It’s interesting. The last New Japan Pro Wrestling show I stayed up all night for was Sakura Genesis and that was two weeks after the birth of our son. He slept like a professional through almost the entire thing, waking up just before Okada vs. ZSJ, and dutifully sucked on my wife’s boob as I took that wonderful match in.
Tonight, I stay up again for the Japanese professional wrestling, the last day of my current job before I head off to a new – as Vince McMahon would say – opportunity.
Big life moments lead to big shows of fighting spirit.
1. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [c] vs. Roppongi 3K
Roppongi 3K have quickly ascended to new favorites of mine – every time I see these guys they just flip me out. SHO especially but YOH is right there – I think I like SHO’s offense and YOH’s selling, which makes for an ideal tag team combination. I hope they continue to develop into something special, because the potential is there.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru meanwhile is still just HERE, continuing the legacy of prime NOWA into 2018 against all odds. And El Desperado – I don’t know what to say. Apparently he rocked the BOSJ. Every time I see him, he has all the tools of a New Japan-trained young man but never really gets me going.
This is a solid tag match. Decent opener. Gorgeous double topes to start. YOH sold his butt off for a bit before SHO had a run and the guy is just such a beast. His deadlift German especially is so impressive, but he had a couple moments where he could’ve lost the guy he was lifting up and just DIDN’T. Desperado and Kanemaru meanwhile are just the sneakiest most rock solid wrestlers – always there for stuff, always keeping things together. Perfectly solid match outside of the awkward 3-count which was extra weird because for some inexplicable reason Kanemaru & Despy are keeping these straps over the guys who are your clear Jr. Tag Aces. The plight of the New Japan tag divisions continues. **3/4
2. Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Jay White & YOSHI-HASHI
I range from apathy to active dislike on everyone in this match outside of Juice, who I have come around to in a major way. So the bar was low. Juice is a charismatic wunderkid but can’t say this passed the bar. Just a match where they did some stuff, which is usually what I say after watching most of these guys wrestle. Juice’s tree of woe cannonball was sweet though, and really any time he was in the ring the energy picked up in a big way. I initially just couldn’t buy Juice as Serious Japanese Wrestler, but he has dropped that and upped the shtick and it is awesome. The Juice win was sweet too – the U.S. Title needs to go on that guy immediately. Crap match, positive vibes. *3/4
3. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr.
The TAKA intro for ZSJ is a wonderful gimmick. Tomohiro Ishii and Minoru Suzuki beating the fuck out of each other remains one of the great joys of professional wrestling, and this match had a lot of that. Kind of loved that Suzuki and Ishii basically forgot they had tag team partners for a bit, even if I dig Yano’s antics. ZSJ countering a Yano low blow for the SUBMISSION is an all-time great finish. Fine match, great Suzuki/Ishii exchanges. Ishii continuing to attack Suzuki post-match gives me hope. ***1/4
4. 3-Way Match – NEVER Openweight Title: Hirooki Goto [c] vs. Michael Elgin vs. Taichi
You know the saying, “A mother’s work is never done?” Well, when the mother is exhausted, the selfish father who is watching his weird niche hobby in the other room when said mother is breastfeeding must step up. Our little guy wasn’t sleeping post-feed, so I came back from rocking him to see a nice Taichi near fall and Mike Elgin holding the NEVER Openweight Title. So that’s not good. Maybe I’ll watch this some other time. Maybe I won’t.
5. IWGP Tag Team Title: EVIL & SANADA [c] vs. The Young Bucks
The Young Bucks have really found themselves over the last couple years – confidence and success will help that. I was interested to see if they’d mess with what has kind of been their formula against the heavyweight tag champs, and I came away thinking: Well, they did, but that’s because they’ve kind of re-done their formula over the last year and they’re WAY better for it. SANADA going all junior heavyweight with the Bucks early was fun, and once it settled into the tag heat portion it really got somewhere. Nick’s boot to the post made my own foot hurt and gave the match a real hook outside of the Lifeless Superkick Party shtick that made me not love the Bucks a couple years ago. EVIL’s cut-offs were great too – really good timing, I was getting Arn Anderson vibes from him. I loved him blocking the superkick and just clotheslining Nick’s head off.
