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Csonka’s NJPW Road to The Tokyo Dome Review 12.18.17
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Csonka’s NJPW Road to The Tokyo Dome Review 12.18.17
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– YLC Match: Syota Umino defeated Ren Narita @ 6:08 via submission [**½]
– YLC Match: Tomoyuki Oka defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi @ 7:13 via submission [**¾]
– YLC Match: Katsuya Kitamura defeated Hirai Kawato @ 6:12 via pin [***]
– KUSHIDA, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, & Masked Horse Taguchi defeated Desperado, TAKA Michinoku, Desperado, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru @ 8:44 via pin [**]
– Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Henare & Togi Makabe @ 6:48 via pin [***¼]
– EVIL & SANADA Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi @ 8:08 via pin [**½]
– Kota Ibushi, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, and Leo Tonga @ 10:34 via pin [**½]
– YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto defeated Takashi Iizuka & Minoru Suzuki @ 16:32 via DQ [*]
– BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, & Tetsuya Naito defeated Sho, Yoh, & Kazuchika Okada @ 15:06 via pin [***½]
– Follow all of my reviews at this link.
– Check out my full Young Lion’s Cup breakdown here.
– I looked at The Surprise of Jericho, Drink It In Man.
– My review of yesterday’s show is here.
Young Lions Cup Match: Syota Umino [2] vs. Ren Narita [0]: Narita is full of piss and vinegar here, taking the fight to Umino right away as he looks to get on the board. Umino battles back, but Narita grounds him and targets the inured/taped up leg. Smart work here by Narita, keeping the heat and working the leg. Unimo gets pissed and lays in chop and strikes, but gets cut off with the dropkick. The hip toss follows and then a backdrop gets 2. Narita looks for the crab and locks it in. Umino tries to fight, escapes and hits a missile dropkick and then the fall away elbow drop; he gets the crab and cranks back on the hold and scores the submission win. Syota Umino defeated Ren Narita @ 6:08 via submission [**½] This was a solid little opener, with Narita showing some more aggression and focused work but falling in the end
Young Lions Cup Match: Tomoyuki Oka [4] vs. Tetsuhiro Yagi [0]: They go to the ground right away for some grappling. They work back and forth, working some nice exchanges and Oka then taking control. Yagi, who is bald now from Suzuki partially shaving his head yesterday, keeps fighting and attacks the leg with a knee bar. Oka makes the ropes, but Yagi lays the boots to him and keeps attacking the knee. Good focus by Yagi here, grounding the more powerful Oka. Oka escapes, but he can’t follow up, allowing Yagi to continue his assault on the knee. Yagi starts slapping Oka around, he fires up and fights back, but Yagi hits a dropkick and slam for 2. Yagi locks in the crab, but Oka makes the ropes. They trade strikes, Oka fires up and hits forearms and a slam. Oka is frustrated, and hits a gut wrench suplex and then the crab. Yagi fights, but Oka cranks back and picks up the win. Tomoyuki Oka defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi @ 7:13 via submission [**¾] While similar in structure to the first match, I liked this one a bit more. Yagi was a pissed off little fella after having his hair cut and being forced to shave off the rest and that resonated well here as he really took the fight to Oka, who has been showing improved selling lately. The win keeps Oka in the mix for the YLC crown.
Young Lions Cup Match: Hirai Kawato [6] vs. Katsuya Kitamura [6]: Kawato fires up right away, laying in forearms and lighting up Kitamura with strikes. Kitamura cuts him off with shoulder blocks, and then starts pummeling him in the corner. The big hip toss gets 2. Kitamura controls, working the power game, and hitting a big gut wrench suplex for 2. Kawato cuts him off with the desperation dropkick, and follows with a missile dropkick for 2. Kawato works for an arm bar, transitions to the triangle but Kitamura powers up and powerbombs his way out, covering for 2 for a really good near fall. Kawato counters the jackhammer into a roll up for 2. Kitamura powers out of a small package, and hercs Kawato into he jackhammer for the win. Katsuya Kitamura defeated Hirai Kawato @ 6:12 via pin [***] As expected, Kitamura runs the table on his way to the final night. If he wins, he is the king of the lions, but he’ll face Oka, the other chosen one, and if Oka wins, he’ll take the crown. This was quite good as they played the size difference really well, kept the crowd interested and the homestretch was really fun and the way Kawato lost didn’t hurt him at all.
