GFW One Night Only: Amped Anthology Part 1 Review

Remember when Global Force Wrestling taped a TV show in Las Vegas, way back in 2015? No? Well, I freaking do. I know, Jozef Raczka does too. Well, the show was called Amped and they did three tapings in July, August and October 2015. Since GFW and Impact Wrestling merged earlier this year, it seems that the new GFW has decided to cut some costs and air the tapings across four of their One Night Only PPVs. Even if it's a pretty obvious money saving method, I was still interested to see what these tapings were like. I mean, the show couldn't get commissioned for whatever reason, so my hopes weren't particularly high, but there was a decent line-up of names including Mickie James, Bobby Roode, PJ Black [Justin Gabriel], Sonjay Dutt and KUSHIDA amongst others on this first part, so out of hope and genuine intrigue (and the fact it's currently available on Channel 5's on Demand service, My5, for free in the UK) I thought I'd give it a shot. 

So let's find out if the mysterious GFW Amped was any good...

• Promo - This explains how the show will work, letting us know that what we will see isn't scripted and is real, which is a little lame but let's roll with it. It also lets us know about the various championship tournaments that will be the spine of the show and gives a glimpse into some of the stars of the show. 

Match One - GFW NEXGEN Championship Tournament First Round

PJ Black def. Seiya Sanada 

PJ Black had left WWE in January, Seiya Sanada had left TNA in February, so kicking off the show with two known international television talents, that happen to wrestle a high pace, exciting style was a pretty sound tactic. The two were presented as an even match for one another with some technical exchanges breaking out in some smooth back and forth as the duo pinged about the ring before both ended up missing attempts at different moonsault variants. The later part of the matches provided some big spots and some good near falls for the man from Niigata, Japan as he hit a frankensteiner, managing to counter Black's counter, a bridging tiger suplex and then came closer still after powering out of a crucifix attempt to hit a TKO. The finish ended up being the scrapiest part of the match as the scramble for a superplex couldn't match the action that had come moments prior and otherwise cool moments like Sanada kipping up moments before Black went for a top rope move felt a little wasted in their placement. However, once Black had pulled his opponents throat across the top rope and nailed his signature 450 splash for the victory, I was more than satisfied with the quality of this opener. Both men came out of it looking capable of pulling out a victory, whilst Black was helped by surviving a barrage of high impact offence. 

• Promo - Kevin Kross - We're informed that Kross is well travelled, up to this point he'd mainly wrestled in Portland, Oregon and Las Vegas, Nevada (with a single match for IGF in Japan according to Cagematch.net)  

• Backstage - Los Luchas (Misteriosa Jr., Phoenix Star & Zokre) - The lads fire each other up in the locker room, part in Spanish and part in English, saying they'll win the Tag Team Tournament, which is a little confusing because there's three of them and it's not a trios tourney.

• Backstage - Bobby Roode - Roode's arrived pulling his wheely suitcase behind him, he's not bothered with a suit for this show.

In-Ring Segment

feat. Bobby Roode, Nick Aldis and Kongo Kong

This was an odd segment, with seemingly odd intentions and a lack of self awareness on the part of GFW and whoever was in charge of putting this together. Bobby Roode came out first, cutting a pro-TNA promo, positioning himself as an anti-GFW guy, who was coming to take the belt from the company in response for Jeff Jarrett taking the TNA King of the Mountain Championship at Slammiversary (28/05/15 and by mid-August Jarrett had vacated the belt on TNA television as part of the GFW Invasion angle). After just one match, expecting the audience to give a crap about GFW, especially enough to care about Bobby Roode (arguably the most established male star on the show) disparaging the company seemed like a misstep. Roode's promo about how he was always going to be a TNA guy is also unintentionally comical two years on, with then IT Factor and now Glorious One currently being WWE's NXT Champion and spending only eight more months with TNA past these tapings. The Nick Aldis [Magnus] interruption didn't do much for either guy as Aldis spent most of his promo putting over Jeff Jarrett, before being jumping by Kongo Kong with a nasty looking Samoan drop. We conclude things with a Crossface from Roode and even without looking at spoilers it's pretty clear to see that it will be these two men in the GFW Global title tournament final. 

• Backstage - PJ Black - A promo is spliced to fuck with various clips from the match and he really doesn't say anything at all of note.

• In-Arena - Chael Sonnen and Cyrus Fees - Chat about the upcoming Global Championship Tournament, talking about Brian Myers [Curt Hawkins], Chris Mordetzky [Chris Masters] and Nick Aldis, with Sonnen singling out Mordetzky as his pick to win the tournament.

Match Two -   Six Man Tag Team Match

Los Luchas (Phoenix Star &Zokre)& Misterioso Jr. def. Shamu Jr., Blood Eagle & Bestia 666

Despite the company supposedly being partnered with AAA, this Lucha showcase match that served as the first main event has no AAA talent in it, which could be to do with the launch of Lucha Underground which happened in nine months before these tapings. However, these six lads come in and do a really good job in this spot, creating something that still feels exciting to watch now, even with the influx of lucha talent that we've seen since LU's arrival on the scene. It starts of regular enough, the heel side (Shamu Jr. and pals) do some double and triple moves on one of Los Luchas, before a pop-up reversed into a rana sends us into a hot tag and it's all go from there. Everyone flies around the place, with a number of sweet highspots including a funky spinebuster from Phoenix Star, Bestia hitting a Ki Krusher, Misterioso Jr. landing on his feet from a moonsault and hitting a standing one anyway and then a series of dives from anyone who fancies it, including big chunky Shamu Jr. pulling out a suicide dive. The conclusion showcases Los Luchas nicely as Misterioso hits a lung blower and wicked af front flip piledriver, before Star and Zokre finish Blood Eagle off with a moonsault and rope-hung backbreaker combination. This was a tremendously fun match to watch, that stands out from most of the main stream TV products at the time and ended what was supposed to be the first episode on a real high note. 

• Promo - Sort of a next time trailer, which is pretty redundant in this format.

• Promo - Sort of a last time trailer, which is pretty redundant in this format. 

• In-Arena - Chael Sonnen and Cyrus Fees - We're shown the tale of the tape for Bobby Roode vs. Kevin Kross and then KUSHIDA vs. Virgil Flynn, both matches will seemingly happen within the next portion of the PPV.

• Promo - KUSHIDA vs. Virgil Flynn - A look at KUSHIDA winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, with Flynn mostly putting him over as one of the best wrestlers in the world. Whether it was a great idea to focus a major part of KUSHIDA's story around a title that he'd lose two months after these tapings took place (and just happens to have won back by the time they finally aired!) or whether it was just a case of GFW management naively expecting these episodes would be almost immediately picked up by a TV network, I do not know. 

