Legacy Review
Wrestle Kingdom VI
January 4, 2012 from the Tokyo Dome
Six
years into the Wrestle Kingdom name, New Japan is starting to find more
sure footing in the post-Inokism era. A new Ace had been found in
Hiroshi Tanahashi, and both he and Shinsuke Nakamura were giving New
Japan the kind of star power they hadn't had in a long time. Despite
that, the company is still leaning heavily on cross-promotional battles
to carry these shows, with Pro Wrestling NOAH once again the most
visible partner. But the pieces were slowly coming together for the
coming second Golden Age of New Japan. In fact, this show would be a bit
of a watershed event. No one knew the massive changes and shocks that
were right around the corner. This show is also the official kickoff for New Japan's 40th anniversary year.
There's
two big stories within the company coming into this show, and
appropriately they're intersecting in the main event. One is the
aforementioned Tanahashi, who won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at
WK 5 and has held it since. A successful defense tonight will make him
just the 5th man to cross a full year with that title to date (joining
Big Van Vader, The Great Muta, Shinya Hashimoto who did it twice, and
Yuji Nagata), though he's still a bit away from Hashimoto's single reign length record of 489 days.
Coming into this show he's also tied Nagata's record of successful
defenses in one reign at 10. A win tonight will give him a record v11.
Opposite him is Minoru Suzuki. A longtime freelancer, Suzuki signed a
full time contract with New Japan in early 2011. Soon after, he caused a
mutiny within the shortlived Kojima-Gun faction (led by Satoshi Kojima)
and formed Suzuki-Gun. Suzuki-Gun quickly became New Japan's hot new
heel stable, alongside the established CHAOS.
As usual this is from the New Japan World archives so Japanese commentary only except where noted.
Preshow: Captain New Japan & Tama Tonga def Tomoaki Honma & Kyosuke Mikami in 8:47- Oh,
Captain New Japan. Where to begin. Real name Mitsuhide Hirasawa, he was
originally in Nagata's Seigigun stable. During an excursion to WWC in
Puerto Rico he developed a new character named Hideo Sato, who had shall
we say mental problems and would often impersonate other wrestlers (not
unlike Charlie Haas's run when he impersonated WWE legends, but less
fun and more unhinged). Upon return to New Japan he left Seigiun for
CHAOS, then got kicked out of CHAOS for being a nutjob that couldn't win
matches. After than he put on a mask and became Captain New Japan,
which didn't stop the losing streak or the mental health concerns. Tama
is still getting his feet wet with New Japan in these pre-Bullet Club
years. On the other side, Honma was also a hard luck wrestler, but
generally a more lovable loser than Capt. NJ was. Mikami is the
then-requisite Young Lion representative for the show, albeit the
preshow. This is his sendoff match before going on excursion to CMLL.
When he came back he would be under a mask as El Desperado. So basically
the only question in this match is which guy is Tama going to pin,
there's no other way it's going to go. Capt. New Japan's shield looks
like an aluminum wrapped bottle cap. Tama's still wearing his Jimmy
Snuka gear, barefoot and all. Mikami starts with Cap. As befits a Young
Lion, Mikami is all fired up. But Cap calls an immediate halt and wants a
handshake to start. Mikami quickly slaps his hand to get it out of the
way. Lockup after that with Cap giving a clean rope break. Mikami dives
and tries a leg takedown that leads to a mat exchange that Mikami
realizes he can't win so he bails. Cap lost a glove! He keeps going
regardless of the fact anyone could identify his hand now. Another mat
exchange and stalemate. Both sides decide to tag. Honma grabs a headlock
on Tama. Speed run and Tama hits a Snuka style chop. Splash in the
corner and back suplex from Tama for 2. Suplex fight that Honma powers
Tama up to win. Mikami tags in, knocks the goof Cap off the apron, and
Tama takes a double shoulderblock. Mikami pounds away on Tama on the
mat. Stand up forearm exchange, then Mikami hits a backdrop for 2. Honma
hits a slam and the short Kokeshi for 2. Tama fires back with chops.
Headbutt and dropkick from Tama. Tag to Cap. He ducks a Honma lariato
and hits an ugly dropkick. Running elbow in the corner and exploder
suplex out. Cap goes up top and hits a weak crossbody for 2. He tries to
get the crowd fired up for his big finish. Honma blocks it and hits a
back elbow, then a lariato. Setup slam and Honma goes up top, which does
get the preshow crowd fired up. Kokeshi does NOT make you happy as Cap
dodges it. Tags on both sides. Tama and Mikami slug it out. Unique
diving lariato from Mikami. Running back elbow in the corner. Powerslam
from Mikami for 2. He hooks up for a German suplex. Tama fights free,
then off a corner whip hops up to the top rope and hits a corkscrew
crossbody for 2. Reverse neckbreaker. Honma runs in to break up the pin
as we go full DONNYBROOK. Tama counters Mikami into a leaping DDT and
that gets the pin. Mikami goes off to excursion on his back, as is
tradition. Go learn and get better. Pretty low energy warmup match. *1/2
It's
cut off the copy in the World archives, but if you want to get properly
fired up the opening VTR is still available on Youtube on the official
New Japan account:
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Apollo 55 def No Remorse Corps (c) (CHAOS) in 12:44- No
Remorse Corps (Rocky Romero and Davey Richards) defeated Apollo 55
(Prince Devitt and Ryuguske Taguchi) during the fall Destruction tour
for these titles, so this is A55 getting their rematch. Devitt is also
the Junior Heavyweight champ, which sadly means we won't get a defense
of that title tonight. The bell rings and NRC attack. Nice stereo
counters and A55 clear the ring. They load up for stereo dives but are
cut off and tossed out. NRC tope suicidas on both sides of the ring!
Settle in with Romero on Devitt in the ring. Richards tags in and hits a
back suplex. Devitt fights off a double backdrop and tags. Taguchi uses
a whip to spring up the ropes and hit a dropkick on Romero. Taguchi
goes for Three Amigos suplexes on Romero. Richards cuts it off at 2, but
Taguchi hooks him up too and hits a double DDT. A55 work Romero into
the drop toe hold/basement dropkick double team. They slow things down a
bit with some rapid fire tag work on Romero's arm. I love Taguchi's
wild chop off the top rope. Romero begs off after that, suckering
Taguchi into a tights pull out to the floor, then Richards nails him
with a PK in the back from the apron. High knee from Romero on the
floor. Inverted atomic drop/dropkick combo from NRC back in. Richards
hooks Taguchi up in a combined armbar and cloverleaf. Devitt comes in to
break it up. Taguchi comes back with a springboard back elbow and gets a
tag. John WOOOOOO dropkick from Devitt on Richards. Lariato for Romero.
