New Japan Pro-Wrestling: NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2016 Review
Location: Fukuoka, Japan inside the Fukuoka Convention Center
This show marks one year of reviewing New Japan Pro-Wrestling shows for this very website. I think that’s kind of cool. I’ve been much more consistent in doing it this year, which hopefully can continue to be a thing for the foreseeable future. NJPW has probably become my favorite promotion to watch in the past year, so that also makes it much easier for me to do these.
New Japan’s annual wrestling vacation show is much bigger this year in scope and in size. The earthquakes that hit Japan in April caused the company to have to rework the original card and add two matches to this show. This is also headlined by three straight CHAOS vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon matches and their reception will be an early indicator as to how strong LIJ really is to the audience. Not to mention, you have Katsuyori Shibata defending his NEVER Openweight Championship against the last of the Third Generation in Yuji Nagata, Jushin Thunder Liger going for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship one more time against KUSHIDA as well. This card is pretty loaded with almost all of the championships on the line and is positioned as a major show on the calendar. Let’s see if it delivers in that fashion.
Match 1: Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club) vs. Captain New Japan & Juice Robinson
Winners: Bullet Club (After Bad Luck Fale Hits CNJ with the Grenade)
This was short and sweet. Another squash for Bad Luck Fale after losing to Tanahashi at the 4.27 Road-To show. It allows Fale to look strong, Juice gets some offense, and that’s about it. No Rating
Match 2: 8-Man Tag Team Match: Gedo (NJPW Booker), Kazushi Sakuraba, YOSHI-HASHI, and Will Ospreay (ALL CHAOS) vs. Tiger Mask IV, Ryusuke Taguchi, David Finlay Jr. & Jay White
Winners: Team CHAOS (After Ospreay Hits Finlay Jr. with a Springboard Lethal Injection)
The moment this match was made, it was pretty obvious this was setup for Ospreay to win. Although, he wasn’t really put into a huge highlight role here, other than being the person that gets the fall and doing moves at the end. That’s totally ok, because it allowed for others to have roles in the match as well. Taguchi gave everyone some Hip Attacks, Jay White got cocky, was humbled, and then got the last laugh by putting a Cross Face onto YOSHI-HASHI. Sakuraba did some kicks and had some nice interactions with Tiger Mask. Finlay Jr looked really good in the finishing sequence just blasting Ospreay with stiff running elbows and doing his Finlay Roll. Ospreay had the HUGE flying sequence with the No Hands Backflip to the outside and I like his variation on Jay Lethal’s “Lethal Injection” by adding the springboard to it, though the crowd didn’t react much to the end. This was your traditional NJPW 8-Man tag in the end and it didn’t go overly long, which is another plus. ** and ½ *
Match 3: IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship Match: (Champions) Roppongi Vice (CHAOS) vs. Ricochet & Matt Sydal
Winners AND NEW Champions: Ricochet & Matt Sydal (After Double Shooting Star Presses)
The flip flopping of the titles continues with Ricochet and Sydal getting the belts again in what was not nearly as good a match, as the one at Invasion Attack, but still a pretty good one in its own right. The first five minutes was about RPG Vice taking out Ricochet by disposing of him in the crowd and then working on Sydal for a lot of the match. Even after Ricochet came back to the apron, they still tried to knock him off of it, it’s as if Berretta and Rocky Romero knew who the strength of the team was. Ricochet was spot on as usual and took a nasty knee from Beretta, after he’d just hit a 630 on Rocky. Roppongi themselves did nothing Super Flashy, but a key moment in the match came when Ricochet finally became the legal man, Rocky took out Sydal, and Berretta was able to hit the Dude Buster on Ricochet, (which was the move he used to pin Ricochet to win the Tag Titles,) but this time Sydal was able to make the save. The finishing sequence had some good back and forth and kept you guessing as to who would come away with the victory.
Ricochet and Sydal are once again champs, heading into a period where they probably won’t be defended for a while, as both men are in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament that starts on May 21. I really wish Gedo could focus on the tag teams in this division and give them a story, but alas that is not the case. I think you could really make an argument that at least on the tag team side, merging the two divisions would not be a bad idea.*** and ¼ *
Match 4: NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship Match: (Champions) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, & Yoshitatsu vs. Kenny Omega & Young Bucks (The Elite)
Winners AND NEW Champions: The Elite (After)
I should set the stage a little bit for this because I didn’t get to review the 4.27 Road-To show. Omega retained the IWGP IC Title against Elgin after a great match. After that match, he laid out Tanahashi did a figurative laying a belt across him. So, it seems like the rematch between Tanahashi and Omega may not be too far off, regardless of what happens in this match. Yoshitatsu has also been doing this Bullet Club Hunter gimmick, where he basically cosplays as Triple H. He spits water during his entrance and does the Pedigree. Not to mention, Omega still tried to do the Styles Clash on Yoshitatsu at some of the other house shows as well. So, pretty much everyone has a beef with Kenny Omega coming into the match.
