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21 September 2014

NJPW Destruction in Kobe

New Japan Pro Wrestling
Destruction in Kobe
21st September 2014, World Hall, Kobe.

Hello and welcome to the first New Japan Pro Wrestling supercard in the post #G124 universe of professional wrestling, a world of raised standards and KENTA not being called that anymore. It's a strange place but I think if we navigate it together then we'll have a good old time. Tonight is the first of two Destruction events, mirroring an experiment trialled in February with the New Beginning shows from Osaka and Hiroshima. Whilst those cards did a good house, it was harsh on the wallet for we PPV purchasers and there was a lot more filler to deal with. However, Tuesday's card from Okayama is not on Ustream or Japanese provider NicoNico, so many are touting this as the last stand of NJPW on internet pay-per-view for the time being.


Today's pre-amble is long. Feel free to skip it and head to the matches.

When I was younger and compact discs were all the rage, one way of measuring up just how hardcore a fan you were of certain groups was to ascertain whether they owned the Japanese edition of the record. You see, Japanese editions of standard album releases tended to include extra tracks; sometimes B-sides, sometimes live tracks and sometimes specially-recorded tracks purely for that market. They were much more expensive to acquire but the credibility factor it earned you in the playground, as well as the extra content, carries me through to this day.

What we did not know is that the reason these editions were produced in the first place is because owing to intensely stringent and protectionist media law in Japan, it was actually cheaper to import CDs and latterly DVDs. The economic crunch that blasted Japan in the 90s practically levelled regional arms of international record companies. So there had to be an incentive for Japanese consumers to actually buy the product manufactured in their own market.

for example

Now we're well past that particular point in Japan's history, the prices of such items have never recovered to a level in which ownership of the hard product of Japanese wrestling companies is easy for we in the west. Take a look on puroresushop.com at the cost of the 2-disc Kota Ibushi DDT set. $108. £67. 84 euros. (EDIT: I am not criticising puroresushop.com - it is a BRILLIANT site. the problem is market wide). It's ridiculous and serves only to exclude thousands from the promotion and its produce. Given that wrestling is supposed to be the low common denominator entertainment, it seems a strange model to pursue.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THIS EVENT I hear you cry. I'm getting there. New Japan Pro Wrestling is only available legally via Ustream. You pay to watch it live (as intended!) and there's a VOD available for a limited time and then it's gone. Beyond that you're in the realm of the illegal or the astronomical and to be honest even as a patient person being caught between the two stools is getting a little bit tiresome. The stream isn't exactly HD (in fact it's barely standard def.) but it's servicable for watching on a laptop in bed, except when the stream goes down. Or doesn't start at the appointed time. Or mysteriously goes off.

A mere $130 for the Blu-Ray
And I hope this doesn't get mistaken for some entitled consumer rant. I don't want NJPW to change their show, or for Gedo and Jado to book different matches, or have different champions, or provide me with English commentary, or anything like that. I'm just very surprised that the nabobs in NJPW's office haven't figured out that a gigantic fanbase wants their matches to own, not just the merch. 

In a world where we can literally print 3-D models of ourselves, why there isn't just an international PPV system where one can order an event and watch in decent quality without this hassle remains a mystery. And if, like PWG, they can't run live pay-per-view, then dashing off good quality DVDs at a reasonable price upon the event completion seems sensible. I know there are certain products that favours elitist metrics (those aimed toward nerds, willing to pay high prices for limited items) but we're beyond this now.

Though Ustream is not without problems (it hardly rushes to resolves issues either) it is the one thing keeping international NJPW and Dragon Gate fans honest. Whilst I suppose that we could always do without and step forward into 2015 without puroresu, I don't think either fanbase nor promotion want this to occur. Sidebar rant over. Now onto the event.

Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero) and Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) and Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club)

There's been no sign of the Bucks since Dominion back in June and their dropping of the Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to Time Splitters. Around the same time they also relinquished the Ring of Honor and Pro-Wrestling Guerilla Tag Titles and began cleverly working Twitter with hints that they were on their way to NXT in the wake of Kevin Steen, KENTA and Prince Devitt.

If that was a ruse or a truth that went awry, it's good to have them back. This curtain-raiser acts as a means to whet the appetite ahead of the Okayama clash with the Hooligans on Tuesday. It also serves to draw a line under the brief feud between Tomohiro Ishii and Yujiro Takahashi, the former being elevated despite the latter taking his NEVER Openweight Championship.


