411’s NJPW Power Struggle Review 11.08.14

November 8, 2014
Osaka, Japan

 

Tiger Mask & Fuego vs. BUSHI & Mascara Dorada
Tiger Mask and Fuego worked over BUSHI for a bit. Dorada made the hot tag. Dorada missed a dive and then got wiped out by Fuego’s Fosbury Flop. Tiger Mask then took out BUSHI with a plancha. Dorada survived a Tiger Driver and a springboard splash. Fuego pulled off a super Frankensteiner. Dorada finally blocked a moonsault. BUSHI wiped out Tiger Mask with a tope suicida. Dorada then pulled off an awesome pinning combo on Fuego: 1…2…3!

Best dark match in NJPW in forever. The crowd was only mildly into it, but the wrestlers really overcame that and put on a super fun opener. Gimme more Dorada and Fuego, please.
Match Rating: ***1/2

 

Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero) vs. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku) vs. Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
The Hooligans got their shit in early. (Glad it is out of the way.) It did lead to the other teams hugging at least. Matt took out everyone but his brother on the floor with a moonsault. The Bucks worked over Koslov. Rocky did an amusing variation of his comeback. The teams went back and forth for a while. There was a lot of fun stuff. Nick hit a springboard senton to the floor. TAKA then ate the More Bang for Your Buck: 1…2…3!

Hey, this show is off to a good start. Much like the opener, this was just tons of fun with lots of cool sequences and moments. I’m in love with the pace of this show at the moment. Here’s to foolishly hoping the rest of the show will be paced just as well.
Match Rating: ***1/2

 

Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano
I do not care. The best we can hope for is that Suzuki’s team wins so we get Kaze Ni Nare twice.

Pretty shameless of Suzuki to be ripping off The Tazz’s towel gimmick. (Don’t comment on that line if you don’t get the joke.) We’re going on about twelve or thirteen months since the last entertaining Sakuraba match.

The match started as a brawl because it has to. Sakuraba and Suzuki traded slaps. Yano and Iizuka cheated against each other. Suzuki and Sakuraba went back at it. Suzuki had a sleeper, but Sakuraba reversed it into a pin: 1…2…3

It was short at least. Let’s move along.
Match Rating: *

Suzuki got on the microphone after the match. I assume some sort of challenged happened here, and they are probably officially having a match at 1/4.

 

Chase Owens© vs. Jushin Liger [NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship]
I’m pretty interested in this one. I like what Owens offers to NJPW undercards.

BRUCE THARPE!!!!! Liger was mostly in control early on. He hit the rolling senton off the apron. Owens then cut him off and worked him over. Tharpe cheered him on from ringside like the hero that he is. Liger made a comeback after avoiding a Lionsault. Owens blocked a Superfly Splash and then hit the Roddy Strong gutbuster. Owens took Liger down with some forearms. KOPPOU KICK FROM LIGER! Owens reversed Liger’s brainbuster attempt into a brainbuster of his own. Liger avoided the package piledriver and hit the THESZ PRESS: 1…2…NO! PALM STRIKE! BRAINBUSTER! A second brainbuster: 1…2…3! YES!!!!

NJPW is getting much more consistent with their undercard matches. This match is not overly significant, but they got me invested. I genuinely had doubts about who would win in the closing minutes, which really helped. As I said last month, I dig what Chase Owens brings to NJPW undercards. Not sure if he’s worth flying in just for that; I’ll keep enjoying him as long as he is around though.
Match Rating: ***1/4

 

BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma), Captain New Japan & Tetsuya Naito
I feel like I’ve seen this match a dozen times in the past year. I’m sure that this combination has not happened, but I’m sick of these Bullet Club atomicos matches nonetheless.

Honma was worked over first. After hitting the falling headbutt on Machine Gun, Naito made a comeback. He of course got cut off and then worked over. Makabe made the next comeback. Gallows cut him off. I guess the good Captain will be making the real comeback. And what a comeback it was. Well, he completely failed and then got worked over. The match broke down, and they started going back and forth. Captain New Japan kicked out of the Samoan Spike. He couldn’t kick out of the Ball Luck Fall though, and that gave the Bullet Club the win.

This was fine. I’m sensing the Bullet Club is getting built back up for some matches at 1/4.

I’m ready for Honma to get a push like Ishii got in 2013. This just feels like a complete waste of his talents.
Match Rating: **1/2

 

Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA)© vs. reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) [IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships]
Unfortunately, it seems like Ring of Honor and New Japan are having some issues that could potentially cause the companies to stop working together. Or I am overreacting and cooler heads will prevail. Regardless, the result of this match will tell us many things.

