Live report by Mike Killam for Wrestlezone.com
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-Michael Cole and Byron Saxton welcome us to the legendary Ryogoku Sumo Hall in Japan.
CHRIS JERICHO vs. NEVILLE
Neville leads early with the speed advantage, but Jericho catches him in a submission hold. That’s the theme of the match for the first few minutes – Neville does something flashy, and Jericho puts him in a hold or tosses him over the ropes and keeps control. The crowd is split between being your usual respectful Japanese wrestling crowd, applauding each sequence, but this is still a WWE crowd and a few dueling chants break out. Y2J slows things down to work a headlock – and few get as much out of a headlock than he does – maintaining control. Neville gets in a few shots but is caught with an ax handle off the top. They battle up on the ropes over a superplex spot, and it’s Neville who wins the trade, but he misses the Red Arrow. He rushes into a pop-up Walls of Jericho transition, teases a tap-out, but eventually gets to the ropes. Jericho takes a breather and Neville finally uses his opening to hit a corkscrew plancha over the ropes to take him down. We get a “this is awesome” chant from a Japanese wrestling crowd. It’s Red Arrow time again – he’ll settle for a springboard missile dropkick, and a standing Shooting Star Press out of nowhere for two-and-a-half. Another great trade sees Y2J holds onto the ropes to avoid a dropkick, then immediately hitting the Lionsault on his downed opponent. Neville off the springboard gets caught out of the air with a Codebreaker! 1…2…kickout! Jericho with a big German suplex, but Neville with a superkick. Another superkick. He climbs the ropes and looks for the Red Arrow a third time; Jericho counters with knees and locks in the Liontamer for the submission. Incredible.
Winner: Chris Jericho
