wrestling / TV Reports
Csonka’s NJPW 45th Anniversary Review 3.06.17
Approved for Use by AXS TV/NJPW
Loading...
Csonka’s NJPW 45th Anniversary 3.06.17 Review
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Jado & Gedo defeated Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith, Jr, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku @ 8:52 via pin [***]
– Bullet Club defeated Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata, Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask IV & David Finlay @ 11:30 via pin [**¾]
– IWGP Junior Tag Team Title Match: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi defeated Champions Roppongi Vice @ 12:55 via pin [**]
– RPW British Heavyweight Title Match: Zack Sabre Jr defeated Champion Katsuyori Shibata @ 12:24 via pin [***½]
– IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima defeated Champions Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano @ 12:40 via pin [***½]
– Los Ingobernables de Japon defeated Tanahashi & Friends @ 11:26 via pin [***¼]
– IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Champion Hiromu Takahashi defeated Ryusuke Taguchi @ 17:45 via pin [****¼]
– Non-Title Match: IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada defeated Tiger Mask W @ 27:17 via pin [****½]
– Makabe & Honma were set to challenge Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii for the IWGP Tag Team titles, but due to a neck injury to Honma, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan now get the title shot and the undercard has been reshuffled a bit.
https://t.co/DAaxAyjvJS Honma suffered a spinal injury between the third and fourth vertebrae.
— chris charlton (@reasonjp) March 6, 2017
https://t.co/DAaxAyjvJS that's an area affecting respiration means things were very worrying.
— chris charlton (@reasonjp) March 6, 2017
https://t.co/DAaxAyjvJS Honma can now lift his arms and grip objects. He can move his lower extremities. He promises to be back.
— chris charlton (@reasonjp) March 6, 2017
– Manabu Nakanishi defeated Tomoyuki Oka in the pre-show dark match.
Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Jado & Gedo vs. Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith, Jr, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku: Suzuki-gun attacked before the bell, we got some brief floor brawling before Jado & Gedo worked over TAKA & Desperado in the ring; Smith cut them off. DBS is in insane shape, he looks great these days. Suzuki-gun took the action back to the floor, where Suzuki got generally surly, using a chair to beat on people. Smith took the heat, hitting a stalling suplex on Gedo. Suzuki-gun works quick tags, but Gedo cuts off Desperado with a superkick, but Suzuki cuts him off before he could get the tag. Gedo clipped the knee and then tagged in Goto, who ran wild and then wet back and forth with Suzuki. Suzuki countered a Samoan drop with a guillotine. It broke down around them, but Goto escaped and hit the ushigoroshi and tagged in HASHI. HASHI and TAKA went back and forth, Smith in and hit a powerslam. Goto would make the save, Suzuki back in and HASHI hits him with the lariat. He then locks in the butterfly lock on TAKA and he taps. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Jado & Gedo defeated Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith, Jr, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku @ 8:52 via pin [***] Good match to kick thing off here, everyone was working hard and the crowd is still responding to the Chaos vs. Suzuki-gun dynamic. They are also continuing the trend of keeping HASHI strong in these undercard tags, constantly picking up wins, which is something that doesn’t get talked about enough.
Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata, Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask IV & David Finlay vs. Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa : Tonga and Takahashi double team Tiger Mask to begin. Liger in to even the odds, powerbombs Takahashi and it breaks down with bodies flying to the floor. Omega uses Takahashi’s pimp cane to choke out Tiger mask, and yelled “I’m Cheating” at the camera. Bullet Club then took the heat on Tiger Mask. Bullet Club worked quick tags, keeping Tiger Mask grounded. Loa looked to go up top, but Tiger mask fired up and hit the lucha arm drag off the ropes. Makabe tagged in. he ran wild and knocked guys to the floor before powerslamming Omega. Loa cut him off. Tonga tagged in but he ate a lariat. Nagata tagged in, BLUE FUCKING JUSTICE time! He laid in a series of kicks to Tonga, and then locked in the arm bar, the faces cleared out Bullet Club and protected Nagata as he worked the arm bar. Nagata hit the overhead belly to belly, tagged in Finlay but Fale dominated him; Omega then started to slam members of Bullet Club onto Finlay. But when he tried to slam Fale, Omega crumbed under the weight. Fale did warn him. The babyfaces made their comeback, hitting rapid-fire attacks on Fale; Fale had enough of that shit and hit the grenade on Finlay for the win. Bullet Club defeated Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata, Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask IV & David Finlay @ 11:30 via pin [**¾] Fale picks up the win to gain some momentum prior to the New Japan Cut. This was pretty good overall, but didn’t quite have the fire of the previous match.
