In between hospital visits, late nights, and early mornings,
I’ve managed to take in all of yet another fine show from premiere Japanese
wrestling promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling 火の国 (hi no kuni), or Fire Country,
via their streaming service and online archive, New Japan World. This show was
unique in that it served both as a lead up to this weekend’s big event, dontaku, much like the ‘Road to…’ shows,
but also stood as an important show in its own right on account of its main
event, a title match that comes after much going back and forth between its two
participants, Tomohiro Ishii and Togi Makabe, for the increasingly prestigious
IWGP Never Openweight Title.
Here’s a Mondo
rundown of the show:
Sho
Tanaka, Ryohei Komatsu, Jay White VS RPG VICE (Rocky Romero and Beretta) and
Gedo
Sho Tanaka wins a 3 way sho(ve) down with his Young Lion
partners to start the match. Beretta and Sho lock up to start the match off,
and the member of CHAOS gets the advantage with a headlock.
RPG Vice play up comical cowardly heel characteristics, begging
off their rookie opponents. Gedo tries to tag out at one point but both Romero
and Beretta drop to the floor, saying he is the leader and starting a 'Gedo'
chant. All 3 Young Lions got a Boston Crab locked on someone on team CHAOS
at the same time.
The end came when Rocky hit Lariats on White in the corner,
the third countered by a big Drop Kick by White. He was caught soon after by
the Strong Zero double finisher by RPG Vice for CHAOS to pick up the win.
Satoshi
Kojima and Captain New Japan VS Yujiro Takahashi and Cody Hall
Mao does not
accompany Yujiro to the ring, as apparently the event did not rank high enough
for her 'I only do the big fights' contract. Kojima and Yujiro start off the
match. The Bullet Club nihonjin representative
lands punches on Kojima and taunts him, prompting Kojima to return fire with
shots of his own.
Captain New Japan once again attempts a time stop spell,
which was answered with ridicule and punches by his opponent.
Cody took an onslaught of rapid fire chops from Kojima in the
corner. Hall hit an impressive spinning lariat to return the favor against
Kojima. CNJ, showing signs of a possible heel turn, called for the tag just as
Kojima was winding up for a big move, distracting his partner and allowing Cody
to hit him with a big boot.
Kojima fired the last salvo in a lariat battle, hitting a
huge clothesline to send Cody tumbling over the top row.
Yujiro would hit his finisher, Tokyo Pimps, on CNJ, in which
he has his opponent in a Jackknife Power Bomb position and sits out while
flipping him forward and over onto his chest (or, a sit out inverted front
powerslam), and score the pin for the Bullet Club victory.
Mascara
Dorada, Tiger Mask, and Yuji Nagata VS KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Nakanishi
Manabu
Tiger Mask and KUSHIDA started the match. They had a quick
sequence of moves during which Tiger Mask Drop Kicked KUSHIDA to the outside
and hit the ropes but the Time Splitter moved clear of any oncoming manuever.
Taguchi entered the match with multiple slaps of his own ass,
psyching the crowd up for his but bumps I guess.
Nagata tagged in, delivered a
strong punch to Taguchi’s gut and targeted his former tag team partner Nakanishi
on the ring apron with a big running boot. Nagata and Nakanishi engage in a
long exchange of moves and counters.
The end came when Dorada walked the ropes, and went for move
on KUSHIDA that was countered. KUSHIDA hit a roll up and bridge on Dorada for the
pin. This felt like the most randomly put together match with little in the way
of stakes for anyone involved. It could've appeared lower on the card without
anything seeming awry. It seems Dorada may be slipping downward in importance
as KUSHIDA achieves a bigger spotlight.
---------------------------------NWA time-----------------------------------------------
What follows is an obligatory two-match combo featuring
wrestlers from the historically situated NWA promotion represented by comedic
but inconsequential heel gaijin Bruce
Tharpe. Sometimes they appear because it’s a very big show. Sometimes, because
it’s not that big a show. As is the case here where the matches made the ‘Fire’
show but don't rank enough for Dontaku. In any event they definitely stand out,
if not for Tharpe’s showy jackets, then for less impressive, somewhat
underwhelming interactions in the ring.
Jushin
Thunder Liger VS Steve Anthony
(NWA
Junior Heavyweight Championship, Anthony defends)
Bruce Tharpe is in the ring with a liger head on a stick,
which he brandishes at the actual Liger.
Liger started out with a submission hold that makes it seem
as though he is riding his opponent like a sled. Anthony dropped an elbow to
Liger on the apron and distracted the referee so Tharpe could get a few
seconds’ heat by choking Liger on the outside. Anthony hit a move that looked
like a pedigree but ended with his opponent’s head being pushed down under his
leg.
