It’s Golden Week in Japan, and you know what that means! You don’t? Well, among many other things, it means that NJPW travels to Fukuoka for a pair of major shows to celebrate. This is the first of them.

Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato vs. Tiger Mask, Ryuske Taguchi & Taisei Nakahara

Hey, Gino Gambino is back on commentary; that’s fun. As you’d probably imagine, there’s a lot of comedy to start with Yano, Taguchi and YOH involved, but it settles down when Tiger Mask tags in. Tiger Mask gets the best of YOH and Wato, then tags in Nakahara. After a brief back-and-forth, Wato pins the Young Lion with a European uppercut from the top rope.

What’s next? On tomorrow’s show, Nakahara has a singles match against Masatora Yasuda, Taguchi is teaming with Tetsuya Matsumoto against Daiki Nagai and Gedo, and the other four are all on the same team, along with Aaron Wolf, against the House of Torture.

Knockout Brothers (Yuto-Ice & OSKAR) [Unbound Co.] vs. Tomoaki Honma & Masatora Yasuda

So, ever since Wrestling Redzone, Honma has been trying to gain a tag team title shot against the Knockout Brothers by wrestling them in non-title matches, but he failed twice with Togi Makabe and twice with Yano. I don’t love his chances with a Young Lion by his side, but we’ll see. Yasuda interrupts Yuto’s introduction and gets in his face, showing a fire that has thus far been lacking in his career. Yasuda and Honma double-team OSKAR to start and have some success. OSKAR tags in Yuto, and after Yasuda gets a couple of near-falls with roll-ups, Yuto knocks him out with a nasty-looking knee strike.

What’s next? Honma, who never even officially got into this match, gets another crack at the Knockout Brothers tomorrow with Shota Umino as his partner, while Yasuda takes on Nakahara in the opener.

Yuya Uemura, Taichi, El Desperado & Mistico vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita [TMDK]

Unfortunately, Mistico’s theme gets the ol’ NJPW World copyright strike, and it’s replaced by a horribly generic piece of production music. The English broadcast congratulates Shane Haste, who is apparently still a member of TMDK, for his GHC championship win the night before at Ryoguko. The match starts out with the juniors, with Desperado and Mistico largely gaining the advantage. The heavyweights take over, and TMDK beats up Taichi for a few minutes before he gets a hot tag to Uemura, who clears the ring. Uemura and Oiwa have a long sequence that ends with Oiwa gaining the upper hand. Jackson tags in and all eight men get involved; notably, the juniors exchange double-team offense. Shortly thereafter, Uemura gets a flash pin on Jackson with a hurricanrana. After the match, Desperado and Mistico challenge Eagles and Fujita to make their match on tomorrow’s show an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match; Eagles and Fujita accept.

What’s next? In addition to the junior tag title match, Taichi and Uemura take on Oiwa and Jackson tomorrow.

Goto Revolutionary Army (Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tetsuya Matsumoto) vs. Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan [United Empire]

The disparity between the bouncing babyface enthusiasm of Ospreay and the much more heelish demeanor of his partners is getting greater with each passing show. The GRA run wild to open the match, hitting War Drums on Ospreay; however, Matsumoto tags in and quickly is on the receiving end of the United Empire’s offense. YOSHI-HASHI tags in, but the United Empire continues to dominate. All six guys get in the ring for a fun offensive sequence, highlighted by an Ospreay/Goto exchange and then YOSHI-HASHI tags in Matsumoto, who gets some offense in on Great-O-Khan, including a long Boston Crab sequence. However, Great-O-Khan eventually takes the advantage and pounds the hell out of Matsumoto, eventually pinning him after smashing the back of his head into the mat several times. Ospreay isn’t super jazzed about the brutality and lets Great-O-Khan know about it, but Great-O-Khan and HENARE don’t want to hear it. Ospreay eventually gives it a rest, but this obviously isn’t over.

What’s next? Five of these six guys will rematch tomorrow for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, with Boltin Oleg replacing Matsumoto to complete the championship team. Matsumoto, meanwhile, will team with Taguchi against Nagai and Gedo.

Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi [House of Torture]

I paused this right as the segment began and was extremely dismayed to see that it is over 20 minutes long. Notably, this is the first time Takeshita has teamed with a member of Hontai since the start of his current NJPW run, and they’re clearly a bit distrustful of each other. Takeshita’s belt has apparently been stolen, and he thinks Owens did it. Early on, the House guys keep running Umino and Takeshita into each other to try to sow discontent, but thankfully the babyfaces aren’t that stupid. Owens and Takahashi get the heat on Umino, and the crowd is just comatose. Takeshita gets the tag and takes over on both guys. After a striking battle between Takeshita and Owens, Owens hits a snapmare driver for two, and then the two exchange knee strikes before both tag out. Takahashi gets a near-fall on Umino after a knee strike by Owens, then gets another two-count with Pimp Juice. All four guys get in the ring, and Umino and Takeshita shoot the House members into opposite corners, then back into each other and have a “partners who don’t like each other” face-off. However, Takeshita shoves Umino out of the way and takes a cane shot from Takahashi, after which Umino takes out both guys and then pins Takahashi with the Second Chapter. Takeshita and Umino appear to be cool after the match, but when Umino offers a handshake, Takeshita refuses and leaves the ring on his own.

What’s next? Takeshita and Owens wrestle for the NJPW World TV Championship tomorrow, which will hopefully put an end to this dumb program. Meanwhile, Umino teams with Honma against the Knockout Brothers, and Takahashi is in a 10-man against Hontai.

Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X & Daiki Nagai [Unbound Co.] vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay [United Empire]

This is, of course, primarily a preview of tomorrow’s main event, which pits Newman against Takagi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. After a big schmozz to start, United Empire eventually takes control on Nagai. However, Nagai eventually hits a dropkick on Newman and is able to tag out to Takagi. The champion and challenger face off, and neither guy can get the upper hand. Newman tags out to Jay, but Takagi takes control and eventually tags out to Moloney; they proceed to hit a lot of their War Dragons offense on Jay before all 10 men come in and Unbound Co. hit some spectacular high spots to take control. Eventually, Moloney and Jay are isolated in the ring, and Moloney hits a brainbuster, a Gore and the Drilla Killa for the pin. After the match, Takagi and Newman briefly brawl before Newman bails out. This was fun.

What’s next? Aside from Newman vs. Takagi, most of these guys face off again in an eight-man tomorrow, although Nagai is teaming with Gedo against Taguchi and Matsumoto.

Aaron Wolf vs. Don Fale [House of Torture]

It’s very strange to hear Fale’s music this late in a show. Fale jumps Wolf before the bell, but Wolf turns the tables with a pair of forearms. Wolf goes for a slam but can’t get Fale up, but hits a slam of his own and beats Wolf up inside and outside the ring. Wolf nearly gets counted out and after Fale grinds him down with a long nerve hold spot, Wolf reverses an Irish Whip into the barrier to gain the advantage. Back in the ring, Wolf takes Fale down with a judo toss and then hits an elbow drop for two, followed by an ugly-looking High Fly Flow, which also gets two. Wolf applies a submission, but Chase Owens comes to the ring to distract Marty Asami. Owens gets pulled into the ring by Wolf, but this allows Fale to recover, and Wolf gets shoved into Asami. They toss Wolf into an exposed turnbuckle and Fale hits a Samoan drop for two from the recovered Asami. Fale hits the Grenade but then misses an elbow drop. Wolf whips Fale into the exposed buckle twice and then slams him and hits the Angle Slam for the pin. This was not good, as you’d expect from a match featuring a guy in his third singles match and a guy with, shall we say, limited mobility, but man does the crowd love Wolf, and, eventually, the juice will be worth the squeeze with him.

What’s next? These two will meet again tomorrow in a 10-man tag match.

NEVER Openweight Championship: Ren Narita [House of Torture] (c) vs. Boltin Oleg

Narita and Dick Togo jump Boltin during his entrance, which at least spares us from having to hear Narita’s music. Boltin eventually gains the advantage and tosses Narita into the ring to start the match. Boltin hits Narita with a shoulder tackle and Narita tumbles to the outside, faking an injury so that Togo can distract Boltin and the ref, allowing Narita to hit Boltin with a chair. Narita throws Boltin into a seating section and then returns to the ring to try to get a countout. Boltin gets back to the ring, but Narita maintains the advantage and works on Boltin’s previously injured shoulder. Narita tries an arm submission, but Boltin counters with a deadlift power bomb. Narita goes back to work on the shoulder, but Boltin hits a belly-to-belly, the Boltin Shake and the People’s Boltin for two. After a failed submission attempt, Narita tries to Pillmanize Boltin’s shoulder into the ringpost on the outside while Togo takes the ref, but Boltin blocks it and hits a chair-assisted clothesline instead. Back in the ring, Narita fights out of a power bomb attempt, but falls victim to a corner charge, after which Boltin briefly gets him in the Torture Rack; Narita, however, slips out the back and shoves Boltin into Asami. Yoshinobu Kanemaru runs in and tries to give Boltin the Suntory Surprise, but Boltin instead gets him into the fireman’s carry position and throws him into Narita. Boltin gets two with a power bomb, then puts Narita in the Torture Rack; Narita taps out, but Asami is distracted by SHO and doesn’t see it. Aaron Wolf comes out and drags SHO to the back, but Narita takes advantage of the distraction by putting Boltin in a guillotine and then hitting the Double Cross for two. Narita goes for Hell’s Guillotine, but Boltin catches him in mid-air and hits a Kamikaze. Boltin hits the Verdict, but Narita grabs the rope during the pinfall attempt. Boltin goes for a Kamikaze off the top, but Narita counters with a cross armbreaker. Boltin makes it to the ropes, but Narita hits a version of Hell’s Guillotine to Boltin’s shoulder, then re-applies the cross armbreaker. Boltin again tries to lift him into the power bomb position, but Asami is distracted by something (the production uncharacteristically missed this, but it was Kanemaru) and Togo hits a low blow on Boltin, allowing Narita to re-apply the armbreaker and get the submission. This wasn’t bad, but, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the House stuff just beyond stale. I’d love to see what Narita can do without it, because he’s actually looked very good lately.

