Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura – A fun opening match from the two newest Young Lions. Nothing really flashy in this match, but both of the Young Lions already display a solid grasp of the fundamentals. Uemura probably looked the more impressive of the two – he does have an amateur wrestling background – and he showed off some good submission holds. The match finished in a time-limit draw as Tsuji had Uemura in the Boston Crab in the centre of the ring. After the match finished the two kept brawling in the ring until they were finally separated.
Winner: 10 Minute Time-Limit Draw
Tomoyuki Oka vs. Manabu Nakanishi – Oka really looks like Nakanishi’s mini-me. He was very over with the crowd tonight, especially when he was being beaten down by his veteran opponent. The match started slowly, with some brawling on the outside, but after the first five minutes it picked up and Oka had some good come-back sequences. He showed off his power by hitting Nakanishi with a belly-to-belly suplex that the crowd loved. Ultimately Nakanishi proved too strong and forced Oka to tap out to the torture rack.
Winner: Manabu Nakanishi, 9:04
Ren Narita and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Hiro Saito – Tenzan and Saito have a long history together, as they were both part of nWo Japan and Masahiro Chono’s T2000 stable in the early 2000s. This was another match that started off slowly, but improved down the stretch. Tenzan and Saito aren’t the most mobile wrestlers anymore, but Taguchi and Narita made up for that as best they could. Narita got some near falls with roll-ups that popped the crowd, and Saito got a bit pop when he hit a senton on Narita (he was the first Japanese wrestler to popularise the senton). Tenzan got the win for his team when he locked the Anaconda Vice on Narita.
Winners: Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Hiro Saito, 12:13
Shota Umino vs. Daisuke Sekimoto – Sekimoto is a member of Big Japan Pro Wrestling, but he has competed in many other promotions, including All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he won the Champion Carnival in 2016. He is currently one half of the DDT KO-D tag team champions. His ring gear was simple black trunks, boots, and kneepads, so he almost looked like an extremely jacked Young Lion. Sekimoto played up his size and power advantage as a heel, even flipping the crowd off at one point when they started cheering for Umino. Umino played the role of babyface underdog well, and even got to show off some his power by german suplexing Sekimoto into a bridge for a two count. Sekimoto’s power advantage was too much for Umino to handle, and a vicious lariat almost decapitated the Young Lion before Sekimoto pinned him for the win. This was the best match of the show so far, which isn’t surprising since Umino is the best of the current crop of Young Lions and Sekimoto is an excellent wrestler. Hopefully we see more of him in New Japan going forward.
Winner: Daisuke Sekimoto, 14:38
Nagata Yuji vs. Ayato Yoshida – Yoshida is from TAKA Michinoku’s Kaientai Dojo promotion, and the last time he appeared on a Lion’s Gate show he teamed up with Go Asakawa to defeat Yuji Nagata and Shota Umino. This was another good match, with the focus on Yoshida throwing everything he had to take down the veteran Nagata. There was a lot of stiff striking, including some vicious PKs from Yoshida to Nagata. Nagata was able to weather all of the punishment that the younger wrestler could throw at him, and although Yoshida escaped from the armbar, Nagata eventually hit him with the backdrop hold into a pin for the victory. This match didn’t quite live up to the previous one, but Nagata can still wrestle at a high level and Yoshida is a promising young talent. After the match Nagata cut a promo thanking the fans for coming, and that the future belongs to Lion’s Gate, but the now still belongs to him.
Winner: Nagata Yuji, 12:47
Final Thoughts
This was a fun, short show that allowed the Young Lions to show off their promise. There was nothing story-line related here, but if you’re a fan of watching the progress of the Young Lions it’s an easy show to watch. Otherwise, only the Umino vs. Sekimoto match really stood out. Hopefully Sekimoto works some more shows in New Japan – if Katsuya Kitamura ever comes back a match between the two could be excellent.
