IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor/G1 Supercard
Date: April 6, 2019
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni

My goodness it feels wrong to be typing that for another company. This is the indy/non-WWE main event of the weekend and the only show that stands a fighting chance to topple NXT for best event of the weekend. It’s a combination Ring of Honor/New Japan card and the first time New Japan gets to take the big stage in the big time. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Honor Rumble

This is a 30 man Royal Rumble with one minute intervals and the winner gets a future ROH World Title shot. Kenny King is in at #1 (by request) and Minoru Suzuki is in at #2. There is some horrible static during Suzuki’s entrance and it’s kind of distracting, though you can hear the roar over it just fine. For some reason King tries a chop and the fans know pain is coming. King runs the ropes a bit before the forearm connects and it’s Cheeseburger (erg) in at #3. He tries to chop both of them and gets knocked down, leaving the other two to fight as the announcers make hamburger jokes.

Beer City Bruiser is in at #4 and punches at all three guys before biting Cheeseburger, despite barely having any teeth. Suzuki kicks right back and it’s Sho of Roppongi 3K in at #5 for some dropkicks. Suzuki gets to kick him down in the corner though and it’s Shingo Takagi in at #6. He goes right for Sho to renew their rivalry and it’s Bushi, Shingo’s partner, in at #7. They double team Sho again until Yoh, Sho’s partner, is in at #8 for the greatest coincidence in Rumble history.

Yoh takes over on Shingo and Bushi as the ring is getting too full. A double dropkick connects (well half connects as Yoh’s half clearly wasn’t close) Shingo and Bruiser is the first elimination. Shaheem Ali is in at #9 and people start pairing off with Ali getting in some offense. It’s Rhett Titus in at #10 doing his best Chris Masters impression. He immediately poses in the middle of the ring until King kicks him in the head.

We’ve got King, Suzuki, Cheeseburger, Show, Takagi, Bushi, Yoh, Ali and Titus at the moment with LSG coming in at #11. More brawling against the ropes ensues and it’s Ryusuke Taguchi in at #12 (please get him out of here in a hurry). Taguchi starts throwing his rugby ball around and hits the hip attack until Will Ferrara is in at #13. The Dawgs have a mini reunion and it’s Chase Owens in at #14 as the ring is WAY too full, mainly due to the entrances coming far too fast.

No one comes close to an elimination again so it’s Rocky Romero in at #15 to complete the trio. He and Taguchi stare each other down because that nightmare of a match they had at Rev Pro wasn’t bad enough. The Forever Clotheslines start and everyone gets involved to hit Bushi for about thirty seconds straight. Romero tosses Bushi and it’s Brian Milonas in at #16. Milonas gets rid of Ali and LSG, meaning he isn’t worthless this time around. Bad Luck Fale is in at #17 to get rid of Roppongi 3K.

Cheeseburger gets thrown over but his friends catch him so he’s still in BECAUSE HE’S SMALL AND FUN AND WE ALL LOVE HIM SO FREAKING MUCH. Cheeseburger gets back in as Jonathan Gresham is in at #18. Shingo gets rid of Titus but Suzuki tosses him as the ring is thankfully clearing out a bit. Tracy Williams is in at #19 and with nothing going on, Yoshi-Hashi is in at #20 as Taguchi is eliminated. That gives us King, Suzuki, Cheeseburger, Ferrara, Owens, Romero, Milonas, Fale, Gresham, Williams and Hashi as Williams trades headbutts with Suzuki.

PJ Black is in at #21 and Ferrara is out as Black and Owens try to double team Suzuki. You just don’t do that as Suzuki eliminates Owens. Jushin Thunder Liger is in at #22 and you know the place is going nuts for that one. Liger fires off the palm strikes and gets rid of Milonas on his own. TK O’Ryan is in at #23 and Vinny Marseglia is in at #24 because of course. The Kingdom gets together and tosses Williams as Delirious is in at #25. The booker gets himself onto the biggest card in the company’s history? I’m as shocked as you are.

His entrance takes so long that it’s Tomohiro Ishii in at #26. Now this guy has to get rid of at least a few people. Black is out first and it’s Toru Yano in at #27….or not actually as he runs over to commentary and gives his spot to Colt Cabana in a nice moment. Yano sits in on commentary and let’s put the camera on that instead of the ring. Hirooki Goto is in at #28 as Romero and Hashi are tossed. Everyone gets together to get rid of Fale and it’s freaking King Haku in at #29 (Yano: “VERY SCARY!!!”).

It’s a Tongan Death Grip for Cabana, who waves Yano down for the save. Yano comes in…..and it’s THE GREAT MUTA in at #30 to complete the field. Sweet goodness the one year I don’t go to Wrestlemania weekend and I miss Muta and Liger. The final grouping is King, Suzuki, Cheeseburger, Gresham, Liger, O’Ryan, Marseglia, Delirious, Ishii, Cabana/Yano (I’m not sure which you count as legally in), Goto, Haku and Muta. We get confirmation that Yano is in at #31 because why not.

Muta tosses Delirious and Yano accidentally hits Cabana with a buckle pad, allowing Suzuki to get rid of both of them. Gresham is out and it’s Goto and Suzuki going to the apron. Suzuki kicks Goto out and gets back in, giving us the required slugout with Ishii. They go to the ropes with Suzuki going for the armbreaker but Ishii pulls him up for the lariat and the elimination. We’re down to eight….and King is nowhere in sight so you know where this is going. Cheeseburger takes House of 1000 Corpses and gets tossed (I like this so much better all of a sudden) and Haku gets the same, minus the corpses.

The Kingdom gets rid of Ishii and it’s O’Ryan, Marseglia, Muta and Liger (what a weird generational tag match). Muta and Liger get rid of them in all of fifteen seconds and my goodness what a staredown. Muta takes him down with the dragon screw legwhip and the power drive elbow…and then King comes back in and dumps them both for the win at 47:21 because ROH is STILL trying to make King a big deal.

Rating: D+. The one thing that this showed me was how much better New Japan’s roster is than ROH’s even in the undercard. Look at the biggest names in this match from both sides. Who from ROH was interesting here? King? The Kingdom? On the other side you have legitimate legends like Muta and Liger, plus stars like Ishii and Suzuki. This was one sided and the ending was just annoying as I was digging the visual of Liger and Muta, which is probably the only time they’ll ever be here.

As for the match itself, it felt like every WWE Rumble trick known to man packed into one match. Between the partners coming in on consecutive numbers to the #1 entrant lasting until the end to the always annoying “oh he’s not eliminated”, I’m pretty sure I just saw five Royal Rumble in one package. It’s fine to let everyone get on the card (Cabana’s face in the ring while he was soaking things in genuinely made me smile) but come up with something fresh instead of just copying WWE.

Post match Muta gives King the mist for a cool moment.

The opening video features the New Japan wrestlers talking about what it means to wrestle in Madison Square Garden. Fair enough man, as I still can’t believe I’m seeing it.

We’ve got pyro. But WWE can’t afford it right?

The announcers run down the card.

Never Openweight Title vs. ROH TV Title: Will Ospreay vs. Jeff Cobb

Title for title. They shake hands before the bell and Cobb wastes no time in shouldering him out to the floor. Ospreay gets in a shot for a breather and runs back in for a Flying Space Tiger Drop, which is pulled out of the air. Whatever Cobb was trying is countered into a tornado DDT on the floor but he’s fine enough for the delayed vertical superplex for two back inside. There’s a hue toss across the ring as the power vs. speed is on full display early on.

We hit the bearhug with Ospreay having to elbow his way to freedom and nailing a spinwheel kick to the face. Pip Pip Cheerio gets two but it’s way too early for Stormbreaker as Cobb reverses into a fall away slam. The Samoan drop into the nip up into the standing moonsault gets two as Cobb gets to show off. Ospreay grabs the ropes to avoid the Tour of the Islands and it’s the Spanish Fly to drop the monster. A missile dropkick to Cobb’s bad shoulder keeps him in trouble but Code Red only gets two.

The Oscutter is broken up and Cobb turns him inside out with a clothesline. In a scary sight, Cobb goes up but misses the frog splash. The Oscutter is countered with Ospreay being thrown into the corner, where he bounces right back to make it connect on a second attempt for two. A hook kick to the head drops Cobb and there’s the Cheeky Nandos kick. Ospreay makes the mistake of trying a super Stormbreaker though because it’s a super Tour of the Islands to crush Ospreay dead. A regular version gives Cobb the pin and both titles at 12:56.

Rating: B. That was fun and the perfect choice for an opener. Cobb looked like a star who survived everything Ospreay could throw at him and hit his crazy power moves to retain/win. Power vs. speed is almost as basic as you can get in wrestling and when you do it right, it’s a very cool match, just like this one was.

Rush vs. Dalton Castle

Rush dropkicks him into the corner and hits a pair of Bull’s Horns for the pin at 19 seconds. I was wondering how they would handle this and they handled it by making Rush look awesome.

Post match Castle snaps and beats up the Boys.

Mandy Leon joins commentary because Delirious still runs this company.

Juice Robinson has been attacked.

Women’s Title: Mayu Iwatani vs. Kelly Klein

Klein is challenging after they’ve traded wins over the last few months. Kelly sends Camp Kelly to the back so it’s one on one. An exchange of wristlocks doesn’t go anywhere so Klein gets smart by going after Iwatani’s bad knee. The leglock goes on with punches to the knee but Iwatani reverses into a rear naked choke. Klein breaks that up and catches a diving Iwatani in a fall away slam.

That’s not going very far though as Iwatani sends her outside and hits a big dive (good one too) but gets her throat snapped across the top rope. Back in and Klein wins an elbow off and drops Iwatani on her head in a release German suplex. She pops back up for the knockdown though and we get a quick breather. A dragon suplex sends Klein into the ropes but Iwatani misses the moonsault. Klein powerbombs her out of the corner and K Power gives her the title back at 10:16.

Rating: C+. Ok. It’s another title change between women I know next to nothing about. Klein certainly did beat her though and apparently that’s all ROH thinks we need to know, because it’s all they’ve given us in the year the title has been around. It doesn’t matter who holds the thing if we have no reason to care about (positively or negatively) about either of them and ROH doesn’t get that.

Post match Angelina Love and Velvet Sky (the Beautiful People, who Madison Rayne wanted to team with and then left anyway) debut and Leon comes to the ring. The three of them beat Klein down and do the same to an invading Stella Gray and Jenny Rose. A graphic pops up on screen dubbing them The Allure. Good. They’re already the most interesting thing in the division’s history because they’re known characters with personalities and the ability to talk. Now DO SOMETHING WITH THEM.

Caprice Coleman joins commentary because we need to keep that four person booth.

Here’s Mega Ran to perform the theme song. QUIT COPYING WWE ALREADY! The fans boo the heck out of this and here’s Bully Ray to interrupt. Mega begs off and gets beaten up anyway, but now we need a replacement opponent. Guess who’s here.

Flip Gordon vs. Bully Ray

Of course it’s Gordon because ROH has no idea how to end a feud. Gordon starts fast but Ray knocks him down and goes for an early table. Cue Silas Young and Shane Taylor though (oh here we go) and the beatdown seems imminent, but Juice Robinson and Mark Haskins run in for the save, complete with a bucket of weapons. Wait if Robinson is fine three minutes into the match, why was Gordon needed in the first place? I’m going to go with “that’s what the script said” and move on.

Flip Gordon/Mark Haskins/Juice Robinson vs. Bully Ray/Silas Young/Shane Taylor-

It’s now a six man with Juice unloading on Ray until a thumb to the eye lets him take over. Haskins and Gordon get together to take on Taylor but it’s the villains surrounding Gordon with kendo sticks. Gordon takes a shot, flips off Ray, and demands more. Haskins and Robinson come back in with more sticks and the good guys take over, leaving Ray down 3-1. The bailing up the ramp is quick but Robinson makes the stop. That earns him a low blow….and a superkick? From BULLY RAY?

Taylor helps clean house and sets up a table (Fans: “THAT’S NOT D-VON!”) for the powerbomb to put Gordon through. Ray gets crotched by Haskins, giving us the always funny “OW MY BALLS!”. Taylor brings in a wooden pallet but Robinson saves Haskins. Robinson Cannonballs Taylor through it instead and Ray takes What’s Up from Haskins (Ray: “OW MY BALLS!” Dang rough night for him.). Gordon adds the 450 for the pin at 14:59.

Rating: D+. This is a match that happened, even though we’ve seen Gordon beat Ray one on one before. I have no idea why we needed Gordon to do this again but I’ll go with ROH not knowing how to go anywhere else. You have an open challenge available and can’t have Ishii or Suzuki come out there and destroy him? At least they’re pushing Gordon, and that’s what matters most. Young and Taylor could have been any two warm bodies here, as Young was barely a factor at all.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Dragon Lee vs. Bandido vs. Taiji Ishimori

Ishimori is defending and this is going to be insane. The champ gets knocked outside to start and it’s Bandido with a pair of hurricanranas to Lee. The running flip dive takes Lee down but it’s Ishimori back in to crank on Bandido’s neck. Lee hurricanranas Bandido outside as they’re already crazy fast to start. Ishimori moonsaults onto both of them and they all head back in with Lee powerbombing Ishimori for two. Lee’s top rope double stomp is countered by Bandido’s super hurricanrana, earning himself a Canadian Destroyer as Lee popped right back up.

Ishimori knees Lee down but walks into a pop up cutter for two. Now Lee hits the top rope stomp on Bandido but his suplex is countered into a hurricanrana for two from Ishimori. The Bloody Cross gets two on Lee and they head up top with Bandido on his feet as well. Bandido catches them both for a SUPER DOUBLE FLOATOVER FALL AWAY SLAM (Cabana: “THAT’S NOT A REAL MOVE!!!”). After two on Lee, Bandido hits….something on Ishimori that we miss because the camera was looking at the crowd looking at itself on the screen. Lee knees Ishimori to the floor and hits a fisherman’s suplex powerbomb on Bandido for the pin and the title at 8:56.

Rating: B+. Oh come on like this was going to be anything but awesome. It was a pure spotfest and that’s exactly what we should have been getting here. Any of these guys could have left as champion and I’d bet on all three of them being champion at some point again. Just do more of this and they’ll be fine.

Ishimori puts the best on the new champ in a display of sportsmanship.

IWGP Tag Team Titles/ROH Tag Team Titles: Guerrillas of Destiny vs. Villain Enterprises vs. Evil/Sanada vs. Briscoes

The Guerrillas have the IWGP Titles and Enterprises have the ROH Titles, winner take all. Just to make sure PCO is ready, he’s strapped into an electric chair for some extra fire. The Briscoes start in a hurry and Jay is backdropped out to the floor. PCO suicide flip dives onto him and it’s a wild brawl all over ringside. The champs get back inside for the slugout but the Briscoes pull the Villains outside.

Sanada ties Tama in the Paradise Lock for the running dropkick but the Briscoes are back in to take him out. King comes in to crossbody both of them so here’s Loa for the big man showdown. King hits his own running flip dive (no hands) and it’s Mark with his own corkscrew dive (you never see that). Jay’s running Blockbuster off the apron drops Sanada and Tama kicks Jay outside.

Evil wraps a chair around Tama’s head and hits it with another chair for the big knockdown. The Briscoes break up the Magic Killer and it’s the Jay Driller into the Froggy Bow for two with King making a save. PCO hits the Cannonball onto Mark on the apron and the fans go nuts as he’s been trying to hit that since he debuted. King’s Ganso Bomb into PCO’s moonsault crushes Mark again with the Guerrillas making the save.

The Guerrillas are done playing and powerbomb PCO over the top onto the floor (nothing to break the fall)….and he sits up, which actually shocked me. He falls back down, but I think he won the point already. Back in and the Gun Stun to King sets up the Superbomb to give the Guerrillas all the titles at 9:56.

Rating: B. Much like the previous match: let them go nuts and give the fans what they wanted. The Guerrillas winning isn’t exactly a surprise but how cool is it for PCO to make it back to the Garden as a champion? That’s the greatest career renaissance of all time and there’s nothing close to it.

As the match ends, Enzo Amore and Big Cass jump the barricade to flip off the crowd and yell, earning a beatdown from the Briscoes and Bully Ray. It wasn’t clear if this was a work or a shoot, but ROH retweeting a video of it should clear up the confusion. If anything could make me give up on this company, it’s having to listen to Enzo again.

The celebration is on and Toru Yano steals the IWGP Tag Team Titles. Why the Guerrillas don’t go after him isn’t clear. Colt: “He’s going to need a partner right???”

The announcers make sure to not talk about Enzo and Cass, though you can hear the fans booing them. We go to a shot of the video screen to fill in time. They’re getting booed, but I have a feeling it’s not the kind of heat that is going to translate well to ROH TV. The announcers do talk about “people trying to make a name for themselves.” It’s real people.

British Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Sabre is defending and Tanahashi has bad knees coming in. Taka Michinoku is here with Sabre as the hype man. Taka asks who is going to win and then says Sabre doesn’t just win this one, but EVERY match. Feeling out process to start with Tanahashi tentatively going to the mat and getting spun around into a wristlock. Tanahashi goes with a kick to the ribs and a middle rope crossbody to some better success.

Sabre is right back with a cross armbreaker into a Disarm-Her but Tanahashi makes the rope. It’s time to start in on the shoulder (for now) and the cocky kicks bring Tanahashi back to his feet. Sabre throws him over the top and the shoulder keeps Tanahashi from skinning the cat. Never to miss an opportunity, Sabre grabs a cross armbreaker with Tanahashi in the rope. Tanahashi is back with a running dropkick and a middle rope Swanton for two.

The Cloverleaf doesn’t go on but an abdominal stretch does, leading to a fight over who can keep the hold. Sabre goes to the rope in a ruse, allowing him to crank on the arm some more. Tanahashi grabs a dragon screw legwhip for a break but can’t keep the Cloverleaf. Instead Sabre pulls him down into a triangle choke, which is reversed into the full Cloverleaf. Sabre is in the ropes almost immediately because he’s good at escaping as well as applying.

The High Fly Flow is broken up and there’s a Pele to the arm. Another dragon screw legwhip is countered into the European Clutch for two and there’s the PK to drop Tanahashi again. The Zack Driver is countered into another legwhip and Twist and Shout has Sabre in trouble. Sling Blade gets two but the dragon suplex is countered into something like an Octopus Hold and then a double arm crank with the legs (almost a full nelson) to make Tanahashi tap at 15:17.

Rating: B. Well of course it works. There’s something so fun about watching Sabre take someone apart like that, even if it’s Tanahashi. This was a great rub for Sabre, who could have a very long career on top if he keeps evolving. Those holds are deadly and of course Tanahashi will be fine as he’s been a legend for years now.

We recap Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi for the Intercontinental Title. Ibushi beat Naito in the New Japan Cup to earn a shot and it’s time to tear the house down.

Chris Charloton joins commentary.

IWGP Intercontinental Title: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi

Ibushi is challenging and Naito has the white suit on so you know it’s serious. I love the New Japan zoom in at the bell. Naito ducks a pair of charges to start and they lock up a minute in. Kelly’s summation: “They seem to enjoy dropping each other on their heads.” Naito grabs a headlock into a headscissors but Naito rolls out and hits the Tranquilo pose for the expected reaction. Ibushi’s hurricanrana sends Naito outside but he’s right back in for a baseball slide to put Ibushi out there instead.

A whip into the barricade has Ibushi in trouble and another one sends him into the crowd. Ibushi is back in at 11 (20 counts and titles can change hands on a countout) and Naito gets two off a neckbreaker. We hit the cravate as Naito stays on the neck until Ibushi is back up with a dropkick. Some kicks into a standing moonsault gives Ibushi two and it’s a running kick to the head to knock him outside.

Ibushi hides his head from the referee so Naito hits a reverse DDT onto the knee. Naito gets kicked off the top though and they fight to the apron, where Naito runs into a hurricanrana out to the floor in a crazy cool looking spot. Back in and Naito is fine enough for the tornado DDT for another near fall and frustration seems to be setting in. Gloria (arm trap belly to back on the back of Naito’s head) gets two but Ibushi blasts him with a clothesline.

To mix things up a bit, a dead lift German superplex from the apron gives Ibushi two more. The big knee to the face is blocked and a kind of kneeling piledriver from the mat (dropping Ibushi on his head again) gets another two. They slug it out from their knees and Naito spits in his face. That’s too much for Ibushi but Naito hit s a reverse hurricanrana into Destino for two and Naito is stunned. Another Destino is countered into a kick to the head and a pair of Kinshasa knees knock Naito sillier. The Gold Star Bomb gets two and the big knee to the face finishes Naito at 20:43.

Rating: A. As much as I was cringing at all those head shots, I wasn’t taking my eyes off of this as they were hitting each other as hard as they could and it was nothing short of outstanding. Ibushi fighting through for the sake of achieving his goal was great and this should free Naito up to go after the World Title again. Great stuff and exactly what the New Japan fans wanted on this show.

We recap the ROH World Title match. Jay Lethal is champion, Marty Scurll is crazy popular and has never been champion and Taven is cutting the same I SHOULD BE CHAMPION AND YOU’RE ALL AGAINST ME promos he’s been on for over a year. Taven and Lethal went to an hour long draw last month so he’s earned another shot while Scurll won the Survival of the Fittest. It’s a ladder match so there can be no biases from the referees.

NWA World Champion Nick Aldis joins commentary.

Ring of Honor World Title: Jay Lethal vs. Matt Taven vs. Marty Scurll

Lethal is defending in a ladder match and Taven is played to the ring via piano. The ring announcer makes it clear that this ladder match is ONE FALL. You can tell Lethal is fired up to be here, as he should be. Marty goes straight for a ladder so Jay baseball slides it into him. Taven is right there with the no hands dive to take them both down but bangs up his wrist in the process. Lethal goes with some chairs and bridges a ladder between some in the aisle.

That takes too long so Marty jumps him from behind and goes inside to put a pair of ladders in a pair of corners. Lethal and Taven are back in with Jay hitting both of them with ladders to take over. Instead of going up, he bridges a ladder over the bottom rope and of course gets sent face first into it. Marty ties Lethal in the Tree of Woe in the ladder and blasts it with a chair a few times. Lethal is mostly dead so Marty sets up a ladder in the middle, grabs the umbrella, and goes up.

That takes a bit too long though and it’s Taven making the save with a superkick. Taven knees the ladder around Lethal’s neck but it’s Marty going up the ladder. Lethal ties him up in a Figure Four in the ladder but they have to let go so Taven can be stopped. Marty takes a cutter on the apron and Taven powerbombs Lethal onto the bridged ladder in the aisle. This gives Aldis another chance to be the best analyst in wrestling today because he ACTUALLY ANALYZES THINGS.

Back in and Marty gives Taven a 619, which further injures his knee. Taven ladders Marty down and the fans are all over him, because Taven is as popular as a bad fungus. For some reason Taven climbs a ladder in the corner, earning himself a superplex back down. Lethal comes back in and flips out of the chickenwing attempt. With Marty down, Lethal goes up, punches Taven down, and gets caught in the chickenwing on the ladder.

Taven goes up as well and gets his fingers snapped but Lethal kicks them both off the ladder. A Lethal Combination sends Taven into the ladder and Lethal misses a charge, putting one ladder through another in the corner. Marty drops Taven onto the X between the ladders but walks into the Lethal Injection. Lethal throws the double ladder outside and it nearly knocks out half of the first row. Fans: “THAT’S A LAWSUIT!”

Scurll gives Lethal a brainbuster on the floor and loads up a table as Aldis is suddenly very anti-Lethal. Taven is back up and spears Marty off the apron and through the table. They’re both down so Lethal pulls out another table and the big ladder, setting up Hail to the King for the crazy spot of the match. Lethal and Marty go up but Taven busts out a big purple ladder. They all get knock down as Aldis has to explain to Riccaboni why a taller ladder is a good idea. Taven climbs up, hits Lethal in the head with the title, and wins at 29:38.

Rating: B-. This was good for the most part but it’s the worst possible outcome that deflated the crowd. The fans just do not want to see Taven on top of the company and have made that very clear. Instead, he gets the World Title because ROH had put so much time and energy into him that they just did it anyway. The match was entertaining but could have been at least ten minutes shorter on an already long show where New Japan has already lapped ROH five times.

We recap the IWGP World Title match. Jay White rocketed up the ranks and defeated Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom before winning the title, partially due to Okada’s manager Gedo switching sides. Okada is back to his old self, having won the New Japan Cup, and is out for revenge and the title. Works for me, as New Japan stories are more about being well told than too complicated.

IWGP World Title: Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White

White is defending and completely loathed by the crowd. The champ bails to the floor to start so it takes a little bit for the lockup. A shoulder puts Okada down but a Gedo distraction lets White grab a headlock takeover. Back up and Okada kicks him in the face, setting up a neckbreaker for one. They head outside and White goes hard into the barricade before going over the barricade.

Another Gedo distraction lets White drive him into the post and we hit the reverse chinlock back inside. A belly to back gets and a DDT has Okada down again. We go old school with the Muta Lock but Okada is right next to the ropes. Okada nips back up and hits a DDT of his own for two of his own. White’s kicks to the head just get on Okada’s nerves and there’s the dropkick to send White outside.

A Helluva Kick sends White over the barricade again and Gedo is tossed on top of him. The big dive over the barricade takes both villains down to a nice reaction. Back in and White escapes something and snaps off a Saito suplex. The White Noise onto the knee puts White down again and Okada gets angry with the shotgun dropkick into the corner.

The top rope elbow connects but White sits down to avoid the Rainmaker (thankfully we get the awesome zoom out). A Downward Spiral and a German suplex put Okada down again and White suplexes him into the corner. The Kiwi Crusher (White’s ROH finisher) gets two and Okada is right back with the Tombstone.

It’s time for the forearm exchange but Okada misses the dropkick. The second attempt connects but the Rainmaker is countered into a suplex. The Blade Runner is countered and the Rainmaker into the Rainmaker gets two, stunning the crowd. When is the last time you saw someone kick out of a pair of clotheslines?

Now Blade Runner connects for no cover as White is done. They forearm it out from their knees as we hit the thirty minute mark. Gedo offers another distraction and it’s a low blow to Okada. Both finishers are countered again so Okada goes with the dropkick. Two Rainmakers, a spinning Tombstone and another Rainmaker gives Okada the title back at 33:44.

Rating: A-. It was the most obvious ending in the world and White, while great, isn’t great enough to go all the way up to this level. Okada is one of the best of all time and is going to need a top challenger now that he has the title. That would seem to be Naito, which is as good of a match as you’re going to get right now. Let them do their thing and White can rebuild. He’ll be back.

Overall Rating: B. This one was a cut down the middle of a show as you’re going to get. We’ll start with the good. New Japan looked incredible here and showcased themselves on the biggest stage of American. Their stars looked like stars and the gave you enough of a set of styles that there was something for everyone. I don’t know what else there is to say here because everything they did worked in one way or another.

