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<\/p>\nI am making an honest attempt to review every puroresu event from 2014 that is filmed and makes its way to a source that I can get my hands on. \u00a0So far only New Japan events have become available, so we continue on to the day after the Tokyo Dome!<\/p>\n
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Date: January 5th, 2014<\/strong> This event took place the day after the Tokyo Dome, and was a combination of setting up new feuds and continuing old ones. This event also had the debut of El Desperado! Here is the full card:<\/p>\n – KUSHIDA and Shelley vs. The Young Bucks vs. Romero and Koslov vs. TAKA Michinoku and Taichi<\/strong> Let’s get started!<\/p>\n They brawl to start the match, Romero tricks Taichi to fall out of the ring and goes out onto him with a jumping knee from the apron.\u00a0In the ring Koslov hits an enzigieri onto TAKA.\u00a0Koslov gets his Russian hat, puts it on, and doe a jig before kicking TAKA in the back of the head.\u00a0Jumping double knee, cover, but the The Young Bucks break it up.\u00a0Double Irish whip by The Young Bucks to Koslov and they hit a double dropkick.\u00a0They throw Koslov out of the ring, Romero comes in the ring but he is thrown onto the apron and then dropkicked out of the ring as well.\u00a0KUSHIDA stumbles in the ring and is kicked by The Young Bucks, double Irish whip to the corner but KUSHIDA fights them off and Shelley comes off the top turnbuckle with a double diving body press.\u00a0Shelley and KUSHIDA grab Matt, double Irish whip and KUSHIDA hits a kneelift.<\/p>\n They then go to Nick, double Irish whip to the corner, Matt fights them off but KUSHIDA hits a swan dive seated senton.\u00a0They then follow with a kneedrop\/standing moonsault combination, cover, but TAKA breaks it up.\u00a0Taichi comes in the ring as well, they throw KUSHIDA and Shelley into the corner and both connect with running strikes.\u00a0Taichi covers KUSHIDA but the referee is MIA.\u00a0Romero and Koslov come in the ring with missile dropkicks onto Taichi and TAKA, Then they together hit running strikes on all four of their opponents in the different corners.\u00a0He gets too excited and hits the referee as well though.\u00a0They argue, Taichi brings in a chair but Koslov takes it from him and he hits Taichi in the back with the chair.\u00a0Koslov picks up Romero and rams him knee-first into TAKA, but they are both dropped with superkicks from The Young Bucks.\u00a0TAKA is put onto the top turnbuckle, The Young Bucks go up with him but Shelley and KUSHIDA have recovered.<\/p>\n They get on the second turnbuckle behind The Young Bucks, but of course now Romero and Koslov have recovered and they powerbomb the whole triangle down to the mat.\u00a0Taichi grabs a chair and hits Koslov twice with it as the referee finally recovers.\u00a0Taichi kicks Romero in the leg, roll-up, but it is broken up.\u00a0The Young Bucks hit gutbuster\/neckbreaker combination onto Shelley and then hit a double superkick onto Taichi.\u00a0They go for the More Bang for Your Buck!!\u00a0but it is blocked.\u00a0Matt sails out of the ring onto Romero and Koslov, but then Shelley and KUSHIDA dropkick Nick out of the ring.\u00a0KUSHIDA grabs TAKA, but TAKA hits a jumping heel kick.\u00a0Roll-up by TAKA onto Shelley, but it gets a two count.\u00a0Matt comes into the ring but KUSHIDA and Shelley send him to the mat with a strike combination.\u00a0Shelley and KUSHIDA elbow TAKA in the corner and then deliver the OUTATIME.\u00a0Cover, and they pick up the three count!\u00a0Your winners:\u00a0Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA<\/p>\n Match Thoughts:<\/strong> A shorter and less exciting version of what they did at the Tokyo Dome.\u00a0There were less \u201cbig moves\u201d and more just kinda pedestrian tag team double teaming with little excitement.\u00a0I did like the spot with the referee getting hit, and as always these teams work together very well, but it was really quite blah for a spotfest.\u00a0If a match is going to be just a spotfest, it needs to go as big as possible and this match was underwhelming.\u00a0Score:\u00a04.0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong>I bet 50 bucks on Suzuki.\u00a0Tanaka charges the ring to start the match and dropkicks Suzuki before the bell rings.\u00a0Tanaka punches Suzuki against the ropes, Irish whip, and he dropkicks Suzuki.\u00a0Suzuki falls out of the ring, he tries to get back in but he is dropkicked again by Tanaka.\u00a0Tanaka goes out of the ring after Suzuki and clubs him in the chest before rolling Suzuki back in the ring.\u00a0Kick by Tanaka and he hits a scoop slam.\u00a0Over the shoulder body slam by Tanaka and he goes for a crab hold.\u00a0Suzuki blocks it at first but after a moment Tanaka is able to apply a single leg crab hold.\u00a0He keeps the hold locked in for a minute before Suzuki reverses it with a cross kneelock.\u00a0Tanaka quickly rolls to the ropes to force a break, back up Tanaka clubs Suzuki in the chest but Suzuki returns with knees.\u00a0Side headlock by Suzuki and he gives Tanaka a headbutt.<\/p>\n Tanaka is back up but Suzuki grabs his arm and applies the Fujiwara armbar.\u00a0Again Tanaka is able to make it to the ropes to get a break from the referee, Suzuki waits for Tanaka to get up, Tanaka clubs Suzuki in the chest again but Suzuki elbows him back hard.