Douki and Taiji Ishimori run it back!

During Best of the Super Juniors, Taiji Ishimori defeated Douki, but Douki’s the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion! Time to see who is truly best!

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Kickoff – Masatora Yasuda VS Daiki Nagai; Time Limit Draw.
• Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask VS Shoma Kato & Katsuya Murashima; Honma & Tiger Mask win.
• Taka Michinoku VS Francesco Akira; Akira wins.
• Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita VS SANADA & Taichi; Sanada & Taichi win.
• 10 Man Tag: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, Boltin Oleg, Shota Umino & Ryusuke Taguchi VS The House of Torture; The House of Torture wins.
• Six Man Tag: Chaos VS Bullet Club War Dogs; Chaos wins.
• 10 Man Tag: Los Ingobernables de Japon VS The United Empire; LIJ wins.
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: DOUKI VS Taiji Ishimori; Douki wins and retains the title.

PLAY BY PLAY

Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita VS SANADA & Taichi!

The Front Man is preparing for his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship opportunity, and what better way than to face two men he’s very familiar with? Will ZSJ and the Ichiban Young Punk take down The Cold Skull & The Holy Emperor? Or will ZSJ lose to a rival and an old friend?

The teams sort out and, eventually, it is a reunion of the Dangerous Tekkers! The fans cheer with the bell, and ZSJ circles with Taichi. They tie up, are in a deadlock at center, but Taichi powers ZSJ to ropes. Taichi lets off slowly, but with pats on the shoulders. The fans applaud the clean break and the two reset. ZSJ and Taichi approach, and Taichi BOOTS! ZSJ says okay, and he BOOTS back! Taichi BOOTS again, ZSJ rebounds to BOOT! Taichi rebounds to BOOT! ZSJ rebounds but Taichi BOOTS! ZSJ UPPERCUTS! ZSJ tries to steal Ax Bomber, but Taichi gets under to DANGEROUS- NO, ZSJ fights the saido!

ZSJ wrenches, Taichi avoids the Pele but ZSJ avoids the buzzsaw! The fans cheer as the two stand back. They know each other well, so ZSJ gives a bow of respect and tags out to Fujita. The fans rally, Taichi tags Sanada, and Sanada circles with Fujita. They tie up, Sanada powers Fujita right to ropes, but Fujita turns things around. The ref calls the break, Fujita lets off, to CHOP! Sanada storms up, he ties up with Fujita again, and Sanada puts Fujita on ropes this time. The ref calls a break, and Sanada lets off, only for Fujita to CHOP! The fans applaud, Fujita kicks low and headlocks, but Sanada powers up and out.

Fujita comes back to CHOP! And CHOP! And CHOP! Fujita eggs Sanada on, so Sanada dropkicks a leg! Sanada whips, Fujita ducks ‘n’ dodges, and GAMANGIRIS! Sanada falls, the fans fire up, and Fujita shakes out that leg. Sanada goes to a corner, Fujita runs up, and CHOPS! Fujita snapmares then runs to PENALTY KICK! Cover, ONE! Sanada is tougher than that but Fujita waistlocks. Fujita deadlifts, but Sanada fires elbows. Sanada is free but Fujita CLUBS him! Fujita runs, but Sanada DUMPS him to the apron! And then DROPKICKS him down! Fujita hits railing, Sanada hits ZSJ! Taichi heads over and he brings Fujita around.

Taichi whips Fujita into railing! The ref reprimands but Taichi brings Fujita around and into the ring. Sanada covers, TWO! The fans applaud, but Sanada stomps Fujita. Sanada stomps Fujita again, then tags Taichi. Taichi stomps Fujita now, drags him up, and snapmares to KICK! Cover, TWO! The fans applaud, and Taichi brings Fujita up. Taichi scuffs Fujita with kicks, then gives him Kawada Kicks! Fujita stands to CHOP! Taichi eggs him on so Fujita CHOPS again! Taichi pie faces Fujita so Fujita CHOPS! Taichi wrenches to HOOK KICK! Cover, TWO! The fans applaud, ZSJ coaches Fujita, but Taichi stays between them.

