LAW
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom VII Report
John Pollock / January 4, 2013 - 7:25pm
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 7
January 4th 2013
Tokyo Dome
Captain New Japan & Tama Tonga & Wataru Inoue Vs Jado & Yoshi-Hashi & Tomohiro Ishii
The floor of the Dome looked fairly full but everywhere else was empty for the opening dark match.
The heels beat down on Inoue until he made the tag to Tonga and did his acrobatic style and playing to the crowd. The heels got the advantage and took turns with clotheslines to Tonga in the corner.
Tonga gave a “woo” to the crowd and hit a modified DDT and pinned Jado at 5:56.
Bushi & Ryusuke Taguchi & Kushida Vs Hiromu Takahashi & Tiger Mask & Jushin Thunder Liger
The match started off with Kushida and Takahashi in the ring going back and forth trying to outwrestle each other and then both tagged out with Liger getting a reaction. Taguchi in with Tiger Mask and ran into a tilt-a-whirl back breaker. Liger tagged in and hits a powerbomb and applies a surf board to Taguchi.
Liger, Tiger Mask and Takahashi each hit moves to Bushi and getting a two-count on him. There was a stereo plancha by Tiger Mask and Kushida to the floor as Bushi hit a 450 splash to Takahashi and pinned him at 7:14.
They air the opening video package running through the entire main card and noting the theme of the main event being MONEY (Okada) Vs LOVE (Tanahashi) – amazing.
Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano & Yujiro Takahashi & Bob Sapp Vs MVP & Manabu Nakanishi & Strongman & Akebono
They brawl on the ramp to start the match and make it into the ring. They do some spots including MVP’s “ballin’ elbow” and the crowd gets excited when Sapp and Akebono are tagged in.
Akebono is wearing a singlet with his title sponsor RIBERA STEAK HOUSE.
Yujiro and Nakanishi go back and forth and Yujiro gives him a thumb to the eyes. Iizuka and Yano use chairs to attack the neck of Nakanishi and choke him as he sells in their corner.
Nakanishi blocks an Irish whip by Iizuka and delivers a short lariat and then double suplexes Yano and Yujiro. Everyone is in the ring brawling and they toss all the heels into the corner and deliver splashes by each of the babyfaces to the four stacked in the corner.
Akebono with a mid-ring splash to Iizuka and then put into the torture rack for the submission win at 7:53. They did a post match spot with the play by play announcer hitting Iizuka with a lariat as Strongman held Iizuka.
Masato Tanaka Vs Shelton Benjamin for the NEVER Open Weight Title
Tanaka comes to the ring with the title and a kendo stick and also looks in very good shape along with Yujiro in his corner (he got over that loss quickly).
Benjamin with a series of suplexes and sends Tanaka to the floor and hits a somersault splash over the top to Tanaka and Yujiro on the floor. Tanaka gets the heat as they get back into the ring and hits a series of running lariats, Benjamin ducks a fourth and hits a spin kick to Tanaka. Benjamin hits a top rope blockbuster and gets a two-count and goes for the Pay Dirt, which is blocked but does connect with a superkick and gets another two-count and then gets tripped by Yujiro as he runs the ropes but then ducks and Tanaka knocks Yujiro to the floor and they get a near fall on Benjamin as Yujiro clocks him.
Benjamin applies the ankle lock in the middle of the ring as Yujiro climbs to the top and Benjamin catches him, jumps to the top and suplexes Yujiro off but this allows Tanaka to hit his lariat to a seated Benjamin and pin him at 6:43 and retain the title.
Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr & Lance Archer) Vs Sword & Guns (Hirooki Goto & Karl Anderson) for the IWGP Tag Titles
Anderson continually picked up mock guns on the way to the ring that shot out something and he was laughing at the end saying “I’m going to go buy some guns”.
Smith Jr came out wearing a mask and then Archer with a mask on a motorcycle as he drove through the backstage area of the Dome and into the arena along with Taka Michinoku in their corner, who proclaims “Let’s get crazy” on the microphone.
Archer scales the top rope (Old School) and gives the middle finger to Anderson as he jumps onto Goto’s arm.
Smith no sells chops and lariat from Anderson before finally going down. The difference in confidence and presence for Smith in this environment compared to WWE is astounding. Smith gets a two-count with a bridging double underhook suplex on Anderson. Archer tagged in and choke slams Anderson for a two.
Goto gets a hot tag and goes to suplex Smith into a neck breaker by Anderson. Goto with a bridging german for a two-count on Smith. Goto blocks their finish (The Killer Bomb) as he kicks Smith away.
