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 New Beginning in Sendai 2015 review

Three days after the opening half of New Beginning took place in Osaka the New Japan crew hit Sendai for the closing half. I say the New Japan crew but new IWGP champ AJ Styles was noticeable by his absence from this card. A peculiar booking decision, but not a catastrophic one as there was already a strong main event announced in Nakamura versus Nagata. In fact it's possible that relegating Styles to a tag match days after his big win would have lessened the impact of the title change.

The show kicked off with a pair of tag matches. Captain New Japan and Manabu Nakanishi defeated Satoshi Kojima and Yohei Komatsu in an average opener when Nakanishi hit an inverted TKO on Komatsu. That was followed by reDRagon taking on Jay White and a Tiger Mask. They won a ten minute match after they hit Chasing the Dragon on White. It was a surprisingly competitive bout considering Fish and O'Reilly's status as former tag champs and White's status as a young boy. I suppose it can be attributed to veteran Tiger Mask's involvement. For the record he was off whatever remains of his game here. There was a lot of sloppiness from him.

A six man tag match tying into the Osaka show's junior title matches followed that. The Time Splitters teamed with Máscara Dorada to take on the Young Bucks, whom the Splitters had faced in Osaka, and Kenny Omega, who'd been confronted by Dorada after his successful defence against Taguchi in Osaka. All the junior champions on one side of the ring with leading challengers on the other. The match was great, especially considering how low down the running order it was. The match culminated with Dorada hitting Omega with a sunset bomb off the apron before the Bullet Club members hit stero Indy-Takers on the Time Splitters, only for Omega to be pinned off a sunset flip from Dorada moments later. The result was predictable considering the confrontation on the previous show.

Match four saw Chase Owens unsuccessfully challenge Jushin Liger for the frankly meaningless NWA junior heavyweight championship. Bruce Tharpe was again at ringside and was again dressed like a game show host. The match was perfectly adequate but unmemorable. Liger got the best of a brisk sequence of rollups to retain.

Tharpe would return to ringside after Liger had cut a post-match promo. About stuff, I guess. This time he was managing NWA world heavyweight champion Rob Conway in his defence against Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Conway would lose the world's most prestigious indy belt when Tenzan hit a top rope moonsault. The match featured an abundance of manager interference, belt shots and various other heel shenanigans. It wasn't bad but it stood out in comparison to much of the rest of the card.

Following an intermission, in which Yuji Nagata chatted to a young lad in a dapper suit while drinking beer and shilling merch, the show resumed with Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito v Kazushi Sakuraba and Toru Yano. The former struck me as an interesting pairing, both guys being names who've been singled out as prospective headliners. Yano and Sakuraba were the aggressors, isolating Naito and working him over before he managed to tag out to Ibushi. Naito would get the win for his team when he halted a Yano rollup mid-way through. Good match but not especially memorable.

Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi defeated Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi when Okada floored Takahashi with a drop kick and a Rainmaker. The crowd was invested in the match thanks to Okada's status as a top guy and the fact that Fale's been successfully established as a dominating monster. It speaks to the importance of characters in wrestling. More specifically it speaks to the fantastic job Gedo and Jado have done building Okada up as a somebody since he returned from his sojourn to the US.

This happened for some reason.

The evening's second and final six man tag team match saw former tag champs Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata team with former seven time heavyweight champ Hiroshi Tanahashi to defeat Bullet Club members Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson and Tama Tonga (who were all sporting KISS face paint). It was very different to the junior six man that had taken place earlier on the show but was just as good. Tanahashi was worked over before making finally dodging an Anderson charge and tagging out to Goto. The Meiyu Tag boys took it to Bullet Club from there before Tana came back in to throw Tama Tonga around. He would again find himself isolated and triple teamed before Goto and Shibata made the save on a cover and brawled to the outside with Gallows and Anderson. Tama Tonga soon found himself on the wrong end of a sling blade and a High Fly Flow, ending the match just after the twelve minute mark.

The evening's penultimate match was held to crown a new NEVER openweight champion. Togi Makabe had won the title at Wrestle Kingdom 9 and contracted influenza a month later. The decision was made to strip him of the title and crown a new champion. Sentimental favourite Tomoaki Honma and former champion Tomohiro Ishii were chosen as the men who'd battle for the vacant gold.

Within minutes the two were throwing out stiff elbows. Ishii would gradually gain the advantage, wearing down Honma with alternating elbows and chops in the corner. Honma willed himself back into the fight and the pair engaged a lengthy exchange of chops. Honma got the better of it after a slow start, the audience applauding loudly when he finally sent Ishii down to the mat and hit his falling head butt.

Honma hit a Blockbuster before Ishii took control again. Honma survived a power bomb and a second rope stalling suplex, bringing the crowd to life. His reversal of a clothesline into a DDT was sold expertly by Ishii, the audience sensing that it was Honma's opportunity to take control and win. They ran into one another with clotheslines and took turns to fall and get straight back up but it was Honma who got the best of the exchange, flooring Ishii with a lariat.

Ishii returned to his feet on the apron. He was lariated to the floor and hit with a ridiculously dangerous head butt from the top rope to the outside. Back in the ring Honma turned a staggered Ishii upside down with a lariat. Despite all the damage he'd taken 'The Stone Pitbull' was able to return to his feet and drop Honma with a belly-to-back suplex. Honma fired off elbows but that only fired Ishii up, leading him to lamp Honma hard and hit him a stalling superplex.

Honma kicked out of that and was pulled to his feet. He was struck with three clotheslines and slumped down to the mat where he again kicked out of a cover at two. Ishii tried suplexing him but Honma sprang away into the ropes, coming back with a head butt. When he dropped Ishii with a deadlift brainbuster moments later the audience seemed convinced the match was over.

It wasn't. Ishii kicked out. He was pulled to his feet and given another head butt and a fire thunder driver for another two count. Honma went for more head butts, aiming for Ishii's injured shoulder. He got the first but Ishii avoided the second. Honma got straight back up after taking a German suplex and kicked out at one after an enziguri. Not to be outdone Ishii did his own kick out at one following a lariat.

