Guerillas of Destiny, Meng, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens defeated Roppongi 3K, Rocky Romero, YOSHI-HASHI and Gedo
Haku and YOSHI-HASHI started things off. Heels isolated Romero, working him over. Haku even planted him on the mat with a piledriver. He came back by taking out Owens and Takahashi and tagged in Yoh for the hot tag.
It boiled down to Gedo and Tama Tonga. Gedo had Tonga down but Meng came in and applied the Tongan death grip. He threw Gedo to Tonga, who laid him out with the gun stun for the win. Pretty good opener, did exactly what was needed.
Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano defeated Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr.
Minoru Suzuki/Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano/Zack Sabre Jr. paired off here. Yano was very over with the crowd and was into all of his stalling and other gimmicks. Sabre and Suzuki worked over Yano, rolling around and both applying submissions at the same time.
Ishii was tagged back in as the two struck each other hard with shots. Suzuki took Ishii down. They tagged in their partners, with Yano undoing the turnbuckle. It turned into a wild brawl. Yano tried to low blow Sabre, but Sabre used his leg strength to block it. He turned around and was right in the line of fire for Ishii’s lariat. Yano followed up with a cradle for the win.
Solid match, weird finish. I wonder where they’re going here with this result. Ishii and Suzuki have been feuding a lot in recent months.
Hangman Page and Marty Scurll defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and KUSHIDA
Heavyweights and junior heavyweights paired off with one another. They targeted KUSHIDA early with a superkick on the apron followed by Page’s shooting star shoulder block. Page and Scurll work really well as a tag team.
Lots of great back and forth action. It boils down to KUSHIDA and Page. The latter tried for the Rite of Passage but KUSHIDA countered with a roll up. Page cut him off again, then after a tilt-a-whirl transitioned into the Rite of Passage and connected for the win. I liked this a lot, all four guys are great and Page and Scurll in particular came off as a very polished tag team.
Hirooki Goto defeated Jeff Cobb to retain the NEVER Openweight title
Cobb launched Goto with a giant belly to belly. Goto takes down Cobb and grinds him with a headscissors lock. Cobb fres back with a dropkick and a giant spinning backdrop suplex.
Cobb hit a delayed fireman’s carry slam and went for a standing moonsault but Goto rolled out of the way. After some back and forth, Cobb connected with a giant lariat and the standing moonsault for a nearfall. Goto countered and went for a sleeper. He rallied back, laying out Cobb with the ushigoroshi. He soon followed with the GTR for the win.
Weird match. I felt like it was building well, then it just ended in the most anti-climatic manner possible. I’ve seen way better Cobb and Goto matches this year, and this was ok, but felt way too short.
The Young Bucks defeated SANADA and EVIL to retain the IWGP tag team titles
Good back and forth early. SANADA put Nick in the Paradise lock as he and EVIL worked him over. Bucks made a great comeback. EVIL and SANADA laid out Nick with the Magic Killer for a nearfall.
The Bucks went for a superkick on EVIL but instead struck the referee. EVIL laid them out and introduced a chair that soon wound up on EVIL’s face. SANADA came in, however, and together the two hit an assisted spike tombstone on Matt. They followed with another magic killer, but he kicked out.
Nick came back in and the two started to make their comeback. They took out SANADA with a superkick then took out EVIL with the Meltzer Driver for the win. A pretty good title match. Bucks looked great tonight, both in selling and execution.
Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay defeated Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI
Okada came out to a new remixed version of his theme song. He also didn’t have his robe and had new pants.
Like in the previous match, heavyweights and junior heavyweights paired off. Okada was tagged in and went after Naito, launching off with a big crossbody. Naito cut him off and went for the Destino but Okada blocked it and went for a tombstone. Both escaped from various signature moves until Okada plants Naito with a neck kneebreaker.
BUSHI and Ospreay were in the ring. Okada took out Naito as Ospreay started to build momentum after avoiding the MX. He connected with the stormbreaker for the win. A good tag team match with some fun interactions between Okada and Naito.
Hiromu Takahashi defeated Dragon Lee to retain the IWGP Jr. title
Dragon Lee started off hot coming of with a huge dive to the floor, wiping out Hiromu on the outside. Dragon Lee controlled the match until Hiromu sent Lee to the outside and hit a huge running dropkick into the barricade. He followed with a giant senton to the floor.
The two ended up perched on the top rope. Hiromu hovered over the apron as Lee hit a giant foot stomp that sent them both tumbling out of the ring. They beat the count and soon after start trading some crazy German suplexes. They keep trading over and over until finally Hiromu breaks the cycle with a lariat.
Some vicious exchanges between the two leads to a belly to belly by Hiromu into the turnbuckle. Lee came back with a standing spanish fly. Hiromu catches Lee in a triangle. Lee struggles to break free, deadlifting him and dumping him head first on the floor in a super scary spot. I have no idea how he didn’t break his neck from that.
Lee lifted him up for the powerbomb but Hiromu countered with a Canadian destroyer. He then followed with the time bomb for the win. Just as crazy and incredible as one would expect. I think a couple of their bouts were better in terms of heat, but this was still a completely crazy match.
