InsidePulse Review: New Japan 1/26/05

Reviews

The Event: New Japan 1/26/05
Date: January 26th, 2005
Location: Miyagi Sports Center
Attendance: 2,500

Towards the beginning of the New Year Gold Series, New Japan put on one of their themed shows with a very special main event. In New Japan, there are two big factions: The Regular Army (faces) and Black New Japan (heels). The Regular Army is led by Tanahashi and Nakamura while Black New Japan is led by Masahiro Chono and Jushin Thunder Liger. On this card we have three matches directly pitting the two against each other, with the last match being a Ten Man Elimination match. While obviously not the most important show on the tour, it still drew a lot of attention due to the huge main event. Here is the complete card:

– Akiya Anzawa vs. Yujiro
– Hirooki Goto vs. Hiroshi Nagao
– Naofumi Yamamoto vs. Tatsutoshi Goto
– Ryusuke Taguchi and Taiji Ishimori vs. Tiger Mask and El Samurai
New Japan vs. Black New Japan: Katsushi Takemura vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
New Japan vs. Black New Japan: Koji Kanemoto and Wataru Inoue vs. Jado and Gedo
New Japan vs. Black New Japan – Singles Elimination Match: Yuji Nagata, Osamu Nishimura, Togi Makabe, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Masahiro Chono, Manabu Nakanishi, Mitsuya Nagai, Minoru Tanaka, and Harry Smith

Might as well go ahead and explain the Singles Elimination Match rules. Two wrestlers start off, and there is no tagging in and out. If the pair of wrestlers go to a draw (15 minutes), then they are both eliminated and the next two come in. The wrestlers continue wrestling until there is a victor or the time limit has expired. If a wrestler picks up a victory, he must stay in and the other team sends in their next person. Process continues until all five members of one team have been eliminated. Make sense? Good.

Every match is clipped to some degree, since they had to squeeze the show into a two hour block. That is generally the case when the show is not on PPV but rather on television in Japan. If it is an obvious clip that changes the scenario of the match, then I will note the clip. Otherwise I won’t.

Akiya Anzawa vs. Yujiro
They circle to start, Yujiro goes for a single leg and gets Anzawa to the mat, but Anzawa rolls out of it. Anzawa goes for a single leg of his own, but Yujiro applies a waistlock into a side headlock. Anzawa gets out of the hold and applies an arm submission before hitting a hammerlock takedown. Yujiro regains the leverage and applies a side headlock before getting into the mount position. Anzawa manages to push Yujiro off of him and slams Yujiro into the corner. Irish whip by Anzawa and he hits a running forearm shot in the corner. Knee to the gut by Anzawa, but Yujiro comes back and hits a suplex. Yujiro picks up Anzawa and hits the Karelin Throw. Cover, but Anzawa kicks out. Yujiro drags Anzawa to his feet, but Anzawa slaps him hard in the face. Anzawa goes off the ropes, but Yujiro hits a waterwheel drop and gets the three count pinfall. Your winner: Yujiro

Match Thoughts: All clipped to hell as you probably figured, but that is to be expected. I am surprised the match aired at all, to be honest. The point is merely to show New Japan fans two of the (hopefully) rising stars of the company, although two and a half minutes is not enough time to show them much. I don’t score matches that are cut in half or more, but it wasn’t offensive and is basic New Japan opening match material. Score: N/A

Hirooki Goto vs. Hiroshi Nagao
Goto goes for a single leg to start, but Nagao blocks it and both men get back to their feet. Tie-up, waistlock by Nagao into a hammerlock, Goto reverses it into his own hammerlock and sends Nagao to the mat. A side headlock by Nagao is applied, but *clip* and both men are on their feet. Club to the back by Goto and he punches Nagao in the face, but Nagao absorbs the blows and dropkicks Goto to the mat. Nagao picks up Goto and hits a scoop slam. Again he picks him up and again he scoop slams him to the mat with authority. *clip* Goto is out of it on the mat, Nagao picks him up by the neck, but Goto kicks him in the stomach and slaps on a cross armbreaker. Nagao quickly submits, and Goto picks up the victory. Your winner: Hirooki Goto

