NJPW Dominion 2015 review

With the G1 tournament currently in full swing this seems like the perfect (or most illogical, whichever you prefer) time to review the promotion's last major show, Dominion. I'd been looking forward to this show a great deal due to the fact that it featured a far greater number of singles and championship matches than the average New Japan show. It felt like it was a big deal because of this and, pleasingly, all of the bigger matches were worth watching. This was a show that didn't disappoint.

This said it actually seems like this was a relatively minor New Japan show, designed more as something to get people in position before the G1 tournament. Which does a fair amount to illustrate just how good NJPW is: even its B shows are excellent. It's impossible to imagine the likes of Payback or Battleground being this good. But then New Japan and WWE (and Gedo and Vince McMahon, for that matter) have different approaches and goals with the companies they head.

The show kicked off with a trio of tag matches. The first saw Yuji Nagata, Ryusuke Taguchi, Sho Tanaka, Mascara Dorada and Manabu Nakanishi defeat Jushin Liger, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yohei Komatsu, and Tiger Mask when Dorada pinned Komatsu. The second was the traditionally high spot filled junior tag title match, the Young Bucks successfully retaining against reDRagon and Roppongi Vice in a three-way. The latter seems to have drawn criticism from some for being "too American" but with six westerners in there what else could you expect. As far as these sorts of matches go it was very enjoyable.

The third saw Tetsuay Naito and Tomoaki Honma pair up to defeat Bullet Club lads Yujiro Takahashi and Bad Luck Fale. Naturally it was Takahashi who took the pin because New Japan go out of their way to protect Fale, presumably because he's the closest thing they have to a big, bad monster. Less naturally it was Honma who got the pin for his team, playing into a match-long story of Naito seemingly being unmotivated and not trying especially hard to help his partner out. This story (which has progressed considerably with the G1) was the highlight of the match, although the work between eternal underdog Honma and 'The Underboss' was fun too.

The first singles match of the show pitted Kazushi Sakuraba against Katusyori Shibata. This match was only a little over ten minutes but it felt longer. These are two of the least compeling guys on the New Japan roster for me and as such I found this difficult to engage with. It was technically proficint but it was the least engaging portion of the show for me. Shibata went over with a punt kick to Sakuraba's face after having weakened him with a lengthy sleeper.

Things improved considerably after that with Kushida's return to the top of the junior division with a junior heavyweight championship win over Kenny Omega. Kushida had earned the match by winning the Best of the Super Junior tournament in June, playing into the simple (but slightly unpleasantly racially charged storyline) story of Kenny Omega, a Canadian, having defeated challengers of Japanese, Mexican, and American origin and gloating about how none of them had beaten him. Obviously he was going to get his comeuppance at the hands of a Japanese guy, and it was Kushida, a man who's popularity has been growing considerably over the last eighteen months and who had been perfectly positioned for a singles run away from his Time Splitters partner Alex Shelley, who had to be the one to beat him.

This was the first standout match of the show (and there were several standout matches, as you'll read below). There was early use of a rubbish bin (trash can, for y'all across The Pond) from Omega, designed to play into his weird 'Cleaner' moniker, and then a prolonged sequence of Kushida's leg being worked over against tables and barriers outside the ring. That set him up as even more of an underdog against the despicable westerner and got him doing some very sympathetic selling, drawing the crowd in and prepping him for a piping hot comeback later on in the match.

It came just shy of the fifteen minute mark when Kushida reversed a suplex. From there he hit the champion with a roundhouse kick on the apron, a handspring elbow, and a cross body block from the turnbuckle to the floor (handily wiping out the Bucks too). Omega managed to briefly hold back the tide with, of all things, an Oklahoma Stampede, a decidedly more junior dragon suplex, and a top rope Aoi Shoudou, but it wasn't enough to get him the victory. Kushida would fire back with a number of kicks and applications of the kimura lock. It took a few tries but it was eventually that hold which got Kushida the win, trapping Omega's arm as he hoisted the challenger up for the One-Winged Angel and then locking the hold in place in the centre of the ring.