Taichi drags Fujita up, CLUBS him, then whips him. Fujita reverses to CHOP! Taichi SOBATS! Fujita HEEL KICKS! Taichi rebounds to AX- NO, Fujita ducks and gets around to GERMAN SUPLEX! The fans fire up while both men are down! Fujita and Taichi stir, crawl, hot tags to Sanada and ZSJ! The fans fire up as ZSJ dodges Sanada, full nelsons, then spins Sanada to snapmare, only for Sanada to handspring through! Sanada headlocks for the takeover, but ZSJ headscissors, stands, and TWISTS! The fans applaud while Sanada grimaces. ZSJ brings Sanada up, Sanada breaks free, but ZSJ RAMS him low. ZSJ headlocks, Sanada powers out, but ZSJ turns hip toss into a backslide!

Sanada rolls through but ZSJ catches him, NECK TWIST! SNAP HALF HATCH! Basement DROPKICK! The fans cheer while ZSJ looms over Sanada. ZSJ drags Sanada up, but Sanada fights the scoop! Sanada clubs free, fireman’s carries, but ZSJ slips free. Sanada fights the nelson but ZSJ ducks the elbow to UPPERCUT! ZSJ runs, but Sanada dropkicks the legs out! The fans cheer, and Sanada brings ZSJ up. MAGIC SCREW! Both men are down again and the fans rally. Sanada kips up and the fans cheer! Sanada aims from a corner, runs up, but ZSJ ducks the Shining Wizard! But Sanada blocks the Penalty Kick to DRAGON SCREW!

Sanada runs up again, SHINING WIZARD! The fans fire up and Sanada brings ZSJ around. Clinch and- NO, ZSJ slips free, to IRON OCTOPUS! Sanada endures, Taichi storms in and he CLUBS ZSJ! Fujita MISSILE DROPKICKS! Taichi bails out, Fujita slides out, and he kicks Taichi low. Fujita coaches ZSJ up and the fans rally. ZSJ drags Sanada up, but Sanada UPPERCUTS! ZSJ UPPERCUTS back! Sanada UPPERCUTS again! ZSJ brushes that off to UPPERCUT! Sanada UPPERCUTS, ZSJ UPPERCUTS again and again! But Sanada catches him to a backslide! TWO as ZSJ rolls to the side! ZSJ changes things to backslide, TWO!!

Sanada and ZSJ roll, DOUBLE BACKSLIDE! TWO!! ZSJ has it again, TWO!! The fans fire up after so many close calls, and the two fight up again. ZSJ backslides once more, TWO!!! Sanada just barely escapes, but ZSJ BOOTS him! ZSJ waistlocks, Sanada switches, but ZSJ bucks the O’Conner! Sanada runs up, into a scoop! But Sanada slips free to clinch, DEADFALL!! Cover, SANADA & TAICHI WIN!!

Winners: Sanada & Taichi, by pinfall

A stunner in Sendai! The Cold Skull gets the pin on the G1 Climax Champion! Then, should Zack Sabre Jr. succeed in Kobe, does that mean Sanada will be next in line? Wait, Sanada gets the mic to speak, and in English! “Hey, Zack. Do you remember last time? You beat me in my hometown. So next month, Royal Quest in London, I will beat you in your hometown!” ZSJ says challenge accepted! The fans cheer, because title or no title, we see these rivals add another chapter to their story! Will the Cold Skull potentially become The Gold Skull once again? Or will ZSJ show The Mighty Don’t Kneel, no matter where they are?

10 Man Tag: Los Ingobernables de Japon VS The United Empire!

Monday was rough for Tetsuya Naito, Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji as they all lost to The United Empire. However, we now know Destruction in Kobe will be even bigger! Takagi will challenge Henare for the NEVER Openweight Championship on the same night Naito defends his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Great-O-Khan! Will LIJ rise back up? Or will they be conquered again but all at once?

Wait, Yota is wearing his green lucha mask again. He did that when teaming with just Bushi at some point. As such, he has Abe-san introduce him as, uh, “Torato,” is it? All the entrance attire is put aside, and Cobb stares down “Torato,” though perhaps a bit confused by the antics. Cobb tells the team he is stepping up, so they oblige. LIJ fist bump, and the fans applaud as Yota steps up. The fans rally with the bell, and Yota has a lot more pep being this Torato character. Cobb isn’t amused, so he knees Yota low! Cobb whips, Yota ducks ‘n’ dodges to then flip and RANA! The fans fire up and Cobb goes to a corner.

