Csonka’s NJPW Dominion Review 6.19.16

Csonka’s NJPW BOTSJ Finals Review 6.19.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Jay White, David Finlay & Juice Robinson @ 8:00 via [**¾]
– Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Adam Page defeated Togi Makabe, Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan @ 7:23 via pin [**]
– Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI defeated SANADA & BUSHI @ 7:59 via submission [***½]
– Hirooki Goto defeated EVIL @ 9:53 via pin [***¼]
– IWGP Jr Tag Team Championship – Elimination Match: The Young Bucks defeated Champions Matt Sydal & Ricochet, ReDRagon and RPG Vice @ 17:22 via pin to become the NEW champions [***]
– IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship: Champion KUSHIDA defeated Will Ospreay @ 14:40 via submission [****]
– IWGP Tag Team Championship: The Briscoes defeated Champions Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa @ 14:00 via pin to become the NEW champions [**½]
– IWGP NEVER Openweight Championship: Katsuyori Shibata defeated Champion Yuji Nagata @ 14:53 via pin to become the NEW champion [****¼]
– IWGP Intercontinental Championship – Ladder Match: Michael Elgin defeated Champion Kenny Omega @ 33:33 to become the NEW champion [****]
– IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada defeated Champion Tetsuya Naito @ 28:59 via pin to become the NEW champion [****¼]

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Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Jay White, David Finlay & Juice Robinson: the lions weren’t fucking around, as they attacked and isolated Kojima. It didn’t last long as Kojima snapped into grumpy old man mode, fought back and then tagged in Tenzan, who worked over Finlay. Robinson and Nakanishi had an odd angry man fire up spot, into some back and forth and a near fall for Robinson. Nakanishi hit his high cross, leading to White and Tenzan getting tags. Great fire from White off the tag, he got a crossface and then it broke down Nakanishi and Robinson to the floor, Finlay and Kojima fought and then Finlay was tossed. Tenzan accidentally took out Kojima, but scored the win with the anaconda choke. This was a fun little match to kick off the card (technically it’s the pre-show match) and is also Jay White’s send off as he heads to ROH for his learning excursion. White spoke in Japanese to the crowd, and got some respect as the grumpy old men clapped for him.

Togi Makabe, Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Adam Page: Bullet club attacked right away as Yoshitatsu was doing his Triple H cosplay entrance. Yoshitatsu made a comeback and ran through his dollar store Triple H offense, but got sent to the floor where page hit something (his shooting star press), but they missed the camera shot. Fale and Makabe brawled on the floor; they are giving Page a lot of shine here in his debut. They worked over Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Jay White, David Finlay & Juice Robinson for what seemed like forever, Makabe then got the hot tag and battled with Fale for a bit until we got the good Captain and Page in. The Captain got his usual run and near falls, it broke down and page hit the last rites to put the Captain away. Post match Page hung Captain New Japan over the ropes until Makabe and Yoshitatsu. As a match it was just ok, but I felt they did a nice job of showcasing Page, which was really the goal.

Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. SANADA & BUSHI: After teasing that we were about to get a straight up tag match, SANADA & BUSHI quickly attacked and took the action to the floor. They isolated BUSHI, who used his shirt and SANADA’s shirt to choke out HASHI. They are dirty dogs. After getting a few minutes of control on HASHI, Ishii got the hot tag and was steam rolling fools. SANADA and HASHI continued to work well together; putting some nice things together and actually making me want to see a singles match. It broke down with Ishii and BUSHI brawling to the floor. SANADA looked for the dragon sleeper, but HASHI countered into a cradle for a near fall. SANADA came back with the TKO for another really good near fall. Ishii then returned to save HASHI, he and SANADA worked a great series of countered and BUSHI had to save SANADA from a possible submission. But then Ishii locked him in a rear naked choke and SANADA tapped to HASHI’s butterfly submission. The last two–minutes were hot fire, fucking great, and overall that was a very good match. This should set up SANADA vs. HASHI, that SANADA should win.

