Raw History
Episode #94
January 9th, 1995 | The Summit in Houston, Texas
It’s Raw’s second birthday celebration! We are live and the hosts are Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels. Cut to William Shatner, Jerry Lawler’s King’s Court guest, who says that he’s not here to fight, he’s here to promote his new show.
WWF Intercontinental Championship
Razor Ramon (c) vs. Owen Hart
Owen takes the belt from the referee and poses with it, causing Razor to attack. He goes to hit Owen with the belt but the official stops him. The champion beats Owen from pillar to post, using his power advantage. Owen takes the trademark Hart sternum corner bump. Razor goes after the arm a bit, continuing to hold serve until he attempts the Razor’s Edge by the ropes. You know what that means. Owen backdrops him over the top before following with a suicide dive. A commercial break comes and now Owen is in charge, wearing down the champion. The roar of the crowd rallies Razor. Razor starts to slug it out, knowing he has the upper hand in that situation. He busts out a Chokeslam, but can’t cover. He looks for a super back suplex but falls first. Owen nails a missile dropkick and tries the Sharpshooter, but Bret Hart runs in and whacks Owen.
Winner via disqualification: Owen Hart in 11:12
Up until that finish, this was going very well. Two of the better guys in the WWF at the time, going back and forth and working a smart match. That’s about all I can ask for in terms of the marquee match on Raw. ***¼
Well, Bret Hart looks like a total dick here. Jeff Jarrett and the Roadie come out to attack Razor Ramon, but Bret and Razor team up to send them packing. The crowd is red hot for all of this. Next week, it’s Bret vs. Double J.
Royal Rumble Report time! I don’t think we get any new information, but it has been a few weeks since I’ve watched Raw and I may have forgotten.
Jerry Lawler cuts a short promo on William Shatner, making Star Trek references with his threats.
Hakushi w/ Shinja vs. Matt Hardy
This is the Raw debut of Hakushi, taking on a rather tubby Matt Hardy. Looking at him, with his crew cut, and you would never think he’d be part of a heartthrob team. Hakushi kicks his ass and quickly wins with a slingshot splash.
Winner: Hakushi in 1:07
Damn that was fast. I would have liked to see it go a bit longer but it worked as a debut.
Jerry Lawler is in the ring for the King’s Court. Lawler brings out William Shatner and puts over his new show. He then tries to say that this is the greatest moment in Shatner’s career, which William declines. Lawler jaws with him and threatens him, causing Shatner to put him in a hammerlock. Lawler goes after him again but Shatner just takes him over with a goddamn monkey flip. Bret Hart makes his second appearance and raises William’s hand. Shatner stares into the camera with a pretty great look on his face. Jeff Jarrett and the Roadie are out again to hold Jerry back. Not the greatest of segments but it did the job of getting a TV star to appear on Raw and promote a USA Network show.
The Royal Rumble commercial with Pamela Anderson is pretty funny, with everyone in the Rumble leaving her messages on her answering machine.
King Kong Bundy w/ Ted Dibiase vs. Gary Sabaugh
If you thought the Hakushi match was quick, you haven’t seen anything yet. Bundy hits an avalanche and wins.
Winner: King Kong Bundy in 0:13
The shorter the Bundy match, the better.
On Superstars, Bob Holly and the 1-2-3 Kid advance in the Tag Team Title Tournament over Well Dunn. They replaced the Smoking Gunns and will face the Heavenly Bodies in the Semi-Finals. The other Semi-Final match is Bigelow and Tatanka against the Headshrinkers.
A Kama vignette airs. It’s pretty absurd in trying to make him look like a badass.
Tuxedo Match
Harvey Wippleman w/ Well Dunn vs. Howard Finkel w/ the BushwhackersWhat did I do to deserve this? Fink attacks quickly and they roll around, removing pieces of each tux. This has next to no crowd reaction and for good reason. They get down to their underwear and Howard wins.
Winner: Howard Finkel in 2:37
Absolute hot garbage. A terrible non-wrestler match with no heat from the crowd and too much man ass. DUD
The celebration with the Bushwhackers and Howard Finkel goes on for too long.
Overall: 6/10. Not a bad episode here. The opening contest was a really solid outing. The King’s Court, while not the most entertaining episode, was made to be a pretty big deal on the anniversary episode. The two squashes were kept short and I liked seeing Hakushi. The only real bad part about this episode was the god awful Tuxedo match.
Raw History
Episode #95
January 16th, 1995 | The Summit in Houston, Texas
The intro this week continues to play off the Star Trek and William Shatner stuff, hyping the Bret Hart/Jeff Jarrett main event. Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels are your hosts in front of a horrible green screen.
1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly vs. The Heavenly Bodies w/ Jim Cornette
This is a rematch from the Tag Team Title Tournament, where Kid and Holly eliminated the Heavenly Bodies. The Bodies attack before the bell, sending the Kid outside, leaving Holly alone to take a beating. They work him over for a while until he finally makes the hot tag. Bigelow, Dibiase and Tatanka walk out to the aisle to watch since they’re facing Kid and Holly at the Rumble. Kid scores on a fisherman suplex for the win.
Winners: 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly in 4:36
Too short to really get going, but it was fine tag formula. I’ll take this over a lot of what we got in 1994. **
Bret Hart and William Shatner are interviewed about Bret’s potential ring rust. They say there won’t be any ring rust and, if Roadie gets involved, Shatner will make him roadkill.
Mantaur w/ Jim Cornette vs. Jason Ahrndt
Oh goodness. It’s Mantaur. Poor Jim Cornette. Mantaur isn’t wearing his signature big ass headdress, so he’s just a guy with paint on his face. He slams the jobber around before winning with a body attack.
Winner: Mantaur in 1:44
Basic squash for a lame wrestler and terrible character.
The final Royal Rumble Report comes to us as the show is this Sunday. We learn nothing new as he runs down the card. I’ll post the results during the next episode of Raw. After the report, Jeff Jarrett cuts a promo backstage about how he’s going to beat Bret Hart and that it won’t affect his Royal Rumble performance.
Bret Hart w/ William Shatner vs. Jeff Jarrett w/ the Roadie
Vince McMahon makes a point to discuss Bret working more aggressively, which he does by getting in an eye rake. Bret goes to work on the arm after a Russian leg sweep. Roadie argues that Bret is pulling the tights. After a commercial, Bret gives the fans a bit of a full moon by trying to rollup Jarrett and pulling his pants down in the process. Jarrett sends Bret in for a big corner bump, but can’t take full advantage because he misses a top rope move. Bret starts to go into the five moves of doom, scoring two on the second rope elbow. Jarrett rakes the eyes to block the Sharpshooter. Bret then misses a cross body with help from the Roadie. Shatner did nothing about this. Figure Four applied by Jarrett but Bret reaches the ropes. Bret counters a Jarrett rollup into one of his own for the victory.
