Following Fantastica Mania, NJPW's momentum picked up as it moved towards promotion of its next big events: THE NEW BEGINNING comprising of shows in Sendai and Osaka, and the New Japan Cup, which features a tournament whose victor can go on to challenge for any championship in the promotion at midyear event Invasion Attack.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Road to THE NEW BEGINNING consisted of 3 dates leading up to the major 2-day show. The first of these was presented unspectacularly without commentary and primarily from only two camera angles. In the opening match, Alex Shelly of Time Splitters defeated newcomer Jay White, another 'young boy' training in the NJPW dojo of Western descent.
Yohei Komatsu, another 'young boy' who would appear in a series of matches against counterpart Sho Tanaka, would face half of reDRagon, Kyle O'Reilly. O'Reilly was victorious without breaking too much of a sweat.
Mascara Dorada would team with the other half of Time Splitters, Kushida, to take on the Young Bucks. The Young Bucks won with an impressive driver move carried out with assisted jumping forced applied from the ropes. A few multi-man matches would ensue, the most significant ones being those that promoted the upcoming matches between AJ Styles and Tanahashi, and Nakamura vs Nagata. In the former Tanahashi partnered with Heavyweight tag team champions Goto and Shibata, plus Taguchi defeated the Bullet Club members Anderson, Gallows, Toma Tonga and Kenny Omega, with Tanahashi delivering a statement a la AJ Style's finisher, the Styles Clash, followed by the High Fly Flow onto Tongha for the win. Meanwhile, Nakamura would team with CHAOS comrades Ishii, Toru Yano, and YOSHI-HASHI to go up against Nagata, Makabe, Tomaki Honma, and Naito. Nagata scored the pin on YOSHI-HASHI with a backdrop suplex held into a pinning position.
Okada would team with his hypeman and fellow CHAOS member, though one who has not seen much recent in-ring action, Gedo, to take on Fale and Takashi Yujiro, during which Okada showed signs of fatigue against the usually nonthreatening members of Bullet Club. Yujiro hit his unique finisher, something of a rack into a twisting backdrop, for the win as Okada tried unsuccessfully to shake Fale off on the outside of the ring.
Day 2 of The Road opened with the two Japanese 'young boys' Tanaka and Yohei challenging reDRagon. reDRagon won decisively, showing off their impressive double team maneuvers.
Honma and Naito took on the newly paired Yano and Sakuraba, the latter being a veteran of mixed martial arts whose arsenal consists mainly of kicking strikes and take downs. Sakuraba would appear in teams involving members of CHAOS, making it possible that he is acting as a member of the group, whose members are not always representing themselves as a cohesive unit anyway.
Okada continued his program with Fale in another tag team scenario, this time with Yano on Okada's side, and Toma Tonga representing Bullet Club along with Fale. Okay would fall further into decline, taking the pin and loss to Fale's power bomb finisher.
In a match that neatly conjoined two NEW BEGINNING singles matches into one, CHAOS members and friends Nakamura and Ishii took on challengers to each of their respective titles Nagata and Makabe. All four of these competitors would have a lot at stake at the NEW BEGINNING events. Keeping things interesting, it was Nagata who scored a pin on champion Nakamura with another back drop bomb into a tightly rolled up pin.
Tanahashi would promote his upcoming match against Styles alongside the tag team champions Goto and Shinto against a Bullet Club trio of Gallows, Anderson, and Yujiro, with AJ again not on the card. Tanahashi would score the win building momentum for his title defense, with another Styles Clash followed by a High Fly Flow splash from the top for the win.
The last day on The Road featured a lot of multi-man tag team combinations, making day 2 the show that best built excitement for the upcoming New Beginning shows.Out of day 3, it's worth noting that Okada has continued on a losing streak, although not taking the pin directly. Once again, Fale kept him at bay on the outside as this time Toma Tonga scored a pin on Okada's partner, Gedo. Tanahashi and Taguchi would win in a tag team match against Yujiro and Omega when Tanahashi hit the High Fly Flow on Yujiro. Nakamura would lead his CHAOS conglomerate to a victory over Nagata, Naito, Makabe and Captain New Japan when Nakamura hit a running bomaye kick into the Captain's head for the win.
