The final show in Japan before the G1 was yet another Korakuen Hall show, main evented by BUSHI hoping to make KUSHIDA’s latest run as IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion a short one.
Also on this show as the announcement of the main and semi-main events for each night of the G1… yes, there’s some tasty matches in there!
Tetsuhiro Yagi vs. Shota Umino
These two went the time limit yesterday, and we started out similarly, with Umino taking Yagi into the ropes for some chops, before taking him to the mat in a headlock. A clothesline keeps Yagi down, but he comes back with an armdrag as the rudimentary arsenals of both men came into play, as Umino’s forced to escape a hammerlock.
A toe-hold follows as Yagi’s returned to the mat, leaving him virtually helpless to block against an onslaught of attacks to the leg. Umino’s enjoying a lot of offence, but he’s still reliant on back elbows and bodyslams as he tried to get the win, and that’s where Yagi was able to come back, landing a flipping neckbreaker from behind for a near-fall as those countdowns became more frequent.
Umino gets caught in a single leg crab by Yagi, then in a regular Boston crab, before he hand-walks towards the ropes to force the break. Another Boston crab attempt follows, but Umino shuffled towards the ropes before he was flipped over, then replied with a dropkick and a back body drop as he rolled Yagi into a Boston crab as time ran out once again! Two time limit draws for these guys, and I kinda prefer those to a short match, as it tells the story much better of them having to find a way to get the job done in less time. Kinda like a story we’re going to get in the G1! **½
Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku) vs. Tiger Mask & Hirai Kawato
Yeah, Kawato stormed the ring. Yeah, Kawato had his arse handed to him at the bell.
Kawato gets taken to the outside where he took the Bret Hart chest-first bump into the guard railings, then a double stomp as Kanemaru laid waste to him, which led to him catching Kawato with a Boston crab in the ring as TAKA held off Tiger Mask. Eventually TAKA was outsmarted as Tiger broke up the hold, leading to TAKA having a spell in the ring, almost beating Kawato with an enziguri.
Eventually Tiger comes in and nearly beats Kanemaru with a crucifix, but TAKA breaks that up with stomps. Kanemaru tries to avoid a butterfly superplex, but to no avail as TAKA has to save Kanemaru again before Kawato set him up for a Tiger Driver. A missile dropkick follows from the youngster for a near-fall, but he’s left in the ring with TAKA… which won’t go well as he’s booted in the face, then taken down with a crossface… only for Tiger Mask to make the save there.
They tease some near-falls for Kawato, with a backslide looking like it did the job… but TAKA rolled up the shoulder at the last moment. My God, they’re having me believe Kawato’s getting his win on a random Road show… nevermind, a superkick from TAKA sets up for another Bully Choke, and this time there’s no help as TAKA repositions himself to stop a rope break, and force the submission. Not much of a match other than the continued teases for a Kawato win… which will pop the crowd when that eventually happens! **¾
Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Tomoyuki Oka vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Poor Oka stood out like a sore thumb in this trio’s match in terms of experience, but he started out hot, going after Kojima with a shoulder tackle that actually took down the bread lover.
Things turned against him briefly when Liger came in, as he needed a head chop from Nakanishi to save him from a Romero special, leading to Nakanishi tagging in and chopping away at Liger in the corner. A flying cross-chop takes Liger down again for a body splash that earned Nakanishi a two-count as Liger found himself very much on the back foot.
Nakanishi looked to go airborne, but ended up doing so not of his own volition as Liger sent him flying with a superplex! Tenzan and Nagata tagged in, with Tenzan enjoying a period on top before Nagata elbowed out of what looked to be an Anaconda Vice attempt. Some Mongolian chops put that right, before Nagata went to work with some kicks, only to fall to a spinning heel kick from Tenzan.
Kojima gets a tag next to light up Nagata with the rapid-fire chops, but an Exploder suplex saw Nagata instantly rebound as he then brought in Oka for the home stretch, which involved some Avalanches from Oka and Nakanishi. A powerslam gets Oka a near-fall, as did a belly-to-belly, but Kojima hit back with a Koji Cutter before decking Oka with a Strong Arm lariat for the win. Exactly what you’d expect here, and I’m not sure if it’s a good thing that Oka slotted in without standing out in this particular match. **¾
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Togi Makabe & Katsuya Kitamura
The first half concluded with the last of the Young Lions’ outings, with Kitamura tagging with another veteran, in the form of Togi Makabe. Kitamura made a beeline for Ishii, as those two started chopping and clubbing away at each other, before he and Makabe whipped Ishii and Yano into each other.
Yano’s response? To whack Kitamura in the back with a chair…
Still, Kitamura returned to the ring to trade chops with Ishii, then flat out begged for a receipt. Once Kitamura’s graduated from the dojo, I wouldn’t mind a series of matches between these two, that’s for sure! Ishii prevailed, knocking Kitamura to the mat before sending him into the exposed turnbuckle so Yano could get his shots in.
