We're not live from Hiroshima for this one. I stayed up past 7AM for Wrestle Kingdom 8, which was awesome, but I was also on winter break. Suffice it to say, I usually don't see New Japan live, but the same day is good enough for me. Tonight's the Tanahashi-Nakamura rematch for the IC title. Aside from that, I don't know the card well off-hand. Let's get to it.
Jushin Liger & El Desperado vs. Kota Ibushi & BUSHI
Liger has my favorite mask and some of my favorite gear ever. El Desperado has a pretty cool mask himself, and a guitar, but it doesn't look like he intends on using it Honky Tonk Man style. BUSHI and Ibushi come out as a team, unlike their opponents.
Ibushi and Desperado start the match off with neither able to take advantage. Liger gets a two and a half count after a sit out powerbomb on BUSHI. It took all of a minute ofor that. BUSHI got a suicide dive on Liger through the ropes, which Liger caught perfectly. El Desperado gets the pin on BUSHI about 10 minutes in. Perfectly acceptable opener.
Match Rating: ** This sets up El Desperado vs. Kota Ibushi and I got to see some Liger. No complaints here.
Tama Tonga vs. Minoru Suzuki
Tonga has extremely subdued entrance music. It's not menancing or eerie and it never sounds like something a crowd could pop for. Suzuki, on the other hand, has a recognizable theme that the crowd gets into.The crowd loves it, even if Suzuki is supposed to be a heel. Taichi comes with Suzuki tonight, strolling down with hands in his pocket. He gets a chair from the commentators booth while Suzuki puts the boot to a poor trainee.
Tonga tries to shine early on. He puts Suzuki in the corner and punches him in the abdomen over and over. Suzuki spits in defiance. Suzuki gets some help double teaming Tonga thanks to Taichi. Both guys are ostensibly heels, which translates to neither one having extended heat over the other. Suzuki's repeated slaps and a sleeper attempt get the biggest pop. Suzuki uses Taichi to distract Tonga, then grabs the ref to distract him from Taichi hitting Tonga with a chair. One Gotch piledriver later and we're all done.
Match Rating: ***** because I'm a complete Suzuki mark. No, I'm not that dumb, it's really a *1/2 effort. Very short and Tonga only gets in enough offense to not make this a squash.
Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano vs. Yuji Nagata & Kazushi Sakuraba
Iizuka attacks the poor announcer again and spray paints him into some sort of clown. The announcer looks like he's about to cry. Yano barely cares. Yano and Iizuka ambush their opponents to start the match. Sakuraba does the laziest spinning toe hold. Iizuka drags Sakuraba way into the crowd and tosses him onto the chairs. Iizuka chokes Sakuraba with a microphone chord to zero heat, though him wrapping the chord around his own neck and mocking Sakuraba gets a reaction.
Nagata getting the hot tag brings the crowd back to life. They're into him more than anyone else and this is no contest. Sakuraba has some terrible looking strikes that put Iizuka down. Yano holds onto the ref and keeps his attention while Iizuka uses a chair on Sakuraba and Nagata. Sakuraba uses the iron fingers on Iizuka, ending the match in DQ.
Match Rating: * A lot of sloppy brawling and the crowd only got into when Nagata was involved.
Michael Tarver vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Tarver is big and muscular but not a good worker. Tarver yells "I'm gonna knock his ass out!" while the crowd chants for Tenzan. Tarver's offense is mostly shoulders and chinlocks. Tarver cut Tenzan open with an elbow. Tenzan is bleeding bad from it. It's in a spot that would be a major concern in MMA or boxing. The announcers mention Tarver being a sparring partner of Mike Tyson. Tenzan got an anaconda vice on Tarver after a rolling kick, but Tarver got to the ropes. Tarver wins via a very sudden KO superman punch.
Match Rating: * Nothing worth adding. This was pretty bad.
