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Csonka’s NJPW Road to WRESTLING DONTAKU Review 4.27.17

April 27, 2017 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Minoru Suzuki NJPW G1 Climax 27 Non-WWE GCW
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Csonka’s NJPW Road to WRESTLING DONTAKU Review 4.27.17  

Csonka’s NJPW Road to WRESTLING DONTAKU Review 4.27.17

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Jushin Liger, Hirai Kawato & Tomoyuki Oka defeated Tiger Mask, Syota Umino & Katsuya Kitamura @ 8:27 via pin [**¾]
– Will Ospreay & Toru Yano defeated Taka Michinoku & El Desperado @ 5:20 via pin [**½]
– David Finlay, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Chase Owens, Tanga Loa, & Tama Tonga @ 7:15 via submission [**¾]
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match: Beretta & Rocky Romero defeated Champions Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru @ 17:05 via pin [***¼]
– Yoshitatsu, Ricochet, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, & Juice Robinson defeated EVIL, BUSHI, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, & Hiromu Takahashi @ 12:10 via pin [***¾]
– Bullet Club defeated CHAOS @ 13:25 via pin [**½]
NEVER Openweight Title Match: Minoru Suzuki defeated Champion Hirooki Goto @ 24:25 via pin [***]


Takashi Iizuka is off the rest of the tour, due to a fractured ankle.

Jushin Liger, Hirai Kawato & Tomoyuki Oka vs. Tiger Mask, Syota Umino & Katsuya Kitamura: Junior dads anchoring young lion teams to kick things of. We actually got to hear Tiger Mask’s music tonight, as it was undubbed. Liger and Tiger Mask started things off, with Liger being sent to the floor and Tiger mask hitting a suicide dive. Back in Liger hit the back breaker and worked the Romero special. Kawato tagged in, but Tiger Mask quickly fought him off and tagged in Umino. Umino and Kitamura then worked quick tags, with Kitamura laying in big chops in the corner. Liger in to slap around Kawato and fire him up, but Tiger Mask tagged back in and maintained control of things. Kawato fought back, hitting Kitamura with the dropkick and tagging Oka in. Oka tried to beat down Kitamura; it broke down into a hoss striking battle until Oka hit an overhead belly to belly. It then broke down, we got brawling on the floor as Kitamura and Oka continued to battle in the ring. Umino rushed in, attacking Oka and hitting the dropkick for 2. Oka cuts that off, hitting a spinebuster and then looking for the crab but Umino made the ropes. Oka then hit the powerslam, and locked in the crab as things broke down again. Umino had to tap. Jushin Liger, Hirai Kawato & Tomoyuki Oka defeated Tiger Mask, Syota Umino & Katsuya Kitamura @ 8:27 via pin [**¾]

This was pretty good overall, but for the most part it was the regular quality opener. Liger & Tiger Mask were on the backburner so that the kids had time to work and shine.

Will Ospreay & Toru Yano vs. Taka Michinoku & El Desperado: With Iizuka out due to his broken ankle, Jado was pulled from this match to make it a regular tag. Ospreay and Desperado started things off, Ospreay used his speed to take control, hitting a RANA and superhero pose; Yano tossed Taka and posed with Ospreay. Taka and Desperado attacked and then took things to the floor. Taka took control of things, working over Ospreay in his corner and then tagging Desperado in. They kept Ospreay isolated, but he fought back and made the hot tag. Yano undid the buckle pad right away, and then another and hit both Taka and Desperado with them. Yano then whipped both of them to the exposed buckles, low blowed Taka and tagged in Ospreay; the OsCutter finished Taka. Will Ospreay & Toru Yano defeated Taka Michinoku & El Desperado @ 5:20 via pin [**½] They got in, they got out and it was shirt fun and completely solid; the bigger story has been that after months of doing fuck all with him, Ospreay has been racking up wins and gaining momentum ahead of the BOTSJ tournament.

