Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & KUSHIDA vs. Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH
None of these guys were on the last two Korakuen shows, so it was cool to see them back, even if the match was a fairly standard junior tag affair. The crowd went apeshit as soon as Liger’s music hit and stayed red hot for everything, giving all of the action an extra pop. SHO’s journey into COMPETITIVE BODYBUILDING seems to have paid off – the way he countered that KUSHIDA armbar by deadlifting him into a Farooq-style Dominator was phenomenal. Damn. **1/2
Bad Luck Fale vs. Toa Henare
I’m kind of digging these Fale/Henare squash matches. There’s a sense of progression to this thing. Henare got destroyed by Fale in a non-tournament G1 match, and here he also gets destroyed but manages a bit more offense than last time. This story is on its way to becoming the Jumbo Tsuruta/Mitsuharu Misawa of forgettable NJPW undercard wrestling. Can’t wait for the HENARE NEW HERO moment. **1/4
Michael Elgin & Ayato Yoshida vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Elgin has shaved off most of his beard and it has completely exposed him as a Muscular Baby Herman. In better news, this match hit all the right notes and I dug the hell out of it. KES treated Yoshida like the indie scum disgrace that he is (I’m kidding guys) and just pulverized him for the first half of the match. Props to Lance Archer for unleashing some next level trash talk on that poor kid (‘’I’M GONNA MAKE YOU REGRET EVER GETTING INTO THIS BUSINESS’’). Elgin was totally fine as the guy getting the hot tag, then Yoshida actually got put over quite a bit near the end and the match ended at the exact right time with a monstrous Killer Bomb. Character-based undercard tag wrestling done right. ***
Beretta, Chuckie T & Will Ospreay vs. Kota Ibushi, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
This had the incredible dueling inverted psychology of Ibushi not wanting to join in on the Bullet Club 2 Sweet in parallel with Best Friends refusing a hug from Ospreay. William Ospreay and Kota Ibushi: just two ridiculously athletic guys struggling to find their place in the world. Ospreay had the sense to hop in this match at the exact right time with a Space Flying Tiger Drop to wake up the crowd because some of the Chase Owens/Chuckie T wrestling had the effect of a sleeping pill. **3/4
Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Taiji Ishimori © vs. Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi – NEVER Openweight 6-Man Title
The football comedy bits were fun but other than that this was Taguchi Japan by the numbers and I wasn’t really feeling it. Arguing against the relevance of the NEVER 6-man belts is useless at this point, but still, if the match quality of these title matches never goes beyond ‘’okay house show multiman tag’’: what’s the point? **1/4
Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano & Gedo vs. Taichi, Takashi Iizuka & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Iizuka and Gedo having a biting n’ choking showdown for most of this match instantly had me scrambling for my phone, but then Goto getting accidently busted open and heroically fending off the Suzuki-Gun villains almost saved it. Almost. **
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku
Better than the last LIJ/Suzuki-Gun Korakuen tags, that’s for sure. Naito and Suzuki stuck 100% to outside brawling and displaying high levels of hatred, which always comes off better than them attempting any kind of in-ring activities. Minoru dropping Naito on the ramp and then just taking a seat on a chair Tranquilo-style was a superb dick move. The other big highlight of the match for me was the EVIL/ZSJ pairing. Great chemistry between these guys and EVIL screaming ‘’ZAAAAAACKUUUUU!!’’ before hoisting him into a picture-perfect sidewalk slam was absolutely tremendous. ***
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Jay White
Man, I was into this. These multiman tag matches are so much better when there’s some kind of story going on and this one had plenty of that. This was all about Okada completely losing his grip on CHAOS and it’s pretty captivating stuff. Jay came into this thing with the same shitty attitude he had throughout the G1: refusing to cooperate with Okada, trying to turn YOSHI-HASHI to the dark side, etc. Add on top of that Tacos getting pissed at Lil Kazu for accidently kicking him in the face near the finish, and this was not a good day for Okada.
I loved the way he sold it too. The guy just seems bummed out by this whole situation and doesn’t really know what to do. The rest of the match was fun stuff as well: Honma had the entire place in the palm of his hands and Tana showed off a new mind-blowing counter where he somehow Twists and Shouts his way out of Okada’s Tombstone. Can’t believe these two are still finding new ways to counter the other’s signature spots. ***1/4
Kenny Omega © vs. Tomohiro Ishii – IWGP Heavyweight Title
These guys had one of the most exciting matches I’ve seen all year in the G1, and while this one didn’t quite reach that level, it was still a blast for most part. There’s always a fun contrast between Kenneth and Big Tom, and this match was no exception: Kenny the flashy movez-based Internet darling gaijin, Ishii the quintessential no-bullshit Japanese wrestler.
Ishii was getting a lot of juicy underdog babyface heat here and Kenny smartly leaned into it by acting like a little bitch for the first half of the match, raking the eyes, throwing petty soccer kicks and what not. It conditioned the crowd into really wanting Ishii to beat the shit out of this dude and the pops were huge whenever he made comebacks.
A weird, paradoxical thing about this match is that Kenny spent at least half of it being very protective of the V-Trigger. Ishii kept avoiding it and Kenny had to resort to different strikes – I dug how they were building it up. But in the second half, I think Kenneth broke THE V-TRIGGER WORLD RECORD. Seriously, it was too much and kinda took me out of the action a few times. At least it did give us that one amazing V-Trigger that sent Kenny flying over the ropes after the impact.
Big Match Ishii was tremendous as always: I could watch him rebound out of nowhere with monster lariats and killer headbutts all day long. And Kenny’s the perfect guy to bump like a a maniac for all of those. Again, it’s the little things with Ishii: in a match with so much crazy shit, the spot that got the biggest reaction was when he made the belt motion around his waist. That and the post-match bit where he wouldn’t let go of Kenny’s boot after being pinned were absolute Oscar-worthy genius. ****1/4
