NJPW Wrestle Kingdom IX
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom IX in the Tokyo Dome (1/4/2015)- Tokyo, Japan
NJPW JR. HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: reDRagon(c) vs. Time Splitters vs. The Young Bucks vs. Forever Hooligans- 7.5/10
Full beard on Bobby Fish?! WTF?!
A great, fast-paced opener with some crazy spots. reDRagon retain, but the Young Bucks were the real stars of this match. Perhaps more importantly, we got to hear JR say â€"Superkick Party,†but the tradeoff for that was that we got to hear Matt Striker open his mouth.
TOMOAKI HONMA, SATOSHI KOJIMA, & HIROYOSHI TENZAN vs. THE BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, & Jeff Jarrett) (w/Karen Jarrett & Scott D’Amore)- 5/10
Perfect for what it was.
NAOMICHI MARUFUJI, MIKEY NICHOLLS, SHANE HASTE, & TORU YANO vs. SUZUKI-GUN (w/El Desperado, TAKA Michinoku, & Taichi)- 5.5/10
What the f*ck is Marufuji wearing?
Oh. Wow. Look at that. Yano and Iizuka actually did something new. Of course, that was after they did the same comedy spot they’ve done in EVERY SINGLE MATCH FOR OVER SEVEN MONTHS. Thankfully they were mostly kept out of the match, so it was enjoyable.
UWFi RULES MATCH: Minoru Suzuki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba- 6.75/10
Most people’s enjoyment of this match will likely vary wildly based on how much you enjoy this style. Personally, I thought it was great. That almost-sharpshooter might well be one of my favorite spots of all time. Sakuraba worked over Suzuki’s arm. Suzuki, strangely, got very little offense in. I was expecting more of a back-and-forth grappling tilt rather than one guy selling a lot.
NEVER OPENWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Tomohiro Ishii(c) vs. Togi Makabe- 8.5/10
I liked this A LOT more than the standard Ishii match, and I think there are two major reasons for that. The first was how expressive Makabe was, both physically and verbally, and that encouraged Ishii to be more expressive. The second and more significant reason, was that they didn’t just do the same sh*t over and over and over again like Ishii usually does.
They told an awesome story of two tough guys determined to prove that they were the toughest. I loved the way things escalated from shoulder tackles to chop to forearms to lariats to finally DOUBLE SLEDGES (which was just such a perfect spot).
They announced a good chunk of the schedule for this year including at least one more show in the USA with ROH in May.
IWGP JR. HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Ryusuke Taguchi(c) vs. Kenny Omega (w/the Young Bucks)- 6.5/10
JR yelled at Striker for saying that Kenny â€"swerved†the fans instead of saying he â€"lied†to them, which made me smile. Then JR pissed me off by started talking about â€"the genre†of pro wrestling.
Omega appears to have died his hair grey and black. This is even less okay with me than Bobby Fish’s full beard obscuring his villainous mustache.
Kenny picked up some sort of aerosol spray and Striker proceeded to calmly explain to us what it was, not even reacting to the fact that KENNY SPRAYED IT TAGUCHI’S EYES while he was talking.
IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM TITLES: The Bullet Club (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson)(c) (w/Tama Tonga & The Bullet Babe) vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata- 7/10
The Bullet Babe is Amber O’Neal, who is Gallows’ wife. The match was great and some very good near falls, and more importantly, Goto and Shibata finally beating the Bullet Club felt like a big moment.
AJ STYLES vs. TETSUYA NAITO- 7.75/10
AJ worked over Naito’s knee. Naito could have sold it better. Naito never really came off like he had much of a chance. He didn’t get any good nearfalls and AJ never really seemed like he was in danger.
IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs. Kota Ibushi- 9.75/10
Nakamura came out here to beat Kota’s ass and have fun doing it, but Kota made sure that Nakamura knew he wasn’t intimidated, and that PISSED NAKAMURA OFF. They had crazy moves and the storytelling was awesome. This match was AMAZING! An early Match of the Year Candidate. I would have given it a 10/10 if Kota had won, as him not winning made the story feel incomplete to me.
IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Hiroshi Tanahashi(c) vs. Kazuchika Okada (w/Gedo)- 9.5/10
Great story with both men working over a body part and a ton of awesome nearfalls. Tanahashi got INSANE distance on a High Fly Flow. Another MOTYC, but the Nakamura-Ibushi match was better. JR and Striker claimed that this was the first time someone kicked out of the Rainmaker, but I am certain that Tanahashi has done so before (probably in one of their 2013 matches). I also hated the way that JR made sure to constantly tell us that the High Fly Flow was a Frog Splash. It was extremely annoying.
A freakin’ AWESOME show from New Japan, with pretty much every match delivering what it needed to. Definitely a contender for Show of the Year, and it will be quite hard to beat. The double main event is the best one-two punch I have ever seen on top of a card aside from ROH Final Battle 2010. The English commentary by Matt Striker and JR was decent. Both men got grating at times, but thankfully it was never at the same time.
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Matt Striker insists that â€"The Young Bucks are changing tag team wrestling forever.â€
How? Are they adding new rules or something? No. I guess he could be talking about their fast-paced offense, but that would show a ridiculous lack of knowledge. Has he never heard of the Eliminators or the Hardy Boys or the Backseat Boyz (at least the last of which he must have because he referred to something as a "modified dream sequence")?
2. JR questioned whether or not a tag had been made. Striker replied that â€"That’s one thing you’ll notice here in New Japan: the wrestling will always triumph, so some of the nuances sometimes that we’re used to seeing- we don’t let it get in the way.â€
They’re called â€"RULES,†Matt. They’re not â€"nuances,†THEY’RE THE F*CKING RULES! What Striker just said is, in essence, â€"everyone is free to ignore the rules so long as what they do looks cool.†Remember, everyone, this sh*t is fake! F*ck you, Striker.
I think, at this point, I have spent more time typing how much I hate Matt Striker than I have watching the actual match!
NJPW JR. HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: reDRagon(c) vs. Time Splitters vs. The Young Bucks vs. Forever Hooligans- 7.5/10
Full beard on Bobby Fish?! WTF?!
A great, fast-paced opener with some crazy spots. reDRagon retain, but the Young Bucks were the real stars of this match. Perhaps more importantly, we got to hear JR say â€"Superkick Party,†but the tradeoff for that was that we got to hear Matt Striker open his mouth.
TOMOAKI HONMA, SATOSHI KOJIMA, & HIROYOSHI TENZAN vs. THE BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, & Jeff Jarrett) (w/Karen Jarrett & Scott D’Amore)- 5/10
Perfect for what it was.
NAOMICHI MARUFUJI, MIKEY NICHOLLS, SHANE HASTE, & TORU YANO vs. SUZUKI-GUN (w/El Desperado, TAKA Michinoku, & Taichi)- 5.5/10
What the f*ck is Marufuji wearing?
Oh. Wow. Look at that. Yano and Iizuka actually did something new. Of course, that was after they did the same comedy spot they’ve done in EVERY SINGLE MATCH FOR OVER SEVEN MONTHS. Thankfully they were mostly kept out of the match, so it was enjoyable.
UWFi RULES MATCH: Minoru Suzuki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba- 6.75/10
Most people’s enjoyment of this match will likely vary wildly based on how much you enjoy this style. Personally, I thought it was great. That almost-sharpshooter might well be one of my favorite spots of all time. Sakuraba worked over Suzuki’s arm. Suzuki, strangely, got very little offense in. I was expecting more of a back-and-forth grappling tilt rather than one guy selling a lot.
NEVER OPENWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Tomohiro Ishii(c) vs. Togi Makabe- 8.5/10
I liked this A LOT more than the standard Ishii match, and I think there are two major reasons for that. The first was how expressive Makabe was, both physically and verbally, and that encouraged Ishii to be more expressive. The second and more significant reason, was that they didn’t just do the same sh*t over and over and over again like Ishii usually does.
