Before we set off on the road to NJPW’s Anniversary show we have the New Japan Road tour which sees New Japan run Korakuen Hall four days in a row as they say goodbye to Manabu Nakanishi and Tiger Hattori. There are multiple titles on the line during this tour with the most appetizing match being Shingo Takagi defending the NEVER Openweight Championship against Tomohiro Ishii.
February 19, Tiger Hattori Retirement Show
This show has no title matches and is exclusively made up of multi-person tag matches. The main event and Tiger Hattori’s final match as referee sees the CHAOS team of Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto and Ishii take on the Los Ingobernables De Japon team of Tetsuya Naito, SANADA and Shingo Takagi.
February 20, New Japan Road
Roppongi 3K (Sho & Yoh) will defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championships on this show against Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi. Romero is usually managing Sho and Yoh but this time around he teams with fellow veteran Taguchi to challenge the Roppongi 3K boys.
In the main event of this show, we will get the clash between Takagi and Ishii. These two beefy fighters met in the G1 Climax last year and delivered a match that received rave reviews from fans and critics alike. The expectations will be high for the rematch but there’s no doubt these two can and will deliver.
February 21, New Japan Road
The NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championships are on the line on this show. LIJ’s BUSHI, EVIL, and Shingo Takagi will defend their titles for a second time against Ryusuke Taguchi, Colt Cabana, and Toru Yano. Smaller shows like this are what these titles were made for and this time they feature in the semi-main event slot.
In the show’s main event The Golden Aces team of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi challenge the Guerillas Of Destiny for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. Tanahashi and Ibushi originally challenged Juice Robinson and David Finlay for the titles but they lost the titles to GOD on the New Beginnings tour in America.
February 22, Manabu Nakanishi Retirement Show
This show also doesn’t feature any title matches. The main attraction for this show is the retirement match and ceremony of Manabu Nakanishi. Nakanishi’s final match will see him team with fellow veterans Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan to take on the team of Okada, Tanahashi, Ibushi, and Goto.
Following the match, we will have the retirement ceremony for the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion and three-time heavyweight tag champion as he closes out his 27-year career.
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