NJPW DESTRUCTION in Beppu Results and Review

from: njpw1972.com

Tetsuya Naito vs Minoru Suzuki

Suzuki strikes before the bell and immediately takes it to the outside. He lays into his opponent, but Naito refuses to be anything but tranquilo. El Ingobernable weathers the storm and connects with his signature basement dropkick to turn the tides. They go back outside, and Naito throws Suzuki from barricade to barricade as he eggs him on. The King no-sells the entire sequence and locks in the hanging armbar. He then leads Naito into the crowd and leaves him prone.

Naito gets up and finds his way back to Suzuki. He defiantly lays in some chops, but Suzuki shrugs it off and continues to dominate from the outside back into the squared circle. After multiple submission sequences, the leader of LIJ tries to fight back once more, this time with more intensity. Atomic drop, neckbreaker, and a slingshot dropkick, and Naito’s back in it. Unfortunately, Suzuki doesn’t feel pain, and the momentum shift doesn’t last long. He batters Naito with stiff forearms, kicks, and even a table. He tries to go for a chair, but Red Shoes stops him.

They’re on the apron with the table set up at ringside. Suzuki locks in a nasty hanging sleeper and is looking to drop his opponent through the table with a GSP. Dear god, please no. Naito fights back and puts Suzuki through the table with a brutal neckbreaker off the apron. Suzuki barely makes the count, and as soon as he does, he’s met with a basement dropkick and Gloria.

Naito’s looking to finish it. He sets up for Destino, but Suzuki catches him with a back elbow. Naito backs off and hits a flying forearm. Another Destino attempt is denied, and Suzuki locks in the knee bar, but Naito makes the bottom rope fairly quickly. They trade strikes, but Naito’s hobbled. He desperately goes for Destino for the third time, but again Suzuki counters by locking in the knee-bar followed by a half liontamer, then back to the knee-bar.

Naito’s looking for an escape, but Suzuki continues to adjust the hold accordingly. After nearly five minutes in an array of submission holds, a defiant Naito gets the rope-break, but Suzuki immediately locks in the sleeper and goes for the GSP. It’s reversed into a Destino out of nowhere, and Naito finally has some breathing room.

They slowly make their way to their feet and trade strikes. Suzuki’s smiling, and Naito looks all but defeated. However, one particularly nasty slap rocks Suzuki, and Naito starts laying into him. He hits a somewhat botched GSP of his own, but Suzuki kicks out as he was able to avoid landing directly on his head. A second Destino ends it.

This was a step-up from their lifeless encounter in April, in my opinion, but it still fell short of the greatness expected out of a New Japan main event in 2018. That bar is exceptionally high, though, and they gave it their all. Suzuki is definitely starting to slow down some, and he struggles to have great matches with guys like Naito and Omega, who thrive in high-speed exchanges with quick reversals. Still, they did their best to structure the match in a way that would play to both of their strengths, and it ended up being an enjoyable, albeit somewhat sloppy, main event.

It will be extremely interesting to see where both men go from here. Suzuki in particular. It’s honestly hard to imagine what’s left for him at this point, but we’ll see.

Rating: ***1/2

In conclusion, DESTRUCTION in Beppu was an okay show. Unless you’re a massive Taichi mark like me, there was nothing must see on this card at all. Still, it was solid from front to back, and kept me fairly entertained most of the way. This isn’t one to watch with your friends who aren’t fans of the company, but if you’re into NJPW, you’ll have a fun enough time with this show.

Show rating: 6