Hello friends, and welcome to the review. Apologies for not reviewing the other New Beginnings shows, but I was super busy and other than the main matches, I haven’t even seen either show. I will give my thoughts on the Bullet Club split.
I think we all knew it was coming it was just a matter of when. Obviously the match between Cody and Kenny Omega is set for Supercard of Honor on April 7, guess how I know I’ll be spending my birthday. The question now is, where do we go from here? It seems like Omega and Kota Ibushi are now a team and if you watch Being the Elite, the Young Bucks might be siding with them, possibly to reshape The Elite.
It would seem Cody is the new Bullet Club leader but who stays and who goes? I would assume the GOD, Fale, Takahashi, and Owens stay with the Bullet Club, and as I mentioned Kenny and the Bucks are now The Elite. That really just leaves Hangman Page and Marty Scurll. If I had to guess, I would think they would split them up and let Marty go to The Elite and Page with BC. I only say that because the whole altercation started when Page upstaged Kenny giving Jay White his belt. But we shall see, onto The New Beginnings show.
Today’s show is from the Edion Arena in Osaka.
Katsuya Kitamura vs. Yuji Nagata
Winner: Yuji Nagata at 10:58. Nagata wins with a Backdrop Suplex.
El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Roppongi 3K
Winners: Suzuki-gun at 10:22. Sho taps out to a Boston Crab from Kanemaru. Sho had his back all taped up and Desperado nailed Sho with a chair to the back prior to the Boston Crab.
With a non-title win over the champs, expect this team to be the next challengers. After the match Suzuki-gun continued their attack on Sho. Rocky tried to help but they took him out too.
Togi Makabe, Rysuke Taguchi, Kushida, and Michael Elgin vs. Taka Michinoku, Taichi, Takashi Iizuka, and Minoru Suzuki
Winners: Taguchi Japan at 11:52. Makabe pins Taka after the King Kong Knee Drop.
Lots of interaction between Suzuki and Makabe during this match and as Makabe was pinning Taka he and Suzuki were starring right at each other. After the match Makabe holds up the Intercontinental Championship and challenges him to a match. Suzuki accepts and the two brawl.
David Finlay, Juice Robinson, and Toa Henare vs. Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, and Jay White
Winners: Chaos at 7:33. White hits Henare with the Blade Runner, then locks in a crucifix and lands multiple elbow shots to Henare until the ref stopped it. After the match White attacked the ref too.
Already Jay White is showing his heel tendencies. Doesn’t seem like he’ll be in Chaos very long. Wouldn’t be shocked to see him take on Okada in the future, assuming Okada retains tonight.
Before the next match we get a video advertising the Strong Style Evolved show in Long Beach. After a few shots of Los Angeles the camera cuts to Rey Mysterio Jr! Mysterio issues a challenge to Jushin Thunder Liger for Strong Style Evolved. Wow. They cut to Liger over on commentary who starts getting cheered and raises a hand in acknowledgement and Kevin Kelly tells us Liger did accept. I got to say, NJPW really should have booked Staples Center.
Bushi vs. Gedo
Winner: Bushi at 10:07. Bushi hits the MX for the win.
Tetsuya Naito vs. Yoshi-Hashi
Winner: Tetsuya Naito at 16:46. Naito wins after hitting two Destinos.
After the match Naito was posing on the stage and he was attacked by, you guessed it, Taichi. Taichi drags him off the stage and to the back. That’s definitely the most random post match attack I can recall.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay(c)
Action starts off really fast to start out, as with most Ospreay matches. Ospreay goes for a Fosbury Flop but Takahashi moves, catches Ospreay then nails a German suplex onto the floor. Takahashi also hits an overhead suplex to Ospreay into the guardrail.
Takahashi targets the neck of Ospreay. Takahashi nails Ospreay with a sunset bomb to the outside doing further damage to the neck. Takahashi then hits a top rope senton to a standing Ospreay, rolls Ospreay back into the ring and covers him for a 2.
Takahashi goes for a Timebomb, Ospreay escapes but Takahashi nails him with a lariat. Takahashi goes for a wheelbarrowsunset flip off the top but Ospreay counters dropping Takahashi’s neck onto the top rope. Ospreay nails a reverse 450 for a 2.
