August 1st, 2014 | Tokyo, Japan
Man, this tournament has been phenomenal. Looking at the card, I see a match that was picked as the 2014 Match of the Year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Despite my excitement for that, it looks like Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada both have the night off, which is surprising considering the venue. This will be the first show that I watch using NJPW World, which I have to use on my PC. Therefore I won’t be writing the review as I watch and instead jotting down notes during it and writing up something after. Should be interesting.
Block A
Satoshi Kojima (4) vs. Shelton X Benjamin (8)
They started with a fun little back and forth. It featured both guys trying out wrestle each other, out power each other and then when they both got the upper hand, they taunted to the crowd. It was a fun game of one upping each other. Instead of doing the typical guardrail spot, Shelton back suplexed Kojima on it, which looked brutal. Shelton took on control until Satoshi busted out the big chop sequence. However, Shelton was able to cut off his big offense. They fought outside again, where Kojima hit a DDT out there. I preferred that much more to the apron DDT. It looked so much better. Back inside, Kojima hit a lariat to the back and went for another but ran into a superkick, which was cool. The finish comes from a lariat by Kojima.
Winner: Satoshi Kojima (6) in 10:11
I felt like this was a solid choice to open the show. The crowd was really hot, which would be the trend for the show. Their back and forth was fun throughout. My biggest gripe was that the finish kind of came out of nowhere and felt a bit anti-climactic. ***¼
Block B
Lance Archer (4) vs. Toru Yano (6)
Right from the start, Toru Yano and his trademark antics were in full effect. He ran around the ring and Archer gave chase, but it backfired on the big man and he was nearly counted out. Yano’s exposed buckle spot actually led to both guys getting hit by it. Archer stole Yano’s “RVD” taunt and the crowd was so into everything that they even chanted “LANCE AR-CHER” with it. Yano did his best Eddie Guerrero when he threw a chair to Archer to make it seem like he was going to cheat. It fails when Archer punched it into his face and hit his finisher.
Winner: Lance Archer (6) in 4:38
They kept this short, which really helped it. It was the usual Toru Yano fun and nothing more. Enjoyable but not what I would consider a top notch match. It was as good as I expected.**¼
Block B
Karl Anderson (4) vs. Yujiro Takahashi (4)
With both guys being in the Bullet Club, they “too sweet” each other. After an exchange, they go for it again but Takahashi heels it up by getting in a cheap shot. He wants another one but this time it was Anderson who got in a cheap shot. Fun stuff. The fans got behind Anderson partially because he’s really good, but probably also because Takahashi hasn’t been. They ended up in the corner and had a decent series of counters before Anderson ended up winning with the Gun Stun.
Winner: Karl Anderson (6) in 7:45
Decent little match here. It wasn’t as fun as the Yano fun, but still had its moments. Despite the match not being great, I got hints that there is a potentially good face somewhere in Karl Anderson. **½
Block A
Davey Boy Smith (4) vs. Doc Gallows (4)
IT’S DAVID HART SMITH VS. LUKE GALLOWS! Lots of matchups featuring people close to or tied in points. Throughout this tournament so far, Davey Boy Smith has been consistently solid while Doc Gallows has been consistently one of the lesser performers so far. They tried to battle power before Smith busted out an excellent stalling vertical suplex, complete with a flex. That is impressive considering the size of Gallows. When Gallows took over, it moved to a slower pace. The Gallows Pole only earned Doc a two count, before Smith picked up the win with the Sharpshooter.
Winner: Davey Boy Smith (6) in 10:08
As I noted, this was a slow paced match so it wasn’t very excited. It was smartly worked though, as they played into the strength of both guys. Gallows was allowed to be in control until Smith picked up the win. I do think it was cool to win with the Sharpshooter too. **½
Block B
Hirooki Goto (6) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4)
While he hasn’t been bad, I don’t think Hiroyoshi Tenzan has been great outside of the AJ Styles match. This started with just both guys hitting each other hard as they built towards the bigger offense. Tenzan nailed his wheel kick, which looked better than it would in 2015, but still came off weak. It wasn’t Viscera bad but it wasn’t very impressive. As they moved into countering each other, the fans get more into this. In a cool moment, Goto knocked him down and tried to pick him up but he was dead weight. Instead of continuing to try and lift him, Goto tried to pin him, which, while it didn’t work, I thought it was smart. They moved into a fun finishing sequence that surprised me when Tenzan won with the Anaconda Vice.
Winner: Hiroyoshi Tenzan (6) in 11:46
Best match of the night so far. Hiroyoshi Tenzan shut me up and went out and had another really good match. Their counters were well done, the action was hard hitting and they worked to have the crowd way into it. A thoroughly enjoyable match. ***¾
Block A
Bad Luck Fale (6) vs. Tomoaki Honma (0)
As usual, the fans were MOLTEN hot for Tomoaki Honma. This pairing worked well because Bad Lucky Fale got to be his destructive self and Tomoaki Honma had to make the comeback, which played into his strength. At one point, Honma knocked Fale outside and did his headbutt to a standing Fale, which was pretty great. The crowd pretty much bit on every single thing that Honma did, including each near fall. Honma even kicked out of the grenade, which gave the crowd hope, but he fell to the Bad Luck Fall.
