Csonka’s NJPW Sengoku Lord Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview the NJPW Sengoku Lord event. Sengoku Lord isn’t a major event, but looks to be more high profile than a road to show. So today, I will break down and preview the show; thanks for reading! It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.”

Umino & Narita vs. Tsuji & Uemura: We start of with young lions action as senior lions Umino & Narita battle Tsuji & Uemura. Tsuji & Uemura have come along really well, growing as performers and constantly improving. These matches are usually good, and feature clean and crisp work so this should be a fun opener. I see the senior lions taking this one, with Umino likely picking up the pin since he’s the top of the class right now. WINNER: Umino & Narita

Nagata, Kojima, Honma, Henare & Liger vs. Suzuki, Taichi, Kanemaru, Desperado & Taka:This will be the usual Suzuki-gun battling unified babyfaces match, and if I were a betting man and I am, I see Suzuki-gun attacking prior to the match to take their traditional advantage. With Taichi having an upcoming title shot, and Despy & Kanemaru looking to get back into the title mix, this match feels like an opportunity to heat up Suzuki-gun ahead of that, with poor Henare likely taking the loss here after Suzuki tortures him properly. WINNER: Suzuki, Taichi, Kanemaru, Desperado & Taka

Makabe, Yano, & Dragon Lee vs. Tonga, Loa, & Ishimori: This is part of the setup for the upcoming tag title & junior title matches featuring these six men. While on the surface not a “big” match, it plays an important role to build to our title matches. It’s a bit of a toss-up in terms of picking a winner, due to both teams containing champions & challengers, and I like that it’s not easy to pick a winner. I think the faces take one from the Bullet Club trio here as Makabe & Yano could use the boost as challengers WINNER: Makabe, Yano, & Dragon Lee

Hirooki Goto & Taguchi vs. Jay White & Hikuleo: This is set up for the upcoming Jay White vs. Hirooki Goto singles match later in the month. There are a lot of people down on Goto, and while I do like to joke, I only do so because of how he’s been pigeonholed as always the bridesmaid and never the bride. But Goto is a guy that always delivers, doesn’t have bad matches with top guys, and while a failure in terms of being a world title challenger, does have a lot of credibility with the fans. With Jay White losing the IWGP Title, this feels like the beginning of his rehab tour to get him heated up prior to the 2019 G1. WINNER: Jay White & Hikuleo

Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI HASHI, Sho, & Yoh vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, BUSHI, SANADA, & Shingo: LIJ multi-man tags are usually a lot of fun, plus we’re building to the Big Tom vs. EVIL, Okada vs. SANADA, and 3K vs. Shingo & BUSHI’s matches that are booked. CHAOS continues to put on a good face as a unified force and while Okada has the title back, it just feels like something is missing with them. Meanwhile, LIJ are a unified force that have had no real issues. Naito and his boys will be looking to prove a point and also start the teases for Naito vs. Okada, which seems to be the direction most feel things are going. Whether that’s at Dominion or WrestleKingdom is unclear, but I feel that they go back to the match as it’s too big to pass up on. I see LIJ winning, with YOSHI HASHI likely falling to Naito or more likely SANADA. WINNER: Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, BUSHI, SANADA, & Shingo

Mikey Nicholls vs. Chase Owens: After being brought in for the NJ Cup and added to CHAOS, it feels that NJPW has plans for Mikey Nicholls, giving him a featured spot on this card. He faces off with the reliable Chase Owens here in a match I fear will to too long and be too evenly booked to properly showcase Nicholls. Hopefully, I am wrong about that and Nicholls puts in a dominating performance and looks good pulling off a win ahead of his upcoming match against Bad Luck Fale later this month. WINNER: Mikey Nicholls

IWGP US Champion Juice Robinson vs. Bad Luck Fale: To be completely honest with you, I’ve found Juice’s latest run with the title disappointing and not all that well booked. The win over Cody at WrestleKingdom should have been a bigger moment, but the match was disappointing due to Cody’s knee injury and match layout. And then there was Juice’s early exit from the NJ Cup and short program with Chase Owens, which gave us good, but overbooked matches. It doesn’t feel like Juice is any kind of focal point at all, he’s just a guy with a belt, and that’s a shame following the slow build and investment NJPW has done with him. And that’s what worries me here, because NJPW loves Fale and he gets his yearly moments/big wins and I can see him winning the title here in an overbooked mess of a match. Hopefully, I am wrong and they have a good showing here with Juice retaining. WINNER: US Champion Juice Robinson

IWGP IC Champion Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr: And this is what this card is all about for me as I am issuing the certified banger alert. Both men are top tier talents that always deliver in big matches, especially in the main event spot. Sabre is coming off a huge win over Tanahashi at the G1 Supercard event, and also a win over Ibushi in the NJ Cup. Ibushi beat Naito at the G1 Supercard event to take the title. While Sabre is a more than believable challenger and a threat to the championship, I really don’t see Ibushi losing the title already as it would feel like a huge mistake coming off of his huge wins over Naito. I see Ibushi retaining here in what should be an absolutely great match. WINNER: Champion Kota Ibushi

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 12. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka is joined by Jeremy Lambert Jr III. On the show, the guys will discuss the concept and execution of the WWE Superstar Shakeup, all the roster moves, and then discuss the topic of stars looking to leave WWE. The show is approximately 108 minutes long.

* Intro
* The format & execution of the Superstar Shakeup: 1:25
* Raw Shakeup: 8:50
* Smackdown Shakeup: 51:15
* Sasha Banks, Dean Ambrose, & Luke Harper Discussion: 79:25

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