wrestling / TV Reports
Csonka’s NJPW WrestleKingdom 14 (Day One) Review
Loading...
Csonka’s NJPW WrestleKingdom 14 (Day One) Review
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Pre-Show Match: Alex Coughlin, Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors, & Toa Henare defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Yuya Uemura, & Yota Tsuji @ 7:40 via pin [***]
– Pre-Show Match: Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi @ 5:55 via pin [**½]
– Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Naoki Sano, & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Jushin Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, Tiger Mask, & Great Sasuke @ 9:10 via pin [***]
– Suzuki-gun defeated LIJ @ 8:55 via submission [***¼]
– CHAOS defeated Bullet Club @ 8:20 via pin [**½]
– IWGP Tag Team Title Match: David Finlay & Juice Robinson defeated Champions The Guerrillas of Destiny @ 14:50 via pin [***½]
– IWGP US Title Texas Death Match: Jon Moxley defeated Champion Lance Archer @ 15:22 [****]
– IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Hiromu Takahashi defeated Champion Will Ospreay @ 24:55 via pin [*****]
– IWGP IC Title Match: Tetsuya Naito defeated Champion Jay White @ 33:45 via pin [***½]
– IWGP Title Match: Champion Kazuchika Okada defeated Kota Ibushi @ 39:15 via pin [*****]
– Follow all of my reviews at this link.
Mayu Iwatani and Arisa Hoshiki win. Mayu pinned Hana after moonsault. Hana and Giulia couldn't get along. #NJWK14 #WK14 pic.twitter.com/sfeAmAOPKJ
— Jim Valley (@JimValley) January 4, 2020
– Kelly, Gambino, Romero, & Charlton are on commentary.
PRE-SHOW MATCH: Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Yuya Uemura, & Yota Tsuji vs. Alex Coughlin, Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors, & Toa Henare: Yuya and Connors begin, Yuya follows with a shoulder tackle and Connors then grounds the action. Coughlin tags in and follows with chops, uppercuts and Yuya fires back and they trade until Coughlin takes control back and pummels Yuya with cops and then kicks, covering for 2. Karl tags in, hits uppercuts and a slam. The elbow drop gets 2. He follows with strikes. Yuya fires back and hits a dropkick. Makabe tags in and takes out everyone, until Coughlin attacks. Makabe cuts him off with the powerslam, Honma joins in and they follow with corner mounted strikes. Northern lights by Makabe and that gets 2. Karl fires back and hits the spinebuster. Henare tags in and he trades with Yota. Dropkick by Yota and team Makabe take control and isolate Henare. The kokeshi by Honma connects and the rest brawl to the floor. Henare runs wild on Yota until Yota counters into a crab. Coughlin in with chops to make the save, lights up Yota and then runs into a spear by Yota. Henare fires back, hits a huge lariat and that gets 2. The Toa bottom finishes it. Alex Coughlin, Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors, & Toa Henare defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Yuya Uemura, & Yota Tsuji @ 7:40 via pin [***] This was a good, fun, and tight little match with Henare picking up the win as I had hoped.
PRE-SHOW MATCH: Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi: Kojima & Tenzan begin by attacking and isolating Nakanishi. Nakanishi battles back and suplexes them both at the same time. Nagata in and they double team Kojima, and the Nakanishi splash gets 2. He follows with strikes, a clothesline and tags in Nagata. He unloads with kicks, taking Kojima down. The running boot connects, Kojima fires back and hits a DDT. Tenzan tags in and he follows with shoulder tackles, dumps Nakanishi and delivers Mongolian chops. The clothesline and suplex connects and that gets 2. They trade, Tenzan rakes the eyes and hits the mountain bomb. Nagata fires back and hits an XPLODER. Kojima & Nakanishi tag in and Kojima follows with machinegun chops, as bread club runs wild. The corner elbow follows, Kojima up top and Nakanishi cuts him off and press slams him to the mat. He and Nagata dance and then attack, and the cover gets 2. Nakanishi racks Kojima, lets him go and delivers chops to Tenzan until he runs into the Tenkoji cutter for 2. It breaks down, lariat by Kojima and that’s that. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi @ 5:55 via pin [**½] This was a perfectly solid outing from the dads, who we all love.
