Sorry this review is coming late. My body made me sleep. So here is my quick review on New Japan's Invasion Attack 2014. Historically, I am a casual New Japan fan at best. I have been paying more attention this year and have been watching highlight matches. This was my first live PPV. I really enjoyed the show on multiple accounts. The action was great, the presentation was strong, and the booking was very smart. New Japan does one thing better than any other promotion... They treat their "secondary" titles with respect and make them feel like a big deal. WWE should look to NJPW on how to get their Intercontinental Championship and US Title to the level of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship or the NEVER Open Weight Championship. Hell, they main evented two major PPVs with the Intercontinental Championship. That's awesome! Their tag divisions are also treated very well. It's nice to see matches mean something. With that being said, let's go ahead and break the show down!
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
El Desperado & Kota Ibushi vs. The Young Bucks(champions)-
This was an extremely entertaining opening match. All four guys worked their butts off to deliver a fun match. There was a decent amount of high flying action and a very good amount of double teams from the Young Bucks. This is a very fun match to watch and was the perfect opening match. Bucks win with More Bang for your Buck. Rating: ***1/2
Kazushi Sakuraba, Yugi Nagata, Tougi Makabe vs. Taichi, TAKA Michinoku, Minoru Suzuki
This match was not my cup of tea. None of the action felt important. Sakuraba looked kinda rough in the ring and it took me out of the match. Nagata and Sakuraba got the win for their team with double arm bars. Not the worst match of the night, but wasn't very good either. Rating: **
NWA Tag Team Championship
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Rob Conway & Jax Dane (Champions)
Antother match that wasn't very good, in my opinion. Jax Dane is very green and it hurt this match. Bruce Tharpe, the President of the NWA, is the highlight of this match with his heel work. He comes off as the most unlikable person on the planet. The match itself wasn't terrible, but it was nothing special at all. This ultimately does not hurt the show as the card is well booked with match placement. Kojima and Tenzan win with a combination of a lariat and a moonsault on Jax Dane. Kojima is now a double champion with the NWA Heavyweight Championship and now the NWA Tag titles. Rating: **
Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano vs. The Gracie Bros. (Rolles and Daniel)
This is by far the worst match on the show and the last low point on the show. This match was well received by the crowd, but it was a stinker. The Gracie Brothers are just no good. The Gracies won after Iizuka it Yano by accident with his iron glove. Rating: *
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Prince Devitt
This match takes place one year after Devitt turned on Taguchi, his old tag partner, at Invasion Attack 2013. Devitt would become leader of the Bullet Club one of the heel stables in NJPW. Devitt has become known recently for wearing body paint and has designs of comic book characters. I am not sure who he was portraying today, but he looked awesome!
Taguchi was rocking a very similar look to Eddie Guerrero with his tights and his wrestling style. He even pulled out a three amigos during the match. The match itself was very good. They told a good story. The Young Bucks, fellow Bullet Club members, tried to help Devitt during the match. Devitt pushed them off a few times and they attacked Devitt, kicking him out of the Bullet Club. The match then became man vs. man for pride and honor. Devitt hit Taguchi with everything but the kitchen sink, but Taguchi kicked out. Devitt kicked out of two Dodons but Taguchi pulled out a variation and beat him 1-2-3. Devitt shook hands with Taguchi afterwards. There were rumors that this was a Loser leaves NJPW match, but that apparently was not official. Who knows if Devitt is sticking around, he could end up in the WWE as the rumors have been speculating. This was darn good match. Rating: *** 1/2
Yoshi-Hashi & Kazuchika Okada vs. Bullet Club members Tama Tonga and Bad Luck Fale
The match was short and Okada won with the Rain Maker. The match itself, Rating: *1/2. But that's not important. After the match, Bad Luck Fale faced off against Okada, the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, which was a trap for AJ Styles to make his NJPW debut. Styles attacked Okada and gave him the Styles Clash. AJ said that Okada was a TNA "Young Boy" and he still is a "young boy." Styles challenged Okada and revealed himself as a member of the Bullet Club!
This is a huge moment for New Japan, and the match could be an all time classic. I can't wait for Styles vs. Okada.
NEVER Open Weight Championship
Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii (champion)
This match is phenomenal. Nothing else I can say will do it justice. This is third match between these two, in a rivalry that some believe is the best feud in NJPW in 2014. This match had it all; drama, near falls, reversals, and a good story. This is all for a belt that was meaningless shortly after it was created. This rivalry has elevated the title to another level and this match was one of the main matches on the card. Go out of your way to see this match, please. Rating: ****1/2
IWGP Tag Team Championship
Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto vs. Bullet Club members Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson (Champions)
This is a very solid tag team title match. It will be overlooked because of the match before it and the match after it. That being said, the finishing sequence was unbelievable and elevated this match above most of the undercard. It was also cool seeing Doc Gallows (Luke Gallows in WWE), as I think he is a talented big man. Rating: ***
IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (champion)
My goodness, this match is incredible. This is Tanahashi and Nakamura's third match this year. It did not disappoint. These two told a hell of a story. For those who aren't familiar, Tanahashi is the NJPW equivalent of John Cena. He is the face of the company. While he passed the torch to Okada last year he has further elevated the Intercontinental Championship with Nakamura. Nakamura is a hell of a talent and deserves all of the recognition he gets. Tanahashi was getting booed by the crowd, which is unusual. Tanahahshi, however, is an amazing wrestler and worked a more agressive style to match the crowd's booing. He worked Nakamura's knee to hell. This match had so much drama and physicality. The finishing sequence is a thing of beauty with Nakamura hitting multiple Boma Ye's, which is a running knee to the head. He even hit two of them from the second rope! Tanahashi kicked out of the first set of Boma Ye, but was vanquished with another. Nakamura and Tanahashi are two of the greatest wrestlers on the planet, and this was a work of art.
Rating: ****1/2
Overall this show was amazing with two classic matches. If you are interested in checking out Japanese Wrestling, this is not a bad show to watch. The PPV stream had little to no issues. I look forward to the future of NJPW, which is crazy because they have become such a power house in the past two years.
Thanks for reading!
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