Recapped: 1/29/2016
This is the second show of the tour, on 2016-01-19, in Kyoto
What happened: Panther & Maya won their singles matches leading into the tag title match. The Ingobernables were mean. Not much else.
What was good: Maya/Zavala was one of their better ones. Kushia/Mistico vs Gedo/UG was simple but well done. The atomicos was entertaining.
Where can I watch it: It’s on RealHero’s rutube channel
Match 1: Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi vs Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu
KBS Hall, Kyoto, Japan, 01/19/2016
Winner: Fuego (La Flashina)
Match Time: 7:49
Review: [ok] nothing wrong with opener, but may have peaked in the prematch dance session. Fuego didn’t do dives, but he does more in the ring than he often does Mexico. The young lions looked the more impressive team, but then they were taking it more seriously than Taguchi takes anyone.
Match 2: The Panther vs Okumura
KBS Hall, Kyoto, Japan, 01/19/2016
Winner: The Panther (nudo lagunero)
Match Time: 8:01
Notes: Mima Shimoda seconded Okumura and failed at interfering many times.
Review: [OK] a dry Okumura singles match, not a big surprise. This was a lightning match with a bit more purpose, since Panther’s tope was the big spot they were trying to get over and were kind of successful at pulling it off. Panther is still missing a bit of offense.
Match 3: Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Boby Zavala
KBS Hall, Kyoto, Japan, 01/19/2016
Winner: Guerrero Maya (Tormento Maya)
Match Time: 6:18
Review: [good] the best match between them in months, which is not saying much. This was a simpler match then the En Busca de un Idolo final (and even the lightning match they had in the fall), showing off what Maya’s basic moves and giving Zavala a little time on offense. Zavala had no problems going with Maya and the splash to the floor looked great. Maybe keeping it easy worked better. Maya never seemed to hit the piledriver clean on this tour, which made it seem even scarier. Maya was a much better promo than Panther in the post match.
Match 4: David Finlay, Dragon Lee, Jyushin Thunder Liger, Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Virus, YOSHI-HASHI
KBS Hall, Kyoto, Japan, 01/19/2016
Winner: tecnicos (Titan figure four Hechicero)
Match Time: 9:21
Review: [good] another entertaining match. Like the previous day, this is worth watching for Hechicero versus the Young Lion alone. Finaly and Hechicero battled well. Cavernario & Titan had a good couple minute teaser of the title match. Poor Dragon Lee was nearly vibrating on the apron waiting to get in, and then the beatdown started before he got his turn. (He would’ve been working against Yoshi-Hashi, so perhaps it was for the best.) Dragon Lee still managed to take a crazy bump on Virus’ rope dropkick. NJPW referees are far more lenient about being under the ropes on a pin than CMLL ones; I also barely notice NJPW referees. Titan and Hechicero were a little bit clunky on the finishing stretch, surprising me.
Match 5: Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Stuka Jr. vs Bushi, EVIL, Tetsuya Naito
KBS Hall, Kyoto, Japan, 01/19/2016
Winner: rudos (Out Of Control on Stuka)
Match Time: 7:16
Review: [ok] Naito’s maneuvers to drag out his introduction were more entertaining the early portions of the match. It got a little better as it went along. Dorada got in his usual one minute of offense, may need to do some cardio before he returns to Arena Mexico. Atlantis seemed to actually try to the Atlantida here and couldn’t get Naito up, which may explain why it didn’t show up the rest of the way.
Match 6: Kushida & Mistico vs Gedo & Último Guerrero
KBS Hall, Kyoto, Japan, 01/19/2016
Winner: tecnicos (Kushida Hoverboard lock Gedo)
Match Time: 9:39
Review: [good] A basic tag match, but worked well enough with everyone getting their moment to shine. Mostly CMLL vs CMLL and NJPW vs NJPW, but Ultimo did well with Mistico and they did a little bit of the crowd back and forth that would become bigger at Korakuen. These matches have been worked smartly to make Mistico look good, and he did his part. I would suspect the amount of times where Gedo has been working higher on the card than Okada in the last few years have been rare. I know he’s a favorite, but I still was surprised how much of a reaction there was for just the tease of a Gedo clutch.
Match 7: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Volador Jr. vs Kazuchika Okada, Mephisto, Shinsuke Nakamura
KBS Hall, Kyoto, Japan, 01/19/2016
Winner: rudos (Nakamura Boma Ye)
Match Time: 15:12
Review: [ok] One you can skip if you’re just looking for the CMLL guys, because it felt like Volador and Mephisto were barely into this one. They did get in a few spots, but the NJPW guys worked most of the match. They did a lot of Juice/Nakamura in the ending stretch, two long segments that seemed to take up five minutes before the finish. Juice was dead meat, his partners just kept prolonging the agony. It was a fine enough trios match, but nothing I would’ve thought to watch had it not been on this tour. Juice’s willingness to cannonball himself hard into the corner was endearing.
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