Following Day 1 of the 2-day Royal Quest II was – wait for it – Day 2, headlined by Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yota Tsuji and Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
1. El Desperado & DOUKI vs. Michael Oku & Robbie X
Michael Oku impressed yesterday against Great O-Khan while Robbie X made his first Royal Quest appearance in pink-and-blue attire and maybe sunglasses on his butt. Each of them showed off here against Desperado and DOUKI’s easy listening heel shtick. Oku dropped DOUKI on his head with an incredible multi-tornado DDT while X hit a nice quebrada and did a whole closing sequence with Despy, who is very good in any scenario. ***1/4
2. SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ethan Allen & Luke Jacob
SANADA and Hiromu went 15 minutes here with a RevPro team named the “Young Guns” that did fine but were overshadowed by SANADA and Hiromu filling the time with Southern tag tropes and other shtick like assisted armbars and a do-si-do attack. Hiromu reacting “oh my gosh” to chops got a bigger pop than a lot of the wrestling too. There wasn’t enough shtick or talent to stretch 15 minutes but I’m glad I saw the shtick. ***
3. IWGP Women’s Title Tournament – Round 1: Jazzy Gabert vs. Ava White
Some of this match was awkward and a little scary, including the entire last few minutes when they each – both of them – nearly killed each other with a Gotch-style piledriver. Gabert’s ability to will a crowd into a frenzy against any number of wrestling underdogs remains impressive though, and her Anaconda Vice and Romero Specials were kind of endearing. But yeah: safety first, even in wrestling! The Alpha Female advances to the next round… **3/4
4. FTR, Shota Umino, Gabriel Kidd & Ricky Knight Jr. vs. Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan, Mark Davis, Kyle Fletcher & Gideon Grey
This was an abbreviated version of last night’s (excellent) main events, though there was enough time for everyone to get in a thing (besides RKJ, who at least got the pin). Highlights included Dax’s exchanges with Ospreay and O-Khan as well as Kidd setting up his hot tag by just walloping Fletcher with a clothesline. ***1/2
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tama Tonga & Hikuleo vs. Jay White, Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows
Hey! It was the same mailed-in match as yesterday except without Jado and Gedo. Tana’s cutter finish on Gallows got a big pop. **3/4
6. Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Dude Tito
Before the bell a guy in the crowd tried to start a “fuck Okada” chant, displaying possibly worst reading of any room that’s ever been read. When the bell rang Tito shouted “BAAAD DUUDE,” which is how you do it. Okada sold for him, took a big German suplex and big spinning Blue Thunder bomb, then slipped out of a fireman’s carry and worked his way to a dropkick before wrapping up with Rainmaker.
I don’t know if Okada going less than 10 minutes with Tito was a casualty of time constraint, condemnation of Tito, or just each guy understanding their capability – either way it made for some tremendous house show wrestling. ***1/2
7. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yota Tsuji
Yota Tsuji had long hair and facial hair since the beginning, but after a year in RevPro he’s added a shit-eating grin and wears a black hakama for his entrance – the places destiny can take you…
Yesterday Shooter Umino took on Will Ospreay in a match that displayed New Japan’s high-octane high-flying style of heavyweight wrestling, and here Tsuji and Ishii displayed the other New Japan heavyweight style – less high-flying, more ass-kicking. Elbows, chops, and shoulders were thrown with great intensity, then Tsuji busted out a hurricanrana and backflipped over the top rope to shatter my entire premise. Ishii was Ishii and Tsuji showed off – it was very good wrestling. ****
8. Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
This was Naito and ZSJ’s ninth singles match together, and sixth I’ve written about at Happy Wrestling Land. I loved their G1 Climax 2020 match and New Japan Cup Final earlier this year, liked their G1 Climax 2021 and G1 Climax 2018 matches, and hated their Power Struggle 2018 match — though that last one may be on me.
This one fell somewhere between “liked” and “loved,” featuring tremendous feats of athleticism and quirky submissions and last-second near falls… also, stalling! Naito began with test of strength shtick, did The Pose, and ZSJ kicked the guardrail in frustration. ZSJ teased a dive, teased The Pose, and flipped everybody off. Some arm work by ZSJ kept the match grounded before they started freaking everyone out with signatures and finishers. Seeing them lockup on ZSJ’s turf provided a new and livelier atmosphere for this excellent pairing of talent. ****
Happy Thoughts: Royal Quest II Day 2 didn’t have a match as good as Day 1’s FTR/Aussie Open match, but it did have a similar setup for success with a unique atmosphere, solid undercard and two great matches on top. Hopefully Royal Quest III isn’t three years away. 3.75 / 5.0