Then there’s Ring of Honor and it’s a bad night if you’re a fan. You got Kenny King, Kelly Klein and Matt Taven pushed as big deals (along with Rush and Gordon, the only good things to come out of this show for the company) pushed as big deals and those three people have one thing in common: ROH fans don’t care about them. King is the same guy they’ve been trying to milk something out of for years, Klein is boring and Taven is Jeff Jarrett without a Tennessee accent.

For ROH, this was a night of pessimism as they try to push whatever they can think of to get success without remembering what got them here in the first place. Tonight felt like they were trying to be WWE at times (Enzo and Cass) while also forcing us to accept ideas that we’ve already rejected (Taven). The future looks bleak at the moment and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. It’s like ROH doesn’t get it and that has been the case for way too long in the bigger situations. I still have some hope in Lifeblood, but other than that it’s a bad sign as they choke at the big show. Again.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: New Japan Pro Wrestling

Wrestle Kingdom XIII
Date: January 4, 2019
Location: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 38,162
Commentators: Don Callis, Chris Charlton, Kevin Kelly

Well this is a big one. It’s the Japanese equivalent of Wrestlemania and the biggest non-WWE show of the year. This year’s card is absolutely stacked (tends to be the case) and while I’m not the biggest New Japan fan, there’s a very strong chance of this show being nothing short of incredible. Let’s get to it.

As always, please note that I don’t watch NJPW regularly. I know the basic stories and looked up a few things beforehand, but I’m going to miss some details and character motivations in some parts.

Gauntlet Match

The winners get a Never Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title shot, I believe at tomorrow’s New Year’s Dash show. The Elite (Yujiro Takahashi, Marty Scurll and Hangman Page with Chase Owens in their corner) and Yuji Nagata/David Finlay/Jeff Cobb start things off with Cobb sporting a taped up shoulder. Scurll headscissors Nagata to start and gets smart by kicking the knee out instead of trying a slugout. The finger snap is broken up but so is Nagata’s reverse Figure Four.

Cobb comes in and gets triple teamed to the floor, with Page adding the shooting star from the apron. Back in and Cobb tosses Page in a fall away slam, allowing the tag to Finlay. Everything breaks down and Finlay hits a Rock Bottom backbreaker on Takahashi as everyone else heads to the floor. Owens grabs Finlay’s foot for a save but accidentally gets kicked down by Page. The distraction is enough for Finlay to roll Takahashi up for the pin and the elimination at 4:43.

Next up is Chuckie T/Beretta/Hirooki Goto with Goto and Nagata slugging it out in the middle. Chuckie and Beretta break it up and there’s a big flip dive from Chuckie onto Cobb and Finlay. Beretta adds an Asai moonsault onto both of them, leaving Goto to hit the fireman’s carry backbreaker for two on Nagata. Things settle down with Chuckie and Beretta getting in a huge to set up a double elbow drop.

Nagata scores with an exploder suplex and it’s off to Cobb to clean house. We get the big clotheslines from Cobb and Goto until some double teaming slows Cobb down. That’s fine with him as he suplexes both of them down without much effort. Chuckie’s piledriver gets two on Finlay but he misses the moonsault, allowing Finlay to grab a quick rollup for the pin at 13:40.

Minoru Suzuki and the Killer Elite Squad are in fourth and of course the brawl is on in a hurry. Nagata and Suzuki slug it out (well duh) with the revolving slaps until Nagata gets two off a t-bone suplex. Smith comes in but gets kicked in the leg, allowing the hot tag to Cobb for the hoss battle. The Angle Slam sets up the standing moonsault but Smith gets away as everything breaks down. The Killer Bomb finishes Finlay at 18:34.

Ryusuke Taguchi/Togi Makabe/Toru Yano are the final team so it’s time for COMEDY! The Squad beats the funny out of them in the aisle though and Suzuki goes after commentary due to reasons of evil. We settle down to Smith kicking Taguchi in the face, hitting the Hulk Hogan poses, and dropping a leg for two. Archer comes in for an Undertaker rope walk, though he spices it up a bit with a tag while on the ropes. It’s off to Suzuki, who actually gets knocked down so Makabe can come in for some power.

Suzuki runs him over again but the kicks seem to fire Makabe up. A double clothesline allows the double tag to Yano and Smith so Yano can go straight for the buckle pad. Archer comes in for the Hart Attack, followed by a side slam/middle rope splash combination for a near fall each. Suzuki tries the Gotch piledriver on Makabe but gets taken down by Taguchi’s hip attack. The Squad goes after Makabe but it’s a double low blow from Yano to set up the rollup pin on Smith for the title shot at 27:48.

Rating: C-. This was ok and a good way to get a bunch of people on the show without having a battle royal. I’m really not a fan of Yano (repetitive comedy gets old in a hurry) but the fans love him and that’s enough of a reason to give his team the win here. The length was fine and it’s an acceptable Kickoff Show match, which is exactly the right idea. Nothing great, but fine.

Video on the Best Of 2018, including various attendances for the bigger shows.

Ads for upcoming shows, including one in Dallas at the American Airlines Center on July 6 and a show in England on August 31. Also, next year’s New Year’s Dash will be in the Tokyo Dome as well.

We get the video running down the card, featuring the show order. This is rather stacked, as always.

Never Openweight Title: Will Ospreay vs. Kota Ibushi

Kota is defending and egads what an opener. They start with Ibushi being monkey flipped to the floor, leaving Ospreay to hit the superhero pose. Ibushi dives back in and blocks the Oscutter and we’re now forty five seconds in with a standoff. The kick to the chest misses Ospreay so Ibushi dropkicks him to the floor, only to miss the middle rope moonsault in a big crash as Ospreay somehow gets to the apron and kicks him out of the air.

The Space Flying Tiger Drop has Ibushi in even more trouble and a backbreaker gives Ospreay two. Ibushi is right back up with a hurricanrana to the floor, setting up a top rope corkscrew Asai moonsault (good grief) to drop Ospreay again. Back in and Ibushi nails a rolling German suplex but Ospreay scores with a handspring spinning kick to the head. Ospreay hits a Cheeky Nandos Kick for two more and it’s time to trade forearms. Ibushi gets the better of it but neither can hit a powerbomb.

Instead Osprey kicks him in the chest and grabs a Spanish Fly to put both of them down. Stormbreaker is countered into a hurricanrana for two and there’s the sliding knee to Ospreay’s head. The sitout Last Ride gives Ibushi two more but Ospreay catches him on top with the knee getting caught in the Tree of Woe. They slug it out from there (as in with Ibushi hanging upside down) until Ospreay kicks him in the face to take over.

What looked to be a super Stormbreaker is countered but Ospreay flips out of a German superplex, which seems to be a callback to a recent match. Ibushi’s straitjacket suplex gets two and they trade some heavy shots to the head. Stormbreaker is countered again into an exchange of counters, capped off by Ibushi hitting a kneeling tombstone. Somehow he’s up first and hits a heck of a running back elbow to the back of Ibushi’s head. Ibushi is DONE and the Stormbreaker gives Ospreay the pin and the title at 18:14.

Rating: B+. Well we’re off to a great start. This was an awesome “I hit something big then you hit something bigger” exchange with Ospreay being in his element with that style. Ibushi is still one of the best high fliers ever and looked great here, but Ospreay winning makes sense given how much star potential he has. Excellent opener with some very hard hitting action.

Ibushi is taken out on a stretcher and apparently had a legit concussion.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Roppongi 3K vs. Suzuki-Gun vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon

Suzuki-Gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru/El Desperado) are defending and Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) has Rocky Romero in their corner. Los Ingobernables (Bushi/Shingo Takagi) start the brawl before the bell but get sent to the apron for the running flip dives from 3K. Kanemaru and Desperado break up a second set of dives and it’s Desperado chinlocking Yoh to take over. Back up and a superkick allows the tag to Sho as they’re certainly moving early on. An AJ Styles drop down into a dropkick hits Desperado and Shingo tags himself in and starts in with some hard strikes.

Sho German suplexes Shingo who German suplexes Kanemaru at the same time but Desperado nails a spear. 3K’s double jumping knees put Desperado down and a backbreaker/middle rope knee drop combination makes it even worse. With Desperado in trouble, 3K loads up….uh 3K actually but has to duck a double shot of whiskey and black mist, allowing Shingo to hit Sho with a Gory Bomb. The Big Bomber (hard lariat) gets two on Sho and Bushi dives onto Yoh. Last of the Dragon (a modified Samoan driver) gives Shingo the pin and the titles at 6:49.

Rating: C+. That was certainly short. It was entertaining while it lasted but they didn’t have time to do much. That being said, they crammed in as much as they could with 3K and Shingo looking like stars. This division has finally moved past the Young Bucks and the matches are a lot of fun. It might have been better with the less time here though as it didn’t have time to die down, which seems to be the point of a match like this.

Rev Pro British Heavyweight Title: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Ishii is defending and I saw him take the title from Sabre in New Orleans in an awesome match so this should be fun. Sabre’s manager Taka Michinoku handles the hype efforts before the match. Sabre goes straight for an abdominal stretch attempted but gets hiptossed out. An enziguri misses for Ishii and Sabre takes him down into a cross armbreaker, sending the champ to the ropes after some good cranking.

Sabre’s kicks to the chest are shrugged off so he slaps on another armbar to send Ishii right back to the ropes. Those cocky kicks to the side of Ishii’s head just wake him up (like Flair’s chops to Sting) but Sabre takes him over with a northern lights suplex. They trade ankle locks until Ishii shoulders the heck out of him for a breather. Another suplex takes Sabre down this time and the delayed vertical superplex keeps Sabre in trouble. He holds onto the arm though and stomps on it before crashing to the side because Sabre can do things like that.

An exchange of escapes goes into an Octopus Hold from Sabre, which he switches into a Code Red for two. The Zack (Michinoku) Driver is blocked and Ishii powerbombs the heck out of him for two of his own. Ishii’s hard lariat gets two but Sabre slips out of the brainbuster. Sabre’s bridging pin is only good for two more so it’s off to a guillotine with an armbar. Sabre switches it over to the double arm trap octopus, which is actually called Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than The Last; The Inexorable March Of Progress Will Lead Us All To Happiness (seriously) for the tap submission at 11:37.

Rating: B+. This needed more time to hit their full potential but the monster Ishii vs. the villain submission machine is one of the best combinations I’ve seen in a very long time. Sabre is so crazy smooth in the ring and Ishii is one of the best tough guy wrestlers I’ve seen in a long time. I could watch these two fight for months and this was another great one from both guys.

Sabre is presented with a new title.

IWGP Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny

The Guerrillas are defending with Los Ingobernables (Evil and Sanada here) having won the World Tag League. They then requested that the Bucks be added because they wanted to avenge past losses. The champs also have Bad Luck Fale and Jado in their corner. Tama and Matt start things off with Tama showing off his new “good guy” persona by offering a handshake.

Evil uses the distraction to tag himself in and pull Tama to the floor. Everything breaks down and Matt gets slammed onto the ramp to bring up his annual back injury. Back in and the Guerrillas beat up Evil with Loa hitting a top rope headbutt, only to have Tama’s version broken up. The Bucks get in their shots on Evil as well to continue his bad night. Matt grabs the Sharpshooter as Nick dives onto Sanada. Evil makes the rope and comes back with a running clothesline to Matt.

It’s off to Sanada to clean house on everyone, including the slingshot dive onto the Bucks. That’s enough selling from the Bucks though as they’re right back up with a springboard Blockbuster/Russian legsweep combination on Sanada but the Guerrillas come back in to start wrecking things (again). The Tower of Doom sends Matt back first onto the mat, leaving Nick to hit a 450. Fale and Jado come in and are dispatched by the Bucks just as quickly but Los Ingobernables get up for Everything Is Evil and the Magic Killer. Sanada moonsaults onto Nick for the pin and the titles at 10:16.

Rating: C+. This was similar to the Junior Tag Team Title match with a lot of stuff crammed in. That’s not the worst thing in the world but it’s another quick match in a series of them tonight. Evil and Sanada have been awesome for a long time now though and it makes sense to put the titles back on them. Now just keep the things on them for awhile this time around.

IWGP United States Title: Juice Robinson vs. Cody

Cody, in Jacksonville Jaguars colors for a nice touch, is defending and I think you know where this is going. A pre-bell belt shot misses and Juice starts hammering away until Cody grabs his knee. Juice isn’t buying it and stays on him with a gutbuster. That’s enough for Juice to go up top but Brandi covers Cody up to prevent the dive. Pulp Friction on the apron is broken up with a shove into the post and Juice is holding his shoulder. Back in and Cody busts out some jumping jacks before stopping for a kiss from Brandi.

Speaking of Brandi, she hits a spear with her bionic shoulder but the referee tosses her. Pulp Friction is countered into Cross Rhodes for a close two and Cody is getting frustrated. Another Pulp Friction is reversed into Cross Rhodes on Cody, who of course hits a Pulp Friction of his own for two more. Cody whips him with the weightlifting belt but tells Robinson to get up. That’s just what Juice does before hammering away with left hands. Pulp Friction connects and Robinson adds a second for the pin and the title at 9:05.

Rating: D+. Brandi aside, this was pretty bad with the match flying by and not having any time to do anything. It felt like they skipped the beginning and most of the middle and just went to the finish, which didn’t make for much of a match. Robinson getting the title back is fine, but egads can something other than the opener get fifteen minutes tonight?

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Taiji Ishimori vs. Kushida

Ishimori, of Bullet Club, is challenging here. And here’s a mini Kushida….and Doc Brown comes out to get him. Doc pulls out a remote control and seemingly blows mini Kushida up, turning him into the real thing. Eh I love Back to the Future so I’m good, even if that didn’t make much sense. Kushida starts in on the wristlock before kicking at the arm in a smart move. The cartwheel into the dropkick has Ishimori in even more trouble but it’s too early for the Hoverboard Lock.

Ishimori grabs the LeBell Lock in the middle of the ring and the crawl to the rope takes its time. A springboard seated senton keeps Kushida in trouble and the sliding German suplex, ala John Morrison, keeps Kushida down. Kushida grabs a triangle choke but Ishimori fights up and spins around for a failed Crossface attempt. A Tombstone into a Codebreaker is countered and Kushida kicks him down again. Another Codebreaker gives Ishimori two but Kushida reverses a suplex into the Hoverboard Lock.

That’s rolled through into an AA as Kushida isn’t able to do much with the rather unstoppable Ishimori. Kushida grabs a quick Back to the Future and tries another but Ishimori blocks (I’m not sure that’s how it’s supposed to work) so Kushida blasts him with a right hand. That’s shrugged off as well and the Bloody Cross gives Ishimori the title at 11:16.

Rating: B-. Geez this hasn’t been a good night for the champions so far. The problem for Kushida is there’s nothing left for him to do as a junior heavyweight so what is there left for him to do in the entire promotion? Ishimori looked like a killer here and could be a heck of a champion for a long time. Or until next Wrestle Kingdom when every champion loses again.

We recap Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White. Okada was the king of the company for a few years but manager/adviser Gedo turned on him in favor of White. That sent White onto a great heel run where he wants to prove that he’s the best and now it’s time for him to face the huge challenge. Also, Okada has been shaken up since losing the World Title but is back in form tonight.

Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada

Okada’s trunks have returned, because it’s the old, amazing version again tonight. They don’t go straight at each other to start so Gedo distracts Okada and White stomps away. Okada is right back up with an elbow to the back of the head but White suplexes him out to the floor. Back in and White gets two off a belly to back suplex and we hit the cravate. Okada fights up and gets all ticked off though as the fans start getting into this again.

White gets sat on top for the dropkick to the floor, followed by a running big boot to send him over the barricade. Okada isn’t done and sends Gedo out next to White for a running crossbody to take them both down. Back in and Okada hits the Rainmaker pose but gets caught in a German suplex. A Rock Bottom gives White two but Blade Runner is blocked. It’s time to cheat as Gedo puts a chair in the ring and tries to come in, only to have the chair shot miss.

Okada scores with the dropkick but walks into a suplex onto the back of his head. Another Blade Runner is countered into a Tombstone for two as White’s kicking brings the fans back up to cheer for Okada. Yet another dropkick connects and it’s a series of counters until the Rainmaker connects. Okada isn’t done though and tries it again, only to get countered into the Blade Runner for the completely clean pin at 14:21.

Rating: B. That’s the kind of story to a match that this show has been needing with White beating Okada at his best (which was specified multiple times throughout the night). They made a star here and that’s exactly what they needed to do. It helps that I’ve been a White fan since I saw him debut in ROH so this was really cool to see. They told a story here and it’s the kind of career defining win that someone like White needs. Well done here with a very good story, especially with the usually cool Okada being out for revenge instead of the win because Gedo has gotten into his head. Very good all around here.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Tetsuya Naito, which is a long running feud after Jericho took Naito’s Intercontinental Title. Jericho has since said that he scared Naito into his shell and gone into his usual Jericho awesomeness, attacking Naito at every chance and saying he’ll end Naito’s career. Naito has basically responded with “eh, it’s cool”, which fits him perfectly.

Intercontinental Title: Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho is defending and this is No DQ. Since he’s Chris Jericho, he comes to the ring in a black hat, a spiked leather jacket and wearing Crow inspired face paint. In other words, it somehow suits him perfectly. Naito jumps him before the bell as payback for Jericho doing the same thing in their previous match. The referee rings the bell with them on the floor because he knows they’re not getting inside anytime soon.

Naito piledrives him on the ramp and takes him inside for the removal of a buckle pad. A hurricanrana takes Jericho (with the long hair again) down and a clothesline puts him right back on the floor. Naito’s dive is blocked with a kendo stick shot though and it’s time for the stick shots. The springboard dropkick knocks Naito off the apron and Jericho grabs a camera for some filming of the downed Naito. They head into the announcers’ area with Jericho hitting one of the scariest looking DDT’s I’ve ever seen, with Naito landing on the top of his head with a CRACK.

Jericho rings the bell but the referee won’t stop the match, even though Naito seems a bit dead. A high crossbody gives Jericho two and it’s time for some listening to the crowd, because Jericho knows how to be a huge villain. The Lionsault gets two and there’s the belly to back suplex into the arrogant cover for the same. Naito comes back with some right hands and shrugs off some kicks to the face.

Some spit in Jericho’s face sets up a neckbreaker for two but the Walls put Naito right back in trouble. Naito slips out and kicks Jericho away before hitting something like a pump handle suplex for two. Destino is reversed into the Walls again (Jericho: “ASK HIM!”) until Naito finds the kendo stick for the break. A baseball swing with the stick drops Jericho again but he scores with a Codebreaker for a close two. Some chairs are thrown in and piled up but the powerbomb onto them are countered into a DDT near them.

Naito hits his own Codebreaker for two and a German suplex onto the chairs makes it even worse. Destino is countered again though and Jericho shoves the referee (not really necessary) so a low blow can stop Naito. There’s the Codebreaker for a heck of a near fall so Jericho grabs the belt. That’s countered into a hot shot into the exposed buckle, setting up Destino for another white hot near fall. Naito blasts him with the belt and now Destino gives Naito the pin at 22:34.

Rating: A-. This felt more like the Jericho vs. Omega match as Jericho was the angry veteran who could still hang in there and show how vicious he could be. It was entertaining stuff with Naito showing that he could do it on this stage and win the big one over the veteran. I had a really good time with this and Naito came off like the star they want to make the future center of the promotion, which he pretty much is.

Jericho storms off as Naito is awarded the title.

We recap Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP World Title. Champion Omega is the new breed while Tanahashi is the old dog who is having yet another career resurgence to prove that he’s still got it one more time. He won the G1 Climax tournament to earn the shot and Omega doesn’t seem to be taking him completely seriously while promising to destroy Tanahashi once and for all.

IWGP World Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kenny Omega

Omega is defending and has the Young Bucks with him, plus an NES inspired entrance to make him a bit more awesome. Tanahashi on the other hand has a cool ring jacket with the shape of the title cut out around the waist. There’s no major contact for the first minute and a half so Tanahashi gets in a slap. Omega drives him into the ropes so Tanahashi slaps him again. A very early attempt at the One Winged Angel is countered into an abdominal stretch before Tanahashi starts in on the knee.

They slap it out with Omega’s leg tied up and Omega gets in a shot of his own to take over. He starts hammering on the back as the announcers go over Tanahashi’s main event history, including talking about how bad business was when he took over the top spot. A running kick to the back sets up more slaps to the face and a belly to back sends Tanahashi to the floor. There’s a belly to back suplex onto the apron as Omega is a full on heel here. Tanahashi gets in a dropkick but Omega drives him back first into the apron to take over again.

They head into the Japanese announcers’ area with Omega running over a commentator and raising his hand as an apology. It’s table time with Omega setting one up on the floor before taking the fight back inside for the chop off. A dragon screw legwhip takes Omega down again and the middle rope Swanton gets two. Omega is fine enough to hit the running Fameasser and Tanahashi falls outside. It’s too early for the Rise of the Terminator so Tanahashi breaks it up, only to be thrown outside for the big running flip dive. Omega’s foot hits him in the face but Omega lands hard on the edge of the ramp.

Back in and Omega hits a pair of snapdragons and the first V Trigger (I’ll put the over/under at 15). The One Winged Angel is countered and Omega’s knee gives out. There’s another legwhip, followed by Twist and Shout into the Texas Cloverleaf to stay on the knee. For a flashback, a Styles Clash plants Omega but the High Fly Flow (sounds like a shower setting) hits knees. Another V Trigger hits the buckle though and a third dragon screw, this time over the rope, has Omega in more trouble.

The Sling Blade on the apron puts him down again and Tanahashi puts him on the table. Another High Fly Flow misses Omega though and they’re both near death outside. Back in again and Omega hits a top rope double stomp to the back. Two powerbombs get two each and the sitout version gets the same. The frustrated Omega chokes away so Tanahashi comes back with a Sling Blade and it’s time to slug it out again. Omega has to cover up until some knees to the ribs cut Tanahashi off.

Tanahashi shrugs off a German suplex but gets caught in a Sling Blade to switch things up. Omega drops a High Fly Flow of his own for two and there’s another V Trigger to rock Tanahashi again. A regular knee to the head is called a V Trigger and the reverse hurricanrana connects. The….whatevereth V Trigger connects but the One Winged Angel is countered into a reverse hurricanrana from Tanahashi.

A high crossbody sets up the real High Fly Flow for a crazy close two. Tanahashi goes up again and gets caught with another V Trigger. The super dragon suplex (with Tanahashi flipping over and landing on his face to avoid the whole broken neck thing) sets up another V Trigger but the One Winged Angel is countered into something like a leg lariat. Another Sling Blade sets up another High Fly Flow for the pin and the title in an upset at 39:14.

Rating: A. Very good though not outstanding match here. That might not be the biggest surprise given that Omega seems to be leaving the promotion soon, but it’s still a heck of a performance. Tanahashi getting the title back is a great story with him reclaiming his place at the top of the mountain, but it was still missing a little something that made the previous main events that much better. Still though, great match, as you knew was coming the second the match was announced. Oh and Omega kept the V Triggers to what is considered reasonable by his standards, which is quite the plus.

Post match Omega is carried out and Tanahashi gets the big show closing address. He thanks the fans and wasn’t sure he could get to this level again. Okada helped get him here and he can’t believe it. He thanks the fans one more time and uses everything he has left for some air guitar before collapsing. One final thank you wraps us up.

Overall Rating: A. First and foremost: the show was just over four hours long instead of the usual five and that’s pretty close to the sweet spot. I could have gone for some of the matches being longer, but I’ll take the show going short rather than long every time. The big matches all delivered and while there were a few weak spots (Cody’s match in particular), the great matches are more than enough to make this a classic. It’s the highest rating I’ve given the show in four years and it was also the easiest show to watch in a long time.

Overall this show felt like a changing of the guard/resetting, with every title changing hands. Maybe those titles go right back where they were soon enough, but it certainly seems that things are changing around here. Given the startup of AEW and WWE wanting new talent, we might not be seeing some of these people on this stage again. That makes things very interesting, but more importantly it means they get to go out on a high note. Great show, and the best I’ve seen them do in a long time.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: New Japan Professional Wrestling

Fighting Spirit Unleashed
Date: September 30, 2018
Location: Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California
Attendance: 3,007
Commentators: Jim Ross, Kevin Kelly

New Japan is back in the USA and I’m not sure how special this one feels. It’s not something that comes off as a big deal anymore but at least the shows are still pretty entertaining. The main event here is a tag match with the Golden Lovers vs. Kazuchika Okada/Tomohiro Ishii, which should at least be a fun match. Let’s get to it.

We open with a quick look at the March show (Why not the July show?) and a rundown of the card. I’m still not sure if I like having the match order announced in advance or not.

There are some LARGE sections of empty seats.

Taguchi Japan vs. Roppongi 3K

That would be Jushin Thunder Liger/Ryusuke Taguchi/ACH vs. Rocky Romero/Sho/Yoh. Taguchi is even sporting rugby gear because Japan is getting ready to host the Rugby World Cup. Liger and Yoh start things off with the latter putting Liger up against the ropes for a friendly/patronizing pat to the chest. Liger runs into a dropkick but comes right back with a backbreaker.

There’s the surfboard to fulfill Liger’s contractual obligations and it’s time for all three good guys to clothesline Yoh in the corner. Taguchi uses the back of his tights (a trademark of his) but Liger gets sent into it instead and it’s Liger in trouble with Sho hitting a sliding dropkick. Rocky comes in and dropkicks the knee but Sho knocks Rocky off the apron by mistake, allowing the hot tag to ACH.

Everything speeds up with a double stomp to Sho’s back and a rapid fire string of kicks. A German suplex gets two on Sho and the fans are very pleased with ACH. Sho hits his own German suplex and it’s off to Rocky for the Forever Clotheslines on Taguchi, until the flying hip attacks get him out of trouble. Taguchi even bends over to offer them a target but triple dropkicks miss. A triple atomic drop works a bit better but the 3K is broken up. ACH dropkicks Sho and Yoh to the floor for a suicide dive, leaving Taguchi to hit a faceplant that the camera partially missed for the pin on Rocky at 8:57.

Rating: C-. Not a great match here but a fun opener with the six guys moving fast enough to keep the fans entertained. It’s always cool to see Liger and while I’m not the biggest ACH fan in the world, he’s a great choice for something like this. I still can’t believe how much better Sho and Yoh are here than they were in Ring of Honor, as the improvement is staggering.

Addiction vs. Hangman Page/Chase Owens

I still don’t get the appeal of Owens. Kelly is smart enough to let the fans know that the Addiction are part of So Cal Uncensored, hence the SCU chants from the So Cal crowd. Page and Kazarian slug it out to start because that’s just what they do. Stereo clotheslines don’t get either of them anywhere so they knock each other into the corners for a double tag. Certainly an effective way to start.

