G1 Climax 29, B Block Session 2: The Middle Nights

We're two thirds of the way there, and I'm starting to feel the heat. Reviewing 5 really good singles matches every other odd day sounds really great at first, until you try putting that shit in practice. While I don't think it's gonna burn me out like the effort to watch every G1 match last year did, I'm definitely going to need a week or so away from wrestling after this year's tournament wraps up. If you wanna read my thoughts on the first three nights, you can find them here. But, for now, let's get going or I'll never get finished.

G1 Climax Night 8, 7.24.19

Juice Robinson vs. Toru Yano (CHAOS)
Juice Robinson had, at the time, the best match with Yano in the G1 (this wouldn't last). Yano tried to ply his usual tricks, but Juice countered most by just bull rushing through. Pulp Friction put Yano away.
**1/4

Hirooki Goto (CHAOS) vs. Taichi (Suzuki-Gun)


Easily the best match these two have had, out of the three. Taichi tried getting into Goto's mind early by attacking one of the LA Dojo Young Lions, which Goto did not appreciate. The last minute was very good, with Taichi trying to use his mic stand, Goto thwarting it, then landing a Mexican Foul and a Gedo Clutch for the pin. Wish I had more to say, but this was better than I'm making it sound.
 ***1/2

G1 Climax 29, B Block Session 1: The First Three Nights

We are one third of the way through the tournament and it's been...really solid?

I've heard people call it the best tournament of all time. Which is a stretch, especially since last year's G1 was so amazing. I think a lot of people are using last year's G1 as the benchmark to make this claim so...that's a victory for 2018. Anyway, I decided there was no way that I was reviewing both blocks. So I picked B-block due to who was in it and the matches that excited me. I did a preview to the Block you can find here, but now we have to start looking at the tournament itself. Which is below. Let's fucking start this good shit.

G1 Climax Night 2, 7.13.19

Juice Robinson vs. Shingo Takagi (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
This was a weird pick to open the B Block, but in the end it turned out to be a really good, back and forth match. These two have never had a singles match together as far as I know, but what they got from a cold open was actually above anything I could have expected. The crowd was wild and getting really into both men at the finish. Juice picks up the surprise win here with the Pulp Friction after the Left Hand of God.
***1/4

G1 Climax 29: B Block Preview!

Like Andy Williams said, 'It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year'...

Fuck, man. It's the G1 Climax! It's basically the reason I haven't watched any wrestling in a month, and why I probably won't be watching much for the month after it's over. Can't let yourself get burned out. I'm covering the B Block alone here because it's the block that I'll be following in it's entirely this year. If you want to see someone's opinions on A Block, go check out my co-blogger Justin's A Block preview here. Probably 5 people will read this blog and I'm loaded on craft beer. Let's fucking break this down.

"Death Rider"
Jon Moxely
Age: 33
Pro Debut:2004
G1s: 1
Title History: 1x IWGP US heavyweight Champion (Current), 1x WWE Champion, 3x WWE Intercontinental Champion, 1x WWE US Champion, 2x WWE RAW Tag Team Champion, 2x CZW World Heavyweight Champion
Adopted Shota Umino as his son at Dominion this year.
Man, Jon's doing fucking great for himself. I hope he makes it through this tournament unscathed, With Ishii and Cobb in this block, I'm hoping Mox doesn't get dumped on his pretty face too much. As much as I'm looking forward to the singles matches he'll be in, I'm just as excited to see him in the opening tag matches with his new son Shota Umino. Hopefull he can give Shota the edge he needs to one day fight Kaito Kiyomiya and beat him.

"The Flamboyant"
Juice Robinson
Age: 30
Pro Debut:2008
G1s: 3
Title History: 2x IWGP US Heavyweight Champion
Somehow went from too much dread to not enough dread in like two years
Well, Juice has certainly been loose since the last G1. After a run that could be considered "meh" he lost and regained and lost his US title again. I wish I could be more excited for him, but if this year isn't a shot in his arm via major pickups over Naito, Moxley, or Ishii, I don't know what to tell you about him.

Archive Dive: G1 2006/ Wrestle Kingdom 1

No one tells you how unstable it is trying to review wrestling...or reviewing anything, probably.

