Takashi Iizuka marked his retirement from pro-wrestling in front of a packed Korakuen Hall, with a trios match involving friends from his past and present.
Iizuka’s retirement was the “other announcement” that came at the same time as KUSHIDA announced his departure from New Japan. As you’d expect, it’s a very Suzuki-gun heavy card here, as English commentary comes from Kevin Kelly and Tom Partridge – the English fella that sounds like Louis Theroux who ISN’T Chris Charlton.
Jushin Thunder Liger & Yuya Uemura vs. Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & Robbie Eagles)
Ishimori’s defending his title against Liger on the New Japan anniversary show in two weeks, so you can guess the direction here.
Those two start off, with Liger quickly tripping Ishimori into an attempt at a seated surfboard, before he instead switched it to a camel clutch right by the ropes. Tags quickly follow as Eagles and Uemura come in, but it’s the Bullet Club who edge ahead, with them seemingly being more than a step ahead. After missing a dropkick, Uemura nails a second as he tags in Liger to Shotei everyone!
There’s a tiltawhirl backbreaker too for Ishimori, who then gets pulled into a Romero special, then into a Dragon sleeper for extra pain. Uemura’s back in to try and strike through Eagles, successfully taking him down with shoulder tackles as the Young Lion finally found his way through, landing another dropkick before he went for a Boston crab. Eagles gets to the ropes, then quickly slips in with a small package for a near-fall, before the Turbo Backpack (a backpack into a snapmare-like driver) drew a near-fall. Liger broke up the cover but was sent out into the guard rails by Ishimori, meaning he couldn’t make the save as Eagles got the win with a 450 splash. A solid enough opener, which did what it needed to build up for two weeks’ time. ***
Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi, Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji vs. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Toa Henare & Tiger Mask
Yota Tsuji and Ren Narita are here representing the Young Lions against a crew of more established guys… and Toa Henare.
It’s Tsuji and Makabe who open us off, with Tsuji slipping out of an wristlock… only for Makabe to go right back to the hold. Tsuji gets free and manages to hit some shoulder tackles, only for Makabe to reply by slamming him as both men tagged out. Tiger Mask elbows out of a tease of Ren Narita’s belly-to-belly suplex, then sandbags the Young Lion, who just slaps him away. A couple of rear spin kicks have Narita down, as does a slap, before Tomoaki Honma comes in to keep the momentum going. Henare keeps it up too, blasting Narita with a clothesline for a two-count, with Makabe returning to blast Narita with some forearms as the relative veteran team were coasting ahead.
Narita finally offered some resistance to Honma, only to run into a back body drop as Honma picked up a solid two-count, before he teased a Fire Thunder Driver. A dropkick instead from Narita stops the tide, as he finally makes a tag out to Kojima, who clears the apron and launches into Honma with machine gun chops, leading to the top rope elbow drop on Honma for a near-fall. A Koji Cutter’s next, before Honma fought back… and got clobbered by Nakanishi, who ran in to clothesline him to the mat.
The referee continues to have issues as Makabe has to clothesline Kojima and Nakanishi, which set up for a Kokeshi to Kojima before Henare came in and looked for a Samoan drop… only to take a DDT instead. Tsuji takes the tag in to POUNCE away Henare, then follow in with a high-speed forearm into the corner as the Young Lion was on fire. Problem was, Tsuji goes to a Boston crab too soon, which led Tiger Mask in to break it up as the ring filled… then empties away as Henare’s able to pick up the win with a uranage. This was a bit slow, but the spells with the Young Lions were predictably impressive. Exactly what you would expect here. **½
Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino
Commentary’s burying YOSHI-HASHI as “frustrating” – which was the angle they were going down after the G1 and before his incident…
Ishii and Nagata, who couldn’t pay-off their little rivalry because of the US Visa issues, started out where they left off, slapping the you-know-what out of each other before they teed off with elbows. Nagata tries for a backdrop suplex, but instead tries for a Shirome armbar that Ishii just rolled out of. Nice! After putting some boots to Ishii, Nagata tagged out to YOSHI-HASHI, who traded forearms with Shota Umino, only for Umino to take him down with shoulder tackles. Forearms from Umino pin YOSHI-HASHI into the corner, but YOSHI hits back with a shoulder charge before Ishii returned to up the ante with a single leg crab that drew Nagata in… to kick it away.
