NJPW World

[TildeGuy~!]

It’s hilarious because now Umino is hated by the audience even though he was a huge babyface.

Sanada’s failure as the champ has now had him turn heel and join Bullet Club, he has one of the best looks in wrestling but Jesus he’s a charisma vacuum.

[Merzbow]

They never fully got behind Shingo did they? If there was anyone to bridge the gap between Okada and the new musketeers it was him.

[Snitsky's back acne]

I recently saw Japan described as becoming 'A feeder system for the United States' and that has seemingly become the case. 

I don't follow New Japan religiously but it seems like they have some decent talent. Yota Tsuji's smile is worth a Tokyo Dome main event all on its own but for whatever reason they seem not be focusing on developing individual stars.

Has Japan always been an abundance of multi man matches and factions? I don't seem to remember 90s Japan being like that at all. 

[JLM]

Watched a couple of matches from New Beginning in Osaka

NEVER Openweight title: Konosuke Takeshita vs Boltin Oleg

Had to watch this one. These two had a cracker in the G1 last year, in which Takeshita didn't take Oleg seriously enough and suffered a big upset loss. The issue Takeshita has against Boltin is that he cannot beat him in the slugfest. When it comes to who throws the hardest bombs and who can  survive the biggest hits, Oleg has his number, which is not something Takeshita often has to deal with. In their first match, Takeshita had the advantage by using his experience to bait and frustrate Boltin, but lost when his ego let him get drawn into the haymaker-fest, so I was interested to see what the story wo uld be this time.

I will just say off the bat, this was an absolute belter of a match. You can't beat New Japan for a 10-15 minute heavyweight slugfest and these two are a couple of the best at it right now. Was amazing to hear how much more over Oleg is now than he was in the G1. That tournament (thanks in big part to the Takeshita match!) was definitely his coming out party as a singles star and the people are 100% behind him here. This is also a better performance from him. His selling and bumping are better and the fire and emotion are radiating from him for the duration. He has developed, as the kids say, aura. 

Feeling out process again establishes that Oleg has the advantage in power and first step explosive impact. Takeshita wisely takes it to the floor and baits Oleg to run into the ring post, injuring the big man's arm. I loved this as a follow up from the first match, Takeshita immediately taking a tactical step at the start to try and mitigate what he lost to last time.

This is also amazing for Oleg as it draws a ton of sympathy, and makes him seem like a real hero every time he powers through the pain to hit his big moves. The crowd is so hot for the duration of this one, it's a wonderful atmosphere. Takeshita keeps working the arm whenever he can, but it's impossible to completely disarm Oleg. The injury just means Takeshita is able to stay in the fight with him when it eventually does become a haymaker throwing clash of titans. What a spectacular clash it is too. Credit to Oleg that his forearm smashes look and sound almost as good as Takeshita's. There is very little between them and that is a massive compliment as Takeshita's are the best in the world. 

Favourite spot of the match was a forearm exchange where they both collapse onto the mat face down, Takeshita on top of Oleg. Oleg drags himself to his feet WITH TAKESHITA ON HIS BACK to set up his Kamikaze signature move for a brilliant near fall. This was so, so awesome and the crowd lost their shit for it too. 

Oleg's fire takes over in the closing stretch and it looks like he might still be able to out-haymaker Takeshita despite the injury. However, Takeshita is wiser than last time and changes tactics completely, going for a guillotine choke and holding onto it for dear life despite Oleg's multiple attempts to power out. Loved this so much, brilliant continuation from the last match, simple but perfect in-ring storytelling. As a final excellent touch, the ref goes for the raising the arm three times thing to check Oleg. The arm IS going to drop the third time, but Takeshita shakes his head, catches the arm and hits the raging fire to get his pinfall win back. 

Loved this, will definitely be watching all of Takeshita's defenses of this title going forward. Ryohei Oiwa challenges him after the match. I love how they're using Takeshita as a gatekeeper for the next generation of New Japan stars try and prove themselves. 

