The final show of this year’s Destruction tour. There is so much that went on so let’s get straight into the action!
Date: 9/22/2019
From: Kobe World Hall
English commentators: Kevin Kelly, Gino Gambino, Chris Charlton
Match #1 – 6 Man Tag Team:
Nagata, Tsuji, Uemura def. Nakanishi, Coughlin, Richards
To open the show we got once again a six man tag with two veterans leading each side teamed up with young lions who participated in this year’s Young Lion Cup tournament. Honestly this was just a typical multi men match, although did a decent job being the opening act. Yota Tsuji makes Alex Coughlin tap with the Boston Crab at the 10 minute and 5 second mark.
Match #2 – Young Lion Cup:
Clark Connors def. Ren Narita
Second to the last match of the 2019 Young Lion Cup this time featuring New Japan Dojo vs. LA Dojo. Connors was already eliminated by this point, if Narita won and Karl Fredericks got a victory on the next match then he would’ve been the overall champion but alas things did not work in his favor. Him and Connors had a good match, I see these two as potential rivals in the future for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship once they are done with their transitions. Narita fought well but it wasn’t enough to put Connors down as he also won by tapping him out with a Boston Crab at 7 minutes and 25 seconds.
Match #3 – Young Lion Cup Final:
Karl Fredericks def. Shota Umino
With the loss of Ren Narita in the previous match, it all went down between the two top favorites to win from their respective dojos: Shota Umino and Karl Fredericks. Admittedly I haven’t seen every single young lion cup match (the stand alone ones shown during the road to shows) but in my opinion, this is the best match out of the entire tournament. Honestly, I was surprised with the result, I know Fredericks is a favorite for some including yours truly, but I thought this tournament was set in stone for Shota Umino who clearly has “Future Ace” written all over him. But that did not happen, Fredericks made him tap out with a single leg Boston Crab at 7 minutes and 17 seconds, making him the first gaijin to win the Young Lions Cup in history! I guess it really is not just the fans who see a lot of potential in Fredericks but New Japan themselves. The crowd were surprised too as they barely reacted when Shooter tapped but it won’t be the last time their favorite would lose to a foreigner in this night.
Match #4 – 6 Man Tag Team:
Fale, Yujiro, & Chase def. Makabe, Honma, & Henare
Once again, just your typical multi men tag. Not a lot of story to go on here, but knowing how proud of some BC members are with their heritage, I’m surprised they haven’t tried recruiting Toa Henare yet. I know Bullet Club is filled with lots of members already but Henare is in dire need of some attitude change with his character other than being the “stereotypical native gimmick” if he wants to get far. Chase hits him with the Package Piledriver, which he always delivers well, at the 8 minute and 22 second mark.
Match #5 – 8 Man Tag Team:
Suzuki, ZSJ, Kanemaru, & DOUKI def. Liger, Tanahashi, Tiger, & Rocky by DQ
Next up, this wasn’t really a match as it was more of a segment. By this point you all know what happened now, as Minoru Suzuki is doing his usual entrance, out of nowhere Jushin “Thunder” Liger who he has been nonstop assaulting for months blindsided him and a brawl ensued.
As they got in the ring, Suzuki attempted on unmasking Liger again but he got low blowed and it was the 11x Jr. Heavyweight Champion who unmasked himself revealing his alter ego Kishin Liger! This is about as anime as you can get, if Liger gets pushed to his limits, he summons Kishin Liger a basically more ruthless and merciless version of himself that has only appeared three times before this. Think of it like as The Great Muta, being the alter ego of Keiji Mutoh, but in my opinion with how sparingly Kishin is, he is even more mystical. Speaking of, Suzuki gets misted in the face and was close onto getting his head spiked in with a blade too! For the first time we saw Minoru Suzuki tremble in fear, it’s usually him who makes other feel that way but not this time. Liger was so out of his ordinary self that he even attacked Tanahashi and the referee as he was making his way to the back gunning for Suzuki’s head.
