IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Koji Kanemoto (c) vs. Sabu
This was not a typical Sabu match. He adapted to Kanemoto’s style and incorporated strikes and attempted a few submissions at time and seemed competent at this. Though Sabu eventually grabbed a table and brought some of the Sabu everyone knows into the mix. They had a decent back and forth match with Sabu surprisingly getting the win and winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. ***
Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Pretty heated match where they beat on each other. Nothing much other than stiff clubs, a few moonsaults and lariats but fully enjoyable nonetheless. Sasaki was very dominant and looked like a beast against the guy who just beat Keiji Muto the month prior. His lariat that ended the match looked devastating with Tenzan landing half on his neck. ***1/4
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto (c) vs. Keiji Muto
This is sort of a big deal for Muto who has been IWGP Heavyweight Champion before but never as himself, only as The Great Muta. Muto doesn’t have the psychological advantage as he once did but he takes it to Hashimoto, who has been so dominant for over a year at this point. They do some nice mat work for around 10 minutes before they begin picking up the pace when Hashimoto starts hitting some kicks and some headbutts. The closing stretch was decent with Muto making his comeback, the crowd is really receptive to it though so that’s a plus. The match was disappointing overall, slow start with the second part of the match being good but not great. ***1/4
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