AWESOME near falls at the end too with some well-timed saves, including off of LIJ’s own Meltzer Driver and the Magic Killer. Loved Nick not being able to deliver on the Meltzer Driver too. Not sure if them not hitting the Meltzer Driver at all was some kind of deep story – after All In and this heavyweight push, do these Young Bucks even NEED Dave Meltzer anymore? Finish came together really well with a lot of beautiful chaos and bodies flying all over, and the win for the Bucks was great – happy for those dudes. They are putting a CAREER together, man. SANADA’s hops and speed + EVIL’s cut-offs and big boy-ness + Prime Young Bucks = AWESOME.****
6. Hiroshi Tanhashi, Jushin Thunder Liger & Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Cody, Hangman Page & Marty Scurll
God – what a line-up this is. Every piece of this match really shows off the history of New Japan, where it has been and how far it has come – the Legend who carried the juniors through the 90s, the Legend who carried the heavyweights through the 00s, and a big time American wrestling Legend vs. a big time American wrestling superstar who is using New Japan to cement his legacy, a newcomer gaijin who would feel completely out of place in the 90s but fits right in now, and this British junior heavyweight guy who comes out in a bird mask.
And all these boys were doing SHTICK early – tag-in-tag-out stalling, push-ups, taunts – tremendous. Rey running through his STUFF was awesome, as was Scurll catching and being there for ALLLLL of it. Rey still looks amazing. Just a fun crowd-pleasing 6-man, would’ve made for a high-end SmackDown main event or something. ***
7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Will Ospreay [c] vs. Hiromu Takahashi
There is still so much that is off-putting to me about Will Ospreay, but his recent run as Broken Down Guy With Something to Prove is something I am really digging. And god damn did these boys go full tilt right from the start – that god damn ROCKET LAUNCH somersault plancha off the ramp within 20 seconds by Ospreay. As Ospreay worked over Hiromu, hate seeped into my body as I realized he kind of reminded me of Dynamite Kid, and not just because Meltzer compared his future to Dynamite’s. He’s not completely dialed in but he has this brutish Euro dickhead vibe to him and I was briefly digging it.
But this was a match about the WOW and there was so much WOW. The full-speed dropkick to the chest off the apron by Hiromu. The handspring backflip plancha by Ospreay that ya sometimes just take for granted how insane and beautiful it is. The Ospreay Cutter to the German suplex. The Shooting Star Press to Hiromu draped over the top rope. These two guys, along with KUSHIDA, kind of transcend Just Flippy Shit. Only a select few can get away with some of this insane stuff, and they perform it all so rapid-fire and perfectly that you’re too busy flipping the fuck out to be taken out of the action. Did they do two reverse rana’s in a row followed by a sunset flip bomb on Bill’s head? Is that WEIRD? I don’t know – I was too busy going OH MY FUCKING GOD.
Of course, I didn’t COMPLETELY love this. It had a bunch of cool stuff but it also had some lulls. It didn’t feel as complete as the KUSHIDA match at Dontaku, though that’s not saying a ton as that might be my favorite Ospreay match ever. The first half felt a little routine in between the WOW. Hiromu Takahashi absolutely confounds me – I love his charisma, look, performances, and insane shit he’s capable of – but I’ve only seen him in a couple legit GREAT matches (sidenote: as I write this, I have not seen the BOSJ Finals). Meanwhile Ospreay matches, while impressive, rarely click for me as legitimately compelling professional wrestling.
