Csonka’s NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima 2018 Review

Csonka’s NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima 2018 Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– KUSHIDA, Tiger Mask IV, & Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh @ 7:15 via pin [***]
– Bad Luck Fale defeated Toa Henare @ 2:54 via pin [NR]
– Killer Elite Squad defeated Michael Elgin & Ayato Yoshida @ 9:00 via pin [**½]
– Will Ospreay, Trent, & Chuckie T defeated Kota Ibushi, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens @ 9:55 via pin [***]
– NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship Match: Champions Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Taiji Ishimori defeated Juice Robinson, David Finlay, & Ryusuke Taguchi @ 11:20 via pin [**½]
– Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, & Gedo defeated Taichi, Iizuka, & Kanemaru @ 10:45 via DQ [DUD]
– LIJ defeated Suzuki-gun @ 12:30 via pin [**½]
– Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, & Tomoaki Honma defeated Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, & Jay White @ 12:28 via pin [***]
– IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Champion Kenny Omega defeated Tomohiro Ishii @ 30:50 via pin [****½]

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KUSHIDA, Tiger Mask IV, & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh: Liger & Yoh start us off. Yoh hits a dropkick and then gets dumped to the floor. Back in and Liger hits the back breaker and Romero special. Romero makes the save and 3k lay the boots to Liger. They dump KUSHIDA and maintain control, working quick tags and isolating Liger. Liger starts to fight back, hits shoteis and tags in KUSHIDA. KUSHIDA in and runs wild on 3k, playing the hits to the delight of the crowd. Sho powers out of an arm bar, but KUSHIDA gets a hanging kimura until Sho counters out into a slam. Wholesale changes to Tiger & Romero. 3k triple teams tiger and pick up a near fall. Tiger fights of fthe3k, KUSHIDA back in and hits the back handspring elbows. Romero hits forever clotheslines and gets cut off, and the tiger driver follows for2. The tiger suplex picks up the win. KUSHIDA, Tiger Mask IV, & Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh @ 7:15 via pin [***] This was a good and fun opening match, all action, and exactly what it needed to be.

Bad Luck Fale vs. Toa Henare: Henare attacks as Fale enters the ring. He fires way with strikes, but Fale fires up until Henare breaks him down by attacking the knee. The shoulder tackle follows and then clotheslines. Henare hits the flying shoulder tackle off the top for 2. Fale fights off the uranage and hits a corner splash. The bad luck fall is countered, but Fale kills him with the lariat and grenade for the win. Bad Luck Fale defeated Toa Henare @ 2:54 via pin [NR] Good try, good effort; thanks for coming Henare.

Killer Elite Squad vs. Michael Elgin & Ayato Yoshida: Yoshida and Archer to begin. Smith sneaks in and attacks Yoshida, Archer takes out Elgin and KES takes control. Smith works over Yoshida in the ring and lays in rights. Smith then starts working the back, and tags in Archer. He connects with a clothesline and follows with corner elbows. Smith tags back in and covers for 2. The delayed suplex follows and Elgin makes the save until Smith dumps him. Double teams on Yoshida follow for 2. Archer grounds the action, but Yoshida fights off the chokeslam and follows with a dropkick. Tag to Elgin and large Michael runs wild. He works over Archer with strikes, and follows with a German. He then does the deal with a falcon arrow for 2. Archer fights off the powerbomb, and follows with a black hole slam. Wholesale changes to Smith & Yoshida. Yoshida gets the sleeper; Smith escapes, and misses the leg drop. The PK from Yoshida gets 2. Smith cuts him off and the running powerslam gets 2. Elgin makes the save, Smith takes him out and Archer chokeslams Yoshida and the killer bomb finishes it. Killer Elite Squad defeated Michael Elgin & Ayato Yoshida @ 9:00 via pin [**½] This was a solid tag match designed to reintroduce Killer Elite Squad as a force.

