck Taylor & Herb Flip Gordon) Whatever the case, personally Okada being there makes my attendance much more likely than it was before.
Speaking of NOLA, there were a LOT of shows that happened there over the weekend. I have no idea about the results of most of them, and I am not planning to go look at this point. I know Minoru Suzuki filled in at the last second for Low Ki at GCW/Matt Riddle’s Bloodsport event. I know Joey Janela’s Spring Break 2 was a madhouse. I know Tomohiro Ishii beat ZSJ for the RevPro title. I know Cody beat Kenny in ROH. And I know AJ v. Nakamura kinda wasn’t all that. But that’s all I know. There are sources more qualified than myself at this point who reported all of this, you should go read them for this news honestly. My weekend was otherwise occupied so I wasn’t paying all the attention I should have to the wrestling. But hey, we’re almost back on tour again…
This week’s edition of the AXS show returns to the 46th Anniversary Show, from 3/6/2018 at Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium. The featured matches are the Champion v. Champion match as Kazuchika Okada faces Will Ospreay, and Tetsuya Naito takes on Taichi. Show at the usual time, usual channel, usual hosts.
Lastly, since it’s my blog, I am going to say RIP to Thomas Sullivan, aka “Luscious” Johnny Valiant, who died last week at the age of 71. I mention this just because he is a Hall of Fame wrestler, who also happens to be a distant relation of mine. His sister is my late Nana’s brother’s wife, making him an in-law relative. Now, I don’t know if I ever met him, and if I did, it was when I was reeeeaallllllllllllllly young (indeed, my father said he didn’t remember seeing him since he was in high school), so we were the furthest thing from “close” we possibly could be. But, still, he was family, ish. Also, just to keep this on-topic, Valiant did work NJPW in 1973, when he was still going by John L. Sullivan, during the Summer Big Fight Series 1973, where he would have matches against the likes of Antonio Inoki, Kotetsu Yamamoto, Seiji Sakaguchi and Katsuhisa Shibata. This would be his only NJPW tour, although as Johnny Valiant he would do tours of All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1976 and 1980. RIP, and my condolences, Great-Aunt Pat.
The next show is the opener of the Road to Wrestling Dontaku on Friday, which JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE MY 45TH BIRTHDAY AHEM AHEM AHEM. The show will be live on NJPWWorld, although I’ll be skipping the main for reasons you’ll soon see. I’ll do another Upcoming NJPW Events post beforehand too.
Road to Wrestling Dontaku - 4/13/2018, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
Tetsuhiro Yagi v. Yuya Uemura
Manabu Nakanishi v. Tomoyuki Oka
Togi Makabe, Ryusuke Taguchi & Ren Narita v. Yuji Nagata, Tiger Mask IV & Shota Umino
Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Takashi Iizuka, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Toa Henare v. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano [CHAOS]
EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables] v. Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]
Elimination Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, David Finlay Jr., Michael Elgin & KUSHIDA v. Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Jay White, YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay [CHAOS]
This is the most up to date list of upcoming New Japan Pro Wrestling events I can provide, with full cards announced where possible. (NJPWWorld) means the event will be shown live on NJPWWorld. All cards subject to change.
Road to the New Beginning - 1/17/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
Satoshi Kojima & Yota Tsuji v. Will Ospreay & Great O-Khan [United Empire]
Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG] v. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, Gedo & Jado [Bullet Club]
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo [Bullet Club]
Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma v. SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables]
Road to Castle Attack - 2/14/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 2/15/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 2/16/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 2/17/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 2/19/2021, Iwate Prefectural Gymnasium - 2/20/2021, Yamagata Big Wing - 2/21/2021, Fukushima Toyota Crown Arena - 2/22/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 2/25/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Castle Attack - 2/27/2021, Osaka Osaka-jo Hall - 2/28/2021, Osaka Osaka-jo Hall
NJPW 49th Anniversary Show - March 4, 2021, Tokyo Nippon Budokan
New Japan Cup 2021 - 3/5/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 3/6/2021, Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium - More TBA
This is the most up to date list of upcoming New Japan Pro Wrestling events I can provide, with full cards announced where possible.(NJPWWorld) means the event will be shown live on NJPWWorld. All cards subject to change.
