SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NJPW ANNIVERSARY 53RD SHOW
FEBRUARY 11, 2025
OTA-CITY GENERAL GYMNASIUM
TOKYO, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
Walker Stewart was on commentary, joined by the returning pariah Chris Charlton.
(1) EL PHANTASMO (C) vs. MASTER WATO – NJPW World Television Championship Open Challenge
ELP did some mic work before his opponent was revealed, saying he didn’t care if the opponent was young or old, with long flowing hair or a little bald (poking fun at Jado). Master Wato came out to a rather tepid reaction.
ELP got an early waistlock takedown and applied a headlock. After an unsuccessful escape attempt, Wato reversed the hold and they traded counters and escapes until Wato locked in Vendoval. ELP got to the ropes in a hurry to break the hold. ELP cartwheeled out of a flying headscissors attempt and hit his own headscissors, sending Wato to the floor. ELP tried a slingshot crossbody, Wato moved but ELP landed on his feet. Wato then connected with a headscissors to send ELP into the barricade, got back in the ring, and hit a somersault senton to the outside.
Back in the ring, Wato connected with a slingshot back elbow for a two-count. ELP blocked the follow-up move but still ate a dropkick to the side of the head for another two-count. Wato connected with a bulldog that spiked ELP’s head at a high angle, which got another two-count, then clamped on a rear chinlock. ELP fought free and they exchanged elbows. ELP got the better of the exchange and hit a gorgeous dropkick, leaving both men down.
ELP laid in some chops in the corner. After an exchange of counters and kicks, ELP clotheslined Wato over the top to the floor and followed up with a slingshot crossbody, this time connecting. ELP went to the top rope and hit a moonsault to Wato, who had made it to his feet and ended up just waiting for ELP to land. A touch awkward. ELP rolled Wato in and hit a slingshot splash into a Lionsault for a near fall. Wato blocked a Burning Hammer attempt, ELP tried for a CR2 which Wato also blocked, and then countered a clothesline into Recientemente for a very near fall.
Wato went for a German suplex but ELP grabbed the top rope to block. He reversed into a German suplex of his own and hit Sudden Death at the ten-minute mark for a near fall. ELP again went for CR2, Wato rolled through into a a rollup for a two-count, then two more rollups for two more two-counts. On the last kickout Wato locked in Vendoval, and transitioned into a pinning combination for another two-count.
With three minutes left, ELP hit a stiff clothesline and a back handspring lariat. Burning Hammer….connected! 1…2…no! That is sacrilegious to say the least. Wato blocked Sudden Death and hit a German suplex for a very near fall. He dragged ELP to the corner and went to the top, but was intercepted. ELP hit a super Frankensteiner and then nailed Thunderkiss ‘86 to retain.
WINNER: El Phantasmo via pinfall in 14:00 to retain the NJPW World TV title. (***)
(Lansdell’s Analysis: A fun opener that never really got into top gear. Not a lot of chemistry between them, and even the high spots didn’t really wow me. Not bad at all, but not the auspicious start we might have wanted to the open challenge gimmick.)
(2) TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson) vs BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale)
I’m trying to think if there’s a single Bullet Club pairing I would be less interested in watching, and honestly I don’t think there is. Fale looked older and less mobile than ever. Both TMDK guys, on the other hand, looked in great shape.
There was next to nothing to recommend in this match. Fale left his feet to drop an elbow on Jackson and pick up the win. Yes, an elbow drop, not even from the top rope, won a match in 2025.
WINNERS: Bullet Club via pinfall in 7:00. (*)
(Lansdell’s Analysis: Thank heavens it was short. This basically existed to remind people that Fale can win matches sometimes, because he’s facing Boltin Oleg in round 1 of the NJ Cup. I remain unimpressed. Considering that Owens and Oiwa are also facing off in the first round, there was very little to build that match.)
(3) BULLET CLUB WAR DOGS (Gedo & Taiji Ishimori & Sanada) vs. JUST FOUR GUYS (Taka Michinoku & Yuya Uemura & Taichi)
Another preview of a first-round match, this one between Uemura and Sanada. The War Dogs are in a weird spot right now, where they are faces against House of Torture but heels everywhere else.
