NJPW Invasion Attack - 7 април 2013

[nWoHulkster]

NJPW "INVASION ATTACK" (WPW)

April 7th, 2013

Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA) © vs. Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi)

2. Special Eight Man Tag Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Akebono, Manabu Nakanishi, Super Strong Machine vs. Bob Sapp, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI

3. CMLL World Tag Team Title: Terrible & Tama Tonga © vs. La Máscara & Valiente

4. Special Tag Match: GBH (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) vs. Complete Players (Masato Tanaka & Yujiro Takahashi)

5. Special Singles Match: Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki

6. Special Tag Match: Yuji Nagata & Hirooki Goto vs. Laughter7 (Kazushi Sakuraba & Katsuyori Shibata)

7. NWA World Heavyweight Title: Rob Conway © vs. Satoshi Kojima

8. IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura © vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

9. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs. Kazuchika Okada

[The1948One]

WHAT A CARD!!!

[Jericho]

Пенис за Мания. Ето какво че се гледа!

Кога Хонма се върна и за какво беше уволнен?

И не требваше ли да има мач Накамура-Ишии - Килър Елит Скуад?

[nWoHulkster]

NJPW “INVASION ATTACK” (WPW/PPV/iPPV)

April 7th, 2013

Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

8,200 Fans

1. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley © beat Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi (10:42) when KUSHIDA used a Japanese leg roll clutch hold on Taguchi (3rd defense).

2. Special 8 Man Tag Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi, Super Strong Machine & Akebono beat Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Bob Sapp (10:00) when Nakanishi used the Uekara Don on YOSHI-HASHI.

3. CMLL World Tag Team Title: El Terrible & Tama Tonga © beat La Mascara & Valiente (8:57) when Terrible used the a powerbomb on Valiente.

4. Special Tag Match: Masato Tanaka & Yujiro Takahashi beat Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma (10:41) when Tanaka used the Sliding D on Honma.

5. Special Singles Match: Minoru Suzuki beat Toru Yano (10:09) with a Gotch-style piledriver.

6. Special Tag Match: Yuji Nagata & Hirooki Goto beat Kazushi Sakuraba & Katsuyori Shibata (11:32) by referee stop (Nagata beat Sakuraba).

7. Triple Main Event I – NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ron Conway © beat Satoshi Kojima (14:24) with the Ego Trip.

8. Triple Main Event II – IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura © beat Davey Boy Smith Jr. (18:04) with the Boma Ye (7th defense).

9. Triple Main Event III – IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada beat Hiroshi Tanahashi © (31:41) with the Rainmaker to become the 59th champion.

New Japan presented “INVASION ATTACK” today at Sumo Hall with 8,200 paid fans and many others on PPV/iPPV enjoying what was another very good show. I would rank it below the two other high profile Tokyo shows of recent times, this January’s Tokyo Dome show and last October’s Sumo Hall show, but it was still very high quality and well worth the US$25. New Japan has set such high standards now that even if an event like this can’t match up to others it still impresses as a standalone event.

The show opened with an entertaining IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title match in which “TIME SPLITTERS” KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley made a successful V3 defense of the belts against “Apollo 55″ Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi two days after the champions both lost singles matches to the challengers. KUSHIDA pinned Taguchi in a rather abrupt finish but the real talking point soon followed. Devitt has been acting very strange and eccentric lately with comments towards wrestlers and we finally saw where it was leading today. After blaming his long-time friend Taguchi for the loss, the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion attacked him. Before KUSHIDA and Shelley could help, King Fale returned from his overseas excursion looking very intimidating and destroyed everyone then lifted Devitt on his shoulders. His turn to the dark side complete, Devitt reintroduced Fale to the crowd as the “Underboss” Bad Luck Fale while labelling himself a rock ‘n’ roll star. Lots of boos for Devitt and his turn went over perfectly. The junior division saw its biggest twist in many a year, what happens next…?

Akebono and Bob Sapp returned in another New Japan vs. CHAOS eight man tag like at the Tokyo Dome in January. This was very entertaining and better than expected, although Sapp contributes nothing at all these days and his aura is long gone. Nakanishi finished off YOSHI-HASHI with his new finisher which was basically a diving tomahawk chop.

