{"id":10267,"date":"2018-10-03T10:11:26","date_gmt":"2018-10-03T10:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/?p=10267"},"modified":"2018-10-03T10:18:43","modified_gmt":"2018-10-03T10:18:43","slug":"njpw-fighting-spirit-unleashed-review-30-9-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/03\/njpw-fighting-spirit-unleashed-review-30-9-18\/","title":{"rendered":"NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed Review, 30\/9\/18"},"content":{"rendered":"

@twf87<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

New Japan returned to Long Beach, California for the second time this year (the third time in the US) with a show featuring Cody vs. Juice Robinson for the US Title and GOD vs. The Young Bucks for the Tag Team Titles.\u00a0 Tickets for this event didn’t sell out, unlike previous shows in Long Beach, most likely due to the proximity to All In, a lack of information about the card until the week of the show, and general fatigue with NJPW events in California this year.<\/p>\n

Roppongi 3K (SHO, YOH, and Rocky Romero)<\/strong> vs. Jyushin Thunder Liger, Ryusuke Taguchi, and ACH <\/strong>\u2013 This was a good opening match, and the US crowd was very into Liger, who posed in the ring for the crowd before the action started.\u00a0 ACH was also super over with the crowd, and he looked great in this match even in the limited scope of a six man tag match.\u00a0 Roppongi 3K ended up in the role of heels simply due to the crowd\u2019s reaction to Liger, but both SHO and YOH looked good too.\u00a0 Rocky predictably took the pin from Taguchi and the faces basked in the crowd\u2019s applause.<\/p>\n

Winners: Jyushin Thunder Liger, Ryusuke Taguchi, and ACH, 8:55<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hangman Page and Chase Owens <\/strong>vs. So Cal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian)<\/strong> – \u00a0SCU were very over with the Long Beach crowd, who had been chanting SCU before the show even began.\u00a0 Both teams looked fired up for this match, although Bullet Club had the best of the opening.\u00a0 Page had a good showing in the G1 Climax this year and he continued to show off his impressive athleticism in this match with his Shooting Star Press from the ring apron.\u00a0 SCU managed to mount a comeback though and Daniels scored a pin on Owens after a Best Meltzer Ever, which the crowd loved.<\/p>\n

Winners: So Cal Uncensored, 8:14<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hirooki Goto, and Best Friends (Chuckie T and Beretta) <\/strong>vs. Jeff Cobb, Chris Sabin, and Flip Gordon<\/strong> \u2013 Pretty much everyone in this match got a big pop from the crowd except for Goto, who beat Cobb in a NEVER Title match in the last California show and seemed to have become a heel in the crowd\u2019s eyes after that.\u00a0 Cobb has had a great year since losing the NEVER title match, winning BOLA and the ROH TV Title. \u00a0This was another fun match, which allowed everyone to show off their best moves, especially Flip and Cobb, although Best Friends also demonstrated their tag team synergy ahead of World Tag League.\u00a0 Goto and Cobb faced off again briefly during the match, but Cobb picked up the win with a Tour of the Islands on Chuckie T.\u00a0 After the match Goto and Cobb faced down but Goto retreated from the ring before anything came of it.<\/p>\n

Winners: Jeff Cobb, Chris Sabin, and Flip Gordon, 12:04<\/strong><\/p>\n

Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.), and Zack Sabre Jr. <\/strong>vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, and SANADA \u2013 <\/strong>The Suzuki-gun vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon feud continued into Fighting Spirit Unleashed, but the absence of Minoru Suzuki probably improved this match since it didn\u2019t devolve into outside brawling for too much of this match.\u00a0 ZSJ and EVIL seem to be heading towards some kind of feud, and they had good chemistry in this match.\u00a0 Naito came out wearing a new LIJ Halloween shirt, but didn\u2019t remove it during the match, which meant that he was taking it fairly easily.\u00a0 The US crowd was heavily behind LIJ and Naito got good cheers when he hit his signature moves.\u00a0 Suzuki-gun got another tag team winner over LIJ when ZSJ pinned EVIL with a clutch pin.\u00a0 After the match EVIL looked extremely angry again, as KES and ZSJ taunted him from outside the ring, and beat up a few Young Lions.<\/p>\n

Winners: KES and Zack Sabre Jr., 9:27<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jay White and Gedo <\/strong>vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi and KUSHIDA \u2013 <\/strong>This was the first time that Jay White and Gedo had teamed up since Gedo betrayed Okada and sided with White on the\u00a0 Destruction tour.\u00a0 Gedo and White made a good heel team, although it did mean that a lot of the match was slowed down by their dastardly tactics.\u00a0 Gedo in particular was a master of being a devious heel, and they were able to stop Tanahashi and KUSHIDA getting into much of a rhythm in the match.\u00a0 White and Gedo generated a lot of boos as the match went on, in a large part because the crowd wanted to see what Tanahashi could do.\u00a0 This was a good match to help build on White\u2019s burgeoning emergence as a heel force since he got a vocal reaction from the US fans.\u00a0 Jay also picked up a pin over Tanahashi in this match, following Gedo hitting Tanahashi with a knuckle duster as he attempted a High Fly Flow.\u00a0 After the match White cut a promo challenging Tanahashi to defend his Wrestle Kingdom main event contract at King of Pro Wrestling.\u00a0 Jay had a good back-and-forth with the crowd who loudly chanted \u201cfuck you Switchblade!\u201d<\/p>\n

Winners: Jay White and Gedo, 8:52<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

"New Japan can't face the thought of not having their beloved Tanahashi in the main event of WrestleKingdom!"<\/p>\n

— @JayWhiteNZ<\/a> #njpwusa<\/a><\/p>\n

\u27a1\ufe0f https:\/\/t.co\/8n90d75Nfk<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/GhtcupO3sa<\/a><\/p>\n

— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) October 1, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n