Makabe tags in and doesn’t take any of Yano’s shit, before Ishii returns to club at Makabe with clotheslines. It’s like two bulls running at each other, except one of them actually fell down for the lariat as Makabe then willingly tagged Kitamura back in to try and finish things off. All the shoulder tackles – and absurdly high leaps – sees Kitamura dominate Ishii, only for him to get caught by a German suplex after Yano hit the ring once more.
A Saito suplex gets Ishii another near-fall, before he and Yano get caught by a double clothesline from Makabe to level the playing field some more. Ishii catches a spear attempt, but somehow Kitamura reverses it into a suplex, before hitting that spear for a near-fall. More vicious chops follow, but Ishii decks Kitamura with a clothesline, and that’s your lot! That was amazing stuff – as much as I love the Kawato plucky underdog story, Kitamura’s sheer power is equally as impressive… and I eagerly await him graduating the dojo and becoming a big part of this roster for years to come. ***
G1 Announcements
We know who’s in what blocks; this time in we’re finding out each day’s headline matches…
July 17 (Hokkaido/Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center) – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. and Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi
July 20 (Tokyo/Korakuen Hall) – Block B: SANADA vs. EVIL and Minoru Suzuki vs. Kenny Omega
July 21 (Tokyo/Korakuen Hall) – Block A: Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr . and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tetsuya Naito
July 22 (Tokyo/Korakuen Hall) – Block B: Kenny Omega vs. Tama Tonga and Minoru Suzuki vs. SANADA
July 23 (Tokyo/Machida Gymnasium) – Block A: Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto
July 25 (Fukushima/Big Palette) – Block B: Toru Yano vs. Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA
July 26 (Miyagi/Sendai Sunplaza) – Block A: Togi Makabe vs. Kota Ibushi and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto
July 27 (Niigata/Ao-re Nagaoka) – Block B: Minoru Suzuki vs. EVIL and Michael Elgin vs, Kenny Omega
July 29 (Aichi/Prefectural Gymnasium) – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tetsuya Naito
July 30 (Gifu/Industrial Hall) – Block B: Satoshi Kojima vs. Kenny Omega and Juice Robinson vs. Kazuchika Okada
August 1 (Kagoshima/Kagoshima Arena) – Block A: Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi
August 2 (Fukuoka/Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium) – Block B: Satoshi Kojima vs. Minoru Suzuki and Kenny Omega vs. EVIL
August 4 (Ehime/Item Ehime) – Block A: Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr. and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe
August 5 (Osaka/Edion Arena) – Block B: Satoshi Kojima vs. SANADA and Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL
August 6 (Shizuoka/Act City Hamamatsu) – Block A: Togi Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii
August 8 (Kanagawa/Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium) – Block B: Kenny Omega vs. SANADA and Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki
August 11 (Tokyo/Ryogoku Kokugikan) – Block A: Kota Ibushi vs. Hirooki Goto and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito
August 12 (Tokyo/Ryogoku Kokugikan) – Block B: Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki and Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega
No surprises with what’s wrapping up the G1’s block stages then! We’re starting and finishing strong, with August 13 being the finals, also at the Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi & David Finlay
Tanahashi pulled a Naito to start us off, feigning a lock-up before tagging in Finlay as we had a rather measured opening series here. Robinson and Finlay laid into SANADA with hip attacks in the early moments, because… wrestling!
The match spills to the outside as the Ingobernables took over, with SANADA tying up Juice in a ball, only to turn into Taguchi, Tanahashi and Finlay, in a call-back to what we saw with Makabe yesterday. Again, Taguchi tries to tie-up SANADA, but he struggles and so Taguchi Japan try – and fail – to do so, despite guidance from just about everyone. Once that charade was over, things kept up as Juice found himself held in the ropes by his dreadlocks, only for Robinson to hit back with a uranage backbreaker into a side Russian legsweep after absorbing some blows from Naito.
They cycle through tags as Taguchi comes in and delivers some hip attacks to Takahashi, who’s then goaded into a low dropkick as Taguchi then snapped into the Three Amigos rolling suplexes… finishing off with an ankle lock as Takahashi scrambled into the ropes. EVIL had a little bit more luck, at least until he took an uppercut to the gut as Tanahashi came in to keep up the pressure with an elbow and a flip senton for a near-fall.
Tanahashi withstood some double-teaming before bringing Finlay back into the match, as he took down SANADA with his own double leapfrog dropkick series. SANADA then does a Riddle to escape a German suplex as Finlay gets battered with dropkicks, before the obligatory parade of moves ended with Finlay almost getting a win with a uranage backbreaker. A small package almost did it, but SANADA kicked out and turned a Stunner attempt into a Skull End, forcing Finlay to tap. Not too bad, but this was definitely in there in the plethora of “meh” Ingobernables tag matches. ***
After the match, Taguchi tried to make peace with the Ingobernables, who just kicked him in the arse and sent him packing.