The Splitters had control for a few minutes. RD cut off Shelley and worked him over. They sort of went after his left arm. Shelley eventually avoided a double splash, and KUSHIDA made a hot tag. He hit his big senton to the floor. Fish blocked a KUSHIDA moonsault with his knees and got a nearfall with a small package. KUSHIDA failed to get the kimura on both Fish and Kyle. Fish took out Shelley with a slingshot senton to the floor. Kyle hit KUSHIDA with the rebound lariat and a brainbuster. He then applied a cross armbreaker, but Shelley made the save. Shelley had to save KUSHIDA again from certain defeat. SUPER FALCON ARROW TO KUSHIDA! Chasing the Dragon: 1…2…3

The Young Bucks and Forever Hooligans came out after the match. A four-way tag is clearly being set up for 1/4 as most predicted.

This was different than the other junior tag matches on the show, but it was no less enjoyable. Shelley and KUSHIDA did a ton to make reDRagon look strong here, and they clearly looked like credible champions after the match. The four-way tag has a ton of potential.

I’m also beyond happy that cooler heads prevailed regarding the issues between ROH and NJPW.
Match Rating: ***1/2

 

Ryusuke Taguchi© vs. Taichi [IWGP Junior Heavyweight Match]
NJPW is causing me to have nostalgic feelings for Low Ki. Gedo and Jado have let fans of this division down.

TAKA and Desperado attacked Taguchi’s legs with chairs. Taichi then went after the right leg of the champ. He then went after Taguchi’s ass. That strategy worked so well for Desperado after all. Taguchi got an ankle lock briefly, but Taichi cut him off. He went after the right leg some more. Taguchi came back after an ass attack. He hit a dive. Suzuki-gun worked together to put Taguchi through a table. Taichi avoided the Dodon and gave Taguchi a piledriver through the table. Back in the ring, Taguchi kicked out of the folding powerbomb. Taichi ripped off his own pants in frustration. Ankle lock for Taguchi. Taichi used the ref as a shield and then got a nearfall with a superkick. Taguchi transitioned to an ankle lock in a very clunky manner. Taguchi took out TAKA and Desperado. Taichi kicked him in the balls for a genuinely believable nearfall. This match sucks by the by. Taichi kicked out of the Dodon. Taguchi hit a release tiger suplex, botched something, and then repeated it: 1…2…3

To the sun with these men. Take Desperado, too.
Match Rating: **

 

The Bullet Club came out after the match. They revealed Kenny Omega as the newest member of the Bullet Club. Oooof. If Kenny Omega manages to make the Bullet Club good, give him Wrestler of the Year. Omega cut a very goofy rudo gaijin promo. His nickname is now, “The Cleaner.” Omega wants money and the belt. He doesn’t want to wear the stupid lion mark. Taguchi tells Kenny (in English) that he cannot understand English. Apparently the crowd can, because they laughed. So, it’s looking like Omega vs. Taguchi at 1/4. Omega was funny here.

 

AJ Styles vs. Yoshitatsu
Yoshi needs to have a good match here. AJ fought with the referee to keep Jeff Jarrett and Scott D’Amore at ringside. He won. Yoshi was not fazed by their presence.

Not much of real note happened early on. After a few minutes, JJ crotched Yoshi, and AJ then worked him over. AJ was doing a lot of taunting. He made fun of Yoshi for his face paint, which is a perfectly valid criticism quite frankly. Yoshi hit an enzuigiri and then they traded lots of strikes. Yoshi won that exchange. Yoshi got a great nearfall with a diving spinning heel kick. AJ received some timely interference and hit Bloody Sunday. He then nearly killed Yoshi with a Styles Clash: 1…2…3

JJ hit Yoshi with the guitar after the match. Honma, Naito, and Tanahashi made the save. They started teasing an AJ/Naito match. I’m fine with that, but I do not have high expectations for it.

This was remarkably unimpressive. AJ really isn’t worth bringing over for efforts like this, and Yoshi did not seem ready to try to have an above-average match in his return to the company. In the end, this came across like a midcard match of mild significance.
Match Rating: **1/4

 

Tomohiro Ishii© vs. Hirooki Goto [NEVER Openweight Championship]
They traded a lot of strikes. It was what I expected, but I was hoping they would change it up. In some good news, it looks like Ishii is going to be controlling the match. Sigh, they started trading strikes again. Ishii has got a wrapped shoulder and a wrapped knee! Do something with that! Come on! They took turns briefly being in control. They did a lariat battle that ended in a stalemate. Ishii hit Goto’s Ushigaroshi. Ishii hit a scary powerbomb for a nearfall. Goto then kicked out of a superplex. Ushigoroshi from Goto! Ishii was bleeding from the mouth. They traded forearms from their knees. Goto took Ishii down with a headbutt. Goto hit a lariat, but Ishii kicked out at one. Another Ushigoroshi from Goto. Ishii fought back and hit a couple of brutal headbutts. Goto survived a lariat and then a sliding lariat. ISHII DRILLER: 1…2…3

Makabe was checking on Goto after the match. Ishii got in his face. Looks like we have another match for 1/4. Damn, I was hoping for Ishii/Kota.

