Will Bullet Club get even with the “Unaffiliated?”

The Road to King of Pro-Wrestling continues, but Gabe Kidd and Yota Tsuji run it back in another 8 Man Tag main event! Will the Mad Man stand tall this time? Or will it be another noche tranquilo?

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Shoma Kato & Tatsuya Matsumoto VS Katsuya Murashima & Zane Jay; Murashima & Zane win.
• Yuya Uemura VS Daiki Nagai; Yuya wins.
• Clark Connors & “Drilla” Dan Moloney VS SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru; Sanada & Kanemaru win, by disqualification.
• Hiroshi Tanahashi & Masatora Yasuda VS El Phantasmo & Jado; ELP & Jado win.
• 10 Man Tag: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano, El Desperado, Tiger Mask & KUUKAI VS The House of Torture; The House of Torture win.
• Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma VS OSKAR & Yuto-Ice; Oskar & Yuto win.
• 8 Man Tag: Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & Titan VS Gabe Kidd, David Finlay, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo; Yota, Takagi, Hiromu & Titan win.

PLAY BY PLAY

Clark Connors & “Drilla” Dan Moloney VS SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru!

Another count out victory for the Bullet Club was NOT what they wanted! And now the grudge match of 44 Caliber and Cold-Blooded Snake is gonna be Anything Goes! Will Connors & Drilla make sure Sanada & Kanemaru finally take a loss like men? Or will there be shenanigans in Ishikawa?

Wait, Sanada doesn’t have his guitar? Did NJPW management realize he uses it for more than just music? No, wait! DRILLA has the guitar! The shenanigans have begun as the War Dogs once again rush Sanada & Kanemaru! Sanada & Kanemaru bail out, the War Dogs pursue, and Connors whips Kanemaru into railing! Drilla winds up but Sanada kicks low! Sanada ROCKS Drilla, Drilla ROCKS Sanada, repeat! The fans rally, the bell rings to get this on record, and Drilla ROCKS Sanada again! Drilla brings Sanada out into the crowd while Connors puts Kanemaru in the ring. Drilla brings Sanada around with a headlock to whip into railing!

Connors UPPERCUTS Kanemaru, then snapmares for a SLIDING SHOULDER! Drilla brings Sanada around again while Connors revs up to SLIDING SHOULDER again! Drilla CHOPS Sanada down while Connors SLIDING SHOULDERS again! Kanemaru sputters, but Sanada sends Drilla into railing now! Connors KICKS ropes to jam Kanemaru up! The Heel Master flops to the outside and 100 Proof follows. The fans cheer as Connors UPPERCUTS Kanemaru again. And then surprise! Connors brings out WHEEL-SAN! The fans cheer, the ref reprimands, but Sanada CLOBBERS Connors with a fan’s water bottle!

Kanemaru POSTS Connors, Connors tumbles into the crowd, and Kanemaru storms out after him. Kanemaru stomps Connors in front of fans, then brings him around to whip hard into railing! Connors slumps down, Drilla is sent into railing now, and then Kanemaru puts Connors in the ring. Kanemaru scoops to SLAM, then he KNEES Connors in the back! Kanemaru ELBOWS Connors in the head, tags in Sanada, and Sanada ROCKS Connors with haymakers. The ref reprimands about closed fists, but Sanada whips Connors to ELBOW him down! Connors flounders, Sanada stands him up, and he bumps Connors off Kanemaru’s boot!

Kanemaru tags in, he and Sanada split the wishbone! The fans rally for Connors but Kanemaru stomps him and taunts him. Connors eggs Kanemaru on, so Kanemaru stomps him more! Connors stands to UPPERCUT, and UPPERCUT, but then Kanemaru CLAWS the eyes! Kanemaru runs, but Connors goes the other way! Kanemaru drops down, but Connors holds back on the Jeep Flipper! Connors catches Kanemaru into a SNAP POWERSLAM! The fans fire up and both men crawl for their corners. Hot tags to Drilla and Sanada! Drilla fires off haymakers, then DECKS Sanada! The fans fire up with Drilla as he roars!

Drilla whips Sanada to a corner, LARIATS, then whips the other way for another LARIAT! Drilla whips again, Sanada reverses, but Drilla comes back to LARIAT! The fans bark with Drilla and he runs in, only for Sanada to BOOT him back! Sanada runs, but into a SPINEBUSTER! Drilla throws off the shirt, reels Sanada in, but Sanada RAMS Drilla into the ref! Drilla is upset but he avoids the haymaker. Drilla waistlocks, but Sanada LOW BLOWS! The fans boo but now Sanada has his guitar back! Sanada winds up, but Drilla avoids the Smash Hit! GORE! Drilla fires up, the fans are with him, and Drilla drags Sanada up.

