NXT Takeover: Toronto

Legacy Review

NXT Takeover: Toronto

November 19, 2016 from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto

Commentary: Tom Phillips and Corey Graves

Bobby Roode def Tye Dillinger in 16:28- This is very much a placeholder match for Roode before a main event spot opens up for him. These two randomly teamed up for the Dusty Classic but couldn't coexist long enough to make it through one match. Them turning on each other was Dillinger's official face turn after months of being the new cult darling at Full Sail. Roode gets a full chorus for his entrance while the whole crowd sings his theme again, heel or no heel. Dillinger, on top of being the new NXT homegrown darling, gets a huge almost hometown reaction. In fact both these guys are originally from Ontario. They stare down after the bell to let the crowd soak the moment in. GLORI...no, Dillinger attacks! Back and forth start. Dillinger clotheslines Roode 360 to the floor, immediately throws him back in, then clotheslines him 360 out again on the other side! Chops on the floor. Roode gets whipped into the barricade and Dillinger backdrops him on the floor. Back in Roode begs off. Dillinger is disinclined to acquiesce to the request. Means no. 10! Classic mounted punches from Dillinger, of course with a big pop for 10. He goes for another 360 clothesline but Roode backdrops him to the floor. He sneaks around the ring and runs Dillinger into the barricade, then drops him on it. Roode hits a couple of apron shots and chokes Dillinger in the corner back in. Corner clothesline. Clubbing blow off the second rope. GLORIOUS pose. Dillinger counters a neckbreaker into a backslide for 2. Corner whip and Roode hits the neckbreaker off the rebound. Kneedrop. Now Roode goes for mounted punches, very slowly, clearly mocking Dillinger. After a few Dillinger counters with an inverted atomic drop and goes into full comeback mode with rapid fire forearms, a clothesline and kneedrop. Corner stomps. The kneepad is off. Roode sees and rolls out to huge boos. He tries to walk but Dillinger chases and brings him back in. He runs into a Roode spinebuster for 2. Superplex from Roode. He gets cocky again, flashes 10 at Dillinger and also takes his kneepad off. Roode sets up to give Dillinger his own Tyebreaker! Dillinger escapes. Roode blocks a superkick, rolls Dillinger up and puts his feet on the rope. It clearly would have been a pin but the ref just barely catches the feet on the rope before hitting 3. Roode argues and Dillinger rolls him up for 2. Superkick! Roode kicks out! Both guys are slow to recover. Slugfest that starts slow but ends up being a pretty headed forearm exchange. Dillinger scoops for the Tyebreaker. Roode escapes and hooks up the Glorious DDT. Dillinger gets out, rolls, and hooks on a Sharpshooter! Roode teases tapping but manages to get to the ropes. Small package from Roode. Dillinger rolls it over for 2. Roode runs Dillinger into the post on both sides. Glorious DDT! That gets the pin. The first half was a bit meh but they got going good in the second half and the character work was great throughout. Dillinger stays in the ring after Roode leaves to soak up some crowd love. ***1/4

 

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals: The Authors of Pain (w/Paul Ellering) def TM-61 in 8:20- TM-61 is TMDK toward the start of their frankly unspectacular NXT run. They're in New Japan full time now, where TMDK is now a full blown stable led by Zack Sabre Jr. AOP were clearly being groomed as the next big team in NXT, and had defeated DIY in the tournament semifinals which would be important later. Very little reaction for either team on their entrances, especially TM. Paul Ellering is being suspended in a shark cage for this match, for two reasons outside the obvious: it's a tie in to a new toy set WWE just put out that had a shark cage with the ring, and it's a callback to The Last Battle of Atlanta, which had recently been found on an unmarked reel of film in the old WCW library after being thought for decades to have not been recorded at all (which I'd love to review sometime if WWE Network could get their shit together and put all the Hidden Gems that are on the "regular" Network on Peacock). After the extremely dramatic cage lowering Ellering gets in with surprisingly little argument. Akam jumps Miller at the bell. TM blind tag and double team AOP. Thorn falls out of the ring while giving Rezar a 360 clothesline, then Miller tope suicidas Akam. Rezar pops back up and knees Thorn. He puts Thorn on his shoulders and starts to climb the crane that's holding the cage in what can only be described as an obvious spot setup, there's no logical reason for this. Thorn fights him off and continues the climb. Dive off the crane on AOP! Again Rezar is up quick and flips Thorn ass over top on the apron. Thorn goes Mighty in peril while AOP work big guy offense on him. Ellering is still coaching from the cage. The crowd keeps trying to talk themselves into getting into the match but can never quite muster up the enthusiasm. Thorn continues to get tossed around. Finally he dropkicks Rezar into his corner, sneaks under his legs and tags. Miller slams and suplexes Akam, then hits a back suplex on Rezar. Diving forearms. The crowd is still pretty blah about it all. Moonsault on Rezar for 2. TM do stereo mounted punches. AOP lifts them up for the big collision, but TM both hurricanrana out. Thunder Valley hits! Akam makes the save. He gets tossed out and Miller hits a plancha. Thorn follows right up with a tope con hilo! TM is trying, I'll give them that. Ellering drops a chain into the ring. Rezar gets it and goes to punch, but Thorn blocks it and the chain flies all the way out into the crowd! That didn't go as intended. Thorn does a weird half sunset flip into a roll up for 2. Powerbomb from Rezar. The Last Chapter hits and it's over. Pretty bleh. **

Triple H, William Regal and Dustin Rhodes all come out for a quick trophy presentation. Everyone stands in the ring and poses for ringside photographers New Japan style.

 

Two out of Three Falls Match for the NXT Tag Team Championship: DIY def The Revival (c) in 22:18- These two teams tore the house down at the last Takeover in Brooklyn, why not do it again.

FIRST FALL- Revival have their pink and black Bret Hart/Hart Foundation trunks on for the Canada show. Dawson and Gargano start. Lots of crowd atmosphere soaking before the LOCKUP. After some basic headlock/headscissors stuff Dawson misses an elbow drop and Gargano rolls him in a magistral cradle for 2. Reset. Dawson gets a shot in on a corner break and beats Gargano down a bit. Blind DIY tag, Gargano inverted atomic drops Dawson and DIY double dropkick Revival. Quick Ciampa cover on Dawson for 2. Dawson eye rakes to get the edge back. Dash and Ciampa slug it out stiff back and forth. Slam and double team legdrop on Ciampa for 2. Dash goes for a bulldog but Ciampa pushes him into the corner. Gargano dodges Dash and gives him a snap belly to belly. Running Gargano corner chops on both Revival and he bulldogs Dash while clotheslining Dawson! Leaping neckbreaker for 2. Gargano gets caught in the wrong corner and tries to fight out. Slingshot spe....NO, DAWSON CATCHES HIM! INTO SHATTER MACHINE! Revival get the first fall!

SECOND FALL- Gargano's still wobbly but he gets a flash roll up on Dash for 2. Revival stop screwing around and pound away on Gargano. Dash clotheslines him 360 off the apron back into the ring. Slingshot suplex from Dawson for 2. Huge beatdown in the heel corner. Within the 5 count of course. Drop toe hold/elbow drop combo. Dawson wraps up a bodyscissors and scrapes Gargano's face with his forearm. Then he hooks Gargano up in a Gory Special. Gargano gets free and tries to fight out of the corner but is cut off again. Corner flipover, Gargano tries to crawl under Dash's legs to tag but Dawson sees and blocks him. Gargano tiltawhirls around Dash, nailing Dawson with a knee to the head as he goes around! Dawson does a phenomenal delayed flop sell. Always love those. DDT on Dash! Gargano slowly crawls by his fingernails to try to tag with Dawson also slow crawling to cry to cut him off. Dash does his usual sneak under the ring to pull Ciampa off the apron, but Ciampa's ready for him and fights him off! Tag! But the ref is arguing with Dash about his under the ring move and doesn't see it! Once again, an ancient tag spot made fresh. While Ciampa and the ref argue Gargano is beat down in the heel corner. HART ATTACK ON GARGANO! Gargano kicks out! Dash tries to back superplex Gargano but Gargano rolls over to cover for 2. Dawson tags in and grabs Gargano's tights to keep him from tagging....but Gargano back elbows Dawson and reaches Ciampa to tag! Shotgun dropkick off the top from Ciampa. Corner running knee. Fameasser for 2. Ciampa catches Dash coming in. Dawson tries a roll up off the distraction but Ciampa's quickly out. Ciampa German suplex! Rolling Germans! Running knee! Dawson kicks out! Revival try to set up a double team but Ciampa crossbodys Dawson off the top for a long 2. Dash is taken out again. DIY finisher! Pin! We're tied up.

THIRD FALL- Both sides get recovery time and we restart with Ciampa and Dash upright and throwing haymakers. Big open hand slap from Ciampa. Dawson blind tags in and tries a DDT, lots of arm counters, Ciampa tries a Fujiwara armbar, but Dawson counters with a crucifix for 2. Gargano blind tags in and Dawson runs right into a kick from him. Dash wipes Ciampa out with an uppercut but Gargano cuts him off with an apron PK. Gargano over the top rope DDT! Dawson kicks out! Another counter run. Revival outmaneuver Gargano and hit an uppercut/German suplex combo. Ciampa makes the save. Dawson posts Ciampa's shoulder. Gargano gets caught in the wrong part of town again. He tries to fight out and pounds Dawson with forearms. Gargano flips out of a backslide and gets a small package on Dawson for 2. The crowd is completely eating up every near fall now. Dash gets one of the tag belts and leaves it in the ring. Ciampa Cactus clothesline on Dash! Gargano goes for his rolling kick on Dawson. Dawson blocks the kick with the belt! Gargano's knee is hurt again! Inverted figure four! This is what won the last match. Gargano fights, almost taps, fights again, crawls, and gets to the ropes! Dash tags in. Oh no. Revival want to do DIY's finisher. Gargano dodges and Dash superkicks Dawson! DIY HIT SHATTER MACHINE! DAWSON SAVES THE PIN! Dawson plays possum Bret Hart style while things cool down. He gets a flash roll up on Gargano, with a handful of tights! Right before the ref counts 3 he sees the tights pull! Dash posts Ciampa. Gargano superkick on Dawson! Dash comes from behind and clips Gargano in the bad knee! Gargano gets a small package for 2. Dash jackknife cover for 2. Gargano cruicifix for 2. Into the GargaNo Escape! FUJIWARA ARMBAR FROM CIAMPA ON DAWSON! Revival grab each other's hands.....BUT THEY BOTH TAP OUT! MASSIVE POP! DIY do some crowd celebrating after. An absolute tag team masterpiece. Great story, nuclear hot crowd, incredible wrestling. This is still the standard by which all NXT tag title matches should be judged. *****

 

