The night before WrestleMania 31 New Japan presented their third annual Invasion Attack show. Unlike the offerings from Ring of Honor and the WWN this show wasn't held in the state of California. It wasn't even held in the US. That's what kept me from reviewing it at the time: it was happening on WrestleMania weekend but it was so detached that it didn't feel like a part of it. Not that it was intended to be, of course. New Japan is big enough that it doesn't need to tie itself into WWE's schedule.
The opener pitted the Time Splitters, Captain New Japan,
Yohei Komatsu and Yuji Nagata against Ryusuke Taguchi, Manabu Nakanishi, Sho
Tanaka, Tiger Mask and Jushin Liger. It was a fun but instantly fogettable ten
man tag. Shelley pinned Nakanishi with a belly-to-back piledriver for the win.
Tomoaki Honma and the Tencozy lads, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and
Satoshi Kojima, versus Bullet Club representatives Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga
and Cody Hall was second. Takahashi was accompanied by a girl in a bikini because
he's been corrupted by The West. Cody Hall was sporting a slightly altered look
channelled Brock Lesnar, while his mannerisms channelled his father. Sadly this
didn't translate to a super-hot match or even anything memorable from him. Hall
ate the pinfall after a Tencozy 3D and a top rope headbutt from Honma. The thing
that most sticks with me is that Hall looked incredibly uncertain a lot of the
time. That and the gratuitous shots of Takahashi's gal pal.
Rocky Romero and Trent Baretta had their first two-on-two
NJPW tag match as Roppongi Vice after that. They'd wrestled six matches in the
company before this but all had featured additional partners. In a slightly
surprising move the match was for the junior tag straps. In an even more
surprising move the new team defeated the Young Bucks for the titles. This
evelopment seemed like something that could have been built to a bit more but
it did get a pop and provide a nice surprise.
The match was really good fun. Baretta was sharp and gelled
well with Romero. The finish saw Romero tagged by Baretta as Romero was being hoisted
up for More Bang for Your Buck. Romero then got his knees up as Nick hit him
with the 450 and Baretta, the legal man, dashed in to hit Matt with a top rope
German suplex. Romero took out Nick with a suicide dive before the Vice boys
hit an inverted Tombstone-springboard combo on Matt, Baretta pinning him to
win. That pin sequence was notable: Baretta is the junior member of his team
and Matt is the senior member of his. You'd usually expect Nick to be the one
laying down in this situation. Clearly the intention was to make Baretta look
good by not only having him get the winning fall but doing it against the more
impressive member of the opposing team.
The junior heavyweight singles gold was up for grabs in
match four. Máscara Dorada challenged Kenny Omega. Dorada had various junior
heavyweight babyfaces (among them the Time Splitters, Jushin Liger and Tiger
Mask) with him at ringside to ensure there was no Bullet Club-related foul play.
Even being unable to utilise his teammates Omega got the win, pinning Dorada
with the electric chair driver. After the match Omega challenged Alex Shelley
to a title match. Shelley accepted. That should be a highlight of Wrestling
Dontaku in May.
The non-Japanese action continued with Doc Gallows and
Karl Anderson defending the IWGP tag straps against Matt Taven and Michael
Bennett. It was below the standard of the usual Anderson 'n' Gallows match but it
was better than anything else I've seen The Kingdom pairing do so far. There
were a bunch of spots involving Maria interfering, all of which seemed to
really excite the commentary team. Maria ended up distracting Anderson after
grinding on the apron, leading to him being hit with a double spike piledriver
(prompting cries of "Massacre! Massacre!" from an excited
commentator) for the surprising loss. Gallows screamed at Anderson after the
match. I'm assuming this title change was done to set up a return match on the
ROH-New Japan co-promoted shows in May. Bullet Club, faces in ROH, can take the
gold back from the hated Kingdom there.