Considering that one of the finest active singles wrestlers (Ishii) and the finest active tag team (Bucks) are working this match, it gets much shorter than the standard PPV opener. At a mere seven minutes, this barely qualifies as a young lions match from a house show tour. There's plenty of carnage though, serving as more of a highlight reel than a traditional match. 

The Bucks appear to get a muted response from the house (though my stream was really crappy going into this), breaking out a Buckle Bomb into enziguri on Romero that looks more vicious than a typically stylish Bucks move. The Hooligans appear in the ascendant going into the 2 vs. 2 encounter, hitting the Contract Killer on Nick Jackson for the win. ***1/4

CHAOS d. Bullet Club

Alex Shelley, BUSHI and Maximo vs. El Desperado, Taichi and TAKA Michinoku (Suzuki-gun)

This match was also more of an angle than something that had anything at stake in itself. All pretence of a match was off when Suzuki-gun chased Shelley with chairs and walloped him into a disqualification inside three minutes, weakening the Time Splitter ahead of the Jr. Heavyweight title match on Tuesday. *1/2

Shelley, BUSHI and Maximo d. Suzuki-gun by DQ

Jushin 'Thunder' Liger, Tomoaki Honma and TenCozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) vs. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask IV and Captain New Japan

They're rattling through the card by the looks of things, spending just over five minutes on this encounter that is meant to hype the NWA Tag match between TenCozy and Nagata/Nakanishi, but I can't honestly remember whether they got into the ring aside from a messy closing sequence involving everybody.


The most edifying moment comes in the closing stages. Honma has posted successful Kokeshi attempts all through the Destruction tour. Here he finally gets the win, with Captain New Japan the entirely predictable fall guy. Honmania continues to run wild in Kobe. *1/2

Tencozy, Liger and Honma d. Nagata, Nakanishi, Tiger and Captain New Japan

Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Minoru Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka (Suzuki-gun)

Though I like sports, I do not like every sport. However, I am fully capable of respecting people from those sports that I do not like. I know that getting to the top of even the most obscure game requires dedication and effort to an extent that most collar-and-tie types will never really understand. So do other people, as this tweet will indicate.

 
Whilst I am not an MMA guy I can fully appreciate the things that Kazushi Sakuraba has achieved in his sport of choice. If someone says that memories of him are enough to bring tears then I think that that is cool. I sometimes feel the same about Andy Liddell, Kriss Akabusi and the 1996 Natwest Trophy-winning Lancashire County Cricket team. However, if I saw Liddell, Akabusi or any of said LCCC destroyers shuffling to the ring in a professional-wrestling capacity, I think that that is where my love would find a boundary and I would begin to regard them as just people.

You could counter this by saying that Sakuraba has some training in grappling and therefore wrestling. To me, the projected outcomes are different: fighters seek wins whilst wrestlers seek to provide entertainment. I'm not saying get him out of the ring. I'm just saying 'all he has achieved before counts for little.'

The slow tease that diverts Minoru Suzuki's attention away from Toru Yano after 21 months appears to hit some sort of fruition in this match. Or, as @Alan4L pointed out on Twitter: these two matches. Yano battles Iizuka here in a game of one-upmanship between two comedy guys whilst Suzuki and Sakuraba grapple impressively, the twain barely meeting until the close where Yano rolls Iizuka up whilst Sakuraba prevents Suzuki interfering on the apron with a figure four leglock.


Suzuki sells hard all the way to the back, limping pronouncedly, beating up the ring attendants in his fury. **1/2

Yano and Sakuraba d. Suzuki-gun

IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
KUSHIDA (c) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi

This is a match really helped by the house shows that preceded it to give it the dimensions of a crafted feud between two rivals. Often on opposing sides throughout the tour, Taguchi took on a darker and more patronisingly paternal figure to play off KUSHIDA's plucky young character. Taguchi would snare a clean tap from KUSHIDA on one show. The best KUSHIDA could manage would be a roll-up.

The dynamic would continue into the match, with Taguchi always seeming to know KUSHIDA's next trick. Sometimes KUSHIDA's ways could not be repelled, with the classic handspring kick landing its impressive mark, but often whether on the ground or in the air or upright, the young champion could not out-think the 2012 Best of the Super Junior winner.


The tale of Taguchi's control was etched into KUSHIDA's body language, who limped from the woes of aggressive submission attacks. I'd previously commented how Taguchi seems to be regaining confidence since returning from a seven month hip injury lay-off. Indeed, I'd characterise this as Taguchi's best performance since recovery, finding new gears in terms of ring work and character.