Following Kushida's lengthy celebration Tomorhiro Ishii strode down to the ring to challenge Togi Makabe for the NEVER championship. Makabe had defeated Ishii at Wrestle Kingdom 9 but was stripped of the title the following month after suffering form influenza and being unable to compete. Ishii would go on to beat Honma for the vacated gold at New Beginning, only to lose it back Makabe at Wrestling Hi no Kuni.

We had the same sort of enjoyably rough and tumble match here as we'd had in their previous meetings. They pummelled one another non-stop for getting on for twenty minutes, throwing elbows like they were going out of style. Big lad matches don't get much finer than what they gave us here, and they built to a great crescendo with Makabe German suplexing Ishii off the top rope before dropping on a knee on his head to once again beat him to retain the championship. This, for the record, was the second standout match of the evening. 

It was followed by a decidedly non-standout match: The Kingdom versus Bullet Club for the IWGP tag team championship. These aren't teams that do great things together. They've wrestled three times on major New Japan shows this year (Invasion Attack, where Bennett and Taven defeated Gallows and Anderson for the tag belts, and Wrestling Dontaku, in a six person match also involving Maria and Amber) and met in a number of matches on house shows in both New Japan and ROH. Despite this they've not managed to develop any sort of noticeable chemistry or interesting spots that can be called back to.

On the one hand that's fair enough. Not every feud is going to see guys find a rhythm that leads to a string of classic matches. It's not their fault that they've been put together so much, that they're all foreign heels (leading to audience disinterest and lack of focus) or that all they've been given to work with in terms of basis for a rivalry is Karl Anderson being infatuated by Maria. But it is their fault that they've not managed to drag any of these matches up to an acceptable level.

Bullet Club regained the titles here when they hit Taven with a 3D and Magic Killer. Hopefully they can move onto something with more talented teams that the audience actually like. Tanahashi wouldn't be a bad idea: he's super over and being in tags would help limit his ring time, preserving his utterly knackered body. It could also give a rub to whoever he was partnered with.

Speaking of Tanahashi, he wrestled in the match after this. It was a feud-ending collision with Toru Yano. Why he'd been pitted against Yano in a series is beyond me. Tanahashi, the man NJPW promotes as 'The Ace of the Universe' is one of the most over men in the company, quite possibly the most over. Yano is a comedy heel. Nobody stood to gain anything from this pairing: Yano wasn't going to be brought up to Tanahashi's level, Tanahashi was only going to be dragged down. It gave Tanahashi a rest, that's true, but there were other ways of achieving that without putting him with Yano.

The match was at least enjoyable. Because Tanahashi, despite being injured and overrated, is still very good, and Yano's shtick works. The obvious result came to pass when Tanahashi gave Yano the sling blade and the High Fly Flow.

The semi-main event was a Shinsuke Nakamura versus Hirooki Goto in a rematch for the Intercontinental championship. Goto had defeated Nak at Wrestling Dontaku in early May after Nak had underestimated and belittled him. The story here was that 'The King of Strong Style' wanted to prove the result had been a fluke and that he had been right to disregard Goto.

They started off with a lengthy feeling out process, Nak toying with the champ by jabbing at him with taunting kicks. Goto would get the best of the first lockup exchange, however, and would also be the first to go on a prolonged offensive streak, grounding Nakamura and wearing him down with chin locks. Nakamura would miss a running knee to the corner before knocking Goto out of the ring and smacking him into some guard rails.

The referee started a count. Goto made it back into the ring at eighteen but was too beaten up to do anything but lay there. Nakamura took advantage of this with some kicks. When he switched to elbows Goto's fighting spirit kicked in and he started fighting back. Nakamura survived a crazy lariat attempt, a spinning heel kick, and a bulldog before buying himself some time with a drop kick. A running knee in the corner missed but he managed to hoist the champion to the top rope and strike him with one there. That earned him a two count.

Goto tried to fire up again but Nak cut him off with another drop kick and a fall forward suplex. A Bome Ye attempt was reversed into a Samoan drop attempt, Nak wriggling off the shoulders and trapping Goto in a Gogoplata. Goto made it to the ropes but not quickly, and he was clearly even more worn down after being released from the hold. So Nakamura slapped on a rear naked choke to keep the pressure on.

