Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Leo Tonga vs. SANADA, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi
New Japan are finding themselves in an interesting situation with Los Ingobernables these days, as they’re meant to be heelish tweeners but all of them are now getting full on babyface heat. Reminds me of the early Toryumon days, when Crazy MAX had to be turned because the fans loved them so much. This is a fine little opener with Hiromu playing Ricky Morton in peril effectively and SANADA/BUSHI getting their spots in following the hot tag. SANADA pulls off a truly fearless no-touch plancha suicida that totally wows the crowd. The premeditated murder of Darryl at the hands of Bad Luck Fale plays into the ending as Hiromu distracts the big man with his beloved cat to set-up BUSHI’s EVIL GREEN MYST and flash rollup win. **1/2
Hirooki Goto & Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr
The Suzuki/Sabre team is truly a force to be reckoned with. Two submission machines ripping people apart limb by limb. Hopefully they stick them together in the December tag league: lots of potential. Anyway, this starts off as an actually very good pro-wrestling match and then turns into more of an angle to further a potential Suzuki/Yano NEVER title match. The first half of the match is the Zack Sabre Jr show and he just looks great tying his opponents into knots and finding clever ways to torture them. At some point, Goto goes for his trademark flying elbowdrop but Sack counters beautifully with a cross armbreaker. Suzuki goes FULL-HEEL for the finish as he drags Yano to the outside and ties him up with rope in order to slap him around, but the plan backfires when Yano manages to hop back into the ring and Suzuki-Gun get counted out. This allows Yano to steal the NEVER title and take off, sending Suzuki into BERSERKER MODE. With this teasing of a Suzuki/Yano program, are Minoru’s main event days fully over? **3/4
Ryusuke Taguchi & Ricochet (c) vs. Sho Tanaka & Kyohei Yomatsu – IWGP Jr Tag-Team Titles
So, Rocky Romero’s mystery Roppongi 3K team turns out to be none other than the Tempura Boyz, returning from their oversea excursion and joining the ranks of CHAOS! The crowd pops big time for their return and they both look great with silver and gold pants. The match starts off fast and furious and the returning Sho N’ Yo immediately win the crowd over with STEREO TOPE CON HILOS. After a lot of wacky criss-cross counter action, the action slows down as the Tempuras work over Taguchi for an extended period of time and kind of lose the crowd in the process. You can tell they’re still figuring out some stuff, which is normal considering their age. The action picks up again when Ricochet gets the hot tag and starts going through all of his nutty spots. His long chains of offense feel exhibition-y at times, but I can’t deny his stuff looks great. The match takes an unexpected turn when Ricochet’s aforementioned chain of high spots is stopped dead in its tracks by Sho Tanaka who comes in and starts rolling German suplexing the holy HELL out of everything in sight. This instantly turns the match around and allows Roppongi 3K to pick up the major upset with a flapjack/Complete shot combo. A super fun match and a perfect way to re-introduce Tanaka and Yomatsu. Was particularly impressed with Sho who showed great fire and facial expressions, while Kyohei seemed to be adjusting still. Looking forward to see how they develop as tag champions and hopefully reinvigorate the junior division. ***1/2
Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. (c) vs. Raymond Rowe & Hanson vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa – IWGP Tag-Team Title – 3-Way Tornado Match
Truth be told, New Japan’s tag team division is a low point for me and the matches tend to be an absolute chore to get through. That being said, I have to give credit to these guys for putting their working boots on and making this potential car crash actually fun to watch. The pace is very fast from the get go and as uninteresting as all of these guys can be, the match never actually becomes dull. They also work some fairly elaborate reversals throughout and the execution always remains pretty solid. The story of the match becomes that each team’s finisher gets kicked out of, so the three teams have to take things to the next level, and they do so by going for the weaponry. Things escalate quickly into a WWE hardcore match, with trash can lids, kendo sticks, chairs, etc. Hanson actually steals the show for the ending stretch as he busts out a lot of impressive high spots for a guy of his considerable size. He eventually gets caught into a Killer Bomb through a table, allowing KES to retain the belts. I was honestly expecting a lot worse than this. Crisis averted for now, but NJPW really need to freshen up the tag division as they’ve done about everything they can by now with the combination of these three teams. ***
