Csonka’s NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2018 Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview the NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2018 event. This is the latest US event from NJPW, and will feature US Champion Juice Robinson vs. Cody Rhodes and much more. Today, I will give my predictions, and break down the show match by match. Feel free to make your picks in the comment section. Thanks for reading! It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are to “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.” Thanks for reading.

Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh vs. Jushin Liger, ACH, & Ryusuke Taguchi: This looks like a tremendously fun opener, which should be a ton of fun and also seems to reveal ACH & Taguchi teaming for the junior tag tournament. Rocky & 3k obviously work well together, ACH & Taguchi area ton of fun, and Liger will be insanely over as always. I wouldn’t be shocked if Liger, ACH, & Ryusuke Taguchi won, but it feels like the unified and regular unit will pick up the win here. WINNER: Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh

Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian vs. Chase Owens & Adam Page: I really like this match on paper, the Addiction are a strong veteran team that always deliver quality performances, while the Bullet Club boys put in some good efforts on the G1 undercards, and worked really well together. This may also be a tease for the upcoming world tag league, as the Addiction being included wouldn’t surprise me. Owens is traditionally a Bullet Club fall guy, but he’s an extremely consistent and quality performer. The Addiction are the guests, while the Bullet club team could really use a win here, so I’ll go with them in what should be a good match. WINNER: Chase Owens & Adam Page

Hirooki Goto, Chuckie T, & Trent vs. Flip Gordon, Chris Sabin, & Jeff Cobb: Some of the survivors of CHAOS stick together here, battling the returning Jeff Cobb, as well as Sabin & Gordon, who had quality BOSJ performances. Cobb & Goto work well together, while Sabin & Gordon should work with the Best Friends very well as their styles will mesh. With the turmoil within CHAOS picking up and the Best Friends being heated up for WTL, the boys from CHAOS should take this one; the match has potential to be really good if given time. WINNER: Hirooki Goto, Chuckie T, & Trent

Zack Sabre Jr, Lance Archer, & Davey Boy Smith Jr vs. EVIL, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito: The battle between LIJ & Suzuki-gun continues here as we are seemingly building to an EVIL vs. Sabre match (judging by recent shows), possibly at King of Pro Wrestling or Power Struggle. Outside of that build, I am sure that this will mostly be every LIJ vs. Suzuki-gun multi-man we’ve seen in 2018; possibly good, possibly bland and lethargic. With KES coming off of a loss and LIJ winning the last multi-man, the boys from Suzuki-gun should take this one. WINNER: Zack Sabre Jr, Lance Archer, & Davey Boy Smith Jr

Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA vs. Gedo & Jay White: This is direct fallout from the NJPW Destruction in Kobe 2018 event, where White made the challenge for Tanahashi’s WrestleKingdom title shot, turned on Okada, and Gedo turned on Okada, joining with White. With that being the case, Tanahashi reached out to an old friend, someone he can trust, junior ace KUSHIDA. The focus of the match will be the evolving character of White and his new relationship with Gedo, as well as building to White vs. Tanahashi. While White & Gedo winning feels like a lock to solidify their new alliance, but out of everyone, Gedo feels like the fall guy here. While I won’t be surprised if White & Gedo win I’m going with Tanahashi & KUSHIDA. WINNER: Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA (possibly via DQ)

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Tournament Match: Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll: Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll have a ton of history that has bled into NJPW and played off of very well. I think that if they continue to play off of that history and if their chemistry is still there, which I see no reason for it not to be, that this certainly has banger potential. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title won the title from Scurll in October of 2017 and quickly lost it to Scurll in November of that year. The feud carried onto WrestleKingdom, and a four-way with KUSHIDA & Takahashi also involved. Ospreay would win the title back there and reign for over 150 days, vanquishing past foes like KUSHIDA & Scurll to prove his worth as champion, which he did well. Ospreay finally fell to Takahashi, and due to Takahashi’s horrible injury (setting up this four-man tournament), Ospreay never got his rematch. The move to Takahashi was a smart one following his BOSJ win and was one he needed. I like Scurll and think he and Ospreay both get a lot of unnecessary shit. This should be really good, but I think that Ospreay moving on makes the most sense. I am all for him winning this, and the tile before moving onto a feud with Ishimori. If Ospreay happens to lose here, he’s headed to heavyweight and a certain clash with Ibushi. WINNER: Will Ospreay

