#riki jr. mark 2

[thecrowperson]

Kaidou manga panels I like: (pt 478)

Everyone's Here: feat. (ughhhhhh) ... Saiki, Nendou, Teruhashi, Riki Jr Mark 2, Anpu, Kuboyasu, Yumehara, Mera, Hairo, Aiura, Toritsuka, Akechi, Suzumiya, Satou, Takahashi, Saiko, Warp, Yuuta, Chouno, Kurumi, Kuniharu, Kuusuke, Makoto, Rifuta, Michael, Shiragami, Kumagoro, Kumi, Sora, Kaidou's mom, Toki, Midori, Takeuchi, Kongou, Shima, Matsuzaki, Iguchi, and Zolbe

From: vol 26 ch 273

I'm most certainly gonna run out of tag room so I'll have to downsize a lot...

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 15 in Tokyo Dome Night 1 Review (Jan 4th 2020)

New Japan Rambo  *1/2

BOSJ 27 vs. SJC 2020 IWGP Jr. Heavyweight No.1 Contenders Match: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo  ****

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny  ***1/2

IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship Right To Challenge Match: KENTA vs. Satoshi Kojima  ***1/2+

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan  ***1/2

Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay  ****3/4

IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Double Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito (c/c) vs. Kota Ibushi  ****1/2

Photos.

So the first night of WK15 is in the history books, held in front of a socially distanced crowd of 12,689, which is an amazing number given the state of the world at present (I’m in the UK and we can’t even have two people in the same room, so near 13,000 seems mind-blowing!). This is the biggest crowd to have seen a wrestling show in Japan since last years Dome shows, and the biggest major wrestling show held anywhere since March of last year, so it’s quite the achievement. In quick results from a very fun show:

Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, BUSHI and Toru Yano (who never even made it to the ring) were the “winners” of the annual Rambo and will face each other in a 4-way to determine the KOPW champion on tomorrows show. The Rambo was as it always is, which is very forgettable, very long, and not especially very good. After a Japanese Don King (who sings!) introduced Riki Choshu (a guy who, in this very building in 1998, squashed FOUR guys in a row in his “retirement” match), and his young grandson, to the masses for a nice opening, BOSJ winner Hiromu Takahashi pinned everyone’s favourite/most hated douchebag heel, the 2020 Super J Cup winner El Phanatsmo, in 17:46, when he turned CRII into a Frankensteiner and cradle. This was an excellent match that was a great way to start the show. Hiromu essentially played crash pad to ELP’s highflying moves, and seemed to be saving himself for the Ishimori match tomorrow, which he earned with this win.

Next up, the GOD won the IWGP Tag Titles for what must be the 476th time. The match was very good (once it got going), but at 19:18, it felt very long, and the finish and result were lamentable; after a ref bump and prerequisite Jado interference spot, Tama nailed Taichi with his own Iron Fingers From Hell, which allowed Loa to hit Apeshit and win the belts. Honestly, I could have done without this title change. The Guerrillas with the belts just feels like I’ve been transported back in time three or four years, and the Dangerous Tekkers felt both fresh, and like they were just getting going as champions. Whatever. After a video taped Jon Moxley promo, KENTA defended the U.S. Title Right To Challenge Briefcase against the legend that is Satoshi Kojima, in a very good little match. Obviously, Koji was a late replacement for the broken orbital boned Juice Robinson, and honestly, with all due respect to Juice, this was a much better match for it. Even though no one feasibly bought him winning, Kojima was on fire here, showing the world that he does indeed “still have it”, and drove the action throughout. It wasn’t to be though as KENTA retained the briefcase after a Go 2 Sleep at the 14:12 mark. So KENTA will challenge Moxley in the U.S. at some point, which should be a fun match.

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated the returned-from-excursion Great-O-Khan in my least favourite match of the show. This was far from bad, but realistically, this was the match where I started to lag, as it just wasn’t all that interesting at times. The former Tomoyuki Oka has a very weird gimmick, and his offence is like something from a 1970s regional promotion in the U.S. He isn’t a bad worker, he’s very solid, but this wacky Mongolian gimmick, which I first clapped eyes on at a Rev Pro show what must have been 7 years ago now (it was three, but time has no meaning anymore), is going to need some serious revamping. Tanahashi was his usual great self here, carrying this beyond what it should by all rights have been, and had the babyface fire of a thousand babyfaces. After surviving O-Khan’s Claw based offensive manoeuvres, The Ace scored the win at 17:13 after hitting a High Fly Flow to the back, followed by one to the front, to get the winning three count.