Match Three - Singles Match

KUSHIDA def. Virgil Flynn 

We get a decent introduction KUSHIDA here and California-based Indy star Virgil Flynn does a decent job of making the Japanese wrestler look like a star in front of a fresh audience. The match is almost entirely focused on KUSHIDA looking for the Hoverboard lock (or Kimura as the commentary team decide to opt for) as he takes control of the match by applying a hammerlock and lobbing Flynn into the ringpost, before managing to transition into the hold out of a bridging German suplex. Flynn looked capable with some big offence, that made KUSHIDA look durable, but at times I felt like he could have made more of selling the arm as in between the two submissions it didn't feel like it was made the most of. A nice sequence that saw some back and forth strikes before a Pele kick from the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and then Flynn reversing a cross body into a moonsault slam is arguably the highlight of fun match. An awkward 450 splash still makes for a decent near fall for Flynn before a straight punch, a kick to the arm and the Hoverboard lock pick up the submission victory for the New Japan star. We're three for three for entertaining matches so far. 

• Promo - Lei'd Tapa vs. Mickie James vs. Christina Von Eerie - We get a look at each woman training and their personal lives, with James having the most interesting story after taking a break to have first child, but Tapa looking like the most interesting character. We also get clips of Karen Jarrett talking about how the company will be looking to focus on it's women, not calling them names like Diva or Knockout, whilst also giving them the opportunity in main events. Less than four months later Sasha Banks and Bayley main evented NXT Takeover: Respect and in under a year WWE dropped the term "Diva", so this segment is a little dated by August 2017.

• Backstage - KUSHIDA & Virgil Flynn - Both boys are lovely here, putting each other over again as KUSHIDA points to his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and calls it a dream come true. Heart warming.

• Promo - Kevin Kross - Another look at Kross who claims "if [he] needs to punch a whole in Bobby Roode's head [he] will", which is a weird thing when you're supposed to be the home-town babyface. 

• Promo - Chris Mordetzky - The Adonis chats about how he broke into the business and how he felt he was unfairly treated during his time in WWE, before closing with talking about developing a reputation in England (mostly for PCW, but also with a handful of appearances for the likes of Southside, HOPE and 4FW) after his release. These promos feel completely different to anything WWE or TNA was doing or is doing, having a genuinely real feel about them, but the main problem is it often isn't translating to what is happening in the ring.

• Promo - The Bollywood Boyz - Harv & Gurv Sihra (currently Jinder Mahal's trusty sidekicks in WWE) discuss wanting to portray India culture without resulting to stereotypes (their examples are turbans and swords) so they decided to celebrate Bollywood instead. I'm not sure I completely follow their logic, but they talk a bit about Ring Ka King so all is forgiven. 

Match Four - GFW Global Championship Tournament Qualifying Match 

Bobby Roode def. Kevin Kross 

For a match that has been built up with two promo videos on Kevin Kross, an in-ring segment with Bobby Roode, the commentary chatter about the tale of the tape and at various points with on-screen graphics during other matches, this was disappointingly one sided. Had their not been so much fan fare about it (and also had the previous bout not focused on the same body part) then Roode targeting Kross' shoulder to set up for the crossface with a series of vicious attacks inside and out of the ring would have been a decent squash match, that put Roode over as a technical veteran who would be a force to be reckoned with in this tournament. However, seeing Kross get in very little offence after having so much time dedicated to how he was a shooter and prepared to punch a whole through Roode's face, left the bout feeling a little flat. The TNA star would eventually get the win after reversing a sunset flip attempt straight into the Crossface for the second submission victory in a row.

• Promo - The Akbars - In a poorly advised move, GFW have Omar and Ali Akbar [Mohammad Ali Vaez] cut a promo, spliced with pictures of busy streets and flying planes as they ask the audience "What would you do if someone who looked like us sat next to you on a plane?". It's got similar vibes to what Jinder Mahal is doing at the moment, but taken two or three steps to far, in my opinion.

• Promo - Another last time trailer, with an added promo from Kevin Kross where he called Bobby Roode a douchebag, but said he respected him, because he didn't know what he'd gone through. 

• In-Ring - Some lad called Henry Maxwell [Maxwell Chicago], who apparently wrestled for the likes of FUW and BELIEVE in Florida, hammed the fuck out of the American national anthem, before getting the shit beaten out of him by The Akbars. It was tonally off with both acts working heel, with it feeling like whoever was supposed to sing the anthem pulled out when they heard about the Akbars dated gimmick. 

Match Five - GFW Tag Team Championship Tournament First Round Match

The Bollywood Boyz def. The Akbars

I'm going to be totally up front and say I despise everything about The Akbars gimmick and believe that there is absolutely no reason to have to resort to shouting "Allahu Akbar" in 2015. As much as The Akbars talked about being American and tried to spin their gimmick (similar to Jinder Mahal in WWE) as being upset for the way they were treated by Americans because of their looks, there's no doubt that this sort of gimmick attempts to stir up xenaphobia and bigotry, whilst appeal to the lowest common denominator in order to get a reaction. The match itself was a perfectly fine paint-by-numbers tag team match, with nothing out of the ordinary, as we got some cliche heely tag tactics from the Akbars, followed by a comeback from the Bollywood Boyz. A pair of superkicks, a diving back elbow and an elbow drop later and the future Cruiserweight Classic competitors found themselves in the next round of the tag tournament. 

• Promo - Sonjay Dutt vs. Jigsaw - We got a look at the lives of Dutt and Jigsaw here, with Dutt telling a great story about being signed with TNA whilst still studying at University as well as being set up as a family man. Jigsaw was presented as someone with a fresh, interesting style and look (despite having seen a six man tag earlier in the show where everyone wore a mask) and came off a little awkward on camera with a couple of oddly worded statements. 

• Promo - Chris Mordetzky - The Adonis is back again, this time with lots of footage of his time in PCW and whilst it's lovely to see Kris Travis on my TV screen in 2017, comparing the promotion to a trip to Japan is a little bit of a stretch. 

• In-Ring Segment - Karen Jarrett, Lei'D Tapa & Royal Red - A pretty pointless segment, that involved Jarrett telling Tapa that she didn't need her husband to talk for her, which didn't exactly helped the monster image that Tapa was trying to portray.

