New Japan Pro-Wrestling will deliver a star-studded show with NJPW Windy City Riot on April 12.
Among other matches, Jon Moxley will challenge Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Matt Riddle, Jack Perry, Eddie Kingston, and other stars will also compete.
Pre-Show
Matt Vandagriff vs. Zane Jay
Vandagriff and Jay go back and forth. Jay hits a fallaway slam. Vandagriff fires up with a dive to the outside. Jay catches him with a dropkick and a spinebuster for a two-count. Vandagriff hits a Styles Clash for the win.
Winner: Matt Vandagriff
Mina Shirakawa & Viva Van vs. Alex Windsor & Trish Adora
Adora and Van start the bout. Van hits a headscissors takedown and tags Shirakawa. She ducks a big boot and hits a side Russian legsweep. Mina evades a dropkick and gets a two-count with a pin attempt. Windsor tags in and takes control. She grounds Shirakawa. Mina drills Windsor with a stiff shot and gains the upper hand. Van and Shirakawa isolate Windsor. Van drops Windsor with a heel kick. Windsor drops her with a stiff strike and locks in a Sharpshooter.
Adora tags in and clears house with a flurry of offense. Windsor slams Shirakawa. Windsor nails Van with a headbutt. Mina drops Windsor with a DDT. Van gets a two-count with a butterfly suplex. Windsor hits a lariat and pins Van with the GTF.
Winners: Alex Windsor & Trish Adora
The broadcast team previews the card.
Minoru Suzuki vs. Ren Narita
Suzuki and Narita battle back and forth. The match spills out of the ring, and Suzuki takes the fight to Narita. Suzuki controls the action and overpowers Narita. He briefly gets Narita back in the roll, but Narita rolls back outside. He drags Suzuki out and slams him into the barricade. Narita rocks Suzuki with a big boot and kicks him. Suzuki no-sells some strikes, and Narita rakes his eyes. Narita slams Suzuki into the barricade again. Suzuki gains the upper hand and drills Narita with some stiff shots.
Suzuki grounds Narita. He locks in a sleeper hold, but Narita reaches the ropes. Narita drops Suzuki with a running strike. Suzuki rocks him with a kick. Narita hits him with a weapon while the referee isn’t looking. He slams Suzuki and pins him for the win.
Winner: Ren Narita
Suzuki leaves the ring but charges it, determined to attack Narita. He is held back, and he attacks the individual.
A video package highlighs the next match.
NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship: Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. AZM
Vaquer square off and feel each other out. They’re evenly matched early on. AZM kicks Vaquer and gains the upper hand. Vaquer gains the upper hand and grounds AZM. The champion slams AZM head-first into the mat. Vaquer mains the advantage and sends AZM to the outside. AZM blasts her with a kick. Back in the ring, AZM hits a missile dropkick and wrenches her arm. They trade kicks.
Vaquer wrenches AZM in a chokehold, but AZM reaches the ropes. AZM dives onto Vaquer and gets a two-count. She stacks Vaquer up again and gets a two-count. Vaquer slams AZM and pins her for the win.
Winner and still NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion: Stephanie Vaquer
Vaquer celebrates after the bell. Alex Windsor comes out and confronts her. Windsor says she has conquered every country and every company she has been to. She says it doesn’t stop here, as she challenges Vaquer to a title match at NJPW Resurgence. Vaquer accepts and raises her title, so the match is set.
STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship: Guerrillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo and Hikuleo) (c) vs. TMDK (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste) vs. Fred Rosser and Tom Lawlor vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew (Royce Isaacs and Jorel Nelson)
Phantasmo and Haste start the bout and feel each other out. Phantasmo hits a dropkick and gains the upper hand. Haste responds with a dropkick. TMDK double-teams ELP. Phantasmo and Hikuleo take control and double-team Nicholls. Rosser tags in and trades shots with Nicholls. He and Lawlor take the advantage with some double-team offense. Phantasmo and Isaacs tag in. Isaacs dishes out a suplex. He slams ELP into the corner. Nelson and Isaacs isolate ELP. Rosser argues with Isaacs and gets tossed out of the ring. WCWC takes control.
Hikuleo tags in and rallies with a flurry of offense. TMDK double-teams Hikuleo. Rosser and Lawlor take the fight to them. Hikuleo takes out everyone with a double clothesline. Nelson stuns Hikuelo, and Isaacs clotheslines him out of the ring. WCWC double-teams Phantasmo. They trade blows with Rosser and Lawlor. Hikuleo and Phantasmo double-team Nelson. Hikuleo chokeslams him. Haste secretly tags in, and he stacks Nelson up for the win.
