Cazer’s NJPW on AXS Review 3.3.22

New Years Golden Series Osaka

It’s here! Finally it’s here. I think they heard me last week, that or I just said something too soon. We’ve finally got new episodes. We’re looking at the New Years Golden Series in Osaka and man they’re brining the heat for the first week. Okada’s teaming with Tanahashi to take on Naito and Sanada. We’ll also see Evil vs. Ishii for the Openweight Championship.

Okada & Tanahashi vs. Naito and SANADA

This is a special tag team match and the main event from NJPW’s February 13th show in Osaka. They’ve got a decent sized crowd and man it’s great to hear them support the superstars and feel the energy of the New Japan crowd again. Tanahashi and Sanada kick things off exchanging holds neither gaining a clear advantage right away just showing their skill. Tanashahi locks Sanada in a headscissors but Sanada bridges up and rolls out into a boston crab. Tanahashi reverses into a roll up with his thick legs, the exchange pinfall attempts. Both men stare each other down and we go to break.
Back from break and Okada is now in the ring with Naito. Okada’s favoring the knee and Naito wastes absolutely no time attacking Okada’s leg. The ref pulls Naito off and Naito literally tosses the referee across the ring. Kevin Kelly apparently thinks this is fine as he says nothing in regard to Naito being disqualified. Okada catches Naito off guard and sets him on the top rope. Okada with a dropkick to Naito from the top rope to the outside. Okada limps to the outside and hits Naito with a DDT on the outside. Naito narrowly beats the 20 count and Okada immediately mocks him slapping at the back of his head and yelling at him. Naito runs right into a scoop by Okada but he fights out and hits Okada in the knee with a dropkick. Naito with a DDT and both men are down. Okada first to his feet, they exchange forearms with Okada taking the upperhand. Naito goes for a kick but Okada blocks it. Okada lifts Naito up for a neckbreaker but Naito counters into an armdrag and then follows with a tornado ddt. Naito is so damn smooth. Sanada drops Tanahashi off the apron. Naito sets Okada on the top turnbuckle and hits him with a huricanrana. Naito with an enziguri to Okada, Naito off the ropes and hits a forearm. Okada to his feet and Naito goes for Destino but Okada blocks it. Okada with a beautiful dropkick and again both men are down. Tanahashi and Sanada both make a tag. Sanada with the armdrag. Sanada locks Tanahashi up in the paradise lock and gets a round of applause. Sanada with a dropkick to the backside of Tanahashi and again a round of applause. Tanahashi with an elbow to the face of Sanada, Sanada with a shot to the knee but he takes a dragonscrew from Tanahashi. Naito tries to get involved but Tanahashi hits a second dragonscrew. Okada has Naito and Sanada on the outside. Tanahashi climbs to the top rope and he dives onto Naito and Sanada with a high fly flow as we go to commercial.
Tanahashi has Sanada inside the ring and locks in the scorpion deathlock, Naito tries to get in to break the hold but Okada holds him off. Okada locks in the money clip on Naito to stop him from breaking the hold. Sanada finally muscles up and crawls to the rope. Sanada goes for a roll up but Tanahashi tries to lock in the skull end on Sanada but he slips through and locks it in on Tanahashi himself. Okada crawls to make the save but Naito holds him off. Okada shoves Naito into the barricade and breaks up the hold. Sanada lifts up Tanahashi and drops him down with a backbreaker. Sanada to the top rope and goes for a moonsault but he lands on his feet as Tanahashi moves. Sanada locks in the skull end again but Tanahashi counters it into twist and shout. Sanada holds on and lifts Tanahashi up onto the top rope. Sanada hits the dragonscrew neck whip on Sanada leaving both men grounded for the moment. Naito tags in and lifts Tanahashi up hammering away at him with elbows to the neck and forearm. Tanahashi sent into the corner and Naito hits him with a neckbreaker out of the corner. Sanada drops Okada from the corner. Naito and Sanada lay into Tanahashi with a series of movies finishing with a roll up from Naito but Tanahashi just barely kicks out. Naito goes for destino but Okada breaks it up and hits Naito with a dropkick. Sanada back into the ring and drops Okada with a TKO. Tanahashi with a slingblade on Sanada and then one on Naito. Tanahashi covers but Naito kicks out at two. Tanahashi heads to the top rope and goes for high fly flow but Naito rolls out of the way. Naito goes for destino but he cant get it all. Sanada in the ring but Tanahashi hits him with twist and shout. Okada into the ring and goes for the rainmaker on Naito but he dodges it and hits Okada with destino. Naito with a suplex on Tanahashi and then destino! Naito covers for the victory in 33:28
Rating; ***1/2
Review: This was a hell of an opener and a great reminder of the action NJPW brings to the table for the shows that lead up to the big events. They jumped right into the action and this was a great match from top to bottom. I love Naito and it was so awesome to see him counter the rainmaker into Destino and then again drop Tanahashi as well. I didn’t expect Naito and Sanada to win but its a testament to just how far Naito’s come over the years, he’s now easily a true top 3 guy alongside Okada and Tanahashi and I think wins like this help solidify that. The match was solid top to bottom but not exactly like they went into a second gear or anything, not that they needed to as this is just the firs show and not a big PPV event so it’s exactly what I expected from four really great NJPW superstars.

