IWGP Intercontinental Title Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura - NJPW The New Beginning In Hiroshima 09/02/2014
Nakamura really allowed his personality to shine through his offence. All the little shakes and mannerisms he did adds to his offence a lot when he is focused and vicious, and he was here. Nakamura had some wicked work on the arm of Tanahashi early. Brutal kicks and a great set up for the Fujiwara armbar. Even if it didn’t get it fully, it torque the arm slightly. Tanahashi really did the bare basics of selling without going further. Tanahashi struggled to skin the cat but he still pulled it off despite Nakamura drop kicking him. The match transitioned into a big pinfall match which was the better part of the match. Nakamura’s flash offence in the match was great. The crowd responded bigtime to everything as well. The finish was kinda lame with Nakamura missing up the crossover transition (into the armbreaker) so Tanahashi had to pick him up and hit a dragon suplex for the win. Messy end but the match was good overall. One of their weaker matches though. ***1/2
NEVER Openweight Title Match: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW The New Beginning In Osaka 11/02/2014
Naito has on and off days but this was an on day, and a damn good one. The only down sides of the match was a bit of sloppiness from him in the final stretch and an overly long strike exchange which is an Ishii fault, the rest came together excellently, I thought. The final stretch was HOT, great drama with the crowd all for Ishii just begging for the 3 counts only for Naito to kick out. Naito indulging in that with his subtle heel work early in the match was a great touch by him. Ishii had the crowd on his side but he wasn’t the star of the match, for sure. Great match. ****1/4
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Hirooki Goto - NJPW The New Beginning In Osaka 11/02/2014
Thought this was pretty damn good. Slow build to the end but when it got good, it was great. Hitting each other with big bombs and some sick reversals. Good selling by both men throughout. Awesome match. ****1/4
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi - NJPW Strong Style 42nd Anniversary Show 06/03/2014
One of the more notable Heavyweights vs Junior champion battles of the modern age. One of the best too. Ibushi proved in 2013 that he could hang, but going toe to toe with Okada is a big feat. Okada really is selfless here mostly selling, allowing the match to be an awesome Ibushi showcase with Okada on the backfoot. Okada in tern works on the neck well and helps give the match an exciting feel. ****
NEVER Openweight Title Match: Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito - NJPW Invasion Attack 2014 06/04/2014
As much as I loved their New Beginnings match, this really didn’t do much for me. The crowd wasn’t as hot, Naito wasn’t as good with not as much character work and his offence isn't as energetic as it could be. Ishii was the generic Ishii that comes out occasionally where he doesn’t offer much to the match other than elbows. It just felt like they were doing a match. Disappointing. **1/2
IWGP Intercontinental Title Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura - NJPW Invasion Attack 2014 06/04/2014
Despite some of the obvious padding, the early parts of the match were really good. Tanahashi works the leg with tons of malice, including smashing the guardrail gate opening into Nakamura’s knee, hard. Tanahashi tried to get the crowd to turn on him but the crowd only let out a boo or two, nothing substantial. It wasn’t for a lack of trying with Tanahashi even doing Nakamura’s leg shake on the knee joint at one point. Nakamura’s selling was weak for certain points of the match but I think it was decent overall. It limited him offensively and it allowed Tanahashi near enough total control. Nakamura’s comeback was good but wasn’t transcendent. Nakamura getting the IC title back is an awesome moment though. ***3/4
NEVER Openweight Title Match: Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Tomoaki Honma - NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2014 03/05/2014
What a Honma showcase. And not in the way you expect from him. Honma in the past decade has been casted as a big underdog who constantly fights from beneath and the crowds beg for him to get that one win. But here he is mostly on offence. Ishii has almost nothing, it’s just him selling, which is his best quality and he does it so well. But Honma was great on top, hitting Kokeshi’s left and right - to the floor at one point, too - looking so dominant. The crowd was all for a Honma win and he took the ball and ran with it. Ishii, to his credit, made Honma look great with his sell of the left shoulder. As soon as that first Kokeshi hit, he was selling it perfectly. Some neat nearfalls, nothing too crazy. Great for the style presented and spot on the card. ****
NEVER Openweight Title Match:Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Kota Ibushi - NJPW Back To Yokohama Arena 25/04/2014
The battle between Ibushi (Junior Heavyweight champion) and Heavyweights continues. And this is yet another awesome match for him. All the usual Ishii strike exchanges, with Ibushi firing back on the bloody Ishii with some nasty palm strikes. An excellent fast past that they went, with tons of big, damaging moves and a hot finishing stretch. Great match. ****1/4
Best Of The Super Junior XXI Final Match: KUSHIDA vs. Ricochet - NJPW Best Of The Super Junior XXI - Day 8 08/06/2014
I really wasn’t digging it at first. It felt like a complete clash in styles with Ricochet not really registering KUSHIDA’s initial work on the arm, continuing to do his athletic spots. But as the match progressed and KUSHIDA began attacking the amr with more purpose and intent, his selling got better. They seemed to hit their groove and from then on, the match got better. Every spot seemed to blend together perfectly. The counters with KUSHIDA going for the arm while Ricochet was in motion were well done. And they built a great crescendo to the Hoverboard finish tease. Hot crowd as well. ****
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