New Japan hit Korakuen Hall for the first of three Christmas-week shows as the stage was set for the Tokyo Dome.
Quick Results
Satoshi Kojima, Togi Makabe & Tiger Mask pinned Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura & Gabriel Kidd in 8:57 (**½)
Juice Robinson & Toa Henare pinned Yujiro Takahashi & KENTA in 11:10 (**)
Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan pinned Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki in 10:28 (**¾)
Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Chase Owens pinned DOUKI, Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi in 8:32 (**¾)
Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay pinned Tomoaki Honma, Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi in 14:12 (***¼)
Jay White, EVIL & Dick Togo pinned BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito & SANADA in 17:36 (***¼)
We’re at Korakuen Hall for this one – and while Kevin Kelly is actually in Japan, he’s on quarantine so we’ve only got live commentary in Japanese. But first, a truncated highlights video for 2020…
Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura & Gabriel Kidd vs. Tiger Mask, Togi Makabe & Satoshi Kojima
This was announced as Tiger Mask’s return match – he’d not wrestled since the shutdown, having dealt with diverticulitis…
Makabe and Uemura start us off, with Uemura double-legging the returning Makabe to start with, before they grappled on the mat. A hammerlock from Uemura’s countered as Makabe grapevines the leg… a cross armbar followed, but Uemura slips free before they reset. A side headlock from Makabe keeps Uemura at bay, with the resulting shoulder tackles ending with a dropkick from Uemura. Elbows follow, but they barely faze Makabe, who just slams Uemura before tags bring us to Kidd and Tiger Mask. They engage in a chop and elbow battle, with Kidd charging through Tiger Mask before some uppercuts took the veteran into the corner.
Tiger Mask’s spin kick took Kidd down for some mid kicks, following up with Kidd getting thrown to the corner as Kojima tagged in to put the boots to Kidd. A neckbreaker dropped Kidd, with Makabe returning to deck Gabe with another elbow. Kidd’s dropkick cuts off Makabe’s momentum, with Tsuji tagging in and then… getting slammed.
Kojima’s back to isolate Tsuji for Machine Gun chops, but Uemura dove in to stop Kojima from heading up top as the Young Lions teamed up to hit a pair of dropkicks. A slam from Tsuji gets a two-count as Uemura’s guarding backfired quickly, and when Kidd came in, he played a part in some triple-teaming, ending with a Tsuji splash for a two-count.
The ring stays full as Tiger Mask dropped Kidd with a Tiger Driver, before Tsuji’s search for a suplex ended with Kojima slipping out to land a Koji Cutter… before a Cozy lariat was countered with a spear. Tsuji goes back to the suplex for a near-fall, before he eventually fell to a Cozy lariat as the old guard got the win. Your usual opening match with the Young Lions putting up some resistance – weirdly, for the “Tiger Mask Comeback”, he didn’t get the win… **½
Juice Robinson & Toa Henare vs. Bullet Club (KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi)
We’re seemingly heading for KENTA vs. Juice Robinson at the Tokyo Dome in yet-another-briefcase-defence… something that Juice looked a little solemn about. No flamboyancy here!
Those two looked to start, but of course, KENTA tagged out almost instantly… so did Juice, as we opened with Henare getting booted by Yujiro. Right hands from Yujiro follow, before Henare came back with a headbutt and shoulder tackle. A falling chop lands for a two-count, but Yujiro’s back with some biting as he proceeded to hot shot Henare to the outside, where the Pimp Cane comes into effect.
Meanwhile, KENTA hurls Juice into the guard rails, before he returned to the ring to just stand on Henare in the ropes. Yujiro’s back for a legrop, elbow drop and falling headbutt for a two-count, before he busted out Jeff Jarrett’s Stroke for another two-count. Ain’t he great? KENTA’s back to wear down Henare some more, connecting with some elbows before a rake to the eyes led to KENTA getting suplexed. Finally Henare tags out to Juice, who went wild on KENTA with clothesline and elbows… which drew in Yujiro to take a full nelson slam. KENTA capitalises on that distraction, but quickly gets caught with a spinebuster that just delayed things a little.
