New Japan Pro Wrestling 10/8/2012 King of Pro Wrestling

New Japan Pro Wrestling 10/8/2012 King of Pro Wrestling
『KING OF PRO-WRESTLING』両国大会はまだまだ見れます！

Manabu Nakanishi Return Match: Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Strong Man vs. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii

"That's right baby!" - Strong Man

Strong Man lifts Ishii

The heels won here when Yano used a low blow and Iizuka used his iron glove on Nakanishi. Fun opening match but I don't really get why Nakanishi didn't get the win since it's return and would have made the crowd happy. Not a great match here, but nothing terrible. Rating:*

Kazushi Sakuraba and Katsuyori Shibata vs Togi Makabe and Wataru Inoue

Katsuyori beat Wataru Inoue with a kick to the chest in a good match. They worked the outsiders vs NJPW and MMA vs pro wrestling angles here and they both worked. Sakuraba was alot of fun here and came across and reminds me of one of my old basketball coaches. Shibata is still Shibata and I hope they get him in there with Nakamura, Okada or Tanahashi before he ends up leaving again. Rating:**3/4

Tetsuya Naito vs Yujiro Takahashi
内藤 哲也 vs 高橋 裕二郎

The finish

Yujiro Takahashi beat Tetsuya Naito quickly here  with a version of the figure four. This was really too quick to rate but it wasn't that bad. Surprised by the result here, but whatever. Yujiro controlled all of this and played up his heel character.

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles - Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov vs Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA

Rocky Romero beat KUSHIDA with a roll-up from the powerbomb. This was your typical junior tag. Lots of high flying and cool moves but not a big story to them. Still exciting and fun though and both teams showed some nice personality. Rating:**

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title - Kota Ibushi vs Low-Ki
IWGPジュニアヘビー級選手権試合 飯伏幸太 vs ロウ・キー

The finish - A top rope fisherman's buster

"Devitt, don't bite off more than you can chew."
"As long as I hold this, I'm the number one man in the world." - Low Ki on Prince Devitt's challenge

Low-Ki beat Kota Ibushi to win the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title with a top rope fisherman's buster. Good match here but their previous one was better. I just can't understand why the two best kickers out there don't kick each other more. This was a good match with a little bit of a slower pace than usual. They traded the advantage and traded lots of moves with Low-Ki looking stronger than Kota Ibushi. I was really surprised by the finish because a fisherman's buster is pretty weak for them, even from the top. I'd like to see them go at it one more time, but next time, kick each other more and be stiff like they usually are. This was a really different match from their first encounter but still good. Rating:***1/2

IWGP Tag Titles: Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima vs Davey Boy Smith Jr. (DH Smith) and Lance Archer

Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima when they used a double powerbomb. This was actually a decent match. Not great, but totally nothing wrong with it at all. The heels mostly dominated here looking strong and pulling out some of their best work. Smith is starting to make it work as a heel and Archer was totally fine. Rating:**1/2

Karl Anderson vs Kazuchika Okada "The Rainmaker"
“ザ・マシンガン”カール・アンダーソン vs オカダ・カズチカ

Karl Anderson mocks Kazuchika Okada's pose

Kazuchika Okada beat Karl Anderson with a tombstone then a lariat in a good match. This was probably Karl's best match yet as he really looked like he belonged and totally brought it here. The crowd was really hot for this and they both hit alot of nice stiff stuff on each other. This was very surprising and alot of fun to watch. Rating:***3/4

IWGP Intercontinental Title - Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hirooki Goto
IWGPインターコンチネンタル選手権試合 - 中邑 真輔 vs 後藤 洋央紀

What in the world is Shinsuke Nakamura on these days?

The finish

Shinsuke Nakamura beat Hirooki Goto with the Boma-Ye in an awesome match. They really turned it up here and put on a classic. Tons of stiff shots, some really cool moves and lots of emotion and intensity. That's how I like my wrestling and that's why I liked this. I figured Goto wouldn't win here but when you have a match this good, nobody loses. Rating:****1/4

IWGP Heavyweight Title - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Minoru Suzuki
IWGPヘビー級選手権試合- 棚橋 弘至 vs 鈴木 みのる

If you've never seen either man before, think of Hiroshi Tanahashi as the Japanese Sting. Only he's a better worker and doesn't wear facepaint. Minoru Suzuki is kind of like the Japanese Taz with his background being in shoot style wrestling and just generally being an evil man. Obviously, these aren't perfect comparisons, but they give beginners an idea.

Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Minoru Suzuki with a High Fly Flow (frogsplash) in a really excellent match. I didn't expect much going into this but they worked a really old school style match and owned it. Tanahashi worked Minoru Suzuki's leg the whole time and Minoru sold it wonderfully. I really bought into it. Minoru at first started working on Hiroshi's arm but kind of gave it up half way through and relied on a choke and about a million slaps. Minoru sold his fatigue well and really was just a great pro wrestler here. Tanahashi was very good too. They went old school here and it really paid off. A great match and MOTYC but not the MOTY. Rating: ****1/2

Overall thoughts: Great show. Easily the PPV of the year. This is NJPW at it's best! Not a bad match to be had here.