NXT Women's Championship: Asuka (c) def Mickie James in 13:07- The still undefeated Asuka demanded some real competition after putting all the other women in NXT away, so in stepped WWE legend Mickie James, making her return to the company after a long run in TNA. The NXT women's division was in flux at this point, with the Four Horsewomen all up on the main roster now and the holes they left hadn't been completely filled yet (that would be the main purpose of the first Mae Young Classic tournament the following summer). Nice pop for James for her return. All the fans on the entrance aisle are wearing Asuka's dollface mask on her entrance. Correction, everyone ringside is. Small "welcome back" chant for James on her formal intro. Big "Asuka's gonna kill you" chant after her intro. Cautious jockeying start into the lockup. A rough one. James and Asuka take each other down and never let the lockup go! Finally they break after the most epic lockup ever. Fantastic. The crowd loves it. Code of Honor handshake with some jawing. James cranks a headlock. Shoulderblock standoff. Takedown counters and Asuka does some arm work. James cartwheels and armdrags out. Shining wizard from James and Asuka rolls out to recover. James holds the ropes open for Asuka to get back in. She does cleanly. Hammerlock exchange. James tries to snap mare out but Asuka hangs on. Finally James gets a fireman's carry takedown into an ARMBAR. Asuka counters with a headscissors. After James escapes both lay in the first strikes of the match as things crank up. Asuka hip attack! James goes to the floor. Now Asuka holds the ropes open for her. Asuka does not let her get in clean. Another hip attack sends James back to the floor. James dodges a hip attack off the apron. Superkick! Flying headscissors on the floor. Asuka grabs a kick and puts on an ankle lock. She German suplexes James on the floor! James is a crumpled heap on the floor. She slowly crawls back in. Asuka tosses her across the ring by the hair and hits a corner dropkick to James' arm. Ground and pound from Asuka. Another hip attack against the ropes. She cobra twists James in the ropes. James dodges another rope hip attack. Chest kicks from Asuka. James grabs a running kick into a single leg crab. Into a Mutalock! Asuka gets to the ropes. I love how James kept the hold on completely and Asuka was legit carrying all her weight while she crawled toward the ropes. Forearm exchange. Asuka starts getting strike momentum. James ducks the spinning back fist and slaps Asuka! Uh oh. Now Asuka's got that MurderAsuka look. James effed up. But she ducks a strike into a neckbreaker. Running forearms from James. She dodges an Asuka splash attempt off the second rope. Flatliner and kip up. Splash off the top rope. Asuka kicks out. Asuka blocks a DDT into an armbreaker. James quickly grabs a rope. James ducks a kick and hits a huge roundhouse kick for 2. James goes for the DDT again. Counter into the Asuka Lock! James tries to counter and roll out, gets on top of Asuka for a brief cover, but Asuka gets her fully over and trapped. James taps! James offers a handshake after but Asuka sticks the belt in her face instead. James would end up going back to the main WWE roster full time at the start of '17 for a run as a player/coach. Perfectly good match though they had some communication trouble a time or two, and a very nice return for James, but the outcome was never in doubt. ***1/4

 

NXT Championship: Samoa Joe def Shinsuke Nakamura (c) in 20:12- This is Joe's rematch after Nakamura beat him for the title at the last Takeover. What's bigger than having one live violin player for Nakamura's entrance? Why a whole group of them of course! It's cool but the one guy that became Nakamura's big entrance regular when he was still being booked like Nakafreakingmura was better. They all seem to be playing different things too. Holy moly the crowd is nuts for Nakamura. I miss these days. As soon as the bell rings Nakamura unloads kicks. Joe strikes back. Good back and forth brawl. Rope break and Nakamura head waggle. Joe tries to use the opening for knee strikes but Nakamura squirts away. Come on knee, snap mare and kneedrop. Good vibrations. Joe rolls out for a think. Nakamura walks into a big chop. He kicks Joe over the barricade into the crowd! Crowd brawl! It's 1999 all over again! Joe gets flipped back over the barricade to ringside. Back in Joe reverses a corner whip and hits a back elbow and enzuguri. Corner boot scrapes. I really thought he was going to do his own good vibrations then. Joe goes for the running corner boot but Nakamura's seen it before and cuts it off with a knee to the gut. Ground knees to Joe's head. Nakamura runs into a Joe uranage! High impact offense sequence from Joe. Unique slam from Joe where he drops Nakamura's knees right on the mat. Kneebar from Joe. Nakamura manages to fight out with no rope break. Joe tries for a single leg crab but Nakamura fights it being put on all the way. Nakamura gets tossed to the floor. Joe TOPE SUICIDA! That always looks like an interior defensive lineman spearing a very small QB for a sack. Joe sets the stairs up. He looks to slam Nakamura on them but Nakamura fights away. Back in Joe looks like he's in full playing with his food mode. Nakamura gets a ripcord knee and misdirection kick. Both guys are down. One foot Nakamura dropkick. More knees and a kick to the face. Enzuguri. Corner knee. Nakamura hooks on a guillotine. Joe body slams out. Inverted atomic drop, big boot and senton from Joe for 2. Powerbomb for 2, into a Boston crab. Into an STF. Into a crossface. Nakamura escapes into an armbreaker try. Joe snap powerslam for 2. Nakamura sets up for the second rope knee strike. Joe Pele kicks him off and onto the apron! A kick from Nakamura puts Joe down again. Apron running knee. Second rope mini-kinshasa! Nakamura landed bad and both guys are down again. When they get up there's another stand up strike exchange. Joe is first down. Joe fights out of a reverse exploder attempt. Nakamura slips out of a suplex and hits a German! He sets up to finish it. Joe dodges and Nakamura runs knee first into the turnbuckle! Sweep kick from Joe. Muscle buster setup....Nakamura barely squeaks away in the middle of the ring! KINSHASA! JOE KICKS OUT! Nakamura definitely didn't get all of that one. Another go. Joe grabs the coquina clutch! The crowd sings Nakamura's music to inspire him. He backs Joe into the corner to get out. Joe keeps a waistlock and BURIES Nakamura with a German! DRAGON SUPLEX! Straitjacket German! Nakamura kicks out! Nakamura ducks a forearm. Kinshasa to the back of Joe's head! Joe falls out of the ring! The ref goes out to check on him. Nakamura loads up for another kinshasa on the floor. Joe shoves the ref aside and low blows Nakamura! Uranage onto the previously set up stairs! Joe throws Nakamura back in. MUSCLE BUSTER! Pin and new champ! Wow. I distinctly remember how shocking this was. Everyone thought Joe would put Nakamura over one more time before going up to the main roster. Instead, he becomes the first ever two time NXT Champion. I think this was very much a thank you from Triple H for all the work Joe had done, main eventing five straight Takeovers, easily the most ever to that point. It also allowed Nakamura to win the title back in his home country two weeks later during NXT's first ever tour of Japan, also making Nakamura a two time champion and marking the end of Joe's NXT run. He would move up to the main roster right after the '17 Royal Rumble. Even though I like the result less (nothing against Joe, Nakamura's one of my all time favorites), this was definitely the better of the two matches and a great Takeover main event. ****1/2

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- NXT closes 2016 with another superb Takeover. As the year ended they remained the hottest thing in all of wrestling, although at this point New Japan was starting to catch up thanks to the popularity explosion of Bullet Club/The Elite in hardcore circles, and the incredible Omega/Okada matches bringing more eyeballs to their product. Over the course of the year NXT had also shown remarkable skill at constantly refreshing the roster, bringing in huge new names as more guys moved up to the main roster. Sadly that wouldn't work forever as the talent pool available was not infinite. But NXT still had a least a couple of years left as the red hot product in the industry.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: A-

Wrestling World 2004

Legacy Review

Wrestling World 2004

January 4, 2004 from the Tokyo Dome

We're still in the doldrums of Inokism, NJPW's roughest period. This show features the largest card on any 1/4 show to date with a whopping 15 matches. Many familiar names to modern fans make their Dome debut on this show as New Japan continues to rebuild its roster following some high-profile defections.

As usual this is from the New Japan World archives so Japanese commentary only. Also, it's not mentioned on Wiki or Cagematch, but World lists the first five matches as "special gifts match", which through crappy online translation likely means preshow. Also this looks to me like the first Dome show to be recorded in HD, well before US companies made the transition.

Hirooki Goto def Naofumi Yamamoto in 6:21- "Always the bridesmaid but never the bride" Goto is making his Dome debut as a Young Lion. So is Yamamoto, who will later become known to US audiences as Yoshi Tatsu in WWE, a name he'd take back with him to New Japan for his fun run as the "Bullet Club Hunter". Him doing Triple H's entrance was a sight. Good lord, Yamamoto/Tatsu is bald. That look will change. Goto is also much smaller than he would be. I guess he hadn't grown into his body yet. There's hardly anyone in the crowd and no commentary so this must be a preshow. Typical Young Lion basic stuff at the start with lots of mat wrestling. Yamamoto blocks armbar attempts. He gets a drop toe hold into a legbar. Goto reverses into a single leg crab. Basic Goto slam and cover for 2. He works a headlock. Forearm exchange. Yamamoto hiptoss into an armbar. Dropkick for 2. Yamamoto locks in Young Lion Submission Hold 1A, the Boston crab. Goto gets to the ropes. Chop time. Goto dropkick. Goto whips Yamamoto in the middle of the ring but for some reason Yamamoto switches direction mid-whip for the corner instead. Goto corner dropkick. Belly to belly suplex. Boston crab. Yamamoto tires to fight but Goto sits on him and he has to tap. Perfectly serviceable training match, both guys looked very green still with clearly limited movesets. *3/4

 

Katsushi Takemura def El Samurai in 6:53- Takemura was mostly an All Japan wrestler that was having a cup of coffee in New Japan. Takemura attacks during intros. He ducks a Samurai leapfrog, turns and gives him a belly to belly suplex. Standing switch into a Samurai reverse DDT. Takemura fights out of an armbar. Samurai takes control with some fairly basic offense. Takemura goes to mask pulling and eye raking to get out. Both guys are heeling it up a bit here. Takemura starts undoing Samurai's mask. Samurai corner lariato and DDT. Headbutt off the top for 2. Another Samurai reverse DDT. Powerbomb for a long 2. Takemura dodges in the corner and hits a rolling kick to Samurai's back. German for 2. Samurai transitions into a kimura! Takemura gets a foot on the rope. Samurai takes forever to set up, hits a running lariato to Takemura's back, then runs into a sloppy Takemura Frankensteiner for 2. Some kind of arm suplex with a bridge from Takemura for 2. Moonsault off the top and that gets the pin. Bleh, not a lot happening here. *1/2

 

Makai #1, Mitsuya Nagai, Ryota Chikuzen and Ryushi Yanagisawa def Enson Inoue, Hiro Saito, Michiyoshi Ohara and Tatutoshi Goto in 11:55- After being the big new heel stable in New Japan the previous year, Makai Club was in their waning months. This is a preshow large undercard tag match on a 15 match show with no real huge names, so you'll excuse me if I save some time and breeze through this one. The brawl starts before intros are even done. Things settle in with the anti-Makai crowd taking control before Goto gets caught in the heel corner. An uppercut is completely whiffed but sold anyway. Saito has some serious balding going on. The big wrestler looking ref with Tenzan's haircut is working this match again, I remember him giving Makai Club a questionable win at last year's show. No such shenanigans this year though, after the mandatory donnybrook the Makai team gang up on Goto and get a clean pin. *

 

Toru Yano and Shinya Makabe def Blue Wolf and Wataru Inoue in 10:18- Yano is also making his Dome debut, and this is not the Yano we know and love now. In the first half of his career he was a mega-heel. Or at least he would be after this, he hasn't dyed his hair blonde yet. Makabe was slowly starting to work his way up the card, and later in the year in his first G1 he would change his name to what we know him by now- Togi Makabe. Wolf is a Mongolian wrestler that had a short career in New Japan. Inoue was on his way up to be one of the bigger stars of the junior division the second half of the decade. Yano and Wolf start. Wolf wins the first exchange and goes into some leg work. Inoue gets the better of Makabe with some slaps. The larger Makabe blocks a slam and hits one of his own. Makabe and Wolf pound each other. Huge open hand strike exchange that gets what there is of a crowd going a bit. Yano tags in, walks into an Inoue spinning heel kick and gets worked over again. Yano's getting nothing in this match, no wonder he was so pissed off at the world after. For years. He tries a stand up strike exchange with Wolf but gets put down again. Inoue suplex on Yano for 2. Boston crab time. Makabe breaks it up. Ugly spear from Yano. Tag to Makabe. Wolf powerslams him for 2. Makabe no sells a Wolf suplex and Saito suplexes him. Tag to Yano. Let's see how this goes. Yano belly to belly on Wolf for 2. Corner lariato/high knee double team on Yano and Inoue flips him over into an armbar. Makabe kicks Inoue out of it after much resistance. Tag. Inoue brain busters Makabe for 2. Makabe spear! A German on Inoue gets the pin. Decentish. I'm not sure the right team won based on who looked good in the match but as I said Makabe was on the rise. Yano did look awful green. **

 

Masayuki Naruse def Tadao Yasuda in 2:30- This is a couple of Inoki's MMA guys going at it, though Naruse transitioned into wrestling smoother than most of the others did. Yasuda was the leader of Makai Club. We've got commentary for this match but it's still the preshow. Yasuda hits some ground knees. He gets Naruse in a front facelock. The ref warns Yasuda for working Naruse over on the ropes. Naruse dodges in the corner and hits a messy .5 German. Chest kicks. He goes for another German but Yasuda low blows him. Another ref warning. Yasuda low blows again! The ref stops the match. After a discussion the match is restarted. Naruse runs into a big boot. He blocks a second and hits a dragon screw. Rear naked choke. Yasuda goes out and it's over. Pretty pointless. 1/2*

That's it for the preshow, the main show starts...........now.

