NJPW Kizuna Road 2021 Results – July 2, 2021 – NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship

Results

Steve C.

Jul 2, 2021

July 2, 2021
Tokyo, Japan – Korakuen Hall
Results via Ethan Renner of F4WOnline.com

Quick Match Results

Kota Ibushi defeated Yota Tsuji via High Angle Half Boston Crab (submission 12:10)
Shingo Takagi defeated Yuya Uemura via Pumping Bomber (pinfall 11:03)
Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, & El Desperado defeated Jado, El Phantasmo, & Taiji Ishimori via Stretch Muffler (submission 11:08)
BUSHI, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito defeated DOUKI, Zack Sabre Jr., & Taichi via MX (pinfall 12:13)
NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship – YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii, & Hirooki Goto (c) defeated Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan via GTR (pinfall 26:50)

Kota Ibushi vs. Yota Tsuji

A terrific opener.

Ibushi looked more ripped than usual, if that’s even possible.

A mat wrestling sequence ended in a stalemate. Each tried to work the other’s left arm. Tsuji did not go down from an Ibushi tackle attempt. Tsuji got shot off the ropes into a mid kick. Ibushi hit the ropes, but Tsuji dropped him with a tackle. This was a nice opening volley.

Tsuji took Ibushi’s back and used a choke, but Ibushi forced a rope break. Ibushi hit another big mid kick, then used a camel clutch. Tsuji forced a break.

Ibushi dared Tsuji to hit him with chops. Ibushi ate the chops, then dropped Tsuji with another kick. Tsuji answered with a dropkick, a slam, a senton and a splash for a two count.

Tsuji fought for a Boston crab, but Ibushi reversed and rolled through into a double stomp. Tsuji took three kicks, then fired back with strikes. They had a slap fight. Ibushi began lighting Tsuji up with strike combinations. Tsuji hit a spear.

Tsuji busted out a giant swing, using it to set up a crab. Ibushi fought his way to the ropes for a break. Tsuji used a rolling cradle for a near fall. Ibushi hit a lariat for a two count.

Ibushi used a single-leg crab, then switched to a high angle single-leg crab for the submission win.

Winner: Kota Ibushi via Submission.

Ibushi led the crowd in a round of applause for Tsuji and left the ring to him.

Yuya Uemura vs. Shingo Takagi

Shingo was amazing in this match. He worked as a subtle heel.

Shingo easily dodged a single-leg takedown attempt. Uemura refused to break cleanly after locking up and hit a chop. They traded headlocks. Shingo used a hair pull behind the ref’s back to escape a headlock.

Shingo dared Uemura to hit the ropes. Uemura demanded that Shingo run the ropes instead. Shingo dodged an arm drag. Uemura rolled out of the way of a senton and went back to the arm drag. This was beautiful.

Shingo took control with a tackle, then sent Uemura to the floor. Uemura got rammed into the apron. Back inside, Shingo won a striking battle. Shingo hit a corner clothesline. Uemura connected on a dropkick.

Uemura hit a flying forearm, a shotgun dropkick and a side suplex. He used the threat of a cover to set up a cross armbreaker, but Shingo immediately got the ropes. Shingo hit a striking combo, then a second rope back elbow drop for a near fall.

Uemura blocked noshigami and used a backslide for a two count. Shingo blocked an overhook suplex. Uemura blocked a lariat, but Shingo hit noshigami for two.

Uemura blocked a sliding lariat and hit a bridging German for a near fall. He tried a double overhook suplex, but Shingo blocked.

Shingo hit a lariat, then connected with a Pumping Bomber for the pin.

Winner: Shingo Takagi via Pinfall.

Uemura ended up with a bloody mouth after the final two lariats.

Shingo waved the IWGP title at Uemura after the match as if to say they will do this again one day for the title.

Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, & El Desperdao vs. Jado, El Phantasmo, & Taiji Ishimori

This was mostly a nothing brawl.

Suzuki-gun overcame a jumpstart attack from Bullet Club and cut Ishimori off. Bullet Club came back and both teams brawled around the ring. I think Ishimori lost a contact lens here. Kanemaru was then cut off as Bullet Club took control.

Kanemaru came back with a dropkick to ELP. ELP took a bump at a weird angle, almost spiking himself on the top of his head on a dropkick to the knee.

Desperado and Ishimori got tags. Desperado caught Ishimori in a stretch muffler, but Ishimori escaped. Ishimori blocked a spinebuster. Ishimori hit a handspring kick. Ishimori managed a tag to Jado , with ELP running interference on Suzuki to prevent a Desperado tag.

Jado hit a lariat for a two count. Jado hit his draping DDT. Suzuki saved Desperado. Ishimori tried a Bloody Cross on Desperado, but Desperado fought it off.

