Here are quick results for the 11/23 World Tag League show held in Mie, Japan:
B Block: The Kingdom vs. Tetsuya Naito and Evil. Match was just there. Lots of stalling from the heels, who worked over the Kingdom most of the match. Crowd was pretty dead for most of it which hurt the match as well. Kingdom made a great comback and were nearing the finish when Bushi ran in and sprayed mist on Benett, which allowed Naito to hit Destino for the victory.
A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin vs. The Addiction. Pretty good back and forth match. Crowd was into it slightly more than the first due to Elgin and Tanahashi’s work and chemistry together. The Addiction were going for near falls when Tanahashi took out Daniels. Elgin then hit a deadlift powerbomb and Tanahashi followed with the high fly flow on Kazarian for the win.
B Block: Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows vs. Katsuyori Shibata and Hirooki Goto. Anderson and Goto were brawling into the crowd at on point. Another good, solid back and forth match. This had the most heat out of anything on this show. Shibata escaped from the Magic Killer and the faces went on offense. Goto took out Anderson on the outside with a plancha as Shibata was putting the sleeper on Gallows. He followed that with the penalty kick and pinned him.
Current Standings:
Block A:
Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin- 4 Kazushi Sakuraba and Toru Yano- 2 Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi- 2 Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata- 2 Christopher Daniels and Kazarian- 0 Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga- 0 Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma- 0
Block B:
Evil and Tetsuya Naito- 4 Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata- 4 Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima- 2 Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson- 0 AJ Styles and Yujiro Takahashi- 0 Matt Taven and Michael Bennett- 0 Shinsuke Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii- 0
Here are night two results of the World Tag League, held Saturday in Toyohashi:
Mascara Dorada, Yohei Komatsu and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Sho Tanaka, Kushida and Tiger Mask. Kushida and Mascara Dorada had some good back and forth. In the entire year Dorada has been here I’m stunned they never had a singles match outside of the Best of the Super Juniors, which felt way too short. Seemed like such a natural program. As for the match, it was the usual solid bout you’d see in any house show prelim match. Dorada pinned Tanaka with the Dorada Screwdriver.
The Addiction defeated Jay White and Katsuyori Shibata. This was a strange pairing. Of course, Shibata was here for the hot tag once the heels were finished taking out White. White did the corner dropkick and Shibata tried for the penalty kick but was taken out to the apron. White was laid out with a high flow, then Kazarian pinned him after they hit Rehab.
The Kingdom and Gedo defeated Cody Hall, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. They’re still doing the gimmick where Anderson is infatuated with Maria. That was fun when they feuded months ago, but now it just feels stale and redundant, especially when you remember they did the blow off where Anderson laid out Maria anyway. So this was just a match until they built up to a spot Basically just a back and forth match. They built up a spot where Anderson chased Maria into the ring while Hall had Bennett in the Razor’s Edge but Taven came back and made the save for her. With him out of the way, Bennett then pinned Hall after a spike piledriver.
Evil and Tetsuya Naito defeated Captain New Japan and Hirooki Goto. Not that interesting. Hirooki Goto worked a lot of the match, then tagged in CNJ who did his usual shtick. Bushi grabbed him by the leg as he hit the ropes. Naito gave him an enzuigiri then Evil pinned him with an STO.
A Block: Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe
This was actually very good in places, especially whenever Honma and Nagata were in the ring. They have terrific chemistry and the crowd ate up their back and forth. Nakanishi was his usual immobile self and at one point even tripped getting into the ring. People laughed at him and it was kinda sad. Honma at one point kicked out of a head chop off the top rope/kick to the back of the head by Nagata in a cool spot. Nagata eventually pinned Honma after a backdrop hold.
B Block: AJ Styles and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan
A good match. Not a lot to it, just some back and forth. AJ worked hard whenever he was in the ring with either member of Tencozy. At one point he was going for the Styles Clash on Tenzan but countered with the 3D. They eventually score the win, pinning Yujiro after a lariat by Kojima.
