NJPW “DESTRUCTION in TOKYO” Results & Review

Results NJPW “DESTRUCTION in TOKYO”, Saturday 9/17/2016 @ Ota Ward General Gymnasium in Tokyo.

1) David Finlay Jr. & Henare vs. “Roppongi Vice” Rocky Romero & Trent Barreta.
⚫ Nice opener, Barreta won (5:57) following the Dudebuster on Henare.

2) Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. “Bullet Club Hunters” Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan.
⚫ Fun match, that continued on the story of the BC Hunters. Captain “leaving” is now leading in the poll BTW. Nagata won (6:30) following the Exploder of Justice on, of course, Captain NJ.

3) Tiger Mask IV & “Great Bash Heel” Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger & “TenCozy” Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima.
⚫ Average match, with Honma winning for his team (8:53) following the Kokeshi on Liger.

4) “CHAOS” Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo vs. “Bullet Club” Chase Owens & “Guerrillas of Destiny” Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa.
⚫ Ishii won (11:05) following a Vertical Drop style Brainbuster on Tanga Loa. It was what it was.

5) Juice Robinson vs. Kyle O’Reilly.
⚫ This match was just great from both men. Juice got a lot of offense in and you can see he has really grown as a performer. O’Reilly though, wasn’t one to be messed with and ultimately he made Robinson submit (12:59) to the ARMageddon.

6) “CHAOS” IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay vs. “Bullet Club” Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi.
⚫ Lots of the ongoing stories were played out during this CHAOS vs. BC match, such as Okada/Fale (they have a match on 9/22), Okada/Omega (possible WK11 match for the title) and Omega/HASHI (their shot at the championship match is also this Thursday).
The finish of the match saw YOSHI-HASHI pinning Takahashi (11:31) after he had hit him with the Karma.

7) IWGP Intercontinental Champion Michael Elgin, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. “Los Ingobernables de Japón” Tesuya Naito, SANADA & EVIL.
⚫ SANADA won (13:12) with the Skull End on Taguchi.

After the match all of L.I.J ganged up on Elgin, which resulted in Naito locking in a variation of a Leg Scissors Hold. Despite the numerous ringing of the bell, Naito wouldn’t let go until Big Mike had passed out. This match, and the aftermath, added even more heat to the upcoming Elgin/Naito IC title match on Sunday next week in Kobe.

8) NEVER Openweight Championship match: Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. ROH World TV Champion Bobby Fish.
⚫ Shibata won (16:41) in a grueling match. Knowing about Shibata’s injury issues, Fish really took the fight to him and didn’t hold anything back. Shibata took some sick landings on his neck and back, that had you worried for his safety every time. The end came when Shibata, who was visibly in pain, put Fish in a Sleeper Hold, followed by a P.K. for the win.

After the match Kyle O’Reilly stepped up and confronted the retaining NEVER Champion, thus asserting himself as the next challenger for the belt.

9) IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match: KUSHIDA (c) vs. BUSHI.
⚫ BUSHI came out with the masked mystery pareja leading the way, who basically just stood at ringside for the entire match, although at one point in the match tripped KUSHIDA while he ran the ropes.
Halfway during the match Tetsuya Naito interfered, but was ran off by a revived Michael Elgin, saving KUSHIDA from further harm. After that, the match really took off, with both juniors showing all they’ve got.
The finish came pretty cleanly, as BUSHI won (21:03) following the MX, and became the new Junior Heavyweight Champion.

After today’s show, there are three “Road to…” shows scheduled this week (Sept 19,20,21) leading up to the next PPV, “Destruction in Hiroshima”, which takes place this Thursday 9/22.