New Japan Pro Wrestling was always inevitable to get saucy
Two of the top rising stars in Impact Wrestling and the indie wrestling scene made their mark in this year’s New Japan Pro Wrestling Best of the Super Juniors 29.
The current X-Division champion Ace Austin got a personal invitation to the tournament from NJPW’s own Rocky Romero on the April 28, 2022, edition of Impact Wrestling. It was only inevitable that he would participate in the tournament sooner than later.
This also led to a championship match between the two with Austin retaining the gold.
One of Austin’s best friend “The Saucy One” himself Alex Zayne was also invited to participate and bring his own flavor to the tournament.
Zayne is a big name on the indie wrestling scene but has always competed for companies such as Ring of Honor, NJPW and was briefly signed to WWE’s NXT brand.
At the beginning of last month NJPW announced both the A and B blocks for the the tournament. Both Austin and Zayne who called themselves the “Gate Crashers” were both in the A block.
The tournament lasted from May 15- June 3 and heading into the finals both guys were in the top five of their block. Austin had a total of 10 points finishing in third place while Zayne had a total of 8 points finishing in fifth place.
Here are all their match results:
Night 1 (May 15, 2022):
X-Division Champion Ace Austin defeated Clark Connors
Alex Zayne defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Night 3 (May 18, 2022):
Ace Austin defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Alex Zayne defeated SHO
Night 5 (May 21, 2022)
Himoru Takahashi defeated Ace Austin
Taiji Ishimori defeated Alex Zayne
Night 6 (May 22, 2022)
Clark Connors, Ace Austin and Alex Zayne defeated Ryusuke Taguchi & YOH & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jado
Night 7 (May 24, 2022)
Alex Zayne defeated Francesco Akira
Ace Austin defeated YOH
Night 8 (May 25, 2022)
Ace Austin defeated Alex Zayne
Night 9 (May 26, 2022)
Alex Zayne defeated Ryusuke Taguchi
Ace Austin defeated Taiji Ishimori
Night 10 (May 28, 2022)
SHO defeated Ace Austin
Himoru Takahashi defeated Alex Zayne
Night 11 (May 29, 2022)
YOH defeated Alex Zayne
Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Ace Austin
Night 12 (May 31, 2022)
Clark Connors defeated Alex Zayne
Francesco Akira defeated Ace Austin
Both guys definitely left their mark and impact on the tournament and the company. This was Austin’s first time apart of NJPW and it was inevitable that he would leave a lasting impression. Mr. Alex Zayne on the other hand continued what he does best and brought the sauce and innovation.
The finals of the tournament which took place today didn’t see either Ace Austin or Alex Zayne compete for the trophy and eventual IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match but something even more shocking took place.
Austin would turn on Zayne and helped Bullet Club to defeat the United Empire cementing his allegiance to Bullet Club.
The finals of the tournament brought the shocking end to “The Gate Crashers” with Austin joining Bullet Club. Austin might think things are inevitable but they just got saucy.
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