Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Togi Makabe, David Finlay, Henare, Hirai Kawato & Katsuya Kitamura
I was oddly psyched for this opening match considering how hard-working and/or beloved everyone involved is, but the crowd remains mostly quiet, which hurts the action a bit. I do appreciate how loudly they boo when Kawato breaks up Liger’s Romero Special attempt though. True Liger stans. Everyone gets in one or two spots and Kojima ends up taking Kawato’s head off with a monster lariat for the win. INSANE bump from Kawato on said lariat, which has Milano marking out. I’m so glad Milano’s doing commentary for this show. **
Michael Elgin, Jeff Cobb, Raymond Rowe & Hanson vs. Hangman Page, Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens & Leo Tonga
This one seemed to work a lot better for the Fukuoka crowd. Fast-paced US indie-flavored spot-fest with a Ring of Honor-tastic mix of flippy-floppy acrobatics, monster suplexes and LEG-SLAPPING STRONG STYLE~! That last sentence sounded super snarky, but the match was pretty fun. The Bullet Club guys kept up and everyone managed to get over. The Elgin/Cobb/War Machine TWITTER-BASED TENSION seems fully resolved, so I’m guessing they squashed the beef on the December 9th show, which I chose not to review/watch out of pure house show phobia. War Machine wrap it up with the Fallout on certified BIG BOI Leo Tonga. **1/2
Bad Luck Fale vs. BUSHI
BUSHI comes out with the most epic white suit and mask, looking like a real superstar. I was ready to dig this match, as I love me a good David vs. Goliath pairing, but the whole thing barely lasts 5 minutes. BUSHI gets squashed until he stops Fale dead in his tracks with THE EVIL BLACK MYST and gets DQ’ed right away. Not sure what was the point of this? Foreshadowing an all-out war between the Bullet Club and LIJ for next year? No idea. *
Juice Robinson & Sami Callihan vs. Beretta & Chuckie T
Death Juice had a great run in the tag league, having fun matches with everyone and they cap it off here with an action-packed 10 minute barn-burner with the very reliable Best Friends. The opening bits of this match are straight out of a WCW cruiserweight classic: lots of fluid headlock takedowns and dropkicks. I dig it. Everyone here has super sharp execution and Death Juice are total pros at keeping the crowd engaged. Another thing I also like about Robinson: the guy does great spit-take sell jobs when he gets kicked in the face. I think this might’ve been Chuckie T’s best showing yet? He started off iffy on the tour opener, relying too much on shtick, but he adapted throughout the tour and now works really well as a straight-up babyface. We get a bunch of cool dives, including a BIG-TIME top-rope plancha from Juice and a wicked tope con hilo from Chuckie. The ending stretch is shockingly effective as these guys have me (and the crowd) biting on at least three different false finishes before Best Friends finally put away Sami with the Strong Zero (Dudebuster/Diving foot stomp combo). Tons of fun! ***1/4
Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, Lancer Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr & El Desperado
This is nowhere near as hateful and stiff as some of the previous Goto/Suzuki encounters on the tour, but it’s still quite solid. We get some Yano comedy to kick things off and Archer is an amazing foil for this kind of shtick. There’s the usual Suzuki-Gun outside brawling, an extended beatdown on YOSHI-HASHI and a totally rad, Johnny-Smith approved BRITISH FALL from Davey Boy. Then the focus switches back to Goto/Suzuki and maaaan, these two work so well together. Lots of criss-cross rope-running mind games and swift reversals. Goto uses Suzuki’s own tongue-sticking sleeper on Desperado, then wrecks him with the GTR for the win. Post-match, we get an epic Suzuki promo that officially sets up the NEVER title match at the Dome… with GOTO’S GLORIOUS HAIR ON THE LINE. Goto losing his hair would be the final nail in his coffin. They can’t do this to him, guys. At the same time, is Goto the right guy to dethrone Suzuki? A dilemma FOR THE AGES. **3/4
Kota Ibushi & KUSHIDA vs. Cody & Marty Scurll
Prelude tag match for the Ibushi/Cody and IWGP Jr 4-way match at Wrestle Kingdom. With the tag league draining our collective souls, it’s great to see Kota and KUSHIDA back in action. This match is all about two average dudes hanging with two crazy fun wrestlers. Actually, that was kind of harsh, as Cody kind of surprised me here and worked really with Ibushi. He kept up with the fast-paced action but also did a good job selling the irritation whenever Ibushi would go upside his head with some Moonsaulty wackiness. Scurll lets KUSHIDA lead most of their exchanges, which seems like the smart thing to do. The Marty McFly enthusiast pulls off a BONKERS top-rope flying cross armbreaker and all of his usual handspringy spots. They keep a fast pace all the way through and the crowd is pretty into it, especially when Ibushi’s in the ring. Cody takes Kota out of the picture with a VICIOUS Cross Rhodes on the ramp that just completely obliterates Ibushi’s neck. Jesus. Meanwhile, Scurll blinds KUSHIDA with some heel powder and sneaks in a quick rollup for the win. A good wrestling match that sold me on Ibushi/Cody but did nothing to improve my appreciation of Marty Scurll as IWGP Jr champ. ***
Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH vs. Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson
First meeting between Roppongi 3K and the Young Bucks in the lead up to the Tokyo Dome. It’s a haphazard mix of stuff that works pretty well and the kind of Young Bucks bullshit that always takes me out of their matches. The comedy spots don’t really hit, there are just way too many freaking superkicks and a lot of sequences look overly rehearsed. On the other side of the ring, SHO and YOH keep delivering the goods, especially SHO who does a great job cleaning house after getting the hot tag and just oozes charisma. I dug seeing SHO getting to mix it up with Kenny. They have a fun exchange together and SHO really makes the V-Trigger seem like a big deal. There’s some nifty high-flying spots in the ending stretch before Omega wraps it up with a One Winged Angel on Romero. Not bad but too Young Bucksy. **1/2
Kenny’s post-match celebration is cut short by a video package from CHRIS JERICHO, and then the man himself who appears in the ring and lays a hellish beatdown on the champ. Kenny pulls a hellacious blade-job and Jericho goes SUPER HEEL, smearing Kenny’s blood on his face and just going on a rampage. The crowd really gets behind Kenny as he tries to fight back to no avail. AMAZING ANGLE! I am now fully sold on this match. The fans doing the Terminator clapping while the Bucks carry Kenny’s corpse to the back is absolutely amazing and a testament to how over Omega managed to get himself in Japan.
Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi
The crowd is BUZZING for Okada/Naito. Seems like a really big deal in Fukuoka. This match is all kinds of rad and easily match of the night up to this point. Everyone goes beyond their usual 6-man exchanges and have this crazy tight Dragon Gate tag sprint. Hiromu teases the sunset-flip Powerbomb to the outside, Ospreay hits the Space Flying Tiger drop, Naito and Okada have a bunch of WRESTLING. Naito goes after Gedo’s beard during the crowd brawling portion. Amazing. Sweet neckbreaker on the apron from Naito. Okada teases the cobra clutch again. Total non-stop craziness with PERFECT EXECUTION all the way through. I love how Okada is able to insert himself in this complete insanity with very simple spots like dropkicks and flapjacks and it totally works. Less is more, man, less is more. Hiromu counters the Oscutter with a German suplex, Naito hits the BEST DESTINO OF HIS CAREER and Hiromu brings it home with the Time Bomb. Total blast of a wrestling match. ***1/2
Great angle post-match as Naito cuts an awesome promo that gets the crowd going wild, which prompts Okada to sprint back to the ring and go at it with the LIJ pair. Naito goes for the Destino, but Okada counters with his new cobra clutch and then slaps it on Hiromu! Big-time heel heat for Okada. Naito is ridiculously over.
EVIL & SANADA vs. Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa – World Tag League Finals
New Japan’s least beloved tournament of the year comes to a close with a match that is 50% a convoluted mess, 50% pretty damn good wrestling. There’s plenty of stuff that works well in the early stages of the match, and it mostly resolves around Tama Tonga comedy. Him and SANADA have a T-SHIRT REMOVAL STANDOFF and later on he tries to use his own version of the Paradise lock but just can’t figure out how to apply the damn thing. Everything grinds to a halt in the mid-section as we get a ref bump, chairs and run-ins from BUSHI and Bad Luck Fale. All of it feels fully unnecessary, as these four guys were clearly capable of having a good match without all of this overbooking. The action picks up again for the ending stretch and we get a bunch of solid near-falls and fast-paced action. Both EVIL and SANADA are CRAZY OVER in this building, which helps a lot. Fukuoka is TRANQUILO AF. Team LIJ destroy Loa with a Magic Killer off the apron through a table, then it takes a Darkness Falls, regular Magic Killer and finally EVIL’s STO to put down Tama. Thankfully, the right team won this thing and we might be looking at a fully reinvigorated New Japan tag league if EVIL and SANADA can take the straps off KES at the Dome. ***
A pretty solid show that should be easy viewing for any casual New Japan fan. No six star MOTYC’s in sight, but plenty of fun wrestling, an amazing angle with Chris Jericho and one hell of a tag match to hype up Okada vs. Naito. We can now leave the tag league behind us and hit the ROAD TO THE TOKYO DOME!
As a special Captain Lou Bonus Feature, here’s what you should seek out from the World Tag League, in super sweet chronological order:
- Juice Robinson & Sami Callihan vs. EVIL & SANADA (11/18/17) – ***3/4
- Michael Elgin & Jeff Cobb vs. Beretta & Chuckie T (11/30/17) – ****
- Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. EVIL & SANADA (12/8/17) – ***3/4
You’re welcome.
