NJPW Kizuna Road Night One
June 17th, 2018 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,696
Kizuna Road are basically “C” level NJPW shows. It happens between big events like Dominion and the G1 Climax and usually features some of the lower card titles at the top of the shows. For example, these shows are headlined by the NEVER and Jr. Titles. It’s also the shows where the G1 Climax gets set up. Considering how busy everything is right now with WWE shows and school, I’m not sure how detailed the reviews of these three shows will be.
Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura
These two went to a time limit draw to open a “Road to Wrestling Dontaku” show and it was pretty good. They also met on a recent Lion’s Gate Project show that I missed. Like their last match, there was a lot of promise shown here. You could see that they have potential going forward, they just need more experience. I was surprised to see Tsuji going for an ankle lock, as Young Lions typically get stuck with the crab. Uemura responded by going for a cross armbreaker late. WHAT ARE THESE MOVES? Tsuji fought to reach the ropes and time expired, giving us a draw at 10:00. Not great and lacked some urgency, but there was some raw stuff in there. About as good as you might expect for two guys with so little experience. [**¾]
Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata vs. Shota Umino and Tomoyuki Oka
It’s Father’s Day and the New Japan Dads get some kids to rough up. I always forget that Nagata is an AJPW Tag Team Champion. Oka went right after Nakanishi with a lot of fire. However, it was nothing compared to the beating Nagata put on Umino. What happened to nice dad Nagata? As usual, we got a lot of energy from the Young Lions, but the dads are too experienced. Umino did bust out a missile dropkick and tried an armbreaker, but Nagata hit an exploder and put on the Nagata Lock to win in 9:04. Fine for what it was. Continued improvement by Umino and Oka. [**½]
Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Ren Narita vs. Taiji Ishimori and Yujiro Takahashi
Man, Satoshi Kojima looks different. I kind of like the Ishimori/Yujiro pairing. When it was Tenzan against Yujiro, the match suffered. Yujiro isn’t that good and Tenzan is up there in age. He can only bring it for big matches, which this is not. However, Narita and his speed looked good against Ishimori, giving us some fun moments. The Young Lions are in matches to take falls and that’s what Narita did here. He tapped to Ishimori’s crossface in 7:14. Energetic in parts, but sluggish in others. [**]
Jeff Cobb, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi, Toa Henare and Togi Makabe vs. Rocky Romero, Roppongi 3K, Toru Yano, and YOSHI-HASHI
I’m all for Jeff Cobb as a Taguchi Japan member. Give him the glasses and everything. He was last in NJPW during the World Tag League. You should be able to tell what stood out in this match. Interactions between KUSHIDA and Roppongi 3K, as well as Henare being a blast. Makabe was in “no bump” mode, which you expect on these undercard tags. Gotta rest up for the G1. It’s clear that the main point of the match is to get Cobb over. Japanese crowds LOVE monster gaijins. Hanse and Vader way back, War Machine and Elgin more recently. Cobb wowed the fans with his impressive array of offense and put down Romero with the Tour of the Islands at 11:03. A good multi-man tag that did the job it needed to with Cobb. [***]
Time for the G1 Climax participant announcements. No real surprises this year. Kenny Omega, Michael Elgin, Jay White, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Juice Robinson, Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Hangman Page, Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., and Kota Ibushi. I wish we could replace Tonga, Elgin, and HASHI with Kojima (who is injured), Henare, and Cobb.
BUSHI, EVIL, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, and Tetsuya Naito vs. Taichi, Takashi Iizuka, TAKA Michinoku, and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
This was here to build the Desperado/Hiromu main event tomorrow. Suzuki-Gun attacked before the bell because, reasons. That led to brawling around the ring and through the crowd. It’s basically what you expect from Suzuki-Gun, especially without their two best members (Minoru and Sabre) around. The crowd was surprisingly subdued for an LIDJ match, though it might’ve been because the focus was more on the G1 field. The parts of the match featuring Hiromu against Desperado were great. Everything else was okay. BUSHI got the win with MX in 10:16. [**½]
David Finlay, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Juice Robinson vs. IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jay White, Kazuchika Okada, and RevPro British Heavyweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii
Sad Kazuchika Okada coming out lost and with no title is one of my favorite things ever. I will enjoy it while it lasts. This was for a few reasons. One, continue building Juice/White. Two, continue the White/Finlay feud. Three, see how Okada responds to not be the BIG DOG anymore. However, what turned out to be the best part was Ishii against Tanahashi. Ishii laughed off chops from Tanahashi and basically insinuated that he’s shit now that he’s old. They usually deliver bangers, but with that story, a G1 meeting this year could end up being their best ever. Lots of good back and forth action from everyone until Ishii beat Finlay with the Brainbuster in 13:20. My favorite thing up to this point. I’m so ready for White/Juice and hopefully Ishii/Tanahashi. [***½]
Post-match, White attacked Juice and aggressively threw him around the ringside area. He focused on the arm and went to destroy it with a chair, but Juice got up and fought him off. Jay shouted that Juice never gets it done when it matters, which will continue in San Francisco.
