New Japan Pro Wrestling is back following an amazing August of G1 Climax 28 action and have today concluded their Destruction tour which has set us on course for the end of 2018 leading into Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome on January 4th.

There were several fantastic matches during this tour and a very shocking moment to end it that will have massive implications on the future of NJPW.

Road to Destruction, 7th September in Korakuen Hall:

Golden☆Lovers (Kenny Omega + Kota Ibushi) vs Tomohiro Ishii + Will Ospreay

NJPW’s first show following the G1 final in August gifted us one of the best tag matches of the year and all but confirmed Golden☆Lovers’ place as one of the very best tag teams in the world. With a match filled with four stars of the calibre of Omega, Ibushi, Ishii and Ospreay, it shouldn’t be any surprise that this one was a clinic, but what I think made this so great was the fact it happened on a Road to show, which are normally known for being tasters of the big shows with alright matches, but nothing that will set the world alight. This match, however, raised the bar for the rest of the tour and has had fans craving the thought of a Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay match after their interactions during it. (4.25 stars)

I’d recommend giving this one a watch when you get a chance and are a big fan of any of these men.

Hiroshima:

CHAOS (Will Ospreay, Chuckie T and Beretta) vs Kota Ibushi + Bullet Club Elite (Yujiro Takahashi + Chase Owens)

While this match wasn’t anything on the level of the aforementioned tag match featuring Ibushi and Ospreay in Korakeun, it was still a very fun watch with highlights being the return to New Japan of Best Friends, Chuckie T and Berretta and Ospreay’s constant attempts to be a part of their friendship group; Ospreay and Ibushi once again teasing something special for the future; as well as Chase and Yujiro showing that they may be the most underrated commodities currently in New Japan. (3 stars)

This match is a really fun watch that shows how NJPW isn’t always serious professional wrestling and that the company is able to embrace a more laidback style.

CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, ‘Switchblade’ Jay White + YOSHI-HASHI) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi and Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe + Tomoaki Honma)

I was very interested when I saw this match announced for the Hiroshima show following the events of the G1 for several reasons, in particular, how would Okada fare without Gedo in his corner and, more importantly, he would he be able to coexist teaming with Jay White after their brutal and bitter match against one another on the first night of the G1 Climax? While Okada seemed to get on fine without Gedo following their going separate ways, as expected, his teaming with Jay White did not go well.

Immediately we saw White prevent Okada and Tanahashi facing off prior to their big match in Kobe, and additionally we saw White try to get into the mind of the vulnerable YOSHI-HASHI, who has been having a bad time as of recent and saw him continue his verbal war with Rocky Romero, who was on English commentary for the show.

The match itself wasn’t really anything of note (2.75 stars), although it is really nice to see Honma healthy and in the ring once again, but this one is very important in regards to the Tanahashi/Okada match in Beppu and may be worth watching prior to that one to get an even better understanding of the events that transpired eight days later.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega vs Tomohiro Ishii

Coming out of the G1, it was known that Tomohiro Ishii would be making the most of defeating Kenny Omega during the tournament as he challenged him for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. It was also highly expected based on their previous matches with one another that this would be an excellent wrestling match, and that it was. This was Omega’s second defence of the title he won from Kazuchika Okada at Dominion in June and was the exact type of Omega match that has had fans clamouring for him to represent the company as champion. If the rest of his defences following this are anywhere near as good, we’ll be very lucky. Omega and Ishii blend their contrasting styles perfectly here and that leads to a riveting, brutal match showcasing Omega’s awesome athleticism and Ishii’s stunning hard-hitting, unrelenting physicality.

