NJPW Summer Struggle in Jingu Results & Review

Hot fun in the summertime

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D4DJ GROOVY MIX PRESENTS BOTCHFEST IN JINGU!!

I didn’t take notes, so I’ll try to do this from my malfunctioning memory.

Match 1

Master Wato vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru

A jaunty junior affair kicks things off in Jingu, as Way to the Grand Master Master Watu faces Heel Master Yoshinobu Kanemaru in the blowoff to their ongoing feud. Good, quick action throughout, with Watu looking fairly sharp and getting lots of offense. COVID-era Heel Master apparently has changed his Suntori Surprise whiskey spit in the face go-to move into the old fashioned “swing a whiskey bottle at your opponent’s head real hard” move. He missed it, regardless. However, he shockingly gets the win after 7:31 of action with a sunset flip. Strange booking.

Should you watch it? Sure, good and quick

Match 2

KOPW Championship

Kazuchika Okada vs El Desparado vs Toru Yano vs Sanada

Interesting dynamic in this four-way, as Kazuchika Okada and Toru Yano are teammates, while Okada and SANADA are sworn rivals. But that didn’t stop Yano and Okada from going at each other, or from Okada and SANADA teaming up at times. I don’t remember too much from El Desperado in this match other than him being laid out on the outside for most of it. Yano wins it (!!!) after low blowing Okada then schoolboying him at the 7:01 mark. Another surprising finish.

Should you watch it? Sure, another quick match

Match 3

Shingo Takagi vs Minoru Suzuki for the NEVER Openweight Championship

Nothing but title fights from here on out. A couple of my favourites face off for the NEVER Openweight Championship, and it’s a good match. Not spectacular, unfortunately, but still good. Good punching and elbow sequences in it and nice transitions into submissions by Suzuki. For such a great, beefy wrestler, Shingo really needs to lay in his punches better - they too obviously miss too often. Another surprise finish - Suzuki finishes off the champ with a Gotch Styler Piledriver at 14:56 to become the new (and once again) NEVER Openweight Champion. I’ll just assume Shingo lost to free him up to win the G1.

Should you watch it? You know the rule around here when it comes to Shingo Takagi matches - the answer is always yes.

Match 4

Hiromu Takahashi vs Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

Another solid, yet unspectacular match, follows with Hiromu defending his junior title against Bone Soldier. If you were hoping for a replay of their first encounter from the 2018 Best of the Super Juniors, you will be disappointed. Still, it’s not bad, lots of limb work, especially on Hiromu’s “injured” shoulder. And - have you caught on to a pattern here? - a surprise finish - Ishimori taps out the champ with the Bone Lock (which is what he’s calling the Yes Lock now) after 13:30 of action. I’ll just assume Hiromu lost to free him up to win the G1.

Should you watch it? Yes. I mean… Bone?! (Is ‘bone’ replacing ‘yes’ now?!)

Match 5

Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi) vs Golden Ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi) for the IWGP Tag Team Championship

I been loving this feud between the champs Dangerous Tekkers and Golden Ace (who I mistakenly referred to as Golden Aces in my preview article - my deepest apologies). I especially loved the “broken down Ace” aspect of it, with the bad guys beating the hell out of broken down Tanahashi. Sadly they seem to have moved away from that as of late. Also sadly this match didn’t jump off the screen at it. Like the rest on this card, it was good, not great. And, like the rest, it had a surprise finish (at least to me) - the champs retain after hitting Zack Mephisto on Ace at 16:01.

Should you watch it? Sure, why not

Match 6

EVIL vs Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Title Match

Ok, time for the match that we all came here to see, as Tetsuya Naito looks to regain his titles from that backstabbing EVIL. Guess what - this match was ok, not great. Actually it wasn’t event on the good level. There were also a couple of very glaring botches in it, both Naito’s fault. A missed ref bump that EVIL tried to make up for by beating the ref up, and near the end Naito screwed up one of his new moves. Lots of Bullet Club interference bullshit, but for once LiJ come down to save their leader, with BUSHI and SANADA fighting off the baddies. Naito ends up regaining his belts after hitting Destino at 26:20 in a finish that felt flat.

Should you watch it? Sure, I guess

Overall a decent event, but nothing blew me away and it all felt strangely anti-climatic, even with all the surprising winners. Maybe it was the lack of proper crowd cheering, maybe it was the slip-ups during the matches, especially the main, maybe it was me being too tired when I watched it, I don’t know. Mostly it was ‘meh’, if saying ‘meh’ is a thing any more.

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