Hamilton’s New Japan Summer Struggle 2021 – Night Eleven 08.09.2021 Review

Quick Results
Toru Yano, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoaki Honma pinned Jado, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens in 10:34 (**)
Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI pinned Togi Makabe, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI in 18:34 (***¼)
Super Junior Tag League 2021: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo pinned Gedo & Dick Togo in 12:57 (**¾)
Super Junior Tag League 2021: Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask submitted Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado in 16:44 (***¼)
Super Junior Tag League 2021: Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi pinned YOH & SHO in 19:00 (***¼)

— 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.

It’s another night at Korakuen, and the formula of two matches in the first half with the three Super Junior Tag League bouts in the second.

Toru Yano, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoaki Honma vs. Bullet Club (Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Jado)
Are they going to tease the I Quit stuff again today?

Yet again there’s a jump start for this match, but things quickly settled down before Honma got suplexed by Jado and Yujiro. The Bullet Club trio focus on Honma as the weak link for a spell, picking up a bunch of near-falls in the process. Honma gets distracted by Jado on the floor, but manages to exchange strikes with Yujiro before landing a leaping Kokeshi.

Tenzan’s in with Mongolian and regular chops to Yujiro, before Jado got involved… and was given a Mongolian chop also. Yujiro capitalises with a Fisherman buster, hauling up Tenzan for a two-count, only for his attempts at Mongolian chops to earn him a Mountain Bomb as tags get us to Owens and Yano.

They play pass the parcel with the turnbuckle pad, before Yano won out and slingshotted Owens into the corner. Low blows lead to a turnaround as we break into a Parade of Moves, ending with Owens blasting Yano with a knee, but he couldn’t get a package piledriver off, and after some switcharoos with Jado and a Kendo stick, Yano low blows Jado and Chase before winning with the roll-up. Moving on… **

Post-match, Yano grabbed the mic as I swear they’d dubbed in some screams from Chase Owens. Someone saw the 1999 Rumble…

Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Togi Makabe vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi)
Yesterday, Tomohiro Ishii took BUSHI’s mask… tomorrow, they meet again for something slightly bigger: the NEVER trios titles.

We’ve a jump start as BUSHI took Ishii outside, following through with a tope suicida before Ishii go thrown over the railings. Shingo and Makabe stay in the ring, with Togi actually pulling ahead… and then he’s charged down by the champion. SANADA tries his luck, but gets overwhelmed by Goto and YOSHI-HASHI, before we get all the war drum spots.

SANADA kicks away Goto out of the corner, then came back with the double leapfrog/dropkick series as LIJ rush the ring. A leg lock from SANADA quickly ends in the ropes, before everyone ganged up on Goto’s knee in the ropes. A dropkick to the knee from BUSHI gets him a two-count, while Shingo kept that line of attack going, building up to a Sharpshooter that’s quickly stopped.

Naito’s in to try for Combinacion Cabron, but he puts on the brakes and instead goes for a Deathlock on Goto as the NEVER trios champions and challengers get all tied up. After getting free, Goto drops Naito with an ushigoroshi, before YOSHI-HASHI came in for a running Headhunter. Naito goes back to the arm, yanking YOSHI-HASHI to the mat, before tags get us back to Ishii and BUSHI.

Ishii absorbs some elbows, then cornered BUSHI for the Violence Party… but BUSHI walks through the strikes too and returned with an enziguiri. BUSHI takes Ishii onto the apron, but the slingshot DDT’s blocked as the rest of Ishii’s team storm the ring, giving Ishii a chance to undo the mask again. He shoves away the referee, but BUSHI eventually breaks free as Makabe tagged in.

Shingo’s back too, charging down Makabe for a suplex, only to get caught with the swivelling clothesline. SANADA comes in to drag down Makabe with a Skull End, allowing Shingo to hit a sliding lariat for a near-fall, before Goto made sure Makabe didn’t take a Last of the Dragon. Another Parade of Moves breaks out, with LIJ clearing the ring as Makabe clotheslines BUSHI and Shingo, ahead of a German suplex to the champion.

