New Japan - Wrestling #1

Okada locks Naito in the Red Ink submission hold

At our house, I recently rec’d a Genie and a new package with DirecTv which included—much to my excitement and exhilaration—AXS TV. Why was I stoked? New Japan Pro Wrestling is highly featured on the channel and I recently checked out some matches on YouTube. But I am one of those who wanted to see so much more. So I’m relatively new to the product overall, but with the handful I’ve seen, I’m sold on this being damn cool wrestling. Dismissed by some “wrestling entertainment” purists (story with substance altered to fit whatever character dramas get focus) as “athletic stuntwork”, I think there is room for a bit of everything. I don’t personally always want WWE. I love athleticism and sport-like storytelling as well. Just like WWE, the winners and losers are determined by “booking” so whoever wins is indeed pre-determined. But the athleticism involved (mix of aerial, striking, mat, traditional wrestling and fighting) has been the standard for which New Japan thrives. WWE focuses more on characterization and plot, personalities and macho soap opera. It has its built-in audience and obviously has remained the name of “sports entertainment” featuring “men in tights” (and women are finally getting to penetrate the glass ceiling, “iphh you wheeeel”). But I just personally want something different and so now I get that chance. New Japan is now considered the second most popular wrestling brand in the world. AXS TV has shown over the last two early mornings matches featuring Kazuchika Okada in IWGP Heavyweight championships. As champion and challenger at Wrestle Kingdom 8 & 9, respectively, Okada successfully defends the belt against Naito in the 2014 semi-Main Event and was unsuccessful in his attempt to regain it from Hiroshi Tanahashi in 2015. The “rainmaker” is Okada’s famed finisher, essentially a monster lariat that works out of a whipcord (gripping the hand behind the back, spinning the opponent around, and smashing the chest with the clothesline), flipping the opponent out of its staggering whiplash. Tanahashi has this variation on the frog splash called the “High Fly Flow” (a pump body splash from the top turnbuckle) that he can damn near hit on an opponent anywhere in and outside the ring. The guy does so in his match during the 2015 match on Okada. Granted he had to hit the damn thing on Okada like four times during the match (when Tanahashi hit it on Okada off the top turnbuckle outside the ring into a fenced area, it was worthy of its gasp and awe) before finally defeating him. Truthfully I felt that this loss was more or less due to Okada being the young buck soon to have the favor of the company behind him while Tanahashi was the veteran granted the winner’s spotlight before ceding it to those nipping at his heels (Okada, Naito, and Omega).

Okada is known for his high dropkicks, landing this on Naito

I have learned that Wrestle Kingdom is New Japan’s Wrestlemania, held in January every year. August’s G1 Climax (I watched several matches from this on YouTube, from 2016, and I was a fan from this point forward) is like the “road to Wrestle Kingdom”, I guess fans might say. The winner of the G1 (a tournament featuring the talents of New Japan) get the opportunity to wrestle the champion at Wrestle Kingdom. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be a high caliber star like Naito, win the G1 multiple times, and fail to beat Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight championship. It is as if Naito’s only fault is being at the top of his game during the incredible era of Okada, considered by many to be the best wrestler in the world (including WWE, although AJ Styles is right there). I actually liked the 2014 Wrestle Kingdom semi-Main between Naito and Okada better than the Main Event Tanahashi and Okada encounter. I guess because Naito was not quite the highly popular star he is right now, in 2014 still a bit overshadowed by the looming growth of Okada, this particular match didn’t have as much gravitas as the 2018 one where both men are at the top of their game and revered globally instead of just in niche Japan. I don’t use niche as an insult, mind you, but exposure is so much better for New Japan now.

Tanahashi suffers a stiff Okada kick

I love this time of life as a wrestling fan because of that exposure, feeling as if because of the internet and social media, those unable to experience New Japan here in the US like myself are now granted access. WWE has been the supposed gold standard since WCW went belly up, so New Japan’s emergence is nice to see. To only have WWE available (I have tried TNA too many times and it just isn’t for me) can be a bit of a drag. I want a variety personally. And I love good wrestling. I do get a bit afraid for those athletes in New Japan, the grind and toll their bodies endure. Those tombstone piledrivers look stiff and those elbow strikes really look stout.