KUSHIDA, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, & Masked Horse Taguchi vs. Desperado, TAKA Michinoku, Desperado, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru: Taguchi pretends to be a horse and Suzuki-gun attacks. We get the traditional floor brawl as Taichi tries to unmask Taguchi. What an asshole. The mask comes off, and Taguchi is sad. He hits an ass attack and Liger tags in, shoteis for all and then the back breaker follows. He gets cut off and jumped in the Suzuki-gun corner as they clear the ring and take control. Taichi takes Liger back in, and chokes him out. Quick tags follow, as Kanemaru works over Liger. He rakes the eyes and heads up top, gets cut off and Liger hits the superplex. KUSHIDA tags in, he runs wild on Suzuki-gun and picks up a near fall on Kanemaru & Desperado. Kanemaru fights off the overboard lock, hitting a DDT. Desperado and Tiger Mask tag in, Desperado takes control, but gets cut off up top. Tiger Mask hits the super butterfly suplex and tiger driver for 2. Kicks follow and Taguchi is in, but misses the ass attack. Suzuki-gun works him over, but KUSHIDA make the save. TAKA attacks Taguchi, and it breaks down as bodies fly to the floor. Taguchi hits the BUM A YE on TAKA, and that’s good enough for the win. KUSHIDA, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, & Masked Horse Taguchi defeated Desperado, TAKA Michinoku, Desperado, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru @ 8:44 via pin [**] This was ok, filled with the usual Suzuki-gun brawling and comedy from Taguchi, which was too much the focus of this. The main complaint is that KUSHIDA really should have picked up the win as he’s the only one doing anything of importance at WrestleKingdom 12.
Henare & Togi Makabe vs. Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii: Makabe and Yano to begin. Makabe looks to attack, but Yano does the rope break spot. Makabe doesn’t give a shit, attacks anyway and tags in Henare. Ishii makes the save, tosses him to he floor and just beats the shit out of him. Back in and Yano slams him to he exposed buckle, and then Ishii tags in and lays in chops. Henare tries to rally and fire back, but Ishii pits a stop to that bullshit. Yano slams Henare to the exposed buckle again. Henare cuts him off with a flying forearm and tags in Makabe. He lays in strikes on Yano and follows with a lariat for 2. Clotheslines follow and Makabe covers for 2. Henare tags in, attacks Ishii but gets cut off by Yano. Ishii tags in, hits the Saito suplex and another. The third follows and that gets 2 as Makabe makes the save. he gets taken out, Henare slaps Ishii repeatedly and Ishii IS PISSED! Ishii lights him up, but Henare cuts him off with a lariat and spear for a good near fall. Henare follows with head butts, but Ishii counters. Makabe back in and hits a lariat, allowing Henare to cover for 2. Ishii and Henare trade head butts, and Ishii then destroys him with a lariat. Ishii is done fucking around and end Henare’s day with the brainbuster. Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Henare & Togi Makabe @ 6:48 via pin [***¼] That was a damn fine and hard hitting little sprint right there. Not only was it a ton of fun, but Henare has really grown during the WTL, working with great confidence and really upping his game, like here with his interactions with Ishii.
Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi vs. EVIL & SANADA: EVIL and Fale begin. EVIL actually uses his speed, hits a superkick and shoulder block to take Fale down. SANADA in but gets taken out by Yujiro as Fale slams EVIL. This leads to some floor brawling. Back in and Fale stomps out EVIL, and tags in Yujiro. Yujiro maintains the heat, grounding EVIL and following with a leg drop for 2. The sliding kick follows and Yujiro again covers for 2. EVIL fights back, and hits a fisherman’s buster and tags in SANADA, who takes Fale to the floor. He woks over Yujiro, and puts him in the paradise lock. The dropkick to the ass follows and he covers for 2. Yujiro manages to stun SANADA off the ropes, and Fale is back. They double-team SANADA, leading to Yujiro covering for 2. Fale takes EVIL to the floor and beats on him, back in and SANADA fights off Yujiro, EVIL returns and they work double teams, leading to the near fall as Fale accidentally splashes Yujiro. Fale gets tossed, and the magic Killer finishes Yujiro. EVIL & SANADA Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi @ 8:08 via pin [**½] EVIL & SANADA pick up the win, getting some payback for losing the trios titles, and re-establishing their momentum ahead of WrestleKingdom. The match was perfectly solid and accomplished its goal.
