This show has some of the biggest hype for any show in recent memory. It features a main event that could be absolutely anything, but it also features the return of Prime Universe Jericho and an appealing undercard. Hopefully it delivers.
IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Titles - Yoshinobu Kanemura & Desperado vs Roppongi 3K
This was a good way to start off the show. It didn't do anything out of the ordinary, and the Suzuki-gun team did their usual shenanigans, but it was fun enough and the crowd were into it. ***
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs Jay White & YOSHI-HASHI
Another fun match that had no real consequence other than to set up Juice as the next challenger to White. It was a fun 7 minute sprint. ***
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr
Another good match. This time it was the interactions between Ishii and Suzuki that spurred it on. That and Sabre's general awesomeness. He blocked the low blow from Yano and tapped him out to establish them as a force to be reckoned with in the tag division. ***
NEVER Openweight Title - Hirooki Goto vs Michael Elgin vs Taichi
This was a good enough match despite the fact that I wasn't really invested in it due to the competitors. Elgin pinned Taichi (Fuck Taichi) to pick up the title and set up a singles match against Goto. ***
IWGP Tag Titles - EVIL & SANADA vs Young Bucks
Business is picking up. This was a great match, and by far the best thing on the show so far. All four are great wrestlers and they certainly showed that here. The Young Bucks once again proved that they are much more than the spot monkeys they are sometimes portrayed as. By fools. The layout was great, and they pulled it all together nicely. The Young Bucks won the titles to establish themselves in the heavyweight division. ****1/4
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jushin Liger & Rey Mysterio vs Cody, Marty Scurll & Hangman Page
To paraphrase Booker T 'Liger, you're looking real jacked baby'. This was a fun 6-man tag that maintained a good pace throughout and never outstayed it's welcome. Mysterio got all his shit in on his New Japan debut and the Bullet Club members played the dickheads like only they can. In the end Cody picked up the win by pinning Liger. Fun times for what it was. ***1/2
IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title - Will Ospreay vs Hiromu Takahashi
They start off like a house of fire, immediately heading to the outside, before slowing it down for a bit. They pick the pace back up soon enough, and Takahashi hits a shotgun dropkick off the apron. Takahashi works over the neck of Ospreay, as has been the custom of late. Ospreay goes for the Oscutter and gets caught with a nasty German suplex. They hit a back and forth sequence that probably made Jim Cornette shit himself, it was lovely. Ospreay hits an outside-in deadlift suplex and follows that up with a burning star press and a twisting ssp. Takahashi fights back with a springboard destroyer and a triangle. Ospreay escapes by powerbombing Takahashi on his head. JEEEESUS! Takahashi responds to the attempted murder by sunset powerbombing Ospreay to the floor. Shit is getting real. Hiromu is pissed now and hits a nasty looking butterfly piledriver and follows that up with a DVD into the corner and the Time Bomb for the win. Takahashi has the love of his life, the Jr title, back. That was a great match, especially down the finishing stretch. These two are at the forefront of revolutionary wrestling and they are willing to do whatever it takes. I do worry about their long-term health though. ****1/2
IWGP Intercontinental Title - Tetsuya Naito vs Chris Jericho
The build to this match has been wonderful. Jericho has been a glorious dick throughout, while Naito has tried to tranquillo the whole thing. Jericho comes out dressed like 90s jobber Phantasio. Naito is the coolest motherfucker on the planet. Jericho attacks immediately, and we are go. Jericho gets the plunder and powerbombs Naito through a table. Fuck yeah. DDT on the announce table! The match hasn't even officially started and Naito has blood on his natty suit. The New Japan version of Jericho is fantastic. Naito finally mounts a comeback and hits a neckbreaker on the apron. Then one off the apron. Naito has only just managed to get into his ring gear. Naito's eye is 7 shades of fucked up. Naito hits a piledriver on the announce table. This is way more violent than I had anticipated. Naito goes for a rana but gets caught in the Walls of Jericho. He fights out and hits the rana, followed by a swinging DDT. Jericho goes back to the Walls, sinking it in deep. Naito once again manages to fight it off. Naito hits the Destino but Jericho grabs the rope. Naito is now bleeding from the ear. Naito goes for the flying forearm but gets caught in a Codebreaker for a near fall. Naito gets the knees up to block the Lionsault, and hits Gloria for a near fall. Jericho distracts the ref and hits a low blow and Codebreaker to pick up the win. Jericho is now the IC champion. That was a gloriously violent piece of entertainment. Not every match has to be a technical classic to be wildly entertaining. ****1/4
Following the match, Jericho continued to beat down Naito, whipping him with a belt. EVIL made the save, setting him up as the next challenger.
