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NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2018 – Live Notes and Review

October 9, 2018 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2018

411Mania was live and in attendance for last Sunday’s NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2018 event. The card was held at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California. Here are some notes and general thoughts from the overall card.

The Walter Pyramid is definitely a nice venue to hold an event like this. It looks great on TV and pretty much every seat has a good view of the ring and action.

Unfortunately, New Japan was not able to draw a full sellout crowd here. I think waiting to announce the full card and lineup just a week out was a mistake. However, the crowd was very hot and energetic most of the night, and the arena did look mostly full about midway after the first intermission.

Roppongi 3K (Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh vs. Jushin Liger, ACH, & Ryusuke Taguchi

This made for a fairly fun hot opener. A lot of nice standout work for ACH, who definitely looks to be coming into his own as a worker. He looked incredibly fast, crisp and on point here. Crazy to think Jushin Liger is 53 years old and still working fairly regularly. Taguchi wins the match for his team after hitting Rocky Romero with the Dodon about nine minutes in.

SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) vs. Chase Owens & Adam Page

Nothing earth-shattering, but they had a fun eight-minute tag match all things considered. Hangman Page definitely impressed me here. He looks like he’s improving his physique and in-ring skill and busted out some incredibly athletic moves. Like he did a standing dropkick and used that to flip over into a moonsault. Kazarian and Daniels both looked like well seasoned and experienced veterans here. They picked up the win after about eight minutes with the Best Meltzer Ever.

I was able to check out the post-match press conference. Kazarian and Daniels both hinted at joining the World Tag League.

Hirooki Goto, Chuckie T, & Trent vs. Flip Gordon, Chris Sabin, & Jeff Cobb

Newly minted ROH TV champion Jeff Cobb teams up with Flip Gordon and Chris Sabin. I was a pretty huge Chris Sabin mark back in the glory days of TNA and the X Division, so it was great to see him here. Overall, it was a decent tag team match that got a good bit of time at about 12 minutes. It was nice to see Jeff Cobb pick up a win in NJPW after pinning Chuckie T with a lariat and Tour of the Islands. Definitely seems like Jeff Cobb’s stock is rising in the wrestling world I hope big things are in store for his future. He’s legit. Post-match shenanigans appears to suggest we’ll be seeing another Cobb vs. Goto match in the foreseeable future.

Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer, & Davey Both Smith Jr vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito)

It’s a bit eerie how Smith Jr. seems to keep resembling his father more and more as he gets older. Sabre manages to get the pin on EVIL after using a clutch pin about nine-and-a-half minutes in. They appeared to be pushing EVIL sulking quite a bit after the loss. The match was inoffensive and worked alright for the amount of time it lasted. It definitely appears that NJPW is starting a bit of a storyline regarding EVIL’s recent losses for LIJ.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA vs. Gedo & Jay White

I’m really enjoying Gedo’s heel turn and pairing with Jay White right now. The finish came in at almost nine minutes after Gedo cheats by using the brass knuckles to waffle Tanahashi. White then hits Tanahashi with the Blade Runner for the win. The match did a good job of setting up a future match between Jay White and Tanahashi for Tanahashi’s G1 briefcase further down the line. It was just your basic tag match here, but it did a good job of furthering the storyline and setting up a new match-up for Tanahashi down the line. Jay White plays the heel role very well and played off the fans perfectly.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Tournament Semifinal Match: Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll

This was a really fun match. Will Ospreay looked like a badass here, and I honestly don’t get why he’s criticized as a spot monkey. Well, I get why he was, but he was definitely doing a lot more than just spots and moves here. It looked like everything he was doing exuded emotion, and it looked like whenever Marty Scurll would try to chop him, it would only make him angrier. Ospreay definitely has some charisma inside the ring. This was a fun and fast-paced junior heavyweight match. If I have one gripe, I think the Tiger Superplex by Scurll probably should’ve been what the match built to for the finish. Scurll gets the clean win after creaming Ospreay with a lariat and a package side piledriver. Post-match, Scurll cuts a fun heel promo at the press conference.

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match: The Young Bucks (c) vs. The Guerrillas of Destiny w/ Haku

I really liked Haku being ringside for this match. Both teams worked really well together here. Say what you will about the Young Bucks, but they know how to sell and build psychology when they want to. Matt Jackson played up his back injury here, and Nick would frequently have to intervene to help him lift up one of Firing Squad members for a move due to the strain on his back. The point is, the Bucks know how to work and sell the injury of a body part despite what their critics might say. Now, maybe they don’t do it enough, but they know how to do it well when they want to do it.

I’m happy to see the GoD pick up the win here. It gives the feud with the Firing Squad some heat. It gives the Bucks a team they have to chase that they have some deeply personal issues with. Not to mention, it opens up the possibility for the Guerrillas of Destiny to possibly even face the Golden Lovers for the belts down the line. The Guerrillas of Destiny get the win about 19-and-a-half minutes in and win clean as a sheet.

IWGP United States Heavyweight Title Match: Juice Robinson (c) vs. Cody w/ Brandi:

I was a bit surprised when this match was made. For one thing, I thought it would be weird for Cody to lose ahead of his upcoming rematch with Nick Aldis. I also wasn’t sure if NJPW would have Juice Robinson lose his title on his first title defense. Not to mention, I wasn’t expecting some sort of a disqualification or non-finish for a US card. But Cody Rhodes wins the title and walked out of Walter Pyramid with two belts, now holding the IWGP US title in NJPW, the NWA world title, and the ROH six-man tag team titles with The Young Bucks in ROH.

Cody and Juice had a very good match here. I enjoyed the exchanges on the floor, such as Juice hitting Cody with a nice belly-to-belly suplex, and Cody hitting an inverted DDT. Brandi’s involvement in the match was all well executed, and she’s a great part of Cody’s act and character. Juice even managed to hit Cody with Pulp Friction, but he was unable to get the pin thanks to Brandi helping her guy. Cody picks up the win at 17 minutes after Juice hits him with a super-plex, but Cody is able to then able to counter it into a small package to get the surprising clean pin and upset. Everything looked crisp and on-point. It was a very good wrestling match. I probably enjoyed it a bit more than Larry did though, and I was genuinely surprised by the way the finish occurred.

I was a bit disappointed to see Juice Robinson lose his first major title on his first title defense. However, based on his post-match interview, it definitely looks like this is going to be significant footnote for him that he tends to come up short in these big matches such as the G1 Climax, here against Cody, etc. Juice was very dejected and played up being humble in defeat at the press conference, acting down on himself and being unsure if he would get booked at some upcoming major cards. So, NJPW definitely seems to be pushing the underdog aspect of Juice Robinson’s character who has to really struggle his way to get back to the top. It’s not the worst angle they can go with Juice.

Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada vs. The Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi)

Well this was certainly a brutal, stiff tag team contest. I really enjoy the tandem offense of The Golden Lover team. The Omega and Ibushi team is clearly very special. Ishii is a monster. The way the man throws forearm and palm strikes is scary, especially the way he eats them and shows no reaction at all. Red Shoes seemed pretty lenient because about midway through, he pretty much stopped caring about the tags and the partners getting into the ring. The Golden Lovers eventually pick up the win after about 34 minutes with the V-Trigger. This was an awesome and intense tag team battle.

After the match, Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks come to the ring to celebrate. However, Cody Rhodes then sets up a heavyweight title match with Omega and Ibushi at King of Pro Wrestling to showcase their style of pro wrestling.

All in all, Fighting Spirit Unleashed was a great show, and New Japan live is a great experience. Thank you to AXS TV and NJPW for having us at the Fighting Spirit Unleashed.

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