Owens speeds things up with a knee to the face and a running neckbreaker to take Daniels down so it’s already back to Kazarian. That means another neckbreaker and it’s off to Page for a dropsault for two on Kazarian and a very positive reaction. The fans think this is awesome, which sounds like quite the overreaction.

Page gets two off a tabletop suplex and it’s Owens slapping on a front facelock to keep Kazarian in place. Kazarian’s Backstabber gets him out of trouble though and it’s off to Daniels for a Rock Bottom/reverse DDT combination. A release Rock Bottom to Owens only leaves Daniels open for the Buckshot Lariat but Page’s shooting star off the apron lands in Kazarian’s Codebreaker. Back inside and the Best Meltzer Ever finishes Owens at 8:41.

Rating: C. Perfectly watchable match here as the fans were into Kazarian and Daniels and of course the Bullet Club is going to get a reaction no matter what they do. This was perfectly fine for this spot on the card as they’re still getting going and the fans are getting into the show. That’s a big part of how to build a card and a lot of companies don’t know how to pull that off.

Jeff Cobb/Flip Gordon/Chris Sabin vs. Chaos

That would be Hirooki Goto/Best Friends for Chaos. Cobb is the ROH TV Champion, which wouldn’t air on TV for over three weeks, because ROH’s TV schedule is annoying. Sabin and Chuckie trade rollups to start but everything breaks down in a hurry. Everyone crushes Chuckie in the corner and it’s la majistral to give Sabin two. Gordon comes in but gets launched into a cutter, leaving the Best Friends to load up the big hug.

Cobb isn’t having that though and runs them both over, onto to be blasted by Goto’s clothesline. Sabin takes him down with his apron kick though, leaving the Best Friends to have their hug. Now we can get to the stereo flip dives and some muscle posing, followed by the slingshot stomp to the face from Beretta. Chuckie adds the rolling slingshot splash and Sabin is in big trouble. Sabin manages to drop toehold Chuckie into Beretta’s crotch though and a tornado DDT is enough for the hot tag to Gordon.

That means it’s time to blow JR’s hat off with high flying as a springboard Sling Blade looks to set up a 450 but Beretta is out of the way. The double tag brings in Cobb and Goto and the slugout is on. Goto actually gets the better of it by avoiding a charge and hitting a Saito suplex. The GTR is countered and Cobb hits his own suplex but misses a standing moonsault. Chuckie can’t suplex Cobb but a Best Friends comboplex works a bit better. That’s cool with Cobb, who suplexes both of them right back. A piledriver gets two on Cobb but Chuckie misses the moonsault, setting up the Tour of the Islands to give Cobb the pin at 12:08.

Rating: C+. Well each match has gotten a little better so they’re moving in the right direction. Cobb is clearly going to be a star and that was the showcase they were going for here. The double suplex and the Tour of the Islands worked very well and I like him more every time I see him. The Best Friends…I still don’t quite get it and that has yet to change.

Post match Goto and Cobb tease a fight but Goto leaves before anything happens.

Suzuki-Gun vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon

Zack Sabre Jr./Lance Archer/Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Tetsuya Naito/Sanada/Evil here. The announcers talk about Smith’s incredibly hard handshake and they’re right. I got to shake his hand last year and it’s the firmest I’ve ever seen by a mile. One of the stories here seems to be that Evil can’t beat Sabre no matter what he does. Fair enough. Suzuki-Gun jumps them from behind before the bell but Evil shoulders Sabre down to take over at the official start. Sanada comes in and makes the mistake of trying to trade holds with Sabre, meaning he’s quickly taken into the corner.

It’s off to Smith, whose knee gets dropkicked out in short order. A blind tag brings in Archer for a powerslam though and he runs into Sanada multiple times to knock him silly. Smith comes in again to work on Sanada’s knee with a reverse Figure Four but he can only get two of the three rolling German suplexes. A middle rope dropkick to Smith and a hurricanrana to Archer allow the hot tag to Naito so house can be cleaned.

Naito hits a neckbreaker on Smith and stops to pose but a belly to belly suplex cuts him off. The momentum isn’t exactly lasting in this one. A side slam/middle rope splash combination gets two on Naito but he’s right back with a springboard tornado DDT (See what I mean?). Sabre and Evil come in and slug it out with Sabre cranking on an armbar until Sanada makes the save.

Stereo dives take out Archer and Smith but Sabre reverses whatever Evil was setting up into something like an Octopus. That’s reversed into Darkness Falls (sitout Widowmaker) but what looked like an STO is reversed into a bridging cradle (with Sabre flipping off the crowd) for the pin on Evil at 9:31.

Rating: C+. I like most of the people in this match and this was another fun one with everyone moving at a very fast pace and showing off a little bit. Sabre’s submissions are hard enough to describe let alone keep track of what he’s doing. Archer and Smith are as dominant looking of a team as you’ll find outside of (maybe) the Guerrillas of Destiny and are always fun to watch so this one was rather entertaining.

Post match Smith powerslams Naito in the aisle. Evil is devastated by his loss and Naito looks down at him.

Jay White/Gedo vs. Taguchi Japan

It’s Kushida and Hiroshi Tanahashi for Taguchi here. Gedo has abandoned Kazuchika Okada for White, making him rather hated at the moment. White wants Tanahashi’s G1 Climax briefcase for the title shot at Wrestle Kingdom. Tanahashi wastes no time in slugging away at White, the only person who beat him in the G1 Climax, on the floor as they start in a hurry. They head inside with Tanahashi going after the knee but getting shoved off the ropes for a crash to the floor. White chops away as Gedo rips at Kushida’s face elsewhere. Back in and a Saito suplex gives White two and we settle down to an actual tag match.

An elbow drop gives White two but Gedo comes in and gets crossbodied. That’s enough to bring in Kushida to speed things up with the kicks to the face, including a seated dropkick. A rolling DDT sets up a cross armbreaker on Gedo and then the Hoverboard Lock but White makes a save. Kushida brings in Tanahashi for some running elbows and forearms, followed by Twist and Shout. Everything breaks down but Gedo uses some brass knuckles to break up the High Fly Flow. The Blade Runner finishes Tanahashi at 9:01.

Rating: C+. I was digging this one though the ending with the knuckles feels WAY out of place around here. Tanahashi vs. White for the Wrestle Kingdom briefcase should be a heck of a fight as White is someone with a lot of potential and Tanahashi is…well I think you get the idea. Good, fast paced fight here with a big of a screwy ending.

Post match White says he wants his shot at the briefcase. New Japan is scared of White winning the briefcase because it doesn’t want two foreigners in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom. Tanahashi’s time is coming.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Tournament Semifinals: Marty Scurll vs. Will Ospreay

The title is vacant due to Hiromu Takahashi’s neck injury so there is a tournament between the four most recent champions. The line about these two is “three things are inevitable: death, taxes and Scurll beats Ospreay”, though Ospreay did beat him earlier in the year. Bell, C4, two on Scurll, shooting star, two on Scurll, we’re now fifteen seconds in. The threat of an Oscutter sends Scurll outside so Ospreay hits a suicide dive.

Back in and a springboard clothesline drops Scurll again but he’s right back with some elbows to the face. Ospreay falls outside for the apron superkick and a stomp to the head makes things worse back inside. The cravate sets up some knees to the head and Ospreay is in even more trouble, mainly due to his eternally bad neck. Ospreay tells him to bring it so Scurll does, sending Ospreay down to the mat again.

A handspring enziguri takes Scurll down but the neck flares up again. Ospreay hits a 619 over the top (Why is that something you never see?) but Scurll kicks him outside. They strike it out on the apron but the C4 off the apron (which hurt Ospreay’s neck in the first place) is blocked. Instead Ospreay settles for a sunset bomb to the floor and they’re both down. Ospreay’s spinning kick to the back connects inside but the Oscutter is countered into a backslide for two.

Stormbreaker is broken up so Ospreay scores with a clothesline but has to grab his neck again. The super Oscutter is broken up with a good crotching and Scurll gets his own two off his own clothesline. Some chops fire Ospreay up (that’s an international one) and he hits an enziguri, only to have the Oscutter reversed into the chickenwing in a slick counter.

Ospreay flips out and hits a superkick to the back of the head for the double knockdown. Back up and the Cheeky Nandos kick hits Scurll but he’s able to break up a superplex. A super tiger suplex (Tiger superplex?) gets a crazy close two and a package piledriver sets up Graduation to finish Ospreay at 16:01.

Rating: A-. Now that was awesome stuff with both guys leaving it all in the ring and beating the heck out of each other with Scurll going serious because he was up against his archrival (the hero to his villain) in a match that mattered in the future. Ospreay of course has no problem risking death and all that jazz, leaving the two of them to tear the house down in a match that blows away anything else on the show so far. Well worth seeing, which is a first tonight (and makes sense as New Japan builds their cards higher as the show goes on).

You can tell we’re getting to the big stuff as we now have videos to build up the matches. Kenny Omega attacked AJ Styles over two years ago to take over the Bullet Club. Now the Guerrillas of Destiny have done the same thing and the Bullet Club is splitting all over again with the Guerrillas and company calling themselves the Firing Squad. The Club is now the Bullet Club Elite because the world makes my head hurt.

IWGP Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Guerrillas of Destiny

The Bucks are defending but the Guerrillas have Haku in their corner. The Guerrillas throw the belts over the top and we’re ready to go with Nick vs. Tama starting us off. They speed things up early on with neither actually hitting anything for a standoff. Everything breaks down in a hurry and the Bucks make mistake of hitting Tongans in the head. Matt launches Nick into both of them for a double dropkick and the Guerrillas are actually in some trouble.

More dropkicks see Matt’s back go out though, allowing Tama to jump Nick from behind. Loa hammers on Matt on the floor and it’s table time, which seems a bit extreme for this place. Nick saves his brother from being suplexed through the table and starts fighting both Tongans on his own. This goes as well as you might have guessed until Matt tries to make a save, earning himself a slam off the top through the table.

A frog splash gives Tama two but Nick fights out of the corner…and Matt is still mostly dead. The slingshot X Factor drops Tama but again, no Matt. Nick blocks a swinging neckbreaker with a handstand (cool) and hits a superkick to drop Tama. That’s finally enough for the hot tag to Matt who screams a lot and hits a double clothesline.

Loa gets sent outside for a dropkick through the ropes and there’s the Sharpshooter on Tama, with Loa making a save in short order. A spear of all things drops Tama and it’s back to Nick for the fast paced comeback. The roll into the Backstabber takes Tama down and the double superkicks get two. More Bang For Your Buck (with a long delay before Matt can do the moonsault) is good for the same on Loa but the Meltzer Driver is broken up with a Gun Stun. Matt tries some superkicks but walks into a 3D for the pin and the titles at 19:22.

Rating: B. As usual, the Bucks are far better in Japan and that was the case again here. They were in over their heads against the Guerrillas though and the title change was absolutely the right idea. That being said, I don’t remember the last big Bucks match that didn’t involve Matt’s back. It’s effective, but can we mix it up a little?

We recap the US Title match. Juice Robinson won the title earlier this year when he finally won the big one. Cody on the other hand just wants to be champion. Juice wants to prove that he’s more than just a flash in the pan who got lucky.

IWGP US Title: Cody vs. Juice Robinson

Robinson is defending and Brandi Rhodes (yep) is here with Cody. The bell rings and Cody takes his sweet time ripping off the shirt. Juice’s wristlock doesn’t go anywhere so it’s off to a chinlock that lasts all of two seconds. Back up and they chop it out until Cody avoids a crossbody. Cody’s dive to the floor is countered with a belly to belly suplex but Juice accidentally shoves Brandi down.

Pain is screamed so Cody hits a DDT on the floor, bringing Brandi right back up for a kiss. Back in and Cody misses a springboard elbow but a Brandi distraction breaks up a Cannonball attempt. Juice goes after her again and Cody takes over with a single cheap shot. The rollup that made Juice champion gets two here and he kicks Cody into the corner for the Cannonball. The Disaster Kick misses and Juice hits a good looking high crossbody for no cover due to a hard landing.

That means a Figure Four on Juice until we get the old school turnover for the break. Hang on though as Cody needs some water to spit into Juice’s eyes, setting up the Disaster Kick for two. Juice is fine enough to hit Pulp Friction but Brandi pulls her husband to the floor. The knee keeps Juice from getting to him in a hurry though and it’s Cross Rhodes on the floor to knock the champ silly.

Back in and they trade the snap jabs with Juice getting the better of it until Cody pokes him in the eye. A superkick sets up a Vertebreaker (which Cody used to pin him in a tag match) for a close two on Robinson but he crotches Cody on top. Robinson grabs a superplex for the crash, with both guys laying down and raising their legs for the small package with Cody getting the pin and the title at 16:47.

Rating: B-. This could have been a lot worse as Cody’s matches tend to be crazy overbooked. Thankfully that wasn’t the case here and they just had a pretty solid match. I’m not sure why they needed to do the title change here as Juice had a great story to get to the title and Cody is just….well Cody. Does the NWA World Champion need the lowest NJPW singles title?

Chaos vs. Golden Lovers

That would be Tomohiro Ishii/Kazuchika Okada for Chaos here as Okada and Omega continue their long running rivalry. Okada and Ibushi start things off with an exchange of basic holds. A very early Rainmaker attempt misses (continuing the basic theme) and it’s off to Ishii, who wants Omega. For some reason Omega tries some shoulders and just hurts himself. Ishii spits at Ibushi so Omega slugs away to little avail. Ibushi breaks up the brainbuster attempt and no sells some forearms to the back.

Omega’s shot from the back takes Ishii down for a few seconds so it’s off to Ibushi for an ill advised strike off. A hard shoulder drops Ibushi again and Okada hits a slingshot hilo. Omega wants to save his partner and comes in to slug it out with Ishii, earning himself a beating. Back in and Okada snapmares Ibushi down but a dropkick takes Ishii down as we actually get some intelligence.

Omega comes back in and hits a running tornado DDT with an awkward landing. Ishii scores with a powerslam and everything breaks down with the Lovers hitting moonsaults to the floor to take over for the first time. Back in and a series of moonsaults get two on Okada but Ishii comes back in for a suplex. Everything breaks down and it’s Okada vs. Omega for the big showdown.

Neither can hit a finisher so Omega grabs the snapdragon instead. Ishii breaks up a V Trigger and Okada nails the dropkick. Ibushi takes Ishii outside and there’s the V Trigger to Okada. The One Winged Angel is broken up and Okada hits the Tombstone for two as Ibushi saves. It’s off to Ishii vs. Ibushi for a forearm off with Ibushi actually getting the better of it. A moonsault double knees to the chest gets two on Ishii but Okada breaks up the Golden Trigger.

Ishii drops Omega but gets kicked down by Ibushi and everyone needs a break. Ibushi and Ishii slap it out until Ibushi gets two off a clothesline. One heck of a clothesline gives Ishii two of his own and Okada dropkicks Ibushi into a heck of a powerbomb. Ibushi is back up with a German suplex for two on Ishii. Okada gets sent outside and it’s the Golden Trigger to finish Ishii at 23:03.

Rating: B. Good stuff here as expected but I like Ishii a lot so it was going to be hard to screw this up. The Lovers are a heck of a team and it makes sense to have Ishii take the fall instead of Okada, who isn’t losing on a glorified house show. This felt important and that’s what you should be going for at a show like this one. Good, though not great main event.

Post match the Bullet Club comes out for the celebration and Omega is glad to see all the happy faces. The singles match between Omega and Ibushi is teased but here’s Cody to grab the mic. Cody says the fans want to see the rematch and since he’s cool with Omega and getting there with Ibushi, let’s just make it a triple threat (a rarity in New Japan). Omega thinks it’s ingenious and the match seems to be on.

Highlights end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. The opening few matches aren’t the best but there’s an instant classic from Scurll vs. Ospreay and everything from then on is good to very good. This show set the table for the upcoming pay per views, which seems to be exactly the point. I had more fun watching this than I expected and it’s about as good as I’ve seen them do in America.

That being said, the empty seats in the crowd aren’t a good sign. For one thing, how many times have they been to southern California in the last few years? It’s fun, but you can overdo it and that seems to be the case. Couple that with this being a big house show instead of a major event and it’s not exactly must see. Going to a new area might help, or putting on a World Title match for a change. It’s not like the place was empty, but I’m not sure how many times you can do this and expect a strong crowd. This was their fourth show in about a year and a half and that’s pushing it.

Overall though, it’s a very good show and doesn’t run long (the intermission helps a lot) with good wrestling up and down. Kelly was a HUGE improvement over Josh Barnett as Kelly is much better at explaining stories to people like me, who only kind of pay attention. That’s a big upgrade and it made the show much easier to watch. Check out Ospreay vs. Scurll for sure and everything after that if you have time as it’s a good way to get to know some of these people if you’re net at this stuff.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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IMG Credit: New Japan Pro Wrestling

Kenny Omega won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. I take it you’ve heard already. The match is one of the most impressive spectacles ever in the same year where we’ve had Johnny Gargano vs Andrade Almas, Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa, Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito and others already grasp that “oh that’s one the greatest matches of all time” credit. If you’re a fan of wrestling, you’re blessed with great matches nowadays. But Kenny Omega winning the IWGP title was a bit more than that. It was a story. A lesson of growing up.

See, when Kenny Omega won the G-1 Climax in 2016, lots of fans were surprised. Omega was just a midcarder that had moved up from the Jr. Heavyweights earlier that year. Now he was headlining the Tokyo Dome. He lost to Okada in said main event and all of the sudden, fans started wondering why didn’t he get the title. Omega never got to use his One Winged Angel. And that stuck out to fans. He didn’t hit his big move. Right there is where you can see the differences of NJPW and main roster WWE. As I just said, Kenny was just a midcarder months before. Having matches with aerosol in the middle of NJPW’s big shows. His only mayor program was against Hiroshi Tanahashi. The promotion’s “Ace”. But that was also the program where Kenny and The Young Bucks were dealing with a Yoshitatsu who was impersonating Triple H using said aerosol. “Ready for the main event” wasn’t exactly what you’d say about Omega in terms of how he was presented in NJPW. But there was no doubting he could go in the ring.

Omega had a rematch against Okada for July’s Dominion event later in the year. While their first match went 47 minutes, this one went “Broadway”. A full hour. Omega was finally able to hit his big move. But fate was against him yet again as he wasn’t able to secure a cover before time expired. At first he lost. Now he tied with the near-unstoppable World Champion. Omega now carried the label that he can be a main eventer and repeated his performance. While he didn’t win again, you can see the growth. He now had the experience of headlining for the biggest show of the year and had more time to grow as a top star and as a result, he was much closer to that elusive title win.

Despite the lack of a resolution, Omega failed twice to win the IWGP title and had to back out of contention. In the meantime he won a tournament to crown the first ever United States Champion. Then the G-1 Climax came calling. This would prove to be another example of NJPW planning well in advance. See as Omega/Okada was going on both in the Tokyo Dome and Dominion, there was another mayor rivalry just under in the form of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito. Unlike Omega, the two traded wins over the two events. A third match in both rivalries was set up as the finals of the G-1’s A and B blocks. Naito won his, giving him two wins over Tanahashi. Omega took on Kazuchika Okada again. This time a 30 minute time limit put a lot of pressure, especially on Kenny. He had to win to then get a crack at the title. Okada didn’t have to win. Just stall. And given the fact that both previous matches went well over 30 minutes, Kenny  did not have it easy. But this time, the third time in, Kenny did it. He hit the One Winged Angel and secured the win over Okada. Finally besting him. But he lost in the finals to Tetsuya Naito who during the same time period had managed to win his Tokyo Dome match and have a successful run as Intercontinental Champion. Even if he did treat the title like dirt. He had the momentum Kenny lacked (hey, there’s another term WWE loves but NJPW uses far better). Naito had firm success while Kenny struggled to keep up with his rival.

Despite not winning the title, Kenny Omega had closure in the fact that he can defeat Kazuchika Okada. As such, the rivals drifted apart as Okada continued to defeat foe after foe. Reaching an unprecedented two year reign. While Kenny was able to firmly establish himself as a main eventers, his struggles stopped being physical ones and instead we started to see mental and personal ones. Despite being the leader of the Bullet Club, NJPW’s big ‘gaijin’ stable, Kenny was very disassociated with the group. Especially once his rivalry with Okada started. When 2018 came, fellow member Cody Rhodes started a feud with Kota Ibushi. Kenny Omega’s best friend. Kenny at first ignored it as he had a major feud going with Chris Jericho. But at The New Beginning, Omega was finally bested by the young Jay White. Who Omega failed to recruit to the group. As such, Cody saw a moment of weakness and tried to grab power, attacking Omega. But that just reunited him with Kota Ibushi. It did create turmoil with fellow Bullet Club members, The Young Bucks. But after one match, that passed.  They all sided with Omega. Now  with no more turmoil to stop him, he received a challenge.

Kazuchika Okada had defeated every opponent possible. Some he defeated several times. But it was Kenny Omega who gave him his toughest challenge. And Okada challenged him yet again for Dominion. But Kenny had a hard road to get here and decided to up the ante. It wasn’t just a World title match with a 60 minute time limit. No. He wanted the definitive match. To show once and for all he was superior. So he asked for the match to be 2/3 Falls and with no time limit. In the weeks leading up to the match, Omega prepared with intense training while Okada relaxed fishing. Who would’ve thunk that even that would play into the match. As the match took place, it echoed the very story they started at Wrestle Kingdom 11. Okada had the advantage from the start. Omega struggled to keep up and was pinned in the first fall. But he came back. Stronger and secured the second. At this point, both men had very little left to give. It got to the point where Okada’s infamous Rainmaker literally bounced off Omega’s chest. Okada was out. He became complaisant in his dominance. While Omega matured. The young man who spent his time spraying aerosol to win matches had matured into a hard working individual who adapted over and over until he was able to best Okada. Then we saw him do it. He hit the One Winged Angel and Kenny Omega finally did it. Not only did he beat Okada, he did it twice in a row and finally won the title he was after.

That is what makes Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega one of the best rivalries in pro wrestling. Sure, maybe in 10 years something else will come along to dethrone it. And their match in Dominion may not even win Best Match Of The Year. But for me, who saw Kenny Omega go from Jr to Intercontinental Champion in the blink of an eye and then find himself facing the most well protected World Champion since Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior all the way defeating him firmly, it was a journey. It’s that kind of storytelling that makes wrestling feel like such a special art. Yeah, you know it’s “fake”. That doesn’t stop them from crafting such creative and unbelievable stories. And they’re constantly around US. In Japan with stories such as Mr. Gannosuke betraying Hayabusa or in the US with such simple things as Mr. Anderson’s disrespectful attitude insulting a fallen soldier who gave Kurt Angle a special medal. Or Shawn Michaels being willing to put his career on the line to try and end The Undertaker’s Wrestlemania streak. Pro Wrestling is an art and this match managed to touch me by showcasing their craft.

The story of a young man coming into his own. It’s almost fitting that it came from Japan given how much they love that story and tell it better than anyone under any medium. It’s simple and relateable for any young wrestling fan and while it took a year and a half to tell, it was told in a mere few parts. Very much like a movie series.

But don’t think the US is something I neglect. They also showcase great art. But that’s a case for next time.

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Thank you for reading. My name is AB Morales, Puertorican Dirt Sheet writer, a friend of KB for years. You can find and follow me here:

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IMG Credit: New Japan Pro Wrestling

Dominion 6:9
Date: June 9, 2011
Location: Osaka-Jo Hall, Osaka, Japan
Commentators: Don Callis, Kevin Kelly

So this was a big request and therefore I’m powerless to do anything about it. The main event is yet another Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada match (maybe the stars are just counting how many matches they’ve had) though this time it’s 2/3 falls and no time limit. Thankfully there hasn’t been the crazy hype about the match to drive me crazy yet so I might like it a lot more. Let’s get to it.

We open with a highlight video running down tonight’s card, albeit in Japanese so it might be a recipe for fruit pies.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Roppongi 3K vs. El Desperado/Yoshinobu Kanemaru

El Desperado/Yoshinobu Kanemaru are defending and are part of Suzuki-gun. Sho and Yoh flip dive onto the champs before the bell and it’s Kanemaru taking a sliding dropkick to the head for two to start. The announcers explain a bit more of the idea here, talking about how Roppongi used to be Young Lions and the older guys, like the champs, still see them as weaklings. That’s more of a story than most WWE matches give you.

Yoh gets sent into the barricade and has to dive back in at nineteen. Back in and we settle down a lot with Kanemaru ripping at the face and bringing Desperado back in. A dragon screw leg whip gets Yoh out of trouble and there’s the diving tag to Sho. The champs get speared down and some rolling German suplexes get two on Desperado.

Back up and the champs start double teaming until Yoh comes in for a save. A sliding DDT/Dominator combination (3K) gets two on Desperado and a Backstabber into a dropkick has him in even more trouble. Desperado takes some mist to the face and Sho adds Project Ciampa for two more. The ref gets bumped though and Kanemaru adds a whiskey bottle shot to set up the rollup pin to retain the titles at 9:29.

Rating: C. Completely fine opener here and a good way to make Suzuki-Gun look like a bunch of cheating jerks. Sho and Yoh are so much more entertaining than they were back in Ring of Honor and they make for a snappy little team. This was a fun match and thankfully it didn’t overstay its welcome, which can be a problem in opening matches.

Juice Robinson/David Finlay vs. Yoshi Hashi/Jay White

Taguchi Japan vs. Chaos and Finlay has a Groot jacket. White jumps Robinson at the bell, meaning we have to rush to the zoom in shot that always starts the matches (I kind of like it for some reason). Robinson is right back up and Finlay comes in for a double bulldog as they’re certainly off to a fast start. Takahashi comes in for a suplex before handing it right back to White for a backbreaker. A cravate doesn’t keep Finlay down for very long and it’s off to Juice for the snap jabs.

White is loaded into the corner for a Cannonball but Takahashi tries to break things up. That doesn’t go so well for him as Robinson ties him in the Tree of Woe and now the Cannonball can hit both of them at the same time. A double flapjack plants White but Robinson accidentally punches Finlay, allowing White to grab a Blade Runner to plant Finlay. Not that it matters as Robinson comes back in for Pulp Friction (jumping Unprettier) for the pin on White at 7:28.

Rating: C. Another perfectly fine match that didn’t get a ton of time. The ending has to set up Robinson vs. White for the US Title, probably in San Francisco in July, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Robinson has grown by leaps and bounds in New Japan and I could go for seeing him get a lot closer to win the title.

Robinson holds up the US Title to hammer the point home.