Road to Destruction - 9/4/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
12th Young Lions Cup: Yota Tsuji v. Alex Coughlin
12th Young Lions Cup: Shota Umino v. Clark Connors
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Ren Narita & Yuya Uemura v. Satoshi Kojima, Karl Fredericks & Michael Richards [Fale Dojo]
Will Ospreay [CHAOS], Robbie Eagles [CHAOS], Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare v. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]
Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Rocky Romero [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club]
Tetsuya Naito & EVIL [Los Ingobernables] v. Jay White & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]
- 9/8/2019, Chiba Togane Arena (NJPWWorld) - Blue Justice IX
12th Young Lions Cup: Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura
12th Young Lions Cup: Shota Umino v. Ren Narita
Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS]. YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma v. Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks, Alex Coughlin & Michael Richards [Fale Dojo]
Will Ospreay [CHAOS], Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] & Toa Henare v. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]
Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2019 - 9/27/2019, Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, MA - 9/28/2019, Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, NY - 9/29/2019, 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, PA
New Japan Road - 10/4/2019, Toyama Takaoka Techno Dome - 10/7/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall
New Japan Road: Ganbarou! Uonuma 2019 - 10/5/2019, Niigata Uonuma Horinouchi Gymnasium
King Of Pro Wrestling - 10/14/2019, Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan (NJPWWorld)
The tour continued today, in a show you can see now on NJPWWorld. Also, if you are able to see it, Masato Yoshino had his retirement match and ceremony at Night 2 of Dragon Gate’s Kobe World megashow today as well. It’s Dragon Gate’s biggest show(s) of the year, and this year’s was no exception.
Suzuki took the pin in the main, so maybe as Ishii said, they need to rename to Taichi-gun? (There’s been speculation that this will happen for the last, oh, two years.) That Goto, Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI have taken what we call the Comedy titles and actually made them meaningful right now is amazing. And with YOSHI-HASHI’s first ever title reign of any kind too. Afterwards, Naito, SANADA & BUSHI announced they wanted another shot at those belts. Can the CHAOS tandem make it nine successful defenses?
Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura have their final matches as NJPW Young Lions, and will now be heading out on excursion, although where seems to still be the question. Tsuji wants to go to Mexico, but CMLL and Mexico in general are not good places to go right now. Really, nowhere is a good place to go right now. Both Uemura and Tsuji debuted on the same show, 4/10/2018 at the 11th edition of the much-missed-around-these-parts Lion’s Gate shows, with Uemura losing to Ren Narita, and Tsuji falling to the not-yet-Great Tomoyuki Oka. Today, they went out facing two of the top guys in NJPW. Naito told Tsuji “Hasta luego, adios” as his send-off, whilst Uemura got whipped into the ropes and dropkicked by Okada post-match. What a dick! I’ll let you know when it’s decided where the pair will be heading. We now have no active Young Lions in NJPW; the last one to debut was Yuto Nakashima on 2/14/2021, the first night of Road to Castle Attack, but he infamously dislocated his left elbow less than a minute into his debut match against Yuya, and hasn’t been seen since.
Late Friday night, after “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows won Tag Team Turbulence on NJPW Strong, former IWGP US Heavyweight and AEW World champion Jon Moxley issued a challenge to the Good Brothers to meet him and “a buddy of his” at Resurgence on 8/14/2021 for a match. We already know who it WON’T be, is Shota Umino, as he will not be allowed into the USA from the UK. As to whom it will be, hard to say. There were reports of Moxley and Impact’s Sami Callihan (ugh) reuniting after a decade in Pro Wrestling Revolver, but that’s not until October. Despite the working relationship between NJPW and Impact, Callihan had previously toured with NJPW, during the World Tag League 2017 (in addition to facing Tetsuya Naito in Chicago in AAW on 2/17/2018) and it was, um, Not Good! Really hoping it’s someone better than Callihan teaming with Mox at this event.
The next show isn’t until Saturday, which will be the start of the Super Junior Tag League 2021 portion of the tour. The full lineups have not yet been announced. Hopefully sooner rather than later this week. There will also be an NJPW Strong episode on Friday, although I don’t know what is due to be on it.
