In the words of Muhammad, the title of this show is "a bit on the nose isn't it?"
It's the first Destruction show in three days as we gear ourselves towards the US show at the end of the month and October's King of Pro Wrestling.
This show felt very much like a precursor for greater things to come but it did deliver a brilliant main event and lots of talking points and character building, which I love. Without the narrative, the moves mean little after all...
KUSHIDA, LIGER & TIGER MASK v ROPPONGI 3K
All six of these men took part in last week's British J Cup which gets a mention on air and as a UK fan, it is great to hear Rev Pro getting the rub thanks to their arrangements with the Japanese giants.
Commentary then go on to discuss the four man tournament for the vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship due to the horrific Hiromu Takahashi injury, featuring the four previous holders of the title.
Roppongi play the heels here against the much loved legends, with a chickenshit sneaky heel style led by Romero. Liger can still hang with the others despite being 53 years old, which is mad when you consider he is the same age as The Undertaker!
KUSHIDA is so smooth with everything he does, whilst on the other team Sho has incredible strength and power and looks like he will join the heavyweight division soon enough.
Tiger Mask does not have a good showing here unfortunately, as he looked very good in the Super Juniors earlier in the year, with his offence looking slow and tired - despite getting the win with a tepid tiger suplex on Romero.
BAD LUCK FALE v HENARE
This is a return match from the G1 Finals where Fale absolutely destroyed Henare in under two minutes. There is a solid story here with Henare being trained by Fale and despite being promoted to the main roster, Fale treats him like a Young Lion still, showing no respect for him.
Henare attempts a new approach here by going on the attack at the bell and gets several blows in before finally knocking the big man off his feet via a top rope shoulder block. This actually causes Fale's sizable belt buckle to come undone... and unfortunately that means its feeding time for the Bullet Club OG.
Henare manages to escape the bad luck fall, but Fale connects with a thunderous lariat, turning Henare inside out and then hits the grenade for the 1-2-3. Henare's luck doesn't change, but he lasted longer and showed more fire than last time out.
I was surprised this was the only other singles match on the card and that largely the same outcome happened here - are we leading to a can't beat em' join 'em angle with Henare becoming the next member of The Firing Squad?
KILLER ELITE SQUAD v ELGIN & YOSHIDA
This is KES' first NJPW match in five months after an injury to Lance Archer. Davey Boy Jr is rocking not only Union Jack kneepads, but he also has a Union Jack shaved into the back of his head! Get that man on the New Year's honours list!
Kaientai Dojo product Yoshida takes a stiff beating to begin with thanks to Archer's clubbing hands and a Smith delayed suplex which gets me grinning thinking of his late father. Despite getting in virtually no offence, Yoshida shows heart by kicking out of a mixture of nonchalant and aggressive pinfalls from his much larger and experienced opponents.
Elgin gets the hot tag and uses his array of power moves on the massive Lance Archer which looks impressive and then tags the Young Lion back in. Yoshida finally hits some offence including two Shibata like penalty kicks before almost winning with a rollup!
Unfortunately, KES are taking no chances from here and after a running powerslam to Elgin from Smith, Yoshida is left to Archer who spikes him with a chokeslam and then a killer bomb for the 1-2-3. A solid showing for all with KES showing they mean business upon their return.
KES then beat up multiple Young Lions on their way out. There is a great spot where Archer allowed one to cross his path in a show of mercy only to give him the worst beating of all. What an asshole.
OSPREAY, BARRETA & CHUCKIE T v IBUSHI, OWENS & TAKAHASHI
The story of this match is that both teams are not on the same page. The Best Friends work in tandem with great body language and chemistry before Ospreay joins in with something more spectacular. Chuckie T is not impressed and palms him off, whilst Barreta simply pats him on the shoulder.
In the other corner, Owens and Takahashi double team Chuckie T for a triple attack but Ibushi - not yet a fully fledged Bullet Club member - refuses to partake in it.
This match is pretty throwaway stuff until we get the exchanges between Ibushi and Ospreay. That match has the potential to be MOTY. The pace at which they work and the chemistry they seem to have whilst doing so is pretty salivating.
