NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima
September 22nd, 2016 | Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Hiroshima, Japan
It is the second of three Destruction events this month. Though it has some relatively big names involved, it has the weakest card of the Destruction shows in my opinion.
Ricochet and TenKoji def. Captain New Japan, Togi Makabe and YOSHITATSU in 8:19
The Bullet Club Hunters have actually won a few matches in a row on the “Road to” events. This was relatively standard stuff. TenKoji did their thing, while Makabe got in some of his stuff. I mean, TenKoji vs. GBH would have been much better than GBH vs. Haku’s kids or the Briscoes/Bucks stuff. Ricochet got a pretty good pop for his offense. In the end though, one team had Captain New Japan, so of course they lost. He fell to a lariat from Kojima. Like I said, this was basic stuff to get guys on the card. Originally, this was an eight man tag also involving Honma and Sydal, but was changed due to injuries. **
David Finlay, reDRagon and Ryusuke Taguchi def. Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask IV, Tomoaki Honma and Yuji Nagata in 6:47
This originally had Katsuyori Shibata in but his injuries have him off and Tomoaki Honma replaced him. It was good to see David Finlay here instead of in a typical young lion opener. Early on, Nakanishi tried a plancha onto O’Reilly, but mostly caught the floor and it was pretty rough. Fish and Taguchi tried to double suplex him, but failed miserably. Watching reDRagon work with Honma was pretty enjoyable too. Singles matches between Honma and either of them would probably rule. reDRagon got the win after Chasing the Dragon on Tiger Mask. Again, nothing special, but a fine little multi-man tag. O’Reilly spoke to the camera before leaving and said that he’s coming for Shibata. **¼
The Guerillas of Destiny def. Roppongi Vice in 8:33
Ah, the lackluster heavyweight tag division intertwines with the stale junior tag team division. So will there be no Super Jr. Tag Tournament this year? I’m cool with that. Since they’re in the Bullet Club, GOD had to attack during their opponent’s entrance. By the way, this is yet another chapter in the reborn and shit Chaos vs. Bullet Club feud. I honestly don’t have much to say about this match. It was exactly what you’d expect from these teams. Roppongi Vice did their best to be fun and Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa did their best to suck the fun right out of the room. I couldn’t bring myself to care and they didn’t do nearly enough to make me. *¾
Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii def. Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi in 8:39
The only good thing about the Bullet Club members in this is Yujiro’s pimp hat and ladies. Life must be good for Yujiro. He gets paid to come out with scantily clad women who rub up on him and he gets to be shitty at his job. No pre-match Bullet Club attack, probably because Owens and Takahashi would have just gotten their asses kicked. The heels actually do some double team offense, but Goto laid out Yujiro with a lariat and tagged in Ishii. I could just never buy Owens and Yujiro as threats, even after Owens hit Goto with a package piledriver. Goto and Ishii hit the ushigiroshi into a lariat followed by the GTR for the win. Another ho-hum match. Goto and Ishii tried, but you can’t make these Bullet Club guys interesting. *¾
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson KUSHIDA and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Michael Elgin def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA and Tetsuya Naito) in 12:39
LIDJ pulled a Bullet Club and attacked before the bell. EVIL used a chair in the aisle to beat up Elgin’s leg, which certainly has to come into play in the Intercontinental Title match. If it doesn’t, I’ll be severely disappointed. Without him, the faces took a bit of a beating. Elgin would get involved again and really take it to Naito. HE DID THE DEAL but only got two. They built to some strong near falls, including one where KUSHIDA even counted with the referee. With everyone brawling outside, Elgin hit the powerbomb combination on EVIL to win. A spirited match here that was easily the most fun of the night so far. Though that’s to be expected since LIDJ is HANDS DOWN the best thing going in NJPW right now. ***¼
KUSHIDA and BUSHI continued to fight in the crowd until Tanahashi came over and broke it up.
IWGP Tag Team Championship: The Briscoes def. The Young Bucks in 15:02
The Heavyweight and Jr. Tag Team Titles get unified. I guess Gedo got tired of booking two divisions poorly and will now just book one like that. The Briscoes wore pants that had grass on them. They looked like The End from Metal Gear Solid 3. It wasn’t good. These teams have met plenty of times before and they didn’t really seem to bring anything new to the table. The Bucks did their flips and kicks, Mark was his crazy self and Jay was the tough guy. The Bucks nearly had it with More Bang for Your Buck but the pin was broken up. Jay broke up the Meltzer Driver but the Bucks still nearly won. That describes the finishing sequence, as it was just two teams relying on the false finish barrage to get a pop. This seemed to last an eternity before the Briscoes won with a Doomsday Device. Blah. Just very uninteresting and unenthused. To make matters worse, the Guerillas of Destiny attacked the Briscoes after the bell. Oh joy. **
ROH World Championship: Adam Cole (c) def. Will Ospreay in 12:07
It’s the internet’s wet dream. Two guys that are held in high standard despite me not believing either is as good as people think they are (though Ospreay is clearly the better of the two). Cole’s them says “ADAM COLE BAY BAY” about fifteen times to hammer it home to the audience that it is his thing. Ospreay seemed to frustrate Cole with his fancy acrobats and arrogance early. Cole turned it around and started to pick apart Ospreay. He tossed Ospreay around and flexed for the crowd. Ospreay started making his rally but, like most of this card, the outcome was never in doubt. Ospreay tried a springboard backflip but was met with a superkick in a spot that barely got a reaction and didn’t come off nearly as well as they hoped. Panama Sunrise and brainbuster on the knee kept Ospreay down. Alright match that never reached the heights most people expected. A lesser Ospreay performance (like most of his back half of 2016, which can partially be attributed to injuries and working a ton in the first half) and nothing much from the new ROH Champion. **½
