Rare 2-0 victory for Suzuki-Gun in elimination main event leaves SHO & YOH in slump
A wild Korakuen Hall main event on July 31 saw five on five elimination action, SHO and YOH teaming with NEVER 6-Man Champions Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI taking on Suzuki-Gun.
As Ishii and Suzuki stared one another down during Roppongi 3K’s entrance, a hot start seemed inevitable, and indeed that’s what we got as fists flew before the official bell. Bodies also flew outside the ring, and when two of those bodies finally re-entered, it was SHO on the mat with Desperado standing; until that is YOH came in for some high speed double team offense.
Roppongi 3K tried to pitch Desperado over the top rope, but the masked man resisted, and Suzuki-Gun hit the ring to torture YOH, Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr and Minoru Suzuki all applying holds at the same time. ‘Direct Drive’ was in deep trouble, as the King Suzuki toyed with the junior heavyweight and Taichi applied his own injury and insult.
Finally Goto was able to make the tag, and tore into all of the Suzuki-Gun opposition before landing a bulldog headlock to Taichi for two. Taichi responded with lariats in the corner, and an overhead kick to the shoulder. As YOSHI-HASHI and Zack Sabre Jr. joined the fray, Taichi refused to be hit with the Violent Flash, bodies instead flying all over with lariats and kicks, but no eliminations.
Goto landed the Ushigoroshi and then went for the GTR, only to be dumped over the top rope by Taichi. YOSHI-HASHI forced the Holy Emperor out in return. The match down to four on four, YOSHI-HASHI moved fast on ZSJ, almost scoring on a series of flash pins, but Sabre would negotiate the Headhunter over the top rope. With dogged determinism, Sabre clawed and kicked at YOSHI-HASHI, eventually forcing him out of the ring to elimination.
ZSJ tried to use a series of shoulder breakers to work free of a Tomohiro Ishii looking to eliminate the Briton, but SHO would charge at Zack to put him to the floor and out of the running. That freed Ishii up to tear into Minoru Suzuki, and the two traded forearms. A long exchange of shivers put neither man down, and nor did the two butting heads, but when Ishii countered a Gotch Style Piledriver attempt, an almighty elbow from Ishii finally put Suzuki to his knees.
As the match passed 20 minutes, Suzuki stood and responded to Ishii in kind with sickening forearms. Choosing to deal damage to Ishii rather than proceed with the match, Suzuki took the Stone Pitbull to the floor and beat him with a steel chair until both men were counted out, Suzuki gaining a wild look in his eyes, with the match now officially two on two.
SHO was legal for CHAOS, aand as YOH went to check on ISHII, the other half of Roppongi 3K took down both El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. The Heel Master met SHO with a dropkick, allowing for a double team with Desperado and then British Fall for two. Kanemaru missed Deep Impact though, and YOH was able to hit the ring for a Roppongi 3K combination. The 3K would be broken up by Kanemaru though, and after a low bridge put SHO on the apron, a misdirection sent YOH into his partner.
Left alone against former IWGP Jr. Tag Champions, YOH was in a tough spot. A Five Star Clutch attempt was quickly broken up, and though YOH kicked out of Desperado’s El Es Clero, the odds were stacked against him. A German Suplex, and YOH looked for Direct Drive, but was countered, and with Kanemaru kciking out YOH’s knee, Despe went for the kill with Numero Dos. Both legs and arms pinned back, YOH was forced to submit, with Kanemaru and Desperado winning for Suzuki-Gun 2-0.
Post match, Desperado unleashed a scathing verbal diatribe on Roppongi 3K and SHO in particular, stating that they didn’t belong in next week’s Super Jr. Tag League and that he ‘couldn’t understand how you’ve won it three times’. Super Jr. Tag League gets underway on August 7. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi face Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag team Championships on August 1.
