5/14 NJPW Capital Collision results: McGuire’s in-person report on Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay vs. Juice Robinson in a four-way for the IWGP U.S. Championship, Jay White and Hikuleo vs. Kazuchika Okada and Rocky Romero, Tomohiro Ishii vs. Eddie Kingston, Brody King vs. Minoru Suzuki, Ren Narita vs. Karl Fredericks

Night two of the World Tour No One Asked For continued Saturday night with NJPW’s Capital Collision (I attended MLW Kings of Colosseum on Friday and will be going to NJPW Strong on Sunday), live and direct from Washington, D.C. NJPW didn’t try to sell the upper bowl, but the crowd filled in nicely for everything lower bowl and floor. The crowd was hot and seemed to be true NJPW fans, which always makes things fun. But enough of me; let’s get to it.

1. Nick Comoroto defeated Kevin Knight via pinfall. A true dark match in that the seats were only about 30 percent full. The result kind of surprised because Comoroto was a very late addition to the card and, well, he’s in AEW, and this was a dark match, so I thought the young Knight might get the nod, but so it goes. Both guys worked hard and Knight still has the best dropkick in wrestling.

2. Karl Fredericks defeated Ren Narita via pinfall. A hot opening match for a hot crowd that ate it all up. It was a NJPW Strong match on steroids and I can’t quite think of another way to put it. All the normal spots were there but with more intensity and these two got more time here than they would on a regular episode of Strong. After the match, QT Marshall attacked Fredericks and cut a promo saying he didn’t want to wrestle on the card even though he was asked to do just that. Marshall hit Fredericks after saying he’ll see him in Philly. And so will I.

3. Tom Lawlor, Danny Limelight, JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs and Jorel Nelson defeated Fred Rosser, The DKC, David Finlay, Tanga Loa and Yuya Uemura via pinfall. Limelight pinned The DKC, which was expected considering how he was a late addition and the most logical of the babyfaces to take the loss. Afterward, the teams brawled for a minute or two and Finlay hit Limelight with a pipe. My guess is Rosser is the first to beat Lawlor Sunday in Philly, but we’ll see. As for this match, it was precisely what a NJPW 10-man tag always is. Tons of action. A little confusion. But fun nonetheless, even if the botches were out in full force here.

4. Chase Owens defeated Great-O-Khan via pinfall. Owens used his legs on the ropes to get leverage for the pin. The live crowd was really into Khan, even though Owens had his fans, too. This was heavy on comedy, mostly due to Khan’s polarizing style. D.C., as it goes, very much liked it.

5. Jonah, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Bad Dude Tito defeated Jeff Cobb, Aaron Henare, Kyle Fletcher, and Mark Davis via pinfall. The crowd came absolutely unglued when Cobb and Jonah squared off. Not a single person was sitting down and it was some of the most fun of the night. The post-match jawing between Cobb and Jonah suggests that’s on the horizon and count me in for that match. The match also was, to this point, the hardest hitting. These weee hard-hittin’ dudes hard-hittin’ each other. All told, it exceeded my expectations.

6. Brody King defeated Minoru Suzuki via pinfall. As hard-hitting as it could get (until the next match) and it was the chop fest it needed to be.  Suzuki was wildly over with the live crowd. To this point, nobody got this type of reaction from their entrance. Suzuki still hit a Gotch Style Piledriver on one of the worker-people after the match to immediately get his heat back. This was a ton of fun, and the crowd certainly played its part.

7. Tomohiro Ishii defeated Eddie Kingston via pinfall. And here I thought the previous match would be the hardest hitting of the night. Goodness, gracious. This was unquestionably the most lauded match of the night to this point. The crowd was on its feel for a good portion of it and the fans were fairly split on which wrestler they wanted to win. Eddie is a cult hero at this point. Someone somewhere should give him a belt.

Lio Rush cut a promo and was beloved by his hometown crowd. He said when he comes back after being cleared, he’s coming for the junior heavyweight division. It was short. The crowd was up for him, even when he stumbled while speaking.

8. Jay White and Hikuleo defeated Kazuchika Okada and Rocky Romero via pinfall. After the match, the heels attacked Okada. White landed the Bladerunner on Okada. That aside, the thrill of seeing Okada live in the U.S. was very real for these fans on this night. They were with him every step of the way and the energy was so palpable that if you could bottle it up and sell it, you’d be a millionaire. I was a little surprised at the outcome because I thought Okada would be on the winning side for such a ballyhooed appearance. That said, it makes sense and puts heat on White as his feud with Okada continues.

9. Juice Robinson defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay in a four-way to win the IWGP U.S. Title. Juice pinned Ospreay and afterward, cut a fun promo. The match was the best of the night. All the near falls were a blast with the live crowd. By the time the match ended, my heart was racing so much I had heartburn. If anything, I could have used five or 10 more minutes of it, because some things felt a little crunched for time, but that’s just me being greedy. Also, as everyone was leaving, Mox grabbed a mic and cut a promo thanking the fans.

In all, a fantastic show. I don’t know how it came across on the pay-per-view, but in person, the energy was there, the crowd was completely invested in each match and the weight of seeing wrestlers like Okada and Tanahashi in person on U.S. soil didn’t seem to be lost on anyone. It’s off to Philadelphia for an early start tomorrow. NPJP Strong tapings, don’t fail me now.