NJPW is just days away from the G1 Climax and today was the final New Japan Soul show. This run of shows ended with quite the bang with the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship changing hands. Shockingly, DOUKI defeated El Desperado to begin the first title reign of his career.
The match began with some typical chain wrestling with DOUKI focusing on Desperado’s neck. Desperado would break himself free and deliver a dropkick to DOUKI’s knee, but DOUKI responded with a hurricanrana and springboard arm drag. DOUKI thought he was regaining control until Desperado trapped DOUKI’s leg in the ropes to deliver another dropkick. The fight now spilled to the outside where Desperado drove DOUKI into the barricades, but DOUKI then bounced himself off the ropes to spike Desperado into the floor with a DDT.
DOUKI is diving for victory. Credit: NJPW
DOUKI tried for a second DDT, but he was caught in mid-air and Desperado drove his knees into the mat. Desperado was now focused on DOUKI’s left knee and every attack was focused on that knee. He hit a leg DDT, dropped his weight on the knee and simply just twisted the leg. Desperado wrapped DOUKI’s knee around the ring post and locked in figure four around the post. DOUKI was struggling to stand, but Desperado would not let up and he was doing everything he could to hurt the knee.
DOUKI finally created some space with a jumping headbutt and he followed that with a springboard back elbow. He then went to the middle rope, but Desperado swept his legs off the ropes and then dropped him with a back suplex. Desperado now locked in the Numero Dos, but DOUKI crawled his way to the bottom rope. DOUKI now caught Desperado with a boot and then drove him into the mat with a tornado DDT. He then dove through the ropes with a suicide dive and caught Desperado into a tornado DDT into the floor.
DOUKI got Desperado back into the ring and springboarded himself back into the ring to plant Desperado with a third DDT. He then locked Desperado into the Italian Stretch #32 and the hold was in for quite a while, but Desperado finally got a toe on the ropes. After a brief exchange, Desperado locked in a submission of his own with a cloverleaf and he eventually transitioned that into Numero Dos. However, DOUKI made it to the ropes and now both men were exchanging forearms.
Suplex de la Luna. Credit: NJPW
That exchange ended with Desperado planting DOUKI with a German suplex, but DOUKI came right back with a lariat. DOUKI continued with a dragon suplex and followed that by finally hitting Suplex de la Luna to get the win! For the first time in his career DOUKI is the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion!
NJPW New Japan Soul Night 7 Results
TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Bullet Club (Gedo & KENTA)
Fujita hit Gedo with the Abandon Hope to get the win.
Winners: TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.)
United Empire (Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & TJP) vs. Just 5 Guys (SANADA, TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura)
Akira charged across the ring and drilled his knees into the back of Michinoku’s head to earn the victory.
Winners: United Empire (Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & TJP)
House of Torture (EVIL, Ren Narita, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma & Yuji Nagata
In typical fashion, Narita hit Honma with the steel plate he carries around and EVIL finished him with Everything is Evil.
Winners: House of Torture (EVIL, Ren Narita, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)
G1 Climax 34 Block A Qualifier Tournament Final Round Match: Callum Newman vs. YOSHI-HASHI
Newman with the upset win. Credit: NJPW
Newman reversed Karma into a stunner before rolling HASHI up to steal the win and take HASHI’s place in G1 Climax 34.
Winner: Callum Newman
G1 Climax 34 Block B Qualifier Tournament Final Round Match: Boltin Oleg vs. Taichi
Oleg proves what a star he is going to be. Credit: NJPW
Oleg got Taichi up on his shoulders and ran across the ring to plant him with a rolling fireman’s carry to punch his ticket into the G1.
Winner: Boltin Oleg
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi, Titan & Yota Tsuji)
LIJ warfare. Credit: NJPW
This LIJ warfare came down to the wire with Naito and Takahashi throwing their best shots at each other. But then all six men started firing, Tsuji drilled Naito with a knee, Takagi hit Tsuji with a Pumping Bomber, Titan hit Takagi with a springboard dropkick, BUSHI dropped him with a codebreaker and Takahashi finally super kicked BUSHI. This left Takahashi standing alone, but he turned into a Destino from Naito. He then tried hard to deliver a second Destino, only to be caught with a Time Bomb from Takahashi. However, this was all too late as the 30-minute time limit expired ending this match in a draw.
