BRM Reviews NJPW Destruction 2013

[Big Red Machine]

NJPW Destruction 2013 (9/29/2013)- Kobe, Japan

TAKA MICHINOKU & TAICHI vs. TIME SPLITTERS (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA)- 6/10
Taichi hits KUSHIDA with a chair right in front of the referee, then shoves the referee, and there was no DQ.

NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Rob Conway(c) vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger- 5.5/10
The only reason this match kept my interest was the possibility of Liger winning the NWA World Heavyweight Title.

CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN, TAMAOKI HONMA, TOGI MAKABE & MASCARA DORADA vs. REY BUCANERO & BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, & Karl “Machine Gun” Anderson)- 6/10

MINORU SUZUKI vs. TORU YANO- 3.75/10
Did this somehow become a No Disqualifications match while I wasn’t looking? Anyway, they used handcuffs a lot, and the finish saw Yano handcuff Suzuki to the barricade so Suzuki would be counted out. I didn’t care one bit, especially since Suzuki was being such a heel in the beginning.

MANABU NAKANISHI & YUGI NAGATA vs. LAUGHTER 7 (Kazushi Sakuraba & Katsuyoti Shibata)- 6.75/10
I loved the parts where Sakuraba and Nagata were in the ring together, and if I hadn’t already seen their match at King of Pro Wrestling 2013, this would have made me super-excited to see it.

LUMBERJACK MATCH: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Prince Devitt- 7.5/10
Very good use of the stip. I wasn’t thrilled with Makabe hitting Devitt with his chain, but at least it was in retaliation for the heels cheating first.

MATCH FOR THE TOKYO DOME #1 CONTENDERS CONTRACT AND THE NEVER OPENWEIGHT TITLE: Masato Tanaka(NEVER Openweight Title) vs. Tetsuya Naito(#1 Contender’s Contract)- 8.5/10
Freakin’ awesome match. Naito did an awesome job of playing the young whippersnapper challenging the veteran and that Koji Clutch spot was FREAKIN’ AMAZING!

IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs. Shelton Benjamin- 7.25/10

IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Kazuchika Okada(c) (w/Gedo) vs. Satoshi Kojima- 8.5/10
Awesome match. Especially the finishing sequence.

Another great show from New Japan.