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Csonka’s NJPW Road to Tokyo Dome Review 12.15.18
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Csonka’s NJPW Road to Tokyo Dome Review 12.15.18
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Teruaki Kanemitsu & Ren Narita vs. Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino went to a draw @ 15:00 [**¾]
– Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV, & Toa Henare @ 9:25 via pin [***¼]
– Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto defeated Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka @ 10:50 via pin [**½]
– EVIL & SANADA defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens @ 9:40 via pin [***]
– Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, & Shingo Takagi defeated Taichi, Kanemaru, & Desperado @ 13:45 via pin [***¼]
– Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Jay White, & Taiji Ishimori defeated Kazuchika Okada, Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Tomoaki Honma, & KUSHIDA @ 14:00 via pin [**½]
– Golden Lovers defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay @ 29:45 via pin [****¾]
– Follow all of my reviews at this link.
– You can check out my top 32 matches of NOVEMBER list at this link.
– Kevin Kelly & the good brother Chris Charlton are on commentary
– We’re in Korakuen Hall.
Teruaki Kanemitsu & Ren Narita vs. Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino: Kanemitsu is back from what many thought was a career ending neck injury. Umino and Kanemitsu work a fun grappling based opening stretch. Kanemitsu grounds things and Umino quickly turns things and locks on a side headlock. Kanemitsu counters and starts working the leg. Umino counters and transitions to arm work and Kanemitsu makes the ropes. Narita tags in and takes control, working a cravat. Kanemitsu tags back in and continues to isolate Umino. Umino picks up the pace, hits dropkicks, and tags in Yoshida. Yoshida takes control, lay the boots to Kanemitsu, and then grounds things. Kanemitsu makes the ropes, Umino tags back in and grounds things with a head scissors. The neck breaker follows for 2. Yoshida tags in, hits a slam, and another. Yoshida follows with strikes, Kanemitsu fire up and tags in Narita. He runs wild, and locks on a camel clutch. Yoshida makes the ropes, Narita hits running forearms and a belly to belly for 2. Yoshida hits the running kick, Unimo tags in, and Narita hits the dropkick and tags in Kanemitsu. Umino and Kanemitsu trade strikes, Kanemitsu follows with a slam and that gets 2. The crab follows, but Umino makes the ropes. He and Narita double team Umino, Kanemitsu locks on the crab but Yoshida makes the save. Umino dropkicks Kanemitsu, crab by Unimo, and time expires. Teruaki Kanemitsu & Ren Narita vs. Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino went to a draw @ 15:00 [**¾] This was a pretty good opener, with Kanemitsu getting to test himself in a nice lions draw. It’s really cool that he’s back.
Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV, & Toa Henare: Liger and Romero to begin, they work a fun opening stretch and even shake hands. Yoh and Henare tag in, they trade strikes and chops and then Yoh fires away with dropkicks and Sho joins in as they double team Henare. Henare cuts off Yoh, slams him into his partners, and hits a suplex. Tiger tags in, and he lays in kicks and dropkicks. The butterfly suplex follows for 2. Liger in and locks on the Romero special, and then tags Henare back in. Yoh fires up and tags in Romero. Romero hits a RANA, and the hits forever clotheslines on Henare. Henare fires back and hits the big spear. Tag to Sho, they fight over a suplex and Henare hits ahead butt. Tiger tags in, hits a cross body, and gets a knee bar. Tiger driver on Romero, kicks to Sho, Tiger takes him up top but Yoh makes the save. It breaks down, 3K take out Henare and Romero hits a suicide dive. Tiger fights off 3k, but they hit it the second time and put him away. Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV, & Toa Henare @ 9:25 via pin [***¼] This was a good and fun match, with everyone playing their roles well and 3k getting momentum ahead of the dome.
Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka: Wait for it… Suzuki-gun attacks before the bell and it led to big floor brawl. Suzuki kills some lions ad then beats the shit out of Goto. I mean, Suzuki is beating him like he owes him money. Back in the ring, Suzuki works the hanging arm bar, and then locks on a knee bar. He frees Iizuka and the biting has begun. Suzuki continues to beat on Goto until Goto hits a suplex and tags in Ishii, and he and Suzuki just kick the shit out of each other and it rules. They eventually work into a double down, Iizuka rushes in and he and Suzuki work over Ishii. Iizuka chokes out Ishii with his little rope, Goto makes the save, but Suzuki drags him to the floor. Iron fingers by Iizuka get cut off, he bites Ishii, and then Goto. Goto hits ushigoroshi and Ishii hits the brainbuster for the win. Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto defeated Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka @ 10:50 via pin [**½] This was solid overall, thanks to the Ishii vs. Suzuki portions.
EVIL & SANADA vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens: Owens and SANADA to begin. Owens takes him down looks for the parodies lock, but didn’t get it right so SANADA shows him how it’s done. EVIL and Yujiro tag in, they work into some counters as SANADA dumps Owens. Yujiro dumps him, and that allows he and Owens to double team EVIL. Yujiro lays in kicks, hits a running boot, and EVIL fires up and hits the fisherman’s buster and tags in SANADA. SANADA runs wild with RANAS and dropkicks, and then hits an apron cannonball. Yujiro fights out of skull end, and now Owens hits a running knee strike on SANADA. The enziguri and cutter follows as EVIL makes the save. darkness falls connects on Owens, Indie taker on Yujiro. The magic killer finishes it. EVIL & SANADA defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens @ 9:40 via pin [***] Good match here, and I loved EVIL & SANADA sending a message with some good old fashioned move stealing at the end.
Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, & Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi, Kanemaru, & Desperado: Wait for it… Suzuki-gun attacks before the bell and it led to big floor brawl. In the ring, Despy works over Shingo and that’s a bad idea as Shino lays in huge chops and shoulder tackles. BUSHI tags in or some good old fashioned shirt choking, and now Naito tags in and they continue to beat down Despy. Shingo tags back in to continue the beating, Kanemaru trips up Shingo and takes him to the floor as Taichi and Naito brawl into the crowd. Shingo gets busted open during the floor brawling. Back to the ring and Suzuki-gun isolates Shingo, and works triple teams, including using weapons. Shingo finally digs deep and fires up to make the comeback. BUSHI tags in, hits the missile dropkick and fight of the champions until her runs into a spinebuster. Naito tags in, he brawls with Taichi and hits the corner dropkick combo. Taichi fires back with kicks, and the pants are off and the big lariat connects. Despy and Kanemaru follow with double teams, Kanemaru gets cut off as Shino kills him with the pumping bomber. It break down, suicide dive by BUSHI, and destino finishes Kanemaru. Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, & Shingo Takagi defeated Taichi, Kanemaru, & Desperado @ 13:45 via pin [***¼] Good stuff here as the juniors id nice set up for their match and the Naito & Taichi stuff was fun.
– POST MATCH, A WILD JERICHO APPEARS and lays out LIJ with chair shots as his video plays as a distraction. He then lays out Naito with the code breaker and stands tall.
Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Jay White, & Taiji Ishimori vs. Kazuchika Okada, Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Tomoaki Honma, & KUSHIDA: Jado & Gedo are at ringside. They start off with the big brawl, Makabe runs with clotheslines and powerslam. KUSHIDA tags in, works over Ishimori and grounds the action. Jado distracts him and Bullet Club takes the fight to the floor. back in and Bullet Club takes the heat on KUSHIDA, with Fale tagging in and just tossing KUSHIDA around. Tonga tags in, gets in his shots, and tags in Loa. Tonga back in, KUSHIDA hits a backdrop, but Fale clears out his partners and misses a sit down splash. Ishimori back in and they trade strikes and kicks. KUSHIDA counters back, attacks the arm, and Okada and White are in, Okada runs wild on Bullet Club, DDTs White, but White fires back with a snap Saito for 2. Okada fights off blade runner, but gets suplexed to the buckles. Loa tags in and runs into a flapjack. Honma tags in and runs wild until he misses the falling kokeshi. GOD hits guerrilla warfare, but Yano makes the save. They take him out, work over Honma and look for the super bomb. Makabe makes the save, but gets dumped as it breaks down. Honma hits a pair of Kokeshi’s with Okada’s assistance, cane shot by Jado and Loa hits apeshit on Honma and wins. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Jay White, & Taiji Ishimori defeated Kazuchika Okada, Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Tomoaki Honma, & KUSHIDA @ 14:00 via pin [**½] It’s a variation on the same match they’ve been running, Bullet Club wins in a solid match and gloats afterwards. There’s nothing wrong with it really, it’s just extremely repetitive and it’s not all that good.
– Once again, Bullet Club lays out Okada & KUSHIDA post match.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi: Ibushi and Ospreay to begin. They immediately work into a series of fast paced counters, Ospreay clears the ring and Ibushi returns as they work into a stand off. Tanahashi and Omega tag in, they lock up and Tanahashi grounds things. They trade strikes and Tanahashi hits a high cross. Ospreay tags in and they double team Omega, with Ospreay taking control. Omega heels it up, choking out Ospreay with his shirt. Ibushi tags in, they trade strikes, and Omega now tags back in and chokes out Ospreay in the corner. Omega follows with chops and a slam, and then tags in Ibushi. Ibushi grounds things, working the injured ribs of Ospreay. Omega back in and he lays in body shots on Ospreay. Ospreay fires back with a back handspring kick and tags in Tanahashi. They trade strikes, Tanahashi hits a dropkick, and the senton gets 2. Omega counters sling blade, but Tanahashi gets a dragon screw. Ibushi in and stops the cloverleaf, he and Omega work double teams, and then dump Ospreay to the floor. Cross slash follows. Back in and double teams follow and Ospreay then powerbombs Omega into Ibushi. Tanahashi and Omega trade strikes, Omega hits a snapdragon but Tanahashi rebounds into sling blade. Ibushi and Ospreay tag in, and they trade until Ospreay hits the springboard forearm and running shooting star for 2. They continue to trade, German by Ibushi gets 2. Omega in and Ospreay hits the stunner, but then runs into V trigger. Omega charges and runs into a Spanish fly. Ospreay hits the Robinson special, heads up top and Ibushi cuts him off, looks for a SUPER RANA but Ospreay lands on his feet and they tart trading strikes & kicks. They work into some sweet counters and Ibushi follows with a lariat. Sling blade by Omega to Tanahashi. They light up Tanahashi with knee strikes, and Ospreay fights off golden showers with a Spanish fly on both! High fly flow by Tanahashi, shooting star press by Ospreay and that gets 2. My word. Ospreay looks for storm breaker, but Iomega hits a reverse RANA, last rind by Ibushi and jay Driller by Omega; Ospreay is dead. V trigger on Ospreay, but he counters one winged angel into a RANA for 2. Hook kick, oscutter cut off and Ibushi kicks Omega by accident! These four are going nuts, Korakuen is going nuts, and I’m going nuts here. The lovers hit an indie taker, but Tanahashi makes the save. The golden trigger finally puts Ospreay away. Golden Lovers defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay @ 29:45 via pin [****¾] THIS MATCH FUCKING RULED AND YOU NEED TO DROP EVERYTHING AND GO WATCH IT NOW. On December 15th, the last NJPW show of 2018, they put on what was the ultimate preview for WrestleKingdom 13 in Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi. This match had almost everything you could want, amazing work, and an amazingly hot crowd, near perfect built for both matches as they all worked together to create something special. I didn’t need sold on either singles match, I was already in big time on both, but this tag match ruled the fucking school and now, now I can’t wait for the 4th. If this match is any indication of what’s to come, we’re in for some really special stuff come January 4th.
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
