NJPW Rumble On 44th Street Results (10/28) New Champions Crowned, Ken Shamrock Appears, More
New Japan Pro-Wrestling was live in the Palladium in Manhattan, NY for NJPW Rumble on 44th Street. The show was notable for Motor City Machine Guns' Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley became the second ever NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions, defeating inaugural champions Aussie Open without pinning or submitting them. Sabin and Shelley got the better of LA Dojo tag team The DKC & Kevin Knight, in a three way tag team title match. Aussie Open won the titles on July 24th at an NJPW Strong taping, which aired on August 13th.
Also notable on the show was the return of UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock. Shamrock stood in a NJPW ring for the first time since 2004, staring down longtime rival Minoru Suzuki after a match between Suzuki and Clark Connors. The two MMA legends hugged in a tremendous show of respect. Also on the show Alex Coughlin returned from injury and made his World Tag League intentions known, and Lio Rush came to the aid of YOH, possibly teasing a jump to CHAOS for "The Man of the Hour."
The show was headlined by Wrestle Kingdom 17 opponents Kazuchika Okada and Jay White facing off in tag team competition. Okada teamed with Eddie Kingston while the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion teamed with Juice Robinson.
Here are the full results:
-Pre-show Match: Kylie Rae & Tiara James def. Mina Shirakawa & Waka Tsukiyama by TKO. (12:08)
-House of Torture (SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) def. CHAOS (YOH & Rocky Romero) by pinfall. (7:42)
Yujiro Takahashi pinned Rocky Romero via Rollup after SHO hit Romero with a wrench.
After the match, Lio Rush helped Rocky and YOH fight off House of Torture. Later in the evening, Rush tweeted out a tease that he is now a member of CHAOS
-NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship Match: Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) def. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) (c) and The DKC & Kevin Knight. (13:42)
Chris Sabin pinned Kevin Knight via Dirty Bomb.
-Alex Coughlin returned from as "The Android" and called out JR Kratos. "I wasn't designed for fear. I wasn't built for mercy. I wasn't built to be weak." Promises to return to NJPW at World Tag League.
-NJPW Strong Openweight Championship Match: Fred Rosser (c) def. Jonathan Gresham by pinfall via Emerald Flowsion. (14:37)
-Shota Umino, Wheeler Yuta & Homicide def. Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs) by pinfall. (12:15)
Shota Umino pinned Jorel Nelson via Death Rider.
Before the next match, Ken Shamrock is seen giving Clark Connors a pep talk before his match with Minoru Suzuki.
-Minoru Suzuki def. Clark Connors (w/ Ken Shamrock) by pinfall via Gotch-style Piledriver. (15:50)
After the match, Suzuki and Shamrock trash talked each other, and then hugged. Connors and Suzuki shake hands. Everyone is very respectful with each other, crowd gives Connors an ovation in defeat.
-SWA World Championship Match: Mayu Iwatani (c) def. KiLynn King by pinfall via Moonsault. (11:47)
-KOPW 2022 New York City Street Fight: Shingo Takagi (c) def. El Phantasmo by pinfall via Takagi Driver '98. (20:59)
-Main Event Match: Bullet Club (Jay White & Juice Robinson) def. Kazuchika Okada & Eddie Kingston by pinfall. (20:15)
Jay White pinned Eddie Kingston via Bladerunner.