Drilla Canadian Racks, but Sanada breaks free! Sanada shoves Drilla into the ref, and Kanemaru slides him the guitar again! Sanada SMACKS the guitar to pull the Eddie Guerrero fake out! Drilla is caught with the guitar, he defends his innocence, but the ref calls it! DISQUALIFICATION!!

Winners: Sanada & Yoshinobu Kanemaru, by disqualification

Further shenanigans occur, and the ref has been tricked again! All the more reason Drilla wants his Anything Goes! Drilla chases Sanada with the guitar, and they go to the back! Kanemaru and Connors hurry to catch up, will Drilla chase Sanada all the way to Ryogoku Kokugikan?

After 10 Man Tag: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano, El Desperado, Tiger Mask & KUUKAI VS The House of Torture…

The House of Torture of course cheated their way, Sho distracting the ref so Dick Togo could use the SPOILER CHOKER on Tiger Mask! Then it was MAGIC KILLER that finished the match. However, The King of Darkness would torture Tiger Mask with a SHARPSHOOTER! But this time, Boltin Oleg storms in, DECKS Dick, shoves Young Lions aside, and he gut wrenches Evil! Boltin Shake Shake Shake, and then THROW! The fans cheer as Boltin takes back the NEVER Openweight Championship, and justice is served! Evil says how dare you, but he doesn’t try to take the title back. Will Evil just make sure to earn that title at King of Pro-Wrestling?

As for the rest of the House, Sho & Douki have their Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships for now, but El Desperado & Kuukai will challenge for them in Ryogoku. Will The Rogue Luchador and his new amigo also serve justice to the House of Torture?

After Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma VS OSKAR & Yuto-Ice…

Everybody’s Kokeshi takes the loss to the SHOTGUN BOOT, but the Knock Out Brothers weren’t done with that! Oskar drags The Roughneck back into the ring so that he and Yuto can stomp away on him! The fans boo, but then Shota fires forearms in return! But then Oskar BOOTS Shota and clamps on a SLEEPER! Yuto stomps away on Shota, the fans boo the mugging, but here comes YUYA UEMURA! The Heat Storm fires off forearms and KNEES on Oskar, then the same for Yuto! But Yuto SMACKS Yuya down! Yuto runs, but Yuya reels him in! BIG back suplex! But Oskar is after him! Yuya ENZIGIRIS!

Shota is up, and he runs to ROUGHNECK BOMBER! The fans cheer as the challengers stand tall! Oskar & Yuto regroup, and Shota holds up the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. Shota taunts them with the belts, but he returns them to Oskar & Yuto so they can leave. Will Shota & Yuya make the new champions into former champions soon enough anyway? Or will they get knocked out by the KOB at KOPW?

8 Man Tag: Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & Titan VS Gabe Kidd, David Finlay, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo!

As Gene Blaster and Mad Man continue their preparations for their IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship rematch, they once again lead teams into battle! But will they go crazy from doing this over and over again? Or can someone hold it together this close to King of Pro-Wrestling?

The teams sort out and the fans bark for the War Dogs. They throw up the Too Sweet, and then Gabe mocks the former LIJ with their fist raise. The Unaffiliated get the fans to join in with “OI! OI! OI!” to counter. Finlay throws his shirt, it hits Hiromu, so Hiromu throws the shirt to the crowd! But Finlay wants it back! A Young Lion fetches the shirt, hands it back to Finlay, and he throws it at Hiromu again! Finally, we start with Hiromu and Gedo. The fans rally up as the two circle, and they tie up. Hiromu headlocks, grinds the hold, and the fans applaud. Gedo fights up, powers up, but can’t power out as Hiromu holds on tight!

The fans rally as Hiromu grinds Gedo to the mat. Gedo rolls to a cover, ONE! Hiromu grinds the headlock again, but Gedo fights to his feet again. The fans rally, Gedo powers up, but Hiromu still holds tight! Gedo endures as Hiromu grinds him down again. Hiromu thrashes Gedo around, but Gedo rises to pry the hold open. But Hiromu just clamps it on tighter! Gedo pulls hair to put Hiromu on the ropes! Red Shoes counts, Gedo lets go, but Hiromu headlocks again! But Gedo pulls hair again! So Hiromu pulls on the beard! The fans cheer as Hiromu brings Gedo over, and Yota tags in. Yota CLUBS the beard!

