The third of New Japan’s Destruction shows culminated in Kobe on Sunday, with some shocks all around.
#TLDR: Come for the main event… and almost everything else could be considered for the fast-forward button. Much like Tokyo and Hiroshima, the final Destruction show was largely skippable apart from the key matches as the concept of splitting one pay-per-view across three shows led to a lot of largely-inconsequential filler.
The Full Review: Like Hiroshima, Matt Sydal and Katsuyori Shibata were missing here. Since Sydal was part of the NEVER Openweight six-man champions, the entire team were stripped of the belts ahead of the match… with David Finlay subbing for Sydal in a slightly adjusted card.
The highlights of this show, going in, anyway, included the main event of Michael Elgin defending the Intercontinental title against Tetsuya Naito, and a wacky New Japan vs. NOAH match, featuring Kazuchika Okada, Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI and Jado against Naomichi Marufuji, Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge and Toru Yano. Odd because Jado’s the booker of NOAH (on the New Japan team), and Yano, of course, is a New Japan guy with a NOAH title…
Will Ospreay & Roppongi Vice (Beretta & Rocky Romero) vs. Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Henare
Notably, Romero came out wearing the Black Tiger Mask… Basic stuff early with Henare running wild on Romero and Ospreay, before he found himself cornered as Will put the boots to him.
Tiger Mask made the hot tag, which included him blocking a standing shooting star press from Ospreay before Roppongi Vice overwhelmed him. Beretta misses a clothesline and falls to a Tiger Driver, but there’s no cover as he instead tagged out to Taguchi, who laid out Ospreay with a variety of hip attacks.
Ospreay made a comeback, but a flying forearm was turned into a Nagata-esque armbar – and I really, really want to see Yuji beat the tar out of Taguchi… A Dodon was countered into a roll-up by Ospreay, who then got the one-man Spanish Fly before tagging Romero back in. Romero fell to a hip-attack for a near-fall, before Taguchi ducked a couple of enziguiris and locked in the ankle lock for the flash submission. A surprise result on an otherwise standard undercard six-man. **½
The cameras showed Ospreay and Beretta having a shot at Romero for tapping out so quickly, as they walked to the back without him.
Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens vs. Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan
Takahashi came out with his now-customary women to the ring. Compared to what they were like on Thursday, these two were a lot more toned down…Normally, I’d write something like “unfortunately, it went downhill fast as Takahashi had to wrestle”, but: Angle Alert Klaxon!
Throughout the tour, Yoshitatsu’d been running a Twitter poll to ask fans whether the Captain should stay or go. “Leave” won by more than a thousand votes, and despite Yoshitatsu being remarkably civil over it… the Captain attacked him! Owens and Takahashi joined in, and we have a Horseman beatdown. If these Horsemen were Paul Roma, Mongo and David Flair…
The bell went, and we got a slingshot codebreaker from Owens, a uranage from the Captain, and the short DDT from Yujiro, and the Hunter Club is well and truly dead. As was this match. DUD
Yes, Captain New Japan is part of the Bullet Club now, and if you wanted evidence that the Club are currently in mid-air over a shark… there you go. Even Finn Balor, founder of the Bullet Club, couldn’t contain his anger.
Oi! Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
Blasphemy @herocaptainnjpw pic.twitter.com/pdvCwnB4do— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) September 25, 2016
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Teruaki Kanemitsu vs. Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe
This started out with the ballsy Kanemitsu jumping both Honma and Makabe at the bell, before he went toe-to-toe with Honma in a series of shoulder blocks. Before long, Kanemitsu ran out of answers as he was taken into the corner and chopped hard by Honma.
Kanemitsu managed to make a tag to Tenzan after he dropkick’d Makabe into the corner, and that led to a series of Monglian chops for Makabe. A lariat from Makabe gets him a two-count, before Honma came in and actually landed a Kokeshi. Tenzan’s Mountain bomb quickly got a two-count on Honma, before he switched to the Anaconda Vice, which Makabe quickly broke up.
Kanemitsu begged to be tagged back in, so he got the tag and took down Honma with chops and a slam, then a dropkick, before knocking Makabe off the apron. We then switched to the only finishing moves Young Lions have, but Honma easily flipped out of a Boston crab. Honma deadlifted Kanemitsu into a suplex for a two-count, before applying a Boston crab of his own, which Kanemitsu broke via the ropes.
