Before they go head-to-head on Saturday night at the NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco, Wrestling Observer founder and editor Dave Meltzer sat down with Juice Robinson and IWGP U.S. Champion Jay White in separate interviews.
We begin with Dave’s 15 minute talk with Robinson (seen above) about the promo that reminded Dave of Dusty Rhodes, his run in New Japan to date and 2018 in particular, and his match against White on Saturday night. They discuss injuries, the toughness of Ishii, how he suffered a broken hand, how he got into wrestling, today’s industry, and more.
We then transition to Dave’s 17 minute conversation with White. We begin with the story of how White found wrestling in New Zealand and the WrestleMania trip that changed everything. Then, he talks about his fast rise in NJPW, his big match against Tanahashi at the Tokyo Dome, his first G1 tournament, the Saturday match against Robinson, and plenty more.
Juice Robinson:
Start – 1:48: The broken hand promo
1:48 – 4:50: Leaving NXT for New Japan
4:50 – 8:00: New Japan’s standard
8:00 – 8:19: How he injured the hand
8:19 – 10:30: G1 thoughts, his quick ascension
10:30 – 14:34: How he got into wrestling, getting motivated
Jay White:
14:34 – 16:31: How he got into wrestling
16:31 – 18:02: Facing Tanahashi
18:02 – 20:31: Preparing for the G1
20:31 – 22:40: Being a part of the next generation
22:40 – 25:07: headlining against David Finlay at Korakuen Hall
25:07 – 26:23: Learning from past experiences
26:23 – 27:48: The fundamentals of training at the New Japan Dojo
27:48 – 29:07: His run in ROH and his match with Ospreay
29:07 – end: The recent New Japan show in England, final thoughts ahead of tomorrow
As part of the NJPW G1 Special coming to San Francisco, CA, in July, our Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez will be holding a live Q&A edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.
The ticketed event, held on Saturday, July 7th, will include a VIP meet and greet with Dave and Bryan and the Q&A session afterward, similar to what the guys did during WrestleMania weekend in New Orleans. There is also a general admission ticket which includes just the Q&A session.
After having the G1 Special in Long Beach, CA, last year, the promotion announced at Strong Style Evolved in March that they would be heading to The Cow Palace in San Francisco for the July show. Tickets are on sale now for the 10,000+ seat venue which has housed memorable wrestling cards for decades.
Interestingly enough, July 7th is a big day/night for combat sports as WWE is running a Madison Square Garden house show featuring Ronda Rousey and UFC holds their big summer event in Las Vegas, co-headlined by Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier and Max Holloway vs. Brian Ortega.
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AXS TV is expected to announce imminently that they will be airing the July 7th New Japan Pro Wrestling G1 Special show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco live.
It was expected this would be the case when the show was announced with a 5 p.m. local start time, meaning it was designed for primetime viewing on the East Coast.
The name of the show will be “G1 Special in San Francisco,” and the official headliners on the show will be New Japan’s big four, Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tetsuya Naito. The Young Bucks are also officially booked for the show.
Jim Ross and Josh Barnett will return as announcers.
“As New Japan Pro Wrestling continues their U.S. expansion, we are proud to provide a platform for NJPW and TV-Asahi to bring their electrifying events to as many fans as possible through our live primetime broadcasts,” said AXS TV Fights CEO Andrew Simon. “The Cow Palace has a rich history of major pro wrestling events and we are exited to continue that tradition with our presentation of the G1 Special in San Francisco.”
The Cow Palace is one of the historically legendary arenas for pro wrestling in the world, from its hosting of the three Lou Thesz vs. Leo Nomellini matches in the 1950s where the pro wrestling World Champion defended his title against the still active and in his prime best lineman in the NFL of that era. One of those matches, which Nomellini won via disqualification, led to the U.S. acceptance of the rule that the title could not change hands via DQ.
In the early 1960s, behind the promotional expertise of Roy Shire and headliner Ray Stevens, the Cow Palace was considered the hottest arena for pro wrestling in the world and with emphasis on in-ring, had the best wrestling anywhere. It set its all-time record crowd for a 1963 match with Stevens against Pepper Gomez.