 

IWGP World Heavyweight title: Zack Sabre Jr. vs Hirooki Goto

Again from watching the G1 last year it was obvious the New Japan faithful have so much love for Goto. The desire for the perennial nearly man to win the big one has persisted through the years and it made his win over Takeshita in that tournament the biggest feel good moment of the event. Here he is challenging for the title that has always eluded him in what may be his last opportunity. He has also promised the win in honour of his late father, who passed away a week before this match. As you can imagine, the people are RABID to see him win. ZSJ the perfect opponent for this. He's working the neck, he's working the arm, and every time Goto puts together a flurry he is able to grab a hold to kill the momentum, tease a heartbreaking flash pinfall or put Goto in any of his devastating submission holds. The HEAT when Goto is in these holds scrambling for the ropes is absolutely glorious.

This match is just magical. They make people wait, with Sabre shutting down the early heat, cutting off Goto whenever he's about to move up a gear and trying to control both Goto's fire and the overwhelming crowd support. Goto is phenomenal throughout, with an almost psychotic determination about him and the most incredible facial expressions to convey this. In the second half when Goto's fire begins to build until it's undeniable, the place comes unglued and it's hard not to get emotional watching it. They pack in so many great nods to the 17 year history leading up to this moment too. Goto busting out his own classic signature moves from years past, the Shibata PK, using the Lights Out double team with the aid of the turnbuckle instead of his partner Yoshi-Hashi, who is also at ringside losing his mind as Goto's second. 

ZSJ does a great job selling his panic and desperation as the match gets away from him and Goto becomes unstoppable, the old man eventually  hitting multiple GTRs to finally start the loooong overdue Goto Revolution. 

The criticisms of New Japan relying on old heads and not making/capitalising on new stars are often valid, but in this case both the 17 year story and particularly the past 12 months have all led up to this moment, giving the fans exactly what they want. Beautiful pro wrestling, what a match. Post-match Goto dedicates the win to his dad, thanks the people, thanks his body for not failing him. The Goto revolution has begun, join it, he has finally made Goto the G in IWGP. Goto's kids in the ring, streamers, Goto crying, the people crying. Wonderful stuff. 

Edited February 12, 2025 by JLM

[Merzbow]

Go watch Kidd vs Tsuji @JLM, seriously.

I'm not even going to spoil anything except that it's one hell of a heavy hitting banger, personally thought it blew the already brilliant Takeshita v Oleg match away.

[JLM]

Watched some odds and ends from the end of 2024/beginning of 2025:

15/12/24– NJPW Strong Style Evolved - Mercedes Mone vs Hazuki

AEW's Mercedes Mone defending the New Japan Strong Women's title which she won from current NXT North American Champion Stephanie Vaqeur (who worked for CMLL at the time) against Stardom's Hazuki. I love the pro wrestling cinematic universe. Had to check this out as it received the ravest of rave reviews. 

This was pretty dang good. Probably didn't need to be 26 minutes, but honestly it didn't drag and was helped along by a very hot crowd. Hazuki the underdog who has recently started regaining her confidence. A successful tag team wrestler but is never quite able to win the big matches for singles titles. Mone the forever Strong Women's champion. Hazuki was great in this match; she's just so likeable and wears her heart on her sleeve when she's wrestling. My favorite bit from her was right at the start. Mone got the Bank Statement on almost immediately and nearly won the match in a matter of seconds. Big "CEO!" chant. Hazuki rolls to the floor and kicks the guard rail in frustration, then just sits on the floor and stares out at the people and you can see her silently questioning whether she's in over her head here, the CEO chant slowly changing to to "Hazuki".  Impossible not to root for her after that. 