Winner: Bret Hart in 9:01
Fine standard match here from the two top title contenders. It was nothing special but worked as a TV main event. I do wish this would have ended by DQ, so Jarrett didn’t eat a pin before his title shot.**½
Roadie tries to hit Bret, so William Shatner comes in and levels him, sending him outside.
We go to Superstars for a recap of Bigelow and Tatanka beating the Headshrinkers and Holly and Kid beating the Heavenly Bodies to make the Tag Team Title Tournament Finals.
The Million Dollar Corporation are the guests on the King’s Court. Ted Dibiase, IRS, Bigelow, Tatanka, Bundy and two druids are there. Dibiase talks about how they will run the Rumble. IRS will beat Undertaker, Bigelow and Tatanka will win the Tag Titles and Bundy will win the Royal Rumble itself. He also says that Bigelow and Tatanka will defend their new belts against the Smoking Gunns next Monday. If memory serves me right, his crew went 0-3 on the night.
Mabel w/ Oscar vs. Lee Toblin
Similar to the recent Bundy squashes or the Mantaur one earlier, it’s your typical big man showcase. Mabel gets a bit more time though. His opponent looks like someone fused Jerry Lawler with Danny McBride. Mabel wins with a piss poor leg drop.
Winner: Mabel in 2:35
Standard stuff.
King Kong Bundy lumbers out to interrupt a Mabel interview, arguing about who will win the Royal Rumble. Mabel issues a challenge right now but Ted Dibiase advises him not to.
A hype video for Diesel closes the show.
Overall: 5/10. Middle of the pack episode here. It did a decent job in building towards the PPV with the Rumble stuff at the end, Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett being involved, the Million Dollar Corporation segment and even the Tag Title situation being touched upon.
Royal Rumble 1995 ResultsJeff Jarrett defeated Razor Ramon to win the Intercontinental Title
The Undertaker beat IRS
Bret Hart and Diesel wrestled to a no contest after a bunch of interference
1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly beat Bigelow and Tatanka to win the Tag Titles
Bigelow got into it with Lawrence Taylor at ringside
Shawn Michaels entered at #1 and won the shortest Royal Rumble in history
Raw History
Episode #96
January 23rd, 1995 | Manatee Civic Center in Palmetto, Florida
The show opens with Vince McMahon at ringside, apologizing for the actions of “Scott Bam Bam Bigelow” for his actions against Lawrence Taylor. After the intro, he brings out his co-host and winner of the Royal Rumble, Shawn Michaels.
WWF Tag Team Championship
1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly (c) vs. The Smoking Gunns
Vince is already selling up the fact that the Kid and Holly took a beating despite winning 24 hours earlier. In about three to four years, all of these guys would go on to have very different characters. Bob and Billy start, with Bob getting the upper hand thanks to a quickness advantage. Bart gets the tag and backs away from the Kid, knowing he can’t handle that speed. The Smoking Gunns were supposed to be in the tournament, but an unfortunate “rodeo” accident kept them out. HBK straight up asks which Gunn took a “steer in the rear”. The Gunns start to take control over Holly, working some quick tags and double team moves, including a team up press slam. The Champions hit the rarely seen double second rope suplex for two. After a commercial, they also nail a double dropkick. There have been a lot of double team moves in this. Kid takes a page out of his old partner, Marty Jannetty’s book with the Rocker Dropper on Billy. Kid dropkicks Bart off the apron, showing the champions are willing to do whatever it takes. Billy scores on the Fameasser and makes the mild tag. Billy shows off his hops again with the Sidewinder, but they surprisingly don’t go for the cover. We go to the second commercial break of the contest. Future DX members Billy and Kid just start laying into each other with some loud shots. Kid is out on his feet as the Gunns try a double team. Holly gets a knee in the back of Billy though, again doing something slightly underhanded. Holly gets the tag, coming in rather hot. He leaps from the top, but goes right into the boot of Billy. The Gunns then hit a double team where Bart basically does a Dominator as Billy comes off the top with an elbow, winning them the gold.
Winners and New WWF Tag Team Champions: The Smoking Gunns in 15:20Easily the best Smoking Gunns match up to this point and possibly ever. It was fast paced and filled with some fun double team moves. The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly realized they weren’t as polished as the Gunns as a unit and had to dig deep, busting out some dirty tricks. Really fun match. ***½
The former champions are interviewed and basically imply they want their rematch next week.
Todd Pettengil brings us the Royal Rumble Report supposedly done in Tampa, right after it ended. He just recaps what went down.
Shawn Michaels is pissed that Todd didn’t even mention him in the Royal Rumble Report. He also gets upset at the fans chanting for Diesel before announcing that he’s looking for a new bodyguard.
IRS w/ Ted Dibiase vs. Buck QuartermaineIRS stole Undertaker’s urn and has it with him. Does that mean that terrible feud continues? Roddy Piper calls in during the match, instantly becoming the best part of this. He hypes an upcoming interview that he’ll conduct with Shawn Michaels. The crowd is dead silent for this IRS match. He wins with the Write-Off.
Winner: IRS in 2:19Blah. As boring and sweaty as every IRS match.
A vignette airs to hype the upcoming debut of Man Mountain Rock!
King’s Court time with the brand new Intercontinental Champion, Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett brags about the win for a bit. Jerry Lawler wants to know what to expect on the 1995 “Ain’t I great?” tour. Jarret says that he’s been champion quite a while, and wants to add to his collection. He challenges Diesel to a future WWF Title match.
British Bulldog vs. The Black PhantomBulldog was the runner-up in the Royal Rumble, coming very close to winning. Vince announces that a two man Rumble will occur next week when Mabel faces King Kong Bundy and we also get word that the Smoking Gunns accepted the Tag Team Title challenge for next week. Bulldog is pissed about how he lost the Rumble and Vince thinks he was robbed. Clearly that wasn’t the case. Bulldog dominates, before going all IRS and applying a chinlock. He hits the powerslam for the 1-2-3.
Winner: British Bulldog in 3:12This could have been more interesting. Outside of the interaction with Shawn Michaels, I was bored.
They try to get a word with Bam Bam Bigelow, who is supposed to apologize for the LT incident, but audio issues stop it from happening.
Overall: 5.5/10. The two squash matches weren’t anything worth watching but the opening match was damn good. It was honestly one of the better matches in Raw history up to this point. The King’s Court was fine as well, which should set up an interesting champion vs. champion match. 1995 is off to a much better start than 1994.
