RPW & NJPW Joint Shows: Uprising & Global Wars

[Prince Bálor]

Anybody watched these yet? If so, give us your thoughts.

I'm currently watching Uprising... Will do my little review later.

Spoiler: Match card for Uprising & Global Wars

Uprising card
Global Wars card

 

[Prince Bálor]

Prince Bálor's RPW/NJPW Journey
Destination: Uprising
Date: 10/2/15

​

- The Revolutionists vs TenKoji was a solid show opener. **½
There wasn't much to this match. It wasn't bad, but still, nothing to get excited about. TenKoji got their trademark stuff in, then the heels took over.
One of their heel tactics consist of freakin' scarf choking, and Kojima sold it like a MF. Ultimately, Castle/Samuels picked up the win (no, stolen the win!) via low-blow and a really poorly executed belt shot on Kojima. Oh, well.

- Martin Kirby vs ACH was a good, fun contest. ***¼
This was much better than the opener. I'm not familiar with Kirby, but I'm familiar with ACH, so I thought I was in for a fun match. And, I was right.
I liked the match, there was some comedy, it flowed well and it was enjoyable overall. Christopher Daniels' son won with a Fameasser.
Poor Tomoaki HonmACH, the guy loses everywhere he goes.

- Nakamura vs Big Damo was good, all things considered. ***
The first half of the match was boring, because Damo's heat segments are monotonous and I felt the match took ages to get going.
The second half of the match was very good, though, and I was ready to praise this match, despite being mediocre in the beginning.
But, then we got to see two horrific looking neck bumps. Those were really scary moments. I was like "Holy crap, is he alive?!", and that was when Damo took Naka over for what was supposed to be a Reverse Suplex, but Damo tripped and ended up hitting an Elevated Reverse DDT.
Naka looked like he'd landed right on his head. That, right there, was either a massive botch or the realest move and sell I've seen in my lifetime.
It definitely took me out of the match to a degree. However, Naka hit a Bome Ye, but Damo kicked out at one. Then, we got another horror bump when Naka actually lifted Damo up for his Inverted Powerslam, but Damo's head couldn't make a full rotation as his body did and I surely thought his neck was broken.
He somehow managed to get back into a kneeling position and eat another Boma Ye for the three count. Post-match, Damo refused medical help and got a standing ovation for his efforts.

- Speaking of standing ovations, the NJPW ref, Tiger Hattori, entered the ring to officiate the following match and received one himself.

- Tanahashi & Liger vs Okada & "Super Nice Guy" Gedo was rock solid. **¾
The crowd went unglued for this tag match and everyone seemed to be having a good time.
We got Tana/Okada interactions ahead of the WK main event, and the junior vets in Gedo and Liger also got their spotlight to shine. I remember laughing so hard early in the match when Gedo wanted to shake hands with Liger, which Liger refused, much to Gedo's dismay, and then Gedo would go on to say "Come on, shake my hand! I'm a super nice guy." Anyways, Tana and Liger won when Tana hit the High Fly Flow on Gedo.

- O'Reilly vs KUSHIDA was great and MOTN. ****¼
This was a rematch from the BOSJ finals, but won by O'Reilly this time around. Everything was crisp and laid out well here, but the BOSJ match was better.
Post-match, KUSHIDA was frustrated and a rubber match was teased. If a third match does occur, then I’d love to see it happen in ROH.
A best of three series happening on three different continents would be awesome!

- Naito vs Mark Haskins was stellar and enjoyable. ***¾
Man, Naito was born to be a heel. He was playing up his heel NJPW persona here and I loved it. When his music hit, the crowd went nuts, but then he came out and just stood there, and cheers were turning to boos. Then he started walking towards the ring, but his actual walk would even make the Undertaker impatient. Naito's antics continued throughout the match, I mean, he had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Haskins' work against Naito was good and reminded me of how Shibata should've acted at DIK. Ultimately, Tetsuya "Zero Fucks Given" Naito won with Destino.
Post-match, Naito continued to be a dick and kept spitting at the crowd and stomping Haskins. 1:

- Josh Bodom vs Jimmy Havoc was a good no DQ match. ***¼
Apart from them brawling in the crowd, hitting each other with objects, they didn't do much to make this special.
Highlight of the match was when Havoc took the monitor from the announcers' table and wedged it 'tween two turnbuckles only to be on the receiving end of it. Bodom just threw him head first into it. The anti-climactic finish came when Bodom ran backstage, where Havoc followed, but it was all a trap, as Bodom's stablemates attacked Havoc. After they forced him back to the ring, Samuels hit a Spinebuster on Havoc onto thumbtacks, thus allowing Bodom to retain the title. Oh, and Jimmy Havoc's balls must be made of steel, that staple gun shot was just brushed off like it was nothing.