Kota Ibushi, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, and Leo Tonga: Tenzan ‘s ankle is so bad, I have no idea how he’s walking on it, it looks broken as he walks like, on the outside of it. It’s honestly disturbing. Tama and Ibushi begin. Tama looks to use his power, but Ibushi picks up the pace. Tama cuts him off, tags in Loa and Ibushi takes them out with double PELE kicks. The dada are in and attack Leo, and then workshops on Loa, and follow with double teams, and Tenzan covers for 2. Tenzan isolates Loa in the corner, hits a clothesline and then a suplex. The sons of Haku battle back, taking things to the floor and taking control of things. They isolate Tenzan in thier corner, and work quick tags. Tama in and mocks Tenzan by working Mongolian chops, but Tenzan cuts him off with a head butt and mountain bomb. Kijima tags in and lays in machinegun chops on Tama, Loa, and Leo. Tama’s woman-like screams are hilarious. Leo makes the save and the sons of Haku run wild, picking u a near fall on Kojima. Tama looks for gun stun, Kojima counters and hits a Koji cutter for the double down. Wholesale changes to Leo and Ibushi, he fights off Haku’s boys and hits the moonsault to the floor. Back in and the missile dropkick gets 2. Leo hits a big dropkick, cutting him off, and follows with the flatliner for 2. It breaks down, TenKoji cutter Tama, but Loa makes the save. Ibushi beats on Leo with strikes and kicks; he finishes things with the Kamigoye knee strike on Leo for the win. Kota Ibushi, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, and Leo Tonga @ 10:34 via pin [**½] This was another rock solid match, with the right guy winning and Leo continuing to grow and become more confident as a performer.
YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. Takashi Iizuka & Minoru Suzuki: Desperado, Taichi & Kanemaru are out with Suzuki & Iizuka. Suzuki attacks Goto during his entrance and teases cutting his hair. And we start with out big floor brawl, leading to Suzuki & Goto heading into the ring. HASHI tags in, and works over Suzuki. Iizuka cuts off HASHI with a chair shot, and this leads to more crowd brawling. Iizuka posts HASHI, as Desperado gets involved and posts Goto. Suzuki works the arm bar in the ropes on HASHI, and follows with kicks. Iizuka then bites HASHI as this is every Suzuki-gun tag from the WTL and this year as a whole. It would be one thing if these matches had tremendous heat, but they don’t, just random pops for the same repeated spots. Suzuki controls, takes out Goto, leading to more Iizuka biting. We finally break down into Goto & Suzuki, and Goto takes control with a spin kick and Saito suplex for 2. Goto then blocks the PK, and they trade strikes. Suzuki gets the sleeper, and then he and Iizuka work double teams. Iizuka uses his little rope to choke out Goto, and Suzuki hits a PK, covering for 2. Suzuki back to the sleeper, Goto fades but fights back up. Goto fights off the piledriver; HASHI then makes the save with a big lariat. Goto hits the ushigoroshi, and GTR before fighting off Iizuka. Goto locks on an arm bar, but Desperado runs in for the DQ as Suzuki-gun attacks and beats down Goto & HASHI. YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto defeated Takashi Iizuka & Minoru Suzuki @ 16:32 via DQ [*] 16-minutes of bullshit just to get to a DQ finish? Fucking trash of a match with a good post match angle.
– Suzuki finally accepted Goto’s challenge for a NEVER Openweight Championship match at WrestleKingdom 12, saying he wouldn’t just take Goto’s hair, but that he would end Goto. It appears to be a hair vs. hair match as Suzuki claimed that whoever wins the match will get the title and the clippers, all or nothing. They’ve done a really good job of building this, as Goto had almost been reduced to begging for a title match, but Suzuki continually refusing because Goto had nothing to offer him. That led to Goto offering to put his hair up and pressing for the match, which Suzuki finally gave in to and made it an all in scenario putting up his hair as well as the title. I really hope that their WrestleKingdom match is just the two with no Suzuki-gun bullshit.
