Amid more Uncertain Times, particularly though maybe not as importantly in regards to Japanese pro wrestling, New Japan ran 2 tournaments over 23 shows over 33 days over the last 2 months of the year. All in all: 158 matches, plus 2 finals that will be covered on another post. I watched 20-something in full and thought something of the ones below.
1. Best of the Super Jr.: Hiromu Takahashi vs. YOH (11/13/21)
YOH began by going for broke with a big pescado at Korakuen Hall like it was 1994, and I was both encouraged and intrigued as he and Hiromu kept going for the quick kill until it just ended after 4 minutes and became a mere simple, solid sprint. **3/4
2. Best of the Super Jr.: El Desperado vs. SHO (11/13/21)
This felt like more of the norm from current New Japan, a well-wrestled match bogged down by too much downtime or Dick Togo or something. Goth SHO definitely isn’t there yet, his heel charisma limited to late-match interference from the awfully-named House of Torture. He’s still at his best rapidly countering holds and signature moves, which isn’t much of a change but there was enough of it here for this to still be pretty good. ***1/4
3. World Tag League: Minoru Suzuki & TAKA Michinoku vs. Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (11/14/21)
Last seen as Zack Sabre Jr.’s mouthpiece and manager, TAKA Michinoku was cast away for 2-and-a-half years after being outed as a dirty cheater and spent the time doing manual labor and (obviously) running a small wrestling promotion. He returns to a New Japan ring here in a match that set aside New Japan’s general philosophy of cautiousness and opened the Tag League up with a straight-up ass-kicking.
Suzuki-gun’s two Tag League teams went at each other’s throats literally and figuratively around Korakuen Hall, a 2-on-2 brawl eventually settling into a TAKA beatdown. Taichi in particular was lighting TAKA up like a young boy, and by the time TAKA passed out caught in a submission Suzuki just accepted it. Welcome back, dipshit. ***1/2
4. World Tag League: Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI (11/14/21)
After exiting the G1 Climax early with an injury, Naito returned to the ring and closed the opening night of the 2021 World Tag League with a layup of a match on paper that ended up kind of a poster child for how, whether from lack of spark or crowd or effort (or all three), a lot of New Japan can really just suck right now. The match structure takes a while to pop, and sometimes it just doesn’t. There’s getting by while recovering from injuries and there’s wasting time in a long match despite your injuries. Figure it out, Naito!! **3/4
5. Best of the Super Jr.: Hiromu Takahashi vs. SHO (11/15/21)
There was a scenario at one point in time where I thought Hiromu vs. SHO could set a template for a future of the New Japan junior heavyweight division that I hadn’t quite sorted out yet, and this reality is one piece of evidence why I hadn’t. They go a little over 15 minutes with a match vibe that I would for better or worse describe as “cheeky,” though when SHO dropped the act he did hit a bunch of cool stuff: cool lariat, cool piledriver, cool setups for whatever current variation of the double-underhook something he is using as his finish.
It was OK bordering on good, but then the House of Torture boys showed up and instead of clever trickery to steal the match for Hiromu their interference was weaker than what you might even be imagining right now. It made everything that came before it feel extra useless, and I’m no insider but that is not the point of wrestling. **1/2
6. Best of the Super Jr.: El Desperado vs. Taiji Ishimori (11/15/21)
I didn’t see everything but El Desperado was the MVP of the BOSJ. He and Hiromu were called upon to deliver the most and while Hiromu sometimes spiced up the formula, Despy was up to the task in a bunch of tough semi-main or main event matches where he stayed in a lane and sold his way into something nice and effective — as he did here, in this 22-minute match with Taiji Ishimori at the end of the third night of a 3-night Korakuen Hall run. When Despy dives under a leapfrog from Ishimori towards the end of the match and lands face and stomach-first in agony, it just feels on target. ***
7. World Tag League: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima (11/17/21)
The best parts of prime TenKoji (besides the entrance theme and gear and charisma) was their selling all match and pacing on the close, which would keep a quick speed despite wrapping up in such a clever way that the speed shouldn’t have been able to keep. Their ability to sell remains, though at 50 years old takes on a little new meaning. They aren’t as quick now either, obviously, but even in 2021 them and a pair of similar pros brought it home well enough. YOSHI’s lariat somehow keeps getting better too. ***
8. Best of the Super Jr.: Robbie Eagles vs. El Phantasmo (11/21/21)
Robbie Eagles gives his everything to bumping and the familiarity of ELP’s approach to wrestling continues to hover between acceptance and contempt, but at some point during this it occurred to me how much it felt like a low budget Will Ospreay/Jay White match and maybe it’s unfair but I couldn’t shake it. That match has worked a couple times in the past, but not enough for the low budget version to. ***
9. Best of the Super Jr.: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado (11/21/21)
Here is the current IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion and the best junior heavyweight in New Japan against one who is definitely top 5, likely top 3, and possibly top 2 if his dynamism was not caught in whatever this modern wrestling situation has become. Natural rivals, they go the full 30 and make sense of most of it.
