By Tokyo Wrestling Fan @twf87
While the rest of the country was gripped with World Cup fever, New Japan came to the UK to run two shows in association with Revolution Pro Wrestling. The first night was held at the Planet Ice Arena in Milton Keynes, and drew a gate of around 2,500 people. There was also a Ring of Honor tour, and an event at CEO in Florida organised by Kenny Omega on the same weekend, so certain wrestlers including Los Ingobernables de Japon, the Golden Lovers, and Hiroshi Tanahashi didn’t make it to the UK.
Shota Umino vs. Mystery Opponent – There was a lot of speculation before the match about who Umino’s opponent would be, but I’m not sure anyone predicted that it would be the former Young Lion Tomoyuki Oka debuting a new gimmick, Dominator Great O-Kharn. I’ve heard his gimmick being described variously as a jiangshi – a Chinese vampire – and as a Mongolian warlord. It seems like this match was the start of his excursion in the UK. This match was a decent opener, and the crowd seemed to be appreciative of the efforts of Umino as he played the underdog to O-Kharn’s power offense. O-Kharn had quite an old school style of wrestling, which included using the claw and a lot of Mongolian chops. He won the match after a top-rope Mongolian chop.
Winner: Dominator Great O-Kharn, 10:02
Yujiro Takahashi and Taiji Ishimori vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) – I really like the Bullet Club tag team of Yujiro and Ishimori, and Aussie Open are a fun tag team who put on some good matches recently in numerous British promotions. Yujiro and Ishimori focused on isolating the smaller Fletcher at the start of the match, and he took a beating until he was able to tag in his larger partner. Davis was able to use his power to overwhelm the smaller Ishimori and Yujiro, but ultimately Ishimori hit Fletcher with the Bloody Cross to win. Ishimori looked great in this match, and the crowd really appreciated his fast-paced, crisp wrestling.
Winners: Yujiro Takahashi and Taiji Ishimori, 12:57
Tiger Mask vs. David Starr – This match was supposed to be a title match for the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship, but when David Starr entered the ring he cut a promo claiming that Tiger Mask hadn’t done anything to deserve a title shot and therefore he would not be defending his title tonight. The crowd were not impressed, and booed David Starr throughout his long-winded introduction by the browbeaten ring announcer. Starr was very cocky in this match, and he showed his vicious side when he beat down Tiger Mask on the outside. Back in the ring, Tiger Mask managed to get in some good hits of his own, including a Tiger Driver and a top rope butterfly suplex. Starr distracted the referee and hit Tiger Mask with a low blow, but Tiger Mask countered his attempted lariat into a Perspex driver for the three count.
Winner: Tiger Mask, 11:01
Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Taichi, and Takashi Iizuka) vs. CHAOS (Jay White, Gedo, and Yano Toru) – Six-man Suzuki-gun matches with Takashi Iizuka are generally my least favourite matches, so I didn’t have high hopes going into this. Gedo’s presence on the CHAOS team is usually a sign that he’s taking the fall. There were a lot of Suzuki-gun shenanigans outside the ring in this match, but some decent wrestling in the ring from Jay White, and I enjoyed Yano outsmarting all of Suzuki-gun with his tricks. The crowd was very into Yano – he’s extremely over wherever he goes. As expected, Gedo took the fall following an iron claw from Iizuka while the referee was distracted.
Winners: Suzuki-gun, 10:40
WALTER vs. Yuji Nagata – WALTER is one of the best big men in wrestling right now, and Nagata can still work very well despite his age, so in contrast to the previous match this was one that I was particularly excited about. Nagata took control of the match early on, but one massive chop was all it took for WALTER to make a comeback. WALTER’s chops are absolutely brutal, and Nagata was staggered by the force the first time he felt one. The big Austrian used his power to dominate Nagata, who found himself in the unusual position of being the underdog in this match. Nagata refused to back down though, and demonstrated his unbending resolve in a savage strike exchange with WALTER, trading chops and kicks to the chest. Nagata managed to hit WALTER with an exploder suplex and catch him in the Nagata Lock, but WALTER was able to get a foot on the ropes. A massive lariat from WALTER scored an near fall, and then finally he put Nagata down for the three count with a second lariat. After the match WALTER and Nagata shook hands in a display of sportsmanship. This was easily the best match on the card so far.
