NJPW 49th Anniversary Event Results – March 4, 2021 – Kota Ibushi vs. El Desperado

Mar 4, 2021

March 4, 2021
Tokyo, Japan – Budokan Hall
English Commentary: Kevin Kelly, Chris Charlton, & Gino Gambino
Results via Ethan Renner of F4WOnline.com

Quick Match Results

Master Wato, Gabriel Kidd, Tomoaki Honma, & Hirooki Goto defeated DOUKI, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, & Taichi via GTR (pinfall 10:39)
Taiji Ishimori, Jay White, Chase Owens, KENTA, & EVIL defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Toa Henare, David Finlay, Juice Robinson, & Hiroshi Tanahashi via Everything Is Evil (pinfall 7:39)
SHO, Tomohiro Ishii, & Kazuchika Okada defeated BUSHI, SANADA, & Shingo Takagi via Shock Arrow (pinfall 9:13)
New Japan Cup 2021 tournament First Round – Jeff Cobb defeated Satoshi Kojima via Tour of the Islands (pinfall 11:50)
New Japan Cup 2021 tournament First Round – Great-O-Khan defeated Tetsuya Naito via Referee Stoppage (submission 20:20)
IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Double Championship – Kota Ibushi (c) defeated El Desperado via Kamigoye (pinfall 20:36)

Master Wato, Gabriel Kidd, Tomoaki Honma, & Hirooki Goto vs. DOUKI, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, & Taichi

This was a good opener. All action. Wato and Sabre barely saw any action in the match, but Sabre took a crazy bump.

Suzuki-gun tried a jumpstart attack, but were foiled. Suzuki and Honma began as the legal men. Honma hit a kokeshi. Kidd tagged in to continue working with Suzuki. Kidd and Sabre had an exchange on the apron. Sabre took a bump off the apron to the floor on a forearm strike.

Suzuki-gun was able to turn this into a brawl and gained the advantage on Kidd. Kidd was worked over in the blue corner. Suzuki crotched Kidd with the post and put him in an ankle lock.

Kidd came back with a dropkick on Taichi and tagged Goto. Goto ran wild on Taichi and an interfering DOUKI. Taichi cut Goto off with an illegal choke and some Kawada kicks. Suzuki-gun then went to work on Goto.

DOUKI hit a double stomp to Goto and locked on a triangle. Honma broke the hold with a kokeshi. Honma and Suzuki brawled to the floor. DOUKI tried Daybreak. Goto blocked. DOUKI blocked an ushigoroshi. Wato hit a springboard forearm on DOUKI and a plancha to Taichi.

Goto hit an ushigoroshi on his second attempt, then hit a GTR for the pin on DOUKI.

Winner: Master Wato, Gabriel Kidd, Tomoaki Honma, & Hirooki Goto via Pinfall.

Ahead of their first round New Japan Cup match, Honma and Suzuki traded blows after the bell. Suzuki dropped Honma with a forearm.

Ryusuke Taguchi, Toa Henare, David Finlay, Juice Robinson, & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori, Jay White, Chase Owens, KENTA, & EVIL

This was a quick undercard tag with a funny finish.

White teased starting with Henare, but stalled instead. KENTA and Juice tagged in. KENTA used a choke against the ropes and a hair pull to gain the upper hand. KENTA fired off some kicks. Juice answered with jabs and an inverted atomic drop.

KENTA fell victim to a 5-on-1. Tanahashi tagged in and he was on the wrong end of a 5-on-1 Bullet Club attack. Bullet Club used their human centipede abdominal stretch on Tana. Tana hit a dragon screw on Owens and tagged Finlay. Finlay was quickly cut off after an Owens knee strike.

EVIL tagged in and got hit with a Finlay neckbreaker. Taguchi tagged in and immediately got hit with Everything is EVIL for the pin.

Winner: Taiji Ishimori, Jay White, Chase Owens, KENTA, & EVIL via Pinfall.

