00:00New Japan Cups or Tag Leagues with him, you know, the respect I have for Tanahashi is obviously being shown by the Japanese fanbase because it's already sold out.
00:19My old Suzuki-kun members there.
00:22I mean, you came into Suzuki-kun, what?
00:322011.
00:33There you go. Right at the end of that year, right? Around World Tag Leagues time?
00:38Right in June that game ended.
00:40Right in June. So, the group was about two months old then.
00:45Yup.
00:46And it fought because, well, in a different universe, it would have been Kojima good.
00:51It was. They turned on him.
00:55Do you think that's in the back of Kojima's mind?
00:57Well, I mean, certainly over the summer, Kojima and Taichi were thrown together and, well, I mean, they really couldn't get along at all.
01:04Okay.
01:05A lot of bad blood, but it was surprising to see Taichi and Kojima successful Thursday night.
01:15Kojima Satoshi!
01:18And after that, it, well, they seem to mend fences.
01:21Taichi!
01:22We shall see, won't we?
01:2414 years of distrust was passed away.
01:30I've faced off against Kojima many a times with my old tag team partner, David Boy Smith Jr.
01:37and we were KES, and we fought Kojima and Tenzan so many times, winning the IWGP Tag Titles from them.
01:44Them beating us for the IWGP Tag Titles.
01:47So that history there, you know, another person I have a lot of respect for.
01:52And in there's Toriyana.
02:02And Toriyana was a thorn in the side of Suzuki again.
02:07He was.
02:08He was.
02:09He was.
02:10And now the masterminds.
02:14Massive brain, a massive brawn, Bolton Oleg.
02:19That's a big old boy.
02:20Big man from Kazakhstan.
02:22He's had a lot of success in the two years since I've been gone.
02:25Indeed.
02:26Never a point champion.
02:27Never a point six-man champion, former Bolton.
02:32Not many people, Lance, can say that they've beaten Kanosuke Tekesha in the year of 2025, but Bolton can say that he beat Tekesha to win the Never a Point championship in June.
02:47So do you think that means that if Tekesha is able to keep the IWGP everyweight title at Wrestle Kingdom, that Oleg has kind of a claim to be a challenger to Tekesha?
03:04I'd like to see it.
03:05That certainly sounds great.
03:06Maybe he could just join the Don Calis family and be one of the 122 members of the battle.
03:16Don Calis, my goodness.
03:19I mean, the cut he gets.
03:21The more members you have, the more money you make, but the more trouble you get in return.
03:29Yeah.
03:30I don't think Don Calis.
03:33Well, he likes the trouble.
03:35He causes enough of it.
03:37Yeah.
03:38Okay.
03:39Okay.
03:40Okay.
03:41Okay.
03:42Okay.
03:43Okay.
03:44Okay.
03:45Okay.
03:46Okay.
03:47All right.
03:48So last time it was a match of the two men with zero points.
03:51And here we have a match of the two teams with two points.
03:53Taichi and Kojima were victorious on Thursday, as were Bolton and Toriano.
03:58Bolton and Yano upset Ishikara and El Desperado.
04:02Okay.
04:03Taichi and Kojima were able to get their wins over Bishima.
04:08But Taichi as well having a lot of left knee, left ankle issues.
04:15As I understood it, he rolled an ankle really last week.
04:20And there were a few question marks over whether he would be okay in time for World Tag League.
04:26Then he showed up really unannounced at Purge Night of Torture last week.
04:31He was beaten up by House of Torture on his entrance.
04:33And that made the injury considerably worse.
04:38It's a tough business.
04:39And you can see Oleg right now, he's got his right shoulder all taped up.
04:47We've often talked about on the broadcast, I've never had a shoulder injury,
04:52but you very often see guys like Yoshihashi,
04:56perhaps guys like David Finley in the past before.
04:59The shoulder injuries really tend to plague them,
05:02not for a couple of months, but for years at a time.
05:05They just never really seem to heal properly.
05:07No, they don't.
05:08I've dealt with them myself.
05:10It's one of those injuries that just continues to nag
05:12because you're always using your arms, especially in this business,
05:14with the strikes you're throwing, the holds you're doing,
05:17and everything that's going on.
05:18And any time you raise your arm above your head,
05:21putting more torque and tear to that shoulder.
05:25So it's one of those injuries that just never seems to go away.
05:28And sometimes it just becomes too much.
05:31Ishii, he just ran into a situation where he had an injury,
05:35now he has to have surgery.
05:36So it's one of those ones that really never goes away
05:38unless you can take time off.
05:39And in this business, we never really get any time off.
05:41And it's certainly going to get worse from here.
05:45We've had, and we talked earlier on, it's been day on, day off,
05:49day on, day off.