Sending Juice onto the apron looked to set KENTA up for the Green Killer DDT, but Juice fights free, only to get caught with a slam off the ropes. Yujiro returns to tie up Juice for a front kick in the ropes, following up with a low dropkick as he got a near-fall on Juice…
A kick in the ropes from KENTA leads to some double-teaming, with a release fisherman suplex from KENTA and a diving boot from Yujiro getting a two-count. Henare breaks it up, then went for KENTA on the outside as Yujiro pulled Juice into an Incolle slam for a near-fall, but Henare’s back to try and clear the decks as the ring filled.
Juice wriggles out of a Go 2 Sleep, then decked KENTA as Yujiro came back in… he’s caught with a spear tackle from Henare, before the Left Hand of God and Pulp Friction got Juice the W. This felt odd – like the proverbial “house show match,” which never really hit any kind of pace. I get Juice was pissed off from KENTA costing him the World Tag League final, but without his spark this just felt flat. **
Post-match, KENTA tried to attack Juice with the briefcase, but Juice blocks it and tries to beat KENTA to the punch… then issued the challenge for the briefcase itself.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
You’ve got to think this is leading to Wato and Taguchi going for the junior tag titles, given both men pinned El Desperado during Best of the Super Junior…
Wato jump starts the match, going after Desperado as soon as he entered the ring… which meant that Tenzan and Taguchi spilled outside, taking their foes into the guard rails by the sound of things. Desperado’s eye rake does little as Wato hits a tijeras to take him outside ahead of a wild tornillo that Wato almost ate poop on.
Back inside, Wato keeps putting the boots to Desperado, following up with an elbow, before Taguchi came in with a back elbow for a two-count. Tenzan comes in too to triple-team, throwing Taguchi into the cornered Desperado, before Taguchi climbed the ropes in preparation for Desperado to get thrown into his rear… except Desperado pulled a switcheroo, and threw Wato there instead.
Taguchi thinks he’s done good, but Minoru Suzuki comes in to survey the scene and scare Taguchi off the top rope. He tries to show loyalty to Suzuki-gun, but they just beat him up, exchanging frequent tags as Taguchi’s left arm may as well have had a massive bullseye on it. It led to a Kimura from Suzuki that quickly ended in the ropes… with Taguchi then throwing in a hip attack before Tenzan tagged in.
Tenzan charges through Suzuki with a shoulder tackle, before Mongolian chops and headbutts took Suzuki into the corner. A suplex drops Suzuki for a two-count, as does a Northern Lights suplex before Tenzan went back to the Mongolian chops… only to get caught out as Suzuki slid under him and tagged in Kanemaru. Kanemaru’s elbow had no effect on Tenzan’s head, nor did a headbutt on the apron as Tenzan hit back with a spinning heel kick to Kanemaru… then tagged Wato back in. Elbows from Wato help knock down Kanemaru, while Wato threw in a springboard uppercut as he looked to beat the junior tag champion. Taguchi’s in too, but so is Desperado as the champions turn the tables, bouncing Wato from pillar to post as a boot-assisted back suplex almost got the win.
From there, Kanemaru hits the top rope for a Deep Impact DDT, but Tenzan breaks up the pin to keep the match going… but not for much longer as Wato manages to nick the win with a jack-knife roll-up! Storyline-wise, this was fine, as it gave us the win that I assume one of them would have had over Kanemaru in the BOSJ, but this again never really got going into any sort of a higher gear as they continue to build for the junior title defence. Yeah, they did nothing to follow-up on Desperado’s performance some ten days earlier… **¾
Bullet Club (Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) & Chase Owens) vs. Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI)
We get a jump start here, as the Guerrillas took the Suzuki=gun lads outside at the bell, and were generally controlling things from the off.