From here the show picked up considerably. Okada sought revenge on former protege Will Ospreay, in a fantastic, dramatic outing, that would most likely have been a Tokyo Dome all-time-classic under regular conditions. This went 35:41, which sounds long, but felt half of that whilst watching. It told a great story, and the work from both guys was exceptional. This was less the inventive spot fest of their 2019 G1 classic, and instead was a stiff strike war. It was also the final point of Ospreay eschewing the Junior mantle, and becoming a full fledged heavyweight. Like most Okada matches, this really turned into something special in the last 10 minutes, after Ospreay hit a nasty Brainbuster through the timekeepers table, and stomped the bejesus out of Okada’s face, the newly crowned “Commonwealth Kingpin” escaped a Money Clip, hit Okada with a Tombstone, and his own Rainmaker for a great near fall. Okada dropkicked Will out of the air on a Super Oscutter attempt, which looked great, then turned a Storm Breaker attempt into a Fire Thunder Driver, and hit a stiff Rainmaker, for the first time in A YEAR, to score the win and seemingly awaken the Okada of old. Tremendous stuff here.

And the Double Title Main Event that followed had a lot to live up to, but was another excellent outing. Obviously, with the last few times these guys have squared off being borderline public executions, my heart was proverbially in my mouth on some of the spots here. With the notable exceptions of Ibushi taking a German Suplex on the ramp, which he of course landed square on top of his head for, an insane Frankensteiner off the apron, which saw Naito land very hard on the floor, Ibushi taking a reverse rana off the second rope, and both guys taking signature spots onto their heads, this was, on the whole, the “tamest” match these two have had against one another in maybe 5 or 6 years now. Ibushi hit Kamigoye for a great near fall, but misses a Phoenix Splash. Naito hits Destino, but Ibushi gets the shoulder up. Naito kicks out of another Kamigoye, then drops Ibushi on his head with Valentia, and goes for another Destino. Ibushi escapes and hits a wrist clutch V-Trigger, followed by a third, knee padless Kamigoye to FINALLY win the two top prizes in New Japan after 31:18 of great action. There was a really wacky bit, that only Ibushi could do, after the match, where he seemed to sell being in a “fugue state”, tried to pin Naito again after the match, and sold disbelief when Red Shoes explained to him that he’d won. Naito presented The Golden Star with both belts, then Ibushi’s opponent tomorrow, Jay White, came out in the post match, and cut a promo, promising Ibushi’s reign would only last 24 hours. Ibushi informed Jay that he is mistaken, and that Ibushi will indeed become a God. This was a show built around happy ending babyface wins (in the major bouts), and was a dose of positivity the world needs right now. Bring on Night 2 already.

NDT

[gdwessel]

Togi Makabe 20th Anniversary - 2/21/2017

Togi (Shinya) Makabe is a 20th-year pro wrestler now, and his celebration was today at Tokyo Korakuen Hall, which you can watch at NJPWWorld. Results:

Togi Makabe 20th Anniversary - 2/21/2017, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Tomoyuki Oka d. Henare (Referee Stoppage, 2:44) 

Jado & Gedo [CHAOS] d. El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG] (Jado > TAKA, Crossface of Jado, 10:07)

Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi [SZKG] d. Katsuyori Shibata, Yuji Nagata, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV (Kanemaru > Tiger, Deep Impact, 14:26) 

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & David Finlay Jr. d. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] (Robinson > BUSHI, Pulp Friction, 13:40)

Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] d. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi (Okada > Nakanishi, Rainmaker, 12:14)

Togi Makabe 20th Anniversary Match: Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma d. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano [CHAOS] (Makabe > Yano, King Kong Knee Drop, 15:37)

Post-match, Riki Choshu joined Makabe in the ring, as Choshu was one of Makabe’s trainers. Makabe also said he is declining the New Japan Cup this year as he is still pursuing the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles, having just pinned one of its holders.

Shibata and Suzuki went at each other as you’d expect. Taguchi kept going at Hiromu as he tries to challenge for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. Henare was stretchered off today - it could always be a work, however the short length of the match leads me to think otherwise.

The next show will be Sunday 2/26/2017, the first night of Honor Rising.

Honor Rising: Japan 2017 - 2/26/2017, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

KUSHIDA, Juice Robinson & David Finlay Jr. v. Silas Young, Jado [CHAOS] & Gedo [CHAOS]

NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship: SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] © v. Delirious, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV

Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club]

Hanson & Raymond Rowe v. Matt & Nick Jackson [Bullet Club]

Dalton Castle, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Punisher Martinez, Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables] & Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables]

Jay Lethal & Katsuyori Shibata v. Cody Rhodes & Adam Page [Bullet Club]

Jay & Mark Briscoe v. Kenny Omega & Adam Cole [Bullet Club]

[thecrowperson]

Kaidou manga panels I like: (pt 309)

Crappy Game: feat. Nendou, Kuboyasu, and Riki Jr. Mark 2

From: vol 17 ch 175

[thecrowperson]

Kaidou manga panels I like: (pt 240)

Mixed Messages: feat. Riki Jr. #2 and Saiki

From: vol 13 ch 136