So, this is my first article for Official Wrestling and the first of hopefully many reviews of New Japan Pro Wrestling shows by me. To me, NJPW is a saving grace. I had become bored and uninterested in the WWE product and New Japan offered something different and as it turns out, something brilliant.
Power Struggle 2017 is the final major show of the year for New Japan and will likely build up storylines and rivalries to set the stage for Wrestle Kingdom 12 on January 4th 2018, NJPW's biggest annual event.
So, without any further introductions, let's get to it.
1. The Young Bucks vs.
Dragon Lee and Titan
The first match of the night saw The Young Bucks (Matt and
Nick Jackson) take on the team of Titan and Dragon Lee; two luchadores from
Mexico’s CMLL promotion.
The match was a fast paced one, because of course it was, look at the people involved. The match had a fast-paced beginning, a fast-paced middle and then a fast-paced ending. There were springboards, superkicks and planchas galore, but it was actually a submission move that ended the match. The Young Bucks submitted Titan with a sharpshooter/crossface combination for the win. It wasn’t the crispest or cleanest of matches, but it was only the opener.
The match was a fast paced one, because of course it was, look at the people involved. The match had a fast-paced beginning, a fast-paced middle and then a fast-paced ending. There were springboards, superkicks and planchas galore, but it was actually a submission move that ended the match. The Young Bucks submitted Titan with a sharpshooter/crossface combination for the win. It wasn’t the crispest or cleanest of matches, but it was only the opener.
Result: The Young
Bucks def. Dragon Lee and Titan (7:18)
2. Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu
Kanemaru, Taka Michinoku, Taichi, El Desperado and
Zach Sabre Jr.) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Juice Robinson, Kushida
and Hirai Kawato
Suzuki-gun jumped their opponents before the bell as
Kanemaru went after the mask of Liger while El Desperado went for the
tiger-like mask of Tiger Mask. This was a typical New Japan 10-man tag with a
lot of moving parts and quick action. The only real memorable moment was as
Juice Robinson encouraged the Young Lion, Hirai Kawato to hit a somersault
senton to the outside on Sabre Jr., moments before Kushida submitted Taka Michinoku
with the Hoverboard Lock (because Taka always takes the loss ☹).
Result: Jushin
Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Juice Robinson, Kushida and Hirai Kawato def.
Suzuki-gun (5:19)
3. Cody, Chase Owens and
Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe and Satoshi
Kojima
Tenzan turned down Cody’s offer of kissing his Ring of Honor
Championship ring before being cut off from his partners and worked over by the
members of Bullet Club. Tenzan then made it to his corner for not so much of a
hot tag to Makabe, it was more lukewarm. The teams exchanged moves before
Kojima hit a lariat out of nowhere on Chase Owens to pick up the win in another
short match.
Result: Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe and Satoshi Kojima def. Cody, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi (8:11)
Result: Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe and Satoshi Kojima def. Cody, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi (8:11)
4. Super
Jr. Tag Team Tournament Final:
Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) vs. Rysuke Taguchi and ACH
With Ricochet’s apparent departure from New Japan, Rysuke
Taguchi needed to find himself a new tag team partner and did so in the form of
ACH, a man who looks like a muscular Wayne Brady. They took on Rocky Romero’s
new project, current IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team champions, Roppongi 3K, in
the finals of the Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament.
Sho and Yoh took turns focusing on the injured ribs of ACH before Taguchi made the save, and when Taguchi isn’t doing his comedy act, he’s actually a pretty good wrestler. The teams went back and forth in a good match which looked to be over when ACH ripped off his chest bandages and hit a beautiful 450° splash but the cover was broken up at 2. Roppongi 3K hit their finish (which is also called Roppongi 3K) on Taguchi, then hit it again on ACH to win the match and become Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament champions.
Sho and Yoh took turns focusing on the injured ribs of ACH before Taguchi made the save, and when Taguchi isn’t doing his comedy act, he’s actually a pretty good wrestler. The teams went back and forth in a good match which looked to be over when ACH ripped off his chest bandages and hit a beautiful 450° splash but the cover was broken up at 2. Roppongi 3K hit their finish (which is also called Roppongi 3K) on Taguchi, then hit it again on ACH to win the match and become Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament champions.
After the match, The Young Bucks came to the ring to
challenge Roppongi 3K for their Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team championships which
was accepted by Rocky Romero.
Result: Roppongi 3K
(Sho and Yoh) def. Rysuke Taguchi and ACH (15:51)
 |
| Sho and Yoh of Roppongi 3K celebrate their win in the finals of Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Tournament |
5. Kazuchika Okada,
Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi and Gedo (Chaos) vs. Los
Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, Sanada, Bushi and Hiromu
Takahashi)
Ishii and Evil began the match, each man trying to outpower
the other before Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) rushed the members of the
opposite team knocking them off the apron. Naito took IWGP Heavyweight Champion
Okada, his opponent at Wrestle Kingdom 12 on January 4th, up the
ramp and hit two body slams leaving him there.
