by Rob Goodwin @REALRobGoodwinMatchcardFriday 9th March 2018 Kouraken Hall, Tokyo 8:00pm Match #1 - 6-Man Tag Team MatchJushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Cody & Marty Scurll Match #2 - 6-Man Tag Team MatchTrent, Toru Yano & Chuckie T vs. EVIL, BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito Match #3 - Tag Team MatchBad Luck Fale & Chase Owens vs. Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto Match #4 - New Japan Cup 1st Round MatchSANADA vs. Minoru Suzuki Match #5 - New Japan Cup 1st Round MatchTomohiro Ishii vs. Kenny Omega by Rob Goodwin @REALRobGoodwinMatchcardSaturday 10th February 2018 Aore Nagaoka, Niigata 8:00pm Match #1Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens & Hangman Page vs. El Desperado, Taichi, Takashi Iizuka Match #2 - 6-Man Tag Team MatchTama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Bad Luck Fale (c) vs. EVIL, SANADA & Bushi Match #3 - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team MatchThe Young Bucks vs. Roppongi 3K Match #4 - 6-Man Tag Team MatchJushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Michael Elgin & War Machine Match #5 - Tag Team MatchMarty Scurll & Cody vs. Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi Match #6 - Tag Team MatchKota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki Match #7 - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship MatchWill Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi Match #8 - IWGP Heavyweight Championship MatchKazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito For the 3rd show in a row, Suzuki-Gun were in the opening match and they showed their utter contempt for this spot on the card by utterly destroying the Young Lion at ringside, and only stopped in order to do the same to the oncoming Bullet Club team of the Tokyo Pimp Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens and Adam Page. This brawl lasted for 5 minutes and spread into the audience. Once the brawl headed back into the ring, it was all Bullet Club with Iizuka distracted and therefore neutralised by Chase Owens and Takahashi taking out El Desperado early on with a Tokyo Pimps Sit Out Piledriver. This left Taichi in the ring alone, and Adam Page made short work of him with a well-placed Forearm Smash for the win.
An interesting match-up followed. NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa took on the LIJ trio of Bushi, EVIL and SANADA. It was interesting for several reasons, firstly SANADA clearly had set out his challenge for Michael Elgin’s Openweight Championship on the first night in Sapporo yet was in 6-Man action. Interesting because despite being champions, the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship weren’t up for grabs, and even more interesting because the junior in the match - Bushi - with the aid of SANADA, managed to get the victory for his team with a Vertical Suplex on Bad Luck Fale of all people. An excellent match which did a lot to showcase the attributes of both teams, important as many members of this match will go on to take part in the New Japan Cup next month. In the first of three title matches in Niigata tonight, the self-professed best Tag Team in the business The Young Bucks took on Roppongi 3K to become the first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Match. Matt Jackson and Sho opened up the match and exchanged early blows, before the aerial assault of Nick Jackson began. Superkicks reigned down upon the Roppongi pairing, before Nick executed a 450 Splash. Nick then locked Sho in the Sharpshooter, only for Yoh to make the all-important save. This seemed to be the injecton that Sho and Yoh needed wit the latter especially looking dominant with a series of Takedown Magistral Cradles, and it was with the third of these over Matt Jackson that Roppongi 3K took the victory and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championships. The frenetic pace of the previous match left the Niigata crowd in need of some easy watching to ease themselves back into the show, and that is what they got next with 6-man action as the veterans; Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and Manabu Nakanishi took on the NEVER Openweight Champion Michael Elgin and War Machine. A standard match by many accounts with all competitors showing their strengths to a certain degree; Liger and Nakanishi especially working together well, the latter showing deceptive strength in lifting up Hanson for a Clutch Bomb. Liger achieved the pinfall however, hitting Hanson with a Tombstone Piledriver after neutralising War Machine’s Tag Team offense. After a heart-wrenching loss at the hands of Cody for the IWGP United States Championship last week in Osaka, Juice had an opportunity to regain some momentum and some credibility as he teamed with Taguchi Japan leader Ryusuke Taguchi against the Bullet Club team of Marty Scurll and brand new IWGP United States Champion, Cody. After a very tentative opening that consisted mainly of Scurll and Cody taunting Juice for his championship loss, Robinson snapped and executed a Pulp Friction onto Scurll for a close two count. Once Cody was tagged in, his arrogance was palpable, preening around the ring and tossing Taguchi around with disdain. Eventually however, Robinson was tagged back in, with Cody hastily tagging Scurll back in, a wise move as Robinson, fuelled by anger and resentment pinned Scurll after a Fireman Carry Samoan Drop. With his challenge to Kota Ibushi’s Intercontinental Championship at the second show in Osaka still fresh in everyone’s mind, Zack Sabre Jr. teamed with Minoru Suzuki to take on the team of Kota Ibushi and Hiroshi Tanahashi. A relatively quick match followed with Ibushi clearly keen to show his mettle as a champion. Sabre Jr. barely got a look in as the pairing of Ibushi and Tanahashi both took the match away from him in the blink of an eye. Ibushi’s Firebird Splash is still a thing of beauty but he refused to win the match that way, not deeming Sabre Jr worthy of such an end, instead landing the move and then Dead Lift German Suplexing him and bridging for the victory. A fast-paced and high-octane IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match between Hiromu Takahashi & the Aerial Assassin Will Ospreay doubled as the semi-mainevent of the night. The match started quickly and not once did it let up. Ospreay bounces around the ring, hitting Moonsaults and 450 Splashes seemingly for fun. Takahashi though proved what an unpredictable character he is. Despite being hit by an early Oscutter, and a Stunner, Takahashi rallied in spectacular fashion, catching Ospreay as he naively went for a second Oscutter and flung him into the corner with a German Suplex. Takahashi capitalised on this momentum, catching Ospreay as he went for a Springboard Shooting Star Press and hitting him with not 1, but 3 Time Bombs for the victory, providing LIJ with their first piece of silverware. In the most hotly of anticipated main-events, the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Championship was up for grabs as Kazuchika Okada took on crowd favourite Tetsuya Naito. The noise as the LIJ leader entered the arena was deafening. The match was Cage to start with with neither wanting to give too much away early on - both men understood the importance and the prestige of becoming the inaugural IWGP Heavyweight Champion. The pace soon quickened with Naito setting the pace, hitting a Pluma Blanca and a Leg Scissors Kneelock. He attempted an early Wheelbarrow Facebuster to end the match in the same way the pairs Tag Team match has ended last week in Osaka, but Okada was wise to this now and blocked it. Okada soon felt his way into the match, launching Naito into the corner with a Backdrop Suplex, before then attempting a Jumping Tombstone Piledriver, only not getting the pinfall due to an errant foot on the ropes. The match continued with much back and forth between the pair, Naito landing the first of his Stardust Presses before going for a second Pluma Blanca only to have it reversed into a crushing DDT by Okada. Both men had taken themselves to the limit in this match and the exhaustion began to show, however Naito dug deep and won the match with an extraordinary combination. Reversing Okada’s Reverse Neckbreaker into a Wheelbarrow Facebuster of his own, the LIJ leader, executed another Stardust Press before picking Okada up, hitting him with a Destino, only to pick Okada up once more to hit a Dragon Suplex for the pinfall and the victory - truly remarkable. Naito posed with the belt in the ring to the delight of the audience, as a shell-shocked Okada was led to the back by Young Lions. Only in a post-match press conference did we receive word that Okada would be entering the New Japan Cup in an attempt to stake his claim once more to the title at Sakura Genesis! by Rob Goodwin @REALRobGoodwinMatchcardSunday 28th January 2018 |
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