Will Ospreay, Trent, & Chuckie T vs. Kota Ibushi, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens: Chuckie & Yujiro to begin. They work into some back and forth and Chuckie gets a cradle for 2. The best Friends and Ospreay triple team Yujiro and pick up a near fall. Yujiro fights back, biting Chuckie and stuns him off the ropes. Bullet Club clears the ring and isolates Chuckie. The big boot follows for 2. Wholesome Kota Ibushi refuses to cheat, because he’s a good young lad. Yujiro and Owens work double teams and Ibushi tags in, lays the boots to Chuckie, and tags Owens back in. Owens and Ibushi follow with double teams for 2. Chuckie slowly fights back and hits a missile dropkick. He fights off Owens and tags in Ospreay. Ospreay and Ibushi battle and Ospreay hits the standing shooting star press for 2. Ibushi cuts him off with a powerslam and liondsault for 2. They work into some great back and forth and end in a double down. Owens tags in but Ospreay cuts him off with a stunner. Trent tags in and trades with Owens. Owens hits a backdrop but Trent fires back with a lariat for 2. The tornado DDT connects and the running knee strike gets 2. Ibushi breaks up the dudebuster and lays in kicks. It breaks down, and Owens hits a backbreaker for 2. Trent fights off the package piledriver, Ospreay takes out Ibushi and hits a Sasuke special to wipe out the pile; Strong zero finishes Owens. Will Ospreay, Trent, & Chuckie T defeated Kota Ibushi, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens @ 9:55 via pin [***] This was good, giving the Best Friends momentum and continuing the Ospreay vs. Ibushi tease.

NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship Match: Champions Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Taiji Ishimori vs. Juice Robinson, David Finlay, & Ryusuke Taguchi: Taguchi and Ishimori to begin. They work into some back and forth, and Loa & Juice tag in. Juice hits an arm drag, Loa takes it poorly, and lands on his head. Juice follows with a dropkick and Finlay joins in for some double teams. Juice follows with jabs and a spinebuster. He connects with corner clotheslines and the cannonball follows. Finlay & Taguchi work battering rams until Loa fights back and they accidentally take out Juice. Loa takes him to the floor and follows with a slam. Tonga tags in as the champions take control, working over Juice. Ishimori tags in, continuing the heat and covering for 2. Loa tags in and hits a delayed suplex for 2. The Guerrillas follow with double teams, Juice starts to fight back and tags in Taguchi. He misses an ass attack, but runs wild with his ruby helmet and then hits ass attacks for all three champions but has to tag out as he blew himself up. Taguchi Japan now works the triple team attacks as Taguchi calls the plays. The run Loa into Taguchi’s ass and follow with the double team flapjack for 2. The champions isolate Finlay until Juice flies in with a high cross. It breaks down, Tonga steals Taguchi’s helmet and hits gun stun. Finlay hits him with a stunner, but Loa cuts him off with ape shit and the champions retain. Champions Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Taiji Ishimori defeated Juice Robinson, David Finlay, & Ryusuke Taguchi @ 11:20 via pin [**½] This was a perfectly solid and fun at times match, but it just never got out of first gear.

Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, & Gedo vs. Taichi, Iizuka, & Kanemaru: They brawl to begin with Yano & Iizuka pairing of. CHAOS quickly takes control until Taichi cuts off Gedo and then takes Goto to the floor. We now get the cliché Suzuki-gun floor brawl but with way less talent and aggression, since it’s Taichi leading the way. Back in and triple teams on Gedo follow. And now Iizuka starts biting Gedo, Yano, and then Goto. More biting on Gedo, he grabs his rope and chokes out Gedo. Gedo fights back and tags in a bloodied Goto. The spin kick and Saito suplex follow for 2. Suzuki-gun now takes control, triple teaming Goto, and Taichi loses the pants ad lays in a head kick but Yano makes the save. Goto fights back, ushigoroshi on Kanemaru and the GRT follows but Taichi attacks with the mic stand and beats down Goto. Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, & Gedo defeated Taichi, Iizuka, & Kanemaru @ 10:45 via DQ [DUD] This was absolute shit. Some will say they are building heat for Taichi, I don’t care about go to beating him, this makes me not want to watch any match with Taichi or especially Iizuka. The only thing that worked was the post match where Taichi beat down Goto to soften him up for Monday.

Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, & BUSHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr, Taka Michinoku, & Desperado: I hate to inform you guys that Suzuki-gin abandoned all sense of fair play, attacking LIJ before the bell in an unsanctioned brawl that leads me to believe that they aren’t good lads. Naito is in suit mode tonight, so we may get some good effort. The brawl spills to the floor with Naito and Suzuki pairing off. In the ring and SANADA gets the paradise lock and EVIL tags in, working over Despy. Naito & BUSHI follow with double teams and grounds Despy. BUSHI tags in and Suzuki cuts him off and works the hanging arm bar. Suzuki and Naito brawl up the ramp and Suzuki hits a PK. Suzuki gets a chair and attacks Naito with it. He then sits in the chair as Sabre works submissions on BUSHI. Suzuki is back and tags in. BUSHI fires up with chops, Suzuki smiles and pummels him with strikes and then works an arm bar. Naito makes the save, but Suzuki cuts him off and teases an apron piledriver but then gets the sleeper and drops Naito to the floor. Sabre continues to work over BUSHI, but BUSHI escapes with an enziguri. EVIL tags in and runs wild on Sabre. Suzuki stalks Naito on the floor; Sabre grounds EVIL working the arm. EVIL rakes the eye and his the superkick. Sabre now gets the cobra twist, EVIL escapes, but Suzuki-gun rushes the ring and works him over. Taka locks on a crossface, but Naito is back and makes the save until Suzuki cuts him off with a choke. SANADA and BUSHI back in and thy triple team Taka. Suzuki chokes out Naito on the floras the magic killer finishes Taka. LIJ defeated Suzuki-gun @ 12:30 via pin [**½] The Naito vs. Suzuki interactions are great, but all of these LIJ vs. Suzuki-gun matches feel the same, especially following another Suzuki-gun match.

