Here is a full report for the 3/20 New Japan Road to Invasion Attack show from Hyogo, Japan. This show wasn’t aired live, but can be seen in full on New Japan World via individual matches.
Roppongi Vice vs. Jay White and David Finlay
Solid match. Finlay and White are really good as a team and do all the young lion stuff really well at this point. Both of them show great fire when doing their comeback.Romero hit a suicide dive on Finlay on the outside while Beretta pinned White with the Dudebuster.
Kushida vs. Gedo
This was really good. Gedo is excellent at what he does and Kushida is one of the best in the planet. They worked a good while with Gedo getting in control for most of the match. Kushida cut him off and and had some good back and forth from there, with some really good near falls. The crowd was into it as well. Kushida had Gedo in the kimura lock at one point but Gedo escaped. Kushida rolled around, got it back on and Gedo tapped.
Yoshi-Hashi, Kazushi Sakuraba and Toru Yano vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata
Your typical New Japan six man, though I’ve seen better. Nothing too wrong, but a lot of comedy and a lot of these guys don’t mix well together. Yano got the win for his team after a low blow on both Taguchi and Nakanishi, rolling up the latter for the win.
Katsuyori Shibata and Captain New Japan vs. Tencozy
Gee, I wonder who is taking the fall here. The problem with CNJ is that he almost never wins, so you already know who is losing before the match even starts. It’s not even like Honma where he’s so great people will buy into anything; there’s just not much you can do with CNJ beyond the opening bout. This was all an angle to continue towards a Tenzan/Shibata match for the NEVER title, as Tenzan challenged after Kojima lost his title match. Match was fine but tough to get into considering. Tenzan locked in the anaconda vise on CNJ and he tapped out quickly.
Shibata and Tenzan had a staredown after the match.
Cody Hall, Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga and Bad Luck Fale vs. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask
Standard eight man tag. Not much to talk about. Tiger Mask didn’t have the NWA Jr. title with him as he lost it on 3/19 back to Steve Anthony, so even though they teased another Liger/Tiger match, it probably is out of the books now. Tama Tonga got the win, pinning Tiger Mask with the waistlock DDT.
Never Six Man Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin and Juice Robinson
Good, crazy six man as you’d expect from a Bucks match. Omega had a bunch of weapons and used them freely during the match, using his trash can and the new spraycan they bring to the ring (maybe it’s Febreze? Who knows). Tanahashi and Omega had some good back and forth towards the end. Maybe they’re keeping that title situation alive? Faces mounted a good comeback, but Robinson got isolated after his team mates were laid out with superkicks and Omega pinned him with the One Winged Angel to retain the titles.
Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada vs. Bushi and Tetsuya Naito
This was fine, but never really felt it. I think it was just the way it was positioned on the card. Goto has debuted new red gear during this tour as he’s officially in Chaos. Goto and Bushi worked each other, as did Naito and Okada since they’re headlining Invasion Attack. Goto hit his knee neckbreaker on Bushi (does he really need to do that to someone who’s been out months due to a bad neck?) then hit a new finisher, sort of like a reverse slam into a knee neckbreaker, for the win.
Okada and Naito had a staredown after the match, but Naito simply walked away before anything went down.
ROH TV Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs. Evil
Very good match. Ishii was his stiff self as usual and Evil is coming into his own as a worker. Not at the same level as Ishii, obviously, but he held his own here. Lots of lariats and back and forth action in general. This was stiff, but not to the level you’d see from normal Ishii matches where he destroys himself. Lots of back and forth towards the end. Evil kicked out of the sliding D. They both went for double headbutts and they fell to the floor. Evil clonked Ishii with a lariat and went for the STO but Ishii fought back. Ishii hit a running knee to the face and hit the brainbuster for the win.
Overall a pretty solid card. The main event was good, the Young Bucks six man was good and Kushida/Gedo was good as well. Those three matches are priorities.