\u00a0Tanaka keeps fighting back but Suzuki absorbs the blows and hits a series of elbows.\u00a0More elbows to the chest by Tanaka and he goes for a single leg takedown, but Suzuki catches him and applies a Facelock.\u00a0Tanaka fights him off for a moment but Suzuki really locks it in and Tanaka is forced to submit.\u00a0Your winner:\u00a0Minoru Suzuki<\/p>\n Match Thoughts:\u00a0<\/strong>I gotta be honest, not what I was expecting.\u00a0This match was probably 75% Tanaka on offense, if not higher.\u00a0I mean he wasn\u2019t going to beat Suzuki but Suzuki gave him a lot.\u00a0And the crowd was really behind it as well, cheering on everything that he did.\u00a0For a four minute match they managed to go through the full \u201crookie tries against veteran, veteran too strong\u201d arch\u2026 sometimes less is more, if this was a ten minute match they may have lost the crowd or it may have been less noticeable how much offense Tanaka had.\u00a0Good match here.\u00a0Score:\u00a06.5<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong>They brawl to start the match, with Iizuka and Strong Machine being isolated in the ring after a moment.\u00a0Stomps by Iizuka to Strong Machine and he chokes Strong Machine before stomping on him again.\u00a0Iizuka chokes Strong Machine in the corner, kick by Iizuka, Irish whip, but Strong Machine hits a lariat.\u00a0Strong Machine throws Iizuka in the corner and hits another lariat followed by a DDT.\u00a0Senton by Strong Machine, cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0Strong Machine tags in Nagata, and Nagata kicks Iizuka in the chest.\u00a0Nagata goes off the ropes but Iizuka catches the boot and tags in Takahashi.\u00a0Takahashi and Nagata trade elbows, kick by Takahashi and hits another elbow but Nagata won\u2019t go down.\u00a0Running big boot but Takahashi but Nagata returns with one of their own and they trade kicks.<\/p>\n Belly to belly suplex by Nagata, cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0Nagata picks up Takahashi and goes for an exploder but Takahashi elbows out of it and tags in Jado.\u00a0Jado chops Nagata, Irish whip, but Nagata connects with a series of punches.\u00a0Flair Flop by Jado, then Nagata\u2019s teammates come in the ring and they all stomp on Jado.\u00a0Komatsu is tagged in but Jado chops him to the mat.\u00a0Jado picks up Komatsu and throws him out of the ring, where he is attacked by the different members of CHAOS. Iizuka hits Komatsu with a steel chair and chokes him, but Komatsu eventually gets back into the ring.\u00a0Takahashi is tagged in, he picks up Komatsu and kicks him in the stomach.\u00a0Chops by Takahashi and he drops Komatsu throat-first onto the top rope.\u00a0Cover, but it gets two.<\/p>\n Takahashi tags in Yano, and Yano throws Komatsu into the corner and stomps him repeatedly.\u00a0More stomps by Yano and he tags in Iizuka.\u00a0Kicks by Iizuka and he stomps on Komatsu as well.\u00a0Iizuka tags Yano back in as Iizuka gets a microphone so he can choke Komatsu with it over the top rope.\u00a0Komatsu\u2019s teammates come in to help and Iizuka releases Komatsu, and Jado slides Komatsu back in the ring.\u00a0Stomps by Iizuka onto Komatsu, Komatsu tries to fight back but he is clubbed back to the mat again.\u00a0Iizuka picks up Komatsu but Komatsu fires up and hits a series of elbows. Iizuka goes off the ropes but Komatsu catches him with a dropkick.\u00a0Running forearm smash by Komatsu and he makes the tag to Nakanishi.\u00a0Nakanishi cleans house, chops by Nakanishi to Iizuka into the corner, Irish whip, and Nakanishi hits a lariat.\u00a0Another Irish whip but this time Iizuka kicks Nakanishi back, Iizuka goes off the ropes but Nakanishi catches him with a spear.<\/p>\n Nakanishi gets the lariat ready and hits Iizuka with it, cover, but he only gets a two count.\u00a0Argentine Backbreaker by Nakanishi to Iizuka but Takahashi breaks it up.\u00a0Nakanishi knocks down Takahashi, he goes off the ropes but Yano kicks him from the apron.\u00a0Irish whip by Iizuka to Nakanishi and he hits an atomic drop.\u00a0Iizuka tags in Jado as\u00a0Komatsu is tagged in by Nakanishi, Irish whip by Jado to the corner but Komatsu flips out of it when he charges in.\u00a0Komatsu goes off the ropes and hits a running forearm, cover, but Jado kicks out.\u00a0Komatsu picks up Jado, his teammates come in and they all hit running strikes in the corner.\u00a0Butterfly suplex hold by Komatsu, cover, but it only gets two.\u00a0Single leg crab hold by Komatsu to Jado, but Takahashi breaks it up.\u00a0Nakanishi comes in and kicks Takahashi, sending him back out of the ring.\u00a0Komatsu elbows Jado, he goes off the ropes but Jado hits a kick and a kneelift.\u00a0Lariat by Jado to Komatsu, cover, but Komatsu gets a shoulder up.\u00a0Jado drapes Komatsu\u2019s legs on the top rope and hits a DDT, he then quickly applies the Crossface of JADO.\u00a0Komatsu fights it for a moment but has to submit!\u00a0Your winners:\u00a0Toru Yano, Iizuka, Jado, and Takahashi<\/p>\n Match Thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0Actively not a good match.\u00a0A \u201cstomp\u201d is one of the lazier moves in pro wrestling, and it does have its place, but ideally not at such a high quantity.\u00a0Nakanishi basically wrestles now like Taue in a fat suit (not a compliment) and is hard to watch, and Machine isn\u2019t much better.