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Csonka’s NJPW Kizuna Road Review 6.27.17

June 27, 2017 | Posted by Larry Csonka
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Csonka’s NJPW Kizuna Road Review 6.27.17  

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Csonka’s NJPW Kizuna Road Review 6.27.17

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Shota Umino and Tetsuhiro Yagi fought to a draw (10:00) [**½]
– Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku defeated Tiger Mask & Hirai Kawato @ 9:10 via submission [**¾]
– Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, & Jushin Liger defeated Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, & Tomoyuki Oka @ 8:22 via pin [**]
– Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated Togi Makabe & Katsuya Kitamura @ 7:35 via pin [**]
– Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi, & David Finlay @ 13:35 via submission [***¼]
– Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Taichi & Desperado defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo @ 12:47 via pin [***]
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Champion KUSHIDA defeated BUSHI @ 19:58 via pin [***¾]


Shota Umino vs. Tetsuhiro Yagi: These lions fought to a draw on yesterday’s show. They worked a very evenly laid out, back and forth opening stretch on the feet before Yagi took things to the ground. Umino quickly fought back and took control, working the leg. Umino is showing really good aggression today, just looking plain angry and he works the simplest of moves and holds. Yagi survives the camel clutch, and after trading strikes hits the dropkick. He then locks in the single leg crab, but Umino gets the ropes almost right away. Yagi locks in the full crab now, but Umino powers out and to the topes. Yagi then lays the boots to Umino, but then runs into a dropkick. Umino fires up with corner attacks, the big backdrop and then locks in the crab. Yagi is trapped center ring but the bell sounds for another draw. Shota Umino and Tetsuhiro Yagi fought to a draw (10:00) [**½] Not quite as good as yesterday’s draw, this one felt a bit more lethargic and didn’t have the same sense of urgency or aggression. Yesterday’s 10-minutes flew by and I didn’t even realize it, while this one felt a bit long.

Tiger Mask & Hirai Kawato vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku: Suzuki-gun attacks young Kawato as soon as he slides into the ring. He gets tossed to the floor, where Kanemaru kicks the sit out of him while TAKA works over Tiger Mask. Back in and Kanemaru continues to work over Kawato, locking in the crab until Tiger Mask makes the save. TAKA then works over Kawato for a bit, but he finally tags out to Tiger Mask; he runs wild sending TAKA to the floor and hits the butterfly superplex. The Tiger Bomb follows, it breaks down TAKA locks in the crossface. Kawato rolls and fights as Tiger Mask breaks it up. Tiger Mask takes Kanemaru to the floor, leading to Kawato getting some good near falls that the crowd is biting on. Kawato then survives the superkick, TAKA locks in the crossface again and Kawato finally taps. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku defeated Tiger Mask & Hirai Kawato @ 9:10 via submission [**¾] Pretty good outing, once again designed to showcase Kawato, who continues to form a great connection with the NJPW crowds.

Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, & Tomoyuki Oka vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, & Jushin Liger: The dads all argued, with Oka looking on confused, not understanding why his fathers can’t just love each other. Kojima worked over Oka, Liger tagged in and worked over Oka until Oka took him to his corner. Nakanishi then slowly worked over Liger, and then time stood still as he climbed up top, allowing Liger to hit a superplex. Tenzan and Nagata tagged in, with Tenzan hitting the suplex and covering for 2. They traded strikes and kicks, with Tenzan then hitting a rolling kick and tagging in Kojima. He laid in the rapid-fire shops on Nagata, but Nagata would fight back with the XPLODER. Nagata, Oka and Nakanishi hit corner attacks on Kojima; Nakanishi got the rack on Liger, Kojima escaped Oka’s crab and hit a DDT for 2. Kojima then killed Oka with a lariat for the win. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, & Jushin Liger defeated Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, & Tomoyuki Oka @ 8:22 via pin [**] This was merely ok, never fully getting going or feeling like they locked into a good rhythm.

