The photographer gets a lot of love for this one. Credit: NJPW
We’re on night five, and these shows are already blurring into one. The next few have upped the quota to four Tag League matches, so that’s, well, annoying. Let’s dish out some stars.
Remember my complaint about mediocre tag-team action? I was thinking about cards like this. A night of New Japan dads vs Bullet Club backbenchers. There was a chance it would be God awful. The things I do for wrestling. Let’s dish out some stars.
Juice is the only person I’ve ever seen make that move look decent. Credit: NJPW
World Tag League might not have the prestige of the G1 or even the Super Juniors but this year has the potential to be interesting. They’ve left the big names out and brought in a load of fresh foreign talent to create some intriguing combos. It’s set up a tournament that promises to be a lot of fun. Let’s dish out some stars.
For the first time this year, New Japan comes into a major show having been merely alright last time around. Destruction didn’t set the world on fire, but, King of Pro Wrestling is not Destruction, and, on paper at least, this was one hell of a card. Let’s dish out those stars.
The New Japan camera people always catch this shot perfectly. Credit: NJPW
The Destruction tour comes to an end and it’s safe to say that in an incredible year for New Japan, these shows won’t be making the scoreboard. It’s had its moments, but it has been a B tour through and through, and 90% of the cards were made up of tag matches. That doesn’t stop us rating them, though. Let’s dish out those stars.
NJPW don’t seem to be putting up photos from these shows, sorry. Credit: NJPW
In a strange way, the pressure was off Destruction in Hiroshima. The first Destruction show was New Japan’s worst outing this year and it’s lowered the expectations for this tour. The wrestlers booked here won’t have to do much to impress, as it isn’t hard to improve on crap. Let’s dish out those stars.
Pictures aren’t up yet, but I’ll add them when they are. Credit: NJPW
With the New Japan roster all rested up post-G1 (although a lot of them headed off around the world so they might not be as rested as they want to be), they are now heading back to work for the Destruction tour. Three B Shows and a host of Road To events don’t exactly scream unmissable, but there are a few gems hidden away over the next couple of weeks. Sadly, they aren’t on this show, but we trudge into the dark anyway. Let’s hand out those stars.
Here we are. The nineteenth and final show of this year’s G1 and my final review. It’s been one hell of a tournament with umpteen match of the year contenders and a fair few emotional moments. So for one final time (well, until the next wrestling show I review), let’s dish out those stars.
We all knew that it would come down to this. There were questions about how they’d do it, but it was written in the stars. Okada vs. Omega III with the winner going to the final. Could they capture the magic of their first two matches with the constraints of a thirty-minute time-limit? Of course they fucking could, stupid.