Ishii goes after Nagata, but they end up on the outside with Irish whips sending each other into the guard rails. Ishii returns to the ring as the CHAOS tandem used frequent tags to keep Umino at bay. Umino tries to fight back with chops… bless him. A headbutt from Ishii stops that, as a Violence Party made Umino’s day even more miserable. Umino turns it back around with a missile dropkick before he dragged himself over to tag in Nagata, who gleefully launched into a series of kicks to Ishii’s chest and upper arm. A running boot’s next, as are a series of kicks to the back… but those just wake Ishii up, as he catches one and replies with another headbutt. He’s got kicks of his own too, and a German suplex, before Nagata popped up with an Exploder and a Shirome armbar.
YOSHI-HASHI broke that up, drawing some boos as Korakuen weren’t happy with him… so Nagata just trades slaps before Ishii powerslammed him off the ropes. A tag brings in YOSHI-HASHI and Umino to trade forearms and elbows, with Umino sneaking ahead as he rolled YOSHI-HASHI in for a Boston crab. Ishii tries to run in and break it up, but Nagata cuts him off briefly… with Ishii eventually coming in to headbutt away the hold. Umino’s not happy with that, so he fires back with a dropkick to surprise Ishii, before Nagata returned to boot YOSHI-HASHI ahead of an Umino missile dropkick. That’s good for a near-fall as Ishii dove in to break it up, before Umino’s attempt at a Fisherman suplex was blocked.
Undeterred, Umino lands a German suplex for a near-fall, before YOSHI-HASHI’s superkick cut him off for a near-fall as the Butterfly lock ensured that YOSHI-HASHI got the win. Still unconvincing, but a win is a win, I guess, as we continue to build up to Ishii/Nagata at some point down the line. ***
Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH)
With Roppongi 3K getting a tag title shot at the Anniversary show, this is a shot for the former champions to spoil the party.
Desperado starts off by chopping YOH, but SHO comes in to help out as the next title challengers score with some double teams to turn the momentum around. SHO’s noticeably more aggressive here, using his boot to try and choke Desperado on the bottom rope, before he’s suckered to the outside courtesy of a low bridge, where Kanemaru was waiting for him with that step-up legdrop by the guard rails.
Kanemaru takes SHO into the crowd, who Desperado gives some similar treatment out to YOH, which just left SHO all alone as the Suzuki-gun tandem went to work. A neck crank from Desperado has YOH in trouble, before Kanemaru’s scooping reverse DDT led to a near-fall… then a camel clutch. Some choking from Kanemaru keeps YOH down briefly, as he finally began to fight back with some palm strikes to Desperado… who just rakes his eyes and nails a bodyslam instead. Finally YOH nails a suplex to get him some breathing space, but Desperado’s back first as he can only delay the tag, with SHO eventually getting the hot tag as he flew into Desperado.
A thrust kick stops Desperado, who’s then pulled into a splits ahead of a low dropkick for a near-fall. Desperado’s back with a spinebuster before Kanemaru comes back in with a big boot in the corner. More boots led to a Dragon screw from YOH, before SHO tagged back in and clobbered Kanemaru with a clothesline out of the corner. An enziguiri from Kanemaru drops SHO after he was caught with a knee from Desperado as we’re back to the double teaming, with a dropkick-assisted sidewalk slam nearly putting SHO away. Desperado holds up YOH for Deep Impact, but SHO makes the save from Kanemaru’s flying DDT, before a moonsault from Kanemaru missed its mark.
SHO stays in to help with some double leaping knees for a near-fall, before an attempt at 3K was stopped courtesy of a Desperado spear. He tries his luck again, but SHO dropkicks him outside ahead of a plancha, before YOH ducks a the whisky mist and lariats Kanemaru out of his boots. From there, Kanemaru slips out of a powerbomb before he runs into the 3K… and that is that! Enjoyable stuff that did its job without ever daring to step outside of it’s spot on the card. ***¼
Post-match, Shingo Takagi and BUSHI appear at ringside to sarcastically clap at SHO & YOH. Cue a promo, and a beatdown, as the champions leave their next challengers laying.
Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & TAKA Michinoku) vs. Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi
Sabre and Goto start us off, but neither man can draw first blood as they go tit-for-tat on holds as commentary ruminated about their possible entry in this year’s New Japan Cup.
Sabre manages to edge ahead with a wristlock that turned into a knuckle lock… but Goto overpowers him until Sabre just rolled back and reversed things. Back and forth we go into a ZSJ uppercut, before Goto headed out for a tag as we got Taguchi and TAKA for the first time in this match. TAKA cheapshots Taguchi as they were looking for a Test of Strength, before he threw in an eye poke… but ironically he ran into a hip attack before TAKA suckered in another hip attack… which he redirected in the path of Goto. The misdirection continues as Goto accidentally clotheslines Taguchi, which allowed Suzuki-gun to capitalise as a side headlock from TAKA kept Taguchi on the mat.