Shingo’s right back with a clothesline though, before the pair exchanged strikes… but in the end a Pumping Bomber blasts Makabe for a near-fall, ahead of an unexpected (well, Makabe rarely bumps) Last of the Dragon for the win. A decent tag with plenty of intensity going into tomorrow’s main event – and I hope you’ve carved out the customary half an hour for it! ***¼

Super Junior Tag League 2021: Bullet Club (Gedo & Dick Togo) vs. Bullet Club (El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori)
I suspect foul play may about to be afoot here…

There’s chatter before the match as ELP wants an easy night’s work. Dick Togo falls on his back, gets covered… but kicks out while the match graphic remained on-screen. Wash, rinse, repeat, except Togo breaks apart a pin as Gedo tried to lay down, and then things break down.

Phantasmo and Ishimori finally figure out how to rake t-shirt covered backs. You lift them up. Gas pedals follow in the corner, but Gedo still won’t lay down for three seconds, so we get more back rakes before Gedo pulled Ishimori to the outside, where Dick Togo decided to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Gedo joins him to whip Ishimori with his belt, while Togo’s chinlock back inside leads to a fist drop for a two-count. Togo and Gedo stay on Ishimori with more back rakes, before Ishimori tripped Togo into the corner and finally made the tag out. Togo backs off, but ends up taking atomic drops and a crossbody from ELP, then a Quebrada for a near-fall.

Phantasmo makes a rare tope out to Gedo, then a senton back in as Milano was chanting for the Canadian, as if a free t-shirt was riding on it… and then we get the boot loading. Togo blocks Sudden Death with a poke to the eyes, before pinning attempts and a crossface had Phantasmo in trouble… the ropes save him as tags get us back to Gedo and Ishimori.

Elusive actions in the corner led to a springboard seated senton from Ishimori, then a handspring enziguiri, before Togo kicked apart a submission attempt. Phantasmo takes him outside, as Gedo blacks Ishimori with a thrust kick for a near-fall, then went for the brass knuckles. It’s a cover as Togo goes for the Spoiler Choker, until ELP broke it up, then hit Gedo with a Sudden Death in the gut.

In comes the tag belts as Ishimori measures up Gedo… but then played the Eddie Guerrero trick. The ref doesn’t decide quickly though, as we go to pinning attempts, with feet on the ropes, before Gedo was pulled into a Yes Lock. He rolls free, then bumped the ref as a low blow and a Gedo Clutch looked to get the win, only for ELP’s Sudden Death to break it up and leave Gedo prone for a simple pin. Once you got past the teases of a Fingerpoke of Doom, this broke down into a pretty solid match as the champions threaten to run the field. **¾

Super Junior Tag League 2021: Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado) vs. Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask
Both teams come into this with 100% records – so clearly, someone’s not finishing the day joint top.

We’ve a reunion from Wrestle Grand Slam, where Eagles beat Desperado for the junior title, but we start with Kanemaru kicking Eagles in the knee only for the Aussie to break free and take out the former junior tag champs on his own. Tiger Mask tags in to put the boots to Desperado, going after his knee as Despy’s leg was kicked out of his leg.

Things spill outside as Eagles and Tiger Mask were taken into the guard rails, then back inside, as the Suzuki-gun lads focus on Eagles’ leg and knee. Kanemaru’s boot proves to be Eagles’ next stop, before Kanemaru came in with a low dropkick to the knee for a near-fall. Dualling surfboard stretches on Eagles and Tiger Mask are kicked away from, but Eagles still needs to cling to the ropes before Desperado stuffed a springboard armdrag attempt.

My feed drops out, recovering with Tiger Mask almost pinning Desperado with a crucifix, before a triangle armbar proved insufficient, as Desperado broke free and hit a back suplex. Kanemaru’s back with a dropkick for a near-fall, but Tiger Mask’s spin kicks take him down as Eagled hobbled back into the match.

Running double knees did more harm than good at first, but Eagles does them again for a near-fall before Kanemaru focused on the knee again with a knee breaker. A Figure Four almost forces a stoppage, but Eagles gets to the ropes before he’s met with a scooping reverse DDT.

