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NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima, September 22nd:
Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Ricochet defeated Captain New Japan, Yoshitatsu & Togi Makabe
This was originally meant to be an eight man tag, but Matt Sydal couldn't make the show due to some sort of travel issue. I don't know who Makabe pissed off to get stuck with Hunter Club. This was your typical NJPW opener. It was pretty basic stuff with everyone getting in their couple of signature moves. The finish saw Kojima pin Captain after a Lariat. Tomorrow is the last day in the Yoshitatsu Twitter vote to decide if Captain remains in Hunter Club, so if you want to see this awful team end, get voting!
Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, Ryusuke Taguchi & David Finlay defeated Tiger Mask IV, Yuji Nagata, Tomoaki Honma & Manabu Nakanishi
This match was designed to spotlight ReDRagon as they move up the ranks in NJPW. Early on Nakanishi went for a cross body to the floor, but completely missed and ate a face full of floor. It was pretty funny. Fish hit an exploded on Nagata, which Nagata couldn't have been happy about. Finlay looked polished and is more than ready for bigger things. The finish saw ReDRagon hit Chasing the Dragon on Honma and then on Tiger before Kyle pinned him. This was a good showcase for ReDRagon as NJPW try to establish them as heavyweights.
Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa defeated Rocky Romero & Beretta
This was a match that saw the junior and heavyweight tag divisions merge, in what is a smart move for NJPW. This was a very good match match. Loa looked very good here as the badass of the team. Romero helped him by showing fear at times. Beretta sold until Romero got the tag. Romero did a hell of a job of getting a somewhat dead crowd into the match. RPG Vice hit some double team. Romero & Tonga had really good chemistry together. Romero got a great near fall when he counted a Gun Stun into a crucifix. Romero was caught in a Gun Stun when he went for a springboard. This allowed GOD to hit Guerrilla Warfare and pick up the win.
Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
Yujiro came to the ring accompanied by two women that were wearing next to nothing. This was a better match than expected. Bullet Club took advantage of Goto and worked him over with neckbreakers until Ishii made the tag and unloaded on Yujiro. Owens got in a great false finish when he hit a Package Piledriver on Goto, but Ishii broke up the pin. Ishii & Goto hit an Ushigoroshi/Sliding lariat combo before Goto finished Owens with the GTR. Goto & Ishii make a hell of a team that could be contenders for the World Tag League in December.
Michael Elgin, KUSHIDA, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson defeated EVIL, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI
This was really well booked with Elgin coming out of it looking, well, unbreakable. LIJ jumped everyone before the bell and attacked the knee of Elgin on the ramp, a knee that was heavily taped due to previous attacks from Naito and his crew. KUSHIDA had his arm worked over in the ring. Both Tanahashi & Robinson got into the match at times, but LIJ always had control due to the numbers advantage.
Elgin made the heroic comeback to the apron to take the tag from Robinson and tossed Naito around until his knee was targeted yet again. The numbers were even for the remainder of the match and we saw some good back and forth. Elgin was the focus of the remainder of the match. He had a great physical exchange with EVIL and eventually pinned him after hitting an Elgin Bomb. After the bell Naito tried to jump Elgin yet again, but this time the tables were turned and Elgin dropped him with an Elgin Bomb. Elgin looked awesome here, and looked like even with a bad knee, he still couldn't be held down ahead of his IC title defence against Naito on the 25th. This was great.
IWGP Tag Team Championship: The Briscoes defeated The Young Bucks
This was a pretty historic match as the Jr. Tag champions challenged for the heavyweight tag titles. The Bucks were a lot more serious as they came to the ring and had their game faces on. The Bucks played the babyfaces as Matt was beaten down and Nick made the hot tag. There was never a dull moment in this one as the teams went back and forth with lots of tags in and out. There were lots of great double team moves from both teams. There was one great spot where Matt landed on his feet out of a Doomsday Device, then The Bucks unloaded with a flurry of superkicks. However, it didn't get quite the reaction that it would have on an ROH show.