Ospreay hits a Sasuke special on Ibushi and Takahashi whilst a dudebuster and double stomp combo by the Best Friends on Owens is all she wrote. The celebrations continue to show the Best Friends not acknowledging Ospreay, showing cracks in the Chaos faction. More on that later...
Finally we get a face to face showdown between Ospreay and Ibushi. Where do we want to see this match? Wrestle Kingdom or MSG? Let me know in the comments!
FIRING SQUAD v TAGUCHI, ROBINSON & FINLAY
This is for the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship, which has been won EIGHTEEN times since its inception in 2016! To say it is not a hugely appreciated accolade would be an understatement.
The faces are out in rugby gear throwing around an American football to add to their silliness. The fun stops as soon as the Firing Squad music hits, though. Say what you want about them, but they generate immediate heat through their antics and whilst they are to blame them for the Block A bullshit at the G1 Climax, at least they are genuine heels.
Their characters wanted to ruin the event and they did. That is different to a bad wrestler trying his best and stinking up the joint. The booking team wanted this reaction and they are getting it.
Tama Tonga decides to thrust his cock at every camera he passes on the way to the ring in order to show the lack of respect he has for the company and infuriating plenty of viewers at home in the process, I am sure. They are brilliantly disrespectful. I hate them and I want them to lose. Even against this whacky rugby team.
The match is based around the fun shenanigans of the faces and the jarring, viciousness of the heels. It makes for an easy watch as you cheer for the fun shit and cheer the heroes to comeback against the tide.
The finish comes when Tama Tonga rips off Taguchi's rugby headguard and hit the stungun before Tanga Loa hits EAT SHIT (I told you they were disrespectful) for the 1-2-3. I had a laugh with the antics of the faces and continue to hate The Firing Squad. Success.
GOTO, YANO & GEDO v TAICHI, IIZUKA & KANEMARU
This one looks like a toilet break match on paper... but this is a positive blog, so let's see how we go!
This is a build to Monday's title match for the NEVER Openweight Championship between the holder Goto and Taichi. The challenger attacks before the bell with his mic stand and we go straight to a crowd brawl between all six men. VINTAGE Suzuki Gun.
Taichi then grabs hold of the NEVER Openweight Championship and tosses it over the ropes and onto the floor as we get a close-up of the bedraggled belt. Nothing like the prestige of the NEVER titles.
Back in the ring Iizuka's muzzle is taken off! He bites everyone and everything including Gedo's bald head and his boot. Goto gets busted open hardway and then exchanges some HEAVY strikes with Taichi before getting knocked for six by an enziguri.
Goto hits his signature and finisher on Kanemaru but Taichi boots the ref to break up the count. They lose by DQ but he now has free reign to dismantle Goto ahead of their title fight on Monday. He attacks with the mic stand again and then hits a devastating last ride before using Goto's taunt to mock him, standing over his laid out carcass.
Whilst this wasn't exactly a classic, it certainly has me pumped for their match in Beppu, with Taichi looking a major threat to Goto's title.
LOS INGOBERNABLES v SUZUKI GUN
These factions have been warring for the past year or so now and have even had this very same eight man tag over and over for the last few weeks. It is all a build for the Suzuki v Naito match, so I am happy to see how it unfolds again here.
In a way this whole encounter is just smoke and mirrors, whilst the real show is watching Suzuki stalk and dissect Naito. A choke hold from in the ring over the ropes to Naito who is outside the ring is a pretty striking image, harking back to when Suzuki legit choked out Goto at Wrestle Kingdom.
Sadistic Minoru Suzuki is the best Suzuki and he was fully horrible here. Suzuki attacks Naito from behind with another choke as he rolls him out the ring with the hold still applied. LIJ take advantage in the ring as they win the match, but that is largely irrelevant to the main story arc here.
What everyone was watching was Naito getting destroyed on the outside, unable to fight back as Suzuki smiled that sick smile. This one is gonna get ugly.
Elsewhere, there were some great exchanges between EVIL and Zack Sabre Jr which interest me as I think they can have a great match down the line - perhaps a #1 contendership for Jericho's intercontinental title in America?
OKADA, WHITE & HASHI v TANAHASHI, MAKABE & HONMA
Despite being called CHAOS, this faction has largely followed order throughout their history since the leadership was handed to Kazuchika Okada. He is at the top of the food chain. However, since Jay White joined, he has made it clear that he wishes to de-throne Okada at some stage and return CHAOS to what they were to begin with... a tearaway force.
