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Csonka’s NJPW on AXS TV Review 8.19.16
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NJPW on AXS TV Review 8.19.16
– The matches this week come from the 2015 New Japan Pro Wrestling Power Struggle event.
– Tetsuya Naito will be our guest for interviews this week.
Super Jr. Tag Tournament: Matt Sydal & Ricochet defeated Rocky Romero & Trent Barreta @ 16:06 via pin [****¼]: This was exactly what I was hoping for in this match, as they got a bit over 16-minutes and worked a true junior heavyweight showcase match. There were some amazing spots and exchanges, highlighting the best of both teams involved. Barreta was still selling the leg here, which he’s had issues with during the tournament, due to reDRagon trying to rip it off and take it home with them. Matt Sydal has been having an amazing 2015, and unfortunately it’s not been seen by enough people. Sydal, at age 32, has become a true ruing general and has been great everywhere I have watched him. Ricochet shined big time here, including hitting the sick run up the corner shooting star press to the floor. The man is a freak of nature. Sydal & Ricochet then hit the double shooting star presses and picked up the win. This was some scintillating shit right here, I loved it. Post match, reDRagon and the Young Bucks arrived and they set up a four-way for the Dome, I get the fact that they want all of these teams involved, but this essentially makes the tag tournament worthless since all of the losers get into a big match instead of just the winners. I really hate that, the point of the tournament should have been to have this new team win and then get a fresh match; instead we’re getting mostly the same match from last year, with Sydal & Ricochet replacing the Time Splitters and Beretta replacing Koslov. And people wonder why I have constantly discussed how stale a lot of the booking, especially the juniors, has been. To sum it up; New Japan Juniors are great action with lazy booking; true last year, still true today.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuyori Shibata defeated Kazuchika Okada & Kazushi Sakuraba @ 15:23 via pin [***½]: Strong tag match overall, with a lot of good work as you would expect from these guys. Some of the interactions between Tanahashi and Okada were really interesting; Okada used some cheap shots and more underhanded tactics, while Tanahashi was just a dick to him in return. Okada is a sneaky good tag worker, I never really think about it, but the dude works so well and with a variety of partners. I know, newsflash, Kazuchika Okada is really good at everything he does. It felt like a nice change from the usual as we head into the big rematch at WrestleKingdom. I also loved their post match face-off and short brawl. They brawled post match, with Okada nailing Tanahashi with the briefcase and adding some great heat to the rematch.
– Tetsuya Naito Naito said he needed a second, and decided that he would make trouble faster with a second. It has to be someone evil; it had to be EVIL. He had a great feeling about it and though that he got great attention when he was revealed. Naito then explained that he messed a series of shows, due to “a right earlobe injury.” He went to Mexico for treatment, but felt bad for the NJPW fans that had to watch shows without him.
Hirooki Goto defeated The King of Darkness EVIL @ 7:53 via DQ [**¾]: The King of Darkness EVIL is the artist formerly known as Takaaki Watanabe, who came to the ring basically dressed as a reaper, complete with scythe. I dig the look. EVIL dominated the majority of the match, with Goto bumping and selling well for him. This is essential to getting the new character over. Naito then ran in for the DQ, which actually got a good reaction since they rarely do them. This worked as a strong introduction to a new character. Shibata made the save, continuing his issues with Naito; and also setting the stage for some tag league fun. This is certainly not the match I would have featured this week in terms of quality, but I understand why they did.
– In the final interview, Tetsuya Naito says that Goto should be glad that he got involved in the match. Goto may have won, but he couldn’t have been happy with how it happened. Los Ingobernables got all of the attention that night, it wasn’t about winning, but introducing EVIL to the world. “Goto won in the end, good for him, he should thank me for all of the attention he got that night.” My God Naito is a magnificent dick.
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia.”
