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Csonka’s NJPW Southern Showdown in Melbourne 2019 Review
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Csonka’s NJPW Southern Showdown in Melbourne Review
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Toa Henare, Shota Umino, & Nick Bury defeated Mark Tui, Andrew Villalobos, & Michael Richards @ 10:45 via pin [**½]
– Slex defeated Aaron Solow @ 11:15 via pin [***¼]
– Toru Yano & Yoh defeated Taiji Ishimori & Gino Gambino @ 9:45 via pin [**¾]
– Big Tom Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens @ 9:55 via pin [***]
– RevPro British Cruiserweight Title Match: Champion El Phantasmo defeated Rocky Romero @ 18:50 via pin [***½]
– IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Champions Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa defeated Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls @ 14:40 via pin [**¾]
– IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Champion Will Ospreay defeated Robbie Eagles @ 34:10 via pin [****½]
– Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Jay White & Bad Luck Fale @ 20:00 via pin [**¾]
– Follow all of my reviews at this link.
Toa Henare, Shota Umino, & Nick Bury vs. Mark Tui, Andrew Villalobos, & Michael Richards: Bury is replacing Ren Narita (travel issues). Narita and Villalobos, begin, working to the mat an grappling. Bury and Tui tag in and they put over that Bury took the booking on 90-minutes notice, he’s also a Fale dojo graduate. He lays in strikes, but Tui cuts him off with a shoulder tackle. Richards tags in and continues the heat on Bury, and then Villalobos, tags in and hits a dropkick. Richards back in and the back elbow connects for 2. Villalobos, back in and lays the boots to Bury. Tui tags in as Fale’s boys maintain control. Bury starts to battle back, hits an enziguri and tags in Umino. He runs wild with strikes, hits dropkicks, and a suplex for 2. He locks on the crab as Henare plays defense. Richards makes the ropes, and they trade strikes. Umino fires up but Richards hits a desperation lariat. Tags to Villalobos, and Henare, Villalobos, works him over and hits a suplex for 2. Henare cuts him off with the uranage, follows with rampage and gets 2. Villalobos fires back, they trade and Henare cuts him off and hits the uranage for the win. Toa Henare, Shota Umino, & Nick Bury defeated Mark Tui, Andrew Villalobos, & Michael Richards @ 10:45 via pin [**½] This was a solid young lions style opener.
Slex vs. Aaron Solow: They lock up and Slex grounds things. They scramble, Solow hits a back elbow and follows with a dropkick. He follows with strikes, Slex picks up the pace and he hits the dropkick. He follows with chops, strikes and Solow fires back but Slex hits the slingshot back breaker and follows with a suicide dive. Back in and Slex looks for a superplex, but Solow slips out and hits a tower of London for 2. Solow lays the boots to him, but Slex fires back with chops. Solow cuts him off, and covers for 2. Solow lays the boots to him again, follows with strikes, but Slex hits an enziguri. The tornado DDT follows for 2. He lays in strikes, they trade and Slex hits three seconds around the world for 2. Slex then springboards but flies into a superkick and Solow covers for 2. Solow heads up top and Slex cuts him off. He follows him up and hits the superplex for 2. Solow then cradles him for 2. Hits the double stomp, heads up top and hits another and that gets 2. Slex battles back and hits the disaster kick. Trouble in paradise finishes Solow. Slex defeated Aaron Solow @ 11:15 via pin [***¼] This was a good match and showing from both guys, with Slex showing tons of potential again.
Toru Yano & Yoh vs. Taiji Ishimori & Gino Gambino: Sho and Gedo were originally scheduled as this was a trios match, but Sho had travel issues. Yano and Gambino begin. They lock up and work to the ropes. Yano begs off and goes for the buckle pad, but Gambino attacks. Yano fires back, hides in the ropes and Gambino then attacks. The bear hug follows, but Yano makes the ropes. Ishimori tags in and grounds the action and chokes out Yano. Yano makes the ropes, Gambino tags in and hits a slam, covering for 2. He keeps going for covers, but Yoh makes the save. Gambino follows with strikes, tags in Ishimori and he grounds things again. Yano gets the hair grab takedown, and tags in Yoh. Yoh runs wild, Gambino in and Yoh dumps him and dragon screws Ishimori. The bridging suplex follows for 2. Ishimori counters back, and hits the sliding German. The enziguri follows and Yoh cuts him off with a flying forearm. Ishimori counters back with the back handspring kick, and we get wholesale changes to Yano and Gambino. Gambino and Yano fight with the buckle pads, allowing Bullet Club to take control until Yoh makes the save. Yoh gets dumped, Gambino works over Yano and then gets tossed to the exposed buckle, low blow, and cradled by Yano for the win. Toru Yano & Yoh defeated Taiji Ishimori & Gino Gambino @ 9:45 via pin [**¾] This was pretty good, with the usual Yano shenanigans, and a fun vibe to it.