At this point, the absence of members of the Suzuki-Gun heel faction led by Minoru Suzuki, whose Wrestle Kingdom 9 match ended in victory over Sakuraba, Desperado, Shelton Benjamin, Davy Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer who team as The Killer Elite Squad, cruiserweight competitors TAI-CHI and former WWE wrestler TAKA Michinoku, and wild man Takashi Iizuka. They did not appear at the Road or NEW BEGINNING shows, having been busy taking a central role in an invasion angle in the Japanese promotion NOAH. Suzuki will challenge for the heavyweight championship against Naomichi Marufuji, as Killer Elite Squad take on NOAH's tag team champions hailing from Australia, Mikey Nichols and Shane Haste (TMDK). The angle would be previewed during Wrestle Kingdom 9 when Marufuji, Nichols, Haste, and Toru Yano defeated Suzuki Gun's Iizuka, Benjamin, Archer, and Smith.
BACK TO THE BEGINNING
THE NEW BEGINNING in Osaka was characterized by The Bullet Club grabbing a groundswell of momentum, sweeping the card with victories. This was their show, with all of the group's matches concentrated onto this show, with the second prong of the event featuring Japanese talent.
Jushin Thunder Liger and fellow veteran Tension would preview their title defenses of the NWA belts they have won against NWA heel wrestlers Chase Owens and Rob Conway. Represented by the shiny suit wearing NWA 'sacho' (president) Bruce Tharpe, the heels won the victory, suggesting the baby faces are on the rocks when they defend their respective titles a few days later.
Honma and Ibushi had a great match, which Ibushi won unsurprisingly, keeping his momentum up with the possibility of an intercontinental title rematch looming in the distance.
An excellent three way tag team match for the Junior heavyweight tag team titles, which was basically a rematch from Wrestle Kingdom sans Forever Hooligans, found the belts changing hands and going to the Young Bucks, marking the first title win for the Bullet Club of the night. It was an excellent match, given more time than on the Wrestle Kingdom show. The pin was scores on Kushida of Time Splitters, meaning a reDRagon member was never pinned, which keeps their feud with the Young Bucks hot, even as it spills over into Ring of Honor in the US.
Ryusuke Taguchi would attempt to win the junior heavyweight title back from Bullet Club member Kenny Omega, but fall short in a match that I found disappointing among the other bouts join the card, and compared to their first match at Wrestle Kingdom. In short, the match was marred by too much comedy. A lot of it was related to rear ends, Taguchi has already made a jumping thrust of the backside a major part of his oeuvre, and the attempt to poke a Bullet Club flag's pole into the opponent's undefended orifice. Thanks but no thanks. Both these guys ought to scale back on the silliness a bit. As a result, I did not at all mind the post-match assault by "The Cleaner" and Young Bucks in which Omega hoisted Taguchi up, the Jackson brothers jumped from the turnbuckle to deliver a double pile driver like maneuver. The former champion was left as though facing serious injury. Cushier, Shelley and Mascarada Dorado hit the ring to assist Taguchi. Dorada would throw down a challenge to Omega for the Junior Heavyweight title, and this showdown would carry over into a match at the Sendai show.
Okada and Fale went at it again, with a six-man tag team match as the backdrop. On team CHAOS Toru Yano and Sakuraba joined the fight, while the Bullet Club was rounded out by Toma Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi. Here, Okada showed signs of recovery. Although reeling for a good part of the match, he hit the Rainmaker clothesline on Tonga for the win.
Shinsuke and CHAOS members IShii and YOSHI-HASHI, faced his challenger in Osaka, Yuji Nagata with the team of fellow veteran Satoshi Kojima and Naito. Here the main players did not gain a leg up on one another. a bloodied Naito scored the pin on YOSHI-HASHI.
In a bit of a surprise, the Bullet Club heavies Karl Anderson and 'Doc' Gallows won the tag team championship belts back from Goto and Shibata after they enjoyed a very short run as champions. This result seemed a little suspect, as if it was part of a master plan to make the Bullet Club look strong as they enter the international waters of Ring of Honor. Will talk the potential implications of this further in, but it should be noted both teams looked great here. They had a lot more time to develop a story than in their clearly rushed match at Wrestle Kingdom. I'm hoping a rematch happens with a title changing hands and going back to Goto and Shibata for a lengthier run.