Tomohiro Ishii/Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki/Zack Sabre Jr

Chaos vs. Suzuki-gun and I don’t quite see Yano matching up well with Sabre. Suzuki and Sabre’s British Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line and they have Taka Michinoku in their corner. He even throws in some custom introductions, which I again can’t understand. Suzuki and Ishii start things off and they go straight for the shots to the head. Neither can hit their finisher so it’s Sabre coming in and taking Ishii down in knots. Ishii gets up and goes with the power to take over, allowing the tag off to Yano.

This doesn’t go well either as Yano gets his arms cranked in short order. Suzuki comes in and stays on the arm with Sabre coming back in to work on the leg at the same time. An atomic drop gets Yano out of trouble and it’s off to Ishii for the hard chops in the corner. The sleeper doesn’t work on Ishii and it’s time for the big forearm exchange.

That means a double knockdown so Yano goes after the turnbuckle. Thankfully Sabre is right there to bend the arm around the ropes, making Yano scream again. Yano gets the other buckle pad off and Sabre misses a charge. The low blow is reversed into a double armbar and Yano gives up at 8:42.

Rating: D+. I get what Yano’s deal is and I’ve been tired of it for a long time. I know he’s had more success, but he comes off as the New Japan Santino with the same bits and the same jokes time after time. Ishii vs. Suzuki was fun, as always, and they were smart to keep this short.

Post match Ishii goes after Suzuki again and after a few chair shots each, they slug it out on the floor with the Young Lions coming in for the save.

Never Openweight Title: Michael Elgin vs. Taichi vs. Hirooki Goto

Goto is defending and Taichi, who seems to be a singer, has a good looking woman with him. Elgin is absolutely jacked and looking bigger than I’ve ever seen him. There’s no contact in the first minute as Taichi bails to the floor so the other two can go at it. Goto and Elgin lock up so Taichi comes back in for a rollup on the champ. That’s enough to send Taichi back to the floor and it’s Elgin with an enziguri to Goto.

Taichi comes back in to help kick Elgin down and gets suplexed onto Elgin for good measure. Elgin sends the two of them into each other and starts rolling the suplexes to take over for the first time. With the other two on the floor, Elgin hits a bit running flip dive because of course he can do that. Back in and Taichi gets two off a clothesline but walks into the fireman’s carry backbreaker which I still can’t spell.

Elgin gets belly to back superplexed but pops back up for a Tower of Doom with Taichi getting the worst of it. That sends Taichi to the floor, leaving Elgin and Goto to hit each other very hard. An electric chair suplex gives Elgin two on the champ but he misses an enziguri. Another fireman’s carry backbreaker sets up the GTR for two on Elgin but Taichi throws the woman inside. The distraction lets Taichi get two off a superkick, only to have Elgin buckle bomb both of them. The Elgin Bomb on Taichi is good for the pin and the title at 13:44.

Rating: C+. Elgin, while having some serious issues at the moment, is still fun to watch and looks more than intimidating enough to pull off something like this. Of course none of that matters as he wouldn’t even hold the title for two weeks, but at least we got a good performance to get the title on him in the first place. I can’t imagine he’ll be a big deal in the states for a good while so this is as good as it’s likely to get for him.

IWGP Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon

Evil and Sanada are defending and it’s Nick and Sanada running the ropes to start. A headscissors drops Sanada and it’s time for Nick to strike a pose. Stereo basement dropkicks have Sanada in trouble so Evil comes in, only to take half of a double dropkick. Back in and a side slam drops Matt as everything breaks down. There’s a whip into the barricade to keep Matt’s back in trouble, followed by a standing moonsault to give Sanada two.

Evil is smart enough to knock Nick off the apron but Nick is right back up for a kick to the head. The hot tag is on a few seconds later but Nick kicks the post by mistake. It’s fine enough to hold Evil, only to have Matt superkick his brother by mistake. Naturally the Bucks aren’t going to sell for more than about five seconds so they’re up top for a Tower of Doom with Sanada getting the worst of it.

The Meltzer Driver is broken up but Nick is fine enough to come in with a missile dropkick to save his brother from a dragon sleeper. Another Meltzer Driver attempt fails as Nick’s leg gives out and a Magic Killer gets two on Matt. Sanada starts cleaning house with dropkicks and there’s another dragon sleeper on Matt, with Nick making another save. The Bucks start in with superkicks and More Bang For Your Buck to Sanada gives them the titles at 14:53.

Rating: B+. It never ceases to amaze me how much better the Bucks’ matches are in New Japan than they are in Ring of Honor. Over in ROH it’s a bunch of superkicks at the end and then the Meltzer Driver with very few instances of them really ever being in trouble. Here they start fast, take a beating, sell the heck out of injuries, and grit their way to a win in an exciting finish. That’s actually entertaining and good, which isn’t something I would say more than once or twice in ROH. Do more of that and my complaints will be at a minimum.

Post match the Bucks hire Callis for All In.

Bullet Club vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Jushin Thunder Liger/Rey Mysterio Jr.

Well you know that face team is getting a pop. It’s Cody, Hangman Page and Marty Scurll for the Club here. Rey is in tights, which I haven’t seen him wear in many, many years. He also has some rap song so it’s not all great. Liger and Scurll, who have been having issues of late, are about to start, but Rey and Page come in with no contact. Actually make that Tanahashi vs. Page, with the first contact coming a minute and a half in.

Takahashi headlocks him down and gives us some air guitar so it’s off to Cody after the strenuous grappling. Cody and Tanahashi exchange pushups before Rey and Scurll come in. That means we actually get something, including a sunset flip for two on Marty. Liger comes in and Scurll panics, partially due to a surfboard to make Marty scream. Marty does the same thing to take over and it’s Cody coming in to punch Liger in the mask.

The Club starts in on Liger’s leg and you know a villain and a guy named Hangman aren’t going to have issues with that. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker (onto the good knee) gets Liger out of trouble and it’s back to Rey so things can speed up. The moonsault into a tornado DDT plants Scurll but Page makes a blind tag to break up the 619. Everything breaks down and the teams trade cheap shots from the apron.

Tanahashi and Page knock each other down so it’s Cody coming in to face Liger. The palm strike gives Liger two and it’s Page breaking up another 619 to Marty. I hope Scurll gets him a fruit basket. That’s fine with Rey, who hits a 619 to Scurll and Page at the same time. Ok maybe the fruit can be a little bruised. Mysterio and Tanahashi hit dives to the floor but the brainbuster is countered into Cross Rhodes for the pin on Liger at 11:36.

Rating: C+. Mysterio looked awesome here, easily the best I’ve seen him in a long time (maybe it’s the tights). There’s nothing wrong with the legends taking a loss here as the Bullet Club is the hottest thing in the world at the moment. Cody pinning Liger should be a nice little boost for him, though I’m not sure if Cody has anything going on around here other than feuding with Kenny Omega without feuding with Omega.

The heroes get a big sendoff.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay

Takahashi is challenging after winning the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Ospreay already has a banged up neck after his injuries from about two months ago. They go straight at it with right hands and Ospreay charges into a belly to belly into the corner less than twenty seconds in. A sunset bomb to the floor is broken up so they fight to the ramp with Ospreay getting a running start for a big flip dive. The floor padding is pulled back but Ospreay can’t hit Stormbreaker (a double underhook twisted into a neckbreaker), meaning it’s time to head back inside.

Ospreay is fine enough for a running corner dropkick and he cranks back on both of Takahashi’s arms at once. How Zack Sabre Jr. of him. Takahashi bails to the floor, only to come back in and have his arm cranked a little more. After a double armbar is broken, Takahashi sends him outside for a hard dropkick from the apron to take over. A pop up powerbomb gives Takahashi two and some hard chops draw some swearing from Ospreay. The champ is back up with a 619 to the standing face and a springboard clothesline, apparently called Pip Pip Cheerio. That’s just great.

The Space Flying Tiger Drop (wacky Japanese move names are so much fun) puts Takahashi down again but the Oscutter is countered into a German suplex for a sweet reversal. They slug it out for a few seconds before cranking the pace WAY up. A pair of reverse hurricanranas look to set up the Stormbreaker but Takahashi reverses into a Code Red for no cover. That’s enough to send them to the apron, which is where Ospreay hurt himself in the first place. Instead of something stupid, it’s an apron superplex (in a power display you wouldn’t expect from Ospreay) before he drapes Takahashi over the top.

That means a shooting star press to the back (the Burning Star), because Ospreay does some insane flips. A corkscrew shooting star press (Neville’s Red Arrow) gets two and Stormbreaker is countered for a third time. This time it’s into a middle rope Canadian Destroyer, followed by a triangle choke as he’s really banging on that neck. Ospreay can’t powerbomb his way out of it so he lifts Takahashi up again and just drops him on his head for the break instead.

Another Oscutter is broken up as Takahashi shoves him off the ropes and hits a sunset bomb. Back in and a fireman’s carry into a spinning slam (kind of like Chris Sabin’s old Cradle Shock but called the Dynamite Plunger) gets two more and they’re both spent. The Time Bomb is escaped so Ospreay kicks him in the face. Stormbreaker is countered AGAIN into another triangle before Takahashi switches to a butterfly piledriver (geez). A Death Valley Driver into the corner sets up the Time Bomb for the pin on Ospreay and the title at 20:22.

Rating: A-. Well that was awesome. Takahashi played the neck perfectly and in the end it was one big move after another to finally put the champ away. He’s rather good, and the lack of that stupid Daryl thing made it even better. Ospreay is great of course and those flip are often incredible, especially for someone that much bigger than most cruiserweights. Awesome match, with a great story throughout, especially with how many times they changed the pace so drastically.

Takahashi rolls around on the mat with the title, laughing hysterically.

We recap Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho. Chris attacked him back in January but hasn’t wrestled since. Then Naito won the Intercontinental Title, only to be attacked by a masked Jericho. The title match is set, which could be a heck of a fight, especially with Jericho being so aggressive in Japan.

IWGP Intercontinental Title: Chris Jericho vs. Tetsuya Naito

Naito is defending while Jericho is in some weird face paint and lipstick, plus leather pants. Kind of a Clockwork Orange look actually and that’s not working for me. Jericho jumps him on the floor before Naito can even get the white suit off. A kick to the back and a suplex on the floor have Naito in even more trouble as we’re still waiting on the opening bell. Jericho even powerbombs him through the table (great break) and Naito is rocked.

With Naito more or less dead, Jericho steals a camera and films himself flipping people off. A DDT onto (not through) a table makes it even worse but Jericho stops to sign an autograph on a format sheet. Jericho throws him inside and says to ring the f****** bell so he can cover for one.

The fans chant for Naito and get flipped off, followed by a butterfly backbreaker and the Lionsault for two. Some hard whips into the corner keep Naito down and the Walls go on, sending Naito straight to the rope. Naito gets in a hard slap and tackles Jericho down, finally allowing him to take off the vest. A neckbreaker on the apron and another from the apron to the floor has Jericho in trouble. It’s time to choke with the pants, followed by a few rams into the barricade.

Naito blasts him in the head with the broken table and piledrives him onto the same table from the DDT…..which still doesn’t break. Sweet goodness that’s a heck of a table. Back in and Naito, with his bloody eye, gets his super hurricanrana countered into the Walls. That’s escaped as well and Naito gets two off a DDT. The Walls go on for the third time but the fans drive him to the ropes for yet another break.

A German suplex and Destino get two with Jericho grabbing the rope. Now Naito is bleeding from the ear as well so Jericho slaps him upside the head. Naito’s flying forearm is countered into a Codebreaker for a near fall. The Lionsault hits knees and a pumphandle into a reverse suplex (that’s a new one) drops Jericho on his head. Back up and Jericho shoves the referee, kicks Naito low, and hits the Codebreaker for the pin at 17:18.

Rating: B+. This was similar to the Omega vs. Jericho match with Jericho playing the smoke and mirrors to a high level and presenting it as more of a fight than a match. Naito is a top guy in New Japan and will likely get a boost out of losing, as dropping a title to Jericho is hardly the worst thing in the world. If nothing else, Jericho losing the title to someone else is going to give them a heck of a rub. Really entertaining match here though and that’s all you would have expected from Jericho.

Post match Jericho hammers away at the bad eye and nails Naito with a belt shot. Jericho pulls off his belt to whip Naito, drawing in Evil for the save.

We recap the main event, which is the final blowoff to Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada, who come into this 1-1-1. Okada has held the title for nearly two years and has pretty much every record in the history of the belt. They wrestled to an hour draw here last year and now it’s time for a no time limit 2/3 falls match.

IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada

Okada is defending and it’s no time limit, 2/3 falls. Kota Ibushi and Gedo are the respective seconds. Feeling out process to start, which is exactly how something like this should be starting. A fight over arm control gives us a standoff so Omega takes him to the mat for a quickly broken hammerlock. Okada has some slightly better luck with a leg crank but Omega is next to the rope. They both tease right hands in the corner and things speed up in a hurry with both finishers missing to send both of them outside.

A hard whip into the barricade has Omega in trouble and there’s a running boot to the face, only to have Omega hit the first (of probably about 75) V Trigger of the match. That’s only good for two back inside so Omega starts kicking at the back, which Okada invites without much of a grimace. A backbreaker sets up a one arm camel clutch but Okada gets in a flapjack for a breather. Okada’s DDT gets two and we hit a rather bad looking cobra clutch. That goes nowhere so Okada sends him outside for a dive.

That’s fine with Omega, who tosses the champ over the barricade for a springboard dive and a nice reaction. Back in and another V Trigger misses, allowing Okada to grab a German suplex. They’re twenty minutes in here and it’s felt like half of that. Okada fights out of a super Snapdragon and Tombstones Omega on the apron, thankfully without the announcers telling us that it’s the hardest part of the ring. Omega gets sent ribs first into the barricade and you can see the confidence on Okada’s face.

A missile dropkick gets a lazy near fall but Okada takes too long loading up the Rainmaker and gets kicked to the floor. The Rise of the Terminator sets up the running no hands flip dive and the fans are rather impressed. Back in and Okada breaks up the Snapdragon and a One Winged Angel, so Omega V Triggers him again.

Omega’s German suplex gets two and there’s the third V Trigger. He still can’t hit the One Winged Angel (they’re setting that up very well) so Okada hits his perfect dropkick. There’s a Tombstone for two but the Rainmaker is countered, only to have the counter countered into a cradle to give Okada the first fall at 28:48.

We take a quick break for a few minutes before Okada dropkicks him to the floor to start the second fall. The ribs go into the apron and the barricade a second time as the champ is in full control. A hanging DDT off the barricade should knock Omega silly and they head back inside. Omega’s chops are shrugged off and it’s a big boot into another cobra clutch. That goes nowhere so let’s head outside again with a table being laid on top of Okada for a running double stomp from the apron. Again the table doesn’t break (the Dudleys must hate this country) and Omega gets his knees up to block a backsplash inside.

An AA drops Omega again and they’re both down one more time. Okada goes up top but gets caught in a superplex as the fans get behind Omega again. That’s cut off by a middle rope moonsault hitting knees so Okada stops to point at a table. The backdrop over the top (like in the first match) is blocked and Omega hits a running tornado DDT. Neither can hit anything off the apron but neither finisher can hit on the floor either.

Instead Omega hits a reverse hurricanrana to knock Okada silly but he’s back in at nineteen. The fifth V Trigger looks to set up the One Winged Angel, which is reversed into another Tombstone (I believe we’re at three now). Okada’s Rainmaker is countered into a spinning Rock Bottom for another double knockdown. The Snapdragon rocks Okada but he pops up with another dropkick to send Omega into the ropes.

We haven’t have a V Trigger in a bit so there’s number six, only to have Okada get two off the same rollup that won him the first fall. Therefore it’s another V Trigger to set up a double underhook piledriver for two on the champ. Hey look! A V Trigger! This one sets up the One Winged Angel to tie things up at 50:35. After another rest period, Okada is almost ready to remember what planet he’s on. Therefore, say it with me: V TRIGGER (that’s nine if you’ve lost count) but Okada reverses the One Winged Angel into the Rainmaker for a double knockdown.

That’s good for a delayed two and neither can hit a Tombstone. Okada misses the dropkick as Omega can’t come off the ropes. He’s fine enough to hit a Styles Clash with Okada grabbing the rope for a save. A V Trigger in the corner connects but the One Winged Angel is countered into a Tombstone which is countered into a Tombstone from Omega. Ibushi gets up on the apron for some advice, but Omega misses the Phoenix splash (Ibushi’s finisher).

We break into the hour mark with V Triggers eleven, twelve and thirteen, followed by two more dropkicks from Okada. The champ loads up another Rainmaker, which connects, but with almost no impact as he collapses from exhaustion (as Omega did last year when he was about to take the Rainmaker). They slug it out from their knees but Okada pulls him up for a quick Rainmaker. There’s a fourth Rainmaker and he loads up a fifth, which is countered into a German suplex.

Omega rolls some more German suplexes but gets reversed into another German suplex. Another Rainmaker attempt is countered into another German suplex and Omega adds a reverse hurricanrana to spike Okada on his head. ANOTHER V Trigger is countered with ANOTHER dropkick but ANOTHER Rainmaker attempt is countered into a kind of sloppy One Winged Angel. Omega can’t cover so it’s V Trigger lucky number fifteen and One Winged Angel #3 to give Omega the third fall and the title at 69:52 (including the breaks between falls).

Rating: A+. If I could go between A+/A here I would, but I’m not one to change a system that has served me very well for so many years and make things that much more complicated for everyone involved. The match is incredible and one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. The guys beat the heck out of each other and called back to their previous classics while adding in new stuff. Okada being the one to collapse on the Rainmaker was great and made Omega look like the better man. Omega winning two straight falls make him look like the rightful champion, capping off a great story.

But give me a break with the seven stars thing. As I’ve said many times: I’m now either supposed to believe that this is 40% better than any previous five star match, or every match ever has to be redone because the scale has changed. As I mentioned more than once: they repeat A LOT of moves and spots, plus at times it felt like they were repeating stuff and filling in spots for the sake of breaking an hour and having one of the longest title matches ever. There are times where that works (which it did here at some points) and there are times where it feels like you’re trying to be epic (which it did here at some points).

Overall, it’s definitely a masterpiece and well worth checking out, but is it the best match of all time? Heck if I know, and heck if anyone else knows too. This match was less than two weeks ago and I’ve been finished watching it for about fifteen minutes. One of the my all time favorite matches and a match that I would put on a short list for best match of all time is Austin vs. Hart at Wrestlemania XIII. I watched that match last year and I was STILL finding new stuff about it that I hadn’t noticed before.

Will that be the case here? Probably, but I’d like to wait until the following month before putting it among the best of all time and above so many other things that have impressed me before. Over time, matches are looked at in different ways and tastes can change dramatically throughout the years. I know it’s great, but immediately giving it some kind of other worldly praise sounds like a six year old who just saw THE NEW GREATEST AND COOLEST MOVIE HE’S EVER SEEN for the fifth time this year.

The other question is will the match hold up as well over time. I know the immediate answer is yes, but look at what they did just a year and a half ago. The Wrestle Kingdom XI match was given six stars by Meltzer, meaning that this match has now left that one in the dust if you’re using the same scale (this match would be about 17% better if you’re a numbers person). If you’re basing it on that, the Wrestle Kingdom match is blown away by this one and isn’t even in the discussion. That took a year and a half. What is this match going to be seen as at this time next year?

In other words, let these matches sink in a bit before they’re labeled as the best ever or SO much better than anything else that’s ever been done before. It makes things sound silly instead of great, which is the point in offering these matches so much praise. The match was great, I’d watch it again, and Omega deserves to be champion after taking the title from maybe the best champion ever. If the match can hold up and stand the test of time, then we’ll see if it’s as good as some have claimed it to be. Amazing match, despite a few issues here and there.

Post match the Young Bucks come out and celebrate with Omega, officially setting things right with them before he’ll even accept the title. Omega thanks the fans in Japanese and says this was his final goal. He’ll be here for the future and (in English) he’s been told to stay calm and tranquilo. That’s not his way though and he knows with these men at his side, they can do anything. Omega bids us goodnight and goodbye but here’s Cody to walk halfway down the ramp and then turn around to end the show. Eh it worked for Owen Hart.

Overall Rating: A-. Great show, as New Japan always tends to be. The first hour and a half or so didn’t exactly blow me away (though it was quite watchable) and then it picked up a lot in the second half and never looked back. New Japan has stopped being on a roll and now is just this good. Wrestle Kingdom could go multiple ways and the G1 should be very interesting. I’m curious as to how long Omega holds the title, and if he’ll stick around after dropping it. Really, what else is left for him to do in New Japan now that he’s won the title? Anyway, another incredible night which again flew by, which New Japan does better than anyone.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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They’re back! So what if it’s mid-March? That’s totally fine in announcing the annual New Japan is Better Than You Awards and that’s what we have here. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards are back and I already have a bad feeling about them. As usual I’ll be listing the winners and giving a quick comment about each. I won’t list the top five for each unless something stands out to me.

1. Wrestler of the Year – Kazuchika Okada

Yep. Aside from AJ Styles, there’s no one in the same universe right now.

2. Most Outstanding Wrestler – Kazuchika Okada

I say it every year and I have it explained to me every year but I still have no idea why these first two both need to exist.

3. Tag Team of the Year – The Young Bucks

Maybe the Usos can win next year if they name a move after Meltzer.

4. Best on Interviews – Conor McGregor

Oh here we go. Again: it certainly must help when you only have to talk when you’re getting ready for a fight and have no restrictions. I have no idea why this is considered a fair comparison but maybe I’m just too much of a wrestling fan to understand these things.

5. Promotion of the Year – New Japan

Makes sense. WWE had a good but not great year and New Japan is almost always quality.

6. Best Weekly TV Show – New Japan on AXS

Being a highlight/Best Of show certainly must help. Being the Elite was fourth and Raw was NINTH. It’s really not that bad people.

7. Match of the Year – Okada vs. Omega – Wrestle Kingdom

No WWE match in the top five, Okada with four of the top five. You knew this was getting the top spot and nothing else was going to come close, but that’s to be expected.

8. Feud of the Year – Okada vs. Omega

I didn’t even have to look at the results. UFC had two of the top five spots.

9. Most Charismatic – Tetsuya Naito

Fair enough. I’ve liked what I’ve seen from him.

10. Best Technical Wrestler Zach Sabre Jr.

That guy does stuff that I can’t even describe and makes it look like the most natural thing in the world. It’s rare that I consider someone a treat to watch but that’s the case with him.

11. Best Brawler – Tomohiro Ishii

Not my style but I get it.

12. Best Flying Wrestler – Will Ospreay

Yep. Well maybe Ricochet, who came in second.

13. Most Overrated – Jinder Mahal

WWE got four of the top six (with five being a tie). Braun Strowman was ninth. Seriously.

14. Most Underrated – Rusev

I usually scratch my head at this one but there’s very little argument here.

15. Rookie of the Year – Ketsuya Kitamura

I’ve heard good things so sure.

16. Best Non-Wrestler – Daniel Bryan

This is a sentimental pick as Zelina Vega ran away with this thing (and finished second).

17. Best TV Announcer – Mauro Ranallo

You knew that was getting the pick and I can’t argue with it.

18. Worst TV Announcer – Booker T.

I’d have gone with Watson, who took second. At least Booker has a resume while Watson is just a person you might remember if you like stupid gimmicks and bad wrestling.

19. Best Major Wrestling Show – Wrestle Kingdom XI

I’d have gone with Takeover: Chicago but this is more than acceptable.

20. Worst Major Wrestling Show – Battleground

It had the Punjabi Prison match.

21. Best Wrestling Move – One Winged Angel

You know, that move that he hits over and over and barely ever wins with the thing.

22. Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic – WWE Promoting Jimmy Snuka As A Hero

Yeah that’s kind of hard to argue.

23. Worst TV Show – Raw

OH SCREW OFF! This award should be named after Impact but it’s WWE so we must run it into the ground. Good grief no.

24. Worst Match of the Year – Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton – Wrestlemania XXXIII

The title that Bruno, Hogan and Austin wore was involved in a match containing roaches and maggots. Moving on.

25. Worst Feud of the Year – Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton

It was either this or Mahal vs. Orton.

26. Worst Promotion – TNA

But remember: they had a better weekly TV show and not as bad of a pay per view!

27. Best Booker – Gedo

Again, didn’t need to look.

28. Promoter of the Year – Takaai Kidani – New Japan

Same duh as before.

29. Best Gimmick – Los Ingobernables de Japon

Velveteen Dream got second.

30. Worst Gimmick – Bray Wyatt and Sister Abigail

I’d go with Mahal for longevity as Abigail was only a few weeks long.

31. Best Pro-Wrestling Book – Crazy Like a Fox: The Brian Pillman Story

I need to get that as I’ve heard good things.

32. Best Documentary – Ric Flair: 30 For 30

Like it was going to be anything else.

Wrestle Kingdom XII
Date: January 4, 2018
Location: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 34,995
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Don Callis

It’s that that day of the year (not even time for this show) as we’re at New Japan’s biggest show of the year. The main event is IWGP World Champion Kazuchika Okada defending against former champion Tetsuya Naito in what should be a pretty obvious ending, but the match that has gotten almost all of the attention is a dream match between Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho. Not only have they set the match up but they’ve actually done some rather hot angles to help build the thing. Let’s get to it.

Please note that I don’t watch much New Japan. I have a decent idea of what’s going on and do follow the stories and developments, but there’s a good chance that I’m going to miss a thing or two.

Pre-Show: New Japan Rumble

This is a Royal Rumble with one minute intervals and pin/submission/over the top eliminations. Katsuya Kitamura (the reigning Young Lions Cup winner who is in crazy shape) is in at #1 and Bushi is in at #2. Kitamura shakes the ropes to start and is quickly choked in the corner with a shirt. Delirious is in at #3 and comes in after a quick lap around the ring. Some chops have no effect on Kitamura so grunting ensues and Delirious is dropped in the corner. Leo Tonga, a 6’10 monster and the Guerrillas of Destiny’s brother, is in at #4 and grabs a lifting Downward Spiral for two on Kitamura.

Delirious and Bushi trade some kicks until Manabu Nakanishi, a former IWGP World Champion, is in at #5. Nothing of note happens for not (standard battle royal in other words) and Chase Owens (an honorary Tongan) is in at #6 as the intervals are already way out of whack. Owens gives Delirious a quick package piledriver for the first elimination to clear the ring out a bit. Nakanishi has Bushi in a torture rack before tossing him out as Yuji Nagata is in at #7.

Nagata and Nakanishi, current partners, do the old man slugout with the latter getting the better of it. A double pin gets rid of Tonga, Nagata rolls Nakanishi up for a quick pin and Owens/Kitamura get together to pin Nagata in the span of thirty seconds. A package piledriver eliminates Kitamura and it’s Taka Michinoku in at #8 to go one on one with Owens. Since Taka takes forever to get to the ring, Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Taka’s stablemate in Suzuki-Gun) is in at #9 in short order. Owens is double teamed until Desperado, also of Suzuki-Gun, is in at #10.

