New Japan returned to the US for a show that wasn’t fleshed out until late on, as the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach played host to the latest chapter in the Bullet Club saga.
We’re watching the English language version, with Jim Ross and Josh Barnett on the call. After the stick JR got last year, I’m sure it’ll be fine…
SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO, YOH & Rocky Romero)
Like last year, we’ve got the duelling ring announcers – and they’re saving commercials for after the matches. That should be a blessing.
Sky and Romero get us going, working over a wristlock and armbar, with Sky rolling through into an Ace Crusher as Rocky was sent scurrying into his corner as that revolving door of tags started in earnest. YOH comes in to knock down Kazarian with a forearm, before SHO tagged in to land a running kick as the former junior tag champions were on form. SHO’s keeping on top as Kazarian tried to slow down the pace… fighting off an attempted cheapshot from Daniels before Kazarian slipped on a springboard legdrop. Daniels returns where Kazarian left off, but Kazarian’s knee is alright as he’s back in as YOH was kept isolated.
The bad guys distract the referee as Rocky Romero’s tag is missed, prolonging YOH’s time in there as Daniels took him outside for an Arabian press. That almost ended it, but back inside Sky whiffs on a Stinger splash as Rocky Romero finally gets a valid tag in. A double ‘rana takes out Kaz and Sky as the Forever lariats peppered two thirds of the ROH trios champs ahead of a springboard dropkick to a hung-up Kazarian for a near-fall.
Kazarian blocks a Sliced Bread from Kazarian as the production team missed the Best Meltzer Ever double-team tombstone… some more bad timing saw Scorpio Sky take out Kazarian, and that put Roppongi 3K back in control, dropping Kaz and Sky with lariats before SHO landed some rolling Germans to Sky. In the end though, a pair of jumping knees to Sky led to the double-team Dominator for a near-fall, before eventually falling to the 3K. A fun opener – and let the speculation start over ROH having their trios champions lose so cleanly here. **¾
So… New Japan World didn’t air commercials, and we got to hear Josh Barnett dropping an F-bomb. Oops!
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Hirooki Goto & Gedo
Oh God, Juice has gotten the nickname “The Flamboyant”. That cannot last… like Juice’s wrong caption!
They’re slowly building up to Juice vs. Goto after Robinson’s win on the undercards of the New Japan Cup. We start with those two trading holds, then shoulder blocks before Juice nailed a back elbow square to Goto’s face. Duelling clotheslines as Juice seemed to have busted open Goto, who hit back with one of his own as Finlay rushed in… and got suplexed on top of his tag partner for good measure.
Goto keeps on top of Juice, wearing him down, before Gedo tagged in to pull apart at his face. Gedo and Goto exchange tags as there’s some sneaky tactics, but Juice cuts off some Dusty punches with some of his own before he’s poked in the eye. There’s a receipt for that too as Finlay finally comes in and gets rid of an errant Goto with a flying back elbow. European uppercuts in the corner follow for Goto and Gedo, with a flying European uppercut taking Gedo down…
It doesn’t last though, as an ushigoroshi from Goto nearly puts Finlay away as JR was prattling on about a family hair match… another ushigoroshi’s blocked by Juice, who nails a full nelson slam instead, before wiping out Goto with a plancha on the floor… allowing Finlay to nail a Stunner for the win! I’m surprised Finlay got the W here, but this was a surprising amount of spotlight for these two, considering it’s only Juice who’s had steam in the past. **¾
Ditch the “Flamboyant” nickname, please!
Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) vs. Chuckie T & Toru Yano
Walter Pyramid came unglued for Toru Yano, whose DVD is out later this week if the ring announcer is to be believed.
The KES jumped their opponents at the bell, with Yano instantly getting taken outside as the CHAOS pair hadn’t even taken off their ring jackets. Chuckie T nails Smith (who Josh made a bit of a habit of calling by his real name) with the Sole Food before going for an octopus hold… which may not have been a smart idea as Smith easily escaped it.
Archer’s in, but quickly runs into a boot before he started to lay into Chuckie with a quick clothesline before going Old School. JR got that reference. Smith keeps Chuckie down with a slam for a near-fall as a rear chinlock gave Chuckie the opportunity to fight back, but he’s shoved into a belly-to-belly as those near-falls kept on coming.