Jushin Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, Tiger Mask, & Great Sasuke vs. Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Naoki Sano, & Ryusuke Taguchi: Kobayashi & Samurai are at ringside. This is Liger’s 3,550th match. We have classic Liger tonight. They even brought back the old school NJPW ring announcer and referee for this one. Liger and Sano fittingly begin, locking up and Liger grounding things. He follows with a shoulder tackle, and Sano cuts him off with a dropkick. Sano hits a suicide dive and Otani & Takaiwa attack, Otani follows with face washes and then takes out Sasuke. Liger fires back with shoteis, and Tiger tags in. he and Takaiwa trade, Takaiwa follows with a DVD and Taguchi tags in. He follows with ass attacks and covers for 2. Sano back in and he follows with kicks. Otani hits a slam, Takaiwa follows with chops and clotheslines. He hits a slam, heads up top and the elbow drop connects for 2. Tiger fires back, hits the tiger driver and Fujimani tags in, hits dragon screws and a dragon sleeper. Sano attacks, makes the save and Sasuke tags in. He heads up top and misses the swanton. Sano heads up top and misses the double stomp. Sasuke fires back, hits kicks and heads up top, Sano cuts him off and follows with the superplex. Liger & Taguchi tag in, Liger runs wild and hits an avalanche RANA for 2. It breaks down, Tiger hits a dive and Liger cradles Taguchi for 2. Enziguri by Taguchi and the BUM A YE connects for 2. The dodon connects and Taguchi picks up the win. Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Naoki Sano, & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Jushin Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, Tiger Mask, & Great Sasuke @ 9:10 via pin [***] This was basically Liger and all of his old pals and rivals having one last go around, and played perfectly into his farewell. They played the hits, it was fun, emotional, they all worked hard for Liger and Liger continues to go out the right way in putting someone over. LEGEND.
Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, & Desperado) vs. LIJ (EVIL, SANADA, Shingo, & BUSHI): Suzuki-gun attacks because some things never change. They all brawl to the floor. as EVIL works over Suzuki in the ring. He hits the broncobuster and covers for 2. Suzuki cuts him off with the hanging arm bar, and then drags him to the floor to beat his ass. He follows with chair shots, as Sabre works over SANADA. Back in and Suzuki trades with EVIL, chokes him out and EVIL fights off the Gotch but Despy tags in. He grounds EVIL, Taichi joins in for double teams and Despy covers for 2. Taichi tags in and they trade, Taichi slams him down but EVIL battles back with a suplex. Shingo tags in and dumps Suzuki, works over Taichi and then Despy. The jab and lariat follow on Taichi, Taichi cuts him off with an enziguri sand the trousers are off! Shingo fires back, they trade, lariat by Shingo but Taichi rebounds with a head kick. SANADA and Sabre tag in, dropkick by SANADA and a paradise lock for Despy follows. He frees him with the dropkick and Sabre attacks with the octopus hold. SANADA escapes, but Sabre cradles him for 2, They trade pinning combos and SANADA takes out his knee. BUSHI in and hits the missile dropkick. LIJ takes control, working over Sabre and Suzuki-gun makes the save. Sabre locks on the omoplata and transitions to a rings of Saturn and BUSHI is done. Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, & Desperado) defeated LIJ (EVIL, SANADA, Shingo, & BUSHI) @ 8:55 via submission [***¼] This was good, had a great intensity and played well into Sabre vs. SANADA tomorrow night. I was hoping for some sort of angle coming out of this, especially with rumors of Suzuki leaving. Maybe at Dash.
CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, Big Tom Ishii, & Hirooki Goto) vs. Bullet Club (Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale, & KENTA): Yano and Fale begin. Yano charges him and Fale shrugs him off and then mows him down. Yano undoes the buckle pad, tags in HASHI and Chase attacks. HASHI cuts him off with a spin kick, and follows with the running blockbuster. He lays in chops, Yujiro trips him up and Chase dropkicks him to the barricade. Fale runs over Goto & Ishii, and attacks Yano on the floor. Yujiro tags in and he and Chase double team HASHI. Yujiro hits the sliding dropkick for 2. Fale hits a slam for 2. The Tongan massage parlor follows, Chase & Yujiro double team HASHI and the cover gets 2. HASHI fires back, Yujiro is cut off as Ishii makes the save. Hits a German, but Fale cuts him off. Yano attacks, but Fale takes him to the floor. HASHI hits a neck breaker on Yujiro, Goto & KENTA tag in and Goto hits a huge lariat. The bulldog follows for 2. KENTA counters ushigoroshi, and hits a DDT. Yujiro tags back in and the inverted DDT gets 2. Bullet Club triple teams Goto, and the fisherman’s buster gets 2 for Yujiro. HASHI cuts him off, it breaks down, Ishii head butts and suplexes Fale. KENTA takes him out, Goto runs Yujiro into KENTA and follows with a clothesline. Ushigoroshi connects, and the GTR finishes Yujiro. CHAOS defeated Bullet Club @ 8:20 via pin [**½] This was solid but completely forgettable.
