Destruction rolls into Beppu with, at least on paper, the weakest main event of the tour. The last time Suzuki and Naito faced off, it wasn’t great, but two guys that talented can’t muck it up again, can they?
Destruction in Hiroshima, an event name that will always make me cringe. I assume NJPW know what they’re doing with it, but from the outside looking in? Yea, I might change that one. Anyway, that’s not the important part. The important part is that it’s headlined by Kenny Omega vs Tomohiro Ishii. That is never going to be a bad thing. Go murder him, Wide Tom!
I’ve been going back and forth on reviewing this show as it is headlined by someone I believe to be scum. However, there is a solid undercard to blab about, so I’ve decided to go ahead with it. Just don’t expect me to focus on the piece of shit.
After a long old tour, New Japan finally made it to Dontaku. Of course, they couldn’t resist making that two shows too, splitting it up between a Bullet Club night and a title shot night. First up, it’s the ongoing antics of the Club.
Hi No Kuni is in a weird position, falling slap bang in the middle of the Dontaku tour. Part of it and yet also separate. However, it’s giving us a handful of big matches all involving LIJ vs Suzuki-gun, so let’s not complain too much. Even more importantly, that means there isn’t a sniff of Roppongi 3K vs Suzuki-gun. Thank God for that.
I understand New Japan splitting up their big matches onto multiple cards from a business point of view. More shows = more tickets = more money. However, when it comes to valuing my time, it’s an awful decision. Particularly when it means I have to sit through another card packed with nothing multi-man tags and Suzuki-gun antics. It’s a good thing I have Goto and Juice to enjoy.
In a lot of ways, this card is a mirror image of the one from the night before. While the matches have had a few tweaks, they’re hitting the same storyline beats, and in reality, it’s all about the main event – or at least it was. Because then they only went and added Ishii vs Henare. I’ve been calling for that since Tag League, suddenly, I’m quite excited.
Quick note: I’m going to change things up slightly and replace the pictures with NJPW’s post-match interviews. They’re an important part of the company’s storytelling, so it seems fitting.
After a short break, New Japan is back with a long old tour. With business being up, those in charge have realised that rather than selling out one super card, they can instead sell out multiple decent ones. That’s how we end up with the Junior Tag Titles main eventing. Not that we should complain too much, we all love wrestling, right? More of it can only be a good thing.
The final stop on the RevPro catch-up sees us dropping in on New Orleans. With the help of some Japanese friends, Andy Quildan’s dream factory had put together a sexy card. This one promised to be a lot of fun and – spoiler – it delivered.