7 Ups & 3 Downs From NJPW Royal Quest
Technical issues blight NJPW's maiden UK pay-per-view voyage.
New Japan Pro Wrestling brought the big guns to the United Kingdom today, with Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito, and more voyaging to London's Copperbox arena for Royal Quest.
On paper, this was a pay-per-view quality card. Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki, KENTA vs. Tomohiro Ishii, and Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. all but promised excellence, and even a smartly-built tag bout pitting Will Ospreay and Robbie Eagles against Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo came with legitimate show-stealing potential. Considering they were running head-to-head with NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff, this was a big, big show, and New Japan brought the biggest guns they could grab.
Did it deliver? For anyone watching via FITE.tv (as your writer was), it's hard to say. So blighted by technical issues was Royal Quest that it's tough to gauge the first few match's quality, and a suspected concussion ruined one of the night's biggest singles matches. Nonetheless, there was plenty to enjoy on Royal Quest - though the three Downs might outweigh the seven Ups. Such its the column's format's limitations.
The show wasn't without major talking points as two singles titles changed hands, and the IWGP Heavyweight Champion's next challenger emerged. Let's break it down...