#after defeating taichi in the g1 last year he was like ‘he only has that kinda fun with taichi and naito’ or sth like that

[wrestlingisfake]

G1 Climax final preview

This is typically a one-match show, but that one match is a hum-dinger: the final of the G1 Climax tournament. Both of the finalists are entering their tenth match in 28 days--seven round-robin block matches, followed by a three-round single elimination bracket. The winner will earn the right to challenge the IWGP world champion in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom on January 4.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito - There is no time limit; there must be a winner. Okada won B Block with six wins and one loss, and then defeated Zack Sabre Jr. and EVIL for a record of 8-1. Naito is currently 7-2; he won D Block with five victories and went on to eliminate Hikuleo and Will Ospreay. This is their thirteenth singles encounter; Okada currently leads the series 7-6.

Naito's story is simple. He hasn't headlined the Tokyo Dome in January since 2021, and he hasn't won in that spot since 2020, when his victory promo was interrupted by KENTA. Ever since then his goal has been to right that wrong and get the last word on the biggest stage of them all. It'll be even sweeter if he can do it this year, since that would likely mean taking the world title from SANADA, who beat Naito and walked away from their faction to begin his rise to the top. It's not a particularly dramatic saga, but it lines up better than anything else the promotion has been building up all year.

All that's standing in Naito's way is Okada, but that's plenty. Okada doesn't need a storyline reason to win the G1 and headline the Tokyo Dome--he's Okada, end of story. A month ago I predicted Naito would win the G1, and I never wavered in that prediction. But now that the show is hours away and I see Okada on the other side of the bracket, I'm having doubts. I try not to bet against Okada. Even when you're getting a push, he can beat you. Even when you need this win, and it wouldn't hurt him to lose, he can beat you. The only thing that's inevitable in New Japan is that he'll be world champion in the Tokyo Dome again, sooner or later. They could easily defer Naito's storyline to fall back to their tippiest, toppiest guy.

I feel like that sweaty superhero guy who has to chose between pushing two buttons. I'm gonna grit my teeth and stick with Naito to win the G1. But I expect this match to be 35 minutes of Okada making me wonder if Naito is even on his level.

SANADA & Taichi & DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi & SHO & Dick Togo - Hoo boy, get ready for a couple of months of Just 5 Guys vs. House of Torture as they build to Evil challenging Sanada for the IWGP world title. House of Torture matches suck, and even worse they're designed to suck, so I'm not looking forward to this. This program is not what Sanada's title run needed. I guess Evil's team wins to get heat, as if they really need more heel heat.

Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji & BUSHI vs. Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan & HENARE - I'm not sure why Los Ingobernables de Japon is closing out this tour facing the United Empire. Ospreay made news last night by unilaterally renaming his IWGP United States title to the IWGP United Kingdom title, so maybe the plan here is for one of the LIJ guys to be set up as challenger. Bushi is probably the weakest link in this match and can lose this. Although Henare is criminally underrated so I suppose he could get beat too. Something tells me Eddie Kingston will run in after this match to give Henare a receipt from last night.

David Finlay & Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd & KENTA & Chase Owens vs. El Phantasmo & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Hikuleo & Jado - On last night's show they seemed to set up Finlay vs. Tonga for the NEVER title and Coughlin/Kidd vs. Phantasmo/Hikuleo (???) for the STRONG tag title. Sure, why not? Jado will probably get beat here.

Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI & Ryusuke Taguchi & Boltin Oleg vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita - Oleg won a dark match last night to earn a future match against Sabre for the NJPW World television title; I'm not sure when that's supposed to happen. I assume everyone else in this match to set up Goto and Yoshi vs. Haste and Nicholls, but it's hard to know what the plans are for the tag division right now. I'd say Oleg should lose but under the circumstances they might actually protect him, so I guess Fujita can lose the fall.

Eddie Kingston & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii & YOH vs. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Togi Makabe & Tiger Mask - Wow, it's like they wanted to make sure Eddie got to wrestle all the old guys before he left Japan. I'm sure he'll have a blast. Other than that, there's not much to write home about. Eddie's team pretty much has to win, and I figure Tiger will do the job.

Shota Umino & Master Wato & Yuji Nagata & Tomoaki Honma vs. Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado & Yuto Nakashima - Huh, we haven't seen Nagata in a New Japan ring lately; up until about six weeks ago, he'd been busy over in All Japan as their top champion. I'm a bit surprised he isn't on the old-timers team in the Eddie Kingston match. I guess the story here is nobody's sure where Narita and Suzuki are right now with their relationship, but I haven't seen any sign that's going anywhere. Nakashima is a Young Lion so he's going to lose here.

Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Toru Yano & Oskar Leube - To me the point of bringing a top guy from Pro Wrestling NOAH would be to give him a respectable run in the G1 and treat him like a star. Instead New Japan positioned him in the middle of the pack and he's finishing out the tour in the opening match. At least he can surely beat Yano on his way out, but knowing Yano I wouldn't count on it. Oiwa and Leube are both Young Lions so either of them could lose the match, which makes this too close to call.

#njpw #g1 climax

[eldesperadont]

if Jay retains against Finlay (and Taguchi) then i want him to defend the NEVER belt against Taichi. They don’t need a logical storyline, their slimy sleazy bastard aura should just gravitate them towards each other like some black holes or whatever, let them fight and be awful and insufferable and flirt with- and kill each other and make everyone that enjoys it (me) think “god i can’t fucking stand these two i love them so much”

#these two and naito - all three with each other have the unholiest bastard energy #rat triad. #and jay himself confirmed that theres a bond/similarities between them #after defeating taichi in the g1 last year he was like ‘he only has that kinda fun with taichi and naito’ or sth like that #these three have s*xual tension eventho its the least you want of them (if you’re a coward) #they are like made for each other in the worst way #okay but im serious i wanna see jay and taichi feud just cause it’d probably be entertaining i loved their g1 match last year sm #i love sleazy loud heels!! #percht.txt

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 15 in Tokyo Dome Night 1 Review (Jan 4th 2020)

New Japan Rambo  *1/2

BOSJ 27 vs. SJC 2020 IWGP Jr. Heavyweight No.1 Contenders Match: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo  ****

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny  ***1/2

IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship Right To Challenge Match: KENTA vs. Satoshi Kojima  ***1/2+

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan  ***1/2

Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay  ****3/4

IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Double Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito (c/c) vs. Kota Ibushi  ****1/2

Photos.

So the first night of WK15 is in the history books, held in front of a socially distanced crowd of 12,689, which is an amazing number given the state of the world at present (I’m in the UK and we can’t even have two people in the same room, so near 13,000 seems mind-blowing!). This is the biggest crowd to have seen a wrestling show in Japan since last years Dome shows, and the biggest major wrestling show held anywhere since March of last year, so it’s quite the achievement. In quick results from a very fun show:

Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, BUSHI and Toru Yano (who never even made it to the ring) were the “winners” of the annual Rambo and will face each other in a 4-way to determine the KOPW champion on tomorrows show. The Rambo was as it always is, which is very forgettable, very long, and not especially very good. After a Japanese Don King (who sings!) introduced Riki Choshu (a guy who, in this very building in 1998, squashed FOUR guys in a row in his “retirement” match), and his young grandson, to the masses for a nice opening, BOSJ winner Hiromu Takahashi pinned everyone’s favourite/most hated douchebag heel, the 2020 Super J Cup winner El Phanatsmo, in 17:46, when he turned CRII into a Frankensteiner and cradle. This was an excellent match that was a great way to start the show. Hiromu essentially played crash pad to ELP’s highflying moves, and seemed to be saving himself for the Ishimori match tomorrow, which he earned with this win.

Next up, the GOD won the IWGP Tag Titles for what must be the 476th time. The match was very good (once it got going), but at 19:18, it felt very long, and the finish and result were lamentable; after a ref bump and prerequisite Jado interference spot, Tama nailed Taichi with his own Iron Fingers From Hell, which allowed Loa to hit Apeshit and win the belts. Honestly, I could have done without this title change. The Guerrillas with the belts just feels like I’ve been transported back in time three or four years, and the Dangerous Tekkers felt both fresh, and like they were just getting going as champions. Whatever. After a video taped Jon Moxley promo, KENTA defended the U.S. Title Right To Challenge Briefcase against the legend that is Satoshi Kojima, in a very good little match. Obviously, Koji was a late replacement for the broken orbital boned Juice Robinson, and honestly, with all due respect to Juice, this was a much better match for it. Even though no one feasibly bought him winning, Kojima was on fire here, showing the world that he does indeed “still have it”, and drove the action throughout. It wasn’t to be though as KENTA retained the briefcase after a Go 2 Sleep at the 14:12 mark. So KENTA will challenge Moxley in the U.S. at some point, which should be a fun match.

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated the returned-from-excursion Great-O-Khan in my least favourite match of the show. This was far from bad, but realistically, this was the match where I started to lag, as it just wasn’t all that interesting at times. The former Tomoyuki Oka has a very weird gimmick, and his offence is like something from a 1970s regional promotion in the U.S. He isn’t a bad worker, he’s very solid, but this wacky Mongolian gimmick, which I first clapped eyes on at a Rev Pro show what must have been 7 years ago now (it was three, but time has no meaning anymore), is going to need some serious revamping. Tanahashi was his usual great self here, carrying this beyond what it should by all rights have been, and had the babyface fire of a thousand babyfaces. After surviving O-Khan’s Claw based offensive manoeuvres, The Ace scored the win at 17:13 after hitting a High Fly Flow to the back, followed by one to the front, to get the winning three count.

From here the show picked up considerably. Okada sought revenge on former protege Will Ospreay, in a fantastic, dramatic outing, that would most likely have been a Tokyo Dome all-time-classic under regular conditions. This went 35:41, which sounds long, but felt half of that whilst watching. It told a great story, and the work from both guys was exceptional. This was less the inventive spot fest of their 2019 G1 classic, and instead was a stiff strike war. It was also the final point of Ospreay eschewing the Junior mantle, and becoming a full fledged heavyweight. Like most Okada matches, this really turned into something special in the last 10 minutes, after Ospreay hit a nasty Brainbuster through the timekeepers table, and stomped the bejesus out of Okada’s face, the newly crowned “Commonwealth Kingpin” escaped a Money Clip, hit Okada with a Tombstone, and his own Rainmaker for a great near fall. Okada dropkicked Will out of the air on a Super Oscutter attempt, which looked great, then turned a Storm Breaker attempt into a Fire Thunder Driver, and hit a stiff Rainmaker, for the first time in A YEAR, to score the win and seemingly awaken the Okada of old. Tremendous stuff here.

And the Double Title Main Event that followed had a lot to live up to, but was another excellent outing. Obviously, with the last few times these guys have squared off being borderline public executions, my heart was proverbially in my mouth on some of the spots here. With the notable exceptions of Ibushi taking a German Suplex on the ramp, which he of course landed square on top of his head for, an insane Frankensteiner off the apron, which saw Naito land very hard on the floor, Ibushi taking a reverse rana off the second rope, and both guys taking signature spots onto their heads, this was, on the whole, the “tamest” match these two have had against one another in maybe 5 or 6 years now. Ibushi hit Kamigoye for a great near fall, but misses a Phoenix Splash. Naito hits Destino, but Ibushi gets the shoulder up. Naito kicks out of another Kamigoye, then drops Ibushi on his head with Valentia, and goes for another Destino. Ibushi escapes and hits a wrist clutch V-Trigger, followed by a third, knee padless Kamigoye to FINALLY win the two top prizes in New Japan after 31:18 of great action. There was a really wacky bit, that only Ibushi could do, after the match, where he seemed to sell being in a “fugue state”, tried to pin Naito again after the match, and sold disbelief when Red Shoes explained to him that he’d won. Naito presented The Golden Star with both belts, then Ibushi’s opponent tomorrow, Jay White, came out in the post match, and cut a promo, promising Ibushi’s reign would only last 24 hours. Ibushi informed Jay that he is mistaken, and that Ibushi will indeed become a God. This was a show built around happy ending babyface wins (in the major bouts), and was a dose of positivity the world needs right now. Bring on Night 2 already.

NDT

#njpw #wrestle kingdom 15 #review #njwk15 #wk15 #new japan pro wrestling #puroresu #wrestling #wrestling review

[buttdawg]

G1 Climax 30 Predictions

I’m not sure how this is going to work, but I want to try to organize all my predictions on this one post, so I can find them all later when Gedo crushes my dreams.  

WINNER: I’m going with SANADA this year.   He’s a cool dude, he deserves a push, and even if he loses the briefcase or whizzes his title shot at WK15, it would still be cool to see a fresh face win the G1 tournament.  

Bolstering my reasoning, he’s slated to face EVIL on the final night for B-Block.   There’s a couple of other matches that night that would make a suitable main event for that show, but they used to be bros in LIJ, and they used to be a tag team within LIJ, so this seems like a good match to decide the winner of B-Block.   And EVIL should lose that match because EVIL fucking sucks.

RUNNER UP: Kazuchika Okada.   NJPW has depicted Okada as going through a slump in 2020, which is kind of dumb, since they’ve been doing the exact same angle with Tanahashi at the same time, and Tana’s older so it makes more sense.  I guess the main difference with Okada is that he still wins a lot of matches but can’t quite clinch the big ones, where Tanahashi seems to have trouble all the time.  So it probably adds up for him to win A-Block, then lose the finals. 

Mostly, I just want to see a renewal of the one-sided SANDA/Okada rivalry, since they had a good match at last year’s G1, and then the title match a few months later at... I don’t remember the names of these shows.    “Halloween Havoc in Okayama 10.7″.    Let’s just call it that.

Looking at the final night of A-Block, Okada’s facing Will Ospreay, and that also seems like a big enough match to decide a tournament block.   Maybe this isn’t an important factor, but I see Jeff Cobb facing Yujiro Takahashi on the same card, and I’m pretty sure that means Jeff Cobb ain’t winning no A-Block anytime soon.

FIRST TO TEN POINTS.   This is something I noticed last year, when I picked Jon Moxley and Okada to win their respective blocks.   Starting out, I thought they were a lock to win, because they won five matches in a row, but they couldn’t keep the streak alive, and their opponents started to catch up.    But they were still right there in the mix until the very end, so it seems to me that this is probably a feature of every round-robin tournament.   Someone has to crack five wins early on, and yet that guy probably isn’t going to win, because it would make the back half of the tournament seem unimportant.  

