Katsuya Kitamura vs. Michael Elgin – Trial Series Match #2
This is Old Lion Kitamura working a compact version of the usual Big Mike match and it all works out pretty well. Lots of beefy forearm and chop exchanges, big suplexes and power fighting spots. There’s a few moments where Kitamura seems a little hesitant, but he mostly looks like he belongs working these Above-Young Lion-Level matches now. The Muscle Monster kicks out of a lot of stuff, much to the crowd’s delight, but eventually goes down to the Elgin Bomb. Rock-solid opener and a good experience for Kitamura. **1/2
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & KUSHIDA vs. Takashi Iizuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku
Brutally slow start with Suzuki-Gun going overboard with the crowd brawling and antics followed by lots of very generic pro-wrestling from Tenzan and his permanently CROOKED ANKLE. The action only picked up when KUSHIDA and TAKA got in the ring to work a super fun finish. Also loved the dives to the outside from Liger and Tiger while KUSHIDA was bringing it home via Hoverboard lock. Mostly filler. **
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
An okay midcard tag that followed one very simple rule. Everything involving Ishii was rad, everything else: not so much. Dug Ishii throwing down with Yujiro and his whole ending stretch with Owens, the rest was right there. **
Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa © vs. Togi Makabe, Toa Henare & Ryusuke Taguchi – NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Title
For a throwaway 6-Man title match to fill up the undercard, there was a lot to like here. Taguchi getting pissed at Tanga Loa for breaking his sunglasses and working the opening as SERIOUS TAGUCHI was great. The Bullet Club beatdown on Henare was super effective: Fale threw some MEAN clubbing forearms on that dude. The Taguchi Japan comeback hit all the right notes but then Tama Tonga tapped Henare very abruptly with his Dreamcatcher submission (ground Cobra twist thing) before the match could reach the proper THREE STAR PLATEAU. Still a lot of fun! **3/4
Kota Ibushi, Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Cody, Hangman Page & Marty Scurll
This was a whole bunch of fun professional wrestling. David Finlay and Marty Scurll trading elaborate-British wrist-lock reversals in the opening is the best use of David Finlay and Marty Scurll. Juice as the babyface in peril always works wonders because the guy is one of the more sympathetic dudes on the roster. They did a good job building up to Ibushi vs. Cody, the crowd responding really well to their actual confrontation, what with the whole situation with Kenny blowing up right now. The ending stretch of this thing had some seriously crazy shit including a BONKERS sequence where Ibushi flipped out of a springboard Doomsday Device attempt from the Bullet Club. Quick note: Finlay and Hangman Page are two generic white guys with shockingly good chemistry together. They happened to work the finish together, Page taking out Finlay with the Rite of Passage. All-killer-no-filler sprint action. ***
YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi
Let’s take a minute to reflect on the fact that Naito went from headlining Wrestle Kingdom with Okada to working a midcard program with the Vanilla Enigma known as YOSHI-HASHI. I know, Gedo has a plan and all that, but it’s still kind of hilarious. Naito doesn’t seem too bothered by the downgrading as he’s completely awesome in this match: spitting on Don Callis, beating YOSHI-HASHI with his monkey stick before handing it to Milano and just being an all-around dick.
Meanwhile, Ospreay and Hiromu work their light-speed aerial magic and it’s the usual fun time. Hiromu tries to add a new wrinkle to their exchanges by targeting a leg but Ospreay is too busy PARCOUR-WRESTLING to sell any of that shit. Oh well. I did mark out for the spot where he flipped out of a top-rope Frankensteiner though. After the Naito victory, we get a SHOCKINGLY EFFECTIVE post-match angle where YOSHI-HASHI tries to start a brawl but Naito just kind of ignores him because he’s YOSHI-HASHI, obviously. Kind of stoked for their singles match now. ***
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto & Gedo vs. SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI
I have so many thoughts about this match. SANADA’s new entrance gear is absolutely amazing and it goes a long way into presenting him as a proper challenger for Okada. That being said, the dude will need to start showing personality real quick because as smoothly as he works with Okada, the stoic dropkicking will not cut it for a title match. Okada and Naito had super sharp chemistry, but you could also sense the DISDAIN they had for each other. I have a feeling they might try to turn this into part of the storyline, as indicated by the post-match angle where Okada goes FULL HEEL when SANADA refuses his invitation to speak on the mic and shoves a bunch of OKADA-BUCKS in his mouth before torturing him with the Cobra clutch.