Ishii formula is so uninteresting to me at this moment in time, which is frustrating on a number of a levels. You know exactly what match these worked, and it was not the least entertaining or surprising at any moment to me. However, the crowd reacted like it a PPV main event that has been built up for months. I don’t really know how to rate matches like this, and I’ll just have to compromise. If an Ishii/Goto style match appeals to you, pretend I gave it four stars. If it does not appeal to you, pretend that I gave it two stars.
Match Rating: ***

 

CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi
CHAOS cut off Kota and worked him over for a bit. Tana tagged in. He and Okada did a forearm exchange. Tana avoided a Rainmaker and hit Sling Blade. YOSHI saved Okada from a High Fly Flow. Okada and Kota went at it. Okada won that battle and then gave Tana a tombstone. Kota gave him a snap dragon suplex though. YOSHI and Kota went at it. YOSHI won, but Kota then came back on him and Okada. YOSHI kicked out of a Liger Bomb. He couldn’t kick out of the Phoenix Splash though.

I thought this was fine, but I was fairly disappointed from everyone involved. The whole match felt obligatory. In the end, this match was here to get Okada and Tanahashi in the ring again before their title match. Kota getting another win was also noteworthy, but it was not the focus.
Match Rating: **3/4

 

Shinsuke Nakamura© vs. Katsuyori Shibata [IWGP Intercontinental Championship]
They took their time. Not much of real note happened early. It’s rare that you see a Shibata match play homage to the feeling out process. Nakamura avoided an early Penalty Kick attempt. Shibata got control and then after Nakamura’s legs. Nakamura came back after winning a forearm exchange. Shibata came back with a standing submission that I am not familiar with. Shibata was getting control, but Nakamura avoided the Penalty Kick again. They went back and forth some more. Shibata avoided the Boma Ye. Shibata hit a brutal slap. Backfist/GTS combo from Shibata. Nakamura avoided another PK attempt and hit two straight Boma Ye: 1…2…NO! BOMA YE: 1…2…3!

In possibly one of the most exciting and scary run-ins ever, Kota sprinted in at full speed and killed Nakamura with a release German. Yay! Kota vs. Nakamura at 1/4!

I enjoyed this match. They worked a more methodical pace than I expected, but I honestly did not mind it at all. It wasn’t really a match attempting to be great. It went for simple instead. Shibata went for the PK several times, and Nakamura was always able to just avoid it. Nakamura got to his finisher first and won the match. I can totally get why anyone would be underwhelmed by this one as it was not worked like a typical NJPW main event. It definitely felt like a Nakamura semi main right before the world title match.
Match Rating: ***1/2

 

 

Very quick preview of 1/4.

Hiroshi Tanahashi© vs. Kazuchika Okada [IWGP Heavyweight Championship]
You already know what these two are capable of together. If you liked their previous matches, you should be excited for this one. I’ve loved their matches, and I expected to love this one.
Shinksuke Nakamura© vs. Kota Ibushi [IWGP Intercontinental Championship]
These guys had a crazy match at the 2013 G1, and I think this has the potential to steal the show.
Ryusuke Taguchi© vs. Kenny Omega [IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship]
Kenny has his work cut out for him.
Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson© vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata [IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships]
I don’t really care about this match, and I haven’t cared about this division in a long time.
reDRagon© vs. The Young Bucks vs. Time Splitters vs. Forever Hooligans [IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships]
This is basically a rematch of the junior tag title match from last year but with reDRagon in there instead of Suzuki-gun which is an obvious upgrade. The match only kind of got over last year. I’m hoping the fans care about it a bit more this time.
Tomohiro Ishii© vs. Togi Makabe [NEVER Openweight Championship]
I expect this match to be very similar to Ishii’s match with Goto. I expect everyone will love it but me.
Minoru Suzuki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
After their interaction at the G1 Finals, NJPW just should have announced their match for 1/4 right then and there instead of attempting to build it up with shitty tag matches. There’s a mild chance this match works.

 

 

Watch some NJPW for free!

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yoshitatsu
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Masato Tanaka (G1 Climax)
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto (G1 Climax)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jun Akiyama (G1 Climax)
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata (G1 Climax)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yujiro Takahashi (G1 Climax)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Prince Devitt (G1 Climax)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Milano Collection A.T. (G1 Climax)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano (G1 Climax)
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Togi Makabe (Chain Match)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto
Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Prince Devitt vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson
Masato Tanaka vs. Tomoaki Honma
Kota Ibushi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi [Fantastic Match]
Prince Devitt vs. Kenny Omega
Sin Cara vs. Averno
Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi (With thoughts from Prince Devitt)
Davey Richards vs. Kota Ibushi
Kota Ibushi vs. KUSHIDA
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto vs. Karl Anderson & Giant Bernard
Kurt Angle vs. Yuji Nagata
ORLANDO JORDAN VS. YUJI NAGATA
Christopher Daniels vs. Tetsuya Naito
Katsuyori Shibata & Scott Norton vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Jushin Liger vs. Ebessan
Katsuyori Shibata &Wataru Inoue vs. Eddy Guerrero & Black Tiger

 

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