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NJPW 53rd ANNIVERSARY SHOW REPORT
MARCH 6, 2025
TOKYO, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
Announcers: Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton
Jado and ELP came out first. ELP said he didn’t care who came out to face him for his open challenge for the NJPW World TV Championship. Master Wato came out to answer the challenge.
(1) ELP (w/Jado) vs. MASTER WATO – NJPW World TV Championship match
ELP didn’t seem to take Wato seriously early as he taunted Wato with some light slaps up against the ropes and from the mount. Wato fired back and sent ELP into the guardrail with a running head scissors. He followed up with a nice flip dive over the top to the floor.
Wato hit a big bulldog inside the ring a short time later for a two count. ELP clotheslined Wato over the top to the floor before hitting a slingshot splash to the floor. He then hit a Moonsault off the top to the floor and the fans fired up once again. Wato escaped a CR2 and hit a crucifix slam for a near fall.
Wato escaped a CR2 attempt and countered it into a pinning combination. He caught ELP in a neck crank a short time later. They traded pinning combinations a short time later and Wato barely kicked out of ELP’s leverage pin. ELP hit a big lariat and a burning hammer, but Wato kicked out at the last second.
Wato blocked Sudden Death and hit a Herman with a bridge for a near fall. Wato went up top, but ELP cut him off. ELP hit a Frankensteiner. He then hit Thunderkiss ‘86 for the win as the time limit had dwindled to under a minute.
WINNER: ELP in 14:00 to retain the NJPW World TV Championship. (***)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was a good match to kick off the show. Wato nearly pressed ELP to a time limit draw and looked good in an open weight match.)
(2) CHASE OWENS & BAD LUCK FALE vs. TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson)
Charlton said Oiwa has gotten a lot of opportunities, but hasn’t gotten results since returning to NJPW from NOAH. This is a bit of a preview of the Oiwa vs. Owens NJPW Cup match.
The finish saw Owens kick Jackson as he bounced off the ropes. That allowed Fale to pin him with a clotheslines.
WINNERS: Owens & Fale in 7:00.
(Radican’s Analysis: This was fine. They seemed to be trying to prop up Oiwa to make some noise in the NJPW Cup, but this match didn’t change my feelings about him going in.)
Owens noted after the match that he hadn’t tagged with Fale for two years.
(3) BULLET CLUB WAR DOGS (Taiji Ishimori & Sanada & Gedo) vs. JUST4GUYS (Yuya Uemura & Taichi & Taka Michinoku)
Uemura and Sanada are scheduled to wrestle each other in the first round of the NJpW Cup. BC jumped their opponents at the bell. Uemura and Sanada went to the floor and brawled. Taichi is also in the cup, but he got a random first round byes
Gedo hit Uemura from the floor and Samara got his guitar. He hit the guitar and threw it to Uemura and the ref called for the DQ! The ref fell for Taichi’s trickery.
WINNERS: Sanada & Ishimori & Gedo in 8:00.
(Radican’s Analysis: This was fine for what it was. I bet we see Sanada try to use the same trick during the NJPW Cup.)
(4) BULLET CLUB WAR DOGS (Gabe Kidd & Drilla Moloney) vs. HOT (Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
Kidd is scheduled to face Narita in the first round of the NJPW Cup. Two men dressed in black ran into the ring from the crowd and attacked HOT. They took their hoods off and it was Kidd and Moloney. The announcers mentioned it was Kidd that took care of Narita when he went to the LA Dojo. All four men quickly brawled into the crowd.
Kidd teased tossing Narita off the stands to the floor at one point. The match still hadn’t officially begun. They brawled all over the arena and at ringside and the bell finally rang after The War Dogs tossed their opponents into the ring. They ended up going right back to the floor. The fans applauded after Kidd sent Narita into a pile of chairs. The ref ended up counting both teams out.
WINNERS: n/a – double count out in 2:00.
(Radican’s Analysis: I have some reservations, but I’m excited about a rivalry between these two factions. This was fun to watch as it lasted as all four men literally went all over the building. The match only officially went around 2 minutes, but they went at it for much longer than that prior to the bell ringing.)
Both teams continued to brawl after the bell. Charlton suggested the participants be arrested to stop the madness. Walker said maybe a mental institution trip would do the trick. All four men eventually brawled through the curtain and the fans applauded.
(5) HOT (Evil & Yujiro Takahashi & Sho & Dick Togo) vs. LIJ (Yota Tsuji & Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & Hiroku Takahashi)
Tsuji and Evil will face off in the first round of the NJPW Cup. Tsuji led the charge as LIJ got a jump start on HOT. Tsuji and Evil went at it during the early going briefly, but Gedo ran in and poked Tsuji in the eye.
Takahashi ended up tapping out Togo with Maximum the Holding.
WINNERS: LIJ in 10:15.
(Radican’s Analysis: This was about what you would expect from these two teams.)
After the match, Takagi sent Ecioninto the ring. Tsuji went for tje Gene Blast, but Evil rolled to the floor. The LIJ members passed around Takagi’s new book and looked excited after the match. Hiromu ended up putting the book down the front of his trunks.
—A video package aired for the IWGP Jr. Hvt. Championship match
Francesco Akira came out first wearing a sick entrance jacket in the gold and green of United Empire.
