Don’t touch that dial and stay on ’em!

El Phantasmo defeated cancer, and he won the NJPW World Television Championship! But will this feel good story take a Tour of the Island?

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Kickoff – Katsuya Murashima VS Masatora Yasuda; Murashima wins.
• Hiroshi Tanahashi VS Daiki Nagai; Tanahashi wins.
• Six Man Tag: Shota Umino, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato VS The United Empire; Shota, Taguchi & Wato win.
• Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi VS Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma; Naito & Hiromu win.
• Taichi & Taka Michinoku VS SANADA & Clark Connors; Sanada & Connors win, by disqualification.
• Six Man Tag: Los Ingobernables de Japon VS Bullet Club War Dogs; Bullet Club wins.
• 10 Man Tag: Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, YOH, Tomohiro Ishii & El Desperado VS TMDK; Goto, Hashi, Yoh, Ishii & Desperado win.
• NJPW World Television Championship: El Phantasmo VS Jeff Cobb; ELP wins and retains the title.

PLAY BY PLAY

10 Man Tag: Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, YOH, Tomohiro Ishii & El Desperado VS TMDK!

We saw The Fierce Warrior and Front Man lead teams before in a Six Man Tag, but now we raise the bar! Will Chaos plus Despy defeat The Mighty? Or will Zack Sabre Jr, Ryohei Oiwa, Robbie Eagles, Kosei Fujita & Hartley Jackson prove The Mighty Don’t Kneel?

The teams sort out, and we get tense stare downs. ZSJ and Goto, Oiwa and Hashi, Fujita and Despy, Eagles and Yoh, Hartley and Ishii. The ref tells everyone to settle down, and eventually it’s Despy and Fujita starting off. The bell rings and the fans rally. Chants “FU-JI-TA!” and “DE-SU-PEY!” are fairly even, and the two circle. They feel things out, Fujita goes for a leg but Despy facelocks to counter. Fujita spins to use his leg guard but Despy gets around to go for the headlock again. Fujita waistlocks, Despy wrenches an arm, but Fujita slips away. The fans cheer as the two reset. They circle, tie up, and Despy wrenches an arm.

Fujita fires elbows, wrenches back, but Despy slips around to wrench and hammerlock. Fujita wrenches out to hammerlock in return, and they switch the hammerlock onto each other again and again. Despy wrangles Fujita with a top wristlock and grinds him down. Fujita fights up, Despy cording holds, but Fujita whips him, to then wrench and wrangle in return! Fujita STOMPS Despy’s arm and the fans cheer. Despy storms up on Fujita, then CHOPS! Fujita CHOPS, but Despy doesn’t flinch! The CHOPS go back and forth, faster and faster, and the fans fire up as they just keep going! Despy starts to feel that stinging, but then he YANKS Fujita’s arm!

Despy drags Fujita up, CHOPS him again, then brings him over to the corner. Tag to Yoh, but Fujita fires forearms on Despy! Yoh CLUBS Fujita, Despy stomps Fujita down, then Yoh stomps Fujita. Yoh drags Fujita up, kicks him low, then fires a forearm. Eagles sneaks a tag and Fujita whips Yoh away! Trip, KICK, SENTON, and basement DROPKICK! Fujita then BLASTS the Chaos corner! Eagles drags Yoh by a leg, steps through, but Yoh fights his way to a ROPEBREAK! Eagles drags Yoh back, Yoh scrambles to another ROPEBREAK! Eagles drags Yoh back again, but Yoh scrambles to yet another ROPEBREAK!

The ref counts, Eagles finally lets go, and he follows Yoh to the center. Eagles CHOPS Yoh to a corner, then runs in, only for Yoh to put him on the apron! Eagles ROCKS Yoh first, then springboards, but Yoh dodges! Yoh then drop toeholds Eagles, and basement DROPKICKS him! The fans cheer while Eagles scrambles away. Eagles tags Oiwa, so Yoh tags Hashi. Mighty Mullet and Headhunter RAM, and RAM, and then Oiwa runs, but Hashi dodges to BLOCKBUSTER! Goto & Ishii BLAST ZSJ & Hartley! Then Bishamon whips Oiwa to a corner! Goto LARIATS, then feeds Oiwa to DOUBLE SHOULDERS from Hashi & Ishii!