The KES cornered Chuckie for a spell, but he avoids the Hart Attack by ducking the clothesline and hitting a DDT… then finally makes the hot tag to Yano! Long Beach loved that, and his shtick, which included a low blow tease… and a whiffed atomic drop! Archer knocked Yano down as he pleaded for a rope break, but Yano’s back to take advantage of a dive from Chuckie T… and tease one of his own?
The crowd fire up Yano for a dive… but he just rushes into the corner to undo the turnbuckle pads, which took a dive. Hah! Duelling hair-pulling eventually led to Yano going back to his act as Archer ran into the exposed corner, before Chuckie almost got the win with a sunset flip of all things. A piledriver follows as Archer’s stuffed, but Smith breaks up the pin before a count can be made!
Chuckie’s back with a moonsault, which misses, as Archer ends up coming back with a big chokeslam for a near-fall. A crucifix from the kick-out almost gets an upset, but in the end Chuckie ends up falling to the Killer Bomb as the KES racked up another W. I really enjoyed this match – playing up to Yano’s strengths and having him be the hot tag to do his shtick. ***¼
Bullet Club (Cody & Marty Scurll) vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)
There’s pre-match boo/yays between Cody and Marty, and it seems like Tama Tonga is the most popular one in this match. Oh, and the referee – Tiger Hattori. Cody cuts a promo before the match, claiming the Bullet Club is fine and there was no need for this match… but the Guerrillas didn’t agree in the least.
Tama Tonga just stood by as Cody attacked his partner… but there’s a swift response as the Guerrillas clotheslined Cody to the outside, all while Marty Scurll tried to play the floater in this. The Guerrillas didn’t fall for Marty’s stuff, sending him outside and into a hug with Cody as the soap opera part of proceedings continued to play out.
When we got going, Scurll tried to overpower Tanga Loa, with little success, before Cody’s attempt to come in ended with him eating a Stinger splash in the corner. Brandi dragged her husband to the outside to safety, with Tama Tonga getting suckered into the path of a superkick from Scurll as he went after Cody on the floor. Back inside, Scurll keeps up on Tama’s arm, which led to the inevitable tease of a chicken wing… except Cody tagged right in to try and hit a Cross Rhodes.
That didn’t work as Tama hit his version first, which went over the head of one of the commentary team, as Tanga Loa offered his chest up for some chops from Cody. Tanga keeps up with a hiptoss before a Disaster kick knocked him to his knees. Tama’s back with a superplex to Cody, but that offence is quickly cut off with a superplex from Scurll… who gets one of his own from Tanga as the production crew decided to show us Cody sitting on his backside instead.
Speaking of Cody, he apes Kenny Omega’s Terminator dive, only to run into a spear from Tanga Loa for a near-fall as the momentum continued to swing all over the place. Marty accidentally knocked Cody off the apron amid a double-team, before another Tanga Loa spear took Scurll into the corner… right as Cody returned to take a Tama dropkick! Another bump from Cody sees him shove Tanga into Tama, and that led to the Cross Rhodes as the rather abrupt finish gets Cody’s crew the W. This felt a little disjointed – not helped by iffy camera work and production choices, which has been the theme thus far. Cody’s on a good run with this civil war deal, but you get the sense that folks weren’t, ahem, all in on this the whole way. ***
They roll some footage from the opening of the New Japan Dojo earlier in the weekend – all the meet and greets!
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi) vs. Taguchi Japan (Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA & Dragon Lee)
You’ll be shocked, but LIJ is over as hell here, while Taguchi came dressed as a server from In n Out Burger.
We started with the traditional LIJ cheapshot as Tanahashi’s jumped from behind – but he quickly avoids some double-team as he scored a headlock/headscissor takedown on Naito and SANADA in the early stages. The crowd become even more unglued when Dragon Lee and Hiromu tagged in to renew their age-old rivalry, to bring us all of the (junior) chops!
