NJPW Repoto: Dontaku

NJPW Dontaku happened and I had the pleasure of watching it as it happened. At 4:00 AM EST, lying on a couch in front of an iPad. It was still a great show. Here is how the follow up to 火の国 (hinokuni)/Fire Country, which happened earlier in the week, went down via the NJPW World live stream.

There are video packages setting up all the matches on the card.

Yuji Nagata, Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, Mascara Dorada, and Tiger Mask VS Manabu Nakanishi, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Captain New Japan

Nagata comes out leading a squad of masked wrestlers. Nakanishi then joins his teammates comprised of the newer, arguably hipper Junior Heavyweight competitors plus the very unhip Captain New Japan. It occurs to me that having the Captain and Taguchi on the same side equals dangerous levels of gimmick.

Liger starts out against Taguchi. Liger Locks in a submission move whose name I can’t identify, but results in what look like Liger commandeering his opponent as a sled. Liger is hit with Taguchi’s trademark butt bump but takes a page out of Captain New Japan’s book by countering with a punch to the ass.

There is a fast-paced exchange between KUSHIDA and Mascara Dorada. Liger locks a surfboard submission on KUSHIDA.

The long ago tag team partners Nagata and Nakanishi then continue their as of late heated rivalry. They deliver dueling forearms and slaps, which Nakanishi prevails at. He gets Nagata in the Torture Rack and then throws him overhead into his masked partners.

Nakanishi, appearing to be in ‘final run anything goes’ mode did scary a Plancha to several opponents outside, where it seemed he landed on the apron and then had to roll off and onto the opponents outside. Nagata and CNJ are left in ring, and Nagata hits the Exploder Suplex and scores the pin for his team to win.

Kota Ibushi and Ryohei Komatsu VS Tetsuya Naito and Sho Tanaka

This match pit two high flying and all around athletically gifted wrestlers on the heavyweight roster together with two of the company’s rookies to have a match that let the newbies practice facing each other and more experienced peers.

Sho sho(ves) Naito back and starts off the match with Ibushi. They have a tie up. Sho puts on an arm bar, and Ibushi rolls out of to land punches to Tanaka's face.

The match picked up when Ibushi faced off against Naito. 1st Ibushi had the advantage, then Naito. The two exchanged forearms, after which they both landed kicks and tagged in their rookie teammates. 

Komatsu got Sho in a Boston Crab that had Sho working hard to reach the ropes for the break. Sho applied it later, and had Komatsu on the verge of tapping when Ibushi broke it up with a side kick. 

Komatsu evades a dive by Tanaka, counters it into a Single Leg Crab, and pulls Tanaka away from the ropes several times before making him tap out to secure his team's victory. The finish continued showing the move to be more effective than the regular Crab because it allows him to really torque the leg back and be  able to more easily drag opponent away from ropes.

After the match there is a bit of a diss by Ibushi when he and Naito face off. Ibushi drops to the floor with no handshake in a taunting fashion. Perhaps there is another singles match in the pair’s future, which would be a good time to test whether Naito can step up his game or add an edge to his attitude and assert himself as a bigger player in the promotion.

Satoko Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and Tomoaki Honma   VS ‘Bad Luck’ Falet, Toma Tonga, and Cody Hall

The Bullet club members launch into a sneak attack before bell rings to gain the advantage. Tonga and Hall are reversed by Tencozy and knocked into each other from opposite corners. Tencozy then Double Suplexes Hall.

Hall lifts Tonga off the ring apron and holds him straight up at a 180 degree angle, then rotates and slams him down into a Splash on Tenzan.

Honma hits a Bulldog out of the corner but misses the kokeshi Head Butt on Fale. Hall hits a big spinning lariat on Honma. 

Kojima and Tenzan hit the Koji Cutter on Tonga. There is a big lariat by Kojima on Hall, followed by Honma climbing to the top rope to hit the  kokeshi Head Butt on Hall for the win. The baby faces are dominant throughout most of this feel good match.

RPG Vice VS reDRagon VS Young bucks (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is on the line; RPG Vice defends)

O’Reilly ties up with Nick Jackson to start the match. O’Reilly runs the ropes and knocks Jackson down with a shoulder block.

Later Rocky Romero winds up for a poke to the eyes on Bobby Fish, is punched in return, and plays coward, crawling to the corner to tag Beretta who is down on the floor. He then crawls toward the Bucks’ corner but they jump off the ropes and, realizing he can’t hug reDRagon O’Reilly, crawls toward the referee to embrace him in fear.

Beretta side steps Nick Jackson and trips him so that he lands head first on Matt’s crotch in the corner. Beretta later attempts a dive to the outside but the Bucks, on the apron, hit double super kicks from either side.

Fish throws Nick Jackson toward the corner but the Young Buck floats over it, runs along the apron and hits a stiff kick to the chest of O’Reilly. Nick then slingshots himself over the ropes and hits a Facebuster on Fish in the ring. O’Reilly recovers, drags Nick to the outside but Matt runs in and hits a flip to wrap his legs around O’Reilly to hold him in place so Nick could land a jumping kick on the reDRagon.   

Romero hits a Huricanrana on both Bucks at the same time. Nick runs into a jumping high knee by both members of the Roppongi Vice squad at the same time. reDRagon hit their double team maneuver that combines Fish putting the opponent into a Wheelbarrow Hold as O’Reilly hits a Double Underhook DDT, which sends the opponent into a Wheelbarrow Suplex by a Fish.  This comes right before their version of the Demolition finisher with the Elbow replaced by a Diving Knee Drop.

Romero escapes Chasing The Dragon and hits a Plancha on the Bucks. O’Reilly gets an Arm Bar locked on Beretta while hanging down over the ropes, but it is broken up by Super Kicks in stereo by the Young Bucks. Beretta hits a Superplex on Matt Jackson to the floor on top of EVERYBODY, which was insane. Then, everyone makes it back in the ring just in time to beat the 20 count.

