Hello and welcome to my review of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestling Dontaku 2015, or if you prefer, Wrestling Vacation for Last Word on Sports. This will be the first of what I hope can be a normal thing around these parts.
I am relatively new to New Japan Pro Wrestling. I’ve watched a few big shows here and there over the years, but after Wrestle Kingdom 9, I decided to order New Japan World and commit to keeping up with NJPW. So far, I really haven’t been disappointed. That being said, I’ve written reviews for quite a few WWE and TNA PPV’s, but this will be my first one for a New Japan show. Whether you agree or disagree with my opinions of the matches is your own choice. But I hope you will be gracious enough to bear with me as I’m still learning things about the style, the New Japan roster, and its history as well. Now that the introductions are out of the way, let’s get on with this event.
Wrestling Dontaku is in a weird spot in the New Japan calendar. It’s after New Japan Cup and Invasion Attack, but before Best of the Super Juniors and Dominion, which is traditionally a much bigger show for the company. This year, the event is coming off the heels of a special house show that took place five days before called Wrestling Hinokuni where Togi Makabe won back his NEVER OPEN Championship in a great match against Tomohiro Ishii in the main event. Normally, that match would have taken place as the semi-main event of this show, but New Japan has made the decision to start picking one or two house shows a month and making them feel more important by having a PPV quality match on them. Though it does put a lot more focus on Goto vs. Nakamura to deliver, sometimes knowing you have a steeper challenge ahead can make the journey even more worth it.
New Japan Pro Wrestling: Wrestling Dontaku 05/03/15
Location: Fukuoka Convention Center in Fukuoka, Japan
Match 1: 8 Man Tag Team Match: Captain New Japan, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Mascara Dorada, Tiger Mask, and Yuji Nagata
Winners: Jushin Thunder Liger, Mascara Dorada Tiger Mask, and Yuji Nagata (Nagata Pinned Captain New Japan after an Exploder Suplex) 9 minutes and 25 seconds
This served as a fun opener for the show. Everyone got to have their little moment, including Nakanishi beating Nagata in a chop battle. Though, Nagata had the ultimate revenge as he got the pin for his team. KUSHIDA played face in peril for a large portion of it until things broke down when Liger had him in a full Mexican Surfboard. This eventually led to a fantastic step on the middle rope somersault dive by Mascara Dorada clearing out almost everyone, except Nakanishi who then proceeded to do one of the most awkward yet hilarious press dives you’ve ever seen, basically pancaking Dorada on his way down. Speaking of Dorada, he continues to have interesting interactions with KUSHIDA in these multi-man matches. Their exchange ended with KUSHIDA turning a Dorada Armdrag attempt into an Armbar. I’ve heard rumors that perhaps New Japan could possibly do a match between the two for Dorada’s CMLL Welterweight belt. I can’t imagine Gedo and Jado have not noticed these two in the ring together. Fingers crossed they at least get paired together at some point in the Super Juniors tournament next month. ***
Match 2: Tag Match: Kota Ibushi & Yohei Komatsu vs. Tetsuya Naito & Sho Tanaka
Winners: Kota Ibushi & Yohei Komatsu (After Komatsu made Tanaka tap out to the Single Leg Crab after pulling Tanaka away from the ropes twice) 12 minutes and 15 seconds
The eternal rivalry between the Young Lions Komatsu and Tanaka continues in this one. I have to say that with every match I see these two in, they continue to show that perhaps they are ready for bigger things. Sure, both of them still do basic stuff and use a version of the Boston Crab as their finish, but it is the little things that tell you more. Both Komatsu and Tanaka repeatedly get the crowd behind them in matches, they also understand how to work said crowd to get the desired response, which was showcased in the finish of the match. Most importantly though, both of them deliver with the time they are given. This match was no different. Ibushi got the better of Naito in their exchange, with Ibushi not only almost kicking Naito’s head off but also hitting a beautiful standing shooting star press as well.