Winners and new STRONG Openweight Tag Team Champions: TMDK (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste)
West Coast Wrecking Crew attack Roseer and Lawlor after the bell. Nelson gets some scissors and cuts Lawlor’s hair.
Jack Perry vs. Shota Umino
Perry gets a special entrance with security guards with riot gear. He carries a Chicago flag over his shoulders. Perry turns around, and his jacket says “Cry me a river.” He flips off the crowd. Umino enters through the crowd. Perry taunts the fans. Umino and Perry feel each other out. Perry heads to the outside to regroup. Umino chases him back into the ring, but Perry gains the upper hand with a cheap shot. Perry grounds Umino and suplexes him.
Perry rallies. Umino drills him with a running forearm in the corner and suplexes him. Umino keeps rolling with a DDT. Perry hits Umino below the belt and drops him with a DDT on the floor. Back in the ring, Umino and Perry trade blows. Umino drops Perry with a kick and slams him for a two-count. They trade counters, and Perry hits an Unprettier for a two-count. Perry hits a running knee in the corner as a shot at CM Punk, flips off the crowd, and does a GTS taunt. He goes for the GTS, and Umino counters with a DDT.
Umino hits a running forearm and the Death Rider for the win.
Winner: Shota Umino
Umino mocks Perry with a GTS taunt after the bell. Perry extends a handshake, and Umino takes it. They hug, and Perry raises his arm.
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mustafa Ali
Ali and Takahashi battle for positioning, and the match is a stalemate early on. Takahashi takes a second to collect himself as his mid-section seemingly hurts. He takes his stuffed animal and puts it in the ring. He heads to the outside. Back in the ring, Takahashi keeps playing games with Ali, using his stuffed animal. Takahashi drops Ali with a kick. Ali plants Ali with a DDT on the floor.
Back in the ring, Ali takes control. Takahashi rallies and sends Ali into the barricade at ringside. Ali hits Takahashi with a kick but eats a lariat. He knocks Takahashi off the apron and dives onto him. Ali gets busted open, and the referee checks on him. He hits a sunset flip powerbomb and a 450 splash for the win.
Winner: Mustafa Ali
Ali celebrates after the bell.
Riot Rules Match: Team Eddie Kingston vs. Team Gabe Kidd
Kidd’s teammates are revealed to be Clark Connors, KENTA, and David Finlay. Eddie Kingston brings weapons with him, and his teammates are revealed to be Jeff Cobb, TJP, and Homicide. The two teams immediately brawl around ringside. Kingston uses the ring bell as a weapon. The chaotic brawl continues. In the ring, Kingston chops Connors. Finlay drills Kingston with a shillelagh. TJP sends Finlay into the barricade with a kick. The Bullet Club War Dogs gang up on Cobb.
TJP dishes out punishment with a kendo stick. Kingston and Connors fight into the crowd. KENTA hits Cobb with a kendo stick. Both teams keep battling. Kidd and Homicide fight in the crowd as Kingston and Finlay trade blows. Kingston chokes Finlay with a camera cord. He dumps Connors with a suplex. Kidd reverses a DDT and levels Homicide with a clothesline. He hits several of his opponents with a ladder. Cobb dumps Kidd with a German suplex. Connors drops Cobb with a Spear. He puts some barbed wire around his head and headbutts TJP.
TJP grinds the barbed wire into Connors’ face with his boot and kicks him. Homicide pulls a fork out of his boot and jabs Connors. KENTA drops TJP with a big boot. KENTA hits TJP with a GTS. Finlay hits Cobb with a kendo stick. Kingston hits Finlay with the kendo stick. Kidd and Kingston trade blows. Kidd bites Kingston, who slams him through a table. The War Dogs gang up on Kingston. Homicide rallies, but Kidd slams him for the win.
Winners: Team Gabe Kidd (Gabe Kidd, David Finlay, KENTA & Clark Connors)
Kingston attacks Kidd, and the War Digs swarm him. Cobb and Kingston’s teammates get involved, and the brawl continues until they’re separated. Kingston gets a microphone and calls Kidd a “f*cking bitch.” He challenges Kidd to a No Ropes Last Man Standing match at NJPW Resurgence, and the brawl continues until they’re separated again.