When things calmed down, Sabre avoided being thrown into the corner by Tanga Loa, and came back with a guillotine choke, before an overhead kick cut off the suplex attempt. A leg sweep has Tanga down, as he then walked into some uppercuts ahead of a spinebuster on Sabre. Tanga clears the apron as he then set up for sentons atomico on Sabre… while Chase tagged in to just rake Zack’s face.
Owens gets a two-count on Sabre from that, with Tama Tonga coming in to isolate Sabre some more as the Suzuki-gun lads couldn’t get things going. Owens chokes away on Sabre some more but Zack’s able to get free as he twists Chase’s neck between his legs… then tagged in Taichi, who was all about that choking life. After throttling almost everyone, Taichi drops Tama with an axe bomber, before he eventually fell to a Tongan Twist. Taichi blocks a Gun Stun by turning it into a Stretch Plum while Sabre restrained Tanga Loa with an Octopus hold. Taichi staggered back into the corner to tag in DOUKI as Suzuki-gun continued to build momentum, with a PK from Sabre setting up for a springboard stomp from DOUKI on Tama for a two-count.
Off come Taichi’s trousers, but he doesn’t follow up as he’s pulled outside to start a big ol’ Parade of Moves, nearly ending with a roll-up from DOUKI for the win. In the end though, DOUKI goes for Daybreak on Tama Tonga, but it’s countered into a Gun Stun for the win. Pretty one-sided, save for that brief flurry in the middle, as the Guerrillas showed they weren’t in the mood for messing around. **¾
The Empire (Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan) vs. Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma
The Empire’s setting up for three big matches at the Dome, and in some people’s minds, all three of them are winnable. Let’s see the lay of the land on January 6, eh?
Once again we’ve a jump start, with O-Khan and Tanahashi staying in the ring, with the latter having to escape leg lock attempts as a cross armbar forces O-Khan into the ropes. Okada and Honma come in, with Honma landing a two-count from a Kokeshi before he looked to light up O-Khan with chops. Mongolian chops from O-Khan follow, but Honma just slams him before he missed a Kokeshi… which was the cue for the rest of the Empire to flood the ring.
A head-and-arm choke from O-Kham keeps Honma grounded… and then he’s taken into the corner as O-Khan fancied a seat. Cobb comes in to headbutt Honma, then throw an elbow to the back of the head, before Ospreay came in to ground Honma with a chinlock. Honma’s taken back to the corner, before he reversed a suplex as Okada finally came in to go after Ospreay. An elbow out of the corner helps Ospreay, but he ran into a flapjack seconds later. Ospreay escapes a neckbreaker slam and hits a neckbreaker of his own. O-Khan’s back to wear down Okada some more, whipping him into the corner for a clothesline before a Mongolian chop put Okada in a Tree of Woe… leading up to a sliding kick to the head.
That gets O-Khan a two-count, but Okada’s quickly back with the neckbreaker slam as tags brought in Tanahashi. He goes right for O-Khan with some elbows, before he cleared the apron so he could twist down O-Khan with a Dragon screw. More of those follow on the mat, but O-Khan hit back with a Skull Crushing Finale as he turned things back around.
An inverted powerslam drops Tanahashi for a two-count, before Tanahashi slipped out of the Eliminator and turned it into a Twist and Shout neckbreaker. Tags get us to Cobb and Honma, with the latter’s elbows leading to him getting charged through with a shoulder tackle. Honma’s bulldog drops Cobb ahead of a Kokeshi that actually landed, but Ospreay runs in to stop the momentum. He eats some chops and a Kokeshi too, before Tanahashi and Okada came in to help, dropping Cobb with a double team suplex before they press slammed Honma off the top rope into a Kokeshi on Cobb.
With Tanahashi and Okada taking care of business on the outside, Honma heads up for another Kokeshi, but this time it misses… and that opened the door for the Empire to shut the door on things, with a hook kick from Ospreay taking Honma into a Cobb suplex for a two-count, before punches and a lariat dropped Honma once more. A Tour of the Islands follows, and that’s your lot. A dominant outing from the Empire, who look to be in good form as they head into what could be a big 2021 for them. ***¼
Post-match, the Empire continue their beatdown as O-Khan dropped Tanahashi knee-first on a chair, before some chairshots to the knee really rammed home the storyline as Okada made a delayed save… only for another sneak attack from Ospreay to leave him laid out.