Naito dominated Komatsu for a period in the match, but out of everyone in the match he probably did the least, which seems to be an indicator of his place on the card at the moment. Naito has been stuck in multi-man tags for a while, with seemingly no future opponent in sight for him. Perhaps he should look no further than his opponent in this match, as they had a damn good match in the New Japan Cup semi-finals. They also had some interaction post match here. Ibushi wanted nothing to do with Naito shaking his hand, which could mean something I guess. However, New Japan isn’t really big on non-title singles matches so who knows. At least Naito got to literally slap hands and kiss some babies on his way to the back. This match also makes for two good matches to start off this event. ***
Match 3: 6-Man Tag Team Match: Toma Tonga, Cody Hall, & Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (NWA World Champion) & Satoshi Kojima (TenKoji) & Tomoaki Honma
Winners: TenKoji & Tomoaki Honma (A Kojima Lariat combined with a Top rope Kokeshi Headbutt by Honma to pin Cody Hall for the victory) 6 minutes
This was short, the crowd got to have fun, and it didn’t overstay its welcome. Considering this was the Bullet Club B Team against TenKoji and Honma, it was very obvious who was winning here. That being said, Cody Hall did pick up his first win in a tag match with Yujiro Takahashi against Kojima and Captain New Japan at Wrestling Hinokuni a few days ago. Takahashi pinned Captain New Japan (because who doesn’t pin Captain New Japan at some point.) Tenzan was worked on for most of the match, with the highlight being Toma Tonga playing with the crowd as he Mongolian Chopped Tenzan. Kojima was tagged in to do his Machine Gun Chops and he also nailed Fale with his Cutter. Cody Hall basically only showed up to get a near fall on Honma after his Discus Lariat. I absolutely love Honma, so anytime I get to see him pick up a win I have a smile on my face. I dare anyone to watch a match of his and tell me you don’t wind up liking him afterwards. The only real thing of note here is that Toma Tonga is severely underrated as a performer. I hope he gets to do something meaningful soon. Cody Hall is growing ever so slowly and though he is pinned a lot in his matches. He isn’t treated like a regular Young Lion and it shows with how much he is protected in these tag matches. However, unlike the three Young Lions, I don’t know that Hall could handle himself in a singles match yet. **
Match 4: IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 3-Way Match: (Champions) Beretta & Rocky Romero (Roppongi Vice) & (CHAOS) vs. Nick & Matt Jackson (Young Bucks) (Bullet Club) vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’ Reilly (ReDragon)
Winners AND NEW (42nd) IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions: Young Bucks (After hitting More Bang For Your Buck on Beretta) 18 minutes and 20 seconds
Let me say that Roppongi Vice’s music was stuck in my head for a while because it just repeats the name of the team so often how can it not? As is customary at this point with these 3 Way Tags, they start out slow and then build to a fantastic finish. Some of the crazy spots in this include: Beretta with a SUPERPLEX TO THE OUTSIDE on Matt Jackson, as he lands on everyone, as well as the three young lions that come into help take the move. Matt Turnbuckle Bombs O’ Reilly in the corner, as Bobby Fish is sitting in that corner and Rocky Romero is hanging over the same corner, to top it off, Nick kicks O’ Reilly in the head on the way down. Matt then holds Romero in between the ropes so that Nick can hit a Swanton for a really close near fall. Beretta also hits Matt with a SUPER GERMAN SUPLEX as well. That’s just some of the big stuff towards the end. Everyone had a chance to shine in the match, which helped add to the insanity of it. It was believable at any point that either of the teams could walk away with the belts. However, the problem is the crowd didn’t respond very much to what they were doing. I don’t know if it was because they had a little too much comedy to start, or if it’s because they only seemed to care when Romero was on the offensive. Even Romero had to will the crowd on at several points to get them to truly react. What’s very weird is the crowd was into everything else before this match.
That being said, all three teams still worked really hard and tried to come up with inventive spots. I really like the breath of fresh air that Roppongi Vice brings to the Junior Tag Division and I wish they had retained here. I’m sure the title change has to do with the joint ROH vs. New Japan shows coming up next week. But considering that all three of these teams are going to be on those shows, I don’t really get why the belts had to change hands. RPG Vice just won the belts at Invasion Attack. This constantly changing hands of the Junior Tag Belts is not doing the wrestlers or the division any favors, which could also have been a reason for the lack of crowd response too. Regardless, Young Bucks are now three time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team title holders. *** and a ½ *
Match 5: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match: (Champion) Kenny Omega w/ Young Bucks vs. Alex Shelley w/ KUSHIDA
WINNER AND STILL IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion: Kenny Omega (After hitting a Running Knee and the One Winged Angel on Shelley) 16 minutes and 20 seconds
I know most people are going to say “all of the interference is NOT WHAT I WANT from New Japan.” Guess what? It isn’t always about what you want. I actually didn’t have a problem with the interference from the perspective of Alex Shelley did have KUSHIDA out there and he eventually got involved to help Shelley gain a near fall. Remember, this is what the Bullet Club do after all. Omega also played up his wackiness and brought a trash can into the match, which also worked against him eventually because Shelley Complete Shotted him into it on the outside. At least this isn’t WWE, where Shelley would have been left by himself to deal with all of the Bullet Club. The issue I have with the interference is due to perception. I think Omega works as a great Gaijin for the Juniors division, especially since he has toned down a lot. However, no matter how long Shelley has worked in Japan, he’s still an American wrestler. Having two Americans go out there, work hard, have a great ending with numerous near falls and at points make it believable that Shelley could win was terrific. I should also add that even the announcers were really getting into the match and yelling in English “chance, chance, chance” when Shelley had an opportunity to capitalize on something. People who only watch WWE have no idea how interesting a match is when the announcers are paying attention to what’s happening.
