By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “Burning Spirit, Night 1”
September 2, 2022 in Kanagawa, Japan at Yokohama Budokan
Streamed live on New Japan World
This is the first NJPW show in 15 days, after the conclusion of the G1 Climax tournament. Notably not on this show are Will Ospreay, Shingo Takagi and Jay White, so we don’t have as much star power here.
The main thing you need to know going in is that Kazuchika Okada won the G1 Tournament, going 7-1 overall. However, his one loss was a clean pinfall at the hands of Jonah. (Jonah finished 4-2, with both losses by countout. He was the only person not pinned in the tournament.) They will meet in the main event here in a six-man tag. There was Japanese only commentary.
1. DKC defeated Kosei Fujita at 6:45. Clark Connors was originally booked for this tour, but he’s out with an injury, so DKC is filling in. It sure feels like DKC has been a Young Lion for an eternity now. Fujita hit a belly-to-belly suplex for a nearfall. then he applied a Boston Crab. DKC hit a series of knife-edge thrusts to the throat, then he applied a headlock submission hold, and Fujita tapped out. Basic, but not bad.
2. Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi, EVIL, and Sho defeated Yoshi-Hoshi, Yoh, Hirooki Goto, and Ryohei Oiwa at 9:53. The babyfaces wore T-shirts that had a red circle & line through the picture of the House of Torture. (The no smoking sign.) All eight brawled at the bell. The heels worked over Yoh. Goto entered at 5:00 and traded offense with EVIL. All four babyfaces piled up on EVIL. Oiwa tagged in at 7:00 and traded offense with Yujiro. Oiwa hit a gut-wrench suplex for a nearfall. However, Yujiro hit the Pimp Juice DDT on Oiwa for the pin. Oiwa continues to impress.
3. Master Wato, Jado, and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Francesco Akira, TJP, and Gideon Gray at 9:23. I admittedly don’t know Gideon Gray but I assume he’s a manager, because he is older and bald. Gray grabbed Jado’s ankle, allowing the United Empire to take control of the action. Taguchi finally made the hot tag at 5:30. Wato and Gray traded blows. Taguchi hit his flying butt splash on Gray. Taguchi and Wato hit a team faceplant move, with Wato pinning Gray.
4. Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, and Aaron Henare defeated Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale, and Gedo at 8:16. Henare and Chase started, and Chase playfully slapped him on the back of the head, ticking off Aaron. Cobb surfed on Chase’s back. The heels began working over Cobb, with Fale giving him the Tongan Massage Parlor, standing on his back at 3:30. (This feels bizarre having Cobb down on the mat, being worked over, because he doesn’t generate much sympathy.)
GOK made the hot tag. Fale hit a shoulder tackle on O-Khan. Henare tagged in at 7:00 and hit a spin kick on Gedo for a nearfall. Chase hit a knee strike on GOK. Henare applied the full nelson lock on Gedo, who tapped out. Ok match.
5. Kenta, Hikuleo, and Taiji Ishimori defeated Kushida, Tomoaki Honma, and Togi Makabe at 9:15. Good to see Hikuleo return to Japan. He is soooo much taller than Ishimori. Hikuleo overpowered Honma, easily shoving him to the mat. Ishimori entered at 2:00 to battle Kushida. The heels began working over Kushida, with Hikuleo hitting some hard overhand chops. Kushida finally hit a handspring-back-elbow and tagged in Makabe at 6:00.
Makabe and Kenta traded offense, with Kenta hitting a DDT. Honma tagged back in and traded blows with Honma again. Hikuleo hit a decapitating clothesline for a nearfall. Honma hit the Kokeshi falling headbutt for a nearfall. Hikuleo hit a swinging powerslam, then a chokeslam, to pin Honma. This was better than expected.
6. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Desperado, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Hiromu Tanahashi, Bushi, Tetsuya Naito, and Sanada at 11:03. The main storyline here is that Naito pinned Sabre in three or so minutes in the final night of Block action in the G1 Climax, eliminating Sabre and sending him into a tantrum. Sanada and Kanemaru started. Desperado entered at 3:00. Sabre and Sanada traded good mat-based offense, with Sabre applying a mid-ring Octopus hold at 5:30. Naito finally made the hot tag but was only in for a few seconds. Hiromu and Kanemaru traded offense.
Desperado hit a dragon screw leg whip on Hiromu. Hiromu then hit one on Desperado. Bushi entered at 9:00 and hit a missile dropkick on Desperado. Desperado hit a spinebuster for a nearfall, then he applied the Stretch Muffler leglock. Desperado hit a swinging neckbreaker for a believable nearfall. Desperado then hooked Bushi’s arm, did a forward roll, and got the pin. Good action. Zack and Naito jawed after the bell, but they never touched during the match.
7. Jonah, Bad Dude Tito, and Shane Haste defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Toru Yano at 14:10. See my note above about the Jonah-Okada feud, and those two locked up to start, with Jonah shoving him to the mat. Yano entered at 1:00 but ducked Tito, and he removed corner pads. I hate this silliness in a main event. The heels slammed Yano into a guardrail, and they worked him over in the ring. Jonah hit a running Stinger Splash in the corner at 4:30. Tito hit a snap suplex for a nearfall.
Tanahashi finally made the hot tag to enter at 8:00 and he leveled Haste with a European uppercut, then hit a second-rope summersault splash for a nearfall. Okada and Tito traded offense. Jonah hit a bodyslam on Okada at 11:00. Okada couldn’t pick him up for a bodyslam. Okada hit a dropkick, and they were both down. Toru entered and slapped Jonah in the back of the head, then got a schoolboy rollup for a nearfall. Jonah hit his running splash on Yano. Jonah then nailed his top-rope Torpedo frogsplash on Yano for the pin, with Jonah glaring at Okada while the ref made the count.
* Jonah got on the mic and said “That is only night one. All Burning Spirit long, we are going to dominate.” He said this is “TMDK’s era.” He said they are the number one faction in the world. “We are the Mighty, and the Mighty Don’t Kneel,” he concluded.
Final Thoughts: This was a fairly skippable night of action. Nothing terrible but nothing worth going out of your way to see, either. Some of the top stars missing this event left the show a bit underwhelming. The Jonah-Okada stuff was great, and it was nice to see Jonah go over strong to conclude the night. The show was on the shorter side, ending in just under two-and-a-half hours.
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