Yota runs in, but Cobb stops the Monkey Flip to put Yota up top. Yota BOOTS and FLYING ARM-DRAGS! Yota RAMS Cobb, runs, ducks ‘n’ whips, but Cobb RANAS?! And then he FLYING SHOULDER TACKLES! Cover, TWO! Cobb goes after the mask! The ref reprimands, so Cobb ELBOWS Yota in the head! Tag to Callum Newman, and the Empire double whips Yota. They run Yota over, then Cobb sits him up to YANK the mask away! Callum PENALTY KICKS, Cobb GACHIMUCHI MOONSAULTS! Cover, TWO! Yota stays in this, and Yota covers his face even though we’ve seen it. Cobb THROWS the mask away! But the ref catches it and the fans cheer!

Callum stands Yota up, fires forearms, and he CLUBS Yota. The ref thinks about putting on the mask, but no, it smells in there. Callum CLUBS Yota, whips him, but Yota reverses. Callum ducks ‘n’ dodges ‘n’ builds speed, only for Hiromu to trip him up! Yota basement dropkicks Callum, then LIJ blasts The Empire! The fans rally as the brawl goes on outside. Yota drags Callum up, snapmares, and stomps him. Yota paces while Callum rises, and Yota bumps Callum off buckles. Tag to Bushi and he stomps Callum. Bushi whips, then dropkicks the legs out! Cover, TWO! Callum hobbles, Takagi gets a shot in, and Bushi stomps Callum.

Tag to Hiromu and the fans fire up. Hiromu CHOPS Callum, CHOPS again, then whips corner to corner. Hiromu runs up to LARIAT, then snapmare and basement DROPKICK! The fans fire up more as Hiromu ties up the legs, modified FIGURE FOUR! Callum endures but Khan storms in to stomp Hiromu! Naito grabs Khan by the ponytail and TOSSES him out! The ref reprimands everybody, and Hiromu snapmares Callum. Tag to Takagi and LIJ split the wishbone! Takagi drags Callum up, reels him in, and suplexes high and hard! Cover, TWO! Callum toughs it out but Takagi keeps him from the Empire.

Takagi stands Callum up but Callum fires forearms! Takagi winds up, but Callum blocks the shot to HEEL KICK! Callum roars, runs, but Takagi LARIATS! Takagi runs but Callum follows to BOOT! Takagi rebounds to run Callum over! Callum kips up to ENZIGIRI! Both men are down and the fans fire up! Henare is all fired up on the apron, too! Takagi and Callum stir, hot tag to Henare! The Face of Fury runs Takagi over, BLASTS Naito & Yota, but Bushi & Hiromu slide in. Hiromu CHOPS, he and Bushi double whip, but Henare breaks the line to DOUBLE LARIAT! The fans fire up and Henare runs at Takagi. Takagi BOOTS! Henare still LARIATS!

Henare fireman’s carries, RUNNING SAMOAN DROP! Cover, TWO! The fans fire up and Henare snarls. Henare half nelsons, but Takagi fights the full nelson! Takagi fires elbows, Henare ducks and ROCKS Takagi! Henare runs, RAMS Takagi, but Takagi rebounds! They RAM shoulders, neither falls, and the fans fire up! Takagi and Henare fire forearms back and forth! The fans rally up, Takagi JABS, JABS, and CHOPS! Henare KICKS! Henare KICKS again, but Takagi stays up! Henare roars, KCIKS, but Takagi blocks! So Henare ELBOWS and HEADBUTTS! And RUGBY KICKS! But Takagi’s back up to LARIAT!

The fans fire up with Takagi’s “OI! OI! OI!” Takagi runs in but Henare ELBOWS! And FLYING CHUCK! Takagi stays up, runs, but Henare LARIATS first! Takagi’s right back up! PUMPING BOMBER! Henare and Takagi crawl, hot tags to Khan and Naito! Naito ELBOWS, Khan fireman’s carries for a takeover! Kahn avoids the basement dropkick and goes for a leg! Naito slips free, but runs into a SAYANAGI! Cover, TWO! Khan poses with hands behind his back as Naito stands. Mongolian Chop! Mongolian Chop! Mongolian fake and UPPERCUT! Khan says he’s too smart. Khan puts Naito in a corner, to sit on- NO, Naito slips out!

