“Will the Golden Lovers shine, or is Bullet Club fine?” Great voiceover intro.
Also, they took the cheap JR/Barnett soundbites out of the intro and that is Very Good.
1. Kota Ibushi vs. Cody
This went a little long, but Cody has found himself and I dug the heck out of this match. Cody is confident, poised, and the son of a gun is cocky enough to do a BACKRAKE. It was fun to see American-style in a New Japan ring, and not Switchblade/Hangman Page doing near falls to no heat but straight-up muscle poses, shoves, and milking of shots. Plus a REF BUMP that wasn’t completely ridiculous. At one point Cody throws a chair in the ring too, but Ibushi tosses it outside and gets applause, which is why I will always love the Japanese professional wrestling. Ibushi’s comeback features a gorgeous kick combo and moonsault, and there’s a great strike exchange towards the end with both guys just throwing blows before Ibushi lariats Cody’s head off. Not sure they needed 23 minutes but this was good stuff. ***1/2
2. Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page
Good action, good Babyface Kenny performance, good V-Trigger knee strikes, but I can’t stop thinking about the lady in the front row who the camera stayed on after the 3-count as she yawned. This is a good wrestling match with some incredible athleticism by young Hangman, and Kenny Omega in big matches remains one of the best things in wrestling – the guy is just on another level of performance and every single thing he does has something extra to it. That he was bleeding from his bleached blonde head for most of the match added to the drama. I believe Page got knocked loopy towards the end here off a V-Trigger and after that it just kind of ended, but up until then they sure brought the wrestling. I really liked the V-Trigger duck by Page > drop toehold into ropes by Kenny > V-Trigger to the back of the head spot, as well as Page’s slingshot front flip lariat countered with the V-Trigger that rocked him into Dominion. But god damnit – I just can’t stop thinking about the yawning lady. Maybe this whole match was just bullshit after all. ***1/2
