Hirooki Goto def. Togi Makabe
Makabe is fired up at the start, actually taunting Goto to clothesline him several times, but then dumping him to the floor from behind. They brawl around ringside, but Goto comes back and absolutely beats the pulp out of his opponent with kicks, forarms and other stiff shots in the corner. Makabe gets a few minutes of offense in, but ends up turned inside-out by a lariat, followed by a rear suplex for a two-count. He mocks Goto and slaps him in the face, so Goto hits him with a fireman’s carry neckbreaker. At some point Makabe misses a top rope splash – has anybody hit one tonight? The crowd ends up getting into the match big time near the end, with tons of nearfalls and big moves from each guy. Goto ends up picking up the win with a sit-out side slam (I believe he calls the Shouten Kai).
Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Tomoaki Honma
A good feeling out process at the start, with the crowd respecting their efforts each time. Honma continues to hype his running headbutt, but keeps missing it (looks a lot like Luigi’s Green Missile in Super Smash Bros). Tanahashi breaks the theme of the night, and actually connects with a top rope senton, but there was no build to it so I’m not sure it “counts”. They battle over trying to suplex each other over the ropes, which Honma wins, followed by him finally connecting with the headbutt. We get a slap battle, then a dropkick battle, then a clothesline battle, and now a crowd battle with half for Honma, and half for Tanahashi. Honma gets a lariat and the brainbuster, but somehow Hiroshi kicks out. He teases the headbutt again and goes to the top rope but – surprise, surprise – he comes up empty. Tanahashi comes back with a Frankensteiner, which Honma no-sells to a big pop, but its followed up with a neckbreaker and the High Fly Flow for the 1-2-3 in a fantastic match.