Goto sits Oiwa up for a CHAOS TRIPLE KICK! Cover, TWO! Hashi brings Oiwa up, but Oiwa CHOPS! Oiwa fires a forearm, Hashi CHOPS, and the fans fire up! Hashi brings Oiwa up but Oiwa CHOPS! Hashi CHOPS, Oiwa CHOPS, repeat! The fans fire up as the CHOPS go back and forth! Oiwa runs, but into a CHOP! And then DOUBLE CHOP! Hashi runs, but Oiwa RUNS Hashi over! The fans fire up and Oiwa tags in #BigJag! Hartley CHOPS Hashi! And then he suplexes Hashi high and hard! Then BIG ELBOW DROP! Cover, TWO! Hashi survives but Hartley BLASTS the Chaos corner! Then Hartley plays defense while TMDK swarms Hashi!

ZSJ and Oiwa have Hashi’s arms, Fujita & Eagles have Hashi’s legs! Then they rotate! And rotate! And rotate again! The ref reprimands and counts them all, and all five TMDK members put their hands up, even though Hartley wasn’t doing anything. But then Hartley SENTONS onto Hashi! The fans cheer, Hartley covers, but Yoh & Despy break it! TMDK throws Yoh & Despy back out, then Hartley tags ZSJ. The fans cheer as ZSJ brings Hashi up in a cravat. Hashi endures the neck wrench, throws body shots, then a CHOP! ZSJ eggs Hashi on, then blocks a chop to JAB low! ZSJ facelocks Hashi, but Hashi powers out with a suplex!

The fans fire up while both men are down! Hashi and ZSJ crawl, hot tag to Goto! The Fierce Warrior runs ZSJ over, intercepts Goto, and snap suplexes him onto ZSJ! Goto then BLASTS Hartley & Fujita! Goto brings ZSJ up, fires forearms, then whips him to a corner. ZSJ reverses, runs up, and UPPERCUTS! ZSJ keeps moving but Goto LARIATS ZSJ in the corner! The fans fire up with Goto, but ZSJ stops the hip toss to THROW Goto down! And NECK TWIST! ZSJ then runs to PENALTY- NO, Goto blocks the kick! Goto ROCKS ZSJ, but ZSJ fires up! ZSJ UPPERCUTS, but Goto fires up!

Goto fires a forearm, ZSJ UPPERCUTS, repeat! The forearms fly, Goto ROCKS ZSJ again and again! But ZSJ UPPERCUTS right back! ZSJ runs, but Goto follows, only for ZSJ to wrangle him! FUJIWARA ARMBAR! TMDK BLASTS the Chaos corner! Goto endures, ZSJ shifts, DISARMER! Goto still endures, so ZSJ shifts to trap that arm and grab the other! CLARKY CAT! Goto endures, reaches out, but ZSJ pulls that arm way back! Goto still kicks his way to the ROPEBREAK! The fans cheer and ZSJ lets go in frustration. ZSJ drags Goto up, reels him in, ZACK- NO, Goto slips out, but ZSJ elbows him away.

ZSJ runs up but Goto dodges to schoolboy with some stank on it! Cover, TWO! ZSJ escapes, but Goto fireman’s carries! Goto feints Ushigoroshi to have the dragon sleeper! G T- NO, ZSJ drops down to victory roll and EURO CLUTCH!! TWO!! Goto escapes but ZSJ PENALTY KICKS! Goto rises to LARIAT!! Both men are down and the fans are thunderous! ZSj and Goto crawl, hot tags to Hartley and Ishii! The big meaty men DOUBLE LARIAT! And DOUBLE LARIAT! Ishii ducks a lariat to LARIAT back! Hartley DROPKICKS Ishii!! Hartley SPLASHES in the corner, then short arm LARIATS! Cover, TWO!