Match Thoughts: Another seven minute match cut down to under three minutes, and again not enough is really shown to pass judgment. But I have enjoyed what I have seen from Goto in the past and I think that he has a bright future in New Japan. Score: N/A

Naofumi Yamamoto vs. Tatsutoshi Goto
Goto offers a handshake to start the match, but Yamamoto slaps him in the face instead. Kicks by Yamamoto to the downed Goto, Irish whip, and he hits a back elbow. Cover, but Goto easily kicks out. Kick to the back of the head by Yamamoto, but Goto rakes him in the eyes and throws him out of the ring. Goto goes out as well, gets a chair, and hits Yamamoto in the shoulder with it. He then hits him in the back with the chair and throws Yamamoto back into the ring. Goto throws Yamamoto out of the ring again, grabs another chair, and hits Yamamoto in the shoulder with it again. Choke with the chair by Goto as the referee tries to get him to stop. Finally Goto does and he rolls Yamamoto back into the ring. Goto goes for a backdrop suplex, Yamamoto reverses it, but Goto kicks him low. Goto again goes for the backdrop suplex, this time he nails it, and he gets the three count pinfall. Your winner: Tatsutoshi Goto

Match Thoughts: This was actually over half the match, as the match was less then four minutes even without the clippings. Really still not much to say about the two minutes we saw, although it was fun to watch Yamamoto slap Goto and then get assaulted by a chair for it. Nice backdrop suplex by Goto as well, but that’s just about it. Score: 3.0

Ryusuke Taguchi and Taiji Ishimori vs. Tiger Mask and El Samurai
Ishimori and El Samurai start things off. Arm wrench by El Samurai, Ishimori tries to roll out of it, but El Samurai knees him in the stomach and reapplies the hold. Ishimori eventually gets out of it and applies a leg submission, but El Samurai reverses it into a reverse chinlock. Ishimori makes it to the ropes, and El Samurai slams him into the corner before kicking him down to that mat. El Samurai picks up Ishimori and delivers a neckbreaker. Cover, but it only gets two. Irish whip by El Samurai, but Ishimori ducks the clothesline and hits a flying headscissors. El Samurai rolls out of the ring, Ishimori goes to take a dive, but rebounds himself back into the ring when El Samurai moves out of the way. After getting in the ring, El Samurai tags in Tiger Mask and Ishimori tags in Taguchi. Tie-up, Taguchi gets Tiger Mask against the ropes and slaps Tiger Mask in the face. Tie-up again, Tiger Mask gets Taguchi in the ropes, goes to slap him, but Taguchi ducks it. Irish whip by Taguchi and he hits a dropkick, sending Tiger Mask out of the ring. Taguchi goes to the ropes to attempt a pescado, but El Samurai runs in and hits him from behind before he can do so. Ishimori comes in as well, goes to the ropes and attempts a pescado, but Tiger Mask moves out of the way. He hits a scoop slam outside the ring while Taguchi dropkicks El Samurai inside of it. Tiger Mask gets back on the apron, but Taguchi botches a springboard dropkick and we get our first obvious *clip* of the match as both men are now on their feet. Kick to the stomach by Tiger Mask and he tags in El Samurai. El Samurai stomps Taguchi in the corner, picks him up and hits a piledriver. Cover, but Taguchi breaks it up. Taguchi dropkicks El Samurai in the knee and tags in Ishimori. Irish whip by Ishimori and he delivers a dropkick. Cover, but El Samurai kicks out. El Samurai clubs Ishimori in the back and knees him in the chest. Snapmare by El Samurai and he punches Ishimori in the face. Side slam by El Samurai and he throws Ishimori in the corner. Irish whip, reversed, and Ishimori hits a forearm to the face. Ishimori goes out to the apron and attempts a springboard hurricanrana, but El Samurai catches him and powerbombs him to the mat. Cover by El Samurai, but Taguchi breaks it up. El Samurai tags in Tiger Mask, who hits Ishimori with a tombstone piledriver. Tiger Mask goes up top and hits a diving headbutt, cover, but Taguchi breaks up the count. Roll-up by Tiger Mask, but he only gets a two count. Tiger Mask goes for a suplex, but Ishimori lands on his feet and nails the DDT. Quebrada by Ishimori, cover, but he only gets a two count. Ishimori goes for the Superstar Elbow, but Tiger Mask barely moves out of the way in time. German suplex attempt by Tiger Mask, but Ishimori lands on his feet and backs into his corner so he can tag in Taguchi. Taguchi comes off the top turnbuckle with a missile dropkick, Irish whip, and Taguchi elbows Tiger Mask in the corner. Face smasher by Taguchi, roll-up, but he only gets a two count. Side suplex by Taguchi and he applies a cross-armed cobra clutch. El Samurai eventually comes in to break it up, Taguchi goes off the ropes, but Tiger Mask catches him and hits a tombstone piledriver followed by a standing backflip double knee drop. Tiger Mask then nails the Tiger Suplex, but Ishimori barely gets there in time to break it up. Tiger Mask goes for it again, but Ishimori hits a springboard missile dropkick to break up the move. Tiger Mask tags in El Samurai, but as El Samurai is choking Taguchi against the bottom rope, Ishimori runs in and hits the 619 on El Samurai. Taguchi slowly gets to his feet, picks up El Samurai, Irish whip, and he nails his dropkick. Fishermans Suplex by Taguchi, but El Samurai kicks out. Taguchi goes to the apron and delivers a springboard dropkick. He goes for the brainbuster, El Samurai reverses that into an attempted reverse DDT, but Taguchi reverses it into a German suplex hold for a two count. Ishimori runs in to dropkick Tiger Mask out of the ring and he hits a second rope springboard moonsault down onto Tiger Mask. In the ring, El Samurai hits the reverse DDT on Taguchi and goes for a powerbomb, but Taguchi flips behind his back and delivers a hurricanrana for the three count pinfall! Your winners: Ryusuke Taguchi and Taiji Ishimori