Richards hits a forearm in the corner. On the other side Balor hits
another corner dropkick. Romero blindsides Devitt with corner lariato,
but then he takes a corner dropkick. Devitt sets up for a big dive on
Romero, but Richards cuts it off with a kick from the apron. Devitt
takes him out with some chops, then backdrops a charging Romero out onto
him! A55 try again and finally hit a stereo tope con hilo. Romero again
begs off back in the ring. He suckers Devitt into a punch. Taguchi uses
Devitt's back to hit Poetry in Motion on Romero! Taguchi big splash off
the top. Devitt hits the double stomp off the top (not yet the Coupe de
Gracie) but Richards breaks the pin up. Taguchi wheelbarrows Romero up
into a Devitt codebreaker, kind of a reverse Shatter Machine, for 2.
Devitt hooks up for Bloody Sunday. Romero fights it off with some
misdirection kicks. Taguchi runs in and hits an enzuguri. Richards comes
in and backdropeh suplexes Taguchi. Devitt Pele kick on Richards.
Everyone's down. Romero forever corner lariatos on Devitt. Devitt pops
out with his own lariato. Both sides tag. Taguchi and Richards exchange
kicks. Richards changes the script with a lariato for 2. Another
enzuguri from Taguchi. Richards goes for a pop up kick on Taguchi but
completely whiffs. Taguchi sells the force of the air. Romero goes up
top and NRC hit a Doomsday Device high knee. Devitt breaks the pin up
with another top rope double stomp. He got some freaking AIR on that one
too. Some ROH venues at the time he would have been through the
ceiling. On the apron Devitt runs Romero's crotch into the post. Taguchi
faceplants Richards in the ring. Setup slam and both A55 guys go up
top. NRC cut them off. Romero hurricanranas Devitt off. Richards
avalanche brain buster on Taguchi! A second regular one. Taguchi kicks
out! Richards powerbomb. Devitt just breaks the pin up! Romero tosses
Devitt out and NRC set up for their finisher. Devitt dropkicks Romero
off the top rope! Taguchi rolls Richards around into a magistral cradle
for 2. Richards hits two big kicks to the head on Taguchi. He goes for
another powerbomb. Taguchi rolls through it into a cradle and gets the
pin to win the titles back! Usual very good junior tag titles opener,
it's hard to go wrong with that. ***1/2
Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Mascara Dorada & KUSHIDA def Atlantis, Valiente, Taka Michinoku & Taichi in 10:18- CMLL
showcase matches had become a simi-regular thing on the WK undercard,
and that's what we have here along with some of New Japan's top juniors.
KUSHIDA is making his Tokyo Dome debut tonight. After spending years on
the Japanese indys he signed with New Japan full time in February '11.
Within a few years he'll be the new ace of the junior division.
Michinoku and Taichi are our first Suzuki-Gun members on the night. Both
were in Kojima-Gun and were the ones that mutinied when Suzuki took the
group over, making them Suzuki-Gun's other founding members. Absolutely
insane all, and I mean ALL, white look for Liger tonight. Well, white
and shiny silver. KUSHIDA has yet to start up the Back to the Future
look, he's actually wearing Lion Mark gear. Dorada and Valiente start.
Big corner chop from Valiente. Dorada does some wild swinging that I
have no idea what he's trying to do and I don't think Valiente does
either. They both swing more chops as a kind of mental reset. After that
is some lucha kip up madness and Valiente hits a monkey flip. Dorada
rolls over into a basement dropkick for 2. In classic lucha style both
guys handspring or backflip off the ropes for no real reason. Flying
headscissors from Valiente that sends Dorada out, followed by a TOPE
SUICIDA. TM and Atlantis get in the ring as this is clearly lucha no tag
needed if guys go to the floor rules. They do some spiffy back and
forth lucha stuff, much more smooth than the last pairing. TM gets
Atlantis out to the floor and loads up for a dive. Taichi heels it up by
cutting him off with a kick. He tosses TM out and goes for his own
dive. Liger and KUSHIDA cut him off. Double flying forearm from them.
Another one on Michinoku. Now it's Valiente's turn to kill a dive. Liger
and Michinoku are assumed legal and exchange some chops until Taichi
comes in to double team him. All four heels unload on Liger at the same
time. Come on ref, is this even kosher under lucha rules? Taichi starts
taking Liger's mask off. TM finally gets in to make the save. So he
thinks. While everyone else is fighting in the ring Michinoku is still
working on Liger's mask. Or stalling, it's hard to tell. Now Taichi
starts taking TM's mask off. And Dorada's. I'm sensing a theme. Masks
are coming off faster than if any of these guys had signed with WCW.
KUSHIDA confuses Taichi by having no mask to remove. Taichi locks on a
Greco Roman Nut Vice instead. Then a knee to the crotch. Liger gets some
momentum fighting the SG guys off and tags out to KUSHIDA. Springboard
ax handle coming in and he takes out both SG guys. KUSHIDA barely pulls
off the handspring elbow on Michinoku. Standing moonsault for 2. Setup
backbreaker. Michinoku dodges the moonsault but KUSHIDA lands on his
feet. Taichi superkick on KUSHIDA. It's time to pop the crowd. THE PANTS
ARE OFF! Zero pop. It's not established yet. KUSHIDA hits an enzuguri
that sends Taichi to the floor. Liger dive off the top rope on Taichi!
That kicks off the EVERYONE DIVE sequence. Atlantis tries to launch
Valiente on the pile to finish it off, but they completely eff it up and
Valiente lands on the apron well short. Valiente then goes for an asai
moonsault to make up for it and nearly blows that too. Back in Atlantis
gives TM some backbreakers for 2. He gets TM up in a torture rack. Liger
breaks that up. Valiente plants Liger with a gutbuster for 2. He goes
up top. Liger gets his boots up on the moonsault. Liger bomb! Valiente
kicks out! Liger brain buster, and that gets the pin. Turned out this
was as much a vehicle for the SG guys to heel it up as a lucha showcase,
and even the lucha stuff was more miss than hit, a risk you often run
into with that style. **
Kazuchika Okada def YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS) in 4:37- The
first of tonight's major events, though no one knew just how huge it
would turn out to be. These two were classmates in the Noge Dojo, went
on excursion at the same time and are now returning from excursion at
the same time in a very rare match between two excursion returnees. It's
safe to say their careers will follow very different paths from here.
Okada is returning from two years in TNA, where he was misused so badly
it completely destroyed the longstanding New Japan/TNA partnership.
Unbeknownst to anyone, New Japan saw huge things in Okada that honestly
weren't readily apparent to anyone at the time. Certainly not TNA. HASHI
spent his excursion in CMLL, and prior to tonight had already announced
he had joined CHAOS because he had grown used to being a rudo in
Mexico. HASHI confirms his heel status by shoving the ref around after
his entrance. Along with his return, Okada is debuting the Rainmaker
character tonight. It's so weird to hear that music and see that
entrance with zero reaction. More heeling from HASHI as he hits a
lariato before the bell. He follows up with some chops. Okada reverses a
whip and hits a dropkick, followed by his own chop. HASHI hot shots
Okada and he goes out to the floor. HASHI tope suicida! Back in Okada
hits another chop so HASHI goes to the old eye rake. Straight up
humiliation slap from HASHI. Hiptoss into a basement dropkick for 2.
