The biggest news out of New Japan’s second PPV show of the year, The
New Beginnings, on 2/10 from the Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall, is the
momentum from the Tokyo Dome from a business standpoint continued.
After the company’s first iPPV show, in September, did more than
23,000 buys with only a few days advanced warning, and then follow-up
shows did in the 55,000 range priced at $21.60 to $25 (they gave a
discount price for advanced purchases), the company established a major
new revenue stream. Because the number of homes in Japan that have
television PPV capability is so small, that genre, while having some
success early on in the heyday of the Pride Fighting Championships,
never really took off. No number was ever released for the Jan. 4 show,
the company’s version of WrestleMania, other than it topped 100,000.
One would have figured the numbers for the follow-up show, like
the show after WrestleMania in the U.S., would go back to normal, or
even below normal levels, given there was no really special match on
this card. However, this show, held on a Sunday afternoon in Japan, had
89,890 live orders and given previous shows have done a few thousand
after the face, it’s almost a sure thing they ended up topping 92,000.
The number stunned everyone, because it showed they may just be starting
to scratch the surface of their potential, and that what appears to be
their base for monthly shows has almost doubled.
It looks now like it’s just a question of making more people comfortable with the process of ordering and watching.
The main event was Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the IWGP
heavyweight title against Karl Anderson. In a sense, with Anderson
having lost all his major singles matches on the recent PPV shows, as
well as being on the losing end of a tag title match at the Tokyo Dome,
he was not the usual well built up challenger. Plus, until recent
months, he was considered the weaker half of a tag team. He’s respected
by the New Japan fans as a very good worker, but was not an established
main event singles star or someone who would be expected to draw big
put in a title challenging position. Anderson got the shot more because
no bigger names were ready, and he did beat Tanahashi in a match to go
to the finals of the G-1 Climax tournament in August. Plus, Tanahashi
wanted to defend against him, and reward him because he reportedly
turned down four different WWE overtures over the past year.
The Tokyo Dome show, which New Japan claimed drew 29,000 paid,
its biggest number in years, was a great show, and the promotion seemed
really hot if you watched the show. That show drew a lot of
first-timers ordering iPPV. But those same people not just liked it,
but may be monthly regulars because indications are that the Dome
enabled them to almost doubled their revenue base. This is the rare
stuff of when a promotion catches fire.
The show drew 4,780 fans live, selling out ahead of time and turning away an estimated 1,000 more.
From top-to-bottom, it wasn’t as good as the most of the other
recent PPV shows. Part of the issue was a cold crowd, which made the
well worked undercard matches come across as mostly good, but not great.
But that made the main event that much more impressive.
Tanahashi and Anderson had a match equal to, and perhaps slightly
better, than the Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada match at the Tokyo Dome.
It’s a strong match of the year candidate. Even more than Tanahashi’s
November title defense against Yujiro Takahashi, where nobody really
believed the challenger had a shot at winning, Tanahashi played the role
of defending champion to perfection. He had the crowd loudly chanting
for Anderson down the stretch, and buying on a number of occasions that a
huge upset was in the process of happening. Even though it’s Tanahashi
having what will likely be looked back on as a legendary run, with one
****½ main event after another, the way the match was laid out, it was
Anderson in losing who came off like the superstar. That’s similar to
the matches with Okada, Takahashi and Minoru Suzuki in recent months.
The common denominator is the Tanahashi work and excitement, but in all
cases, it’s the losing challenger that gets over even though they are
pinned clean.
This run by Tanahashi as champion may not be the greatest
business run on top, but it’s impressive when you figure where the
company was in early 2011, when it started, where they are now, and
where most of his opponents were before their matches and the level they
are viewed now.
The company is sensing that and getting behind trying to move him
from simply the current top star, to all-time great, by now billing him
as “The Man of the Century.”
But while you don’t see evidence when the bell rings, but when
it’s over and he’s walking, it looks like his knees are starting to give
him trouble.
