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From Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan:
Korakuen is packed to the max tonight.
1 - NJPW World TV Championship: El Phantasmo vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
ELP comes to the ring passing out gifts to fans. Jado is dressed as Rudolph.
A comedy match. Both men decided to wrestle in slow motion with exaggerated movements. The crowd was entertained, but it was silly.
ELP pins Taguchi with a sunset flip cradle.
El Phantasmo retains the NJPW World TV Championship.
After the match, ELP says the Open Challenge is still on for Wrestle Kingdom.
Christmas music plays and Santa comes to the ring and gives ELP a gift. ELP opens the gift and pulls out a stuffed purple doll that looks like Elmo. ELP is confused, but the Korakuen Hall crowd POPS big.
Chris Brookes from DDT Wrestling hits the ring and lays out ELP and kicks Santa out of the ring. Brookes hits a Praying Mantis Bomb on ELP. He accepts the challenge at Wrestle Kingdom.
2 - Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and Boltin Oleg vs. Taichi, Satoshi Kojima and Tiger Mask
Bishomon holds Tiger Mask for a Shoto, but Oleg comes off the ropes with a splash.
YOSHI-HASHI pins Tiger Mask.
Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and Oleg will be in the NEVER Openweight 6-man Ranbo Match at Wrestle Kingdom.
After the match, Taichi and Kojima were arguing. Tomohiro Ishii comes to the ring to mend the fence. All three men apologize and raise their hands. They will be another team in the Ranbo.
3 - Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura, Toru Yano, YOH and Master Wato vs. Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, SANADA, Yujiro Takahashi, and EVIL
Referee takes a bump. House of Torture pulls out their weapons and lay out everyone. EVIL tries to hit Wato in the head with the NEVER Title belt, but Aaron Wolfe jumps in the ring and stops him. EVIL blasts Wolfe in the head. Narita hits Wato with the push up bar.
Narita pins Wato.
After the match, House of Torture continues to lay out everyone. Takechi Kaisei, a Japanese singer from a pop group, now a DDT wrestler, rushed into the ring and fought along side Uemura and Umino. House of Torture escapes.
Kaisei agrees to tag with Umino and Uemura in the Ranbo.
4 - Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi and Gedo vs. Great O-Khan, Callum Newman and Jakob Austin Young
The match quickly spills into the crowd. Good fast paced match.
Newman hits Overkill on Gedo and gets the pin.
Newman continues to hammer Gedo with elbows. Takagi makes the save. Newman hits the double stomp on Takagi.
Newman takes the mic and announces one of his new members of United Empire. It is La Sombra, Andrade El Idolo, who is a former founder of Los Ingobernales, now with United Empire. Andrade will team with United Empire against the War Dogs at Wrestle Kingdom.
5 - El Desperado and KUUKAI vs. DOUKI and SHO vs. Taiji Ishimori and Daiki Nagai
DOUKI and SHO try to escape to the back but the other wrestlers chase them down and they fight into the crowd.
Nagai and Ishimori double team DOUKI in the ring. Nagai traps DOUKI in a Boston Crab. DOUKI grabs the referee and pulls him into his body, blocking his vision. SHO hits Nagai with a metal sheet.
DOUKI pins Nagai.
6 - Yuto-Ice, OSKAR and Yota Tsuji vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa and Hartley Jackson
There was a large chat for Yota Tsuji at the start of the match.
Tsuji hits a Gene Blaster on Jackson and gets the pin.
After the match, The Knockout Brothers went after ZSJ and Oiwa. Yuto hits two stiff looking elbows in Oiwa's jaw. They hit the KOB on ZSJ. The World Tag League winners are left laying by the World Tag Champions. OSKAR kicks the World Tag League Trophies off the ring apron, which shatters on the guardrails and cement floor. Oiwa and ZSJ had to be assisted out of the ring.
El Phantasmo on commentary noted New Year's Dash on January 5, will have matches like the IWGP Tag Championship. I would expect the Jr. Championships to be defended there as well.
7 - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kosei Fujita
This is Hiroshi Tanahashi's final match in Korakuen Hall.
Tanahashi hits Aces High, then a High Fly Flow. Tanahashi pins Fujita.
After the match, Tanahashi thanks the fans for supporting him and New Japan. He gets ELP to lead the fans in a wave around the building. He tells the fans that he is ready, and that they are ready, for him to leave. He bows to the crowd and gives them one last air guitar show. With tears, he thanks the Korakuen crowd as snow falls in the Hall. He bows to the Lion's Head in the ring and hugs the fans at ringside.
Thank you Hiroshi Tanahashi for all the memories and for fighting for the fans.
Thank you for reading.
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