Cazer’s NJPW on AXS Review 3.10.22

This is the latest episode of NJPW on AXS and i’m stoked to get some more new Impact. The matches for tonights episode are from the 202 Golden Series in Hokkaido event. We’ve got two tag team championship matches on tap and i’m excited to see what we get from both of them as I’m only slightly familiar with a few names in an extended fashion. A majority i’ve only seen in a few spots here and there. Our first match of the night is a fatal four way tag team match for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Titles.

IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championship:

El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato vs. Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask

We get a brawl early on to kick this one off. Desperado and Kanemaru team up on Tiger mask and go for the cover but Phantasmo breaks up the pin. Phantasmo sets Tiger Mask up in the corner and drop kicks him before stomping on his groin with Ishimori. Taguchi with the roll up but it’s quickly broken up. Eagles and Kanemaru square off in the ring with Eagles getting the best of him before sending him to the outside. Eagles goes for the outside dive but he’s stopped and pulled to the outside. Desperado is in the ring and is met by El P. They exchange chops and both bounce off the ropes but both pulled outside and crashed into the barricade outside of the ring. Tiger Mask and Taguchi back in the ring and they exchange strikes. Taguchi charges Tiger Mask but dives right through to the outside. Desperado and Kanemaru catch Tiger Mask and toss him to the outside. El P and Ishimori take control for a moment only to have Kanemaru break it up. Kanemaru sends Ishimori into the turnbuckle and Ishimori with a dive to the floor on the outside. Master Wato drops Kanemaru to the outside and hits him with a dive of his own to the outside. El P looking to join in on the high flying but Master Wato cuts him off at the top. Phantasmo drops Wato and stands tall bute he’s caught off guard by Robbie Eagles who hits him with a rana to the outside sending both men onto a pile of everyone as we go to commercial.  Thus far this match has been fast paced with big spots but really not a style of match i’m a fan of as the tags are just not happening, I get lucha style tag matches but there doesn’t seem to be any real tags happening just dumping people to the outside, dives, a strike exchange and repeat. I get this is how junior tag matches typically are and it makes for a high action match but not exactly my style let’s see how the second half rounds out.

Eagles and Tiger Mask catch Taguchi in the corner as we return from break. Tiger Mask with a butterfly suplex, Eagles follows with a 450, Tiger Mask with the cover but somehow Taguchi kicks out. Tiger Mask with the submission as does Eagles on Wato. Ishimori breaks the hold, El P with a lionsault onto Eagles and covers for a two count. Eagles on the shoulders of El P and Ishimori with the knee to the face to start the UFO. El P covers but Tiger Mask breaks it up. Ishimori holds up Tiger Mask and tells him to do the kick but he cant. El P goes for the combination codebreaker moonsault with Ishimori but it’s broken up. Kanemaru sends Ishimori to the outside. Kanemaru with a moonsault on Eagles and covers for a two count. Eagles sends Kanemaru into a dropkick from Wato. Tiger Mask sends Wato to the outside, Taguchi drops him with the hip attack. Tiger Mask sits up and gets a hip attack to the face, Taguchi covers for two. Kanemaru and Desperado attack Taguchi and eat a hip attack. Hip attacks for everyone including one to El P in mid air. Tiger Mask with the roll up on Taguchi for two, Eagles with a roll up for two but Taguchi kicks out. Wato with a dive and drops Eagles with a forearm. Tiger Mask goes for a Tigerdriver on Taguchi but it’s blocked. Taguchi with the double knees and cover for two before everyone breaks it up. This breaks down until Taguchi and Wato drop Tiger Mask and pick up the victory to become new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. They’re the 69th tag team champions. It’s a meme win.
Rating: **1/2
Review: This was fast paced and action packed but it lacked any structure rules or sense. It’s what these matches usually boil down to and a large part this division is so easy for me to forget/ignore because I hardly see true jr tag feuds and typically it’s just a mixture of multi tag fast paced matches. If you enjoy this style I get it but for me, I prefer the more structure matches NJPW typically produces. I find the meme victory fun especially for a company like NJPW that is typically touted as super serious but the jokey stuff is always a bit corny in a good way. 

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto (c) vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi

If Evil wins he will be the first wrestling in New Japan to hold a singles, duos and trios title at the same time. He is currently trios and never openweight champion. Goto and Yoshi Hashi are attacked from behind by Dick Togo and Sho. Evil and Takahashi join them and they jump their opponents until Evil and Yujiro send Yoshi-Hashi into the ring starting the match officially. They double team Yoshi Hashi but he quickly reverses and then is joined by Goto. They hammer the war drums across the back of Evil and stomp away at him. Yoshi-Hashi with a forearm and chops to Yujiro. Yujiro sends Yoshi Hashi into the ropes, he’s pulled out by Togo and Sho who hang Yoshi Hashi up on the barricade. They choke out Yoshi Hashi with a chair until Iishii makes his way over to break it up. They toss Yoshi Hashi back into the ring and he gets hammered away by Yujiro. Yujiro with a dropkick on Yoshi Hashi and covers for a two count as we go to commercial. This match is a bit more organized chaos for my liking. While there are still a number of things happening the focus is predominantly on the match at hand. I’m not a fan of the outside interference but i’ve come to accept that New Japan referees are basically the worst in the business. It does need to pick up the pace down the stretch to really stand out but thus far it’s a decent match. 

