Pantoja’s NJPW Declaration of Power 2022 Review

NJPW Declaration of Power

October 10th, 2022 | Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 4,059

I had a loaded Monday and actually have a pretty busy week overall so this review had to wait a bit. This show name is a big step down from King of Pro Wrestling.

Things opened with a tribute to the late Antonio Inoki.

David Finlay, Ren Narita and Robbie Eagles vs. DOUKI, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru

This was hyped as the Ren Narita return match since he is back from excursion though he’s still wearing the generic black trunks. The Suzuki-Gnu guys brought their usual stuff which included brawling outside but it never hit the point of goofy shenanigans like other stables. Plus, Eagles and Finlay are two of my favorite babyfaces in the company and Narita looked fired up. It all combined for something really good. I could watch them have exchanges with Desperado forever. Narita pulled out the win with a bridging belly to belly on DOUKI in 7:28. That did exactly what it needed to and was a good time. [***¼]

Bad Dude Tito and Shane Haste vs. The Dangerous Tekkers

I love me some Dangerous Tekkers. Kevin Kelly suggested this could be a World Tag League preview though that tournament is pretty pointless. I had fun with the early stuff where Taichi and Tito traded shoulder tackles and titty bouncing. Once this really got going, Sabre tied up his opponents on the mat for a while but it was Taichi who ended up in trouble and played the de facto face in peril. Granted, Sabre Jr.’s hot tag didn’t get much of a reaction but still, it followed the concept. He reeled off some impressive offense before beating Tito with the European Clutch in 9:57. Another good match here. I also chuckled at Haste and ZSJ trying a post-match handshake that got more awkward and nearly led to a hug. [***]

EVIL, SHO and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hikuelo and Ryusuke Taguchi

The House of Torture and Hikuelo. That’s a choice. Save_Us.Tanahashi. Look, I don’t have a lot to say her because this was every other House of Torture match ever. We got a brawl at the bell, underhanded tactics, weapons being used, distracted refs, etc. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Taguchi got the hot tag early and Hikuelo played the typical dominant big man. Taguchi was out after a wrench shot but Hikuelo chokeslammed SHO and placed Taguchi over him to end this in 7:14. It was inoffensive but more of the same. [**]

The Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb vs. Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI

We’ve got us another World Tag League preview. Yay. Like the previous match, we got a fight at the bell before it calmed down into a more traditional tag. Great-O-Khan used YOSHI-HASHI’s staff as a weapon against him. Ultimately, this felt like a condensed version of a bigger match. That’s not me saying I want to see a 15-20 minute version of it but it feels like they had more in the tank. HASHI took a beating because he’s one of the company’s best underdogs but any tag to Goto is going to feel underwhelming. Cobb beat HASHI with a sick looking Tour of the Islands after 10:09 in a match that kind of just happened and nothing more. [**½]

Aaron Henare, Francesco Akira, TJP and Will Ospreay vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA and Tetsuya Naito

Now, we’re getting into the bigger stuff. This was meant to give us our main build towards the upcoming Naito/Ospreay match. I swear NJPW stuff doesn’t make sense. Naito lost the G1 and Okada said he’s not defending the briefcase but commentary kept hyping that if Naito could beat the “best in the world” Ospreay in Osaka, he could change things in the Dome. How? Explain it to me. Anyway, Naito and Ospreay jawed before the bell and the match itself was the chaotic fun you’d expect from these guys. For years LIJ has mastered the multi-man tag and now they have new guys to work it with. The BUSHI and Hiromi/Akira and TJP match that could happen down the line sounds dope. While this was good it never got the chance to be much more as it was kept relatively short and led to a surprise ending. A masked man showed up and beat up the United Empire’s heels before BUSHI pinned Akira with MX in 8:07. Like I said, a good match. [***]

The masked man revealed himself to be Titán, now officially a member of LIJ. Oh, so that likely means he and BUSHI will get the title shot and Hiromu will be in the singles Jr. Title picture.

After intermission, New Japan introduced the Television Title. This company doesn’t need that title (though they miss the IC strap) but the 15 minute time limit it comes with is a GOD SEND. Make all New Japan matches 15:00 or less.