\u00a0All Japan used to be bad about letting old wrestlers stink up the undercard for years after they should have gone to the back office, and now New Japan is doing it.\u00a0Great.\u00a0Anyway, the ending was \u2018hot\u2019 but other than that just a listless way of wasting ten minutes on a house show.\u00a0Score:\u00a03.0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong>The debut of El Desperado!\u00a0Liger and BUSHI start things off.\u00a0Waistlock by Liger, BUSHI applies a wristlock but Liger gets him to the mat and applies a stretch hold.\u00a0BUSHI quickly gets out of it and both men are back on their feet again.\u00a0They jockey for position on the mat, Liger goes for a cross armbreaker but BUSHI gets out of it and applies a front facelock.\u00a0Liger rolls out of the hold and applies an armbar, BUSHI struggles to his feet and drives Liger back into the corner.\u00a0BUSHI tags in Ibushi, so Liger tags in Desperado.\u00a0Crowd is excited.\u00a0Desperado offers his hand and Ibushi shakes it, Desperado goes off the ropes and chops Ibushi, Irish whip by Desperado, he goes for a sunset flip but Ibushi rolls through.\u00a0Desperado ducks Ibushi\u2019s kick attempt, does a kip-up, and pushes Ibushi from behind.\u00a0Desperado goes off the ropes and armdrags Ibushi out of the ring.<\/p>\n Desperado then gets a running start in the ring and sails out onto Ibushi with a tope con giro which lands him in the second row of the crowd, landing on two women.\u00a0Holy shit, Desperado thinks he is still in Mexico or something, but the women seem fine.\u00a0BUSHI looks incredulous from the apron.\u00a0Desperado picks up Ibushi and rolls him back into the ring, stomp by Desperado and he chops Ibushi back.\u00a0Desperado tags in Liger, and Liger chops Ibushi into the corner.\u00a0Irish whip by Liger and he nails the Shotei in the corner.\u00a0Irish whip again but this time Ibushi flips over Liger and connects with the overhead kick.\u00a0Ibushi tags in BUSHI, stomp by BUSHI to Liger, Irish whip, and BUSHI delivers a dropkick.\u00a0Cover, but it gets a two count.<\/p>\n BUSHI picks up Liger, snapmare, and he applies a reverse chinlock.\u00a0Elbow drop by BUSHI, cover, but it gets two.\u00a0Stomp by BUSHI, Irish whip, reversed, waistlock by BUSHI, reversed still, BUSHI elbows out of it but Liger hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.\u00a0Liger rolls to the corner but Desperado won\u2019t tag in because he wants Ibushi.\u00a0BUSHI grabs Liger, snapmare, and he tags in Ibushi.\u00a0Ibushi goes for a missile dropkick off the top but he misses and hits BUSHI instead.\u00a0Now Desperado is desperate for the tag and he gets it, and Desperado hits a diving crossbody onto Ibushi.\u00a0Superkick by Desperado, cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0Desperado picks up Ibushi but Ibushi elbows him off, Desperado returns fire, Irish whip by Desperado to the corner but Ibushi avoids his charge and kicks Desperado in the chest.\u00a0Standing corkscrew moonsault by Ibushi and he tags in BUSHI.\u00a0BUSHI charges Desperado in the corner but Desperado moves out of the way, kick by BUSHI and he hits a missile dropkick.<\/p>\n Desperado pushes BUSHI off but BUSHI connects with a sunset flip for a two count.\u00a0Another cover brings Liger into the ring to break it up, Ibushi comes in as well and they double team Desperado.\u00a0Cover by BUSHI on Desperado but it gets a two count.\u00a0BUSHI picks up Desperado, he goes off the ropes but Desperado catches his hurricanrana attempt and hits a powerbomb for a two count.\u00a0Ibushi and Liger come in the ring as well, Ibushi knocks Liger out of the ring and goes for an Asai Moonsault, but Desperado grabs the ropes from inside the ring to make Ibushi fall.\u00a0BUSHI rolls up Desperado from behind but Desperado rolls through and hits a superkick.\u00a0Desperado picks up BUSHI and drops him with Guitarra de Angel, cover, and he picks up the three count!\u00a0Your winners:\u00a0El Desperado and Jushin Thunder Liger<\/p>\n Match Thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0I thought this was a really solid debut for El Desperado (formally Kyosuke Mikami).\u00a0He made it clear he didn\u2019t really care about Liger, which I like since\u2026. why would he?\u00a0He just wanted a piece of Ibushi.\u00a0His dive into the crowd was nuts and I am assuming that is a spot he won\u2019t be repeating as it isn\u2019t the 1980s in Japan anymore, they generally don\u2019t attack the fans, even though it is entertaining.\u00a0Add in a painful looking finisher and out-smarting his future opponent for the belt and overall I think things went quite well.\u00a0And that is really the only way to view this match, but the other wrestlers looked good as well and they kept things to the point.\u00a0Score:\u00a07.0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong> Fale and Makabe start things off.\u00a0Tie-up, and they immediately start trading elbows.\u00a0Fale gets the better of it, he goes off the ropes and hits a shoulderblock.\u00a0Makabe comes back with elbows though and hits a lariat, knocking Fale to the mat.\u00a0Fale is quickly back up and he pushes Makabe in the corner. Makabe tags in Honma, tie-up, but Fale throws Honma down to the mat.\u00a0Fale tags in Devitt, and Devitt stomps Honma in the corner.\u00a0Devitt picks up Honma, Irish whip, reversed, and Honma hits an elbow.\u00a0Scoop slam by Honma and he hits a falling headbutt.\u00a0Club to the back by Honma, Irish whip, but Devitt is pulled out of the ring by Fale.