New Japan Pro Wrestling returned to the United States for it’s annual G1 Special, and the face of New Japan may have been changed once again.
Bullet Club finally imploded following Kenny Omega‘s victory in a war with Cody, but not in the way many expected. It seemed like there would be peace in the club when, following Omega’s victory via One Winged Angel, the Guerrillas of Destiny and King Haku came out to celebrate. However, the Tongan boys attacked The Elite, revealing ‘Firing Squad’ t-shirts. Hangman Page, Marty Scurll, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens tried to make the save but were beaten down for their troubles.
Cody then stumbled down from the back, making it seem like he was going to add insult to injury. Tama handed the chair to Cody, but he shockingly took out the Tongan’s, trying to save Omega. He also got beaten down for his troubles, but the lines appear to be drawn in the B.C – you are either The Golden Elite or you are The Firing Squad.
In addition, The O.G Bullet Club members of Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, King Haku, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi to open the show the team of Rocky Romero, Roppongi 3k, Gedo and YOSHI-HASHI when Tonga hit Gedo with the Gun Stun to open the show.
In less troubling times, The Young Bucks held on to the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships, beating EVIL and SANADA in a highly physical rematch, polishing off EVIL with their patented Meltzer Driver.
Juice Robinson overcame all the odds including his own broken hand to capture the IWGP United States Title from ‘Switchblade’ Jay White. A rule was in place that Robinson could be disqualified if he used his cast on the champion, but he came very close to winning when he used his broken left hand to rock White whilst the ref was down for a near fall. Robinson finally got the win when he counted the Bladerunner to roll-up White to capture the gold.
A potential serious injury marred an excellent victory for Hiromu Takahashi over Dragon Lee to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title. Takahashi is reported to have suffered a severe neck injury after landing awkwardly on a Lee Pheonix-Plex. Remarkably, Takahashi carried on and won the match, winning with the Timebomb.
Hirooki Goto held onto his NEVER Openweight Title in a physical contest with Jeff Cobb, finishing him off with the inverted and classic version of the GTR.
Two of wrestling’s fastest up-and-comers, Hangman Page and Marty Scurll got another win for the (at the time) Bullet Club when they defeated KUSHIDA and Hiroshi Tanahashi when Page rocked KUSHIDA with the Rite of Passage for the three count.
Former IWGP Heavyweight and Junior Heavyweight Champions Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay put one in the win column for CHAOS as they beat Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI, when Ospreay dropped BUSHI with the Storm Breaker.
Finally, Toru Yano and Tomohiro Iishi beat Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr when Zack was caught in an Iishi lariat-assisted roll-up by Yano.
In other news, New Japan has announced two more events in the United States for September and November.