{"id":10497,"date":"2018-11-05T03:24:30","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T03:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/?p=10497"},"modified":"2018-11-05T03:29:14","modified_gmt":"2018-11-05T03:29:14","slug":"njpw-power-struggle-review-3-11-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/05\/njpw-power-struggle-review-3-11-18\/","title":{"rendered":"NJPW Power Struggle Review, 3\/11\/18"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>New Japan returned to Edion Arena in Osaka for Power Struggle, headlined again by an Intercontinental Title Match, this year between Chris Jericho and EVIL.\u00a0 The NEVER Openweight Title and the Rev Pro British Heavyweight Title were also on the line at this show, along with the final of the Super Jr. Tag League.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ryusuke Taguchi, ACH, Chris Sabin, and Toa Henare <\/strong>vs. <strong>Jyushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Soberano Jr., and Volador Jr. \u2013 <\/strong>The opening tag match where they stuck all the wrestlers from the Super Jr. Tag League.\u00a0 This was a fun but inconsequential match, which had a few highlights from ACH and Taguchi, and another Soberano Jr. botch on the ropes.\u00a0 Taguchi got the win after a double team Dodon with ACH.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Winners: Ryusuke Taguchi, ACH, Chris Sabin, and Toa Henare, 6:10<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Great Bash Heel (Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe) and KUSHIDA <\/strong>vs.<strong> Guerrilas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) and Robbie Eagles \u2013<\/strong> Originally Taiji Ishimori was supposed to be in this match, but an ankle injury forced a change to the card.\u00a0 Ishimori accompanied his Bullet Club teammates to the ring on crutches, which made the injury looked quite serious.\u00a0 This match was also quite skippable, but it did feature KUSHIDA standing up to Tama Tonga and kicking out of a Jado kendo stick assisted roll-up.\u00a0 However, Tama got the pin over the Jr. Heavyweight Champion after Ishimori attacked him with a crutch when the referee was distracted.\u00a0 Obviously Ishimori\u2019s injury wasn\u2019t as serious as it seemed, and this will most likely lead to a title match at Wrestle Kingdom between KUSHIDA and Ishimori.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Winners: Guerrilas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) and Robbie Eagles, 7:39<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/taiji_ishimori?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@taiji_ishimori<\/a> Next Challenger?<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NJPWWorld?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NJPWWorld<\/a> Watch now\u25b6\ufe0e<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Tj7UBJ4PjP\">https:\/\/t.co\/Tj7UBJ4PjP<\/a>  <br \/>Nov 3rd <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/njpst?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#njpst<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/njpw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#njpw<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WUThxZ0dZp\">pic.twitter.com\/WUThxZ0dZp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; njpwworld (@njpwworld) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/njpwworld\/status\/1058643665868873728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 3, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Beretta and Kazuchika Okada <\/strong>vs. <strong>Bad Luck Fale and Jay White \u2013 <\/strong>This was more of an angle than a match, as Okada and White started brawling before the bell and didn\u2019t stop, leaving Beretta and Fale to go through the motions in the ring.\u00a0 Fale looked to have the match won with a Bad Luck Fall, but Beretta reversed it into a roll-up for a CHAOS win.\u00a0 After the match White called out Okada for a one-on-one match, which presumably sets up what they will be doing at Wrestle Kingdom.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Winners: Beretta and Kazuchika Okada, 4:32<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>David Finlay and Hiroshi Tanahashi <\/strong>vs. <strong>The Golden Lovers<\/strong> (<strong>Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega) \u2013 <\/strong>Omega finally returned to New Japan to hype up the main event of the Tokyo Dome against Tanahashi.\u00a0 This was a decent tag match, certainly the best of the card so far, but it ended fairly predictably with Finlay eating a pin after a Golden Trigger.\u00a0 Ibushi broke out a crazy looking corkscrew standing moonsault on Finlay, which was the highlight of the match.\u00a0 Post-match Omega taunted Tanahashi and celebrated with a less than enthusiastic looking Ibushi.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Winners: The Golden Lovers, 9:47<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ibushi_kota?