In the 1970s it was known for its annual January Battle Royal, which was the forerunner of the modern Royal Rumble. Pat Patterson, who came up with the Royal Rumble, was featured in most of the Battle Royals, which were annual sellout events, and spawned the famous Los Angeles Battle Royals.
It remained a major arena through the mid-70s, and then picked up again as a key building in the WWF’s early expansion. It housed Eddy Guerrero’s title win over Brock Lesnar in 2004. While dormant for pro wrestling for many years, it was revived last year when the local All Pro Wrestling ran one of the biggest independent shows of 2017 in the arena, headlined by a cage match with Cody vs. Joey Ryan.
When I first heard about New Japan coming to the United States, I had it already set in my mind that I had to go. It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to shows I’ve been covering for this website for the last three years — I mean after all, how could I pass something like this up, going to and experiencing a real New Japan experience? Considering that I’m still a bit of a ways off in funds to travel to Korakuen Hall, going to Long Beach was a far more realistic goal.
Once the weekend was over and everything went down the way it did, I was more than happy that I was able to go and cover the two events. It felt like something special was happening. Maybe after all of this talk about New Japan expanding into North America and California…maybe it was actually feasible? Maybe it could work?
Bullet Club, in particular Kenny Omega, may be the key. He was without a doubt the star of the weekend; each performance he brought to the table was excellent. His wins in stellar matches over the likes of Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal led to an incredible match on the last day of the weekend, defeating Tomohiro Ishii to become the first ever IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion.
With his contract coming up after the end of the year, it seems very clear now that where New Japan is going in the United States will more than likely be based on where Omega goes. But while Omega was the clear king of the weekend, I can’t help but think about just how amazing Ishii’s career has been in the last few years.
It was only about a decade ago that Ishii was a midcarder in New Japan, seemingly destined to be in the same multi-man matches for the rest of his life, being just another cog in the wheel. But through sheer determination and his incredible work, he became one of the most popular wrestlers of the weekend, something one would never expect during the times he was feuding with Tiger Mask.
I loved the main event of the second night. I can’t call it my match of the year, because the performances put on by Omega and Kazuchika Okada have been some of the best stuff to come along in decades. But as much as Omega ruled that night, I have to give credit to Ishii’s performance in that match. His tenacious drive to win in every match he participates in always resonates.
I mean, that spot where he fought valiantly to escape Omega’s dragon suplex, going as far as to biting the ropes to prevent it — that was something really special, and of course I’ll always remember when everything he tried failed and Omega put him through the table anyway.
You also have to hand it to Cody Rhodes. Aside from Billy Gunn and Yoshitatsu, who were booed out of the building, he was the top heel of the weekend. The kind of reaction he got relates to the crowd, who were mostly comprised of fans who watch the NJPW product and were probably familiar with promotions like Ring of Honor.
The fact that Cody — who some argue hasn’t lived up to the high standards of the promotions he wrestles for — would get the big title shot against Okada, and even had a chance to win, was something so completely egregious that it had to be seen to be believed.
I had expected Cody to rise to the occasion and have a killer match with Okada, and he did, meeting the high standards of an IWGP Heavyweight title match. The last few minutes of the match were particularly great, with Cody constantly teasing the Cross Rhodes over and over, complete with the crowd freaking out whenever he had it locked in. But when Okada nailed Cody with two Rainmakers to win the match, people were elated.
And that’s another thing about the weekend that stood out, fans leaving home happy on both nights. Okada beat the nefarious Cody to retain the title, and Omega defeated three great opponents in amazing fashion to become the first IWGP United States Champion. It kind of makes you wish WWE would take the hint when it comes to their own product.
There were other things on the shows that I loved as well. The Young Bucks were not too far behind Omega in being the biggest stars of the weekend, putting on excellent performances. Night two featured a super memorable match with Roppongi Vice, pulling out all the stops including a tribute to Dave Meltzer’s father with one of the craziest versions of the Meltzer Driver yet, going off the top rope onto the floor.
