Jay White and David Finlay clashed once again, as their feud completed the rise from opening shows as Young Lions, to the main event, this time with the US title on the line!
With Tetsuhiro Yagi out for another couple of weeks with his fractured forearm, we needed another replacement here – as Jushin “Thunder” Liger filled in in the opening trios match.
Yuji Nagata, Tomoyuki Oka & Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Shota Umino & Ren Narita
Yeah, the teams are slightly lop-sided here, but Tenzan’s probably not going to be taking too much of the match, especially when Shota Umino had eyes for Yuji Nagata from the off.
Enthusiasm, or naivety. Your call.
Instead, we start with Umino and Oka, as the two Young Lions trade forearms and shoulder blocks in the early stages, but Umino quickly gets his wish of facing Nagata, as he and Nartina double-teamed the veteran. That gets a pretty swift receipt through, as Narita’s taken outside and into the guard rails by Liger, before he’s pulled into a Romero special back inside the ring.
Umino’s in to stomp that away, but Oka dealt with the annoyance as Liger hit back with a lariat as the match got a little scrappy, thanks to the Young Lions’ eagerness to run in. We settled down to Nagata working over Narita’s arm, mixing it up with some kicks too, before Oka tagged back in… and kept up the pace, charging Narita from corner-to-corner.
A spinebuster follows from Oka for a near-fall, before Tenzan got the tag in to clear house. You know the score: Mongolian chops to Oka, who then takes a suplex for a near-fall… along with a spinning heel kick as Tenzan was breaking out some of his Greatest Hits, including an Anaconda Vise… but Liger comes in to stomp that apart.
Liger gets some Mongolian chops, surprisingly, before Umino pleaded to get the tag back in, only to get pulled into a belly-to-belly suplex. Nagata’s brought back in, but he’s taken down with an elbow from Umino, then a missile dropkick, before he attempted to catch Nagata in a cross armbreaker. It doesn’t work as Nagata reverses it, only for the hold to get stomped apart as the ring filled up and cleared quickly.
Umino tries some slaps on Nagata, but the repayment in kind left the Young Lion on his knees, before he was pulled into an Exploder, then the Nagata Lock II crossface for the submission. This picked up by the end, but the match started a little scrappily – with the lopsided nature of the teams not helping. **¾
Suzuki-gun (Takashi Iizuka, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku) vs. Roppongi 3K (Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH)
A cold sweat runs down my spine for this one. Could they not switch the teams up? Put some Young Lions in against Suzuki-gun? Anything but this!
For once, Roppongi 3K jump-start the match, as SHO & YOH went after TAKA, then Taichi with duelling dropkicks, before getting overwhelmed by Iizuka as the match quickly spilled to the floor for the usual Suzuki-gun shenanigans… including Iizuka heading into the crowd with a chair but no SHO. That’s quickly corrected as SHO’s dragged in and hit with a chair while TAKA just grinds his boot into YOH’s groin.
Hope you like Takashi Iizuka biting folks, because that’s back again today! Rocky, SHO and YOH all get nibbled on, as they’re probably regretting that slightly-beefy-scented aftershave they were tricked into trying. Look, I’m trying to find an explanation for this apart from “because wrestling”, okay?
Taichi’s in to nonchalantly stomp on YOH, who did try to mount a comeback, finally taking down everyone’s favourite lip syncer with a Dragon screw. Rocky gets the tag in to clear house, going after TAKA with a palm strike ahead of the Forever lariats, before taking down Taichi with a ‘rana for good measure. A German suplex is blocked when Taichi grabbed the ref, and we’re back to the biting as SHO’s shoved into Iizuka, before he takes an eye poke from TAKA.
SHO hit back quickly with a German suplex that Iizuka breaks up… but Taichi stops a 3K by grabbing onto YOH, as things quickly descended into some triple-teaming on SHO. Iizuka again goes for his Iron Fingers, but SHO gets the boots up… before his fightback ended with an atomic drop and some kicks. Iizuka again tried to use the Iron Fingers, but YOH and Rocky make the save, before Taichi got to use his mic stand… and that led to the finish as SHO and Taichi fought over the mic stand, but Taichi get go, and SHO accidentally drills the ref with it, causing the DQ. We’re all about the godawful finishes in this match, I see… the match was better than yesterday’s, but the finish… yikes. ¼*
I stand by what I said in yesterday’s report – this little feud is going to end up harming Roppongi 3K to some extent.