Match Thoughts:  Only a minute or so was clipped here. This was Ryusuke Taguchi’s last match before heading to Mexico, which he just recently returned from this month (October, 2005). I was surprised since they clipped that area of the match anyway that they didn’t just go ahead and clip the obviously botched move…. if you are going to clip a match, why not clip out the mistakes? Actually the entire match seemed off a step, although the ending sequence from the hot tag onward was very well done. The pyschology was all over the place, and it was hard to really get into the match since there really didn’t seem to be any direction. Tiger Mask looked very crisp though, and I am shocked to say that Ishimori went an entire match without missing a single move, which is impressive for him. So most the action was well executed, Taguchi looked fine except for the botched springboard, but the match itself seemed disjointed and without focus. Score: 5.8

Katsushi Takemura vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
This is a somewhat special match in theory, since Liger doesn’t wrestle in singles matches that often anymore. I know he has lost a step physically, but he still has that aura to him and he is still one of my favorite wrestlers all-time. The bell rings, Takemura charges Liger to start the match and knocks him down to the mat. Irish whip by Takemura and he hits a powerslam. Cover, but Liger easily kicks out. Takemura goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers a missile dropkick. Stomp by Takemura, he picks up Liger and goes for a suplex, Liger elbows out of it and goes off the ropes, Takemura goes for a sleeperhold, but Liger reverses it with a backdrop suplex. Takemura goes off the ropes, clotheslines Liger down, cover, but it only gets a two count. Takemura drags Liger to his feet, but Liger distracts the referee and kicks Takemura low. Liger kicks Takemura low again for good measure, picks up Takemura and tosses him out of the ring. Liger goes out as well and hits Takemura in the back with a briefcase. After hitting Takemura in the back with a chair, he picks him up and hits a piledriver on the floor. Liger hits Takemura in the back of the head and stiffly kicks him in the face (Takemura is bleeding by now). Liger gets back in the ring to untie a turnbuckle pad while Takemura slowly crawls back to the ring and rolls in. Liger throws Takemura into the exposed corner and the referee finally sees what is going on. Again Liger tosses Takemura out of the ring, and Takemura slowly makes his way back in. Liger grabs Takemura and again slams him into the exposed turnbuckle. Liger Bomb by Liger, cover, but Takemura barely kicks out at two. Liger picks up Takemura, puts him on the top turnbuckle, joins him up top, and nails a Fishermans Suplex off the top turnbuckle. Cover, but somehow Takemura kicks out of it. Liger gets Takemura up again and goes for a brainbuster, but Takemura spins out of it and applies the Dragon Sleeper. Liger almost makes it to the ropes, but Takemura pulls him back and applies a body scissors to keep Liger in the hold. Liger does eventually get a foot on the bottom rope, and Takemura has to release his grip. Takemura gets up first and goes for a Dragon suplex, but Liger rolls him up for a two count. Both men slowly get up, Takemura goes off the ropes and hits a clothesline. Liger doesn’t go down though, Liger goes off the ropes and hits a Shotei, but Takemura doesn’t budge. They face off, Takemura goes off the ropes, but again the clothesline has no effect. Liger goes off the ropes and does another Shotei, but again Takemura stands his ground. Now it is Takemura’s turn, he goes off the ropes, but Liger knocks him to the mat with a third Shotei. Takemura is up quickly, but Liger nails a brainbuster. Cover, but he gets a two count. *clip* Liger calls for the end of the match, he hits his new CTB, and he gets the three count pinfall. Your winner: Jushin Thunder Liger

