Shingo Takagi: Heavyweight Dragon

Everything up until now has pretty much just been practice, as Takagi got himself incredibly over in the junior division to the point that it was silly that he wasn’t going to be a regular in the main event. So they ditched that nonsense and put him in the heavyweight division. In-storyline, Takagi felt he lost to Will Ospreay in the finals of the Super Junior tournament because Ospreay had experience fighting heavyweights. So he asked for a heavyweight opponent at Dominion. His first, a former NWA Champion and the first ever simultaneous IWGP and Triple Crown Champion. So, you know, a cake walk. 

June 9, 2019 – Osaka, Osaka 

Shingo Takagi def. Satoshi Kojima
From Dominion. There was a lot going on in a short period of time here. Kojima seemed to be having fun at first, but by the end he was belligerent in his denial of Takagi’s attempt to use him as a stepping stone to the heavyweight division. Takagi had a lot of trouble, and it wasn’t until he quit going for the Noshigami and dusted off MADE IN JAPAN that he was able to truly knock something loose in Kojima. He followed that with the Pumping Bomber and the Last of the Dragon for the win at 11:14. This is a great match for anyone interested in seeing how two wrestlers with similar signature moves should use them against each other. It kind of reminded me of the Takagi vs. Cyber Kong match (or the one-third of it that was released) from 2008. Takagi declared he’d be in the G1 Climax after this win. ***½ 

June 29, 2019 – Manchester, Greater Manchester

Shingo Takagi def. Michael Oku
From RevPro Ungovernable. Takagi basically never does shows outside of NJPW, so I figured I’d review one of the VERY few ones he’s done since jumping ship. I say this a few days after he did a random HEAT UP show that I’m sure I’ll never be able to find, and a month after he was on the Korakuen Hall 60th Anniversary Show, but in three and a half years those are the only three non-NJ shows he’s been on. Oku was at the very end of a 61-match losing streak in RevPro. There were moments in this when Oku looked very green. A kooky dive pretty much missed Takagi entirely, but he sold it regardless. I didn’t love how much Takagi sold here, but I suppose the assumption was that NJ fans wouldn’t see this by and large so there was little to lose. In the end, Takagi did a primal shout and hit three lariats and MADE IN JAPAN for the win at 17:48. On the next RevPro show, Oku wrestled El Phantasmo and got his first win in the company. I’m curious about him because three years later he supposedly had an unreal match against Ospreay, but he’d have to have improved immensely for that to be true. It’s plausible, and I’d like to see it. ***¼ 

The rest of the matches all take place during the G1 Climax 29 tour. 

July 13, 2019 – Tokyo, Japan 

Juice Robinson def. Shingo Takagi {Round Robin Tournament Match}
Well this is a real kick in the teeth. Are we to assume that by the transitive property, Robinson was higher in NJ’s pecking order than Kojima at this point? I guess so, as that singles match went Robinson’s way in the G1 two years earlier. So we didn’t really need the transitive property at all. This is probably WWE brain but I have a hard time seeing him as anything more than a lower midcarder. The story is the same as in the Kojima match, where Takagi’s power doesn’t count for as much against a heavyweight. The commentators tried to convince me that Robinson was more vicious here after a bloody match against Jon Moxley, but the proof isn’t in the pudding. Takagi’s counter from the Pulp Friction to the Noshigami was dope. The rest of the match was alright. Robinson doesn’t do much with his face, making it hard to get behind him. The match felt like it was in slow motion for the first half, or rather that both guys would just stand around thinking after hitting a move or a strike for longer than made sense. Once they picked up the pace it was fun. Takagi got a bit rolled here, though I feel that most because after Robinson hit the Pulp Friction, he used a really lazy cover to get the win at 14:41. The good certainly outweighed the bad. ***

July 15, 2019 – Sapporo, Hokkaido 

Shingo Takagi def. Toru Yano {Round Robin Tournament Match}
My gut was telling me that Yano was the heavyweight tournament equivalent of TAKA Michinoku in the junior tournament, but before this match he got a quick upset win over Tetsuya Naito. So that comparison is out the window. This wasn’t my kind of comedy match. In theory, Yano trying a bunch of goofy tricks to win (setting up obstacles so Takagi gets counted out, the Guerrero chair disqualification trick, an exposed turnbuckle spot that worked against Naito) should be fun. But it came off as rote to me. All this stuff has been done to death in the States. If NJ fans like it, great, but I tuned out after a minute. BUSHI helped Takagi stem the flow of tricks and Takagi finally got a win with the Pumping Bomber at 6:16. *¾ 

