Tokyo
YOSHINOBU KANEMARU vs. MASTER WATO (7:31): New Japan was supposed to have a big show at Madison Square Garden on this date, the last Saturday of August. I'm kind of thinking that the card would have been better if that had happened. I also kind of think that Evil would never have been champion if not for the pandemic, but who knows? New Japan still put on a big show, this one at a baseball stadium in Tokyo. The history of this baseball stadium is actually pretty interesting. It's one of the few stadiums still around that Babe Ruth played in. Fenway Park he played in. Where else? In the 20's, a few American baseball stars like Ruth and Lou Gehrig came to Tokyo and did a 22 game exhibition series. But it gets even more interesting! Japan famously loathes outsiders the same way racism is baked into the U.S. Someone was pissed off that non-Japanese players were going to play in Jingu Stadium so he attempted to assassinate the guy that set it up. He tried to kill him with a sword and failed, though did wound the guy. Jesus Christ. I can't believe that story is real. Guy hated Babe Ruth flying all the way to Tokyo to play baseball? World's strange. So this stadium is super old but it made the show look pretty cool with a big backdrop and 5,000 fans scattered throughout. When the sun was setting during the Tanahashi tag match it made a beautiful backdrop. Too bad this show wasn't any good, as most of the New Japan shows haven't been very good since they returned in July (hopefully things pick up when the G1 stars on September 15th). Kanemaru, who's kind of just a side guy comedian type (he always takes a swig of liquor and spits it in his opponent's face), beat the upstart, Master Wato, who just returned this year from his Mexican furlough. Hirai Kawato, now known as Master Wato, was getting a lot of buzz in New Japan. Then he went to CMLL and didn't really do much of anything besides win the lame Welterweight title (which he still has! That makes no sense...considering he's not even in CMLL anymore). He didn't look sharp nor exciting here. Oh, well. 1/2*
TORU YANO vs. EL DESPERADO vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. SANADA (7:01): This match was the finals of an experimental tournament that crowned the new King of Pro-Wrestling champion. I really don't think New Japan needs another title. They already have the IWGP title, the IWGP Jr. title, the NEVER title, the Jr. tag titles, the 6-man tag titles, and the Heavyweight tag titles. The KOPW title is slightly different in that every match has a stipulation that one of the wrestlers comes up with. Unfortunately they haven't been any kind of interesting stipulation like a cage match or ladder match, they've been dumb stips like a submission match or a two-count match. It was surprising that Yano pinned Okada (after giving him a low blow). What the fuck is Okada even doing in such a forgettable, early match on a major show? Especially when Evil, who might be the company's most boring worker, is main eventing. Who knows? The booking in this company since July has been a fucking mess. Sanada looked incredible in this match, though, and the crowd loves him. Why the hell did they give Evil the title and not Sanada? **
MINORU SUZUKI vs. SHINGO TAKAGI (14:50): Maybe Suzuki is just getting too old, because you'd think this would've been a classic considering Takagi is one of NJPW's best wrestlers. It was hard hitting but never reached any kind of high gear of excitement. Suzuki won the NEVER title...which baffles me. Every title changed hands on this show except the tag titles. **
TAJI ISHIMORI vs. HIROMU TAKAHASHI (13:30): This was the only good match on the show and it was incredible. When Hiromu returned from a broken neck in January, I mentioned that he looked a tad hesitant and wasn't as suicidal. Well, that's apparently out the window as he wrestled like a fucking mad man here. There was one German suplex he took right on his head. It was gruesome. Maybe the pandemic made him realize life is short and he decided to revert to his kamikaze ways. Or maybe Taji is just the perfect opponent for him. It was surprising that Hiromu lost the Jr. title here. Some said it was possible since Hiromu is probably going to be in the G1 tournament and Jr.'s shouldn't really be in a heavyweight tournament. Still...he just won the title in January. What a fucking run! This was fast paced and excellent. ***1/2
TAICHI & ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI & KOTA IBUSHI (16:01): The one odd thing that they did on this show was give everyone in attendance some sort of device that made crowd noise if you pressed a button. You could press the BOO button or the CHEER button. They did this because you had to wear a mask and weren't supposed to actually yell or cheer or shout things, just clap. That's probably why there wasn't a lot of crowd noise except for random times when suddenly a cacophonous booing sound echoed throughout the stadium all at once. This match was, sadly, a bore. On a big show you'd hope that they'd put their star, Ibushi, in a singles match. I really hope that Ibushi faces Naito at the Dome...although right now it looks like it might be Hiromu vs. Naito at the Dome (it better not be fucking Evil, that's all I'm saying). It kind of seemed that, for whatever reason, none of the wrestlers were really doing much or trying hard on this show (besides Ishimori and Takahashi). Maybe wrestling in a giant, outside stadium had them all off kilter? No one in this match did much of anything. The heels won and retained their titles for some reason. *1/2
TETSUYA NAITO vs. EVIL (26:20): This was one of the worst NJPW title matches I've ever seen. The last awful one? Evil vs. Naito last month. Evil fucking sucks. He's so boring. He's so slow. Nothing he does is exciting or seamless or entertaining. He's just a plodding bore. Why they gave him the title is beyond me. They have done this before, though. They gave Jay White the title for one month two years ago just to let everyone know that he's for real and you should take him serious. The problem is...Jay White's actually been in some great matches (granted, very few) and has a lot of charisma. Evil has nothing. Literally, nothing of value. Naito won the title here, thank God. This was twenty-five minutes of Nyquil. The only semi-entertaining aspect was when a few other wrestlers ran in during the ref bump (Master Wato, Sanada, Dick Togo). I'm so glad this "experiment" is over with. Hopefully Evil's title run is forgotten forever. 1/2*
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