The opening video shows how we have new Trios Champions in Rey Mysterio, Prince Puma and Dragon Azteca Jr. We also see Chavo Guerrero steal Cage's medallion and win the Gift of the Gods Title because of help from Cage.
We see Pentagon Jr trying to leave Vampiro, saying he's ready. Vampiro disagrees and Pentagon tells him to try and stop him. Vampiro doesn't want him to ever question him again. Pentagon slips free of him and has no fear. Vampiro tells him that he can go to the Temple, but he's not ready to face the monster yet.
Joey Ryan def. Mascarita Sagrada w/ Famous B and Brenda in 3:17
Famous B did Mascarita's ring intro again. Joey Ryan attacked during that because he's such a scumbag. Famous B hilariously offered his card to Ryan in the middle of the match, but Brenda slapped it away. Joey had some fun by acting like he wasn't strong enough to lift Mascarita and then flexing after hitting a body slam. Famous B also gave his card to the referee. Mascarita kicked Joey low, but his dick of steel allowed him to no sell it. Ryan got a dirty win. This was fine for what it was, as it was meant to be good comedy fun and it mostly was. **
Famous B helped Mascarita up after the match and gave him words of encouragement.
After a break, we see Taya looking in a mirror. She says that she doesn't see someone who needs improvements. She sees confidence and dominance when looking in the mirror.
Now we see King Cuerno, complete with badass cowboy hat, talking about Mil Muertes sitting atop the Temple like eh ran the jungle. He has Mil trapped in a glass coffin as he says this, proclaiming to be the true king of the jungle. This dude is so badass that he has Mil Muertes as a goddamn trophy.
Gift of the Gods Championship: Cage def. Chavo Guerrero (c) in 7:56
Matt Striker tried putting Chavo over as one of the best pound for pound wrestlers in the world at one time, only for Vampiro to shit all over that theory. They played into the big man/little man dynamic, which was interesting considering the smaller guy is the heel. The crowd was into all of it and popped for the right things. Chavo picked up a few near falls that most people probably didn't expect. I know I didn't. Cage came close on a sick discus lariat but the veteran Chavo got his foot on the bottom rope. Chavo got off a sunset flip bomb from the top and got a near fall on a frog splash. He channeled Eddie and tried Three Amigos, but Cage stopped him and won with the screwdriver. That was much better than I expected and easily the best thing Chavo has ever done in Lucha Underground. ***
HOLY SHIT! Cage instantly announces that he is cashing in his Gift of the Gods Title shot against Matanza next week! MONSTER VS. MACHINE!
Still to come, Fenix, PJ Black and Jack Evans get a shot at the Trios Titles.
Backstage, Taya leads PJ Black and Jack Evans towards a surprise. She reveals it to be Fenix, knocked out. Evans is upset because they have a title match tonight. Johnny Mundo shows up and says that they have a new partner as he'll be replacing Fenix. They all play air guitar before leaving.
Joey Ryan is rummaging through Dario Cueto's office, looking for evidence since Dario and "his hot ninja" aren't there. Cortez Castro shows up and doesn't want him to do this but decides to help. They find a lot of money but Mr. Cisco shows up. He's pissed they didn't invite him to rob El Jefe and goes to snitch. Coretz stops him after Joey pulls a gun and has him freeze. Cortez arrests Cisco, who looks stunned and hurt.
Trios Championships: Jack Evans, Johnny Mundo and PJ Black w/ Taya def. Dragon Azteca Jr., Prince Puma and Rey Mysterio Jr. (c) in 11:29
Like pretty much all Trios Title matches, this was a fair amount of fun. The dynamic between the champions, Azteca, Mysterio and Puma, is always great, but this was more about the challengers. They play the dick heels so well and did so here better than ever. I don't know if I've ever seen as many low blows as we saw here. Evans and Black hit as many as possible, but Puma kicked out and gave hope that things were going to turn around. Taya also got involved and used a steel chair to help the titles change hands. This was good fun, but may have had a bit too much of extra shenanigans for me. ***1/2.