\u00a0Honma goes out after Devitt, Fale blocks his path, and that gives Devitt time to run around Honma and hit a jumping knee from the apron.\u00a0Makabe comes over but Fale tosses him into the guard rail.<\/p>\n Honma slowly gets back into the ring where Devitt is waiting for him, and Devitt stomps Honma in the chest.\u00a0Devitt tags in Fale, Fale picks up Honma and punches him in the stomach.\u00a0Cocky cover but it only gets a one count.\u00a0Fale picks up Honma, Irish whip, and Fale throws Honma into the air.\u00a0Fale tags in Devitt, cover by Devitt but it gets a two count.\u00a0Devitt picks up Honma and goes for a vertical suplex but it is blocked.\u00a0Honma tries to reverse it but Devitt blocks it and clubs Honma in the back.\u00a0Devitt throws Honma into the corner and tags in Fale, and Fale punches Honma in the stomach.\u00a0Snapmare by Fale and he applies the neck nerve hold.\u00a0Honma elbows out of it, he goes off the ropes and goes for a crossbody, but Fale catches him and slams Honma to the mat.\u00a0Cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0Fale picks up Honma and throws him into the corner, Irish whip by Fale but Honma avoids his charge and tags in Makabe.\u00a0Makabe knocks Devitt off the apron, then elbows Fale into the corner.<\/p>\n Lariat by Makabe, he throws Fale into a different corner and hits another lariat.\u00a0Punches by Makabe in the corner but Fale fights him off.\u00a0Fale goes off the ropes but Makabe catches him with a lariat.\u00a0Makabe goes off the ropes and he hits a second lariat, but Fale is still on one knee.\u00a0He goes off the ropes again, Fale hits a big boot, but Makabe rebounds back with a lariat.\u00a0Cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0Makabe goes off the ropes but Fale hits a Samoan drop and tags in Devitt.\u00a0Devitt goes up to the top turnbuckle but Makabe moves out of the way of the diving doublestomp.\u00a0Lariat by Makabe and he makes the tag to Honma.\u00a0Chops by Honma into the corner, Irish whip, and he hits a jumping elbow followed by a face crusher.\u00a0Honma waits for Devitt to get up and goes off the ropes but Devitt catches him with a dropkick.\u00a0Devitt goes for a vertical suplex but Honma reverses it.<\/p>\n Fale comes in the ring, Honma fights him off and goes off the ropes but Fale hits a shoulderblock.\u00a0Makabe comes in the ring but Fale cuts him off, double Irish whip to Makabe but he hits a double lariat.\u00a0Honma then goes to Devitt, scoop slam by Honma and he goes up to the top turnbuckle, but Devitt rolls out of the way of the diving headbutt.\u00a0Devitt then goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits the double stomp to Honma\u2019s back, cover, but it only gets two.\u00a0Devitt picks up Honma and goes for the Bloody Sunday, but Honma pushes him into the corner.\u00a0Irish whip by Honma but Devitt moves when Honma charges in and then Fale hits a running splash onto Honma.\u00a0Devitt goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits the diving doublestomp, cover, but it only gets too.\u00a0Devitt quickly picks up Honma and nails the Bloody Sunday, cover, and he picks up the three count.\u00a0Your winners:\u00a0Prince Devitt and Bad Luck Fale<\/p>\n Match Thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0Fale is one dull mofo, I don\u2019t hate him but his offense is just plodding, and Makabe\u2019s is no better.\u00a0But the match did pick up when Devitt and Honma were in there, and really if they just focused on them with Fale\/Makabe doing an occasional \u2018power\u2019 spot that would have been fine.\u00a0But a bit too much Fale and Makabe for my taste, the match just dragged when they were involved.\u00a0Good showing for Devitt and Honma though.\u00a0Score:\u00a05.0<\/span><\/p>\n A Gaijin-Fest!\u00a0They shove each other around to start the match but it ends up being Tonga and Benjamin as the legal men.\u00a0Wristlock by Tonga but Benjamin punches out of it.\u00a0Wristlock by Benjamin and he yanks on Tonga\u2019s arm.\u00a0Tonga gets out of it and applies a hammerlock but Benjamin reverses it.\u00a0Side headlock by Benjamin, Tonga trips Benjamin to take it to the mat but Benjamin keeps the hold applied.\u00a0Tonga struggles back up and reverses it, Irish whip by Benjamin and Benjamin hits a hiptoss.\u00a0Benjamin goes off the ropes, Benjamin catches Tonga\u2019s leapfrog attempt but Tonga hits a monkey flip.\u00a0Irish whip by Tonga into the corner but Benjamin avoids the charge and applies the ankle lock.\u00a0Gallows finally breaks it up and Tonga tags in Anderson.<\/p>\n Anderson kicks and punches Benjamin, uppercut by Anderson, Irish whip, but Benjamin slams on the breaks and tags in Smith.\u00a0Smith and Anderson trade blows, elbows by Anderson and he tells Smith to hit him back.\u00a0So Smith does and Anderson falls to the mat.\u00a0Smith picks up Anderson and hits a scoop slam.\u00a0Smith throws Anderson into the corner and tags in Archer.\u00a0Double Irish whip by Anderson and they hit a double shoulderblock followed by a leg drop\/splash combination for a two count.\u00a0Archer grabs Anderson by the throat and picks him up, but Anderson bails on the chokeslam attempt and tags in Gallows.\u00a0Gallows and Archer face off and trade punches, they get on opposite sides of the ring and hit lariats on each other with neither man budging.