Minutes to Bell Time

Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado, and Taichi defeat Sho, Yoh, and Kazuchika Okada

NJPW Road to New Beginning: Tokyo

This match previews the February 9th IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match between champions Sho and Yoh and challengers El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

As expected, Suzuki Gun attacked before the bell and everything spills to the outside. Sho dropkicked a chair into the face of Desperado and then kicked him in the corner. After Yoh continued to soften up Desperado, Okada tagged into the match and tied Desperado up in holds before tagging Sho back into the match.

Sho and Desperado exchanged elbows and chops before Kanemaru jumped in for the attack. The action spilled to the outside and when the action came back to the ring Kanemaru hit Sho with a dropkick to the knee. Desperado and Kanemaru double teamed Sho hitting a wishbone and Sho missed a dropkick. Sho made a tag to Yoh after a vertical suplex. You connected with a dragon screw leg whip on Kanemaru and a tilt-a-whirl back breaker on Desperado.

After Kanemaru hit Yo with a DDT, both men tagged out to Okada and Taichi. Taichi hit a high kick on Okada and then he continued to lay in kicks as Okada dished out forearms. When Taichi went for an axe bomber lariat, Okada hit a high dropkick and made the tag to Sho. Taichi went right after Sho’s knee kicking it several times and then locking in a single leg crab.

When Taichi went for a Piledriver, Show countered with a back body drop bringing Kanemaru and Yoh into the ring. Sho attempted to hit Taichi with a German Suplex three times, and Desperado hit Sho in the knee with a chair during the final attempt.

Taichi hit the last ride for the pinfall victory. Suzuki Gun continued to attack Sho and Yoh after the match.

1:30:11

1:44:41

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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