HASHI scrapes Okada's face with his forearm gauntlets in the corner.
More chops. Okada dodges in the corner and hits some uppercuts.
Jawbreaker from HASHI. Powerslam for 2. He spits at the ref for not
getting to 3. Okada flips out of a suplex attempt, but HASHI uses that
to hit a neckbreaker. Okada dodges a swanton bomb. Another dropkick and
Okada goes up top. Shotgun dropkick off the top. Neckbreaker and Okada
hits the pose no one knows yet. No zoom out. RAINMAKER! It's clearly
still in development, Okada dove as he hit it. That won't stick. That
gets the pin to the dead silence of the crowd. Not what I'd call an
amazing start. The match was, well, kinda bleh and went over like a fart
in church in the arena, but I'm more confused as to the point of it
all. HASHI was the clear heel, he was on offense most of the match, the
whole thing was clearly designed to get Okada babyface sympathy (which
he didn't), but then Okada's got his big heel moment coming later
tonight (spoilers). Again, moderately OK if really short match, but its
place in the long term booking picture perplexes me. *3/4
Stack of Arms def Seigigun in 6:34- Unfortunately
this looks like it will be one of those Inoki era "different style
fights", and once again they've drug Yuji Nagata into it. Stack of Arms
are Masakatsu Funaki and Masayuki Kono, who were both MMA'ers, but
fortunately were both trained as pro wrestlers before moving to MMA and
had good wrestling experience across most of Japan's major companies.
They're representing All Japan tonight. Joining Seigigun leader Nagata
is Wataru Inoue. The bell rings and Nagata runs right into a Funaki
kick. Nagata lets him get some more kicks in, then blocks and hits an
exploder suplex. Now Nagata fires off some kicks. Funaki hits a kick
that might have been a bit south of the border to put Nagata down again.
Kono tags in and they hit some stereo knees, then a high knee/elbow
drop combo. They wrap Nagata up in a combined armbar and legbar. Yeah, I
don't think that's legal. Inoue comes in to break it up before the ref
bothers. Nagata rolls under Kono and suckers him into a basement
dropkick. Inoue tags in and they hits some double team strikes. Double
shoudlerblock. Inouse hits some chops. Another high knee from Kono.
Funaki comes in and pummels Inoue in the corner with kicks, then
hiptosses him out. He hooks on an armbar and Nagata breaks it up. Inoue
blocks another kick and lifts Funaki up into a reverse slam. Nagata hits
his corner high knee on Funaki. Magic screw! Funaki blocks a kick and
hooks up for a dragon suplex. Nagata counters out and goes for Nagata
Lock! Inoue cuts off Kono and Nagata gets it on in the middle of the
ring! The eyes roll back! But Funaki will not give it up. Kono
eventually breaks it up and side slams Nagata. Nagata is still able to
tag out first. Inoue corner running forearm on Funaki and he hits a
suplex for 2. Nagata comes in and gives Kono some strikes. Funaki
backdopeh suplex on Nagata. Inoue does a crazy running head first tackle
on Funaki in the corner. Another one on Kono. German suplex on Funaki
for a long 2. Funaki comes back with some strikes and a rolling kick for
2. Nagata and Kono take the fight to the floor while Funaki and Inoue
exchange open hand strikes in the ring. Inoue runs into a kick right to
his face, and Funaki gets the pin! That wasn't as different style as I
was afraid of. It turned out OK with them cramming as much as they could
into the short time. Funaki I liked what I saw of, Kono less so, so it
was good Funaki carried most of the match for his team. But as I've had
to say way too often, I wish they'd found something better for Nagata to
do tonight. After the bell Funaki and Nagata get into it again and have
to be separated. That's a singles match I'd actually be interested in
seeing. **1/2
MVP
& Shelton Benjamin def IWGP Intercontinental Champion Masato Tanaka
& Yujiro Takahashi (w/Gedo & Jado) (CHAOS) in 9:41- Former
WWE stars MVP and Benjamin are making their Tokyo Dome debuts tonight.
In fact this is Benjamin's New Japan debut period. MVP debuted in New
Japan soon after WK 5 and joined Kojima-Gun, but didn't move to
Suzuki-Gun after the mutiny out of loyalty to Kojima. In May '11 MVP won
the tournament to crown the inaugural IWGP
Intercontinental Champion, which was held during New Japan's first ever
tour in the US. It was New Japan's first attempt at a secondary title
since the deactivation of the short lived U-30 (Under 30) title in 2006.
This one will stick. Tanaka defeated him for the title at Destruction.
Yujiro is, as he has been much of his career, a hanger on. The ex-WWE
guys charge the ring on their entrance and we're off. Benjamin muscles
Yujiro up for a long running powerslam. MVP whips out the Ballin' elbow
early on both guys. Smart because that move is not going to be
believable as any kind of finisher in Japan. The heels camp on the floor
for a bit to regroup, to
the point ref Tiger Hattori starts a count on them. Reset with Yujiro
and Benjamin. Back and forth slugging and Benjamin hits a back elbow. He
slips out of a Yujiro suplex attempt and hits a neckbreaker. Benjamin
backs up to tag and tries to hold Yujiro, but he escapes and tags out
too. The IC title feud is about to rekindle. They immediately start
trading strikes. Speed run and MVP hits a snap belly to belly suplex.
Yujiro kicks MVP in the back from the apron and Tanaka hits a lariato.
Everything goes out to the floor and Tanaka gets a table out. He sets
MVP on the table on the floor, then goes up to the top rope. A big
splash puts MVP through the table! Now Tanaka has a kendo stick and hits
MVP with it. Back in Takaka hits grounded knees to MVP's midsection and
covers for 2. Running corner forearm for 2. Tanaka wraps up a modified
armbar, almost a grounded abdominal stretch. Yujiro tags in and starts
pushing MVP to fight back. Lariato from Yujiro for 2. MVP flips out of a
Tanaka hiptoss attempt and hits a DDT! Tag to Benjamin. He comes in
with an ex handle off the top rope and some lariatos. Stinger Splash!
Powerslam. Yujiro runs in and takes a Samoan drop. Misdirection kick on
Tanaka for 2. Gedo gets on the apron to distract and Yujiro belly to
bellys Benjamin. Yujiro makes the tactical mistake of whipping Benjamin
near his corner. MVP blind tags in, then Benjamin keeps running and
launches a tope con hilo onto Gedo! Very nice. Benjamin flew over the
damn guardrail too. In the ring MVP hits rolling Germans and kips up. He
hooks up for the Playmaker but Yujiro counters out and hits a lariato.