<\/p>\n They do it twice more, but on the third Archer wins the battle and Gallows is knocked to the mat.\u00a0Archer waits for Gallows to get up and goes off the ropes but Anderson grabs him from the apron.\u00a0This gives Gallows time to recover and he hits a lariat.\u00a0Gallows punches Archer in the corner and makes the tag to Tonga.\u00a0More punches in the corner by Tonga and he tags in Anderson.\u00a0Anderson kicks Archer and chops him in the chest, but Archer just glares at him.\u00a0A hard chop by Archer sends Anderson to the mat but Anderson pushes him back and tags in Gallows.<\/p>\n Gallows kicks Archer in the corner and hits a running body splash.\u00a0Elbow drop by Gallows and he hits a second and a third.\u00a0Cover, but Archer kicks out at two.\u00a0Archer tries to make the tag but Gallows grabs him and clubs Archer in the back.\u00a0Gallows grabs Archer and hits a vertical suplex.\u00a0Gallows tags in Tonga, Tonga goes off the ropes and hits a jumping elbow drop.\u00a0Tonga picks up Archer and grabs him so he can\u2019t make the tag, while Anderson runs in and hits Smith and Benjamin on the apron.\u00a0Tonga tags in Anderson, and Anderson rakes Archer in the eyes.\u00a0Anderson tags in Gallows, punches to the stomach by Gallows but Archer comes back with elbows.\u00a0Irish whip by Archer but it is reversed and Archer collapses in the corner.<\/p>\n Punches by Gallows but Archer blocks one and hits the sit-down powerbomb.\u00a0He finally makes the hot tag to Smith as Gallows tags in Anderson, and Smith shoulderblocks Anderson to the mat.\u00a0Smith knocks Anderson\u2019s teammates off the apron, but when he charges at Anderson, Anderson kicks him back.\u00a0Anderson goes off the ropes but Smith catches him with a Powerslam.\u00a0Smith picks up Anderson, Irish whip to the corner, Benjamin runs in the ring and\u00a0they both hit lariats.\u00a0Superkick by Benjamin onto Anderson, then Smith hits a Tiger Suplex hold onto Anderson for a two count.\u00a0Smith goes off the ropes but Anderson catches him with a spinebuster.\u00a0Anderson tags in Tonga, Tonga charges Smith in the corner and hits a jumping body press.<\/p>\n Tonga goes off the ropes but Smith catches him and hits a belly to belly suplex.\u00a0Smith tags in Archer, and Archer hits a pair of hiptosses.\u00a0Body splash by Archer, cover, but Tonga kicks out at two.\u00a0Archer picks up Tonga and goes for a powerbomb, but Tonga punches out of it.\u00a0Tonga goes off the ropes, ducks a kick and delivers a spear.\u00a0Cover, but Smith breaks it up.\u00a0Anderson dropkicks Smith, Benjamin comes in the ring and hits a heel kick onto Anderson.\u00a0Gallows floors Benjamin with a big kick, he charges Benjamin but Benjamin holds down the ropes and Gallows tumbles out of the ring.\u00a0Inside the ring, Irish whip by Tonga onto Archer, reversed, Archer goes for the Blackout but Tonga slides down his back.\u00a0Tonga goes off the ropes but Archer catches him, Smith runs into the ring and together they hit the Killer Bomb.\u00a0Cover, and he picks up the three count.\u00a0Your winners: Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Shelton Benjamin<\/p>\n Match Thoughts:\u00a0<\/strong>I must say, even though parts were a bit cookie cutter and predictable, the crowd was really into this match.\u00a0They loved them some gaijin clubbin\u2019.\u00a0And some parts were quite good, power contests in small doses are entertaining and the action stayed at a decent clip.\u00a0I don\u2019t know where Smith\u2019s Tiger Suplex came from, I\u2019m sure it\u2019s not the first time he has done it but I just didn\u2019t know the move was in his repertoire, it\u2019s not the easiest move to hit.\u00a0After all these years I am still not an Anderson fan, he is always just \u201cserviceable\u201d to me which is probably why he has been the face of the New Japan Gaijin Tag Team since 2008. A solid mid-card tag team affair that won\u2019t blow you away but kept the crowd engaged from start to finish.\u00a0Score:\u00a06.0<\/span><\/p>\n This match is for the NWA World Tag Team Championship.\u00a0Conway and Kojima start things off.\u00a0Tie-up, knee by Conway and the pair trade elbows.\u00a0Elbows by Conway to the back of Kojima\u2019s head and he stomps him after he falls to the mat.\u00a0Punches on the mat by Conway and he chokes Kojima.\u00a0Conway slaps Kojima into the corner and hits a series of shoulder tackles.\u00a0Conway tags in Dane, Dane pushes Kojima into the corner and hits his own shoulder tackles.\u00a0Irish whip by Dane and he hits a lariat in the corner.\u00a0Dane picks up Kojima and throws him into the corner before hitting a series of strikes.\u00a0Kojima fights off both Dane and Conway but Conway grabs Kojima from the floor and pulls his legs around the ring post.<\/p>\n In the ring, Dane kicks Kojima in the corner and delivers a chop.\u00a0Dane tags in Conway, scoop slam by Conway and he hits more mounted punches.\u00a0Conway tags in Dane and they both stomp on Kojima.\u00a0Conway goes off the ropes and Dane tries to throw Conway onto Kojima, but Kojima moves out of the way.\u00a0Kojima kicks Dane in the corner and avoids Dane\u2019s splash attempt.\u00a0Kojima tags in Tenzan, Mongolian Chops by Tenzan to Dane, Irish whip to the corner and he hits a lariat.\u00a0Tenzan then goes up on the top turnbuckle and hits the Calf Branding.\u00a0Conway runs in the ring but Tenzan gives him some Mongolian Chops as well.