Match Six - GFW Women's Championship Tournament First Round Triple Threat Match 

Christina von Eerie def. Lei'D Tapa and Mickie James 

As arguably the biggest name on the show and with six reigns on top of WWE's Women's division and three at TNA, it was some what surprising to see Mickie James as the element that held this match back. Yes, James had only given birth for the first time less than a year previously, but she'd also been back in the ring since November 2014 and wrestling regularly on the Indies in 2015, so I would've expected her at least be able to hit a handful of signature moves effectively. A flapjack on CvE and a Mick-DT on Tapa both looked red reels. The bout did have a decent dynamic though with James and CvE fighting against the larger Tapa, which allowed Lei'D took look like a monster when she dominated the competition, including hitting a cool double samoan drop to the pair (even if James landed awkwardly on her leg). The move that CvE picked up the surprise pinfall on Tapa with looked brilliant as she nailed a straight-jacket backstabber after leaping off the middle rope and the star of California's AWS made a good account of herself throughout. Chael Sonnen's commentary continued to grate on me here as he made a comment about preferring skinny women, whilst his commentary partner would know a thing about bigger women like Lei'D Tapa. Considering the promotion had pushed how it was looking to present it's women as credible competitors, the comment about which type of women he fancied and their body shapes really didn't fit. 

• Promo - As Christina von Eerie was walking to the back, her post-match promo began airing over the top, I'm not sure whether I liked this style but it was different and gave a nice pace to the production.

• Commentary - A tale of the tape for Kongo Kong vs. Nick Aldis, as well as a look at the brackets for the GFW Global Championship and GFW NEXGEN Championship tournaments, before another tale of the tape for Sonjay Dutt vs. Jigsaw.

Match Seven - GFW NEXGEN Championship Tournament First Round Match

Jigsaw def. Sonjay Dutt

Two underrated performers pulled out the match of the PPV with a really good Junior heavyweight style match as the NEXGEN Tournament became the highlight of Amped. The two opened up with a wonderful series of quick near misses and crisp reversals that would grab any audience and seemed to get quicker as it went on. Jigsaw's Gory special looked beautiful and the sequence of near falls that followed was only let down by a referee who couldn't keep up with the pace. After the technical battle, both began to show off their high-flying arsenal with Jigsaw nailing a tasty tope conhilo and missile dropkick, before Dutt answered with a leaping hurricanrana and a running shooting star press. The pendulum of momentum swung back and forth throughout with a feeling that either man could pull out the victory, producing a great sequence with Jigsaw blocking a shiranui attempt, only for Dutt to able to counter once again with a Satellite DDT for a near fall. After a big german suplex near fall for Jigsaw, the CHIKARA star was able to block a superplex, before hitting a double stomp to the back of Dutt's neck and advancing with the Jig N' Tonic (cradle belly-to-back piledriver). This match flew by, with both men's offence looking crisp as they kept up a good speed throughout, getting just enough time. With five more minutes I think we could have seen a couple of extra near falls and highspots that would've taken things to the next level, but both men worked hard to create the best match on the show. 

• Promo - Nick Aldis vs. Kongo Kong - This was the most baffling part of the show, as we got a load of footage that hadn't previously aired, showing that the singer from earlier, Henry Maxwell, was Kong's manager and he'd had a couple of run ins with Aldis as well. The booking of Maxwell in the Akbars segment earlier was even more confusing now. 

• Backstage - Sonjay Dutt spoke to Jigsaw, putting over their match as the best they'd have to date (they'd previously worked in CZW and TNA) as well as wishing Jigsaw well in the later rounds of the tournament. 

• Promo - Reno Scum (Adam Thornstowe & Luster the Legend) - From this I learnt that these two lads are a tag team and we saw some footage of them in the gym, even having seen them on a couple of episodes of Impact earlier in the year, I feel I know less about them now than before I saw this promo.

• In-Ring - Henry Maxwell announces Kongo Kong to the ring, which was nice of him.

Match Eight - GFW Global Championship Tournament First Round Match

Nick Aldis def. Kongo Kong

This match outdid my expectations, but my expectations weren't incredibly high to begin with. Until a final stretch of near falls, the bouts highlight was the antics of Henry Maxwell at ringside, which lead to him being the most over part of the match and actually getting a chant from the Las Vegas crowd. Vegas didn't seem to give a flying fuck about Nick Aldis or the peril he faced. The match felt a little bit out of it's time with the monster facing the good looking hero, whilst featuring plenty of interference from a flamboyant manager and a grand total of three bear hugs, whilst Sonnen essentially took the piss out of Kong's look on commentary. The last few minutes however were well put together as Aldis hit a nice-looking superplex before getting a convincing near fall from his diving elbow drop finisher. This was followed up by a well-worked distraction false finish, as Kong got two off a cannonball, before the 400lbs Kong missed a moonsault and Aldis advanced with a weak looking Spineshaker (Belly-to-back side slam). Whilst no one came away looking particularly impressive in the bout and it seems a shame to have the potential monster of Kong lose in his first match, the closing stretch was entertaining stuff and ended up saving what could have been a dud of a main event.

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.46/10 

As a PPV, this show wasn't great. It was poorly put together at points and also difficult to follow, with it being clear that whilst the earlier episode had been put together with care to shop to Networks, the later stuff on the show was thrown together to make up the show. However, the majority of the in-ring action was of a high quality, especially when involving the NEXGEN division as Sonjay Dutt vs. Jigsaw and PJ Black vs. Seiya Sanada were both good to very good matches, whilst the Lucha trios match and KUSHIDA vs. Virgil Flynn also producing some entertaining action. Parts of the show were dated already and some of the booking decisions were questionable (The Akbars and Henry Maxwell segment and the Akbars character in general, Bobby Roode being positioned as against a company that I had no reason to care about yet) and the commentary was awful (Sonnen was almost unbearable at points) but as a show that was available to me on an on demand service in the United Kingdom for free and with no ad-breaks, it provided me with more than enough to be satisfied by on a Sunday afternoon with my brother (@DaveAtTheGraps on Twitter). I think we'd both quite happily watch the next PPV, as we found a lot to enjoy and even the stuff that we didn't think was much cop was still fun to discuss. 

You can check the show out for yourself in the UK here - https://www.my5.tv/impact-wrestling-one-night-only/season-1/impact-wrestling-one-night-only

Review - James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale)

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 24 Review

Often in life, we humans raise our expectations to levels where something could never possibly achieve the heights desired in the outset. New Japan’s BOSJ 24 however, was not one of these occasions. The Super Juniors certainly lived up to the hype and the tournament was simply excellent viewing from beginning to end; if you didn’t manage to catch this year’s tournament, fear not, here’s a rundown exactly what was so awesome about the tournament.