- 8/7/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
Super Junior Tag League 2021: Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] & Tiger Mask IV v. Gedo & Dick Togo [Bullet Club]
Super Junior Tag League 2021: Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato v. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]
Super Junior Tag League 2021: SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]
Ishimori taunted RPG3K post-main in the run-up to their title match next week. Naito and SANADA took their autograph trolling to ZSJ tonight. Okada’s finish is one I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do, a lucha finisher that starts like an abdominal stretch before pinning his opponent’s shoulders. Really good looking if done right.
The government seems poised to lift the state of emergency on 6/11/2021 for all covered prefectures except Okinawa, who will keep theirs until 7/11/2021. That date is also set for seven of the other nine prefectures under the state of emergency (Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Kyoto and Fukuoka) to go into “intensive anti-virus measures,” whatever the Hell that means at this point because the state of emergency was treated as anything but. Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa Prefectures will continue their own “intensive preventative measures” until 7/11/2021 as well, whilst Gifu and Mie Prefectures will completely end their states of emergency.
In addition, the government also looks set to institute a hard attendance cap at major events of 10,000 persons. This will take the place of the incredibly vague “5,000 persons or 50% of capacity” rule that has been in place this whole time, as they finally figured out that making the rule of 5,000 or 50%, whichever was highest, is a good way to have a superspreader event. Of course, these Olympics are very much headed to be that as well. All of this could be for naught, and this Olympiad is still very much at risk of being a complete disaster.
NJPW released some updates today regarding the fate of the Wrestle Grand Slam baseball stadium shows.
Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome, which was supposed to take place 5/29/2021 and be headlined by Will Ospreay v. Kazuchika Okada, has now been moved to 7/25/2021, and will instead feature Shingo Takagi’s first defense of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship v. Kota Ibushi in the main event. This will make Shingo’s first time ever headlining the Tokyo Dome in his storied career. No other matches are announced yet, however no other matches were announced the first time either, so at least that’s not changed.
The Yokohama Stadium event that was postponed from 5/15/2021 has now been fully cancelled, with NJPW stating they could not figure out a suitable date to reschedule the event to. That said, they have announced two days at the Saitama MetLife Dome, home of the Saitama Seibu Lions baseball team, for 9/4/2021 and 9/5/2021. NJPW have not run this arena since the final weekend of G1 Climax 24 back in August 2014, when it was still the Seibu Dome.
Of course, given the run of luck these shows have had so far, I wouldn’t entirely count on them happening until the opening bell is rung.
Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura aren’t the only Young Lions in a trial series right now, as Alex Coughlin seems to be in one himself over on NJPW Strong. This week, he will face the debuting Josh Alexander, the current Impact Wrestling X Division champion. This isn’t the first time the reigning X Division champion has been on NJPW programming recently, as Chris Bey took part in Super J-Cup 2020 whilst holding that belt. However, unless you want to count TJP’s frequent appearances, this will be the first time a current member of the Impact roster has come to NJPW programming since the new co-promotion deal was announced. Now if we can get some AEW talent working Strong (besides Jon Moxley, who just had his first child yesterday! Congratulations to Renee Paquette and Johnathan Good on the birth of Nora.). That show is Friday night at 10pm EDT / 9pm CDT on NJPWWorld.
The tour takes a day off tomorrow, before resuming Friday in a non-streamed show.
- 6/18/2021, Shizuoka Kira Messe Numazu
Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Yota Tsuji v. HIroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata
This is the most up to date list of upcoming New Japan Pro Wrestling events I can provide, with full cards announced where possible.(NJPWWorld) means the event will be shown live on NJPWWorld. All cards subject to change.
Global Wars UK 2018 - 10/14/2018, Brixton Recreation Centre, London
Chris Ridgeway v. Will Ospreay [CHAOS]
El Phantasmo v. Rocky Romero [CHAOS]
Mark Davis v. Satoshi Kojima
Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] v. Hirooko Goto [CHAOS]
Chris Brookes v. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables]
Timothy Thatcher & WALTER v. EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables]
ROH/NJPW Global Wars 2018 - 11/7/2018, Androscoggin Bank Colisee, Lewiston, ME - 11/8/2018, Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, MA - 11/9/2018, Buffalo RiverWorks, Buffalo, NY - 11/11/2018, Mattamy Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Lion’s Break: Project 1 - 11/10/2018, Anaheim, CA
Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. Jeff Cobb [FREE]
More TBA
- 11/11/2018, Anaheim, CA
Kenny Omega [Bullet Club Elite] v. David Finlay Jr.