Mercedes initially taking the piss out of her and trying to be a bully, Hazuki trying desperation stuff to stay alive. She even goes for a count out win at one point as this title can change hands that way. Her belief grows as it goes on, as does Mercedes' frustration and anger. It gets dirty and scrappy and turns into a proper struggle. Mercedes is so good in big match settings with a hot crowd. Her facial expressions and in-ring character work are so strong that it's baffling how little of it carries over to her other segments. She knows exactly how to convey the character in the context of a match, sometimes a touch melodramatic but sometimes genuinely brilliant subtle little reactions too, and amazing bumps/sells when the opponent needs a big triumphant moment against her. She gets it but as soon as she has a mic she's a robot. Bizarre. 

Really hot closing stretch, lots of great teases with the bank statement, Hazuki trying to land her Bombs Away top rope senton. Lots of near falls and false finishes etc. and the crowd is red hot for the closing minutes. Also has the first instance of a good set up for the Mone Maker, with Mone catching a kick, capturing the leg and using that control to drag Hazuki into the move. Looks a lot less cooperative than usual. Unfortunately the move itself just doesn't ever look good. 

Excellent match. I'd have shaved off maybe 5-6 minutes but it was certainly worthy of going 20 and had this crowd engaged for pretty much everything. Mone closing out the year with a flurry of bangers and a star making U.S. showing for Hazuki. 
 

04/01/25- NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 - Konosuke Takeshita vs Shingo Takagi

Had to watch the big man capture the title on the big stage. I love both of these guys but this was unfortunately not as good as Takeshita's G1 slugfests with Cobb, HENARE or Boltin Oleg. They threw tonnes of huge moves at each other until one of them lost, but it didn't have the fire or intensity behind it to make it all count. It was still an entertaining 12 minute heavyweight bomb-off but I was hoping this would be up there with or even surpass his previous ones. Takeshita's defense of the title against Boltin Oleg I reviewed above was much much better. Still great to see Takeshita win another title on a massive stage though.
 

 

Wrestle Dynasty

SKIPPED: Sammy Guevara and Dustin Rhodes vs House of Torture. Too much backlog, House of Torture matches are silly. 

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Katsuyori Shibata exhibition match. Lovely for these two to go at it in the Tokyo Dome one more time after all these years, but this version of Tanahashi makes it a lot less appealing.

 Claudio Castagnoli vs Shota Umino
 Brody King vs David Finlay
 Yota Tsuji vs Jack Perry

Maaan are these not the pairings I was looking for. Claudio or Brody against Boltin Oleg? Hell yeah. Claudio or Brody vs Yota Tsuji? Yup. Claudio or Brody vs Jeff Cobb? Give that to me. I hate the choices they went with. I'm sure they were fine but there were some delicious match ups left on the table.

Three way tag title match. I'm sure this one was a lot of fun AND it had Jeff Cobb in it but, again, too much backlog to get through. 

Ricochet vs Zack Sabre Jr. I love ZSJ to bits but a filler defense against Ricochet sounds pretty dull, plus it was never gonna follow Gabe Kidd vs Kenny Motherfucking Omega. 

 

WATCHED: 

Athena (ROH) vs Willow Nightingale (AEW) vs Persephone (CMLL) vs Momo Watanabe (Stardom)

This was a lot of fun. Manic four way scramble with everyone getting plenty of shine. So nice to see Athena let out to play on this Japan tour and she was great here. Persephone also very impressive, throwing Willow about with ease and hitting some big high flying moves too. The Willow/Athena exchanges were a great little tease of a pairing we NEED to see in AEW proper one of these days. Unfortunately Athena's issues with Watanabe's HATE faction caught up with her here. She had this won but got shafted by outside interference and a baseball bat shot to the head. Felt quite surreal watching Athena get pinned! 

