Yoshitatsu, Atsuki Aoyagi & TAJIRI vs. Takao Omori, Black Menso-re & Dan Tamura
Hello friends. I must inform you that this show takes place at Hotel Epinard, in the town of Nasu. This literally translates to Spinach Hotel. What better venue to host not one, but TWO pro-wrestling tournaments. I’m digging the chandelier light setup and I also dug this opening number – a match that mixed JBOG entrants with seasoned undercard artists to pleasant results. **1/2
Hokuto Omori vs. Ryo Inoue – Junior Battle of Glory
BIG WIN INOUE. These two had themselves a 3-minute scorcher that further established The Purple Menace Ryo Inoue as your new favorite wrestler. The boy literally breaks out the Kawada step kicks in this one. How much more official can it get? He is the new guy to watch. Hokuto was totally game too – more than willing to give Ryo the spotlight but also extremely capable of slapping the shit out of him. Short match perverts – get on this. ***1/4
Rising HAYATO vs. Hikaru Sato – Junior Battle of Glory
Another slick match from the blessed junior battlers of glory. This one told a story as old as time – the tale of the veteran working over the arm of the high flyer. You can trace this folk legend back to the Bible. Throughout this tournament, HAYATO showed he was actively good at the whole offense thing. Here he spent some time on defense and practiced the ancient technique known as Selling The Arm. It all worked pretty well, Hikaru’s crafty relentlessness matching nicely with Rising’s flashy comebacks. ***1/4
Yuji Nagata & Yuma Anzai vs. Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi – Real World Tag League
A bit barebones, but solid tag team wrasslin’ nonetheless. Coming off a rough beatdown at the hands of the Big Dawg Shuji Ishikawa, Anzai probably appreciated a normal night of playing babyface in peril. Nagata is looking understandably Old in a lot of these tags, but Anzai is always there to bring the energy up with his dropkicks and suplexes. ***
Jake Lee & Yuma Aoyagi vs. Jun Saito & Rei Saito – Real World Tag League
How wild is it that Jake and Yuma had their first real good match of the tournament against the Saitos? Yuma’s been working in non-stop comedy mode for the last 2-3 months, so having him and Lee fight for their lives against two big ol’ brutes was super refreshing. The Saitos left the Voodoo shenaniganz at home and did what they do best – hit hard and grunt loudly. Rei nuked Lee with the mother of all slap-into-lariat combos at some point and it ruled. There was even some meat around the ending with Jake barely surviving Jun’s new finish. A lot to like! ***1/4
Suwama & KONO vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Cyrus – Real World Tag League
There we go. We are now firmly entrenched in the Vince Russo era of the RAW is ZEN NIHON program. Post-match brawls bleeding into the next match, referees being put to sleep (?), run-ins from both heels and babyfaces. This ain’t your grandpa’s Voodoo Murders! Cyrus did look triumphant in the end, so this deserves at least two stars. **
Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura vs. Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda – Real World Tag League
Upper echelon RWTL 2022-type content. They blended the Miyaken To Takuya comedic approach with Gungnir’s more physical style and the result was three and a half stars worth of wrestling. Again, I’m eternally fascinated by Kento’s ability to switch from comedian to Ace Mode on a dime. The match had a whole lot of that, plus solid performances from GOA, who clicked especially well with Nomura.
STRUCTURALLY-SPEAKING, the former tag champs’ road to victory was well-paved – Kento’s leg getting gradually weaker throughout the match while Honda’s contributions kept getting sharper (spear over the Ashino ankle lock = wild!). With these back-to-back wins against the Wamster and Kento, a new Triple Crown challenge might be in the cards for Ashino? ***1/2
