New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced their big cards over the next few weeks, which include Takashi Iizuka’s retirement show next week, the Honor Rising events, and the Anniversary card in March.
Iizuka will team with stablemates Minoru Suzuki and Taichi against Kazuchika Okada, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Toru Yano in the main event of next Thursday’s New Japan Road event at Korakuen Hall. The story leading into the match has been Tenzan attempting to “awaken” Iizuka and revive their friendship.
The Honor Rising shows on February 22nd and 23rd will feature six titles altogether between New Japan and Ring of Honor.
New Japan’s 47th-anniversary card will take place Wednesday, March 6th at Korakuen with two title matches announced. Taiji Ishimori will defend the IWGP junior heavyweight title against Jushin Thunder Liger, who is an 11-time champion and last dropped the title in July 2000. The other championship will feature Shingo Takagi and Bushi defending the IWGP junior heavyweight tag titles against Roppongi 3K.
These shows will be followed by the annual New Japan Cup tournament, which begins Friday, March 8th and will feature 12 shows and the finals taking place Sunday, March 24th. The winner of the tournament will challenge for the IWGP title at the G1 Supercard on Saturday, April 6th at Madison Square Garden.
Below are the complete lineups and information for the cards:
New Japan Road
Thursday, February 21st at Korakuen Hall
*Taiji Ishimori and Robbie Eagles vs. Jushin Thunder Liger and Yuya Uemura
*Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Toa Henare & Tiger Mask vs. Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi, Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji
*Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi vs. Yuji Nagata and Shota Umino
*Roppongi 3K vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado
*Zack Sabre Jr. and Taka Michinoku vs. Hirooki Goto and Ryusuke Taguchi
*Hiroshi Tanahashi and Will Ospreay vs. Killer Elite Squad
*Kazuchika Okada, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Toru Yano vs. Takashi Iizuka, Minoru Suzuki & Toru Yano
Honor Rising Night 1
Friday, February 22nd at Korakuen Hall
*Ren Narita vs. Marty Scurll
*Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino
*Taiji Ishimori and Robbie Eagles vs. Jushin Thunder Liger and Jonathan Gresham
*Guerrillas of Destiny and The Briscoes vs. Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare
*Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Colt Cabana, Cheeseburger & Delirious for the NEVER Openweight six-man tag titles
*Will Ospreay vs. Dalton Castle for the NEVER Openweight title
*Jeff Cobb vs. Hirooki Goto for the ROH Television title
*Jay Lethal, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs. Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan
Honor Rising Night 2
Saturday, February 23rd at Korakuen Hall
*Colt Cabana, Delirious & Cheeseburger vs. Shota Umino, Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji
*Zack Sabre Jr. and Taka Michinoku vs. Toa Henare and Jonathan Gresham
*Marty Scurll vs. Robbie Eagles
*Will Ospreay and Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb and Dalton Castle
*Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi vs. Matt Taven and Vinny Marseglia
*Jay Lethal vs. TK O’Ryan for the ROH title
*EVIL and Sanada vs. Guerrillas of Destiny for the IWGP tag titles
*The Briscoes vs. Juice Robinson and David Finlay for the ROH tag titles
47th Anniversary card
Wednesday, March 6th at Korakuen Hall
*Taiji Ishimori vs. Jushin Thunder Liger for the IWGP junior heavyweight title
*Shingo Takagi and Bushi vs. Roppongi 3K for the IWGP junior heavyweight tag titles