Tanaka runs in, hits a brain buster, and Yujiro covers for 2. Tanaka
takes Benjamin to the floor while Yujiro hits a German for 2. MVP hits
the Playmaker! He doesn't cover, instead he hooks Yujiro up in a
modified crossface. Gedo and Jado get on the apron again to distract and
MVP knocks them back down. Meanwhile, Tanaka's gone up to the top rope.
Benjamin springs up and slams him off! The crowd loved that. MVP hooks
the crossface on again and Yujiro taps. Another rock solid match and a
good New Japan debut for Benjamin. **3/4
Later
in the year New Japan would introduce another new secondary title, the
NEVER Openweight Championship. Tanaka would win the tournament to become
the inaugural champion for that after being the second ever IC champ. He'd
dropped the IC title in the meantime, which I'll get into later.
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Tencozy def Bad Intentions (c) in 12:40- More
reign records being set here. The Bad Intentions duo of Giant Bernard
(Albert/A-Train in WWE) and Karl Anderson had been tag champs since
Dominion 2010 and were now
up to 564 days as champions, which had already destroyed the old record
by over 100 days. As if that wasn't dominant enough, they were also the
current GHC Tag Team champs and had held those for over 6 months. Trying
to finally wrest the titles away from them are Kojima and Hiroyoshi
Tenzan, at the time the second most successful New Japan team of all
time (the most successful was Tenzan's other pairing with Masahiro Chono
as Cho-Ten, who had held the longest reign record before Bad
Intentions). Kojima and Anderson start. They're wearing almost the same
color scheme (black and orange, plus white for Kojima) which is weird
looking. More settling in start than we've had in most matches so far
with some hammerlock tradeoffs. Kojima runs Anderson over with a
shoulderblock and pops the pecs. Off the ropes again Anderson hits a leg
lariat and shows he can also make his pecs talk. I imagine this is how
Meathook made his tattoo talk in The Secret of Monkey Island. Anderson
grabs a headlock and Kojima quickly backdropeh suplexes him. Tenzan
takes Bernard out so Tencozy can hit some double teams. Tenzan starts
laying in the Mongolian chops. When he hits the ropes Bernard trips him
from the floor and literally spins him around on the mat. Anderson hits
an apron legdrop. They hit a Decapitation Device on Kojima in the ring.
Anderson snap mares Tenzan over and hits a series of kneedrops for 2.
Bernard lays into Tenzan in the corner. He slingshots Tenzan into the
middle rope. Now Anderson takes Kojima out so the champs can pummel
Tenzan with elbow and knee drops over and over. Anderson hooks Tenzan up
and calls loudly for a "BRAIN BUSTAH". Too loudly, Tenzan blocks it and
hits his own suplex instead. Tag to Kojima. Machine gun chops! On the
Machine Gun. Bernard comes in, but Kojima dodges and he avalanches his
own partner in the corner! Yelled "OH SHIT" going in as he saw it too,
fantastic. Machine gun chops for Bernard! With Anderson still squashed
behind him. Kojima lariatos Bernard 360 to the floor. Corner running
forearm for Anderson and Kojima goes up top. The elbow drop hits for 2.
Anderson gets up and they get into a chop exchange. Kojima pummels him
with forearms. Anderson dodges a short discus lariato and hits an
uppercut. Running powerbomb from Anderson for 2. Bernard avalanches
Kojima in the corner. Vader bomb! He goes for another but Kojima gets
his knees up. He hooks up for a Kojicutter but Bernard blocks it. Big
boot/splash combo from Bernard for 2. Kojima flips out of a suplex
attempt. Kojicutter! He gets over and tags out to Tenzan. Mongolian
chops for Bernard. The champs double team to break Tenzan's momentum.
After a series of splashes and sentons Bernard covers for 2. Tenzan
dodges an avalanche and hits some more Mongolian chops. He tries a
shoulderblock on Bernard but no one moves. Bernard open hand slap!
Another shoulderblock with no effect. A third. Bernard seems almost
annoyed. Now Bernard tries coming off the ropes but Tenzan spinning heel
kicks him. Kojima DDT on Bernard. Anderson fights off a Kojicutter. Gun
Stun! Anderson sets up to give Tenzan one too. Tenzan blocks it!
Headbutt! Off the ropes Tenzan runs into a Gun Stun! Anderson screams at
the legal Bernard to cover. Tenzan kicks out! The champs hit Magic
Killer on Tenzan! That's got to be it. NO Kojima just barely breaks the
pin up! Bernard plants Tenzan with a Last Ride powerbomb. But it's still
not enough! Bernard gets him up for a Bernard Driver. Tenzan slips
free. Kojima with a lariato to the back of Bernard's head! 3D on
Anderson! Kojima tears the elbow pad off and says that's it. Cozy
Lariato on Bernard! Tenzan goes up top. Moonsault! Tenzan gets the pin,
and the longest IWGP tag title reign in history is over! It's Tencozy's
third title win, putting them two behind Cho-Ten for the most ever at
that point. This started a bit of a freefall for Bad Intentions as they
also dropped the GHC tag titles later in the month. ***1/4
Hirooki Goto def Takashi Sugiura in 12:35- These
two are wrapping up what's become a three year WK trilogy. NOAH's
Sugiura
successfully defended the GHC Heavyweight title against Goto at WK 4,
then last year they were on opposite sides of a tag match. Their singles
match and tag interactions have been phenomenal so far, thanks to
outstanding chemistry based on little more than a mutual love of hitting
each other as hard as they can as often as they can. Bell rings, charge
right into a lockup and we're already swinging forearms. Shoulderblock
standoff. Another one. Third go and Goto wins that one. Both guys
cautiously go in for another lock up. Goto gets a takedown and works on
Sugiura's leg a bit. He switches to a headlock and keeps Sugiura trapped
in it for a bit. Eventually Sugiura backs Goto up for a rope break,
then paintbrushes him right across the face. I don't think Goto liked
that. Goto snap mare and PK to the back. Sugiura hits a knee to the gut
and suplex drops Goto on the top rope. He gives Goto a return back PK,
then wraps Goto up in a bodyscissors. Goto takes a rope break out of
that. Sugiura cranks things up with some un-Japan like straight punches
to the gut in the corner. Goto tries to fire some chops back but Sugiura
stays targeted on his midsection with some kicks. Double lariato where
no one moves. Another one. Sugiura hits a back kick. Goto comes off the
ropes a few times, spins around a kick, and hits a lariato. Heel kick
from Goto in the corner and he backdropeh suplexes Sugiura for 2.
