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Csonka’s NJPW Hi No Kuni 2019 Review

April 29, 2019 | Posted by Larry Csonka
NJPW JAY WHITE GEDO CHAOS
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Csonka’s NJPW Hi No Kuni 2019 Review  

Csonka’s NJPW Hi No Kuni 2019 Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Ren Narita, Shota Umino, & Tomoaki Honma defeated Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji, & Henare @ 11:02 via pin [**½]
– Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Jeff Cobb, & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Minoru Suzuki, Taka, Taichi, Desperado, & Kanemaru @ 13:00 via pin [**½]
– Will Ospreay & Dragon Lee defeated Taiji Ishimori & Hikuleo via pin [NR]
– Bad Luck Fale defeated Mikey Nicholls @ 7:35 via pin [**]
Non-Title Match: Champion Juice Robinson defeated Chase Owens @ 8:45 via pin [**¾]
– LIJ defeated Sho, Yoh, Kota Ibushi, Big Tom Ishii, & Kazuchika Okada @ 14:35 via submission [***½]
IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Toru Yano & Togi Makabe @ 14:55 via pin [**½]
– Jay White defeated Hirooki Goto @ 22:55 via pin [***¾]


– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– Kevin Kelly & Gino Gambino are on commentary.

Ren Narita, Shota Umino, & Tomoaki Honma vs. Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji, & Henare: Uemura and Narita begin. They work into a grappling exchange, and to the ropes. Narita grounds things, but they quickly work back to their feet. Umino and Tsuji tag in, they lock up and work to the ropes. Tsuji follows with chops, and follows with a shoulder tackle. He lays in strikes, they trade and Umino cuts him off with a basement dropkick. Honma tags in and lays the boots to Tsuji. The back elbow follows for 2. Narita tags in and works a cravat. He grounds things and Umino play defense. Tsuji fights and makes the ropes. Honma tags back in and hits a slam, and falling kokeshi. Tsuji fires back, they trade and Tsuji hits the dropkick. Tag to Henare, he lays in strikes and hits a flying shoulder tackle. Narita in and Henare cuts him off and follows with clotheslines and a Samoan drop for 2. Honma fights, but Henare hits the dead lift suplex for 2. He lays in chops, they trade and Honma hits a diving kokeshi and we get tags to Umino and Uemura. Uemura hits the dropkick, but Umino fights off the crab. They triple team Umino, Tsuji hits a powerslam and Uemura locks on the crab. It breaks down, we get brawling on the floor and Narita cuts off Uemura and Umino hits the spinebuster for 2. The crab follows and Uemura fights, but gets pulled back center ring and fights again and makes the ropes. He follows with a cradle for 2. Dropkick by Umino and the fisherman’s suplex finishes it. Ren Narita, Shota Umino, & Tomoaki Honma defeated Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji, & Henare @ 11:02 via pin [**½] This was a solid opener, but it lacked the energy that the openers usually have.

Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Jeff Cobb, & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, Taka, Taichi, Desperado, & Kanemaru: Suzuki-gun unsurprisingly attacks before the bell as Liger & Suzuki pair off on the floor. Tiger Mask works over Kanemaru & Despy with kicks and follows with a back breaker. HASHI tags in and hits the running blockbuster. The draping dropkick follows for 2. The faces clear the ring and work over Despy as Taguchi calls the plays. Despy turns the tide and slams Tiger into Taguchi’s ass and Taguchi is left all alone. They kick the shit out of him and dump him. Kanemaru works him over as Taichi and Cobb pair off. Taichi attacks with chair shots and Despy covers Taguchi for 2. Taichi chokes out Cobb on the floor as Suzuki-gun works the heat on Taguchi. Taguchi fires back, but Suzuki cuts him off but Taguchi scores with an ass attack. Liger tags in and brawls with Suzuki. He takes him up top and Suzuki head butts him and back to the mat and Liger hits the suplex for 2. Suzuki hits the running boot, PK, and that gets 2. Liger tries to fire up, the trade chops and Suzuki smiles and follows with forearm strikes. Liger fights off the Gotch, but Suzuki hits a running knee strike. Taichi & Cobb tag in and Cobb hits clotheslines and a Samoan drop and standing moonsault for 2. It breaks down, Cobb fights off Suzuki-gun with suplexes, but Taichi cuts him off with a hook kick. The head kick follows for 2. The pants are off, but Cobb counters back with strikes but Taichi hits an enziguri. Taka cuts off the tag, and Suzuki-gun runs wild on Cobb. OK by Suzuki and a knee strike by Taka follows for 2. Taichi has the belt, Taguchi makes the save, it breaks down and Cobb starts hitting anything that moves. Suicide dive by Tiger, and the singing Saito follows from Cobb. The tour of the islands finishes Taka. Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Jeff Cobb, & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Minoru Suzuki, Taka, Taichi, Desperado, & Kanemaru @ 13:00 via pin [**½] This was another solid match, but again felt flat and was lacking energy, even the Liger vs. Suzuki interactions.