Tanahashi takes flight

I enjoy the camera pulling back for Okada’s rainmaker finisher but these two particular matches had him showboating too much. Tanahashi does that as well, though. The seeming need to pose and look off into the audience and the no-covers when the opponent is looking quite vulnerable. I chalk it up to his youth and heelish tendencies (meaning, Okada in 2014 and 2015) while Tanahashi was just living up [soaking up] the moment during his seventh title reign (first defense of this reign, too). Naito’s opportunity at Okada seemed to be more of a primer for his valuable future. Naito’s knee injury was extensively a topic, quite a story regarding recovering and rising out of it to win the G1 and a title opportunity. Fighting through all of that in a gutsy losing effort against Okada, Naito earned serious (and deserved) accolades. But much like the Patriots in the NFL, Okada is the elite of his generation. New Japan has bent over backwards to make sure Okada is their NWA Ric Flair and WWF Hulk Hogan. He’s their Top Guy. Before losing to Tanahashi, Okada had won three against him, lost two, and went a draw with him. So losing to Tanahashi didn’t really tarnish him at all. So being new to New Japan allows me to come in fresh to these talents. I hope I can give them a little space on the blog time to time.

Okada has a unique neckbreaker

Okada vs. Naito [Wrestle Kingdom 8] *** / ****

Okada vs. Tanahashi [Wrestle Kingdom 9] *** / ****
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So this episode on AXS TV featured the Main Event match for the IWGP Heavyweight championship between G1 Climax winner, Hiroshi Tanahashi, vying for rival and champion, Kazuchika Okada, hoping to once again best him at Wrestle Kingdom (January 4^th, 2016 was this one, the 10^th annual event in the Tokyo Dome).

I love the story of this one as Okada had beaten Tanahashi, but never in the Tokyo Dome, so it was a sore spot in an already remarkable short term return to New Japan after a startlingly subpar “excursion” (as often referred to by American AXS announcers like Jim Ross and Mauro Ranallo) in TNA Impact wrestling (no surprise, right?). Okada commented on his career up until this event and match, feeling as if the Tokyo Dome success was elusive to him, particularly against Tanahashi. Tanahashi has continued success at New Japan, currently (as of 2018) the promotion’s Intercontinental champion.

Tanahashi came into this match quite confident (and why not, right?) so Okada had a lot to prove. That kind of story speaks for itself: Okada needs to solidify his legacy by once and for all conquering the demon that is defeating Tanahashi in the Tokyo Dome. 36,000 folks in the Tokyo Dome witnessed quite a thriller. Or so I thought it was.

Now some would consider this (conditioned WWE fans) to be a slow starting affair, but I certainly enjoyed Tanahashi’s emphasis on Okada’s right leg/knee. He uses the Dragon Screw Leg Whip in a variety of innovative ways (he does a wicked version of it outside the ring, using the ropes near a turnbuckle corner) that just looked devastating, although Okada still moves around afterward a bit too agilely perhaps. I think those critical of the choreography of their work might point to Okada’s grace despite several tough kicks to the knee by Tanahashi as a flaw in the match’s realism. Just the same, Tanahashi really makes those whips look painful on Okada. The Dragon Screw was a weapon Bryan ‘Daniel Bryan’ Danielson incorporated in his offense and you often watched Cruiserweights apply it in the heyday of late 90s WCW. But Tanahashi used it in different ways, just making the move stick Okada in awkward positions that just reinforced its devastation. I loved it. It is basically clutching the leg and doing a quick twist of it as the victim falls to the mat without the chance to counter it.

I don’t like seeing it in every match, but in this particular kind of high stakes Main Event, Okada and Tanahashi using each other’s finishers (especially since both did them beautifully) was dramatic. I don’t want to forget to mention Tanahashi’s sling blade (Finn Balor and Seth Rollins both use it in their offense) on Okada using the ring apron…it was unique in its impact and originality. I think those who perform it make it look easier than it really is. Being able to completely turn your body all the way around in mid air and drop your opponent on his back through a clothesline in quick succession is done effortlessly by Tanahashi. Out of the three I mentioned, Tanahashi impresses me the most. I guess because of the ring apron spot.

