SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NJPW DECLARATION OF POWER PPV REPORT
OCT. 10, 2022
TOKYO, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
REPORT BY SEAN RADICAN, PWTORCH COLUMNIST
Announcers: Kevin Kelly, Chris Charlton, and Rocky Romero.
The show began with a tribute to NJPW founder Antonio Inoki. The wrestlers surrounded the ring and they did a video tribute and a rang the bell tribute as well.
The opening match marks the return of Ren Narita from excursion. He’s been dubbed the Son of Strong Style.
(1) REN NARITA & ROBBIE EAGLES & DAVID FINLAY vs. SUZUKI-GUN (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Douki & El Desperado)
Narita pinned Douki with a bridging belly-to-belly suplex.
WINNERS: Ren Narita & David Finlay & David Finlay at 7:28. (**1/2)
Romero noted that Narita took a beating and beat Douki easily in the end. Narita said he wasn’t happy with that and wants to be the focal point of NJPW.
(2) TMDK (Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito) vs. DANGEROUS TEKKERS (Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.)
Sabre pinned Tito with a backwards bridging pinning combination.
WINNERS: Bad Dude Tito & Shane Haste at 9:58. (**1/2)
Tito wanted to go after Sabre after the match, but Haste stopped him. Kelly mentioned TMDK might have two teams in World Tag League this year.
(3) NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions HOUSE OF TORTURE (Sho & Evil & Yujiro Takahashi w/Dick Togo) vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI & HIKULEO & RYUSUKI TAGUCHI – non-title
Hikuleo broke up a shock arrow on TAGUCHI from Sho. He then hit a choke slam on Sho for the win.
WINNERS: Hikuleo & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuki Taguchi at 7:14. (*1/2)
(4) UNITED EMPIRE (Jeff Cobb & The Great-O-Khan) vs. CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi)
This was a good match. Cobb caught Hashi with Tour of the Islands. Kelly said with the win Cobb and O-Khan should be the top contending team for the tag titles.
WINNERS: Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan at 10:09. (***)
(5) LIJ (Sanada & Bushi & Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi) vs. THE UNITED EMPIRE (Aaron Henare & Francisco Akira & TJP & Will Ospreay)
They used this tag to build to the upcoming Ospreay vs. Naito match. Ospreay best Naito in the semi-finals of G1 this year. A masked man entered the ring and ran wild on United Empire. Bushi pinned Akira with MX. The masked man teased pulling off his mask and he looked at Naito.
WINNERS: LIJ at 8:07. (***)
Naito and Ospreay went face-to-face. Naito didn’t seem interested in the U.S title. He tossed Ospreay out of the ring and signaled he would wrestle Ospreay for the title on Nov. 5.
The announcers said they didn’t know which side the masked man was on. He called for a mic. LIJ acted like they didn’t know who it was.
The man took his mask off to reveal another mask. It was Titan. He said he was looking for new opportunities in Spanish. He said he was joining LIJ. LIK looked confused in the ring. LIJ put their fists up and invited Titan to join. He put his fist in and the fans gasped and applauded. He is the first non-Japanese member of LIJ.
(Intermission)
They went to an announcement in the ring. It was announced there would be a new champion crowned. It was announced there would be a NJPW World TV Champion crowned. Every match will have a 15 minute time limit. NJPW wants to make the title a consideration for the younger wrestlers on the card and focus on high speed action. The semi-finals take place on Nov. 5 at Battle Autumn.
NJPW will be crowing the first NJPW World TV Champion in a tournament that ends with the finals at Wrestle Kingdom 17. The title was revealed and the front of title was gold with a big NJPW World logo on the front. The belt is gigantic.
(6) IWGP Jr Hvt. Champion TAIJI ISHIMORI vs . MASTER WATO – non-title
Wato is replacing Kushida, who is out with an illness. The announcers said this was a big opportunity for Wato could earn a title match with a win. Wato missed a RPP attempt at one point and Ishimori nailed him with a shotgun dropkick. He then continued to target Wato’s arm by driving it into the ring post.
Wato escaped a Bloody Cross late in the match and nailed Ishimori with a body scissors pinning combination for the shocking upset win.
WINNER: Master Wato at 14:40. (***1/2)
The announcers noted that Wato was student of the game and noted that he had counters for Ishimori’s signature offense that lead to his victory. He went to get on the mic, but Hiromu Takahashi ran into the ring and interrupted him. Takahashi then ran into the ring and poked him in the eye and grabbed the mic.
Desperado said he couldn’t believe Wato won. Ishimori went to leave, but Desperado called him back to the ring. Ishimori grabbed the mic. All four men argued. They did some comedy with Wato slapping Wato’s injured arm. Ishimori said he would face them all at Wrestle Kingdom.
(7) KOPW Provisional Champion SHINGO TAKAGI vs. EL PHANTASMO – Who’s Your Daddy match
The stipulation is the loser has to tell the winner that he is their daddy after the match. The story here is ELP has been in Shingo’s head for awhile. Both men wore shirts that said they were each other’s daddy.
