BULLET CLUB keep the lead after four nights
Nagoya’s Dolphin’s Arena saw the first combined night of Super Junior and World Tag League, the junior ehavyweight teams competing with one another for league standings and the heavyweights for attention on an intense card.
Headlining the junior heavyweight portion of the night in Nagoya were the Catch 2/2 side of TJP and Francesco Akira looking to get back in the win column opposite Tiger Mask and Robbie Eagles. It was a tough start for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions as a pair of topes from Flying Tiger found their mark, but when TJP countered a charging Eagles in ring, Akira was in the exact right spot to provide support, and lay in double team offense to the Sniper of the Skies.
The Pulse Drop from Eagles stopped a Facewash from TJP and brought Tiger Mask in, but an expertly timed blind tag from Akira saw the veteran in trouble as well. As the high paced offense continued, Eagles broke up the Fireplex from Akira, allowing Tiger Mask to hit the Tiger Driver for a near two. Following up, the veteran caught Akira in a reverse double armbar while Eagles applied the Ron Miller Special on TJP; the Public Enemy was able to defuse the situation as he pulle don Tiger’s mask strings, but Akira was still in danger.
A diving save stopped Akira falling to the Tiger Suplex, before TJP saved Akira from a top rope Butterfly. The Alley-Oop from Catch 2/2 was followed by the 2×2 knees, and the three count was rendered.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru and DOUKI were winless going into Nagoya, and tried to get the jump on Lio Rush and YOH; though their efforts seemed to be in vain, a pair of stereo basement dropkicks would see the tide turned and Rush in trouble. Kanemaru would work over the knee of the Bad Child, and DOUKI followed suit until an enzuigiri brought the explosive YOH in, but even he felt the brunt of the Heel Master and his leg based offense.
After a Falcon Arrow got YOH some breathing room, Lio Rush came in for a tope suicida. An attempt at Rush hour would be countered, and the Bad Child found himself trapped in the Italian Stretch #32. Daybreak followed, and DOUKI tried for Suplex De la Luna; denied, Kanemaru tried to help his masked partner with the whiskey mist, but missed his target of Lio Rush. Rush Hour connected, and then the Final Hour splash for three.
BULLET CLUB’s Ace Austin and Chris Bey headed into Nagoya unbeaten, and looked to go to 4-0 opposite Wild Hips. Clark Connors’ attempts at improving communication with Ryusuke Taguchi through the magic of beer paid off initially as Taguchi launched innovative offense without spilling a drop, but a Too Sweet Tope from Bey shifted momentum, and put Connors in the wrong part of town. It would be a Jeep Flip that brought Taguchi back inside, and with impressive clenching power, the Coach held Austin in place with his mighty cheeks for a Connors spear.
A double Bummer Ye would get two, but Bey would break the cover up. Austin landed Soar to Glory onto Connors on the floor, and the offense kept coming, Taguchi struck with Art of the Finesse and then the Fold in ring for a fourth BULLET CLUB win.
SHO and Dick Togo were greeted by a wave of boos in Dolphin’s Arena, and tried to feed on that negative energy for a much needed first win over El Lindaman and Alex Zayne. The desperate duo would meet SAUCEHEARTS on the ramp, SHO delivering a piledriver to Zayne on the stage before he and Togo set to work on Lindaman. With his partner out of action on the ramp, Lindaman struggled under the HOSUE OF TORTURE tactics before Zayne arrived just in time to save his partner from SHO’s wrench. A crossface from Togo nearly cost Lindaman, but with a moment on the break, a German Suplex scored the win without a single tag on the SAUCEHEARTS side, H.O.T going down 0-4.
First to receive the cheers of the Nagoya crowd on the night were Kevin Knight and KUSHIDA, as they hit the ring to face LIJ’s Titan and BUSHI. With Knight’s athleticism, and quick tags with KUSHIDA, Titan was in the wrong corner early, but fought to BUSHI with an overhead kick. Handspring backelbows would stop LIJ’s period of control, bringing Knight back for an incredible pair of dropkicks to both opponents, but a BUSHI tope and Titan swinging DDT was enough to set Angel Inmortal on Knight for the win.