Matt Jackson Power Bombs O’Reilly into both Fish and Romero in the corner as Nick jumps from the ring apron to kick O’Reilly in the back of the head. Also insane.

Matt Jackson breaks up RPG Vice’s Strong Zero finisher with a Super Kick to Romero, but Beretta still hits his part of the combination for a near fall. The Young Bucks hit the Indytaker Assisted Spike Piledriver to O’Reilly on the outside of the ring…Insane. The finish comes when the Young Bucks have Beretta cornered. Matt and Nick hit More Bang For Your Buck (Fireman's Carry into a running flip, followed by a 450 Splash and a Moonsault off the top turnbuckle) and pick up the pin. The Young Bucks win to once again become the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

This was an incredible match that showcased each participants’ ability as a singles wrestler, as well as their prowess with double team maneuvers. The synchronicity of spots that involved multiple people came off seamlessly without looking silly. This is now an extremely competitive series with anyone’s guess as to who will take the belts net.

Alex Shelley VS Kenny omega

The match is preceded by an impressive looking video promo of Kenny Omega, with his victories over Taguchi and Mascara Dorada as his ‘garbage’ promo is spliced into the background. Alex Shelley’s abilities in the ring are also shown in the promo.

Shelley is vamping up his image a bit with a leather vest and donning a Mad Max inspired gladiator helmet to ring. KUSHIDA accompanies him.  

Omega comes out with the Young Bucks following behind. They hold a trash can and broom, I guess to sweep up the American garbage Omega described at Invasion Attack.

Omega offers a handshake to which Shelley flips the bird. Omega takes control of Shelley’s arm but Shelley counters and takes Omega down to the mat. They lock up for a test of strength but Omega kicks Shelley and stomps away at him in corner.

Omega has the trashcan outside the ring but Shelley runs and Drop Kicks it into Omega. He then comes off the ropes but Omega tosses the can into the challenger’s head.

Omega tries to bring the lid into the ring. It’s taken by the ref, but while the official is distracted, Omega is slid the bent can and punts it into Shelley’s head. The assault continues outside with the can put on Shelley’s head, which Omega smacks with the broom. He then puts the can on top of a chair and tries to Power Bomb Shelley into it, but Shelley counters with a Reverse STO, blasting Omega’s head into the foreign object.

Shelley hits his Automatic Midnight finisher and would get pin but the ref is pulled out by Matt Jackson. Nick Jackson hits a super kick. KUSHIDA makes the save with a handstand kick to knock both Bucks off of the apron. Shelly hits Sliced Bread Number 2 for the near fall. Omega strikes back with a running knee. The champ then hits the One Winged Angel finisher  for the 3 count to retain the title.

Afterward Omega sweeps the mat near the NJPW wrestlers tending to Shelley.

Omega takes the mic and hits us with another over the top promo. ‘What's next?’ he asks. He then informs the audience that he is not attending the upcoming Best of the Super Junior tournament since he is already the champ. He lets out a Ric Flair ‘Woo’ and wishes good luck to the ‘best of the super garbage’ who gets to face him and ends off with an evil ‘Muahaha’ before calling for someone to hit his music. WOW. 

This match had a good mix of pure athletics and antics. It was the best outing for Omega as Junior Heavyweight champion thus far, as the chemistry between him and Shelley is apparent. It was exciting to see the incorporation of the Junior Heavyweight tag team scene into the match with outside interference, but not so much as to overshadow the two main players of the match. I’m thinking it may very well be KUSHIDA to win the Super Junior tournament and step up to challenge Omega next.

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There is a replay of the seduction of Liger by a hypnotically dancing Maria and her bosom during a match in 2014 against Michael Bennet of ROH, who is involved in the tag team match after the break.

Perhaps because the iconic Junior Heavyweight is out to join the commentary team, there is another replay of ‘Ligergate’ before we return to the ring for the rest of the show.

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Karl Anderson, Doc  Gallows, and Amber Gallows VS Michael Bennet, Matt Taven, and Maria Kanelis

There is an extensively produced ‘First Lady of Wrestling’ video package for Maria and her various distractions of NJPW wrestlers up through Karl Anderson. It is comically majestic in its presentation. The video then shows Anderson and tag team partner Doc Gallows freaking out over Maria backstage in an interview reminiscent of the comedy of Tim and Eric. Anderson had fun mixing Japanese and English sentence structure, saying things like  "IWGP tag titles, I don't care" instead of ‘I don’t care about the IWGP tag titles.

As the Bullet Club takes the ring, Anderson is still smiling goofily, looking forward to seeing Maria.

Maria’s breasts apparently are The Kingdom because the cameraman has been practicing framing the entrance perfectly so that Maria’s cleavage fills the entire frame. The rest of Maria, as well as the current IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team champions Michael Bennet and Matt Taven come up the ramp as well. They take to the ring, where the camera then shifts focus to her Maria’s hips and ass. It is just a little bit creepy.

Doc would start against Bennet, who wins paper scissor rock to begin the match for his team. Bennet lands punches on Gallows and quickly tags in Taven so the two can hit a double drop kick.

Anderson tags in and looks to be preparing to attack Taven, but dives out of the ring and chases Maria around and around before running into a right hand from Bennet.

Amber, Doc Gallows’ wife, tags in and beckons Maria to enter the ring. Doc grabs Maria's hair leading to a scuffle on the Bulllet Club apron as Amber takes control against Kanelis.

'No Maria,' Anderson reminds himself before walking into fist from Taven. He manages to recoup and clears Bennet from the ring apron, but is distracted by Maria again, allowing Taven to land a kick from the top turnbuckle. 

