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Csonka’s NJPW WrestleKingdom 14 (Day Two) Review
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Csonka’s NJPW WrestleKingdom 14 (Jushin Liger: So Long, Farewell, Amen) Review
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– NEVER Openweight Trios Gauntlet Match: LIJ won the titles @ 23:25 via pin [**½]
– Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee defeated Jushin Liger & Naoki Sano @ 12:20 via pin [***¼]
– IWGP Junior Tag Team Title Match: Roppongi 3K defeated Champions El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori @ 14:40 via pin [****]
– RevPro British Heavyweight Title Match: Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defeated SANADA @ 10:45 via pin [****]
– IWGP US Title Match: Champion Jon Moxley defeated Juice Robinson @ 13:00 via pin [***½]
– NEVER Openweight Title Match: Hirooki Goto defeated Champion KENTA @ 16:20 via pin [****]
– Double Gold Dash Loser’s Bracket Match: Jay White defeated Kota Ibushi @ 24:50 via pin [**]
– Chris Jericho defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi @ 22:30 via submission [****]
– IWGP Champion vs. IWGP IC Champion Double Title Match: Tetsuya Naito defeated Kazuchika Okada @ 35:45 via pin [*****]
– Follow all of my reviews at this link.
NEVER Openweight Trios Gauntlet Match: Champions Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, & Toru Yano vs. Big Tom Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI, & Robbie Eagles vs. EVIL, Shingo, & BUSHI vs. Taichi, Desperado, & Kanemaru vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens: Bullet Club & CHAOS will start us off. Bullet Club attacks and we’re underway. Fale hits the grenade on Robbie for a botched near fall. Robbie counters bad luck fall and HASHI hits a superkick and lariat. Ishii tags in and works over Chase with strikes until Yujiro cuts him off. He then works over HASHI and they triple team Ishii and cover for 2. Robbie cuts off Chase, hits sliced bread and follows with a plancha onto Fale. Chase and Ishii trade as Chase hits a big lariat. The knee strike follows, HASHI in and CHAOS takes over as Ishii hits the brainbuster for the elimination @ 3:40. Suzuki-gun enters the match next, and take control on Ishii as Taichi picks up a near fall. Ishii counters back with a German, but Despy spears him and it breaks down. THETROUSERS ARE OFF and Ishii attacks as they trade and Ishii follows with a lariat for the double down. Robbie & Despy battle, Robbie takes out his knee but Kanemaru and Despy cut him off. Double teams follow, DDT by Kanemaru and that gets 2. HASHI is dumped, and Robbie cradles Kanemaru for the elimination @ 8:35. LIJ is in next and they all brawl, Robbie hits a RANA, follows with chops and BUSHI cuts him off and hits the missile dropkick. LIJ isolates Robbie, EVIL hits a broncobuster and covers for 2. Shingo tags in and delivers big chops. Robbie counters into turbo backpack and tags in HASHI. He runs wild, hits the running blockbuster and follows with the draping dropkick for 2. Shingo fires back, they trade and both men hit lariats for the double down. EVIL & Ishii battle now, trading strikes and Ishii mows him down, it breaks down as CHAOS work triple teams on EVIL. LIJ battles back and BUSHI hits a suicide dive. Ishii counters everything is evil, but EVIL hits the lariat and darkness falls for the elimination @ 16:00, The champions enter last and Yano removes buckle pads and sends EVIL into it and cradles him for 2. LIJ now takes control, sending Yano to he exposed buckle an Shingo hits a su0lex for 2. BUSHI tags in and lays the boots to Yano, chokes him out with his shirt but Yano fights back and tags in Makabe. EVIL in and Makabe runs wild as the northern lights gets 2. BUSHI cuts him off with an enziguri and DDT, Shingo now trades with Makabe, they trade lariats and Makabe finally takes him down. Taguchi tags in, and follows with rolling suplexes on Shingo. Bum a ye is cut of by BUSHI, it breaks down and Makabe hits lariats. Bum a ye connects and Taguchi hits dodon and Shingo kicks out at 2. The ankle lock follows, Shingo fights and escapes. MIST by BUSHI and the pumping bomber follows by Shingo. Made, in, Japan finishes it. LIJ won the titles @ 23:25 via pin [**½] Ishii, Shingo, & EVIL deserved so much more than this. The match was perfectly solid as LIJ collects more gold. The ref was rather awful though.
Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee vs. Jushin Liger & Naoki Sano: Lee is wearing a Liger inspired mask and the ROH TV Title to the ring. Fujiwara (Liger’s trainer) is at ringside. Liger and Hiromu begin, locking up and working to the ropes. They break and lockup again, back to the ropes and they break again. Liger starts working the arm, ground Hiromu and works the pendulum into a chinlock. The bow and arrow follows, and then the Romero special is applied. Liger releases him, and lee tags in. They attack Liger, dump Sano and double team the legend. Lee grounds Liger, dumps Sano again and the sliding dropkick gets 2. Hiromu tags back in and he ground Liger, working the arm with a Fujiwara arm bar. He then lays the boots to Liger, follows with chops and lee tags in. Liger battles back, hits backbreakers and tags in Sano, he hits the missile dropkick, a dropkick to both and lays in strikes on Lee. They trade, knee strike by Lee but Sano cuts him off with a lariat. Liger and Hiromu tag in, they trade and Hiromu takes control. he shoves the ref away, follows with strikes until Liger hits a powerbomb. Liger slaps the shit out of Hiromu, Lee makes the save and then follows with a tope but accidentally takes out Hiromu. Liger posts lee and back in, the powerbomb follows for 2. Shotei by Liger and the brainbuster follows for 2 as Lee makes the save. The dive to Sano follows, and Hiromu does the deal with the falcon arrow for 2. Lee in and hits a knee strike, superkick by Hiromu and double knee strikes follow for 2. Hiromu hits the Blu-ray, but Liger counters time bomb into a cradle for 2. Lariat by Hiromu and the time bomb finally finishes it. Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee defeated Jushin Liger & Naoki Sano @ 12:20 via pin [***¼] It’s finally over, Liger’s final match as he goes out showing some fire but makes sure to put over the next generation, while we got some teases for Lee vs. Hiromu. Jushin Liger: So Long, Farewell, Amen my legend.
– Liger’s loss killed the stream; New Japan World doesn’t want to go on either.
IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori vs. Roppongi 3K: The challengers attack and hit topes right away. Back in and they isolate Phantasmo, working him over with double teams until Phantasmo powders. Back in and the champions cut them off and take the brawl to the floor. They roll backing, isolating Sho and Ishimori hits the sliding German. He rolls through on the 450, but grounds Sho and targets his neck. The champions now work back rakes, quick tags and even more back rakes. Phantasmo fucking moonsaulted into a back rake because he can and he’s a dick. They dump Yoh and Phantasmo hits the top rope splash for 2. They place Sho into the tree of WHOA, and follow with dropkicks and nut stomps. Yoh makes the save, but they cut him off and get him in a tree of WHOA and stomp on his nuts. Sho fights back and hits the desperation spear and tags in Yoh. He runs wild and dumps the champions, follows with a plancha and backing, follows with kicks until Ishimori hits the back handspring kick. Phantasmo tags in and Sho cuts him off with Germans, Phantasmo counters into small package for 2. He follows with the double team Argentine cutter and Ishimori covers for 2. The code breaker/moonsault combo connects as the champions cover for 2. The champions call for 3K, but Sho counters into a destroyer, it breaks down and Sho follows with kicks on Phantasmo, Phantasmo fights off shock arrow and transitions into the clash for 2. Phantasmo goes or the dick punch but Sho had a cup on! The challengers now take control, run wild and shock arrow and the dragon suplex follows. They now hit a DOUBLE STOMP shock arrow and we have new champions! Roppongi 3K defeated Champions El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori @ 14:40 via pin [****] This was great with clearly defined faces and heels, telling a good story of Roppongi 3K getting revenge and also stopping Phantasmo after MONTHS of dick punching, and then busting out a new finish on top of that.
RevPro British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANADA: They lockup, working into counters and end in a standoff. Sabre picks up the pace, they trade pin attempts and Sabre grounds things until SANADA escapes. Sabre attacks the arms, grounding SANADA and working into a straight jacket. SANADA counters and reverses the hold. They counter back and forth, trading control until SANADA dumps Sabre. Sabre is pissed at this. Back in and SANADA locks on the cobra twist, rolls him around in a tumbleweed but Sabre counters the standing moonsault into a shoulder lock. SANADA makes the ropes, but Sabre keeps targeting the arm. SANADA fires back, takes out the knee and hits a nasty looking dragon screw. He follows with a plancha to he floor, back in, Saber rakes the eyes and locks on a hanging guillotine. SANADA counters into skull end, swing him around and the moonsault misses. PK by Sabre, he follows with uppercuts and they trade. They trade pin attempts and cradles for near falls. SANADA gets skull end, but Sabre counters into the European clutch for 2. They work into counters, octopus hold by Sabre but SANADA counters up and into skull end but SANADA counters and gets the bridging pin for the win. Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defeated SANADA @ 10:45 via pin [****] This was a great, counter filled technical battle, that played off of their previous meetings extremely well and was also a wonderful change of pace match as ZSJ retains.