Getting back to the point, the interference hurt the crowd really being able to connect to Shelley. I think maybe if KUSHIDA was in the match, the interference works better because the crowd just has this natural connection with him, not only because KUSHIDA is a great worker but it also doesn’t hurt he’s Japanese. I think with Shelley it was more of a feeling of “oh here we go again” and it hurt the match from a crowd intensity standpoint. It is also leads to more of the helter-skelter booking that plagues all the Juniors. If I remember right, Dorada’s match with Omega at Invasion Attack didn’t really have interference, but yet this one needed to have it? In the end, it was still a very good outing from both men. Omega retains and then announces he will not be attending the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament. While KUSHIDA’S reactions post match leave the door open for a possible title match between him and Omega in the future. *** and a ½ *
Match 6: 6 Person Mixed Tag Team Match: Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, & Amber Gallows (Bullet Club) vs. (IWGP Tag Team Champions) Matt Taven & Michael Bennet (The Kingdom) & Maria Kanellis
Winners: The Kingdom & Maria (After Maria gave a low blow to Karl Anderson and then rolled up Amber Gallows for the victory) 8 minutes and 10 seconds
New Japan hasn’t done something with women’s wrestling for more than 10 years and maybe they should have kept it that way for a little longer. The wrestling in this was actually decent, but that was completely secondary to this Karl Anderson loves Maria storyline permeating throughout the match. Not to mention, the camera crew just could not help themselves. They kept zooming in on Amber Gallows chest and then when Maria came out the people behind the camera just lost it. My wife happened to walk in the room during The Kingdom’s entrance and I had to fast forward to make her understand I was actually watching a wrestling show. Look, Maria is beautiful we all get that, but to basically zoom in on her butt from the ramp all the way to the ring was a bit much. Then while Maria was standing on the ring apron they zoomed, in, up, down, and around her butt. It’s like the camera crew thought they were watching an anime and we were about to get the gratuitous panty shot.
Moving on, I think the storyline pretty much told you who was going to win. Gallows and Mrs. Gallows basically wrestled a 2 on 3 match for the most part because Anderson could only focus on Maria. Anderson did hit a couple of Stun Gun’s when it seemed like he’d snapped out of it, but of course, he bumped into Maria and it started all over again. Maria getting the win makes sense for what they were going for and technically so does the post-match stuff with Maria receiving a Magic Killer from a scorned Anderson and Gallows. This probably sets up another rematch between the teams down the line. My problem with this is two-fold. Not only did Anderson come off like both a slobbering dog and a bumbling idiot chasing after Maria several times, but he also didn’t even know this was a traditional mixed tag match at one point. This was just too much silly in one match and I was hoping it would end quickly. Thankfully it ended and we can get to other things on this show. *
Match 7: 6-Man Tag Team Match: Togi Makabe (NEVER OPEN Champion), Hiroshi Tanahashi, & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano (CHAOS), & Kazushi Sakuraba
Winners: Togi Makabe, Hiroshi Tanahashi, & Katsuyori Shibata (After Tanahashi pinned Toru Yano with hair pull and a roll-up) 16 minutes
This is your typical “everyone here is involved in a singles feud so let’s put them in a tag match together.” After watching Wrestling Hinokuni I’ve had my fill of Makabe vs. Ishii for a little while. So, all of their interactions felt like trying to create something epic, which wasn’t really that. However, I don’t think we’ve had enough of the other four guys in this contest. Shibata vs. Sakuraba is going to be something to behold whenever we do get that singles match eventually. All of their exchanges feel like they really just want to kick each other to death or break one another’s arms. This was even felt by their opponents, as there is a part early on where Shibata kicks Yano in the back because he keeps evading Tanahashi. So, to get back at Shibata, Sakuraba puts Tanahashi in a sleeper hold, which then leads to Shibata putting Yano in a sleeper hold. Yano’s face at that moment was priceless and hilarious at the same time. It’s that total “I can do anything you can do” that is going to sell that match so well.
