NJPW Update: Cards Released For Major Events April 29 & May 3
New Japan Pro Wrestling held a press conference early Monday morning, revealing the cards for its next two major events: Wrestling Toyonokuni on April 29 in Oita and Wrestling Dontaku on May 3 in Fukuoka.
Five NJPW titles will be on the line at one of the two events. On April 29, the main event will be an IWGP Intercontinental Title match between champion Tetsuya Naito and challenger Juice Robinson. Robinson, a former WWE wrestler who went by CJ Parker in NXT, has been getting more of a push this year and handed Naito a rare pinfall loss last Saturday, April 9, at the Sakura Genesis pay-per-view in a multi-man tag match. The Toyonkuni event also features Hiromu Takahashi defending the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title against Ricochet.
On May 3, Kazuchika Okada defends the IWGP Heavyweight Title against the Bullet Club's Bad Luck Fale, who attacked Okada at the end of Sakura Genesis following his successful title defense against Katsuyori Shibata. That is one of three title matches on the card. War Machine defend their newly won IWGP Tag Titles in a three-way against Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima, and The Guerrillas of Destiny. Also, the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Champions — Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ricochet and Ryusuke Ryusuke Taguichi — defend against Naito's cohorts in Los Ingobernables de Japon: Sanada, BUSHI and EVIL. The May 3 card also includes a singles match between Kenny Omega and Tomohiro Ishii, a rematch of their highly acclaimed contest in the first round of this year's New Japan Cup, and the return of Cody Rhodes — or "Cody", as he is billed in NJPW — for a singles battle with David Finlay, Jr., in a matchup between two second-generation competitors.
As for Shibata, who won this year's New Japan Cup, he will miss the upcoming tour after having surgery to repair what NJPW's official site reported as a subdural hematoma.
Fightful.com will have live coverage and discussion of both these events.
Here are the complete lineups for both events:
Wrestling Toyonokuni, April 29
Jushin Liger, Tomoyuki Oka & Hirai Kawato vs. Tiger Mask IV, Katsuya Kitamura & Shota Umino
CHAOS (Rocky Romero, Beretta & Jado) vs. Sekingun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & El Desperado)
Ryusuke Taguchi & Yoshitatsu vs. SANADA & BUSHI
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & David Finlay, Jr. vs. Bullet Club (Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa & Yujiro Takahashi)
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay) vs. Sekingun (Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & TAKA Michinoku)
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) vs. Bullet Club (Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi defends vs. Ricochet
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL
IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito defends vs. Juice Robinson
Wrestling Dontaku, May 3
Yoshitatsu & Hirai Kawato vs. Tomoyuki Oka & Katsuya Kitamura
YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
Tiger Mask W, Tiger Mask IV & Togi Makabe vs. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Liger
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, Jado, Rocky Romero & Beretta) vs. Sekingun (Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & El Desperado)
David Finlay, Jr. vs. Cody
Juice Robinson & KUSHIDA vs. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Ricochet defend vs. SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI
IWGP Tag Team Champions War Machine defend vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima and Guerillas of Destiny in a three-way match
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kenny Omega
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada defends vs. Bad Luck Fale