 

Ryuske Taguchi def Akiya Anzawa in 4:53- Another Dome debut, this time the Funky Weapon himself and future organizer of Taguchi Japan. Anzawa was a Young Lion that wouldn't last long in New Japan or wrestling as a whole. Rough young boy lockup. Anzawa double leg lift and takedown and he goes for a quick Boston crab. Taguchi escapes. Basic headlock/headscissors exchange. Taguchi shoulderblock for 2. It's weird seeing him this intense. I love Big Match Gutch when he shows up but he still has some fun. Both guys try for arm submissions. Taguchi gets some ground strikes in. Forearm exchange. Taguchi blocks a slam and it's open hand strike exchange time. Taguchi slam for 2. He stretches out an armbar and Anzawa just gets a foot on the ropes. More stiff open hand slaps with Anzawa getting the edge. Running forearms. Taguchi dropkick and that gets a pin. Another fine training match. These guys were clearly a bit further along than Goto and Tatsu. **

 

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Gedo and Jado (c) def Tiger Mask and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Heat in 17:15- Heat was in his third reign with the junior title (the first two were unmasked under his real name Minoru Tanaka). He defeated Jado for that title and would hold it over a year, until the next year's 1/4 show. Heat's mask looks more Liger like than ever. Jado and Heat start. Lockup games and a speed/counter stalemate. Gedo stomps TM down in the corner. TM dodges a corner lariato and lays in kicks. Suplex and kneedrop. TM ducks under an elbow and tope suicidas the big guy cornering the champs on the outside! I honestly don't recognize who that is and nothing online helps. He's no junior, that's for sure. TM dodges a Gedo baseball slide and he kicks his own guy! TM crossbody off the top rope to the floor on both guys! Back in Gedo's knee gets worked on by both challengers. TM kneedrop off the top rope onto the knee. Big eye rake from Gedo on Heat to get momentum back. Jado starts pummeling Heat's back, clearly a weak point because he crumples up pretty quickly. Exposed buckle shot in the heel corner. Gedo eschews the back work for more eye raking. Another hard exposed buckle shot. Jado dodges a Heat dropkick. Heat rolls through, goes again, hits it and tags. TM missile dropkick. Standing moonsault knees for 2. The big guy outside distracts the ref and Gedo runs in with a low blow on TM. Jado dodges TM swings, hits another quick low blow and puts on a crossface. Heat gets free from Gedo and makes the save. Jado and TM have kind of a rough exchange that neither seems sure of what to do. Gedo faceplant for 2. TM flips out of a German and hits a Pele kick. Tag. Gedo dodges a Heat dropkick off the second rope. Heat basement dropkick to the knee on Gedo they were working earlier. Single leg crab. Jado tries to break it up and TM gets him out. Heat lets go anyway. Gedo collapses on a whip attempt. Standing switches and Heat rolls up a kneebar. Gedo gets to the ropes. Lots of blocks and counters ending with Heat landing a kick on Gedo's head. Everyone in the pool! Everyone takes shots and everyone's down. Heat dodges in the corner and rolls Gedo up for 2. Gedo inverted atomic drop/DDT combo for 2. Heat gets his knees up on a frog splash. TM with a tiger suplex. Heat fisherman's suplex for 2. Gedo blocks a kneebar and sits on Heat for a long 2, but on the kickout Heat rolls the kneebar in! The ref stops the big guy from coming in with one of the belts to interfere. After a long fight Gedo makes the ropes. Gedo drop toe hold. Gedo clutch! Heat kicks out! Gedo has the belt and whacks Heat in the head with it! Frog splash! Heat kicks out again! I think that mask is padded. Heat roll up for 2. The big guy holds TM back while Gedo and Jado hit their double team powerbomb. Another frog splash and Heat's not getting up now. Good but not great. ***

In March Gedo and Jado would drop the junior tag titles to the team of American Dragon and Curry Man. American Dragon you should know is Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan, winning the only title he's won in New Japan to date. That needs to change before he's done. Curry Man is not a man made of curry, this isn't a Red Dwarf episode. It's Christopher Daniels under a mask, a ridiculous but fun character he'd later bring back in TNA and, naturally, Chikara.

 

GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship: Jushin Thunder Liger def Takashi Sugiura (c) in 17:52- Nice to see someone's junior title being defended on a 1/4 show, in this case Pro Wrestling NOAH's, and even better having Liger in the match. This is Liger's first singles match on a 1/4 Dome show since 2000. Even though he was fully into his heel run at this point and would form Control Terrorism Unit (CTU) later in the year, since this is an interpromotional match it's more classic babyface Liger for this one. He's back in his normal red and white gear to hammer that home. Rough lockup. Liger slaps on the corner break. Midring slap exchange. Liger hits a rolling kick. Sugiura no sells it and hits a spear! Shotei from Liger and Sugiura rolls out. Liger baseball slide. Crossbody off the top to the floor. Sugiura attacks as Liger gets back in the ring. Mat leverage fight. Liger hooks on a camel clutch. Sugiura gets on top but the NOAH ref straight stops him from throwing a closed fist punch. He hooks on a kimura instead. Liger counters with a legbar. He works on Sugiura's leg for a bit, with some jawing and slapping. Sugiura puts on almost a straight choke. Liger jerks his whole body like he's being choked for real. After a minute Sugiura lets go and covers for 2. Dropkick from Liger and Sugiura goes to the floor again. Liger tries the baseball slide again. This time Sugiura dodges, lifts Liger up by the waist, carries him all the way up the ramp, and suplexes him! Pretty impressive raw power display. Sugiura mocks a fan in full Liger cosplay that's in front of him. He drags Liger back in and covers for 2. Liger tries to fight back but a huge forearm puts him down again. Sugiura suplex into a chinlock/rear choke. Liger dodges in the corner and gets a roll up for 2. Sunset flip for 2. Back suplex and now it's Liger's turn for a chinlock/choke. Corner shoteis. Liger hits a hurricanrana off the top for 2. Another spear from Sugiura. Corner spear/suplex combo for 2. Sugiura ducks a shotei and hits a German. Another German for 2. Sugirua comes off the top rope, right into a shotei! Liger fisherman buster for 2. Sugiura flips out of a powerbomb, blocks a shotei, and hits an Angle slam! Olympic slam, whatever. I always preferred Angle slam even if it's not from Angle. Sugiura dragon suplex! Liger kicks out! Sugiura sets Liger up top and goes for an avalanche Angle slam. Liger blocks and shoteis him back down to the mat. He goes for a splash but Sugiura gets his knees up. They go out to the ramp again. Sugiura goes for an Angle slam on the ramp but Liger blocks it. LIGER BOMB ON THE RAMP! Sugiura barely beats the 20 count to get back in. Shotei! Cover for 2. Liger brain buster. He goes for another. Sugiura counters into another Angle slam! Slow cover for 2. Liger hits another brain buster! Shotei! He sets Sugiura up top. Avalanche brain buster! That gets the pin and Liger has stolen NOAH junior title! Another good but not great match. It had some dull stretches, especially by Liger's standards. Sugiura wrestled more like a heavyweight which gave the match a bit of a weird vibe. ***1/4

 

IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) def Yutaka Yoshie in 17:06- The U-30 title was a short lived title intended to give the younger guys a spotlight. U-30 literally means under 30, as in under 30 years old. The title was basically created for Tanahashi, who even with Inokism clouding their judgement the company rightly saw huge things in. Feeling out start. Tanahashi manages to put on a waistlock, no easy feat with Yoshie's, er, girth. Headlock fight. They knucklelock for a test of strength that Yoshie wins easily. He gives Tanahashi some power shots. Tanahashi gets a leg takedown and goes for a Boston crab. Yoshie easily powers out and hits a butt splash. More Yoshie power shots. Powerslam and splash for 2. Now it's his turn to go for a Boston crab. It's been a crabby sort of night so far. Tanahashi tries to power out but can't and settles for a rope break instead. Drop toe hold from Tanahashi and Yoshie hurts his taped up knee on the way down. Tanahashi identifies the target and goes to work. Yoshie's vocally selling the hell out of it, I'll give him that. Tanahashi dropkicks the knee on the ropes and tells Yoshie to get his fat ass up. Hey, I'm just translating here. Forearms and response forearms. A Yoshie slap puts Tanahashi against the ropes. Yoshie lifts him up by the legs and flips him out to the floor! Tanahashi tries to pull Yoshie out with him but Yoshie kicks and Tanahashi falls back and flips backward over the barricade! That was just about on the Mr. Perfect/Dolph Ziggler overselling meter. Back in Yoshie works some more power offense. He squashes Tanahashi in the corner. Tanahashi gets a sunset flip but Yoshie butt splashes him for 2. Corner whip reversal by Tanahashi and he hits a corner dropkick. He manages to slam Yoshie! Shotgun dropkick off the top rope. Suplex from Tanahashi! Not much air time on that but he got Yoshie over. Enzuguri off the second rope. German for 2! Tanahashi goes for a dragon suplex, which I believe was his finisher this early in his career. Yoshie backs him into the corner. Tanahashi makes the mistake of getting on Yoshie's shoulders in an electric chair position. Yoshie drops him. Dragon sleeper from Tanahashi! Yoshie powers out and hits a German. Avalanche. Thesz press for 2. Thesz press from the second rope for 2. Tanahashi dropkicks Yoshie's bad knee again. Dragon screw! He goes for a figure four but Yoshie floors him with a punch. Yoshie goes for the splash off the top rope (HE'S A UNIT, KEVIN) but Tanahashi dodges. Yoshie ducks a Tanahashi enzuguri and hits a back elbow. The knee gives out. A trio of Tanahashi enzuguris put Yoshie down. Dragon suplex! That gets the pin. Tanahashi did the best he could with what he was given. He was too young to be a miracle worker just yet. **1/2

 

