Csonka’s NJPW Destruction in Beppu 2018 Review

Csonka’s NJPW Destruction in Beppu 2018 Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, and Yuya Uemura defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, and Yota Tsuji @ 9:05 via pin [**½]
– David Finlay and Ren Narita defeated Toa Henare and Shota Umino @ 6:40 via pin [**½]
– Ayato Yoshida defeated Takashi Iizuka @ 4:55 via DQ [DUD]
– Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, KUSHIDA, and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Will Ospreay, Rocky Romero, Sho, and Yoh @ 9:55 via pin [**¾]
– Killer Elite Squad defeated Beretta and Chuckie T @ 10:45 via pin [**¾]
– Suzuki-gun defeated LIJ @ 15:05 via pin [***]
– Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, and Juice Robinson defeated CHAOS @ 12:30 via pin [***]
– NEVER Openweight Title Match: Taichi defeated Champion Hirooki Goto @ 21:14 via pin [*]
– Tetsuya Naito defeated Minoru Suzuki @ 32:12 via pin [*½]

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Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, and Yota Tsuji vs. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, and Yuya Uemura: Tenzan and Nakanishi to begin. Tenzan lays in chops and Nakanishi fights him off and knocks Kojima & Yota to the floor. That leads to a Nakanishi near fall. The lions tag in and continue their rivalry, lighting each other with strikes and chops. Tenzan tags back in and delivers head butts and Mongolian chops. Nakanishi makes the save. Kojima tags in and knocks Nagata and Nakanishi to the floor as he and Tenzan work double teams. Kojima hits a neck breaker, and lays in machinegun chops. The top rope elbow drop gets 2 as Nagata makes the save. Uemura battles back, hits a desperation dropkick and Nagata gets the tag. He and Kojima trade, Nagata takes out the knee and then locks in the arm bar. Tenzan makes the save and dumps Nakanishi. Koji cutter to Nagata and Yota wants in and gets the tag. He and Tenzan work over Nagata, and Yota gets the crab. Nagata escapes and cuts him off. The XPLODER follows and the Nagata lock is applied and that’s that. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, and Yuya Uemura defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, and Yota Tsuji @ 9:05 via pin [**½] This was a perfectly solid opening match to kick off the show.

David Finlay and Ren Narita vs. Toa Henare and Shota Umino: Umino and Narita kick things off. They lock up and Narita looks to work the arm. He transitions to a side headlock, but Umino grounds the action. Narita escapes, hits a back elbow and tags in Finlay. They knock Henare to the floor and double teams on Umino follow for 2. Finlay hits a suplex for 2. He tags Narita back in and he lays the boots to Umino. Umino fights back and hits the missile dropkick. Finlay tags in as does Henare. Henare hits a flying shoulder tackle, clotheslines, and a suplex. Henare fires up and hits the Samoan drop for 2. Umino tags in and dumps Narita to the floor. Spear by Henare and a missile dropkick by Umino and the crab follows. Narita makes the save and brawls to the floor with Henare. Dropkick by Umino, but Finlay counters until Umino cradles him for 2. Finlay hits a backbreaker and that gets 2. Finlay hits the stunner for the win. David Finlay and Ren Narita defeated Toa Henare and Shota Umino @ 6:40 via pin [**½] This was short and solid, but lacked the usual fire these four bring.

– Umino’s nose was all busted open following the match.

Ayato Yoshida vs. Takashi Iizuka: Iizuka attacks during Yoshida’s entrance, using a chair. They work into the ring and Iizuka lays the boots to him. Iizuka assaults Kevin Kelly and makes him remove his mask. Back in and the biting begins; lots of biting. Yoshida fires back, hits a running knee strike and PK for 2. Iizuka block s another PK, more biting, but Yoshida escapes and hits a body kick for 2. Iizuka gets his rope and chokes out Yoshida. Iizuka gets the iron fingers and hits Yoshida for the DQ. Ayato Yoshida defeated Takashi Iizuka @ 4:55 via DQ [DUD] The drizzling shits, but at least Yoshida won.