They told an awesome story of two tough guys determined to prove that they were the toughest. I loved the way things escalated from shoulder tackles to chop to forearms to lariats to finally DOUBLE SLEDGES (which was just such a perfect spot).
They announced a good chunk of the schedule for this year including at least one more show in the USA with ROH in May.
IWGP JR. HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Ryusuke Taguchi(c) vs. Kenny Omega (w/the Young Bucks)- 6.5/10
JR yelled at Striker for saying that Kenny â€"swerved†the fans instead of saying he â€"lied†to them, which made me smile. Then JR pissed me off by started talking about â€"the genre†of pro wrestling.
Omega appears to have died his hair grey and black. This is even less okay with me than Bobby Fish’s full beard obscuring his villainous mustache.
Kenny picked up some sort of aerosol spray and Striker proceeded to calmly explain to us what it was, not even reacting to the fact that KENNY SPRAYED IT TAGUCHI’S EYES while he was talking.
IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM TITLES: The Bullet Club (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson)(c) (w/Tama Tonga & The Bullet Babe) vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata- 7/10
The Bullet Babe is Amber O’Neal, who is Gallows’ wife. The match was great and some very good near falls, and more importantly, Goto and Shibata finally beating the Bullet Club felt like a big moment.
AJ STYLES vs. TETSUYA NAITO- 7.75/10
AJ worked over Naito’s knee. Naito could have sold it better. Naito never really came off like he had much of a chance. He didn’t get any good nearfalls and AJ never really seemed like he was in danger.
IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs. Kota Ibushi- 9.75/10
Nakamura came out here to beat Kota’s ass and have fun doing it, but Kota made sure that Nakamura knew he wasn’t intimidated, and that PISSED NAKAMURA OFF. They had crazy moves and the storytelling was awesome. This match was AMAZING! An early Match of the Year Candidate. I would have given it a 10/10 if Kota had won, as him not winning made the story feel incomplete to me.
IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Hiroshi Tanahashi(c) vs. Kazuchika Okada (w/Gedo)- 9.5/10
Great story with both men working over a body part and a ton of awesome nearfalls. Tanahashi got INSANE distance on a High Fly Flow. Another MOTYC, but the Nakamura-Ibushi match was better. JR and Striker claimed that this was the first time someone kicked out of the Rainmaker, but I am certain that Tanahashi has done so before (probably in one of their 2013 matches). I also hated the way that JR made sure to constantly tell us that the High Fly Flow was a Frog Splash. It was extremely annoying.
A freakin’ AWESOME show from New Japan, with pretty much every match delivering what it needed to. Definitely a contender for Show of the Year, and it will be quite hard to beat. The double main event is the best one-two punch I have ever seen on top of a card aside from ROH Final Battle 2010. The English commentary by Matt Striker and JR was decent. Both men got grating at times, but thankfully it was never at the same time.
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Matt Striker insists that â€"The Young Bucks are changing tag team wrestling forever.â€
How? Are they adding new rules or something? No. I guess he could be talking about their fast-paced offense, but that would show a ridiculous lack of knowledge. Has he never heard of the Eliminators or the Hardy Boys or the Backseat Boyz (at least the last of which he must have because he referred to something as a "modified dream sequence")?
2. JR questioned whether or not a tag had been made. Striker replied that â€"That’s one thing you’ll notice here in New Japan: the wrestling will always triumph, so some of the nuances sometimes that we’re used to seeing- we don’t let it get in the way.â€
They’re called â€"RULES,†Matt. They’re not â€"nuances,†THEY’RE THE F*CKING RULES! What Striker just said is, in essence, â€"everyone is free to ignore the rules so long as what they do looks cool.†Remember, everyone, this sh*t is fake! F*ck you, Striker.
I think, at this point, I have spent more time typing how much I hate Matt Striker than I have watching the actual match!