Minutes to Bell Time

Sanada and Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay White and Kenta

New Beginning February 1

This match previews two matches on the upcoming tour:

  • Tetsuya Naito defends IWGP Intercontinental and World Heavyweight Championships against Kenta on February 9.
  • Jay White vs. Sanada on February 9.

Naito and Kenta begin the match with Kenta stalling in the same way that Jay White normally starts his match. When Kenta finally got ready to start the match, Naito slipped out to give Bullet Club a dose of their own medicine. Jay White and Sanada tag into the match, Gedo provides a distraction, and the match finally begins.

The action spills to the outside where both members of LIJ got sent into the barricade and Kenta gave Naito a DDT on the floor. Back in the ring, Kenta and White isolate Sanada with a side headlock on the mat and several kicks. Sanada got a missile dropkick from the second rope to make space and get the tag to Naito. With a neck breaker and dropkick, Naito secured the advantage for LIJ.

Kenta regained the advantage with a top rope clothesline, but Naito countered the Go to Sleep. Kenta would hit a draping DDT for a near fall.  After Kenta hit a German Suplex and Naito answered with a spine-buster, both men tagged out.

Sanada sent White to the outside and followed up with a diving cross body. Back in the ring, White evaded a series of moves and pulled Sanada down to the mat with a handful of hair. Sanada managed to cinch in Skull End, but Gedo climbed up on the apron causing the break. Moments later, White would kick out of an O’connor Roll sending Sanada into a chair that Gedo held up. This allowed White to roll up Sanada for the victory.

Match Ratings

Six dimensions combine to make up the overall rating. Matches score ratings of 1-10 only if the match lasts for a minimum of 5 minutes.

  1. Match Quality– Was the match well wrestled or sloppy?
  2. Audience Engagement– Did the live audience care about the match?
  3. Competitiveness– Was the match competitive or one-sided?
  4. Stakes – Did the match matter?
  5. Finish– Did the match end in a satisfying manner?
  6. Performance: (1) Poor (2) Below Average (3) Average (4) Above Average (5) Excellent
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