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Csonka’s NJPW Road To The New Beginning 2.07.17 Review
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Csonka’s NJPW Road To The New Beginning 2017 Review
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Henare defeated Tomoyuki Oka @ 5:30 via submission [**½]
– Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata defeated Yoshitatsu & Jushin Liger @ 7:03 via pin [***]
– Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tiger Mask defeated Takashi Iizuka & Taka Michinoku @ 8:15 via pin [*]
– Elimination Match: Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, Katsuyori Shibata, Juice Robinson, & KUSHIDA defeated Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Will Ospreay, Gedo & Jado @ 16:17 [***½]
– Elimination Match: Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi defeated Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero & Beretta @ 26:05 [****]
– Elimination Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Dragon Lee defeated Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi @ 20:50 [****]
Henare vs. Tomoyuki Oka: It’s a nice change to see the young lions get a one on one match and break away from the tags. Don’t get me wrong; the tags do them a world of good as they get to work more seasoned/experienced workers, but the change of pace is appreciated. This looks like some 18-year old standing up to his drunk uncle, as (at age 25) looks like a 40-year old uncle. After some back and forth, Oka cut off Henare and worked the crab. Henare escaped, fired up and put some offense together and went up top, hitting the big shoulder block for a near fall. Henare laid the boots to him, and then locked in the crab. Oka made the ropes, they traded strikes center ring, but angry uncle Oka got the better of things until Henare hit a Samoan drop; the suplex followed and locked in the crab once, keeping him center ring and Oka had to tap. Henare defeated Tomoyuki Oka @ 5:30 via submission [**½] Nice back and forth match for the lions here, they did well and even got the crowd involved. It was basic, but it was also clean, and they didn’t mess around, just beat each other down. I can see these two becoming rivals, similar to White and Finlay or Tanaka and Komatsu. It felt as if that’s what they were going for.
– Desperado is off the show due to the flu, they’ve made some changes to the advertised card.
Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata vs. Yoshitatsu & Jushin Liger: Nagata and Yoshitatsu to begin, Yoshitatsu makes the mistake of trying to strike with Nagata, which only angered New Japan Dad. We then got some Liger vs. Kojima, junior dad fired up and looked for the brain buster, but Kojima countered. They then beat the hell out of each other; Kojima then sent Yoshitatsu to the floor. Nagata tags back in, they then double teamed Liger, and again sent Yoshitatsu to the floor. Great fire by Liger here, going back and forth with Nagata and then tagging out to Yoshitatsu. He hit the missile dropkick and kicks on Nagata, Yoshitatsu threw forearms, but daddy’s home and he is pissed because the lawn is not mowed! After beating the hell out of Yoshitatsu, uncle Kojima tagged in and laid into Yoshitatsu as well. Liger tagged in, hit the palm strike and then brawled to the floor with Nagata. Nagata cut off Yoshitatsu’s pedigree, Kojima hit the cutter and then the lariat and Yoshitatsu Is done. Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata defeated Yoshitatsu & Jushin Liger @ 7:03 via pin [***] Good match, the dads had their working boots on, and Yoshitatsu had another overall good performance. Maybe his trip to CMLL will recharge his batteries and he’ll keep this up when he returns.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tiger Mask vs. Takashi Iizuka & Taka Michinoku: Taka and Iizuka attack before the bell, with Iizuka working over Tenzan to begin. It was slow and a bit painful looking at times. Tiger Mask and Taka tagged in, picked up the pacing and worked well together until Iizuka grabbed Tiger Mask, allowing Taka to take control back. Iizuka took out Tenzan on the floor, and then Iizuka and Taka worked over Tiger mask on the floor, whipping him to the barricade and then brawling into the crowd. Tiger Mask finally fires up and hits the tiger bomb on Iizuka. Tenzan gets the tag, works over Iizuka with chops and head butts and then hits the suplex for 2. Taka sent Tiger Mask to the floor, Tenzan fought off the double team and Tiger Mask took out Taka. Tenzan locked in the anaconda vice, Taka made the save. Tenzan up top, Taka distracted him and Iizuka slammed him off the top. Tenzan stopped Taka from using a chair, but Iizuka took him out with the iron fingers gimmick. He then took out Tiger Mask, and that’s a DQ finish, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tiger Mask defeated Takashi Iizuka & Taka Michinoku @ 8:15 via pin [*] No sir, I did not like it, I did not like it at all. Too much Iizuka, and the match never felt like it had a smooth flow; they did stuff for 8-minutes and we got a DQ.
