Super Jr Tag Tournament
Recommended:
– 10/21 Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Low Ki & Brian Kendrick
– 11/2 Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Alex Shelley & Kushida
New Japan also runs an annual Jr tag tournament. In 2012, The tournament featured 8 teams in single elimination matches over two shows. The winning team earned a shot at the IWGP Jr Tag Titles.
Ryusuke Taguchi
Image: ゾーヒョー, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ryusuke Taguchi is a home-grown New Japan talent. He started his New Japan career in 2002 and was competitive in the junior heavyweight division for years. Taguchi’s early tag partners included Hirooki Goto (before he moved up to heavyweight) and the veteran El Samurai. Taguchi won the IWGP Jr Heavyweight title in 2007.
In 2009, Taguchi teamed up with Prince Devitt as Apollo 55. The Apollo name represented their high-flying style. “Five five” is pronounced “go go” in Japanese, and this part of the name was a nod to Taguchi’s disco dancer gimmick. In fact, Taguchi is known as “The Funky Weapon.” As of 2012, Apollo 55 had already won the IWGP Jr Tag Championships four times.
Taguchi won the 2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament over the summer, one of the biggest individual accomplishments of his career.
The first night featured a fun match with Apollo 55 vs. Low Ki and Brian Kendrick (aka Spanky, an occasional New Japan guest). This is the first match we’ve covered with longtime tag partners Taguchi and Devitt wrestling together. The four wrestlers did an extended synchronized spot to start the match. While Taguchi pinned Kendrick to end the match, Low Ki threw Devitt over the rail outside the ring. Devitt faced off with Kota Ibushi, who had been sitting ringside with the TV announcers.
The Time Splitters
Image: Tabercil, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Alex Shelly is a U.S. wrestler who debuted with ROH in 2003. He gained prominence in TNA, teaming with Chris Sabin as the Motor City Machine Guns. Shelley wrestled occasionally in Japan, including tours with Zero-1 and a 2009 IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team title run with Sabin that began at Wrestle Kingdom III. In 2012, Shelley ended his relationship with TNA and became a New Japan regular.
Yujiro Kushida originally trained as an MMA fighter and had a 6-0-2 record in 2003-2005. Kushida started pro wrestling in the Hustle promotion, where Yoshihiro Tajiri of ECW fame took him under his wing. Kushida’s trademark back-handspring elbow is adapted from Tajiri’s arsenal. Kushida joined New Japan full time in 2011.
By 2012, Kushida was a contender for the IWPG Jr belt but had not yet won a championship. Shelley and Kushida teamed up to form the Time Splitters as soon as Shelley returned to New Japan, and the formidable team quickly rose to the top of the Jr tag ranks.
Apollo 55 beat Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero in the semis, and then met the Time Splitters in the finals. Kushida and Shelley looked strong, with lots of double-team offense all match long. Mid-way through the match, Shelley and Kushida hid a simultaneous frog splash and standing moonsault on Taguchi, but Devitt broke up the pin with a foot stomp to both wrestlers from the top rope. Soon afterward, the Korakuen Hall crowd started warming up to the frequent near-falls. The Time Splitters won the tournament after hitting the I-94, a simultaneous sliced bread and power bomb. Shelley and Kushida looked great, and this was a fun match.
Nov 11 Power Struggle
Recommended:
– IWGP Jr. Heavyweight: Prince Devitt vs. Low Ki (c), WON: ****
– Katsuyori Shibata and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Togi Makabe and Wataru Inoue, WON: ***
– IWGP Heavyweight: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Yujiro Takahashi, WON: ****¼
Extra Credit:
– Kazuchika Okada vs. Hirooki Goto, WON: ***¾
– IWGP IC: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Karl Anderson, WON: ***¾
Devitt returned in October, and in November he got his shot at Low Ki and the IWGP Jr belt. This was a rematch of the May bout where Low Ki won the title. This match started at full-speed, with the two wrestlers tearing into each other from the bell. Low Ki was going to dive onto Devitt while he was laid out on a table, but Devitt popped up to throw a TV case at him and knocked him off the ropes. Devitt put Low Ki on a table, but Ki sprinted up and threw him off the ropes. In a great sequence, Low Ki went for the Ki Krusher but Devitt floated out of it. Devitt then tried to hit the Bloody Sunday DDT but Low Ki kneed him in the head to escape. Devitt had a nasty welt on his back. Low Ki kicked out of a Bloody Sunday. Low Ki stomped on Devitt’s head a few times but only got a two count. Ki went for the Ki Krusher but Devitt rolled him up at 13:45 to get the pin and win back the title.
Makabe and Inoue got a rematch against Sakuraba and Shibata next. Shibata no-sold all of Inoue’s offense to start. Inoue and Shibata fought for a suplex later in the match, and made it look like such a battle that the crowd loved it when Inoue finally hit the move. Shibata destroyed both men with kicks during the match. Inoue hit Sakuraba with a big spear. Shibata and Magabe started brawling on the outside while Sakuraba ran Inoue through a series of submissions. Inoue finally submitted to a Kimura at 5:26 while Makabe and Shibata kept brawling through the crowd. After the match there was a huge pull-apart while Makabe and Shibata tried to headbutt each other over all of the other wrestlers. Makabe challenged Shibata to a 1-on-1 match to continue their feud. This match was short but action-packed.