NEVER Openweight Championship: Michael Elgin [c] vs. Hirooki Goto
These guys met twice in 2015. Once in the G1 (****) and once at Field of Honor (***½). At Dominion eight days ago, Elgin won the title in a three-way with Taichi. This proved to be much better than that. I can’t stand Elgin, but he can deliver some good hoss fights if given the chance. He and Goto beat the hell out of other in this one. It felt like Elgin was out to prove a point. He pinned Taichi to win the title, so he needs to show Goto that he deserves to be champion. Meanwhile, Goto is one of the more resilient guys in NJPW, so he fought through a beating and held his own. Things were going great until a ref bump. It’s become too much of a Gedo trope these days. It led to a Taichi run-in as he hit both men. That brought out Jeff Cobb to randomly chase him off. Back to the match, Elgin levels Goto with a sick forearm and lariat. Goto rallied and picked up near falls, but Elgin just kept walloping him, putting him in his place. They had some strong near falls, but then Goto kind of hits GTR from out of nowhere to win back the title in 30:57. Strange. Most of that match ruled. The interference stuff, lame finish, and egregious length kept this match from being great. Shave off a few minutes, eliminate the run-in, and give it a better ending and you’ve got a banger. Still, it was very good. [***¾]
Post-match, Jeff Cobb returned to check on Elgin. He then challenged Goto to a NEVER Title match. Okay, I’m looking forward to that one.
Overall: 5.5/10. Basically a one match show. I know the semi-main event was very good, but this was all about the NEVER Title match. It delivered a strong main event that had some serious flaws. Other than that, most of the card is kind of just there and doesn’t need to be seen. The G1 announcements were nice, though.
WWE Money in the Bank
June 17th, 2018 | Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois | Attendance: 15,214
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship: The Bludgeon Brothers [c] vs. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows
It’s the Kickoff match on the too-long Money in the Bank card. The champions have been pretty dominant in 2018, especially since WrestleMania. Gallows and Anderson were looking to turn things around, as they’ve been mostly irrelevant since early 2017. Harper and Rowan continued the trend of being monster champions. They picked apart the challengers and isolated former G1 Climax finalist Karl Anderson. The hot tag came to Gallows, but it’s not exactly his strong suit. The champions weathered the storm and cut off the Magic Killer. They then hit the Bludgeoning to retain in 7:36. An opener that was better than expected. The crowd was into it, it wasn’t a total squash, and it had some solid action. [**¼]
Big Cass vs. Daniel Bryan
Last month, Bryan beat Cass at Backlash in a decent match (**¼). I can’t recall another top star returning and getting thrown into a two month program with someone as low on the totem pole as Cass. As expected, Cass was the big aggressor here. The biggest problem with that is that he’s literally all height and nothing else. There’s not a single thing about him that’s intimidating. He’s the least imposing seven footer in company history. At no point did any of his offense look that good, even his decent middle rope fall away slam. Bryan found openings for hope spots but couldn’t sustain it. He went after the knee, which Cass mostly sold poorly. It set up the knee bar that got Bryan another submission win in 15:18. It was better than Backlash, though not by much. They told a fine story, but the in-ring stuff was so boring at points. Cass should not be going 10+ minutes. [**½]
Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn
Bless Sami’s heart for trying his best with this program. The writing has completely failed both men. Lashley feels like just another guy already. Nobody cares about him. Sami played this smart, immediately going outside to avoid Lashley and getting in his head. It worked for the most part as he gained early control. However, Lashley caught him leaping and got going on offense. Lashley went in on vertical suplexes, which supposedly gave Sami vertigo in the past. A second one ended this in 6:35. Again, Sami tried his best. His stuff at the start was kind of entertaining. Lashley’s offense was dull and didn’t really have any fire behind it. [*½]
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Seth Rollins [c] vs. Elias
Other than the Money in the Bank matches, this was all I was excited for on this card. Working a more methodical style than usual, Seth held serve early. But, he took a nasty bump on an apron clothesline, landing on the back of his head. That turned things around for Elias, playing off the guitar shot to the back of the head a few weeks back. Seth was in trouble for the next portion of the match and then his rally saw his knee buckle on a springboard attempt. Unfortunately, Seth sold it rather weakly. Like, I understand how much of a factor adrenaline is, but he did a superkick and frog splash with only minimal grabbing of the knee. However, I did like him doing the falcon arrow mostly on one leg. Elias avoided the Curb Stomp and got vicious, throwing Seth all around the ringside area. That led to a great near fall on a big elbow. The resilient champion countered Drift Away into a rollup for two. He then countered an Elias rollup into one of his own and used a handful of tights to steal this in 17:00. The finish was interesting. It did help sell Elias as a credible threat and Seth as a guy willing to go the extra mile to retain. I appreciate that just because he’s a babyface, he’s not above things like that sometimes. This was the kind of performance Elias needed to silence any doubters. Dude is money and Seth continues to be one of the best in the world. [***¾]