Going back to the start of the match the two exchanged strikes and slaps. Ishii got a two count following a big lariat. Honma escaped a suplex but was staggered by a head butt, dodging a second before dishing out head butts of his own. Honma again kicked out but he couldn't survive a stalling brainbuster. That finally put him down for a three count and earned Ishii his third NEVER championship reign. It was the match of the night.

That left only the main event: Yuji Nagata challenging Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental championship. A video package came first. It was heavy on piano music and seemed to present Nagata as a humble family man who's been around forever and wants to show that he can still go. It was light on Nakamura but whenever he appeared it seemed like it was being made clear that he respected Nagata. It was a good video package. Even with the language barrier it got me invested in Nagata.

Nakamura still IC champ there.

They told a good story. The veteran Nagata had more tricks up his sleeve and wasn't intimidated or thrown off balance by his opponent's silliness but Nakamura had speed on his side and a more vicious streak. Nagata was resilient, surviving multiple Boma Yes and kicks but it wasn't enough to get him the victory. He came close to a victory with some stiff blows, a perfect top rope belly-to-belly suplex, a vicious German suplex, a belly-to-back suplex and an armbar but ultimately Nak polished him off with a desperation knee to the temple. It was a great main event.

On balance I think the Sendai show was the stronger offering. It only had the two standout matches (the two championship matches that closed the show) but both were of a higher quality than the key matches of the Osaka card. The undercard again failed to disappoint and featured fun outings for Tenzan, the junior heavyweight champions and their challengers, Tanahashi and Meiyu Tag. I wouldn't say either show is a must-see event but they both boasted must-see matches.

***

Results summary:

Captain New Japan and Manabu Nakanishi defeated Satoshi Kojima and Yohei Komatsu
reDRagon defeated Tiger Mask and Jay White
Time Splitters and Máscara Dorada defeated the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega
Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Chase Owens to retain the NWA world junior heavyweight championship
Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Rob Conway to win the NWA world heavyweight championship
Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito defeated Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba             
Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi defeated Yujiro Takahashi and Bad Luck Fale
Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson and Tama Tonga
Tomohiro Ishii defeated Tomoaki Honma to win the NEVER openweight championship
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Yuji Nagata to retain the Intercontinental championship

NJPW New Beginning in Osaka 2015 review

According to the ever reliable Wikipedia New Japan's New Beginning show is one that traditionally gets split across two nights. There are sound business reasons for doing this. If you're a popular wrestling company with a large and talented roster then it makes sense to split your larger shows across two nights in order to increase your profit. Why settle for batch of ticket sales, merch sales, and pay-per-view buys (or, as it is now, New Japan World subscriptions) when you can have two?

The downside of this is that the undercard across the shows suffers. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura both wrestled a main event and a six man tag match each. AJ Styles was absent from the second show in Sendai. Kazuchika Okada was relegated to tag team matches on both shows. One show could easily have supported the key singles matches we got across both shows.

But while this is a downside it's not a big one. The split show approach means more undercard material but that gives more guys a chance to perform in front of larger crowds and notch up an appearance on a major show. All told it's not a bad way to operate. But it can be a slog to watch if you're taking notes for a review.

The Osaka card opened with a pair of solid and entirely unspectacular matches. The first saw Sho Tanaka defeat Yohei Komatsu with a Boston crab. The second saw the team of Tiger Mask and Máscara Dorada defeat Manabu Nakanishi and Captain New Japan in what seemed to be NJPW's version of a comedy match. The most notable thing was Dorada's music, which was excellent.

Bruce Tharpe rocked up after that. He's a generic western manager who wears deliberately naff game show host jackets (the one he sported here was golden). He reminds me a lot o Greg 'The Truth' Lambert, a man who screams British indy scene. Fittingly Tharpe represents that powerhouse of 70s wrestling, the NWA. He introduced Chase Owens and NWA champ Rob Conway. They had a basic match with Jushin Liger and Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Owens getting the win for his team after a package piledriver on Liger.

Match four saw Kota Ibushi defeat Tomoaki Honma, getting a phoenix splash after weathering an onslaught of big moves. Ibushi had had the match of the night with Nakamura at Wrestle Kingdom 9. He didn't manage the same feat here but they did have the first above average outing of the night, Honma's strong man stylings being pitted against Ibushi's speed and acrobatics. Based on his performance here and at WK9 Ibushi  seems like the most sensible choice for the final spot in the company's Big Four. He's a great wrestler and the audience love him.

As good as that was the match that followed it was better yet: a three-way match for the IWGP junior tag team titles. reDRagon defended against Time Splitters and the Young Bucks. The Bucks had Bullet Club young boy Cody Hall with them at ringside, just because. As you'd expect it was a match heavy on high spots. Highlights included a lengthy sequence of flashy double team work by Kushida and Shelley at the start; a kip up combined with a German suplex by reDRagon on Kushida; a sequence where Alex Shelley took out all four of his opponents with a superb series of flips and kicks on, around and from the apron; a Kushida moonsault on O'Reilly turned into an armbar; a Swanton bomb by Nick onto a kneeling Shelley; the always cool-looking (and psychology-killing) Indy-Taker; and a match-winning More Bang For Your Buck on Kushida. Cody Hall was a non-factor at ringside, doing nothing but cheer his stablemates on.

After an intermission showing highlights of the card so far, analysing what was left to come and hyping future events the Bucks and Hall returned to the ring (Hall now sporting a sexy little hat) with IWGP junior heavyweight champ Kenny Omega. He'd won the title from Ryusuke Taguchi at Wrestle Kingdom 9. This was the former champion's rematch. It didn't work out well for him. The Jacksons interfered and he was mildly sodomised by a flagpole. He was able to get hold of the pole and turn the tables on the heels just as any babyface worth his salt would but there was little he could do about the three men at ringside. Omega would win a match that was enjoyable but a surprisingly slow at points with Aoi Shoudou, a fisherman buster.