The fans cheer and Yota brings Gedo up by the beard. Red Shoes reprimands, but Yota tags Takagi. Takagi hops up the corner and the fans rally as he winds up, AX HANDLE to the beard! The fans cheer but Bullet Club protests. Takagi & Yota double whip Gedo, then DOUBLE SHOULDER him down! The fans cheer again, and Takagi brings Gedo back up, by the beard! Tag to Titan and he springboards to DOUBLE STOMP the beard! The fans cheer, Red Shoes reprimands, but Titan drags Gedo up again. Titan wrenches the beard, and he tags in Hiromu. Hiromu takes the handoff to pull the beard!

Hiromu shouts that it’s time for the MERRY-GO-ROUND! He swings Gedo by his beard, then THROWS him away! Hiromu wipes the hair off his hands, then goes to Gedo in the corner, to pull the beard! He SWINGS Gedo around again to THROW him away again! The fans fire up while Gedo flounders back to the corner. Hiromu runs corner to corner, LARIAT! Snapmare, and then- NO, Taiji stands in Hiromu’s way! Gedo kicks, Hiromu blocks, and he pulls the beard! But Gedo pokes Hiromu in the eyes! Then Gedo uses Hiromu’s hair for the SWING and THROW! Tag to Taiji and he drags Hiromu up, to SWING by his hair!

Taiji THROWS Hiromu, then FIST DROPS! Taiji CLAWS Hiromu’s face, Finlay taunts Hiromu, and Taiji puts Hiromu on the ropes. Taiji CHOKES Hiromu, Red Shoes reprimands, and Finlay says only now does Red Shoes enforce the rules! Gabe tags in, but Finlay CHOKES Hiromu on the ropes! Gabe taunts Yota, Red Shoes keeps them apart, and then Gabe “offers” Hiromu to pull hair and/or beard. But Gabe is bald and keeps his beard shortly trimmed, there’s nothing to grab! Gabe UPPERCUTS Hiromu and Hiromu goes to a corner. Gabe then SWINGS and THROWS Hiromu by his hair! Hiromu writhes, but Gabe stomps him.

Gabe bumps Hiromu off Finlay’s boot, then tags Finlay in. The fans rally for The Rebel as he SWINGS and THROWS Hiromu by his hair! Red Shoes reprimands but the fans want more, so Finlay has the legs! Finlay SWINGS Hiromu the old fashioned way! Finlay goes around and around, and THROWS Hiromu at TEN! Both men are dizzy, they miss each other by a wide margin, and then use the ropes to steady themselves. Finlay keeps Hiromu back by pulling hair, but Hiromu breaks free. Finlay kicks low, suplexes, but Hiromu slips free! Hiromu ducks a lariat to hot tag Takagi! LARIAT for Finlay! Scoop SLAM for Taiji! ELBOW for Gedo!

Gabe CLUBS Takagi and whips, but Takagi reverses to HIP TOSS! The fans fire up and Takagi runs in on Finlay. Finlay BOOTS him, runs, but into a BACKDROP! The fans fire up again and Takagi LARIATS Finlay up and out! Finlay hits railing, Titan is in, and Takagi gives him the boost! Titan DIVES onto Finlay! The fans fire up as Finlay hits railing again! Titan puts Finlay back in for Takagi, Takagi covers, TWO! Takagi tells Komatsu, “TOKI G-” FINLAY CLOBBERS HIM! Finlay rains down fists, then tells the fans, “TOKI GA KITA!” The fans fire up while Finlay flips off Takagi, throat chops, and then suplexes, but Takagi blocks! Takagi suplexes up and over!

The fans fire up while both men are down! Takagi and Finlay stir, tag to Yota! Yota runs corner to corner, STINGER SPLASH! And then he clinches, BACKBREAKER, FLATLINER, but Finlay avoids the stomp! Finlay rolls Yota up, TWO! Basement UPPERCUT! Finlay rises, tag to Gabe! The fans fire up as Gabe BOOTS Yota and BLASTS Hiromu! Gabe CHOPS, CHOPS, CHOPS, then LARIATS! Scoop and SLAM! SENTON! Cover, TWO! The fans rally up and Gabe barks. The fans bark with him, and Gabe rises. Gabe runs, COMEBACK- NO, Yota scoops for a BACKBREAKER! Both men are down and the fans fire up again!

