Recapped: 01/20/2017
What happened: Dragon Lee defeated Cavernario to keep the lightweight championship. Takahashi dominated Titan, but had less luck attack Lee after the main event.
What was good: Nothing was bad on this show, but it’s the last three matches which are worth watching. The main event was strong, though possibly ended early due to injury. Titan/Takahashi was a little disappointing but effective for it’s purposes. The Guerreros/Okada vs Mistico/Volador/Juice match was just fun.
Where can I watch it: It’s on NJPW World for subscribers.
Match 1: Blue Panther Jr. & Henare vs Ephesto & Will Ospreay
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 01/20/2017
Winner: técnicos (Blue Panther Jr. nudo lagunero Ephesto)
Match Time: 6:36
Review: [ok] perfectly fine warmup match. They kept it simple, Ospreay got in a couple flashy spots, Henare seemed like he had a sense of what he was supposed to be doing, and the luchadors were solid. BP Jr. didn’t do much impressive but also didn’t mess anything up and Ephesto got in his dive fine.
Match 2: Jushin Liger, Soberano Jr., Tiger Mask vs Gedo, Jado, Raziel
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 01/20/2017
Winner: técnicos (Soberano Jr. guillotine moonsault Raziel)
Match Time: 6:40
Review: [ok] Soberano’s big showcase and he did well. His tornillo wowed the crowd and his other big moves went well. He stood out as a guy who could be something, which was the only real point to the match. Soberano’s outfit looked made him like a star too. Raziel did good with him, and the other four guys did enough to get thru the match.
Match 3: Máximo Sexy & Stuka Jr. vs Hechicero & Okumura
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 01/20/2017
Winner: rudos (Okumura reverse DDT)
Match Time: 6:34
Review: [ok] An alright match, with the crowd into Máximo and everyone else just doing a few of their normal spots. Maximo’s very clearly the star of this group, enough so that they didn’t have him take the pin leading into their title match. Hechicero did some of his fancier moves, which should help people understand them in the title match, but the crowd didn’t react big for him.
Match 4: Atlantis, David Finlay, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kushida, Ryusuke Taguchi vs Bushi, EVIL, Naito, Rush, Sanada
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 01/20/2017
Winner: LIJ (Evil’s EVIL on Finlay)
Match Time: 10:35
Notes: This is the annual Black Cat memorial match. Rush unmasked Altantis after the match as both sides brawled.
Review: [ok] Solid tag with the focus on building up the singles match for tomorrow, along the lines of everything else from the first half of the card. Rush destroyed Atlantis most of the match, with Atlantis needing to tag out early to escape the one sided violence. The last half of this match had a lot of well coordinated multiple people sequences with really good timing. (Atlantis and Rush mostly stayed out of them, outside of the Atlantis backbreaker run.)
Match 5: Juice Robinson, Mistico, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Okada, Último Guerrero
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 01/20/201
Winner: rudos (Euforia Soberana Mistico)
Match Time: 13:32
Review: [good] A not so serious trios match at first, with more comedy than anyone but liger had done up to this point. Okada throwing himself into the Guerrero shenanigans and Volador and Último Guerrero swapping masks made this fun. It found another gear as it went on, with Euforia & Mistico working well together and Volador’s tope being caught nicely by UG. Guerreros sold nicely for Juice’s punch spot early too. Best match of the undercard.
Match 6: Titán vs Hiromu Takahashi
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 01/20/2017
Winner: Hiromu Takahashi (Time Bomb)
Match Time: 14:57
Review: [good] This wasn’t exactly the spot fest I was hoping for, with them instead going for Takahashi as a ruthless attacker destroying Titan’s knee, and Titan having to fight as an underdog. Titan selling a knee for most of a match isn’t something that’s normally asked of him, and tough to accomplish with the offense he was attempting to use, but he did well enough to get the crowd into it. The one trademark death spot didn’t go right, with Titan’s headscissors to the floor hitting the top rope, but Takahashi is crazy so he still took the bump to the floor because he’s crazy. The last few minutes were good, and I’m glad the match didn’t just end on the mask pull. This probably would’ve been better in CMLL. It fit NJPW’s purposes but didn’t feel like a big FantasticaMania match.
Match 7: Dragón Lee © vs Bárbaro Cavernario for the CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 01/20/2017
Winner: Dragon Lee (bridging back suplex)
Match Time: 20:20
Notes: Cavernario clipped the ringpost on his thru the corner tope about five minutes in. That, or a later spot, might have injured his shoulder. He seemed to indicate it went out after the finish, and the finish seemed like it might have not been the planned moment (though it couldn’t have been far off.) Takahashi ran into attack Lee after the match, but Lee took him, told him he was winning the title and posed with both belts.
Review: [great] The big move battle of the two singles matches, which both guys unloading the biggest spots of the arsenal and going very long. The pace was a little slower than expected, but they also looked like they were just destroying each other,a nd hurting by about half way thru. Dragon Lee’s early tope was great (and caught everyone off guard), and the sequence around the teased second splash tot the floor was well. Cavernario added a couple new things for the occasion; we hadn’t seen him try an inverted huracanrana before. It wasn’t pretty but it did look effective. Finish was flat; Dragon Lee’s actually used that back suplex as a finish before, but it didn’t feel like the climax to this match and wasn’t meant to be. The battle to set up the double stomp right before it was really good, maybe they actually ended one move too late. This was a really good encounter, and hopefully Cavernario’s still able to go the next couple days.
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