Goto fought to his feet only for Nakamura to release the hold and drop him with a couple of suplexes. He again went for the Boma Ye and again found it countered, this time with a lariat. Goto hit an Angle Slam for two. He followed up with a neckbreaker out of the corner and Shouten Kai attempt. Nakamura kneed him in the head to escape that, only to be clotheslined in the corner seconds later. Goto tried to hit something from the top rope but Nak slipped away and power bombed him down to the mat then walloped him with a Boma Ye as he staggered back up.

Back on their feet the two lads traded blows, Nakamura getting the best of the exchange and felling the champ with an axe kick. Goto blearily tried getting back up but got struck with a Shining Wizard. Despite the crowd being convinced it was a match-ender Nakamura's pin attempt only got him a two count. Goto ran the ropes, avoiding two further  Boma Ye strikes before getting punched straight in the face. That caused him to drop to his knees. Nakamura again tried a Boma Ye but Goto caught hold of his knee, allowing him to hit a Goto Shiki and a dangerous-looking bck drop into an inverted power bomb for a beautiful false finish.

Nak got back to his feet and punched Goto again. Goto no-sold and gave Nak some head butts. Nak fell to the mat where he was pulled back to his feet to be hit with the match-winning Shouten Kai, bringing a cracking match to a close. Being a big fan of Nakamura I was disappointed he didn't get to regain the title he, more than anyone else has helped to build up but it would have been pointless for Goto to lose it back in his first defence. It's nice for someone else to have it for a bit to create some variety and allow Nakamura to do other things.

The main event saw AJ Styles defend the IWGP heavyweight championship against Kazuchika Okada. It was preceded by a really quite excellent hype video that did a great job of setting the mood for the match. Footage was used from some of the ROH co-promoted show, establishing how popular Okada is outside of Japan. He was also shown staring wistfully at Madison Square Garden, a building he's unlikely to ever wrestle in unless he makes his way to WWE at some point. It seemed to be presenting him as a humble man driven by ambitions and goals. Meanwhile Styles was presented as brash, arrogant and condescending. It did a great job of setting the scene for the story to come.

That story saw an Okada who refused to be intimidated by Styles dominate the early going. Okada was clearly confident and determined to overcome the entirety of Bullet Club being at ringside and become the heavyweight champion for a third time. The opening minutes saw 'The Rainmaker' outwrestle Styles multiple times, demonstrating that he had the champion's number and would win a fair match. Then, to illustrate that it wasn't a fair match, the interference began. Amber tripped Okada, allowing Styles to take control of the match. Moments later the challenger was tossed out of the ring to receive a kicking from the Biz Cliz.

Okada tried to fight back in the ring ut he got nailed with a drop kick and thrown out of the ring for a second kicking. This time the referee realised what was happening and ordered all Bullet Club members back to the locker room (maybe they should have secured themselves managers licenses and avoided this issue entirely). Okada rocked Styles with elbows, reversed a whip into a DDT, and hit a kip Up. Because athleticism.

Okada got a two count with a flapjack then headed to the top rope. Styles charged in but Okada leapt over him and struck him with an elbow. The champ no-sold that and hit his Asai DDT. He tried to follow up with a springboard but Okada kicked the ropes, toppling him back down onto the ring apron where he took an Okada drop kick.

After a brief brawl around ringside the two returned to the ring and Styles hit Okada with a facebuster for two. Styles tried a springboard again. Okada countered again, this time drop kicking the champion as he sailed into the ring. He followed up with a Macho Elbow to Styles then signalled for the Rainmaker. Styles escaped and suplexed Okada into a turnbuckle board. Then, finally, he hit his springboard forearm.

Okada turned a Styles Clash into Heavy Rain. He tried to follow up with a Tombstone but Styles fought his way out of it. They traded punches, uppercuts and elbows, Styles getting the better of the exchange when he elbowed Okada to the ground and stomped him. Back on his feet Okada hit that perfect drop kick of his and went for the Tombstone again. Styles reversed his way out of it and hit the move himself, following up with the springboard 450 for a two count.

