Opinion: Cody and BULLET CLUB - Who Could Benefit More From This Partnership?

Bullet Club members are becoming as common as NWO guys were back in the nineties as this weekend we were treated to our (not including associates such as Jeff Jarrett) 17th inductee, ‘The American Nightmare’ Cody Rhodes. 

The former WWE star was revealed in a wonderful video package at the World Tag League final on Saturday and suddenly the wrestling world is once again humming to the sounds of Cody Rhodes and the Bullet Club. 

Usually I would be weighing up whether this pairing would be a good idea or not. However, this just screams success for both parties and should give both Rhodes and Bullet Club a real jump start heading into the new year. 

But who will have the better of it, will Bullet Club gain more by being associated with Cody’s huge independent name or will Rhodes be better off having paired with New Japan’s notorious faction?

Firstly, let’s look at the Son of a Son of a Plumber, the Star that left them in the Dust, the Dashing one, Cody Rhodes. Back in May he caused a real stir as he departed the rough seas of the number one wrestling company in the world and headed towards calmer, clearer waters of the independent scene, TNA, ROH and now, NJPW. 

I’ve always been a big fan of Cody. He has always had an interesting gimmick and successfully stayed relevant since making his debut in WWE; be it Legacy or Dashing or Masked, hell, even Stardust was entertaining at first. He’s a great worker too but his interesting personas and commitment to each role has always kept him interesting in the eyes of the fans.

This, to me at least, is what Cody has been missing slightly on the independent scene thus far, a solid gimmick that he can run with in order to tell great stories as he is often has in the past. As we know, a fantastic tale can turn a good match into a great match, just look at Ziggler v Miz this year, it’s been unreal stuff.

By joining Bullet Club he can represent them wherever he goes, adding a story to each individual match, more of a meaning to feud with different wrestlers and ultimately giving him a character to express himself within. He will still be the guy who broke the mould and left WWE, and will still be the son of the legendary Dusty Rhodes, but he will also be Bullet Club’s exciting new chapter.

Joining the team built by the man formerly known as Prince Devitt means Cody also arrives in New Japan as a huge deal. Yes, he was already known around the globe from WWE, but throwing him into one of the leading groups makes Japanese fans stand up and pay attention to him; he’s not arriving as another guy who has been in WWE, he’s arriving in one of the hottest heel factions on the planet, giving him instant momentum.

Finally, he will get something for his personal gain too. He faces Juice Robinson at Wrestle Kingdom but then he will surely move onto one of the names on his list, Katsuyori Shibata. These matches should allow Cody to show exactly what he is made of and could be the best fights he has had since he departed the WWE. I for one, am greatly looking forward to him acing these two and more; hopefully we get to see him collide with Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Hiroki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and many, many more during his current New Japan tenure.

So how about BULLET CLUB? What do they, as a faction, gain from adding Cody Rhodes to their ranks?

Well firstly, I feel it is pretty safe to say that Cody is the most exciting of the recent additions to the squad; Adam Cole, Hangman Page and Tanga Roa are all building themselves up slowly under the Bullet Club umbrella but none of their reveals shook up New Japan quite like Rhodes. The video package reveal was something special, the stubbing out of the cigar on the Wrestle Kingdom logo was exciting and Omega telling us they ‘broke the bank’ to get Rhodes presents him as a truly sought after superstar.

Being a former WWE star obviously carries a whole heap of weight behind him already and as a result he feels like he a ready-made main eventer, despite only being in the company 5 minutes. And this is exactly what BULLET CLUB have been missing this year!

Sure you have Kenny Omega, who may be the most successful leader of them all given his G1 victory and his incoming Tokyo Dome headline spot versus Kazuchika Okada. But this year they lost AJ Styles and Karl Anderson who were both previous leaders, Bad Luck Fale is far from the force he once was in the land of Japan and they added the frankly laughable Bone Soldier (formerly Captain New Japan) just a few weeks back.

Rhodes can arrive, instantly raise the prestige of the faction again and easily establish himself as a co-leader, similarly to how Anderson acted under Styles and Devitt. This position has been unsuccessfully fulfilled since January following Omega’s promotion and, whilst Tama Tonga has stepped up another gear this autumn and Cole has been bought in, Rhodes truly feels like a higher level than those two; whether he will remain at this level remains to be seen but I’m confident in the man, the faction and the booking.