But it seems like racking up that big score up-front is kind of an achievement in itself.     I wasn’t familiar with NJPW’s roster last year, so I didn’t realize the calibur of guys Moxley was beating, but they put him over the Intercontinental AND the NEVER Openweight champions.  

This year, I figure Tetsuya Naito ought to be in that kind of role, since he’s the double-champion, and this whole tournament is for a shot as his titles, so he ought to look really dominant, even if he doesn’t win.  

For A-Block, let’s go with Kota Ibushi, just because I feel like they’re trying to make us think he’s got a shot at winning back-to-back G1′s, except he’s in the midst of a hot tag team program, so I have a hard time seeing him actually winning.  

FIRST TO EIGHT POINTS.   I don’t know the mathematics of how many possible wrestlers can reach eight points at the same time, but I’m going to pick two from each block.  For A-Block, Jay White lost his first four matches in G1 29, so let’s have him flip the script this year.   He’s finally back in Japan, so let’s see him make a strong start in this tournament.   And maybe Tomohiro Ishii, because why not?

Over in B-Block, uhhhhhh, let’s go with EVIL and KENTA. 

I’m not going over the match lineups very carefully here, so maybe there’s logical reasons for these picks being impossible, but I’m just trying to throw out some names and see what shakes out here.  

WINNING RECORD, TEN+ POINTS.   This seemed to be a point of pride for the wrestlers in the second half of the tournament.   There’s 18 dates for the tour, nine for each block, and after Day 12 or so it’s pretty clear who’s in the lead and who probably won’t catch up.  In particular, I remember Tanahashi being upset about finishing with a 4-5 record.   You’d expect about half of the participants to have a winning record, so I’m going to try to pick them out here.

A BLOCK

Kazuchika Okada

Kota Ibushi

Tomohiro Ishii

Jay White

Taichi

B-BLOCK

SANADA

Tetsuya Naito

EVIL

KENTA

Hirooki Goto

MISCELLANEOUS PREDICTIONS.

1) Yujiro Takahashi goes 0-9 through A-Block.     Look, this guy’s been feuding with Okada all summer, and one time Okada let two guys help Yujiro and he still lost.    NJPW can pretend that he’s not Wile E. Coyote, but that doesn’t mean I have to buy it.  

2) Toru Yano finishes 2-7 through B-Block.    I think normally Yano does a respectable showing at these things, because he’s comic relief, and it doesn’t really matter whether he wins or loses.  But this year he’s got the KOPW trophy, and I assume that means whoever beats him here gets a shot at the trophy later.   Personally, I want to see him have to defend the trophy many, many times, or at least he should be extremely anxious about the prospect of that. 

3) Hirooki Goto ties for second place in B-Block.   Not sure how that should shake out, but it happened last year, and I dig Goto’s comeback story.   He doesn’t make huge waves in New Japan, but he won the NEVER Openweight title, and I think he should have a respectable showing here, whatever that is. 

4) Taichi d. Minoru Suzuki in A Block.   Normally, I would bet that all the horses will have a fun time, but the odds of that are 100% here, so I’m going to pick Taichi to fuck Suzuki up.

5) YOSHI-HASHI only loses to guys who wouldn’t challenge him for his coveted NEVER 6-Man Tag Championship.    I think the dude should do okay in this G1, but let’s not go nuts.   Tanahashi’s beating him, Naito’s beating him, Goto’s beating him, ZSJ’s beating him, Kenta’s beating him, and EVIL’s beating him.   But none of those guys would bother challenging him for his 6-Man tag title, because they have bigger fish to fry.    So the only people YOSHI-HASHI should defeat are SANADA, Yano, and Juice Robinson.   Please defeat Juice.    Please.

6) Juice Robinson sucks.    More of a statement of fact than a prediction, but I stand by it.

#njpw #g1 climax 30

[hazyheel]

NJPW G1 Climax Day 10 Review

Hirooki Goto vs. Toru Yano in Block B: An battle within Chaos, although Goto always tends to be the odd man out in Chaos. Goto was immediately worried about Yano as they started out, even not being very willing to get in the ring to start. Yano led the crowd in a Chaos chant, and as Goto got into it, he stood on the top rope, only for Yano to wrap his shirt around his face for a pair of rollups. Yano removed the turnbuckle pad, and the two began their wild brawl. Goto locked up his legs and then locked him in a pinning predicament for the win.  Goto: 4, Yano: 4.

Grade: D+. I just wasn’t into this, and it was too quick to really get invested in. The story here was that they always have really quick matches, so the winner would be whoever could close it out in that time. I didn’t care, but good for Goto getting another two points. 

Juice Robinson vs. Tomohiro Ishii in Block B: the two started out with a series of shoulder tackles to each other, with Robinson actually holding his own with the much bigger man. They transitioned into a striking and chopping contest, and both men totally blistered each other’s chests. Robinson actually won that contest, before picking him back up and slapping him disrespectfully. That made ishii so mad that he started to utilize his angry throat chops and even push the ref around. Those chops propelled Ishii into the lead between the two, but Robinson was continuously defiant. He stood his ground and took all the punishment that Ishii had to offer. The two then traded headbutts over and over, before starting up again with the strikes. Again Robinson came out on top, following up with a Full Nelson bomb for a near fall. Robinson tried to continue the pressure with a rana off the top, but Ishii refused to fall and delivered a knee drop off the top and a saito suplex for a near fall. Ishii then gave his signature chop and strike combination in the corner for a while, before Robinson fought his way out and they traded brutal chops. Robinson was getting more and more worn down as they continued these contests. Each one was shorter than the last, and Robinson started to fade a bit. He fought back into the match using a throat chop right out of Ishii’s book. Robinson then gave Ishii a superplex, which Ishii stood right up after. Ishii then hit a powerslam, but Robinson stood right up as well. They continued to no sell each other’s huge power moves until they both just collapsed together. Neither man could even stand after absorbing that much punishment. The two then started to trade huge blows once again in the middle of the ring, this time Ishii faltered, allowing Robinson to hit Juice Box for a near fall. The tow then jockeyed for position a bit, both men wanted their finish. Ishii countered the Pulp Friction with a ripcord lariat, but Robinson didn’t even move. He gave him a nasty headbutt, a huge lariat off his own, and then a powerbomb for a near fall. He went for Pump Friction again, but Ishii still slipped out, so Robinson kept up the pressure. He didn’t stay down for anything, he just refused to lose this match. Ishii fought back into things with his unreal strength, but Juice then reversed the Vertical Drop Brainbuster into a jackhammer, but when he went for a Pulp Friction, Ishii countered with a tiger suplex. Ishii then hit a vertical drop brainbuster for the win. Ishii: 6, Robinson: 6

Grade: A. I never figured Juice for much of a brawler, but his matches these past few months have been changing my opinion on that. His brawling ability is crazy, and I thought if he won this match then he would be pushed into the upper midcard. But he lost, although he looked incredible in defeat. They destroyed each other with everything that they had, and those striking contests seemed like they could go either way every time that they started to hit each other. Juice showed a hell of a lot of heart in this match, and that counts for something. He says that his attitude has changed, and that sure as hell showed here. Great match, match of the night. 

Jeff Cobb vs. Taichi in Block B: In Taichi’s corner was Miho Abe, and also Yoshinobu Kanemaru. These two have a bit of history from earlier this year. They feuded over the NEVER Openweight Championship in may, with Taichi taking the belt from Cobb. He has since lost the belt, but the wound is fresh in Cobb’s mind. The two started with a handshake, which shockingly enough ended up being a normal handshake, no dirty tricks from Taichi were involved. Taichi then asked Cobb to shake Abe’s hand, but when Cobb went to do it, Taichi attacked. The two then started to brawl on the outside, and when Cobb went to give Taichi a lariat, he pushed Abe in his path and then hit him in the face with the mic stand. Taichi used anything that he could as a weapon as the attack on the outside continued, but Cobb made it back in the ring. Taichi continued the disrespect, which infuriated Cobb enough to completely lay into him in the corner with a hurricane of strikes. Taichi contested those strikes with his precise kicks to the body and the head. Taichi then tried for Black Mephisto, but Cobb countered into a series of gutwrench suplexes and even a piledriver. Any time that it looked like Cobb had things in his control, Taichi would wipe him out with a hard kick. In the finish, Cobb went for a superkick, but Taichi pushed the ref in his way. Cobb pushed the ref away, and then narrowly avoided a low blow by starching Taichi in the face. He followed up with a headbutt and then Tour of the Islands for a win. Cobb: 4, Taichi: 4. 

Grade: B-. Fine match, but there was a lot of downtime here. They didn’t feel like there was a lot of urgency, and that definitely affected things. They still had a nice match with some hard hits, but they don’t really have the chemistry for anything great. 

Jay White vs. Shingo Takagi in Block B: Gedo was in White’s corner for this match, and he would definitely be a factor. Also, Takagi had an injured knee coming into this match due to his recent confrontation with Jon Moxley. White rolled out of the ring right as the match started, and while it looked like Takagi wasn’t going to take the bate, he eventually did and ate some offense for it. Takagi then took control right back as they got in the ring with some of his great looking power moves. Takagi was about to hit a death valley driver on the apron, but Gedo grabbed his leg and stopped him. That distraction allowed White to get some hits in and leave Takagi laying on the outside. White worked over the back a lot as they kept up the fighting. He threw Takagi all around ringside and into any surface that he could hit. They got back in the ring, and they started a chopping contest. The second that they started to hit each other, White lost control, as Takagi was a far better striker than he. White mostly fought from behind and used his dirty tricks to score him some hits here and there. White constantly baited Takagi into parts of the ring that he wanted, The two then started to trade huge moves, from slaps to lariats to suplexes. At one point, after trading Saito suplexes, White hit a combination of a flatliner, a german suplex and a Kiwi Crusher for a near fall. The two then traded hard forearms in the middle of the ring, and white could not stand up to the strength of Takagi. Takagi brought him back up to his feet, when White gave him a weak slap, only to be destroyed by a Pumping Bomber. Takagi went for another, so white fell to the ground to avoid it, only for Takagi to hit a vicious wheelbarrow german suplex for a near fall. The two then battled for their respective finishers, and when Takagi went for another Pumping Bomber, Gedo tripped him up. So instead, Takagi drilled White with a lariat in the corner, a buckle bomb and a pair of pumping bombers for a near fall. Takagi went for last of the dragons, but white grabbed the ref. Gedo tried to run in, but Takagi took him out with a straight left. White then tried to hit a Bladerunner, but Takagi just punched him until he dropped it, and then hit Made in Japan for a near fall. The tow then continued to fight for position, and Takagi only went down after being wrecked by a pair of sleeper suplexes. He then hit Bladerunner and won. White: 4, Takagi: 4. 

Grade: A-. Another great match that had actually no leg work, which was interesting. I thought the knee injury would come into play more, but they still had a great match. Full of hard hits and tricky plays, White had to outsmart Takagi to get this win. It was full of dishonesty and cheating, although Gedo was never the exact cause of the problems for Takagi. Takagi dealt with him well, but he just couldn’t get it done against White. White hit his moves with precision, never wasting his strength and holding out to the end. White now has two in a row, and he needs six to make it to the finals. I like this story, gives us more reason to hate him. 

Jon Moxely vs. Tetsuya Naito in Block B: Another Champion vs. Champion main event in the B block. Naito took his time removing his ring attire, and it was actually making Moxley go insane waiting for him. He just stood there swearing at Naito as he took a comically long time to remove everything, only to throw his pants at Moxley at the last second. Despite Moxley being the block leader, Natio had no respect for him. Naito took his time stalling things out, staying on the outside for a while, and taunting Moxley. Moxley tried to keep calm, but his temper would flare up. That is when Naito would strike. It got to the point where Moxley was so frustrated that he pulled him into the crowd and beat him with just about anything he could find. He brought him back to the ring by blasting him through the barricade, but then threw him clean into the crowd and even took some fans out in the process. They probably were out of the ring for four or five minutes before finally starting a countout. When they finally got back into the ring, Moxley started to work over the arm, but Naito fought out of his several attempts at armbars. They fought into the corner, both men spitting in each other’s face. Naito constantly tried to fight back with his vicious strikes, but Moxley hit him right back and used his strength advantage to slam him down over and over again. Then Moxley trapped Naito’s ankle in a chair, but Red Shoes disarmed him as he tried to break it. Naito then removed the chair from his ankle and kicked it right into Moxley’s face. From there, Naito stole a chair from a fan, DDT’d Moxley onto it, and then gave Moxley a huge running dropkick down the ramp as he sat in that same chair. As the two battled back into the ring, Moxley took control and battered Naito in the corner, before delivering a butterfly superplex for a near fall. The two proceeded to have a striking contest in the middle of the ring, clocking each other over and over again, until Naito fell at Moxley’s feet. Naito desperately tried to pick up the face with a flying forearm and a kinda botched super rana, but he was met with a stiff lariat when he went for Destino. The two then exchanged both hard strikes and bites in the middle of the ring, which allowed Naito to hit a running Destino, but Moxley still kicked out! He tried for another, but Moxley countered into a short Death Rider, but the Naito kicked out! Moxley then hit the full death rider for the win. Moxley: 10, Naito: 4. 

Grade: A-. A great main event to close things out. They were street brawlers that wanted nothing more than to destroy each other. They got down and dirty with the strikes and the biting. They brawled all around the crowd, they used plenty of weapons and there was plenty of carnage to go around. Moxley is still undefeated, and now that he has beaten another one of the biggest names in his block, I am starting to think that he is going to win the block. Naito was my original pick, but after this it is tough to see it. A great match between these two, and hope that some of these losses translate into title matches for those who have beaten Naito. 

Overall Grade: B

Pros: Robinson vs. Ishii; Takagi vs. White; moxley vs. Naito

Cons: goto vs. yano

#hazyheel #njpw #new japan #new japan pro wrestling #g1 climax #g1 climax 2019 #g1 climax 29 #pro wrestling #njpw review #new japan review #new japan pro wrestling review #g1 climax review #g1 climax 2019 review #g1 climax 29 review #pro wrestling review #Jeff Cobb #taichi #jay white #shingo takagi #tetsuya naito #jon moxley

[pwrestlingxpress]

Official Road to Destruction 2018 Opening

The video above is the official opening to New Japan’s Road to Destruction 2018 featuring key matches at three locations:  Hiroshima, Beppu, and Kobe.