Overall: 6.5/10. I don't think there's been a bad episode this season. This one wasn't among the best, but still proved to be fun. We got two title changes in two solid matches and even teh short opener was entertaining. There was forward movement on the Cortez/Ryan angle and a great King Cuerno segment.
If you do want to check out Lucha Underground, which you absolutely should, and don't get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV. It's a great way to support the company and channel while streaming the show online. You can sign up and get Lucha Underground right here with Fubo.tv!
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night Four Review
May 24th, 2016 | Yonezawa Municipal Gymnasium in Yonezawa, Yamagata, Japan
Another single camera night where only the tournament matches are posted on NJPW World. At least two of the matches set, the final two, really intrigue me and this has potential to be an improvement on the first B Block showing on night two. This was also a smaller show than most as, from what I read, there were less than 1,000 in attendance.
B Block: Volador Jr. [2] def. Tiger Mask IV [0] in 9:47
Back on night two, both guys suffered losses. Volador to Beretta and Tiger Mask to Ricochet. They got off to a rather quick start here, with both men showing off their athleticism before Tiger Mask took Volador down to the mat. Volador nailed a nice front flip to the outside, being the first to go high risk. This was before removing his mask and following with an Asai moonsault. Once it returned to the ring, they had some more back and forth. Tiger Mask got in a submission but Volador made it to the ropes. Volador then got on a roll, hitting a superkick, backstabber and then winning with his Depredador Estrada submission. Entertaining start to the show as both guys worked hard and worked a crisp match. Better than the night two opener. ***
B Block: Jushin Thunder Liger [4] def. Chase Owens [2] in 7:12
This time around, Chase Owens showed up with Yujiro Takahashi, ensuring that we see the two least important Bullet Club members at the same time. Owens pulled off the upset by besting Will Ospreay on night two, while Liger beat Bobby Fish. I love Liger’s theme by the way. Liger was all about stretching Owens, almost instantly putting him in the surfboard. Owens had a small advantage in the power department it seemed and was sure to taunt and flex for the crowd. Liger tripped him up for his troubles and looked to teach him a lesson. There was a great countout tease where Takahashi held Liger’s legs but he beat the count at 19. Owens used underhanded tactics and interference to gain control. Liger blocked a package piledriver and won with a crucifix pin. After the match, Owens hit the package piledriver and Liger was stretchered out. It looked to be an angle. I thought the match was fine and glad we got some old school heeling from Owens. **¾
B Block: Ricochet [4] def. ROH World Television Champion Bobby Fish [0] in 12:30
On night two, Ricochet defeated Tiger Mask IV, while Bobby Fish fell to Liger. This is the match I was most looking forward to on the first two B Block shows. The crowd was firmly behind Ricochet and he gave them what they wanted with a sweet moonsault to the outside early. Ricochet’s offense is so fluid and innovative that Bobby was overwhelmed by it at times. As the match progressed, we got some impressive looks strikes from both guys, but especially Ricochet. Fish recently went toe to toe with Tomohiro Ishii, so it was more of a surprise to see this style from Ricochet. Fish hit the falcon arrow for two and transitioned right into a heel hook. Ricochet escaped and, after a vicious knee strike, won with the Benadryller. About as solid a match as you can find as there were no dead spots, lots of good work and it was really enjoyable. I do wish Fish targeted the leg more, since that makes perfect sense against someone like Ricochet. While it was very good, it never quite crossed into great territory. ***½
B Block: Beretta [4] def. Will Ospreay [0] in 11:55
