With Osaka firmly on the horizon, New Japan’s warm-up for Saturday saw the return of their elimination match – and the latest step of Jay White’s development as Switchblade!
Korakuen Hall is the venue for Monday and Tuesday’s “Road to…” shows, with Kevin Kelly doing commentary on his own. Something something “conflicting bookings” perhaps?
Ren Narita, Tetsuhiro Yagi & Shota Umino vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi
With Hirai Kawato finally having made his debut in Mexico, and Katsuya Kitamura seemingly with one foot out of the door, there’s some stepping up to be done with these Young Lions!
Narita tried to get in Jushin Liger’s face early, but he’s quickly restrained with head scissors and a Kimura as the veteran seemed to be keen to show his submissions chops. Did Liger get hold of the new UFC video game over the weekend? Tiger Mask is in to keep up the work on Narita’s leg, but the rookie’s back with a dropkick out of the corner before tagging in Yagi.
Some overhand chops lit up Tiger Mask, but Yagi’s quickly sent reeling with a spin kick and a DDT, before going for another Kimura. Okay, this has to be a rib, or a promotional deal. Yagi’s able to make it to the ropes, before landing another nice dropkick… but instead of tagging out he tries to throw more chops before running into more kicks.
Taguchi gets the next tag as he’s seemingly back from his, erm, “fractured ass”, and he’s also struggling as Yagi’s able to get in a missile dropkick before bringing in a fired up Shota Umino. Back elbows and forearms from Umino nearly put away Taguchi, as did a missile dropkick, but it’s the Standard Issue Young Lion’s submission that proved costly, as Taguchi had to hang on through a Boston Crab, only for Liger to break it up.
Taguchi misses an enziguiri, but he counters out of a La Magistral… only for Umino to try it again to come within a hair’s width of a win… but from the kick-out, Taguchi’s back in with that enziguiri before putting away Umino with the Dodon facebuster. Nice to see Shota picking up the Kawato mantle of “plucky, firey Young Lion”, and it’s pretty clear he’s the pick of the remaining crop. Decent match too. **¾
Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi & HIKULEO) vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Tomoyuki Oka
Commentary’s noting that Oka’s dropped a lot of weight as of late, in the name of “rebuilding his physique”. Unfortunately, while he’s in the “adding muscle” stage, he’s looking pretty scrawny, and prime target for the early Bullet Club attack, which featured him getting whipped into the guard railings by HIKULEO.
Oka’s kept isolated as Yujiro just booted Nakanishi off the apron, before grounding the Young Lion with a chinlock. HIKULEO’s back to elbow away, before a Judo-style throw shocked the Tongan, allowing Oka to bring in Nakanishi for some chops, and an eventual clothesline. A big splash gets a near-fall over HIKULEO, before an Argentine backbreaker ended when Yujiro got a low dropkick in on Nakanishi’s knee… but the veteran was able to return with a double chop as Oka got the tag back in.
A release gutwrench from Oka flung Yujiro across the ring, before he found himself able to suplex HIKULEO. Eventually though, Yujiro was able to bite his way back into it, as he quickly worked his way into the Pimp Juice DDT as Oka ate the pin. Pretty much what you’d expect, but the new-look Oka fared well in defeat. **¼
Katsuya Kitamura vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
The Kitamura trials series continues here, and Kevin Kelly advises it’s “not about wins and losses”, which is encouraging given his record thus far!
Tenzan starts out strong with some headbutts, but he finds a shoulder charge barely budges Kitamura, and it’s the Young Lion who’s able to send him flying outside with a barge. On the outside, Kitamura keeps up with some chops, only to get sent hurtling into the guard rails as Tenzan takes over. A Mountain Bomb takes Kitamura down with relative ease as Tenzan’s ankles become ever more painful to watch… as was the lack of reaction to a Kokeshi falling headbutt. Mongolian chops follow, as did kicks and headbutts in the corner, as Tenzan was breezing by the Young Lion… but a shoulder charge out of the corner provides a shock.
Kitamura followed up with another shoulder barge off the ropes for a two-count, then again with a slam for another near-fall, before the spear keeps those two-counts going. Tenzan’s able to block a Jackhammer, replying with a spiking DDT… but his attempt at a Kojima-esque Strong Arm lariat’s blocked as Tenzan came close with a spinning heel kick instead.