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Alexa Bliss vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte vs. Ember Moon vs. Lana vs. Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Sasha Banks
A much better field than last year. This was frantic from the start, but controlled enough that it didn’t feel weird. They found ways to bring some unique spots, like Naomi’s split on a ladder and her hopping on one to attack Natalya. As expected, Sasha seemed to be in the match to take the most bumps. Naomi and Ember had a great exchange during the match, while old rivalries like Sasha/Charlotte and Becky/Charlotte were renewed. More than a few things looked very dangerous (Charlotte aggressively pulling Lana off the ladder and Nattie powerbombing Sasha into one). Naomi came really close to winning once but I guess it was too soon and she kind of just got stuck up there. Everyone attempted to climb and got cut off near the end. Becky was right there to winning and it would’ve been great if she did. Instead, Alexa knocked her off the ladder and won at 18:26. Really good match and better than last year’s. They had some impressive spots and cool callbacks. It all worked as an exciting, cohesive match. I do think the wrong person won. I’m not anti-Alexa at all, but she’s been in the title picture forever. The women’s division is basically booked like this. Charlotte > Alexa >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Everyone else >> Becky Lynch. [****]
Jinder Mahal w/ Sunil Singh vs. Roman Reigns
The Chicago crowd decided not to give this match a chance. They chanted for totally irrelevant things a minute into this match. If you don’t care about something, don’t be a dick about it. They never gave it a chance. It was a relatively fine match, with some solid back and forth. A lot of it felt hollow and maybe that’s because I don’t care much for either guy. I do think that Jinder’s style doesn’t suit Roman. It worked with AJ because AJ got to fight from behind. Jinder works a methodical style and that has never meshed with Roman, who is best when he gets to go all out. Roman eventually took out Sunil, who was in a wheelchair, with a Spear. Jinder nearly stole it with a rollup, but Roman kicked out. A Spear to Jinder later and it was over in 15:37. A solid little match, but very unspectacular. It was kind of just there and like I said, I don’t think these are guys who have styles that mix well. [**¼]
WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship: Carmella [c] vs. Asuka
The story coming in is that Asuka’s been a different person since the streak ended (still a terrible decision) at WrestleMania. Carmella is trying to get in her head by bringing that up. She also did a fair amount of trash talking and taunting in the opening minutes. As soon as Asuka got something going, Carmella resorted to the cheap stuff, like threatening to walk out with her title. Other than that, she found clever spots to get going. Asuka got near a win when someone in an Asuka mask stood on the apron. A distracted Asuka nearly got rolled up. The mask came off to reveal James Ellsworth! Carmella kicked Asuka and retained in 11:04. It followed the same general idea of Charlotte/Carmella last month. Carmella wasn’t as good as the challenger, but she was smarter. Mania killed Asuka, to be honest. [**½]
WWE Championship Last Man Standing Match: AJ Styles [c] vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
It’s the most underwhelming feud in years. While I feel like this was the best match in their series, it still never really reached a great level. IT started off kind of slow and felt like they were never going to get going. Especially after watching Ciampa/Gargano II, this underwhelmed. Luckily, they picked things up and built to a much more interesting back half of the match. They went into their series of dick kicks, playing up the history of the feud. The Styles Clash off the steel steps and Phenomenal Forearm spots (both which we’ve seen from AJ in the past) were the best parts. They overdid a bit of the stuff where AJ survived so very much, as it neared John Cena levels. It seemed like no matter what Nakamura threw at AJ, it was never enough, though that did play up the “Nakamura can’t beat AJ” stuff. That Phenomenal Forearm through the table was enough to end this at 31:03. I think you could talking about an all-time classic LMS match if you shave off the first 5-10 minutes. Not enough of interest happened there. The final twenty minutes were strong and the final ten were fantastic. Nakamura is a loser. [****]
WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Nia Jax [c] vs. Ronda Rousey
Rousey’s first singles match and it’s against a girl who isn’t exactly considered a ring general. Nia overwhelmed Ronda with her size and strength right from the start. Ronda tried finding openings for submissions, but Nia was too strong. Commentary harped on how Ronda had never faced someone like Nia or competed in a match that went this long. Nia dominated until missing a corner charge. Ronda dug deep and pulled out a cross body off the top. She then fired up and nearly killed Nia with a judo throw. Ronda went for the armbar and the crowd was eating up her attempt to break it free. As soon as she did, Alexa Bliss ran in and clocked Ronda with the briefcase for the DQ at 10:50. This was going great. I’m glad Ronda didn’t just dominate. She came into wrestling and is out of her element. She had to fight to find something new and it was working in the end. Ronda still has plenty of kinks to work out, but she’s picking this wrestling thing up quickly. [***¼]
Alexa Bliss continued the attack with the briefcase and cashed in.
WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Nia Jax [c] vs. Alexa Bliss
Bliss hit a DDT and Twisted Bliss to win back the title in 0:29. So, Alexa is nearing Charlotte levels of BIG DOG status. She feuded with Becky, Bayley, and Sasha, and dominated them. Lost the title at Mania and is already right back to having it. [NR]
Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Bobby Roode vs. Braun Strowman vs. Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens vs. Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz vs. Rusev vs. Samoa Joe
This is one of the most loaded MITB fields ever. They only announced it during their entrance, but Kofi Kingston was the New Day member chosen. As usual, it led to some of his cool ladder match spots. Everyone ganged up on Braun and buried him under ladders by the stage. A great character moment came when Miz used that distraction to try a sneak win. There were also awesome spots involving Kofi and Finn doing dives. Braun got back into the match, only to get beaten up by a group again. He fought them off and threw Owens off a massive ladder through a table. It was Ryback/Seth TLC 2012 levels of big. Another highlight was Finn’s Coup de Grace off a ladder into the ring. The thing is, with so many of these MITB matches happening in history, it’s hard to really break new ground with it. Not much here blew me away, but it was a lot of fun. The finish turned out to be very cool, as Finn and Braun went after the briefcase. Kofi hopped on Braun’s back and nearly used that to win. Braun fought them off and pulled down the briefcase to win in 19:54. This was towards the bottom of MITB matches, with 2015 and the Raw one in 2012 being the bottom two off the top of my head. However, that doesn’t mean it was bad. There was a lot to like, with several cool spots and character moments sprinkled in. A very enjoyable way to close the show. [***¾]
Overall: 7/10. Though making the show 4+ hours is again a bad move, it wasn’t as much of a problem here. Unlike Backlash, the show didn’t end with a whimper. There were several good matches, especially late. It started weak and hit a bit of a lull in the middle, but the IC Title, two MITB matches, AJ/Nakamura, and Ronda/Nia were all strong matches.
These will mostly be quick and dirty, as I'm pressed for time due to school. Poor Daniel Bryan. He's just wasting so much time with Big Cass, who is incredibly dull and boring. Bryan for the win and hopefully to move onto a match with Nakamura at SummerSlam.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
This entire feud has been a shit show. But bless Sami Zayn for doing his best to make it work. Lashley will win for obvious reasons.
Winner: Lashley
I know some are dreading it, but it could be okay. The feud has been kind of just there, though. Big Dog for the win.
Winner: Roman Reigns
These are some of the hardest Money in the Bank matches to predict. I could see Natalya win to set up something with her and Ronda Rousey, but Charlotte winning to set up a rematch with Asuka could happen, too. Alexa is always a safe bet, too. My heart says Becky, but I learned not to pick against Charlotte.
Winner: Lady Big Dog
Again, there are a few good options. Braun is a safe choice, Finn Balor could win and possibly turn heel, The Miz has been the best in the company for a long time and deserves it. But, I'm gonna go with Samoa Joe. He's definitely a great choice to win a World Title.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Other than the ladder matches, this is what I'm most excited for. Elias has been surprisingly great since getting called up from NXT, while Seth Rollins has spent 2018 reminding everyone why he's one of the best in the world. I could see Elias winning and even being a good champion, but I think Seth retains. He's got to keep the title as an important part of Raw heading into the summer.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Who cares about this? I say this as a fan of Harper and Anderson. Bludgeon Brothers to retain.
Winners: Bludgeon Brothers
Wow. As much as I've absolutely loved Carmella as champion, Charlotte ending Asuka's streak remains a terrible idea. Asuka should win here, but with the recent rumors of a certain return, I feel like she gets screwed out of another title shot.
Winner: Carmella
I'm not interested in this. Nia Jax going frmo sympathetic, bullied babyface to heel for no reason other than convience has sucked and made it hard to care about any of this. I'm gonna say Ronda wins and this main events, though a frustrated Natalya could attack her friend for a DQ finish.
