Kazuyuki Fujita is the only undefeated member of the N-1 Victory Tournament after his fourth win on Sunday’s card.
Fujita, 54, continues to be the strongest booked performer after the first week of the N-1 as he advanced to 4-0 with a strong win against Kaito Kiyomiya using the Beast Bomb.
He stands on top of the A Block alone with eight points, while Masa Kitamiya, KENTA, and Tetsuya Endo are next with four points.
The show drew 621 fans in Fukuoka, headlined by GHC champion KENTA advancing to 2-2, defeating Masa Kitamiya. The match was full of interference and a ref bump, and an ending that saw the Team 2000X member look totally foolish.
This was not the strongest N-1 card of the four, but it did feature several strong performances on an otherwise substandard show.
RESULTS:
*Alejandro, Kai Fujimura & Daiki Odashima over Alpha Wolf, Dragon Bane & Galeno in 9:33
*Takashi Sugiura & Tadasuke over Junta Miyawaki & Black Menso-re in 5:15
*Block B: Galeno over OZAWA by forfeit
*Block B: Naomichi Marufuji over Daiki Inaba in 9:00 (Recommended)
*Block B: Ricky Knight Jr. over Harutoki in 6:15
*Block B: Kenoh over Jack Morris in 11:57 (Recommended)
*Block A: Tetsuya Endo over Manabu Soya in 12:45
*Block A: Kazuyuki Fujita over Kaito Kiyomiya in 7:49
*Block A: KENTA over Masa Kitamiya in 15:12
Daiki Inaba vs. Naomichi Marufuji – Block B
The tournament matches started strongly as both performed well, including Inaba’s best match of the N-1 so far.
Inaba absorbed Kawada kicks but returned fire with forearms, a spear into the corner, and a cannonball. After a slingshot spear from the second turnbuckle by Inaba, the heat intensified, and Inaba kicked out of the Hurricane Mixer before being stopped by the True Tiger King, and Marufuji moved to six points in the block.
This was probably the second-best match of the show.
Ricky Knight Jr. vs. Harutoki – Block B
This one underwhelmed with a lack of time and not much engagement from the audience. RKJ has been hot and cold and has not fully connected with the crowds.
Harutoki missed with a knee, allowing RKJ to use a Razor’s Edge and the Firebird Splash (450 splash) to win in just over six minutes.
Jack Morris vs. Kenoh – Block A
This was the show stealer, in my opinion, and was Morris’s first loss.
Kenoh blasted Morris with kicks, and Morris was selling his left knee for a long period. He attempted a Frog Splash, but Kenoh raised his knees and went to a toe hold.
The final minutes reached a high point with Morris’ Good-Looking Knee and Death Valley Driver follow-up for a two-count. Kenoh responded with headbutts and hit a Tiger Suplex off the top while rotating Morris onto his chest, so he didn’t kill him.
Kenoh won with the Professional Foot Stomp and was the peak match of the card.
Tetsuya Endo vs. Manabu Soya – Block A
Soya controlled the early portion with Endo mounting a comeback, beginning with a Poisonrana, but Soya popped up to his feet, only to eat a lariat.
Endo spun Soya off his shoulders and connected with a Spiral Tap to win.
It was a good match, but given the performances exhibited by Soya this past week, I thought this one failed to meet its ceiling and stood out to me on paper as potentially being “great” but didn’t achieve that level.
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Kaito Kiyomiya – Block A
It was another destruction by Fujita and much more one-sided than the 50/50 affair he had with Manabu Soya on Saturday.
Kiyomiya avoided several attempts at the Beast Bomb and mounted a comeback with a missile dropkick. However, Fujita executed a choke slam, and the straps came down and hit the Beast Bomb on his third attempt, and won.
They have booked Fujita above everyone else during the first week of the tournament and are the only undefeated participant. Typically, that leads to a fall during the second half. It did seem the crowd was more into Fujita than in previous matches.
KENTA vs. Masa Kitamiya – Block A
I flat-out just didn’t enjoy this match, as one can apply all their critiques of the House of Torture into this one with Team 2000X, and that hasn’t been the case before this match.
Kiyomiya’s left knee was bandaged when coming in. He stormed the crowd as they chanted for the champion, which led to the first brawl in the crowd during the tournament.
Kitamiya avoided a GTS, and KENTA went for a running boot, missed, and took out the referee. This led to Tadasuke getting involved with a chair, but KENTA took the weapon and discarded it at ringside.
Tadasuke would nail KENTA from the floor with the chair, but was taken out with a draping DDT.
KENTA went for another GTS, and Tadasuke returned with a low blow.
Then, Kitamiya hits a big lariat and a piledriver, goes for the cover, and lifts the GHC champion, instead of winning the match. Kitamiya proceeds to walk right into a small package, and KENTA wins.
Kitamiya looked so dumb, and this new Team 2000X version has watered down a really solid performer. This was not a great main event, and the interference didn’t even elicit the requisite heat a House of Torture comparison would.
Kitamiya went to attack after the match, but KENTA defended.
BLOCK A
- Kazuyuki Fujita – 8
- Masa Kitamiya – 4
- Tetsuya Endo – 4
- KENTA – 4
- Kaito Kiyomiya – 2
- Daga – 2
- Manabu Soya – 2
- Ulka Sasaki – 2
BLOCK B
- Jack Morris – 6
- Naomichi Marufuji – 6
- Galeno – 6
- Ricky Knight Jr. – 4
- Harutoki – 2
- Kenoh – 2
- Daiki Inaba – 2
- OZAWA – 0 (Out of tournament due to injury)
The N-1 Victory Tournament heads to Hiroshima on Monday with the following card:
- Block A: Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Tetsuya Endo
- Block A: Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Ulka Sasaki
- Block B: Kenoh vs. Daiki Inaba
- Block A: Masa Kitamiya vs. Daga
- Block B: Galeno vs. Ricky Knight Jr.
- Block B: Jack Morris vs. Harutoki
- Naomichi Marufuji & Black Menso-re vs. Kai Fujimura & Daiki Odashima
- Go Shiozaki & Muhammed Yone vs. AMAKUSA & Junta Miyawaki
