ProWrestling.com

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Several New Champions Crowned At NJPW Dominion, Ospreays First Defense Set

Posted: 09 Jun 2019 04:36 AM PDT https://www.prowrestling.com/several-new-champions-crowned-at-njpw-dominion/


This Sundays highly anticipated NJPW Dominion pay-per-view saw the changing
of quite a few championship belts, along with a few potential Match of the
Year candidates for good measure.

In the first title change of the night, the Stone Pitbull Tomohiro Ishii
put an end to Lord Taichis reign of terror, capturing the NEVER Openweight Championship in a shockingly competitive and hard-hitting matchup.

The IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship also changed hands, as the 2019 Best
of the Super Juniors tournament winner Will Ospreay proved yet again that
he is the best in the world, slaying Dragon Lee to recapture the title he
has helped put on the map in recent years.

After the match, in a touching moment, Ospreay was actually strapped by
former champion Dragon Lee in a massive show of respect. He then announced
that his first challenger will be Bullet Clubs Robbie Eagles, and that the match will take place during the upcoming NJPW tour in Australia.

Finally, we have a new IWGP Intercontinental Champion as the leader of Los Ingobernables de Japon, Tetsuya Naito, defeated the Golden Star Kota Ibushi
in a deeply physical, almost downright dangerous match at times. Ibushi
somehow managed to survive being German suplexed on the back of his neck as
the rest of his body snapped awkwardly in the opposite direction. In the
end it was Naito who would walk away with the gold, yet again.

Kazuchika OKada did manage to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in a violent match against Chris Jericho, but suffered a post-match beating
after the fact. The Guerrillas of Destiny, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa, also successfully defended the IWGP Tag Team Championships over EVIL and Sanada.

The post Several New Champions Crowned At NJPW Dominion, Ospreays First
Defense Set appeared first on ProWrestling.com.


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BREAKING: Hideo Itami/KENTA Makes Surprise NJPW Debut at Dominion

Posted: 09 Jun 2019 04:27 AM PDT https://www.prowrestling.com/breaking-hideo-itami-kenta-makes-surprise-njpw-debut-at-dominion/


KENTA has returned to Japan!

Formerly known as Hideo Itami in WWE, 38-year-old Kenta Kobayashi dedicated
the first 14 years of his professional wrestling career competing for NOAH
in Japan.

While there he dominated the junior heavyweight division with three reigns
as champion, formed one of the greatest tag teams of all time with the
great Naomichi Marufuji, and even held the GHC Heavyweight Championship for nearly a full year.

The Wrestler, Shibata has introduced @KENTAG2S!! KENTA has announced he
will be in the G1!! Stay tuned to https://t.co/Tj7UBJ4PjP

柴田勝頼とも共にヒデオ・イタミことKENTAが登場！G1 CLIMAX 参戦をアピー
ル！#NJPWWorld 登録＆視聴︎https://t.co/Tj7UBJ4PjP #njpw #njdominon #g129
pic.twitter.com/rf0RNbNhUX

- njpwworld (@njpwworld) June 9, 2019



It was announced at the beginning of the year that KENTA was looking to
return to Japan, but it was widely assumed that WWE allowed him out of his contract in order to return to the smaller NOAH promotion, which is realistically not competition for them and has very little influence on the western market.

KENTA was brought out Sunday morning (U.S. time) as the special guest of
the great Katsuyori Shibata. He then promised to show the New Japan fans
his style of wrestling, and officially announced himself for the 2019 G1
Climax tournament!

The post BREAKING: Hideo Itami/KENTA Makes Surprise NJPW Debut at Dominion appeared first on ProWrestling.com.


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Jon Moxley Announces Himself For The G1 Climax After Second NJPW Victory

Posted: 09 Jun 2019 04:13 AM PDT https://www.prowrestling.com/jon-moxley-announces-himself-for-the-g1-climax-after-second-njpw-victory/


Just four short days after making his in-ring debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he shocked the world in becoming the brand new IWGP
U.S. Heavyweight Champion, Jon Moxley returned to the ring to score another
big victory; thats 2-0 since leaving WWE, for those keeping track.