Evil tags in as we come back from break and he goes right to work chopping away at Yoshi-Hashi on the ropes. Evil kicks away at the back of his knee before making the quick tag to Yujiro. They exchange forearms before Yujiro throws him to the mat and lays into him with a combination of leg drops and headbutts. Yujiro covers for a two count before tagging in Evil. Evil taunts Goto making him try to interfere forcing the referee to finally do his job and hold him back allowing house of torture to interfere more. Ishii and Yoh are at ringside but not doing a whole lot to help just yet. Evil gets caught up as he goes for a kick and Yoshi Hashi hands his leg to the referee and drops him with a dropkick to the thigh. Yoshi-Hashi tags in Goto and he runs wild dropping Evil with a bulldog and covering for a two count. He stays right on Evil lifting him up on his shoulders but he fights out. Evil goes to bounce off the ropes but he’s stopped as Sho is on the outside with the chair. Yoshi Hashi in the ring and he’s tossed into the exposed turnbuckle. The Referee checks on Evil allowing the interference. Ishii starts fighting with the referee rather than defending his friends. EVIL tosses Goto into the barricade and then tosses him back into the ring and goes for a cover but Goto kicks out at two. Yujiro tags in and drops Goto with a scoop slam and drops right down biting him in the face. Yujiro with a legdrop into a cover on Goto for another two count. Evil has the shirt in his hand and uses it to choke the referee. Yoh distracts the referee trying to tell him about the shirt. Evil goes for three consecutive covers only for Goto to kick out every time. Evil is getting mad he can’t put Goto away. Yujiro tags in and lays into Goto with forearms taunting him to hit him back. Goto lays into Yujiro but gets dropped as he goes for a kick. Both men off the ropes and Goto drops Yujiro with a clothesline. Yoshi-Hashi finally makes the tag and drops Evil sending him back to the outside. Yoshi-Hashi sends Yujiro into the corner and lays into him with chops and a kick the leg. Yoshi-Hashi with a neckbreaker and a cover for the two count as we go to break. This second part of the match has been a lot more controlled and interesting. The interference is still occurring and Chaos is clearly in shambles as they have no idea how to stop the interference from occuring. The odds would be heavily in favor of Evil and Yujiro to win but i’m thinking Goto ad Yoshi Hashi have to successfully defend at least once so they might get a nice late match come back. Thus far it’s still a pretty good match. 

Yoshi Hashi is lifting Yujiro to his feet as we return from commercial but Yujiro bites his hand to break the hold Yujiro is sent into the ropes but he ducks a clothesline and hits Yoshi Hashi with a big boot instead. He drops Yoshi-Hashi with an olympic slam and covers for a two count. Yujiro goes for a DDT but Goto breaks it up. Evil gets involved but takes a lariat from Goto. Yujiro and Yoshi-Hashi both are slow to their feet. Yujiro is dropped with a superkick from Yoshi-Hashi. Dick Togo with the distraction and Yujiro with the lowblow on Yoshi-Hashi before tossing him into the referee. Now everyone in house of torture jump in the ring and beat down Yoshi-Hashi. Goto fights back and grabs the stick beating down House of Torture. All of a sudden Yoh and Ishii decide to get involved taking out Dick Togo and Sho. Yoh with a dive to the outside. Yoshi-Hashi with a lariat on Yujiro and covers for a nearfall but Yujiro kicks out at two. Yoshi-Hashi feeds Yujiro into Goto and they hit GYR. He covers but its broken up by Evil. They drop Evil with a combination neckbreaker russian legsweep. Goto lifts Yujiro up but he fights him off and dodges a forearm from Yoshi-Hashi. Yoshi Hashi bounces off the ropes but Evil hits him with the chair across the back. Yujiro with the DDT and covers Yoshi-Hashi who kicks out JUST in time! Evil goes for Everything is evil but it’s blocked. Goto into the ring and he lifts Evil up and drops him with GTW. Yujiro with a big boot to Goto. Goto lifts Yoshi hashi up but he fights out. Goto and Yoshi-Hashi with the double team combination and cover on Yujiro for the victory in 16:41.
Rating: ***3/4
Review: This match was solid and down the stretch it got a lot better. The interference did its job as it was annoying but that is generally the point. It never really hurt the match and helped tell a story and made the champions feel like underdogs with no clear path to victory. Once CHAOS got involved things did even up and it seemed like the Champions were poised to retain. There was a short moment it felt like EVIL and Yujiro might actually take the victory giving EVIL three separate titles but that wasn’t in the cards tonight. EVIL in back to back main events is an interesting thing and I wonder if he’ll continue to be someone featured on AXS a lot.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was another solid episode of NJPW on AXS and it featured two very different non traditional matches. The opening multi team junior tag match is pretty traditional for NJPW but it's not a match type you see so often elsewhere. It was a lot of high flying action and many enjoy that, I like a bit more legitimacy and controlled chaos to my wrestling but it was a good match none the less. The main event stood out much more to me and felt more like a more important New Japan match. In that sense they booked it really well as a showcase of both tag team divisions. I am curious to see what teams are in the Heavyweight tag division and who could be next in line for a title shot.