It’s time for the semi-finals in Gunma, with one well-established tag team and one somewhat well-established tag team battle in singles matches to determine who goes to the finals.

Semi-Final: Robbie Eagles (B Block 1st Place) [TMDK] vs. Kosei Fujita [TMDK] (A Block 2nd Place)

Fujita has Ryohei Oiwa in his corner, while Eagles has Hartley Jackson in his. They shake hands prior to the match, somewhat surprisingly. They feel each other out to start, and everything is cool to start as they wrestle to a stalemate. Another round sees them becoming perhaps a bit more aggressive. Fujita wins a test of strength and they trade some strikes. Eagles tries for an armdrag a couple times, and they go back and forth until both guys go for a dropkick at the same time, and Fujita gets the better of it. Fujita hits a kneebreaker and a standing moonsault for one. Fujita locks in a single-leg crab, but Eagles gets to the ropes. Fujita hits a couple of stiff chops, but Eagles responds with a kick to the midsection and a northern lariat. Eagles applies a figure-four armlock, giving Fujita some kicks to the head in the process, but Fujita makes it to the ropes. Eagles hits a low dropkick for two, then hits a series of kicks, but when Eagles goes for the PK, Fujita gets up and hits a chop and a dropkick. Fujita hits a running chop to Eagles in the corner, then lands a springboard dropkick for two. Fujita goes for the Nemosu Special, but Eagles makes it to the ropes. Eagles fights out of a suplex attempt, and then the two trade forearms and chops. Fujita sends Eagles to the ropes and catches him in the chicken position, but after a short struggle – the catch was not entirely clean – Eagles hits a poison rana and sends Fujita to the outside, and then Eagles hits a flipping tope suicida. Back in the ring, Eagles hits two double-knee attacks in the corner for two, then goes to work on Fujita’s knees. Eagles goes for a 450 splash, but Fujita moves out of the way. Fujita tries for a kick, but Eagles catches it and tries the Turbo Backpack; Fujita counters with a headlock to take him down to the mat, then applies an armbar and also grabs the leg to attempt to prevent Eagles from making the ropes, though Eagles does eventually make it to the ropes to force a break. Fujita hits rolling German suplexes, but Eagles prevents the third one by grabbing the leg and applying the Ron Miller Special; Fujita makes it to the ropes, however. Eagles tries for the Asai DDT, but Fujita pushes him off and hits a kick. Eagles hits the 619 to the back of the leg, then hits a springboard missile dropkick to Fujita’s knee. Eagles goes for Hyperion, but Fujita catches it and turns it into a German suplex for two. Fujita tries the Thrill Ride, but Eagles lands on his feet and hits a thrust kick, followed by a Shining Wizard. Eagles hits the 450 to the knee and tries for the Ron Miller Special, but Fujita grabs an inside cradle and rolls through for a fisherman buster attempt; Eagles counters with a weird but effective backdrop variation. Eagles goes for Hyperion, but Fujita grabs the leg and locks in the Nemosu Special; however, he can’t hold on because of his injured knee. Fujita tries again, but Eagles makes it to the ropes. Eagles catches a kick and hits the Turbo Backpack for two. Eagles tries for the Ron Miller Special again, but Fujita counters by grabbing a waistlock, rolling to his feet, and hurking Eagles up into the Argentine backbreaker position and hitting the Thrill Ride for the pinfall. That final sequence was a really impressive display of strength by Fujita. Eagles is in tears afterward, and Fujita comes over to give him a hug, and the two – and their seconds – walk to the back together. This match was very, very good, but it never quite got to great.

Semi-Final: Master Wato (A Block 1st Place) vs. YOH (B Block 2nd Place)

They feel each other out with some mat wrestling to start, and YOH gets the best of it, but once they get moving, it’s Wato who gains the upper hand with a tijeras that sends YOH outside. Wato goes for a tope, but YOH cuts him off before he can take to the sky with a Hiroyoshi Tenzan-esque Mongolian chop. (Tenzan was Wato’s mentor, of course.) YOH hits a driving knee to Wato from the top, then administers a few more Mongolian chops in the ring. YOH hits a brainbuster for two, then applies the anaconda vise – another Tenzan move – but Wato quickly gets to the ropes. Wato fights back, and he gets a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a leg lariat, which sends YOH back to the outside. Wato hits a tope con hilo, then tosses YOH back in and connects with a missile dropkick. Wato goes for a springboard move, but YOH moves and counters a charge to the corner with a kick. Wato, however, catches a clothesline and gets YOH in the crucifix position, but YOH counters a Recientemente attempt with a falcon arrow. YOH calls for the superkick, but Wato catches it; Wato tries a spin kick, but YOH avoids it and tries for the five-star clutch, which Wato blocks and turns into Vendeval. YOH manages to counter with a pinning attempt, and Wato has to break the hold to kick out. Wato hits Recientemente for two, then tries for the Tsutenkaku German, but YOH blocks it. Wato hits the ropes, but runs into a knee strike from YOH; Wato answers with a roundhouse kick, but YOH responds with a superkick, and both men are down. YOH comes to first and hits a forearm and tries for Direct Drive, but Wato fights out of it; YOH then tries to apply the anaconda vise once again, but Wato counters with one of his own. After a long struggle, YOH finally makes it to the ropes. Wato goes for another Recientemente, but YOH counters with an inside cradle for two. YOH hits the ropes, but Wato responds with a Sling Blade. Wato hits the TTD for two and then tries for the Tsutenkaku German, but YOH gets to the ropes to force a break before Wato can execute the move. Wato goes for a half-nelson suplex, but YOH counters with a dragon suplex, followed by a lariat. YOH tries for Direct Drive again, but Wato counters with an attempt at a Sling Blade, which YOH catches and uses to apply another anaconda vise. Wato struggles for a while and regains his feet, but YOH takes him down again with an anaconda vise Flatliner, then reapplies the hold for the submission. This was good, but nothing more. There were moments down the stretch when it seemed like YOH realized that they weren’t doing enough and tried to kick it into gear, but there’s only so much he could do when a weirdly large portion of the match was spent struggling over a submission hold that’s primarily associated with someone else entirely.

So, this sets up Fujita vs. YOH in the final for the second consecutive year. After the match, Fujita comes to the ring and they cut brief promos on each other, then Fujita leaves and YOH cuts another brief promo before leaving. The final is on Sunday at the newly rechristened Ibarra Wave Arena, formerly the Ota City General Gymnasium.