After the kick-out, Tenzan takes down Kitamura with a uranage before trapping him in an Anaconda Vise until the big man tapped out. This was pretty slow paced, with Tenzan fairly limited in his first singles match since the end of 2016’s G1. **¼
Suzuki-gun (Taichi, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO, YOH & Rocky Romero)
With the Young Bucks tied up in the ongoing Kenny Omega/Kota Ibushi/Cody stories, it seems like Roppongi 3K will be looking for new junior tag team title challengers. If we’re already at Taichi and Desperado, this may suggest that there’s a dearth of challengers…
There’s the obligatory jump start, with all six men heading outside at the bell, leading to Desperado rubbing SHO’s title belt in his face. SHO’s taken in and worked over as his back is heavily-taped, although he’s more nimble than you’d expect, able to pull off a leapfrog over Taichi, who grabbed referee Tiger Hattori to try and block a German suplex attempt.
Taichi quickly goes back to kicking SHO in the back, as he’s then flung shoulder-first into the guard rails – both the standard ones around ringside and the heavier-duty barriers in the stands. YOH’s not faring much better as he takes some chair shots in the crowd, and Rocky Romero… is getting used as a surfboard by TAKA. In the middle of this, Taichi’s grabbed the bell hammer, which eventually came in useful when SHO beat the count-out. SHO does manage to resist a crossface attempt from TAKA, before missing a dropkick as Taichi continued to put focus on that back. El Desperado pulls SHO into a Gory special, but SHO armdrags his way free before coming close to making a tag out.
Eventually SHO gets out to Rocky Romero, who pulls Desperado down into a splits… Desperado eats some Forever lariats, but he’s back to have a go at YOH, landing a spinebuster before tags bring in TAKA to help triple-team YOH. TAKA tries to distract the referee for a belt shot, but those shenanigans are averted as TAKA runs into a trio of high knees as the tag champions eased through him, collecting the win with the 3K flapjack flatliner. Pretty fun stuff all things considered, but I’m guessing this’ll build to something after Osaka on Saturday… ***
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Juice Robinson & Toa Henare
Ishii and Yano have been picking up quite a few tag team wins on this tour… and with EVIL & SANADA defending the tag titles against Hirooki Goto and Kazuchika Okada tomorrow, you’d have to think that they’d be in prime place for a title shot if they collect another W here.
Henare wanted to pick a fight with Ishii… which doesn’t seem too wise, to be fair, but Ishii just no-sells it and starts on the apron. Instead, we start with Yano and Robinson, with Juice just ignoring Yano’s shtick as Yano grunts his way through an airplane spin. A tag in to Henare quickly prompts a scuffle between him and Ishii as the match spills outside, with Juice having a lot more luck than his tag partner.
Yano’s keen to remove the turnbuckle padding from the outside as Ishii returned a beaten-down Henare to the ring… and yes, Yano instantly whips him into the exposed corner. Ishii and Yano keep Henare isolated, with the Kiwi trying to chop his way free… to little avail. Finally, Henare edges ahead with a shoulder tackle to Yano, before Juice gets the tag in, with a back senton keeping Yano down briefly.
Some Dusty punches follow, as does a spinebuster and a cannonball in the corner, but Juice can only get a two-count from it all. Things turn back around when Ishii tags in, with Henare quickly put on the back foot for almost a Lion Tamer-esque Boston crab, but there’s a quick rope break as Henare tries to chop his way into things. Robinson saves Henare after Yano’s tripped him in the rope, before serving up Ishii for a flying shoulder tackle for a near-fall.
Henare and Ishii trade headbutts until a big lariat decked the Kiwi for a near-fall, before a sheer-drop brainbuster finally puts Henare away for the count. Well, if you do dreadlock your hair, you’ve got to expect Yano to use it against you, especially when it restrains you for the finish… ***
Togi Makabe, Michael Elgin & KUSHIDA vs. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
Some day, Kevin Kelly will get the cue to stop talking when Togi Makabe’s music hits. Or they’ll remember to bring back the over-dub. One or the other.
Yeah, we have a jump start as Suzuki makes a beeline for Makabe, taking him outside and chest-first into the guard railings, while KUSHIDA and Kanemaru try to keep some of the mayhem inside the ring. KUSHIDA tries for the cross armbreaker early on Kanemaru, but it’s soon broken in the ropes, as Michael Elgin then held Kanemaru’s arm in the ropes. Turnabout is fair play though, as a chairshot from Iizuka leads to the match going back outside, with the camera focusing on Suzuki wearing down Makabe with chairs, before punching out poor Shota Umino.