Last of all, being a heavyweight, he’s another guy who can represent BULLET CLUB at the highest level in NJPW and I wouldn’t be surprise if he adds to the notoriety of the group by competing in the New Japan Cup and even the G1 Climax in 2017. Furthermore, based on his list, he will likely come face-to-face with the aforementioned Shibata sometime soon, maybe even taking the fan favourite’s NEVER Openweight title back to the ever growing BULLET CLUB trophy case.

So, whilst Cody will gain a lot of bonuses to his independent career by joining the mighty BULLET CLUB I feel that, despite both being big winners, the club themselves are to gain the most fruits from this relationship. Other than obviously freshening up a stable that many fans think may be growing increasingly stale, BULLET CLUB will benefit massively by having a former WWE Tag Team and Intercontinental Champion in their ranks. He will bring leadership, he will bring drama and he will likely bring titles too; all of this, I’m sure you’ll agree, can only be considered a good thing. 

I am so, so excited to see Cody break the Japanese scene in half and you too can follow the goodness, starting with Wrestle Kingdom 11 which takes place from the world-famous Tokyo Dome on January 4th 2017 on New Japan World. You’d be mad to miss it!

Words and Images - Thomas Brady

Editing - James Marston 

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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 

Find Us 

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Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling

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GFW presents NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 Review

   

     


       There was a lot of speculation surrounding how Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling would operate, so their first broadcast in conjuction with New Japan Pro Wrestling (arguably the hottest property in wrestling over the last few years) was hotly anticipated, by me and many others. I've made it clear in the past that I felt I needed a way of getting into New Japan, as without any English commentary I felt I was missing elements of the on-going stories being told and whilst the wrestling was always stellar, I found it difficult to make an emotional connection with the performers, which I think is one of the most important things to have as a wrestling fan, as demonstrated by Daniel Bryan's performances at this years WrestleMania. So with the announcement that Jim Ross and Matt Striker would be on hand to provide the English commentary for this show, I was all over it like white on rice. Could I be converted to one of those people that goes on about how good New Japan is constantly? Let's find out, eh?

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match

 

Kazuchika Okada

 

 vs. 

 Hiroshi Tanahashi (C)

      
       Even if you don't follow New Japan, I'd imagine someone over the last few years has mentioned the names Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi to you at some point or another. The two biggest names in the company going at it on the biggest stage available, everything about this match felt special. It was one of only two matches to get a build up package, although this was presented in Japanese with no English subtitles, which was a little annoying. GFW seemed to have very little involvement in the production of the show, and were simply providing English commentary over the top of the Japanese visuals. However, the commentary team did a stellar job of getting me up to speed on the prestige of the match, and the pairs previous encounters.

      This match was an absolute delight to watch from start to finish, as two of best wrestlers on the planet put on a real show. This over-thirty minute bout had a little something for everyone pulling in a number of different styles throughout the bout. There was sound brawling as the pair battled on the entrace way, ending with a Death Valley Driver from Okada, terrific high-flying spots like a diving crossbody over the barricade to the floor from Tanahashi, some great technical wrestling and sequences and then there was, of course, the story telling.

     What particularly caught my attention was the sophistication of the storytelling in the bout, as about half way through Tanahashi hit a Dragon Screw Leg Whip, just seconds after avoiding a Rainmaker Clothesline from Okada, and the match instantly changed. Tanahashi's focus stayed on the leg for quite some time, both neutralising Okada's quicker paced offence and moving towards his cloverleaf submission hold. Okada's on-going subtle selling and the other on-going story of Okada attempting to hit the Rainmaker clothesline meant that the bout could move into different areas, whilst being able to come back to the Okada's injury with another dragon screw leg whip allowing Tanahashi to take the control that would allow him to take the victory and retain the title following multiple High Fly Flow's (Frog Splash). 

      Even if you'd never heard of Tanahashi or Okada heading into this match, I'd like to think you'd come out of it thinking they were both world-class performers and on par with any top performer in the United States or elsewhere, because that's exactly what they are. Everything the pair did in the ring felt like it meant something and looked great, therefore even if the rest of the card had been terrible (it wasn't), these two performers would have convinced me to come back on the strength of this match alone. I felt this match was possibly Jim Ross and Matt Striker's strongest performance of the night as they were clearly up to speed on Okada and Tanahashi, which hadn't always been the case throughout the night and allowed for that extra level of understanding that I wouldn't have had if I had watched with Japanese commentary. 

IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match

 

 Kota Ibushi

 vs. 