SHO, Tomohiro Ishii, & Kazuchika Okada vs. BUSHI, SANADA, & Shingo Takagi

There were some nice teases for first round New Japan Cup matches here with Okada vs. Shingo and Ishii vs. SANADA.

Okada and Shingo locked up. They’ll face off in the main event on Saturday. Okada teased a clean break against the ropes. Shingo wouldn’t allow the clean break and fired off some forearms.

SANADA and Ishii tagged in. SANADA wanted to have a grappling battle, while Ishii wanted to turn it into a fist fight. SANADA hit a leapfrog dropkick. Ishii did a great subtle sell of his ribs, which Jay White heavily worked over last Saturday.

Shingo tagged in and traded strikes with Ishii. BUSHI tripped Ishii from the floor. LIJ used wuick tags in working Ishii over. BUSHI choked him with his t-shirt. SANADA hit a side suplex for a near fall. Ishii and SANADA traded finisher attempts.

Okada and Shingo tagged back in. Okada hit a back elbow and DDT for a near fall. They traded strikes. Shingo hit a corner clothesline. Okada blocked a pumping bomber and tried a Money Clip. Shingo slid out and tried a lariat. Okada blocked with a big boot.

SHO tagged in for a nice exchange with Shingo. Shingo hit a big tackle and tagged BUSHI. BUSHI connected with a missile dropkick, a basement dropkick and a DDT. Everyone jumped in ahead of the finish. Shingo and BUSHI doubled up on SHO. SHO hit Shingo with a spear.

SHO hit a deadlift German to BUSHI. SHO hit a lariat and called for Shock Arrow. He hit it, then pinned BUSHI.

Winner: SHO, Tomohiro Ishii, & Kazuchika Okada via Pinfall.

Ishii and SANADA traded chops after the match.

Wrestle Grand Slam was announced for May 15 in Yokohama Stadium and in Tokyo Dome on May 29.

New Japan Cup 2021 Tournament First Round
Satoshi Kojima vs. Jeff Cobb

This was slow, but the work was very solid and every move meant something.

They opened up with some power spots. They traded tackles. Cobb missed a splash in the corner. Kojima hit machine gun chops in the corner. Kojima went for a top rope elbow, but Cobb cut him off. Kojima avoided a slam off the top. Cobb hit a lariat.

Kojima kicked out of a second lariat. Cobb hit a standing moonsault for a near fall. Cobb hit chops in the corner. He teased a top rope elbow to taunt Kojima. Kojima cut him off and tried for a superplex. Kojima connected with the superplex after a struggle.

Kojima hit a shining wizard. Cobb rolled to the floor. Kojima tried a plancha. Cobb caught Kojima out of mid-air, hit two backbreakers, then a slam on the floor.

Kojima hit a chop block to Cobb on the apron. Kojima followed with a DDT on the apron. Kojima hit a top rope elbow. Cobb blocked a cutter and hit a jumping uppercut forearm. Cobb hit a powerslam into the corner pad. Kojima answered with a cutter and a brainbuster for a near fall.

Kojima teased pulling off his elbow pad for a lariat. Cobb stopped him and hit a spin cycle and a gutwrench powerbomb for a near fall.

Kojima blocked Tour of the Islands. Cobb blocked a lariat. Kojima hit a lariat, but Cobb kicked out.

Kojima removed his elbow pad. Cobb blocked a lariat with a superkick. Kojima blocked a lariat with a shoulder block.

Kojima went for another lariat, but Cobb caught him coming in and hit a Tour of the Islands for the pin.

Winner: Jeff Cobb via Pinfall.

New Japan Cup 2021 Tournament First Round
Tetsuya Natio vs. Great-O-Khan

This was a struggle. Naito did his best to have a good match and they paced it well given that they had to go so long, but O-Khan is learning on the job and isn’t up to the NJPW standard for long singles matches yet.

