NJPW on AXS TV Results – 5/29/15 (Ibushi vs. Ricochet)

New Japan on AXS TV Episode 15
May 29, 2015
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Josh Barnett
Recap by: Jason Namako of Wrestleview.com

Kota Ibushi welcomes us to the show.

This week will be the first of 3 episodes looking at the June 22, 2014 “Dominion” iPPV from Osaka, Japan. Commentary welcomes us to the show and we go to the opening match.

IWGP Junior Tag Team Titles: The Time-Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) (c’s)

Matt throws his jacket at KUSHIDA before the bell and crotch chops him. Nick & KUSHIDA start. Nick backs KUSHIDA into the ropes and crotch chops him. Nick works over KUSHIDA’s arm, but KUSHIDA reverses out. Nick uses his agility to regain control. Snapmare into a keylock. KUSHIDA takes down Nick and works over his leg. Nick with another snapmare, but KUSHIDA quickly regains control. Side headlock, a series of evasions, then KUSHIDA with an armdrag, but Nick avoids a second. Nick stomps away at KUSHIDA, Matt tags in. KUSHIDA fights out of the Bucks’ corner and sends Matt into a hot-shot by Shelley. Roll-up by KUSHIDA for a nearfall. Time Splitters begin making frequent tags working over Matt’s arm. Matt comes back with a throat thrust, but Shelley with hiptosses on both Bucks. Savate kick to the ribs and a running dropkick to Matt. Matt rakes Shelley’s eyes, then takes a shot at KUSHIDA. Matt avoids a superkick and crotch chops Shelley, before heading out to the outside, but Matt is met by a seated senton by KUSHIDA off the apron, wiping him out! Shelley with overhand chops to Nick in the ring. Gut shot/running kneelift combo by the Time Splitters on Nick. STEREO SLINGSHOT PLANCHAS BY THE TIME SPLITTERS WIPES OUT THE BUCKS!! KUSHIDA runs into a boot by Matt in the corner. KUSHIDA rolls through a Sunset flip attempt, then Shelley with a double stomp off the top to Matt. Nick with a forearm to both Time Splitters on the apron, but they avoid a springboard and hit stereo kicks on Nick. Big chop by Shelley to Matt, followed by a knee to the ribs and a back club. Spinebuster slam, then Shelley locks in a half crab. Nick comes in and hits some right hands on Shelley to try and break it up, but Shelley won’t release the hold! Nick finally forces him to release, but Shelley hits a big knee to the ribs of Nick. Matt avoids a charge and the Bucks hit the backflip headscissors/dropkick combo, knocking Shelley off the apron!

Nick works over Shelley’s injured arm on the outside, while Matt sends KUSHIDA into the barricade. Back in, Matt works over Shelley’s injured arm while talking trash. Hammerlock applied, crowd wills on Shelley. Shelley fights out, but Nick trips him up and Matt with a sliding dropkick. Matt stomps away at Shelley. Nick in, Bucks with a double back elbow and the gutbuster/flipping neckbreaker combo, but KUSHIDA breaks up the pin. Nick stomps away at Shelley’s injured arm while talking more trash. Another crotch chop by Nick, but Shelley fights back. Nick then with a windmill kick to Shelley’s injured arm for a nearfall. Nick drives Shelley’s arm across his own shoulder, then goes shoulder-to-shoulder multiple times. Armbar applied, crowd wills on Shelley again. Shelley fights back, then avoids a charge, sending Nick to Matt, knocking Matt off the apron. Nick sent to the outside, but Matt stops Shelley from tagging in KUSHIDA. Matt spits at KUSHIDA, but then runs into a boot by Shelley. Shelley leaps over Matt and goes to tag KUSHIDA, but Nick pulls KUSHIDA off the apron before he can do so. Matt with a Spear to Shelley, then the Bucks with a springboard splash/standing moonsault combo on Shelley for a nearfall. Nick runs into a boot by Shelley, Matt sent onto the apron. Bucks goes for the double kick combo, but Shelley ducks and Nick knees his own brother in the face!