Roppongi Vice breaking up after the match was a bit sad, as they always gelled well as a team and had consistently great matches over the years. At the same time, there’s a bit of intrigue with the split. How will Beretta do as a singles heavyweight? Will Rocky Romero break out as a singles junior star, or will he find another partner?
During the second show, it was announced that New Japan would be returning to the United States in 2018. That in itself wasn’t weird, because with these two shows selling out in such quick fashion, it seemed inevitable. But weirdly, they didn’t announce where it would be, or when they would be back. It seems like New Japan is very interested in coming to North America on a more frequent basis, but they still don’t have everything worked out.
NJPW promoter Takaaki Kidani is still set on establishing a dojo and an office in California in the next year. So far, it seems like the time is right to expand business to California. But a lot of variables are still in play. Will Omega stay with New Japan, becoming the top star for their North American expansion? Will the 3,000 people who attended both shows continue to show up, or was this a one weekend only experiment that just happened to work out very well?
Who knows, and maybe no one will know until New Japan at least tries doing the things that they want to do. But this weekend felt like the start of something special, or at the very least a step in the right direction that pro wrestling in the United States needs to take.
New Japan is a long, long ways away from achieving the kind of success that WWE has in the United States, but if they continue to establish the right people like they have in the last year, it could very well lead into something incredible.
The first IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion will be crowned as New Japan Pro Wrestling hosts another G1 Special in Long Beach, California tonight.
The semifinals and finals of the US title tournament will take place on the show. After their wins last night, Kenny Omega and Jay Lethal will face off on one side of the bracket, with Tomohiro Ishii and Zack Sabre Jr. squaring off on the opposite side. Whoever wins those matches will meet in the finals.
Also on the show, two more titles will be up for grabs. In an unusual matchup, Hiroshi Tanahashi will defend his IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Billy Gunn. And The Young Bucks will put their IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship on the line against Roppongi Vice.
Multi-man tags highlight the rest of the card, including Cody Rhodes, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Marty Scurll teaming against Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & The Briscoes.
The show will be available to watch live on New Japan World in the United States and everywhere else where the service is available. Our coverage begins when the event starts at 8 p.m. ET.
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Jushin “Thunder” Lyger, Kushida and David Finlay vs Yoshitatsu and The Tempura Boys (Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu)
Fun opener. Crowd HATED Yoshitatsu. At the start of the match, all six guys climbed the ropes to get crowd reactions and they loved Liger’s team and hated Yoshitatsu’s. They got the ref to go up and the crowd loved him to. JR, at one point, called Komatsu and Tanaka the “Teriyaki Boys”….woops.
Tempura Boys did most of the work for their team but Yoshitatsu looked okay in his limited time in there. Liger had a long heat spot and then made his own comeback on all 3 opponents. Then everyone got a chance to do their stuff before Finlay locked on a stretch muffler on Yoshitatsu. Tempura Boys ran in and Liger put a surfboard on one of them and Kushida the Hoverboard lock and Yoshitatsu tapped to give Finlay and his team the win.
WINNERS – LIGER, KUSHIDA AND FINLAY (Yoshitatsu submitted to Finlay 9:00)
US Title Tourney – Semifinal round:
Kenny Omega vs Jay Lethal
Omega got past Michael Elgin to advance in a really good match last night while Lethal won over Hangman Page to earn his spot in the semifinals.
Great match. Story was Lethal had damaged ribs coming into last night’s show and it got worse after the Page match.
Lethal had his moments and even briefly turned the crowd after three superkicks and a Lethal Injections looked like it might get him an early pin but Omega rolled out of the ring before Lethal hit his 3 running dives.
Duelling crowd chants through a lot of the match but they were solidly behind Omega at the end. Omega really worked over the rips in the latter part of the match . Lethal then hit a Blue Thunder Bomb out of nowhere but couldn’t cover because he hurt his ribs again.