The match continued with Hirooki Goto taking out three members of LIJ and powering out of Sanada’s Paradise Lock, but Sanada turned the tables hitting a springboard dropkick before Okada and Naito hit the ring to preview their main event match in two months’ time. Okada was the clear fan favourite in Osaka and each man managed to counter the others signature manoeuvre. Once again, LIJ hit the ring to work on Okada but the rest of Chaos made the save. Okada hit Naito with a tombstone piledriver and then pinned Bushi following a Rainmaker whilst doing the LIJ pose.
Going into their World Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom, this gives Okada a definitive advantage over the leader of LIJ.
The match continued with Hirooki Goto taking out three members of LIJ and powering out of Sanada’s Paradise Lock, but Sanada turned the tables hitting a springboard dropkick before Okada and Naito hit the ring to preview their main event match in two months’ time. Okada was the clear fan favourite in Osaka and each man managed to counter the others signature manoeuvre. Once again, LIJ hit the ring to work on Okada but the rest of Chaos made the save. Okada hit Naito with a tombstone piledriver and then pinned Bushi following a Rainmaker whilst doing the LIJ pose.
Going into their World Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom, this gives Okada a definitive advantage over the leader of LIJ.
Result: Kazuchika
Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi and Gedo def. Los
Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, Sanada, Bushi and Hiromu
Takahashi) (12:07)
 |
| Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada taking on his Wrestle Kingdom challenger Tetsuya Naito |
6. NEVER Openweight
Championship: Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Toru Yano (Bull Rope Match)
Yano came down to the ring with dyed red hair and shaved
eyebrows, an apparent call back to the time before he was a comedy character
and signifying he was taking this match with Suzuki very seriously. Yano took
the fight straight to Suzuki before he even had the rope tied to his wrist.
However, it was Suzuki who then took the upper hand, dragging Yano around the
ring, throwing him into the railings and choking him with the rope. El
Desperado and Kanemaru from Suzuki-gun then started to stomp out Yano, before
Hirooki Goto who had been sat with the commentators dived over the guard rail
to help his Chaos stablemate.
Yano attempted to remove the turnbuckle padding but Suzuki kept dragging him away. Yano managed to get some offence in before Takashi Iizuka from Suzuki-gun came down to ringside to district him. Suzuki went to use a chair but was stopped by the referee, which seems odd when he’d been using a rope for the past 15 minutes to choke out Yano. Toru Yano managed to low blow Suzuki, tie him with the rope and roll him up, but only for a fantastic near-fall. Yano’s advantage didn’t last long as Suzuki once again used the rope to choke him before hitting the Gotch Piledriver for the win to retain his championship.
Yano attempted to remove the turnbuckle padding but Suzuki kept dragging him away. Yano managed to get some offence in before Takashi Iizuka from Suzuki-gun came down to ringside to district him. Suzuki went to use a chair but was stopped by the referee, which seems odd when he’d been using a rope for the past 15 minutes to choke out Yano. Toru Yano managed to low blow Suzuki, tie him with the rope and roll him up, but only for a fantastic near-fall. Yano’s advantage didn’t last long as Suzuki once again used the rope to choke him before hitting the Gotch Piledriver for the win to retain his championship.
Result: Minoru Suzuki
def. Toru Yano to retain NEVER Openweight Championship (15:21)
7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight
Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Marty Scurll
The match started with the counter wrestling style we’ve
come to expect in a Jr. Heavyweight match. Marty Scurll tried keeping Will Ospreay grounded and began working on the left arm. Eventually, they
just resorted to slapping each other before Ospreay, who was wearing his
rubbish Spider-Man inspired attire hit the Cheeky Nando’s Kick (the worst named
move ever). They continued to counter wrestle for most of this match with
Scurll hitting a DDT to the floor and a Canadian Destroyer-style DDT (which
looked ridiculous), each for a two-count. Ospreay went for the Oscutter (another awful
move) which was countered into a crossface chicken wing by Scurll. Ospreay
rolled over for a cover but Scurll transitioned that pin into a pin of his own
for the victory.
Post-match, Ospreay was berating the referee like a good babyface wrestler should, before Kushida came out to challenge the new champion Scurll. Ospreay told him to get to the back of the line before he also challenged Scurll. Finally, Hiromu Takahashi, who has tried and failed twice to even issue a challenge in the past, came to the ring to also challenge Scurll. Marty Scurll accepted all the challenges, setting up a four-way match between Scurll, Ospreay, Hiromu and Kushida, likely at Wrestle Kingdom. Frankly, all this post-match stuff was probably better and more interesting than the match itself.