The Bucks and Omega gave Taguchi a triple team Tombstone piledriver onto a chair after the match, just to be heels. Máscara Dorada and Alex Shelley rocked up after that with Dorada getting in Omega's face. Then he made the belt-around-the-waist gesture making it crystal clear that he would be Omega's next challenger.

A pair of six man tag matches followed. Both featured Chaos members. The first saw Kazushi Sakuraba, Toru Yano and Kazucika Okada defeat Bullet Club members Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga and big lad extraordinaire Bad Luck Fale when Okada hit Tama Tonga with a top rope elbow drop and a Rainmaker. The second saw Yuji Nagata, Tetsuya Naito and Satoshi Kojima defeat Intercontinental champion Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi. The high points there were the interactions between Nakamura and Nagata, designed to lead into their singles match three nights later in Sendai. Naito got the win for his team after hitting a corkscrew senton on Yoshi-Hashi.

The semi-main event spot was taken by a tag team championship match. Bullet Club members Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson got their rematch against Meiyu Tag, who'd defeated them for the straps at Wrestle Kingdom. It was an intense, action-packed match. The crowd were massively into it. Goto and Shibata have entered spirited performances both times I've seen them tag and Gallows and Anderson work really well as a pairing, even if Gallows' selling does occasionally veer into cartoon territory. The Bullet boys regained the gold with an elevated neck breaker.

That left only the main event. It was preceded by a great video showing the history of Styles and Tanahashi as opponents and a short sequence of shots showing former IWGP heavyweight champions. That was a really nice touch. It's always nice to see Bob Sapp getting some attention.

In a way the match resembled a Raven match from 1996. It started off with Cody Hall, Gallows, Anderson, the Buks, Omega, Takahashi and Tama Tonga all at ringside. Fale would wander out after the finish to round things out. To be fair the large ringside entourage gimmick is one of the key aspects of Bullet Club so I'm not complaining.

Tanahashi got the better of Styles in their opening exchanges, controlling the pace with various wear down holds and avoiding many of Styles' moves. Things picked up several minutes in when AJ left the ring and Tanahashi followed him out with a dive from the apron. Styles avoided it and Bullet Club set upon him as he lay sprawled at ringside. When Captain New Japan tried to help his buddy he got set upon too.

Styles took control back in the ring and worked over Tana's back.  Thirteen minutes into the match Tana made his comeback, blasting the challenger with right hands and a back drop before coming off the second rope with a senton. Sensing a shift in momentum Styles again tried taking the action outside. Tana fought off the Bucks, threw Styles into his gang and hit what the commentary called a super High Fly Flow onto all of Bullet Club. When he returned to his feet Tana was bleeding. Those top rope moves really take their toll on the forehead.

Back in the ring (again) they did a double clothesline spot. Tanahashi was the first to his feet. He charged Styles but got caught with a kick, suplexed into a corner, then smashed with a springboard elbow. Styles attempted Bloody Sunday but Tana deadweighted and span him around into a straight jacket German suplex for a two count. Styles absorbed a German suplex but fought out of a second by distracting the referee and low blowing Tanahashi. He got his just desserts seconds later when Tana repaid him in kind as the ref was distracted by Takahashi, who'd leapt onto the apron to celebrate 'The Phenomenal One's' cheating ways.

Back on their feet the two man traded elbow strikes before Styles went for the Styles Clash (which was referred to as the Styles Crush in the pre-match video). Tana escaped and grabbed Styles' leg, dragon screwing him as he tried for an enziguri. He put the challenger down with a sling blade and went for the High Fly Flow but was met with knees, winding him and leaving him motionless in the ring. Styles took the opportunity to attempt a springboard 450 splash but Tana again repaid him in kind by getting his knees up.

Too sweet, bro.

Another HFF was thwarted when Styles hit the ropes. 'The Ace of the Universe' caught Styles as he went for a hurricanrana but couldn't avoid a Pele kick seconds later. That was enough to daze the champion, allowing AJ to pull him off the top rope and into position for a Styles Clash (or Crush, whatever). Tana fought out twice so Styles dropped him with a hangman driver, following up with a high Bloody Sunday and a Styles Clash to earn his second IWGP heavyweight championship. Despite having practically all of Bullet Club at ringside the finish was clean. The only interference came from Takahashi. Styles was not made to look dependent on his entourage for his victory.

Anderson then spent several minutes talking up every member of Bullet Club and the fact that the stable had regained all the company's gold bar the NEVER championship. It was meant to be a bragging heel promo but the fans were so respectful that they applauded the group's success. It probably didn't help that Anderson was speaking in English and couldn't be understood by most of the crowd.

All told the first New Beginning show of 2015 was a strong offering. Ibushi v Honma, the tag title matches, and the main event were all strong offerings and everything outside of the opening three bouts was better than the average match you'll find in certain prominent US promotions. Another win for New Japan.

***

Results summary:

Sho Tanaka defeated Yohei Komatsu
Tiger Mask and Máscara Dorada defeated Manabu Nakanishi and Captain New Japan
Chase Owens and Robért Conway defeated Hiroyoshi Tanahashi and Jushin Liger
Kota Ibushi defeated Tomoaki Honma
The Young Bucks defeated Time Splitters and reDRagon to win the IWGP junior tag team championship
Kenny Omega defeated Ryusuke Taguchi to retain the IWGP junior heavyweight championship
Kazushi Sakuraba, Toru Yano and Kazuchika Okada defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga and Bad Luck Fale
Satoshi Kojima, Tetsuya Naito and Yuji Nagata defeated Tomohiro Ishii Yoshi-Hashi and Shinsuke Nakamura
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson defeated Meiyu Tag to win the IWGP tag team championship
AJ Styles defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the IWGP heavyweight championship

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 review

“This is the WrestleMania of Japan,” said Jim Ross at the start of the English language broadcast of Wrestle Kingdom 9. Comparing one company’s biggest annual show to another’s may not be the best idea, opening up a number of undesirable comparisons to sports entertainment in this case, but it does create a useful shorthand and make an immediate impact on people watching New Japan for the first time.