After the match, Wolf challenges Narita for a title match; Narita responds by spitting in his face.

What’s next? Narita is in the Hontai/House of Torture 10-man match, while Boltin teams with Bishamon to defend their NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship against the United Empire.

NJPW Global Heavyweight Championship: Yota Tsuji [Unbound Co.] (c) vs. Andrade el Idolo [United Empire]

Of course, this was originally supposed to be Tsuji vs. Gabe Kidd, but Kidd was injured on an AEW show and replaced by Andrade, who challenged Tsuji for this same title in February at The New Beginning USA in a really good match that not too many people saw. President Ace delivers the championship proclamation, and the match begins. Both guys showcase their lucha style during the feeling-out process, but neither can manage to hit the dive both are going for. Andrade eventually takes control and gets two with a kick to the head. Andrade continues to control Tsuji with heavy chops and methodical offense, and then gets two with a stomp off the top. Tsuji avoids the double knees in the corner and gets a rollup for two, then fights back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. After a brief striking battle, Tsuji hits an, I guess, reverse Spanish Fly from the second rope that both guys sell, so – I don’t know, is what I’m saying. Tsuji hits a lucha armdrag and then a tope suicida, followed by a top rope hurricanrana for two. Tsuji goes for the Boston Crab, but Andrade fights out and reverses a suplex attempt into two of the three amigos, followed by a forearm strike. Andrade hits the double knee strike for two, then tries for a split-legged moonsault, but Tsuji gets his knees up. Tsuji goes for the Curb Stomp on the apron, but Andrade counters with a great-looking powerslam, then hits the tornillo to Tsuji on the floor. Back in the ring, Andrade gets two with the double moonsault. Andrade hits a superplex and holds on and hits a second suplex, but the third is reversed by Tsuji into a brainbuster bomb for two. Tsuji and Andrade fight over the Marlowe Crash, and eventually Tsuji gets a modified version for two. The two fight on the apron, and Tsuji hits a running hurricanrana to the floor. It’s nuts for guys this big to be doing this. The fight over a top rope move, and then Tsuji hits a nasty-looking Spanish Fly for two. A pump-handle slam gets two for Tsuji and then calls for the Gene Blaster, but Andrade hits a back elbow for a double-down spot. A dramatic fighting spirit sequence ends with Tsuji surprising Andrade with a headbutt, then going for his weird backward power bomb thing, but Andrade counters that into a rollup, and both guys get near-falls from reversals. Andrade goes for a cross-body but takes the Gene Blaster for two. Tsuji goes for another one, but Andrade counters into a schoolboy suplex for two. Andrade hits the hammerlock DDT for two, then hits a double-underhook destroyer for two. Tsuji counters a DM attempt with a backdrop for two, then hits a Curb Stomp and applies the Boston Crab, which beat Andrade in New Jersey, but Andrade makes it to the bottom rope. Tsuji tries for the Ultimo Guerrero Special from the top rope, but Andrade fights out and DDT’s Tsuji into the God damn ring post and hits the DM for the pinfall and the title. This was really, really, really good – better than the New Jersey match, for sure, and I really liked that match.

Tanahashi presents Andrade with the title. Weirdly, no one from United Empire comes down to celebrate with him, despite the fact that he was announced as a member of that faction. Andrade cuts a heartfelt promo in his charmingly broken English, thanking the Japanese fans and declaring that his heart is in both AEW and NJPW. He calls for a challenger, and both Moloney and Umino answer. Andrade proposes a three-way (not like that) for a time and place yet to be determined.

What’s next? Tsuji is in an eight-man tag on tomorrow’s show.