There's a lot of lows, with time crunches to be the first one to talk about a show, being able to see exactly how many people aren't reading your reviews, and I still don't think I've recovered from last summer when I tried to watch all of the G1 and it shut my brain down for a week. But there's highs. Seeing the people that are reading some of the reviews of a relatively nobody never-done is astounding and it's been nice to share my thoughts on wrestling with the world at large. So how do I work around the parts of doing a wrestling blog I don't like while still doing it? New Japan World and ROH's Honorclub have huge libraries that, while not complete, have a lot of matches that people probably don't know about. Combine that with my want to get as much of my money's worth out of the subscriptions as possible, and I was struck with inspiration.

An Epiphany.

No time limits, no pressure. Most of Falcon Arrow Emporium is going to be focused around diving into these backlogs, wading through them like Zhang Liao in a Dynasty Warriors game, and finding what's good, what's great, and what's worth $10 a month for. There'll still probably be reviews of modern stuff scattered around (NOAH, ZERO-1, Anything else that might really interest me) and I still want to do a monthly Top TV match list. But as for New Japan and ROH? I'll get to modern stuff when I get to it.

Doing my research for this project (Read: After watching New Japan's CHAOS history video), originally I was going to start with dissolution of Great Bash Heel in April of 2009. But then I started digging a little father (Read: going to the GBH Wikipedia article), I found out the roots of Great Bash start coincidentally a few months before the original Wrestle Kingdom. Review every Wrestle Kingdom? Sounds fucking mad right? Well I'm that kind of fucking mad, so let's do this. ROH will come along when we get to it in the timeline as set by Honorclubs limits (2011). so let's go back in time, to August of 2006. The G1 was two blocks of 5. Liger was in one of the blocks (it did not go well for him, 1-4) and the stage is set for the finals. Satoshi Kojima, who at the time was part of All Japan Pro Wrestling's roster, taking on New Japan's Hiroyoshi Tenzan. The 3rd Generation explodes!...for the 3rd time since Kojima left New Japan.

8.13.2006
G1 Finals
Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Tenzan looks incredibly trim here, which is either due to him gaining bulk over the years or black being a truly slimming color. This little under half hour match was something interesting to watch 13 years later. the biggest profile match I've seen out of either man here came from their NEVER Title shots against Shibata in 2016. The two were very evenly matched throughout the contest, with Kojima occasionally taking advantage using underhanded means. nothing as glaring as a low blow,  small things like taking a little longer to break when Tenzan reached the ropes, or "accidentally" raking his opponents eyes in an attempt to escape a hold. Tenzan made up for what his opponent was doing by using his sheer power advantage over him. He would win most of the strike exchanges, and capitalized with moves off the top rope more than Kojima did. Satoshi tried to take a count out victory by first DDTing Tenzan on the apron, then Lariating him over the ropes as he got back in the first time. As the match goes on, it's fun to spot the wrestlers surrounding the ring, like Makabe and his clearly fried yellow hair or the sphere that is Nakanishi. As the match picked up, Tenzan started busting out bigger and harder moves, leading to the anaconda Vice from him for the first time in the match. Kojima had applied it earlier but both times the Vicee reached the ropes to escape. Kojima hits a Koji Cutter out of a blocked Lariat, which is a new one for me, before going for another Lariat and being caught for a slam leading to the Anaconda Vice, which everyone thought would be the end. Kojima raked eyes out of it, before leading into two flesh crashing Lariats that should have been it for New Japan's chances. But, after kicking out, tenzan decided something needed to be done about all this, and proceeded to chop the ever loving piss out of Kojima's arm. After he nearly took his opponents arm off like a Buzz Lightyear action figure, Tenzan executed a pair of perfect Big Man Moonsaults, and two Tenzan Tombstone Drivers for the pin.
***1/2

1.4.2007
3, Koraku 1-chrome, Bunkyo, Tokyo Japan
The Home of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Yomiuri Giants
42,000 seats
The Big Egg
The Motherfucking Dome.

I just wanted another excuse to do that intro. Let's get into the undercard.

El Samurai, Masanobu Fuchi, and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Akira Raijin, Kikutaro, and Nobutaka Araya
Ryusuke Taguchi looks like he wishes he were literally anywhere other than this match. Kikutro was Back Suplexed, DDT's, and Dodon'd to be pinned at the end of this short, bizarre match.
*, only because of Taguchi's bitchin' pants

Gedo and Jado vs. MAZADA and NOSAWA Rongai (Tokyo Gurentai)
An okay contest. Jado and Gedo are really good asa tag team and it showed here. Going to be honest when I say that I had no idea who NOSAWA and MAZADA were before this match and I probably wouldn't go out of my way to see them again in the future. Superbomb from the top rope followed by a frog splash by Gedo for the pin.
**

Buchanan, D-Lo Brown and Travis Tomko vs. Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano (Great Bash Heels)
THE ATTITUDE ERA IS INVADING.
AND THEY BROUGHT A HIRED GUN FROM TNA WITH THEM.

