Katsuya Kitamura vs. Juice Robinson – Trial Series Match #3
Another strong showing from Big K after the solid match with Elgin from yesterday. Juice gave him a lot, putting over his power advantage and selling his roided-up chops like death. Dug the deadlift suplexes from Kitamura and monster Spinebuster from Juice. Kitamura took the fall again, but like yesterday, he proved he could work believably-even matches with midcard talent. **1/2
Ryusuke Taguchi, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Shota Umino vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku
Taguchi gets BLACKLISTED FROM HOLLYWOOD at the start of the match by jumping on top of Miho Abe. I expect an article up on Jezebel first thing tomorrow morning. This was way better than yesterday’s junior match. No down-time, Liger shotei’ing people, Taichi being pissed at Taguchi for trying to grope his lady, Tiger Mask having his working boots on. Umino got a nice showcase, working the ending stretch with Taichi and eating a superkick for the pin. Perfectly fine junior action mixed with biting commentary on the #MeToo movement. **1/2
Yujiro Takahashi & Hiku Leo vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano
Leo Tonga changed his name to Hiku Leo for some reason. An allright midcard wrestling match that was thankfully kept on the short side. I quite enjoyed Yujiro having a death wish and trying to slap Ishii around only to get pummelled in a corner. These two have some fun chemistry. Leo and Ishii also tend to beat the crap out of each other for your viewing pleasure, but stayed apart for most of this. Maybe next time. **1/4
Togi Makabe, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi & Tomoyuki Oka vs. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa & Chase Owens
SAPPORO LOVES TENZAN! This one has some major LOL moments including Fale choking Makabe with a Naito plush stolen from the crowd followed by Owens stomping the plush. That’s just quality heeling. We get Manabu in peril, plenty of fast-paced, crisp exchanges and a sweet sweet flapjack/face crusher from Tenzan/Nakanishi. Oka gets the spotlight in the finish and this guy is so good at being a fired up young lion. Owens takes him out with the Package Driver for the win. A totally fine match. **1/2
Michael Elgin & Toa Henare vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka
Tanahashi is officially off the tour due to DEATH BY SUZUKI and Island Warrior Bro Henare will be taking his place. Most of this is a full-on heel beatdown from Suzuki-Gun. Henare gets dumped under a pile of guardrails and Minoru’s nefarious henchmen interfere non-stop. The Elgin hot tag has some of his usual power spots and an actual German suplex on IIZUKA. Shocked that he was willing to take that move. Suzuki gets the heel hook tapout win on Henare, setting up an all-out Suzuki-Gun beatdown which prompts MAKABE to make the save and possibly setup Minoru’s first IC title defense? Yeah? **1/4
Kota Ibushi, David Finlay & KUSHIDA vs. Cody, Hangman Page & Marty Scurll
Another super fun 6-man in the same vein as the one from yesterday. The early Marty Scurll wrist-lock comedy went on for a little long, but once we got past it, things kicked into high gear and everyone (including David Finlay) looked great. I don’t know if it’s because I just got into Being The Elite on YouTube, but Cody’s really growing on me. He always does a good job selling his smarmy heel character and he’s shown that he can really move in the ring and keep up with guys like Ibushi. Speaking of Ibushi, he pulls off a crazy spot where he hits a springboard double stomp and moves into the Bermuda Triangle Moonsault to the outside instantly. Bonkers. They also tease another apron Cross Rhodes from Cody, but KUSHIDA has Ibushi’s back this time around. Plenty of wild fast-paced action for the finish before a Rite of Passage from Hangman for the pin. Good stuff. ***1/4
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Will Ospreay & Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi
What we have here is a mini-preview of the upcoming CHAOS vs. LIJ 5 on 5 series in Osaka and it’s a grand old time. All of the match-ups are on display here and they all have a different flavor: YOSHI-HASHI/Naito is all about the Midcard Monkey displaying previously unseen levels of RUTHLESS AGRESSION against a Naito who couldn’t give less of a shit about him, Ospreay/Hiromu is all about the high-flying wackiness and parcour stupidity, EVIL/Goto has a power fighting thing going on as both dudes are clearly the bruisers of their faction, Sanada/Okada plays on Okada trying to get some kind of reaction out of the overly stoic and boring SANADA by being a proper dick to him, and finally Gedo/BUSHI doesn’t have a theme because no one cares about that match.