Not a hyperbole, this was one of the greatest moments of the entire year for professional wrestling! Now, here I am hoping for a Kishin Liger match one last time…
Match #6 – 10 Man Tag Team:
CHAOS def. Bullet Club
An age old rivalry between two heated factions. CHAOS was represented by Ospreay, Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, and Roppongi 3K while BC had KENTA, GoD, Ishimori, and Phantasmo. All champions for the latter. Just another typical multi men tag, the only thing of note is that RP3K got the surprise victory over GoD again, this time with YOH getting a roll up win on Tanga Loa at the 9 minute and 40 second mark. As if it isn’t obvious now, we’re definitely getting a GoD vs. RP3K for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag-Team Championships perhaps at King of Pro Wrestling! I’m totally in support of some more variety for the tag divisions.
Match #7 – 6 Man Tag Team:
SANADA, EVIL, & BUSHI def. Okada, Ibushi, & Eagles
Not much went down, just to hype up the eventual matches of Okada vs. SANADA, and Ibushi vs. EVIL. It was a good match for what it was but nothing out of the ordinary took place. SANADA makes Robbie Eagles tapped with the Skull End at the 13 minute and 50 second mark. Afterwards Ibushi and EVIL went on to exchange forearms while Okada missed all of his attempts at a dropkick towards SANADA. Spicing things up for their matches.
Match #8 – Special Singles Match:
Hirooki Goto def. Shingo Takagi
For the semi main event, the re-match between Shingo and Goto took place. As expected from these two, they pretty much beat the living hell out of one another with hard hitting strikes but they also mixed in some technical wrestling there too. But with all that being said, I preferred their G1 match just a tad better. The result surprised me but it made sense for Goto to get his win back plus with what happened later tonight, although I would have liked it better if it was Shingo instead. Nevertheless, a win for the Fearless Warrior is a victory I’d always welcome. A GTR at the 20 minute and 27 second mark puts The Dragon down.
Match #9 – IWGP Intercontinental Championship:
Jay White def. Tetsuya Naito
Other than that multi men tag, it was not a lucky day for LIJ members in high profile matches. First off before I inevitably get into my rant, I thought the match was worked flawlessly. A lot of high tension drama between these two and it was expected as they’ve had that ever since the build to this. Thought it was one of Switchblade’s best matches as well in recent memory. Lots of counter wrestling and all that stuff. A Bladerunner at the 21 minute and 7 second mark, Bullet Club gets another champion among their ranks, this time its leader. He is now the second man to hold the IWGP Heavyweight, Intercontinental, and United States Championships, the first being Kenny Omega.
Now onto my rant as a big LIJ fan. Honestly, I’m disappointed. If that is what I’m supposed to feel in this story then good job, but I hate that Naito has been what feels like a downward spiral recently. He hasn’t had a decent feud since Chris Jericho, and even then we all know that won’t last long term with Y2J’s other commitments. His 4th run with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship has been lackluster and now it ends on a sour note for many. What I fear is, while Naito is still arguably the most popular wrestler in the roster, and without a doubt the no. 1 merch seller, once someone continually loses, I’d fear they would become the second coming of someone like a Dolph Ziggler. If we want to get into it from a Puroresu stand point, someone in Reddit pointed out that we could see a Jun Akiyama situation if New Japan isn’t careful. Akiyama is a revered legend and one of the best ever, but with constant losses at the big stage, fans ultimately lost faith in him and his booking as a wrestler changed entirely. A closer example would be Hirooki Goto as well. I know this is all just thinking way too ahead but while Naito can still go, New Japan should capitalize on what they got right now. Looking back, while they were some good things that happened afterwards, they should’ve put the belt on Naito at Wrestle Kingdom 12. This is only through hindsight though but seeing him finally have a legit run with the belt would be great. I am a fan and what kind of fan would I be if I don’t want my favorite wrestler win right? I know Jay White will be a good champion, arguably the best heel in all of wrestling today, but the question is, where does Tetsuya Naito truly go from here?