Winner: Ronda Rousey
A series of good, but disappointing matches. Can we just face it already? Outside of the Zayn match, Nakamura has been wildly mediocre in WWE. I say he wins the title and ends the rivalry here.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
2018 Prediction Record: 26-17
2017 Prediction Record: 81-37
2016 Prediction Record: 72-41
2015 Prediction Record: 60-35
Money in the Bank Prediction History: 9-11
I am so excited for this match. The rivalry, like most involving Velveteen Dream, is so simple, yet so good. Their interactions have been great so far. After they were both involved in a classic ladder match at TakeOver, it became a singles match I was clamoring for. Part of me thinks Ricochet wins, since he could use a big one this soon. However, I'm gonna go with the Dream to possibly set up Black/Dream II in Brooklyn.
Winner: The Velveteen Dream
What more is there to say about this feud? It's the best of the year and was great even before Ciampa returned. Their Orlando match was damn near perfect. I fully expect this to be just as good, because these are two of the best. Johnny Gargano has two of my top five matches this year and he may make it three of five. I'm gonna say Ciampa wins and we possibly get a tiebreaker in Brooklyn.
Winner: Tommaso Ciampa
This has all sorts of sleeper potential. Lorcan and Burch are one of my favorite teams because they wrestle a style I dig. The same goes for Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reilly. Go in expecting a really good, hard hitting match and the Undisputed Era to retain. Anyone else think it's weird that Adam Cole isn't on this show?
Winners: The Undisputed Era
I've been calling for Nikki Cross as Women's Champion for such a long time. I still wish she would've ended Asuka's streak in NXT. As happy as I am to see her get a singles Women's Title match on a TakeOver, there's no way she wins. Shayna's reign shouldn't end so soon and I think she has a big match at Brooklyn (Candice or Kairi). Plus, Nikki may be joining the rest of SAnitY since they've still yet to debut.
Winner: Shayna Baszler
Just give me a moment where Lars either no sells the Black Mass or kicks out at one. Lars is amazing and Black is fantastic. This has loads of potential and should be the big coming out party for those who still doubt Lars. Black should retain, but it'll be the star making performance for Lars.
Winner: Aleister Black
Ah, Lucha Underground is back. This year, I'm only watching four wrestling companies and Lucha is one of them. I've been hype for this return for a long time.
When we last left off, Mil Muertes won the Gauntlet of the Gods, but it was stolen by a returning King Cuerno. The Mack won the Trios Title with former enemies Killshot and Dante Fox. Pentagon Dark won the Gift of the Gods Title and cashed in to dethrone Prince Puma. Meanwhile, the incredible Dario Cueto was shot and killed after losing the gauntlet. He attempted to make a phone call as he died to end the season.
Season four picked up with Dario in a casket and the man who killed him, Winter, talking with someone who we revealed to be Antonio Cueto, Dario's father. Antonio is now in charge of Lucha Underground, but they must move to a new Temple. It's revealed that Antonio put out the hit on his son, and it was him who Dario tried calling with his dying breath. Antonio took the key from Dario's neck and closed the casket.
To the new Temple, there was a ten bell salute for Dario. It was interrupted by Antonio announcing it was his Temple. He threw the photo of his son out of the ring. Antonio said he invented Aztec Warfare, which is what Pentagon Dark will defend his title in tonight.
Aztec Warfare IV
For those who forgot, this is a Royal Rumble style match with eliminations only coming by pinfall or submission. The three previous ones were won by Prince Puma (****1/4), Matanza Cueto (****1/2), and Sexy Star (****). Killshot and The Mack were in the ring following a commercial. With Dante Fox MIA, Antonio announced these two were starting the match and whoever drew number three would be their new Trios Championship partner! It's Son of Havoc! He's the new Dante Fox. Killshot was clearly upset with this. I appreciated Antonio's calm "ring the bell," a complete opposite of his son. Shorter intervals than previous years, at least that's how it felt. Sleazy Joey Ryan was #4, who handcuffed himself to the ropes. The debuting Mr. Pectacular came in at #5. During that interval, Killshot rolled up his buddy Mack to eliminate him. The pop for Lucha Underground Champion Pentagon Dark entering at #6 was nuts. Killshot tried rolling up Son of Havoc too, but took a Package Piledriver and SSP from Havoc to get eliminated. Pentagon dominated, elimination Ryan, Mr. Pectacular, and Tommy freaking Dreamer. Havoc got rid of Mariposa. Pentagon also eliminated Vinnie Massaro (who had a pizza delivered and took a Pentagon Driver onto it), the returning Hernandez, and Son of Havoc.