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ibushi_kota<\/a> &#39;Cancun Tornado&#39;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NJPWWorld?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NJPWWorld<\/a> Watch now\u25b6\ufe0e<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Tj7UBJ4PjP\">https:\/\/t.co\/Tj7UBJ4PjP<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<br \/>Nov 3rd <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/njpst?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#njpst<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/njpw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#njpw<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hh0fQyUZwN\">pic.twitter.com\/hh0fQyUZwN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; njpwworld (@njpwworld) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/njpwworld\/status\/1058650719358615552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 3, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Super Jr. Tag League Final<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Roppongi 3K (SHO and YOH) <\/strong>vs. <strong>Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI and Shingo Takagi) <\/strong>vs. <strong>Suzuki-gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) \u2013 <\/strong>As the result of a draw in the Super Jr. Tag League all three teams faced each other in the finals here.\u00a0 For some reason this has become a real trend in New Japan \u2013 think of the seemingly endless GOD-War Machine-KES triple threats, and then Roppongi 3K-LIJ-Suzuki-gun earlier in the year when Hiromu Takahashi was still healthy.\u00a0 This time round LIJ was reinforced by the addition of Shingo Takagi, who looked great in this match, especially taking on SHO.\u00a0 This match ended up being very good, and they did a really good closing stretch with close finishes for all three teams.\u00a0 Shingo looked to have the match won, only for Kanemaru to pull the referee out of the ring before a three count.\u00a0 Suzuki-gun then nearly won the match, but ultimately it was SHO who picked up a win for Roppongi 3K after hitting El Desperado with a Shock Arrow to become back-to-back Super Jr. Tag League winners.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Winners: Roppongi 3K, 15:55<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">thank you 3000\u00d7 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/idljaVID1w\">pic.twitter.com\/idljaVID1w<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; YOH (@njpwyohei_k) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/njpwyohei_k\/status\/1058688772265525248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 3, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>NEVER Openweight Championship <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Hirooki Goto <\/strong>vs. <strong>Taichi (c) \u2013 <\/strong>This match was originally scheduled to be Taichi vs. Will Ospreay, but an injury to Ospreay meant that Goto was drafted in as his replacement.\u00a0 The match began with Taichi hitting Goto with a big suplex from behind, which seemingly could have ended the match before it really began.\u00a0 Taichi, however, attempted to pin Goto with just his hand, and the failure to put Goto away ultimately came back to hurt him.\u00a0 The opening stages to this match were quite slow, which is often a criticism of Taichi matches, but it picked up steam in the closing stretch, and both competitors battered each other with big kicks and strikes.\u00a0 Taichi came close to victory with a Gedo Clutch and a Last Ride powerbomb, but he couldn\u2019t keep Goto down, and when he attempted to use the title belt to cheat Goto was able to stop him with a headbutt.\u00a0 Finally Goto was able to hit an <em>ushigoroshi<\/em> and followed it up with a GTR for a victory and a fourth NEVER Title reign.\u00a0 This match was okay, but I don\u2019t understand the booking decision to go back to Goto, who has really done everything he can with the NEVER Title.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Winner: Hirooki Goto, 15:02s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Revolution Pro Wrestling British Heavyweight Championship <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Minoru Suzuki <\/strong>vs. <strong>Tomohiro Ishii (c) \u2013 <\/strong>The Rev Pro Title has bounced back and forth between Suzuki and Ishii this year, after Ishii won the title from Zack Sabre Jr. during Wrestlemania weekend.\u00a0 Ishii beat Suzuki at Global Wars in October to regain the title, and then this rematch was added to Power Struggle.\u00a0 Suzuki has been hard to predict this year \u2013 he started off with a classic against Goto at Wrestle Kingdom but since then has had some thoroughly average showings, especially against Naito.\u00a0 Thankfully this was much closer to peak Suzuki, and the two really delivered in a hard-hitting bout.