Chase actually hangs on until a shot of booze to the face is good for an elimination to leave Suzuki-Gun alone in the ring. That should mean a big name coming in and it’s Jushin Thunder Liger in at #11 (with the always awesome theme). Jushin gets in some palm strikes but tries the surfboard for some reason, allowing the triple teaming to start all over. Suzuki-Gun goes for the mask but it’s Tiger Mask in at #12.

Desperado goes for Mask’s mask, only to have Tiger switch places and almost get Desperado’s mask off instead. A tiger driver gets two on Desperado and it’s Gino Gambino, a rather large Australian, is in at #13. Desperado and Tiger lose their masks, which seems to be a double elimination. Liger, Kanemaru and Taka are pinned in short order, leaving Gambino to face Toa Henare, another Young Lion, who is in at #14. A Samoan drop gets two on Gambino as Yoshi-Hashi is in at #15. Hashi chops at Henare for one (Were you expecting anything more off a chop?) and David Finlay is in at #16.

Finlay wastes no time in Stunning Gambino for an elimination. Henare is put out again, leaving Finlay to roll Hashi up for another pin (despite his shoulder being WAY off the mat). Yujiro Takahashi is in at #17 with a rather good looking woman in a leather bunny mask. A clothesline gets rid of Finlay in short order and Takahashi is all alone. Cheeseburger is n at #18 because of course he is. The tiny man gets in a bulldog and a stomp as Satoshi Kojima (quite a legend in his own right) is in at #19.

Yujiro grabs a fisherman’s buster on Kojima but goes after Cheeseburger instead of following up. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kojima’s longtime partner, is in at #20. The rapid Mongolian chops have Takahashi in trouble and it’s Masahito Kakihara (a cancer survivor of UWFI fame) in at #21 for the last entrant. A 3D plants Yujiro and a lariat gets rid of him, leaving us with Kakihara, Cheeseburger, Kojima and Tenzan. Kojima shows Cheeseburger how to throw some machine gun chops but he’s smart enough to roll away from a splash.

Back up and Cheeseburger and Kakihara try chops to the chest with Cheeseburger’s having no effect (BECAUSE HE’S REALLY SMALL! LIKE MUCH SMALLER THAN EVERYONE ELSE BUT HE NEVER GIVES UP! DO YOU GET THE IDEA YET???) and a double low bridge eliminate Tenzan and Kojima. A quick STO ends Cheeseburger at 32:06 to give Kakihara the win.

Rating: D+. The ending was a nice touch with Kakihara being a feel good story after his illness. The rest of the match was the usual mess, though this isn’t the kind of match where you’re looking for a big story. People got their stuff in and were able to appear at the show, which is all you can ask for. I wasn’t wild on the multiple instances of people being eliminated in short order but again, that’s not the point in a match like this. It accomplished its goal, despite not being the most thrilling thing in the world.

Post match Kakihara puts on a shirt in honor of Yoshihiro Takayama, who was paralyzed in a match back in May. Cool moment there, especially for a cancer survivor like Kakihara.

The opening video runs the card down. There’s something cool about having the match order announced in advance. I like wondering what order some WWE shows go in but this does help a lot if you’re looking for a single match.

As usual, the Dome looks great with attendance up pretty strongly from last year. That’s always a good sign.

A female announcer seems to welcome us to the show.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Roppongi 3K

3K (Ring of Honor’s Tempura Boyz, Sho and Yoh) is defending and has Rocky Romero in their corner. Nick shoves Yoh around to start and it’s already time for a Sharpshooter attempt (WWE did it so the Bucks can too!). Yoh actually grabs one of his own, drawing in the partners so Matt can put Sho in another Sharpshooter. That means a slap off for a unique spot, followed by 3K popping up for stereo dropkicks.

Romero actually calls a play (which is a further step than you see most managers take), leading to double flip dives to the floor. Yoh comes up with a bad back though and it’s time for a glorified handicap match in the vein of the Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice from last year. Nick dropkicks Sho down and Romero gets powerbombed onto the ramp. Yoh gets thrown inside and then powerbombed onto the apron as the announcers go over the Bucks’ history at the show.

Matt hurts his own back on a dive so it’s Nick stomping on Yoh at a fairly slow pace. A pretty weak backbreaker has Yoh in trouble so Nick takes Yoh to the ramp for a piledriver. Yoh backdrops his way to freedom and Nick dives onto his brother by mistake. The hot tag brings in Sho to clean house with kicks and suplexes. He even German suplexes both Bucks at once in a surprising display of power.

Nick’s superkicks don’t get him very far so it’s a leg lariat which knocks Sho into the ropes, only to have him lariat Nick down. Yoh and Matt have matching back injuries but Matt is still able to powerbomb him into the corner. A hanging DDT with Nick flipping onto Yoh’s back at the same time is good for two and it’s off to the Sharpshooter. Yoh grabs the rope and More Bang For Your Buck is countered into a rollup for two.

We hit stereo half crabs from the champs with Nick having to hold his brother’s arm up. Eventually Nick kicks his hold away to break up the one on Nick and everyone is down. The healthy guys take turns kicking at the bad backs before Nick superkicks Sho down, followed by a corkscrew dive to the floor. Back in and the Meltzer Driver into the Sharpshooter gives the Bucks the belts for the seventh time at 18:49.

Rating: B. I like this version of the Bucks, but unfortunately you don’t see them that often. This team was a lot more crisp and with only a handful of superkicks throughout a nearly twenty minute match, it was far from the usual drek. What I could go for is something slightly fresher than the same stuff they did with Roppongi Vice in at least two matches I’ve seen. It’s not lazy storytelling but rather long form storytelling and in this case they did change things up enough to make it work. A fresh idea is probably needed now, along with someone other than the Bucks and their opponents of the month in the title picture.

Never Openweight Six Man Tag Team Titles: Gauntlet Match

Bad Luck Fale/Guerrillas of Destiny are defending. Two teams start, the winning team keeps going, last team standing leaves with the belts. Suzuki-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr./Taichi/Takashi Iizuka with Desperado, Taka Michinoku and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) and War Machine/Michael Elgin start things off after Iizuka is lead to the ring on a leash. Suzuki-Gun jumps the simply named trio to start but run into the power of Elgin.

Somehow Elgin is still able to slingshot in with a splash for no cover. A not very delayed suplex on Iizuka is enough to bring in Hanson to rake the eyes a bit. Taichi gets in a few shots as well until a cartwheel gets Hanson over to the corner for the hot tag to Rowe. Everything breaks down in a hurry but Rowe misses a moonsault. Sabre grabs a quick triangle choke and Rowe is choked out at 6:05.

Next up are Beretta, Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii and the brawl is on in the aisle. They get in with the beating only lasting a few seconds until Yano gets in a low blow and rolls Taichi for the pin at 9:12 (including the time between falls). Next up is Taguchi Japan, consisting of Togi Makabe, Ryusuke Taguchi and Juice Robinson.

The brawl is on in a hurry with Robinson firing off right hands but having to catch the turnbuckle pad that Yano unhooked. Makabe runs over Yano with a lariat for two and now it’s everyone clotheslining Yano in the corner. A springboard hip attack gets two and Makabe runs more people over. Taguchi channels Shinsuke Nakamura with the gyrating before a running knee, only to charge into a rollup to give Yano his second straight pin at 14:06.

That leaves us with Bad Luck Fale and the Guerrillas of Destiny to complete the field and again the fight is on in a hurry. Tonga Loa gives Trent an AA on the apron but Fale misses a splash in the corner, meaning a hot tag can bring in Ishii to do what a monster is supposed to do. He can’t lift the huge Fale though and that earns him a big splash in the corner. A chokeslam is broken up and Ishii headbutts him backwards, followed by an impressive suplex.

The Guerrillas come back in and hit Guerrilla Warfare on Beretta. Instead of covering though, they try a belly to back superplex but get elbowed away. Beretta isn’t out of the woods yet though as he moonsaults right into a cutter for a very near fall. Fale and Ishii clothesline each other down but Beretta hits a quick Dudebuster to pin Loa for the titles at 21:46.

Rating: C-. I’m never a fan of gauntlet matches for the most part as there’s too much going on in too little time, which mainly means nothing has the chance to build or really go anywhere. They did manage to make Beretta look like a resilient fighter by making a comeback at the end, which helps push him up the heavyweight ranks, but that’s really the only thing that made an impact here. It’s not bad or anything but too much going on and too many people.

Ticket info for the Long Beach event is released tomorrow. That’s cool to see but they still need to do a lot more if they want to really expand into America (which isn’t exactly necessary).

Cody vs. Kota Ibushi

Not much of a story here, though there’s a good chance that it’s designed to help build Ibushi for an eventual mega match against former partner Kenny Omega. Cody has Brandi (sweet goodness) with him and still has the bleach blond hair. After Cody puts his ring in a box, we’re ready to go.

Cody’s headlock is countered with a nip up so Cody flips him off. That’s not the nicest gesture in the world and Ibushi is so disgusted that he gets caught in an American Nightmare lock. Ibushi makes the rope and Callis is wondering why he didn’t have that better scouted. Fair question actually as Callis shows how to be an intelligent commentator.

Cody gets sent outside and Brandi is down so Ibushi checks on her, only to be suckered into a right hand. Back in and the Disaster Kick starts working on Ibushi’s always bad neck and we hit a double underhook neck crank. Brandi takes Kevin’s chair and distracts the referee so Cody can get in some shots to the neck.

Despite that likely KILLING IBUSHI, he’s back up and hitting a moonsault press to the floor to take Cody down again. Back in and Kota’s rapid strikes into a standing moonsault gets two. Brandi grabs the foot to break up a suplex though (Callis: “She’s been watching her Bobby Heenan footage!”) and Cody hits Cross Rhodes off the apron to drop Ibushi HARD onto his head in a great looking crash. Somehow Ibushi beats the count so Cody hits his own springboard hurricanrana for a very close two.

Cross Rhodes is countered though and Ibushi lawn darts him into the buckle. Ibushi can’t follow up so they slap it out with Kota getting the better of it, setting up the sitout Last Ride for two more. A hard lariat (staying on the neck) gives Cody two and a straitjacket German suplex gives Ibushi the same. He doesn’t let go though, instead kneeing the heck out of Cody. The Phoenix splash is good for the academic pin on Cody at 16:08.

Rating: B. Another well done match here as Ibushi fought through the neck injury (with Cody focusing on the neck almost the entire time) and coming out on top at the end. That’s a great way to set up the eventual match against Omega and hopefully Ibushi gets a great run out of this. He’s incredibly smooth in the ring and that makes the matches very easy to watch. Good stuff here as you could get a sense of what they were going for, which is hard in any wrestling match.

IWGP Tag Team Titles: Evil/Sanada vs. Killer Elite Squad

Evil and Sanada are challenging after winning the World Tag League last year. Lance Archer (partner of Davey Boy Smith Jr.) is a cowboy so a lot of beer is sprayed over the crowd. The champs jump them to start and a Killer Bomb (full nelson slam into a sitout powerbomb) gets a very early two on Evil (as in less than fifteen seconds in). Evil is basically dead so Archer pounds away, allowing Davey to get two while posing.

That’s enough for the Squad as they head outside and beat up the young boys for fun. Archer chokeslams Evil onto everyone else before taking Sanada back in for a headscissors of all things. A side slam/middle rope splash gets two and Archer just blasts Sanada with a clothesline. Sanada dropkicks Davey in the knee but it’s still not enough for the hot tag off to Davey as Lance makes the save. The announcers declare this over so get the new nameplates ready for the belts.

Archer’s Rock Bottom gets two but he charges into a hurricanrana. The hot tag FINALLY brings Evil in for some clotheslines with the third finally taking Archer down. Smith misses his middle rope moonsault (because of course he can do one of those and land on his feet) but Sanada gets chokeslammed for two. Another Killer Bomb gets the same but Evil breaks up a third attempt. Archer gets sent outside and the Magic Killer gets two on Davey. A quick moonsault press puts Davey away to give us new champions at 13:17.

Rating: B-. Good come from behind win here as Evil (what a name for a face) and Sanada are good as the plucky rag dolls who get destroyed but still manage to come back in the end. The Squad looked awesome here and I was into their heel act, which really wasn’t something I was expecting coming in. Good match here and while it’s a step beneath some of the stuff on the show tonight, another solid performance and a title change that makes sense.

Never Openweight Title: Hirooki Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki

Suzuki is defending, no seconds allowed and hair/title vs. hair, which never sounds fair whatsoever. I’ve never gotten much out of Suzuki so hopefully this is an upgrade. Goto walks into a shot to the face to start but comes back with one of his own to get us back to even. An early standing choke doesn’t get Suzuki very far so he grabs another while standing on the second rope. That’s enough to bring the doctor in, only to have Suzuki clear the ring again.

Goto is sent outside which seems to wake him up, meaning Suzuki can hit him in the back with a chair because he feels like it. For some reason Goto decides to roll back in and a hard forearm to the head cuts him off again. A running knee in the corner rocks Goto but a running kick to the chest is caught….so Suzuki hits him in the head again. Goto does manage a spinwheel kick in the corner and a bulldog, followed by a Saito suplex for two.

Suzuki grabs his choke again but keeps trying the Gotch Style piledriver. Instead Goto reverses into a fireman’s carry backbreaker so here’s Suzuki-Gun to interfere (standard operating procedure). Goto fights them off but walks into a hard dropkick to keep Suzuki in control. A long series of rapid fire strikes to the face sets up the choke again but Suzuki again opts for the piledriver.

Goto reverses that as well but gets caught in a guillotine choke with Suzuki standing on the ropes. That’s reversed into a super fireman’s carry backbreaker for two (fair enough as the ropes didn’t really add anything) so Goto headbutts the heck out of him. The GTR (an Eye of the Hurricane onto the knee) is enough to end Suzuki at 18:04.

Rating: C+. I’m still not a fan of this beating each other up and hitting each other over and over until one of you can’t stand up anymore style. It’s never been my thing and it probably never will be. Goto is more interesting than Suzuki so I can get behind the title change, but at the same time I could have gone for a slightly different story than repeating what we saw in the previous match: champion completely overpowers the challenger until a few well timed shots give him an opening. It felt like the same layout in back to back matches and that’s a bit annoying.

Suzuki is carried away by his guys but walks back to the ring for the haircut, which he does himself in humiliation.

Ads for upcoming shows.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Will Ospreay vs. Kushida vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Marty Scurll

One fall to a finish and Scurll is defending. These four have been the only champions since November 2016 so there are a lot of stories tied together in the whole thing. Scurll and Ospreay are mortal enemies, Takahashi had Kushida’s number (though Kushida finally beat him to win the title back) and Ospreay took the title from Kushida a few months back. Marty comes out with WINGS for a heck of an entrance. The champ heads outside to start so it’s Ospreay flipping over Kushida to start.

Kushida flips over into a dropkick for two with Marty running in for the save. Back up and Ospreay moonsaults in to kick Scurll and Kushida down at the same time. Everyone heads outside with Ospreay climbing the set and moonsaulting down onto the other three. Back in and Kushida catches Ospreay’s springboard in a cross armbreaker but Ospreay comes back in to grab the chickenwing.

Kushida slaps the Hoverboard Lock on Takahashi at the same time and it’s a game of chicken (Wing?). It’s Scurll letting go of Ospreay to make the save with a superkick to Kushida. Back up and everyone hits everyone really hard for the four way knockdown. They strike it out from their knees until Ospreay kicks Scurll down, only to have the Oscutter countered into the chickenwing.

That’s broken up as well and Takahashi suplexes Kushida into the corner. Kushida gets caught upside down in the corner for a superkick (called the Chicky Nandos kick, a case where I doubt I want the backstory), followed by Ospreay going up. His shooting star is countered into a cutter though and Scurll gets two off a Last Shot. The Oscutter gets the same on Ospreay and Scurll heads outside to tape Takahashi to the barricade. He throws in a finger break, only to have Kushida and Ospreay break fingers on both of his hands.

Kushida triangles Ospreay but gets lifted up and powerbombed into the corner for his efforts. Now it’s Scurll grabbing some powder to blind Kushida, who is still able to hit the small package driver for two with Ospreay diving off the top for the save. Takahashi has somehow gotten free and catches Ospreay in a German suplex, followed by running sunset bombs to Ospreay and Scurll. The Time Bomb gets two on Scurll but it’s Ospreay coming in for the save.

Ospreay and Scurll take turns kicking the heck out of Takahashi and Kushida, only to have Takahashi missile dropkick Ospreay for two. Now it’s Kushida back up with a running sunset bomb on Takahashi. Ospreay hits an imploding 450 for two on Takahashi but a Time Bomb gets the same with Scurll making the save. Some umbrella shots have the challengers in trouble but the Oscutter takes Scurll down for the pin and the title at 21:22.

Rating: A-. Like I said, there were a lot of stories in this match and Ospreay FINALLY beating Scurll was probably the biggest of them all. On top of that this was a heck of a fight with all four stealing the spotlight for at least a little while. Ospreay looked awesome here and was only a few steps ahead of the other three. There’s not much to say here, other than they were rocking the house and that’s what a match like this was supposed to do.

We recap (first time tonight) Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the Intercontinental Title against Jay White. Jay had been a Young Lion who left on his foreign excursion (mainly to Ring of Honor, where I was a big fan) and returned in November at Power Struggle. White talked about watching Tanahashi for years and now he wants to prove himself against the best. He attacked Tanahashi and received a title shot, which is about as simple as you can get. Tanahashi is older now (41) and banged up but he’s still one of the best the company has.

Intercontinental Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White

Tanahashi is defending. White has a cool entrance with a knife falling on the ground to play up his Switchblade moniker. They fight over arm control to start and it’s an early standoff with Tanahashi throwing in some air guitar. Not only will he wrestle you, but he’ll throw in some musical entertainment. Usually that costs more. A forearm White down but he gets in a shot to the knee to really take over for the first time.

The knee is wrapped around the barricade to make things even worse. Back in and Tanahashi has to fight from his back so White can pretty easily slap on something like an Indian deathlock. Kelly starts talking about Tanahashi’s history at this show as the basic leg work continues. Tanahashi finally escapes and hits a dragon screw legwhip for a breather, followed by a middle rope Swanton for two.

The Sling Blade misses but Tanahashi is right back on the leg to keep White at bay. A high crossbody to the floor drops White again but he’s right back up with a German suplex inside. White hits a brainbuster (not really) onto the apron before driving some knees into the corner (White: “Is this the Ace? Is this the Ace?”). Tanahashi’s comeback is countered with a suplex into the corner for two as frustration is starting to set in.

A twist of White’s knee takes him down this time but he catches Tanahashi on top. That just earns him a super swinging neckbreaker (Twist and Shout), followed by back to back Sling Blades for two. The High Fly Flow misses and the knee is banged up again. White’s Kiwi Crusher gets two but the Switchblade (looked like Sister Abigail) is countered into a dragon suplex for two more. High Fly Flow is good enough to end White at 19:44.

Rating: B-. You kind of knew they weren’t going to have Tanahashi lose three straight Wrestle Kingdom matches so the ending isn’t the biggest surprise. That being said, the idea of pulling the trigger on White seemed very, very intriguing though I get why they couldn’t go through with the title change.

However, this was little more than average with White’s offense not being anything impressive (he has a very solid look and presence though and the offense certainly wasn’t bad) and Tanahashi never feeling like he was in any serious danger. The Crusher only getting two and barely being treated as a near fall didn’t bode well and while the match was good, it was nothing compared to what Tanahashi has done in the past.

We recap the real main event of Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega. Basically Omega needed a top opponent and Jericho appeared in 2017, challenging him to a match. They’ve attacked each other in recent weeks and there’s actually a lot of hype for the match. Jericho used to wrestle in New Japan before he went to WCW so this is a homecoming in a way. But yeah, the entire story here is “Jericho vs. Omega.” Does it need to be anything else? Omega’s US Title is on the line and it’s about as important as Ric Flair’s Intercontinental Title when he fought HHH in a cage at Taboo Tuesday 2005.

IWGP US Title: Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega

No DQ, Jericho is challenging and he brought the light up jacket to Japan. His hair has also grown out a bit and is now close to what it was looking like back in 2004/5, which isn’t the best idea in the world. Instead of the Terminator, Omega has what looks to be a Loki helmet and a big freaking gun, along with the Young Bucks at his side. Not that they matter as they’re ejected almost immediately in a good idea.

Jericho jumps him during the entrances and shoves the young boys out of the way. They immediately slug it out with Omega getting the better of it and hammering away on the mat. Jericho grabs the referee for a cheap shot and chops away as Callis is WAY more excited than he….eh never mind. An early Walls attempt sends Omega to the ropes and for some reason the referee breaks it up. Know the rules chum.

Omega baseball slides him over the barricade but the big springboard dive only hits table for a great looking crash. Jericho grabs the Walls on the floor and shoves the referee before putting a young boy (referee’s son for a nice touch) in the Walls as well. A monitor shot cuts Jericho off but he knocks Omega again. Jericho: “ALPHA!” Nice touch to play up that Alpha vs. Omega idea.

Speaking of Omega, he puts a table on top of Jericho and climbs a structure for a double stomp as the announcers try to figure out if they’re on the air. Both guys beat the count back in and Jericho’s springboard dropkick to the knee cuts off Omega’s springboard. Jericho heads back outside and sets up a table. The powerbomb is initially blocked so Jericho powerbombs him on the floor instead. Hang on as Jericho stops to grab a camera for some shots (as in photos), including some of his flipping off the fans.

Back in and a chair is wedged in the corner but Jericho goes with the Lionsault for a delayed two instead. One heck of a clothesline puts Jericho back on the floor and there’s the big flip dive to take Jericho down again. Omega scores with the V Trigger but the snap dragon is reversed into the ropes. This time Omega goes to the corner but grabs the cold spray stored there to blind Jericho for the escape. The blind Jericho is still able to send Omega head first into the corner, meaning it’s time to stop for some posing. That gets some great heat from the crowd and Jericho sending Omega into the chair again makes things even better.

Omega is busted and you know Jericho is going to follow up on that. A snap dragon gets Omega out of trouble but it’s way too early (despite being twenty two minutes in) for the One Winged Angel. Another chair shot puts Omega down and some not great shots to the back keep him in trouble. Omega has to pull himself up and Jericho is nearly reveling in his pain. Jericho takes too long going up though and a V Trigger knocks Jericho off the top and through the table.

Back in and Omega knees the heck out of him, followed by a double underhook piledriver for a close two. The One Winged Angel is countered into another Walls and then the Liontamer for some extra mustard. Omega crawls over to the ropes and Jericho lets go with no orders from the ref. Two more V Triggers into the One Winged Angel is good for two with Jericho grabbing the rope.

Back up and Jericho is dropped face first onto the top turnbuckle but comes back with a Codebreaker for a delayed near fall. For some reason Jericho decides to lay a chair on Omega, who pops up with a shot to the back. The One Winged Angel onto the chair is enough to finish Jericho off at 34:36.

Rating: C-. And that didn’t work. Between the really stupid rope breaks (Jericho yelled about them earlier and then just let it happen twenty five minutes later), the lack of any, you know, wrestling, the V Triggers going all over the place and Omega not knowing how to do more than about five moves while being treated as some kind of wrestling deity, this was nowhere near as good as it should have been. I’m sure the “real” wrestling fans will drool over the whole thing without seeing what’s right in front of them because they don’t want to look at the actual details. Maybe Jericho can have one more WWE run, but this didn’t help things.

To really sum up the problem with the whole thing, you had Kevin Kelly telling the critics of Kenny Omega where they could go. It’s the standard slurping of the overrated guy who really isn’t as great as he’s built up to be, but that’s almost the case for Japan. Let me guess: 94.75 stars, which will be debated for years because some people saw it as 94.25 stars while King Dave chuckles the whole time? I give it four toasters out of ten lobster specials. Does that count?

Omega is helped out and looked happier than he ever has been over his win.

We recap the IWGP World Title match. Tetsuya Naito won the 2017 G1 Climax Tournament to earn this shot and I think I’ve typed enough now to sell the idea that I gave my actual thoughts on the previous match and wasn’t just putting that to see how many heads I could get to explode. Jericho vs. Omega was an A- with two guys beating the heck out of each other for about five minutes longer than they should have but it was still a blast. They hid Jericho’s physical limitations very well (dude is 47) and had a great match with some nuclear heat (almost Lana levels) from the crowd. Anyway, to continue the charade for those who don’t pay attention: Okada has held the title for a year and the guard needs changing.

IWGP World Title: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito

Okada is defending but Naito comes out rocking that white suit as only he can. The champ’s entrance shows him flipping a gold coin and walking away, though I’m more curious about why the Japanese title has English writing on its plates. Okada is also wrestling in long pants (not tights) which is a look I’ve never seen from him before. The fans are WAY into this from the bell and the dueling chants begin.

No contact in the first minute and Naito backs up from a lockup attempt. Okada finally gets to him just under two minutes in but Naito dropkicks the knee. Some armdrags have Naito in trouble but he lands in his signature pose for a nice touch. We hit the stall button as you have to guess they have a ton of time here.

Kelly talks about betting sites having the over/under for this match at five stars. As my eyes roll back into my head, I catch a glimpse of Naito elbowing him in the head to take over but getting dropkicked off the top and out to the floor. Ok so my eyes roll rather slowly. Naito comes right back with a neckbreaker over the barricade (Okada has had a bad neck for the better part of a year) but the champ is back in before the twenty count. A missile dropkick gets two and Naito hammers on the head to work over the neck some more.

We hit the cravate to keep the champ in trouble but Okada throws him down and nips up. Okada nails a hanging DDT off the barricade but charges into a reverse DDT onto the knee. A flapjack cuts Naito off again as they’re kind of doing the Bret vs. Shawn formula from Wrestlemania XII with Bret having a planned offense to pick Shawn apart but Shawn making up whatever he’s doing on the fly because he’s just that naturally talented.

It’s WAY too early for the Rainmaker so Okada settles for a cobra clutch instead. Naito can’t flip him away but he can get his foot on the ropes (and now, it actually makes sense). Back up and Naito hits a hanging neckbreaker, followed by a super reverse hurricanrana for the first near fall. A corkscrew moonsault only hits mat though and both guys are down. The battle of the forearms goes to Naito and a Liger kick staggers the champ.

There’s a flying forearm (hey Naito is supposed to be Shawn) but Okada breaks up a superplex. He misses a missile dropkick though and Naito has another opening….which is rapidly closed by a Rainmaker for two. Kelly: “Naito kicked out of the Rainmaker!” Well duh. I mean, it’s the Wrestle Kingdom main event and there’s the whole it’s just a clothesline issue. The tombstone is countered into Destino but Naito is too spent to cover. The slow slugout from their knees goes to a draw so they slug it out on their feet instead.