All of this is packaged within the usual rapid-fire LIJ-CHAOS multi-man tag setup so it makes for a pretty awesome match. The Okada/SANADA stuff is quite good and makes me hopeful for a SANADA resurgence of sorts, as he’s been on autopilot for a while. He actually SPEAKS for the first time ever in NJPW after the match and Okada’s reaction is priceless. Perfect mix of disbelief and annoyance. Liked all of this. ALL OF THIS. ***1/4
Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson © vs. SHO & YOH – IWGP Jr Tag-Team Title
These two teams had a great little match at Wrestle Kingdom and here they take things to a much higher level and have the best NJPW tag match in recent memory. They play off the Dome match quite a bit but ramp up the craziness, psychology and drama. The dueling back-work story is revisited but this time around it’s used in a much more clever way and directly impacts several turning points of the match. The inciting incidents for both back injury subplots are awesome: YOH gets WRECKED (REKT) by a ring-apron Powerbomb from the Bucks, while Matt hurts his own back doing a BONKERS tope con hilo off the ramp.
The selling from both guys is on point, especially Matt who shows limited mobility for the whole match and looks in serious pain. I’ve been really high on SHO since Roppongi 3K’s return to New Japan, but this might’ve been YOH’s breakout performance. Little guy plays an amazing babyface in peril and gets ALL THE SYMPATHY from the crowd.Everything really comes together after the first hot tag as all of SHO’s big run of offense looks twice as devastating due to Matt’s great back selling. Big German suplex and non-stop soccer kicks to the back are now HOT DEATH for poor Matt. The ending-stretch near-falls are MASSIVE as both teams try really hard to kill each other. There’s a BRUTAL 3K on the apron from the Roppongi kids and an apron-draped Swanton to the outside from the Bucks amongst all of this crazy shit.
My favorite part of the match is YOH getting a really close near-submission off a YOUNG LION BOSTON CRAB on the injured Matt after all the ‘’young boy’’ trash-talk the Bucks have been doing. Karma’s a bitch. The finish is super smart and directly plays into the entire match storyline: Matt has YOH beaten via Sharpshooter but can’t keep the submission locked in due to the accumulated back damage, allowing YOH to sneak in a flash rollup for the pin. Hugely impressive stuff from all involved. The ending made it seem like R3K snuck away with the victory, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a rubber match down the line where SHO N’ YOH get to prove their worth by winning more decisively. ****1/4
Kenny Omega © vs. Jay White – IWGP US Heavyweight Title
After the Tanahashi debacle at Wrestle Kingdom, Jay White needed to have a really strong match to prove that he’s worthy of the current super push Gedo seems to have cooked up for him. Although this is a much better match than the one with Tana, it’s unfortunately not something that will change the popular opinion on Jay. If anything, it’s a match that shows just how good Kenny Omega is and how far behind Jay’s standing at this point in his young career.
The early parts of the match are all about Kenny trying to make White look like a threat and it’s a fascinating thing to watch. Kenny bumps like a fucking maniac and really goes out of his way to make Jay’s offense seem deadly, but the bottom line is that the match turns into a snoozefest whenever Jay takes full control of the action. Nothing he does is particularly interesting: lots of weak chops and European uppercuts. It’s probably the kind of offense that would work if he had more ring presence, but he’s just not there yet.
The whole thing turns a corner when Kenny makes his comeback and starts absolutely killing Jay. Kenny works this like he did with Beretta last year, annihilating Jay with death spots and brutal V-Triggers, basically forcing him in the underdog role. It’s the best case scenario for this match, because Jay’s a much more believable underdog than he is as a wannabe badass ring general. There’s a great moment where a near-dead Jay tries to laugh off a super stiff onslaught of short-range V-Triggers and it comes off as a perfect Anime Fight Moment, perfectly suited for modern NJPW. It shows that Jay does have some good ideas, and that he could EVENTUALLY thrive in this kind of environment if he puts in the work. Things get a bit overkill-crazy and head-droppy for the ending stretch, but credit where credit is due: the actual finish of White countering the One Winged Angel into the Bladerunner looked PERFECT.
A lot of this felt like Kenny Omega wrestling a broomstick, but it was a good Kenny Omega vs. Broomstick match in which the broomstick started showing potential near the end. Not sure if making Jay the US champ and having him defend the belt against guys like Hangman Page is the smartest idea, but WE SHALL SEE. ***1/2
Now, as for THE ANGLE. You’ve all seen it by now. The Bullet Club tension finally reaches boiling point: Cody turns on Kenny, Ibushi runs in dramatically to the rescue and we have the amazing Golden Lovers reunion moment. I don’t have much to add, man. I thought the whole thing was absolutely glorious and perfectly executed. The moment where Ibushi offers a handshake and cries a SINGLE TEAR due to the hesitation of his former best friend/husband is one of the more emotional, well-acted scenes you’ll see in pro-wrestling. I am 100% on board with both the Golden Lovers reunion and a Bullet Club/Elite split. I love when the usually-conservative New Japan shakes things up and this is a MASSIVE shake up.
A pretty good show with a more watchable undercard than the one from the first night in Sapporo. The Bucks/RP3K match stole the show from a pure wrestling standpoint, but the Kenny/Cody/Ibushi angle is must-see story-telling greatness. Next stop: the Korakuen ‘’Road To’’ shows leading to the New Beginning in Osaka.