Two tag matches preceded the show's closing singles
bouts, each featuring one of the promotion's top acts. The first saw Shinsuke
Nakamura team with Chaos teammates Yoshi-Hashi and Tomohiro Ishii against
Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito and Togi Makabe. The second saw Hiroshi Tanahashi
and Katauyori Shibata face Kazushi Sakuraba and Toru Yano. The six man was the
more enjoyable of the two. It was nice to see Ishii and Makabe's rivalry
flaring up again after it had stalled following Makabe's illness in February.
Plus I never fail to enjoy a Nak match. The Tana match was fine but I find it
hard to get passed my feeling that he's a little overrated, an opinion I've
developed because I've yet to see him in a great match that doesn't involve a
lesser worker. Anyone can shine against Okada and Styles. His average match
against Michael Bennett last year spoke volumes.
The teams with the big stars lost in both instances. Nak
was pinned by Goto after a mad lariat and what I believe was a Shouten Kai.
That set up an Intercontinental title match between the Goto and Nakamura for
Wrestling Dontaku. In the tag match Shibata submitted to a Sakuraba armbar. I'm
less clear on the intention there. Perhaps a singles match between Tanahashi
and Yano? I'd enjoy it even if no one else would.
The semi-main event was Bad Luck Fale versus Kazuchika
Okada, a match-up with a nice story going into it. Okada had been overconfident
ahead of his Wrestle Kingdom 9 title challenge against Tanahashi and that
overconfidence had led to him being beaten. The following night, confidence
shattered, he'd been beaten by Fale in a tag match. Which isn't a soul-crushing
embarrassment in itself because Fale is kept strong by New Japan, but it was a
further blow to the former two time world champ and company golden boy.
Since that match Fale and Okada and met in a variety of
tag and six man matches, with 'The Underboss' being on the winning side more
often than not. This singles match was Okada's chance at retribution, his opportunity
to change his fortunes, show that he was above the likes of Fale and get his
career back on track. Naturally he did so. Just as naturally the match was very
good. Not that I'm especially well-versed in Fale matches (nor do I want to be)
but this was certainly the best work I've seen from him. Fale managed to make
Okada look strong without making himself look weak, a useful skill to have for
someone who's clearly meant to be a big ol' monster.
Highlights of the match included a lovely Rainmaker reversal
into a choke slam attempt and a sequence that saw Okada escape the Bad Luck Fall,
counter a choke slam in mid-air with a drop kick, and avoid a Fale Rainmaker
before hitting a Tombstone (something he'd attempted several times during the
match). There was also a very nice top rope splash from Fale.
The main event featured IWGP champion AJ Styles defending
against Kota Ibushi, who'd earned a title shot by merit of his victory in the
New Japan Cup tournament. It seemed designed to reinforce the standing of both
guys as bona fide headline stars by having them close out the show without Nak,
Tana or Okada around. You can't fault New Japan's star-building process. Nor
can you fault their storytelling: Kenny Omega was the lone Bullet Club member
at ringside. This was notable as the two men have (or possibly have, at this
point) tagged together as Golden Lovers since the beginning of 2009. They
primarily teamed in DDT but did make a couple of appearances together in New
Japan, capturing the junior tag straps when they did so. Both transferred over
to New Japan from DDT and took up new singles roles unaffiliated with one
another until this point, and stationing Omega at ringside was a superb move.
It allowed for a genuinely interesting "what will he do?" scenario to
play out throughout the match, something that's tried fairly often and usually
fails.
The match started with Ibushi and Styles locking up a few
times. Styles got the better of them and loudly proclaimed Ibushi wasn't ready
for him. Ibushi responded with a hurricanrana that sent the champion rolling
out of the ring. They ran through a nippy exchange of near falls, as well as a
Styles Slash attempt, with Ibushi getting the final word with a very close two
count. The champion was then sent out of the ring again, this time with a drop
kick.
Ibushi tried a moonsault to the outside. First AJ blocked
it. Then, after Ibushi had fought him off, he sidestepped it and tossed Ibushi
with a wild German suplex. Ibushi just made it back into the ring before the
twenty count was reached but he was left at the mercy of 'The Phenomenal One'. The
challenger absorbed punishment for several minutes, including a guardrail to
the face and an Indian deathlock.
