NJPW 49th Anniversary Show Results – 04/03/2021
Tokyo, Japan
Nippon Budokan
English Speaking Commentary: Kevin Kelly, Chris Charlton & Gino Gambino
SUZUKI-gun – DOUKI, ZACK SABRE JR., MINORU SUZUKI & TAICHI vs. MASTER WATO, GABRIEL KIDD, TOMOAKI HONMA & HIROOKI GOTO:
gun jumpstarts the match per usual, Suzuki with a Cravat, but Wato makes the save and trips up Minoru, Honma with Ko-Kokeshi gets a 2 count, Kidd goes right after Suzuki, but Minoru just wants more & Kidd obliges, now Kidd trades Forearms with ZSJ, Suzuki with a Hanging Juji-Gatame, gun takes the action to the floor, Honma & Suzuki trade shot, Taichi flattens Kidd and sends him into the guardrail before back in to some shoot kicks from Suzuki, DOUKI with a Back Elbow for a 2 count on Kidd, Suzuki with an Ankle Lock from the floor and uses the post for extra leverage, Taichi with a Football Kick, ZSJ just paintbrushes Kidd with non-chalant kicks, Cravat, Kidd fights out, he ducks the Penalty Kick & hits a Dropkick, Goto with a Jumping Elbow on Taichi for a 2 count, Kawada Kick time for Taichi, then he locks in The Stretch Plum, but Goto makes him to the corner, DOUKI with a blind tag, Enzugiri on Goto, gun with a pair of Back Elbows, DOUKI with a Double Stomp for a near fall, DOUKI Chokey, but Honma breaks it up with a Kokeshi, DOUKI looks for the Daybreak, but Goto blocks, DOUKI counters Ushi-Goroshi, Wato with a Slingshot Crossbody on Taichi, Goto with the Ushi-Goroshi then finishes DOUKI with The GTR for the win.
WINNERS: HIROOKI GOTO, MASTER WATO, GABRIEL KIDD & TOMOAKI HONMA
Honma & Suzuki continue to trade strikes on the floor as Suzuki just laughs sadistically.
BULLET CLUB – TAIJI ISHIMORI, “SWITCHBLADE” JAY WHITE, CHASE OWENS, KENTA & EVIL vs. RYUSUKE TAGUCHI, TOA HENARE, FIN-JUICE & HIROSHI TANAHASHI:
KENTA blocks the Left Hand of God, but Juice with an Inverted Atomic Drop/Russian Legsweep/Jumping Senton combo for a 2 count, the faces put a quintet of boots to KENTA & BC returns the favour to Tana, now Jay goes right after Tana’s legs, EVIL with an Abdominal Stretch and gets help from BC as they form a human chain on the floor, into a cover for a 2 count, Tana fights his way out of the BC corner, Ishimori with a Handspring, but Tana avoids it & hits a Dragon Screw, Finlay with a second rope Rolling European Uppercut, Irish Curse, EVIL looked for the ref assisted Superkick, but Finlay counters with an Inverted Neckbreaker, Taguchi jumps in, but EVIL was ready and drops him with Everything is EVIL for the win.
WINNERS: BULLET CLUB
LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPON – BUSHI, SANADA & SHINGO TAKAGI vs. CHAOS – SHO, TOMOHIRO ISHII & KAZUCHIKA OKADA:
SANADA catches Ishii with a Dropkick, SHO with a Jumping Forearm, BUSHI takes down SHO with a Running Hurricanrana, BUSHI trips up Ishii, BUSHI uses a shirt for an assisted Cut-Throat Neckbreaker, SANADA with a Backdrop Driver on Ishii for a 2 count, Ishii blocks Skull End, SANADA blocks the Vertical Sheer-Drop Brainbuster & hits a traditional Vertical Suplex, Okada with a DDT on Shingo for a 2 count, Okada blocks The Pumping Bomber, but Shingo stops The Money Clip from getting locked in, BUSHI with a Dropkick to the knee then a DDT on SHO for a 2 count, SHO blocks Revolution, Shingo with the Pumping Bomber, LIJ looks for the double team, but SHO with a Spear takes down Shingo then a Deadlift German Suplex on BUSHI, he follows with a Lariat & finishes BUSHI with The Shock Arrow for the win.
WINNERS: CHAOS
We get the announcement of a pair of shows called Wrestle Grand Slam in Yokohama Stadium & the Tokyo Dome (the first time we’re back in the dome outside of the January 4th show in years) on 5/15 & 5/25 respectively
JEFF COBB vs. SATOSHI KOJIMA:
Kojima lights up Cobb with Machinegun Chops, up top, but Cobb cuts him off, Kojima slips out of his grasp, Cobb blocks the DDT & hits a Short-Arm Lariat, Dropkick gets a 2 count, Back Elbow for a 1 count, he follows with a Standing Moonsault for a near fall, Cobb with Machinegun Chops of his own, up top, but Kojima cuts him off & hits a Superplex then follows with a Shining Wizard, Cobb rolls to the floor, Kojima with a Slingshot, but Cobb catches him, knees to the back and slams him on the floor, Kojima cuts the leg out from underneath Cobb then DDTs him on the apron, he sends Cobb back in, up top, Diving Elbow Drop gets a 2 count, Kojima with another DDT this time in the ring, Koji Cutter blocked & Cobb tosses Kojima, Flying Back Elbow, Oklahoma Stampede blocked, Koji Cutter connects then follows with a Brainbuster for a near fall, Kojima wanted to take the elbow pad off, but Cobb blocked and hit The Spin Cycle followed by a Doctor Bomb for a near fall, Kojima blocks the Tour of the Islands and hits a Lariat, but the pad was still on, so he couldn’t get the full impact and only gets a near fall, now the pad is off, Kojima looks for it, but Cobb catches him & plants him with Tour of the Islands for the win.