US Champion Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson: Juice attacks with a plancha and they brawl on the floor. He whips Moxley to the barricades, slams him on the floor until Moxley posts him. He gets chairs and Juice drop toeholds him onto one. Juice sets him in it and follows with the cannonball. Back in and Juice follows with clotheslines, but Moxley then dumps him. He follows him out and delivers chair shots. Back in and Moxley delivers ground and pound, covering for 2. The camel clutch follows, Moxley then transitions to strikes, clotheslines and a sliding lariat for 2. Moxley now follows with chops, Juice fires back and Moxley bites him until Juice hits a spinebuster. The juice box and powerbomb follows for 2. Juice now lays in jabs, but Moxley cuts him of and applies a figure four. Juice makes the ropes so Moxley post the knee a few times, and works the posted figure four. He wraps a chair around Juice’s head but Juice fights him off as they roll back in. They work up top and Juice follows with a superplex, rolls and hits the jackhammer for 2. Pulp friction is countered as Moxley hits a German and Juice rebounds with one of his own. Lariat by Moxley, but Juice counters death rider into a cradle for 2. Juice follows with a lariat for the double down. They fight to their feet, trade strikes and light each other up and they trade head butts and slaps. Knee trembler by Moxley, left handoff God by Juice and he hits another as Moxley is down. Pulp ruction is countered, death rider follows and Moxley hits another and retains. Champion Jon Moxley defeated Juice Robinson @ 13:00 via pin [***½] Well, this is now an interesting situation with Mox bring with AEW and retaining. I really liked this, it felt like a fight throughout and played off of their rivalry really well.
– Post match, MINORU SUZUKI arrives. PUT THIS SHIT INTO MY VEINS! He’s here to fight. They brawl and Suzuki chokes him out and plants him with the Gotch! He grabs the belt and poses over Moxley. Great angle with Suzuki getting a hero’s reaction.
NEVER Openweight Champion KENTA vs. Hirooki Goto: They brawl at the bell with Goto controlling. The clothesline and bulldog connect and Goto then lays the boots to KENTA. He grounds the action, follows with elbow strikes until KENTA cuts him off and dumps him. He follows him out and whips Goto to the barricades, and then delivers kicks. KENTA rolls back in and waits in Goto, before dumping him again. KENTA follows with kicks, strikes and DDTs him on the ramp. Back in and KENTA just dumps him again. Back in and KENTA follows with knee strikes and kicks, covering for 2. he keeps Goto grounded with kicks and then works a side headlock. Goto powers up, but is quickly cut off. KENTA talks shit, delivers kicks but Goto cuts him off with a rolling clothesline. They trade strikes, lighting each other up and Goto finally drops KENTA. He follows with the spin kick and Saito for 2. KENTA fights of ushigoroshi and hits a powerslam. He stuns him off the ropes and follows with a top rope clothesline for 2. KENTA then hits a DDT and follows with a knee strike to the back of the head. Goto cuts him off, finally hitting ushigoroshi but KENTA locks on game over. Goto fights, and makes the ropes. KENTA then plants him with the draping DDT, and corner dropkick. He heads up top, and the double stomp connects for 2. The busaiku knee is countered, but KENTA transitions to a sleeper. Goto fades, PK by KENTA and the busaiku knee gets 2! Go to sleep is countered, head butt by Goto and they trade center ring. Huge lariat by Goto and the cover gets 2. they tart going wild with big bombs and slaps, and the ushigoroshi follows for 2 as Goto pulls him up and GTR connects for the win. Hirooki Goto defeated Champion KENTA @ 16:20 via pin [****] This was a great. hard-hitting battle, with KENTA picking Goto apart for most of it, being a great heel with awesome facials & body language. He delivered, but Goto overcame, got his revenge and decisively defeated the rat bastard that turned on him and disrespected his pal Shibata.
-The G1 is officially moved to October due to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. NJPW 2020 Dates: Sapporo Feb 1 & 2 Osaka Feb 9 Tokyo Mar 3 NJ Cup Mar 20 & 21 Sakura Genesis Mar 31 Kagoshima Apr 29 Dontaku May 3 & 4 BOSJ Jun 6 Dominion Jun 14 G1 Climax 30 Oct 16,17,18.
Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi: Gedo is at ringside. Jay powders and stalls to begin. He tries to sneak attack Ibushi but Ibushi cuts him off with kicks and the standing moonsault for 2. They trade strikes, and Jay shoots Ibushi from the apron to the barricades. Jay follows him out and shoots him to the barricades again. He slams him off the apron, and back in, covers for 2. He then hits a neck breaker for 2. Jay grounds the action, Ibushi fights to his feet and Jay spills to he floor as he fires up. Ibushi follows with a plancha, and back in, hits the powerslam and springboard moonsault for 2. Jay fires back, and follows with a DDT. He delivers uppercuts and the running DVD for 2. Ibushi tries to fight him off, Jay delivers uppercuts but Ibushi counters into the bastard driver! Ibushi follows with kicks, Jay fires back and Ibushi drops him with a big forearm shot. Ibushi is pissed and starts pummeling Jay, absorbing his shit strikes and continually dropping him. Ibushi dares him to fire back, and drops him again. Ibushi is done fucking around. Jay starts to fire back but Ibushi hits a huge lariat. Jay counters the lawn dart, uses the ref as a distraction and hits a complete shot and German. Blade buster follows, Jay rolls and hits the kiwi crusher for 2. The snap Saito connects and they work up top. Ibushi fires back, Jay rakes the eyes and knocks Ibushi to the apron. Ibushi fires back, looks to springboard and either slipped or Jay tripped him up. Jay now hits an avalanche uranage for 2. The sleeper suplex drops Ibushi on his crown and as jay picks him up Ibushi hits a desperation knee strike. Bom a ye is countered but Ibushi transitions into a German for 2. Bom a ye follows for 2. Kamigoye is countered, head kick Ibushi and we get… a fucking ref bump. Gedo in and chair shots Ibushi. Ibushi IS PISSED and no sells Gedo’s attacks and he levels him. Jay gets the chair, but Ibushi hits kamigoye. The last ride follows but no ref. Ibushi yells at the downed ref, drags him back in and Jay drops to counter kamigoye. Ibushi follows with kicks, hits kamigoye but Gedo pulls out the ref. H slides in and Ibushi cuts him off, chair shot to the head by Jay, knux shot by Gedo and Jay pulls Ibushi up and hits a brainbuster and blade runner to win. Jay White defeated Kota Ibushi @ 24:50 via pin [**] This was 50% great and 50% bullshit, and it killed my interest in it. The problem isn’t in Jay White the performer. the problem is that while White is a heel and does heel things, which is fine, IT IS THE SAME THING IN EVERY MATCH, it’s the definition of diminishing returns. I can’t tell you the last Jay White match that didn’t have Gedo involved, ref bumps, chair shots, low blows and all the other shit they do all the time. It’s a real shame, I like Jay, he does a lot of things so very well, but it’s subtraction by addition at this point. It takes away from his abilities because all of his matches feel the same, they start out good and even tease great, and occasionally overcome the constant over booking. It just feels so lazy. He’s different and I think that you either like a cheating heel in your NJPW or you don’t, and when it’s so repetitive, I don’t. If there was some amount of restraint to it, like only every once and I while I could gladly accept it, but it is every damn match. If you like or love it, more power to you; I don’t. To me, it feels as if they set up as this super smart and devious counter wrestler, but the booking makes it appear as if he can’t beat anybody without the circus.
Chris Jericho vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi: Jericho is wearing the AEW championship tonight. They work into some back and forth as Tanahashi grounds things. Jericho starts to fire back, and they work to the ropes. Tanahashi hits the high cross, hip toss and mocks Jericho. They trade strikes, Jericho dumps him and follows with the springboard dropkick. Jericho whips him to the barricades and takes control. Jericho takes him into the commentary area, onto a table and spikes him with a DDT onto it. Back in and Jericho grounds the action and the second rope knee drop connects for 2. They trade until Jericho cuts him off with a backbreaker. Jericho heads up top, air guitars and misses a high fly flow. Tanahashi laughs and unloads with strikes, the flying forearm and we get A REF BUMP. Low blow by Jericho. He whips Tanahashi with his weight belt, and Tanahashi then low blows him. The senton follows for 2. Tanahashi dumps him, heads up top and hits aces high to the floor. Tanahashi hits dragon screws in the ropes, counters the code breaker with a dragon screw and hits two more. Tanahashi the flies with high fly flow but eats the knees. The Jericho lionsault gets 2. He locks on the walls, Tanahashi fights and counters out. Sling blade follows, and the final cut connects. Tanahashi slowly up top and flies into a code breaker for 2. Judas effect misses. Code breaker by Tanahashi and that gets 2. Jericho counters sling blade, but Tanahashi cradles him for 2. Twist and shout follows and sling blade connects for 2. He heads up top and hits aces high but Jericho counters and rolls into the walls. Tanahashi fights, but Jericho transitions to the liontamer and the Ace taps. Chris Jericho defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi @ 22:30 via submission [****] I get the mocking of Jericho’s physique, it’s low hanging fruit an d I saw a lot of it, but I thought that they had a pretty great match. It was carefully crafted, worked to their strengths with some smoke and mirrors as Tana tells great in-ring stories and Jericho is fun mix of the wrestler you expect him to be at this stage with some flashes of his younger self mixed in.