Hirooki Goto vs. EVIL: Goto ended up charging the ring and they brawled right away, going to the floor. This is very fitting of the CHAOS vs. Los Ingobernables feud, which has been really physical. EVIL wrapped a chair around Goto’s head and swung another chair baseball style to take his head off. This led to a countout tease, and then EVIL working over Goto. They then both clotheslined each other until Goto finally took EVIL down. The lariat and bulldog followed for a Goto near fall. They then traded forearms and EVIL flipped Goto out of his boots off of a lariat. After going back and forth, EVIL hit darkness falls or a near fall. EVIL looked to put Go to away but Goto countered the STO and we had a double down. Goto made his comeback with a spinkick and kick to the chest, and they then went into a series of reversals. Goto connected with vicious head butts, and then the ushigoroshi and GTR for the win. This was another good match, not quite as good as the previous tag, but we got really fun and hard hitting stuff with a good finish.

IWGP Jr Tag Team Championship – Elimination Match: Champions Matt Sydal & Ricochet vs. ReDRagon vs. RPG Vice vs. The Young Bucks: Elimination is pin, submission or over the top. Once one man is gone, the entire team is gone. We got a lot of in and out early, going through the various one on one match ups here. O’Reilly and Sydal had a fun little sprint early, with the Bucks being annoying little shits and trying to irritate everyone. ReDRagon isolated Barreta, keeping him in their corner until he finally was able to fight back with a series of suplexes. Romero got the tag, ran wild on reDRagon for a bit until Sydal and Ricochet ran in. We got some suicide dives, and Vice then hit a series of double teams on Fish for a near fall. Romero hit double sliced bread on the Bucks and then the forever clotheslines on the Bucks and reDRagon. It broke down as Sydal and Ricochet returned and then Vice got tossed over the top for their elimination. ReDRagon worked over Nick Jackson, tried to toss the Bucks but the hung on. Sydal and Ricochet then snuck in and tossed reDRagon over the top for their elimination. They were not good sports, and ran back in to attack the champions and drop Ricochet on his head with chasing the dragon. The Bucks then worked over Ricochet and they did some teases of another over the top elimination. Ricochet kept trying to fight for the tag, but was continually cut off until he shoved the Bucks together and then hit a DDT and a spinkick to level both. Hot tag to Sydal, RANA to both Bucks and then a series of kicks followed. We got some good near falls as both teams made saves, Ricochet did his ridiculous deadlift suplex spot and the champions headed up top but the Bucks cut them off. Ricochet and Nick brawled on the apron as we got teases that both could go to the floor. Sydal ate double superkicks, as did Ricochet as he flew into the ring. The Bucks then ran through a series of double teams, but Sydal somehow survived. Sydal countered more bang for your buck, but then ate the Meltzer driver and we have new champions. The match was good, but it wasn’t nearly as great as previous matches from the teams; disappointing really considering the level of talent in the ring. I felt that they worked the stipulation well enough, but this was another match between the same four teams that resulted in another title change masquerading as “booking” the division. It was fun, but I am begging for some fresh blood and actual booking around these titles.

IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship: Champion KUSHIDA vs. Will Ospreay: They did a lot of back and forth, fast paced grappling early. Really nice work from both, slowly picking the pace up as they worked and doing some nice variations on the basics. As Ospreay worked for a handstand, KUSHIDA kicked the hell out of his arm and sent him to the floor. KUSHIDA immediately went to work on the arm, dragging Ospreay back in and using the hanging kimura. KUSHIDA was doing some nice focused work, and then Ospreay hit the handless handspring off the ropes into the kick to cut off the champion’s momentum. That’s a great sell and callback to their first match. Ospreay then followed with the Sasuke special, and the action returned to the ring with KUSHIDA going back after the arm with vicious kicks. They then both fired up and went into an insane striking exchange, leading to a cartwheel kick by KUSHIDA. Strong story here, as on top of the arm work, KUSHIDA is staying one step ahead of the challenger, learning from their first match. They did some really great back and forth counter stuff, from the back handspring, into the electric chair, then a powerbomb and RANA tease and finally into a code red. The pacing kept escalating here, with Ospreay digging deep into his bag of tricks to string enough together to get KUSHIDA down, but only getting the near falls. The story then became that both men had learned from the original match, leading to a series of counters (some not so clean), Ospreay hitting the Spanish fly, but KUSHIDA turning it into a cross arm breaker. KUSHIDA transitioned to a triangle, Ospreay powered him up and struggled a bit but then turned it into an inverted lung blower. KUSHIDA would counter the jumping cutter into the hover board lock, roll Ospreay back center ring and Ospreay had to tap. This was a great match, but not as good as their first meeting. Some of the exchanges felt a little off at times, not bad or totally botchy, but not nearly as clean as the first meeting. Still, this was the best match on the show so far. As for the booking, Ospreay didn’t have to win yet, just look great, which he did. Also, KUSHIDA still has O’Reilly and BUSHI to face, to avenge losses in the BOTSJ.

IWGP Tag Team Championship: Champions Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. The Briscoes: Mark Briscoe in Japan is so much fun, he feels even more energetic and like he’s having the time of his life. The saddest thing here is that the crowd, which was really hot all evening, has died because of Tonga and Loa. They went back and forth for the first three minutes until Jay hit a dive, and then the Briscoes started to double team Tonga and got a near fall. The champions eventually got Mark to the floor, used a chair shot and then Loa powerbombed Jay onto the apron. That had to suck. The champions took the heat, well they took control because there was no heat because no one cared here. There was some energy when the Briscoes were in control, but when the champions take over it just dies. They seemingly worked over Mark forever, and we finally got the tag to Jay. Jay ran wild, the Briscoes have been working their asses off but the crowd does not care and they can only do so much with Loa. The Briscoes isolated Tonga, Loa ran in and was then tossed to the floor. The Briscoes went for the doomsday device, but Loa knocked Mark off the top and then the champions hit a double team neck breaker for a near fall. They then hit the doomsday blockbuster for a near fall as Jay made the save. After some back and forth Jay hit the Jay driller on Loa for a near fall. The Briscoes finally hit the doomsday device and won the titles. I give the Briscoes a lot of credit, they managed to get the dead crowd to start caring near the end; it took a lot for them to do so, but they did it. It wasn’t a bad match, it just felt very average despite the Briscoes’ best efforts. I am happy for them though, this is a big deal for those guys.

– Post match, Adam Page and Takahashi arrived to attack the new champions. Page hung Mark over the ropes with his noose, seemingly setting them up for a tag title feud. Can we send Tanga Loa home now please?

– Takaaki Kidani, the president of Bushiroad and New Japan Pro Wrestling, is at ringside. Shinya Aoki is with him.

IWGP NEVER Openweight Championship: Champion Yuji Nagata vs. Katsuyori Shibata: Nagata is accompanied to the ring by the rest of the grumpy old men (Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi). After a slow feeling out process, both lit into each other with strikes and kicks. They then transitioned into some grappling, with Shibata working for an arm bar, but when he got it, Nagata got the ropes. Shibata kept the focus on the arm, laying in kicks to the shoulder and challenging the champion to fight back. Nagata finally fired back with a series of kicks to a downed Shibata, who repeatedly called Nagata on to deliver more. Shibata then fought back with a series of running corner kicks and forearm strikes. The crowd cheered for Nagata to get back to his feet, where they traded devastating forearm strikes. They both popped up from and no sold suplexes, leading to a big double down spot, which fired up the crowd big time. Shibata then went back to the arm, and even shoved the ref away as he worked over Nagata in the corner. Shibata worked the sleeper, Nagata somehow powered out but Shibata fired away with more kicks and a bridging German suplex for a near fall. Nagata escaped the sleeper, avoided the PK and slid into the arm bar. The eyes rolled back in his head and the crowd loved this, but Shibata made the ropes. Nagata laid in the kicks and then ht the backdrop driver for a great near fall. Nagata then hit the brainbuster and PK, but picked up Shibata for more abuse. Shibata countered the backdrop driver, they traded strikes center ring and Shibata got the sleeper. Nagata rolled, but Shibata kept holding on for dear life. Nagata slowly started to fade… PK from Shibata, and we have a new champion. Post match Shibata bows to Nagata, and Nagata hugs him. Kojima, Tenzan and Nakanishi all enter the ring and clap for Shibata, showing their approval. Shibata shakes all of their hands and bows to them. Shibata gets the endorsement from the old guard, the commentator is crying, the crowd was insane; this is the shit that makes you love wrestling. That was an awesome, hard hitting match that took you on an emotional ride as Nagata fought to prove that he and his generation were still relevant; the crowd was fully into it and reacted to even the smallest of things. This told an amazing story and took you on one hell of an emotional ride, I loved it.