Smith hits a sit out powerbomb but gets up and into an Ace Crusher by Anderson, he recovers and they hit the Killer Bomb onto Goto but Anderson makes the save but then they hit Anderson with the Killer Bomb. Goto fights back, blocks a choke slam attempt by Archer and takes another Killer Bomb and Smith pins Goto at 10:54.
There was a brief musical performance, the fans were into the woman and another guy did an electric guitar solo – it was short.
Minoru Suzuki Vs Yuji Nagata
They shove one another before the match starts.
They exchange short forearms and then kicks to each other’s back and both stand up and continue with forearms and then boots to the face and ends with a running boot that sends Suzuki down and Nagata flexes and attacks the left arm of Suzuki on the floor.
Taichi (in the corner of Suzuki) attacks Nagata with a chair on the floor as does Suzuki and then choked Nagata with the chair. Suzuki applies a knee bar on Nagata back in the ring. Nagata gets back to his feet and hits a suplex, a big boot and kicks to the chest of Suzuki. Suzuki blocks a suplex and applies a guillotine before letting go and then takes a belly to belly by Nagata and applies a crossface.
Suzuki gets out and hits a running kick to a seated Nagata, who sits up, takes another running kick and he sits up again and the crowd reacts. Suzuki with a running boot to the face and gets a two. Suzuki with repeated slaps to the face of Nagata and he falls to the mat but tosses Suzuki as he goes for a choke. Suzuki applies to again and keeps it applied as Nagata flips him again and crowd chants for Nagata as he does the eye gimmick rolling to the back of his head and gets out.
Nagata blocks the Gotch style piledriver and hits a running knee to Suzuki in the corner. He goes back to attacking the arm and applies the Fujiwara armbar but he lets go as Taichi gets on the apron. They have another slap exchange and ends with a kick to the bad arm of Suzuki. They continue with slaps from Suzuki and kicks by Nagata as Nagata applies the Fujiwara armbar again and his eyes roll into the back of his head and Suzuki to the ropes.
Nagata ducks a slap and hits a bridging suplex to pin Suzuki at 17:05.
Prince Devitt Vs Low Ki Vs Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title
Low Ki came in a suit and red tie with gloves and worked in this outfit.
They started off with a very fast pace and Low Ki working his usual style in a suit.
Ibushi sent Ki to the floor with a hurricanrana and then a moonsault off the corner to the floor onto him. Devitt and Ibushi worked together until Low Ki took Devitt out on the floor and he got in with Ibushi before Devitt made his recovery.
Ibushi hit a missile dropkick to Low Ki and then Devitt with a running dropkick to Ibushi and a running somersault dive onto the floor onto both Ibushi and Ki. Devitt had the advantage as they returned to the week into a spinning wheel kick to Low Ki and then Ki came back with a rolling koppo kick to Devitt.
Ibushi hit a corkscrew Asai moonsault to both opponents on the floor from the top rope. Ibushi and Ki fought on the ramp with Ibushi hitting the Pele kick. Back in the ring Ibushi with a moonsault where he landed on his feet and then hit Devitt with a standing moonsault upon landing on his feet in a real cool spot and then a bridging half nelson suplex for a two-count on Devitt.
Low Ki rolled through a german suplex by Ibushi and hit a double stomp and got a two-count and then took the suit jacket off and hit the Ki Crusher but Devitt broke the cover coming off the top.
Low Ki put Devitt in the tree of woe and stood on the top but Ibushi springboards up and hit a hurricanrana to Low Ki and got a two as Devitt remained in the tree of woe. Ibushi missed a Phoenix splash to Ki and took a double stomp from Devitt.
Ibushi with a back flip to knock Low Ki off the top and then Devitt hit the Bloody Sunday DDT off the top to Ibushi to pin him and keep the title at 14:46.
Keiji Muto & Shinjiro Otani Vs Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Muto had an awesome entrance and the charisma this guy has is off the charts.
The match starts with Muto and Kojima and work slow. Tenzan and Kojima began double teaming Otani when he was tagged in and kept in their corner but began no selling the chops from Tenzan. Muto in and gets a pop for his elbow drop to Tenzan and attacks the knee of Tenzan and gets the figure-four applied but Kojima breaks the hold.
Kojima does the multiple chops spot to Muto in the corner. Otani comes in and does the face wash with his boot and running boot to the face on Kojima seated in the corner and the crowd reacts well to the sequence.
Muto in with a shining wizard and figure-four to Tenzan as Otani puts Kojima in a choke hold. Otani hits chops to both as they run into them.
Muto with a shining wizard and dragon screw leg whip with another shining wizard to Tenzan followed by a third to the back of the head as Otani then hit a missile dropkick off the top. Muta hit a fourth shining wizard to Tenzan and then Otani with a twisting powerbomb but Kojima made the save.
