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Csonka’s NJPW Wrestling Hi No Kuni Review 4.29.18
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Csonka’s NJPW Wrestling Hi No Kuni Review 4.29.18
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Yuji Nagata & Ren Narita defeated Tomoyuki Oka & Shota Umino @ 9:49 via submission [***¼]
– David Finlay, Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Jay White, Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh @ 7:21 via pin [**½]
– Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated Togi Makabe & Toa Henare @ 8:00 via pin [***]
– Suzuki-gun defeated Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens @ 9:05 via submission [**½]
– Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin, & KUSHIDA defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay, & YOSHI-HASHI @ 9:50 via pin [**¾]
– BUSHI defeated Desperado @ 10:07 via DQ [**¾]
– Hiromu Takahashi defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru @ 11:22 via pin [**¾]
– IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Champions EVIL & SANADA defeated Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.@ 18:15 via pin [***¼]
– IWGP IC Title Match: Tetsuya Naito defeated Champion Minoru Suzuki @ 30:15 via pin [****]
– Follow all of my reviews at this link.
– My preview for the show is at this link.
– How we got here…
– NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku Review 4.13.18.
– NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku Review 4.14.18.
– NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku Review 4.23.18.
– NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku Review 4.24.18.
– NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku Review 4.27.18.
Yuji Nagata & Ren Narita vs. Tomoyuki Oka & Shota Umino: Oka and Narita start us off. Oka takes early control, grounding the action. Narita fights to his feet, but Oka quickly overpowers him and tags in Umino. Umino lays the boots to him and follows with chops and then nocks Nagata to the floor. He and Oka work quick tags as they keep the heat on Narita. Oka calls in Nagata, mistake as dojo dad lights his ass up with kicks and Umino tags in. Nagata then fucks his day up with strikes and kicks. Narita tags back in and trades strikes with Umino. Umino cuts him off with a dropkick and Oka tags in and hits a spinebuster for 2. Narita cuts him off and Nagata tags in, lays in kicks and they trade strikes. Oka cuts him off and hits a belly to belly for 2. Nagata then locks on the arm bat but Umino makes the save. He tags in and Nagata quickly gets an arm bar, and it breaks down. Oka and Narita work over Nagata and Umino hits a missile dropkick and gets the crab until Narita makes the save. Nagata and Umino trade strikes and slaps, and Nagata follows with a kick and XPLODER, and the Nagata lock finishes it. Yuji Nagata & Ren Narita defeated Tomoyuki Oka & Shota Umino @ 9:49 via submission [***¼] This was a good back and forth opener, with clean work and good fire from everyone. Nice start to the show.
David Finlay, Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jay White, Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh: Tiger and Romero start us off. Tiger fights out of the CHAOS corner, and Romero goes after his mask. He almost rips it off, and Tiger fights back and hits a dropkick. Liger tags in and locks on a Romero special until Sho makes the save and CHAOS rushes the ring and clears out the others and work over Liger; Romero covers for 2. White tags in and lays the boots to Liger. Sho now tags in and he and Yoh work double teams, covering for 2. Liger cuts off Sho, and hits a back breaker. Taguchi tags in and hits ass attacks on Romero and White. Ass attacks follow for Sho and Yoh. Taguchi is fired up and CHAOS finally attacks and cuts him off. White had had enough of his bullshit, and starts to work him over until Taguchi hits another ass attack and Finlay tags in, working over White and covering for 2. White manages to cut him off with a DDT and tags in Romero. 3K work him over with triple teams and covers for2 as it breaks down. Finlay eats forever clotheslines and then his the stunner for the win. David Finlay, Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Jay White, Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh @ 7:21 via pin [**½] This was a solid tag, with Finlay picking up a rebound win after his title match loss to White.
