NJPW Road to Destruction Tour

Hi guys,

I didn't know if I was going to make a post about this tour (I was just going to post the 2nd part of my funny ass guide) but after Sunday's revelations, I mean there are so many emotions going on that I don't really know what to think so I had to write it down. I'm starting to write this on Sunday after the matches so, if there's issues grammatically, it's because I'm still shook.

I started the tour sort of excited because it had been a long gap between this tour and the G1 and I was definitely suffering post-NJPW sadness. However, there wasn't really a stand out match that got me excited beforehand and there wasn't anything that I thought I'd be invested in. I was just excited to see Ospreay and Jay White back just to see how the dynamic in Chaos was going to work out and to see the fallout from the G1. But, by the end of the last show, I was so happy with how the shows went and the tour really was amazing.

The tour brought us some amazing matches and set up some future matches that have me salivating. We had a possible match of the year candidate with Kenny Omega v Ishii for the title and I was surprised at how amazing it was. I didn't think that Kenny would lose the title but there were moments where I actually started to doubt NJPW's logic and thought they might have actually put the belt on Ishii. Even though Ishii didn't win, these matches with Omega have shown that he deserves a long ass and prestigious title run at some point.

The lead up to the Omega/ Ishii match also teased us with a potential feud between the Aerial Assassin Will Ospreay and the Golden Star Ibushi. All the teasing in the tag matches showed the chemistry between the two and showed me that, if they had a shot at a long singles match, it would have the potential to be an instant classic. We also had great story continuity with the friction within Chaos between Jay and Okada (which played a massive part through the G1 and this entire tour) and the C block championship matches.There was also that brutal match between Naito and Suzuku in Beppu which I enjoyed more than I thought I would.

However, as good as some of the tour matches were, the last night in  Kobe was a stand out and I think it even rivalled some of the G1 nights. We had great matches between wrestlers in Taguchi Japan, an awesome tag match between LIJ and Suzuki Gun and a Jr Heavyweight title qualifier between Kushida and Bushi that had me so excited for the future of this division. I obviously have to talk about the main event! Tanahashi v Okada is a match that I will never get tired of seeing and this match showed how talented these two guys are and how Tanahashi is still the ACE of the company. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire thing and I couldn't have told you who would've won because, even though I wanted Tanahashi to win, I couldn't say that Okada was going to lose especially with the win/loss record between the two already. With Tanahashi hurting his knee early on, I couldn't believe how dynamic the whole match stayed with counters, slingblades, attempted rainmakers and dragon screws. In the end, the ACE came out victorious and I was so happy at the clean outcome! 

However, that wasn't where the match ended because, as I predicted, Jay came running out and started battering Tanahashi and Okada. It was a the perfect way to end the show and it was mental seeing him square off with Rocky to get the chair and actually getting blood on his face. However, I think I lost my cool and was shooketh when Gedo came out, took the chair off Jay and then hit the Rainmaker himself. I mean, out of everything that could've happened, I didn't expect Gedo to turn on Okada and join Jay in his new Chaos (which I'm trying to become a member of). We ended the night with Gedo announcing that Jay was going after the briefcase and I have never been so excited after a match ended!

So, what can we expect from Fighting Power Unleashed and Power Struggle? We've got a Civil War in Chaos, the Bullet Club OG's are still playing by their own rules and we still have a vacant Jr Heavyweight title. All I know for certain is that the next few months leading to Wrestle Kingdom is so exciting and this just reminds me why NJPW is my favourite wrestling company!

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So, until Next Time

Bye!