NJPW DESTRUCTION in BEPPU
#njdest
Event Date: September 15, 2019 (17:00 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
City: Beppu, Oita, Japan
Venue: Beppu B-Con Plaza
Attendance: 2,430
Commentary (English): Kevin Kelly, Gino Gambino
Ring Announcer: Kimihiko Ozaki (1 – 5), Makoto Abe (6 – 9)
Video
A look at some of the upcoming title matches on the DESTRUCTION tour as well as the Young Lion Cup.
Match 1
Young Lion Cup 12 Block Match
Karl Fredericks (6 pts) vs Yota Tsuji (2 pts)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Karl Fredericks wins via submission with a single-leg Boston crab
Time: 7:23
Match Thoughts
Good match. Tsuji was more powerful and took advantage of Fredericks’ hurting arm, but that just seemed to fuel Fredericks to fight harder. I felt kind of bad for Tsuji, but Fredericks looked good tonight. He has a nice mix of agility and strength.
Match 2
Young Lion Cup 12 Block Match
Alex Coughlin (4 pts) vs Shota Umino (6 pts)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Shota Umino wins via pinfall with a bridging fisherman suplex
Time: 8:14
Match Thoughts
Good match. This match felt a little more evenly fought than the previous match of the night. Umino and Coughlin went at each other strength for strength. There were a lot of heavy chops and contests to see who could outdo their opponent in strength and power. The difference came late in the match when Umino took to the air.
Match 3
Michael Richards & Clark Connors & Toa Henare & Manabu Nakanishi vs Yuya Uemura & Ren Narita & Ryusuke Taguchi (NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Champ) & Yuji Nagata
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Ryusuke Taguchi submits Michael Richards with Oh My & Garankle
Time: 11:18
Match Thoughts
This was fun. The big feud focus seemed to be Connors versus Uemura. Connors went after Uemura on the apron, then Uemura gave Connors a receipt later in the match. That was cool, but my favorite moment in the match was when Narita slammed Nakanishi. Everyone the crowd (and on commentary) woke up, and the match picked up considerably from that point on.
Match 4
Douki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki vs Roppongi 3K & Jushin Thunder Liger
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Sho pins Douki after 3K
Time: 10:36
Match Thoughts
Good match. This seemed even more chaotic than usual for Suzuki Gun. Minoru Suzuki has a problem with Liger, and Suzuki’s sole mission in this match was to beat up Liger and remove his mask. There were multiple brawls all around the ringside area and the crowd, and Suzuki was intent on getting at Liger even at the cost of winning the match. That allowed Sho and Yoh to work together and isolate Douki, but the big story remained Liger and Suzuki.
Ring Area
After the match, Suzuki continues to brawl with Liger. Suzuki pulls at Liger’s mask, so the young lions at ringside try to stop him. Suzuki smiles and beats up all the young lions. Suzuki then decides to leave. Back in the ring, Liger says that if Suzuki wants a fight, they can fight right now. Suzuki laughs and walks away.
Match 5
Taiji Ishimori (IWGP Jr. Tag Champ) & El Phantasmo (IWGP Jr. Tag Champ, RPW British Cruiserweight Champ) & Yujiro Takahashi & Bad Luck Fale & KENTA (NEVER Openweight Champ) vs Robbie Eagles & Will Ospreay (IWGP Jr. Champ) & Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe (NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Champ) & Kota Ibushi
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: KENTA pins Tomoaki Honma after Go 2 Sleep
Time: 9:17
Match Thoughts
Good match. There were too many men for any single rivalry to really come to the forefront, but the match between Ibushi and KENTA and the title match between ELP & Ishimori and Ospreay & Eagles were both built up pretty well. Other than that, this felt like a pretty fun but pretty standard multi-person tag match.
Match 6
BUSHI & Shingo Takagi & SANADA vs Rocky Romero & Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada (IWGP Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: SANADA submits Rocky Romero with Skull End
Time: 10:40
Match Thoughts
This match built up SANADA versus Okada and Takagi versus Goto. The match was back ad forth for a while, but those two matchups took center stage late in the match. Everyone gave a good preview for their upcoming matches, and this was a fun tag match overall.
Match 7
Chase Owens & Jay White w/ Gedo vs EVIL & Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Tetsuya Naito pins Chase Owens after Destino
Time: 11:11
Match Thoughts
Good match. The main (and almost only) focus of this match was Naito taunting White. Naito wrestled well and wanted to win the match, but he was constantly antagonizing and mocking Jay White. It was non-stop, and it was pretty great. White tried not to let Naito get to him, but Naito’s calm demeanor and sly smirk never changed at all. White got visibly frustrated at times, and that was great too.
Match 8
IWGP Tag Team Title Match
YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii vs Guerrillas of Destiny (IWGP Tag Champs)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Tama Tonga pins YOSHI-HASHI with a schoolboy (after a distraction from KENTA)
Time: 21:35
Match Thoughts
Good match. There were a few moments where things didn’t quite connect like they wanted them to, and the finish was a little bit of a letdown with how it happened, but overall I enjoyed the match. I liked how GOD dominated large portions of the match mostly due to their superior teamwork. Ishii was tough to put down, but the combined efforts of Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa were often better than the individual efforts of Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI. Once the Choas team started working together they did better, and that led to some nice near falls towards the end of the match.
Match 9
RPW British Heavyweight Title Match
Zack Sabre Jr. vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (RPW British Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Zack Sabre Jr. wins via pinfall with a modified cobra twist pin
Time: 26:43
Match Thoughts
Great match. Tanahashi has had enough experience wrestling Sabre that he came into the match ready with plenty of counters and counter-moves. Tanahashi kept Sabre’s holds at bay for a long time, and Tanahashi even seemed to pull ahead first in the match. Sabre got frustrated, but that frustration kind of helped him for once. Sabre got dirty, and he focused more on Tanahashi’s perpetually injured arm. Even with all that though, the final few minutes of the match were a frantic struggle by both men to get and hold or pin they could. I liked this a lot.
Show Impressions
This was a good show. The night opened with a couple of entertaining and important young lions matches, it continued with some fun tag matches, and ended with some nice title matches. I feel like the other big DESTRUCTION shows might be better, but this was a good start.
Match of the Night
Sabre vs Tanahashi
This is always a good match-up, and it was easily the best match of the night.
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/201286?showResult=1