#11 Johnny Mundo changed that up a bit and they went at it. #12 was supposed to be Angelico, but he didn't show and was replaced by Ricky Mundo, who came out with some creepy doll. The Mundos double teamed the champion but couldn't eliminate him. Ricky was mesmerized by the doll and tried eliminating Johnny, but fell to Moonlight Drive. #13 was Fenix. He brought some of the best high flying stuff I've ever seen. Jeremiah Crane entered next and brought a chair into play. At #15, Jeremiah's rival Mil Muertes entered. Catrina looked incredible. Mil dominated, until everyone teamed up to cut him down to size and eliminated him. A disappointed Catrina walked away from Mil. The returning Daga was next, brought out by Kobra Moon. I'm glad he's back. Chavo came in at #17. Pentagon Driver got rid of Crane, while a Chavo Brainbuster surprisingly eliminated Fenix. End of the World sent Daga packing. At #18, we got King Cuerno to a huge pop. Dragon Azteca Jr. entered at #19. They both were great in their initial offense. Kobra Moon returned, upset that Mundo eliminated Daga, and sent out Vibora to attack Mundo. The final entrant was Marty Martinez.
With Mundo out cold, Marty pinned him. Dragon ate a chair shot from Chavo and frog splash from Cuerno to get eliminated. It was down to Pentagon, Cuerno, Mart, and Chavo. Cuerno seemed to have Pentagon on the ropes, but Chavo cheap shotted him and beat him with a Gory Bomb. Superkick from Pentagon got rid of Chavo, leaving it down to Pentagon and Marty. Their back and forth was great, with Marty scoring several near falls. Some of the offense he used was stuff I've never seen from him. Pentagon did manage to retain in the end, beating Marty at 31:33. This was the worst Aztec Warfare match so far, but it wasn't bad at all. They still hit on some good points and set up things going forward (Marty as a major player, Mundo/Kobra Moon, Cuerno/Chavo, Catrina walking out on Mil, etc.) There were cool spots and nice surprise entrants. It also worked to book Pentagon so strong, with about eight eliminations. However, it never felt as exciting or interesting as the first three and seemed compressed and rushed. [***1/2]
Post-match, Pentagon broke Marty's arm. Antonio Cueto then announced that Pentagon would face Matanza in a title match next week.
Overall: 7/10. Season four is off to a good start. The Aztec Warfare match mostly worked and Antonio Cueto is making for some intriguing television. Several angles were moved forward or setup, which is what you want from a premiere.
NJPW Dominion
June 9th, 2018 | Osaka Jo-Hall in Osaka, Japan | Attendance: 11,832
Dominion is New Japan’s second biggest show of the year. Last year, they just repeated most of their Wrestle Kingdom card. This year, things are different, though the main events just see guys from WK swapped around.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru [c] vs. Roppongi 3K w/ Rocky Romero
Roppongi 3K beat the champions in singles matches during the BOTSJ. SHO, YOH, and Desperado were great in the tournament. Kanemaru? Not so much. The challengers were ready for the champs, jumping them before the bell to turn the tables. That was kind of the story of this match. Roppongi 3K has become wise to the tricks of the Suzuki-Gun duo. They had counters for their stuff and managed to avoid a lot of Suzuki-Gun shenanigans. Near the end, Sho even got free of a low blow and looked to pick up the win with the Shock Arrow. However, Desperado countered, we got a ref bump and Kanemaru brought out the whiskey spit. That set up a Desperado rollup as the champs retained in 9:29. I enjoyed the story this told. RPG 3K were so close to overcoming from all they’ve learned, it just wasn’t enough. [***]
David Finlay and Juice Robinson vs. IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jay White and YOSHI-HASHI
This was here to continue the feud between Juice and Jay, though Finlay still has issues with the US Champion. Juice and David have won several tags in a row. YOSHI wasn’t a fan of Jay jumping Juice before the bell, continuing the trend of Jay being in CHAOS but not really being in CHAOS. Finlay took the heat for his guys. We got the great old school hot tag behind the referee’s back spot. Classic. The real hot tag didn’t have a ton of fire, but Juice was sure to involve the crowd in a lot of what he does. He has so much confidence in everything he does now. He ended up scoring the victory by hitting Pulp Friction on Jay White in 7:26! A big win for Juice as he pinned the US Heavyweight Champion. It should set up a title match, maybe at the Cow Palace. The match itself was some solid tag team wrestling. Dominion is off to a good start. [***]
RevPro British Tag Team Champions Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr. w/ TAKA Michinoku vs. RevPro British Heavyweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano
RevPro with some big representation. Ishii and Suzuki were at each other’s throats instantly. That was the main appeal of this match. Watching Suzuki and Ishii go to war. Yano was way out of his element and that played into a lot of the comedy he brought to the table. It ended up being a nice little addition to stand out in this match. Basically, when Yano was in, he was screaming and running. When Ishii was in, he was all about taking it right to Suzuki, even if it meant getting beat up. Sabre had some revenge on his mind as well, considering Ishii took the RevPro title from him. The finish was stellar, as Yano went to low blow Sabre, but he locked his knees together and blocked it. From there, Sabre slapped on a vicious armbar and Yano tapped in 8:42. Another strong tag match, though this was my favorite so far. The personalities involved made it work, while the intensity of Ishii/Suzuki was enough to have me dying to see their singles match. [***¼]
Post-match, Ishii went after Suzuki in the aisle. They fought back to the ring and began dueling with chairs. They ended up fighting at ringside by just slapping the shit out of each other.