IWGP Tag Team Champions The Guerrillas of Destiny vs. David Finlay & Juice Robinson: Jado is at ringside. The challengers rush the champions and they all brawl on the ramp. Juice gets backdropped on the ramp as the champions take early control. They roll Juice in and the beatings will continue until morale improves. GOD hits then hits a double dropkick for 2. Tama hits a corner splash, and follows with back rakes. Loa tags in and Juice cuts him off with an inverted DDT. Finlay tags in and follows with strikes, a running uppercut and second rope uppercut. Tama cuts him off, but Finlay dumps him but Loa cuts him off, attacking the previously injured shoulder. Loa hits a powerslam, double teams follow and Tama grounds things. Loa back in as senton atomicos follow on Finlay. Finlay fires back, Loa talks shit and drops him with a right. He follows with clotheslines, and Finlay cuts him off with a desperation spear. Juice tags in, he runs wild on Loa and then Tama. Spinebusters for all and then clotheslines for both. He his a cannonball on Tama and then Loa. Juice fires up and delivers jabs, Loa counters and hits an enziguri, He follows with a German, Tama in and Juice fights them off with leg lariats, Finlay tags in and hits a plancha on Loa and double teams on Tama follow for 2. The double flapjack connects on Tama, and Fin-Juice looks for the powerplex, but Loa makes the save. The powerbomb and top rope elbow drop follows for 2. They dump Juice, and the magic killer is countered by Finlay but he’s cut off with the double team neck breaker for 2. The magic killer connects but Juice makes the save. Magic killer for Juice and GOD call for the super bomb. Finlay counters it into a RANA and gets the cradle for 2. Kendo shot by Jado and Tama cradles Finlay for 2. Gun stun is countered, stunner by Finlay and that gets 2 as Loa makes the save. Juice saves Finlay from ape shit, takes out Jado and the left hand of God and pulp friction follows. Finlay hits sliced bread and we have new champions. David Finlay & Juice Robinson defeated Champions The Guerrillas of Destiny @ 14:50 via pin [***½] IU liked this and thought it was very good. They kept the bullshit to a minimum, told a good story and the babyfaces overcame to win when I thought it was finally GOD’s year to retain at the dome. This was huge for Finlay and also made for a great return from injury story.
Texas Death Match: US Champion Lance Archer vs. Jon Moxley: Moxley charges an attacks,. But Lance cuts him off with a cross body. Moxley dumps him and follows with a suicide dive. They brawl on the floor, Moxley shoots lance to the barricades and back in, heads up top with a kendo and Lance tosses a chair into his face. He follows with repeated chair shots, trashcan lid shots and then kendo shots. He chokes out Moxley with it, and lights him up with more kendo shots. The champion is in full control, looks to go old school and Moxley cuts him off with kendo shots. He then cuts off the pounce with a trashcan lid shot. He sets up chairs, and suplexes Lance onto them. The knee trembler follows. To the floor and Lance hits an apron chokeslam, and then takes a young lion and chokeslams him from the apron onto Moxley. Lance then follows with a tope onto the pile of lions & Moxley. Moxley rolls back in to beat the count, Lance attacks with chair shots and follows with kendo shots. He sets up chairs and Moxley fires back until Lance hits blackout onto the chairs. The EVD claw onto the chair follows, but Moxley pulls an arm bar. Lance fights, rolls and picks up Moxley and hit an overhead choke toss. Moxley counters the chokeslam into a DDT. The death rider is countered, Lance hits the pounce and chokeslams him onto a chair. The ref counts, Moxley fights and gets to his feet. Big boot by Lance, gets a plastic bag and suffocates Moxley with it. Moxley fades and Lance follows with strikes. He heads to the floor, gets tables and sets them up. To the apron and uses the spikes on his helmet to attack Moxley. Moxley fights, and to the apron, hits death rider through the tables on the floor. Moxley gets to his feet and wins. Jon Moxley defeated Champion Lance Archer @ 15:22 [****] This was absolutely great, brutal and delivered as they used the stipulation extremely well. They didn’t fuck around with a bunch of lame 10-counts or delayed teases, and Lance delivered again following up on his great 2019, while Moxley in NJPW continues to be a blast.