Finishing sequence saw Omega with Lethal up for an electric chair. Lethal reversed it into a Tombstone piledriver but before he could hit it, Omega reversed that and hit the One Winged Angel for the pin
WINNER – KENNY OMEGA by pinfall in 13:00
US Title Tourney – Semifinal round:
Zach Sabre Jr vs Tomohiro Ishii
Ishii upset Tetsuya Naito to book his spot in the semis while Zach Sabre Jr submitted Juice Robinson to advance.
Best match of the tourney so far. Sabre was working submissions almost the whole match, while Ishii would struggle to get out and usually power out with headbutts.
Key spot in the match was about ten minutes in when Sabre Jr had a combination triangle and Kimura lock. Ishii was struggling for the ropes and Sabre Jr kept grabbing limbs. Crowd exploded when Ishii finally made the ropes.
Sabre Jr started to get cocky and throwing more strikes. Ishii was begging him on. Sabre Jr hit a penalty kick but then was hit by lariat by Ishii. Ishii finished it with a brainbuster to advance.
WINNER – TOMOHIRO ISHII by pinfall in 12:00
Dragon Lee, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Voldar Jr and Titan vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi, Seiya Sanada, EVIL, Bushi and Tetsuya Naito)
Crazy lucha match with a ton of moves and not much psychology but real good if you like this sort of thing.
Duelling LUCHA LIBRE/LIJ chants which got louder and louder for LIJ. Volador Jr wrestled with his mask for this one.
Highlights included:
– a springboard dive to the outside by Volador onto Tanashi and Bushi
– Juice running wild on all 5 members of LIJ including a Double A spinebuster on EVIL and a cannonball on Naito
– Dragon Lee and Tanashi slapping the hell out of each for over a minute which the crowd loved.
Jay White and Bushi worked most of the last two minutes of the match. Bushi hit a missile dropkick and then a Spinarooni. White then hit a Rock Bottom and a Flatliner on Bushi to get the pin for his team.
WINNERS – DRAGON LEE, JAY WHITE, JUICE ROBINSON, VOLADOR JR AND TITAN when White pinned Bushi in 13 minutes
The Bullet Club – Guerillas of Destiny (Tanga Roa and Tama Tongo) and Hangman Page (w/Haku and Chase Owens) vs War Machine (Ray Rowe/Hansen) and Michael Elgin
Not sure if JR used this word at all during the match but this was a slobberknocker if you’ve ever seen.
Elgin and Page started off with Page trying to show that he could hang with Elgin in the strength department to no avail.
After a few minutes of Elgin and War Machine overpowering all three of their opponents, eventually Hansen was stuck in there for awhile while GOD and Page tagged in an out.
Hansen made his own comeback before GOD double teamed all three opponents separately. Rowe was back in by himself and got more or less out of nowhere by Hangman Page, who hit him with the Page Turner for the win. Finish came off really flat as no one was expecting it.
WINNERS – BULLET CLUB when Hangman Page pinned Ray Row in 11 minutes.
They made an announcement after this match that NJPW would return to the US in 2018. Obviously that was going to happen.
Long intermission with nothing but crowd shots and generic rock music in the background. While I have moment, my condolences to Dave Meltzer and his family on the loss of his father today. My thoughts and prayers are with you, Dave.
IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match –
Champions The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs Rappongi Vice (Rocky Romero and Trent Baretta)
Incredible match. Matt spent the whole match trying to get a Sharpshooter and it eventually played into the finish.
I counted 16 superkicks by the Bucks, which is probably about average for one of their matches.
First sick spot of the match was Nick hitting a superkick on Trent, who was being held by Matt on the apron. Matt then hit a running power bomb on the ramp on Trent, who was out for awhile.
Bucks doubleteamed Rocky for a long time and eventually the pro-Bucks crowd was chanting for him. Trent eventually got in and ran wild on the Bucks.
Trent and Nick were in together for awhile. Trent hit a tornado DDT on Nick. Eventually Bucks took over and Matt powerbomed Rocky onto Trent’s back in a sick spot.
