wrestling / TV Reports
The 411 NJPW New Year Dash Review 1.05.15
Loading...January 5, 2015
Tokyo, Japan
Suzuki-gun (Taichi & TAKA Michinoku) vs. Sho Tanaka & Tiger Mask
Tanaka ended up getting cut off before Tiger Mask even tagged in. Tiger Mask eventually made a hot tag. It was more tepid than hot though. Tanaka ended up needing to make a comeback, too. It looked like Suzuki-gun had Tanaka finished, but he kicked out of a lariat. They finished him shortly after that though with a tandem Air Raid Crash.
Sho Tanaka looked good here, which is by far the most important aspect of this match. I’m more than ready for him and Komatsu to be used on real shows. The match itself was flat but inoffensive. I have some nostalgia for TAKA though, and I enjoy watching him still.
Match Rating: **1/4
reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Forever Hooligans (Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov)
I was hoping for a more interesting team than the Hooligans for RD. Neither team had to do too much the night before, which gives me some hope they’ll put in a decent effort here.
The Hooligans had the advantage until RD went after Rocky’s left arm. They then worked that over for a while. They did some gaga where Rocky kept unknowingly rolling away from top rope moves. I actually enjoyed that. Koslov then made a hot tag. The Hooligans had the advantage for a while. RD came back after avoiding The Contract Killer. They eventually finished Koslov with Chasing the Dragon.
This was slightly better than I expected. I’ve avoided Forever Hooligans matches for a few months, which made their gaga seem less stale to me. Both teams were also working hard enough that I never felt bored at any point. I do wonder if NJPW needs to reevaluate how RD gets presented in these matches. I think they need to look stronger and more dominate if they’re going to get over. Even by the lower standards for the juniors, they don’t really seem all that over (and people at the show have said the same thing).
Match Rating: **3/4
Suzuki-gun [Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, Shelton Benjamin, & Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith, Jr. & Lance Archer)] vs. Tomoaki Honma, Captain New Japan, Manabu Nakanishi, & TenKoji (Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan)
The match broke down into a giant brawl twice early on. Things settled down eventually, and Honma got worked over. After hitting Suzuki with a brainbuster, Honma tagged out to Kojima. Tenzan got to tag in and make a comeback next. The match broke down for a third time. Captain New Japan kicked out of KES’ Hart Attack. He then ate the tandem powerbomb though: 1…2…3
The effort was there, but I didn’t really find any of this to be all that interesting. Suzuki-gun is such a boring stable. I don’t get the appeal of anyone in it besides Suzuki (and TAKA for nostalgia reasons).
Match Rating: **
Jushin Liger(c) vs. El Desperado [NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship]
It would be a real testament of Liger’s abilities at such an advanced age to get a good match out of Desperado here. Desperado should join Taguchi, the Suzuki-gun gaijin, Doc Gallows, and Forever Hooligans on a trip to the sun. Or they all can go to NOAH if they agree to stay there.
Liger was in control early on. Liger was targeting the left arm. Taichi and TAKA had to interfere to give Desperado a chance. They used a chair on his left arm. Desperado then went after the left arm with chairs himself. Not sure why this was allowed. They are working hard and doing a unique match for NJPW. I’m just not feeling it yet. Desperado tossed aside the ref. Tiger Mask ran in to chase off Suzuki-gun. Liger hit a Frankensteiner, but Desperado came right back with a spear and a dangerous tope con HELLO. Desperado applied a cross armbreaker on the injured arm. Liger survived but continued to be dominated. Liger fought back and hit the brainbuster for a nearfall. Liger hit a Liger Bomb and a super brainbuster: 1…2…3
They tried *really* hard to have a good match, but this just did not produce the drama and excitement necessary for an “overcoming the odds-style” requires in my opinion to fully work. The arm work was such a large part of the match, but it didn’t end up meaning a damn thing. With all that in mind, they did commit fully to the overcoming the odds story, and I was compelled enough to have some positive feelings toward the match. It just wasn’t good overall.
Match Rating: **1/2
BULLET CLUB [Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Time Splitters (KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley)
Shelley was cut off early on and then worked over. Omega’s chainsaw arm gag was used again. For some reason, Taguchi got to make the hot tag. The Bucks gave Taguchi a double superkick, and KUSHIDA then had to make a comeback. The babyfaces hit stereo pescados. KUSHIDA actually managed to pin both Young Bucks to win the match. He hit Nick with a bridging German while in the O’Connor Roll pin with Matt.