A schoolboy almost won it for the rookie, but he was taken down with a Kokeshi, and then a Boston crab as Honma forced the submission. Teruaki Kanemitsu was mightily impressive here, getting in a lot of offence that you’d never see Young Lions at this level. Hopefully this wasn’t a one off! **¾
reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
Simple stuff early as Nagata tied up Fish in a headlock, before telegraphing a back body drop and being met with some kicks. More of the same as Kyle O’Reilly initially struggled against the much larger Nakanishi, before catching him in a triangle armbar as Nakanishi went to whip him off the ropes.
Nakanishi powerbombed his way out of it, then went up top, but slipped and crotched himself twice en route to a crossbody on O’Reilly. Nagata tagged in and tied up O’Reilly in a cross-face, before O’Reilly fired back with a flurry of kicks to take the veteran down. Fish tagged in and scores a near-fall with a kick to the chest, before the favours are returned.
Nakanishi came in but fell to some double-team work from reDRagon, and ultimately reversed a double-team suplex, before Nagata and Nakanishi scored near-falls at the same time. O’Reilly got caught in an Argentine backbreaker, which Nakanishi turned into a gutbuster for a near-fall, before O’Reilly caught another triangle armbar. This time though, he held on as Nakanishi tried to power out, and eventually Nakanishi was forced to tap out. This felt a little bit flat to me, “just your standard undercard match”, since Nagata/O’Reilly really isn’t the feud they’re building to… ***
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships: Adam Cole & The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. Satoshi Kojima, Ricochet & David Finlay
This is for the belts that were vacated due to Matt Sydal going AWOL. Only two of the belts were on display, so I’m guessing Matt has the third belt…
Adam Cole insisted that he start with Kojima, and he got his wish… he repeatedly stomped away on Kojima in the corner, who eventually fired back with a lariat after getting tired of the “Adam Cole Bay-Bay” taunts. Ricochet and David Finlay worked a nice sequence that led to all three of the Bullet Club team getting dropkicks, before Nick Jackson yanked Finlay onto the turnbuckles and crashing to the floor.
Finlay was left isolated for a while, and took an Irish whip hard into the turnbuckles as Cole and the Bucks frequently tagged in. Matt Jackson’s brainbuster didn’t go as planned… nor did Adam Cole’s… or Nick Jackson’s. In the end, all three of the Bullet Club team took a suplex at the same time, as Finlay looked to make the hot tag, except his partners were pulled off the apron.
Nick Jackson dropped Finlay with a roundhouse kick for a near-fall, before Finlay’s uppercut finally got him a hot tag to Kojima, who laid into all of the Bullet Club team with rapid-fire chops. After some help from Matt, Nick Jackson took Kojima off the top rope a la Ric Flair, before a missed superkick led to a Koji cutter.
Ricochet came in and cleared house, dropping Cole with a 619 into the corner, before taking an enziguiri from Cole. Ricochet hit an Ace crusher of his own, then went flying with a tope con hilo into Cole and the Young Bucks in the aisle. Another sequence ended with an uppercut from Finlay, then a standing shooting star press onto Matt Jackson for a near-fall, but Ricochet twice failed to hit his Northern Lights suplex into a double knee.
Cole hit the Panama Sunrise on Ricochet, but Matt Jackson only got a near-fall out of it. A ducked superkick gave Ricochet the chance to tag in Finlay… who went straight into a superkick. Kojima took a triple superkick, before a Shiranui on Finlay and a pair of knees got Adam Cole just a two-count.
Nick Jackson hit a senton bomb to Finlay and Ricochet as they were draped across the middle rope, before Ricochet countered a Meltzer driver with an Ace crusher. Moments later, the win came with a Finlay Roll was followed by a standing shooting star press, as the old champions (plus a change) regained their belts. Amazing match, with the shock factor of Finlay getting the win adding to it. ***¾
After the match, the Bullet Club trio paraded their belts, which led to David Finlay issuing a challenge for the Bucks’ IWGP Junior Heavyweight titles. So much for them merging the tag titles?
Another Time Bomb video starts the second half… it’s still going to be November 5th.
Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Mark Briscoe & Jay Briscoe
Bad Luck Fale’s taken to terrorising the ring announcers at ringside, now they’ve quit going into the ring for introductions…
Goto and Omega started out, but neither man was initially able to get beyond a headlock. Omega had more luck with Ishii and a finger poke, before Bad Luck Fale came in to absorb some forearms from Ishii. The match turned up a notch with the Briscoe Brothers’ dives to the outside on the Guerillas of Destiny, whilst Goto and Ishii struggled with knock down Fale in the ring.