\u00a0 The opening stretch of the match saw both men throwing savage forearms in the middle of the ring, refusing to back down until Ishii could barely stand.\u00a0 One of my main complaints about Suzuki matches is the excessive amount of time spent brawling on the outside, but this match was pretty much entirely contained in the ring.\u00a0 Suzuki came close to hitting a Gotch-style piledriver on several occasions, but Ishii was able to counter, and finally won after hitting a brainbuster on Suzuki.\u00a0 I think the match could have had a little less emphasis on the strike battle and developed the closing stretch, but overall this was a very good match.\u00a0 If giving Ishii outside titles is what it takes to get him good singles matches on New Japan shows then I am all for it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Winner: Tomohiro Ishii, 19:21<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">[Replay POWER\u00a0STRUGGLE\uff5eSUPER\u00a0Jr.\u00a0TAG\u00a0LEAGUE\u00a02018\uff5e FINLAL on Nov 3rd, 2018]<br \/>7TH MATCH RPW BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Tomohiro Ishii vs <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/suzuki_D_minoru?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@suzuki_D_minoru<\/a>!! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NJPWWorld?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NJPWWorld<\/a> Watch now\u25b6\ufe0e<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Tj7UBJ4PjP\">https:\/\/t.co\/Tj7UBJ4PjP<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/njpw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#njpw<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/njpst?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#njpst<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Y5RUcWvm98\">pic.twitter.com\/Y5RUcWvm98<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; njpwworld (@njpwworld) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/njpwworld\/status\/1058841253192728576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 3, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Zack Sabre Jr. <\/strong>vs. <strong>Tetsuya Naito \u2013 <\/strong>This match came about as the result of ZSJ\u2019s victories over Naito in the New Japan Cup and the G1 Climax, along with his attempted beatdown of EVIL at King of Pro Wrestling.\u00a0 Going into the match it seemed unlikely that Naito would take a third loss against Sabre, but with his arsenal of submission holds you can never write off the British technician.\u00a0 The first half of this match began at a relatively slow pace as both competitors tried to feel each other out, and Sabre aimed to soften up Naito for a submission.\u00a0 Once this match hit its stride it got up to being very good \u2013 certainly better than Naito\u2019s matches with Suzuki this year \u2013 and there was a very good back-and-forth pinning sequence that saw Sabre come close to picking up the win with the clutch that he used to beat EVIL, and nearly hit the Zack Driver that beat Naito in the G1.\u00a0 In the end it was Naito that was finally able to vanquish his Suzuki-gun adversary after hitting two <em>Destinos<\/em>.\u00a0 This match didn\u2019t hit the heights of the Suzuki vs. Ishii bout, but it was certainly Naito\u2019s best outing in recent events.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Winner: Tetsuya Naito, 20:12<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>IWGP Intercontinental Championship<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>EVIL <\/strong>vs. <strong>Chris Jericho (c) \u2013 <\/strong>Jericho won the IC Title from Naito at Dominion in June and promptly disappeared, with this match being his first title defence.\u00a0 Jericho attacked EVIL before his scheduled match with ZSJ at King of Pro Wrestling, reigniting the feud that had started post-match at Dominion.\u00a0 In the lead-up to this match Jericho veered into racist territory with his promos, accusing Japanese people of being timid and afraid, which disappointingly seems to have become part of his New Japan character.\u00a0 EVIL jumped Jericho before the bell, and this match ended up being mostly a brawl, with a lot of fighting outside the ring.\u00a0 This worked better than the match with Naito, probably because EVIL is more of a brawler than Naito, but it\u2019s pretty clear that this is Jericho\u2019s ceiling in New Japan at this point.\u00a0 After Jericho started the match strongly, EVIL took control with some vicious chair shots and an STO through a table on the outside.\u00a0 Back in the ring Jericho managed to catch EVIL in the Walls of Jericho, but he survived an hit Darkness Falls for a close two count.\u00a0 Jericho even managed to kick out of an STO in the middle of the ring, and reversed an attempted Darkness Falls into another Walls of Jericho.\u00a0 This proved too much for the LIJ challenger, who was forced to tap out.