Hamilton’s New Japan Kizuna Road 2021 – Night Three 06.16.2021 Review

Quick Results
Hiroshi Tanahashi submitted Yuya Uemura in 13:17 (***)
Kazuchika Okada pinned Yota Tsuji in 8:54 (***)
Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yuji Nagata pinned Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe & Kota Ibushi in 11:56 (**¾)
El Desperado, Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru pinned BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi in 11:29 (***)
Taiji Ishimori was the last man standing in an Elimination Match at 31:32 (***)

— If you’re on Twitter, give me a follow over on @IanWrestling – and check out the GoFundMe that’s still open for Larry’s family.

Well… it’s a different card today, that’s for sure, with a bunch of names whose absences have certainly been noted, particularly since some of them have been wrestling on TV in America…

Yuya Uemura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
These matches are very much the definition of “it’s not about the results, it’s the performance that counts.” Like those FA Cup ties where the non-league team gets through and draws a Manchester United or a Chelsea. Or, to badly mangle it into American sports, if you had a High-A team playing the Red Sox…

From the opening tie-up, Uemura manages to take Tanahashi into the ropes, then pulled him down by the leg as he looked to go for the bad knees. Instead, Tanahashi switched out into a cross armbar, from which Uemura escaped as the pair went back-and-forth on the mat. A leg lock from Tanahashi is countered in kind by Uemura, but Tanahashi manages to regain the upper hand with a side headlock.

Uemura grabs one of his own to keep Tanahashi down, before he switched it up into an overhead wristlock as Tanahashi made him fight for everything. An armdrag has the Young Lion down briefly, but the pair begin to trade elbows before a low dropkick spun Uemura to the mat. Tanahashi maneuvers his way into an Indian deathlock on Uemura, trapping him in the middle of the ring before bridging backwards for more torque.

Luckily the ref was preoccupied with Uemura, as Tanahashi had his shoulders down on the mat for a few seconds there while bridging, before Uemura got his way to the ropes for the break. More elbows from Uemura earned him a kick to the knee, before Uemura caught Tanahashi with a dropkick.

Another one followed in the corner as Uemura pulled ahead, looking for a Kanuki suplex, but like yesterday that looked to be the start of his downfall as Tanahashi countered out with a Dragon screw. From there, a Cloverleaf traps Uemura, who needs to drag his way to the ropes for the break, right as Tanahashi let go of the hold.

Uemura manages to hit a release Kanuki suplex to surprise Tanahashi, before a Boston crab turned the tables… but again, a rope break saves the day. Uemura pulls one out with a springboard crossbody for a near-fall, before a Dragon suplex tease led to Tanahashi snapping back with a Twist and Shout. Regardless, Uemura responds with a suplex, but gets caught with a Slingblade as Tanahashi quickly put him away with a Cloverleaf for the submission. Uemura had some bright moments here, but at the end of the day he was simply outclassed by the more experienced, more decorated Tanahashi. ***

Yota Tsuji vs. Kazuchika Okada
To keep my bad analogy, this is High-A versus the Yankees…

Tsuji jumps Okada at the bell with a dropkick as he damn sure caught him off guard. Shoulder blocks took a while to do the trick though, with Okada getting charged down before he grabbed the ropes to block a Boston crab attempt… so Tsuji followed in with elbows from above.

Okada’s back with a front kick as he looked almost insulted at what just happened… and began to wear down Tsuji with forearms to the lower back before a bodyslam drew a solid trio of two-counts. Tsuji tries to fight back with elbows, but got waylaid by Okada… who then missed a leaping elbow into the corner.

A dropkick from Tsuji buys him time as he proceeded to elbow Okada into the corner ahead of a leaping forearm. Another shoulder tackle dropped Okada, as did a slam, with a running flip senton and the Mount Tsuji splash landing for a two-count, before a spear was jumped over, with Okada instead… tying up Tsuji in an Octopus hold.

Tsuji staggers into the ropes to break it, but his trip outside for respite led to him getting slammed on the floor as he was forced to pull himself back up to beat the count. Back inside, Okada looks to scoop up Tsuji for a tombstone, but it’s fought out of before Okada surprised us all with a Rainmaker… into a clutch pin that was listed as the Toque Espaldas. A rather out-of-nowhere pin as Tsuji’s early fire ended up leading to Okada slamming the door on him. ***

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata vs. Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma
It’s a welcome back to Japan for Kojima and Nagata, after their recent sojourns to the US for New Japan Strong, Impact and AEW… while this was Makabe’s first match since January. At least the over-dubbers weren’t rusty!

Ibushi and Nagata start us off trading kicks, before Nagata looked to work over Ibushi’s arm. They go to ground, but Ibushi heads into the corner as Honma tags in to try and chop Nagata… only to get taken down and kicked. Kojima tags in and trades elbows with Honma, leading to an elbow drop for barely a one-count.

