Csonka’s NJPW Power Struggle 2018 Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview the NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 2018 event. The card is headlined by IWGP IC Champion Chris Jericho vs. EVIL and features a pretty loaded card with a lot of implications for future shows, including WrestleKingdom. 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.

Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Volador, & Soberano vs. Taguchi, ACH, Henare, & Chris Sabin: This should be a fun opener between some of the junior tag competitors and Henare. The legends and luchas came up short in the tournament, while ACH & Sabin impressed in their tag matches. This should be a fun little sprint to start off our night. WINNER: Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Volador, & Soberano

Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Robbie Eagles vs. Makabe, Honma, & KUSHIDA: Bullet Club seems stronger than ever, and ran wild during the undercard matches in the tag tournament. Eagles is looking to impress and get more regular NJPW work, while Makabe & Honma will look to send a message ahead of the WTL as they battle with the champions. Bullet Club should take this one. WINNER: Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Robbie Eagles

SHO＆YOH／金丸＆デスペラード／BUSHI＆鷹木！
3チームが同率1位!!
11月3日（土）大阪「SUPER Jr. TAG LEAGUE」優勝決定戦は3WAYマッチに電撃決定!!
※11.1『Road to POWER STRUGGLE』静岡大会を新日本プロレスのスマホサイトで独占詳報中！https://t.co/y0BatVgKpF#njpw #njpst pic.twitter.com/aN3qb5NPVU

— 新日本プロレスリング株式会社 (@njpw1972) November 1, 2018

NJPW Super Jr. Tag League Finals: Desperado & Kanemaru vs. BUSHI & Shingo vs. Roppongi 3K: The 2018 NJPW Super Jr. Tag Tournament was changed to a tag league, dropping the single elimination format and going with a round robin block style. Overall the matches were good, the VOD matches had that dead feeling at times, and I did think that the tournament was missing those really high-quality matches. This year’s effort led to a three-way tie between champions Desperado & Kanemaru, BUSHI & Shingo, and Roppongi 3K. I’m not a huge fan of the tournament boiling down to a three-way, on the surface it feels lazy and non-committal, just like the overall booking of the NJPW tag ranks over the years. That doesn’t mean it’s bad or the wrong call, because there could be a bigger plan at work here. Desperado & Kanemaru are the champions and I don’t see them winning. BUSHI & Shingo have a claim to winning, they are really good and it paces Shingo in a place of importance, but also delays his move to the singles ranks. Roppongi 3K winning and finally going on to beat the champions to get their revenge for losing the titles is a good story and makes sense, but I also don’t think that they will be together much longer. It’s a real toss up but I’ll go with Roppongi 3K o that they can play out the redemption story. WINNERS: Roppongi 3K

Never Openweight Title Match: Champion Taichi vs. Hirooki Goto: At NJPW King of Pro Wrestling, Will Ospreay, Hirooki Goto, & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Iizuka, Taichi, & Minoru Suzuki with Ospreay pinning NEVER champion Taichi, officially signaling Ospreay’s jump to heavyweight, which had been rumored to be coming. That was supposed be the match here, and by all reports, Ospreay was to win and set up his program with Kota Ibushi at WrestleKingdom. This is a rematch from NJPW Destruction In Beppu, where they had a dog shit of a match, which was full of nothing and then complete bullshit leading to a bad finish. To say that my excitement is less than 0 would be an understatement. My hope is that they actually try and have an actual wrestling match and that Goto gets to be Goto, and that Taichi can show us the guy that delivered against Naito and Tanahashi earlier this year. No matter what kind of match we get, If Ospreay is ready, I see him coming back and winning the title at the WTL final event to set the match with Ibushi, so by hook or by crook, Taichi retains here. WINNER: Champion Taichi

Rev Pro British Heavyweight Title Match: Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs. Minoru Suzuki: Back on October 14th, The Very Best Wrestle Boy Big Tom Ishii defeated Minoru Suzuki to win the Rev Pro British Heavyweight Title (Suzuki had won it from Ishii at Strong Style Evolved UK this July). This made me very happy, because while I love the bad ass killing style of Suzuki, the Very Best Wrestle Boy Big Tom Ishii is my favorite wrestler right now, and possibly of all time; he is also my spirit animal. These two had some great interactions in tags this year and I had been hoping for a feud lead into a singles on a big NJPW show, and that’s what we got here. I think that this has the potential to be a banger and really great addition to the card instead of another multi-man tag match. Between the fact that they have traded the title previously and that the two companies work together, I wouldn’t be shocked if the title changed hands, but also feel that Rev Pro may save that for one of their own shows. I am excited for this, especially if it is just them kicking the shit out of each other for a brisk 15-minutes with no Suzuki-gun shenanigans.