Sabre comes in to uppercut Taguchi in the arse. Yes. The referee refuses to count a pin from that, so Sabre pulls Taguchi into a modified bow-and-arrow hold, before TAKA came in and looked for a crossface… only for Taguchi to scramble into the ropes. Sabre’s back to block a hip attack by pulling Taguchi into some body scissors, which Taguchi tries to counter into some pinning attempts before he rolled free and finally landed that hip attack.
Goto’s tagged back in, as he suplexes TAKA onto Sabre, then lands a spinning heel kick to a cornered Zack. A Saito suplex gets countered into a takedown and a Key lock from Sabre, forcing Goto to get a foot to the rope for safety. There’s a discus lariat from Goto as he finally hits back, then brought Taguchi back in for hip attacks to TAKA, who finally ate that lariat from Goto as the new tandem looked to get going.
Goto and Taguchi work their way into the sushi pose, but Sabre capitalises by trapping the pair of them in submissions at the same time, holding Goto in a Cobra twist as TAKA nearly put away Taguchi. TAKA and Taguchi exchange enziguiri before a diving knee nearly won it for Taguchi, as he rolled through a roll through to the Dodon to outsmart TAKA and claim the win. Entertaining stuff, but I’m hoping this is more a tease for the New Japan Cup than any direction for Sabre’s next Rev Pro title challenger. ***
Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay
We continue the trend of “CHAOS and Home Team” teams here, as Suzuki-gun took on the NEVER openweight champion and the former IWGP champion in our semi-main event.
Archer shoves the referee before the bell, but we still get going as Archer and Smith get us underway. Tanahashi offers a Test of Strength, but Archer’s taller than him… it doesn’t mean he’s not big enough to get kicked in the knee though, as Tanahashi’s early efforts seemed to come to nought. A tag brings in Smith, who’d stopped obsessing over his red shirt from MLW… but it’s Ospreay he’s facing first as Will quickly experienced the size and power difference first-hand. Smith cartwheels away from a lucha roll, but can’t avoid headscissors as Ospreay faked out a dive… only for Smith to rush back in with a shotgun dropkick as the KES took over.
A bodyslam from Smith drops Ospreay with ease, and Archer keeps the motif going as Ospreay was forced to fight back from the bottom, only to get Pounced into the corner. Oh boy, Will needs to bulk up a little if he’s going to have much hope in his NEVER title defences… Ospreay’s pulled into a Romero special, then flung into the sky as Smith was having his way with him, following up with an effortless Stretch Muffler before a desperation roll-up got him a two-count. Somehow, Will’s able to land a handspring enziguiri, but Archer tags in first and looked to chokeslam Ospreay, only for an enziguiri to get Will free as the tag’s finally made to Tanahashi.
The recently-unseated champion Tanahashi catches a kick and drags down Archer with Dragon screws, before he ran into a Black Hole Slam. Smith’s back in to kick his way through Tanahashi, as the Ace was left reeling and on the back foot ahead of a stalling suplex… which he countered into Twist and Shout. Ospreay tags back in, but he’s still limping on his way to an over-the-top-rope 619 to Smith, then a springboard forearm before an attempt at a Storm Breaker was predictably stuffed. A deadlift German suplex from Smith is the retort, before another deadlift suplex was countered into a Robinson special from Ospreay, who saw his OsCutter caught and eventually turned into a pop-up powerslam for a near-fall.
From there, the KES took Ospreay into the corner for a powerslam off the middle rope… but Tanahashi makes the save. Ospreay’s forced to escape from a Killer Bomb, as Tanahashi nails a Slingblade to get rid of Archer… allowing Ospreay to target Smith with a Spanish Fly and an OsCutter as the former tag team champions took the surprising L. ***
Ahead of the main event, Shimpei Nogami appears on Japanese commentary for old time’s sake – he’d been a long-suffering target of Takashi Iizuka, whose retirement was next… and yes, it led to the predictable results…
Suzuki-gun (Takashi Iizuka, Minoru Suzuki & Taichi) vs. Kazuchika Okada, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Toru Yano
Well, the crowd loved Iizuka stripping off Nogami, for old time’s sake, as Korakuen chanted his name in unison.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan gets a raucous reception too as he had one last try to reunite himself with Iizuka… and he’s got another “Friends” shirt after his last one was ripped up during the New Beginning tour… but yeah, it led to Iizuka putting a beating to him as the match started on the outside. In the ring, Tenzan charges down Iizuka as he again tried to appeal to his better nature… then started throwing some Mongolian chops for the hell of it. Toru Yano, apparently the modern day curry man according to commentary, tags in, and just watches as Iizuka charges Red Shoes out of the ring… which means there was nobody to remonstrate as Iizuka chokes Yano on the mat.
