New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/13/2024 Windy City Riot
Here's what I saw:
Pre-show: Alex Windsor & Trish Adora vs. Mina Shirakawa & Viva Van
Van flying headscissors Trish early. Mina slides out from under Trish when she gets in then Mina spinning headscissors her into a russian legsweep. Mina works Trish's legs and figure fours her. Alex breaks it.
Mina takes a pump kick + russian legsweep combo then Alex pounds on Mina. Alex goes up and over, armdrags her and back rolls into a basement dropkick. Mina cradles her then kicks her off the ropes. Mina rolls over Trish's back to splash Alex.
Van misses a high kick and legsweeps Alex. She then does a bad roll into a chop. Van spinning heel kicks her. Alex takes a double team then a sandwich hip attack. Trish bubba bomb's Van then germans Mina. Trish does a kneeling german to Van then Mina uraken's Trish. Alex olympic slams Mina then Van hits a soul foot on Alex. Alex headbutts Van.
Mina lifting ddt's Alex then Van does a slingshot butterfly suplex on Alex. Alex spinning lariats Van then twisting fisherman suplexes her to win it.
It was too short for the amount of people involved. Alex got very little offense in here and the match was nothing special.
Ren Narita vs Minoru Suzuki
This was all shenanigans from start to finish. It took them at least 4 minutes to get in the ring and actually fight as they kept fighting on the apron and outside. Ren then got beat up for a bit and tricked the ref so he could hit Suzuki with a push-up board and win it.
NJPW STRONG Women's Title Match - Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. AZM
SV = Stephanie Vaquer
They lock up and SV takes her down into a bridge pin. AZM trips her then hits a PK and basement dropkick. SV legdrops her SV headscissors AZM then bangs her head off the mat. SV headbutts AZM then AZM headbutts her. AZM suplexes her then dragon screws her on the mic.
AZM goes out and high kicks SV as she hangs over the apron. AZM then comes off the 2nd buckle with a double stomp on the floor. AZM top rope dropkicks her then armbars her. AZM misses a move off the ropes then SV hits a nice dropkick. AZM high kicks her then SV backdrops her.
They trade forearms for headbutts. SV rolls her into a crossface. SV suplexes her. AZM hits a top rope double stomp for 2. AZM puts her in la mistica then rolls her up for 2. SV headbutt flurries her then corner meteora's her. SV package backbreakers her and gets the win it.
It was fast paced and while some things were good here, there was no real obvious logic to it and the selling was lacking.
Alex Windsor challenges Steph after.
Jack Perry vs. Shota Umino
Jack comes out with riot squad guards and carries a Chicago flag.
Jack slaps him, goes out and throws a drink. They brawl outside. Shota basement dropkicks him in the back inside then Jack basement dropkicks him in the back. Jack does a front face lock referencing the CM Punk situation then suplexes him.
Shota flying forearms him then fisherman suplexes him. Shota then slingshot ddt's him on the apron. Shota top rope dropkicks him and exploders him for 2. Jack grabs the ref and low blows him. Jack then ddt's him on the floor. Jack tiger drivers him for 2.
They trade shots and Shota hits forearms. Shota dropkicks him then lifting reverse ddt's him. Shota hits a mcgillicutter. Jack poinsonrana's him then hits an unprettier. Jack hits Punk's step up knee in the corner. Shota ddt's him then running euros him. Shota hits a double underhook ddt and wins it.
A lot of people really loved what Jack did here. It's creative and fun, I'll give Jack that. But it has no legs to it and is cheap heat at it's finest. There's not going to be a Punk/Jack match and they aren't going to be in Chicago every night. Trying to sell this one to a casual fan is also going to be quite the task. This also really goes against the "AEW wants to move on from this situation" line that we were told on Thursday when the bad publicity came in.
The crowd was super into this and they had a decent match, but as usual, CM Punk continues to be AEW's biggest draw.