Will Ospreay, Rocky Romero, Sho, and Yoh vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, KUSHIDA, and Ryusuke Taguchi: Liger and Sho to begin. They lockup, wok into some back and forth, and Sho hits a dropkick. Liger cuts him off with a back breaker and the Romero special. It breaks down and Taguchi tags in. Sho cuts him off with a suplex and tags Yoh in. Yoh mockingly attacks with ass attacks, Taguchi Japan rushes the ring and isolates Yoh with corner attacks. Yoh counters an ass attack and basically fingers Taguchi’s ass, leading to CHAOS taking the heat. Romero mocks Taguchi, calling the plays and hits forever clotheslines. CHAOS argues and then hug. Taguchi joins in on the hug and then gets attacked. Ospreay tags in and takes the heat, attacking Taguchi’s ass and the standing moonsault gets 2. Taguchi fires back with ass attacks and tags in KUSHIDA who runs wild on everyone. he and Ospreay work into some fun back and forth, Ospreay hits 619 and hits the springboard forearm for 2. KUSHIDA counters out of storm breaker, hits a PELE, but Ospreay cuts him off. Tiger and Romero tag in and gets cut off by Sho & Yoh. Tiger fires up but runs to knee strikes. It breaks down, Tiger driver on Romero and that gets 2. The tombstone finishes it. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, KUSHIDA, and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Will Ospreay, Rocky Romero, Sho, and Yoh @ 9:55 via pin [**¾] This was a pretty good and fun match, but like much of the card so far, was lacking in energy.

– Sho’s eye was all busted up after the match.

Beretta and Chuckie T vs. Killer Elite Squad (Smith & Archer): KES attacks at the bell and they brawl to the floor. It’s all KES to begin until the Best Friends cut them off and hit stereo planchas. Back in and they work over Smith with double teams. Trent gets the sunset flip for 2. He follows with an enziguri but Archer cuts him off with a pounce and takes Chuckie to the floor as Smith works over Trent. Smith cuts off the tornado DDT with an overhead suplex and covers for 2. Archer tags in and hits a powerslam for 2. Archer follows with corner attacks, and Smith tags back in and Trent counters the running powerslam into a half and half suplex. Chuckie tags in, hits a missile dropkick but Smith cuts him off with rolling Germans for 2. Chuckie fights off the powerbomb and Archer tags in and beats on Chuckie. Trent in and Smith cuts him off with a German. Trent now hits the tornado DDT and Chuckie dropkicks Archer to the floor and Chuckie follows with a tope on Smith. Archer chokeslams Trent to the apron, back in and Trent counters a chokeslam into a cradle for 2. Archer hits a black hole slam and Chuckie makes the save and dumps Smith. Smith pulls him to the floor and hits a suplex. Trent fights for his life, but the killer bomb finishes it. Killer Elite Squad defeated Beretta and Chuckie T @ 10:45 via pin [**¾] This was pretty good and had the expected finish. But the overall lack of energy in the ring and poor crowd energy is making it hard to care about much here tonight.

Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and El Desperado vs. EVIL, SANADA, and BUSHI: I know you’ll be shocked, but Suzuki-gun DOES NOT attack before the bell. For reals. They do attack after the bell, but SANADA cuts them off and locks Kanemaru in the paradise lock. SANADA frees him and then gets pulled to the floor and Suzuki-gun takes control with floor brawling. Back in and Suzuki-gun lays the boots to SANADA. Despy rakes the eyes of SANADA but SANADA cuts him off with a basement dropkick to the knees. Sabre in and SANADA hits the dropkick and tags in BUSHI, he hits a RANA, and then kicks and a missile dropkick to Despy & Kanemaru. The enziguri follows but Despy hits the spinebuster. EVIL tags in and works over Sabre. Sabre lays in strikes until EVIL cuts him of with kicks and a fisherman’s suplex for 2. Sabre fires back with uppercuts, and gets the cobra twist. The rest brawl to the floor as EVIL makes the ropes. SANADA and BUSHI are back, they all work over Sabre and BUSHI flies to the floor with a plancha. Sabre counters everything is evil into a jack knife cradle for the win. Suzuki-gun defeated LIJ @ 15:05 via pin [***] This was a good match with Sabre getting the big win, but it still felt like it was missing something.

– EVIL is completely shocked at his loss post match.

Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, and Jay White vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, and Juice Robinson: CHAOS nearly fell apart on the last show, with heavy drama between, Okada. White, & HASHI. Okada and Tanahashi to begin. They lock up and work to the ropes. Okada lays in strikes and works a side headlock. Okada hits a shoulder tackle, and White tags himself in. Tanahashi lays in rights but White cuts him off and lays in chops until Tanahashi hits a high cross. Honma tags in and hits a back elbow for 2. He then follows with chops, and hits a slam but misses the falling kokeshi as CHAOS rushes the ring and White refuses to help Okada and tags in Yano. Yano exposes the buckle and slams Honma to it. HASHI tags in and he and Okada work double teams. HASHI slams Honma to the exposed buckle and Yano tags back in. Honma fights back, but misses the falling kokeshi. Honma cuts him off and finally hits the falling kokeshi. Makabe tags in and runs wild on Yano. Yano cuts him off with he hair pull but Makabe fires back with a lariat. Wholesale changes to Okada and Tanahashi. Dragon screw by Tanahashi and he then dropkicks the knee. Okada cuts him off with a neck breaker and follows with John Wooooooooo. Tanahashi fights off the tombstone, slaps Okada and then runs into a dropkick. Tanahashi counters the rainmaker with twist and shout and a sling blade as it breaks down. Tanahashi up top and misses the high fly flow. HASHI tags in, lays in strikes and chops on Tanahashi but Tanahashi hits the flying forearm and tags in Juice. Juice follows with jabs and chops. The cannonball connects. Juice up top and hits the high cross for 2. HASHI counters the powerbomb and hits the lariat for 2. Juice fights off a powerbomb, it breaks down and Makabe hits lariats and Tanahashi wipes out Okada on the floor. HASHI counters pulp friction and White is in and accidentally hits HASHI. Pulp friction finishes HASHI. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, and Juice Robinson defeated CHAOS @ 12:30 via pin [***] Good tag match with the issues within CHAOS continuing and White continuing to be a supreme asshole.

– Post match, Tanahashi checks on HASHI and HASHI blows off Okada as White blames the loss on HASHI. The drama continues.
https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/1041640804715048960