– Post match, Moxley says he came to Tokyo to leave with nothing or everything. and will settle things with Juice once and for all tomorrow night.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi: They circle, Will ground and slaps Hiromu and celebrates to heel it up. They pick up the pace. Trade strikes and work into counters and trade again. RANA by Hiromu and Will fights off the sunset bomb until Hiromu hits an apron bomb. Hiromu follows with the dropkick from the apron and back in, Hiromu delivers chops. Will fights off a poison RANA, Hiromu up top and drops down as Will cuts him off with a double stomp and draping DDT for 2. Hiromu rolls to the floor, Will follows and slams him to the barricades. He attacks the neck, and follows with a neck breaker on the floor. Back in and Will covers for 1. He follows with kicks and locks on a koji clutch. Hiromu fights and makes the ropes. Hiromu fires back, Will follows with kicks until Hiromu hits a flatliner. He follows with clotheslines, a basement dropkick and does the deal with a falcon arrow for 2. Hiromu delivers chops, strikes but Will cuts him off with the back handspring kick. Hiromu to the floor and Will misses a Sasuke special, they work into counters and Will finally hits the Sasuke special, excellent & unique sequence there. Back in, and Will follows with the springboard forearm for 2. Hiromu counters back with John Woooooo and follows with clotheslines, but Will counters with kicks, the 619 and hits a springboard double stomp to the apron, targeting the neck of Hiromu. Back in and Will heads up top and hits a missile dropkick to the back of the head, all setting up for hidden blade. He calls for it now, but Hiromu collapses. Will looks annoyed by this and follows with Kawada kicks. He works over Hiromu in the corner, Cheeky nandos follows and takes Hiromu up top on his shoulders. Hiromu fights back, delivers chops and they work up top. Will counters the wheelbarrow and picks Hiromu up on his shoulders but Hiromu counters into the wheelbarrow driver for 2. Dynamite plunger follows for 2. Hiromu’s nose is busted open, he fires up and Will counters back with an enziguri. The Robinson special connects and the oscutter is countered, they trade and Will hits Made in Japan for 2,. Will up top and hits the shooting star press for 2. The oscutter connects for 2. Will is shocked. He looks hits the hook kick and hidden blade but Hiromu counters, hits the pop up powerbomb and both men are down. They fight to their feet, come face to face and trade strikes. They throw bombs, lighting each other up and Hiromu starts to smile and unload. German by Hiromu counters the back handspring kick, The destroyer follows for a GREAT near fall. Hiromu hits the Blu-ray, and the time bomb is countered. Hiromu hits superkicks, but Will hits the hook kick and storm breaker is countered, but Will hits the Spanish fly for a great near fall. Hidden blade connects and storm breaker is countered into code red for 2! The lariat and time bomb only gets 2! Hiromu follows with a lariat, and hits a modified emerald flowsion for the win! Hiromu Takahashi defeated Champion Will Ospreay @ 24:55 via pin [*****] Holy hell this was magnificent. These two are magic together, Will was excellent there, working a more aggressive heel role, similar to some of last year’s matches with Red & others where he knows his role to maximize a match layout. The work of Hiromu’s neck was the natural play and was done very well, as they told the return from injury story and resilience of Hiromu just about perfectly. The work was just so, so good, it all made sense, there were scintillating near falls and Hiromu breaking out a new finish to vanquish Will and complete the comeback story was exactly what it needed to be. I had extremely high expectations for this and they absolutely killed it here; the fist full boat of 2020, what a fucking emotional ride.