Eventually they switch up as Dragon Lee’s nearly tripped, before he cartwheeled out of a ‘rana before dumping Hiromu with a snap German off the ropes. A massive tope con giro followed to the outside as the ring filled up so we could get some quadruple-teaming on Hiromu… if Taguchi playing conductor to the barrage of avalanches in the corner counted! Things switched to KUSHIDA catching Hiromu with Cattle Mutilation, but eventually things turn around with LIJ rushing the ring to shock things – and allow Hiromu to take KUSHIDA into the corner for a spot of boot choking. BUSHI has a go too, as does SANADA, who made light work of tripping KUSHIDA into a Paradise Lock, followed with the inevitable dropkick to the arse.
BUSHI’s back and quickly uses his shirt to choke out KUSHIDA… who recovers and nails a handspring back elbow to take out SANADA, who then had to deal with Tanahashi, whose crossbody kept him down. Dragon screws followed, but SANADA’s able to turn the tide with a dropkick, only for Taguchi of all people to swing things back as he took Naito down into an ankle lock. More submissions followed with Hoverboard Locks and cloverleafs, while Dragon Lee threw Hiromu into the guard rails as those submissions didn’t work…
Taguchi couldn’t score with the Bummer-ye hip attack, so he goes back to the ankle lock, only for that to get broken up as Naito and Hiromu to go right after Taguchi… leading to a quick Destino as the Ingobernables win. A fun undercard tag, but my God, these production choices are making me beg for the “home” Japan crew to handle this rather than AXS. ***½
Rey Mysterio came out before the next match – he’d been pulled from the show after suffering a torn bicep a few weeks ago. He was here apologising, before promising that we will get Mysterio vs. Liger at some point.
Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Will Ospreay
Replacing Mysterio was Will Ospreay – who didn’t come out as Dark Liger like he did the last time these guys met.
Ospreay tried to start out fast but got caught in a Romero special as Liger pulled him all the way back into a chinlock… but after getting released, Ospreay takes him into the corner for the Shibata-like dropkick… which the camera damn near missed. They keep the pace slow as Ospreay tried to submit Liger, only for that to be avoided as a tiltawhirl backbreaker took Ospreay down. An attempt to go outside for cover backfires when Liger crashes into Ospreay with a cannonball off the apron, ahead of a brainbuster in the aisle… which almost drew the count-out victory. Liger keeps up with a Shotei and a Ligerbomb as he almost took the win while JR completely buried the move. Product knowledge, eh?
A top rope ‘rana’s blocked by Ospreay, who jarred his knee – to help reduce his speed for the rest of the match, since it didn’t stop him from crashing into Liger with a Sasuke special! Back inside, a one-legged springboard forearm and a standing shooting star press gets a near-fall as that knee continued to ache – which led to Liger landing the koppo kick… only to run into a standing Spanish fly as Ospreay caught him off guard.
The diving corkscrew kick would have led to an Oscutter, but Liger turned it into a brainbuster as he fought back, following back in with a superplex as Ospreay just about got a foot to the rope. Another Shotei is only delayed as Ospreay flew in the air for another near-fall for Liger. Ospreay hits his version of a Liger Bomb for a near-fall, before unleashing with some kicks ahead of an OsCutter for another out-of-nowhere win. Easily the best thing on this show so far, but with Ospreay going in as champion, the result was never really in doubt. ***¾
Post-match, Ospreay put over Liger for being able to still go at his age, before turning talk into him creating his own legacy by beating legends. Oh, mini English Randy Orton? Ospreay stared down Rey Mysterio during parts of his promo, calling out Rey for a match at some point down the line. On his day, that could be a hell of an outing for Rey… but first he may have to get past Marty Scurll, who attacked Ospreay from behind before stealing Mysterio’s mask. Liger makes the save as Scurll runs off – all while Rey got his mask back on, aided by some shielding from an ever-attentive Young Lion.
Ahead of the next match, JR was dishing out apologies for saying “Shurll” instead of “Scurll”. All while continuing to mispronounce Marty’s surname. That has to be a rib on some, right?
Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki) vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii
Minoru Suzuki got a good reaction here, although that’s probably a mixture of fear and respect.
This is building up to Sakura Genesis next weekend, and it’s Sabre and Okada who open up the match, with Sabre teasing some early grappling. Sabre stretches the arms of Okada, but the surfboard’s reversed before he swings and misses for Zack with a clothesline. The crowd roars again as Suzuki and Ishii tagged in, and of course, they weren’t holding back as they relentlessly traded right hands with each other.