NEVER Openweight Title Match: Champion Hirooki Goto vs. Taichi: Taichi stalls to begin, powdering to the floor. Kanemaru is out with Taichi. Two-minutes in and nothing has happened. Goto takes a seat ala Shibata in the ring, just waiting. At 2:38 Taichi gets in the ring and quickly runs back to the floor. Abe distracts Goto and Taichi dumps him to the floor for Kanemaru to attack. Goto cuts him off and Taichi attacks with a chair. They brawl into the crowd and Taichi attacks with chair shots. Taichi back in the ring as Goto crawls back to ringside and beats the count. Taichi stomps on Goto’s face and slaps Goto around. Taichi cuts him off and hits a corner clothesline. Back to the floor and more chair shots by Taichi follow. Goto fights off a powerbomb and hits a suplex on the ramp and then suplexes Kanemaru onto Taichi. Back in and Goto hits a Saito suplex for 2. Taichi fights off ushigoroshi, hits a high kick, but Goto blocks the next kick and they trade strikes and kicks. Taichi finally takes him down with a leaping enziguri and they trade clothesline and Goto levels Taichi. Taichi fires back with a lariat and head kick for 2. The pants are off and Goto counters the superkick but Taichi hits the backdrop driver and enziguri for 2. Goto fights off the powerbomb and hits a backdrop. Goto hits an angle slam and locks on a sleeper. Taichi drops to the mat, and starts to fade. Taichi grabs the ref and we get a bump and Kanemaru is in and attacks. Goto takes him out and Despy arrives and he attacks. Goto dispatches him and Taichi grabs the mic stand and Yoh, Sho, & Romero take out Kanemaru & Despy. Ushigoroshi by Goto follows and shouten kai follows but no ref as Goto gets a phantom pin for like, 20. Red shoes may be dead. Red Shoes finally back in as Goto lays in a kick on Taichi. Head butt by Goto follows and the reverse GTR gets 2. Iizuka arrives and distracts the ref. Goto takes him out and Taichi low blows Goto and gets the Gedo clutch for 2. Superkick by Taichi and then the last ride connects and the cover gets 2. Taichi now hits the air raid crash and wins the title. Taichi defeated Champion Hirooki Goto @ 21:14 via pin [*] They did nothing for 10-minutes, and then worked into some solid and fun action before the bullshit started. This was an absolutely overbooked pile of shit, I had some hopes for Taichi following his great efforts against Tanahashi & Naito this year, but he didn’t even get the chance to deliver here, this was horrible and extremely lazy booking; simply throwing shit at the wall and hoping it would stick. I am beyond over run-ins and bullshit finishes in 2018.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Minoru Suzuki: In the shock of shocks, Suzuki attacks before the bell and takes the fight to the floor. They brawl, work back in the ring and then right back to the floor as Naito takes control, slamming Suzuki to the barricades. Naito spits at him and lays the boot to Suzuki as Suzuki talks shit to him. Naito slaps away at Suzuki, rolls him back in and Suzuki gets the hanging arm bar in the ropes and then kicks Naito back to the floor. back to the floor as they brawl into the announce position and then into the crowd. Naito fires back, but Suzuki cuts him off and works a hanging arm bar on the apron. Back to the floor as they trade to almost no heat. Suzuki hits a dropkick and then attacks some young lions, because he’s Suzuki. Back in and Suzuki lays in kicks on Naito. Suzuki now starts working the arm, grounding Naito. Suzuki lays in kicks and knee strikes, Naito fires back but Suzuki cuts him off with strikes. Naito finally cut him off with a neck breaker. They trade strikes now, Naito hits the corner dropkick combo and poses. Suzuki has enough of that and lays into Naito with forearm strikes. Two PKs follow and back to the floor… again. Suzuki slams Naito to the barricade and gets a table. He throws it at Naito and there is a head hole in the table now. Suzuki chokes him out, lays him on the table and Red Shoes stops Suzuki from using a chair. They work to the apron now, sleeper by Suzuki, hanging Naito in the air and then drops him to the floor. back to the apron they go and Suzuki teases the Gotch, Naito fights him off, and hits a neck breaker off the apron and through the table. Naito rolls back in and Suzuki follows but collapses back to the floor. Back in and Naito hits Gloria for 2. Suzuki attacks the knee, Naito takes him up top and drop to the mat and Suzuki gets the knee bar, but Naito makes the ropes. Suzuki follows with kicks, and targets the knee. Naito clips out Suzuki’s knee, and hits a tornado DDT. Suzuki counters destino and locks on a heel hook. Naito fights, but Suzuki pulls him back center ring and back to the heel hook. He transitions to a deep half crab, and back to the heel hook. Suzuki ties up both legs now, this feels like they have been in this forever. Naito’s complete lack of urgency and fight here really makes this feel useless. Suzuki breaks and now locks on a figure four. Naito makes the ropes after about 7-minutes of Suzuki torture. Suzuki slaps the shit out of Naito, gets the sleeper, looks for the Gotch, Naito fights it off and hits destino. They trade strikes from their knees, and then to the feet. Suzuki likes it. They keep trading slaps, Naito fires up and hits a desperation enziguri. Naito looked for a Gotch piledriver but basically fell on his ass in a failed powerbomb attempt. A destino mercifully ends this. Tetsuya Naito defeated Minoru Suzuki @ 32:12 via pin [*½] I am not someone who hated their last match and I am not someone who hates long NJPW main events. I am also a big fan of both guys. But the truth here is that they shit the bed and put on an overly long match with a disinterested crowd. This thing dragged so badly it felt 60-minutes long, the work largely meant nothing and the finish was sloppy and flat. I kept waiting for them to make me care, but the lackadaisical floor brawling, the overly long structure, and near 10-minutes of submission work that led nowhere really turned me off. This match helped no one. If people hated their previous match, I anticipate huge burials of this one.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

4.0

The final score: review Poor

The 411

The NJPW Destruction in Beppu 2018 event wasn’t a great card on paper and overall was a disappointing event. There was a huge lack of energy in the ring, and the crowd was largely out of it the entire show. Nothing really clicked, there was some average to good matches, but I found the co-main and main events to be honestly, bad. This was not a good show at all.