 Shinsuke Nakamura

 

      Everything about Shinsuke Nakamura screams superstar. I'd previously caught glimpses of Nakamura in clips on Youtube, as well as the Ring of Honor/New Japan joint shows last year and had been impressed with his performance against Kevin Steen (now WWE NXT's Kevin Owens), but it wasn't until I saw him walk to ring here, with Matt Striker talking about how Nakamura had been influenced by Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson, that I realised what a consumate showman Nakamura truly is, with the proceeding match only compounding this thought. Ibushi was a bit more of an unknown, I'd seen some of his stuff from the indy DDT promotion on Youtube, during one those late night tralls that usually included shoot interviews and Botchamania clips, so wasn't quite sure what to expect from him heading in.

    This bout was the classic Rising Star vs. Established Star story that I'd expect anyone in the US would be familiar with, but told almost flawlessy. Helped along by Ross and Striker on commentary, Ibushi and Nakamura produced a match that would rival the main event for match of the night, with Ibushi playing the arrogant former Junior Heavyweight making the step up to the heavyweight division, whilst Nakamura took on the role of experienced main eventer. Both wrestlers excelled in these roles, with Ibushi mocking Nakamura on numerous occassion, including attempting to get the victory by using Nakamura's signature Boma Ye Knee Strike in one of the standout near falls from the bout.

      Nakamura took an absolute battering from his opponent, with Ibushi in control for much of the match, using his speed and high flying offence to his advantage, pulling out a Springboard into a top rope hurracanrana, a corkscrew moonsault, an attempted phoenix splash and a lot more throughout the match, whilst also throwing in some beautifully executed technical manoevre's like a half and half suplex and ridiculous german suplex lifting Nakamura off the apron whilst standing on the second rope. Nakamura's own offence of mainly strikes constrasted nicely, whilst some well timed no sells from Ibushi and Nakamura's own selling allowed Ibushi to look even stronger. 

      When Nakamura managed to pull out the victory following a Top Rope Falcon Arrow and the Boma Ye, it felt like a true star had been made, out of the defeat, in Ibushi. Compounded by the show of respect and hand shake at the finish, this seemed to be Ibushi receiving the New Japan stamp of approval. The booking here was spot on, allowing Ibushi to be elevated, whilst still keeping the title on Nakamura, setting up a potential rematch between the two later on down the line. With this and Okada vs. Tanahashi going on last, the final hour or so of this show was pure unadulterated wrestling porn. 

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Four Way Match

The Young Bucks

   vs.

Forever Hooligans

 vs.

Time Splitters

 vs.

reDRagon (C)

       This match opened the show, this was a wise decision for many reasons. Firstly, you can't really go wrong with multi man matches as an opener, they warm the crowd up nicely, get them settled for the show, presenting anything to heavy here would potentially kill the shows momentum straight off. Secondly, all of these tag teams have competed on the American indy scene, most prominently in Ring of Honor, with Alex Shelley perhaps the best know from his time in TNA as part of the Motor City Machine Guns alongside Chris Sabin, so it was a good way of introducing any new viewers watchign on the GFW feed, as they most likely would be familiar with the talent in the ring. That's forgetting that all eight of these men are phenomenal wrestling talents in their own right.

     The match went pretty much as one would expect, plenty of fast paced action, exciting highspots and a plethora of superkicks from those cheeky Young Bucks. There wasn't much in the way of story telling or psychology, but there didn't need to be, this match was all about fun, best shown by a pacy sequence that saw a number of flips to the outside, including a suicide dive by Rocky Romero, tope conhilo from Alex Koslov and a stunning corkscrew plancha from one of the Young Bucks (Like the Usos I can't tell them apart when the action is this quick!) 

       The bout was paced very nicely, with a spirited Romero hot tag mid-way through being a nice addition, as the bout moved towards it's crescendo very naturally, with a number of exciting near falls, double team manoevres and quick tags. The Young Buck's Meltzer Driver is a straight up silly move, and having to have a number of the other wrestlers break up the fall after was a good touch. The Meltzer Driver was the climax of a sequence that saw The Young Bucks land on their feet following an attempted double Doomsday Device, with KUSHIDA delivering the clothesline with the Bucks positioned on Koslov and Shelley's shoulder, before superkicking everyone in sight. If it weren't for the eventual winners of the bout, I'd be picking The Bucks as my MVP's of this bout.

