NJPW Road to Sakura Genesis
March 26, 2017
Korakuen Hall
TOMOYUKI OKA vs. BAD LUCK FALE
This could actually be an interesting match-up down the line when Oka is a full member of the roster. The young lion went right after Fale, shaking off a shoulder tackle and running into another. He showed a lot of heart and kept trying, but Fale ran through him with ease and dropped him with the Grenade at 1:14. Winner: Bad Luck Fale
TAKA MICHINOKU, ES DESPERADO & TAKASHI IIZUKA [Suzuki-Gun] vs. HIRAI KAWATO, TIGER MASK & JUSHIN THUNDER LIGER
Suzuki-Gun triple teamed Kawato as he was making his entrance, then picked apart the veterans on the floor when the finally made it to the ring. The first half of the match was a slaughter of the young lion, with your standard ref distraction and SKG shenanigans; even Liger at one point took a shot at his teammate to toughen him up. Eventually he made the hot tag to Tiger Mask, who cleared the ring and almost won with a Tiger Driver on TAKA. Liger finally tagged in and stretched out Desperado and once again cleaned house. Kawato came in like a bat out of hell to get his revenge, almost rolled up Desperado, and kicked out of a big boot and spear combo. Desperado pinned him with the Guitarra del Angel in a fun 6-man tag. Winners: Suzuki-Gun
After the match Liger brought a chair into the ring and chased off the Suzuki-Gun members. He even threw down a referee, obviously pissed off at the outcome of the match. Tiger Mask and Kawato left as Liger remained in the ring to thank the fans. Seemed like a small, simple moment to maybe remind people that Liger is a badass as we approach the Best of the Super Juniors.
TOGI MAKABE, SATOSHI KOJIMA & HIROYOSHI TENZAN vs. WAR MACHINE & DAVID FINLAY
I quite enjoyed this match, and all six guys worked really hard to make it a non-stop barrage of action. You might think the smaller, younger Finlay would be the odd-man out in a battle of big brutes, but he held his own and ran through everyone at the start like a house on fire. Rowe tried to headbutt Tenzan, which is a bit like trying to stop a moving train with your forehead, and Makabe characteristically told him to f— himself. Big Hanson did a dive to the floor but ended up taking his partner out, opening the door for Tencozy to drop Finlay with a 3D. Kojima pinned him with the Kozy Lariat (White Bread) to end a really fun bout. Winners: Gen III Stars
JADO, GEDO & HIROOKI GOTO [Chaos] v. MINORU SUZUKI, YOSHINOBU KANEMARU & TAICHI [Suzuki-Gun]
You’ve seen three members of Suzuki-Gun beat up Gedo in an out-of-control brawl, and you’ve seen three MORE members of Suzuki-Gun beat up Gedo in an out-of-control brawl. Now, get ready for the blockbuster event of the spring, as…three members of Suzuki-Gun beat up Gedo in an out-of-control brawl! Joking aside, this was an ever so slightly elevated version of the standard Suzuki-Gun chaos you see on every show, with brawling in the crowd, Taichi using his little hammer of doom, and enough referee distraction to beat a dead horse. The inclusion of Goto, who needed to leave the match still looking like a major singles champion, elevated the bout. Minoru worked more than usual, had some excellent exchanges with Goto, and they brought out even more underhanded tricks and tactics. The Chaos boys fired back a few times, and Gedo got a hold of Taichi’s cane, but eventually he fell to a shot from one of the title belts, and a Deep Impact from Kanemaru. Winners: Suzuki-Gun
KENNY OMEGA, YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & CHASE OWENS [Bullet Club] vs. TORU YANO, BERETTA & TOMOHIRO ISHII [Chaos]
This was a bit of a mess at times, but not altogether a bad match. The placement of Kenny Omega on these cards is becoming increasingly frustrating for some; to me the lack of any emotional reaction or change in character after his recent losses is way more frustrating. Trent actually came off really well in this match, working a bulk of the action and getting the upper hand on Omega on multiple occasions. Hopefully we see a nice spot in the Super Juniors for him this year. Kenny tried to take it to the “next level” when he went to make a hot tag, had zero help, and had to run through all three opponents on his own. Still couldn’t be bothered to take his shirt off for the match. Yano did his Yano things, and ended up stealing a win over Owens. Winners: Chaos
HIROSHI TANAHASHI, JUICE ROBINSON, MANABU NAKANISHI, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & KUSHIDA vs. HIROMU TAKAHASHI, TETSUYA NAITO, SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables de Japon]
This started as a fun 10-man match and turned into something that was really quite good. Just non-stop action with people flying everywhere from start to finish. Takahashi and KUSHIDA had some really excellent exchanges to put over their upcoming title rematch, but Bushi also got in on the high-flying action. Taguchi Japan did about two dozen clotheslines to Naito in the corner at the start with the ringleader directing traffic. Takahashi did a sunset flip over the ropes, but turned it into a powerbomb on the apron killing KUSHIDA. There was just some much crazy action from everyone involved, and easily the match of the show so far. Juice Robinson got the surprise win with Pulp Friction on Sanada. Winners: Taguchi Japan
YOSHI-HASHI & KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. YUJI NAGATA & KATSUYORI SHIBATA
There were two completely different matches going on, with Nagata and Yoshi-Hashi going at it almost exclusively, as well as Shibata and Okada beating the heck out of each other heading into their title match. Of course Nagata and Yoshi-Hashi were just here to add some flavor to the real main event program, but they got great reactions and added to what was a really great tag team main event. There was so much tension and arrogance between Okada and Shibata, both trying to show off and establish themselves as the top dog; that match at Sakura Genesis is going to be excellent. They went back and forth with Shibata escaping the Rainmaker, but Yoshi-Hashi stopping him from hitting the PK on Okada. Shibata took it personally and hit him with a PK instead for the win. Winners: Katsuyori Shibata & Yuji Nagata
The show ended with Shibata standing tall in the ring after his victory, but Okada got up on the apron with the title and stared a hole through his forehead. The champ tried to leave but the challenger called him back out. Okada admitted that Shibata had finally stepped up, but it wouldn’t be easy to take the title from him. Shibata joked that he thought Okada was ignoring him after he refused to come out after the New Japan Cup finals. He claims that he will show Okada what a real man is made out of at the Sumo Hall, and is interested to see what the champ is made out of as well.