Juice Robinson defeated Jay White to win the IWGP United States title
The two exchange some ground and pound before Robinson sends White to the floor. Robinson dives out to the floor then throws White into the barricades, one time sending him into the crowd. White grabs him while he was posting and side suplexes him to the outside.
White retaliates by throwing Robinson into barricades on the outside. Back in the ring, he works on the injured hand, including sending him to the floor and applying the Indian deathlock, clutching the injured wrist. White then takes him to the ropes and drapes him in the middle, exposing the chest to chops.
Robinson comes alive with a spinebuster but White takes him down with an STO. He takes him to the outside into the barricade where Jim Ross and Josh Barnett are and suplexes Robinson into the barricade, sending Jim Ross to the floor. Josh Barnett gets up and confronts White, even getting into the ring.
Once things settled down, Juice starts to come alive back in the ring as he takes White to the top rope, launching a big superplex. Juice went for the pulp friction, but White countered with the crucifix elbows. White went for the blade runner, but Robinson escaped and went for the pulp friction again. White pushed him into the referee and low blowed him, but Robinson retaliated by pelting him with the cast and landing the pulp friction. He took too long to cover, however, and White kicked out.
Robinson went for the pulp friction but White cut him off and hit several half nelson suplexes. He went for the blade runner, but Robinson countered into a cradle and scored the win, becoming the third United States champion. Great match -- Robinson is an awesome babyface and felt like someone who could headline shows in the future. White still lacks in certian areas, but always delivers in these kinds of matches.
Kenny Omega defeated Cody to retain the IWGP title
They start things off with some back and forth, neither really gaining any momentum until Omega sends Cody to the outside. Cody shields himself with Brandi as Omega misses a dive, allowing Cody to wipe him out with a dive. Omega fights back, taking Cody to a barricade, putting him on top of a table and, with the Bucks stabilizing the guardrail, hops off and puts Cody through the table.
Cody cuts him off back in the ring and starts wearing him down. He takes down a second table that was set up by Omega but doesn’t see Omega leap off the top rope with the Rise of the Terminator. He connects with a v-trigger in the ring and a snap dragon suplex. Cody counters with one of his own. Omega went for a sunset flip, but Cody countered with a figure four leglock, which Omega manages to reverse.
Back on the outside, Omega introduces a ladder. Cody introduces a chair, which the referee sees and confiscates. As he does that, Cody cuts off Omega and body slams him on top of the ladder. He then takes him to the outside, where he reverses a suplex and sends Omega stomach first on top of the ladder.
Meanwhile, Cody sets back up the table and sets up the ladder in the ring to build to a big spot. Matt Jackson tries to talk to Cody, but they get into it. The distraction leads to Omega fighting back as they both fight on top of the ladder. Omega cuts him off and looks to send him through the table to the floor, but at the last second Cody reverses it, suplexing him on top of the ladder to the ring.
Cody exits the ring and grabs the IWGP title. The referee grabs it from him as Omega strikes back with a reverse rana. Ref bump allows Cody to strike with the disaster kick. He decides not do it and instead goes for the crossroads. Omega avoids it the first time, but then connects for a near fall.
Coming back to life, Omega started to connect with some v-triggers. He wears him down, then grabs him and powerbombs him through the table on the outside...that was the idea, anyway, but the table didn’t break and mostly landed on the floor. Cody is able to make it back in the ring, but is clearly out of it. Brandi tries to shield him from a v-trigger but Cody fires back with a lariat.
Omega hits the butterfly piledriver, one more v-trigger then hits the One Winged Angel for the win. A great main event. It’s not like your typical main in New Japan as it was a bunch of smoke and mirrors, but still told a good story and the big moments of the match mattered and came off big.
Omega helped Cody to his feet after the match. The two stared at one another, then Cody exited as Omega and the Bucks celebrated in the ring.
Omega cuts a promo, saying that each and every one of us is human and Cody’s effort was nothing short of valiant. Each and every one of us needs to stand by good people. He will give you the very best matches from each member of the roster. Thank you for the positivity and changing the world.
Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Haku come out to celebrate with the Golden Elite as they all pose on the stage. But out of nowhere, the Tongan contingent beat down the Bucks and Omega, taking them back to the ring. They take off their Bullet Club shirts and reveal new shirts that label them as the Firing Squad. They continue the assault as the rest of the Bullet Club (Hangman Page, Marty Scurll, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi) come out to make the save, but despite the number advantage are unable to help the Golden Elite.
Cody limps back to the ring as Tama Tonga hands him a chair to strike Omega. He grabs it and acts like he’s about to lay him out, but instead attacks the Firing Squad. Tama Tonga cuts him off with the gun stun and lays him out. The attack caps off with Haku laying out Omega with a piledriver. The new group heads to the back, with Roa making things clear: there is no leader, they are their own group and this is family.
Back in the ring, Kenny Omega and Cody reconcile as the remaining members of the Bullet Club hug it out. Despite what just happened, the Bullet Club has finally healed all its wounds and they are back as one cohesive entity.