Josh Barnett and Takashi Iizuka def Kazunari Murakami and Katsuyori Shibata in 16:04- Shibata and Murakami are also Makai Club, and both are decked out in full MMA gear. As soon as the bell rings Shibata charges Barnett with a high knee. They go into some typical MMA grappling. Shibata's got the ESPN logo on his tights. Wonder what that sponsorship deal was. Barnett hits hammy kicks on Shibata. More grappling. Iizuka continues the attack on Shibata's hammy. Barnett slams Shibata on the floor. Shibata headbutts Iizuka back to the Makai corner and tags. Murakami works Iizuka over. The ref has to physically separate them in the corner. Murakami stays all over Iizuka. Iizuka fights back with ground elbows. Shibata comes in to protest. A pissed off Murakami straight right floors Iizuka. He pushes the ref aside to continue the attack in the ropes. Shibata hits knees and kicks. Cover for 2. The beatings on Iizuka will continue until morale improves. He takes more stiff shots in the corner. Murakami tosses Iizuka into his own corner. Iizuka wakes up enough to trap Murakami in the corner and tags out. Barnett comes in hot and pummels Murakami in the corner. Yet another Boston crab. I haven't seen so many crabs passed around in one night outside a college frat party. Murakami tries to escape so Barnett transitions into an ankle lock. Rope break. Murakami gets beat down in the face corner. He fights back on Iizuka and gets the advantage again. Iizuka puts on a sleeper. Shibata makes the save. They go to the floor and Murakami gets posted while Barnett attacks Shibata. Barnett guillotine on Murakami. He hits ground elbows into an armbar. Another rope break. German from Barnett. He hits an exploder suplex on Murakami and that gets the pin. It was well worked and stiff as hell, and while I love Shibata and respect Barnett, despite the stiffness I've been very clear over these reviews that I just can't get into this pseudo MMA stuff. **1/4

 

Osamu Nishimura def Minoru Suzuki in 9:39- Here's the last of our big debuts, the King of Pro Wrestling Minoru Suzuki. He'd made his name MMA fighting in Pancrase, but had wrestling training before that and knew what he was doing. He's also heel blonde for this match. Nishimura was more an old school wrestler that was mentored by Tatsumi Fujinami. Cautious start. Suzuki shocks everyone by giving Nishimura a clean corner break. Nishimura tries the same on the next exchange but Suzuki slaps him. Suzuki rides Nishimura on the mat. Almost literally. Nishimura grabs a headscissors that Suzuki slowly escapes from. Now Suzuki puts on a headscissors. Nishimura also goes through an elaborate escape routine, but while doing it Suzuki has a look on his face that says he's got an evil plan in mind and Nishimura's falling right into it. Nishimura handstands to get out, and when he does Suzuki grabs his arm into an armbar! Nishimura gets a foot on the ropes and rolls out to recover, physically and mentally. Back in Suzuki grabs the top rope to block a whip so Nishimura uppercuts him. Suzuki dodges a dropkick and hits his own. No clean rope break from Suzuki this time. He lays in kicks on Nishimura's arm, his strategy clear. Nishimura grabs a leg and gives Suzuki a dragon screw. Spinning toe hold. Suzuki counters into another armbar! Again Nishimura just gets a foot on the rope. The Gotch style piledriver hits. Suzuki grabs a Fujiwara armbar and *cranks* on it. Somehow Nishimura doesn't submit. Suzuki lets go and puts a rear naked choke on. Nishimura falls into the ropes to get a break. Cobra twist cradle from Nishimura for 2. Backslide for 2. Suzuki uses that to grab another armbar! Another just barely rope break. Suzuki stays on the arm. Nishimura counters into another backslide and gets the pin! Decent but it never really hit high gear. I'm not sure the right guy won either. Regardless Suzuki came off as a murderous badass, and even this early in his career his facial expressions during a match are second to none. **1/2

 

Manabu Nakanishi def Genichiro Tenryu in 10:20- One of Japan's most famous and consistent freelancers, Tenryu is making another of his occasional New Japan stops and would stick around most of the year. Nakanishi's going with leather pants tonight rather than his usual generic black trunks. Both guys hit chops on rope breaks after the initial lockups. Nakanishi shoulderblock. After that they go into a very long chop off sequence, just pounding each other's chests. Eventually Tenryu falls out of the ring. Nakanishi hits a (very gentle) spear off the apron. More chops all around the ring. Both guys' chests have to be hamburger meat by now. Red Shoes starting a count is the only thing that gets their attention to get back in the ring. Nakanishi picks Tenryu up into an Alabama slam. Backbreaker. The torture tack is on! Tenryu tries to grab a rear choke as a counter, gets out, and hits a bulldog. Enziguri. DDT for 2. Weak Tenryu lariato. He goes for another but Nakanishi grabs him and suplexes him. Powerbomb. Nakanishi goes up top. Tenryu chops him, then Nakanishi very obligingly turns around so Tenryu can powerbomb him off the top rope. Elbow drop and another enzuguri. More chops. Corner lariato and corner chop/punch combo from Tenryu. Another DDT for 2. More lariatos. Nakanishi counters into another rack. Tenryu manages not to submit. Nakanishi suplexes him off the apron back in. A Nakanishi knee off the top rope whiffs but Tenryu sells it anyway for 2. Double lariato, no one goes down. Follow up lariato by Nakanishi. He hits a perfectplex and gets the pin. It started out fun with the crazy chop fest, but after that Tenryu's age was definitely showing, and Nakanishi's ceiling and ability to carry someone was always pretty low. *3/4

 

Yuji Nagata def Kensuke Sasaki in 12:10- This is a powerhouse upper card matchup. Nagata had a year long run with the Heavyweight title in '02-'03 and had established himself as one of the company's top stars. Sasaki was the dominant Heavyweight champion the couple of years before that, but disagreements with management had caused him to go freelance, though he did still have a couple of Heavyweight title reigns in his future. Multiple refs are in the ring to keep them separated for intros. The bell rings and both guys charge in right to an open hand slugfest. Nagata hits kicks and a belly to belly suplex. Sasaki lariato. The crowd is fully into this already, reacting to every move. Sasaki gets an armbar and Nagata gets to the ropes. Sasaki won't let go and they fall to the floor. He runs Nagata into the barricade, then grabs a chair and hits Nagata a couple of times. Nagata kicks the chair into Sasaki's face! Sasaki is busted open. Nagata attacks the cut. Exploder suplex on the floor! Sasaki ducks a kick, whacks Nagata super stiff in the back of the neck with a clubbing blow, and runs his head into the post a few times. Now Nagata is bleeding. Red Shoes gets tossed aside as all they want to do is fight. Both guys get back in the ring and are absolute bloody messes. Headbutts from Sasaki. More back and forth slugging. Stiff slaps. Sasaki lariato. There's blood all over both guys' bodies. No telling whose is whose. While Nagata is laying on the mat blood is literally pooling behind his head. I mean literally. You can see a light reflection in it. Sasaki bites Nagata's cut! And spits blood out of his mouth! Red Shoes' white shirt even has blood on it in several places. Nagata tries to hulk up but keeps going down. Red Shoes checks if he's OK to continue. HUGE Sasaki lariato! Northern lights buster! No cover. Red Shoes gets the other refs to hold Sasaki back while he counts Nagata out. Sasaki breaks the count up. Powerslam. More cut punches. Nagata lands a head kick! Running corner knee! Another head kick! Nagata lock! This goes on for several minutes. Sasaki refuses to submit, but he can't escape either. Sasaki's chest and Nagata's arm are literally covered in blood. Finally Red Shoes says enough is enough and calls the match. That was a brutal, bloody, beautifully violent war. It's seriously one of the bloodiest matches I've seen in my whole life, up there with Magnum TA and Tully Blanchard at Starrcade '85. ****

 

Keiji Mutoh and Bob Sapp def Cho-Ten in 21:00- New Japan legend Mutoh is making his first return to the company after his shocking defection to All Japan in early '02. Sapp is one of Inoki's favorite MMA ringers and a bloody huge guy. He would inexplicably win the IWGP Heavyweight title later in the year in one of the worst examples of Inokism run amok. Tenzan was coming off his short first run with the Heavyweight title and also won the '03 G1 Climax, his first of two straight and three tournament wins in four years. The ring mat is covered with dried or partially dried up blood from the last match. Sapp and Tenzan start. Shoulderblock standoffs. Sapp hits an avalanche. Tenzan responds with headbutts and his signature Mongolian chops. He tries to slam Sapp but naturally it doesn't go well. Sapp slams him instead. Spinning heel kick from Tenzan. Mutoh tags in to a huge pop. He tries some leg work on Tenzan and hits his signature elbow drop. Tenzan Saito suplex. Chono tags in and goes face to face with his forever rival Mutoh once again. Lots of caution from both guys. Chono works a facelock. Mutoh ducks a Yakuza kick and hits a dropkick. He tries to put Chono in his own STF. Chono blocks it, and when they get back up gives Mutoh a dragon screw. Now Chono tries for a figure four but Mutoh is already in the ropes. Sapp tags in and easily overpowers Chono. Chono uses a test of strength to get some shots in. Criss cross. Chono dodges a punch to the delight of the crowd. He manages to get Sapp in a cobra twist. Sapp counters into a sleeper. Tenzan breaks it up. Chono dodges and Sapp crashes into the corner shoulder first. Cho-Ten go to work on the hurt body part. Sapp gets tossed out and Chono runs his shoulder into the post. Back in Tenzan tries to suplex Sapp. No go. Chono comes in and they both try. Sapp suplexes both of them instead! Tag to Mutoh. Dropkick to Tenzan's knee and dragon screw. Shotgun dropkick off the top rope. He hurricanranas Tenzan off the top for 2. Tenzan counters with a suplex and tags. Chono Yakuza kicks hit and Mutoh falls to the floor. Chono tope suicida! While that's going on the ref is explaining the tag rope to Sapp. Remedial wrestling education during a match. Cho-Ten Hart Attack like double team on Mutoh back in. Chono tries Mutoh's own move the shining wizard but Mutoh blocks it! Chono blocks Mutoh's shining wizard! The STF is on! Mutoh gets to the ropes. Dragon screw! Figure four! Tenzan breaks it up with a headbutt off the top rope! Chono hits a shining wizard! So does Mutoh! Both sides tag. Sapp lariato. Tenzan Mongolian chops. Sapp blocks and hits a Mongolian chop! He press slams Tenzan. 3 point stance football tackle. Tenzan ducks a lariato and Chono trips Sapp. Tenzan slams Sapp! Headbutt off the top rope! Tenzan puts on the Anaconda Vice! Mutoh breaks it up. Corner lariato/Yakuza kick combo on Sapp. He shrugs it off. Headbutt on Chono. Mutoh hits Tenzan with a shining wizard. Sapp hits a shining wizard on Chono! Powerbomb and Sapp gets the pin! It tried hard to be good but didn't quite get there. Considering the talent of most of the guys in there it's a bit of a disappointment. **3/4

 