Destruction in Hiroshima

On August 4th in Osaka, Tomohiro Ishii became the first person to defeat Kenny Omega in the G1 Climax tournament while at the same time defeat all 3 champions in his block meaning he calls the shot.  On August 12th, he makes his choice, choosing Kenny Omega and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship making this the first time since 2013 that the title will be defended during the Destruction tour. 

Also, the NEVER 6-man Tag Team Titles will be on the line as new champions Bullet Club OG (Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Taiji Ishimori) defend against Taguchi Japan (Juice Robinson, David Finlay, and Ryusuke Taguchi).  To me this is a throwaway match but if Tama were to pin Juice again, then we can expect him to be Juice’s next challenger after Long Beach.  That is, if Juice is successful in his title defense against new NWA World Heavyweight Champion, The American Nightmare Cody. 

All members of Bullet Club and Tomohiro Ishii’s Destruction tour is scheduled to end there but everyone else’s will continue. 

Destruction in Beppu

Note:  This event will take place hours after WWE’s Hell in a Cell 2018 so if WWE delivers a bad ending, New Japan will make sure you go to bed or wake up in a happy mood. 

When the participants for G1 Climax 28 was announced, one name noticeably absent was that of Taichi.  After being snubbed out of the tournament for unknown reasons (in my opinion), Taichi decides to make a statement by first beating YOSHI-HASHI in a tag match and then attacking the NEVER Open-weight Champion, Hirooki Goto.  Backstage, Taichi makes his intentions clear, he wants the NEVER title and wants to show everyone why he should’ve been in this year’s G1 Climax tournament. 

On April 29th in New Japan’s return to Kumamoto, Tetsuya Naito defeated Minoru Suzuki to become the 19th IWGP Intercontinental Champion.  However, backstage after that match, Minoru remind us his feud with Naito has only just begun.  Almost four months later, The Pro Wrestling King is ready to exact his revenge on Tetsuya Naito.  However, Naito is protesting the match (along with a number of things in New Japan) as he has stated that he wants to avenge his G1 losses.  Their match makes it only the second time this year that a New Japan PPV event will have a singles match as the main event instead of a championship match like they usually do. 

Destruction in Kobe

At the G1 Special in San Francisco on July 7th, Hiromu Takahashi sustained a neck injury in his match against Dragon Lee but managed to finish and win the match.  On August 21st, New Japan announced that due to the injury, Hiromu has relinquished the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and thus, a tournament will be held to determine the 82nd IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion with the last four champions competing in Kobe and in Long Beach with the winners of the two listed matches facing each other on October 8th in Ryogoku.  It starts in Kobe with 5-time champion KUSHIDA going 1-on-1 with the 74th IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and Hiromu’s Los Ingobernables de Japon stablemate, BUSHI. 

On May 4th at Wrestling Dontaku 2018 in the main event for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Kazuchika Okada broke the record of title defenses in a single reign by defeating the previous record holder, Hiroshi Tanahashi leaving the Ace in tears backstage.  After the loss, Tanahashi vowed to prove doubters wrong and never give up again.  That started at the G1 where he finished with a record of 7-1-1, losing to Jay White in Sapporo and fighting Okada to a draw in the Budokan.  He would end up winning his 3rd G1 by defeating B-Block winner Kota Ibushi.  As a result of winning the G1, Tanahashi has been granted a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship set to take place on January 4, 2019 at Wrestle Kingdom 13.  As per usual since 2012, the G1 winner must defend that title shot until that date. Wanting to prove that he’s still the Ace of old, Tanahashi has selected Okada with the need to defeat him for the first time in over three years.  At the same time, Tanahashi has revealed that he also wants Jay White.  

Taichi, Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito, Minoru Suzuki, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kenny Omega, and Tomohiro Ishii all headline New Japan’s Road to Destruction which starts on September 5th in Aichi and will end on September 23rd in Kobe.  You can catch all the action only on NJPW World. 

#Road to Destruction #Destruction in Hiroshima #Kenny Omega #Tomohiro Ishii #Destruction in Beppu #Taichi #Hirooki Goto #Minoru Suzuki #Tetsuya Naito #Destruction in Kobe #Kazuchika Okada #Hiroshi Tanahashi

[justanotherprowrestlingblog]

NJPW Dominion Review: 

saturday june 9th, from the Osaka Jo Hall in Osaka)

IGWP Jr Tag Team Championship: Roppongi3K vs El Desperado&Kanemaru:[***]

Fun little match to start the night off, maybe a little too much shenenigans on the final stretch but at least it was enjoyable. Probably the best match from the champs in quite a few months at least since they won the titles and here in dominion they kept the titles, thanks to some of their sneaky heel tattics. I wish Roppongi3K could regain the titles but they are still very young so they will have more opportunities in the future. Wonder who will be the next challengers for Kanemaru and Despy if their feud with the Chaos member is over.

Winners and still IGWP Jr Tag Team Champions: Kanemaru&El Desperado

Juice Robinson&David Finlay vs Jay White&Yoshi Hashi:[**3/4]

The match was ok and it was mainly done to develop the feud between White and Robinson and keep their title match probably for the G1 special in the US, rather than have this match on a quite stacked card like today's one. The final stretch was the best part of the match as Finlay went for the stunner on Yashi, Blade runner from White on Finlay and then Juice capitalised with a big left punch followed by his Pulp friction for the win. I think it's time for Juice to win something in New Japan as he improved so much after he got with the company and the US could be a good start, while Switchblade could move and try to capture the Never Openweight title or the IC Title, since they are more important than the US title.

Winner: Juice Robinson&David Finlay

Minoru Suzuki&Zack Sabre Jr vs Tomohiro Ishii vs Toru Yano:[**3/4]

I wasn't expecting much from this match as it was marely a filler but in some parts it was actually fun: Ishii and Suzuki trading shots was cool as heel and the finish was nice too as Zack blocked with his tights the lowblow from Yano and then trapped him in one of his submissions and made him tap. Actually the post match was better than the match itself as Ishii went after Minoru and they beat the living crap out of each other as i feel they will have a big match during the G1. And speaking of G1, Sabre Jr could actually be an interesting outsider for the victory of the tournament.

Winners: Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr

Never Openweight Title: Taichi vs Michael Elgin vs Hiroki Goto:[***1/4]

First title change of the night as Elgin captures the Never Openweight title for the first time in his career. The match was solid and well booked: Elgin-Goto trying to keeping the match between themselves, Taichi doing sneaky things and using Miho (Miho marry me) at his advantage but for me Elgin winning the title wasnt't a good idea. While i'm happy Goto lost because it was time to have a new champ, i also thought it could have been the right moment to have push Taichi after he got better since he moved in the heavyweight division. Elgin is a good wrestler but it would have been cool for New Japan to believe in a young wrestler for once but i guess they don't want to waste him yet or probably the have better plans for him.

Winner AND NEW Never Openweight Champion: Michael Elgin

IWGP tag Team Championship: Young Bucks vs EVIL&Sanada:[****1/4]

My god what a stunning match from these two team. Finally NJPW delivers a great tag team match since the Bucks-Golden Lovers showdown at SSE. I loved how they booked it and the spots were really cool: the indy taker from the champs, the sharpshooter from Matt and Sanada applying the skull head...the first sick double superkick from the bucks on EVIL and the one in mid air. Storytelling wise it was great too and it's something where the Bucks got so much better and finally they are proving everyone that they are not just superkicks and flips: Nick selling the injury was cool as hell especially when he couldn't do the springboard that leads to the indytaker and for once it wasn't Matt the one who was injuried for the whole match. Also, as Kevin Kelly said in the post match, Bucks had a big weight and size disadvantage and them overcaming the odds is a cool storyline to tell. Bucks winning the title was the right move as Sanada&Evil's title reign wasn't remarkable and they needed to send a message that they still want to have the very best also for the tag team division. The Bucks will indeed bring back some buzz around the division and probably deliver another great match with the LIDJ guys in the rematch they will have in the next months.

Winners AND NEW IWGP Tag Team Champions: Young Bucks

Jushin Thunder Liger, Hiroshi Tanahashi& Rey Mysterio vs Cody, Hangan Page and Marty Scurll:[***]

Another kinda filler match even tho you can't really say it's a filler when you have so many great talents in the same ring. Mysterio looked great and at the moment he could be a great pick for any promotion in the world because of his talent and star power. The match was fine, nothing really remarkable but a good win for the Bullet Club, especially for Cody who is at the moment my #1 pick to win the G1 if he will be part of any of the two blocks

Winners: Cody, Marty Scurll&Adam Page

IGWP Jr Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi vs Will Ospreay:[****1/2]

And the Juniors deliver another fucking awesome match, after a great BOTSJ with a stellar final between Ishimori and Takahashi(unfortunately i couldn't do a proper review because of the lack of time). This match was nuts and also told a really great story, as i never saw Ospreay  showing a more nasty and sadistic side as he wanted desperately to win and defeat Takahashi. The crowd was super behind Hiromu who gained lots of support from the fans in the last couple of months and even more after his tournament run and victory...and he also gained back Mr. Belt as he deafeted a banged up Ospreay who probably might take some time off to heal as his neck isn't at 100% after the last couple of matches(the one with Scurll was nasty for his neck). CHAOS members keep the losing streak alive as they are 0-4 in Osaka. Storytelling was at his best as they really made sure both looked great and both did their best during this encounter, the result tho is a little surprising for me because i thought they wanted to go for Ospreay-Ishimori in the next months but probably now it will be a rematch from the tournament final. Another amazing match from the Jr Heavyweight division.

Winner AND NEW IGWP Jr Heavyweight Champion: Hiromu Takahashi

IWGP IC Championship: Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito:[****]

Here it is the biggest upset of the night...Chris Jericho beat Naito and won the IC Title! Nobody and i mean nobody thought Jericho could win the belt. The match was good, pre-match was very nasty and very good as Jericho went totally heel and this helped a lot his character and the rest of the match, with Naito who tried a standard babyface comeback after being banged up (that cut under the eye must have hurt quite a bit). Finish was fine even tho it could have been a lot better. Jericho winning the titles now makes a lot of us wonder: will he stay longer with the company and maybe work more shows or just the big ones?. That's so sick, because having jericho on your side helps a lot and it could give us so many good possibilities and matches we never saw. Not sure that Jericho will last long as the IC Champ, but still it's so cool as heel to see him as a champion in NJPW. That's a really good surprise. And it's kinda funny it took Jericho less time to win the IC title in NJPW rather than being a ten time IC Champion in WWE...and on a less important note, jericho still has Judas as his NJPW theme <3 (i'm a big wrestling theme song fun and maybe i'll bring something, theme wise, on the blog)

Winner AND NEW IWGP IC Champion: Chris Jericho

2 out of 3 falls IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada:[*****]

O H M Y G O D W H A T A M A T C H....HE HAS FUCKING DONE IT! Ok i'll stop marking out...so for all those people concerned about this match, it was simply perfect. P E R F E C T. Crowd very into the match, commentary on point (god praise Callis and Kelly), Wrestling perfect, storytelling incredible, booking perfect. I was concerned they would do some BS on the finish but they didn't. And i was also concerned that Omega would lose because all the other CHAOS members won and Okada had not yet hit the rainmaker after the first fall, who came after almost 50 minutes with a sunset flip..and then two straight and clean falls for Omega who ended the impressive title reign of Okada, probably one of the best in the history of wrestling, because i cant remember a champion that had so many great title defenses during his reign. It was the perfect way and match to end his title reign and the best way to make Omega won the title for the first time. Post match was very emotional because we were all waiting for a big hug between Kenny and the Bucks (and Kota too). I recommend everyone watching this match, even tho it last 69 minutes and sometimes it's hard to find some time to watch the shows because of our busy lives, but trust me, you won't regret it and for sure you won't ask yourself why you spent this much time watching a match. It was perfect, it was what wrestling really is, it was what made me start watching wrestling. Today not only Omega won, but we all won and most importantly wrestling won...and fuck those people who really love to bash this beautiful piece of art.

Winner AND NEW IWGP Heavyweight Champion: Kenny Omega

Overall: A great show that delivered from the start to the finish. A show that had great wrestling, great moments, drama, emotions, just had everything. Perfect show? Maybe not, but amazing in every aspect. At the moment, best show of the year for me and it won't be really easy to top such a beauty of an event. [9]

#pro wrestling #Wrestling #NJPW #Dominion #Kenny Omega #Kazuchika Okada #tetsuya naito #Chris Jericho #Will Ospreay #Hiromu Takahashi #Cody #Marty Scurll #Hangman Page #jushin thunder liger #rey mysterio #Hiroshi Tanahashi #young bucks #sanada #evil #taichi #Hirooki Goto #Michael Elgin #Zack Sabre Jr #Minoru Suzuki #toru yano #Tomohiro Ishii #juice robinson #david finlay #YOSHI-HASHI #Jay White

[placetobenation]

August 11th, 18:30 from Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo

We’ve reached the last round of A Block competition, headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito to determine who advances to Sunday’s final. It’s the closing weekend of the G1 Climax and this is the first of three nights at Sumo Hall, so let’s get to it.

The story so far…

Primer

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Here we go…

Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & El Desperado defeated Hirai Kawato, Katsuya Kitamura & Tomoyuki Oka

Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga defeated BUSHI & SANADA

Satoshi Kojima & Juice Robinson defeated Hiromu Takahashi & EVIL

Ricochet, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hanson, Raymond Rowe & Michael Elgin defeated Chase Owens, Cody, Hangman Page, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (Taguchi Japan all wore War Machine-like face paint and there were a bunch of fun spots. Good match.) ***1/2

Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Kenny Omega

A Block – Round Nine

Yuji Nagata vs. Bad Luck Fale

The whole crowd had “Blue Justice” signs for Nagata’s last-ever G1 match. He started well, but was soon whipped into the guardrail and Fale continued the beatdown until he was forced to crawl back into the ring at 17, where Fale stood on him and clubbed him with forearms. Nagata fired back with kicks, then feinted into a low dropkick before attempting an Exploder. That didn’t work, so a drop toehold into heel hook was applied until Fale made the ropes, but the big man landed a splash for two. Nagata  again kicked the left leg of Fale and this time hit the Exploder! Two-count only. A flurry of kicks, then elbows, then slaps peppered Fale, but he clubbed Nagata to the mat and a standing lariat earned two. The Grenade was countered, however, and the Shirome armbar was cinched in! Nagata transitioned into a triangle choke, then into an ankle lock, then into the Nagata Lock! Fale quickly made the ropes, but Nagata landed the Justice Knee and a huge backdrop! One, two, no. The wrist-clutch Exploder was blocked and Fale scored a spear for two. Samoan drop for two. Counter-Grenade from Fale and the Bad Luck Fall connected! One, two, three.