A Block: Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi Hashi vs. Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga
Another solid match, but not a ton to it either. Okada worked a lot of the match against both Fale and Tonga. They were going for a double move when Yoshi Hashi made a comeback, and together they took out Fale and Tonga. With Fale distracted on the outside, Okada pins Tonga after a rainmaker.
Michael Elgin, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Juice Robinson vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano
Decent house show main event, nothing more or less. It was basically a match where everyone got their spots in, looked good, and left the crowd happy. Elgin and Ishii worked a lot of the watch together, which the crowd was super into. Robinson and Nakamura worked against one another two; went pretty well with Robinson holding his own. Nakamura got the win for his team, winning after a big splash by Ishii followed the boma ye on Robinson.
Friday’s show is part two of our look at the New Begining events, taking place February 11, 2015 in Osaka.
Hiroshi Tanahashi is here to talk about his IWGP title match against AJ Styles. He says that he’d give AJ as many title shots as possible until he’s satisfied. Talks about how they first faced off in TNA back in 2005 and while he was a top fighter then, he doesn’t have the sexiness he has now. I see. Says that all of this was probably meant to be.
The match aired. The large part of the match was decent. Everything looked good and was executed well but nothing to particularly write home about. Like every big Bullet Club match, most of the Bullet Club roster was out there. Here’s a “if only this was real” moment: why can’t the ref just throw them out before the match begins? There’s been a precedent of them interfering over and over and over. There has to be some storyline reason why the Bullet Club (which at this point is a good chunk of the New Japan gaijin roster) is out there in full force.
Anyway, this was a perfectly fine technical match for the most part. Tanahashi got busted open after doing a high fly flow, hitting his head against Matt Jackson’s. I missed how this happened live, but thankfully Josh Barnett pointed it out and they showed replays. He got busted open hard way, ouch. Things picked up after that. Tanahashi went for AJ’s leg and AJ tried to free himself by jumping, but in mid air Tanahashi countered with a dragon screw in a really cool move. After a Ganso bomb, AJ hit the Bloody Sunday DDT and pinned Tanahashi after the Styles Clash to become IWGP champion once again. A fine world title match, but these two have had better. I don’t know what it was about this match. Nothing was bad and it was mostly good, but nowhere near the same levels of their previous matches in terms of intensity. Something was just missing – maybe the crowd, or a slower build than other world title matches, but something here was just lacking.
No comment from Tanahashi after the match as he was taken quickly to the back.
Karl Anderson spent a good chunk of the last ten minutes or so introducing the Bullet Club one by one. In a backstage press conference, AJ and Kenny Omega say that now that they have all the titles, the only logical thing to do is to take over the world.
Tanahashi talks about how after the bump that busted him open, the blood seeped into his contact lenses and for the rest of the match he had bloody vision. That doesn’t sound fun in the least bit. He said this road will lead him to the New Japan Cup, and that there will be other chances to claim the belt once again.
A fine show this week. Not a blockbuster by any means, but the show did a good job in advancing the story of the IWGP title this year.
Mascara Dorada and David Finlay defeat Yohei Komatsu and Sho Tanaka. The usual solid match these four have against one another. Not much to write home about but well worked. Dorada wins with the Dorada Screwdriver, pinning Komatsu.
The Addiction (Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels) defeated Juice Robinson and Tiger Mask IV. Robinson is steadily improving, adapting well to the New Japan style and has shown great strides since starting out. Daniels and Kazarian were in control until Robinson started a comeback. Daniels cut off Robinson with a boot and was pinned after Rehab (belly to back suplex into a facebuster). Was fine for what it was.
The Kingdom and Gedo defeated Captain New Japan, Ryusuke Taguchi and Kushida. Captain New Japan was fixated on Maria throughout the entire match. Well, actually, most of the opposition was. Fine six man tag, the usual fare. Captain New Japan was gaining momentum when, of course, Maria went to the top rope and acted interested in CNJ. He went over and took off his belt because…uhh….I don’t know, which led to the Kingdom cutting him off and pinning him with a spike tombstone.
