New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/29/2023 Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni 2023

New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/29/2023 Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni 2023

Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano

Oleg shoulders over both opponents to start. He shoulders Yoshi again and Yano grabs a turnbuckle pad. Yoshi gets it off him then Yano slaps him in the back of the head. Yano is double shouldered then Yoshi is hiptossed onto Yano. Yano takes the double clubs to the back then is stomped on.

They botch some hair pulling spot then Oleg beats up on his opponents with shoulder throws and then he slams Goto. Goto backs up Oleg and he takes a corner elbow. Yano trips Yoshi outside and Oleg hits a nice belly to belly on Goto for 2. Oleg crabs Goto then him and Goto collide with lariats. Oleg takes a neckbreaker + russian legsweep combo for 2. Oleg then takes a double team slice and is pinned.

Oleg wasn't perfect here but he looked good. He got to do more than the usual young lion moves so it's clear NJPW has faith in him. It was short and a little rushed but fine.

Oskar Leube & Shota Umino vs. House Of Torture (EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi)

The faces are rushed before the bell. Umino is beaten up by Evil outside and Oskar shoulders Yujiro. Yujiro bites his hand and throws him where Evil and friends beat up on Oskar. Umino tries to break it up but is thrown into the rails. Oskar is thrown into the exposed buckle then the HoT assist on the abomdinal stretch.

Oskar hits forearms then does a nice facekick. Umino gets the hot tag in and hits basement dropkicks on Yujiro. He pulls him over the top and cannonballs Yujiro on the floor. Umino drops Evil on his chest then running euros him. Umino then hits a fisherman's suplex for 2.

Umino hits a nice dropkick on Yujiro then Oskar gets in. Oskar forearms Yujiro then hits a big suplex on him. Oskar hits a nice legdrop for 2 then slams Yujiro. Oskar crabs Yujiro but Togo comes in and breaks it up with a weapon. Oskar takes a wrench to the head then Yujrio ddt's him for the win.

It was short and what you would expect with the faces getting in some offense and the heels cheating. The faces were good here.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

LIJ is jumped before this starts and Sanada is sent into the rails outside. Douki and Naito trade forearms the Naito hiptosses him and sliding dropkicks him. Douki takes a dropkick to the knee then Bushi baseball slides him. Naito does his swinging slingshot dropkick on Douki in the corner. Douki ddt's Naito and Naito is sent over the rail outside.

Kanemaru baseball slides Naito then running boots him in the head as he hangs over the apron. Kanemaru slingshot sentons Naito for 2. Sanada suplexes Naito for 2 then Douki double armbars Naito and Naito ropebreaks. Douki enzugiri's Naito then Naito tornado ddt's him. Hiromu and Sanda get in. Hiromu headscissors him and shotgun dropkicks Kanemaru into him. Hiromu then dropkicks him for 2. Sanada hits nice leapfrogs and dropkicks Hiromu.

Sanada dragon sleepers Hiromu then Hiromu falcon arrows him. Bushi headscissors Sanada and knee dropkicks Kanemaru. Everyone gets in and Douki topes Naito into the rails. Sanada dragon sleeper swings Bushi and is nearly pinned then Sanada dragon sleepers Bushi for the win.

You know the deal with these matches. If there's 6 or more and it doesn't get 15, it'll be a rushed waste of time and that's mostly what it was. Not awful or anything but certainly nothing great.

IWGP Tag Team Title Match - Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) (c) vs. TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste)

We have all Australians here in a match. That feels like a rare event outside of Australia. Mikey headlocks Mark and Mark wins their shoulderblock battle. Shane and Kyle go at it and Shane armdrags him only to get slammed. Mikey is pulled over the top then Shane takes a double chop then a PK and senton. Mark slams and sentons Shane for 2.

Shane hurricanrana's Kyle then Mikey hits a ddt and a short ddt for 2. Kyle is thrown into the rails outside then is backdropped on the apron. Shane hits a nice dropkick on Kyle then Mikey chinlock Kyle. Kyle then takes a backdrop + neckbreaker combo. Kyle suplexes Shane.