The last five minutes or so were pretty awesome though. That Canadian Destroyer by Hiromu off the top was a little ridiculous but fuck was it impressive. I totally bought THE D near fall, and Bill just dropping Hiromu on his head to escape it was wild. The sunset flip powerbomb to the floor followed by the Dynamite Plunger near fall was wild and felt like the place where the crowd really bought in, as the match became all about Hiromu overcoming this weirdly dominant little British fella. AND THEN HE DID. ***3/4
8. IWGP Intercontinental Title: Tetsuya Naito [c] vs. Chris Jericho
I will tell you what – this show absolutely needed a GOD DAMN BRAWL. God bless these two. Jericho as CRAZY GAIJIN is amazing – guy is FAT, painted up, a total hot mess who is just recklessly tossing camera rigs at Naito and powerbombing him through awkwardly set up tables. Then Naito just took DDT on a table ON HIS HEAD. RING THE FUCKIN BELL JERICHO was just tearing into Naito here early on and completely dialed in as a wrestling character – he didn’t do a ton but kept it moving, always keeping everyone’s eyes on him. This is higher praise than it might deserve but it felt kind of like Suzuki vs. Goto from Wrestle Kingdom for the first 10 minutes, with one guy fighting against completely insurmountable odds.
Oddly enough, the Naito comeback wasn’t so hot – crowd was BOOING the guy and not sure how great he as a brawling ass-kicker. Naito’s completely fucked up eye and piledriver to Jericho on the table were NASTY though and brought it back. The Frankensteiner catch into the Walls of Jericho was tremendous. They kind of lost some steam towards the end, and at some points I was like, “Yeah just end this match” and at other points I was like, “These exhausted motherfuckers are just hitting each other and having an awesome dirty fight.” Jericho’s ref push and low blow to set up the finish was SO smooth, and the Jericho win was a legit shocker.
This was good and another Jericho New Japan match that way exceeded expectations. Jericho might be doing his legacy favors by making it so the only Jericho you do see in 2018 is Big Match Jericho. ****
NOTE: This next match review was not written live, as I needed some sweet sweet rest before I really reflected on what I just saw.
9. No Time Limit 2/3 Falls Match – IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada w/ Gedo [c] vs. Kenny Omega w/ Kota Ibushi
Pro wrestling in 2018 is different than pro wrestling in 1985 or 1994. That is obvious, but I think it’s necessary to set the stage for the words I will be typing here.
It isn’t quite so black-and-white, but a lot of conversation around what makes “good” wrestling these days tends to center around holding today’s pro wrestling to standards of the past or saying that today’s pro wrestling is the best there ever was.
In the end, pro wrestling throughout history – like most art/media/etc – has built itself on the past that came before it. Without that past, there is no present. And at some points, that building goes towards perfecting it. At other points, that building goes towards completely fucking it up.
When the Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega series of matches in 2017 were quickly called the Greatest Matches Ever in the days after each happened, it raised my expectations to a point that is both unreachable and unfair. Though the matches were great in the moment, when reflecting on them I – try as I might – couldn’t just take them for what they were. Incorrect or not, I had to see them through that fucked-up prism of them being called the best, them being called perfection. And while I thought all three were great, I just didn’t get the hype.
Where do you even go from what has already been called perfect? I’d say you ignore that noise and blaze your own path, but when you’ve got one guy in this wrestling series called the Best Bout Machine and the other guy called by many one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, that can be a challenge.
And yet here we are. I write this a little bit sleep-deprived, a little bit on rose-colored fumes. But I sit here thinking that these two crazy cats finally did it. They did the thing.
They built on the history of your your Jack Brisco’s, your Ric Flair’s, your Terry Funk’s, your Jushin Thunder Liger’s, your Shinya Hashimoto’s, your Mitsuharu Misawa’s. They blended what made the past special with what makes the present special. They took their time, they sold their asses off, they told a story, they made their big moves count, and once in a while they just blew your god damn mind with counters of counters and near falls that made me yell at my computer screen as the sun was just rising.
Their output was what I’d call not just an incredible, fun, dramatic, compelling, intense one-hour plus wrestling match, but a flawless masterpiece of a wrestling match.
And it all started with the intros. The build and history that was so brilliantly reflected in the opening video package. It was very much both a video game cut scene and pretentious independent film. “What did it cost?” asks Kota Ibushi, as the Bullet Club logo appears on-screen and dissolves. “Everything,” responds Kenny, re-invigorated now that his man at his side but holding onto the fact that he still hasn’t beat Okada for The Big One and he lost the Bullet Club as he tried.