A hard slap puts Okada down and something like a swinging neckbreaker gets two. Destino is countered into another Rainmaker but Okada picks him up instead of covering. That means another Destino for another two and we keep going. The dropkick into the tombstone looks to set up another Rainmaker but Naito reverses into Destino. He won’t cover though and tries another Destino, only to be reversed into the tombstone. Another Rainmaker actually retains the title at 36:37.

Rating: B+. Uh….ok then. I would have thought this was the biggest layup of the show but Okada winning does have some potential. The key thing here is that while Omega and Naito have failed, whoever finally DOES beat Okada is going to be the biggest kingslayer of all time. It’s an interesting way to go, though it’s also quite risky.

The match itself was quite good, though I really wasn’t feeling some of the drama near the end. I think given how much it seemed Naito was a lock to take the title here, a lot of the near falls didn’t really get me interested. There were some good counters and Naito’s neck stuff all made sense, but it wasn’t up to the highest level in the world. That doesn’t mean it’s not great (it’s just barely into the great level but it’s there) but it needed a little more to get there. Very good match, just lacking some of the emotion that it needed.

Gedo yells at Naito as he stumbles up the ramp. Okada says something to Naito, which seems to be about respect. The champ addresses the fans and since I have no idea what’s being said and since no one translates it, we’ll wrap things up here with me assuming Gedo gave a recipe for Mexican spaghetti while telling Okada they need to buy Christmas ribbons while they’re on sale. Okada likely sang the Kenan and Kel theme song.

Overall Rating: A-. As usual, it’s a heck of a show but this one felt like it was lacking something here and there. The main events were both very strong and there were some other outstanding matches up and down the card. The energy was great throughout and above all else (maybe), the show really didn’t feel that long. This might be the first time I’ve ever knocked the whole thing out in a day and I never felt like it was going on forever, which is almost always the case.

There are some minor problems with the show, including a lack of much feeling like it mattered. The three top titles all stayed with their original holders and there’s really no one fresh left to challenge Okada (you can imagine Omega and Naito getting more shots but we’ve covered both of them rather recently). Ospreay is probably the biggest title change and he held the title as recently as November. Bushi and Evil winning was a cool moment, though I’d hope you can have something a bit more impactful than new Tag Team Champions. Have one of those three big titles change hands and the show feels more important.

Overall, the show was a lot of fun but I don’t think it’s going to be up there on the list of all time greatest Wrestle Kingdoms. There’s a lot of stuff that felt like it was built up to be big but was there to move us forward to something else. That’s not to say it’s a bad idea, though I’d kind of like something to actually feel important at the biggest show of the year. It’s worth seeing, as long as you realize that it’s been done better before.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume VI: July – December 1999 in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

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New Japan G1 Special in USA Night One
Date: July 1, 2017
Location: Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, Long Beach, California
Commentators: Jim Ross, Josh Barnett

This has the potential to be either a major moment in history or something that won’t be remembered in a few years. New Japan has been the favorite promotion of a lot of wrestling fans in recent years and now they’ve come to America on their own instead of co-promoting with someone like Ring of Honor. This is the first of a two night event, the latter of which will air six days from now. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks back at the history of the company (not exactly in depth) and the build tot he show. This includes a variety of big matches over both nights and how important it is for the competitors in a tournament for the inaugural IWGP United States Title.

Here are the tournament brackets:

Michael Elgin

Kenny Omega

Jay Lethal

Hangman Page

Juice Robinson

Zack Sabre Jr.

Tomohiro Ishii

Tetsuya Naito

We look at the tale of the tape for the World Title match between Kazuchika Okada and Cody Rhodes.

We get some pre-show ceremonies with the announcers talking over both the Japanese announcements and the English translations. This goes on for several minutes with the announcers talking about the tournament and making some predictions. If nothing else it’s VERY weird to hear the term “belt” so many times.

Roppongi Vice/Will Ospreay/Briscoe Brothers vs. Young Bucks/Marty Scurll/Yujiro Takahashi/Bad Luck Fale

Chaos vs. Bullet Club, again. Ospreay and Scurll start things off because…..well who else was going to? Scurll flips away from him a few times and does the bird wings thing a few times. Ospreay sends him outside and apparently we’re under lucha rules (never mentioned by commentary) so it’s off to the Briscoes to dropkick Fale down. Takahashi gets caught in between the Brothers, who JR has confused.

Mark hits his running Blockbuster off the apron and it’s off to Roppongi Vice vs. the Bucks (And for once it’s not something that you would know if you were watching New Japan because this is actually New Japan!). Vice takes over without much effort but there are the superkicks. Marty adds one from the apron and busts out the umbrella, allowing the Bucks to dive onto the Briscoes.

Ospreay kicks Scurll to the floor and there’s the BIG springboard shooting star to take out the pile. Back in and Scurll breaks Mark’s finger but the wild dancing and shouting CHICKENWING somehow tips Mark off about what to expect. Now it’s Romero coming in to clean house….until a superkick cuts him off. In case that’s not enough for you, Jay gets in a little comeback and eats a superkick as well.

Ospreay grabs a C4 on Scurll and it’s back to Romero for the clotheslines in the corner. The clotheslines have no effect on Fale (duh) and he keeps walking forward despite Osprey hitting clothesline after clothesline for a cool visual. Fale shrugs it off and Razors Edges Romero onto the pile, though it knocks out some partners as well. The Briscoes drop Fale but it’s the Bucks coming right back in to take over. The Meltzer driver is broken up and Romero rolls Matt up for the pin at 9:25.

Rating: B. Not the highest quality match but it was entertaining and fast paced, making it the perfect choice for an opener. This also helps set up Vice vs. Bucks for the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles tomorrow night, which is almost always a good idea. I’m still not sure why Chaos and the Club are feuding but they’ve long since reached the point where they just are feuding so it’s kind of hard to really complain anymore.

Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Titan/Dragon Lee/Volador Jr./Jushin Thunder Liger

That would be Sanada/Bushi/Evil/Hiromu Takahashi, the first three of whom are the Never Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions. The first three of their opponents are all from CMLL. If nothing else it’s cool to hear Liger’s music on TV. Finally, Titan is pronounced Tee-Tan as something that is likely lost in translation. Volador headscissors Bushi to the floor to start and it’s off to Liger for a very nice reception.

Sanada comes in as well as we hear about JR seeing Liger facing Brian Pillman back in 1992. That’s when Liger had been around NINE YEARS already, meaning he’s now a thirty three year veteran. I really don’t know what to say to that but it’s rather impressive. Los Ingobernables sneak in from behind and clean house, knocking all of the villains to the floor. Sanada ties Titan up (ala Jack Gallagher) and hits a running dropkick, which isn’t treated like a comedy spot as it would be over here.

Liger gets in a palm strike and makes the tag to Lee for a BIG chop off with Takahashi. The CMLL team hits double flip dives, leaving Lee to kick Takahashi in the face. Titan hand walks away and spins into a headscissors, only making himself dizzy in the process. That’s some awful luck, or mal suerte to him. Titan gets triple dropkicked for two and Takahashi grabs the referee, allowing Evil to chair Titan down. The Time Bomb is good for the pin on Titan at 6:47.

Rating: D+. Nowhere near as good as the previous match here but the time didn’t help things. This is another good example of a match that was helped by commentary as they were explaining why these factions were feuding, which mainly took place in Mexico. I don’t need anything detailed as just telling me they’ve fought before and it was here or there helps quite a bit. The action was fun and while I didn’t know some of the guys, it was entertaining enough.

IWGP United States Title Tournament First Round: Jay Lethal vs. Hangman Page

The belt is big and rather ugly. Lethal has bad ribs coming in thanks to Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser. Page jumps him at the bell but Lethal is right back up with a suicide dive (not “drive” Josh). They head inside with Lethal missing a moonsault and getting kicked in the bad ribs. Well at least Page isn’t doing anything stupid. As I say that, he hits a shooting star shoulder off the apron in what is the best example of an unnecessary flip I’ve seen in a good while.

Back in and Lethal kicks him in the ribs but it’s WAY too early for the Lethal Injection. Instead it’s something like an Octopus Hold until Lethal escapes for some kicks to the head. Jay hits his top rope elbow but hurts the ribs again, allowing Page to get up at two. The front flip clothesline gives Page two but he gets caught in the Lethal Combination. The Lethal Injection almost completely misses though and both guys are down. I’m not sure why Page is but that’s not the biggest deal. Lethal kicks him in the head again and NOW the Injection connects full on for the pin at 8:24.

Rating: C-. This felt really off and almost like a highlight reel or clipped version of a much longer match. Lethal and Page are two of the ROH guys I like more than usual and you would expect better chemistry between them. Maybe it’s the injured ribs but I’m not sure if that’s enough to excuse the blown spots and general lack of flow to the match. They just weren’t on the same page and it felt like they were wrestling two very different matches.

IWGP United States Title Tournament First Round: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Juice Robinson

JR thinks Sabre is Ospreay. Eh I’ve gotten them confused before too. The fans are already singing for Sabre, making me think they’re all evil foreigners. Well maybe save for those chanting for Juice. After a brief feeling out process to start, Sabre wastes no time in going after the arm with a variety of holds that I can’t even begin to name.

Robinson escapes the third straight hold (all of which looked like they should have broken the arm), eventually getting Zack up in a fireman’s carry for a gutbuster. Zack rolls him up for two and it’s time to kick at the arm a few more times. Robinson tells him to bring it on so Zack kicks away.

Something like a triangle choke has Robinson in more trouble but he powerbombs his way to freedom (AMERICAN freedom that is). Back up and Robinson tries an Unprettier but gets reversed into an Octopus Hold with the arm being cranked at a CRAZY angle. The other arm is pulled back as well until it’s a full nelson with Zack’s leg between Robinson’s arms (I told you his holds were hard to call) for the tap at 10:06.

Rating: C+. Sabre is an interesting guy as he’s the best technician I’ve seen since Daniel Bryan (if not before) and that makes for some very fun matches. That being said, he’s also so dominant that it’s hard to imagine him losing, which makes things a bit worse. Now that being said, if there’s ever a time for him to lose, it’s in a tournament. Robinson continues to show WAY more upside than he did in NXT so maybe it just wasn’t a good fit down there. I’ve liked enough of what I’ve seen from him so far outside of Orlando so there seems to be potential there.

David Finlay/Jay White/Kushida/Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Sho Tanaka/Yohei Komatsu/Yoshi Hashi/Billy Gunn

Yes THAT Billy Gunn and yes he’s challenging THAT Hiroshi Tanahashi for the Intercontinental Title. Kushida gets quite the reception and it’s time for the eight way staredown to start. Yohei and Kushida start things off with Kushida easily taking him down and offering a SUCK IT to Gunn. Finlay comes in to dropkick Tanaka but the ring is quickly cleared, leaving Sho to dropkick Kushida in the back.

Sho grabs a bodyscissors before it’s off to Gunn for one of the louder reactions of the night. A quick crotch chop sets up a staredown with Tanahashi before it’s back to Sho to do the majority of the work. Kushida fights them off because the Tempura Boyz Tanaka and Komatsu don’t seem all that great. Tanahashi comes in off the hot tag and forearms Gunn down with his bad arm.

Gunn completely fails to catch him off a crossbody throws in a SUCK IT, and goes down off his half of a double clothesline. White comes in to grab a suplex on Tatsu but gets caught with a spinwheel kick. A suplex into the corner drops Tatsu and everything breaks down. Tanahashi hits the Sling Blade on Gunn and it’s White left in the ring for a Flatliner to put Tatsu away at 9:43.

Rating: D. This match has the one obvious question: why in the name of tree bark is Gunn getting the title shot? Star power? That’s not exactly something this show is lacking and I have a really hard time believing that New Japan would have issues getting someone better in the ring and with more star power than Gunn to challenge Tanahashi. Throw Gunn into the tournament and let one of the people from there (Page maybe) have the shot instead. It really doesn’t look good otherwise and the match could be a major mess, especially when you consider what Tanahashi is capable of.

A long celebration takes us to intermission, which features a look at the main event, a look at the Tag Team Title match and a recap of the night’s matches so far. This runs just under twenty minutes.

Tag Team Titles: War Machine vs. Guerillas of Destiny

War Machine is challenging in a rematch from Dominion where they lost the belts. JR says War Machine are SEVEN TIME ROH Tag Team Champions, which makes me think one of two things: JR is drunk or he looked at their Wikipedia page, saw that they had seven successful title defenses in their ONE reign with the titles, and didn’t bother checking what he was reading.

Before the match, Ray Rowe wants to make it a No DQ match and it’s immediately on. The four of them head outside without wasting a second with the champs getting more fired up every time they take a shot to the face. JR goes into a weird rambling speech about having nothing to say, followed by Barnett taking over with play by play. Did he drop his notes there or something? A trashcan shot stops Rowe’s suicide dive and the champs work him over in the ring.

Rowe takes a neckbreaker and splash for two but Hanson remembers that he’s in the match and makes the save. About fifteen straight running clotheslines in the corner crush the champs again, prompting JR to talk about…..Hanson’s beard? The Bronco Buster misses though and it’s time for the big slugout with War Machine throwing Tama around until Loa powerslams Hanson out of the air. A Swan Dive into a frog splash gets two on Rowe but Hanson is back in.

Fallout is loaded up but here’s fellow Bullet Club member Chase Owens to take out Hanson with a chair. JR sounds rather annoyed about the lack of disqualifications, which isn’t exactly like him. Rowe gets powerbombed through two chairs (Can Hanson just not take a big bump tonight?) but Hanson is here to save Rowe from going through a table. Fallout through the table ends Loa to give us new champions at 11:07.

Rating: B-. Sometimes you need four strong guys to beat the heck out of each other for a little over ten minutes. War Machine is a fun team and the Guerillas are the kind of team who can be right back due to pure charisma. A good power brawl is hard to come by and I had fun watching them beating on each other. Entertaining match and a nice change of pace to a lot of the other stuff on here.

IWGP United States Title Tournament First Round: Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Naito jumps him from behind during the entrances, setting up the charge into the pose on the mat for a VERY strong reaction. After we hit the stall button to start, Ishii hammers Naito like he stole something, including the loud chops. Naito thinks it’s a good idea to chop a guy named the Stone Pitbull (who I didn’t realize was shorter than Naito), earning himself another beating.

Back up and Naito tries again for the same result. Must be a Ric Flair fan. A hiptoss and running dropkick to the back of the head work a bit better and it’s time to pose. Ishii suplexes him down and blasts Naito with a suplex. A powerslam nearly drops Naito on his head for two but he pops right back up with a missile dropkick for a breather.

Ishii’s suplex is countered into a DDT (always liked that counter) and a top rope hurricanrana gets two. Naito walks around for a good while….and then spits at Ishii. I get that he’s confident but sweet goodness that seems unwise. One heck of a headbutt drops Naito and a powerbomb cuts him in half.

A hard clothesline gives Ishii two more but his brainbuster is countered, eventually into a tornado DDT. Destino is broken up so Naito kicks him in the head again, only to get caught by the sliding lariat. A dragon suplex gives Naito two but it’s a clothesline into the brainbuster to advance Ishii at 15:53.

Rating: B. They had a good story here with Naito being able to hang with Ishii on his own but getting too cocky and showing the lack of respect that a monster like Ishii deserved. It’s a good way to make Ishii a big deal as pinning a former World Champion always will be. I liked this a lot more than the other Ishii matches I’ve seen so it was a nice surprise, though I tend to like Naito matches.

IWGP United States Title Tournament First Round: Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega

Omega has the Bucks with him as usual and is playing the full on face here despite still being a heel (officially). They try to get the referee to do Too Sweet but he offers a crotch chop instead. Elgin powers him (Omega, not the referee) into the corner to start before some forearms and kicks earn Kenny a wave of the finger. Kenny still can’t do anything with the monster so Elgin chops him for a change.

The delayed vertical suplex has Kenny reeling but an Elite chant brings him back so he can do the Rise of the Terminator deal (still don’t get it and don’t really care to know). Back in and one heck of a top rope shoulder sends Omega flying across the ring and out to the floor. Omega hits a moonsault from the apron….and Elgin casually catches him because he can.

Kenny slams him onto the apron for a nineteen count and we hit the chinlock to slow things down a bit. Elgin raises his knees to block a middle rope moonsault as JR calls the Bucks very annoying. That might be the understatement of the year. A powerslam pulls Kenny out of the air for a close two (ignore the spitting onto the mat during the cover). Elgin powers him up again but gets caught in a snap dragon suplex to send him outside.

That means a big flip dive followed by a jumping knee to Elgin’s face, only to have one heck of a clothesline take Omega’s head off. They fight to the apron for a hard German suplex to drop Elgin on his head for a scary looking crash. Back in and a super crucifix bomb gives Elgin two more, prompting JR to ask the obvious: if that doesn’t work, what will?

Well nothing more than likely, but you have to be used to some big (and arguably ridiculous) kickouts around here. Three straight jumping knees to the head knock Elgin silly and a package Tombstone gets two. There’s another running knee and the One Winged Angel sends Omega on at 22:36.

Rating: A-. I liked this a bit more than a lot of the Omega matches I’ve seen, mainly because it wasn’t far longer than it really needed to be (and it won’t be called 25% better than the best matches of all time). They had another good story here with Elgin using pure power while Omega was more well rounded and therefore capable of adapting to counter whatever Elgin threw at him. Omega is very good and it’s fun watching him, face/heel issues aside (which is more a company/stable thing than anything else).

Here are tomorrow’s final four:

Jay Lethal

Kenny Omega

Tomohiro Ishii

Zack Sabre Jr.

We recap Cody vs. Kazuchika Okada. It’s a short story with Cody challenging Okada for the title right after Okada’s draw against Omega at Dominion. Okada went with it because….well that’s what wrestlers do.

IWGP World Title: Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody

Cody is challenging and comes out with a bunch of people in ex-President masks. Brandi Rhodes is with him (still absolutely stunning) in an American flag outfit and lights a cigar for him. After a kiss from Brandi (with his right shoulder taped up), we’re ready to go with a slow start, which means this is likely going long. Okada takes him to the mat and then to the ropes where he gives Cody a friendly pat on the chest.

That warrants a break for another kiss, followed by heading back inside for a standoff. They head outside to speed things up with Okada hitting a running dive over the barricade, only to have Cody go after the knee to take over. Cody chokes with his boot but Okada neckbreakers his way out.

Back up and a fast running elbow to the jaw followed by a DDT lets Okada nip up. The signature dropkick knocks Cody off the top and out to the floor in a heap. A DDT on the floor makes things even worse but Okada can’t follow up, meaning it’s a long count. Back in and Cody runs the corner for a super armdrag (looked like a C4 2000 at first) but the Disaster Kick is countered into a flapjack (cool).

There’s the top rope elbow, only to have Cody grab the Trailer Hitch to go back to the knee. The hold is broken and a slap fires Okada up all over again, prompting a mudhole stomping in the corner. The jumping Tombstone and a pair of Rainmakers drop Cody. Cue Omega with a towel like Cody was teasing at Dominion but Brandi says no.

This brings out the Bucks to ask what Omega is doing and Okada nails another dropkick. Naturally Cody hits a Rainmaker of his own for two, followed by Okada grabbing his own Cross Rhodes. So now that we’re back to even with the stolen finishers, Cody gets two more off an inverted DDT. To really mess with his boss, Cody loads up the One Winged Angel, which is quickly reversed into a German suplex. The jumping Tombstone (yes another one) sets up the Rainmaker to retain the title at 27:12.

Rating: B+. I liked the Omega match a bit more but Cody is a bit more of a generic style than Elgin being awesome with the power. Okada is still very smooth in the ring, though I do think he uses his big moves a bit too often. That being said, it was an excellent match with both guys hitting their big spots. Omega vs. Cody could be interesting, assuming it’s not just a swerve for later. Very good main event, even though I didn’t quite buy Cody as the biggest threat to the title.

Post match Okada poses but Omega gets in too. He won’t take the night from Okada, even though he wanted to main event this show. They’ll meet again in the G1 and tonight is Okada’s. Gedo and Okada both say they’re awesome and Okada will make it rain strong style around the world.

At the post show press conference….I have no idea as I don’t speak Japanese.

A highlight reel ends the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This was a very good show and that’s the best thing that could have happened. It’s not a masterpiece or a classic but for what was basically a pay per view in front of a small crowd, it worked as well as it could have. They showcased most of their stars and the two major matches were both outstanding. Couple that with this airing at 8pm EST and on free TV, it’s hard to find anything major to complain about. Maybe a little bit could have been cut (as in like 10-15 minutes, or the Tanahashi eight man tag) but the time really wasn’t a problem.

The one thing that needs to be remembered though is this is one match. Based on this, New Japan isn’t going to overtake WWE or become the hottest thing in American wrestling. It’s a very good night but they need to do it again (as in beyond night two) for it to mean much. It’s a very good show though and they’re off to a great start in America. Now build on that and keep it at (or really near for that matter) this level and we’ll see where things go. Strong debut though.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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Dominion 6:11
Date: June 11, 2017
Location: Osaka-Jo Hall, Osaka, Japan
Attendance: 11,756
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Don Callis

So I’ve been trying to mix things up a bit with my style and this has been a requested show. Somehow having something up ten days late is a good sign for me, though given that I hadn’t planned on watching the show until about a week after it aired, this might not be too bad. The main event here is Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada II in a rematch from their non-six star match at Wrestle Kingdom XI. Let’s get to it.

As usual, keep in mind that I only watch a little bit of New Japan every year so I’m not going to know all of the details coming in. This is much more of an outsider’s perspective, though I do keep up with the company to a certain degree.

Pre-Show: David Finlay/Shota Umino/Tomoyuki Oka vs. Hirai Kawato/Katsuya Kitamura/Tetsuhiro Yagi

These are Young Lions, meaning…..well I think you can tell by the name. Finlay (who isn’t a Young Lion) is the only name I recognize so this could be quite the mess. Yagi and Shota strike it out to start and WHY ARE THEY ALL WEARING BLACK TRUNKS??? Come on it’s already hard enough to keep track of who is who in the first place (yes I’m aware it’s probably something like they have to earn their individuality or something) and now this.

It’s off to Finlay (thank goodness for the red trunks) vs. Kawato with the latter hitting a missile dropkick for two. Oka comes in for a slam and we hit something like a choke. Oka and Kitamura, the big power guys trade shoulder blocks, with both guys reeling back in pain for a nice touch.

Kitamura gets in a spear and gutwrench suplex but a chop puts him down for two. The tag brings in Finlay to get beaten up by….I think Kawato? Would a name on the trunks really be that much to ask? Finlay gets triple teamed and caught in a Boston crab but everything breaks down on the save. An uppercut gives Finlay two on Kawato and a Stunner is enough to put him away at 7:41.

Rating: C-. Totally watchable match here, assuming you don’t mind the lack of characters or needing picture ID’s to tell everyone apart. Then again it’s just a pre-show match so I don’t think they’re going for anything mind blowing here. Worry not though as you can feel the main event being over rated from here so I think the mind blowing part is going to be well covered.

Before we wrap up the pre-show, Callis promises seven stars in the main event. Unless Trent Seven is involved, let it go already.

As is tradition, the opening video goes on for the better part of a Ken Burns documentary and shows all the people in the major matches without a word of English to be found. That’s not meant as a criticism as this is primarily for the Japanese audience and the English commentary is usually quite good at explaining the basics.

Tiger Mask/Tiger Mask W/Togi Makabe/Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tenzan/Jushin Thunder Liger/Manabu Nakanishi/Satoshi Kojima

At least they’re in different looking gear. Nagata and Nakanishi, the two ancient ones, start things off and I actually checked to make sure I wasn’t watching this at half speed. Nakanishi chops away and refuses to be whipped into the ropes but gets dropkicked in the leg. A spinwheel kick to the head drops Nakanishi and it’s off to Tiger Mask (non-W I believe, meaning the older one) for some kicks.

The younger version comes in to help but Nakanishi is right back with a running chop to the original’s throat. Liger comes in to one heck of a reaction and a tilt-a-whirl slam before it’s off to Kojima. The rapid chops in the corner don’t seem to have much effect but a cutter drops Tiger Mask…..yeah I’m pretty sure it’s the one without the W. A double takedown allows the tag to Nagata (again with no W), who is quickly chopped down by Tenzan.

Yuji grabs a suplex and it’s off to Nakanishi vs. Makabe for the big exchange of power clotheslines. Everything breaks down and it’s a parade of hard shots to the face until Makabe blasts Nakanishi with another clothesline. Makabe’s top rope knee drop (The King Kong knee drop, which should be quite the heel move as I’d bet on this being a GODZILLA crowd. Unless they dislike him destroying their cities all the time, in which case Makabe might be the top star in the company. I’m so confused.) for the pin at 7:04.

Rating: C. I actually liked the first match a bit better but this was still more than good enough. The opening part really was bad though as Nagata vs. Nakanishi really did seem like it was the slowest thing I’ve ever seen. At least you could tell who everyone was here and that’s a major upgrade over the pre-show match.

Never Openweight Six Man Tag Team Titles: Gauntlet Match

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Bushi/Evil/Sanada) are defending but it’s Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale/Yujiro Takahashi/Hangman Page) vs. Chaos (Yoshi-Hashi/Toru Yano/Tomohiro Ishii) to start. I’ve been watching New Japan for a few years now and these teams seem to have been feuding the entire time.

Yujiro has a parade of good looking women in various stages of limited clothing with him, making him one of the better parts of the show so far. As usual, Yano has merch to hand out/sell, which is a gimmick that gets a little old but still has enough charm. Page kicks Ishii in the face to start and we hit the forearms that have no effect but wrestlers still do them because of strong style or fighting spirit or whatever they call standing there and growling at the moment.

It’s off to Yujiro vs. Hashi with the former biting the hand. Hashi’s running Blockbuster takes over and the monster Fale runs over the rest of Chaos. Fale and Ishii brawl into the crowd (rare around here) with Bad Luck leaving Ishii down but not doing anything to keep him down because he’s not that bright. Page gets two off a bridging fall away slam (Doesn’t that make it just a fall slam?) and everything breaks down again.

A reverse 3D gets two on Hashi as Fale has gone back outside to beat on Ishii again. Yano gets the hot tag and immediately removes a turnbuckle pad as he starts making me think he’s the Japanese Santino Marella. That earns him a beatdown (Someone not liking a comedy guy? Really?) but his partners come in for the save, including Ishii clotheslining Fale to the floor. Yano is right back with a double low blow on Page and Takahashi for the pin on the latter at 6:01.

Suzuki-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr./Yoshinobu Kanemura/Taichi) are in third with Yano sending Zack into the exposed buckle for two. Kanemura grabs a bottle of whiskey but Yano tries another low blow. That just earns him a very British looking rollup from Sabre for the pin at 8:20 total. Taguchi Japan (Ricochet/Juice Robinson/Ryusuke Taguchi) are in fourth and it’s a triple hip attack to start. It’s funny for some reason you see.

