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Csonka’s NJPW Kizuna Road Review 6.17.19

June 17, 2019 | Posted by Larry Csonka
NJPW Kizuna Road 6.17.19
6.8
The 411 Rating
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Csonka’s NJPW Kizuna Road Review 6.17.19  

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Csonka’s NJPW Kizuna Road 6.17.19

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Yuya Uemura defeated Yota Tsuji @ 8:15 via pin [**¾]
– Tomoaki Honma & Henare defeated Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino @ 11:05 via pin [***]
– LIJ defeated Kota Ibushi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask @ 10:45 via submission [***¼]
– Jay White, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Taiji Ishimori defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Mikey Nicholls, & Ren Narita @ 10:47 via submission [***½]
Trios Title Match: Champions Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated El Phantasmo, Chase Owens, & Yujiro Takahashi @ 15:50 via pin [**½]
Elimination Match: CHAOS defeated Suzuki-gun @ 31:30 [****]


– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura: Tsuji leads the series 4-3-21. They lock up and work to the mat. They work into some counters, but Tsuji keeps things grounded, but Uemura counters into an arm bar but Tsuji makes the ropes. They lock up again, with Tsuji working a crispy headlock, but Uemura escapes and hits a shoulder tackle. He follows with elbow strikes, a corner dropkick and another shoulder tackle for 2. The arm bar follows, keeping Tsuji center ring. Tsuji escapes; they trade strikes and then fight over a slam until Tsuji finally hits it. He follows with chops, a corner forearm and the powerslam connects for 2. Tsuji then locks on the crab, Uemura tries to power out but Tsuji sits down on it but Uemura fights to the ropes. The dropkick follows, they trade strikes, and light each other up. Tsuji rocks him with forearms, chops, but Umemura hits an arm drag and overhead bridging suplex for the win. Yuya Uemura defeated Yota Tsuji @ 8:15 via pin [**¾] This was a pretty good opener, with the overall series now at 4-4-21.

Tomoaki Honma & Henare vs. Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino: Umino and Henare begin. They lock up and trade shoulder tackles until Umino takes him down. Nagata tags in and Honma joins him. They lock up and Nagata backs him off and to the ropes. He follows with kicks, a shoulder tackle and then lays the boots to him. They trade strikes; Honma hits a shoulder tackle and slam, but misses the kokeshi as Nagata locks on the Nagata lock. He follows with kicks, tags in Umino and he follows with strikes. Honma avoids the dropkick and hits an elbow drop. Henare tags in and knocks Nagata to the floor, and follows with chops on Umino. The clothesline and Samoan drop then connects for 2. Honma back in, laying the boots to Umino, they trade strikes and Honma takes him down with chops. Umino fires up and hits the dropkick. Nagata tags in and knocks Henare to the floor, lays in kicks on Honma and follows with the boot and XPLODER for 2. They trade strikes, chops and Nagata lays in kicks. Honma cuts him off with the flying kokeshi and tags in Henare. He delivers chops, but Nagata pulls an arm bar until Honma makes the save with a diving kokeshi. Umino tags in and runs wild until Henare levels him with a lariat. He takes out Nagata, and double kokeshis follow on Umino and Nagata makes the save. He trades with Umino, and Umino hits the bridging German for 2. Henare cuts him off wit a head butt and the spear follows for 2. The uranage finishes Umino. Tomoaki Honma & Henare defeated Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino @ 11:05 via pin [***] This was a good match with Henare picking up a much-needed win.

Kota Ibushi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, Shingo, & BUSHI: EVIL again refuses the LIJ fist bump. Tenzan and Naito begin. Naito fucks around with him, pretending to be a bull fighter and attacks. They trade shoulder tackles, Naito lays in Mongolian chops and spits at him. Tenzan cuts him off and he delivers Mongolian chops. He then works him over in the corner, and the clothesline and suplex connect for 2. Tenzan grounds the action, and Kojima joins him for double teams on Naito. Kojima lays the boots to him, follows with chops and then lays some in on EVIL as well. The forearm connects but BUSHI & Shingo cut him off and LIJ clears the ring. We get some floor brawling as Naito works over Kojima. Shingo now attacks, laying in chops and clotheslines. Kojima fires up but Shingo follows with a suplex for 2. He grounds things; SANADA tags in and maintains control on Kojima. EVIL tags in and lays in chops on Kojima. Kojima fires back, and hits the cutter. Tag to Ibushi, he runs wild with a flurry of kicks and strikes and the standing moonsault follows for 2. EVIL cuts him off and follows with a senton for 2. They trade and EVIL hits the fisherman’s buster. BUSHI tags in and hits the missile dropkick. Ibushi cuts him off with a head kick, and tags in Liger. The back breaker follows but Shingo makes the save. Tiger & SANADA tag in, high cross by Tiger, and the crucifix follows for 2. It breaks down, the faces run wild on SANADA, but LIJ makes the save and they isolate Tiger. Skull end is countered into a cradle for 2. SANADA locks it on this time, drops down and Tiger taps. LIJ defeated Kota Ibushi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask @ 10:45 via submission [***¼] This was a good tag match, but not nearly as fun or high-quality as most LIJ tags.

