Summer Struggle in Sapporo
Summer Struggle in Sapporo was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on July 10, 2021, and July 11, 2021, at Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena in Sapporo and is the second event under the Summer Struggle name and first to take place at Sapporo. This is the first NJPW event to take place at the Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena since 2011.
| Summer Struggle in Sapporo | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Promotion | New Japan Pro-Wrestling | ||
| Date | July 10–11, 2021 | ||
| City | Sapporo, Japan | ||
| Venue | Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena | ||
| Attendance | Night 1: 1,542[1] Night 2: 2,172[2] | ||
| Event chronology | |||
| |||
| Summer Struggle chronology | |||
| |||
In the main event of night 1, Suzuki Gun's El Desperado retained IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Bullet Club's Taiji Ishimori. In the main event of night 2, Sanada and Tetsuya Naito of Los Ingobernables de Japón defeated Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) of Suzuki Gun to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.
Production
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| English Commentators | Kevin Kelly |
| Chris Charlton | |
| Rocky Romero | |
| Japanese Commentators | Shinpei Nogami |
| Milano Collection A.T. | |
| Katsuhiko Kanazawa | |
| Kazuyoshi Sakai | |
| Togi Makabe | |
| Miki Motoi | |
| Jushin Thunder Liger | |
| Masahiro Chono | |
| Ring announcers | Makoto Abe |
| Kimihiko Ozaki | |
| Referees | Kenta Sato |
| Marty Asami | |
| Red Shoes Unno | |
Background
Since 2020, NJPW has unable to run events with a full arena capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions.[3] On May 19, NJPW announced that Summer Struggle would return in 2021, taking place throughout July with shows happening in Sapporo, Osaka and Nagoya.[4] Kota Ibushi was forced to miss both days due to suffering a fever due the side effects of getting COVID-19 vaccine shot.[5]
Storylines
Summer Struggle in Sapporo will feature professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[6]
Results
Night 1
| No. | Results[7] | Stipulations | Times[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Master Wato defeated Yuya Uemura | Singles match | 9:09 | ||
| 2 | Bullet Club (Evil and Dick Togo) defeated Chaos (Yoh and Tomohiro Ishii) by Submission | Tag team match | 11:37 | ||
| 3 | Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi and Rocky Romero defeated Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi, El Phantasmo and Kenta) | Six man tag team match | 15:16 | ||
| 4 | United Empire (Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan) defeated Chaos (Sho and Kazuchika Okada) | Tag team match | 11:45 | ||
| 5 | Los Ingobernables de Japón (Shingo Takagi, Bushi, Sanada and Tetsuya Naito) defeated Suzuki Gun (Douki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi) | Eight man tag team match | 13:40 | ||
| 6 | El Desperado (c) defeated Taiji Ishimori | Singles match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship | 28:45 | ||
| |||||
Night 2
| No. | Results[7] | Stipulations | Times[2] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Suzuki Gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Yuya Uemura and Sho | Tag team match | 12:03 | ||
| 2 | Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii and Rocky Romero) and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo and Evil) | Six man tag team match | 13:10 | ||
| 3 | Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi and Kenta) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yota Tsuji | Tag team match | 10:40 | ||
| 4 | United Empire (Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan) defeated Chaos (Kazuchika Okada and Yoh) | Tag team match | 12:40 | ||
| 5 | Shingo Takagi defeated Master Wato | Singles match | 14:50 | ||
| 6 | Los Ingobernables de Japón (Sanada and Tetsuya Naito) defeated Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi) (c) | Tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship | 36:57 | ||
| |||||
References
- "2021.07.10 The movie "Godzilla vs Kong" presents SUMMER STRUGGLE in SAPPORO". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
- "2021.07.11 The movie "Godzilla vs Kong" presents SUMMER STRUGGLE in SAPPORO". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
- Satin, Ryan (June 8, 2020). "NJPW To Resume Operations This Month, First Show With Fans Again Announced". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- "『SUMMER STRUGGLE』シリーズ開催！ 7/10(土)＆11(日)札幌・7/13(火)青森・7/14(水)由利本荘・7/17(土)後楽園・7/19(月)龍ケ崎・7/24(土)名古屋のチケット販売スケジュールが決定！". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. May 19, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
- "Kota Ibushi To Miss NJPW Summer Struggle On 7/10 Due To COVID Vaccine Side Effects". Fightful. July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
- Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
- "Full Cards Reavealed For NJPW Summer Struggle In Sapporo". F4wonline. July 2, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2021.