Ricochet and Robinson charge into Sabre in the corner and it’s a baseball joke with Robinson’s cannonball acting as the pitch. I’m really hoping that’s something being lost in translation as it feels like a No Way Jose gag (not the worst thing in the world). Sabre’s partners remember they’re in the match and beat on Taguchi, including a soccer style kick as this is one of the weirdest serious matches I’ve ever seen.

Everything breaks down again with Ricochet and Robinson beating the heck out of Sabre, including an elevated shooting star press for two. The rapid alternating continues as Robinson gets triple teamed. You know if any of these teams ever got on the same page, they’d clean house. A Buzzsaw Kick gets two on Juice…..and Taichi takes off his pants. Kanemura is a proponent of the pants and mists Taichi by mistake (I’m sure).

Pulp Friction (Unprettier) ends Taichi at 15:37. We’re not done yet though as Sabre grabs an Octopus Hold on Robinson during most of Los Ingobernables’ entrance. The champs destroy everyone else as this is already looking one sided. Robinson gets elbowed down and a backsplash gives Evil two. A leg lariat drops Sanada and the hot tag brings in Ricochet to really clean house like only a Kentucky boy can.

Unfortunately he does that stupid spot where he throws two opponents together, forcing one to DDT the other. Ricochet gets clotheslined to the floor so it’s Taguchi with another hip attack. The Tower of Doom puts everyone down again, including Ricochet catching Evil in a sitout powerbomb. Ricochet actually tags Taguchi, who walks right into a Backstabber for two. Everything breaks down again (I’m getting tired of typing that) and it’s Taguchi putting Bushi in an ankle lock. Sanada makes the save with a dragon sleeper though and Bushi adds a middle rope Codebreaker to retain at 23:56.

Rating: C. This was messier than it needed to be and while the last bit was good, it felt like they were just throwing all these people together for the sake of throwing them together. From what I can tell, these titles change hands faster than Impact changes their story about why their audiences never grow. Having this many people in a row wasn’t the best idea but there was some good action to help carry things.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice

The Bucks are challenging and my goodness the amount of praise they get from commentary is unreal. They’re already the Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions and the Superkick Champions because…..I have no idea really. We’re ready to go after the long weapons check and it’s Berreta vs. Matt to start things off.

The first superkick connects less than thirty seconds in and the Bucks take over in a hurry. A double clothesline drops the challengers and Berreta follows them out with a big running flip dive. Nick grabs Rocky for an apron bomb, followed by driving the back into the post a few times. This is probably as close to psychology as you’re going to get in a Bucks match so enjoy it while you can.

Back in and Berreta gets double teamed as the Vice roles have been reversed since their match at Wrestle Kingdom. Matt grabs a Sharpshooter of all things as a whole new branch of 90s offense is tapped. A wheelbarrow cutter gives Nick two but Matt charges into a double stomp in the corner to give the champ a breather. Rocky is back on the apron, only to have Matt pull him down for a powerbomb onto the ramp. I’m glad they did something else as you can only have someone stay down for so long.

The Swanton to the elevated Berreta on the floor gets two but More Bang For Your Buck is broken up. A Shining Wizard into a piledriver stuns Nick for two but Berreta is spent. Romero finally comes back in for a quick Strong Zero but Nick dives in with a Swanton for the save. Berreta actually makes the tag off to Romero for some house cleaning, including a double hurricanrana and double clothesline. Everything breaks down again and it’s a superkick to Romero, followed by a German suplex onto the apron.

Back in and Romero gets caught in the Sharpshooter with Nick adding a slingshot X Factor for a great cutoff. Somehow Romero powers up and dives over for the break. More Bang For Your Buck is countered into a crucifix for two, followed by a small package out of the Sharpshooter for the same. Berreta gets taken out again though and it’s the Indytaker into the Sharpshooter to make Romero tap away the titles at 14:13.

Rating: B+. That’s pretty easily the best Bucks match that I can remember and SO much of it is due to the lack of superkicks. They were actually having a match here instead of just goofing off and doing all their shenanigans. That makes them even more frustrating: it’s clear that they can do something great here with working the back and cutting off the partner but instead they go with the easy stuff and ruining the superkick because it’s funny (or something). Very good stuff though and that’s amazingly refreshing.

IWGP Tag Team Titles: Guerillas of Destiny vs. War Machine

War Machine is defending but the Guerillas jump them to start and the beating is on in a hurry. Tama hammers on Rowe and gets in a hard clothesline to drop the much bigger man. As is customary, this means a lot of swearing from the Guerillas but it’s off to Hanson to show off the real power.

Both Guerillas are stacked up on top of each other for the pounding forearms to the chest. The fans actually seem to like War Machine better as Hanson gets splashed in the corner. Hanson turns Loa inside out with a clothesline of his own and it’s back to Rowe. Loa laughs like the Joker but gets caught in a Rock Bottom (Loa: “OH S***!”). Everything breaks down again with Hanson getting the better of it and doing his screaming running clotheslines in the corner.

Loa spears Rowe and hits….something like a swinging reverse DDT on Hanson. Tama and Rowe slug it out until Loa comes back in with a Blue Thunder Bomb. Hanson is back up and throws Tama at Rowe for a springboard clothesline. Somehow that’s only good for two and Loa breaks up Fallout to save the match.

Rowe breaks up a quick Guerilla Warfare attempt and powerbombs Tama, setting up Hanson’s top rope splash for a rather close two. Back up and Rowe pops Tama up for something but he pulls Hanson down into a cutter. The referee gets bumped and it’s chair time with Rowe getting blasted in the back, setting up Guerilla Warfare (a bad looking elevated DDT) for the pin and the titles at 10:52.

Rating: B-. This company really likes changing its titles at the big shows. That being said, I like both teams as they both feel different enough than most of the people in this promotion. The match wasn’t great but it was certainly entertaining, with the biggest problem being that it came after the Bucks match. At least it was a fun brawl, albeit one with a bad ending.

The new champs pose in the chair after the win.

Cody vs. Michael Elgin

Just a way to get them both on the card here. Cody offers a cartwheel to start but Elgin shoulders him down and shows Cody the proper cartwheeling technique (I hear he won the Nevada state title back in 95). Since it worked so well the first time, Cody hits a vertical suplex, only to have Elgin pick Cody up for an eighteen second version. Callis says it was over thirty, meaning that bad timing skills are also a Canadian/Japanese problem.

It’s time for the loud chops with Cody in big trouble only a few minutes in. Cody finally grabs an Alabama Slam for a breather but he tries chopping Elgin in the corner. It’s Flair vs. Sting all over again, even capped off by Cody cutting him down at the leg to stay in control. The springboard missile dropkick lets Cody taunt him a bit…..so Mike grabs him by the throat for a Rock Bottom. That’ll teach him, or at least it should.

Naturally Mike does Cody’s taunt right back to him before rolling a few German suplexes. A Blue Thunder Bomb gets two but Cody pulls him down into the Trailer Hitch (modified Indian Deathlock) for little effect. Cross Rhodes are broken up but one heck of a clothesline drops Cody. Elgin tries the apron superplex, only to have Cody slip down the back for Cross Rhodes and the pin at 11:52.

Rating: C+. This was your standard formula match with the power vs. athleticism. That’s the kind of formula that is always going to work and there’s nothing wrong with having a match like that fill in about fifteen minutes on the card, especially with people who have serious potential like these two. Nice little match here.

Cody wants Christopher Daniels and Okada

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Kushida vs. Hiromu Takahashi

Kushida is challenging after losing the title to Takahashi and then losing the rematch in less than two minutes. He’s since won the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament to earn another shot. They start fast with Takahashi trying the Time Bomb but settling for an exchange of forearms to the face. The early slugout sends both guys to exhaustion, which really isn’t a good sign in what is likely to be a long match.

They chop it out again with neither getting much of an advantage again. Takahashi sends him flying into the corner with an overhead belly to belly for the first real advantage but he can’t follow up. Things settle down considerably but the fans are right there with Kushida. We hit the chinlock on Kushida, which seems rather odd in this promotion. I know they’re uses but it’s not something that feels right around here.

Back up and Takahashi misses a charge and gets caught in a cross armbreaker underneath the ropes. It’s quickly broken but that seems to have fired Kushida right back up. Kushida actually sets up some chairs and the fans are NOT happy with the idea, only to turn around when he uses one as a springboard for a dropkick against the barricade. Back in and it’s time to start in on the arm but Takahashi catches a handspring in a German suplex (anyone who has wrestled Marty Scurll would know to NEVER TRY A FREAKING SPRINGBOARD! UNLESS YOU’RE TAJIRI OF COURSE!).

They head up top with Kushida grabbing a Hoverboard Lock and pulling Takahashi right back down with it. Back to the Future (It’s a small package driver with another AMAZING name) is broken up so it’s back to the Hoverboard Lock but Takahashi escapes with a hard clothesline. Kushida heads to the apron but takes a cringe inducing (seriously) sunset bomb to the floor.

Takahashi takes him back in for a Death Valley Driver into the corner but puts Kushida on top for some reason. As you might expect, that means a super Back to the Future (thud) for no cover from the spent Kushida. We get the slugout from the knees with Kushida PUNCHING HIM IN THE NECK but both guys go down again. The fans boo Kushida stomping on him so it’s the Hoverboard Lock again and Takahashi taps at 19:14.

Rating: A. That’s one of the fastest nineteen minute matches I’ve ever seen. These two were beating the heck out of each other and it was a blast to watch from beginning to end. It felt like they couldn’t stand one another and that makes for an entertaining fight. They also played up the story of Kushida trying to claw his way back, which is an awesome story. I mean, it would have been much better if it wasn’t just a five month story but points for going with something entertaining.

Kushida thanks the fans but Bushi and Evil come out with the former misting the new champ.

Never Openweight Title: Hirooki Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki

Suzuki, an old man invading, is defending and this is a lumberjack death match, which means lumberjack. Both guys also have stables and we’re still in STABLE WARS!!! Feeling out process to start so let’s look at the Japanese commentary team instead. Arm cranking goes nowhere so Suzuki takes him up to the ropes and shoves him in the face a bit.

They start chopping it out with Suzuki rolling outside but being thrown back inside almost immediately. That works so well that they do the same thing with the roles reversed as this isn’t exactly deathtastic so far. Goto is sent outside again and now the lumberjacks get into it, allowing Suzuki to hit a running boot to the face. Suzuki drops a piece of the barricade on him and it’s more Suzuki-Gun interference.

Back in and Suzuki keeps up the hard strikes and some arm holds. Another brawl on the floor has Jushin Thunder Liger nearly jumping off commentary to fight Suzuki, drawing easily the loudest pop of the match. Goto scores with a lariat back inside and it’s time to forearm each other really hard again. They’re tough like that you see. Suzuki gets the better of it but throws Goto into the referee, drawing in the lumberjacks for the brawl.

Yoshi-Hashi hits a flip dive onto everyone else and it’s time to fight over chokes. The GTR (a spinning forearm to the chest into a backbreaker) gets two with a guy named Taichi coming in and pulling the referee out. One heck of a chair shots from Taichi knocks Goto out and a jumping Gotch Style piledriver retains Suzuki’s title at 16:01.

Rating: D+. As is almost always the case, I just don’t care about these matches. I don’t see the appeal of hitting each other really hard and turning it into a toughman contest, but that might just be a cultural thing. I need something more to connect to than “He can get hit really hard but THIS GUY can get hit even harder!” That and all the interference got old in a hurry as I have little idea who most of these people are and it’s basically just two groups hating each other for reasons not important enough to explain.

Yoshi-Hashi saves Goto from further damage so Suzuki offers a challenge.

We actually recap Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. Naito defended his Intercontinental Title against Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom to complete Tanahashi’s downfall but now Tanahashi is back for revenge. In other words, rebel vs. tradition.

Intercontinental Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito

Naito is defending and has damaged the title by throwing it around, leaving the metal broken in a few places. Tanahashi goes right after him to start and they slug it out on the floor in a rare display of aggression from the good guy. Naito sends Tanahashi’s bad arm into the post to slow him down but a dropkick sends the champ into the barricade. They slug it out until it’s time to go after the arm, which doesn’t sit well with the fans.

The announcers actually explain Naito destroying the belt: he thinks there are too many titles and wants it to be retired. That’s……really different and I kind of love it actually. Naito sends him outside and poses, followed by a tornado DDT off the apron. Tanahashi is back in at nineteen (still takes time to get used to) and it’s off to an arm lock. Back up and Tanahashi actually SPITS on Naito, which is way out of character for him.

We hit the forearm exchange (actually they do but you get the idea) and a dragon screw legwhip takes Naito down by his banged up knee. Naito tries to bail but gets his leg banged against the apron as Tanahashi is showing extra aggression, which makes perfect sense in a big match. It’s too early for the Cloverleaf so Naito goes back to the arm with a pair of dropkicks.

The bad arm gets tied up again but Tanahashi reverses a suplex into a neckbreaker. High Fly Flow only hits mat though and it’s time for another big slapoff. Tanahashi has had it though and grabs both arms for a big German suplex for the slowest two I can remember in a good while.

Naito grabs his own German suplex and Destino for two, only to have Tanahashi pop up with the Sling Blade. The High Fly Flow is good for another near fall and you can hear some of the energy go out of the crowd on the kickout. The Cloverleaf goes on with Tanahashi almost turning it into a Liontamer to FINALLY make Naito tap at 25:58 and earn redemption.

Rating: A-. This was all about the storytelling and the leg/arm stuff worked very well. You could feel the idea Tanahashi fighting for everything he could with Naito relying on his normal stuff and not being able to hang in there at the end. It’s very similar to the Kushida story but this was just a hair better from a storytelling perspective, albeit not quite from the wrestling perspective.

We recap Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP World Title. They had the most overrated match of all time (which was great) at Wrestle Kingdom and now Okada has challenged Omega for the rematch.

IWGP World Title: Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada

Omega is challenging and has the Young Bucks in his corner. Feeling out process to start (of course, because this is going to be a long one) with Omega taking it to the mat and kicking Okada in the shoulder for a break. Omega can’t hit a neckbreaker and gets slammed down, only to block a hilo with raised knees. Neither can hit their finisher early but Okada tweaks his knee on a dropkick. As is so often the case in a main event match.

It’s fine enough to knock Omega outside for a flip dive but the knee goes out again. Back in and it’s time for the dropkicks to the knee, including a missile version which has Callis calling Omega a world class athlete. That’s certainly not overkill based on a freaking dropkick or anything. A Figure Four stays on the knee and they head outside with the knee going into various objects.

At least Omega is smart enough to stay on the knee for a bit before kicking at the back to annoy Okada again. A flapjack drops Omega but Okada can’t follow up thanks to the knee. They head outside again with Okada shoving him over the barricade and hitting a running dive. As you might expect, the knee goes out again and Okada can’t immediately follow up. Back in and Omega gets caught in an over the back neckbreaker but still avoids the top rope elbow.

Omega sends him outside again and it’s a top rope Asai moonsault, followed by a springboard missile dropkick for two. A loud sitout powerbomb gets the same but Okada gets his knees up on a middle rope moonsault. Okada goes up top but blocks the dragon superplex and hits a Death Valley Driver onto the apron. A VERY hard dropkick sense Omega into the barricade and Kenny is dazed. Callis: “It’s like being kicked by a horse.” Has Callis ever been hit by a horse? I doubt it, but that’s better than JR’s “Big Show’s headbutt is like being hit by a typewriter.”

It’s table time but Omega can’t get him up for the powerbomb (I’m sure Omega nearly dropping him was COMPLETELY intentional and not in any way, shape or form a mistake in this match that has been rated 125% on the star scale). Okada drops him again and hits the top rope elbow for no cover. Instead he goes back up, only to have Omega catch him for a superplex. He crosses Okada’s legs before lifting him, which is supposed to add something to it but it’s the exact same landing.

The V Trigger (knee to the head) is blocked and Okada rolls some German suplexes into a weak Rainmaker (you know, like it almost always looks) for two. Omega is back up with a sitout powerbomb for his own near fall and both guys are spent. Back up and another Rainmaker is countered into the snap dragon suplex but Okada throws him on top for a dropkick to the floor.

The huge top rope elbow puts Omega somewhat through the table (cracked but didn’t break) and it’s back inside for another dropkick. Of course the announcers are RIGHT THERE again to tell us how completely and utterly in awe they are of Okada’s dropkick. I didn’t know if them doing that the first 198 times during the match sunk in or not. Omega keeps swinging from his knees but eats a pair of Rainmakers (perhaps the worst of them I can remember as THEY’RE JUST STANDING CLOTHESLINES!

Okada walks around instead of covering and here’s Bullet Club with Cody holding a towel. The Bucks keep him from throwing it in and Omega hits a reverse hurricanrana to get a breather. Omega throws the towel down and charges straight into another dropkick. The fourth Rainmaker is broken up with a loud knee to the face for two (This is REAL wrestling! Not that nonsense trading of finishers that WWE does!) in a great near fall.

The One Winged Angel FINALLY connects but Okada gets his foot on the ropes. It’s a very good false finish, though it would have been better (like SIX AND THREE QUARTER STARS) if Omega hadn’t turned toward the ropes before hitting it for no apparent reason other than to set up the kickout. Omega does his pose again, allowing Okada to grab the wrist for the fourth Rainmaker of the match. No cover of course as the match is now longer than the Wrestle Kingdom version.

They slug it out again with Okada actually going down (a rare sight in one of these things), only to pop back up with another dropkick (WE GET IT ALREADY! Both the dropkick and how FREAKING AMAZING THE THING IS KELLY!). More knees (I’ve lost count on how many of those Omega has hit) drop Okada for two and a running version to the back knocks Okada silly. Another One Winged Angel is countered into the Tombstone (Hokey smoke a fresh finisher!) but Okada can’t follow up.

Instead he starts screaming but Omega collapses to avoid another Rainmaker. Since that standing clothesline is just SO hard though, Okada stumbles forward and can’t get up. They fight over a Tombstone until Omega settles for another knee to the head….as we’re told there’s five minutes left. Another running knee looks to set up what looked to be a Tombstone but Okada slips out and hits another dropkick. A spinning Tombstone plants Omega for no cover as we fill in more time.

Okada picks him up and gets small packaged in an outstanding false finish. ANOTHER FREAKING DROPKICK puts Omega down with two minutes left. Kenny grabs the ropes to block the Rainmaker with a minute left and another dragon suplex gets no cover. Instead Okada dropkicks him into the fifth Rainmaker (Take THAT John Cena with your five AA’s a match. Japan’s big names can do it too!) but time runs out at 60:03 (far closer than most hour draws go so points for that).

Rating: A-. I liked the Wrestle Kingdom match better but that’s not to say this isn’t a great match. The problem here should be obvious: I was so sick of the same dropkicks/jumping knee/RAINMAKER (because putting it in all caps instantly makes it cooler)/Tombstone sequences by the end that they stopped meaning anything to me. Anyone is going to run out of stuff to do by the end of a sixty minute match so I can’t blame them for it, but don’t act like them doing the same stuff over and over like that again for forty minutes is some amazing, never before seen formula. That brings us to the other big problem.

Meltzer giving this six and a quarter stars is downright laughable. What I’m supposed to believe is that this match is TWENTY FIVE PERCENT BETTER than any other five star match in history. Twenty five percent better than every match in the Steamboat vs. Flair trilogy, than Austin vs. Hart, than Michaels vs. Undertaker in the Cell, or in any of the roughly 183 tag matches he gave the rating to from Japan in the 90s.

Just…..no. Quite literally no, it’s not that good. Nothing can be, which is why I rolled my eyes when I saw what he rated the match. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with liking a style more than another (I do it, as does every reviewer around, because wrestling is very subjective) but this was some of the worst hyperbole I’ve seen in a good while. I had a good time watching it but again, it didn’t need to be an hour long. You could cut out a good fifteen minutes (like the knee stuff, which wound up meaning NOTHING after about half an hour in) and it’s a better match, though still not six and a quarter stars, or really anything close.

Now that being said, yes the match is excellent and an incredible athletic display. They were selling like they were dead at the end to really put over how much they were laying into each other. Okada came off as the star here with Omega not doing the same level of stuff that he was doing back in January (not to say he wasn’t working hard but January was a once in a lifetime performance). Great match, but I liked both Wrestle Kingdom and Kushida’s match earlier tonight better.

Both guys are gassed and the announcers officially call it a draw and do the standard wrestling thing of comparing it to other matches of the same style over the years. The ending is praised as well, though I’m not sure on that as Okada had him beaten, which doesn’t quite set up a rematch very well. There will be a rematch of course but it could have been done better.

Gedo puts Okada over and the guys get a standing ovation.

There was a post show press conference which I won’t watch because I don’t speak Japanese. The only news though is Cody challenging Okada, who he’ll face at the North American debut in early July.

Overall Rating: A-. Let’s get the big problem out of the way: this show is REALLY, REALLY long at nearly six hours. If you’re going to watch it, fast forward through the entrances and watch it in shifts, which is standard advice for almost all of the big wrestling shows around the world these days. Six hours is just too much to sit through at once and there’s no much of a way around that.

That being said, it’s a great show and certainly worth checking out (though you could skip a match or two and be fine). The two big matches are both outstanding and the Junior Heavyweight Title match is even better, making those three matches must see. The tag matches might vary a bit depending on your taste and the gauntlet match could have been cut down significantly (have the teams on the floor or something). The Never Title match is VERY subjective and while it’s not my style, I know that kind of stuff has a strong following.

As usual, it’s a show I had a good time with but nothing I’m interested in following up on. I’m probably going to increase my New Japan watching a bit going forward, though I’m probably maxing it out at four to five shows a year tops (probably closer to three or four). I probably won’t be covering the tournament finals and there’s virtually no way I’m doing anything but major pay per views. I’ll certainly be doing Wrestle Kingdom (and before people ask me this time) and probably this show plus a few others. New Japan is a lot of fun with some excellent wrestling but them coming to America could be quite a shock for them.

Yes they’re popular with their core audience, but there’s a VERY big difference between the Japanese wrestling fans and the American wrestling fans. You can wrestle this style and bring in all these other names, but if that style is so successful over here, why does no one but WWE draw more than 5,000 fans a night? Maybe New Japan will be different, but I’m really not sure I see it happening. They could surpass Ring of Honor, but is that really a major accomplishment these days? Anyway, great show, but be ready to fast forward some stuff.

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Wrestle Kingdom 11
Date: January 4, 2017
Location: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 26,192
Commentators: Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly

This is one of those shows that I do every year as I pretty much have no other option. While I only kind of follow New Japan, I almost always enjoy this show, even if I have no desire to watch the show all the time. If nothing else it’s nice to have English commentary, even though I’m not wild on the idea of listening to Corino shout SUPERKICK whenever the Young Bucks are on. Let’s get to it.

As is always the case, since I barely follow New Japan, I’m going to miss a lot of details or not understand a few things. Please bear with me as I’ll keep up as well as I can.

Pre-Show: New Japan Rumble

Basically an annual Royal Rumble to get everyone on the card with regular timed intervals. Michael Elgin (returning from a broken orbital bone) is in at #1 and at #2 it’s…..Billy Gunn? Seriously? Well he’s no Haku but ok then. It’s rather odd that the crowd is quiet (as well as far away from the ring) so you can really hear what they’re saying. Billy’s shoulders have no effect so Elgin tells him to try it some more. They shove each other a bit and the one minute (or so) clock runs down with Bone Soldier (of the Bullet Club and formerly known as Captain New Japan) in at #3.

The Soldier very slowly hammers away until Gunn and Elgin easily take him down. That allows the announcers to do their stupid inside jokes about Corino in Roppongi. Cheeseburger is in at #4 and the announcers freak out. Cheeseburger actually low bridges Soldier out so Gunn punches both guys down. The referee (actually in the ring) tells Gunn to stop with the hair pulling. Are there DQ’s in battle royals?

Jushin Thunder Liger (who just happens to be Cheeseburger’s mentor) is in at #5 and it turns into a tag match for, what, a good forty five seconds or so? It’s actually even shorter as Elgin tells Gunn to suck it and clotheslines him out. Kuniaki Kobayashi, a 60 year old legend who had a big feud with Tiger Mask is in at #6. He takes his sweet time getting to the ring and the camera stays on him the entire way because he’s a legend and all that jazz. A fisherman’s suplex on Liger…..gets two, because you can be eliminated by pin. That doesn’t answer my DQ question but it makes things a bit more interesting.

Tiger Mask (IV) is in at #7 and he grabs a crucifix for the pin on Kobayashi. It’s good to get rid of him as he looked about 90 years old out there. Manabu Nakanishi, a former IWGP World Champion, is in at #8 to clean house with ax handles. Elgin no sells his so Manabu spears him down instead. A double clothesline puts both guys down instead and it’s Ryusuke Taguchi, a comedy guy, is in at #9.

Everyone goes after Nakanishi and it’s a dog pile for the elimination. Liger puts on the surfboard but Tiger Mask dives in for a cover and an elimination. That’s rather creative, assuming you ignore Liger’s shoulders being up. Taguchi rolls Tiger Mask up for another elimination about ten seconds later as Yoshitatsu (one word for some reason) is in at #10.

In case you’ve lost track, we have Elgin, Cheeseburger, Taguchi and Yoshitatsu as the announcers do even more inside jokes. Yuji Nagata is in at #11 and grabs a quick seated armbar on Taguchi. Yoshitatsu makes the save and is immediately the most hated man in the building. Hiroshi Tenzan is in at #12 as Nagata suplexes Yoshitatsu for the elimination. Tenzan and Nagata slug it out and Corino says he missed Yoshitatsu’s elimination due to being on Twitter. Taguchi’s hip attack misses and….well I’m not sure what happens as Hiro Saito is in at #13.

The old guys get in a three way fight and Nagata is pinned, much to Corino’s chagrin. Scott Norton (a MUCH bigger deal in Japan) is in at #14 to give us a final field of Elgin (who has basically disappeared), Cheeseburger, Taguchi, Tenzan, Saito and Norton. A quick powerbomb eliminated Taguchi and everyone decides to go after Elgin….one at a time. That goes as badly as you would expect and Saito is taken out by an Elgin clothesline. Norton is eliminated a few seconds later, leaving Tenzan, Elgin and Cheeseburger.

Elgin throws Cheeseburger at Tenzan before putting Tenzan out to get us down to two. Cheeseburger hammers away and actually scores with a superkick. For some reason, Cheeseburger tries a sunset flip on a guy whose finisher is a powerbomb. The Elgin Bomb gives, uh, Elgin, the win at 25:13.