Bullet Club (Jay White, EVIL & Dick Togo) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI)
We’ve got some Tokyo Dome teases here, with Jay White possibly facing Tetsuya Naito on night two, while we’ve also got the EVIL/SANADA clash on the books too…
They tease us with Naito vs. White to start, as Jay was in full-on antagonise-the-crowd mode, mocking their inability to chant. Of course, White doesn’t start, as Dick Togo tags in to open things off, and he’s instantly having to defend a side headlock as Naito cinches it in. That ends in the ropes, before Togo ran into an inverted atomic drop ahead of some brief double-teaming from LIJ, as EVIL craftily untied the turnbuckle pad in his corner.
Naito mocks EVIL by offering him a tag out, but instead BUSHI comes in and DDTs Dick for a two-count. An incredibly-accurate eye rake through the mask from Togo gets him back on top, before he whipped BUSHI into the suddenly-exposed corner. SANADA’s sent there next, before he’s taken outside as SANADA and Naito ate the guard rails.
A chinlock from Togo forces BUSHI into the ropes, while EVIL came in to stand on BUSHI’s head, then teased an unmasking. Jay White’s in next to keep the momentum going, before back sentons from Togo and EVIL squashed the masked man for a two-count. BUSHI hits back with a back cracker, with SANADA then coming in to flip EVIL with a low dropkick. Togo tries to run in, but he’s tied up in a Paradise Lock… EVIL gets the same treatment as a low dropkick “freed” them both. EVIL gets back on top with a thrust kick, following some inadvertent help from the ref, as Jay White was losing his mind because EVIL was taking his time. Good to see Jay shares some similar thoughts!
A Fisherman buster keeps SANADA down, before SANADA flipped out of a German suplex. Togo trips SANADA as the Bullet Club trio stayed on top, charging into SANADA with clothesline in the corner before a Magic Killer was avoided… with SANADA returning with a Magic screw instead. Naito tags in, and went to work on White with an armdrag and a neckbreaker, before the headscissors submission attempt forced White to squirm towards the ropes.
Grabbing a handful of hair sees Naito take White into the corner for some mudhole stomping… but White takes the eyes as he’s taken up top, and manages to escape as he DDT’d Naito in the middle of the ring. White keeps going with a Blade Buster for a two-count, before Naito’s leaping enziguiri and a spinebuster helped to keep him in it.
BUSHI tags in to his a missile dropkick, taking White outside for a tope suicida, before a BUSHI screw back inside gets a near-fall. After cleaping the apron, BUSHI went for a Codebreaker on White, but it’s countered into a sleeper suplex, before White looked for a Blade Runner… but that draws in SANADA for a Skull End, then Togo for a Spoiler Choker. SANADA escapes to TKO Togo, before Everything is EVIL continued the Parade o’ Finishers.
A Blade Runner from White lays out Naito to complete that set, and from there it’s a matter of time as EVIL dropped BUSHI with Darkness Falls before a Blade Runner from White underscored things for the win. A decent enough main event to close out what was a rather flat, inoffensive chow. ***¼
We’re back tomorrow for the second of three shows, headlining with SHO, Kota Ibushi and Juice Robinson against KENTA, Jay White and Gedo.
Unfortunately the Korakuen bump wasn’t in effect here, as we got what really was a glorified house show, with the first half of the show being one of the most skippable portions of a New Japan show since the restart. Storyline-wise, they’re ticking the boxes, but since the belief of New Japan now being a “heels promotion” is true, then we’re going to be in for a lot of silent crowds… until they’re allowed to react “the old way” again. And yes, I am a little bit grumpy because we didn’t get the Masked Horse tradition this year… what of it?