KUSHIDA rises again

It simply had to be didn’t it. Following Wrestle Kingdom the Junior star has experienced the worst months of his career, being unable to buy a win and getting absolutely destroyed by Hiromu Takahashi time after time. It was a slippery slope, but then came the month of May…
KUSHIDA is now the ROH TV Champion and won his final 3 block matches before conquering Will Ospreay in the final in order to become a 2 time Best of the Super Junior trophy winner, his second triumph at the event in just 3 years. If you weren’t sure before, the young lad is most definitely back on the horse.

It was in what was the match of the tournament in many people’s eyes that KUSHIDA finished off Ospreay thanks to his new ‘Back to the Future’ finisher after a gruelling 27 minutes and 59 seconds. Both guys beat the living hell out of one another with some crazy spots such as a spike DDT on the apron by Will and KUSHIDA channelling his inner Daniel Bryan and caving in Ospreay’s chest with stomps. It wasn’t your standard high flying, pacey match, it was so much more, as both displayed levels of violence and aggression that has not been apparent in their previous encounters.

Was the win predictable? Yes. Does that mean it was bad? Certainly not.


KUSHIDA winning creates a bunch of interesting circumstances with his upcoming Junior Heavyweight title shot, and given how tremendous his performances were, he truly deserves to be right at the top of the Junior ranks once again. Ospreay coming so close to the trophy for a second consecutive year also adds a ton to his character in Japan, coming up short after such an insane match will rally fans behind him even more. And speak of Will being in an insane match…

Ospreay, The Real MVP

I’ve already mentioned how amazing his match with KUSHIDA was but Will Ospreay was well and truly the leading light in this tournament. I was super hyped to see him throw down in group A, given the vast array of talent in there, but he was even better than I could have imagined.

From night one where he was the man to help introduce Marty Scurll to his new fanbase to the finale where KUSHIDA dumped him on his bonce to win; he did everything with an intense style and the fans, who were sometimes quiet for his initial matches, truly rallied behind him and were swapping between him and KUSHIDA all night. He truly won over the plaudits both at home and in the arenas and he will continue to prove why he is one of the best wrestlers in the world today.

Finally here, as a quick sidenote, his promos, of which he got to do a couple throughout the tournament, were captivating beyond belief. Maybe it’s the Essex accent but he had me hanging on every word and made me an even bigger fan of him than before.  

Jushin Thunder Liger bows out in style

I couldn’t go through this article without mentioning the final BOSJ appearance ever for the legendary Jushin Liger now could I!

Liger lost every single match in his ultimate tournament showing, that is, apart from his final ever BOSJ contest. At 6 consecutive losses he came up against the much-hated Taichi, of Suzuki Gun, who still had a chance to top block A if he were to defeat the 52 year old. 

But even despite the use of Taichi’s hammer and a beatdown from fellow Suzuki Gun members, Liger managed to pull out the victory! He was avenged and protected by the young boys at ringside, who showed their ultimate respect for him by stepping in. 

In the end his mask was torn and his bodysuit was ruined but he had won and the fans went wild. Sure, it wasn’t Match of Year or anything, but it was fun to behold and they told a wonderful story, allowing Liger to bow out in style with a really memorable moment. 

How did Marty Scurll get on?

New Bullet Club man Marty managed to achieve the most important thing of all during his first rout of Japan. He got over as hell. From the ‘woo woo’ in his song, to his finger breaking to his chicken wing, the Japanese fans ate up this succulent wrestling personality and will surely be back on many future occasions.

I imagine Marty is now sitting on a heap of merch money and loving every second as he rightfully deserves, the man is a star and oozes charisma so I’m really happy that the audience took to him so quickly.

It probably helped that he began the tournament by tapping out fellow Brit, the aforementioned Will Ospreay and manged a healthy 4 wins, placing him joint second in the group. My only disappointment for Scurll was that he arrived into the final round of matches with no possible chance of winning the block, but hey, there’s always next year!

Highlight Matches

I’ve already mentioned a few so I will gloss over those quickly before jumping into the meaty body of this section. The final, was obviously sublime, definitely the best of the KUSHIDA v Ospreay face-offs and get a must watch rating from me; Marty v Ospreay was superb on night one and gave Scurll the instant great match he needed; and Liger versus Taichi was a simply brilliant story, which few could have expected when the tournament schedule was released. 

Now that’s out of the way, here are (apart from the final) my favourite 3 matches from the tournament:

1. Dragon Lee versus Hiromu Takahashi (Block A, Night 1) – Do any two wrestlers on the entire planet have better and more consistent chemistry than these too? Sure, they’ve had better than this, but this was still a stormer and was the prefect opening main event for the tourney. Their maniac and dangerous style set an enticing tone with Dragon Lee taking the win over the champion showing that anyone can get a beating on any given night.

2. Ryusuke Taguchi versus KUSHIDA (Block B, Night 11) – What happens when 2 members of Taguchi Japan face-off and Ryusuke gets in a serious zone? The best match of the entire second bracket of course! Seriously, this was submission style and intelligent wrestling at its finest; both knew their foe so well and countered one another time after time. It makes me wish Taguchi wrestled like this all of the time rather than averting to comedy because he’s extremely good. More of this please.

3.  Ricochet versus Will Ospreay (Block A, Night 2) – Best match of the tournament for me, easily. I don’t know how they managed to but they 100% topped their contest that broke the internet just a year ago. The reverse dragonrana, which I’m sure you’ve seen doing the rounds in gif form on Twitter, blew my tiny mind, but beforehand it was an all action, non-stop insanely fun slippy wrestling. Honestly, it was a 5 star classic for me and I’m sure I’ll watch it again and again, that final OsCutter had me in rapturous applause; these two could wrestle every day of the year and I’m sure I wouldn’t get bored. Congrats lads.

What is next for the Super Juniors?

We look to this Sunday, June 11th for the next loop in the rollercoaster that is the IWGP Super Junior division. KUSHIDA will get his title shot as a result of his BOSJ victory, meaning he will get one final swing at the man who has caused him so much pain this year, Hiromu Takahashi of Los Ingobernables de Japon.

I feel KUSHIDA will finally get the better of his long-time rival and begin his 5th Junior Heavyweight title reign, completing the wrestler’s redemption story on a positive note. I would however, love to see Hiromu kill him off. Having KUSHIDA work so hard to get another chance at the belt and coming up short again would present Hiromu as the most dominant champion in Japan, and have him tower above the division, much like his leader Naito with the Intercontinental belt.