Yota rises, he brings Gabe up, and he scoops to SLAM! Then SPLASH DOWN! Cover, TWO! Finlay is up but Yota BLASTS him down! Yota storms back over to Gabe, they go forehead to forehead, and Yota shoves Gabe. Yota blocks a shot, but Gabe blocks the suplex! Gabe wrenches free, Yota ducks the lariat, Gabe dodges the boot! Yota blocks a lariat, Gabe blocks a knee, Yota wrenches but Gabe avoids the superkick! Yota ducks the lariat, and both men HEADBUTT!! Both men fall and the fans fire up again! Yota and Gabe crawl, hot tags to Titan and Gedo! The fans fire up as El Inmortal runs up, but The Blacksmith dodges!

Gedo CLAWS Titan’s eyes, then runs corner to corner. Titan BOOTS, KICKS, SOBATS, fast hands and WHEEL KICK! The fans fire up with Titan and he goes to the apron. Titan springboards to CROSSBODY! Taiji THROWS Titan down by his mask, but Titan kips up to PELE! The fans cheer, but then Gedo kicks low! Gedo whips, Titan reverses, and then Titan goes Matrix to dodge! CALF KICK! The fans fire up again and Titan goes to a corner. Titan skins the cat to go up top, LA- NO, Gedo dodges the Lanza! Mule kick, snapmare, GEDO CLUTCH! Hiromu basement DROPKICKS it apart! Finlay runs in, he’s sent into the ELBOW! JAB! Hiromu SUPERKICK and Takagi PUMPING BOMBER!

The fans fire up again, and Takagi sends Hiromu in! LARIAT on Gedo in the corner! Takagi LARIATS! Then they double whip Titan for a SUPER FRAME-OUT! Hiromu snapmare Gedo for the SLIDING BOMBER! Then springboard LA LANZA!! Cover, The Unaffiliated win!

Winners: Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & Titan, by pinfall

The Blacksmith takes all the damage, but it is still a loss for Bullet Club! Does this not bode well for Gabe against Yota in 4 days? Well, Gabe is daring Yota to fight NOW, but Yota forces the Mad Man to wait. For now, Takagi takes the mic to ask the fans, “Isn’t it a little early to go home?” C’mon, Komatsu, let’s hear it! The fans cheer more, but Takagi gets them to cheer even louder! Takagi says it’s been awhile since he got to talk, TOKI GA KITA! The fans cheer as Takagi’s time has come! Takagi says in the end, Titan won it for them, so gracias, Titan! The fans cheer as the two dap it up.

Takagi then points out that Titan’s Nihongo (Japanese) has gotten better, he should of course talk to the fans. The fans cheer that! Takagi says, onegaishimasu, pretty please? Titan humbly accepts and the fans cheer him on. And in Japanese, Titan says, “Good evening, everyone~!” The fans cheer, and Titan continues by saying yes, he can speak Japanese. Titan then shouts, “Komatsu! Komatsu! KOMATSU! I LOVE YOU~!” The fans applaud, and Takagi thanks Titan for that. Takagi then commends Hiromu for being GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion, and he hands the mic over. The fans cheer on “HI-RO-MU! HI-RO-MU!”

Hiromu asks if this is really okay. He’s only talking because he endured his hair being pulled. Even for being GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion, all he really did was have his hair pulled! To make him feel better, he requests a big, big, BIG cheer for him. The fans oblige with more “HI-RO-MU! HI-RO-MU!” Hiromu says thank you, but he needs “moto.” The fans join in with “Moto!” “Moto.” “Moto!” “Moto!” “Moto!” “MOTO!” “MOTO!” “MOTO!” from everyone, but it’s not gonna be him closing. But instead, pretending to be “Yota-sama,” it’s… Daiki Nagai! Hiromu asks if it’s okay, since Daiki wasn’t even in the match.

The fans cheer for Daiki, and even he’s a little surprised. Hiromu says Daiki is here! Let’s talk. Daiki takes the mic, and this is a big honor for a Young Lion. Daiki double checks, is this really okay? Daiki lost his match earlier, after all… The fans cheer, they don’t seem to mind. He introduces himself, he is 22-year-old Daiki Nagai. Daiki says he isn’t sure the next time he’ll be in Ishikawa, but as an “Unaffiliated,” he’ll do his best next time to win. No, he WILL win! The fans applaud that. Then Daiki asks Yota for help, and Gene Blast gets to close. The fans cheer for “YO~TA! YO~TA!” as he steps forward.

Yota says he has just one thing to say: He WILL carry the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship and NJPW on his shoulders. Komatsu! ARE YOU READY!? Yota says, “We are the Unaffiliated!” Yota gives the mic drop and the fans applaud. The Unaffiliated stand together, will they continue on in the ungovernable spirit towards the top of NJPW?

My Thoughts: