Csonka’s NJPW Strong Style Evolved Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview the NJPW Strong Style Evolved event. NJPW had a successful debut in the US last year with a pair of events, crowning a US Champion, and followed that up with sell out of this event I under 20-minutes. Unfortunately with the timing of the New Japan Cup, and the lack or urgency due to the sellout. The company announced the card very late. This along with the loss of Rey Mysterio due to injury, and the recent WON awards heavily favoring NJPW, have caused an odd online backlash. I guess it’s the old some people will never be happy, and some people don’t like good wrestling. But I do understand some feeling underwhelmed by it, and while the show isn’t a blow away event on paper, it would be shocking if it wasn’t a very good in-ring show. Feel free to make your picks in the comment section. 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.”

SHO, YOH & Rocky Romero vs. So Cal Uncensored (Daniels, Kaz, & Sky): The card is mainly a NJPW show, with So Cal Uncensored (Daniels, Kaz, & Sky) being the ROH guest stars. Sky is a trainer at the NJPW Dojo, and Daniels & Kaz have worked some NJPW in the past. SHO & YOH have been really good since their return from excursion, and Romero can still go and has been great in multi-mans while stepping back to manage Roppongi 3K. I think that this is a good and very fun match to open the show with. Both teams work well as a unit, and I think this has a chance to be tremendously fun. I am sure that some will complain that So Cal Uncensored are old and busted and that CMLL guys should have gotten the spot, and I can understand why people would think that way. But So Cal Uncensored have roots in the area, are an easy and cheap trio to bring in because there’s no real travel costs, and it gets the ROH trios champions on the show as NJPW & ROH continue their working relationship. It’s a real toss-up for me as far as the winners go, but due to So Cal Uncensored being the only pure ROH representation on the show, I think that they pick up the win here, pinning poor Rocky. WINNERS: So Cal Uncensored

David Finlay & Juice Robinson vs. CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & Gedo): David Finlay & Juice Robinson area damn fine tag team, but right now things are all about Juice Robinson, as he recently pinned Goto in a tag match and should be getting a NEVER title shot soon. The match will be about continuing that feud and build to the title match. Juice and Goto will get in their work here, but it will be limited; CHAOS will work the heat on Finlay, Juice will make the big save, run wild, and in the end, pin Gedo to keep his momentum rolling. This should be a good match. WINNERS: David Finlay & Juice Robinson

CHAOS (Toru Yano & Chuckie T) vs. Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.): Much like the previous match, this one also has a purpose, setting up the Killer Elite Squad for a tag title match. The team was very successful on the New Japan Cup tour, picking up a lot of wins, and most importantly, beating Yano & Ishii, who had been on a roll since the New Beginning Tour, trying to make their case for a tag title shot. They had weeks of success until the Killer Elite Squad ended that run at the New Japan Cup finals. Right now, Killer Elite Squad are the masters of their own destinies as they try to make themselves the undisputed #1 contenders, while waiting for EVIL to return from his orbital bone injury. Yano & Chuckie T will bring their usual brand of fun and shenanigans, unfortunately for them, the Killer Elite Squad is in seek and destroy mode, and should pick up the win rather easily. WINNERS: Killer Elite Squad

Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) vs. Bullet Club (Marty Scurll & Cody): Now this match right here may not be a great wrestling match, but I feel that it’s extremely fascinating in terms of storyline advancement. Cody has hijacked Bullet Club, and has Scurll and page on his side. The Bucks are sort of with him, although reluctantly, while Fale, and The Guerrillas have largely stayed out of the Bullet Club civil war. The interesting thing is that Owens is on Omega’s side in the split, and he, Loa, Fale, & Yujiro worked with Ibushi, watching his back, on the New Japan Cup tour. But Tama, an OG Bullet Club member, has been away, biding his time, and allowing everything to break down around, so that he can strike at the right time…

This match feels like it will be the next big step in the Bullet Club saga, and I am extremely interested to see how it plays out. And with that being the case, I see the Guerrillas Of Destiny picking up the win over Scurll to continue the drama. WINNERS: Guerrillas Of Destiny