Nagata’s back in to elbow away on Honma, following up with some mid kicks, before a suplex bought Honma time to tag in Makabe to run wild. Of course, we’ve the mounted punches in the corner, then a clothesline for a two-count, before an Exploder from Nagata gave him enough time to tag in Tenzan.

Mongolian chops chip away on Makabe, but eventually Ibushi comes in and took down Tenzan with a diving kick. A running shooting star press lands for a two-count (for Ibushi, not Tenzan!), before Ibushi hit some Mongolian chops of his own. Tenzan swiftly returned with a Mountain Bomb, before Kojima and Honma got tags in to trade elbows on each other.

Honma charge down Kojima, but misses a Kokeshi as he ends up getting taken to the corner for the Machine Gun chops. The top rope elbow drop lands for a two-count, with Makabe breaking it up ahead of a double clothesline on Kojima and Nagata… which led to the sandwich lariats on Kojima. A dropsault from Ibushi leads to a Honma Kokeshi, but Kojima kicks out at two to keep things going.

Honma looks to scoop up Kojima for a Kokeshi Otoshi, but instead Tenzan comes in to hit some Mongolian chops as a Koji Cutter nearly wins it… before Kojima threw off the elbow pad to go for a Cozy lariat. Honma blocks as the pair clatter each other with clotheslines, before a leaping Kokeshi cut off Kojima for another near-fall. In the end though, the Cozy lariat shut the door on Honma. Solid enough, but for the next world title challenger, Ibushi was remarkably low key here. **¾

Announcement time – Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome has been rescheduled to Sunday July 25, with a main event of Kota Ibushi vs. Shingo Takagi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. In addition, September 4 and 5 will see the addition of Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome in Saitama.

Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI)
We’re building to those heavyweight tag title matches… and Tetsuya Naito looking to get Zack Sabre Jr.’s autograph!

We get going with an attempted sneak attack on Shingo by Desperado and Kanemaru, but it’s quickly overcome by the champion before SANADA tagged in and worked over Kanemaru’s arm with elbows. Naito’s in to work an armbar on Kanemaru, while BUSHI tagged in to keep the focus going, before it’s back to Shingo to throw Kanemaru into the corner.

Kanemaru’s thrown from corner-to-corner for a Pumping Bomber, before he used the referee as a shield to sneak in an enziguiri. A side headlock helps Kanemaru block a back suplex, before he found a way through with a tiltawhirl DDT as both men proceeded to tag out. In come Taichi and SANADA to trade kicks and elbows… Taichi ups them to Kawada-style kicks, before a Dangerous backdrop driver attempt was escaped.

Instead, SANADA goes for a backflip out of the corner before he got caught in a Stretch Plum, which Naito quickly ran in to break up as he clubbed away on Taichi. Sabre runs in to neutralise Naito with a neck twist, before SANADA looked to catch Sabre… only fo rZack to come back with a Cobra Twist as the pair raced through holds.

Tags bring us to BUSHI and Desperado, with a flying ‘rana and a DDT putting BUSHI ahead for a two-count. Desperado’s back with a spinebuster as he went to rip off BUSHI’s mask… but ends up shoving the referee aside after removed some of it. BUSHI’s attempt to fight back earned him a dropkick-assisted side suplex, then a Guitarra del Angel from Desperado for a near-fall.

From there, Desperado looked for Pinche Loco, but BUSHI escaped and came in with a running Codebreaker for a near-fall… before Desperado messed around with BUSHI’s mask some more and snatched the win with the El Es Clero cradle. This was fine, but didn’t do much for me I’m afraid. ***

Post-match, Naito tried to get Zack Sabre Jr. to sign his program… but it’s SANADA who gets the scribble as it turned out that Sabre and Taichi signing the program somehow was an agreement to defend the tag titles? I’m not sure if that’ll hold up anywhere…

Elimination Match: Bullet Club (EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) vs. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH)
It’s the return of the elimination match – something that’s been trotted out a fair amount in pandemic-era New Japan…

If this is like other elimination matches, we’ll have 15 minutes before they start falling… perhaps a little shorter given we had split-entrances by feud. El Phantamso wanted to start with Tomohiro Ishii, but gets SHO instead as he’s instantly taken into the ropes by the junior tag champion. A side headlock from SHO ends in the ropes, but ELP jumps back in with a takedown before the pair traded shoulder blocks.

SHO caught some headscissors as he proceeded to go for a powerbomb, but ELP fought out and got taken into the corner where the CHAOS lads overwhelmed him with charges. YOH tags in after some war drums, but gets taken into the Bullet Club corner for a mugging, which then led to the good ol’ back rakes.

The camera crew miss EVIL wiping out the ring announcer as all hell breaks loose on the floor. When things settle down, we getting the cheating abdominal stretch, with El Phantasmo and Yujiro Takahashi leaping into the crowd for extra length, before EVIL raked YOH’s eyes back into the corner.

Dick Togo tags in to punch YOH, then dragged him into the corner again for Yujiro to tag in. My feed drops out, recovering as the Bullet Club kill the ring announcer again, before YOH finally fought free with a back body drop. He’s able to make the tag out to SHO, who instantly had to overcome double-teaming from Phantasmo and Ishimori with a spear, before EVIL and Dick Togo’s interference was dealt with.

