Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tomoyuki Oka, Shota Umino, Tetsuhiro Yagi & Ren Narita
Happy to report that all of the young lions are safe and sound after getting annihilated by KES and Chris Jericho at the Dome. This was what you’d expect from a WRESTLE DADS vs. YOUNG LIONS SUMMIT and it made for some fine opening match wrestling. Dug Nagata kicking the shit out of Yagi and Oka getting a big pop once he tagged in. Kojima with the big lariat on Umino for the win. **1/4
Togi Makabe, Toa Henare, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Hirai Kawato vs. Takashi Iizuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku
Something I forgot to mention in my WK12 review: Henare’s got some new ISLAND WARRIOR gear. So I guess he’s officially graduated from young lion to adult professional wrestler. This is all Suzuki-gun crowd brawling and painfully plodding Iizuka/Makabe exchanges until my boy Kawato gets the tag and starts ripping shit up with Desperado. He eats all of the Suzuki-gun finishers for the ending and ultimately goes down to Desperado’s Pinche Loco. Started off boring then got kinda fun. **
Katsuya Kitamura vs. Jay White – Trial Series Match #1
There’s nothing better in Japanese wrestling than TRIAL SERIES and I’m so glad Big K’s getting one. This is also the kind of match that post-excursion Jay White needed to have instead of a high-pressure Tokyo Dome match with Tanahashi. I actually bought into him beating the crap out of Kitamura with stiff chops and forearms and totally popped for that fake-out spot where he challenged Kitamura to a chop duel only to take out his knee. His mannerisms are still awkward, but there’s hope for him. Kitamura got in some good offense with a sweet deadlift gutwrench suplex and BIG SPEAR but eventually fell to Jay’s Bladerunner. Pretty solid midcard wrestling. **1/2
SHO, YOH & Cheeseburger vs. Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson
SHO teaching Cheeseburger how to do the R3K gang sign before the match = Pure gold. There’s a bunch of actually-funny limb selling comedy in this, as everyone is just completely wrecked from their Wrestle Kingdom matches. Lots of great spots with Cheeseburger: him busting out the Kojima machinegun chops on all three members of the Elite only to receive a nasty triple superkick afterwards, or him cleaning house with LIGER SHOTEIS later in the match. They kept the action light-hearted throughout and the crowd just ate it up. The Bucks and Kenny take it home with a Kenny-assisted Indytaker on Cheeseburger. Fun times! **3/4
Kota Ibushi, Juice Robinson, David Finlay, KUSHIDA & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Cody, Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens, Marty Scurll & Leo Tonga
Similar to the previous match: heavy on comedy with some fun bits of pro-wrestling thrown in. We get the Taguchi Japan everyone-does-hip-attacks sequence culminating in Ibushi doing it to a huge pop, the comical Bullet Club Train (which is loudly introduced by Marty as such) and Scurll’s finger breaking spot, which is as over as it is stupid. What I’m saying is that it’s a very over stupid spot. Cody taps Finlay with his American Nightmare leglock submission thingy. **1/2
The post-match angle that follows is AMAZING. Cody grabs a chair and tries to even the score with Ibushi but KENNY OMEGA runs in to make the save to an absolutely NUCLEAR POP. They have a big pullapart, Kenny insisting that Ibushi is off-limits to the Bullet Club. Huge ‘’KENNY!’’ chants. Cody looks PISSED. Kenny still having feelings for his former wrestling husband despite having turned to the dark side is one of the best storylines in wrestling.
Cody eventually chills out and leaves, leaving Kenny in the ring to cut a promo on the need for Bullet Club unity and the end of in-fighting. He tries to patch up the whole situation by recruiting SWITCHBLADE. Jay White comes out and agrees to put on the Bullet Club shirt, but immediately turns on Kenny and drops him with the Bladerunner, probably setting up the next US title match. Man, they are going all in on Jay White.
Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Beretta © vs. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa – NEVER Openweight 6-man Tag Title
This is all pretty solid but never quite reaches the heights of the Wrestle Kingdom gauntlet featuring all of these guys. Instead we have a Bullet Club beatdown on Yano which turns out pretty okay thanks to Tama Tonga’s wild antics, Ishii/Fale battling it out and Beretta being an all-around reliable babyface dude. Everyone does the your-move-my-move pile-up sequence, which I think is an obligatory thing in New Japan 6-man tags and then Beretta works the ending stretch with Tama and it’s a swell thing. These guys must’ve marked out for Okada/Naito at the Dome because they pull off this intricate counter sequence around their two finishers and Tama finally gets Trent in the Gun Stun for the win. Would’ve liked to see the belts on CHAOS for a while longer, but it doesn’t really matter as these titles are pure filler. NOT BAD! ***
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Raymond Rowe & Hanson vs. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr, Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr
First, a few things worth nothing. The reveal of fully-bald Suzuki = Epic. Tana still has the cool red/black gear from the Dome, but without the HAIR EXTENSIONS. Also, it looks like we have some Twitter-savvy fans in the crowd as Mike Elgin gets BOOED! This match is all about Suzuki taking Tanahashi out of the picture while the Americans have a bunch of fun wrestling. Dig the beatdown on Rowe as Minoru keeps kicking Tana off the apron to cut off the hot tag. Elgin/ZSJ have some seriously great chemistry. Lots of desperate submission counters from Zack to avoid getting destroyed by Big Mike’s power moves. Hanson pops the crowd with all of his flip-floppy fatman spots but eventually gets caught in KES’ Killer Bomb for the pin. Post-match, Suzuki keeps wrecking Tana’s injured knee and announces that he’s coming after the Intercontinental title. Veeeery psyched for that one. ***
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Will Ospreay & Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi
Judging from the insane crowd response in Korakuen, it’s safe to say Naito wasn’t too damaged by the Wrestle Kingdom loss. This might be the best CHAOS/LIJ multi-man tag in recent memory and that’s saying a lot because these guys are incapable of having a bad match together. Red hot opening between Hiromu and Ospreay, Milano going ‘’NEKO NEKO NEKO’’ (Cat) after every Ospreay spot on commentary. Love this man. After an Ospreay standing Moonsault, all of CHAOS do a 5-man version of that goofy pose Goto/YOSHI-HASHI have been doing lately. I kind of love how CHAOS went from being New Japan’s badass Nakamura-led tweener stable to full-on PRO-ESTABLISHMENT DORKS. LIJ working Gedo’s BEARD is always a blast, and so is EVIL and Goto showing off their great chemistry. The crowd still goes apeshit whenever Okada and Naito get in the ring together, so they go ahead and have a bonkers mini-match. The ending stretch is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it-1990’s-MICHINOKU PRO-level rapid-fire-wrestling-AMAZEMENT. Mind blowing timing and delivery from everyone involved. Naito with the Destino on YOSHI-HASHI for the win. This was a BLAST. ***1/2
The post-match shenanigans setup all the upcoming singles matches that YOU crave: Hiromu/Ospreay, EVIL/Goto and Okada/SANADA. Then after the LIJ celebration, motherfucking CHRIS JERICHO hits the ring to get a piece of Naito! Huge brawl with the young lions, Gedo, Rocky Romero and Roppongi 3K getting involved. Massive Y2J and NAITO chants. The finale with Naito sitting on a chair with his back to Jericho as Y2J gets carried away with a massive grin = MONEY SHOT. Awesome angle.
This show consists of a completely filler-tastic undercard, two amazing angles and an awesome main event. It was actually pretty efficient as a post-Wrestle Kingdom cool-down show that actually set up a whole bunch of stuff. Should be easy viewing for any Shin Nihon aficionado that wants to keep up with the 2018 storylines.