\u00a0Tenzan goes for a splash onto Dane in the corner but Dane catches him, Tenzan goes off the ropes but Conway kicks him from the apron.\u00a0This allows Dane to hit a lariat onto Tenzan, and Dane also knocks Kojima off the apron just for fun.\u00a0Dane picks up Tenzan and throws him out of the ring, where Conway rams him into the guard rail.\u00a0Dane attacks Kojima on the floor as well, throwing him into the guard rail.\u00a0Conway slides Tenzan back in the ring, cover by Dane but it gets a two count.<\/p>\n Dane chokes Tenzan against the mat before stomping him in the chest again.\u00a0Dane picks up Tenzan and drives him back into the corner before tagging in Conway.\u00a0Big boot by Conway to Tenzan, scoop slam by Dane, and Conway comes off the second turnbuckle with a diving elbow drop.\u00a0Cover, but Kojima breaks it up.\u00a0Stomps by Conway to Tenzan and he punches Tenzan in the face.\u00a0Conway tags in Dane, Dane picks up Tenzan and hits a body slam.\u00a0Cover, but it gets a two count.<\/p>\n Dane applies the neck crank to Tenzan, Tenzan elbows out of it and goes off the ropes, but Dane catches him with a spinebuster.\u00a0Dane waits for Tenzan to get up but Tenzan kicks Dane when he charges in.\u00a0Spinning heel kick by Tenzan and he makes the tag to Kojima.\u00a0Dane tags in Conway, Kojima kicks Conway and throws him in the corner, but Conway kicks Kojima as he charges in.\u00a0Chops by Conway, but Kojima reverses positions with him and hits a series of chops.\u00a0Irish whip by Kojima and he hits the jumping elbow smash before then hitting the diving elbow drop off the top turnbuckle.\u00a0Cover, but it only gets a two count.\u00a0Kojima picks up Conway but Conway elbows him and the two trade blows.\u00a0Conway ducks the roaring elbow and clubs Kojima in the chest, Conway goes off the ropes and delivers a big boot.\u00a0Cover, but Kojima kicks out.\u00a0Conway grabs Kojima and hits a modified side slam, but Tenzan immediately breaks up the pin attempt.\u00a0Conway knocks back Tenzan, he picks up Kojima but Kojima kicks him and hits the Koji Cutter.<\/p>\n Kojima knocks Dane off the apron, he goes back to Conway and goes for a vertical suplex, but Conway blocks it.\u00a0Conway then drapes Kojima\u2019s legs on the top rope, but Tenzan runs in and hits Conway from behind.\u00a0This brings in Dane, punches by Dane to Tenzan, Irish whip, but Tenzan reverses it and throws Dane out of the ring.\u00a0Tenzan kicks Conway but Conway fights him and Kojima off, Irish whip by Conway to Tenzan, reversed, and they hit the 3D.\u00a0Cover, but Dane breaks it up.\u00a0Mongolian Chops by Tenzan to Dane, Dane goes off the ropes but Tenzan catches him with the Mountain Bomb.\u00a0Tenzan goes out after Dane while Kojima prepares for the lariat, he goes off the ropes and nails it onto Conway.\u00a0Cover, but Tharpe comes in the ring.\u00a0While Kojima threatens Tharpe, Conway comes up from behind, hits Kojima low, and does a school boy onto Kojima for the three count!\u00a0Your winners and still champions:\u00a0Rob Conway and Jax Dane<\/p>\n Match Thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0I appreciate they are trying to make the NWA bigger again, but rehashing match endings from the 80s that don\u2019t really work today isn\u2019t the way to do it.\u00a0Stupid and lazy ending aside, Dane and Conway just had way too much offense for this match to really be interesting.\u00a0Conway really tried and I don\u2019t want to just knock a guy but him and Dane really don\u2019t have \u2018it\u2019 and no amount of \u2018it\u2019 from TenKoji was going to carry this match.\u00a0But really all I am going to remember is the ending anyway which was stupid and insulting, and not really want I want to see in my current wrestling.\u00a0It\u2019s cute to go back and watch old matches from back in the day that the manager interfered and stayed in the ring and the wrestler would act like he wanted to hit him, etc. but now it just comes across as hokey and contrived.\u00a0Score:\u00a03.5<\/span><\/p>\n Naito and Okada start things off.\u00a0Naito dropkicks Okada immediately, elbows by Naito against the ropes but Okada pushes him away.\u00a0Kick by Okada, he goes off the ropes but Naito delivers another dropkick.\u00a0Naito picks up Okada, applies a wristlock and tags in Tanahashi.\u00a0Uppercut by Tanahashi and he goes for a kick, but Okada catches it and boots Tanahashi in the face.\u00a0Irish whip by Okada but Tanahashi elbows him when he charges in and hits a rebound crossbody out of the corner.\u00a0Tanahashi goes off the ropes but Okada hits another big boot and tags in Nakamura.\u00a0Nakamura knees Tanahashi, Irish whip, more knees by Nakamura and he pushes Tanahashi to the mat.\u00a0Tanahashi ducks an Nakamura kick however and hits an armdrag takedown.\u00a0Nakamura gets back up, wristlock by Tanahashi and he tags in Goto.\u00a0Double Irish whip to Nakamura and they hit a double shoulderblock.<\/p>\n Snapmare by Goto but Nakamura lands on his feet.\u00a0Nakamura tags in Ishii, side headlock by Ishii, Goto Irish whips out of it and the two collide.\u00a0Shoulderblock by Goto, he picks up Ishii, Irish whip, reversed, and they try to lariat each other down with no result.\u00a0They try again, but the third time Goto lariats Ishii to the mat.\u00a0Goto tags in Captain New Japan, Captain New Japan punches Ishii and goes off the ropes, but he is kicked by YOSHI-HASHI from the apron.