However, the main attraction of this match is the continuing saga of Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano. Yano has been rolling up Tanahashi for months and their flurry at the end almost led to another victory for Yano, even after two Sling Blades from Tanahashi. Yano’s block of the High Fly Flow into a roll-up was brilliant and he had me biting on that fall. Tanahashi getting the win with a hair pull roll-up was some nice booking and I’m sure these two will have their blow off at some point too. I probably liked this match more than most. I felt everyone put in good work here and as I mentioned previously, it made me really want to see Sakuraba vs. Shibata and Tanahashi vs. Yano. ***
Semi-Main Event: Match 8: Tag Team Match: YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) vs. Yujiro Takahashi & (IWGP World Heavyweight Champion) AJ Styles (Bullet Club)
Winners: AJ Styles & Yujiro Takahashi (After AJ hit Styles Clash on YOSHI-HASHI for the victory) 14 minutes and 25 seconds
Say what you will about YOSHI-HASHI but the man brought it for this match, which shows he can work when motivated. The guy sold everything great and he was on fire when given offense. Yujiro was fine and since we knew he wouldn’t be involved in the fall it really didn’t matter. Okada is great, I mean obviously he has matches were he isn’t switched on, but he was for this and it showed. Everything he did was spot-on, the crowd got loud every time he was involved, and YOSHI-HASHI’S work even got the crowd behind him when they were headed towards the finish between AJ and him. This was basically here to help further the tension between Okada and AJ. This match accomplished that just fine. Then Okada and AJ had a post-match confrontation where AJ went for the cheap shot and a quick Styles Clash, but Okada countered and got AJ to roll out of the ring. Okada stood tall with the IWGP Heavyweight Title and presto more heat added to the match for Dominion in July. ***
MAIN EVENT: Match 9: IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match: Hirooki Goto vs. (Champion) Shinsuke Nakamura (CHAOS)
Winner AND NEW (11th) IWGP Intercontinental Champion: Hirooki Goto (After hitting Shouten-Kai) 19 minutes and 50 seconds
I loved the pacing of this match. It started out slow and built to a climax that was well worthy of a main event. Nakamura wasn’t taking Goto seriously at first, toying with him and sort of kicking him around. Even taking him to the outside and giving him a punishing knee against the barricade. It sort of makes sense too because Goto is historically a perennial loser when it comes to big matches like this. Goto very much stood toe to toe with Nakamura here, evading the Boma-Ye multiple times and going on flurries of his own. It’s as if you could feel every blow both men were taking and the crowd got behind Goto and continued to do so as the match progressed. Goto sending Nakamura to the outside with a big Wheel Kick, while Nakamura sat on the top rope sort of started putting the match into that final gear. Goto started hitting some of his signature stuff including two Urushi Toroshi’s, which Nakamura kicked out from. Goto kicking out of a Second Rope Boma-Ye, which was then followed by another Boma-Ye triggered that sense that this is probably Goto’s moment. But it took a Top Rope Urushi Toroshi and a Shouten-Kai to put Nakamura away.
This is by far match of the night, while maybe not a Match of the Year, it is certainly worth anyone taking their time to seek out. Goto now holds a much more prestigious title than when he won it previously, which will mean even more if he can keep it for a while. If Okada loses to AJ at Dominion, I could see Okada facing Goto in the future. I thought Nakamura did so much for the Intercontinental Title I’m kinda sad to see him lose it. However, I think it is time to see him go for the IWGP Heavyweight Title and he has a possible rematch with Okada and a dream match with AJ Styles that’s there as well. This was truly a fitting end to a very good show and had a page turning title change that could make this show much more memorable when looking back at it. **** and ¼ *
FINAL RATING: 8.5: Wrestling Dontaku 2015 was a very enjoyable show with only one bad match on it. The mixed tag match is so far from what New Japan normally does that it is hard for me to really punish the overall event too much for it. I think anyone that’s a fan of New Japan should probably give this a viewing. There’s a possibility of numerous matches coming out of this, Sakuraba vs. Shibata, Yano vs. Tanahashi, KUSHIDA vs. Mascara Dorada or even KUSHIDA vs. Omega, Okada vs. AJ, I’d like to see Honma get another shot at the NEVER Title against Makabe at some point too. There’s two title changes on this show, one which was done extremely well and the Junior Tag Titles, which left me befuddled. The most important part is that the show should be considered another success for New Japan, especially considering that there really wasn’t a huge semi-main event type match on the undercard either. I just hope we see Goto get to keep elevating the Intercontinental Title and push it to even bigger heights. Goto has won numerous titles and tournaments in his time in New Japan. It’s never too late to prove you deserve to go even further.
