Ren Narita p. Yuya Uemura with a Belly To Belly Suplex. A battle of teh Young Lions which is a customary opening match
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi b. Shota Umino & Ayato Yoshida when Tenzan submitted Yoshida with the Anaconda Vice – The veterans won, but the Young Lines did well by keeping the match fast paced.
Yujiro Takahashi & IWGP Junior Heavyweight Taiji Ishimori of Bullet Club b. Ryusuke Taguchi & Toa Henare when Takahashi pinned Henare with a Pimp Juice DDT – The babyfaces took it to the heels in the opening minutes. Takahashi got the upper hand by dropping Henare on the ropes. Taguchi tagged in and rallied with Hip Attacks. Henare and Takahashi traded near falls, but in the end Takahashi pinned Henare with a Pimp Juice DDT
Tomoaki Honma & The Most Violent Players (Togi Makabe & Toru Yano) b. Bullet Club (Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Chase Owens w/Jado) when Makabe pinned Owens with a King Kong Knee Drop – Tonga tried to convince Honma that he was a good guy, then Owens attacked Honma from behind. The heels took turns beating on Honma. Yano got the tag and did his usual schtick with the turnbuckle pads before tagging in Makabe. However, the heels managed to cut off Makabe and resume the triple teaming. Owens shoved Makabe into the ref. With the ref down, Jado hit Honma with a kendo stick. A multi-man brawl broke out with Honma hitting his Kokeshi headbutt. As the referee came to, Makabe finished off Owens with a King Kong Knee Drop.
“Switchblade” Jay White & Tama Tonga of Bullet Club (w/Gedo) b. Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI of CHAOS when Fale pinned Hashi with a hand Grenade – As usual, the heels attacked before the bell and proceeded to take the match to the floor. They beat on Hashi for the next few minutes . Okada got the hot tag and took it to White. Before too long, White managed to tag Fale, who used his power to ground Okada. Hashi tagged in and hit Fale with a Blockbuster. White tried to step in, but was fended off by Okada. In the ruckus, Fale splashed Hashi for a two count. Hashi fired up and felled Fale to a knee with clotheslines. Unfortunately for Hashi, Fale caught him on the third clothesline and hit a Hand Grenade to git the pin.
After the match, the heels continued to beat on Okada until the Young Lions in the ring crew intervened.
Los Ingobernables De Japon (IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito, IWGP Heavyweight Tag Champions EVIL & SANADA, & IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champions Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) b. Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, & El Desperado w/Taka Michinoku) when EVIL pinned Kanemaru with Everything Is Evil – Unlike the previous night, this was not an Elimination Match. Taka did his usual in ring intro. In a turn of events, Taichi actually held the ropes open for Naito to enter, and did not take a cheap shot. Naito cheapshotted Kanemaru, and all 10 ment started brawling. Suzuki-Gun got the upper hand by using chairs. Sanada narrowly avoided a countout, but Suzuki jumped at the opportunity to pummel him afterward. Finally, Naito got the hot tag and ran wild. After a double down, Takagi tagged in, with he and Bushi taking it to SG before SG grounded Bushi. After the heat on Bushi, Evil got the tag and tried to finish off Kanemary. This sparked the big multi-man brawl with everybody hitting their big moves. Naito took down Taichi with Destino, which allowed Evil to finally get the pin on Kanemaru with Everything Is Evil.
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi s. KUSHIDA with a Cloverleaf – This was of course Kushida’s farewell match with New Japan, as he is expected to jump to WWE shortly. The match came about when Kushida said during his announcement that he always wanted to have a match with Tanahashi, and Tanahashi obliged. The two started by feeling out each other with lockups and takedowns, setting the stage for an epic match. Tanahashi started getting the upper hand, which frustrated Kushida to the point where he slapped Tanahashi. Before long, Kushida was in control of the match. The two hit dueling strikes back and forth. Tanahashi was able to repeatedly escape Kushida’s submissions, and started a comeback. A High Fly Flow bodypress leveled Kushida, but he still blocked a second attempt with his knees. Tanahashi kicked out of a Back To The Future, and battled back to finally put Kushida in the Cloverleaf for the submission.
After the match, the two embraced in a show of respect. Jay White ran out and attacked from behind with a chair. He Pillmanized Tanahashi’s knee with the chair, and posed with the title belt. Kushida was seemingly unconscious on the floor, as he did not help Tanahashi. However, he did eventually make it to his feet and shook Tanahashi’s hand. He then cut a promo in the ring thanking the fans. He did add that he may return one day.
The main event was far and away the best thing on the show, which I expected. It won’t top anybody’s Match Of The Year list, but it was a great main event and felt like an important chapter in Kushida’s history. I must confess I will miss Kushida’s theme music.
