Attending NJPW Windy City Riot: The HEART PUNCH Review

I love pro wrestling. I wouldn't be writing this blog that is being read by a couple dozen people if I didn't; this is clear. I also love attending live pro wrestling shows, despite the existence of other pro wrestling fans. OK, I'm kidding on the square - last month at AEW Collision in Milwaukee we were surrounded by delightful fans, including the loudest, most infectious Wheeler Yuta fan I've ever talked to. But then there were the bros a few years back at a Dynamite loudly (LOUDLY) litigating Jade Cargill's push and skill set by shouting across the rows at each other while we were just trying to watch some pro graps, maaaan. Last thing I need is two dudes who would crumble into dust if they took a bump boldly evaluating a woman's talent level in a public arena. If you're going to be loud, at least be funny. And if you're going to be funny, try at least to be clever about it, ya know? If Shockwave the Robot gets doused by water in the ring and shorts out, there's nothing wrong with yelling "put him in rice!" (Am I biased because that's something I yelled at a Mondo Lucha? Maybe.) But maybe you also don't have to mock-sing in growly screamo voice to TJP's awful theme music (yeah, ok, that was also me at Windy City Riot this past Friday. Sorry, everyone).

Indeed - my wife and I, along with a grip of pals, attended New Japan Pro Wrestling's Windy City Riot at Chicago's Wintrust Arena, and real talk: the fans were great. Maybe there's something about a pro wrestling cultural exchange that has an effect on true blue wrestling fans; I've watched WWE shows in Japan where the crowd broke into "this is awe-some" chants to mimic American crowds. At Windy City Riot, there was polite applause when someone kicked out at 2 or made it back into the ring as the announcer counted "seventeen!" Technical wrestling was cheered and blatant rulebreaking was booed. And everyone in the building was genuinely appreciative to live in an era where New Japan has expanded into a regular US touring circuit with their NJPW STRONG brand.

I've been aware of New Japan for decades, of course. Whether reading match results in Pro Wrestling Illustrated or having my teenage mind blown by the Great Muta on excursion in 1989 WCW, or ordering a copy of Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 for the N64 and identifying the full NJPW, All-Japan, and FMW rosters (and painstakingly re-labeling all of them in English to keep them straight), I've been fascinated with Japanese wrestling for my entire life as a wrestling fan. But whether it was a lack of finances or a lack of patience for non-English commentary (I know, boooo), I never invested in the tape trading necessary to really dive headfirst into the country's best stuff (but you best believe I had that IWA King of the Deathmatch '95 video). It was 2015's Wrestle Kingdom 9, complete with Jim Ross/Matt Striker commentary (such as it was) that got me finally paying real attention to New Japan; once Chris Jericho lined up against Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12, I was all in with the NJPW World subscription that I carry to this day. Very quickly did I make it a bucket list goal to get to Japan and attend a show at Korakuen Hall. I haven't made it there yet, but when the first Windy City Riot was announced in 2022, my wife and I were stoked. Getting to see Minoru Suzuki and Tomohiro Ishii lay into each other in an actual New Japan ring a mere two hours from our front door? In a 2200-seat expo hall? Is this real life? I could write an entire piece about how special that day was – having Eddie Kingston make a surprise appearance to challenge Ishii after he pinned Suzuki via brainbuster; marking out for Shota Umino's return to New Japan from excursion in the UK; seeing Will Ospreay work in person for the first time against Jon Moxley. Instantly memorable stuff, and an all-time live pro wrestling experience.

There are wrestling companies that build themselves around creating moments for the fans; sometimes to the detriment of the matches themselves. But there's something to this. There's nothing that drives home the feeling of I was there like those big, singular events: huge wins, epic staredowns, breakups, reunions, retirements, what have you. New Japan isn't necessarily known as a company that stresses moments over matches, but there's something about seeing a show live that makes them happen anyway. And to date, there's been pure in-person magic at all three Windy Cities Riot. Aside from that bonkers awesome Suzuki/Ishii match – something I never thought I'd get to see without traveling across the Pacific – the first one was special just for existing (but those Shota and Eddie appearances were pretty epic too). The second Riot, at the Wintrust last year, became legendary for Moxley's shock win over Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP World Title – only the second time the belt changed hands in the States (alas, I didn't attend but was watching on NJPW World live as it happened). And of course, last Friday's show was headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi's last match in the US. Wasn't gonna miss that one.

And this show was, indeed, special, full of great matches and moments to be seared in my wrestling nerd brain for life. Yes, the Mina Shirakawa/AZM match ended in an unsatisfying double-countout that was greeted with a cascade of boos, but this was basically our first ever in-person STARDOM-calibre match. It was our first night ever getting to see my current favorite male wrestler, Zack Sabre, Jr., work in person, and it was a joy to behold. We got an IWGP World Title defense, as we got to see Hirooki Goto defeat Shota Umino. On the flip side, while my wife and were thrilled to finally check Tetsuya Naito off our personal "need to see them wrestle in person" lists, being in the same room with him really drove home just how hobbled he has become as his knees have broken down. So as sad as I am to hear that Naito will soon be leaving New Japan, I'm almost praying that he's leaving to take significant time off or maybe even to just retire. Tarim knows the man deserves it. All this said, he still had a presence and his entrance ruled. And his tag partner Titan seriously showed out.

Ultimately, though, this show was about two matches.