Not everyone thought that the match was a classic. Based on the reactions of Twitter, this match seemed to garner the most polarising reactions.


For me it was a very good contemporary Jr style match, incorporating the best of submissions, mat work and aerials. Taguchi isn't everyone's cup of tea, with a slightly passe gimmick and less-than-superstar look. But it seems to be that KUSHIDA was never deigned to have the title in the first place and perhaps only gained it as a result of concussing Kota Ibushi during their Kizuna Road encounter. Taguchi taps KUSHIDA with the move that has dogged him all through the tour - the ankle lock - and the champion falls on his first defence. ****

Taguchi d. KUSHIDA to become the new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion

AJ Styles and Tama Tonga (Bullet Club) vs. Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito

Though Naito got the better of Styles at the G1, the match isn't hyped as such and this tension is never played upon. In fact, of all the matches on this card, this one has the least apparent reason for happening other than 'wouldn't it be absolutely great to have AJ Styles and Kota Ibushi work a match together?' And let's be fair, it is what most right-thinking people want to see.

The resulting match is a classy exhibition contest that Tama Tonga adds to by acting as the weak link for the champion to have to attempt to win in spite of. All the really great work is when Ibushi and Styles go at it and ultimately the four serve up a really decent independent show style tag match where you're not entirely convinced of the motivations but you go along with it because of all the great action.


It is strange that Styles will not feature in a title defence over the two Destruction shows and has not defended it since May, but Kings of Pro Wrestling is on the horizon and he's a special attraction regardless of his bill position. Ibushi takes the win with the Phoenix Splash after a kick to the head of Tonga. ***1/2

Ibushi and Naito d. Bullet Club

IWGP TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows (c) (Bullet Club) vs. Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS)

The champions make their way to the ring with Karl Anderson wearing a new Bullet Club baseball cap but to a not great reaction, indicating the real schism between merch sales and in house reaction for the heel faction. Gallows and Gun have been all-conquering as IWGP Tag Champs, but have yet to really raise the roof as a team for any of their six title matches to date.

Their sixth defence appears to serve as a platform for singles matches, with Anderson headlining against Okada in Okayama whilst YOSHI-HASHI continues to establish his credentials as a singles competitor. His path in the pro ranks has not exactly been paved with gold.


Right now YOSHI-HASHI has inherited the same underdog heat that has propelled the fortunes of Honma and Ishii, showing fire and spirit, hitting big lariats and kicking out of a Gallows and Gun finisher. In a match that picked up and drove the crowd wild for every move CHAOS got in (dying down a little when Bullet Club turned the screw), YOSHI-HASHI hit his top tope Swanton and covered his man for 1...2...and then gets scooped by Yujiro just on the point of 3!

The heel heat becomes extraordinary as the CHAOS boys lose beyond this pivotal moment, with YOSHI-HASHI taking the fall. However, the guy staring at the lights comes out of the match with more momentum than the team on their sixth successful defence, so who is the real winner here? ***1/2

Bullet Club d. CHAOS


Hirooki Goto vs. Togi Makabe

There's a nice introductory video package that tells the story here regarding Makabe's jaw being broken by Goto on the opening night of the G1 Climax and ruining the Unchained Gorilla's chance of overall winning. It's completely rubbish to say he would have won had he not been injured, but it's enough for a feud in my book!

The look and feel of this one differs dramatically to all that came before it. It looks tough. It even sounds tough, with growling and roaring and yelling and yelping in pain and the sounds of impact sound like a cricket bat hitting wet cement.

Of the first match I wrote:

Makabe senses there's no point in trying to out-wrestle Goto so both men rush each other and start out incredibly hot and furious [...] Makabe's incredible knack at getting the crowd on side starts to push the match onward and upward through an excellent second half.

No quarter is spared, it is wrestled very 'big stage' and the potential victory by either man seems likely as we enter the home stretch.
This goes a touch longer than the G1 encounter and reverses its result, but brings the big thrills and spills of two hard-hitting brick shithouses smashing into each other gleefully and frequently. Goto hits the reverse ushikoroshi on Makabe, his jaw rebounding off Goto's knee with a satisfying crunch.

