Super Jr. Tag League hits Nagasaki
Nagasaki saw the penultimate night of league action in the Super Junior Tag League, five teams still alive heading into the main event, and SAUCEHEARTS needing to beat Chris Bey and Ace Austin in the final match of the evening to survive. Austin, having betrayed former best friend Zayne during Best of the Super Junior, taunted Zayne with the socks he stole back in June, Zayne extra motivated to face Ace as the bell rung, and extra frustrated when Bey tagged in instead.
Zayne nonetheless kept his compusure, and kept hold of Bey in the corner before tagging in Lindaman who took the fight to Austin. When he took too long in the corner though, Bey would crotch the G-REX Champion on the top rope, and the match turned to BULLET CLUB, Lindaman being peppered with combination strikes. Austin continued to pile on the pressure with a Northern Lights suplex, and when Lindaman finally created a chance, Ace ensured Zayne wasn’t on the apron to receive the tag.
Lindaman was finally able to shut down an overambitious Bey to bring in a furious Zayne, who tore into Austin. The Sauce tried to steal the Inevitable’s socks, Lindaman capitalizing on the strange situation with a tope con giro, but the BULLET CLUB side turned the match on a dime, Bey landing the Twoo Sweet tope con and Austin following with Soar to Glory. The tempo quickening, Austin was able to fire back with a combination Frankensteiner and suplex onto both his opponents before the Baja Blast on Austin for two; Lindaman set up his partner for the Cinnamon Twist finisher, but Bey made the save just in time.
As Bey and Austin set for the 1-2-Sweet, Lindaman threw himself back into the fray, but was caught by the BULLET CLUB duo; as they tried to superplex Lindaman, Zayne sacrificed his partner to powerbomb Bey and Austin in the Tower of Doom. It was down to Austin and Zayne, Ace countering Taco Driver to hit the Fold, but Lindaman just barely made the save, and as a chaotic melee unfolded, a German suplex and jackknife saw SAUCEHEARTS snatch victory.
The semi main event would see Flying Tiger meet Titan and BUSHI. Picking up from recent past in CMLL, Titan and Tiger Mask would start the bout, and it would be the veteran controlled in the early going; a tag to Eagles would see the former champiosn build momentum, but an attempt at a tope would be stopped by BUSHI. Fighting up from underneath, Eagles would find his way back into the match though, and Tiger Mask connected with the Sniper effectively until an ascent to the top rope was stopped by Titan, who followed up with a springboard.
Titan countered a charging Titan into a crucifix and a double armbar, while Eagles trapped BUSHI in the Ron Miller Special, Titan just barely making the ropes. Eagles set up Tiger for a double arm suplex for Titan off the top, getting two and forcing a double wrist lock when his masked foe kicked out, but BUSHI would just barely force himself in to break the submission up. As the match broke down, BUSHI dove to take out Eagles, and though Titan slipped on his first Angel Inmortal attempt, a second springboard dropkick was brutal in its efficacy in getting the three.
A distinctly unfriendly clash of two black hat teams, DOUKI and Yoshinobu Kanemaru took on SHO and Dick Togo. Fresh off their win over Catch 2/2 at the weekend, Kanemaru and DOUKI set about breaking down Togo at the knees, before SHO intervened and fought DOUKI up to the stage. Even with their plot to have the masked rudo counted out was foiled, the assault continued in ring until DOUKI torpedoed himself into SHO, bringing Kanemaru back in.
The Heel Master took to SHO with a Figure Four, and built to a DOUKI- re-entrance, Japones Del mal trapping Togo in the Italian Stretch #32 and forcing SHO to take out the referee. SHO went to his wrench, but was met by DOUKI’s pipe; as DOUKI was attacked in turn with Togo and his choking wire, and EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi headed to the ring, the result was a chain reaction of low blows that left everybody suffering. Togo looked to take advantage of the situation with his own whiskey mist, but after the alcoholic intervention backfired, DOUKI trapped the Spoiler in the Italian Stretch for the win.
Also already eliminated from the tournament, Wild Hips would face Lio Rush and YOH in friendly spirits, presenting their opponents with beers that were politely put aside ‘for later’. Match underway, Rush would have the speed advantage over Connors before being powered down by the Wild Rhino. Taguchi would have less luck against CHAOS, a victim of the duo’s ‘sushi roll’ double team and then a rope Paradise Lock that kept him trapped for much of the match. Eventually freed through a Jeep Flip chain reaction from Connors, Taguchi exploded into the ring; Rush slowed the Coach’s momentum with a beer filled Stunner, but Connors took advantage of a now woozy Bad Child. Taguchi looked to finish off YOH but was met with 3K for the loss.
The first league match of the night pit IWGP Junior Tag Champions Catch 2/2 against KUSHIDA and Kevin Knight. Knight kept pace with TJP early and created opportunities for quick tags with KUSHIDA, but would eventually get caught and trapped by the champion side. The Jet’s explosiveness saw a dropkick that met both Francesco Akira and TJP, bringing KUSHIDA back inside, and TAJIRI students KUSHIDA and Akira doing battle; an evenly matched exchange would lead to the match breaking down at the ten minute mark. Knight rocked TJP with a huge dropkick, and was saved from a Mamba Splash loss by KUSHIDA, but not by the 2×2 that put the champions on 12 points.
