Csonka’s NJPW Wrestling Hi no Kuni 2019 Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview the NJPW Wrestling Hi no Kuni 2019 event. 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.”

Ren Narita, Shota Umino, & Tomoaki Honma vs. Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji, & Henare: We start off with trios tag action, where we’ll see the young lions teaming with established talents. 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 & Honma taking this one. WINNER: Ren Narita, Shota Umino, & Tomoaki Honma

Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Jeff Cobb, & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, Taka, Taichi, Desperado, & Kanemaru: 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. This is mainly here to set up the Cobb vs. Taichi match on May 3rd at Dontaku night one. With that being the case, I see Suzuki-gun, and likely Taichi picking up the win here while the build to Liger vs. Suzuki continues. WINNER: Suzuki-gun

Will Ospreay & Dragon Lee vs. Taiji Ishimori & Hikuleo: This is here to set up the upcoming lightweight tag coming up at Dontaku, featuring Ospreay & Lee vs. Ishimori & a mystery partner, who will likely be El Phantasmo’s debuting. The three juniors here are great, and Hikuleo will also be there. If they can limit him to some signature power spots, I think that this has potential to be good and fun. I see Will Ospreay & Dragon Lee winning here, with Hikuleo taking the pin. WINNER: Will Ospreay & Dragon Lee

Sho, Yoh, Kota Ibushi, Big Tom Ishii, & Kazuchika Okada vs. Shingo, BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA, & Naito: LIJ multi-man tags are usually a lot of fun, and I really enjoy their interactions with CHAOS. Plus we’re building to the EVIL vs. Ishii & Okada vs. SANADA matches and we have the added bonus of building to the Ibushi vs. Naito rematch. This has the potential to be the best match on the card as these guys have been delivering all tour long in tremendously fun and strongly executed tag matches. There’s a ton of chemistry, and a lot of various feuds to play off of, so I am hyped. WINNER: Shingo, BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA, & Naito

Mikey Nicholls vs. Bad Luck Fale: At Sengoku Lord, Nicholls defeated Chase Owens, while Fale failed in his bid to with the US Title. Fale is a guy that they love and can heat up at any time whether we like it or not. I don’t have a ton of hope for this one; Fale is extremely one dimensional, while Nicholls hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. Nicholls should really win here, but I see Fale picking up the win after his failure to win the US Title. WINNER: Bad Luck Fale

Non-Title Match: IWGP US Champion Juice Robinson vs. Chase Owens: I am not a fan of going back to this match up, their previous matches were good, but I felt overbooked and flat. I really like Owens, he works hard and is reliable, but there’s been something missing in the matches with Juice. I really hope that Juice picks up a dominant win and can move onto a more worthwhile contender. WINNER: Juice Robinson

IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Guerrillas of Destiny vs. Toru Yano & Togi Makabe: The Guerrillas of Destiny are the reigning and defending IWGP & ROH tag team champions. Yano & Makabe earned a title shot by Yano being the sublime master thief, stealing the IWGP tag titles repeatedly. It sounds silly, but it’s worked for him in the past and again here. Yano & Makabe are 2/3 of the trios champions, and and they have heavily hyped up the reunion of the most violent players and them looking to become champions. With the tag division being stagnant, I think we get a title change, even if it’s only for a short run. WINNER: The Most Violent Players

Hirooki Goto vs. Jay White: 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 pigeon holed 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 tile challenger, does has 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. This has potential to be great, and White should walk away with the win so that the healing can begin. WINNER: Jay White

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 14. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka is joined by Jeremy Lambert Jr III. Today, the guys will preview the 2019 NWA Crockett Cup, Impact Rebellion PPV, & the NJPW Hi No Kuni events. The show is approximately 84-minutes long.

* Intro
* NWA Crockett Cup 2019 Preview: 3:20
* Impact Rebellion PPV Preview: 36:00
* NJPW Hi No Kuni Preview: 59:35

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