Post-match, Ospreay was berating the referee like a good babyface wrestler should, before Kushida came out to challenge the new champion Scurll. Ospreay told him to get to the back of the line before he also challenged Scurll. Finally, Hiromu Takahashi, who has tried and failed twice to even issue a challenge in the past, came to the ring to also challenge Scurll. Marty Scurll accepted all the challenges, setting up a four-way match between Scurll, Ospreay, Hiromu and Kushida, likely at Wrestle Kingdom. Frankly, all this post-match stuff was probably better and more interesting than the match itself.
Result: Marty Scurll
def. Will Ospreay to win IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship (17:28)
8. IWGP US Heavyweight
Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Beretta
This was a solid match, but what happened afterwards may
have shook the wrestling world (and I’ll get to it in just a second).
The match was mostly dominated by Kenny Omega who suplexed Beretta onto the underside of a table before diving off the apron and stomping through the table to Beretta underneath. Omega then got in the ring and took off his elbow pads, which brings up the question why does he bother wearing them? He never finishes a match with them on. On an additional attire related note, Beretta wears tights with a dark stain under the crotch so it looks like he's wet himself, similar to how Braun Strowman used to. Why?
Anyway, Omega hit One Winged Angel and won the match.
He then called out anyone to be his next challenger, and no one answered him. So, he bid the crowd “Goodbye and good night” before the arena lights went out, a countdown appeared on screen and Chris Jericho appeared (via video) to challenge Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12! Dubbed Alpha vs. Omega and best in the world vs best in the world (similar to the build for Jericho vs CM Punk at WrestleMania 28), Y2J is coming back to Japan!!
The match was mostly dominated by Kenny Omega who suplexed Beretta onto the underside of a table before diving off the apron and stomping through the table to Beretta underneath. Omega then got in the ring and took off his elbow pads, which brings up the question why does he bother wearing them? He never finishes a match with them on. On an additional attire related note, Beretta wears tights with a dark stain under the crotch so it looks like he's wet himself, similar to how Braun Strowman used to. Why?
Anyway, Omega hit One Winged Angel and won the match.
He then called out anyone to be his next challenger, and no one answered him. So, he bid the crowd “Goodbye and good night” before the arena lights went out, a countdown appeared on screen and Chris Jericho appeared (via video) to challenge Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12! Dubbed Alpha vs. Omega and best in the world vs best in the world (similar to the build for Jericho vs CM Punk at WrestleMania 28), Y2J is coming back to Japan!!
Result: Kenny Omega
def. Beretta to retain IWGP US Heavyweight Championship (21:35)
 |
| Chris Jericho holding up an image of US Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega, moments before tearing it in half and issuing a challenge to Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12 |
9. IWGP Intercontinental
Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
As both men were introduced, Hiroshi Tanahashi; the ace of
New Japan seemed to be getting the loudest crowd reactions of anyway of the
night. The match started with some excellent mat wrestling back and forth
before Tanahashi began working on the knee of Ibushi to set him up for the
cloverleaf. He managed to put Ibushi in the submission hold but Ibushi made it
to the ropes. Tanahashi continued to attack the knee of the Golden Star with
multiple dragon screws. Ibushi managed to get some offence in, but a missed Kamigoye
knee strike allowed the Intercontinental Champion to follow up with a Sling Blade,
a dragon suplex and two High Fly Flow’s to get the win.
Hiroshi Tanahashi then gave the customary post main event speech, and just as it looked as though the show was about to end, one final vignette for Switchblade aired, before the man himself, also known as Jay White came to the ring. I don’t know who Jay White is, apparently a Young Lion returning from excursion, but he stated his intent to face Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom before laying the champion out with a swinging revere STO to bring the show to a close.
Hiroshi Tanahashi then gave the customary post main event speech, and just as it looked as though the show was about to end, one final vignette for Switchblade aired, before the man himself, also known as Jay White came to the ring. I don’t know who Jay White is, apparently a Young Lion returning from excursion, but he stated his intent to face Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom before laying the champion out with a swinging revere STO to bring the show to a close.
Result: Hiroshi
Tanahashi def. Kota Ibushi to retain IWGP Intercontinental Championship (29:26)
So that was Power Struggle 2017. Pretty much all of the matches were good but nothing to write home about. The biggest events of the show took place after the matches. As was suggested, this show was used to build up towards Wrestle Kingdom at the start of next year and build it did. We now have a four way match for the Jr. Heavyweight Championship between Marty Scurll, Will Ospreay, Kushida and Hiromu Takahashi, the newly debuted Switchblade taking on Hiroshi Tanahashi, and of course the Battle of Winnipeg between Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega. Plus, we continued the build of Naito vs Okada for the Heavyweight Championship. Wrestle Kingdom is looking like it will be a very stacked show! Is it January 4th yet?
Images from NJPW
 |
| The debut of Switchblade Jay White |
Images from NJPW
0 comments:
Post a Comment