Sugiura tries to fight out but Goto hits a German suplex for 2. Sugiura
wins a suplex fight, faceplants Goto, and hits a running boot in the
corner. Another one. Goto responds with a corner lariato on the other
side. A third Sugiura high kick and he tackles Goto down. He goes for a
runing knee but Goto blocks it. Standing switches in a German suplex
fight. Sugiura Germans Goto into the corner pad! Running knee in the
corner from Sugiura. He pounds Goto in the corner with forearms, and
shoves useless little ref Marty Asami out of the way when he tries to
stop it. Another Sugiura German. Running knee! Goto kicks out! Sugiura
dragon suplex! Goto JUST kicks out! Sugiura hooks up for an Olympic
slam. Goto armdrags free. He tries to fire up but more forearms from
Sugiura puts him back down. Big open hand slaps from Sugiura. Headbutt
from Goto! Backdropeh! Another! Lariato for 2. Another Goto headbutt and
huge lariato for a long 2. Shoten hits! That gets Goto an ultimately
pretty one sided down the stretch win. It's nowhere near bad, but pretty
disappointing compared to their prior matches. ***
Goto
would be the one to dethrone Tanaka for the IC title at The New
Beginning in Osaka, his first of several reigns with his (almost)
permanent consolation prize. Then in July just before the start of the
G1 Shinsuke Nakamura would defeat Goto for his first of many IC title
wins. The rest of his time in New Japan Nakamura would willingly give up
more potential reigns with the Heavyweight title in order to elevate
the IC title to near or at the same level.
Togi Makabe def Yoshihiro Takayama (Suzuki-Gun) in 9:15- Takayama
was with NOAH full time, but he's made semi-regular New Japan
appearances
over the years so he's gotten a place in Suzuki-Gun. He's also Suzuki's
best friend in real life, and I'm sure they wanted to run together. As
soon as Makabe's chain is off he charges at Takayama with a lariato and
pounds him with forearms in the corner. Takayama reverses a corner whip
but Makabe pops out with another lariato. Takayama shurgs off punches to
hit a knee to the gut and backdropeh. They go to the floor with Makabe
taking guardrail and post shots. Takayama gives him some kneelifts on
the apron. Chest kicks back in from Takayama that fire Makabe up.
Takayama cuts him off with another knee to the gut and dropkicks him
into the corner. Chest kick and arrogant one foot cover from Takayama.
More Makabe shots to try to come back and yet another knee to the gut
from Takayama. Double underhook suplex from Takayama into an armbar!
Makabe locks his hands to block it. Takayama slowly breaks them and
stretches it out, forcing Makabe to take a rope break. More corner shots
from Takayama. He wants Asami to 10 count Makabe. Can Asami even count
to 10? Makabe drags himself back up and Takayama hits a high knee. He
puts Makabe in the tree of woe and lays in some more knees. Running knee
and a one hand cover for 2. Makabe blocks a kick and lays in some
headbutts. Takayama tries to stop him with a big boot but Makabe charges
right through it to hit a lariato. Powerslam (barely) from Makabe.
Corner lariato and mounted punches. Takayama fights out of a German
attempt and hits another big boot, followed by a back suplex. Legdrop
for 2. Takayama takes the kneepad off. Running knee! Makabe kicks out!
Makabe tries to fight off a German but Takayama eventually gets him up
and over. Makabe hits his own German for 2. Makabe hits lariatos and
Takayama big boots with neither guy going down. Makabe hits some
swinging ax handles to finally put Takayama down. He sets Takayama up
top. Takayama fights, so Makabe rams his head into the post! Spider
German! King Kong Kneedrop! It's over. Like a lot of other stuff
tonight, it's fine. No disrespect to Suzuki's best friend but neither of
these guys were exactly high ceiling guys, and Takayama's age was
starting to show. **1/2
GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki & Naomichi Marfuji def Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano (CHAOS) in 15:10- NOAH
legends Shiozaki and Marfuji have been making regular WK appearances in
these NOAH partnership years. Marfuji had just made a major move in his
career, moving from junior heavyweight to heavyweight. CHAOS leader
Nakamura and Yano, who was right there with Nakamura in the mutiny
against GBH to start the faction, are sometimes collectively known as
CHAOS Top Team. Possibly due to his lack of recent title wins, Nakamura
finally captured his first and it would turn out only G1 Climax win in
'11, extending the streak of first time G1 winners to five straight
years. After a couple of years of slow morphing Nakamura is now fully
into his King of Strong Style rockstar style look. Marjufi and Nakamura
start. Nakamura swings some light exploratory kicks while dancing around
as only he can. They both cautiously lean in. Nakamura gets a leg
takedown. Quick headscissors counter from Marfuji and stalemate. Some
grappling leads them into a rope break. Nakamura does the head waggle
and lightly slaps Marfuji's chest. That leads to a forearm exchange.
Nakamura, always a more sure striker with his legs than his arms,
switches to some knee shots. Marjufi gets a drop toe hold. Nakamrua
dodges a dropkick, then Marfuji does some fancy dodges of multiple
Nakamura kick swings. Nakamura shows a slight bit of frustration before
going casual limp again. Both sides tag. Yano/Shiozaki lockup. Shiozaki
teases taking a cheap shot against the ropes but eventually clean
breaks. Another lockup into the ropes and this time Yano clean breaks,
but not before mussing up Shiozaki's hair. Yano blocks a chop and puts
on headlock. Shoulderblock standoff, Yano musses the hair again and then
gives Shiozaki an eye rake. He runs into a Shiozaki chop. Kneedrop and
another chop from Shiozaki. Marfuji stomps Yano in the corner and uses
the corner to stand on his face. Marfuji tries to jump up in the corner
but Yano yanks his foot to pull him back down. One smart wrestler, as
he's sure to let us know. He tosses Marfuji out to the floor and the
CHAOS team is all over him. Yano's got a pair of scissors and is going
after Shiozaki's hair! I assume that's something from the build I don't
know about. Shiozaki rams Yano's hand into the post to make him drop the
scissors. Yano ducks and Shiozaki chops the post! Ouch. As everyone
gets back in the ring Yano gets a corner pad off in his usual record
time. Marfuji gets whipped into the exposed corner. Nakamura saunters in
and gives Marfuji some poking kicks. Slam/kneedrop combo for 2. Yano
gives Marfuji another whip into the steel. Delayed brain buster from
Yano for 2. Marfuji maneuvers around Yano and hits a dropkick. Shiozaki
tags in and hits more chops and a flying forearm. Running corner chops.
Suplex fight that leads to a chop/forearm exchange. Yano yanks Shiozaki
down by the hair and turns to do the thumb point pose he stole from RVD.