Title vs Title Match: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura def NWF Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Takayama in 13:55- "Super rookie" Nakamura pulled off one of the biggest upsets in company history the previous December, winning the Heavyweight title from Tenzan and becoming the youngest IWGP Heavyweight champion ever. The NWF title was essentially the "hybrid MMA" title, won by Takayama at the previous year's 1/4 show and held by him since. He also held the IWGP Heavyweight title for a good chunk of '03. Nakamura looks like he hasn't slept for a week. They go nose to nose after intros before the bell. Nakmura charges at the bell with a takedown and instantly tries for a legbar. Takayama gets to the ropes and looks surprised. Back and forth grappling. Nakamura goes for the leg again and Takayama tries to turn it into an armbar. Takayama hits clubbing blows, then kicks Nakamura right in the face! That gets a slow motion replay. Nakamura grabs a rear naked choke. Takayama tries to flip him over but Nakamura holds onto it. Another rope break. Nakamura belly to belly suplex. Takayama blocks a German but Nakamura keeps fighting and eventually hits it! He goes for a triangle choke. Takayama lifts and slams him. Legdrop. Measured blows from Takayama. A closed fist gets a Red Shoes warning. Takayama kicks Nakamura 360 over the top to the floor. He drops Nakamura on the guardrail. More knees and kicks to the head. Back in Nakamura tries to fight back with forearms. Another punch puts him back down. More flurry attempts and more punch cutoffs. Takayama hits nasty looking measured elbows right on Nakamura's forehead. Knee to Nakamura's face and a one foot cover for 2. Another knee. The match is all Takayama. It almost looks like he's toying with Nakamura and not even trying to put it away yet. Nakamura reverses a whip into another triangle attempt! Takayama tries the slam counter again, but Nakamura rolls over into an armbar! Takayama stacks him up for 2. Nakamura runs into a HUGE knee. Cover for a long 2. Takayama forearms and knees in the corner. Corner basement dropkick. Nakamura tries to throw some weak forearms and takes another knee in the face. Takayama back suplex. Saito suplex. Nakamura tries to hulk up. Takayama arrogantly kicks him in the face. Running knee. Nakamura kicks out again. Takayama hits a German. Nakamura rolls into a kimura lock! Takayama taps out! Solidly good match but not what you'd expect from a Tokyo Dome main event. Nakamura was still young and learning. Not sure the layout helped much with Nakamura taking a beating most of the match, but the submission win did offset that a little. After this Nakamura almost immediately returned the NWF title to the oblivion from whence it came. ***

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- After putting on possibly the worst Jan. 4 Dome show ever the previous year this is a small rebound, especially if you're feeling generous and excuse the preshow (which I'm inclined to do). Everything on the main show is at least watchable, though most of it not much else, and there's no out and out disasters, but the only must see match is Nagata/Sasaki, and that one is not for the squeemish.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C

NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II

Legacy Review

NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II

August 20, 2016 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY

Commentary: Tom Phillips and Corey Graves

One year after Takeover: Brooklyn made history as the first large arena Takeover, Brooklyn II is the start of every Takeover taking place in a large arena. This is the night before Summerslam, the Takeover schedule will be tied to major main roster PPVs for a while. Graves has already made his move up to commentate for Raw, but will be doing double duty with NXT for a bit longer.

Austin Aries def No Way Jose in 10:42- NO WAY! JOSE! NO WAY! JOSE! Jose is making his Takeover debut a few months after his TV debut. He's got a giant fan conga line going all the way around the ring on his entrance. Aries tries to play keepaway after the bell. He ducks a lockup into a waistlock, takes Jose down and easily wins a mat wrestling exchange, letting Jose know by slapping him on the back of the head. Jose is up hot and Aries hides in the ropes. He offers a handshake. Jose takes it and slaps him! The crowd sounds more pro-Aries at this point. Chops from Jose. Aries dodges a big right hand and bails to the floor. Back in he gets hit by another right hand and falls back down to the floor. Jose double ax handle off the apron. Aries begs off back in. Both guys go up top. Aries fights Jose off and drops him face first into the top turnbuckle. Aries goes on the attack as now the crowd's booing him. What is it they want? Elbow to the back of Jose's head off the second rope for 2. Jose fights out of a chinlock but runs into a back elbow. He starts to hulk up and tosses Aries to the floor. Aries is run into the turnbuckles from the apron and Jose give him chops on the apron. Aries wraps up the bottom rope to try to get a breather. Jose pulls him off. Aries uses the opening to hit a kneebreaker and floats over into the Last Chancery! Jose gets to the ropes. He ducks the discus elbow and hits a TKO for 2. Aries fights off a full nelson slam and Jose rolls to the floor. Tope suicida! Aries gives Jose a neckbreaker in the ropes. Corner dropkick. Aries hooks up for a suplex or DDT, but Jose counters into an x-plex for 2. Aries blocks the full nelson slam again. The discus elbow hits! Jose bounces off the ropes and hits a clothesline! Aries continues to block the full nelson slam and hits a crucifix bomb. Another corner dropkick for 2. Aries goes up top. Jose uppercuts him and joins. Fight on the top rope. Aries sunset bomb! Into Last Chancery! Jose taps! Decent match. Jose was clearly limited in what he could do, which would be why despite his entrance and charisma he wouldn't make a big mark in WWE before being one of the many let go during the pandemic releases. **3/4

After the bell Aries continues attacking Jose. Hideo Itami's music hits! He's here! Itami (KENTA) was finally cleared to return after being on the shelf with an injury for more than a year, murdering any momentum he might have had in NXT. He and Aries have a very hard time getting on the same page on what to do, then Itami lays in some strikes. The crowd chants for the GTS. Itami hits it! Finally that move has been unbanned because of its association with you know who.

 

Ember Moon def Billie Kay in 4:35- Two Takeover debuts here. Kay had been in the NXT system for nearly a year but had failed to get any traction despite nearly a decade of experience on the indy circuit, making her debut in her native Australia when she was just 18. The Booker T trained Moon (currently Athena in AEW/ROH) is making her full NXT debut as the Next Big Signing in the women's division. Small reaction from the crowd for her. Lockup! Hammerlock exchange and Moon tosses Kay with a headscissors from the mat. She blocks a Kay hiptoss and armdrags her. Kay counters with a hard elbow for 2. Moon springboard crossbody off the middle rope for 2. Kay does a Mia Yim eat defeat (defeet?)-like move for 2, then lays in some ground elbows, showing some fire. She tries to lift Moon up, can't hold her, resets, and puts Moon in a Canadian backbreaker. Moon tries to power out but Kay slams her on her face for 2. Flash roll up from Moon for just 1. Elbow exchange and Moon starts to get some momentum. Neckbreaker/double underhook suplex combo. Handspring corner clothesline. The as yet unnamed Eclipse (top rope cutter) hits and it's over. The crowd is still lukewarm after the win, clearly not sold on Moon yet. OK debut. Botch aside Kay looked as good as Moon did. **

 

Bobby Roode def Andrade Cien Almas in 10:22- After being teased the last two Takeovers and making warm up appearances on NXT TV, Roode is making his big in-ring NXT debut here. It's easy to forget now since Roode has been just a guy on the main roster for years, and seemingly content to stay that way as he winds his career down, but this was a *massive* signing for NXT at the time, getting one of the biggest stars in TNA/Impact history and another guy nobody thought would ever be in WWE. Probably NXT's second biggest signing in all of 2016, after Shinsuke Nakamura, in terms of pre-NXT star power. His entrance lives up to the hype, with Roode descending down a high platform like Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 25 while the whole crowd sings his already legendary music. Almas gets absolutely nothing on his entrance, the crowd is 100% Roode. "This is glorious" chant after the bell. They let the moment breathe a bit before locking up. Roode armdrags out. "GLORIOUS!". Basic exchange and Roode dodges a dropkick. "GLORIOUS!". Cheap kick from Roode out of a corner break. He tosses Almas but Almas grabs the ropes into his tranquilo pose. Big Almas chop and basement dropkick. He headscissors Roode to the floor. Back in Almas ducks a clothesline, flips over the top rope and lands on the apron, and shrugs at Roode. Roode tries to stay composed but the mind games are clearly pissing him off. Almas goes up top. Roode runs into the ropes to knock him off. Chop exchange. Roode delayed suplex and knees to the back. Almas flips out of a back suplex. Roode gets on the second rope but Almas dropkicks him to the floor. Corkscrew plancha! Almas springboard forearm back in for 2. Bulldog for 2. He sets up for the meteora. Roode cuts it off with a huge clothesline for 2. He sets up a German superplex. Almas fights it off. Roode tries again and Almas lands on his feet! Almas straitjacket German for 2. Roode gets his knees up on a springboard moonsault. He sets up a fisherman's suplex but Almas counters into a small package for 2. Boo/yay elbows. Almas heel kick. The meteora hits! Counter exchange and Almas hits a big boot. Roode spinebuster! He hits the Glorious Bomb (a simple pumphandle slam) for the pin. That finisher needs to be upgraded, and will be. Fairly good match, but a, dare I say, glorious debut for Roode. ***

Promo for the soon to debut Sanity. After that Triple H unveils the trophy for the Cruiserweight Classic, the finals of which will take place in September. I need to review that sometime, I've been wanting to watch it again for quite a while. Mauro Ranallo and a few of the cruiserweight wrestlers are ringside for the next match.

 

NXT Tag Team Championship: The Revival (c) def Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa in 19:10- Gargano and Ciampa, two of the hottest names from the indy scene and close friends in real life, had been floating around NXT for a while but had only recently signed full time deals. Backstage before the match Ciampa presented Gargano with a "#DIY" t-shirt, which would be their team name after this. The Revival at this point had almost fully turned all their doubters into believers, becoming the first 2 time NXT tag champs at the last Takeover and stealing the show while doing it. Ciampa and Dawson start. Lockup! A rough one. After that is some intense arm work trade off. Dawson hits the first chop. He ducks a Ciampa shot and goes to the floor. Revival do the classic planning session/stall and let the crowd get riled up. Back in Dawson and Ciampa do some more nice counter wrestling. Ciampa hits chops and Gargano gets a shot in from the apron. DIY hit a couple of double teams. Huge "Johnny Wrestling" chant for Gargano. Revival work the ref and Dawson hair pulls out of an armbar. After some standing switches Gargano hits a shining wizard style kick. Dawson tags in and walks right into armdrags. Back elbow on Gargano. Gargano slides under a double team, everyone comes in and we have a 2v2 standoff. Slugfest! Dawson gets clotheslined 360 to the floor while Gargano superkicks Dash. DIY set up their finisher. Dawson pulls Dash to safety. Gargano TOPE SUICIDA! Did Mauro shout "MAMMA MIA" from the crowd? I hope so. Total side thought: I once had the idea to create a Twitter account to count Mauro's "mamma mia"s during Takeovers. I called it the Mamma Mia Meter. Never got around to actually doing it before he left again though. Anyway, once you've stopped laughing at my dumb idea, Dash does some clever maneuvering around DIY to get a tag. Dawson Saito suplex for 2. Revival beat Ciampa down in their corner. Drop toe hold/elbow drop combo for 2. Ciampa fights over to his team's side of the ring but Dawson lifts him up to cut off the tag. Ciampa rolls into a sunset flip for 2. Again Ciampa fights the champs off, reaches for a tag, but just as he's about to get there Dash pulls Gargano off the apron! Double team Revival front suplex for 2. Ciampa jawbreakers out of a Dash sleeper. He reaches for a tag but Dash *just* holds him back inches away from Gargano's fingers. Dawson tags in, mocks Gargano and kicks Ciampa. Bodyscissors. Ciampa gets up and pushes Dawson toward his corner. Dash "accidentally" falls over the top rope into the ring to create a distraction! Brilliant! Ciampa backdrops out of a Dawson piledriver and gets the tag, but the ref is still tied up with Dash and won't let Gargano in! That's how you take an ancient spot everyone's seen a thousand times and make it fresh again. Total genius. Huge boos from the crowd. Revival decapitation device! Ciampa kicks out! Dawson hits forearms that fire Ciampa up. A HUGE Dawson clothesline puts him down again. He pushes Gargano off the apron again. Ciampa dodges and Dawson crashes in the corner. Dash runs in but Ciampa dodges him too. Tag to Gargano! Snap belly to belly on Dash. Dawson hits a back elbow. Gargano hits the roll kick and a neckbreaker for 2. On a corner charge Dawson lifts Gargano on the apron. Gargano gives Dash an apron PK to cut him off, then hits Dawson with the slingshot spear! Cover for 2. Revival blind tag. Dawson suckers Gargano into a DDT for 2. Gargano rolls Dawson up for 2. Tag to Ciampa. He avoids Dawson's DDT attempt and flips over into an armbar! Dash gets free from Gargano and breaks it up. Revival go for a double suplex. Gargano spears Dash and Ciampa rolls Dawson up for 2! The crowd's going ape shit now. Ciampa/Dawson slugfest. Ciampa hits a stiff open hand slap and high knee. Stiff punch response from Dawson. Revival sets up for Shatter Machine. Gargano superkicks Dawson and Ciampa jackknife covers Dash! Dash *just* kicks out! Oh, the crowd bit hard on that one. DIY finisher! Ciampa covers for 3! NO! Dawson got Dash's foot on the rope just in time! The ref immediately waves it off and the match continues. Another old spot used to perfection. Dawson gets knocked around. Ciampa gets pulled out to the floor and posted. Dash clips Gargano's knee! Stomp to the knee off the second rope! Revival had "injured" Big Cass the exact same way not that long ago. Dawson hooks on a reverse figure four! Gargano tries to fight but has to tap out! The crowd deflates pretty bad, they really wanted DIY to win it, but I can't say it's a bad call. Afterward Ciampa helps Gargano out to a crowd ovation. What a match. Brilliant teamwork, stiff, physical, everything you could want. The tag title match steals Takeover again. And this isn't even the best match these two teams will have. ****3/4