For your recap, Beretta won against Volador on night two, while Ospreay was upset by Chase Owens. Both guys are members of the Chaos stable. There were some friendly moments early on where they one upped one another and patted each other on the head after. It felt like they were really hammering home the fact that Beretta was the more experienced competitor as he seemed to have an answer for everything young Ospreay tried. Beretta was better in that role than I expected, doing little things to capitalize on every opening. It felt like Ospreay got a bit too cocky at times and it would always cost him. After some great back and forth, he fell to the Dudebuster. They shook hands after the bell since they are stablemates after all. I thought that these guys showed really good chemistry and had the best match since KUSHIDA/O’Reilly on night one. Hopefully, Ospreay starts picking up wins now. ***¾
Overall: 7/10. Another night of action and another solid outing from all eight performers. I found this to be better than the first B Block show two nights earlier. Owens/Liger was decent, Volador and Tiger Mask had a good showing and Ricochet vs. Bobby Fish was really good, albeit a slight disappointment. Beretta and Ospreay is the one to watch on this card though.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Kyle O'Reilly | 4 (2-0) | Berreta | 4 (2-0) |
| Rocky Romero | 4 (2-0) | Jushin Thunder Liger | 4 (2-0) |
| Ryusuke Taguchi | 4 (2-0) | Ricochet | 4 (2-0) |
| Gedo | 2 (1-1) | Chase Owens | 2 (1-1) |
| Matt Sydal | 2 (1-1) | Volador Jr. | 2 (1-1) |
| KUSHIDA | 0 (0-2) | Will Ospreay | 0 (0-2) |
| BUSHI | 0 (0-2) | Bobby Fish | 0 (0-2) |
| David Finlay Jr | 0 (0-2) | Tiger Mask IV | 0 (0-2) |
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night Three Review
May 23rd, 2016 | Tsubame Civic Gymnasium in Tsubame, Niigata, Japan
Night three of the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament followed a similar format to night two. We don’t get the entire show on NJPW World, instead having the individual tournament matches uploaded hours later. This was also shot in single camera format and features the A Block competitors.
A Block: Matt Sydal [2] def. BUSHI [0] in 9:20
Both men suffered night one losses to guys that probably won’t finish with more points than them. BUSHI was in full Tetsuya Naito mode, arriving in suit and mask. Early on, he even teased a dive outside, only to lay down in the middle of the ring and pose. When he actually seemed to give a fuck, he was able to gain control and wear down Sydal. Sydal started to rally with some kicks and some of his signature offense. We got a missile dropkick and SPRINAROONIE from BUSHI because, why not? The final few minutes were the best part. Sydal leapt off the mat to catch BUSHI with an impressive top rope rana. The Shooting Sydal Press followed for the 1-2-3. I’m not a fan of BUSHI starting 0-2, especially since I predicted him to only lose twice throughout the entire thing. The match itself was pretty good and really got going down the stretch, but I still found it a bit disappointing. I wanted more from both.***
A Block: Kyle O’Reilly [4] def. Gedo [2] in 11:24
On night one, Gedo bested BUSHI while Kyle O’Reilly defeated KUSHIDA in a match of the year candidate. Things started mostly slow with some mat work. Gedo added to the slowness by taking a powder and stalling a fair amount. Gedo used that to his advantage and targeted the neck, setting up for the Gedo Clutch down the stretch. I appreciate when working a body part has some sensible thought behind it. O’Reilly got hot and closed with a flurry. Ax and Smash, as well as a Brainbuster, brought him a near fall. Just as Gedo kicked out though, O’Reilly latched onto the arm into an armbar and made the booker tap out. Good work from both men involved in front of a crowd that has been pretty good. So far so good for my pick to win, O’Reilly, in terms of both match quality and victories. ***¼
A Block: Ryusuke Taguchi [4] def. David Finlay [0] in 9:18
Ryusuke Taguchi, who nearly won this thing last year, beat Matt Sydal on night one, while David Finlay fell to Rocky Romero in a good showing. Unlike that first outing, Finlay didn’t attack quickly and instead chose to grapple with the former IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion. That did not bode well as Taguchi stretched him out. So far, Taguchi has been much less of a goof in the tournament and that has made him much more enjoyable to watch. He did go into his ass attacks and such but it wasn’t overdone. Finlay caught him in the stretch muffler but Taguchi reached the ropes. Finlay did the same when Taguchi applied the ankle lock. A fine finishing exchange saw Finlay get several near falls on flash pins before eventually succumbing to the ankle lock. Both guys were good again here as Taguchi has been more tolerable and Finlay continued to impress. ***¼