AJ Styles, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Cody Hall and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Jay White, Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan. I would say Yujiro Takahashi is unrecognizable without his blond hair, but I can recognize that sloppy work anywhere. Pretty good match as everyone worked hard and the crowd got into it. Nagata worked a big part of the match and did great. Manabu Nakanishi and Fale traded big guy moves, culminating with a big suplex by Nakanishi. White was tagged in and made a hot comeback, including taking out Tama Tonga but Yujiro came back and planted him with the Miami Shine, pinning him.
Block A: Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe
Good for what it was, but pretty short. Honma went for a kokeshi but Sakuraba grabbed him and put him in a submission in a good spot. He and Sakuraba have pretty good chemistry. Yano shoved Honma into the ref, nearly missed, but Yano low blowed him. Sakuraba followed with a kick and Yano rolled him up for the win.
There was an angle before the next match. Tetsuya Naito’s music played as who we thought was Naito came out, complete in the suit and mask we’ve seen him in before. But when the person took off his mask, it wasn’t Naito but none other than the returning Bushi, who was removed from this card a few days ago due to another injury…or so we thought. He stood on the outside, stoic as the next match began.
Block B: Evil and Tetsuya Natio vs. Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows
They brawled around the ring and into the stands. Anderson teased a powerbomb in the stands but Naito escaped, only to be thrown through the arena exit. Evil grabbed a chair, put it through Anderson’s head and posted his throat into the turnbuckle. That used to put people out for months back in the day. Turned into a long match. Wasn’t bad, just solid work, nothing more. Evil distracted the referee which allowed Bushi to go to the apron. Doc went after him and Bushi sprayed him with what looked like purple mist. Naito followed that with Destino for the win.
Block B: Katsuyori Shibata and Hirooki Goto vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii
Very good match, the best up to this point thanks to the hot crowd. Both Shibata and Goto battled it out against Ishii, doing their usual super stiff back and forth, the crowd eating it all up as Ishii stood tall over his opponents. Goto and Shibata had both of their opponents in double abdominal stretches at one point. Both teams acted like they were, well, regular teams and did some cool tandem offense in places. Crowd ate it up like you wouldn’t believe near the end when Ishii and Shibata were trading offense. Goto came in and took down Ishii, allowing Shibata to hit the penalty kick, scoring the win for his team.
A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin vs. Yoshi Hashi and Kazuchika Okada
Okada and Tanahashi shoved each other before the match. The buildup towards their Tokyo Dome match is that this is more personal than their previous battles, so this is a nice touch. #BigMike is just as over as he was during the G1 as the crowd was very much into his offense, doing all of the stuff that got him over on the last tour, including the falcon arrow from the top rope and the double fallaway slam.If he does that delayed suplex spot on every show he’s going to be over no matter what. Okada and Tanahashi had some good back and forth towards the end. Yoshi Hashi avoided the buckle bomb and at one point laid out Elgin with a reverse DDT. Elgin dodged the swanton bomb. He took Tanahashi and gorilla press slammed him to the floor, wiping out Okada in the process. He grabbed Yoshi-Hashi and gave him the buckle bomb, then pinned him after a spiral bomb. Very good back and forth main event. Overall a strong show, highlighted by two pretty great matches towards the end. Nothing here’s going to resonate as far as year end awards go but it was a fun few hours.
With WrestleKingdom 9 coverage now over, it’s time to move on to the next big card of early 2015, New Beginning! Seems like we’ll have a multi-part look at this event as well since there were two shows, one in Osaka and the other in Sendai. Today’s matches are from the Osaka show, held in the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium on February 11, 2015.