D'lo Brown and Tomohiro Ishii were in the ring at the same time here, which is something right out of a custom Fire Pro Wrestling Promotion. Entertained by the time capsule that is the GBH team, knowing what directions Ishii and Yano will take in the future, and how uninspired they really were in the ring here. Match ends when Buchanan is hit in the back with a chair and Lariated by Makabe. Only seek out as a curiosity, not if you're looking for a good match
* 1/2

Suwama, TARU (Voodoo Murders), Giant Bernard, and RO'Z  vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Naofumi Yamamoto, Riki Choshu and Takashi Iizuka
The Chosu coalition was winning early, until they decided to tag Naofumi (now YoshiTatsu) in, who was promptly and immediately taken advantage of. During the beatdown of Yamamoto, we got a shot of the commentators, including my new favorite picture of the week; Yoshihiro Takayama in a Hawaiin shirt, looking as unimpressed as anyone who's ever been on commentary.

I feel you, man. This undercard has been a slog.

I thought this would be another match on the pile of skippables until Nakanishi tagged in and started going nuts. I get why this man was IWGP Heavyweight Champion now. He out the Rack on TARU, and when Suwama tried to save his friend, Manabu chucked the Fuck from his shoulders ONTO THE CHARGING SUWAMA. All this before Racking (Read: Olympic Slammed) RO'Z, who I want to remind you was about 300 pounds. A fucking Monster, was Monster Morning here. Unfortunately, someone decided to tag Yamamoto back in, who Suwama killed with a Bridging Backdrop Driver. Catch the last five minutes of this one.
**1/4

Jushin Thunder Liger, Minoru, Milano Collection AT (CTU), Shuji Kondo and YASSHI (Voodoo Murders) vs. Kaz Hayashi, Koji Kanemoto, TAKA Michinoku, Tiger Mask and Wataru Inoue
Fuck's Sake. No.
i'm sorry if this comes off as unprofessional, but I'm a Lab Technician not Dave Meltzer, so excuse me if this one isnt as deep as it could be. But I knew a grand total of three of the men who started this match. Two of them wear masks, and TAKA is an ageless demi-god who hasn't changed since 1997. I know many of these men, just by name, were staples of Junior Heavyweight action in their times, but their times were not my times. You want to send me Minoru or Wataru Inoue matches, be my guest. But here, it was just "Liger and four bodies" against "Tiger Mask, TAKA, and three bodies". Tiger Mask won by Tiger Suplexing a man who I think was YASSHI.

Oh wait, I figured out Milano Collection based on the Paradise Lock. So...Yeah, thanks for that SANADA.
**

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Toshiaki Kawada
Okay, Undercard over. Let's get serious with a fucking serious match.

There was a definite feel in the air between these two men. Shinsuke came in looking like he had something to prove, Kawada had another body to put in the ground. This was the greatest story in wrestling of the young upstart and the confident veteran.

Fuck. Yes.






Kawada was definitely easily the more powerful man in the ring this night, but Shinsuke was willing to cut whatever corners he could to win this match. Holding on after rope breaks, taking every shot that was open to him, nothing was held back. And then, Shinsuke slapped Kawada, and Kawada proceeded to beat the fuck out of this young man. At that moment, not 5 minutes in, the future multi time IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion was on the fast track to losing this match. Despite his best efforts, trying hard to power through being dumped on his head, and cinching in armbars multiple times, it was all for naught by the end. A sick powerbomb from Kawada got a one count. A Brainbuster got a two. Shinsuke, going for what I could only assume was the only thing he could think to try, went for Kawada's legs and cracked himself against his foe's knee. Twice, somehow, it wasn't his best night. That put Nakamura out for the three. Not the greatest match on the show, or either man's best, but it was still very good.
***1/4