The majority of the match was spent watching Taka and Gedo go at it. For the second time in three matches I had to remind myself it was 2025. Taichi and Ishimori had a brief but clumsy exchange where there was too much daylight on basically every strike, and then we finally got the Sanada-Uemura interaction as a true preview. That was really the only section worth watching, until the Eddie Guerrero-style finish where Sanada grabbed his guitar, slapped it, and tossed it to Uemura. Ishimori was distracting the ref until Uemura caught the guitar, at which point he turned the ref around and campaigned for the DQ…successfully. Are we SURE it’s 2025?
WINNERS: War Dogs via disqualification in 8:00. (*1/2)
(Lansdell’s Analysis: I cannot for the life of me understand the booking of War Dogs right now. Gabe Kidd, Moloney, and Connors are all leaning face. Finlay has been conspicuous by his absence. And now Sanada is pulling this nonsense. If the Uemura-Sanada match gives us more of what we saw before the shenanigans, we’re in for a fun time.)
(4) BULLET CLUB WAR DOGS (Gabe Kidd & Drilla Moloney) vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
During War Dogs’ entrance, two masked men dressed in all black ambushed the House of Torture. They removed the masks to reveal…Kidd and Moloney. OK, not sure what the point of that was.All four men brawled into the crowd, where they stayed for the better part of eight minutes. The War Dogs deposited the two House of Torture guys in the ring, the bell rang…and House of Torture ran away. The referee counted to 13, then Kidd chased Narita up the ramp. The ref counted again, and this time we got the double countout.
WINNERs: Double countout in 2:00. (Zero stars)
(Lansdell’s Analysis: What a waste of ten minutes. They could have just thrown this one out after they brawled in the crowd for too long, but instead we had to watch five more minutes of walk and brawl with awful camera work preventing us from even seeing what was being done in the crowd. Nothing about this was entertaining, and although we can forgive the concept in the name of story…it did not need to take 10-plus minutes to execute. Two bad finishes in a row…is this 1999 WWE?)
(5) LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPON (Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji) vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Evil & Dick Togo & Sho & Yujiro Takahashi)
There’s no way this could be worse than the previous match, right? RIGHT? In a very interesting turn of events, Naito came out BEFORE Tsuji and after Shingo. If he had come out right after Hiromu I would have been less surprised, but this felt significant. I guess Tsuji is the Global champ, which could explain it, but that defeats my own argument so pretend I said nothing.
The ring announcer said this was Shingo’s three thousandth match since his debut (which I was able to understand before Chris Charlton translated it, and yes that is a brag), which is a cool fact. He has a bye to round two, and this match served as a preview of Tsuji and Evil in round one. We saw precious little interaction between them before Hiromu tapped out Togo with his modified figure four.
WINNERS: LIJ via submission in 10:00. (**1/2)
(Lansdell’s Analysis: MUCH better. Typical preview tag action, but on this show that is almost enough to be the highlight of the night. Both teams turned up the afterburners here and the pace was impressive. We didn’t get much in the way of a preview, but the matchup isn’t a fresh one and we kind of know what to expect.)
(6) EL DESPERADO (C) vs. FRANCISCO AKIRA – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match
I was really glad to see Akira getting this title shot, even if they did change his music to an inferior theme. He’s quietly and consistently been putting in work on tours, and his growth has been evident to anyone paying attention. He came out looking like a million bucks, if a million bucks can also look like a scared young man. No longer the Nova Fireball, his sobriquet is now Crown of Fire. OK that is badass. Desperado for his part was his usual self.
They started early with a strike exchange that ended with Akira sending Desperado to the outside with a headscissors. Akira tried a baseball slide dropkick to follow him, but Desperado ducked and ran Akira into the barricade. Desperado tried to throw him back in the ring but Akira hit a feint kick to counter, then landed a slingshot crossbody to the floor. He ran Desperado hard into the barricade gut-first, then rolled him back into the ring.