BULLET CLUB attacked the babyfaces after the match.
This was a solid trios match. The Bucks/Omega team would be a dream team on the North American indies, but they definitely feel like undercarders right now in NJPW. I would love for that to be different within the next six months. It just doesn’t seem likely.
Match Rating: ***
BULLET CLUB (Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale) vs. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano)
This match probably won’t be good. Counting on Yano to bring the laughs.
Okada is all taped up after getting his ass handed to him by Tanahashi the night before. Yano running away from Tonga is easily the highlight of the show so far. That made this whole show worth watching. Yano did eventually get caught though and then worked over. Yano took off a turnbuckle pad, and Tonga crashed into it. Okada made the comeback. He was clearly hobbled, and his injured ribs proved to be his undoing. Okada fought back on Fale, but Fale tossed him from the top rope and then hit a splash: 1…2…NO! Fale and Tonga hit him with a spear/lariat combo, and Yano had to make the save. Okada then ate the BAD LUCK FALL: 1…2…3
I guess NJPW is subscribing to the theory that our hero has to completely bottom out before they fully rise to the top. I understand the theoretical appeal of doing such a story. Â I just think Okada is completely miscast as a hero that it’s hard for me to get behind it. Okada just isn’t a great babyface in my opinion, but he’s one of my favorite heels (if subtle) in all of wrestling.
Match Rating: **
CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe, & Yuji Nagata
This could be good. Nakamura and Ibushi squared off. It felt like a thing. Ibushi got cut off and then worked over. Ishii made the hot tag. He and Makabe went at it. Nagata and YOSHI went at it next. The match broke down. Nagata made a huge comeback for his team. He eventually pinned YOSHI with a backdrop driver.
Nagata challenged Nakamura to an IC Championship match. Nakamura seemed to accept. I also got the sense that Ishii and Makabe are going to have a rematch for the NEVER Openweight Championship during the New Beginning PPVs.
The biggest takeaway from this match is that the Nakamura/Kota rematch is going to be a big deal whenever it happens.
Match Rating: **3/4
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Katsuyori Shibata, Hirooki Goto, & Tetsuya Naito vs. BULLET CLUB (AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, & Yujiro Takahashi w/ rest of BULLET CLUB)
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson introduced Cody Hall as their young boy.
AJ called out Tanahashi to start the match. They didn’t do too much. The crowd seemed to like AJ. Naito eventually got cut off and worked over. Naito was able to tag out after a while, and the teams went back and forth. Yujiro saved AJ from the High Fly Flow. Shibata saved Tanahashi from The Styles Clash. Anderson and Gallows gave Tanahashi the Tornado-plex. Styles then hit the Styles Clash: 1…2…3!
AJ said he wanted a rematch. The crowd chanted for AJ. My friend at the show said Korakuen seemed somewhat mad at Tanahashi for beating Okada at 1/4. Karl then reintroduced everyone in the BULLET CLUB to the crowd. Scott D’Amore jumping in the air as he was announced was good. This was a cold reminder that the BULLET CLUB will be around until their t-shirts stop selling. Sigh.
This was a fun house-show main event, and it was a logical way to set up the next IWGP Heavyweight Championship match. Now, I don’t particularly want to see that rematch, but what can you do.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Watch some NJPW for free!
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Masato Tanaka (G1 Climax)
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto (G1 Climax)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jun Akiyama (G1 Climax)
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata (G1 Climax)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yujiro Takahashi (G1 Climax)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Prince Devitt (G1 Climax)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Milano Collection A.T. (G1 Climax)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano (G1 Climax)
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Togi Makabe (Chain Match)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto
Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Prince Devitt vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson
Masato Tanaka vs. Tomoaki Honma
Kota Ibushi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi [Fantastic Match]
Prince Devitt vs. Kenny Omega
Sin Cara vs. Averno
Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi (With thoughts from Prince Devitt)
Davey Richards vs. Kota Ibushi
Kota Ibushi vs. KUSHIDA
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto vs. Karl Anderson & Giant Bernard
Kurt Angle vs. Yuji Nagata
ORLANDO JORDAN VS. YUJI NAGATA
Christopher Daniels vs. Tetsuya Naito
Katsuyori Shibata & Scott Norton vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Jushin Liger vs. Ebessan
Katsuyori Shibata &Wataru Inoue vs. Eddy Guerrero & Black Tiger
