The August 8th Summer Struggle event from Korakuen Hall saw the semi-final round of the NEVER Openweight Championship Tournament that captured the attention of sporting outlets in Japan and drew intrigue from New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) fans worldwide.
The marquee match on August 8th saw the final semi-final match take place as the Golden Ace team of Hiroshi Tanahashi/Kota Ibushi teamed with Master Wato against the CHAOS team of Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, and Yoshi-Hashi.
In what was an impressive display from the teams, Yoshi-Hashi proved he could hold his own against the former IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship team of Golden Ace without relying on Goto or Ishii to save him.
The young Wato also proved that he will be a force in New Japan’s Junior Heavyweight division for years to come as he didn’t look out of place against the decorated duo of Goto/Ishii.
Yoshi-Hashi would gain the fall over Wato at the 17 minute and 11-second mark with his Karma technique to secure his teams’ trip to the finals.
The headline match of the Summer Struggle event saw the first semi-final match of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Championship Tournament. The CHAOS team of Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, and Sho took on the Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) contingent of NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi, Sanada, and Bushi.
In another highly competitive match, the result would come down to the cunning of Toru Yano to defeat the LIJ unit that has dominated the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Championship in recent years.
Yano would get the victory for his team at the 13 minute and seven-second mark after tying Bushi’s mask to the guardrail and forcing a count-out.
The team CHAOS teams would go on to meet on August 9th to determine the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions.
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