 

NXT Women's Championship: Asuka (c) def Bayley in 14:07- Bayley was scheduled to get a rematch with Asuka at Takeover: The End and presumably move to the main roster after, but everything was delayed after she was injured in a match with, who else, Nia Jax. There was a ton of chatter online about why Bayley hadn't moved up already, but presumably Trips wanted to give her one last sendoff after healing. This is that sendoff. Bayley shows a lot of early fire, pushing Asuka out of lockups. Asuka doesn't looked fazed in the slightest. Dueling chants from the crowd. After a test of strength Bayley rolls through some flash pin attempts. Asuka takes refuge in the corner and Bayley hits her with a corner clothesline. Bayley comes off the second rope, but Asuka counters with a knee strike to the face. Bayley rolls out holding her nose. As soon as she gets back in Asuka is on her with knee strikes again. Corner hip attack. Asuka hooks on a cobra twist in the ropes. They trade off buckle shots, with Bayley going hard into the middle turnbuckle. She hangs in the ropes and Asuka kicks the hell out of her, including one vicious looking one where Asuka holds her foot then lets it go, snapping right on the back of Bayley's neck. Running knee on the floor from Asuka. More buckle shots wake Bayley up and she pounds Asuka into the buckle. Suplex. Diving back elbow and diving clothesline. Bayley Buddy elbow. Asuka lifts Bayley to the apron. She tries a running hip attack but Bayley dodges! Nice callback to the last match. Bayley pounds Asuka from the apron and snaps her over the second rope. Crossbody back in for 2. She goes for another one off the top but Asuka dodges. Shining wizard for 2. Bayley blocks a superplex, slides under, and puts Asuka in the tree of woe. Corner elbow drop. Forearm exchange. Asuka's going to win that every time. Running shot tradeoff. Asuka trips Bayley and puts her in numero dos! Bayley turns it over into a cradle for 2. Euro clutch bridge from Bayley! Asuka gets out before 3. Ankle lock! Bayley uses her free leg to kick Asuka to get out of it. A big punch floors Bayley. Asuka chest kicks. Bayley grabs her leg and tells Asuka to hit her again! Ooooh, that's not smart. Asuka does. Bayley grabs an arm into a backslide for 2. She gets her own strikes in. Asuka back fist! Bayley grabs Asuka's legs and lifts her, can't hold it, lifts her again, and faceplants her for 2. That didn't go 100% according to plan. Asuka goes for the Asuka Lock! Bayley fights but Asuka cinches it in! Bayley screams! Not this time! She fights out. Bayley to Belly! Asuka kicks out! Bayley goes for another. Asuka Lock! Bayley rolls over into a cover for 2. Kick to the head from Asuka. Bayley gets right back up! Bushido! Kick from Bayley! Harder kick from Asuka that puts Bayley on her knees. Asuka kicks Bayley's head off! That gets the pin! Another fantastic match from these two. I love the ending. After last time Bayley had the Asuka Lock scouted, so Asuka had to murder her to finally put her down. After the match Asuka helps Bayley up and they hug it out. Bayley gets her well deserved sendoff moment from the crowd as she was finally main roster bound to rejoin the other Four Horsewomen. ****

Joe's got the full security entourage for his walk to the ring. Wait, who's that? Why, that's current AEW World Champion MJF! And Joe shoves him on his way out! Now we know what MJF has been pissy about all these years. During the video package we see the build for this had one of the seminal moments in NXT history: Nakamura stealing Joe's nose. Vicious, blood feud stuff.

 

NXT Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura def Samoa Joe (c) in 21:14- How do you top the huge entrances Nakamura's had at his first two Takeovers. Why, with a live violin player of course! It's spectacular. The crowd comes absolutely unglued for Nakamura. This is another first time matchup of legends outside WWE taking place in an NXT ring. Joe shoves Nakamura before intros. Nakamura goes right into cool mind games mode. After the bell the crowd sings Nakamura's music again. Rough lockup and Joe scrapes Nakamura's face with his arm in the corner. Knucklelock and both guys try to hit kicks. Joe slaps! Nakamura gets a takedown. They jockey for position on the mat, with Joe showing he can mat wrestle as well as murder you. Arm wringer from Joe with a little added headbutt to the wrist spice. Nakamura does the elaborate escape and another mat wrestling stalemate. Joe cranks a headlock. Nakamura grabs his nose to back Joe into the corner! Nice callback to the build. He does the head waggle. Joe ducks kicks. Come on knee from Nakamura. More knees in the corner and good vibrations. Joe rolls out for a breather, then pulls Nakamura out with him. Huge Joe chop. Nakamura runs Joe into the apron. Another big Joe chop. Back in Joe does the corner elbow/enzuguri combo. Nakamura kicks Joe from the apron. Running floor knee. Joe dodges the apron knee and Nakamura splats knee first on the floor. Joe TOPE SUICIDA absolutely bowls Nakamura over! Back in Joe hits a back elbow, chest kicks and an elbow drop. He wraps Nakamura's head and cranks his arm right out of the socket. Nakamura gets to the ropes. Knee and forearm from Nakamura. Joe sweep kicks him. Hard powerbomb for 2. Joe transitions into a Boston crab, then an STF, then a crossface. Nakamura rolls him over for a 2 count. Enziguri and misdirection kick from Nakamura. Both guys are down. Nakamura starts getting momentum with strikes. Corner knee. Joe blocks the inverted exploder. Inverted atomic drop from Joe. Big face kick but Nakamura dodges the follow up senton. Nakamura guillotine. Joe lifts out. Nakamura takes him down and hits his grounded knees to the top of the head. Uranage in the corner from Joe. He didn't hit that 100%. He sets up for the muscle buster. Nakamura fights it off. Kick off the second rope. Forearms lead to a hard strike exchange. HUGE Joe clothesline with a 360 Nakamura sell. He tries a spinning clothesline but Nakamura rolls it into an armbreaker! Joe blocks it. He tries to escape but Nakamura transitions into a triangle choke. Joe counters into a cloverleaf. Nakamura gets to the ropes. Joe goes for the coquina clutch. Nakamura backs him into the corner. He runs into a huge Joe knee for 2. Ground elbows from Joe. He gets the clutch on! Nakamura barely manages to save himself by just getting a foot on the rope. Joe goes for the muscle buster again. Nakamura fights it off and hits a German suplex! Joe landed on his head. Kinsha....no, Joe snap powerslam for 2! Another muscle buster fight. Joe enzuguri. The muscle buster hits! Nakamura kicks out! Another setup. Nakamura gets free. Short kinshasa! Joe's holding his jaw after. Second rope knee. Full KINSHASAAAAAAAAAAAA! Pin and new champ! The crowd goes nuts. Joe immediately rolls out and the ref throws the X up. Nakamura hit Joe flush with that first short kinshasa and dislocated his jaw. It's Joe so he'd be back like a week later. Not a blowaway match by any means, but it's certainly a worthy Takeover main event. It's also another very non-WWE style match in an NXT main event. ****1/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- The first half is more solid than great, with decent matches and debuts of varying success. Once the title matches hit in the second half though, it's gangbusters. NXT delivers in Brooklyn once again.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: A-

Wrestling World 2003

Legacy Review

Wrestling World 2003

January 4, 2003 from the Tokyo Dome

We're really starting to get into the worst depths of Inokism now, and to prove it all you have to do is look at the crowd. In just one year the attendance for this show has gone from 56,000 to 30,000. Part of the problem is New Japan was undergoing a forced roster overhaul after two high profile mass defections over the prior couple of years: the essentially exiled Shinya Hashimoto taking a group of guys with him to his new Zero-One promotion in '01, and just after Wrestling World '02 Keiji Mutoh shocked the wrestling world by leading another group over to All Japan. Compounding the problem is Inoki, in his zeal to try to blend the worlds of worked pro wrestling and shoot MMA fighting, trying to fill the voids more and more with shoot fighters that had little to no wrestling experience, severely hurting the quality of the product and turning more fans away.

As usual this is from the New Japan World archive so Japanese commentary only.

 

Osamu Nishimura def Tatsumi Fujinami in 8:10- This is certainly an interesting opener. These two teamed up at last year's 1/4 show, now they're facing each other in a "student vs mentor" match. This is probably the lowest Fujinami has ever been on a New Japan card. I spot young Toru Yano as a Young Lion taking Fujinami's robe off. Watch out to see if Yano passed him any tape rolls. This is also the old school all black trunks and boots with no kneepads match. Fujinami hits a big backbreaker out of a lockup. And a second. Early dragon sleeper attempt. Nishamura gets to the ropes then rolls out for a think. Back in Fujinami works a headscissors. Nishamura does a nice delayed handstand to get out. Knucklelock. Nishimura bridges down, tries to fight back up and suplexes out. Cravat from Fujinami as he continues to dominate. Nishimura counters with a headscissors and goes to some arm work. Fujinami counter transitions to leg work. A Fujinami body slam is the first high impact move of the match. Nishimura immediately bridges back up and transitions into a cobra twist. Fujinami counters with a roll up. Nishimura hits uppercuts and dropkicks. Fujinami dodges a kneedrop off the top rope. Dragon screw! Sleeper! Roll up for 2. Nishimura rolls up a SANADA/ZSJ style Euro clutch and gets the pin! I believe this was Nishimura's first ever victory over his mentor. Perfectly fine old school rasslin'. With more time and a higher card placement they could have likely cranked out something pretty good. **1/4

 

Young Generation Cup Semifinals: Yutaka Yoshie def Shinya Makabe in 13:20- Part of tonight's festivities is a one night, four man Young Generation Cup tournament, a sort of spinoff of the Young Lion Cup tournament New Japan holds on a semi-regular basis. Makabe is Togi Makabe, who'll go on to have easily the best career of the guys in this tournament. Yoshie had gone through the Dojo all the way back in 1994 but had trouble finding any kind of career consistency. Arm wringer tradeoff and Makabe tries to work the much larger Yoshie down and they trade off headlocks. Big boi shoulderblock standoff. Forearm exchange. Makabe headbutt in the corner. Some more fairly dull mat work follows. Yoshie cranks on Makabe's taped up leg, obviously a hurt body part coming in. Big splash on the leg! Makabe gets some space and goes into his own leg work. He shows some fire by not breaking right away on a rope break. Big suplex fight that Yoshie wins. He stomps Makabe down in the corner. Makabe dodges an avalanche. Corner lairato and suplex from Makabe for 2. He hooks on a single leg crab. Another extended slugfest with some stiff forearms. Makabe powerslam for 2. Yoshie blocks a German suplex but runs into a double chop for 2. Another German try. Yoshie backs Makabe into the corner. This time the avalanche hits. Yoshie powerslam for 2. Thesz press off the second rope for 2. Nice of Makabe to get himself in position to get hit with that. Huge Makabe lariato. Another! Yoshie kicks out! The crowd's getting into it now. The German hits! Another kickout. Makabe runs to a Thesz press for 2. Yoshie big splash off the top rope! HE'S A UNIT, KEVIN! That gets the pin. Mostly dull match but the stretch run wasn't bad. *1/2