Kojima and Tezan hit the 3-D on Otani and a big lariat by Kojima to follow up and then Tenzan hits a moonsault off the top for the win at 15:39.
Katsuyori Shibata Vs Togi Makabe
The two brawl right at the start before the bell even rings and exchange forearms before rolling on the mat and to the floor.
Shibata is blistering him with kicks and forearms in the corner and shoves the referee away. Shibata keeps beating him down and challenging him to get up as Makabe won’t quit until he hits a suplex out of nowhere.
Shibata applies a sleeper hold but releases it and goes for a running boot but Makabe falls over from a seated position and then catches the foot of Shibata and delivers a short arm clothesline.
Makabe grabs a table on the floor and powerbombs Shibata through it for a big pop. Back in the ring he hits a bridging german that Shibata kicks out of right away and stands tall as Makabe hits a pair of lariats. Shibata comes back with a choke and Makabe’s facials are stellar, he breaks out and delivers a knee to the back of the neck of Shibata off the top for the win at 8:41.
This was such a well put together match with both shining and both were great.
Shinsuke Nakamura Vs Kazushi Sakuraba for the Intercontinental Title
They had Stan Hansen in the ring to hold up the title as the legendary figure.
Sakuraba offers his hand and they shake before the match.
Sakuraba took down Nakamura and got into his half guard early on and played this out like a grappling battle between the two. The crowd didn’t seem into this until Nakamura took a cheap shot at Sakuraba on a referee break in the corner and led to the two exchanging slaps and picking up the pace.
Sakuraba ran at Nakamura for a double stomp right near his face but Nakamura was back with repeated knees in the corner and attacking his ribs. Sakuraba hit him with slaps and then a german suplex, which Nakamura got up from and ran right into a knee from Sakuraba and teased he may be out cold but continued with Sakuraba mounting him. The knee Sakuraba delivered was either the best worked knee ever or he just told Nakamura to run in full force and he did.
Sakuraba applied a triangle but Nakamura escaped and Nakmura hit a knee to the back of the neck and his mouth was bloody from the earlier knee. Sakuraba applied a straight armbar but Nakamura shifted his weight and got mounted again and when for an Americana but Nakamura reversed going for an armbar off his back and Sakuraba got out – some real good transitions here.
Nakamura hoisted Sakuraba on his shoulder and delivered a fireman’s carry but Sakuraba got the arm again and had a kimura applied and then transitioned to an armbar as Nakamura clasped his hands to avoid it but Nakamura got out. Nakamura got to his feet and hit a shining wizard and got the pin at 11:05 with Sakuraba kicking out too late and holding up two fingers.
Hansen congratulated Nakamura and handed him the title. Sakuraba shook his hand and raised Nakamura’s arm after the match.
Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Title
The early portion of the match was slow as Tanahashi would ground Okada with a head lock and Okada tried to work the arm of Tanahashi.
Okada hit a draping DDT off the top as the first big maneuver of the match and Tanahashi rolled to the floor. Okada continued attack and putting his neck through the guard rail and kicking it.
Tanahashi comes back with slaps, skins the cat but runs into a flap jack by Okada and he applies more pressure on the neck of Tanahashi with a submission.
Tanahashi hits a crossbody to the floor after making a comeback. Back in the ring Tanahashi attacks the left leg but Okada counters with a dragon screw leg whip. Okada went for a top rope elbow drop on the knee of Tanahashi but Tanahashi blocked it and calls for the High Fly Flow that Okada stops as he climbs to the top. Okada dropkicks Tanahashi seated on the top to the floor.
The two fight on the ramp with Tanahashi dropping Okada with a sleeper into a slam and Okada struggles to make it back and Tanahashi throws him back into the ring.
Tanahashi pops up after a Samoa drop and delivers a Michinoku driver and goes for the High Fly Flow (frog splash) and Okada gets his knees up.
Okada with a top rope elbow drop and calls for the Rainmaker but Tanahashi blocks and hits a bridhing german for a two, then into a full nelson suplex for a two. Tanahashi hits the high fly flow and Okada kicks out.
Tanahashi applies a Texas cloverleaf and pulls him to the middle of the ring but finally makes it to the ropes.
Tanahashi ducks the Rainmaker but takes a dropkick to the back of the head and Okada hits the tombstone and Tanahashi blocks yet another Rainmaker lariat. Tanahashi blocks a second tombstone and kicks out the knee of Okada as both play up that they are spent.
Tanahashi hits a tombstone and then a top rope crossbody and the high fly flow for the win at 33:33.
