The Summer Struggle tour returned to Korakuen Hall on August 7th as did the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Title Tournament. The event sold all 698 tickets made available to the public.
The undercard set the stage for the tournament by dropping several bread crumbs regarding developing narratives within the company.
The fourth match saw the Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) team of IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ V2 Challenger Tetsuya Naito, NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi, Sanada, and Bushi face IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ Evil, IWGP Junior Heavyweight V2 Challenger Taiji Ishimori, Gedo, and Dick Togo.
Sanada and Evil were kept apart during the match, continuing the belief the two are on a collision course for a big money drawing singles match in the future. Naito and Evil went after one another as their August 29th championship match at Summer Struggle in Jingu approaches.
Eventually, Sanada would pick up another fall when he submitted Gedo at the 13 minute and 26-second mark with the Skull End, continuing this period of him gaining momentum going into the upcoming feature event in Jingu.
The third match saw the CHAOS team of Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, and Sho defeat the Suzuki-Gun team of Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, and Douki at the 9 minute and 16-second mark when Sho submitted Douki with a Cross Arm Breaker.
Sho’s victory allows him to continue his call to face Sanada, in what could turn into a Submission Match as a KOPW (seemingly King of Pro Wrestling) qualifying match.
The second match saw former NWA Worlds Tag Team Champions and six-time IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions TenCozy (AKA TenKoji) defeat New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) Noge Dojo Young Lion Yota Tsuji and NJPW Los Angeles (LA) Dojo Young Lion Gabriel Kidd at the 8 minute and 52-second mark after Kojima pinned Tsuji after a Cozy Lariat.
The opening match saw former two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata defeat NJPW Noge Dojo Young Lion Yuya Uemura at the 8 minute and 6-second mark with the Nagata Lock II.
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