That match provided a bit of foreshadowing for the main event, in which AJ Styles defeated Tanahashi for their first time in their series of matches, regaining his title after losing it to Tanahashi in the aftermath of the 2014 G1 Climax tournament. It was not the most graceful of matches, but was hard fought and emphasized the numbers advantage held by the Bullet Club. However, there was far less outside interference than in Styles' challenges to Okada when he held the Heavyweight title. A high spot involved Tanahashi delivering a high fly flow splash to all members of the Bullet Club on the outside, in the middle of which Tanahashi bumped heads with an inconveniently placed Young Buck, leading to a fair amount of bleeding as Tanahashi struggled to stay afloat. AJ Styles ended the match with a really sharp looking Bloody Sunday, followed by Styles Clash.
THE NEW BEGINNING in Sendai found Fish and O'Reilly taking out their frustration of losing their titles as reDRagon on the previous show in a match against Jay White and the historically iconic crusierweight Tiger Mask.
An interesting six-man tag team match pitted Bullet Club high flyers The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega against Time Splitters and Mascara Dorada. Dorada pinned Omega, and after the match, the two continued to build heat around a title match.
Liger and Tenzan would both defend their respective titles, keeping the NWA challengers at bay and leaving a fluorescent jacketed Bruce Tharpe howling mad.
This was followed by an intermission featuring an interview segment with the challenger in the main event Yuji Nagata. Some notes about Nagata are due at this point. He is one of the old guard in the company right now, but among them, he is most able to go at it at a high level of competition. Hence, he has taken on the moniker of the 'Anti-aging Hero.' His offense includes heavy hitting boots to the head and kicking strikes, an armbar submission hold during which Nagata's eyes roll back to reveal a demonic furor (here commentators will often yell 'kami-sama' translating to 'a god!'), and a backdrop hold that keeps an opponent locked into a pinned position. Some might recall Nagata during his modest run in WCW back in the days of NWO supremacy where he was a baby face that experienced moderate success. Since then he has been IWGP Heavyweight champion, and a heavyweight tag team champion along with Manabu Nakanishi among others. Nakanishi and their rivals Tenzan and Kojima, all of whom are still wrestling but not at the level of Nagata, would appear at ringside to show their support.
Following the break, the team of Yano and Sakuraba faced off against the faster moving of the heavyweight division, Ibushi and Naito. This time, Naito scored another pin fall, catching Yano in a cradle after the CHAOS member had landed a low blow and attempted a rollup of his own.
Okada and YOSHI-HASHI took on 'Bad Luck' Fale and Yujiro of the Bullet Club again, this time
The feud between the Bullet Club's Anderson, Gallows, and Toma Tonga and the losers in Osaka Tanahashi, Goto and Shibata continued with Tanahashi regaining his footing from the loss the night before, hitting a High Fly Flow on Toma Tonga for his team to pick up the victory.
Next a surprising blast of a match occurred between Ishii and Honma. Scheduled to be Ishii challenging for the Never title against Makabe, Makabe had to withdraw and vacate the title due to a sudden bout of influenza, causing the belt to go back to Ishii and for him to defend against Honma. Honma has not been one to make light of an opportunity and, as when he replaced the injured Ibushi in the 2014 G1 Climax tournament, here he performed stunningly. The two had a brutal battle of forearm strikes, head buts and clothe-lines, which ended with a devastating brain buster delivered by Ishii for the win. Honma's attack consists of numerous variations on a kokeshi, or flying headbutt. A truly dizzying spot saw Honma deliver the headbutt from the top rope onto a fallen Ishii on the outside of the ring. In this match, Honma also incorporated a flying headbutt into Ishii as he was running the ropes. The match showed Tomoaki Hoinma is full of promise and could have big things ahead.
In the main event, Nagata and Nakamura battled it out in a great match filled with taunts, slaps, and vicious kicks. In the end, a series of Nakamura's bomaye running kicks secured the win.
Next time: The New Japan Cup
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