NJPW Destruction in Kobe: Results, Grades, and Analysis

Ayato Yoshida, Ryusuke Taguchi, GBH (Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe) vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan

It’s interesting seeing Yoshida mixed in with all the veterans here, but it’s clear that he’s moving up the Young Lion ranks quite quickly. It was fantastic to see Kojima back to form here, and he looked great every single time he was in there. Taguchi, being the good coach that he is, directed traffic for his team in the corner. Honma missed his headbutt a few times, in his classic spot, before hitting it on Tenzan.

Tenzan managed to hit a suplex on Makabe, but Honma broke it up. Nagata came in and kicked Makabe, but he seemed to like it. Nagata yelled “Makabe!” as he hit the ropes, and Makabe hit a powerslam on Nagata. Yoshida came in and kicked Nagata several times, but Nagata kicked out. I’m really impressed with Ayato. He was a good find from the Kaientai Dojo. Nagata got the win with a suplex and pinned Yoshida.

Result: Nagata, Nakanishi, Kojima, & Tenzan

Rating: **1/2 (2.5 stars out of 5)

The Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Baretta) (CHAOS) vs. Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.) (Suzuki-gun)

Baretta and Taylor learned from the match at the show before by taking it right to Suzuki-gun and brawling all around ringside before hitting a double dropkick on Archer, who was laying on the apron. However, KES managed to over power them and they started to get the heat on Baretta. Taylor was able to avoid the clothesline from a Hart Attack and hit a DDT on Smith, but when both men went for a dive, KES caught them.

Baretta and Taylor managed to stun KES though, and Taylor did a tope con hilo to the outside before missing a moonsault on Archer. Taylor also moved out of the way when Archer tried a moonsault of his own. Archer kicked out after getting hit with a double stomp by Taylor. Baretta and Taylor fought with him for a bit, but finally managed to hit a double suplex on Archer. KES managed to take control back and went for the Killer Bomb on Baretta, but Baretta, upon getting hit with it, actually rolled Archer up and got the pinfall!

Result: The Best Friends

Rating: *** (3 Stars out of 5)

This was excellent, seeing The Best Friends beat KES who were dominating since returning to NJPW on tour. It looks like The Best Friends are going to be in the tag team title picture going forward, and I’m all for that.