A week after Shingo Takagi became the IWGP Heavyweight Champion at Osaka Castle Hall, New Japan kicked off the 2021 Kizuna Road tour. It was highlighted by a Trial Series for two rookies on the verge of something new and a title challenge by three old pals that can still kind of go. Selections from the tour’s seven stops at Korakuen Hall are thought about below.
Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji Trial Series
The Trial Series is the closest thing professional wrestling has to a combine, and I know all about Orlando. By way of nightly singles matches with fellow roster members who have been there and done something, the young lion shows off their development from a few years working strictly black-tight opening affairs.
Along the way they define themselves for their fans and co-workers before deciding what’s next: more improvement, a learning excursion, hair dye and space lasers — whatever boss wants.
Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji wrestled their first matches on the same night in 2018 and went on to pay their dues on a ton of New Japan undercards, mostly against each other. I first saw them when they opened up every G1 Climax show last year and the boys just charmed me, even during some very not charming times. Like many young lions before them, they were expertly trained, impressively patient, and running down the ramp (when there was one).
The young lion match is basic by design, a little rough around the edges but during an era of matches trying so hard to be good the basic match has a way of standing out. Yuya and Yota were also particularly skilled at it, and here they got to try new moves and approaches while still keeping it completely basic.
Let’s Talk About Yuya Uemura
He got ballsier as the tour progressed, but the plan for Yuya Uemura remained pretty consistent: demand competition of whoever he’s in the ring with. He’s the watch New Japan growing up type of fella, a strong style fella, a clean-cut guy who also has the facial expressions of a guy that could have range. He’s competitive, exhausted, and eventually just sick of everybody’s bullshit. Could have serious range.
vs. Minoru Suzuki (6/14/21), vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (6/15/21): Uemura’s first two trials were pretty similar, fighting out of holds by two guys who know them. Suzuki-keeps it old school, black tights and elaborate submissions mixed with a dirtbag demeanor that Uemura moreso endures than overcomes. He gets more confident as he goes, especially the second night where he figures he at least competed with Suzuki so he’s on ZSJ’s level (he isn’t).
Against ZSJ he can mostly be found on the mat, though his selling and a few impressive takedowns stand out. 10 minutes in he gets hooked in a submission and is comically close to a rope break, but his exhaustion vibes make the arena question whether he can grab it (he does). Uemura catches kicks and escapes sleepers; he counters a Michinoku Driver with a Japanese leg roll clutch. He can do it.
vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (6/16/21): After two nights of trying to stay competitive with cheaters and jerks, Uemura faced the ultimate modern New Japan dojo graduate. Tanahashi went with a battle of strength followed by one of headlocks, and when Yuya admirably plays along Tana looks kind of pissed – as if he didn’t just bait this guy. They have a low key New Japan main event kind of match, lots of counters and callbacks and genuine surprises. Uemura wilds out towards the end with a crossbody off the top but his only counter for the Shake Rattle & Roll is a simple-ass vertical suplex, so he can’t get a win.
vs. Taichi (6/22/21): Taichi was always going to provide the more unique experience of the Trial Series; the man is just different. Prepared for the bullshit, Uemura goes right at him with elbows, a dropkick, a whip to the guardrail, a crossbody off the apron – it just kept going! Taichi’s response is to reverse an Irish whip and kick him in the face so he can sit down to recover. Taichi tortures Uemura for a little to setup a great Axe Bomber near fall, then Uemura counters a Last Ride with a hurricanrana before another kick to the face seals it. The match structure master strikes again.
vs. Kota Ibushi (6/23/21), vs. Shingo Takagi (7/2/21): By the last nights of the tour Uemura had more urgency in everything he was doing, which was either because he learned to or because he was facing the Top Guys. He’s kept down with chinlocks and a bodyscissors by Ibushi, who claps when Yuya gets to the ropes – sarcastic or helpful? The blank slate that is Ibushi makes for another unique matchup, especially when he responds to a crab hold setup by dropping down on his back like he’s Inoki.