First up is an IWGP tag team title rematch as the former champions Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson take on new champions Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata. This was okay but nothing I’d call interesting until the finishing stretch. There were many stun guns from Anderson, a good comeback from Goto and Shibata then the finish as Shibata was laid out with another gun stun and pinned after the Magic Killer. Aside from a feud with the Kingdom and Maria, they really did nothing with these belts all year so I’m not sure why they did such a sudden switch here. I felt like there was way more juice with Goto and Shibata as champions than Guns and Gallows, but I guess that’s just me.
Anderson said every time we step into Osaka we win, and that’s why we’re the best tag team champions walking on planet Earth.
Taguchi in his sit down interview talked about how champions can ask for rematches and said he wanted another shot as he felt he could win.
The IWGP Jr. title rematch aired. It’s funny because this was the match where Taguchi solidified himself as a midcard opening act by doing all of this new comedy throughout involving his butt. But even with his new gimmick, the work he does in the ring is just kind of bland. There’s nothing wrong with what he does, and there are matches where he’s really good, but he’s never been consistently good like many other juniors in New Japan. This match was fine, but the WrestleKingdom match was much better. A lot of the start of the match was all ass based, believe it or not, because Omega took the Bullet Club flag and, well, tried to penetrate Taguchi. It backfired and resulted in many hip attacks, which are now a staple in just about every Taguchi match now. Eventually it became an okay back and forth with Taguchi being pinned after Omega hit the One Winged Angel. It was fine.
They showed the angle after the match where the Young Bucks attacked Taguchi, with Mascara Dorada and Alex Shelley making the save. Dorada challenged Omega after the match, so we’ll probably see that match in the pipeline.
Omega says in a post match interview that he knows nothing about lucha, but if Dorada wants to take him on, then he will, and he’ll put the title on the line.
Taguchi says he couldn’t get the belt in the end, but it was about how he could improve as the former 69th champion. It’s better to fight freely than to act as a champion. He can do his best when he fights freely, and thinking positively has led him this far. When asked about going for other titles as the 69th champion (he has an affinity for that number, I guess because he’s wacky), he mentions the heavyweight tag team titles, but he doesn’t have a partner.
More big title matches next week as AJ Styles challenges Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight title!
New Japan announced the teams for this year’s World Tag League tournament, which starts on November 21st at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, with the finals on December 9th in Sendai.
Michael Bennett & Matt Taven Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii Tetsuya Naito & Evil Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale A.J. Styles & Yujiro Takahashi Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
Last year’s finals saw Block B winners Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata beat Block A winners Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson.
The Tag League scoring system is identical to that used for the annual G-1 Climax singles tournament.
Today’s show is the fifth and final week of WrestleKingdom 9 footage as we’ll see the main event of Kazuchika Okada taking on IWGP champion Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Hiroshi Tanahashi is interviewed, so the main event is the only full match on the show. They showed footage of Okada’s return from his excursion and shocking the world by pinning Tanahashi for the title not too long after. The question on the screen mentioned it was a successful excursion, which is funny because if anyone knows about Okada’s TNA run it was anything but successful. Tanahashi says he wasn’t prepared for Okada to be near the same level as him. He told Okada when he first returned that the IWGP title was far away from him. In a nice throwback line months later when Tanahashi was gunning for the title, Okada told Tanahashi the same thing. Tanahashi then talks about the co-main event of WrestleKingdom 9, and he wasn’t sure how they were going to compare considering just how great that match was.
The match aired. I was wondering which match was better, this or Nakamura and Ibushi which preceded it. After watching WrestleKingdom 9 live, I thought that this match was better than the Nakamura match. Now I guess I’m flip flopping as I found the co-main better than this match.. Not that this match was horrible or anything, because actually this was still one of the better matches of the year and probably on my top 10 list if I had to make one. There’s something about Ibushi/Nakamura that made it click even more, maybe an intensity that wasn’t there in this match.