Never Openweight Championship Lumberjack Match
Ishii vs. Evil (c)

Ishii wanted a rematch for his championship that he lost at WrestleKingdom, Kevin Kelly tells us Evil would only accept under lumberjack rules. Kevin Kelly runs down the stats for this one and it feels like it could go either way even though Evil just recently won the title. Dick Togo distracts Ishii early on in the match and it gives Evil a chance to take control. It’s short lived as Ishii drops him with a shoulderblock and Evil tries to roll to the outside. Ishii’s corner holds Evil in the ring so he goes to his side and takes a breather instead. Evil sends Ishii to the house of torture side but he quickly jumps back into the ring. Evil rolls out and again he’s tossed right back in. Ishii sets up Evil in the red corner and chops away but Evil fights out and heads to the opposing corner. Ishii storms Evil in the corner but Evil moves and removes the turnbuckle allowing Ishii to run back first into the exposed turnbuckle. Evil tosses Ishii to the outside and distracts the ref as house of torture attacks him on the outside. Chaos head over to help defend Ishii and a brawl erupts between both sides. Evil sets the chair around Ishii’s neck and hits it off like a baseball as we go to commercial.

Back from break and Ishii runs through House of torture and climbs back into the ring with Evil. Evil rakes the eyes but Ishii turns it aroun on him twisting his wrist. Ishii with the irish whip but it’s countered. Dick Togo distracts the ref and house of torture try to get involved but it just hurts Evil in the long run as Ishii counters. Evil rolls out of the ring but Chaos keep trying to toss him back into the rign. Evil holds on to the barricade which forces Chaos to lay into him with a bunch of blows to the back. Evil tossed back into the ring and Ishii hits Evil with chops and forearms in the corner dropping him to the mat before the ref can force the break. Evil sends Ishii into the corner but he bursts out and runs right through Evil. Ishii sets Evil up on the top turnbuckle but it’s stopped as everyone keeps trying to get involved. Ishii takes a powerbomb, Yujiro distracts the ref as Evil and Dick Togo hit magic killer on Evil. Evil covers but Ishii kicks out just in time. Evil sets Ishii up on the top turnbuckle and hits him with a superplex. Evil covers for the two count and we go to commercial.

Back from break and Ishii is building momentum he goes for a clothesline but the referee is pulled into the fray and ends up getting dropped. The lumberjacks all begin fighting after house of torture try to jump Ishii. Togo’s in the ring and chokes away at Ishii. Evil grabs the title belt off the timekeepers table but Yoh knocks him down. Sho tries to catch him from behind but Yoh revereses and hits him with a suplex. Togo with a pedigree to Yoh. All the lumberjacks get get their shots in. Evil stocks Ishii with the championship in hand, he tries to hit him with it but takes clothesline to the title which hits Evil in the face. Ishii gets the referee into the ring and lifts Evil up. Evil blocks the lariat and sends Ishi into the exposed corner but he blocks it sending Evil into the corner instead. Ishii with a german suplex to Evil out of the corner. Ishii lifts Evil up and drops him with the sliding lariat, Ishii covers for a two count. Ishii calls for the finish he lifts Evil up but Evil counters and hits Ishii with a suplex, and then another. Both men to their feet they exchange headbutts then Evil a stiff right followed by a hard clothesline leaving Ishii laid out. Evil calls for Ishii to get up before bouncing off the ropes and running through him with another lariat but Ishii kicks out at two. Evil lifts Ishii up, but Ishii with a lariat of his own it staggers Evil, both men connect with lariats, Evil with an enziguri and it drops Evil. Ishii gets up bounces off the ropes and another lariat, he covers for a two count. They exchange counters, Evil with Everything is Evil and picks up the victory in 20:35 for his first Never Openweight Championship defense.
Rating: ***1/4
Review: This was a solid bout between two hard hitters but they both rely on heavy use of the lariat which is fine but just felt like too much by the final lariat into a near fall. This was a fine main event and we’ve been spoiled for weeks of their best shows but I’d have likely just went with Naito and Sanada in the main event as the show originally went anyways. I get putting a title match in the main event spot but you had three top stars and Sanada’s no slouch either instead we had this good, not great title match in the main slot. Either one works just fine but I’d have gone the first match as the main. This was good but lacked any excitement as I never much believed Ishii would get the championship back yet again, he’s been Never Openweight Champion a fair bit if I remember correctly and while it’s often felt like ‘his championship’ (at least to me) I do think it makes sense to let Evil get a decent run and see what comes of it. This was by no means a bad match, but after the weeks of awesome matches and even the slightly more exciting opener I think I did come away a bit underwhelmed.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was super refreshing even if it was a bit lackluster compared to the past six weeks. Don't get me wrong, it's hard to complain about back to back to back amazing matches every week but too much of a good thing can go bad. I was ready for new content and that's exactly what we got. That said it made for a more simple yet still enjoyable show. The opener was solid but nothing over the top five star classic just a really good tag match. They followed with a really good hard hitting championship main event. You can't complain about that but neither match really went to that next level and like I said it didn't need to. We still got a solid episode and finally are starting to see new matches, this show is less than a month old. It looks like the future holds some awesome matches so I wouldn't let this weaker rating fool you it was a solid episode quite literally jam packed with good wrestling.