New Japan Pro Wrestling 2/12/2024 CMLL Fantastica Mania 2024 Day 1

New Japan Pro Wrestling 2/12/2024 CMLL Fantastica Mania 2024 Day 1

Difunto & DOUKI vs. Bullet Club (BONE SOLDIER Jr. & Gedo)

Gedo eye rakes Dif then Dif running knee lifts him. Dif uppercuts him. Douki is armdragged by Bone then Douki uses the ropes to armdrag him. Douki flipping slingshots in and armdrags him then Gedo trips Douki from the outside. Douki's head is banged off a table.

Bone handsprings into a cutter but totally misses it and it is sold anyway. Gedo eye rakes Douki with his foot. Dif is hit from behind and eye raked. Dif's head is banged off the buckles. Douki comes off the top and does a double crossbody. Douki is popped up into a double dropkick.

Dif is pulled over the top then Bone tope con hilos him. Douki takes a double superkick to the face for 2. Dif ties up Bone in a submission and Douki does the douki chokey on Gedo. The heels both submit and lose.

It was an okay opener with some hiccups. There was nothing too crazy here. Douki's arguably more smooth at lucha than some of the luchadores.

Lightning Singles Match - Tiger Mask vs. Magnus

Mag is rocking the Black Tiger gear and looking good doing it. They lock up. Mag trips him and is armdragged off the casadora. Tiger spinning headstand headscissors him and they do a stand off soon after. Mag kneelifts him then tries to rip the mask up. Mag jawbreakers him and boots him.

Mag punches him then pulls his arms back over the ropes. Tiger then back kicks him and rolls through with it. Mag pulls Tiger's arms back then puts him in the tree of woe. Mag boots him there then poses. Tiger hits kicks and is tripped into the 2nd rope. Mag 619's him then elbow drops him.

Mag double underhook backbreakers him then hits running euros. Mag misses a meteora and takes kicks. Mag step up enzugiri's him and is back body dropped to the floor. Tiger top rope crossbodies him to the outside. They fight up top and Tiger hits a nice top rope butterfly suplex for 2. Tiger kimura's him then tiger drivers him for 1 as the time limit expires.

It wasn't anything special and was really just an average match all around.

Mag jumps Tiger after then does a reverse triangle. Mag pulls off Tiger's mask.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito & Titan) & KAMAITACHI vs. Brillante Jr., El Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi & Stigma

Kamaitachi has an awesome outfit on. Titan grabs Brill's arm then Brill reverses it. Titan does some nice moves to get out of a wristlock then Brill walks up him and hurricanrana's him. Brill dropkicks him then Titan bodyscissors him over the top. Titan topes Brill outside.

Naito and Despy square off then Kamai hits Despy from behind. Despy is held for chops but chops Kamai back. Despy slaps Naito then gets cut off on a dive and takes dropkicks to the knee. Naito stretches Despy out by pulling on his mask. Bushi neckbreakrs Despy. Naito pulls off Taguchi's mask then Bushi works RT's crotch.

Titan top rope double stomps Despy's arm then sliding dropkicks him. Despy blocks Titan's tornado ddt then suplexes him off of it. Stig and Bushi go at it. Bushi step up enzugiri's him then Stig takes a 2v1. Stig back boyd drops Titan then dropkicks Bushi out. Strig dragon screws Kamai and Naito. Brill pops up Stigma into a tope con hilo outside. Brill moonsaults off the ropes outside.

Stig slingshots in and legdrops Titan over the neck. Titan ducks a lariat then jumping back kicks Stig. RT gets his mask back on. He boots a seated Kamai who just rolls with it. Kamai rolls RT over then RT handstands in the corner, only to get hit in the nuts. RT hip attacks Kami then headbutt drops him for 2.

RT's team tries to pin all 4 opponents at once. RT's team all get on their opponents together and try to pin them. RT dropkicks Kamai then does Okada's rainmaker pose. RT goes for the rainmaker then Kamai pulls his mask off and rolls him up to win it.

There were too many styles clashes here and too much going on with Kamaitachi being wild, Taguchi doing comedy and some of the lucha guys just wanting to have a good match to make this one work.

OKUMURA, Strong Machine J & YOH vs. Dark Panther, Pegasso & Tomoaki Honma

 

Pegasso

J breakdances during his entrance. Honma came out with a mask as Super Kokeshi Machine 2nd and Okumura was given flowers before the match by Mima Shimoda.

Dark and Oku start us off. Dark rolls out of a wristlock then Oku takes him down by the wrist. Dark takes down Oku and grabs his wrists while hooking his legs. Oku powers out of it and sunset flip rolls him. Peg and Yoh go at it. Yoh takes him down and is armdragged. Peg handsprings off the ropes then flying headscissors him. Yoh then runs away from a dive.

J and Kokeshi go at it. They have words with each other and J side headlocks him. They shoulder battle and Kokeshi is knocked over. J punches Kokeshi and Kokeshi headbutts him. Kokeshi misses a headbutt drop. Kokeshi is thrown out. Dark takes a 3v1 then Peg goes as well.