YOSHI-HASHI, Beretta & Jado vs. Kenny Omega, Cody & Marty Scurll
Kenny is in the same boat as the LIJ guys now, getting a full-on babyface reaction when he comes out. He actually plays up to it now and goes to fans at ring-side to give them the Bullet Club hand sign. This is a harmless little 6-man tag that serves as build-up for the eventual Kenny/YOSHI-HASHI US title match. Should the permanently average YOSHI-HASHI actually be getting that title shot? That’s a whole different debate, but at least Kenny seems determined to make it work. He’s now basing a lot of his shtick into treating YOSHI-HASHI as an unworthy punk and it makes for some fun interactions. The main portion of this match is mostly Bullet Club comedy shenanigans and it all works pretty well due to the crowd being so into them. Marty and Jado work a funny finger-breaking spot with Jado over-selling hilariously. Jado eventually goes for the Crossface but Scurll reverses into his chickenwing submission for the win. It has to be said that Scurll has one of the flimsiest chickenwings ever. Dude needs to watch some old Backlund or ROH-era Bryan Danielson. **3/4
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe vs Ibushi Kota & Juice Robinson
The honorable MASAHIRO CHONO comes out to sit on commentary for this one and you love it. The main story here is Tanahashi vs. Ibushi and Sumo Hall is psyched for it. Ibushi got the upset over Tana during the G1 and now he wants a shot at the Intercontinental belt. The veteran team works almost-heel to open the match as Makabe tears into Juice and they cut the ring in half for a bit. The pace picks up when Ibushi gets the tag and Tanahashi bumps his ass off for him. This rivalry of sorts with Ibushi is a weird one to have at this stage of Tanahashi’s career, considering how broken down he is, his golden years firmly behind him. Still, they actually work pretty well together considering Tana’s physical limitations and they do some cool stuff including Tanahashi countering a big high kick into a dragon screw. All four guys get involved into a big your-move-my-move pile up for the ending until Juice clocks Makabe with his BIG PUNCH and connects with the Pulp Friction for the win. Perfectly worked 10 minute tag with everyone getting over. ***
KUSHIDA (c) vs. Will Ospreay – IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title
Ospreay comes out with freaking SPIDERMAN-inspired entrance gear. Like a lot of stuff Ospreay does, I can’t quite decide if that is amazing or the goofiest thing ever. These two go for each other right away and they waste no time heading outside and working some truly insane spots. Two amazing reversals stand out from the opening: Ospreay cutting off a KUSHIDA flying attack off a chair with a flying forearm off the guardrail, and then KUSHIDA countering a freaking Space Flying Tiger Drop with a cross armbreaker on the floor. Then the match takes a weird direction as KUSHIDA follows up that amazing arm-targeting spot by working over Ospreay’s…leg? They split the mid-section of the match between nutty acrobatics and KUSHIDA sort of randomly working over limbs. My favorite moments of the match are actually when they stop flipping around for a minute and try to make us believe there’s actually some hatred involved, notably Kushida stomping a mudhole in Ospreay’s face to a chorus of boos. The ending stretch is non-stop flippy craziness and the whole thing becomes very problematic for me when it reaches the point where the spots and counters are so contrived that I can no longer tell which man is on the receiving end of the offense. Props for the flawless execution on all of these acrobatics, but it stops looking like a wrestling match at some point. Here I am, in full midlife crisis mode sounding like Jim Cornette. Anyway, Ospreay survives KUSHIDA’s Hoverboard lock and catches him with the Os Cutter for the win. The crowd pops big time. Good for them but I can’t say that I’m looking forward to these Ospreay videogame wrestling title defenses. Not for me. ***1/4
Hiromu comes out post-match, but before he can challenge for the belt, Marty Scurll crashes the scene and breaks his finger, calling dibs on that first challenge. Yeah, not super excited for that one.
Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii – IWGP Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership
These two have had a bit of a low key rivalry throughout the year, facing off at one of the New Japan USA shows with Naito picking up the win, and then meeting in the G1 where Ishii would avenge his loss. Of course, Naito went on to win the G1, but before he can reach the Tokyo Dome main event he has to defend his #1 contendership against one of the few people that stood in his way during this summer’s tournament. Their previous matches have all been very good but this is on a whoooole other level. There’s three plot threads driving this thing: the increasing familiarity between both guys, Naito going after Ishii’s knee, and finally the pure HATRED between the two. These guys treat each other like crap and it is a thing of beauty. Naito’s troll game reaches its apex in this match with the spitting, slapping and just being a total dick to Ishii who eventually explodes with brutality (God damn, those THROAT CHOPS).
Naito relies on the leg work just enough to turn the tide of the match when needed, so it doesn’t become too much of a crutch. They work a lot of really smart counters playing off their previous matches, but the best stuff comes from those moments when Naito pushes Ishii over the edge and ends up paying for it. There’s a great revenge spot where Ishii powers through a Dragon suplex, SPITS at Naito and then shoot headbutts the crap out of him. The entire ending stretch is expertly put together so that every near-fall is believable and gets huge heat: Ishii’s monster Superplex and Last Ride, Naito’s top-rope Frankensteiner, etc. The match peaks when Naito starts going for the Destino and Ishii somehow counters one of them by deadlifting his opponent into a Brainbuster! Amazing. Ishii keeps trying to go for that killer Brainbuster but ends up eating a full on Destino and KICKS OUT for a huge reaction. Another Destino seals the deal for Naito as he stays right on track for the Tokyo Dome. Just a really great match topping all of the previous encounters between these two. Epic violence, character work and massive near-falls. ****1/4
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. EVIL – IWGP Heavyweight Title
Similar back story as the previous match: EVIL picked up a big upset against Okada during the G1 and now he gets a shot at the belt. The video package for this thing is absolutely epic as we get an interview with EVIL recorded inside his villainous ANCIENT CASTLE. There’s a lot of beard stroking going on here. The ridiculousness (I mean this positively) goes up a notch during the entrances as EVIL goes FULL UNDERTAKER, getting carried to the ring by a horde of cloaked disciples while he sits on his throne as King of Darkness. The guy has a cheesy gimmick, so they might as well go all out with it. They work this match as a direct sequel to their G1 blockbuster but also make sure it fits right into the canon of Okada’s legendary 2017 IWGP title run. It also continues Okada’s neck injury storyline, which contributed to his downfall in the G1. After a slow start with both men testing out the other, EVIL takes the action outside and rips Okada’s neck from his body with a nasty chair shot.
EVIL stays focused on the neck and while his limb work isn’t exactly amazing, Okada’s selling is so ridiculously good that he manages to make the whole thing work. Throughout the years, Okada’s become a master at working in references to his previous matches with his opponents (see the whole series with Tanahashi) and this match has tons of very cool callbacks to the G1 match. If EVIL caught Okada by surprise during the G1, the callbacks in this match show that Okada very much learned from his mistakes and has an answer for EVIL’s big spots. The best example of this is an aaaawesome sequence where EVIL tries to stop Okada’s guardrail cross body with a chair shot (like in the G1 match), but Okada DUCKS UNDER and connects with the move! This match also furthers another Ace Okada storyline that I’m enjoying greatly: Okada showing more physicality and contempt in his matches. It’s like he absorbed the stiffness and dickishness of the Suzuki and Shibata matches and integrated them to his Ace persona.
One thing that hurts this match a little bit: you can tell the crowd has been drained by the two previous matches and isn’t 100% for this one. Okada and EVIL still put together a fantastic ending sequence that plays on the themes of the match (the key one being Okada having figured out EVIL) and the champion takes it home with a wicked spinning Tombstone Piledriver followed by a big Rainmaker. Maybe not as explosive as their G1 match, but still an excellent match that fits right into the 2017 Okada title run story. A lot to like. ****1/4
Post-match, Gedo calls out Naito and the LIJ leader comes out to hype up the Tokyo Dome main event. HYPE!
Rock-solid show after an understandably quiet post-G1 run. Not a bad match on the card and an actively fun undercard with huge Sumo Hall heat. Looking forward to the Tanahashi/Ibushi title match and the integration of Roppongi 3K/Tempura Boyz on the main roster.