Togi Makabe & Katsuya Kitamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano: Makabe and Kitamura ran wild at the bell, but the brawl went to the floor and Yano attacked Kitamura with chair shots. Back in and Ishii and Kitamura beat the hell out of each other, with Ishii appreciating the level of violence from Kitamura. Yano and Makabe tagged in, with Makabe working over Yano and scoring some near falls. Yano cut him off with a hair pull and tagged in Ishii. Makabe cuts him off with a lariat, tags in Kitamura who gets to run wild on Ishii. Kitamura hits what was supposed to be some sort of rolling cradle, but it looked bad. Yano and Ishii then beat Kitamura down, Makabe returned to make the save, which left Ishii and Kitamura alone. Kitamura countered the brainbuster and hit a suplex for 2. Ishii fired up, hit forearms and then leveled Kitamura with a lariat for the win. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated Togi Makabe & Katsuya Kitamura @ 7:35 via pin [**] While showcasing some good intensity at times, this felt rather mailed in to me.

– We get some G1 match announcements…

* 7.17: Tana vs. ZSJ, Ibushi vs. Naito
* 7.20: SANADA vs. EVIL, Suzuki vs. Omega
* 7.21: Ibushi vs. ZSJ, YOSHI vs. Naito
* 7.22: Omega vs. Tama, Suzuki vs. SANADA
* 7.23: Ibushi vs. Ishii, Togi vs. Goto
* 7.25: Yano vs. Omega, Okada vs. SANADA
* 7.26: Togi vs. Ibushi, Tana vs. Goto
* 7.27: Suzuki vs. EVIL, Elgin vs. Omega
* 7.29: Tana vs. YOSHI, Ishii vs. Naito
* 7.30: Kojima vs. Omega, Juice vs. Okada
* 8.1: Yuji vs. Ishii, Tana vs. Ibushi
* 8.2: Kojima vs. Suzuki, Omega vs. EVIL
* 8.4: Naito vs. ZSJ, Tana vs. Togi
* 8.5: Kojima vs. SANADA, Okada vs. EVIL
* 8.6: Togi vs. Naito, Tana vs. Ishii
* 8.8: Omega vs. SANADA, Okada vs. Suzuki
* 8.11: Ibushi vs. Goto, Tana vs. Naito
* 8.12: Yano vs. Suzuki, Okada vs. Omega
* 8.13: FINALS

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi, & David Finlay vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi: LIJ fans are now bringing their own version of “Daryl,” the little stuffed cat Takahashi carrying to the ring.

Tanahashi and Naito teased starting, but Tanahashi did the Naito fake out and bailed. Tanahashi and Friends then worked over SANADA with corner attacks. SANADA fought back, slamming Juice into Taguchi’s ass. They tried to tie SANADA up in a ball, but failed and LIJ made the comeback and that led to EVIL & SANADA working over Juice. Juice then made the comeback against Naito, but Takahashi cut off tag. Juice hit the big leg lariat, and tagged in Taguchi. He ran wild with ass attacks, but was then cut off by EVIL. Taguchi fought off the fisherman’s buster and then low blowed EVIL and tagged in Tanahashi. He ran wild on EVIL, until Naito ran in to cut him off. Tanahashi fought off EVIL, hit sling blades to both and then Finlay tagged in. He ran wild on SANADA for a bit, getting in his signature style stuff but Takahashi hit the ring and that led to he and SANADA working over Finlay. SANADA locked in skull end, Tanahashi made the save and it completely broke down; Finlay hit the uranage into a back breaker for a good near fall. LIJ then ran wild on young Finlay, he scored with a desperation roll up but SANADA cut him off and tapped him out with skull end. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi, & David Finlay@ 13:35 via submission [***¼] This was good and the best thing on the card so far, which isn’t saying too much. It really lacked the fire that the LIJ multi-man tags have become known for.

Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo vs. Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Taichi & Desperado: TAKA & Kanemaru are at ringside. Fucking shock of shocks, Suzuki-gun attacked before the bell and we started off with a floor brawl. Smith worked over Goto for a bit and then CHAOS decided not to be shitty friends, rushed the ring and cleared Suzuki-gun to the floor. Smith quickly cut off HASHI, Suzuki worked over Okada on the floor using a chair. Back in the ring, Suzuki-gun used quick tags, as they worked the heat on HASHI. HASHI eventually fought off Suzuki and got the tag to Okada. Okada ran wild, but Suzuki sneaked back in and decided he wasn’t done with Okada just yet. Hey traded strikes and Suzuki locked in the sleeper, but Goto made the save leading to he and Smith brawling to the floor. Gedo and desperado they brawled, but Taichi arrived to attack Gedo from behind. He eventually hid Desperado by accident, HASHI returned and so did Goto. They worked over Desperado, ushigoroshi on him by Goto and that got a near fall. Gedo looked for the Gedo clutch, Suzuki took out Okada, and desperado hit angel’s wings to put Gedo away. Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Taichi & Desperado defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo @ 12:47 via pin [***] This was good, but far from great. It was a case of there being enough quality performers in the ring, working some fun pairing and a strong tag formula; it was good but nothing special.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match – Champion KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI: They work a high energy beginning, with really fun back and forth. Quickly attacked the arm, looking to slow Bushi and start the set up for the hover board lock. KUSHIDA then transitioned to a variation on the cattle mutilation. Bushi then sent KUSHIDA to the floor and hit a suicide dive. Back in the ring, Bushi took the heat and grounded KUSHIDA. Bushi did a nice job of staying a step ahead of KUSHIDA, avoiding signature moves and sequences with ease and smartly maintaining control. KUSHIDA slowly fought back, hitting the back handspring elbow and then cutting off BUSHI with an enziguri as he climbed the ropes. They battled up top, with KUSHIDA hitting the fling arm bar of the ropes and transitioning immediately into the hover board lock. Takahashi arrived for the distraction, but KUSHIDA largely brushed it of and sent BUSHI to the floor and hit the tope. His legs hit the barricade hard, which had to suck. KUSHIDA then starts to kick the hell out of the arm, staying in control and completely focused. BUSHI fights off back to the future, cut off the DDT and shoves KUSHIDA away and into a ref bump. KUSHIDA hits back to the future, and Takahashi sneaks backing and counts the three. He then superkicks KUSHIDA and hits the sunset flip bomb to the floor as Daryl gives BUSHI a pep talk. Taguchi arrives to try and check on KUSHIDA, and then tells the ref what happened. KUSHIDA and his snot-covered face (it was nasty) beat the count as he slides back in at 19. They traded strikes and BUSHI then hit a running destroyer for a near fall. KUSHIDA fought back, hitting the air raid crash for the double down. They work back to the feet, trade strikes and KUSHIDA hits the big right to the throat, but BUSHI grabs the ref and MISTS KUSHIDA. BUSHI hits MX off the ropes and that gets a good near fall KUSHIDA counters the second MX and hits back to the future and retains. Champion KUSHIDA defeated BUSHI @ 19:58 via pin [***¾] This was a very good match, the best thing on a rather weak show. It doesn’t come close to their BOTSJ match from this year, which was shorted, didn’t have all of the shenanigans and just had a much better sense of urgency while playing off of past meetings in the best way possible.

– Post match, El Desperado lays out KUSHIDA with a guitar shot; I am pretty sure that means he wants a title shot. I like that because we shouldn’t jump right back to Takahashi & KUSHIDA; I hate it because of the metric fuck ton of Suzuki-gun bullshit that will populate the match.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

6.0
The final score: review Average
The 411
This was a largely flat, but not bad show; the highlights were the G1 announcements and the main event. Overall this is certainly one you can skip.
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