In Uemura’s final test he challenged Shingo Takagi to a war of shoulderblocks, which really seems like he learned nothing. But Shingo used the misplaced fire and had a whole match with him, cocky on offense before properly building to a mini-main event style closeout.
Let’s Talk About Yota Tsuji
With long hair and facial hair, Tsuji exudes more showman than traditional wrestler, which in pro wrestling is kind of traditional anyways. While Uemura’s matches mostly ended by submission; Tsuji’s all end a little weirder. From a top rope splashes to a Gory Special, he’s the guy that just sort of tries stuff — like if Manabu Nakanishi was big into tape trading.
vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (6/14/21), vs. Taichi (6/15/21): Tsuji opened up his series trading holds with Hiroshi Tanahashi before busting out a Gory Special to set a tone. Tanahashi uses his core to power up onto Tsuji’s shoulders, but Tsuji brings him back down with a giant swing and does a big belly flop splash too – like I said, he tries stuff. He did against Taichi too: what looks like a sloppy tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Taichi quickly becomes an awesome armdrag counter by Tsuji; a hurricanrana follows soon after like he already did a stint in CMLL.
vs. Kazuchika Okada (6/16/21): Very cool match, less for Tsuji and more for Okada just doing something interesting. Okada smirks through some Tsuji offense early before calmly responding with a big boot and bodyslam like he’s Misawa or something. He bodyslams Tsuji on the floor too and just waits for a countout. They struggle over Tsuji escaping the tombstone so long I’ve got to think it was a test, and soon Okada grabs Tsuji’s wrist to hit a… rollup for 3. He immediately hands over his hand to be raised, shakes hands with the referee and storms off. Amazing.
vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (6/22/21): Tsuji is all smiles before the bell, no idea how this one is going to work. They chain wrestle back-and-forth and Tsuji looks good, like they’ve been practicing or he’s just a secret mat maestro too. An early Tsuji rollup gets a near fall so good the crowd cheers and ZSJ steps outside to take a breather and call Tsuji a cheeky bastard. ZSJ powers out of the Gory Special like Tanahashi, but slickly transitions into a triangle choke for the win.
vs. Great O-Khan (6/23/21), vs. Kota Ibushi (7/2/21): Tsuji and O-Khan was probably the weakest in-ring of the trials but also a character dream match with O-Khan shrieking and no-selling poor Tsuji’s chops. He doesn’t just put Tsuji in a crab hold to win, he bounces up and down on it like a psychopath.
A week later Tsuji is cautious for maybe the first time all series against Ibushi, who works holds and slaps him around before taking a ride on the giant swing. Tsuji can’t get Ibushi up for the Gory Special so settles for a cool pin takedown before Ibushi does an outright disgusting single-leg crab hold for the win. Real “trial’s over, bitch” kind of vibe.
CHAOS Six-Man Tag Team Titles
The Kizuna Road tour didn’t have much going on besides the young lions, but it was also one of New Japan’s stronger runs this year and that’s mostly because of the Six-Man Tag Team Titles. The reign of CHAOS has revitalized both a championship and group of wrestlers, the rare wrestling win-win.
On the other hand, New Japan keeps thinking they can get away with putting the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title in big spots and it’s just not fair. I love a good junior heavyweight tag team battle as much as the next guy but with the Guerillas of Destiny one of only two teams ever feuding for the IWGP Tag Team Titles themselves, the word streamline keeps coming to mind. Plus it could mean Yoshinobu Kanemaru, IWGP Tag Team Champion.
