NJPW 53rd Anniversary Results

New Japan Pro-Wrestling celebrated the promotion's 53rd anniversary with a show from Tokyo's Ota-City General Gymnasium on Thursday, March 6.

The main event saw Hirooki Goto successfully defend the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi. The action started out slowly but the match eventually quickened, with Goto almost picking up the win following a GTR. Tanahashi kicked out, though, and fired back with two Twist and Shouts. Goto blocked a third Twist and Shout, however, and connected with Shouten Kai. After Tanahashi kicked out, the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion followed up with another GTR for the pinfall win.

After Hiroshi Tanahashi told Goto to lead New Japan into the future, the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion officially agreed to defend his title at a future date against Yuji Nagata.

The semi-main event saw El Desperado defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Francesco Akira. The challenger looked set to win the back-and-forth match down the stretch as he went for a Fireball but his legs gave out and he collapsed to the mat. This allowed Despe to follow up with a Pinche Loco but Akira got his shoulder up. Desperado didn't let up, however, and he hit a Dragon Screw before applying the Stretch Muffler, forcing Akira to tap out.

The opening contest featured an NJPW World TV Championship open challenge which was answered by Master Wato. El Phantasmo managed to successfully defend his title, beating the clock with the Thunderkiss '86 for the pinfall win.

The show also featured a host of multi-man matches to preview the New Japan Cup, which begins on Friday, March 7.

An amusing finish occurred in the six-man tag team match between War Dogs and Just 4 Guys as SANADA channelled his inner Eddie Guerrero, tossing a guitar to Yuya Uemura before he fell to the mat. The referee then spotted Uemura with the guitar and SANADA on the mat and decided to call for a DQ despite the musical instrument not having a giant hole in the middle of it.

Gabe Kidd & Drilla Moloney vs. Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru saw the War Dogs attack House of Torture before the bell which led to a crazy brawl around the Ota-City General Gymnasium. The match eventually began after 10 minutes but quickly ended in a count-out draw after Ren Narita and Gabe Kidd brawled on the outside to a 20 count. The two competitors then battered each other with chairs until everyone eventually made their way backstage.

In the final multi-man match of the night, Los Ingobernables de Japon defeated House of Torture when Hiromu Takahashi forced Dick Togo to tap out to a Figure-Four Leglock. Hiromu Takahashi put Shingo Takagi's autobiography down his pants after the match and later gifted it to the NJPW commentary team.

Full results for NJPW 53rd Anniversary:

• El Phantasmo (c) def. Master Wato - NJPW World TV Championship Open Challenge
• Bullet Club (Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale) def. TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson)
• War Dogs (SANADA, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo) def. Just 4 Guys (Taichi, Yuya Uemura & TAKA Michinoku) by DQ
• War Dogs (Gabe Kidd & Drilla Moloney) vs. House of Torture (Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) ended in a count-out draw
• Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji & Hiromu Takahashi) def. House of Torture (EVIL, SHO, Dick Togo, & Yujiro Takahashi)
• El Desperado (c) def. Francesco Akira - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
• Hirooki Goto (c) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship

The first-round matches of the New Japan Cup are as follows:

• Yota Tsuji vs. EVIL - March 7 - Winner will face David Finlay on March 11.
• Yuya Uemura vs. SANADA - March 7 - Winner will face YOSHI-HASHI on March 11.
• Ryohei Oiwa vs. Chase Owens - March 8 - Winner will face Zack Sabre Jr. on March 11. 
• Gabe Kidd vs. Ren Narita - March 8 - Winner will face Taichi on March 12.
• El Phantasmo vs. Great-O-Khan - March 9 - Winner will face Shota Umino on March 12.
• Tetsuya Naito vs. Callum Newman - March 9 - Winner will face Jeff Cobb on March 14. 
• Tomohiro Ishii vs. Drilla Moloney - March 9 - Winner will face TJP on March 14.
• Boltin Oleg vs. Bad Luck Fale - March 9 - Winner will face Shingo Takagi on March 14.

Cultaholic is now on WhatsApp! Follow us here. Sign up to the Cultaholic Wrestling Newsletter now.