https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/838700381483978752
IWGP Junior Tag Team Title Match: Champions Roppongi Vice vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi: Desperado and Kanemaru attack the champions as they made their entrance. They brawled on the floor, with Romero getting posted a few times. Taichi and Kanemaru took the heat on him right away, Beretta returned and they looked to hit stereo dives, but Taichi used his woman as a shield. Taichi then brought in the bell hammer, which has been a running gimmick for him. Taichi worked over Romero with the hammer as he and Kanemaru kept the heat. Romero made the comeback after surviving a bland heat segment. Beretta got the tag but was cur off immediately. Romero returned and the champions sent the Kanemaru & Taichi to the floor and then hit stereo dives. The champions hit some double teams on Taichi, but Beretta got cut off and Kanemaru returned. They worked over Beretta, but Romero made the save on a near fall by Taichi. Romero and Kanemaru traded strikes, and then Romero hit the forever clotheslines until Kanemaru hit a high kick to cut him off. RPG Vice hit jumping knees to Kanemaru, and then hit the knee strike into a burning hammer combo, but Kanemaru survived. Desperado pulled Romero to the floor to stop strong zero. Romero pulls Desperado into the ring, this allows Taichi to get the belt and lay out both Beretta& Romero; Kanemaru got a near fall off of the DDT. Kanemaru hits the DDT off the top and we get new champions in Kanemaru & Taichi. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi defeated Champions Roppongi Vice @ 12:55 via pin [**] Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi do very little as a team for me, and that continued here. They work a painfully bland style, and rely way too much on the shenanigans; it doesn’t make me angry in a “you damn bad guys” sort of way, it just annoys me because anytime they tease having a quality match, it gets ruined by all of the bullshit. Hand wave this shit and move on.
– Suzuki-gun attacks post match, but Jado & Gedo make the save. Jado and Gedo vs. Taichi and Kanemaru is not something I look forward to.
https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/838706897603739648
RPW British Heavyweight Title Match: Champion Katsuyori Shibata vs. Zack Sabre Jr: ZSJ is out wearing the EVOLVE & PWG tiles to the ring. They work a very measured opening stretch, both men looking to avoid mistakes as they counter wrestle. They note on commentary that Sabre will be a junior in NJPW. After a nice back and forth, ZSJ cut off Shibata and worked uppercuts. ZSJ then targeted the right arm and shoulder of Shibata, which is still taped up and was recently abused by Minoru Suzuki. ZSJ made the mistake of trying to kick Shibata as he sat on the mat, which only pisses off Shibata; he then proceeded to kick the shit out of ZSJ. ZSJ went back to the arm and submission game, grounding Shibata and looking to rip his arm off. This again only serves to piss off Shibata. They then worked into a great series of counters and pinning attempts. ZSJ looked for a PK, countered and Shibata hit a suplex, locked in the sleeper and then the sleeper suplex. Shibata again works the sleeper, ZSJ to his feet and here is Suzuki. He takes the ref, but Shibata kicks him to the floor. Davey Boy Smith is out, and they work over Shibata with Suzuki hitting the Gotch piledriver; ZSJ smiled and hit the PK for the win. Zack Sabre Jr defeated Champion Katsuyori Shibata @ 12:24 via pin [***½] This was a very good match, but the real story is the fact that Zack Sabre Jr picks up another belt and has joined Suzuki-gun. The way they did it was a smart way to get the title off of Shibata, while shooting an effective angle for NJPW but giving RPW a guy that will be a more full time champion. Zack Sabre Jr gives Suzuki-gun a much needed new body and one that can go, and also makes Sabre a player right away.
Damn it Sabre. So much for being a Chaos member. Suzukigun #njpw45th #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/o0QuUSsBTo
— John「ふりーWiFi」 (@DK1105) March 6, 2017
– Post match, we get the big Suzuki-gun beat down on Shibata.
IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Champions Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima: Due to Honma’s injury, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima and replacing Makabe & Honma as challengers. We got some of the usual Yano shenanigans, leading to some fun Ishii vs. Kojima interaction where they beat the hell out of each other. Yano exposed the buckle, Ishii slammed Kojima to the corner and that allowed he and Yano to take the heat. The champions worked a good heat on Kojima until he slipped out of a suplex and spiked Ishii with a DDT. Tenzan got the hot tag and worked over Ishii with chops and head butts. Tenzan then laid in some forearms, head butts followed but Ishii countered the double chops; Tenzan hit the fall away slam for 2. They traded sick head butts center ring, Yano in now and worked over Tenzan with Tenzan-style chops. Hot tag to Kojima, rapid fire chops for both Yano and Ishii. Kojima then delivered forearm strikes and did a Honma shout out with a falling Kokeshi! Kojima ran into the exposed buckle, and Yano rolled him up for 2. Kojima quickly came back, hitting the cutter on Yano. Ishii in, had butt to Kojima and Yano rolled him up for a near fall. Low blow by Yano, Ishii hit the lariat and they got a near fall as Tenzan made the save. Tenzan took out Ishii with a head but, TENKOJI cutter to Yano! Kojima hit a jumping kokeshi to Yano and then the lariat by Kojima finished off Yano. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima defeated Champions Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano @ 12:40 via pin [***½] This was another very good match, that did an excellent job of playing off of the strengths of everyone involved. This also felt like a make good/attempt to create a feel good moment due to Honma’s injury and fact that he couldn’t compete here tonight. Ishii & Yano weren’t exactly doing anything with the titles or in a hot program, so giving TenKoji another run is fine with me. We have Archer and Yano out for undetermined amounts of time, so the tag title picture is a bit muddy. War Machine has made it clear that they want a shot and you always have the Guerrillas to go back to. I like this move for now.
Koji KOKESHI!! #njpw45th #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/WmoC0lsCoZ
— John「ふりーWiFi」 (@DK1105) March 6, 2017
– Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi came out to celebrate with the other New Japan DADS.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI) vs. Tanahashi & Friends (Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, KUSHIDA & Juice Robinson): We get the typical LIJ floor brawl to begin things, with LIJ beating down Tanahashi as they hype Tanahashi vs. EVIL for the first round of the New Japan Cup. Tanahashi finally gets the hit tag to large Michael, he runs wild tossing fools around with Germans; beast mode activated. Falcon arrow (HE DID THE DEAL) to SANADA got the near fall. SANADA countered the buckle bomb with a RANA. They went back and forth and I think I’d like to see a singles between these two. Elgin gets the tag to KUSHIDA, he runs wild on BUSHI and then attacks SANADA; BUSHI pulls him to the floor, crotches him on the post and then BUSHI and KUSHIDA battle back and forth. KUSHIDA finally figured out how to escape the shirt choke. Juice tagged in, Tanahashi and Friends ran wild on BUSHI, Juice hit the jackhammer and it broke down. Juice got time to shine, but Naito cut him off in the corner. They did some really nice counter work, with Juice staying one step ahead. More fun back and forth by Elgin and SANADA as Tanahashi returned to take out BUSHI. EVIL and Naito worked over Juice and scored a near fall off of their double teams. Destino to Juice and that is all. Los Ingobernables de Japon defeated Tanahashi & Friends @ 11:26 via pin [***¼] This was a good match, but not as good as a lot of the recent LIJ vs. Tanahashi & Friends matches. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the match, but it never got into that next gear that many of their matches do. It did make me want to see Elgin vs. SANADA soon though.