Akira hit an Edgeomatic for a two-count, then clamped on a camel clutch. At the five-minute mark, Desperado reversed a whip to the corner and attacked Akira’s knee. Akira fired back with a basement dropkick. Desperado countered an attempted rollup with a kneebreaker, then attacked the same leg he attacked when the two men met in 2022. Desperado went for Numero Dos, but Akira got to the ropes. Akira came back with a leg lariat out of the blue, leaving both men down as the crowd clapped for him.
Desperado recovered first, but his whip was reversed. Akira hit a corner clothesline and a dropkick that sent Desperado off the apron to the floor. A moonsault from the second rope to the floor by Akira left both men down on the outside. He rolled back in at the count of seven, but as Desperado got to his feet Akira hit a very impressive tope con giro to the outside. The referee counted as again both men were down on the outside.
Akira stirred first, and rolled back in at 16. Desperado made it at 19 only to be hit by a Lionsault to the back for a near fall at the ten-minute mark. Akira tried for a powerbomb, but Desperado punched his leg to escape. Akira went for Speed Fire, Desperado escaped, they exchanged counters and Desperado rolled into Numero Dos. Akira kept one hand out of the hold, and managed to sit up out of the submission and counter with a destroyer. That was impressive.
Akira called to the crowd as he set for the Nova Knees. His leg gave out, and Desperado laughed while propped up in the ropes. Akira blitzed him with kicks, but one shot from Desperado to the leg stopped the momentum. He slammed Akira’s knee into the mat twice, but tried a third attempt which Akira countered into a double stomp. A superkick from Akira connected, followed by Speed Fire for a near fall.
At the 15-minute mark, Akira ran into a spinebuster and a side suplex. Guitarra de angel connected for a near fall. Desperado went for Pinche Loco, Akira tried to escape but Desperado transitioned the move to one where he crossed Akira’s legs and dropped him straight down on both knees. Desperado locked in Numero Dos, Akira tried to get to the ropes but Desperado rolled through. He tried to sit up out of the hold again but Desperado slammed him down. Akira fought the hold and was on the verge of tapping when he got a hand on the bottom rope.
Desperado was visibly frustrated. He stalked Akira, talked some trash, and shrugged off a trio of weak elbows. He kicked Akira’s leg out of his leg and hit Pinche Loco…no! Akira landed on his feet! Nova Knees!!! 1…2…no!!! Akira fired up and battled to his feet, selling his injured knee heavily. Desperado dropkicked the knee to cut off the rally, then laid in a series of stomps to the same knee. Akira caught a kick, hit a succession of palm strikes, but got buckled by a return shot. Desperado ran the ropes but got flattened by an Akira lariat at the 20-minute mark. Nova Knees to the back of the head! Akira crawled over for the cover! 1…2…rope break!
Akira tried to grit his teeth through the knee injury as Desperado struggled to his feet. Akira hit a Fireplex, then once again set for the Nova Knees…Desperado ducked! Numero Dos…countered to a rollup! 1…2…no! Akira hit a solid head kick that dropped Desperado in the middle of the ring. Nova Knees…Akira’s leg gave out! He could not connect! Desperado slowly got to his feet, and set for Pinche Loco…Akira blocked it! He tried to fight free of the grip, but Desperado was able to land it! 1…2…STILL not enough! Akira looked groggy on the canvas as Desperado grabbed his leg. Akira tried to kick free with his good leg, but Desperado hit a dragon screw and locked in Numero Dos again! Akira struggled but finally tapped.
WINNER: El Desperado via submission in 25:00 to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. (****1/2)
(Lansdell’s Analysis: Excellent match. Desperado is one of those guys who isn’t flashy but always seems to have a great match with everyone. Akira played his role to perfection here, gutting out the knee damage and giving us several believable near falls. When he kicked out of Pinche Loco I was sure he was going to win. Desperado does deserve a longer reign, though, and from here I would expect a defence against Kosei Fujita or maybe Ishimori. Akira will win this belt at some point in the near future, but this was a more than credible first title shot.)
(7) HIROOKI GOTO (C) vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI – IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match
I hoped against hope that this match would be better than Tanahashi’s most recent efforts. The all-time record between these two, in sixteen singles matches, was 13-3 in favour of Tanahashi.