Will Ospreay & Dragon Lee vs. Taiji Ishimori & Hikuleo: Bullet Club attacks before the bell and clears the ring. Ospreay back in and dumps Ishimori and Lee joins in as the double team Hikuleo. Ishimori now works over Lee on the floor as Hikuleo and Ospreay are in the ring. Hikuleo follows with chops and a slam. More chops follow and Ospreay is down. Ishimori tags in and grounds things. Hikuleo tags back in and follows with a suplex. Bullet Club maintains the heat, but Ospreay fights back ands tags in Lee. I lost the feed and as we dome back, Lee hits a dive and Hikuleo levels Ospreay with a lariat. Hook kick and Robinson special by Ospreay and the Oscutter finishes it. Will Ospreay & Dragon Lee defeated Taiji Ishimori & Hikuleo via pin [NR] No rating since I lost my feed and didn’t see the whole match,

Mikey Nicholls vs. Bad Luck Fale: They circle and talk shit. Fale pie faces Nicholls, and Nicholls clotheslines him to the floor. He misses the plancha, and Fale whips him into the barricade. Fale starts targeting the arm, shoves the ref down and back in, Fale slows the pace and works him over with body shots. He then stomps away at him and continues working the arm. Nicholls avoids a charge, follows with clotheslines, but Fale hits a shoulder tackle. Nicholls hits a desperation lariat and sliding D for 2. Fale fights off the Samoan drop and hits one of his own. The splash follows for 2. The grenade finishes Nicholls. Bad Luck Fale defeated Mikey Nicholls @ 7:35 via pin [**] This was ok, with Fale being Fale, and Nicholls continuing to be just another guy.

Non-Title Match: IWGP US Champion Juice Robinson vs. Chase Owens: They lock up and Owens backs off, but then scores a takedown. They work into counters, trading arm drags, and Owens then fish hooks Juice. He pulls the hair, and grounds Juice. Juice fights to his feet; Owens pokes the eyes and follows with chops. Juice finally catches him with a backdrop, Owens begs off, and Juice lays in chops and hits a shoulder tackle and another. Owens then dumps him and dropkicks him to the barricade. Back in and Owens hits the flatliner for 2. Juice counters the knee strike and cradles him for 2. They trade clotheslines, and Juice now lays in jabs. Owens cuts off the left hand of God, but Juice follows with a leg lariat. Clotheslines follow, and Juice heads up top and the high cross connects for 2. Juice looks for pulp friction, but Owens counters and cradles him for 2. Owens teases the package piledriver, countered, and Owens counters pulp friction again. The knee strike follows, and Owens looks for the package piledriver, but Juice cradles him for 2. Backslide by Owens gets 2. Lariat by Owens, but Juice hits the left hand of God and pulp friction for the win. Champion Juice Robinson defeated Chase Owens @ 8:45 via pin [**¾] This was a pretty good back and forth match that the crowd didn’t care about. Lets move onto a new and interesting challenger please.