Fale signalled “Too Sweet” to Nagata, Nagata replied with a salute and Fale bowed before leaving. Tears all round, and the crowd chanted for Nagata as he left the arena. What a moment.

Nagata’s 19th and final G1 tournament is over. Can’t say enough about the standard he’s maintained throughout. Every single match has been heated and compelling. He’s been nothing short of excellent. ***1/2

Togi Makabe vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Makabe pummelled Yoshi in the early going, but the CHAOS man hit a low dropkick and blockbuster to kickstart a comeback. The running chop and rope-hung dropkick were followed with a diving blockbuster from the top-rope for a two-count, only for Makabe to stop the rot with a powerslam. Mounted punches in the corner and a Northern Lights suplex earned two, and he flattened Yoshi with a counter-lariat, but more mounted punches were countered into a kneeling powerbomb. Karate chop from Makabe, superkick from Yoshi, King Kong Hammer and a powerbomb from Makabe! The diving knee drop missed, so Yoshi nailed a running knee, and a stiff left-handed lariat got a two-count. He applied the Butterfly Lock and dragged Makabe to the middle of the ring, but still the rope-break was made. Backstabber from Yoshi, Karma blocked, but a slap dropped Makabe to the mat. A last gasp Death Valley Driver from Makabe brought some respite and both men cracked each other with clotheslines until Yoshi was flattened. Makabe set Yoshi on top, dumped him to the mat with the Spider German, and the King Kong Knee Drop hit the mark for the win.

Very much by the numbers match until a strong closing stretch. Decent enough. ***

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (w/ El Desperado)

Sabre, as you would expect, ruled on the mat and was far too slippery for Ishii to keep hold of. Unwisely, he then tried to use European uppercuts and was promptly elbowed to the mat, where Ishii followed with some brutal chops. Sabre managed to catch one of the strikes, though, and delivered an overhead kick to Ishii’s right arm before stomping and twisting it horribly. Ishii scored a backdrop and followed with elbows, chops and a corner clothesline, but Sabre rolled-through out of the corner and applied the hammerlocked armbar from which Ishii made a desperate rope-break. Sabre swiped at the arm with kicks, aggravating Ishii, who leant into the strikes but was soon dropped to the mat.

Ishii suplexed out of a guillotine choke, then quickly followed with a superplex! Two-count only. Sabre clamped back on, but Ishii again used a suplex to free himself and a pinning powerbomb connected, only for Sabre to apply the triangle choke. Ishii powered to his feet and hit a lariat, but Sabre struck back with a half-hatch suplex and Penalty Kick, then into a heel hold! Ishii screamed in pain, but was able to reach the ropes. Sabre brutally stomped at Ishii’s right knee, but Ishii fired the fuck up and nailed him with a chop to the throat. European Clutch from Sabre! One, two, no. Back into the heel hold, then an ankle lock, but Ishii reversed it! Headbutt from Ishii followed by a huge lariat for a near-fall. Sabre avoided the brainbuster and countered the sliding lariat into a crazy multi-limbed submission! He elevated Ishii’s leg and stomped his head. The Stone Pitbull faded and the referee was forced to call for the bell!

Sabre targeting the arm and then the leg paid off as he pretzeled Ishii up, earning a notable referee stoppage victory and capping an impressive debut G1. Ishii, as ever, delivered every time he stepped in the ring. Great match, every bit as good as their meeting in the US title tournament in July. ****1/4

Kota Ibushi vs. Hirooki Goto 

Goto briefly had control, but Ibushi cut him off with a huge chest kick. The Golden Triangle moonsault was avoided, however, and the crowd booed after Goto clotheslined Ibushi onto the apron. He stayed on top with a suplex, chinlock and corner clotheslines before Ibushi landed a big dropkick and followed with kicks, then a strike flurry and standing moonsault earned two. They traded elbows, and a series of counters ended with a German from Ibushi and a lariat from Goto. Ibushi was set up top after a spinning heel kick, but he slipped out and hit an overhead kick, then a leaping super frankensteiner pulled Goto down to the mat for two! Simultaneous clotheslines, Ushigoroshi from Goto for two. Ibushi blocked the inverted GTR, but was caught in a sleeper and Goto followed with a Penalty Kick. A messed up pinning counter led to Ibushi scoring another big kick, but Goto blocked the Kamigoye with a headbutt. Inverted GTR followed by the regular version, and the three-count was academic.

Ibushi has been a real boon to this tournament and it’s disappointing to see him end with a loss. Goto, despite some early promise, has had a mostly uninspiring few weeks, but still ends up with five wins to his name. Good match. ***1/2

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito

Naito backed out of a couple of lock-ups, drawing boos, then Tanahashi slapped Naito on a rope-break, also drawing boos. And then he slapped him again. Shoulder block and air guitar from Tanahashi, so Naito went to the floor to collect his thoughts. He returned to the ring and reclined on the dive fake-out, but Tanahashi was onto him, only for Naito to counter the crossbody out of the corner with a dropkick to the injured right arm. Naito yanked the arm and dropkicked it once more before applying a modified Fujiwara armbar. Tanahashi made the ropes then countered into a neckbreaker for some respite, and scored a flying forearm, elbow drop and senton for two as the crowd chanted “Go Ace!” The flipping senton was avoided, allowing Naito to score another seated dropkick, but Tanahashi countered the slingshot corner dropkick into a Dragon Screw, sending Naito to the floor, and followed with the High Fly Flow crossbody from the top-rope! Beautiful.

A Dragon Screw over the middle-rope looked to set up the Cloverleaf, but Naito scrambled to the ropes and scored an armbreaker and slingshot dropkick to the arm. An enzuigiri and leaping elbow set up Gloria for a two-count, but Destino was blocked, and Tanahashi dumped Naito with an arm-trapped German for a near-fall! He was caught up top, and Naito hit the super frankensteiner, but he countered the pin for a two-count and nailed a grounded Dragon Screw. Both men struggled to their feet and traded elbows, with Tanahashi forced to use his weaker left arm, then Naito spat right in his face! They exchanged slaps and Naito’s German earned two, but the Dragon suplex and leaping forearm were avoided, and Tanahashi hit a pair of Sling Blades for two! The High Fly Flow crossbody connected, but the splash missed the mark and duelling chants rang out as both men were down.

Naito manufactured a rope-hung neckbreaker out of the corner, but Tanahashi blocked the tornado DDT with a Dragon Screw and the Texas Cloverleaf was locked in! He dragged Naito to the middle of the ring and sank down. Naito clawed his way toward the ropes, Tanahashi sat deeper, but Naito just got the rope-break! Amazing. Naito weakly kicked at Tanahashi’s arm, then dropped him with the rope-aided tornado DDT. Swinging super Destino! One, two, no! The Destino proper was blocked and countered into a trio of swinging neckbreakers, but the Sling Blade was ducked and Naito hit a running Destino! He quickly picked up Tanahashi once again – Destino! One, two, three!

Good lord, what a match! The crowd heat for this was insane and the guys in the ring milked every last bit of emotion from them. The duelling limbwork was tremendous and thanks to Tanahashi’s submission win at Dominion the Cloverleaf had serious match-ending potential. These two have now had three fantastic matches this year and I’m not sure I could pick a favourite. I loved this. ****3/4

Post-match promo from Naito & Co. and we’re out.

A Block – Final Standings

Naito – 14

Tanahashi – 12

Fale – 12

Goto – 10

Ibushi – 10

Sabre Jr. – 10

Ishii – 8

Makabe – 8

YOSHI-HASHI – 4

Nagata – 2

Final thoughts: The significance of Nagata’s final G1 match, the tremendous Ishii/ZSJ bout and an excellent main event all contributed to making this a great show. Naito does what he couldn’t do last year and reaches the final – one of Okada or Omega awaits.

I’m back tomorrow for B Block’s final show, headlined by Okada vs. Omega. See you then. 

Seventeen down, two to go.

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

[wrestlingisfake]

G1 Climax Day 1 preview

This is New Japan's annual heavyweight singles tournament. This year we've got a field of 32 men, divided into four blocks. Each man wrestles the other seven men in his block. Whoever ends up with the best win-loss record wins the block. The four block winners and the four runners-up advance to a knockout stage (August 10-13), where it's win or go home. The winner of the tournament receives a trophy and the right to challenge for the IWGP world heavyweight title on January 4 in the Tokyo Dome.

This show features the first round of A Block and B Block matches; the July 16 show will present the first round of C Block and D Block.

A Block: SANADA vs. Hikuleo - Sanada is the IWGP world champion. If he wins the tournament, he gets to name his opponent for January 4. Seeing as wrestling is fake, though, he probably won't win. No championships are at stake during the tournament, but defeating a titleholder in a tournament match is a good way to get in line for a title shot.

Typically the G1 is booked so the champion loses one or two matches, to set up title contenders for the fall shows. Sanada can't lose too many matches, or it weakens the aura of the champion. But he can't win too many matches either, since they probably don't want him to win the block. I expect him to finish at 6-1 or 5-2, which leaves a very narrow path for anyone in A Block to place ahead of him.

Since Hikuleo is a longshot to win the entire G1, this one match is his best shot at getting into the world title picture. It's not unusual for a top star to lose in a big upset on the first night of a tournament like this, particularly in the main event. I can't really picture Hikuleo beating Sanada and headlining in September/October, but somebody in A Block probably will, so there's at least a chance. Even if he loses, this could be the biggest match of his career, so he needs to put on a good showing. My gut feeling is Sanada wins, but I'm not very confident of that.

B Block: Will Ospreay vs. Taichi - Ospreay recently regained the IWGP United States title. Taichi has the KOPW championship, which is occasionally presented like it matters, but not lately.

This is a rematch from February, where Ospreay pretty much destroyed Taichi to get his heat back after Kenny Omega destroyed Ospreay in January. Now Ospreay has avenged his loss to Omega, but he's probably still pretty banged up. So it would make sense if Taichi could get his win back here, and potentially set up a US title match down the road. The more I think about, I bet Taichi wins this match, but Ospreay makes up for it with a strong 5-2 record in the block.

A Block: Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Yota Tsuji - Kiyomiya is a top guy from Pro Wrestling NOAH; in fact, he won last year's N-1 Victory tournament, which is basically Noah's version of the G1. Tsuji just returned from excursion a few months ago and has only had one singles match since then, where the whole build was "we don't know what to expect from this guy." Tsuji lost that match and really needs to pick up some big wins, but I doubt it'll happen here. Kiyomiya is clearly here to advance his interpromotional beef with Kazuchika Okada, which probably means he needs to reach the knockout stage, so I expect him to have a strong run. Actually, I'll just go ahead and pick him to win A Block. And if he's winning the block, he should probably beat Tsuji.

B Block: Great-O-Khan vs. Kazuchika Okada - Khan is the RevPro British heavyweight champion. Okada is one of the NEVER trios champions. Khan is really not at Okada's level, so the only reason he should win here is to tell a story where a shocking upset has everybody second-guessing a heavy favorite. That could be the story they want to tell with Okada this year. But I avoid betting against Okada, so I might as well pick him to go 7-0 in the block.

A Block: Shota Umino vs. Ren Narita - These two came up together in the dojo, and then both went on excursion and returned around the same time. As far as I can tell this is their first one-on-one encounter since 2019, and a lot's changed since then. The main thing they have in common now is that they've both been a part of the whole "Okada is sick of these snot-nosed kids getting in his business" storyline, but I'm not sure how they figure into the future of that. It probably doesn't make much difference who wins this match--one of them might score well enough to advance to the knockout stage, but I can't see either of them winning the tournament.

B Block: KENTA vs. Tanga Loa - Kenta is just coming off losing the STRONG title to Eddie Kingston on July 5. This is Loa's first match since May 2022, when he was sidelined with a knee injury. Interestingly, Loa's last G1 Climax match was in October 2021 in a losing effort to Kenta. These are two middle-of-the-road guys who aren't going to get out of the block and probably won't have any big statement wins, so it's all about putting on solid performances and making a 4-3 finish look good. I'd give Loa a win in his return match, but New Japan isn't always so formulaic about that.

A Block: Gabe Kidd vs. Chase Owens - Kidd recently captured the STRONG tag team championship alongside Alex Coughlin. The duo shockingly joined Bullet Club back in June. Owens has been in Bullet Club forever, but we haven't seen much of him since he withdrew from World Tag League back in November, due to a death in the family. Chase was there for David Finlay taking over the group during the New Japan Cup tour, but I'm not sure where he stands on booting El Phantasmo out of the faction, or all the new recruits (like Kidd) that have joined since then.

Traditionally, when two Bullet Club members meet in the G1 they always do the bit where they "agree" for one guy to lay down for the other, then they get into a fight about it and have a real match. Something tells me Owens will expect it to go like that here, but Kidd will be all business. Regardless, Kidd has to win this match, because he's probably going to finish the tournament at 2-5.

B Block: YOSHI-HASHI vs. El Phantasmo - Yoshi is one of the IWGP heavyweight tag team champions. ELP recently got turfed out of Bullet Club, and then came up short in his big revenge match against David Finlay. So he really needs a win, and he ought to be able to get one against Yoshi. Yoshi surprised me when he beat Phantasmo in last year's G1, but I don't think that's going to happen again this time.

#njpw #g1 climax

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 30 Day 5 Review (Sept 27th, 2020, Kobe World Memorial Hall)

Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd  ***

A Block

Taichi vs. Yujiro Takahashi  **1/2

Jeff Cobb vs. Minoru Suzuki  ***1/4+

Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii  ****1/4

Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi  ****1/2+

Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White  ***3/4

photos.