CMLL/New Japan flippy man mash up gauntlet : Taiji Ishimori vs. Titan vs. El Desperado vs. Hechicero vs. Soberano Jr. vs. Master Wato vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Mascara Dorada

Ahh I can't resist a stupid multiman flippy guy match. It's a sickness I know, though in my defense this one also has Hechicero in it. Remember first seeing Ishimori back in 2003-4ish. He was billed as the star of the "Toryumon X" graduating class, the class which came after Milano Collection's Toryumon 2000 Project. Taiji was the leader of the "Sailor Boys" boy band faction. He was very pretty and was heavily promoted but did not catch on with the fans and ended up being a flop. Seen him once or twice since then and I know he's become one of the best juniors of his generation, but I'll always remember him as a sailor boy. 

This is the same format as the AEW Casino Gauntlet; one fall ends it and guys keep coming in every so often until someone scores said fall. It's laid out in the most lazy way possible unfortunately, a series of two man exhibitions while everyone else lays out on the floor. A few exceptions, including the most fun bit where new IWGP Jr Heavyweight champ El Desperado comes in last and the whole field goes after him, but other than that it's largely 2-3 guys at most in the ring.That said, Soberano Jr, Mascara Dorada and Titan all have very impressive showings. Soberano is the only one I haven't seen before and he is cool as hell. Great look, smooth high flyer and a lot of swagger and physical charisma about him. Thankfully after the Desperado bit it turns into the mad chaotic scramble it should have been, so the last two mins or so are fun. This could have been a lot better than it was given the array of amazing talents involved though. 

New Japan Strong Women's Title vs RevPro Women's title: Mercedes Mone vs Mina Shirakawa

Spectacular Tokyo Dome-worthy entrances for both, they looked like proper megastars, Mina with the flowing ring jacket and Mercedes in some incredible Sailor Moon-inspired gear. I don't know who makes Mercedes' ring gear but it always looks a cut above the rest. Good match as I'd expect from these two. Mina following her usual gameplan of destroying the opponent's knees, which is extra effective against Mercedes because so much of her offense requires the knees. That's the story for the whole match as a result; Mina working the knees and applying the figure four at any opportunity, Mercedes trying to land knockout blows to put her away before her knees turn to dust. Really enjoyed this, would love a rematch.  Statlander 1 and 2, Hazuki, this match, giving Anna Jay her best AEW match to date. Mercedes the best bout machine.       

NEVER Openweight title: Konosuke Takeshita vs Tomohiro Ishii

Watched this because the Shingo match in the dome at Wrestle Kingdom was disappointing and I hoped this pairing might bring the FIRE that match was missing. Happy to report that it did! The main difference was Ishii playing the underdog. The New Japan explanation for his loan to AEW is that he failed to qualify for the G1 and took an excursion to recover from the disappointment. He is doubting himself and the fans know it. He is also adored by the New Japan faithful. As such, this match instantly has ten times more heat than Takeshita/Shingo.

Absolutely brilliant bit at the start where they do the big fore arm exchange, Takeshita fires off one of his incredible strikes, Ishii goes to fire up, no sell and return fire like he does in every match, but this time his legs buckle underneath him and he goes down! The crowd is so very concerned for him, it's beautiful. This is the massive benefit of Ishii's schtick; when he does sell big hit like this it really really matters. The story of the match is then very simple: is the stone pitbull about to be Old Yeller'd in the Tokyo Dome? Ishii continues to sell how much that shot rocked him even when he puts together some offense over the next few minutes too. Again, not something you see from him often so it feels very impactful. 

The funny thing about this match is that it's almost move for move, spot for spot, kick-out-at-1 for kick-out-at-1 a replica of Takeshita vs Shingo. You could play the two matches back to back as a study in why making the audience care is the most important thing of all. Shingo/Takeshita had all of the pieces of a heavyweight NEVER-style smashmouth war of attrition but zero heat. This had all of the same moves and spots, but it also had Ishii conveying at every step of the way that he was undergoing the most monumental struggle of his career. Any time he sold a big Takeshita fore arm and went down it felt huge, every time he landed a big hit and Takeshita went down it was a triumph. When Isii DID no-sell one of the big hits, it wasn't really a no-sell. You could tell it was taking every ounce of strength he had left to put up that front that it didn't hurt him. It clearly did hurt him. Everything in this match hurt him, but he wasn't going down without a fight. At one point Takeshita hit the raging fire off the second rope and Ishii kicked out at 2.9999. One woman in the crowd started an Ishii chant and then it slowly filled the entire dome as Takeshita sat in stunned disbelief at the old man's refusal to die. Magic. 