Now with that said, this was still an awesome match. The announcers, who were great in this match by the way, mentioned that Tanahashi and Okada have faced off seven other times in the past. Each of those seven matches were awesome in their own way. Very few feuds in modern pro wrestling history are as consistently awesome as Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, and this match once again proved that they are in a league of their own. Just great work and storytelling throughout, lots of crazy spots as well. Tanahashi did the high fly flow from the top rope through the barricade to the floor, which was insane. Okada kicked out of two high fly flows. This is also a testament to protecting finishers. Very few people have kicked out of the rainmaker, and when it happened here people were stunned. It took two more high fly flows from Tanahashi to finish off Okada, his quest to beat Tanahashi at the Tokyo Dome again alluding him.
Okada left the ring crying as Tanahashi cut a promo, saying the the IWGP title is far from you, which again is the same message he gave Tanahashi and Tanahashi gave to him years ago. Okada in a post match interview says this loss was seriously disappointing, as without him who will make money rain? Gedo promises this time next year he’ll be a champion. And sure enough, Gedo lived up to that promise.
Tanahashi tells the fans to continue supporting New Japan in 2015 and says “I LOVE YOU!” as WrestleKingdom 9 concludes.
In his reflective interview, Tanahashi says that even though he won the title, more people remember Okada in that match because for the first time, he showed emotion by crying. When it was mentioned this was the fifth time in a row he’s headlined the Tokyo Dome, he says that nobody has done it before. He wants to win when it matters the most, so he considers himself the ace of the promotion by doing that. Tanahashi mentioned that the Undertaker has many winning records in the WWE, so he wants to have just as many or more.
Top notch show this week, probably one of the better ones that AXS has televised. Definitely check this out.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
Power Struggle from November 7 in Osaka:
JUSHIN LIGER & TIGER MASK & RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & MASCARA DORADA VS. YOHEI KOMATSU & SHO TANAKA & JAY WHITE & DAVID FINLAY
The match was pretty much what you’d expect it to be Great timing. Everyone looked good. Too short. Nobody had time to stand out or show their best. Finlay got to do the most among the Young Lions since he was losing. Several dives and Tiger pinned Finlay after a double arm suplex off the top rope.
Liger challenged Tiger Mask for the NWA jr. title after. He agreed to it. First of what are likely to be several square-offs and challenges tonight
TOGI MAKABE & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN & JUICE ROBINSON VS. DOC GALLOWS & TAMA TONGA & CODY HALL
Crowd was into this one more than you’d think. Robinson hurt his right knee doing a dive. He was hurting pretty bad when he went to the back. Tonga pinned Captain after a Superman punch and a double arm DDT. Glad to see Tonga get a win.
HIROOKI GOTO VS. EVIL TAKAAKI WATANABE
Match wasn’t much but the post-match angle got over really good. Goto had him in a shoudlerlock when Tetsuya Naito walked slowly to the ring. The crowd picked up big for him. He kicked Goto low right in front of the ref for the DQ and was beating on him and beat down Jay White, Yohei Komatsu and Sho Tanaka until Katsuyori Shibata made the save. The crowd popped big for Shibata’s save. Shibata sat in the ring and dared Watanabe & Naito to come in. As Naito was leaving, he knoked down the camera man shooting him visually it was like he was about to attack you through the computer screen.
KENNY OMEGA & CHASE OWENS & YOUNG BUCKS VS. ALEX SHELLEY & KUSHIDA & BOBBY FISH & KYLE O’REILLY
Real good. Lots of cool moves, fast paced and well timed. Kushida got the submission on Owens with the hoverboard lock while O’Reilly had Omega in an armbar over the ropes. Kushida should have beaten Omega since Kushida squared off with Omega after with the belt there. Felt too short as it was just getting going when they went to the finish.
RICOCHET & MATT SYDAL VS. ROCKY ROMERO & BARETTA FOR THE SUPER JUNIOR TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP
Super match. Romero is one of the most unheralded guys in the business. Ricochet & Sydal were great here. The finsh was a double shooting star press, Sydal pinning Baretta while Ricochet hit a benadrylller and a shooting star press at the same time to Romero. Ricochet did a springboard shooting star press to the floor on Baretta as a highlight but the match was filled with highlight moves. Crowd was really into it, particularly down the stretch.
