New Japan founder Antonio Inoki passed away on October 1st, 2022, leaving behind a legacy filled with more achievement than difficulty, though it was filled with both. May it continue to be a source of enjoyment and discussion years into the future, and may his memory be a blessing for his family and friends.
Young Ren Narita was coming home. Bad Dude Tito was here. Shingo Takagi was wrestling for the right to be called “Daddy” and Tama Tonga was challenging Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight Title. There was a new TV Championship and I haven’t even mentioned Master Wato was wrestling fourth from top. These were strange days in New Japan and they could result in strange cards, too, though there was still The Rainmaker… and young Ren was calling himself Son of Strong Style…
New Japan’s first “Declaration of Power” took place at Sumo Hall on the 8-year anniversary of my marriage. I don’t think it was connected.
1. Ren Narita Triumphant Homecoming Match: David Finlay, Robbie Eagles & Ren Narita vs. El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
Young Noojie Ren Narita said a temporary farewell to New Japan in late-2019, traveling to train with Katsuyori Shibata at the L.A. Dojo and get experience in the U.S. Then COVID-19 adjusted and extended his stay. After impressing those who watch NJPW Strong while still wrestling as Ren Narita, he made his return to Japan here as Ren Narita… Son of Strong Style (cue music or something, it’s so cool).
With Shibata mostly retired, Ren has returned to Japan playing Shibata Jr. and that’s a tall task but he was delivering: Strikes! Shoulder tackles! Selling! He took a beating from Suzuki-gun before tagging out after a nice spinning wheel kick. A nice plancha from Finlay followed, then an even nicer somersault tope from Robbie followed that before Narita came back in to kick out of DOUKI’s finish and debut his own.***
2. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi vs. Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito
They traded pec-flexes and holds before things got really real. Haste tossed ZSJ into a Blue Thunder bomb from Tito, who followed up with slingshot splash – big Dude Tito can go, I’m serious. ZSJ eventually caught a kick from Haste and tagged in Taichi who kicked Haste in the face. Later, Tito managed to lift out of a cross armbreaker and front neck lock from ZSJ before falling to a Japanese leg roll clutch. ***
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hikuleo & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO
Hikuleo is big and tall enough to be a pro wrestling prospect but I still wasn’t sold on him until I saw the joy in his eyes when he made a comeback on EVIL and the boys and got to tag in Hiroshi Tanahashi. He won the match with a chokeslam on SHO that went up so high it caused commentary to lose their minds. **1/2
4. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb
O-Khan argued with YOSHI-HASHI over accessories before the match, continuing his run as the guy who understands what New Japan wants if not needs. The match was pretty good because Goto and YOSHI are pretty great; they played the hits before YOSHI got overwhelmed then played more hits for the finish where YOSHI almost got Cobb a few times before, you know, Tour of Islands. ***1/4
5. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Will Ospreay, Aaron Henare, TJP & Francesco Akira
Eight minutes, eight wrestlers – sometimes it is just that way. Naito and Will paired off at the start and finish, then CMLL and occasional New Japan wrestler Titán ran-in to help BUSHI win and get announced as the newest member of Los Ingobernables de Japon. Titán’s a talent, though the reveal felt uninspired. ***
6. Master Wato vs. Taiji Ishimori
Taiji Ishimori is the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion but this was wasn’t for the title, continuing Master Wato’s run of getting no respect. Did this match prove he deserves it? Well. Couldn’t be worse than some of the other options, you know? His flying back elbow and Everest German suplex really have developed. Ishimori was working all match like an Anderson brother if sometimes, before throwing someone’s arm into an exposed turnbuckle, Anderson caught a dive and turned it into a crossface or hit a La Mistica or something.
That La Mistica seemed to set Ishimori up for an ordinary victory, only for Wato to twist out into a tombstone and hit a half-nelson slam I’m told is the Recientemente II for a pretty surprising, pretty gratifying win. Former champions Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado demanded a 4-Way Title Match immediately after, continuing Master Wato’s run of getting no respect. ***1/2
7. Who’s Your Daddy Match – KOPW 2022: Shingo Takagi [c] vs. El Phantasmo
Inside the ring Shingo can embrace just about anything and make it work but sometimes that quality goes a bit too far, like this run where he turned obnoxious junior heavyweight ELP into a competitive midcard heavyweight by acting like a goof: doing ELP’s hand poses, spanking him, selling a back rake and wearing a t-shirt that says “Who’s Your Daddy.”
He did it by wrestling well too, justifying a creative approach I am both fascinated by and can give myself headaches trying to comprehend with some exciting pro wrestling. Busted out an old-fashioned Octopus hold for the finish too, just as Inoki would have wanted. ***1/2
8. Kazuchika Okada vs. JONAH
JONAH made waves beating Okada in their killer G1 Climax match and this rematch had many of those killer qualities, the coupling of simple roles already established and a simple layout that made every move important whether used on one of Okada’s many comeback attempts or because they kept coming back to it at the end. I say simple, but it’s actually really hard and it’s been a while since New Japan or any wrestling has pulled off this David/Goliath dynamic so well on such a big stage.
Okada looked undersized and overpowered early as JONAH pushed him around, then a Razor’s Edge into the turnbuckle post put him and his abdominal region in serious trouble. He rallied with some dropkicks, only to get caught with a spear. He tried a Rainmaker, only to get German suplexed. He escaped a powerbomb and hit three clotheslines in a row, only to get powerbombed anyway when JONAH ducked the Rainmaker. It was a lot like that for poor Okada.
After the powerbomb JONAH went up top to hit the Torpedo splash that beat Okada last time, but his slow ascent gave Okada time to move. Okada followed up by applying the Money Clip, which is its’ whole other issue we don’t need to get into right now but mercifully JONAH fought out and bodied Okada with a straight-up body block. It looked bleak until Okada ducked a clothesline and hit his own German suplex, then overcame one last Rainmaker block to put down TMDK’s biggest boy. Tremendous match if not a little lacking in the energy that makes pro wrestling so extra special… ****
9. IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Jay White [c] vs. Tama Tonga
It all led to this, “The Good Bad Guy” Tama Tonga wronged by the Bullet Club vs. Bullet Club leader “Switchblade” Jay White for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title. It was pretty good, or at least had enough familiar main event content to get by, though other than the belt there’s no good reason Okada/JONAH was before it.
Tama found his conscience on a dirty break and brought the babyface fire early before he was dumped on the floor, where Jay killed time before killing more time in the ring. Tama fired out of the corner with a clothesline and tore his shirt off but before he could get any momentum there was a ref bump, run-ins from Jado and Gedo, a few low blows, a chair – all the classics when there’s no other ideas.
The big spot was Jado talking Tama down from using a chair, though the near fall that followed didn’t hit nor did the referee putting the chair away from Jay. Tama kept countering the Blade Runner as the end seemed near, managing to get a near fall off the Stun Gun before going for a second-rope Stun Gun that was, ironically, countered with the Blade Runner. Okada confronted Jay afterwards to make his challenge for Wrestle Kingdom official. ***1/2
Happy Thoughts: Even during these strange days and lacking any crowd “reaction” this undercard was stronger than usual, while the top four matches delivered or at least kind of did. 3.5 / 5.0