The Architecture of NXT
Episode #124
July 4th, 2012 | Full Sail Arena in Winter Park, Florida
The NXT intro was just so damn good here. Several people in the intro haven’t been on TV yet. Jim Ross and Byron Saxton are on commentary.
Sofia Cortez def. Paige in 2:21
Paige gets jobber treatment and doesn’t even get an entrance. Sofia is presented as the star and though she’d leave WWE, she’d find success in Lucha Underground and Shine. Paige does get in the early offense with a headbutt while JR puts over his family’s history. Sofia snaps off a head scissors, causing Paige to bail. They exchange some impressive strikes though something may have happened because the camera does a weird cut like something was cut out. Cortez wins after turning a wheelbarrow into a DDT. Fine way to start as the women get some shine. NR
Seth Rollins def. Camacho w/ Hunico in 4:31
Camacho and Hunico are main roster guys. Hunico isn’t over and Camacho needs a LOT of help. In 2017, he’s still not good. Camacho is in control early and hits a rather impressive leg drop. The height I mean, the move itself was basic. His heat isn’t very good, but Seth tries his best by selling it well. He wildly swings like he’s desperate. Rollins starts to rally and dropkicks Hunico as he attempts to interfere. Camacho levels him and they seem to flub a spot where Seth was to send Camacho into Hunico on the apron. Hunico has to awkwardly stand there while they reset. Seth eventually does it and wins with the Blackout. Standard match. Seth tried but Camacho is just bad. *¼
Hunico and Camacho jump Seth Rollins after the bell until Bo Dallas makes the save. Imagine that. Bo Dallas having to saving Seth Rollins. How the times have changed.
Corey Graves and Jake Carter def. CJ Parker and Nick Rogers in 2:24
Maybe it’s just me but I don’t remember Nick Rogers. Corey Graves is the former Sterling James Keenan, while Jake Carter is the son of Vader. Carter and Graves show off solid teamwork. It’s Parker who takes the brunt of the offense. Graves takes a big back body drop bump and both guys tag out. Carter hits a spinebuster and knocks Parker off the apron. They win with a body slam/neckbreaker combo of sorts called Bottoms Up. Decent enough debut for Carter and Graves. NR
VIGNETTE ~ OH NO! Kassius Ohno is a knockout artist who likes to hurt people.
VIGNETTE ~ More from Bray Wyatt, who tells his “followers” that they don’t have to hurt anymore. I don’t recall but this might be the first look at Luke Harper. He sits with a group of people listening to Bray.
Kassius Ohno def. Mike Dalton in 2:32
JR notes Dalton was trained by Lance Storm. He gets the better of a wristlock and takes Ohno to the mat. Ohno turns it around yells “OH NO”. He pounds away on Dalton before moving to a cravat reset hold. Dalton fights free and hits the future Beauty Shot for two. Ohno gets tired of his shit and knocks him out with a rolling elbow. Good way to introduce Ohno as a badass. NR
Ohno gets on the microphone and says he knocks people out. “When they hear Kassius coming, they all say oh no.”
Jinder Mahal def. Derrick Bateman in 4:02
JR says Bateman had an impressive victory a few weeks ago, even though it was just last week. Bateman brings the fire with a cross body and clotheslines Mahal outside. He follows with a suicide dive that just looked weird. Inside, Mahal takes control but Bateman still manages a few hope spots. Like, each time Mahal tries something, he gets a rollup or something. He comes close with a neckbreaker. Mahal hits a knee to the back of the head and then applies the camel clutch to make Derrick tap. Better than I expected. I liked Bateman’s flash pins and the fact that Mahal didn’t control too much helped. **
After the match, Jinder Mahal applies another camel clutch.
Byron Saxton informs us that due to the events earlier tonight, a six-man tag main event has been set. Hunico, Camacho and Michael McGillicutty take on Seth Rollins, Bo Dallas and Tyson Kidd.
William Regal joins commentary for the main event.
Camacho, Hunico and Michael McGillicutty def. Bo Dallas, Seth Rollins and Tyson Kidd in 8:18
Michael McGillicutty’s theme rules. We nearly get Kidd and McGillicutty to start but Michael thinks better of it and tags Hunico. I wanted more from their main event two weeks ago. Kidd and Hunico have some fun exchanges before Seth gets tagged. The heels start working a heat on Seth. They go to break after a Camacho body slam but it returns and no time seems to have passed. Hunico takes a big bump on a monkey flip and Seth tags out. Bo comes in hot but ends up in trouble at the hands of McGillicutty. The heat on Bo lasts a while and features three chinlocks. He makes the tag and Kidd comes in with a kick and springboard dropkick. Seth takes out Hunico, Camacho and even Bo with a dive. However, they hold him back as Kidd falls to the McGillicutter. Solid main event that had potential to be better if the heat on Bo wasn’t so repetitive and dull. **¼
Overall: 5/10. A step up from last week. Rollins, Bateman and even Mahal looked better, while Ohno, Cortez, Carter and Graves showed potential. Getting McGillicutty and Kidd back into the fold helped. I understand they’re trying to establish guys but six matches is a bit too much for a one hour show.
NJPW Wrestling Dontaku
May 3rd, 2017 | Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka, Japan | Attendance: 6,126
A few days ago, there were still plenty of seats available for this show but all of a sudden, NJPW ended up drawing more for this event than they did last year. Impressive. It’s the final show in a week full of them. The first one was lackluster and the second had a slow first half but a great final few matches. This show also features the BOTSJ participant announcements as well as gives us some setup for Dominion.
Hirai Kawato and YOSHITATSU vs. Katsuya Kitamura and Tomoyuki Oka
This was considered a pre-show dark match, but if you’re gonna air, it’s not a dark match. Thought it was free on NJPW World apparently. YOSHITATSU’s hair is the worst. Like, it’s somehow worse than the man himself. I enjoyed seeing Oka and Kitamura as teammates since they’re usually going at it. YOSHI couldn’t hang with Oka and then Kitamura tossed Kawato all over the place. YOSHI got a mild tag, yet remained the worst thing about any match he’s in. He nearly dropped Oka on his head on a hip toss. In the end, he made Kitamura tap to a modified knee bar at 7:54. I found this quite entertaining when it didn’t involve YOSHITATSU. The young lions continue to impress. [**]
The official card began now.
Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay and YOSHI-HASHI
Before the CHAOS/Bullet Club main event, we got this. CHAOS continued to not have Bullet Club scouted and fall into a pre-match attack. YOSHI got worked over as the Bullet Club took turns with quick tags on him. His hot tag to Ospreay got a great reaction. Despite not doing anything of note since last year’s Dominion, Ospreay is still quite popular. The BC turned it around and it was now Ospreay who needed to make a tag. When YOSHI got it, he had to fight off a Package Piledriver before besting Owens with the Butterfly Lock at 6:53. This was fine. Putting the focus on the junior guys before the tournament was a good idea. [**¼]
Jushin Thunder Liger, Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata vs. Tiger Mask IV, Tiger Mask W and Togi Makabe
Kota Ibushi in a mask and a whole bunch of New Japan Dads. Well, I guess Togi isn’t one yet. The Tiger Mask duo worked together early on before Liger came in and put Tiger Mask IV in his place. IV was in trouble until hitting the Tiger Drive on Nagata for two. Things built to tags to Makabe and Nakanishi. The two brutes ran into each other like brick walls colliding. You know it’s not a “Road to” show because Makabe was out there bumping. Tiger Mask W broke up a torture rack spot, allowing Makabe to hit a lariat and the King Kong Knee Drop for the win at 7:06. Decent fun here. Tiger Mask W got to do his thing a bit and the dads all put in effort. Hell, even Makabe tried. [**¼]
Post-match, Liger shook hands with Tiger Mask W but flipped off Makabe.
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Jado, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Roppongi Vice and Toru Yano) vs. Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado, NEVER Openweight Championship Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku and Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
In the most shocking moment of the evening, Suzuki-Gun attacked before the bell. They attempted to work over Romero but he was all, “FOREVER” and delivered all the clotheslines. Jado tried to take over but sucks, so he ended up taking the heat. During this time, Suzuki-Gun did their typical stuff behind the referee’s back and some outside brawling. The hot tag went to Yano, who brought comic relief. Callis called for a Suzuki/Yano match at some point. He must have missed their never ending feud a few years ago. It came down to a battle between Suzuki and Goto. Their tag interactions have been much better than the singles match they had earlier this week. Romero helped Goto escape the Gotch piledriver and was left alone with TAKA. He hit USHIGOROSHI and GTR to win at 12:20. Fun match and one of the better Suzuki-Gun outings in 2017. The limited Suzuki/Goto interactions are much preferred to their singles match and everyone else was at least somewhat fun, sans Taichi. [**¾]
Hirooki Goto and Minoru Suzuki brawled after the match. There’s most likely a rematch coming at Dominion.
Cody Rhodes vs. David Finlay
I appreciate them throwing a singles match in here. Commentary hyped Cody as a “box office attraction.” When Cody couldn’t get an early advantage, he resorted to hair pulling and some old school heel tactics. Cody’s heat segment felt uninspired and lacked something. Finlay started a rally by countering the Disaster Kick but they made a disaster of the spot and fell awkwardly. Finlay followed with a dead lift German and running uppercut but couldn’t survive Cross Rhodes, losing at 7:31. Like most of Cody’s post-WWE run, this was missing something. It fell way flat and that’s unfortunate since I like both guys. [**]
Cody cut a promo after the match, telling NJPW to send him someone bigger and stronger.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito vs. Juice Robinson and KUSHIDA
This continues the LIDJ/Taguchi Japan rivalry. Juice and KUSHIDA lost to these two in title matches recently. KUSHIDA hasn’t been heard from since losing to Hiromu in about two minutes last month. In this building last year, Naito had the best IWGP Heavyweight Title match of 2016 (against Ishii). KUSHIDA and Juice weren’t into typical babyface nonsense, and they took LIDJ outside for a brawl. It backfired and KUSHIDA took a beating inside. Though Juice got a hot tag, the dude still sold his leg from the match a few days ago. Props. The finishing stretch saw KUSHIDA counter the sunset flip bomb and Juice nail a spinebuster. KUSHIDA looked to have the match in hand until taking a German suplex. Hiromu delivered the corner DVD and beat KUSHIDA again with the Time Bomb at 9:00. Best thing on the show thus far. LIDJ brought the set up in quality that I’ve come to expect from them. There was a lot of action, they told a good story and continued the angle of Hiromu having KUSHIDA’s number. [***¼]
During intermission, the blocks for the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament were announced.
A Block: Jushin Thunder Liger, Ricochet, Dragon Lee, Will Ospreay, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku, Marty Scurll (!!) and Hiromu Takahashi.
B Block: Tiger Mask IV, Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA, Volador Jr., ACH, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado and BUSHI.
The “A Block” certainly seems to be superior on paper. Liger will bring it in his final BOTSJ, Scurll is all kinds of interesting and then Lee, Ospreay, Ricochet and of course, Hiromu, should all bring it. However, I could do without another Ricochet/Ospreay match for a while. I’d personally love it if Liger won the whole thing in his final run and set up an awesome match with Hiromu at Dominion.
IWGP Tag Team Championship: War Machine (c) vs. The Guerillas of Destiny vs. TenKoji
This is NJPW’s heavyweight tag team division. Like, that’s it. Instead of guys doing nothing or fighting for the NEVER Tag Titles, other teams could be formed to help the division, even temporarily like SANADA and EVIL or Tanahashi and Elgin. Anyway, War Machine had some new entrance gear, which looked cool. The teams argued before getting right into the action. Once TenKoji started getting their shit in, the fans got way into it. The Guerrillas took over and Kojima took the heat. Tanga Roa did his loud cursing, giving us the one thing he does well. Kojima nailed the Koji Cutter before Hanson came in with a flurry of offense. I loved watching Rowe lean into Tama Tonga’s shots like they were nothing. TenKoji did some tributes to Tomoaki Honma and things picked up big time down the stretch. The Guerrillas cut off War Machine’s popup powerslam but then got hit with 3D by TenKoji. Tenzan managed some decent height on his spinning heel kick, so you know he was feeling good today. He went for the moonsault but War Machine cut it off and hit Fallout to retain in 11:43. That turned out to be better than expected. It started slowly but picked up late for some fun back and forth and lots of action.[***¼]
Post-match, the Guerrillas jumped War Machine, most likely setting up a match at Dominion.
NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi (c) vs. BUSHI, EVIL and SANADA
These titles have been traded between Tanahashi teams and these LIDJ members in 2017. The champs had matching jackets. While Tanahashi and EVIL got started, BUSHI got in a cheap shot, so Taguchi responded by pulling EVIL’s hair. They ran the spot again where the “send opponents into Taguchi’s ass” attack backfires. Ricochet took the bump into the ass with no hands to block. That guy’s gutsy. That led to Taguchi in turmoil until Ricochet got the hot tag. As always, he was a blast to watch. He flew with such ease, taking out all three LIDJ members. It made me sad we’re not getting Ricochet/BUSHI in the BOTSJ. Taguchi Japan did a trio of submissions before Tanahashi looked for High Fly Flow, only to eat EVIL’s knees. Taguchi came in with ass attacks. Following a ref bump, Taguchi made BUSHI tap to an ankle lock. BUSHI retaliated by spitting the mist and hitting MX but Ricochet broke up the pin. EVIL and SANADA took out Ricochet and Tanahashi, leaving BUSHI to hit a second MX that ended it at 15:48. A damn good match with plenty to enjoy. The entire match had action throughout and again, Ricochet has been a welcome addition to the Taguchi Japan/LIDJ rivalry since his interactions are still fresh. [***½]
Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii
I admittedly overrated their first match (had it at ****¾ but it was closer to ****¼), but it was still awesome. Ishii own that one. Omega had his big match black tights on. Ishii charged instantly, overwhelming Omega with a huge burst of offense. As they fought outside, Ishii attempted a One Winged Angel as he was in the mindsight of ending this early. There was a tremendous countout tease where Omega apron bombed Ishii at the count of 16. Ishii barely made it back in and wisely rolled back outside for a breather. I loved that because he used a burst of energy to beat the count but didn’t have enough to get right back into the mix. Back inside, Omega got in the driver’s seat until Ishii fired up and no sold his chops. He hit a stalling superplex for two and then the match kicked into next gear. Madman Omega nearly overshot Ishii with a springboard cross body over the guardrail. They ran a fast exchange, capped by Omega hitting one of his best V-Triggers ever. Just when it seemed like Omega had it won, Ishii turned the tide and hit his own version of the One Winged Angel, followed by the sliding lariat for two. They traded shots and near falls until Omega hit a 2K1 Bomb. As he went for the One Winged Angel again, Ishii countered with A GODDAMN REVERSE RANA! They went back to trading blows. Omega hit another knee and a brainbuster for a close near fall. Omega finally connected on the One Winged Angel to win at 23:55. That ruled. It was better than their New Japan Cup outing. I loved how they played off their previous interactions and showed how they’ve come to know one another. I dug both guys stealing each other’s moves too. Omega fought Ishii’s style and survived it before hitting the finisher that has been protected so well to win. Omega’s best match since the Naito one. [****½]
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Bad Luck Fale
As has been the case in the buildup, Fale overpowered Okada right from the start. They battled outside, where Okada teased murder with a Bad Luck Fall outside but Okada got free. Though that didn’t happened, Fale still beat him up out there and it led to a countout tease. Once inside, Fale wore down Okada with his size. Okada nailed a DDT out of desperation and, after some outside work, could win by countout. However, that’s not what Okada’s been all about during this reign, so he takes it back inside. He wants to beat his opponents and show he’s better than them. He horribly bumped for the Grenade and it looked like shit. Okada fought off the tombstone, which he’s lost to in the lead-in to this show, and nailed one of his own. Fale avoided the Rainmaker, leading to some near fall spots for both men. Each time Okada looked for momentum, Fale cut him off. His connected tombstone led to the best near fall of the match. Okada countered the Bad Luck Fale and did his Rainmaker “wrist clutch” spot. I still say he does that too often. He held on enough to hit a second, a German and a third Rainmaker to retain at 21:47. This was about what I expected. Fale has proven he can go with the right opponent and match type (see: Shibata, Tanahashi, Nakamura, etc.). Okada bumped well, Fale looked like a monster and they told the right story. [***½]
The Bullet Club checked on Fale but Okada didn’t care. He called out Kenny Omega and the two had a face off. I like the idea that Okada challenged Omega. It plays into the prideful Okada angle we’ve seen. Beating Omega at Wrestle Kingdom wasn’t enough. He’s bothered that people said Omega outperformed him that night (he did) and has to prove he’s the best. The fans were firmly behind Omega here.
Side note, I expect Dominion to be a damn good show but booking a bunch of WK rematches (Omega/Okada, Tanahashi/Naito, RPG Vice/Bucks is most likely) feels lazy. Add in the possibility of Suzuki/Goto and a Jr. Title match we’ve seen before and it’s rematch city.
Overall: 7/10. Like the other two shows NJPW held in the past week, this first half is solid but unspectacular, while the second half is where things picked up. To be fair, it picked up just before intermission with the LIDJ tag. Fale/Okada and the NEVER Tag Title match were both really good, the IWGP Tag Title match was fun and Omega/Ishii was the best match in NJPW since Shibata/Okada, though below that one.
WWE Payback
April 30th, 2017 | SAP Center in San Jose, California | Attendance: 13,694
Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows
Anyone else realize Enzo and Cass are like, the perfect Kickoff Show team? Their opening spiel always gets the crowd pumped and it’s a good way to start a show. They had a Chinese food related theme to their stuff here. One thing that makes Enzo and Cass work so well is their big man/little man dynamic, which is great for tag formula. Here, Enzo took a beating, with the Club working on his arm. It was vicious work at times but a strange choice since arm work doesn’t typically come into play for the Club. Cass came in hot and did his thing before Enzo stole it by rolling up Gallows at 6:33. A fine little opener with some solid tag team formula. [**¼]
Onto the main card now.
WWE United States Championship: Kevin Owens (c) vs. Chris Jericho
If Chris Jericho wins, he joins Smackdown. I enjoyed the hell out of their WrestleMania outing. This was just slightly below that match for me. Owens is so good at everything. He is one of the only guys in wrestling who can do typical heel things like stall or work rest holds and always have it be entertaining. I do feel this was a bit more intense than the Mania match times. Late in the match, Owens repeated the “one finger on the ropes” spot from Mania, which I thought was cool. Pissed off, Jericho attacked the hand and kicked the steel steps into it. Owens sold it like his hand was about to fall off. The injury was crucial because he couldn’t hit the Popup Powerbomb or extend the finger when put back in the Walls of Jericho. He had no choice but to tap out at 14:02. The result was a shock since Jericho is reportedly leaving soon, Owens has started the “New Face of America” stuff and the setup for Styles/Owens at Backlash. Still, I loved how the finger came into play and it was utilized in such a positive way to make for a smart finish. [***¼]
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Neville (c) vs. Austin Aries
I seem to be one of the only people to have gone **** on their Mania match but I loved it. This was nowhere near that level but still good. Austin Aries came into this with a plan and was one step ahead of Neville from the opening bell. The “King of the Cruiserweights” has been lightyears ahead of a lot of his opponents, dominating the division, but not here. Neville took over and things slowed a bit, only to pick up after a big bump off an Aries dropkick. Aries’ offense is great and the crowd responded to it well throughout. My favorite thing about their Mania match was the finish and I know most people didn’t care for this finish but I liked it too. Aries had a counter for Neville’s superplex, hitting a sunset flip bomb right into Last Chancery. Neville knew he was done, so he pulled the referee to break the hold, resulting in the DQ at 11:17. It’s a great way to continue the feud without Aries having to eat another loss. The story of him having Neville’s number was well told and their blowoff match should have a stipulation and might be their best outing yet. [***]
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: The Hardy Boyz (c) vs. Cesaro and Sheamus
In the buildup, the Hardys beat their challengers in singles matches. I want to point out that the Hardys could’ve totally come in and relied on crowd reactions with minimal efforts in the ring. They haven’t done that yet as both worked hard here. Matt got busted open the hard way and Jeff bumped like a madman. He’s a great foe for brutes like Cesaro and Sheamus. He had his tooth knocked out during a heat segment after a brutal kick. The brutal nature of the challengers helped foreshadow things. The crowd was way into everything, which helped the match. Sheamus thought he had it won after a powerslam on Matt, but missed Jeff’s blind tag. Jeff broke up his pin with a Swanton Bomb and got the win at 12:42. Good old fashioned tag team wrestling where everything made sense and it had a hot crowd. Sheamus was sloppy at times, with hurt the quality a bit. [***¼]
Post-match, Sheamus and Cesaro raised the Hardys’ hands, only to attack them. It made sense given the respectful angle they’ve been playing up. Though I think they were just getting their groove as a face team, with the Revival on the shelf, Raw needed another heel duo.
WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Bayley (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
Even the biggest Alexa Bliss fan can admit that she could still use some polishing needed in the ring. But man, that woman absolutely nails her character and mannerisms. They played to that strength as she talked trash and mocked Bayley and her hometown faithful while on the offensive. Alexa could do basic offense and have it work wonderfully due to the heat she was getting. Bayley sold everything well, helping the sympathy aspect here. Alexa being a bitch was the best way to go about this match. She did the little things to anger the ultimate babyface in Bayley, taking her off her game. As Bayley laid into her with more aggression than usual, it backfired and she was pulled into the corner, hitting her head on the ring post. Bliss then nailed a DDT to capture the title at 11:10. The DDT is a shit finish in 2017 but I respect that it made sense here with Bayley’s head injury. Alexa’s overconfidence nearly cost her at times but in the end, she took advantage of a situation and got the win. This was a study in character work as Alexa nailed it. She gets the distinction of being the first woman to hold the Raw and Smackdown Women’s Titles and I couldn’t be happier that she did it before Charlotte. Bayley’s best main roster match and Alexa’s best match ever. [***½]
The House of Horrors match started here and ended later. I’ll cover it all after this next match.
Samoa Joe vs. Seth Rollins
You know, this should’ve been an awesome rivalry. Joe and Rollins are interesting characters and it’s a high profile match but I honestly forgot they were feuding until the match started. It’s been so lackluster. Starting after the first half of the House of Horrors match didn’t help since the crowd was dead and unenthused after that awful showing. Obviously, Joe went after Seth’s injured knee and I must say, it was more interesting leg work than the HHH stuff at Mania. However, it suffered from match placement because a dead crowd who just witnessed that Bray/Orton shit was not interested in seeing some methodical leg work. Seth sold well, another thing I preferred to the HHH match, using just one leg to climb the ropes. I just never got into Seth’s comeback and it lacked some energy. I did like how the finish saw him lull Joe into a false sense of security as he countered the choke into a cradle to steal it at 15:54. This was good and psychologically sound, but it was missing something to make it great. It felt more like a Raw main event than a big PPV match. [***]
House of Horrors Match: Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton
Where to begin with this? The first half was pre-recorded stuff at some random house. Orton showed up in a limo with no shirt, jeans and elbow pads. Bray attacked him in the house, wearing a wife beater. About two minutes in and the internet was already filled with jokes and memes. Let me note that I can enjoy some good, trashy fun in wrestling. I LOVED the Final Deletion. This took itself too seriously, was poorly produced and Bray and Randy seemed so uninspired during the whole thing. They tried to make up for it with a creepy baby doll room and some horror aspects but it all fell flat. Bray dropped a fridge on Orton and got in the limo to go back to the arena. He arrived, out of breath despite a lengthy limo ride, and once he got in the ring, Orton magically appeared behind him. They did more lame brawling until the Bollywood Boyz and Jinder Mahal attacked Orton. Orton sent them packing, but Bray got the opening to hit Sister Abigail and “win” the feud at 18:55 or so. A steaming hot pile of shit. It wasn’t fun, was poorly produced, felt like a waste of time and did nothing for anyone involved. They somehow had a worse match than their shit Mania performance. It was the worst match I’ve seen in 2017 and I watch a fair amount of Jado matches. [-**]
Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns
Save me, Braun. I love Braun but I didn’t care much for their Fastlane match. Reigns was heavily bandaged and looked to be in awful health. This was typical WWE storytelling. Superman Reigns came in hurt and got his ass kicked. He brought out hope spots so commentary could say, “HOW IS ROMAN DOING THIS? WHERE IS THIS COMING FROM?” I thought Reigns’ selling was good but the story here was how Braun continues to entertain the hell out of everyone. Reigns tried one final rally but Braun was ready for the Superman Punch and went into hitting the powerslam. Roman kicked out but it wasn’t this aggressive kick out. It was like a last ditch effort similar to Sami Zayn against Kevin Owens at TakeOver: Rival. Another powerslam kept Roman down at 11:43. I enjoyed this as they told a good story and both guys got to look strong. Braun continues to be a monster, while Reigns never gives up like his name is John Cena. I commend the way WWE has handled Braun. [***½]
Braun was all, “I’M NOT FINISHED WIITH YOU YET!” and proceeded to murder Roman Reigns with the steep steps over and over. Reigns did the internal bleeding stuff backstage. Braun was still not done and charged at Roman by an ambulance. Reigns dodged it and Braun crashed through the door. Reigns slammed it on him and Braun left since the BIG DOG gotta get the final upper hand, even if it’s a small one.
Overall: 6.5/10. I’ll say this was the best Raw PPV since the brand split. They still don’t have a PPV match I’ve given at least **** yet but this was consistently strong. The show had good tag team wrestling (Kickoff and Tag Title matches), stuff with strong storytelling (Reigns/Braun and Jericho/Owens), bouts that were entertaining and furthered feuds (Joe/Rollins and Aries/Neville) and the best Raw Women’s Title match on PPV since Hell in a Cell. Lots of good, nothing great. The thing that hurt the show was the House of Horrors match as it was complete dog shit and my current worst match of the year.
Stop me if you've seen this match before. For what feels like the hundredth time already, we're getting this tag match. It doesn't inspire, doesn't sound too interesting and feels like they're just trying to get these guys on the card. I'll say Gallows and Anderson win because Enzo will get rag dolled and eat a pin since he's the most expendable guy in the match.