A good rule of thumb for Young Lions: run from Suzuki #NJPW #njnbg https://t.co/4ULitIni5Z pic.twitter.com/JZ6W2DL0xF
— LARIATOOOO!! (@MrLARIATO) February 5, 2018
Suzuki stays outside, throwing KUSHIDA into the guard rails before throwing him back to the proverbial wolves of Kanemaru and Iizuka. It’s not long before Suzuki has a go with a knee bar, but KUSHIDA’s close enough to the ropes for an instant break… but those ropes don’t save KUSHIDA from Iizuka’s biting, nor from some sneaky armbars as Suzuki-gun try to decimate him.
KUSHIDA does find a way to fight back, but there’s nobody on the apron for him to tag out to at first… eventually Elgin does get in to unload with some lariats on Iizuka, but his superplex effort is cut-off, only for Kanemaru to come in and get gorilla press slammed for his troubles. A Falcon arrow follows to Iizuka for a near-fall, only for Iizuka to break free and briefly choke Elgin with a rope.
Elgin gets retribution with some biting of his own, before running into an inverted atomic drop. My feed buffered a little here and returns with Makabe blocking a PK from Suzuki, but a German suplex attempt is elbowed free of, as the Intercontinental champion Suzuki doesn’t hold back with forearms.
Suzuki traps Makabe in a rear naked choke, but the Gotch piledriver doesn’t work, with Makabe backdropping his way free… but we’re quickly back to the rear naked choke as Suzuki tagged out to Kanemaru. Triple-teams follow, as does some choking from Iizuka before the eventual PK to Makabe for a near-fall. Iizuka looks to set up for the funky oven glove, but KUSHIDA’s in to disarm him… and in the ensuing chaos, Makabe’s able to slam Kanemaru ahead of a King Kong knee drop for the win. Well, this did a little to calm my fear over a singles match between Makabe and Suzuki, but this was another solid undercard tag – keeping the theme of the show running smoothly. ***¼
David Finlay vs. Jay White
From opening matches as Young Lions, to semi-main eventing Korakuen Hall… although it’s been quite a divergent career path for these two, as David Finlay came in looking for his second win over Jay White. After eight losses in a row…
They keep things steady early, with a lot of rope running before both men teased their finishers, with a Blade Runner and a Stunner fought out of. Finlay actually became the aggressor, taking White outside for a slam onto the mats as he looked to take Switchblade into the crowd, Brookes’ing him proper into the third row. Back at ringside, White posts Finlay before hitting a Saito suplex on the floor, as he starts to target Finlay’s legs, using a Dragon Screw and a variation of the Muta lock, but eventually Finlay’s able to get something in, low bridging White to the outside for a plancha… It remains pretty even too, with White returning for a side suplex, with neither man really able to maintain an advantage.
A uranage backbreaker from Finlay’s good for a near-fall, but Jay effortlessly chains in a Flatliner and a German suplex to put him right back in it, before dumping Finlay with a side suplex from the ring, over the top rope, to the floor. Oof!
Another suplex dumps Finlay into the corner for a near-fall, before Finlay spits in White’s face to avoid a Blade Runner. Bad idea. White’s straight back in with some chops before hurling him into the turnbuckle padding repeatedly. Such whiplash! White tries to follow up by grabbing a chair from the commentary table, shoving down referee Red Shoes before Finlay speared White anyway for a near-fall!
Finlay gets hold of the chair, but he stops short of using it, instead throwing it outside to a respectful reaction… and then counters a Blade Runner into a Lumbar Check as Finlay almost pulled off the upset! In the end though, Finlay’s caught as he tries for another stunner, and White turns it into a Blade Runner for the win. Pretty short for a semi-final match, but this was an enjoyable sprint, and just the kind of bout White needed to continue to mature in his new role. ***½
After the match, White looked to be showing some compassion, but instead he held Finlay in a crucifix position for a series of elbows as the crew of Young Lions broke them free.
Elimination Match: Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi) vs. Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo
The New Japan Elimination match is a bit like a battle royal crossed with the Survivor Series – pinfalls, submissions, DQs, count outs and going over the top rope will eliminate you, and we keep going until an entire team is out.