All that being said, I really enjoyed this, probably because it was much different than anything else will be on this show. Young Bucks came out with their face outfits, (literally they wear jackets and pants with their faces all over them,) while also carrying a ladder. Yoshitatsu continued the Triple H cosplay, which makes you wonder how many people in the crowd actually know who Triple H is, because they don’t really react when Yoshitatsu spits the water. Elgin might have been the most over guy in this match, as the crowd would chant his name when he would do a big spot like the Super Powerslam with slight assistance from his partners. He military pressed Tanahashi to the outside onto the Bucks as well. It didn’t take long for the weapons to come into play, as a small table was placed on the outside, the Bucks brought the ladder into the ring, and Omega of course had the trademark trash can and spray.
Omega would wind up Powerbombing Elgin through the small table after Nick Jackson Superkicks him off the apron to give him a push. Tanahashi Dropkicked the ladder into the Young Bucks to return the favor. In my last review, I stated that I thought Yoshitatsu really needed to embrace the gimmick, if he was going to be like Triple H. Low and behold, he did just that pulling out the Chin Buster, the Running Knee, and the Spinebuster all in one sequence. I know not everyone is a fan of it, but I kinda like it for him. The fans chant for him and react to what he does, so what does it matter? If he at one point does get to have his vengeance on Bullet Club, it will mean something. It wouldn’t be on this day though, as Omega and The Bucks win back the biggest toys in wrestling I don’t say that in a demeaning way, these titles don’t mean anything, they are here to further storylines and to be important matches on house shows. If you are bent out of shape over the seventh tier belts in NJPW changing hands constantly, I think you need to go check your pulse. *** and ¼ *
After the Match: Omega picks up Yoshitatsu and tells Matt to get on the Ladder to do an Indy Taker, but Tanahashi pushes them off of it and runs them out of the ring. Tanahashi then gets on the microphone and in English challenges Omega for the IWGP IC Title, pleading for him to say yes, which even gets the crowd to chant “say yes.” Omega says no, but then sets up the Ladder and tells Tanahashi that he will say YES to a Ladder Match. Both men get on the ladder and after a long stare down, they shake hands. They get down and Omega tells Tanahashi, “welcome to American style wrestling.” So, for the second time in New Japan’s history, there will be a ladder match taking place. Hiroshi Tanahashi actually was a participant in the only other ladder match in the company’s history, which took place in 2007 and it also featured TARU and Manabu Nakanishi of all people. Needless to say, I think we can bank on this match being much better than that one. We should probably expect this to be a headliner at the annual Dominion PPV in June.
There’s also this…..
Match 5: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: (Champions) Guerrilas of Destiny (Bullet Club) vs. Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe (Great Bash Heel)
Winners AND STILL champions: G.O.D. (After the Guerilla Warfare)
Another match from Guerrilas of Destiny and yet again there’s nothing when they go on offense. The crowd was absolutely dead when G.O.D. do anything and that’s with an Apron Powerbomb spot done to Makabe. They also did a hilarious count out spot, which almost worked where Honma and Tonga are fighting in the crowd, Honma runs, locks the barricade, and then Tonga trips over himself trying to jump the barricade, and he barely makes it before the 20 count. Tama Tonga is good, but his brother isn’t, but this is one of those times where the cream isn’t rising to the top and Loa is bringing Tonga down. The crowd did get involved when Makabe and Honma were doing things, but the match was just there. Tonga and Honma did some good stuff, but right now this isn’t working. I hope this is the end of this feud because if G.O.D. want to be anything, they need to prove this isn’t a fluke. I will say that Bullet Club really feels so divided these days. You have Fale and Yujiro holding up the old ways, Tonga and Loa doing their own thing with the Chest Protectors, and then Omega and The Bucks are pushing The Elite. The faction is a complete third banana to the other two and it is almost a joke at this point. **
The intermission highlighted the upcoming Best of the Super Juniors XXIII and gave us the blocks for the tournament.
A BLOCK
– KUSHIDA (2015 Winner)
– Ryusuke Taguchi (2012 Winner)
– Kyle O’Reilly
– Matt Sydal
– Rocky Romero
– Gedo
– BUSHI
– Matt Jackson
B BLOCK
– Jushin Thunder Liger (1994 & 2001 Winner)
– Tiger Mask IV (2004 & 2005 Winner)
– Ricochet (2014 Winner)
– Bobby Fish
– Barreta
– Nick Jackson
– Volador Jr.