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada def. Bad Luck Fale in 17:02
Holy shit, who got high before this show and said Okada and Fale should go almost twenty minutes? Look, it’s obvious that Fale’s best matches are with top guys (see Nakamura, Tanahashi, Styles, etc.). That being said, you can’t have him wrestle for too long because it just doesn’t work. Add in that Okada has been pretty mediocre when leading matches this year (Goto at New Beginning, most of the G1) and you have a recipe for disaster. Most people are going to put all of the blame on Fale and protect Okada but both guys are at fault here, as well as whoever laid this out to go as long as it did. It followed the typical formula. Fale dominated at times and Okada had to make the big babyface rally. Fale avoided the Rainmaker a few times and Okada did the same to the Bad Luck Fall. He hit a relatively impressive tombstone and won with the Rainmaker. Wash, rinse, repeat. The only positive about this is that Fale lost so we don’t have to see it again in November. **
Kenny Omega def. YOSHI-HASHI in 22:44
Remember what I said about predictable outcomes tonight? This is another. YOSHI-HASHI has had a damn good year but nobody believed he was going to take the Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Title shot from Omega. If anyone is going to get in the way of Gedo’s beloved Omega/Okada WK11 main event, it isn’t going to be the fourth man on the Chaos totem pole. They brawled outside a bit and Omega gets points from me for exposing the concrete like an old school heel. It backfired, but his BC buddies got involved and sprayed YOSHI in the face with a spray can. Omega stayed on offense for a while but surprisingly didn’t attempt any pins. That was weird and off-putting. It felt like he was trying to get stuff in rather than win an important match. It’s not like this is a heated rivalry where he just wanted to hurt YOSHI. Omega took to using the trash can that the Young Bucks brought out. YOSHI came close a few times and instantly got up after an Omega German, leading to an exchange of strikes. They built to a lot of false finishes before the One Winged Angel got the win. They went a bit longer than they should have, but mostly did good things with the time. While it was nowhere near as good as their G1 match, it was probably match of the night. ***¼
Afterwards, Hirooki Goto wanted another shot at the Tokyo Dome main event. Omega told him “Goto Hell” and declined, saying it sounds like New Japan booking. I could make a joke about NJPW booking, but I’ll refrain.
Overall: 4/10. Since I started watching NJPW full time in 2015, this was easily the worst show I’ve seen them put on. I knew the card wasn’t interesting coming in, but nothing even surprised me by surpassing expectations like guys tend to do sometimes. A lot of the rematches were worse than previous encounters (Omega/YOSHI, Fale/Okada, Tag Titles) and the fresh title match (Ospreay/Cole) was lackluster. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the worst NJPW show of the year is the one that features the Bullet Club in nearly every match. Destruction in Kobe should be an improvement.
The episode starts with a recap of the debut of Dario's wheel, Pentagon nearly breaking Dragon Azteca Jr.'s arm and the Worldwide Underground being run off by the Trios Champions and Sexy Star two weeks ago.
Things actually open with Azteca and Rey Mysterio sparring in a ring. Rey is trying to get Dragon to focus on their battle and not get caught up in the Pentagon stuff. Chavo Guerrero randomly appears. Dragon Azteca charges at him for lying but gets rolled into the old Lance Storm maple leaf. Rey convinces him to let go and Chavo says that he'll have to teach Azteca the "Guerrero ways."
In the Temple, Dario says that his brother will defend the Lucha Underground Title tonight against whoever comes out on Dario's "Dial of Doom." Dario says that nobody actually believed in Son of Havoc two weeks ago. He spins it and the lucky, or unlucky winner, is the Mack.
Lucha Underground Championship: Matanza Cueto (c) w/ Dario Cueto def. The Mack in 6:04
Matanza waited for the Mack on the steps. I lost connection to the channel for a second but once it came back, Mack hit a stunner on the outside and rolled him in for a near fall. Mack doesn't let that get to him and continued to stay in control. The crowd was way into him. Matanza blocked a second stunner and turned it into a release German suplex. Matana took over from there but Mack responded to some shots with a loud "THAT'S ALL YOU GOT BITCH?" Matanza answered that with a vicious shot. Mack nailed a nice dive outside and went for a bullfrog splash but Matanza got the knees up and retained with Wrath of the Gods. Like the SOH match two weeks ago, this was a lot of fun. The crowd was totally into it, it was a fresh matchup, Mack looked good and Matanza still came off like a monster. ***
The Famous B commercial plays as Son of Havoc somewhere on the "open road." He says he can't stand them. He's chilling with Mascarita Sagrada, who agrees by flipping him off. Havoc's mom shows up with BAGEL BITES for them! Amazing segment.
Johnny Mundo barges into Dario's office, asking for his Lucha Underground Title shot. Dario says that he and his boys get a Trios Titles shot tonight. He says that the Worldwide Underground just cares about him as LU Champion and not the Trios Titles. Mundo is pissed and won't compete tonight. Taya offers to replace him and Dario accepts.
Ultimate Opportunity: Cage def. Texano in 5:51
Dario showed up before this match and announced that it would be for an "Ultimate Opportunity" since both men lost in the first round of his "4 A Unique Opportunity" tournament at Ultima Lucha Dos. Texano took to the air early and did his best to negate Cage's power. He worked the ankle and hit a weak clothesline to take Cage down. They work into an exchange where both guys come close a few times. Cage won with a discus lariat in an uninspired match. It wasn't bad, it was kind of just there. **
Dario Cueto came out of his office to say that Cage wins the "ultimate opportunity", he has to beat Texano two more times because it is a Best of Five Series. Doesn't sound too interesting.
