Csonka’s NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku Review 4.23.16

Csonka’s NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku Review 4.23.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask IV defeated Gedo, Rocky Romero & Beretta @ 10:29 via pin [**¾]
– Tomaoki Honma & Togi Makabe defeated David Finlay & Jay White @ 10:25 via pin [***]
– Tama Tonga & Tanaga Loa defeated Captain New Japan & Juice Robinson @ 8:14 via pin [*½]
– Jushin Thunder Liger & Yuji Nagata defeated KUSHIDA & Katsuyori Shibata @ 17:08 via [***½]
– NEVER Openweight Six Man Title Match: Michael Elgin, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale & Kenny Omega @ 15:18 via [***]
– Special Elimination Match: SANADA, BUSHI, EVIL & Tetsuya Naito defeated YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada @ 25:00 [***½]

---

Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask IV defeated Gedo, Rocky Romero & Beretta: One of these things are not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong. I think Jado just thought he’d fuck with Gedo and stick Nakanishi in the juniors opener to try and rib him. Nakanishi got to be his usual planetoid self, with the opposing trio having to bump because he’s big, and doesn’t bump in openers. Thankfully Taguchi and Tiger Mask were up to the challenge and picked up the slack frothier team. Team Gedo had a lot of fun, kept it light and goofy at times, but it also delivered the rock solid action you expect from the NJ openers. Gedo is really fun on these little shows. It was quality stuff, with Gedo doing the honors and submitting to planet Nakanishi.

Tomaoki Honma & Togi Makabe defeated David Finlay & Jay White: This was also a lot of fun, but not in the goofy comedy way that the opener had at times. White and Finlay are so good, and gave the former champions more of a fight that you would imagine, turning this into a realty competitive match and I loved it. They have done a great job with White, who recently had a VERY good one on one match with Kenny Omega, where he got to shine as a super resilient baby face. He had no time for shit of these veterans, and said fuck it and just went for it (character wise) and it was really cool. The former champions would eventually brush off the brash young lions, and HONMA scored the pin for his team, which felt odd yet satisfying.

Tama Tonga & Tanaga Loa defeated Captain New Japan & Juice Robinson: The whole purpose of this was to give Tama Tonga & Tanaga Loa a match where they looked like dominant champions. In that aspect, they were largely successful as they had little issue with Juice or Captain New Japan. The champions beat on Captain New Japan for an eternity and a day, Juice looked good at times, but it wasn’t anything special. The good Captain ate the pin, and we moved on. This was not a good wrestling match at all, but they did make the champions look dominant, so at least we had that.

Jushin Thunder Liger & Yuji Nagata defeated KUSHIDA & Katsuyori Shibata: After that shit show, things got good again as OLD MAN Nagata and OLD MAN Liger battled KUSHIDA and Katsuyori Shibata. This was a good match in the aspect that the challengers are facing the champions they will be facing, so we get a preview but don’t burn us out on the pairings. They got time, and this was a damn good match. We got enough of both pairings; we had a nice mix of grappling and striking mixed into or basic pro wrestling, which differentiated it from the other matches well. It was also fun watching Liger and Shibata (who was in bully mode) work together a bit. Liger picked up the surprising pin on KUSHIDA with a backslide, showing that the old man still could pull one out. Liger is great in his role on these shows, and when called upon, can bring it for the bigger matches, like the one he’s going to have with KUSHIDA. This was quality from a wrestling standpoint, and also got me more hyped for the title matches. This was well done.

Michael Elgin, Hiroshi Tanahahi & Yoshitatsu defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale & Kenny Omega : Yoshitatsu is now the Japanese Triple H, using the pedigree, water spit and even dressing like the Game. It’s odd. Anyway, this was a good, but not great six-man. The work was clean; we got a nice bit of Elgin vs. Omega to set the stage for their IC Title match. The homestretch was fun, and Elgin ended Takahashi’s night with the buckle bomb followed by the Elgin bomb for the win. This was a good title defense for the champions, and a nice way to set things up for Elgin vs. Omega.

SANADA, BUSHI, EVIL & Tetsuya Naito defeated YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada : This was the typical good eight-man that NJPW puts on, but never got into that final gear to get to great. It felt as if it took a very long time to get to the first elimination, but once we got that, things fired up and started to come together very well. Everyone paired off at times; Goto had a great run at one point, which as really fun, BUSHI misted fools and basically everyone played their roles well. We did mostly over the top eliminations to protect the main programs, and SANADA was the last man standing, taking out HASHI (their final stretch was realty strong), which was the right call as he needed to feel like a player. BUSHI eliminating Goto and Okada was also really well done. Los Ingobernables then laid out the CHAOS crew and stood tall as they like to do, with Naito dropping the IWGP Title by Ishii, because he gives no fucks.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was a fun show, with a good energy and nice build to the important matches. it’s not a great show, but it’s a short and good show overall. I enjoyed it.