Ricochet & Sydal challenged Fish & O’Reilly for the titles. Romero grabbed the mic. Romero said they just beat the champions at Korakuen Hall so deserve the shot. The Bucks came out and Nick said they were the former champions they wanted a rematch. Fish showed the belt and said we’ve beaten all of you except New Kids on the Block. Fish said we can do it tonight Nick Jackson started quoting Billy Gunn if you’re not down with that. They are setting up a four-way at the Tokyo Dome.
A.J. STYLES & BAD LUCK FALE VS. TORU YANO & YOSHI-HASHI
Predictable finish with Styles pinning Yoshi-Hashi with the Styles clash after a Pele kick and bloody sunday DDT. Good match. Styles looked great but was holding his back when it was over. But he was flying all over the place. Yano did his usual undoing the turnbuckle stuff and kept his program with Fale going. Good match.
TOMOHIRO ISHII VS. TOMOAKI HONMA FOR NEVER OPEN WEIGHT TITLE
A match of the year candidate. These two just killed it, almost as good as their Feburary match. Honma was just incredible with all these spear head-butts and even doing a diving head-butt off the top rope to the floor which is really the worst idea for a guy his age to be doing. Ishii was at his best here. Crowd heat was super. They so badly wanted Honma to take the title. I wish he had but they obviously have long-term plans. The finish saw Honma go for a spear head-butt but Ishii elbowed him in the face as he was coming in, then lariated him and Honma took a spin bump, before hitting the brainbuster for the pin. Some of the match was sick, like the ram head-butts.
Super match. Tanahashi and Okada worked it to get you to want to see the Tokyo Dome match. Shibata’s selling was out of this world and he worked great with Sakruaba, although it was mostly Okada in for his team. The finish saw Shibata & Tanahashi hit a double dropkick on Okada, Shibata did a low dropkick to Sakuraba, Tanahashi hit Sakruaba with the high fly flow, Tanahashi used a plancha on Okada and Shibata hit the GTS on Sakuraba for the pin.
Big angle after the match
Tanahashi did a promo after the match on Okada. Okada was leaving but came back. They went face-to-face. Okada taunted him and Tanahashi went nuts and had to be held back. He broke free and they had a pull-apart brawl. Juice Robinson was out so his knee wasn’t that bad. The brawled outside the ring. Okada got the briefcase and hit Tanahashi in the head and shoulder. Now Okada is all over him. Tanahashi broke free and went after Okada. Tanahashi ran after him and dropkicked him on the floor. Tanahashi broke free again. Okada tried to tombstone him on the floor but everyone broke hat up About a minute after it was over, Tanahashi suddenly broke free and ran to the back after Okada.
SHINSUKE NAKAMURA VS. KARL ANDERSON FOR THE IC TITLE
Good luck to these two trying to follow the past two matches.
Long well worked match. Nakamura’s selling was tremendous and Anderson domianted hitting everything under the sun including a gunstun off the middle rope and a Bernard driver. The finish saw them exchange moves until Nakamura nailed a high kick for the pin. Great counters in the last few minutes.
The surprise guy is A.J. Styles. So that’s the Tokyo Dome No. 2 match. They went head to head. Styles grabbed the belt and handed it to him. Styles told him he was taking the belt from him. The announcers were screaming about the Tokyo Dome. It’ll be a great match but it’s time for some outsiders to be fitted in. Nakamura then talked about facing Styles at the Tokyo Dome.
