{"id":10183,"date":"2018-09-18T20:35:04","date_gmt":"2018-09-18T20:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/?p=10183"},"modified":"2018-09-18T20:35:04","modified_gmt":"2018-09-18T20:35:04","slug":"njpw-destruction-in-beppu-review-17-9-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/18\/njpw-destruction-in-beppu-review-17-9-18\/","title":{"rendered":"NJPW Destruction in Beppu Review, 17\/9\/18"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Tokyo Wrestling Fan @twf87<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Destruction tour made its way to Kyushu for the second show in Beppu, featuring a main event of Minoru Suzuki against Tetsuya Naito, and a NEVER Openweight Championship match between Hirooki Goto and Taichi.\u00a0 Just over 2,000 fans came to the B-Con Plaza to watch this show.<\/p>\n

Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and Yota Tsuji <\/strong>vs. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, and Yuya Uemura<\/strong> \u2013 Satoshi Kojima recently returned from a bicep injury that kept him out of the G1 Climax, and the crowd in Beppu welcomed him back in the opening match of tonight\u2019s show, which also featured the two Youngest Lions in Tsuji and Uemura.\u00a0 They hadn\u2019t been featured really during the G1, but Tsuji looked great recently with more muscle mass and a beard.\u00a0 This was a fine opener \u2013 Nakanishi and Tenzan are pretty slow these days, but Tsuji and Uemura were fired up, and the crowd enjoyed Kojima\u2019s spots \u2013 that finished with Nagata forcing Tsuji to tap out to the Nagata Lock.<\/p>\n

Winners: Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, and Yuya Uemura, 9:08<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toa Henare and Shota Umino <\/strong>vs. David Finlay and Ren Narita <\/strong>\u2013 From the Youngest Lions to the two most experienced Young Lions still with New Japan in Umino and Narita.\u00a0 This was another fun undercard tag match, and Henare and Finlay look good when they\u2019re allowed to have matches like this.\u00a0 Both of them suffer from the same problem of not going on excursion, although Henare\u2019s future definitely seems brighter than Finlay\u2019s right now.\u00a0 Finlay picked up a win for his team with a Prima Nocta on Umino, whose nose got busted open during the match leaving him with a face full of blood.<\/p>\n

Winners: David Finlay and Ren Narita, 6:38<\/strong><\/p>\n

Takashi Iizuka <\/strong>vs. Ayato Yoshida<\/strong> \u2013 I\u2019m glad that they\u2019re giving Yoshida a singles match, but if there was anyone I wish it wasn\u2019t against, it would be Iizuka.\u00a0 The highlight of this match was Iizuka attacking Kevin Kelly on commentary and forcing him to take off the muzzle that he was wearing.\u00a0 Obviously that led to some biting spots, and finally a DQ finish when Iizuka hit Yoshida with the Iron Claw.\u00a0 Yoshida has a lot of potential, but keep him away from Iizuka.<\/p>\n

Winner: Ayato Yoshida, 4:30<\/strong><\/p>\n

Will Ospreay and Roppongi 3K (SHO, YOH, and Rocky Romero) <\/strong>vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA, Tiger Mask, and Jyushin Thunder Liger<\/strong> \u2013 Taguchi led out a team of junior legends, once again wearing a scrum cap, which I guess is his new gimmick now that the Rugby World Cup is coming to Japan next year.\u00a0 KUSHIDA and Ospreay are both in the upcoming tournament to crown a new Junior Heavyweight champion, and they looked great in this match.\u00a0 I think BUSHI will win the tournament, but another match between KUSHIDA and Ospreay would be a good substitute.\u00a0 This match came down to Tiger Mask and Rocky, who kicked out of a Tiger Driver but finally took the pin after a Tombstone.<\/p>\n

Winners: Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA, Tiger Mask, and Jyushin Thunder Liger, 10:00<\/strong><\/p>\n

Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.) <\/strong>vs. Best Friends (Chuckie T. and Beretta) <\/strong>\u2013 Two returning tag teams took each other on in this match ahead of the World Tag League, which presumably they will both be entering.\u00a0 KES had the upper hand at the start of this match due to their power, but Best Friends were able to get back into the match with their speed and high-flying moves.\u00a0 I enjoyed this tag match, it was a good preview of what these two teams bring to the division.\u00a0 DBS Jr. may be a bit of an odd individual in real life, but he\u2019s a very good technical wrestler. \u00a0Archer hit Beretta with a brutal looking chokeslam onto the apron, and finally a Killer Bomb on Beretta led to a KES victory.<\/p>\n

Winners: Killer Elite Squad, 10:34<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru <\/strong>vs. EVIL, SANADA, and BUSHI<\/strong> \u2013 As the leaders of Los Ingobernables de Japon and Suzuki-gun faced each other in the main event, their factions met in a six-man tag match.\u00a0 I enjoyed this match more than the match in Hiroshima \u2013 the six-man tag format was less crowded than the eight-man, and there was less of a focus on brawling on the outside.\u00a0 SANADA took the brunt of the Suzuki-gun attack initially, but he was able to tag in BUSHI, who showed off his moves ahead of the Junior Heavyweight tournament.\u00a0 EVIL and ZSJ had an enjoyable back-and-forth before Sabre pulled out the win with a quick roll-up that caught EVIL off guard.<\/p>\n

Winners: Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, 8:31<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Jay White, and YOSHI-HASHI <\/strong>vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) and Juice Robinson <\/strong>\u2013 This match was part of the set up for the Wrestle Kingdom contract match between Tanahashi and Okada in Kobe.\u00a0 In Hiroshima Tanahashi beat YOSHI-HASHI with a quick roll-up after some mis-communication with Okada, and the tensions in CHAOS were on full display in this match.\u00a0 Honma continued his comeback tour, and the crowd popped for his Kokeshi <\/em>headbutt again.\u00a0 Juice also had a good showing in this match, after a bit of a lacklustre G1, and he picked up the win for his team with a Pulp Friction on YOSHI-HASHI.\u00a0 This was another good match building up the tension between Tanahashi and Okada, who is clearly struggling to deal with internal faction problems in the lead-up to their match.<\/p>\n

Winners: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Great Bash Heel, and Juice Robinson, 13:01<\/strong><\/p>\n

NEVER Openweight Championship Match<\/strong><\/p>\n

Taichi <\/strong>vs. Hirooki Goto (c) <\/strong>\u2013 Taichi was controversially left out of the G1 Climax this year, but he managed to goad Goto into giving him a NEVER title shot on this show.\u00a0 Taichi was accompanied by Miho Abe and Kanemaru, and did his usual over-the-top entrance \u2013 between him and Goto there were two very epic entrances in this match.\u00a0 Taichi started the match with some shenanigans, refusing to stay in the ring and face Goto.\u00a0 Goto responded by sitting down in the Shibata cross-legged pose, but eventually he was lured to the outside where Kanemaru attacked him and led to a close count-out.\u00a0 Once Goto and Taichi got back into the ring together they put together some good wrestling, and exchanged a series of vicious kicks.\u00a0 Goto hit a perfect Shouten Kai<\/em> that would have resulted in a three count, except that the referee had been knocked down by Taichi.\u00a0 There were plenty of shenanigans throughout this match, as El Desperado and Iizuka attempted to interfere on Taichi\u2019s behalf.\u00a0 Roppongi 3K came out to run off Desperado and Kanemaru, but Iizuka was able to distract the referee enough to allow Taichi to low-blow Goto for a near fall with the Gedo Clutch.\u00a0 Finally Taichi won with a Black Mephisto, after Goto kicked out of a Last Ride powerbomb.\u00a0 This match was definitely over-booked, but at least it ended with Taichi winning relatively decisively.\u00a0 It could have done with less interference, but Taichi could be an interesting NEVER champion going forward.\u00a0 Post-match Miho Abe looked more excited than Taichi about the win.<\/p>\n

Winner: Taichi, 20:54<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Congratulations @abemiho0110<\/a>!<\/p>\n

…Oh, and @taichi0319<\/a>. Taichi, too. #BigChampTaichi<\/a> #njdest<\/a><\/p>\n

\u27a1\ufe0f https:\/\/t.co\/8n90d75Nfk<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/67ZkkNFCYb<\/a><\/p>\n

— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) September 17, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n