Yes, Wrestle Kingdom 9. This is the first time I’ve reviewed a New Japan show (their co-productions with Ring of Honor last year were enjoyable but weren’t full NJPW cards). I thought it would be a good one to start with for a number of reasons. Firstly it had English language commentary provided by Jim Ross and Matt Striker, which set it up as a natural jump-on point for anyone who doesn’t speak Japanese. Secondly it was the company’s biggest show of the year, which meant a nice recap of recent plots and what will likely be amongst the most important matches I the company all year. Plus it simply looked like a good show.

After a pre-show Royal Rumble rules battle royal, won by Yuji Nagata, the show proper got underway with a four-way tag team match. The IWGP junior tag team champions reDRagon defended against The Young Bucks, Forever Hooligans, and Time Splitters. As Kushida and Alex Shelley made their way to the ring JR discussed Kushida’s 6-0-2 MMA record. His would be a theme throughout the show (it made a nice substitute for the college football natter he’s more known for).

It took a while to turn into the spot-fest it was destined to be but when it got there it was very enjoyable. Highlights included Shelley super kicking O'Reilly as he leapt off the apron; the Bucks performing a series of dives onto everyone else; Kushida hitting a Swanton onto the three other teams; the Bucks throwing out kicks and JR using the words “super kick party”; a Meltzer driver on Koslov, broken up by Fish and O'Reilly; a double handspring elbow to reDRagon from Kushida; a Bucks buckle bomb; an assisted DDT into a German suplex from reDRagon; and the match-ending exploder and Chasing the Dragon on Koslov. It was the ideal opener, fast paced and action-packed.

Match number two saw Jeff Jarrett, Yujiro Takahashi and Bad Luck Fale take on Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma. The Bullet Club lads had Karen Jarrett (I approve) and Scott D'Amore (I do not approve) at ringside with them.

It was not the best match, but it wasn't meant to be. It was a nice concoction of heel shenanigans and hot tags. Being a Jarrett match this naturally included the use of a flimsy stunt guitar. The introduction of that prop ended up backfiring on him when he accidentally smashed it over Takahashi's head, leading to Honma getting a top rope headbutt on Takahashi for the win.

Sticking with tag action, the third match on the show was an eight man tag bout pitting Toru Yano and NOAH's Shane Haste,  Mikey Nicholls (collectively known as The Mighty Don't Kneel) and GHC heavyweight champion Naomichi Marufuji against Takahashi Iizuka, Shelton Benjamin (who has reinvented himself as the totally different Shelton X Benjamin in NJPW) and Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr (collectively known as Killer Elite Squad).

Yano and Iizuka started with some comedy but it didn't last long. TMDK and KES soon got into the ring to provide some swift, enjoyable tag action and make sure the match passed muster. That was followed by a spirited but sloppy in places exchange between Iizuka and Marufuji. Benjamin provided the spot of the match with his vault-to-the-top-rope belly-to-belly suplex on Marufuji. The GHC champ won the match for his team after all the Suzukigun members bar Iizuka disappeared, leaving their partner to take a double gorilla press and a tiger uppercut knee lift. The match was short enough to stop the eight outstaying their welcome but long enough for them to make it an enjoyable watch.

Match four saw Kazushi Sakuraba pitted against Minoru Suzuki in a match JR informed us had been a lifetime in the making. Both men had been taught to wrestle by British shooter Billy Robinson, with Suzuki having also received training from the equally formidable Karl Gotch (that guy JBL references every other pay-per-view). It was talked up as a shoot match. It wasn’t a shoot, but it was super stiff.

The pair brawled out onto the entrance ramp within minutes of the opening bell. There Sakuraba applied a kimura to his foe. He ended up breaking when he was told he had to get into the ring to earn a victory. Not that Suzuki had tapped out.

When they returned to the ring Suzuki was clutching his arm. He took a barrel-load of kicks and survived an armbar before they exchanged slaps and he managed to apply a rear naked choke. Sakuraba passed out in that. Suzuki won via referee stoppage. After the match Sakuraba offered a handshake. Suzuki accepted after a Dramatic Pause™.

That slobberknocker (which, amazingly, Ross had to be prompted to say) was followed by another. NEVER openweight champion Tomohiro Ishii defended against Togi Makabe. The early going was characterised by elbows, clotheslines, power slams, chops, forearms, and no-selling. Lots of no-selling. It wasn’t in danger of being overly flashy but both men put such force and ferocity into their performances that even the basic moves they were running through seemed devastating.

The second wrestling move of the match was a northern lights suplex from Makabe. Ishii followed up with a lariat to a cornered Makabe, a stalling suplex from the second rope, and a power bomb. Makabe kicked out and floored the champ with a lariat, then dropped him with a power bomb before hauling him back to his feet for a German suplex.

They returned to the corner, where Makabe hit a ropey fire carry off the top rope. Ishii kicked out, no sold some lariats, fell to a Makabe lariat, and kicked out at one. Back on his feet he gave 'The Unchained Gorilla' a German suplex, but Makabe rolled to his feet... where he was dropped by an lariat from ‘The Stone Pitbull’.

More clotheslines followed. Makabe got a near fall off a dragon suplex. They traded more forearms, then headbutts, and then double arm sledge shots. Makabe ended it with a knee drop from the top rope. By what Striker said it was something of an upset as Ishii is the more popular of the two and has been on a hot streak. Perhaps it was done to get the title off him to free him up for bigger and better things later in the year?