Styles headed to the top rope. Okada followed and hit a dangerous, almost botched-looking, Death Valley Driver from the second rope to the apron. After a pause Styles crawled back into the ring, only to be hit with a drop kick from the top rope. A dazed Styles staggered to his feet and straight into a Tombstone piledriver from Okada. He signalled and went for the Rainmaker again but Styles ducked and struck with a Pele kick, flooring the challenger and buying himself some time to recover.

Back on his feet 'The Phenomenal One' attempted a Styles Clash. Okada pulled out of it and tried the Rainmaker again. Styles ducked it and gave Okada a back slide, rolling him through into the Styles Clash. Okada fought out, only to be set up for Bloody Sunday. He escaped that too and grabbed Styles for the Rainmaker. Styles fired off elbows so Okada dragged him into a back slide and hit him with the Rainmaker. Just to make sure he had him Okada pulled Styles up for another but Styles ducked. It didn't help him though. Okada nailed a pair of German suplexes and another Rainmaker to put AJ down for a three count and win his third IWGP heavyweight championship.

The match was excellent, one of the best I've seen Styles have since joining New Japan. It was easily the best on the card and was of a quality befitting the beginning of 'The Rainmaker's' third title reign. The pair wrestled like the title meant something and did a great job of weaving their finishers and signature moves into the closing third of the match, each man's arsenal being portrayed as absolutely devastating. The match can't be praised enough. It was one of the finest NJPW efforts of the year, and that puts it up against some stiff competition.

The show as a whole was, as I intimated earlier, great. Every match did exactly what it needed to. Makabe v Ishii was great and the junior heavyweight, IC, and heavyweight title matches were all match of the year contenders. This show just edged out Wrestle Kingdom 9 for New Japan's show of the year spot. With this being such a great show and there being two new champions crowned I'm interested to see what New Japan does next.

***

Results summary:

Yuji Nagata, Ryusuke Taguchi, Sho Tanaka, Mascara Dorada and Manabu Nakanishi defeated Jushin Liger, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yohei Komatsu, and Tiger Mask
The Young Bucks defeated Roppongi Vice and reDRagon to retain the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team championship
Tomoaki Honma and Tetsuya Naito defeated Yujiro Takahashi and Bad Luck Fale
Katsuyori Shibata defeated Kazushi Sakuraba
Kushida defeated Kenny Omega to win the IWGP junior heavyweight championship
Togi Makabe defeated Tomohiro Ishii to retain the NEVER openweight championship
Bullet Club defeated The Kingdom to win the IWGP tag team championship
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Toru Yano
Hirooki Goto defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the IWGP Intercontinental championship
Kazuchika Okada defeated AJ Styles to win the IWGP heavyweight championship

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2015 review

Back at the start of the month New Japan presented their twelfth Wrestling Dontaku show. Plenty of people have reviewed it in the weeks since but I thought I'd add my voice to the cacophony. Because I've been enjoying New Japan since Wrestle Kingdom and I thought "Why not, right?" Plus there's that sweet poster.

The show kicked off with a peculiar all-babyface eight man tag. The team of Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Mascara Dorada and Yuji Nagata took on Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi, Kushida, and Captain New Japan. The crowd were really into it, presumably because of the involvement of Liger and Tiger Mask, but it wasn't anything special. Nakanishi looked good though. He's a guy I'd like  to see involved in the NEVER title scene. He was on the losing team though: Nagata got the win off an Exploder suplex on the Cap'n.

Match two saw Kota Ibushi and Yohei Kamatsu team to defeat Sho Tanaka and Tetsuya Naito. Ibushi and Naito were the respective stars of their teams, both guys frequently being talked about (by people more knowledgeable than me) as being amongst New Japan's next batch of headliners. I definitely see it in Ibushi. He's had two dazzling matches this year at Wrestle Kingdom and Invasion Attack, opposite Nakamura and Styles respectively. He lost both but was elevated by lasting as long as he did and entering solid showings. I've yet to see anything similar from Naito. He's not been put in a position to shine in the same way but there's nothing abou him that makes me want to see him have the chance, and his tag work has been wholly uninspiring. It doesn't help that his haircut is amongst the ugliest on the roster.

