NJPW New Beginning In Hiroshima Day One - 10/02/2021
BUSHI vs. Master Wato
The result shocked me. BUSHI is very low on the totem pole, even in the Junior division and he defeated someone everyone thought was on the rise in Master Wato. The match was fine as a second from the bottom though. Wato still had some awkwardness and was one step off in some key areas. BUSHI was unspectacular but he wasn't terrible either. **1/4
IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (c) vs. Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.) (w/DOUKI)
This was quite interesting as there were a lot of different things in this match from comedy, interference and standard cut off the ring work. GOD aren't great faces but they were in that role with Tekkers controlling the bout, cutting off GOD from each other. Tekkers had some decent tag team offence which made the match interesting at times but the whole match was lacking somewhat. The DQ finish can be a turn off for some. Spending 28 minutes of build to finish the match on a DQ can make people feel like they wasted their time but to me, it's not much different than any other stipulation. The finish doesn't hurt my perception of the match but it's not saying a whole lot either. I wasn't much of a fan of the Wrestle Kingdom match these two had and this wasn't anything special. They are about on par with each other actually. **1/2
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. SHO
This wasn't a patch on the SHO vs Shingo Takagi matches but I thought this was a strong SHO performance nonetheless. There are a few moves that SHO should scrap but he did a good job of working Hiromu’s arm, making things difficult and mounting a solid challenge for the title. Hiromu stepped up more than he did against Ishimori imo, showing a lot of personality and fight against SHO and his strike/suplex heavy offence. ***1/2
NJPW New Beginning In Hiroshima Day Two - 11/02/2021
Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL
This had a real cool angle, originally being a tag team match involving Yano and Dick Togo before a double count out was decided just minutes into the match. Okada then calls EVIL out for a singles match then and there. Something different on the shows to give the crowd there some excitement. The match itself is also rather short but it's decent while it lasts. Plus it adds a lot to the almost guaranteed rematch that should come. **
NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title Match: CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) (c) vs. BULLET CLUB (Jay White, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (w/Gedo & Jado)
As this was second from the top, that meant that the match was given plenty of time to tell it's story, involving all the wrestlers, and not rush, and it took advantage of that. GOD shined as a duo, the CHAOS side showed their chemistry with the triple team moves, Jay White and Ishii had their great sequence and the match finished with a strong climax. Great match. ***3/4
IWGP Heavyweight Title / IWGP Intercontinental Title Match: Kota Ibushi (c) vs. SANADA
V2 for Ibushi! SANADA was up for it, too. There wasn't much mat-work compared to his matches against Okada. Instead SANADA was more lively on his feet, pulling out neat tricks like the Falcon Arrow into a rope assisted neckbreaker and an TKO off the apron - which looked awkward with Ibushi’s feet hitting first but that doesn't mean it didn't look painful either. SANADA looked determined to score the win and looked great in defeat thanks to Ibushi’s great selling. Ibushi sold for the most part on the back foot but he built up to his comeback well, teasing his big moves more and more eventually he scored the win. The call backs to the G1 Finals match were great and added some extra layers to what they did. I can't believe they were able to get another insanely close nearfall with the O'Connor roll. And it was earned, too, with Ibushi blocking the initial attempt. SANADA had to fight and struggle to complete it and almost scored the win. Great match. Just great. Naito comes out after the match to challenge Ibushi for the IC title, which is strange because of the obvious reasons. But that’s something that needed to happen and it’ll likely lead to the splitting of the elts which would help the rest of the shows greatly. ****1/4
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