Big Tom Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens: Bullet Club attacks before the bell, dumping Ishii and isolating Yano. HASHI fires back with chops, and then Owens cuts off the draping dropkick. Ishii back in, HASHI hits the neck breaker and then gets stunned off the ropes. Owens in and knocks Ishii to he floor. Owens teases going high risk, but opts for a back rake and gets a playful “holy shit” chant. Bullet Club now double teams HASHI, and the cover gets 2. Owens grounds the action, but HASHI battles back and hits an enziguri. Tag to Ishii and Owens fires away with strikes but Big Tom no sells him and Ishii fires back and starts lighting him up. He follows with chops, fights off Yujiro and Germans Owens. Owens manages to Russian Leg sweep him to he buckles, but Ishii fires up with strikes and Yujiro joins in and they double team Ishii. Owens follows with a knee strike, forearm strike and dragon suplex. He V trigger connects and the jewel heist gets 2. He looks for the package piledriver, HASHI makes the save and Owens dumps him as Ishii fires back. Superkick by Owens, but he runs into a lariat for 2. The brainbuster finishes Owens. Big Tom Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens @ 9:55 via pin [***] This was a good tag match where Owens got to shine before finally falling to Ishii, who looked great as usual while HASHI was limited in action.
RevPro British Cruiserweight Champion El Phantasmo vs. Rocky Romero: Phantasmo attacks at the bell but Romero battles back with a RANA and takes him to he floor. He follows with chops, working him over and rolling him back in. Phantasmo begs off but Romeo lays in kicks and rights. Romero follows with a double sledge, but Phantasmo rakes the eyes. Romero cuts him off and they trade strikes. Phantasmo lays in chops, Romero winds up and pokes the eyes. He does it again, and then starts attacking the arm and grounds the action. Forever clotheslines follow until Phantasmo cuts him off, puts him in the tree of WHOA and stomps on his balls repeatedly. Phantasmo then grounds the action, and follows with the lionsault for 2. Romero fights off the suplex, dumping Phantasmo on the ropes and follows with kicks. Phantasmo fights him off and hits a moonsault to the floor. Back in and Phantasmo chokes him out and grounds the action. The ropewalk follows, but Romero crotches him. Phantasmo hangs on the ropes and Romero hits coast to coast on Phantasmo. He follows with strikes, a RANA and then forever clotheslines until Phantasmo hits the Argentine cutter for 2. CR2 is countered with a RANA into a cradle for 2. The tornado DDT follows and then the Diablo arm bar is applied, they work into counters and Romero cradles him for 2. They trade strikes, Phantasmo follows with kicks and Romero fires back with slaps, and a lariat. He turns him inside out with another, and sliced bread follows for 2. Phantasmo now counters sliced brad but Romero counters the tombstone into an inverted destroyer! Of course the stream dies here, and we come back to Phantasmo winning. Champion El Phantasmo defeated Rocky Romero @ 18:50 via pin [***½] This was really good stuff that played off of their BOSJ meeting extremely well and had a hot crowd.
IWGP Tag Team Champions Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls: Jado is at ringside. Loa and Nicholls begin. They lock up and separate. Lock up again, they work to the ropes and separate. Lock up and they trade shoulder tackles. Loa fires away with strikes but Nicholls hits a shoulder tackle and Juice takes out Tonga and follows him to the floor as Nicholls brawls with Loa. They brawl at ringside and into the crowd, with Juice being sent into a barricade. The champions take control and as Juice gets backdropped onto the ramp. The champions now double team Nicholls. Loa grounds things with strikes, and follows with clotheslines and a running boot for 2. Tonga tags in and double teams follow. Tonga lays in elbow strikes, and covers for 2. Loa back in and hits the senton atomico. Nicholls fires back, and hits a DDT. Juice tags in and lays in the jabs on both. The leg lariat connects and Tonga fights off pulp friction as Jado gets in a kendo shot. Tonga dumps him and Loa attacks on the floor as Jado gets in cheap shots. Back in and Tonga covers for 2. The suplex follows for 2. Loa tags in and grounds the action. Tonga takes out Nicholls and double teams follow on Juice. Loa now hits the powerslam and that gets 2. Tonga tags back in and Juice fights back and makes the tag. Nicholls runs wild with clotheslines, hits the spinebuster and sliding lariat for 2. Nicholls clotheslines both, Juice is back and they lay in corner clotheslines and Nicholls hits the big ending and Juice follows with a senton. They double team Tonga and Loa makes the save. Juice heads up top and Jado distracts him, gets taken out and Tonga hits the gun stun. Loa hits a belt shot and Tonga cradles Nicholls with the tights for the win. Champions Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa defeated Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls @ 14:40 via pin [**¾] This was pretty good, but ultimately boiled down to the usual Bullet Club bullshit at the end and never got out of second gear, and was a typical GOD title defense..