Khan kicks, Naito blocks and puts him in ropes! DRAPING NECKBREAKER! Naito drags Khan up, mocks the “Ohh…!” and NECKBREAKER! Naito poses, the fans fire up, and then Naito mocks Khan’s pose. Cover, TWO! The fans rally up and Naito brings Khan around. Naito fires forearms, whips, but Khan reverses. Naito reverses back to TORNADO- NO! Khan stops the DDT, but Naito fights the bearhug! Khan ducks the enzigiri, then clamps on a SLEEPER! Naito flails, but it becomes an IRON CLAW! ELIMI- NO! Naito arm-drags free! Atomic drop! ENZIGIRI! Khan staggers, Naito runs up, but into a clinch! BELLY2BELLY!

The fans fire up while both men are down, and we hit 10 minutes. Khan crawls now, hot tag to Jakob Austin Young! Jakob fires hands, whips, but Naito reverses. Jakob dropkicks a leg, grabs it, and DRAGON SCREWS! Jakob keeps moving, SHOTGUN! Jakob kips up and fires up, then he runs in at the corner to CHOP! Jakob turns Naito for a NECKBREAKER! Cover, TWO! Jakob calls in the Empire and they BLAST the LIJ corner! Cobb whips Naito to a corner, then he sends Jakob in to forearm smash! Callum ENZIGIRIS from the outside! Henare LARIATS, then feeds Naito to the ATHLETIC PLEX!

Jakob adds a basement dropkick! Cover, LIJ breaks it up! The fans fire up, but the Empire TOSSES LIJ back out! There’s more brawling on the outside, and someone gets sent into railing hard! Henare beats up on Takagi while Jakob ENZIGIRIS Naito! Cravat and JAKOB’S- NO, Naito shoves Jakob into the corner first! Yota SPLASHES! Hiromu LARIATS! Bushi ELBOWS! Feed to a DOUBLE SUPERKICK! Rolling jackknife bridge! Khan breaks it! Bushi TOSSES Khan, there’s more brawling, and Bushi DIVES! Down goes Khan! Naito and Hiromu get Jakob up, ASSISTED TORNADO DDT! And then PLUMA BLANCA!! Jakob taps, LIJ wins!

Winner: Los Ingobernables de Japon, by submission

Naito holds until he’s satisfied, and there’s still action going on outside the ring! The ref gets everyone to stand down, and while Cobb is taunting Yota with the NJPW World TV Championship, the fans are chanting “O-KHAN! O-KHAN!” It seems the KOPW Champion is also the People’s Champion now! Naito is amused, but we still have 18 days left. Will the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion prove he is still tranquilo? Or will all of NJPW soon belong to the United Empire?

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: DOUKI w/ Just5Guys VS Taiji Ishimori!

Japones Del Mal may have lost to The Bone Soldier in Best of the Super Juniors, but he was the one to take this title from El Desperado back on July 5th! Will Douki still have the gold on this Road to Destruction? Or will Taiji make sure #ItsReborn?

The introductions are made, the belt is raised, and we see who’s truly the Best of the Super Juniors!

The bell rings and the fans fire up for “DOUKI! DOUKI!” Douki and Taiji circle, tie up, and Douki waistlocks. Taiji wrenches, wristlocks, and he keeps Douki from ropes. Douki rolls, wrenches back, and wristlocks. Taiji rolls, slips through, wrenches and wristlocks in return. But Douki reaches back to jump and flying-mare! Then he trips Taiji, keeps moving, and jumps the dropdown to headlock. Taiji powers out to headlock back, but Douki powers out to hurdle. Taiji leaps over, but Douki gets around and waistlocks. Taiji switches, Douki elbows free, but Taiji keeps him from running. Douki British escapes, mule kicks, but Taiji ducks the jump kick!

Taiji whips Douki, Douki reverses, but Taiji handsprings to NEUTRALIZER KICK! The fans fire up while Douki bails out. Taiji takes aim, then goes up and up to GOLDEN TRIANGLE! Direct hit and the fans fire up again! Taiji rises, shakes out his legs, then drags Douki by his arm. Taiji drags Douki up, hammerlocks, then POSTS him! Taiji leaves Douki behind to grab the bell hammer! Red Shoes sees that and stops Taiji. Taiji throws the hammer away, Red Shoes fetches it, but Taiji uses a chair to JAM Douki up! Just5Guys protest but Taiji puts the chair around Douki’s arm, to SLAM the arm into the POST!