– We then got an AMAZING video for the ladder match…

https://twitter.com/SenorLARIATO/status/744463638648463360

IWGP Intercontinental Championship – Ladder Match: Champion Kenny Omega vs. Michael Elgin: Page and Takahashi are out with Omega, and according to Twitter, the Bucks are under the ring again. Wait, Red Shoes is checking under the ring and found the Bucks! He gave then the boot and told then to suck it. Omega did a nice job of showing concern over the Bucks getting tossed, and tried to attack right away. After some back and forth, they went to the floor and brawled a bit. Elgin tied to get a ladder, but Omega hit a slingshot to the floor onto him and the ladder. Omega then did his Terminator gimmick and ht a big dive. Page and Takahashi then ran out again to beat down Elgin as Omega grabbed a ladder. They tried to keep Elgin on the floor as Omega climbed, but Elgin fought them off and then did the Terry Funk spinning ladder gimmick. Elgin then took over, using his power game and whipping Omega into the ladder. Elgin would slam Omega onto the ladder, but them miss a slingshot splash, landing on the ladder, which always sucks. Elgin tried to shoot Omega into a ladder, but Omega escaped to the floor, he wasn’t safe though as Elgin hit a dive onto Omega, Page and Takahashi. Page then started to hand Omega trashcan lids and street signs, leading to a sunset flip bomb off the ladder by Omega. Elgin managed to stop Omega from climbing, so Omega worked him over with more lid shots, and then set up a ladder bridge between the ring and barricade. This of course backfired, and Elgin dropped him gut buster style on the ladder. After some cool counter work by Omega, Elgin lawn darted him into a ladder at ringside. Elgin tried to climb, but Omega hit him with repeated shots with a street sign, and hit the Finlay roll and moonsault combo. Elgin would again stop Omega from climbing, this time with the electric chair drop. He then used the ladder and beat down Omega, and then lit him up with clotheslines. Omega countered a German and hit a superkick, but was then backdropped and went broke the ladder. Elgin then set up trashcans and laid a ladder on then bridge style. They then battled up top, Elgin went for a superplex but Omega fought out and jumped off, caught by Elgin but he slipped out and bulldogged Elgin onto the ladder. Omega then HERC’D him up and powerbombed Elgin through the ladder bridge! Omega got a fresh ladder and looked to climb, Elgin slowly followed and got the buckle bomb. Omega escaped the Elgin bomb an climbed, cut off and then Elgin put the ladder in the corner. They went back and forth and then Elgin just tossed he ladder into Omega’s face. Omega managed to counter the powerbomb into a reverse RANA and then hit a charging knee, Elgin fired up and escaped the one winged angel, but Omega hit the sling blade to jeers from the crowd. They then battled on top of the ladder, which was not center ring, and Elgin hit the big superplex. Elgin then slowly climbed, and Omega did as well, pulling on Elgin’s beard to stop him. After trading strikes on top of the ladder, they did a double down to the mat. He fight went to the apron, where Omega scored with a backdrop and then got tables. Omega laid Elgin on the tables and set up a ladder on the floor and climbed. Elgin got up and then cut off Omega and powerbombed him ONTO the tables, which of course did not break, because JAPAN! Elgin climbed for the title, but the Bucks ran in and sprayed him with the cold spray and superkicked him. They then handcuffed him to the corner and beat him down. Captain New Japan is out, superkick for him. Yoshitatsu is out, superkicks for him. Matt Sydal is out and as a distraction as Ricochet arrived and hit a dive onto the Bucks. Omega cold sprays them and climbs, Elgin breaks the cuffs and gets a big pop! He topples the ladder and Omega takes a huge fall onto the pile of bodies on the floor! Elgin climbs… and gets the title! That was a completely Americanized match, and I hate all of the run ins, but it worked. The crowd reacted very well to all of the action, and the key is that it wasn’t just another excuse to fuck the face over, in the end he overcame and won the title, against all of the odds. The thing is now that they blew their wad here, you can’t do a bunch of bullshit in the main event. This was a lot of fun and a complete spectacle in both the best and worst ways, but for as mush as I disliked some of it, this crowd ate it all up and I think they made the right call with the title change. Now someone clean that damn belt please!

