Csonka’s NJPW King of Pro Wrestling Review 10.12.15

NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 10.12.15

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & Mascara Dorada defeated Juice Robinson, Yohei Komatsu, Sho Tanaka, David Finlay & Jay White @ 8:50 via pin [***]
– Tomoaki Honma defeated YOSHI-HASHI @ 8:55 via pin [***]
– Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata, Kota Ibushi & Captain New Japan @ 12:12 via pin [***]
– IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Champions reDRagon defeated RPG Vice @ 15:20 via pin [**]
– IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title Match: Champion Kenny Omega defeated Matt Sydal @ 15:25 via pin [***½]
– Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and Bad Luck Fale @ 7:00 via pin [**]
– NEVER Title Match: Tomohiro Ishii defeated Champion Togi Makabe to become the NEW Champion @ 17:50 via pin @ 19:55 via pin [****]
– Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Tetsuya Naito to retain his Tokyo Dome Title Shot [***]
– IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Champion Kazuchika Okada defeated AJ Styles @ 30:15 via pin [****¼]

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Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & Mascara Dorada defeated Juice Robinson, Yohei Komatsu, Sho Tanaka, David Finlay & Jay White: WAR TEAM YOUNG LIONS! The lions attacked the veterans pre-bell and took the heel role and controlled. They did really well for themselves, and Juice Robinson was there too. He was fine, looking more conformable, but I’d take the others over him any day. Mascara Dorada was a ton of fun here, and even picked up the win, which means they may have designs to do something with him. Team Liger worked about as you’d expect, signature stuff and all that jazz, but the lions were great here. This was a nice way to open the show.

Tomoaki Honma defeated YOSHI-HASHI: Honma is working through a back injury, so this was a bit more reserved than most of his outing, but was still a good little match. They had a nice pacing set; they kept to it and then picked it up as they hit the homestretch. Honma escaped the loose explosion; hit the kokeshi to the back, and then the top rope kokeshi for the win, which meant HONMANIA WAS RUNNING WILD BROTHERS. I love this beautiful bastard; he works so hard and is so easy to get behind. The tease is that he’s heading for a NEVER title shot, and I’d be all about him getting the win at WrestleKingdon and having a run with the title, he deserves it.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata, Kota Ibushi & Captain New Japan: We haven’t had anything great yet, but the show is off to a good start with another good and enjoyable match here. It was the typical New Japan multi-man tag, but with a really good pace and Nakanishi actually moving is a non-Zombie like fashion. As you would expect, Captain New Japan ate the pin here, taking the Nakanishi chop, the TenKoji Cutter and a lariat to put him to bed. This was greatly enjoyable, but I can’t shake the feeling that Kota Ibushi should be and needs to be booked so much better. Dude isn’t doing fuck all and it is so disappointing.

Champions reDRagon defeated RPG Vice: I wasn’t really into this match, part of the reason is because it came off like a reDRagon vs. Vice greatest hits match. I like both teams, but the juniors division is on a repeat and occasional shuffle loop, and today it just did not click. The worst part was that the ref botched the finish, and the guys were noticeably upset about it, which also took away from the outing. It wasn’t bad, but I never got into it. reDRagon continues to be the most dominant tag team n the company (seriously, they have lost one, 2 on 2 tag match in their New Japan run compared to 25-30 wins) and that is cool, but the division needs a shake up in the worst way.

Champion Kenny Omega defeated Matt Sydal: I was really excited for this match, Omega is wacky but is a good personality and Sydal has been looking really good as of late and I knew would be motivated to impress here. The good news was that this was the best match on the card, in my opinion, but was far from the blow away effort I felt that the guys, and the division needed. They overcame a really dead crowd early and turned them around and got them interested, and they get a ton of credit for that. Sydal came off very crisp and clean, Omega worked hard and they had a great closing stretch where Omega countered the SSP, kneed Sydal in the face and after a dragon suplex put him away with the one winged angel for the definitive finish. Sydal was a nice get and addition, but I feel that they already killed him as a challenger; he’ll need to be build back up if they want him to challenge again.

Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and Bad Luck Fale: This was the break match on the show, it was ok, but they really did nothing to advance the story, which was Anderson and Nakamura. Guns and Gallows beat down Nakamura a good bit here, but it felt like a 10:40 PM ET Raw match, just there to fill time. Yano gonna Yano, and hit the low blow and pinned Fale. I laughed.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated Champion Togi Makabe to become the NEW Champion: While it was a bit sloppy early (which thankfully actually fit into the style they work) and wasn’t the quality they had worked previously, this ended up being a very good and fun match; the best thing on the show. They beat the ever-living shit out of one another, the crowd was into it and loved it and helped to create a great atmosphere. Once they got past the rough patch, they worked really hard, delivered the style you’d expect, played off of their past encounters and also mixed in some new things to change things up. Ishii hit the brainbuster and picked up the win and the title. Post match, Honma came out to challenge Ishii, as was speculated earlier. I am all for it and I want to see Honma get a run, but just like the juniors, they need to make an investment in the booking and mix up the talent. Shibata, Ibushi and Sakaraba are three guys they could mix in and out to make things feel different, especially since they aren’t doing much with them.

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Tetsuya Naito: This was a very North American match, as it was a lot more angle than match at times and that isn’t always bad. Naito stole some Tanahashi moves and dominated a good bit of the match, we got a ref bump and then Naito’s masked man unmasked to reveal he was Watanabe (who has been working with ROH on his North American excursion). This went over, well it really didn’t go over live because no one knew who it was really. They worked over Tanahashi, Goto and Shibata made the save and as far as a spectacle, it worked to a degree, but the live reaction was poor. Tanahashi made the comeback and won as he should have for the story (Okada’s redemption) but I would have preferred the shenanigans take place after the match.

Champion Kazuchika Okada defeated AJ Styles: If you didn’t know, these guys are really good and had another great match here. It’s not to tier MOTY level, but it was really good. Again, I could have done without the Bullet Club stuff here, since we just had shenanigans in the previous match. It gets to a point where it is too much, and while it was not as much as they have previously used, it gets frustrating. Okada was put over strong, surviving and taking them out with a big dive, allowing he and AJ to work their usual magic together. They had some spectacular sequences in this match, and while it lacked a little something as far as their better matches, it was more than worthy of the main event spot and solidified Okada heading into WrestleKingdom. Great work from both guys, not their tiptop best, but an excellent effort. Both guys, really good.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Overall I will say this was a good show, as we had some good wrestling and officially locked in Tanahashi vs. Okada. Unfortunately some of the booking issues I’ve been discussing keep popping up, making the product feel tired and lacking. The booking of the junior divisions and NEVER title picture constantly remain the same, there is no buzz, and were working variations on a theme, and the theme is a tired one. If any match needed some form of disputed finish is was Sydal and Omega to protect Sydal, but that didn’t happen. Doing back to back matches with a bunch of bullshit, the co-main and main event, came off as lazy and way too North American to me. I do not watch NJPW to see the shit I am trying to escape. Some want to bitch about them doing Okada vs. Tanahashi, but I have no issue with it. Not only are they telling a yearlong story of Okada’s redemption, but also this is a story of Okada trying to prove himself and finally become the man in New Japan, which has been a journey over the last three years.