SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NJPW “POWER STRUGGLE” PPV RESULTS
NOV. 5, 2017
OSAKA, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPWWORLD.COM
Results courtesy of PURORESU SPIRIT
Pre-show: David Finlay beat Katsuya Kitamura.
(1) The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) beat Dragon Lee & Titan.
Radican’s Analysis: This is a nice win for The Young Bucks after being out of NJPW since August.
(2) Juice Robinson & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask IV & KUSHIDA & Hirai Kawato beat Suzuki Gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi & El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku).
(3) Togi Makabe & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima beat Bullet Club (ROH World Champion Cody Rhodes & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens).
(4) Super Jr. Tag Tournament Finals: IWGP Jr. Hvt. Tag Team Champions Roppongi 3K (YOH & SHO) beat Ryusuke Taguchi & ACH. After the match, The Young Bucks challenged Roppongi 3K to a title match and Rocky Romer accepted on their behalf.
Radican’s Analysis: NJPW is really doing a nice job of pushing Roppongi 3K strong right out of the gate. They won the IWGP jr. Hvt. Tag Team Championship on their first night as a rebranded unit and now they won the Super Jr. Tag Tournament. This will put a lot of steam behind their match against The Young Bucks for the titles.
(5) CHAOS (IWGP Hvt. Champion Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo beat L.I.J. (Tetsuya Naito & EVIL & SANADA & BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi.
ANNOUNCEMENT: NJPW announced they will be returning to America on March 25, 2018 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, and the show will be called “Strong Style Evolved.”
Radican’s Analysis: I’m sure this will be a loaded show for NJPW before WrestleMania weekend. They are doing the right things when it comes to expanding in the U.S. and building an audience.
(6) NEVER Openweight Championship Bull Rope Match: Minoru Suzuki beat Toru Yano with the Gotch piledriver.
(7) IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Marty Scurll beat Will Ospreay to become the new IWGP Jr. Hvt. Champion.
After the match, KUSHIDA, Ospreay and Takahashi challenged Scurll. Scurll agreed to defend against them all in a Four Way match at Wrestle Kingdom.
Radican’s Analysis: I’m not a fan of the up and down booking of NJPW’s Jr. Hvt. division. Ospreay would have been a great choice to build around. I’m not surprised he lost defending the title for the first time, but he had a really good feud with KUSHIDA and he finally beat him last month to win the title only to lose and be in a four-way match at Wrestle Kingdom.
(8) IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship Match: IWGP U.S Champion Kenny Omega beat Trent Barreta.
ANNOUNCEMENT: After the match, Chris Jericho, who had been having a war of words with Omega on Twitter last week, appeared in a video. He challenged Omega to a match for the IWGP U.S. Championship at Wrestle Kingdom and Omega accepted his challenge.
Radican’s Analysis: I’ve heard that NJPW has some blockbuster things in store and this announcement qualifies as a blockbuster. Jericho has a big audience with his podcast and social media presence on Twitter. Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega is going to be the talk of wrestling for the next several weeks and months leading into Wrestle Kingdom in January. If NJPW wanted to increase their western fanbase, this was the right way to do it.
(9) IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match: IWGP IC Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Kota Ibushi with the high fly flow.
ANNOUNCEMENT: After the match, Jay White was revealed as Switchblade, who had been teased in several videos over the last few months. White is returning from his ROH excursion and he issued a challenge to Tanahashi for the IWGP IC Championship at Wrestle Kingdom. Tanahashi and White brawled until White took Tanahashi out with the shellshock, which is a swinging reverse STO.
Radican’s Analysis: White was used well while he was in ROH and put in some big spots against high-quality opponents. White has the potential to be a big star in NJPW and the sky is the limit for White. I’m surprised he is starting off at NJPW on this level, but given his talent and NJPW not waiting around to make new stars, this is a great way to have him make a huge splash in his debut as a main roster talent after completing his excursion.
My full report for “Power Struggle” will be up on the site in the near future.
booo hiss i wanted to see scurl vs kushida one on one, i dont like four or three way matches on big shows. i prefer just two big names against each other. an ospreay vs takahashi singles match to face the winner at a future show would appeal more to me.