In his office, Dario gets a box with hats. He tosses them aside and opens an envelope with photos in them. It's hard to tell what's on them. Dragon Azteca barges in to demand a match with Pentagon Dark. Dario doesn't want to do it but decides to say that he'll pencil it in. A random dude arrives to ask for a match. He notices the pictures on the desk, which surprises Dario since he threw them in the trash. Dario gives them to the guy and he leaves. Chavo shows up now to say that he needs to talk to Dario.
Trios Championship: Aerostar, Drago and Fenix (c) def. Worldwide Underground in 9:27
Jack Evans was his weird self, blindfolding himself and doing some bootleg karate stuff. It didn't seem to really amuse Taya and Black. Taya came in and worked a very good back and forth with Drago. Jack refuses to tag back in, so Black goes against Aerostar. There continued to be problems with the Worldwide Underground. Evans pouted like a child outside and left Black to take a beating form the three champions, who just work at a very good, quick pace. Taya hit a nice dive outside onto Fenix and Drago. Shortly after that, Aerostar won it with a springboard codebreaker while Evans continued to pout. Good match that told an interesting story, but nothing special. **3/4
Johnny Mundo runs out and jumps the champions along with Taya and PJ Black. Jack Evans still just pouts. Sexy Star shows up and dropkicks Taya and Mundo. She gets help from the champions to run off the Worldwide Underground.
The final segment sees Rey Mysterio in Dario Cueto's office. He tells him that Azteca Jr. asked for a match with Pentagon Dark. Rey is disappointed but Dario says that Chavo wants the same thing. Next week, Azteca takes on Chavo and the winner gets Pentagon. Rey will be the guest referee.
Overall: 6/10. An average episode tonight. They advanced some stories as Lucha Underground almost always does. A lot of Dario tonight, but that's a good thing. The matches were all relatively enjoyable, though I'm not too keen on a best of five between Cage and Texano. The "Dial of Doom", SOH and Mascarita segment and Worldwide Underground issues were all fun.
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!
ROH Glory by Honor VII
September 20th, 2008 | New Alhambra Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Some of my favorite memories of Ring of Honor are from 2008. Up until about 2009, they were in a groove that I don’t think I’ve seen any other company duplicate. Here, a plethora of championships are on the line. All of ROH’s titles, the FIP Title, an NWA Title and some from Pro Wrestling NOAH, who ROH had a strong partnership with. Though I’ve owned this show for nearly eight years, I’ve never watched it all the way through until now.
The show opens with a backstage promo from the new ROH World Tag Team Champions, Kevin Steen and El Generico. Steen says that four years earlier, they wrestled their first ever match in the US in this same building. He plans on becoming a double champion since he feels slanted with only one title on his shoulder. He plans on walking out with the FIP Title tonight, while Generico will become ROH World Champion as he gets a rematch at Nigel McGuinness after coming very close a month earlier.
Jerry Lynn def. Kenny King in 10:18
With the show taking place in the former ECW Arena, Lynn gets quite the homecoming ovation. I’m not sure but this might be Lynn’s first ROH appearance or at least the first in quite some time. He would go on to win the World Title by the following spring, playing off of the film “The Wrestler”. King is still new here, only making some strides in FIP. Lynn has some fun with a small pre-match dance off. They move at a quick pace early on, allowing Lynn to show that he’s still got it. Lynn stays one step ahead because of his veteran savvy. Some heel tactics and general quickness gives King an upper hand where he gets two on a spinebuster. Turnabout is fair play when Lynn does his own eye poking during his rally. King counters the Cradle Piledriver and ties to steal it, but Todd Sinclair catches his feet on the ropes and stops the count. Lynn busts out a top rope rana and Cradle Piledriver for the win. About what I want from an opener. They didn’t go too long, got the crowd invested, worked at a brisk pace and didn’t go overboard. ***
A recap airs of Brent Albright winning the NWA Heavyweight Title at Death Before Dishonor VI a month and a half earlier. I was there that night in the Hammerstein Ballroom. The match was awesome (****¼) and the pop was deafening.
NWA Heavyweight Championship: Adam Pearce w/ Larry Sweeney and Shane Hagadorn def. Brent Albright (c) in 13:57
Pearce takes the title before the bell and hoists it high to boos, so Albright responds and does it back to cheers. Albright’s arm is bandaged up due to an injury a night earlier. Pearce is pretty much the definition of an old school heel. He begs for mercy and throws Albright over the top (a DQ under NWA rules) behind the referee’s back. He does a suplex on the ramp, gaining confidence. Pearce wears down Albright until Hagadorn wedges a chair in the corner, again behind the official’s back. It backfires when Pearce goes headfirst into it. As Albright gets going, Pearce hits a low blow. Again, Hagadorn comes into play to send both competitors off of the top, again behind the ref’s back. Back inside, Albright locks in the crowbar but Pearce gets out and wrenches on a crowbar of his own on Brent’s bad arm. Albright fights but has to submit. Nowhere near the level of their New York encounter. This had far too much going on to recapture that magic. It still managed to be decent though. **½
FIP Championship: Go Shiozaki (c) w/ Larry Sweeney and Shane Hagadorn def. Kevin Steen in 15:20
Kevin Steen is super over as the babyface challenger, while Go is just starting to show off the heel tactics that come with being a member of Sweet n’ Sour Inc. The involvement of Hagadouche again pisses me off. Go refuses to shake hands, instead kicking Steen’s away. They trade shoulder blocks to see who’s stronger until Steen side steps and sends GO outside. He follows up with a somersault off the apron. Go goes old school and starts to pick apart a body part, choosing Steen’s knee. He even smashes Shane’s head into the knee, which made me laugh. He focuses there for a while, going back to it to stop any Steen momentum. Both men go high risk, with Go nailing a knee drop and Steen getting two on a moonsault. He tries a swanton but Go gets the knees up. Go gets vicious and just wails on Steen. He then uses a flurry of moves, including the Go Flasher, to retain. Fine match but nothing more. I liked Go embracing his new heel persona more and more. ***
ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness shows up after the match and DDTs Steen on the belt. Nigel then cuts a promo about how he’s the best wrestler in the world and says that there is no competition for his title so he’s going to come after the Tag Team Titles.
GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Bryan Danielson (c) def. Katsuhiko Nakajima in 23:03
I can’t believe that I’ve had this show for almost eight years and have never watched this match. Danielson is one of my all-time favorites and Nakajima is someone I find awesome here in 2016. The awesome “you’re gonna get your fucking head kicked in” chant starts us off. They go to the mat early and are mostly even. That angers Danielson, who kicks it up a notch and targets Nakajima’s arm. Danielson twists him around until Nakajima has to get the ropes for a break. Danielson almost gives the “I HAVE UNTIL FIVE” but figured the referee already knows. He hits a loud sounding elbow, sending Nakajima outside, and follows with the big springboard dive he became known for. Nakajima finally gets an opening when he catches a kick and dragon screws it on the middle rope. It’s time for him to work the leg for a while. It works really well since Danielson came in with a brace on that knee. Danielson gets aggressive with uppercuts, but Nakajima hits harder. They begin to power up and trade suplexes until Danielson lands on his feet on a German. Wisely, he at least sells it before charging at Nakajima. Nakajima hits a brutal kick and applies an ankle lock but Danielson survives. Danielson eats a barrage of vicious kicks before KICKING NAKAJIMA’S HEAD IN! After a struggle to get the upper hand by both men, Danielson hits elbows and wins with the Cattle Mutilation. Awesome match. It blows my mind that Nakajima was just 20 years old here. Both guys came in with good strategies, played to their strengths and wrestled a smart match. Danielson was just more experienced and better. ****
Jerry Lynn gets a promo backstage where he talks about wanting a shot at Nigel McGuinness and the ROH World Title.
Erick Stevens def. Rhett Titus in 3:24
CHOO-CHOO! Stevens no longer has his mohawk and, after a pretty substantial 2007 push, he’s cooled off considerably, losing the FIP Title twice and not getting much of a reaction. Rhett gets in early offense so Stevens comes back with chops. Somehow, Stevens gets his nose busted and he’s bleeding everywhere. It’s clearly a broken nose and Rhett actually goes after it, pulling it on it. Ouch. Part of Rhett’s offense is to go for ten corner punches, but instead thrust his dick into Stevens’ face. That fires him up and Stevens murders him with a lariat and doctor bomb. The broken nose made this more interesting than it otherwise would have been. *
Larry Sweeney comes out with a microphone. I love Sweeney but he was ALL over shows in 2008. Sweeney basically offers Stevens a contract to make more money and leave ROH. He declines and attacks, so all of Sweet n’ Sour come out to attack him until the Vulture Squad and Grizzly Redwood try to make the save. They all fail until Roderick Strong joins in and we’ve got an impromptu six man tag.
Sweet n’ Sour Inc. (Chris Hero, Eddie Edwards and Shane Hagadorn) w/ Larry Sweeney, Bobby Dempsey and Sara Del Ray def. Roderick Strong and the Vulture Squad w/ Julius Smokes in 11:08
The Vulture Squad representatives are Jigsaw and Ruckus. Jack Evans was pretty non-existent by this point if I remember right. Once things calm down into an actual match, Hagadorn gets his ass kicked because he’s terrible. The heels fare better when Hero or future ROH World Champion Eddie Edwards is in. Wow, looking at this, I liked Eddie but I would have never pegged him to be the company’s first Triple Crown winner. Jigsaw starts to take the heat for his guys. Strong kills it with the hot tag. While Ruckus does his flippy shit, Strong is delivering backbreakers galore. They go into the typical finisher barrage you see in matches like this. The highlight was Strong stopping Eddie’s Lionsault with a sick kick. Hero then knocks Roddy out with the loaded elbow pad to win. Fine for what it was as it mostly just advanced the Hero/Strong angle. After the match, Sweeney dropped a top rope elbow on Strong. **½
Non-Title Match: GHC Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki def. Claudio Castagnoli in 14:43
I felt bad for Claudio around this time. He was doing fine as a babyface until he kept coming up short in title matches and the fans turned on him. Here, he has no personality whatsoever. They trade some early shots and holds, but the crowd doesn’t really care. They popped for seeing Sasaki but once the match started, their interest waned. Things get a little more interesting when they begin trading chops and uppercuts. Claudio’s uppercuts are probably the best in the game. Some big clubbing blows from Sasaki are answered by a springboard uppercut. Claudio nails the Ricola Bomb for two. Sasaki rallies to win with the Northern Lights Bomb. Something about this match never clicked. The crowd just didn’t care for either guy outside of the initial entrance pop. Maybe if it was Claudio against one of the NOAH regulars like KENTA or Marufuji it would have worked better. This was a clash of styles that never really got going. **¼
ROH World Championship: Nigel McGuinness (c) def. El Generico in 20:59
Before each title match tonight, they’ve shown clips of the champions winning their title. I think that was a cool way to really make things feel important. Nigel has been champion for over eleven months and this is his 26th defense. A month earlier, Generico came so close to winning the belt in Cleveland. Nigel is sure to take a shot at Bryan Danielson early on with that defense coming up again. As Nigel picks apart Generico and works his shoulder, he gets “same old shit” chants. It was during Nigel’s run that I grew to strongly dislike ROH fans. Boo him all you want, but let’s not act like Nigel wasn’t the man. To be fair, the first half of this match, where Nigel wears down Generico, isn’t great. It doesn’t have the usual interest that Nigel matches give me. It’s smart work, as he attacks the shoulder and continues to go for the London Dungeon. Generico starts the comeback and hits his somersault coast to coast dropkick for two. He has a great counter for the Jawbreaker Lariat, instantly going into the Brainbuster for a near fall. Nigel tries the London Dungeon again, only for Generico to counter into a rollup for another near fall. Nigel tries to use the belt as a weapon but Steen is out to superkick him, leading to the bigger close call of the night. Generico hits the Yakuza Kick and looks for the super Brainbuster in the corner. Nigel slips under and rolls through a jackknife pin to retain. If we’re just talking the second half, this match ruled. The first half lacked something and was a bit too slow to really make this great. The crowd was dead for a lot of it until Generico rallied. ***½
Before the main event, a video package airs to recap the history of the Age of the Fall. It just really makes me miss Lacey.