A Block: Rocky Romero [4] def. KUSHIDA [0] in 15:03
As noted earlier, Romero defeated Finlay and KUSHIDA lost to O’Reilly on the first night. These two are familiar with each other from their respective tag teams, the Time Splitters and Roppongi Vice (or the Forever Hooligans going a bit further back). This was good from the start. I liked Romero using his weird latch onto the ropes gimmick to his advantage, only for his second attempt at it to fail because KUSHIDA was ready. Outside of that though, it felt like Romero really had the champ’s number. He seemingly outsmarted him at multiple turns. Romero, like Gedo, is great on no commentary shows, because it’s a bonus to hear him throughout the match. As things came to a close, Romero survived the Hoverboard Lock and got a near fall on a small package. He then hit a string of moves that the resilient KUSHIDA kept getting up from. A big high running knee finally put him away. Another good match and the best of the two house shows so far. I like the upsets but I’m not a fan of KUSHIDA losing here. I’d have only had him lose to O’Reilly and BUSHI in this block. ***½
Overall: 7/10. Although the house shows being shot in single camera format isn’t something I like, these guys have still worked hard to have good matches. All four matches on this night were good and the four match format has proved to make for easy watches. KUSHIDA/Romero was the match of the night, but you can’t go wrong here. None go on for too long and all are worth a look, though none are must see.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Rocky Romero | 4 (2-0) | Jushin Thunder Liger | 2 (1-0) |
| Kyle O'Reilly | 4 (2-0) | Ricochet | 2 (1-0) |
| Ryusuke Taguchi | 4 (2-0) | Chase Owens | 2 (1-0) |
| Gedo | 2 (1-1) | Barretta | 2 (1-0) |
| Matt Sydal | 2 (1-1) | Volador Jr | 0 (0-1) |
| KUSHIDA | 0 (0-2) | Will Ospreay | 0 (0-1) |
| BUSHI | 0 (0-2) | Bobby Fish | 0 (0-1) |
| David Finlay Jr | 0 (0-2) | Tiger Mask IV | 0 (0-1) |
Monday, May 23, 2016
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night Two Review
May 22nd, 2016 | Kiramesse Numzazu in Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan
Night two of this year’s Best of the Super Juniors Tournament didn’t air live on NJPW World. Instead, just the tournament matches were uploaded later in the day. They are all shot in single camera format, similar to some of the G1 shows last year.
B Block: Ricochet [2] def. Tiger Mask IV [0] in 9:53
Ricochet is one half of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. They worked some back and forth early before Ricochet’s athleticism and quickness gave him the upper hand. The height he gets on his springboard stuff is absurd at times. Tiger Mask was smart, trying to ground the high flier. He went for a few submissions, including an armbar and then he countered the Benadryller into an ankle lock. Ricochet rolled through into a version of the Manjigatame to make Tiger submit. I thought this was fine but nothing special. I appreciated them going with a submission finish as it was unexpected. **½
B Block: Jushin Thunder Liger [2] def. ROH World Television Champion Bobby Fish [0] in 11:30
While I like the NJPW dub theme for reDRagon, I really liked that they’ve got their official theme so far in the tournament. There was some early trash talk, which made things fun. Fish worked the leg and was really good at playing the heel here. I didn’t expect it but he pulled out some underhanded tactics and mixed it in with the trash talk, making for a good heat segment. He came close to winning with a knee bar only for Liger to rally behind the crowd and reach the ropes. In a great turn of events, Liger blocked the Fishhook by holding the ropes and leaning down on Bobby, using them for leverage and getting the three count. Solid work from both guys. Extra points for heel Bobby, the hot crowd, their back and forth banter and Liger turning the heel tactics around on him. ***¼
B Block: Beretta [2] def. Volador Jr. [0] in 12:04