– Will Ospreay
Thoughts: It’s nice to see we get the surprise of Volador Jr. coming from CMLL. Will Ospreay and KUSHIDA have been kept separate and it looks like they could very well be going for a rematch in the Final. All of the tag team partners have been kept separate for this as well. New Japan also wasted no time in giving wrestling fans the rematch from the Wrestlemania Weekend EVOLVE show with Will Ospreay and Ricochet in the B Block. You will also get another match in the Liger vs. Tiger series. KUSHIDA gets a host of rematches in the A Block with BUSHI, Kyle O’ Reilly (last year’s Final,) and Matt Sydal, who he faced at a ROH event. So, there is certainly some story intrigue here, will it be Ospreay or Ricochet that make out of Block B? Can KUSHIDA make it to the Final again? Or will New Japan have BUSHI conquer to continue having Los Ingobernables de Japon look strong? Some nice questions to answer there. Unless KUSHIDA wins, the victor will face KUSHIDA at Dominion in June for the Jr. Title.
Match 6: NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata
Winner AND NEW Champion: Yuji Nagata (After Backdrop Hold)
So, the destruction of the Third Generation ends here for Katsuyori Shibata, as well it should, because I don’t think anyone wanted to see a match involving Manabu Nakanishi. All jokes aside, this is a story that New Japan loves telling, one that you could say is in the making for Shibata. Although his feud with Tanahashi was directly about him leaving in 2005 and the disrespect that many in the promotion felt when he was brought back by NJPW President Kidani in 2012, he was still a freelancer until earlier this year when he signed the one year deal. After that, he won the NEVER Title and began disrespecting the Third Generation wrestlers. Perhaps signing the contract and winning the belt quickly gave him this feeling that nothing was going to get in his way, especially not these old washed up guys. Shibata beats Kojima and he beats Tenzan, but Nagata was something different. Nagata stood toe to toe and continuously fought back when Shibata would beat him down.
I should note that Hiroshi Tanahashi came out to do commentary after intermission. Although it felt like the story was for Shibata to beat everyone right after the other, New Japan went a different way with Nagata winning the belt here and humbling Shibata. In a match that featured the things you expect, lots of Forearms, heated sequences, a great Figure 4 spot, where Shibata kept turning it back over on Nagata, but Nagata was finally able to turn it on Shibata and get the ropes. Shibata would even use Nagata’s own Backdrop Hold, but the disrespect reached its culmination there, as Nagata fired up hit Shibata with the PK and his own Backdrop Hold for the abrupt win. It really felt out of nowhere and it seemed like the crowd was shocked at what happened. This was still very good, but perhaps they did give away too much on those house shows last month, as some of the sequences they used in the build-up video were done in this match. Big Time Nagata fan and NJPW announcer Nogami absolutely lost it at ringside seeing his man win the belt. Shibata walked briskly to the back, without showing much emotion, although you have to think he feels shame for losing. The rematch has already been set for Dominion and I wouldn’t be surprised if Nagata doesn’t retain there and they extend this further.*** and ½ *
Match 7: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match: (Champion) KUSHIDA vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
Winner AND STILL Champion: KUSHIDA (After making Liger TAP OUT with the Hoverboard Lock)
Many people don’t think that the preceding matches on a card matter, but this is one time where card placement was key. Nagata It is amazing to me that Jushin Thunder Liger is over 50 years old and can still go at such a high level. KUSHIDA has been nothing short of excellent in this run as Junior Champion and he once again proves that he can work different matches. Liger wanted to cement his legacy as the greatest Junior ever, while KUSHIDA wanted to continue to show he’s the ACE of the Juniors. Liger had become ultra-aggressive in the house show matches, working on the right leg of KUSHIDA, while KUSHIDA worked on Liger’s arm. This continued here, as Liger just absolutely took KUSHIDA to the woodshed with EVERYTHING in his arsenal, while also working that leg to death. KUSHIDA was wonderful at selling it, including barely limping into the ring the last possible moment to avoid the 20 count after taking a Brainbuster on the floor. Liger would hit another Brainbuster later to get a HUGE near fall. However, that was as close as Liger would get, as KUSHIDA got in the Hoverboard Lock, wrenched back, pressed in Liger’s fingers, and Liger tapped out. A great showcase of sportsmanship occurred afterwards as both men showed respect to each other. It has been a long time since there’s been so much hype behind the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. I think it is safe to say that should be attributed to the work KUSHIDA ever since Wrestle Kingdom 10. ****
Match 8: Hirooki Goto (CHAOS) vs. EVIL (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
Winner: EVIL (after The Evil STO)