– A man claiming to be Hiroshi Tanahashi appeared and apologized for not being able to wrestle due to his injury. He promised that he would be back for WrestleKingdom 12. This led to Jay White appearing and the two brawling. White attacked the knee and stood tall.
Sho, Yoh, & Kazuchika Okada w/Rocky Romero vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, & Tetsuya Naito: Naito showed a more serious side on yesterday’s show, as Okada keeps one upping him while Okada is damned and determined to prove he’s the #1 in all aspects. Naito attacks at the bell, and takes the action to the floor, whipping Okada to the barricade. Okada fights back, hits the boot and sends Naito into the front row. Back in they go and Okada hits a sliding kick, Sho & Yoh in and they attack, sending LIJ to the floor and then double-teaming Naito. Yoh follows with chops, but BUSHI gets in a cheap shot allowing Naito attack and LIJ rushes the ring and takes control. BUSHI tags in, and chokes out Yoh with his shirt. BUSHI follows with corner knees, and a neck breaker for 2. Takahashi tags in and lights up Yoh with vicious chops. BUSHI tags back in, and he delivers chops. The STF follows, as Takahashi & Naito send Sho & Okada to the floor. Naito tags in, he and BUSHI work double teams and pick up a near fall. Takahashi tags in, more chops for Yoh connect and then the clothesline and basement dropkick follow. Yoh fires back, but gets cut off. He counters a suplex, and hits an enziguri. Sho gets the hot tag, he runs wild and sends BUSHI to the floor. The RANA follows on Takahashi, and then repeated kicks connect and the cover gets 2. Takahashi fights off the German, and hits a pop up powerbomb. Wholesale changes to Naito and Okada, they work through some smooth counters, and Naito hits a basement dropkick. The neck breaker follows for 2. Naito hits the corner dropkick, sets Okada up top, but Okada counters out and looks for the tombstone, Naito escapes and Okada locks in the cobra clutch. Naito drops to the mat as BUSHI makes the save. Okada tosses him, slams Naito and heads up top. The elbow drop follows, and we get the rainmaker pose. Naito counters the rainmaker, and connects with the flying forearm. Yoh tags in, he fires away at Naito and does the deal with a falcon arrow for 2. Naito battles back, but Sho joins in and double teams on Naito follow for 2. BUSHI & Takahashi cut off 3k, but Okada makes the save and takes them out. German to Naito, but Naito cuts off Yoh and hits the spinebuster and Gloria for 2. LIJ clears the ring and destino finishes Yoh. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, & Tetsuya Naito defeated Sho, Yoh, & Kazuchika Okada @ 15:06 via pin [***½] This was another in a long line of very good LIJ vs. CHAOS tag matches, with Roppongi 3k looking great and the Okada vs. Naito interactions again getting more heated.
– Post match, Naito sends BUSHI & Takahashi away, and offers Okada a handshake, BUT IT’S A TRAP! Naito attacks, but Okada fights back and locks in his cobra clutch. Naito is like NOT TODAY MOTHERFUCKER, hits a pop up low blow and finally gets one up on Okada, laying him out with Destino.
YLC Tournament Standings (the finals are Thursday, with the Oka vs. Kitamura bout deciding the winner)
* Katsuya Kitamura 4–0 (8) pts.
* Hirai Kawato 3–1 (6) pts.
* Tomoyuki Oka 3–1 (6) pts.
* Ren Narita 2–2 (4) pts.
* Shota Umino 0-4 (0) pts.
* Tetsuhiro Yagi 0–4 (0) pts.
The WrestleKingdom 12 Card As Of Today
– IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito
– IWGP IC Title Match: IWGP IC Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay “Switchblade” White
– No DQ IWGP US Title Match: IWGP US Champion Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho
– IWGP Tag Team Title Match: IWGP Tag Team Champions The Killer Elite Squad vs. EVIL & SANADA
– Hair Vs. Hair NEVER Openweight Title Match NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki vs. Hirooki Goto
– IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Marty Scurll vs. KUSHIDA vs. Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi
– IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Roppongi 3K vs. The Young Bucks
– Cody vs. Kota Ibushi
-Thanks for reading.
– End scene.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