This was one of the strongest cards of the tour on paper, and whilst it didn’t exactly reach its lofty anticipation, it was still a great show which was a breeze to sit through. Gabriel Kidd defeated Yota Tsuji in the prerequisite good Young Lion opener with his impressive Butterfly Suplex, which then gave us a match I was dreading in Taichi vs. Yujiro. However, I’m pleased to say that whilst this wasn’t especially good, it certainly wasn’t bad, so thats a definite plus. The crowd were into this late in the game, before Taichi hit a low blow, then scored the win in 11 minutes with the Gedo Clutch. The win makes Taichi undefeated thus far, but I can’t believe that will last much longer. Especially seeing who he’s got coming up in the rest of this thing. Hey, does anyone remember when Shelton Benjamin went on that inexplicable undefeated streak in 2014?

Minoru Suzuki defeated Jeff Cobb next in a match up that, whilst very good, was something of a disappointment (a theme will occur). It was very short for starters (9:24), and Cobb, who really hasn’t looked all that great in this tournament so far, sold for pretty much the whole match. Which is something he does entirely too much for my liking. I mean, he’s a big, athletic guy, who was a legitimate Olympian, and could probably shoot kill most guys in most locker rooms, but spends most of these matches getting his arse handed to him. I mean, fine when you’re talking about Suzuki, but would Dr Death have bumped all over and sold 80% of a match for Taichi? Would the Steiners? Or Kurt Angle? Anyway, you get what I’m saying. I just think he needs to come across more as a badass shooter rather than... whatever he is now. Which is literally “just a guy”. Regardless of my gripes, this was a good match (even if there were a few ‘clunky’ aspects), which Suzuki won after locking in a choke then transitioning to the Gotch Piledriver.

After a brief intermission it was time to go to war as Ibushi took on Ishii. These guys have had three matches previous to this, all of which were absolutely fab, so expectations were high. This was an excellent, heated, hard-hitting battle, but for various reasons, it couldn’t hit the heights of their previous bouts, and the most  obvious reason being that it’s incredibly hard to have an absolute blow-away classic in the current environment. Literally, there’s only been one in my book; the Naito/Tanahashi match from last week, and that’s it. Regardless, they still had a great match, beating the hell out of each other for 15:41 with hard chops, kicks, forearms headbutts and Lariats. Just as we’d all hoped they would. Ishii started chopping Ibushi in the throat, so Kota hit those scary throat punches in retaliation, then landed on his feet on a German attempt and scored a near fall with Boma Ye on the originators bestie. Ishii counters Kamigoye with headbutts, then a Lariat. They exchange hard strikes, Ibushi hits a high kick, then Kamigoye to take the 2 points and render Ishii winless in this G1. They continued beating each other up in the post match.

Next up was a rematch from the best match of 2019, when Shingo Takagi sought to avenge his BOSJ Finals loss to Will Ospreay. This really was a fantastic bout, but obviously couldn’t reach the heights of their match last year, but was easily MOTN, in the top 3 of this tournament so far, and amongst the best in the pandemic era. These guys work amazingly well together and it produces fairly amazing results. Their counter sequences alone are a thing of beauty. Ospreay got a near fall after a Corner to Corner dropkick and Shooting Star Press, before Shingo battled back with a Pumping Bomber and Made In Japan for near falls of his own. The Rampage Dragon hit his old Stay Dream middle rope Death Valley Bomb, but Ospreay kicks at 1. Shingo obliterates him with a Pumping Bomber which garners a near fall, and Last Of The Dragon follows, allowing Takagi to get his win back at the 22:03 mark. This was a really great match, and, look, people were tying themselves in knots trying to explain how Ospreay’s match with Ishii last week wasn’t very good (it was excellent), and I fear that these sort of views are because of how these people feel towards Ospreay personally. I’ve always tried to remove the person from the matches (I’ve often loved a Michael Elgin match, despite him being fundamentally loathsome in many regards), and thats my philosophy here. I get he’s a very divisive character, but he has great matches consistently. Anyway, thats all I have to say about that.

And in the main event, Jay White once again pinned Okada in a really good, though ultimately disappointing, encounter that couldn’t hope to follow its predecessor. Honestly, this Okada Cobra Clutch storyline is doing nothing for me. It’s even more alienating to me then the red-headed balloon bandit nonsense he had going on 2018. I understand the story they’re trying to tell; that Okada has ‘retired’ the Rainmaker in order to make this Cobra Clutch/Anaconda Vice thing his primary finish, and its all building to him using the Rainmaker again later down the road, but I just honestly don’t care. It just ruins the flow of his matches. You could work dramatic sequences around avoiding or getting out of a Rainmaker, or even trying to hit it, but this submission just isn’t hitting the same notes as far as I’m concerned. I’ve said since January that Okada just seems lost at sea when he’s not champion, and this is as glaringly obvious now as its ever been. White however has looked great since his COVID induced hiatus, and he looked really good in this one. This was marred slightly by too much Gedo involvement, who kept distracting Okada throughout. After Okada hit a Rolling Rainmaker, he locks the Clutch on for maybe the 7th time in the match, which prompted Gedo to distract Red Shoes whilst Jay hits a low blow (we’ve seen a ton of these in this G1 already, by the way, and we’re only five days in!), then tries for Blade Runner, but again gets caught in the Clutch. Dear Lord. White counters into a Sleeper Suplex, then hit Blade Runner to take the decisive win at 18:48. I mean, in terms of wins over Okada, this is almost as decisive as it gets. Switch Blade cut a promo in the post match, taunting the crowd and proclaiming the G1 to actually be the “Jay1″. 

NDT

#njpw #g1 climax 30 #review #g130 #kazuchika okada #jay white #shingo takagi #will ospreay #kota ibushi #tomohiro ishii #minoru suzuki #jeff cobb #taichi #yujiro takahashi #new japan pro wrestling #puroresu #wrestling review

[wrestlingisfake]

Wrestle Kingdom 15 day 1 preview

Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi - Naito is defending the IWGP heavyweight championship and the IWGP intercontinental championship.  Whoever holds the two titles after this match will go on to defend them against Jay White on day 2 of Wrestle Kingdom, on January 5.

Naito and Ibushi haven’t met in a singles match since June 9, 2019, when Ibushi lost the intercontinental title to Naito in a match filled with rather dangerous spots.  The point of that match was that both men wanted to hold the intercontinental title long enough to also win the heavyweight belt at Wrestle Kingdom 14.  The obsession with being a double champion culminated in the “Double Gold Dash” mini-tournament, where Naito went 2-0 to win both belts and Ibushi went 0-2, losing in the first round and the consolation match with Jay White.

Since then, Ibushi mounted a major comeback by winning the G1 Climax tournament, earning a Wrestle Kingdom title shot.  However, he lost his title match contract in a match against White on November 7.  Luckily, Naito decided he wanted to wrestle matches on each night of Wrestle Kingdom, and he concluded that Ibushi was still the logical choice for the other title match.  (Ibushi did still win the G1, after all, even if he lost his reward for doing it.)

I’m very worried these guys are going to do sick bumps on their necks, as in the June 2019 match.  Both of them have a bad reputation for doing scary shit.  After the last time I was like “that was really good, please never wrestle again.”  It’s been 19 months (six years in 2020 time) and I’m just now starting to be like “maybe potentially it would be okay to come back with this match, but be careful.”  I don’t really expect them to be careful--these are two guys who always have something to prove, and now they’re going to particularly want to prove they can tear the house down during a pandemic in a stadium show where fans aren’t allowed to shout.

It feels to me like the natural arc of this storyline is for Ibushi to rebound from last year’s defeats by finally winning the titles and finally avenging his losses to Jay White.  But...I expected Kota to go sweep the Double Gold Dash last year, and look what happened.  So I go into this first title match with no confidence that either man is a lock to advance to the second one.  Even when one guy looks to be heading for the finish, I’m going to believe one sudden counter can change everything. 

Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada - Ospreay is the RPW British heavyweight champion, but it looks like the title is not at stake in this match.  When Ospreay originally issued the challenge for this match, I could’ve sworn he demanded that Okada put his career on the line, but I guess everybody just ignored that.

This feud began on October 16, when Ospreay was still a member of Okada’s stable, CHAOS, and they met in a G1 Climax tournament match.  Bea Priestley and the Great-O-Khan interfered to help Ospreay win, whereupon he turned on Okada to start his own faction, the Empire.  If I went back in time to 2019 and told myself all this was going to happen, past me would assume it’d be way cooler than it’s turned out to be.  (Past me would nonetheless wonder why they’re rehashing the Okada vs. Jay White storyline.)  For years I’ve wanted to see the creation of a totally new faction in NJPW, but the Empire hasn’t lived up to my expectations.

If nothing else, this match itself should be good.  I’m just not convinced anything big will come of it.  If Okada wins, it kind of maintains the status quo where 2021 Ospreay is at the same level as 2020 Ospreay, except he’s a heel.  If Ospreay wins, he gets the rub from Okada but he still has to prove it’s not a fluke like EVIL’s middling run as a top heel.  The easiest way to sidestep all this is to distract everyone with a big angle, like doing a run-in finish with a new guy joining Ospreay’s group. But I’d rather just see a clean match where the guy getting the next push wins clean.

I’ve learned to avoid betting against Okada, and Ospreay’s heel run hasn’t given me a good enough reason to break from that policy.  At least not on this show...

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan - There’s not much to this one.  O-Khan basically beat up Tanahashi a couple of times during the World Tag League & Best of the Super Jr. tour last month.  O-Khan’s gimmick is that he’s a new badass in the tradition of “Mongolian wild man” characters.  Tanahashi’s storyline, for what feels like forever, is that he was the best but he’s old now and his knees are shot and everybody keeps beating up his knees.  So for the 800th time Tana has to prove he can still hang in there with the top guys in the world.

A win for O-Khan would probably be considered a big upset, but I think that’s tainted by how hard they’ve tried to sell that Tana is practically on life support.  Moreover, it doesn’t really feel like they want to push O-Khan that hard--he seems more like an enforcer type than a future main eventer--so I’m not sure he even needs this win for the role he’s slotted into. Tanahashi, on the other hand, really needs a singles victory, if only to build him back up for the next time they do the “does Tana still have it?” story.  So I guess I’m picking Tanahashi to win.

KENTA vs. Satoshi Kojima - Kenta is defending his “right to challenge” contract for a future title match for the IWGP United States championship.  This match was originally booked as Kenta against Juice Robinson, but an orbital bone fracture took Juice off the show.  On any other year, New Japan could probably arrange a more impressive substitute.  But the pandemic and travel restrictions have limited their options, so they’re making do with 50-year-old Kojima.

The IWGP US title has not been defended since February 9, 2020, when Jon Moxley retained against Minoru Suzuki.  Moxley’s commitments to AEW are such that he cannot wrestle a New Japan match in the US, and he can’t fly to Japan long enough to satisfy Japan’s 14-day quarantine policy.  Rather than simply vacate the championship due to inactivity, New Japan has politely ignored the situation in favor of booking Kenta to win this contract in a nifty red briefcase.  I had believed that meant a plan for Mox vs. Kenta was in the works, but as the months went by it became clearer that they couldn’t make it happen. So it looked like Kenta vs. Juice for the contract was the next best thing, and now we don’t even get that.

Kojima was a top guy back in the 2000s, so I don’t mean to be dismissive of him.  But whereas 50+ legends are pushed as unbeatable gods in the US, in Japan they tend to be positioned to put guys over as they slowly accept the twilight of their careers.  Which is fine, to have the old lion prove come back to prove he can hang in there with a guy in his prime.  But they’ve been telling that story constantly with 44-year-old Tanahashi, so doing it again with Kojima feels like overkill.  I suppose an upset win is at least possible, but it would certainly shock the hell out of me.

Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa - Dangerous Tekkers (Sabre and Taichi) are defending the IWGP heavyweight tag team championship.  The Guerillas of Destiny (Tonga and Loa) won the 2020 World Tag League tournament to earn this match.

For a long time I was thinking the tag title match at Wrestle Kingdom would be David Finlay and Juice Robinson against either GOD or the Tekkers, but I have to admit this match is more interesting.  It feels like every tag title match in New Japan is a straightforward babyface vs. heel dynamic, whereas the singles title matches can have more shades of grey.  So a heel vs. heel tag title match feels fresh.  We’ve seen Sabre and Taichi get heat on every face team available, so how will they adapt when their opponents are pulling dirtier tricks than they do?

These teams met during World Tag League last month, and the Tekkers actually played babyface a bit, which was interesting.  Actually, I get the feeling the Japanese fans have been warming up to Suzuki-gun in general, and Taichi in particular had a cult following for years.  Maybe an exceptionally valiant battle here can turn Sabre and Taichi all the way?

The story for the Guerillas is that, despite their numerous tag title reigns, they had never won World Tag League or walked out of the Tokyo Dome with the tag titles; now they’ve finally got their WTL trophies, so there’s one thing left to do.  If they do win the belts, I’m hoping it will lead to rematches that keep Dangerous Tekkers in the mix.  My fear is that this will be the end of the Tekkers’ run as a team, and it’ll just be GOD vs. FinJuice for a whole year, which doesn’t grow the tag division as well as having three top teams.  Of course, if Sabre and Taichi just win, I don’t have to worry about that, so I guess I’m rooting for them.

Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo - Takahashi won the 2020 Best of the Super Jr. tournament, and ELP won the 2020 Super J-Cup tournament; the winner of this match will challenge the IWGP junior heavyweight champion, Taiji Ishimori, on January 5.

I kinda wish this match wasn’t a qualifier for tomorrow’s title bout, because it’s fresher and more compelling than Takahashi vs. Ishimori would be.  (ELP vs. Ishimori would be interesting, except that I’d expect Phantasmo to just lay down for his buddy.)  I’m pretty sure Hiromu and Phantasmo have never met one-on-one before, and ELP’s super-douche style should be very different than anything Hiromu’s lol-random style has contended with.

Phantasmo is one of those heels that trolls so hard I can’t even get mad at what he does, but I get sick of him trying so hard, so I guess it all works out and I hate his guts and want him to lose really badly.  But this will be his first match back in Japan since the pandemic, so it feels too soon for him to do a job.  So I could see this one going either way, if not for thinking Takahashi challenging for the junior title is the obvious destination.  Gotta go with Hiromu on this one.