Togi Makabe & Toa Henare vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano: Yano and Makabe start us off, as Yano immediately undoes the buckle pad. They play around a bit until Makabe hits a shoulder tackle and tags in Henare. Yano trips up Henare and hits Makabe with the buckle pad. This allows Ishii to get in some shots on Henare. Yano then whips him to the exposed buckle and Ishii then tags in. They trade chops, and Ishii now lights up Henare. Yano back in to pick up the scraps, but Henare whips him to the exposed buckle and hits a suplex. Makabe tags in and works over Yano and then clotheslines Ishii to the floor. Makabe hits a lariat and gets 2 on Yano. Yano manages to get the hair pull takedown and we get wholesale changes to Ishii & Henare. They beat the shit out of each other until Henare gets a shoulder tackle and takedown. The Samoan drop follows for 2. Yano then trips him up, but Henare runs Yano into Ishii. Ishii quickly fights back hitting a Saito suplex for 2. Makabe makes the save, and that allows Henare to hit the top rope shoulder block. The spear follows for 2 as Yano makes the save. He trades strikes with Ishii and hits a spinebuster for 2. Ishii cuts him off and kills him with a lariat for a good near fall. The brainbuster finishes it. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated Togi Makabe & Toa Henare @ 8:00 via pin [***] This was a good match, with the usual Ishii/Henare goodness; Ishii &Yano seem primed for a tag title shot as they pick up another win.
Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Iizuka, Taichi, & Taka Michinoku: Omega, Ibushi, and Zack all make their returns after some time off. Guys, you’re going to be fucking shocked here, but Suzuki-gun attacked Bullet Club before the bell rang in an instance of shitty sportsmanship, and it led to unsanctioned fighting on the floor. Zack isolates Omega (I like that) as Taka and Yujiro head back in and work some back and forth. Iizuka starts biting people already, as Bullet Club starts to rally on the floor. Iizuka back in and starts biting Yujiro again, dude; you don’t know where he’s been. He starts biting all Bullet Club members, as Taichi works over Yujiro. Iizuka back in for more biting and mega and Ibushi are in and they work over Taichi after dumping Iizuka. They then work over Taka, and Bullet Club then follows with cross slash/dives to the floor. Back in and Zack takes out Omega to save Taichi. Taichi rips off his pants and hits a big lariat on Ibushi. Zack tags in and lays in uppercuts on Ibushi, but Ibushi cuts him off with kicks and tags in Owens. Zack attacks the arm, but Omega makes the save, allowing Owens to hit a draping neck breaker for 2. Bullet Club isolates Zack, and Owens hits a gut buster for2 as Suzuki-gun rushes the ring. The others brawl to the floor as Owens looks for the package piledriver, but Zack counters into he grounded octopus for the win. Suzuki-gun defeated Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens @ 9:05 via submission [**½] This was an overall solid tag match, with the interesting story being the tease of Sabre vs. Omega.
– THE BONER IS COMING BACK.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin, & KUSHIDA vs. Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay, & YOSHI-HASHI: Okada and KUSHIDA to begin. Tanahashi hits a dragon screw and tags in Juice. He and Elgin double-team Okada until CHAOS rushes the ring and takes control, working over Juice. Goto tags in and lays the boots to Juice, and then knocks Elgin to the floor. CHAOS works quick tags, isolating Juice. HASHI hits the draping dropkick, covering for 2. We get floor brawling and Tanahashi avoids a tombstone on the ramp and hits a sling blade on Okada. Ospreay in with Juice, and Juice fires up with a lariat, and tags in KUSHIDA. He hits the back handspring elbow, but Ospreay hits a 619. They work into some slick counters, and then trade strikes. Ospreay hits the Spanish fly to cutoff KUSHIDA. HASHI gets the tag, but KUSHIDA cuts him off with an enziguri and DDT. Tanahashi tags in and takes over until it breaks down with Elgin working over Goto. He and Tanahashi work double teams, but HASHI counters into a cradle for 2. Juice in as it completely breaks down, Ospreay takes out KUSHIDA with the storm breaker as Tanahashi takes out HASHI and then hits sling blade on Okada. Sling blade on HASHI. The high fly flow finishes HASHI. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin, & KUSHIDA defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay, & YOSHI-HASHI @ 9:50 via pin [**¾] This accomplished more build to Ospreay vs. Tanahashi & KUSHIDA vs. Ospreay, as well as the likely Goto vs. Elgin match. They even, and unfortunately, continued the story with Taichi post match. The angle work was really good, and the match was pretty good overall.
– Taichi laid out Goto post match, while Okada & Tanahashi had a pull a part brawl. They then fought into the ring, Okada looked for a tombstone, but Tanahashi fought it off.
