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Csonka’s NJPW Road To The New Beginning 2017 Review
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Csonka’s NJPW Road To The New Beginning 2017 Review
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Yuji Nagata defeated Tomoyuki Oka @ 7:42 via submission [**½]
– Tiger Mask IV & Yoshitatsu defeated, Henare & Jushin Thunder Liger @ 9:02 via pin [*½]
– YOSHI-HASHI, Jado & Gedo defeated Takashi Iizuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado @ 8:19 via DQ [*½]
– Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima @ 12:14 [***]
– Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Katsuyori Shibata & Juice Robinson defeated Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Will Ospreay 16:00 via pin [***¾]
– Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Michael Elgin, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi & KUSHIDA @ 12:58 via submission [***½]
– Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku defeated Kazuchika Okada, Rocky Romero & Barreta @ 16:45 via pin [***¼]
Tomoyuki Oka vs. Yuji Nagata: These two faced off at the NJPW Wrestling Festival on January 2nd. Tomoyuki Oka made his official debut at that event; he’s a young lion, heavyweight trainee that NJPW is reportedly very high on. With that being the case, pairing him with Nagata is a smart call as Nagata is training him and putting in a lot of one on one time with him. They worked another basic, but rock solid match. Oka has some solid fire, but Nagata overwhelmed his young protégé, and made him tap out. Yuji Nagata defeated Tomoyuki Oka @ 7:42 via submission [**½] This didn’t set the world on fire, but was another solid outing from Oka, he seems to be coming along well enough but we won’t really know until he starts working singles and tags without Nagata around.
Tiger Mask & Yoshitatsu vs. Jushin Liger & Henare: Finlay suffered a shoulder injury and was out of the match; Hirai Kawato got kicked to the curb as they made this a father and sons tag match. Yoshitatsu is being deported to CMLL soon, which means I do not have to deal with his Dollar Tree Triple H impersonation. I am really digging Henare, he does nothing spectacular but is at that “crisp an confident” work stage of his young lion training. The stretch of the match, where Tiger Mask and Liger worked each other was quite good, as they have a great chemistry that has been build over the years. Dollar Tree Triple H won with the pedigree. Tiger Mask IV & Yoshitatsu defeated, Henare & Jushin Thunder Liger @ 9:02 via pin [*½] Unfortunately there wasn’t much to this, Yoshitatsu is the worst wrestler in a major promotion these days and don’t fucking come at me with Mahabali Shera bullshit; Yoshitatsu works way more than he does, had a WWE run and gets to work with some of the best workers in the world but has regressed, badly.
CHAOS (Gedo, Jado & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Takashi Iizuka & Yoshinobu Kanemaru): We’re off to a really rough start on this show, and the only one who seemed to be here to show some effort was YOSHI-HASHI, but otherwise this was the bottom of both stables. YOSHI-HASHI was picking up steam and starting to run wild, but Iizuka ended that fun with a chair shot and a DQ. Suzuki-gun put the beat down on CHAOS, kicking off their night of dominance. YOSHI-HASHI, Jado & Gedo defeated Takashi Iizuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado @ 8:19 via DQ [*½] Outside of HASHI running wild, there was nothing special or all that good here. I find it questionable to use the DQ finish here; it feels like something they’d was to save for the important players. I’m just hoping someone arrives and actually works with some sense of urgency sometime soon.
Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) vs. TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima): And just as I ask for someone to wok as if it matters, we get this match. This wasn’t a great match; it was good as they played off of their established chemistry. The New Japan dads were particularly salty today, looking to defend their turf. The KES picked up the win, hitting the killer bomb on Kojima. I really liked this, because at times it just felt like a fight; like two old dudes defending their club from some pesky millennials. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima @ 12:14 [***] Hopefully this signals a turn around in overall show quality as we move forward. With the KES challenging for the tag titles on February 5 at New Beginning in Sapporo, there was little doubt that they would win. That was the only thing that hurt the match, the overall work was good, the flow was nice and it felt like a fight at times. But I never thought KES was losing.
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Will Ospreay) vs. Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma), Juice Robinson & Katsuyori Shibata: This was exactly what it needed to be in the best way possible. The goal here, besides having a very good match, was to set up the New Beginning matches; but more importantly, I felt that they layout and work really did a world of good for Ospreay vs. Shibata as well as Juice vs. Goto. The tag match didn’t need a lot of time or effort to build it; they just needed to stiff the shit out of each other a bit. It broke down; Yano tried to get a low blow finish but was denied and Honma scored the win with the kokeshi. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Katsuyori Shibata & Juice Robinson defeated Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Will Ospreay 16:00 via pin [***¾] This was easily the best thing on the show so far, just a very good tag match with a great sense of urgency as they worked through the pairings to set up Juice vs. Goto, Shibata vs. Ospreay and the tag title match on February 5 at New Beginning in Sapporo. This was a ton of fun, Juice and Goto should be good but I have a feeling after this that Shibata may kill a flippy boy and it will be grand.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA, Manabu Nakanishi, Michael Elgin & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito): Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. the various versions of Tanahashi & Friends tend to be good and fun matches. They are very formulaic, but on a show like this, which is here to set things up for the title match it is perfectly acceptable. It goes like this; Naito dicks around with his shirt or suit, they work through the various pairings, Taguchi works his ass attacks, Los Ingobernables attack and clear the ring, BUSHI chokes out people with his shirt and they take the heat on KUSHIDA. Elgin will get in his power stuff and pop the crowd, Tanahashi will play hero, Nakanishi will walk mildly and tease winning and then either he or Taguchi take the fall. This time it was SANADA tapping out Nakanishi after BUSHI misted him. It’s very predictable, but the matches are smooth, fun and the crowd is into them, so who am I to argue, plus I enjoyed it and even better, it accomplished its goals. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Michael Elgin, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi & KUSHIDA @ 12:58 via submission [***½] This was here to set up Elgin vs. Naito’s IC Title match, but also the Hiroshi Tanahashi & Manabu Nakanishi & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. SANADA & EVIL & BUSHI trios title match at the February 11th New Beginning in Osaka. During the FantasticaMania tour, Los Ingobernables de Japon owned Tanahashi and all of his other friends so the build has been well done, as the former champion have been relentless in getting revenge for Tanahashi and Friends ending their title run after one day; this was very good and fun, but not as good as the previous match.
CHAOS (Beretta, Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero) vs. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku): The match was mostly RPG Vice vs. Taichi and Taka, giving a good preview of their upcoming tag title match, the Suzuki vs. Okada interactions were less, mostly Suzuki torturing Okada and beating on him without mercy. The best part of Suzuki being gone for so long is that he feels so fresh, and he should because he’s like no one else on the roster. Suzuki took out Okada near the end, allowing Taichi to hit the last ride on Romero, picking up the win and showing that they are serious contenders for the tag titles. This came off well, good intensity and again did its job very well. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku defeated Kazuchika Okada, Rocky Romero & Barreta @ 16:45 via pin [***¼] This was another efficient match in that it set up two title matches. The intensity was good, but the match was not quite as good overall as the previous two matches. I am really excited for Suzuki vs. Okada after this. Suzuki-gun picking up the wins and looking strong was what was needed here.
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
