NJPW Super Jr. Tag League Night 2 Review and Results

from njpw1972.com

SHO & YOH vs El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Despy and Maru attack Rocky during 3K’s entrance, but he fires back and makes them regret it. In the ring, the bell rings and SHO and YOH take out months of pent up aggression on Kanemaru. They dominate until Despy pulls SHO out of the ring and tackles him into the crowd. The heels take advantage and begin a slow, calculated dissection of YOH. SHO tries to get back into the match, but Kanemaru just lays him out again.

After 5+ minutes of Suzuki-Gun domination, YOH digs deep and fights back just in time to tag in SHO. He tries to take out both of his opponents, but Despy plants him with a spinebuster. Tag to Kanemaru, and In the words of Chuckie-T, “these boys are teeing off on each other”.

Tag to YOH, and he works over Kanemaru. SHO takes out Despy and 3K gets some combinations off. Despy distracts the ref and Kanemaru mists YOH. Moonsault. Deep Impact. BUT YOH KICKS OUT! Awesome near fall. Maru goes up again and SHO cuts him off. YOH reverses a suplex attempt and catches Kanemaru with a European Clutch as SHO takes out Despy.

Roppongi 3K def Desperado/Kanemaru

SHO continues to shine as 3K’s tough guy, while YOH thrives as the crafty opportunist. I love that they have such clear, consistent roles that they use to tell unique stories in the ring. This match was a perfect example of this dynamic that makes RPG 3K so great. Despy and Kanemaru made a point to focus on taking out SHO. They seemed to think that if they isolated YOH they could easily win, but in the end, they underestimated him and it cost them the match. Great stuff.

I kind of expected the champs to win here, so 3K could embark on a good ol’ fashioned babyface comeback journey, but nope. They don’t even have to win another match in this tag league to get a title shot now.

Rating: ***3/4

In conclusion, although nothing on this show was quite as great as Night 1’s main event, I thought these four matches as a whole were just as good, if not better than the first four of the tournament. Either way, we’re eight in with no bad matches yet, so yeah. Not too bad at all.

Show Rating: 7.5/10

Updated Standings: Shingo & Bushi(2-0), Ishimori & Eagles(2-0), RPG 3K(1-1), Despy & Maru(1-1), Liger & Tiger(1-1), Volador & Soberano(1-1), Time Machine(0-2), Taguchi & ACH(0-2)