Shiozaki grabs his hands from behind! Another chop into a fisherman's
suplex for 2. The NOAH team tries to double team Yano but he yanks them
both down by the hair. Don't try to outcheat the ultimate cheater. He
gets the thumb point off and tags out. Nakamura lays into Shiozaki with
kicks. He tries for a reverse exploder and a German but Shiozaki fights
them both off. Spinning backfist from Shiozaki and he tags out. Marfuji
hits a hip attack in the corner. Another suplex fight. Marfuji hits a
nice short kick to Nakamura's head, snap mares him over and hits a
running double stomp to his face. Superkick. Neck twist for 2. Both guys
duck kicks again. Nakamura gets Marfuji with a knee to the jaw! He sets
Marfuji up in the corner and hits the running kneelift. Reverse
exploder! Nakamura sets up in the corner to finish it. Marfuji cuts the
Bomaye off with a couple of counter kicks. Sliced Bread hits! Tag to
Shiozaki. Yano runs in to cut him off. Shiozaki tosses him out and hits a
diving lariato on Nakamura for 2. Nakamura blocks a strike and hits the
misdirection kick. Literal kick in the ass on Shiozaki. Yano hits
Shiozaki with the red chair from the floor! Nakamura stumbles down and
tags. He doesn't look quite right but it could just be selling. Yano
hits a side slam for 2. He muscles Shiozaki up for a powerbomb. Shiozaki
counters with a hurricanrana and hits a discus lariato for 2. Yano
dodges a charge and pushes Shiozaki into the exposed corner. Classic
Yano roll up for 2. He slingshots Shiozaki into the corner. Last Ride
powerbomb! Shiozaki kicks out! Shiozaki swings more chops. Another
classic Yano small package counter for 2. Huge lariato from Shiozaki.
More classic Yano as he blocks another, shoves Shiozaki toward Red Shoes
so he has to duck, then hits a low blow. I think, my feed went out for a
second there. Another cradle for a long 2. Yano loads up for a big
lariato. Shiozaki cuts it off with his own! The cover is broken up by
Marfuji and Nakamura running in. They go to the floor to fight. Shiozaki
hits a fisherman's buster and covers. Marfuji cuts Nakamura off with a
kneedrop off the top rope, but Yano kicks out anyway. While Marfuji
blocks Nakamura Shiozaki hits the Go Flasher and it's over. Another good
but no more match tonight. Not nearly enough Nakamura for me, but
that's just personal bias for my favorite Japanese wrestler of all time.
Fortunately this will be his last WK tag match. ***1/4
Keiji Mutoh def Tetusya Naito in 22:35- New
Japan legend and current All Japan regular Mutoh is back over for his
second WK to again wrestle one of the company's rising stars. That time
it was pretty much ready to take over Tanahashi in the main event of WK
3, this time it's still putting it together Naito in the semi-main. Like
Okada, the company saw huge things in Naito despite general public
perception otherwise. In Naito's case I don't think anyone disputed his
skill in the ring, it was his character and presentation that were being
rejected by the fans, and would continue to be for several more years
before he pretty much took his destino in his own hands to change
things around. Both guys are very cautious at the start with lots of
almost literal feeling out. Naito gets the first waist takedown into a
mat grappling sequence. Mutoh gets Naito over into an almost amateur
pinning position. Naito fights back up into a hammerlock on the mat.
When Mutoh escapes he takes to the floor to rethink things. Naito stays
sitting on the mat and this is so a spot LIJ Naito would be posing or
doing something else over the top to rile Mutoh up more. We're not there
yet though. More caution after Mutoh gets back in as they slowly feel
in again. Naito goes to his knees to try to get a takedown but Mutoh
keeps a wide base for leverage. Mutoh grabs Naito's foot and starts
working on his leg. Naito does a very nice job using that to work Mutoh into a
possible Sharpshooter/Scorpion Death Lock position. Mutoh senses it and
readjusts, then takes a rope break. After the reset Mutoh gets an arm
takedown into a headlock. First speed run and Mutoh gets a
shoulderblock. Naito gets a hiptoss/dropkick combo and a headlock
takedown. Mutoh eventually gets Naito in the corner for a break, then
hits a shoulderblock and punch to crank things up a bit. He goes for the
classic snap mare/elbow drop combo, but Naito dodges and hits a quick
basement dropkick. That looked like the Naito I know. Mutoh again rolls out for a rethink. This time Naito
follows and hits a shotgun dropkick off the apron! Mutoh grabs a kick on
the floor and hits a dragon screw! I don't like the way Mutoh's looking
around ringside. He opens the guardrail gate and puts Naito over the
rail. Dragon screw on the guardrail! Ouch. Mutoh follows up with a short
shotgun dropkick behind the 100 foot long announce table (I'm slightly
exaggerating). Naito tries to shake the knee off and uses most of the 20
count getting back in. When he touches the ropes Mutoh hits him with a
high shining wizardo! Dragon screw in the ropes! Another regular dragon
screw in the ring. Mutoh hooks on the figure four! Naito actually shows
some pre-LIJ attitude trying to fight it off, then crawls over and gets a
rope break. Mutoh gets right back on the knee. He loads up another
dragon screw. Naito fights it off with a forearm shot, but Mutoh
dropkicks the knee again. Naito tries to fire up with more forearms and
he gets Mutoh wobbled. Coming off the ropes Mutoh cuts Naito off with
another dropkick to the knee, and that one hurt. More dragon screws hit
and the figure four is on again. Another long fight and this time Naito
looks like he's going down, but he manages to barely muster enough to
get to the ropes again. When Mutoh goes for another dragon screw Naito
open hand slaps him, then hits a reverse enzuguri. And a full enzuguri.
Hangman's neckbreaker from Naito. Rolling senton for 2. He wraps Mutoh
up in a neck vice. Modified cravat just about. When Mutoh breaks that
Naito goes up top. Shotgun dropkick. He lifts Mutoh up, but that just
lets Mutoh knee him in the face. Another dragon screw. Off a whip Naito
surprises Mutoh with a flying forearm. He sets Mutoh up top.
Hurricanrana! That gets a 2 count. Another enzuguri as a setup. Naito
German suplex for 2. He lifts Mutoh up again and slams him down in the
drop zone, then goes up top to finish it. Mutoh dodges the Stardust
Press! Naito had no way of knowing at the time that's NEVER going to hit
in the Tokyo Dome. Not that it would stop him from trying, even at the worst times for it. Shining
wizardo! High wizardo in the corner and another dragon screw. Another
full wizardo! Wizardo to the back of Naito's head! Mutoh flashes the
double too sweet. Naito runs up and gets him in a cradle for 2! Another
dropkick to the knee. Naito blocks a shining wizardo and gets a Euro
clutch for 2. He tries another half nelson cradle but Mutoh rolls
through and hits another shining wizardo. Another too sweet as Mutoh
sets Naito up. One more shining wizardo. Naito kicks out! Mutoh does the
backbreaker setup and goes up top. Moonsault! That gets the pin. Yeah, I
liked that well enough. Like his match with Tanahashi it was a bit
limited thanks to Mutoh sticking mostly to only knee work before spamming his finshers. Not sure the booking call did anyone any favors either.