BUSHI vs. Desperado: BUSHI turn the tables on Desperado, attacking first and hitting a slingshot RANA to the floor. Back in and BUSHI lays the boots to him and then chokes him out with his shirt. Desperado uses the ref as a shield, and then hits a spear to take control. The fight goes back to the floor, as Desperado tries to unmask BUSHI, because he’s a dick. Back in and Desperado goes after the mask again. He sets BUSHI up top and again attacks the mask. The ref breaks it up. BUSHI fires back with an enziguri, and connects with a DDT. The fisherman’s neck breaker follows for 2. Desperado fires back with chops, but BUSHI then crotches him on the ropes and hits a RANA into the ring for a good near fall. BUSHI looks for MX, but Desperado avoids it and hits a spinebuster for 2. The stretch muffler follows, BUSHI fights, and makes the ropes. Desperado looks for pinche loco, but BUSHI counters into a destroyer. The code breaker follows for 2. BUSHI heads up top and Kanemaru arrives and attacks for the DQ. BUSHI defeated Desperado @ 10:07 via DQ [**¾] They were on their way to a good match before the shit finish, which really took away from a match I was enjoying.
– Post match, Takahashi makes the save and our next match is underway.
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru: They brawl on the floor to begin, with Kanemaru taking control. Takahashi beats the count back in, but Kanemaru maintained control working a crab in the ropes. Desperado gets involved, attacking Takahashi on the floor. Takahashi back in and Kanemaru lays the boots to him. He then beats him down in the corner. The big boot follows, and Takahashi fights off a suplex but Kanemaru attacks the back. Takahashi hits a desperation lariat and follows with corner clotheslines. He takes out Desperado, and lays in strikes on Kanemaru. They trade, Takahashi counters and hits a German, but Kanemaru answers back with a DDT. Kanemaru follows with a powerbomb into the crab. Takahashi fights, but Kanemaru maintains the hold. Takahashi fights again and makes the ropes. The slam follows, Kanemaru up top and misses the moonsault. Takahashi hits the suplex to the buckles and fires up. The dynamite plunger is countered as Kanemaru slams the ref into BUSHI. Desperado in and Kanemaru ends up misting him, and then BUSHI mists him and takes out Desperado. Takahashi hits dynamite plunger for 2. The Blu-ray follows and Takahashi hits the time bomb for the win. Hiromu Takahashi defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru @ 11:22 via pin [***] Too much interference for my liking, but it ended up being a pretty good match overall, with Takahashi overcoming and picking up a much needed win. The feud between these two teams will continue.
IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Champions EVIL & SANADA vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.: KES attacks before the bell, but the champions fore back and Smith and EVIL brawl to he floor. SANADA dropkicks Archer and sends him to the floor. He dives off the apron, but Archer catches him and they brawl into the crowd. Archer then chokeslams him on the apron as KES takes control back. They set up a table, but EVIL makes the save. Archer and SANADA back in the ring and Archer lays in ground and pound. Smith tags in and they isolate SANADA. Smith follows with a belly to belly for 2. Quick tags follow as Archer is in and takes SANADA up top. He then clotheslines him back into the ring. Archer sets him back up top again and looks for blackout, but SANADA fights him off and hits a missile dropkick. EVIL tags in and works over Archer, hits a clothesline, a bulldog, and follows with a senton for 2. SANADA dumps Smith, and he and EVIL double team suplex Archer. LIJ looks for magic killer, but Smith makes the save as SANADA and Archer work to the apron. KES now hits the killer bomb from the apron and through the table on the floor.
https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/990504261036462080
He’s dead, Jim. Back in and Archer hits the full nelson salmon EVIL and Smith tags back in and accidentally dropkicks Archer. He manages to keep control on EVIL, and locks on the sharp shooter. EVIL fights to make the ropes, and gets the break. Archer takes him to the floor and hits a sack of shit slam. He rolls him in and Smith covers for 2. Archer pulls a Yano, an undoes the buckle pad and repeatedly slams EVIL to the exposed buckle. KES now sets up EVIL and Smith hits a second rope powerslam for 2. EVIL fights off a killer bomb once and KES looks for magic killer and hit it, covering for 2. they now look for killer bomb again, but SANADA flies in with a missile dropkick for the save. He locks on skull end on Archer, Smith makes the save and EVIL & SANADA double team him for a near fall. They dump Archer. And the magic killer gets 2 as Archer pulls out the ref. He then grabs a chair, wedges it in the corner, but gets cut off. He gets sent into the chair, and EVIL does his baseball vat chair spot on Smith. Darkness falls gets 2 on Smith. SANADA hits a plancha on Archer and EVIL hits everything is EVIL on Smith for the win. Champions EVIL & SANADA defeated Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.@ 18:15 via pin [***¼] EVIL got to shine here, in what ended up being a good match. All of the bullshit and shenanigans would have meant more If we didn’t have it in the previous two matches, it’s diminishing returns when you do it so often and so close together. I think that the right team won. EVIL & SANADA are a great team and can bring new life to this division, they just need new opponents. Bring on Yano & Ishii until we can get to the Bucks or Golden Lovers.