Hartley reels Ishii in but Despy LOCO MONOS! Fujita runs up, Despy dodges, but then Fujita dodges Despy! Despy blocks a kick, knees low, then sends Fujita at the corner. Eagles puts Fujita on the apron, BOOTS Despy, then Fujita MISSILE DORPKICKS Despy! Fujita runs, into Yoh’s SUPERKICK! Eagles SOBATS and ASAI- NO, Yoh slips free! But Eagles avoids the elbow to ROUNDHOUSE, SUPERKICK and PELE! But Yoh says I’LL BE BACK, SUPERKICK!! Yoh aims, but Hartley stops the plancha! Yoh elbows free, but Hartley CROSSBODIES! The fans fire up as Hartley now has Ishii! Fireman’s carry, but Ishii fights free!

Ishii waistlocks, but Hartley is too big to German Suplex! Hartley elbows free, then sends Ishii to Oiwa. Ishii ROCKS Oiwa first! Then Ishii dodges to send Hartley into Oiwa! The fans fire up as Ishii feeds Hartley to Hashi’s SUPERKICK! Then Ishii GERMAN SUPLEXES Hartley!! The fans are thunderous, and Hashi dodges Oiwa to feed him to Ishii’s forearm! Hashi mule kicks, then he and Ishii whip Oiwa, but Oiwa DOUBLE LARIATS! The fans are thunderous as now Oiwa hauls Ishii up, THE- NO, Ishii swats the Grip, dodges again, but Oiwa DROPKICKS Ishii down! Oiwa hauls Ishii up, for the DAIGO SHIKI SAIDO!

Oiwa sets Ishii up for Hartley, BIG JAG DEATH VALLEY!! Cover, TWO!! Ishii survives and the fans are thunderous again! Hartley hauls Ishii up, reels him in, BIG JAG BOMB!! Cover, GOTO BREAKS IT! ZSJ UPPERCUTS Goto, UPPERCUTS again, and again! ZSJ whips, Goto reverses, USHIGOROSHI! Hartley is up, he DOUBLE LARIATS with Goto! Goto HEADBUTTS Hartley, Ishii HEADBUTTS Hartley, then Ishii LARIATS Hartley down! High stack, TWO!! Hartley survives but Ishii hauls him up. No way! Ishii suplexes Hartley!? BRAINBUSTER!!! Cover, CHAOS WINS!

Winners: Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi, Tomohiro Ishii, Yoh & El Desperado, by pinfall

That was definitely a mighty battle, and while The Mighty Don’t Kneel, Hartley sure fell hard! Eagles still goes after Yoh on the outside, their IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship battle still to come. The Young Lions separate them, but will Yoh & Rocky Romero revise who is on top? And what about Fujita and El Desperado? They battle tomorrow for THE IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, will the Rogue Luchador still be the Best of the Super Juniors?

NJPW World Television Championship: El Phantasmo VS Jeff Cobb!

The Headbanga fought cancer, and won. He fought three opponents in one match, and won! But now, he and the Imperial Unit are going to go 1v1, can ELP still win? Or will his “season” be over already?

The introductions are made, the belt is raised, and we see who’s the real main character of NJPW World!

The bell rings and we’re on the clock. The fans rally up as Cobb and ELP step up. ELP and Cobb shake hands and the fans cheer. The two tie up, Cobb headlocks, but ELP powers up and out, only for Cobb to run him over! Cobb runs but ELP stays low, then ELP DROPKICKS Cobb! Cobb staggers to a corner while ELP kips up. The fans cheer and ELP goes to Cobb, but Cobb POUNCES him away! Cobb throws hands to put ELP in a corner, then he RAMS into him! Cobb then TOSSES ELP across the ring! Jado coaches ELP up and ELP stands. Cobb runs in, ELP goes up and over, then dodges to springboard, but Cobb catches him!

Cobb pops ELP up into a suplex, then THROWS him away! Cobb flexes and the fans cheer, but Jado still coaches ELP. Cobb drags ELP up, HEADBUTTS him to the corner, then whips corner to corner. ELP goes up and over, then spins to CHOP! ELP knuckle locks Cobb, CHOPS again, then goes up, up, jumps around, and FLYING- NO! Cobb stops the rana to then bring ELP up. ELP fires hands, and he manages to RANA Cobb out of the ring! ELP skins the cat, the fans cheer, and ELP builds speed. ELP DIVES, and he sends Cobb into railing! The fans cheer and ELP DUMPS Cobb into the front row! The fans step aside while ELP brings Cobb back up.

