Destruction (2017)

Promotional poster for Destruction in Kobe, featuring various NJPW wrestlers

**Destruction** was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) annually since 2007. In 2017, NJPW produced three events under the Destruction name; **Destruction in Fukushima** on September 10, **Destruction in Hiroshima** on September 16, and **Destruction in Kobe** on September 24. These were fifteen to seventeen events under the Destruction name.

## Production

### Background

The 2017 were the second consecutive year in which NJPW holds three events under the Destruction name. From 2007 to 2013, NJPW held one Destruction event per year, expanding to two shows in 2014 and 2015 and to three shows in 2016.

### Storylines

The Destruction shows featured professional wrestling matches, each of which involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portray villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.

Destruction in Fukushima was headlined by Minoru Suzuki making his third defense of the NEVER Openweight Championship against Michael Elgin. This match stems from the 2017 G1 Climax, where Elgin defeated Suzuki, challenging him to a title match afterwards. On September 7, Suzuki and Elgin agreed to turn the match into a lumberjack deathmatch, which was made official the following day.

The show also featured CHAOS' Kazuchika Okada, Rocky Romero and Toru Yano challenging *Los Ingobernables de Japon'*s BUSHI, EVIL and SANADA for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. The match marks IWGP Heavyweight Champion Okada's first-ever shot at the title and also serves as a prelude to EVIL challenging him for the Heavyweight title on October 9 at King of Pro-Wrestling.

Destruction in Hiroshima was headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi making his first defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Zack Sabre Jr. During the 2017 G1 Climax, Sabre put himself in title contention by scoring two submission wins over Tanahashi, first in their opening tournament match on July 17 and again in a non-tournament six-man tag team match on August 13. In the semi-main event, Sabre's Suzuki-gun stablemate El Desperado challenges KUSHIDA for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. El Desperado defeated KUSHIDA during the 2017 Best of the Super Juniors and on June 27, after KUSHIDA had successfully defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against BUSHI, hit him with a guitar and challenged him to a title match. While KUSHIDA was absent from the G1 Climax tour, El Desperado made repeated challenges towards him. When the two finally met on August 12, El Desperado hit KUSHIDA with his own title belt, which he then proceeded to steal. The show will also feature a third title match involving Suzuki-gun with Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru challenging Funky Future (Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. In addition, the show will feature Roppongi Vice's final match together as a tag team. After unsuccessfully challenging then IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) for the title on July 2, Roppongi Vice agreed to disband with Rocky Romero giving Beretta his blessing to move to the heavyweight division.

Destruction in Kobe was headlined by Kenny Omega defending the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Juice Robinson. This match also stems from the 2017 G1 Climax, where Robinson picked up a win over Omega, asking for a shot at his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship in a post-match interview. With Omega having won the tournament on July 2 to become the inaugural IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, this match marks the first-ever defense of the title. Omega was scheduled to participate in the entire tour, but on September 6, it was announced that he had suffered a knee injury and was pulled from shows between September 7 and 22. He was replaced by the debuting Leo Tonga, the youngest brother of Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa.

In addition to these title matches, all three shows aalso featured a three-way tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship with War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) taking on Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) and Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa). After successfully defending the title against Bullet Club's Cody and Hangman Page on August 13, War Machine were confronted and challenged to a title rematch by Guerrillas of Destiny. However, before they could respond, both teams were attacked by the Killer Elite Squad. This marked a return for K.E.S., who had not been seen together since the previous February, when Archer was sidelined with a lumbar disc herniation.

## Reception

Destruction in Fukushima
Bryan Rose of the *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* wrote that Destruction in Fukushima was "one of the weaker cards New Japan has put out this year, topped by a main event that was one of the worst New Japan main events in I don't know how long". Larry Csonka of *411Mania* had similar sentiments, calling the show "extremely disappointing" and "possibly the laziest, most lifeless show the promotion has put on all year". He rated the main event a "dud", calling it "an embarrassment".

Destruction in Hiroshima
The show was better received than its predecessor. Larry Csonka of *411Mania* wrote that Destruction in Hiroshima "wasn't a great show, but it was closer to the company getting back to form" after the Fukushima show. Bryan Rose of the *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* wrote that the Hiroshima show exceeded the Fukushima show "pretty much in every way".