– Naito is helped to the back post match, refusing the stretcher.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, & Tomoaki Honma vs. Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, & Jay White: Okada and Tanahashi start us off. Nope, White tags himself in. They argue as White reminds Okada that he beat him. Lock up and Tanahashi looks to work the arm but White pulls the hair and lays in chops. Tanahashi fights back and hits a high cross. Honma tags in and he takes control, laying in chops. The kokeshi misses and CHAOS clears the ring as White works over Tanahashi on the floor. Okada isn’t cool with this. White back in and works over Honma and tags in HASHI, refusing to tag in Okada. HASHI then tags in Okada, and he continues to work over Honma. The senton atomico follows. White tags in and lays in chops on Honma. Honma finally hits the flying kokeshi and Makabe tags in. He runs wild on HASHI and then White until White blind tags in Okada. Makabe lays in strikes on Okada, and the lariat gets 2. Okada cuts him off and scores with he DDT for 2. Makabe cuts him off with a lariat and tags in Tanahashi. Twist and shout on Okada follows and then sling blade gets 2 as HASHI makes the save. Tanahashi up top and Okada cuts him off with a dropkick. The dropkick follows and HASHI tags in. The blockbuster follows. White tries to give him a chair, he refuses and Tanahashi cuts off HASHI. Tanahashi and friends triple team HASHI and the falling kokeshi connects. Tanahashi up top but While knocks him off. Okada saves HASHI, but Tanahashi fights them off and Okada accidentally hits HASHI and Tanahashi cradles him for the win. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, & Tomoaki Honma defeated Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, & Jay White @ 12:28 via pin [***] This was an overall good match that did a great job of selling the internal turmoil within CHAOS very well, which was the main selling point here on top of the Okada vs. Tanahashi build. Jay white is an amazing asshole.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Champion Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii: Ibushi is out with Omega. LETS DO THIS. These two are 2-2 against each other and all four were MOTY bangers. They lock up and separate. They lockup again, Omega controls with a side headlock and looks for a shoulder tackle but bounces off of Ishii. Omega rakes the eyes, but Ishii runs him over with a shoulder tackle. They work into counters and then into a stand off. They trade strikes, lighting each other up until Omega his a DDT. Omega follows with a neck breaker, continuing to focus on the neck and grounding Ishii. Omega slows the pace, slamming Ishii to the buckle and stomping on the neck. Omega follows with corner attacks but then runs into a powerslam. Ishii follows with chops, Omega cuts him off, but misses the moonsault. The RANA sends Ishii to the floor and Omega follows with the tope. Back in and Omega hits the kotaru crusher. Ishii fires up with strikes and dumps Omega to the floor. Ishii follows for some floor brawling. It’s all Ishii as he lights up Omega with chops. Omega fires back but Ishii teases a one winged angel and then Ishii hits a suplex on the floor. Back in and Omega knocks Ishii back to the floor and follows. He dumps Ishii onto the commentary table and heads up top and hits a springboard double stomp! Omega rolls back in as Ishii is down on the floor. Ishii struggles to make it back in and barely breaks the count. Omega follows with the neck breaker but Ishii avoids the V trigger and hits a Saito suplex. He follows with chops, Omega spits at him and Ishii keeps chopping away at him. Ishii then hits a pounce! The powerbomb follows for 2. Omega avoids the sliding lariat, they trade and now work up top. Omega keeps kicking away at Ishii, slaps him, but Ishii hits a head butt. Ishii follows him up and hits the superplex for 2. Omega counters the lariat into a German, Ishii bounces back up and hits a German but Omega hits v trigger. Omega now follows with strikes, but Ishii absorbs then and fires up until he runs into a snapdragon. Ishii fights off the one winged angel but Omega hits the brainbuster for a great near fall. Omega follows with knee strikes, Ishii is rocked, and collapses as Omega looks for a V trigger. Omega lays in more knee strikes and hits a V trigger to the back of the head. They work up top and Ishii fights, Omega keeps attacking and Ishii fights him off. Omega back up and looks for a super Jay driller, Ishii knocks him off, but Omega cuts him off with a knee strike. Back up top and Ishii fights again, and hits the super RANA! Ishii follows with lariats and head butts. He’s fired the fuck up and hits V TRIGGER and a huge lariat for a great near fall! Ishii looks for a brainbuster, Omega counters out, and he hits a lariat. They work into a series of counters and Omega hits the reverse RANA. They are exhausted and trade strikes. Snapdragon by Omega and the V trigger gets 2. Omega looks to finish things, one winged angel countered but Omega hits a German and V trigger but Ishii rebounds with a desperation lariat! The sliding lariat gets a great near fall. Omega cuts off one lariat but Ishii levels him with another. Omega fights back and hits the tombstone for another great near fall! Omega drops the kneepad, and hits a jumping V trigger and spills to the floor, back in and hits another, but Ishii kicks out at 1! The Jay driller follows for Omega and Ishii is alive! Omega hits V trigger and the one winged angel finally finishes it Champion Kenny Omega defeated Tomohiro Ishii @ 30:50 via pin [****½] This was an overall excellent match, a notch below their previous efforts, but at the same time an absolutely awesome hard-hitting match that played off of and paid tribute to thier history extremely well. This was another absolutely excellent performance from Ishii, and while he had no real chance of winning, made the crowd believe and had them rooting for him, especially down the amazing home stretch. While it didn’t hit the highs of their previous matches, it was still an amazing main event and certainly delivered.

– Post match, Ibushi straps the title on Omega. Kenny thinks maybe people think he’s the champ he’s the best, he’s the strongest. But the truth is he’s only here because of Ibushi. Any time any place, and reminds him that they share a promise.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

The NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima 2018 event was an overall good show with an excellent main event, some talent being brought back into the fold (like KES) and some really good storyline elements (Naito & Suzuki, White, Tanahashi, Okada).