NEXESS VI

May 14, 2005

New Japan in the Tokyo Dome for another of these NEXESS shows, and it looks like this is a clear case of the norm being shied away from.

Hirooki Goto . . . isn’t submitting to a half crab in the opening match.

Manabu Nakanishi . . . is teaming with his old rival Kendo Ka Shin.

Satoshi Kojima . . . is wrestling his old partner Hiroyoshi Tenzan.

TOGI MAKABE/TORO YANO vs. YUTAKA YOSHIE/OSAMU NISHIMURA

On paper, this looks like a good way to start off the show, a short match designed to heat up the crowd. But the actual execution of the match is anything but a good way to start the show. The heat segment on Nishimura was obviously going to be short, given that they only had about six or so minutes, but Makabe and Yano don’t do anything to embellish it, or at the very least make it appear to be interesting so that it’s conceivable that Nishimura is on the brink of losing. Even a cheap shot with Yano’s umbrella or Makabe’s chain would have sufficed. The hot tag to Yoshie bit is ultimately pointless, it’s good for some quick face heat but it doesn’t do anything to help develop a match that’s already at a disadvantage due to it’s given length. Yoshie does what he does best (throws around his weight), sucks up the cheers and tags Nishimura back in, so they can run with the finish. Not even a cheap low blow or something from Makabe or Yano to logically get us to the point of Yoshie needing to get out, despite his weakened partner. Yano’s spinning brainbuster looks good enough as a finish that it’s believable to put away Nishimura, even though he hadn’t been worn down with somewhat of a focus. It’s just a case of too little too late, that the end came on a decent finishing move.

MINORU SUZUKI vs. ALEXANDER OTSUKA

Although it’s also hampered by the small amount of time it’s given, this is fun while it lasts thanks to Suzuki. The opening mat work bit would normally just be filler, but thankfully Suzuki uses it as the opening chapter of the story he tells in the match. Anyone who’s watched any of Suzuki’s work since he returned to NJPW in 2003, or any of his NOAH work, knows about his attitude in the ring. But until Otsuka disrespects him with that condescending pat on the head, it’s not present. It’s like Suzuki just wanted a good clean shootstyle match, which he’s unable to have in NOAH, or with the “shootstyle” workers that NJPW employs. But Otsuka did disrespect him, and Suzuki lets the attitude out, with a big sneer on his face as he viciously knees Suzuki in the jaw, and then hits some roundhouse kicks to the back and chest. Otsuka uses some nice facials to put over the knee strikes knocking him silly. When Suzuki locks him the choke sleeper, he’s got that familiar look on his face complete with the tongue sticking out, and he also does a nice job of transporting Otsuka around the ring away from the ropes. Suzuki’s transition from the choke to the Drill Hole piledriver is seamless. Watching Suzuki here, it’s all the more fitting that he’s a freelance worker. He pulled off a simple and fun match in the same amount of time that the four workers that NJPW has under contract, used in their mess of an opener.

KOJI KANEMOTO/WATARU INOUE © vs. MINORU TANAKA/HIROOKI GOTO (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles)

Will wonders never cease? NJPW actually can do something right when they set their mind to it. This is far from being perfect, Tanaka alone makes that obvious, and Kanemoto isn’t in any place to be helpful. Indeed it’s Hirooki Goto who puts this over the top, and he does it much the same way that Suzuki does, by telling a simple story. The story is similar to the one used in the 6/6/03 GHC Tag Title change, it’s not as effective as that one, only because NJPW doesn’t use the ‘lowest man jobs’ mentality of booking that NOAH does, so Koji dropping the fall isn’t quite as monumental as Akiyama jobbing for Honda, although it’s still impressive given Koji is nearly as high up on the food chain as Lyger. The challenger team looks like it’s more of an excuse to push Inoue by giving him an easy win heading into the BOSJ.

When Goto is in the ring with either of the champions, he’s getting kicked and slapped around, as is pretty much commonplace with anyone taking on Koji. It’s not surprising that Inoue picked that up from him either, especially considering the beatings he’d taken from Gedo and Jado both in the title win and rematch. Tanaka does bail out Goto, but only when he’s stuck in situations such as the Triangle Lancer, and in Koji’s Ankle hold (which he sells eons better than Tanaka does). Tanaka is never in the match for very long, he usually just gets a quick advantage and then tags back out to Goto. Tanaka has recent singles wins over both Kanemoto (November) and Inoue (December) so he’s got nothing to prove here. He also doesn’t have much to show here, as he totally blows off the Ankle hold, standing right up seconds after Koji locks it in, and blowing off strikes from Inoue, until a single awkward looking kick suddenly drops him, and he sells that one like death. Goto makes the most out of the openings he’s given. He impressively escapes the Triangle Lancer, and countering another attempt with his own Triangle choke. When he’s in with Koji, he sucks up the slaps and strikes, and even returns fire with some of his own.