This is a 30 minute spectacle that showcases the very best of both men as well as the very best of NJPW. As great as the Tanahashi/Okada match in Kobe was, it paled in comparison to this one. (4.75 stars)

Kobe:

Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr. + TAKA Michinoku) vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL + SANADA)

There’s been a lot of Suzuki-gun vs LIJ matches this year, so this isn’t one you need to go out of your way to see (3 stars), the reason I’ve highlighted this amongst the best of the Destruction tour is due to how the match focuses on EVIL, who I get the feeling is going to be very important in the Intercontinental Championship picture in the coming months. Chris Jericho has been berating EVIL in interviews, asking who he is and stating that he can ‘get lost’ to put it less explicitly. I’ve been under the impression following Jericho’s win over Naito at Dominion and EVIL’s running Jericho out of the ring that these two are destined for a match and the way in which the LIJ star was highlighted in this one and the way the English commentary team were mentioning Chris Jericho seemed to confirm that.

KUSHIDA vs BUSHI

Following the tragic injury to Hiromu Takahashi that has forced him to vacate the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, it’s been decided that a new champion will be crowned at King of Pro Wrestling in October with the participants to be decided here and this weekend at Fighting Spirit Unleashed in the USA, when Will Ospreay faces Marty Scurll – two men that have already wrestled a match of the year candidate this past April.

I felt this match between KUSHIDA and BUSHI wasn’t the best that these two have to offer as it felt a lot slower paced that I was anticipating between this two (3.5 stars), but it was still an enjoyable watch that I’d advise you to check out if you’re interested in the Junior Heavyweight title picture.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada

In his post-G1 28 press conference, Hiroshi Tanahashi made the intriguing decision of granting Kazuchika Okada a match for the Wrestle Kingdom 13 main event briefcase, despite Okada not beating him in the tournament and their match ending in a draw that saw Tana go to the finals. Tana stated that he wouldn’t be able to enter the Tokyo Dome in the right state of mind without knowing he could beat Okada, and that lead us to this match.

As is to be expected, these two men wrestled a 35 minute clinic. It was simply awesome and reaffirms that this is the greatest rivalry in the modern era of professional wrestling. What I found most interesting about this was Okada working a lot more aggressively than we’ve seen him in the past, heavily assaulting the injured knee of Tanahashi following a High Fly Flow to the outside that went wrong, revelling in the boos of the Kobe crowd, and making tweaks to his character in the way of not cleanly breaking following Tana reaching the ropes – instead of his patented slaps on the chest here, he punches The Ace in the face.

I loved some of the detail that went into this one, with Okada keeping a kneebar locked in to ensure further injury, and later on when Tana hit the High Fly Flow in the ring, he’s unable to cover immediately due to the damage suffered – those extra few seconds proved to be pivotal as Okada just got his arm up at the two-count. There was also some incredible innovation in this in regards to Tana hitting the HFF, such as Okada dropkicking him in mid-air, and later on leading to the finish with both men on the top turnbuckle, Tana pushing Okada to the mat and proceeding to simultaneously land the Flow on him for the cover and to vanquish his greatest rival to retain his Wrestle Kingdom main event contract. (4.5 stars)

What’s most amazing about this match though, is that the talking point following it wasn’t how great a classic Tanahashi and Okada had just wrestled, it was the events that followed that stunned the New Japan fanbase. To very few people’s surprise, Jay White – the only man to beat The Ace in the G1 – instantly entered the ring and hit Tanahashi with Blade Runner to make it clear he wanted his match for the briefcase. He then proceeded to attack Okada, leaving the ring and demanding Rocky Romero on commentary give him his chair, throwing him into the barricade after his refusal. YOSHI-HASHI attempted to help, but was quickly disposed of by Switchblade. Before he could land a fatal hit on Okada however, Gedo entered the ring and grabbed the chair. I never expected Gedo to then whack Okada in the back with it, aligning with Jay White in the most shocking NJPW moment of 2018.

There’s a lot of interesting things going on in New Japan at the moment in regards to all Championship pictures and even the non-title picture – and I’d like to hope there’ll be escalations to what has occurred on this tour this weekend at Fighting Spirit Unleashed – stay tuned for a preview of that show later this week.