New Japan Pro Wrestling came to Chicago on Saturday. Windy City Riot was headlined by Jon Moxley getting a confusing, controversial win over United Empire’s Will Ospreay. The match was a brutal war that saw both men shed blood, but one has to assume the ending will be all that anyone, especially Will Ospreay, talks about.
After being hit with a Death Rider DDT from Jon Moxley, the referee counted three and called for the bell, despite both Ospreay and Moxley believing Ospreay kicked out at 2.99999. Moxley locked in a Rear Naked Choke and Ospreay tapped out, but the ref had already called for the bell. It was a weird, awkward end to a great match, and with Ospreay’s recent anger at NJPW management over a previous ref stoppage, it will only add more fuel to Ospreay’s belief that there is a conspiracy against him.
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『Windy City Riot』シカゴ大会??
＼場内大熱狂?両者一歩も譲らない大激闘?
この試合勝つのはどちらだ⁉️? @JonMoxley × @WillOspreay
購入はこちら
⇒https://t.co/jm7aMAvhGY
※視聴には月額見放題サービスとは別に購入が必要です。#njpw #njRiot pic.twitter.com/TasTo9weCD— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) April 17, 2022
After getting the tainted win, Moxley got on the microphone and challenged Hiroshi Tanahashi to a match at NJPW Capital Collision in DC on May 14th. Moxley wasn’t the only one with plans for May 14th.
Moxley’s former-tag partner Eddie Kingston made a surprise appearance in Chicago, challenging Tomohiro Ishii to a match after Ishii got a hard-fought win over Minoru Suzuki. The disciple of The King’s Road challenged the Strong Style-trained Suzuki to a styles clash in DC, and Ishii accepted.
Kingston wasn’t Moxley’s only ally in Chicago. Spurned on by words from his mentor, Shota Umino returned to NJPW to answer the US of Jay Challenge. While he was unable to defeat Jay White, the former Young Lion showed off some of the skills he’s learned on his excursion in England’s RevPro promotion.
Where Umino was returning to NJPW, Juice Robinson is on his way out. The former-IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion wrestled his final match under the New Japan banner in Chicago, teaming with long-time tag partner David Finlay and Brody King in a marathon victory over Jonah, Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito.
The six-man Chicago Street Fight, like much of the Fite TV broadcast, was rife with technical errors. The presentation of the entire show was woefully underwhelming, leading to NJPW issuing a statement after the broadcast ended.
Elsewhere on the show, Filthy Tom Lawlor was goaded into an NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship defense. Lawlor successfully overcame Blue Justice to make his 9th defense of the title. The match came after Fred Rosser led a team of NJPW STRONG regulars to victory against Team Filthy. Rosser has been engaged in a bitter war with Lawlor for the better part of the past year.
The Factory got a dirty win over the LA Dojo boys, thanks to QT Marshall and a perfectly timed low blow. Also United Empire got a dominant victory over Bullet Club and former-IWGP Heavyweight Champion Scott Norton.
Here are the full results:
4/16
NJPW Windy City Riot
Broadcast on FITE TV, available on NJPWWorld at later date
- The Factory (QT Marshall, Nick Comoroto & Aaron Solow) def. LA Dojo (Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks & Yuya Uemura) by pinfall. (11:56)
QT Marshall pinned Yuya Uemura via rollup. - Fred Rosser, Alex Coughlin, Chris Dickinson, Ren Narita & Josh Alexander def. Team Filthy (JR Kratos, Danny Limelight, Jorel Nelson, Royce Isaacs & Black Tiger) by submission. (13:50)
Fred Rosser submitted Black Tiger via Crossface Chickenwing. - NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship Match: Tom Lawlor (c) def. Yuji Nagata by pinfall via Tomigoye (Straight Jacket Kamigoye to the back of the head). (13:59)
- United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, TJP, Aaron Henare, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) def. Bullet Club (Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Chris Bey, El Phantasmo, Hikuleo & Scott Norton) by pinfall. (11:58)
Mark Davis pinned Chris Bey via Coriolis. - Chicago Street Fight: David Finlay, Juice Robinson & Brody King def. Shane Haste, Jonah & Bad Dude Tito by pinfall. (24:11)
David Finlay pinned Jonah via hitting him with a Shillelagh. - US of Jay Open Challenge Match: Jay White def. Shota Umino by pinfall via Bladerunner. (15:45)
- Tomohiro Ishii def. Minoru Suzuki by pinfall via Vertical Drop Brainbuster. (18:46)
- Jon Moxley def. Will Ospreay by pinfall via Death Rider.
NJPW will return with NJPW Golden Fight Series: Night 1 on April 18th at 5am ET on NJPWWorld.com