NEVER Openweight Championship: Hirooki Goto [c] vs. Michael Elgin vs. Taichi w/ Miho Abe
I can’t stand Elgin, Taichi usually sucks, and Goto hasn’t meant much of anything since Okada Rainmakered him to the mid-card. Needless to say, I was not excited about this match. I will say, Elgin is in fantastic shape. This was mildly interesting to watch, as it featured some of the usual triple threat tropes we see in WWE. Like when one guy does a move and has to break up the pin because another guy tries to steal the pin right in front of him. Or the tower of doom spot. Stuff like that. Parts of this felt like an Elgin showcase since he was clearly booked to look the strongest. Just as Elgin and Goto began to do battle like their G1 banger in 2015, Taichi used the microphone stand to interrupt. He laughed like a villain, but his follow up offense wasn’t enough. The finish was cool, as Elgin lifted Taichi straight from a Gedo Clutch and into a Buckle Bomb. He then hit a second Buckle Bomb on Taichi into Goto and added the Elgin Bomb to win the title in 13:46. The first Westerner to hold the title. This was better than I expected. I thought it would be awful, but it was pretty good. A few too many obvious tropes were leaned on, but again, it was fine. However, not a fan of Elgin as champion, especially considering how folks have turned on him this year. [**¾]
IWGP Tag Team Championship: EVIL and SANADA [c] vs. NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks
The Bucks recently moved to the heavyweight division to prove they’re the best. Not sure what exactly they did to earn a shot except lose to the Golden Lovers. Still, this looked like one of the more interesting bouts. The Bucks worked better as a unit, having been a team forever, but the sheer size and strength of the champions was too much at points. Matt is STILL selling a back injury from Wrestle Kingdom, while Nick had his foot worked on and commentary sold it like it was broken. I wasn’t a fan of this match having a tower of doom spot, when we literally just got one in the previous match. Anyway, Nick’s foot came into play a lot. It stopped them from hitting an Indytaker and led to the champions hitting one of their own. The Bucks weathered the storm and survived a lot, before finally hitting More Bang For Your Buck and capturing the titles in 15:03. This was great. The Bucks have finally looked like a great tag team to me this year. They stepped away from their one dimensional comfort zone and have delivered some bangers. The selling was great and the action was fierce. I do think Nick did a bit too much with the bad foot, but that’s not a major gripe. Other than the Golden Lovers match, I believe this was my favorite Bucks outing ever. [****¼]
I do question the booking here. Before you Young Bucks fans get on me, hear me out. I think the Bucks should’ve lost here. Have their foot and back issues, plus size difference, present a new challenge. They relied a lot on their greatest hits and I think the better story would be that costing them. They could spend the next few months regrouping, win the World Tag League and win the big on in the Tokyo Dome. Just a thought.
Cody, Hangman Page, and NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champion Marty Scurll vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jushin Thunder Liger, and Rey Mysterio Jr.
This is a strange sounding six man tag. Marty, who kind of started this whole thing, was eager to talk smack to Mysterio, but did his best to avoid him. When he got his hands on Marty, he was all over him. He and Tanahashi did well in the early stages. Liger came in and eventually became the man to take the heat segment. Great spot for him as he was clearly the guy who would be booked the weakest on his team, but is so beloved that the crowd would sympathize. Mysterio and Tanahashi came in and did their things at separate times. Liger and Cody ended up as the legal men, with Liger falling to Cross Rhodes in 11:35. This mostly felt like a typical NJPW multi-man tag, except for the addition of Mysterio, who looked good. [***]
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay [c] vs. Hiromu Takahashi
It’s the best junior in the world! Oh, and Ospreay is there, too. Their match in February was fantastic (****½) and Hiromu is coming off an incredible BOTSJ run. When these two wrestle, I want them to give us a reckless war. Of course, in the opening minutes, Will nearly killed himself with an insane dive off the ramp. However, Will slowed the pace because he realized how much Hiromu thrives in a fast paced match. Hiromu got going, showcasing some heavyweight like strikes that Will did his best to fire back. There were some awesome spots, like Will’s deadlift superplex followed by the Burning Star Press, or Hiromu hitting a Destroyer and going right into the triangle choke. To counter, Ospreay basically folded Hiromu and dropped him on his head. That kicked off an absolutely wild final few minutes. Hiromu countered Strom Breaker into the triangle choke. Though Ospreay didn’t quit, it was enough to wear him down for a corner DVD and Time Bomb to regain the gold in 20:20. Hiromu lost in February, saw Will hurt his neck a few months later, and came back with a newly developed submission to take back Mr. Belt. The match played off that and featured some of the frantic action we want from these two. [****½]