ELP ROCKS Cobb, Cobb ends up taking a seat, so ELP goes up the corner! The fans fire up already as ELP spells it out! “E! L! P!” SUPER ARIHARA MOONSAULT but no Cobb!? Cobb let the Young Lions take that hit for him! ELP crawls and Cobb drags him up from the chairs. Cobb brings ELP around to and tosses him to the orange seats! Cobb stalks ELP up the bleachers, brings him up, and he suplexes!? The fans freak out, but then Cobb carries ELP as he marches up the steps! The fans cheer, but ELP manages to slip free! ELP shoves Cobb into the side of the stairwell! ELP then uses Cobb as a step to get onto the ledge!

The fans freak out already as ELP takes aim, “E! L! P!” SUPER CROSSBODY! Direct hit and the fans fire up! Both men are down and Red Shoes wants them to get to the ring. However, the time hits five minutes, this is already working in ELP’s favor. ELP and Cobb stand, and ELP fires a forearm! Cobb staggers away, ELP follows, and ELP CHOPS! Cobb staggers away again, and ELP struts over to CHOP again! Cobb stumbles down the stairs, ELP pursues, and we return to the ground floor. ELP uses a fan’s ELP towel to blind Cobb, and ELP CHOPS him! ELP gives the towel a kiss before giving it back to the fan.

But Cobb fires body shots! Cobb POSTS ELP, then brings him around to APRON BACK SUPLEX! ELP writhes but Cobb slips into the ring. Cobb storms over, drags ELP up from the apron, and Jado already doesn’t like where this is going. Cobb deadlifts ELP for the stalling- NO, ELP slips free again! And he gets under, to carry Cobb out for a POWERBOMB! The fans fire up and ELP high stacks, TWO! Cobb survives that but the fans rally for ELP. Time is still ticking away, but ELP tunes up the band! ELP aims as Cobb rises up, SUDDEN- NO, Cobb blocks the kick and reels ELP in! FALL AWAY SLAM!

ELP flounders to a corner and Cobb flounders to the other. Both men drag themselves up, and Cobb runs in, LEAPING BACK ELBOW! Cobb huffs ‘n’ puffs but he clearly has a bloody nose. Cobb wipes the blood away, but ELP kicks from below! Cobb grabs the legs and he YANKS ELP right up into an ATHLETIC PLEX! Cover, TWO! ELP stays in this and the fans cheer. Cobb hauls ELP back up, whips him to ropes, but ELP grabs ropes to stop! ELP BOOTS back, runs up, but Cobb catches him! ELP BELL CLAPS free, then ROCKS Cobb! Cobb DOUBLE CHOPS, ELP mule kicks, front KICKS, then ENZIGIRIS!

The fans fire up and ELP throws off the elbow pads! ELP winds up and LARIATS! LARIAT! And LARIAT! ELP runs, but Cobb dodges to come back and LARIAT! Cobb hits so hard, he tumbles to the apron! ELP sputters while Cobb rises up. The fans rally for ELP, but Cobb climbs the ropes!? “JEFF! COB-BU!” THUNDER FLOP!! ELP rolls Cobb up, TWO! Cobb is still in this but ELP steps over, LA MAGIST- NO, Cobb smothers it to a cover, TWO!! ELP escapes, then hooks Cobb, but Cobb fights the backslide! Cobb switches the hooks to FLIP ELP! Cobb HEADBUTTS ELP, ELP staggers and rebounds, and Cobb SUPERKICKS!

ELP leans against ropes, Cobb reels him in, TOUR OF THE- CRUCIFIX TAKEDOWN! TWO!! Cobb escapes again! SUDDEN DEATH!! ELP covers, ONE?!? Cobb survives so ELP tunes up again! Cobb staggers up, into SUDDEN DEATH!! Cover, TWO?!?! Cobb survives again and ELP is stunned! Jado and the fans continue to rally for ELP and ELP vows to finish this! Three minute warning as ELP hooks Cobb up, but Cobb wrenches free! TOUR OF- DDT!! ELP hits a shocking counter, then goes to the apron! ELP climbs up, Cobb rises, CROSSBODY! Then he goes up the ropes again, THUNDERKISS 86!! Cover, ELP WINS!!