Jado applied the OJK, but Desperado reversed into Numero Dos for the submission.

Winner: Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, & El Desperdao via Submission.

BUSHI, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito vs. DOUKI, Zack Sabre Jr., & Taichi

Naito and SANADA ‘s utter disdain for Taichi and Sabre is the story of their feud. That continued here.

LIJ attacked before the opening bell. Suzuki-gun overcame the attack and cut SANADA off. Sabre worked over SANADA’s left arm. SANADA managed a tag to Naito. Naito then began working on Sabre’s right leg.

Naito, Sabre, Taichi and SANADA went back and forth. BUSHI and DOUKI tagged in for the closing stretch. DOUKI hit an Asai moonsault to the floor, then hit Daybreak for a near fall. Naito saved BUSHI from Suplex de la Luna. Taichi, Sabre and SANADA jumped in as well. SANADA used Skull End on Sabre. Naito hit Taichi with Destino.

BUSHI then hit a codebreaker and an MX for the pin.

Winner: BUSHI, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito via Pinfall.

Naito and SANADA posed over the fallen Sabre and Taichi with the IWGP Heavyweight Tag titles after the match.

NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii, & Hirooki Goto (c)

The NEVER Six-Man matches are always good. This was no exception. It was not a blow-away match, but given the limitations of the challengers, this was about as good as it could have been.

Ishii and Nagata began with a striking battle. Their match yesterday is worth going out of your way to see. Goto and Kojima tagged in. Goto was selling his anger over losing to Kojima yesterday. Kojima and Tenzan did some double team spots on Goto.

Kojima hit machine gun chops to Goto. YH saved and chopped Kojima. Tenzan tried to save, but YH, Ishii and Goto tripled up on Kojima and cut him off. Ishii then chopped Kojima’s chest raw. Kojima came back with a cutter to YH and tagged out.

Tenzan tagged in and hit a brainbuster to YH for a near fall. YH blocked an Anaconda Buster. They traded strikes. YH hit a thrust kick and a neckbreaker for a two count.

As the other four brawled to the floor, YH used a Butterfly Lock on Tenzan, the finish to their singles match yesterday. YH gave up the hold and hit a series of chops. Tenzan hit a spinning kick and tagged Nagata.

Nagata hit a series of kicks. YH blocked a suplex and hit a headhunter. Goto, Ishii and YH tripled up on Nagata. YH hit a lariat for a two count. He went for Kharma, but Kojima saved. Goto tried to save Nagata, but Goto stopped him. Nagata overcame Goto’s interference, but YH hit him with a low dropkick into a double down.

Ishii tagged back in and hit Nagata with a powerslam. Tenzan saved for Nagata with a series of headbutts to Ishii. Nagata used a crossface on Ishii. Kojima and Tenzan used submissions on Goto and YH. Nagata used the hold to set up a cradle for a two count, then went back to the crossface. YH saved with a dropkick.

Nagata hit Ishii with an exploder. Ishii ducked a kick and hit a German. Goto climbed in for a double team. YH hit a headhunter to Nagata. Ishii then hit a sliding lariat for a two count. Nagata blocked a brainbuster, but Ishii hit an enzuigiri.

Kojima jumped in and ate an Ishii lariat and forearm strikes. Tenzan came in and Ishii tried to fight him off, but Tenzan dropped him with a headbutt. Kojima hit a lariat to Ishii. Tenzan hit Ishii with the Anaconda Buster.

Nagata hit a mid kick and a high-angle suplex. He covered — but Goto saved for Ishii. Nagata tried a kitchen sink. Ishii blocked and hit a flying headbutt.

Goto and Kojima got tags. Goto hit a misdirection lariat. Kojima came back with machine gun chops. Goto cut Kojima off before a diving elbow, then hit his own diving elbow for a near fall. Tenzan, Ishii and Nagata got in. Ishii got hit with a TenKoji Cutter. YH came in and hit lariats.

Kojima blocked a GYW. YH hit Kojima with a meteora. Goto hit a PK for a near fall. Kojima blocked another GYW and hit a brainbuster to Goto for a two count.

Goto blocked a Kojima lariat and hit an ushigoroshi. Goto hit a mid kick and blocked a lariat.

Goto used an ushigoroshi position to set up a GTR attempt. Kojima slipped on the landing and they had to reset, then Goto hit the GTR for the pin.

Winner: YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii, & Hirooki Goto via Pinfall to retain the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship.

Everyone shook hands after the match.

Goto cut a promo, then YH cut a promo. The lights went out. When they came back on, Dick Togo was choking out Ishii with the microphone cord.

EVIL hit Everything is EVIL to Ishii. Goto and YH jumped back in for the save.

So EVIL, Togo and a third will likely end up the next challengers for the NEVER Six-Man titles.