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Csonka’s NJPW Road to the Tokyo Dome Review 12.18.15
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Csonka’s NJPW Road to the Tokyo Dome Review 12.18.15
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Jay White defeated Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & David Finlay Jr. @ 8:41 via pin [**½]
– Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma defeated Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka @ 9:01 via pin [***]
– Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall @ 8:30 via submission [*]
– NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Champion Tiger Mask IV defeated Jushin Thunder Liger @ 10:56 via submission [***¾]
– Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & BUSHI defeated Hirooki Goto, Captain New Japan & Mascara Dorada @ 11:25 via pin [***]
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Ryusuke Taguchi @ 9:10 via pin [***]
– Elimination Rules Tag Match: Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Katsuyori Shibata, KUSHIDA & Juice Robinson @ 25:37 via pin [****]
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Jay White defeated Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & David Finlay Jr : Since it was bring your uncles to work day, it wasn’t the usual opener that the show have, it was a bit below the usual quality overall. TenKoji and Nagata are fine; Nakanishi is so slow that he makes Tenzan look like a cruiserweight when they face off. White and Finlay continue to work well together, as their interactions have become pretty effortless. Finlay ate a lariat from Kojima and that was that. It was solid overall.
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma defeated Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka: This was much better, Makabe and Honma are in a groove after winning the tag league, while Komatsu and Tanaka continue to be great. Even with this being a low card match with the lions, they did a nice job of getting the crowd invested as the match went on, which doesn’t always happens because the lions are there to look good and then to lose. Makabe and Honma dominated the majority of this, with Tanaka and Komatsu selling their asses off. This was a nice and clean match, which served its purpose of having the WTL winners look good as they head towards their title shot at WK 10.
Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall: It felt as if I ordered a hamburger and literally got shit on a shingle here, this was no bueno kids. I didn’t expect anything great, but these low level Bullet Club tags have been passable to good in the past; this was not that. This match just had no real personality, it has no rhythm or rhyme to it really, and I never got into anything they were trying to sell me. It’s there to be part of the build to Yano and Friends vs. Bullet Club at WK 10, but watching these guys out there, seemingly wandering aimlessly until Yano hit a low blow and then Sakuraba score the submission victory. More along everyone, there is nothing to see here.
Champion Tiger Mask IV defeated Jushin Thunder Liger: Things turned around here as Jushin Thunder Liger, dressed in BATTLE LIGER gear, challenged Tiger Mask IV for the NWA Jr Heavyweight Title. Liger, at age 51, looked really good here and continues to be a fun veteran worker that I really enjoy watching. This really was war Old Man Liger, as he took the large majority of the match. This had a really good intensity, even with the crowd not vocally into it early on. These guys are friends and partners much of the time, but this had a great feeling of two older warriors looking to prove themselves to one another, simply to see who was really the best between them. While Liger controlled a lot of the action, Tiger Mask was able to consistently counter much of his trademark stuff, and that really added to things, playing off of their experience and time working together. In the end, Tiger Mask scored with the arm bar and transitioned into the chicken wing, and Liger had to submit. They put together a simple and very effective match, that pulled me in early and made me care.
https://twitter.com/SenorLARIATO/status/677885460576768000
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & BUSHI defeated Hirooki Goto, Captain New Japan & Mascara Dorada: I think that the WTL came at the right time for Los Ingobernables, as they were able to come together as a unit and allowed BUSHI and EVIL to settle into their new roles and personas very well. While the WTL was a tedious watch at times, that’s one of the real positives that came out of it. Los Ingobernables went for brawling early, and pretty much kicked the shit out of the good Captain. This ended up an overall good and fun little match, with the usual Los Ingobernables action. I know this’ll shock you all, but the good Captain’s attempts to fight back failed in the end and he was pinned by EVIL. He tried. Post match, BUSHI attacked Dorada and ripped off his mask, setting the stage for their CMLL Welterweight Title match on the next show. This was the major goal here, and I feel that they accomplished their goal to add some heat to the title match.
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Ryusuke Taguchi: With Taguchi doing an ass based tribute act to Nakamura, this was a match that was bound to happen eventually, and a show like this was as good a place as any. While I am not a fan of Taguchi’s act, he was over here and the crowd was into what they had to offer in this match. Taguchi actually got a lot here, using the ass attack, the ankle lock and for some reason kicked out of a top rope Boma ye. Seriously, Nakamura’s finish is so poorly protected, and having a guy like Taguchi kick out of a super version of the move came across as ridiculous. Anyway, Nakamura avoided another ass attack and then hit a regular Boma ye to pick up the win. While there were some questionable choices as far not protecting Nakamura’s finisher goes, but this was a good match with a crowd that enjoyed themselves.
Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Katsuyori Shibata, KUSHIDA & Juice Robinson: The trademark of the Road to the Dome events is always the big eight-man elimination match. The difference here (as opposed to Survivor Series rules) is that it’s not only pin or submission, but also over the top rope eliminations. This comes into play for the bigger feuds that they build, for example, Okada eliminated Tanahashi here by tossing him over the top. The best pat about that is not only is it build for the Dome, but when Okada worked his homestretch against KUSHIDA, he went up top, seemingly for the elbow drop, but used the high fly flow. Tanahashi was at ringside for this and looked livid. One rainmaker later and KUSHIDA was done, and Okada stood tall. This was a great match, with really good work as well as a nice pacing that made it easy to watch; it never felt long. Tanahashi was able to eliminate HASHI and Gedo before Okada eliminated him, which served its purpose to build to their rematch at WK 10. NJ books these matches well, they never get too complicated with it, and always advance what they need to while delivering a fun and high quality match.
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
