Csonka’s NJPW at RevPro Epic Encounter Review

Csonka’s NJPW at RevPro Epic Encounter Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Hirooki Goto defeated Zack Gibson @ 13:40 via pin [**½]
– Hiromu Takahashi defeated Marty Scurll @ 15:13 via pin [***¾]
– British Heavyweight Title Match: Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defeated KUSHIDA @ 27:00 via pin [***½]
– The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeated Lio Rush, Ryan Smile & Shane Strickland @ 20:00 via pin [****]

---

– From April 13th, New Japan World uploaded the following matches from the RevPro Epic Encounter event that featured their talent. They did not upload Jay White vs. Angelico.

Hirooki Goto vs. Zack Gibson: Gibson tried to cut a promo, but got “shit the fuck” up chants while Goto simply stood there not giving a single solitary fuck. Ospreay is on Goto’s corner. They locked up and worked through a series of standing switches, Goto picked up the pacing and took control with shoulder blocks and hip tosses before laying in a series of kicks. Goto was controlling with ease, until Gibson hit hammerlock DDT and sent Goto to the floor. Gibson then targeted the arm, wrapping it in the barricade and attacking. Commentary plays up that Goto’s arm was weakened in his match with Zack Sabre Jr a few days prior, I appreciated that. Solid but unspectacular heat from Gibson, he goes to the corner and slips on the second rope and Goto attacks, hitting a lariat. The spinning heel kick and clotheslines follow; the top rope elbow drop followed for 2. Gibson fought off the ushigoroshi, hits an uppercut and then a lung blower. Gibson then hit the suicide dive, and then back in hits the code breaker for a near fall. They trade strikes center ring, and Gibson then hits a lariat and Saito suplex but Goto no sells and hits a suplex of his own. They trade strikes again, Goto challenges him to hit hi more and fires up and head butts Gibson, dropping him to the mat. The ushigoroshi follows and Goto covers for 2. Gibson counters the GTR, but Goto then locks in the sleeper. He breaks it and hits the code breaker off the ropes, and then locks in his kimura variation, but Goto makes the ropes. Gibson then grabs a car stereo from under the ring, but Ospreay takes it from him. They play tug of war; Gibson takes it back and misses Goto, who locks in the sleeper and then hits GTR for the win. Hirooki Goto defeated Zack Gibson @ 13:40 via pin [**½] They were on their way to a good match before the flat and anticlimactic finish. Really solid work throughout, and my guess is that they wanted to protect Gibson, but he would have gained more in a hard fought loss to Goto than with the finish they went with.

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Marty Scurll: Takahashi tries to play mind games to begin, and steals Scurll’s umbrella and licks it. Scurll takes it back and baseball swings Takahashi in the face with it. Scurll attacks and works him over. They go back and forth with Takahashi hitting a lariat and corner clotheslines. The dropkick follows, and Takahashi then slows the pace down and grounds Scurll. Scurll battles back, working the arm and then hitting a PK from the apron. After a brief brawl on the floor, Scurll takes control back in the ring, working the arm. Takahashi picks up the pace, making Scurll chase him and then spears Scurll to the floor, following with a dropkick off of the apron. Takahashi then hits a falcon arrow (HE DID THE DEAL) for 2. Scurll rakes the eyes, superkicks the knee and then walks through a superkick, hitting a lariat and brainbuster for a great near fall. Scurll calls for the chicken wing but eats a superkick and a German for 2. They trade strikes, Scurll snaps the ropes into Takahashi face; Scurll they rakes the eyes to avoid the sunset bomb to the floor. They brawl onto the ramp way and then to the stage. Takahashi fights off the brainbuster, but Scurll hits a suplex and they work back to ringside. Superkick by Scurll, he then charges but runs right into a superkick for a double down on the ramp. They tease the countout, but both make it back into the ring, where they trade strikes. Scurll pops up, hits the superkick and then does the finger snap spot; chicken wing by Scurll, Takahashi fights as Scurll lays in kicks to the ribs as he maintains the hold. Takahashi manages to survive and make the ropes. Scurll then runs into an overhead suplex into the buckles, and Takahashi hits the time bomb for a great near fall. Takahashi hits the DVD to the corner, and another time bomb and picks up the hard fought victory. Hiromu Takahashi defeated Marty Scurll @ 15:13 via pin [***¾] While not the best putting for either man (they are both having great years, this was a very good main event; they worked with a great sense of urgency and aggression, provided some great near falls and both looked great coming out of it. This is certainly worth a look if you have the time.

Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. KUSHIDA: They grapple right away, as both are looking for an advantage to attack the arm. Sabre is showing heelish tendencies early, which plays well following him joining Suzuki-gun, and the fact that he’s facing KUSHIDA, who is a big babyface everywhere he works. They battle over a test of strength, keeping a very deliberate and slow pacing early, making it feel like they may go a long time. Sabre then breaks down KUSHIDA, attacking the neck. They work through a series of counters, with KUSHIDA trying to escape, but Sabre constantly reversing and again going for the arm bar. Lots of slick work and counter wrestling here, with both men constantly looking to gain the advantage in regards to working the arm. Sabre starts to get more aggressive, but he gets a bit too focused on punishing KUSHIDA, who rolls into an arm bar, but Sabre quickly got the ropes. Sabre then hit a PK, allowing him to take control, picking the leg and locking in a modified STF. Sabre then starts to torture the arm of KUSHIDA, bending it in ways it should not go. They trade strikes center ring, and then Sabre counters the PELE into an ankle lock and then transitions to the knee bar. They then start kicking away at each other, KUSHIDA hits the enziguri and heads up top, Sabre cuts him off and attacks the arm. KUSHIDA then grabs the hover board lock and leaps off the ropes, attempting to separate Sabre’s am from his body. KUSHIDA then lays in a series of kicks and follows with a running dropkick to the arm of Sabre. Sabre goes for the flying uppercut, but KUSHIDA catches him out of the arm and locks in an arm bar; Sabre makes the ropes, and locks in a one armed sleeper. He then works a hanging guillotine. KUSHIDA escapes but gets planted with a dragon suplex. They picked up the pace, KUSHIDA had some great counters, but Sabre took him down and hit two PKs. They then ram up the action, trading strikes and leading to Sabre locking in a triangle and then into the Breaks special. KUSHIDA somehow makes the ropes. They then trade big uppercuts, KUSHIDA then jacks Sabre’s jaw with a straight right and hits a snapdragon suplex for the near fall. KUSHIDA up top, but moonsaults into the triangle. KUSHIDA cartwheels out and transitions into the hover board lock. Sabre rolls and gets the bridging prawn hold for 2. They trade slaps, KUSHIDA fires up and demands Sabre keep fighting, kicks away at the arm and follows with the PELE kick; the back handspring elbow is countered by Sabre into an arm bar, which was really slick. Sabre counters a cradle and rolls into the bridging pin for the win. Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defeated KUSHIDA @ 27:00 via pin [***½] This was an overall very good match, with some beautiful grappling and some sweet counters mixed in. What holds it back from being great is the fact that it was a bit too long (the opening stretch was way too lethargic), and also the thing that bothered me was the fact that all of the arm work (which was a huge focus of the match) was never paid off in any sort of satisfying way. Still, I really enjoyed this and feel that with a bit of editing and a stronger finish that pays off of the established work, that they could easily have an excellent match; the bones of that were here.

The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. Lio Rush, Ryan Smile & Shane Strickland: After some banter and playing to the crowd, Matt and Rush started things off. Fun back and forth with Rush hitting RANAs and then Nick “accidentally tripping” as he tried to make the save. The Elite took a powder, and Nick called out Strickland. They had some fun back and forth, keeping thing light hearted as it broke down, with everyone missing moves and then all going for dropkicks, leading to a stand off. Superkicks by the Elite were blocked, and then they all went to the floor, where Strickland ate double superkicks. The Elite hit apron bombs, with Nick then hitting sentons onto Rush and Smile. The Elite then worked over Strickland, using quick tags and playing to the crowd, who loves this. Strickland fought back, sending Omega into the Bucks, and then hits an enziguri and tags in Rush. He runs wild, fighting off the Bucks and hitting back hand spring elbows. Dives followed to all three Elite members. Smile in, as they all work over Omega and Rush covers for 2. Smile misses a double stomp, the Bucks return and swarm him and then send him to the floor. We get rise of the Terminator dives to the delight of the crowd. Superkicks follow on Smile, leading to a series of triple team moves from The Elite. They then work sharp shooters, and share a too sweet. Smile fights back against Omega, Strickland tags in and runs wild with kicks and a cutter. Omega cut off, reverse RANA by Strickland, and then jumps off the chest of Matt, hitting a moonsault to the floor, taking out the Elite. Strickland up top, misses a double stomp, and Omega hits V trigger. Rush makes the save, and we get double stomps and frog splashes to the Elite. Matt returns, works over Smile but Rush makes the save, but ends up attending a superkick party. Omega in, but Strickland counters the one winged angle only to eat superkicks and a snapdragon suplex. The Elite then fire each other up with slaps, and then triple superkick Strickland for a near fall. The Bucks call for the Meltzer driver, but Rush makes the save, they tease The Meltzer on him, but Strickland makes the save. Omega then snatches up Strickland, and we get the double Meltzer driver. The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeated Lio Rush, Ryan Smile & Shane Strickland @ 20:00 via pin [****] Don’t go into this expecting to see grappling or limb work; this was just a wildly fun six-man match, playing the hits and popping the crowd with some great athletic moves. And that’s exactly what it was designed to be, a lot of fun. The Elite have realized that they don’t have to kill themselves, and can work matches like this with fun and athletic opponents, keep the crowd and still have everyone go home happy. If you’re not a fan of the Elite, you’ll likely hate this, but if you’re down with 20-minutes of fun, you’ll love it.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.7

The final score: review Good

The 411

Again, these matches are available on New Japan World with your subscription. This was a good way to spend 90-minutes, and hopefully will serve as a gateway for people to look into RevPro, who have strong production and a hell of an atmosphere; I wish I had more time to fit both them and PROGRESS into my schedule.