Match Thoughts: Well darn, they clipped more of this match then I was expecting, around six minutes or so. I don’t know about most people, but I have a lot of trouble getting into a match that is butchered in such a manner. I knew when I got the event it had clipped matches, but I was hoping it would be the opening matches and the last three matches would be kept mostly complete. Anyway, even what we saw was far from mind-blowing, and who the hell is Takemura to kick out of a Liger Bomb and an avalanche-style Fishermans Brainbuster? This wasn’t a dome match for the IWGP Championship, so I don’t really understand the kicking out of big moves unless Liger really wanted to put over his new finisher. I can’t really say how Takemura looked, since I think that most of his offense was clipped. While Liger does a convincing beating and he has molded well into his evil character (the second low blow in particular was cute), overall this match was a let down. Score: 5.5

Koji Kanemoto and Wataru Inoue vs. Jado and Gedo
Kanemoto and Gedo start things off. Kanemoto starts by hitting a series of rapid kicks to Gedo’s legs, but Gedo rakes him in the eyes. Gedo goes off the ropes, Kanemoto goes for a monkey flip, but Gedo kicks him in the face. Gedo charges Kanemoto while he is leaning against the ropes, but Kanemoto moves out of the way and Gedo goes sailing out of the ring. Kanemoto follows him out with a pescado and takes the time to shake the hands of fans at ringside. Kanemoto slides Gedo back into the ring, but *clip” and Gedo is pounding on Kanemoto while he is sitting on the mat. Kanemoto fights back to his feet and the two trade shots. Gedo gets the better of it and stomps on Kanemoto while he is on the mat. Gedo tags in Jado, who chokes Kanemoto in the corner. Eye rake by Jado and he slams Kanemoto’s head into the turnbuckle three times. Another eye rake by Jado, but Kanemoto lands a back heel kick and tags in Inoue. Inoue picks up Jado, and *clip* Jado applies a stretch hold to Inoue. Jado tags in Gedo, who clubs Inoue in the back. Gedo chokes Inoue in the corner and clubs Inoue in the back. Another strike to the back by Gedo, Inoue slaps back, but Gedo rakes his eyes. Gedo tags Jado back in, who kicks Inoue down in the corner. Choke by Jado, scoop slam, and he applies the Scorpion Deathlock. Kanemoto comes in and breaks it up, and Jado tags in Gedo. Scoop slam by Gedo on Inoue and he applies the camel clutch, but again Kanemoto makes the save. Gedo tags Jado back in, Jado picks Inoue up and hits a chop. Irish whip from the corner, and Jado hits three rolling suplexes. Cover, but Kanemoto breaks it up. Gedo comes in the ring, double Irish whip, but Inoue knocks them both down and tags in Kanemoto. Gedo and Jado kick Kanemoto in the stomach and they go off the ropes, but Kanemoto ducks the double clothesline from behind and dropkicks them both down. Kanemoto punches both men, gets them both down in the corner, and hits his boot scrapes first on Gedo and then on Jado. Kanemoto picks up Jado and goes for a suplex, Jado reverses it, but Kanemoto lands on his feet and after fighting for position he applies the ankle lock. Jado reverses it into the crossface of JADO with Gedo protecting him, but Kanemoto makes it to the bottom rope. Jado tags in Gedo, Gedo goes off the ropes, but Kanemoto catches him with an overhead suplex and tags in Inoue. Inoue clotheslines Gedo and chops him in the corner. Irish whip, and he hits a running forearm followed by a spinning heel kick. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Inoue goes for his Staggerin’ Blow, but Gedo reverses it into a Complete Shot. Gedo hits a moonsault off the second rope, cover, but Inoue kicks out at two. Gedo picks up Inoue, Irish whip to the corner, and he and Jado both hit clotheslines. DDT by Gedo, and he nails the Superfly Splash from the top turnbuckle. Cover, but Kanemoto breaks it up. Jado gets Kanemoto out of the ring, Gedo picks up Inoue, but Inoue hits a quick Samoan drop. Inoue goes for a strike, Gedo blocks it, but Inoue delivers the Staggerin’ Blow. The Triangle Lancer is applied by Inoue, and Gedo has no choice but to submit! Your winners: Koji Kanemoto and Wataru Inoue

