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NJPW: 5 Takeaways From Sengoku Lord

By Corey Collins

TOKYO, JAPAN - OCTOBER 08: Kota Ibushi gestures prior to the 3 Way match between Kenny Omega, Cody and Kota Ibushi during the King of Pro-Wresting at Ryogoku Kokugikan on October 8, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
TOKYO, JAPAN - OCTOBER 08: Kota Ibushi gestures prior to the 3 Way match between Kenny Omega, Cody and Kota Ibushi during the King of Pro-Wresting at Ryogoku Kokugikan on October 8, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images) /
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Tomohiro Ishii and EVIL Is The Big Boy Battle We All Need

We all know that everything is EVIL. By now, this is common knowledge. We’re all just Darkness Girls living in a Darkness World and it’s fantastic.

But have you considered that everything may, in fact, be Ishii instead? Could we be on the precipice of living in a Stone Pitbull World?

In the semi-main event of Wrestling Dontaku on May 4, Tomohiro Ishii and EVIL will meet to decide the future fate of all mankind and it’s exactly what we all never knew we needed.

When the cards were released for Wrestling Dontaku, EVIL/Ishii was an easy one to look past. Yes, of course, it would be a fantastic match. Ishii was my MVP of the New Japan Cup and EVIL is someone who can always be counted on to bring good-to-great performances in every match.

Despite the two being in warring factions CHAOS and LIJ, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot behind the match-up other than that. In the main event of Wrestling Dontaku, Okada is set to defend the IWGP Heavyweight Title against SANADA so it only made sense to give Cold Skull’s tag team partner a platform of his own.

With Sengoku Lord, this match has suddenly taken on a life of its own.

In a 5-on-5 battle between Los Ingobernables de Japon and CHAOS which saw Naito pin my main dude YOSHI-HASHI, EVIL and Ishii could hardly keep their hands off of each other. Before the opening bell, the two shoved one another and grasped at each other’s throats before being pulled back to their corners.

Throughout the match, any time an opportunity arose they zeroed in on one another with the fervor of fiery steeds. What was initially a match that everybody expected to be at least very good if not great has been boosted to a match with emotional ties to it based on these simple interactions in what could have otherwise been a throwaway multi-man bout.

According to the Internet Wrestling Database, Ishii and EVIL have only met twice in their current forms with Ishii coming out on top in both encounters. They did tangle in 2012 while EVIL was working as a Young Lion, but for the sake of this argument, we’ll just start counting from EVIL’s return from excursion.

There are parallels between the semi-main and main event matches at Wrestling Dontaku. EVIL is currently 0-2 against Ishii while SANADA is 0-5 against Okada. On May 4, the entire landscape of New Japan could change with LIJ knocking the two top names in CHAOS from their perches.

Regardless of the outcome, one thing is for certain – Ishii and EVIL are two big boys who are going to beat the life out of one another for our joy and amusement, and it’s going to be absolutely incredible.

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