NWA World Heavyweight Championship - Satoshi Kojima (c) vs. Big Daddy Yum Yum
I am instantly disappointed to see that Yum Yum is not a 400+ pound fat man. On the plus side, Bruce Tharpe is there in all his hammy goodness. Yum Yum is wearing a tiny, tiny vest that looks like the straps of a backpack when you see him from the front. That, plus yellow and pink leopard print gear.
Tharpe screaming at Kojima and cheering on Yum Yum is the highlight. "This is MAH BELT. Hurt 'im, Big Daddy!" Kojima does a corner chest slap spot that Yum Yum sells like death, even if most of the slaps aren't hard. Yum Yum is a lot better than Tarver and Kojima can move much more than Tenzan at this point. Kojima wins with a lariat.
Match Rating: **1/4 Nothing special either way. Tharpe was the best part. Tarver came out and ambushed Kojima after the match. Tenzan ran out for the save.
Tomohiro Ishii & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Tomaki Honma
Honma is the biggest stand out of the match. It's en vogue to love him and righfully so. He works hard as hell, sells and bumps with the best of them, and is great at getting the crowd behind him. Ishii chops the hell out of Honma for a while. Yujiro continues the beat down.
Naito and Ishii trade forearms. I do think New Japan is getting a little dependent on this spot, but it doesn't kill the match. Honma tags back in and is hot for a moment before Ishii and Yujiro start to kick his ass again. Ishii superplexes Honma for a two count. Honma misses a diving (well, falling) headbutt. Ishii almost takes Honma's head off with a clothesline but Naito saves his teammate. Ishii brainbusters Honma and gets the pin.
Match rating: **3/4 Best match so far. Everyone looked pretty good and it's an entertaining match.
Bullet Club (Prince Devitt, Bad Luck Fale, & the Young Bucks) vs. Timesplitters, Toki Makabe, & Ryusuke Taguchi
Taguchi and Devitt square off first, but Devitt immediately tags out to Fale. The Timesplitters and Youngbucks move at a million miles per hour in there. The match stands out for its pace. Fale serves as the big badass that tosses the little guys around. Makabe is the only one big enough to stand up to him. Makabe and Fale brawling helps lower the tempo.
Devitt gets face to face with Taguchi again after the big men are done. Fale interferes, wiping out Taguchi and the Timesplitters with clotheslines. Lots of rapid transitions as guys come in and out of the ring. Taguchi and Devitt are still the legal men. Devitt gets Taguchi with a Bloody Sunday, giving the Bullet Club a clean win.
Match Rating: *** Another good match and it's one that stands out compared to the rest of the card, which I like. The previous match was a bit more crisp and well-laid out, but this is more good wrestling.
Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI
YOSHI-HASHI gets up in Shibata's face and forearms him before the bell ever rings. Okada tags in and the crowd immediately chants his name. They're very into Okada. YOSHI-HASHI brawls with Shibata outside. That leaves Goto and Okada alone to work for a while.
Okada and YOSHI-HASHI work over Goto for a long while. Shibata gets back in there to lay some kicks into YOSHI-HASHI. Shibata lines him up for the PK but runs at Okada and boots him off the apron instead. Shibata wants Okada, but YOSHI-HASHI gets fired up and goes at Shibata instead of tagging out. The crowd's as loud as any point so far.
We finally get Okada and Shibata together. There's another forearm exchange, with Shibata making Okada wobble after Shibata gets the best of it. Okada does some fine selling. Shibata gets his sprinting corner dropkick in on Okada, then a German suplex. Goto backdrop drivers Okada, but YOSHI-HASHI gets the save.
YOSHI-HASHI gets a lot more offense than I expected. He eats more offense than anyone else too. Okada almost rainmakers Shibata but Goto catches Okada's arm. Goto and Shibata work in some nice double team moves, first on Okada then YOSHI-HASHI to finish the match. Shibata walks off without any fanfare while Goto stands in the corner and gives us the universal "I want your belt" sign.
Match rating: ***1/2. I really want to see Goto vs. Okada now. And Shibata vs. Okada. So this match did its job. YOSHI-HASHI did a really good job in there trying to prove that he belonged with the other three.