Match Thoughts: A good match, although I was a little surprised to see Jado and Gedo lose since at the time they were the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. I have always enjoyed Kanemoto’s heelish tactics (even if he wasn’t a heel here), and Inoue shows a lot of fire whenever he wrestles. They didn’t do anything complicated, but they kept the crowd into the match by having a few teases and a number of near falls towards the end of the match. Solid work between these four junior heavyweights. Score: 6.7

Nagata, Nishimura, Makabe, Nakamura, and Tanahashi vs. Chono, Nakanishi, Nagai, Tanaka, and Harry Smith
This is a singles elimination match. While obviously it will be clipped some, they did leave over 50 minutes on the show just for this match so most of it will be shown. Tanahashi and Harry Smith are the first two in the ring, and the pair are JIP as Tanahashi has Smith in a stretch submission hold. Smith struggles to his feet and tries to power out of the hold, but Tanahashi re-applies it. Finally Smith is able to muscle out of it, kick-flip by Tanahashi, Smith picks Tanahashi up off the mat and goes for a running powerslam. Tanahashi reverses it into the dragon sleeper, but after a moment Smith gets his foot on the bottom rope. Elbow by Tanahashi, Irish whip, and he hits a forearm to the face. Elbow drop by Tanahashi followed by a front flip smash, cover, but it gets a two count. Tanahashi goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, he picks up Smith and goes for a German suplex, but Smith elbows out of it. Enzigieri by Tanahashi, followed by another one, and he delivers a German suplex for a two count. Tanahashi goes for the Dragon Suplex, but Smith fights to the ropes and hits a twisting backdrop suplex. They trade forearm shots, Smith hits an uppercut, but Tanahashi nails a dragon screw leg whip. He goes to apply the figure four, but Smith rolls him up for a two count. Another roll-up by Smith, but again it gets a two count. Back up, now it is Tanahashi that rolls up Smith, but he doesn’t get the three count either. Smith picks up Tanahashi and goes for the Liger Bomb, but Tanahashi reverses it into a pin attempt for a two count. Smith quickly tries to pin Tanahashi as well, but the bell rings and we have a 15 minute draw. Both wrestlers are eliminated.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Minoru Tanaka – Tanaka attacks Nakamura in the entrance way and drags him around to ringside. Tanaka twists on Nakamura’s arm around the ring post and tosses him into the ring. Stomps by Tanaka to Nakamura’s arm and he forearms him in the face. Arm wrench by Tanaka, but Nakamura handstands out of it. Stiff kick by Tanaka to Nakamura’s arm and he hits a snap suplex. Knee drop to Nakamura’s injured arm, Tanaka goes for another suplex, but Nakamura blocks it. An armbar is applied by Tanaka, but Nakamura gets his foot on the bottom rope. Kick by Tanaka, he picks up Nakamura and throws him into the corner. Tanaka wraps Nakamura’s arm around the bottom rope and stands on it, putting all his weight down on the arm. Back in the middle of the ring, Tanaka punches Nakamura, but Nakamura returns fire. They exchange shots, but Tanaka pokes Nakamura in the eyes. Headbutt by Tanaka, and he applies an arm wrench. Tanaka goes for another armbar, Nakamura tries to roll through it, but Tanaka reverts the move into a key lock. Back to an armbar by Tanaka, but Nakamura gets a foot on the ropes. Back up, Nakamura ducks a punch by Tanaka and hits an enzigieri. Irish whip by Nakamura into the corner and he hits a jumping knee. Nakamura nails a spear, goes off the ropes and hits a knee drop. