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After squaring off against each other in some of the most memorable matches in NJPW history, ‘The Rainmaker’ Kazuchika Okada and ‘The Ace’ Hiroshi Tanahashi once again locked horns earlier today during the second night of NJPW: Wrestling Dontaku 2018.
Okada and Tanahashi, who featured in the main event of the evening, lined up yet another instant classic at Fukuoka Kokusai Center recently and in the co-main event of the evening, Will Ospreay and Kushida put up another battle for the ages in a match where the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship was on the line.
Elsewhere on the card, we once again witnessed several tag team matches featuring Los Ingobernables de Japon, CHAOS, Suzuki Gun, and Bullet Club.
#1 Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and Ryusuke Taguchi vs Ren Narita, Shota Umino and Yuya Uemura
The evening in Fukuoka kicked-off with a typical six-man tag team match featuring the veteran team of Taguchi and co. on one side and the young lion team being represented by the Shota Umino and others.
As expected, the NJPW veterans picked up the win when Taguchi got the submission win over Ren Narita and got the victory for his team.
Result: Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Ren Narita, Shota Umino, and Yuya Uemura
#2 Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens) vs Yuji Nagata and Tomoyuki Oka
Another solid tag team match and much like the opening match of the evening, the young lions ended up on the losing side yet again when Chase Owens pinned Oka following the Package Piledriver. Following the win, Owens also seemingly claimed that he and Yujiro want a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Titles.
Result: Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens defeated Yuji Nagata and Tomoyuki Oka
#3 Roppongi 3K (SHO, Yoh, and Rocky Romero) defeated Suzuki Gun (Taichi, Taka Michinoku, and Takashi Iizuka)
This was pretty similar to the last meeting between RPG 3K and Suzuki Gun, as this contest ended in a quick note as well. Suzuki Gun initially jumped on their opponents even before the match could properly kick-off and as noted, Taichi used his cane in order to inflict brutal damage on the 3K trio.
However, SHO and Yoh displayed some tough resiliency and made a comeback into the match and eventually picked up the win when they planted Taka Michinoku with the 3K. Following their win, Rocky Romero announced that his tag team partners are looking to get the next shot at the Jr. Tag Team Titles.
Result: Roppongi 3K defeated Suzuki Gun
#4 CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano) defeated Togi Makabe and Henare
A solid back-and-forth tag team match, with most of the main focus being on the chemistry between Ishii and Henare—which by the way, is pretty incredible. The latter also came close a few times and got the win for his team, but the ‘Stone Pitbull’ was resilient enough to connect with a Brainbuster for the win.
Result: Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano defeated Togi Makabe and Henare
#5 CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Jay White, and YOSHI-HASHI) vs Juice Robinson, David Finlay, and Michael Elgin
Another good tag team match, where all six-man played along perfectly with the storytelling. Michael Elgin was definitely one of the standout performers during this contest and seeing him execute some high-flying stuff, including a superkick was indeed awesome. Never Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto also looked brilliant, so did the rest and in the closing stages, Yoshi-Hashi got the win over David Finlay via the Karma.
Following the match, Taichi attacked both Goto and Elgin, possibly leading to a triple threat match between the three men at Dominion and Jay White also looked to sneak up on Juice Robinson and connect with the Bladerunner, but failed to do so. A potential match between White and Robinson for the US Title could also very well be on the cards.
Result: CHAOS defeated Juice Robinson, David Finlay and Michael Elgin
#6 Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI) vs Suzuki Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado)
As noted, Suzuki Gun came out to their brand new theme song, whereas, Tetsuya Naito, on the other hand, showed up once again without the IC Title (which is apparently still meaningless to him). Speaking of the match, it was certainly a good contest and all 10-men looked good as well, with Naito eventually pinning Kanemaru for the win.
Following their victory, the rest of the LIJ members made their exit and as Tetsuya Naito was on his way to the locker room as well, the IC Champion was evidently attacked by one of the fans in attendance, as the two men quickly engaged in a brawl. As noted, the fan was sporting a Bushi mask and eventually revealed himself to be non-other than Chris Jericho.
The two men brawled for a while, as Jericho hit a Codebreaker on Naito and smashed him with the ring bell leaving the latter in a bloody mess. Following the gruesome attack, Naito refused medical help and was accompanied to the back by his fellow LIJ stablemates.
Result: LIJ defeated Suzuki Gun
#7 Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, & Tanga Loa) and Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) vs Bullet Club (Cody Rhodes, Hangman Page, Marty Scurll, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson)
Another relatively short, but fun tag team match, mostly emphasizing on the whole Bullet Club ‘Civil War’ storyline. The Young Bucks also played a significant part in the match as they refused to tag in and go head-to-head against both Kota Ibushi or Kenny Omega, whereas, Marty Scurll looked to bodyslam Bad Luck Fale, but failed miserably resulting in Fale picking up the win for his side after landing on top of ‘The Villain’.
After the match, Omega chased Cody out to the backstage area, as the rest of the Bullet Club members gathered around the ring with Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi also joining in
Tama Tonga threw up a Too Sweet and so did the rest of the BC, after hesitating for a bit both Hangman and Scurll also followed up including The Young Bucks as the entire Bullet Club—except Cody and Omega—finally seemed to be on the same side after months of dissension.
Result: Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Bad Luck Fale and Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Cody, The Young Bucks, Hangman Page and Marty Scurll
#8 Will Ospreay vs Kushida - (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship)
This was the co-main event of the evening and it certainly did live up to all its expectations, as both Kushida and Will Ospreay battled each other to a gruelling back-and-forth match, with Ospreay portraying the role of an underdog for most of the match.
Both men seemingly targeted each other’s bruised necks and Kushida came close to regaining the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title when he looked to hit Back to the Future on the top rope, only for Ospreay to counter it with an Oscutter from the top rope. The Champ then connected with his new move, the Stormbreaker and retained the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title.
As Ospreay was celebrating in the ring, lights went out and we witnessed another Bone Soldier vignette, which was then followed up by Tama Tonga walking down the aisle in order to confront Ospreay.
However, the sole reason why ‘The Bad Boy’ apparently came out was to introduce Bullet Club’s newest member Bone Soldier, who was revealed as former X-Division Champion and NOAH superstar Taiji Ishimori, who jumped Ospreay from behind and went on to share a Too Sweet with Tama Tonga.
Result: Will Ospreay defeated Kushida to retain the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship
#9 Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - (IWGP Heavyweight Championship)
As expected, both Okada and Tanahashi tore the house down once again and thanks to an amazing crowd in Fukuoka, the match felt like it had greater significance to it.
Both Okada and Tanahashi proved why they have such amazing chemistry with each other, as both men started this contest in a slow pace but eventually picked up the pace during the closing stages of it when they countered almost every single move in their arsenals.
In the closing stages of the matches, Tanahashi went for a High Fly Flow but Okada caught him with a breathtaking dropkick in mid-air, as he attempted The Rainmaker only for ‘The Ace’ to counter it into a Rainmaker of his own.
However, shortly afterwards, Okada eventually connected with The Rainmaker and in doing so, retained the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and also broke Hiroshi Tanahashi’s record for most title defences with 12.
During Okada’s post-match promo, the champ decided to call out his next opponent, who turned out to be ‘The Best Bout Machine’ Kenny Omega, who is now set to go head-to-head against Okada for the fourth time at this year’s Dominion PPV in a 2 out of 3 falls match, with no time limit to the contest.
Result: Kazuchika Okada defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