Still, another step on Naito's career long love/hate relationship with
the Tokyo Dome and another slow step toward his eventual career
turnaround. Things would come full circle in 2023 when Naito went over to NOAH (Mutoh's home promotion his final years) to be Mutoh's opponent in his retirement match. ***1/2
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) def Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-Gun) in 25:59- I did all the setup for this in the open so no extra jabbering here. This match has recently recorded alternate English commentary available
from Walker Stewart, but I'm sticking with the original broadcast
Japanese commentary. No offense meant to Walker, but if it was Kevin
Kelley I might have switched over. Suzuki, clearly having a blast
already getting to main event the Tokyo Dome, kicks an innocent
cameraman off the apron before we hit the KAZA NI NARE. White vs black,
good vs evil, the visuals for this match are so basic and perfect. Both
guys cautiously ease into some knucklelocks, which slowly works into a
full lockup with a long lockup fight. Tanahashi's clear power advantage
lets him back Suzuki into the ropes and we get a clean break. More
feeling up and Suzuki works into a hammerlock. Tanahashi reverses it and
switches to a headlock. Suzuki tries to straight power out but can't.
He does a nice bit of catch wrestling, using his foot to grind
Tanahashi's knee to the ground, giving him the position to escape, then
hooks on a cravat. Snap mare and Suzuki puts on a basic chinlock.
Headlock takedown/headscissors counter and stalemate reset. Another slow
lockup and Tanahashi gets a leg takedown. Suzuki hits the first
strikes, back elbows to the gut to escape a headlock. Tanahashi responds
with a forearm, setting off a forearm exchange. Suzuki hits some shots
to the gut. Both guys end up tied up in the corner. Suzuki does not
break clean. They exchange corner pad shots, then Tanahashi springs up
top. Suzuki joins him and puts on a cobra twist while on the ropes!
That's innovative. Can only hold it for the 5 count though. A running
kick sends Tanahashi crashing off the top rope to the floor. We're in
Suzuki territory now. Barricade shot for Tanahashi and Suzuki hits a
couple of chops. Suzuki doesn't go as nuts as I thought he would out
there, rolling Tanahashi back in. After a comeback flurry Tanahashi hits
a dropkick that sends Suzuki back out. Tanahashi tries a plancha, but
Suzuki sidesteps it and puts on a sleeper! He drags Tanahashi up the
entrance ramp with the sleeper on. Tanahashi back elbows out and they
trade chops on the ramp. Kick and Suzuki sets up for the Gotch
piledriver on the ramp! Tanahashi barely fights it off and backdrops
free. Suzuki charges and puts Tanahashi back down with a running kick,
then hits some ground forearms. He rolls back in the ring and lounges,
very much future Naito style, while Tanahashi crawls back to beat the
count. As soon as he gets in Suzuki is back on him. Suzuki pulls
Tanashashi around by the hair and hits headbutts. Cover for 2. Tanahashi
tries to fire back with forearms that only amuse Suzuki. One of those classic straight Suzuki forearms puts Tanahashi back down. Tanahashi gets his
boots up in the corner, hits a slap, and a springboard crossbody for 2.
Flying forearm from Tanahashi. Setup slam and the second rope rolling
senton hits for 2. He calls for a slingblade but Suzuki cuts it off with
a dropkick. He soaks up the hatred from the crowd while stalking
Tanahashi. Running kick in the corner. Snap mare and Suzuki hits a
couple of PKs. He goes for a running one but Tanahashi blocks it and
hits a low dropkick. It looks like Tanahashi has a little blood in his
mouth. Suzuki goes back out to the floor. Tanahashi gets up top. Aces
High to the floor! Tanahashi gets back in the ring whle Suzuki is flat
laid out on the floor. He takes nearly the whole 20 count to get back
in. When Tanahashi charges Suzuki grabs his arm on the apron and puts on
the hanging armbar! More kicks to Tanahashi's chest with Suzuki clearly
enjoying his work. Tanahashi grabs one and tries for a dragon screw.
Suzuki blocks it into an armbar! Freaking nice. He stretches it out but
Tanahashi fights it. He's eventually able to get a foot on the rope.
Suzuki stomps Tanahashi down in the corner. Hard knees in the corner to
Tanahashi's jaw. Red Shoes gets tossed aside so Suzuki can keep hitting
them. He then wraps Tanahashi's arm around the bottom rope and cranks
it. While he's doing that he bites and then licks the middle rope and
I'm certain he's fully aroused at this point. Red Shoes hooks Suzuki's
arm and literally walks him back across the ring. Suzuki charges for
another running corner kick but Tanahashi dodges it. Crossbody into the
corner! Tanahashi goes up top and hits Aces High. Right back up. HIGH
FL.....NO Suzuki got his knees up! Suzuki lays into Tanahashi with open
hand strikes, ducking all of Tanahashi's attempts to strike back. When
Suzuki tries for the piledriver again Tanahashi quickly counters into a
jackknife cover for 2. Straitjacket German from Tanahashi for 2. He goes
for a slingblade again. Suzuki slides by and hooks on the sleeper!
Tanahashi tries to flip Suzuki over to get free, but that only allows
Suzuki to ground him with the sleeper on. Tanahashi starts to fade. You
can feel the crowd starting to worry and doubt. When Tanahashi appears
out Suzuki lets go and covers. Tanahashi kicks out! Running knee from
Suzuki for 2. Suzuki ducks a punch and the sleeper is back on. Tanahashi
fades down again, then manages to stand back up but he looks like dead
weight. Suzuki spins him around for the Gotch piledriver. And hits it!
Tanahashi kicks out! Damn, that was a very believable near fall. Suzuki
tries to drag Tanahashi back up. Tanahashi ducks a swing and hits a
dragon suplex! Falcon arrow slam from Tanahashi and another dragon suplex for
2. He goes up top. HIGH FLY FLOW! Suzuki kicks out! He will not die
that easily. On knees forearm exchange as both guys are near spent.
Straight headbutt from Suzuki that wobbles him too. More open hand
strikes exchanged. Tanahashi connects with a paintbrush that wobbles
Suzuki. He tries for slingblade but Suzuki dodges it again and tries for
another sleeper. Tanahashi quicky escapes and hits a ripcord
slingblade! Finally connected with one. Suzuki lays on the mat, spirit
still willing to fight but body almost completley done. Tanahashi is up
top again. High Fly Flow to Suzuk's back. Up top again. HIGH FLY
FLOWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Tanahashi gets the pin to retain and set a new record
with v11! After getting pinned Suzuki smiles while looking up at the
lights. Rock solid Tokyo Dome main event, but it didn't have quite
enough to be called an all time classic. I need to rewatch their IC
title match from 2018, I remember liking that one even more than this
one but haven't watched it since seeing it "live" (as live as I do
anything from Japan). They also had a rematch later in this year in
October that's very highly rated. ****1/4
After the match we get the usual certificate and trophy presentation, then Tanahashi is presented with the belt again. Those women do not want to hug sweaty Tanahashi. Before it can go any further Tanahashi is interrupted by.....KAZUCHIKA OKADA?! What in the blue hell is this young ass punk doing walking into the Ace's ring thinking he's ready for this? The crowd lets him know it too. Okada takes the mic and lays down the challenge. Tanahashi grabs the mic back and I sure hope he says something like "Who the hell are you again?". Still, the Ace is not one to back down from a challege, so we're on. Write in v12 now. There's no way in hell this barely out of the dojo punk is going to dethrone the freaking Ace, right? Right? Keep on reading after the show wrapup for more.
OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- As I've been saying for most of the matches tonight, pretty average. Overall you can't include this among the best Wrestle Kingdoms, even to this point, but it is historically important because it started the swift rise of the Rainmaker, one of the most important pieces in the coming golden age. This show is also when longtime All Japan supporter Dave Meltzer started to take notice of New Japan's uptick in both business and overall quality the past 4-5 years. Yeah, I know, I'm not a fan of his either, but he did have a platform to help people here in the US know what was happening and bring them to the product, as even in 2012 Japanese wrestling was still very difficult to access in the US.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C+
Bonus Match Review
From The New Beginning in Osaka '12 (2/12/12 from Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium)
"The Shocka in Osaka"
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (w/Gedo) (CHAOS) def Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) in 23:22- The
official New Japan name for this match is "The Rainmaker Shock", but
I've always preferred the Kevin Kelley coined moniker playing off
boxing's "The Thrilla in Manilla". Since WK Okada has joined CHAOS and
hired Gedo as his personal manager. He's also added purple to his hair.
This match also has alternate English commentary that was recorded for
the archives, this time from Kevin Kelley, with his usual masterful job
of laying out the big picture perfectly. They get in each other's faces
as soon as entrances are done before retiring to their corners again for in-ring intros.
Silence spattered with boos for Okada on his official introduction. They
go nose to nose and stare down again. Lockup and clean break. No, Okada
taks a swing that Tanahashi ducks, opening the door for Tanahashi to
get the first strikes in. He cranks the arm but Okada waffles him with a
forearm, then cranks on a headlock. Big shoulderblock from Okada.
Tanahashi gets a headlock takedown and cranks away on it. Okada tries
whips to escape but Tanahashi keeps him in. Finally Okada gets free that
way, only to have Tanahashi hit the brakes, drop down and put the
headlock on again. Okada gets desperate and goes to a hair pull to get
free. Tanahashi hits a forearm and a springboard crossbody. Another
headlock takedown as Tanahashi is just taking the kid to school so far.
Okada escapes again and this time hits a dropkick. He pounds Tanahashi
on the ground with forearms. He goes for an early tombstone. Tanahashi
escapes, hits a slam, and goes to the second rope for the senton. Okada
pops up, hits an uppercut, and dropkicks Tanahashi out to the floor!
Post shot for Tanahashi. He wraps Tanahashi's neck on the guardrail,
kicks it, and rolls Tanahashi back in as the count hits 18. Back in he
stays focused on Tanahashi's neck. Hangman's neckbreaker for 2.
Backbreaker. Tanahashi dodges a senton follow up. Okada dodges a
dropkick and hits a sliding dropkick for 2. More shots to Tanahashi's
neck. Flapjack. He rolls Tanahashi over into a crucifix with a chinlock
added, really punishing the neck. Tanahashi manages a rope break. Corner
forearms fire Tanahashi up and we get a forearm exchange. Tanahashi
dodges a corner running elbow and hits some chops. Flying forearm.
Strike combo from Tanahashi. Okada responds with uppercuts. He tries to
momentum toss Tanahashi over the top rope but Tanahashi skins the cat
back in. Dragon screw! Okada goes out to the floor to shake it off.
Tanahashi goes up top. Aces High to the floor! Coming back in Okada
takes the dragon screw in the ropes! Reverse dragon screws on the mat.
Tanahashi hooks on the cloverleaf. Okada almost gets to the ropes but
Tanahashi cranks him back and practically sits on him. Another push and
Okada gets a rope break. Red Shoes scoops up one of Tanahashi's teeth
that got knocked out and was on the mat. There goes another one. I
remember when Tanahashi had to wrestle without his front teeth
replacement bridge for a while. You thought Benoit had missing teeth. Okada
grabs Tanahashi and hits the tombstone! We get a great close up of
Tanahashi's newly missing tooth. Okada wraps up Tanahashi's arms and
puts on a cravat on the mat. He's got Tanahashi almost completely
trapped, he can't even tap, only verbally submit. Tanahashi just barely backs up to get a boot on the rope. Okada
sets up in the corner and charges. Tanahashi cuts him off with a
dropkick to the knee. A sliding dropkick sends Okada to the floor. He
goes for a canonball off the apron but Okada dodges and Tanahashi splats
on the floor! A running kick sends Tanahashi over the barricade. Okada
takes him out into the arena as Young Lion Bad Luck Fale tries to usher
the crowd away. Okada hits a tombstone on the floor! It looks like Okada is willing to take the countout win
(which would mean a title change in New Japan, though with the stigma of
being considered a cheap win), but then he goes out to motionless
Tanahashi again. He picks Tanahashi up and drags him back in the ring.
Setup slam and Okada goes up top. The elbow drop hits. He pulls
Tanahashi up to finish it. Tanahashi ducks a Rainmaker and hits a
slingblade! Cover for 2. Straitjacket German for 2. Falcon arrow slam
and Tanahashi goes up top. High Fly Flow to Okada's back. Up top again.
HIGH FLY NO Okada got his knees up! Okada's doing a great job of still selling his knee even though that was a while ago. Okada blocks a kick
and hits a high kick. Neckbreaker. DDT for a long 2. You can tell from
the crowd reaction they're taking Okada seriously now. At least as a
credible challenger, maybe not a winner. Rainmaker pose! Rainm...NO
Tanahashi counters into a dragon suplex for a LONG 2! Okada dodges a
slingblade. Conter series. RAINMAKER! He PLANTED Tanahashi with it!
OKADA GETS THE PIN TO WIN THE TITLE! OSAKA IS SHOCKED! Barely a month
back from a very bad excursion, Okada is on top in New Japan. The biggest upset in New Japan history, no matter how great Okada was
after. Tanahashi's fifth reign ends at 404 days, the longest he will
have and second longest ever at the time behind Hashimoto's 489, and the record v11 will stay there. By the time he was done Okada will
have taken both of those records out. But this first reign of his will
last just 125 days, the shortest of any reign of his, before Tanahashi
won the title back at Dominion in June. The match was fantastic, aided
by the usual great Osaka crowd (the rough Japan equivalent of Chicago in terms of wrestling crowds). The first true look at what Okada could really do in the ring, and great first chapter in one of
the greatest rivalries in history. ****1/2