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Forearm shots by Nakamura, he goes off the ropes, but Tanaka hits a rolling knee to the stomach. Irish whip by Tanaka, but Nakamura reverses it into the Shining Triangle. Tanaka eventually manages to get a foot on the ropes, Nakamura picks the deadweight Tanaka off the mat, but as soon as Nakamura goes for another Shining Triangle it is reversed by Tanaka into a cross armbreaker. Nakamura keeps his hands locked though to block the move, he catches a kick by Tanaka and hits a powerbomb. Cover, but it only gets a two count. They trade forearm shots, Nakamura tries to roll up Tanaka and apply a cross armbreaker, but Tanaka lands on top and gets a two count cover. Nakamura goes for a kick, but Tanaka ducks it and rolls up Nakamura again for two. Slap by Tanaka and he kicks Nakamura hard in the head. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Tanaka slaps on the cross armbreaker, but Nakamura is too close to the ropes and gets a foot on them. Kick to the arm by Tanaka, Nakamura applies a waistlock, reversed, reversed again, and Nakamura nails a release German suplex. Nakamura picks up Tanaka, delivers a German suplex hold, but it gets a two count. Nakamura goes for El Nino, but Tanaka grabs his tights as he runs by and rolls him up for a two count. Back to their feet, Nakamura charges Tanaka, applies the Shining Triangle, and Tanaka submits! Minoru Tanaka is eliminated.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Mitsuya Nagai – Nagai charges the ring before Nakamura can recover and kicks him into the corner. Irish whip, and he hits the high knee in the corner. Butterfly suplex by Nagai, cover, but he gets a two count. Nagai stands on Nakamura’s face, picks him up, and clubs him in the back. Nakamura comes back with forearm shots, but Nagai knees him in the arm. Another knee to the arm by Nagai and he kicks Nakamura while he kneels on the mat. Kick to the chest by Nagai, he picks up Nakamura and chokes him against the ropes with his boot. Nagai elbows Nakamura twice in the arm and clubs him in the face, Nakamura forearms him back, and the two trade blows. Eye rake by Nagai, Irish whip, but Nakamura rolls past the kick and hits an enzigieri. Nakamura applies the cross armbreaker, but Nagai makes it to the ropes and rolls out of the ring. Nakamura goes for a pescado, but Nagai moves out of the way. Nagai kicks Nakamura in the chest while he is against the guardrail and goes to get back in the ring, but Nakamura pulls him back out. Nagai clubs Nakamura down though and both men get back into the ring. Tie-up, Nakamura applies a waistlock, but Nakamura hits a low blow. Eye rake by Nagai and he throws Nakamura out of the ring. Nakamura slowly gets to his feet outside the ring, but Nagai comes flying off the apron with a jumping knee strike. Nagai throws Nakamura arm-first into the ring post and kicks him hard in the face. Nakamura gives Nagai a forearm and a kick, but Nagai grabs him before he can get back in the ring. They both struggle as they try to get back in the ring (count is around 18), Nagai drives Nakamura back into the guardrail, and he barely makes it back into the ring. Nakamura does not make it in time however, and he is counted out! Shinsuke Nakamura is eliminated.

