by Rob Goodwin @REALRobGoodwinTo say that 2017 was a stellar year for the Japanese promotion would be a complete understatement. Though New Japan Pro Wrestling have been putting on exceptional matches and events on for a while now and have been for sometime, the pivotal moment for their company came at the Tokyo Dome at WrestleKingdom 11, where Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada put on a wrestling clinic the likes of which I certainly had never seen before! It was a match, and indeed an event, that brought a huge amount of casual fans over to the product, a great deal being western fans like myself who knew nothing at all about the promotion. It turned out however that the company had been garnering more attention for months beforehand and had actually announced their intention to hold the first two nights of the storied G1 Climax in America in December 2016. However, this changed as, rather than the aforementioned days of the G1 Climax, they would instead would be hosting a 2 day event in Long Beach, that acted as a precursor to the actual G1 Climax. This was huge indeed as it was the first time NJPW would have independently hosted it’s own shows in America. Tickets sold out obscenely fast without New Japan having announced any matches for the two days. What had been announced though was an American Expansion, which would include a dojo (run by Rocky Romero) and America’s own subsidiary of the company! This was almost overshadowed however when the announcement came on May 12th, that these would be no ordinary shows, with it instead being an 8 Man Tournament to crown the inaugural IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion alongside the reveal of a brand new belt. Defences of the Intercontinental Championship and the Heavyweight Championships were also announced. Though Billy Gunn’s shot at Tanahashi’s Intercontinental Championship was met with derision, Okada’s Heavyweight Championship defence against Cody at least had storyline implications that fans could get behind, though Cody’s immediate insertion into the main event scene was met with negativity by the fans. On the back of this, the full card was announced with NJPW pulling out all the stops to get their biggest stars on the show, as well as announcing that both lots of tag straps would be on the line, as well as announcing names like Omega, Ishii and Naito for the tournament. Match #1 - CHAOS [Mark & Jay Briscoe, Will Ospreay & Roppongi Vice] def. Bullet Club [The Young Bucks, Marty Scurll, Yujiro Takahashi & Bad Luck Fale]With the Bullet Club coming out first, the reception was already electric. All members were greeted with a rousing reception, especially The Young Bucks and Marty Scurll - who received a generous helping of ‘Woop Woop,’ chants from the crowd. CHAOS entered the fray next, and though reception was perhaps slightly more muted than that of Bullet Club, Roppongi 3K and Will Ospreay in particular received huge ovations from the Long Beach crowd. This was your standard 6 man fare, with every man having the opportunity to show off their moves. The Young Bucks performed in their standard manner; their twin suicide dive into The Briscoes whilst Scurll sat on the apron distracting them with his Bullet Club Umbrella was fantastic, and Nick Jackson’s assisted springboard double dropkick was excellent. Will Ospreay lived up to his nickname with a beautiful Shooting Star Press onto the outside. Even Bad Luck Fale got his time to shine, performing 2 Bad Luck Falls - the second of which on Beretta to the outside was brilliant - looking like an unbeatable giant whenever he entered the fray. It was the story of The Young Bucks and Roppongi Vice however that dominated the narrative, with the pair due to face off on night 2 for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Belts, and it was this that led to the finish. Whilst attempting a Meltzer Driver on Rocky Romero, Nick Jackson was intercepted by Ospreay and planted onto the apron and during this Romero rolled up Matt Jackson for the victory. Match #2 - Los Ingobernables de Japon [BUSHI, SANADA, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi] def. Jushin Thunder Liger, Dragon Lee, Titan & Volador Jr.It was rather an awkward start to this match as the current NEVER Openweight Champions - EVIL, SANADA and Bushi - made their way to ring as JR found it difficult to distinguish between the men, calling EVIL Bushi when they first came onto the ramp. It was unfortunately a trope that would continue for the duration of the special! Liger got a fantastic response as you would hope, as did his CMLL teammates, especially Dragon Lee. Bushi and the highly rated CMLL youngster Volador Jr. kicked us off, with Lucha antics clear from the very beginning from Volador. LIJ were quick to establish themselves firmly as the heels in this match, with SANADA offering a hand of respect to Liger who was then jumped by EVIL behind him. This is a theme that runs through the match, with LIJ constantly running the numbers advantage, especially EVIL who is dominant in this match. There was brief respite for the faces once Dragon Lee was tagged in and reignited an old feud with Takahashi. The pace was quickened significantly with the pair not holding back. Titan attempted to continue this but as he ran at Takahashi in the corner, he was overhead suplexed into the corner - beautifully fluid from the Ticking Time Bomb. It was Titan in fact who ate the pin; Takahashi distracted the referee by feigning injury whilst SANADA placed a chair around Titan’s throat. EVIL then took a massive swing at the chair with his own chair, taking Titan off of his feet with the impact. Takahashi then hit the Time Bomb on the fallen masked star for the win - LIJ looked very dominant here. Match #3 - Jay Lethal def. Adam ‘Hangman’ Page |
ArchivesCategories |