NJPW star and former MMA fighter Minoru Suzuki celebrated his 30th anniversary as a pro wrestler this past weekend, running a series of shows in the Tokyo area. One of the main events featured Suzuki wrestling former IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada in the main event, where the outside venue where the event was held underwent a downpour during their match. The two went on to wrestle to a 30-minute time-limit draw.
The bout will soon be posted on New Japan World.
土砂降りの雨の中
カネの雨が降りました
そしてレインメーカーポーズ
涙がでました…オカダ・カズチカ選手#オカダ・カズチカ#大海賊祭 pic.twitter.com/Gb4YAj9Yaf
— ▽TM▽プロレス (@Kr7M2lOSuio6huY) June 23, 2018
I’m told the event staff estimated 18,000 on hand for Okada and Suzuki today. #大海賊祭 #suzuki30
— chris charlton (@reasonjp) June 23, 2018
張り手にもいつもにはない強烈なエフェクトが付きます#njpw #大海賊祭 pic.twitter.com/Pm4fjv7GGM
— norihon (@norihon) June 23, 2018
Tomoaki Honma returns
NJPW star Tomoaki Honma made his in-ring return after 15 months of being out with a serious neck injury this past weekend to close the Kizuna Road tour. Honma teamed with longtime tag-team partner Togi Makabe, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi and Toa Henare to defeat Los Ingobernables de Japon.
Honma suffered the serious neck injury back in March 2016 during a tag-team match, taking a spike DDT from Jado, which left Honma temporarily paralyzed.
Honma cut a show-closing promo following that you can see below, where he celebrated with his wife, who he met in the hospital while he was recovering from the neck injury.