Steel Cage Warfare: Austin Aries and the Briscoes def. the Age of the Fall (Delirious, Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black) and Necro Butcher in 29:09
Steel Cage Warfare is War Games with one cage and elimination rules. Necro Butcher is playing the role of the “wild card”, meaning he can enter at any time and isn’t really on anyone’s side. Austin Aries and Tyler Black, the two best guys in the match, start us out. Black and Aries go at it, trading stuff for a bit until Delirious is about to enter. Once seeing that Aries is down though, Jimmy Jacobs jumps in front and makes it two on one. Aries is bleeding as they beat him up. It’s odd that this cage doesn’t have a door. It’s a gap in the steel. Necro enters fourth, proving he’s a wild card by attacking everyone, regardless of team. He even goes after Todd Sinclair. Jay Biscoe is next and he brings a chair with him. Despite coming in hot, he also ends up bleeding. Aries and Jacobs fight out, which defeats the purpose of the steel cage. Delirious is next and hits Jay with the panic attack. I used to like Delirious but he grew to be pretty stale and I dislike how he books current day ROH. Jacobs and Aries work together to ail on Necro with chairs until Jacobs knocks him down with the spear. Aries hits the Brainbuster and they both pin him to send him home at 14:09. Mark Briscoe is the last man in, bringing a barbed wire table with him. The AOTF dominate a bit, though Delirious gets a bit of a nasty cut on his arm. He throws Jay off the side of the cage and through a table. Mark gets buckle bombed through the barbed wire table, making things hard on DEM BOYZ. The AOTF hit tons of offense on Aries, including three Panic Attacks in a row before Jacobs puts Aries in the End Time. Aries passes out at 21:52. Jacobs wants Delirious to spike Jay but out comes Daizee Haze to try and reason with him. It was her not wanting to date Delirious that caused his turn. A confused Delirious is torn between her and Jacobs until he just spikes Daizee! Jimmy is smiling while Daizee is bleeding. Mark comes off the top of the cage to wipe out of the ATOF. The Briscoes hit the Doomsday Device and Delirious is gone at 25:49. That leaves it up to the Briscoes against Black and Jacobs. The Briscoes fire up when things look lost and hit their finishers in stereo to win the match. Nowhere near as good as the original Steel Cage Warfare. A bit of a mess at times and the Briscoes kind of just MAN UP to take it in the end. Also, this was supposed to be a feud ender but I’m pretty sure it continued after this. **¾
Overall: 5/10. A massive disappointment from ROH. The show is overly long and only one match stands out. Nakajima/Danielson is worth going out of you way to see, especially considering how good Nakajima has gotten over time. The main event is a clusterfuck that doesn’t really deliver. Nigel/Generico is good, but isn’t on the level I hoped for. The rest of the card ranges from very forgettable (Vulture Squad tag and NWA Title) to pretty good (opener and FIP Title match).
1) TJ Perkins: Another week with a totally easy choice. TJ Perkins became a household name and a major star this week. When the Crusierweight Classic names were announced, he wasn't one of the favorites. He wasn't a massive name like Kota Ibushi or Zack Sabre Jr., nor was he under contract like Johnny Gargano or Rich Swann. However, Perkins beat both Gargano and Swann in previous rounds, before beating Ibushi a MOTY candidate in the Semi-Finals this week. Seriously, I don't give the full five out, but I did there. Perkins then went out and had another great match that night, beating Gran Metalik in the tournament finals. Not only did he win the CWC, he was awarded the new Cruiserweight Championship. Perkins now goes to Raw as a champion.
2) Killshot: On a Wednesday filled with great matches, I could see Killshot's performance getting overlooked. He's long been one of the more underused guys in Lucha Underground. Killshot finally got a chance to main event and he delivered. In the first Weapons of Mass Destruction match, Killshot defeated his rival Marty Martinez. Marty deserves credit too, but I'm going with the guy who won. This was a brutal war that didn't feel out of place with the stuff we're used to in the Temple. It was a top three match in a loaded week and showed that Killshot can be a major player in Lucha Underground.
3) Gran Metalik: I enjoyed him as Mascara Dorada in NJPW, but his run during the CWC has made me a big fan of Gran Metalik. Once again, they used him to open up the episode and he produced. Metalik bested Zack Sabre Jr. in a match of two guys with different styles. Despite this, it was the best match for either guy in the tournament up to that point. Metalik pulled off the relative upset to advance to the finals and meet TJ Perkins. That finals contest again proved to be a really great match and though Metalik lost, he deserves a ton of credit for his performances. Metalik finds himself set up for Raw tonight as he's one of the cruiserweights set to debut.
4) BUSHI: Outside of TJ Perkins winning the CWC, BUSHI racked up the biggest accomplishment of the week. In a rare main event for the NJPW juniors, BUSHI ended the nine (should have been fourteen) month reign of KUSHIDA as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion. It came a shock to many, since they saw BUSHI as a credible challenger, but not someone to take the title. A lot of people expected KUSHIDA to hold the title until Wrestle Kingdom and drop it to Will Ospreay. I prefer it this way since it's different and unexpected. Plus, I really love Los Ingobernables de Japon and BUSHI in general. A great win for BUSHI and he becomes the second LIDJ member to win something of meaning this year.
