Written by: Super Mastodon (@SuperMastodon)
EVIL defends the IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Championships for the first time against the reigning IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion and former comrade in Hiromu Takahashi at the main event. Let’s see how it all turned out for Bullet Club’s newest top star.
Match #1 – Taiji Ishimori def. Yuya Uemura
Match Time: 8:02
I’ll straight up be honest here, this was a bad match. Not at all what I expected heading into it as these two have the potential to deliver but their styles didn’t mesh well with one another and it’s obvious they don’t have chemistry in the ring. A lot of miscommunication and even a botched spot here and there, I could understand for Uemura since he’s still a young lion but Ishimori being the veteran of the two could have done better. Luckily it was as quick as a flash but nothing memorable about it at all.
Match #2 – Makabe, Kojima, & Taguchi def. Ishii, Yano, & Kidd
Match Time: 10:25
This was just a filler multi men tag with no heat. The only highlight is Gabriel Kidd acting arrogant towards the veterans, especially Makabe, getting on the former champion’s nerves. Other than that, this was mainly filled with comedy spots between Yano and Taguchi, then a few stiff exchanges for Ishii and Kojima. Makabe wins with a Bridging German to the LA Dojo trainee.
Match #3 – Naito, SANADA, & BUSHI def. Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, & SHO
Match Time: 10:31
I know there’s some story here, falling out of the New Japan Cup but I barely had any interest into this match at all and this is coming from an LIJ fan. It felt like filler with no ongoing rivalry to carry it to anything substantial. SHO once again outperformed everybody though and presented another case for him to be future Jr. Heavyweight Champ down the line. SANADA locked him in the Skull End getting another win over him. I do like to point out after the match, Naito toyed around with referee Kenta Sato and why couldn’t he have the same emotions beating up a referee when he got betrayed by EVIL? Just saying.
Match #4 – Tanahashi, Ibushi, Nagata, Tenzan, & Wato def. Taichi, ZSJ, Suzuki, Kanemaru, & DOUKI
Match Time: 12:55
What a clusterfuck of a match and I expected it knowing it’s a Suzuki-Gun match but still, too messy for me, match felt unorganized for my liking. They’re still building up heat between the feuds of the heavyweight tag-team champions, Master Wato against Kanemaru, but the true highlights are Nagat and Suzuki who have been at it since the NJ Cup, rekindling their classic rivalry. I’ve been seeing some rumors that this would lead to Nagata’s retirement eventually which I hope not as he still has a lot left in him and he deserves to retire after all this COVID mess to get a proper sendoff. After the finisher spam and multiple spot fests, Ibushi got the win for his team over DOUKI.
Match #5 – Kazuchika Okada def. Yujiro Takahashi
Match Time: 13:43
Boring. Next. Okay in all seriousness, I already had low expectations for this match but wow I guess they should’ve even been lower. Yujiro just doesn’t care anymore does he? Yes, they are protecting Okada as he is out of the main title picture right now but they could’ve at least put in some effort into this match and not make it visibly like just another below average bout on the card. Gedo interfering as usual, there’s no heat to add in what is already a very bland match to begin with, Okada wins with the Cobra Clutch, I still stand by the opinion that it is an awful looking submission hold when he does it.
Match #6 – NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi def. El Desperado
Match Time: 17:03
Finally we get into the only great match of the night as once again Shingo steals the show this time against El Desperado. At Dominion, Desperado attacked him and stole the NEVER belt and has kept it within him ever since up until this match. Not really that long of a build but it didn’t need a complicated storyline as these two were able to showcase a classic face-heel dynamic throughout the match. Although the series between Shingo and SHO were better matches, Desperado didn’t need to fight the way SHO did as after all he was a cheaty villain. Using dirty tactics in his favor and gain heat as he slowly destroys Shingo’s knee. Most of the match, Desperado had the upperhand and some masterful selling in Shingo’s part. I know he gets huge praises for his powerful offensive moveset but he is just as great for his selling and is in the same vein as Ishii on that level. Tried as he might though, Shingo was still too powerful for Desperado and in the end received a Last of the Dragon after fighting through his injured knee. It wasn’t like a full blown action, but the methodically slow paced action and limb work is what conveyed a better story for this match and it allowed both men’s personalitis to shine. I’d also like to mention how cool Desperado looked with his mask + face paint combo similar to that of Pentagon Jr. It probably takes a lot of work but more masked wrestlers should definitely try that out, even if it’s just for big time matches.
Match #7 – IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Championhips: EVIL def. Hiromu Takahashi
Match Time: 33:57
EVIL’s first defense since his upset victory over Naito at Dominion. This is his time to prove all the doubters wrong and actually deliver a fantastic match in his reign and who better than to have one against Hiromu. The story is there for these two, their journeys started together as being in the same group of young lions, then post excursions, they bonded together in LIJ and had this big and little brother dynamic similar to Naito and Hiromu. The build was nice honestly, years worth of angles is there to carry this match from an emotional level and Hiromu really stood out in that department unlike his leader who barely did not care at all about getting betrayed, Hiromu on the other hand was able to show his rage and contempt over EVIL. But that’s pretty much all there is good about this match because my goodness, it stunk the place. As soon as the bell rang I actually had high hopes, Hiromu went all out attacking EVIL immediately and I hoped they would’ve been able to keep it at that pace, but the momentum quickly got killed by the champion doing his dirty antics which nobody cares about. It doesn’t help that in the current situation, the audience is reprimanded not to have loud reactions to avoid the spread of the virus, but even if they were given the chance to, I don’t think EVIL is on the same level of Jay White or Minoru Suzuki as a heel to deserve such strong reactions. The intensity of the match quickly died down and it was a slog from then on, EVIL with his stalling, the constant interferences from Dick Togo, I just wanted to see some wrestling, yes a heel is supposed to get heat but this is slowly turning into “go away levels” of heat for me. Look I don’t think EVIL is a bad wrestler, his style just doesn’t work for the main event scene, the long rigorous half an hour affairs, that’s not for him at all. He works better in hoss matches which is why some of his most memorable bouts are against guys like Ishii and Goto. To his credit, Hiromu did his best especially in the final stretch to give this match some semblance of greatness, but even he could not save it from such travesty. The challenger got close to winning but in the end EVIL retains, boo hoo. After the match, Tetsuya Naito gets in the ring and is now the next challenger. Honestly I don’t know what to feel, all I can hope for is they deliver a much better outing this time but my optimism is fading the more this title reign continues. We’re truly in the dark ages now.
