With WrestleKingdom a little under three weeks away, New Japan started the final build with the first of two Korakuen Hall shows featuring some Young Lion Cup action and… a Masked Horse?!
Before the show, the usual looping hype package recapped New Japan’s 2017, with plenty of highlights of the year. Hopefully this’ll be available on their YouTube channel to help get new fans up to speed ahead of WrestleKingdom…
Young Lion Cup: Tetsuhiro Yagi vs. Shota Umino
Both lads came into this with 0-2 records… so someone’s leaving leaving with that streak broken!
This was pretty much your standard Young Lions match, with plenty of basic holds – Yagi tried to work over Umino’s leg early on, wrenching on it in the ropes before grounding Umino in a grapevine. After a rope break, Umino’s able to get back into it with a dropkick, but he’s feeling his knee and so hobbles into the corner with a forearm smash.
A brief flurry ends with Umino getting a back body drop, as Yagi tries for a single leg crab, which quickly ends in the ropes… but Umino’s able to fight back and almost wins with a diving back elbow off the top rope, before turning Yagi over into a Boston crab, dragging him into the middle of the ring for the submission. Wow, Umino won with one leg! Enjoyable and basic, with Umino overcoming the brief knee work to get the win. **½
Young Lion Cup: Ren Narita vs. Katsuya Kitamura
The opposite ends of the scale were on show here – 0-2 vs 2-0 – and Narita bursts into life with a corner dropkick as Kitamura hit the ring.
Needless to say, Kitamura was able to use his power to shove Narita away, before delaying a belly-to-belly as Narita almost got the shock W. A Boston crab almost does the same, but Kitamura gets to the ropes, and turns things around as he chokes Narita in the corner with his boot.
After a shoulder tackle picked up a near-fall, Kitamura just slammed Narita down like he was nothing, before going to the Standard Issue submission, forcing Narita to the ropes with that Boston crab. Nevertheless, Kitamura has more up his sleeve, and he just plants Narita with a Jackhammer for the win. Basic, but this went exactly how it should have done. **¼
Young Lion Cup: Tomoyuki Oka vs. Hirai Kawato
We’re hearing THAT music yet again, and someone’s losing their 100% streak here!
Kawato tries to surprise the former amateur wrestle with a heel hook right out of the gate, and it’s submissions that seem to be Kawato’s game plan in the early stages. When he broke free, Oka issued receipt and wrenched on Kawato with a modified camel clutch, but the match remained keenly-fought, with Kawato going back to his usual routine of elbows off the ropes. A massive gutwrench suplex almost threw Kawato back onto his feet as Oka began another comeback, following up with a spinebuster before trying for a Boston crab… but Kawato counters that and rolled up Oka for the flash pin! A tight contest, but there wasn’t much you could do in five minutes… I’d have rather this been on a Lion’s Gate Project show, but it was what it was. **½
So after these three matches, Kitamura and Kawato top the Young Lion Cup table with six points and a 100% record – but as they’re facing each other tomorrow, we’ll likely end with a clear leader going into Thursday’s final round!
Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku) vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Tiger Mask & Henare
We’ve got the junior/forgotten Suzuki-gun here, and hey, Tiger Mask is back!
Henare jump-starts the match, like Suzuki-gun so often do, and instantly takes the fight to TAKA, slamming him with ease, before we get some cheating as Kanemaru sprays whiskey in Liger’s face. You know the score from here: fighting outside the ring, with Kanemaru throwing Liger into the guard rails and chairs, before Liger’s triple-teamed by all of Suzuki-gun. Somehow Liger’s able to fight back, getting off a superplex to Kanemaru, before Tiger Mask gets the tag in to clear house with kicks. A low dropkick from Kanemaru puts an end to that as Desperado comes in to try for the Pinche Loco… it doesn’t work as he’s kicked in the knee and almost loses to a Tiger Driver.