Things settle down as SHO kicks away on Ishimori for a two-count, before a handspring enziguiri from Ishimori calmed things down. YOSHI-HASHI and Yujiro are in next, with Yujiro biting his way out of a powerbomb attempt before a Fisherman buster eventually took down YOSHI-HASHI… who then had to cling onto the ropes to avoid an elimination.

YOSHI-HASHI sidesteps a front kick as he hung up Yujiro in the ropes, then dropkicked him into the apron… but Dick Togo makes a save as YOSHI-HASHI looked to eliminate. Instead, the pimp cane’s slid in, allowing Yujiro to nail YOSHI-HASHI and toss him out at 12:30 as the referee of course misses the weapon shot.

Ishii’s in to slap Yujiro for that, but more biting helps Yujiro stay ahead. Dick Togo intervenes again as Yujiro hits a reverse DDT, then chucked SHO through the ropes. A kick from Dick distracts Ishii, who’s then thrown over the top before EVIL tried to knock him off the ropes… but YOSHI-HASHI and Goto make the save as Ishii ends up pulling Yujiro from the inside to the floor for an elimination at 15:07.

Togo and Ishii square off after that, with Ishii decking Dick with elbows, following up with a backdrop for a two-count. A powerbomb from Ishii’s escaped, as Togo manages to hit back with a clothesline, before he ducked an enziguiri… only for Ishii to return fire with a German suplex.

Ishii charges at Togo, but gets low bridged onto the apron by EVIL… who still can’t pull him down, as instead Dick Togo goes for a charge that knocked EVIL off the ring. Ishii’s back inside, but gets choked out by Dick Togo’s garotte wire for an obvious DQ at 18:44. EVIL gets the proverbial tap in, pulling up Ishii and lifting him out at 19:29 for another elimination, which drew in Hirooki Goto to take over for his team.

EVIL throws Goto into an exposed corner, then threw in Darkness Falls for a two-count. The Darkness Scorpion followed, but it doesn’t put away Goto as EVIL instead looked for Everything is EVIL… it’s blocked as both men go for clotheslines instead, before an ushigoroshi took down the former double-champion.

Goto keeps going with a spinning heel kick, but the follow-up bulldog is blocked as EVIL threw Goto into the referee. Cue more bullshit as chairs get thrown in, but YOSHI-HASHI makes the save as a Cactus clothesline from Goto took out him and EVIL at 22:38. With the main referee down and out on the floor on the other side of the room. Good job there’s a second referee keeping score.

YOH and El Phantasmo take over, with ELP almost getting the pin with a roll-up, before YOH jack-knifed his way out of a CR2 for a near-fall. A bridging German gets YOH another near-fall, as ELP then looked for a whirlibird neckbreaker… but gets taken into the corner instead. SHO’s in for a step-up elbow into the corner before the Dominator/neckbreaker combo forced a two-count on ELP.

A pair of leaping knees take down Ishimori as ELP looked set to wander into the 3K… which he countered into a suplex as SHO got thrown onto his partner. ELP has to skin the cat as YOH throws him out, managing to pull YOH onto the apron with headscissors as the pair go back and forth with right hands before YOH countered as CR2 by pushing ELP into the ring post…

ELP swings around the post as Ishimori’s handspring kick knocked YOH down, with ELP’s flying stomp forcing the elimination at 26:44… which leaves SHO against ELP and Ishimori. He gives it a go, but got overwhelmed as the referee gave up all pretences of enforcing tags, which allowed the challenger team to hit a Codebreaker to SHO… who then rolled away from a moonsault from ELP.

SHO chucks out ELP at 28:15 as we get down to the final two… then went to throw out Ishimori. A low bridge had Ishimori on the apron, as did an armbreaker, but Ishimori slips back inside and got caught with rolling German suplexes, then a lariat, as SHO built up a head of steam… culminating in a Shock Arrow… which Ishimori slipped out of… then back into… then out of as he countered into the Cipher UTAKI for a near-fall. SHO looks to fire back with some rapid-fire elbows, but Ishimori’s got a flurry of his own that led to a Bloody Cross for the win. The 31-minute length will put people off, but this was a decent enough main event that served a purpose – getting the Bullet Club team visual wins going into their title matches next week. ***

The Kizuna Road tour has two stops away from the NJPW World cameras, with Shizuoka and Ibaraki being visited on Friday and Sunday… and then we return to Korakuen Hall for two streamed shows next Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday features EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo challenging for the NEVER trios titles… while Wednesday sees SHO & YOH defend the IWGP junior tag titles vs. El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori.

6.8

The final score: review Average

The 411

Once again, it’s the Young Lion matches that proved to be the more engrossing part of the show, in addition to the big show announcements as New Japan sure do look to be intent on running bigger stadiums on weekends to try and boost those average crowd numbers.