Lineups. HOORAY.
NJPW CMLL (FRI) 01/18/2013 Korakuen Hall
1) Tama Tonga & Titán vs Euforia & Shigeo Okumura
2) Bushi, Diamante, Ryusuke Taguchi vs Ishii, Rey Escorpión, Yujiro
3) Rush vs YOSHI-HASHI
4) La Máscara, Máscara Dorada, Máximo vs Taichi, Taka Michinoku, Volador Jr.
5) Jushin Liger, Mistico, Tiger Mask vs Gedo, Jado, Mephisto
6) Prince Devitt vs Dragón Rojo Jr.
neither man’s titles are on the line
7) Hiroshi Tanahashi & La Sombra vs Misterioso Jr. & Shinsuke Nakamura
Main event Misterioso (to take the pin, but he may main event more times in Japan this year than in Mexico.) Devitt & Rojo is a rematch of their Arena Mexico match, where they didn’t seem to mesh well to me. Rojo’s probably not going to be challenging for Devitt’s Junior title so he’s unlikely to get a win here. Mistico teams with other gimmicks, including someone else who’s taken on the name of a more famous (and better) wrestler. Rush gets to resume his beatings on Yoshihashi. Titan is the opening match, where’s unfortunately stuck for most of the matches.
NJPW CMLL (SAT) 01/19/2013 Korakuen Hall
1) Máximo & Tama Tonga vs Taichi & Taka Michinoku
2) Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Titán vs Gedo, Jado, Misterioso Jr.
3) Diamante & Máscara Dorada vs Mephisto & Shigeo Okumura
4) Bushi, Prince Devitt, Ryusuke Taguchi vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI
5) Mistico vs Euforia
6) Hiroshi Tanahashi, La Máscara, Rush vs Okada, Rey Escorpión, Volador Jr.
7) Shinsuke Nakamura vs La Sombra [IWGP IC]
Nakamura is champion
Sombra gets his title match! Sombra’s probably not going to win his title match, but you’ve got to be in it to win it. I’m most interested in seeing how that match is going to go of all of them.
That’s the first Rush/Okada matchup, but probably not the last.
Mistico gets the best opponent he could get to look good in Euforia. They’re making sure not to expose him here.
NJPW CMLL (SUN) 01/20/2013 Korakuen Hall
1) Máximo vs Taichi
2) Bushi, Diamante, Jushin Liger, Máscara Dorada, Tiger Mask, Titán vs Gedo, Ishii, Jado, Misterioso Jr., Shigeo Okumura, Yoshihashi [cibernetico]
3) Rush vs Rey Escorpión
4) Dragón Rojo Jr. vs La Sombra [NWA WELTER MIDDLE]
Dragon Rojo is champion
5) La Máscara vs Volador Jr. [MEX LH]
Mascara is champion
6) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Mistico, Prince Devitt vs Euforia, Kazuchika Okada, Mephisto
Main event is IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Junior Heavyweight and Mistico together for the photo op.
Mascara and Volador had that singles match 7 times last year, and could do have again in their sleep. That’s especially good for Mascara, who didn’t appear to be awake when he was here two years ago. That’s the one title match on this tour I’m not quite sure how is going to finish, but I know how it’ll go.
Sombra’s coming home with a title belt on the trip. There’s no way he gets two title matches and loses them both unless he’s just not coming back here anytime soon. (Also, it’s Dragon Rojo, and he has another belt. That probably means he’s winning on Saturday, since Friday & Sunday seem bad draws for him.)
If Rey Bucanero was healthy, it’s him versus Rush on this card and probably a Rush title win. Rush is still set up for a pretty strong weekend.
Mascara Dorada, Titan and Diamante don’t really get highlight matches this three show trip. There’s only so many guys you can highlight. You can argue any of them over Mistico, but that’s a problem with making Dragon Lee Mistico, not really the booking. Anyway, the point is this cibernetico is the best place to change that. It may be the best match of these shows.
Maximo vs Taichi is the annual match.
CMLL.com mentions all three shows will be taped for SamuraiTV. No mention of iPPV; I’m not really sure how many times NJPW plans on making their shows iPPV a year, but Sunday would be the show to do if they’re doing any of them.