Bucks hit a Meltzer driver off the top turnbuckle onto Rocky after Matt caught him doing a dive outside the ring. It only got two but the crowd erupted in a MELTZER chant and JR and Barnett sent condolences to Dave in a nice touch.
Back in the ring and the Bucks eventually hit another Meltzer driver, sending it out to Dave and then both Bucks put both members of Rappongi Vice in Sharpshooters to get the pin.
WINNERS – THE YOUNG BUCKS by submission when both Bucks submitted both Vice members in 22 minutes
After the match, Ricochet did a run-in and lait out both Bucks, challenging them to a Jr tag title match against he and Taguchi.
Rocky Romero did a promo, basically breaking up the team and sending Trent on his own into the heavyweight division.
Bullet Club (Marty Scurll, Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale and Cody) w/Brandi Rhodes vs Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) w/Gedo
Cody got his own entrance from the rest of the BC. Fale was wearing a shirt that said “Make Jobbers Great Again”. That was awesome.
Surprisingly this match was mostly comedy. Mark Briscoe and Marty Scurll opened, doing their crow and crane stuff and the crowd ate it up. Then came a sequence where for five minutes, no one locked up with anyone as people were just tagging in and out while the crowd was eating it right up, telling everyone who to tag to.
Eventually they got to wrestling and Okada and Fale were in a few minutes against each other. While Okada was down, Fale tagged in Cody and they went at it for a bit with neither guy really getting the advantage.
Ospreay started to run wild, doing a bunch of different flying moves on Cody and Yujiro and while Ospreay was coming off the top rope, Cody caught him with a disaster kick in mid-air and then hit the Crossroads for the win. Cody grabbed the world title belt and held it up, which the crowd hated.
WINNERS – BULLET CLUB by pinfall when Cody pinned Will Ospreay in 17 minutes
IWGP IC Title match –
Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Billy Gunn
Despite the opinion of a lot of people on my Twitter feed, this was better than it had any right to be. Tanahashi was in control early, doing mostly ground work after headlock takedowns.
Gunn took over with a Flatliner and started working over the injured arm of Tanahashi. He looked pretty bad when he would run the ropes but other than that, he was methodical and it was fine.
There was a spot where Tanahashi pulled down Gunn’s tights and he had another pair of trunks on underneath that were neon. Then Gunn pulled down Tanahashi’s trunks and we got a full moon.
Gunn hit a One and Only and got a near fall. Tanahashi hit a neckbreaker and went for the High Fly Flow but Gunn rolled out.
Gunn hit a Famouser and the crowd totally bought it as a finish but Tanahashi kicked out. Tanahashi then hit a sling blade and the High Fly Flow to win.
WINNER – HIROSHI TANAHASHI by pinfall in 14 minutes
Main event for the inaugral IWGP United States Championship –
Kenny Omega w/The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs Tomohiro Ishii
Another incredible match, at least 4 3/4 stars in my book. They started out doing strong style right out of the gate with Omega holding his own against Ishii.
Ishii actually took control after a suplex and Omega rolled out of the ring. They brawled out into the crowd and were out there for a long time with the ref not even counting.
When they came back to ringside Ishii hit a suplex on the matts but Omega landed on his feet. Omega then hit one and Ishii landed right on his head.
When they went back in, the Bucks set up a table on the outside. They fought for a long time just over the table with Ishii continually blocking an attempt by Omega to suplex him through it. At one point, he even bit the top rope to block it. Omega finally hit the suplex and they both went through the table.
Back in the ring and they did more strong style stuff. Omega had his first attempt at the One Winged Angel but Ishii reversed into a DDT. 25 minutes in they were trading hard chops and the place was coming unglued.
Omega hit a high knee but Ishii blocked another with a headbutt. Omega hit another high knee and then Ishii hit a lariat out of nowhere.
Ishii hit a One Winged Angel of his own but Omega kicked out at two. Amazing finishing sequence as Omega hit a neckbreaker and a running knee. Ishii kicked out at one. Omega hit a reverse Frankensteiner and then another jumping knee and then hit the One Winged Angel for the pin.