More TBA
World Tag League 2018 - 11/17/2018, Kanagawa Fujisawa City Chichibu Memorial Gymnasium - 11/18/2018, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 11/20/2018, Toyama Takaoka Techno Dome - 11/21/2018, Niigata Shibata Cultural Center - 11/23/2018, Kanagawa Cults Kawasaki - 11/24/2018, Saitama Kuki Everyday Kogyo Arena - 11/25/2018, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium - 11/26/2018, Ishikawa Komatsu City Yoshitsune Arena - 11/28/2018, Ibaraki Mito Citizen Gymnasium - 11/29/2018, Tokyo Korkauen Hall - 11/30/2018, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 12/2/2018, Osaka EDION Arena Subarena - 12/3/2018, Kochi Prefectural Gymnasium - 12/4/2018, Hyogo Koba Samba Hall - 12/6/2018, Yamagata Big Wing - 12/7/2018, Akita Nice Arena - 12/9/2018, Iwate Industrial & Cultural Center
Road to Tokyo Dome - 12/14/2018, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 12/15/2018, Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Wrestle Kingdom 13 - January 4, 2019, Tokyo Dome
New Year Dash!! - 1/5/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall
NJPW Presenta CMLL Fantasticamania 2019 - 1/11/2019, Osaka EDION Arena Subarena - 1/12/2019, Ehime Texport Imabari - 1/13/2019, Kyoto KBS Hall - 1/14/2019, Gifu Industry Center - 1/16/2019, Chiba Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall - 1/18/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 1/20/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 1/21/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall
The Kizuna Road 2021 tour began today, and you can see it now on NJPWWorld. Among the attractions were the start of both Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji’s trial series’. Let’s see how it worked out for them!
Kizuna Road 2021 - 6/14/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] (Takagi > Kanemaru, Last Of The Dragon, 14:48)
Shingo demanded that NJPW prepare “the biggest stage” for his title match v. Kota Ibushi that has yet to be made official. EVIL, Yujiro and Togo provoked the NEVER Comedy champions by posing with the belts. I didn’t think the Young Lions’ singles matches would be as long as they were, but this is a real showcase for them, so maybe that’s kinda OK in this instance.
The Japanese government is preparing for the possibility of a “quasi state of emergency” during the Olympics, which makes me wonder how strict the government actually believes the current state of emergency is, because hoo lordy. The number of COVID-19 cases are lowering, and it seems likely that the current order will be elapsing on 6/20/2021, with the possible exceptions of Okinawa and Hokkaido. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will meet with a task force on Thursday to discuss whether or not they will go through with the current order, or impose this quasi order during the Games beginning 7/23/2021. At this point, it seems very unlikely the Games will be cancelled, after a statement from an anonymous government official that “There will be no cancellation or postponement.” It would also seem that the G7 Nations confirmed at their conference in Britain the last few days that they are all agreed that the Games should go forth. Japan’s top COVID-19 adviser Shigeru Omi disagrees, and will be releasing a statement soon about the risks being undertaken if the Games go on. This still has every making of a disaster. That said, Japan’s current vaccination rate appears to be at 9.4% according to current data. Which is way up from 1%, but still not great compared to other nations.
On Saturday, Impact showed their (pre-taped) Against All Odds PPV event, featuring a match going back over a decade, as Satoshi Kojima faced his old AJPW rival Joe Doering in only their 2nd ever singles match. This time, Doering would come out on top, hitting a Spiral Bomb to finish off the Third Generation veteran.
Kojima has a match on NJPW Strong this week, but that too is pre-taped. Kojima is scheduled for Kizuna Road dates, so he’s done in the USA for now. Not sure how far out Impact tapes their TV, so he might be on the show still, he might not. I’m still struggling to see what benefit this relationship is for Impact besides “We get some NJPW guys on our shows for a bit and cycle them out.” The show also apparently had a real cluster of a main event between Kenny Omega v. Moose for the Impact World title. Kojima v. Doering should appear on NJPWWorld pretty soon.