Eventually Ishii nails a shoulder block after side-stepping a boot from Suzuki, who dragged him into the ropes for a hanging armbar while Sabre and Okada went to the outside. Suzuki finds a chair and uses it on Ishii as the two of them went into the crowd briefly, with Suzuki returning to knock down Okada before going back to those chops with Ishii.
Ishii’s knocked into the corner as he’s worked over by Suzuki and Sabre with duelling submissions as the Suzuki-gun pair used a handful of quickly-changing submission attempts. Suzuki keeps up on Ishii with a heel hook, but it’s quickly ended by way of a rope break, only for Sabre to keep on toying with the Stone Pitbull. It ended as you’d think, with Ishii firing up, catching a kick before nailing a big German suplex!
Sabre’s quickly back in when Okada tagged in, locking him in an Octopus hold, pulling him to the mat with a trapped armbar that ended with a rope break. Zack’s back to the Octopus hold, but Okada counters into a tombstone attempt… ending with Sabre of course monkeying around into a mounted keylock!
Zack urges Okada to “make it rain, dickhead” as the crowd burst into duelling chants… pro- and anti-Sabre, but not for Okada, as he went to the Octopus again, only to get hiptossed away. Okada tried a backslide into a Rainmaker, but an overhead kick stops that as Suzuki got the tag in to keep working away on Okada’s arm. A quick rear naked choke into a Gotch piledriver’s stopped when Okada counters into a neckbreaker slam, then brings Ishii back in as those two picked up right where they left off… ending with a forearm that send Ishii rolling into the ropes.
More forearms follow as they tried to knock the other down, with mixed success as Ishii tries a back suplex before countering a front facelock into a brainbuster. Sabre’s back to take over on Ishii, aided with duelling PKs from Suzuki as the near-falls started to build up. Another PK to Ishii gets countered with a headbutt before an Ishii powerbomb almost snatched the win, only for Sabre to go back to the submission attempts, ending when Okada hit the ring to make a save.
The leaping dropkick from Okada and a sliding lariat from Ishii nearly gets the job done, as Ishii tried to swat away more Sabre kicks, only to get caught in the Octopus that Sabre rolled through into a triangle armbar, and finally, Orienteering with Napalm Death as Ishii finally gave! Another big name on the list of victims, and Sabre’s right in with an Octopus to Okada after the bell as he looked to soften up the champion ahead of next week. We’re well into the meat of this card, and I absolutely cannot wait for Sabre vs. Okada next week… Marty Asami vs. Suzuki-gun… not so much! ****¼
During the break, you got to see referee Red Shoes Unno fist-bumping fans on his way to the ring… but first, there’s an announcement as New Japan announced their return on July 7, for another G1 Special at the Cow Palace in San Francisco – Fighting Spirit Unleashed. These show names are quickly going to get cliched, I feel.
IWGP United States Championship: Hangman Page vs. Jay White (c)
This was undoubtedly one of, if not the, highest profile singles matches of Page’s career, as he’d built up a winning streak while everyone’s been fixated on the Kenny/Cody story.
According to Jim Ross, Jay White “singled out Hiroshi Tanahashi from day one, and it’s worked out for him”. You did watch WrestleKingdom, right?
We start out with White chopping Page around the ring, then landing a running forearm as the challenger was on the ropes early… before nailing a big boot as White charged at him in the corner. Page gets a one-count out of a backdrop suplex, but a dropkick from White snuffs that out as he looked to ground Hangman with a Muta lock. A rope break just saw White take the match outside as he keeps up with chops, but Page lived up to his name, hanging White in the ropes with a neckbreaker that ultimately sent the champion down to the floor.
We finally got guard rail spots, with Page throwing White into the barricades before launching him into the ring post with a fireman’s carry toss. Back inside, Page deadlifts White into a bridging pumphandle fallaway slam for a near-fall, following up with a backbreaker as Page seemed to have White’s number… even if the crowd seemed to be largely silent for it all.