TAKA makes the save as Tiger Mask went for a tombstone, but Liger returns to stop Kanemaru from using the whiskey – forcing him to drink it! Liger tries the trick, but he misses and sprays Tiger Mask, allowing Despy to cradle Tiger Mask for the win. Oh Liger, why did you try and cheat? Pretty by-the-numbers stuff until the finish… **¼
Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi & Leo Tonga) vs. Kota Ibushi & Togi Makabe
Can you tell that a lot of the big overseas names have gone home for Christmas?
We start with Tonga and Makabe exchanging shoulders, with Leo’s shoulder tackle winning out as Kota Ibushi plead for a tag in. Since he’s not on the tour, Kota’s gotta make do with a substitute Cody: Yujiro Takahashi. Some would claim that’s an upgrade…
Kota’s all over Yujiro with a ‘rana, taking him outside for the Golden Triangle moonsault… except Yujiro yanks him down to the floor. Smart move! Leo’s back in to chop over Kota, but everyone’s baiting of Makabe’s going to be bad news, especially when he gets in! Sure enough, a sneaky dropkick got Ibushi free, and of course, Makabe clears house.
Clotheslines, mounted punches, it’s the deal he had during the World Tag League, with added “almost get dropped on my head” when Yujiro’s release Fisherman’s suplex nearly went awry. Ibushi gets the tag back in and out-paces Leo… then leaps off the top rope to Yujiro on the floor as the Golden Star looked to be on fire, which is just as well given how much a countered moonsault looked to have derailed him earlier!
Just like that though, Tonga almost got the shock win with a chokeslam lifted into a Flatliner, and after another run-in from Makabe, Ibushi’s able to get the win with a swift Kamigoye knee to Tonga. Fun stuff, but Ibushi being derailed for so long from a stuffed moonsault worries me given who he’s facing at the Dome… ***
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & Taichi) vs. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano
Of course there’s a jump start, as Suzuki tries to shave Goto bald straight away… wait for the bloody Tokyo Dome, Minoru!
Nobody dares disarm Suzuki, so there’s brawling from those two outside the ring as Taichi actually has Ishii on the mat, and of course, Ishii gets revenge with a lot of forearms and a massive shoulder tackle. Taichi should’ve gone home…
TAKA’s at ringside being an annoyance, and distracts the ref so Takashi Iizuka could whack Ishii with a chair… and that takes everyone back into the crowd as Suzuki again aims for Goto. Things don’t really change when Suzuki goes for Ishii, as he laughs off some chops before the Stone Pitbull’s triple-teamed, before Iizuka bites him in the elbow pad. At least he finally learns and removes it before going back for more…
Ishii manages to rebound with a lariat to Taichi, and in comes Yano as Yano and Iizuka squared off. You know the Yano shtick… remove the turnbuckle padding, whip a guy into it, Yano, Toru, eh? But Iizuka tries to bite away at Yano, who replies with a beard pull. Yano and Iizuka swap atomic drops, before tags out take us back to Goto and Suzuki who don’t exactly take it easy in terms of the right hands and elbows. Suzuki manages to wear down Goto for a PK, but it’s caught as Goto manages to backdrop free of a Gotch piledriver… prompting Suzuki-gun to fill the ring and triple-team Goto. Somehow that becomes a quadruple-team thanks to TAKA, before Taichi’s left in there to nearly decapitate Goto with a head kick.
Goto kicked out at two, before Taichi tied up the ref to try and cover up some shenanigans. It doesn’t work as Iizuka and Suzuki get dragged outside, before Taichi’s attempt at using the mic stand as a weapon earned him an ushigoroshi and a GTR for the win. This dragged a little, and was definitely the more Suzuki-un-ish of the two matches… but you know what they were building for. **½
Goto takes the mic after the match and I assume challenges Suzuki again. So Minoru marches back to the ring, hair-clippers in hand, and goes to shave Goto… only for some Young Lions to make the save. Poor Tetsuhiro Yagi finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he ended up getting a good chunk of hair shaved out of him, leaving the Young Lion looking like Hawk…
This next match featured a “guest” wrestler thanks to New Japan’s current sponsorship with the Japanese Racing Authority. Those with the wacky mobile game that had wrestlers as horses… So we had a Masked Horse, who I swear might be a little Funky…
Satoshi Kojima, KUSHIDA & Masked Horse vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO, YOH & Rocky Romero)
This is a weird match, I have to say. There’s no beef, nothing building up here, since Roppongi 3K have the Young Bucks at the Tokyo Dome. It just gives definitely-not-Ryusuke-Taguchi (in new tights!) a chance to get the advertising Yen in, I guess…
Kojima makes light work of Rocky in the early going, resisting shoulder tackles before falling to an eye rake. Of course, Rocky can’t over-power Kojima, so he’s gotta hit and run… and hope he avoids shoulder tackles. Which he did not.