SANADA has new gear, having ditched the wacky, Tenzan-ish horns for a new mask… if you’re wondering what the official LIJ stance is on Tenzan, by the way, the above screen may tell you everything you need to know! We start out hot, with Ospreay shotgun dropkicking Takahashi into the corner, and the pace remains suitably high as Ospreay counters out of a German suplex and hits an enziguiri for good measure. The ring quickly fills for some 5-on-1 on Hiromu, before they’re forced to make the save as Gedo almost took an over-the-top elimination.
Everyone headed to the floor – between the ropes, thankfully – as we have the obligatory guard rail and crowd spots, with SANADA taking Okada into the stands, while EVIL and Goto fought it out near commentary. When they calm down, Gedo’s beard becomes the focus as LIJ drop axehandle blows in a bid to yank out the facial hair, before a STF from BUSHI forced a rope break.
Gedo finally gets himself a shot as he rolled away from an EVIL back senton, before tagging in Okada… who kicks away at the IWGP tag champions before dumping EVIL with a DDT. A flapjack on SANADA gets Okada a two-count, before tags out bring us to EVIL and Goto… with the latter eating a clothesline in the corner. Goto returns the favour, before more tags get us back to Ospreay and Takahashi as they turn up the pace again.
A standing corkscrew moonsault gets Ospreay a near-fall, but Takahashi’s Falcon arrow returns the favour as LIJ looked to draw first blood, only for a Cheeky Nando’s kick to turn the tables again. Takahashi tries to shove Ospreay out from an OsCutter, but he clings on, before Takahashi eliminates himself and Ospreay with a sunset bomb. Aah, I guess two years running of going through the middle rope was a little too much!
YOSHI-HASHI and Naito are in next, with the latter just about getting off a neckbreaker before Naito’s efforts on the top rope led to him getting fighting out of a powerbomb instead. A tornado DDT’s blocked, but Naito saves himself from elimination by trapping his feet under the ropes… only for a low dropkick to finally eliminate Naito!
Gedo and BUSHI are in next, with Gedo trying to unmask the man who’s gone for his beard way too often. It’s avoided though, as BUSHI’s reverse spin kick nearly gets the next elimination… but the mask was still loose and Gedo gets himself DQ’d as he pulls the hood off. BUSHI pulls a t-shirt over his head to cover his face… but YOSHI-HASHI just throws him out as we’re down to Okada, Goto and YOSHI-HASHI against the IWGP tag champions.
SANADA gets caught in a neckbreaker slam from Okada, who follows up with a top rope elbow and… Rainmaker pose! The Rainmaker itself gets countered out of as SANADA grabs Skull End, but YOSHI-HASHI’s interference breaks it up before he’s thrown out between the ropes. Okada forearms away a springboarding SANADA, before getting low-bridged onto the apron as the pair tease eliminating each other… eventually happening when Okada backdrops SANADA off the apron.
EVIL knocks Okada to the floor seconds later, as EVIL’s the last man in against YOSHI-HASHI and Goto… with the latter landing an ushigoroshi for a near-fall. A GTR attempt is escaped as we end up with a Bunker Buster instead from YOSHI-HASHI, and then we get a ref bump as YOSHI-HASHI’s thrown into red shoes… and that’s your cue for LIJ interference!
A couple of chairs are thrown into the ring as Goto wears a chair and gets it batted off, before a simple lariat takes Goto over the top and to the floor. We’re down to EVIL and YOSHI-HASHI… but the CHAOS man’s on the outside and worn down. Naito rolls him in for what you’d think would be an easy win, with Darkness Falls getting only a two-count, before the Everything is EVIL STO gets blocked.
YOSHI-HASHI returns fire with a left-arm lariat, as he tried to finish off EVIL with a flipping powerbomb, but it’s only good for a near-fall as EVIL finally nails Everything Is EVIL for the win! A come from behind win for the Ingobernables, then, as the fun Elimination match came to a head! ***½
This was the epitome of a Road to… show. An easy watch, with not much of note, but nothing so bad that you’ll turn off in disgust. The Jay White/David Finlay match was a fun sprint that helps to establish Switchblade some more, while the elimination main event was enjoyable as hell – and certainly broke the tedium that those LIJ/CHAOS tags have threatened to become.