New Japan Ranbo - This is a gauntlet battle royale, with two wrestlers starting and each additional wrestler entering at timed intervals.  Participants may be eliminated at any time by pinfall, submission, or exiting the ring over the top rope.  When all but four wrestlers have been eliminated, the match ends and those final four advance to another match on January 5 to determine possession of the KOPW 2021 trophy.

New Japan does this type of match all the time for Wrestle Kingdom (usually with just one winner, not four), and I always thought it was called “New Japan Rumble,” but someone was mistranslating something.  Turns out “ranbo” is literally a Japanese word that can mean “riot.”  So we all learned something today!

I’m not certain how many participants are supposed to be in this.  I think I read 21 somewhere, but even if I did I wouldn’t trust any hard number.  If they have everybody pencilled in a month ago and then the day of the show they get an idea to put, I dunno, Captain New Japan in there, they’ll just do it.  The main thing is that anybody who doesn’t have a regular match on this show or tomorrow’s show will probably be on the short list for this one.  The biggest names that I think we can expect would be Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, El Desperado, SHO, Bad Luck Fale, BUSHI, and maybe Minoru Suzuki.

The gimmick where you just have to make it to the last four in the ring should make the finish a bit more unpredictable.  Ordinarily I woudn’t expect, say, Tomoaki Honma to win a match like this.  But it’s not going to make or break tomorrow’s four-way if one or two guys are curtain jerkers or joke guys.  With that in mind I think this match is impossible to predict.  But I guess my dream lineup for the four-way match tomorrow would be...let’s see...Yano, Suzuki, Toa Henare...and let’s go with Yoshi-Hashi to win the KOPW trophy to start 2021 off weird.

#njpw #wrestle kingdom 15 #tetsuya naito #kota ibushi

[wrestlingisfake]

The New Beginning in Sapporo preview

This is a two-day event during the Road To New Beginning tour.  The real big action will be on February 9 in Osaka, but the two Sapporo shows are pretty big in their own right.  Here’s some of the highlights from both days.

February 1

Kazuchika Okada & Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki & Taichi - So on January 5, Suzuki punked out Moxley and declared his intention to challenge him for the IWGP United States title.  On January 6, Taichi was beating up Okada after a CHAOS vs. Suzuki-gun tag match when Moxley showed up to make the save but mostly to give Suzuki a receipt.  Now we’ve got Mox and Okada teaming up in the unlikeliest duo ever, to preview Okada-Taichi on 2/2 and Moxley-Suzuki on 2/9.

It’s going to be a tough sell to convince anyone that Taichi is a worthy opponent for Okada, and Moxley already made short work of him in the G1 Climax.  So in a sense Suzuki is at a big disadvantage, but I’m sure they’ll pull every dirty trick in the book to get heat.  Look for Taichi to score some suspenseful near-falls, especially on Okada.  I suppose Taichi could score the win here, but if it’s me I book Suzuki to get a pin over Moxley.

Hirooki Goto vs. Shingo Takagi - Goto won the NEVER openweight title on January 5, but then Takagi pinned him in a tag team match the following day, so he issued a challenge for this title shot.  These guys had a war in the G1, and I think we can expect another war here.  I’m not sure I’m real comfortable with that, honestly.  Takagi seems like he’s got more potential as a star so I would book him to win the title, but New Japan still thinks they can do something with Goto, so they may surprise me.

Tomohiro Ishii vs. EVIL - This almost feels like a random singles match, since they seem to regularly throw these two guys together when they don’t have anything better for either one to do.  Except...there was a botch when Evil pinned Ishii in the trios gauntlet match on January 5, so it’s possible this is meant to be Ishii’s chance to get some payback.  In any case, this should please the fans who want to see big boys clubberin’ each other.  I could see them playing it like the winner is in line for a singles title shot, although I don’t think I’d be terribly convinced of that.  I’m really not sure who I think will win this.

Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. Jay White & KENTA -  This is previewing Naito vs. Kenta and Sanada vs. White on 2/9.  Naito defeated White on January 4, then Kenta ruined Naito’s celebration on January 5, and then White and Kenta beat up Naito and Sanada on January 6.  It’s a tough match to pick a winner in, because I expect they’ll want to protect all four guys.  But they’ll protect Sanada the least, I think, so I’m going with White and Kenta.

February 2

Kazuchika Okada vs. Taichi - Listen, I would understand this if Taichi had pinned Okada in the tag match on January 6.  But he didn’t--he just got himself disqualified attacking Okada with Iizuka’s iron glove, because New Japan wants you to think they’re pushing Taichi without actually putting him over in any meaningful way.  Taichi is from the Sapporo area so I am resigned to the fact that they will pretend he’s an up-and-coming main eventer every February, but that doesn’t mean I have to pretend he has a hope in hell of beating Okada.

Zack Sabre, Jr. vs. Will Ospreay - Sabre is defending the RPW British heavyweight title.  Sabre always brings up British politics in his promos for whatever reason, so I find it interesting that this will be a couple of days after the completion of Brexit, and he’s finally defending his belt against the only other British guy in the company.  I assume these two have a storied history with each other because it seems like every British wrestler has a complex backstory with every other British wrestler.  But I’ve only seen these guys in one-on-one action during the G1 last year.  I really like Ospreay and I really like to hate Sabre, so this should be fun.  Gotta pick Sabre to retain, though.

Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi & SANADA vs. KENTA & Jay White & Taiji Ishimori - This will probably just be basic filler six-man tag match, except that I find it interesting that Hiromu will be across the ring from Ishimori.  I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Ishimori pins Hiromu or something to set him up as the next challenger for the IWGP junior heavyweight title on the next tour.

Jon Moxley & Ryusuke Taguchi & SHO & YOH vs. Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI - I guess Moxley is just teaming with Chaos guys on this tour?  All right, then.  Moxley and Suzuki have business with each other.  Roppongi 3K have business with Desperado and Kanemaru.  Normally Sho and Yoh would team with Rocky Romero, but he’s been on the US tour, so his fellow coach Taguchi is filling in.  Douki has a pipe.  I’m pretty sure Mox is going to shove that pipe up Douki’s ass.

Shingo Takagi & EVIL & BUSHI vs. Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & Robbie Eagles - Shingo, Evil, and Bushi are the NEVER trios champions, but the title is not at stake in this match.  They won the title in the trios gauntlet match on January 5, and as I noted above there was a botch when Evil eliminated Ishii's team.  So perhaps this is meant as a sort of do-over, except this time YOSHI-HASHI is out of town so Goto is in his place.  If the Ishii-Goto-Eagles trio wins this match, they’d be in line for a title shot in the future.  It’s more likely, though, that the champs will retain and the controversy over that botch will be swept aside.

#njpw #the new beginning in sapporo #jon moxley #kazuchika okada #minoru suzuki #taichi

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 29 Day 13 & Day 14 Review (Aug 3rd and 4th 2019, Osaka, EDION Arena)

Day 13 (A Block)

KENTA vs. Bad Luck Fale  **

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Lance Archer  ***1/4

Will Ospreay vs. EVIL  ****1/2

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi  ****3/4

Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA  *****

Day 14 (B Block)

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toru Yano  ***3/4

Juice Robinson vs. Taichi  *3/4

Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb  ***1/4

Jon Moxley vs. Jay White  ***1/2

Tetsuya Naito vs. Shingo Takagi  ****3/4

Photos.

The G1 rolled into Osaka for the annual, and prerequisite, classic matches in the tournament. The A Block night on the 3rd was the stronger of the two, and very probably the best night of Block action so far this year, with three fantastic matches back to back. To kick things off, Bad Luck Fale defeated KENTA after a lot of Bullet Club shenanigans. KENTA worked hard here, laying into the big man with some stiff kicks, then turned a Grenade into Game Over in the middle of the ring. This caused Chase Owens to distract the referee as Jado came in with the kendo stick. The old timer misses with the cane and KENTA sends him packing, however the distraction allowed Fale to sneak up from behind and score the win with a school boy at 7:20 of a very frustrating bout. This was nonsense and the loss essentially eliminates KENTA from this years tournament. Oh well. Speaking of which, the next contest was between two guys who are also mathematically eliminated and members of Suzuki-gun, as ZSJ got the sneaky win over the considerably larger Lance Archer. This was really good, with Zack playing the annoying ant to Archer’s giant. After Zack would keep countering Lance’s power moves into submissions, the American Psycho finally hit a big chokeslam, which appeared to win the match for him, but he inexplicably lifted Sabre at 2. Archer then tried Blackout, but Zack rolled through into a cradle to win at the 10:43 mark.

The next three bouts were all tremendous in their own very different ways. Ospreay vs. EVIL was an excellent battle indeed, and featured a white hot crowd. These guys worked incredibly well together, with their different styles meshing seamlessly and producing one of the hottest closing stretches of the tournament. After Ospreay scored a near fall with the corner to corner dropkick, and EVIL rebounded with a huge Lariat, they went into a crazy strike exchange and counter sequence, before EVIL scores a near fall with Darkness Falls. The King Of Darkness tries Everything is Evil, but Will flips out and hits a massive Liger Bomb for a near fall of his own. EVIL ducks Hidden Blade and charges for another Lariat, but runs straight into the Spanish Fly and hits Oscutter for a super believable near fall. He tries the Super Oscutter, but EVIL catches him in a big half and half German, another big Lariat, and scores the win at 17:08 with the STO. Following that were Tanahashi and Ibushi in a rematch of last years final, one of the greatest finals in the history of the G1. This wasn’t as good as that all time classic, but it was a different match really. This was worked at a breakneck pace (it surprisingly only went 15:53), and featured some absolutely fantastic exchanges. After Tanahashi worked over Ibushi’s ankle, and Ibushi worked on Tanahashi’s knee, Tana attempted an HFF to the floor, but Ibushi countered into a springboard top rope Frankensteiner, and from here the match never stopped. Tana escaped that terrifying Lawn Dart into the turnbuckle spot, then tried Sling Blade, but ate a perfectly timed double stomp, and took the Lawn Dart anyway, which never looks fun. Whilst Tana rolled onto the apron, Ibushi hit his other terrifying move; the Deadlift German off the ropes into the ring for a near fall. After Tana escapes a Last Ride attempt, the two engage in an unbelievable strike exchange, which resulted in Kota getting a bloody mouth, and a Tanahashi hand print across the right side of his face, as the crowd goes crazy. Ibushi sold like he was KO’d, but spins round into his massive Lariat for the double down. Ibushi hits the high kick, but Tana counters Kamigoye into three Twist and Shout’s, hits a perfect Sling Blade, but misses the High Fly Flow. Kota battles back with the Boma Ye for a near fall, then Tanahashi counters another Kamigoye attempt into a small package for a believable near fall. Ibushi is up and hits the Ace with a big high kick, but Tana shakes it off and screams, only to eat another, then the match-ending Kamigoye for Ibushi to take the 2 points and eliminate Tanahashi from contention. There was a ‘passing of the torch’ type moment in the post match as the two showed respect for each other, with Ibushi being emotional at finally vanquishing his God (he’s only ever pinned him one other time previous to this, in the 2017 G1) and Tana rolled out of the ring so Ibushi could get his pop.

The main event had a lot to follow, but somehow ended up surpassing them in a highly dramatic match. This was great, and the best match I’ve ever seen these two have together (and probably the best of SANADA’s career). Whereas the previous bouts were super heated sprints, this was a slow burn classic which took its time to weave its tale, and teasing going the distance. Obviously the story here is that SANADA is 6-0 against Okada, having never beaten him once, and Okada is undefeated in this G1 thus far, looking invincible in the process, so SANADA had a hell of an uphill battle. The Osaka faithful were super into this from the outside, and everyone appeared to be behind the underdog SANADA, chanting his name throughout this. In reality, this was every Okada/SANADA match we’ve ever seen, until the closing stretch, which was insanely intense. SANADA tried the springboard dropkick, but Okada catches him in the Air Raid Crash neckbreaker, then tries Rainmaker, but SANADA counters into Skull End, which Okada flips out of after climbing the ropes, and hits a Tombstone. He tries another Rainmaker, but SANADA again blocks it, this time catching him in Keiji Muto’s Dragon Neck Screw off the ropes. They engage in a great forearm and European uppercut exchange, before Okada wipes Cold Skull out with his patented drop kick. Another Rainmaker is turned into Skull End again, but Okada escapes, only for SANADA to hit a Tiger Suplex for a near fall. SANADA lands on his feet after Okada moved from a Moonsault attempt, but manages to lock in Skull End. This time, Okada counters into two Rainmakers, then tries a third, but SANADA hits one of his own which blew the roof off the EDION Arena. After 25 minutes of action, SANADA locks in Skull End once more, this time for a long time, and Okada starts to fade. Red Shoes Unno was fantastic here, selling that Okada might be out and the he was going to stop it, but Okada begins fighting back as the final two minutes are called. SANADA releases Skull End, then tries the Moonsault, but the IWGP Champion gets the knees up. At this point you got the feeling like this was definitely ending in a time limit draw. Final minute, and Okada hits another dropkick, then tries another Rainmaker, but SANADA counters into a pop-up Ace Crusher. With 30 seconds left SANADA hits a Moonsault to the back, and another to the front to score his first win ever over Okada at the 29:47 mark. This was superb stuff with off the charts tension and drama. SANADA cut a promo in the post match saying he loved Osaka to send everyone home happy.

The B Block show on the 14th couldn’t possibly hope to follow that show, but it was still a really good night of G1 action. Firstly, Block action began with Tomohiro Ishii pinning fellow CHAOS stablemate Toru Yano with the Brainbuster in a great 9:36 match-up. This was Yano’s best match of the tournament, even if it probably was Ishii’s weakest, and was just super entertaining throughout. Yano kept trying to steal wins with cradles and roll-up’s and Ishii would constantly prevent Yano from hitting his low blows and shenanigans, destroying him with chops and forearms in the process. The Stone Pitbull finally hit the Sliding Lariat and the Vertical Drop for the win and the 2 points, meaning he’s ver much still alive in this thing. Taichi defeated Juice in a deathly boring 12 minute outing next. I didn’t like this at all, and reached a crescendo of ref bumps and interference, before spat whiskey in Juice’s eyes and scored the pin with Black Mephisto. Whatever. 