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay vs. Robbie Eagles: Phantasmo is at ringside. The crowd is very pro Eagles as he tells Phantasmo to go to the back, so he sits at ringside. They lock up and work to the ropes. Lock up again, back to the ropes and they separate. They work into fast paced counters and end in a stand off. Eagles attacks with kicks, and they trade shoulder tackles. Ospreay drops him with chops, they pick up the pace and Eagles hits a dropkick and follows with a suicide cannonball. Eagles now follows with chops, and back in Eagles covers for 2. He lays in more chops, hits the sliding dropkick and again covers for 2.ospreay cuts him off and chops him to the floor. He follows him out and delivers strikes and then hits the flying forearm off the barricade. Ospreay posts Eagles, rolls him back in and follows with strikes and the drive by kick. He now follows with strikes, and follows with a slam and knee drop for 2. More chops by Ospreay follow, and he then delivers strikes and the hesitation dropkick gets 2. Ospreay grounds the action, Eagles fires up and lays in kicks. He cradles Ospreay for 2. The tornado DDT follows and then a sliding dropkick connects. Eagles hits double knees, but Ospreay fires back with a knee strike but Eagles cuts him off with an apron double stomp. He posts the knee of Ospreay, and back in missile dropkicks the knee. The 619 follows, and the springboard clothesline follows for 2. Eagles now lays in kicks, hits the shin breaker, and Ospreay is down. Eagles keeps attacking the knee, but Ospreay rebounds with the back handspring kick. He follows with an enziguri, 619 and the springboard forearm gets 2. Ospreay misses a kick, Eagles attacks the knee but Ospreay hits a desperation enziguri. He follows with kicks, and the cover gets 2. Ospreay counters sliced bread, they work up top and Eagles knocks him off but Ospreay hits the PELE. Eagles is in the tree of WHOA, they trade slaps and Ospreay kicks him repeatedly in the face. Back up top and Eagles fights him off, but Ospreay dropkicks him to the floor. The huge corkscrew moonsault connects. Ospreay looks for the countout win but Eagles makes it back in but eats a dropkick and the reverse bloody Sunday gets 2. The Robinson special follows. Eagles counters oscutter into an avalanche sliced bread and both men are down. They trade strikes now as the crowd tries to rally Eagles. Ospreay fires away with kicks, counters turbo backpack and follows with the Liger bomb for a great near fall. Ospreay heads up top, Phantasmo distracts him and Eagles attacks and hits the SUPER RANA. The 450 misses, Ospreay follows with a hook kick and takes him up top with Eagles on his shoulders for a super iconoclasm for a great near fall. Phantasmo slides a chair in, but Ospreay kicks it out and Phantasmo distracts him only for Eagles to hit a suicide dive onto Phantasmo. Back in and the 450 to the knee follows, and turbo backpack follows for 2.The Ron Miller special follows. Ospreay fights out, but Eagles locks it on again. Ospreay fights for the ropes but Eagles grabs an arm but Ospreay makes the ropes. Eagles then springboard s into a cutter, and the oscutter follows but Phantasmo pulls out the ref. He attacks Ospreay, Eagles stops him from using the belt and Ospreay takes out Phantasmo. Eagles has the belt, tosses it to the ref and they come face to face and trade strikes. Eagles takes control, follow with kicks, and but Ospreay counters turbo backpack with a dragon suplex and Essex destroyer for 2. Storm breaker is countered, but Ospreay hits the hook kick but Eagles counters storm breaker with a RANA. The tornado DDT follows for a great near fall. Eagles fire up and hits the 450 to the leg and Osprey then cradles him off the Ron Miler for 2. Eagles runs into the Spanish fly, Ospreay up top and the shooting star press gets 1! THA FUCK? Hidden blade and storm breaker finally finishes it. Champion Will Ospreay defeated Robbie Eagles @ 34:10 via pin [****½] This was an excellent piece of professional wrestling, properly paying tribute to their past matches, creating great hooks in terms of teasing an Eagles win, delivering amazing action, and also playing off of the established angel with Eagles and Phantasmo. I could have done without the Phantasmo involvement, but it never hurt the match and played a big part in the story, which was Eagles looking to prove himself and win on his own. Ospreay delivers again, and this should without question make Eagles a made man in NJPW as he was also excellent here. The Eagles angle with Bullet Club/Phantasmo also continues to be one of if not the best angles in NJPW right now. This should have main evented the show.