Togi Makabe, Michael Elgin & KUSHIDA vs. Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay
We opened with KUSHIDA and Ospreay – the only feud in this match – and it’s good to see what Will looks like he doesn’t need to have his head taped on as much today.
Of course, KUSHIDA still targeted the head and arm, but Ospreay was more than smart to KUSHIDA’s usual offence, avoiding a kick to the arm, but he still went for a faked-out dive, allowing KUSHIDA to fire back as they rushed into duelling dropkicks and the eventual stalemate. Tags took us to Elgin and YOSHI-HASHI, with the latter hitting a running Blockbuster before his charge into Elgin in the corner just got him a uranage and a back senton off the middle rope for a near-fall. Elgin keeps up with a Samoan drop/fallaway slam combo to Yano and Ospreay, before going back to YOSHI-HASHI…
Yano’s back in after he’s ripped off the turnbuckle pads, but Elgin just throws him into the corner before clocking YOSHI-HASHI with an enziguiri… and now we’re in with Makabe to clear house. Mounted punches in the corner follow for Yano, who clings on to avoid a Northern Lights suplex, before he’s taken down with a lariat for a near-fall. Ospreay flies into save Yano from a buckle bomb, as the match starts to break down a little, but at least Ospreay and KUSHIDA keep the pace high for their skirmish.
Elgin’s back to save Makabe from a low blow, as Yano’s trying for his finish… and gets pelted with elbows for his troubles as he ducks a pair of lariats… Makabe and Elgin gets sent into each other as KUSHIDA has his turn to save a low blow. The duelling lariats follow next for a near-fall, as the ring again filled up, and cleared just in time for Makabe to land a King Kong Knee drop on Yano for the win. This was fine, but a little spotty in the middle… but hey, it’s keeping the build going for KUSHIDA/Ospreay without wearing down Will too much more. **¾
Toa Henare vs. Tomohiro Ishii
After all of the tag matches, going all the way back to World Tag League last year, we finally get a one-on-one match… or Toa Henare’s death wish, if you’re feeling rather uncharitable.
Henare charged out at the bell, and yes, we’re right in with duelling forearms! Ishii clings on with a headlock, taking Henare down to the mat with relative ease. Finally Henare punched his way free… but he’s charged down with a shoulder block before finding out that his attempts were rather fruitless, as Ishii took him down again and threw in a kick to the back for good measure. The pair head outside, where Henare’s thrown into the guard railings, which led to Ishii rolling him in for a Boston crab, to mock the recently-graduated Young Lion… even if Ishii did sort-of lose the hold before the rope break was called. Chops follow as Henare’s still on the defensive, finally breaking free with a shoulder tackle before giving Ishii a kick to the back.
Yeah, Ishii was right back at him with chops to the throat, sending Henare to his knees, gasping for air. A brainbuster’s next, but Ishii again goes back to a Boston crab, which Henare this time fights out of, before succeeding with a flying shoulder tackle as he tried to issue some receipts. Chops to the throat, it was then! After a backbreaker, Henare heads up top for another shoulder tackle, this time getting a near-fall out of it, but again Ishii fights back with a knee to the gut.
Rapid-fire elbows from Ishii sent Henare to his knees ahead of a German suplex, as a barrage of backdrop suplexes looked to have Henare on jelly legs. Another chop to the throat doesn’t help, but Henare’s able to rebound with a nice pop-up Samoan drop, before engaging in another strike battle that the crowd just ate up. Yeah, Ishii won out there with quick-fire slaps, but Henare gave as good as he got, before surprising Ishii with a German suplex and a spear!
Ishii just about kicked out from that combination, but Henare’s attempts to follow-up with lariats had little extra effect, at least until Ishii ran into it! An exchange of headbutts worked out better for Ishii, who crushed Henare with a lariat, then a sliding lariat for a weird two-count. Somehow Henare countered a brainbuster into a small package as the near falls kept coming, with a spinebuster getting a similar result, before Ishii escaped a uranage and hit a German suplex. One more lariat flips Henare inside out, but it’s still not enough, as Ishii finally gets off the brainbuster for the win. Given Henare’s relative inexperience, this was more of an unofficial trials match than anything else, but the fight that Henare brought to the table here was a joy to behold – some have questioned if this feud was Ishii ushering in his successor… perhaps that may be the case, but while the win was decisive, it sure as hell wasn’t as one-sided as you’d have expected. ***¾
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi) vs. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.))