It's a very good match between the two men that arguably epitomise the NJPW upper midcard; tough, capable of great things and yet there is probably not going to be many tilts at ultimate glory ahead of them. So why not just invest fully in cool midcard feuds like this? Makabe takes the win after smashing the Spider German and his big finish. ****

Makabe d. Goto

 
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata

During the G1 Climax and in their recent tag team match from the Korakuen I have covered extensively the grounding for the rivalry between Tanahashi and Shibata. It's on this blog if you'd like to go and read it, with the only new information being that Shibata recently defeated Tanahashi at the G1 Climax in a shocking and thrilling bout worthy of headlining any PPV.

This match is just as heated and just as good as their last battle. Their differing styles (Shibata is a throwback, a New Japan stylist of the Inokism era, whilst Tanahashi is every inch the definitive modern Japanese heavyweight; his imitators are everywhere) offer a fine counterbalance, as well as being a great contrast and insight into the the history and future direction of the industry in general.


Shibata dominates stretches of the match with submissions and vicious strikes in the corner, though Tanahashi continually rises up to match his G1 vanquisher. Finding new layers of ruthlessness keeps Tanahashi alive, with no dilly-dallying over the etiquette of what to do after the rope break spot; the Ace just slaps the Wrestler hard in the face.

An exchange of hard German suplexes pushes the match into overdrive, with Shibata attempting the G2PK finish which Tanahashi blocks and then counters into a nice overhead neckbreaker. Tanahashi attempts to finish it with the High Fly Flow but is blocked, and both men hit the mat, winded. After that sickening spinning back chop of Shibata's he attempts the G2PK again, but again Tanahashi digs deep and counters with a Dragon Screw followed by a rough corner drop kick and High Fly Flows to a standing Shibata and again whilst prone, taking the win and the plaudits of the crowd.



The post-match takes a shocking turn, with Tanahashi and Shibata shaking hands. In the press conference, Tanahashi commented that "pro-wrestling is about understanding each other through matches. Don’t get me wrong; he’s still my rival." (source) For now, the serious layer of hate appears to have been entirely wiped clean. ****1/2

Tanahashi d. Shibata


Unbelievable.

IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Bad Luck Fale (c) (Bullet Club) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (CHAOS) 

The fourth battle of 2014 between these two men appeared telegraphed upon announcement. Nakamura defeated Fale in the final of the New Japan Cup and in the G1 Climax blocks, though Fale went into the G1 as Intercontinental Champion by dint of beating Nakamura for his title at Yokohama Arena. So early in his reign, having featured prominently in the G1 Climax as victor over Tanahashi, it appeared that Fale could not lose. 

Sharpening his claims were the presence of The Young Bucks as Fale's corner men, occasionally interfering to add leverage to Fale's stretching of the charismatic CHAOS figurehead. This was a dance very much like the three encounters that preceded it; led by Nakamura, surprisingly entertaining and varied with some nimble sequences and hitting all the right buttons for a main event style match without being a classic.



The fans loved it. They love to love Nakamura, who makes all the right noises and faces and works the room like a star. To his credit, Fale does all the right monster things, cowing his man with huge blows and throws, ensuring that every positive step brings the audience to react negatively.

In a surprise finish, to me at least, Nakamura regained the Intercontinental Championship with a pair of Boma Yes after escaping the Bad Luck Fall attempt. It's a popular result in the house and online, though I must admit a squeak of doubt at how much Nakamura needs the title compared to Fale. Then again, with minimal defence opportunities ahead of Wrestle Kingdom and a big show to sell, it may be wise to lock in your top liners now.

In the post-match conference, he indicated that future challenges may come from outside of the company, granting a whole new dimension to cards to come. ***1/2

Nakamura d. Fale to become the new IWGP Intercontinental Champion
 

A very solid show. The lesser first half was rattled through and from the Jr Heavy match on everything was at worst pretty good. The crew head to Okayama on Tuesday. Here is the card.

NJPW “DESTRUCTION IN OKAYAMA”
23rd September 2014
Convex Okayama

1. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Maximo vs. Captain New Japan, Ryusuke Taguchi & BUSHI
2. Forever Hooligans (CHAOS) vs. The Young Bucks (Bullet Club)
3. Kazushi Sakuraba, Toru Yano & Gedo (CHAOS) vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & TAKA Michinoku (Suzuki-gun)
4. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata
5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley (c) vs. El Desperado & Taichi
6. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga (Bullet Club)
7. NWA World Tag Team Title: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima (c) vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
8. NEVER Openweight Title: Yujiro Takahashi (c) (Bullet Club) vs. YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS)
9. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tetsuya Naito vs. AJ Styles & Doc Gallows
10. Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Title #1 Contender Match: Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) vs. Karl Anderson (Bullet Club)


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