The fans are torn while Douki clutches his arm, but Taiji leaves Douki behind while Red Shoes checks. Taiji undoes the blue buckle pad, the Bullet Club Special is in play. Red Shoes starts the ring count, Douki shakes out the arm and the fans rally. Douki is still down at 10 of 20, but J5G coach him up. Douki stands at 15 and rolls in! The fans cheer, but Taiji storms over with a grin on his face. Taiji stomps Douki’s arm, then drags him up to wrench that arm. Taiji wrangles Douki with a top wristlock, and he digs his knee into the arm. Douki kicks around, Taiji wrenches and hammerlocks, to RAM Douki into bare buckles!

Red Shoes reprimands, Taiji shrugs, and the fans applaud. Douki clutches the arm while Taiji paces. Taiji drags Douki up, but Douki fires shots! Taiji fires back, but Douki fires more! Taiji CLUBS Douki down, and the fans rally up again. Taiji looms over Douki, kicks him, stomps him, but Douki roars and rises! Douki CHOPS and CHOPS and CHOPS, but Taiji just BOOTS the bad arm! Douki drops to his knees, but Taiji drags him up. Taiji wrenches and whips Douki to then WRING the arm out! Taiji clamps on with a COBRA CLUTCH! Douki endures, fights around, and reaches out, only for Taiji to drag him back!

Taiji ripcords, RAMS, and COBRA CLUTCH, into a takedown! Taiji has a modified triangle hold now! Douki endures, the fans rally, and J5G coach Douki to keep fighting. Douki kicks forward to the ROPEBREAK! The fans cheer, Red Shoes counts, and Taiji lets go at 4. Douki clutches his arm again, but Taiji grins as he stands back up. Taiji drags Douki to his feet, gut wrenches, but Douki slips free to roll Taiji up! TWO! Douki drags Taiji up, but Taiji wrenches out to CODE BREAKER on the arm! Douki falls back and clutches the arm again! The fans rally for Douki but Taiji grins again. Taiji brings Douki up to wrench the bad arm.

Taiji whips but Douki reverses! Taiji hits bare buckles now! Douki runs to RANA! Taiji bails out, but Douki DIVES! Direct hit at the ramp and the fans fire up again! J5G coaches Douki up again while he and Taiji stir. Douki drags Taiji up, but Taiji fires body shots! Taiji facelocks, but Douki RAMS him into the apron! Douki runs up, Taiji pops him up, but Douki rebounds to TORNADO DDT to the floor! Taiji writhes but the fans fire up with Douki! Douki drags Taiji up and into the ring, then brings him around. Scoop and SAHARAWI SUPLEX! Bridging cover, TWO! Taiji stays in this but Douki keeps his focus.

Douki drags Taiji up, hooks the arms, but Taiji fights the Gory Especial! Taiji RAMS Douki into buckles, flips the hooks, but Douki fights! Taiji spins Douki around to CLAW his face! Red Shoes reprimands but Taiji lets off. Taiji runs up but Douki BOOTS him! Douki goes to the apron, RAMS into him, then slingshots, into a CODE BREAKER! The fans rally up but Taiji rises first as we hit 10 minutes. Taiji drags Douki up, scoops him, and CIPHER UTAKI! Cover, TWO! Douki survives and the fans fire up! Taiji is annoyed but he drags Douki up and turns him, for a NECKBREAKER off the knee! Douki writhes and Taiji goes to a corner.

Taiji climbs up, aims, and 450- NO, Taiji has to roll through as Douki moves! Douki catches Taiji into the Bow ‘n’ Arrow Rack! Douki spins, RENEIDA FACEBUSTER! And then Douki rolls Taiji into a ghost pin! TWO!! Taiji escapes, but into the ITALIAN STRETCH #32!! The fans are thunderous now as Taiji endures! Douki pulls as hard as he can, but Taiji stays on his feet! Taiji fights around, but Douki drags him away from ropes! ITALIAN- NO, Taiji steps through, BONE, NO, Douki ghost pins again! Taiji fights it to have a cover, TWO!! Ghost pin again, TWO!! ITALIAN STRETCH #32!! The fans are thunderous again as Taiji endures!