WINNER AND FIRST EVER IWGP US CHAMPION – KENNY OMEGA by pinfall in 32 minutes
Cody grabbed the belt from Omega and they teased dissension but eventually they embraced. Omega cut a total babyface promo saying it’s been a tough year but they’ve done what they set out to do and took New Japan to a new level.
Following the completion of last night’s show, New Japan Pro Wrestling has revealed the full card for G1 Special night two.
The complete lineup couldn’t be announced until the first round of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship tournament took place. The semifinals will see Kenny Omega face Jay Lethal and Tomohiro Ishii square off with Zack Sabre Jr. Whoever wins those will go on to the finals, with the inaugural champion being crowned in the main event.
Those who lost in the first round of the tournament are involved in multi-man tag matches on night two. Kazuchika Okada and Cody Rhodes will also be on opposite sides in an eight-man tag after their title match last night, with Okada teaming with The Briscoes & Will Ospreay against Cody, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Marty Scurll.
Two title matches that were known about in advance will take place on the show as well. Hiroshi Tanahashi will defend his IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Billy Gunn and The Young Bucks will put their junior tag titles on the line against Roppongi Vice.
Tonight’s show will air live on New Japan World (with English commentary available) everywhere in the world. It will then be shown on AXS TV on Friday. The full card is:
The finals of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship tournament
IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defending against Billy Gunn
Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & The Briscoes vs. Cody, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Marty Scurll
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks defending against Roppongi Vice
Michael Elgin & War Machine vs. Hangman Page & Guerrillas of Destiny
Juice Robinson, Jay White, Volador Jr., Dragon Lee & Titan vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr. in an IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship tournament semifinal match
Kenny Omega vs. Jay Lethal in an IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship tournament semifinal match
KUSHIDA, Jushin Thunder Liger & David Finlay vs. Yoshitatsu & The Tempura Boyz (Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu)
A very good video package aired to start the show. It was similar to the ones aired before all the shows, but was in English.
CHAOS (Will Ospreay, RPG Vice & Briscoe Brothers) defeated Bullet Club (Marty Scurll, Young Bucks, Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi)
Crowd was really into Scurll and the Young Bucks at the start, but they were hot for the whole match. A lot of spectacular moves and the match accomplished it’s goal of getting the crowd excited for the rest of the night. There were about two tags the entire match, with everyone just running in at their leisure. Fale was the weak link, but he played his role perfectly. Early on the ring cleared of the other six and we had the Young Bucks and RPG Vice squaring off as a preview of tomorrow.
Jay Briscoe used a Buff Blockbuster on the floor to Yujiro. Ospreay did a step-up Shooting Star Press to the floor onto everyone. Fale gave Beretta the Bad Luck Fall onto a pile of people outside the ring.
The finish saw Romero pin Matt Jackson with a roll up after Ospreay tripped up Nick Jackson during an attempted Meltzer Driver.
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Los Ingobernables de Japon (Sanada, Evil, Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi) defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Volador Jr., Dragon Lee & Titan
Takahashi came out with a stuffed cat that he gave to Jim Ross before the match.
Dragon Lee and Takahashi squared off for the best 2 minutes of the show so far. When the other 6 men were in it wasn’t bad, but it was just a step below Lee & Takahashi.
Takahashi pinned Titan with the Time Bomb after Evil hit him with a chair. LIJ was blatantly breaking the rules for most of the match, but the referee seemed to not mind, which made it funny when the babyfaces had to tag in and out.
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Jay Lethal pinned Hangman Page in a US Title Tournament First Round Match
Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi came to the ring to present the IWGP United States Title to the crowd before the tournament began.
Lethal has his ribs taped from an ROH match last week with the Beer City Bruiser. Page ran down the apron early in the match and dove off with a Shooting Star Shoulder Tackle to Lethal, which was impressive looking. Lethal went for a Lethal Injection early, but Page turned that into an Abdominal Stretch. Lethal came back with the Macho Man Elbow, but couldn’t make the cover due to his ribs.