.@JonMoxley IWGP US HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION
Sign up Now & Stay tuned to https://t.co/Tj7UBJ4PjP#njpw #njdominion
#njpwworld pic.twitter.com/fRCopLVHhy

- njpwworld (@njpwworld) June 9, 2019



Moxley was still showing signs of his brutal battle with Juice Robinson
this Sunday morning at NJPW Dominion, and his opponent the standout Young
Lion Shota Umino was able to take advantage of his injuries to score a few brief flurries of offense, but ultimately came nowhere close to putting
down the newly dubbed Death Rider.

.@JonMoxley Back Drop
Sign up Now & Stay tuned to https://t.co/Tj7UBJ4PjP#njpw #njdominion
#njpwworld pic.twitter.com/nBLhx5zXyJ

- njpwworld (@njpwworld) June 9, 2019



The real surprise came after the brief match, which was quickly wrapped up
with Moxleys signature double-underhook DDT (called Dirty Deeds in WWE).
The former world champion surprised everyone yet again by declaring himself
as an entrant in the 2019 G1 Climax!

The G1 Climax is widely considered the most rigorous tournament in
professional wrestling history. In previous years up to 20 stars would
compete the round robin-style contest, fighting up to nine major singles matches and nine undercard tag team matches all in the span of about three weeks, desperately fighting and clawing for points against some of the
greatest heavyweight wrestlers on the planet.

This years G1 will actually kick off for the very first time in the U.S.,
as NJPW invades the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX on July 7th with
the tournaments opening night.

The post Jon Moxley Announces Himself For The G1 Climax After Second NJPW Victory appeared first on ProWrestling.com.


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NJPW Dominion Results (6/9): Okada vs Jericho, Jon Moxley In Action!

Posted: 08 Jun 2019 10:48 PM PDT https://www.prowrestling.com/njpw-dominion-results-okada-vs-jericho-live-coverage-in-progress/


Welcome to our live coverage of NJPW Dominion! The show kicks off at 3AM ET
and will be broadcast on both FITE TV ($29.99) and NJPW World for all subscribers, with English commentary provided by Kevin Kelly and Don Callis.

Tonights main event will see The Rainmaker Kazuchika Okada defend the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against the six-time WWE world champion, future
Hall of Famer and current AEW star, Chris Jericho! Plus, Kota Ibushi
defends the IWGP Intercontinental title against Tetsuya Naito, Jon Moxley
in action, and more!

If you like NJPW or think you may be interested, check out The Lion-Gun
Show: A New Japan Pro-Wrestling Podcast with hosts Mike Killam and Ross W. Berman IV. The latest episode provides a detailed preview of the Dominion
card, as well as a Top 10 list of the best matches from the 2019 Best of
the Super Juniors tournament!


NJPW Dominion Results

Osaka-Jo Hall, Osaka, Japan

June 9, 2019

Kevin Kelly and Don Callas are our announces this morning. After an
opening video package in Japanese they run down the card as Shota Umino
heads to the ring for our opening contest!

JON MOXLEY vs. SHOTA UMINO

Umino surprised everyone with a tope to the outside right off the bat. The
two brawled into the ring, officially starting the match, and Moxley immediately turned the tides with stiff elbow shots in the corner, before dragging the poor kids face across the top rope. After a few minutes of bullying Umino fought back with a surprise dropkick, followed by a bridging German suplex for two. Moxley came right back at him with a suplex, but
just flung him around in mid-air. He quickly hit the Death Rider
(double-arm DDT) and scored the relatively easy win.

Winner: Jon Moxley

Moxley got on the microphone and called himself a global proprietor of violence, and had a warning for everyone around the world. He wants in the
G1 Climax! The crowd roars for this announcement, and Moxley picks up Shota Umino and basically caries his lifeless husk to the back with him.


SHINGO TAKAGI vs. SATOSHI KOJIMA

Kojima surprised early with a great flurry of offense, chopping his
opponent around the ring before doing a plancha to the floor. They started teeing off against each other with wild rights and lefts, totally ignoring
the referees count, and barely made it in before the 20. Kojima hit a round
of his Machine Gun chops in the corner, connected with a running big boot,
but Shingo caught him a hard elbow strike and nearly killed him with a
Death Valley Driver out on the apron.

