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Power Struggle 2015 Results from Osaka,
November 7th.
Tiger Mask IV, Jushin Thunder Liger, Ryusuke Taguchi & Mascara Dorada defeated
David Finlay, Jay White, Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka. Sho Tanaka insisted
on starting the match against Liger. The young lions almost got into a fight
over who would start the match. The veterans worked over the taped up thigh of
White and the arm of Finlay. White showed lots of charisma when he used
Taguchi's hip attacks. This was the usual fun match you'd expect from these
guys with the young lions doing their best to take down the veterans. Tiger
pinned Finlay after a double arm suplex from the top rope. After the match
Liger seemed to challenge Tiger for the NWA Jr heavyweight championship.
Tama Tonga, Doc Gallows & Cody Hall defeated Captain New Japan, Togi Makabe &
Juice Robinson. Robinson had his elbow heavily taped. He must have picked
up an injury along the tour. This was okay. Robinson looked good when he got
the chance. He hit a really nice diving headbutt three quarters of the way
across the ring. Makabe & Gallows hit each other with bombs. Hall pulled out a
nice pumphandle suplex. Tama Tonga pinned Captain after a superman punch and a
double arm DDT. It says a lot about Captian when he gets pinned in a match that
also features two "young boys". Robinson was limping badly as he left the
ring. He could have been selling, but it looked like he couldn't put weight on
his leg.
Hirooki Goto defeated EVIL by DQ. EVIL has a completely different look
than he had in ROH. He is known as the "King of Darkness" and entered in a
black robe and hood, carrying the sort of thing you'd see the grim reaper
holding. He now wears a singlet too. This was a good physical match. EVIL
looked really good in the ring as he controlled the pace of the match. He's a
good opponent for Goto. Goto came back with lots of stiff blows and lariats.
Goto locked EVIL in a submission and then Tetsuya Naito (who has been absent
from this tour) hit the ring. He attacked Goto and hit him with Destino causing
a DQ. Katsuyori Shibata made the save. Naito attacked young lions and the
cameraman as he left the ring. I'm guessing this will lead to a match between
these teams in the World Tag League. It was a good first match for EVIL, but
the name and gimmick are very cartoonish.
KUSHIDA, Alex Shelley, Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish defeated Chase Owens, Kenny
Omega & The Young Bucks. It's impossible to recap what happened in this,
but it was a whole lot of fun and as entertaining as hell. There were all sorts
of double team and multi man combos with bodies flying everywhere. Omega & The
Bucks really hammed it up with their usual antics. KUSHIDA got the win when he
made Owens submit to the Hoverboard Lock. KUSHIDA looks to be once again
challenging Kenny Omega for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight championship. If you enjoy
crazy, fast paced wrestling, this is well worth checking out.
Super Jr Tag Tournament Final: Matt Sydal & Ricochet defeated Beretta & Rocky
Romero. This was awesome. It wasn't a surprise to see Sydal & Ricochet
win, but it was only right. They started the match working over the leg of
Beretta. The match built slowly and eventually picked up the pace as the match
went on. Ricochet looked particularly great. He springboarded, intercepting
Romero in mid air as he went for the Strong Zero. He then hit a spectacular
shooting star press to the floor on Romero. Beretta hit the Dudebuster on
Sydal, but Ricochet broke up the pin for a great near fall. Sydal hit Beretta
with a reverse rana and Ricochet hit Romero with the Benydriller before they hit
stereo shooting star presses to get the win and win the tournament. This was
yet another great Jr tag match. Their have been some great ones over the last
few months, but this was just as good as the rest. For me RPG Vice were the
standout team of the tournament. They had three awesome matches that were all
really different.
Sydal & Ricochet then said they wanted a title shot. This brought out ReDRagon
& The Young Bucks, along with RPG Vice, who all stated their claim for a title
match. So it looks like we will be getting the annual four way title match at
Wrestle Kingdom, which sort of makes the Sydal/Ricochet win irrelevant as the
winner usually gets their own title shot.
AJ Styles & Bad Luck Fale defeated YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano. This was
exactly what you'd expect. Yano ran scared from Fale. Styles & YOSHI work
really well together. They could probably have a great singles match. It was a
fun, basic tag match. YOSHI put up his usual underdog fight against Styles, but
in the end Styles won after a Bloody Sunday and a Styles Clash. This was all
about Styles getting back on track after his loss to Okada at King of Pro
Wrestling.
NEVER Openweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii defeated Tomoaki Honma.
This was just like every other match these guys have had, and that is in no way
an insult, because yet again it was awesome. This was another war with the
Osaka crowd right behind Honma in his quest to win gold. There were so many
Kokeshi's and different variations of the move that I completely lost count.
That move is the most over move in wrestling. Every time he hit it, no matter
how or when, the crowd ate it up. There was a sequence of headbutts here where
they stood in the middle of the ring just headbutts get each other right in the
forehead. Honma refused to die no matter how many lariats, headbutts or
suplexes Ishii hit him with. Ishii countered one Kokeshi with a headbutt and
swatted Honma away with a lariat on another. Ishii got the win after a couple
of lariats and a Brainbuster to win the match. Go out of your way to see this.
Katsuyori Shibata & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Kazushi Sakuraba & Kazuchika
Okada. This was great. Okada & Tanahashi had some great exchanges and the
body language between them is awesome to watch. Shibata & Sakuraba took to the
mat. Shibata has been Sakuraba's best opponent in NJPW. Okada & Shibata has
some brief, but great exchanges. That is a big time singles match that has to
happen at some point in 2016. Tanahashi & Sakuraba did some nice stuff
together. Sakuraba tried for a single leg, but Tanahashi countered into a
German Suplex. Tanahashi & Shibata hit a double dropkick on Okada. Shibata hit
the corner dropkick on Sakuraba, followed up by a High Fly Flow from Tanahashi.
Shibata finished off Sakuraba with a GTS.
After the match Okada shoved Tanahashi which absolutely lit a fire under
Tanahashi who just snapped and went after Okada. Okada grinned as Tanahashi was
held back and an all out brawl between the two erupted. Okada nailed Tanahashi
with the briefcase and tried to tombstone him on the floor. When it was finally
under control, Tanahashi sprinted up the aisle again to attack Okada. This was
the first time in their feud where it spilled over into a fight where you could
feel their hatred for each other. This was absolutely awesome.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Karl Anderson.
This was one hell of a main event. Bullet Club attacked Nakamura, giving
Anderson the advantage. Anderson targeted the neck. He derailed Nakamura's
comeback when he hit a Gun Stun from the middle rope. Nakamura rolled to the
safety of the apron. A swivel Gun Stun from the middle rope wasn't enough.
Nakamura beautifully countered another Gun Stun into an armbar. There was one
moment that I had to rewind several times to make sure it actually happened.
Anderson slingshotted himself into the ring, somersaulting onto his feet into a
clothesline on Nakamura. Anderson survived some Boma Ye's, but he was finally
put down after a running Boma Ye.
After the match AJ Styles stepped up and made the challenge. So it will be AJ
Styles challenging Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship
at Wrestle Kingdom, which is a mouth watering sentence.
This was a great show and well worth watching. It is available now on demand at
www.NJPWWorld.com.
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