Current Watch List:
- Wrestle Kingdom 9 (New Japan Pro Wrestling)
- Yuji Okabayashi vs. Kazuki Hashimoto (Big Japan Wrestling)
- Dragon Lee, The Panther & Guerrero Maya vs. Hechicero, Hombre Sin Nombre & El Sagrado (CMLL)
- Rey Cometa vs. Niebla Roja (CMLL)
- Dragon Celestial & Metaleon vs. Douki & Hip Hop Man (IWRG)
Matches Watched:
New Japan Rumble
Japan
New Japan Pro Wrestling
Battle Royal
Some give New Japan a hard time for its recent trend of imitating certain WWE practices. New Japan would be foolish not to look to the leader in their particular industry for potential value-added ideas. Sometimes – as in the case of this match – following in WWE’s footsteps is a good thing. Consolidating 2 or 3 prelim or dark matches into a dark battle royal as a means of getting everyone onto the big show was a wise decision. This battle royal was not a great match or anything but it was far more enjoyable and memorable than a pair of ten-man tags would have been. Highlights included Hiro Saito’s surprise entrance and cool looking sentons, the surprise appearances of Fujiwara and Great Kubuki, and the impressive showings of young lions Sho Tanaka and Kohei Yomatsu.
reDRagon © vs. Young Bucks vs. Time Splitters vs. Forever Hooligans
Japan
New Japan Pro Wrestling
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag
Running a quick paced, move intensive match like this junior 4-way tag as a show opener would be a questionable decision in other environments. Why burn out the audience in the first match when the first match is almost guaranteed to have some level of heat by virtue of being the first thing on? On this particular show, however, it did not seem like a big deal. Junior wrestling has historically failed to get over in a dome setting (and isn’t that over in modern NJPW) so there was little risk in the crowd getting totally involved in the opener and burning out early. When Ishii and Makabe are killing each other with lariats before the midway point of the card, it seems pointless to complain about a show opening juniors sprint being “too much, too soon”.
The four-way format helped here because it meant each of the teams getting their stuff in without being able to reach the point of overkill. This was “blink and you’ll miss it” fast action with several cool spots. reDRagon retains (they are reportedly on the February tour) which seems reasonable since they are the freshest team in a division sorely in need of some new blood.
Bullet Club (Jeff Jarrett, Yujiro Takahashi & Bad Luke Fale vs. Hiroshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma
Japan
New Japan Pro Wrestling
Perhaps the most throwaway match on paper going into the show ended up serving a fine purpose. That purpose was Honma getting the big show win that had alluded him all of 2014. The explosive reaction to Honma’s pin fall victory over Yujiro was impressive. Hopefully this signals the start of some sort of mini-push for Honma who had an excellent 2014 working as an underdog cult favorite. Jarrett wrestled like current Jarrett wrestles – some brawling, some heat-seeking stuff, and not much else. Poor Tenzan. He looked relatively good in the G1 physically, but in this match he looked like he could barely get around. Kojima looked much better and I wouldn’t be shocked if he beats Marafuji for the GHC title in a couple of days.
Toru Yano, Naomi Marafuji & TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nichols) vs. Suzuki-gun (Iizuka, Shelton Benjamin, Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer)
Japan
New Japan Pro Wrestling
This match existed for a few different reasons. The first was to continue the long-running Yano/Iizuka issue. The other was to debut TMDK and set them up in an inter-promotional feud with the Killer Elite Squad. The third was probably the start of some greater NOAH/NJPW involvement, which is likely why Marafuji scored the pin on Iizuka for seemingly no reason. I thought this was an okay NJPW debut for TMDK. The TMDK/Killer Elite Squad matches should be decent. Why they would fly Benjamin over from the US for this, I don’t know. Like the first three matches, this was kept short and that’s a good thing. All of the undercard matches were helped by the tighter time restrictions necessitated by the four-hour PPV window.
Kazushi Sakurana vs. Minoru Suzuki
Japan
New Japan Pro Wrestling
UWFI Rules
Personally, Sakuraba and Suzuki’s shoot-style rules match (no pins, submission or 10-count TKO only) was my most anticipated of the entire show. It was a different match than I thought it was going to be, but I definitely was not disappointed. Saku looked great. His opening mat work was top notch and some of the better contemporary mat work to come out of Japan in recent years. His kicks were great and served as the glue that held the match together. The outside stuff worked, even if it was unexpected. Saku “breaking” Suzuki’s arm with the kimura was a unique piece of booking that gave the match a special feel. Suzuki did a good job holding his limp arm the side to the sell the injury but the way he ate Saku’s strikes felt a little out of place in the realistic style that they worked at other points in the match. The ending was strong, however, and Suzuki is realistically in a position now to challenge for one of the top titles at the big February cards.
