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Csonka’s NJPW New Japan Road 2.20.20 Review
Loading...Csonka’s NJPW New Japan Road 2.20.20 Review
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Yota Tsuji defeated Gabriel Kidd @ 7:10 via pin [**¾]
– Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, El Desperado, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Will Ospreay, & Yuya Uemura @ 11:15 via pin [***¼]
– Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, & Colt Cabana defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, & Toa Henare @ 9:00 via pin [**½]
– Manabu Nakanishi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, & Tiger Mask defeated Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi, & BUSHI @ 10:50 via pin [***]
– Bullet Club defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Juice Robinson, & David Finlay @ 11:45 via pin [***]
– IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match: Champions Sho & Yoh defeated Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi @ 26:50 via pin [****]
– IWGP NEVER Openweight Title Match: Champion Shingo defeated Big Tom Ishii @ 27:04 via pin [****½]
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Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd: They lockup and work to the mat and separate. Lockup again and they work to the ropes and break. Tsuji follows with chops, shoulder tackles and strikes. The hip toss follows and Tsuji covers for 2. Tsuji follows with a slam, Kidd answers with kick and the dropkick. H follows with running uppercuts, a slam and covers for 2. The half crab follows, Tsuji powers up but Kid pulls him center ring and Tsuji eventually makes the ropes. Kidd delivers strikes, they trade and Tsuji follows with a spear. The powerslam gets 2. Tsuji now locks on the crab, Kidd fights but has to tap. Yota Tsuji defeated Gabriel Kidd @ 7:10 via pin [**¾] This was pretty good as Kidd starts t learn his position in the dojo facing other lions one on one.
Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, El Desperado, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Will Ospreay, & Yuya Uemura: Yuya has a fucking death wish, rushing the ring and targeting Suzuki right away. No son, just no. They brawl to the floor back in and lights him up with strikes and event shoves the ref away. HASHI tags in and hits a RANA on Despy but Suzuki cuts him off. It’s mass brawling on the floor time s Suzuki targets Yuya as he smiles, beats him ass and tells him “when you come at the king, you best not miss son!” I’ll give the lad credit, he shot his shot. Back in the ring and Despy isolates HASHI, working his knee and covering for 2. Yuya & Suzuki trade in the crowd as the others beat down HASHI. HASHI fights back with chops on Taichi, but Taichi cuts him of with clotheslines. THE PANTS ARE OFF and thy trade, spin kick by HASHI and Will tags in with the springboard forearm, back handspring kicks and enziguris. Goto joins in for double teams, Taichi cuts off Goto and they trade until they work into the double down. Kanemaru and Yuya tag in, he runs wild, attacks Suzuki and it breaks down. Kanemaru cuts Yuya off and Suzuki-gun run wild on Yuya until HASHI makes the save. Kanemaru locks on the crab, Yuya fights and makes the ropes. The cradle follows for 2. Kanemaru lariats him and deep impact finishes it. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, El Desperado, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Will Ospreay, & Yuya Uemura @ 11:15 via pin [***¼] This was good stuff, I love Yuya Uemura.
Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, & Colt Cabana vs. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, & Toa Henare: Okada and Honma begin. They lock up and work to the ropes as Okada breaks clean. The shoulder tackle follows as Honma cuts him off and misses a kokeshi. Yano tags in and Henare joins him. Yano undoes a buckle pad, shoulder tackle by Henare and he deliver strikes. Yano pulls him down by the hair, whips Henare to the exposed buckle and Colt joins in for double teams and delivers chops. Henare fires back, and misses the high cross. Colt then goes for covers and gets near falls. Okada tags in and follows with the slam and senton atomico. Henare fires back, and hits suplex. Makabe tags in, powerslam to Okada and delivers strikes and the clothesline for 2. Okada counters back into the air raid neck breaker and Colt tags in and follows with jabs, the elbow and Makabe follows with a clothesline. Honma tags in, delivers strikes and chops as the bulldog and kokeshi follows. They triple team Colt. Kokeshi by Honma and that gets 2. Honma slams Colt, and heads up top. Okada cuts him off, it breaks down and Colt & Yano dump Makabe. Low blow by Yano and the superman pin finishes it. Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, & Colt Cabana defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, & Toa Henare @ 9:00 via pin [**½] This was a solid, light-hearted tag.
