I feel it’s fair warning to state that I’m an American wrestling (WWF/WCW) fan, not a Puro fan. I watched it for about 4 years 07-11 and fell out after getting my fill of in-ring and not what I needed character/promo/storyline-wise, and just picking & choosing big matchups since. So this is my first full PPV since.
IT’S TIME…FOR YOUR LATE, OUT OF DATE, NJPW WRESTLEKINGDOM 9 REVIEW!
(Yes, that was a WrestlingJesus reference. He’s hilarious). Thanks to wrestling-giffer for the gifs!
It’s January 4, 2015 at the Toyko Dome, it’s Wrestle Kingdom 9! I love the arena setup, it looks like a huge event and there’s 36,000 fans, proving the product they’re making is successful on a large-scale basis. I’m really happy NJPW are doing so well.
Commentators: English PPV version, Matt Striker & JR.
First time they work together, and JR’s first call since RAW Jan 14th 2013 (Cena/Ziggler in a cage) but sure he hasn’t been properly commentating since Oct 2009. I was impressed at Striker’s obvious knowledge and passion for NJPW; it was hilarious that JR admonished him for using smark terms (eg “swerve” – Omega “lied” to the fans!). It’s odd that the colour guy knows more than the play-by-play but fans want to hear JR call it, not Striker. I actually thought they were in a booth in America calling it but they were flown out to attend live, although they were never prominent on camera (as it was the Japan feed). Cameras should’ve said hello at the start of the PPV! You don’t need them to call the match (in-ring is a simple story) but getting you to care about characters and storylines is the main point (IMO). They did a decent job of it. Starting off, JR felt quite rusty (he stopped everything to run down through his cheat sheet during every entrance) but Striker was able to sprinkle information more naturally during the bouts. They both found their groove together as the night progressed (increasing in quality, much like match quality in a NJPW PPV) and by the main event he was enthralling, stepping it up at the perfect moments like only JR does. I think he’s a great gateway guy to get American fans to check out more New Japan.
4 Way Tag for the IWJP Jr Tag belts
reDRagon (Bobby Fish/Kyle O’Reilly) (c) retained against Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov/Rocky Romero), Time Splitters (Alex Shelley/Kushida) and Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson). Lots of people and not much time (13 minutes for 8 people) so was an unmemorable tag match. When I say that I mean relative to NJPW, they still do a lot of fast tag-team moves way more inventive than you’ll see in a WWE ring, kinda like a videogame, punctuated by the Buck’s “Meltzer Driver”. It’s great to see Shelly and he’s had some great matches last year but he didn’t do much here.
6-Man Tag
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma def. Bullet Club members Bad Luck Fale, Jeff Jarrett and Yujiro Takahashi. I know it’s “Fah-lay” but “Bad Luck Fail” is much funnier! An awkward affair, I love Jarrett but he felt like a real anachronism, using the breakaway guitar in 2015 feels like a step backwards. Faces win in 5:35. Blah.
8-Man Tag
Mikey Nicholls, Naomichi Marufuji, Shane Haste and Toru Yano defeated Suzukigun (Davey Boy Smith, Jr., Lance Archer, Shelton X Benjamin and Takashi Iizuka). Damn, what’s with these multi-man matches! And the massive scrolling text on the titantron during matches, it’s distracting! Taka Michinoku & Taichi came out with DH Smith and the lads. Taka’s aged really well! Sadly we only dipped in with Shelton & Davey Boy Jr so again it wasn’t anything special. Hilariously moves jolt JR to mention something he remembered from his notes (eg a Headbutt – he likes headbutts!) JR studied tapes for weeks but sure, it’d take longer to sound fluent in it. If he doesn’t know the name of a move, he’ll say “great athleticism!”. For the time given to study I thought he did an excellent job though. The match was a bit disjointed, lasts 5 minutes and not a big response from the crowd but it was fine.