Omega used his G1 briefcase on Ishii – presumably grinding the rhinestones into his face – as Ishii took it in turns getting chops and forearms from the Bullet Club. A running powerslam got a near-fall from Loa on Ishii, who finally overcomes some double-teaming, only for Fale to clear the apron as Ishii was going for a tag.
Goto finally gets a tag in and flies into Omega with a spinning heel kick in the corner, but Omega returned fire and got a near-fall with a springboard moonsault. Jay Briscoe came in and fought off the Guerillas of Destiny briefly, knocking down Tanga Loa with an overhead kick, before a blind tag led to a lariat from Mark and a reverse neckbreaker for a near-fall.
Fale flattened Jay with a clothesline, as the rest of the Bullet Club joined in for avalanche moves. Tama Tonga failed with a Gun Stun, as the ring filled up for an indyriffic parade of moves, ending with the Gun Stun, before the elevated assisted DDT got the win. This was a decent enough mixed tag, with the Guerillas/Briscoes feud the clear one being signposted to. ***¼
EVIL, BUSHI & SANADA vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA & Juice Robinson
Good stuff early on as SANADA and Tanahashi started us off, before we segued into a rematch of sorts from last week, with BUSHI and KUSHIDA locking up. So many all-caps…
KUSHIDA had BUSHI’s number for a while, before the babyfaces combined to hit a triple dropkick on the junior heavyweight champion for a near-fall. Regardless, BUSHI came back with a tope that sent KUSHIDA into the barriers, as everyone else paired off around the ring. Juice Robinson nearly broke the crowd barriers with an Irish whip, and then things calmed down for a bit.
A back senton from EVIL got him a near-fall over KUSHIDA, who made a brief comeback… except none of his partners were able to be tagged in. BUSHI came in and choked KUSHIDA with his t-shirt, but a back suplex freed the former champion. Finally, Tanahashi came in and took down EVIL, but SANADA jumped in… and promptly got dispatched as EVIL took a Dragon screw.
All three Ingobernables were caught in simultaneous submissions, with a Cloverleaf, Hoverboard lock and abdominal stretch being responsible. EVIL dumped Tanahashi with a spinning sidewalk slam, before a SANADA dropkick took Hiroshi down also.
Tanahashi countered a Skull End with the Roll The Dice, as Robinson took care of SANADA with a cannonball dive in the corner. EVIL was dropped with a spinebuster, before planchas from Tanahashi and KUSHIDA left it with just Robinson and SANADA in the ring. A crossbody gets Juice a two-count, but SANADA rolled into a Skull End. Tanahashi slipped in with one of his own, before a missile dropkick put paid to him.
After a brief parade of moves, Robinson and SANADA teased kitting TKOs, before EVIL scored with a lariat. Moments later, a TKO got SANADA a near-fall, as he then caught Juice in a Skull End to force the submission. Another fun, but unremarkable undercard tag match. I wouldn’t normally complain, but these Destruction shows have been full of these. ***½
Naomichi Marufuji, Toru Yano, Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge vs. Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, Gedo & Jado
A really wonky-looking match here, with the NOAH booker on the New Japan team, and a New Japan guy on the NOAH team. Okay then… Although when you paint it as “Junior and Heavyweight tag team champions” on one team, it makes a lot more sense!
Okada and Marufuji started against each other, teasing their future IWGP title match at next month’s King of Pro Wrestling event. That then segued to Kotoge and Jado, as Gedo & Jado are next up for the GHC Junior tag titles. Is the NOAH junior tag division that weak?! Kotoge hung Jado over the ropes with some headscissors, before Gedo came in to take down Kotoge with a back kick and a slap.
Gedo fell to a roll-through Ace crusher from Kotoge after he’d had his eye poked, and the rest of the teams ended up fighting around ringside, making copious use of the crowd barriers. Toru Yano removed a turnbuckle padding and whipped Gedo into there, before Daisuke Harada tagged into keep up the offence.
Marufuji tagged in and chopped Gedo so hard that we got a “shit!” from Milano Collection AT on commentary. Kotoge came close with a big splash off the top onto Gedo, before Jado finally came in for a save, as he and Gedo eventually took down their foes with a superkick and clothesline respectively.