Triple Crown Championship [2nd Defense]
Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Yuji Nagata
I never thought I'd enjoy watching Uncle Murder and Uncle Justice fighting each other, or at least as much as I did here. I just see them as two completely different entities who, in todays New Japan, just wouldn't meet in a full blown contest. But not even two minutes in they decide to slap the piss into each other, and it's on from that point. Suzuki took over early, taking Nagata outside and busting him open with a chair against the post. Unfortunately, this only managed, once Yuji busted Minoru up himself, to invigorate the challenger. For maybe the third time in my watching history, Suzuki is on the ropes and getting kicked down at every step for the better part of the match. He'd start a comeback here and there, including a sweet reversal from an exploder and hitting the Gotch piledriver at one point in the match, but Nagata seemed to have his number the whole time. Yuji had the title won, Suzuki was dead to rights, wasn't coming back. But he got the cover, the ref counts 1, counts 2, and New Japan's challenger lifted the champions shoulder up. Because it was apparently time to go to school. That one opportunity, like any time in a Minoru Suzuki match, was all it took to doom Nagata. Minoru fired up with strikes after this insult, stopped a backdrop, and locked in a Rear Naked Choke for the win. Hopefully I haven't understressed how awesome this match was. Definitely paired well with the previous match.
***1/2

IWGP Heavyweight Championship [3rd Defense]
Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Taiyo Kea

Look at that fucking beauty of a belt.

Having never seen Taiyo before, I was very impressed by his athleticism. I almost was admiring how good he was, until he NAILED TANAHASHI WITH A LANDSLIDE ON EXPOSED CONCRETRE. HOW DARE YOU USE A COUSIN OF THE FALCON ARROW IN SUCH A TERRIFYING WAY. I'd Gif it, but I don't want New Japan taking my blog down before it even gets too far off the ground. Taiyo took over most of the match from here, just annihilating Tanahashi in the ring. Using a great combination of strength and athleticism to take apart the defending champion. Tana showed some bursts of life, but each time he tried to capitalize on a mistake, he was shut down and the beating continued. Kea hoisted Tanahashi into the Fireman's position to finish him off, when Hiroshi slipped behind him and started to fire back. With this renewed energy, the fight became very back and forth, each man gaining advantage when he could and trying to end the match. Taiyo's last big moves came in the form of a Saito suplex and a Sleeper slam that dumped the champion right on his head. Yeowch. A normal man would be defeated by this, but even 12 years ago Tanahashi was not a normal man. He fought long enough to catch Kea with a Strait Jacket German, a Dragon Suplex, and finally putting Taiyo away with the High Fly Flow. A great match.
***3/4

Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima vs. Keiji Muto and Masahiro Chono
Mutoh immediately cleaned house with Shining wizards.

Coming up on New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom 13

3, Koraku 1-chrome, Bunkyo, Tokyo Japan
The Home of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Yomiuri Giants
42,000 seats
The Big Egg
The Motherfucking Dome.

It's the most wonderful time of the year. It's New Year's show time, and the biggest show of them all is New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom. Since I've started watching New Japan, it seems like they've successfully upped the ante and delivered each January 4th. The card this year looks to deliver the same high caliber insanity as years past, people are already calling this 2019's show of the year. Will it be? My bets are always on Dominion personally, but I don't know if they can make a card that can top this. We'll save that discussion for July. Ten matches, eight titles,five potential show stealers. I'm joined for the first time on my blog by Justin of Enuffa.com to break down these matches best as we can. Let's cut the filler and get right to it.

NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship #1 Contender's Match

Landon: We've got one clusterfuck of a bumblefuck replacing another this year, with the gauntlet taking place of the much loved (by me at least) New Japan Rumble. The winners get a title match the next night, so it'll either be the first team out or the last team out for the match. My money's on the piecemeal team of Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb, and David Finlay to take it here. Yes, really, that's a team.

Justin: First off, goddammit this show's gonna be insane.  As of this moment WrestleKingdom 9 is my favorite PPV of all time, and this could very easily eclipse that one.  There is so much variety, so much talent, and so many potential show stealers I'm not even sure which match I'm most excited about. 
Ok, on to the gauntlet match.  I'm actually glad this is replacing the Rumble this year, as I was never much into the NJ Rumbles.  I'm also glad this match is on the pre-show, as it's been a bit of a throwaway in past years.  But it should be entertaining nonetheless.  Gotta go with Suzuki and KES to take it down.  They're overqualified for this match and this division, but this'll be their consolation prize for not being on the main card.

NEVER Openweight Championship [1st Defense]
Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Will Ospreay (Chaos)

Landon: This match is the Opener. Hashimoto help us all. The past six months has been chaotic for the NEVER Openweight Championship, with a total of five title changes since Dominion. I'm legitimately afraid someone might die in this match, more so than the wild brawl I assume Jericho and Naito is going to turn into. I think Ibushi retains, where he goes from here I don't know. But we need a solid NEVER Champion to be able to hold onto the title for a long time.