Tanahashi could really spring over those ropes to the ring apron and to the top of the turnbuckle when going for his High Low Flow. And Tanahashi was in incredible shape, too. These two wrestlers both put everything into the performances of the match. Those dropkicks from Okada on Tanahashi from high and low were impressive. Even though Okada has a cool spot outside the ring (cross body over the guard rail), I’m glad the match remained in the ring for the most part. This was about strategic one-upmanship. That rainmaker clothesline Okada uses looks badass when the right guys sell it. And those two really know how to do those stylized suplexes.

Just a good showing. Really enjoyed Ross and Barnett’s calling of the action. Ross has his “announcer language”, old school and a nice counter to Barnett’s technical knowledge. If I’m listening to an announce team assigned to the likes of Okada and Tanahashi, why not Barnett and Ross?

Tanahashi avoids the rainmaker, landing slingblade

Okada hits the rainmaker on Tanahashi

Okada vs. Tanahashi [Wrestle Kingdom 10] - ***½ / ****

*It was noted that no one, at this point, had kicked out of a pin after Okada hit the rainmaker, so Tanahashi was the first, it seems.
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The IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship truthfully is an unnecessary belt as if a Japanese wrestler holds it or competes for it the value of it in a Japanese promotion almost feels secondary to the Intercontinental or even perhaps the Never Openweight title. Saying that, nonetheless, the tournament to crown the champion of this belt in 2017 during July in Long Beach had a hell of a finale between Kenny Omega and Tomohiro Ishii (who impressively defeated Naito in their opening match of the tournament!).  

Omega has the stiffest, wickedest knee strikes to the neck/throat and Ishii lives up to his status nickname as the Pitbull. Ishii just carries this aura of pain tolerance and tough guy attitude that when it takes Omega multiple strikes with the knee to keep him on the mat, it doesn’t appear as unrealistic. You could see Ishii being that wrestling fighter with a high threshold of pain, able to take a large amount of abuse and give it right back. That headbutt from Ishii looks like it could smash apart a window, fracture brick, or dent the exterior of a trailer. Ishii isn’t a finesse wrestler, though. He’s the punching bag who retaliates with stiff shots of his own. Omega lands an open palm shot that isn’t some slap to the face and Ishii sure sells it as if it were a Big Show knockout punch.

Loved Ishii using his teeth to bite down on the ropes so Omega wouldn’t suplex him through a table set up by The Young Bucks outside the ring after attempts to clutch the ropes with his arms and hands had eventually failed…silly but hilariously clever. And because of the Pitbull moniker it made sense to Ishii’s character. The One-Winged Angel finisher is used on Omega by Ishii (who sets it up and lands it expertly!) to a near fall, but ultimately Omega would hit the move and score the championship. I don’t know if relying on such a difficult finisher all the time to score pinfalls is wise for Omega. He has to get the opponent on his shoulders as if sitting in a catbird seat, grabbing the head and finishing him with a type of Michinoku Driver. This all in matter of seconds…when in fluid motion, the move looks incredible, but I can always see a simple miscue resulting in a victim paralyzed.

That knee strike (the “V trigger”) looks mighty vicious enough, but already in his time at New Japan, the move has proved to be more of a type of potential setup for the One-Winged Angel so kickouts during pinning attempts are common. Just the same, when Omega hits it flush, that knee strike does look devastating. The DDTs I have noticed in New Japan by all performers “spikes” the victims as if they were a javelin heaved into the mat. Oh, and Omega reverse suplex on Ishii appears as if it drives the head straight into the mat…just makes me cringe. The finish is never in doubt. Ishii held a victory over Omega, as did Omega over Ishii, so this was the rubber match.

