I will start this out by saying that I've watched a decent amount of New Japan in the past, enough to have a general idea what's going on. Having said that, the one rule I will have for this review is that I will not be grading any of the stories or build. The final score will be based entirely on in-ring action, just to make things simple. With that out of the way, let's do this. For the first time in my blog's history, let's head to the Dome for my first non-WWE pay-per-view review.
- I did skip the New Japan Rumble. I know it's always quite fun, but this is a six and a half hour show, I had to cut time somewhere.
- I will admit to not knowing a huge amount about Roppongi 3K, but this opener definitely got me on their side. The Young Bucks are, of course, awesome, but it was very refreshing to see a more psychology-driven match. The selling from both sides was top notch, and the tag team work was incredibly crisp. Great opener, and congrats to Matt and Nick on their seventh(!) championship reign.
- The six man tag was fun, and I was very glad it was a gauntlet match, because in no way was I ready to see all those teams going at it at the same time. In the end, it was mostly just a throwaway, get everyone on the card type match, but it was enjoyable none the less.
- I'm going to say this very quietly: Cody (Rhodes) is my most hated wrestler in all of the business. I don't know what it is, but I've never been able to stand him in the ring or on the mic, so suffice it to say I was more than a little apprehensive before his match with Kota Ibushi.
- That being said, CROSS RHODES OFF THE APRON!!! Christ, what a bump. Kota's a f***ing maniac for agreeing to take that. A really surprisingly good match, Ibushi is an absolute machine and Cody did some good heel work. Very good stuff, one of my favorite matches of the night.
- Having KES start their tag title defense with their finisher in the first five seconds certainly popped the crowd, but it also left the rest of the match feeling much more limited. There just wasn't much life to this match, a shame, as I think both teams are quite good.
- When you get two guys like Hirooki Goto and Minoru Suzuki facing off, you know you're going to get a very hard hitting contest, and that's exactly what this was. This wasn't quite the best match of either guys' career, but it was entertaining regardless. I loved Suzuki coming back to shave his own head, taking all of the shame of the loss.
- I saw plenty of people talking about the Junior Heavyweight 4-way as a potential match of the year candidate, and I really didn't get that feeling. Make no mistake, it was a very fun match and I had a blast watching it, but it was a little too long and too focused on spots to quite click for me.
- If there's one major negative that is a present constant in modern New Japan's booking, it's that they do seem to have some trouble knowing when to pull the trigger. The Intercontinental Championship match was the first example of this issue, but it wouldn't be the last.
- There was some good in this Hiroshi Tanahashi-Jay White match, but it was quite limited. It never felt like either guy got out of the starting block, and White's not exactly the greatest worker in the world, but having him lose clean in his first big chance just didn't feel right.
- I was very concerned when I heard about Chris Jericho coming back to NJPW, mainly considering the massive step up in physicality from WWE's style, which he was already struggling in. What kind of match could Jericho wrestle, and could he and Kenny Omega have what it took to live up to the "dream match" moniker?
- The answer is yes, but I don't think you needed me to tell you that. I expected a more "smoke and mirrors" style match, and early on, that's what we got. The hardcore shenanigans were fun, but I was really impressed by just how much wrestling there was in this match. Jericho, even at his age, can still go, and gave Omega, still in his prime, an absolute fight. Nothing but praise for this match; if you haven't seen, you really should. My pick for match of the night.
- The story of Tetsuya Naito is certainly an interesting one. The man who was robbed of his Wrestle Kingdom main event thanks to a fan vote, re-inventing himself to return and reclaim the throne, becoming one of the most popular men in the business as a result. That story seemed to have an ending in sight: his win in the G1 Climax gave him the right to face the man who took his belt, in his rightful place in the main event and giving him an earth-shattering win. The ending seemed obvious, but in wrestling, nothing is certain.
- Look, nothing against Okada as a wrestler, he's very talented and this was a very good match. The final few minutes were chaotic as hell, and had a genuine level of suspense and physicality that left the result so up in the air. But this was a match tailor-made for Naito's big win, and even if he does beat Okada for the belt later on, it just won't have the same impact as doing it at the biggest show of the year. It's a pretty disappointing way to end what was a very good show.