Togi Makabe vs. Mitsuya Nagai – Nagai greets Makabe with a kick when he comes in the ring and tosses him out to the floor. Nagai goes out as well and forearms Makabe around the ring. Nagai takes Makabe all the way into the crowd and slams him into a back wall. Makabe reverses the momentum with a forearm shot however and brings Nagai back to the ring. Nagai rolls in first, and as Makabe gets on the apron he eats a boot to the face, knocking him back off. Makabe eventually rolls back in, and Nagai kicks him hard in the corner. Nagai knees Makabe in the chest and hits a scoop slam. Reverse chinlock by Nagai, but Makabe makes it to the ropes in time. Slap to the face by Nagai and he kicks Makabe in the chest again. Nagai picks up Makabe and goes for a suplex, Makabe tries to reverse it, but Nagai eventually delivers a vertical suplex. Texas Cloverleaf by Nagai, but Makabe makes it to the bottom rope. Nagai slaps Makabe in the face, which just seems to get him angry. The two trade blows, which Makabe gets the better of with a hard forearm to the face. Nagai still manages to get up first, Irish whip from the corner, but Makabe comes charging back at him and hits a spear. Makabe throws Nagai into the corner and hits a running shoulder tackle followed by a Northern Lights Suplex hold for a two count. Makabe shoulderblocks Nagai to the mat, puts Nagai up on his shoulders and delivers a Death Valley Bomb. Cover, but Nagai barely kicks out. Makabe goes off the ropes, but Nagai knees him in the stomach. Irish whip by Nagai and he hits Makabe with a back heel kick. Nagai picks up Makabe and he nails the capture suplex. Cover, but he gets two. Nagai applies an arm arrangement front sleeper, cover, but Makabe kicks out. Nagai picks up Makabe and slaps him repeatedly in the face. Big boot by Nagai, he then goes off the ropes and forearms Makabe. He goes off the ropes again, but Makabe nails him with a lariat. The two collide again, Makabe runs off the ropes and hits another lariat, cover, but Nagai kicks out. Makabe goes off the ropes, delivers another lariat, cover, and he gets the three count pinfall. Mitsuya Nagai is eliminated.

Togi Makabe vs. Masahiro Chono – Makabe charges Chono when he gets in the ring and quickly hits a scoop slam. Makabe tosses Chono out of the ring and on the outside slams him into the ring post. Grabbing a chair, Makabe hits Chono in the chest with it before throwing him shoulder-first into the ring post again. Kick to the face by Makabe and he gets back into the ring. Chono gets back in the ring as well, and Makabe throws him into the corner. Stomps by Makabe and he rakes Chono in the eyes. Choke by Makabe and he throws Chono into another corner. Makabe unties the top of the post cover and slams Chono twice shoulder-first into the exposed steel. Knee to the chest by Makabe and he chokes Chono with his knee. Vertical suplex by Makabe, cover, but he gets a two count. Makabe throws Chono back outside the ring and again throws him into the ring post. After rolling Chono back in the ring, Makabe goes for an Irish whip, reversed, and Chono hits an atomic drop. Yakuza kick by Chono followed by the shining Yakuza kick, cover, but he only gets two. Chono rolls out to the apron, but Makabe gets up quickly and lariats him off the apron down to the floor. Makabe follows Chono out and stomps him while he lays on the floor. Eye rake by Makabe and he hits a scoop slam. Makabe gets back in the ring to wait for Chono, who barely makes it back in the ring in time. Makabe suplexes him back in when Chono gets on the apron, he goes for the Death Valley Bomb, but Chono counters it into a front cradle and he gets the three count pinfall! Togi Makabe has been eliminated.

Osamu Nishimura vs. Masahiro Chono – They tie-up to start, Nishimura gets Chono into the corner and hits a series of uppercuts. Blows to the stomach by Chono and he kicks Nishimura to the mat. Chono goes for the STF, Nishimura fights it for a moment, but Chono locks it on. We get our first blatant clip of the match, as Nishimura now has Chono in an armbar. Chono gets back to his feet and pushes Nishimura into the corner, but Nishimura kicks him back. Tie-up, kick to the gut by Chono and he applies a side headlock. Nishimura Irish whips out of it, and the two criss-cross the ropes. Nishimura stops in the middle and applies the Octopus Hold, but Chono makes it to the top rope and hiptosses Nishimura up and over down to the floor. Chono goes outside as well and slams Nishimura into the guardrail. Club to the chest by Chono, but Nishimura grabs him and hits a European uppercut. Chono hits him back, and the two trade shots. They both get back in before the 20 count expires, another criss-cross, and this time Chono hits an elbow strike and Nishimura falls out of the ring. Chono goes out as well and slams Nishimura shoulder-first into the ring post. Headbutts to the shoulder by Chono and he clubs Nishimura in the back. Another elbow to the back by Chono and he knees Nishimura in the stomach. Chono takes Nishimura a little ways up the entrance way and goes for a piledriver, but Nishimura back bodydrops out of it. As Nishimura gets up he is hit with a Yakuza kick, but Nishimura applies the figure four. Time expires as Nishimura has Chono in the hold, and both wrestlers are eliminated.