The offensive burst doesn’t last forever though and when Tanaka and Inoue are brawling on the floor, Kanemoto locks the Ankle lock in, and Goto does a fantastic job of selling it, crawling feverishly toward the ropes, and when Koji drops down with the grapevine, Goto seems to be on the verge of tapping, only hesitating because it’s his biggest match to date, on the grandest stage of all. Goto using the’ Go 2 Hell’ as a finish works on a certain level, with Tanaka softening up Kanemoto with the roundhouse to the head. But Goto doesn’t use the same amount of force as when Amazing Red plants someone with it, it looks more like a fancy looking cradle than a knockout move, and it hurts the overall impact of Goto pinning Kanemoto. But odd looking finish aside, one has to wonder why NJPW isn’t booking more of the young guys in matches like this, Goto easily showed off more here, than he did in a year of submitting to Ryusuke Taguchi’s half crab in opening matches.

TIGER MASK © vs. BLACK TIGER (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title)

It’s too bad that Romero would have to wait five months before scoring the title, because his performance here was more than enough indication of which of these two is the better Tiger, in fact it was almost as if he worked too hard in a match he was jobbing in. BT uses lots of nice simple looking holds designed to weaken the neck of TM for the Tombstone (which he’d used to knock out TM in the angle that led to this match). It’s eventually paid off when BT is able to hit it on the floor and come within one second of getting the win via count out. It’s not just in the work department that BT is able to outshine the champion though, he’s also clearly the more agile of the two, as is evidenced by the flashy flips and escapes he employs. One particularly cool moment was when BT was in a waist lock and charged the ropes sending TM to the floor. A few minutes later the situation is reversed, but BT holds on to TM and makes sure both of them go tumbling to the floor.

When TM is on offense he shows no immediate game plan or focus, it’s as if he just knows that he’s going to win the match if he can hit the Tiger suplex. He does bring a few nice spots with him, like the super backdrop, which BT sold like he’d nearly broken his back, but TM (who landed more toward the shoulder/neck region) sold as more of a knockout. TM ultimately gets his opportunity for the win though, by looking lucky rather than skilled. He counters a second BT attempt at the Tombstone on the floor by shoving him into the post, and returns the favor inside the ring when he’s able to hit his own Tombstone, and when BT is temporarily knocked out, he hits the Tiger suplex for the win. It looked like they were going for a story with BT trying to be a heel, and having it come back to haunt him, but the length of the match (an ongoing trend with this show) prevented them from telling it as effectively as it could have been.

YUJI NAGATA vs. TSUYOSHI KOSAKA

Considering that this came right around the same time as Nagata’s long awaited heel turn, it just more odd looking than it already is. It’s booked to make Nagata look like this big super hero, overcoming all these odds against the legit fighter, in a ‘shootstyle’ match. Considering they’d just turned Nagata heel, it looks silly, factoring in Nagata’s (negative) perfect record in MMA and it’s stupid. Some of Yuji’s beliefs of what make good ideas in a pro match are bad enough, and they don’t get much better in this sort of match. All the stalling and pussyfooting around in the beginning are bad enough. But then Nagata gets himself stuck in several nasty submissions by Kosaka, and barely beats the odds to get the ropes time and again. After all that, Nagata hits a single lucky knee strike on Kosaka, and he’s nearly unconscious. When Kosaka catches Yuji in any more holds, he’s able to counter them and dump him on his head with a big suplex, and finally does it enough to score the pin. Considering they seemed to be looking for a shootstyle match, any of the Nagata locks seemed like a more obvious choice, and considering the flash nature of submission holds in that style, Nagata wouldn’t have to bother with building them up (since he usually doesn’t in pro matches). It’s quite ironic that the one sort of match where the short length would be a plus, winds up as the biggest negative yet, thanks to good old “Mr. Saikyo” Nagata.