Aside from the financial success, and the great main event, the
show featured mostly well-worked matches. There were no major storyline
changes, title changes, or big matches teased for the future. The next
PPV isn’t until 4/7 from Tokyo Sumo Hall, which will be headlined by
the IWGP champion defending his title against the winner of March’s
Japan Cup tournament.
The company’s next major show is 3/3 at Korakuen Hall, the 41st
anniversary show. Actually it’s the next show as they ran the PPV show,
did two more house shows, and then the tour ended on 2/12.
Tanahashi will defend the title against junior heavyweight
champion Prince Devitt, based on Devitt pinning Tanahashi using his
bloody Sunday DDT in a tag team match (Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi
vs. Anderson & Devitt) on 2/3 at Korakuen Hall. But in a rematch on
2/11 in Osaka, a show that sold out in advance with 1,950 fans,
Tanahashi & Taguchi won when Tanahashi pinned Devitt with the high
fly flow. Other matches expected are Alex Shelley & Kushida
defending the IWGP jr. tag titles against Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask,
and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Lance Archer for the IC title in the one
post-match challenge made at the PPV.
1. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Liger &
Tiger Mask & Tama Tonga beat Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano &
Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Jado in 8:20. Iizuka went after
TV announcer Shimpei Nogami right away, threw him into the ring, and as
usual, tore his dress shirt off him. This seems to happen every month
in Iizuka’s match. Nagata’s team came out for the save. Nogami was
able to get Nagata’s T-shirt, and keep in mind Nagata is twice his size,
so he broadcasted the rest of the match wearing this blue shirt way too
big for him. He was also acting like he nearly had a heart attack.
Nakanishi is so awful. It’s sad to say because he’s had so many
injuries and shouldn’t be in the ring, but he can’t move, his offense
looks terrible and his selling his worse, but he suplexed Yano &
Iizuka at the same time and that spot already works. Jado was doing Ric
Flair including the face first bump. The heels tore off the turnbuckle
padding and Iizuka was hitting everyone with chairs, and choking Liger
with a rope. The match was good late, with Ishii doing a long pausing
superplex on Tiger Mask. Nagata vs. Ishii late was very good as they
fired away with hard lariats, high kicks, and Nagata did an exploder.
Jado tagged in to lose taking a chop from Nakanishi, a palm thrust by
Liger, a plancha by Tiger Mask, a Stinger splash by Tonga (who just
copies moves of 80s guys) and then Nagata used a running knee and
bridging back suplex for the pin. After the match, the face team and
Nogami all celebrated together in the ring. **
2. The Time Splitters, Alex Shelley & Kushida retained the
IWGP jr. tag titles beating former champions, The Forever Hooligans,
Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov in 11:26. Koslov sung the Russian
national anthem badly. Everyone, and I mean everyone, stood quietly in
respect. That’s now expected but it was hilarious the first time.