Sho, Yoh, Kota Ibushi, Big Tom Ishii, & Kazuchika Okada vs. Shingo, BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA, & Naito: Okada & SANADA begin. They lock up and work to the ropes. Okada breaks clean, but SANADA looks for paradise lock only to be fought off. Okada grounds things, working a modified stump puller. Yoh tags in and follows with rights. The running forearm follows, Shingo in and 3k work double teams on he and SANADA. SANADA fights then off; EVIL trips up Sho and LIJ run wild and clear the ring. EVIL & Big Tom brawl on the floor, and Naito runs Ibushi into the barricade. BUSHI tags in and lays in chops on Yoh. The missile dropkick follows, and Naito tags in. He pummels Yoh in the corner, and follows with the corner dropkick combo. Naito follows with a neck breaker and then grounds things. BUSHI in and double teams follow, and now Shingo tags in and hits a knee drop on Yoh. The suplex follows for 2. Yoh fights back with dragon screws and tags in Ibushi. He runs wild with dropkicks and RANAs. The double PELE follows. Ibushi lays in a flurry of strikes and kicks on EVIL and the standing moonsault gets 2. Ishii tags in and he and EVIL pick up where they left off, trying to kill each other with strikes. Ishii hits a shoulder tackle and follows with chops. They work into back and fort counters, fight over a suplex, and EVIL cuts him off with the fisherman’s buster. SANADA and Okada tag in, they trade strikes and Okada hits the running elbow. The air raid neck breaker follows and then the slam and Okada heads up top. The elbow drop connects, and SANADA counters rainmaker into skull end, Okada counters out and hits the dropkick. SANADA counters into skull end again, he drops down, but Yoh makes the save. BUSHI dumps him, and SANADA hits the back breaker. The moonsault misses and Okada hits John Wooooooooooooooooooo. Sho tags in and hits clotheslines, SANADA fights off the German, but Sho hits the spear. The dead lift German follows for 2. Sho looks for shock arrow, but Shingo cuts him off and they trade clotheslines. It breaks down, SANADA suplexes Sho and covers for 2 as Yoh makes the save. Ishii saves Sho from skull end, but EVIL Germans him. Ibushi and Naito battle, and BUSHI hits the suicide dive. Skull end on Sho follows, SANADA swings him and drops down and Sho taps. LIJ defeated Sho, Yoh, Kota Ibushi, Big Tom Ishii, & Kazuchika Okada @ 14:35 via submission [***½] leave it to LIJ, CHAOS, & Ibushi to try and make this show worth something, delivering another very good and fun multi-man tag as they continue the build to the big upcoming matches.

IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Guerrillas of Destiny (Tonga & Loa) vs. Toru Yano & Togi Makabe: Jado is at ringside. The champions attack before the bell, Makabe cuts them off and Yano exposes the buckle and whips Loa to it. They spike piledriver Tonga on the floor, and Yano brawls with Loa into the crowd. Tonga cuts off Makabe at ringside while Yano posts Loa. Back in and Yano works over Loa until Loa runs him into the exposed buckle. He dumps Yano and Tonga works him over on the floor. Back in and Loa covers for 2. Loa hits a slam and leg drop for 2. Tonga tags in and they suplex Yano, and Tonga covers for 2. Tonga keeps the heat, keeping Yano grounded. He follows with elbows, and whips him to the exposed buckles. Loa tags in and hits a senton atomico for 2. He lays the boots to him, chokes him out and then works him over in the corner. Tonga tags back in and head butts follow. He again whips Yano to the exposed buckles, and covers for 2. Loa back in and double teams follow. Loa works him over, whips Yano to the exposed buckle, but Yano gets the hair pull and tags in Makabe. He runs wild with clotheslines, strikes, and they trade center ring. Loa hits a German, Tonga tags in and they double dropkick Makabe and cover for 2. Makabe fires up, and hits a lariat. Tag to Yano. He whips Tonga to the exposed buckle, hits a belly to belly, and Loa trips him up. Makabe trips up Tonga, tags in and they double team Tonga and send him to the exposed buckle. Kendo shot by Jado, and GOD work over Makabe. Guerrilla warfare follows for 2. They head up top and the head butt and frog splash follows for 2. More double teams follow, Yano breaks up the superbomb, but is cut off. Loa gets the chain and Yano low blows him. Spear to Tonga, Makabe gets the chain as we have the ref bump and lariats Tonga, but only gets 2. Makabe up top and hits the king kong knee drop and Loa makes the save. Makabe dumps Loa, Jado distracts him and Tonga cradles him with the tights for the win. Champions The Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Toru Yano & Togi Makabe @ 14:55 via pin [**½] This was a solid match that unfortunately felt about twice as long as it actually was. There was just no real excitement or energy to it.