Speaking of the Cobra clutch, I love that Okada’s sticking to it as his multi-man tag finisher now and seems to save the Rainmaker for his big matches. The match also hints at a cool new tag dynamic between Okada and Goto as they pull off an awesome stereo Heavy Rain + Ushigoroshi spot and Goto ends up feeding BUSHI into Okada’s Cobra clutch with his GTR. I see some serious potential in that upcoming IWGP tag title match. Rambling over. Fun match! ***
Jay White, SHO & YOH vs. Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson
This had to push forward three different storylines (R3K/Bucks rematch, Kenny/White title match, Jay White as the reluctant new CHAOS member) and it was a success for most part. Establishing Jay as a guy that doesn’t fit in CHAOS was the easiest thing because Jay White is a guy that doesn’t fit in CHAOS. The clash in personalities between him and Roppongi alone is WILD, like the cool kids joining forces with the mall goth. The Kenny/Jay bits were okay but Jay’s aggression still comes off as forced. On the bright side, fan girls seem to be warming up to him and that’s a huge positive for anyone looking to make an impact in modern-day NJPW.
The Bucks and R3K keep working ridiculously well together and do a bunch of fun shit to hype the people for their rematch. Kenny also gets in a bunch of awesome spots including Dragon suplexes for everyone and a SWEET double Kotaro Crusher on the R3K kids. The champs take the win with a triple-team Indytaker on YOH, but Jay manages to sneak a Bladerunner on Kenny before taking off. Dug almost all of this wrestling. ***1/4
Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs. Minoru Suzuki – IWGP Intercontinental Title
Tanahashi/Suzuki is one my favorite pairings in NJPW history. The ultimate babyface hero taking on the black-hearted monster heel. Two guys that favor old-school story-telling over flashy theatrics and love paying homage to the New Japan legends of the past (in Tanahashi’s case: Fujinami and Muto, in Suzuki’s case: Fujiwara and Gotch). They also happen to have a lot of history in Sapporo. It’s where Tanahashi won his first ever IWGP heavyweight championship (against GIANT BERNARDO) and just last year, Suzuki was vanquished here by Okada (aka. Tanahashi’s successor) after 40+ minutes of leg torture.
For this match, they take bits from their 2012 classics, last year’s Okada/Suzuki match and Goto/Suzuki from this year’s Wrestle Kingdom to create a total curveball of a wrestling match that fully subverts the accepted structure of the modern-age New Japan Epic Main Events.The main story going in is obviously’s Tana’s never-ending list of injuries, most notably his bicep that will probably never recover and the knee injury from late 2017. It gives the early matwork a very real sense of danger, as you get the feeling Tanahashi could be fucked as soon as Suzuki gets a hold of one of his limbs.
Suzuki first goes after the injured arm with brutal kicks but can never fully take control of the former ace. The first half of the match is actually worked surprisingly even considering how injured Tanahashi is. Tana takes ALL THE KICKS. ALL THE SLAPS. A SHOOT DROPKICK TO THE FACE. But he dishes the punishment right back to Suzuki with a full-on DRAGON SCREW ONSLAUGHT and actually looks like he might pull off an early victory but then the match does a FULL 180! Tana hurts his knee after a High Fly Attack and Suzuki takes him right to TORTURE TOWN. We get the extended legbar and figure 4 spots and MY GOD, these two are perfect at milking the shit out of submission holds: Tana screaming in pain as his life force slowly leaves his body, Suzuki looking like a FRENZIED DEMON wrenching on the leg, both guys gloriously talking shit to each other while working towards eventual rope breaks. Total pro-wrestling genius.
The whole finishing stretch bypasses all of the dramatic NJPW main event finisher-trading that we’ve grown accustomed to and instead sticks to the gritty realism of Hiroshi Tanahashi desperately fighting for survival and failing. In the end, Tanahashi never gives up, but Red Shoes stops the match, fearing for the guy’s safety. It’s kind of fascinating to think of this match and last year’s Suzuki/Okada as parallel stories. Okada was able to withstand Suzuki’s submissions and take him out, but Tanahashi is no longer THAT GUY. He is 40 years old. His entire body is wrecked. As much as he tries to convince himself of the contrary (GO ACE!), he can’t be the Ace anymore. And this is why the forces of evil won tonight. Tanahashi’s too stubborn to tap, but he can’t overcome Suzuki like he used to.
The look on the faces of the devastated Tanahashi fans as their hero gets stretchered out tells the whole story. Suzuki’s villainous post-match promo seals the deal. A 30 minute match that barely felt like 15. Emotion, selling, drama and only TWO NEAR-FALLS. Truly masterful story-telling from two of the very best. ****1/2
It took a while for the undercard to get going, but once it did, night one of New Beginning in Sapporo was a fun time. I’m liking how Gedo’s handling the main storylines on this tour (Okada/Sanada, Kenny/Jay, Naito/YOSHI). DO go out of your way to see the main event. One of the best so far this year, and the last time we’ll see Tanahashi in the ring for a while.
#THANKYOUTANA