IWGP IC Title Match: Champion Minoru Suzuki vs. Tetsuya Naito: The build to this has been great, and I am looking forward to this match a lot; this show also needs a great match right now. Naito is in main event mode, breaking out the Saturday Night fever suit. Naito is completely dismissive of Suzuki early on, dumps him to the floor and poses. Back in and Suzuki dos the Naito pose. Naito drags him to the floor, whips him to the barricades and takes it back into the ring and grounds things. He lays the boots to Suzuki, and Suzuki is getting pissed. Suzuki kicks him in the face and Naito keeps popping up and smiling at him. Suzuki snags the hanging arm bar in the ropes and then follows with an apron PK. To the floor and Suzuki slams him to the barricade and starts tossing barricades and chairs onto him. Naito fires up, but Suzuki just ruins his day with body shots and knee strikes. Suzuki grounds things and starts working the arm. Naito fires back and manages to put some offense together, the draping neck breaker follows and then a basement dropkick connects. Suzuki gets pissed off and lays in strikes. The PK connects and another. He hits a third, covering for 2. Naito hits a desperation tornado DDT, but Suzuki smiles at him and absorbs Naito’s strikes. Suzuki starts lighting him up with forearms, and drops Naito. But Naito fires up with a flying forearm, and hits the corner dropkick combo. Naito sets Suzuki up top and Suzuki cuts off the RANA with a hanging knee bar in the ropes. The ref finally breaks it. The ref tries to hold Suzuki back and checks on Naito, but Suzuki gives no fucks and attacks anyway. Naito is selling like his knee is dislocated and stomps away at the knee. Suzuki now locks on the knee bar, trying to rip off Naito’s leg. Naito manages to make the ropes. Suzuki continues to attack the knee and locks on a figure four. The crowd tries to rally Naito, he fights, crawls and again just makes the ropes. Suzuki slaps him around, but Naito hits a tornado DDT. Suzuki cuts off destino and applies the knee bar again. He pulls him back center ring, Naito keeps fighting, but reapplies the hold. Suzuki keeps cranking on the hold, as he dismantles Naito’s knee. Naito grabs at the ref, begging him not to stop it, and finally rolls to the ropes. Suzuki is actually even more pissed off than usual. He mockingly claps for Naito, and lights him up with strikes. The sleeper follows, and Naito fades to the mat. Naito fights to his feet and escapes. Suzuki smiles, Naito slaps him around and Suzuki cuts him off by kicking at the knee. Suzuki back to the sleeper, but Naito counters out with a brainbuster. Suzuki is busted open and Naito hits destino for the surprising win. Tetsuya Naito defeated Champion Minoru Suzuki @ 30:15 via pin [****] Well color me surprised, and that is far from a bad thing; I just didn’t think they were done with Suzuki’s run so soon, but I am more than cool with being wrong. While not a MOTY contender. Tonight’s main event was a great match, with great performances from both guys. Suzuki was he usual sadistic bastard, while Naito got to play the ultimate, resilient babyface. He overcame the brutal attack of Suzuki and got some redemption after failing at WrestleKingdom and in the New Japan Cup. I am curious to see where this IC reign takes him.
– LIJ arrives to celebrate with Naito. Suzuki stumbles to the back, refusing help. Naito cuts the show closing promo. The crowd loves Naito. LIJ poses to close the show. With no Chris Jericho appearance, it appears he was telling the truth, and that he’s done with NJPW.
https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/990519999226957825
– End Scene.
– Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