     That winning team was reDRagon, who were outstanding throughout the bout. Both Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish had been on a massive roll throughout 2014, holding the Ring of Honor tag titles for most of year, and with O'Reilly finding singles success holding the PWG World title, I'd imagine 2015 is going to be an even bigger year for the pair. En route to victory they pulled out a backbreaker/diving knee drop combo, an unbelievable Double Arm DDT/Wheelbarrow Suplex combination, with Fish hitting a top rope Falcon Arrow and stunning Exploder Suplex, before the pair used their signature Chasing the Dragon double team to pick up the pinfall victory on Koslov. This topped of a superb opener nicely and set the tone for what was to come.

    

Singles Match

AJ Styles

 vs.

Tetsuya Naito

 

       I really really want to hate AJ Styles and write nasty things about him, because he seems to be a bit of a nobhole. "But he's a heel, he's supposed to annoy you" Be quiet! There's being a heel to get a reaction in a building and then there's being unprofessional outside the ring and for me Styles crosses that line. But I can't write nasty things about him. "But you just have, you called him a "nobhole"" Be quiet! I can't write nasty things about him because he's fucking good wrestler and puts on matches like this here bout with Tetsuya Naito.

      The match centred around Styles working over Naito's knee and leg, supposedly to set up for the Calf Killer submission (perhaps the commentary team forgot Styles used the move, because there was no mention of it until it was locked in), this offence from Styles was similar to what was seen out of him in the latter stages of his TNA run and works nicely for his heel persona. As soon as Naito was locked in the Calf Killer, his selling was on the button, making it so easy to will him on to reach the ropes, as the villainous Styles played his part in the drama as well. 

      I was a little disapointed then not to see the leg play a bit more into the finish of the bout, as it could have been easily tied in with the other on-going story of Styles attempting the feared Styles Clash at any opportunity. With Styles perched upon the top rope, Naito attempted a Super Frankensteiner, only for Styles to hold on and manage to set up for a Styles Clash off Bret's rope. A little grab of the leg before Styles' managed to set up for the Styles clash would have been the icing on the cake for me. This is probably the most nit picky paragraph I have ever written in a wrestling review and for that I am truly sorry.

     Bar a few slight slips and hiccups, this was a top notch slice of wrestling action, that could have easily main evented any wrestling show going and not received a single complaint. Styles has been rejuvenated since leaving TNA, whilst Naito joins the long list of Japanese talents that severly impressed me on this show and another talent that TNA managed to let slip through their fingers! 

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match

Kenny Omega

 vs.

Ryusuke Taguchi (C)

        I'm not quite sure what to make of this one, if I'm honest. It was neither here or there, and I'm not quite sure what they were trying to do with this one. Whilst there was some cool looking moves, and elements of story telling with The Young Bucks antics at ringside, there wasn't much in way of chemistry between the two and I just couldn't get into the match as much as I was expecting I would do. Maybe it was because we'd seen all the flips in the Four team Junior Tag match earlier in the show and there was no real attempt to create a strong story thread to follow.

     Apart from an awkward double dropkick spot (Does that spot ever look good?), the wrestling was of a high quality and I thought the bout picked up the pace nicely in the second half, so there was certainly something to enjoy in this match. I think perhaps it was also hurt by being a little too long and being placed directly after two hard hitting bouts in the form of Suzuki vs, Sakuraba and Makabe vs. Ishii. With Omega picking up the win via pinfall following the One Winged Angel, I'd suspect this wasn't the star making performance he'd have hoped for, but he's certainly talented and I'd be surprised if he wasn't turning heads with his run as Junior Heavyweight Champion in the near future.   

NEVER Openweight Championship Match

Togi Makabe

vs.

Tomohiro Ishii

         Two mean bastards beating the shit out of each other. This match had intensity on tap, as Makabe and Ishii looked to send each other into another dimension. That's at least what it seemed like as the pair unleashed a series of stiff strikes and big power moves on each other for just over twelve minutes. I was completely drawn into this one, with some stunning moves from both men including a powerbomb variation each, a delayed verticle superplex from Ishii and Northern Lights and Dragon Suplexes from Makabe, this match had a little bit more than your regular WWE power vs. power bout.

       The stiff back and forth strikes battles and continued cat and mouse style, showcased just how evenly matched the two were and made a nice change of pace from the babyface fighting from underneath style that was showcased elsewhere on the card. I perhaps would have liked Ishii's taped up injured shoulder to have played a little bit more of a role in the match, especially considering it was bought up multiple times by Striker on commentary. This style of match won't be for everyone, but it certainly worked for me. 