After a lengthy bit of shilling for future shows (which could have been boring but was presented in such an energetic fashion that it wasn't) we were treated to the IWGP junior heavyweight title match. Ryusuke Taguchi, former Apollo 55 tag team partner of Prince Devitt, defended against 'The Cleaner' Kenny Omega. Yes, 'The Cleaner'. JR said Omega reminded him of Brian Pillman. His new entrance gear gave him a look that reminded me of Rhett Titus and Cliff Compton, with Razor Ramon's toothpick thrown in for good measure.

The match had a great opening stretch, being heavy on lightning counter sequences. Omega took control when he sprayed Taguchi in the face with what could have been anything from spray paint to hair spray (judging by Omega’s hair it could have been black tinted hair spray). The challenger controlled the match for several minutes before Taguchi came back with some topes that wiped out both Omega and The Young Bucks, who were acting as heel cornermen.

Taguchi tried for Eddie Guerrero’s Three Amigos but Omega halted it after one. He hit the champion with a Fameasser and then a drop kick as Taguchi went for a cross body block from the top. A power bomb earned him a two count. Power bomb by omega.

Taguchi hit a Chickenwing facebuster, which used to form the basis of Apollo 55’s Black Hole Vacation. That got him two. Sensing their man was in trouble the Bucks tried to distract the champion but ended up getting knocked off the apron. Left alone without any Bullet Club assistance Omega seized the initiative, delivering a German suplex and a knee to the temple on Taguchi. He then pulled him to his feet and gave him an electric chair driver, the One Winged Angel, taking the victory and the championship and ending a great match. 

The gold kept coming as IWGP tag champs Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, representing Bullet Club, defended against Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata, collectively known as Meiyu Tag. What followed was a lively bout with plenty of strikes, traditional tag psychology, and power moves. Shibata and Goto worked well together, overcoming the power, dirty tactics and experience of the Bullet Club to capture the titles off a double team alarm clock and a PK on Gallows.

Tetsuya Naito and AJ Styles were up after that. Worth noting is that Ross and Striker discussed the controversial nature of the Styles Clash as AJ walked to the ring. In case you’ve missed the hubbub around, Styles has legitimately broken the necks of Lionheart and Yoshi Tatsu after they instinctively tucked their chins when taking the move, instead of tilting their head back. It was a clever move to get the discussion in as it reminded everyone how dangerous the move and made Styles appear heelish for continuing to use it.

It's a good job they mentioned it during the entrance because Styles went for the move as soon as Naito was in the ring, kicking the match off with a bang. Naito fought him off and they brawled to the outside, AJ taking a drop kick from the apron and sprawling into the guardrail. Back in the ring he turned the tables and worked over Naito’s leg, softening him up for the Calf Killer. After a couple of minutes Naito got a little bit of hope when he hit Styles with a tornado DDT, a drop kick to the back of the head, and a senton splash. He couldn’t keep control of the match though, Styles soon regained the advantage, fighting out of a top rope hurricanrana and smashing Naito with a springboard forearm.

Naito tried a suplex. Styles countered into a neck breaker. Naito took a German suplex and then got a flash rollup for a two count. He smacked Styles with a series of chops then set him up for the Stardust Press but Styles made a quick recovery and trapped him in the Calf Killer. After a lengthy bit of time trapped in the hold Naito gallantly made it to the ropes, but it was clear the damage had been done. He managed to hit 'The Phenomenal Ome' with a Uranage and a dragon suplex but quickly found himself blasted with a Pele kick and Prince Devitt's Bloody Sunday.

Then Styles tried a Styles Clash again. Naito escaped, back dropping Styles over the top rope to the floor. When he returned to the ring he was met with a drop kick and propped up on the top rope for a hurricanrana. That would be Naito’s undoing: Styles halted the move halfway through, turning it into a Styles Clash from the second rope for the victory. It was a good match, constructed and wrestled so well that Naito wasn't weakened by the loss, but that Styles was strengthened by the win.

After that we got, astonishingly, the first video package of the night. It showed us Kota Ibushi and Shinsuke Nakamura talking to the camera, interspersed with shots of them competing. The most noteworthy part (for someone who didn't understand the promos) was that Ibushi snuck up on Nakamura during an in-ring promo and gave him a German suplex. That was presumably the way of setting the match up, Ibushi sending a message to Nakamura that he wasn’t intimidated by his status and wanted a chance to compete for the IWGP Intercontinental title.

Ibushi entered in a T-shirt. Nak entered wearing a humorously long cape and a crown. The match began with a feeling out process that Ibushi got the better of. He couldn't maintain control though. Nak turned things around with a variety of knee strikes and stomps. Ibushi would get a few shots in at points but Nakamura always fired back with a strike that would floor him.

That changed when Ibushi got Nak outside the ring and hit him with a top rope moonsault. Back in the ring he followed up with a springboard drop kick, a wild knee to the face and a standing shooting star press. Nakamura wheeled out his one legged drop kick and a flapjack suplex. Ibushi came back with a top rope hurricanrana. That didn't get him a win. Nor did a standing corkscrew moonsault.

A roundhouse kick floored Nakamura, putting him out long enough for Ibushi to hit a sit out power bomb. Nak kicked out and avoided a phoenix splash, connecting with a Boma Ye to the back of the head and firing himself up with a prolonged series of kicks on Ibushi before punching him in the face. Ibushi tried to come back with a lariat but Nak turned it into an armbar. When Ibushi escaped he gave the champ an inverted exploder suplex before kneeing him with his own Boma Ye, complete with Nakamura-esque pose beforehand. 

A series of strikes followed, Ibushi getting the final word with a double stomp to a running Nakamura. A German suplex from the apron into the ring earned Ibushi a two count. ‘The King of Strong Style’ came back with half a dozen elbows to the back of ibushi's head, connected with his second Boma Ye, a fireman's carry driver, and a third Boma Ye for the victory. After the match Nakamura and Ibushi did a little fist bump. It was another cracker of a match that elevated both men and told a compelling story: Ibushi got closer and closer to beating Nak as the match progressed, only losing at the last minute after Nak fired himself up and hit a series of moves. It was clear that Ibushi could have won if things had just been a little different. For me this was the match of the night.