This was the one match that seemed like it could lose some time due to the addition of matches to the card and I think you could easily make the case that it really didn’t suffer because of it. EVIL did his chair spot 30 seconds into the match and it was on from there. What followed was just two guys brawling to the hilt. Goto gave it all he could and was able to counter EVIL a few times, but ultimately, EVIL was able to put Goto away with the Darkness Falls and EVIL STO clean in the middle of the ring. EVIL looks strong and perhaps there is more to the Hirooki Goto story, as he’s still been losing even with CHAOS. ***
Match 9: Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) vs. Sanada (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
Winner: Kazuchika Okada (After the Rainmaker Lariat)
Two men who had never wrestled each other, but are similar in certain ways face off here. Okada had his title robbed from him by Sanada at Invasion Attack, while Sanada looks to prove himself against the ACE of New Japan. Another pretty good match and one that felt like a match you’d expect two guys unfamiliar with each other to have. Okada was a Dropkick machine in this and probably hit about three or four in total, while Sanada did an impressive Leapfrog Springboard Dropkick to Okada that may have looked just as stellar. Sanada looks bigger and is much more confident than the Sanada who was a constant of the X-Division in TNA. The main portion of this match was these two countering each other going from the Skull’s End Dragon Sleeper to Okada’s Neckbreaker was absolutely seamless, as were the multiple Rainmaker counters by Sanada as well. I don’t know if I cared for the hand drop spot, where the referee drops the arm of someone in a hold looking for three, but other than that, everything else was solid. Okada won as expected, but I wouldn’t be surprised if these two meet again in the not too distant future. *** and ½ *
Match 10: MAIN EVENT: IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: (Champion) Tetsuya Naito w/ Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Tomohiro Ishii w/ Gedo & Kazuchika Okada
Winner AND STILL Champion: Tetsuya Naito (After El Destino)
These two have had matches before and they’ve always been great, but this one was special. This was not only Tetsuya Naito’s first IWGP Heavyweight Title defense, but also the first time that Tomohiro Ishii has been a challenger for said title. Ishii is the perfect opponent for Naito’s first defense. It is an opponent that Naito has familiarity with, so you know you’d get a great match, but also because Ishii has perhaps been one of the best wrestlers on the planet for the last few years and you could certainly put him in the Wrestler of the Year conversation so far for 2016.
This also played well off of their New Japan Cup match because Ishii did what he always does in that match and it did not work. So, after about 10 minutes of being beat down by Naito in the ring, on the outside, and by his compadres, Ishii is able to muster enough to make a comeback. He then goes right after the surgically repaired leg of Naito, which is easily identified by the bandage inside the knee pad. Ishii was relentless in going after the leg and Naito sold being those submissions as some of the most painful moves you’ll ever see. This shows that Ishii learned from his first match and adapted into wearing down Naito. I thought it was great that they had Okada and Gedo out there to keep the LIJ at bay. This allows the focus to be on where it should be and not on the outside interference.
In the meanwhile, Naito pulled out every big move he had to try to keep Ishii down, but he couldn’t do it. Not to mention, there were times where he is leg gave out on him and he didn’t have enough strength to pull off a move like the Twisting Rope DDT. Ishii wrestled a complete match here and turned in a wonderful performance not only in the selling, which he always nails, but in making you believe that he had a chance to actually win. The crowd was still pro Naito, but by the end, it was certainly more of a 50-50 split. The crowd was so loud and stomping towards the finish that I couldn’t even make out what name was being chanted. Ishii hooked me after the Reverse Brainbuster and they had me until the finish where Naito hit El Destino for the eventual victory. I don’t know if I can say this is a Match of the Year Contender, because there will surely be matches that beat it, but this was one heck of a start to a title reign. Tomohiro Ishii could certainly be proud of his effort and hopefully we see him get to challenge for the belt again someday. For now, Naito and Los Ingobernables still reign supreme and it looks like Kazuchika Okada will be his next challenger at Dominion. **** and ¼ *
OVERALL RATING: 8.0 This wasn’t a blowaway show, but it was a very good show with two great matches that everyone needs to see in Liger vs. KUSHIDA and the main event. There’s also other fun stuff on the show with Nagata winning the NEVER Championship, the Jr. Tag Title match was some good stuff, watching Tanahashi and Omega climbing a Ladder was certainly something. I enjoyed this show and those two great matches are everything you would want. The company has a ton of intrigue going into Dominion and it may be a great time for a break, so that they can let this simmer until June 19, 2016. In that time, we will get to see Lion Gate Project #2 later this month and after that will be the Best of the Super Juniors XXIII tournament. Quite a fun time to be watching this company right now.