I’m pretty sure Beretta clearly said “I DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT LUCHA LIBRE” just before the bell. Volador had the early upper hand until things spilled outside. Beretta did something that the damn single camera missed and it gave us a countout tease. As Volador began a comeback in the ring, he removed his tear away pants and nailed a dive outside. Back inside, Volador removed his mask. If this went any longer, he might have been naked by the finish. There was a cool spot where Volador leapt over a Beretta spear attempt on the apron and went right into an Asai moonsault. Beretta survived a super rana before putting Volador away with the Dudebuster. Another good match as they did well with being given the most amount of time on the card. I look forward to more from both guys as the tournament progresses. ***
B Block: Chase Owens [2] def. Will Ospreay [0] in 9:58
Easily the most shocking result of the first two nights but more on that later. It was clear from the start that Ospreay was fired up. He wowed the crowd early with his athleticism, including a really nice handspring moonsault to the outside. The lack of commentary allowed us to hear just how vocal Ospreay is during his matches. Ospreay tired his Chaos buddy Okada’s Rainmaker, complete with pose, but Owens was ready and blocked it before hitting a nice spinning backbreaker. Ospreay’s high flying style cost him as he springboarded right into a superkick, followed by a gutbuster and package piledriver, giving Owens the upset. Ospreay entered as a heavy favorite to win the entire thing and a loss to Owens, probably the blandest guy in the tournament, was unexpected. Either way, this was easily the best match I’ve ever seen from Owens and Ospreay is in a zone in 2016 where he seemingly can’t have bad matches. Unfortunately, he’s now 0-2 in singles matches in NJPW. ***¼
Overall: 6/10. Clearly this set of matches lacked the must see aspect that KUSHIDA/O’Reilly had on night one. However, this is a very solid set of matches. None of them are bad and they all mostly fly by. Fish/Liger and Ospreay/Owens were the best matches, while Beretta/Volador was pretty good. The fact that the tournament has had so many early upsets makes for interesting watches as you don’t know what to expect.
Fave Five 5/16/16-5/22/16
2) The Miz: While KUSHIDA and O'Reilly had the best match this week, the IC Title match was a close second. The Miz, Cesaro, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn went out and completely stole the show. Honestly, all four of them have strong cases for making the list, but I went with the winner, the Miz. True, he had to sneak in to steal the win, but that was perfect. I saw a lot of complaints about the result and I get that. However, Miz is the best heel they have (along with Owens) and elicits the actual heel response that the WWE wants. He's the best kind of chickenshit champion and I fully expect Cesaro to dethrone him soon to a massive pop. For now though, Miz continues to be awesome.
4) KUSHIDA: Considering how great the match between KUSHIDA and Kyle O'Reilly was, both had to make it. As noted, they put on a classic and both guys deserve all of the credit for their efforts. KUSHIDA came close on several occasions, but dropped a tough one to O'Reilly. KUSHIDA is still the reigning IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion though, and it's very possible that he wins out the rest of his block before coming close to or making the finals. Either way, he earned his spot here and will probably make it again over the next two weeks with consistently stellar performances.5) Seth Rollins: Returned and took out WWE Champion Roman Reigns.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Extreme Rules 2016 Predictions
Ugh. Baron Corbin should have just beaten Dolph Ziggler at Extreme Rules. WWE's penchant for 50/50 booking is horrible and it has already reared its ugly head when it comes to Corbin. I'm surprised to see a stipulation match on the Kickoff Show. Anyway, if the WWE wanted to book this properly, Corbin would absolutely run though Ziggler. Knowing them, Ziggler wins this with another rollup. Still, I say this falls in the middle where Corbin wins a hard fought bout.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Man, I hate this feud. Both girls are solid in the ring (though Charlotte is horeshit at selling since the main roster call up), but why should I give a shit? Their characters are still just "my family wrestled". Not having Ric at ringside should allow for the match to be better than the Payback one and hopefully it doesn't have a screwy finish. Give Charlotte the win and move the title to Sasha Banks already dammit. This waiting is just stupid.