After coming up short in yesterday’s junior tag title match, BUSHI & Hiromu are back in the mix as the LIJ/Suzuki-gun feud kept rolling on.
Suzuki-gun debuted a new theme here, which led to that first awkward reaction to a song nobody knows. Kaze Ni Nare this ain’t. LIJ started the match with a jump start as everyone paired off how you’d expect, with Hiromu and Desperado remaining in the ring. BUSHI’s taken outside and into the guard rails as we go back to that… and Naito too gets whipped chest-first into those barriers as Suzuki remained hell-bent on wearing him down with chair shots in the crowd.
Back in the ring, Kanemaru suplexes BUSHI with ease for a near-fall, before Lance Archer tagged in to make it a bit of a mis-match, as he toyed with just dropping BUSHI to the floor, before nonchalantly hitting a swinging side slam for a two-count. BUSHI tries to fire back against Suzuki, but he gets wiped out with a boot to the chest for a near-fall, before being forced to kick out again after he’s kicked in the back.
Finally BUSHI mounted a comeback with flying headscissors, but he’s got to drop Kanemaru with a DDT before he’s able to think of making a tag out, eventually bringing in SANADA… whose Paradise Lock to Archer is quickly cut off by Davey Boy Smith Jr. SANADA does ‘rana out of a chokeslam attempt as Archer’s double-teamed for a spell, but he reverses a double suplex as Archer tried to follow up with an inverted crucifix bomb… only for EVIL to slip free and land a lariat.
Tags get us back to Naito and Suzuki, with the latter swinging and and missing on a PK as Naito edged ahead. A neckbreaker puts Suzuki down again, but Naito wants to embarrass the Suzuki-gun leader… who fired up and slapped him in the chest before pulling Naito into a kneebar. That morphed into a figure four as Naito eventually got to the ropes, despite the best efforts of the KES…
Some low dropkicks got Naito ahead, before the ring filled as LIJ looked to overwhelm Suzuki, as well as anyone else from Suzuki-gun who tried to get involved. Problem was, when the ring cleared, it was down to Hiromu and Suzuki… with the latter having no problems going back to the knee bar time and time again. Eventually, Suzuki trapped Hiromu in a rear naked choke, then swiftly moved to the Gotch piledriver for the win… and all told, that was pretty damn close to a squash for Suzuki-gun! Pretty underwhelming, but then again we’d already had one of the three feuds “resolved”, I guess… ***
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto & Gedo
With Juice vs. Goto on tap for Friday, that was the feud that was getting the spotlight here, with Robinson staring down the NEVER champion before the bell.
Instead though, it was Okada and Tanahashi that started the match, with the latter being taken down with some European uppercuts before Gedo came in to try and keep things going. Tanahashi quickly took down Gedo before going for Okada again, as the match spilled outside… and in Tanahashi’s case, into the crowd via the guard rails.
Gedo’s all about the trash talk, trying to get Tanahashi to quit, but Okada’s next challenger wasn’t about to do that… so Gedo tagged back in to keep up the bad mouthing. Goito has a shot too, but his kicks eventually get caught and turned into a Dragon screw, before Juice came in and nonchalantly poked Gedo in the aye.
Dusty punches come next from Juice, as does a spinebuster to Goto, who comes back with a spinning heel kick as they charged from corner-to-corner, before Juice was forced to elbow out of a backdrop suplex. He’s a little less successful the next time as Goto lands an ushigoroshi, and we’ve tags out to Gedo and Taguchi, with the latter again whiffing badly with his arse-based offence.
Eventually a flying hip attack sent Gedo into the ropes, where he eats more of those, before a Bummer-Ye knee and an ankle lock forced Gedo to scramble back towards the ropes, only for Okada to make the save. Gedo avoids a Dodon, and takes down Taguchi with a DDT as he made a tag out to Okada, who nails a neckbreaker slam for a rather lethargic two-count, before slamming Taguchi and heading up top for an elbow.