– Post match, LIJ beat down Juice.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Champion Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi: Makabe is out on commentary. We of course got some Taguchi shenanigans early, which Takahashi did in return. Taguchi hit an as attack off of the apron to the floor, and then back in the ring hit a few more until Takahashi cut him off with an atomic drop. Takahashi then attacked the legs of Taguchi, sending him to the floor. Takahashi slows the action, working a single leg crab. Takahashi looked to mock Taguchi by using some ass attacks, but Taguchi countered because no one knows ass like Taguchi. Taguchi then hit some flying ass attacks to the corner, and went for the ankle lock but Takahashi got away. Taguchi got the ankle lock for a moment, but Takahashi had enough of that shit and stuck Taguchi with a powerbomb. Taguchi up top, Takahashi cuts him off and runs up hitting the wheelbarrow driver for the near fall. Takahashi slaps the shit out of Taguchi and that fires up the challenger who fires back and takes Takahashi down with strikes. They trade slaps, Taguchi hits a dropkick and then the dodon for the near fall. Taguchi gets the ankle lock once again, but Takahashi counters out and looks for his own ankle lock. Taguchi counters and hits a dump suplex, heads up top but the frog splash eats knees. Taguchi charges and runs into a overhead belly to belly into the corner. Takahashi hits the time bomb, but Taguchi kicks out. He then plants him with the running DVD into the buckles. Takahashi goes for the time bomb once again, but Taguchi counters into ankle lock. Takahashi fights, Taguchi double stomps the ankle and locks the hold back in. Takahashi struggles and just makes the ropes. Taguchi then hits the tiger suplex, but Takahashi hits a snap German; Taguchi powers up and levels Takahashi with a lariat. Takahashi hits the superkicks, the lariat follows and Taguchi kicks out. Takahashi hits another running DVD to the corner, the timebomb follows and Taguchi Is finally done. Champion Hiromu Takahashi defeated Ryusuke Taguchi @ 17:45 via pin [****¼] This was a really great match, with Taguchi delivering and showing why he is occasionally still used in spots like this. This was a hard fought title match, with Takahashi dominating in the end and looking strong as he heads to his next title defense. These side title defenses against guys that you know won’t win are effective as long as the champion wins clean and the challenger is presented as a threat and the fans buy into him. That all happened here, this delivered and Taguchi pulled out another big match performance, while Takahashi strengthened his run with the title. He called out KUSHIDA, they had a stand off and presumably set up the next title match.
https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/838727957107642368
Non-Title Match: IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Tiger Mask W: They worked nice, fast pace, back and forth opening stretch, leading to both trying a dropkick and then a stand off. Tiger Mask W started to take control, but Okada hit the dropkick and sent him to the floor. Okada follows, and hits the running cross body over the barricade. Back in and Okada takes control, working a straightjacket. Tiger Mask W looked to fire up, got cut off and Okada hit the slingshot senton for the near fall. Tiger Mask W picks up the pace, and starts to fire back with kicks and a RANA; the moonsault to the floor connects. Back in the ring, Okada avoids the corner attack and hits a DDT. He then connects with a running uppercut for the near fall. Tiger Mask W hits a dropkick, but Okada counters the tiger driver into the side neck breaker over the knee. Tiger Mask W avoids the Okada dropkick, but Okada gets the knees up on the moonsault. Okada locks in red ink, but Tiger Mask W makes the ropes. Okada up top, the elbow drop connects and he looks for the rainmaker, but Tiger Mask counters into the snap German suplex. Tiger Mask W then hits a series of rapid-fire strikes, a powerslam and moonsault for the near fall. Okada fights of the tiger suplex, but Tiger Mask W drops him with an enziguri. It slows as they trade strikes back and forth. Okada stomps away at Tiger Mask W, he’s suddenly very angry. Tiger Mask W fires up and works over Okada with strikes. They take turns beating each other down, Okada shoves the ref down as Tiger Mask W starts to use closed fists. Okada then fires back with dropkicks, but Tiger Mask W counters the rainmaker with a kick and hangs onto the wrist of Okada and hits another head kick. He then stomps at the head of Okada, hits the big sit out powerbomb for a great near fall. Okada fights off the tiger driver, knees by Tiger Mask W follow and he then sets Okada up top. Okada fight him off and sends him to the apron. Tiger Mask W back up top, Okada snatches him up and looks for the tombstone, but Tiger Mask W escapes and hits the PELE kick. Tiger Mask W then hits the SUPER TIGER DRIVER off the ropes for a tremendous near fall. Okada countered out of another powerbomb, and hits the rainmaker. He hold onto the wrist, pulls Tiger Mask W to his feet and hits another rainmaker. Tiger Mask W counters the third rainmaker, but Okada hits a German, and transitions into the rainmaker to send Tiger Mask W back to imaginationland. IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada defeated Tiger Mask W @ 27:17 via pin [****½] I honestly wasn’t sure what we’d get here, obviously Okada is great and so is Ibushi, but would it all translate with it being Okada vs. Tiger Mask W; thankfully it did. This was an awesome match with an absolutely fiery final 8-10 minutes, filled with big moves great drama and an effort that gives the Tiger Mask W gimmick longevity in the ring. It is a novelty act, it is here to hype the TV show but there is a gifted performer under the mask. Today’s effort was great, the match was extremely well done and by the end the fan believed that this anime character come to life in Tiger Mask W may actually defeat Okada. That makes it a huge success in my eyes.
https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/838736945303945216
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