 

Young Generation Cup Semifinals: Ryushi Yanagisawa def Kenzo Suzuki in 9:23- Suzuki had actually won the most recent iteration of the Young Lion Cup in 2000. Yanagisawa was, shock, a former MMA fighter that came in the previous year and joined the big new heel stable, Tadao Yasuda's Makai Club, who were responsible for breaking up Masahiro Chono's Team2000. You'll be hearing a lot more from them as the night goes on. Suzuki charges at the bell and hits a spear! Into an armbreaker! Yanagisawa tries to block it. Suzuki stays on the arm. For a while. High knee from Suzuki and Yanagisawa rolls to the floor to recover. Suzuki charges and high knees him off the apron! Yanagisawa high kicks Suzuki from the apron and comes back in with an ankle lock. Suzuki slowly but eventually gets to the ropes. Yanagisawa puts it right back on. Considering his background the not so generous part of me wonders if that's the only hold he knows. Suzuki hulks up off kicks and wants some more. After about a dozen he grabs Yanagiawa's leg and slams him. Yanagisawa rolls right back into the ankle lock. Think that's my theory confirmed then. Suzuki gets to the ropes again. He pops out of the corner with another high knee. And a running high knee in the corner. Is that the only move Suzuki knows too? No, there's a Saito suplex. He charges but runs into a Yanagisawa enzuguri. Suzuki pops back up with another spear for 2. Sleeper from Yanagisawa. After a long fight Suzuki rolls to the ropes. More Yanagisawa kicks. Suzuki charges with a weak ass spear that Yanagisawa turns into a guillotine. Suzuki suplexes out. Running high knee from Yanagisawa and that gets the pin. Very not good. Doesn't give me much hope for the finals. 1/2*

 

Dai Majin and Makai #1 def Tatsutoshi Goto and Hiro Saito in 7:50- The first of back to back tag matches for masked members of Makai Club. Majin is Giant Silva and #1 is Junji Hirata, the former Super Strong Machine. The Goto/Saito team try the Suzuki-Gun jump but get jumped instead. Maijin fights off both guys on the floor. 1 works Saito over in the ring. Suplex and senton for 2. Jawbreaker from Saito and his own senton. Goto corner lariato. 1 says eff that and hits his own lariato. Low blow from Goto. Silva, er, Majin's in with his clubbing blows and stomps. He and Goto have a horrible time coordinating a whip then the Majin big boot at the other end is almost as bad. Majin slam and elbow drop. Saito tags in and Majin no sells chops. Back elbow on Saito. 1 gutwrench suplex on Saito. Saito chops 1 back into his corner. Double team headbutt. 1 goes Makai in peril a bit before hitting a low blow and corner lariatos. DONNYBROOK! 1 lariatos Majin. Majin still fights everyone off. Goto and Saito team up to dump him over the top rope by the legs. The Goto/Saito team have chairs! The ref tries to take one away but Goto hits him with a chair! Majin saves a pin and takes a chair shot that he, shock, no sells. Chair fight and Goto takes a chair shot. Lariatos all around from the Makai team. Majin powerbombs Saito. Makai's manager comes in and counts the pin. The ref allows it and the bell rings? The ref looks like a wrestler so there might be some shenanigans here I don't know about since I can't understand commentary. The match still sucks regardless. 1/4*

 

Makai #4 and Makai #5 def Masahito Kakihara and Takashi Iizuka in 10:54- Makai 4 is none other than young Katsuyori Shibata, while 5 is Mitsuya Nagai. Kakihara and I think 4 start. Hard to tell with the masks and shirts but I think that's Shibata. Lots of kick swinging. Kakihara goes down, but then works into a leg hold. 5 comes in and puts Kakihara into a leg hold at the same time! The ref restores order. 5 throws Kakihara in his own corner and wants Iizuka. Then when Iizuka tags in he tags right back out to 4 again. Classic heel work. Iizuka and 4 do a pretty decent extended mat sequence. Arm wringer tradeoff. 4 ends up in the wrong corner and Kakihara pummels him with knees and a suplex for 2. Now Kakihara is in the wrong part of town. Both Makai guys pick his leg apart a bit. 5 ends up in the face corer and Iizuka finally gets a hold of him, stomping him down in the corner. Iizuka Boston crab. 5 grabs a rope. 5 and Kakihara exchange kicks with 5 winning. 4 running corner elbow on Kakihara, followed by a suplex for 2. The Makais make a wish on Kakihara. Iizuka breaks up a 5 hold. Kakihara heel kick for 2. Iizuka tries an armbar but 5 gets to the ropes. 5 kicks Iizuka back to the corner and just abuses him with stiff kicks. Iizuka charges out with a tackle! Everyone in the pool! Iizuka rips 5's shirt off. Makai double team Pele kick/knee strike for 2. 5 springboard high knee for 3! The fight continues long after the bell with some of it cut off of this video. 5 and Iizuka want to kill each other. At least it was better than the last two matches. *

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Koji Kanemoto, Jushin Thunder Liger and Takehiro Murahama def Tiger Mask, Heat and Masayuki Naruse in 16:10- This is the early days of an interesting period in Liger's career when he was starting to flirt with heelishness, teaming up with longtime rival and former Team2000 pillar Kanemoto. It would be the path that would lead to Liger founding the heel stable CTU (Control Terrorism Unit, quite possibly inspired by the TV show 24, dammit Chloe) the next year. Heat is Minoru Tanaka under very lame Liger-esque mask. He's one step removed from the Super Liger disaster. In keeping with his new heel leanings Liger is in all red with black trim tonight. Everyone jumps before the bell and it's on! Murahama tope con hilo on Naruse! Liger dodges a TM plancha! Heat hits the ropes for a dive but runs right into a Kanemoto snap belly to belly suplex! Liger baseball slide on Heat and the heels stand tall in the ring. Reset with Heat and Murahama. Both guys swing kicks. A nice speed/counter run ends with a simo dropkick attempt. Murahama and Kanemoto double dropkick on Heat. Kanemoto corkscrew senton off the second rope. Heat gets him caught in the face corner. Kanemoto fights out of a headlock and gives Naruse a knee to the face. Liger splash off the top for 2. All three heels stomp the crap out of Naruse. Liger goes to work on his taped up arm and shoulder, ripping the tape off. Kanemoto and Murahama miscommunicate on a double team. TM is in with a dropkick. TM and Heat chop Murahama down with some kicks and Naruse gives him a PK. TM gets pushed in the heel corner and beat down. Tiltawhirl backbreaker from Liger. TM flips out of a brain buster and spin kicks Liger to the floor. Tope suicida! Liger grabs a TM kick and gives him a dragon screw. Kanemoto absorbs some Naruse kicks. Naruse gets beat down in the heel corner again. Murahama single leg crab. Liger elbow off the top to Naruse's back. Think that was supposed to hit his hurt shoulder. Naruse rolls to the floor clutching his shoulder and his teammates check on him. One of the ring attendants sprays it down with something. Liger dodges a Heat dropkick, but Heat rolls around and hits the next attempt. Dropkick to Liger's knee. Kneebar! Kanemoto immediately comes in to break it up. Liger corner shotei! Powerbomb! Murahama head kick and Liger fisherman's buster for 2. Murahama dodges a Heat missile dropkick off the second rope but runs into a high kick. Murahama tries a spinning heel kick on TM but TM catches and slams him! Murahama slips out of a suplex. TM hits a backbreaker. Double underhook powerbomb for 2. TM tries for a moonsault, sees the dodge and lands on his feet, but Murahama wobbles him with a kick. Murahama brain buster for 2. Spinning heel kick for 2. TM and Murahama kick each other in the head at the same time! Meanwhile, the camera cuts to Liger giving Heat a brain buster on the entrance ramp! He's dead. Kanemoto moonsault on TM for 2. Both guys try tiger suplexes that are blocked. TM dropkick. Open hand slaps. Kanemoto high knee on Naruse. Naruse manages to give Kanemoto about half an exploder suplex with his bum shoulder. Kanemoto dropkick on the shoulder! Ankle lock! Liger wipes out TM. Heat is stirring so Murahama goes out to make sure he's still dead. Naruse slips out of a suplex and rolls Kanemoto up for 2. Kanemoto sweep kick and back to the ankle lock. Naruse taps! The usual good stuff from the juniors, they usually deliver no matter what. It'd sure be nice to have a proper junior title match on one of these shows again. ***1/2

 

Young Generation Cup Finals: Ryushi Yanagisawa def Yutaka Yoshie in 6:48- Young Red Shoes gets this match. Slugfest at the bell. Yanagisawa hits a bunch of open hand slaps. Yoshie responds with stiff shots of his own and Yanagiawa is the first guy down. Yoshie slam and big splash for 2. He hits a trio of butt splashes for 2. Boston crab. Another forearm exchange. Yanagisawa kicks Yoshie down and he rolls all the way to the floor, clutching the arm Yanagisawa kicked. When he gets back in Yanagisawa is right back on it. Yoshie swings an ugly chop that hits Yanagisawa right in the face. Yanagisawa tries an armbreaker but Yoshie is too close to the ropes. Yanagisawa corner charge, Yoshie catches and spinebusters him. DVD for 2. Thesz press for 2. Yanagisawa hits a couple of high knees and an enzuguri. Yoshie wobbles in the middle of the ring. The armbreaker is on and Yoshie taps out. I appreciate the stiffness and fairly tight psychology, but it was still a boring and pretty sloppy match. If you were looking to showcase the company's young talent, these guys were not the right choice. Neither would make any major mark in New Japan and both would be gone within a few years. *1/4

 

Shinsuke Nakamura and Michiyoshi Ohara def Tadao Yasuda and Kazunari Murakami in 7:12- The year after Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi (who's not booked on this show because....well, it's a story, I'll tell you later) made their Dome debut, the last of the New Three Muskateers that would literally save the company post-Inokism is making his debut tonight, none other than the future King of Strong Style Shinsuke Nakamura. As mentioned, Yasuda is the founder and leader of Makai Club. Now this is not the Nakamura we've known and loved for years, it would be a long time before he developed that character and mannerisms. In his early days he was a super serious shoot-style fighter. With a goatee. Commentary calls him "super rookie" (in English) so his big push was already on, more on that at the end of the show. Nakamura charges right on Yasuda at the bell and we're on! They brawl on the mat with Yasuda getting the upper hand. Nakamura's busted open! He came in with a large bandage on his forehead so I assume it's an old cut reopened. Yasuda continues to pound away. Murakami takes his turn to smack Nakamura around and lets both him and the crowd know it's happening. Nakamura tries to fight back but gets floored again with one punch. Yasuda locks on a sleeper. Ohara comes in to break it up. More ground and pound from Murakami. Ohara causes a distraction, allowing Nakamura to tackle Murakami, get some knee shots in and tag. Ohara diving lariato. Murakami tries to get kicks in. Ohara grabs and choke slams him! Cover for 2. Yasuda big boot on Ohara. Ohara rolls and tags Nakamura. His head is all bandaged up now. He tackles Yasuda and the bandage comes off. So much for that. He goes for a German but Yasuda gives him a casual low blow. Running corner knees from both Makai guys and Yasuda hits a double underhook suplex. Power bomb on Nakamura for 2. Ohara trips Murakami on a double team attempt and Nakamura takes Yasuda down. He tries an armbreaker but Yasuda makes the ropes. Ugh, horrible corner dropkick from Nakamura. It's definitely early days. Brain buster from Ohara. Nakamura German on Yasuda for 2. Takedown into some kind of choke hold. Yasuda goes out and the ref calls it! That gets a pretty big shock pop from the crowd. The super rookie push is definitely on. The match was a very stiff and not bad sprint. Nakamura got the piss beaten out of him before winning. **3/4

So, Tanahashi. I have to take a minute to get into this because it's nuts. In November '02 Tanahashi was in the apartment of his (apparently psycho) girlfriend or ex-girlfriend who worked as a news reporter for TV Asahi, New Japan's domestic broadcast partner since pretty much the company was founded. Tanahashi tried to break the relationship off because he was already seeing someone else. The girl didn't take it well. In fact she snapped, grabbed a knife, and stabbed Tanahashi in the back twice, fully intending to kill him. It's a big cultural thing in Japan to keep private lives private, but this got out due to the fact they both had jobs that made them public figures. Fortunately her aim was awful and Tanahashi recovered quickly, returning to the ring in February and still going on to become the Ace of the Universe. No little stab wound was going to stop him.

