7 Ups & 3 Downs From NJPW Royal Quest

Downs...

3. Ishii & KENTA Start Strong, Then Lose Steam

Coming into the event, no Royal Quest match had more heat than KENTA vs. Tomohiro Ishii. It was set up at the G1 Climax finals when the former NOAH ace refused to tag Ishii during their six-man bout against Bullet Club, before battering the NEVER Openweight Champion to allow Tama Tonga an easy pinfall, joining the heel stable in the process. Of course, Katsuyori Shibata's sensational return overshadowed this, but KENTA had given Ishii, the other hardest man in wrestling, a reason to want to beat the sh*t out of him. What else could anyone possibly need to get hyped for this?

An absolute beef-slapper unfolded. The fans knew what to expect, and shhh'd loudly as Ishii prepared to chop KENTA's chest to mincemeat early on. On the flipside, the former Hideo Itami's kicks smashed into the 'Stone Pitbull' with dull, sickening thuds. For a while, it was completely as advertised.

A hesitant spell derailed the match just as it looked like it was hitting full speed. It seemed, for a while, that Ishii and KENTA weren't on the same page, fumbling their way through a few exchanges - including one particularly ugly Brainbuster. They weren't able to recover before the end. A great personal disappointment for this writer, who was looking forward to KENTA vs. Ishii above all else.

Perhaps KENTA was concussed, as his sloppiness was such that he even botched a kickout, forcing the official to fall forwards rather than count the three. Watching this go off the rails was depressing and KENTA eventually won via Go 2 Sleep (after heavy Bullet Club interference).