Master Wato vs. Taiji Ishimori

This was meant to be KUSHIDA but he’s out so we’ve got a non-title replacement here. They’ve met in the BOSJ 2020 and 2021 (both ***¼). Commentary made more sense in this match, discussing how Wato works well as a tag guy who can do the hot tag but who has holes that hold him back as a singles dude. That was the case early as Wato seemed to just get his ass kicked from the opening bell. Ishimori looked like a dude in a totally different class. That forced Wato to dig deep and find ways to turn the tide. He did so and started getting in offense that helped him come close but you never felt like he had a true chance. That’s why I liked the finish so much. He didn’t just overcome the odds and win big. He countered an Ishimori submission into a pinning combination, winning in 14:40. I really like the upset here and they told a good story with quality action. [***½]

Post-match, the win was immediately overshadowed as Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado came out to stake their claim for title shots. Damn, at least let them do Wato/Ishimori on a Road to Tokyo Dome show or some shit before you pull this.

KOPW Trophy: Shingo Takagi [c] vs. El Phantasmo

I’ll say it again but Shingo Takagi has continued to fall after being the best thing about the company during the pandemic. The loser here would have to publicly admit that the other is their “daddy.” Their G1 match was really good (***½) and this was more of the same. Despite the gimmicky and goofy stipulation, they mostly worked this as a regular match. I liked the mind games since ELP has had the upper hand in the build, yet Shingo got him off his game by busting out a shirt that said “ELP’s Daddy” or something along those lines. I didn’t like the attempt to get Shingo to say “you’re my daddy” on the mic during the fight like this was an I Quit match or something. The two traded forearms and like their G1 match, saw ELP showcase that he could hang and bang with the stronger heavyweight. It was just a few years ago that Shingo was in the BOSJ, so this reminded me of that era. As this passed the 10 minute mark, near falls became more believable and I got more invested. ELP survived a lot but finally submitted when he got tied up like a pretzel after 16:01. Hell yeah, that peaked and ended at the right moment. A really good matches. [***¾]

Post-match, ELP said the words, sported the shirt, and even was given a pacifier. However, he then hit a low blow and destroyed the trophy, which should go away going forward.

JONAH vs. Kazuchika Okada

I was a big fan of their G1 meeting (****¼). Coming into this, the biggest problem was evident for weeks. Okada has already said he wasn’t defending his title shot or anything like that and there was no way he was losing two in a row to JONAH, so the outcome was obvious. That took away a lot of the drama. What we got was a very well worked match that told the story it needed to, similar to the G1 outing. JONAH is a monster and worked like one, putting Okada in a ton of trouble. Okada had to fight from beneath and find ways to overcome this. It’s a similar story to when Okada works Fale, except it’s actually good. I liked that once Okada got in real trouble after 10 or so minutes, he moved to work the legs. It was a smart way of chopping JONAH down to size and felt like a page out of the Tanahashi playbook. JONAH survived the Money Clip because that move is ass and he CRUSHED Okada with a lariat. Seriously, it was a brutal one. JONAH hit the powerbomb like he did last time but he missed the Tsunami. From there, it was just about getting to the finish which saw Okada win with the Rainmaker at the 19:53 mark. Like I said, a very good match but it couldn’t be great since it had zero drama. [***¾]

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Jay White [c] vs. Tama Tonga

Anyone who has followed my reviews knows I love Jay but don’t think highly of Tama. That said, Tama’s babyface run has easily been him at his best and it was a BAD move to have him drop the NEVER Title to Karl Anderson. Tama beat Jay in the G1 (***½) to win the block. White took control early by taking the fight to the outside and throwing Tama around into the guardrails a bunch. This wasn’t interesting work on its own but Jay made it work by talking so much trash. With the quiet crowds, it was reminiscent of Roman’s smack talk in the Thunderdome. The problem with this match was that it just kept going on and on and the middle portions were pretty drab. When they got to the story stuff like Tama being tested on his good guy antics, I was back into it. When he was tested with using the chair and decided against it, that’s the kind of storytelling I’m here for. By then though, we were nearing 25 minutes and I was starting to tune out. They went into the typical New Japan closing stretch with counters and such before the Gun Stun put both men down. Tama went for a big one soon after only to get caught in the Blade Runner, losing in 31:07. You know what I’m going to say here. This was too long. Again, 30+ minute main events work in a lot of cases but that’s not Tama’s strong suit and they didn’t make it work. If this was 21 minutes, it would’ve had a case for Tama’s best match ever. As is, it was just good. [***¼]

Post-match, Jay cut a promo where he mocked Tama for his years in the Bullet Club and put himself over as a once in a lifetime performer. Okada came out for the face to face to set up WK. It’s not a very interesting match but whatever.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

That was a good show and it continues the trend of giving us New Japan in a nutshell. Some really good to great matches, stuff that goes too long, weird booking choices, a standout undercard tag, and just a lot that feels fine but hollow.