wrestling / Columns

Csonka’s NJPW Kizuna Road 6.25.19 Preview

June 24, 2019 | Posted by Larry Csonka
NJPW Kizuna Road 6.25.19

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview the NJPW Kizuna Road 6.25.19 event. So today I will breakdown and preview the event. 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 “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.”

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Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Yuji Nagata & Yota Tsuji: We kick off the show with a New Japan dad heavy tag, which always puts a smile on my face. Tenzan is back from injury and tagging again with Kojima, while Nagata gets to work with young lion Tsuji. This should be at the very last a solid and fun match that the crowd will likely be into. With Tenzan just returning and Nagata saddled with a young lion, Tencosy take this one. WINNER: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima

Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Shota Umino, & Ren Narita vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, Shingo Takagi, & BUSHI: Naito & Shingo are coming off big wins at Dominion, while EVIL & SANADA took a loss trying to win the tag titles. The babyface team, led by Kota Ibushi, is your random collection of talent that will work hard and have a fun match as LIJ multi-man tags are usually very good. I’ll be interested to see how much Ibushi vs. Naito interaction we get here following their last match, which took a toll on both. I look forward to this like I do any other LIJ tag, and expect them to take the win here, with Umino or Narita (and his bad hair) taking the loss. WINNER: LIJ

Non-Title Match: Champions Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls: It’s no secret that the NJPW tag divisions are booked like shit and that the Guerrillas of Destiny are beyond stale as champions. Juice & Nicholls have a history of issues with Bullet Club and aren’t currently locked into anything in terms of a story. They work really well together as a team, and the crowds really like them. It makes the most sense for them to pickup the win here and get a fresh team/contender in the tag ranks. WINNER: Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toa Henare, SHO, & YOH vs. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori: This is the continuation of White vs. Tanahashi, as Tanahashi lost to White at the BOSJ finals but got some revenge in a tag match at Dominion. Tanahashi and another group of friends go back into battle here against Bullet Club, and this feels like another minor battle where the two sides trade wins. I think this one will see Bullet Club beating Tanahashi and friends, likely due to Jay White being a complete asshole of a knife pervert to do so. WINNER: Bullet Club

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Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV vs. Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI: This match will see the continued build to Liger vs. Suzuki, as well as the fallout from Taichi vs. Ishii. The build to Liger vs. Suzuki has been so fucking great, and I don’t know when they are planning the match, but I really cannot wait. I need to see this battle and soon. But for now, I shall appreciate the build, the ass kickings, the drama, and will enjoy it. I think that Suzuki-gun picks up the win here as Suzuki continues to enrage Liger. WINNER: Suzuki-gun

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RevPro British Cruiserweight Champion El Phantasmo defending against Ryusuke Taguchi: This match was set up during the BOSJ when Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Phantasmo, who had a strong debut run in the tournament. I really love that the RevPro titles are getting some run on these shows as part of their relationship with NJPW, as they freshen things up and give the shows a bit of a different feel. So I like the simple build/set up for the match as it makes sense, and feel that it will be very good to great. The crowd should be invested as they love BIG MATCH GUCH, but just as much as they love the Guch, they loathe Phantasmo for being such a prick. I think the Guch will put in great effort, but see Phantasmo retaining here. WINNER: El Phantasmo

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RevPro British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defending against YOSHI-HASHI: In our main event, RevPro British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defends against the bastard clone of Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI. YOSHI-HASHI is 37, has been loyal to NJPW, and due to that they keep him around although he’s honestly nothing more than a minor role player that depending on the year can give you one to three great singles matches, just enough to remember why he’s around and even question why he hasn’t done more. HASHI has been given opportunity; featured as part of CHAOS, G1 appearances, main event tags but his biggest enemy has been his own inconsistency. At this point in his career, it only feels like he gets these smaller chances because they have invested so much time in him and are hoping for some small return to justify it. He’ll have a chance to have a great match working with Sabre, but I just don’t anticipate the crowd being that into the match, as on top of his repeated failures, he seemingly lost any real support he had during “the great fall” last year when trying & failing to save Okada, knocking himself out and injuring his shoulder again in the process. I am sure that HASHI will work hard here, and if there’s ever a chance for him to win a singles championship, this is likely it. I’m not feeling the title change and think that the G1 will be used to set someone up to challenge Sabre in the UK in August instead. Also, I pray hype man TAKA is back for this, he’s been missed; we need Zack Sabre Time… BUT with Sabre being announced for the G1 and HASHI out, it makes me feel that we will get a tile change to protect Sabre from losses as champion and to finally give HASHI a title win. WINNER: YOSHI-HASHI

BUT WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT

It has now been announced that ZSJ’s G1 spot is also on the line, which completely changes my mind because replacing ZSJ with YOSHI-HASHI in the G1 sounds like possibly the stupidest move possible. WINNER: Zack Sabre Jr

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 30. On the show, the good brother, Jeremy Lambert, joins 411’s Larry Csonka; the guys will review the WWE Stomping Grounds 2019 PPV, and then preview the ROH Best in the World PPV and AEW Fyter Fest events. The show is approximately 86-minutes long.

* Intro
* WWE Stomping Grounds 2019 Review: 2:20
* ROH Best in the World Preview: 34:50
* AEW Fyter Fest Preview: 52:30

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

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