The tour continues tomorrow, with more Young Lion trial series matches.
- 6/15/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
Yuya Uemura Trial Series: Yuya Uemura v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]
Yota Tsuji Trial Series: Yota Tsuji v. Taichi [SZKG]
SHO, YOH & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Jado [Bullet Club]
Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo & Gedo [Bullet Club]
Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Master Wato v. Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]
This is the most up to date list of upcoming New Japan Pro Wrestling events I can provide, with full cards announced where possible. (NJPWWorld) means the event will be shown live on NJPWWorld. All cards subject to change.
Road to Castle Attack - 2/14/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
Yuto Nakashima Debut Match: Yuya Uemura v. Yuto Nakashima
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima & Gabriel Kidd v. Great O-Khan, Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb [United Empire]
Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Yujiro Takahashi, El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]
Kota Ibushi & Yuji Nagata v. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA [Los Ingobernables]
Elimination Match: Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. EVIL, Jay White, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]
- 2/15/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
Gabriel Kidd v. Yuto Nakashima
Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Yuya Uemura v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club]
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yota Tsuji v. Great O-Khan, Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb [United Empire]
SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Yujiro Takahashi, El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]
Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & SHO [CHAOS] v. EVIL, Jay White, Chase Owens & Dick Togo [Bullet Club]
Kota Ibushi & Yuji Nagata v. Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]
- 2/16/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
Yuya Uemura v. Yuto Nakashima
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima & Yota Tsuji v. Great O-Khan, Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb [United Empire]
SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Yujiro Takahashi, El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]
Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & SHO [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Chase Owens & Gedo [Bullet Club]
Kota Ibushi & Yuji Nagata v. Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. EVIL, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club]
- 2/17/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
Yota Tsuji v. Yuto Nakashima
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Gabriel Kidd v. Great O-Khan, Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb [United Empire]
Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]
Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Yujiro Takahashi, El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]
Kazuchika Okada & SHO [CHAOS] v. EVIL & Dick Togo [Bullet Club]
Kota Ibushi & Yuji Nagata v. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA [Los Ingobernables]
- 2/19/2021, Iwate Prefectural Gymnasium
Gabriel Kidd v. Yuto Nakashima
Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Tiger Mask IV v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club]
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima & Yota Tsuji v. Great O-Khan, Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb [United Empire]
SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Yujiro Takahashi, El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]
Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & SHO [CHAOS] v. EVIL, Jay White, Chase Owens & Dick Togo [Bullet Club]
Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma v. Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]
- 2/20/2021, Yamagata Big Wing
Yuya Uemura v. Yuto Nakashima
Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Tiger Mask IV v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club]
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima & Gabriel Kidd v. Great O-Khan, Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb [United Empire]
Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Yujiro Takahashi, El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]
Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & SHO [CHAOS] v. EVIL, Jay White, Chase Owens & Gedo [Bullet Club]
Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma v. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA [Los Ingobernables]
- 2/21/2021, Fukushima Toyota Crown Arena
Yuya Uemura v. Yuto Nakashima
Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Tiger Mask IV v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado [Bullet Club]
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima & Yota Tsuji v. Great O-Khan, Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb [United Empire]
SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Yujiro Takahashi, El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]
Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & SHO [CHAOS] v. EVIL, Jay White, Chase Owens & Dick Togo [Bullet Club]
Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma v. Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]
- 2/22/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
Yota Tsuji v. Yuto Nakashima
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Gabriel Kidd v. Great O-Khan, Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb [United Empire]
NJPW 49th Anniversary Show - March 4, 2021, Tokyo Nippon Budokan
New Japan Cup 2021 - 3/5/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 3/6/2021, Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium - 3/7/2021, Yamanashi Aimesse - 3/9/2021, Okayama ZIP Arena - 3/10/2021, Kyoto Sandan-ike Park Gymnasium - 3/11/2021, Ehime Item - 3/13/2021, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium - 3/14/2021, Hyogo Baycom Gymnasium - 3/15/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 3/16/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 3/18/2021, Shizuoka Twin Messe - 3/20/2021, Sendai Xebio Arena - 3/21/2021, Sendai Xebio Arena
Road to Sakura Genesis 2021 - 3/28/2021, Gunma G Messe - 3/29/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 3/30/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 4/1/2021, Fukushima Big Palette
Sakura Genesis 2021 - 4/4/2021, Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
This is the most up to date list of upcoming New Japan Pro Wrestling events I can provide, with full cards announced where possible.(NJPWWorld) means the event will be shown live on NJPWWorld. All cards subject to change.