RON WATERMAN vs. KEIJI MUTOH

If nothing else, this gets props for not being as horrible as the last match. Despite Waterman’s UFC history, he works more like he’s a WWE worker or a monster gaijin. No shortage on the strikes, and some power moves thrown in. Unlike Nagata, Mutoh also waits for the right moments for his openings and does things that would make sense in the context of the match. Waterman is working like a typical WWE big man, so Mutoh starts to take him down at the knees, with the dropkick and Dragon screw, and then goes with the figure four. Waterman is still strong enough to turn it over though, so Mutoh keeps on his knee with the Dragon screw. Mutoh’s Shining Wizard overkill is unfortunately present, but it’s somewhat excused by the fact that after the first one, Waterman’s nose starts pouring blood. When the third Shining Wizard still hasn’t gotten the pin, Mutoh heads to the top and hits the still-stunned Waterman with the moonsault to get the pin. It’s a really sad indictment of Nagata, how Mutoh worked virtually the same sort of defying the odds story, while still working the match simply and logically, despite Mutoh being years from his best work, and with his knees in such bad shape.

In yet another amazing happening, Kendo Ka Shin seems to have found somebody that he can actually work with, in Nakamura. Their exchanges with each other on the mat are the big highlights of the match, and it just leaves the mouth watering for a one-on-one showdown. The same cannot be said for the other two participants, Nakanishi is just as bad as he’s always been, and Tanahashi isn’t actively bad, but he’s just outshone by his tag team partner. The tag champions are also outshone by their challengers in this particular match. With such a storied rivalry between them, it’s obvious that this was going to be something interesting to see. The mis communication spots come along, like they do in every match Ka Shin is present in, but they manage to keep themselves from coming to blows, even after Ka Shin playfully slaps Nakanishi in the face. The challengers also show off a double team they’d developed, to show how good they are at working together. At one point Nakanishi does a juji-gatame, and Ka Shin does the Argentine backbreaker. Nakanishi also shows he’s trying to watch Ka Shin’s back, when he prevents Tanahashi from coming off the top, and sets up Ka Shin for his juji-gatame off the top.

Fortunately, Nakamura and Ka Shin bring their matwork with them, it may just be filler, but it’s cool filler. They’ve both got plenty of counters ready (including Ka Shin countering the Shining Triangle), and it shows how useful Kendo Ka Shin can be as a wrestler, when he’s with someone he can actually work with. It’s definitely better than when Nakanishi gets his dull extended control segment over Tanahashi, Tanahashi tries to compensate with his selling, but it only helps out so much, because Nakanishi doesn’t seem to be interested in putting any thought into what he does. The bigger story though is the sum of the two parts, Nakanishi can handle Tanahashi with no problem, and Ka Shin can keep up with Nakamura on the ground. With the way they’re getting along with one another, it looks like they could win the titles with ease. The ending is a bit sudden, but it works in the context of the story they were telling. Nakanishi puts Tanahashi in the Argentine backbreaker, and Ka Shin winds up getting clocked in the face by Tanahashi’s feet, and is knocked silly. Seeing the opening he needed, Nakamura pounces when he sees the opportunity, and put Ka Shin in a juji-gatame for the tap out. This isn’t a classic by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a fun little match that is eons better than it probably should have. If nothing else, Nakamura can lay claim to working miracle matches at back to back May Dome shows.

MASAHIRO CHONO/JYUSHIN “THUNDER” LYGER vs. TATSUMI FUJINAMI/MITSUHARU MISAWA

Legend matches and dream matches are usually fun, but expecting anything outstanding is usually asking too much. In this case you have two workers who are badly broken down, and one who’s been away from the ring for a couple of years. The heels bring some fun spots with them, although Chono manages to use both the Yakuza kick, Shining Yakuza kick, and the STF before the match is halfway over. It’s also rather impressive to watch Lyger be able to get Misawa up for a big Lygerbomb. Misawa doesn’t do a terribly whole lot here, and that’s probably a good thing, Misawa is rarely able to even bring his A-Game with him when he gets into a NOAH ring. Watching Misawa here is no different from watching him teaming with Kotaro Suzuki in NOAH. He does almost the bare minimum and completely turns the tide of the match. Chono and Lyger managed to get a bit of heat going on Fujinami with a few dives to the floor. But a single Misawa elbow was able to keep them both down, and let Fujinami make the comeback on Lyger. That’s fine for a legend like Misawa to do for a rookie to help raise his stock, but Fujinami doesn’t that sort of rub. Fujinami does look decent though, considering his time away from the ring. It’s not every day that you see someone of his age do a superplex while standing on the top. Misawa pulls a bit more of his move set out with the elbow suicida to Chono, so Fujinami can finish off Lyger with the Dragon sleeper, and then the Abdominal stretch cradle. But considering how little Misawa brought to the table, and how little Chono can at this point, Fujinami vs. Lyger in a singles match would probably have been just as good as this, at the very worst.

