1. Tiger Mask IV & Yuya Uemura vs. Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo
Much like any proper New Japan semi-major show opener, this was all about flashes of fun from the young fellow on his way to either surefire superstardom or slumming it up like Taiji Ishimori teaming with ELP. Kid has the fire, yes he does. Tiger Mask meanwhile just looks sad. Like not bad at wrestling, but in a post-Liger world just a disappointed sad. *3/4
2. Manabu Nakanishi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yota Tsuji vs. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare
The last matches of Manabu Nakanishi are not bringing me the emotions of the last Jushin Liger matches, but it’s close. One must never forget the absolute peak of stupid puroresu wars in the early 2000s when there was a pause in a certain chat room ran by a certain incarcerated fan on who was the better wrestler: Kenta Kobashi or Manabu Nakanishi. I love Manabu, but I assume he himself would laugh that pause out of the room. None of the older guys in this are exactly getting it done anymore but they’ve got their spots that the crowd is still into. Tenzan reminds Nakanishi after the match to take it all in: the fans, the arena, the Toa Henare flexing. **
3. Will Ospreay, Ryusuke Taguchi & Roppongi 3K vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & DOUKI
The Suzuki-gun squad stretched both limbs and time, while Will Ospreay brought the occasional energy and wild exchange with ZSJ. **
4. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Ryu Lee & Robbie Eagles
This was New Japan undercard wrestling with a touch of Hiromu, who remains a bright spot in the wide world of happy wrestling, a man who’s hair-dye and pants alone make him stand out but here he is being a cheeky bastard too. He and the former Dragon Lee got it done like old times, though maybe just a little more careful. A little. Lee also took a belly-to-belly suplex into the turnbuckle on his head like he wanted to remind you of something. **1/4
5. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. Jay White & KENTA
Ultra-casual Tetsuya Two Belts is an energy to aspire to. This was a match to preview Naito/KENTA and White/SANADA, but I’m more intrigued by the possibility of Naito vs. SANADA with a championship on the line. Jay White and KENTA remain an unproven entity, a Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode team where you know or at least assume they are easy-to-work-with pros but man can the wrestling be boring and soft. That Jay White can play along with a New Japan finish, while Naito seems more intrigued by KENTA the character than KENTA the wrestler. **1/2
6. Kazuchika Okada & Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki & Taichi
Just a great match to see booked in the first place, with a lot going on: Okada teaming with Moxley to take on Suzuki and… Taichi? It’s so many layers of intriguing madness, and then they made it so the match itself had a lot going on too: eyepatch Mox and Suzuki trading elbows and headbutts, Mox and Okada doing tag team moves, Taichi stretching Okada as Suzuki assaults Mox in the crowd, Mox failing to apply a Texas Cloverleaf and quickly pivoting to put Suzuki in a leglock where he pretty much applied The Claw on his thigh.
Most tag matches on this show presumably built up matches for this tour, but this is the only one that actually made me think the two singles matches will be really good. After that post-match beatdown, ZSJ and Taichi really feel like a much better option for top heels than White and KENTA too. ***1/4
7. Tomohiro Ishii vs. EVIL
A heck of a battle, what some might call a war with big bombs and big drama. It was a match that saw Ishii block Everything is Evil with a wonderful DDT that seemed to just bonk poor EVIL on his head before they threw some very sincere bombs at each other in an effort to win the wrestling match. It’s quality stuff, like the words here are almost underrating it, but New Japan’s tough guy slugfest is starting to feel a little like WWE’s Ladder Match – you’re always guaranteed some crazy stuff, but somebody needs to try to give it a new hook when there’s no G1 Climax heat to take it to third gear. ***3/4
8. NEVER Openweight Title: Hirooki Goto [c] vs. Shingo Takagi
And then Shingo Takagi shows up and is like, “Sup. Here’s the hook.” God bless. The Dragon emerged in New Japan only a little over a year ago and it feels like he has been on a warpath towards the NEVER Openweight Title ever since, a championship typically held by the strongest most serious men in wrestling. Every time he takes another step, he brings the attitude with him. That’s the hook: the attitude. It’s the Attitude Era, baby.
Shingo has the most emotive yet realistic reactions to things, whether he’s throwing the hardest shot he can with an air of “SUP BITCH” or absorbing severe pain in his left ear because defeat is not an option. His deep staredown of Goto’s championship belt before the match informed everything that came after it, and at one point he just casually grabs the title as he has Goto down on the floor and holds it up high.
Goto – again – is the most sneakily capable main event guy in wrestling, and they kept this moving for all 20 minutes including a dramatic, intense, just nasty finish that actually delivered on the promise of these New Japan slugfest matches. WRESTLING. ****1/4
Happy Thoughts: This didn’t get cooking until the last 3 matches, but the Goto/Shingo match is worth the price of admission alone. 6/10