Rainmaker pose! But Tanahashi cuts that off with some punches, only to get dropkicked to the outside as Okada decided to head outside to tombstone Tanahashi on the floor. Back inside, Taguchi tried to shock Okada with a Dodon, but instead that too is countered into a tombstone, before the Cobra clutch forces the submission. Decent enough, but this had shockingly little interaction between Goto and Robinson… until after the bell when they have a pull apart. ***¼
IWGP United States Championship: David Finlay vs. Jay White (c)
September 4, 2015 – the first time these two met in a singles match… in the opener of a show at Korakuen Hall. Now they’re in a main event at Korakuen, with Finlay looking to repeat the win he snatched that day. So far, it’s the only win Finlay’s picked up in singles action against the “knife pervert”…
We get going with Finlay taking White into the ropes for a clean break – albeit with White using referee Red Shoes as a human shield. Finlay kept it basic early, using a headlock takedown, before taking White into the crowd as we had a spot of Brookesing, with the US champion getting thrown into the floor seats. Back in the ring, Finlay keeps up the assault, before his charge into the corner whiffs, giving White an opportunity to give him some whiplash as he pulled him off the top rope. A neckbreaker in the ropes followed from White as he picked up an early two-count, before we moved into the chopping game as White looked to keep him on the ropes.
A snap back suplex out of the corner keeps White ahead, as did a backbreaker, but Finlay still had plenty left in the proverbial tank, so White turned him over into a Muta lock! After getting free, Finlay takes some more chops before mounting a comeback, taking himself and White to the floor with a Cactus Jack clothesline, before following up back inside with a bridging German suplex for a near-fall.
The pair move back into back-and-forth forearms before Finlay busted out a uranage backbreaker for a two-count, as White eventually hit back with a German suplex to keep the match flowing. Uppercuts into the corner follow from White, along with a suplex and a missile dropkick as White started to get perhaps a little arrogant about things, as he looked to roll Finlay into a Boston crab.
Just like the old days!
Finlay tried to fight free, but White pulled him into a Lion Tamer while screaming at the “young boy”, just before the rope break was called. White turns it up a notch, dumping Finlay to the floor with a backdrop – and not the style of back body drop we usually mean – before dishing out another backdrop suplex on the floor as things were becoming rather methodical and measured from the champion.
Inside the ring again, White throws Finlay into the corners, before getting knocked down with a lariat as Finlay rebounded back into life. He turned the tables, throwing White into the corner for good measure, before hanging White in a Tree of Woe from the middle rope for a quick little stomp. A spear followed for a near-fall, before Finlay hit White with his own Blade Runner for a near-fall!
You know it’s a big match because Finlay’s gotten a table out – one with NJPW written on the underside – as he teases a backdrop superplex to the floor, via the table. White clings on, then slips onto the apron as we get a powerbomb attempt, only for White to get back body dropped onto the apron… where he responds by powerbombing Finlay onto the table. It bends, but does not break, before Finlay takes an elbow onto it to help the table on its way.
White tries to snatch the win via count-out from there, but Finlay narrowly beats the count, onl to get dropped with a butterfly facebuster from White as the near-falls were starting to rack up. A brainbuster gets a two-count for White, but his attempt to follow with a Blade Runner gets countered into a Stunner as Finlay could only get a delayed two-count. From there, they back to the striking game with chops and the like, with White easing ahead, before he’s caught with some uppercuts and a lariat from Finlay, who then countered another Blade Runner into a lumbar check out of nowhere!
From there, Finlay nails a Blackheart Driver for a near-fall, but Finlay gets too excited in going for a Stunner, as White countered that into the Blade Runner… and that’s your lot! A tremendously spirited performance from Finlay, but in the end it’s the same old result. As a match, it worked exceedingly well in a vacuum, but had you been following the White/Finlay feud throughout the years, you gained so much more – and if you haven’t… well, rest assured, these two will be meet again – no matter how much Jay White declared that while Finlay deserved to be in the main events, he didn’t deserve to be in the ring with him. ****
This show continued the trend of the Road to Wrestling Dontaku shows – a solid main event, and an undercard that was middling at best. At least the two centrepiece matches delivered, with Henare and Finlay more than holding up their end of the bargain, but please, can we move away from the Roppongi 3K/Suzuki-gun series that is doing more harm than good?