Winner: Bad Luck Fale (8) in 6:40
The heat during this match was fantastic and, despite only going under seven minutes, it was damn good. They did a lot in the time and having the crowd be ungodly hot for Tomoaki Honma added to this. Their styles worked very well together. This is one of those matches that was short but didn’t need more time. ***½
Block B
Tetsuya Naito (8) vs. Togi Makabe (4)
I feel like this was an interesting matchup. You had the speed game of Tetsuya Naito against the vicious style of Togi Makabe. After a brief back and forth to start, this turned into Makabe taking control. He just pounded away on Naito, not allowing him to go into the high octane offense that he’s known for. He had Naito well scouted, countering some of his signature moves during his rallies. His corner dropkick and rebound attack were both stopped by Makabe, which I appreciated. Naito was resilient throughout, even trying to fight off the spider suplex. However, Makabe smashed his face into the ring post, which gave a sickening sound. The suplex and knee drop finished Naito off.
Winner: Togi Makabe (6) in 12:02
Honestly, I didn’t expect this to be as good as it ended up being. I wasn’t sure if they would click but they really did. Babyface Naito was so good at being resilient, but I think it would have worked a bit better if the crowd was more into him. They seemed to be behind Togi for the most part, making his comeback attempts kind of fall flat. Still, great work from both guys. ****
Block B
AJ Styles (6) vs. Minoru Suzuki (6)
Going into this, I had high expectations due to the high praise I had heard for this. They started with a face to face stare down that was pretty awesome in itself. They got right into it with AJ hitting his signature dropkick quickly. When they fought outside, I expected the typical guardrail spot, but instead, AJ leapt over and came back with his springboard punch which I appreciate. Suzuki, being the bad dude that he is, took the fight to the crowd and applied an armbar in a chair on AJ. The work he continually does throughout this match on the arm is fantastic and brutal in the best kind of way. When we got a ref bump, I was weary, especially when Taka Michinoku ran in. A few members of the Bullet Club and Suzuki Gun ran in, but they fought to the back, keeping that short. Suzuki is such a badass, that even when he takes AJ’s finger and works it, it looks vicious. Towards the end, they have a fantastic series of counters and strikes. During the strike battle, AJ more than holds his own despite only using his left hand. That is the kind of selling I wanted to see. The match comes to an end after a second Styles Clash.
Winner: AJ Styles (8) in 16:20
This is now officially my favorite match of the tournament. Everything about this was so good. Yea, there was interference but this was a match featuring the two leaders of two heel stables so it playing a factor made sense and at least it was kept short. The arm work is smart, brutal and they go back to it, with AJ’s selling being top notch. This is just fantastic, top notch pro wrestling. ****¾
Block A
Katsuyori Shibata (8) vs. Yuji Nagata (4)
Both of these guys have been having really good matches and Shibata has been one of my favorite people to watch during this entire thing. As you would expect, this was hard hitting from both guys. They fought outside and did the countout tease, but put a twist on it that other matches didn’t do. They traded massive shots outside until 19 and both barely got back in. Despite his age, Nagata laid into Shibata as hard as he got hit, making for some absolutely brutal exchanges. When Nagata applies the armbar, Shibata broke out and sold the effects well. They ended up in an exchange where Shibata just pounded on Nagata with a bunch of shots, but once Nagata hit him back, he fell instantly. Nagata would pull it out after two back suplexes.
Winner: Yuji Nagata (6) in 13:31
This show just continued to deliver. This was two hard hitting dudes just beating the hell out of each other. It was stiff and violent in the best possible way. Nagata playing the old man who doesn’t back down is great. Another fantastic performance from both guys. ****¼
Block A
Shinsuke Nakamura (8) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (6)
They went into a fun exchange early on the in match. When Nakamura gave a clean break, he offered a handshake but ate a slap instead. Both men missed their finishers early and had a bit of a stare down. Nakamura took control and kind of toyed with Ishii, which is obviously a mistake. When Ishii fired back at him, he hit him so hard that Nakamura was coughing like he had the flu. Nakamura went for the Boma Ye a while after but Ishii was ready and stopped it with a dropkick. The near falls that Ishii picked up were all heavily bought into by the fans, including one on a huge lariat. He had one lariat countered into an armbar, which was cool. The finish came when they went into a string of vicious strikes before Nakamura hit Boma Ye, only for Ishii to kick out at 1. That got a huge pop. Nakamura hit another one that ended things.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura (10) in 15:14
Another great match on this show, this one fitting as a main event. The hard hitting strikes, the counters, the near falls and the atmosphere all made this a great match. Both guys have consistently been delivering in the tournament and did so again here. Nakamura wins another one and is probably in contention for the MVP of the tournament so far. ****¼
Overall: 9/10. The first half of this show was solid but had nothing to go out of you way and see. The second half changed things completely. Everything after intermission was a blast as even the lowest post intermission score went to a really fun, short match. The fact that this show was as excellent as it was without two of the top stars in the company on it is a testament to the talent level in NJPW. There are four must see matches on this show, including the match of the tournament so far. Amazing show.
Block A Standings
Shinsuke Nakamura 10
Katsuyori Shibata 8
Shelton X Benjamin 8
Hiroshi Tanahashi 8
Bad Luck Fale 8
Tomohiro Ishii 6
Satoshi Kojima 6
Yuji Nagata 6
Davey Boy Smith Jr. 6
Doc Gallows 4
Tomoaki Honma 0
Block B Standings
Tetsuya Naito 8
Kazuchika Okada 8
AJ Styles 8
Minoru Suzuki 6
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 6
Hirooki Goto 6
Togi Makabe 6
Lance Archer 6
Toru Yano 6
Karl Anderson 6
Yujiro Takahashi 4
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