Category: Japan

This is an interesting episode as the entire hour is dedicated to the IWGP Heavyweight championship match from Invasion Attack 2015, with Kota Ibushi challenging AJ Styles for the title.

This’ll wrap up our look at the Invasion Attack 2015 show, which took place on April 5, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan at Sumo Hall.

First up is the retrospective interview with Kota Ibushi. He put over the IWGP title and mentioned it’s the biggest title in Japan. He’s proud of himself because his skills are good enough to be in New Japan. When it comes to AJ, he considered him one of the best in the world. He also put over Styles in that Styles had the strongest skills.

I was surprised they took the whole hour to air this, but they took smart commercial breaks and the match did. They took it slow for the first half of the match, very much doing a feeling out process. They did occasional big moves but built up to a great series of moves, including a tease from Kota Ibushi with the attempt of the dragon suplex from the top rope. Ibushi was going for a hurricanrana from the top rope at one point, Styles teased the Clash from the top rope but Ibushi countered. That was a really cool tease.

Another tease I liked was when Omega came out to distract Kota Ibushi. He and Ibushi were synonymous with each other in DDT, teaming together on many occasions. I liked the subtleties of what Omega did as he seemed conflicted, and not outright heelish in his interference. Ibushi tried for a Phoenix Splash, but AJ countered into the Styles Clash and got the win there. Really fantastic match that lived up to everyone’s expectations.

IWGP Champion AJ Styles vs. Kota Ibushi

Crowd was really into this. AJ Styles was truly someone special when in New Japan as he had a presence not too many on the roster have. Ibushi has that presence too, and people buy him as someone who can headline. He’s been out for the last few months with herniated discs, which is hardly surprising considering the type of matches that he has where he completely destroys his body with crazy moves, but that’s the price you pay for doing this kind of style once or even twice a month. When Ibushi returns, and if he can go at this level still when he does, it should be a no-brainer that he, along with Omega, should be the two to fill the void that’s being left by AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura’s departures.

Styles was celebrating his win when Okada came in and cleared everyone out of the ring on his own, laying out Styles with the rainmaker. Gedo takes the mic and says he’ll wrap up the show for him, saying Okada will make it rain in the world of professional wrestling.

Okada mentions that he’s come back for the belt, since he slammed Fale in the ring – he’s really rocking it right now. He’s back, watch him go on a rampage. Gedo says he’ll take it back by force.

Ibushi in his post match interview says he considered it like his last big match, but still couldn’t win. He was very despondent. He says if he could challenge for the belt again, he’d really like to get revenge. You could really feel for him. It’s so weird in WWE they try and dismiss wins and losses because they think everyone knows its fake so it doesn’t matter. But people like seeing wins and losses because even if everyone knows it’s predetermined, they want their favorites to succeed and win, and are with them even at their lowest point, much like Ibushi was here. If you render every win and loss meaningless, why are you even out there supporting guys they want you to like?

Ibushi mentions that he felt like he lost the match in many ways – he was never able to get advantage like he wanted. When Omega interfered, he felt like time stopped. He didn’t feel it had any impact in the match. He still doesn’t know why he joined Bullet Club, but he hopes he can team with him again someday.

Really fine episode of this program. Featured an excellent match, good interviews and some interesting perspectives on things you wouldn’t otherwise get on a regular New Japan feed.

This week, we get more matches from Invasion Attack 2015, which took place on April 5 of that year.

IWGP Tag Team Champions Gallows and Anderson vs. Mike Bennett and Matt Taven

I should mention that the latter team is mostly just two entities to wrestle while the New Japan cameras oogle over Maria Kanellis.. Not that the Kingdom suck, because they don’t, but really the focus and the draw of the team was always made clear to be Maria.

I wasn’t into these series of matches. Nothing wrong with them technically, but it never went beyond a certain level and felt like they dragged at times. The big pop or climax of the match always revolved around Anderson being into Maria, and she’d jiggle as the Kingdom made their comeback. The finish of the match was exactly that, with Bennett getting the win on Anderson after hitting their spike piledriver finish. It wasn’t bad, like I said, just utterly fine and acceptable, nothing more.

Karl said Maria and him were this close to kissing. Doc Gallows came in and said Maria was one dead bitch. Well, that was really nice of him.

Taven cut a promo saying that winners go home and BLEEP with the prom queens (play Scrabble with?) and made fun of the marks in the back and on Twitter. Bennett said this was the end of the Bullet Club and the start of the Kingdom. I guess Bennett isn’t Nostradamus.

Next up, no New Japan card is complete without a six man!

Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito & Togi Makabe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Yoshi-Hashi & Tomohiro Ishii

The focus of this match was on Goto and Nakamura. Everything was really well done. Nothing in here that would be considered truly awesome but everyone did their job well. That’s a core definition of a New Japan six man tag. Nakamura kept doing a binoculars gesture throughout the match as he was “looking for Goto” as he didn’t see him near the Intercontinental title. What he also didn’t see was Goto pinning him with the shouten kai.

Makabe after the match talked about Ishii, told him not to run away as they’re set to tango for at least the next year over the NEVER title. Goto names himself next in line for an IC title show and says he’ll regret that he picked a fight with him. Nakamura says he still can’t see anything, but Goto is the one not seeing straight as he accepts his challenge.

It’s Okada in the hot seat this week as he talks about Fale, and how he lost to him quickly in the New Japan Cup. He says he’s very skillful, but not a monster, as he is the monster. He mentions that the appeal of slamming the giant is still something, as he recalls Hogan slamming Andre the Giant. There were a number of factors that ended up playing into this match.

The main event of this week’s show is up next.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Luck Fale

Ranallo is really good, and he totally deserves the Announcer of the Year award, but he need to not repeat himself so often. He keeps talking about “Okada’s failed tenure in a promotion that won’t be named” even though I’ve heard that story many times since watching this show, namely through him. Not a huge deal, but just something worth noting.

As far as the match goes, it was fine. Okada looked excellent here in laying out the match and being in control. In matches like these, Fale works really well. He’s not what I would call good, but he’s good enough that he can be carried when it comes to high profile matches like these. The match came off very well as this battle between one of New Japan’s best against a dominant opponent who meant business like Fale. They built up the big spot where Okada finally tombstoned Bad Luck Fale, then pinned him with the Rainmaker for the win. Not an all time awesome match, but pretty good thanks to Okada.

Okada says it was too easy, he felt nothing. Gedo says Okada will move up even further now in the cards. In his reflective interview, he mentions that now that he hit the tombstone on Fale, he feels that momentum is on his side.

Nice show this week. Nothing off the charts, but plenty of good action throughout.

This morning literally marks the road to a New Beginning as Shinsuke Nakamura is set to make his final appearance in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Nakamura’s career has always gone in different paths than normal wrestlers who made their way through the New Japan system. He won the IWGP championship within his first year of wrestling, which is something that almost never happens, be it New Japan or anywhere else in the world. He was alright in his role as a main eventer, but came across as bland and uninteresting, perhaps due to the fact he was put in the spotlight very quickly and wasn’t able to find himself. It wasn’t until his return from an excursion in Mexico where he became known for his charismatic style that made him into a bona fide star in New Japan, not just a guy headlining cards.

But now he’s leaving the promotion that made him  to test new waters – the WWE. Personally, I think he’ll do fine as you need to be charismatic in the WWE to truly succeed, and Nakamura has that down pat. It’s also up to creative and luck of the draw. But at least here, tonight, we’ll be able to see him one last time as a true headliner and top star of one of the biggest promotions in the world.

They’re treating this as a bigger deal than most “Road To” shows as there is commentary and a multiple camera setup tonight.

Hirai Kawato vs. David Finlay

Finlay’s titantron respectfully gives his birth year and stats. That’s kinda plain…then again, I guess that’s the goal of a young lion. Kawato seems very tiny, even by young lion standards. Finlay, who is also a junior heavyweight, dwarfed him. He’s the eighteen year old straight out of the dojo. He looked fine, a bit green but that’s expected in his second match ever. Finlay looked great. Its these kind of matches that make you feel like you’re seeing great results from the New Japan young lion system as you see noticeable improvements a year in. Finlay submitted him with a Boston crab.

Jay White vs. Yoshi-Hashi

It’s so rare to see a Yoshi-Hashi singles match…I think I can count on one hand how many televised singles matches he’s had in the last year! White also looked very good here. If it wasn’t for Chad Gable being a bit more colorful I think he would have gotten more votes for rookie of the year. People were into him and he got a few near close calls, including a crossface. YH eventually powerbombed him then bridged him for the win.

Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask vs. Satoshi Kojima, Jushin Thunder Liger and Hiroyoshi Tenzan

I wonder if Liger and Tiger Mask are still feuding over the NWA Junior Heavyweight title. They kept pushing Nakanishi out of the ring as they worked over Tiger Mask and Nagata. He finally got a tag and Nakanishi looked slightly more mobile than usual in making a comeback, which isn’t saying a lot. He ran roughshod on everyone. Tencozy made their comeback with the 3D and Kojima pinned Nakanishi with a lariat. Solid bout given the participants.

Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi

This seems to be a continuation of a feud that’s been going on lately between Yano and Bad Luck Fale, but now it’s also over Yano’s six man tag titles. Not much of a match, just some back and forth with added Yano antics. He did his taunt as Fale was going to the grenade but Yano caught him. Yano tried to use the ref as a distraction, but not only did it not work, Takahashi low blowed him. Fale followed that with the grenade and pinned Yano.

They showed the press conference where Nakamura relinquished the Intercontinental title during intermission.

Ryusuke Taguchi, Kushida & Captain New Japan vs. Evil, Bushi and Tetsuya Naito

This tour, Taguchi decided he’s going to dress like Dr. Doom: green cape, mask, everything. As usual, Taguchi & Kushida did most of the work and didn’t seem interested in tagging in CNJ. I don’t blame them since he takes the pin in literally every match he’s ever been in. Regardless, I guess because he hasn’t been around most of this month Korakuen Hall were into his comeback. Kushida tried to do a run in but Bushi sprayed him and did a suicide dive. The rest of Los Ingobernables left Taguchi lying with their finish, then Evil laid out CNJ with the STO for the win. The finish was hot, everything else was just okay.

After the match, Bushi cut a promo saying he hopes he’s looking forward to his last title defense.

Kenny Omega, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and Cody Hall vs. Michael Elgin, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma and Juice Robinson

Typical multi man NJPW tag match with all the usual tropes. Doesn’t mean it’s bad, actually the last few minutes were pretty great. Elgin powerbombed Anderson into the rest of the Bullet Club. Omega came back in and hit a reverse rana, which was pretty damn amazing. He hit a running knee to the corner, taking out Robinson, then pinned him with a knee strike very similar to the boma ye, I guess to mock Nakamura. Another solid match.

They aired a fantastic video highlighting all the big moments of Nakamura’s career, from his debut match to winning the IWGP championship for the first time in 2003, the arrival of Chaos, winning the G1 Climax in 2011, winning the Intercontinental championship for the first time, and much more.

Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Kazuchika Okada and Shinsuke Nakamura

Korakuen became lit when Nakamura’s music hit. Signs were everywhere. They teased Nakamura and Tanahashi squaring off but Goto came in instead and he and Okada started. He’s been acting way more heelish since the title callout earlier this month, but that’s probably just through the title match. Mostly a straightforward match where everyone worked each other’s rivals. Fans were into whenever Nakamura did his trademark spots. Nakamura has Tanahashi down at one point and motioned for the boma ye but Shibata and Goto laid him out. Tanahashi went for the high fly flow but got the knees up. Nakamura went for the boma ye, but Tanahashi countered with the slingblade. Shibata and Ishii closed out the match. After a good back and forth sequence, Ishii pinned him with a brainbuster. Just a tag match, but a good one.

Omega hit the ring. He said that Nakamura calls this a graduation, but he’s just scared of facing him. Tanahashi then appears. After saying a few lines, he makes it clear that he is X, and will face him at New Beginning. Omega leaves, unamused.

Nakamura takes the mic and says he won’t say goodbye, but thanks everyone. The rest of Chaos come out to celebrate with him as they posed for pictures. Both Okada and Nakamura were emotional as Okada put Nakamura on his shoulders and they left the arena.

Very memorable show for the ending and main event, obviously. Usual solid action up and down the card.

Tonight’s episode took place on April 5, 2015 at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan, our first look at the matches that took place on the Invasion Attack 2015 card.

First up we have the Young Bucks taking on Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) for the IWGP Junior tag team championships. I believe this is their first tour together, as Romero’s former partner Alex Kozlov has taken a sabbatical from wrestling at the start of this year. I always like it when they do singles matches in this division. This was the year they went overboard on the multi tag bouts that are fine, but get kind of stale if you do them over and over. I don’t mind a multi-man match every now and then, but I’d like to see more singles tag team bouts in 2016 as I just feel it means a bit more when competiing for a title. Very good stuff overall in this bout. Romero is pretty underrated in these kind of matches, he’s really tremendous in what he does and he’s usually the most over guy in the division. They win the titles with the Omori Driver/dropkick combination.

After the match Romero says let’s get the party started in Roppongi. Backstage, Romero says that Beretta has proved himself here tonight by winning the titles. Beretta says this is just the beginning and joked they were just going to go to McDonalds or something to celebrate.