Page got a lot of near falls, including off a lariat and a small package when Lethal went for the Figure Four. Lethal hit a Lethal Combination and finally hit the Lethal Injection, but, again, couldn’t make the cover. Lethal came back and hit a second Lethal Injection, this time for the pin.
Weakest match so far, but still good.
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Zack Sabre, Jr submitted Juice Robinson in a US Title Tournament First Round Match
If you’re reading this and the only stuff you ever saw of Juice was when he was CJ Parker in NXT, you would swear this was a completely different person. In this match he did more than hold his own with one of the best technical wrestlers in the world. This was an excellent match and I hope to see these two wrestle again one day.
Sabre kicked and stomped at the entire left arm of Juice at one point or another. Sabre used a Double Wrist Lock that Juice turned into a Jackhammer for a 2 count. Sabre used a rolling armbar that he turned into a cross armbreaker, but Juice did the Bob Backlund lift into a power bomb. Sabre used a pump kick to the arm and got the submission with an Octopus Hold.
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Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kushida, Jay White & David Finlay defeated Billy Gunn, Yoshitatsu, Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka
One of these things is not like the other one…
This was a lot more controlled tag team match than the two we had earlier tonight. The Tempura Boys took up most of the slack for the team, with Billy Gunn choosing his spots. Kushida had mocked Gunn earlier in the match, so when Gunn tagged in he used his American-style Offense and shouted a vulgar comment I cannot repeat while chopping his crotch.
Gunn and Tanahashi went face-to-face momentarily before Kushida made the hot tag to the IWGP IC Champion. I know I am prone to hyperbole, but Gunn certainly stood out like a sore thumb, in more than one way. Yeah he was taller than everyone else and yeah he worked different than everyone else, but he wasn’t even a good American style wrestler at this point. He seemed afraid to take a bump at times and his selling was so bad that I almost lost any perverse interest I had in that match for tomorrow. In the interest of fairness when he was on offense it looked good because of the size difference and everyone willing to fly for him.
The match broke down with everyone hitting everyone with a move. Jay White pinned Yoshitatsu with a Flatliner seconds after the babyfaces hit dives on everyone.
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Intermission time. Run to the bathroom, grab some chips, watch some Doctor Who and come back in a few minutes.
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Welcome back! I think intermission has been the longest match tonight so far.
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War Machine defeated Guerillas Of Destiny to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship
I have nothing but love and respect for Jim Ross, but this was not his best match on a show that was not his best show so far.
This match has a 60-minute time limit. I could be horribly wrong, but I doubt this match is going the time limit. This is our fourth tag team match of the night and for the fourth time all the participants just went crazy with little consideration for the rules of tag team wrestling. The difference is this one at least had no rules. Tanga Roa KO’d Rowe with a trash can lid early on. Normally I would raise an eyebrow at such shenanigans, but Roa cracked him so hard, I was yelling for it to be the finish.
Hanson did the corner-to-corner splash to Tonga and Roa over and over again, which was impressive looking for a man so large. Hanson tried to do a springboard move off the middle rope, but Roa caught him and slammed him down, which, if nothing else, was quite the feat.
Chase Owens ran in and hit Rowe with a chair, which confused JR as to if that was legal in this No DQ Match. Owens later got taken out when he got in the ring with a chair and Rowe hit a Suicide Dive to both Rowe and Tonga towards the finish. War Machine hit The Fallout to Roa through a table that Owens put in the ring to win the match and the championship. Shockingly the match did not go the 60 minutes.
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Tomohiro Ishii pinned Tetsuya Naito in a US Title Tournament First Round Match
Naito was super popular here despite being a heel. He teased walking off due to Red Shoes (the referee) not holding the ropes open for him on the way in. Naito should be the biggest heel in the world, but there is just something so likeable about him.