Winners: The Good Brothers
Something about WWE Samoa Joe hasn't fully clicked with me. He hasn't been at all bad and it's the best shape he's been in since his prime in TNA. However, a lot of his matches haven't been as good as I'd hoped. Outside of one Finn Balor match (Dallas) and one Sami Zayn match (2 Out of 3 Falls) everything has fallen just short. I sadly suspect more of the same here. I'm expecting a really good match but something that won't be great. I'd love to be wrong though. Anyway, I'm gonna say Joe wins here. Other than Sami and his tainted win over Roman Reigns, Joe hasn't really done anything. A win here would be good for him and Seth can get revenge later.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Since the brand split, I've firmly been a Team Smackdown guy. They've consistently been the better show and have elevated more stars. The one thing I feel Raw has absolutely excelled it is how they've handled Braun Strowman. Braun has been the best booked monster in a long time. He's entertaining as hell, everything he says or does just works and he's improved in the ring. He's had good matches with Zayn, Show and others. I'd say nobody has come further in the past two years, especially considering he came to the main roster with no time in NXT. Anyway, despite all that, Roman Reigns is Roman Reigns. He'll return and win.
Winner: Big Dog Gotta Eat
Man, I loved their match at WrestleMania but this feud has kind of fallen a bit flat since then. Even with the addition of TJ Perkins. On the one hand, I don't think Aries loses straight up again. On the other, I don't think Neville is quite done as champion. The title has changed hands frequently since it returned and Neville as a steady hand for the division is a good thing. So what do I think happens here? Aries picks up the win via disqualification thanks to shenanigans from TJ Perkins. Maybe it leads to Perkins/Neville/Aries at the next PPV or something.
Winner: Austin Aries via DQ
I absolutely think Alexa Bliss is the best choice for the top female heel on Raw. That's why I think they probably hotshotted this match too soon. I assumed Nia would become number one contender as a placeholder feud or even Mickie James. Mickie/Bayley would've been fun as a one-off feud since Bayley could say she looked up to Mickie and Mickie could put her over. I'd have saved Alexa/Bayley for a bigger feud and show. I do think the WWE is building towards Bayley/Sasha in the Barclays Center at SummerSlam like it's TakeOver two years ago. Alexa could win here and Bayley win it back but I say Bayley retains until then.
Winner: Bayley
The Hardy Boyz are a fun nostalgia act but I've personally never been a huge fan. I was always more of an Edge and Christian or Dudleys guy. Still, I liked their return since it was a legitimate cool moment and they're working a full time schedule. Whoever beats them should get a pretty good rub. Anyway, this has been strangely booked. The Hardys beat Sheamus and Cesaro, two good singles guys in their own rights, in singles matches. That usually means they won't get the better in the tag match but I can't see the Hardys losing.
Winners: The Hardy Boyz
I like that these guys are gonna be on different shows now. Their feud was excellently built and the payoff of the turn was perfect. The match at WrestleMania was really good and this should be more of the same. If Jericho wins, he also joins Smackdown. That's not gonna happen. They've planted the seeds for Kevin Owens' first real Smackdown feud with AJ Styles already and I suspect they main event Backlash in Chicago. That can't happen if Jericho is champion again. Plus, it's not like Jericho needs it.
Winner: Kevin Owens
What the hell is this? The WWE haven't explained this match at all and I don't expect good things. Orton and Wyatt were FAR better as partners than opponents. They shit the bed at WrestleMania, which I feel will be the case at Payback too. Weird shenanigans, wacky b movie horror antics and mediocre wrestling. With this being non-title, I get the sense Bray wins so he can have some momentum before jobbing to Finn Balor in his first real Raw rivalry.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
2017 Prediction Record: 22-14
2016 Prediction Record: 65-37
NJPW Wrestling Toyonokuni
April 29th, 2017 | Beppu B-Con Plaza in Beppu, Oita
The middle show of NJPW’s three big events this week. As I stated before the last one, this easily has the best card. When LIDJ headline a show, they tend to deliver and we’ve got Hiromu Takahashi, EVIL and Tetsuya Naito at the top of this one against one of the most fun wrestlers around (Ricochet), the ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi) and a fresh fiery babyface (Juice Robinson).
Hirai Kawato, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tomoyuki Oka vs. Katsuya Kitamura, Shota Umino and Tiger Mask IV
Today, I learned that his name is Shota, not Syota. Go figure. They ran this match at the 4/27 show. Like that match, the junior dads opened things. We got another taste of Oka against Kitamura, which was again fun. Everyone played the role you’d expect, from the dads to powerful Kitamura to Wildman Kawato. Oka put Umino in the young lion crab but he fought out. Oka hit a spinebuster and slapped it back on, making Umino submit at 7:28. Pretty similar to the match two days ago. The junior dads stayed back and let the lions do their thing, but it lacked some of the energy from the tag on 4/27. [**¼]
Non-Title Match: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Roppongi Vice vs. El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Kanemaru lost the titles with Taichi at the last show. He got a new partner for this non-title affair. He was pissed and brawled with Rocky before the bell. I appreciate that it wasn’t the typical Suzuki-Gun match opening since it didn’t lead to a floor brawl or anything. After an energetic start, the match slowed thanks to some typical Suzuki-Gun antics. Desperado pulled the DREADED RING BELL from his boot. Someone took notes from Taichi. Beretta brought some of the energy back with a tope con hilo that took out both opponents. Desperado tried using a chair but failed. He ate double knees and Strong Zero to end it at 8:00. A fine undercard tag match to get the champions a win. I give RPG Vice credit for making these Suzuki-Gun guys watchable. [**½]
BUSHI and SANADA vs. Ryusuke Taguchi and YOSHITATSU
Taguchi feels left out since his name isn’t all caps. TATSU is still in Triple H cosplay mode. Will it ever end? Also, why does he do it? LIDJ got control early as BUSHI choked TATSU with his shirt and SANADA tied Taguchi up in the ropes. The faces fought back behind Taguchi (and partially by using Taguchi’s behind). He made the mistake of leaving TATSU alone with SANADA though. We all know how that story ends. The Skull End made TATSU tap at 6:24. Man, YOSHITATSU can even drag down matches involving guys I really like. BUSHI and SANADA tried, even Taguchi put in effort but TATSU’s just bad. [**]
David Finlay and TenKoji vs. The Guerillas of Destiny and Yujiro Takahashi
They did the same match two days ago but with Chase Owens instead of Yujiro. In a nice turn of events, it was the face team who jumped the Bullet Club. Tama Tonga worked with a sleeve on his arm due to an injury yesterday. Kojima took a short heat for his guys, getting beat down in the Bullet Club corner. Tenzan eventually made the save and put Tonga in the Anaconda Vice. Yujiro made the save and match came down to Tanga and Finlay. Tanga got the win using a Rikishi Driver at 8:39. Slightly less inspired than the Chase Owens tag two days ago. That match had the Bullet Club mocking TenKoji, which was fun. This was less so. [**¼]
Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay and YOSHI-HASHI vs. NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki, Taichi and TAKA Michinoku
Learning from the previous match, CHAOS jumped Suzuki-Gun before the bell rang. Goto was clearly yearning for revenge after losing his title at the last show. Either way, it still led to the Suzuki-Gun brawl around the ring. Suzuki and Goto focused on one another for the most part. I suspect they rematch their title match at Dominion. YOSHI got worked over for the most part, with Suzuki looking joyful at beating him up. Suzuki and Goto went at it again before it came down to TAKA and Ospreay. Ospreay hit his signature shit and picked up another win with the Oscutter at 9:26. A step up in quality for the show so far. Angry Goto was fun, YOSHI took a fine beating and Ospreay had a good finishing stretch. [***]
Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens and Kenny Omega vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano
Fale hit the ring announcer during his introduction. That oddly never gets old. This CHAOS team didn’t learn, getting jumped before the match. That led to Yano taking a beating for a while. Ishii came in and ran over Owens before going at it with Omega. Their New Japan Cup match ruled as have their interactions in the buildup to the rematch. We also got some limited back and forth with Fale and Okada, as expected. Okada ate some group offense for a bit but was left alone with Owens. He countered the Package Piledriver and hit a dropkick. Fale returned, looking for a Tombstone, but Ishii made the save. Okada nailed Fale with an impressive air raid crash like move before putting Owens away after a Tombstone and Rainmaker at 13:11. Good stuff to hype the upcoming matches. It was kept short enough with a good amount of action. The crowd was hot and Okada winning made sense since Fale has dominated these matches lately. [***]
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. Ricochet
Takahashi has been one of, if not the best wrestler in 2017. Takahashi charged at the bell, so Ricochet met him with a big boot. He followed with a series of dives and offense, including a springboard 450 splash, nearly winning in a minute like Hiromu did against KUSHIDA. That set the tone for a wild match full of crazy action. Ricochet had the champ scouted, countering the sunset flip bomb to the outside with a rana and a top rope move into a super wheelbarrow slam of sorts. Takahashi responded with a brutal apron DVD but his next dive was caught into an awesome Northern lights suplex into a brainbuster. WHAT THE FUCK AM I WATCHING? They traded blows inside, punctuated by a series of Germans from Hiromu. Ricochet went for the SSP but Takahashi got his knees up. He smelled blood, following with a belly to belly to the corner and the Time Bomb for a near fall. Ricochet survived a corner DVD and went into a flurry, capped with the Benadryller (he didn’t hit it cleanly) and it only got two. He made a crucial mistake, crashing and burning on the 630. Takahashi nailed a destroyer, corner DVD and another Time Bomb to retain at 16:29. Hiromu Takahashi is mental and I love every second of it. This was wild and as frantic as I hoped for. There’s a sense of urgency in Hiromu matches that I don’t get from other people. He’s had the best Jr. Title match in the Dome in a long time, an insane match with Dragon Lee, a more subdued but still great encounter with Taguchi, squashed KUSHIDA and now this. Hiromu is the best wrestler in 2017 so far. [****¼]
EVIL vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Tanahashi took his annual first round New Japan Cup loss (Yano in 2015, Fale in 2016 and EVIL in 2017) and is out for revenge. That was clear as he took out EVIL during his entrance with a plancha. He held serve for a bit until EVIL turned the tide with his signature steel chair spot. EVIL remained in the driver’s seat for the most part, with Tanahashi getting in a hope spot here or there. They went back and forth, nearing the quality of their NJC match. That all changed when we got a ref bump and out came BUSHI and SANADA. BUSHI messed up and misted SANADA before Taguchi arrived and fought them to the back. Tanahashi nailed a dragon sleeper but the referee was still down. When he finally got up, EVIL took back over but never had enough to keep Tanahashi down. He rallied and won after two High Fly Flows at 18:46. Like I said, this was nearing their previous encounter but the interference and ref bump took me out of it. It wasn’t overdone too badly but I think it made EVIL look a bit weak and ultimately was unnecessary. [***¼]
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Juice Robinson
It’s the biggest match in Juice Robinson’s career. The video package before the match talked about how Juice has grown since arriving in NJPW and the pride he has in the company. Juice wanted to go but Naito was Naito and avoided contact. They got going on the outside, where Naito used the guardrail and dropkicks to weaken Juice’s leg. It looked quite violent and set up the knee bar. That knee became the focal point of everything Naito did. Juice sold the hell out of it, from limping to struggling with offense to clutching it after using it. Naito threw himself into everything Juice did, including big bumps on a ridiculous apron spinebuster and taking the cannonball into the guardrail. I didn’t like how Juice did a full sprint for that though, since the leg had bothered him so much to that point. Back inside, they traded blows only for Naito to go back to the knee. Juice fought like hell in the knee bar before finally reaching the ropes. Shortly after, Naito escaped Pulp Friction and hit a modified Destino. He hit a full Destino for a near fall that made everyone lose their minds. Juice countered his next attempt into a rollup for two. Naito got his own rollup but ran into a huge left hook from Juice. Juice tried Pulp Friction again only to have it countered into Destino and Naito retained at 26:42. That ruled. They both did everything in their power to make Juice look like a star. They had a great plan and told a simple, but effective story. Juice sold well and is so good at the plucky babyface character that it all worked. The finishing stretch was top notch as well. It’s a successful coming out party for Juice, who should have a fun G1 run. Meanwhile, Naito has had three singles matches in 2017 and all have been awesome. For all the talk about Okada's Heavyweight Title reign, I've preferred Naito's IC Title work. [****¼]
Post-match, Hiroshi Tanahashi showed up because he doesn’t like how Naito treats the IC Title. It looks like that’ll happen at Dominion. With that, Bucks/RPG Vice and the rumored Omega/Okada bout, Dominion sounds like it’ll be full of Wrestle Kingdom rematches.
Overall: 7/10. A step up from the 4/27 show. There’s not a bad match on the show, though a few of the early matches are easy skips. The second half of the show is where things pick up. You have a good CHAOS/Bullet Club tag and a solid but disappointing match involving Tanahashi and EVIL. The two title matches are killer though, with Naito and Hiromu reminding everyone why they’re the best things going in NJPW right now by a fair margin.
