This event actually took place the day after Wrestle Kingdom 9. Strange, huh? NJPW would top off their biggest event of the year (and one of the biggest/best all around in professional wrestling worldwide) with a show the next night.
Taichi came out and cut a promo. This brought out the opponents and set up the first match of the card.
Match One: Taichi / Taka Michinoku vs. Sho Tanaka / Tiger Mask
Taichi cut the opening promo and has a unique look to him but otherwise I'm not sure who he or Sho Tanaka are. Taka Michinoku and Tiger Mask are, of course, both legendary. Why they were not on Wrestle Kingdom 9 but the show the night after is a questionable booking decision. Taichi was worked over in this match quite a bit, with some near falls from Sho Tanaka. Eventually, he manages to fight back and this match ends with Taichi pinning Sho Tanaka. Strange as neither of the veterans took the fall or made the pin. Taichi and Tiger Mask had a nice stare down before Taka kind of pulled him away. This could be setting up a Taichi vs. Tiger Mask one on one match which I'd of course be in favor of because these four men are all great workers. Why wasn't Taichi on WK9? Is it because he's not from NJPW but rather Taka Michinoku's promotion? I'll have to look into that, and look into seeing more of his matches as well.
Match Two: reDRagon vs. Forever Hooligans
So a sort of rematch from the previous night as these two teams kicked off Wrestle Kingdom 9 with two other teams in the mix as well. reDRagon are still champions even though I know they're going to lose the titles ultimately to Young Bucks. Ugh. For whatever reason, Rocky Romero came out wearing a lucha libre style mask which he took off before the match began. At one point in the match, both members of reDRagon tried headbutts off the top rope onto Rocky Romero but the former Havana Pitbull sat up. After Koslov did his kicking dance with his hat on, there were a number of near falls. Bobby Fish hit a stiff kick to the head on Koslov who was then suplexed by Kyle O'Reilly for the pin and win. Kind of strange when you see reDRagon to think that they would actually lose this match when they were able to defeat Forever Hooligans plus two other teams the night before.
Match Three: Killer Elite Squad / Minoru Suzuki / Shelton Benjamin / Takashi Iizuka vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan / Satoshi Kojima / Captain New Japan / Manabu Nakanishi / Tomoaki Honma
I remember this rumor going around, before WK9 I think, that Shelton Benjamin was returning to WWE. Someone somewhere noted his age and said that he was older now but he's still got it. A lot of these wrestlers were part of Wrestle Kingdom 9. Lance Archer got some double chops on Tenzan before flipping off the crowd. I feel like since Mexico has their own names for heels and faces Japan should too. Maybe they do and I'm just missing it. This stayed a one on one match for the most part, as it wasn't until the end that the Killer Elite Squad hit two different double team moves on Captain New Japan (the second and final being that powerbomb they do so well) and Lance Archer pinned the Captain. I kind of like Captain New Japan but it might just be because I now believe every wrestling promotion should have a Captain beginning with Captain WWE.
Match Four: Jushin Liger (Champion) vs. El Desperado *NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship Match*
El Desperado comes out under a pretty fancy Predator-like mask but still has the guitar and otherwise look of the Antonio Banderas movie. I'm not sure how it works though that Jushin Liger is the NWA Jr. Champion because isn't NWA regional? Shouldn't he be the NWA South Jr. Champion or something else to add a little bit more information to it? Where does he defend this title exactly? In all of the NWAs? There is an NWA Houston I believe, does he go there? Is there an NWA Japan?
I realize when I was writing about Ultimo Dragon previously it may have seemed like I took a shot at Jushin Liger but I could honestly watch Liger fight each and every day. My all-time favorite wrestler (forever and ever) had a classic match with Jushin Liger and as such there will also always be a special place in my heart for Liger.
Taichi and Taka Michinoku came out while the ref was tending to El Desperado and they got in some cheap shots on Liger. So if Taichi got Tiger Mask before and now Liger are we setting up a tag match with Taka or are they just trying to take out all of the Japanese legends that they can so Taka Michinoku can stand tall as the one and only true legend? Either way, I'm down with this angle.
I am somewhat curious as to why Jushin Liger wasn't on the WK9 card, but I'd also like to hear Jim Ross call this match so he can inform us how Liger is basically fighting three men here. El Desperado even tried ripping off Liger's mask. Eventually, Tiger Mask came through the crowd and stopped Taichi from attacking Liger and then took out Taichi and Taka Michinoku both on the outside.
I did google search Taichi before and according to his Wikipedia page he's been around- including TNA- so looks like I have some more watching to do.
El Desperado did a good job of isolating the injured arm of Liger and even applied a submission hold that seemed like it was the end. Liger ended up fighting back, as he tends to do, and after a running power bomb managed to get the pin over El Desperado. Jushin Liger is still the NWA Junior Champion of somewhere.
There were a bunch of backstage promos next. They talked to Jushin Liger among others but, yeah, an obvious language barrier there for me.
Match Five: Time Splitters / Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kenny Omega / Young Bucks
I'm torn for this match because I am really beginning to like Kenny Omega but I just don't like the Young Bucks still. They're all in the Bullet Club but I'd like to see Omega just walk out on this match. Alex Shelley appears to be full on blonde now. I can't remember if he was or not for WK9 but I feel like he wasn't. A lot of double and triple teaming by the Bullet Club early on. I feel like they might be the more complete unit here though, especially since Kenny Omega seems to hang around with the Young Bucks at times other than just this match. At one point, one of the Young Bucks did a hand stand and held the head of Shelley while the other YB did a running drop kick to him. Ouch. The Young Bucks then did a DX-like crotch chop every time the ref went up a number counting out Alex Shelley and I'm reminded of why I don't like them. Omega revved up his arm and raked the face of Shelley as this match has been all Bullet Club thus far. There have been frequent tags and they're isolating him in their corner.