The CMLL World Tag Team Title was defended in what I would say was a better match than the IWGP Jr. Tag Title bout as Terrible & Tama Tonga defeated La Mascara & Valiente. Only one New Japan wrestler in this match (Tonga) but the crowd was quite into it as they were most of the show. Some great spots including a no-hands double springboard moonsault from Valiente who eventually fell to a powerbomb from Terrible.

Minoru Suzuki avenged his New Japan Cup loss to Yano with a singles win in another fun match. Like most of the undercard it was entertaining without reaching great heights. This was a strange match as it was two total heels up against each other. Yano was more of a crowd favourite because of Taichi (on crutches) interfering a lot on Suzuki’s behalf. Suzuki won with his Gotch-style piledriver then beat up Yano some more after the match and used Yano’s GHC Tag Team Title belt as a weapon to mock him with.

Laughter7′s latest venture ended in defeat to Nagata & Goto but probably wouldn’t have if not for a sickening finish. This was an excellent match and going along very well with the usual intensity of Laughter7 vs. New Japan, but a messy suplex saw Sakuraba’s arm get messed up in a bad way. His elbow seemed to dislocate and you could see it, disturbing visuals to say the least. Sakuraba didn’t even seem that phased but couldn’t straighten his arm and the referee panicked, calling for the bell. Shibata slapped both Nagata and Goto who seemed a bit too horrified to react and seconds later Sakuraba with his elbow popped back into place and a sling on clasped hands with Nagata. It made you wonder whether the match could have continued if Saku had been able to tag out to Shibata but the referee was justified in calling for the bell. With Sakuraba now likely out for some time, it will be interesting to see how/if Shibata is used.

The NWA “Invasion” began with Rob Conway defending the NWA World Heavyweight Title against Satoshi Kojima. Conway was seconded by NWA president Bruce Tharpe and wrestler Jax Dane. This match needed to make an impact for this storyline to begin on a high but did anything but. Conway lacked any real charisma and wrestled a very formulaic style. Kojima’s stiff strikes seemed to almost unnerve him and he looked slightly scared unless I was misreading his expression. The match never really amounted to much and had lots of interference from Jax Dane which led to Conway winning with his Ego Trip. I’m not sure this storyline is going to work but we will see what New Japan does with it…

The wonderful Shinsuke Nakamura made a successful V7 defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Title against Davey Boy Smith Jr. in another rematch from the New Japan Cup where Smith pulled off a big upset. Nakamura had beaten Smith’s tag partner Lance Archer in his previous defense and looked to make it a double over the IWGP Tag Team Champions. This blew the previous match out of the water and showed just how you do a good native vs. gaijin singles match. Davey Boy Jr. has improved a lot since arriving in Japan and now seems to understand the style and how to work it. The match was high in drama and had some great moments, the ultra-charismatic Nakamura captivating as always. Nakamura kicked out of Smith’s powerbomb then escaped another with a beautiful abisegiri/rolling koppou kick before winning with the Boma Ye. Another impressive IWGP IC Title match and Nakamura has done wonders turning this into a credible title.

And then came the big one, the main event, the biggest rivalry in New Japan of the past year. Hiroshi Tanahashi has controlled the IWGP Heavyweight Title in recent years with reigns from 1/4/11 to 2/12/12 (record-breaking 11 successful defenses) and 6/16/12 to 4/7/13 (today) with only Kazuchika Okada’s first reign as champion from 2/12/12 to 6/16/12 preventing complete and utter domination by New Japan’s ace. They came into this match with a 2-1 record in favour of Tanahashi since Okada returned from America and became an almost overnight superstar. Okada won their first match last February in his surprise title win before dropping it back in June, then failing to win it back at the Tokyo Dome this January. Of all their matches this was the best for me, a half hour classic with brilliant work from both. Tanahashi is among the best wrestlers of the last decade but he was just out of this world today with an inspired performance. Okada still hasn’t fully reached his in-ring potential but is more than good enough for the role and push he has been given. This was fantastic and is worth going out of your way to see, although the same can be said about most Tanahashi title matches and this didn’t quite reach the greatness of the legendary Tanahashi vs. Suzuki match last October. It was a long match but never close to boring and the last 1/3 or so was just incredible with pure drama, clever counters, and near falls. Okada used his new Red Ink finisher and it got a lot of heat leading to a desperate Tanahashi barely making the ropes. Tanahashi destroyed Okada’s arm for much of the match to try and eliminate his Rainmaker and this storyline persisted, culiminating with Okada hitting the Rainmaker but going down in agony so by the time he was able to make a cover Tanahashi kicked out at 2.9. Okada looked doomed after that with Tanahashi hitting the Sling Blade and High Fly Flow to the back, then going up for the second High Fly Flow to the sternum that has won him so many matches… but Okada got his knees up in an exciting moment. Okada then won with the Rainmaker to a big pop and began his second IWGP Heavyweight Title reign in the same way as his first with a win over New Japan’s biggest star. A truly epic match.

