It is finally time for Evil versus Hiromu Takahashi. I cannot wait for New Japan Sengoku Lord 2020.
The New Japan Pro Wrestling is coming off some very shocking shows with the New Japan Cup Final and Dominion being full of major surprises. The biggest moment was clearly Evil joining the Bullet Club and winning the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships from his former friend Tetsuya Naito. What will be the fallout of these seismic shifts in the world of New Japan?
Sengoku Lord is a pretty new event in New Japan History. This will only be the second ever Sengoku Lord show. But they have set up a very strong card with four singles matches, some fun tag matches, and a highly emotional main event. It seems New Japan should well-positioned for a strong late Summer and Fall. Let us see what they have in store for us on July 25th.
New Japan Sengoku Lord 2020
Taiji Ishimori vs. Yuya Uemura
Yuya Uemura had a very competitive match in the New Japan Cup first round against Yoshinobu Kanemaru. He has been mixing it up with members of Suzuki-gun. It seems Uemura is quickly becoming one of the best of the Young Lions.
He is facing quite a test in the opening match of Sengoku Lord. Taiji Ishimori is coming off an impressive quarterfinal fun in New Japan. Will he take his challenge seriously on Saturday night? If the Bone Soldier doesn’t, he could be in for a major upset.
Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe & Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Yota Tsuji & Gabriel Kidd
It is time for the veterans versus Chaos and some Young Lions. It will be fun to see what Kidd and Tsuji can do against four true NJPW veterans. The four veterans are coming off some impressive matches in the New Japan Cup, can they continue their momentum heading into the fall?
I am also curious to watch Tomohiro Ishii in this match. The vastly underrated star is coming off another impressive run in the New Japan Cup. Can he remain motivated in this eight-man tag match?
CHAOS (SHO, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto) vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI)
Poor Naito. He has gone from the IWGP Double Champion to a very low position on the card in a six-man tag match. It will certainly be interesting to see where LIJ is as a group after the shocking events of recent NJPW shows.
CHAOS is at a bit of a crossroads as well. SHO lost a major title match at Dominion and he is missing his tag partner for a foreseeable future. What will be his mindset going into this match? It will be a good tag match between two very hungry factions.
Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Master Wato, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yuji Nagata vs. Suzuki-Gun (Zack Sabre Junior, Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI)
This ten-man tag match is a mix of storylines that seem to be brewing. The new tag team champions Dangerous Tekkers will get a chance to square off against the Golden Aces again. Will the former champions be able to get some real revenge after NJPW Dominion?
We also have the newest NJPW talent in Master Wato. He has had a lot of his debut moments ruined by Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Can he get back on track on Saturday night?
The final storyline is Yuji Nagata versus his old rival Minoru Suzuki. They had an amazing and hard-hitting match in the first round of New Japan Cup. Nagata won that night. Suzuki is demanding another singles match with Blue Justice. What will happen with all these storylines combine in this chaotic match?
New Japan Sengoku Lord 2020
Kazuchika Okada vs. Yujiro Takahashi
The second singles match of the night is certainly a unique one. Takahashi was a major factor in Okada losing the New Japan Cup final. Takahashi has made it known that he feels Okada has treated him with disrespect for years. This will be his chance to show his talent against one of the biggest stars in the world.
Okada is in a unique position. It would seem he is just biding his time before getting back into the title hunt. But he has been saying in Tokyo Sports that he isn’t interested in the Double Championships at this time. I doubt many of us believe that to be true but we shall see how motivated he is against the Tokyo Pimp.
New Japan Sengoku Lord 2020
NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. El Desperado
It is time for the first title match of the night! Shingo has really stepped up his game and is one of the best wrestlers in the world right now. He had an excellent match against SHO just two weeks ago. It is cool to see the NEVER Openweight title be defended so frequently.
It is also really great to see Junior Heavyweights actually getting a shot at this title. El Desperado is a highly underrated talent. He had an excellent match against Ishii in the first round of the New Japan Cup. He will be looking to impress at Sengoku Lord. This could be the match of the night.
New Japan Sengoku Lord 2020
IWGP Intercontinental & Heavyweight Championship: EVIL(c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi
The main event is going to be very personal. Hiromu Takahashi was supposed to have a match at the NJPW Anniversary Show against Naito. This dream match was taken away because of the Pandemic. He stated it was his goal to win the New Japan Cup and get his match back against Naito at Dominion. He was heartbroken when he fell just short in the semifinals against Okada. Then it got even worse.
EVIL is one of Hiromu’s longest and best friends in professional wrestling. It was a shock when EVIL not only won the New Japan Cup but turned on LIJ to take both of Naito’s title at Dominion. Hiromu had a very emotional breakdown at the end of Dominion. He had lost his friend and his dream match.
Can Hiromu keep his emotions in check in the biggest match of his career? It is important that he does because EVIL has shown he is willing to do anything to win these days. Will the Bullet Club be a factor in the match as well? It should be an emotional main event to end Sengoku Lord.