Finally we came to the main event: Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the IWGP heavyweight championship against Kazuchika Okada. It was only the second match on the card to get a video package. It focused on Tanahashi's history in New Japan, specifically how popular and successful he is, and Okada's G1 Climax win, which earned him the title match, and his previous matches opposite Tanahashi, before giving way to comments from both men. During the entrances JR and Striker put over the importance of the match. Tanahashi was the biggest name in the company, the man who'd helped rebuild it over a course of years, with more world title reigns and Tokyo Dome main events than anyone else. Okada was one of the fastest rising stars ever, the man being built as the future of the company. They had had five previous matches, with Okada winning three and Tanahashi winning two. It was presented as a match that could turn Okada into 'The Man' if he won.

They wrestled at a steady pace, so as not to burn themselves out across the half hour they were allotted.

They expertly built up to a frenzied and incredibly enjoyable final five minutes. Tanahashi kicked out of a Rainmaker before the two traded forearms on their way back to their feet. Okada grabbed Tanahashi for a Tombstone but the champ rolled through and straddled him for an attempted pin. Tana laid into Okada with slaps before Okada ducked one and school boyed him for a two count.

Tanahashi ducked a Rainmaker and got a straightjacket suplex for another two count. Okada escaped a dragon suplex and hit a German suplex. He held on as Tanahashi kicked out and tried to give him another Rainmaker but Tanahashi ducked and hit a German suplex of his own. Okada kicked out and nailed the champion with his much-ballyhooed drop kick. Another Rainmaker attempt failed and ‘The Ace of the Universe’ was able to twist Okada with a pair of nasty dragon screw leg whips in the ropes.

This left Okada propped up against the ropes, allowing the champion to leap to the top rope and hit him with a High Fly Flow. A seated Okada was hit with a second, and then a third as he lay on the mat staring up at the ceiling. It was too much for him to kick out of. Tanahashi got the win and retained his championship.

It was a top notch main event that ended a top notch show. Following the match Tanahashi took a microphone to tell Okada he’s a long way from being the ace of New Japan and that he was proud to still be champion. Because Tanahashi’s character is basically that of late 90s Rob Van Dam: a guy who knows he’s the best and isn’t shy about saying so. Then he gave a short promo and played air guitar to send people home happy. Lovely stuff.

I’d watched New Japan matches in isolation before but this was the first card I watched start to finish. I’m pleased I did. There were no bad performances across the entire show, each match being given exactly enough time as it needed to fulfil its role. Every wrestler seemed motivated and keen to put on the best show possible. There were two early match of the year contenders (Nakamura v Ibushi and Tanahashi v Okada) and some gems on the undercard (Makabe v Ishii and Omega v Taguchi). In an ideal world New Japan would sort out some English language commentary for their top four or five shows this year, but with or without it I’ll definitely be watching more from the promotion.

***

Results summary:

reDRagon def The Young Bucks, Time Splitters and Forever Hooligans

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma def Jeff Jarrett, Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi

Toru Yano, Naomichi Marufuji, Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls def Shelton Benjamin, Takashi Iizuka, Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr

Minoru Suzuki def Kazushi Sakuraba

Togi Makabe def Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER openweight championship

Kenny Omega def Rysuke Taguchi for the IWGP junior heavyweight championship

Meiyu Tag def Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows for the IWGP heavyweight tag team championship

AJ Styles def Tetsuya Naito

Shinsuke Nakamura def Kota Ibushi

Hiroshi Tanahashi def Kazuchika Okada

ROH and New Japan War of the Worlds review

We start, as always, with a video package. This one was little more than a hype video showing the best of both companies. In the arena the crowd kicked off with a loud chant for New Japan. Steve Corino and 'Cool as a Cucumber' Kevin Kelly welcomed us to the show before AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and the Young Bucks walked out to the ring. They too got loud chants. Anderson introed 'The Phenomenal One'. There was a "Fuck TNA!" chant before he could speak. When he did it was to say he's not the leader. Because all Bullet Club members lead.

Kazuchika Okada and Gedo interrupted him. Gedo, as translated by Anderson, said Okada could beat Styles. Styles disagreed, and did Corino's aside-to-the-comedy-sidekick shtick (which I enjoyed even if no one else did). He also said he had his hands full with Elgin and that Okada would have to wait for his title rematch.

Then Michael Elgin wandered out. He asked for Nigel McGuinness to come out and make a three-way title match (odd as he was stood in the ring with one of New Japan's bookers). After checking with the NJPW chairman Nigel said the match would happen if all three wrestlers agreed. They all did, giving us a changed, and much more desirable, main event.

Takaaki Watanabe teamed Forever Hooligans to take on ACH, Matt Taven, and Tommaso Ciampa in the solid enough opener. Everyone did what you'd expect. That basically meant it was enjoyable but there were no surprises. There was a buzz of finishers followed by a dive onto the Hooligans by ACH before Taven got the win for his team with the tumbling DDT. I was surprised at that result. I thought the hooligans would win, being the regular combo who've held tag gold in both promotions and all.

Match two saw Roderick Strong and BJ Whitmer of the Decade team to face The World a Class Tag Team. The wrong graphic was displayed when the Decade entered, which was pretty embarrassing. The match was good. There were several exchanges of stiff kicks and chops but many seemed oddly mistimed, probably because the two teams aren't used to working with each other. Strong survived a chair shot from Gedo to hit a gut buster, followed by a Whitmer lariat and a sick kick for the victory. It was another mildly surprising result. Gedo and Jado are an accomplished team and it felt like they should have been the ones to win.

After the match Cedric Alexander ran in and took out every member of the Decade before being restrained by security. The Decade ran off. It was ROH's way of reminding us of that feud. It was effective enough and practically guaranteed a stipulation and-or gimmick match between the two at Best in the World.