– Post match, Eagles lays out Phantasmo and shakes hands with Ospreay.
Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White & Bad Luck Fale: Gedo is at ringside. Fale and Okada begin. They lock up and work to the ropes, and we get a clean break. Lock up again, and Fale fires away with strikes but Okada hits the sliding dropkick. Fale cuts him off and tags in White. Tanahashi joins him and White powders. Back in and they lock up, and Tanahashi grounds the action. White fights to his feet, they work to the ropes and White gets in a cheap shot and follows with chops. Tanahashi fires back and follows with a high cross, but White then dumps him to the floor as Fale attacks Okada. White lays in chops on the floor, and rolls back in as Fale attacks Tanahashi. He rolls him back in and White tags in Fale. Fale works over Tanahashi in the ropes, Tanahashi fires back but Fale cuts off the sunset flip with the sit-down splash for 2. White back in and follows with a neck breaker for 2. They trade strikes, but White hits the dragon screw and follows with the Muta lock. Okada makes the save, but Fale dumps him. Fale now tags in and follows with clotheslines. He then stomps on him, Tanahashi fires back, avoids a charge and dropkicks the knee. Okada tags in and runs wild on Fale, hits the DDT and running elbow. Fale fights off the slam, but Okada hits it the second time and covers for 2. Gedo distracts Okada, allowing Fale to cut him off and tag White in. The snap Saito follows, they work into counters, and Okada hits the air raid neck breaker. Tag to Tanahashi, and he lays in strikes on White. The dragon screw follows, but White cuts off the cloverleaf and lays in chops. Tanahashi fires up, but White hits the German and the twister follows for 2. The uranage follows that for 2. Tanahashi counters blade runner, and hits twist and shout. Tags to Okada and Fale, Okada hits John Wooooooo and teases a tombstone but Fale cuts him off. Fale hits the corner splash and running splash for 2. Okada counters the grenade, it breaks down and Fale clotheslines Okada, The bad luck fall is countered, dropkick by Okada and then another. White in and he and Okada work into counters and Tanahashi hits sling blade on White. They double team suplex Fale, Tanahashi hits a plancha onto White and Okada hits the top rope elbow drop. Okada counters the grenade and hits the rainmaker and another for the win. Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Jay White & Bad Luck Fale @ 20:00 via pin [**¾] This was a slow main event, but pretty good overall. They banked on the Okada/Tanahashi star power to carry this, but they just couldn’t follow Ospreay vs. Eagles. Again, it was pretty good, but Fale is slower than ever and Tanahashi is still looking really rough overall. It also went way too long and worst of all felt too long.
The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 31. On the show, the good brother, Jeremy Lambert, joins 411’s Larry Csonka; the guys will discuss their reactions to the news that Heyman & Bischoff will be ‘running’ WWE TV, talk about who they have more faith in, discuss the perceived lack of faith in Triple H and his team that they didn’t get to run one of the shows, and whether the move actually matters if Vince still has the final say in things. The show is approximately 68-minutes long.
* Intro
* Reactions to the headline “Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff Named WWE Executive Directors, Will Run WWE TV”: 1:00
* Who do you have more faith in, Heyman or Bischoff?: 23:30
* Does it show a lack of faith in Triple H and his team that they didn’t get to run one of the shows?: 38:40
* Does it matter if they still have to report and get approval from Vince McMahon?: 47:40
* WWE Rumored to Have Several NXT Call-Ups When Smackdown Moves to FOX: 51:20
You can subscribe and listen to the 411 on Wrestling Podcast via the above player on Transistor, or on the following platforms:
* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play
