Tag: Hiroshi Tanahashi

G1 Climax 32 Night 11 live results: Tanahashi faces Evil

Check out live results for G1 Climax 32 Night 11, as Hiroshi Tanahashi faces off against Evil in an important C Block match in Ehime.

The scene for G1 Climax 32 shifts to Ehime and a card that presents five tournament matches. In the main event, Hiroshi Tanahashi faces off against the leader of the House of Torture, Evil, in what’s sure to be an intriguing bout in C Block.

Another C Block match is also on tap, featuring Tetsuya Naito, who got off to a slow start to his G1 Climax, trying to get to .500 with a victory over Aaron Henare. And the A Block, home of the monsters, has a bout which definitely deserves that name with Jonah squaring off with Jeff Cobb.

If you aren’t able to tune in live for this pivotal slate of G1 Climax 32 action, simply bookmark this page and check back throughout the night (or morning, as the case may be for some fans in the U.S.), as we’ll update it with the latest results from Ehime live as they happen.

Jon Moxley def. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the interim AEW World Championship at Forbidden Door: Best photos

Check out the best photos of Jon Moxley defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi for the interim AEW World Championship at Forbidden Door.

Two wrestling worlds collided when Jon Moxley defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi for the interim AEW World Championship at Forbidden Door, at the United Center in Chicago on June 27, 2022. Check out the best photos from this memorable match below. (Photos courtesy of All Elite Wrestling)

Who’s who in New Japan: A beginner’s guide to the NJPW stars on the Forbidden Door card

Never watch NJPW and need a quick briefing on who’s who? Read our beginner’s guide to the top New Japan stars before Forbidden Door.

It goes without saying that Forbidden Door is a big deal. A collaboration between the second-largest pro wrestling promotion in the U.S., All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), the biggest wrestling company in Japan, it’s not the first event of its kind, but it is being done on a scale that isn’t often seen.

Not only is the card loaded with bouts that feature talent from both brands, there are multiple matches in which an AEW wrestler could win a NJPW championship — or vice versa. That means what takes place at the United Center on June 26 could have ripple effects for months down the road, and AEW boss Tony Khan has already stated that he’s thought about how Forbidden Door could become an annual event.

If that happens, it’s possible the top NJPW talents could become household names among the masses in the U.S. But it’s possible, maybe even likely, that Forbidden Door will be the first time (or one of the first times, since some New Japan wrestlers have been on AEW TV leading up to the event) that many American fans are seeing them.

Perhaps even you.

With that in mind, we’ve put together a beginner’s guide to the top NJPW wrestlers who are appearing on the Forbidden Door card. There are many resources out there to learn more about these stars, and tons of videos to watch them in action. But if all you need is a brief overview to get ready for Sunday night, just keep scrolling down, as we’ve got you covered.

AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door — Everything you need to know

Get ready for AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door with our preview, including predictions for each match, start time, how to watch and more.

Considering AEW is only three years old, the company still enjoys a fair amount of firsts. Not many, however, are as significant as AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, a pay-per-view being held in conjunction with Japan’s top pro wrestling promotion. Once only a dream in the minds of most wrestling fans, it’s about to become a reality in Chicago’s United Center.

That’s not to say the road to get here has been easy. The logistical hurdles in building a show between companies half a world apart have been apparent at times, with a good chunk of the card coming together only in the final week. Injuries haven’t been kind; in a perfect world, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Kenny Omega would all be on this show.

Despite that, there are some tantalizing matchups of the kind many probably never dared imagine prior to this year. They begin with the interim AEW World Championship being contested between Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahashi. With Punk out, one of them will carry the banner for AEW for the next few months, and even the possibility that it will be NJPW’s Ace is enough to be intriguing.

NJPW’s top title will be up for grabs as well. Jay White, who only recently secured the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship from Kazuchika Okada, now needs to defend it against not only the Rainmaker, but his friend Adam Cole and former AEW world champ Hangman Adam Page. Four-way matches are definitely not every fan’s cup of tea, but four performers of this caliber figure to make it compelling.

As the match count has made it to double digits, including a pre-show bout, the card figures to be close to final now. Keep reading for everything you need to know about AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door.

AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door

  • When: Sunday, June 26
  • Where: United Center, Chicago
  • Start time: 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT/5 p.m. PT
  • How to watch: On PPV through Bleacher Report, or InDemand through cable or satellite providers, as well as in select movie theaters in the U.S. On Sky Deutschland in Germany, and on FITE TV internationally. In Japan, Forbidden Door will be available exclusively via NJPW World, with Japanese commentary.
  • Matches announced: 10 (including one on pre-show)

Opening Bell: Forbidden Door sneak peeks on Dynamite, Asuka vs. Becky on Raw

Get set for the week in WWE and AEW with Opening Bell: quick previews of Raw, SmackDown, Dynamite and Rampage for the week of June 20.

Welcome to the Opening Bell, where we round up what’s been announced for WWE (Raw and SmackDown) and AEW (Dynamite and Rampage) programming for the week ahead.

WWE Raw preview – Monday, June 20, Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska

Money in the Bank qualifiers are always important, but one this Monday will be particularly personal. Asuka and Becky Lynch will clash again, with only the winner going on to vie for the briefcase on July 2. Will this finally be the start of Becky’s big comeback, or will the Empress of Tomorrow prove to be a thorn in her side again?

Also, Elias is back! Still tormenting Kevin Owens, Ezekiel has promised that his older brother would return to Raw in full concert mode. Not sure how this is going down for … reasons, but should be a lot of fun, as this whole angle has been highly entertaining.

AEW Dynamite preview – Wednesday, June 22 – UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, Milwaukee

Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahashi will go head to head this coming Sunday at Forbidden Door to find out who will be Interim AEW World Champion. But first, they’ll join forces on Wednesday to battle Chris Jericho and Lance Archer, two men who know NJPW and its Ace. It’s “can they coexist?” in the finest pro wrestling tradition.

Another important piece of Forbidden Door will be settled when the final AEW spot in the All-Atlantic Championship Match is decided. Penta Oscuro and Malakai Black have had plenty of clashes to date, but this one has arguably the highest stakes yet.

Also scheduled for Dynamite:

WWE SmackDown preview – Friday, June 24 – Moody Center, Austin, Texas

Ricochet was having a solid run as Intercontinental Champion until he ran smack into Gunther, who thrashed him but good while taking his gold. He’ll get a rematch against the Ring General this week, but it remains to be seen if he’ll fare any better.

We’ll also see a Money in the Bank Ladder Match qualifier between Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn, which has some fun subtext since Zayn’s recent failure made Roman Reigns have to defend his championships against Riddle … though since that turned out fine in the end, maybe the Tribal Chief isn’t mad at Sami. Maybe.

Also announced for this week:

  • Shotzi vs. Aliyah in a Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match qualifier

AEW Rampage preview – Friday, June 24 – UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, Milwaukee

Somewhat surprisingly, AEW hasn’t announced anything yet for its final show before Forbidden Door, one that will air on TNT just two nights before the joint card with NJPW in Chicago. That said, because this is being taped on Wednesday after Dynamite, we’ll know by the end of that show most of what to expect on Friday.

There’s still time for more matches to be added to Forbidden Door, for sure, so expect that to be the case right up through Friday night.

Here’s the updated AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door card after the June 15 Dynamite

Get the latest match card for the AEW and NJPW Forbidden Door event coming to Chicago on June 26.

With less than two weeks to go until AEW and NJPW collide at Forbidden Door at Chicago, this week’s AEW Dynamite figured to be a busy one for making more matches official. That’s exactly what happened, with several new bouts announced during the show.

Some emerged from actions that took place during the broadcast, like Orange Cassidy returning from injury to help stand against Will Ospreay and United Empire. Others were simply revealed, though it’s fair to say just about everything has at least some ties to what’s been going on in both companies.

Here’s where the Forbidden Door card stands as of the night of June 15:

  • Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – Interim AEW World Championship Match

This was set up by the tournament that’s gone down over the past few weeks, with the winner of the interim championship expected to face CM Punk for the actual championship when he returns from injury.

  • Pac vs. Miro vs. Malakai Black or Penta Oscuro vs. Tomoaki Honma or Clark Connors or Tomohiro Ishii or Yoshinobu Kanemaru – AEW All-Atlantic Championship Match

Pac won his way into this four-way bout last week, and Miro did the same on Wednesday by defeating Ethan Page. Black and Penta will wrestle next week, and the Honma-Connors and Ishii-Kanemaru matches will take place during New Japan Road on June 20.

  • Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara and Minoru Suzuki vs. Wheeler Yuta, Shota Umino and Eddie Kingston

This match was announced by Jericho during Dynamite, right after he and the Jericho Appreciation Society attacked Moxley and Tanahashi.

