Matthews a Secret No More to NJPW fans

Buddy Matthews made his hotly anticipated NJPW debut on November 13 at Battle in the Valley against Kazuchika Okada. San Jose erupted for the presence of the Rainmaker, and started a ‘this is awesome’ chant on first contact alone, which came with Okada cornering Matthews for a clean break. As Matthews responded in kind, the pace began to quicken, with neither man gaining a clear advantage over the other, or over the now divided crowd. 

The first big hit of the match saw Okada elevate and then dropkick Matthews off the top rope to the floor, but could not sustain the advantage outside, being dropped on the apron, and then having his back targeted by the WWE alum. Cutting off Okada as he began to fire back, Matthews looked for offense from the second rope, but was caught and spiked with a Flapjack by Okada, who built steam with a back elbow, a second in the corner and a DDT.

A Money Clip attempt was quickly countered by Matthews, who got separation and landed a heavy tope con giro to the floor, but couldn’t stop Okada for long, the Rainmaker connecting with a reverse neckbreaker in the ring and then scoring his top rope elbow before striking the Rainmaker pose at the ten minute mark. Yet Matthews knew to escape the Rainmaker, and landed a brutal buckle bomb before raining in trapped elbows to the neck. 

The referee checked on a possibly knocked out Okada, who went up to all fours only to taste a Curb Stomp for two. Mocking Okada’s pose, Matthews went for his own Rainmaker, but took too long, receiving a spinning lariat. A forearm shiver punctuated Matthews’ strikes, and a dropkick was followed by the Tombstone at fifteen minutes, but the ‘Secret No More’ went prone to the ropes to avoid the Rainmaker, hitting a series of boots to Okada’s jaw. A hard pump knee, and Matthews went for Murphy’s Law, but would be countered with the Landslide Tombstone and then the Rainmaker for the victory.