Elimination Match: Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, Katsuyori Shibata, Juice Robinson, & KUSHIDA vs. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Will Ospreay, Gedo & Jado: (You can eliminate someone by pin, submission, DQ, countout or over the top). This is really all about Ospreay and Shibata. Shibata kicked Ospreay’s head off, turning him inside out to begin.
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Ospreay fought back, laid into Shibata with strikes and a hesitation dropkick in the corner. Ospreay worked strikes, and Shibata was like really motherfucker? THESE are strikes, and kicked his ass. Ospreay looked to get fancy, eliminating young Ospreay over the top. Shibata said fuck it and eliminated himself, hitting a plancha and brawling with Ospreay to the back. I really liked the gamesmanship there. Once they were gone, it broke down and they teased a big elimination spot, but things quickly settled down with Honma and Goto working back and forth. CHAOS took the heat, sending Makabe to the floor and working over Honma is his corner. Quick tags by CHAOS, Gedo in and ran wild with eye pokes and other assorted shenanigans. Makabe got the hot tag, ran wild with corner clotheslines. Makabe hit the king Kong knee drop and eliminated Gedo. Makabe then worked over Jado, it broke down as Jado worked the cross face. KUSHIDA flew in, he finally got to run wild on CHAOS, Makabe then eliminates Jado with the king Kong knee drop after KUSHIDA did the heavy lifting. HASHI is in, he laid into Makabe with strikes and hit a powerbomb for 2. HASHI then sidestepped Makabe, sending him to the floor. HASHI held onto the ropes, almost fell to the floor, leading to he and KUSHIDA working a stretch. KUSHIDA low bridged him and then kicked him to the floor. Goto in and he eliminates KUSHIDA, Goto is the last man standing for his team. Goto works over Honma with strikes, Juice in to help but hits Honma by accident and eliminates him. Juice and Goto are the final two left, they battle on the apron and then trade lariats back in the ring, and then Juice eliminates Goto with the clothesline to the floor! Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, Katsuyori Shibata, Juice Robinson, & KUSHIDA defeated Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Will Ospreay, Gedo & Jado @ 16:17 [***½] Juice picks up the big win, and may have earned himself another shot at the NEVER title; their first meeting was really good and I would have no issue with that. This was a very good match, with the eliminations coming at the right time, and the finish potentially setting up a Juice vs. Goto rematch. I loved the beginning stretch with Ospreay and Shibata, and can’t wait for their match on Saturday.
Elimination Match: Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero & Beretta vs. Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi: (You can eliminate someone by pin, submission, DQ, countout or over the top). This is here mainly to help build the tag title feuds (even with Desperado out), and to also to keep Suzuki in the mix with Okada. Suzuki attacks Okada during the introductions, sending him to the floor as KES work over the tag champions. Beretta beat down Taichi for being shit at lip-syncing. It spilled to the floor, leading to Suzuki-gun working the heat on Beretta. Taichi brought in the bell hammer, just like he did on Saturday, and beat on poor Beretta with it. Suzuki attacked Okada again, sending him back to the floor and attacking the knee once again. Suzuki then attacked the knee of Beretta until Yano made a save, but he then attacked his leg, leading to Yano running for his life. Beretta got the hot tag to Okada, he and Suzuki worked back and forth with Okada firing up and looking for revenge. Okada is finding success, but is slowed by the knee, allowing Suzuki to lock in a knee bar. Suzuki and Okada trade strikes center ring, Suzuki then kicks away at the knee, and tags in Taichi. Okada will have none of this, hits the flapjack and tags on Romero. Forever clotheslines follow, it breaks down a bit with the juniors battling, and Romero is fired the fuck up but Taichi and Kanemaru manage to eliminate him. KES beats down Ishii, but he fights them off and hits the brainbuster on Taichi and eliminates him. Smith and Ishii trade forearm strikes, great hoss battle here, with Smith hitting a butterfly suplex and bridge for the near fall. Ishii pulls Smith to the apron, they battle back and forth, but Ishii powers up and dropkicks Smith to the floor for the elimination. Archer attacks Ishii, hits the chokeslam, but only gets 2. After a series of forearms and head butts, Archer kicks Ishii off the top for the elimination. Archer avoids Yano’s low blow, hits the full nelson slam to send Yano over the top. Okada back in, tries to eliminate Archer, they trade strikes as Okada is on the apron. Archer joins him, but is eliminated by the Okada dropkick. Suzuki back in and attacks the knee of Okada right