Csonka’s NJPW Road to New Beginning Review 1.30.16

Csonka’s NJPW Road to New Beginning Review 1.30.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
~ David Finlay Jr. defeated Hirai Kawato @ 4:38 via pin [**]
~ YOSHI-HASHI defeated Jay White @ 6:20 via pin [**½]
~ Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Juhsin Thunder Liger defeated Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask IV @ 10:34 via pin [**½]
~ Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba @ 6:55 via pin [**]
~ Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & BUSHI defeated KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & Captain New Japan @ 8:57 via [***]
~ Kenny Omega, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows & Cody Hall defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Michael Elgin & Juice Robinson @11:43 via pin [***¼]
~ Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata @ 21:48 via pin [****]

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David Finlay Jr. defeated Hirai Kawato: I watch these shows and I really appreciate the growth of the young lions. Tanaka and Komatsu were so great at times, and while young Finlay had been doing well, I really underrated him. I know that now because of this match. Hirai Kawato is straight out of the dojo, and while he did perfectly fine here, it was obviously that Finlay was on a completely different level than he was. I really enjoy watching the evolution of these performers; it’s a lot of fun. The match was a short and basic one, nothing wrong with it at all, Kawato got a little in, but was mostly outdone by Finlay, who finished with the young lion Boston crab.

YOSHI-HASHI defeated Jay White:it feels like decade since I have seen a HASHI singles match, either that or I have and it wasn’t all that memorable. Jay White is a quality young star, overshadowed by Komatsu and Tanaka while there, but he had a tremendous rookie year and has improved so much, He’s a kid that every month or two you see a big progression in his work. They had a fine outing, White impressed and HASHI was perfectly fine. HASHI picked up the win after the powerbomb and jackknife pin.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Juhsin Thunder Liger defeated Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask IV: Much like the last match, there wasn’t much to this. It was a fine mid-card tag match, standard fare with the crowd into it because of the names and because the guys can get away with not doing much but still making it feel fun. Of all people, Planet Nakanishi got the hot tag and ran walked wild as everyone bumped and sold to make him look good. It’s rather embarrassing to a degree, like when Hogan would stand there in TNA and guys would run into his fists. Tencozy hit the 3D, and then Kojima ended his day with the lariat. It was fine.

Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba: This was only ok, as it was a way to continue Bad Luck Fale’s apparent quest to kill Yano and to take the six-man titles. We got the usual Yano shtick, but in the end it backfired on him as Takahashi hit him with the low blow allowing Fale to hit the grenade to pick up the victory. Hey, at least there’s program around those titles. There was nothing special here unless you really love Yano’s deal.

Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & BUSHI defeated KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & Captain New Japan: This wasn’t long, but they did very well with the time and delivered what I felt was a fun and quality match; the best on the show. It was a basic match from Los Ingobernables, soft beginning and a lot of shenanigans, but the closing stretch was very well done and had the crowd really going. Los Ingobernables have been very well protected in tag matches, especially as a three-man unit, so a run with the six-man titles could be a lot of fun for them. Los Ingobernables got the win, and BUSHI cut a promo to hype his upcoming title match with KUSHIDA. For those wondering, all is right with the world; EVIL hit the STO and pinned Captain New Japan.

Kenny Omega, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows & Cody Hall defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Michael Elgin & Juice Robinson: Another fun match here, as the quality of the show has gotten better over the last two matches. Elgin did his power stuff, including powerbombing Anderson to the floor, onto the rest of Bullet Club. Elgin feels like such a star in Japan as compared to when he’s in ROH. Outside of Elgin looking great, this was all about Omega, and establishing him as the top guy in bullet Club. I think that they did a good job of that here, even finishing the match off with his version of a boma ye, basically mocking Nakamura for leaving and not defending his title against him. Kenny Omega gives no fucks, and it is great.

– We got a great video package, highlighting the high points and accomplishments in Nakamura’s career. It was really good, and cool of them to run prior to his final match.

Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata: We got a really good, high quality multi-man main event here to close the show. It really felt as if they were trying to give Nakamura something great to serve as his final match. The crowd was so great here, they were into everything as he guys that were feuding did a lot of work with each other (Okada and Goto, Shibata and Ishii) to set up their upcoming matches. After a damn fine homestretch, Ishii finally scored with the brainbuster on Shibata to score the victory and set the former champion with some momentum for his NEVER title rematch. Post match Omega arrived, wanting to know who he’d be facing for Nakamura’s vacated title. It is revealed (to the shock of no one) that Tanahashi is the mystery opponent for New Beginning. Nakamura gave a quick speech when it was all done, and Okada carried him out on his shoulders. Both were very emotional, and it was a cool scene.

– If you want to learn more about New Japan, my friends over at Voices of Wrestling have released their NJPW 2015: Year in Review eBook. Support their hard work and give it a look.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was a good show overall, delivering some build to New Beginning and some strong work in the final matches. If you’re short on time, catch the Nakamura video pre-main event on, that’s the real big stuff that will be remembered from this show.