NJPW World TV Championship: Matt Riddle (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Riddle and Sabre Jr. feel each other out. Sabre Jr, showcases his technical expertise. Riddle goes for an arm-barm but he escapes. They trade submission attempts, and the match is a stalemate. Sabre Jr. dodges a kick, and Riddle slams him from a gutwrench position. Sabre Jr. locks in an arm-bar, and Riddle reaches the ropes. Riddle drills Sabre Jr. with some stiff shots. Sabre Jr. targets Riddle’s bare foot, wrenches it and stomps on it.
Sabre Jr. stretches Riddle from a surfboard position. Riddle locks in an arm-bar through the ropes. He suplexes Sabre Jr. and hits a senton. Riddle gets a two-count with a stiff shot. Sabre Jr. hits a tornado DDT and locks in a guillotine. He goes for an arm-bar. Riddle hits a German suplex and a floating bro. They trade blows, and both men are down. Riddle nails Sabre Jr. with a knee strike. They keep going back and forth, and Sabre Jr. stacks Riddle up for the three count.
Winner and new NJPW World Television Champion: Zack Sabre Jr.
Sabre Jr. gets a microphone after the bell. He recalls how he has struggled up to this point in 2024 so far, but now he has his title back. sabre Jr. says he will defend the title in the United States soon. Jeff Cobb confronts him and expresses his interest for challenging for the title. They shake hands. Sabre Jr. goes to attack Cobb, who overpowers him. The new champion escapes.
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Nic Nemeth
Nemeth and Ishii battle for positioning and feel each other out. Ishii drives Nemeth into the ropes, and he gets a ropebreak as the match resets. They trade blows. Ishii trucks over Nemeth and chops him. The powerhouse suplexes him and maintains the advantage. Nemeth responds with a dropkick. He hits a running splash and a neckbreaker. Ishii floors Nemeth with a back body drop. He no-sells some strikes from Nemeth and drops him with a stiff blow. Ishii hits a superplex.
Nemeth locks in a suplex and drops Ishii with a suplex. They trade strikes. Nemeth spikes Ishii with a DDT. Ishii catches Nemeth with a powerbomb. Nemeth gets a two-count with a Fameasser. Ishii drills Nemeth with a fist to the face and gets a two-count with a lariat. Ishii reverses a Danger Zone but gets rocked with a superkick. Nemeth suplexes Ishii. Ishii drops Nemeth with a Danger Zone. Nemeth kicks out at one after a lariat and superkicks Ishii. Ishii hits Nemeth with a series of strikes. Nemeth catches Ishii with the Danger Zone for the win.
Winner: Nic Nemeth
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Jon Moxley
Naito and Moxley square off and feel each other down. Moxley flips Naito off as the feeling-out process continues. Naito catches Moxley off-guard with a flurry of offense. The match spills to the outside, and Moxley slams Naito into the barricade. They brawl and fight into the crowd. Moxley gets Naito back in the ring, grounds him, and snaps his arm. He drops Naito with a piledriver. Moxley targets the leg and locks in a Figure-Four. Naito reverses the pressure, and Moxley transitions into a Cloverleaf.
Moxley transitions again into a crossface, but Naito reaches the ropes. Naito rallies with some strikes. Naito keeps rolling with atomic drop and a dropkick. He floors Moxley with a dropkick. They battle on the apron, and Moxley plants Naito with a DDT on the apron. Moxley sends Naito to the outside and goes for a dive, but Naito blasts him with a chair to the face. Naito hits Moxley with a neckbreaker on the apron. Moxley narrowly avoids getting counted out. Moxley is busted open, but he floors Naito with a lariat.
Moxley and Naito trade blows. “The Death Rider” gets a two count with a Stomp and locks in a sleeper hold. Naito escapes and hits Moxley with some stiff shots. Moxley drops him with a cutter and hits the Death Rider for a two-count. Naito hits Destino for a two-count. Moxley gets a two-count with a Death Rider. He hits a lariat. Moxley gets the win with a Death Rider.
Winner: Jon Moxley
Moxley celebrates after the bell. He grabs a microphone and says he hopes this show was special for everyone. He says there was nowhere better to do it than Chicago, and he thanks the fans. Moxley says he’s just getting started, and his first order of business is to pick who’s coming at him first. He calls out Shota Umino, saying this will be his final exam.
Ren Narita attacks Moxley from behind. Umino makes the save after Narita says he’ll be the next challenger. Moxley says that Narita graduated from being a young boy to being a dead man. Umino helps Moxley, who can barely stand to the back.
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