The crowd sounds like it is very much behind Tetsuya Naito as he makes his way down the ramp. His narrative as painted by the announcers is that his previous moments of potential glory were mostly spoiled by the pandemic and injury, giving him one more chance for that ultimate moment here.
Sanada has a good story too, with Chris Charlton putting him over as the selfless warrior who puts team and fans over himself. Will he claim his biggest win ever for himself tonight?
Neither man rushes in when the bell rings, and the first exchanges of holds is very even on the feet and the mat. The fans applaud their stalemate.
They work over to the ropes, where Red Shoes is keeping a careful eye, and Sanada makes an acrobatic save when he sees Naito has wandered away from a potential dive to the floor. The champ holds the ropes for the challenger to return to the ring. Gentlemanly.
An exchange of strikes breaks out, with Naito getting the best of it. A neckbreaker from a hip toss gets the challenger the upper hand, and he capitalizes with more elbows in the corner and a flurry of offense that leads to a low dropkick to the back of Sanada’s head.
Some mat work by Okada forces Sanada to get a rope break. Naito stomps his back before they trade more strikes. Sanada fights back with a low dropkick to the knees and a backdrop suplex.
Two leapfrogs set up a dropkick in a classic sequence for Sanada, and a plancha is right on the money. Some fans come to life for that, as well as for the champ’s springboard dropkick. A TKO gets a two count for the champ, who goes right back to work by locking in Skull End. Finally, Naito is able to get a boot to the bottom rope for a break.
Sanada’s moonsault finds no one home, and Naito smiles as he executes a dropkick to knock the champ to the floor unexpectedly. The challenger hangs Sanada’s legs on the barricade to deliver a neckbreaker, and it’s no shock to see the champ holding his neck in pain.
The ref starts a 20 count that reaches 18 before Sanada gets back in the ring … only to feel Naito’s knee in his neck again. A Frankensteiner hurls the champ from the top rope, a good sign for Naito. Sanada fires right back with a dropkick and elevated DDT, and now both men are on the canvas gathering their wits.
Sanada kips up and hits a poison rana/shining wizard combo. Up top for a moonsault he goes, but Naito knows it’s coming and gets his knees up perfectly.
Naito hammers away with strikes until Sanada is face down on the canvas. Esperanza is on target, as well as Destino. The fans like that, but a second Destino is countered by a TKO.
Who will get up first? It’s Sanada, who almost overshoots a moonsault but lands on Naito’s back. A second to the front side of the challenger also hits, but Naito kicks out at two.
It’s Naito’s turn to rally, but he can’t pull off another Destino. The challenger waves in the champ and does hit Destino. A third doesn’t quite connect cleanly, so it’s appropriate that Sanada kicks out.
He looks for more offense but is greeted by Deadfall instead. The fans are at full throat as both men are back down with Red Shoes checking in.
A palm strike is answered by a rolling elbow, and Sanada hits his own Destino. Naito fires back with a rolling kick and a tornado DDT. Sanada rolls back into a bridge off the ropes and gets amazingly close without hearing the three.
The champ’s shining wizard has him looking for Deadfall, but Naito counters with one of his own. A brainbuster has Naito pointing to the stars, and a devastating Destino ends it, making Naito the world champ.
But Naito’s moment of triumph was brief, as he gets attacked from behind by EVIL and Dick Togo. “I won’t let you have your roll call,” says EVIL. Sanada attacks EVIL, however, and Togo, and the fans come to life for the aid he gives the man who just defeated him.
With Sanada finally on his way out, Naito gives him props, saying he’s only holding the mic right now because of him. The new champ says LIJ supporters will have an even better year in 2024 and finally gets to lead the huge roll call he’s always wanted to do.
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