NJPW: 7 Takeaways from Power Struggle

Don’t forget about BUSHI

This fight started really rowdy, with Ospreay getting the jump on BUSHI, probably as payback for BUSHI’s mist attack on him during the last day of the Tag League, an attack that took Birds of Prey out of the tournament.

We know that Ospreay has had a successful year but BUSHI hasn’t had many chances to shine as a single wrestler in a significant amount of time. After his lukewarm Best of the Super Juniors tournament run and being left out of the Tag League for lack of a partner, he likely felt he had to quickly challenge Ospreay for the Jr. Heavyweight Title while the scene was hot or be left behind.

They have a really, really good match here. There’s even a spot where he goes in for the mist attack but Ospreay blocks him, steals the mist straight out of his mouth, and then spits it back in his face. Chris Charlton called it “a poison kiss,” which is fun. BUSHI rallies and lands the second mist attack on Ospreay, putting them both back at a level, if disgusting, playing field.

Although BUSHI lost this one (however, setting the scene for the glorious return of his teammate) it was an enormous display of skill. He dodged a Hidden Blade, he caught Ospreay in a diving hurricanrana, and kicked out of so many of Ospreay’s stronger moves.

I hope the biggest takeaway here is BUSHI needs more opportunities for single matches. He really showed up to this Power Struggle and shined so brightly.

Shibata?

The Goto and Jay White match was great on its own, as one big display of watching two really strong men see how many times they can throw each other around before one of them crumbles into dust. White really tries and pulls through here, probably working on the frustration that’s built up over the last few weeks from Goto constantly haunting him like an angry ghost.

But what I want to talk about here is Shibata.

Shibata’s first interference in a match since his injury and subsequent not-quite-retirement was in reaction to KENTA’s betrayal at the G1 Climax 29 finals. There, he did a few impressive moves and took a few mild bumps, proving he may be well on his way to a return.

Now, Power Struggle. Here’s the scene: Gedo comes in to hurt Goto, Shibata stops him. KENTA comes in and uses his finisher on Goto, and attacks Shibata. Shibata, to his extreme credit, takes a nasty apron bump and withstands further assault from KENTA. It’s a short moment, but it continues the streak of animosity between them and we’re seeing more and more of what Shibata is capable of suffering.

Voices on the wind say maybe we’ll see KENTA versus Shibata at Wrestle Kingdom 14, but who knows. We do know, however, that these two men continue to hate each other. I’m anticipating if, when, and how it all blows up.

Of course, this doesn’t cover the whole story, but rather it’s a few high spots in a show full of great moments and build up to one of the biggest wrestling events in the world. Let us know what your personal highlights from Power Struggle were, and as always, thanks for reading!