Shingo tried to hoist his opponent back into the ring, but Kojima took out
his knees then connected with a big DDT on the apron. Back in the ring he
hit the Koji Cutter, but it wasnt enough. He took it up to the top rope and
hit a Super Koji Cutter, and it still wasnt enough. After a beat, Shingo responded with a suplex and tried to set up for the Pumping Bomber, but
Kojima ran right through it and hit a big lariat of his own. He screamed at this opponent to get back up, went for the Kozy Lariat, but Shingo dropped
him with a DDT.

A lariat in the corner connected but Kojima absorbed the blow. Shingo hit
him with another lariat, followed by yet another, and every single time the legend just absorbed the damage, before eventually connecting with the Kozy Lariat. Both men down. Shingo blocked the Koji Cutter again and hit the Noshigami, then picked him up and DESTROY him with a Jumping Bomber. 12NO! Shingo picks him right back up, hits the Last of the Dragon, and scores the hard-fought win.

Winner: Shingo Takagi

THE ACTION CONTINUES ON THE NEXT PAGE! >>>

The post NJPW Dominion Results (6/9): Okada vs Jericho, Jon Moxley In
Action! appeared first on ProWrestling.com.


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The Lion-Gun Show #06 - NJPW Dominion Preview, Top 10 Super Juniors Matches!

Posted: 08 Jun 2019 08:31 PM PDT https://www.prowrestling.com/the-lion-gun-show-06-njpw-dominion-preview-top-10-super-juniors-matches/




This week on The Lion-Gun Show we go deep in a preview for the huge 6/9
NJPW Dominion event, featuring Kazuchika Okada vs. Chris Jericho for the
IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Tetseuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, Jon Moxley in action, and more!

Ross also counts down his Top 10 matches from the 2019 NJPW Best of the
Super Juniors tournament, so if youve been waiting to catch up on the best
of the best from this years incredible competition, weve got your hook-up!

NJPW Dominion is live this Sunday (earning morning in the U.S.) kicking off
at 3AM ET (midnight PT), broadcast live on FITE TV and NJPW World, with
English commentary from Kevin Kelly and Don Callis.

The post The Lion-Gun Show #06 NJPW Dominion Preview, Top 10 Super Juniors Matches! appeared first on ProWrestling.com.


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WWE Super Showdown Review: If You Didnt Watch It, You Didnt Miss Anything

Posted: 08 Jun 2019 07:40 AM PDT https://www.prowrestling.com/wwe-super-showdown-review-if-you-didnt-watch-it-you-didnt-miss-anything/


WWE Super Showdown took place Friday night at the King Abdullah
International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The WWE Network event was headlined by a once-in-a-lifetime main event between Attitude Era stars in
The Undertaker and Goldberg. Elsewhere on the card, we had Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston defend their world championships against Baron Corbin and
Dolph Ziggler, respectively, and the second-to-last match of the night was
a 50-man over-the-top-rope battle royal with a surprise entrant pulling
away with the victory.



Seth Rollins (C) vs. Baron Corbin

This was an okay match, but it was a little “RAW-ish” to me in the sense that this didn’t have a “pay-per-view feel” to it. Seth sold his rib injury
for the length of the match and Corbin did all he could to focus his
offense on the champion’s core. I liked the ending with John Cone standing
up for himself after dealing with Corbin’s berating throughout the match. This kind of reminded me a bit of Earl Hebner’s retaliation toward Triple H during the latter’s title match against on RAW in 2000. I wonder if that
will be a catalyst for any storyline heat for their feud going forward in
the next few weeks? On top of that, I’m curious if Paul Heyman tripping
over the ropes, leading to Brock Lesnar’s distraction, will lead to some friction between these two on TV. I’m glad the Lesnar-Rollins rivalry is continuing on so there’s more drama around the Universal Title going forward. 

Winner: Seth Rollins   Time: 11:15     Rating: 2.5 Stars



Finn Bālor (C) vs. Andrade

This was a good match, but nothing about it jumped out to me as “the best thing either man has ever done.” Demon Bālor was his usual snarling, tongue-wagging, unstoppable self and Andrade put on another solid
performance in the ring, showing why he’s one of the best talents on the SmackDown roster. I did like the look of desperation Andrade had on his
face after hitting his Hammerlock DDT finisher late in the match after the Demon had kicked out. Good match, but an expected finish as the Demon is
still undefeated on the main roster and only has one loss if you include
his NXT record. 