Hirooki Goto and Jeff Cobb clashed next. This match too was just there, much like their uber disappointing NEVER Title match at the Cow Palace last year. On paper, these guys should have great matches togerther, however, they never click at all. The work was ultimately good, but it was just missing something, I feel. Goto scored the win at the 11:20 mark after hitting the Ushigoroshi into the Final Cut, then the GTR to get the 2 points. The Jay White/Jon Moxley match that followed, whilst very good, was another disappointment. Once again, there was just too much bullshit and shenanigans for my liking. There was a lot of stalling, a lot of interference, and the token ref bumps, all of which helped to dilute what should have been a very heated match, even if the closing stretch did save it somewhat. Moxley worked over Jay’s knee, locking on the Cloverleaf and an STF, before Jay came back with the suplex into the corner, a Saito suplex and the Deadlift German (which Moxley barely got over on), for a near fall. The Urinage gets a near fall for White, before Mox fires back with his release vertical suplex, which looked great. He then hit the Regal Knee Trembler, and a double arm DDT for a near fall, before White bumped the ref (yawn), and Gedo ran in and nailed Moxley with the brass knuckles. White then hit two sleeper suplexes, a cross arm Bloody Sunday, and the match-winning Blade Runner to end this at the 15:15 mark. I’m a big Jay White fan, I think he’s great and has a superstar aura, and I know they’re protected Moxley something fierce, but really, this sort of stuff does nobody any favours.

Thank God then for the main event, which was tremendous. L.I.J. exploded as Tetsuya Naito took on Shingo Takagi in a fantastic battle. Naito took an incredible beating here, and even though he won, he put Shingo over huge. This couldn’t really have gone any better, and came across like a classic G1 outing. They started with a nice chain wresting and feeling out process, but then Naito spat in Takagi’s face, which lit a fire under the Dragon. Shingo proceeded to destroy his stablemate with some of the hardest Lariats you’ll ever see. He countered a Tornado DDT into a Death Valley Bomb, then tried to cave in Naito’s chest with the Tenryu elbow off the top. Naito escaped a sliding lariat attempt, and hits an enzugiri. He tries the second rope reverse rana, but Shingo escapes and hits Noshigami. Naito counters a Pumping Bomber with a Koppo Kick, then hits Gloria for a near fall. Shingo hits a nasty looking Wheelbarrow German into the corner, then tries the super Death Valley Bomb off the second, which Naito turns into a Frankensteiner. Naito hits the reverse rana, but in trying a Destino, he runs straight into an ungodly Lariat, which looked like it killed him. A Made In Japan attempt is turned into a Dragon Suplex by Naito, but Shingo finally hits M.I.J. for a great near fall, followed by a Pumping Bomber, which decimates Naito, for another near fall. Last Of The Dragon is turned into Destino. They have a strike exchange, which Takagi obviously wins, crumpling Naito with a headbutt, but Naito hits a brainbuster out of nowhere for the double down. Naito hits a Canadian Destroyer, then Destino, but Shingo kicks out at 2.9! Another Destino follows, and Naito finally puts Shingo away at the 27:15 mark. This was fanatastic, and had a great backstory with both guys training at Animal Hamaguchi’s gym as teenagers, and being rivals. The ending was never really in any doubt, and even though I’d have preferred Shingo to have won this, he lost nothing in defeat, in fact he gained everything in that it was very similar to the Nakamura vs. Ibushi G1 23 match at this very building, which was a star making turn for Ibushi.

After this, the standings are that only Okada, Ibushi and EVIL are alive in the A Block (though KENTA holds a tie breaker over Ibushi and EVIL), so only one of those could realistically win, whereas the B BLock has Moxley in the lead, and a whole log jam of guys tied at 8 points. Those being Naito, Jay White, Ishii and Goto.

NDT

#njpw #g1 climax 29 #review #kazuchika okada #sanada #tetsuya naito #shingo takagi #hiroshi tanahashi #kota ibushi #evil #will ospreay #jay white #jon moxley #tomohiro ishii #toru yano #hirooki goto #jeff cobb #new japan pro wrestling #puroresu #wrestling review #g129 #g1 climax #aew #roh #wwe

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 29 Day 16 Review (Aug 8th 2019, Kagawa, Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium)

B Block

Toru Yano vs. Taichi  *

Jeff Cobb vs. Tetsuya Naito  ***1/2

Hirooki Goto vs. Jon Moxley  ***1/4

Juice Robinson vs. Jay White  ****

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shingo Takagi  ****3/4

Photos.

The B Block rolled into Yokohama for its penultimate show of the tournament, at it was a strong day of action, though not the best by any means, it did have a tremendous main event. Toru Yano beat Taichi via countout in a total comedy match. Realistically, this was horrible; they did nothing, and the inventive finish saved it from being a DUD in my opinion. Taichi stalled forever, Yano tried to leave but was jumped in the entrance way by Kanemaru (so it seemed as though Yano’s plan was to just leave and take the loss. Ok then). Taichi wrapped Yano up in the ring apron, but YTR made it in at 18. They passed a corner pad around for a while, Yano ripped off Taichi’s pants, and Taichi sold it like he was naked. Taichi scored a near fall with a Gedo Clutch after sending him into the exposed buckles, then they ended up outside, where Yano gave Kanemaru and Taichi a double low blow, rolled them up into the ring apron, and won by countout after a calamitous 5:04. This was total nonsense, but it was amusing enough. Tetsuya Naito beat Jeff Cobb to the surprise of no living soul. This was a very good match, which was carried by Cobb, surprisingly enough. I haven’t really mentioned the deterioration of Naito over the past the year, but it has been abundantly obvious that the guy is not what he once was. I’m a big fan, but his matches just aren’t at the level they were a couple of years ago. Like even the best of them, it seems all those devastating head drops he was taking have caught up with him. Cobb’s power moves were the highlight here, including a spot where Naito went for Destino, but Cobb caught him on his shoulders, and threw him in the air and Naito helicoptered to the mat. Naito worked over Cobb’s knee early, and Mr. Athletic did a really good job of selling it throughout. Naito turned a second rope power slam attempt into a frankensteiner, but Cobb popped up, only to eat a Satellite DDT and a reverse rana. Cobb fought back with a big clothesline, then went for Tour Of The Islands, but Naito turned it into Destino for a near fall. Naito then followed up with another Destino to take the 2 points at the 12:47 mark.

Hirooki Goto, dark horse that he is, once again played spoiler, giving Jon Moxley his third consecutive loss. I’m not so sure about this booking as he (much like KENTA in A Block) went on an undefeated tear early, only to come a cropper in the later stages. If nothing else it tells an interesting story in that both guys were making their G1 debuts, and weren’t prepared for the toll it took on their bodies as it wore on, so succumbed. This may be the story, or I may have just made it up. Anyway, this was a very decent, hard-hitting little match, which was kept brief (8:38) and fast paced, though Moxley is noticeably slower than he was at the start of this tournament. They exchange hard forearms and lariats, before Mox took it to the ground, locking in a kimura, then transitioned into a jujigatame, but Goto escaped and ran into a Moxley Lariat, and the Regal Knee Trembler for a near fall. Goto hit an Ushigoroshi out of nowhere, then they nailed each other with double clotheslines, before Goto floored Mox with a headbutt. Moxley blocked a chest kick and hit a Double Arm DDT, rolled through and tried Death Rider, but Goto turned it into another Ushigoroshi, but instead of dropping Moxley across his knee, he dropped him down on his feet and hit the surprise GTR to take the win.  As I say, this was good, but would have benefitted from a few extra minutes. Jay and Juice’s match next was going great guns, a heavy story based match with great selling, until it turned into the usual ref bump japes at the end, which really brought it down a bit for my liking. White worked over Juice’s leg all match, running it into the ring apron, barricades and chairs, and Juice battled back, wrapping both of Jay’s legs around the ring post in retaliation. In the ring, Robinson hit a Jackhammer, but his knee was too damaged for him to hit it properly. Switch Blade dumped Juice over the top with the Saito suplex, which obviously made him land on his injured leg, and he barely beat the count back in. White with a Uranage for a near fall was followed by a Sleeper Suplex attempt, but Juice elbowed his way free and hit the Full Nelson Bomb for the double down. After Juice locked in a version of the crab, White hammered the leg to free himself, then locked in his TTO submission from earlier in the year, but Robinson made the ropes. After hitting the big Left, Juice tried Pulp Friction, but Gedo jumped on the apron, and Jay pushed Juice into referee Red Shoes. This is were the wheels came off for me. Gedo slides a chair in, Juice commandeers it. He tries Pulp Friction on the chair, but Jay scapes and Juice lands on the chair. Jay then destroys Juice’s leg with the chair, then locks in the TTO again as Gedo rolls Red Shoes in, just in time for Juice to tap out at the 23:01 mark. White gave Juice Blade Runner in the post match for good measure.

And the main event between Genichiro Tenryu’s favourite sons; Ishii and Shingo was predictably fantastic. Though this is a nitpick, it felt a little long to me. It went 22:41, but had it have been a 15 to 17 minute slugfest, it most likely would have been a ***** classic. In that sense, it reminded me of some of Ishii’s amazing bouts with Honma. This was a hard-hitting war, which started by dodging each others signature spots, before throwing those bombs. They decimated each other with hard chops, forearms and Lariats in glorious fashion, before throwing each other around with suplexes. They exchanged the Tenyru chop and strike sequence in the corner, and at some point, Ishii’s cauliflower ear started bleeding from the forearms Shingo was giving him. The Stone Pitbull hit his super impressive top rope superplex for a near fall, before peppering Takagi with those Tenryu style kicks to the head, and scored another near fall with a folding press Powerbomb. Shingo escapes a Brainbuster attempt, and hits a Pumping Bomber, followed by Noshigami and the sliding Lariat for a near fall of his own. Ishii turns Shingo inside out with a massive Lariat for a near fall, then drops him again with a headbutt. Ishii tries the Sliding Lariat, but Shingo dodges it, and scores a near fall with Made In Japan. Ishii blocks a Pumping Bomber, then hits a series of Lariats, followed by the sliding version for a near fall. Ishii with another Brainbuster attempt sees Shingo counter into an Emerald Flowsion for the double down. The Dragon fires back with a Pumping Bomber, but Ishii shrugged it off, hit an enzugiri, and again turned Takagi inside out with a massive Lariat, but Shingo kicks at one! The place goes crazy now as Shingo nails another Pumping Bomber, but now Ishii kicks at one. The hit double Lariats, before Takagi floors Ishii with one final big one, and gets a great near fall with another Pumping Bomber. Shingo signals for the end, and hoists Ishii up in to the match-winning Last Of The Dragon to take the two points and end an incredible war. After the match the two traded headbutts whilst on the mat, and Ishii was escorted out, whilst Shingo cut a promo to end the show. Even though he’s eliminated form winning the G1, the win cements Takagi getting a NEVER Title shot at some point, and I’m all for this. I don’t think I’d ever get bored of these two battling each other. 

So with us heading into the final day of Block action on Sunday, the standings are moderately less complicated than before, but still somewhat convoluted. So, White, Naito, Moxley, and Goto all have 10 points, with Mox holding a tiebreaker over Naito, White and Goto both holding the tiebreaker over Moxley, and Naito with the tiebreaker over Goto. Whereas Ishii needs to beat Taichi on Sunday and needs Goto, Naito and Moxley to all lose in order to make the final, and YANO (God forbid) needs to defeat Jeff Cobb on Sunday, and needs Ishii and Goto to both lose, whilst only needing White and Naito to go to a double DQ to win, so I’d say he’s a long shot.

NDT

#njpw #g1 climax 29 #tomohiro ishii #shingo takagi #jay white #juice robinson #jon moxley #hirooki goto #tetsuya naito #jeff cobb #toru yano #taichi #yoshinobu kanemaru #new japan pro wrestling #g129 #review #g1 climax #puroresu #wrestling review #aew #roh #wwe

[wrestlingisfake]

Wrestling Dontaku preview

The Wrestling Dontaku tour runs from April 13 to May 4, culminating in two main shows at the end.  (“Dontaku” means “holiday,” although that doesn’t really explain why the tour is called that.)  The tour includes several dates with their own show titles, and I won’t pretend to know why--you kinda just have to roll with it until you find a Reddit thread that explains this stuff.

Like most New Japan tours, there are enough title defenses and special matches to fill out a single big show, but they’re spread across multiple dates.  Normally there’d be two or three dates with most of the key matches, but this time the important stuff is scattered all over the tour.  I’ve picked out the major highlights.

April 20 - Sengoku Lord in Nagoya

Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. - Ibushi is defending the IWGP intercontinental championship.  Sabre is the RevPro British champion, although that title is not on the line.  At G1 Supercard, Sabre successfully defended his title against Hiroshi Tanahashi, while Ibushi captured his title to fulfill a quest to emulate Tanahashi.  So Ibushi requested Sabre as his first challenger, in order to face he man who, in Ibushi’s words, “defeated a god.”  It’s also worth noting that Sabre is the one that knocked Ibushi out of the New Japan Cup, so he has the momentum going into this match.

These two always have a good match, so that’s no problem, but there’s little chance of a title change.  Ibushi will likely retain.

Juice Robinson vs. Bad Luck Fale - Juice is defending the IWGP United States championship.  On March 24, Juice defended the title against Chase Owens, but Fale attacked him after the match.  Mikey Nicholls made the save, so this tour features Juice and Nicholls facing Chase and Fale in various combinations.  I suspect the winner of this match is going to end up defending against Nicholls down the line.

Juice is a classic fired-up babyface and Fale is a classic monster heel, so this should be a clinic for hope spots and he’s-just-too-fat moments and size-of-the-fight-in-the-dog comebacks.  I’m not confident it’ll be a three-star wrestling match but it should be good pro wrestling, if that makes sense.  I could dig Fale as champion for a couple of months but I think Juice will retain.

April 22 - Road to Wrestling Dontaku

Ryusuke Taguchi & Toru Yano & Togi Makabe vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & HIKULEO - Taguchi’s team is defending the NEVER openweight trios championship.  The champs won the title from the Guerillas of Destiny and Taiji Ishimori, but now GOD is teaming with their brother Hikuleo, who is like two Ishimoris tall.