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Champion Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada: SANADA, BUSHI and EVIL are out with Naito. Okada wanted things one on one, asking Naito to have his boys leave, and he agreed. After a slow beginning, they went into a series of fast pace counters until Naito decided to slow it down, and then took a powder. Naito soaked in the heat from the crowd, but hen he returned to the ring Okada took over. They brawled to the floor, where Naito slammed him on the ramp. Naito then went to the top of the ramp, ran down and delivered a shotgun dropkick to Okada. Naito worked over Okada on the floor, and then took the action back into the ring where he took the heat. Good control from Naito here, grinding down Okada at times and at other times picking up the pace and delivering a flurry of offense before slowing things back down. Okada started to fight back, and turned Naito inside out with a big boot. They again battled to the floor, where Naito looked for the running dropkick again, but as he was walking up the ramp Okada charged and dropkicked him in the back. They worked back to the ring, where Naito connected with a pair of neck breakers and took control back for a bit. Okada came back with a sick DDT, kipped up and hit the running uppercut for a near fall. After some submission work, Okada hit the top rope elbow drop and did the Rainmaker pose. Naito countered out and hit an overhead belly to belly to slow Okada’s momentum. Naito then picked up the pace, hitting his corner dropkick combo and then the flatliner into a submission, but Okada countered into the roll up for 2. Naito then scored with a variation on the koji clutch, Okada fought and finally got a foot on the ropes. Naito then hit a RANA off the ropes. Okada fought him off with uppercuts and then slapped him. They went into a series of counters, and Okada for the neck breaker across the knee and both men were down. They exchanged strikes from their knees, Naito seemed happy with this because he was smiling. They worked to the feet, still trading strikes. Okada finally dropped, Naito charged, got caught and then Okada hit several basement dropkicks and covered for a near fall. Naito slapped Okada and hit an enziguri and flying forearm. Okada countered Destino, but Naito hit a rolling kick but then ran into the dropkick. Okada looked for the tombstone, Naito fought and slipped out into the reverse DDT. He went for Destino and then got spiked with the tombstone! Okada set for the Rainmaker, HIT IT! 1…2…NO! Okada then hit a German and then they went into a series of counters and Naito got a cradle for 2. Okada fired back with a Rainmaker, another and a third! 1…2…3. That was a damn great wrestling match, an excellent built from the beginning and slowly gaining steam throughout. They did an excellent job here, and Naito getting to kick out of the Rainmaker was a great near fall. Most importantly, they did not do any shenanigans here. The whole thing behind Los Ingobernables is that when they can play their game, and get the numbers advantage, they thrive and win. Tonight, everything was even, and CHOAS got their revenge. Also, interesting no Gedo with Okada tonight.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

9.0

The final score: review Amazing

The 411

With several title changes, four top tier matches and the rest being solid to good, the show is well worth the time overall. This gets an easy recommendation from me, but if your absolutely crunched for time, cherry pick the four great matches and you’ll have a great time.