Rating: D+. The announcers made it very clear that this was about having fun instead of being a serious match and there’s nothing wrong with that. Elgin getting a win is the best option as it’s not like there were many choices here other than a bunch of legends or comedy guys. Give the win to someone who could use it and have some fun in the process. This was fine for a pre-show battle royal and that’s all it was supposed to be.

The opening video runs down the card in order, which I think I kind of like.

Tiger Mask W vs. Tiger the Dark

The announcers flat out say this is for the sake of promoting an anime, though this has potential with Kota Ibushi and ACH donning the masks respectively. Feeling out process to start and it’s a double dropkick to give us a stalemate. Back up and we get to hear the announcers explain some of the anime. Dark backflips out of the corner and hits a dropkick to set up a big flip dive out to the floor. A running discus lariat only seems to wake W up, meaning a dropkick puts Dark back on the floor.

One heck of a moonsault to the floor drops Dark but he comes right back with something like an Octopus Hold back inside. Dark gets two off a tombstone and the kickout shocks him. That snap German suplex lets you know it’s Ibushi and a tiger suplex (fitting finisher) gets two. The sitout Last Ride gives W the pin at 6:34.

Rating: C. For a match between two talented guys who are having this match to promote an anime that I have no interest in watching….I guess I’ve seen worse. Both guys are good enough and the match was fine for an opener, though it felt more like a dark match. I guess they would rather do this here than get on the crowd’s nerves by doing something less serious later and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Roppongi Vice vs. Young Bucks

The Bucks are defending and along with Matt Sydal/Ricochet and ReDRagon, these teams have traded the titles since November 2014. As a bonus, the champs come to the ring with the IWGP, PWG and ROH Tag Team Titles plus custom made Superkick Party titles. They even call the Hardys out on the way to the ring as the angle continues despite them never showing up in TNA. I love that for some reason.

The challengers clean house to start and put the Bucks on the floor, sending them bailing up the ramp. That doesn’t happen in Japan though and Vice follows, only to eat double superkicks. It’s nearly a countout but we get the WWE DIVE UNDER THE ROPES AT WHAT SHOULD BE THE COUNTOUT BUT THE REFEREE IS KIND OF SLOW spot.

With a lot of trash talking, the Bucks knock them outside again as Kelly says the Bucks should be thanked for a lot of the fans here. I’m not sure I’d go that far Kevin. Rocky is told to suck it over and over (dude chill with that) before a superkick puts him down on the floor. Nick kicks Matt by mistake though and a superkick takes down a young boy. The hot tag brings in Romeo to clean house and it’s a double knee to take Matt down.

Trent puts him up in a fireman’s carry but flips him into a rack (cool spot) so Romero can hit a top rope stomp for two. Strong Zero is broken up though and it’s time for even more kicks from the Bucks. You know, because that’s what they do. Nick takes too much time on top though, allowing Trent to run the corner for a German superplex. Corino tries to talk about how this is Chaos vs. Bullet Club but of course doesn’t bother to explain what any of that means (Yes I know what it means but if you’re a new fan, that means nothing to you. That always bugs me.).

Trent misses a flip dive and lands back first on the floor in a bad looking crash, leaving Rocky to hurricanrana both Bucks at the same time. That means nothing though so let’s throw another superkick. The elevated 450 gets two on Rocky and the fans really wake up off the kickout. Four straight superkicks get two as Trent is still down. That means More Bang For Your Buck but Romero rolls Matt up as he tries the rolling fireman’s carry and Trent grabs Nick so Rocky can get the pin and the titles at 12:46.

Rating: C+. I liked the match as much as I can like a Young Bucks match with the loss making it a little bit better. Then again I have no reason to believe that the Bucks won’t get the belts back like, tomorrow, as these guys are given titles almost every single week because they get to be faces and heels at the same time for reasons that continue to elude me.

The Bucks say it doesn’t matter because they still have the rest of their titles. DO THESE GUYS EVER SELL ANYTHING???

Never Openweight Six Man Tag Team Titles: David Finlay/Ricochet/Satoshi Kojima vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Bullet Club vs. Chaos

That’s the longest title I’ve ever written for a match. Finlay and company are defending and this is a gauntlet match. For some reason (which I’m sure you can understand), Bullet Club brings out some women to dance before the match. Bullet Club (Hangman Page/Yujiro Takahashi/Bad Luck Fale) vs. Chaos (Jado/Will Ospreay/Yoshi-Hashi) start things off with the Club jumping them as you would expect heels to do.

We settle down to a banged up Yoshi getting beaten down in the ring with Takahashi throwing kicks and Page getting two off a jumping DDT. A neckbreaker allows for the hot tag to Ospreay as things speed up in a hurry. Ospreay starts fast with a cartwheel moonsault over the top to take out all three members followed by a middle rope corkscrew moonsault for two on Page.

Adam’s front flip into a clothesline gets the same but a moonsault kick to the head is enough for the hot tag to Jado as things speed way up. Everything breaks down and Fale starts hurting people, which is what you’re supposed to do when you’re that size. Takahashi gets in a quick DDT for the pin on Jado at 7:36.

Los Ingobernables (Bushi/Evil/Sanada) are in next and their entrance takes forever, allowing the Club to recover. That’s not the brightest move in the world and Fale crushes Sanada for two. Takahashi gets in a good looking kick to the face in the corner but Bushi dives through the ropes to take out Page. We get something like a Conchairto with the second chair wrapped around Takahashi’s head and since that should likely kill him, a dragon sleeper makes him tap a few seconds later at 12:38.

We’re down to Los Ingobernables vs. the champs so let’s have another very long entrance. Thankfully the champs start fast with Ricochet and Finlay (Fit’s son) hitting stereo flip dives to take down some Ingobernables. We settle down to Bushi choking Finlay with a shirt but it’s off to Ricochet for one heck of a series of smooth transitions into a kick to Sanada’s face and a DDT to Bushi.

Evil comes in but gets chopped by Kojima as everything breaks down again (as it should). We get a bit of a botch with Ricochet being thrown into a Codebreaker but Bushi can’t quite get it straight. To be fair that’s almost impossible to do if you’re not the Revival. Kojima starts busting out brainbusters until Evil grabs the referee, allowing Bushi to mist Kojima for two. An STO puts Kojima away a few seconds later and we have new champs at 21:02 (total time including entrances).

Rating: B-. I’m very, very glad that they made this a gauntlet match instead of having all twelve in the ring at the same time which just didn’t need to happen. Los Ingobernables seem to be the rising stars of the company and it’s a good idea to give them some titles. That being said, the announcers basically flat out said that the titles change hands all the time and they actually would do so again the very next day. In other words, this means nothing but at least it was the right choice here.

Juice Robinson vs. Cody

Robinson used to be known as CJ Parker and Cody is of course Cody Rhodes. There’s no real story to this one other than Cody needs an opponent for his Japanese debut. Cody is part of the Bullet Club but he’s not rocking the shirt here. Eh the Bucks can superkick him later. Something I’ve always liked about this show: every time a match starts the camera zooms in on the ring. It’s just a cool visual.

A hiptoss puts Juice on the floor to start but Juice counters his dive into a belly to belly. As we look at the replay, Juice cannonballs into the Cody against the barricade for a painful looking crash. Back in and Cody grabs an Alabama Slam to take over before stopping to pose by leaning on his fist.

Corino points out that Cody has been at Wrestlemania, Final Battle and Wrestle Kingdom in the same year. That’s not bad but Cody points the Bullet Club gun at Corino, who had a big feud with his dad in ECW. A side kick drops Cody but bangs up the knee which was tweaked on the cannonball.

Juice keeps showing some great fire as he comes back with a fireman’s carry into a gutbuster (or at least some knees in the vicinity of the chest), only to have a chop block take out the knee again. That means a modified Indian Deathlock until Juice grabs a rope. Why does it always take so long for them to realize they’re right next to the ropes? Cody keeps talking trash to Corino and gets two off an elevated DDT. Juice gets in a clothesline and tries a powerbomb but the knee gives out. Cross Rhodes is good for the pin at 9:37.

Rating: C+. I liked this way more than I was expecting to and it actually worked as a debut instead of just a regular squash. I’m not sure where they’re going with Cody vs. Corino (in this company at least) and Robinson looked WAY better than he did during any of his NXT matches. This was a lot better than I was expecting and I had fun with it. If nothing else, maybe Cody can finally live up to some of his hype.

ROH World Title: Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Cole is challenging in a Final Battle rematch and is another member of Bullet Club. They shake hands and Cole spits in his face because that’s how heels are supposed to act. Kyle has the cross armbreaker on in less than twenty seconds before grabbing a quickly broken rear naked choke. A shove off the top is enough to set up ADAM COLE BABY and the champ is down on the floor.

Kyle comes up holding his shoulder and Cole rushes it with a chair to really take over. Back in and O’Reilly fights with his legs in a smart move, though I’m not sure how long that’s going to last. It’s time to go after Cole’s leg as Corino breaks down the champ’s psychology: he has a way to beat you by working on any body part so he’ll switch around for what works at the moment.

Normally I would get annoyed at a style like that and say PICK A BODY PART but the commentary explaining the wrestler’s mindset (which we are only going to know if we’re told) is a good thing. Cole gets in a bicycle kick and they do the ROH forearm slugout before a double kick puts both guys down.

The champ easily wins a strike off and scores with a brainbuster but can’t get the cross armbreaker. Instead Adam kicks him in the head and hits back to back Last Shots (that suplex into a neckbreaker onto the knee) for two. Another kick to the shoulder sets up three straight superkicks, followed by a fourth to the back of the head. A third Last Shot gives us a new champion at 10:18, making Cole the first three time champion in ROH history.

Rating: B-. This is a situation where the backstage issues make the story a bit more logical. Apparently Kyle turned down a contract extension with ROH shortly before this show and would have been a free agent. Obviously you can’t keep the title on someone who isn’t a guarantee to be around so they did the title switch. There’s nothing wrong with that and it really was their only viable option.

As for the match itself, they did what they could in this setting but there’s a limit to how effective they can be with ten minutes. The shoulder was a fine story and played into the finish so I have no problem there. They just didn’t have the time to make this work but they did well with what they had.

Ads for upcoming shows, including two shows in California, which I believe are the first ever stand alone New Japan shows on US soil.

Tag Team Titles: Chaos vs. Guerillas of Destiny vs. G.B.H.

Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii/Toru Yano) and G.B.H. (Great Bash Heel, comprised of Tomoaki Honma/Togi Makabe) are challenging the Guerrillas (Tama Tonga/Tanga Loa), who are part of the Bullet Club. Also Yano, a comedy guy, has stolen the World Tag League trophies (owned by G.B.H.) and the title belts and maybe Corino’s wallet. Got all that? In a logical move, the Guerillas beat the heck out of Yano for stealing their belts. Where’s Repo Man when you need him?

Honma slams Loa but misses a headbutt (a trend for him), allowing Yano to unhook the corner pad and whip Honma in. It’s off to Ishii for the monster power in the form of a suplex, followed by Yano coming in and immediately tagging Tama in instead. Makabe comes in as everything breaks down with Makabe clotheslining someone in every corner. Corino talks about the high amount of F Bombs (but thankfully his only jab at WWE is someone tweeting him to say this isn’t PG) and GBH gets in ten right hands to the Guerillas’ heads.

With everyone else on the floor, Tama slides around (very slick) and jumps into a DDT on Makabe. Honma comes in and SWEARS A LOT (with Corino laughing so much he has to turn his mic off) before dropping a headbutt on Loa. Everything breaks down again with the Guerillas sending Yano outside and swearing even more. We lose Corino again thanks to four F bombs during a powerbomb on Honma for two.

Makabe powerbombs Tama to set up Honma’s top rope falling headbutt for another near fall with Ishii remembering he’s in the match and diving in for the save. Guerilla Warfare (an upside down Magic Killer) drops Makabe but Yano tags himself in from behind. Ishii gets to have the time of his life by fighting both Guerillas at the same time, only to have Yano low blow them both, setting up a rollup for the pin and the titles at 12:27.

Rating: B. I liked this a lot more than I was expecting to as the comedy was nowhere near as big of a deal as I was worried about it being. Once they gave up on the tagging (as they should have done) it got a lot more entertaining and I got into the match by the end. Above all else though, this was a great example of why English commentary helps. I would have had no idea what was up with the champions not having the belts and the trophies in general had it not been for Corino and Kelly and those are important details. That helps so much and it’s made the show that much more entertaining.

Junior Heavyweight Title: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kushida

Takahashi, part of Los Ingobernables, is challenging and was known as Kamaitachi in ROH. He came in as part of a ticking time bomb countdown so his entrance consists of a bunch of big pink balls. Yeah I’m not sure I get it either. Kushida spends a bit too much time posing and gets knocked off the corner, only to come back with a kick to the face and a HUGE flip dive off the top to the floor.

We actually get things going with the champ working on the left arm (to set up his Hoverboard Lock arm hold) but getting caught in a very fast sunset bomb. That warrants a check from the referee and thankfully Kushida is able to continue. Those head shots are always scary so it’s a relief when the people get up. A downward spiral into the middle buckle stuns Takahashi though and a Tajiri handspring elbow keeps him in trouble.

Takahashi grabs a release German suplex though and Kushida comes down on the head again, followed by what looked to be a bit of a botch off a top rope hurricanrana, which came off as more of a top rope seated senton. The champ falls outside for a top rope…..something that looked like a backsplash to a standing Kushida though it barely made contact.

Back in and Kushida opts for a kick to the head to put both guys down for a well earned breather. Another sunset bomb doesn’t work and Kushida pulls him out of the air into a cross armbreaker on the floor. I’m liking the fire from Kushida here and he stays full on face by throwing Takahashi back in instead of taking what would have been an easy countout win. Back in and some hard kicks to the arm set up the Hoverboard Lock but Takahashi guts his way out and turns it into a fireman’s carry, only to have Kushida counter into a rollup for two.

A weaker Hoverboard Lock doesn’t work so they just punch each other in the face really hard. Kushida heads up top (probably not the best plan) and grabs another Hoverboard Lock, only to be countered into a super victory roll for a close near fall. Takahashi sends him head first into the corner and grabs a fireman’s carry into something like a spinning Emerald Flowsion for the pin and the title at 16:53.

Rating: B+. Here’s the thing: really don’t like either guy and I was dreading this match more than almost anything else. That being said, it’s still the match of the night so far as I was getting into the idea of Kushida wanting it to be a fair wrestling match and Takahashi going for the head for the sake of the title. It told a good story, though the ending felt a bit out of nowhere. Still though, really good stuff.

Never Openweight Title: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hirooki Goto

Shibata is defending. If the previous match was one I was almost dreading the most, this was the one I was certainly dreading the most. The Never style is one I really don’t care for, though I understand what they’re going for with it. The announcers push the idea that Goto, who is a two time Intercontinental Champion, a three time New Japan Cup winner and a G1 Climax winner, has never won the big one. Uh, right.

Shibata slaps him in the chest to start so Goto grabs a headlock. That earns him a trip to the mat in a top wristlock as Shibata wants to make up for his own taped shoulder. Now the announcers aren’t sure how to define success because it might be something other than winning. So they’re ripping off the Dolph Ziggler story? And this is supposed to be the best in the world?

A shortarm scissors keeps Goto down but he powers out and starts with some YES Kicks. As tends to be to my annoyance, Shibata no sells and forearms Goto in the face. Yes we know he’s tough. Find something new to do. Shibata no sells a suplex but finally stays down when his bad neck is rammed into Goto’s knee.

Goto actually scores with some clotheslines but runs into an STO to put both guys down. Back up and Shibata gets in his rear naked choke to pull Goto right back down to the mat. You can feel the audience getting worried here and a BIG sigh of relief when Goto makes the bottom rope.

More hard strikes don’t get us anywhere but Goto’s suplex into a Side Effect gets two. Goto starts unloading on Shibata with even more strikes, followed by back to back GTR’s (Nightmare on Helms Street with Shibata’s head going into Goto’s knee) for the pin and the title at 16:23.

Rating: B-. Ignoring the story not making sense given Goto’s title history, I’m still not a fan of this tough man style. I know it’s a throwback to the old school strong style and all that jazz but I just don’t care for it. This is a case of me really just not being the audience for a style though it’s entertaining enough. Not bad at all but nothing I’m ever going to want to watch again.

Long video on Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito without a translation so I’m kind of guessing here. From what I can tell, Naito (defending here) has been corrupted and doesn’t care about tradition and honor but is awesome enough that it doesn’t matter. Tanahashi is all about the company and being great in the past but time is catching up with him. He’s beaten Naito is a lot better now, meaning this is a huge challenge. Assuming that’s the case, I’ve heard far worse.

Intercontinental Title: Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Naito is defending and is the leader of Los Ingobernables. Tanahashi debuts new music here and it really doesn’t sound great. I can barely remember his old song but I’d bet it was better than this. There’s no contact in the first minute as Naito isn’t interested in a lockup. They lock up over a minute and a half in and it’s Tanahashi being sent to the floor, leaving Naito to pose on the mat as is his custom.

Back in and Tanahashi actually pulls hair before dropkicking the champ down. HIT THAT AIR GUITAR BABY! Naito starts in on the leg like a heel should, including throwing the boot to the referee the champ can get in a dropkick to the knee. That’s a new one. A reverse Figure Four doesn’t last long and Tanahashi fights back, including a middle rope flipping splash for two. This has been a fast ten minutes so far and I’m kind of surprised by that. It’s too early for the Texas Cloverleaf but Tanahashi is cool with a dragon screw leg whip over the middle rope.

A Sling Blade on the apron (which may or may not be the hardest part of the ring) sets up a high crossbody to the floor with Tanahashi landing on Naito’s head for a NASTY looking landing. Back in and Naito basically falls into the ropes to crotch Tanahashi, setting up a high angle side slam for two more.

We hit a leglock on Tanahashi for a long time but he’s finally able to turn it over into a deep Texas Cloverleaf. Another rope is grabbed so Tanahashi goes with back to back Sling Blades, only to miss the High Fly Flow. Destino is countered into a rolling neckbreaker to put both guys down again. Back up (again) and they kick at the knees with Tanahashi getting the better of it off a dragon suplex.

The High Fly Flow (What knee?) hits Naito’s back but the second attempt (No really, what knee?) hits Naito’s knees. Thankfully the champ holds his knees and can’t follow up. After a bit of time on the mat it’s a reverse tornado DDT followed by Destino to give Naito the completely clean pin at 25:43.

Rating: A-. I could have gone for a bit more of the knees playing into the finish but this was a great back and forth match with the leg work building up throughout. The idea of both guys working the same body part was interesting and Naito winning completely clean is the EXACTLY right call. Tanahashi is forty years old and has more titles than he knows what to do with so this isn’t a career breaker. Also as a bonus, the match never felt long. That can get old in a hurry but it wasn’t a problem here.

Kelly plays up the idea that the ace of the era (Tanahashi) might be out of gas. That could be an interesting story as it’s what we’re seeing with Cena over in WWE.

We hit the recap video for the main event and they actually put in subtitles. Basically Okada is the defending champion and the new ace of the promotion while Kenny Omega (leader of the Bullet Club) shocked New Japan by winning the G1 Climax. Okada says he’s the man entrusted with New Japan and wrestling’s futures and he’s not going to let someone like Omega mess with those responsibilities for his own gain. As a sidenote: it’s really weird to hear English in these things.

Ok before we get to this thing, let’s pause for a minute. As you probably know, this match has gotten INSANE praise online with Meltzer calling it possibly the best match of all time. While I’ve learned a long time ago to take everything Meltzer says with a ten gallon bag of salt, I’m going to go out of my way to be as impartial as I can on this one. I know it’s big and I know it’s important but I’m curious to see how much of the hype it deserves. Like, I haven’t heard a match this hyped up since……oh since the last Wrestle Kingdom.

IWGP World Title: Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada

Okada is defending but Omega gets a big Terminator style entrance, complete with Omega acting out the scene where the Terminator beats people up and steals their clothes. Omega comes in with the half mask and shotgun but NO SUNGLASSES THAT HE PUT ON IN THE VIDEO. Well that’s minus half a star right there. Seriously does no one care about continuity? Also I don’t believe you clean with a gun so minus another half star for that.

They lock up at just under a minute in before hitting the mat for the opening wrestling sequence. Omega takes him down with a headlock and they’re definitely taking their time with this one (as they should). Okada comes back with an armdrag into an armbar and we hear about a cultural difference as Okada is making his second defense of a title he won in JUNE. I know the argument is that you don’t hot potato New Japan titles around between the same people (other than almost every other title) but that’s getting into UFC territory.

Both guys escape finishers and Omega spits in Okada’s face (WAY too common a thing tonight) before taking a breather on the floor. Back in and a big boot drops Omega, who is sent right back outside. An Orton elevated DDT makes things even worse for Kenny and….it’s table time, though the announcers point out that Omega put Okada through a table at one point.

Omega is sent over the barricade and Okada adds in a running crossbody as we hear that more foreign fans are watching live than ever before. No sarcasm: that’s awesome for both NJPW and wrestling in general. Back in and we actually hit a chinlock for a bit before Kenny pops up for something like a running Fameasser. A running knee to the ribs and a hurricanrana put Okada to the floor.

That means the rise of the Terminator pose and a big (very big) flip dive to take the champion out. We hit a one arm camel clutch until Okada grabs the rope and hits a high angle AA to get a breather. A modified STF sends Omega to the ropes and Okada is getting frustrated. As the champ gets back up, I need to point out Corino being great on commentary by trying to explain the wrestler’s mindset here. You NEVER get that enough in most wrestling companies but it’s incredibly valuable.

Omega gets in a backbreaker and baseball slides Okada over the barricade to keep working on the back. A springboard moonsault over the top almost overshoots Okada in a rather impressive display of athleticism. It didn’t make great contact but it looked awesome. We crank up the violence a bit with Omega putting the table on top of Okada for a running double stomp from the apron.

Kenny gets two off a powerbomb and it’s time to get frustrated. A Regal Roll followed by a middle rope moonsault gets two and there’s a large cut on Okada’s back. Okada puts him on the top for a dropkick out to the floor as the champ keeps staying in there, waiting on Omega’s mistake. Neither guy can hit a finisher from the apron through the table (that thing better break) and before I can finish typing that, Omega is backdropped over the top and through said table.

After we make sure Omega isn’t dead, Okada hits one heck of a missile dropkick for two. With some warning from the Bucks, Kenny blocks the Rainmaker and grabs the big spot of the match with a dragon superplex. Looked painful but it’s hardly this amazing move that will never be topped. Omega scores with a knee, only to walk into that gorgeous dropkick from the champ. A running knee to Okada’s head looks to set up the One Winged Angel but Okada reverses into a tombstone for a delayed two.

The crowd is WAY into this (which makes me wonder what the difference is between this and an opening match where “they’re showing respect to the athletes”) and you can hear them gasp when the Rainmaker gets a near fall. One heck of a shotgun dropkick sends Omega into the corner where the Bucks tell him that he can’t be beaten. Ignore him laying on his back with his eyes closed.

Kenny pops up and reverses a tombstone into a modified version of his own and both guys are down long enough to look at the crowd for a bit. They slug it out again until Omega snaps off a dragon suplex, followed by a Shining Wizard for a VERY close two. Kenny STILL can’t hit the One Winged Angel as Okada escapes and hits a hard clothesline. Oh wait: the RAINMAKER (Does capitalizing it mean it’s something other than a hard clothesline?).

Omega makes the mistake of grabbing his hand while kneeing Omega in the head, setting up a third Rainmaker. Another tombstone is countered into a jumping knee to the face but Okada counters the Angel AGAIN into the jumping tombstone. The fourth Rainmaker (if I EVER hear a New Japan fan complain about WWE wrestlers repeating finishers, I’m going to have a very hearty laugh) finally ends Omega at 46:17.

Rating: A. It’s too long and the Rainmaker was used too much. Those are my only criticisms of it, unless you count New Japan fans over hyping ANOTHER Okada match at Wrestle Kingdom. Yes it’s great and a classic but six stars and the greatest match of all time? Really? If you cut off about six to seven minutes here and there, it probably goes up to a higher rating but at the moment, it’s just excellent and one of the best matches I’ve seen in a long time.

I’m interested in the fact that they didn’t have Omega hit the One Winged Angel. That sounds like they’re setting something up for the future and I’m interested in seeing if that’s the way they’re going down the line. Okada winning doesn’t seem like the best idea as it doesn’t fit the last year of storytelling but if they’re setting up something for WAY down the line (and NJPW loves to do that), I’m not sure I get this one. Great match though.

Gedo (Okada’s manager) and Okada talk about taking New Japan global in a speech that I don’t understand (though Corino translates part of it).

The English commentary ends and we get some shots of the Japanese announcers wrapping it up.

Overall Rating: A-. Let’s get this out of the way: this show is long. Like it’s almost Wrestlemania long. Unfortunately, that makes it a bit hard to sit through and leaves you wanting to pick out things that could have been cut. In this case, it’s probably part of the main event and maybe make the Six Man Title match a regular one fall match, though I like the gauntlet style better than having a bunch of people out there at once and no one being able to do anything.

As for the good, there really isn’t a bad match on this show and that doesn’t happen. There are however a bunch of matches that are just ok or slightly above average and that brings it down a bit. The show isn’t something I’m ever going to watch again and it’s probably going to be gone from my head in about three days, as is the case with most of these shows. That’s true because of one point and it’s the reason I don’t watch more New Japan: I don’t have a connection to it.

For me, wrestling is a long form story. There are characters I’ve watched for years and I care about what happens to them. New Japan, partially just due to the language barrier (which again, was GREATLY reduced thanks to Corino and Kelly, who weren’t great but did exactly what they were supposed to do), doesn’t offer me that, at least not without a long time being spent watching them.

That’s the difference between WWE and New Japan: one is based on storytelling and character development and the other is based on in ring work. What people so often overlook, and what might get on my nerves most about wrestling fans (and people in general) is that they so often feel the need to bash you over the head for not knowing what REAL wrestling (or anything for that matter) is because it’s not the style they like.

It’s the same reason I take Meltzer’s ratings with a grain of salt: he likes Japanese wrestling a lot and isn’t big on the WWE style. Why people think that’s a bad thing isn’t clear but any reviewer does it. I’m a bigger fan of the simple stories that you get on NXT and Smackdown and I care more about advancing those stories than having a great match (though that’s important too). You can like both and still be a wrestling fan, which is the case here. I liked a lot of this show but there’s no emotional connection for me because it’s just not my style.

The show, as usual, was a lot of fun and very entertaining but I’m not likely going to watch more of it until next year. Wrestle Kingdom is easily the biggest non-WWE show of the year and it’s certainly bigger than a lot of WWE shows. I’ll be watching it every year because it deserves the attention for offering some of the best wrestling in the world and entertaining me every time I watch it, even if I don’t find it as great as some people.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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