Eagles fought back though, landing a clothesline to the back of Kanemaru before pulling himself into the corner for a springboard missile dropkick to the knee. Desperado runs in to help with a back suplex on Eagles, as the Aussie looked to be doing too much work in the team, but Tiger Mask comes in for a Tiger Driver on Kanemaru for a near-fall.

A tiltawhirl backbreaker helps get rid of Desperado, as Eagles keeps going, hitting a 450 splash to Kanemaru’s leg, then forcing a submission with the Ron Miller Special. Towards the end it looked like Eagles was perhaps taking on too much of the workload – which could backfire as we get into the business end of the league. ***¼

Super Junior Tag League 2021: Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) vs. Team 6 or 9 (Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato)
Someone’s 0 has gotta go here, as Roppongi 3K’s bid to win a fourth Super Junior Tag League was hanging by a thread.

Taguchi and YOH start with a scramble that leads nowhere, so in come Wato and SHO instead. Wato goes for some kicks, but SHO lands his before a back elbow and a leaping rear spin kick took him down. YOH comes in to help turn it back in SHO’s favour, then grounded Wato with a chinlock and another kick for a two-count.

Taguchi comes in to get rid of SHO as the double teaming sees YOH meet Taguchi’s arse, before Taguchi leapt out of the corner for a two-count. A chinlock keeps YOH down, as Wato returned to keep the pressure up, landing a back elbow for a two-count, while a strait-jacket hold by the ropes from Taguchi just drew SHO in… oto get thrown to the outside.

Sit-down splashes from Taguchi continue to wear down YOH’s gut for a near-fall as the crowd finally woke up. I mean until then it was positively low energy, even for a clap crowd. Taguchi whiffs on hip attacks as YOH tries to make a tag out, eventually doing so after he cracked Wato with an enziguiri.

Kicks from SHO drop Wato ahead of a key lock, but it’s broken up as the pair resort to throwing elbows. Wato cuts that off with a leaping leg lariat, before Taguchi returned with a springboard arse attack for a two-count on SHO. Oh My Garankle followed, but SHO pushes away, only to get faked out for another hip attack from Taguchi.

The Three Amigos follow from Taguchi, but SHO counters the third one and brought YOH back in to get a two-count off of a neckbreaker. Taguchi leaps into an atomic drop, but manages to trip YOH back into the ankle lock, only for SHO to come back and help as the double team neckbreaker/slam backfired. The double leaping knees connected though, before the former champions looked to prepare for a 3K… but Taguchi escapes!

A tag brings in Wato, who went wild, diving into YOH on the outside, then brought him back in for an attempt at Recientemente. It’s blocked as a quick Parade of Moves left everyone down, before we resume with YOH and Wato trading strikes. Wato ducked a clothesline, but got ragdolled into a German suplex for a near-fall… before he blocks a Direct Drive and took down YOH with a roundhouse for a near-fall.

From there, Wato lands Recientemente as SHO dove in just in time to break it up. Taguchi helps out with a gamengiri to YOH in the corner, before a quick Dodon from Taguchi and RPP from Wato led to the shock win! That result means that Roppongi 3K cannot win the league, nor even be in the tiebreakers, as perhaps the sun is starting to set on their run… ***¼

Three matches in, and we’ve finally got something other than all-or-nothing records:

Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask; El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori – 3-0; 6pts
El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru – 2-1; 4pts
Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato – 1-2; 2pts
ELIMINATED: Gedo & Dick Togo; SHO & YOH – 0-3; 0pts

New Japan heads to the Yokohama Budokan tomorrow as the Super Junior Tag League takes a break – as we instead get the 9th defence of the NEVER trios titles as Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii take on the challenge of Tetsuya Naito, SANADA and BUSHI.

6.9

The final score: review Average

The 411

You know the drill by now on this part of the tour: tune in for the second half, as the Super Junior Tag League matches at least feel like they have some meaning among these otherwise wafer-thin cards.