Anyone with a keen eye for New Japan booking knew what was coming next. The CHAOS vs. Suzuki Gun feud and Okada’s surprise defeat to Suzuki at “THE NEW BEGINNING” led to what happened next as Gedo grabbed the microphone and called out Suzuki who walked out to receive Gedo’s challenge (on behalf of Okada). Suzuki mocked and taunted as he does and accepted the challenge. Okada struck his Rainmaker pose but got a slap from Suzuki for his efforts, who then locked Gedo in a sleeper hold and pushed him back to Okada. And so Okada vs. Suzuki looks set to headline the big Fukuoka show in May in what will be Okada’s V1 defense of a reign he will hope lasts longer than his first. The king is dead, long live the king!

[nWoHulkster]

[nWoHulkster]

В сферата на любопитното: Meltzer оцени главния мач от това шоу с пет звезди.

 

Shelley/KUSHIDA vs. Devitt/Taguchi - ****

Nakanishi/Akebono/Tenzan/SSM vs. Sapp/Iizuka/Ishii/YOSHI-HASHI - ***1/4

Terrible/Tonga vs. Valiente/Mascara - ***1/4

Tanaka/Takahashi vs. Makabe/Honma - ****1/4

Suzuki vs. Yano - ***1/2

Nagata/Goto vs. Sakuraba/Shibata - ***3/4

Conway vs. Kojima - ***1/4

Nakamura vs. Smith Jr. - ****1/4

Tanahashi vs. Okada - *****

[parcaleste]

Мелцър нема да им даде ***** на японците... Нещо ново ще кажеш ли?

[degenerat 2]

Мачът между Tanahashi и Okada си заслужава петте звезди на 101%. Невероятен двубой и като кеч, и като история, и като атмосфера и усещане. Моментът с повдигането от първия rainmaker беше перфектно изпипан, Tanahashi стана първият изритвал от този ход, но при вторият вече нямаше как да се изправи. Към всичките си постижения в последната година и половина Okada вече добави и пет звезден мач.

[parcaleste]

Не казвам, че не е бил лош мача, казвам, че ДА МЕЛЦ е пристрастен изтаралянкал дедок.

[degenerat 2]

И аз се дразня на необективните му оценки за някои мачове и компании, но от първия ти пост излиза, че в Япония петте звезди се дават ей така, за какво ли не, което не е вярно. От 2000-ната насам само 4 мача от там са получили тази оценка, като при всеки от тях тя е напълно заслужена. Причината за голямата бройка 5 звездни срещи през 90-те е златното поколение на AJPW, включващо трима от най-кадърните в представянето си на ринга кечисти в историята.

[Scott Daniels]

Турнирът беше страхотен ! Нямаше нито един слаб мач.Нямам търпение да видя  Okada срещу Suzuki.Cигурен съм,че това ще бъде един страхотен мач.

[The1948One]

Излязъл ли е някакъв нормален рилийз? Видях че има някакъв 10 ГБ, но нямам намерение да го тегля. Ако някой има линк да сподели.

[LightOne]

Не знам за дъртото Мелцър, ама аз с лекота му давам високата оценка на финалния мач. А хем съм и случаен зрител. Страхотно изпълнение на движенията и поддържане на напрежението, така че останах предоволен от мача.

Зачетох се в репортажа  и разбрах конкретната причина за работата над ръката на Окада, мен и без това ме впечатли добрия му selling, та още повече ми хареса и вкарания смисъл в него.