These two men work so well together. Naito is such a great heel and Ishii is such an awesome badass. You want to see Naito do his crisp, fast-paced flashy offense while being a total showboat and then you want to see Ishii take his head off and that’s exactly what you get.
Naito’s mouth was busted open, so during his shine he spat at Ishii, which led to Ishii’s hard hitting comeback. This match was a little rough towards the finish, but they held it together. Ishii took an Inzigiri to the head, fell back into the ropes and exploded off with a Sliding Clothesline. Naito got the nearest of near falls with a Dragon Suplex. Ishii picked up the somewhat surprising pin with a brainbuster.
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Kenny Omega pinned Michael Elgin in a US Title Tournament First Round Match
We had pre-match shenanigans involving Red Shoes again. Omega and the Young Bucks (at ringside) wanted Shoes to Too Sweet them, but instead he gave them a crotch chop and allowed Elgin to put his arm around them.
The fans didn’t hate Elgin, but they definitely disliked Elgin stopping Omega from getting in offense. They ended up up the aisle at one point and Omega drove Elgin face-first into the wooden ramp. Elgin crawled to the ring, Omega slammed Elgin onto the ring apron at 18 and somehow Big Mike got back in the ring before 20. It was hard to believe how that would be possible and the fans agreed, chanting “That was 20”. Omega used a slingshot into the ring, but in one fluid motion Elgin hit a power slam. Omega used a Snap Dragon Suplex and a beautiful plancha over the top rope. Elgin hit a clothesline that may have knocked the dye out of Omega’s hair and then used a German Suplex on the ring apron, which bent Omega in half.
Elgin had the match won with a Sit Out Crucifix Power Bomb from the middle rope…but somehow, some way, Omega kicked out. Omega not only survived that, but he kicked out of a Lariat that was so stiff that JBL called and told him to lighten up. Elgin then kicked out of a flying knee to the side of the head and a reverse hurricarana. Finally Omega hit his seventh or eighth knee strike and a One Winged Angel for the pin in a fantastic match.
This match took it from being a disappointing show into a very good one.
**********
Kazuchika Okada pinned Cody (w/ Brandi) to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
Despite not having a lot of social media support, Cody had quite a bit of fan support as the fans got the dueling chants early. Cody channeled his inner-Larry Zbyszko early. Okay, maybe not that bad, but the story early was Cody stalled until Okada forced the action. Okada nearly hit a Rainmaker 3 minutes in, but Cody ducked it.
JR and Josh called Cody “Rhodes” half a dozen times and it was taking a concerned effort to stop. Cody got a near fall and spat on the referee before flipping off some of the crowd. Okada hit a dropkick while Cody was on the top rope, making him fall all the way to the floor and then Okada hit a Draping DDT off the apron onto the floor.
Cody slapped on a Calf Killer that Okada sold like grim death, but he was able to make the ropes. Okada went crazy at around the 20 minute mark and hit Cody with all kinds of hard shots. Okada set up for the Rainmaker, but Cody spat in his face. Okada paused and hit a pair of lariats.
Out walked Kenny Omega with a white towel as a take off of what happened at Dominion. Omega even used the same verbiage Cody did before giving Brandi the towel that she wouldn’t throw in. Back in the ring Cody ducked the Rainmaker and hit his own! Okada kicked out an eyelash before 3 and then hit a Cross Rhodes that Cody had to kick out of!
Cody went for a One Winged Angel, but Okada got out of it, hit a Tombstone and a Rainmaker to retain the title. A good main event.
Omega took the mic after the match and said he is jealous that Okada got to main event this show. They have a rematch during the G-1 Climax, but tonight is Okada’s night.
Gedo cut his post-match promo in English. He called Okada the Future Of Strong Style. Okada asked the fans, in English, how was New Japan today, which led to cheers and chants of “New Japan”. Okada thanked Long Beach and promised to make it rain Strong Style all over the world. He shouted the end of his promo in Japanese and that does it for tonight.
Thank you all for reading tonight and make sure to check out Paul Fontaine’s G1 Special night two coverage tomorrow night!