Tanahashi and Takahashi met in the main event for the IWGP Heavyweight title. Tanahashi dominated early, but Takahashi took control after getting Tanahashi out of the ring. The match then settled into a back-and-forth battle. Takahashi took Tanahashi far out on the ramp and hit a fisherman’s buster. He headed straight back into the ring and waited patiently for the countout. Tanahashi rolled and crawled back down the ramp and barely made it in time. Takahashi looked very strong at this point, but Tanahashi started attacking his knees with dragon screws and kicks. Tanahashi tried to hit the high fly flow, but Takahashi took a step back and forced him to eat a big knee to the gut. The crowd started to buy Takahashi’s near-falls near the end. Two high fly flows won the match for Tanahashi at 25:06, and Takahashi returned to the mid-card after a strong main event showing. Gedo and Okada came to the ring carrying the #1 contender’s case and they got their IWGP Heavyweight title match signed for the Tokyo Dome.
Dec 2 World Tag League
Recommended:
– Kazushi Sakuraba & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii, WON: ***½
– Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kushida, WON: ***½
– Hirooki Goto & Karl Anderson vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr., WON: ***½
New Japan had one more annual tournament to go — the World Tag League. Similar to the G1 Climax, the World Tag League was run in a two-block round robin format in 2012. The top four teams out of 14 met for semi-finals on Dec 12, with the winners going to the finals on the same show. The winners of the World Tag League got a shot at the IWGP Tag Championship at the big January Tokyo Dome show.
The finals show had an unusual card, with no singles matches at all. Early in the show, Davey Boy Smith Jr and Lance Archer defeated Togi Makabe and Wataru Inoue in one semi-final. Hirooki Goto and Karl Anderson defeated Tenzan and Kojimia in the other.
Tomohiro Ishii
Image: ゾーヒョー, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In 2012, Tomohiro Ishii was already a seasoned 37-year-old veteran. Ishii debuted with Genichiro Tenryu’s WAR promotion in 1996 and worked across many smaller Japanese leagues. He started making regular appearances for New Japan in 2006 and joined Nakamura’s CHAOS stable in 2009.
Ishii is billed at 5’7” and is built like a fireplug. He has a reputation for being able to take tons of punishment, and will go toe-to-toe with the uppercard wrestlers when he gets a chance. Ishii’s finisher is a vertical brainbuster.
Sakuraba and Shibata continued tearing through the roster, taking on IC champ Shinsuke Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii. This was another very hot match, with Shibata delivering devastating strikes and a battle of headbutts between Shibata and Ishii. Nakamura and Sakuraba paired off and did some extended work on the mat. Iishi took a lot more punishment and eventually got caught in a Sakuraba arm bar for the finish at 9:20. Togi Makabe ran out to attack Shibata after the match and they had a wild brawl. Nakamura refused to shake hands with Sakuraba. All of the bad blood led to Shibata vs. Makabe and Sakuraba vs. Nakamura one-on-one matches on Wrestle Kingdom.
Gedo
Image: ゾーヒョー, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Gedo debuted with New Japan in 1989 and wrestled for UWA (Mexico), W*ING, WAR and FMW during the 1990s. He and his long time tag partner Jado travelled together between promotions. Many American fans would have first known Gedo due to his trip to the finals of the 1995 Super J-Cup, where he lost to Wild Pegasus Chris Benoit. Those same fans will also never forget their 90s pompadours and pajama-like ring gear.
Gedo and Jado returned to New Japan in 2001 and became mainstays of the company. The two formed the CHAOS faction with Nakamura and were frequent Jr Heavyweight Tag Champions.
By 2012, Gedo was 43 and still working frequent matches. But more importantly, Gedo and Jado had become bookers of New Japan and were setting the direction for the company. Gedo and Jado deserve a lot of the credit for New Japan’s turnaround.
Gedo is great on the microphone, and is paired with Okada since Okada’s not a big talker.
Okada and Gedo paired up for a tag match against Tanahashi and Kushida. The main point of the match was to move along the Okada/Tanahashi feud ahead of their January championship match. Okada and Tanahashi spend a good bit of time working with each other in the match. Okada hit a DDT to Tanahashi on the outside with Tanahasi’s legs up on the railing. Okada squatted patiently in the middle of the ring with a bored look on his face while he waited for Tanahashi to almost be counted out. The crowd was pretty subdued, which hurt the match. Okada caught Kushida when he did his handspring elbow and gave him a rainmaker for the pin at 15:22. Gedo and Okada let Tanahashi know that Okada was coming for his title next month.
The main event match was the Tag League finals, with Hirooki Goto and Karl Anderson vs Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr. Archer no-sold lots of offense from Anderson. At one point, Archer leaned over the railing and growled at the crowd. Goto hit two headbutts on Smith and Anderson finished him with a gun stun at 15:36. The Tag League champions earned a rematch against Archer and Smith for the IWGP Tag belts in January.
