NJPW Hi no Kuni 2018: Review, Grades, and Analysis

Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA & EVIL) vs. Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr, & Lance Archer) (Suzuki-gun)

EVIL and Davey spilled to the outside right away, and SANADA hit a big dropkick on Archer. Archer took SANADA to the outside of the ring and hit a chokeslam onto the apron. From that point forward, for the next few minutes, KES got the heat on LIJ. Somewhere in this battle, a table got setup on the outside of the ring. EVIL and SANDA used their superior athleticism to get the advantage on Archer after a missile dropkick. They hit a double suplex on Archer, but Davey stopped anything happening. Davey and Archer hit the Killer Bomb off the apron through a table on SANADA. Ouch.

Davey Boy locked a sharpshooter on EVIL. EVIL eventually got out by going to the outside of the ring, but Archer rolled him back in. Archer stole Yano’s gimmick and took the turnbuckle pad off. They sent EVIL into the pad multiple times, and Smith hit a powerslam off the middle rope. KES hit the Magic Killer (Gallows & Anderson must be angry) but EVIL kicked out. KES went for the Killer Bomb, but SANADA hit a missile dropkick to break it up. SANADA and Archer exchanged a series of counters as SANADA went for the Skull End. Eventually, Archer was sent out of the ring.

SANADA and EVIL hat a magic killer of their own, but Archer stopped the pinfall. EVIL was left in the ring with Davey Boy Smith and hit a huge STO for the win! LIJ retained.

Result: LIJ

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

I was quite glad that LIJ won here, as I was expecting them to switch the titles back to KES. This was a good match too.