The Summer Struggle tour continued on August 11th from the Osaka Prefectural Gym #2 in Osaka, Japan. All of the allocated 440 tickets were sold to fans for the event.
The marquee match saw IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi return to action after time off to rest a shoulder injury. However, the Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) team of himself, IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ V2 challenger Tetsuya Naito, and Bushi fell in defeat to IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ Evil, IWGP Junior Heavyweight V2 challenger Taiji Ishimori, and Dick Togo.
Evil pinned Bushi with his Evil technique at 13 minute and 40-second mark.
The headline match saw two-thirds of the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Champions of CHAOS Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi team up with former five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada against Bullet Club members Yujiro Takahashi, Gedo, and Jado.
Yujiro and Okada will face one another for a spot in the KOPW (seemingly King of Pro Wrestling) title decision match on August 26th (rules to be decided by a fan vote).
The CHAOS team defeated Bullet Club in 11 minutes and 8 seconds when Yoshi-Hashi submitted Gedo with his Butterfly Lock technique.
The last match of the undercard saw the Suzuki-Gun contingent of IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr/Taichi) El Desperado, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeat the Hontai group of IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship V1 challengers Golden Ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi/Kota Ibushi), Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and Master Wato at the 13 minute and 41-second mark when ZSJ pinned Tenzan with the Japanese Leg Roll Clutch Hold.
Kanemaru has exchanged barbs with Wato and Tenzan on Twitter recently as he and Wato prepare for their Summer Struggle in Jingu match against one another. Wato is Tenzan’s kohai and is relying on the veteran for advice as he prepares for Kanemaru.
The third match saw the LIJ team of NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi and Sanada defeat NEVER Openweight V4 challenger Minoru Suzuki and Douki in 10 minutes and 58 seconds when Sanada submitted Douki with the Skull End.
The victory marks another fall in Sanada’s recent streak of victories as he prepares to face Sho on August 26th for a spot in the KOPW title decision match at Summer Struggle in Jingu on August 29th. Takagi and Suzuki will face off at the featured event in Jingu for the NEVER Openweight Championship.
The second match saw CHAOS member one-third of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Champions Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, and one-half of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Sho defeat the Hontai grouping of Yuji Nagata, Ryusuke Taguchi, and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) Noge Doge Young Lion Yota Tsuji.
Ishii submitted Tsuji at the 10 minute and 18-second mark with a Full Crab.
The opening match saw Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma defeat NJPW Noge Dojo Young Lion Tuya Uemura and NJPW Los Angeles (LA) Young Lion Gabriel Kidd in 9 minutes and 57 seconds when Kojima pinned Kidd with a Lariat.
The Summer Struggle tour continued on August 12th Yawatahama Citizen Sports Center.
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