July 19, 2019 – Tokyo, Japan 

Shingo Takagi def. Taichi {Round Robin Tournament Match}
Takagi finally gets revenge for Taichi’s interference in the junior tournament. Taichi also beat Takagi’s buddy Naito in the tournament before this. I think this is the first Taichi match I’ve seen, so it was very helpful to have the commentators talk about Taichi’s relationship with Toshiaki Kawada and how their falling out led to Taichi being a punk. The story is still that Takagi is out of his element against these big boys, though Taichi is billed as being the same size as Takagi now. But he’s still getting used to fighting in this division, so he spends a lot of the match getting his ass handed to him. A few lucky shots save him, including an awesome block of a low blow and a punch to the face while the ref’s back is turned (thanks to Taichi pushing him away). The Pumping Bomber almost finishes Taichi, and the Last of the Dragon gets the job done at 14:40. ***½ 

July 24, 2019 – Hiroshima, Hiroshima 

Jon Moxley def. Shingo Takagi {Round Robin Tournament Match}
Moxley was as yet undefeated in the tournament, so he had a bit more momentum than Takagi coming into this. He also came into this as the IWGP United States Champion. Rocky Romero mentions that both guys were in Kamikaze USA. That’s neat. This match is also neat. In fact it’s great. I have a hard time getting into Moxley matches in general because his demeanor is so often annoying. That’s not the case here. He was all business. Taking a page out of Yoshinobu Kanemaru’s playbook, he viciously attacked Takagi’s leg, even putting on the post figure 4 leglock. That’s very smart, given how successful (relative to other juniors) Kanemaru was against Takagi. There was a bit of really bad officiating though, as Red Shoes Unno clearly saw Moxley sandwich Takagi’s leg between chairs on the floor and didn’t disqualify him. That bit didn’t make much sense. But the rest of the match did. Takagi’s selling was top notch. You could feel the desperation whenever he’d get one of his signature moves, going for a cover immediately because he knew he couldn’t put as much behind his offense as he wanted due to his bad leg. Moxley put Takagi down with a series of running knees and then finished him off with a cloverleaf at 14:45. Rough to see Takagi go down like that, but at least he went down swinging. ****

July 28, 2019 – Nagoya, Aichi 

Jay White def. Shingo Takagi {Round Robin Tournament Match}
Speaking of guys I have trouble with, White does little for me. White went 0-3 in his first tournament matches, but started turning things around with a win over Jeff Cobb a few days earlier. There was a spot in this that I absolutely loved. After a heated strike exchange, Takagi went for the Pumping Bomber, but couldn’t hit it because White collapsed. White smirked, showing that it was his plan. Then you wonder, why doesn’t everyone do this? The answer is because you’re not as mobile when you’re on the mat, which Takagi showed by quickly picking White up with a wheelbarrow suplex. That’s such good shit. Most of the match was compelling in that way, with Takagi knowing how to deal with all of White’s crap because (not that the commentators said this) he had tons of experience with these kinds of antics from the heel stables in Dragon Gate. Because of that, the finish really didn’t make sense. White hit a sleeper suplex somewhat out of nowhere, then another, then a cross-armed brainbuster, and then the Blade Runner for the win at 19:26. It flew in the face of the rest of the match that White could just get lucky and hit a few moves in a row to win, despite that not being what he was about at all to that point. Took me out of it. Good stuff for 18 minutes before that though. White went on to win the rest of his tournament matches and win the block. ***½ 

August 1, 2019 – Fukuoka, Fukuoka 

Jeff Cobb def. Shingo Takagi {Round Robin Tournament Match}
Cobb, like Takagi, was having a mixed tournament to this point and also came into this match with only four points. They’d wrestled in a three way elimination match in PWG, but Takagi’s early elimination in that match didn’t happen at the hands of Cobb. This was quite basic. Mostly power moves back and forth. Takagi’s face looked kinda messed up from previous matches, but they didn’t do anything to play that up. While I think it’s neat that a couple of moves in Cobb’s arsenal force him to reverse his momentum mid-move, the amount of setup needed for the Tour of the Islands makes me less excited to see the move by the time he hits it. And he did just that to win the match at 12:27. I don’t think I was prepared to see Takagi get humbled in the tournament like this, and this somewhat by-the-numbers loss didn’t blow my mind. **¾ 