Mark fights off a 2v1 and takes down both opponents. Mark steps off the 2nd rope to lariat an opponent then Kyle topes both outside. Mark hits a high backdrop on Mikey for 2. Mikey and Mark trade lariats and forearms. They go head to head and scream then lariat battle. Mikey death valley drivers him but is belly to belly suplexed. Mikey no sells it and they lariat each other down.  

Shane and Kyle trade chops then Shane misses a euro and takes a dragon suplex. Kyle running kicks Shane in the corner then does an orange crush for 2. AO gets sunset flipped at the same time then their opponents lariat them in the corner. AO try to do it and miss then ram their backs together. Everyone gets a move in and the sequence ends with Mark hitting an enzugiri on Shane.

Mikey is thrown into a kick then Shane is held up for a 2nd rope cutter. Shane ligerbombs Mark for 2. Mark takes lariats to the front and back then takes a high and low lariat combo. Kyle germans Mikey then flips him with a lariat. Kyle running kicks Mikey in the corner then Mikey is flipped off the reverse razor's edge for 2. Mikey is down and kicked around then Shane is double face kicked off the apron. Mikey takes a double kick and goes down. Shane top rope crossbodies AO then does a nice tope con hilo on both. Kyle takes slaps at the same time from both then takes a coriolis. They trade forearms on their knees then get up and trade them. TMDK get knocked off the apron.

Mark takes a back body drop on the apron then Kyle takes a lifting double team ddt on it. Mikey lifts Shane for a 2nd rope ddt for 2. Kyle is lifted for a double gorilla press but counters it with a double ddt. Shane takes a sandwich forearm and rolls up Kyle for 2. Mark enzugiri's Mikey then kicks him when he takes a tombstone. Shane then takes a kick into a piledriver. Shane takes a sandwich lariat and a coriolis then AO grab the win.

They tried for a classic here but didn't really get it. The match was okay but the crowd was not as into it as they should have been and it was just missing some of the intensity and emotion that it needed.

NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling Title Takagi-Style Triad Match - Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Taichi

 They shoulder battle to start. Shingo knocks him down then takes a boot and is thrown out. They trade chops then trade forearms for leg kicks. Shingo is thrown into the rails outside then Taichi goes into them. Both get sent into the post then Shingo hits his chop and punch combo inside. Taichi superkicks him then hits Kawada kicks.

Taichi running knees him and puts him in an abdominal stretch. Taichi has his back rammed into the apron then Shingo is back body dropped on the floor. Taichi ddt'd him on the floor then Shingo pins him to meet one of the requirements here at 10 minutes.

Shingo hits some elbows then does a gori special move. Shingo crossfaces him. Shingo death valley drivers him on the apron. They get in after a while and Taichi gedo clutches him to meet his pinfall requirement. Taichi running knees him in the corner then hits some kicks. Taichi throws off his pants. They trade backdrops then exchange lariats. Taichi enzugiri's him then powerbombs him.

Taichi running lariats him then hits a schwein. Shingo can't meet the 10 count and Taichi gets his KO reqirement. Shingo hits a made in Japan on Taichi then does a sliding lariat. They trade short arm lariats. Shingo piledrivers him with his arms behind his back then running lariats him. Shingo last falconry's Taichi and Taichi is KO'd to meet Shingo's KO requirement.

Shingo top rope death valley drivers him then grounded sleepers him. They tease having Kanemaru throw in the towel but Taichi hits the ropes. Shingo goes for a last falconry but both fall over. Shingo lariats him and takes a backdrop. Taichi high kicks him and both fall out of the ring. Shingo barely beats the count in with the announcer saying 20 but the ref not giving the signal for it. 

They trade chops to the head and neck. Shingo headbutts him and they trade shots. Taichi superkicks him then puts him in a stretch plum. Taichi enzugiri's him then has his other enzugiri lariated down. Shingo runs at him and takes a kick then Taichi stretch plums him. Shingo passes out and Taichi wins it at around 43 minutes.

It was very long with a lot of laying around and selling it. The match format kind of requires a longer match, but just because something is longer doesn't make it great. I didn't think it was awful, but 10-15 minutes could have been shaved off of this and I don't think it would have suffered.

Overall thoughts: Of what I saw, it was a good show. The main wasn't a classic but it was enjoyable as was the semi-main. The two opening matches I saw were decent as well.