Written by: Super Mastodon (@SuperMastodon)
NJPW’s Power Struggle 2019 is now in the history books. What a show from top to bottom, once again New Japan delivered to us an exciting show with a lot of great moments building up to Wrestle Kingdom which is just two months away! So without further ado, let’s take a rundown of the card.
Match #1 – 8 Man Tag Team:
TJP, Titan, Volador Jr., Clark Connors def. Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi, Yuya Uemura
To start us off we got an eight man tag featuring the wrestlers involved in this year’s Super Junior Tag League tournament and Jushin “Thunder” Liger as well. This was just a fun little match to hype things up for bigger things to come. This will be Liger’s final Power Struggle event as he is retiring from in-ring action next year. Honestly I did not get to watch a lot of Super Jr. Tag League because of busy schedule but from what the little glimpses I’ve seen and the action with this match, thought it was a fun tourney overall. TJP got the win for his team with a Detonation Kick delivered to Uemura at the 5 minute and 43 second mark.
Match #2 – Tag Team:
El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori def. Robbie Eagles & Rocky Romero
A classic Bullet Club vs. CHAOS match up this time featuring the reigning IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag-Team Champions: Phantasmo and Ishimori took on the duo of Eagles and Rocky. Once again this was more of a match to showcase the tag champs and add fuel to the Eagles vs. Phantasmo rivalry. It was pretty good especially by the end, Rocky and Phantasmo have an interesting past already since the BOSJ and their interactions in the match were pretty fun too. Phantasmo delivered the CR II to Romero at the 8 minute and 42 second mark. It won’t be the last time we’ll see this Bullet Club pair tonight.
Match #3 – 6 Man Tag Team:
SANADA, EVIL, & Shingo Takagi def. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer
It’s LIJ vs. Suzuki-Gun once again. This match was more of a chaotic brawl more than anything as expected. Just gotta say, Lance Archer looked great with the IWGP US Title around his waist. A lot of action both in and out of the ring, the ones I especially enjoyed were the strike exchanges between Suzuki and Shingo, seems like they’re building up a potential rivalry there which is interesting. If the rumors of Minoru Suzuki leaving were to be true, then putting over someone like Shingo would definitely benefit The Dragon in the long run. ZSJ and SANADA had a crazy back-and-forth cradle pin attempts at the concluding part of the match, with the Cold Skull getting the better of the reigning RevPro Champion in the end at the 9 minute and 7 second mark.
Match #4 – Tag Team:
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi def. Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI
A special tag-team attraction featuring three of the greatest wrestlers in the entire planet today…. Anyway, it’s obvious this is more of a build up towards Okada vs. Ibushi more than anything. At least that’s what we initially thought. It’s been made official that they will headline the January 4th event in the Tokyo Dome for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Okada’s best friend and trusty old pal: YOSHI-HASHI was there to eat the pin and that he did at the 10 minute and 51 second mark receiving a High Fly Flow from Tana. I remember a storyline involving those two maybe a year ago where YOSHI-HASHI was being personally recruited by Tana to take him under his wing but that went nowhere.
Chris Jericho Challenges Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom
The real story of this match was afterwards, a vignette started playing with some people shown rocking to Tanahashi’s theme song but then they got kicked on by a mysterious man. Well he wasn’t mysterious for long as he revealed his identity, it’s none other than Chris Jericho! The reigning AEW World Heavyweight Champion is back at New Japan, the last time we saw him was at Dominion where he failed to capture the IWGP Heavyweight title from Okada. It was then where the seeds were planted for this storyline as after their match, Y2J repeatedly attacked Okada but Tanahashi, who was at the commentators booth, helped out his former rival and attacked Jericho himself. It’s going to be an interesting war to say the least between these two living legends. Once he finally shares the ring with Tana, Y2J pretty much completed his matches with the former Four Pillars of New Japan, first with Omega, then Naito, followed by Okada, and his last challenge: The Ace.
Match #5 – Special Singles:
Tetsuya Naito def. Taichi
The rivalry that’s been brewing on for months and has its roots for a long time, Tetsuya Naito and Taichi exchanged blows once again but this time with larger stakes at hand by being the de facto number one contender for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. Unlike their previous bouts where a methodical pace was followed but this time both men mean business, right from the get go they started brawling which is pretty rare for Naito but Taichi has really pushed him through his limits. A nonstop action throughout the whole match which is probably their best outing in terms of speed. Naito was triumphant in the end though as Taichi receives a Destino at the 12 minute and 56 second mark. I’d say their first match was better since it really put Taichi on the map moving up to the heavyweight division, but if you like a fast match packed with action then this one will definitely suit your flavor better.
Match #6 – Super Jr. Tag League Finals:
Roppongi 3K def. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado
The finals of this year’s Super Junior Tag League is set and it is a re-match from last year (sans BUSHI and Shingo) only this time it’s the endless rivalry between Roppongi 3K and Kanemaru & Desperado. This was El Desperado’s first tournament ever since making his return from injury. Him and uncle Nobu did well in the tournament scoring 10 points to finish as RP3K did the same as well which all led to this match. For a match that lasted under 15 minutes, it sure felt long and not in a bad way. Both teams told a great story that really encapsulated their rivalry. Desperado in particular looked pretty strong but it was a sign that he’d eat the pin in the end receiving a 3K from SHO & YOH. For the third straight year in a row, Roppongi 3K are your winners of the Super Junior Tag League. But the reigning Jr. Tag Champs begged to differ as they would attack their eventual challengers and steal the trophies, claiming they were “cheated” and their spot in the finals were busted out because of RP3K.