If Kojima’s Triple Crown win had him making the same conscious effort to keep himself in check from doing silly things, that he makes here, then it would have easily been a MOTYC. While Kojima’s performance is better here, and Tenzan has some good stuff as well that he does, neither of them is the same caliber worker as Kawada, and that’s what hurts this match, more than anything Tenzan and Kojima do, nor don’t do. The short length of the match is actually one of the benefits here, their thirty-minute draw in December was nothing to brag about, and the mere though of these two going at it for fifty-nine minutes isn’t pleasant. Kojima starts off strong with two Koji Cutters, and then starts working over Tenzan with headlocks and chinlocks, so it seems like he’s working over Tenzan’s neck to build up for either the lariat, or the CCD, but not long afterwards, the focus on Tenzan’s neck area is gone, and Kojima just sticks to chops and meaningless rest holds. Tenzan isn’t really much better in that regard either though, he gets his first major offensive run in the match after using the boxing training he underwent and hitting Kojima in the mid section with several punches. Instead of following up with the side effect into the Anaconda Vice, or with the moonsault, Tenzan’s next idea is work a meaningless rest hold as well. Luckily, and surprisingly though, both Tenzan and Kojima take steps to rectify their early mistakes.

Neither of these guys are geniuses when it comes to wisely using their move set, but Kojima shockingly does a good many things that he didn’t know or think of in his Triple Crown victory. Kojima’s top wrist lock submission variant isn’t anything close to being a believable finisher, but instead of slapping it on for no reason, he uses it as a counter to Tenzan’s very believable submission in the Anaconda Vice. Kojima also forgoes his usual crowd playing antics when he connects the lariat to the corner, and just heads up for the elbow. Remembering that he’d been working over the neck of Tenzan, he connects a super Koji Cutter, and then drops him with a CCD for a close near fall, and after that uses a Northern Lariat to give to tease another KO ending. The lariat also shockingly enough for a Kojima match, is only used once. After Tenzan has gotten back to his feet, Kojima clobbers him with it and Tenzan sells it like death. Tenzan also does quite the impressive job in the way he uses his big moves. He establishes early on that he’s looking to get the win either by KO where Kojima can’t continue, or by knocking him out with the TTD. So Tenzan spends a good part of time, trying to get the duke with the TTD, and Kojima doesn’t always just kick out of it, he gets a rope break at one point, another attempt has it countered into a CCD, and yet another one winds up with Kojima just escaping out the back door. The moonsault has always been Tenzan’s ‘kiss of death’ move (both to himself and his opponents), and a build to it isn’t usually needed other than something else not working, but when Tenzan takes it to Kojima’s mid section early on with the boxing punches, as well as the side effect, and the Anaconda Vice being used to wear down Kojima’s body, and the punch to the jaw Tenzan hits before he goes up top, it’s even more possible than the moonsault might get Tenzan his fourth IWGP Title.

What the ending winds up coming down to though, is which of them can dig down the deepest and pull something else out. Kojima had already failed with his big lariat, and that was after he actually took time and built up to it, ditto for Tenzan with the moonsault. Kojima’s only submission hold isn’t going to get it done, and while Tenzan’s has in the past, Kojima had already been stuck in it, and managed to get the ropes to get out. And it’s Tenzan who’s able to do it first, when he alters his already successful TTD, into a Ganso TTD, complete with nasty head drop, and claim the title. While it’s more than a little anti climatic to put the title back onto Tenzan, it does have the upside of giving closure to Tenzan, concerning the way he lost in the first place. And it’s nice to see the show end in the form of a decent outing between two wrestlers who normally don’t have decent outings in singles matches together. ***

Conclusion: It’s disappointing that the first NJPW show of this year that looked like it’d be worth watching, wasn’t as up to snuff as I’d have liked. There is some good stuff though, but not enough to warrant hunting it down.