David Finlay, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Chase Owens, Tanga Loa, & Tama Tonga: Bullet Club attacked at the bell, but Kojima and Tenzan would have none of that bullshit, quickly fighting back and taking control. That led to a spirited back and forth between Owens & Finlay, until the Guerrillas pulled Finlay to the floor, beat him down, allowing Owens to score with a dive. Owens & Finlay brawled on the floor for a bit, but then worked back into the ring where Bullet Club mocked Tenzan’s Mongolian chops. They then mocked Kojima’s rapid-fire corner chops. The dads are fucking pissed. Kojima got the tag, and he ran wild, showing Bullet Club how this shit is done. RAPID-FIRE CHOPS FOR ALL! Bullet Club cut him off, Tonga called for a lariat, but ran into a koji cutter. Tenzan tagged in and had a nice plate of chops ready for Bullet Club, and then it a suplex and covered for a near fall on Owens. It broke down, Bullet Cub worked over Tenzan until Kojima & Finlay made the save. Owens then ran into the TenKoji cutter, and Tenzan locked in the anaconda vice for the win. David Finlay, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Chase Owens, Tanga Loa, & Tama Tonga @ 7:15 via submission [**¾] Another pretty good match, with some fun aspects like Bullet Club stealing TeKoji’s signature stuff to add some heat to the upcoming tag title match.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match: Champions Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Beretta & Rocky Romero: Desperado is cornering the champions. The champions stall to begin, Taichi goes after the bell hammer, allowing Desperado & Kanemaru to attack and take control. Beretta & Romero quickly fight back, and hit dropkicks and then look for dives, but Desperado gets in the way. They get rid of him and Beretta scores with a great looking dive, Taichi then hides behind his lady friend, allowing Kanemaru to attack Beretta We get the floor brawl, and then back in the ring, the champions took the heat on Beretta. It was short and not all that effective, Beretta fought back but Taichi pulled Romero to the floor to stop the tag as Desperado got involved again, Jado & Gedo then arrived to run him off, where the fuck were you guys 7-minutes ago? Back o the ring, Beretta avoids the bell hammer shot and hits the superkick. Hot tag to Romero, who hits a high cross and RANA; the forever clotheslines follow. Taichi countered sliced bread, allowing Kanemaru to come in and even the odds, Big superkick by Taichi gets 2 on Romero. Kanemaru and Romero go back and forth, but Beretta returns and we get double knees to Kanemaru, RPG Vice then hits the knee strike/burning hammer combo for a near fall. Taichi now tapes the bell hammer to his boot, kicks Beretta in the head and Kanemaru hits the moonsault for a close 2. Kanemaru & Taichi look to double team Beretta, Romero makes the save and we get a tower of doom spot. Romero works over Taichi, talking shit to him and then sends him to the floor. Beretta & Kanemaru battle back and forth, Beretta fires up but runs into a head kick and a German. Kanemaru hits a tornado DDT for a near fall. Romero returns, hits a top rope RANA on Kanemaru, and wipes out Taichi with a dive; strong zero finishes it and we have new champions. Beretta & Rocky Romero defeated Champions Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru @ 17:05 via pin [***¼] I still think that all of the interference on the Kanemaru & Taichi matches does more harm than good, but at least here is was used to have Roppongi Vice not only survive, but overcome and get their final revenge and win the titles back. Overall I enjoyed and thought this was good with the right result.

– Post match, Romero tells Taichi, Kanemaru and all of Suzuki-gun to hit the bricks because no one wants them here. Romero then lays out a challenge to the Young Bucks.

Yoshitatsu, Ricochet, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, & Juice Robinson vs. EVIL, BUSHI, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, & Hiromu Takahashi: This is here to build to Ricochet vs. Takahashi, EVIL vs. Tanahashi & Juice vs. Naito. LIJ tried to sneak attack Tanahashi & Friends, but they saw it coming. We still go the big brawl to begin, with LIJ taking tem to the floor and everyone appropriately pairing off. Back in the ring, LIJ looked to isolate the weakest one n the pack, which is Tatsu. But TaguChi was there to help and they double-teamed BUSHI as the others returned; Taguchi called the plays and we got the rapid-fire attacks on BUSHI in the corner. BUSHI managed to fight back, slamming Tatsu’s face into Taguchi’s ass. Taguchi celebrated, not knowing what happened and that allowed LIJ to beat him down.

SANADA then worked over Taguchi, tied him up in a ball as Naito and BUSHI took out Tatsu. Takahashi then dropkicked Taguchi in the ass as he was still tied up in the middle of the ring. Taguchi finally fought off EVIL, and got the hot tag to Ricochet. He ran wild, brining some great energy to the match. Ricochet has kicks for days, hits a 619 and springboard forearm on Takahashi and then tagged in Tanahashi, he and EVIL battled, with Tanahashi hitting the dragon screw leg whip. EVIL then cut him off with the lariat. Juice and Naito get the tags, leading to Juice and Ricochet double teaming Naito and scoring a near fall. Naito fights off the powerbomb, attacks the knee but runs into the spinebuster. It breaks down and Juice hits the powerbomb for a great near fall. Naito counters out of pulp friction, and hits the tornado DDT for 2. SANADA tags in and LIJ then work over Juice, with SANADA covering for 2. SANADA locks in skull end, but Tanahashi makes the save as we work into the big move buffet. Ricochet then hits a big dive to the floor, and Juice goes back and forth with SANADA, hits pulp friction and picks up the win. Yoshitatsu, Ricochet, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, & Juice Robinson defeated EVIL, BUSHI, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, & Hiromu Takahashi @ 12:10 via pin [***¾] Hell of a little sprint right there, with Juice picking up the important win ahead of challenging Naito this weekend. This was tons of fun.

CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada) vs. Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi, Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale): This is here to build to Omega vs. Ishii & Okada vs. Fale. Fale attacked Okada, allowing Yujiro to attack and take the early control. Okada quickly fought back, sending Fale to the floor. Okada & HASHI then worked over Yujiro, with HASHI grounding him and tagging in Ishii. He laid in chops, Omega then got the blind tag, tried to use HASHI’s cane but accidentally hit Yujiro, Bullet Club cleared HASHI & Okada to the floor as Omega took control on Ishii. Fale tags in and slowly beats down Ishii, and allows Omega to attack before they triple team Ishii in their corner. Yujiro back in for a bit, takes Ishii to his corner so that Omega can work him over. Ishii fires up, and attacks all of his opponents, but Fale cuts him off. Ishii counters an Omega suplex and they blow a RANA spot with Omega landing his head, it looked like Ishii was going to counter with a powerbomb, but it did not go well at all.

Ishii gets the tag to Okada; he runs wild on Yujiro and hits the DDT and running uppercut for 2. Yujiro rakes the eyes and hits the fisherman’s buster, and Fale tags in. Uppercuts by Okada he looks for the tombstone but Fale fights it off, hitting a Samoan drop for 2. They work into a double down and HASHI tags in. HASHI has some success against Fale as CHAOS triple teams him, HASHI then looks for the butterfly lock and has it. Yujiro makes the save, Omega then hits a lean RANA on Ishii but runs into a lariat. HASHI avoids the grenade and hits a lariat on Fale for 2. Fale then levels HASHI with a lariat and takes out Okada, tombstone on HASHI and that is that. Bullet Club defeated CHAOS @ 13:25 via pin [**½] It was fine, but felt off much of the rime and never locked into a smooth flow of action; the good news is that Fale picked up another win and keeps his momentum

– Bullet Club beats down CHAOS post match.

NEVER Openweight Title Match: Champion Hirooki Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki: Desperado is out with Suzuki. Slow beginning, feeling more like an MMA fight or grappling bout, with both guys taking their time and looking for an advantage. Suzuki then fires up with strikes, hits a running boot but Goto hits a shoulder block and grounds Suzuki. Suzuki makes the ropes for the break, and they brawl to the floor and into the crowd, Suzuki then attacks with a chair, choking out Goto. Desperado then gets involved, attacking Goto. Back to ringside and Suzuki continues his attack, the ref backs him off as Desperado attacks again. They return to the ring, where Suzuki lays in some kicks and then starts to attack the arm. Goto gets the ropes for a break. Suzuki looks to work more kicks, but Goto blocks that and attacks. Suzuki cuts him off with forearm strikes, but Goto hits a big lariat. The Saito suplex follows for 2. Goto follows with ground and pound, and works a guillotine. Suzuki makes the ropes, but Goto lays the boots to him only for Suzuki to get pissed, Suzuki then hits the corner kick and PK, the cover gets 2. Suzuki goes right back to the arm, cranking away at the arm bar, but Goto makes the ropes. Suzuki then lays in a series of kicks to the arm and shoulder, forearms follow but Goto keeps firing back, unfortunately doing so with the arm Suzuki has been torturing. Suzuki is almost amused by Goto’s attempts to fight back, and they again trade strikes; Suzuki slaps Goto, but Goto hits a neck breaker to cut him off, before rolling into a submission of his own, but Suzuki escaped. Suzuki then countered the ushigoroshi, but Goto hit a head butt and corner clothesline to keep control. Goto fights off Desperado and hits the top rope elbow drop for the near fall. Suzuki again counters the ushigoroshi into a guillotine and then a sleeper. He looks for the Gotch piledriver, but Goto fights and escapes. Back to the sleeper for Suzuki, but Goto finally hits the ushigoroshi. Fucking Desperado distracts Goto, Goto send him to the floor and looks for the GRT but Suzuki escapes and hits a dropkick. Mounted rights by Suzuki follow and then kicks. The ref pulls him off, allowing Desperado to hit Goto with a chair shot. Suzuki with rapid-fire strikes now, the sleeper follows and Goto fades, Gotch piledriver follows and we have a new champion. Minoru Suzuki defeated Champion Hirooki Goto @ 24:25 via pin [***] An overall good, but far from great main event. In many ways I found it very disappointing, they worked hard and created a good atmosphere, but the interference (much like in the Jr tag title match) has far passed its expiration date, and when you add onto the fact that Goto largely no sold the arm work and that all of that time invested didn’t play into the finish, those are the main reasons that this greatly under achieved.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

6.8
The final score: review Average
The 411
I think that the show did a good job of setting up the future matches, which is its #1 goal. Roppongi Vice winning the junior tag titles was really needed, and hopefully they can string together some fun matches until the Bucks return. The show peaked with LIJ vs. Tanahashi & Friends, and in my opinion is honestly the only must see thing on the show. Suzuki could be fun as NEVER champion and I love the guy, but the Suzuki-gun bullshit is killing the big matches they are in. This was a very solid show that I feel could have been better with some minor changes.
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