The New Beginning in Osaka - 2/9/2020, Osaka Osaka-jo Hall (NJPWWorld)
Manabu Nakanishi Final in Osaka-jo Hall: Manabu Nakanishi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata v. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Toa Henare & Ryusuke Taguchi
This is the most up to date list of upcoming New Japan Pro Wrestling events I can provide, with full cards announced where possible. (NJPWWorld) means the event will be shown live on NJPWWorld. All cards subject to change.
Kizuna Road 2021 - 6/14/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
Yuya Uemura Trial Series: Yuya Uemura v. Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]
Yota Tsuji Trial Series: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Yota Tsuji
Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo & Jado [Bullet Club]
SHO, YOH & Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Gedo [Bullet Club]
Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]
v. Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]
- 6/15/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
Yuya Uemura Trial Series: Yuya Uemura v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]
Yota Tsuji Trial Series: Yota Tsuji v. Taichi [SZKG]
SHO, YOH & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Jado [Bullet Club]
Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo & Gedo [Bullet Club]
Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Master Wato v.
Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]
- 6/16/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)
Yuya Uemura Trial Series: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Yuya Uemura
Yota Tsuji Trial Series: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] v. Yota Tsuji
Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma v. HIroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata
Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]
Elimination Match: Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]
- 6/18/2021, Shizuoka Kira Messe Numazu
Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Yota Tsuji v. HIroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata
- 6/26/2021, Miyagi Sendai Sunplaza Hall - 6/28/2021, Aichi Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall - 6/29/2021, Toyama Takaoka Techno Dome - 7/1/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 7/2/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Summer Struggle in Sapporo - 7/10/2021, Hokkaido Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena
- 7/11/2021, Hokkaido Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena
Summer Struggle 2021 - 7/13/2021, Aomori New Aomori Prefectural Sports Park Maeda Arena - 7/14/2021, Akita Nices Arena - 7/17/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 7/19/2021, Ibaraki Tatsunoko Arena - 7/27/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 7/30/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 7/31/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 8/1/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 8/7/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 8/8/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 8/9/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 8/10/2021, Kanagawa Yokohama Budokan - 8/14/2021, Nagano White Ring - 8/15/2021, Shizuoka Fujisan Messe - 8/16/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 8/17/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 8/24/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 8/25/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 8/26/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall - 8/27/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Just a quick post - tomorrow, 2000AD Prog 2362 will be out in print in the UK, digitally worldwide. It’s the year-end special holiday issue, 100 pages with a whole host of stories. Including one of mine.
I was asked to write one of 2000AD’s leading franchise characters, Rogue Trooper, and got paired with the master artist Simon Coleby, colorists Francesco Segala and Sabrina Del Grosso, and letterer Rob Steen for “Runaway,” a 12-page one-off featuring the Genetic Infantryman and his dogchip buddies. It was an honor to be asked, and I hope I did it well. It was also a complete blast to write Rogue, Helm, Gunnar & Bagman, and I hope Tharg the Mighty will let me do so again.
Below are the first two pages of the strip.
Since last we spoke, October and November were, frankly, dogshit. Two deaths in my immediate family (my partner’s mother, and one of my aunts), my car getting crashed and totalled, my new car getting smashed and broken into with a laptop and tablet stolen after only 10 days of ownership, and a bout with New York Comic Con COVID. However, as dark as those days were, the sun did eventually rise on them, and things are looking positive for the rest of this year, and 2024 as well.
I hope you enjoy this story, and if I don’t post again before the New Year, have a happy holiday season, whatever it is you may celebrate, and that you are safe and relatively untroubled as we head into 2024.
depechegirl88