Shingo hit Made in Japan for a near fall at one point. Both men were down and the fans applauded for born men. At one point, Takagi hit the CR-Takagi on ELP for a near fall. He got the Octopus Hold on ELP and took him down on the mat and it was good for the submission.
WINNER: Shingo Takagi at to retain the KOPW Provisional Championship at 16:01 . (***1/2)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was good, but the silly stipulation and the lack of crowd noise didn’t help things.)
Takagi told ELP to say that he is his daddy. This made ELP very upset and he wouldn’t say it. ELP whispered on the mic twice that Shingo is his daddy. Shingo told him to speak up. ELP said he needed water. He then said Shingo is his daddy in Japanese. He then said it in English and the fans applauded.
Shingo said he wanted a picture and he handed ELP a shirt that said Shingo is my Daddy. ELP pouted and Takagi gave him a pacifier. They then took a picture of the two of them together.
ELP wanted a hug from papa Shingo. They hugged and then ELP punched Takagi in the nuts and stomped on the KOPW Trophy, which shattered.
(8) JONAH vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA
Jonah dominated during the early stages of the match. Okada fired back and went after his leg. He tied it up in the barricade on the floor at one point and hit the shotgun drop kick. The announcers said if Jonah could win, he could make the WK main event a triple threat for the IWGP World Hvt. Championship. Jonah was the only person to defeat Okada during the G1 this year.
The announcers said the longer the match went on that it would likely favor Jonah, who hasn’t had many long matches in NJPW. Jonah hit the Black Forest Bomb and went for a repeat of G1 to follow it up with a Torpedo to beat Okada, but he had a hard time climbing to the top due to the work Okada did on his leg and he missed. The crowd really came alive for that spot, which was great even though they’re restricted to claps and cheers.
Jonah no-sold a shotgun dropkick. A short time later he no sold a drop kick off the ropes from Okada. Okada ended up just picking Jonah up and hitting a landslide tombstone and then the Rainmaker for the win.
Kevin Kelly noted this is Jonah’s first loss in NJPW.
WINNER: Kazuchika Okada at 19:53. (****)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was a really good match playing off their G1 encounter. The crowd restrictions didn’t help the match a ton, but they did come alive late.)
Jonah signaled to Okada they were even at 1-1 in singles matches now as he left the ring.
Okada hit Inoki’s pose after the match as the press took pictures.
(9) JAY WHITE (w/Gedo) vs. TAMA TONGA (w/Jado) – IWGP World Hvt. title match
White tired too bait Tonga early, but he wouldn’t take it. Tonga eliminated White from the G1 tournament and there’s hate between both men here as Tonga is a former Bullet Club member.
White choked Tonga with the apron at one point and it was covering Tonga’s face and White kept yelling don’t forget to wear your mask at the crowd. White also worked over Tonga’s mid-section and the announcers said he wanted to take away Tonga’s wind. Tonga went for Supreme Flow after mounting a comeback, but White got his knees up.
Later in the match, Tonga hit Supreme Flow, but sold his ribs and was slow to cover White and only got a two. White fought off a Gun-Stun attempt and shoved Tonga into the ref. White got a chair from Gedo. Tonga eventually got the chair, but the red had recovered, so he gave the chair back to the ref. Tonga got a visual pin on White with a pinning combination, but the ref was getting rid of the chair.
Both men countered each other’s finishers and Tonga hit Bloody Sunday for a near fall. White blocked two Gun-Stun attempts and trapped Tonga’s arms with legs on the mat and hit several elbows. White let go of the hold and hit a Regal-plex for a nearfall. White hit a cross-arm Bloody Sunday.
White set up for a Gun-Stun, but Tonga surprised White with one of his own for a GREAT nearfall. The announcers did an incredible job of selling shock when White kicked out right before the 30 minute mark. White blocked several Gun-Stun attempts. He finally caught Tonga going for a Gun-Stun off the second rope and it was good for the win.
WINNER: Jay White at to retain the IWGP World Hvt. Championship. (****1/2)
(Radican’s Analysis: Great match. They told a very good story and the crowd did a good job of supporting the action.)
White got on the mic after the match. He said Tonga had needed to thank him, but he needed to thank Tonga for all his years in Bullet Club. He said all of those years it took him to learn the lessons it took to get the IWGP World Hvt. Championship. He said Tonga deserved to be champion, but he tried to make his mark as the same time as him. White called himself a once in a lifetime performer. White said if he wasn’t there, Tonga would be the champion. White said Tonga embodies everything NJPW stands for and would be a great champion, but this is his time.
Okada came down to the ring and mentioned Inoki’s passing on Oct. 1. He said that means an era is over. Okada said who will lead the next era in NJPW. He said they would decide that on Jan. 4 at the Tokyo Dome. Okada told White he would tear it up heading into Wrestle Kingdom. White and Okada went face to face and Okada left the ring.
White told Okada it is still his era and it will always be his era.
Gold confetti filled the ring and White and Gedo made snow angels before heading to the back. Kelly said he thinks the spirit of Inoki will propel Okada on Jan. 4.
Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @SR_Torch
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