5) Katsuyori Shibata: Retained his NEVER Openweight Championship over Bobby Fish in one of the best matches this week.
NJPW Destruction in Tokyo
September 17th, 2016 | Ota City Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan
This morning, New Japan held the first of three Destruction events. Though my interest in the company has gone down significantly lately, I’m hoping for these cards to deliver better than they look on paper.
Roppongi Vice def. David Finlay and Henare in 5:56
Henare is a new young boy. He lost to Finlay, who has moved up a bit with new gear and such, on the “Road to Destruction” show. Finlay even got a pop when he was tagged in. He and Rocky had a good back and forth. Their Best of the Super Juniors match this year was pretty damn good. Finlay was his usual good self and Henare looked alright before falling to the Dudebuster. Nothing much to write about here. It was a decent little opener that got the young guys some shine and a win for RPG Vice. I still just wish there was more for the NJPW tag division. Every team just seems to be biding team until their next random title reign that means nothing. **
Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata def. Captain New Japan and YOSHITATSU in 6:30
The Bullet Club hunters team up…to not face the Bullet Club. At least they continued the story of YOSHITATSU being irritated with CNJ. He made sure to start the match and didn’t even like him side by side cosplaying Triple H with him. YOSHI did a decent job of hanging with Nagata early, but CNJ got the tag and took an ass kicking from Manabu. CNJ scored a few flash pin near falls on Nagata but nobody really believed it would end that way. Nagata and Nakanishi hit a rather ugly double team move before Nagata won with an exploder. A nothing match that was there to get these guys on the card. *
Jushin Thunder Liger and TenKoji def. Great Bash Heel and Tiger Mask IV in 8:53
I expected this to be fun. I really like four of the guys in this match. Liger continues to defeat Father Time, as he might have looked the best out of everyone in this match. Tiger Mask took the heat for his guys for the most part. Makabe got the hot tag and did his usual thing. He does have one of the best laughs in wrestling. “A HA HA!” Honma did his thing too, which was to miss Kokeshi. Of course, he recovered and ended up hitting it. TenKoji was held off while Honma hit the top rope Kokeshi on Liger for the win. As I expected, this was a relatively fun six man tag. I wish the crowd was more into it, but everyone did their part. **¾
Gedo, Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii def. Chase Owens and The Guerillas of Destiny in 11:05
Look, it’s bad enough that the tired ass Bullet Club/Chaos feud is back on, but must we be subjected to this? The crowd rightfully didn’t give a shit about the BC scrub trio. Mainly due to the BC team, I couldn’t really get into this. Goto is good, Ishii is one of the best and Gedo can be hilarious at times, but there was just nothing coming from the Bullet Club team. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a crowd this quiet for an Ishii match. Anyway, it was Ishii that got the win for Chaos in a match that was really kind of just there. **¼
Kyle O’Reilly def. Juice Robinson in 12:55
Considering my love for O’Reilly and the fact that Juice has been good lately, I came in pretty excited for this. Juice was smart early on, avoiding the mat game. He went for a sunset flip that O’Reilly turned into an armbar, but he quickly reached the ropes. Everything O’Reilly did was just so smooth. His transition from a back suplex into a leg lock was great. Juice came back with his solid spinebuster (about a 6/10 on an Anderson scale). Juice nailed a plancha, but O’Reilly retaliated with a brutal knee to the face. Kyle worked a choke into an exploder and slapped on a triangle choke. Juice countered by powering up into a powerbomb for a near fall. Kyle hit the brainbuster and turned the kick out into an arm bar, while also grabbing the leg, for the win. Really good match. The best I’ve seen from Juice. He sold well, had good fire and looked good in defeat. Kyle continued to show that he’s one of the best around and is the best wrestler on the ROH roster in my opinion. I love the news that he’s moving to the heavyweight division. ***½
After intermission, another Time Bomb vignette aired. I suspect the reveal will come at Power Struggle in November.
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay and YOSHI-HASHI def. Bad Luck Fale, Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi in 11:31
Yujiro came out with four ladies and has added a pimp cane and hate to his ensemble. Easily the most I’ve ever liked him. To avoid an attack from Fale, the ring announcer did the intros from a table at ringside and was still run off. As always, the Bullet Club attacked before the bell to get the jump on Chaos. It isn’t anything you’ve never seen before. This was exactly what you’d expect. They previewed Omega vs. YOSHI and Fale vs. Okada. Takahashi was kind of just there and Will Ospreay was given plenty of time to strut his stuff. Though he has a big match coming up, YOSHI took most of the beating throughout this match. It was clear who was going to eat the pin in this one as Takahashi lost to YOSHI’s Karma. Not bad, but nothing to write home about. The Bullet Club/Chaos feud again underwhelms.**½
Bad Luck Fale teased taking out Okada with a Bad Luck Fall outside but it was broken up. I did get a chuckle out of Omega taking one of Yujiro’s girls to the back and saying “let’s celebrate glorious defeat.”