A quick openingexchange saw Naito send O-Khan outside, then mock O-Khan’s pose. Back inside, O-Khan used a choke on the mat. He sent Naito ouside and they brawled around the ring. O-Khan whipped Naito into the barricade.

O-Khan hit a throw, then sat on Naito’s back in the corner. Naito came back with a one-legged dropkick and a combinacion in the corner. Naito scored with a neckbreaker. O-Khan came back with Mongolian chops and used a figure four around the post.

O-Khan hit Naito’s right knee with a chair as it was wrapped around the post. O-Khan hit a kneebreaker on the chair at the base of the ramp. Naito made it back in at 19. O-Khan used a claw on Naito’s knee. A claw on the knee.

O-Khan hooked Naito’s knee with a modified deathlock. O-Khan again used a claw on the knee. I don’t know.

Naito hit a backdrop, then a series of back elbows in the corner. Naito hit diamond dust for a near fall. Naito went for Gloria. O-Khan blocked and hit a face-first slam.

Naito blocked two Dominator attempts and hit a desperation Destino. Naito could not follow with a pinfall attempt. Naito hit an enzuigiri. O-Khan blocked a second Destino and hit a lariat for a near fall.

O-Khan used a key lock on the knee, then used a kneebar. Naito fought the hold for a long time. He teased tapping out, he teased reaching the ropes, but Red Shoes eventually called for the stoppage.

Winner: Great-O-Khan via Referee Stoppage (submission).

O-Khan continued stomping on the knee after the bell. Naito was helped to the back.

IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Double Championship
El Desperdao vs. Kota Ibushi (c)

This was exactly what it should have been. Ibushi gave Desperado a ton and they had a great match.

They started out with chain wrestling. Desperado got the slight edge in the opening exchange and worked Ibushi’s left arm over the middle rope. Ibushi turned to strikes and hit a mid kick. The fight went to the floor. Ibushi sent Desperado into the barricade. Back in, Ibushi hit a slam for a near fall.

Ibushi used a chinlock to set up a quick near fall. Ibushi fired off more strikes and dared Desperado to strike with him. Ibushi repeatedly got the better of the striking battles.

Desperado went after Ibushi’s left leg with dragon screws. Desperado applied Numero Dos, but Ibushi fought to the ropes. Ibushi blocked Guitarra de Angel. Ibushi hit a powerslam and teased a follow-up moonsault. Desperado kicked Ibushi off the ropes to the floor.

Desperado hit a suicide flip dive through the ropes. Back inside, Desperado hit Guitarra de Angel for a two count. Desperado continued attacking the left leg with stomps. Ibushi fought off a figure four attempt. Ibushi hit a double stomp, but sold his knee on landing.

They traded strikes. Desperado picked Ibushi’s ankle and got Numero Dos applied again. Ibushi fought to the ropes to force a break. Ibushi countered a low dropkick attempt with another double stomp.

They traded strikes. Desperado fired up after a series of hard kicks. Desperado hit a slam for a two count. Desperado went up top and connected with a frog splash for a close near fall.

Desperado went for Pinche Loco. Ibushi blocked and hit a mid kick, a palm strike to the chest, then a v-trigger. Desperado blocked a high kick with a straight right hand.

Ibushi blocked another Pinche Loco attempt and hit a lariat. Ibushi hit last ride for a two count. Ibushi called for the Kamigoye. Desperado reversed into el es culero for a two count.

Ibushi hit a high kick. Desperado avoided Kamigoye and locked on Numero Dos. Ibushi reversed into a cradle for a near fall. Ibushi hit Kamigoye. Desperado kicked out.

Ibushi hit a second Kamigoye and this time it was enough for the 1-2-3.

Winner: Kota Ibushi via Pinfall to retain the IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Double Championship.

Ibushi held up Desperado’s hand in a show of respect after the match.

Ibushi cut a promo. He said he will unify the titles, he will take on all challengers and specifically called out Tanahashi at the commentary desk.

He closed saying will never leave us, he will never betray us.