This was excellent. I'll say it again; As much as AEW failing to make Takeshita one of the tippy top guys would be a heart-breaking and unforgiveable fumble, him going to New Japan full time to be the next Ace feels like his destiny and I would honestly love to see it. 

Kenny Omega vs Gabe Kidd

Kenny coming out as the final boss of a JRPG was amazing. Incredible stuff. This was insanity. To come back after the ordeal he's been through and put on a THIRTY MINUTE main event thrill ride. Perhaps the most Kenny Omega thing he's ever done. He's not going to be a "take it easy" kind of guy, but bleeding, launching himself into the crowd, bumping like a lunatic, have to wonder if his lay off was actually to get an adamantium skeleton fitted or something. Big heat, big spectacle, not the main event on paper but really that's the main event of any show isn't it? So, so happy he's back and he's healthy, what a spectacular return.

 

 

[CDM]

Is royal quest the annual njpw event in the UK? I think it is. Thinking of going 

 

[kidzero]

What are people's opinions of Hirooki Goto as iwgp champion I liked the  build to him becoming champion but they could be leaning towards David Finlay dethroning him but overall  I'm happy for goto it was along time coming but Zack Sabre Jr is still the best pout for pound British wrestler out there I often wonder if Doug Williams came along ten year later he would have ruled Japan and possibly gone a WWE run.....I going to try to go to royal quest this year if I get a chance possibly try to catch a rev pro show if the have one the day before hand.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

5 hours ago, kidzero said:

Zack Sabre Jr is still the best pout for pound British wrestler 

Certainly now Regal has retired. 

[Merzbow]

Not strictly New Japan but went to a harsh noise show where one artist from America was showing Sareee during his set and I got this gorgeous cassette.

Goes by Slit Throats and has a big love for all Joshi.

Edited July 4, 2025 by Merzbow

[JLM]

G1 Blocks are finalised now, last couple of qualifiers happened last week:

I will be watching all of The Alpha’s matches once again, last year’s was some of my favourite wrestling of the year, positively packed with bangers. 

Still have to watch his NEVER open weight title defenses against Oiwa, Phantasmo and (most deliciously of all) his rubber match against Boltin Oleg. 

Very sad there’s no Uemura, Tsuji or Oleg in Takeshita’s block this year. Very excited indeed to see him against Zack Sabre Jr. though! Fascinating pairing that. Shingo, Umino and Kidd should all be proper slobberknockers and he has amazing chemistry with Phantasmo too. I have high hopes for him getting out of the block, as there are multiple rematches from last year available in the semis if he does. 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2025 by JLM

[waters44]

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Very excited for next week and I think I’ll sort out my predictions whilst enjoying All In on Saturday

The lineup is solid - you could argue a little too solid. It would have been nice to have a few wildcards like Jake Lee last year. Get another guy from NOAH or even CMLL. 

Looking at the blocks I will predict an Umino / Tsuji final. I can’t call who wins that though - my heart wants Tsuji but New Japan seem to want to force Umino on us

[JLM]

Here we are again, Takeshita in the G1 part 2! 

19/07/25 G1 Climax 35 Night 1 - Takeshita vs Gabe Kidd

Maaaan the DDT Takeshita theme song is such a belter. Every time I watch him outside of AEW I am reminded of this. 

Takeshita with the classy white gear and a spiffy new jacket:

The crowd is definitely behind Kidd for this one. He's on the rise at the moment, he's the IWGP Global heavyweight champion and he's hot off a successful first defense against Hiroshi Tanahashi. He is also carrying the pride of New Japan on his back, saying before the tournament that the hell he went through training in the New Japan system will all be for nothing if he loses to an outsider who didn't follow the correct path to the G1. 