Styles targeted Iushi's leg when he started throwing out
kicks. Ibushi fought overcame that and managed a desperation double stomp as
Styles went for a low drop kick. Styles rolled outside, allowing 'Golden Star'
to finally hit the springboard moonsault he'd tried for earlier. Ibushi stayed
on the champion with a springboard drop kick, a power slam, and a Lionsault,
all which scored him a two count. A German suplex got him the same result.
Styles reversed a suplex and dropped Ibushi into a turnbuckle then hit his
moonsault into a reverse DDT.
Ibushi kicked out so Styles signalled for the Styles Clash.
Ibushi fought out with a series of strikes. AJ responded with strikes of his
own then hit a Pele kick. Ibushi stayed on his feet long enough to hit a Pele
kick of his own. After a brief pause
Ibushi pulled Styles to his feet and tried to dragon suplex him off the apron
into the ring. Styles elbowed out, hit a springboard elbow, then dropped Ibushi
on his head with a "Styles buster" (as named by the commentators) for
two.
Frustrated, the champion gave the challenger a high
Bloody Sunday. Without going for the cover he tried for the Clash again. Ibushi
escaped but immediately found himself locked in a Calf Killer. It took him a
while but Ibushi made it to the ropes. Back on his feet he kneed Styles in the
face but hurt himself doing so and so couldn't capitalise. Styles floored him
with a lariat and hauled him to a corner to take another stab at the Styles
Clash. Ibushi fought out and tried a hurricanrana. Styles fought out of that
and tried for the Clash again. Ibushi escaped that and rolled onto the ring apron, where he leapt up to the top
rope to finally catch AJ with the hurricanrana.
Styles kicked out. Ibushi botched a power bomb. Styles escaped
on the correction attempt and got walloped with a lariat for his efforts.
Ibushi tried for the power bomb a third time and finally got it. But Styles
kicked out in a great near fall.
Ibushi went to the top rope. Omega finally made his move,
scrambling to the apron to stare at Ibushi. The two men paused before Omega
shook his head and returned to the floor. But that brief pause was enough:
Ibushi went for the phoenix splash but Styles was on his feet to catch him,
turning the move into a Styles Clash to win the match at the twenty-seven
minute mark.
 |
| This lad's on... another level. |
Takahashi and Tama Tonga hit the ring to proudly
celebrate with AJ as Ibushi was helped backstage. Omega joined them in the ring
but looked distraught. Clearly he had mixed feelings on the plight of his
former teammate and felt that his momentary distraction and cost him a win and
the title. But we weren't allowed to dwell on an evil Bullet Club member having
feelings for long: Okada hit the ring to destroy everyone and lamp Styles with
a Rainmaker. The final major shot of the show was Okada standing over the
champion as Gedo said words and smirked.
Invasion Attack was a great show. There were matches that
weren't all they could have been but there were no flat-out stinkers and we got
a couple of title changes. More importantly it got Okada back on track as a
title challenger, solidified the standing of both Styles and Ibushi, and set up
something for the future involving Kenny Omega. Not bad for what was not
intended to be a A-list show.
***
Results summary:
Yuji Nagata, Time Splitters, Captain New Japan and Yohei
Komatsu defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke
Taguchi and Sho TanakaTenCozy and Tomoaki Honma defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga and Cody Hall
Roppongi Vice defeated The Young Bucks to win the junior heavyweight tag team championship
Kenny Omega defeated Máscara Dorada to retain the junior heavyweight championship
The Kingdom defeated Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson to win the tag tea championship
Hirooki Goto, Togi Makabe and Tetsuya Naito defeated Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi
Kazushi Sakuraba and Toru Yano defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata
Kazuchika Okada defeated Bad Luck Fale
AJ Styles defeated Kota Ibushi to retain the IWGP heavyweight championship
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