\u00a0 This was a better match than I was expecting, and certainly a lot better than Jericho\u2019s match with Naito at Dominion.\u00a0 Post-match Naito ran out to save EVIL from Jericho\u2019s attack, and challenged him to a match.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Winner: Chris Jericho, 21:40<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Final Thoughts \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This was one of the better New Japan shows in recent memory, certainly an improvement on King of Pro Wrestling.\u00a0 The undercard was quite weak, but barring the NEVER Title match the card picked up from the Super Jr. Tag League Final match.\u00a0 The final three singles matches were all good \u2013 Ishii vs. Suzuki was probably the standout \u2013 and Jericho actually impressed me in his outing against EVIL.\u00a0 I worry a bit about the match with Naito, since their offering at Dominion didn\u2019t do much for me, but since I have to imagine Naito will get his win back at Tokyo Dome I can live with it.\u00a0 A lot of the matches were quite predictable given the booking for Wrestle Kingdom, which is why the Jr. Tag Final and the Rev Pro Title match were the highlights of the night.\u00a0 Ideally Ishii will get to defend the Rev Pro Title at Wrestle Kingdom, although it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if he just gets stuck in a tag team match somewhere on the card.<\/p>\n<p>I thought that Jericho had run his course in NJPW at this point, but I was happy to be proved wrong on this show, which also saw EVIL step up in the main event spot.\u00a0 EVIL can be somewhat intermittent with his performances, but he delivered here in a match against Jericho that felt like it had some personal stakes for him.\u00a0 The loss made sense to advance the storyline with Naito, and I could possibly see EVIL and SANADA winning the World Tag League to take on GOD at Wrestle Kingdom.\u00a0 BUSHI and Shingo also came out on the losing side in their match, which seems to leave them at a bit of a loss at Wrestle Kingdom.\u00a0 Will they just end up in the NEVER gauntlet match, or even worse the New Japan Rumble?\u00a0 I\u2019m hesitant about Naito\u2019s match with Jericho, since their last match wasn\u2019t that good in my opinion, but he delivered a good showing against Sabre.\u00a0 At least he ought to win at Wrestle Kingdom if he\u2019s going up against Jericho.\u00a0 I don\u2019t buy the argument that having Jericho on New Japan shows is driving up their popularity, but if he shows up occasionally and delivers matches like he did with EVIL I would be okay with that.\u00a0 Having him hold the IC Title hostage for half the year was a poor booking decision on Gedo\u2019s part though.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest disappointment on this show was the NEVER Title match, which really was quite average, and showed that New Japan don\u2019t trust Taichi to go into Wrestle Kingdom as champion.\u00a0 Presumably the plan was for him to drop the belt to Ospreay, which would at least have been more interesting, since Goto doesn\u2019t really have any fresh matchups left.\u00a0 After the show Goto called out Ibushi on Twitter, so that could be a decent proposition for Wrestle Kingdom, and could lead back to Ospreay challenging down the line if Ibushi wins<\/p>\n<p>Following Power Struggle most of the pieces are in place for Wrestle Kingdom.\u00a0 A main event of Omega vs. Tanahashi, Okada vs. White, Naito vs. Jericho, KUSHIDA vs. Ishimori, Roppongi 3K vs. Suzuki-gun, and potentially Goto vs. Ibushi.\u00a0 World Tag League will fill in what happens with the Tag Team Title Match, although the fact that GOD are also the NEVER Six Man Tag Team Champions needs sorting out, unless they plan to pull double duty on the card.\u00a0 There\u2019s a notable lack of Minoru Suzuki and ZSJ on the card right now, so I\u2019d put them in the same bracket as EVIL and SANADA as likely to win the World Tag League.\u00a0 Two months out and my interest levels for Wrestle Kingdom are growing, but there\u2019s still some way to go before I reach the same levels as last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Japan returned to Edion Arena in Osaka for Power Struggle, headlined again by an Intercontinental Title Match, this year between Chris Jericho and EVIL.\u00a0 The NEVER Openweight Title and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":10499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,204,37,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-featured","category-njpw","category-njpw-reviews","category-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9jnWd-2Jj","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/serveimage-1.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10497"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10500,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497\/revisions\/10500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}