Anderson catches both of the current tag champs with Gun Stuns. He and Maria back into each other, Maria dances to hypnotize the infatuated Anderson and then knees him down low. Amber attacks Maris but Maria cradles her into a small package for the Kingdom to win.

After the match, Doc Gallows is about to hit Maria when Anderson cuts it off, and then uppercuts her himself. They hit the ‘first lady of wrestling’ with the Magic Killerdouble team ‘er as Amber looks on laughing. The Kingdom clear the heels from the ring and tend to Maria. Clearly business is not finished between these two teams, but the next round may in fact be a more serious straight forward tag team match that will likely return the belts to the Bullet Club.

Togi Makabe, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Katsuyori Shibata VS Tomohiro Ishi, Toru Yano, and Kazushi Sakuraba 

Makabe enters last wearing his newly gained Neverweight title from. He and Ishii start off picking right up from their 火の国 (hinokuni) main event. They hit forearms and shoulder blocks, eventually knocking one another back into their respective corners. Tags are made to Shibata and Sakuraba. Sakuraba goes to lock in the kimura arm bar, but Shibata counters with head scissors and tries to lock the deadly arm bar in on Sakuraba. They grapple into team CHAOS’ corner where Yano tags in. Shibata then tags in Tanahashi. Yano is thrown up toward the ropes, but he stops himself and taunts Tanahashi till Shibata kicks him in the back from the outside. Sakuraba clamps a Sleeper Hold on Tanahashi from the apron. Shibata answers, getting Yano in a Sleeper across the ring. 

CHAOS takes control of Tanahashi in their corner. Eventually Tanahashi hits a Dragon Screw Leg Whip on Yano to change the momentum, and tags out to Makabe.

Makabe and Ishii trade vicious Lariats again. First Makabe takes Ishii down, then Ishii returns the favor. Sakuraba and Shibata battle with kicks. Shibata then hits a powerful looking Death Valley Driver. 

Tanahashi hits the High Fly Flow off the top which Yano counters with knees up. The crafty CHAOS member tries to roll up Tanahashi but Tanahshi counters into a roll up, almost getting the 3 count himself. Tanahashi then grabs Yano by the hair and gets a tight roll on Yano and pins the laughing one in the same way he has been beaten over the past few months. The streak of wins Yano has on Tanahashi has finally been broken

Meanwhile Shibata is seriously pissed off about something because instead of celebrating in the ring with Makabe and Tanahashi, he storms directly to the back. 

Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI VS AJ Styles and Yujiro Takahashi

The Bullet Club duo of the champ and the player come to the ring, once again Mao is not in attendance! I was pretty certain she would be in the house for this major show. I’ve narrowed the reason for her absence down to one of the following reasons: Either there is a very low cap of 2 on how many high profile women can appear on an NJPW show, or the announcers are already so worked up over the appearance of Maria the addition of another sexy woman on the show would be hazardous to their health, or she has a previously scheduled modeling gig causing a conflict.

All four participants in the match start out swinging at each other. YOSHI HASHI clears Yujiro from the ring with a running Shoulder Block. Okada takes early control against AJ, applying an armbar, and then tagging YOSHI HASHI back in to land offense on the champ. 

Yujiro Power Bombs YOSHI HASHI into the turnbuckle.

The Bullet Club takes control of the match isolating YOSHI HASHI from Okada.

Okada finally tags in. He props AJ on the turnbuckle and hits a huge drop kick knocking the champ to the floor.

YOSHI HASHI attempts a Shooting Star Press on AJ but he rolls out of the way. Okada tries to help turn things around but is kept at bay as AJ hits the Styles Clash for the win.

AJ and Okada state each other down. AJ holds up the belt, then throws a kick at Okada and looks to be setting up a Styles Clash into the belt. Okada counters, however, and clears the ring of the Bullet club members getting ahold of the belt before returning it to the referee. This is a good initial tease to the reigniting of the feud between these two powerhouses on the Heavyweight title scene.

A video package is shown, focusing first on a multi man tag team match during the lead up to Invasion Attack between members of CHAOS and the NJPW roster, where Nakamura scored the pin on Goto. Snippets of Shinsuke weighing in on Goto as a challenger are shown, with more footage of matches during which Goto is gaining momentum. Photosd of both competitors in the early days of their career are shown. Images of the showy Shinsuke Nakamura in full regalia from this year’s Wrestle Kingdom are juxtaposed with those of a plainly clad infuriated looking Goto.

Shinsuke Nakamura VS Hirooki Goto (IWGP Intercontinental Championship, Nakamura defends)

The two circle each other. Goto goes low for a Single Leg Takedown but the two separate. Nakamura slips behind Goto and takes control with a rear choke.

They lock up for a test of strength. Nakamura seems to be stepping over Goto's arm in order to gain leverage, and then flicks a kick to the side of Goto's head. He giggles at the seemingly accidental movement inciting the wrath of Goto, attacks with several ferocious forearms. The intensity of the match is quickly ratcheted up.

Outside, Shinsuke slams Goto on the announcers’ table and hits a running knee into his head. He then does a jumping double stomp to Goto's head from the ring apron.

Goto knocks Nakamura down with a big lariat to take control of the match. Nakamura misses a bomaye but hoists Goto onto the turnbuckle to hit the running knee into his chest. Nakamura sets up for a bomaye off the turnbuckle but Goto hits a spinning heel kick to send the Intercontinental champ to the floor. 

Goto hits the ushikoroshi (a Fireman’s Carry into a Neck Breaker over his knee). He attempts a lariat but Nakamura counters with the Back Cracker, followed by an Inverted Exploder Suplex. Nakamura prepares for another bomaye attempt but runs into another big Lariat by Goto.

Nakamura hits a bomaye from the second turnbuckle followed by a running knee but can only get a count of 2. Goto spins Nakamura in the air 360 degrees with another big Lariat and comes ridiculously close to getting the three count.

