Jay White & EVIL grab crucial win on road to Castle Attack
With just five days separating the four men from singles clashes in Osaka Jo Hall, Jay White and EVIL teamed up to take on Tomohiro Ishii and Kazuchika Okada in a Korakuen Hall main event on February 22.
While flared tempers have led to fast starts earlier in the tour, this time BULLET CLUB was reluctant to engage with their CHAOS counterparts, White urging referee Red Shoes Unno to get one man in and one man out before he allowed the match to start. White’s ruse paid off when he drew Ishii outside and back in, chipping away at Ishii with boots and bailing when Ishii stepped up to the Switchblade.
EVIL remained true to form when legal with Okada, using a Dick Togo heel grab to take advantage, and taking control of Okada on the floor. BULLET CLUB kept the pressure on Okada, with EVIL sending the Rainmaker into exposed turnbuckle steel while White made use of the guardrails at ringside.
A boot from Okada and Ishii was finally free to tear at his Saturday night opponent. The Stone Pitbull would level both EVIL and White before turning his focus to the Switchblade with punishing elbows and boots. A DDT at the ten minute mark would cut Ishii’s momentum off however, and when boots in the corner didn’t have the desired effect on Ishii, thumbs to the eye did, leading to a Bladebuster.
After Ishii charged into a White Death Valley Driver, EVIL would come back inside and see to it that Ishii couldn’t tag Okada with a shot into the exposed turnbuckle. A second proved one too many however, Ishii redirecting EVIL into the steel before making the tag to the Rainmaker. As the pace quickened, Okada sensed victory was closing in, but couldn’t hoist EVIL for a Tombstone. With Dick Togo providing a momentary distraction, EVIL attacked his Osaka opponent in the corner and landed a Fisherman’s Buster for two.
Okada would cut off EVIL with a rolling lariat, and sank in Money Clip as the match passed the 15 minute mark, White barely making the save. With the match breaking down, Ishii would land a release German on Ishii as the CHAOS duo took out Togo and Gedo, leading to EVIL sinking back into the Money Clip.
BULLET CLUB dug deep into their playbook in response, Gedo distracting Unno while Togo put the wire choke on Okada. The EVIL struck immediately afterward, and the King of Darkness pinned Okada for a key pre-Osaka Jo Hall victory.
An enraged Ishii would take out his frustrations on the referee after the bout and grabbed a towel to choke Jay White. Again however, Togo and Gedo would intervene and it was Ishii instead that was left unconscious. Will CHAOS have any response before this weekend?