Winner: Jeff Cobb, by pinfall (still NJPW World Television Champion)

Cobb put a powerful fight worthy of a former champion like him. But in the end, he couldn’t “cancel” the Headbanga Show. ELP shows Cobb respect by helping him stand, but Cobb doesn’t want it! Cobb snatches the title, so that he can give it to ELP himself. Cobb shows ELP respect in return, but will Cobb be moving on to another title scene?

As for ELP, after catching his breath a bit, he grabs the mic to tell Korakuen Hall, “Daisuki desu! <I really like you~!>” The fans cheer that! ELP grabs a second mic so “Papa Jado” can also speak. Is he feeling good? Jado says yeah, he’s feeling good! ELP asks Korakuen if they feel good, and the fans cheer that they do. “Sugoi. <Amazing.>” ELP apologizes, he knows little Japanese. But ELP knows Jado knows a lot of Japanese! Maybe Jado can translate? Jado says yeah, it’s all good! The fans applaud, and ELP says it has been a long time since he was in the main event of NJPW! And yes, Jado translates.

The fans cheer, and ELP says he won’t use this time to put himself over. Jado hesitates, he isn’t sure how “put myself over” would translate… Jado just goes with, “Good luck with that.” ELP says he doesn’t want fans to cheer him, he wants fans to cheer for all the guys in the back who drove the bus for 9.5 HOURS to get here from Morioka. Jado translates that, and the fans do cheer. ELP wants fans to cheer for the cameramen who film this all day, while ELP only has to wrestle 15 minutes. The fans cheer already, and Jado still isn’t sure how to translate. ELP simplifies it to: I love the cameramen who work so hard. Jado can do that.

ELP wants cheers for Milano Collection AT and Hiroshi Tanahashi on commentary. They do way more work than him, so cheer them. The fans do cheer, but Jado’s translation is more about teasing Milano & Tanahashi than praising. ELP also points to the timekeeper, and English commentary’s Walker Stewart, who is doing this for like, the 12 English speaking fans who watch this live! The fans do cheer, and ELP says F Clark Connors, the guest commentator. ELP thanks the referees and office staff who help set up the ring and tear it down every show, and Jado translates. ELP says there are a lot of people who deserve more love than him.

So for everyone who isn’t a wrestler, but who makes NJPW run on a daily basis, make some noise! The fans cheer, and ELP says hold on, this is for the Osaka fans. ELP isn’t on the New Beginning show, but he will do an autograph signing there because of all the love they showed when he had his little cancer thing back then. “Osaka, see you soon.” The fans cheer, and ELP tells Korakuen, “I am the Headbanga! I am the NJPW World TV Champion! And I am… E! L! P!” The fans join in on that! Will The Headbanga Show continue to be the people’s show?

My Thoughts:

A great continuation of Road to New Beginning, though about as much filler as before, too. I do appreciate that Tanahashi is doing this series of “Final Road Connection” matches. With these Young Lions still in that phase of their career, Tanahashi will never get to wrestle them when they’re established stars, so this is nice of him as a veteran, an icon, a legend, to be giving back and paying it forward. Good stuff in the other matches, too, and Sanada finding another way to get Taichi disqualified is actually hilarious. Sanada is really leaning into being a sneaky, underhanded Heel, I feel like his blowoff with Taichi should be No Disqualifications just so he can’t frame Taichi.

The 10 Man Tag was good stuff, and with TMDK having won last time in the main event, it made sense for Goto’s team to win this time. It was also mostly to build momentum for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match tomorrow, and the tag title match for New Beginning in Osaka. Desperado VS Fujita is going to be great, but I don’t know if Fujita & Eagles really become a Junior Heavyweight Two Man Power Trip. The NJPW World TV Championship was a great main event, and that was a great win for ELP. ELP also gave a great promo where he showed love and appreciation for all the NJPW non-wrestler and production staff. Naturally he has a new lease on life, he’s learning to be grateful for everything, so this was a great way to show that.

My Score: 8.7/10