KUSHIDA in, springboard chop to Nick. Back elbow and a flying forearm to Nick, then a backflip kick onto the apron and an enziguri to Matt. Springboard dropkick to Matt sends him to the outside. KUSHIDA sets to dive, but Nick trips him up. KUSHIDA avoids a Matt charge as Matt knocks Nick off the apron accidentally! Enziguri and a front backbreaker to Matt. KUSHIDA heads up top, moonsault for a nearfall. Crowd chants for KUSHIDA. Matt avoids a head kick and sends him right into a Nick superkick. Shelley avoids an apron moonsault by Nick and wipes him out with a flying knee! Matt with a dropkick through the ropes on Shelley, but as Matt skins the cat back in, KUSHIDA nails him with a sliding dropkick, sending Matt to the outside. Shelley holds the Bucks as KUSHIDA heads up top, FLIP DIVE WIPES OUT THE BUCKS!! Back in, Shelley lifts up Matt and the Time Splitters hit a Doomsday Missile Dropkick, but Nick breaks up the pin. Nick stomps away at the Time Splitters, but then they hit an inverted atomic drop/dropkick combo and a Camel Clutch/cartwheel dropkick combo on Nick. Sandwich knee strikes in the corner on Matt, followed by a Shiranui/Powerbomb combo from off the middle rope, but Nick breaks up the pin again! Superkick by Nick to Shelley, then a spinning back elbow to KUSHIDA and a tornado DDT off the apron to Shelley! KUSHIDA with a Koppo Kick to Nick, knocking him off the apron, but Matt nails KUSHIDA from behind. Handspring Elbow to Matt, but Matt stops a tilt-a-whirl DDT attempt. SIX SECOND ABS BY THE BUCKS ON KUSHIDA, SHELLEY BREAKS UP THE PIN!! Shelley sent to the outside, Nick wipes him out with a running apron kick. Buckle Bomb/Enziguri combo by the Bucks, then an assisted Draping 450 Splash by Nick, but KUSHIDA KICKS OUT!! Bucks go for More Bang for your Buck, but KUSHIDA avoids Nick’s 450 Splash and crotches Matt on the ropes, placing him in the Tree of Woe. Shelley with an overhead belly-to-belly on Nick that sends him into Matt in the corner! KUSHIDA with a tilt-a-whirl into the Hoverboard Lock (Kimura) on Nick as Shelley wipes out Matt with a tope suicida on the outside!

Nick tries to roll out of the hold, but KUSHIDA keeps the hold applied! NICK TAPS, NEW CHAMPIONS!!

Winners and NEW IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions: The Time-Splitters by submission (The Hoverboard Lock)

Time Splitters celebrate their title win afterwards.

Backstage, we go to post-match comments from the Time-Splitters.

KUSHIDA on winning the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Titles:

“I’m glad I got to tag with Alex Shelley again, thank you. From next year on, Super Junior won’t be talked about only when the match is on. I won’t let anyone talk lightly of Super Junior. Super Junior isn’t a supporting role.”

Commercial

Back from commercial, we go to the next match.

Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakaruba vs. Takashi Iizuka & Minoru Suzuki w/TAKA

Sakaruba & Suzuki start. Sakaruba takes Suzuki down, then goes to side guard. Suzuki gets to his feet and backs into the ropes. Sakaruba takes Suzuki down and they trade the advantage on mat. They get to their feet and Suzuki backs Sakaruba into the ropes. Yano in as Sakaruba & Suzuki go nose-to-nose. Suzuki tags Iizuka in. Iizuka chokes Yano in the corner. Yano with a drop toe hold, sending Iizuka into the ropes. Yano has words with Sakaruba, allowing Iizuka to nail Yano from behind. Yano with an eye rake, then Suzuki gets a shot in from the apron and grabs Yano in a hanging arm triangle in the ropes. Iizuka with a shot to Sakaruba, but then Yano sends Iizuka into the barricade. Suzuki with a chairshot to the back of Sakaruba, then they begin brawling towards the entranceway. Yano & Iizuka brawl in the crowd, with Iizuka choking Yano with a chair. Iizuka then chokes Yano with a cord. Sakaruba & Suzuki head back to the ring while Yano & Iizuka to continue to brawl around the building as we go to commercial.