IWGP IC Champion Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito: Gedo is at ringside. Jay is wearing the same gear he wore when he beat Okada last year. Jay stalls, powdering to the floor. Naito attacks Gedo and back in, follows with arm drags, a dropkick and traquillos. Jay stalls, back in and Naito attacks and hits a draping neck breaker to the floor. he then whips Jay to the barricade, and backing, Naito grounds the action. He targets the neck, Gedo trips up Naito allowing Jay to attack with strikes and kicks. He follows with chops, Gedo grabs Naito and jay stuns him off the ropes. He then crotches him on the post, as Gedo hits Naito’s knee with a chair shot. To the floor and Jay whips him to the barricade. He starts attacking the knee in the barricade, and follows with the snap Saito. He traquillos to mock Naito. Back in and Jay continues to target the knee of Naito, and follows with a Muta lock. Naito makes the ropes, but Jay milks the count. He then follows with chops on Naito, Naito fires back with kicks and then a RANA. He follows with strikes, a sliding dropkick and neck breaker for 2. Combination cabrone connects and then locks on a crucifix submission, targeting the neck for destino. Jay fights and makes the ropes. He fights off a German, and counters back with a stuff DDT for 2. Naito fights back, Jay lays the boots to him and slams Naito down. Naito counters blade buster, Jay fires back with chops, Naito lays in elbows and Jay is down. The flying forearm follows, but Jay hits the flatliner, and follows with a German. He sets Naito up top, follows him up and Naito fights off the superplex, knocks him to the mat drops down and follows with a draping neck breaker. They work up top, Jay counters and stuns Naito off the buckles. He goes back after the knee, hits a dragon screw in the ropes and Naito collapses. Naito slowly fires back, Jay whips him to the ropes but Naito collapses again. Jay follows with the uranage and covers for 2. Naito fires back, but Jay Saitos him over the ropes and to the apron as Naito spills to the floor. Back in and Naito fights of the Kiwi crusher, but Jay hits blade buster as Naito’s knee gives out. The Kiwi crusher follows for 2. Chop block, inverted dragon screw, and TTO follows by Jay. Naito fights, fires up but Jay pulls him away from the ropes. Naito fights again, digs deep and finally makes the ropes. Naito spits at Jay, fires back with kicks from the ground and hits the rolling Liger kick. Spinebuster by Naito, Jay fights off Gloria with elbow strikes and Naito fires back, Gedo in the ring and takes the ref. Enziguri to Jay, hits a tornado DT and takes him up top. The avalanche RANA follows. Gloria connects for 2. Destino is countered as Jay collapses, Naito kicks him in the face, REF BUMP. Naito low blows Gedo, Jay low blows Naito but Naito counters into a dragon suplex. Naito low blow Gedo again, chair shot by Jay on Naito. The sleeper suplex follows but no ref. Naito fights off blade runner, Jay drops him on his head with a sleeper suplex, but Naito rebounds and hits a desperation destino. Both men are down. They work into counters, p[poison RANA by Naito, and destino connects for 2. Jay counters destino but Naito hits the brainbuster and destino for the win. Tetsuya Naito defeated Champion Jay White @ 33:45 via pin [***½] Naito winning was the right call as was the change of pace following Will vs. Hiromu. They did some really good things here, but it did really drag and felt like it overstayed its welcome a bit, as I never bought that Jay was actually winning, and it could have done without the low blow festival. The work certainly sets up Naito as an underdog heading into night two, but the match never fully hooked me. Technically, it was very good in its execution, but it could have used some editing.
– Attendance is 40,008.