\u00a0YOSHI-HASHI comes in the ring, double Irish whip to Captain New Japan but Captain New Japan hits a double shoulderblock.\u00a0Captain New Japan goes off the ropes but Nakamura knees him from the apron.\u00a0Ishii grabs Captain New Japan, Irish whip, and Ishii avoids the shoulderblock.<\/p>\n CHAOS comes in the ring and they triple team Captain New Japan, Ishii picks up Captain New Japan and hits a headbutt.\u00a0More headbutts by Ishii in the corner to Captain New Japan and he taunts Naito, who comes in the ring so they can square off.\u00a0The referee gets him back, and Ishii makes the tag to YOSHI-HASHI.\u00a0Kick by YOSHI-HASHI in the corner and he rakes Captain New Japan in the eyes.\u00a0Captain New Japan tags in Nakamura, and Nakamura elbows Tanahashi off the apron.\u00a0Snapmare by Nakamura to Captain New Japan and he hits a knee drop.\u00a0Cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0Enzigieri by Nakamura and he tags in Okada.\u00a0Okada covers Captain New Japan, but it is broken up.<\/p>\n Okada picks up Captain New Japan and hits a slam, he then goes out to the apron and delivers a slingshot senton.\u00a0Cover, but Captain New Japan gets a shoulder up.\u00a0Okada tags in Ishii, and Ishii kicks Captain New Japan in the head.\u00a0Vertical suplex by Ishii and he kicks Captain New Japan in the leg.\u00a0Ishii stares down Naito again and tags in YOSHI-HASHI.\u00a0YOSHI-HASHI puts Captain New Japan on the top rope and hits a dropkick, cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0Naito has finally seen enough and he runs in the ring after Ishii, and they trade elbows.\u00a0Meanwhile YOSHI-HASHI is choking YOSHI-HASHI with a pole.<\/p>\n The referee finally gets Naito back, YOSHI-HASHI goes for a vertical suplex on Captain New Japan but Captain New Japan reverses it.\u00a0YOSHI-HASHI cuts off Captain New Japan before he can make the tag, Irish whip by YOSHI-HASHI but Captain New Japan hits a crossbody.\u00a0Captain New Japan finally makes the tag to Tanahashi as Nakamura is tagged in, and they trade elbows.\u00a0Irish whip by Nakamura but Tanahashi hits a jumping elbow smash.\u00a0Tanahashi picks up Nakamura, scoop slam in front of the corner and he hits a somersault senton.\u00a0Cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0Nakamura is back up, knee by Nakamura and he boots Tanahashi into the corner.\u00a0Irish whip by Tanahashi but Nakamura knees him hard in the stomach and puts him over the top ropes so he can hit a running knee to the ribs.\u00a0Cover by Nakamura but Tanahashi is in the ropes.\u00a0Nakamura picks up Tanahashi and goes for the inverted powerslam but Tanahashi blocks it.<\/p>\n Tanahashi goes off the ropes but Nakamura hits the inverted Powerslam anyway.\u00a0Tanahashi dodges the next Nakamura attack however and hits the Slingblade, giving him time to tag in Naito.\u00a0Naito punches Nakamura, Irish whip, and Naito hits a hiptoss followed by a dropkick.\u00a0Naito picks up Nakamura, Irish whip to the corner, reversed, and Nakamura hits a knee to the ribs.\u00a0Nakamura tags in Ishii, and Ishii chops Naito in the corner.\u00a0Elbows and chops by Ishii, Irish whip by Ishii and Ishii hits a running lariat.\u00a0More chops and elbows by Ishii, Irish whip, and Ishii hits another lariat.\u00a0Ishii drags Naito to his feet and slaps him, but Naito elbows him back and they trade slaps.\u00a0Ishii gets the better of that one, he picks up Naito and goes off the ropes, but Naito ducks the lariat and hits an enzigieri.\u00a0Naito dropkicks Ishii into the corner and elbows him repeatedly.\u00a0Naito goes out to the apron and hits a slingshot dropkick, he then gets a running start and dropkicks Ishii while he is crouched in the corner.<\/p>\n Back up, Naito goes for a suplex but Ishii elbows him off.\u00a0Elbows by Naito but Ishii hits a headbutt, Ishii goes off the ropes but Naito hits a rolling kick.\u00a0Lariat by Ishii, he picks up Naito, Irish whip, but Naito hits a jumping elbow strike.\u00a0Naito tags in Goto while Okada is also tagged in, and Goto hits a lariat onto Okada.\u00a0Kicks to the chest by Goto, Irish whip from the corner and he hits a jumping heel kick followed by a backdrop suplex.\u00a0Cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0Goto picks up Okada but Okada elbows him off.\u00a0Goto fires back with an elbow of his own however as he knocks Okada into the corner, Goto gets a running start but Okada catches him and hits the Schwein onto his knee.\u00a0Okada picks up Goto and hits a scoop slam, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers the diving elbow drop.\u00a0Okada grabs Goto and goes for the Rainmaker but Goto ducks it.<\/p>\n Uppercuts by Okada, Irish whip, reversed, but Okada catches Goto with a dropkick.\u00a0Okada tags in YOSHI-HASHI, YOSHI-HASHI picks up Goto, Irish whip to the corner and he hits a lariat followed by a neckbreaker.\u00a0Cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0Kick to the back by YOSHI-HASHI, he picks up Goto and hits a series of elbows but Goto elbows him back.\u00a0Goto goes off the ropes but YOSHI-HASHI catches him with a lariat.\u00a0Cover, but it is broken up.\u00a0While a brawl ensues outside the ring, in the ring YOSHI-HASHI slams Goto in front of the corner.\u00a0He goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a Swanton Bomb, cover but Captain New Japan breaks it up.