Commercial

Back from commercial as Suzuki with chops to Sakaruba, then chokes him against the barricade. Back in, Iizuka stomps away at Yano, then chokes him some more. Ref is with Iizuka, allowing Suzuki to choke Yano. Suzuki in, half crab along with an armbar applied to Yano. Crowd wills on Yano, Yano gets to the ropes. Suzuki stomps away at Yano, then taunts Sakaruba. Suzuki draws Sakaruba in, allowing him to choke Yano. Iizuka sends Sakaruba into the crowd and throws him into a bunch of chairs. Suzuki with more kicks to Yano. Iizuka in and he hangs Yano over the ropes with the mic cord while the ref is with Suzuki. Ref finally sees it and removes the cord from Yano. Iizuka then wraps the mic cord around himself! Iizuka with more stomps to Yano and gains a nearfall. Sakaruba knocked off the apron, then Iizuka with a back club to Yano. Yano fights back, but Iizuka rakes the eyes. Yano with another drop toe hold, sending Iizuka into the ropes, then Sakaruba with a big right hand to Iizuka from the outside. Sakaruba in and he unloads with right hands from the mount on Iizuka. Cross armbreaker applied, but Suzuki breaks it up. Sakaruba with chest kicks to Suzuki, but Iizuka chokes him with the mic cord. Inverted atomic drop, Suzuki tags in. Suzuki with a running boot in the corner, followed by a snapmare and a PK for a nearfall. Keylock applied, but Sakaruba gets free and locks in an arm triangle. Suzuki gets free and goes to the choke. Suzuki goes for the Gotch Piledriver, but Yano breaks it up. Sakaruba Lock applied to Suzuki as Yano & Iizuka brawl. Iizuka breaks up the submission by choking Sakaruba with a string. Yano in and has Sakaruba removes the padding from the turnbuckles. Yano sent into the exposed turnbuckles, then Suzuki with a kick to the back. Suzuki blocks being sent into the exposed turnbuckles, then hits a series of forearms. Yano pulls him down by the hair, but Iizuka nails him from behind. Yano with a shot to Iizuka, then hits a kick down low to Suzuki. Akiari cradle by Yano, but Iizuka pulls out the ref before he can count the 3! Chair is thrown in and Suzuki nails Sakaruba with it off the apron, then to the back of Yano. Suzuki with the Choke to Yano, then Iizuka nails Yano with the Iron Fingers while the ref is down. Iizuka throws the ref back in.

Gotch Piledriver by Suzuki to Yano for the win.

Winners: Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka by pinfall (Gotch Piledriver)

Suzuki holds Sakaruba so that Iizuka can nail him with the Iron Fingers afterwards. Suzuki then lays out Sakaruba with the Gotch Piledriver. TAKA comes in and makes the faux 3 count for Suzuki on Sakaruba. Suzuki-Gun stands tall, celebrating their win.

Backstage, we go to post-match comments from Suzuki.

Suzuki on his win and the interactions with Sakaruba:

“Sorry, I just think Sakaruba and I are…..Sakaruba and I are on completely different gears. I couldn’t keep up. I was going on low or first gear, maybe even first or second gear, but he was going on top gear from the start. But, you know what? He can’t keep up in that mini-car of his. I’m the fastest in the business. I’m the fastest in history. Nobody can get past me. Who surpassed me in the past? Tell me who it was. There was none, right? Be grateful to be in the same ring with me. Grovel before me. Lick my shoes, Kazushi Sakaruba. Underlings like you shouldn’t show up in front of my presence. I’ll fight you again if you want (laughs).”

Commercial

Back from commercial, we go to Kota Ibushi in the TV-Asahi studios.

Ibushi on his impression of Ricochet after he won the Best of the Super Jr. tournament:

“Ricochet was very different when I saw him in Super Jr. His body was bigger and he had a lot more power. His aerial moves were the only impression I had of him, to be honest, but his kicks are poweful and I felt that his style was similar to mine. (We see clips of Ricochet defeating KUSHIDA to win the Best of the Super Jr. tournament.) His moves are extraordinary as you can see, so I was a bit threatened. He brought back memories of when I won the championship a few years back. I had momentum at the time, just as Ricochet does now. So, I felt rather scared than feeling excited before the match that day.

Ibushi on why the match with Ricochet garnered the fans’ attention:

“Yes, people were saying….they had high hopes for me and kept telling me that. I was imagining what the match would be like with fear in my mind. Sometimes, I felt things have gone too far. I wasn’t able to…..I couldn’t enjoy it at first.”

IWGP Junior Title: “The Future of Flight” Ricochet vs. “The Golden Star” Kota Ibushi (c)

The two shake hands as the bell sounds. Ricochet with a leg kick early. Ibushi with a leg kick of his own. Ricochet with a gut kick, a side headlock, but no goes down off a shoulder tackle. Ibushi with a shoulder tackle, but Ricochet kips right up! Ricochet shows off his agility with a series of evasions, Ibushi rolls through a Sunset Flip, Ricochet avoids a head kick and a standing moonsault, Ibushi avoids the Heliocentricity (Standing Shooting Star), but Ricochet lands on his feet as Ibushi goes to the outside, with Ricochet motioning that he almost had him. Ricochet with a kick to Ibushi as he gets back in. Ibushi misses a clothesline and Ricochet with the Rick-Rack (Zig-Zag) and the Heliocentricity for a nearfall. Ricochet with an uppercut, followed by a running uppercut in the corner and a kick to the back for a nearfall. Tequila Sunrise applied by Ricochet, Ibushi gets to the ropes. Series of chest kicks by Ricochet, followed by a chop. Ibushi fights back, but Ricochet with more chest kicks in the corner. Snapmare and a basement uppercut to the back of Ibushi’s head for a nearfall as we go to commercial.