Hirooki Goto vs. Jay White: Gedo is at ringside. White powders right away to stall. They circle and lock up. White takes him too the ropes and Goto attacks with strikes. White powders. Goto chases and brings him back in, hits a hip toss and shoulder tackle. They spill to the floor, as Goto whips him to the barricade. Gedo distracts him allowing White to attack and hit a snap Saito on the floor. White rolls back in and hopes for a countout. Goto rolls back in and White takes him back to the floor and starts working over his back, slamming him to the apron and barricade. Back in and White follows with a neck breaker for 2. The half crab follows. He transitions to a full crab, but Goto makes the ropes. White maintains control, laying in chops and a back elbow for 2. White grounds things, Goto fights to his feet and White quickly cuts him off. Goto manages to counter into a suplex, but White hits the snap Saito to put a stop to that. White lays in chops, but Goto follows with a body kick. He follows with strikes, hits the clothesline and kicks, The Saito follows for 2. White fights off ushigoroshi, they work into counters and Goto follows with a kick. White drops down to avoid the lariat, so Goto lays the boots to him. He follows with elbows, kicks, and Gedo trips up Goto allowing White to hit a uranage. White follows with uppercuts and a DVD for 2. Goto fights of kiwi krusher, but White hits a flatliner and German for 2. Goto fights off the kiwi krusher again, and hits a lariat. White then Saito suplexes Goto to the floor. Back in and White hits kiwi krusher for 2. White calls for blade runner, but Goto counters but eats knee strikes from White. Goto digs deep and hits a lariat and both men are down. They trade strikes from their knees, and make it to their feet. They keep trading; Goto drops White and follows with more strikes. White cuts him off, lays in chops; they work into counters and Goto scores with a lariat. Goto sets White up top and hits a tower of London for 2. Goto heads up top, White cuts him off and follows him up. Goto fights, they trade, and Goto hits a code red off the ropes for 2. Goto fires up, Gedo distracts him and White gets the chair, but Goto cuts him off and attacks Gedo. Ushigoroshi on Gedo. One for White as well. Goto lays in kicks, but White counters GTR and eats a head butt. Reverse GRT by Goto gets 2. White counters GTR and Goto counters blade runner, but White hits a half and half suplex and another. Blade runner finishes it. Jay White defeated Hirooki Goto @ 22:55 via pin [***¾] It felt as if it took a while to really get going, but they worked themselves into a very good match that featured hard-hitting action and some great counter work from both.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 14. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka is joined by Jeremy Lambert Jr III. Today, the guys will preview the 2019 NWA Crockett Cup, Impact Rebellion PPV, & the NJPW Hi No Kuni events. The show is approximately 84-minutes long.

* Intro
* NWA Crockett Cup 2019 Preview: 3:20
* Impact Rebellion PPV Preview: 36:00
* NJPW Hi No Kuni Preview: 59:35

You can subscribe and listen to the 411 on Wrestling Podcast via the
above player on Transistor, or on the following platforms:

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

6.0
The final score: review Average
The 411
The NJPW Hi No Kuni 2019 event was an overall flat and skippable show, with not much to offer in the ring and a crowd who didn’t seem to care at all, not that I blame them. It was far from bad, but there isn’t even anything to really go out of your time to cherry pick either.
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