Match three saw Marty McKUSHIDA challenge Jay Lethal for the ROH TV championship. The New York City crowd didn't provide the intense heat for Lethal that the Toronto crowd had. That was disappointing. Lethal had looked like a top of the line villain at Global Wars simply because of the crowd heat.

The story of the bout was that KUSHIDA was good enough to beat Lethal (there was a lovely spot where Lethal went for the Lethal Injection and KUSHIDA countered with a drop kick to the face during the handstand portion) so Lethal had Truth distract him to get the advantage and then slowed the pace with stomps, rest holds and other similarly dastardly moves. Eventually KUSHIDA made a comeback and almost had the match won after a DDT but Martini pulled the referee from the ring. That got him ejected from ringside. Lethal survived a wonderful top rope hurricanrana before winning with a super kick and a Lethal Injection. KUSHIDA took the move better than I've ever seen it taken before. It's not easy to make it look natural and as though it's a surprise to see coming. That guy is a talent.

Up next were Mark and Jay Briscoe challenging Bullet Club members Doc Gallows (the artist formerly known as Fake Kane) and Karl Anderson for the IWGP tag team titles. The crowd were pretty evenly split. NYC has a history of not being keen on 'Dem Boys'. Perhaps they're mellowing on them.

This was not a technically sound match, not that that should surprise anyone. They started off with a brawl around the ring which saw a table get destroyed and Jay Briscoe perform a modified plancha. When they got back into the ring the action was rough and ready. After a while Mark was wiped out with a back body drop on the floor, leaving Jay at the mercy of both Bullet members. He withstood some double teaming before Mark managed to return. The Briscoes downed Anderson and got a near fall with Mark's frog elbow drop but the crowd didn't react. Which was a pity.

Jay was wiped out with a double handed choke bomb and Mark was dropped with a shoulder height double team move for the win. The two teams shook hands afterwards. Jay glared at Gallows and refused to let go of his hand for an uncomfortable amount of time. It was a powerfully erotic moment.

Shinsuke Nakamura v Kevin Steen was one of the matches I was most looking forward to on this show. They're interesting characters who generally work pretty intense matches. Beyond that they're among my favourite wrestlers from their respective promotions. Everything pointed to them meshing and having a solid match. Steen got more streamers than Nakamura. I hadn't expected that. It speaks to Steen's popularity.

Everything about the match was great. Nakamura's movements were so fluid. Even when doing something as simple as running the ropes over a dropped down Steen he exuded grace and poise. His mannerisms were perfectly judged and warmly received while his moves were perfectly timed and, as always, looked thoroughly believable. 'Mr Wrestling' was not to he outdone. He worked the crowd expertly and matched Nak when it came to well timed offence.

The closing moments were a triumph. Steen reversed running knee into pop up power bomb. Nakamura rolled through a package piledriver attempt and kneed Steen in the face, then followed up with the Boma Ye. Steen stunned Nakamura by kicking out of that at one. But the adrenalin wouldn't last. He fell to another knee seconds later.

Nakamura left immediately. He didn't hang about to shake hands or tease a rematch or anything. Steen took a mic and joked about his jaw possibly being dislocated (or at least I assume he was joking). He acknowledged he hasn't always been happy in ROH but that he loves the company. For a year he's not felt like he belongs, and losing two big matches in a row reaffirms that. He said he was going to step away for a bit, which got "No!" chants. Then Silas Young interrupted him.

'Wrestling's Last Real Man' said he agreed with the fans regarding Steen leaving. To illustrate how much ROH needs "real" men Silas mentioned that the world champ looks like a ladyboy (which prompted Corino to say "a sexy one"), the tag champs look like kids off a Disney show and the TV champ "runs around with a fruit" (peculiar when you consider a major part of Truth's gimmick is that he likes the ladies). Perhaps they're trying to establish Silas with an overtly homophobic gimmick. Apparently wrestling has not moved beyond such things in 2014. Pity.

Silas felt Steen was the only other man in the locker room. Then he called Steen a pussy for thanking the fans and for walking away. Steen went to leave then Young said his son would grow up to be a quitter too. Because Steen's a fightin' face a brawl erupted. It ended when Steen leapt off the top rope onto security, at which point it was revealed that Silas had wandered off, evading the attack. This was followed by intermission.

It seems clear from this that Kevin Steen is getting ready to move away from Ring of Honor. It's common knowledge that he participated in a WWE tryout in February (alongside ACH and Roderick Strong) and doesn't appear to be working a number of ROH's future shows. The obvious assumption to make is that he's been made and has accepted a developmental offer from WWE. If that's the case I hope Steen can succeed in the WWE system. There's nothing to say he can't. He knows how to develop a character and make it popular and he's been a fan of WWE for years (and has friends in the company) so knows what to expect. It will be a blue for Ring of Honor if he leaves though. With or without the championship he has been ROH's top star since 2011. Hopefully he can give Silas Young a boost on his way out.

The second half opened with Michael Bennett facing Hiroshi Tanahashi. For the record Tanahashi had opened the second half at Global Wars too (not counting RD Evans's win over Bobby Cruise). Also, Bennett was wearing a shirt which read "Eat, Sleep, Beat Tanahashi, Repeat". It was modelled on Lesnar's pre-'Mania Streak-beater T-shirt and his conquer and repeat T-shirts. The thing is combining them doesn't work here, because beating Tanahashi again and again is not something that Bennett's going to get the chance to do.

Anyway, the match followed the basic pattern of a Bennett match but was better than his average outing. He stalled, trolled the audience with deliberately poor wrestling, brawled at ringside, and channelled CM Punk. The match was significantly poorer than the average Tanahashi match. There was once again a miscue between Bennett and Maria, this time Bennett ended up lightly tapping his girlfriend on the cheek. On the subject of Maria, she interfered and got placed in a cloverleaf by Tana. The crowd were into that. Personally I thought it was uncalled for.