The two old foes started with some basic mat wrestling exchanges. Goto took control with a hip toss and a shoulder tackle. He applied a rear chinlock, then took Tanahashi over with a snap mare into a headscissors on the mat. One of Tanahashi’s kneepads said “Thank you to everyone from Tanahashi” which was a little weird, but we’ll allow it. Tanahashi made it to the ropes, so Goto broke the hold and stomped on him for good measure at the five-minute mark. Goto laid in some shots in the corner, whipped Tanahashi across the ring, and then ran into a Tanahashi elbow. The Ace came off the middle rope with a crossbody to turn the momentum.
Tanahashi went to work on Goto’s leg, dropping elbows on it and applying a leg lace. Goto made it to the ropes, but Tanahashi continued to kick away at his leg. He wrapped Goto’s leg around the middle rope in the corner, then dropkicked it. Heel turn incoming? Hey, if Cena can do it, anyone can. Goto reversed a whip to the corner, then leveled Tanahashi with a misdirection lariat. He hit a Muramasa kick in the corner and a back suplex for a two-count. Goto went for an ushigoroshi, but Tanahashi slipped out the back and hit his own version. Goto ducked a slingblade attempt and hit a reverse GTR, but Tanahashi came right back with a slingblade to leave both men down as we went past ten minutes.
Tanahashi hit a dropkick to the knee, but Goto came right back with an ushigoroshi. He foolishly used the bad knee to hit it, leaving both men down again. Goto went for a kick to the chest, but Tanahashi caught the kick and hit a trio of dragon screws and a splash to the leg. Tanahashi applied a cloverleaf at a high angle, almost like a Liontamer with the cloverleaf grip. Goto tried to get to the ropes but Tanahashi sat back on the hold. Yoshi-Hashi at ringside implored his partner to get to the ropes, and he did so.
Tanahashi took his time getting to his feet, then went for a dragon suplex. Goto blocked it, so Tanahashi went for a straitjacket suplex. Again Goto blocked, and again Tanahashi changed tactics. This time he hit a pair of slingblades for a near fall. As we heard the 15-minute call, Tanahashi smoothly vaulted to the apron and hit an Aces High. He want back to the top…High Fly NO! Goto moved. Both men struggled to get up, and Tanahashi hit a dragon screw to stay in control. Goto reversed another cloverleaf attempt into a small package for a near fall.
Both men traded elbow strikes. Goto laid in a series of headbutts, dropping Tanahashi to his knees. Tanahashi hit a palm strike to stagger Goto, but the champ responded with a GTW for a near fall. Goto went for GTR but Tanahashi slid down and rolled him up! 1…2…no! Goto hit a headbutt to the jaw, caught his breath as the crowd noise swelled chanting his name, then fell victim to a Twist and Shout. A second one connected! Goto blocked the third, and hit Shoten Kai! 1…2…no! Goto measured Tanahashi, kicked a hole through his chest, then connected with GTR! 1…2…3!
WINNER: Hirooki Goto via pinfall in 20:00 to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. (***1/4)
(Lansdell’s Analysis: That was nowhere near as bad as I feared it would be. Tanahashi looked stiff early on, and on a couple of the early takedowns he seemed to thud more than to fall purposefully. Still, he found a better gear and was able to get through the match without making anything look bad. Goto merits a lot of the credit for that. We know Yuji Nagata is on his radar, maybe also Shibata, and then the NJ Cup winner one would assume. This is probably a must for fans of nostalgia, but for me it was just a decent match and a fitting final shot for Tanahashi.)
- After the match, Tanahashi called the members of Hontai and Chaos to the ring. He asked Goto to lead New Japan to even greater heights. Goto said he would, then called Nagata to the ring. OK but is it absolutely certainly 2025? Goto and Nagata confirmed their match, and that’s where we left it.
Final thoughts: An underwhelming card overall. The Junior Heavyweight title match was excellent, but aside from that nothing stood out for the right reasons. With the Cup starting tomorrow you don’t want to risk anyone getting hurt, so that makes some amount of sense at least, but they did not have to do those two bad finishes in the middle. Save yourself the trouble and start with the semi-main event.
Keep your eyes and ears open for the 7-Star Podcast and Radican Worldwide on PWTorch VIP to hear more of my thoughts on this historic event. Thanks for joining us!
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