UWFi Rules Match

Minoru Suzuki

vs.

Kazushi Sakuraba

       Hearing Matt Striker detailing the rules of this match filled me with dread, as I've never been a huge fan of MMA mixing with pro wrestling, mainly because it points to your other matches being pre-determined and makes it a little harder to suspend your disbelief going forward. Luckily, that wasn't the case here, as the veteran Suzuki and Sakuraba used a convincing style, all submission holds and strikes, whilst incorporating the pro wrestling theatrics, such as a hard fought battle on the ramp, over the top. This made it feel much more like a vicious pro wrestling match, than an MMA bout, which is perfectly fine by me.

        The bout had a clear and defined story that saw Sakuraba focus the majority of his attack on Suzuki's arm, after being able to lock in a Kimura whilst on the ramp. This was helped along by Suzuki's stellar selling of the injury, as well the last man standing style elements with Suzuki battling to get to his feet before the ten count, which created a decent underdog-style story. When Suzuki made his come back with a huge kick, followed up by a Rear Naked Choke that eventually saw Sakuraba pass out from the pain, and whilst this worked well as an ending, it did feel a little like a John Cena-Hulk Hogan superman-esque comeback, which didn't quite mesh with the style presented earlier. Kudos to Matt Striker for really putting both of these guys MMA credentials over throughout the match, it definitely helped me as a viewer understand everything going on.

IWGP Tag Team Championship Match

Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata

vs.

BULLET CLUB (C)

        This is where Matt Striker and Jim Ross being on commentary really worked for me. Had it not been for their performance on commentary, telling the story of Goto and Shibata being on the same college wrestling team and the rest of the pairs backstory that gave the bout an extra dimensionm, I'd have struggled to get into this. The flow felt a little bit off kilter and the teams didn't quite connect with each other the way I was hoping they would. All four men, particularly Karl Anderson, had their own moments that impressed me, but I don't think the match came together in the way it should have.

Six Man Tag Team Match

BULLET CLUB

  vs.

TenKoji & Tomoaki Honma

 
     This bout was a fairly basic six man tag, going a little over five minutes there wasn't much room for the competitors to move in terms of the story they could tell. The heel BULLET CLUB, consisting of Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi (perhaps best known in the US for his 2009 run in TNA as part of the No Limit tag team) and former WWF, TNA and WCW wrestler Jeff Jarrett, spent most of the match working quick tags and working over Satoshi Kojima, before a hot tag allowed for a comeback. There was some American style antics from Jarrett and his trusty guitar, but that aside, with the babyface's picking up the win following a diving headbutt from Tomaki Honma, this was your run of the mill short tag bout, with nothing particular noteworthy.

Eight Man Tag Team Match

Suzuki-gun

  vs.

Naomichi Marufuji, TMDK & Toru Yano

       I found this match a lot more entertaining than the aforementioned six man tag, although it was essentially a "get your shit in" showcase. That's maybe a bit of a harsh term to use, but this match essentially allowed each man to show off a little bit of what they could do in the ring, whether that be Shelton Benjamin hitting his leaping release belly to belly suplex on Marafuji, the power game of Davey Boy Smith, Jr. (formerly WWE's DH Smith) and Lance Archer (formerly WWE's Vance Archer & TNA's Lance Hoyt/Rock), the brawling style of Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka, the speedy double team work of TMDK's Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste or the flawless skill of Naomichi Marufuji. For what it was, this is was a fun match, but was let down by the commentary team who didn't quite seem to know what was going on during spells of outside interference.

Finally...

        What else is there to say? This was fantastic pay-per-view event, Okada vs. Tanahashi and Nakamura vs. Ibushi were a different class, whilst Styles vs. Naito, the Junior Tag Team Four Way, Makabe vs. Ishii and Suzuki vs. Sakuraba are all worth watching and for entirely difference reasons! Striker and JR did a sound job on commentary, after settling into the show, although it was clear that Jim Ross didn't quite know as much about the product as he should have. I'd like to see Striker return for another show, as once he calmed himself down, he was an informative and interesting listen, perhaps they could team him up with an old New Japan gaijin, who might know a little more about the product? Was it worth the £25 that Flipps app were charging for the stream? Probably not, I'd want to be there live for that sort of money, bring the price down to £15-£17 and I'd definitely hand over my student loan for action this good.