Taguchi Japan (Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Dragon Lee, & KUSHIDA) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, SANADA, & Hiromu Takahashi): Los Ingobernables de Japon multi-man tags are traditionally good at the very least and a ton of fun. They have great opponents (Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Dragon Lee, & KUSHIDA) to play off of here, and the crowd will be into everyone involved, and it should make for an extremely fun environment. Interactions between Tanahashi & Naito as well as Lee &Takahashi should be the highlights of the match. Naito, BUSHI, & Takahashi are all in line for title shots, with BUSHI, & Takahashi getting theirs at Sakura Genesis. They have all of the momentum right now, and should continue on with that here. WINNERS: Los Ingobernables de Japon

CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii) vs. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr.): This match is playing off of Zack Sabre Jr’s huge and extremely successful dominance of the New Japan Cup. The is the first major interaction on Okada and Sabre’s road to the Sakura Genesis main event, so their interactions here are the key element to the match, while Ishii & Suzuki are there to kick the shit out of each other. The good news is that it appears that we’ll be free of Suzuki-gun shenanigans, leaving these four to have a potentially very good tag team match. Ishii will take the brunt of the damage, allowing Okada to play hero off of the hot tag, but he’ll eventually be cut off and taken out, allowing for poor Ishii to take the loss here. Zack Sabre Jr. should be the one to pick up the win to keep his momentum and to get revenge for last year’s loss to Ishii. If all plays out well, this could be really great with the talent involved. WINNERS: Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay vs. Jushin Liger: Rey Mysterio was originally scheduled to face Liger here in a rematch 20-years in the making, but unfortunately, Rey is off the card, due to his biceps injury. The good news is that NJPW is giving us a more than suitable replacement in IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay. Ospreay has turned into one of wrestling’s most outstanding performers from match quality standpoint and is doing it all over the world. He’s the current, reigning, and defending IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, and is not only working at a very high level, but is constantly improving and becoming a more well-rounded performer. He gets over everywhere he works, and Liger is an absolute legend, that is always insanely over in his US appearances. Liger still puts in good performances, even at age 53, and is still having a ton of fun. Ospreay comes from a generation that completely idolizes and respects Liger, and he will be busting his ass in order to give Liger the best match possible. This may very well be Liger’s last big singles match for NJPW, as he’s taken more of a mentorship role, working a ton with the young lions, and worked his final BOTSJ last year. If that happens to be the case, I hope he delivers a killer match with Ospreay here. WINNER: Will Ospreay

US Champion Jay White vs. Adam Page: NJPW did a great job of positioning Adam Page as a credible challenger with a ton of wins in January, and then setting up the challenge, which was also part of the Bullet Club’s implosion, which was White’s goal since New Year’s Dash. This is the biggest chance of Page’s career, a semi-main event in front of a sold-out crowd. The initial build was good, but with both men absent from the New Japan Cup tour, it feels extremely cold; there’s just no buzz for it. Page has been really great tagging with the Bucks, but left to himself, he doesn’t have a long list of great singles outings, and will be looking to prove himself here. White has a high ceiling, and in the past has shown that he can work up to a top-tier opponent, but he won’t have that to work off of here. This match feels like it could either be a flat match that the crowd takes a nap through, or a match where both guys step up and completely surprise us here with a great outing. Either way, I see White retaining, and am hoping for the best here. WINNER: Jay White

The Golden Lovers vs. The Young Bucks: This is a tag team dream match years in the making, one many fans thought wouldn’t happen as Omega was aligned with the Bucks and Ibushi wasn’t a NJPW regular. But then Bullet Club exploded, the Golden Lovers reunited, and the Bucks went heavyweight. They didn’t have issues with Omega until Cody started planting the seeds, claiming Omega said that the Bucks were great for a “junior” tag team. So when Omega proclaimed that the Golden Lovers were back and the best tag team in all of wrestling, the Bucks were insulted, and the dream match was on. As far as a winner goes, it feels like a complete toss up; the Bucks are newly minted heavyweights, and it feels like they should win. But I also feel like Ibushi & Omega will be losing at Supercard of Honor, and that as part of the story they will win here. No matter who wins the match, this feels like a time that we all win, as we get a legit dream match to main event the NJPW return to the US. The whole Bullet Club breakdown has been a great piece of business, has created new dynamics, and has given us this dream match. It’s a match the guys involved want, it’s what the fans want and is a great choice for the main event. I’d be absolutely shocked if this did not steal the show, and also shocked if the match didn’t hit MOTY levels. WINNERS: The Golden Lovers

JOIN ME SUNDAY NIGHT AT 8PM ET FOR LIVE COVERAGE OF THE SHOW!

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia.”