Winner: Charlotte
This is a tough one to call. One the one hand, Chris Jericho has been rumored to leave back to Fozzy for a while now and that would signal a loss for him here. On the other hand, Dean Ambrose never seems to win on Pay-Per-View. Considering he got a rare one at Payback, the numbers would point to him losing again. It's kind of a toss up. If Jericho sticks around, he wins here and I suspect Dean gets the rubber match. If Jericho leaves, Dean wins and picks up some momentum. I think the latter happens.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
At Payback, I picked Miz to retain against Cesaro with a rollup or something like that. I was right. Here it's tougher. Again, it would be tough to see the WWE pass up another chance to put the strap on Cesaro. He returned to great pops and has put on some really strong matches already. I feel that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are going to cancel each other out. They'll brawl and continue their rivalry, leaving the outcome to be between Cesaro and Miz again. With Money in the Bank coming up next, I could see Miz sneaking out another win and allowing Cesaro to enter that match as a possible winner. Hell, I'm gonna predict that.
Winner: The Miz
TONG PO! Rusev is the only example I can recall of a guy getting absolutely obliterated by John Cena, only to have his career be better within the year. Sure he's no longer the unstoppable monster heel, but he's been allowed to showcase a much different side. Rusev has allowed his personality to shine through and is consistently one of the most interesting people to watch on the roster. Kalisto is also a lot of fun, but his reign has been handled poorly. They haven't treated him like he's important. Instead, he wrestles and loses in tag matches or wins on Main Event and Superstars. It's time for a new champion. Let the era of the real Rusev begin.
Winner: Rusev
Even before the unfortunate injury to Enzo Amore, I had the Vaudevillains picked as the winners of the Tag Team Tournament. Save the Enzo and Cass/New Day feud for down the line, which should be golden. The Vaudevillains were getting next to no heat until the Enzo injury, so it happened to help them out. Still, I don't think they have enough traction to be champions quite yet. The New Day still rank among the most entertaining acts in all of wrestling and I could see them reaching the one year mark as champions.
Winner: The New Day
Oh fuck this. I was looking forward to the arrival of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in the WWE. Hell, even the AJ Styles angle was very interesting for a while. Now, it's just non-stop tag match after six man tag match after tag match. I've seen this far too many times for me to care. Yea the tornado rules will allow it to be worked differently but at this point, why should I give a shit? I'll go with the Good Brothers to take this one.
Winners: Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows
Talk about potential that has kind of gone down the drain. This feud was all sorts of intriguing heading into Payback and the match itself mostly delivered outside of the shenanigans. Since then though, this feud has mostly disappointed with only a few moments to really interest me. I expect this will be another good match between two guys that know what they're doing. Unfortunately, with the new of the returns of John Cena, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and a few others, I could see AJ Styles being taken out of the main event spotlight. Regins retains and moves onto another small feud before we get Reigns/Cena or something at SummerSlam.
Winner: Roman Reigns
2016 Prediction Record: 18-14
2015 Prediction Record: 60-35
Saturday, May 21, 2016
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night One Review
May 21st, 2016 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Today, the annual Best of the Super Juniors Tournament kicked off. The first night is all A Block matches. There are a lot of shows in a short span of time, so I’m not trying to get too burnt out. In an effort to avoid that, I’ll only be reviewing the actual tournament matches. I’ll be using a similar format for the G1 Climax later this year.