This match was definitely set up to be one of the big ones in this block, and they both came into it incredibly fired up and starting the match in high gear. Unfortunately though, right at the start of the match Takeshita hit an awkward looking flying shoulder block and ended up crashing down onto Kidd's right knee. This was a legit injury and it sadly derailed the red hot start they were going for. Credit to both of them that it STILL turned into a hell of a brawl and had the crowd hot again for the end, but it didn't end up reaching the heights it was meant to due to sheer bad luck. 

Still though, they beat the heck out of each other, the strikes and big bombs were there, and the already pro-Kidd crowd were even more sympathetic and behind him with the knee injury on top of it. An on the fly call for Takeshita to work the knee and have Kidd heroically soldier through the match might have been better than taking a pause and then trying to regain the heat, but I appreciate that's very easy to say with hindsight. Ironically would have been easier on the knee too, as instead Kidd still wrestled this 12-13 minute high intensity brawl on the injured knee, which cannot have been good for him! 

Favourite bit of the match was one of the best count out teases I've seen in ages. Proper edge of the seat stuff where it really looked like a double count out, only for Takeshita to get in at 19 seconds and Kidd getting in on 19.9.. Great drama. I liked MMA-style finish too, where Kidd passed out for the stoppage and then woke up almost immediately, going nuts at the ref and everyone else in total disbelief that Takeshita's hand was being raised. Good finish to give Kidd the out, he couldn't be pinned, he went toe to toe with Takeshita despite the knee injury and he didn't tap either. I like Takeshita drawing on his experience from last year too, where if the slugfest is getting out of hand and the bombs aren't getting it done, sometimes you gotta choke a man out. Big follow up brawl between them to set up a rematch too. I hope we get that, as these two put on a good match in these crappy circumstances, and with better luck could put on a real belter. 

The only build New Japan needs for the rematch is this single shot:

Spoiler

Looking at that even I kinda want Kidd to win the rematch, and I'm as big a Takeshita fanboy as you'll find. He's had to pull out of night 2 and was on crutches to make the announcement, but is adamant he'll be back before the end of the tournament. That would make quite a story. 
 

Night one standings:

Spoiler

 

Edited July 21, 2025 by JLM

[JLM]

Bonus match: G1 Climax 35 Night 1 - Yuya Uemura vs Oleg Boltin 

Had to check this one out; both of these guys had star-making performances against Takeshita in last year's G1 but are sadly not in his block this time. Uemura beat Takeshita last year but wasn't able to complete the tournament due to injury, which was devastating as that Takeshita match was his breakthrough moment and he didn't get to capitalise. Oleg's entire run last year was one long breakthrough moment. He is also the NEVER Openweight Champion, winning the third match in his trilogy of absolute slobberknockers against Takeshita in June, which also gave him a 2-1 win in their rivalry.

This is a very similar match up to Uemura vs Takeshita from last year; Uemura incredibly crisp and technically sound and working the arms to make his deadbolt suplex hard to escape, going up against a powerhouse force of nature who is  trying to beat him to a pulp before he can achieve this. 

Enjoyed this one as expected. I love Uemura's style so much. He's on the smaller end of the heavyweights but he compensates with his impeccable technique, his smart strategy and his quick thinking reversals. He is the perfect foil to a powerhouse like Boltin. who also understands his role perfectly, becoming increasingly wild and reckless as the frustration and panic sets in the longer this little bastard keeps evading him and wearing down the arm. 