Liger came back with his shotei palm strike and a brain
buster but the referee was down in the corner. When Liger went to revive him, Tharpe
hit him with a low blow, giving a groggy Anthony time to come to.
Anthony won with a move in which he has Liger up in a torture
wrack position and spins Liger around into a cutter before getting the pin.
Steve Anthony is worth paying attention to. Though his look
is rather old fashioned and lacks intrigue, he has a more interesting move set
than just about all of his NWA compatriots I’ve seen wrestle in NJPW.
On the other hand…
Hiroyoshi
Tenzan VS Big Daddy Yum Yum (NWA Heavyweight Championship, Tenzan defends)
This time Tharpe has another sparkling jacket, this one
emblazoned with the American Flag.
The two lock up and then quickly separate, followed by an exchange
of words. Tenzan is backed into the corner and given a shove before the clean break.
On commentary, Kojima, Gedo, iconic referee Tiger Hattori and
-- discuss the cultural implications of Big Daddy’s surname.
Big Daddy attacks Tenzan outside the ring and slams a gate
into his body while his head is lodged between the rails. The crowd is mostly
dead for this. Yum Yum turns to the commentary table to trash talk Kojima.
Yum Yum hits a Moonsault for a near fall. After several slaps
Tenzan reverses things with the Spinning Wheel Kick. He climbs the ropes and
fends off an interfering Tharpe with head butts. This is followed by a very
sloppy Diving Head Butt. The Anaconda Vice is cinched in not once, but twice, by
Tenzan leading to the tap out victory.
This was a really rough match, tough to get into that the
fans occasionally got into, mostly to rally behind long time fan favorite
Tenzan. It really didn’t add much to the show, and slowed down the pace as the
other matches on the card featuring NJPW wrestlers exclusively, as well as
those that also work Ring Of Honor and various indies were much more
athletically impressive.
-------------------------------------Intermission----------------------------------------
As the announcers ran down the matches that took place so far
and hyped the main event confrontation between Ishii and Makabe, my attention
was drawn to a guy with Shinsuke Nakamura’s hairstyle almost down to a tee.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tomoaki
Honma, Tetsuya Naito, and Alex Shelly VS Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, and Kenny
Omega
Honma starts the match to immediate cheers from the audience,
as he chops away at Doc Gallows.
Omega channels Ric Flair and some other unidentified
influences as he batters his upcoming Dontaku opponent, Alex Shelly. The two
engage in an impressive exchange with Shelly missing Sliced Bread, Omega
somersaulting over a charge into the corner and then missing his own charge into
the corner as Shelly dodged to the outside, followed by Shelly snapping Omega’s
neck on the top rope.
Anderson, still love stricken, asks where Maria is: Maria はどこですか?
(Maria wa doko desuka?). Gallows bullies Shelly in the corner with a series of
body blows and an upper cut. Naito hits an impressive drop kick from the top
rope on Gallows.
Honma hits an elbow on Anderson off the ropes and then lands
a kokeshi falling head butt on
Anderson. Anderson rolls out of the way of a kokeshi head butt from off the top rope and hits the Gun Stun
cutter-like maneuver, followed by Anderson and Gallows hitting the Magic
Killer double team finisher for the win before Naito could break up the
pin.
During the match, Shelly and Omega had very good
chemistry and seem destined for a great match at Dontaku. Omega continues
to experiment with unusual mannerisms. After the match, he creepily touched
Shelly with his index finger to signify victory, and goofily goose-stepped back
up the ramp to the Bullet Club theme.
Kazuchika
Okada and YOSHI-HASHI VS ‘Bad Luck’ fale and Toma Tonga
YOSHI-HASHI and Toma Tonga lock up to start out. YOSHI is
backed into a corner and Tonga attempts a cheap shot but misses, with HASHI
landing a huricanrana.
Fale sits on YOSHI-HASHI’s back and then yanks his head back
by the hair. YOSHI-HASHI floated over a suplex attempt and executed a nice neck
breaker, allowing him to get to his corner for the hot tag to Okada.
Tonga positioned the referee in front of him and then tripped
up Okada with a spear. The Bullet Club members double teamed
Okada till Kazuchika countered Tonga’s DDT into a neck breaker onto
the knee. Okada hit the Rainmaker pose followed by the Rainmaker lariat on
Tonga for his team’s victory.
Tonga and Falet showed some cohesion as a possible long term
tag team, and Okada built momentum toward his run against AJ Styles in a solid
tag team match.
Hiroshi
Tanahasi, Katsuyori Shibata, and Hiroki Goto VS Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano,
and Kazushi Sakuraba.