Ospreay hits the Robinson Special, goes for the OsCutter but Takahashi counters with a neck breaker. Ospreay comes back and tries to hit Takahashi with a Time Bomb but Takahashi counters into a Destroyer for 2.
Ospreay back on the offense, he nails a draping Shooting Star Press to Takahashi, follwed by a reverse DDT for 2. Then Ospreay hits the OsCutter for 3.
Winner: Will Ospreay at 20:05.
NEVER Openweight Championship Match
Evil vs. Hirooki Goto(c)
Evil and Goto battle to the outside where Evil wraps a chair around the head of Goto then rams Goto into the ring post. Evil covers him but the ref refuses to count because of how Evil inflicted the damage.
Evil continues to work over Goto, specifically targeting the neck softening him for Darkness Falls. After a ref bump, Evil grabs a necklace of heavy beads, or big balls as Don Callis keeps saying, and nails Goto with it then strangles him with it. Goto manages to fight out of it and hits an ushigoroshi.
The two men now exchange clotheslines but Goto gets the best of the exchange. Evil comes back and nails a Darkness Falls for 2. Evil eventually tries the STO but Goto counters with the GTR for 3.
Winner: Hirooki Goto at 20:19.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match
Sanada vs. Kazuchika Okada(c)
Match starts off with some chain wrestling with neither man really getting an advantage. Both men grapple onto the apron when Sanada grabs Okada and nails a face buster from the apron to the guardrail.
Sanada takes Okada up the ramp and hits a piledriver. Back in the ring Sanada works on the neck of the champ. Sanada drops Okada with another piledriver but only a 2.
Sanada hits off the ropes but Okada comes back with a flapjack. Okada hits a spike DDT but only a 2 count. Okada goes up top but Sanada tosses him off. Sanada is sent into the corner but he flips over to the apron but Okada drills him off the apron with a springboard dropkick. Okada sends Sanada into the guardrail, then boots him over. Okada then pulls him back over and DDTs him onto the floor.
Okada lightly kicks Sanada in the head to a chorus of boos then hits a Heavy Rain followed by a top rope elbow drop. Sanada ducks the Rain Maker and hits a saito suplex. Sanada dropkicks Okada out of the ring then hits a slingshot plancha to the outide, crowd is definitely behind Sanada as he hits a second plancha.
Sanada tries for the Skull End but Okada fights out of it. Sanada then hits the TKO but only gets a 2. Okada sends Sanada to the corner but Sanada is then able to flip out of the corner and lock in the Skull End. Okada manages to slip free and make it to the ropes.
Sanada hits a tiger suplex but still only a 2. Sanada puts Okada on the top and does a reverse bulldog from the top dropping Okada on his knee. Sanada ducks a Rain Maker attempt but manages to hit one of his own for a very close 2. Okada then puts on a Skull End, releases it, drop kicks Sanada in the back of the head, sends him off the ropes then hits a second. Okada hits a tombstone, goes for a Rain Maker but Sanada locks Okada into a Skull End. Sanada releases it, hits a moonsault but still only gets a 2.
Sanada tries another moonsault but Okada gets the knees up. Okada hits a Rain Maker but can’t make the cover. Okada gets up, hits another Rain Maker, pulls up Sanada and goes for a third bu Sanada ducks. Sanada tries a tombstone but Okada ducks it, goes for a Rain Maker, Sanada ducks it and tries a Destino but Okada stops that, turns it into a tombstone. Okada then gets in a final Rain Maker for the 3.
Winner: Kazuchika Okada at 32:12.
A very good match and I didn’t know who was winning for once, so while I assumed it was Okada, I bit on a lot of the near falls. Afterwards in a press conference Okada is interrupted by Will Ospreay. Ospreay says he’s learned a lot from Okada but he wants to step out of his shadow and the difference between Ospreay and everyone else Okada has faced is he’s going to be the one to beat him.
Overall a good show with a little story line progression, but not a lot. I’ll be back for the next show which is Honor Rising. In the mean time, follow me on twitter at Eddyc85 and or PIWShow. Thanks for reading.