EVIL, SANADA and Tetsuya Naito def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, IWGP Intercontinental Champion Michael Elgin and Ryusuke Taguchi in 13:11
Taguchi came out wearing half a skull mask and a bat to poke fun at SANADA. I appreciate that though Tanahashi is the bigger star, his teams have come out to Elgin’s theme on recent shows. Elgin got to showcase his awesome power in the early stages. Los Ingobernables de Japon found an opening when they went after Elgin’s leg. They attacked it often and I hope it comes into play during the upcoming Intercontinental Title match. The hot tag was cut off a few times, building good tension. Tanahashi eventually got it and did his thing. Taguchi came in a little while after with ass based offense. His take on Nagata’s armbar was pretty funny. SANADA would make him tap out to end things. Naito continued the attack on Elgin’s leg after the bell. Fun match that was entertaining and built towards the upcoming IC Title match well. ***¼
NEVER Openweight Championship: Katsuyori Shibata (c) def. ROH Television Champion Bobby Fish in 16:48
This is easily the most interesting matchup on this show. Hell, of the three shows it pretty much is. Both guys looked for an opening and had each other’s strikes well scouted. Shibata worked a figure four and Fish applied a knee bar. Fish got aggressive and tossed Shibata into the guardrail. It made sense since Shibata has been nursing a back injury. Fish’s focus was the knee though, looking up set a submission later on. Shibata did his thing where he takes kicks and asks for more punishment. It looked like Shibata was coming back, but Fish was ready with a leg submission. Shibata popped up from a backdrop suplex and hit a German, followed by the PK, but was too hurt to cover instantly. Fish countered the next PK attempt and caught his bad leg into the heel hook. Shibata’s fight led to really good drama. He then did yet another sickening sounding headbutt spot that busted him open the hard way. He slapped on the sleeper and hit the PK to retain. Great work from both men. It had fire, aggression and made you feel like Fish badly wanted the title and that he had a chance. Despite the injuries, Shibata continues to be one of NJPW’s MVPs (alone with Naito and Ishii). ****
After the match, Shibata and Kyle O’Reilly went face to face, seemingly setting up a future match. That one match has me more excited than anything else in NJPW. More than Naito/Elgin, more than finding out who the new LIDJ member is and way more than their current WK 11 main event.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: BUSHI def. KUSHIDA (c) in 20:59
The mysterious new LIDJ member came out first. Then we got PIMP BUSHI in all white. BUSHI did his best Tetsuya Naito impersonation by nonchalantly posing after teasing a dive outside. A dropkick with a chair outside allowed BUSHI to take control and wear down KUSHIDA. One thing I disliked was BUSHI doing a middle rope dropkick. If he’s in that position, why wouldn’t he just go for MX instead? However, I liked him choking KUSHIDA with his shirt. Classic heel stuff. KUSHIDA rallied, but accidentally took out Red Shoes. With the referee down, BUSHI spit the mist and out came Tetsuya Naito to lend a hand. They beat up KUSHIDA until Big Mike showed up to make the save. Elgin sold the leg as he fought Naito to the back. KUSHIDA and BUSHI traded big blows and eventually, the Hoverboard Lock got applied. BUSHI countered into a small package for two before eating a huge right hand. BUSHI got more near falls on a Canadian Destroyer and MX. Undeterred, BUSHI hit a second MX and got the surprising win. I did not expect this, but I’m glad the title change went to BUSHI and not Will Ospreay like it seemed. This was good, with the right amount of interference, but a notch below their first two matches this year. ***½
They should put the Tag Titles on EVIL and SANADA, since they’re more interesting than every team in NJPW combined. Then give Naito back his Heavyweight Title and let LIDJ run wild the way the Bullet Club used to. They’re far better, fresh and more entertaining.
Overall: 6.5/10. About what I expected from this show. A lot of the undercard leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the tags are ho-hum, with only the Los Ingobernables de Japon one being really fun. The Bullet Club vs. Chaos stuff just isn’t interesting at all. O’Reilly and Juice had a strong match and the main event was good with a surprising title change. The match of the night is Shibata/Fish though and it set up Shibata/O’Reilly, which is up there with the NOAH/NJPW feud as the most interesting thing the company has going.
AAW Cero Miedo
September 1st, 2016 | Berwyn Eagles Club in Berwyn, Illinois
I’ve never watched an AAW show before. It’s a promotion that I’ve wanted to get into but haven’t had the time. Finally, I decided to dive in with a pretty show considering it has the last AAW match of NXT star Tommaso Ciampa, as well as a stacked list of talent that includes Pentagon Jr., Fenix, Chris Hero and many others. The show takes place in Berwyn, Illinois in a building that I’ve seen many times on SHIMMER events.
The show opens with a shot of the long line outside of the Eagles Club. Two guys, who I only assume are the commentary team, welcomed the fans to the show. Chris Hero came out to interrupt and announce that his scheduled opponent for the night, Tommy End, is unable to make it to the arena. He put Tommy over and issued an open challenge. Drew Galloway walked out to answer and a new match was set for later.
Outside of Galloway/Hero and the main event, no other match is announced so the people coming out get an even better reaction.
David Crist w/ JT Davidson def. DJ Z in 7:46
DJ Z cut a promo in the back about 2016 being his year. Crist came out of the blocks with a boot instantly. As DJ Z fired up, Crist went under the ring to avoid a dive and came around the opposite side to kick DJ Z. Davidson go tin a cheap shot outside to help Crist out. Crist tried the “go under the ring” spot again, so DJ Z was ready and sent him outside before following with a somersault dive. Crist came back with an awesome tornado DDT on the apron variation that I’ve never seen before. A springboard cutter got him the win. I thought this was a good opener, featuring strong performances from both men ***
Colt Cabana def. Shigehiro Irie in 9:44
I’ve never seen Irie. He’s pretty over and one thick son of a gun. Cabana had his usual fun. He slapped Irie at one point and apologized. He offered a slap back but Irie rolled him up instead for two. Cabana delivered some loud chops but they had little to no effect on the thick boy. Irie came close on a big lariat and a whoopee cushion. However, Cabana escaped that before hitting an elbow and going into an interesting pinning combination to win. Decent little match that was seemingly here to be a lighthearted part of the card. **
Michael Elgin def. Cedric Alexander in 15:53
Okay, this one piqued my interest the second I saw the guys come out. Commentary straight up said “this could have happened in Ring of Honor, but they are MORONS!” Ouch. Early on, they had some fun with a battle of seeing who was in better shape, with Cedric talking about his abs and Mike bringing up his muscles and “dumper”. Yes, there was a “dumper” chant. Once they got down to the action, the action was really good. Elgin showed off his power with a nice powerslam and stalling suplex, while Alexander used his athleticism on a dive outside and springboard tornado DDT. Elgin murdered him with two badass lariats but only got near falls, including one for only a one count. Elgin nailed the buckle bomb, but Cedric came out with a high knee only to eat a sick spinning back fist. Just insane back and forth. Alexander still came back from that with a brainbuster right into the Lumbar Check for a fantastic false finish. Alexander had a top rope rana countered into a super bomb. Elgin followed that with a Buckle Bomb and Elgin Bomb, but Cedric still somehow got a shoulder up! Finally, it took a Burning Hammer to keep Alexander down. A tremendous match that was far better than I ever expected. No need for any underlying story here. It was just two guys trying to prove who the better man was. Insane closing stretch to cap a great match featuring two guys in the midst of the best stretches of their careers. ****¼
After the match, Michael Elgin put Cedric Alexander over as one of the best he’s ever been in the ring with. He said the cream rises to the top and the fans alternated “thank you Cedric/you deserve it” chants as he heads off to the WWE.