August 4, 2019 – Osaka, Osaka 

Tetsuya Naito def. Shingo Takagi {Round Robin Tournament Match}
Naito came into this as the IWGP Intercontinental Champion, so the commentators wonder if Takagi would get a title shot if he beat Naito here. Irrelevant, it turns out. White later beat Naito in the tournament, got a title shot, and won the title. But the other three guys who beat Naito didn’t get a shot so it’s silly to speculate that Takagi might have had he won here. This match didn’t set my world on fire. Given its length it was light on depth. They teased early on that they’d go with a “we know each other too well,” story, but then they mostly just threw their stuff at each other without too much trouble. Each guy got one big reversal spot, Takagi to a big powerbomb and Naito to a Frankensteiner, but beyond that this was quite straight forward. Also, I know Naito is a rapscallion, but the fact that he repeated spit in his teammate’s face had me scratching my head. Near the end, Takagi “blocked” the Destino and hit a Pumping Bomber, but really Takagi did nothing and Naito just went through the motion of what it would look like to have his move blocked. Not great looking. Naito came back with two Destinos for the win at 27:15. The day I’m writing this, it’s ranked as the 112th best match of all time on Cagematch (down from 105th after I put in my review). I think that’s delusional. After the match, Naito praises Takagi and says they can have another singles match down the road. It hasn’t happened in the three years since. ***¼  

August 8, 2019 – Yokohama, Kanagawa 

Shingo Takagi def. Tomohiro Ishii {Round Robin Tournament Match}
This review is originally from my Cagematch Top 100 Matches of All Time post. I say that to explain why I talk about its place on that list here. This would have made for a terrific BJW Strong World Heavyweight Championship match. The entire story was that no matter how hard Takagi hit Ishii, Ishii either didn’t budge or immediately got back up. Takagi was undeterred and spoiled the little tuna can’s chances at winning the tournament. I like that Takagi’s motivation wasn’t just about being a spoiler, but was about proving that he had the strength to pin a long time New Japan heavyweight. Takagi hit the Last of the Dragon for the win at 22:41. Sadly, I have to complain a bit. That this is in the top 100 kind of baffles me, and that it’s one of Dave Meltzer’s top 30 matches of all time I find very confusing. Like, it’s great, but it’s not as good as his matches against Bryan Danielson or Davey Richards in DGUSA (408 and 444 on the Cagematch all-time list, respectively), or his hair vs. hair match against BxB Hulk (359), or the final match in his UK trilogy against Susumu Yokosuka (I’m the first and only person on Cagematch to ever rate the match), or his 2015 Dream Gate defense against Masaaki Mochizuki (285). And those are just singles matches. He’s had a bunch of tag/multi-man matches that are off the charts good. I guess what I’m getting at here is that Dragon Gate is historically underrepresented in the conversation of the best matches ever and it’s a bummer. Still, less insane than the way the site’s users rated the previous match. ****¼

August 11, 2019 – Tokyo, Japan 

Shingo Takagi def. Hirooki Goto {Round Robin Tournament Match}
Goto needed to beat Takagi and for White to beat Naito later in the evening, and then he’d win the block, because a win would put him in a tie with either guy and he had a win over White but not one over Naito. Takagi wasn’t having it, and despite being unable to win the block he wanted to be a spoiler. This was hard hitting, fast-paced, and didn’t overstay its welcome. You can see quite clearly why they decided to make these two rivals. Down the stretch, Takagi ate a lot of gnarly offense that Goto dished out, but he came back with a desperate and brutal Pumping Bomber. He followed that with the Last of the Dragon for the win at 15:10. This is what I want from this tournament, rather than faux epics with crazy match times. ****

After the tournament, Takagi announced that he’d be staying at heavyweight. Goto had beef after getting his tournament spoiled (White won his match against Naito, so had Goto beaten Takagi he’d have won the block), so they met in a rematch at Destruction. I’ll kick off my next post with that, and then look at Takagi’s entre into the NEVER division.