WINNER: JEFF COBB
GREAT-O-KHAN vs. TETSUYA NAITO:
Khan looks for the Kata-Gatame, but Naito makes it to the rope, they take to the floor & Khan sends Naito hard into the guardrail, back in the ring for a 1 count, Gutwrench Suplex, very cocky palm on the chest cover for a 2 count, he mocks Naito before grabbing both wrists and pulling back, he tells Naito to bow down before him & kiss his boot, Naito responds with a Single Leg Dropkick, Slingshot Dropkick in the corner, he drags Khan by the ponytail, Neckbreaker for a 2 count, Cravat, Khan fights out & hits a Big Boot, Mongolian Chops, Naito with a Flying Forearm, but Khan counters into a Bearhug, then drops with a Gorilla Press Slam & Naito hits his knee on his way down & Khan goes right after the knee, Standing Figure 4 around the ring post then grabs a chair & slams it into Naito’s knee on the floor, he sets up the chair, Kneebreaker on the chair, Khan back in the ring, Red Shoes checks on Naito, he starts the count, Naito back in at 19, Iron Claw to the knee of Naito then an Iron Claw Slam for a 2 count, he goes back to work torturing the knee, Iron Claw to the knee again, he looks for a slam, but Naito counters into a DDT, Back Elbows to Khan he picks Khan up by the ponytail for more Back Elbows, up to the second, Diamond Dust gets a near fall, Khan blocks Gloria, Khan with a Back Suplex into a Faceplant, Inverted Powerslam for a 2 count, Iron Claw, Naito fights out, he blocks The Eliminator & hits Destino, but Naito can’t follow up with a cover, he looks for it again, Khan blocks it, Lariat gets a near fall & Khan goes right back to the knee, he scissors the leg, Naito fights it, Khan rolls around & wraps Naito in a Kneebar & he’s got it hooked deep, Naito grabs Red Shoes, he won’t tap out, every time he moves Khan locks it in deeper & Red Shoes calls it, Khan wins by ref stoppage, Khan has to be pried off.
WINNER: GREAT-O-KHAN
Khan throws out the Young Lions and the doc then poses while standing on Naito’s knee.
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
EL DESPERADO vs. KOTA IBUSHI:
Ibushi wants to trade Forearms, but Despy just stomps on his foot, Ibushi answers back with a Mid Kick, they to the floor, Ibushi sends Despy into the guardrail, back in, Body Slam into a cover for a 1 count, Figure 4 Headscissors Ibushi hooks the leg for a 2 count, Shoot Kicks, Despy answers back with Forearms, Ibushi asks for more and answers back with a straight kick, Despy with a Dropkick to the knee, Dragon Screw, Stretch Muffler, but Ibushi goes to the rope, Ibushi slips out of a Guitarra de Angel attempt and hits a Powerslam, up top, but Despy is right behind him & Dropkicks him off the top to the floor, Tope con Hilo, back in, Guitarra de Angel connects, but only gets a near fall, Double Knee Drop to the injured leg, he goes for a Dropkick, but Ibushi jumps to avoid it and ends up landing into a Double Stomp in Despy’s ribs, they trade Forearms, Despy with a rollup & transitions back into The Stretch Muffler, he isolates the other leg and grabs the wrist, but Ibushi makes it to the rope before Numero Dos could be fully locked in, Despy looks for Pinche Loco (Christopher Daniels’ Angels Wings), but Ibushi blocks, he tries to transition to Brain Damage, but Despy locks up the leg, Ibushi fights out, Despy launches, but Ibushi counters with a Leaping Mushroom Stomp, back to trading strikes, Ibushi with shoot kicks, Despy with an Olympic Slam gets a 2 count, he quickly rolls to the apron & up top, Frog Splash connects, but only gets a near fall, Pinche Loco blocked, Ibushi with a Pump Knee, Despy answers back with a right hand and both men collapse, Pinche Loco, but Ibushi lands on his feet and answers with a Lariat, Sit-Out Last Ride gets a near fall, he looks for the kill, Kamigoye countered into El Es Culero, but only gets a near fall, Ibushi with a head kick, Kamigoye countered into a rollup & straight into Numero Dos & Despy has it locked in, Ibushi frees an arm and fights out, now Ibushi has the Straightjacket & connects with The Kamigoye, but only gets a near fall, Ibushi can’t believe it, but goes right back on the attack & delivers a final Kamigoye for the win
WINNER and THE FIRST IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: KOTA IBUSHI
Kota Ibushi has unified the IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Championships to become the first IWGP World Heavyweight Champion
Ibushi shakes Despy’s hand in a show of respect
Ibushi says that the match wasn’t about Junior Heavyweights or Heavyweights, there are so many great Junior Heavyweights at the moment and he’ll accept any challenger at any time regardless of the weight class. He’s not changing his position, he’s going to unify the 2 belts into 1 and he’ll take on any or all comers, he wants to take on Tanahashi even though he knows Tana doesn’t approve of the unification idea. Ibushi will unify the belts and bring NJPW to even greater heights & says once again that he’ll never escape, he’ll never run away, he’ll never lose & he’ll never ever betray New Japan.