Destruction in Kobe
Bryan Rose of the *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* called the show "just there", deeming everything but the two title matches and the match between Beretta and Yujiro Takahashi "skippable". Rose praised the main event of the show as "fantastic". Larry Csonka of *411Mania* rated the show "good". While being down on the first three matches, he praised the main event as a "must see".

## References

1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `DestructioninFukushima`
2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `DestructioninHiroshima`
3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `DestructioninKobe`
4. ↑ NJPW Destruction . *Pro Wrestling History*. Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
5. ↑ Namako, Jason 2014-09-23. 9/23 NJPW Results: Okayama, Japan (Okada/Anderson) . *Wrestleview*. Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
6. ↑ Caldwell, James 2016-08-22. New Japan sets huge title matches post-G1 Climax – Okada vs. Marufuji, Omega's Tokyo Dome rights, new ROH World champ Adam Cole & more ROH stars in big title matches . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Archived from the original on 2016-08-22. Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
7. ↑ Grabianowski, Ed. How Pro Wrestling Works . *HowStuffWorks, Inc.*. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on 2013-11-18. Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 ja:【9月10日（日）福島の全カード決定！】メインは、“NEVER無差別級戦”鈴木vsエルガン！ Evil＆Sanada＆Bushの“6人タッグ王座”にオカダ＆矢野＆ロッキーが挑戦！IWGPタッグ3Way戦も実現！ (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling* (2017-08-21). Archived from the original on 2017-08-21. Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
9. ↑ Rose, Bryan 2017-09-07. NJPW Road to Destruction results: LIJ vs. Chaos battle in an elimination tag match . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2017-09-07.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Johnson, Mike 2017-08-21. New Japan announces 'King of Pro Wrestling' main events, Destruction tour lineups . *Pro Wrestling Insider*. Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 11.8 ja:【9月16日（土）広島の全カード決定！】メインは、“インターコンチ選手権”棚橋vsザック！ “IWGPジュニア戦”Kushidavsデスペラード！IWGPタッグ3Way、IWGPジュニアタッグも実現！ (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling* (2017-08-21). Archived from the original on 2017-08-21. Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Rose, Bryan 2017-08-12. NJPW G1 Climax 27 finals live results: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenny Omega . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
13. ↑ Trionfo, Richard 2017-07-03. Complete G1 Special in the USA night two report: a United States Champion is crowned, Young Bucks versus Roppongi Vice, Los Ingobernables de Japon, The Bullet Club, and more . *Pro Wrestling Insider*. Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 ja:【9月24日（日）神戸の全カード決定！】メインは、“USヘビー級選手権”ケニーvsジュース！ オカダ＆オスプレイvsEvil＆ヒロム！ IWGPタッグ3Way戦も実現！ (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro-Wrestling* (2017-08-21). Archived from the original on 2017-08-21. Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
15. ↑ *ja:ジュースびっくり！ オメガから大金星でＵＳ王座挑戦要求* (in Japanese). *Daily Sports Online*. Kobe Shimbun (2017-08-06). Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
16. ↑ NJPW G1 Special live results: The first IWGP US Champion is crowned . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* (2017-07-02). Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 Rose, Bryan 2017-08-21. NJPW announces Destruction cards, King of Pro wrestling matches . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
18. ↑ *ja:新日本・アーチャー＆スミスＪｒ．復活！ＩＷＧＰタッグ戦後に乱入し王座奪回宣言* (in Japanese). *Daily Sports Online*. Kobe Shimbun (2017-08-14). Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
19. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `DestructioninFukushimaWON`
20. ↑ Csonka, Larry 2017-09-10. Csonka's NJPW Destruction in Fukushima Review 9.10.17 . *411Mania*. Retrieved on 2017-09-10.
21. ↑ Csonka, Larry 2017-09-16. Csonka's NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima Review 9.16.17 . *411Mania*. Retrieved on 2017-09-16.
22. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `DestructioninHiroshimaWON`
23. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `DestructioninKobeWON`
24. ↑ Csonka, Larry 2017-09-24. Csonka's NJPW Destruction in Kobe Review 9.24.17 . *411Mania*. Retrieved on 2017-09-24.