(6) EL DESPERADO vs. FRANCESCO AKIRA – IWGP Jr. Hvt. Championship match
The announcers talked about Akira stepping up and making an opportunity for himself by challenging Desperado. They also talked about Akira overlooking him heading into the match. Akira missed an opportunity art dive to the floor, but he hit one a short time later that gave him the upper hand.
They traded counters and Desperado got a modified dragon screw. Desperado got Numero Dos, but Akira quickly got to the ropes. Akira fired back and sent Desperado off the apron to the floor with a drop kick. He then wiped out Desperado with a moonsault to the floor.
The ref counted to 12, but Akira got a running start and hit a flip dive over the top to the floor to wipe out Desperado. Akira’s form was absolutely perfect. Desperado beat the 20 count, but he was greeted by a moonsault from Akira.
They traded counters and Desperado kicked out of a pinning combination and got Numero Dos. Akira managed to power out of it and he his a Destroyer that left both men down. WOW! The fans clapped as both men tried to get to their feet.
Desperado got control and began slamming Akira’s knee into the mat. Akira fired back and hit a double stomp, but he hurt himself in the process. He hit Speedfire a short time later for a near fall.
Desperado fired back and hit Guitarra de Angel for a near fall. He got Numero Dos in again a short time later. Akira crawled to the ropes, but Desperado blocked him. He tried to get on top of Desperado, but he slammed him to the mat and applied the hold again. Francesco continued to struggle and eventually got to the ropes and the fans applauded.
Desperado went for the Pinche Loco, but Akira landed on his feet and hit a running knee for a near fall! WOW!! Francesco let out a scream, but Desperado hit a basement drop kick to his damaged knees. Desperado hit several slaps TK the face, but Akira caught him with a big lariat.
Akira hitting a running meteora, but Desperado got his hand on the ropes. He hit a stalling German suplex. He went for a running meteora to the back of Desperado’s head, if he ducked and got Numeo Dos. He charted at Desperado for a Fireball, but collapsed due to the damage to his knees. Desperado hit Pinche Loco, but Akira kicked out at the last second. Desperado applied Numero Dos and stood up to get leverage in the hold and Akira tapped.
WINNER: El Desperado to retain the IWGP Jr. Hvt. Championship in 24:40. (****1/4)
(Radican’s Analysis: Francesco came out of this looking like a star despite taking the loss. He brought the fight to Desperado, who worked over his knee to the entire match. Francesco looked fantastic selling his knee and nearly overcoming the pain from Desperado working it over to win the match.)
—A video aired for the Goto vs. Tanahashi main event for the IWGP World Hvt. Championship
(7) HIROOKI GOTO vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI – IWGP World Hvt, Championship match
The crowd was hot for the opening bell. Tanahashi had on a knee pad that read “Thabk you to everyone from Tanahashi.” Tanahashi hit a basement drop kick during the early going and went to work on Goto’s knee. Goto finally caught him by surprise with a clothesline off the ropes.
Goto’s momentum didn’t last long as Tanahashi hit him with his own Ushigoroshi. Gotohit a reverse GTR and Tanahashi fired right back with a Slingblade and both men were down. Goto caught Tanahashi coming off the ropes and he returned the favor and hit an Ushigoroshi of his own. Goto ended up hurting himself in the process, which allowed Tanahashi to block a running kick. He went right after Goto with several dragon screws to the leg.
Tanahashi then locked in his signature cloverleaf. Goto struggled, but managed to get to the ropes. Tanahashi went up top and hit Aces High. He went back up top again for a High Fly Flow, but Goto rolled out of the way. The fans chanted for both men as they tried to regroup. They traded blows and Goto hit a modified Final Cut for a near fall.
The fans seemed to favor Tanahashi, but Goto got on a roll and hit Shouten Kai. He then hit a GTR for the win.
WINNER: Hirooki Goto in 20:15 to retain the IWGP World Hvt. Championship. (***1/2)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was in the higher end of what I was expecting out of these two. Tanahashi looked good in defeat and had a sound strategy of working over Goto’s leg, but it never felt like Goto was in trouble here and he won in emphatic fashion. The announcers heavily suggested this was likely Tanahashi’s last shot at singles gold.)
Goto was presented with the title after the match. He said if it wasn’t for Tanahashi he would have been champion faster. He said if Tanahashi wasn’t in NJPW, Goto wouldn’t be there at all. He told Tanahashi to keep shining Taunton the end of his career and they hugged.
Tanahashi got on the mic and the fans chanted his name before he could speak. He told Goto he was leaving things to him. He said maybe this changes the relationship between Hontai and Chaos. Hontai came down to the ring, as Chaos was already at ringside. He told Goto to lead NJPW to even greater heights.
Goto got on the mic again and said he would carry NJPW. He then turned his attention to Yuji Nagata at ringside. Nagara got into the end ring. He said they will fight for the belt as he promised him. Nagata shook his hand and said let’s do it.
Goto said the Goto Revolution has only just begun. Goto then stood surrounded by members of Hontai and Chaos as gold confetti came down on them. Hontai and Chaos then all posed together for a group photo.
Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow him on Bluesky @seanradican
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