Dark Match: Yosuke <3 Santa Maria & U-T vs. Dragon Kid & Kzy
Yosuke forgot to shave her armpits tonight. A lovely touch. She would go for her trademark curtsy, but DK would curtsy with her, effectively mocking her. Yes, Yosuke is a her to me. It’s a couple years and the act remains fresh. She slithered around the ring similar to Tonga, only to back her crotch up against the faces of her opponents hanging in the tree of whoa. When the match got serious, the double team maneuvers were spot-on. The kind of balance between strong sport and entertainment that North American companies wish they could produce. Kid went for his handstand knee, only for Yosuke to defend it with a kiss while he stood on his hands. U-T attempted a double team maneuver, missed and accidentally nailed Yosuke. In return, Yosuke almost hit him, but hugged him instead. And then, naturally, french kissed him. The shock and shame caused U-T to get crucifixed by DK for the win.
Akira Tozawa vs. Kaito Ishida
Ishida came out first followed by Over Generation. His cape is far less ridiculous than Lindaman’s. Tozawa came out 10 pounds lighter having dropped the title to Kotoka last week. Ishida chant. He opened with big kicks to Tozawa. Big plancha from the rookie, onto Tozawa on the outside. Back in the ring, Tozawa with the patented closed fist. Ishida made the ropes, fighting out of a Boston crab, young boy style. Tozawa went for the Brainbustah but was countered by Ishida with one of his own. Missle dropkick from Ishida, followed by kicks but Tozawa hulked up and asked for more. Tozawa came back, hitting the rook with big boots and suplexes. Really good final stretch with Tozawa attempting one last German. Finally after much ado, he got it for the victory. Good match, good showing for the kid.
Masaaki Mochizuki & Big R Shimizu vs. Gamma & Takehiro Yamamura
The rookie Yamamura started the match for his team and tagged Mochizuki with a chop early. Mochi returned with a huge kick, but ate a drop kick in return, and then more chops from the kid.The Gammamura team has looked impressive in the past and continued to here, with a good dynamic as a tag team combination. Mochi came back with more chops and a leg lock on the kid, but Gamma dribbled water on his face to break, however he was also sucked into a simultaneousleg lock. More kicks from Mochi but Yamamura fought back made tag. Good stuff with the crowd behind the kid. In the end, Shimizu with the chokeslam for the win. Verserk hit the ring after the match, beat everybody up, and cut promos about being the champs.
Monster Express (Masato Yoshino, T-Hawk & Shachihoko BOY) vs. Over Generation (CIMA, Eita & Lindaman)
I missed the beginning of this. Yoshino, fastest man in wrestling, hit Eita with the quickest offense imaginable. Great triple team work from the men in Orange. Good to see Monster Express strong. They caught a raw deal with Shingo leaving and VerserK really taking off.Hayashi, who is just the best, came in and whooped some ass. Triple planchas from the faces. Two Germans into a Tiger Suplex from Lindaman onto Tiger Fish Boy for the big win, giving OG a nice victory. Yuga Hayashi is friggin’ great.
The Sumos came out before intermission and conducted something of a sumo ceremony mid-ring.
Sumoz vs. VerserK – All Out War #1: Sumo Hagetora (Punch Tominaga) vs. Mondai Ryu
Holy shit, the Sumos have their own theme song, to the melody of “We are Jimmyz”. But rather “We are Sumoz”. This was the friggin’ greatest, for those of us who wondered if they would take the gimmick that far. It’s Ryu vs. Punch, YMMV. Ryu came out like a house of fire, but Punch implored his Matrix based defense. Quick win for Punch here with the PT Kick, in less than 2 minutes. Sumoz winning 1-0.
Sumoz vs. VerserK – All Out War #2: Sumo Susumu, Sumo Kness S.K.S. vs. YAMATO, Kotoka
Sumo chops & Sumo pose from K-Nesuka. Kotoka in, and the BLEEEHS were a plenty. Korakuen not nearly into it as much as the man typing this was. Kotoka now incorporating the moves of fan favorites into modified BLEEEHS. Ok, crowd liked that. Susumu & K-Ness are great as a tag team in Kagetora’s absence, so if they remain Sumoz I can only hope for a little less comedy and more along the lines of their serious Jimmy selves. Susumu in, unable to counter the BLEEEH defense. Kotola got a little too into it and got caught with a top rope exploder.