Riot Rules Match - Eddie Kingston, Homicide & United Empire (Jeff Cobb & TJP) vs. BULLET CLUB (Clark Connors, David Finlay, Gabe Kidd & KENTA)
HC = Homicide
Everyone brawls outside to start. Clark has a barbed wire chat put on him then Eddie rings the bell on Clark's head. HC lariats Gabe over the top then Eddie hits machine gun chops on Clark. DF hits Eddie in the leg with a shillelagh. TJP misses the red mis on DF then dropkicks him through the ropes.
HC throws Gabe over the rail outside then hits him with a trash can. Kenta gets hit with a turnbuckle pad outside and TJP chokes DF with a kendo stick. Eddie and Clark go into the first row and Clark is sent into the rails. Eddie is crotched on the rail. TJP puts a skateboard deck on an opponent and stands on it. HC and Gabe fight in the stands.
Eddie pounds on DF. Cobb throws a trash can at Kenta but only hits the post. Eddie double underhook suplexes Clark. Gabe hits a big lariat on HC then hits him in the gut with a ladder. Gabe swings a ladder around at opponents then Cobb germans him. Clark spears Cobb. Clark wraps his head in barbed wire and headbutts TJP. TJP then red mists him. TJP facewash kicks Clark.
HC uses a fork on Clark and Kenta urakens HC. Kenta corner dropkicks HC and TJP. Cobb lariats Kenta then Kenta hits a GTS on TJP. DF sends Cobb into a barbed wire chair between the buckles. Eddie hits kendo stick shots on DF.
Eddie and Gabe trade chops then Gabe bites him. Gabe takes an exploder into a table. Eddie takes a 3v1 then has a chain wrapped around his mouth. HC cutters Gabe to help out Eddie. DF hits HC with a shillelagh then Gabe piledrivers HC to win it.
It was a total brawl from start to finish here. Most of the match took place outside of the ring and there were a lot of weapons shots as expected. Not the smartest or most memorable match but I suppose it served its purpose.
Everyone continues to fight afterwards and they have to be separated. Eddie tells Gabe he wants a no ropes last man standing match after and calls him a f*cking p*ssy. They then fight more.
NJPW World Television Title Match - Matt Riddle (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
They
do some mat wrestling and stand off. Zack goes for leg locks and Riddle
rolls out. Zack armbars him and leglocks him then both leglock each
other at the same time.
Zack snapmares him and they each miss
PK's. They then stare down. Matt guwrench suplexes him and rolls him
into another. Matt misses a senton and Zack armbars him. Matt then rope
breaks. Matt gets slapped and chops him down.
Matt hits kicks to
the chest then Zack splits Matt's toes. Zack then stomps the leg. Zack
suplexes him then bow and arrows him. Matt triangles him over the top
rope. Zack catches a flying knee then rolls him into a leg loc kand stf.
Matt gets his back and germans him.
Matt sentons him and misses a
top rope moonsault. Zack triangles him and hits elbows to the head.
Matt deadlift powerbombs him then pumping knees him for 2. Zack tornado
ddt's him and king crab holds him.
Zack sleepers him then is
thrown over. Matt goes for the armbar and then Zack goes for the armbar.
Matt hits mounted forearms and Zack michinoku drivers him for 2. Matt
blocks a PK with a single leg crab. Matt germans him then hits a top
rope corkscrew moonsault for 2.
There wasn't a lot of selling here but it was a good wrestling match. They never slowed down here and had a lot of creative counters for each other. The two really matched up well together and it was one of the better matches I've seen Zack in. This really couldn't have gone any better than I did and I liked it.
Zack gets on the mic after. It was hard to understand him but he said he would defend again in the US soon. Jeff Cobb comes down and wants a shot. Zack says not today but they shake on it. Zack grabs him and goes for a move but Cobb stops it. Zack then goes out.