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi, & BUSHI vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, & Tiger Mask: Naito and Nakanishi begin, working into a test of strength as Nakanishi grounds Naito as LIJ attacks. Nakanishi levels BUSHI and Hiromu, Tenzan tags in and he and Nakanishi follow with chops on Naito as the head butt and splash gets 2. Tiger tags in and follows with kicks, a dropkick and Hiromu cuts him off, SANADA then hits the dropkick after EVIL tripped up Tiger. They brawl to the floor, Naito rips at Tiger’s mask as EVIL follows with chops and covers for 2. BUSHI tags in, chokes out Tiger with his shirt and the STF follows. LIJ runs wild until Hiromu accidentally hits Naito, SANADA takes over and hits a suplex on Tiger for 2. Tiger fires back and hits the tiger driver on SANADA. Nagata tags in and dumps BUSHI. Hiromu attacks, overhead suplex by Nagata and he runs wild on SANADA. SANADA counters into a basement dropkick but Nagata cuts him off with an XPLODER. Kojima tags in and follows with machinegun chops on EVIL. The top rope elbow drop is cut of by an EVIL slam, LIJ takes control and all work over Kojima as EVIL covers for 2. The magic killer is cut off by Tenzan, TenKoji cutter to SANADA and the Kojicutter follows. EVIL fires back and darkness falls follows for 2. Kojima counters back, Nakanishi gets the rack and Hercules cutter follows and he sorta hits a plancha. The Kojima lariat finishes it. Manabu Nakanishi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, & Tiger Mask defeated Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi, & BUSHI @ 10:50 via pin [***] A little rough but overall good and fun with the DAD SQUAD picking up the win.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Juice Robinson, & David Finlay vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Jay White, & Bad Luck Fale: Jado & Gedo are at ringside. Bullet Club attacks right away and isolates Ibushi. Ibushi quickly battles back, hits a RANA until Jay cuts him off. Ibushi battles back and tags in Finlay. He follows with uppercuts on Jay and covers for 2. Jay counters back, Gedo trips Finlay up and Bullet Club beats his ass on the floor. We get mass floor brawling until they isolate Finlay back in the ring. The Guerrillas follow with senton atomicos, Tongan massage parlor by Fale and Tama tags in. He follows with head butts, Jay tags in and ground things. Finlay battles back, tags in Tanahashi and he runs wild until Loa attacks. Tanahashi runs the tag champions together, it breaks down and Tanahashi follows with dragon screw son Fale, Tongan twist by Tama, but Tanahashi cuts off Loa with twist and shout. Juice tags in, runs wild and hits the cannonball. The high cross follows and that gets 2. The faces isolate Loa, working double teams until Bullet Club breaks it up and Juice takes out Jado. Loa cuts him off and Finlay saves Juice and the double flapjack connects. Left handoff God, stunner, but Tama hits Juice with the title belt and Bullet Club wins. Bullet Club defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Juice Robinson, & David Finlay @ 11:45 via pin [***] Cliché finish aside, this was good and continues the issues within the tag tanks.
– The Guerrillas lay out the Golden Aces post match.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Sho & Yoh vs. Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi: Sho and Rocky begin, trading strikes and then both look for arm bars and end in a standoff. Yoh and Taguchi tag in, they work into counters and Taguchi pulls a knee bar until Yoh makes the ropes. Taguchi makes Yoh run and Yoh turns it around until Taguchi hits the dropkick, Rocky in and the coaches take control as they isolate Yoh. Rocky runs Yoh into Taguchi’s ass until Yoh suplexes Rocky into Taguchi’s ass. The champions dump Taguchi and isolate Rocky with double teams and cover for 2. Sho grounds things, follows with knee strikes and covers for 2. Yoh tags in, Rocky fires back and they trade until Yoh hits a slam and elbow drop for 2. The double stomp follows, and Yoh grounds Rocky. Yoh follows with strikes, Rocky fires back as they trade slaps. Rocky cuts him off with the swing DDT, Taguchi tags in and follows with B triggers. The springboard bums away misses, but Taguchi counters into a plancha. He dumps Yoh and BIG MATCH GOOCH FOLOWS WITH THE TOPE! Back in and the springboard bums away connects for 2. Taguchi follows with rolling suplexes, but Yoh counters into a DDT for 2. Taguchi fights off the dragon suplex, and counters into the ankle lock and then follows with the dropkick. Back to the ankle lock, but Yoh fights and counters into the final cut. Sho tags in, follows with kicks on Taguchi and covers for 2. Taguchi counters the German, enziguri by Taguchi and Rocky gets the tag. He follows with RANAs and forever clotheslines. The running sliced bread follows for 2. He starts attacking the arm of Sho, Sho counters into a sleeper and Rocky counters into the falcon arrow into the arm bar. Ankle lock by Taguchi on Yoh, and Sho counters into an arm bar as Yoh locks on the star gazer. They all work to the ropes, and then trade center ring. The challenges take control, and they fight over being slammed into Taguchi’s ass and Sho is sent into his ass. BUM A YE follows for 2. The Apollo55 wheelbarrow lung blower follows for 2. Sho counters sliced bread, Rocky follows with kicks unto Yoh hits a superkick, it breaks down and Rocky runs the champions together but is quickly cut off and the cover gets 2. They continue to work double teams and Taguchi breaks up 3K, hits an as attack and Rocky follows with clotheslines as it completely breaks down into the big move buffet and everyone is down. Rocky and Sho trade clotheslines and start trading near falls. Sho kills him with a huge lariat, a dead lift German and that gets 2. Sho hits the power breaker but Taguchi makes the save. gets dumped and Shock arrow is countered and Rocky cradles him for 2. he and Sho trade knee strikes, Rocky counters shock arrow into a rewind kick but is cut off with 3K as Taguchi makes the save. Yoh and Taguchi trade, ass attack by Taguchi and Yoh accidentally hits Sho as Taguchi takes out Yoh. Sho Germans Taguchi, dive by Yoh and Sho hits the lariat on Rocky and shock arrow ONLY gets 2. Strong X finally finishes it. Champions Sho & Yoh defeated Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi @ 26:50 via pin [****] This was an overall great match, maybe a bit long as it lost it’s way a bit in the middle, but they played well off of their last meeting, we got some big match Gooch, Rocky was great and 3K scored another successful defense.
NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo vs. Big Tom Ishii: They lockup and battle for position work to the ropes. They lockup, trade multiple shoulder tackles and Shingo finally takes Ishii down. Shingo grounds things, Ishii makes the ropes and Shingo follows with knee strikes. Ishii fires back, follows with grounded kicks and head butts. Shingo is down. they trade strike and chops as they start lighting each other up. Shingo finally takes control, hits the suplex and then delivers big strikes as Ishii fires up and they trade elbow strikes. Ishii is rocked, Shingo slaps him around and Ishii dares him to throw more and starts walking through Shingo’s strikes and finally drops him with strikes. Ishii follows with the chops and strikes combo in the corner, just unloading on the champion while talking mad shit to him. Shingo slowly fires up and finally cuts off Ishii with a spiked DDT. Shingo follows with the chops and strikes in the corner, pummels Ishii to the mat and then delivers kicks. Ishii fires the fuck up and delivers throat chops just fucking up Shingo’s day. Red Shoes backs off Ishii, but Ishii keeps attacking and they work to the apron. Shingo fights off a piledriver and counters into an apron DVD. Shingo rolls Ishii back in, refusing the countout win. He follows with clotheslines, the sliding lariat and noshigami that follows for 2. Shingo follows wit more clotheslines, Ishii drops to the mat and Shingo pulls him up and then runs into a powerslam. They work into counters, trading Saito suplexes and both men finally collapse. Back to their feet, they trade huge clotheslines as they fight through the exhaustion. Ishii finally takes him down, and follows with the powerbomb for 2. They work up top and trade, Ishii follows with a head butt and then hits the superplex for 2. Ishii fights off made in Japan, Shingo drops him with a clothesline and they trade head butts, strikes and they just have no regard for each other as they are just fucking each other up with big time bombs. Shingo then hits MADE… IN… JAPAN for 2. The pumping bomber follows but Ishii KICKS OUT AT 1! He talks shit, fires back and lariats Shingo down. German by Ishii, Shingo pops up and eats a lariat but Shingo kicks out at 1. Enziguri by Ishii but Shingo counters the brainbuster into an Ishii driller for 2. Ishii fights off last of the dragon and they trade a Shingo drops. Shingo finally counters into his GTR variation and the pimping bomber ONLY gets 2! Last of the dragon connects and Ishii is finally done. Champion Shingo defeated Big Tom Ishii @ 27:04 via pin [****½] These two had an excellent match in last year’s G1,and to the shock of no one, they fucking killed it again. Shingo’s NEVER tile run is off to a hell of a start as he killed I tin his title win and then killed it in hi first defense. Shingo is an absolute beast, not just highly skilled but the snap and crisp in his execution is so damn clean, plus he can do the hossy brawling. Ishii is the baddest man in all of NJPW, no one can deliver and also take a beating like he can and not only does he do that well, but the way he creates drama and sells so damn well and it’s often ignored how good that part of his game is. This is the kind of match I want from the NEVER division, just great, hard-hitting action with guys brutalizing themselves and each other in a beautiful display of violence that culminates so well and plays off the match structure. I loved this, Ishii loses nothing in loss, Shingo is extra certified with the win and this is absolutely something to make time to see as soon as possible.
The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 92. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Steve Cook review NXT vs. AEW from 2.19.20, hit a news roundup on Tito Ortiz, new WWE Hall of Famers, & much more. Finally, Larry previews Impact Sacrifice 2020. The show is approximately 101-minutes long.
* Intro
* News Roundup (Tito to WWE?, Bulldog to WWE Hall of Fame, WWE vs. MLW, More): 2:35
* AEW Dynamite (2.19.20) Review: 18:45
* NXT (2.19.20) Review: 52:15
* The Head to Head Comparison: 1:18:55
* Impact Sacrifice 2020 Preview: 1:26:18
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– Thanks for reading.
– End scene.