So there you have it folks, KUSHIDA is your BOSJ 24 winner! I hope you enjoyed the tournament as much as I, and in case you missed it, you can check out all of the aforementioned content with a subscription to the excess New Japan World streaming service, available here: http://njpwworld.com/

Written by Thomas Brady

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2017 Preview

New Japan’s annual Super Junior tournament is just around the corner and this year’s edition (BOSJ 24) looks spicier than ever before! It’s always a pleasure to watch this tournament unfold as the breakneck pace, highflying and technical prowess shines brightly, meaning you’re almost certainly going to see a top quality match no matter which night you tune in on.

So to get you in the mood for 3 and a half weeks of non-stop masterful wrestling, feast your beady eyes up this handy guide, hopefully it will get you as stoked for the tournament as I.

What is BOSJ?

Best of the Super Juniors is an annual Junior Heavyweight tournament that works in a similar fashion to the big-time Heavyweight tournament, the G1 Climax.

Competitors are split into two blocks of 8 wrestlers, A and B, in a round-robin style series of matches, whereby competitors score 2 points for a win, 1 for a time-limit draw (usually 30 minutes, but has been 20 in the past) and 0 for a loss.

After all 8 have collided the winner of each block then advances to the final 1 on 1, with the winner of that match taking home the trophy and also gaining an IWGP Junior Heavyweight title shot at Dominion, which is basically New Japan’s Summerslam.

Past winners of the tourney include Jushin Thunder Liger with a joint-record 3 victories, Tiger Mask IV who so far is the only man to win it consecutively, Prince Devitt (WWE's Finn Balor), Kota Ibushi and last year’s champion on his first attempt, Will Ospreay. Some big names I’m sure you’ll agree, only this year, things have grown even larger.

The Competitors

Block A

·         Dragon Lee – Rising faster than a well baked cake, at 21 years of age he is set to be the next big Lucha star both in Mexico and Japan. Current CMLL World Lightweight Champion. Gained much critical acclaim during his feud with Hiromu Takahashi thanks to their car-crash style incredible matches.

·         Hiromu Takahashi – Current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion having won the belt from KUSHIDA back at Wrestle Kingdom. Los Ingobernables De Japon member. Murdering everyone in his path this year and whimsically talking to his prized belt. Could win based on his unstoppable recent booking but the champion usually has it rough in such tournaments.

·         Jushin Thunder Liger – Wiley old veteran and the most successful Junior wrestler in history having won this tournament 3 times and had an astronomical 11 Junior title reigns. Now relies a little more on comedy but can still produce the goods when called upon. With this being his last hurrah I expect a lot from him, I’d say second or third in the block overall.

·         Marty Scurll – Huge star on the UK independent scene, PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2016 winner and current ROH television champion. Being aligned with ROH means he should do quite well and I feel he would have benefitted more from being in the second block. How will his new alignment with the Bullet Club effect proceedings? We shall see. 

·         Ricochet – Won BOSJ in 2014 but has never held the belt. Won the Junior tag titles on two occasions with Matt Sydal. Arguably the best high-flyer in the business. The face of Lucha Underground as Prince Puma. Unfortunately may be lost in the sea of competitors with greater stories to be told this year, especially since he had a recent shot at Hiromu.

·         Taichi – Suzuki Gun member. 2 time IWGP Junior Tag Team Champion. Will likely be near the bottom of the pack. Yea, he sucks pretty hard, let’s move on.

·         Taka Michinoku – Best known from Michinoku driver fame and his WWF run. Another Suzuki gun member and held the Junior tag titles alongside Taichi. Getting older now so I wouldn’t expect him to do a great deal, he may even finish last.

·         Will Ospreay – Reigning BOSJ champion, looking to win back to back tournaments. Huge star in the UK and in PWG, especially after his match versus Ricochet last year. CHAOS member. Had a Heavyweight feud with Katsuyori Shibata in February. Hasn’t yet had a crack at Takahashi’s belt so would be a fantastic victor.

One word. Stacked.

Good lord this is quite possibly the greatest block in Super Junior tournament history. Pretty much all of the standout names have been shoved into this group, and at first, I was slightly perplexed at that. Why would you not sprinkle them across the two? Well, this way NJPW have pretty much ensured that there’s a must-see match being broadcast each night this block is in the building, forcing people to tune in on every occasion to avoid missing anything. It’s guarantee views and guaranteed money.

Narrative is more prominent than ever throughout the group too. We have the Junior Heavyweight champion Hiromu Takahashi, who has been on a rampage since returning when the New Japan Timebomb exploded late last year; Jushin Thunder Liger is partaking in his 26^th and final ever Super Junior tournament so he could perhaps sign off with a historic win; and of course, we have Ricochet and Ospreay together again, with the pair surely determined to break the wrestling internet for the second year running.

My Predicted Block A Winner - Will Ospreay, it’s a really tough choice given how many amazing names are bundled in here but I would have to go for my CHAOS boy as I expect he will be involved in a long awaited rematch with the Block B winner, more on that later…

  

Block B

        ACH – High flying wrestler who made his name in ROH. Appeared at Wrestle Kingdom as Tiger the Dark. Made it to the final of the Super Junior Tag Tournament with Ishimori in 2016, having impressive matches throughout. His stock is rising in Japan so I would expect him to do okay in his debut tournament appearance.

·         BUSHI – 1 time Junior Heavyweight champion and current NEVER Openweight 6-man champion as part of Los Ingobernables. Had a longstanding feud with KUSHIDA last year which will be rekindled in this block. Look out for shenanigans from his heel stablemates, the dreaded mist and him coming up just short of victory in the group standings when the dust settles.

·         El Desperado – Suzuki Gun member and won the GHC Junior Tag Championships with Taka Michinoku. Hasn’t done a great deal since returning to NJPW other than wear a cool mask. Bottom half finish inbound.

·         KUSHIDA – The Ace of the Junior division with a hugely impressive CV. Has held the Junior belt 4 times, the Junior tag belts 2 times, won last year’s Super J-Cup and BOSJ in 2015. On a downward spiral since losing to Takahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 11 but is surely the favourite to win this trophy for the second time. Capable of amazing high spots and submission wrestling, making him very diverse.

·         Ryusuke Taguchi – Largely a comedy wrestler but always gets serious for BOSJ, won it in 2012 and lost in a great final match against Ospreay last year. 2 time IWGP Junior champion and 5 time IWGP Junior tag champion, 4 of which with our good friend Finn Balor. Will finish high up the pack due to experience and the fact he often mixes with heavyweights.

·         Tiger Mask IV – A fallen star of New Japan. Has a glamorous past; 6 x junior champ, 1 x Junior tag champ and the only man to have won consecutive BOSJ trophies in 2004 and 2005. Really hasn’t had anything to shout about for the past few years and is firmly stuck wallowing in the lower card.