A tag out to KUSHIDA is returned, as we get SHO and KUSHIDA to help wear out everyone’s shift keys, with KUSHIDA diving into a headlock to keep half of the junior tag champs on the mat. After taking a cartwheel into a dropkick, SHO tries to counter back, and does so, deadlifting out an attempted Hoverboard lock and into a German suplex on KUSHIDA. YOH comes in next for a really nonchalant pin as he begins to wear down KUSHIDA, but it doesn’t last as KUSHIDA rolled up into a DDT to end that particular spell, and make the tag to the man everyone wanted to see… the MASKED HORSE! Apparently horses can do nice shoulder tackles, and a nice Chief Deputy Dunne-esque “hands up! Enziguri”… oh, and a Tongan grip?!
Horses are Haku?!
SHO and YOH double team the horse, who tried to reply with a diving shoulder tackle… but he had neigh luck. Sorry (not sorry). YOH perhaps thinks he knows who it is as he fires in some hip attacks and then…
Sho has tamed the mighty Masked Horse#njpwworld #njwk12 https://t.co/z1Sseo7bMh pic.twitter.com/Hpglf82n8r
— John.xmas 🎅 (@DK1105) December 17, 2017
Yes. He rode the horse. That was enough to fire a hip attack from the Masked Horse, as Kojima gets the tag back in as Rocky Romero mocks the Machine Gun chops. Of course, Kojima gives the receipt, but SHO knocks him off the top as Kojima went for an elbow drop, and it’s quickly three-on-one against everyone’s favourite bread lover. The Horse tries to make a save, and takes down SHO with an ankle lock whilst KUSHIDA takes care of YOH with a Hoverboard lock, which forced Rocky into some breaking up. SHO hits another German suplex after catching a KUSHIDA handspring as a parade of moves broke out, ending with a Koji Cutter to SHO, then a Strong Arm lariat to Romero as Kojima wins! I wasn’t too keen about this result – sure, they didn’t take the fall, but I wouldn’t have had Roppongi 3K in this match if their role was to lose… Either way, this was sufficiently wacky, and probably would have gotten more coverage from certain quarters had this been, ooh, 19 years ago this week? ***¼
NEVER Six-Man Championships: Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale & Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) (c)
This wacky mash-up of the World Tag League finals actually has gold at stake… and after how badly BUSHI was brutalised by Fale in that wretched match on Monday, he’s got to be the weak link.
LIJ came into this as easily the longest reigning champions in the title’s history (only the makeshift trio of Ricochet, Satoshi Kojima and “Matt Sydal substitute” David Finlay had passed the 100 day mark), but with no title defences since September, it’s kind of a moot point.
After some stalling early, EVIL and SANADA went straight for Tanga Loa… before tagging in BUSHI to choke him with a t-shirt, and I think this may be a little too soon for the Ingobernables’ secondary junior. Especially when he’s easily ragdolled to the outside by Fale, who has very recent memories of that mist…
For some reason, BUSHI didn’t want to take a count-out loss (and save the titles) after Fale wore him down outside, instead choosing to dive back inside so Tanga Loa could keep up the beatdown. Tama Tonga joins in with a couple of elbow drops and a snap suplex as it’s clear that the Bullet Club wanted to wear down BUSHI, with Tanga Loa teasing the Ingobernables by marching him towards the corner for a tag before hitting a delayed back suplex.