Tanahashi overcame Maria interference, a piledriver, and the anaconda vice to win with a High Fly Flow. The reaction to his victory was staid. By this point it was clear that the audience were not as good as the guys in Toronto. The did bust out a "Please come back!" chant though. But that's almost a nicety at this point. Not that I think that was the case with 'The Once in a Century Talent'.

reDRagon were accompanied to the ring by a UFC personality named Tom Lawlor (no relation to Jerry (because it's spelt differently)) for their match with ROH tag champs the Young Bucks. It was the best match of the night, meaning that for the second weekend a row the Jackson brothers and reDRagon stole the show.

Once the action got going it didn't stop. Matt hit a perfectly timed handspring through the ropes into moonsault. Moments later he was at ringside to combat an O'Reilly flying knee from the apron with a super kick. Fish thwarted a springboard double Tombstone. O'Reilly avoided a super kick and countered into a double dragon screw leg whip on the brothers. Fish hit a falcon arrow from the top rope on Matt (he was doing more than his fair share for the Bucks, eh?). Nick hit a leg drop on O'Reilly as he had Matt scissored in a guillotine. The kick out got a great response. The champs went for More Bang For Your Buck on O'Reilly, but Nick was met with knees and Matt a triangle choke. Matt kicked out of Chasing the Dragon. O'Reilly locked in an armbar on Matt. Nick tried to make the save but Fish stopped him. Matt had no choice but to tap in another excellent ROH tag title match. O'Reilly in particular looked great.

The Bucks opted for crotch chops over handshakes. I imagine that's why people love them. Maybe I'm just too old to see the appeal.

Jushin 'Thunder' Liger was met by loud cheers that petered out quickly (because the crowd had become actively bad by this point, only reacting to moments of particular significance) when he entered for his match with ROH world champion Adam Cole. They kept the pace relatively slow for the most part, because of Liger's age (49) although that was by no means a bad thing. His offensive flurries were carefully planned out to gradually build towards a lovely finishing sequence. A better crowd willing to make the appropriate noise for the duration of match would have helped make it come scrims as the accomplishment it was. But we had what we had. Liger survived multiple super kicks and Florida Keys before falling victim to Cole's figure four leg lock. That's not as bad as it sounds. It's being built up as devastating when used by Cole.

Liger offered a handshake after the match. Cole held up the belt and then walked off sniggering. Whadda heel!

The final match was the three-way match for the IWGP championship. It was we were informed by Kevin Kelly, the first three-way IWGP heavyweight title since 8 October 2005 when Brock Lesnar successfully defended against Kazuyuki Fajita and Masa Chono (Styles is in fine company). Something I'd like to note about the main event is that it came close to having the best of three companies in it. Elgin could be considered to be ROH's best. The same goes for Okada in New Japan. While AJ Styles was until recently almost universally acknowledged as TNA's best, and is in the running for the best in NJPW too. Beyond that almost being a meaningless little achievement it's entirely irrelevant, but it demonstrates the calibre of talent involved. Elgin, Styles and Okada really are amongst the world's best.

They paced the early going with the one-on-one stretches that are now standard in three-way dances. When it started the stuff involving all three guys couldn't have been better. Early highlights included a stalling suplex from Elgin to Okada with kicks to the kid-section from Styles, which didn't put Elgin down and 'Unbreakable' also hit a Samoan drop and a fallaway slam on both his foes at the same time.

Elgin's knee got injured as he tried a new move from the turnbuckle (nicely worked into the story by Kevin Kelly) and performed a Tombstone. It was made worse when Styles put him in the Calf Slicer. He managed to perform his deadlift second rope suplex on Okada but was too injured to go for the cover, leaving him open to a 450 splash from Styles. Styles got a Pele kick on Okada and then went for a Styles Clash. 'Rainmaker' fought out of it and floored the champ with a Tombstone. Then he picked him up for the Rainmaker. Elgin made the save when he rocked Okada with a clothesline and a buckle bomb. Seconds later Okada was in control and finally connected with a Rainmaker on Elgin. Styles sent him rolling from the ring with a springboard drop kick before he could attempt a cover then gave Elgin a Styles Clash to win the match.

Afterwards Adam Cole ran out and hit everyone with his ROH championship belt. Then he shouted about being the best in the world as Kevin Kelly signed off to an ad for the next major ROH show, Best in the World.

And then... there was a comic book style "post credits" sequence. An appletini was placed on a bar. Then clips of Chris Daniels matches were played. Back in the bar 'The Ring General' was shown sitting on a stool and said he was coming home and that he wouldn't be alone.

The final two developments involving Cole and Daniels are both good news for ROH fans. It hints at a proper feud between Styles and Cole over the ROH gold in which ‘The Phenomenal One’ will play face. While fans were persuaded to boo him at the joint New Japan shows it’s not something that can be expected all the time. Simply put Styles is too well liked and fresh to the promotion to be getting booed regularly yet. Cole’s actions could also set up future bouts with Elgin. We’ve seen them clash before but not excessively. There’s even the option to have a future joint effort headlined by Cole versus Okada.

The return of ‘The Fallen Angel’ is obviously more good news. He’s a talented, charismatic veteran who’s gone through one of his periodic reinventions since he last left ROH. It’ll be interesting to see how his current character fits into the company. Of course he brings with him plenty of fresh matches (he’d make another fine challenger to Cole for example), particularly if Bad Influence teammate Frankie Kazarian is the man joining him in ROH. Daniels and Kazarian versus reDRagon is a match that could mean a lot if held off for a memorable first encounter.

War of the Worlds as a whole was a very good show. The tag title match was a match of the year contender. KUSHIDA v Lethal was the surprise of the night, being a lively tussle that established Lethal as a rulebreaker and KUSHIDA as a potential singles star (how great would it be if NJPW decided to send him on a sabbatical to Ring of Honor?). Steen versus Nakamura just about lived up to my lofty expectations. The main event was superb and a fitting end to a week of co-promotion. Everything else on the card was at least good and both companies ended up looking better than they had going in. Any future co-productions will be more than welcome if they’re this good.