Tomohiro Ishii vs Nic Nemeth
They battle for leverage and Nic takes him down. They trade chops and forearms. Ishii shoulders him over and Ishii chops him down. Ishii suplexes him. Nic hits a dropkick and a neckbreaker, following it with elbow drops. Ishii back body drops him and Nic is dropped with a forearm.
Ishii superplexes him then Nic gets his back for a sleeper. Ishii sleepers him then Nic backdrops him out of it. Nic jumping ddt's him for 2. Nic goes for a leg lariat and is powerbombed. Nic headbutts and fameassers him for 2. Ishii lariats him over for 2 then enzugiri's him. Ishii hits a sliding lariat.
Nic hits a headbutt then superkicks him for 2. Nic germans him then Ishii hits a danger zone on Nic. Ishii running lariats him then Nic superkicks him for 1. They lariat each other, trade headbutts and Ishii knocks him over with one. Nic superkicks him then hits a danger zone for the win.
I don't really think this one reached it's potential. The crowd wasn't good enough for it and the beginning and ending didn't really hit like they were supposed to. I think they figured things out when they were going for danger zones and headbutts near the end, but then the match ended. It was fun but I think they could do a better one.
IWGP World Heavyweight Title Match - Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Jon Moxley
Naito spits at him and then does his tranquillo pose when Mox goes out. Mox hits forearms outside and sends him into the rails. Naito is sent over the rails. Naito's head is banged off a table in the first row then Mox goes into the rails. Naito then sits in a chair and poses. Mox boots him in it then Naito goes into the post.
Mox piledrivers him for 2 and leg kicks him down. Mox figure fours him then texas cloverleafs him. Mox then turns it into an stf which Naito ropebreaks for. Mox chest kicks while he is seated then hits a suplex for 2. Mox goes up top and is hit in the gut. Naito step up enzugiri's him.
Naito gets some offense in, fails to hit combinacion cabron and neckbreakers him. Naito cravates him. Naito trades forearms from the apron then Mox double underhook ddt's him on the apron. Mox goes for a tope and takes a chair to the head.
Naito neckbreakers him on the apron and Mox is covered in blood from the chair. Naito tornado ddt's him then Mox flips him with a lariat. They trade shots and spit at each other. Mox hits a curbstomp for 2 then bulldog chokes him. Naito hits back elbows then Mox hits a cutter. Mox double underhook ddt's him for 2.
Naito hits destino for 2. Mox blocks another one and hits a high death rider for 2. Mox lariats him at 20 minutes then hits another high death rider and wins.
It was a decent main but not great. These two are the most natural of pairings due to Mox being heavy on the brawling and Naito doing some light flying. I think more selling near the end might have helped and Naito could have used some big move near the end here to really build a fall. I wasn't super shocked Mox won this as Naito didn't have a lot of intriguing matchups available while Mox hasn't fought a lot of the NJPW guys. I thought it would have worked better if Mox had busted up Naito and heeled up on him.
Mox gets on the mic after. He thanks the fans and says he stands up top NJPW. He said his first order of business is to pick who gets the first shot. He said he's not going to run or avoid young lions and names Shota Umino, saying it will be his final exam.
Ren Narita then comes out and hits him with the push up board. Ren then stomps him and chokes him with it. He says he's the next challenger. Shota then comes down and stops Ren.
Mox gets on the mic again. He said Ren just graduated from being a young boy to being a dead man.
Overall thoughts: It was a good effort NJPW with some big names coming in and I liked the show. Mox winning the title over Naito was a huge surprise for a lot of people and while it wasn't a great match, it was okay. Nemeth/Ishii ended right as they were starting to figure things out though it was still fun. I really liked Zack and Riddle. The 8-man Riot Rules match was just a hardcore match that wasn't real memorable. People really popped for Jack hamming it up with CM Punk stuff against Shota. While it worked for one night, I don't think it will work again. SV/AZM had a match that wasn't anything special and Narita/Suzuki was a joke.
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