The first few minutes with Uemura relentlessly working the arm using variations of a top wrist lock were delightful. Refusing to let go, adjusting into different versions of it and quite  believably maintaining control against the much larger opponent. Every so often Oleg would have a burst of power that was too much, so Uemura then had to weather the storm and look for another chance to get back into it. Oleg's spell on top had all of his immensely satisfying amateur wrestling/brute force offense on display, but he was still favouring the arm the whole time, showing that the first few minutes had done significant damage. There was also a great bit where they fight over a cross arm breaker for almost a minute. Oleg's selling is incredible here, you can hear how much pain he's in through his breathing, and whenever Uemura got closer to a full extension of the hold Oleg started thrashing like a mad man. Felt like such a well earned and necessary rope break when he got it.

Great struggle half way through as well, with Boltin trying to turn a bear hug into an overhead suplex, but Uemura trying to capture the arms and go for the Deadbolt instead. Again just a great sense of struggle here, with Boltin having the clear power advantage but Uemura's early work on the arms giving him a chance. 

Excellent finish too; Boltin on a tear again on one of his flurries of offense, launches Uemura off the shoulders for the Kamikaze (the F5) only for Uemura to land on his feet and hit the Deadbolt out of nowhere. As he was for the whole match, even in the moments where Boltin was whooping his ass, Uemura was just that tiny step ahead of him in the strategy department. This was only about 11-12 minutes long but could not have been more up my street.   

These G1 viewings have made me a big fan of both of these guys and I would love to see either of them pop up during Forbidden Door Season. Oleg vs Brody King please. 

 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2025 by JLM

[JLM]

G1 Climax 35 Night 2 20/07/25 Takeshita vs El Phantasmo

 

Commentators discussing the Kidd injury from Night One, the story now is that Don Callis has tasked Takeshita with injuring everyone in his block. Of course he has.

These two had one of the matches of the tournament last year, absolutely loved it, so very excited to see them in the same group here. Phantasmo lost last time but it was a truly heroic effort at a time when he was at his lowest point.

In May of this year, Takeshita found Phantasmo in a much better spot, holding the New Japan Television title. Takeshita challenged him for it and they went to a nail biting 15 minute draw, as per the time limit of all New Japan TV title matches. Phantasmo and Oleg Boltin also picked up a win over Takeshita in a tag match the following day.They met AGAIN in singles action later on in May, this time Phantasmo the challenger for Takeshita's NEVER Openweight title, with Takeshita again getting the win in another 17 minute epic. They have excellent chemistry and El-P always gives Takeshita a hell of a match, but the story of the rivalry has consistently been that Phantasmo cannot quite beat Takeshita. Even in the tag match he DID win, the finish was Boltin pinning Rocky Romero.

El-P is also coming into this match on 0 points, having lost to Shota Umino on night one.

This was good, and I've seen people saying it's the second best match in their series, but I think it's going to be impossible to capture the magic of the first one because of the overwhelming sympathy for Phantasmo last year. He was at rock bottom and all of his pals had gone to WWE and Takeshita was a seemingly unstoppable monster. That first one was also in a packed out Korakuen hall, and a red hot crowd in a smaller, more intimate venue is hard to beat.

Again though, this was good stuff, they always work well together. Loved the opening minutes with Phantasmo trying to win the match right from the start. Got a genuinely believable near fall on a back slide in the first minute or so, hit the CR2 early, really going hell for leather. His early momentum was also cut off in some style, EL-P going for his signature springboard dive over the barrier into the crowd, only for Takeshita to catch him right on the jaw with an anti-air fore arm.. This was excellent. Phantasmo then had to struggle to get back into it, but the crowd just wasn't as desperate for him to win as they were in the first match. The closing sequence was nuts and the people were reacting to the madness, but it wasn't quite the high drama you'd want it to be, given this was Phantasmo trying to beat his nemesis for the first time. The finish really played that up too, with Phantamso landing multiple CR2's, before busting out the big match CR3 variation to finally get his long awaited win. The reaction was solid but it wasn't the red hot crescendo this finishing sequence was aiming for.

The minimum standard between these two is always going to be very good, just a shame it wasn't quite great.

Standings after Night 2

Spoiler