Desperado is especially fun because he can so easily transition match to match between a sympathetic babyface receiving and selling offense to a dipshit heel that dishes it out. Sometimes he’ll just spend the bulk of a match smacking an opponent over the head, but he respects Hiromu and opts for wearing down and eventually ravaging his leg over an extended period of time.
Because he is a main event superstar, he also hits a somersault dive between the ropes late in the match that went SOOOOO far despite a railing and Hiromu Takahashi in the way.
Hiromu tried to stay charming but after a lot of work he felt incapable of rallying, settling 20 minutes in for quick killshots (like the cradle that beat YOH). It was opposite a Desperado who just seemed more composed and prepared, only the very concept of time itself working against him. As they both struggled to stand approximately 28 or 29 minutes in and were REALLY ready to throw down, the pro wrestling drama hurricane had arrived. Another great entry in the series. ****
10. World Tag League: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano vs. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA (11/23/21)
I had to see the Tanahashi and Yano cosplay act at least once, though was disappointed to learn they drop the costumes when the bell rings. Gimmick aside they are not quite The Rock & Roll Express or even the Zambuie Express, but what is probably just a diversion for Tanahashi to rest up at least revised the Yano act a little bit. SANADA even seemed refreshing sometimes. Naito vs. Tana was brief but happened as well, and it was fun if not a little less every time. Solid New Japan tag mixed with some new sorts of nonsense. ***1/4
11. Best of the Super Jr.: Master Wato vs. Ryusuke Taguchi (11/24/21)
How Tanahashi and Naito would handle closing a quiet Tag League spot show opposite each other was an intriguing concept, as was how Taguchi would handle opening a Best of the Super Jr. spot show opposite Master Wato. His first strategy? Leg work. Otherwise, he just lets Wato tire himself out trying to have a whole match.