Really oddly, there’s no break between matches. WWE/TNA fans will assume there’s backstage/in-ring interviews etc but it’s generally straight into the next match, no breathing room. I actually felt you need a break, it’s a 4 hour show! NJPW needed to stick to 4 hours on PPV, so they cut down on the elaborate entrances and faffing about, for better or worse. They did have video packages, sometimes in English but mostly in Japanese (I get that English feed is like 10% of the audience but it would’ve been nice if JR voiced it). Alright, the business-end of WK9 is coming up 🙂
UWFI Rules match: Minoru Suzuki vs Kazushi Sakuraba
Whaa? No pins, MMA style matchup; ends in submission or KO. STEVE! WHAT BAR is Sakuraba? Well Jay, he is wearing a little orange and PARPLE! purple ditty so he…is a double decker.
Something you’ll never see in WWE (outside of Lesnar), different styles of wrestling. This one is a worked MMA match. What’s the point of a worked MMA match? Ask UFC! HIYOOOOO 😀 I wonder if this type of thing interests MMA fans. They wrestle to the ground and work for positions and submissions, but since it tries to be more real, it’s more obvious that it’s a work, if that makes sense. They obviously help each other (let me get into your guard, let’s walk out to the ramp, keep the rear naked choke on despite it slipping off). It’s quite a spectacle and the uniqueness is really refreshing though. They kick, elbow and slap the shit out of each other, it’s a stiff match. Suzuki kayfabe injures his arm and Sakuraba doesn’t press him over it to finish him (agh! RASSLIN!) continuing to go for body shots despite Suzuki not defending himself, opting to hold his left wrist. We get a pro-wrestling end of the idiot who won’t finish off an injured opponent gets caught with a worked rear naked choke. Suzuki wins in 9:21. A cool idea but it’s the uncanny valley of wrestling; so close to a shoot it shows it’s a work.
NEVER Openweight title match: Togi Makabe (aka JUNKYARD JAP!) vs PITBULL ISHII
Strong Style! Two lads of great girth kick off with slobbenly, shouty, hard-hitting brawling, wildly swinging at each other. Felt JR was gonna break out a “bowling shoe ugly” reference in the opening exchanges. On-screen hash tags are even bigger in Japan. Commentators reference Bruiser Brody a lot. The ref constantly changes position and so walks in front of camera a few times in a row, boo. They don’t walk around much, but they knock lumps out each other, as the match builds up to some nice spots, including a top rope Samoan drop, dragon suplex and top rope knee drop. Makabe wins it in what was quite enjoyable by the end. This felt like a match where “we can’t do X, X and X.” “What can we do?” “Elbow each other in the neck”. ALRIGHTY YEAH! It was likely the best match they could have so good stuff.
IWGP Jr Heavyweight title match: KENNY OMEGA VS TAGUCHI
Bullet Club’s Omega looks great – he’s much bigger than I last saw him, and his white hair is weird. He looks like a cross between Pillman and Chuck Palumbo (which is awesome). Very cool jacket. He’s out with the Young Bucks. I like how the Bullet Club members have a logo but have their own unique gear, as opposed to masses of just black tees. Taguchi’s “Funky Weapon” moniker is incredible. Loved his tag team with Devitt. He uses the flying bum tackle, which is winner. JR drops a “Wild Pegasus” (Benoit) reference. Stryker mentions Omega shaved his arms so the stubble growing in is used to grind against his opponent’s eyes. AMAZING KAYFABE. He’s called “the cleaner” which reminds me of Tough Enough 1 tryout guy “The Evil Custodian”. JR calls Omega a journeyman. Does that mean something else in Japan? (it means ‘gimmicked jobber’ in America eg The Goon, Duke Drose etc). Love Omega’s offense; from the deadlift powerbomb to the great flurryed finish, top stuff. The Evil Custodian wins the title in 13:20 in a very entertaining, smooth, great workrate match. Fan of both these lads.
IWGP Tag Title Match: MEIYU TAG (HIROOKI GOTO & KATSUYORI SHIBATA def BULLET CLUB’S DOC GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON
I don’t rate Doc & Machine Gun Karl, they are the poster boys of Japanese promotions hiring the “large boring American”. Hate the “too sweet” moniker and hand signal nWo rip-off (what’s wrong with the finger gun to the head?) and the relatively elderly Bullet Babe is really 90s. In general I do like the Bullet Club though, and their t-shirt is the coolest modern tee out there. JR and Striker didn’t really care for the match either, immediately calling the title change to “a taste of things to come perhaps”. Anyway, Anderson’s definitely the better of the two and they don’t mess anything up, and I guess it’s there to give you a breather between the last and the next match. The faces Goto & Shibata win the titles in 9 minutes in an instantly forgettable match. When I see the American lads I keep thinking they can’t wait to get head out and get free dinner and drinks by a sponsor afterwards!