Douki thrashes Taiji around, pulls has hard as he can, and Taiji is turning red! Taiji falls over, but he shakes his head. Taiji fights his way back up, but Douki just pulls that much harder! Red Shoes checks, but Taiji fights and falls into the ROPEBREAK! Douki lets go in frustration, but the damage was done. Douki sits up, and the fans rally more as he goes to the apron. Douki watches Taiji rise, and then slingshots to DAYBREAK!! Taiji gets spiked and the fans fire up! Douki covers, TWO!!! Taiji survives and Douki is stunned! The fans fire up more, and Douki roars! Douki drags Taiji up, fireman’s carries, MARI- NO, Taiji slips free!

Taiji LA MYSTIC- NO, Douki slips through, moves around, SEATBELT, ONE!! Taiji has the SEATBELT!! TWO!!! Douki escapes, Taiji runs up, but Douki dodge! HELL STAB! Douki runs into the JUMP KNEE! Both men are down again and the fans are thunderous! Both men stir, and Douki crawls to a corner. The fans are with him but Taiji stalks Douki. Taiji brings Douki up at 15 minutes, and hammerlocks, to POST him in the blue corner! Then Taiji hammerlocks, half nelsons, and scoops, for a SHOULDER BUSTER! Douki clutches that arm, and the fans rally harder, but Taiji takes aim from the corner.

Taiji runs up, but Douki wrenches! And he slips down, but Taiji jackknife bridges! TWO as Douki bridges up! Douki spins Taiji, Gory Especial! Taiji slips free to arm-drag! Douki comes back, Taiji spins him around, and sends him at Red Shoes! Red Shoes is in the ropes, Taiji whips, POP-UP LOW BLOW MULE KICK! Taiji gets away with it, and now he runs, CRUCIFIX DRIVER!! BONE LOCK!!! The fans are thunderous as Douki endures! Douki fights around, but he can’t see where the ropes are with Taiji’s arm in his face! The fans rally as hard as they can, Taichi calls to him, and Douki fights his way over! But Taiji kicks ropes to keep the hold!

The fans are electric as Douki endures all over again! Taiji pulls on the hold, but Douki powers his way over! Douki claws at the mat, and he finds the ROPEBREAK! The fans cheer while Taiji lets go in frustration! Douki sputters, Taiji pounds the mat in frustration, and Taiji drags Douki up. Taiji brings Douki around to scoop and SLAM, then claims he’s gonna flip and finish this! Taiji runs, handsprings, SUPERSTAR- NO, Douki waistlocks first! GERMAN SUPLEX! But Taiji lands out! Taiji swings, into a SNAP DRAGON SUPLEX!! Both men are down again and the fans are thunderous! J5G coaches Douki up, and he slowly turns over.

Douki and Taiji each crawl around, going to their corners. Douki and Taiji drag themselves up with ropes, then both run in! DOUBLE LARIATS collide! Neither falls, so DOUBLE LARIATS collide again! They’re both still standing, so Taiji LARIATS at ropes! Taiji then runs, but Douki dodges and LARIATS!! The Douki-san Bomber hits, and Douki fires up! Douki wheelbarrows Taiji, but Taiji victory rills it! Taiji wheelbarrows, and full nelsons!? But for a FULL NELSON FACEBUSTER! And then BONE LOCK!! Douki endures, fights, and J5G call to him! We hit 20 minutes while the fans are thunderously behind Douki!

Douki fights around again, reaching out and clawing his way over, but Taiji lets off to drag him away! And then up, into BLOODY- NO, Douki slips free! Douki blocks the knee to HELL STAB! And then IMPALER DDT!!! Cover, TWO?!?! Taiji survives and the fans are electric! Douki roars, and he grabs the legs! Wheelbarrow, full nelson, SUPLEX- NO, Taiji fights free, so Douki ENZIGIRIS! Taiji falls over, Douki drags him back up. Torture rack, and SWINGING SIDE SLAM!! Cover, TWO!?!?! Taiji survives again and the fans are thunderous! Douki pounds the mat, the fans are behind him, and he roars!

Douki has the legs, wheelbarrow and full nelson! But Taiji fights out again! LA MYSTIC- NO! Douki blocks that, tucks to the wheelbarrow! SUPLEX DE LA LUNA!!! Bridging cover, DOUKI WINS!!

Winner: Douki, by pinfall (still IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion)

Both men brought out every move in their arsenal, but in the end, Douki managed to outdraw The Bone Soldier! Will Taiji have to fight up from the bottom if he wants to be back on top of the Junior Heavyweight Division?