The Bucks hit More Bang for your Buck, but the pin was interrupted. Attempts at the Meltzed Driver and Doomsday were blocked. Jay hit a Jay Driller, but the pin was again broken up. The Briscoes hit a crucifix bomb/neckbreaker combo from the top, but Matt kicked out for the near fall of the match. The Briscoes then connected with The Doomsday Device to retain the gold. This was a very good match with all four guys working extremely hard, but the crowd were very quiet for the majority of it, only coming alive towards the end.
After the match The Guerrillas of Destiny jumped The Briscoes and said that this was their territory and wanted their rematch. There was virtually no reaction to this at all from the crowd. It looks like we'll have that match at King of Pro Wrestling.
ROH World Championship: Adam Cole defeated Will Ospreay
This was a very good match. This saw Cole return to ROH for the first time in two years and looked as poised and confident as he usually does. The crowd were unfamiliar with him, but they were firmly into Ospreay with lots of chants for him. Cole is so great at doing little things between moves that a lot of others forget about. Ospreay got to put on a big aerial display here as he got in far more than Cole did, with Cole playing the defensive heel. Cole countered the OsCutter with a Backstabber.
Ospreay hit an amazing looking Sasuke Special, along with various other flips and kicks. Cole countered a handspring moonsault into a superkick for a near fall. The finish came when Cole countered the OsCutter yet again with a superkick to the knee, which Ospreay sold like he had been shot in the knee cap. Cole followed up with the Panama Sunrise and a Brainbuster onto the knee to retain the title. This was a really good reintroduction into NJPW for Cole, who looked every bit the star that he is.
Kazuchika Okada defeated Bad Luck Fale
Okada was out to avenge his G1 loss to Fale. This was great. Fale targeted the Rainmaker arm of Okada. He attacked it outside the ring and dropped all his weight on it with splashes and leg drops. Okada fought back into the match and managed to slam Fale, while still selling his arm. He hit a tope con Hilo to the floor. Fale countered the Rainmaker and hit the grenade for a near fall. Okada escaped the Bad Luck Fall on more than one occasion. Okada hit a Rainmaker but did more damage to himself.
The last few minutes saw some great counters as Okada was hell bent on hitting a Tombstone. He back flipped over Fale and hit a left armed Rainmaker, which was like something from a Lucha match. Okada eventually hit the Tombstone, which was as impressive as hell and followed up with The Rainmaker to score the win. This was really well done. They told a great story around the arm of Okada and Fale had another really good performance.
Tokyo Dome championship opportunity: Kenny Omega defeated YOSHI-HASHI
This was an absolutely fantastic main event. We knew that YOSHI had no chance of winning, but this made you believe that YOSHI had a chance. As good as their G1 match was, this was even better and was a worthy main event. YOSHI put in a big performance in the biggest match of his career and Omega wrestled like a bona fide main eventer and top star.
The Young Bucks got involved, superkicking YOSHI and assisting a spike Piledriver on a trash can later on, but thankfully that was their only involvement. YOSHI was the underdog and fought his way back into the match after The Bucks interference. Omega threw everything at YOSHI, but YOSHI kept coming back and wouldn't stay down. This match was given lots of time and built into something really great. It got to a point where YOSHI kept kicking out, and then popped out of a German suplex and started swinging with lefts and rights. He mounted one last attack hitting a Swanton for a near fall and locking in the butterfly lock, which Omega sold incredibly. The finish saw Omega hit a series of V Trigger knee strikes until YOSHI couldn't take anymore, and was finished off with the One Winged Angel.
This is a match definitely worth going out of your way to see. Kenny Omega is starting to reach an untouchable height in NJPW.
After the match Hirooki Goto stepped up to make a challenge to Omega, but Omega's response was "Goto hell".
This was a pretty uneventful show apart from the last couple of matches. The four main events are all very good with the last two matches being the ones you should watch if you are stuck for time.
The show is available now at NJPWWorld.com.
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