Yuji Nagata vs. Manabu Nakanishi – The winner of this round wins the match for his team. Tie-up to start, waistlock by Nagata, reversed into an arm wrench by Nakanishi, but Nagata applies a side headlock. Nakanishi Irish whips out of it and the two collide in the middle of the ring with neither man going down. Kicks by Nagata to the legs of Nakanishi, but Nakanishi catches one of his kicks and chops him in the chest. Nagata ducks a chop and hits more kicks, but Nakanishi ducks a kick and backs off away from Nagata. Tie-up, they have a Test of Strength, and Nakanishi pushes Nagata into the ropes. Takedown by Nakanishi and he applies a hammerlock, but the match *clips* and now Nagata has Nakanishi in a reverse chinlock. Nagata applies a body scissors to enhance the move, but he eventually releases it and both men get back to their feet. Nagata catches a kick attempt by Nakanishi and applies a leg submission hold. Kick to the leg by Nagata and he re-applies a submission hold before Nakanishi makes it to the ropes. Back up, Nagata catches another kick and pushes Nakanishi down. Nakanishi gets back up quickly and the two exchange strikes. Nakanishi gets the better of it and gets Nagata against the ropes, Irish whip, but Nagata ducks a clothesline and hits a dropkick. Nagata gets Nakanishi up to the top turnbuckle and goes for an exploder, but Nakanishi rakes his eyes and pushes him off. Nakanishi hits a diving lariat from the top turnbuckle, cover, but it only gets a two count. Back up, Nakanishi Irish whips Nagata and he hits a back bodydrop. Spear by Nakanishi, he calls for the lariat, and nails it on Nagata. Cover, but Nagata kicks out. Nakanishi picks up Nagata and goes for the Hercules Cutter, but Nagata reverses it into a sleeper hold. Nakanishi quickly tosses Nagata off of him, but Nagata ducks a clothesline and the two struggle for position. Nakanishi gets Nagata up in an Argentine Backbreaker, but Nagata makes it to the ropes. Lariat by Nakanishi, but Nagata hits an overhead suplex when Nakanishi charges him again. Enzigieri by Nagata and he hits a brainbuster. Cover, but Nakanishi kicks out at two. Nagata applies the Nagata Lock III, rolls Nakanishi over into a pinning situation and gets the three count fall! Your winners of the match: Yuji Nagata, Osamu Nishimura, Togi Makabe, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Hiroshi Tanahashi

Match Thoughts: It started and ended strong, but the middle was illogical and poorly constructed which hurt the match as a whole. First I would have to question the decision to not have any wrestler win two falls in a row… basically the teams just took turns sending in fresh wrestlers, and neither team was ever really in an “underdog” position. The Tanaka/Nakamura pairing was great bordering on excellent, as the two worked really well together and put on a good match. Nagai/Nakamura was very good as well, but things went downhill from there. Chono getting dominated by Makabe seemed strange, and all the arm-work on Chono ended up meaning nothing as he was eventually counted out while being in a figure four. Why Nishimura would sacrifice himself by applying a figure four outside the ring with the count already above 15 is beyond me, and it left for the final pairing two fresh wrestlers against each other. If the match was going to end with two fresh wrestlers, why have the elimination match at all? Nagata and Nakanishi put on a decent final match, but it was clipped almost in half. Overall it wasn’t bad since the first half had a lot of solid wrestling in it, but overall I don’t think the match used the elimination style very effectively. Score: 6.2

Final Thoughts:

The good news is that of the seven matches, I thought that over half were above average. This should come as no surprise, because New Japan has one of the deepest rosters in the world that can put on quality matches from the opening match to the final match. This event does show why I usually avoid TV tapings though, as the clippings always get on my nerves. Even the final match, with over 40 minutes shown, had a good 20 minutes overall clipped from it. It makes it more difficult to get into the match when a significant part of it is cut out. So while I can barely recommend it since it can be found for under five dollars and does have some quality wrestling it it, it is in no way a must-see event.

Mildly Recommended

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