Shelley & Kushida did a double plancha spot early. Koslov put on
his Cossack hat and did his Russian dance, while kicking Kushida in the
head. Koslov held Kushida in the air while Romero came off the top with
a kneedrop for a near fall. They set up what looked like the Hooligans
doing the old Road Warriors doomsday device, but Romero came off the
top rope with a knee instead of a clothesline. Another time Koslov held
Kushida in the air and Romero did a springboard kneedrop. Lots of near
falls late but it was hurt by the cold crowd. Kushida put Koslov on his
shoulders for Shelley to do an assisted sliced bread, but Romero broke
up the pin. Shelly then hit Romero with a tope. In the ring, Kushida
used the Midnight Express, which is essentially a 450 moonsault, for the
pin. Shelley was walking to the back when this was over with a slight
limp. ***1/4
3. Prince Devitt retained the IWGP jr. heavyweight title pinning
Ryusuke Taguchi in 14:01. These two have been a regular tag team for
years, holding the IWGP jr. title on a few occasions. Devitt did a
running tope con hilo over the top. Taguchi did his own running tope
con hilo. Lots of good stuff here. Devitt did a twisting splash for a
near fall as well as a double foot stomp on Taguchi’s back when Taguchi
was still standing. Lots of near falls back-and-forth. Taguchi hit the
Dodon (similar to Beth Phoenix’s Glam Slam) for a near fall. Taguchi
went for a Dodon off the top rope but it was reversed into a top rope
superplex by Devitt. Devitt did a double foot stomp off the top rope
about 60% of the way across the ring for a near fall. Devitt eventually
won clean with a step through kick and Bloody Sunday DDT. ***3/4
4. The Killer Elite Squad, Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.
beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima in 14:16 to retain the IWGP
tag team titles. Taka Michinoku was in Archer & Smith’s corner
doing heel mic work. For some reason, Smith worked the first two
minutes of the match wearing a mask, but he then took it off. No real
reaction. Lots of near falls here as well. Archer missed a moonsault
on Kojima and then Tenzan & Kojima hit the 3-D on Archer. They did a
second 3-D on him and Kojima hit him with a rabbit lariat. At one
point Kojima nailed Archer with a lariat, and Michinoku pulled the ref
out of the ring so he couldn’t count. More near falls ending when
Archer pinned Kojima after a double-team Killer bomb. ***½
5. Togi Makabe pinned Yujiro Takahashi in 8:00. Takahashi did a
tope right away. Takahashi worked over Makabe’s midsection and finally
got a near fall after a moonsault. Takahashi picked Makabe up in the
Bruno Sammartino backbreaker, but Makabe escaped and hit a left armed
lariat and a Death Valley bomb. Makabe won with a rabbit lariat, a
German superplex (crowd really liked that one) followed by a King Kong
kneedrop off the top rope for the pin. **1/4
6. Kazushi Sakuraba & Katsuyori Shibata beat Hirooki Goto
& Wataru Inoue in 11:07. This had the most heat up to this point on
the show. Shibata and Goto, who were friends dating back to high
school, were pounding on each other early. Sakuraba tagged in and went
to town on Goto as well. Shibata kicked the hell out of Goto. Sakuraba
got the mount and back position working for a choke. Inoue tagged in
and used a kneebreaker on Sakuraba and avalanche leg dives out of the
70s Don Muraco playbook. Sakuraba had a heel hook but Inoue made the
ropes. Sakuraba got a mount and was using slaps to the head. Shibata
tagged in and he and Sakuraba each got a heel but Inoue made the ropes.
Sakuraba locked in a Kimura on Inoue, but Inoue escaped and nailed
Sakuraba with a hard knee as Sakuraba shot in (same spot, but not nearly
as devastating as the big spot in Sakuraba vs. Nakamura at the Tokyo
Dome). Sakuraba was in trouble, but hit a deep takedown and cradled
Inoue. The finish took the match down because it felt like it came out
of nowhere and was a let down. After, Shibata and Goto challenged each
other for a singles match. ***1/4
7. IC champion Shinsuke Nakamura pinned Kengo Mashimo in 11:21 of
a non-title match. This was the first of the two CHAOS vs. Suzuki-Gun
group singles matches. Nakamura is very good, but this match was hurt
because nobody believed Mashimo had a chance to beat him. Mashimo
knocked Nakamura down with a high kick right away to try and convince
people he had a chance. Nakamura threw knee afer knee. Mashimo charged
into a corner and got nailed with a knee. Nakamura worked on. Mashimo
came back working on the arm to set up an armbar, but when he got it,
nobody bought that he could win. Mashimo used a back suplex, a foot
sweep and a kick to the head for near falls. Nobody still bought any
near fall by Mashimo. The finish was supposed to be Nakamura doing a
bom a ye off the ropes. But he slipped and fell off the ropes. He went
back up and did the bom a ye off the ropes and a second from inside the
ring for the pin. Archer & Smith Jr. came out with Archer
challenging Nakamura for an IC title shot. **3/4
8. Minoru Suzuki pinned Kazuchika Okada in 15:59. This was the
second CHAOS vs. Suzuki-Gun match and since Nakamura of CHAOS won the
first, it meant Okada had to lose this one. Taichi came out in Suzuki’s
corner with a crutch. Gedo was out with Okada. These two had an
excellent match. Suzuki used an armbar over the ropes. He also decked
Gedo. Taichi attacked Okada sticking his crutch down his throat.