Justin: They're nuts for putting this match first, as it's gonna be a really tough act to follow.  I just hope they don't get shortchanged on time.  Give Ibushi and Ospreay 20 minutes and this could be the Match of the Year.  At the very least it's gonna be in the running for greatest PPV opener of all time.  Ibushi just won the title so it should stay on him for a long while.  However, Ospreay will build his reputation as a new heavyweight with his performance here.


IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship [5th Defense]
El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-Gun) (c) vs. SHO and YOH (Chaos) vs. Bushi and Shingo Takagi (Los Ingobernables de Japon)

Landon: Suzuki-Gun will have held the titles for a total of 304 days by the time the bell rings on this match, the healthiest reign a Junior tag team has had since I started watching four years ago. But I'm sure they're going to finally lose their stranglehold on the belts here tonight. I think Bushi and Shingo take the belts here, Shingo is destined for great things in New Japan and this would be the first stop in a great 2019. Sorry 3K, you deserve better, but the momentum falls in the corner of LIJ.

Justin: For some reason they made both tag title matches into 3-ways but I'm okay with it in both cases; the third team being added should undoubtedly improve each match.  SZGN obviously has to drop the belts here, but to whom?  Sho and Yoh are overdue for another run, but Bushi and Shingo are the hot Jr. team.  I'd say LIJ should get the belts here and RPG3K should chase them for a few months. 

RevPro British Undisputed Heavyweight Championship (3rd Defense)
Tomohiro Ishii (Chaos) (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Suzuki-Gun)

Landon: This is preemptively my pick for favorite match on this show. Zack is great at his craft, Ishii is great at being Ishii, and they've had 4 matches to build up strategy for each other. It's 3-1 to Ishii in singles matches over the past two years, but I think Zack wins here on the big show. Poor Ishii can't get a singles win at Wrestle Kingdom. I wish i had more to say, but I have no words besides the general grunts of excitement.

Justin:Another show stealing candidate pits the bruiser against the mechanic.  This match will be simultaneously brutal and balletic.  Striking vs. finesse.  I'll go with ZSJ to regain the strap.

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship [1st Defense]
Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa (Bullet Club Firing Squad) (c) vs. EVIL and SANADA (Los Ingobernables de Japon) vs. Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson (Bullet Club Elite)

Landon: My appetite for this match is really spoiled after I learned it was going to be a three way like the Jr. match. I really don't see a reason, other than having twin Magic killers to each Jackson, who will roll out of the ring for 15 minutes. Young Bucks, go home. Firing Squad wins.  Maybe it'll be a good tag match.

Justin: The Bucks will compete in the Dome for the Heavyweight Tag Titles for the first time.  That there is pretty cool.  This match should be a wild one, full of nonstop action.  Normally I'd say Matt & Nick would be a lock to regain the belts, but with this AEW business I'm not sure where things stand.  I assume AEW will essentially replace ROH as the de facto North American arm of New Japan, and the Elite guys will continue to be a major presence on both continents.  If that's the case, the Bucks would still be a safe bet to win.  But with everything still being up in the air one of the other two teams will probably win this.  Given all the other likely title changes I'll go with GOD to retain.



IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship [1st Defense]
Cody (Bullet Club Elite) (c) vs. Juice Robinson

Landon: I dunno. Was this supposed to be Beretta? Or was that ROH? Wait, that was a number one contenders...but then Cody...I need to pay more attention in 2019. Juice regains the title, and a lot of good that it did for anyone involved.

Justin: It's a rematch from two years ago.  Man, how far as Juice progressed since then?  Cody too, for that matter.  This match will be overshadowed on such a stacked card, but it's still gonna be a fine contest.  Juice should definitely get the win here.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship [1st Defence]
KUSHIDA (c) vs. Taiji Ishimori (Bullet Club Firing Squad)
Landon:This one will be interesting. Ishimori's never held the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title before, really his only claim of accolade in the division this year was leading his block in the Super Juniors, and there wasn't really much of a setup to this match besides "I want that". Which if the match is as good as I think it will be then that part doesn't matter. Ishimori takes it here from KUSHIDA in strong fasion, with no one else to challenge him in the near future unfortunately.