05:50But really from here on, we're going to be going
05:55Fukushima tomorrow, and then you're really all over the place.
05:58And any off day you have is spent on the bus driving for hours on end.
06:03It's a little hippy-tossy.
06:13Yeah.
06:14Hippy-tossy.
06:15Don't always never discount Yano as a classical wrestler,
06:20a very proficient amateur wrestler, as is Bolton.
06:23He's also proficient at using the exposed turnbuckle.
06:28Yeah, I don't like that.
06:30No.
06:39There's Bolton who comes in.
06:41Stoshi Kojima at seven times IWGP Tag Team Champion,
06:46five of those with Hiroyoshi Tenza.
06:48Yep.
06:51Bolton thought he was, Kojima thought he was going one way,
06:53and was sent the other instead.
06:59Oh.
07:00Those kicks to the gut just got to be rearranged in his stomach.
07:04Boom.
07:07Here's the cutter, two and a half.
07:10Colton was, at one point, very hotly tipped to be part of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
07:17They were delayed to 2021.
07:20He was top five ranked in the world amateur freestyle,
07:25that is weight class, even for about a year after he retired from amateur wrestling and went pro.
07:30They were too scared to take him off the list.
07:32He's a big old boy.
07:33He'd be good in the super heavyweight tournament.
07:34Exactly.
07:35You could call it the Niku tournament.
07:36We did a deal a couple of years ago in the kickoffs to the G1 where all the young lions at the time,
07:51Bolton was one of them.
07:52They would run these gauntlet matches before the main show started.
07:57They would be un-televised just for the live crowd.
07:59Oh, jeez.
08:00And the deal was, well, if you could run the gauntlet and beat everybody,
08:04all the other young lions inside of five minutes apiece,
08:07well, then you get a year's supply of Yakiniku.
08:10Bolton and Oleg run the whole thing.
08:12Well, he needs it.
08:13Look at him.
08:20Tag team action here.
08:21And Kojima would, oh, probably trade the meat for bread.
08:23Oh.
08:24Kojima used him as a weapon.
08:25That's what you've got to do.
08:27DDT.
08:28I don't have big noggin.
08:30Oh, here's Wolfiano as well.
08:32Double DDTs.
08:36Taichi about to make the hot tag.
08:38What?
08:39Yeah, let's see.
08:40What?
08:41Let's see how mobile Taichi can be on that knee and ankle.
08:45Yeah, when you were teaming with him in Suzuki again,
08:47it wasn't exactly the hot tag taking time, right?
08:50No, it was not.
08:51That's why I'm like, uh-oh.
08:52Oh.
08:53Oh.
08:54Nice kick there.
08:55Even with an ankle.
09:01Oh.
09:02Nice hook kick there.
09:03Bolton and Taichi, some ill feeling, even though they're both on the hot tag side.
09:09Bolton eliminated Taichi from the G1 in the play-ins a couple of years ago,
09:14then beat him in the G1 this year again.
09:16Oh, geez.
09:17Oh!
09:18Oh!
09:19Oh!
09:20Oh!
09:21Oh!
09:22Oh!
09:23Oh!
09:24Oh!
09:25Oh!
09:26Oh!
09:27Oh!
09:28Oh!
09:29Oh!
09:30Oh!
09:31Oh!
09:32Oh!
09:33Oh!
09:34He's too smart!
09:35He goes back!
09:36huge intellect see his tap in his head that means a smart man that's bummer from
09:45Taichi that fired up look at that it doesn't matter how fired up you are if
09:50you haven't got a leg to stand on it's you can only get so far this is this is
09:58this fires everybody up
10:02looks as jealous you don't have any so I do they're just at home I didn't bring
10:08them on tour sorry I think they should be a given
10:19great job for Bolton Oleg there
10:24I thought he was about to go up top I wanted to see it
10:30well you might see this though how about electrifying here it is
10:35it works silly eventually people's bunch of
10:41big kid big kid the flying body sausage
10:49what's in Oleg
10:51my body sausage
10:53well my pal KyoAna who's an old school Japanese wrestling announcer always calls that the flying body sausage
10:59and it's typically
11:00he always used to call it when
11:02when Bam Bam Bigelow was over here in Japan
11:07they would call it the body sausage
11:08it's stuck
11:10Bolton shake
11:11it's a different kind of body sausage
11:13there you go
11:14denied
11:16oh pile driver pass
11:18how's he fighting it though
11:22Taichi if he could try and get underneath himself here might be able to
11:29yeah there you go
11:30that's a big back body drop
11:33yeah emphasis on the big of the body
11:36oh
11:39that's a big elbow
11:40oh
11:41that's a big elbow
11:42oh
11:43oh
11:44oh
11:45Taichi might be talking like homo after that
11:47right in the throat area
11:48oh no
11:49he's probably lost his nipple
11:50come and get it from Taichi
11:52eventually those injuries will catch up to you
12:00and I think he's showing it
12:01you know a lot of fire there with those kicks and the jumps and whatnot
12:04but eventually those knees and ankles they give out on you
12:09he needs to make that tag
12:10Kojima's up and ready to go
12:11I kind of hope at some certain point that your tag team partner can pick up some of that slack
12:16and now Kojima
12:17oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
12:19how much do these suck?