  • Will Ospreay (champion) vs. Orange Cassidy – IWGP United States Championship Match

Ospreay and United Empire attempted another attack after Ospreay’s match with Dax Harwood, but Cassidy returned from injury in time to help fend them off.

  • Thunder Rosa (champion) vs. Toni Storm – AEW Women’s World Championship Match

Rosa helped even the odds during Storm’s victory over Dr. Britt Baker on Dynamite, taking care of Jamie Hayter. She then returned to the stage and pointed at Storm, insinuating that she’d get the title shot.

One match that did not get booked on Wednesday was new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White against anyone, as he turned down both Hangman Adam Page and Adam Cole for a bout at Forbidden Door.

All three men figure to be involved in some way, and other matches, like Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Bryan Danielson, have been teased as well. We’ll update things again as June 26 gets closer.

CM Punk and Cody Rhodes are injured. Which AEW and WWE stars can step up to fill the void?

With CM Punk and Cody Rhodes injured, we run down the WWE and AEW performers best positioned to step up while they are out.

Fans of traditional sports know how one unexpected injury can torpedo a promising year. It’s no different in pro wrestling, where both AEW and WWE have had the injury bug strike top performers at the worst possible time.

CM Punk had literally just won the AEW World Championship when he hurt his foot during Dynamite last week. That led to an appearance on Rampage on June 3, when he revealed he would be out of the picture for a while while he has surgery.

Cody Rhodes hadn’t won a title yet since returning to WWE at WrestleMania, but he was repaying the company’s faith in him as a top star and looked like he was on the path to contending for championships sooner rather than later. Then he tore his pec, which led to a legendary Hell in a Cell performance before he, too, announced that surgery was in his immediate future.

The situations aren’t exactly the same, but they’re eerily parallel in some respects and the injuries struck just days apart. In AEW’s case, we already know how it plans to pivot — the promotion is holding a mini tournament to crown an interim champion — but the absence of both Punk and Rhodes will be acutely felt.

The silver lining in both cases is that there are opportunities for other talent to step up and claim more of the spotlight while they are away. Who’s in the best possible position to take a step forward over the next few months? Let’s take a look at a few possibilities.

Who could fill in as Raw’s top babyface with Cody Rhodes out?

Riddle

The King of Bros has been rumored to be the next championship contender for Roman Reigns, but his alliance with Shinsuke Nakamura and ongoing issues with The Usos put at least a little doubt on that plan. The most recent episode of Raw made it appear Riddle has his sights set on Reigns again, and the timing couldn’t be better.

Riddle is arguably as popular as he’s ever been in WWE right now, and has shown he has the knack for balancing an edgier side to his persona with his unmatched comic stylings. Pursuing Reigns means he’ll likely appear on both shows over the next month, but he has the potential to stay Raw’s top face even after Money in the Bank.

Bobby Lashley

Speaking of performers who are as over as they’ve ever been, we’re living in the time of Peak Good Guy Bobby Lashley if recent crowd reactions are any indication. Putting him up against the larger Omos helped him as he wasn’t able to win just by being bigger and stronger, but still looked impressive in overcoming the odds.

The only hiccup here is that Lashley just started a program with Theory, so his ascension to top dog on Raw could be more of a medium-term play if Rhodes ends up out until almost the end of 2022.

Edge

Yes, Edge has just spent the last little bit recruiting other wrestlers to be part of The Judgment Day, definitely not a face faction. But then Finn Balor joined and the group turned on him, so he’s going to be a good guy by default.

The 48-year-old WWE Hall of Famer is playing with house money at this point in his illustrious career, but if the company wanted to give him one final babyface run, this is now the ideal chance to do it.

AJ Styles

Not to quite the same degree as Edge, but Styles is headed toward the end of his time as a main event caliber attraction too. It’ll be interesting to see if he joins forces with Edge in an “enemy of my enemy” sense, but why couldn’t WWE push him to the very top of the card right after they deal with The Judgment Day?

Styles has faced Reigns in championship matches before, but not for years, so a program between the two of them could still feel fresh. With Money in the Bank on the horizon, it’s easy to imagine him winning the briefcase and then turning his attention to the Tribal Chief.

John Cena or Brock Lesnar

These are names mentioned somewhat in jest, but if WWE feels this is a “break glass in case of emergency” situation, it’s already announced that John Cena is returning to Raw in a few weeks. And Brock Lesnar is presumably just a phone call away.