Yamato back in to elevate the workrate. Nice double teaming from the heels. Gallaria attempt but Susumu yanked Yamato’s trunks into a Sumo g-string form, as a means of defense. Good stuff. Assisted Implant Buster. Susumu & Yamto traded clotheslines, won by Susumu. Heel tactics from Kotoka involving the turnbuckle led to a Gallaria for the pin. Even without Doi, this was pretty good. Tied 1-1.
Sumoz vs. VerserK – All Out War #3: Genki Horiguchi S.U.M.Ooo, Sumo Kanda, Ryo “Sumo” Saito, Sumo Fujii vs. Naruki Doi, Shingo Takagi, Naoki Tanizaki, Cyber Kong
They brawled all over the building to start. Cameras followed Fujii & Yamato, who wasn’t even in the match, throughout the upper deck. Back in the ring, Saito went for some traditional Sumo but was cheapshotted by Cyber Kong. This was not enough to break Saito’s Sumo spirit, however. Eventually a Sumo match spawned. Kong dispersed of three Jimmyz, but got bested by the great Fujii, who then proceeded to put the mack hand down on World Champ Shingo. Triple team from the Sumoz resulted in Fujii chopping Tanizaki’s crotch. Seemed painful.
Match became more of a standard tag, though the heat hadn’t really gone off the charts yet. Cycling Yahoo from all 4 Sumoz resulted in Fujii fumbling through the move, which was pretty funny. Mondai Ryu interfered but Punch took care of him. Horiguchi backslide on Shingo for a hot 2.9. Shingo hit the last falconry in return but that was broken up. All hell broke loose with mass interference and combination maneuvers, ending in Saito hitting his SaiRyo Rocket splash for the win. Big win for the Sumoz.
VerserK cleared the ring after the match and cut promos, despite taking the L. Gamma was called out by Shingo. He proceeded to show up with kendo stick in hand and put a beating on the World Champ, this setting up a Shingo/Gamma title match, a bridge to Shingo vs. CIMA. 20 minutes of promos followed, setting up the next show.
Final Thoughts:
This was a good show, fun show. Nothing over-the-top great wrestling wise, but more like an 80’s episode of NWA Saturday Night, with everything coming across as high energy and keeping the ball rolling for a product that is currently the hottest in the world.
Kota Ibushi, one of the top performers in the world over the past decade, will be out of action indefinitely due to a herniated disc.
Both New Japan and DDT, the two companies he’s under contract two, made the announcement today. Ibushi missed his weekend DDT shows and the rumor was that he had a serious health issue. At the press conference, it was announced that even though he won’t be wrestling for a while and his New Japan contract expires in January, that he will be renewed by the company even though he won’t be wrestling soon.
New Japan made the announcement that he would be out of Saturday’s Power Struggle show. DDT announced he would be out of action “a long time.”
Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi were scheduled to face Kazuchika Okada & Kazushi Sakuraba on Saturday’s show at the Edion Arena in Osaka. The match was to set up Sakuraba vs. Ibushi, although there were issues with that match taking place given Sakuraba’s MMA fight with Shinya Aoki on 12/27 for Rizin.
A replacement is expected to be announced shortly. Katsuyori Shibata is not booked on the card so he would make sense.
New Japan announced the complete card for Saturday’s show:
Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi & Mascara Dorada vs. Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka & David Finlay & Jay White Togi Makabe & Captain New Japan & Juice Robinson vs. Doc Gallows & Cody Hall & Tama Tonga Hirooki Goto vs. King of Darkness EVIL (Takaaki Watanabe) Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly & Alex Shelley & Kushida vs. Young Bucks & Chase Owens & Kenny Omega Matt Sydal & Ricochet vs. Rocky Romero & Baretta in the Super Junior tag tournament finals Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi vs. A.J. Styles & Bad Luck Fale Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma for Never Open Weight title Hiroshi Tanahashi &? vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Kazuchika Okada Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson for IWGP IC title
