NJPW Back To Yokohama Arena
NJPW Back to Yokohama Arena (5/25/2014)- Yokohama, Japan
JUSHIN â€"THUNDER†LIGER, TIGER MASK IV, EL DESPERADO, & MASCARA DORADA vs. TIME SPLITTERS, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI, & BUSHI- 7.25/10
Great, fast-paced opener. Lots of action.
YUJI NAGATA, TOMOAKI HONMA, MANABU NAKANISHI, & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN vs. THE BULLET CLUB (Karl â€"Machine Gun†Anderson, Doc Gallows, Yujiro Takahashi, & Tama Tonga)- 5.5/10
NWA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima(c) vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer vs. Rob Conway & Wes Brisco (w/Bruce Tharpe)- 6/10
TORU YANO & TAKASHI IIZUKA vs. MINORU SUZUKI & SHELTON BENJAMIN (w/Suzuki-Gun)- no rating. Okay segment.
Iizuka turns on Yano and joins Suzuki-Gun. Maybe I would care if I cared about either guy, but I absolutely don’t and am dreading their inevitable singles confrontation.
BAD LUCK FALE vs. TETSUYA NAITO- 7/10
I can't take credit for this comment (I don't remember where I read or heard it or I would give credit), but I think it sums this match up perfectly: "Naito dragged a good match out of Fale."
KAZUSHI SAKURABA vs. ROLLES GRACIE- 4/10
Decent mat wrestling, but Sakuraba kind of came off like a dick at the end, though.
NEVER OPENWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Tomohiro Ishii(c) vs. Kota Ibushi- 7/10
The middle of this match was great, but it was bookended by the standard Tomohiro Ishii bullsh*t. No-selling too often and for no reason, kicking out at one (or even before it) also for no reason. This would have been an 8/10 without it. He just takes crap from sh*tfest he and Shibata had in the G1 last summer and recycles it… which sucks because the whole match was no-selling.
WINNER BECOMES #1 CONTENDERS TO THE IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM TITLES: Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Tanhashi & Togi Makabe- 8/10
Great stuff. THIS is what I want to see out of Shibata. Actual wrestling instead of just striking and no-selling. The other guys all did their stuff and were great, as always. I liked seeing Makabe and Tanahashi start to develop some double team sequences.
IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs. Daniel Gracie- 7.5/10
GREAT mat wrestling. The winner had a staredown with Bad Luck Fale afterwards.
IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: AJ Styles(c) (w/the Bullet Club) vs. Kazuchika Okada (w/Gedo)- 8.75/10
FANTASTIC match! Great overbooking (presumably leading to Okada vs. Yujiro at Dominion), and some sick-looking bumps, especially from Okada. THIS is what I was hoping for in their first match.
Another great show from New Japan. AJ vs. Okada finally delivered like it should have, the undercard was great, almost no time was wasted on pointless crap with Yano and Iizuka, and they set things up for Dominion very well. Definitely recomended.
JUSHIN â€"THUNDER†LIGER, TIGER MASK IV, EL DESPERADO, & MASCARA DORADA vs. TIME SPLITTERS, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI, & BUSHI- 7.25/10
Great, fast-paced opener. Lots of action.
YUJI NAGATA, TOMOAKI HONMA, MANABU NAKANISHI, & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN vs. THE BULLET CLUB (Karl â€"Machine Gun†Anderson, Doc Gallows, Yujiro Takahashi, & Tama Tonga)- 5.5/10
NWA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima(c) vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer vs. Rob Conway & Wes Brisco (w/Bruce Tharpe)- 6/10
TORU YANO & TAKASHI IIZUKA vs. MINORU SUZUKI & SHELTON BENJAMIN (w/Suzuki-Gun)- no rating. Okay segment.
Iizuka turns on Yano and joins Suzuki-Gun. Maybe I would care if I cared about either guy, but I absolutely don’t and am dreading their inevitable singles confrontation.
BAD LUCK FALE vs. TETSUYA NAITO- 7/10
I can't take credit for this comment (I don't remember where I read or heard it or I would give credit), but I think it sums this match up perfectly: "Naito dragged a good match out of Fale."
KAZUSHI SAKURABA vs. ROLLES GRACIE- 4/10
Decent mat wrestling, but Sakuraba kind of came off like a dick at the end, though.
NEVER OPENWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Tomohiro Ishii(c) vs. Kota Ibushi- 7/10
The middle of this match was great, but it was bookended by the standard Tomohiro Ishii bullsh*t. No-selling too often and for no reason, kicking out at one (or even before it) also for no reason. This would have been an 8/10 without it. He just takes crap from sh*tfest he and Shibata had in the G1 last summer and recycles it… which sucks because the whole match was no-selling.
WINNER BECOMES #1 CONTENDERS TO THE IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM TITLES: Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Tanhashi & Togi Makabe- 8/10
Great stuff. THIS is what I want to see out of Shibata. Actual wrestling instead of just striking and no-selling. The other guys all did their stuff and were great, as always. I liked seeing Makabe and Tanahashi start to develop some double team sequences.
IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs. Daniel Gracie- 7.5/10
GREAT mat wrestling. The winner had a staredown with Bad Luck Fale afterwards.
IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: AJ Styles(c) (w/the Bullet Club) vs. Kazuchika Okada (w/Gedo)- 8.75/10
FANTASTIC match! Great overbooking (presumably leading to Okada vs. Yujiro at Dominion), and some sick-looking bumps, especially from Okada. THIS is what I was hoping for in their first match.
Another great show from New Japan. AJ vs. Okada finally delivered like it should have, the undercard was great, almost no time was wasted on pointless crap with Yano and Iizuka, and they set things up for Dominion very well. Definitely recomended.