Who will emerge as AEW Interim World Champion while CM Punk is on the shelf?

Jon Moxley

He’s got a leg up already in narrative terms since he is guaranteed a spot in the main event on Dynamite to determine who will go on to fight for the interim title at Forbidden Door. And since he’s held the real title before, people know what they’re getting from a Jon Moxley reign.

That’s the downside though, too. The AEW World Championship hasn’t been around all that long, as Mox already held it for some time. Pushing him more right now might feel like something fans have already seen, and not as effective as elevating someone new. The Punk-Moxley unification bout at the end of the rainbow would be sweet, however.

Wardlow

Now that Wardlow has freed himself from the machinations of MJF and become a legitimate star, why not just strap a rocket to him? It’s almost certainly not what the promotion was planning, but injuries have a way of changing plans, and this could be a change that pans out.

His path to the interim championship would also afford AEW a chance to put him over even more, as it would mean winning a battle royale, then defeating Moxley and someone at Forbidden Door, likely Hiroshi Tanahashi. That’s earning it, for sure. Plus it would be easy to turn Punk heel to play off him for their showdown when the current champ returns.

Eddie Kingston

Anyone who has followed Eddie Kingston during his career in the indies is probably already in favor of this idea, and people who only discovered him through AEW TV have to be impressed with him by now. In terms of building a story and selling it with promo work, Kingston could have one hell of a feud with Punk when he returns.

Does AEW view him as a top guy? It would be interesting to know, but if Eddie gets a chance to run with the ball right now, that would go a long way to answering that question in the affirmative.

Bryan Danielson

Just a quick note that while Bryan Danielson had a shot at the AEW World Championship while Hangman Adam Page held it, he wasn’t successful in winning it. The American Dragon has an unlimited amount of goodwill with the fans and would be easy to accept as the interim champ.

He and Punk wouldn’t be a brand new program, of course, but it’s been a decade since they faced each other with gold on the line. Both men shift effortlessly between face and heel roles, so it would be a showdown that can go any direction the creative team envisions once Punk is healthy again.

Hiroshi Tanahashi (or Kazuchika Okada, or anyone from NJPW)

Even in the Forbidden Door era, it seems unlikely that AEW would let someone from another promotion hold its main championship for any length of time. An interim title, though? That’s another story altogether.

Tanahashi was getting ready to face Punk later this month before the injury, and has already invited Punk to face him at Wrestle Kingdom next January. That could be to unify the regular and interim championships if so desired. Or Tanahashi could defend the interim strap in NJPW for the rest of 2022, opening up the possibility of dropping it to Kazuchika Okada or another top NJPW talent. The sky is really the limit should AEW choose to go in this direction.

Watch: Hiroshi Tanahashi challenges CM Punk for Forbidden Door

See New Japan’s ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi, arrive on AEW Dynamite to challenge CM Punk at Forbidden Door.

Go Ace … all the way to a match with CM Punk at Forbidden Door.

It looks like New Japan’s Ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi, will be the one to test the mettle of new AEW World Champion Punk at the collaborative Forbidden Door pay-per-view later this month in Chicago.

Punk, who won the title from Hangman Adam Page at Double or Nothing last Sunday, teamed up with FTR for a trios victory over Max Caster and the Gunn Club on this week’s episode of Dynamite. Afterward, he told the fans in Los Angeles that he still needed to learn and improve, even as champion.

He then turned his attention to Forbidden Door, asking who he was going to face. Tanahashi walked out onto the stage just a moment later, and even though he didn’t speak (at least on the TV broadcast), he made it clear he was challenging Punk — perhaps even for that newly won gold.

You can watch the entire segment below.

While we’re not sure every fan would agree that Tanahashi’s appearance was the No. 1 moment of the week — an honor that would probably be reserved for MJF’s passionate promo — it was a great bit to set up the first in what should be a series of dream matches booked for Forbidden Door.

Considering Tanahashi’s list of accomplishments, including his record eight reigns as IWGP Heavyweight Champion and three reigns as IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, he makes for a logical opponent for Punk, especially considering they are close in age as well (Tanahashi is 45, Punk 43). Though Kenta has been publicly lobbying for a chance to face Punk on social media, this matchup is an even bigger one, all things considered.

AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door will take place on Sunday, June 26 at the United Center in Chicago, and will broadcast as a pay-per-view available through Bleacher Report in the U.S., FITE TV internationally, and NJPW World in Japan.