Winner: WALTER, 12:27
Chris Brookes vs. YOSHI-HASHI – Chris Brookes was accompanied to the ring by his CCK tag team partner Kid Lykos for a match against CHAOS’ blandest member. Kevin Kelly pointed out that one of Chris Brookes’ strengths was his lanky frame, and this was on display when he was able to get his foot on the rope to break up a hammerlock early on. Kid Lykos hit YOSHI-HASHI in the face with a baking tray when Brookes distracted the referee, which led to a close two count. YOSHI-HASHI worked this match as an underdog, but the crowd didn’t really seem to connect with him in that role. After the heights of the previous match between WALTER and Nagata, this felt like a come-down, and there were some issues with chemistry between the two. YOSHI-HASHI hit Karma for a three count to keep him strong going into the G1 Climax, but the crowd was more interested in CCK than in YOSHI-HASHI.
Winner: YOSHI-HASHI, 9:03
Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Will Ospreay – This was a rematch from this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament, although not one that I desperately wanted to see again so soon. Ospreay got a big pop when he came out, and there were a lot of creative chants for him, including a Three Lions inspired “Ospreay’s coming home”. The action quickly spilled to the outside, and Ospreay got the ring announcer to Irish Whip him towards Kanemaru, who stopped the Aerial Assassin in his tracks with a chair. Kanemaru focused his attack on Ospreay’s neck, which has been a running storyline injury since he hit his head on the apron at Sakura Genesis. They teased a count out after Kenamaru DDT’d Ospreay on the entrance ramp, but Ospreay managed to dive back into the ring just before the twenty. Kanemaru tried to spit whiskey in Ospreay’s face, but Ospreay held his mouth closed, then kicked him in the face, sending the whiskey spraying everywhere. Ospreay attempted a Storm Breaker, but Kanemaru countered, and it seemed like it was all over when Kanemaru hit the Deep Impact. Will kicked out at two, and finally managed to hit a Storm Breaker for a three count. I think this was better than their BOSJ match, and Ospreay fed off the crowd’s support to help him overcome Kanemaru.
Winner: Will Ospreay, 10:59
Rev Pro Undisputed British Tag Team Championship
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii) vs. Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Junior and Minoru Suzuki) (c) – Despite being heels, ZSJ and Suzuki were both very over with the UK crowd, who joined in singing Kaze ni nare with gusto. Suzuki’s entrance video had some cool photos from his recent 30th anniversary show in Yokohama. Ishii, who is the Rev Pro Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion, and Okada also received big pops for their entrances. Okada debuted some new trousers for this match, which were red rather than gold, and for some reason had balloons tied to them. The commentary team played up the fact that Okada had seemed lost since his defeat at the hands of Kenny Omega at Dominion, but tonight he seemed to be back to the old, confident Rainmaker. As well as being a match for the tag team titles, this match was foreshadowing night two, when ZSJ took on Okada, and Suzuki challenged Ishii for his heavyweight title. ZSJ and Okada started the match off, but things really got going when Suzuki and Ishii came in. They unloaded strikes on each other, including a long strike exchange at the end of the match, with both men refusing to back down until finally Ishii collapsed due to the sheer volume of punishment. ZSJ and Suzuki controlled long stretches of the match with their submissions, and they frequently had both Ishii and Okada in submissions at the same time. Okada hit his trademark spots, but found himself countered on numerous occasions by Sabre, who had learned from his loss at Sakura Genesis. Ishii took a tremendous amount of punishment by both members of Suzuki-gun, including a double PK that nearly scored a three count. Ishii refused to give up though, and he nearly managed to score a victory over ZSJ, but ultimately Sabre caught Ishii in a wicked-looking submission and forced him to tap out. This was a very good match between four top stars, and the amount of submissions and counters was phenomenal. After the match Suzuki cut a promo and told the crowd that Suzuki-gun are number one.
Winners: Suzuki-gun, 25:45
Final Thoughts
This was a decent show, with a very good main event, and good matches between WALTER and Yuji Nagata, and Will Ospreay and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. The undercard was largely forgettable, and the crowd seemed uninterested in YOSHI-HASHI. Oka’s new gimmick is interesting, and while I think he’s ready for an excursion at this point, I’m not sure what British crowds will make of Dominator Great O-Kharn. Aside from WALTER, Aussie Open impressed me from the Rev Pro side of things, and I wouldn’t mind seeing them perhaps in the World Tag League in the future. There were a few technical issues with the sound, and the overall presentation wasn’t up the standard of a regular New Japan show. This seemed like an event that was fun for the live crowd, but the only must see match was the main event.