At the midpoint of the show, Gabe Kidd, New Japan's unlikely new superhero, defended the New Japan STRONG Openweight Championship against Tomohiro Ishii, who has been enjoying a late career excursion in America, working dates for AEW and Ring of Honor. After working Ishii to a 30-minute draw at Battle in the Valley in San Jose, Kidd immediately challenged Big Tom to a 30-minute Iron Man match in Chicago. Honestly, this match sold me on the show all by itself; no way was I missing this slobberknocker in person. I was also pretty sure there was no way Kidd was losing this match, so I didn't expect myself to end up rooting for Ishii the way I did. This match had basically everything I love in a New Japan NEVER-style "bad motherfuckers stiffing the hell out of each other" contest: two dudes metaphorically swinging their dicks by trying to outlast the other in a too-long-but-I-don't-care chop battle, eventually segueing into an escalation of big power spots that culminated initially with Kidd scoring the first pinfall at around the 25-minute mark after a powerbomb. This was where the switch got flipped and suddenly, I desperately wanted Ishii to climb back into it and tie it to force overtime. Classic Iron Man or two out of three fall booking, right? The heel gets the first fall and forces the babyface to make a comeback from underneath. And while I dig both these guys, Kidd was definitely the heel here, the love he's been getting from Japanese fans notwithstanding. American fans are in love with Big Tom and his rock-em-sock-em-robot neck right now, and as he rallied to tie the match one fall apiece with a cross armbreaker with about two minutes to go, the house was absolutely shaking. At stage right from the entrance ramp, Kyle Fletcher, Skye Blue, and Willow Nightingale watched from the shadows, Kyle shaking the railing they stood behind after some of the more dramatic near falls. (My awesome bride, who loves scoping out the corners of a venue to check out the support crew like the theater nerd she is, noticed them first.) The four minutes of sudden death overtime were positively electric, and every Ishii kickout had the crowd erupting. Finally, Ishii hit the brainbuster he had been trying for all match long, and when it landed, there was no question: one, two, three, Ishii was your new STRONG Openweight champ! I absolutely love how protected Ishii's brainbuster is; it's a move everyone uses, but like Jake Roberts' DDT, when it's Ishii's brainbuster, you're fucked.

The crowd was unglued for this result, and I stood and applauded. I think I have to officially list Tomohiro Ishii as one of my all-time favorite wrestlers now, which is funny because I've only been following his work since 2018 and the man is 49 years old. But between this and the Suzuki match from the first Riot, he's delivered two of the most entertaining matches I have ever seen in person, and that has to count for something.

For all the euphoric emotion released upon Ishii's victory, the main event delivered pure drama. A video package explained very clearly the story beats connecting Konosuke Takeshita and Hiroshi Tanahashi and how this match was a callback to a heel run Tana had in DDT back when Takeshita was a skinny teenager defending the smaller promotion against the invading Ace of the larger company. Having had no understanding of this history before, the video package got me up to speed in no time. On top of their DDT past, Takeshita is a recent New Japan signing and, as current NEVER Openweight champ, has "future world champ" written all over him. So even on a basic New Japan level, the future vs. the past angle was compelling on its own.

Takeshita winning was the right call. With Tanahashi on his retirement tour, he's certainly the sentimental favorite, and Chicago played its role, lustily chanting "GO ACE" throughout the 20 minutes of drama. Takeshita dominated most of the match, although he sold the hell out of Tana's trademark dragon screw leg whips and worked with a limp through significant portions of the match. I've never seen anyone do dragon screws as gnarly as Tana's; as my pal Jesse said during the match: "I feel them in my knees." With Takeshita selling a bad knee, the Ace was able to stay just barely alive throughout the whole match, mounting comebacks, connecting with his Aces High top rope crossbody block, and dramatically kicking out at one when Takeshita hit him with his own High Fly Flow frog splash. But once Tanahashi climbed to the top to hit his own High Fly Flow, Takeshita got the knees up, and the slow collapse was on. The last few minutes of the match had big "I'm sorry; I love you" energy, as Tana would kick out of a knee strike, writhe on the ground in pain, and Takeshita would scream at him to get back up and fight like the Ace of old. But Hiroshi Tanahashi is 48 years old, and his knees aren't what they were. Eventually, Takeshita, practically with tears in his eyes, finished Tanahashi off with DDT legend HARASHIMA's signature move, and the crowd took to their feet immediately to pay their respects. Absolute poetry.

After Tanahashi's loss, the locker room emptied to pay its respects as Takeshita offered his hand to help his hero up. Takeshita bowed, exited the ring, had a brief encounter with El Phantasmo to set up a future NEVER title match, and made his way to the back as Tanahashi addressed the crowd. As the New Japan roster looked on, Tana thanked us all, and as his music played, spent plenty of time with the fans at ringside, posing for photos and shaking hands before finally taking his last bow.

As a grace note on a thrilling and entertaining night, Hiroshi Tanahashi's final match on US soil was the perfect blend of drama, sorrow, and joy. This is why pro wrestling is art, and I don't care if that annoys some people to hear. New Japan Pro Wrestling is art, it's dance, it's violent spectacle, and we are blessed for having the opportunity to witness it on American soil. Someday I will see a New Japan show in Tokyo or Osaka, but until then, I will be happy to wait until next year's Windy City Riot to see it again. 10/10, will attend as much as possible.