Kenny Omega enters, muscles glistening, his abdomen region the most cut it has ever been. Okada meanwhile walks out with all the aura of the Final Boss, the Unstoppable Man, but just a little bit nonchalant. He is focused on keeping his title, but he knows what we all know: he always keeps his title.
FIRST FALL: If there is any issue I have with this match (and all their matches, really), it is that I didn’t completely dial in early. They started slow, they popped me, for a bit I had the same issues I had with their previous matches – occasional awesome, big cool moments, but it didn’t feel like this legitimate WRESTLING match. But – that’s the build, baby. They do the thing and they build it up and they eventually get you. And they got me. They started basic, cautious, and then – WOOP. Off they went – a V-Trigger ducked, a counter of a counter, Okada leaping for the guardrail crossbody right into a KNEE.
Time becomes no factor when these two work – it’s transfixing, the myth of this series plus the fact that they are just really good. Okada grins and smiles his way through the first 20 minutes, confident that he truly is the Best in the World. He keeps going for that Rainmaker though and just can’t hit it. He does the RAINMAKER POSE but Omega gets up and doesn’t make the same mistake Tanahashi did last month – he doesn’t simply stare Omega down, he drops him on his head with a Dragon suplex and leaps over the top rope with his best-in-the-world tope con hilo. A couple minutes later though, Omega counters another Rainmaker but Okada is able to counter that with a rollup for the first fall. WOW.
I dug all the in-between fall stuff, treating this thing like a boxing match with corner men coaching their guys. Water bottles are handed out as both guys are already drenched in sweat. Okada is GRINNING. This is the genius of Okada: Kenny is coming here in the best shape of his life, the Bullet Club is dead, Kenny has never held the IWGP Title and totally deserves it, Ibushi is at Kenny’s side, Okada has won the first fall to set the odds completely against Kenny – so OBVIOUSLY Kenny has to win. OR DOES HE!?!?!
SECOND FALL: It was at some point in the middle of this fall that it hit me just how great the selling was here. Selling is a weird thing – it can be over-done, it can be not done, and sometimes you’re not even aware it’s happening unless you really think about why what’s in front of you is working so well as a dramatic piece of athletic entertainment. The selling here by both guys was genius: Omega just wrecked but needing to keep going, Okada gritting through it but trying to appear unfazed. Omega is clearly exhausted and shook, while Okada is clearly exhausted too but trying to maintain his aura of cockiness.
Omega takes too much time to do his guardrail moonsault so Okada just pushes him off into the crowd. They go back in the ring and Okada leans in to Omega’s chops and no-sells them until he is forced to react, only to swiftly take Omega back down. A cross-legged SUPERPLEX dishes serious damage to The Ace. An incredible sequence follows: Omega tries the Dragon suplex off the apron through a table but can’t manage it, they go to the floor and Omega tries the One-Winged Angel, Okada slips out and tries the Rainmaker, Omega slips away and hits a reverse hurricanrana.
There’s a countout tease for Okada, who rolls in only to find a brutal V-Trigger waiting for him. Omega quickly sets up the One-Winged Angel but Okada is able to counter with a tombstone piledriver because he is the Greatest of All Time. Okada again goes for the kill with a Rainmaker but Omega counters with an insane URANAGE. Okada manages another rollup for a near fall that I COMPLETELY bought, and then Omega hits basically a Tiger Driver ’91 that seems so CERTAIN to get him the second fall until Okada does a brilliantly timed kickout. Omega does the One-Winged Angel again and I was somehow shocked when Okada DIDN’T kickout – these crazy kids somehow pulled off an ANTI-NEAR FALL.
The break between falls was great here too, with Okada looking completely dead, his neck seemingly broken. Omega meanwhile is clearly nearly at his end but you can see in his eyes and body language that there is no way he will not go on and WIN this.