Justin: Looks like Ishimori will be taking Hiromu's spot in this division (I'm still upset about Hiromu).  This match will be excellent, and yet another potential show stopper.  Kushida winning the belt last fall in Hiromu's absence served as a bit of a division reset, and this match should mark the elevation of a new top Jr..  Hence Ishimori wins.

Jay White (Bullet Club Firing Squad) vs Kauchika Okada (Chaos)

Landon: Well, Jay's come a lot farther than I thought he would a year ago. In a way, being in a "Special Singles Match" at Wrestle Kingdom is something of a notable accomplishment; it means you did something to or with someone so big and impactful in the company that a title doesn't have to be on the line for the match to have meaning. I think I'm going to enjoy this match more than Jay's match with Tanahashi, but much like that match he's going to choke on what he bit off for himself. Rainmakers Everywhere.

Justin:Yet another hugely improved star, Jay White has had a rocket strapped to his back over the last year despite some initial reservations.  His WK12 match with Tanahashi was underwhelming, but White dug in and found a fantastically hateable villain persona, and it's worked wonderfully for him.  White is knocking at the door of the company's Big Four spots and will someday occupy one of them.  On this card this match seems like one of the lesser entries, but it could surprise everyone.  Jay White needs this win.


IWGP Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship [2nd Defense]

Chris Jericho (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
Landon: What a wild turn of events this year has given us. Wouldn't have guessed that Chris Jericho would have been the first man to hold both New Japan's and WWE's intercontinental Championships, but 2018 had enough insanity to go around. It'd be interesting to see who they put up against Jericho if he retained the title here, but in my heart I think Naito takes it. Not that he wants the damned thing, but he'll have it whether he wants it or not. Would Jericho stay if he wasn't champion? Probably not, but it was a fun ride while it lasted.

Justin:The rematch from Dominion, this will serve as a great change of pace from the rest of the show.  Jericho's new Terry Funk style of brawling is perfect for this stage of his career, and as a way to change up whatever card he's on.  The Dominion match was rather slow-paced but felt like a real fight, and this being the probably blowoff, I think we'll see both guys swinging for the fences and cutting a faster pace.  Naito obviously regains the I-C Title here.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship [4th Defense]
Kenny Omega (Bullet Club Elite) (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Landon: I never really had a feeling on Chris Charlton, besides that his book on New Japan was really, really good. Neither did I really have strong feelings about this match. I knew that Tanahashi and Omega would have to meet again eventually after their match in 2016, I wasn't interested in seeing it here for some reason. but then, on the last show of New Japan's 2018, Charlton got me hyped with one simple comparison. "Hiroshi Tanahashi considers Professional wrestling a Theocracy[...]Kenny Omega sees it as a Meritocracy". That fucking hit me right in the soul. It made me step back and ask myself how I saw wrestling. Was it a business or a church? Certainly, we need men and women in wrestling who see it both ways, and 2018 has been a year fueled by both. For every Elite running All In and AEW, we need Okadas, Miyaharas and Kiyomiyas who are here for their companies because they love them. So which do I solidly stand with? I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm backing Tanahashi in this fight. Omega's pursuit and win of the IWGP Heavyweight title will still be one of the greatest journeys of my fandom, but his reign ends on January 4th

Justin: It's the clash of styles.  The time-tested Japanese gladiator vs. the iconoclastic gaijin.  I'd forgotten that we've only seen this match once before, nearly three years ago.  Omega has come so far since then, Tanahashi has defied his age so many times since then, and they're on the biggest possible stage when their company is on the cusp of attaining a global footprint.  Omega and Tanahashi will not allow themselves or each other to have anything less than a ***** match.  This main event will be on par with Tana-Okada, thus creating a brand new all-time great rivalry.  I think Tanahashi wins the belt one last time, setting up a rematch at MSG.

Thanks for reading! I'm glad that I can turn my passion for wrestling into something that so many people enjoy. If you want to get regular updates on when I release more reviews, you can follow me at Twitter at @LSWayne21. And if you're still looking for your fix on wrestling, check out Enuffa.com, where I got my start in reviewing and still contribute from time to time.
All of the New Japan I watch can be found on New Japan World. See you on the other side of New Years.

New Japan Pro Wrestling Presents: Dominion 2018

Fuck, I needed a Glass of Brandy and a Cigar after this one.