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship - Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows (c) vs. Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith & Lance Archer)
Turns out that Tama Tonga theme music is generic Bullet Club music. Still not a fan. We have four big men in there and four heels too, though K.E.S. get face reactions against the Bullet Club. Archer and Gallows keep trying to clothesline each other but neither can drop the other. Archer finally gets Gallows down with one and that gets a pop. The audience stays silent otherwise.
Lots of big man offense, which is exactly how this match should go. When someone bumps, it's because someone else hit him hard or threw all his weight behind something. Archer gets most of the action for KES. Karl Anderson uses a great spinebuster on Davey Boy Smith once he's in the ring. Davey Boy uses his equally smooth Tiger Suplwx after that. KES killer bomb Anderson but Gallows makes the save. Unfortunately for Gallows, KES killerbomb him next.
Tama Tonga is up on the apron with a chair. KES aren't done. A third killerbomb, this one to Tonga. Archer fires up the crowd with clappling. A fourth killerbomb? Nope, Anderson kicks Davey Boy away. The go home for the match doesn't get as much heat as I'd hope. Actually, it got none. That aside, it's really well done by all four men. Damn it, Hiroshima, make some noise.
Match rating: ***1/4 I could easily see this being a lot more if there was some actual heat.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship - Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Tanahashi and Nakamura try to out-muscle each other in a collar-and-elbow at the start. Good matwork and grappling to start, but it's your standard fare in New Japan at a more polished level. Nakamura hits a codebreaker and transitions right into an armlock. Nakamura follows up on that with hard kicks to Tanahashi's arm.
Nakamura controls Tanahashi until Tanahashi hits a dragon screw. Tanahashi gets a flying forearm but is clutching the elbow immediately afterwards. Both guys are going at it hard. Nakamura's strikes look particularly vicious. Nakamura makes sure to go back after Tanahashi's arm when he gets the chance. Tanahashi goes back at Nakamura's knee when he goes on offense. Tanahashi tries to skin the cat but his arm is too weak to do it now. Tanahashi gets another dragon screw on Nakamura, this time outside. He follows up with a high fly flow outside as Nakamura gets back to his feet.
Tanahashi hits a styles clash and looks for the high fly flow afterwards. Nakamura rolls out of the way, springs up, and crushes the back of Tanahashi's skull with a bom ba ye. Nakamura can't get a cover though, he clutches at his knee instead. The crowd heats up louder than any point yet. Nakamura lines Tanahashi up for another bom ba ye. Tanahashi cuts him off and rolls through into an O'Connor roll. Nakamura pops out of it and slaps on an arm bar. Tanahashi fights to not tap, even trying to pin Nakamura's shoulders at one point, but Nakamura holds on. Only the ropes save Tanahashi.
Nakamura drills Tanahashi's arms with kicks. He hits a bom ba ye, but Tanahashi kicks out at two. The crowd erupts. Nakamua goes up to the top rope, sitting on their, waiting for Tanahashi. Jumping bom ba ye! Nakamura wants another one though and now he's getting greedy. Tanahashi evades the last one and puts Nakamura down with his signature sling blade.
Another slingblade puts Nakamura back down. Tanahashi goes up top and high fly flows a standing Nakamura. Back up top. High fly flow. One-two-kick out! The announcer is going nuts. Nakamura writhes around, Tanahashi can't believe he didn't get hte pin. Nakamura tries a standing armbar but slips off Tanahashi. Tanahashi dragon suplexes him and bridges into the pin. We have a winner!
Match rating: ****1/2 I saw some people say the ending was botched. Maybe it was, but they recovered immediately and it makes sense that a guy would slip off in the context of a match like that. They're sweaty and tired and he couldn't hang on. No problem there. Nakamura's offense was superb. Tanahashi's slingblade isn't my favorite, but it pops the crowd and served as a fine transitioning counter. Great match by bother guys, particularly for their selling.
Final Thoughts
Not the best iPPV by any stretch, but the post-intermission bouts made up for the weak first half. The main even absolutely delivered. Now I can't wait for the second New Beginning either.
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