The confusing thing here is that GOD and Yano/Makabe have spent much of 2019 fighting over both the NEVER six-man tag team championship and the IWGP tag team title.  Taguchi/Yano/Makabe won the NEVER title, but then Yano/Makabe failed to win the IWGP title, and then GOD also won the ROH tag title, but Yano stole the IWGP tag belts.  So we’ve got a tag title match about stolen tag title belts, but the stolen belts aren’t the ones on the line, and the victims of the theft still have tag title belts.  It’s kind of ridiculous, and I wish they’d figure out something else to do with the trios title.

The Taguchi team should probably retain, if only so Yano can continue to taunt GOD about how they still can’t get their stolen belts back.

April 26 - Road to Wrestling Dontaku - Aki no Kuni Sengoku Emaki

SHO & YOH vs. Shingo Takagi & BUSHI - Roppongi 3K won the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team title from Shingo and Bushi back in March, so this is the rematch.  These teams have been fighting over the title for months, and if you include the Bushi/Hiromu Takahashi team, it’s more like a full year.  What’s really frustrating is that, no matter who wins, the next contenders for the title will likely be El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, who have also been embroiled in this never-ending feud.  I’m begging New Japan to create some new junior tag teams.  I no longer care who wins.

April 29 - Wrestling Hi no Kuni

Jay White vs. Hirooki Goto - White lost the IWGP heavyweight title at G1 Supercard, so it looks like this match has been set up as the first step back into the title hunt.  Goto has really not done anything of note since November, which makes him convenient to feed to White.  I suppose a win a for Goto would be a huge statement to push him towards the top, but I think it’s more likely we’ll see White make a small statement to nudge him away from the bottom.

Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Toru Yano & Togi Makabe - The Guerillas of Destiny hold both the IWGP heavyweight tag team title and the ROH tag team title, but Yano and Makabe are only challenging for the IWGP title.  Yano stole the IWGP tag title belts shortly after GOD became double champions on April 6.  One of these teams will have momentum coming out of the trios title match mentioned earlier, but let’s not even get into that here.  After going to all the trouble of making GOD double champions, I don’t think they’ll just drop one title here like it’s nothing.  Hell, they haven’t even had a chance to pose with both sets of belts yet.  So the Tongans gotta retain.

Mikey Nicholls vs. Bad Luck Fale - This is the first singles match for Nicholls since starting with the company in the New Japan Cup.  A victory over Fale would put him into the mix for the midcard championships, especially if Fale wins the US title on April 20.  A loss for Nicholls would establish him as a prelim guy at the level of YOSHI-HASHI, David Finlay, or Chase Owens.  I personally think there’s no sense not pushing Nicholls, and it would make a ton of sense for him to win here and challenge Juice for the US championship at Dominion, so I’m predicting that.

May 3 - Wrestling Dontaku Night 1

Dragon Lee vs. Taiji Ishimori - Lee won the IWGP junior heavyweight title from Ishimori on April 6 in a three-way match, but Ishimori wasn’t involved in the fall, so he’s getting a one-on-one rematch here.  This will be the final junior heavyweight title match before the Best of the Super Jr. tournament; the winner of this match will be the champion going into the tournament, which will determine his next challenger.  The only reason I see to put the belt back on Ishimori this early is if Lee is headed back to CMLL after this tour.  But I’m very certain Lee will be booked for BOSJ and Dominion, so you might as well keep the title on him through those shows.

Jeff Cobb vs. Taichi - Cobb is both the NEVER openweight champion and the ROH television champion, but only the NEVER title is at stake.  Taichi earned this shot by pinning Ospreay in a tag match back when Ospreay was champion, and then Ospreay lost the title to Cobb on April 6.  I don’t have any confidence in Taichi, so this match feels like a waste of time, except to test Cobb’s ability to get a good match out of a stall-tastic choke artist.  Cobb will retain.

May 4 - Wrestling Dontaku Night 2

Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA - This is Okada’s first defense of the IWGP heavyweight championship since regaining it in Madison Square Garden on April 6.  The title has not been successfully defended in a one-on-one match since September, so I think the goal here is to put Okada over someone who doesn’t need to be kept very strong.  Sanada, who lost to Okada in the New Japan Cup finals, fits the bill.  The real intrigue will be about what happens after Okada retains, and who might issue a challenge following the match.

Tomohiro Ishii vs. EVIL - This would be a fairly notable match if not for the fact that there’s no championship or tournament involved.  The winner will presumably get a push--although a push for what is anyone’s guess.  Under the circumstances, I can’t even guess who would win.

Dragon Lee & Will Ospreay vs. Taiji Ishimori & X - Ishimori is teaming with a mystery partner.  “X” is presumably a new member of Bullet Club, and probably a new junior heavyweight since the Best of the Super Jr. tournament is coming up.  The obvious candidate is El Phantasmo from RevPro, since he appeared in a Bullet Club hype video that aired throughout the last tour.  Regardless, you don’t book a mystery partner in a match for the team with the mystery partner to lose, so Ishimori’s team should get their hands raised.

#njpw #wrestling dontaku

[wrestlingisfake]

Wrestle Kingdom 12 preview

This is set to start around 2am Eastern time Thursday morning and go maybe five or six hours, so lllllet’s get ready to make bad decisions about our sleep schedule!

Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito - Naito defeated Kenny Omega to win the G1 Climax tournament in August, earning the right to challenge for the  IWGP heavyweight title here.  Okada has held the title for 564 days, far and away longer than any other reign with this championship. 

Okada vs. Naito was famously supposed to headline Wrestle Kingdom 8, but fans turned on the idea.  In the end, the intercontinental match (Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi) went on last, forever putting a footnote on what was supposed to be Okada’s first Tokyo Dome main event outside of Tanahashi’s shadow and Naito’s first Dome main event period.  Four years later, both men have earned the respect they were denied then.  So it’s morbidly amusing that fate has yet again cast doubt on whether Okada vs. Naito is “really” the main event, thanks to the buzz surrounding Jericho vs. Omega.  Obviously Okada and Naito have something to prove.  Again.

Okada had a hell of a year in 2017.  Kenny Omega tends to get most of the press for the three matches that Dave Meltzer rated six stars or better, but I watched all three and frankly I’d give Okada just a smidge more credit for those performances.  It’s also worth noting that Okada had epic matches against other opponents, like Katsuyori Shiabata, Minoru Suzuki, and EVIL.  The man’s a wrestling machine, and while he’ll never be my sentimental favorite in NJPW, he’s got my confidence as the man who makes the belt feel important.

Naito did pretty well for himself this past year as well, although I’d argue that’s more from a storytelling and entertainment standpoint.  Little things like his treatment of the intercontinental title belt and his interplay with his stablemates have added that little extra something to his game.  The Japanese audience already loves him but it’s getting easier to for the rest of us to get into his head, and see what the appeal is.

Either man can win here.  If Naito wins, it’ll be the much-delayed Tokyo Dome coronation that he’s been chasing for four years, and a proper milestone in the ascendance of Los Ingobernables de Japon as a key faction in the company.  If Okada wins, it will be his 9th consecutive successful title defense and his second consecutive title defense at the Tokyo Dome; he looked unstoppable after last year’s show, and now he’d be practically godlike.  The only thing for sure here is they’re going to fight and fight for like half an hour, and they’ll leave it all in the ring.

Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho - Omega’s IWGP United States championship is on the line.  The match is no-disqualification, which is itself interesting because it’s already pretty hard to get disqualified in New Japan, suggesting that these guys are going to go far beyond the carnage that usually gets a pass.

The backstory here is that Omega got his old buddy Don Callis a job in the commentary booth, and then Callis helped his old buddy Jericho get in touch with New Japan to put this match together.  So it’s the battle of an NJPW guy who leads the hottest faction in ROH against a longtime WWE guy, and the guy who made it happen is now VP of Impact Wrestling.  Weird.

Jericho is specifically here to try to do his own version of the Connor McGregor/Floyd Mayweather fight that generated so much buzz and money.  To that end, the buildup to this match has been extremely heated.  The two of them have barely coexisted in the same building for more than five minutes without beating each other senseless.  Jericho has vowed this will be Kenny’s last match in Japan.  We’ve been assured this will not be about getting star ratings or match of the year votes--it will be a brawl.

These guys had me hooked in with the press conference.  I don’t really care who wins, but you’d figure it has to be Omega unless they’ve got something else lined up for Jericho later in the year.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White - White is challenging for the IWGP intercontinental title.  This is kind of cool for me because I got into New Japan when White was still a rookie jobbing in the openers with the plain black trunks, and then I watched him say farewell before going on excursion, and now he’s back with this wacky new “switchblade” gimmick.  It’s pretty incredibly to think of him advancing to the #3 match on the biggest show of the year, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can deliver the goods.

Tanahashi is hurting.  Aside from the torn biceps he’s been working through since the summer, he’s got a knee injury too, and that’s on top of all the usual wear and tear to a top wrestler in a Japanese group.  Ideally they’d let him gut it out for this one night, put the other guy over, and then send him the fuck home to heal up.  But if NJPW or Tanahashi were going to make such a rational decision, they wouldn’t have booked him for the G1 Climax last year.  So this could get excrutiating to watch, especially if Tanahashi just wins and therefore is set up to keep defending his title through the next couple of months.

I’m a Tanahashi fan and I hope he can deliver a good match, but I gotta root for White to just win quickly and decisively to give the poor guy a break.

Cody Rhodes vs. Kota Ibushi - This was booked to be a defense of the ROH world championship but Cody lost it to Dalton Castle a few weeks ago.

You can look at this match as a sort of consolation prize, in that both guys were viewed as top choices for Kenny Omega’s opponent on this show until the Jericho thing came up, and now they’re pitted against one another.  The problem with that is that neither guy has much in the way of upward momentum.  Cody is primarily an ROH guy, and there seems to be no interest in putting him in line for an IWGP or NEVER title.  Similarly, Ibushi is a free agent, and the issue with him has always been that NJPW will only push him so far without a contract.  So it’s hard to buy that the outcome of this match matters.  Maybe they can defy expectations or steal the show, but as it stands I’m just not worked up about it.

As far as predictions go, I’m vaguely leaning towards Cody.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Hirooki Goto - Suzuki’s NEVER openweight championship is at stake, as is the hair of both participants.  The winner of the match gets the title; the loser gets his head shaved.  Additionally, Suzuki’s henchmen in Suzuki-gun and Goto’s associates in CHAOS are barred from ringside, to prevent the usual clusterfuck finishes that happen with Suzuki-gun matches.

This could go either way, although a Goto loss would be pretty humiliating and send his storyline in a very dismal direction.  After weeks of just trying to get this match, Goto really needs to get the last laugh.

Marty Scurll vs. KUSHIDA vs. Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi - This is a four-way match, and the first man to score a fall on any of his opponents will win Scurll’s IWGP junior heavyweight championship.  Basically the minute Scurll won the title, the three previous champions all demanded a title shot, so he offered to face them at the same time.  Not sure that was such a bright idea.

This will surely be an entertainingly flippy diversion form strong style and big mean guys.  I’m not sure it matters who wins, but I gotta pull for my man Hiromu and his cat Daryl.

Davey Boy Smith, Jr. & Lance Archer vs. EVIL & SANADA - Evil and Sanada won the 2017 World Tag League tournament to earn this shot at the IWGP heavyweight tag team championship, held by the Killer Elite Squad (Smith & Archer).  You know it’s gonna be a mean guy match when one side’s best line is “EVERYBODY DIES” and the other side’s best line is “EVERYTHING IS EVIL.”  I smell a title change coming.

5-team gauntlet match - This is for the NEVER six-man tag team championship.  The gauntlet starts with two trios wrestling a normal six-man tag match.  Once a fall is scored, the losers are eliminated and another team comes out.  This continues until the final team enters the match, and the winners of the final fall get the title.  They did this kind of match last year and the teams entered at random except for the champions who got to enter last, so I assume that’s the rule here, too.

The teams are:

Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (the defending champions, representing Bullet Club)

Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano & Beretta (representing CHAOS)

Michael Elgin & Raymond Rowe & Hanson

Ryusuke Taguchi & Juice Robinson & Togi Makabe

Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi & Takashi Iizuka (representing Suzuki-gun)

A title change seems inevitable, since the NEVER tag belts are the hot potato of the promotion.  Of the fifteen guys in the match I think Ishii is the most protected, so I tend to favor his team to win, although Sabre is overdue to get some gold.

It’s worth noting that War Machine (Rowe and Hanson) are wrapping up their New Japan commitments and are widely expected to be reporting to WWE soon, so I wouldn’t bet on them to win here.

SHO & YOH vs. Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson - Roppongi 3K (Sho/Yoh) are defending the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team title against the Young Bucks (Nick/Matt).  The Bucks are so dominant in the junior tag division, and 3K is still so new, that a win for the Bucks will accomplish absolutely nothing.  There’s an opportunity here to help make 3K into the future of the division, so all we can do is see if they’ll take it.  I expect we’ll be seeing these teams trade the belts for many years to come, but I don’t think it’ll happen just yet.

New Japan Rumble - This will most likely be on the pre-show.  It’s a gauntlet battle royal, with wrestlers entering the match at one-minute interval; eliminations can occur via pinfall, submission, or exiting the ring over the top rope to the floor.

This is typically used to get people on the show who aren’t otherwise booked, so I’d expect to see:

Satoshi Kojima

Hiroyoshi Tenzan

YOSHI-HASHI

Yuji Nagata

Jushin Thunder Liger

Tiger Mask

Yujiro Takahashi

Hangman Page

Leo Tonga

El Desperado

TAKA Michinoku

Chase Owens

Gedo

Jado

ACH

Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Manabu Nakanishi

David Finlay

Yoshitatsu

New Japan usually brings in some old-timers and joke entrants for this thing, so you never know who’s coming or how many participants there will be.  I could imagine some of the Young Lions being in this, but if so they’ll just get clobbered so it kind of doesn’t matter.  Typically the winner is someone credible but not necessarily in line for a push, so that has me thinking Liger or Kojima could come out on top.  But really, who’s to say if Billy Gunn shows up at the last minute and shows us all who the ass man really is?

#njpw #wrestle kingdom #kazuchika okada #tetsuya naito #chris jericho #kenny omega