Okada came back in with Marufuji for a spell, with the latter getting caught in an inverted figure four. After aborting a top rope elbow drop, Marufuji lit-up Okada with a flurry of kicks, before a cartwheel dropkick set up for a Shiranui attempt, which was blocked and eventually culminated in a dropkick from Okada.
YOSHI-HASHI and Toru Yano came in to put the brakes on things… with Yano literally doing so with his “brake” spot. A flipping neckbreaker takes down Yano, as a DDT got YOSHI-HASHI a two-count. Harada delivered an impressive overhead belly-to-belly on YOSHI-HASHI, before a drop-toe hold into a knee lift got the NOAH pairing a shot on YOSHI-HASHI.
The ring filled up for another sequence, ending with a knee-lift from Marufuji on Okada, before YOSHI-HASHI ate another hiptoss into a knee-lift. He fired back with a lariat on Harada for a near-fall, before a back cracker and a pumphandle driver got him the win. Entertaining tag to keep the NOAH/New Japan storyline ticking along, but this was a classic “building to future matches” stuff out of New Japan. ***¾
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin (c)
Going over half an hour long, I’m not about to break this down move for move… what I will say is: it’s up there with the better matches of the year. At least on par with their encounter early in this year’s G1!
After a fairly standard opening, Naito stalled for time as he rolled in and out of the ring, only to get drilled with a kick on the apron. Naito then started to work over Elgin’s knee, continuing the story that’d been told throughout this Destruction tour, including a dropkick off the apron onto the barricade, after Naito’d trapped Elgin’s knee
Elgin made a comeback, then proceeded to squash Naito in the corner, before Naito fought out of a suplex and tried for a Dragon screw. A dropkick to the knee missed, as Elgin ended up with a press slam for a near-fall on Naito. Despite a series of lariats, Naito wouldn’t go down, before an enziguiri finally put the challenger on the mat, with a deadlift bridging German suplex getting a near-fall for Elgin.
That spell of offense ended when Naito again trapped the leg and dropkicked Elgin’s knee in the ropes, before Naito targeted the joint with a figure four. Elgin blocked a tornado DDT and switched it into a Falcon arrow, before launching into a trio of rolling German suplexes to put Naito down once more. A missile dropkick from Naito was switched into a folding powerbomb that got Elgin a near-fall, only for Elgin to go airborne himself and miss a big splash.
After nailing a tornado DDT, Naito scored another near-fall, before a top rope ‘rana succeeded at the second attempt. That was followed with a reverse ‘rana for another two count, as he was then forced to crawl to the ropes to break an inverted figure four submission.
Elgin dropped Naito with a death valley driver on the apron, before the pair beat the count, only for Naito to be brought back into the ring with a deadlift super Falcon arrow. Naito grabbed the referee to try and block a powerbomb, but that only ended in a ref bump as Red Shoes spilled to the outside… and here comes the run ins!
EVIL and BUSHI snuck in through the aisle, before KUSHIDA and Hiroshi Tanahashi ran in to make the save. SANADA regained the advantage for Los Ingobernables, as EVIL took out Tanahashi with the STO. BUSHI took the green mist as Tanahashi was locked in the Skull End, before Elgin put paid to EVIL and SANADA with the Samoan drop/fallaway slam combo.
BUSHI was dispatched courtesy of a powerbomb to the outside, before Naito almost snatched the title with a Destino! A second Destino was caught and turned into a sit-out side slam for a near-fall. Elgin almost had it won again after a massive lariat, but after taking a buckle bomb, Naito reversed a sit-out powerbomb into a Destino, then hit a second Destino that earned him the title. Once the interference went, the final straight of this match was phenomenal, and eclipsed their efforts during the G1. Outstanding! ****¾
Naito is just a six-man title away from holding every single belt currently on offer in New Japan… whether that becomes a thing, remains to be seen, but right now, gold isn’t on Naito’s mind, since he did the usual “toss the belt in the air” celebration to disrespect yet another New Japan title.
All told, this was a solid show from top to bottom, but creatively, you have to say that the repeated experiment of splitting a PPV card amongst three shows was a failure. Whilst Kobe was the strongest of the three shows, this was a trio of cards with a lot of skippable stuff, which is not the pattern you ever want to get your fanbase into.