Goto gets Nakamura up on his shoulders and walks him over to the corner for an ushikoroshi off the top turnbuckle for another very near fall.

The shotenkai is hit and Goto gets the 1-2-3 to win the Intercontinental title bringing Nakamura's lengthy stint as champion to an end. 

Goto gets the streamers coming down to celebrate his victory as Nakamura is unceremoniously helped to the back. In the ring and then in the back, Goto speaks on his surprising and very significant victory.

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This was another very good show. After watching, it dawned on me how despite the lack of fantastical storylines and unusual match stipulations, I felt a great diversity of in-ring action was delivered over the course of the show. All of the matches made sense and, aside from perhaps the opening match, felt as though they contained seeds of stories that could continue to germinate in the future.

It speaks to the perceived prestige of the company’s titles when you have events within a few days of one another with titles contested in the main events that are not the Heavyweight championship. There was no feeling of lack of importance. The big matches on these shows were critical viewing because the competitors in them are so talented.

While the landscape of factions has not changed significantly, titles are changing hands. Between Dontaku and Fire Country, there were 3 title changes, two of them in the main event. There was not a sense that these changes were arbitrary or over night, because the build up to the matches have been steady.

A couple of high points to speak on…

There is a great job being done developing Sho Tanaka and Ryohei Komatsu. Little by little they have been forging their own unique identities. Here one could imagine how much they learned from working with two of the most dynamic members of the roster, Ibushi and Naito. While this was way down on the card, it is very conceivable that Ibushi and Naito continue a program in a more crucial position.

The video packages shown before some of the key matches seem to get better and better, recapping without being dull, and truly building excitement for the matches that follow without wasting a lot of time.

The triple threat tag team match had such incredible spots in an otherwise very sound wrestling match. The fact that these are all gaijin teams can elude viewers easily. These teams’ momentum benefit from not being overexposed, as they all spend some of their time wrestling in the US for Ring of Honor and other indies.

Kenny Omega is continuing to be a compelling character, developing in leaps and bounds, though at times bordering on being over the top.

Shibata and Sakuraba continue to have compelling interactions, a bit more in focus after taking a bit of a backseat to the other action in the ‘Fire Country’ match. While the other wrestlers in the NJPW/CHAOS bouts have been sectioned off in singles matches, these two have not yet. This feud can really pay off down the line.

It was nice to see YOSHI-HASHI and Yujiro take part in the tag match involving AJ and Okada. The two got some good exposure this way and an increase in their significance.

It was very interesting to see Goto win the intercontinental title and very unexpected, as Nakamura has done nothing but gain momentum. It leads to the interesting question of what comes next. A rematch seems the most obvious choice, and the great thing about a pure athletic competition is the rematch is welcome without being stale, and a simple and easy set up. At the same time, it is very possible that Nakamura is heading toward the Heavyweight title picture. If AJ retains the title in his match with Okada, Nakamura would be a natural first class challenger. If Okada regains the gold, the possibility of changes in the ranks of CHAOS and a feud between the big league franchises of Okada and Nakamura is also possible.

There is plenty more to discuss. If possible, more will be shared here. While the next NJPW World broadcasts will bring action from the Best of the Super Junior tournament, there is going to be a stop before that on North American soil as NJPW talent will take place in 4 shows being held by Ring of Honor: War of the Worlds day 1 and 2 in Philadelphia, and Global Wars day 1 and 2 in Toronto. Look for a preview of those shows here, as well as a potential special live report from War of the Worlds day 2, which I will be attending. After that, the Mondo Blog will be shutting down for some time during the summer.

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NJPW Repoto: Invasion Attack 2015

Invasion Attack Report

I had set an alarm to wake me up at exactly 3 am. At that exact time, I flipped on NJPW World to the message, ‘service unavailable.’ Of course, I wasn’t alone as others also flocked to twitter to report the same situation. For many the stream was apparently fine while others in Japan and abroad hit refres to no avail. Is it fair to say ‘Ibushi VS AJ Styles’ broke the internet? I gave up after what would be an hour into the show, got some sleep and watched the archived program at 8 am EST, about an hour after the live event would have ended. I could find some complaints and demands translated from Japanese on twitter. The next day, a statement linked to on the NJPW World twitter account seemed, by way of a very rough translation, to express an apology to viewers and a commitment to finding a solution to such problems before they affect viewing. When all is said and done, nothing evokes forgiveness more than an outstanding show. So after watching Invasion Attack, it’s quite easy to say all is forgiven, let’s let bygones be bygones. It was an incredibly good wrestling show.

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Time Splitters (KUSHIDA and Alex Shelley), Yuji Nagata, Captain New Japan, and Ryohei Komatsu VS Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi, Nakanishi Manabu, and Sho Tanaka

The match: Former tag team partners from days relatively long gone, Tanaka and Nakanishi started off. The commentators drew attention to the pair’s advanced ages (Nakanishi, 48 and Nagata, 47). Taguchi broke up Nagata’s submission hold on Nakanishi, prompting jeer from the audience (as the commentators pointed out ‘booing desu!’) Taguchi seemed ready and able to work with the audience’s disapproval, going on to strike his mystifying and mocking double circle pose. Tiger Mask and KUSHIDA had a very good fast-paced exchange that ended with a Tiger Driver applied to KUSHIDA.

Captain New Japan blocked one of Ryuske’s signature jumping butt bumps by punching said butt. Liger and his team took turns blasting the Captain in the corner. The sequence ended with Taguchi hitting yet another butt bump and rookie Sho Tanaka performing a standing body slam by. The opposing team’s rookie Ryohei Komatsu was able to run through the larger veteran Nakanishi with a diving spinning forearm. There was a super kick by shelley on Tanaka. Tanaka was able to fend off a double team by Time Splitters. Nakanishi later hit a double suplex on both Captain New Japan and Nagata. There was more double teaming by Time Splitters on Tanaka. Shelley brought the match to an end with his Automatic Midnight (an over the shoulder back to belly piledriver somewhat similar to Okada's neckbreaker over the knee) finisher on Tanaka for the 3 count and win.

Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and Tomoaki Honma VS Yujiro Takahashi, Toma Tonga, and Cody Hall

Before the match: The Bullet Club came to the ring first. A lot was made of Yujiro’s companion ‘Mao.’ I hadn’t known her name before, and I assure you it was not due to lack of interest in the strikingly beautiful young lady, whose name I am quite sure I never heard mentioned by the commentators, but I will surely never forget because the commentary team must have mentioned it no less than 25 times over the course of the approximately 2 minute ring entrance. The scantily clad valet was zoomed in on without shame, and indeed made a Bullet Club hoodie look sexy, in an 80s hair metal sort of way.

During the match: The heels started out by jumping the babyfaces, with Hall and Tonga getting Honma down in the ring. Tonga attempted Honma’s Kokeshi head butt, but missed. Then, Honma successfully landed one of his own much earlier on in the match than usual. The combined forces of Tenzan and Kojima known collectively as Tencozy hit one of their classic double team maneuvers on Yujiro, with Kojima landing a slingshot elbow the ring apron while Tenzan ran off the ropes to hit a diving head butt. Hall hit a big clothesline on Tenzan to take him down. The heels isolated Tenzan from his corner. Tonga hit Tenzan’s own patented Mongolian chops on the veteran. Tenzan would eventually hit a spinning heel kick on Yujiro to escape the Club, and tag in Kojima, who hit a huge round of rapid-fire chops to the chest of Takahashi. Tonga literally slithered around the ring and hit a jumping splash on Kojima.

The cameraman decided to zoom in on Mao’s breasts as she sat at ringside, perhaps practice for when Maria would accompany The Kingdom in their match against Anderson and Gallows. There was a triple team assault on Honma, with Cody Hall landing a tremendous looking spinning lariat and almost pinning Honma before the attempt was broken up. Hall made an Outsiders Edge attempt, which looked huge (when the second generation wrestler does hit this move it is going to look fantastic) but Honma escaped and hit a diving kokeshi head butt on the son of Scott. Tencozy hit their finishing maneuver, the Ten-Koji cutter, followed by a kokeshi head butt off the turnbuckle and pin by Honma for the babyface  team to claim the victory.

After the match: There was yet more talk about Mao, who was seated throughout the match, and was apparently still ok afterwards. Mao.

The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) VS Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero and Trent Baretta)

(IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team championship; The Young Bucks defend)

Before the match: The Roppongi Vice (often written as RPG Vice, as will be the case herein) entrance was first. Rocky and Trent wore matching black jackets with the RPG Vice logo. Baretta’s jacket looked like a standard Uniqlo while Rocky’s had the fur trim.

During the match: Nick Jackson and Trent Baretta started off. Nick got right into it with the ‘suck it’ taunt, which Baretta answered with a big chop to the chest. Rocky caught Matt off guard, as he was ready waiting for the Buck coming off the top turnbuckle, punching him when he landed. Baretta propelled himself over the ropes to stomp and drive his boot into a fallen Matt Jackson’s head. The Bucks fed up, they decided they were done with the match and walked up the ramp toward the back. Romero and Baretta gave chase only to walk into super kicks in stereo. Young Bucks returned to the ring and RPG crawled their way back, barely making it in time. Romero hurled Baretta through the ropes into the ring at the very last second. There was a lot of double teaming to Baretta. Matt brought baretta near his corner and hit a long ‘suck it’ taunt to Romero on the outside. Romero came in and landed a loud slap, but Matt answered with a super kick that knocked him to the floor as he was returning to the ring apron. Romero would later tag in. He hit running lariats to the Bucks in opposite corners. Rocky got caught by both Bucks, who tried to do a powerbomb, but Rocky reversed the move into a huricanrana on both at the same time.

Matt did a running ‘suck it taunt’ into a lariat that hit Romero in the corner once, but was reversed by Romero, who then hit his own lariats into the corner on Matt.

Nick had an insane sequence of slingshotting himself into ring for a leg drop on Romero, and then hitting a moonsault immediately afterward onto Baretta outside the ring. The match drew to an end when Baretta blind tagged himself in as the Young Bucks prepared for a top rope assault. He hit a German suplex on Matt from the top turnbuckle. Then, RPG Vice hit their Strong Zero finisher (Romero hits drop kick from from the turnbuckle as Baretta drives opponent head first into mat as he is held behind his back) for the three count and victory to win the titles away from the Bullet Club.

After the match: Romero addressed the audience, in Japanese at first, saying “Tokyo, konbanwa (good evening)” and talking about the night and Roppongi. 

This match went at a slightly slower pace than the Young Bucks often work, allowing them to take time to pose and sell each move as a big deal.

Kenny Omega VS Mascara Dorada

(IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship; Omega defends)

Before the match: Dorada came out in an ostentatious gold robe, with a lion symbol emblazoned across his mask. Omega walked to the ring with Toma Tonga in his corner, waving the Bullet Club flag behind the ‘Cleaner.’

During the match: Dorada was thrown into the corner but climbed the ropes, carried out his rotating ring rope walk and landed a huricanrana on Omega.  On outside, Omega caught a huricanrana attempt, and lifted Dorada into a power bomb onto the ring apron. In the middle of trading chops Omega teased a big chop but then hit a poke to the eye of Dorada. Dorada hit a crazy looking running huricanrana to Omega, standing on the ring apron, to the outside floor. Omega later got Dorada into his own unique twist on a fireman’s carry, and then spun him around several times before hitting a backbreaker. 