Tomohiro Ishii © vs. Togi Makabe
Japan
New Japan Pro Wrestling
NEVER Open Weight
A crowbar match with two guys throwing bombs at one another largely at the expense of most everything else is far from my favorite match style. If that style is right up your alley, then I imagine this match was well received. It’s not a match style that I actively enjoy and even beyond that, it was my favorite match in this style. Makabe is not very good. Ishii showed off some of his tools, including his ability to take somewhat subtle bumps that emphasize his shoulder injury and his striking. It was not enough to compensate for Makabe’s shortcomings, however.
Rysuke Taguchi © vs. Kenny Omega
Japan
New Japan Pro Wrestling
IWGP Junior Heavyweight
A babyface making a prolific heel turn can sometimes fall into the trap of trying “too hard” to get over as a heel. Mannerisms become forced and the new heel’s matches can become consumed with character driven stuff to the detriment of everything else. On the flip side, some guys go heel but continue to wrestle like a face. It is not always an easy thing to get right. To his credit, Omega managed that balancing act pretty well on his first real night as a Bullet Club member. He came off like a heel. He cheated – spraying deodorant in Taguchi’s eyes and distracting the official for the Young Bucks to get their licks in – and had a good presence. At the same time, he avoided the match becoming nothing more than a platform for him to show how great of a heel he can be.
Unfortunately, as a match this never quite clicked. Taguchi comes off these days as if he is just going through the motions. Omega will occasionally pull out a neat spot or two in a match – he took a good looking bump on a hurricanrana and landed a hard German Suplex for the finish – but he is generally all over the place in a modern Ring of Honor sort of way. Combine those two elements together and what resulted was a match that wasn’t terrible, but was disjointed and totally unremarkable. Omega captured the title to the surprise of nobody given this is the start of his big heel push. The junior babyface roster is thin at the moment. Omega could bring out the worst in Alex Shelley. Liger is tied up with the NWA junior title. BUSHI is sidelined. KUSHIDA is the most logical opponent for a long term feud and he also stands the best chance of getting good matches out of Omega.
Bullet Club (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) © vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto
Japan
New Japan Pro Wrestling
IWGP Tag Team
There was much consternation from some concerning the 4-hour window this year’s Tokyo Dome had to “squeeze” into. The fear was that matches would be rushed. Matches were given stricter time limits, but I hesitate to say that more than one maybe was rushed. In fact, cutting down the match time helped the show breeze by and more importantly, really helped matches like this one stay focused. Given less than 10 minutes to work with, the two teams worked a fast-paced, high-energy tag that felt longer (in the sense that it felt complete) than its nine minute run time. In 2014, I wrote that Goto & Shibata were better off working as the heels in their tags. In this one, both took a shot at getting worked over and fought from behind the entire match. For the end run, the Bullet Club continually cutoff and double teamed Goto & Shibata whenever those two started building momentum. Goto & Shibata were surprisingly strong in the underneath role. Gallows wrestled a good match and the fans got into down the stretch. Goto & Shibata finally captured the tag team titles that alluded them for most of 2014 with a double team Go 2 Sleep. To this point on the show, this tag match was either the best or second best (next to Sakuraba/Suzuki) of the night.
A.J. Styles vs. Tetusya Naito
Japan
New Japan Pro Wrestling
It was only a matter of time before A.J. Styles and the promotions he works for figured out that the recent manufactured controversy over the safety of the Styles Clash can be used to their advantage. Teasing the Styles Clash throughout a match is a structure that Styles has used at points during his career. He did so again in this match, attempting to land his finisher as his very first offensive move of the match. Styles was unable to pull the move off at that early juncture, but it did allow him to take control early. It was an advantage he kept for most of the match, cutting off Naito on each one of his attempted comebacks. Both guys were on in terms of execution and at one point, Styles took a HUGE bump to the floor following a backdrop by Natio. Styles worked Naito’s leg for part of the match which culminated in an effective submission near fall via the calf killer.
Ultimately, the match needed to head back to the Styles Clash and it did so in grand fashion. Styles blocked a top rope rana and maneuvered Naito into the Styles Clash position while still perched on the turnbuckle. The tease and eventual execution of the super Styles Clash was treated like a big deal and the move appropriately served as the finish. The match was really smooth overall and had decent heat, which wasn’t a given considering the match was high up the card without much in the way or build or without the benefit of being a title bout. When Naito and Styles are on, they tend to have fun, fast paced and energetic matches. Both were on at the Tokyo Dome and the result was a very solid match.
Shinsuke Nakamura © vs. Kota Ibushi
Japan
New Japan Pro Wrestling
IWGP Intercontinental
There were a multitude of reasons why the Intercontinental Championship bout between Shinsuke Nakamura and Kota Ibushi was the best thing on the Tokyo Dome show. For one, the match had the drama and showmanship of a big time, big show main event. Ibushi put on a tremendous performance – easily his best as a contracted New Japan wrestler – that will hopefully serve as a springboard to bigger things for him in 2015. Nakamura had his second great dome performance in the past six months that strengthened his already strong case for being one of the best wrestlers in the world. They played off of their excellent 2013 G1 match to good effect, as well. The work was snug, athletic, and well-executed. All of that came together to form a dramatic and memorable match that for the time being will hold a special place in January 4th Tokyo Dome history.
Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs. Kazuchika Okada
Japan
New Japan Pro Wrestling
IWGP Heavyweight
Sometimes, the greatest enemy of a match can be heightened expectations. To a group of modern day New Japan fans, Tanahashi and Okada have one of wrestling’s all-time great in-ring rivalries. Dave Meltzer bestowed **** ¾, ****, and **** on their last three IWGP Heavyweight championship matches. Their second title match from 2012 was also rated **** ¾ by Meltzer while their 30-minute draw from the 2013 G1 and their first title match being rated at **** ½ and **** 1/4 , respectively, by Meltzer. Others hold the matches in even higher regard than Meltzer does. The extreme praise has led to the predictable extreme backlash. It was going to be impossible for the 6th title match (8th overall) between Tanahashi and Okada to be anything but divisive. Sure enough, one does not have to search very far to find those that thought the match wasn’t very good at all and to find some that absolutely adored it.
So what did I think? Well, I am going to take the safe way out of this unwinnable debate by declaring (truthfully, mind you) that I thought this match was a fine main event, but also one that is not in the vicinity of a *****/excellent match. I honestly see validity in some of the arguments for the match being great and the arguments against it being great, which puts my opinion squarely in the middle for the time being. More to come on this particular match at month’s end . . .
Dragon Lee, The Panther & Guerrero Maya vs. Hechicero, Hombre Sin Nombre & El Sagrado
Lucha
CMLL
If I was inclined to slap a catchy moniker on the 2014 year in pro wrestling, “Year of the Trios” would definitely work. 2014 produced a lot of quality six-man tags. WWE had a bunch in the first half of the year before the Shield was broken up. CMLL will always produce their fair share of good trios matches. New Japan, Dragon Gate, AAA, and others got in the mix as well. The end result was what appeared to be far more high quality trios than what I would consider the norm.
It remains to be seen if that trend carries over to 2015, but this match is a solid start in that direction.
2014 En Busca de un Idolo contestants Hechicero and Dragon Lee were the standouts. Hechicero was in a particularly rudo-ish mood it seemed. I loved early on in the first fall when he stopped his momentum mid stride to avoid being hit, gave his opponent the universal “up yours” sign, and tagged out. He was also on his A-game with his actual wrestling, as was Dragon Lee. My favorite spot of the match involved both wrestlers. Dragon Lee hit an extra-springy springboard arm drag on Hechicero, who flew extra high on the move, appeared to bounce off the mat with a smooth roll, and let his momentum take him right out to the floor. It was an incredibly smooth sequence on both ends highlighted by the way Hechicero took the bump. Dragon Lee was on the entire match from an offensive standpoint, with a great through the middle rope flip dive during this match as well.
While those guys were the standouts, the other four held up their ends as well. All-in-all it was the sort of fun, “making it look easy” trios match that fools you into wondering why they all can’t be these way.
Yuji Okabayashi vs. Kazuki Hashimoto
Japan
Big Japan Wrestling
Okabayashi sells a bit more than your usual lumpy Japanese wrestler so I have taking a liking to the big lug. I am a big fan of his half crab – which he was nice enough to dust off in this match – because he really gets low on it and with his considerable weight, the move ends up looking extra painful. He usually looks good enough that I know watching his matches will be a painless exercise but I also rarely seek out his work. Hashimoto doesn’t do much for me in this match or in general. There are far better BJW strong division matches than this – there are better workers in that division than both these guys – and overall this felt slightly below average.
Dragon Celestial & Metaleon vs. Douki & Hip Hop Man
Lucha
IWRG
I enjoyed what I watched of Dragon Celestial in 2014. He’s a good flier when he wants to go there and is a decent, basic lucha mat worker. He was the best guy in this match and his 1st and 2nd fall work with Hip Hop Man was pretty decent. The third fall fell apart. This was a lot like . . . well . . . like a lot of IWRG matches. There are some cool moves and mat work. There are glimpses at guys who have substantial potential. The match itself though is just sort of “there”.
Rey Cometa vs. Niebla Roja
Lucha
CMLL
Lightning Match
A decent lightning match that was really a showcase for Cometa. Cometa is vastly under utilized by CMLL, but then again, you can say that about a lot of CMLL luchadores. He was quick and crisp in his execution in this match. Cometa is luchador who could easily cross over into a US promotion because in a lot of ways he plays to the US expectations of what a luchador is. That’s not a bad thing – it just means he is a solid, smaller high flyer with some amount of flash to his offense.
