wrestling / TV Reports
Kevin’s NJPW Hi No Kuni 2019 Review
Loading...NJPW Wrestling Hi No Kuni
April 29th, 2019 | Grand Messe Kumamoto in Mashiki, Kamimashiki | Attendance: 2,702
Remember that time in 2016 when Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton randomly main evented No Mercy? That’s what the main even of this show feels like. Who cares about Hirooki Goto vs. Jay White? Anyway, on the road to Wrestling Dontaku, this is another C-level show. I have admittedly not been a fan of NJPW this year. There are good matches, but it all feels so hollow. I’m thinking the BOTSH will turn things around. But first, it’s Wrestling Hi No Kuni.
Ren Narita, Shota Umino and Tomoaki Honma vs. Toa Henare, Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura
I’ve been watching the “Road to” shows but not reviewing. The Young Lions and Henare usually kill it there. They always give effort. It’s cool that Honma is back from injury, but he hasn’t had magic since he started winning in the G1. Since then, he’s kind of just there. Unfortunately, this lacked the energy I’m used to from these guys. It wasn’t bad, as a lot of the exchanges were smooth and had some interesting moments. It just didn’t feel like what I’m used to from these openers. Uemura got the win with his bridging suplex in 11:00. Fine wrestling and nothing more. Disappointing considering their usual efforts. [**½]
Jeff Cobb, Jushin Thunder Liger, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask IV & YOSHI-HASHI vs. El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Inject Suzuki vs. Liger into my damn veins. It doesn’t matter what year you’re watching, Suzuki-Gun will attack before the bell. Also, Taguchi’s team up ass attack will often go wrong, as it did here. He was left to face against most of the opposing team. He stood up to them, but Suzuki and his buddies kicked his ass. The match went along with nothing of real note happening until Liger and Suzuki went at it. That’s all I really wanted from this. Give me Liger vs. Suzuki at Dominion. To me, that’s the most interesting match they could book for that show. Cobb showing off his power was fun. He’s the kind of NEVER Champion I want. That title has been dead in the water since Shibata so maybe he can save it. Cobb won with Tour of the Islands on TAKA in 12:42. Nothing great but props for Cobb ruling and Liger/Suzuki. [**¾]
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Dragon Lee and Will Ospreay vs. HIKULEO and Taiji Ishimori
I like half this match. Dragon lee and Taiji Ishimori. Their title match should be very good. I’ve made my feelings clear on Ospreay in the past and HIKUELO is, uh, tall. The Bullet Club guys pulled a Suzuki-Gun and attacked before the bell. These heel factions are all the same. I popped for Lee’s tribute to Shibata. The babyface team ran into trouble because of HIKULEO’s size. They rallied and Lee took out Ishimori with a tope suicida. HIKULEO blocked the Oscutter and got a near fall, but then fell to the Oscutter at the 10:06 mark. Solid enough. The Lee/Ishimori interactions were the highlight. [**¼]
Bad Luck Fale vs. Mikey Nicholls
What the shit is this? Why subject me to this? I don’t have much to say about this match itself because it was a nothing bout. Mikey Nicholls played the underdog babyface and Fale was his usual big self. Unlike Tanahashi or Juice Robinson, Nicholls was devoid of anything that made him a compelling person to root for. Instead, we just got the most basic of hollow matches possible. Fale won a boring match with the Grenade in 7:24. Skip this as it serves zero function. [*]
Non-Title Match: Chase Owens vs. IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson
Their third meeting of the year. Owens won in the New Japan Cup (***¼), but Juice retained in the title match (***). I saw a lot of praise for both, but felt they capped out at good. When I saw those, I felt they went a bit too long (both were over 22 minutes). This was their shortest outing, yet it was also their least interesting. With nothing on the line, it felt like they were just going through the motions. Like, this was the kind of match you’d see at a house show. Two guys just having a match. There were a few decent counter exchanges late that played off their recent history. Juice won via Pulp Friction in 8:43. Okay, let’s please move onto something more interesting for Juice. [**½]
Thankfully, after the match, Juice told commentary he was done with the Bullet Club. I wish I was too, buddy. He wondered who would be his fourth challenger for the title he wants to put on the map.
BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, IWGP Intercontinental Champion Kota Ibushi, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Roppongi 3K & Tomohiro Ishii
Save this show please. For anyone wondering, I gave BUSHI & Shingo vs. Roppongi 3K on 4/26 ****. At this point, you kind of know what to expect from these guys. They’re all great and their chemistry is mostly top notch. The SANADA/Okada exchanges still underwhelm and that title match doesn’t sound too appealing. However, the Ibushi/Naito and Ishii/EVIL stuff rules. The latter is so intense on each show and this was no different. I could watch SHO vs. Shingo until the end of time. Despite there being a lot of great individual battles, the match didn’t come together as smoothly as it usually does. They’ve had better stuff on this very tour. Still, it was a lot of fun and easily the best thing on the card to this point. SANADA gained momentum heading into the title match by making SHO submit to Skull End in 16:40. [***¼]
IWGP Tag Team Championship: The Guerrillas of Destiny [c] vs. Togi Makabe and Toru Yano
I better not hear people complain about the Raw tag division (which is admittedly bad) unless they also point out how terrible NJPW’s is. The Guerrillas of Destiny continue to be one of the most mediocre acts to get consistently pushed. I feel about them the way most of wrestling Twitter seems to feel about Baron Corbin. Anyway, this was everything you’d expect from these teams. Yano was his funny self, he’s still not comfortable facing Tama Tonga, and the champs were as uninteresting as ever. Makabe got what would be the hot tag but it didn’t amount to much. The crowd was quiet for a lot of this. The challengers nearly stole it after a low blow and the King Kong Knee Drop but Loa broke up the pin. They then retained when Tama rolled up Makabe in 14:50. Dull stuff as usual.[**]
Hirooki Goto vs. Jay White
Jay White going from IWGP Champion to a feud with Hirooki Goto is a ridiculous fall from grace. Goto has been a midcard gatekeeper of sorts since Okada buried him there and made him his lackey in 2016. Knowing they were working an NJPW main event, these guys chose to work at a slow pace. It took a while for this match to get going. I’m used to that in these main events. However, when a guy like Okada does it, he turns things up in a big way down the stretch. At its best, this match never really even came close to sniffing greatness. White continues to do well with the character stuff and it’s delightfully refreshing in a company that is driven on WE GET HIGH STAR RATINGS. His underhanded tactics throughout were well done and played differently than Suzuki-Gun and other Bullet Club guys. White won with the Blade Runner in 22:59. A solid match, but one that gave me no reason to be engaged. It happened. [***]