Taichi has such a great star look. Taichi continued to nail Okada with
his crutch. Suzuki then armbarred Okada’s rainmaker arm using the guard
rail. Suzuki went for a Kimura on the rainmaker arm. Okada made the
ropes. Suzuki with knees and forearms but Okada back with bolo style
forearms, followed by a DDT and sliding kick. Okada did a high elbow
off the top rope for a near fall. Okada went for the rainmaker but
Suzuki ducked and got a sleeper. Suzuki went for the Gotch piledriver
but Okada blocked it and dropped Suzuki’s neck over his knee. Okada
went for a fireman’s carry into a vertical suplex for a near fall.
Okada went for the tombstone piledriver but Suzuki blocked it and
reversed it into a Fujiwara armbar, and also worked on the left hand.
Suzuki moved to a guillotine. When he had Okada weakened, he went for
another Gotch piledriver, but Okada blocked it and got a kneelock.
Taichi distracted the ref. Okada let go of the submission. Okada went
for a tombstone piledriver but Suzuki escaped. Suzuki with two
head-butts and slapped the hell out of Okada. Okada with a dropkick.
He went for the rainmaker, but it was blocked, and Suzuki nailed him
with more slaps. Suzuki went for the Gotch piledriver a third time, and
this time connected, and got the pin. ****1/4
9. Hiroshi Tanahashi retained the IWGP heavyweight title pinning
Karl Anderson in 25:10. The first big move was Anderson using his gun
stun (Ace crusher) over the guard rail. They teased the count out but
Tanahashi just beat the 20 count. I felt like people know that spot too
well now. Anderson used a hangman’s neckbreaker for a near fall as
well as a spinebuster. He dropped a few knees, then pulled down his
kneepad, but missed the kneedrop. Tanahashi missed a dropkick and
Anderson used a senton for a near fall. Tanahashi used a flying forearm
and somersault splash off the middle rope for a near fall. Tanahashi
came back working on Anderson’s left knee with a dropkick to the knee
and a chop block. Another dropkick to the knee so Anderson roll out of
the ring. Tanahashi did almost a Michael Jordan plancha, getting so
high it was like he was hanging in mid-air. As they were on the apron,
Anderson started nailing forearms. He teased suplexing Tanahashi over
the top rope to the floor but Tanahashi blocked. Anderson with a great
jumping kick to the face like Anderson Silva against Vitor Belfort.
Anderson came back with a fireman’s carry into an F-5 off the top rope
for a near fall. Anderson came off the top rope again with a gun stun
for a near fall. Another gun stun was blocked and Tanahashi came back
off the ropes with the sling blade (flying necktie clothesline).
Anderson went for another jumping kick to the face but Tanahashi used a
dragon screw. Anderson came back and tried a gun stun but Tanahashi
ducked and came off the ropes with another sling blade, followed by a
falcon arrow. He went to the top for the high fly flow but Anderson got
his knees up. Anderson was selling his knees from the move. He used
another jumping front kick and a power bomb for an awesome near fall.
Anderson followed with a Bernard driver for a near fall. Anderson went
to set up a power bomb but Tanahashi used two dragon screws. Anderson
back with punches while Tanahashi threw kicks to the knee. Anderson
blocked the sling blade and hit the splash mountain (Razor’s edge) for a
near fall. Anderson went for the gun stun but Tanahashi ducked and
used a backslide for a near fall. Tanahashi used a dragon suplex, sling
blade. Super loud chants for Anderson at this point. Anderson missed a
charge into the corner. Then Tanahashi missed a charge into the corner.
Anderson hit a jumping kick. Anderson again went for the gun stun but
Tanahashi got out and hit his own gun stun for a near fall. Tanahashi
then finished with a crossbody off the top and a high fly flow and got
the pin. This was a superstar making performance by Anderson. The two
shook hands when it was over. Tanahashi was in the ring for something
like 25 minutes, doing the air guitar, and long promo and when they
showed the crowd shots, the building was still packed. ****3/4
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