There was buzz in all the corners of my wrestling world about this one. People preemptively calling it the best show of the year, many saying of all time, caught me off guard. Was it going to be really? Wrestle Kingdom was packed, not to mention the other great shows of the year's past.
But Fuck, was I wrong.
This was, as I texted to my brother at 7:30 in the morning, the best wrestling show I've ever seen. Top to bottom the show flowed great, and while not every match was a homerun, they didn't all have to be. Now, I'm going to be reporting every match finish cause that's just how I roll. But if you want to avoid the spoilers, there's a star rating sitting all alone at the end of each match report for a TL:DR recommendation. All the fluff outta the way, let's get started.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships [3nd Defense]
El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-Gun) (c) vs SHO and YOH (CHAOS)
There was no breaks in this match, and it was definitely better the second time watching it. At 92 days, Desperado and Kanemaru are the longest reigning Jr. Tag Champs in the past 2 years. That's crazy but it's also telling to how the Jr. Tag Titles are a proverbial hot potato. I thought that Roppongi 3K had this easily, their potential as individuals is huge but right now they could be very comfortable at the top of the tag team pile. I would have slated Desperado to challenge for the Junior Heavyweight title down the road, and he still might as one half of the tag champs. Whoops, let the ending slip, didn't I? After several attempts to cheat, Kanemaru planted SHO with his bottle of Suntory, before Despy pinned him with some variety of clutch pin. A good opener, but not phenomenal like I know it could be.
***

Lions, Pillars, and Arks: New Japan Wrestle Kingdom 9

3, Koraku 1-chrome, Bunkyo, Tokyo Japan
The Home of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Yomiuri Giants
42,000 seats
The Big Egg
The Motherfucking Dome.
(I'll never get tired of that.)

This is a significant show for a lot of people, including me. It was the first time, I believe, that there was an English broadcast of a Wrestle Kingdom. It was my first ever Wrestle Kingdom, and my first New Japan show if you don't count the War of The Worlds tour from the previous year (I'll be getting to those some day). While I didn't have Jim Ross and Matt Striker this time, I was perfectly alright with the Japanese commentary this time around (You get used to the white noise, I promise). Every title in the company was on the line this night, and the single matches that didn't have a title per see still had consequences. So, does nostalgia cloud my memory of how good this night was? Or do the matches hold up to my memory? Let's find out.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title [1st Defense]
reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly) (c) vs. Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero) (CHAOS) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (Bullet Club) vs. Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA)
This match is all action from bell to bell, and depending on your taste it was either great or just above alright. I'm stuck in the latter, not being that big a fan of a match that has more than four men in it to begin with, combined with being out of the loop of any stories that went into the formation of this match. I love ReDRagon well enough, but two of the teams here ceased to be shortly after this show, and the Bucks were right in the middle of Kliq parody heights. If all you want is to see insane action and pinfall breakups, look here. Koslov made the mistake of Chasing The Dragon, leading to Fish and O'Reilly successfully defending. I should go back and watch more Timesplitters and Forever Hooligans. They were very fun here.
** 3/4

New Japan Pro Wrestling Presents: Wrestle Kingdom 12

3, Koraku 1-chrome, Bunkyo, Tokyo Japan
The Home of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Yomiuri Giants
42,000 seats
The Big Egg
The Motherfucking Dome.

The best day of the Puroresu year has passed us by. The most hardcore of fans watched it live, while the rest of us couldn't or decided not to use a vacation day and watched it on Thursday night. While you can't deny that the show was good, this may be the first Wrestle Kingdom I've seen where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. Not to spoil my review going forward, but no match sticks out as a match of the year, or even as the definite best match on the card. That's not necessarily a bad attribute in the case of the latter, though. Each match on the show was unique, appealing in different ways, but all entertaining. It was for sure, however, a can't miss show from top to bottom.


IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles [1st Title Defense]
Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) (W/Rocky Romero) (CHAOS) (c) vs. Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (Bullet Club)
It's only the first match, but I need to start with an aside. In 1994, Rick Rude's career effectively ended when he injured his back, on a dive to the outside of the ring, at a dome (specifically the dome in Fukuoka). When the crux of this match is that one member of each team has fucked up their back with falls, on a Dome show with a notoriously raised platform, I was on edge for the rest of the show.