– Post match, LIJ poses… but EVIL again bails on them. No fisting for you.

– They announce G1 match ups now, including Okada vs. Tanahashi & Ibushi vs. KENTA in Dallas…

Jay White, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Mikey Nicholls, & Ren Narita: Jado & Gedo are at ringside. Ishimori & Narita to begin as Narita lays in strikes, and tags in Tanahashi. The double dropkick follows, and Jado cuts off Tanahashi with a kendo shot. This leads to some floor brawling, where White works over Tanahashi. Back in and Ishimori covers Tanahashi for 2. White now tags in, and lays the boots to Tanahashi and then follows with chops. Tanahashi fires back but White attacks the knee and tags in Loa. Loa keeps him grounded, tags in Tonga, who hits a slingshot elbow. He keeps Tanahashi grounded, attacking the knee, and White tags back in. He rakes the eyes and grounds the action until Narita makes the save. Narita is all fired up tonight, but White finally cuts him off. White then hits a dragon screw on Tanahashi, but Tanahashi answers with one of his own. Juice & Tonga tag in and juice runs wild with jabs. The spinebuster connects, and then takes out the rest of Bullet Club. Loa sneaks in and cuts him off, Nicholls makes the save and he runs wild with clotheslines. Juice hits the cannonball, but Loa battles back until Nicholls dumps him and follows with a plancha. Juice fights off Tonga, but White cuts of the tag, Narita blind tags in and hits a suplex for 2 on Ishimori. White cuts him off, dumps him, but Narita slides back in and hits the dropkick. The overhead suplex on Ishimori follows for 2. He locks on the leg lace; Tanahashi cuts off White and gets the cloverleaf. Juice & Nicholls join in with submissions. Bullet Club finally escapes, but Narita cradles Ishimori for 2. Ishimori locks on the LeBell lock, Narita fights, but has to tap. Jay White, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Taiji Ishimori defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Mikey Nicholls, & Ren Narita @ 10:47 via submission [***½] This was a very good and fun match, continuing White vs. Tanahashi, teasing a future tag title clash, and also allowing Ren Narita to shine… despite his shitty hair game.

Champions Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. El Phantasmo, Chase Owens, & Yujiro Takahashi: Taguchi and Phantasmo begin. They lock up and Phantasmo looks to work the arm, they work into counters, and Phantasmo lock on a bow and arrow, but Taguchi counters out. They work into back and forth, making each other run, but Taguchi scores with a knee strike. Phantasmo follows with a high cross and lionsault for 2. He then hits some grounded ass attacks, and Taguchi then cradles him for 2. They trade pin attempts, and end in a stalemate. Yujiro tags in and Yano joins him. They grab each other’s hair, Yano undoes the buckle pad, but Bullet Club cuts him off and takes control as they brawl on the floor. Back in and they isolate Yano, Yujiro calls the plays, and Owens gets blown up as Phantasmo keeps attacking. Yujiro then covers for 2. Owens tags back in and they isolate Yano in their corner. Owens steals Yano’s curry powder, Phantasmo tags in and puts him in the tree of WHOA and stomps on his balls. Owens then whips Yano to the exposed buckles, and Yujiro follows with the big boot. Yano gets the hair pull takedown and tags in Makabe. He walks mildly on Yujiro & Owens, hitting the powerslam, clothesline and mounted punches until Yujiro cuts him off, but he then runs into a lariat. Tag to Taguchi, ass attacks follow until Yujiro cuts him off with an inverted DDT. He the follows with B triggers on Phantasmo, and the springboard ass attack follows for 2. Phantasmo counters dodon and cradles him for 2. The Argentine cutter follows, and Owens tags in as does Yano. Yano gets double teamed and Owens covers for 2. Yano cuts them off, sends Yujiro to the exposed buckles, ref bump and Owens hits the jewel heist and covers for 2. Makabe makes the save with a lariat, it breaks down, and Owens cradles Yano with the tights for 2. Low blows by Yano, lariats by Makabe, and Yano gets the roll up for the win. Champions Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated El Phantasmo, Chase Owens, & Yujiro Takahashi @ 15:50 via pin [**½] This was a solid match that felt too long and never got out of first gear.

