New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/1/2022 NJPW Lonestar Shootout

New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/1/2022 NJPW Lonestar Shootout

Ren Narita vs. Rocky Romero

RR does a nice trip with his leg and kicks him n the back. They slap each other then trade forearms. Ren goes for a spinning heel kick but RR catches it and crabs him.  Ren hits some forearm and chest kicks him in the corner.  RR then tornado ddt's him. The crowd cheers for Ren and Rocky mocks him and forearms him as he is tied up in the ropes. Ren fights back while in the ropes then RR double stomps him from the 2nd rope for 2.

Ren hits a spinning heel kick then half-butterfly suplexes him and brainbusters him for 2. RR hits a cutter variation and Ren hits a nice pump kick. RR runs him over with a lariat then takes a belly to belly with a bridge for the surprise Ren win. The win was out of nowhere but it was a neat little finish as the suplex looked really good.

FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson), Daniel Garcia & Kevin Knight vs. Mascara Dorada, Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks & Yuya Uemura

Knight walks up the ropes and armdrags MD. MD then walks the ropes and springboard dropkicks him. The two trade armdrags then mirror each other with dropkicks and a kip up. Garcia takes a double back elbow. Yuya hits a nice dropkick on Garcia then Yuya takes a slam and a senton. Yuya hits forearms on Knight then Knight does a nice diving shoulder on him as Yuya sits on the ground.

Juice cannonballs Yuya in the corner then Yuya does a nice backdrop on him. Clark gets in and backdrops Juice. Clark pushes Finlay into Juice then Karl and Kevin trade forearms. Karl spinebusters him. Kevin goes leap frog and gets speared on the way down. Dorada tope con hilos a bunch of people outside.

I missed the finish to this one. It was a fast paced match though and kept my interest. But as always, it's a waste of some of the guys when you have so many people in unless it's like 30 minutes.

Killer Kross vs Minoru Suzuki

Kross has hair now. MS armbars him over the top rope early then armbars him on the apron. MS armbars him on the inside and turns it into a hammerlock at 5 minutes. MS facekicks Kross then Kross hits a nice exploder. MS comes back with a fujiwara armbar and Kross hits the ropes.

MS calls him a young boy and they trade chest slaps. Kross calls him a young boy and Kross hits a straight kick to the chest. Kross puts MS in the sleeper and MShits a gotch style piledriver and wins it. MS poses with a kid on the apron after.

This was a little on the short side but was a good one. The slaps were good and they kept it simple here.

Jon Moxley's song and tron played unexpectedly and he came out. He talked about Wrestlemania Weekend and how much he loves wrestling. He talks about what he's going to do to Will Osperay and says he will make an example of him. He says it is an example everyone in NJPW will read crystal clear.

Jay White vs. Mike Bailey

Mike hits some kicks early then does a kick combo on Jay. Mike then tope con hilo's him outside. Mike then knocks down Jay with a kick outside. Jay does a nasty tko over the top rope and Mike took a bad bump on it.

Jay throws Mike into the buckles and he flips for it. Mike hits a running chest kick, a spin kick and an axe kick. Then he does a standing twisting ssp for 2. Jay takes a chest kick in the corner and Mike uses the ropes on a pin attempt. Jay goes under him on the apron and Mike does a quick moonsault on him to the outside.

They fight on the apron and Mike misses a moonsault double knee on the apron, landing hard. Jay then uranage's him for 2 and does a reverse figure four on him. Mike hits some chest kicks then Jay reverse dragon screws him. Mike hits a PK and moonsault double knees him. Mike then buzzsaw kicks him for 2. Mike misses an ssp then gets sleeper suplexed. Jay then hits a blade runner and wins it.

I thought this was pretty good. They didn't over do it and did the working the leg storyline a little later in the match. It didn't quite have to do with the finish, but it was started later in the match and wasn't the focus of it, which is where those matches fail. These two flowed pretty well together.

 

Tomohiro Ishii vs Chris Dickinson

They go to the mat to start and battle shoulders. CD hits a nice back elbow and they trade chops. CD throws him outside and throwshim into the rails. CD hits some chest kicks and hits some chops. Ishii starts to fire up after some forearms and hits his chop and forearm combo.

Ishii shoulders CD out of the corner and they trade forearms. CD slips around him and does an almost deadlift german for 2. They trade corner lariats then Ishii germans him. CD no sells it then brainbusters him, but Ishii no sells it. They then collide with lariats and CD death valley drivers him for 2. CD PK's Ishii and they trade forearms. Ishii hits a nice headbutt then lariats him.

CD hits an enzugiri then brainbusters him for 2. CD spinkicks him in the gut then lariats him for 2. Ishii brainbusters him then picks up the win. Minoru Suzuki comes out and teases fighting Ishii.

This was good but not great. Not either mans best work but the match made sense and they didn't overdo it here. Ishii kind of felt like he was taking a night off though.

Overall thoughts: Not a classic or something super special but all of the matches were decent and I liked it.