IWGP Tag Team Title Match: IWGP Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. The Guerrillas of Destiny: The Young Bucks and Marty Scurll won the titles at Wrestling Dontaku from The Guerrillas and Fale and reigned for 101 days before being talked into a title defense at the G1 Finals. The Guerrillas and new Bullet Club partner Ishimori on the titles and have reigned ever since as the issues within Bullet Club continue. But more importantly than winning the trios titles, the win gave the Guerrillas a shot at the IWGP tag team titles. The Guerrillas are former three-time tag champions but haven’t held the gold since losing them in July of 2017. prior to the formation of the Golden Elite (Omega, Bucks, & Ibushi) the Bucks moved to heavyweight and gave us the dream match with the Golden Lovers, which was one of the best matches of 2018. The Bucks were fully entrenched as heavyweights, and at Dominion, defeated EVIL & SANADA to win the tag titles. They successfully defended the titles against EVIL & SANADA in a rematch, but now must face their former Bullet Club allies here. In many ways, this feels like a coin flip, as taking the titles off of the Bucks so soon feels like a mistake this early into their run as heavyweights. On the other hand, the Guerrillas & Firing Squad could use the credibility boost, more than just the trios titles. The real positive to the Guerrillas winning would that it would almost guarantee the Bucks working the WTL, which could use them. The champions tend to work the WTL, but the Bucks get a lot of freedom schedule wise and if they are champions, I could see them not working it, which also opens up the field more. The Guerrillas have been a lot better since all of the G1 bullshit, but I don’t rule out shenanigans in this one, especially with the titles on the line. I think the Bucks take this one, but wouldn’t be surprised at a title change at all. WINNERS: The Young Bucks

IWGP US Title Match: IWGP US Champion Juice Robinson vs. Cody: In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m not a big fan of this match being booked. Juice was built up slowly as a viable title challenger, and after a few failures, finally won gold as he star continues to rise. The booking of the G1 set up Juice with several challenges, which would have all made sense here, but instead, Cody walks back in and beats Juice in a tag match, and jumps the line and gets the next title shot. It feels forced and rushed, and also makes Juice’s losses in the G1 feel useless. On top of that, Juice’s run has been completely underwhelming, a G1 filled with losses, and around 90 days as champion with no defenses to his credit don’t paint a pretty picture. One would think that this is all set up to give Juice a big rebound win and some credibility back as champion with a successful first defense. But Cody’s NJPW matches in the US have been a disappointment (in terms of results) losing IWGP Title matches to both Okada & Omega. The fact is that NJPW sees Cody as a star and a possible big name in their goals to expand into the US market. But in terms of wins and losses, Cody has only been a mild success, losing when it matters most, and due to that, I can’t see him dropping a third title match in a row in the US, as I feel that it would label him a choke artist. Sure he’s the current NWA champion, but I don’t see that lasting too long and it quite honestly doesn’t mean in the current NJPW landscape. I feel NJPW wants Cody as a champion and the US Title works for him as he can also defend in ROH if they want. I really don’t want Juice’s title run to end here, but that’s what I think will happen, leaving he and Finlay to pursue a run in the WTL. WINNER: Cody

Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi: The final matches were not announced until late Monday night, and this main event match was one of them and I have to say, this baby has banger potential. Ishii & Ospreay vs. the Golden Lovers was an excellent tag, and we have ¾ of that match here with the addition of Okada. With the talent involved, this has all of the makings of a great match and maybe even more. It’s a great addition to the card and a match I am really looking forward too. The prospect of the best wrestle boy Big Tom Ishii battling with both Omega & Ibushi once again has me absolutely thrilled.

With Okada coming off of the big loss to Tanahashi, and NJPW likely building to a rematch between Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi since Ibushi beat Omega in the G1, I can see the boys from CHAOS winning here to give them a happy moment and start the build to the next IWGP Title match, likely at Power Struggle. It will be interesting to see what kind of things, angles, or changes happen with CHAOS, if any on the show. WINNER: Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”