12:20they suck
12:21because he just keeps going
12:25here it comes, here it comes
12:31here it comes
12:32yeah, all the match it is in unison
12:33it does
12:34it does
12:35it does
12:36it does
12:37so many times
12:38up he goes
12:39he's gonna go for it
12:40from the deadliest rope
12:41yeah
12:42oh
12:43oh
12:44oh
12:45oh
12:46oh
12:47oh
12:48oh
12:49oh
12:50oh
12:51oh
12:52he he's receiving into that whole sequence way too many times
12:57as much as you think
12:59because this is the time
13:00it's not gonna work for me
13:01it always works
13:02unfortunately
13:04Kozi Kata
13:05was on the
13:06docket for Kojima
13:07Kojima, but Bolton instead turns it away, belly-to-belly suplex.
13:10I think Bolton might want a tag at this point,
13:13but Toriyano already two damage, just one out on the floor here.
13:20Let's see, what's he got? Kamikaze perhaps?
13:24Oh, escape.
13:25Oh, Taichi right there for Kojima. Here we go, Koji Koji cut up.
13:37Kick right to the face.
13:40Yeah, Bolton might be out, Yano knows it, and just there in the nick of time.
13:45Big save, big save.
13:46And he's gone again.
13:48Oh, Yano.
13:49Yeah, Taichi calling the play, telling Kojima,
13:53no chance to put the former never-openweight champion away here.
13:58Oh, I've taken this lariat way too many times,
14:01probably lost a couple teeth from this thing.
14:03Here he comes.
14:06Oh, no, it does it.
14:07He countered, he countered, he countered.
14:10Straight up for Bolton, into the corner.
14:12Here we go, go, Kojima.
14:14Oh, he escaped, he escaped, he escaped.
14:16Look at Kamikaze.
14:18Oh.
14:19Look's the lariat again.
14:20Bolton on the move.
14:22Oh.
14:24Two big ol' boys just meat hitting meat.
14:27Niku, Niku, Niku.
14:29Oh, double Niku.
14:30And Bolton is down.
14:33Oh.
14:41Oh, there he goes.
14:45Classic Kojima fire.
14:48And this was what got them to victory a couple of days ago,
14:52that sandwich lariat, but oh, no.
14:54He tried to pull it, he tried to pull it.
14:56Now function at the junction, Kojima into that exposed buckle.
15:04Slingshot.
15:05Oh, he caught him, he caught him, he caught him.
15:06He won't block it this time.
15:09Kamikaze.
15:11What's that called?
15:12The Kamikaze for Bolton, and that is it.
15:16Oh.
15:18They got four points now, yes?
15:19They did indeed.
15:20Bolton and Yano last year were in the mix right up until the last day of the league competition.
15:34And this year looking to get further to the final two and the final trophy.
15:40The final trophy is Yano-Tor, Bolton and Orenko.
15:50So we know, but I mean, large you've been in enough of these league four-man tournaments to know that you can't take your foot off the gas, even if you're two wins up.
16:03So many times we've seen wrestlers or teams get on a hot streak early and then collapse.
16:20Well, I think Monster Sauce, we were 3-0 or 4-0 back when two years ago.
16:25Thought, you know, we had the bad, we were going to just cruise on through and then we ultimately did not.
16:31Well, there'll be Bishma next.
16:33Biyano and Bolton.
16:43A difficult ask for Biyano and Bolton and the trap game for Bishma coming up in a couple of days.
16:48Taichi and Satoshi Kojima wrestling El Desperado and Shuji Ishikawa and that's going to be an interesting one.
16:55Wednesday at Sendai San Plaza Hall.
16:58And, well, okay.
17:01Now, Taichi, a very cold look to Satoshi Kojima, Lance.
17:05A little tension there, a little tension there.
17:09I think it's one of those things where the more you win, the more money you make, and the more money you make, the better friends you are.
17:16Now, money can bring you together and it also can split you apart.
17:22And if you start to lose, well, there's paychecks not coming in.
17:26Money, power, and love are the biggest things that bring people together and also destroy things.
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