*** / ****

*I did actually see a few of the previous matches in the tournament on YouTube, including Zach Sabre, Jr. against Ishii and Omega versus Jay Lethal. Both were interesting but neither were as effective as Omega / Ishii, perhaps because the chemistry in the Main Event was simply high caliber.
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So Juice Robinson, American, performed in the G1 Climax in 2017, actually upsetting Kenny Omega, Canadian, during the tournament, turning heads and startling media. It was a pinfall (a rollup into a small package) that remained topical up until Omega was to defend his IWGP Heavyweight championship against Juice at an event called Destruction in Kobe. Juice had scored wins against top New Japan talent, like Naito and Goto, so it wasn’t as if he was just a glorified job. New Japan has continued to use Juice in the role of the “face that can go with the stars but lose”. AXS showed Juice and Omega at the Destruction in Kobe event, and I thought it was a not-too-shabby match that continued to get better and better. I particularly enjoyed how Juice resists going after Omega’s distinct weakness: the knee that had just underwent some “minor surgery” removing bone fragment two weeks prior to the US defense. It isn’t until later in the match that Juice finally does go at the knee when it looked as if not doing so would result in defeat. Juice successfully portrayed the guilt and confliction resulting from that desperate decision, but I also did like how Barnett on commentary with Jim Ross commented on Omega’s willingness to defend the title so soon after the surgery. Still it separates Juice from Omega, who was tweening all throughout. The merciless V trigger knee strikes at the end of the bout were particularly heelish. Juice was very good at the end with his selling the devastating effects of those knees and Omega’s tiger suplexes on him. Omega’s relentless attack and failure to cover Juice certainly identified the heelish side to the character he had been portraying at that time. The match was definitely in chapters. Omega and Juice sizing each other up, Juice going for Omega’s knee, Omega continued use of the knee and suplex to weaken him, and Juice’s face comeback that is undermined by a staggering One-Winged Angel from the top turnbuckle. Juice’s Kill Switch (Christian’s finisher from the WWE)—an inverted facebusting drive to the mat that looks similar to a bulldog except both arms are hooked and the head is placed in the small of the back—attempt off the top turnbuckle, after nearly defeating Omega with it on the mat, was his ultimate undoing.

The tornado tag team match for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team championship didn’t really do anything for me personally although it does feature several Big Man moves. War Machine (Hanson and Rowe) are these big brawlers who have surprising agility and speed, willing to do dives outside the ring and fly off the top turnbuckle. Of course, War Machine are at their devastating best delivering power moves where they slam bodies to the mat or drop weight on opponents. I grew up with Haku in the WWF (also Meng in WCW), so seeing his boys, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa grown up competing as a tag team, Guerillas of Destiny (also referred to as G.O.D), is really neat. It ages me, admittedly, but still certainly I kind of root for them in all of this madness that is a tag team match at the Destruction in Kobe 2017 shown on AXS TV. Davey Boy Smith’s son is part of a tag team with Lance Archer, known as Killer Elite Squad, and they win the titles here at this event. Archer is towering while Davey Boy Smith, Jr. uses his impressive strength. These two use power bombs and body slams of different types. So this kind of tag team melee produces explosive moves where splashes, dives, slams, and bombs pulverize and immobilize…until the next spot is needed. Constant contact and motion continues with no breath taken. In and out of the ring all of these men until K.E.S used their Killer Bomb on Rowe to end it. It looked as if G.O.D was about to win with multiple Haku splashes, but K.E.S interrupted the referee’s count. So much action serves as busy chaos, so many might enjoy that. You see that a lot on WWE Smackdown Live! with the title defenses of The Usos. Exhausting and often exhilarating as men throw caution to the wind and put it all out there, rarely does a tornado tag team bout slow down. I prefer seeing two teams in the traditional format so the match can be more strategic and tonally proficient, but a monkey wrench in the formula makes sense. Why not mix it up from time to time. It seems New Japan does like to use this formula so I guess I can expect more of this on AXS TV in the future.

Omega vs. Juice Robinson [Destruction in Kobe 2017] - ***/****

War Machine vs. K.E.S vs. G.O.D [Destruction in Kobe 2017] - **/****