With that in your mind, the other build here is for Okada's do or die match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom this coming month against his long-time rival Hiroshi Tanahashi.
As the atmosphere ramps up with Okada and Tanahashi looking like they will start this match against each other, Jay White immediately blind tags in. It brings boos from the crowd and indignation from the CHAOS leader, Okada.
Honma tags in too, which is met with wild cheers for the man who broke his neck last year and is only just back in the ring. He immediately misses a headbutt. WHY? Please be careful!
Jay White begins to exert leadership in the match by viciously assaulting Tanahashi - Okada looks on in disbelief - knowing this is good for his chances of beating him later this month, but is unmoved at the tactics to do so.
White then has an opportunity to tag in Okada but slips his hand away and chooses to tag Yoshi Hashi instead. Hashi is on the front foot before being offered a chair to use by White. Decision time for Hashi - is he still on board with Okada's ways or is he open to new, more vicious means? He opts to refuse the chair and ends up getting hit by his opponents.
Okada is in to help the cause and as Hashi holds Tanahashi, the Ace ducks and Okada accidentaly big boots Hashi which leads to a roll-up win for Tanahashi and his crew.
Okada attempts to apologise for this, but Hashi palms him away and walks to the back alone. Had he made the wrong choice trusting Okada's methods over White's? Okada is then verbally dressed down by White and left to stand alone in the ring as his faction unfurls around him.
Even Tanahashi looks on in a concerned manner for the man who lost his IWGP Heavyweight Championship this year after 720 days at the pinnacle of the promotion and is now dying his hair red and playing about with air balloons. Is CHAOS a metaphor for the inside of Okada's head heading into his match with Tanahashi?
Does Okada accept a helping hand from White in that match for the greater good? Does he let White take control of the group and step aside whilst he concentrates on winning the briefcase?
This certainly wasn't a brilliant in-ring performance from any of the six men, but easily my favourite part of the show so far... what brilliant character work and props to the commentary team, who were excellent at selling the story without spoon-feeding it.
KENNY OMEGA v TOMOHIRO ISHII
Kenny Omega was well on the road to a perfect G1, and then he lost in an absolute banger against Tomohiro Ishii. The Stone Pitbull was the MVP of the G1 for many people, and he’s getting his rewards here – only his second ever IWGP Heavyweight title shot - in Kenny Omega's second defence as champion.
These guys had wrestled each other four times before this and had never had a bad match so I was expecting this to be very good, but 99.99% of me knew the outcome. New Japan don't really do short title reigns and whilst Ishii in my eyes is more than a worthy champion, their long term booking means that Omega was a sure-fire winner. I even made him captain of my fantasy nerd league picks!
In fact 19 of us went with Omega - Jake was the only one who dreamed the dream. Such a bohemain actor...
The match itself is easily the best thing on the show in terms of workrate, going over half an hour. There is no t-shirt Kenny here, he is all in.
Omega lands a terrifying double stomp onto Ishii from the top rope onto a table on the outside. They almost tell a story of Omega knowing that Ishii won't quit, but he may be able to knock him out. At one point I jumped out of my seat as Ishii mounted a comeback with a flying super rana! Odd Job did a super rana!
The closing stretch sees both men counter their well known movesets until Omega breaks out the inverted Owen Hart piledriver that broke Steve Austin's neck back in 1997. Terrifying. Luckily Ishii has no neck and he carries on regardless.
A big part of NJPW main events are someone kicking out of an insane move at one as they unlock their fighting spirit and this is no different as Ishii kicks out of a V-Trigger, with no knee pad, at one.
Ultimately, it is Omega's night though and the one winged angel does the trick. Post match Omega claims that he wouldn't be in his position without his Golden Lover, Kota Ibushi and that he has a promise to hold to him. More character work and build. Man, I love this promotion.
I would advise casual fans to skip most of this show beyond the final two matches, but I really enjoyed this one for the brilliance of Gedo's booking beyond anything else. Add on an Omega v Ishii main event and you have a worthy card in my opinion.
Congrats to Muhammad, James and Dom who all top scored here only getting one prediction wrong. James can never get Goto right...
Comments