1) New Japan Rumble: This was like a Royal Rumble but as eliminations also occur by pinfall and submission. So like Aztec Warfare then, except this one is full of old vets who struggle to bump. Michael Elgin was man number 1 which was cool as he was returning from injury. Then man number 2 was Billy Gunn, really? Someone needs to tell Billy to tone down the gimmickry. He's awful but not the worst, that goes to Bone Solider who looks like a CAW I thought up as a child on Smackdown Know Your Role. Plus, he can't wrestle. Instead of brawling in between the entrances, everyone seems to stand and stare when the countdown starts like they ran out of spots. It's awful. Liger doesn't get eliminated then gets eliminated and I don't know what's going on. It comes down to Elgin and Cheeseburger. They try and save the match but it's well beyond saving. Elgin hits Cheeseburger with a powerbomb to finish a truly awful match.
2) Tiger Mask W vs. Tiger the Dark: This is based on the new anime show. Tiger Mask hit the Golden Triangle Press to the outside, just in case you were wondering who was under the mask. My suspicions are right about Tiger the Dark as it's ACH. Ibushi and ACH could have one hell of a match even in limited time but they keep it simple here. Ibushi hits the Last Ride Powerbomb for good to triumph over evil (although Tiger the Dark is apparently more of a Anti-Hero rather than straight up evil).
Quick note, I'm listening to the English commentary by ROH team Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino. They are awful in the pre-show but get better when the show starts. Still not great but good enough to listen to, even with limited knowledge of NJPW.
3) IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: The Young Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice: I'm not a fan of either team but will admit the Bucks can be enjoyable in short doses. There's some good spots like the Bucks faking the countout and hitting Superkicks on the entrance ramp and trying to win by countout and Nick Jackson's counter to Rocky's springboard hitting a bulldog/missile dropkick. The Bucks move out of the way of Trent's dive which leaves Trent hitting the floor hard. The Bucks work over the Rocky but he survives for Trent to recover, block the More Bang for Your Buck and allow Rocky to get the roll up win. It's meant to be a big title win but the titles change hands so much, it's hard to care. If they insist on using Americans, why not bring back MCMG.
4) NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships: Gauntlet: We start with Bullet Club versus Chaos. It's short and uneventful. Ospreay goes on a little run but is a little sloppy and Adam Page follows with a SSP off the apron. The Bullet Club advance but are quicky dispatched by Los Ingobernables de Japon. The match picks up with Ricochet and Finlay working well together, Kojima having a run and LIJ being straight up bad guys. LIJ pick up the win and take the titles. It's the right call as EVIL, Bushi and Sanada are all too good to be doing nothing but the titles switches in the 6-Man tag titles is almost every match.
5) Cody vs. Juice Robinson: I've read a review where the reviewer called this the worst match on the card. It's harsh, it's not that bad. Juice pulls out a great performance but Cody is a little too over the top. Now I've seen a few matches of Cody outside of WWE, it seems he's not going to be the performer who gets MOTYC. He plays his character very well (as he did in every character in WWE) but he's in the odd position of working like a WWE wrestler on the indies, NJPW and TNA. He's best off going back, it may be a longshot but in the last year we've seen AJ Styles, Nakamura and Chris Hero sign to WWE so stranger things have happened. Cody wins obviously, gotta wonder why he wasn't booked against Japanese talent, surely that's the point of going to New Japan.
6) ROH World Championship: Kyle O'Reilly vs. Adam Cole: I'm biased because I don't see the appeal in Cole. He competed in one of my favourite matches in 2016 but basically hung on the coat-tails of the other five men in the match. All he has going for him is his catchphrase and I imagine that gets annoying quickly. Luckily O'Reilly controls this match. He's bulked up a bit which suits him if he is going for heavyweight and his strikes were brilliantly stiff. Cole works the limb but then hits a suplex over the knee to win it. And that's it. Cole becomes the first ever three time champ in a lackluster match. I was a bit out of the loop and now found out that O'Reilly didn't sign a ROH contact. O'Reilly deserved the title ages ago and should have been the man to defeat Lethal.