Commercial

Back from commercial as Ricochet with more chest kicks, but it begins to fire Ibushi up. Another uppercut by Ricochet, but Ibushi blocks an Irish whip. Ricochet with a knee to the ribs, then catches Ibushi with a boot. Ibushi avoids a charge, heads up top and hits a missile dropkick, sending Ricochet to the outside. Ibushi runs to the top and wipes out Ricochet with a moonsault press on the outside! Back in, they exchange strikes, with Ibushi hitting a series of rapid-fire strikes, ending with a leg sweep and a standing corkscrew moonsault for a nearfall. Ricochet blocks a clothesline with his boot, then hits a running shoulder in the corner and a kick to the back. Ricochet with a springboard dropkick that sends Ibushi to the outside. Ricochet with a head of steam and LEAPS OVER THE CORNER POST, WIPING OUT IBUSHI WITH A FLIP DIVE!! Back in, Ricochet with a springboard crossbody for a nearfall. Ricochet with a Go 2 Sleep to the ribs for a nearfall. Ricochet heads up top, but Ibushi stops him. Ibushi goes up with Ricochet, but Ricochet blocks a Top Rope Superplex and knocks Ibushi down to the apron. Ibushi fights back, then goes for a SPRINGBOARD SUPER RANA, BUT RICOCHET FLIPS ONTO HIS FEET!! MY GOD!! Ricochet with a windmill kick and the Northern Lights/Brainbuster combo, but IBUSHI KICKS OUT!! Ricochet calls for the Benadryller, but Ibushi slips out. Both go for head kicks twice and both hit each other at the same time twice. Ricochet blocks a third, hits a spinning back kick, then a standing curb stomp and a rolling elbow. Ibushi blocks the Benadryller and TURNS RICOCHET INSIDE OUT WITH A LARIAT!! Golden Star Bomb by Ibushi, but Ricochet kicks out! Ibushi heads up top, but Ricochet avoids the Phoenix Splash! SPRINGBOARD SHOOTING STAR by Ricochet, but IBUSHI KICKS OUT!!

Commercial

Back from commercial as Ibushi again avoids the Benadryller, but Ricochet DRILLS him with a spin kick! Ricochet goes for the Benadryller again, but Ibushi counters with a rana for a nearfall. Ibushi with a head kick, then lifts up Ricochet.

PHOENIX-PLEX!!! 1-2-3! WHAT A MATCH!!

Winner and STILL IWGP Junior Champion: “The Golden Star” Kota Ibushi by pinfall (The Phoenix-Plex)

Ibushi celebrates his title retention afterwards, then Ricochet presents him with the Junior Title. The two embrace and raise each other’s hands in a sign of mutual respect.

Backstage, we go to post-match comments from Ricochet.

Ricochet on the match and loss to Ibushi:

“He was just the better fighter…..he was just the better wrestler today, but uh, I hope that’s not the last……..I hope that’s not the last match we have. I would like a rematch.”

We go now to Ibushi.

Ibushi on the match and win over Ricochet:

“I knew Ricochet was good, but……but he was truly amazing, especially his power. His aerial moves were good, of course, but so was his technique. I learned a lot about him.”

We go back to the TV-Asahi studios with Ibushi, reflecting back on the match with Ricochet:

“I was most surprised with his resilience and power. Now I know that his resilience to begin with is abnormal. I thought I had resilience, but his was on a whole different level. He’s like an animal. Ricochet was amazing. It was a short while, but I took many hits. I took three more than I expected. I was afraid during the match, but when I was done, I was glad I fought him. I realized I had fun afterwards.

Ibushi on the origins of the Phoenix-Plex:

“My finishing attack was the Phoenix-Plex, because I can’t compete with Ricochet’s aerial moves and the Phoenix-Plex can’t be dodged. That’s the only attack I have that can’t be dodged. That’s why I chose the Phoenix-Plex. I think it was ‘Weekly Pro Wrestling’, but I saw it in a magazine. It was Kenta Kobashi’s Jackknife Powerbomb. After he did a powerbomb, he did a Jackknife hold. It was a photo, so it looked like he did a Jackknife hold, but next to the photo, it said the name of the attack was powerbomb. It said it was a Jackknife style, but with a different name. So, I assumed he lifted with a powerbomb and threw backwards. I thought that was an actual attack for about a year. I used this on a couple of people (laughs).”

We see final highlights of the Ibushi-Ricochet match as the show closes.

Total
0
Shares
Exit mobile version