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi: Okada is wearing new short boys tonight. They lockup and work into counters as Ibushi grounds the action. Okada counters into a body scissors. Ibushi to his feet, trips up Okada and works a side headlock. Okada escapes and we get a standoff. Ibushi shoots and takes him down, Okada counters and works the side headlock. Ibushi fights to his feet, shrugs off the shoulder tackle and they trade strikes. Ibushi unloads with a flurry of strikes and kicks, hits the standing moonsault and covers for 2. He grounds Okada, working a modified camel clutch. Okada crawls and Ibushi stops him from making the ropes. Ibushi fights him off and finally gets the ropes. Ibushi follows with kicks, but Okada cuts him off with the running back elbow. The corner elbow and DT gets 2. Ibushi rolls to the floor, Okada follows and slams him to the barricade. The draping DDT connects and back in, Okada covers for 1. Ibushi fires up with strikes, Okada talks shit to him and hits a DDT. He grounds the action, Ibushi fires back in and follows with the dropkick. The running mid kick connects, and the snap slam and springboard moonsault gets 2. Okada then cuts him off and dropkicks him to the floor. He whips him to the barricade, hits the big boot and follows with the over the barricade high cross. Back in and Okada locks on red ink. Ibushi fights and makes the ropes. He follows with a slam, heads up top and the elbow drop connects. Rainmaker pose. Ibushi counters the rainmaker, and comes up short on the PELE, but counters the tombstone into the bastard driver. The running double stomp connects to counter the John Wooooooo dropkick as Okada rolls to the floor. Ibushi follows with the golden triangle to the floor. Back in and Ibushi hits the springboard missile dropkick. Okada counters, but Ibushi hits the last ride for a near fall. Ibushi sets for bom a ye, but Okada counters with the dropkick and tombstone piledriver. The rainmaker is fought off by Ibushi, Okada follows with strikes and uppercuts to drop Ibushi. Okada unloads with strikes, Ibushi is pissed and fires the fuck up with palm strikes, and Okada rebounds with John Wooooo but Ibushi pops up and delivers heavy strikes, dropping Okada. He follows with kicks, strikes and Okada tries to cover up. Ibushi is fucking his day up, the ref pulls him away and Ibushi looks for the elevated dead lift German and they work to the apron as Okada plants him with a tombstone. Okada rolls back in as we get a countout tease, until Ibushi makes it back in. Air raid neck breaker by Okada and that gets 2. Heavy rain connects and that gets 2. Okada kills him with a German, rolls and the rainmaker is fought off as Ibushi hits a huge lariat. The elevated dead lift German follows and Ibushi covers for 2. Okada counters the lawn dart into a corkscrew tombstone, but Ibushi counters the rainmaker with one of his own. Bom a ye connects but Okada kicks out at 1! BOM A YE again and that gets 2. Head kick by Ibushi, kamigoye connects and OKADA KICKS OUT! He looks for another, but Okada hits the dropkick. They trade strikes from their knees, fighting to their feet and continuing to trade. They light each other up, Okada takes control until Ibushi unloads with a flurry and head kicks him into January 5th. Ibushi takes him up top and follows him up. Okada fights, delivers strikes and Ibushi falls to the mat. He flies but Ibushi catches him with a sitout powerbomb for 2! Ibushi up top and the Phoenix splash MISSES! Rainmaker by Okada, picks him up and hits another and the cover gets 2!!!!!!! Fuck me. Okada pulls him up, rainmaker! Pulls him up again and hits another. The third is countered and Ibushi had kicks him and hits the V trigger! Okada counters into a sitout tombstone and the rainmaker finally finishes it. Champion Kazuchika Okada defeated Kota Ibushi @ 39:15 via pin [*****] This match was absolutely fucking amazing, incredible with great pacing that unlike Naito vs. White, never felt slow or dragged. It was violent, brutal and beautiful in all the right ways, Okada digging deep with red ink and other moves he hasn’t used in forever really showed his desperation, which was juxtaposed extremely well with Ibushi’s tenacity and at times rage in trying to win the championship. This was an absolutely special performance by both, it constantly built well and smartly to the closing stretch and when it got there was absolutely amazing. I bought into Ibushi winning big time, and while I wanted him to win, I knew in my heart it would be Okada, but Ibushi kept making me believe he could do it. The story was amazing, the action was absolutely of the charts and felt like a great hybrid of the Okada vs. Tanahashi & Nakamura vs. Ibushi matches encapsulated into one match. An absolutely amazing match.
– Naito arrives for the stand off post match, and says tomorrow he has his chance to beat Okada again and walk away with both championships. Okada thanks Ibushi for the fight of his life and thanks the fans before saying he’ll win tomorrow night.
The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 79. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Jeremy Lambert hit a quick news roundup on the Raw Wedding angle and then review the January 1st edition of AEW Dynamite. Finally, Larry’s daughter Hana joins the show to discuss her favorite things in wrestling. The show is approximately 105–minutes long.
* Intro
* QUICK NEWS ROUNDUP (NJPW off AXS TV, Charlotte & Andrade Get Engaged, Thoughts on Raw’s Wedding Angle): 2:45
* AEW Dynamite (1.01.20) Review: 21:05
* Quick NXT TV (1.01.20) Thoughts: 1:04:20
* Talking Wrestling Favorites & Opening Christmas Cards With Hana Csonka: 1:13:20
* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play
– Thanks for reading.
– End scene.