Dorada gave his own ‘suck it’ taunt but his attack was reversed into a dragon rush (a very quickly executed full nelson suplex). Omega hit a high knee and then his finisher, the One Winged Angel (putting opponent on his shoulders and flipping him forward into a head first drive), picking up the pinfall victory. The match, surprisingly went down without any outside interference. It also involved far less comedy than Omega’s program with Taguchi.

After the match: Omega got on the mic and called himself a ‘master of the dark custodial arts.’ He said he  ‘cleaned up Japanese garbage’ and ‘Mexican garbage,’ while pausing in between to deliver Ric Flair style ‘Woo’s. ‘Now there was only 1 left, the worst garbage of them all, American garbage, Motor City garbage,’ he went on, addressing Alex Shelley. He concluded, ‘Try and try as he may, he can’t win. You will be cleaned up next.’ Shelley entered the ring and got in Omega’s face, directing Omega’s his gun hand gesture directly into his own chest as the two exchanged words and seem set to go in the next battle over the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship.

Karl Anderson and Luke ‘Doc’ Gallows VS The Kingdom (Mike Bennet and Mike Taven w/ Maria Kanelis)

(IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team championship; Anderson and Gallows defend)

Before the match: The Kingdom entered with a loud revved up rock n roll entrance. The cameraman quickly found Maria Kanelis’ ass, even as she faced the crowd with her backside presumably safe inside the ring.

During the match: Anderson had traded the Bullet Club black for baby blue tights. Perhaps to impress Maria? Sure enough, he was blowing a kiss in her direction before locking up with Taven. Anderson stopped Gallows from driving fists into the head of a fallen Bennet, reminding him of…Maria. They surround Maria on the outside, who escaped by running in. Their creepy advances continued until Bennet broke it up. Taven hit a series of kicks on Anderson in the ring. Anderson set up for finisher, the Gun Stun, when Maria climbed onto the ring apron to distract Anderson. There was a big murmur throughout the crowd in reaction. The two got into a mating ritual-like gyrating dance routine until Gallows grabbed Maria on the outside, and teased punching her lights out. Anderson pleaded to not do it. The Kingdom took control off the distraction with Taven hitting a huge tope (toe-pay) to Gallows on the outside. The Kingdom hit a Spike pildedriver (a Brett Hart-style piledriver by Bennet with Taven jumping off the top rope to assist by pushing down the opponent's feet) on Anderson for the victory and title change.

This was an ok match, but the comedy angle of obsession over Maria overshadowed the action. The upside is that the program will likely continue with even better matches between them when ROH and NJPW do their War of the Worlds and Global Wars shows in Philadelphia and Toronto this May. I add that last part selfishly, as I will be going to one of the Philadelphia shows featuring talent from both promotions.

----------------------Intermission-------------------

There is a BIG video presentation of the G1 Climax schedule, featuring a digitalized map of Japan with highlighted locations and dates of the famous tournament this summer.

There was a commercial for a DVD set showing the career of Kzuchika Okada. Clips are shown of Okada riding go-carts with Gedo and Toru Yano. We see Okada doing a choreographed action sequence against thugs in a warehouse.

The announcers run down the action of the first half of the show.

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Hiroki Goto, Togi Makabe, and Tetsuya Naito VS Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, and YOSHI-HASHI

During the match: Goto and Shinsuke started off in the ring. Soon after, Makabe and Ishii tagged in. They exchanged heavy forearm shots and loud slaps. Ishii was downed and Naito got tagged in to continue the assault. Later, on the outside, Ishii nailed Makabe with the metal chain that Makabe always carries with him. Shinsuke hit a jumping knee to Naito and with him down, he gave a mocking binocular view gesture (I can’t see you?) to Goto. He then kicked Goto off the ring apron. Naito and YOSHI-HASHI went at it with a quickly paced volley of strikes and wrestling moves. Makabe and Ishii both tagged in AGAIN, and Makabe won a running lariat exchange.

Goto cleaned house on all 3 CHAOS members. He was then taken out by Nakamura’s Inverted Exploder (like lifting opponent up for an atomic drop but flipping him backwards onto his belly). The ‘King of Strongstyle’ hit a Bomaye knee from the second turnbuckle to Goto. Goto then hit his ushikoroshi (fireman’s carry neckbreaker across the knee). Goto clobbered Nakamura with a clothesline, and then hit the shotenkai for a pin on the Intercontinental champ, setting up to challenge for the title!

After the match: A big brawl with forearm exchanges ensued between Ishii and Makabe but was quickly broken up.

Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata VS  Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba

Before the match: Shibata entered first. Then Tanahashi. Team CHAOS’ Yano and Sakuraba came out together next to a medley of their music themes. Sakuraba, wearing a blue and red mask, continued to get me wondering if he' is referencing sadakiyo from 20th-century with his masked entrances.

During the match: The match started at a slow and steady pace. Tanahashi and Yano had a brief exchange first. Then sakuraba and Shibata were tagged in and got into a series of chain wrestling takedowns. Yano grabbed Tanahashi to the outside and threw him into the railing. He then hit a chair shot on Tanahashi, giving Sakuraba the advantage. Yano tagged in and threw Tanahashi into the exposed turnbuckle.Sakuraba then grabbed Shibata and threw him into the exposed turnbuckle, a bit of a ‘screw you’ after Shibata had been keeping things on the up and up as they squared off.

Yano threw Tanahashi toward the exposed turnbuckle again where Sakuraba was on the apron. But this time, Tanahashi turned it into a high cross body knocking Sakuraba to the floor. Shibata hit a serious round of forearm shots to Sakuraba downed in the corner. The last one was thunderously loud. Shibata hit a flying drop kick into Sakuraba in the corner, which hits him so squarely in the face, I wondered if Sakuraba’s teeth were still intact.