WINNER…

The Very Best Wrestle Boy Big Tom Ishii

Kazuchika Okada & Beretta vs. Jay White & Bad Luck Fale: Jay White officially turned on Okada, promising new era as he set to challenge Hiroshi Tanahashi at NJPW King of Pro Wrestling for the WrestleKingdom title shot. White got his shot, and between he and Gedo, used all of their tricks to try and steal the title shot from the beloved Ace. He ultimately failed in that goal, but the story wasn’t done just yet. After the match, White continued to attack Tanahashi, when of all people, Okada made the save for his greatest rival. But that was just one layer to the story as the Bullet Club OGs arrived, and Jay White’s new era was finally revealed. Fale, Tonga, Loa, & Ishimori beat down Okada, with White joining in to too sweet his new brothers and laying out Okada before hugging Tama Tonga. The predicted “CHAOS split” didn’t happen, as they went in a completely different and unexpected direction. The White vs. Okada feud is now officially rolling on, and they certainly look to be on a collision course for a WrestleKingdom clash. This will be one of many battles on the way to that match, White has the advantage right now, and with him just joining the new era of Bullet Club, a win here for he and Fale to solidify that force feels appropriate. Sorry Trent, I’m sure you’ll be great here, but you know your role… UNLES YOU’RE A FREDO MOTHER FUCKER AND TURN
AS WHIT’S MYSTERY MAN WINNERS: Jay White & Bad Luck Fale

Hiroshi Tanahashi & David Finlay vs. The Golden Lovers: Hiroshi Tanahashi challenging Kenny Omega at WrestleKingdom for the IWGP Title is official and this is one of those setup/teaser tags ahead of that big main event. This will likely be a really good and fun tag match, and one that gives Finlay a big chance to mix it up as Tanahashi’s buddy and work with some of the company’s top talent. On the surface, this feels like a given with for the lovers since they are a team and Finlay is ripe to take the pin. But it’s important to remember what happened at NJPW King of Pro Wrestling, as Kenny Omega pinned Kota Ibushi to retain his title. It will be interesting to see how much, if any, drama they play between the lovers here. I could possibly see issues between then leading to Tanahashi beating Ibushi again, but I think it’s more likely that they hold serve and have Finlay take the loss here. WINNERS: The Golden Lovers

Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr: This is fallout from NJPW King of Pro Wrestling, where Naito saved EVIL following Chris Jericho’s attack and following beat down by Sabre. It all worked beautifully to get to this match as well as the main event of this show. For lack of a better description, Tetsuya Naito has been Zack Sabre Jr’s bitch in 2018, dropping matches in the New Japan Cup and G1, both costing Naito possible chances at the IWGP Championship. They’ve had great matches against each other, and I expect another banger here. The plan seems to be Naito challenging Jericho at WrestleKingdom, which makes this the perfect time for Naito to get revenge and finally pick up a win against Sabre to get his momentum and then challenge Jericho. WINNER: Tetsuya Naito

IC Title Match: Champion Chris Jericho vs. EVIL: At NJPW King of Pro Wrestling, Jericho arrived and attacked EVIL, dressed as one of his druids, and laid him out, ending the chance at the Sabre vs. EVIL match that was scheduled. They have been teasing Jericho vs. EVIL for a while, so it all made sense to get to this match. EVIL as been really great, Jericho has delivered in NJPW, so this definitely has a chance to be a good or even potentially great match. But I do see a problem here, and that is similar to the issues with Okada vs. EVIL from last year. I don’t think anyone buys EVIL winning here, and that hurt the EVIL vs. Okada match badly in my opinion. The play seems to be a Jericho vs. Naito match at WrestleKingdom, and I think that everyone knows that. They may work really hard, the work may be very good, but I fear that it will lack in overall heat and crowd investment, which could make for a stagnant atmosphere for the main event. Unless things have drastically changed, Jericho wins here and we get the post match challenge from Naito to lock in that match. WINNER: Chris Jericho

JOIN ME AT 4AM ET SATURDAY MORNING FOR MY LIVE COVERAGE OF THE SHOW

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”