Peg takes a double pendulum spinebuster and is kicked in the back. J slams Kokeshi then Oku and Yoh senton him. Mima Shimoda sentons Kokeshi. Dark avoids a double team and sends J outside. Peg is flipped into the ropes and hits a double armdrag off of it. Dark plancha's Oku outsie then Peg does a tope con hilo outside. Kokeshi bulldogs J then hits a headbutt drop.

J spinning heel kicks Kokeshi then corner lariats him. J corner dropkicks him. J single leg dropkicks Kokeshi then Dark flying headscissors J and Yoh. Dark topes J then Yoh. Dark then hits a 2nd tope on Yoh. Peg and Oku go at it. Peg 2nd rope hurricanrana's him then is popped up into a hurricanrana on him. Oku cutters Peg for 2. J and Yoh do stereo planchas outside and Oku cutters Peg to win it.

Like the last match, there were a lot of different people wanting to do different things here. It started to come together in the last part of this match, but then it ended. 

Hechicero, Rocky Romero & Soberano Jr. vs. Atlantis Jr., Templario & Volador Jr.

They screw around to start. Rocky side headlocks Temp. Temp flips over him on the mat then shoulders him over. Rocky flying headscissors Temp then Temp does a spinarooni. Temp dropkicks Rocky out. Rocky uppercuts him and is superkicked. Vol springboard crossbodies Sob then satellite headscissors him. Vol jumps over the top and hurricanrana's Temp outside.

Vol enzugiri's Sob from the apron then rolls into a code red on him. Atlantis and Hech go at it. Hech rolls him into a birdge pin attempt then Atlantis goes for a sleeper. They roll and trade forearms. Atlantis hits a nice dropkick then rolls him over the top to the floor.

Sob hits a nice dropkick on Atlantis. Hech chops Atlantis then step up knees him in the corner. Hech hits body punches on Atlantis then spinebusters him. Hech bangs Atlantis' leg off the mat and hits knees to the legs. Hech rolls him then his partners work the legs of Atlantis while Hech holds him.

Atlantis takes a 3v1 in the corner. Atlantis leapfrogs over 2 opponents and hits tilt-a-whirl backbreakers. Temp is popped up and does a hurricanrana then Atlantis superkicks Rocky. Rocky corner lariats Vol then rewind kicks him. Sob gets on Vol's back and legdrops his neck. Hech does his swinging hammerlock backbreaker then Rocky top rope double stomps Vol.  

Rocky is held in the air for a Temp walk up the ropes dropkick. Temp does a springboard armdrag on Sob then armdrags and topes Hech. Sob fosbury flops outside then Atlantis dives over the top. Rocky rolls up Vol for 2 then is rolled up for 2. Vol superkicks him then Rocky b-drivers him to win it.

It was an okay match with a lot of dives and fast paced action. It was all lucha stuff here with 6 guys who primarily do lucha. 

Rocky put a Black Tiger mask on after.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Mascara Dorada & Mistico vs. Francesco Akira, Stuka Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero

Akira had a mask on for his entrance and Tana has white and black facepaint. Stuka and Mist start us off. Mist armdrags him then pulls off Stuka's mask. Stuka asks for a handshake from Mist then boots him in the gut. Stuka is thrown over and upkicks him. Mist flying headscissors him.

Dorada and Angel go at it. Dorada slingshot rolls him up. They get out of each others armdrags and hurricanrana's then stand off. Tana and Ultimo go at it. They pull each other by the hair at the same time and trade chest slaps. Tana trips on a spot then is slammed. Akira is popped up into a splash on him. Dorada takes a double gorilla press off the 2nd rope. Akira is popped up and buttdrops a bridged Dorada.

Mist is thrown to the apron but slips then Ultimo baseball slides Mist off the apron. Dorada takes corner attacks then is popped-up and dropped. Stuka top rope splashes Dorada. Mist's leg is dropkicked by Stuka. Mist is double hitpossed into the ropes but does a double armdrag off of it then flying headscissors Ultimo. 

Akira and Dorada trade shots. Dorada flips over him while he's on the mat then dropkicks him. Dorada is flipped into a hurricanrana on Stuka. Dorada then does a cutter and hurricanrana combo off the ropes. Stuka misses a charge on Dorada then Dorada grabs Ultimo's arm and jumps over the top rope hurricanrana Stuka outside.

Mist and Ultimo shake hands then Stuka hits Mist from behind. Mist is thrown up int oa headscissors on Ultimo. Mist walks up the ropes and hurricanrana's Ultimo on the landing. Mist slips on the ropes then flying headscissors Stuka.

Mist walks up the ropes and armdrags Akira. Tana and Akira go at it. Tana 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him then slingblades him. Tana plancha's Akira then Mist is popped up into a headscissors on Stuka. Dorada top rope ssp's Ultimo and wins it.

This was just sad to watch. Mistico had several botches and Tana tripped and fell over at one point. Mistico looked completely shot here and Dorada was the only real highlight here. 

Overall thoughts: It was a rough night to start this tour off. Most of the NJPW roster wasn't on the show. There were a lot of styles clashes that didn't work out and the main was not good with Mascara Dorada being the sole highlight. The semi-main was good but not great. I don't recommend this one.