wrestling / TV Reports
Hamilton’s New Japan Strong (Mutiny) 06.04.2022 Review
Image Credit: NJPW
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Quick Results
Yuya Uemura & Keita pinned Lucas Riley & Kevin Blackwood in 8:33 (***)
El Phantasmo & Chris Bey pinned Alex Zayne & Christopher Daniels in 9:58 (***)
Tomohiro Ishii pinned Big Damo in 13:02 (***¼)
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Once more, we’re live on tape from the Vermont Hollywood in Los Angeles… Ian Riccaboni and Alex Koslov are on the call.
Kevin Blackwood & Lucas Riley vs. Yuya Uemura & Keita
Commentary painted this as “possibly the start of a streak” for all four here…
Uemura and Blackwood start us off, switching from hammerlock to headlocks to an armbar from Uemura, before an escape led to Blackwood punting Uemura in the back. Riley tags in on a cornered Uemura, but Uemura’s able to get free and tag in Keita, who lands a knee strike before a uranage backbreaker dumped Riley.
Riley blocks some headscissors as Blackwood came in to hit a dropkick for a two-count, before a snapmare and another low dropkick nearly put Keita away. Blackwood tags in to wear down Keita, hitting a bridging German suplex after Keita had tried to stretch for a tag out.
A jawbreaker from Keita gets him back in it, before he kicked Riley away… and finally that’s the tag made to Uemura, as he ran wild with right hands on Blackwood. There’s a leaping forearm from Uemura, then a slam before he charged down Riley for the hell of it. Blackwood blocks a side suplex, but Uemura eventually lands it for a near-fall.
Riley tags back in as we get some double-teaming on Uemura, who ate a hiptoss before an assisted back senton from Riley nearly led to the upset. Keita ruins wild, but gets kicked down… he’s able to block Riley’s second assisted back senton as Uemura proceeded to get back in it.
Blackwood’s double stomp stopped Uemura winning with a back suplex as a Parade of Moves breaks out, leading to an enziguiri from Riley… only for him to run into a Frankensteiner of all things from Uemura for the win. This was pretty good while it lasted, with Uemura being the difference maker at the end. ***
Backstage, Kevin Blackwood refused to accept the loss, and told Lucas Riley to own the defeat… with Kevin then saying he was still 1-0. O-kay…
Bullet Club (El Phantasmo & Chris Bey) vs. Alex Zayne & Christopher Daniels
Hollywood doesn’t get ELP’s light-up jacket… but does get the classic Christopher Daniels TNA theme. Incidentally, Daniels had OTANI on his armband, paying tribute to Shinjiro Otani, who’d been injured earlier that day.
Zayne and Bey start us off, with Zayne’s wristlock getting countered via a hair pull. Bey rolls past Zayne, who cartwheeled out of headscissors before a springboard double knee drop and a corkscrew back senton caught Bey for a two-count. Daniels tags in and spins Bey down with a dropkick, before Daniels overcame the Bullet Club’s double-team with a headlock/headscissors takedown.
Phantasmo’s taken to the corner as Zayne came in to hit his part of a neckbreaker/back suplex combo. A double-team suplex keeps ELP down for a two-count, before Dusty punches from Daniels led to him getting tripped in the ropes by Bey. Phantasmo capitalises with a low dropkick as the Bullet Club combine, leading to a Gas Pedal from ELP in the corner.
From there, we start with the flashy back rakes from Bey and ELP, before Daniels tried to chop his way back in. He’s tripped and met with a back senton, then a springboard moonsault for a two-count. A side headlock from Bey keeps Daniels grounded, before Daniels flashed back in with a STO. ELP tagged in, but loses Daniels, who made the tag out to Zayne… whose forearms lit up Phantasmo ahead of a flipping guillotine legdrop.
Bey tries to help, but ends up inadvertently assisting Zayne on a flip ‘rana off the top for a near-fall. Daniels takes care of Bey with a clothesline to the outside, while ELP nearly wins with a roll-up on Zayne. A trip up top for Zayne sees him miss a Crunch Wrap shooting star knees, as ELP came in with the CR2 for a near-fall… before Sudden Death spun Zayne down for the win. ***
Big Damo vs. Tomohiro Ishii
The storyline going in was that this was a mega rematch from a prior meeting in June 2015 at Rev Pro’s Summer Sizzler…
Opening with a lock-up, Damo shoves Ishii into the corner, but Ishii comes back out of the corner with forearms. A series of shoulder tackles barely moves Damo, who barges Ishii down in return. Stomps from Damo fire up Ishii, who starts a chop battle, only to get kneed into the corner as Damo literally stood on him.
A back senton from Damo led to a two-count, but Damo looked to take Ishii too lightly, taking time between each strike before he got taken into the corner for an Ishii clothesline. Chops and forearms follow from Ishii, before a waistlock from Ishii looked to lead to a German suplex. It’s blocked by Damo, who ended up returning with a thrust kick and a leaping crossbody for a two-count.
Ishii recovers with a series of forearms, only to get kicked back down, as Damo then looked to chop Ishii on the top rope… building up to a superplex. Ishii popped right back up though and retaliated with a suplex before clotheslines off the ropes ended with Damo throwing down Ishii for an elbow drop.
Damo tries to add to that, eventually hitting a shotgun dropkick before a uranage from the apron, then a slingshot senton nearly won the match for the Belfast native. Another pump kick from Damo stops Ishii ahead of a Fireman’s carry slam and a back senton… but Ishii rolls away from a Vader bomb. Damo’s back to his feet first, but misses a charge in the corner as Ishii returned with a German suplex.
Ishii’s knocked down with a forearm, then returned with a headbutt as clotheslines eventually had Damo down for two. From there, Ishii goes for a brainbuster, but nearly had it reversed as an enziguiri instead put down the big man. A sliding lariat’s next for a two-count, before the sheer drop brainbuster got Ishii the win. A decent main event, but one seemingly hurt by the tired crowd as they didn’t latch onto this as you’d expect. ***¼