That being said, Matt Jackson's selling was on point.
SHO and YOH needed to impress here, getting a hat-trick of victories to cement themselves as the next big things of the Junior Division. The Bucks, meanwhile, were coming off a string of well fought matches over the Junior Titles and ROH Tag Titles last year. They continued that trend here, working over YOH's back after one of the aforementioned falls. For the majority of his time in the ring, the defending champ was taking a lion's share of abuse to his back. SHO would try his best to get his team going after being tagged in, and for a while it seemed as if the young men would upset their challengers, but the injury was something that couldn't be overcome. A Meltzer Driver and a Sharpshooter made The Young Bucks a record-cementing seven time champions. A great way to start the night with a fast paced, hard hitting contest
****

NJPW Destruction in Kobe: A Solid End to the Destruction Tour

The insane Weekend of wrestling ended for me with The Destruction show in Kobe. Well, that's a bit of a lie. I watched it in parts at work. It was slow, but I definitely think it helped me enjoy the show a bit more. Four hours is still a lot of wrestling to intake, no matter what company it is. Regardless of that factor, I think Kobe still brought a more than adequate ending to the trio of shows that needed a good ending more than anything.


Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Hirai Kawato vs. Tomoyuki Oka and Katsuya Kitamura
We got to hear Tenzan's theme in this match, which was a plus. Apparently, according to English Commentary, Kitamura and Oka are now known as Monster Rage. Which I guess makes Oka the Rage. I drool over these two a lot, but Kawato is definitely my favorite Young Lion at this point. I've really warmed up to him, and his personality is really defined at this point. Hirai is hungry and determined to get that first, defining win of his career. He didn't pick it up here, Tenzan put the Anaconda Vice on Oka and it was over, but one day he will. Maybe it'll be in the Young Lion's Cup?
*1/2

NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima: A Leap Beyond Fukushima

Before you even begin this review, let me assure you, Fukushima has now been rendered mute. Every match in Hiroshima was mechanically and performance-wise superior. I bear no ill will to those men on the previous show, several factors were working against them. But, enough of the negatives, let's continue the New Japan Summer tour with the war between Suzuki-Gun and Taguchi Japan.

Spoilers; Suzuki-Gun got wrecked. For real this time.

CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Jado, and YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jushin Thunder Liger, and Tiger Mask IV
Liger's music played his team in this night, so we didn't get to bask in Tenzan's musical glory this time. CHAOS played the heels in this match, and both Goto and HASHI were very uncomfortable in the situation. Jado was excellent in the role, as he should have been. Speaking of the former two, clues are lending to them being World Tag League partners every day, which I'm not a fan of. But I already talked about my love of Ride The Lightning last time. This was a stock 6-man otherwise, still better paced than the opening tags from Fukushima. Action broke down before YOSHI tapped Tiger Mask out with the dreaded Butterfly Lock.
*1/4, the extra quarter was given because they're trying to keep that submission strong.


Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale and Leo Tonga) vs. Taguchi Japan (Juice Robinson and David Finlay)
Kevin Kelley was hinting that Juice and Finlay may be teaming up for the World Tag League this year. I am 300% in for this team of leg warmers and dreadlocks. Again, this match was better than the match from Fukushima mechanically, but it didn't have the same charm of Fale teaching Leo how to be a monster heel. Tonga got Stunned then Switched. Simple process, Juice/Omega will be pristine.
*1/2

Destruction in Fukushima: A Lukewarm Start to September

Well, here it is. Falcon Arrow Emporium is open for business. And it's first presentation is this? Well, work with what you got I guess...

 The first stop in the Destruction tour ended up being a real below average show. It wasn't that the matches were overall bad, just most were painfully average. It didn't help that the crowd seemed non-existent for most of it. The arena was at about one-third capacity, and it sure as hell sounded it through the card. On a card that needed all the help it could get, a lack of heat for anything impacted the presentation hard, as we shall see.

Hirai Kawato and Yuji Nagata vs. Shota Umino and Manabu Nakanishi
The opening match saw the continuation of the random Nagata/Nakanishi blood feud that has developed in the past month. If you watched either of the "Road to" matches involving these two and the Young Lion Army, they were all better than this match. The G1 proved that Nagata can easily still go, whereas Nakanishi is a serious detriment to most matches. The Third Generation members are able to slow their paces down to his and still deliver an alright match, but the rest of the roster suffers from trying to keep down. As it stood, most of the match was either Nagata/Umino or Nakanishi/Kawato. Hirai is still my favorite Young Lion, and needs to be moved up from this kind of match. Nagata eventually made Umino tap to the Crossface-Nagata Lock

1/2*, if Umino and Kawato spent more time in the ring together the rating could have been higher.