Shibata got Sakuraba’s shirt pulled over his head and a submission locked in. Sakuraba would regain the advantage and apply a sleeper hold, which was broken up by Tanahashi. Sakuraba was able to lock in a kimura armbar submission on Shibata to tap him out for his team to pick up the win. This was a good quick match with the exchange between Shibata and Sakuraba overshadowing the few interactions between Tanahashi and Yano.

After the match: Shibata was selling serious pain in his arm, clutching it as ice was applied, and also looked irate over the loss. The two grapple based wrestlers will definitely meet again. 

Kazuchika Okada VS ‘Bad Luck’ Fale

Before the match: A very dramatic video package was shown, starting with a teary eyed Okada reacting to his loss at Wrestle Kingdom. It traced his battles with Fale, which have mostly ended in losses. Okada entered the ring to the slightly revamped version of his theme song that has been used lately.

During the match: Okada spun Fale around and hit a big boot, but Fale came back with his own boot to the skull, knocking Okada down. Okada dropkicked Fale over the barrier onto the outside. Fale got control and teased a big move on Okada to the floor below, but Okada got out of it and hit a lariat that knocked Fale back over the barrier again.

Okada fought off attempts to put him in the Grenade (lifting opponent with one hand, dropping him while bringing a Samoan spike to the neck with his other hand) and hits an uppercut on the ‘Underboss.’ Okada managed to get him up for a bodyslam that looked like it took a lot of effort, and landed the ‘Randy Savage elbow’ off the top turnbuckle. Fale got Okada up for the Grenade again but Okada knocked Fale’s thumb aside in midair. Fale hit a big splash off the second turnbuckle which looked like a miracle to kick out of. Okada wriggled out of the Bad Luck Fall and hit a big dropkick to the back of Fale’s head. Okada missed the Rainmaker but hit a huge German suplex.

With a badly bruised cheek, Okada hit the tombstone piledriver in the center of the rain. This led to the Rainmaker in the center of the ring for the pin, signifying that Okada is back.

AJ Styles VS Kota Ibushi

(IWGP Heavyweight championship; Styles defends)

Before the match: A video package showed Ibushi winning the New Japan Cup and telling the announcer he wanted to face AJ for the Heavyweight championship. It then showed Styles speaking calmly at a gym about his respect for the collection of talent in NJPW. He said that Ibushi has been impressive, but has never faced Styles, and was not ready to challenge AJ for the title.

Ibushi walked down to the ring, looking a bit nervous, carrying his New Japan Cup trophy in one arm. AJ walked to the ring without any accompaniment, hooded and wearing the IWGP Heavyweight title.

During the match: The commentators talked about how AJ represented the American dream, and Ibushi represented, not a Japan, but a New Japan dream, probably alluding to the fact that Ibushi is challenging for the title at a fairly early point in his meteoric career.  

They started out with a lock up, with Ibushi being backed into the corner. AJ gave him the clean break, showing his joined together hands that form the Bullet Club sign on his gloves and serve as a show of confidence. The two went back and forth with roll up pin attempts early on. AJ suddenly turned one of the attempts into the Stylesclash position but the Ibushi escaped. 

AJ rolled to the outside off a dropkick. Ibushi climbed the ropes for a moonsault but AJ quickly cut him off with punches to the back. Ibushi went for the moonsault again, this time off the second turnbuckle. AJ avoided it and hit a nasty release German suplex onto the floor. AJ got Ibushi on the outside again, thrust his face toward the belt and assured to him that he would not get ahold of it tonight. Then he lifted Ibushi up and dropped him on the metal railing. 

Midway through the match, the camera cuts to Kenny Omega at ringside to support his Bullet Club ally, looking on passively. For those who know of his past association with Kota Ibushi, this was a very subtle hint of real life story overlapping the tale being told inside the ring adding an additional layer of intrigue to the match. Omega and Ibushi have had a very strong friendship, working together frequently as a tag team in the DDT promotion that Ibushi still works for and Omega left for a full time schedule in NJPW (*While I do not know this from watching the program, Omega recently spoke on the roads he and Ibushi have traveled down in the past on the LAW Network with Chris Charlton, cohost of the Japan Audio Wrestling Podcast, an excellent resource for learning about all things Japanese wrestling).

The champ wore down Ibushi with a rear chin lock. AJ tried to slingshot himself into the ring but was caught by a high kick from Ibushi.  AJ caught a kick and drove his elbow into Ibushi’s knee. He then hit the same knee with a baseball slide and continued working over the leg of Ibushi. AJ attempted another baseball slide that Ibushi jumped over, landing with a double foot stop on AJ's chest.

AJ rolled to the outside. Ibushi hit his Triangle Asia Moonsault. Ibushi looked to be putting AJ on the turnbuckle for a huricanrana or superplex. AJ pushed himself off the post with his legs and then suplexed Ibushi into the corner. Ibushi drove AJ toward the ropes but AJ held on, kicked Ibushi off and hit a moonsault off the second rope that he followed through and turned into a DDT for a pin attempt.

The two each hit a vicious combination of punches and kicks, and then both hit Pele kicks that left one another lying on the mat. AJ lifted him up for a Stylesclash that Ibushi kicked his way out of. Then, AJ cinched in a calf killer submission. Ibushi went for a huricanrana , got caught in another Stylesclash hold but bicycle kicked his way out again. Ibushi successfully landed a huricanrana off the top but could not pin Styles. Ibushi followed up with a lariat and sitdown powerbomb. Ibushi climbed to the top turnbuckle to set up for his Phoenix splash. Suddenly, Omega popped up onto the apron, brandishing a fist at Ibushi. The referee ran in his direction, and the Junior Heavyweight champion quickly regained his composure and began to back down. Ibushi, clearly rattled by the distraction, hit the Phoenix Splash but landed right in a standing AJ’s  grasp, who got him into the Stylesclash and pulled off the move for the 3 count victory.