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito [c] vs. Chris Jericho
The story for this goes back six months. Jericho came out in a strange face painted goth getup. NJPW Jericho has been billed a more vicious, brutal character. He showed that by attacking Naito before the bell and powerbombing him through a table and hitting a DDT on another. Once the bell rang, Jericho tried for a quick win, but Naito was resilient. From there, these guys went to war, throwing big moves in and outside of the ring. That included Naito throwing a piledriver on a table. The match went back inside, but kept up the aggressive nature. Even when Jericho applied the Walls, he held it and reared back as if he was trying to do more than win. He wanted to hurt Naito. Jericho countering Naito’s rebound attack into a Codebreaker was one of my favorite spots. In the end, Jericho used a low blow and the Codebreaker to surprisingly become the IC Champion in 17:16. I’m really glad this wasn’t overly long. The pre-match attack set the tone for a war and they told a great story. Jericho badly wanted that tenth IC Title, but also wanted to destroy Naito. They had a match fitting of that. [****]
Post-match, Jericho continued the attack on Tetsuya Naito. Poor Naito lost at WK and again here. As Jericho whipped him with his belt, EVIL hit the ring and traded blows with Jericho. He hit a lariat to knock him down and got the belt. Jericho left with his title before he could get whipped. I’m all for Jericho vs. EVIL.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship Two Out of Three Falls Match: Kazuchika Okada [c] w/ Gedo vs. Kenny Omega w/ Kota Ibushi
All their matches been grossly rated by Dave Meltzer. I have their WK11 match at ****¼ (Okada won), the Dominion time limit draw at ***½, and Kenny’s G1 win at ****¾. It’s tiebreaker time, folks. Anyway, the first fall mostly went as you’d expect. They gave us some of the usual early Okada formula, though I liked how Omega had things scouted. For example, cutting off Okada’s guardrail cross body with a V-Trigger was great and looked painful. Omega was out to control the pace, saying he had more stamina. They both went for their finishers, yet were unable to connect. Knowing he beat Okada the one time he hit the One Winged Angel, Omega went for it a bit too much and Okada had counters ready. One counter led to a rollup situation. Okada blocked one and sat on Omega to take the first fall at 28:47. There was a two minute rest period in between falls. With the lead, Okada grew cocky. He smiled during the break and acted like he had this in the bag. To be fair, when you’ve barely been pinned twice in two years, getting pinned twice in a row in two matches seems highly unlikely. Omega had to try something new, bringing a table into play. When he hit a double stomp onto the table onto Okada, the champion began making sounds like Shane McMahon earlier this year. Okada is obsessed with proving himself in each match, so he went to use the table back on Kenny and call back to the huge back body drop spot Omega took. Omega stopped it and we got a call back to the dragon suplex through a table that Omega used to win the US Title last July. Omega never let up, pouncing on Okada at every chance. He finally hit the One Winged Angel to even the score after 47:47. The next fall began interestingly, as Okada was still dazed from the finisher, so Omega quickly hit a V-Trigger. However, Okada hit a Rainmaker out of desperation to get some breathing room. The final stretch was a tremendous show of how exhausted these guys were and how desperate they were to win. Omega hitting a One Winged Angel while basically falling over was great. Okada was dazed and completely out of it. Omega eventually hit another One Winged Angel to finally end Okada’s reign of terror after 64:50. Is this the best match ever? Absolutely not. It is an incredible one that is a MOTYC? Yes. I think this was better than their WK match and much better than their last Dominion outing. They told a great story and for the most part, they paced the match very well. There were tons of callbacks to their history and they all worked. My only gripe is that it didn’t play off their G1 match enough. That night showed that coming right at Okada was the best strategy instead of playing into his hands. If Omega really believed he had the stamina advantage, he could’ve come out hot like he did in the G1. Regardless, this is a tremendous match and I love that they didn’t try something absurd like going 75 minutes for the sake of it. [****¾]
Overall: 9.5/10. Hands down, the best NJPW show of the year. In fact, I’d only put it behind TakeOver: New Orleans for the show of the year. There was no filler on the card. Even the early tags had meaning (building Juice/White and Ishii/Suzuki). All the titles, except one changed hands, giving the company a fresh feeling for the first time in ages, especially at the top. Bucks/EVIL & SANADA was great, Naito/Jericho took a vicious story, and the Jr. Title was outrageous. The main event lived up to the hype and it all added up to one hell of a show.
