Thursday, March 28, 2024
EditorialNJPW Strong Style Evolved Review And Match Ratings

NJPW Strong Style Evolved Review And Match Ratings

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So just to preface everything, I haven’t been following NJPW, so while I’m familiar with pretty much everybody here, I’m not familiar with any pending storylines, so excuse my ignorance in that regard. Also, I want to switch up my reviews as I’ve been doing purely WWE stuff, and I wanna get back to doing stuff outside of WWE, so here we go!

Roppongni 3k and Rocky Romero def. SoCal Uncensored

Aside from some very questionable camera work, I thought this was a solid six man tag to begin the night. I thought that the key here was to see which three-man squad would be able to impose their will more, and towards the end, it was Sho and Yoh who were able to do that by hitting a series of combination moves on Scorpio to finish things off. Early on, the match started with SoCal implementing some old school heel psychology, such as distracting the referee in order to prevent the ref from seeing the tag, and we also got Christopher Daniels sort of dictating some of the outside interference, such as his outside moonsault. The action was solid, however, at times, I can’t help but feel as though the match was disjointed and sloppy at times, and it was kind of hard to get into. It also didn’t help that the finish was sort of anticlimactic for me. I’m not entirely used to seeing two guys beating up on a guy to end a match for that extended period of time to end a six-man tag. All that aside, it was a good crowd-warmer, I suppose. **3/4

 

David Finlay and Juice Robinson def. Hirooki Goto and Gedo

This was about the most basic, but perfectly fine tag match you will see. The little battle of strength between Juice and Goto to begin the match was good, and I did like some of the physicality, but ultimately I thought the pacing of the match, along with the short time they got ultimately made this an uneventful tag match. It looked like Juive was more over than Finlay so I was also kind of surprised that Finlay was the one who got the pin. Also, the finish was sort of anti-climatic, and again, it must be said, what is with the camera work tonight? A lot of the action is very tight and I feel like some things are being missed. Ultimately, it was okay, but nothing too crazy. **1/4

 

Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer def. Chuckie T and Toru Yano

This was another safe, but solid tag team match that was highlighted by Chuckie T playing a believable babyface in peril role here. While I can appreciate Toru’s Eugene-esque act, I wasn’t a fan of it. It just felt as though whenever the match’s momentum kept going, his antics sort of stalled it a bit. But hey, the crowd was into it, so I suppose I can’t take that away. In addition, I think Smith Jr and Archer make a good heel tandem. I’m a fan of the way they were able to isolate an opponent for most of the match, and while Chuckie T’s partner was a guy that didn’t get any believable offense in the match, they still were able to get Chuckie T in their corner for most of the match, making the crowd energized for once Yano got the hot tag. Everyone looked good here in a, once again, solid tag team match. **1/2

Cody and Matty Scurll def. Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa

Kind of hard to believe that the directors are getting a paycheck tonight with the piss-poor camera work. Anyways, solid tag team match seems to be the theme of tonight so far, as this was another in a string of them. Cody did a good job the entire match getting heat by up-staging Matty and Tama/Tanga was a good foil to their shtick. I also thought the match was briskly spaced out, and while Scurll’s antics were a bit much for me, the crowd seemed to enjoy it. Overall, it was a solid 10 minutes, but nothing you’ll leave saying “Wow, did you see Cody and his blonde hair tear the house down?”. **1/2

BUSHI, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito def. Dragon Lee, Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA and Ryusuke Taguchi

Easily the best thing on the show thus far. The 8 man tag presents a much different dynamic than a regular 2 on 2 or 3 on 3 simply because of the preponderance of men in the ring, and I think they played that up to a tee here. They started out the match emphasizing the individual rivalries in this match, from Tanahashi and Naito to Lee and Hirmu slapping each other early on, and I believed that got the crowd interested. The main thing I was looking for here is who would be able to isolate one of the other team the most in this match, and it proved to be the heels, as Hiromu and KUSHIDA was in the opponent’s corner a good while for the match. I also liked how KUSHIDA was looking for the tag, after he was able to escape but Hiromu was able to take everyone out on the other team before the tag was made, thereby continuing the heat segment.

