NJPW “DESTRUCTION ’12″, 9/23/12 (WPW/PPV)
Kobe World Hall
8,000 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii beat Captain New Japan & Tama Tonga (9:16) when Ishii used a brainbuster on Captain.
2. KUSHIDA, Alex Shelley & BUSHI beat Rocky Romero, Alex Koslov & Gedo (9:37) when Shelley used the I-94 on Koslov.
3. Low Ki beat Daisuke Sasaki (8:45) with a diving footstomp.
4. Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer & Harry Smith beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata (12:02) when Suzuki used a Gotch-style piledriver on Nagata.
5. Togi Makabe beat Kengo Mashimo (9:02) with a King Kong kneedrop.
6. Kazushi Sakuraba & Katsuyori Shibata beat Wataru Inoue & Hiromu Takahashi (3:03) when Shibata used a PK on Takahashi.
7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Kota Ibushi (c) beat Ryusuke Taguchi (17:06) with a Phoenix splash (2nd defense).
8. Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito & Karl Anderson beat Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada & Yujiro Takahashi (15:08) when Goto used the Shouten Kai on Okada.
9. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) beat Naomichi Marufuji (23:35) with the High Fly Flow (3rd defense).

* Tanahashi overcame a stiff V3 defense of his IWGP Heavyweight Title in the main event of today’s sold out Kobe show, beating the man who upset him in the G1 Climax, NOAH’s Naomichi Marufuji. Tanahashi had little time to recover before Minoru Suzuki was in the ring challenging him for a title match, which would be a rematch of this January’s Tokyo Dome show and also another G1 rematch, as Suzuki was one of three men (the others being Marufuji and Anderson) who beat Tana in that tournament.

* Kota Ibushi’s second run as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion continues to impress as today he survived the challenge of Taguchi in another difficult defense. Like Tanahashi, Ibushi was greeted by his probable next challenger right after winning as the man he defeated to win the title, Low Ki, made his presence felt and demanded another match with the high-flying champion.

* Kazushi Sakuraba and Katsuyori Shibata are finally here! The invading duo ran through Wataru Inoue and young lion Hiromu Takahashi in just 3 minutes to advertise their re-arrival in New Japan. Togi Makabe, who earlier had beaten Suzuki Gun’s newest member Kengo Mashimo, appeared after the match to challenge the two, and Makabe & Inoue vs. Sakuraba & Shibata has already been determined for October’s Sumo Hall show.

* Manabu Nakanishi is back! Or almost. After well over a year out of action with a serious injury, the big man announced in the ring today that he will return to action at Sumo Hall. Kobe responded with a loud “Nakanishi!” chant.

* As things stand the 10/8 Sumo Hall show is looking likely to have Tanahashi vs. Suzuki (IWGP Heavyweight), Ibushi vs. Low Ki (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight), Sakuraba & Shibata vs. Makabe & Inoue, and Nakanishi’s return. There are also whispers of a Nakamura vs. Goto rematch for the IWGP Intercontinental Title after Goto impressively pinned Okada today in a six man tag match.

New Japan will this year run the annual “DESTRUCTION” major show at Kobe World Hall in late September instead of at Sumo Hall in October. This is because the scheduled Sumo Hall show in October is going to be called “KING OF PRO WRESTLING” this year and possibly in the future. Before “DESTRUCTION ’12″ will be a tour directly building up to it.

NJPW 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR ~ ROAD TO DESTRUCTION
- 9/7 @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall J SPORTS
- 9/8 @ Saitama Asukaru Satte
- 9/9 “YUJI NAGATA 20TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW ~ BLUE JUSTICE IV” @ Togane Arena
- 9/12 @ Toyama Techno Hall
- 9/13 @ Nagano Sports Park Gymnasium
- 9/15 @ Matsusaka City Gymnasium
- 9/17 @ Saitama Kusunoki Hall
- 9/22 @ Takamatsu City Gymnasium

- 9/23 “DESTRUCTION ’12″ @ Kobe World Hall WPW