Winner: Finn Bālor     Time: 11:35     Rating: 2.5 Stars



Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon (w/ Drew McIntyre)

Honestly, I was not interested in this match, at all. I really wish this
match was McIntyre and Roman because Shane just doesn’t do anything for me
as a top heel anymore. Any buzz he had post-WrestleMania has dried up in
the last month on TV and his in-ring work, especially this consistent in
the last six months, has not won me over. Additionally, I thought it looked really goofy for a 49-year old Shane McMahon (who has sparingly wrestled
since the Royal Rumble) to beat a 34-year old Roman Reigns (who is taller, looks a lot stronger and has been positioned as the heir apparent to John
Cena for the last five years). Visually, this did not make any sense and didn’t look convincing to me at all. I will admit the interference by McIntyre makes sense so Shane can gloat about a victory over Roman, but I
for one can’t wait for this feud to be over.

Winner: Shane McMahon       Time: 9:15       Rating: 1.5 Stars



Lars Sullivan vs. Lucha House Party 

Admittedly, I’m a big fan of “monster” characters like Lars Sullivan. Yeah,
this match didn’t wow me with technical prowress or was a back-and-forth brawl, but this was meant to be a showcase for Lars to show his best
impression of “Hulk Smash!” and he did just that. Lars looked like a behemoth and the Lucha House Party made Lars’ offense look like death. The disqualification ending was an interesting choice, but the end result of
broken luchador bodies sprawled around the arena was the necessary message
to send in order to get some more heat on Lars. The crowd was noticeably
silent during this match, but I enjoyed it for what it was.

Winner (via DQ): Lars Sullivan          Time: 5:15       Rating: 2 Stars



Triple H vs. Randy Orton

This to me was a toned-down version of Triple H versus Batista at
WrestleMania, minus any weapons or “barred holds.” This match was very orchestrated and very psychological, but there wasn’t a lot of “pop” to the
match. This just wasn’t exciting, especially compared to the previous
matches these two have had in years past. But I guess that’s the trouble
with announcing this match as an exhibition rather than building any sort
of blood feud around it like these two have had in the past. The big
highlights of this match were the multiple pedigrees, back body-drops on
the announce table and RKOs that each got a huge pop from the Jeddah crowd. I’m glad the people of Jeddah enjoyed parts of this match, because I sure didn’t. 25 minutes was way too long.

Winner: Randy Orton Time: 25:45     Rating: 1.5 Stars



Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley

This was Godzilla and Mothra, man. Titan and Olympian. Two destroyers
trying their hardest to knock each other with as heavy-handed moves as possible. This was filled with big slams, big suplexes and kick-outs
galore. I think these two could put on an even better match with some more weapons to use, but I enjoyed this match nonetheless.

Winner: Braun Strowman      Time: 8:20       Rating: 2.5 Stars



Kofi Kingston (C) vs. Dolph Ziggler  

Say what you will about the start-and-stop pushes of Dolph Ziggler over the last few years, but the guy can still put together a solid match. And
that’s not a knock at Kofi Kingston, either. Kofi has proven himself to be
a solid worker over the last decade and together, they came up with one of
the better matches on this card. Add in a little bit of manager shenanigans from Xavier Woods and you have a legitimate reason to extend this feud
another few weeks into WWE Stomping Grounds on June 23rd inside of a steel cage. Pretty straightforward, again, nothing new and nothing that much to
write home about, but by no means bad. 

Winner: Kofi Kingston            Time: 10:15     Rating: 2.5 Stars



50-Man Battle Royal 

This was just a mass scrum of 50 people that was highlighted in the
beginning by that awe-inducing image of that mass of humanity fighting it
out right after the bell rang. That’s almost always my favorite image from
a battle royal match. Shout-out to Titus O’Neil for avenging his Greatest Royal Rumble slide blunder last year by not making any news in this match.
This featured the usual greatest hits of battle royal spots between guys
barely going over the top rope while hanging on the ring apron and the
stare down between the bigger dogs in the match (this time being the Viking Raiders, AOP and Heavy Machinery). Since there was no real prize or championship to be won in this match, giving the win to a young, Saudi-born
NXT talent in Mansoor was a smart pick to give the crowd a stadium-shaking
pop of excitement. He looked good for his brief time in the spotlight
across from Elias, so we might be able to see a little more from him in the future.