·         Volador Jr. – Massive star in Mexico as part of CMLL, having won various belts and fanfare. Almost won his block last year but lost out to Ospreay on the final day. Lost his mask in 2013 to La Sombra, who is now Andrade Cien Almas in NXT. I imagine him to do a little worse than last year and finish mid-table.

·         Yoshinobu Kamemaru – Holds the record for most reigns with both of NOAH’s GHC Junior straps, he has 7 reigns as the Junior champ and 4 reigns as a Junior tag champ. Beat Roppongi Vice earlier this year to win the IWGP Junior tag titles but lost them back to Roppongi not long after. At 40 years of age and being in Suzuki Gun, I don’t seen him making many wave in this year’s BOSJ.

On the face of things this block is significantly weaker in stature than the first. There enough solid wrestlers and supreme high-flyers in the mix to ensure that good matches and moments are produced throughout the group, but the star power is severely lacking in comparison to the aforementioned group A. I think just swapping in 1 of the fellas from the other group other than the Suzuki Gun guys could have bolstered this set of wrestlers significantly.

KUSHIDA, who has been the standout in the New Japan Junior division for the past couple of years, is the standout name of the 8 as he will be looking to resurge after his early 2017 woes, including losing to Hiromu in under 2 minutes last month. But don’t sleep on some of the others: Taguchi was a finalist last year and won the tournament back in 2012, Tiger Mask maybe getting on but he’s still a 2-time champion in this format and BUSHI, Volador Jr. and Kanemaru (the most successful Junior in NOAH history) will all be desperate to impress on this big stage.

My Predicted Block B Winner: All roads lead to KUSHIDA in this side of the draw. He longs for redemption after his rough 6 months and there is no better way to get back on top of the world than to win such a glamorous tournament. Plus, if my two picks make the final, we would finally get that Ospreay/KUSHIDA rematch that so many have longed for.

·         

Must See Matches

Forgive me for picking some of the most obvious ones here but some of the very top matches are clear as day, and most of which will come from A block given the sheer volume of amazing talents on display there.

Dragon Lee versus Hiromu Takahashi – Block A – May 17^th

Have you ever seen these two collide? If the answer was no then you’re doing yourself a disservice. They are wrestling soulmates (much like Mandrews and Pete Dunne) and their daredevil, smash mouth style is something to behold. Hiromu is seemingly up for killing himself in order to win and Dragon Lee isn’t far off that level of insanity either, so keep your eyes out for someone taking a disgusting looking bump. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, this is the main event for the first night of the tournament, so they’re starting at the peak!

Ricochet versus Will Ospreay – Block A – May 18^th

So just 24 hours after Lee and Takahashi collide we get another coming of the match that blew minds across the globe last year in BOSJ. Some people were elated and some people hated, but it was spectacle of wrestling and I personally loved it. They will likely bring out all of their signature spots (include the much despised indie pose-down) but still manage to produce something that you have never seen before, so hopefully they get people shouting about their match all over again.

BUSHI versus KUCHIDA – Block B – May 22^nd

After engaging in a near year-long feud these two may have been glad to see the back of one another in 2017, but wrestling works in mysterious ways and they’re about to collide again, this time not for one another’s blood, but for points in this prestigious tournament. Hopefully we will see some submission based exchanges between the pair mixed in with their usual agility as it could provide an interesting change of pace form the rest of the matches and really help them stand out from the pack. Plus, I love the Hoverboard Lock, it is mint.

Jushin Thunder Liger versus Marty Scurll – Block A – May 21^st

Marty and Jushin getting in the ring together just intrigues me. I feel like their styles could mesh perfectly and given that Liger does a few comedy spots nowadays I think Scurll, with the chicken wing and finger breaking stuff, could really get over with the New Japan crowd thanks to the legendary Junior. I don’t think it’ll be a masterclass in wrestling like the others listed here but it certainly could be a whole heap of entertainment, and that’s what wrestling is all about at the end of the day.

Hiromu Takahashi versus Will Ospreay – Block A – May 31^st

I strongly believe this will be the decider for group A, with the winner advancing to the final. As mentioned I think Ospreay will take it down in this CHAOS versus Los Ingobernables Junior super-showdown, it could even end in a draw for the final spot, which would be such a dramatic end. All I know is that the main event on the last day of either block is never one to miss, so grab you best snack and prepare for something beautiful.

Final Thoughts and Where to Watch

Maybe it was a little obvious throughout but I really feel like KUSHIDA will be crowned champion in this year’s Best of the Super Junior’s tournament. As he is currently experiencing a downturn in both result and in luck he seems certain to return to the pinnacle of NJPW’s Junior division, starting with a BOSJ victory and continuing with a colossal Wrestle Kingdom rematch against Hiromu Takahashi at Dominion on June 11^th.

So tune in to as many days as you possibly can as the tournament is a fantastic festival of pro wrestling. All of the matches will be available either live or on tape delay on New Japan’s streaming service, New Japan World (http://njpwworld.com/) for just £7.25 per month. It’s a steal!

Writer - Thomas Brady 

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Opinion: Power Struggle, The World Tag League and the Final Steps Towards Wrestle Kingdom 11

We’re approaching the end of 2016 and things are really hotting up in the world of New Japan Pro Wrestling, feuds are being firmly set in motion, wrestlers are scrambling for their desired belts and matches are being penciled in for the massive Tokyo Dome show on January 4th. Within this piece I am hoping to get those less familiar with the Japanese product hyped for the biggest show in New Japan’s calendar so before I go into anything else, here’s how the well-known ‘Road to Wrestlemania’ lines up with the New Japan shows.

G1 Climax (August) = Royal Rumble. We began setting our sights on Wrestle Kingdom 11 way back in August when Kenny Omega overcame all opposition in the round robin tournament and in doing so became the first foreign winner of the G1 in its current incarnation. Now you may be wondering how in the world this relates to the Royal Rumble, well, the prize for winning such a tournament is a guaranteed place in the main event of the Wrestle Kingdom. However, since this is a few months before WK, much like in WWE, there are a couple of hurdles along the way.

Power Struggle/The World Tag League (October/November) = Roadblock/Fastlane. You could also throw NJPW’s Kings of Pro Wrestling event into the mix here but I don’t want to boggle the mind too much so we will focus on these 2 today. Again as occurs in WWE, usually at these PPV’s we see the other, non-main event feuds pan out and not a lot of title changes happen, but that’s not to say they aren’t worth your time, especially given that Power Struggle (which will be talked about in depth further down the page) was fantastic this year.