A snapping back suplex from White put a stop to that, as did a back elbow after he leapt over Page… leading to a version of the Three Amigos, which of course drew chants for Eddie Guerrero. Another suplex into the turnbuckles nearly put Page away, before he tried for a Kiwi Krusher, only for Page to cradle him for another near-fall. Page flips out of a German suplex but can’t stop a Downward Spiral as he ran into it, before another German suplex scored a near-fall for White.
Page gets right back in it with a hangman DDT off the ropes, but he’s up slowly as he set up White for a slingshot… which White’s positioning stopped at least twice before he just knocked Page down to the apron. We’re back to the chops from White, who teased the Blade Runner from the apron to the floor, but Page hung onto the ropes only to get met with a Downward Spiral to the apron before White nearly dumped Page on his head with a German suplex on the apron… which clipped Page’s shoulder badly as he landed more on the floor.
Back inside again, and White tries for a German superplex… which Page clings onto the turnbuckles to avoid, fighting his way free as the pair opted to trade chops on the top rope as Page worked his way into a swinging neckbreaker off of the top rope! They’re back as they tee off on each other before White goes back to the chops, ahead of a back body drop that sent Page tumbling back to the floor… where he eats a snap back suplex! Another one of those suplexes follow in the ring, before Page escaped Blade Runner and floated all the way over into a powerbomb! Page followed up with a piledriver for a near-fall, before a top rope moonsault misses… ahead of a shooting star headbutt as White thought he’d outsmarted him by going to the floor! An Orihara moonsault connects on the floor as Page built up steam, connecting with a slingshot lariat for a near-fall… and it looked like all we needed was the Rite of Passage.
White tries a block, nearly rolling up Page for the win before another half-nelson suplex dumped Page high on his neck. The Kiwi Krusher follows, before Page spat his way out of the Blade Runner… which got Page another shot as he went for the Rite of Passage, only to get countered into the Blade Runner as White secured the win. This was a pretty solid match between the bells, but it was hurt by a severe lack of apathy in the crowd. Hangman Page is going to need more than some undercard tag wins to be taken seriously, I fear… and Jay White is still a big work in progress. ***½
After the match, David Finlay came out and challenged White for the title at Korakuen Hall… April 24th, eh? Well, it’s another chance to snap that big ol’ losing streak Finlay has against White!
Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. Golden☆Lovers (Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega)
The reunion of the Golden☆Lovers – and them declaring themselves as the best tag tag team in the world – got a little awkward when the Young Bucks announced that they were moving up to heavyweight… which led to the challenge for our main event.
The time limit for this one was stretched to 60 minutes pretty late on, and I am in love with how the Bucks started with weightlifting belts. Not because it’s a nod to them being heavyweight, but because I don’t have to rely on bandannas for their names!
Anyway, we started with Kenny and Matt, the former being incredibly reluctant as Matt attacked Ibushi on the apron to keep the storyline stuff going. Of course, Kota wanted retribution, so we really started with Nick and Kota as the feeling out process saw Ibushi shrug off a kick to the head before landing one of his own. Matt gets kicked too, before Kenny rushed in to stomp Ibushi stomping on Matt’s back.
Once Matt shoved Kenny away in anger, it seemed any friendly fire was a thing of the past as the Bucks burst into life, scoring a tandem neckbreaker to Ibushi and a low double dropkick to Omega as they tore into their usual playbook. Omega stuffs a dive from the Bucks, before he dove into a superkick from Nick, who followed with a springboard senton into the Golden☆Lovers down below.
Matt grabs a table from under the ring – one with nice shiny silver legs too – but it’s not for now as the Bucks keep up on Ibushi… who manages to evade both of them while scoring with a body press to Nick on the floor. The Bucks keep Omega at bay so they can keep on isolating Ibushi, nailing a powerbomb into the corner with a superkick for a two-count as Matt’s lower back began to show more signs of wear.
Ibushi gets the tag out to Kenny, who High Fly Flows into Matt before getting sent to the outside via a back elbow from Nick, and we’re into twists on the Bucks offence, as the held-up dropkick in the ropes is thwarted by Ibushi… who just kicks Matt in the back again. Nick eats a Kotaro Krusher, before the Golden☆Lovers go for the Cross Clash – with production thankfully avoiding Ibushi’s overshoot, returning just in time to see him saving it with a headlock takedown on the floor.