– Attendance is 30,063. Combined, it’s 70,071 for two days.
IWGP Champion vs. IWGP IC Champion Double Title Match: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada: The over/under is 36-minutes, which is Okada’s average Dome match time. They circle and Naito teases locking up. They finally do, work to the ropes for the clean break. They pick up the pace with lucha passes, Okada takes control and hits the corner elbow and DDT for 2. He follows with a senton atomico, and grounds the action. He follows with the sliding kick and Naito rolls away. He fires back, hits arm drags and a basement dropkick. Combination cabrone follows. Naito sweeps the leg and hits a draping neck breaker to the floor. Back in and Naito hits another neck breaker for 2. Naito grounds things with a crucifix hold, targeting the neck of Okada. Okada makes the ropes, and Naito grounds him with a cravat. He follows with elbows, spits at Okada and then runs into a big boot that turns him inside out. Okada fires up, delivers strikes and the flapjack. Naito counters the air raid neck breaker until Okada rolls and transitions back into it and hits it. the slam follows, Okada up top and the elbow drop connects. Rainmaker pose. Naito counters the rainmaker with elbow strikes, and hits the spinebuster. They work up top and Naito hits the avalanche RANA. They trade, and Okada goes John Woooooooo on Naito. Naito fires back, but Okada dropkicks him to the floor. Okada follows him out and starts attacking the knee that was worked on last night. He clears off an announce table, chop blocks the knee and slams him knee first onto the table. This leads to a countout tease, Naito struggles and makes it back in but Okada hits him with a huge missile dropkick for 2. Naito fights of the rainmaker so Okada hits a German, but Naito counters the next rainmaker try into a tornado DDT. Naito then hits Gloria, they work up top and Naito hits an avalanche POISON RANA for a great near fall. Okada fights off destino, Naito hits an enziguri, they trade and Naito hits the flying forearm. Okada counters destino, hits the dropkick to counter the flying forearm, but Naito rebounds with a short destino for 2. Okada counters destino, hits the dropkick and both men are down. The crowd is into this big time now, they trade from their knees and smile. They keep throwing, they are exhausted, and Naito spits at Okada as they continue to trade. Naito slaps Okada and Okada hits a rolling rainmaker. He then counters destino into a tombstone and the rainmaker connects for 2! Okada looks for another tombstone, but Naito counters and collapses. Okada drags him up and Naito spits at him. Okada is not pleased, starts attacking the knee and Naito is down clutching at the knee. The short rainmaker follows, he hangs on and hits another. Naito counters the next into a short destino and covers for 2. Naito follows with a slam, heads up top and hits the stardust press and ONLY GETS 2! Naito fires up and Okada counters destino but Naito counters back, DESTINO and we have a new double champion. Tetsuya Naito defeated Kazuchika Okada @ 35:45 via pin [*****] This was an absolutely magnificent main event, with an amazing atmosphere, Naito surviving and overcoming the odds and finally defeating the ghosts of WrestleKingdom’s past to hit the top. Whether it’s too late or not, we’ll find out but an absolutely tremendous story and moment here. Okada dissecting Naito, going back to the knee and then hitting repeated Rainmakers amped things up to am amazing degree, it also led to panicked counters and Naito’s knee injury preventing him from covering properly. Naito even busted out the Stardust Press, but even then couldn’t win and had to keep digging deep to finally overcome.
– Okada is helped to the back. Naito takes the mic and says he and Okada need to do it again and Okada raises his fist to him. Naito is now presented the championships, lays them down and poses. He thanks all the fans for watching and they are finally seeing him flip the script. So what will he do with these belts? Tranquillo. He will never forget this weekend, and will take these belts into the future. KENTA arrives and attacks, laying out Naito with a PK. Go to sleep follows and KENTA celebrates before laying in ground and pound. He tosses the belts down and sits on Naito’s chest, posing with the belts. BUSHI arrives and KENTA powders.
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.
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