8.5/10
Although this was a very entertaining, very good five hours of wrestling, it never really got to that absolute next level. And other than the Jericho-Omega match, and maybe the Bucks' seventh tag title win, nothing of this show is going to be particularly memorable in six or seven months time. In the end, this show may not have been an all-time classic, but it was well worth a watch, and I recommend all wrestling fans to check it out.
- I did skip the New Japan Rumble. I know it's always quite fun, but this is a six and a half hour show, I had to cut time somewhere.
- I will admit to not knowing a huge amount about Roppongi 3K, but this opener definitely got me on their side. The Young Bucks are, of course, awesome, but it was very refreshing to see a more psychology-driven match. The selling from both sides was top notch, and the tag team work was incredibly crisp. Great opener, and congrats to Matt and Nick on their seventh(!) championship reign.
- The six man tag was fun, and I was very glad it was a gauntlet match, because in no way was I ready to see all those teams going at it at the same time. In the end, it was mostly just a throwaway, get everyone on the card type match, but it was enjoyable none the less.
- I'm going to say this very quietly: Cody (Rhodes) is my most hated wrestler in all of the business. I don't know what it is, but I've never been able to stand him in the ring or on the mic, so suffice it to say I was more than a little apprehensive before his match with Kota Ibushi.
- That being said, CROSS RHODES OFF THE APRON!!! Christ, what a bump. Kota's a f***ing maniac for agreeing to take that. A really surprisingly good match, Ibushi is an absolute machine and Cody did some good heel work. Very good stuff, one of my favorite matches of the night.
- Having KES start their tag title defense with their finisher in the first five seconds certainly popped the crowd, but it also left the rest of the match feeling much more limited. There just wasn't much life to this match, a shame, as I think both teams are quite good.
- When you get two guys like Hirooki Goto and Minoru Suzuki facing off, you know you're going to get a very hard hitting contest, and that's exactly what this was. This wasn't quite the best match of either guys' career, but it was entertaining regardless. I loved Suzuki coming back to shave his own head, taking all of the shame of the loss.
- I saw plenty of people talking about the Junior Heavyweight 4-way as a potential match of the year candidate, and I really didn't get that feeling. Make no mistake, it was a very fun match and I had a blast watching it, but it was a little too long and too focused on spots to quite click for me.
- If there's one major negative that is a present constant in modern New Japan's booking, it's that they do seem to have some trouble knowing when to pull the trigger. The Intercontinental Championship match was the first example of this issue, but it wouldn't be the last.
- There was some good in this Hiroshi Tanahashi-Jay White match, but it was quite limited. It never felt like either guy got out of the starting block, and White's not exactly the greatest worker in the world, but having him lose clean in his first big chance just didn't feel right.
- I was very concerned when I heard about Chris Jericho coming back to NJPW, mainly considering the massive step up in physicality from WWE's style, which he was already struggling in. What kind of match could Jericho wrestle, and could he and Kenny Omega have what it took to live up to the "dream match" moniker?
- The answer is yes, but I don't think you needed me to tell you that. I expected a more "smoke and mirrors" style match, and early on, that's what we got. The hardcore shenanigans were fun, but I was really impressed by just how much wrestling there was in this match. Jericho, even at his age, can still go, and gave Omega, still in his prime, an absolute fight. Nothing but praise for this match; if you haven't seen, you really should. My pick for match of the night.
- The story of Tetsuya Naito is certainly an interesting one. The man who was robbed of his Wrestle Kingdom main event thanks to a fan vote, re-inventing himself to return and reclaim the throne, becoming one of the most popular men in the business as a result. That story seemed to have an ending in sight: his win in the G1 Climax gave him the right to face the man who took his belt, in his rightful place in the main event and giving him an earth-shattering win. The ending seemed obvious, but in wrestling, nothing is certain.
- Look, nothing against Okada as a wrestler, he's very talented and this was a very good match. The final few minutes were chaotic as hell, and had a genuine level of suspense and physicality that left the result so up in the air. But this was a match tailor-made for Naito's big win, and even if he does beat Okada for the belt later on, it just won't have the same impact as doing it at the biggest show of the year. It's a pretty disappointing way to end what was a very good show.
8.5/10
Although this was a very entertaining, very good five hours of wrestling, it never really got to that absolute next level. And other than the Jericho-Omega match, and maybe the Bucks' seventh tag title win, nothing of this show is going to be particularly memorable in six or seven months time. In the end, this show may not have been an all-time classic, but it was well worth a watch, and I recommend all wrestling fans to check it out.
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