\u00a0Ishii takes care of Captain New Japan as all the other teammates take turns running into the ring to try to help.\u00a0Elbow by YOSHI-HASHI onto Goto, he blocks the Goto lariat and goes off the ropes but Goto catches him with a fireman\u2019s carry onto his knee.\u00a0Goto picks up YOSHI-HASHI and nails the Shouten Kai, cover, and he picks up the three count.\u00a0Your winners: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito, and Captain New Japan<\/p>\n Match Thoughts:<\/strong> Better than I thought it would be, eight man tag matches tend to be pretty pedestrian but they really focused on the stories they wanted to tell and the other wrestlers mostly just watched.\u00a0This was mostly about Ishii\/Naito as they went at it throughout, but we also got some Tanahashi\/Nakamura snuck in there as well.\u00a0The beatdown segment of Captain New Japan didn\u2019t have to last so long since it served no \u2018bigger picture\u2019 purpose, but I guess the main event of a show can\u2019t be a 15 minute match.\u00a0It plodded at points but the feuding pairs did try to make it meaningful, so not a bad match either by any means.\u00a0Score:\u00a06.0<\/span><\/p>\n Best Match:<\/strong> El Desperado and Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Kota Ibushi and BUSHI.\u00a0I thought that El Desperado\u2019s debut was solid, and they kept the match fast paced and to the point.\u00a0This was just done to show off Desperado\u2019s character, and from his moves to his attitude you got a good idea of what he is all about during the match.\u00a0Everyone else looked solid too, but this was about El Desperado and I think he came across very well which helped the match as a whole.<\/p>\n MVP:<\/strong>\u00a0Tomohiro Ishii.\u00a0While many people already like Ishii, he hasn\u2019t really gone up the card too much and didn\u2019t even have\u00a0a match at the Tokyo Dome.\u00a0Here though in just a few minutes he elevated himself to Naito\u2019s level as he more than held his own in their exchanges (and at times slapped him around like a child).\u00a0He gave off the impression that he was Naito\u2019s equal, which is a big change from the night before.<\/p>\n Overall:\u00a0<\/strong>In a lot of ways this was just a glorified house show.\u00a0Lots of multi-man tag team matches (which I don\u2019t really like), and most the action being pretty predictable.\u00a0The only \u201cbig\u201d match (the title match) sucked, but we did have a fun debut of a new character and a few other really solid matches as well.\u00a0If you are a completest or want to check out El Desperado this isn\u2019t a bad event, but a casual fan can probably skip it since El Desperado will have a title match in a month that should be a better display of what he has to offer going forward.<\/p>\n Featuring Desperado & Jushin Liger vs. Kota Ibishi & BUSHI, Shelton Benjamin\/Davey Boy Smith Jr.\/Lance Archer vs. Doc Gallows\/Tama Tonga\/Karl Anderson, and more<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":2284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[399,40],"tags":[234,233],"class_list":["post-2258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fsreview","category-reviews","tag-new-japan","tag-puroresu"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2258"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3376,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258\/revisions\/3376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n Location: Tokyo Korakuen Hall<\/strong>
\n Announced Attendance: 2,015 (Super No Vacancy Full House)<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n – Minoru Suzuki vs. Sho Tanaka<\/strong>
\n – Toru Yano, Iizuka, Jado, and Takahashi vs. Yuji Nagata, Nakanishi, Super Strong Machine, and Komatsu<\/strong>
\n – El Desperado and Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Kota Ibushi and BUSHI<\/strong>
\n – Prince Devitt and Bad Luck Fale vs. Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma<\/strong>
\n – Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr., and Benjamin vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, and Tama Tonga<\/strong>
\n – NWA World Tag Team Championship: Rob Conway and Jax Dane vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Kojima<\/strong>
\n – Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito, and Captain New Japan vs. Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, and YOSHI-HASHI<\/strong><\/p>\nKUSHIDA and Alex Shelley vs. The Young Bucks vs.\u00a0Romero and Koslov vs. TAKA Michinoku and Taichi<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
Minoru Suzuki vs. Sho Tanaka<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Yano, Iizuka, Jado, and Takahashi vs. Nagata, Nakanishi, Machine, and Komatsu<\/strong><\/h4>\n
El Desperado and Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Kota Ibushi and BUSHI<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Prince Devitt and Bad Luck Fale vs. Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Benjamin vs. Anderson, Gallows, and Tonga<\/strong><\/h4>\n
(c) Rob Conway and Jax Dane (with Tharpe) vs. Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
Tanahashi, Goto, Tetsuya Naito, and Captain New Japan vs. Okada, Nakamura, Ishii, and YOSHI-HASHI<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\nFinal Thoughts:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\nGrade: C-<\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"