As for Douki, Red Shoes brings him the belt, and Douki stands tall with his friends. Douki then gets the mic to say, “I just faced the strongest challenger in Taiji Ishimori, and I WON!” The fans cheer that, but then Douki says he knew that half of them were cheering for Taiji, though. Douki knows he isn’t like Taiji. Douki is younger, doesn’t have the career resumé like Taiji, but today, here in Sendai, in Sun Plaza Hall, where Douki made his NJPW debut, he won. The fans cheer that, too.

Douki reviews that just this year alone, he defeated Hiromu, Desperado, and now Ishimori. “No one can complain anymore! I am the strongest Junior Heavyweight Champion!” The fans cheer that, Douki drops the mic, and the streamers fly! And then, Sanada & Taichi lift Douki up onto their shoulders in celebration! J5G then exit so Douki can soak up the spotlight, but YOSHINOBU KANEMARU jumps into the ring! He was on commentary the whole time, and this is why! He attacks Douki from behind! Then he grabs the belt to CLOBBER Douki with it!! The fans boo, but The Heel Master brings in chairs!

Kanemaru puts one chair on Douki’s leg, then CON-CHAIR-TOS it!! Douki writhes, the fans boo, but now Kanemaru grabs the mic! “Oi, you flimsy champion! It’s not your division yet!” Kanemaru then claims the boos from the fans are in agreement that Douki sucks. The fans boo more because that’s not true. But then Kanemaru tells Douki, “Your next challenger… is me.” Well as if that wasn’t obvious. But then Kanemaru stomps away on Douki! He even throws the belt down onto Douki! J5G returns so Kanemaru bails out, the damage done. Kanemaru really is a scumbag, doing this to an old friend. But will Douki get even with him soon enough?

My Thoughts:

Another great event for NJPW on this Road to Destruction tour. It’s a good thing I decided to cover ZSJ & Fujita VS Sanada & Taichi, otherwise I would’ve missed out on that great upset and the news of Sanada wanting to face ZSJ for Royal Quest 4. It will still be a great match even if there’s no title on the line, but I would love if they decided to shake things up here. ZSJ could win in Kobe, return home as THE guy in NJPW, and then have an epic against one of his best rivals to give that London crowd something to remember that night for. ZSJ would get his first defense in, and he could give the former champion (presumably Naito) a rematch for WrestleKingdom or something.

I figured House of Torture would cheat to win so that’s why I skipped it. And with that win, I would think House of Torture’s fate is sealed, they’re going to lose the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship match on Saturday the 14th. And given that, I would think Tanahashi VS Evil happens as a 1v1 match for Kobe to settle this “President Ace VS King of Darkness” story. And then I probably should’ve covered Chaos VS War Dogs, because something happened to take Jake Lee out early, and then Gabe Kidd took the pin because he was perhaps legitimately rattled. But they did a big brawl to kinda muddy the math ahead of Yoshi-Hashi VS David Finlay for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship in Kobe.

Really fun 10 Man Tag, and I figured LIJ would win this to keep even with The Empire. The energy really died when Jakob got in, though, he’s perhaps a little too new for the fans to really care about. Plus, it basically signaled the end of the match. But it sounds like even with Ren Narita getting in on things last time, Cobb and Yota will run it back. This also gives some momentum to Takagi ahead of battling Henare for the NEVER Openweight Championship, but there’s a lot of time still for the math to go any which way.

And then awesome stuff with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. That was an awesome match, and a part of me is surprised Douki retained. Though, as I’ve said before, this is all NJPW appreciating and rewarding the hard work and loyalty Douki has shown over the years, and the fans also really like Douki, too. But then, with Kanemaru on commentary, I just felt something was gonna happen. I thought he’d try to help Taiji cheat but no, he let Taiji do this alone. And then Kanemaru goes and attacks Douki, setting up a match between them. Kanemaru tried to take the title off other former friend, Desperado, but failed, so who knows how this one works.

Also, it feels like the Junior Heavyweight Division is spinning its wheels, as we’ve already had plenty of J5G VS House of Torture, what with Douki VS Sho having also already happened. Master Wato AND Yoh are both out with injuries, I am sure they would’ve been more involved otherwise. And the Junior Heavyweights in LIJ (Hiromu, Bushi and even Titan) are busy doing other things, so unless they do crossover with AEW or CMLL, I’m not sure who else is supposed to be a challenger past this point. Though, such a crossover would be fun given WrestleDynasty is coming.

My Score: 8.9/10