THIRD FALL: This whole fall was just brilliant – the desperation, the drama, the near falls, the selling of both guys just being completely out on their feet but absolutely needing to win. It was at this point that Captain Lou noted to me that not ONE Rainmaker had actually been hit yet. The bell rings and Omega nails an IMMEDIATE V-Trigger, but tries the One-Winged Angel only for Okada to counter it with the first Rainmaker. Okada is hurt though and can’t cover right away, leading to a 2-count. Kenny soon struggles for a Doctor Bomb and the crowd GASPS when he lifts Okada, but he can’t complete it. Kenny just COLLAPSING as Okada threw him into the ropes for a dropkick was incredible. Okada tries a hurricanrana, but Omega holds on… and hits a STYLES CLASH!!! The AJ STYLES chants were the cherry on top.
Omega then delivers a BRUTAL V-Trigger to the back of poor Okada’s shoulder blades in the corner, then tries to set up a One-Winged Angel but both guys just collapse into the corner. Okada’s eyes are just CLOSED. Omega wills himself to lift Okada into the One-Winged Angel, using the ropes for help… but Okada somehow counters it with a tombstone… only for Omega to counter THAT with a Hangman Page Cracker Barrel for a near fall. Ibushi’s mouth is AGAPE at the insanity.
Omega tries a Spinal Tap but misses and Okada desperately throws a dropkick to the back. I loved how both guys in the third fall were barely able to lift each other for anything and were mostly just throwing blows. Okada finally hits another Rainmaker but is UNABLE TO FOLLOW THROUGH and just goes DOWN – THE ACE has truly been bested. Omega collapses right after and there’s a wonderful double KO tease. Both guys end up on their knees hitting each other, head-to-head – they are drenched in sweat, hair a mess, and Kenny just does a HEADBUTT. They have nothing left but they HAVE TO GO ON.
Okada finally manages an actual Rainmaker but can’t cover Omega right away, so he HOLDS THE WRIST and hits another. It SHOULD be over but Okada can’t cover right away again. Omega’s eyes have ROLLED TO THE BACK OF HIS HEAD. Okada sets up ANOTHER Rainmaker and it just has to be over, but Omega DUCKS and hits a German suplex, then holds onto the wrist himself. Omega hits another German, only for Okada to respond with his own German. Okada tries another Rainmaker, Omega ducks, hits ANOTHER German and then quickly hits a snap reverse hurricanrana.
Okada tries another Rainmaker and Omega responds with basically a snap One-Winged Angel, but he AGAIN can’t cover right away. The match peaks as both guys just lay next to each other against the ropes, trying to use them and each other to stand, and the the camera shot of this whole thing is SO incredible. Omega gets his ass up and delivers the greatest V-Trigger of all time right into the camera, then sets up the One-Winged Angel as the crowd buzzes… AND HE FUCKING HITS IT. ONE. TWO. THREE.
I am struggling to recall anything since the mid-90s that touches this build, this aura, this investment in the near falls, this investment in the RESULT. It’s the story. It’s the selling. It’s the fact that neither guy could lift each other up for their big moves. It’s the fact that neither guy could cover right away after they somehow managed those big moves. It’s the fact that referee Red Shoes was an incredible Third Man in this performance, selling everything brilliantly. It’s Gedo on the outside smiling as Okada had control and no-selling it when he didn’t. It’s Ibushi on the outside invested in his man finally succeeding. It’s the shots of the god damn crowd being completely enveloped in this amazing thing, as if they were watching a great circus and Hollywood thriller all at once.
The Okada/Omega matches are great matches, but this is the first I can confidently go the full ***** on, and honestly say that this might be the best wrestling match I have ever seen in my entire life.
Wow.
The Jr. Title match delivered, the Tag Titles and Jericho/Naito matches over-delivered, the Rey match and Ishii/Suzuki exchanges and Juice Robinson were fun. Oh and Okada vs. Omega was like the best match I might’ve ever seen. There were a couple oddball results but overall this was a great wrestling show that everyone involved should be proud of. 9/10