Kenny Omega faced Mascara Dorada next for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship. This was easily the highlight of Dorada’s tour as he looked great. His agility is outstanding and and is a really refined worker in knowing the style of New Japan while also implementing lucha libre moves. Omega looked fine in keeping up with Dorada and they had a really great match. It’s astonishing that they didn’t do more with Dorada during his excursion in New Japan. I would have loved to see him work a match with Kushida (they did, but it was really short during the Super Juniors tournament). Feels like a waste of talent just putting him in multi man tags. He lost here, with Omega getting the win with the One Winged Angel.

Omega takes a mic after the match and says that as the master of dark custodial arts he’s cleaned up Mexican and Japanese trash, but now it’s time to take out the worst – American trash. Shelley, who is helping Dorada after the match, is called out by Omega. They two have a staredown before Omega bails. Omega is prone to over-acting in promos as I guess he’s going for an anime heel vibe in terms of delivery, but he was fine here.

Shelley says he (Omega) can clean up his body parts after their match as he’ll take him out piece by piece. How can you do that if your body parts are all over the place? He promises he’ll be the next champion..

Time for a chat with Kazushi Sakuraba. He thought forming a tag team with Toru Yano would be interesting, and felt most natural to him. After not knowing if he’s a member of Chaos or not, he talks about facing Shibata. He says when you are in the ring, you have to think of everyone as your enemy. He doesn’t really have anything special to say in facing Shibata.

Sakuraba, teaming with Toru Yano, faces Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuyori Shibata in the main event of this program. This is interesting, as Shibata and Sakuraba are facing off against one another despite coming back to New Japan together in 2012 as Laughter7. They did a lot of technical wrestling and looked good, since both have experience in MMA (obviously). Got very heated towards the end as Sakuraba fireman carries Shibata to the floor and taps him out with a kimura. I liked the latter half of this match, but the first just kind of stalled. I didn’t buy this as a main event, but obviously this is just one part of a multi-show series on the event, and I guess it was fine when you think about that.

Yano after the match says Tanahashi is no longer the ace and will change him into a garbage wrestler. Sakuraba says he came to NJPW to stir things up. He suggests Tanahashi should face Shibata. He also says he would face him if he got the chance. Tanahashi simply says Yano got him.

Tonight’s episode will feature the semifinals and finals of the 2015 New Japan Cup, which was held on March 15, 2015 at Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall.

First semifinal shown is between Hirooki Goto and Togi Makabe. They only showed a few minutes of highlights, but was as solid as you were gonna get with this time. Goto won after a roll up. It’s usually during these kind of tournaments where they do finishes like that as opposed to their actual finishers.

Tetsuya Natio & Kota Ibushi followed. This is one of those matches that are four star plus level in New Japan, which is awesome, but isn’t good enough to be truly memorable because it’s been a year of spectacular matches. Rewatching this again made me remember just how great of a worker Ibushi is. He not only has the basics down but he has the flash and charisma in his bouts to really be something. Naito has all of this as well, but of course has switched his style and that’s worked out better for him in recent months. Just a bunch of crazy back and forth moves. Naito did a sick reverse rana on the top rope and Ibushi landed right on his head. He must have Daniel Bryan syndrome or something as one’s body can only take so much damage for so long before there are repercussions. Naito took a ganso bomb. Ibushi finally got the win with a press powerbomb. Terrific match.

Ibushi in a post fight interview says he can’t lose now, he has to, and will, win.

Pre-match sitdown interview time! Ibushi talks about how the tournament style works for him the best, as he has to give his all in every match, or else he’ll be eliminated. When talking about Goto, he mentions that his performance and clumsy and straightforward, and would have thought the same if he would have faced Makabe in the finals.

The finals aired next. Really good match, though not as dynamic as the previous match. It was stiff and unpleasant to watch at times, but Ibushi’s timing is excellent and Goto has always been top notch in these kind of performances. The crowd was hot for everything and helped a lot too. Lots of back and forth action, especially towards the latter stages of the game where Ibushi was coming up with a lot of cool reversals and nearfalls. Eventually, Ibushi scores the big win with a phoenix splash and pins Goto to win the New Japan Cup.

After the match, announcer Shinpei Nogami asks Ibushi what title he would like to challenge for. Ibushi says he wants to challenge for all of them, but he wants to fight AJ and wants that title shot. He says he’ll beat AJ and thanks everyone for coming.

In his post match interview, he thanks Goto & Naito for their performances tonight. He wants to answer back for the fans’ support as they are always supporting him, so he’ll do his best against AJ. In the reflective interview, he had always wanted a shot at the IWGP title, so he challenged for it. 

Good show. All three matches were good, with the last two being pretty good to great.