A Block: Rocky Romero [2] def. David Finlay [0] in 11:52
Rocky Romero wore another mask of Tiger Mask to the ring. I wonder if there is any plan for this going forward. Finlay was out to prove that he’ snot going 0-7 like last year, as he dropkicked Romero before the bell and this started with some brawling outside. That was great since it is a change of pace from a lot of this tournament. Romero had his shoulder taped, so Finlay was smart and made that the target of his offense. Romero’s comeback saw him pay tribute to former Chaos member Shinsuke Nakamura, which got a nice pop. Everyone bought into the upset when Finlay applied the stretch muffler and prevented Rocky from reaching the ropes. Rocky still fought to the ropes and they managed a strong finish. Romero hit a running knee, though it didn’t connect too well, for the win. Exceeded my expectations and was far better than anything we would have gotten with Matt Jackson. ***½
A Block: Gedo [2] def. BUSHI [0] in 11:34
You could tell how over Los Ingobernables are judging by the amount of BUSHI masks in the crowd. It was way more than I expected. It showed that the group hasn’t only been good for Naito. This also continued the rivalry between Chaos and LIDJ. Gedo’s trash talk throughout was on point. This was a good back and forth match and it was cool to see two heels try to out cheat each other. Gedo used the ring bell hammer and both guys pulled out low blows. Gedo survived a codebreaker before blocking a second. It sent BUSHI into the referee, opening the door for a low blow. He hit his own variation of the Rainmaker and a roll up, giving us our first surprise result so far. I found this to be a fun match where two guys played to their strengths and it worked. ***¼
A Block: Ryusuke Taguchi [2] def. Matt Sydal [0] in 10:48
Taguchi came out with a giant Big Bird balloon on his head. I shit you not. They shook hands before the bell. This was only Sydal’s second singles match in NJPW, while Taguchi is a veteran of the division and tournament. It was nice to see Sydal work a body part, as he focused on the leg. He busted out a few submissions to do so before Taguchi turned the tide with a dragon screw and ankle lock. Taguchi got busted open on the dragon screw as Sydal’s elbow hit him in the eye. The problem is that neither guy seemed to really care about selling the leg work. Taguchi only did after getting his knees up on the Shooting Sydal Press. Sydal countered him for a rollup, but still fell to Dodon. A bit of a surprising result. This would have been better if they just sold the leg more. It seemed like they worked it for the sake of working a body part. Still pretty good though. **¾
A Block: Kyle O’ Reilly [2] def. KUSHIDA [0] in 20:08
The rematch of last year’s finals! No dubbed over version of O’Reilly’s theme as he got the official “Dance Away”. They came face to face during KUSHIDA’s entrance, giving this even more of a big fight feel. These two jockeyed for position early, with neither one gaining a clear advantage. It showed how evenly matched they are. Since he normally works the arm for his finish, it was surprising to see O’Reilly go after the leg. He used an ankle lock on it but still went to the armbar to combat KUSHIDA’s. It felt like Kyle was desperate to win, even resorting to a knee breaker onto an open steel chair. I love that feeling in a match. In an insane moment, Kyle went for an apron dropkick with KUSHIDA seated in the chair outside. KUSHIDA jumped from the chair and caught him in midair into an armbar, crushing the chair in the process! It was one of the coolest and most innovative spots I’ve ever seen. They got inside and exchanged kicks, but wisely, KUSHIDA kicked the arm and Kyle kicked the leg. They had a fantastic back and forth finishing stretch, doing the important little things like O’Reilly having an armbar in and trying to also latch onto KUSHIDA’s legs. Finally, an armbar became too much and KUSHIDA tapped out. I thought this was better than their finals match last year, since the shorter time frame worked for them and the Korakuen crowd was awesome. This a must see MOTY candidate. Maybe I’m rating it extra high because I literally just watched two of my favorites go out and be incredible, but whatever. ****¾
After the match, KUSHIDA didn’t shake Kyle O’Reilly’s hand. He got on the microphone and said that even though he didn’t do that, KUSHIDA is still the best opponent he’s ever stepped into the ring against. He said some things in Japanese and promised to win the tournament.
Overall: 8/10. A really strong start to the tournament. Last year wasn’t the best of showings but we’re off to a great start. Romero/Finlay was better than I expected it to be, while BUSHI/Gedo proved to be a fun battle between two heels. Sydal/Taguchi was alright but the obvious reason this show worked was KUSHIDA/O’Reilly. They are two of the best on the planet, regardless of weight class and proved it here. The hot Korakuen crowd added to a spectacular main event that is must see and among the five best matches I’ve seen so far this year.
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