Wrestle Kingdom (January) = WrestleMania. This is the big one. The showcase of the immortals. The show of all shows. Just like Mania, Wrestle Kingdom is the largest show in the Japanese version of the sport and fans flock from across the globe in order to see it in person at the famous Tokyo Dome. If you haven’t seen them already I would recommend checking out the highly acclaimed Wrestle Kingdom 9 and 10 events, they both have insane matches that can be enjoyed even without storyline context and way after their broadcast date. I think AJ Styles v Shinsuke Nakamura from 10 might be my most watched match this year so please treat yourself if you haven’t already.

Did you digest of that? I certainly hope so because now you’ve had your appetiser I’m about to head into the main course of this article; a review of the most important matches from Power Struggle and an overview and prediction for the World Tag League tournament and don’t worry, there will be a desert too!

Power Struggle Review

On 5th November, NJPW treated us to their annual Power Struggle event and before we go any further let me say this was a truly enjoyable show. Usually this event can suffer from being right before Wrestle Kingdom meaning nothing too important happens but the company pulled out something really special for us viewers, especially given the injury to scheduled main eventer, Michael Elgin. So here are my views on the most important matches from the night, 4 of which feature members of the Los Ingobernables De Japon group which I talked about at length last month, right here: 

http://www.acrossthepondwrestling.co.uk/2016/10/opinion-njpw-power-struggle-2016-aka.html

Match #1 – IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Title - Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa (Donny Marlow)) (C) versus CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI)

Tonga and Loa, A.K.A The Guerrillas of Destiny have engaged in a number of simply terrible matches this year. Their tangles with The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) over the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Titles were muting fans and leaving everyone wondering whether the newly introduced Loa was the worst member to every join the highly-saturated Bullet Club.

Their pathway looked bleak and many groaned when they regained their straps but lo and behold, they had a very good match with Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI! Wrestling Jesus must have been smiling down on them because the match was very slick and the sequences between Tonga and YOSHI-HASHI were both especially impressive, including the mesmerising finish which saw Tonga reverse a pump handle slam into his cutter.

The pace slowed massively whenever Loa hit the ring but he is clearly improving and if the pair can get a few more solid matches under their wings during the Tag League they can perhaps soar higher and bring much needed prestige back to the floundering Heavyweight tag belts.

Match #2 – Super Junior Tag Team Tournament Final - Roppongi Vice (Berreta (Trent Barreta) and Rocky Romero) versus ACH and Taiji Ishimori

Roppongi Vice took on ACH and Ishimori in the final match of the Super Juniors Tag Tournament with the winner gaining, you guessed it, a shot at the Junior Heavyweight straps versus The Young Bucks at Wrestle Kingdom in January. Overall the tournament has been very fun this year with the action being fast paced and exciting from the first round to the last.

This finale was the best collision in the entire bracket too. Growing tension between Beretta and Romero was showcased, but the twosome overcame their differences and managed to achieve the win with a whole host of impressive tag team manoeuvres that played into the fact that Romero is the most experienced of the foursome. The tale of wise veterans versus young up-and-coming being perfectly displayed ad in the end the right team won; ACH and Ishimori will have their time but the biggest Junior Tag match available is Young Bucks versus Roppongi Vice.

Move of the match was undoubtedly ACH hitting a Shooting Star Press from standing on the mat, over the top rope, to the outside – I was stunned. If we see this match again down the road I would be all for it though, everyone knew what the crowd wanted and played to it wonderfully. All in all, a great end to an enjoyable tourney.

Match #3 – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title - BUSHI (C) versus KUSHIDA

The first match involving an LIJ member was this one, as BUSHI and KUSHIDA faced off once again for the Junior Heavyweight Championship, this time though, it was personal. BUSHI had essentially stolen the belt from KUSHIDA and the former champ was gunning for revenge from the off. He charged his foe and nailed him with strikes before heading to the outside for a horrible looking piledriver to the floor. It was nasty stuff from the babyface.

With a start like this the match was clearly going to be of different taste to their previous affairs and that thankfully continued as we saw many more submission based attacks being thrown in the mix alongside their usual supplement of suicide dives, (they look so much more vicious in Japan) top rope moves and finisher attempts.

After hitting 2 codebreakers and his MX, BUSHI was somehow unable to put his challenger away and in retaliation we saw another heelish move from KUSHIDA as he tore at the mask of BUSHI; will there be a hair v mask match down the line? I would be all over that! Following the tear KUSHIDA managed to lock in his hoverboard lock for what seemed like an eternity – BUSHI was forced to tap of have his arm broken and thus he relinquished his belt.

The result was certainly a shock and the whole contest was tremendous viewing; the chemistry between the two is off the charts. As KUSHIDA celebrated though, the New Japan time bomb counter hit zero and bursting from the shade in a quite insane jacket was Kamatitachi who had been over in CMLL and ROH on learning excursions. I don’t think too many could have predicted the bomb would have been him but the bout is now set for WK as KUSHIDA will be forced to defend his belt against the returning man in a match that could well steal the show at the Dome.

Match #4 – NEVER Openweight Title - Katsuyori Shibata (C) versus EVIL (Takaaki Watanabe)

Shocking moments from the night didn’t end at the Junior match either as the second Los Ingobernables de Japon member to compete was EVIL who against all odds and predictions defeated the fan favourite Katsuyori Shibata and took home the NEVER Openweight Championship!

This was easily the stiffest contest of the PPV as EVIL and Shibata beat the crap out of each other throughout. Watch this one and listen for the sounds of the elbows and kicks, they are truly disgusting; combine those noises with the sight of Shibata’s sleeper suplex and EVIL’s targeting of the champion’s injured shoulder with chair shots and you’ve got a match that makes you wince and entraps you within its grasp. Seriously, the stiffness is so intense that you cannot possibly look away.

EVIL’s victory was one via cheating, obviously. He chucked the ref out of the ring before nailing Katsuyori with the belt, a chair and finished off with a brainbsuter onto the chair and his STO finisher to get the win in a shocking finish. Shibata however has recaptured the belt in the main event of the recent New Japan event in Singapore, so it looks like he will still be going to the Tokyo Dome with the title, which many fans will likely be very happy to see.

Match #5 – Hiroshi Tanahashi versus SANADA (Seiya Sanada)

Ever since the G1, NJPW’s top man, Hiroshi Tanahashi, has been struggling to regain momentum as he has hit a roadblock in the form of LIJ and most notably, SANADA, who got the better of Tanahashi on the first night of said tournament. Clearly then this contest has been a long time coming and the animosity between them finally boiled over at Power Struggle.

Their first meeting at the G1 was marvelous and this one followed suit; both took big risks and little reward was forthcoming as they each missed top rope moves which allowed their foe to get back into the contest. Standout moves were surely Tana’s slingblade on the apron, Hi Fly Flo from the top to the outside and SANADA’s missed moonsault which blew out his knee.