After the match: Ibushi was helped to the back by fellow wrestlers on the roster. As AJ celebrated, flanked by Yujiro, Toma Tonga sans face paint,  and a reluctantly encouraging Kenny Omega. From out of nowhere, Okada appeared, quickly taking out Yujiro, Tonga, and Omega. He hit the champ with the Rainmaker and posed over him as Gedo cut a promo. The gold confetti fell from the rafters, and Okada is really back. Styles was carried off to the back by his Bullet Club pals, really selling that the Rainmaker knocked him out of commission. There was no backstage interview. The commentators just talked about the show until it went off the air.

This match was excellent, with both wrestlers performing their moves with extraordinarily graceful execution. AJ has a knack for selling audibly, letting out a sharp groan when he is hit with a powerful move. It does not sound over-exaggerated or cartoonish. Kudos to the use of restraint in putting together the conclusion while still emphasizing the fact that interference was present and, had it not been, the outcome could have been completely different. Omega also did an excellent job showing subtle signs of disappointment over costing longtime friend Ibushi the match, while still celebrating his group’s victory. If I had one slight criticism of the match it is that it had a certain timeless aspect that left me feeling the two could have gone at it another 5, 10 minutes…Perhaps they just didn’t seem like they were quite on the brink of collapse when the match ended. And perhaps that is less a complaint of what I saw, and more like a desire to see more.

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Start to finish, this was a great show. At every level, something was offered. I feel that as much as I enjoyed NJPW’s product at the beginning of 2014 and my introduction to the NJPW World service, it has shown steady signs of improvement. I hate to speak in terms of detractors, but the show benefited from some of the not so great aspects of recent programming being jettisoned. I love the antics of Bruce Tharpe and would love to see him representing heels, or even one heel wrestler in the future. But the NWA wrestlers that have been appearing on specials have not been adding much to the presentation. They are very talented for sure, but don’t seem to work at the level of the performers on the NJPW roster. Their absence here led to a more cohesive program. At the same time, the talent exchange with Ring of Honor has allowed talent to go away for a bit and come back fresh and exciting. reDRagon for instance has been made excellent contributions to the promotion, and I’m sure they are not finished. They could easily return to challenge RPG Vice for the Junior Heavyweight tag team titles, but their absence on the Invasion Attack show left no apparent void.

Big themes came up over the course of this show. Of course there is Okada’s big come back story. If it seemed stilted or lacking in direction up until now, Invasion Attack showed proved the wait to be well worth it. There was a clear direction in mind and a payoff that was all the more impactful after the build up. Excuse me while I bring up the giant that gets the lion’s share of attention, but imagine if WWE had treated John Cena’s downfall the same way after being soundly defeated by Brock Lesnar at last year’s Summerslam. Instead of throwing him back into a dominant position and having him challenge for a rematch immediately, what if they made Cena vulnerable and had him go through a slump, only to finally overcome a challenge looming over him after a hard road back. And only then even tease the notion of getting back to the main event scene that he was dropped from. If WWE treated their talent with such ups and downs, and the level of seriousness shown by New Japan, audiences would likely take more to the characters and give them the hero’s treatment they could potentially achieve.

This show also featured a well crafted and subtly told story of conflicted loyalties. It was possible that Omega never interact with Ibushi, their past friendship unacknowledged. But with this insertion of reality into the story, the match between Ibushi and AJ took on a heightened sense of drama. There are also many places the story can go from here, all of them intriguing.   

What could lay on the road ahead? The next major event is Wrestling Dontaku in early May. And further down the line, the integral G1 Climax tournament in the summer. Alex Shelley is clearly next in line for a Junior Heavyweight title shot. Omega’s spot with Ibushi along with his over the top promo on cleaning up the ‘garbage’ of the company may be signaling a move toward a program in the Heavyweight division with Ibushi. A loss to Shelley could refresh the Junior title once again and pave the way for Ibushi and Omega to get into a substantial feud. This would not take any of Ibushi’s achievements away from him, allowing him to challenge for a major championship again down the line. I could also imagine an excellent tag team match playing off the conflicts on Invasion Attack pitting Style and Omega against Ibushi and Shelley. NJPW has been proving that the long game yields more than thinking in the short term, though.

Okada may very well have set the stage for an immediate challenge to the Heavyweight title. It is not a belt he hasn’t had before. His real goal would seem to be the victory at the January 4 Tokyo Dome show in 2016, presumably against Tanahashi. Meanwhile, Tanahashi has suddenly dropped in stock as well, leaving a question of whether he will regain momentum and be on the other side of a Wrestle Kingdom main event or fade to the back. It makes sense now, if another match with Okada is in the works, that Tanahashi struggle to overcome Okada’s CHAOS cohorts. Perhaps Yano is the first of a host of challenges from within this faction, as opposed to the usual fight against Bullet Club.

Shinsuke Nakamura is set to defend his Intercontinental title against Goto. I think Nakamura is only looking to move up in status, but when is a question. Til then, I think this is his title to keep. Goto could put up a great challenge, but eventually return to teaming with Shibata and challenging for the Heavyweight tag belts.

Shibata and Sakuraba should no doubt battle in singles competition after the heated interaction they had at Invasion Attack. Sakuraba seems to be getting enough substantial experience that, perhaps, the plan is to include him in the next G1 tournament instead of keeping him on the periphery with special programs only.

RPG Vice will probably continue a feud with the Young Bucks, thus representing the CHAOS VS Bullet Club conflict. As mentioned before, I see reDRagon returning to challenge for their titles as well.

Til the next show…

Twitter = @mondocurrymark

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