Match #7 – NEVER Openweight Championship:
KENTA def. Tomohiro Ishii
The first title match of the night is another re-match this time for KENTA’s NEVER Openweight Championship against former champ himself: “Stone Pitbull” Tomohiro Ishii. Their first bout was a little controversial in the UK show where KENTA won but suffered a concussion in the process leaving a sluggish feel to the match. This time around, they definitely improved and it is worth noticing that KENTA had no interferences from Guerrillas of Destiny as he has always relied on them in his past victories over Ishii, but they aren’t around this time. It’s just purely 1v1 action and it was pretty good. It can feel pretty slow at times but it is to be expected from a match with KENTA nowadays, he is far from his prime years but with all that said, they still delivered a fine match with the champion successfully defending the belt with a Go To Sleep at the 20 minute and 12 second mark. Not entirely sure where both men go from here towards WK so we have to wait and see what is in store.
Match #8 – IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship:
Will Ospreay def. BUSHI
Go ahead and boo me but by god to me, this is without a doubt, the match of the night! It was a match that was booked out of nowhere too but man did they deliver. Will Ospreay, we expect him to have a great match against anyone, especially with the year he is having, it’s just another match for him. But BUSHI, my boy, he’s been shunned upon by the majority of the New Japan fans, they only see him as a tag-team wrestler at best, the lowlight of the LIJ faction, but he has proved all those doubters wrong with this match! I’ve been telling everybody this, BUSHI is capable of having a great match, he just knows when to have them when the stakes are higher and there are many other heavy implications involved. In my opinion, he stole the show and yes it might just be bias on my part being an LIJ fanboy but you cannot deny this was a good match because it damn was. BUSHI was able to hold his own against Ospreay’s highflying offense but my favorite spot through it all was the champion stealing BUSHI’s mist directly from him and having him taste his own medicine in the process. BUSHI would deliver it right back later and had everyone at the palm of their hands when he hits Ospreay with the MX for the near fall. Even though the result was obvious, they made it into a wonderful set of action from the moment the bell rang till the pin as the Stormbreaker gets Ospreay his 3rd title defense win.
Hiromu Takahashi Returns
Will Ospreay has pretty much beaten everyone in the division at this point. Shingo Takagi in the BOSJ Finals, Dragon Lee for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship, he would successfully defend the belt against Robbie Eagles, El Phantasmo, and BUSHI. Practically everyone is out of the equation. Who is left? Well another member of LIJ and a familiar face to the champion makes his return after a long hiatus from injury, it’s the Ticking Time Bomb; Hiromu Takahashi! Personally, I was spoiled of this on Twitter but it didn’t matter, yes it could’ve been better if I watched live but I digress, what is important is the moment itself. A lot of fans have been speculating when will Hiromu return, if he will at all. Neck injuries are no joke and we’ve seen careers end because of them, but man is it great to see him back in full form and his shenanigans were sorely missed. Hiromu just has that enigma in him that is unlike any other wrestler in the world today. He challenged Ospreay for the belt at Wrestle Kingdom and the match has been made official. I’m hyped. You’re hyped. The world is hyped! It was a great night to be an LIJ fan for sure.
Match #9 – IWGP Intercontinental Championship:
Jay White def. Hirooki Goto
Final match of the night we got the rivalry between Jay White and Hirooki Goto potentially finding its conclusion, this time for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. It’s a feud that’s been building up for months and it all led to this after Goto gets a victory over Switchblade at the G1. Personally, I enjoyed their G1 match better in terms of the technical stuff but for the moment and the drama that surrounded this whole match, this was better by a mile. Katsuyori Shibata and KENTA got involved in the middle of all this for their respective partners/friends. Overall the match was good and deserving of the main event spot, Goto had moments where it seemed like he will finally get back to the promise land by getting the win but it wasn’t the case unfortunately. Jay got him with the Bladerunner with some help from KENTA to successfully retain the Intercontinental Championship.
The Big 4 in 1 Ring
After the match, Jay White celebrated his victory but it wouldn’t be long before he would be joined by the three other men in the main event picture heading into Wrestle Kingdom. First was Tetsuya Naito, the man Switchblade defeated to earn the IC belt in the first place. He challenged him and told Jay that he will get the belt back and eventually challenge the winner of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match the following night at the Dome. Kota Ibushi followed suit, the G1 Climax winner said that he will be the one to take on the double belts. However, The Rainmaker, reigning 200+ days IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada had something to say. He is not a fan of this whole “double champion” thing as he thinks the only belt that matters is the title he is holding. The top prize for New Japan for several decades, a belt filled with prestige and historic background. He doesn’t care about the IC Belt, to him it will always be the “number two belt” after all, the only thing Okada has won his entire career is the IWGP Heavyweight title. So there we have it, all four men stared at each other in one ring, they will be the deciders for the future of New Japan Pro Wrestling, lead it’s way ahead the upcoming decade as they enter the Tokyo Dome for Wrestle Kingdom.