Wato seems to be de-emphasizing the karate stuff in lieu of basic New Japan junior, and basic junior is fine but it’s a tough market and the BOSJ is filled with them. Taguchi is right here proving the right mix of it has some staying power though, still pulling out stuff he learned in Mexico years ago along with the ass humor. Good match with a ceiling. ***
12. World Tag League: Yuji Nagata & Tiger Mask IV vs. Minoru Suzuki & TAKA Michinoku (11/28/21)
This was from a Yuji Nagata-promoted show, though the atmosphere wasn’t very different from any other Tag League show outside of the bright open gymnasium and this cool main event. While Tanahashi and Yano opted for silly to enhance their tag team allegiance, Yuji Nagata and Tiger Mask went with a more traditional blue color coordination. Master Wato, of course, weeps while icing his neck on the BOSJ tour. Nagata and Suzuki remain an energetic duo while Tiger and Suzuki may shoot on each other sometime in the future, but besides some bits and pieces this was another so-so Tag League entry. I don’t know if TAKA got messed up either but he and Nagata seemingly avoiding contact on anything was a stark contrast to Suzuki-gun lighting TAKA up too. ***
13. Best of the Super Jr.: El Desperado vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (11/29/21)
The 17-time IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions (something like that, surely) squared off here and Desperado offered a handshake immediately, to which Yoshinobu said no before he dipped to the floor and sold his suspicion of his madly successful partner’s heelish intentions. After some pause it appeared Despy had won him over, before Nobu showed everyone who’s king and pulled all kinds of dirty tricks in pursuit of two points. His offense ranged from lying in a headscissors to a straight DDT on the floor, but at the end of the day this is Desperado’s world now. Good. Fun. Really. ***1/4
14. Best of the Super Jr.: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo (11/29/21)
Another stop at Korakuen mid-tour for the BOSJ provided this decent effort at a main event that unfortunately also felt like another example of how the style has gotten so stale and similar. Tremendous Styles Clash near fall though. ***
15. World Tag League: Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. Great O-Khan & Aaron Henare (11/30/21)
This was the Tag League’s mid-tour stop at Korakuen and the positives were this: good urgency at the finish, Great O-Khan wins. Everything else took time to engage. O-Khan and his boy Aaron did some cobra clutch slam double team move where O-Khan did the cobra clutch and Henare just crossed SANADA’s legs and I’m still not sure what he actually added to it. Hey – ***.
16. World Tag League: Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (12/2/21)
I should have known better than to watch this as I have seen too many too long versions of this match now, but there I was again watching them stick to their guns for 30 minutes. I’m sure the wrestling show was fun to attend, but an autograph signing might have been a better use of everyone’s time and health. **1/2
17. Best of the Super Jr.: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi (12/3/21)
This 9-minute bundle of joy is essentially an endless, glorious display of rollups and cradles as two of New Japan’s strangest boys tried to win. Taguchi, the dumbass, uses an ankle hold and Axe Bomber then sets up the Dodon while Hiromu, the genius, rolls him up for 3. If Hiromu didn’t break the cradles up by escaping to the floor few couple times I might have gone five. Otherwise, a fun kind of wrestling match. ***3/4
18. Best of the Super Jr.: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. El Desperado (12/8/21)
Not to sound like the coolest guy in the world or anything, but I had seen enough New Japan matches to know what to expect when I embarked on watching let alone writing anything about these tournaments. Towards the end of the tour as expectations met expectation, only a select few matches were standing out as worth checking out and they usually involved Hiromu, Desperado, or Ryusuke Taguchi. This is another one that doesn’t go much beyond its’ ***, but Taguchi’s headlock work and Despy’s reaction in the moment to a chair falling while he tries to hit Taguchi’s ass with it gets it there.
19. Best of the Super Jr.: YOH vs. SHO (12/11/21)
The second YOH/SHO singles match since SHO aligned with EVIL felt like a step down from the first one at MetLife Dome, which itself had room to improve. Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI’s surprise run-in at a BOSJ show as YOH’s back-up was a fun bit, but in the end the whole thing came out feeling like an average YOH vs. SHO match followed by a messy CHAOS vs. House of Torture match and that’s not a premium combo. **1/2
20. World Tag League: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (12/12/21)
Another match that ran too long for comfort, but across the journey was some genuinely good selling that resulted in a quality and eventually surprising close to the League. ***
Two matches came after YOH beat SHO: Hiromu Takahashi beat Robbie Eagles, while El Desperado lost to El Phantasmo. Hiromu advanced to face YOH in the Best of the Super Jr. 28 Finals, while Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI’s win got them to the 36th Tag League Finals against… EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi of the House of Torture, who have not been mentioned as a team until now for good reason.
Happy Thoughts: El Desperado, Hiromu Takahashi and YOH stood out for the juniors while the Dangerous Tekkers and maybe CHAOS stood out in the tags. New Japan’s usual tune stood out above all else though, as while most of the 36 had a chance or two to shine, what came in between was a lot of bleak wrestling matches that were either too mailed in or just too quiet in general. Check out the Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado draw and it’ll give you the best version of what everybody else seemed to be trying, including the heavyweights. 1.75 / 5.0