The Golden☆Lovers chain stuff together as Matt eats a Finlay roll and a pair of springboard moonsaults for a near-fall as that lower back kept on a-hurting. Gotta love commitment to an injury that doesn’t magically disappear from match-to-match. Especially as it gives opponents an easy target, with Kenny hitting an old school backbreaker… then a backdrop suplex onto the apron as Matt kept trying to take potshots at him.
The Bucks are back with a bulldog/clothesline combo, but Omega cuts them off with chops, before he’s taken outside for a tope as the Bucks resume their offence on Ibushi, nailing a Sliced Bread for a near-fall… then they suddenly care about tags as they look hit a duelling splash off the top, but Nick gets knocked to the floor. Oops. Omega returns to help turn it into a double-team superplex, sending Walter Pyramid into a nice “ooh” on the way down.
It’s the Golden☆Lovers time to tease a double-team splash, but that’s stopped as Omega eats a vicious German suplex onto the apron… and now it’s table time as Nick props it between the ring and the guard rails, before urging his brother to put Kenny through it. Ibushi makes him pay for stalling, and gets clotheslined to the outside by a riled-up Nick, before Matt’s poor back fights out of a One Winged Angel through the table… and instead becomes the victim of a Doomsday German that saw him land on his head.
A Golden Trigger is teased, but stopped by Nick… the regular V-Trigger takes out Matt as Ibushi looked to capitalise with a Last Ride for a near-fall as you got the feeling the match was beginning to enter the final straight. More Kota kicks left Matt in pain, despite his attempt to fire up. He does manage to get his knees up to block a standing moonsault, and then wangles his way into a Sharpshooter – perhaps a dumb move given the back. The Sharpshooter’s held as Nick flies in to hit a facebuster to Kota, then a tornado DDT off the apron to Kenny on the floor… but the back eventually gives before Kota could.
Nick has to help Matt get Ibushi up as they went for More Bang For Your Buck… but the last part was an elbow drop to Omega through that table instead! A rope hung 450 splash to Ibushi nearly led to the finish, but a superkick party breaks out, because of course it does, including one after the Bucks avoided the One Winged Angel.
Matt demands that Kenny throw a fist, which he gladly does, along with a snap Dragon suplex, only for Matt to reply with a piledriver. That weightlifting belt comes into play as Matt becomes Hulk Hogan, and whips Kenny with it. I guess Kota got a shot too, but the production team didn’t show it, before Kenny disarmed Matt and instead of using the belt… just throws some V-Triggers instead. A spear cuts it off, but the Bucks can’t get off a Meltzer Driver without some help, as Ibushi stops it anyway and just powerbombs Nick through the timekeeper’s table instead.
The Golden☆Lovers ape the Meltzer Driver for a very close near fall, before a Doctor Wily Bomb gets another two for Kenny, before Omega finally nails a One Winged Angel to Matt after conflicted Kenny began to return. Nick tries to pull up his fallen brother, before he decides to fight for himself, only to take a V-Trigger and a Dragon suplex before Matt ate the Golden Trigger for the win.
After the bell, it was pretty clear that this was a match that divided opinion – in just how good it was. For me, the slow going and some of the slips kinda make me be THAT guy. Don’t get me wrong, it was bloody great. Yeah, the start and the finish felt a little overdone for my tastes, but come the end of the year, this match probably won’t figure up in the upper echelon of New Japan’s matches of the year… ****¾
After the match, Conflicted Kenny’s back as they tended to Matt Jackson, but he left the ring with Ibushi… just in time for Cody Rhodes to hit the ring to wag his finger at the Bucks for losing. Cody shoves down Nick, prompting Kenny to return as Cody scarpered… and just when you thought things were clear cut, the waters muddy yet again as the Bucks seemed to have split loyalties!
Strong Style Evolved was a show that felt like an afterthought until the show was right on top of you – with very little announced until the final days. In the end though, we got a show that was like a good Korakuen Hall show, with a blowaway main event. A match that furthered the ongoing Golden☆Lovers story, like you expected, and set up a little for down the line, but it was clear the bigger focus is on their summer return in San Francisco.