The triple submission sequence was awesome, and the finish was great stuff. I really think that there are great things in 2018 destined for all involved, and the old and new generation clashing here resulted in a great 8-man tag. ***1/2

Will Osperay def. Jushin Thunder Liger

I’ve always been a fan of Osperay’s style, and I think JR articulated that point for me during the match. He wrestles a great pace and never likes to rush anything for the sake of not making a mistake. Since Jushin was originally supposed to face Rey Mysterio, I think this was a good way to show Liger’s versatility, as he is able to quickly adapt to anyone’s style. I doubt that he was going to hit someone as small as Mysterio with three brain busters, but he did so to Osperay, and I think Will was faced with a task that he was up to the challenge for in this match. Not only did he have to look kind of woozy after taking all of those shots to the upper head, but he also had to sell his left knee after he tweaked it on a top rope move, and I think he managed to sell both simultaneously relatively well.

I think we can all say that Osperay has Liger’s number, as this makes for 4 straight victories over the legend, and Will’s post-match speech was great in delivering how great Jushin has been in regards to putting the next generation over. At 53 years old, he’s proven that he can still go in the ring and do a job if he needed to. Would certainly have liked for this to have gone another 3 or so minutes, but I was satisfied with what I got. ***1/4

Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr def. Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii

Okay, I LOVED every bit of this. The best thing about this match was how they were able to switch up the dynamics according the matchup. Whenever it was Sabre Jr and Okada, it was all about technical mat wrestling and who could get each other grounded for a submission. When it was Suzuki and Ishii, forget about technical wrestling, they just straight up beat the ever-loving shit out of each other with straight up forearms and chops. What I believed carried this match to another level were Sabre’s heel mannerisms. Playfully kicking around his opponents like they are roadkill, flipping off the crowd and using cheap tricks was great heel work. There was also some astute tag team work from Sabre and Suzuki here, as they were able to distract the referee and hit about 5 combination submission holds in a matter of about 30 seconds.

The consistency was there at the end as the finish was a result of a double submission spot. It was great, clean wrestling that any crowd would enjoy. There also some great teases going forward, especially with Okada and Sabre. Overall, I found this very entertaining and I enjoyed myself a great deal here, mainly because Sabre Jr’s work and the Ishii/Suzuki brawling. ****

Jay White (C) def. Hangman Page – IWGP United States Championship

Aesthetically speaking, I didn’t find anything wrong with the match, but unfortunately, what hurt this severely was the pacing. I dont’ think these two really knew how to work a 20 minute main event style match. I think Page worked ahrd in trying to dictate the pace, and he did hit some big high spots with the Shooting Star Press and Moonsault towards the end to try and get the crowd into it. However, he also had the issue of sort of lollygagging around after having White grounded, and I think that made the match unnecessarily longer than what it had to be in order to tell the story they wanted to. The match just felt like it dragged on longer than it needed to, and because of that, the crowd really couldn’t even buy into the near-falls towards the end, which I think they would have had the pace been quickened up a bit.

Not to mention, I also thought there was some awkwardness in the middle, where the flow was sort of lost on me and it just felt like they were hitting moves for the sake of hitting moves and not transitioning into the next portion of the match. White played his routine well and the ending reversal sequence was cool, but overall, I thought there was too much fluff that prevented it from reaching that next level. But the match was good. It just didn’t need over 20 minutes for what we got. ***

Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi def. The Young Bucks

As I said before, I haven’t been following NJPW, but I can only assume this match was a build up of something that had been happening for months now, as the ending sequence saw Omega be hesitant to hit his finisher on Matt and Matt even having to beg Kenny just to get it over with. I thought that was something special, but beyond that, overall, wow, what a spectacle this was. I really can’t describe into words all of the factors that played into this match being as great as it was, but all you need to know is that this match excelled in storytelling and excelled even further into the execution of their moves. I’m assuming based on the caliber of superstars in this tag match, I can only assume how high the expectations were, and this match met, but exceeded all the expectations.

The constant near-falls towards the end with Matt not only continuing to sell his back but fight through all of Omega and Ibushi’s double team moves, the table spots, all of the moves off the top rope, the chemistry, everything. This is what wrestling is about, and I’m glad to say that this match was everything that I hoped it would be and more. Had I been keeping up with NJPW, I think I would have been more emotionally invested, but even as someone who doesn’t know the context of the match, from a wrestling standpoint, this was pure magic. Absolutely wonderful work by all men involved. *****

Conclusion:

Hey man, this was a rocking great show. There wasn’t really anything bad on the show, all of the wrestling was either solid or fantastic. Despite the lackluster production and JR seemingly not on the ball for commentary tonight, this was an enjoyable wrestling show overall, and best believe I’m reviewing more of these kinds of shows down the line. Thumbs up! Until next time.

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