Eventually Taguchi got in and began working over Omega. As much as the Bullet Club all beat on Shelley before, Taguchi did that in reverse. All six men ended up in the ring together at one point before some Young Bucks superkicks. KUSHIDA finally gets into the match and begins taking on the Young Bucks himself. The Time Splitters hit a series of moves together on I believe Matt Jackson and then everyone goes flying over and outside the ring.
One of the Young Bucks powerbombed KUSHIDA into the corner as the other jumped up and superkicked him in the back of the head. As the action was back on the outside, only KUSHIDA and one of the Young Bucks remained in the ring. KUSHIDA rolled through a suplex and held onto the waist of the Young Buck for the pin. So I'm happy because Kenny Omega didn't win but he didn't get pinned either.
After the match the Young Bucks tried to injure KUSHIDA and then they also tried to take out Taguchi with help from Kenny Omega. I do believe Alex Shelley was still down on the outside at the time. So even though the Bullet Club lost they kind of got the last word in there as well.
Match Six: Bad Luck Fale / Tama Tonga vs. Kazuchika Okada / Toru Yano
There was an awkward shot of the chain holding the turnbuckle to the post during entrances. Tama Tonga is the song of Meng/Haku and wrestles barefoot as such. The Bullet Club members in this match and it makes me worry for those from CHAOS.
After being worked over by both men for most of the match an "O-ka-da" chant broke out. Still, the Bullet Club team just dominated and after a Razor's Edge from Bad Luck Fale, Okada took the loss here. This is so different from what happened just the night before. Okada had a much more fighting chance in that match.
Match Seven: Kota Ibushi / Togi Makabe / Yuji Nagata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura / Tomohiro Ishii / YOSHI-HASHI
I like to remember Togi Makabe because of the giant chain he wears. Shinsuke Nakamura is still the biggest rock star in this match though. He reminds me for whatever reason of Razor Ramon or Shawn Michaels in their prime. Whether he's a face or a heel you just can't help but like him because everything he does just seems so cool.
Ishii and Makabe start things off, appropriately enough. YOSHI-HASHI and Nagata are in next as there is a fair tag on both sides. Nakamura tags in and so does Ibushi. Nakamura drops a knee to the head of Ibushi for a near fall. Eventually YOSHI-HASHI comes in and works over Ibushi before tagging Ishii back in as well. Ibushi is taking the majority of the blows in this match so far.
When Ibushi begins to get to his corner, all three men come in and chase the others off the ring apron and Nakamura is going to town on Ibushi once again. Both men make tags now and we're back where we started with Makabe and Ishii. Makabe hits a nice suplex for a two count. A small "Ma-ka-be" chant breaks out in the arena.
YOSHI-HASHI throws some elbows at Makabe. Then Nagata is back in going to work on YOSHI. All three members of CHAOS hit moves in the corner on Nagata. Ibushi comes in and this thing is breaking down now. Nakamura misses a sliding dropkick on Nagata who hits him with a belly to back suplex instead.
Everyone is paired up but Makabe manages to take down the two CHAOS members who aren't Nakamura. Nagata hooks a suplex on YOSHI-HASHI and gets the pin. I'm not really that familiar with YOSHI-HASHI so if someone had to take the fall in this match (and they did) I'm glad that it was him.
Match Eight: AJ Styles / Doc Gallows / Karl Anderson / Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi / Hirooki Goto / Katsuyori Shibata / Tetsuya Naito
Karl Anderson got on the mic before the match to introduce Cody Hall, son of Scott Hall. He's not in the match so that might play into some interference later on. AJ Styles wanted to start the match with Tanahashi and there were some pretty loud chants for Styles.
This match was every bit as good as you'd expect based upon the sheer talent involved. It seemed like Styles and Tanahashi were in the ring together a lot and if NJPW is building towards an AJ Styles title shot I'm all for it. When Styles went for the Styles Clash on Tanahashi it all began breaking down in the ring, with a member of each team coming and going one right after the other.
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson hit a double team move on Tanahashi which allowed AJ Styles to finally get the Styles Clash and win. This basically broke down into three on one at the end. Interestingly enough, Gallows tapped on the shoulder of Styles and signaled for the belt around his waist.
AJ Styles gets on the mic and says that Tanahashi stole the title from him and he wants a rematch. Scott D'Amore is in the ring and part of the Bullet Club now for some reason, as Karl Anderson is talking up everyone. Even Kenny Omega is back out and in the ring. Anderson calls himself a legendary tag team wrestler and I wonder what Joey Ryan is doing right now. Anderson says they own NJPW and they own the wrestling business and that is real. There are a lot of people paying $24.99 plus shipping for Bullet Club t-shirts that would not argue that point.
As they're leaving I realize that the back of Cody Hall's vest (He's dressed like nWo red/Outsiders Scott Hall) says "Lone Wolf", yet he's with the Bullet Club. There's a "Blades of Glory" reference in there somewhere.
Backstage Karl Anderson cuts a promo about AJ Styles into a camera while another camera films them. Okay. The show ends with a decent amount of talking from the commentators as most of the fans are seen behind them putting on their jackets and leaving. They're also plugging DVDs I probably can't get in the United States so they should just be plugging The World, although for all I know they could be.
Overall this was a really fun event that has me ready for the possible matches that could result from it and especially AJ Styles moving back into the title picture. This is the second big show from NJPW in 2015 (as per their website) and it definitely delivered. This could very easily be the year of New Japan.
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