ELIMINATION MATCH: Kazuchika Okada, Big Tom Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, Sho, & Yoh vs. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer, Taichi, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru: Eliminations are by pin, submission, DQ, or over the top. DOUKI is at ringside. Taichi & Ishii begin. Nope, Taichi tags out to Archer. Archer wants Okada, and he tags in. They lock up and work to he ropes. Archer attacks with strikes, but Okada trips him up and follows with a sliding dropkick. Archer quickly fights back with a slam, and Kanemaru tags in and lays the boots to Okada. Sho tags in and 3k now double team Kanemaru. Sho follows with strikes, but Sabre tags in and so does HASHI. They lock up, working to the ropes, and HASHI follows with strikes. They trade, HASHI hits a shoulder tackle, and follows with clubbing strikes. Sabre counters the suplex and attacks the shoulder, dragging him to the floor. They all spill to he floor for brawling as Sabre works over HASHI in the crowd. Suzuki attacks Okada with a chair, and HASHI is rolled back in for Sabre to torture him. Back to the floor and the ass beating of HASHI continues. Archer works over Okada, and back in and Taichi argues with the ref and then chokes out HASHI. Archer tags in and levels HASHI with strikes and a clothesline. Kanemaru tags in and lays the boots to him, covering for 2. Suzuki tags in and hits a PK and locks on a heel hook. Sho tries to make the save, but Suzuki fucks his day up with strikes. HASHI fires back, and tags in Okada. Back elbow to Suzuki, and he then fights of Taichi and Kanemaru. Suzuki cuts him off and hits a PK for 2. They trade strikes, but Suzuki avoids the dropkick and hits a PK. He follows with strikes, a head butt and then a sleeper. He argues with the ref and follows with a heel hook. Red Shoes tries to break it when Okada makes the ropes, gets tossed by Suzuki and is DQ’d. Suzuki’s anger over no G1 run costs him here. He kicks the shit out of the lions, while Okada is worked over by Taichi & Kanemaru. Okada dropkicks Kanemaru over the top for the elimination. Archer is in and hits corner attacks on Okada, looks to dump him, but Okada counters out and follows with a dropkick but Archer hits the pounce. He then dumps and eliminates Okada. 3K attack him, he fights them off, but they work double teams until Archer chokeslams Yoh, blackout on Sho and he dumps Yoh. The claw on Sho follows, and he’s done. Ishii in and lays in strikes, they trade, Ishii fires up and Archer mows him down with a shoulder tackle. They fight over a suplex, Archer finally hits it and Ishii fights off the claw and hits the brainbuster. Archer no sells the lariat, but Ishii pulls him to the apron and then knocks Archer to the floor. Taichi attacks, but DOUKI attacks and Taichi eliminates Ishii. It’s down to HASHI vs. Taichi & Sabre. Taichi attacks with kicks, but HASHI hits a RANA, slams Sabre and DOUKI takes the ref as HASHI dumps Taichi, but the ref didn’t see it. Taichi & Sabre attack, they run wild with kicks and Taichi covers for 2. The pants are off, and the superkick is countered into he butterfly lock. Sabre makes the save, but HASHI hits him with a lariat. Taichi grabs the ref, pipe shot by DOUKI, but HASHI hits a superkick. He then dumps Taichi. Sabre attacks, they brawl by the apron, HASHI drags him back in and follows with strikes and chops. Grounded strikes follow, but Sabre locks on the guillotine but HASHI suplexes his way out. Sabre counters the powerbomb, locks on the arm bar, but HASHI rolls but Sabre locks on the triangle. HASHI powers up but gets dragged back down, and Sabre keeps the hold until HASHI makes the ropes. Sabre attacks the shoulder, but HASHI fires back with chops and a backslide for 2. Sabre gets the hanging inverted triangle, transitions to he cobra twist but HASHI fights and Sabre to the apron and chokes out HASHI. HASHI counters out and eliminates Sabre for the win. CHAOS defeated Suzuki-gun @ 31:30 [****] This match was laid out extremely well, playing off of Suzuki’s frustrations over his G1 exclusion, teasing Archer vs. Okada, giving Archer a really strong run ahead of the G1, and also properly heating up HASHI for next week’s title match against Sabre. Overall, this was great and accomplished all of its goals.

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The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 28. On the show, the good brother Steve Cook joins Larry Csonka as the guys discuss the fallout of WCW & ECW dying, the invasion, the issues with it, and then look at the night ECW was brought in to save the angle (July 9th, 2001)… and how WWF blew through six-months of booking in under one hour. The show is approximately 128–minutes long.

* Intro
* Raw 7.09.2001: 3:05
* The deaths of ECW & WCW: 47:00
* The early days of the Invasion: 1:05:00
* Looking at Episode One of Viceland’s The Wrestlers: 1:14:30
* The guys reflect on their time at 411: 1:36:00

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

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

6.8
The final score: review Average
The 411
Overall, today’s NJPW Kizuna Road event was another pretty good show with a great main event and putting the right people in the right positions ahead of the upcoming events.
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