- AJ Styles vs Marty Scurll vs Will Ospreay was a great ME. ****
Man, this was a ton of fun. Styles spent the first half of this match on the outside, letting Scurll and Ospreay put on an absolute clinic in the ring. I'm already a fan of Scurll and Ospreay! So, after AJ got back into things, the match was filled with innovative spots and a lot of nearfalls. I was on the edge of my seat during the finishing stretch, it was so exciting. Scurll had AJ in the Chickenwing for a good amount of time, but Will broke it up with a Springboard Cutter, followed by AJ grabbing Will, hitting the Styles Clash and scoring the win to retain his title!

OVERALL THOUGHTS: First off, this was my first time watching anything related to RPW and it was enjoyable, I must say.
It was an easy 3 hour show to sit back and watch. However, if you're looking to cherry pick, then I recommend O'Reilly/KUSHIDA and the ME.

 

[Prince Bálor]

Prince Bálor's RPW/NJPW Journey
Destination: Global Wars UK
Date: 10/3/15

​

- Naito vs KUSHIDA vs Kirby was a good show opener. ***¼
The match had a nice flow and all three guys got to shine and came out looking good.
I'm bummed Naito didn't bother acting like a total douchebag the entire time, though, coming out in a suit and mask and just trolling everyone.
I guess it's one of those times where Naito's character is too lazy to go full douchebag mode. Oh, well. Naito won by pinning KUSHIDA.
Also, I wasn't expecting KUSHIDA be the one to eat the pin here instead of Kirby. Well, that was a surprise.
Must've been a miserable week for KUSHI getting pinned by KO and losing the IWGP Jr. title, then reDRagon, O'Reilly from the previous night and now, Naito.

- Gideon Grey vs Gedo was a waste of time. *

- TenKoji vs The Thrillers was rock solid. **¾
This was nothing to write home about, but it certainly wasn't bad. Not at all. The standout guy here was Haskins for me, I'm already a fan of the dude.
Now, on to Kojima, like I even need more reasons to like the dude... The highlight of this match was Kojima talking with fans, while clearly not understanding half of what was being said to him.

- Nakamura vs Scurll was very good. ***½
This was much better than Naka/Damo from last night. The work was a lot smoother with no nasty neck bumps/botches and the crowd was into it.
Scurll worked hard and this was a good showing for him. Nakamura, of course, won with 3 Boma Ye's.

- Machine Gun & Doc vs The Revolutionists was a waste of time and the worst match of the weekend. *
The BC were just going through the motions here and The Revolutionists are pretty much PUNCH. KICK. STOMP. guys and are flat out boring.
Plus, a DQ finish made this match a lot more skippable. So, don't bother with this.

- Okada vs Ospreay was great and MOTN. ****
These two meshed so well together, showing an incredible amount of chemistry. This was a great back-and-forth contest, with a great flow, awesome counters and it was just exciting to watch! Okada won by countering a Springboard Cutter into Tombstone, followed by Rainmaker.

- Tanahashi vs Big Damo was very good. ***½
Damo/Naka from Uprising was taken down a notch for me, due to horrific botches (Elevated Reverse DDT that almost broke Nakamura's neck was performed on Tanahashi, too, but it looked much safer), but this one was very good. Tanahashi simply brings out the best in people. Ace of the Universe can make lemonade out of diarrhoea.

- AJ Styles vs Jushin Thunder Liger was a tip-top ME. ***¾
Man, this was a first time ever match. AJ voluntarily put the RPW HW title on the line, as he said 'it's not every day you step in the ring with a legend.'
Liger worked super hard and AJ was... Well, AJ and together they put on a highly enjoyable ME. AJ retained the title via Styles Clash.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This was a very good show overall. Not as good as Uprising, but still, a strong show.
Okada vs Ospreay was the best thing on the show. The ME, Naka/Scurll and Tana/Damo were dandy and are worth checking out, too.

 

[Majour]

Having been to a few RPW and NJPW events I don't need to watch to know it'll be amazing. I'll be watching the Uprising tonight though, pretty excited about it.

 

[Prince Bálor]

Naito was born to be a heel.