by Daniel Johnson

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Tomoaki Honma and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kazuchika Okada, Yujiro Takahashi, Yoshi-Hashi and Rocky Romero

Tanahashi and Okada have been tearing it up this year and if there is any logic in this world then they will have a John Cena/Edge-esque feud. They should of course continue to move into feuds with others, but booking them so they are never too far away from their next match would be great. The reason? Even this eight man shows that any time they are in the ring together it is gold. Yet, the deciding fall in this one is not between Tanahashi and Okada, but rather involves Honma.

This bout took place roughly two months before Honma was released from his contact and boy does he take a beating in it! Still, this is not until a fairly good portion into the match. First, Tanahashi and Okada start off with some mat wrestling before the pace suddenly quickens. Tanahashi even manages to mock Okada’s trademark pose twice and throws in a moonsault from the second rope in between! Honma and Yoshi-Hashi then get tagged in and this is when Honma initially gets brutalized. Honma manages to dish some punishment out as well though when he and Yoshi-Hase engage in a dueling chopfest.

Adding some flavor to this bout is the one non-Japanese wrestler in it, Rocky Romero. He forces Taguchi in by shouting “I want you, you son of a bitch!” Those sure are fighting words and The Funky Weapon immediately accepts the challenge. This results in the first time that the match spills outside and Romero executes a running attack from the apron to the outside. Romero peppers in some more comedy by later getting Taguchi in a corner and cartoonishly running into him with repeated clotheslines until Taguchi hits one of his own. Finally, Goto and Takahashi come in legally and bring a little more strong style action to the festivities.

In addition to Romero yapping, the Japanese wrestlers in this match sound like they are spouting some odd English of their own. For instance, at around 14:40 of the clip I could swear Okada yells, “Old McDonald” before kicking Honma in the face. Oh yeah, also this is the point where Honma really gets destroyed! He misses a diving headbutt from up top before finally laying down for the three count following Okada’s rainmaker.

Categories: Wrestling Clips

Tags: chopfest, Edge, Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Japan, John Cena, Kazuchika Okada, NJPW, Rocky Romero, Ryusuke Taguchi, The Funky Weapon, Tomoaki Honma, Yoshi-Hashi, Yujiro Takahashi