NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING POWER STRUGGLE

New Japan's second foray onto worldwide iPPV on November 11 produced yet another excellent card, albeit a step down from the lofty heights of the Sumo Hall event covered in last month's issue. From a storytelling standpoint, the event clearly established the main programme going into the annual January 4 Tokyo Dome card, with Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi both overcoming their final hurdles before what is arguably the biggest match in Japan in several years.

In the main event of Power Struggle, which took place in Osaka, Tanahashi retained the IWGP heavyweight title against plucky challenger Yujiro Takahashi in a very good match that built slowly, but got across the idea that Yujiro was capable of hanging with the champ. As the bout progressed to its conclusion, both men threw all they had at one another, before a High Fly Flow (frog splash) got the duke for Tanahashi. Yujiro gave a strong performance here, and proved himself worthy of the chance to main event a show of this stature.

Okada disposed of Hirooki Goto in a match where Okada's shot at Tanahashi's title was on the line. This was another good match, and the third time this year that these two have proved to be a winning combination. Okada looked very strong, as he used a dropkick to the back of the head, a Tombstone piledriver, and then The Rainmaker (wristlock into a lariat) to get the win.

Sandwiched between these two headlining bouts was the semi-main event, which saw Shinsuke Nakamura tangle with regular rival Karl Anderson for the Intercontinental title. Nakamura won an entertaining back-and-forth contest with the Boma Ye (knee strike). After the match, he issued a very interesting challenge to MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba, who then emerged to a thunderous reaction, casually offering a nod of approval.

There were two title changes on the show, both in the junior-heavyweight division. Prince Devitt defeated Low Ki for the singles title in a great bout that featured some heart-stopping near-falls, while The Timesplitters (Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA) overcame Rocky Romero and an injured Alex Koslov in a short match to take the division's tag crown.

With several other entertaining matches on the undercard, and a crystal-clear iPPV stream throughout, the latest worldwide offering from New Japan was a home-run in all aspects.

Results The Timesplitters def. The Forever Hooligans [Pinfall / 6:20 / IWGP junior-heavyweight Tag Team titles] - Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Jado def. Manabu Nakanishi, Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Captain New Japan & Negro Casas [Pinfall / 11:29] - Minoru Suzuki & Taichi def. Yuji Nagata & Rysuke Taguchi [Pinfall / 9:53] - Killer Elite Squad def. TenKoji [Pinfall / 13:12 / IWGP Tag Team titles] - Prince Devitt def. Low Ki [Pinfall / 13:45 / IWGP junior-heavyweight title] - Kazushi Sakuraba & Katsuyori Shibata def. Togi Makabe & Wataru Inoue [Referee Stoppage / 5:26] - Kazuchika Okada def. Hirooki Goto [Pinfall / 15:43] - Shinsuke Nakamura def. Karl Anderson [Pinfall / 17:32 / IWGP Intercontinental title] - Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Yujiro Takahashi [Pinfall / 25:06 / IWGP heavyweight title]