New Japan Pro Wrestling 1/4/2013 Wrestle Kingdom 7 Part 2
Part 1 is here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/njpw-wrestle-kingdom-7-review.html
Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima vs Keiji Mutoh and Shinjiro Ohtani
All four of these wrestlers are NJPW trueborns, but now Mutoh is with All Japan Pro Wrestling and Ohtani is with Zero-1. They both left around 2001 when NJPW got really crowded with talent and people from MMA were getting undeserved spots over wrestlers. Daichi Hashimoto, the son of Shinya Hashimoto was supposed to be in Ohtani's place, but he got injured. Tenkoji are a long time NJPW team, Mutoh was one of the biggest Japanese stars in the world in the 1990's and Ohtani was a great junior heavyweight who became a heavyweight and was never the same. This is basically an old NJPW tribute match. All four guys came out to their old music, except Ohtani who came out to Shinya Hashimoto's music.
Mutoh puts on Chono's STF |
Mutoh poses with Daichi Hashimoto |
Big singles match for Katsuyori Shibata here. He, along with Nakamura and Tanahashi, were supposed to be the stones that held NJPW together but he left to join his idol Akira Maeda and eventually do some MMA. Some people including myself, thought he was the best wrestler of the bunch, and alot of us looked forward to him headlining dome shows that never ended up happening. Supposedly, he wasn't welcome back with open arms in NJPW and Kidani of NJPW, basically signed him behind NJPW's back. I'm hoping for Shibata to get the big win here and hopefully end up headlining next year's Dome show.
Togi Makabe won with a King Kong Kneedrop. Disappointing result here. The money was obviously with Shibata winning and they really could have done some nice stuff with that, but Makabe winning really doesn't do that much. It's a good win for him, but he's always going to be limited. The match had it's good points and Shibata was really the key to it. Makabe wasn't bad at all and gave a good performance. The match went a little longer than it should have and the finish was pretty much abrupt. Rating:***
Whoever booked the Shibata match has some serious issues though. I know there's a ton of politics with Shibata as Kidani booked him behind NJPW's back and resigned for it, but there is no reason for Shibata losing. He was an instant main eventer and was interesting. He's a good worker, with a good look and very credible. He had the potential of being in some big money storylines and now it is gone. As I mentioned above, I was thinking that Shibata would be headlining next year's Dome and now he's likely not even going to be appearing again. Awful political booking here and this seriously brought the show down for me. NJ's bookers may have changed but this is straight out of the Riki Choshu playbook. What a stupid way to flush money down the drain.
What's even worse about this loss and a certain loss later in the show is that none of it helps advance NJPW's storylines. You easily could have done Shibata vs Tanahashi, Okada, Nakamura, or anyone else on the roster and it is already set. What does Makabe winning accomplish? Nothing. Makabe challenging Tanahashi isn't something we haven't seen before.
IWGP Intercontinental title - Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kazushi Sakuraba
The finish |
IWGP Heavyweight Title - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada
Okada has been the man in NJPW in 2012. He took the wrestling world by storm to capture the title, was in my MOTY, won my Most Improved award and got close to taking the Wrestler of the Year award. You couldn't have asked for more from Okada. He gave hope to NJPW and provided a new direction. Tanahashi has been great as well having his best year ever wrestling wise and really being the man he's pushed to be. This is the rubber match with both men getting a win over the other.
BREAKERZ sang before the intro's started.
"Itai(Painful)" - Mika Komori of AKB48 |
"Takai(high)" - Mika Komori |
"Sugoi, honto?(Fantastic, eh?)" -Mika Komori |
"Hai, DDT" - Komori "DDT Kimashita(He did a DDT0" - Announcer |
Okada has strange ears |
Great review and a great read. Do disagree slightly with the review of the last two matches - I cannot see how Okada/Tanahashi could be anything less than **** despite the previous booking of Laughter 7. It was an incredible 'big match'. Perhaps I'm more liberal or you're more strict with star ratings, diff'rent strokes and all.
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge UWFi fan and was in awe of the Nakamura match, it felt like the old days of their invasion into NJPW, only better. Style isn't for everyone, but I loved it.
I tend to not rate things as highly as a lot of other people. I usually don't give out 4 stars unless it was something that I think I'm going to remember for a while. My 5 stars criteria is even worse as it really has to be close to perfection. I've seen some people drop 5 stars to 20+ matches a year and I think it dilutes the value of that rating.
ReplyDeleteI have no problems with anyone who would give the main 4 stars or more. It was a good match with alot of things in it that could be seen on that level. Had Okada won, it probably would have been 4 stars.
I enjoyed the Sakuraba match as well. I've hated everything Sakuraba has done so far but he was really good here. Wrestlers vs MMA/Boxing/Other style fighters can be really good when done right. Especially wh MMA as their moves are all basic pro wrestling techniques.