SANADA attempted his dragon sleeper submission a ton of times but he could not get past NJPW’s A+ player. Having managed to avoid the move that destroyed him previously Tanahashi rose to the top as he has done many a time in his career and nailed SANADA with a couple of Hi Fly Flos, finally seeing off the man who has caused him such misery within the year. Both wrestlers had what I believed to be their best match since they last met and I hope they both go on to better things in the next few months as they as incredible competitors – with Tanahashi especially moving forward faster than you might think…

Match #6 – IWGP Intercontinental Title - Tetsuya Naito (C) versus Jay Lethal

Jay Lethal was ushered into the main event for Power Struggle as the mighty Michael Elgin suffered an eye injury in a tag match meaning that he was unable to attempt to win back the Intercontinental Championship from the Ingobernables leader. This would be the first main event match of Lethal’s NJPW tenure and after this strong performance maybe he will find himself in this position again sometime in 2017.

Naito kicked Lethal out of LIJ on an ROH show earlier this year and as former partners they clearly know one another very well, a factor which played heavily into the bout as they continuously countered each other’s offence. The challenger hit a number of lovely moves including a combo of back suplexes and later, Elgin’s classic bucklebomb and Elginbomb, but he couldn’t put away Naito who battled back with a beautiful set of corner dropkicks, a tornado DDT from the Lethal Injection before finally finishing Lethal with a Destino from another Lethal Injection attempt.

It wasn’t anywhere close to the Elgin/Naito amazingness we got treated to previously but it was still really fun to watch and a worthy main event of a wonderful Power Struggle card. The crowd were super into Naito and hung on every move in the match and every word of his very interesting promo that followed his victory.

During the promo a challenger arrived upon the ramp, and of course, it was TANAHASHI! Almost all NJPW fans have been predicting and wanting this match for months and it we will get to witness it at the Tokyo Dome this year. I’m excited and you should be too as when Naito and Tanahashi meet at last for the IC belt it will surely be one of the finest matches of the year. Do not miss it people!

World Tag League Preview

So that was the most interesting stuff that Power Struggle had to offer and it was truly wonderful watching material; now we have just one stop left before Wrestle Kingdom and that will be the World Tag League whereby the winners will be granted a title match on the January card, likely against current champions Guerrillas of Destiny . It seems fitting then that I have a quick bullet point look at the tag teams taking part and let you know how I think each will perform, so lets go!

Block A

• Hiroshi Tanahashi and Juice Robinson: Tanahashi already has a match set for Wrestle Kingdom so there’s no way these two will be winning. But I like the pairing, Robinson will surely benefit from working with a seasoned pro and be able to take pins for Tanahashi.

• TenKoji (Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan): TenCozy have been in the business for longer than I have been alive and have done it all, now they are winding down and Kojima has other commitments with Ricochet and David Finlay. Might make the final in a happy moment for the fans.

• BULLET CLUB (Yujiro Takahashi and Hangman Page (Adam Page)): 2 Bullet Club whipping boys with zero chance of doing anything of note.

• Manabu Nakanishi and Henare: Another combination of a young lion with a longtime wrestler, Nakanishi will hopefully be able to tutor Henare along and let the upstart show off too. No threat to the title though.

• War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe): War Machine are the only ROH team taking part and will surely follow Michael Elgin’s suit in getting over fast in NJPW as they are powerful gaijins. Given the weakness of the block they might well make the final and are a dark horse to be the ones competing at Wrestle Kingdom.

• Leland Race (Jason Jones) and Brian Breaker: I have no idea who these guys are and won’t pretend to – they might be good, or they might do very little, most likely the latter.

• Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa): The Bullet Club boys are already the champions so they almost certainly will not be winning the block but will likely come in a close second to keep them strong as champions. As mentioned, I hope they manage to put together a few decent matches.

• Tetsuya Naito and A Mystery Partner: Naito said he would be bringing something special for the Tag League and hopefully his mystery man is someone interesting. A partner from the UK indie scene much like CHAOS’ Will Ospreay would be awesome, Marty Scurll anyone?!

Block B

• Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma): GBH won last year’s Tag League and won the belts from BULLET CLUB's Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson at Wrestle Kingdom 10. Since then they have been pretty anonymous and another league win would be surprising but beneficial for them. I don’t see it happening though.

• Katsuyori Shibata and Yuji Nagata: I actually had to re-write this part after Shibata won his NEVER Openweight title back from EVIL, before that I thought these two could go very far but instead they will likely just have solid matches and come up short of the finals.

• CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI): Hashi has massively improved this year and pairing him with Okada again may be unwise as he needs more protection than he did in 2015. No way they will win, watch their matches though, they will be entertaining.

• CHAOS (Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii): This pair is my pick to win. Both are already big names in NJPW and can easily be the ones to bring prestige to the Heavyweight tag titles by having great matches each and every month. Plus, neither have anything set for WK yet and there’s no chance they won’t be appearing on the card.

• Yoshitatsu (Naofumi Yamamoto) and Billy Gunn: Tatsu and Gunn? Yea, I don’t understand it either. They will probably be there for comedy purposes. No hope.

• Kenny Omega and Chase Owens: Owens will likely be taking a bunch of pins for the team as they won’t be winning the block. Omega is ready for the main event at the Dome and nothing else.

• BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale and BONE SOLDIER (Captain New Japan)) : Fale and Boner, are you having a laugh?! Fale might win a couple of matches to keep him strong, other than that, they’ll be losing a lot.

• Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA and EVIL): In my opinion, these are the only guys who might top Goto and Ishii, especially since EVIL doesn’t have his NEVER Openweight title. Both LIJ have been in high profile matches towards the end of the year and I wouldn’t be shocked to see the twosome advance to the Dome. 1^st or 2^nd place inbound.

So the winners of the Tag League will almost certainly come from Block B with Goto/Ishii or SANADA/EVIL the pairings most likely to gain victory over all others and win the straps at Wrestle Kingdom. I would say Ishii and Goto have the best chance also because they would be babyface challengers to the heel Guerrillas of Destiny.

And that’s it done, Power Struggle was a blast, the Tag League should be a fun watch and we have 4 matches already set for the mighty Wrestle Kingdom 11 show on January 4^th. So go and check out New Japan Pro Wrestling and get yourself ready for what might well be the finest PPV of 2017 – let us know what you think will happen and what you think of the current New Japan product, we would love to have your views.

Words - Thomas Brady 

Images - Thomas Brady & James Marston

Editor - James Marston 

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