IWGP Heavyweight Title, No Time Limit, 2/3 Falls - Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega
Well, this is it, the most hyped match in years. I am a little trepidacious about if it can possibly live up to it. Okada's current title run is the best I can ever remember. 720 days, 12 successful defenses, all of which are great at worst, a record breaker in every category. Either man could win, and my heart is pounding. Let's do this. They start off slow and methodical, as thhey should, with both men portraying the importance and stature of the match. They both try to hit their finishers before heading to the floor. Okada tries to do his trademark over the barrier dive but gets hit with a brutal V-Trigger, then gets slammed into the barricade. Early (very early) advantage to Omega. Omega works the back of Okada, playing into the wear and tear from his long and physical title reign. Omega hits some loud chops, including one to the back of the neck. Okada fights back into it and we return to the game of human chess. Omega then throws caution to the wind and comes up big on a sprinboard splash over the barricade. We get a lovely sequence of reversals that show how well they know each other that ends with a bridging German for a near fall. Omega goes for the top rope dragon suplex but Okada reverses into a tombstone on the apron. Both men are down. Omega headed back to the apron and for his troubles he got dropkicked into the barricade. Omega is in trouble and Okada hits the top rope elbow. He sets up for the Rainmaker but Omega reverses into a snapdragon. Omega then hits Rise of the Terminator. We are 25 minutes in. There is a wonderful sequence of reversals that ends with Omega hitting an electric chair German for a near fall. Omega then hits some more tasty looking V-Triggers and gets another near fall. Okada hits another Tombstone and goes for the Rainmaker. Omega counters but Okada traps him in a cradle to pick up the first fall at the 30 minute mark. Two minute rest period, which is as much for the fans as it is for the wrestlers. This is something else.
Second fall is underway. This one starts with Okada in control. The constant advancement of the story/psychology is off the charts. Okada hits a DDT off the barricade and is in complete control. He slows down the pace and grounds Omega. Omega fights back with a pair of back suplexes, one of which was onto the apron. He follows that up by double stomping a table onto Okada on the outside. Omega sets up the Deus Ex Machina table and they head back inside. Okada fights back and hits a DVD into a suplex and follows up with a stellar looking shotgun dropkick. They head up top and Omega manages to hit a cross-legged superplex. Omega goes for the You Can't Escape but Okada gets the knees up, and follows with a corkscrew uppercut. Okada tries to throw Omega through the conspicuous table but Omega hits a swinging DDT. They head out on to the apron and Omega goes for a German off the apron, through the table. Okada doesn't want to die and fights it off. They both go for their finishers but get reversed, leading to Omega hitting a poison rana on the outside. Okada makes it in at 19 and immediately eats a V-Trigger. Omega goes for the One Winged Angel but it gets reversed into a tombstone. Okada goes for a Rainmaker but it gets reversed into a massive Uranage. Inhuman effort on show. They trade blows, dropkicks and whatever else they have before Okada cradles him for a great near fall. Omega hits a nasty butterfly piledriver for a near fall before hitting a V-Trigger and the One Winged Angel to pick up the second fall at around the 50 minute mark. Aaaand breathe.
The third fall starts with a V-Trigger to the back of the head. Omega goes for the One Winged Angel but it gets reversed into a desperation Rainmaker. Okada is too knackered to take advantage though, and Omega kicks out. Omega is using every fibre of his being to prevent a Tombstone. Both men are showing the effects of such a gruelling match. Omega hits a Styles Clash but Okada is too close to the ropes. Omega goes for the One Winged Angel but he is too tired to execute it and collapses. They trade Tombstone reversals before Omega hits the crunchie for a great near fall. Omega goes for the phoenix splash but misses, allowing Okada to hit a dropkick. Okada telegraphs a Tombstone attempt and gets nailed with a couple of V-Triggers. Okada reverses the last one and hits a pair of dropkicks. Okada hits a Rainmaker but is far too tired to get any substance on it, and both men collapse to the mat. Nice callback to a year ago. Okada hits a Rainmaker out of nowhere but once again he can't capitalise. Okada does maintain wrist control and hits another Rainmaker. He isn't done, and goes for a third. His hubris is his undoing though and he gets caught with a big German suplex. And another. Okada reverses and hits one of his own, and has control of the wrist. Rainmaker misses. German suplex, poison rana. Omega reverses the Rainmaker into a rapid One Winged Angel but he loses control and Okada ends up in the ropes. Omega hits the nastiest V-Trigger in history and follows up with the One Winged Angel and KENNY OMEGA HAS BEATEN OKADA! Wow.
That match was off the charts. I am emotionally spent. If the purpose of wrestling is to tell great stories that get you emotionally invested and build to a wonderful closing stretch, then job done. If it is to put on matches that showcase athletic prowess that can't be seen in everyday life, then job done. Everything you could possibly want from a wrestling match was on offer for you here. The pacing was fantastic, the storytelling was perfect, and the wrestling was of the highest order. The callbacks to their previous matches were superb and the crowd bought into every last second of it. To put it into some sort of perspective, up until this match Twitter had been pretty damn active, but when this match started it went quiet. Nobody wanted to miss a second of it, and sure enough it started up again once the final pinfall occurred. It was a masterpiece. *****
Overall Grade - A+
It started off predictably slow, but from the tag title match onwards it was a fantastic show. Everything that looked like it should deliver, did. Jericho was great once again, the juniors were crazy, and the main event will be remembered as a true classic.
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