AJ STYLES VS TETSUYA NAITO
It’s here that JR ashamedly just blandly powers through his notes, reaming off dozens of wrestlers’ names. Jaysus! He calls Styles the “master of the Styles Clash”, he’s obviously not! Main story of the match is Naito (aka “Stardust Genius” – amazing) countering the Styles Clash, which JR and Striker excellently put over as a legit dangerous move. Lots of great, high flying moves but big spots aren’t the smoothest, fumbling through a couple of them. In the end, Naito takes a very safe 2nd turnbuckle Styles clash and AJ wins it in an entertaining 14:25. It felt like both men had trouble communicating, or weren’t on the same page – so the match is still very good but disappointingly sloppy considering the talent of both lads.
Oh shit, there’s 1hr 25 left in the PPV with 2 matches left. Holy shit, strap yourselves in!
IWGP Intercontinental Title Match: KOTA IBUSHI (aka Purple KENTA) vs SHINSUKE NAKAMURA (c)
Isn’t Nakamura the best? JR says he’s a Freddie mercury and Michael Jackson devotee. Dressed in cape jacket and crown, with a haircut like The Hound. What a guy! Very cool to hear Nakamura has some MMA fights – the lads start off with some kickboxing feel-outs. Very different, foot-oriented. I love how this PPV has different styles of matches. Perfect moonsault to the outside and standing shooting star. Oddly JR takes a shot at WWE by saying “the IWGP IC title is as coveted as the world title, why would you want a title that isnt.” Em, obviously that’s bollocks because the world title goes on last and the world champ makes the most money. Wrestling is not like the UFC in this regard. Wouldn’t every belt be identical then, like UFC? We get punches into a lovely arm bar. Nasty running knee to the face, no sell kick out at 1. Ibushi mockingly kicks at Nakamura. JR keeps pushing the young boy (Ibushi) vs veteran angle; Ibushi crossing weight divisions, growing up. Jesus he’s been pro how long? (Since 2004) It’s like when TNA call Styles “the future” ten years after his debut! I’m not getting over how excellent this match was, and it told a great simple story of getting behind Ibushi to get his big win, but Nakamura throws everything at him and survives his own signature moves. Nakamura hits the “what a great match” (as JR calls it) and big boot to win and gets the three in 20:12. It felt like a bit of a surprise considering the big moves before it, so a bit of an anticlimax. Really great match though! A big match feel, relentless, the wrestlers were both proving themselves to each other. Awesome.
IWGP TITLE: ‘RAINMAKER’ KAZUCHIKA OKADA VS HIROSHI TANAHASHI (c)
Before we start, I still cringe at how badly TNA dropped the ball with these two guys. I’d never heard of either before they came to TNA but could see they’re talented, especially Tanahashi, who looks like a Final Fantasy Character, basically Japan’s Shawn Michaels. One jobbed clean in minutes in opening matches and the other was the Samoa Joe’s Green Hornet butler. This is their 7th big match against each other, all of which have been highly rated. These lads have excellent in-ring chemistry and are both very talented. As such the fans cheer heel Okada too. Slow to start off, you know this match will go long! Lovey High Fly Flow (frog splash) by Tanahashi to the outside over a barrier, 2 more in ring, then an X7-style kicking out of the rainmaker. JR marks hard to a dropkick (which was weird and awesome, it is a nice dropkick!) The crowd are emotionally invested and the match is feels like a huge deal, and they rise to it. Tashi’s high workrate finish is tops, winning after a perfect High Fly Flow in 30:57. Then he celebrates with some air guitar, which is also fun. Excellent match-up!
Overall, the first half was faff, but I really enjoyed the 2nd half. I hate to say it could’ve used some filler but in a four hour show, I wouldn’t mind a quick breather. It’s difficult to keep me personally vested in Japanese wrestling as promos, characters and storylines are what interest me, but they’re done in Japanese, and isn’t the focus/draw of NJPW. In-ring however, New Japan provide some world-class, untouchable matches. I hope that’s fair enough. Recommend checking the 2nd half out.
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