Zack Sabre Jr. def. Silas Young in 12:47
Apparently, Young is a former two-time AAW Champion. He came out to “Don’t Stop Believing”, which I remember him using before he became the serious “last real man in wrestling” character. His pre-match promo, which ended with “let’s see how technical you are when I’m kicking the shit out of you” is good old fashioned heel work. Sabre spent the first few minutes just bending and twisting Silas in strange ways. It’s a staple of Sabre matches. Silas started to come back with some manly offense. Sabre targeted the knee for the most part, which Silas did a good job of selling. To cap off the back and forth, Sabre applied a Liontamer variation and made Silas tap out. Another good match. Smart limb work and things clicked well. ***¼
Pentagon Jr. cut a promo about the main event in the back. He’s a fantastic promo despite not speaking English.
Fenix def. Sami Callihan w/ David Crist and JT Davidson via disqualification in 12:36
Sami Callihan wore a Pentagon Jr. mask to the ring, since it was Pentagon who took the AAW Title from him. Here he took on Pentagon’s real life brother, Fenix. Callihan played the completely disrespectful dick heel and kept going for Fenix’s mask. Fenix took out all three men outside with a somersault off the top. Someone in the crowd kept blowing an annoying horn that hurt the overall enjoyment of this at times. Callihan took over and was really aggressive with Fenix. Of course, Fenix’s rally saw him bust out the high impact offense, including a near fall on a springboard rana. A highlight came when Fenix hit a rolling cutter on the apron. The closing stretch was good and the finish saw Fenix nail a 450 splash. Callihan pulled his mask completely off and got disqualified. Probably my favorite work form Sami this year, but that isn’t saying much since his second indy run has been shit. He played the asshole great on this night though. ***¼
Pentagon Jr. ran out with a new mask for his brother and they forced Sami to exit. In the back, both Michael Elgin and Silas Young cut promos in the back.
Chris Hero def. Drew Galloway in 17:37
This is Drew Galloway’s AAW debut. Two of the biggest brutes on the indies went to chain wrestling early on and it was good. Once they graduated to chops, you could hear them echo throughout the building. Hero even had to walk off a few of them. Hero pulled out the BIG BOY SENTON! The rest of this match just saw these two beat the shit out of each other. At one point, Galloway tossed Hero from the top while hanging upside down, which was impressive considering the size of both men. Hero survived a fair amount here, including kicking out of the Future Shock DDT and a snap Piledriver. To end a hard hitting war, Hero nailed five elbow variations and kept Galloway down. Commentary hyped it up as the sixth straight AAW win for Hero. My kind of match. I’ve come to really enjoy it when two guys just fuck each other up. ***¾
AAW Heavyweight Championship: Pentagon Jr. (c) def. Tommaso Ciampa in 13:02
The crowd sung along to “Psycho Killer”, which is Tommaso Ciampa’s theme song and it was awesome. They really liked Pentagon but they were way behind Tommaso. The atmosphere was great and these guys added to it when Ciampa flipped him the bird and Pentagon responded with “Cero Miedo”. Ciampa came out of the blocks hot, looking to win the title that has eluded him for over a year. He beat up Pentagon outside of the ring, punctuated by a big running knee. Once back inside, things became more even as neither guy was able to gain a clear advantage. Ciampa countered a package Piledriver into an armbar somehow. He got two on a second rope air raid crash and started to show his frustration. He blocked Pentagon’s Canadian (or Mexican) Destroyer and hit one of his own, followed by a running knee that still somehow only got two. Ciampa kicked out of a package Piledriver, but then Pentagon hit him with his own Project Ciampa move and retained the gold. Great match. They knew they had a relatively short time and did a lot with it. Ciampa looked desperate to win the title but couldn’t get past the greatness that was Pentagon Jr. ***¾
After the match, Pentagon got on the mic and said that he respected him and put him over before hugging him and leaving. Ciampa cut a passionate promo after Pentagon left about how the past year was his last shot. He and his wife discussed him leaving the business if he didn’t make it, but now he has. He brought in a kid to the ring, who was apparently his biggest fan, and gave him his entrance mask. The locker room emptied for a “Psycho Killer” sing along.
Overall: 8/10. A really good choice for my first AAW show. The only thing that I would consider a skip on this show is the Cabana match. Everything else gets at least three stars and the final few matches all deliver. The main event had a big fight feel for sure. Though I’m not a big Callihan fan, his angle came off well, There is an insane collection of talent on this card and most guys bring their “A” game. If you have to only one watch match, make it the excellent Alexander/Elgin one but you can’t really go wrong here.
