Ren Narita vs Tetsuhiro Yagi – 10 minute draw

This was great! The best young lion match I’ve seen in quite some time.  Right from the bell these two just went at it.  Loads of intensity as they traded forearms and chops.  When you hear people talk about wrestlers leaving it all in the ring to make an impression, this is exactly what they mean. They both had Boston Crab attempts as they clawed to the ropes to escape. Yagi hit a great Suzuki style dropkick. Narita nailed a head butt and a belly to belly. The dying seconds saw Yagi refuse to quit as he was held in a Boston Crab. Absolutely great stuff in this.



Yuji Nagata vs Shota Umino

Umino showed loads of fire early as he took it to Nagata. Experience took over as Nagata took control and started to wear down the young lion. Umino made a hell of a comeback. He’s one of the most polished young lions and it really showed here.  Nagata got the win after an exploder and a crossface.  Very good match.



Michael Elgin, Ryusuke Taguchi & Togi Makabe defeated Tomoyuki Oka, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi

Taguchi pretended he hurt his knee early on to try and roll up Nakanishi. It did not work.  Tenzan & Makabe had an incredibly un-pretty exchange that resembled two buses crashing into one another.  Makabe took out Tenzan & Nakanishi with a double clothesline, which left Oka vs Elgin. Oka kicked out of a stiff lariat, but was put away with an Elgin Bomb. This team challenge for the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag titles on Sunday.



Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & Jay White defeated Toa Henare, David Finlay & Juice Robinson

Ishii got the better of Henare early after some forearms.  Team CHAOS worked over Henare until Juice got the tag and went at it with Goto. Juice holds a win over Goto, so he is in line for a NEVER title shot. Really good exchange between them. They traded lariats, and Goto got the upper hand after an Ushigoroshi.  Finlay and White had a back and forth ahead of their US title match next month.  Ishii & Henare went at it again, this time with Henare getting the better of the veteran.  Ishii turned things around by repeatedly chopping him in the throat.  A melee broke down and allowed Henare to spear Ishii. He slapped him and delivered headbutts, only for Ishii to nail a lariat and a Brainbuster to finish the match. Henare gets closer and closer to beating Ishii. This was great.



Toru Yano, SHO & YOH defeated Tiger Mask IV, KUSHIDA & Hiroshi Tanahashi

This was another fun match. SHO & YOH got to mix it up with KUSHIDA, something we will hopefully see a lot more of this year. Tanahashi took it easy, and who can blame him.  Tiger Mask looked good in his return after some time off. Yano got the tag late on and caused his usual hassle. He stole a win when he Low blowed Tiger & Tanahashi and rolled up Tiger.



EVIL, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr

This was EVILs return to action after his orbital bone injury. The crowd were really fired up for this as it was the first LIJ vs Suzuki-Gun meeting in Korakuen.  There was lots of brawling on the outside.  Naito was worked over for a brief time.  We saw SANADA & Archer do some great stuff together. Naito & Suzuki brawled all the way backstage.  This one was impossible to keep up with, but it was really good.  EVIL & SANADA hit the Magic Killer on Kanemaru, but the pin was broken up.  EVIL finished Kanemaru with an STO.



Zack Sabre Jr & Taichi defeated YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada

Early one we had Sabre tie Okada in knots, but Okada was able to turn it around and embarrass Sabre. This led to Sabre going after the Rainmaker arm on the outside.  YOSHI had his arm worked over by both Sabre & Taichi. Okada made the comeback, but Sabre had an answer for everything Okada threw at him. Okada & YOSHI hit a great slingshot DDT that dropped Sabre on his head.  The finish saw Sabre torture YOSHI into submission, as Taichi held Okada in place to watch.  After the match they continued to beat down Okada & Gedo as Sabre held the IWGP title high.  They meet for the gold on Sunday at Sakura Genesis.



This show is available with English commentary at NJPWWorld.com.