7) IWGP Tag Team Championships: Guerrillas of Destiny vs. Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano: Not much to say about this match. Honma was Honma, Yano was Yano, everyone was everyone, The best bit of the match was Tanga Roa dropping the F-bomb a record number of times. Corino had to go off commentary for laughing too much and I had tears in my eyes. I don't know why English speakers swear so much in NJPW. I remember Ospreay being pretty potty mouth against Ricochet last year. Yano and Ishii wins which is an odd pairing I'm not sure I like.
8) IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA vs. Hiromu Takahashi: This was one of the matches I was looking forward to. I've always liked the Junior division, it's what first drew me into New Japan when Prince Devitt won the tag titles. The former Kamaitachi had a great match with Dragon Lee last year while KUSHIDA is always a joy to watch. The match disappointed me slightly but maybe I was expecting too much .Takahashi looked a little sloppy but that could just be nerves in his first big match. I was very happy to see two Japanese wrestlers face off, and I imagine they will continue this feud and get better matches.
9) NEVER Openweight Championship: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hirooki Goto: With all the other titles changing hands, it was clear which way this was going to go. You gotta be good to have the nickname 'The Wrestler' and Shibata is that good. He owns the NEVER Openweight division and has made the title his own. They worked a stiff match, not as good as the title match from last years Wrestle Kingdom but decent enough. I didn't get too invested and as predicted Goto won. Good match but nothing special
10) IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi: Naito is so cool, how he isn't main event is the big question (like how Pentagon Jr isn't the focus of Lucha Underground). Naito brought something different out of Tanahashi. Tanahashi didn't do the clean break and stole Naito's taunt. They both work over the legs and traded submissions. They sold the legs well as the match wore on. Naito hit the Destino to be the only champion to retain so far. It doesn't make up for not main eventing Wrestle Kingdom 8 but beating Tanahashi to retain where everyone else lost the titles, is a good sign. Also every member of LIJ hold gold. The match itself was great but didn't reach MOTYC standards.
11) IWGP Heavyeight Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega: What a match. It's pretty much a perfect match. Metzer gave the match 6... out of 5. I don't agree with that. It's an amazing match but not as good as Nakamura/Zayn from 2016 for me. Omega plays the Terminator in a fun sketch before his entrance. There was some heat on these two for main eventing but Okada pumped out another performance which solidifies him as the face of New Japan. Despite his popularity, Omega has had his critics but he put in a best in the World performance here. He showed he had it all, speed, strength, skill and his strikes were as stiff sounding as anyone's. It was a long match but there was no slowing down from the bell. There was also some huge spots, like Omega's shoutout to to Ishi by clearing the barricade and hitting Okada spot on with the Golden Triangle Press. The Bucks and Gedo are at ringside supporting both men but thankfully never get involved. The Bucks do set up a table which Okada brings out. Okada hits a big back body drop on Omega from the ring to the floor and through the table. Okada cut his back open at some point but sells the abdomen as Omega does well to work it over. Omega then switches to the neck which is fitting as Okada has had problems. It's worrying how much damage Omega is doing to Okada's neck, it must hurt so bad. Okada hits a tombstone and hits a couple of Rainmakers with Omega copying with a knee. They trade finishers some more with Okada getting the win with a final Rainmaker.
Final thoughts: I've seen a lot of praise for the event but I thought much of the card lacked. The final few matches delivered and the main event is one I will be talking about at the end of the year as one of my favourites. I skipped through from New Years Dash and watches a few matches. A few things happened. Dragon Lee debuted and took out Hiromu Takahashi but I thought it was Fenix when he first showed up. Ospreay does not like Shibata, that's a match I want to see. SUZUKI-GUN are back even though I don't know how many matches of them I want to see aside from Okada/Suzuki. And the 6-man tag titles changed hands again because it doesn't really matter. Oh and Omega said he is going to re-assess his future. Quite what that means is uncertain but I would imagine it's a bluff and he'll be back before anyone realises he's missing.
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