Winner: Mansoor        Time: 17:52        Rating: 2 Stars



The Undertaker vs. Goldberg

Whew boy, this match. This match, this match, this match.

Like most wrestling fans, I’m a big fan of The Undertaker. Goldberg was one of my favorite WCW talents despite the fact that his “workrate” wasn’t that
of someone like Dean Malenko or Chris Jericho. His matches were short,
punchy, impactful excitement filled with all the quick slams and
destruction of a monster truck rally. Now, I don’t want to completely kill this match dead because this had a few good spots with the opening spear
and Undertaker’s “Old School” ring rope walk halfway through. But once Goldberg slapped on a very weak-looking leglock, this match went downhill
very quick. Goldberg ran into the corner with too much energy and conked
his head on the ringopst, giving himself a nice, bloody gash. Undertaker delivered a Tombstone Piledriver that was a little too close to spiking Goldberg right on top of his head. Goldberg attempted to deliver a
Jackhammer, but either he didn’t get the strength needed to lift the over-six-and-a-half-foot frame of the Deadman or Undertaker didn’t lift his legs up high enough as both men fell flat in the world’s ugliest
Brainbuster that was a little too close to Undertaker’s neck, as well. And then you have the final sequence where Goldberg picked up Undertaker in a Tombstone position of his own. It was supposed to be reversed into an Undertaker Tombstone attempt, but instead both men fell over in a heap,
kind of like what happened at WrestleMania 33 between Undertaker and Roman Reigns. In the end, the match was ended by a very weak-looking Undertaker chokeslam for the merciful three-count. I don’t want to blame either man
more than the other because both men deserve blame for this match turning
out the way it did. This was hardly worthy of a main event placement and neither man gave the Jeddah people a fitting match. One of the worst
matches of 2019.

Winner: The Undertaker        Time: 9:35        Rating: 1 Star

Overall Thoughts: Even the announcements of Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss, Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns and Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston inside of a
steel cage couldn’t pick up my mood for the future of both shows. This was
an awful show. Match of the night honors for me go to either Andrade/Bālor
or Kingston/Ziggler. Far and away, the worst match of the night was the
main event. I can try to understand and respect why many of you may have decided not to watch Super Showdown (be it work obligations or personal reasons). Let me tell you that if you didn’t watch it, you have zero reason to watch this and I hope you use those three and a half hours in a more productive way like reading a book, cleaning your house or spending time
with your family or friends.

Final Super Showdown Thoughts: 1.5 Stars

The post WWE Super Showdown Review: If You Didn’t Watch It, You Didn’t Miss Anything appeared first on ProWrestling.com.


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Impact Wrestling Officials Upset After Pursuit Fails To Air Friday Nights
Show

Posted: 08 Jun 2019 07:10 AM PDT https://www.prowrestling.com/impact-wrestling-management-upset-after-pursuit-fails-to-air-friday-nights-show/


The Pursuit network has messed up another new broadcast of Impact Wrestling.

As noted, the May 17th edition of the show had its main event accidentally
axed when the network aired a 15-minute loop of commercials in its place.
That was doubly problematic because the match had been heavily praised all
week long.

The problem this week was much worse. Instead of a 15-minute chunk of the
show missing, Pursuit didnt air the June 6th episode at all, instead
running an old replay.

The show has already been uploaded to the new Impact Plus streaming
service. It features LAX defending the Impact World Tag Team Championships against The Rascalz, a good match between Jordynne Grace and Kiera Hogan,
and an intergender match pitting Fallah Bahh and Scarlett Bordeaux against
oVe.

According to PWInsider.com, Impact Wrestling management was pulling their
hair out in frustration during Friday nights television taping in New York. While nothing has been confirmed, several sources including those within
the company have indicated that the show is in talks for a better
television deal hopefully coming later this year.

The post Impact Wrestling Officials Upset After Pursuit Fails To Air Friday Nights Show appeared first on ProWrestling.com.

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