 

Tencozy def Masahiro Chono and Manabu Nakanishi in 23:18- There's a lot happening in this one so bear with me. Tencozy broke up seemingly for good when Satoshi Kojima was one of the wrestlers who joined Mutoh in his All Japan defection, but he and Tencozy are back for the proverbial "one night only". Kojima's partner Hiroyoshi Tenzan teamed back up with old partner Chono to reform Cho-Ten and won the tag titles again in March '02. In fact this reign, their fourth, would be the longest in the title's history to that point at 446 days, breaking the record held by.....Tencozy. As of this show they're the reigning champions but are on opposite sides in this match. Despite them all being in Team2000 before it disbanded Chono wrestled against Tencozy at the last 1/4 show because they'd been butting heads and some of that is still percolating here. Nakanishi is kind of a hanger on but he and Kojima teamed up before Tencozy formed so there's some logical reason for him to be here. Oh, and because I always like to note these things, Chono won the fourth of his five career G1 Climax tournament victories in '02. Tenzan's really gone all out with his entrance gear tonight. He looks like a Final Fantasy mid-level boss. Kojima and Nakanishi start. Lockup stalemate. Shoulderblock standoff. Nakanishi wins the second one. Here comes the chops. Long exchange of them. Nakanishi hits a backdrop. Tenzan tags in and wants Chono. He's in and the current tag champs go at it. Decent mat exchange. Chono drops some cheap knees during a rope break. Tenzan shoulderblock and lariato. Chono hits the first Yakuza kick. Nakanishi and Tenzan do a test of strength knucklelock. With headbutts. Nakanishi tries to chop. Tenzan responds with Mongolian chops. Kojima/Nakanishi suplex fight that Nakanishi wins. Kojima gets chopped into the wrong corner and he knocks Chono off the apron just because. Kojima falls out of the ring and continues to attack Chono. Nakanishi drops a knee on him from the apron. Back in Kojima hits a Saito suplex. Tenzan and Nakanishi try to chop each other down. Kojima really lays in some stiff chops on Chono in the corner and brain busters him for 2. DDT from Kojima. Chono holds Kojima for a Nakanishi knee off the top rope. Tencozy pound Nakanishi down in their corner. Kojima corner elbow/top rope elbow drop combo for 2. Big Nakanishi lariato for 2. He goes for a German but Tenzan pounds him down from behind. Tencozy go for a double clothesline, but Nakanishi ducks, grabs, and suplexes them both! Chono's in with Yakuza kicks for everyone. Tackle off the top on Kojima. STF! Kojima gets to the ropes. He gets an inverted atomic drop and tags. Tenzan whiffs bad on a spinning heel kick but Chono sells the wind it created. Chono tries a boot up in the corner but Tenzan lariatos him right back in. Falling kneedrop off the top for 2. Kojima knocks Nakanishi off the apron into the barricade. Tencozy elbow drop/headbutt combo. Nakanishi comes back in with a spear! It's all breaking down now. Everyone takes shots and everyone is down. Tenzan grabs a Yakuza kick and dragon screws Chono. Kojima dragon screws Nakanishi! Figure four on Nakanishi while Tenzan wraps Chono up in a choke-type hold. Chono's legal so he gets to the ropes to break everything up. Tencozy double team Chono. Kojima dropkicks Tenzan in the knee! Now Nakanishi and Chono double up on Tenzan. Double knees from opposite directions! Chono Yakuza kicks Nakanishi! Those double teams never work out in the end do they. Tenzan Samoan drop on Chono. Kojima runs into a Nakanishi claw! He puts Kojima in the torture rack while Tenzan Mongolian chops Chono. Chono recovers to put Tenzan in a cobra clutch while Kojima is still in the rack. Lariatos and Yakuza kicks all around and everyone's down again. We're way, way past the 5 count here. FTR could write a novel on all the tag rules ignored in this match. Tenzan headbutt off the top on Chono. Nakanishi breaks the pin up. Kojima and Nakanishi go to the floor and up the entrance ramp. Torture rack on the ramp! Kojima gets free. Kojicutter on the ramp! Tencozy 3D on Chono! Chono *just* kicks out! Tenzan hits the moonsault! Chono kicks out again! Tombstone! Chono's not getting up from that. Good match for sure, but not quite the epic it could have been. ***1/2

After the match is over HIROSHI F'N TANAHASHI shows up! His hair is cut short but I know for sure it's him, it's the right logo on his tights. The video is edited all to hell so it's hard to tell the exact flow of events but he attacks everyone, argues a bit with Nakanishi and gets slammed by him, then after a cut is bowing to the crowd with Nakanishi and Chono looking on and then says a quick something on the mic. The future Ace is back. I wrote that whole bit earlier without even knowing Tanahashi showed up here. Eh, I'm not changing it.

 

Tournament Final for the Vacant NWF Heavyweight Championship: Yoshihiro Takayama def Tsuyoshi Kosaka in 10:19- The NWF (National Wrestling Federation) was a northeast US promotion. Inoki won this title in 1973 and brought it to Japan, where it was originally New Japan's top title before being retired by Inoki in 1981. The NWF itself folded in 1994. The title is being brought back to be a sort of MMA/hybrid style title, but with worked matches still, not straight up shoot fights. Takayama actually had more wrestling background than MMA, working for UWFi, All Japan and NOAH. Kosaka was a straight MMA fighter. Takayama looks like an out of shape shlub but apparently he can kick your ass in a real fight. A non-New Japan ref is handling this one too, maybe an MMA ref. Both guys try for leg based holds at the start. Kosaka gets a takedown but Takayama rolls into a legbar. Kosaka gets on top and tries some ground and pound. Takayama grabs that arm and tries for a triange choke. Kosaka turns over into an STF. Back up both guys swing wildly at each other, and not in a good way. Takayama kicks Kosada down. He misses a real bad dropkick attempt and Kosaka hits him with a halfway decent one. Kosaka tries for a triangle. Takayama fights out into a single leg crab. Kosaka rolls into a legbar, then an armbreaker. Takayama grabs a rope. Forearms from Takayama and he hits a kind of belly to belly suplex. Kosaka dodges what I think is supposed to be a basement dropkick and puts on a rear naked choke. Another rope break. Kicks put Takayama down again. He rope breaks out of a Kosaka armbreaker. Takayama tries a German. Kosaka counters with a very ugly takedown. The lights go out! Everyone turn your car headlights on! Like an old CZW show. They manage to get a spotlight on the ring. Running knee from Takayama. The lights are back. Kosaka tries for more leg submissions. Takayama knees Kosaka out to the floor. Back in he hits the German. Kosaka grabs an arm and tries the triangle again. Takayama escapes, hits Kosaka with a knee to the face, and gets the pin. I may be the low man on this but I just can't get into these pseudo-MMA matches. For a shoot style match is wasn't nearly as stiff as a couple of the previous matches either. *3/4

 

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Yuji Nagata (c) def Josh Barnett in 10:40- This is peak Inokism, with MMA fighter Josh Barnett getting the main event slot in the Tokyo Dome on the biggest night of the year in what is his first ever recorded professional wrestling match. On the other side, Nagata was on of the few bright spots of this era, a proper pro wrestler that was in the middle of a year long run with the title, a reign that would also set the record for most successful defenses with 10. Red Shoes is reffing this match! His first Tokyo Dome main event. It won't be the last. Barnett floors Nagata with a kick right after the bell! Commentary goes nuts for that. Another Barnett takedown. Nagata gets a rope break and goes to the floor to rethink things. Small reset back in with both guys trying kicks. Nagata gets a takedown and starts working on the arm. Both guys block armbreaker attempts. More mat jockeying ends in a stalemate. More standing kicks. Barnett gets a really nice takedown into a sort of MMA figure four. He rolls to keep Nagata from the ropes but Nagata eventually gets there. Barnett gets some shots in the corner but Red Shoes makes him break. Nagata enzuguri! Barnett blocks a Saito suplex into a takedown and headlock. Belly to belly suplex from Barnett into a kimura attempt. Rope break. Barnett straight lifts Nagata by the legs into an ankle lock. More kicks from both guys that start landing. Nagata forearms and knees wobble Barnett. Barnett blocks a kick into an exploder suplex! Guillotine. Nagata just gets a foot on a rope. Barnett flips him over into another kimura and another rope break. Running charge from Barnett with what I think is supposed to be a high knee but he just kind of flops onto Nagata. Nagata dodges another knee in the corner and whacks Barnett right in the face with a knee. Suplex for 2. Nagata crossface. Into a sleeper. Rope break. Another Nagata suplex for a long 2. Barnett blocks another one into another guillotine. Nagata turns it into an exploder! Spin kick from Nagata to Barnett's face, and that gets the pin! Barnett tries to turn over into a crossface but it's over. After the belt and trophy ceremony they shake hands. Oh, and here's new NWF champ Takayama to make a challenge. Not a completely terrible match thanks to Nagata being his usual awesome self and Barnett not being half bad for an MMA guy. He'd stick around New Japan for a while. **1/2

A few notes on the journey of the Heavyweight title over the course of 2003 before we close out: NWF champ Takayama would end up being the man to dethrone Nagata in May, ending Nagata's reign at 392 days (the third longest at that point) and becoming a dual champ. In November Takayama lost just the IWGP title to Hiroyoshi Tenzan, adding a major singles title onto his already impressive tag team record. His reign wasn't long though, as in December Tenzan dropped the title to the "super rookie" himself, Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura became the youngest IWGP Heavyweight champion ever, a record he still holds today. Interestingly though, the crowd didn't embrace Nakamura as they saw him as one of Inoki's MMA guys rather than a traditional wrestler, and Japanese crowds are usually slow to warm up to new guys anyway. Nakamura would change that as the years went on, but it's something he had to deal with his first reign.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- There's a few good matches, but it doesn't help save the show from being the worst January 4th Dome show to date. This is essentially New Japan's verison of rough times like '95 WWF and WCW, when the general malaise drags everything down. It'd be a few more years before they start to get out of it.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D+