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Title: Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI [c] vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo (6/22/21): This had a crappy outside brawl and Bullet Club brawl to COVID Korakuen silence, though for current Bullet Club it was also sort of a miracle. It went 32 — count ’em — 32 minutes, but impressively didn’t feel very long. Ishii brings enough grimacing and intensity to carry the early parts, and CHAOS adorably uses teamwork to build their comebacks and momentum. EVIL doesn’t add much a different dynamic from Yujiro and Togo’s mailed-in shtick, but in the last ten minutes he reminds you that yes: he can still keep up. ***1/4
YOSHI-HASHI vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (7/1/21): The young lion matches exemplify the magic of the New Japan Dojo but so does something like this, which rocked last year in the New Japan Cup and rocked here too. This isn’t main event championship counter-and-kickout stuff, but it’s a one-on-one match with peaks and valleys and time to breathe — two guys try to win by hitting each other, then by out-smarting each other.
YOSHI-HASHI playing the aggressor just hits, and Tenzan has felt immobile for a decade now but still gets so much out of what he can do like a spinning wheel kick from nowhere or a fight to apply the Anaconda Vice. When he misses a diving headbutt he just looks spent — as he should be! — but the dummy uses his last bit of energy to throw a headbutt, and some kind of old man torch is passed as YOSHI submits him to a Butterfly Lock. ***1/2
Hirooki Goto vs. Satoshi Kojima (7/1/21): This had similar qualities to the last match, plenty of fun and drama out of 15 minutes. Given the participants it had more physicality too, with Kojima (fresh off a mini-tour in America!) managing to compete early before he gets too fired up and clotheslines the turnbuckle post. Goto targets the arm with some cool stuff including a few nasty uppercuts to the tricep, but then he too gets too fired up and mimics Kojima’s Bakayaro elbow in the corner. When a pissed off Kojima counters with a superplex Goto is ready, but he’s not ready for Kojima just clotheslining him off the top rope.
They elbow for superiority and collide with lariats at the same time, and let me tell you what when Goto falls and Kojima stays up all strong and middle-aged it felt downright inspirational. Goto takes a freaking backflip bump off another lariat too, just out of respect. Smart, fun, to the point – good good wrestling. ***3/4
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yuji Nagata (7/1/21): The legend Nagata is able to still go by using a bunch of slick submissions and counters, while Ishii — who is getting up there in age himself — responds with mostly just the nastiest chops. He looks wrecked after escaping a Nagata Lock so Nagata keeps the pressure including an Exploder off the top rope, but as their energy runs out Ishii pulls a lariat and brainbuster out of his sleeve. This all ruled because why wouldn’t it? ***3/4
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Title: Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI [c] vs. Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (7/2/21): Even among just 300-something fans, the Third Generation theme songs do not disappoint. This was all the best bits of the singles matches plus CHAOS again using the buddy system to stay in control. YOSHI is especially scrappy, a superkick to save Goto from a Koji Cutter and a dropkick to the knee that ensures Nagata can’t even think about following up.
Ishii and Nagata hit each other, Goto and Kojima hit each other, and YOSHI continues to play underdog albeit one that can compete with 50-year-old wrestlers. After Ishii is helped out of a Nagata Lock, the New Japan Dads do their own adorable teamwork leading to a nice near fall for Nagata on a backdrop hold. YOSHI comes in and just wrecks everybody before Goto and Kojima have one last banger. A wrestling fan’s wrestling match. ***3/4
IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title: SHO & YOH [c] vs. El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori (6/23/21): Ishimori remains a good hand while Roppongi 3K is ready for something new. ELP? He rakes backs.
This match is too lengthy and generic to possibly recommend, though the double teams near the end are impressive and they’re able to build up something resembling drama as ELP steps on YOH’s foot with a loaded boot and hits a superkick and… well, that’s how it ended. New champions. The journey continues. ***
Happy Thoughts: Kizuna Road was good, actually. At least the feature stuff was. Uemura and Tsuji stepped up and so did CHAOS, but more impressively after the (very good) Dominion show and (very crappy) Wrestle Grand Slam postponement New Japan has managed to keep some momentum for the first time in a while. That’s what happens when you make Shingo champ I guess. 3.75 / 5.0