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Taichi & El Desperado) vs. Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo
As you’d expect, the match instantly spilled to the outside, where Suzuki targeted Okada by choking him in the guard railings as Davey Boy and Goto traded shoulder tackles. Somehow things turned around as Davey Boy took a beating, with YOSHI-HASHI landing his flipping neckbreaker before the Bulldog used his power to drop him with a spinebuster.
That seemed to be the cue for everyone to head to the outside, where Okada was choked with a chair and had a bottle of water stuffed in his mouth. Yeah, we went straight to the Suzuki-gun shortcuts as Taichi whacked YOSHI-HASHI with the bell hammer, and this is becoming tedious. But hey, it’s Taichi, so what did you expect?
A clothesline and a kick in the corner gets Taichi a two-count, and it wasn’t until Suzuki tagged in that YOSHI-HASHI was able to get back into things and finally make the tag to Okada. Suzuki’s quickly dropped with a DDT from Okada, then a diving European uppercut, but Suzuki slithered back into the match, and took down Okada with a PK for a near-fall.
Out of nowhere, Suzuki catches Okada in a rear naked choke as the rest of Suzuki-gun cleared the apron, but Goto’s able to slide in to break up a Gotch piledriver as he ends up getting clotheslined to the floor by Smith. We’ve more from Taichi as I tune out, returning when YOSHI-HASHI’s left-arm lariat took down Desperado as the good guys opted to triple-team for a while. A Gedo Clutch almost won it, but Suzuki pulled him out of it before shoving him into the Pinche Loco (Angel’s Wings) as Desperado took the win. This was a match, nothing more, nothing less. Totally skippable, and if this is what the Suzuki-gun G1 matches are going to be like, then heaven help us. **¾
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: BUSHI vs. KUSHIDA (c)
KUSHIDA started off well, looking to avoid a repeat of his title loss to BUSHI at Destruction in Tokyo last September, scoring a hiptoss into an armbar as BUSHI rolled into the ropes in the opening moments, trying to desperately avoid any punishment on the arm.
KUSHIDA busts out Cattle Mutilation early on as the double chicken-wing added extra pressure to the challenger’s arm, before BUSHI outsmarted KUSHIDA in a game of cat and mouse, leading to a tope that took the champion into the guard railings. Back in the ring, BUSHI started to target KUSHIDA’s head and neck with some headscissors, forcing KUSHIDA to roll into the ropes, but that didn’t mark any turnaround as BUSHI swiftly caught the champion in a STF after a missed dropkick.
A handspring back elbow did get KUSHIDA back into things, along with an enziguiri in the corner as he eventually took down BUSHI into a Hoverboard Lock off the top rope. That was the cue for Hiromu Takahashi and his pet toy cat Darryl to get involved… but a handstand kick knocked him off the apron as he willingly headed to the back. In the middle of that, a tope con hilo from KUSHIDA knocks down BUSHI, as do some running kicks to the arm as the path seemed to be clear for another successful defence.
Just as I type that, BUSHI counters out of a Fisherman’s buster and follows up with a swinging Fisherman’s neckbreaker of his own, before countering a roll-up DDT by shoving KUSHIDA into the ref. The lack of a ref means there’s nobody to count the pin once KUSHIDA hit Back To The Future… and no, Hiromu coming back to count the pin with Darryl didn’t fool anyone.
Somehow Takahashi is even more creepy with that stuffed toy…
A sunset bomb follows as Hiromu tries once more to kill KUSHIDA, which led to KUSHIDA narrowly beating a count-out to save… the match. Of course, he’d have retained the title anyway by count-out, but such things rarely happen in Japan.
Out of nowhere, BUSHI blasts KUSHIDA with a Destroyer for a near-fall, but an attempt at the MX is caught and turned into an Air Raid Crash, before the pair opted to throw forearms at each other for a spell. A Codebreaker to the arm of KUSHIDA looked to cause trouble, but that was nothing compared to the spraying of mist that helped BUSHI get a near-fall… and somehow avoid disqualification.
From there, a MX follows for another near-fall as KUSHIDA wouldn’t stay down… so BUSHI headed up top again, but his MX was caught and rolled through as KUSHIDA hit a second Back To The Future as he successfully retained the title. Easily the best thing on this show by a country mile, and perhaps the only reason to watch this show! KUSHIDA’s comfortably in the top echelon of wrestlers in the world, and performances like this continue to show us why. ****¼
After the match, El Desperado (of all people) hit the ring with a guitar… one Honky Tonk/Jeff Jarrett job later, and KUSHIDA was carted away as Desperado put forward his shout to be the next challenger to the Timesplitter’s strap. Well, Desperado has looked somewhat decent since the Best of Super Juniors, so why not?
I won’t lie – the main event aside, this was another skippable show from New Japan. Kizuna Road seems to have a reputation, much like December’s World Tag League tour, in being one that isn’t “must-see”. Save for the G1 announcements, the Kizuna Road tour was one that you didn’t need to see… there’s a little under three weeks before the G1 kicks off, and with the debut shows in Long Beach this weekend, it’s clear that this tour was just there to kill time.