Tonight Sakuraba's mask theme is octopus tentacles positioned
like a beard.
Goto and Nakamura, who will go mano y mano in the main event
of Dontaku, start things off. Shinsuke is pushed to the ropes, reverses, and
gives Goto the clean break with some dismissive flicks of his fingers.
Tanahashi runs the ropes but is grabbed by Sakuraba and put
it in a sleeper hold from the outside as the rest of CHAOS clears the ring
apron of their faction-less opponents. Nakamura puts his vibrating boot to
Goto in the corner but Goto fights out of it throwing the intercontinental
champ back into the opposite corner.
Tanahashi hits the High Fly Flow Splash off the top rope but
lands on Yano’s knees, which the crafty CHAOS stalwart uses for a near fall.
Tanahashi slaps Yano but Yano pulls him down by the hair and cradles Tanahashi
yet another time to continue his streak of wins against the former heavyweight
champ. CHAOS stands victorious in the ring, leaving plenty of questions about
how these feuds will play out at Dontaku.
This match was a good follow up of the recent tag team wars
between CHAOS and members of the NJPW roster who have been competing with them.
It was a bit less, er…chaotic and lacked a certain knock down drag out
component. That would be because Ishii and Makabe, who have been part of all
the previous bouts were missing, as they are sectioned off in this show’s main
event. They have provided a good balance to the other members of their team,
bringing a brute force element to the matches. They will be back in the mix at
Dontaku, regardless of the results of the next match. In the meantime,
Shibata’s involvement tonight’s 6 man tag match really felt shifted to the
background, with the focus mainly on Nakamura and Goto.
Tomohiro
Ishii VS Togi Makabe
Ishii cinches in a side headlock to start, followed by both
opponents shoulder blocking each other repeatedly in and attempt to get the
early advantage. Eventually it is Makabe who knocks Ishii off his feet.
Ishii hit a stiff elbow to Makabe's throat sending the challenger
reeling, and garnering admonishment for the CHAOS member, leading fans to more
easily sympathize with the challenger Makabe.
Ishii hit a huge brainbuster from the second turnbuckle. Makabe
pulled off a massive German suplex, bridging it into a pin for a near fall. Ishii
hit a running headbutt to Makabe's chest to knock him down. In between these
big spots are plenty of head on exchanges of forearms and lariats.
The match moved into its final stage when Makabe smashed
Ishii with a few double axe handle shots to Ishii. Makabe then hit the King
Kong Knee Drop on to the back of the head of a crouching Ishii for the pin and
the win, causing the Never title to once again change hands. Makabe, who
had to give up the title that he had defeated Ishii for at Wrestle Kingdom on
January 4, is vindicated regaining the belt that he was never actually defeated
to lose.
Afterwards, Makabe spoke at length in the ring. He then went
backstage where Honma, still affiliated with the new champ in a kohai/senpai (junior-senior)
relationship, set up several Coors Light bottles for Makabe and toasted to his
victory. One instantly notices Honma rarely speaks, when his strikingly gruff
voice comes out in acknowledgment of Makabe’s win. It would be great to see
these two partnering together in tag team action against members of CHAOS and
The Bullet Club.
This was another good show, which I expect will be eclipsed
to a degree by the more prime time slotted Dontaku show. One reading this to
get an introduction to the NJPW scene should be cautioned about the last live
event, Invasion Attack, which many fans were unable to stream live due to
overwhelming log in activity. While NJPW may have taken steps to solve this
problem ahead of time, it would be wise to log in early in anticipation of high
volume.
This show did an excellent job building suspense for two of
the main singles matches that will take place at Dontaku: Alex Shelley
challenging Kenny Omega for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and Hiroki
Goto challenging Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship. It is
a credit to the evenly spread talent on the roster that these events can succeed
without the Heavyweight Championship needing to be contested to make a show
meaningful. However, a build toward the next race for the company’s top title
will begin when Okada and AJ Styles compete on either side of a tag team match.
The placement of some wrestlers in less meaningful tag team
matches added some drag to the proceedings, as well as the inclusion of matches
over the two NWA titles, which really throws the momentum of the show off. By
the time the end was reached, some of the good earlier moments, like the
rookies’ combined efforts to work together as a team, become all but forgotten.
There still seems to be a balance split three ways among the Bullet Club,
CHAOS, and the independent contractors, if you will, of NJPW. It is a great
dynamic now, with each group able to play off each other, and CHAOS playing
both baby face and recently more heelish sides of the fence. It’s sustainable
for now, but I wonder if a new dynamic will start to take shape before the
feuds between these groups lose their momentum.
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