away. Kanemaru and Beretta brawl, Okada escapes and that leads to Okada and Suzuki lighting each other up and then Suzuki locking in the sleeper. Okada fights off the Gotch piledriver, dumping Suzuki to the apron. Suzuki locks in the sleeper from the apron and climbs the ropes, pulling Okada to the apron. Suzuki works the knee bar, causing Okada to roll to the floor to escape. Beretta dropkicks Suzuki, sending him to the floor for the elimination. Down to Kanemaru and Beretta, Beretta hits the tornado DDT as Suzuki attacks Okada again on the floor. Beretta hits the knee strike, Taka distracts Beretta, Taichi in and superkicks Beretta and Kanemaru gets a near fall. Kanemaru then hits a diving DDT (deep impact) off the top and picks up the win. Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi defeated Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero & Beretta @ 26:05 [****] This was a great match, it got a ton of time and the layout worked well to sell the tag title matches and to continue Okada vs. Suzuki. It really feels as if Suzuki is playing the long game here, systematically picking apart Okada by constantly attacking the leg at every opportunity with the hopes of eventually weakening him so much that he can beat him. It’s similar to the Kazon gambit in Star Trek Voyager, where the technologically inferior Kazon set up a trap, continually attacking Voyager at different points with a set of designed ambushes, attacking vital systems until they could take down the superior and far more technologically advanced Voyager. Yes I am a geek, I write about wrestling for a living, it should come as no surprise.
– Post match, Suzuki cuts a promo, laughing about the fact that he basically ripped off Okada’s leg and beat him with it.
Elimination Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Dragon Lee vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi: (You can eliminate someone by pin, submission, DQ, countout or over the top). This is here to set up Elgin vs. Naito for the IC Title, Dragon Lee vs. Takahashi for the Junior Title and the others in a match for the Trios Titles on Saturday. The adventures of Tanahashi and Friends vs. Los Ingobernables continues. Just like Saturday, Lee and Takahashi start off with a great and fast paced back and forth. Takahashi slides to the floor and dares Lee to dive onto him and eliminate himself. Taguchi in, hitting the ass attack on BUSHI, but ate a dropkick from Naito as it broke down into a big brawl on the floor. BUSHI shirt choke time, as he takes the heat on Taguchi. SANADA tags in and works him over for a bit, quick tags from Los Ingobernables here, keeping the heat moving nicely on Taguchi until he hits Naito with a desperation ass attack. He fights off EVIL & BUSHI and gets the hot tag to Elgin. LARGE MICHAEL then runs wild with power spots; just suplexing fools around. Falcon arrow to Naito (HE DID THE DEAL) gets a near fall. Elgin lights him up with lariats, turning him inside out. Naito cuts him off, hitting the corner dropkick and tags in BUSHI, who hits a missile dropkick. BUSHI attacks the knee but Elgin counters the RANA and then hits the DVD. It breaks down as Tanahashi tags in, Tanahashi and friends run wild but they spill to the floor. Sling blade by Tanahashi, high fly flow to BUSHI and he’s done. SANADA and Tanahashi slug it out; Takahashi in to help but Tanahashi attacks the knees of both men. EVIL in now, tries to dump Tanahashi but his friends make the save. EVIL ends up tossing Tanahashi to the floor, Nakanishi in and works over EVIL, Nakanishi gets the rack but Naito makes the save, and they eliminate Nakanishi over the top. Elgin is back, EVIL rakes at the bad eye, they tease eliminations and then Elgin tosses EVIL for the elimination. Good back and forth between Naito and Elgin, Elgin up top and grabs Naito but Takahashi makes the save, Naito and Elgin brawl on the apron, and Takahashi dropkicks Elgin in the bad eye for the over the top elimination. Takahashi attacks the mask of Lee, and then tosses him over the top and onto the pile for the elimination. SANADA and Takahashi look to isolate Taguchi on the apron, leading to Takahashi’s elimination. SANADA pulls the ref in the way for the bump; SANADA over the top but the ref did not see it. SANADA attacks Taguchi with the bat, SANADA counters the ass attack, cutter by SANADA, and that gets 2. Taguchi then counters skull end and rolls up SANADA for the win. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Dragon Lee defeated Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi @ 20:50 [****] This was another great match, with great pacing and layout. They did a really good job of working through the pairings to hype up the title matches for Saturday. We saw great work from all involved, as this had a great energy through out, with the eliminations coming at the right time. This did a great job of making me look forward to Saturday.
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