The Bullet Club made their first appearance of the night after that, represented by the dream team of Tama Tonga, Cody Hall and Bad Luck Fale. They would lose to TenCozy and Tomoaki Honma. It was Cody who took the loss again as he was pinned after a Honma top rope headbutt. That he keeps losing to Honma, the man who never wins, is presumably leading to something, probably a singles match where Hall finally gets a win. The match was fine for what it was but what it was wasn't much. Which was the intention. It was more a way of getting Honma, TenCozy and Fale onto the show and keeping Hall's stream of losses flowing.

The junior tag straps were up for grabs in match four. Roppongi Vice defended against former one time champions reDRagon and former two times champions the Young Bucks. It was, unsurprisingly, the best match of the night until that point. Highlights included: a Bucks double super kick on Baretta as he went for a tope; stuff shots from O'Reilly as he mounted Baretta; Baretta suplexing Nick onto the ropes and Rocky following up with a top tope knee; reDRagon's assisted wheelbarrow DDT and backbreaker-top rope knee combo; Baretta suplexing Matt from the top rope onto their respective teammates, reDRagon, and some young boys at ringside; the Bucks' buckle bomb-enziguri combo on O'Reilly onto Fish and Romero slumped in the corner; a run-up top rope German suplex from Baretta to Matt; the Indy-Taker to O'Reilly on the floor; and a series of super kicks on Baretta followed by a match-winning More Bang for Your Buck.

Taken as spot-fests with little psychology and no proper selling these matches are always good fun. All the teams involved here (plus former frequent contributors Time Splitters) have a good range of moves that can be mixed and matches in new ways to ensure there's always something new and-or interesting on offer. That said it wouldn't hurt to mix the division up a bit and get some new pairings involved.

The first of only two singles matches on the show, Kenny Omega v Alex Shelley, was preceded by a video package. It reminded us all that Omega has been on a mission to "clean up" New Japan's junior division and that Shelley is a fightin' babyface with the support of the deity Hiroshi Tanahashi himself. It did its job of elevating the match and reminding us that Omega's not a nice guy.

Shelley entered wearing a biker helmet for whatever reason (I suspect this was a gaming reference lost on me) and had Kushida and Taguchi with him. Omega entered in his Matrix-style leather jacket (get with the times, mate) and had the Bucks in his corner. Omega kicked the match off by offering a handshake. Shelley gave him a middle finger, earning himself cheers. The sequence seemed a bit off because Omega, the clear bad guy, had seemed pretty genuine. Maybe we were just meant to assume he'd cheap shot Shelley or something during the handshake but that sort of negativity is no way to go through life.

The pair exchanged the advantage in the opening moments and did a tonne of running about. Omega was the first to get in some extended offence when the Bucks distracted the referee and he countered a Shelley suicide dive with a trash can to the head (because he's cleaning up, geddit?). He stayed on the challenger with a camel clutch, a backbreaker and a nice bicycle kick into the corner before reintroducing the trash can. After belting Shelley in the face with that he gave him a fisherman buster, from which the Time Splitter kicked out.

On the outside Omega continued to use the bin (can) and also brought in a broom. A power bomb onto the bin (can) was countered by Shelley and was followed up by a vault over the top rope, catching hold of Omega and driving him down to the floor with a DDT. 'The Cleaner' took more damage when he rolled back into the ring in the form of a top rope double stomp but he managed to kick out. He withstood a super kick and attempted a power bomb but Shelley countered with a DDT. The challenger tried to follow up with a top rope splash but Omega got his knees up then gave Shelley a modified blue thunder bomb.

Shelley kicked out of that and escaped an attempted electric chair drop before hitting a dragon suplex. The pair exchanged blows, Shelley getting the better of Omega with an enziguri then giving him a super kick and Automatic Midnight for a convincingly close two count. Sensing their boy was in trouble the Bucks hit the ring but were cut off by Taguchi and Kushida and wiped out with some sweet, sweet Time Splitters double teaming. Shelley then hit Sliced Bread Number Two on Omega but only got a two.

Back on their feet Omega heelishly thumbed Shelley's eye. That was enough to open up Shelley for the Croyt's Wrath electric chair drop, which lead to a three count for the reigning champion. Afte the match Omega cut a heel promo about being too good to wrestle in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament but wished all the lads at ringside good luck in it. Kushida seemed particularly irate with Omega's behaviour. Having him win the tournament and going on to take the gold from Omega would make sense. It would establish him as a singles force and would play into Omega's defeat of his Time Splitters partner here.