Eventually BUSHI manages to evade his attackers and get a tag out to SANADA, who turned the pace up for a double leapfrog dropkick to Tonga, followed by a nice plancha that picked up a near-fall. Again though, the numbers game kicked in as Tama and Tanga double-team SANADA, at least until EVIL makes a save… and gets clotheslined for his efforts. LIJ turned the numbers game around for a brief moment, but again they left BUSHI as the legal man… and it almost got dire for them as Fale tags in, but BUSHI’s able to outwit the giant Tongan for a spell. Heck, he even hits a nice suicide dive to send Fale careering into the guard railings!
It’s quickly back to business as usual as BUSHI gets triple-teamed, leading to a big splash off the ropes from Fale as the titles almost change hands, but BUSHI comes back with the mist and a low blow – with the referee otherwise distracted – as the Ingobernables tried for a triple-team Magic Killer… and got it!
BUSHI waited to measure Fale for a MX, and indeed hits it… but Tama Tonga pulls out the ref just in time as the Guerrillas mounted a 2-on-3 comeback of sorts. Gun Stun to EVIL. Double-team Tongan Twist to SANADA… but in the end Fale’s back to wipe out BUSHI with a lariat before the Grenade gives us new champions! The Ingobernables’ 228-day run with the belts are over, and we have our 13th champions… a pretty good match, all told, but given the matches on Monday, there was no way SANADA or EVIL were losing… nor was BUSHI getting the win over Fale. Solid, but don’t take this as a rebirth for the titles that had been forgotten about as of late. ***¼
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi) vs. Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI
Your main event is exactly what you expect – more of Naito vs. Okada… a build that feels like it’s been going on forever…
Oh God, Daryl badges are going to sell like crazy now aren’t they?
You know the drills here – with this being a normal tag match, the pairings are rather more limited, so Okada went straight for Naito, taking him into the guard railings, before Naito gets a reversal, whipping the champ into the guard railings with such ferocity that a ringside attendant almost got whacked in the face by an errant gate. Hiromu comes in and has a surprisingly decent run of offence on Okada, as YOSHI-HASHI stood by idly on the ring apron. Perhaps he learned being a rotten tag partner from Hirooki Goto? YOSHI-HASHI gets the tag in anyway and manages to sneak in a running Blockbuster to Naito as the title challenger found himself in trouble against one of CHAOS’ rather-forgotten members.
Things quickly settled down to how they should in the pecking order, with Naito (with a little help) wearing down YOSHI-HASHI’s knees as he went for a Figure Four… The LIJ pair isolate YOSHI-HASHI thanks to the knee work, but he did manage to fight back, despite missing out on a Bunker Buster, and make the tag to Okada. Fast-paced stuff from Okada sees him wipe out Naito with a running back elbow, before a DDT gets a near-fall… but Naito swings back in and gets off a missile dropkick as the two enjoyed their ebbs and flows. An enziguiri from Naito gets a massive flapjack in return from Okada, as a tag out from Naito just gets Hiromu a neckbreaker slam… it wasn’t looking good for LIJ at this point, it had to be said.
Heck, Okada even goes all Macho Man with a top rope elbow, but a Rainmaker’s avoided by Hiromu as YOSHI-HASHI needs to dive in to stop Okada losing to the TIME BOMB! Hiromu keeps up though and tries again… but YOSHI-HASHI hits the ring again and knocks Hiromu with a left-arm lariat, before Okada trapped Hiromu in the Cobra Clutch… and that’s all folks! This was the first time in a while that I’ve managed to get engaged in one of these matches – perhaps it’s because the Dome’s not too far away now? They’ve done a good job of establishing that Cobra clutch as a major weapon in Okada’s arsenal, but the question is… what can Naito do to match – or even beat it? ***¾
This show was exactly what you’d have expected from a year-ending show: nothing to grab your attention, but plenty to keep things ticking along. The three Young Lion Cup matches were decent, but disappointingly short in comparison to how they’ve been on the Lion’s Gate Project shows. Elsewhere, the tease to Suzuki vs. Goto continues, albeit at the expense of Tetsuhiro Yagi’s hair (that’s going to need cleaning up or he’s going to look very Road Warrior-y tomorrow!), but I’d expect a couple more incidents on Monday’s show as that’s when the Tokyo Dome build wraps up!