Tenzan broke that up, but he has to deal with Suzuki next as a hanging armbar left Tenzan open for Iizuka to… throw him outside. More shenanigans as Taichi apparently has a chair, but we had to take Kevin Kelly’s word for it as Iizuka whips Tenzan into the barriers before he pulled out a chair, which he used to lay out Tenzan in the crowd – almost leading to a count-out as Tenzan slid back in at the count of 19.
Suzuki takes over putting the boots to Tenzan, before Iizuka tagged back in and began biting away. Yep, we’re getting the hits here as Iizuka wants some farewell snacks! Hey, even Suzuki gets involved before Taichi came in and landed some Mongolian chops that the crowd booed him for. A Mountain Bomb from Tenzan cuts those off, as Yano tags himself in… and goes straight for the turnbuckle pads.
Taichi commandeers a loose pad and whacks it at Yano as he came off the rope… then unties a second one. He takes too long though and gets stopped in his tracks by Yano, who then ripped off Taichi’s trousers for him. Taichi sold it like he’d been exposed, and quickly hit back as he tagged in Suzuki to make things a little more serious for Yano. Yano lands an inverted atomic drop before Okada got the tag in, scoring with a running back elbow, then a DDT for a near-fall on Suzuki. The offer of retaliatory elbows is gladly accepted by Suzuki, who followed in with a PK for a near-fall, before Okada tries to fight back. He’s quickly caught with a rear naked choke, only for Okada to counter a Gotch piledriver into a back body drop as he got himself free.
Duelling big boots left both men laying, but Suzuki’s up first to tag in Iizuka, who’s back to work on the biting. There’s more shenanigans as Taichi gets thrown into the barriers as Okada got free enough to catch Iizuka with a top rope elbow and… a Rainmaker zoom out. Okada can’t get the Rainmaker though, and instead gets caught in a brief rear naked choke before he dropkicked himself free. Another dropkick from Okada leaves Iizuka down, before he countered a Rainmaker with a knee bar of all things, trapping Okada in the middle of the ring! Cue more bizarre Iizuka chants, then an attempted Exploder as Iizuka was rolling back the clock… but Okada gets free and dumps him with a death valley driver. Tenzan tags in to try and make the most of it, landing Mongolian chops before he splashed Iizuka in the corner ahead of a suplex.
Conflicted Tenzan doesn’t want to finish off Iizuka, but he goes for a clothesline, only to run into an inverted atomic drop as Suzuki-gun triple-teamed Tenzan ahead of a sleeperhold attempt. Yano comes in to break up the hold as Iizuka then reached for his pouch and pulled out the Iron Fingers!
Tenzan elbows away Suzuki and tries to talk some sense into Iizuka… and seemingly Iizuka has second thoughts, but instead he gets low blowed by Yano, then tombstoned by Okada as Tenzan heads up for a Kokeshi (?!). Rather than pin Iizuka, Tenzan tries to shake some sense into him, before he draped their old shirt onto him as a top rope moonsault proved to be enough to get the win. Takashi Iizuka goes out on his back, as Tenzan didn’t quite get the happy ending to his quest. ***
Post-match, a teary-eyed Tenzan gets shoved away as Iizuka got back to his feet… cue more gnashing and wailing from a conflicted Iizuka, who eventually shook Tenzan’s hand… then bit him in the head. Suzuki-gun clear the ring as Iizuka gets a chair to re-enact one last memory, before the Iron Fingers laid out Tenzan as Iizuka then roamed the crowd for the last time.
Minoru Suzuki hammers the ring bell ten times in memory of Iizuka’s career as things go from strange to straight-out weird, with the camera focusing on the Iron Fingers that were left in the ring… which Taichi went into the ring to collect. Oh bugger. He’s taking on the Iizuka legacy isn’t he?
Well, as a show, this solely existed for the main event and the farewell ceremony for Takashi Iizuka… and as such, it felt unremarkable outside of that. The in-ring was solid, and ticked the boxes marked “build up to big matches” where it could, but otherwise today was all about waving goodbye to the Crazy Bozu – the main whose antics were reliably erratic and oft-maligned.