After a lethargic intermission the show continued with Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and Amber Gallows facing The Kingdom trio of Michael Bennett, Matt Taven and Maria Kanellis. The story was that Anderson was still smitten with Maria and Amber had been roped in to counteract her effect on him. It was pure silliness made worse by the lack of clear faces. Were we supposed to root for massive perv Anderson? Or were we supposed to cheer for Maria, who hadn't done anything wrong but seemed very happy to be presented as nothing more than an object to be ogled? It wasn't clear, and the only clue offered by the production team was that the match's biggest star was Maria's backside.

In terms of match quality this was adequate. The four lads are good in tag situations, although Anderson was hampered at points by his weird Maria-fixation gimmick. Maria's not bad, Amber is, but neither was bad enough to make the match a stinker. The match ended, fittingly enough, with Anderson stroking Maria's face only for her to kick him the privates. Amber then came in and went for a suplex on Maria but got rolled up with a small package.

After the match Anderson grabbed Maria and threw her to the ground. Seemingly unsatisfied by this the Bullet boys pulled her back up and gave her the Magic Killer. Then they ran off as Bennett and Taven returned to the ring to make the save. Anderson seemed unremorseful about possibly having broken the neck of his object of lust. I'd like it if this match were the end of the unpleasant Maria aspect of the Kingdom versus Bullet Club rivalry but I don't think it was.

More tag action followed that. First Togi Makabe, Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi teamed to defeat Tomohiro Ishii, Kazushi Sakuraba and Toru Yano in a lively tussle when Tana fell on top of Yano in an awkward, botched-looking exchange. Then AJ Styles and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi when Styles dropped Hashi with a brainbuster and a Styles Clash. This was a particularly good match that did its job of reigniting the Styles-Okada dispute. Okada having the champ's number was hammered home after the match when 'The Phenomenal One' went to give Okada the Clash and Okada slipped out and came close, twice, to walloping Styles with the Rainmaker. It was 'The Ace of the New Era' who stood tall at the end of the segment.

The main event of Intercontinental champion Shinsuke  Nakamura defending against Hirooki Goto was preceded by a prime video package that established Nak as the cocky, charismatic champion and Goto as the underdog who wouldn't give up on his pursuit of the gold. It was also made clear that Nakamura simply didn't consider Goto a real threat to his title reign, something which carried over into the story of the match.

Nakamura refused to take Goto seriously until the halfway point of the match, by which point it was too late. The combination of the wearing down he'd already taken and Goto's tenacity meant he was unable to mount the comeback he needed to to retain his championship. Goto gave it his all, surviving a pair or Boma Yes in the closing moments before finishing Nakamura off with a Goto Shiki from the second rope and a Shouten, showing up the bigger star and earning the prize he'd bee determined to reclaim (he'd held the title in 2012 and had been the man beaten to start Nak's first reign, something I imagine the commentary team touched on during the match). A return bout between the two could be really interesting.

Overall this show wasn't bad but it was clear it wasn't intended to be taken as one of New Japan's better offerings. The IC championship match and Omega v Shelley were both very good and the junior tag match and semi-main event were both enjoyable offerings but nothing was better than it needed to be. It was a decent show and that's all it was intended to be.

***

Results summary:

Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Mascara Dorada and Yuji Nagata defeated Captain New Japan, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi and Kushida
Kota Ibushi and Yohei Komatsu defeated Tetsuya Naito and Sho Tanaka
Tomoaki Hona, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima defeated Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Cody Hall
The Young Bucks defeated reDRagon and Roppongi Vice to win the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team championship
Kenny Omega defeated Alex Shelley to retain the IWGP junior heavyweight championship
Michael Bennett, Matt Taven and Maria Kanellis defeated Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and Amber Gallows
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe and Katsuyori Shibata defeated Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii and Kazushi Sakuraba
AJ Styes and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi
Hirooki Goto defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the IWGP Intercontinental championship

NJPW Invasion Attack 2015 review

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 Tanaka
TenCozy 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